Mexico unanimously voted to amend the General Wildlife Law to include a ban on captive marine animals for entertainment. This ban will see captive dolphins, whales, and other marine animals released to sanctuaries or pens and will prohibit the capture of wild aquatic species for entertainment purposed. The law will only allow captive marine life if it is for species rehabilitation or conservation efforts. This is yet another example of Mexico's continued commitment to improving animal welfare.

We've seen enough horror stories coming from places like Sea World where captive orcas are displaying behaviours associated with boredom and emotional stress. We've seen the stories where orcas are attacking or killing handlers in captivity. We've also seen enough stories about marine animals dying in captivity, proving that the only place they belong is in the wild. When you consider the amount of space they utilize in the ocean, to be kept captive in what is comparable to a bathtub for their whole lives is inherently cruel, and we've known this for ages.

Animals were not put on this planet for us to do with as we please. When it comes to entertainment, to think that we would subject these intelligent creatures to years of performing stupid tricks for crowds of people who have paid money to fuel the cycle of cruelty is embarrassing. With a world of entertainment at our fingertips, we cannot allow cruelty to animals to be something that is overlooked or considered "fun". It's not to the animals who are held captive. It's not fun to the ones plucked from the wild who knew freedom, only to spend the remainder of their lives in captivity.

​Congratulations to Mexico for taking this much needed step in the right direction for animal welfare. Learn more through the link at the top of this post to the original story from World Animal News.

Over 1.5 million people have signed a petition urging the U.K. government to ban the import of fur products entirely. This movement has the support of many advocacy groups including Four Paws UK, PETA UK, and Humane World For Animals UK and awaits a future decision surrounding a bill already aimed at closing loopholes that have seen the U.K. import fur products valued at millions of pounds every year.

Interestingly, the United Kingdom was the first in Europe to ban the production of fur, but despite this, continues to import furs from countries like Finland, China, and Greece.  This sends a rather distorted message surrounding animal welfare in suggesting that simply because one has stopped producing, they hold no blame when selling these products. The fact is, if you've banned the production of fur, you've likely done so as a result of disagreeing with the cruelty towards animals. In fact, an overwhelming amount of Britons support a complete ban on fur from production to importing and selling so continuing to import is a confusing stance to take against the industry.

Fur is cruelty, plain and simple. The animals in these facilities are bred in to squalor living in cramped, often filthy wire cages with minimal access to food and water. They often exhibit several signs of distress, and many undercover investigations have proven the lack of care these animals receive documenting sores, lesions, cuts, and other abrasions that are left untreated. After a short, miserable life spent in fear and distress, they're then electrocuted or gassed in order to preserve their skins. The entirety of their existence is one of suffering and sadness. We cannot in this day in age, still be trying to justify the needless cruelty these animals experience for fashion. It's incredibly compassionless when we have a world of synthetics available to us. It's embarrassing and gross.

The United Kingdom has the distinction of being the first country in Europe to ban fur farming, so I would like to think that they would take the necessary steps to truly demonstrate an anti-cruelty stance in banning the import of furs as well. Remember, you're entirely complicit in the cruelty if you're simply allowing someone else to do it for you.

Fur is gross. We know better. End the madness and ban the import of fur. In fact, may I go a touch further and suggest that we just do away with it entirely. Especially in the case of China, c'mon now, China has the WORST animal cruelty issues in their nation and buying fur from them is so incredibly despicable when we know how animals are treated there. It's shameful and it's time to stop the slaughter, stop the cruelty, and ditch fur.

Learn more through the link at the top of this post. Our planet MUST go fur-free. It's long overdue.

Kangaroos slaughtered for their skins are often shot during night-time hunts. These hunts see adult kangaroos shot and left to die, regardless of whether they had Joeys (babies) with them. This leaves babies orphaned, or in worst case scenarios, bludgeoned / discarded like trash. At its peak, it was reported that in upwards of hundreds of thousands of adult kangaroos were slaughtered every night for high end soccer cleats or other leather products. Adidas' decision will spare hundreds of thousands of innocent kangaroos an unnecessary death at the hands of fashion.

Our planet is turning away from furs and needless torture imposed on animals for clothing. We're seeing fur farms across the globe shuttering due to decreased demand and global advocacy. We're seeing  quality synthetics taking the place of animal products in high-end fashion. We're seeing country's ban the production / sale of fur. This movement, despite being long-overdo, is indicative of a global shift in how the treatment of animals is regarded. We have so many synthetic options available to us that are high quality, durable, and don't involve cruelty to animals. There's simply no excuse in this day and age to be slaughtering animals for clothing.

This news reminds us that there is still so much work to do when to comes to utilizing animals for fashion. While there is indeed a shift, animals are still being treated horrifically in the industry and we must continue to advocate on their behalf for a kinder, more compassionate planet. Learn more about Adidas' decision to end kangaroo leather by clicking the link at the top of this post from World Animal News.

In a massive victory for fin whales, the last remaining whaling company on Earth, Hvalur Hf, Iceland, announced they would not be hunting for fin whales this year. Decades of campaigning from advocacy groups and a general increase in animal awareness has made the demand for whale meat nearly non-existent. The announcement was widely shared by advocacy groups as a major victory, sparing innocent fin whales form being mercilessly slaughtered.

This story goes to show you that advocacy and education work. Whales are incredibly intelligent, social, and crucial to healthy oceans and marine ecosystems. Fin whales have long been targeted despite being listed as vulnerable to extinction. These stories remind us that extinction is permanent, if we eradicate a species for our own gain, where do we go from there? This has long been something I wondered if these hunters ever truly considered, where do you go once you've killed them all? When we're talking about "endangered" or "vulnerable", this indicates the possibility of extinction, so where do we go after we kill them all? Do we simply shift to another species that serves a similar purpose until we eradicate them as well? Where does the cycle end?

Unfortunately, there's still so many people on this planet who have absolutely no regard for the survival of other species on this planet. Whether we're discussing whales, giraffes, cheetahs etc, they're all dying and humans can be traced back to each and every species on this planet that is plunging towards extinction. In fact, there are currently two bills in the United States aimed at weakening protections for habitats / endangered species, proving that we still have so much work to do.

For now, we celebrate the end of the fin whale hunt in Iceland this year. Learn more by clicking on the link to the original story from World Animal News.

The livestock / animal agriculture industry is heavily protected in the United States, and is a large generator of profits. There have been multiple bills aimed at targeting wolves in order to strip their protections, and in some cases, individual state's have managed their own wolves & we have seen a rapid decline in their population. There is so much hatred towards wolves despite the fact that they are a crucial part of their ecosystem. Wolves help to manage other species and keep their ecosystem / habitat balanced. Eradicating them will see species like rabbit and deer populations explode, leading to further culling and hunting.

Statistically, wolves account for only 1% of sheep and cattle deaths. Also, Ranchers who improved perimeter fencing, employed guard dogs, and improved herding methods, have successfully managed to live in unison with wolf populations. Why aren't they all using these methods? Quite simply, it's easier, and less costly to simply slaughter the predators, rather than properly protect your precious livestock. Leaving livestock accessible to predators and then blaming said predators is a curious cycle that leads to increased wolf deaths and also, fuels the continued hatred towards a species that is only trying to survive on our planet.

This mentality of slaughtering everything that inconveniences us is inevitably going to lead us to a point where the only animals on this planet that remain, will be the ones we're producing for food. It's completely ridiculous and we know better. We know that increased protections for livestock prevent wildlife conflicts. We know this. We must do better for the wildlife on our planet. We aren't the only things that matter here and we need to stop acting like we are. The only acceptable thing to do is deny the "Pet & Livestock Protections Act" and go with the science surrounding wolves. We didn't spend 45 years rehabilitating the species to watch them eradicated over livestock.

Learn more through the link at the top of this post from World Animal News.

When we look at why these petitions are coming in, they can almost all be traced back to the animal agriculture industry. As we know, the animal ag industry is one of the most profitable industries in the United States and is heavily protected by the Government. Wolves are considered opportunistic hunters in that they will target prey that is easily accessible to feed themselves and their families. Livestock are easy targets as they are quite unable to fight off an attack from wolves, and are also enclosed leaving them unable to escape. These conflicts lead animal ag operators to request these protections be lifted in order to "protect" their livestock by being able to kill wolves who prey on their animals. There's a bigger problem here.

I've touched on this before, but when we're talking about "protecting" livestock, it's interesting to me that killing wolves seems to be the only solution when it's evident that animal enclosures are easily penetrable by predators. Why is it that we are not choosing to address the shortcomings in our animal enclosures as opposed to slaughtering endangered wolves? It's simple. It costs a lot more to beef up your enclosure than it does to simply shoot and kill every predator that seems to easily enter enclosures and kill livestock. We're literally talking about spending some money to ensure enclosures are predator proof versus eradicating an entire species. There's no love lost from the animal ag industry towards wolves, no regard for their survival or the crucial role predatory species like wolves play in ecosystems. As far as they're concerned, extinction isn't their problem / concern which is why wolves are seen as nothing more than pests or nuisances to the industry.

This lack of empathy or understanding towards predatory species is exactly why we're seeing them plunge towards extinction all around the world. They cause us "inconvenience" and therefor should be eradicated as opposed to searching for viable solutions that protect the interests of both humans & wild animals. A lack of education and empathy are why humans can so easily disregard the struggles of wild animals because we are so worried about ourselves and our money that we have no regard for animals or their survival. This can also easily be applied to trophy hunters who boldly claim they're helping with conservation efforts as they happily put bullets in vulnerable species like giraffes, leopards, and lions.

The fact is, we need a reset on how we view wild animals on this planet. Every single species has as much right to this planet as we do. The difference is that animals are constantly trying to evolve and find ways to coexist with humans who are the biggest plague on this planet, while humans are only looking out for themselves. We continue to take more land away from them and then blame them for interfering with out existence. This corrupted and compassionless mindset is why we're seeing so many species on our planet plunge towards extinction. We must learn ways to coexist that benefits both us, and the millions of other species that inhabit our planet. If we continue the way we are, we're guaranteed to see some eye-opening extinctions that will serve as a reminder of humanity's failures.

Learn more about the decision from the USFWS by clicking the link at the top of this post. 

While illegal poaching is something that is actively being tackled with anti-poaching units risking their lives on the daily to protect giraffes, it's a persistent problem. With that being said, we NEED to address the perils we are directly contributing to and can tackle with reasonable, sensical changes. First of all, devalue their bones, pelts, and ban any sort of decor made from the giraffes. We should not be permitting the import of these items for novelty decor as giraffes go extinct.

​Secondly, it's time to end the charade on trophy hunting. For God's sake, there is NOTHING redeemable about slaughtering endangered species. We need to stop the crap; stop pandering to the wealthy, the entitled, and the hunting community while giraffes continue to suffer and plunge closer and closer to extinction. Enough is enough. It's a joke anymore that people continue to argue in defense of trophy hunting when it's unbelievable evident that giraffes are in danger o extinction.

As a plant, it's time to end trophy hunting. It's time to ban imports of body parts from endangered species. This is common sense you guys. We cannot continue to allow such disgusting behaviour when the statistics are very clearly showing us that giraffes are on the track towards extinction. We can do better fi we stand up for our planet's most vulnerable species. No one in their right mind needs a giraffe trophy, not as they face insurmountable perils to their survival.

It's time to act using our brains. It's time to stop pandering to hunters who get their thrills ending the life of an animal, especially one that is facing extinction. We need to stop allowing ANY imports from endangered species. This is common sense, and it's time to listen to the science that is saying what we're currently doing is not working.

There are billions of humans on this planet and under 70, 000 giraffes. If we do not smarten up and act appropriately, what do we expect to happen? Humans continue to grow and giraffes will go extinct. It's simple, and it's preventable.

Learn more by visiting the original story from WORLD ANIMAL NEWS linked at the top fo this post.

Fur-farming has faced a steady decline around the world as activism surrounding the topic has been relentless. Undercover investigations of fur-farming facilities has shown us the horrors those innocent animals endure when being bred for fur. Crammed cages, feces and urine laden living conditions, lack of access to proper food or water, injuries or skin conditions left untreated leaving animals to suffer in agony before they're slaughtered. These investigations reminded us that these animals are already being forced to give their lives for fur, and yet we treat them as nothing more than trash leading up to their slaughter.

The images of innocent animals covered in feces, showing serious signs of distress, or left with untreated welts, rashes, or injuries, reminds us of the lack of necessity surrounding fur. While one might argue in defense of eating animals, there is simply no logical defense of the cruelty to animals when discussing fur. With the plethora of synthetic materials available to us, skinning tortured animals for clothing is outdated, cruel, and unnecessary. Once seen as a symbol of status, we know too much now about the cruelty behind the clothing to see it the same way. Look at any survey done in almost any country and you'll see that a larger majority of people support a ban on fur farming.

Congratulations to Romania for making the right choice and ending the barbaric and cruel fur industry. Fur is far from fashion, it's animal cruelty and nothing more. We're on track to see this industry wiped out altogether! Let's do this <3

Peep the link at the top of this post for the original story from World Animal News.

Black rhinos have been listed under the Endangered Species Act since 1980 and to date, there are only approximately 6, 400 individuals remaining across Africa. With that being said, how could anyone in their right mind determine that slaughtering these rhinos will somehow help with their survival when there are so few of them left? To put things in to perspective, there are roughly 1.3 billion people in Africa, and 6, 400 rhinos. What's going to happen to those rhinos as the population of Africa continues to increase? Let's dive in to this.

As the population increases, more land is going to be required for housing / communities and agriculture. This land comes from the animals. What happens when we take land from animals? We have further human / animal conflicts. Next, these communities need money, so the temptation of hundreds of thousands of dollars will in my opinion, make the decision to allow the hunt of endangered rhinos an easy one. So, as rhinos continue to face illegal poaching for their horns and habitat loss, we somehow think that letting wealthy Americans come and slaughter them for thrills will help them? This is asinine and nothing short of pandering to wealthy individuals at the expense of the survival of an entire species.

We need to be looking to the future here. 1.3 billion people vs 6, 400 rhinos should alarm us all. We can not continue to allow the slaughter of endangered species for sport. If you are a United States citizen and this is something that outrages you, you must contact the USFWS and voice your disapproval. There are 30 days to take a stand and let the USFWS know that we don't support the senseless slaughter of Africa's imperiled and endangered species.

USFWS TOLL FREE NUMBER
1-800-344-9453

I've spoken out about this many times in the past, but we need to seriously address the ease of access to livestock instead of blaming opportunistic wild animals. When you leave livestock vulnerable to predators, you are the only one to blame when they are killed. Why are the perimeter fences so easy to penetrate? Why are livestock left in enclosures that are so easily accessible? These questions are not new. Livestock has been the center of many issues surrounding predatory wild animals and yet we still have failed to address the ease of access. Instead, we shift to blaming wild animals and use this as fuel to eradicate predatory species' like wolves.

When you consider that wolves, coyotes, bears, etc., are natural to a specific habitat and you're a livestock farmer, why have we not worked towards reinforcing enclosures. Electric fences, taller enclosures, anything?! We leave these innocent farm animals in enclosures that can be easily accessed by predators and then cry because these wild animals instinctually targeted their livestock. If you're a farmer who's producing livestock, is this not something that you should consider? Instead, because the Government panders to livestock farmers, the option of reinforcing enclosures rarely comes up in favour of mercilessly slaughtering wild animals. This is simply another example of our inability to actually work towards a viable solution, instead, favouring the easy way out which means killing wolves.

We spent 4 decades trying to protect wolves from extinction. When the Trump administration removed protections, states like Montana for example, eradicated an alarming amount of their state's wolves in absolutely no time. If left to individual states, wolves will undoubtedly be hunted once again to extinction. Then what? We rush to issue protections again? We undo 4 decades of efforts, resources, and funding, only to knowingly open them up to be hunted to near extinction again? This is embarrassing that we would follow this trajectory instead of working towards real solutions to co-exist with wild animals.

Wolves are crucial to their habitats, much like any predatory species. They keep the balance between predatory and prey species in check which helps to protect plant species as well. When you start eradicating predatory species, herbivores become abundant and will start decimating the plant species which will the prompt our government's to cull. This cycle of manipulation and slaughter could be easily avoided if we simply took more precautions to protect livestock.

Wolves have been under attack for years, and if they are delisted, they will undoubtedly plunge towards extinction. It's time to work on better protecting livestock and stop villainizing wild animals who instinctually kill to feed their packs / young. We must protect wolves! Learn more about the Biden administration's appeal by clicking the link at the top of this post.