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COMPANION
ANIMALS, WILDLIFE, AND MARINE MAMMALS
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"The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them,
but to be indifferent to them. That’s the essence of inhumanity.
George Bernard Shaw
What
You Can Do
Adopt your companion animals from shelters or rescue
organizations -- do not purchase them from a breeder or pet
store; encourage others to do the same.
Do not patronize marine parks, aquaria, zoos, circuses and other
businesses that capture animals from the wild for profit.
Write to your legislators to ban canned hunting.
Write to lawmakers and the legal community to increase and
pursue maximum penalties and sentences for animal abusers.
Educate family members, friends and acquaintances who fish or
hunt about the cruelty behind these "sports."
Encourage your local education and mental health community to
understand the connection between violence/abuse toward animals
and humans.
Other Useful Resources
PETA
Fund for Animals
Sea Shepherd
Harp Seal
In Defense of Animals
Alley Cat Allies
Humane Society of United States |
Companion Animals
It
can be hard to resist the cute puppies and kittens for sale in “pet”
store windows, but a closer look into how these stores obtain
animals reveals a system in which the high price that consumers pay
for “that doggie in the window” pales in comparison to the cost paid
by animals who are sold in pet stores.
That adorable little scamp in the store probably came from a “puppy
mill,” a breeding kennel that raises dogs in cramped, crude, filthy
conditions. Constant confinement and a lack of adequate veterinary
care and socialization often result in animals who are unhealthy and
difficult to socialize. As a result, many are abandoned within weeks
or months of their adoption by frustrated buyers-further
exacerbating the tragic companion animal overpopulation crisis.
Wildlife
America has a continuing love affair with domesticated dogs and
cats, upon whom we lavish care and attention. But the dogs and cats
who once roamed the wilds of this country freely--coyotes, mountain
lions, bobcats, and wolves--are the victims of ruthless hunting and
trapping programs. The livestock industry and government
policymakers insist that it is necessary to kill wild animals
(coyotes being the chief target) to prevent them from killing
domesticated animals, mainly sheep. But coyotes account for far
fewer sheep deaths than they are blamed for. In fact, percentages of
sheep killed by predators are no greater or less than they were
before widespread "control" programs began.
Marine Mammals
Killer whales, or orcas, are members of the dolphin family. They are
also the largest animals held in captivity. In the wild, orcas stay
with their mothers for life. Family groups, or "pods," consist of a
mother, her adult sons and daughters, and the offspring of her
daughters. Each member of the pod communicates in a "dialect"
specific to that pod. Capturing even one wild orca or dolphin
disrupts the entire pod.
In the wild, orcas and dolphins may swim up to 100 miles a day. But
captured dolphins are confined to tanks as small as 24 feet by 24
feet wide and 6 feet deep.
Tanks are kept clean with chlorine, copper sulfate, and other harsh
chemicals that irritate dolphins' eyes, causing many to swim with
their eyes closed. Former dolphin trainer Ric O'Barry, who trained
dolphins for the television show "Flipper," believes excessive
chlorine has caused some dolphins to go blind. The United States
Department of Agriculture closed Florida's Ocean World after
determining that over-chlorinated water was causing dolphins' skin
to peel off.
In the wild, dolphins can live to be 25 to 50 years old. Male orcas
live between 50 and 60 years, females between 80 and 90 years. But
orcas at Sea World and other marine parks rarely survive more than
10 years in captivity. More than half of all dolphins die within the
first two years of captivity; the remaining dolphins live an average
of only six years.
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