Here’s some top activism news of the week, other than the stories we’ve already covered (which you can check out via the link above):

Climate Activists Call Foul at Rep. Boehner’s Office over Keystone Pipeline and Campaign Cash from Big Oil

Climate activists fed up with the influence of [...]

 

At first, looking at the graphic above, the drop in egg consumption looks pretty dramatic. Actually, it’s just about a dozen eggs per person per year. But hey, it’s something.

The news: From Voices of Compassion: “per capita egg consumption in the US has been steadily declining for the past [...]

 

News: Following up on my story an hour or so ago on NFL linebacker Terrell Suggs ‘going PETA’ (not quite naked, though), news is Olivia Munn has also ‘gone PETA’ (and gone fully naked) to encourage people to drop the fur. Olivia Munn, if you’re not familiar with her, is [...]

 

News: Keeping chickens in battery cages and selling their eggs is now illegal in Europe. “On the first day of 2012, keeping hens in such cages became illegal, in all 27 countries of the European Union,” the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reports. “Hens can still be kept in cages, but they [...]

 

PETA does a great job of getting household names and celebrities who love animals to speak up and push our society in a more animal-friendly direction. Most recently, Baltimore Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs has teamed up with PETA (or ‘gone PETA’, as I may start calling it).

“He may be one of [...]

 

Meatout activists are looking to help more people dump the cause of at least 51% of our global warming pollution emissions this March. These activists are organizing events around the country and around the world for March 20. All 50 U.S. states and at least two dozen other [...]

 

Meatout activists are looking to help more people dump the cause of at least 51% of our global warming pollution emissions this March. These activists are organizing events around the country and around the world for March 20. All 50 U.S. states and at least two dozen other [...]

 

In case you missed them, or are just interested in seeing which of our posts from the last week have gotten the most views, here’s a list of our top 10 posts from the past 7 days:

US Map of Biggest Polluters (Interactive) Today is Human Trafficking Awareness Day – End Modern [...]

South Africa’s famed Kruger National Park was the scene of shocking discovery: The bodies of eight rhinos, all with their horns removed. A spokesperson for the country’s flagship tourist destination told the Times Live that three of the dead rhinos were found in Lower Sabie and the other five in the Pretoriuskop section. Rhino killings [...]

  If you haven’t heard, three anto-whaling activists, or whale warriors, were ‘taken captive’ by Japanese whalers after boarding the Shonan Maru 2 several days ago are supposedly to be released. The Australian activists from Forest Rescue — Geoffrey Owen Tuxworth, Simon Peterffy, and Glen Pendlebury — were facing trial and possible imprisonment in Japan for [...]

  If you haven’t heard, three anto-whaling activists, or whale warriors, were ‘taken captive’ by Japanese whalers after boarding the Shonan Maru 2 several days ago are supposedly to be released. The Australian activists from Forest Rescue — Geoffrey Owen Tuxworth, Simon Peterffy, and Glen Pendlebury — were facing trial and possible imprisonment in Japan for [...]

  If you haven’t heard, three anto-whaling activists, or whale warriors, were ‘taken captive’ by Japanese whalers after boarding the Shonan Maru 2 several days ago are supposedly to be released. The Australian activists from Forest Rescue — Geoffrey Owen Tuxworth, Simon Peterffy, and Glen Pendlebury — were facing trial and possible imprisonment in Japan for [...]

  To better keep an eye on Japan’s whaling fleet, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society activists have taken the advice of its helicopter pilot, Chris Aultman, and created battery-powered drones to follow the hunting ships. The drones, launched from the Steve Irwin every day, can go 300km (190 miles) and “uses GPS co-ordinates and provides both [...]

  To better keep an eye on Japan’s whaling fleet, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society activists have taken the advice of its helicopter pilot, Chris Aultman, and created battery-powered drones to follow the hunting ships. The drones, launched from the Steve Irwin every day, can go 300km (190 miles) and “uses GPS co-ordinates and provides both [...]

Whilst in pursuit of the Japanese whaling fleet, the Sea Shepherd scout vessel Brigitte Bardot was struck by a rogue wave on December 28, 2011, severely damaging the hull and detaching the port side pontoon. Since then, the Steve Irwin moved to intercept the Brigitte Bardot and is now escorting it back to Fremantle, Australia, [...]

Photo © Elizabeth John / TRAFFIC A record number of at least 13 large-scale ivory seizures in 2011, along with continued elephant killings in Africa, indicate that the illegal ivory trade is thriving — thanks to demand from Asia. In addition, records from “hundreds of smaller ivory seizures” are currently being compiled by the wildlife [...]

A goat, a rabbit, six dogs, and 35 domestic and exotic cats have been retrieved from a rural breeder’s home in North Carolina, thanks in part to the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).

“The cats include domestic breeds and Savannah cats, which is a hybrid produced by breeding domestic cats to wild African serval cats,” HSUS notes.

“The animals were being housed in unsanitary conditions and lacked proper socialization and medical care. The Davie County Sheriff’s Department seized the animals. Hybrid Savannah cats do not make suitable pets and exhibit wild instincts, including excessive spraying to mark their territory; HSUS warns against private ownership of these animals.”

HSUS’s North Carolina director also noted the fact that there are too many cats (compared to owners) in North Carolina and breeding more is irresponsible.

“With thousands of homeless cats currently languishing in North Carolina shelters it is especially wrong to have a commercial breeding facility in our state churning out cats and adding to the problem,” said Kim Alboum, North Carolina state director for The HSUS. “These cats should not be living in small cages and suffering for the financial gain of their owner.”

 

Into helping to protect animals from horrid factory farming and massacre? Want to do more than just go vegetarian or vegan yourself? Vegan Outreach does great work meeting with people one-on-one and distributing useful, important informational materials. But it relies a lot on donations to get the word out. Note the correlation between annual donations and distribution in this chart below:

Want to do your part? Donate to Vegan Outreach today.

 

Animal rights activists have been threatened by a new law, the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA), that seems to violate our 1st Amendment rights (allowing the government to give protesters the label “terrorist”). Now, they are fighting back. A group of activists have filed a federal lawsuit opposed to the act.

“Plaintiffs Sarahjane Blum and Iver “J” Johnson, who have both been animal rights activists for more than a decade, said AETA intimidated activists into silence and squashed their movement,” Truthout reports.

“I spent years uncovering conditions on foie gras farms and educating the public about the way ducks and geese are abused,” said Blum. “I no longer feel free to speak my mind on these issues out of fear that my advocacy could actually convince people to stop eating foie gras – affecting those businesses’ bottom line and turning me into an animal enterprise terrorist.”

 

The movement to ban bullfighting got another win last week. From the League Against Cruel Sports: “The Venezuelan Supreme Court has taken the decision to annul the Ordinance on Bullfights (1988) in the capital city Caracas, making it the first area of the country to effectively introduce a ban on bullfighting. This is a huge step forward as we push for a complete ban on bullfighting across Venezuela.

“The Ordinance on Bullfights contradicts a newer regulation which states that Venezuela is required to protect all living species. As anyone who has ever seen a bullfight will know, la corrida involves a huge amount of suffering not only to bulls but to horses as well. All of this cruelty can only serve to have a negative impact on society. ”