ultimately means nothing in the grand scheme of things. (Sorry Charlie
) Read on:
ANIMALS HAVE NOTHING TO CELEBRATE DURING REFUGE CENTENNIAL:
This Friday (3/14) marks the centennial of the National Wildlife Refuge System. The first national wildlife refuge, established on Pelican Island, Florida in 1903 to protect birds, was created by President Theodore Roosevelt. Even President Roosevelt, perhaps the most famous hunter of his day, recognized the need for places where animals would be protected from hunting and trapping.
He would no doubt be astonished to find that today's national wildlife refuges have devolved into places where hunting and trapping are allowed, even encouraged. Today, more and more refuges are being opened to recreational killing at an accelerating pace. In the last five years alone, thirty-one refuges were opened to migratory bird, upland game, or big game hunting for the first time, and hunting was expanded in eight additional refuges. More than half of the nation's 540 national wildlife refuges now allow hunting and/or trapping.
UPDATE: IOWA TURKEY KILLERS FACE SENTENCING:
On Monday, March 24, Kyle and Kevin Sloan, the two men who beat to death 100 turkeys at a farm last October, will be sentenced for their cruel acts. The two men pleaded guilty on February 17 to several charges, including livestock abuse, an aggravated misdemeanor.
The livestock abuse conviction is considered a victory, because the brothers were not originally charged with any crime that acknowledged the suffering of the animals killed. The conviction also clears the way for appropriate intervention, including psychological counseling for the men.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Ask Judge Finn to sentence Kyle and Kevin Sloan to significant jail time as well as psychological counseling for their conviction of livestock abuse. Let him know that decisive intervention is the key to community safety. Remember to be polite - we want to win Judge Finn over, for the sake of the animals!
Judge Timothy J. Finn
c/o Story County Clerk of Court
PO Box 408
Nevada, IA 50201
email:
timothy.finn@jb.state.ia.us
For more information on the link between animal cruelty and violence to
people, go to
http://www.hsus.org/ace/11462.