Talkin Pets

January 25, 2013, LOS ANGELES, CA–Upland City Council and the Fairplex have confirmed they have cancelled elephant rides at the Upland Lemon Festival this year.

Animal Defenders International (ADI) contacted Upland City Council and the Fairplex last year after discovering they had contracted Have Trunk Will Travel (HTWT) to provide elephant rides at the Upland Lemon Festival. ADI, joined by several local animal activists, presented festival organizers ADI’s undercover footage of HTWT owners and trainers “hooking” their elephants with bullhooks, beating and shocking them during routine training sessions.

Several other SoCal municipalities and venues have severed ties with Have Trunk Will Travel amidst protests and public outcry, including the Orange County Fair, Los Angeles County Fair, Santa Ana Zoo, and the cities of Fountain Valley and Sierra Madre.

“ADI applauds Upland City Council and The Fairplex for ending the elephant rides at the Upland Lemon Festival, joining the worldwide trend of progressive fairs, cities and nations which have decided to shun entertainment that involves animal cruelty,” said Jan Creamer, ADI’s president. “Trainers use brutal methods, bullhooks and electric shocking devices, to control these elephants for rides, and this decision will go far to set a positive example to other events across the country which we hope will soon follow their lead. ADI will be actively encouraging festival organizers to make this a permanent policy so we never see elephants at the Upland Lemon Festival again.”

To watch ADI’s undercover footage of Have Trunk Will Travel, visit http://www.ad-international.org/animals_in_entertainment/go.php?id=2852&ssi=11.

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Animal Defenders International

http://www.ad-international.org

ADI is leading the campaign to end the suffering of animals in entertainment and currently has major campaigns running in Europe, South America and the USA.  ADI’s shocking exposure of the training of elephants for the movies ‘Water for Elephants’ and ‘Zookeeper’ showed animals electric shocked and beaten with bullhooks. See: http://www.ad-international.org/animals_in_entertainment/go.php?id=2119&ssi=7

ADI recently rescued and relocated a record breaking 29 circus lions from Bolivia to sanctuaries in the U.S. See http://www.ad-international.org/animal_rescues/go.php?id=2025&ssi=24

With offices in Los Angeles, London and Bogota, ADI campaigns across the globe on animals in entertainment, providing technical advice to governments, securing progressive animal protection legislation, drafting regulations and rescuing animals in distress. ADI has a worldwide reputation for providing video and photographic evidence exposing behind-the-scenes suffering in the industry and supporting this evidence with scientific research on captive wildlife and transport. ADI rescues animals all over the world and educates the public on animals and environmental issues.

http://www.ad-international.org

ADI’s Mission

To educate, create awareness, and promote the interest of humanity in the cause of justice, and the suppression of all forms of cruelty to animals wherever possible to alleviate suffering, and to conserve and protect animals and the environment.

www.ad-international.org | www.navs.org.uk | www.ldf.org.uk

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LOS ANGELES, CA-- In an effort to track down the accused murderer and animal abuser, Luka Magnotta, Last Chance for Animals' (LCA) Special Investigations Unit (SIU) took unprecedented steps to try and flush out the killer in a case that clearly demonstrates a link between cruelty to animals and violence toward humans.

Taking clues from the thousands of pages of pseudonyms and online posts left by Magnotta and his many pseudonyms over the years, LCA's SIU accurately predicted Magnotta would be checking websites and videos of himself from mobile devices and cyber cafes while on the run. LCA's SIU attempted to lure in the killer, or his companions, using covert tactics often reserved for law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

To that end, SIU investigators immediately got to work and posted a video glorifying Magnotta, dubbing him "The James Dean Killer." The hits came quickly and word spread fast. While Luka was in France, there were several hits from that country.

A second video titled "1 Man 1 Icon" was produced to continue the façade using family photos of Magnotta that had not yet been featured in the press. While Luka was in Germany, this video recorded hits from Germany.

During the course of this investigation, contact was made with several individuals who may have been Luka, or close associates of Luka. That information was turned over to Law Enforcement.

While there has not yet been evidence presented to demonstrate that Magnotta was watching the videos produced by LCA's SIU; when he was apprehended, reports came in stating he was watching YouTube and viewing images of himself at the time of arrest.

Last Chance for Animals (LCA), a national animal rights organization based in Los Angeles, has been active for nearly three decades. Founded and led by animal expert, author, and former actor, Chris DeRose, LCA's roots began in exposing the inherent cruelty of vivisection. LCA fights for the rights of animals by conducting investigations that expose animal cruelty, launching public awareness campaigns, pushing animal friendly legislation and helping prosecute animal abusers. www.LCAnimal.org

For the animals,

Special Investigations Unit
Last Chance for Animals
(310) 271-6096 x 32
(310) 271-1890 Fax
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www.LCAnimal.org

Founder's Story

chris derose

For nearly three decades, Chris DeRose has been an international leader in the animal rights movement, and an inspiration and consultant to countless other individuals and groups dedicated to the animal cause. In 1984, he founded Last Chance for Animals (LCA), a national, nonprofit animal advocacy organization focused on investigating, exposing, and ending animal exploitation.

Chris had a promising future as an actor, a profession he eventually turned his back on; instead he chose to devote 100% of his time to saving animals and educating people about animal abuse. For ten years, using the power of the media, he worked as a reporter and special correspondent for TV’s Hard Copy. By the time Hard Copy left the air in 1999, Chris had contributed to more than 150 animal stories on the show that reached millions of people.

Since his youth in New Jersey, Chris has committed his life to ending oppression – wherever he finds it. As a Big Brother to street kids, he supported and encouraged a number of young men who, as a result, have built better lives for themselves. Through his experience as a police officer, Chris gained the necessary skills to investigate criminal activity, pursue the perpetrators, and see them brought to justice. He organized the Los Angeles Sunset Green Party, aimed at combining environmental and animal issues, and founded a spay/neuter program called New Hope for Animals.

Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., Chris has fought all of his battles non-violently and has spent time in jail, including solitary confinement, for his peaceful actions. One tactic that rocked the foundation of animal experimentation was a daring daytime break-in at UCLA’s Brain Research Institute, documented by a film crew that showed the shocking truth of animal “research.” This first ever live-action footage clearly demonstrated that animal rights activists do not fabricate laboratory horrors, as they had been accused of for years. The 1988 UCLA break-in footage aired around the world on CNN and on the national television show 48 Hours.

Chris was also the driving force behind the first animal rights television show designed for the mainstream public, Hollywood Animal Crusaders, which aired nine times in 1999 on the cable channel Animal Planet. This remarkable achievement opened the door for other shows that introduced animal rights into American homes.

Through his investigative work, Chris and LCA gathered evidence that resulted in the nation’s first state prison sentences for multiple-count animal cruelty cases. He spearheaded an undercover investigation and won a lawsuit against the Gettysburg National Park Service to halt the slaughter of deer in national parks. LCA’s frontline campaign to save the Coulston primates came to fruition in 2002, when the Coulston Foundation shut its doors for good after years of total disregard for the lives and welfare of the primates in its care.

In August 2003, LCA’s 15-year investigation of Class “B” animal dealers cumulated in the bust of C. C. Baird, America’s largest and most notorious Class “B” dealer. Baird’s license was permanently revoked and he received the largest fine ever imposed by the USDA. This was the largest multi-agency investigation (federal, state and local) on any animal issue in U.S. history. The 2006 HBO America Undercover’s documentary Dealing Dogs, profiles this groundbreaking undercover investigation into the world of pet theft.

In September 2006, Chris DeRose played Mob Boss Joey Gamarra in Desire, the premiere show of MyNetworkTv. This nightly primetime drama gave Chris the chance to reach a whole new audience and recruit a new generation of animal activists.

In 1997, Chris released his autobiography, In Your Face, reporting on his life and his values on compassion. The book was the final achievement that earned him the prestigious Courage of Conscience International Peace Award – an honor he shares with previous award winners Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.


MISSION STATEMENT

Last Chance for Animals (LCA) is a national, non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating animal exploitation through education, investigations, legislation, and media attention.  The organization believes that animals are highly sentient creatures who exist for their own reasons independent of their service to humans; they should not be made to suffer for the latter.  LCA therefore opposes the use of animals in food and clothing production, scientific experimentation, and entertainment.   Instead, it promotes a cruelty-free lifestyle and the ascription of rights to non-human beings.

For two months "John" (not his real name) worked undercover inside a pig factory farm that supplies Walmart and other big box companies with pork products.

By the time John left the factory farm, he had video footage of pregnant pigs living in cramped metal cages called gestation crates. He says the animals "constantly ram their heads against their tiny stalls or spend day after day, hour after hour, biting the bars of their cages out of frustration." And he knows it's not just this farm -- gestation crates produce the same conditions wherever they're used.

John says he has to stay anonymous to protect himself from backlash by the industry he just exposed. So he's teamed up with a group called Mercy for Animals to start a petition pressuring Walmart to stop using gestation crates.

John just released his video yesterday, and other stores that use gestation crates, like Kmart and Costco, pledged to stop using this cruel method of raising pigs before it even got out to the public. They joined McDonald's, Burger King, Oscar Meyer, and Kroger who have all agreed to phase gestation crates out of their supply chains.

But Walmart still refuses to drop the crates. Mercy For Animals thinks that massive public outcry against gestation crates will convince Walmart to adopt a stance against gestation crates.

While John says his experience will haunt him for the rest of his life, he's committed to exposing the horrific conditions on farms where they intensively confine animals.

Click here to sign the petition demanding that Walmart -- the top food retailer in the US -- stop supporting gestation crates.

Thanks for being a change-maker,

- Pulin and the Change.org team

Intrepid Pictures, FilmNation Entertainment, Relativity Media and Galavis Films present an R rated, 111 minute, drama, mystery, thriller directed by James McTeigue, written by Ben Livingston and Hannah Shakespeare with a theatre release of April 27, 2012.

Bandito Brothers and Relativity Media present an R rated, 111 minute action, adventure, thriller, directed by Mike McCoy and Scott Waugh, written by Kurt Johnstad with a theatrical release of February 24, 2012.

A shocking undercover video released on Friday reveals gruesome and scary conditions in the production of McDonald's Egg McMuffins.

The video is hard to watch. Chicks' beaks are seared off. Male chicks are tossed in plastic bags to suffocate. Hens live out their entire lives in wire battery cages, packed wing to wing. And dead chickens are left to rot in the cages that serve as living quarters for remaining chickens. Outside of these standard operations, staff members are shown swinging a bird around by its feet and crushing a chick alive.

Mercy For Animals is the group that carried out the undercover investigation. Now, it has started a petition on Change.org to get McDonald's to abandon these kinds of cruel and inhumane practices altogether by going cage-free. Will you sign Mercy For Animals' petition to get McDonald's to commit to purchasing 100% cage-free eggs in the US?

Right after the video aired on Friday, McDonald's cut ties with Sparboe Farms, whose facilities and staff in Iowa, Minnesota and Colorado are documented in the investigation. But cutting ties with Sparboe Farms won't end the torture of chickens for Egg McMuffins. The kind of abhorrent conditions at Sparboe are actually standard among battery cage egg suppliers. The only way McDonald's can guarantee its eggs aren't produced in the same conditions is to go 100% cage-free.

And McDonald's has already done this for their locations in Europe, where McDonald's eggs are already guaranteed to be 100% cage-free.

With the mega fast-food chain dropping Sparboe Farms, it's clear that the public outcry generated by Mercy For Animals' investigation is having a big impact. Now is the time to push McDonald's to take real, meaningful action to distance itself from all battery cage eggs and not just move to another battery cage egg supplier. Tell McDonald's to publicly commit to sourcing 100% cage-free eggs now:

http://www.change.org/petitions/urge-mcdonalds-to-stop-torturing-hens-for-egg-mcmuffins

Thanks for being a change-maker,

- Stephanie and the Change.org team

Relativity Media, Virgin Produced and Apparatus Productions present an R rated, 127 minute, action, crime film directed by Marc Forster and written by Jason Keller with a theatrical release date of November 4, 2011.

 Today, in the US District Court, Central District of California, Los Angeles, Animal Defenders International (ADI), together with members of the public, Gail Profant and Leslie Hemstreet, filed suit against Have Trunk Will Travel, as well as the owners Gary and Kari Johnson, elephant trainer Joanne Smith of Perris, CA, over their claims about the training of the elephant Tai, who played Rosie in the film ‘Water for Elephants’. 

The suit is based on erroneous assurances that the defendants gave the public that the elephant Tai was trained with kindness for her role in Water for Elephants