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April 2010 Kick Boxing Orangutans Paws Down! To Safari World, Bangkok, for staging orangutan kick boxing matches. According to news reports, “A safari theme park in Thailand has become a macabre tourist attraction for its orangutan kick boxing matches—complete with simian ‘round card girls.’” The report goes continues, “As the heavyweights of the jungle duke it out, female orangutans parade around in bikinis displaying the round number.” Thailand once shut down Safari World monkey matches; it’s time they shut down the orangutan matches too. Take Action: Write a polite letter to the ambassador from Thailand to the United States asking his country to close down the orangutan kick boxing matches at Safari World. You may also want to write Safari World directly urging them to stop these matches. The Honorable Don Pramudwinai Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Thailand To the United States of America Royal Thai Embassy 1024 Wisconsin Ave., NW Washington, DC 20007 Tel.: 202-944-3600 Fax.: 202-944-3611 Safari World Public Company Limited 99 Panyaintra Road Samwatawantok, Klongsamwa, Bangkok , 10510 Thailand Tel : (662) 9144100-19, 5181000-19 Fax: (662) 5181022, 5181033, 9142959 E-mail: info@safariworld.com Sources: www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2010/04/12/2010-04-12_orangutans_kickfighting.html www.thaindian.com/newsportal/world-news/animal-lovers-slam-thailands-orangutan-kick-boxing-matches_100346781.html # Sheep Grazing Halted Paws Up! To the USDA for halting sheep grazing in habitat necessary for the survival of grizzly bears and other threatened wildlife in Yellowstone National Park. According to news sources, “Officials operating a federal sheep research station in eastern Idaho say they intend to halt grazing activities in areas deemed vital grizzly bear habitat in the Greater Yellowstone region.” In June 2009, NHES wrote Secretary of Agriculture Vilsak urging him to close the Agricultural Research Services-U.S. Sheep Experiment Station on land that connects Yellowstone National Park and Central Idaho and relocate the sheep to more appropriate and sustainable grazing lands. The sheep grazing experiment intersects with habitat that many species of wild animals, specifically, wolves, black bears, and grizzlies, use to move between Yellowstone and Idaho. Take Action: Please write a letter to Secretary Vilsak and Director Hammond thanking them for protecting grizzly bears and other wildlife in the Yellowstone National Park-Central Idaho corridor. The Honorable Tom Vilsack Secretary of Agriculture U.S. Department of Agriculture 1400 Independence Ave., S.W. Washington, DC 20250 Andrew C. Hammond Director, Agricultural Research Service Pacific West Area USDA, ARS, PWA, OAD 800 Buchanan Street, Rm. 2030 Albany, CA 94710-1105 Source: http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/article_6361a398-41cd-11df-be5f-001cc4c002e0.html www.agweekly.com/articles/2010/04/09/commodities/livestock/lvstk48.txt # Horses in Peril Paws Down! To a Tennessee General Assembly subcommittee for voting in favor of HB 1428, a bill which would allow for the establishment of a horse meat processing plant in the state. Under an amendment to HB 1428, the state of Tennessee could follow in the steps of Montana, which passed a horse slaughter bill in 2009, and build a horse slaughter plant in the state. However, commercial horse slaughter for human consumption is illegal in the United States. In fact, the last horse slaughter plants were shut down in 2007. There is extreme irony in the introduction of HB 1428, as another bill in the Tennessee General Assembly, HB 3386, would amend Tennessee’s aggravated cruelty to animals statute to include horses. Under HB 3386, horse owners in Tennessee who intentionally neglect their animals could face felony animal cruelty charges. Tennessee seems to have a split personality where horses are concerned—one bill wants to slaughter them; another wants to protect them. Take Action: Tennessee residents, please write your representatives urging them to vote against HB 1428 and FOR HB 3386. Sources: www.meattradenewsdaily.co.uk/news/160410/usa___horse_slaughter_bill_passed_.aspx http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default.aspx?BillNumber=HB1428 www.animallawcoalition.com/horse-slaughter/article/903 # Save the Planet, Eat Vegetarian Paws Up! To the San Francisco Board of Supervisors for encouraging vegetarian Mondays. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a resolution encouraging citizens to eat vegetarian on Mondays. The purpose of this resolution is to “call attention to the relationship between diet, health and climate change.” According to news sources, “The measure…urges ‘all restaurants, grocery stores and schools to offer a greater variety of plant-based options to improve the health of San Francisco residents and visitors and to increase the awareness of the impact a green diet would be on our planet.’” Take Action: San Francisco residents, please contact your Board of Supervisors and thank them for their continued stand on supporting a beneficial approach to human, animal, and Earth health. San Francisco Board of Supervisors 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place San Francisco, CA 94102-4689 Tele.: 415-554-5184 Fax: 415-554-5163 E-mail: board.of.supervisors@sfgov.org Source: www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_14838682 # |