ACTION: Tell the US EPA to ban bee-killing pesticides immediately

Posted on 3 June, 2016 by Veganistan

Around the world, countless millions of bees are dying, in danger of extinction and threatening disaster for farmers and the global food supply.

From Credo:

According to two stunning new reports, the collapse of honeybee populations is worse than we ever thought. In its first-ever honeybee health survey, the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that commercial honeybee populations fell 8.1 percent in 2015.¹ Likewise, researchers in another study found that among all beekeepers 44 percent of bees were lost nationwide from 2015 to 2016.²

In addition to showing the horrific loss of honeybee populations, this research also suggests that bee-killing neonicotinoid (neonics) pesticides are one culprit of colony collapse.³

The Environmental Protection Agency is currently reviewing the effects of neonics on pollinator colonies. With this new data proving honeybees are on the brink of widespread collapse, we must act now to urge the EPA to ban these toxic pesticides once and for all.

Bees and other pollinators play a vital role in our food production system by enabling the production of many of the nuts, fruits and vegetables in our diets. In total, pollinators make possible an astounding 35% of global food production and contribute more than $24 billion annually to the U.S. economy. But the number of managed honeybee colonies in the United States has declined from six million in the 1940s to just 2.5 million today – jeopardizing our food supply and domestic agriculture industry.⁴

This isn’t the first time the federal government has admitted pesticides are a leading contributor to colony collapse. Last year, a similar survey, funded in part by the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, revealed that U.S. beekeepers lost over 42% of their colonies between April 2014 and April 2015, a significant upswing of losses from the previous year.⁵⁶

You can sign the petition here.

ACTION: Protect Sea Turtles from Shrimp Trawl Nets

Posted on 3 June, 2016 by Veganistan

Save sea turtles

From our friends at Oceana:

Of the seven species of sea turtles living in our oceans, all are listed as endangered or threatened. Every year more than 50,000 sea turtles are killed by shrimp trawling nets in the Southeastern waters of the United States as non-targeted catch. Together, we can help protect these sea turtles.

Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) installed in shrimp trawl nets can save 97 percent of sea turtles caught, while also benefiting the U.S. shrimp fishery and protecting fish stocks for the future. And new and improved TEDs could be even more effective.

Raise your voice: Sign the petition to US President Obama here: http://act.oceana.org/sign/obama_sea-turtle-TEDs_foe

Thanks for caring!

ACTION: Protect Dolphins, Seals & Pelicans from Oil Spill

Posted on 28 May, 2015 by Veganistan

Last week, a major oil pipeline off the coast of Santa Barbara, California, burst — and now thousands of dolphins, sea lions, and pelicans are drowning in oil slicks.

According to Terra Lawson-Remer of Avaaz in San Diego:

“The pipeline that burst lacked basic safety features, like an automatic shut-off valve. And Plains All American is one of the most reckless companies in the US, with over 175 documented violations in the past decade. They’ve been warned time and again, but did nothing.

…While our rocky shores are awash in oil and dead fish, Plains All American CEO Greg Armstrong raked in over $5 million compensation last year, and is guaranteed a $29 – $87 million golden parachute. These guys broke the law to make a quick buck.

But if we hold them accountable, we can prevent another catastrophe by putting oil company executives everywhere on notice that they can’t get away with these kinds of shady games on our watch.

These precious creatures are now drowning in oil because of the profiteering short cuts of the Plains All American, but we can hold the culprits accountable. “

In response, to protect marine life and the California coastline, Avaaz is petitioning California Attorney General Kamala Harris and local District Attorney Joyce Dudly to file civil and criminal charges against Plains All American and its leadership. The petition reads:

“We call on you to file civil and criminal charges against Plains All American and its senior leadership, for reckless and willful disregard of the law and public safety, causing the massive oil spill now contaminating Santa Barbara’s precious coastal waters. The Plains oil profiteers must be held accountable for their reprehensible actions.”

You can read the full text and sign the petition here:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/santa_barbara_oil_spill_loc/

ACTION: Help Stop the Slaughter of African Lions for Sex Potions

Posted on 1 November, 2013 by Veganistan

Does the idea of murdered cats get you hot? If by “hot” you mean “angry,” we’re inclined to agree — and, thankfully, so are the African courts.

For decades, tigers were slaughtered because their bones were highly valued by certain manufacturers of “male sex enhancement” products for the Asian market. Bones, fierce animals… we trust you get the idea. But international outrage over these practices resulted in laws passed to protect endangered tigers. Since then, the focus of the dubious trade has turned to other “manly” animals.

According to Avaaz, which has been active in campaigning to protect the rapidly-declining lion population in Africa:

Lions are farmed under appalling conditions in South Africa for “canned hunting,” where rich tourists pay thousands to shoot them through fences. Now experts say lion bones from these killing farms are being exported to phony ‘medicine’ makers in Asia for record profits. Trade is exploding and experts fear that as prices rise, even wild lions — with only 20,000 left in Africa — will come under poaching attack.

… There is a solution: banning and punishing the trade of lion bones and organs. South Africa is currently the largest exporter of lion trophies, bones and organs — it is also the only African country actively breeding lions in large numbers to supply trophy hunting.

Avaaz placed awareness posters and ads in airports in South Africa, but these were quickly taken down by the government. Avaaz then challenged the decision, and the courts ruled that the censorship was inappropriate and ordered the ads to be restored.

But the battled continues. So far, South African President Jacob Zuma has refused to take action to stop the lion slaughter. According to Avaaz:

But if we can show that allowing this senseless trade can hurt South Africa’s booming tourism industry and make visitors flee, president Zuma could be forced to act.

Follow the link below to add your name to the voices of concern and send a letter to President Zuma and Environment Minister Edna Molewa asking them to put a stop to the brutal trade in lion bones and other body parts:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_lion_slaughter_for_sex_aides_rb_en/

ACTION: Save the Chimps in Cameroon!

Posted on 18 August, 2013 by Veganistan

Worldwide demand for palm oil is on the rise, as millions of people use it for cooking, cosmetic and beauty products, and snack foods. Look at the ingredients list of any junk food package and the chances are pretty good it will contain palm oil.

Unfortunately, this demand for palm oil is driving deforestation, as the industry cuts down rainforests to create new palm plantations. Naturally, this is devastating for people, animals, and biodiversity.

Now, this industrial production of palm oil is threatening to ravage Africa. The next target: Cameroon. Herakles Farms, a US-based corporation, is currently planning to destroy a giant swath of rainforest in Cameroon, threatening the habitat of chimpanzees and the subsistence of Cameroonian farmers.

According to Greenpeace:

New science shows that the rainforest Herakles wants to destroy is home to wildlife like elephants, chimpanzees, and other endangered wildlife like the red colobus monkey. It also provides for the livelihoods of more than 14,000 Cameroonians who rely on the forest for small subsistence farming, many of whom strongly oppose the project.

Yet Herakles Farms’ CEO Bruce Wrobel refuses to acknowledge these facts, instead claiming that the company is aiming to help the community through economic development. But the facts on the ground tell a different story. The Herakles Farms project is simply the wrong project in the wrong place.

…That’s why we’re calling on a U.S. corporation, Herakles Farms, to halt their plans to plow down an area of chimp rainforest ten times larger than Manhattan to create a palm oil plantation in Cameroon.

Please take a moment to write the CEO of Herakles Farms and ask him to cancel the plans for this site and choose a different location for their palm oil plantations — one that doesn’t threaten people, chimps, or biodiversity.

You can submit your letter easily on this page at Greenpeace.org.

ACTION: Raise your voice to save Indonesia’s orangutans

Posted on 21 May, 2013 by Veganistan

The following appeal is from Rudi Putra, Indonesia. 2013 winner of Future for Nature award:

I live and work in the last place on Earth where endangered orangutans, rhinos, elephants, and tigers still roam together — but it’ll be bulldozed to bits unless our President hears our call and steps in to save this unique habitat.

Right now in one of Indonesia’s most pristine and untouched forests, a local Governor wants to let mining and palm oil companies move in to decimate areas the size of a million football fields! And the national Forestry Ministry looks like it might let him unless the President steps in to reject this orangutan-killing plan.

We know the President wants to be seen as a keen conservationist, but we need to tell him his green reputation and possible future UN aspirations are on the line to ensure he does the right thing. We need to act fast — sign the urgent petition and tell everyone about this mortal threat to our majestic forest. If a million people sign in the next 3 days [by May 25, 2013], I’ll ensure the President hears us!

Click this link to sign the petition at Avaaz.

ACTION: Help save Yellowstone wolves from slaughter

Posted on 21 November, 2012 by Veganistan

Wolves from Yellowstone National Park have been killed just outside the park’s borders. The reported death count as of November 20, 2012, is seven. Five of these animals were wearing radio collars and were the subjects of intensive conservation study.

Wild wolves must roam widely in search of food and mates, both of which are critical for survival of the species. Naturally, it happens from time to time that they venture beyond the unfenced boundary of the park.

We think caring people will agree that the killing of Yellowstone wolves is unconscionable. Please join us in telling the governors of Wyoming and Montana to put an immediate stop to the wolf hunt in lands on the periphery of the park.

The petition is here.

I No Longer Steal from Nature

Posted on 17 July, 2012 by Veganistan

You are diseased in understanding and religion.
Come to me, that you may hear something of sound truth.
Do not unjustly eat fish the water has given up,
And do not desire as food the flesh of slaughtered animals,
Or the white milk of mothers who intended its pure draught
for their young, not noble ladies.
And do not grieve the unsuspecting birds by taking eggs;
for injustice is the worst of crimes.
And spare the honey which the bees get industriously
from the flowers of fragrant plants;
For they did not store it that it might belong to others,
Nor did they gather it for bounty and gifts.
I washed my hands of all this; and wish that I
Perceived my way before my hair went gray!

~ Al-Ma’arri (973-1057)

Bill Maher on Ingrid Newkirk’s ‘Free the Animals’

Posted on 1 May, 2012 by Veganistan

Bill Maher, host of HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher,” has written a poignant (and, as usual, entertaining) article on the new release of Free the Animals, Ingrid Newkirk’s celebrated book that “tells the riveting, real-life story of the people who put on disguises, use fake IDs, or jimmy their way into laboratories in order to carry out the daring rescues of animals used in experiments and of the insiders, the whistleblowers, who risk their jobs to help them.”

One of those rescues involved Britches, an infant macaque monkey who had his eyes stitched closed and some kind of electrical box put on his head in a really lame and truly bizarre experiment. When PETA released photographs of Britches with his eyelids sewn shut, it was a PR nightmare for his tormentors, who switched to doing more benign things — not as benign as, say, knitting, but at least they stopped using baby monkeys.

Maher discusses the progress that has been made since the book was first published twenty years ago, and the work that is still to be done.

Which brings us to something else that’s changed since the book was first released: the widespread awareness that writing letters to your member of Congress isn’t enough and that bold action is needed to get animals out of laboratories, where dogs and rabbits are treated as though they were pieces of lab equipment. That’s something that the surprisingly normal members of the Animal Liberation Front discovered and is discussed in Free the Animals

You can read the full HuffPost article here, and you can buy the book here.

URGENT ACTION: Tell the USDA not to eliminate inspections of “poultry” facilities.

Posted on 28 April, 2012 by Veganistan

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) currently inspects all chicken and turkey carcasses for anomalies such as bruises, bile, and feces before they are sent to “processing.” Such inspections function as critical checks and balances for human health and animal rights. Unfortunately, the USDA is now considering a pilot program that would eliminate that mandatory inspection and allow private poultry processing plants the choice to monitor themselves… or not.

The USDA is holding a public commenting period on this proposed change right now. Please sign the petition opposing the privatization of poultry inspection before the public commenting period ends.

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