GOOD NEWS!
We’ve been hearing a lot of good news related to banning dog and rabbit sales, the Big Cat Public Safety Act, greyhounds, dolphins, monkeys and more!
10/11/22 - Pasco County Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to add rabbits to their existing retail ban on dogs and cats! Now rabbits can no longer be sold at pet stores, feed stores, flea markets and open-air events in Pasco County. There were SIX retail stores selling rabbits which included three Pet Supermarkets and one Rural King. A BIG THANK YOU to the Pasco Commissioners! And Renee Rivard for leading the charge!!!
7/29/22- HOUSE PASSES BIG CAT PUBLIC SAFETY ACT - NOW TO THE SENATE
The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the Big Cat Public Safety Act, H.R. 263, on 7/29/22 by a vote of 278 to 134. Now it is up to the Senate. President Biden has already issued a statement of support, so I hope this is the last time I have to ask you to roar out for the big cats on this bill. Please ask your Senators to support the Big Cat Public Safety Act S1210 at BigCatAct.com (Big Cat Rescue)
Animal Rights Activists Found Not Guilty After Rescuing Pigs From Smithfield Factory Farm (plantbasednews.org) Wayne Hsiung and Paul Darwin Picklesimer, who filmed themselves taking two sick piglets from a Utah farm in 2017, were facing burglary and theft charges. If found guilty, they risked a prison sentence of five years each. On Saturday night, the jury unanimously found them not guilty. Activists said the trial has set a “powerful precedent” for the right to rescue animals.
The U.S. Senate passed its final user fee bill to reauthorize the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Thursday. In a win for animals and consumers, the Senate dropped a dangerous provision that would have gutted state laws banning the sale of cosmetics tested on animals. This means that California's groundbreaking 2018 law that bans the sale of animal-tested cosmetics—as well as similar laws in eight other states—will no longer be at risk. More importantly, other states will still be able to pass laws in the future to ban the sales of cosmetics tested on animals.
Huge news: Dutch city becomes world’s first to ban meat adverts in public | Netherlands | The Guardian
Three bottlenose dolphins were released into the open sea in Indonesia after years of being confined for the amusement of tourists who would touch and swim with them. As red and white Indonesian flags fluttered, underwater gates opened off the island of Bali to allow Johnny, Rocky and Rambo to swim free. The trio were rescued three years ago from their tiny pool in a resort hotel to which they had been sold after spending years performing in a traveling circus. They regained their health and strength at the Bali sanctuary, a floating pen in a bay that provided a gentler, more natural environment.- YURI KAGEYAMA (Associated Press)
As the last hours of this year's formal legislative session ticked down on Beacon Hill, the long-fought battle to end greyhound gambling in Massachusetts was finally won! Just before 3 AM on August 1, Democrat Majority Leader Cynthia Stone Creem of Newton stood up and demanded that simulcast wagering on dogs stop once and for all. She did this to honor the will of the voters on Question 3 and she did it for the greyhounds. In 2008, Massachusetts citizens overwhelmingly voted 56% - 44% to stop all forms of gambling on dog races. Question 3 was approved by nearly 290 cities and towns from one end of the state to the other. Question 3 prohibited all betting on dog races, whether live or simulcast. Specifically, it stated that “no dog racing or racing meeting where any form of betting or wagering on the speed or ability of dogs occurs shall be conducted or permitted in this commonwealth.” The full ban was to take effect on January 1, 2010.But year after year, racing-friendly lawmakers gave the tracks more time to offer simulcast wagering as a way to “wind down.”- Grey2K
Air France Vows To Stop Shipping Monkeys To Laboratories The major airline, which has long played a significant role in transporting non-human primates for research, has announced that it will stop doing so as soon as its current contractual commitments come to an end. – Species Unite News
Two-thirds of Australia's Great Barrier Reef showed the largest amount of coral cover in 36 years. The reef still remains vulnerable to increasingly frequent mass bleaching, however, an official long-term monitoring programme reported. The recovery is in the central and northern stretches of the UNESCO world heritage-listed reef.
Environmental defenders celebrate a ‘huge’ win for ‘unique’ Tasmanian rainforest | Euronews Australia’s federal court found that the country's then environment minister, Sussan Ley, had failed to apply the ‘precautionary principle’ before approving drilling and surveying works at the site. Federal court justice Mark Moshinsky upheld the NGO’s objection on the grounds that the endangered Tasmanian masked owl was not properly considered. That means a new assessment is set to take place, effectively halting MMG’s plans for the dam.
Eric Adams is the first mayor in NYC history to host an entirely plant-based event at the Gracie Mansion. They served plant-based eggs to 1600 guests at a Dominican Heritage event! (One Green Planet)
8/14/22 Hollydogs Greyhound Adoption, the nonprofit organization created in 1995 to save South Florida’s retired greyhound races, has closed down due to no more greyhounds needing homes. (Tampa Bay Times)
7/20/22- City of Fayetteville, Arkansas, bans the retail sale of puppies and kittens
7/7/22- Wild animals in South Africa are a little safer after a prominent trophy hunter, Riaan Naude, was found shot dead in Kruger National Park in South Africa. His Instagram account showed him posing with dead giraffes, zebras, and elephants. (The Daily Beast)