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The Trump administration has rolled back Obama-era protections for Alaskan wildlife opening up opportunities for trophy hunters. The protections lifted will allow trophy hunters to participate in deceptive and manipulative tactics in order to slaughter families of wolves, coyotes, and bears throughout Alaska.
By overturning this 2015 ban, hundreds of thousands animals are now susceptible to being shot and killed in Alaska by wealthy hunters who apparently get their thrills out of slaughtering entire families at once. Innocent babies will now be shot and killed as their mother's watch in horror until they too meet their demise. It is completely immoral and despicable that this ban has now been overturned which will see Alaskan wildlife decimated by hunters.
We are talking about entire families being slaughtered. We are talking about utilizing some of the most deceptive and immoral tactics to lure innocent animals to be slaughtered. We are allowing for an entire ecosystem's natural predatory animals to be legally shot and killed. This will inevitably cause an imbalance in the ecosystem which always leads to disastrous results. Every ecosystem relies on both its predators and prey to contribute to a healthy and balanced ecosystem and with hunters now being allowed to slaughter entire families of predators, we are asking for serious trouble. Trophy hunting is a despicable industry, one that profits solely off of the exploitation of innocent animals. We are talking about animals that in some cases, are endangered or on their way to endangerment. We are talking about allowing scummy human beings to enter wild animal's dens to shoot and kill their entire family. When do our morals come into check? How in the world can the Trump administration not see the error in allowing such disgusting practices? Trump has been a disaster for animals and this is yet another example of his lack of commitment to the environment, protecting habitats, and protecting endangered animals. This administration couldn't care less about our planet, instead favouring wealthy hunters. It's sickening. HAPPY VEG
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Campaigners in South Korea are calling for the closure of farms that extract bile from moon bears for traditional medicine. There are more than 400 moon bears on these farms scattered across the country living in problematic conditions which has prompted campaigners to take a stand.
I find that we as humans are constantly working against our own efforts because we sit on two different sides of every problem. Moon bears are endangered, therefore one would assume that we would be doing everything we could to protect them. While there are conservation efforts in motion, we are simultaneously allowing the exploitation and suffering of moon bears on bile farms. Are we not just working against ourselves in protecting moon bears? It seems to me that if we are truly committed to conservation, we would be actively looking for ways to protect these bears at all costs which would include shutting down these horrific bile farms.
Such is the case with many endangered species from Africa. We hear about all of these different charitable organizations that are working tirelessly to combat illegal poaching while simultaneously allowing wealthy hunters to come in and shoot endangered animals for trophies. Logically, one would think that if we were wholly committed to protecting these species' that we would be working to eliminate all human induced perils that these animals face. As I stated, we seem to be hypocritically approaching every effort to protect animals because we are only looking at things from one angle. If we are to truly protect endangered species, we must eliminate all of our contributions to their population demise. For crying out loud this isn't rocket science! If moon bears are endangered, close the bile farms and work towards a sustainable rehabilitation plan. There's no excuse for allowing these farms to house endangered bears in squalor while they slowly go extinct in the wild. Close the farms and save the bears, simple as that. HAPPY VEG The New York Senate has passed a bill that bans the sale of dogs, cats, and rabbits at pet stores. The bill will now move to the Assembly for a final vote on the decision. This bill is incredibly important and must pass the Assembly if we will ever see a crack down on puppy mills and breeding facilities.
Animals sold in pet stores can often come from horrific mills and breeding facilities where their living conditions leave much to be desired. Breeding facilities are atrocious and exploitative, manipulating animals for profits. For example, puppy mills house several female dogs that are repeatedly subjected to impregnation. This continues to wear them down until they are unable to give birth any longer at which point they have absolutely no value to these mills are are discarded to make room for younger breeding females. It's a horrendously vicious cycle that exploits dogs and supplies pet stores with dogs that are sold for profits. This is wholly immoral. Every animal SOLD at a pet store is a nail in the coffin of an animal waiting to be adopted. Often times, the allure of pure bred pets pushes customers to purchase puppies from pet stores / breeders while animals that have been rescued and need loving homes sit in kennels at shelters. These people profit heavily off of the sale of these pure bred animals while more and more innocent animals find their way into shelters waiting to be adopted. We must all do our part to end puppy mills and breeding facilities once and for all. If we continue to support these awful industries, animals in shelters will die. If we continue to support these mills & breeding facilities, female animals will be repeatedly bred until they are done away with. We are supporting an industry that is ultimately killing innocent, loving animals because we desire a puppy or cat to look a certain way. Are we truly looking for a new family member or simply a trophy to parade around to friends and family? It's time to end puppy mills and profiting off of animals. Adoption is the only morally correct way to obtain a new pet / family member. I will update this story when information becomes available! HAPPY VEG I recently wrote about the lack of appropriate punishment attached to cases of extreme animal cruelty or neglect and wanted to share with you guys a couple of stories I've found online that in my opinion, demonstrate perfectly the different types of animal abuse / neglect. Both are severe and both are deserving of serious punishment. Let's look at the two different cases and determine what would be appropriate in these situations. 1. 75 Year Old Woman Has over 50 Animals Seized Citing Neglect a 75 year old woman had over 50 animals seized from her after complaints from neighbours that she was neglecting the animals. Local Animal Control visited the property after receiving a concerned tip. Along with a Veterinarian, they determined that there were some serious changes that had to be made in order for the woman to continue to house the animals. Essentially, if she were to be unable to make these changes, she was aware her animals would likely be seized. Visiting nearly a dozen times after the initial visit, they determined that the woman had done nothing to improve the quality of life for the animals on her property which prompted the seizure. She deserves jail time, 75 years old or not. She was given ample opportunity to improve the quality of life for her animals and instead, chose to do absolutely nothing resulting in continued neglect. There were cows that appeared to be starving trying to feed their hungry babies. This is a clear example of serious animal neglect leading to abuse / cruelty. While there was no physical abuse reported, neglect leading to starvation, poor quality of life, or uninhabitable living quarters constitutes as animal abuse. She was given every opportunity to change and do what's right for those animals and she instead chose to do nothing. While it's saddening to imagine incarcerating an elderly woman, we must make a point that this type of neglect is a serious crime deserving of jail time. One does not learn a lesson by simply having animals removed nor will that send a message to anyone else currently neglecting animals that this is a serious issue. LOCK HER UP! 2. Man sought For Serious Animal Abuse After Video Emerges of Him Throwing Dogs against A Wall A video emerged of a 21 year old man throwing 3 different dogs against a wall, none of which were under his ownership. The video sparked concern among the community and was reported to officials who have put out a warrant against him for first degree animal abuse charges. It is very clear why this situation is deserving of a jail sentence. Firstly, those weren't even his dogs which means he obtained them unlawfully. Secondly, if you're capable of throwing helpless dogs against a wall for the hell of it, what else are you capable of doing? It's evident that this young man likely has anger issues and a complete lack of a moral compass which means that his aggression won't stop at animals. This is a person who clearly has no regard for decency and a complete lack of respect for living creatures. He needs to be incarcerated and even perhaps rehabilitated for serious anger issues. In a situation like this where it was so very clearly malicious, jail time is the only appropriate response to the situation. If you slap him with a fine or community service, do we actually think that his anger issues and disregard for life will just dissipate because he paid a $1, 000 fine? He needs to be in jail where he can truly reflect on why he is in prison and what he needs to do to better himself before more innocent animals are subjected to his violence. 2 different example of animal cruelty, both deserving of jail sentences. While one of them was malicious and violent towards animals seemingly deserving of a harsher punishment, we cannot deny that neglecting animals to the point of starvation is just as serious. If we don't start committing to jail for serious animal cruelty convictions, these things will never change.
What do you guys think? Do you agree that both situations deserve jail sentences? What are your thoughts? HAPPY VEG Wales has officially joined England & Scotland in banning wild animals in circuses. The ban will come into effect December 1, 2020 effectively ending wild animals performing in circuses and sparing these animals endless performances and behind the scenes cruelty.
What's especially saddening is often times, the animals used in performing circuses are endangered in the wild. Animals like lions, elephants, and tigers are all endangered in the wild and yet we somehow find it appropriate to have these beautiful creatures beaten until they hop on two feet or jump through rings of fire. There is absolutely nothing redeemable about animals performing in circuses. It's another example of speciesism taking front and center. These humans view animals as less than which allows them to manipulate and exploit these beautiful animals. It's a vicious cycle of exploitation that lines the pockets of animal abusers.
Wales joins 47 other countries across the globe that have effectively ended animals performing in circuses. Let me be frank, this should be old news. We've known for decades that animals performing in circuses is wrong so while this is cause for celebration, it is also a reminder that there are still approximately 150 countries on this planet who have yet to adopt similar bans. It's time to end performing animals once and for all. We've exploited these animals for decades and it's time to ban it globally. Enough is enough! HAPPY VEG SPECIESISM - The assumption of human superiority leading to the exploitation of animals It has emerged that of 167 animal cruelty convictions in Northern Ireland in the past 3 years, only 14 of those convictions were handed jail sentences. This is on top of seventy seven fines and 45 bans on owning animals in 2018 alone. While the country claims that this is actually a good sign and that it is hard to draw conclusions without knowing the details of each individual case, I cannot help but think that this is a consistent problem across the globe in terms of properly holding people accountable for animal cruelty.
Much like murder and how there are three degrees which indicate the severity and premeditation of said crime, animal cruelty and neglect must be looked at the same way. Do I believe that an elderly person who simply became unable to care for animals which resulted in neglect should face jail time? No, but what I do think is that handing out a fine to someone who beat their animal to death or intentionally starved their pets until they died is wholly unacceptable and simply doesn't deter from future instances of cruelty. The fines are not indicative of the severity of the crimes and in my opinion, simply slap the wrist of those convicted.
While banning the ownership of animals might seem like appropriate punishment, can we be 100% sure that they are being monitored regularly and haven't obtained animals through undocumented means? I just don't believe that handing someone a ban on owning animals is appropriate for committing crimes against animals if there is going to be no follow up and monitoring of these people. It's not hard to obtain an animal without registering it or documenting it legally which ultimately means that this is a complete waste of time in terms of punishment. Look, while I truly believe there are instances of animal cruelty that are not intentionally malicious, most of them are and should be treated as such. If you own pets and cannot afford to feed them any longer, you are responsible for doing the right thing and either reaching out for assistance or contacting local shelters. By allowing your pets to starve and die, you intentionally killed them and caused them suffering and in my opinion, you should be in jail. If you beat, strangle, kick, choke, or abuse your pet in any way, shape or form, you should be in jail. These sorts of malicious and aggressive instances of animal abuse are indicative of serious mental issues that are going to manifest into other forms of aggression and abuse if these people are not properly rehabilitated. We need to step up our game across the globe when it comes to animal abuse. Enough of the bans on owning animals if we are not committing to following up with these people regularly. Enough of the laughable fines that literally slap the wrist of abusers and allow them the opportunity to commit future abuse. We need to start looking at animal abuse as a serious crime, much like any kind of abuse towards human beings. If you're capable of violently beating an animal which is wholly dependent on you, than what makes that any different than child or domestic abuse? Abuse is abuse, stop the speciesism and start looking at all abuse in the same light. HAPPY VEG Washington is currently considering a ban on wildlife killing contests throughout the state after asking for the public's comments.The public had until July 14th to send in their thoughts regarding the contests and whether they believed that Washington should enact a ban. It is currently undetermined what the outcome was but Washington would be smart to join the 6 other states in the US that have already moved to ban the cruel bloodsport.
There are so many things wrong with these contests on both a conservation level and a compassion level. First of all, these contests heavily disrupt the natural balance of an ecosystem by removing a hefty amount of natural predators. This can lead to an increase in herbivorous animals which leads to more plant and wildlife destruction. Unfortunately, when these animals start to overpopulate an area, hunters are then permitted to slaughter X amount of herbivorous animals to preserve an ecosystem contributing to a vicious cycle of unnecessary killing.
Secondly, these contests are indiscriminate and non-target animals can fall victim to these games. Worse, some of these non-target animals can be endangered and even one of them being killed is detrimental. These games do nothing for wildlife conservation or population management as they allow people to slaughter as many animals as possible. There's simply no way to determine whether these games will negatively affect the wildlife population of an area prior to or during their commencement. I also can't help but point out that there are children present at these horrific events. Children who watch as their parents happily slaughter animals for fun. Children who are impressionable and will take away from this that animals are only here for us to shoot and kill for fun. What kind of message are we sending to our children? That animals are nothing more than props for a "sport"? That their lives are meaningless and killing them is totally acceptable. It's disturbing to me that so many people willingly put their children in that position, handing them guns and letting them potentially shoot an animal for fun. There's something seriously disturbing about that. Look, this "sport" is nothing more than stroking the ego of aggressive and compassion less people. Basketball is a sport, tennis is a sport, putting bullets in the heads of as many animals as you can spot is horrific, blatant cruelty, and immoral. There shouldn't be a debate on ending these contests, we need to ban them across the board. We are in the midst of an extinction crisis and yet somehow we are still allowing sports that allow for the slaughter of hundreds or thousands of animals at one time? Common, we cannot be this stupid. Ban wildlife killing contests. HAPPY VEG An investigation by Humane Society International / UK turned up shocking evidence of abuse on fur farms across Asia that are supplying fur to the U.K.. There were several instances of neglect, abuse, and cruelty documented through the investigation that has shed a severely negative light on the United Kingdom and their intentions on being a "world leader" in animal welfare.
While the UK has banned the production of fur, they still import fur regularly and sell it as a luxury item at boutiques across the country. While the UK continues to claim that they are headed in the direction of being a world leader in animal welfare, it's impossible to overlook the hypocrisy of the situation. Banning the production of fur because of cruelty only to allow the import of fur from other countries sends a mixed message about what the UK truly feels regarding animal welfare. Simply banning the production isn't enough, they must ban fur entirely if they intend on being at the forefront of anything.
Fur is by far one of the biggest exploitative and cruel industries on this planet. There is no necessity in fur and yet animals like rabbits, fox, and raccoon dogs are bred in captivity for the production of fur, enduring unimaginable cruelty throughout their short lives. As our planet moves away from exploitative industries like animals in circus' or whales in bathtubs at Sea World, we must also recognize the fur industry in the same way and work to abolish fur farms across the globe. Big name fashion labels have already declared the end of fur and the general public often votes in favour of banning fur as well. It's time to ban fur once and for all. The abuse documented on these farms is not new and is likely happening at fur farms across the globe. We must take a stand and speak out against fur so our governments hear us loud and clear. Shame on the UK for hypocritically banning the production of fur but happily importing it to sell. Until the UK bans the import and sale of fur, they are content with being hypocritical and complicit in the suffering of hundreds of thousands of animals skinned for their fur. HAPPY VEG About a week ago, a disturbing story emerged from Botswana regarding the mysterious deaths of over 300 elephants. An autopsy was conducted on the elephants and now the truth has come out, the elephants appear to have been poisoned. It's being reported that the motives for poisoning the elephants were the local community's crops being destroyed, leading the locals to resort to poisoning the elephants.
The blame does not fall solely on the government, these communities are also to blame for their part. While the destruction of crops is devastating, poisoning innocent, endangered animals is far from acceptable regardless of the reasoning. Elephants are constantly losing their habitat to the continued growth of human settlements. This leaves them with less area to roam freely in search of food and water which ultimately pushes them towards human settlements in search of nourishment. Crops are easy food for elephants who are starving and poisoning them for simply trying to survive is unacceptable.
There has to be other ways to manage these conflicts that don't result in the murder of elephants. In almost every case of human / animal conflict, the animals are killed. Killing animals is often seen as the easiest solution regardless of underlying factors like an animal facing extinction. When there's an overpopulation of deer for example, the government shuts down a park and culls. When there are too many cats on the streets, governments turn to euthanizing them to manage the population. Unfortunately, it seems like every government on this planet only knows how to kill to solve problems. This needs to change! The Botswana Government must be held accountable for their negligence and the local communities should also be punished for resorting to poisoning endangered animals for trying to survive. We cannot continue to take their land without a plan in place on how we can coexist. If we continue down this path, we will push elephants to extinction in the wild and there is simply no excuse for that. HAPPY VEG Internationally recognized conservation group Born Free USA has launched a 6 week campaign aimed at exposing some of the myths surrounding the trophy hunting industry. The campaign intends to raise awareness about the global impact of trophy hunting and expose some of the truths behind supposed trophy hunting facts.
TROPHY HUNTING MONEY BENEFITS CONSERVATION & LOCAL COMMUNITIES It is argued by the trophy hunting industry that trophy hunting actually aides in the conservation of endangered animals. They claim that the money spent to participate in these hunts is funneled into local conservation efforts and helps aid local communities. First of all, it's been repeatedly shown that very little of the money spent actually goes towards tried and true conservation. Most of the money is divided between organizers, government, and sponsors, with very little remaining actually being put towards local communities or conservation. It's a blatant lie used to cover up the horrific truths of the industry. TROPHY HUNTING HELPS WILDLIFE POPULATIONS Of all of the lies the trophy hunting industry spews out, this is by far the biggest hypocrisy of them all. Trophy hunters argue that these hunts somehow contribute to conservation efforts and help repopulate endangered species. Can someone please explain to me how going out and murdering the healthiest, strongest animals for their trophies contributes to a growing population? These people go out and shoot endangered animals and somehow have convinced enough people that this is benefiting these animals. Let me be clear, shooting endangered animals DOES NOT HELP WITH CONSERVATION. By shooting endangered animals, you are contributing to their demise while also contributing to the global wildlife trade that is endangering biodiversity & wilderness habitats. TROPHY HUNTING IS A SPORT This atrocity is marketed as a sport when in fact, it is nothing more than an excuse to kill that boosts perverted egos. Soccer is a sport, hockey is a sport, shooting and killing endangered animals is murder for fun. In almost every case, these animals are left in a vulnerable state making them easier to slaughter. They are lured out of protected areas with food or the cries of babies only to be shot dead. In some cases, they are bred solely for the purpose of being killed by trophy hunters. This is not a sport, this is legal bloodshed.
It's time for the trophy hunting industry to be called out for exactly what it is, an excuse to murder. Trophy hunting does not help conservation. Trophy hunting does not aid local communities. Quite simply, trophy hunting kills endangered animals, helps to destroy their already suffering populations, contributes to habitat imbalances, and ends the lives of animals that already face unprecedented perils in the wild. We need to ban trophy hunting once and for all. End the hypocrisy, stop the killing, and stop pandering to wealthy perverts who get their thrills out of slaughtering endangered animals. Learn more about Born Free USA's campaign through the link at the top of this page. HAPPY VEG |
Stay educated and remain involved in animal welfare. Together, we can all make a difference!
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