ASPCA Horse Action Team News.... I have just received the Horse Action Team newsletter and for many of us rescue it is just not a word it is a promise to all animals. Whether it is our dogs, kitties, wildlife, livestock and our most beloved horses.... Horse slaughter has been front and center for some time now and the ASPCA Horse Action Team which originates out of Washington DC, has been focused on this particular topic. Horse meat for human consumption has not occurred here since 2005, but if our Representative's do not ensure that no federal funds go to reopening the plants, cattle farmers will again face a serious problem. Horse meat can be fraudulently labeled as beef, probably because it is cheaper for supermarket suppliers than real beef. This was discovered across EU in 2013, this was one of the biggest scandal's reported. If horse meat is produced here in the US, it could easily infiltrate our food supply, accidentally or fraudulently. We all worked exceptionally hard, having petitions signed, speaking with our State Representatives and Senators, FB, and lots of letters. WELL WE DID IT.. since the passing the Udall-Kirk Amendment in the Senate Appropriations Committee, this past spring, we are now focusing on passing the SAFE Act (H.R. 1942/S. 1214), which will prohibit slaughtering of horses throughout the US and ban the the transporting of horses across our borders FOR SLAUGHTER. There are many State Representatives who are incredible advocates for horses. We are asking everyone again to make sure your State Representative in your District knows your feelings and the outrage that will be felt throughout the United States and ensure the SAFE Act (H.R. 1942/S. 1214) for all of our horses. I have witnessed slaughter on the ranches of Hawaii, one never forgets ....... So join us and stop HORSE SLAUGHTER FOR GOOD!!!! In the Newsletter is attached the petition and the means of contacting your Representatives. LET'S DO IT!!!!!!!!!!! MAHALO

Almost There Since passing the Udall-Kirk Amendment in the Senate Appropriations Committee last spring, we've turned our focus toward another milestone for horses: passing the S. The SAFE Act would finally ban horse slaughter in the U.S. as well as prohibit the export of horses across our borders for that purpose. Right now, there are 193 cosponsors of the bill in the House of Representatives - that means we're only 25 cosponsors away from our goal of 218!  We've made great progress already because of HAT volunteers like you, but now is the time to make that final push and enact a permanent ban on horse slaughter. Please continue to take action by reaching out to your U.S. representative, attending town hall meetings, and writing letters to the editor of your local newspaper. Keep reading to find helpful links on how to be an advocate for horses! Hoofbeats & Heartbeats RESCUE OF THE MONTH Villa Chardonnay   The largest equine and animal sanctuary in Southern California, Villa Chardonnay serves as a safe haven for over 200 abused and neglected animals, most of which are horses. Run by a two-member team, the sanctuary is dedicated to compassionate care for horses by providing comfort, health care, and shelter. For 13 years, Villa Chardonnay has played a crucial role in keeping horses from slaughter by taking in those deemed “unadoptable.” From elderly horses to horses with cancer, blindness, and neurological disorders, owners Monika Kerber and Louise Gardner welcome all. Last year the 10-acre sanctuary relocated to a 200-acre property, providing solace to even more neglected animals. ADVOCATE OF THE MONTH Tia Kobos    Tia has been riding, training, and caring for horses since childhood. She spent 30 years rescuing horses in Hawaii and now resides in Florida, where she continues to be a fierce horse advocate. Through her blog and website, Tia keeps others up-to-date on legislation regarding horse slaughter and other animal welfare issues. Tia engages in direct grassroots efforts to save horses, such as getting a letter published in her local newspaper and she regularly reaches out to both state and federal legislators on equine welfare issues. Tia is an exemplary member of HAT and her accomplishments attest to the immense power of animal advocacy. #NotWhatIOrdered Last month we unveiled our new social media campaign to end horse slaughter! The graphics featured in the #NotWhatIOrdered campaign help educate the public to show that horse slaughter is REAL. Our polls reflect a need for awareness and this is one way we can collectively do it! Please sign the petition, and then share, tweet, or forward the images below within your social networks to let everyone know that "Any Way You Slice It...It's Horse." Sign the Petition What's Next? We are asking each and every HAT member to commit to asking their legislators to cosponsor the SAFE Act in July. Think your legislator may already be a cosponsor? You can find out here. If they aren’t on the cosponsor list, please make it your mission to ensure their name is added! If your representative or senators have already cosponsored the SAFE Act, please visit the ASPCA Advocacy Center to send them an email expressing your gratitude. We must continue this push to encourage our legislators in Washington, D.C. to cosponsor this crucial bill through the end of the year. You can do this in creative and effective ways - often right from your home! Check out these links for ideas on how to start: How to Look Up Your Legislator How to Help Pass the SAFE Act  Writing an Effective Letter to the Editor (LTE) - That Actually Gets Published  Horse Slaughter Myths vs. Facts Edge Research Survey on Horse Ownership  Remember, legislation and policy related to animal welfare is constantly evolving. Make sure to stay up to date by checking our Advocacy Center, as well as our Equine Fund website for news, webinars, events, and more.  *If you are a HAT member and are not yet part of our Facebook group, but would like to be, please email grassroots@aspca.org and let us know!* Just for Fun... Photo Booth Fun at TAFA! Dozens of attendees at last month's Taking Action for Animals Conference in Arlington, VA posed with horse friendly speech bubbles like this one! They also received helpful information on improving horse welfare, including factsheets on horse-related legislation and tips on how to be an advocate for horses.  Well done, team! Only 25 House cosponsors left until we reach our goal of 218. I know that if we keep working together we can reach our goal and be one step closer to ending the slaughter of American horses for good. Let's pass the SAFE Act!          Audrey Perdue                                   Kelly Murray        Manager, Grassroots Advocacy        Senior Manager, Grassroots Advocacy ASPCA Government Relations              ASPCA Government Relations

BREAKING NEWS FROM... HUMANE SOCIETY INTERNATIONAL... I am sharing with everyone the stories coming out of Yulin and the dogs that have been saved from the barbaric death that awaited them at the Yulin Festival.. I had hope that many of you contacted your State Representative to endorse U.S. Rep. Alcee L. Hastings resolution H.Res.752 condemning China's Yulin Festival. This was a major resolution that would have the US condemning this Festival and hopefully stopping it for good. I do feel that their was a majority of support for this resolution and it will make the difference in the coming months. Today's news showed that over 66,000 letters went to our legislation asking the United States to support the petitions and intervene on behalf of the American People to stop this Festival and urge the support of Chinese Government in stopping the dog meat trade. There were 126,000 tweets urging support from our legislators, and 64% of the people of China are against the dog meat trade and the Yulin Festival. Humane Society International and Avaaz presented the Chinese Government with more than 11million signatures on the petitions. This was a miracle network of Humane Society International, Avaaz, Chinese Activists and all of the American people fighting for the lives of these dogs and cats. BRAVO U.S. Rep. Alcee L. Hastings resolution H.Res.752, HUMANE SOCIETY INTERNATIONAL, AVAAZ, the many CHINESE ACTIVISTS AND TO ALL US THE AMERICAN PEOPLE FOR SIGNING PETITIONS, TWEETING, WRITING LETTERS, CALLING THEIR LEGISLATORS AND CONTACTING THEM ON FB. MAHALO NUI LOA AND A HUI HO

Thank you for saving these animals With your help, HSI works year round in China to fight the cruel dog meat trade, but as this year’s dog meat festival in Yulin, China approached, we made it clear to city officials that public outrage against it continues unabated: On June 10th, we gathered with our Chinese partner groups outside the Yulin government office in Beijing to present a petition with 11 million signatures demanding an end to the cruelty. We also sent the petition directly to Xi Jinping, President of China and the National People’s Congress. Thank you for adding your voice to our call for mercy. HSI's Peter Li and local activists at the June 10th petition hand-in in Bejing, China In the weeks leading up to Yulin, thanks to you, we were able to support local groups in reporting four trucks taking animals to slaughter. This led to the rescue of dogs from two of the trucks, who are all now being cared for using funding from generous donors like you. Because of generous gifts like yours, we also rescued and helped shelter dogs brought out of Yulin. Although rescue is just one component of our year-round efforts to find a permanent end to this industry, during this year’s campaign, we rescued 49 dogs and 5 cats in addition to taking in and sheltering 120 sick and injured dogs rescued during the festival. All 174 rescued animals arrived at an HSI-funded facility in northern China. They are receiving excellent veterinary care from our local partner group. Over the next few weeks, we will help prepare the dogs for adoption into loving homes in China as well as North America. None of this would be possible without you by our side. HSI's Peter Li caring for dogs rescued from a truck bound for slaughter HSI’s Peter Li and Adam Parascandola were on the ground in Yulin and although the scenes of suffering were heartbreaking, they report a sluggish market and increased government restrictions on dog meat sales this year. They also confirmed that three slaughterhouses that HSI visited previously seem to be closed—one of them shut down entirely after our team exposed it to the public in 2015. And results from a recent opinion poll that HSI and Avaaz commissioned reveal that the majority of Chinese people want this festival shut down; most have never even eaten dog meat in their lives. You have helped us call attention to the widespread opposition to this cruel trade—an important step forward in our campaign to fight Yulin and the larger dog meat industry. A puppy born to a rescued dog now under the care of an HSI partner group in China See more images from these rescues during Yulin » We are so grateful to have you by our side with all we have planned in our fight to end this trade. Your gift supports HSI's efforts to expose the suffering behind the industry, provide law enforcement across China to tackle unscrupulous dog thieves and traders, stop slaughter trucks on the highways and rescue dogs, and equip other dedicated Chinese partner groups and shelters with the tools they need to challenge the cruelty on the ground. We can’t thank you enough for all you’ve done to help us keep up this fight. You give my colleagues and me hope that our campaign against Yulin and the dog meat trade is working and that one day this terrible suffering will come to an end. Sincerely, Andrew Rowan President and CEO Humane Society International

BREAKING NEWS!!!!!!!! PETA has uncovered certain factory farms that are suppliers of chicken to many top fast food and grocery chains, that baby chicks are being ground alive in massive meat grinders for their chicken patties. I have seen horrific action against animals, but to do this is totally BARBARIC, inhumane torture of a baby chick or any animal for that matter. Factory Farmers need to be federally investigated on their practices and condition of cages, corrals, pens, and treatment of their animals. Whether they are chickens, lamb, cattle, emu, hog, it is impossible to stop these BARBARIC ACTIONS, unless concerned persons working on the farms decide to expose them for torturous actions against animals. Corporate Headquarters for both the fast food chains and the grocery chains, should also be investigated and the findings of expose's like these, made to watch these inhumane videos and fined for not properly investigating their sources for food. PLEASE TAKE ACTION AND SIGN THE PETITION SO PETA CAN CONTINUE TO DO THEIR INVESTIGATION AND IF I KNOW PETA, PROSECUTION OF THESE FARMERS TO THE FULL EXTENT OF LAW!!! PETA pleads to go VEGAN, but maybe for some start to consider a Vegetarian diet. We as a people can shut down all animal factory farms and re-educate these barbarians to a better and healthier way of true green agriculture... and let them go totally green..... "We are their Voice" There is nothing we cannot do, we just need to do it!!!!!!!!! ... Humans can be the most dangerous of species...

BREAKING NEWS Every form of Life Created has a spirit and every living creature was created with a purpose... We as people need to remember that every living creature has rights.. Their rights are as sacred as our own... poidogsanuenue

Late-hatching chicks were not considered useful to Sanderson Farms, Inc., and were left to die or be killed. TAKE ACTION PETA has pulled back the curtain on rampant abuse on factory farms and in slaughterhouses for the chicken meat and egg industries many times over the years. Every time, people wake up and changes are made, sometimes even by the companies involved. This time, a PETA exposé of a massive hatchery operated by Sanderson Farms, Inc., which supplies chicken to Kroger, Sysco, Arby's, Chili's, and others, has provided shocking footage of unwanted chicks there born alone and left to languish before finally being ground up alive. When chicks hatched later than expected, including this one named Jessie by the eyewitness, they were left alone for hours, deprived of warmth, before finally dying or being killed. Click here to learn more about this eyewitness exposé and find out what you can do to help animals like Jessie who suffer in the meat industry. Thanks for everything you do to help animals! Sincerely, Danielle Katz Associate Director of Campaigns PETA

Let's take the time to sign and share.. We all love our oceans and for myself from Hawaii.. we are standing together to save and protect our ocean from over fishing, endangerment of many species of fish and other marine life. We are polluting our waters, along with climate change, we can lose it all. Please sign AVAAZ Petition to President Obama for protection of one of the largest areas of water in the world in the Pacific Ocean in Hawaii...."We all are one with the Ocean" the ocean is a holy place of reconnecting to our spiritual self. " WE ARE THE VOICE FOR ALL THAT CONNECTS US .. WE ARE THE ANGELS OF KINDNESS WHO WALK THE EARTH TO SAVE AND PROTECT BOTH ANIMALS, OUR OCEANS, MARINE LIFE." WE ARE CONNECTED TO THE SPIRIT"

President Obama could create the largest ocean protection zone ever with just one signature, but we need to overpower the fishing lobby first! Click below to add your voice to the petition below with one-click and protect sacred Papahānaumokuākea: SIGN NOW To all Friends of the Ocean Waters..... The largest swath of protected ocean ever (!) could be created in weeks, simply with President Obama's signature. But Hawai'i's powerful fishing lobby is ferocious and is working hard to stop the deal from closing and without a wave of voices supporting the dolphins, sharks, turtles, and more who depend on this sea, everything could be lost.   Insiders say that Obama wants to hear from the international community, knowing that protecting the ocean is a global task, and a failure not only threatens the majestic creatures in the sea, it threatens all of our survival. Add your name to the petition below with just one click to show him we're all in this together -- when enough people have signed we'll deliver our voices directly to the White House and to the local leaders in Hawai'i who need our support: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/_papahanaumokuakea_sust_cp/?bjllLgb&signup=1&cl=10295178730&v=78457 To President Obama, Hawai'i Governor Ige, and Senators Hirono and Schatz: "To secure the future of our planet, we need to protect the beautiful biodiversity that sustains it. The proposed marine national monument at Papahānaumokuākea is an opportunity for your government and the world to take the kind of dramatic steps we need. As concerned citizens with a stake in our seas, we call on you to make Papahānaumokuākea the largest protected space in the world, one with the maximum possible boundaries, a place we can look to for hope and inspiration." https://secure.avaaz.org/en/_papahanaumokuakea_sust_cp/?bjllLgb&signup=1&cl=10295178730&v=78457 To save our oceans, experts say we need to set aside as much as 30% in protected areas as soon as possible. This reserve -- in a sacred placeHawaiʻians call Papahānaumokuākea and that some see as the source of humans' connection with the holy -- would be a huge step in that direction, protecting 1.6 million square kilometers of ocean habitat home to over 7,000 species. A quarter of these can't be found anywhere else on the planet -- it's a stunning piece of our precious biodiversity that we can't afford to lose. But Papahānaumokuākea is also unique because experts say it's an exceptional 'climate refuge'. As our oceans heat up, marine life is traveling to cooler waters -- and this reserve is big enough and placed perfectly to span both tropical and more temperate ocean. That means it could maintain coral reef -- and the critical biodiversity it sustains -- in a way that most other places on Earth won't be able to. President Obama -- who is from Hawaiʻi, a local hero -- has overseen the creation of several critical protected areas, but this could be a new crowning achievement -- one that he could announce at home in Hawaiʻi at a major conference in September. We've fought for and won protected areas around the world, including off the coast of Hawaiʻi just two years ago -- where we beat these very same lobbyists. Let's show everyone from the locals behind the project to Obama himself that the world is 100% behind this plan. Add your name to the petition now with just one click, and protect Papahānaumokuākea: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/_papahanaumokuakea_sust_cp/?bjllLgb&signup=1&cl=10295178730&v=78457 The fishing industry doesn't have a leg to stand on in the debate. They want to be able to keep fishing big-eye tuna in the area -- but they've already fished out 86% of the world's stock of the species. And not only that, they only get about 5% of their catch from within these waters, and would be free to keep fishing elsewhere. But they're powerful lobbyists and they're making their case heard -- let's make sure we drown them out! With hope,  Avaaz team MORE INFORMATION: Native Hawaiians Call for World's Largest Marine Reserve (Pew Trusts) http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/multimedia/video/2016/native-hawaiians-call-for-worlds-largest-marine-re...

Breaking News, Please take the time to share, and call or FB your State Representative and ask to support the resolution below... showing support to cease the Yulin Dog Festival in China... Mahalo

I am asking to please endorse U.S. Rep. Alcee L. Hastings resolution H.Res.752 condemning China's Yulin Festival. This is not a cultural event as I have blogged so many times. So many petitions have been posed and I helped Humane Society International with petitions on my website. Please we must stop this BARBARIC Action against dogs and cats. 

Many of us helped with the Amendment for our beloved Horses, and we stopped the slaughter. Please help with stopping this BARBARIC and SADISTIC event.

 Mahalo uni loa, Call or go to your Representative FB page everything we do counts..
                                              "WE ARE THEIR VOICE"

BREAKING NEWS!!!!.... Center of Biological Diversity confirmed today that baby wolf pups were dragged from their den and killed. This is the most inhumane killing and with malice intent towards our WOLF population, since the US Wildlife Services went ROGUE! These were puppies, these BARBARIC ACTIONS MUST STOP, and these wolf hunters must be found, prosecuted and found guilty of killing an ENDANGERED SPECIES.... I am sure Center for Biological Diversity will have investigators up in Idaho, as well as many of the organizations that protect our wolves from complete extinction. I would hope that many of you will share and help them continue their lifesaving work for our wolves. There are now 2 species of wolves that are near extinction as we speak.. our Red Wolves and the rarest of all wolf species the Mexican Gray Wolf/Lobo.. Please take the time to read and share... Mahalo

"No Life is Greater than another.. and no life was created without purpose"

These are BARBARIC ACTIONS taken against our wolf population in Idaho.. pups should never be killed and killed with malice intent.

Our Wolves need a great Attorney on their side.. 

Make a Gift to Defend Wolves Tod Disturbing news from Idaho: A litter of wolf pups was recently dragged from their den and killed about 15 miles from Coeur d'Alene. It's a cruel and heartless act that can't go unpunished. The Center for Biological Diversity is jumping into the fray to catch the killers, offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible. We need your help to offer this reward and to fight for a future for wolves. With a donation to the Center's Wolf Defense Fund, you may help bring a wolf killer to justice. This time of year, wolf pups are only beginning to bond with their new families -- it's repulsive to know these young wolves were snatched from their dens and killed. Sadly this kind of poaching reflects a growing body of research showing that in places like Idaho, which allows legal hunting and trapping of wolves, social tolerance for wolves decreases and illegal poaching often rises. A poisonous, anti-wolf culture has taken root in Idaho, driven by seasonal wolf hunts and fueled by social media sites dedicated to wolf-killing braggadocio. This latest pup-killing incident was almost inevitable. To end this kind of violence, we must oppose wolf hunting and restore respect for the place of wolves in the wild. With your donation to the Wolf Defense Fund, we'll continue our lifesaving work to ensure wolves have a real future in Idaho and beyond. Wolves are intelligent, highly social animals that deserve better than to have their youngest pulled from their dens and wiped out. The war on wolves has gone too far this time and we need your help. No matter who was behind the cowardly killings, they must not be allowed to get away with poaching helpless pups right out of their dens. Your contribution to the Center's Wolf Defense Fund will help us fight to end these types of killing.  For the wolves, Kierán Suckling Executive Director Center for Biological Diversity @KieranSuckling

PRESS RELEASE!!!!!.... Center for Biological Diversity has just released that conservation groups including Center for Biological Diversity have filed suit challenging the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services of their program initiating the killing of our wolves. They are using aerial gunners, snare traps (which strangle the animal) and at times use helicopters and/or planes to flush the wolves out and run them to exhaustion, then shoot them all down. YES THEY HAVE GONE ROGUE!!!! WHO DOES THIS, OUR US DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE WILDLIFE SERVICES... The Gray Wolf is an endangered species and listed, our Mexican Gray wolf is at extinction with only 87 left in the nation and our Red Wolf is in dire need of recovery... We need to take a stand on what is right and wrong, and this is totally BARBARIC... Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife, Sierra Club and many more, will continue fighting legally to exhaustion. These five conservation groups will continue to fight for our WOLVES and we need to write, call, FB the Department of Agriculture and tell them STOP GOING ROGUE... they are killing at will !! I have had petitions, and I hope many of you signed them, maybe we need another and another petition, so we may speak loud and clear!!!!!!!!! "EXTINCT IS FOREVER" Nothing ventured nothing gained.. they are most valuable part of our ecosystem, if earth is to remain in balance.... Mahalo nui loa

E-mail this page More press releases For Immediate Release, June 1, 2016 Contact:  Travis Bruner, Western Watersheds Project, (208) 788-2290 Andrea Santarsiere, Center for Biological Diversity, (303) 854-7748, asantarsiere@biologicaldiversity.org Gary Macfarlane, Friends of the Clearwater, (208) 882-9755 Bethany Cotton, WildEarth Guardian,s (406) 414-7227 Brooks Fahy, Predator Defense, (541) 937-4261 Talasi Brooks, Advocates for the West, (208) 342-7024 Conservation Groups Challenge Idaho Wolf-killing USDA's Wildlife Services Has Killed Hundreds of Idaho Wolves BOISE, Idaho— Five conservation groups filed a lawsuit in federal court today challenging the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services’ killing of gray wolves in Idaho. The agency killed at least 72 wolves in Idaho last year, using methods including foothold traps, wire snares that strangle wolves, and aerial gunning from helicopters. The agency has used aerial gunning in central Idaho’s “Lolo zone” for several years in a row — using planes or helicopters to run wolves to exhaustion before shooting them from the air, often leaving them wounded to die slow, painful deaths. The agency’s environmental analysis from 2011 is woefully outdated due to changing circumstances, including new recreational hunting and trapping that kills hundreds of wolves in Idaho each year, and significant changes in scientific understanding of wolves and ecosystem functions. Wildlife Services does most of its wolf-killing at the behest of the livestock industry, following reports of livestock depredation. For example, five wolves were killed outside of Hailey, Idaho in July 2015 for allegedly attacking sheep. Documents indicate that Wildlife Services has even attempted to kill wolves in the newly-designated Boulder-White Clouds Wildernesses. But Wildlife Services does not consider whether livestock owners took common-sense precautionary measures to avoid conflicts with wolves such as lambing indoors. “Wildlife Service’s wolf-killing program is senseless, cruel, and impoverishes our wild country,” said Travis Bruner of Western Watersheds Project. “Killing wolves for private livestock interests is wrong, especially on public lands, where wildlife deserves to come first. In addition, new science shows that it does not reduce conflicts long-term.” “Wildlife Services has never even bothered to consider how much mortality a healthy wolf population can handle,” said Andrea Santarsiere of the Center for Biological Diversity. “Recent research indicates the state may be overestimating wolf populations — something Wildlife Services must consider before killing more wolves.” “It is long past time that we base wildlife management decisions on the best available science, not on antiquated, disproven anti-wolf rhetoric,” said Bethany Cotton, wildlife program director for WildEarth Guardians. “Wildlife Services needs to come out of the shadows, update its analyses and adopt practices in keeping with modern science and values about the ethical treatment of animals.” The agency also kills wolves for the purported benefit of elk herds, including in the Lolo zone. “The campaign waged against the Lolo’s native wolves in the name of elk is reprehensible. Science shows that the elk decline there is due to long-term, natural-habitat changes, not impacts from wolves,” said Gary Macfarlane of Friends of the Clearwater. “It is particularly galling that Wildlife Services is targeting wolves that mostly live in Wildernesses or large roadless areas. These, especially, are places where wolves should be left alone.” “Wildlife Services, formerly called Animal Damage Control, has been criticized for over fifty years by some of our nation’s leading predator biologists. It has a long, documented history of violating state and federal laws, and even its own directives,” said Brooks Fahy, executive director of Predator Defense. “Idahoans and the American public deserve a guarantee that federal programs like Wildlife Services are using the most up-to-date scientific information available.” The five conservation organizations are asking the court to order Wildlife Services to cease wolf-killing activities until it prepares an up-to-date environmental analysis of its wolf-killing program. The groups — Western Watersheds Project, the Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Clearwater, WildEarth Guardians and Predator Defense — are represented by Advocates for the West and Western Watersheds Project attorneys. Read the complaint here. The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.