AR-News: HUMANELines- 288

[סמדר]

Issue 238
From: HumaneLines 
To: HUMANElines -- The Weekly Activist Newsletter 
Sent: Thursday, March 18, 2004 11:00 PM
Subject: [hsus-action] HUMANELines- 288

          
      Issue 288 --- March 18th, 2004
      A Project of The Humane Society of the United States and The Fund for Animals
      http://www.humanelines.org/  

      CORRECTION:

      In the special edition of HUMANELines sent out earlier this week we inadvertently left out the correct link to the Humane Scorecard. The correct link to see how your members of Congress have performed on animal protection issues is http://www.hsus.org/ace/20641 . 

      TELL CANADA: NO SPRING GRIZZLY BEAR HUNTS IN ALBERTA!

      Even though Alberta’s grizzly bears are on the verge of disappearing— with only 500 individuals remaining (down from historical numbers of 9,000 to 16,000)-- government officials in Alberta recently announced that they will allow a grizzly bear hunt this spring. This announcement goes against the advice of the Endangered Species Conservation Committee of Alberta, a government-appointed body, which has recommended the grizzly bear be listed as “threatened” under the provincial Wildlife Act, a move that would stop the hunt. The Alberta Grizzly Bear Recovery Team likewise has recommended that the hunt be suspended. Despite this, Minister Mike Cardinal of Alberta’s Sustainable Resource Development has decided to blatantly ignore his government’s own science and his own committee’s recommendations and allow the hunt anyway.

      WHAT YOU CAN DO: 

      The hunt is slated to begin in less than two weeks—on April 1. Please phone Alberta’s Premier Ralph Klein as soon as possible and ask him to list the grizzly bear as a threatened species under the provincial Wildlife Act and SUSPEND THE HUNT!

      Phone: 1-780-427-2251 (in Alberta you can call toll-free by first dialing 310-0000). 

      Visit http://www.wildcanada.net/grizzly-alberta for some suggested talking points to use when calling the Premier's office. Please also email wild at wildcanada.net to let Wildcanada.net know you've made the call.

      LETTERS NEEDED TO ENCOURAGE PROSECUTION OF ALLEGED CAT KILLERS:

      Earlier this year, The Eagle Herald reported that three police officers have been accused of deliberately and cruelly killing a cat by drowning her in the icy waters of the Menominee River. According to a police report, Officer Chad Racine, with the assistance of Sergeant Alan Gritzon and Officer Brook Foster, responded to a complaint about a "vicious" cat and allegedly decided to kill the cat by drowning her, even though the cat was in a carrier and clearly posed no threat to the officers. After tying a rope around the carrier, they lowered the cat into the Menominee River, out of public view, and waited for her to die. Afterwards, they reportedly removed the cat’s body from the carrier, placed her in a bag and dumped her in a city garbage truck. There are further allegations that the officers tried to cover-up the drowning incident. 

      WHAT YOU CAN DO:

      Because the accused in this case are law enforcement, the county prosecutor has requested a special prosecutor from Michigan's Attorney General's Office to investigate and prosecute the allegations against the officers. So far, the Attorney General's office has failed to respond. Please contact the Michigan Attorney General and encourage his office to appoint a special prosecutor in what appears to be an inexcusable and blatant case of animal cruelty. Otherwise, the case will continue to be ignored. 

      Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox
      G. Mennen Williams Building, 7th Floor
      525 W. Ottawa Street
      P.O. Box 30212
      Lansing, MI 48909
      Phone: 517-373-1110
      Fax: 517-373-3042

      Let him know that the fact that the alleged perpetrators are law enforcement officers does not excuse them from being investigated and prosecuted for animal cruelty. If anything, as peace officers, they should abide by a higher standard of justice and compassion.

      HELP STOP DOLPHIN CAPTURES IN GUYANA:

      Guyana’s newspaper, the Stabroek News, has reported that local wildlife traders have a plan in the works to capture dolphins off the coast of the South American country and export them internationally. While Guyana is known as a notorious player in the international wildlife trade, it has not been known, up until this point, to traffic in wild-caught dolphins. Guyana’s proposed foray into the wild dolphin trade is riddled with dire conservation and welfare implications. Because there are no known recent, independently-conducted surveys on the status of Guyana’s dolphin population, removing individuals may bring disastrous consequences for the viability of the stock. Second, the stress and harm incurred by individual captured dolphins, both during and after capture, is so severe that many do not survive. Many die from the stress of being transported, often over thousands of miles in tiny coffin-like containers, to captive facilities. Those who survive the trip will suffer frustration, boredom, and depression inside captive marine facilities and may even die from stress. 

      WHAT YOU CAN DO:

      Because the permits for the capture have not yet been issued by Guyana government officials, there is still time to stop the captures from going ahead, if we act TODAY. Please write to the Guyana authorities, politely urging them not to issue permits for the capture and export of dolphins captured in Guyana's waters.
      Khalawan, Director of Wildlife Division: khalawan123 at yahoo.com
      Dr. Roger Luncheon, Head of Presidential Secretariat: opmed at sdnp.org.gy


     
      To receive directly, call 202-955-3668 or email humanelines at hsus.org For more information on legislation, how to find your legislators, or past HUMANElines, go to http://www.hsus.org/ or http://www.fund.org/  
     
     

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