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Thousands of dogs, many of them are stolen beloved pets, captured and transported over long distances under horrific conditions to Yulin, a city in China\'s Guangxi Autonomous Region. There, they\'re held in crowded cages without food or water until they are killed. Often, they are beaten and their throats are slit in front of other terrified animals by heartless dog meat traders. Most Chinese citizens reject this practice, and .ECO is committed to supporting them in ending this horrendous festival. Last year, thanks to overwhelming international pressure, Yulin authorities announced that they would not support the festival. The result was a subdued event and fewer dogs slaughtered than the previous two years. More recently, the authorities have claimed that the festival won\'t happen this year, but the dog meat traders will continue to stage the event with or without official endorsement. Join us now with the hundreds of thousands of advocates who have taken action against the Yulin Dog Meat Festival. Please sign our petition now to urge the Yulin authorities to intervene and end mass dog slaughter in the name of a festival. No one eats their best friends!

China is allowing the use of the bones of captive-bred tigers to be used as a tonic wine, even though the practice has been illegal since 1993. The government justifies this practice by claiming they are captive tigers- not wild ones. They were obviously wild at some point and taken from the wild. It is estimated there are 5,000 captive tigers on farms and zoos, though there are as few as 3,200 wild tigers left worldwide. 100 years ago, there were 100,000 wild tigers but they were relentlessly poached for tiger parts and put in captivity on farms until they have now become critically endangered in the wild. Tiger bone tonic wine is believed to have medicinal properties. Tiger bones are left to soak in the wine and removed before bottling. It is believed to remedy muscle pain, rheumatism, arthritis, paralysis and stimulate blood flow and has been used for centuries in Traditional Chinese Medicine. China declared to help double the world's wild tiger population by 2022 by combating illegal trading and poaching of tigers and tiger parts, yet it is driving the market for continued illegal poaching and the demand for tiger bone wine. Enough is enough already; the only way to truly combat the poaching of tigers is to ban the use of ALL tiger products, including tiger bone wine. Save the tiger from extinction and stop using tiger products.

Virtually all chickens raised for their flesh (or “broiler chickens” as they are referred to by the meat industry), spend their lives crammed into massive, windowless sheds that typically hold as many as 40,000 birds each. The intense confinement and extreme crowding on factory farms also results in unimaginable filth and disease. Please sign this petition to increase awareness about these deplorable conditions we force these animals to endure.

Hunting and eating whale meat looks more like a case of misplaced patriotism than anything else, Iceland has stubbornly refused to stop whaling for decades, despite international condemnation. Little economic and even less cultural benefit comes from whaling, but still Iceland continues. It’s exploiting the “scientific” loophole, although of course the hunt is actually for meat, much of which is sold to tourists and almost all the rest exported to Japan. Icelanders themselves eat very little whale meat – it’s not supposed to be very nice – and demand is rapidly dropping in Japan. However, Iceland isn’t planning to stop whaling at all. It’s planning to kill more whales. The government recently announced that in 2014, it plans to kill six percent more minke whales – that’s 13 more individuals. These little whales, the smallest of the baleen whales, face constant threats from pollution, entanglement in fishing gear and climate change. The last thing they need is more hunting. Tell Iceland that national pride shouldn’t and doesn’t come from annihilating whales and to turn its attention to something productive, elsewhere

Food? There’s already been a lot of concern over whether people will be able to feed themselves as the population continues to rise. Forget the human population increasing, though – it’s the decrease in some other species that might really cause a food shortage even more quickly~pollinators. Altogether, the scientific community credits 200,000 different species with transporting pollen and helping crops to grow. Unfortunately, new research finds that 40 percent of the world’s insect pollinator species are in danger of going extinct in the upcoming decades. Bees, butterflies, moths, wasps, ants and beetles all play a role in the critical pollination process, and their numbers are dwindling. While pollinators with vertebrae – like birds and bats – may not be struggling quite as much as the bugs, 16 percent of vertebrate pollinators are considered at risk for extinction as well. These figures come from research by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, a group with ties to the United Nations. The organization’s report collected data from roughly 3,000 pre-existing studies on pollinator populations that were conducted throughout the world. In fairness, the majority of the research on this subject has focused on species in Europe and North America. Though the existing research in other parts of the world isn’t promising either, it’s a subject that will need to be explored more before declaring that the whole world is imminently doomed. Sadly, ending the pollinator decline isn’t as easy as fixing one thing. Pollinators face a number of threats including:Climate change,Disease,Pesticides,Invasive species,Unsustainable farming practices,Human construction destroying natural habitat. Losing pollinators to these factors has been devastating. Presently, pollinators play a role in growing as much as $577 billion worth of food. 75 percent of all crops are grown with the help of pollinators. From an economical standpoint, this pollinator decline should be a major concern for big agriculture. When it comes to growing crops, birds and insects essentially act as free labor, an invaluable asset that we humans don’t always factor into future costs. When we humans use harmful pesticides and engage in irresponsible farming practices that are correlated to pollinator declines, we aren’t doing ourselves any favors.

Approximately 100 million pigs are raised and slaughtered in the U.S. every year. The type of housing system used throughout the U.S. to encourage this continuous grueling cycle of breeding sows is gestation crate to farrowing crate to gestation crate. It was developed to allow for economically efficient pork production, requiring less labor and feed than other housing arrangements. Scientific evidence suggests that intensive confinement causes physical disorders in sows. Unnatural flooring and lack of exercise leads to obesity and crippling leg disorders. Further, the air in pig factories is laden with dust, dander, and noxious gases, which are produced as the pigs urine and feces builds up inside the warehouses, causing respiratory difficulties and the spreading of infectious diseases amongst the pigs.Scientific evidence also suggests that intensive confinement causes psychological disorders in sows. The lack of environmental stimulation in the stall environment and the sows' inability to perform normal behaviors including rooting, foraging, nest-building, grazing, wallowing, or practicing social behaviors, leads to psychological disorders including chronic stress, depression, aggression, and abnormal and neurotic coping behaviors, such as bar biting and sham chewing (chewing nothing). Please sign this petition to help raise awareness that our housing system ideals need to be changed and there are other options available. Help make a difference.