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May 2009 Jewel and Friends Need New Home Paws Down! To the Shrine Circus for endangering the well being of elephants Tina, Jewel, and Queenie. Earlier this month, three Shrine Circus elephants were transported from Texas to Springfield, MA, where a Massachusetts SPCA investigation found that one of the three elephants, Jewel, was too sick to perform. Their trainer, William Davenport, has been cited numerous times by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for safety and humane handling violations, yet continues to move them from city to city. Tina, Jewel, and Queenie deserve a life of peace and tranquility. They need to be rescued by the USDA and sent to a sanctuary where their medical, social, and psychological needs can be appropriately met. Take action: Write a polite letter to the Secretary of Agriculture, requesting his department immediately remove these three elephants from Mr. Davenport’s control and send them to a reputable wildlife sanctuary, such as The Elephant Sanctuary of Tennessee, which has offered to take these deserving creatures. The Honorable Tom Vilsack Secretary of Agriculture
U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Ave., S.W.
Washington, DC 20250
Telephone: 202-720-3631 E-mail: AgSec@usda.gov Source: https://secure2.convio.net/ida/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=1271 http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/save-tina-jewel-and-queenie (petition by a 7-yr old activist!) # Glow in the Dark Monkeys Paws Down! To the Central Institute for Experimental Animals (CIEA) for creating genetically modified monkeys who can pass their genetic mutations on to their offspring. Japanese scientists at the CIEA recently announced the results of injecting monkeys with genes that caused the animals to glow green under a fluorescent light: offspring from these monkeys also glowed. The purpose of this experiment is to eventually produce, through genetic manipulation, a steady supply of animals whose offspring will suffer from a variety of human-related diseases. These monkeys will then be subjected to an equally steady flow of painful pharmaceutical and other biomedical research. Numerous and scientifically valid alternative models to animal testing exist. In an age when we should be reducing the number of animals suffering in laboratories, the CIEA has taken a step backwards breeding disease-prone, yet otherwise sentient beings, for the purpose of research. Take Action: Write a polite letter to the director of the CIEA urging the institute to use its scientific expertise and powerful resources to create non-animal research models rather than mutating monkeys for research. Tatsuji Nomura, M.D., Ph.D., Director Central Institute for Experimental Animals 1430 Nogawa, Miyamae-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa 216-0001, Japan Tel : +81-44-754-4455 Fax: +81-44-754-4454 Email: kiyasho@ciea.or.jp Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/27/AR2009052701798.html?nav=emailpage # |
