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.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

San Francisco, Calif. (August 31, 2010) – In Defense of Animals (IDA), an international animal protection organization, today offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest, prosecution, and conviction of a woman videotaped throwing puppies into a river. The act is believed to have occurred in either Bosnia or Croatia.

The video, which was first posted on YouTube this week and has since gone viral around the internet, is 43 seconds long. A young woman with blonde hair and a red sweatshirt is seen grabbing six puppies from a bucket and throwing them into a river. Internet sleuths investigating the case claim to have uncovered information indicating the woman is from the Bosnian town of Bugojno, and that the river is the Vrbas River, though the New York Post stated the video was believed to be from Croatia.

YouTube has since pulled the video, but it can still be seen on the IDA website. More than 1,500 people have joined a Facebook group called “Find the girl throwing puppies in the river.”

“We recognize that animal cruelty laws vary from country to country,” said IDA President Scotlund Haisley. “But cruelty is cruelty, and this is sadistic behavior, no matter where it occurred. And the person who did this despicable act is a danger to both animals and people.” Haisley is referring to scientific and law enforcement studies that show a clear connection between violence to animals and violence to people.

IDA is working with a linguist and a detective to determine the location where the video was filmed. To collect the $5,000 reward, anyone with information that leads to the arrest, prosecution, and conviction of the people involved should call IDA in the United States at 707-981-7701, or contact IDA by e-mail at melissa@idausa.org.

For more information, please visit www.indefenseofanimals.org.

Portland, Ore. (August 31, 2010) – This Thursday, Oregon members of In Defense of Animals (IDA) will join other concerned citizens to protest the opening night of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in Portland. Ringling has been embroiled in controversy over its brutal treatment of elephants, including calves ripped away from their mothers for violent training solely for “entertainment.”

What: Protest of Ringling Bros. Circus opening night in Portland. Activists will hold banners and signs, distribute leaflets, and show undercover video of Ringling’s animal abuse with a mobile Gorilla Theater Cart.

When: Thursday, September 2, 2010, 6:30 p.m.

Where: Rose Garden Arena, One Center Court, Portland, Ore. 97227 – South side of the Rose Garden Arena, near NE Multnomah St. Street

Ringling trainers routinely prod, hook, jab and strike elephants with a bullhook, a steel-tipped device similar to a fireplace poker that is used to control the large animals and force them to perform unnatural tricks. These abuses typically occur out of public view.

Evidence including court documents, undercover videos, and photos of training sessions with baby elephants shows that Ringling:

·     Routinely chains elephants in train box cars for more than 26 hours at a time and for as long as 60 to 100 hours without a break while traveling across the country for weeks at a time.

·     Physically abuses elephants with electric shock devices and bullhooks, including one elephant who was “dripping blood all over the arena floor from being hooked.”

·     Trains baby elephants through isolation from other elephants, prolonged restraint (tying their legs) and hitting with bullhooks. (A two-year-old calf, Aria, was chained nonstop for four months and only let off chains for 40 minutes a day during training.)

·     Chains elephants, who naturally walks tens of miles a day, at its Florida breeding facility for 16 to 22 hours a day.

For more information, please visit www.HelpElephants.com.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Matt Rossell, 503-890-5151, matt@idausa.org

Updated: 08/27/2010 11:11:51 AM EDT

The power of words isn’t lost on the York County SPCA — especially the power words can have over those who can’t speak for themselves.

That’s why in late 2009, the Emigsville shelter changed a simple term in its adoption contracts.

Instead of being “owners,” people adopting dogs, cats and other pets from the shelter are now referred to as “guardians.”

The change has no legal ramifications, Executive Director Melissa Smith said, but the hope is that it will make a difference in the hearts and minds of adoptive families.

“Those two terms are so different in meaning,” she said. “I think it sets a different tone. You own your car, but your car is not a living thing. I think the term ‘guardian’ suggests a higher level of (moral) responsibility.”

The York County SPCA embraced the idea, which was introduced about eight years ago by retired veterinarian Dr. Elliot Katz, president and founder of In Defense of Animals, an international animal-rights group.

“We needed to change the language, just as so many other movements have done,” Katz said, including the civil-rights and women’s-rights movements.

“It’s clearly evident that action will oftentimes follow language,” Katz said. “My feeling was the term ‘owner’ denigrated the animal companions we share our lives with.”

‘Rhetoric’: If animals are viewed as property, it’s far easier “to think of them as a commodity that could be bought and sold,” Katz said. “There’s always the same rhetoric that protects the status quo.”

Katz said there are hundreds of animal shelters around the country that have adopted the “guardian” term.  In July 2000, Boulder, Colo., was the first city to do so.  Since then, 44 other U.S. cities have followed suit, as has the entire state of Rhode Island, replacing “owner” in codes, ordinances and legislation, according to Katz.

The campaign has been met with mixed reactions from members of the American Veterinary Medical Association, according to the group’s website. Some AVMA members have expressed concern about “the unintended legal implications” of pet owners being identified as guardians, specifically a flurry of malpractice lawsuits filed against veterinarians that could lead to “skyrocketing” malpractice insurance that forces vets to increase their costs to clients, according to the AVMA’s website.

Change doubted: Gary L. Francione, professor of law at Rutgers University and author of numerous books on animal rights and the law, isn’t opposed to using the term “guardian.” However, he said it isn’t going to change anything.

“The bottom line is, is the legal status of animals changing? … I don’t regard them as property, but the law does,” he said. “Can I still chain them outside? The answer is, of course I can. So I’m not sure what these campaigns do.”

Francione also disputes Katz’s philosophy that tweaking language can effect change in how animals are treated.

“It may work when you’re talking about civil rights or women’s rights, but it doesn’t work when you’re talking about property,” he said. “You don’t go from non-personhood to personhood through incremental changes … (including) language changes. Once somebody has achieved personhood, then you can improve that status and ameliorate the lack of equality through various means.

“I hate to be negative about this, but … in a lot of ways these changes just make us feel better. They (let us believe) we’re progressive, that we’re humane,” Francione said. “It’s not really going to change things.”

SPCA hopeful: Smith said she knows some people will never feel a moral responsibility to their animals.

“But I do believe I’ve seen a slight change in mindset — that more people are adopting pets to be companions,” she said. “And that’s why we felt this change in language, while it may seem minimal, will evoke a feeling of guardianship.

“We just feel it’s imperative that people view animals in a different light than they have before. And we hope the change expresses our philosophy of how people should view their pets.”

– Reach Elizabeth Evans at levans@yorkdispatch.com, 505-5429 or twitter.com/ydcrimetime.

http://www.yorkdispatch.com/news/ci_15912654

“Orcas are apex predators who suffer intensely from the confinement and artificial, barren environments SeaWorld and other aquariums provide them,” said Scotlund Haisley, President of In Defense of Animals. “It is hazardous to force them into such close proximity to humans, let alone to swim with them, so we should expect more injuries and deaths to occur as long as they are publicly displayed and forced to perform circus-style tricks for food.”

Whistleblower Linda Simons, a previous Director of Health and Safety for SeaWorld Orlando, said she was fired two months after Brancheau’s death because SeaWorld did not want her to speak with OSHA about the event. Simons confirmed OSHA’s willful citation by claiming SeaWorld knowingly exposed staff to the dangers of working with Tilikum, who had previously killed two people. She said that a relevant safety drill was performed just weeks before the tragedy occurred and that it had failed miserably.  When Tilikum killed Ms. Brancheau, Simons described the scene as “chaotic” and that up to 85 people had responded.  She was shocked to see additional staff placed at risk when they were permitted to jump into the medical pool to try to free Ms. Brancheau from Tilikum’s jaws as he continued to thrash about.

SeaWorld’s supposedly “educational” dolphin acts have led to previous injuries and death. IDA challenges the educational value of the programs, noting that viewers learn nothing about the natural behaviors, instincts and needs of orcas in the wild, and in fact are given false and misleading information. “SeaWorld’s tiny pools and demeaning performances actually suppress the natural behaviors of orcas and reward unnatural behavior,” said Haisley. “Most visitors to SeaWorld shows actually leave with less accurate information about orcas than they had when they arrived.”

SeaWorld contends their public display programs are “valid under federal permits and under the supervision of the U.S. Department of Commerce National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.” Written testimony submitted by NMFS to the House Committee of Natural Resources in April stated otherwise, revealing that after a permit is issued to a facility for public display, they have “no additional oversight over the holding, breeding and care of animals” and that monitoring educational programs of public display facilities is not a focus of the agency. NMFS further confirmed that the public display industry have been regulating and evaluating themselves since 1994 when amendments to the Marine Mammal Protection Act took place.

“With NMFS allowing SeaWorld and other commercial theme parks to establish and regulate their own education programs, they are endangering the lives of people and allowing the public to be mislead about the needs of orcas and how to conserve them in their natural habitat,” Haisley added. “IDA recommends that NMFS declare orcas as unsuitable for commercialized captivity and halt orca breeding.  Orcas and other cetaceans should only be held in captivity when they are found sick or injured and need rehabilitation before being released. If they cannot be released, they should be held in spacious coastal sea-pens where they can live out their lives with more stimulation, more choices, and other natural habitat surrounding them. Tilikum should be retired to a coastal sea-pen. Currently he is being held indefinitely in a tiny, barren tank with barely any room to swim in any direction.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Scotlund Haisley, Scotlund@idausa.org, 707-981-7701

Duluth, Ga. (August 25, 2010) – Georgia members of the international animal protection organization In Defense of Animals (IDA) have organized a 5K Run/Walk to benefit IDA’s worldwide campaigns for animals. The event will take place Saturday, August 28, at 7:30 a.m.at the St. Marlo Country Club, 7765 St. Marlo Country Club Parkway, Duluth, Georgia. Participants are asked to arrive by 7 a.m.

Those who have not already pre-registered online should bring $20 (cash or check). Participants will receive a free t-shirt and refreshments. There will also be music and giveaways from the sponsors, which include SunTrust Bank, Big Peach Running Co., GTS America, Strategic Staffing Solutions, and Whole Foods Market.

The run/walk will begin at The Cabana and traverse a scenic route – mostly flat and easy to walk. The special guest will be Shirley Lasseter, Commissioner of Gwinnett County.

Participants must be at least 18 years old to enter. Children younger than 18 years may run/walk with their parents or guardians. Two IDA golf carts marked with IDA banners and balloons will accompany the route with first aid and water, and will be available to transport anyone in need of assistance back to their car.

Well-socialized dogs may join their guardians, free of charge. These companions must be on a leash and have a collar and tag with proper identification. Water and treats will be available for our four-legged friends. If you are bringing a dog, please be responsible – check the weather report and make sure your dog will be able to complete the 5K safely given the day’s expected weather conditions. Make sure your dog is under your control at all times.

For more information about this event, contact Sarita Raturi, 678-469-2406, IDASARITA@ymail.com.

For information about In Defense of Animals, or to make a donation, visit www.indefenseofanimals.org.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Sarita Raturi, 678-469-2406, IDASARITA@ymail.com

By Jessica Ryen Doyle

An animal rights group dedicated to “end animal exploitation, cruelty, and abuse by protecting and advocating for the rights, welfare, and habitats of animals” says the salmonella outbreak that has sparked a massive egg recall is not an isolated incident and demonstrates the danger of consuming animal products.

In Defense of Animals (IDA), which is based in San Rafael, Calif., issued a press release Friday afternoon that warned against eating sick birds or their eggs.

“Hens in intensive agriculture are forced to live in miserable, frustrated existence crammed into tiny battery cages, where they are unable to walk or spread their wings,” the group claimed. “They live covered in feces, often forced to share cages with the bodies of deceased neighbors. These unnatural conditions produce sick birds, which increases the likelihood of infected eggs.”

But animal products are not the only foods to be recalled due to pathogens. Vegetables have been recalled in past years due to E. coli, and in some cases, these illnesses have led to death.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest identified 363 outbreaks linked to iceberg lettuce, romaine lettuce, spinach and other leafy greens, variously contaminated with E. coli, norovirus, or salmonella, which caused 13,568 cases of illness between 1990 and 2006.

In 2006, tainted spinach caused one death and 98 hospitalizations, according to the FDA; in 2007, it led to three deaths and 206 illnesses.

The FDA determined that the spinach originated from an organic spinach field. It was speculated that the spinach was tainted by irrigation water contaminated with wild pig feces.

In 2005 and 2006, tomatoes were implicated in four multistate outbreaks of salmonella, sickening hundreds of people. The CSPI found tomatoes were involved in 31 outbreaks involving 3,292 reported cases of people falling ill.

But Hope Bohanec, grassroots campaign director of IDA, said all of these vegetable outbreaks stemmed from the mistreatment of animals.

“For instance, when the spinach was recalled in California (in 2006), it was the result of a neighboring livestock yard and the manure that had run off into the spinach field,” she said.

Nearly 1,300 people in 10 states have been sickened recently by salmonella in eggs, sparking a nationwide recall of 380 million eggs.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday said it had not yet found clear evidence of contamination, although heavy rainfall near the Galt, Iowa, company that produced the eggs may have raised the risk of salmonella infestation from rodents.

“Yes, in this case, rodents may have defecated in the feeds,” Bohanec told FoxNews.com. “It still comes back to the cruelty of animals, because of the intensive confinement that they keep animals in.

“Egg-laying hens are kept on top of one another, they can’t even spread their wings and the bacteria is going to spread like wildfire – so if they had enough room this wouldn’t be an issue. Imagine living your whole life in a crowded elevator, that’s how these animals live.”

Read the original article here.

San Rafael, Calif. (August 20, 2010) – In Defense of Animals (IDA) said today that the salmonella outbreak requiring the recall of close to 400 million eggs is not an isolated incident, and demonstrates the danger of consuming animal products produced in factory farms. Since January, there have been dozens of recalls by the USDA of animal products, including such varied items as beef stew and chicken pot pie.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has seen a four-fold increase in reported cases of Salmonella Enteritidis in the past three months, amounting to more than 800 cases of this potentially deadly disease every month. These figures don’t include an unknown number of sickened individuals who failed to report their illness.

Hens in intensive agriculture are forced to live a miserable, frustrated existence crammed into tiny battery cages, where they are unable to walk or spread their wings. They live covered in feces, often forced to share cages with the bodies of deceased neighbors. These unnatural conditions produce sick birds, which increases the likelihood of infected eggs. The birds are pumped full of hormones and antibiotics in an unsuccessful attempt to stave off constant sickness. With tens of thousands of birds stacked in cages on top of one another, dropping waste into the cages below, contamination is common.

“If the suffering of billions of animals each year isn’t enough to make people rethink their diet, maybe this alarming outbreak will sway people to stop consuming animal products,” said Scotlund Haisley, President of IDA.

“The workers in egg factories wear hazmat-like suits complete with respirators and thick rubber gloves. Who wants to eat anything that comes from a place where you have to wear full body armor just to walk through the door,” said Hope Bohanec, IDA’s Grassroots Campaigns Director.

The 400 million eggs involved in the current recall were sold under 13 different brands across the United States, including some with names that imply they were “humanely” produced. The recall can be traced to one producer, Wright County Egg, of Galt, Iowa, They have been the target of government regulators for environmental violations, unsafe working conditions, and the harassment of workers, according to the New York Times.

For more information, please visit:  www.indefenseofanimals.org.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Hope Bohanec, 415-448-0058, 707-540-1760, hope@idausa.org