Like Blackfish & The Cove, the award-winning documentary film BLINDERS exposes the plight of animals used in entertainment, and it’s now on Vimeo.

Through original footage taken with hidden cameras and interviews with carriage drivers, large animal veterinarians, accident witnesses, animal rights activists, politicians and rescuers, BLINDERS takes viewers behind the scenes to expose the truth behind the tradition of NYC’s horse-drawn carriages.

In a display of animal exploitation rarely seen on TV, filmmaker and self-described conservationist Paul Rosolies lathers a “snake-proof suit” with pig’s blood and gets “eaten alive” by an anaconda in the Amazon jungle. The Discovery Channel, which will air the show in December, is assuring critics that the snake does not die during the stunt.

In the teaser video, we see Rosolies and his crew snatch the snake out of the water and carry her away like she’s their personal property.

Filmmaker and crew kidnap anaconda for TV show

Mr. Rosolies appears to be taking a page out of the late Steve Irwin’s playbook — taunting, tormenting and provoking wild animals for profit under the guise of education and conservation. Best know for his TV show Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin was killed by a stingray in 2006. His 16  year old daughter, Bindi Irwin, continues his legacy of profiting off animal abuse by serving as a paid spokesperson for Sea World,

Please sign the Change.org petition to stop the airing of “Eaten Alive” on the Discovery Channel.

Arriving by electric vintage car to her sold out concert in NYC, music legend Chrissie Hynde announced her support for NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plan to end horse-drawn carriage rides in the streets of Manhattan. The electric car was created by animal rights group NYCLASS as a potential job-saving alternative to horse-drawn carriages.

Chrissie Hynde arrives at her sold out concert in NYC

https://youtu.be/mNoqzFuHxcM

In her statement to the media and fans, Hynde pointed out that New York would not be the first major city to end carriage rides. London, Paris, Toronto and Beijing have eliminated their commercial horse-drawn carriage trades. Paris has one carriage that can be hired in advance for special events.

After horsing around, Chrissie Hynde talks seriously about animal cruelty

Hynde, who regrettably took a horse-drawn carriage ride on the night of her wedding, has spoken out against them in the past. In 2008, she participated in a protest and distributed leaflets to tourists explaining why horse-drawn carriage rides in the city are inhumane and unsafe.

Chrissie Hynde protests horse-drawn carriages in 2008 (photo: Donny Moss)

Mayor de Blasio, who has stated on multiple occasions that he intends to “end carriage rides” in NYC, has indicated that job preservation will be incorporated into his plan. The carriage drivers, who are tour guides, can apply their skills to many other hospitality-oriented businesses in New York that do not involve the use of live animals in the streets.

If you live in NYC, please contact your Council Member

Please sign the two petitions to ban horse-drawn carriages: Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages, NYCLASS

To keep apprised of developments, subscribe to the weekly newsletter of the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages by sending an email to coalition@banhdc.org.

Watch the award-winning documentary film BLINDERS: The Truth Behind the Tradition that exposes the truth behind the tradition of NYC’s infamous horse-drawn carriage trade.

Recent attacks on humans by captive tigers in India, China, Australia and Singapore have shined an international spotlight on the danger and cruelty of keeping one of the planet’s top predators in captivity. In the United States, captive tigers and other big cats have, in the past twenty-four years, killed four children and eight adults.

According to the World Wildlife Fund, approximately 5,000 tigers are being held captive in the United States. Six percent of them reside in zoos and similar accredited facilities. The remainder are warehoused in squalid cages in backyards, unaccredited zoos, sideshows, circuses, private breeding facilities, and even a roadside truck stop.

Tiger in NYC apartment

Thirty-two states have banned private ownership of tigers; 10 require a license; and eight states have no regulation. What little regulation does exist to prohibit and protect big cats in captivity is often unenforced. A federal bill to ban the private possession and breeding of big cats – The Big Cats and Public Safety Protection Act – has 114 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives.

https://youtu.be/q-xN0HmXqrk

Of the 5,000 captive tigers in the U.S., only a lucky few will be rescued and relocated to sanctuaries where their needs take priority. In October, four tigers hit the feline lottery with the opening of a new habitat at the Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch in Texas. Ben Callison, director of the Ranch, speaks to Jane Velez Mitchell about the new sanctuary and big cat captivity:

Anastasia & Natalia at Black Beauty Ranch. (Photo: Brandon Wade/HSUS)

Even the best of sanctuaries, however, cannot meet the needs of nature’s top predators. In the wild, tigers carve out large territories based on the availability of prey animals and mating partners. They hunt and, in spite of the fact that they are solitary animals, they sometimes share their kill with other tigers. The run 30 – 40 mph, and they can swim up to 18 miles a day.

Tiger stalking her prey

Contact your U.S. representative and Senators to ask them to support The Big Cats and Public Safety Protection Act.

Please learn more about why holding wild animals captive is cruel; boycott zoos and circuses; and speak out.

Please visit Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch’s website to learn more about the tiger sanctuary and support their efforts to provide sanctuary to animals rescued from captivity.

When Michigan native Jo Anne Normile entered a granddaughter of Secretariat into racing in 1995, she thought the “Sport of Kings” was all about custom hats, mint juleps, shiny trophies and a blanket of red roses thrown over a gleaming horse. Soon after, however, she learned the truth – that racing is $40 billion gambling industry disguised as a sport – an industry that discards spent horses the way a casino trashes a bent deck of cards.

Jo Anne with Baby at one year old

In 1991, before she became a racehorse breeder and owner, Normile was looking after a horse for a breeder. When the horse gave birth in her barn, Normile had to resuscitate the newborn, who wasn’t breathing. The life-affirming experience moved her to adopt the foal and name him Baby. A year later, Scarlett – the granddaughter of Secretariat – was born in the same barn stall. Both were sent to the track.

Three years later, after Baby shattered his leg on a racetrack due to negligence of the track owners, Normile came to a harsh realization: “When you mix animals and money, the animals will always lose.” And she asked herself, “How I can support racing? The horses spend 23 hours a day in their stalls. Injured horses are forced to run. Drugging and death are rampant. And the finish line is too often a slaughterhouse!” She immediately pulled Scarlett off the track – forever. She says that 15,000 to 20,000 Thoroughbreds are sent to slaughter every year, and many of them are loaded into trailers by kill buyers right behind the tracks.

In her book, SAVING BABY, Normile gives an uncensored account of what happens behind the scenes at the track and chronicles her journey from race to rescue. “When I learned that the abuse and neglect at my own track were endemic to the industry and watched owners sell their supposedly beloved horses for pennies on the pound, I decided to take my fight into the halls of government. After much stonewalling, I resolved to take it to the streets with this book. I want people to know the fate of the horses they watch race.”

In addition to writing SAVING BABY and lobbying government officials, Normile, as part of her about-face, founded CANTER, a rescue group that, under her leadership, collected more than 4,000 “used up” thoroughbreds at the tracks and transported them to save havens. Today, she gives speeches on the truth about racing at equine events across the country. And she co-founded a new rescue, Saving Baby Equine Charity that rescues all equines at risk.

Jo Anne and Scarlett

Now available in hardcover, Saving Baby can be purchased at bookstores and online. Readers contribute to the rescue of horses because a portion of proceeds from the sale of every book goes to her new rescue, SAVING BABY EQUINE CHARITY.

To stay apprised of efforts to expose and end horse racing in the United States, please “like” Horseracing Wrongs on Facebook.