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Citing the “abhorrent” mass slaughter of millions of dogs and cats for their meat each year, including stolen pets, the House of Representatives committee on Wednesday adopted a resolution urging nine Asian countries to outlaw the practice. \\r\\nThe resolution “has tremendous bipartisan support,” fueled by “serious animal cruelty and public health concerns.” Public health officials have raised concerns about rabies or poison in the meat. \\r\\n“In American and most western cultures, we cherish dogs and cats as more than just random animals. They serve as therapy animals, search and rescue assistants, police dogs that aid with drug and bomb searches, they serve at airport security, they are companions, and they are often cherished family members. The extreme cruelty that these animals suffer is abhorrent and we shouldn’t turn a blind eye to these practices.” \\r\\nThe resolution, highlights the annual Lychee and Dog Meat Festival in Yulin — a perennial target for animal rights activists. In 2016, a petition calling on that Chinese city’s government to end the event attracted 11 million signatures. That same year, Hollywood stars including Matt Damon, Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara condemned the festival. See video(Warning! Graphic!!!) \\r\\nHumane Society International and others animal protection groups put the number of dogs killed in Asia for meat every year at roughly 30 million. Rep. Titus said at the hearing that 10 million cats suffer the same fate. \\r\\nThe resolution says that “a considerable number of the dogs and cats in the dog and cat meat trade are stolen pets still wearing collars when they reach the slaughterhouses.” It also declares that eating dog or cat meat “is not part of mainstream Asian culinary practice,” pointing to a June 2016 poll by a Chinese animal welfare group that found 69.5 percent of Chinese respondents had never consumed it. \\r\\nThe measure calls on the governments of the countries listed to enforce laws banning dog or cat meat trade and to curb sales of “leather or fur byproducts” from that activity. It also calls on executive branch officials to raise the issue in talks with their foreign counterparts

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.

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!

It is quite disturbing that a soldier, Lieutenant Barbara Balanzoni, would be sent to military court in Italy because he was trying to the save the life of a dying cat. Lieutenant Balanzoni has been returned to her civilian life and career as an anesthetist in Tuscany, facing charges of insubordination for saving the life of an animal. Her position in the army was medical officer at Nato in Kosovo. Lt. Balanzoni received an alert from military personnel due to outbursts of cat noises at the infirmary. She noticed a cat, later named Agata, a stray around the area, seemed to be in deep pain. The cat was delivering some kittens and, exhausted, could not deliver the last, which turned out to be stillborn. Without help, this cat, the mom, would have certainly died. With the demise of the cat, not only would the entire area be subjected to total disinfecting, the surviving kittens would be orphans without food; no way to be fed. They too would have passed on if their mother was not saved. In essence, Lt. Balanzoni saved more than one life when attending to the needs of Agata. The veterinary office was in Italy at the time and Balanzoni states “far from disobeying orders, I was following military regulations, which state that, in the absence of a vet, the medical officer should intervene.” So what did the officer do wrong if she was following regulations? Charges against Lieutenant Balanzoni states that she disobeyed her commanding officer when told n one would be "bringing in or having brought in wild, stray or unaccompanied animals.” She faces a year in the military penitentiary. Lt. Balanzoni is due to go to trial in Rome in about a month and we all need to help her by protesting this unjust act and accusations against her. Italy’s oldest animal defense association, Ente Nazionale Protezione Animali is involved in the case and should stand behind the decision of this dedicated soldier who was doing what was in her heart and mind; saving a life. Please sign and share this petition worldwide to take a stand for the dedicated soldier who had compassion to save the life of a dying cat and her kittens!!

At least eight Yellowstone National Park wolves have been shot and killed along the park boundary since hunting season began. Five of these animals were wearing radio collars and were the subjects of intensive conservation research study. Wolves roam widely in search of food or mates. It's natural for them to occasionally wander briefly outside the park's invisible borders, but that shouldn't make them fair game for hunters. The killing of Yellowstone wolves is unconscionable. Tell the governors of the surrounding states to shut down the wolf hunt immediately in lands adjacent to the park.

The proposed Pebble Mine in Alaska's Bristol Bay wilderness may be the worst corporate assault on America's natural heritage that no one’s ever heard of. Bristol Bay's untamed wilderness is home to the greatest wild sockeye salmon runs on the planet, an astounding diversity of wildlife, and a way of life for Native communities that have thrived there for thousands of years. But a Canadian mining company wants to carve a gargantuan open-pit, gold and copper mine out of the heart of this American Eden. The Environmental Protection Agency has confirmed that the Pebble Mine carries catastrophic risk for Bristol Bay. But despite the warnings, Canada's Northern Dynasty Minerals is recklessly pushing ahead with this $6 billion mega-mine. Send an urgent message to Northern Dynastys President telling him to abandon plans for the disastrous Pebble Mine. Please Help Us Stop the Plundering of the Planet!