Help Animals & Environment-Sign Letter to Obama

Dear President Obama:

Gandhi once said "you can judge a country by how it treats it's animals." Well if that is true, the United States and the world have failed miserably.  Billions of creatures in our country and abroad are subjected to horrific cruelties, murder and abuse every day because of greed, mean spirits, indifference and ignorance.

You campaigned under the premise of change and we sincerely hope you meant it.  We hope as the president of change, you are willing to change the lives of billions of creatures who suffer needlessly at the hands of man every hour of every day. We also hope you are willing to stop the destruction of our environment, our land, waters and air.

This letter contains some of the examples of how and why animals suffer. Any humane organization can send you documentation to substantiate my claims and we beg every  organization that reads this to please forward information to our President so he may see how horrific animal suffering truly is on a global scale.

Factory farming is geared to be as cost efficient as possible, regardless of the suffering it causes the animals at these facilities.  It's a disgraceful business inflicting pain and horror on billions of innocent creatures. Isn't it enough that these animals sacrifice their lives so that we can eat and clothe ourselves? Why should animals suffer their entire lives before being murdered for food and clothing? They shouldn't. Below is a sampling of the pain and suffering of farm animals and practices that must be outlawed:

%uFFFD         Ducks force-fed the human equivalent of 80 lbs. of food at each meal so that "high end" restaurants can serve fois gras. Their intestinal tracts and stomachs are torn apart by the feeding tubes. They only live a few weeks before the horrific abuse kills them.

%uFFFD         Dairy farms. The cows have their tails docked (cut off without anesthesia). Their calves are torn from them soon after birth. It is well documented how these new mothers morn the removal of their babies. When dairy cows are no longer useful for milk, their ovaries are torn out of them without anesthesia and then they are sold for slaughter.

%uFFFD         Veal. The male calves become veal. Taken from their mothers shortly after birth, their testicles are torn out without anesthesia and they are locked in crates so small they can't move and fed a diet that makes them anemic which is why veal is pale in color.

%uFFFD         Eggs. Hens live in battery cages so small they can't even flap their wings. They are shocked "electrocuted" so that they produce eggs routinely.

%uFFFD         Chickens, turkeys, and all other fowl mostly live in horribly cramped quarters, have their beaks cut off so they can't hurt each other, are jammed into cages for transport to slaughterhouses. These birds become entertainment for the employees working in these factory farms. These poor creatures are used as footballs, kicked, tortured, throats crushed, necks broken and left flapping on the floor to die.

%uFFFD         Pigs. Females live in gestation crates so small they can't move. Often kicked, beaten and tortured because the workers can get away with it. Piglet, sickly or runts, have their heads smashed and are thrown into piles to die.

%uFFFD         Horses. Wild horses and buffalo living on public land are murdered so that farmers have more grazing land for privately owned livestock.  Wild and domesticated horses are sold for slaughter to be exported.

%uFFFD         Slaughterhouses. Animals entering slaughterhouses are treated horrifically. Transport conditions are horrific. Many are wounded in transport and left suffering until death. Animals suffer injuries just prior to slaughter such as broken limbs, but no one cares. There needs to be enforced regulations on how these poor creatures are treated prior to slaughter. If you see any pictures of what happens to animals in the slaughterhouses while they are still alive, you won't believe it.

%uFFFD         Fur farms. Animals skinned alive and tossed into piles to die slow and agonizing death.

%uFFFD         Seal hunts. Baby seals are clubbed to death every spring. I read a report of a testimony yesterday from clubbers claiming they were killing mothers who hadn't yet given birth and pulling the babies out.

%uFFFD         Animal transport. Animals are jammed into tight quarters, travel for days, not given any food or water, and no consideration is given to the temperature (hot, cold, freezing).

Animals in research. Do you know what happens to monkeys, dogs, cats, bunnies, mice, rats, etc? These animals suffer in so many ways. Tested with poisons, for behavioral issues, medical treatments, beauty products, chemicals, cleaners. The list goes on and on. Whether it is a laboratory or medical training, animals are not necessary. There are modern cost-effective methods of testing and learning that do not require testing and murdering animals. Please change these old practices, please stop allowing animals to be used in labs, schools, etc. Do you know that there are some monkeys that have lived since birth in laboratories, a number of which are over 50 years old and have never been outside the lab. Every humane organization reading signing this letter has documentation to send to you so that you can understand the plight of these creatures, the horrific things that happen to them and the newer practices that end the use of animals in this way.

Animals for entertainment purposes often suffer horrific abuse as well.

%uFFFD         Whether it's a zoo or a circus, NO facility should be allowed to have elephants. It is well documented that elephants lives are shortened usually by 50% living in captivity and during their lives they are shocked, beaten, chained, caged in very small areas and simply mishandled because most facilities do not understand what it takes nor have the breadth of requirements necessary to keep elephants healthy and happy.

%uFFFD         Iditarod. This year six dogs died, two from one team. The dogs that don't die, suffer from anxiety, stress, intestinal issues, have frostbitten paws, genitals, noses, and much more.

%uFFFD         Animals should NOT be allowed in circuses, roadside shows, etc. These entertainment groups simply do not handle animals humanely. Animals are not toys, they do not belong in tutus doing tricks.

%uFFFD         Animal Fights. Cockfighting, dog fighting, hog/dog fights are all brutal events for animals. The training process is horrific, dogs fed shards of glass to make them mean, puppies and stolen dogs used as bait to train the fighting dogs, roosters have razors attached to their feet, dogs and hogs fight each other. There is nothing funny about watching animals tear each other apart. These are horrible events, the animals suffer horrific wounds if they don't die.

%uFFFD         Rodeos. Horses prodded (electrocuted) before the gates open, calves suffer broken legs and internal injuries because of some cowboy who lassoes them, flings them to the ground and ties them up.

%uFFFD         Aquariums. Keeping large mammals and fish in these facilities is just wrong. Whales, dolphins, etc., do not belong in tanks entertaining kids. They belong in natural environments, living natural lives. These creatures need a lot of room, it is simply impossible to meet that requirement in a tank.

%uFFFD         Wildlife, exotic animals should not be allowed to be owned privately. People do not know how to manage and care for these animals.

%uFFFD         Canned hunts. Baby animals tied to fences so their mothers come to try and help them and then are shot. Animals released from a crate and immediately murdered. Again, there must be a ban on owning wild and exotic animals. There is no sportsmanship in trophy hunts and canned hunts.

Animal shelters need to be just that, shelters. Often they are murdering facilities using cruel and abusive methods to extinguish lives.  We need to be a "no kill" country, promoting spay and neutering and adoption.

Laws. Current animal abuse and cruelty laws are simply inadequate. It is time to set new and stricter federal standards and punishments for animal abuse. Animals must be reclassified. They cannot remain classified as property or there will never be adequate protection for them against abuse and cruelty. A man tortured a puppy by cutting off its nose, then two of its legs, beating it and letting it die. A women burned her dog to death in a crate because it barked and jumped up at the window. A couple left their young dog in the back yard tied to a tree, never changed the collar so as the dog grew it cut into the dogs neck, embedding itself deep into his flesh. A teenager dragged his dog to death on the back of a bike. A man, annoyed with his horse, dragged it behind his truck. A man didn't want his dog anymore so he taped his mouth shut and locked him in the attic. Two kids thought it was funny to put their cat in the microwave until it cooked. Some teenagers thought it funny to grab two resident swans in a local park, slit their throats and stomp on them until they died. Animals starved, beaten and abused to death. What do you think the punishment for these crimes should be? A fine, a month or two in jail? Sometimes they get a slap on the wrist.  Sometimes there is no punishment at all. Please enact protection for these innocent creatures. Give all animals the right to live without abuse and cruelty.

Breed specific legislation. The most disgraceful misuse of legal power yet. Some cities and towns enacted laws stating certain breeds are prohibited. The banned breeds are confiscated and killed. The breed of dog is not the issue, it's the owner of the animal that is the problem. It is well documented that any animal will become vicious if it is trained to be so. Stop punishing the victims, the dogs. It is time to start punishing the culprits, the owners. Please help reverse this ridiculous trend of misdirected law. It does not stop the problem, it is a poorly directed attempt to mask the real issue.

Land. If we keep tearing down forests to build developments and strip malls, where are the animals supposed to go? We destroy hundreds of acres of forest at a time and then say there is an overpopulation of deer, bears, coyotes, mountain lions, wolves, prairie dogs, etc. Don't they have a right to have a place to live too? Isn't this earth as much theirs as it is ours? We need to respect our wild spaces and wildlife or there won't be any left except in pictures. Please enact laws to protect whatever wild space is left for our furry friends. Please stop clear cutting developers from destroying more of the natural spaces left in this country.

Did you know that animals have feelings? That's right, they have many of the same feelings humans do such as happiness, sadness, they feel pain, fear, stress and anguish. Go to any lab that has animals and you will see extensive fear. Go to slaughter houses and you will see the stress in the animals awaiting their death. Go to any farm and watch when the babies are taken from their mothers. Animals are exceptional parents, defend their babies and will risk death if necessary to protect their young. Some live in family groups, like herding, all animals play and many like romping around together. Of course, big business and some in the scientific community do not want to admit this because once it's widely understood, the laws governing animals must change, thus changing how business and scientists use animals.

What we have done to our environment is frightening. Pollution of water, land and air. Destruction of rain forests, old growth forests, wild lands. Fish and creatures full of toxins. Where will it end? Natural resources are being depleted beyond capacity. What happens when everything is gone or too toxic to use?

There are so many issues, so many horrible stories. We are merely private citizens who are horrified by the brutality people inflict on creatures large and small and on our environment. We beg each organization that reads this  letter to please forward information to our President so he may understand the severity of these dire situations.  

Mr. President, please, we  implore you, please help save our environment and all these poor suffering creatures. Please be our president of change and help gods creatures live normal lives, free of abuse and cruelty. Our environment and all our creatures deserve our respect, not our disdain.

Please help the United States become the global leader in environmental and animal welfare reform, rather than a continued proponent of abuse and cruelty and disrespect. Let the United States set the example for the world so that when we are judged by how we treat our animals, we will be the shining example of what a country and people should be.

Thank you for your time and consideration of this terrible set of issues.