The Bluffdale rodeo in Utah has cancelled its Barnyard Bonanza in which “little cowboys and cowgirls” chase chickens, kittens, goats, rabbits and other small animals. According to advertisements for the event, “Whatever you catch, you get to take home.” On Facebook, the rodeo chairwoman posted a request for unwanted pets to be donated to the event. Animal rights activists, who “were aghast that small animals that had been pets would find themselves in this terrifying environment,” complained loudly enough that the organizers decided to cancel the animal chasing event and distribute stuffed animals to the children instead.

The rodeo advertisement should have read: “Whoever you catch, you get to take home” instead of “Whatever you catch.”  Of course, the rodeo should have never been scheduled in the first place because chasing terrified farm animals and companion animals for sport is barbaric, as is teaching children that this type of activity is acceptable. Learn more about rodeo cruelty and see how you can help stop them.

Using social media, Chinese animal rights activists recruited “thousands” of volunteers to rescue 2,400 dogs on their way to the butcher after spotting the five slaughter-bound trucks on a highway near Beijing. According to the NY Times, the activists and volunteers were “able to surround the trucks, preventing their escape.” Even though dog slaughter is legal in China, the police allowed the activists to take possession of the dogs because many were companion animals who had been kidnapped, and most did not have the proper paperwork.

Photo: Susan Wang

We are so accustomed to vilifying China for being the world’s biggest consumer and/or supplier of fur, shark fins and ivory that we forget to acknowledge the activists who are moving mountains to help animals in China. Providing food, water, medicine and housing to 2,400 dogs on a moment’s notice is a breathtaking feat. Can you imagine if we tried to rescue the thousands of abused chickens stacked in cages in Brooklyn during Kaporos, the pre-Yom Kippur ritual in which religious Jews swing chickens around their heads to transfer their sins to the chickens before slaughtering them? We’d be all be thrown in jail.

No amount of helicopters, night-vision goggles and park rangers can stop the poaching of elephants as long as state-sanctioned carving factories in China are creating ivory products that are meeting the demand of Chinese consumers. If  China banned the import and sale of ivory, the sophisticated poaching operations that supply the market would probably vanish, as demand in the rest of the world is much lower. That said, we must also strengthen the anti-ivory laws in the U.S.

Mexico City and six of 32 Mexican states have banned wild animals in circuses. The battle between activists and Mexican circus industry has turned violent, with reports of circus security guards assaulting peaceful protesters.

Critics of animal rights activists like to say things like, “With all of the poverty around the world, why are you wasting your time on animals?”  Among the many responses that we can give to them is: “People in Mexico, who are poor by our standards, are themselves speaking out against animal cruelty.  If they can help abused circus animals in their country, then we can help them in the U.S.”  If you live in a city that has circuses with animals, please join the efforts of local activists to educate members of the public about why they should boycott the circus. Or you can organize a demo in your area.

At a fundraiser in the South of France for his charitable foundation, Leonardo Di Caprio raised $25 million to protect wild animals.  He said, “The wild species that depend on us to protect their habitat, like tigers whose numbers have plummeted to under 3,200 left in the wild, or African elephants, who are being slaughtered at a rate of over 30,000 a year for their ivory tusks — they have no voice. We must be their ambassadors. We must be their protectors. We must stop their slaughter. We must now make an effort to protect the rich biodiversity that could allow nature to eventually recover.”

Some people applaud when celebrities become advocates for a cause; others wish they’d go away.  Regardless of your position, celebrities can and do effect change.  It was in part because Alec Baldwin narrated Meet Your Meat that I watched the video on factory farming and went vegan.  I am grateful to the dozens of stars who lend their powerful voices to animals.  Of course, we’d all like some celebrities to vanish — like Liam Neeson, who is a spokesman for NYC’s inhumane horse-drawn carriage trade, and Anthony Bourdain, who defends and promotes foie gras, the a “delicacy of despair.”