 |
|
2010
Click here for more ARFF news releases. |
|
 |
|
For Immediate Release: August 8, 2011 Airlines cut ties with cruel international primate trade (Miami) – The Animal Rights Foundation of Florida (ARFF) is celebrating commitments by two airlines that provide cargo services at Miami International Airport to stop transporting non-human primates destined for the research industry. In a letter received by ARFF on August 5, Surinam Airways President E.M. Henshuys promised, "Suriname Airways will not accept non-human primates for transportation destined for the research industry." Caribbean Airlines, a target of a letter-writing campaign by ARFF, recently updated its website with the following statement: "Caribbean Airlines will not accept primates used for laboratory research experimentation and exploitation purposes." Both airlines have transported primates for the research industry in recent years. Miami is a major port of entry for primate imports into the United States (after Los Angeles, Chicago and New York). "We congratulate Caribbean Airlines and Surinam Airways for taking this important and compassionate stand against the cruel international primate trade," said ARFF Communications Director Don Anthony. The two airlines join a growing list of airlines that will not transport primates for the research industry. In July, American Airlines clarified its policy on transporting non-human primates to ban the acceptance of monkeys intended for laboratory experimentation. Since the beginning of the year, three Florida-based airlines– Monarch Air Group, IBC Airways and Amerijet International– have made similar commitments. Other airlines that have made this compassionate decision include leading cargo airlines such as Lufthansa Cargo, Cargolux and DHL Aviation, as well as the major airlines Delta Airlines, United Airlines, US Airways, British Airways, El Al and Korean Air. # # # |
|
 |
|
For Immediate Release: July 28, 2011 Bipartisan outrage at Primate Products, government waste (Washington, DC) – Demonstrating that there are still issues that Republicans and Democrats can agree on, Florida Congressmen Connie Mack (R-FL 14), Ted Deutch (D-FL 19) and Alcee Hastings (D-FL 23) have sent letters* to Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, urging a thorough review of five contracts awarded under the federal stimulus program to Primate Products, Inc., a Miami-based importer of monkeys for use in experimentation and testing. In their letter, Congressmen Deutch and Hastings asked for an immediate suspension of the contracts, pending results of a U.S. Department of Agriculture investigation into possible violations of the Animal Welfare Act by Primate Products. (The USDA opened an investigation in August 2010, after disturbing photographs taken inside Primate Products surfaced that show monkeys with serious injuries and crude surgical mutilations.) "Regardless of how you feel about the federal stimulus bill, you should be angry that one of the federal government's responses to an economic crisis is to support cruel, wasteful animal research," said Don Anthony, ARFF's Communications Director. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, approved by Congress in February 2009, provided billions of dollars to federal agencies to distribute. The Department of Health and Human Services has awarded 933 contracts, grants and loans in Florida. Five of those contracts, totaling over $1.5 million, were awarded to Primate Products, Inc. to acquire, house and transport monkeys. For example, Primate Products was awarded a $351,800 contract in September 2010 to provide 72 macaque monkeys from the Philippines to the NIH's Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Montana. As of March 31, the animals had arrived in the USA and cleared quarantine, but had not yet been shipped to Montana. Also in September 2010, Primate Products was awarded a contract worth $185,760 to provide 18 macaque monkeys, six African green monkeys, six squirrel monkeys and six marmosets to laboratories at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Maryland. *The letters are available to download at the following links: # # # |
|
|
|
For Immediate Release: July 25, 2011 Gov. Scott urged to name a birdwatcher to wildlife commission (Tallahassee) – The Animal Rights Foundation of Florida (ARFF) has faxed a letter to Governor Rick Scott urging him to appoint a birdwatcher to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) as a replacement for Commissioner Rodney Barreto whose term expires August 1. "Birdwatching has a much greater economic impact in Florida than hunting," said Don Anthony, ARFF's Communications Director, "We're hoping that Governor Scott will appoint someone who is more comfortable with binoculars than a rifle." The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission should be representative of the interests of all Floridians. Unfortunately, each of the FWC's current Commissioners boast about their hunting and fishing backgrounds. According to the FWC's own numbers, "wildlife viewing" has a much greater economic impact in Florida than hunting. Birdwatching generates more retail sales, state and local taxes, and supports more jobs than hunting. As hunting continues to decline in Florida, the FWC must change its focus and serve the majority of Floridians who do not need to kill animals to enjoy the outdoors. # # # |
|
|
|
For Immediate Release: July 1, 2011 Miss Florida USA pageant goes fur-free! (Davie) – After several years of campaigning against the cruelty and ugliness of the fur industry, the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida (ARFF) has received confirmation from Pageant Director Grant Gravitt that fur will not be included in this year's Miss Florida USA pageant. The Fur Information Council of America, an industry trade group, has been a sponsor of the Miss Florida USA pageant for many years. Each year since at least 1999, a full-length mink coat has been awarded to the pageant winner. ARFF has held protests outside the pageant finals each year since 2008. Bob Barker, TV personality and former host of the national Miss USA pageant, sent a letter to pageant organizers in 2009 requesting an end to Miss Florida USA's association with the fur industry. "The cruelty of fur has no place in a beauty pageant," said ARFF Communications Director Don Anthony. "We are very happy that Miss Florida USA will no longer be associated with this brutal trade. We wish the pageant, and all of this year's beautiful contestants, success!" The 2012 Miss Florida USA Pageant will take place July 15-16 in Davie, Florida. # # # |
|
|
|
For Immediate Release: June 13, 2011 Another South Florida airline cuts ties with cruel primate trade (Fort Lauderdale) – In a brief statement received today by the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida, Fort Lauderdale-based Monarch Air Group made a commitment to stop the transport of non-human primates. On June 2, a Monarch Air Group plane arrived from the Caribbean island of St. Kitts at Miami International Airport. The charter cargo flight carried a group of wild-caught African green monkeys. Upon arrival in Miami, the monkeys were driven to Primate Products, Inc., a company that sells primates to research laboratories. After documenting the arrival of the Monarch Air Group flight, ARFF urged its supporters to contact Monarch Air Group and ask the company to refuse to transport monkeys destined for the research industry in the future. There are an increasing number of airlines that were once carriers of primates, but which now refuse to transport primates for the research industry. In February 2011, in a letter to the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida, Amerijet International stated that it had ceased transporting primates "for any and all purposes." Last month, another Florida-based airline, IBC Airways, made a similar commitment. Other airlines that have made this compassionate decision include leading cargo airlines such as Lufthansa Cargo, Cargolux and DHL Aviation, as well as the major airlines Delta Airlines, United Airlines, US Airways, British Airways, El Al and Korean Air. "First Amerijet, then IBC Airways, and today Monarch Air Group. It should be clear by now to cargo airlines that monkeys are controversial cargo best to be avoided," said Don Anthony, ARFF's Communications Director. ARFF congratulates Monarch Air Group for taking this important and compassionate stand against the cruel primate trade. # # # |
|
|
|
For Immediate Release: May 27, 2011 Governor's veto deals setback to alligator industry (Tallahassee) – Florida Governor Rick Scott is not exactly a friend of alligators. He is known to wear cowboy boots made of alligator skin, and last month during a visit to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in Tallahassee he said that alligators were his least favorite animal. He added, “I’ve never shot an alligator but I’m receptive to that.” But yesterday he redeemed himself a little in the eyes of Florida's official state reptile. Before signing the 2011-12 state budget, Governor Scott vetoed $150,000 that was budgeted for “Alligator Marketing and Education.” The money was to be used to promote alligator meat, leather and other by-products. In 2010, the budget item paid for a booth at the South Beach Wine and Food Festival where alligator meat samples were distributed to attendees. The money has also helped gator farmers attend trade shows around the world to push alligator meat and leather goods. “We’re happy that Governor Scott recognizes that in a very difficult budget year, marketing the meat and skin of alligators killed in Florida is not a priority for the State of Florida,” said Don Anthony, ARFF’s Communications Director. “Among the many difficult decisions the Governor had to make for the coming budget year, this veto was easy.” The veto is more bad news for an industry that has seen the value of alligator hides dramatically decline, but it's good news for the many thousands of alligators who are cruelly killed each year on alligator farms and during Florida’s public hunt. # # # |
|
|
|
For Immediate Release: March 4, 2011 From Zimbabwe to Daytona Beach: Tragic life of Nosey the elephant (Daytona Beach) – A 29-year-old female African elephant named "Nosey" will appear with the Piccadilly Circus, March 5, at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach. It would be hard to find an elephant in Florida with a story quite like Nosey's. In 1984 an eccentric millionaire named Arthur Jones, who made his fortune from the Nautilus exercise machine company, flew 63 baby elephants on his 707 jet from Zimbabwe to his private airfield in Ocala, Florida. The round-up and harrowing 22-hour flight was the subject of a story on ABC's 20/20 called "The Flying Elephants" (available on YouTube). At the time, Mr. Jones said he was saving the elephants from being culled, although that is debatable. But regardless of his intentions, things did not turn out well for the elephants. In 1986, the group of young elephants began to be split up. Many were sold to an animal dealer, who in turn sold elephants to circuses. Two of the elephants were sold to circus owner Hugo Liebel. One died after only a few months at Liebel's property in Davenport, Florida. The other elephant was Nosey. Today, approximately 20 elephants from the original group who were imported from Zimbabwe are still alive. They can be found at zoos and sanctuaries across North America. Nosey is the only surviving elephant currently with a circus. To add to the tragedy, Nosey is forced to live alone, traveling the country with disreputable circuses. In recent years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has repeatedly cited Hugo Liebel for deficiencies regarding his care of animals. For example, during inspections in April and June 2009, the USDA found Nosey tethered by chains so tightly that she was unable to stand normally or make any movements forward or backward. ARFF has urged the USDA to take immediate steps to protect Nosey (USDA has the authority to suspend Liebel’s license and/or confiscate animals). "Nosey is suffering in the circus. It is long past time for Nosey to be retired to a sanctuary," said ARFF Communications Director Don Anthony. "Nosey deserves freedom from constant travel and mistreatment, and an opportunity to socialize and build relationships with other elephants." The Animal Rights Foundation of Florida is planning protests at several performances of the Piccadilly Circus in Florida during February and March. # # # |
|
|
|
For Immediate Release: February 14, 2011 Victory! Amerijet stops transporting primates (Fort Lauderdale) – In a one-sentence letter received earlier today, Amerijet International CEO David G. Bassett confirmed that the airline had stopped transporting primates: "This letter on behalf of Amerijet International, Inc. is intended to confirm that, as stated on our website, Amerijet has ceased transporting primates for any and all purposes." The letter follows a five month letter-writing campaign by the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida (ARFF), and numerous protests by local animal advocates. In an initial letter to the Fort Lauderdale-based airline in October 2010, ARFF pointed out that many airlines that were once carriers of primates now refuse to transport primates for the research industry. Airlines that have made this decision include leading cargo airlines such as Lufthansa Cargo and DHL Aviation, as well as the major airlines Delta Airlines, United Airlines, US Airways, British Airways, El Al and Korean Air. “We are thrilled to be able to add Amerijet International to the list of companies that have made the compassionate decision to dissociate themselves from the cruelty and suffering of the international trade in primates,” said ARFF Communications Director Don Anthony. In 2010, according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service records, 158 primates were imported into the United States from the Caribbean islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis. Amerijet is currently the only provider of air cargo services for the islands. Amerijet has been shipping primates from Saint Kitts since at least 1999. The shipments were for companies, such as Miami-based Primate Products, Inc. and Worldwide Primates, that sell animals to laboratories. # # # |
|
|
|
For Immediate Release: December 21, 2010 Federal judge imposes stiff penalties on Miami animal exhibitor (Miami) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced an enforcement action against a Miami-based animal exhibitor with a long history of violating the federal Animal Welfare Act. Corinne Oltz is the president of two Florida corporations, Wild Animal World, Inc. and Pangaea Productions, Inc. There have been several incidents of animals owned by Wild Animal World/Pangaea Productions injuring people. In the most serious incident, in November 2006, a 4-year-old girl at a birthday party in Coral Gables was mauled by a cougar brought to the party by Wild Animal World. The child suffered serious cuts to her face and head. In a Default Decision issued November 8, Chief Administrative Law Judge Peter Davenport revoked the exhibitor license of Wild Animal World, Inc. and assessed a civil penalty of $56,500 against Oltz, Wild Animal World and Pangaea Productions for fifteen violations of the Animal Welfare Act. In addition, Oltz and Pangaea Productions were assessed a separate civil penalty of $12,950 for "seven instances of knowingly disobeying a cease-and-desist order of the Secretary of Agriculture." The Default Decision and Order can be downloaded at this link. The decision states, in part, "The gravity of the violations alleged in this complaint is great. They include the unsafe exhibition of dangerous animals, which placed both animals and people at risk, and resulted in injury to children and animals." On their website (www.wildanimalworld.net) and facebook page (www.facebook.com/pages/Wild-Animal-World/115751691788995), Wild Animal World continues to advertise, "The best wild animal shows in South Florida." "It is rare for the USDA to issue such a strongly worded order, and to accompany the order with tens of thousands of dollars in penalties," said Don Anthony, ARFF's Communications Director. "We expect that Wild Animal World will immediately stop advertising its wild animal shows." # # # |
|
|
|
For Immediate Release: December 3, 2010 Animal advocates object to West Palm Beach’s “month long holiday celebrating the circus” (West Palm Beach) – The Animal Rights Foundation of Florida (ARFF) has sent a letter to the West Palm Beach City Commission, expressing disappointment that the city has chosen to work closely with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. In particular, ARFF asked commissioners not to allow elephants or other exotic animals at the new Waterfront during a circus “preview event” on December 17. “The City of West Palm Beach has gone far beyond any other Florida city that will host Ringling Bros. this winter,” said ARFF Communications Director Don Anthony. “We are shocked that the city has chosen to align itself with Ringling Bros., a circus that has a long history of abusive treatment of elephants and other animals.” In its letter to the city, ARFF included copies of alarming photographs from elephant training sessions that were published in the Washington Post in December 2009. The photos, taken by a former elephant handler at Ringling’s breeding farm in central Florida, document how trainers forcibly separate elephant calves from their mothers, and cruelly force baby elephants to learn tricks using ropes and bullhooks. “Animals in circuses live miserable lives of deprivation, confinement and abuse,” added Don Anthony. ARFF, joined by several of its members from West Palm Beach, will speak out against the circus at the December 13 meeting of the West Palm Beach City Commission. If the December 17 event goes forward with elephants, ARFF intends to hold a demonstration at the Waterfront. # # # |
|
|
|
For Immediate Release: August 30, 2010 ARFF demands USDA investigation into disturbing photos of monkeys mutilated in lab (Miami) –The Animal Rights Foundation of Florida (ARFF) has filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture requesting an immediate investigation into disturbing photographs that appear to show monkeys with serious injuries and crude surgical mutilations, allegedly at Primate Products, Inc. (7780 NW 53rd Street, Miami), an importer of monkeys for use in experimentation and testing. The company also manufactures steel cages and devices used for restraining monkeys used in testing. The photographs show monkeys with scars and open wounds on their heads and necks who appear to have undergone numerous crude surgeries to remove large portions of their scalps and expose their skulls. Some animals had lesions on their faces and limbs, as well. The photographs surfaced late last week on the Internet and the source is unknown. Primate Products, Inc. sells monkeys for use in experiments to universities, the U.S. military and to pharmaceutical and contract testing companies. So far in 2010, according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service records, Primate Products has imported 240 monkeys (crab-eating macaques) from China to be sold for experiments. “The disturbing photographs provide a rare glimpse inside the nightmarish animal testing industry,” said ARFF Communications Director Don Anthony. “We are asking the USDA to open an investigation into this cruelty and to what may be violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act.” # # # |
|
|
|
| Click here for more ARFF news releases. | |
|
1431 N. Federal Highway • Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33304 • (954) 727-ARFF