News
Making oceans safer for marine animals
Spring - Summer 2015 Help us make a Sea Change for marine life We respond to disasters around the world Historic progress for animals in entertainment
We were known as WSPA (World Society for the Protection of Animals)
From the Executive Director
We can achieve so much together Since joining World Animal Protection as U.S. Executive Director earlier this year, I’ve been so inspired, not only by what we’ve already achieved, but also by how much remains to be tackled. With your continued support, we can achieve our shared vision of a world without animal cruelty. In the pages that follow are just a few of the most recent highlights of how we’re moving the world to protect animals:
the communities that rely on them. Vanuatu’s animals are still struggling to find food, water, and shelter. But because of your tremendous support, we have secured plans to protect up to 30,000 animals in these crucial next few months. Learn more on page 3. Improving the lives of farm animals Through our Choose Cage-Free campaign in North America and our farming campaigns globally, we are influencing businesses AND consumers to give billions of farm animals better lives. Remember that you can make a difference by choosing animal-friendly foods, like cage-free eggs, whenever you shop. Take a look at page 5 to see some of the food businesses we’ve influenced.
Making a Sea Change for marine life Last year, we launched Sea Change, our global campaign to protect the world’s marine animals from lost and discarded fishing gear, known as ghost gear. Nearly 640,000 tons of ghost gear are left in our oceans every year, making our seas a dangerous place to live. See how we’re working to solve this problem on page 6 – and how you can help!
I’m honored to help lead World Animal Protection into a future where animal welfare matters. Thank you for all your past support. Together, we will tackle the challenges ahead of us and make the biggest impact on protecting animals.
Protecting animals in disasters Our tireless Disaster Response Team has had a busy year already, deploying to far-flung corners of the world following multiple disasters. At the tail end of 2014, we headed to Cape Verde’s Fogo Island, where volcanic eruptions had depleted the local food supply and forced thousands of people and animals to relocate. With your help, we’re working with the country’s authorities to provide long-term aid. And at this writing, our team is still on the field in Vanuatu in the wake of Cyclone Pam this March, helping animals in need and
450 Seventh Avenue, 31st Floor New York, NY 10123 Phone: 1-800-883-9772 Email: info@worldanimalprotection.us.org Cover image: Iron Man, a seal pup entangled in ghost fishing gear, was rescued and released back into the sea in Cornwall, UK, earlier this year. Image right: World Animal Protection’s Elizabeth Hogan joins partner group Hawaii Wildlife Fund (HWF) for a marine debris clean-up in Kona, Hawaii. Unless otherwise stated, all images copyright of World Animal Protection. 2 World Animal Protection News
Priscilla Ma U.S. Executive Director, World Animal Protection
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Above: Gerardo Huertas of World Animal Protection feeds a dog displaced by the volcano in Cape Verde.
Left: World Animal Protection vet Naritsorn Pholperm treats Pam, a puppy named after the cyclone in Vanuatu.
Saving animals in disasters around the globe As 2014 drew to a close, our Disaster Response Team was preparing for action. We arrived in Cape Verde, the Atlantic island archipelago, in December, to provide aid after nearly constant volcanic eruptions since November had destroyed homes and contaminated crops. Thousands of animals were displaced and vulnerable. We provided emergency feed and medicine and put plans in place with the government to provide long-term care for animals. And just this March, Cyclone Pam ripped through the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu with devastating force, leaving thousands homeless and destroying the crops that sustain this impoverished country. Our Disaster Response Team again answered the call for help, deploying to the country within days to provide immediate aid to animals, complementing humanitarian efforts, and assess the needs of local communities.
Thank you, Disney Conservation Fund Our intervention in Cape Verde was supported by a generous grant from the Disney Conservation Fund’s Rapid Response Fund. We thank Disney for its vital support, which played a critical role in helping the animals and communities of Cape Verde recover.
It quickly became apparent upon arrival that food supplies had been decimated, leaving pets and farm animals hungry. We have since secured plans to provide food for up to 30,000 animals over the coming months. With your support, we’ve given medical care to sick and injured pets in Vanuatu like Pam, a puppy named after the cyclone (pictured). Starving after the disaster struck, Pam ate a poisoned fish that had washed ashore. She was hours from death when our team found her, so weak that she could not lift her head. Her owner, without access to veterinary care, had given up hope. But our team vet, Dr. Naritsorn Pholpherm, fought to save her. He injected Pam with glucose and gave her water with a syringe to hydrate her. After caring for her, he showed Pam’s owner how to give the injections himself to help Pam through her illness. When we returned the next day to check on her, Pam had made it through the night and eaten her first meal since getting ill. As Pam continues to recover, we are hopeful about her future – and grateful to donors like you for allowing us to save animals in jeopardy. To learn more and to support our disaster response efforts, visit www.worldanimalprotection.us.org/disaster-relief-fund
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Headlines
Read more about our work around the world for animals at
worldanimalprotection.us.org Historic progress for animals in entertainment The iconic circus Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus announced this March that it will end the use of elephants in its shows by 2018. This is a crucial triumph for wildlife in entertainment – and shows that public awareness of the suffering captive wild animals like elephants experience, is growing. Through our Before They Book campaign, we’re shining a spotlight on the animal abuses hidden behind the scenes in tourist entertainment. To learn more and help spread the word, visit beforetheybook.worldanimalprotection.org
Five more bears rescued from bear baiting Thanks to you, we’ve rescued five more bears from the cruel sport of bear baiting. The bears are now living in the World Animal Protection-funded Balkasar sanctuary. Two of the bears were surrendered by their owners in exchange for alternative livelihoods. Working with local police, our partners in Pakistan daringly raided an illegal bear baiting event to rescue the other three bears. All five bears are now safely in medical quarantine (pictured) as they adjust to living together. They will soon join the other 28 bears at our sanctuary who were freed by compassionate supporters like you. ©BRC
Colombia commits to ending illegal Amazon dolphin hunts We’re proud to report that the Colombian government has committed to protect Amazon pink river dolphins (Botos) from being slaughtered for illegal use as fishing bait to catch Piracatinga, a type of catfish. Our petition to protect Botos, signed by more than 162,500 supporters from around the world, helped advance our conversations with the Colombian government. The Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has agreed to work with national authorities on international trading to adopt effective measures to curb the sale of Piracatinga caught using Boto bait and improve law enforcement to protect dolphins. If you haven’t yet, please sign our petition to protect Botos at worldanimalprotection.us.org/savedolphins 4 World Animal Protection News
Collaborating with businesses to protect animals in farming With your help, we’ve successfully influenced global food businesses to commit to higher animal welfare standards. BRF, Brazil’s largest pork producer, recently signed a groundbreaking partnership with World Animal Protection to improve animal welfare throughout their supply chain. BRF has made an incredible first commitment to phase out gestation crates for pigs in favor of more humane group housing over a twelveyear period. Here in America, we recently commended Panera Bread on its sweeping progress for animals over the past year -- sourcing more eggs and beef from cage-free hens and grass-fed cows, and phasing out pig gestation crates completely as of this year. These developments follow our global partnership with Nestlé, through which Nestlé has pledged to improve the welfare of the millions of animals in its supply chain.
Ending Inhumane Culling around the world Millions of dogs around the world are killed each year in mass “culls,” often in response to fear of rabies. To stop this needless cruelty, we work with governments and communities to help implement the only humane and sustainable solution to rabies: mass vaccinations of dogs. In Bangladesh alone, over 97,000 dogs have been vaccinated since 2011 with your support, and the government has plans to vaccinate many more. Pictured here are a few newly vaccinated dogs with their owner, 22-year-old Kaosar Mondol. Kaosar’s family relies on their dogs for protection and was deeply grateful for the chance to vaccinate their canine companions. As Kaosar told us, “By vaccinating dogs against rabies, they can live with humans as friends.” With your help, we aim to expand this work to 25 countries and save 50 million dogs by 2020.
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Making a Sea Change for marine life Lost and discarded commercial fishing gear – known as ghost gear – is threatening our sea life. A staggering 640,000 tons of such gear are left in our oceans each year, trapping and killing hundreds of thousands of animals. The seal pups you see pictured here were rescued from entanglement in fishing nets, treated for their injuries and safely released. But many more animals aren’t as lucky. It’s time for a Sea Change – our campaign to reduce the volume of ghost gear, remove it from the world’s oceans, and rescue entangled animals. With our expansive coastal regions, ghost gear is a major concern here in the United States. And following successful gear removal expeditions along the shores of New Hampshire and Hawaii last year, we have several exciting programs to protect marine animals coming up this year. This summer, we’re traveling to the coast of Maine to recover and recycle ghost gear with the Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation. Approximately 300,000 lobster pots are lost annually in Maine waters, and about half of all humpback whales in the Gulf of Maine have been entangled in ghost gear at least once in their lifetime. We’re making local waters safer for them by recovering lost gear and supporting partners committed to making a Sea Change. Later this summer, we’ll be working to protect marine life in Alaska. Seals and sea lions along the Alaskan coastline are especially vulnerable to entanglement in ghost gear and have been known to suffer for months or even years until they succumb to fatal infections or starvation. This July, we’re supporting a mission in Alaska to rescue and free entangled seals and sea lions.
Supporter Spotlight Jeanie Kilgour is a marine enthusiast, avid diver and longtime World Animal Protection supporter. She tells us why animal protection is important to her. When did you first become a member of World Animal Protection and what inspired you to give? I’ve been a member for about five years. Animals do not have a voice so we need to be that voice. It is terrible that people abuse and torture animals. It has to stop. I believe World Animal Protection is doing an incredible job in making things right.
What do you enjoy the most about being a member of World Animal Protection? Seal pups in Cornwall, UK, are safely released back into local waters after having been rescued from entanglement in discarded fishing nets and treated for injuries.
You can help us make a Sea Change by spotting and reporting ghost gear! Report any gear you see, whether on the shore or in the water, at our online data hub: www.worldanimalprotection.org/sea-change-map
Thank you to our Sea Change partners We’re working with innovative partners to modify fishing gear so that it’s less dangerous for animals. Thanks to a grant from the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), we are supporting the development of fishing gear that will come equipped with transponders, making it easier to track and remove. Our Sea Change campaign is also sponsored in part by Hollomon Price Foundation, The Lawrence Foundation, Goldman Sachs Gives, and supporters like you. Keep up to date with Sea Change – and how you can help – at worldanimalprotection.us.org/seachange
I love your successes; it is so great that you inform people of the issues and how they can help. I am happy to make some contribution to the cause of humane treatment of animals.
Jeanie and Murray Kilgour
Do you have a specific campaign you’re most passionate about? Animal welfare in general, for it is important to fight for the protection of animals and against abuse. More specifically, elephant protection... I am concerned with the plight of elephants all over the world, in the wild and in captivity.
Your support in action: Helping orangutans in Borneo In 2007, Borneo’s Nyaru Menteng sanctuary, a haven for rescued and orphaned orangutans, was threatened with closure when its funding failed. The 650-plus orangutans in its care faced a dark future, but thanks to supporters, we were able to step in and help. Pictured here is an orphaned orangutan at the sanctuary; many of these orangutans will be safely released back into the wild .
Fact: Did you know? Global demand for palm oil causes the destruction of orangutan forest habitats.
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