NEWSANIMALS

A year has come and gone and 20 dolphins are still being kept illegally in substandard conditions as part of the Indonesian traveling circus industry. After it was discovered that the dolphins were acquired without the proper permits, the Indonesian government set up a Memorandum of Understanding last year to transfer the dolphins to Jakarta Animal Aid Network and Earth Island Institute for rehabilitation and release.

The transfer was scheduled to take place on March 10, 2011. At the last minute, the Indonesian government backed out. The dolphins continue to be transported in tiny tanks and perform circus tricks while the brand new facility built to accommodate the dolphins’ rehab still stands empty.

Dismayed by the lack of action from the Indonesian government, Barbara Napoles launched a petition asking Indonesia to release the dolphins as agreed upon in the MOU. “These dolphins were wild-captured by fishermen and sold to the circus,” Barbara told me. “They, along with 52 other traveling circus dolphins, deserve better living conditions.”

Amanda Kearney didn’t set out to be an activist. But when, like many other people, she unknowingly moved to a city — Wentzville, Missouri — where her dogs, Harley and Belle, faced harsh restrictions simply because of their appearance, she learned that you can take on city hall.

“I called aldermen, reporters and news stations out of panic," Kearney said. "I don't look at my dogs just as pets; they are members of our family. It broke my heart to see them in muzzles and always on a leash in our fenced in backyard, I had to do something. It wasn't fair for them."

Luckily the majority of her neighborhood was extremely supportive. They wrote letters and made phone calls, too, giving character references for Kearney and her dogs. When Tyanna Flynn heard about Kearney's plight, she started a petition on Change.org. The petition was shared by community members on Facebook and gained more than 2,500 signatures.

This is a guest post from Marla Tauscher, an animal law attorney in California who started a campaign on Change.org asking Governor Jerry Brown not to repeal the state's protections for shelter animals. 

In 1998, California enacted a comprehensive body of law, called the Hayden Law, to protect shelter animals and improve conditions for them. Among its core provisions are the extension of the mandatory holding period for animals, veterinary treatment for sick or injured animals, record-keeping for all animals, implementation of holding periods for pets other than dogs and cats, and maintenance of lost and found lists.

The Hayden Law was groundbreaking, and since its enactment, many other states have used it as a model for their own shelter laws. But now it's under attack.

Last year, Ohio resident Eric Schumacher was ticketed when he was out walking his dog. He had to pay $550 for insurance, plus spend another $1,500 to build a fence. His dog, Brutus, had never been a threat to other people — his only crime was being a pit bull.

Eric and Brutus don't have to worry about facing this kind discrimination anymore. This week, Governor John Kasich signed HB 14 and repealed Ohio's statewide breed discriminatory law.

Abolishing canine profiling in the Buckeye state was an historic accomplishment made possible by Change.org members, with Best Friends Animal Society and the Ohio Coalition of Dog Advocates leading the charge. The antiquated pit bull law not only resulted in the killing of thousands of puppies and dogs, it wasted millions of taxpayer dollars. Indeed, eradicating breed discrimination is not only an animal welfare issue, it is a property rights issue, and a matter of economic justice when people like Eric are forced to pay unfair fines just to keep their pets.

In a joint press release with The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), fast food giant McDonald's announced that it wants its pork suppliers in the U.S. to phase out the use of sow gestation crates. They've asked all of the suppliers to outline plans for the switch by May.

McDonald's believes that gestation crates are "not a sustainable production system for the future," while HSUS adds that it's "wrong to immobilize animals for their whole lives in crates barely larger than their bodies." This announcement is the most recent success in the growing movement against factory farming, including commitments from Smithfield (a McDonald's supplier) and Hormel agreeing to phase out the crates that confine the smart, sensitive animals in spaces barely larger than their bodies.

If you're a football fan, you're gearing up to root for the Giants or Patriots this weekend. But if you're one of the 119,000 people who have signed GREY2K USA's petition on Change.org, then you're rooting for the greyhounds. Not the ones that will be "racing" against Mr. Quiggly, the French bulldog in the Skechers commercial, but the ones behind-the-scenes of the ad. The ones who suffer in cramped cages at the track and who face serious injury during races where the ad was filmed .

From Boston to Los Angeles, Skechers stores were confronted this past weekend by dog lovers asking consumers to boycott the company unless it drops its Super Bowl ad filmed at the notorious Tucson Greyhound Park. The controversy has dominated the pre-game advertising buzz.

Now, with only 5 days left, GREY2K USA is asking its supporters to keep up the momentum. From GREY2K USA, here are 5 things you can do:

Only a handful of airlines still engage in the transportation of primates destined for research labs as cargo. Now imagine this scenario: A major airline partakes in this practice, but after becoming aware of the cruel future that awaits their cargo, the airline decides to change their policy and opt out of carrying research-bound primates.

Sounds good, right? Well, hold your victory dance, the story doesn’t end there. The airline then is told that they cannot stop transporting primates until a hearing takes place that will decide if they can change their own policy.

This is the reality that Air Canada is facing.

While Christmas shopping at a Green Earth store in Windsor, Ontario, last month, Dan MacDonald noticed products called Frog-O-Spheres — plastic tanks containing live frogs. Some of the frogs were pressed up against the plastic, while others floated lifelessly. MacDonald watched in disbelief as some kids and their father shook one of the aquariums. “Is this thing real?” the dad asked a store clerk as the frog’s limp body rolled around the tank.

“The disrespect to this animal on every level was unbelievable,” MacDonald said. “I was outraged a place called Green Earth could demonstrate such a blatant and pathetic exploitation of a living thing.”

MacDonald knew something had to be done, so he started a campaign on Change.org calling for Green Earth stores to stop selling the Frog-O-Spheres. “I've been an animal activist for many years, so I took it upon myself, because I was so touched and disturbed by what I saw,” he said.

The following is a guest blog from Jessica Schlueter who coordinates the Intermix campaign along with her friend Amy Rebecca.

Intermix considers itself to be on the cutting edge of the fashion industry. According to its Facebook page, it focuses on "the best mix of emerging and established designers and the most sought after trends." Because of this, it has embraced and profited from the heartbreaking resurgence of fur, which has regained popularity in the past couple years. Because many fashionistas revere Intermix as a source of inspiration, every piece of fur sold by this company not only creates demand for more animals to be brutally killed for their pelts, but also enforces the growing notion that fur is not only acceptable, but something to be coveted.

My partner Amy Rebecca (founder of Fur Free LA) and I want to put a stop to this. Since the launch of our Intermix: Please Go Fur Free! petition in October, we have hosted and coordinated numerous national protests, launched an online photo campaign, encouraged people to email, tweet, and call Intermix (as well as individuals and companies that support or work with them), and have yet to hear a single reply from Intermix's people. The company's refusal to engage us or cooperate with us in any way can only mean one thing: Intermix knows it has no defense.

Jamie Buehrle is married to All-Star pitcher Mark Buehrle. Mark recently signed with the Miami Marlins.

Mark and I have always been avid animal lovers. When Mark was playing for the White Sox, we hosted “Sox for Strays,” a public-service announcement campaign that featured adoptable animals once a month during the baseball season. Before our 18-month-old American Staffordshire terrier, Slater, came into our lives we already had three Viszlas: Diesel, Drake, and Duke.

When it became a reality for us that Mark was no longer going to be playing for the White Sox, so many things started going through our minds. Instead of worrying about what team he would be playing for, what schools our kids would go to, and how to transition our lives to a new city, our biggest concern was ensuring our new city would allow Slater. Doesn’t that seem ridiculous?