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Ft. Lupton, Colo. (Sept. 6, 2011) – A rescue transport coordinated and operated by In Defense of Animals (IDA), the international animal protection organization that operates Hope Animal Sanctuary in Grenada, Mississippi, will arrive today in Ft. Lupton, Colorado with 119 homeless animals available for adoption. The 113 dogs and 6 cats rescued by IDA and others are headed for Every Creature Counts (ECC) in Ft. Lupton, Colorado.

IDA and ECC have partnered for three years to place animals from the Mississippi region, where there are low adoption rates, to an area where spay/neuter programs and policies have reduced the euthanasia of shelter animals and increased adoption rates.

PetSmart’s Adoptathon, September 9-11, is a major event for guardians seeking companion animals. ECC partners with PetSmart Charities and has placed hundreds of animals at the chain’s seasonal Adoptathons and throughout the year.

The director of IDA’s Hope Animal Sanctuary in Mississippi, Doll Stanley, who is driving the transport vehicle, said: “There’s little hope for adoption of the animals we rescue in our region. People who want animals don’t have to adopt, they just take in the animals who wander to their homes. Many municipalities and counties have no animal shelter, spay/neuter programs are just emerging, and people abandon their animals instead of getting them spayed or neutered.”

The rescue, care, and transport of animals are costly. This transport alone will cost IDA and partners, including the Winona Animal Advocacy Group, nearly $5,000. The cost of rescue, care, medicines, vaccines, and medical procedures for these animals, while greatly reduced by Veterinary Associates of Grenada, Mississippi and offset by Mississippi State University’s student surgery program, has cost IDA and partners an average of $500 per animal, or $60,000.

Donations can be sent to IDA-HAS, 52 CR 241, Grenada, MS, 38901.

Contact: Doll Stanley, 662-809-4483, doll@idausa.org

Each flavor shines a light on an animal issue. The Peanut Butter Pit Bull, crispy peanut butter and luscious 64% dark chocolate, highlights Pit Bulls, who can be great family companions. The rich 66% dark chocolate bar, The Fix, encourages spay and neuter. And Wild at Heart, dark chocolate hearts filled with zingy raspberry, raises awareness of the cruelties inflicted upon animals in circuses, zoos, and laboratories. Other flavors include Bow Wow Bon Bons, Pick Me! Pepper, and Foster-iffic Peppermint.

Based in Brooklyn, New York, Rescue Chocolate is made with the finest ingredients and no artificial preservatives. Visit www.rescuechocolate.com anytime in the month of September to support the work of IDA. And visit www.idausa.org for information about In Defense of Animals.

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Contact: Weil Public Relations, 818-341-3646, rachel@weilpr.com

Salem Ore. (September 2, 2010) – A California sea lion held captive in Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, Texas is unaware that his fate will be decided today in court. In Defense of Animals (IDA), an international animal protection organization, will represent Willy at a 1:30 p.m. hearing today in the Oregon Supreme Court Courtroom, 1163 State Street, Salem, Oregon 97301. This pinniped, known to animal advocates as Willy but dubbed “C657” by state wildlife agencies who branded him with the same moniker, is a plaintiff in a suit brought by IDA. Willy was mistakenly identified in the state’s lethal removal program, where sea lions are being trapped and killed for eating salmon below the Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River.

“This is a clear case of mistaken identity. Willy should never have been removed and we are using the state’s own records to prove it,” said IDA’s Northwest Director, Matt Rossell. “This is just one more government blunder in long list of missteps in a misguided program that scapegoats native sea lions and condemns them to death for simply eating. Killing sea lions is not going to resolve the real issues facing salmon recovery – over-fishing, dams, introduction of non-native fish, and habitat destruction.”

California sea lions are native to this bioregion and are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). However, the Oregon, Washington and Idaho state wildlife agencies are trapping and killing sea lions in a “lethal removal” program under the authority of NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service, killing sea lions that meet specific criteria under Section 120 of the MMPA if determined these individually identifiable animals are making a “significant impact” to salmon populations. This killing program is in its third year. Animal advocates await a decision by the Ninth Circuit Federal Court about whether the states have proven the sea lions, who have been observed eating only between .02 and 4% of the Spring Chinook run below the dam annually, in fact have met the requirements of this exception to the MMPA.

Willy, or “C657,” was trapped and removed from the Columbia River on April 1, 2009 in a lethal removal program being carried out by Oregon, Washington and Idaho state wildlife agencies. When IDA saw that he was not on the Letter of Authority to be lethally removed, they filed suit on his behalf. Among the evidence IDA submitted to the court are copies of government sea lion monitoring records that prove Willy’s innocence.

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Contact: Matt Rossell, IDA, 503-890-5151

IDA’s Hope Animal Sanctuary (HAS, formerly Project Hope) and the Charleston, Mississippi Police Department worked together in July to rescue six starving, chained dogs from Sanders’ property on West Main Street in Charleston. Videotape of the dogs’ conditions and the rescues may be seen at IDA’s website, www.idausa.org. Doll Stanley, the Director of IDA-HAS, filed the affidavits in support of criminal neglect charges. Two of the dogs have since died.

“The entire town of Charleston, especially Animal Control Officer Kevin Hodges, deserves praise for their handling of this case,” said Stanley. “When ACO Hodges sees abuse, he acts. When he needs assistance he calls me. The chief has a zero tolerance policy for animal abuse, the PD act, and Kevin is spotter and town crier. The crowning testimony to the compassion of the community is Judge Steve Ross.”

Sanders was found guilty on six counts for failure to provide sufficient and wholesome food and water, the only statute available for charging these crimes. “While we are thrilled with the conviction,” added Stanley, “this points out the need for stronger animal cruelty statutes in Mississippi, and we urge all those who care about animals to contact Mississippi House Speaker Billy McCoy to ask his support for stronger statutes.”

The Mississippi State Supreme Court has ruled MSSS: 97-41-1 (Mississippi’s animal cruelty statute) vague and therefore unconstitutional. Since that ruling, there has been no revision of this statute, or the Chapter 41 statutes addressing the neglect of animals. IDA’s Hope Animal Sanctuary is working with veterinarians, humane representatives, concerned citizens and other leaders to strengthen Mississippi’s cruelty to animals statutes.

Judge Ross imposed a $75 fine for the conviction for each dog (6), a $95 court cost for trying each count, and $25 per count for the enforcement of the arrest warrants.  Sanders may not possess an animal for three (3) years and was handed a six-month suspended jail term provided she complies with sentencing provisions.

“The responsibility of achieving justice for the animals who suffer at the hands of abusers weighs on all of us,” added Stanley. “But this trial couldn’t have gone more perfectly – and we are cheered by the thrilling recovery of the four dogs who survived Annie Ruth Sanders back yard.”

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Contact: Doll Stanley, Hope Animal Sanctuary Director, 662-237-0233, Doll@idausa.org

San Antonio, Texas (July 16, 2010) – In Defense of Animals (IDA), an international animal protection and rescue organization, is transporting 55 rescued long-tailed macaque monkeys from an insolvent toxicology laboratory in Oxford, New Jersey. Continuing a journey that began yesterday, IDA will deliver eight of the monkeys to their new home at Mindy’s Memory Sanctuary in Newcastle, Oklahoma today. The transport will continue with three more stops in Texas tonight and Saturday at Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation, Primarily Primates, and Born Free USA primate sanctuaries. IDA coordinated their 1,700-mile journey, which is utilizing a specialized animal transport service.

Click here for video of the rescue. Click here for photos of the rescue. Click here for B-roll footage of monkeys in laboratories.

“These young monkeys would have been subjected to decades behind bars in cramped stainless steel cages, forced to endure painful toxicology tests,” said IDA president Scotlund Haisley. “Now they will have a life filled with fresh air, friends and freedom from harm.”

The lab the monkeys came from had been repeatedly cited by the USDA for Animal Welfare Act violations and had a license to sell animals. If not for this rescue, these monkeys could very well have ended up in other labs that routinely perform extremely invasive or terminal experiments on long-tailed macaques. Published articles from 2010 describe experimentation ranging from brain lesions, invasive brain studies of auditory, motor and visual cortex, Ebola virus, stroke, plague and drug-induced seizures. These intelligent, social primates suffer when imprisoned for decades in stark lab environments. Monkeys often display clinical signs of depression and abnormal behavior including hair pulling, stereotypic circling and pacing, and even self mutilation.

The rescue was initiated by New York-based activist Camille Hankins, following an anonymous tip from a former animal caregiver at the recently closed lab. After negotiations with the company hired to liquidate the “assets” of the lab, a proposal to release the animals was accepted, with the crucial assistance of IDA pro bono attorney Kathryn Flood of the law firm Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney.

“We are proud to have played this significant role in helping to rescue these monkeys from the horrors of the lab,” concluded Haisley. “These are the lucky ones. We are inspired to renew our commitment to end the institutionalized abuse that is animal experimentation.”

For more information, visit www.idausa.org.

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Contact: Eric Kleiman, 717-939-3231, ericsk@idausa.org

Jackson, Miss. – In Defense of Animals’ (IDA) Project Hope sanctuary near Grenada, Mississippi, and Mississippi Spay & Neuter (MS SPAN) are teaming up to spay and neuter scores of dogs released to IDA by a Holmes County woman. Once a breeder, she’d fallen on hard times and couldn’t feed or properly care for the dogs.

On Friday, February 5, 20 of the dogs will be spayed by MS SPAN at their “Big Fix” rig at 2104 Old Brandon Road, Pearl, Mississippi. IDA and MS SPAN hope this event will bring attention to the plight of homeless and abused companion animals across Mississippi through the promotion of affordable low cost, high volume spay/neuter of animals.

Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah alerted IDA that the woman had about 30 dogs she couldn’t feed. Project Hope Director Doll Stanley, accompanied by Dr. Walter Roberts, DVM, of Lexington conducted a needs assessment, helped remove the first 19 dogs, and provided urgent care for the animals.

The woman, who really had over 60 dogs, refused to abandon them when hard times hit, even remaining in a rental house with no north wall. When asked what she did in inclement weather she responded, “I wrap up and sit on the porch.”

Project Hope will return to the woman one dog who she cannot part with, and she’ll be moving to a habitable home. “It’s so easy for us to judge people who keep so many animals they can’t care for, but their stories aren’t always that simple. This woman showed me pictures of the good days when she lived in a lovely home, her small dogs were dressed in outdoor gear when in the yard, and her life as a nurse was very different,” Ms. Stanley said.

“That this woman has lived in dire conditions suffering a disabled back, and begged for food for her animals, is a tribute to her true commitment to them,” added Stanley. “She isn’t a collector who acquires animals she can’t help. Though she falls under the “hoarder” category for allowing the dogs to multiply, I’m humbled by her will to stand by them and ask for help.”

Project Hope has partnered with Every Creature Counts (ECC) in the Denver area of Colorado to place the dogs for adoption. Project Hope’s transport team will leave Grenada Tuesday to bring the dogs to ECC, which will be showing the dogs at an upcoming PetSmart Charities “Adoptathon.” To contribute, visit www.idausa.org.

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February 4, 2010

Contact: Doll Stanley, 662-809-4483