I am pleased to bring you the very latest on our campaigns for animals around the world, and ADI Wildlife Sanctuary in South Africa!
Colombian Earthquake Relief: Wildfires followed the recent devastating earthquake in Colombia destroying thousands of hectares of forests, crops, and homes. ADI supplied equipment, including transport cages to evacuate animals, to wildlife veterinarians in Tolima. Given the ongoing drought and number of intentionally set fires, ADI will continue to support emergency prevention and response efforts.
Our limited-edition design, showing the journey BenTzur and Ori flew home, has been extended to allow our mail-only supporters time to grab theirs. Which means there’s still time to order yours, before they are gone! All proceeds will help care for the lions.
Backwards step for elephants in Wisconsin: For the first time ever the Price County Fair in Phillips has hosted elephant performances and rides. Elephants Kelly and Isla, both almost 60 years old, have been dragged around the country by Carson & Barnes circus for decades, never being able to move freely, shut in trailers, suffering from stress and abuse. Please ask Price County Fair to make future events elephant-free AGAIN. 📩 pricecountyfair@yahoo.com 📞 715-339-2397
ADI calls on UK Government to explain statistics: The latest official UK statistics on laboratory animal use in Britain record at least 6,000 animals (“other mammals”, “other carnivores”, “other birds”) whose species are not identified. Nearly 600 “other mammals” were recorded as being born at an unlicensed establishment in the UK or unregistered breeder in the EU. ADI has asked the Government to explain the 6,000 suffering animals and why the species was not identified. You can help: contact your MP today and urge them to provide a list on what these unidentified species are and where they come from.
International Primate Day, on 1 September, was founded by ADI in 2005 to highlight the threats to our closest relatives in the animal kingdom – deforestation, Bushmeat, the pet trade, entertainment and experiments. You can check out my blog, where I also highlight some of the survivors, saved thanks to campaigns to end primate suffering.
Bill Picket Rodeo Protest: ADI joined the protest outside the Bill Picket Rodeo just outside of Los Angeles, informing people attending about rodeo animal abuse. Recently, two horses were injured and killed at the Outlaw Rodeo college Invitational at the Humboldt County Fair, California and in Illinois, three men were convicted of animal cruelty for deliberately ripping the tails off bulls during a ‘steer tailing/coleadero’ event. Such displays of brutality should never be entertainment. Help us end this cruelty. Let us know if you would like to join or host a protest in your area.
Fireworks frighten animals. The UK government is holding a public consultation on restrictions on fireworks – PLEASE TAKE PART. Fireworks cause distress, injuries and deaths of pets, farmed and wild animals, pollution, human injuries, and fires every year. Home firework displays seem to becoming more and more frequent and involve ever louder fireworks. It is essential that restrictions are placed on the noise caused by fireworks. ADI has prepared template answers to make participation as easy as possible. Take action here.
Freedom for barn owls. After three months of being nursed and nurtured at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary, three of our rescued baby barn owls, Grant, Neo, and Tshepo, have flown free and are occasionally spotted around the sanctuary. The fourth, Lesedi, cannot fly well enough yet and continues to be cared for in the ADIWS aviary. The young owls highlighted the importance of the ADIWS Non-Predator Reception Area which was built earlier this year to receive domesticated species and wildlife. You can see all the episodes of our Owl Watch here, including the grand finale as they are released.
GOOD NEWS! Online travel guide TripAdvisor has expanded its animal welfare policy to include animal racing and rodeos, and will not allow ticket sales via its platform for, and or generate booking revenue from, specific experiences including most dog, horse, and camel racing and rodeo-style events.
This is Report it Week! (21-27 September), to raise awareness of online animal cruelty and encourage people to act when they spot harmful animal content online. Every day, millions scroll past animal cruelty videos online. Algorithms reward engagement, not empathy or compassion and animals pay the price while the creators make a profit. Don’t watch it again; don’t like, comment or react; don’t share it to “raise awareness”. Be aware – not all animal cruelty is obvious, it is often dressed up as comedy, cuteness or even rescue, designed to earn views, shares, and money. These videos are funding cruelty and normalizing violence to animals. Don’t just scroll. Report it: Directly to platforms and to ADI at whistleblower@ad-international.org. Every report adds to a collective signal that online animal cruelty is unacceptable.
South Africa has approved export quotas for elephant, black rhino, and leopard hunting trophies. The new Minister for Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, David Maynier, published the quotas on 31 August, which will permit hunting and export of tusks from 150 elephants, and trophies from 11 black rhinos, and 11 leopards in 2026, and a further 300 elephant tusks from 150 elephants, 11 black rhinos, and 10 leopards in 2027. In March, ADI submitted responses to the draft quotas urging the SA government to listen to the science and strengthen non-lethal, science-led conservation strategies to give the country a global leadership role in wildlife conservation. Help maintain the pressure for trophy import bans across the world.
In the UK, contact Prime Minister Andy Burnham to ask for the Labour government to follow through with their manifesto to ban trophy imports.
Protections for factory farming dropped. The US Farm Bill has passed in the Senate Committee on Agriculture without the Save Our Bacon Act language, which would prevent states from forbidding the sale of meat derived from animals confined in cruel conditions. However, the fight is not over. The Senate still needs to pass the bill and could incorporate the Save Our Bacon Act language. Please contact your Senators, urging them to keep the Save Our Bacon Act language OUT of the Farm Bill.
Iceland confirms plans for whaling legislation. The Icelandic government has proposed a permanent ban on whaling for February 2027. Iceland is one of just three countries where commercial whaling continues, the others being Norway and Japan. If the ban goes through, this could mark a major step towards ending this cruel practice for good. The legislation still needs to be introduced and passed so, until then, whales will continue to be needlessly killed. So far this season it is thought around 80 whales have already been killed in Icelandic waters.
Thank you to everyone who has already written to Iceland’s Prime Minister, Kristrún Frostadóttir and Minister of Industries, Hanna Katrín Friðriksson, using our action page – let’s keep the momentum going.
Canada considering almost 800 mile piepline from Alberta to the British Columbia coast, to transport millions of barrels of crude oil. The proposal would include huge infrastructure, pollution, and wildlife disturbance across terrestrial, freshwater, and marine habitats, decimating populations of species already threatened with extinction. The Government of Canada asked for comment on the proposal to designate the project as a ‘project of national interest’. Thank you to all who took part using our action page before the deadline last week. View ADI’s submission here.
The Coffee County Fair in Manchester, Tennessee recently hosted Banana Derby, where dogs race around makeshift tracks with monkeys strapped to their backs. Capuchin monkeys Gilligan and Burt are chained, forced to perform, and repeatedly thrown around by their dog steeds. Gilligan also endures additional hours out in the heat being used for photo-ops. Help cancel this cruelty. Contact the fair and urge them not to host the Banana Derby anymore and to adopt an animal-free entertainment policy. Coffee County Fair 📩 ccfairboard@gmail.com 📞 (931) 723-1546.
Your chance to help animals and own an original piece of art. Our annual ADI Auction helping to support the care of our rescued animals at ADIWS starts TODAY and will run until Tuesday, October 6 at 8:00pm UK | 12:00pm PT | 3:00pm ET. Browse all items and get your bid in for your favorite piece or the perfect gift for this holiday season at https://bit.ly/ADIauction.
From September 12-26, marches are being held to stand up for dogs, and other animals, suffering in laboratories, ending at Marshall BioResources in the US and MBR Acres in the UK where tens of thousands of dogs are collectively bred for experimentation. ADI investigated MBR when it was called Interfauna and saved several beagles.
Almost all experiments on dogs are performed to meet outdated and unnecessary regulatory testing requirements. Advanced, human-relevant technologies provide safer, faster, more accurate and humane replacements for animal experiments, it is vital that these be adopted by regulators and governments. The US, UK, and EU have all produced ‘roadmaps’ for the elimination of animal testing, it is vital that these incorporate regulatory testing protocols.
Animals farmed for their fur, including mink, are kept in long rows of tiny wire mesh cages, confined to small spaces with wire mesh floors, allowing excrement to pile up below. The vast number of animals, confined in a small space, and unsanitary conditions, make fur farms a breeding ground for disease. The USDA recently confirmed an outbreak of avian influenza (H5N1) amongst captive mink in Utah. Mink have respiratory receptors similar to those of birds and humans, so can spread H5N1 to both. Covid-19 and the H5N1 have shown that fur farming is not only cruel, but increases the risks of another pandemic.
If you live in the U.S., urge your Congressmembers to support H.R. 2185, the Mink VIRUS Act, to phase out the use of mink in fur farms and prevent future outbreaks from happening again.
In the UK, contact your MP today, and ask them to support the Fur (Import and Sale) Bill to prohibit the import and sale of fur.
New homes for Kuwait lions. 18 months after his devastating cancer diagnosis, Muheeb is still full of energy. Muheeb’s cancer appears to be in remission but the diagnosis meant we had to re-evaluate plans for him at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary. We decided to give him as much space and fun for as long as possible. He is now in a new 2.5 acre habitat – Keith’s Happiness Habitat – with dozens of new trees and a brand new two room house. He has Smith on one side and three other lions from Kuwait, Saif, Dhubiya and Aziza on the other in a refurbished habitat with a brand new three-room house.
The work we do for animals in our care, and in need, is only possible with your support. Donate US $, CA $ | Donate £, Euros, Rand.
