Deep Roots: Animal Rights Blog

I just read over at The PETA Files that the small nation of San Marino has become the first independent state to ban the practice of animal experimentation. The citizen-supported bill was introduced in February of this year and was recently signed into law.

This is great! Sure, San Marino may be a small nation with little-to-no international influence, but they are a prime example of what can be accomplished when compassionate citizens take action. Although the media has paid no attention to this story, I predict that one day San Marino will be remembered and honored as the nation that first banned the morally corrupt and scientifically bankrupt practice of animal testing.

All that is left to say is thanks, San Marino, you’ve given hope to the world.

The Pet Safety and Protection Act is in danger! This act prohibits experimentation facilities from buying dogs and cats from Class B dealers. It was passed as an amendment to the Farm Bill by both the Senate and the House of Representatives. However, as the Senate and the House work out differences between their bills, animal experimenters are pressuring Congress to drop the pet-safety provisions altogether.

Class B animal dealers, also known as “random source dealers,” often acquire animals through theft and deception and are known to sell lost and stolen cats and dogs to laboratories.

Please contact your senator today and ask him/her to keep the Pet Safety and Protection Act in the Farm Bill.

from PETA

Calf roping: Animal abuse or all-American sport? [Santa Cruz Sentinel]
“While the humans in rodeos have a choice as to whether they are willing to place themselves in danger, the animals don’t have a choice”

Animal rights group at odds with circus, village [Chicago Heights Star]
A national animal rights group is calling on Steger lawmakers to ban devices they say are used to inflict pain on elephants in time for this week’s performance by Carson & Barnes Circus.

Cockfighting on Web Enters Legal Arena [Washington Post]
One evening last week, two roosters in a ring surrounded by cheering spectators pecked and clawed one another in a fight to the death. With each lunge, feathers flew, then floated to the ground. Finally, one bloodied bird, its eyes plucked out, lurched and faltered.

New Texas Animal Cruelty Laws Take Effect In September [KFOX-TV]
Beginning this September, you can expect some new laws when it comes to your four-legged friends.

AR Groups Break Silence on Amazon.com’s Foie Gras Sales, Urge Boycott [Farm Sanctuary]
You can help put an end to foie gras cruelty by cutting the supply chain! In the United States, Amazon.com hawks foie gras produced at Elevages Perigord. Please put the power of your purse to work to stop this intolerable cruelty, and tell Amazon.com that they won’t earn back your business until they stop selling foie gras.

Will Potter Posts Updated Analysis of Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act [GreenIsTheNewRed.com]
I finally got around to posting my updated analysis of the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act and posted a new pdf file that you can download as well.

UCSF Primate Research Is Target Of Watchdog Group [KTVU]
Ohio-based Stop Animal Exploitation Now (SAEN) has filed an official complaint with the USDA about UCSF and its research practices on primates, the group announced today.

Birthing bears head for land as Arctic ice gets scarcer [San Francisco Chronicle]
Increasing numbers of pregnant polar bears are coming to land to give birth instead of staying on the thinning Arctic sea ice, a trend that signals a bleak future for their population there, a U.S. Geological Survey study has found.

Not Everything is Kosher at So-Called Kosher Slaughterhouse [Infoshop News]
Earlier this week PETA filed a formal complaint with Sheridan County Attorney Jamian Simmons asking her to prosecute the Rubashkin-owned Local Pride kosher slaughterhouse in Gordon for apparent violations of Nebraska’s cruelty-to-animals statute. PETA’s complaint follows a two-day undercover investigation.

California spay-neuter bill shelved [Sacramento Bee]
Legislation to require statewide spaying or neutering of dogs and cats was shelved Wednesday after receiving a chilly reception by a Senate committee.