New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has until early December to sign or veto a bill banning gestation crates, the small metal cages that intensely confine female breeding pigs for most of their adult lives. He vetoed a similar bill in 2013, claiming that pig farmers made a more persuasive argument than the activists.

Even though the current bill was passed in the House and Senate and has the support of 93% of NJ residents, Christie has suggested to Iowa farmers that he intends to veto it. Iowa, a key state in the race for President, is the nation’s biggest pork producer.

In an editorial on November 21st. the Asbury Park Press, a local NJ newspaper, wrote, “If he vetoes the ban, he’s a lost cause. We can then be certain that from here forward everything Christie does as governor will be based on how it will influence his presidential campaign.”

Jon Stewart, host of Comedy Central’s Daily Show, catapulted Christie’s political dilemma into the national spotlight in a comical eight minute segment with a very strong anti-gestation crate point of view:

https://youtu.be/9fV1b5vHH80

In late October, Jane Velez-Mitchell spoke to a panel of guests about gestation crates. During the interview, HSUS Public Policy Manager Matthew Dominguez said that the political landscape has changed since 2013 and that Iowa voters support a ban on gestation crates.

If Christie does, in fact, veto the gestation crate bill – for a second time – he will assuredly become a target of the animal rights community.

Chris Christie (Photo: Lee Day)

Gestation crates are being phased out in several states and by several pork producers at the request of their customers, including major corporations like McDonalds. However, far more work needs to be done to eliminate these crates in the U.S. and worldwide.

In a recent press interview, SeaWorld’s CEO, Jim Atchison, said the park’s orcas have “great lives, full lives” and “enriching and socially well-adjusted lives.” One month earlier, SeaWorld’s senior veterinarian, Christopher Dodd, said, “I can unequivocally state that our whales are thriving, both mentally and physically.”

SeaWorld San Diego (photo: Mike Blake/Reuters)

By defending killer whale captivity, Atchison and Dodd, who are cementing shameful legacies for themselves, have chosen to dig in their heels instead of creating coastal sanctuaries where the orcas can be rehabilitated before potentially being released. Their focus on short-term profits is bad not only for the whales but also for the long-term prospects of SeaWorld, which could go out of business if it doesn’t adapt:

Happy ThanksKilling, SeaWorld. As you continue to mentally and physically kill your whale prisoners, members of the thinking public will continue to kill your extraordinarily cruel business.

Lawmakers in Oakland, California, are considering a ban on bull hooks, a move that would prevent Ringling Bros. from bringing its circus elephants to that city. Bull hooks are weapons used to inflict pain on elephants in order to keep them submissive and obedient.

Four of eight Council Members in Oakland are poised to vote in favor of outlawing bull hooks. One member told the press, “We’re not going to look the other way when it comes to torturing animals.”

Circus elephants are tied down & assaulted with bull hooks at a young age

A spokesperson for Ringling, who describes bull hooks as “USDA-approved husbandry tools,” says that the circus cannot have elephants without them and will not come to Oakland at all if they cannot bring elephants, feeding into the concerns expressed by some Council Members about the economic impact of a ban.

Fear of bull hooks keeps elephants submissive (Photo: Amy Meyer)

In 2013, the Los Angeles City Council passed a law banning bull hooks that takes effect in 2017.  The lawmakers made their decision after viewing PETA’s undercover footage of Ringling trainers attacking elephants with bull hooks.

In addition to being beaten, elephants and other wild animals forced to perform in circuses, are deprived of the chance to do anything that comes naturally to them and are forced to travel in small boxcars on trains for days at a time while traveling between cities.

Photo: PETA

The use of elephants in circuses has already been banned in Bolivia, Peru, Slovenia, Cyprus, Greece, Paraguay, Columbia, the Netherlands. A ban in the United Kingdom goes into effect in 2015.

If you live in Oakland or in San Francisco area, please see In Defense of Animal’s Action Center.

If you live elsewhere, please see five ways you can help end the use of animals in circuses.

Ringling Bros.

For the past several years, Australia and China have been working on an agreement which, when signed, could lead to Australia shipping up to one million live cattle to China each year. The deal is being finalized at a time when local and international opposition to live exports has reached a fever pitch due to the extreme animal abuse exposed in undercover investigations.

TV journalist Jane Velez-Mitchell speaks to Tanya Hardy, a veteran activist in Australia, about the deal with China and the cruelty of live exports.

According to Animals Australia, “Most animals who are exported live for slaughter have their throats cut while fully conscious. Millions have died at sea. Some 30 investigations have revealed that in destination countries, many animals endure routine abuse and brutal slaughter in places where laws do not protect them from cruelty.”  Following is one of many examples of extreme suffering experienced by animals exported from Australia.

https://youtu.be/5K96eQXgVSk?list=UU3RcYC2_7Ias6mO39k1LVLQ

Australia’s live export controversy has not received much media attention in the U.S., but the impending $1 billion deal with China is so substantial that the New York Times wrote a story about it. At the end of the lengthy article, the Times mentions – and virtually dismisses – the humane issues, leading readers to believe that they have been adequately addressed:

“The leader of the exporters’ group, said that all animals exported from Australia were closely tracked and that there were strict regulations about their welfare before export, during shipping and even after they landed in a foreign country. The regulations were tightened after export bans were imposed after accusations of cruelty in some Indonesian slaughterhouses.”

Cattle being loaded onto ship

Send a message to the Australian embassy in your country.

please visit Ban Live Export for more information about Australia’s grisly live export trade and to find other ways you can help.

What happens when you put the illustrious Jenny Brown, co-founder of Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary, in a room with TV personality Jane-Velez Mitchell two weeks before Thanksgiving? Step inside to find out.

Please note that the videos contain short clips from factory farms for viewers who have never seen them.

Support the life-saving work of Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary by sponsoring a turkey.

Undercover investigations conducted at factory farms change hearts and minds. Please share this Mercy For Animals video taken at a Butterball turkey factory.