DONKEY WHAT?!?!

 It's so hard to believe I am actually about to write a nonfiction blog about something as ridiculous called "donkey basketball." During these abusive games, which often school hold as fundraisers, donkeys are kicked, punched, dragged, and punched by participants who have no donkey handling experience at all whatsoever. Donkeys like may other animals are not protected by the federal Animal Welfare Act, and humane agencies often do not get involved in cruelty cases involving the animals because of the lack of knowledge and experience.
 These fundraisers send the message to kids that it's acceptable to abuse and humiliate those that are weaker than us. They are taught the dangerous lesson that cruelty is OK. Expert Stephen R. Kellert and Alan R. Felthous concluded in the links between cruelty to animals and human abuse is that "The evolution of a more gentle and benign relationship in human society might be enhanced by our promotion of a more positive and nurturing ethic between children and animals." Schools from coast to coast have stopped hosting these fundraisers thank goodness because that want to help nurture kind kids, not bullies which is such a big problem as well. "Children trained to extend justice, kindness, and mercy to animals become more just, kind, and considerate in their [interactions] with each other." - The U.S. National Parent-Teacher Association Congress.
 Not only can this be detrimental to children, but let's not forget about adults too! Like many animals, donkeys who are mistreated or forced into loud, confusing environments can become frightened and may lash out to protect themselves. A participant in Waterloo, Illinois, donkey basketball games was awarded more than $110,000 for injuries that he sustained in a games, and in another game, a Wisconsin state senator fell of a donkey and broke her leg. In February 2006, a fifth-grade teacher in Florida sued a Diocese of St. Peterbburg and the owner of the Dixie Donkey Ball company claiming that she had suffered injuries after being thrown off a donkey at a fundraiser.
 There are so many wonderful fundraising opportunities that do not include animal abuse, including rubber-duck derby races and dodge ball. In Grants Pass, Oregon, three Rotary Clubs grossed $133,000 in rubber-duck derby races. If God forbid you head of this heinous crime going on, please politely raise your voice to stop this absurdity, or let me know! I'll do something about it.

Fighters of the Cocks

 The thought of cockfighting literally makes me sick.. who could participate in the cruel act is beyond me.. what kind of monster does this kind of atrocity?! What is cockfighting - it is a blood sport in which roosters are placed in a ring and forced to fight to the death for the "amusement" of onlookers. The real trip of it is that it is illegal in the United States, yet it is done all over.
 Game farms are where roosters are raised and trained to fight. The breeders, or should we cay cockers kill the birds they consider inferior to the other, only keeping alive the strong and powerful ones that are willing to fight.  Tethered by one leg in shelter that does not meet up the necessities of the birds, they live their lives in small wire cages, sometimes in a plastic barrel! LOVELY! Cockers force the birds to fight through physical work, including practice fight with other innocent roosters, and attaching weights to the roosters' legs.
 God bless the roosters.. their waddles and or/combs are hacked off with shears so in the ring other roosters don't tear them off. This makes me so sad.. because I think about my beautiful Joonie Bird and Ms. Pam and how gorgeous they are with their combs and wattles.. and how I would wash them and keep them conditioned with salves.. I was so proud of their beautiful skin.. and these monsters HACK off their body parts, as well as pluck off their feathers. Since chickens lack sweat glands, losing these body parts deprives them to cool themselves off. Can you imagine? Having you ears cut off and then you have no ability to cool yourself off?! Sometimes these monsters even cut off their spurs, which are the natural protrusions on the legs, so that more fatal, fake weapons can be attached to their little legs.
 At the actual events, they are held in cockpits which are round or square enclosures, or simply put - pits. When you look in, you will see roosters' feathers of the neck fanned and wings whirring.. the birds jump and parry at each others. They duel and kick each other in mid-air, striking at each other with feet and beaks. In the fighting wanes, handlers blow on the roosters' necks which holding them, yank their beaks, or hold them beak-to-beak in an attempt to get them riled up again. They are then put back into the pits and the fight doesn't end to DEATH or NEAR DEATH. Even if the rooster is still alive, but considered the loser, they are discarded in a carrel or the trash as though they are in fact trash.
 It is no surprise that the monsters who do this often are linked to other crimes including, drugs, illegal gambling, and even murder. There was a triple homicide at a Northern California cockfight. Sometimes children are even at these events, and as you can imagine a young child can either be traumatized or it promotes insensitivity to suffering and bloodshed.
 There's been eight recorded cases of bird flu that have been tied to cockfighting, as well as a 2002 Newcastle disease epidemic in California. Bird owners regularly come into contact with the bird's blood, allowing diseases to spread. One cockfight, the owners of the birds scrubbed the blood of their birds with their bare hands then switched the wounds around around their eyes! Sometimes the injuries are so severe that owners relieve swelling by sucking out the blood by mouth, yes you read that right.. they SUCK THE BLOOD OUT OF THE ROOSTERS BY MOUTH!
 Please if you know of any of these fights going on, CALL YOUR LOCAL AUTHORITY! You cannot let this go on without saying anything.

Exotic Pet Trade

 Exotic pet trade is huge - larger than I realized. One of the largest sources for criminal earnings is selling protected wildlife in stores, auctions, or on the Internet. The animals pay.. many don't survive the journey from their homes, and those who do survive suffer in captivity and die prematurely from malnutrition, an unnatural and uncomfortable environment, loneliness, and the overwhelming stress on confinement.
 Animals destined for the pet trade are yanked from their homes in places such as Australia, Africa, and Brazil and are subjected to grueling transport. Baby turtles have been trapped inside their shells with tape and shoved by the dozen into tube socks, and infant pythons have been shipped in CD cases. Many die before reaching their destination. Parrots often have their beaks and feet tape and be stuffed into plastic tubes that can easily be hidden in luggage, and stolen bird and reptile eggs are concealed in special vests so that couriers can bypass x-ray machines at airports.
 In caretakers who are incompetent and unprepared, many exotic animals are abandoned and die. The head Environmental Crime Investigation unit in Western Cape, South Africa, estimates that 90 percent of exported reptiles die within a year. Animal control authorities confiscated a crippled cougar cub from a Buffalo, New York, basement. The animal kept by a teenager, had been fed a diet deficient in calcium and, as a result, suffered from deformed legs. Hedgehogs, who roll themselves into tight balls, can easily become injured if children try to "uncurl" them or if cats attack them. Sugar gliders are very social animals, and if they are not given enough attention, they may self-mutilate or die from the stress of loneliness. Other people try to return unwanted animals to their natural homes or abandon them outdoors. Without appropriate habitats or rehabilitation, these animals will starve of fall victim to the elements of predators. Id they do survive, they map overpopulate and wreak havoc with the ecosystem, killing native species.
 The exotic animal trade in dangerous for humans as well. There have been dozens of attacks by captive big cats on humans in the past decade. In one incident, a tiger mauled his guardian's 3-year-old grandson. A lion killed several dogs and trapped a child in his room, and a Bengal tiger tore off the arm of a 4-year-old-boy. Since 2000, at least four people have been mauled to death my wolf hybrids - the offspring of wolf hybrids-the offspring of wolves and domesticated dogs. People who breed these animal and sell them as pets are playing Russian roulette. It is a gross misrepresentation to sell these animals as pets, says one veterinarian and animal behaviorist.
 According to one Center of Disease Control and Prevention officer, there are all kinds of species that may be unknown vectors of human disease.. seventy-five percent of an infectious diseases originate from nonhuman animals. The monkey pox outbreak that affected dozens of people in the Midwest in 2003 was traced to a Gambian rat from Africa. The animal had been housed with prairie dogs in an Illinois animal dealer's shed. Prairie dogs have also been known to carry the plague and tularemia. The herpes B virus, which is about 70 percent fatal to humans, can be transferred from macques to humans. 70,000 cases of salmonellosis in humans are due to reptile and other exotic animal accounts. Deadly to humans, parrots can transfer psittacosis.
 Laws are being passed by federal, state, and local governments that prohibit the private ownership of certain dangerous species, but most of these regulations are poorly enforced and are designed to protect humans from injury and disease rather than ensure that animals are handled humanely. Never buy exotic animals from dealers or pet shops, and support legislation that would make owning exotic animals illegal and prohibit the interstate sale of exotic animals. I am personally VERY guilty of doing that in the past. I had quite a collection of animals, mainly consisting of reptiles. I suppose considering the circumstances, they were taken wonderful care of.. but it wasn't write. I didn't know at the time what I was really participating in and contributing to.

Slavery (Orcas)

    There is a lawsuit being filed asking a federal court to declare that five wild-caught orcas forced to perform at Sea World are being held as slaves in violation of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. This filing is the first ever seeking to apply the 13th Amendment to nonhuman animals.. it names the five orcas as plaintiffs and also seeks their release to their natural habitats or seaside sanctuaries.
    The suit is based on he text, which prohibits the condition of slavery without reference to "person" or any particular class of victim. Jeff Kerr says "Slavery is slavery, and it does not depend on the species of the slave any more than it depends on gender, race, or religion."
    The five wild-caught orca plaintiffs are Tilikum and Katina (both confined at Sea World Orlando) and Kasatka, Corky, and Ulises (all three confined at Sea World San Diego). By definition all five orcas are defined as slaves. Ingrid E. Newkirk says "All five of these orcas were violently seized from the ocean and taken from their families as babies. They are denied freedom and everything that is natural and important to them while kept in small concrete tanks, and reduced to performing stupid tricks.   
    Orcas are very smart animals who in the wild work cooperatively, form complex relationships, communicate using distinct dialects, and swim up to 100 miles every day. At Sea World, they are forced to swim in circles in small, barren concrete tanks. Deprived of the opportunity to make conscious choices and to practice their cultural vocal, social, and foraging traditions, they are compelled to perform meaningless tricks for a reward of dead fish.              
    Animals are no longer regarded as "things" to dominate, but as breathing, feeling beings with emotions, dialects, intelligence, and families. Just as week look back with shame at a time when we enslaved other humans and viewed some people as property less deserving of consideration and protection, we will look back on our treatment of these animals with shame. Our understanding of animals grow each and every day.
    The orcas are represented in the suit by what the law refers to as their "next friends": Ric O'Barry (a former orca and dolphin trainer and the star of the Academy Award-winning documentary The Cove), renowned orca expert Dr. Ingrid N. Visser, Orca Network founder Howard Garrett, and former Sea World trainers Samantha Berg and Carol Ray.
    Please write to the Blackstone Group - the company that owns Sea World - and ask that it immediately set in place a firm and rapid plan to release the animals to sanctuaries that can provide them with an appropriate and more natural environment.

Rose-Tu is pregnant again & Have Trunk Will Travel

     Rose-Tu, an elephant at the Oregon Zoo, is facing her second forced pregnancy. As if it wasn't enough that she was beat and sodomized at just five years old.

    The Oregon Zoo paid a $10,000 federal fine after authorities found that this youngster had one hundred and seventy-six gashes and cuts after being repeatedly struck with a bullhook - a heavy baton with a sharp metal hook on the end - that was also used on her. Rose-Tu's first forced pregnancy resulted in the confusion, frightening, chaining of Rose-Tu after she kicked her newborn.
    Costly, traumatic elephant-breeding programs are indefensible. The mortality rate for the babies is high, and no baby who manages to survive will ever be released into the wild. If Rose-Tu's pregnancy is successful, her baby may eventually be shipped to "Have Trunk Will Travel," which is a program who has been caught on tape abusing elephants, including babies. Trainers with Have Trunk Will Travel (HTWT), one of the last companies that provides elephants for the entertainment industry, were filmed repeatedly shocking elephants with electric prods and beating them with bullhooks. The videos real many thing: a baby elephant cries out every time a handler hooks hi in the lip, and another elephant bellows in pain when a handler jabs her on her sensitive belly and genital area to force her to "perform" a headstand! One gruesome scene shows handlers pinning an elephant down with bullhooks while workers saw down her tusks, cl,dose to the bone!
    HTWT uses elephants who as babies were captured in the wild and subjected to intense beatings to break their spirits. Elephants travel around 30 miles a day in the wild, but at HTWT they are chained in place by one front foot and one back foot all night, every night, and for more than half of every day during the winter months. The owners, Kari & Gary Johnson have opposed legislation to protect elephants repeatedly. They defend the use of cruel electric bullhooks and prods on elephants.
    The best thing you and I can do is never buying a ticket to go to the zoo, or any organization of show using animals for entertainment. Thank you.

Rose-Tu

Rose-Tu

Rose-Tu

Have Trunk Will Travel

Have Trunk Will Travel

Unfair "BULLFIGHTING"

    Every year, over 40,000 bulls are barbarically slaughtered in bullrings around the world. From the instant they get in the ring, they have a death sentence. They are often weakened by being drugged, having their horns shaved to impair their navigation, have beatings with sandbags, debilitated with laxatives, and/or have petroleum rubbed into their eyes to impair their ability to judge distances. Just typing this alone makes me very sad and weak. I cannot even imagine.. if I get a little shampoo in my eye when showering, it is very painful.. much less petroleum purposely rubbed into them.
    In the usual Spanish bullfight, the bull enters the arena and is approached by picadors, who are men on blindfolded horses who drive lances into the bull's back and neck muscles. So, from here on the bull will be impaired to lift his head to defend. They twist and gouge these lances for a large amount of blood loss. Then, the banderilleros enter on foot, distract the bull, and dart around him while plunging banderillas - which are brightly colored sticks with harpoon points on their ends.. into their back. When the bull has weakened from the significant amount of blood loss, the banderilleros run the bull round and round to make it very dizzy so it can no longer chase. Lastly, the matador appears and after provoking a few exhausted charges from the dying animal, he tries to kill the animal with his sword. If he misses, succeeding only to further mutilate the animal, the executioner is called to stab the exhausted and submissive bull to death. The dagger is supposed to cut the animal's spinal cord, but even this can be blundered, leaving the bull conscious but paralyzed as he is chained by his horns and dragged out of the arena. If the crowd is happy with the matador, the bull's ears and tail and cut off and presented as trophies. A few minutes later, another bull enters the arena and the sadistic cycle starts again. Wow, this really just sounded like a made up horror movie.. but it's not.
    The tourist industry is one of the biggest supporters of bullfighting. Bullfighters and travel agents promote the fight as a fair competition.. a festival. They don't tell the tourists that bull never has a chance to defend themselves.. much less live. Most foreign visitors who witness this are saddened, repulsed, and disgusted bu the cruelty and never want to see it again.
    Tourism also keeps the cruel "Running of the Bulls" in Pamplona, Spain, in business. The bulls are kept in crowded, dark enclosures, and when they are prodded into the streets with electric shocks, they are momentarily blinded by the sunlight. The runners hit the animals with rolled up newspapers and twist their tails. The panicked animals often loose their footing on the corners and crash into walls, breaking bones, and injuring themselves. Most tourists don't know the bulls will be killed later on in the bullring.
    In April 2004, the Barcelona City Council declared Barcelona an anti-bullfighting city in an effort to eventually ban this primitive blood sport. In November 2008, the Initiative for Catalonia Greems, one of the three main political parties in Catalonia, resolved to oppose bullfighting, and a motion has been submitted to the Catalonia Parliament that could expand existing cruelty-to-animals laws to include bullfighting. According to a Gallup survey taken in October 2006, 72 percent of Spaniards show no interest in bullfights, up from 54 percent in the eighties.
    In Portuguese bullfights, the bull is stabbed with banderillas bu a matador on horseback, causing deep wounds and significant blood loss. The bull is then tormented by eight forcados, seven of whom grab the animals head while the eighth pulls on his tail, eventually stopping the exhausted animal. The bull is then dragged out of the arena and left bleeding to await his slaughter.. hours or even DAYS later.
    And, lastly.. bulls are not the only victims in bullfights. Horses are used to carry people with spears and other weapons in order to stab the bull to weaken him. Horses are blindfolded and sometimes have wads of newspaper stuffed in their ears so that they won't be spooked by the charging bull or the noise of the crowd. These animals are often gored as riders force them to move close to the terrified bulls, who try to
protect themselves. Each year, approximately 200 horses are killed in bullrings around the world....

Turkey Tossing

     Sometimes I am really happy about being who I am - a vegan 100%. Sometimes I don't realize somethings until later on.. but as soon as I do - I change it! For example, there was a wonderful tomato basil pasta at a restaurant by my house. I ordered it once, specified no cheese sprinkled on top - ate it and it was divine. The next time we went, I ordered the same thing.. the waiter informed me that the sauce was made with cheese! So, sure once in a while.. and probably a long time, I will make mistakes.. so in the long run, under the circumstances of the world, I am happy about who I am and what I do (and don't do) as far as animals go. But, on the other hand, I am very sad. I am very very very sad all of the times because of the majority of the world who does participate in evil.. I am saddened by this on a daily basis.
    Tomorrow & Saturday, "The Turkey Trot Festival" is going on, and I am so sick about this. I have  never heard of such a thing! And, I thought Snapperfest was the stupidest thing I had heard of. Live turkeys may again be hurled to their deaths from planes 1,000 feet in the air traveling 70 miles per hour while spectators cheer. Who the F would cheer or participate in this
crude 'activity?' Naturally, turkeys fly short distances at low altitudes. Being dropped from a plane 1,000 feet means they will fall like stones, slamming into buildings, the street, and even cars with a sickening thud. This ridiculous 'festival' happens several times a day during Yellville, Arkansas. The drop violates Arkansas law (§5-62-103), which states that "a person commits the offense of cruelty to animals if he or she knowingly subjects any animal to cruel mistreatment." Yet city officials have never lifted a finger against the responsible people.
    I wish I could do something. Can you imagine how terrified these birds are? God knows where these turkeys come from and what they've been through already.. then their last moments.. transferred on a plane and dropped to die.
I do think it is nice and I wish for the best.. PETA is offering a reward up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone responsible for this cruel and malicious activity. All we can do is urge the mayor of Yellville to do everything in his power to prevent turkeys from being illegally terrorized and killed during this year's festival and pray for these birds. I wish I would have stumbled across this sooner to do more. May they rest in peace.
     I normally choose not to post videos.. pictures do justice. But with this particular festival, I couldn't not find any pictures that I thought would show justice.. so take a look for yourself.. it is safe for work & is not graphic.. just gives you an idea of what happens.. picture if that was you being thrown out of the plane.. and listen to those ignorant people.. how much fun they are having.

Hop to it & save a kangaroo or two!

    Late nights while  kangaroos are grazing, they are faced with the threat of being hunted for meat and their skins. These gentle herbivorous, which are an integral part of the Australian ecosystem are brutally killed for profit. This massacre has been described at the largest of wildlife in the whole world.
    According to VIVA, Australia exports approximately three million skins each year. They are used to make handbags, wallets, shoes, athletic gloves & mitts, and other products. In addition, many souvenir shops sell "kangaroo paw" back scratchers and even bottle openers and coin purses made from kangaroo scrotums.. beer can holders and other absurd products, including using their fur.According to the Australian Department of Trade and Foreign Affairs, the kangaroo industry exports kangaroo meat (for human consumption) to over 55 countries. Additionally, a large portion of Australia’s precious wildlife ends up being used as pet food. According to the Australian Department of Trade and Foreign Affairs, the kangaroo industry exports kangaroo meat (for human consumption) to over 55 countries.
    Kangaroos (including mothers with their joeys) are targeted at night. First, startled by the noise of vehicles and blinded by the bright spotlights that the shooters use, they are defenseless. Shooters are supposed to at least lethally wound the kangaroo by a single shot to the head to avoid suffering.. but unfortunately many are shot in the jaw, neck, and chest which as you can imagine cause prolonged, immense suffering. Once the mother has been killed, the joeys are helpless. The code of practice for humane shooting says that 'at foot' joeys should be killed by a single shot to the hear or heart, but many escape death by starvation, predation, cold, or dehydration. Pouch dependent joeys are ripped from their dead mothers pouch and either hit over the head will a metal pipe, stomped on, or decapitated and discarded, which surprisingly enough is acceptable by the Australian government.
    The only protection for these docile & unique animals is a weak set of guidelines known as the "Code of Practice for Humane Shooting of Kangaroos" which is not linked to the Prevention of Cruelty to animals act, nor monitored of policed by the RSPCA or animal welfare experts. Video footage has revealed serious violations of the Code of Practice for Humane Shooting of Kangaroos including horrific abuse of kangaroo where shooters were seen slamming fully conscious joeys into their trunks, stomping on fur less joeys, and simply leaving them on the ground to die. Unfortunately, I came across one of these videos. I hadn't had any knowledge on the murdering on kangaroos; I suppose I knew it happened.. but I have never read or seen anything.. after viewing just one frightening video, I was just about to puke. I cannot believe it.. well, I guess I can believe it since all of the cruelty I've been researching. I tell you, nothing stands a chance in this world.

    When researching the information about these incredible crimes, I found something else, which I think is absolutely stupid! Sometimes animals used for entertainment makes me more upset than anything.. because that is what it is.. entertainment.. listen to this! Who would believe anyone would actually commute with a distressed, diapered kangaroo and force him to box? Yes, that is right, ladies & gentlemen.. box. There is a 'man' named Javier Martinez who travels with the Piccadilly Circus and is doing just that.
    The skit is called Rocky Show Circus.. he dresses up a kangaroo who he calls Rocky and taunts him into fighting back. He has been repetitively been cited by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for violations of the Animal Welfare Act, including failure to provide adequate veterinary care and safe animal enclosures. The kangaroo get severely stressed and has charged people during photo shoots, attempted to flee the ring during the act, and has chewed on his own arm. At least 2 kangaroos used in his act have died which touring with the circus.. one passed away from a deadly bacterial disease called "lumpy jaw," which can result from severe crowding, poor diet, stress, and poor hygiene. There is no need to attend circuses that use & exploit real animals.

Prisons (Zoos)

    Zoos started back when travel was impractical & when documentaries and live Internet video feeds weren't available. Nowadays, wildlife watchers can hop on a plane to Costa Rica, Africa, or Australia for photo safaris or even stay at home and catch documentaries or view video feeds, which capture animals' natural behavior that is rarely, if ever seen in zoos.   
    Zoos use to attend to 142 million people yearly.. unlike now. They are declining interest to a public that has become much more knowledgeable about the needs and behavior of wild animals. We are aware of the toll that captivity takes on creatures who are meant to be free. There is no excuse for keeping social, intelligent animals in cages for amusement. Confining animals to cages and depriving them of everything that is important to them does not percent habitat loss and other perils.
    Individuals are often separated due to zoos.. traded and shuttled from place to place to suit breeding programs, leaving their complex and multifaceted social relationships in tatters. Animal welfare usually takes a backseat to the bottom line. Taxpayer subsidies and other financial resources are often squandered on gift shops and amusement rides instead of being spent to upgrade the exhibits.
    The exhibits provide to little, if any, opportunity to express natural behavior or make choices in their daily lives, and this usually leads to boredom and neurosis. Animals in zoos sleep and eat too much, exhibit behavior that is rarely, if ever, seen in the wild because there is nothing to do! Some examples of what different species are known to do in zoos are:

• Primates throw feces and engage in "regurgitation and re-ingestion" - vomiting and then consuming the vomit. They also mutilate themselves. Chimpanzees and gorillas become over aggressive.

• Wide-ranging animals such as bears and big cats pace incessantly.

• Birds mutilate themselves.

• Hooved animals lick and chew on fences and make strange lip, neck, and tongue movements.

• Giraffes twist their necks, bending their heads back and forth repetitively.

• Elephants bob their heads and sway from side to side.

• Captive animals might show no interest in mating, or alternatively, become obsessed with sex.

• Marine mammals repetitively swim in the same repetitious patterns in their tanks.

    Fish suffer too. A study conducted by the Captive Animals' Protection Society concluded that ninety percent of public aquariums studied had showed stereotypic (neurotic) behaviors, such as interacting with transparent boundaries, repeatedly raising their heads above the surface of the water, spinning around an imaginary object, and frequently turning on one side and rubbing along the floor of the tank.
    Newborn animals brings paying customers in their zoos quicker than anything and zoos know it. But breeding programs, which often operate under the guise of species preservation, inevitably result in a surplus of adult animals who are less crowd pleasing. In conclusion, zoos routinely barter, trade, lend, and warehouse adult animals they no longer want. Unwanted animals may be sold to dealers, who then sell the animals to dilapidated roadside zoos or traveling circuses. Some end up at canned hunt facilities, where they become targets for hunter who are eager to shoot "big game." From 2006 to 2009, Missouri's Dickerson Park Zoo handed over "surplus" giraffes, zebras, kangaroos, wallabies, and exotic antelopes to questionable entities including Buddy Jordan (a notorious animal dealer who is know to have sold animals to hunting ranches), exotic breeders, dealers, and uncredited zoo.s New Jersey's Cape May County Zoo sold two giraffes, Twiggs and Jeffrey, to an animal broker who them sold them to a traveling circus.
    The exotic pet trade has become saturated with tigers and other big cats because of the zoo industry's reckless disposal of these animals. Others are simply sold for slaughter.. murder. When the baby animals that are exhibited in the Minnesota Zoo's farm display grow up and lose their appeal, the zoos sends them to livestock auctions, and from there are usually sent to slaughter. The following spring, more babies are born, only to meet the same fate at the end of the season. They chief of veterinary services at the Cleveland Zoo has even called on members of the zoo community to support the use of surplus zoo animals in medical experimentation.
    Not one U.S. zoo has a policy of providing lifetime care for the animals who are born at its facilities.. many zoos breed species knowing in advance that the offspring, especially males will be difficult to place once matured. By their nature, zoos leave animals vulnerable to a variety of dangers from which they have no defense or opportunity to escape. Animals in zoos all over the world have been left to starve, burned alive in fires, poisoned, and deprived of veterinary care. Often many have died of items such as coins and plastic bags thrown into their cage. They have been bludgeoned, beaten, and stolen by people who were able to gain access to their exhibits.
Examples include:

• A bear starved to death at the Toledo Zoo after zoo officials locked her up to hibernate without food or water - not knowing they her species doesn't hibernate.

• At the Niabi Zoo in Illinois, a 3-month old lion cub was euthanized after his spinal cord was crushed by a falling exhibit door.

• Despite knowing that two Asiatic bears had fought dozens of times, the Denver Zoo continued to house them together until one finally killed the other.

• A kangaroo was struck by a train running into the exhibit at the Cleveland Zoo was so severely injured that she had to be euthanized. She was at least the fifth animal to be stuck by the train!

• A hyena at the Buffalo Zoo was crushed to death by a boulder in the exhibit.

• At the Saint Louis Zoo, a polar bear died during exploratory surgery, which revealed that pieces of cloth and a plastic trash bag had obstructed his digestive tract.

• At the National Zoo, dozens of animals have died in recent years, including two zebras who died of malnutrition, two red pandas who died from eating rat poison that was spread in their enclosure, and an orangutan who was euthanized because zoo officials mistakenly believed that she had cancer.

    In the event of natural disasters such as floods, hurricanes, or wildfires, animals are often left to fend for themselves. When wildfires broke out near the Los Angelos Zoo, officials admitted that they had no evacuation plan. During Hurricane Katrina, most of the six thousand aquatic animals a New Orleans aquarium perished when the power failed and employees were forced to vacate the premises.
    Captive breeding is irresponsible and makes even the worst situations worse! Each year accredited sanctuaries have to turn away hundreds of exotic and wild animals make homeless by circuses, pet trade, and roadside zoos. While few zoos, such as Detroit Zoo and Baltimore Zoo, have made the compassionate decision to provide refuge for animals who are truly in need, most reject these animals. The industry must transform itself from a prison to a refuge, where the welfare and rights of animals are given the highest priority. Let your local zoo know that the public will support such change by urging it to stop all breeding in order to provide greater space to fewer animals and to make room for wild animals who are confiscated from backyard cages, roadside menageries, basements, and circuses. Zoos will be forced to stop breeding and capturing more animals from the wild if their financial support disappears, so the most important way to help animals who are imprisoned in zoos is simply to boycott and urge everyone you know to do the same & thank you.

Animals Used For The Media

      There is nothing nice about primates, bears, large cats, and other animals used for television, film, advertisement, props, or exploited as sports mascots. Like most animals used for entertainment, most of these animals are torn away from their mothers as infants and undergo abusive methods and are housed in filthy cages and deprived of everything important to them. Social animals like wolves and elephants often are forced to live alone and suffer psychological stress and anxiety. The Department of Agriculture often cites the trainers for violating the Federal Animal Welfare Act, which establishes only minimal guidelines for care.

      We may be like primates in a lot of ways, but one thing is for sure.. no ape ever dreams of being a star on the big screen – for them it is just confusing, torturous, and stressful. Once chimpanzees and orangutans are torn away shortly after birth, trainers often beat the animals with fists, blubs, or even broom handles to get them to perform on que. You all are familiar with the chimpanzee “grim” we often see on the television.. well, that is actually a grimace of fear. Around the age of eight when apes become large and too hard to handle they are dumped at roadside zoos and other substandard facilities where they spend the rest of their lives in tiny cages in confinement all alone. Chimpanzees and orangutans can live up to their 50s and 60s. So, retirement for these beings means a long life of Hell.

      After learning about the cruelty these animals are subject to, many agencies have pledged to use animals in their products, which is wonderful. The American Humane Association’s “No Animals Were Harmed” seal of approval is misleading to filmmakers and us, the audience. They do not monitor living conditions of animals off set, during training, or while they are taken away from the mothers. They rarely, if ever file formal complaints when animals are mistreated. Actually, they defend the use of great apes in film and television productions, despite expert testimony indicating that great apes cannot be trained for entertainment without subjecting them to physical abuse. Real swell, huh?

     Let’s not forget mascots. Live animal mascots should not be at athletic events for any reason! The screaming fans, noises, and lights are terrifying to them. They don’t know what the Hell is going on. In their natural environment, tigers and lions would quietly roam many miles of territory, hunt, and raise their babies. Bears climb and debark trees, forage on berries, dig through vegetation, build dens, capture small animals or insects, and fish in streams. They aren’t allowed to do any of the things that are natural and important. No training can stop a wild animal from behaving instinctively, nor can the trainers protect themselves or the public. Injury and death are dangers for handlers and spectators. How sad that right here, practically my home town there is Mike the Tiger at Louisiana State University. Costumed human mascots can really pump a team, unlike a frightened animal.

      And, what about novelty displays – in an attempt to attract customers, some stores, restaurants, bars, and other establishments imprison wild animals. For example, the Mirage Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas confines dolphins to concrete tanks and keeps lions, tiger, and leopards behind glass walls for tourists to gawk at. Sharks, stingrays, and other aquatic animals are trapped in a tank beneath a dance station beneath a dance floor in Austin Texas. A gas station here in Louisiana called the Tiger Truck Stop keeps a tiger in a barren concrete cage. Just last month I was going down the interstate with my husband and discovered him. I dared not stop and see.. but saw signs at a gas station. Isn’t that nice? I don’t know what the point is.. just money I suppose. A chimpanzee named Candy has spent decades alone at an amusement park in Louisiana & Ivan, a gorilla captured in Africa as an infant in 1964 have languished for 26 years in a concrete Plexiglas cage as a department store attraction in Washington state before being rescued. These animals live miserable lives and often become sick, depressed, and neurotic.

      What about Nativity scenes? Supposed to be depicting a beautiful thing.. ends up so unholy. For example, Brighty, a donkey used in a church scene was savagely beaten by three young men. He ended up being very fearful of people and other donkeys – ruined his life. In Richmond, Virginia, three animals were killed by an attack of dogs used in a Nativity scene….. A camel named Ernie escaped from a scene was struck by a car and killed…. A sheep was once stolen and slaughtered. These smart, sensitive animals deserve better. They are not here for our entertainment. They are a being and have every right to be here and treated well like you and I.

WHAT FEST?

    Guess what today was everybody!! Indiana's 13th Annual Snapperfest! What is Snapperfest, you ask? It is where future if not already psychopaths and killers get to pluck a wild caught snapping turtle out of a washtub, grab them by his or her tail, slam them into the ground.. sometimes hold them in place by the bottom of their (most probably leather {skin}) shoe, pull him or her out of the shell (aka the body).. then when the player is able to wrap their fist around the neck they swing the animal around in the air while the crowd goes wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiild!!!!!!
    How nice of the trappers to go out and ""humanely"" TRAP {since when is the word trap a humane word?) the animals.. throw them in a washtub.. feed them real well for a couple of days for their minutes of glory and then assuming they live are thrown out somewhere. And, for the few idiots out there that think they aren't hurt, think again. Most suffer fatal injuries or die from stress, and since they are cold-blooded, they languish and suffer excruciating pain for a long time, until often death relieves them of their pain.
    I called the "leader" of this today and asked how would they like it if Godzilla came and "trapped their" ignorant asses, threw them in a room with just enough room to lay down.. but don't worry, Godzilla would feed you really well.. then when the time came, Godzilla would run around with you.. slap you down.. pull your head out enough to fist your neck.. swing you around, and assuming you live, throw you out somewhere in unfamiliar territory?
    Ugh, this "violence" is done while children watch these adults torture and frequently kill innocent animals as though this was a normal pastime. And, we wonder why the world is turning out the way it is with no compassion, hatred, and anger. Who do we blame - the government for encouraging this behavior? The people who do it? The Camp Shore Grounds, whose website shows such a wonderful family friendly place to relax and enjoy wildlife and beauty?