NEWSANIMALS IN ENTERTAINMENT

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.”

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:

Actress Kristin Bauer, who plays  the vampire Pam on HBO's True Blood, has launched a campaign on Change.org with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine urging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect captive chimpanzees.

Khurshid Bhathena is Trustee and Honorary Secretary of Beauty Without Cruelty-India, an organization dedicated to the way of life which causes no creature of land, sea or air terror, torture or death.

Beauty Without Cruelty-India, an animal rights organisation, objected to greyhound coursing in the Indian state of Punjab in 1988. The government took action under wildlife protection laws banning the use of the hares which were chased and torn horrifically apart by competing pairs of greyhounds.

Thereafter, greyhounds continued to be brought into India and made to race illegally on mud tracks in rural Punjab. Two-to-three day events, in which 120 to 150 greyhounds participate, are usually held every winter.

These racing events are illegal gambling jamborees involving dogs and other animals, disguised as entertainment and sport. They attract the provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, so their illegality should not be overlooked. Unfortunately, many police and civil officials in Punjab are patronizing the races.

More than 42,000 people have joined a viral campaign on Change.org calling on Google to remove KG Dogfighting, a dogfighting game created by Kage Games, LLC, from the Android Market.

In recent weeks, several news outlets had mistakenly reported that Google had removed the app amid public outcry and it was just re-released. The unfortunate truth is that the game only went on a brief hiatus back in April over a name copyright issue. But once it was re-released within days as "KG Dogfighting," it stuck around, and Google has yet to weigh in on the controversy.

Robert Pregulman, author of the Seattle DogSpot blog and the campaign on Change.org, said, "Contrary to media reports, Google never removed any version of KG Dogfighting from the Android Market. The patience of dog lovers waiting for Google to take this cruel game off the market is running out fast.”

A young orca who was taken captive last June off the coast of the Netherlands received her first glimpse of freedom last week, thanks to the diligent work of the Free Morgan Group, the Orca Coalition and growing pressure from advocates.

Morgan had been found stranded in the Wadden Sea, along the northern coast of the Netherlands. She was dehydrated and undernourished, so she was taken to the Harderwijk Dolfinarium for treatment. She was supposed to be released back into the wild, but instead, the Harderwijk Dolfinarium decided to put her on public display — just five weeks after her capture. Last December, the marine park made the announcement that devastated Morgan's supporters: they were keeping her. Well, unless another aquarium offered big bucks for her.

Under the claim of scientific and educational purposes, Morgan's new home was proposed to be a tank at Loro Parque in Spain. SeaWorld would then have ownership of the orca.

More than a year later, and several months after Morgan got a lawyer, a Dutch judge ruled on August 3 against Morgan's transfer to Loro Parque. The judge also questioned whether using the claim of "scientific research" was just a ploy to get Morgan to the new facility where she would no doubt reel in profits. He ordered the Ministry to investigate the claim.

Late at night on Sunday, August 6, in Anaheim, Calif., as the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus was loading its performing animals onto boxcars, an elephant named Sarah fell from a ramp and collapsed on the ground (video).

Ringling is claiming that the stumble was entirely accidental — the 53-year-old elephant simply lost her footing while boarding the train and unsuccessfully trying to back down the ramp.

But that’s not what it looked like to eyewitness Ameer Sanghvi, who told NBC LA, "They were struggling to get her on the ramp. She finally managed to get on the ramp and that's when she collapsed on her back, on the gravel with rough rocks.”

Just last month, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) reported that the USDA had cited Ringling in June for violating the Animal Welfare Act by failing to provide proper treatment for the same elephant. Sarah has a history of having a pus-like discharge in her urine and an elevated white cell count. Per the USDA inspection report, her handlers ignored Ringling's senior veterinarian’s orders to treat the infection, which could become fatal if neglected.

“We don’t let animals suffer here,” claims Marine Mammal Conservancy's Director of Stranding Operations, Robert Lingenfelser. Perhaps that should come with the following disclaimer: Unless it will benefit MMC.

On May 5th, a pod of 23 pilot whales became stranded on the Gulf Coast of Florida. Fifteen died before rescuers arrived. Two males were deemed healthy enough for release, and three were humanely euthanized. That left R300, R301 and R302 in the care of MMC.

It was decided to euthanize R302, but not before the whale was observed urinating blood (among other symptoms of severe illness) for a week. The decision to euthanize may have been humane for R302, but waiting for so long was anything but. The pattern of delayed decisions continues with R300 and it has been suggested the reason she is still alive is to bring in money.

Yesterday, AsiaOne reported that more than 100,000 people have signed a petition on Change.org to free 25 dolphins being held captive for a new exhibit at Resorts World Sentosa in Singapore.

The petition, started by dolphin activist, Barbara Napoles, urges Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) to show good corporate citizenship by releasing the dolphins instead of condemning them to a life in captivity.

Instead, RWS responded by attempting to mislead people into believing that their program is beneficial to the dolphins and resort guests.

The Marine Life Park of RWS told AsiaOne that it "provides strong and inspiring messages to visitors" that documentaries are unable to provide. As dolphin activist Ric O'Barry has said, the message provided by captive dolphin exhibits is anything but inspiring. “What does it teach you to see a dolphin suffer and what do the young children really learn from the dolphin? They learn that abusing nature is alright and that is really dangerous to their young minds.”