Friends of
Animals (FOA)
November 2016
The goal of Friends of Animals is to end the importation into the U.S. of trophy hunted animals in Africa by 2020, and we believe we can do so with your help. During the month of July of 2015, when Cecil was killed, U.S. hunters legally killed 69 other lions in Africa for fun who they could mount as trophies back home. In 2015 alone, 405 lion trophies, 67 elephant trophies, and 217 leopard trophies were in imported into the U.S. from Africa.
For almost 60 years, Friends of Animals has been fighting to ensure that
wild animals can live freely—and that means protecting them and the
environment in which they live.
Our goal is to end the importation into the U.S. of trophy hunted animals in
Africa by 2020, and we believe we can do so with your help.
We are moving forward with getting Cecil’s Law across the finish line on the
east and west coasts of the United States. The legislation we drafted, named
after the lion Cecil who was illegally shot in Zimbabwe by an American
dentist in July of 2015, would ban the importation, possession, sale or
transportation of the African Big 5 species or their body parts. And later
this month we are bolstering our efforts with a new anti-trophy hunting
awareness campaign that will include national print ads and a video. Stay
tuned!
Well-heeled people from many countries travel to Africa to legally trophy
hunt endangered and threatened lions, elephants, leopards and black and
white rhinos, unfazed by the $11,000 to $150,000 price tags determined by
the animal, length of hunt and accommodations. But Americans should be the
most ashamed, since they make up the greatest number—particularly in
countries where hunting safaris are most expensive.
During the month of July of 2015, when Cecil was killed, U.S. hunters
legally killed 69 other lions in Africa for fun who they could mount as
trophies back home. In 2015 alone, 405 lion trophies, 67 elephant trophies,
and 217 leopard trophies were in imported into the U.S. from Africa.
When asked what he’d say to the American trophy hunter who killed Cecil,
conservationist Brent Stapelkamp, who studied Cecil’s pride and was the last
person to see him alive, said: “I'd ask him if he truly believes that he had
the right to deny the world such an animal? Because he has the money, he
thinks the world is there for the taking, illegally or legally.” (maybe this
can be used as a pull quote
We can’t ever give up. We can, and will, make a difference together: With
legal intervention from Friends of Animals, on Sept. 30, 2016, a D.C.
federal judge upheld the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2014 decision to
ban imports of sport-hunted African elephant trophies from Zimbabwe,
striking down a challenge brought by the Safari Club and the National Rifle
Association. FoA was one of the first international advocacy organizations
to challenge the long-held belief that regulated hunting can be a valuable
conservation tool for threatened and endangered animals. The truth is, there
is no evidence to show legalized trophy hunting enhances the survival of the
species, but there is evidence it fuels illegal poaching.
Start where you are: Educate and be a voice for animals. The truth is, there
are more Americans who care about the environment and wildlife than those
who don’t, but the ones who support trophy hunting have bigger mouths. Those
who silently oppose hunting are creating an environment where trophy hunting
can progress unopposed. Write letters and op-eds to newspapers and online
publications about why trophy hunting should be extinct, not the African Big
5 species.
Use what you have: Do you have a few hundred friends on Facebook? Share our
video with them (follow us on Facebook for updates on the release date) so
they too are encouraged to support our anti-trophy hunting efforts and
become members of Friends of Animals.
Do what you can: You can make a difference by making a donation to Friends
of Animals. It will help fund our anti-trophy hunting campaign so it reaches
the broadest audience, and will help us obtain lobbyists who can increase
the chances of getting Cecil’s Law passed in the states where it is
introduced.
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