peta2 <3's Bolivia July 14, 2009

Posted by Rachel-O at July 14, 2009 3:19 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 9 ) | TrackBack

floridavoicesforanimals / CC

Once in a while it's a bit hard to stay confident that one day we will change the world for animals. Sometimes companies make it hard to be—but sometimes, whole countries give us hope—they do the right thing. They see something they know is wrong, and stop it.

Remember Bolivia? A few months ago, we told you about their trauma training exercises where dogs were being cut into and having their insides torn out. We told you, and the Bolivian government. Within a month, Bolivia's President Evo Morales banned the use of all animals in military exercises.

Now, the day has finally arrived when "It is forbidden to use wild and/or domestic animals in circuses throughout the country." in Bolivia. As far as we know, Bolivia is the first country in the world to enact such a landmark measure for animals abused in circuses.

With the passage of this new law, elephants, lions, tigers, horses, dogs, and all other animals who are forced to live in shackles or cages—and are routinely beaten into submission in order to perform unnatural circus "tricks"—will no longer be subjected to these cruelties in Bolivia.

And as if that weren't enough, PETA is now working closely with the Bolivian government on the country's first national animal protection framework law. If the measure is adopted, it would make Bolivia a global leader in animal welfare.

On behalf of animals in Bolivia, muchas gracias to President Morales, Member of Congress Ximena Flores, and concerned citizen Ana Serrano Revollo for all their hard work in making this law prohibiting animal circuses a reality! And thanks to all of you, who continue to help show the world that you care!

Victory: Bolivia Ends All Military Combat Exercises on Animals! April 1, 2009

Posted by Rachel-O at April 1, 2009 1:30 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 90 ) | TrackBack

After seeing a video of Bolivian soldiers violently stabbing and torturing live dogs for trauma training last month—and hearing that it was supposedly what the U.S Army taught them to do—most of us were left with two things: an upset stomach, and the question of why this ever has to happen to any animal in the name of war.

Thousands of you wrote to Bolivia and asked them to immediately end all use of animals in military combat exercises. And because of you, dogs and other animals in this country—for the very first time—are protected under a brand new regulation that puts to an end the torture and killing of animals in military exercises!

On Monday, the Minister of Defense in Bolivia, Walker San Miguel, issued a resolution to prohibit the abuse and killing of animals in military exercises. San Miguel declared that "we are issuing a Resolution 217, by which we prohibit all acts of violence, exploitation, mistreatment that provokes the death of animals".

There's no excuse for any country to torture and kill animals—and we want the Department of Defense in the U.S to hear this message loud and clear. Tell the United States to follow Bolivia's lead and stop burning, shooting, poisoning and stabbing live animals in medical-training exercises now.

On behalf of animals everywhere—thank you!

Dogs Being Stabbed in Military Combat Training? March 11, 2009

Posted by Rachel-O at March 11, 2009 2:45 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 10 ) | TrackBack

The video below terrifies me. Not only because it's a video of soldiers stabbing live dogs and then biting their organs, but also because this is what the Bolivian soldiers state the US Army taught them to do to prepare for war. This training partnership is confirmed by a written agreement signed by the two countries. In the U.S., the Department of Defense currently stabs, shoots, poisons, burns, and cuts the limbs off thousands of living animals each year in medical-training exercises. The U.S. exercises differ from those used by the Bolivian military, but the victims are the same—innocent animals.

In these military exercises, Bolivian soldiers state that stray dogs are kidnapped, restrained, violently stabbed and killed. And in the video, the soldiers are seen cutting open the animals and removing their organs. One of the instructors in the video removes a dog's heart, and rubs it on soldiers' faces. Another soldier cuts open a dog's chest and inserts his head into the wound to remove the dog's insides.

This sounds like a bad horror movie, but instead it's the disgusting truth of what is happening to dogs and other animals for military combat training while other more humane and less horrific methods exist.

Please send a letter to the Bolivian government asking them to end trauma training on animals immediately.

Meet Noelia. She's From Bolivia. March 5, 2009

Posted by Rachel-O at March 5, 2009 5:33 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 3 ) | TrackBack

Noelia is hardcore. A few weeks ago she let us know about one of her protests against animal testing and the fur industry in her home country of Bolivia, and we were blown away! There was a huge crowd of people, props, and fake blood—so of course we loved it!

Check out a short interview I did with her about all of the work she's doing for animals on the peta2 Street Team.

Why do you feel it's important to educate people on what happens to animals in laboratories?
First of all, animals are not ours! Animals are a miracle, humans think that we can just use anything and anyone around us for whatever we want, no matter how much they suffer. Animals shouldn't have to suffer because we want to look prettier or younger. You wouldn't agree to donate your dog or cat to a lab, would you?

What has been your most successful protest?
Our last protest was the first of it's kind here in Cochabamba, Bolivia. It was so successful because it is a new subject that no one's really familiar with. We used Facebook, and got 20—30 people to come out and speak out against fur and vivisection with our animal organization ADDA-BOLIVIA (Asociacion para la Defensa de los Derechos Animales).



I heard you're also interested in educating people on why they shouldn't pay to see animals abused for the circus—what got you interested in that?
I was 11 or 12 when I realized how cruel the circus was. The lions were in small cages and had chains around their legs. I could see that the animals were traumatized because they were walking around in circles inside their filthy cages. When I was 16, I joined peta2 and started to leaflet, and now Cochabamba—my city—doesn't allow circuses with animals!

Are you vegetarian? If so, what made you go stop eating animals?
YES! I remember that it was lunch time and I was eating with my brother and I said "I don't think I will eat eggs, they could be baby chickens" and my brother said "Then don't eat that piece of meat because it for sure was a baby cow, DUH!" He was thinking that I would agree, but continue eating. I stopped eating meat right then. I realized that cows, chickens, pigs and other animals suffer the same way my kitties would. Now my conscience feels free because my body isn't a walking cemetery!

What great advice do you have for young activists who feel alone sometimes fighting for animals?
Don't feel alone, because you're not! I used to feel alone here in Bolivia—I thought that I was the only crazy girl who loved animals, but doing some research I found some amazing and interesting people that had the same ideas, and Facebook helped a lot!

Do you have any animal companions?
I have three beautiful cats, two females and one male. They were all adopted and are all spayed or neutered! My babies names are Kitty and Nina and Batman!

Noelia brings up a great point—sometimes it's really easy to feel alone, and as you can see, there are people all over the world fighting for the same things you are! Find them by joining the peta2 Street Team, getting on the peta2 boards, and using Facebook and MySpace! Great job Noelia!