1. Ask the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the US CITES representative, to support Indonesia's proposal to protect ramin at the CITES meeting starting October 2, 2004.
2. Stop selling cribs made from ramin wood.

Every year and estimated 300,000 marine mammals, including whales, manatees, and dolphins are killed in "dirty fishing" practices. Additionally, 16 billion pounds of sea life is needlessly destroyed each year.

"Dirty fishing" refers to unsustainable commercial fishing practices such as bottom-trawling and indiscriminate netting. These unselective fishing practices bring up untargeted sea life, also know as bycatch, which is thrown back either dead or dying. For instance, shrimp trawling results in up to 10 pounds of bycatch for every pound of shrimp caught.

"Dirty fishing" is devastating the marine environment. Not only are millions of sea animals needlessly dying each year, but a significant amount of sea-floor habitat, such as deep sea corals and sponges, are destroyed, lessening the capacity of our seas to support life. This waste threatens the health of the entire ocean ecosystem and the coastal communities that depend on it.

This needless destruction can be mitigated. The President has submitted his budget for the next fiscal year to Congress including roughly $25 million in funding for National Marine Fisheries Service’s observer programs and the Bycatch Reduction Initiative. This level of funding is far from adequate to significantly reduce the environmental damage that commercial use of unselective fishing techniques does to marine mammals, fish, sea turtles, sea birds, and marine habitat.

Care2 Members are urging Congress to increase the amount of funding available to these programs. If you would like to help, please sign our petition to Congress at http://www.care2.com/go/z/25909

Healthy farm animals are routinely fed antibiotics to promote growth and compensate for unsanitary conditions, particularly at crowded factory farms. This "nontherapeutic" use of antibiotics in healthy pigs, poultry, and beef cattle constitutes an estimated 70% of all antibiotics used in the United States.

S. 2508 will phase-out the nontherapeutic use of eight types of antibiotics in animal agriculture that are also used in human medicine, or are so closely related to human use drugs that they trigger cross-resistance. By targeting the nontherapeutic use of antibiotics, the bill properly allows sick animals to receive necessary treatment.

The act also bans the use in poultry of Cipro-like drugs called fluoroquinolones. In October 2000, the FDA proposed to ban poultry fluoroquinolones because their use undercuts the effectiveness of Cipro and related drugs in treating certain forms of severe food poisoning in humans.

The American Medical Association, the American Public Health Association, the World Health Organization and other leading health organizations are on record opposing both the nontherapeutic use of antibiotics in animal agriculture.

Add your voice and press for fast action on this vital legislation. Send a letter now to your Senator and ask him or her to stand for public health and safety by cosponsoring and supporting S. 2508, the Preservation of Antibiotics for Human Treatment Act.
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This action is the first time that FDA has ever withdrawn an agricultural antibiotic from the market because of concerns about antibiotic resistance affecting human health. The ban was proposed in October 2000, but took nearly five years to finalize because of numerous procedural delays created by drug manufacturers.

According to the Keep Antibiotics Working coalition, the FDA has shown that use of Baytril in poultry reduces the effectiveness of Cipro in treating Campylobacter, one of the most common causes of severe bacterial food poisoning. The most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that resistance to Cipro in Campylobacter in humans has risen to 21 percent as of 2002; when Cipro-like drugs were first approved for use in poultry in 1995, such resistance was negligible.

The Union of Concerned Scientists estimates 70 percent of all antibiotics used in the U.S. - about 25 million pounds annually - are routinely fed to poultry, swine, and beef cattle not to treat illness but rather to promote slightly faster growth and to compensate for overcrowded and unhealthy conditions in concentrated animal feeding operations. More than half of these drugs are identical or similar to antibiotics that are important in human medicine. Use of antibiotic feed additives spurs the development and spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria in our food supply and the environment.
More...]]> In response to the crisis of abandoned animals after Hurricane Katrina, Reps. Tom Lantos, Christopher Shays, and Barney Frank have just introduced the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act (PETS Act, H.R. 3858), currently in Congress, that will protect pets in federal evacuation plans, and urge officials to save currently stranded pets.

Some Hurricane Katrina victims refused to leave home because they couldn't take their animals with them, resulting in even more casualties. Furthermore, the Humane Society of the United States believes that while more than 6,000 pets have been saved in Mississippi and Louisiana, tens of thousands more could still be in New Orleans alone. Pressure is still needed to save these animals, and a formal policy is needed to protect pets in future disasters, like Hurricane Rita.

Time is running out for animal victims. Please take action today - tell Congress to rescue animals stranded by Katrina, and don't let animals be forgotten again!
Take Action]]> too many of her actions have further threatened America's wolves.

Last year, a federal court overturned Secretary Norton's attempts to reduce wolf protections in the lower 48 states. But just weeks ago, Secretary Norton transferred responsibility for wolf management in central Idaho from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over to the state of Idaho - a state that, in 2001, passed a memorandum calling for the eradication of wolves in Idaho "by any means necessary."

And for the past three years, Secretary Norton has pointedly refused to implement and enforce federal law to stop Alaska's barbaric practice of using airplanes to chase down and kill wolves.

Sign the petition below to stand up for America's wolves and urge Secretary Norton to do her job to protect and recover the gray wolf.
Take Action]]> Did you know trophy hunters can write off their canned hunts and big game safaris at taxpayers' expense?

As reported in a front-page expose in The Washington Post, wealthy hunters have been killing a few "extra" animals, donating the trophies to pseudo-museums, inflating the value of these trophies and then taking a huge tax deduction for their "charitable" contribution (to "museums" that are sometimes in someone's basement or even abandoned railroad cars).

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA) has tightened up the part of the current tax code that deals with charitable donations to solve this problem. His changes are part of a massive "tax reconciliation" bill, which passed the Senate November 18. The House passed a different version of the tax bill December 8 that did not address the taxidermy tax scam. Urge your U.S. Senators and Representative to make sure the final bill ends this tax scam immediately!
Take Action]]> The largest commercial slaughter of marine mammals on the planet is set to begin again in Canada next month.

By the end of the hunt, more than 300,000 seals are expected to be clubbed or shot to death by fishermen who hunt seals off-season to pick up extra cash by selling their skins. Almost all of their victims will be babies -- some as young as 12 days old.

During a recent hunt, veterinarians who examined dead seals concluded that 42% of the seals examined had most likely been skinned while they were alive and still conscious.


Polls consistently show that most Canadians oppose the hunt, but still the Canadian government and fishing industry refuse to end it.

But there is new hope on the ice. Canada has a new Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, and a new party in power. With enough public support, they may consider ending this terrible hunt forever.


Sign this petition now and send it to anyone who cares about protecting the lives of Canada's seals.
Take Action]]> The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is recommending that manatees be downlisted from endangered to threatened status on the state level.

Last year was the second highest manatee mortality year on record. Just in the last five years, 1682 manatees have died in Florida waters and of those, 398 were killed by boats. That is almost an 18% increase over the previous five-year period. Furthermore, state scientists estimate the manatee population could drop by half in the next 50 years because of habitat loss, red tide poisoning and boat collisions. The population is far from stable.

Manatees are poised to be downlisted regardless of how they are faring in the wild because of a calculated effort by special interest groups opposed to boat speed zones and restrictions on development.

Later this summer, the FFWCC will vote on this issue. If the commission approves, restrictions that have kept in check boat speeds, seawalls, docks and waterfront home-building could be diluted or eliminated. Urge Governor Bush to take a stand and keep protections for the manatee in place!
Take Action]]> ExxonMobil is swimming in cash...while polar bears are drowning in the Arctic.

ExxonMobil raked in over $35 billion in profits in 2005, and another $8.4 billion in the first quarter of 2006. But where are Exxon's priorities?

• ExxonMobil has given its former CEO Lee Raymond a retirement package worth almost $400 million. Yet, it still refuses to pay punitive damages for the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill that killed birds, fish, sea otters and other wildlife – some of which have yet to recover.
• ExxonMobil is the sole major oil company to remain in Arctic Power, the lobbying group whose only purpose is to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to toxic oil drilling. The Arctic Refuge is home to caribou, millions of migratory birds, and other wildlife. It is also one of the most important onshore denning habitats for America's remaining polar bears.
• In the past five years, ExxonMobil has spent nearly $37 million on lobbyists and millions more in campaign contributions to relentlessly push its anti-wildlife agenda and fight efforts to curb global warming – the same warming that's melting sea ice and leaving walrus calves and polar bears to starve and drown.

Now, the Bush administration plans to remove wolves from the Endangered Species List and allow the states of Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana to wipe out nearly 80 percent of all the wolves remaining in the Northern Rockies!

The Wyoming Plan allows anyone to kill any wolf that wanders outside a small area in the northwest corner of the state. The plan would even target animals that live for most of the year in Yellowstone National Park but only wander out in the winter in search of food.

Tell Congress to oppose the Bush administration’s plans and make sure wolves are protected in the northern Rockies!

• Block meaningful efforts to address climate change now threatening polar bears, penguins and other wildlife.
• Eliminate vital protections for endangered wolves in the Greater Yellowstone Area.

• Roll back protections for millions of acres of roadless areas in our National Forests, paving the way for the destruction of habitat that wolves, grizzly bears and countless other species need to survive.
• Expand destructive oil and gas drilling off our coasts and in sensitive areas such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, threatening polar bears, sea otters and other wildlife.

But you can be a part of the greatest victory in wildlife conservation history! The Climate Security Act would not only be the biggest step ever taken to reduce global warming pollution, it also sets aside billions for wildlife conservation.

Global warming is already contributing to sea level rise, intensified storms and droughts, an increase in catastrophic fires, the spreading of invasive species and a host of other ecosystem disruptions.

The Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act is an important new approach to combat global warming that works for our economy and our environment.

IFAW Hunt Observers were on the ground and in the air documenting the hunt since it opened on the 28th of March. Only days into the hunt they captured on camera instances where animals were shot and clearly left to suffer. They witnessed live seals hooked and dragged across the ice. And in one of the more disturbing moments they watched as a sealer wrote an expletive on the ice while a recently clubbed seal behind him started to move...obviously still alive.

Is this the Canadian government's idea of a more humane hunt? Please urge the Canadian Prime Minister and Canadian Ambassador to end the cruelty of the seal hunt. Take action today!

• Sea lions kill between 0.4% and 4.2% of salmon and steelhead returning to the Columbia River each year;
• Federal dams on the Snake River kill over 15% of returning steelhead and salmon adults each year;
• Oregon and Washington states, which requested permission to kill sea lions, proposed increasing fishing quotas from 9% to 12% of the 2008 salmon run.

With this listing, the administration has failed to:

• designate critical habitat for polar bears;
• stop destructive oil drilling in prime polar bear habitat;
• require specific steps to be taken to address global warming and its disastrous effect on Arctic sea ice and polar bears' survival.

In fact, Interior Secretary Kempthorne made clear that the listing should not be used to address global warming or habitat loss -- the two main factors contributing to the decline of polar bears in the U.S.

This week's listing is already coming at the eleventh hour for polar bears -- these majestic bears can't wait for another administration. Demand REAL protections with a meaningful ESA listing for America's polar bears! (Learn more about this listing.)
Take Action]]> Oprah Winfrey recently started a 21-day cleanse diet to "jump start an inner makeover," and the diet involves eliminating all caffeine, sugar, alcohol, gluten and animal products. In her blog about this experiment, she writes, "How can you say you're trying to spiritually evolve, without even a thought about what happens to the animals whose lives are sacrificed in the name of gluttony?"

We say, Go Oprah! Go Vegan! Oprah Winfrey has the media reach and personal integrity to spread the word about the ethical and environmental reasons to embrace a vegetarian and/or vegan diet and lifestyle. Let's thank Oprah for embarking on this journey and encourage her to continue using her visibility to promote the ethical and environmental benefits of veganism to her audience.
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By putting human genes into goats, bioengineers are turning helpless animals into mere drug factories. Indeed, fewer than 10 out of every 100 animals injected with the human gene while still in their mother's womb will be able to produce the altered milk. The other baby goats bred for drug production are killed immediately. What's more, some "successful" transgenic baby goats develop severe birth defects that scientists don't understand.

Help stop this cruel farming process before it becomes widespread! Urge the FDA commissioner to deny ATryn and any other drug that comes from genetically altered animals.
Take Action]]> Hunting polar bears is illegal in the United States. The recent decision to list the polar bear as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act closed a gaping loophole in the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) that had allowed wealthy U.S. trophy hunters to kill polar bears in Canada, where such hunting is legal, and import polar bear trophies into the U.S.

But now Safari Club International, a big game trophy hunters' club, is suing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reverse this ban on importing polar bear trophies. More than 900 polar bear heads and hides had been imported into the U.S since 1994 because of the MMPA loophole.

We have to do everything we can to prevent the polar bear's downward spiral. We need the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to stand strong on polar bear trophy hunting - urge Director Dale Hall to uphold the ban on importing polar bear hunting trophies from Canada.
Take Action]]> Nearly 100% of beef sold in grocery stores is from corn-fed cows. But feeding corn to cows is cruel and is detrimental to our health and the environment.

Cows are meant to digest grass, so corn diets lead to extreme digestive discomfort, including bloating to the point of potential suffocation, and weak immune systems. Corn-fed cows live on cramped feedlots, unable to move.

Feeding corn to cows also breeds bacteria that is resistant to antibiotics and digestive acids in humans. Corn production and waste from corn-fed animals are a huge source of greenhouse gas, water and air pollution.

Instead, stores should sell beef from grass-fed cows who roam free their whole lives, eliminating the ethical, health, and environmental problems corn feeding operations incur.

If consumers create a demand for more sustainable grass-fed beef, producers will listen.</