Help to Win Congressional Vote to End the Slaughter

Deep in Alaska, the aerial hunting of wolves continues this winter. More than 1,000 of these precious predators, the wolves have been chased to exhaustion and gunned down in deep snow. The animals die an slow agonizing death, crawling and suffering and trying to get away, or until the shooter sends a final execution shot into their heads.

Defenders of Wildlife and many people around the nation are trying to urge Congress to pass the vote to end this barbaric practice and from spreading to other states like the Montana, Idaho, Wyoming. More and more government representatives and senators are getting on board.

Spread the word and if you can, donate to help Defenders continue to fight for the lives of this fast-disappearing species.

Filed under: animal cruelty, environment, humane organizations, hunting, local issues, Take Action, aerial shooting, alaska, congress, defenders of wildlife, hunting, palin, wolves

Dog Slaughter in Hanzhong, China

A death squad pursues a terrified dog in Hanzhong, China

Dogs beaten to death in Hanzhong, China’s street

Right now as I write this post, China’s government for fear of a few random cases of rabies death, has ordered a massive killing of more than 30,000 dogs.  Dog Death Squads and civilizians alike take to the streets with bats, iron bars, sticks and rocks, chasing poor dogs, mercilessly beating them to death. Many of these dogs were claimed to also be health family pets. One by one, the dogs are “pulled out with a pair of long metal tongs, and brutally beaten with a stick – then even some may still seem to be alive, they’re tossed into a pit to be burned” – via International Fund For Animals.

China’s massive animal killing spree is nothing new. During the Olympics, they rounded up over half a million cats off the streets and brought them to be gassed, boiled, killed in mass. Each instance an epidemic of disease occur, the Chinese blame the animals first and out of fear, instead of learning about what can be done, resort to immediate killing of these poor animals.

Friends, right now, dead dogs lie and fill the streets of this village, and many more at one point or another in China’s history. Please spread the word. Don’t just read this post — Donate to this critical cause or WRITE TO THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT and express your outrage. Thank you.

Filed under: animal cruelty, dogs and cats, humane organizations, international issues, Take Action, china, dog killing, dogs, epidemic, hanzhong, hunting, Take Action

Stop Canada’s Cruel Seal Hunt

via Humane Society of the United States

It started yesterday – the first little baby seal killed, just a few weeks old, helpless, crying for his mother, slowly bleeding out on the ice while hunters ripped his skin off his back.

Please spread the word, and if you prefer to help quietly, sign the pledge or donate a little money, as little as you wish, to help humane organizations bring this barbaric slaughter to an end. Millions are doing it!!!!

TAKE ACTION NOW – thanks so much!

How can anyone harm such a face?

A great post by a fellow blogger with more indepth information on the seal hunt here.

Filed under: animal cruelty, hunting, international issues, seal hunt, Take Action, canada, canadian seal hunt, fur, hunting

Polar Bears $35K Bounty

The cruel hunt of Polar Bears via The Independent

We all know that polar bears are on the brink of extinction, due to global warming and the melting ice caps, this species is having increasingly difficulty hunting for food, swimming long distance and drowning. Scientists say just that alone will bring them to extinction in 50 years, if we don’t act now and reverse the damages. And now in the Arctic Circle, hundreds and thousands of hunters come to hunt for polar bears for $35,000 a head, and they come from all over the world- Mexico, Europe, the U.S, and even Canada’s “Inuit” communities, many of whom hunt their quotas and legally sell them onto outsiders wiling to part with cash.  For some countries, they allow hunters to take polar bear hides back, as long as they have the paperwork. According to the Independent, last year the U.S. banned the importation of polar bear hides but most countries, including Britain, place no restrictions on the skins.

This is more than an unfortunate thing – with these practices still legal, this magnificent species will soon be no more. Without them, seal populations will explode, calling for an excuse for more seal slaughter. Arctic animals will have nothing to scavenge on, with less to eat they too will barely survive. People don’t realize that what we do have an impact on everything, down to very tiny insects on earth, causing a domino effect.

Read the full article here.

Filed under: animal cruelty, environment, Global Warming, hunting, international issues, arctic animals, bounty, Global Warming, hunting, polar bears, seals

Safari Club International

Mission: THE LEADER IN PROTECTING THE FREEDOM TO HUNT AND PROMOTING WILDLIFE CONSERVATION WORLDWIDE

Translation: “We need to protect our right to bear arms, so let’s articificially boost deer, moose and caribou population so we can shoot them, and then the predators have more to eat, too so we ARE helping to preserve wildlife.  But wait, we have to protect our corporate farming friends now that there are too many wolves and bears eating their livestock, so let’s shoot them too.”

Filed under: hunting, hunting, safari club international

Palin Supports Killing of Wolves (and other Animals)

Again, this is not my platform for politics, however, this one has to be posted. Sarah Palin, McCain’s VP candidate, the governor of Alaska, has been an advocate for the cruel Alaskan Wolf Killing spree for years. As a member of Defenders of Wildlife, an organization that champions for the welfare and survival of this incredible species, I’m sickened to even imagine that someone like Palin can take office. It’s no secret that the Republicans have always fought to drill for oil in this last great American wilderness and support the old misconception that shooting wolves protects livestock.

A photo from the L.A. Times showing palin posing for photo op with daughter after she shot a caribou:

“Palin has used her position as governor of Alaska to ruin the Alaskan wilderness in every way she could. Her most recent “victory” came on Aug. 26, when Alaska’s voters defeated Measure 2, an initiative that would have banned hunting wolves from airplanes for sport,” reported by John Dolin on AlterNet. It is said that according to Palin, shooting wolves is merely a safari. Imagine loud helicopters hanging the in the air, chasing a bunch of frightening little dogs and pups and spraying them with bullets.

Just recently, the Alaskan Game Board approved a free-for-all hunt for wolves near Gold Bay. The hunters killed all 14 terrified wolves from the snow, then raided a den of 14 surviving newborn pups nearby. This all too usual and cruel act is heinous. Please don’t vote for McCain and Palin as not only will these majestic creatures disappear forever, but so will our precious wilderness.

Filed under: animal cruelty, election 2008, hunting, alaskan wilderness, election 2008, hunting, killing wolves, republican, sarah palin

Protect Our Wolves

This is an animal issue that I’ve been concerned about for a long time. It’s such a national dilemma often it’s difficult to get people to pay attention, especially when there is so much cruelty in our local animal population already.

These majestic creatures have been around for as long as scientists could remember. They are ancestors to dogs, and the reasons dogs exist today in so many forms, as beloved companions to millions around the world. Centuries of literature and fables misrepresent wolves as barbaric wild monsters that lurk the woods, killing people. Did you know, that there as never been a proven, documented case where a wolf has maimed or killed a person unprovoked?

No doubt, they are wild, and dangerous when their families and territory are threatened. They never purposefully seek out human beings. Long story short, wolf population, especially in the Northern Rockies, has declined faster than any known mammals alive today due to hunting and loss of habitat. As a result, in 1973 they were placed under the Endangered Species Act, with reintroduction in the rockies to restore population. Still, they are being illegally hunted, even in Yellowstone National Park which is protected by federal law. In the past decade, ranchers and farmers targeted them to allegedly protect their livestock, many from Idaho and neighboring states. People also hunt them for their pelts and as trophies; they fight in government for their right to kill.

Very recently, they got their wish, and the wolves were hastily lifted from the Endangered Species Act. Within 2 days, one of the most cherished senior member of a particular pack was gunned down. Enraged, animal advocates was able to get a district judge to place the gray wolves under protection immediately, now awaiting a court decision from the challenging parties. I hope that they will restore this protection permanently.

Wolves are an essential part of our environment. Like most life on earth, they are here to keep the order of the forests, of the animal life within, and maintain the food chain in balance, since they are top predators. With less wolves around, deer population will explode even further, necessitating the need to hunt them as well to keep their population in check. This requires us to re-examine our ways. Why do we kill animals that are doing nothing but fighting for their survival?  Like the harp seals which get slaughtered every winter in the Arctic and Canada, these animals do not get in our way. Why can’t we let them be?

Thankfully, there is such a thing called human intervention. Defenders of Wildlife is the nation’s leading wildlife organization in fighting for our wolves, next is perhaps World Wildlife Fund. I urge you to visit their website www.defendersofwildlife.org to learn more.

Think nationally, act locally. Thanks!

Filed under: animal cruelty, humane organizations, hunting, local issues, defenders of wildlife, endangered species act, hunting, wolves, yellowstone national park

Polar Bear Heads On Your Wall

Just as Polar Bears got listed on the Endangered Species list, the Safari Club International has filed a lawsuit against the Federal government and the Dept. of Interior. No longer allowed to hunt polar bears in Alaska, they now are fighting to go to Canada to hunt and bring them back as trophies. This is absurd.

I never understood the allure of having some animal’s head pinned onto a wall. Does it make those who hunt feel and appear more masculine or admired, at the expense of some poor animal who is doing nothing but fighting to survive? Polar bears are already at risk of extinction, thanks to global warming. There are so many things wrong with what we people do to this beautiful planet. And while the subject of global warming heats up everyday, hunters still have the audacity to fight for this entitlement. Help end this now by sharing this fact with friends, and/or make a donation to Defenders of Wildlife here.

In Alaska, people are trying to raise $600,000 of campaign funds to defeat a ballot measure by the Safari Club. Please make a contribution so no more polar bears are lost in needless cruelty.

Filed under: animal cruelty, Global Warming, hunting, international issues, Take Action, animal cruelty, defenders of wildlife, hunting, polar bears, safari club international

Extinction: Polar Bear

We will miss them when they are gone—and it’s happening, rapidly. With global warming so apparent, arctic animals such as the great Polar Bear is decreasing in numbers more quickly than ever. With the ice caps melting from warmer climate, the arctic-sea ice habitat they completely depend on, polar bears will find it harder to breed. It will be tougher for them hunt for food, hibernate. They will have fewer cubs and less will survive from the shortage of food, their mother’s milk. They will be unable to swim longer distances between the broken ice sheets. They will grow tired and drown. It has been reported more often now that dead polar bears are found in water and land.

Another plight that is facing polar bears is the government loopholes that allows Americans (and other countries) to hunt them in Canada and bring them back to the States, for skin, fur, and as trophies. This is an abomination, since they’re already suffering from the climate change. There is reportedly only 25,000+ of them left around the world (this is a low number) comparing to the millions 50 years ago.

While many people feel that there are other more important issues to think about– this one must not be ignored. Global warming affects us all, as we know already—the more ice caps melt, the sooner and more definite, our waterfront cities will be immersed by sea-rising oceans. Polar bears are on the top of the food chain, and when they disappear, the balance of life as we know it will be altered forever. Seal population will rise (yet giving Canada an excuse to hunt them). Arctic foxes and birds will have nothing to scavenge and eventually die too.

As for me, they are just too precious to not give a damn about. We’d miss them when they’re all gone. Read more about this issue here. Do your part to help lessen the effects of global warming, and keep informed.

Filed under: hunting, international issues, extinction, Global Warming, hunting, IFAW, polar bears