Circus Hell

If you hate the circus as much as I do, click here to stop Ringling Bros. from expanding on Coney Island. From Change.org:

New York City officials recently announced that the notorious elephant abusers at Ringling Bros. Circus will be at Coney Island for several months this summer thanks to a land donation from Taconic Investments.

PETA has contacted the city and Taconic to let them know of Ringling's lengthy history of animal abuse, and how animals used in the circus are beaten with bullhooks, whipped, and shocked with electric prods to force them to perform physically painful acts. But the city and Taconic refuse to sever ties with the animal-abusing company.

Please take just a few seconds now to send a message to New York City officials and Taconic Investments' CEO letting them know that you'll be crossing Coney Island off your destination list as long as it's the home of animal abusers.

No matter how you feel about PETA, their investigative team is top notch and their findings are indeed disturbing. Please click now to send the message that animal abuse and elephant "entertainment" is wrong.

Home for the Holidays

The ASPCA has a video warning about puppy mills and puppy scams. If you or someone you know is planning on giving a puppy as a gift this year, this video is a must see. That said, the best pet you can give or get comes from your local shelter. Click here to find one near you.

Here's the video:

Victory for Animals!

I blogged about two ballot initiatives concerning animal welfare: Prop 2 in California and Prop 3 in Massachusetts. Both passed! From the ASPCA:

Tuesday was an historic day in America in more ways than one. With resounding victories for California’s Prop 2 and Massachusetts’s Ballot Question 3, voters on both coasts sent a clear message that preventing animal cruelty is a national priority.

In California, the factory farm-related Standards for Confining Farm Animals Act (ballot Proposition 2) won in a landslide, with over 60 percent of respondents voting “yes” to mandate an increase of confinement space for veal calves, breeding pigs and egg-laying hens. On the Act’s effective date, January 1, 2015, these animals will have their rights to turn around, lie down, stand up and fully extend their limbs guaranteed by state law. Violators will face a fine up to $1,000 or six months in county jail.

The Massachusetts ban on dog racing has been a long time coming—in 2000, a similar ballot measure was narrowly defeated, and attempts to get the question included on the 2006 ballot were unsuccessful. With the ban’s passage this week (57 percent to 43 percent), commercial dog racing will be phased out in Massachusetts by 2010. There are two dog tracks in the state—each of which is believed to currently house about 1,000 greyhounds. Because the phase-out will occur over a period of 14 months, greyhound advocacy groups such as Grey2K USA are confident that they will be able to find homes for any racing dogs who become available for adoption.

How to keep the momentum going? You can join the ASPCA's Advocacy Brigade.

If you would like to be alerted when animal-friendly legislation is being considered in your state, please sign up to receive email alerts from the ASPCA—the alerts are targeted to your area, and taking action is easy, fun and free!

How Orange is Your State?

From the ASPCA:

Whether you’re Red or Blue, when you support the ASPCA you’re also Orange. And we need as many Orange supporters as we can get to put an end to cruelty and abuse.

That’s why we need your help! Check out our map to see how your state stacks up and ask 5 friends to join us today. Together we can end animal abuse.

I blogged about the "Cast your vote for cruelty" campaign between Mittens and Rowdy here. Now, you can click here to see a map and how many in your state have cast a vote to end animal abuse. It's not too late to cast your vote! Click here to help spread the word.

It’s only a few days till the election and the critical date when we deliver our list of signatures against abuse to the next American president. Please take action now!

Proposition 2 in California

California has so many "cultural" issues for voters to ponder this fall: gay rights, abortion rights, and animal rights. I've blogged about the former so here's some info on the latter...

Cute ad against factory farming:


and, here's the real story (viewer discretion advised)


h/t Huffington Post

Cast your vote to end cruelty

The ASPCA has a cute campaign on right now: Cast Your Vote to End Cruelty. The premise: watch the debates, learn about the candidates and then cast your vote for Mittens or Rowdy. This is from the email I received:

Watch the debates to learn the facts about 8 of the most critical animal welfare issues.

Vote for your favorite Pawlotician by signing the Pledge to Fight Cruelty. We want to reach the country and our goal is 1,000,000 signatures.

Help spread the word by telling 10 friends today!

Now go watch and cast your vote!