Zoo kills healthy lion and then dissects it in front of crowd?!

Posted October 16, 2015 by Kim Johnson

It was like a nightmare brought to life. Children covered their mouths and turned away as a lion cub’s body was cut open and her intestines were laid out on a table before them. No, this wasn’t a Halloween movie—just business as usual at the Odense Zoo in central Denmark.

Read more: http://www.peta2.com/blog/denmark-zoo-dissects-lion-cub/#ixzz3on7Wg7YE

Reportedly, the Odense Zoo killed the female lion cub nine months ago after zoo officials decided that she was “surplus” and no other zoos would take her. According to its website, the zoo kills animals to prevent inbreeding and acknowledges that zoo employees have been dissecting animals in front of crowds for 20 years. A spokesperson from the zoo told the BBC’s Newsbeat that this is a “normal process,” and while killing young animals may be normal for the zoos, it certainly isn’t normal for the lions. In the wild, the lion population and breeding would be controlled naturally, without human intervention.

This isn’t the first time that a Danish zoo has come under fire for killing a healthy animal and cutting him or her up in public. Last year, a giraffe named Marius was dissected in front of a crowd at the Copenhagen Zoo and fed to the lions after the zoo killed him with a bolt gunshot to the head. The zoo’s spokesperson said he was actually “proud” that the zoo dissected Marius.

Zoos teach people that it’s OK to interfere with animals’ lives and keep them locked up in captivity so we can gawk at them. And dissection doesn’t teach children ANYTHING. Instead, studies show that it actually fosters callousness toward animals and nature. In the wild, this lion cub would have been free to roam with her family, rather than being made the subject of a gruesome science “lesson.”

What You Can Do

If you are interested in animals, it’s only natural that you would want to be close to them—but animals shouldn’t have to live in misery because of our curiosity! Animals don’t belong to us, and they’re not ours to imprison in zoos or to kill and cut up for dissection. Say no to dissection and never visit any zoo. 

Learn more about how dissection kills and how we can help you say no!

Read more: http://www.peta2.com/blog/denmark-zoo-dissects-lion-cub/#ixzz3on7qAzkU

These Videos Are No ‘Friend’ to Animals

Written by Jennifer O'Connor | August 5, 2015

The Internet has spawned a wave of videos called “unlikely friends” showing normally incompatible species interacting. The problem isn’t when a dog and a cat cuddle up on the couch. It’s that the videos in question are distributed by seedy roadside zoos in an effort to make their cruel businesses more palatable to the public.

We’re not embedding these videos because ignoring them is the strongest statement you can make.

Here are three of the worst offenders:

• A gross Android ad features animals from a notorious outfit called T.I.G.E.R.S. The operator, a guy named Bhagavan (Kevin) Antle, has been repeatedly cited by federal authorities for failure to provide animals with adequate veterinary care, sufficient cage space, protection from the elements, and clean water and for failure to provide dogs with an exercise plan and primates with a program of environmental enrichment. Antle routinely crossbreeds animals and removes infant animals from their mothers to be used as photo props.
• Dade City’s Wild Things in Florida promotes its awful business by posting “unlikely friends” videos such as a tiger cub swimming with a dog. The roadside zoo, which is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for violating the Animal Welfare Act, churns out cubs and acquires them from other breeders and dealers and then just as quickly relegates them to tiny pens or discards them to other roadside zoos where they’ll spend their lives being denied everything that is natural and important to them. All these vulnerable babies belong with their mothers, not in swimming pools and sitting on people’s laps.
• The Garold Wayne Interactive Zoological Park (G.W.) in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, spins the friendship between a lion and a dachshund as charming, but the living conditions for exotic animals at this hellhole are deplorable. G.W. is currently the subject of four USDA investigations, including one for the deaths of two tiger cubs in May 2013 and another for the deaths of 23 baby tigers over a seven-month period from 2009 to 2010. Last year, the facility was cited for failing to provide four juvenile bears, who had suffered from untreated skin conditions for months, with veterinary care. It was also cited last year by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for a 2013 tiger attack that caused an employee to lose part of her arm and nearly bleed to death.

What You Can Do

Share this blog post on social media and post comments anytime you see an “unlikely friends” video online.

Zero Joy for Zebras in the Circus

Posted July 1, 2015 by Hannah Healy

After years of being hauled around the country and forced to perform for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, a 12-year-old zebra named Lima broke free from his trainers, squeezed through a fence, and ran through the streets of Atlanta for 40 minutes, pursued by police and his trainers.

After police blocked off lanes of the interstate on which Lima was running, he was eventually captured. A Ringling Bros. spokesperson said that Lima would likely perform as usual—but the injuries to his hooves were so severe that he had to be euthanized.

Just like the lions, tigers, and elephants circuses exploit, zebras are wild animals. They tend to be high-strung and unpredictable, which puts both the animals and the public at risk. For example, three zebras, including Lima, escaped from Ringling while the circus was performing in Baltimore and dashed into traffic. In another incident, a Ringling veterinary technician informed California authorities that zebras had jumped out of a pen during a show. And when Ringling was performing in Colorado Springs, Colorado, four zebras and three horses who were being walked into an arena got spooked. All seven animals reportedly ran loose near a busy interstate.

Zebras are meant to roam large areas, and being kept inside cramped pens is bad for their health. There’s no vaccine data available for zebras, and they can contract diseases from horses and pass illnesses on to them. Yet Ringling travels with both horses and zebras.

According to a study by three veterinarians, two of whom worked for Ringling, zebras require heavy sedation (“ultrapotent narcotics”) for even minor procedures, so any injury puts them at risk.

Zebras are natural prey animals. Placing them in the middle of large crowds—not to mention in close proximity to lions and tigers—is extremely frightening to them. Because of their tendency to be easily spooked, this is dangerous for them and everyone around them. Zebras also have distinct social structures, but in the circus, they’re forced to live in incompatible groups. Less aggressive individuals can be bullied and hurt.

In the wild, zebras spend their days grazing together and grooming one another. They’re social animals who thrive in the company of other zebras. If one is threatened or attacked, the herd will often circle the wounded zebra, defending him or her from the attacker.

Zebras want to live in herds in the wild, not traveling in cramped boxcars or performing stupid tricks for humans’ “amusement.” They are NOT OURS to use for entertainment. Never go to any circus that uses animals, and urge your friends and family to stay away, too.

No chains. No cages. No Tanks. 

Read more: http://www.peta2.com/blog/circus-ringling-zebras/#ixzz3hPcqnDEi

Jimmy Kimmel Breaks Down In Tears While Discussing The Killing Of Cecil The Lion

On Tuesday night an emotional Jimmy Kimmel dedicated his monologue to the controversial killing of Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe.

Please watch:

Yesterday it was revealed that American dentist Walter James Palmer was the hunter who shot and killed the 13-year-old male lion after luring him out of Hwange National Park.

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Zimbabwe officials said they are now searching for Palmer. Police spokesperson Charity Charamba said the Minnesota dentist faces poaching charges, the Associated Press reported.

Palmer has released a statement insisting that the local hunters he worked with had appropriate permits, and that no aspect of the hunt was outside of the law.

Kimmel took the opportunity on his show last night to criticise Palmer.

“The big question is, why are you shooting a lion in the first place?” the talkshow host asked. “I mean, I am honestly curious to know why a human being would feel compelled to do that – how is that fun?”

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Adding:

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“If that’s the case, they have a pill for that, it works great,” he continued. “Just stay home and swallow it and you save yourself a lifetime of being the most hated American who never advertised Jell-O pudding on television” – a reference to comedian Bill Cosby, who has been accused of sexually assaulting multiple women.

Kimmel went on to say he had no problem with hunting if it was for eating or keeping animal populations healthy, but added: “If you’re some a-hole dentist who wants a lion’s head over the fireplace in his man-cave so his douchebag buddies can gather around it and drink Scotch and tell him how awesome he is, that’s just vomitous.”

He ended the segment on the verge of tears and asked people to donate to the Wildlife Research Conservation Unit at Oxford University in the hope that “some good come out of this disgusting tragedy”.

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Professional hunter Theo Bronkhorst and Honest Ndlovu, the owner of a farm neighbouring Hwange National Park, have been charged with poaching offences for not having the required hunting permit, the BBC reported, and are due in court later today.