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As part of the 2017 Worldwide Rally For Cecil, animal rights activists staged a rally  in Union Square, a social justice hub in NYC, to remember the majestic lion in Zimbabwe who was killed by Walter Palmer, a hunter from Minnesota. During the rally, advocates distributed information to the public about cruelty and impact of hunting and the lies perpetuated by hunters to justify killing animals for trophies.

According to CompassionWorks International (CWI), the organizer of the Worldwide Rally for Cecil, similar events took place in 41 Cities, 20 U.S. states and 10 countries, including Australia, Ireland, Macedonia, Serbia and Zimbabwe.

Activists with CompassionWorks International stage a Rally For Cecil at the Mandalay Bay Hotel on the weekend of a convention for hunters

The largest rally took place in Las Vegas, where the nation’s leading hunting organization, Safari Club International (SCI), held its annual convention. During the convention, CWI hired a mobile billboard company to drive along the Las Vegas strip with a message condemning trophy hunting.

Anti-trophy hunting mobile billboard travels the Las Vegas trip during a hunting convention

LUSH, a cruelty-free cosmetics company, provided CWI with a grant to pay for the mobile billboard. The company also posted a “KILLING IS NOT CONSERVATION” sign in the window of its retail store in the Mandalay Bay Hotel, where hunting convention took place.

LUSH, a company that supports animal rights, sent a strong message to attendees of the hunting convention that took place in Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas

In a message to rally organizers and the media, Carrie LeBlanc, CWI’s Executive Director, said of trophy hunting, “Killing for fun and for ego is vile and lacking in compassion and morality. We have a shared responsibility to protect and conserve our natural world, not to kill it for bragging rights and a rug.”

In 2018, the Worldwide Rally For Cecil will become the Worldwide Rally Against Trophy Hunting (WRATH). To join the campaign to end trophy hunting, please visit WRATH and CompassionWorks International.

In the past couple of days, millions of people on social media, who don’t normally address animal cruelty, have expressed sorrow and outrage about the murder of Cecil, the beloved lion in Zimbabwe. While we have people’s attention, how can we tap into these powerful emotions to awaken them to the plight of other animals who are equally deserving of a life free from harm? How can we help people connect the dots between Cecil, who endured 40 hours of agony, and the billions of farm animals whose entire lives are consumed by suffering?

Please use this rare moment in time when the world is paying attention to ensure that Cecil did not die in vain and that his murder is wake-up call to the millions of people who have not made the connection between the animals we love – like lions, whales and dogs – and the animals we consume. They are all the same.

One easy way to help people make the connection is to share these images on Facebook and convey your thoughts about why farm animals deserve to live in peace just as much as Cecil.