Our LA team is steadily gaining grassroots support for the Traveling Exotic Animal Protection Act (TEAPA) (H.R. 3359), see:
http://www.federalcircusbill.org/

We introduced this federal bill last November with Congressman Jim Moran (D-VA) which aims to protect wild animals from being forced to perform in traveling circuses in the US.  Spirits soared in the U.S. last week when we announced the victory in Greece, with their complete ban on all animals in traveling circuses – we saw a spike in advocates using our Action Alert to contact Congress about TEAPA:
http://www.congressweb.com/cweb2/index.cfm/siteid/BreakTheChain/action/TakeAction.Contact/lettergroupid/5

We need to keep this momentum going so please educate yourself about this important legislation and take a minute to participate in our Break the Chain campaign to contact your Member of Congress today!
http://www.breakthechainus.org/

ADI’s Campaigns Director Matt Rossell was recently a guest on the popular Our Hen House podcast, discussing his past undercover work, ADI’s campaigns worldwide, and our campaign to Break the Chain of circus abuse in the US and you can listen in here:
http://www.ourhenhouse.org/2012/01/episode-107-all-the-darkness-in-the-world-cannot-extinguish-the-light-of-a-single-candle/

ADI just visited the California Department of Fish & Game (DFG) Director’s office in Sacramento to shed light on a serious conflict of interest with a State committee member,
http://www.ad-international.org/media_centre/go.php?id=2532&si=12

who advises the Agency on humane care of wildlife, who also owns an entertainment industry company, Have Trunk Will Travel (HTWT), that ADI caught on video in 2005 violently hitting and shocking elephants:

ADI also presented the video evidence to the Advisory Committee for the Humane Care and Treatment of Wild Animals meeting where Kari Johnson, HTWT co-owner, was in attendance. Among other abuses, the video evidence shows an elephant being shocked to perform a headstand and crying out in pain, and a baby elephant being “hooked” with a bullhook inside his sensitive mouth, both depicting violations of state law.

ADI also challenged Ringling Bros. Circus’s inappropriate seat on this committee highlighting their ongoing abuses toward wild animals and their recent $270,000 massive settlement with the USDA for violations of the Animal Welfare Act:
http://federalcircusbill.org/news.php

Clearly companies caught abusing animals should not be given a position advising the State on humane care of wildlife and ADI is awaiting a response from the DFG Director Charlton Bonham.