Talkin Pets

DreamWorks Animation presents a PG, approximately 95 minute animation, adventure, comedy in 3D, directed by Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath, Conrad Vernon, written by Eric Darnell and Noah Baumbach with a theatre release date of June 8, 2012.

20,000 TO AIR CANADA: STOP SHIPPING MONKEYS ON PLANES

Popular campaign on Change.org urges Air Canada to adopt policy against shipping primates for research.

LONDON - More than 20,000 people have joined an international campaign on Change.org. launched by the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV), calling on Air Canada to adopt a “no cruel cargo” policy and stop transporting primates destined for research.

The news follows recent announcements by both Caribbean Airlines and Air Canada-partner Lufthansa to join the growing list of airlines committed to refusing to ship primates for the research industry.

Air Canada initially responded to the BUAV’s campaign on Change.org by claiming that the airline is required by federal law to accept primate cargo, citing a 13-year-old ruling by the Canadian Transportation Agency. However, the ruling only determined that Air Canada had to follow the policies it sets, and the CTA says that changing airline policies to refuse primate shipments is within Air Canada’s discretion. 

The Canadian organisation Lawyers for Animal Welfare has produced a legal opinion, which determines that Air Canada is free to change its policies and “legally entitled to refuse to ship animals bound for experimentation.”

“Air Canada is under no legal obligation to transport animals bound for experimentation,” said Sarah Kite, Director of Special Projects for the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection. “We have subsequently renewed our call to Air Canada to stop transporting primates destined for research."

More than 20,000 people from around the world have joined the campaign on Change.org, many commenting on the petition that they will not fly Air Canada and the other airlines that have not yet adopted “no cruel cargo” policies until the primate shipments end.

“The British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection has shown, through the Change.org platform, that there is overwhelming public opinion against primate cargo,” said Stephanie Feldstein, Director of Organizing for Change.org, the world’s fastest growing social change platform. “It’s been inspiring to watch tens of thousands of travelers take action on this campaign.”

Live signature totals from the campaign on Change.org:

http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-airlines-stop-transporting-nonhuman-primates-for-research

Additional background on the campaign:

http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/Canada+targeted+animal+research+cargo+says+hands+tied/5213951/story.html

http://www.buav.org/article/807/buav-call-on-air-canada-to-stop-transporting-monkeys-for-research

www.buav.org/cargocruelty

For more information on Change.org, please visit:

http://www.change.org/about

Change.org is the world’s fastest-growing platform for social change — growing by more than 400,000 new members a month, and empowering millions of people to start, join, and win campaigns for social change in their community, city and country.

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Global campaign on Change.org calls on Air France, Air Canada and Vietnam Airlines to stop transporting “cruel cargo”

LONDON - The British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection has launched an international campaign on Change.org to stop airlines transporting primates destined for research.

“Every year, tens of thousands of monkeys are traded around the world for the research industry,” said Sarah Kite, Director of Special Projects for the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection. “Airlines play a key role in this chain of suffering by shipping monkeys from breeding facilities in countries such as Vietnam, China, St Kitts and Mauritius to laboratories in the USA, Europe and Japan. BUAV is encouraging everyone to sign the Change.org petition in support of the Cargo Cruelty Campaign to urge airlines to take a compassionate stance and say no to cruel monkey shipments."

The Cargo Cruelty campaign was launched shortly after American Airlines joined the growing list of airlines that do not transport primates for the research industry. Air France, Air Canada and Vietnam Airlines are among a small number of airlines that continue to be involved in the primate trade.

The monkeys are bred in captivity or taken from the wild in countries such as Mauritius, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, the Philippines, Indonesia, Tanzania and Barbados. Breeding facilities are often overcrowded and plagued by animal abuse, while live-capture from the wild is stressful and dangerous to the animals who are taken from their family groups.

The animals are crowded into poorly ventilated crates, with little to no protection against temperature extremes, and loaded into the cargo area of commercial airplanes, where they can spend fifteen hours or more on a transcontinental journey. The monkeys don’t all survive the journey.

“Most people would be horrified to learn that they’re sharing a flight with animals destined for life in a laboratory,” said Stephanie Feldstein, Senior Organizer for Change.org, the world’s fastest growing social change platform. “These activists’ Change.org petition has not only helped raise awareness of the issue, but it gives travelers an opportunity to ask their airlines to do the right thing by refusing to support the cruel primate trade.”

Live signature totals from the campaign on Change.org:
http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-airlines-stop-transporting-nonhuman-primates-for-research

Additional background on the campaign:
www.buav.org/cargocruelty

Change.org is the world’s fastest-growing platform for social change — growing by more than 400,000 new members a month, and empowering millions of people to start, join, and win campaigns for social change in their community, city and country.

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