There are many ways in which members of Pilgrim have become involved in protecting animals.
11 Facts About Animal Cruelty
- In many circuses, wild and exotic animals are trained through the use of intimidation and physical abuse. Former circus employees have reported seeing animals beaten, whipped, poked with sharp objects and even burned to force them to learn their routines!
- Elephants who perform in circuses are often kept in chains for as long as 23 hours a day from the time they are babies.
- More than 15 million warm-blooded animals are used in research every year.
- Scientists estimate that 100 species go extinct every day! That's about one species every 15 minutes.
- If you live in Pennsylvania, California, Florida, Rhode Island, Illinois, Virginia, Oregon, New York, New Jersey and Vermont you have the legal right to refuse to participate in dissection in class! In Louisiana, there is a State resolution and in Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland and New Mexico, there are Departments of Education resolutions in place that allow you to refuse to dissect, although it hasn’t yet become a law.
- Dog fighting and cock-fighting are illegal in all 50 states.
- It is estimated that on average it takes 1,000 dogs to maintain a mid-sized racetrack operation. New greyhounds are continually entering the system to replace greyhounds that grade-off due to injury, age or poor performance. There are currently over 30 tracks operating in the United States.
- Tens of thousands of wild and domesticated horses from the United States are cruelly slaughtered every year to be used for horsemeat in Europe and Asia. Since the last horse slaughter plants in the U.S. were closed in 2007, thousands of horses have been shipped to Canada and Mexico for slaughter.
- Many studies have found a link between cruelty to animals and other forms of interpersonal violence.
- Neglect and abandonment are the most common forms of companion animal abuse in the United States.
- A fur coat is pretty cool—for an animal to wear. Eighteen red foxes are killed to make one fox-fur coat, 55 minks to make a mink coat.
11 Facts about Animal Testing
- It's impossible to know exactly how many animals are being used in research because U.S. laws do not require scientists to report how many mice, rats, or birds they use, but it’s estimated that 90% of lab animals are mice and rats.
- The animals that scientists do have to report using in experiments include dogs, cats, sheep, hamsters, guinea pigs, and primates. Of the animals that the USDA collects numbers on, 1,438,553 were used in research in 2002.
- Since more than 1.4 million mammals other than rats and mice were used in research, and since mice and rats probably make up 90% of the animals in labs, we can guess that about 14 million rats and mice were used in research in 2002.
- In labs, small animals, like hamsters, rats and mice, are usually kept in clear or white plastic boxes about the size of a shoebox. Animals a bit bigger, such as guinea pigs, live in larger boxes about twice the size of a shoebox. Usually, more than one animal lives in a box.
- Larger animals like dogs, cats, and primates usually live in wire cages. Most animals stay in their cages all the time except when they are being used in experiments.
- Living in cages can be a big problem for intelligent animals like dogs, cats, pigs, and primates who become tremendously lonely and bored unless they have things to play with or ways to get more exercise.
- More than half of the 1.4 million animals counted by the USDA that are used in research were not involved in experiments that caused pain. There is no way of knowing how many rats and mice were involved in studies that were not designed to cause pain.
- 489,262 animals that were used in research in 2002 (not including mice, rats, and birds—no one knows how many of these animals are used in research) were used in research that was either painful, distressful, or both. Most of these animals were given something that either helped take the pain away or helped them get over the pain quickly.
- 103,764 of the animals made to feel pain were not given anything to reduce their pain and suffering. Although some of this pain was slight—like getting an injection with a needle—some of it was extremely severe.
- Most of these animals are only used in one experiment, but sometimes the same animal will be used in more than one experiment. Most are euthanized shortly after being used in an experiment.
- Some lucky chimps will be able to retire from being used in research to the Chimp Haven sanctuary, built in Shreveport, Louisiana, thanks to a law signed by President Clinton in 2000.
Courtesy of Do Something and ASPCA
Some good sites to visit are:
Change.org-Animal Rights
PETA: PETA
