Animals

A loss of habitat is one of the main reasons animals are going extinct. Both natural and human activity is causing this. Development for housing, industry, and agriculture reduces the habitat of native organisms. Some of these can effect native species directly. For example, in the Amazon rainforest of South America, developers have cleared hundreds of maybe thousands of acres. The clearings are used for cattle ranches, logging, and urban uses. Development can also endanger species indirectly. Some species, such as fig trees of the rainforest, may provide habitats for other species, plants and animals. As trees are are destroyed, species that depend on the tree habitat may also become endangered. Tree crowns provide habitat in the canopy, top layer, of the rainforest. Plants such as vines, fungi such as mushrooms, and insects such as butterflies live in the rainforest canopy. Along with hundreds of tropical birds and mammals such as monkeys. As trees are cut down, this habitat is lost for the animals, and these species are left with less room to live and reproduce. There are so many more things that I could write about in this paper. There are so many things that people are doing to cause this extinction, but I’m going to leave it at the rainforest. Cutting down the rainforest doesn’t just affect the animals it affects us to. When the rainforest is chopped down we lose three fourths of our oxygen supply. When that happens the temperature rises, we don’t get the oxygen we need, and there is no future for anything. Thank you for reading and I hope that this message gets to you, because if we don’t do something now there will be nothing to do anything for in the future.

I am a teen from Arizona and I believe that snakes can be scary sometimes yes. But the scarier thing is what people do to the snakes. Rattlesnake round-ups are a disgusting way of killing the snakes for profit.   Each year, tens of thousands of rattlesnakes are taken from the wild to be displayed and slaughtered for entertainment and profit at rattlesnake roundups. Professional hunters, not bound by ‘bag’ or ‘take’ limits, remove snakes from their native habitats and are awarded cash prizes for bringing in the most and biggest snakes. Most snakes are caught by pouring gasoline into their winter dens, which pollutes surrounding land and water and may impact up to 350 other wildlife species.  Science does not support claims that roundups are required to prevent rattlesnake overpopulation. Like other wild animals with natural predators, snake populations are maintained by prey abundance (rodents) and levels of predation and disease. Unlike traditional game hunting, there is no monitoring or reporting to regulate this slaughter of snakes, which has likely contributed to the decline in some rattlesnake species. (https://www.rattlesnakeroundups.com/  PLEASE CHECK OUT THIS LINK! my resource 

I recently worked as an undercover investigator for Compassion Over Killing at a massive industrial salmon hatchery in Bingham, Maine, operated by Cooke Aquaculture. I captured footage of senseless violence against fish on a daily basis and witnessed horrendous living conditions. Fish here were being raised for human consumption in filthy tanks, covered in fungus and suffering immensely. This hatchery farms and raises Atlantic salmon to be sold under its marketing branch, True North Seafood⁠—which has recently partnered with homemaking icon Martha Stewart to supply salmon for her new seafood line.  During my time at the hatchery, I witnessed workers throwing improperly anesthetized fish across great distances. Sometimes they were thrown into another tank; other times, into waterless buckets, where they were left to either be crushed by others or suffocate to death. Imagine the horror if this violence were committed against any other animal, like a dog, cat, or chicken! At Cooke, it was like a game to the workers as they attempted “trick shots” and blocked each other’s tosses. I also frequently saw hatchery employees stomping on fish's heads and slamming them against the ground multiple times in failed efforts to kill them. Often, they were left on the ground, still conscious and writhing in pain. Fish at Cooke are routinely vaccinated, yet this procedure, along with fin-clipping (cutting of the fish’s fins in order to identify them), is performed sloppily and carelessly, resulting in even more injury because the fish are often not even properly anesthetized first. The salmon at Cooke are also confined in such filthy, overcrowded, and putrid tanks that fungal infections are the norm. I even saw many fish who were missing eyes because the fish are starved and forced to live in such filthy water conditions that they can mistake each other’s pupils for food as they desperately search for nourishment. Fish are intelligent, sensitive animals who feel pain, stress, and fear just like other animals. Recently, researchers have found that they use tools and can recognize themselves in mirrors. Fish pain receptors are remarkably close to our own--likely from a shared common ancestor. Fish scientist Becca Franks says it best: “The science on fish sentience is clear: fish have the capacity to suffer and feel pain.” Yet they are denied even very basic protections afforded to other animals.  Martha Stewart, a self-proclaimed animal lover, shared that she’s happy to partner with True North because the company touts sustainable practices and claims to care about its community.  As the world’s major wild fish populations have been cut in half since 1970, commercial fishing is clearly unsustainable for our future. Yet my footage reveals just why factory farming fish is not the solution. The salmon True North is feeding to the public are suffering from painful deformities and are housed in tanks riddled with fungi. Sadly, the cruelty that I caught on camera at Cooke Aquaculture is not an isolated case. As long as there is a demand for Atlantic salmon meat and seafood in general, these murky practices will continue as employees in facilities all over the country are forced to cut corners to turn a profit. Luckily, millions of consumers are realizing that the best way to help fish and to keep our bodies and oceans healthy is by leaving animal products out of our shopping carts and off of our plates, leading to the proliferation of delicious vegan seafood like those from Good Catch, Sophie’s Kitchen, and Ocean Hugger Foods. Even animal meat giant Tyson Foods has jumped aboard with its recent investment in vegan shrimp maker New Wave Foods.  After being contacted about COK’s investigation, Cory Baker, COO of Marquee Brands (which owns the Martha Stewart True North Line) replied right away, stating that the company will be opening its own investigation immediately and is committed to “sustainability and of course ensuring cruelty free practices.” The only way for Martha Stewart to cut out cruelty from her salmon line is to drop it completely. Please join me today in urging Martha Stewart to make waves for sea animals by ending her True North salmon partnership and instead pave the way to the future of food by investing in a plant-based seafood alternative.   In solidarity,“Pat”Undercover Investigator, Compassion Over Killing P.S. The easiest way you can help create a more compassionate world for all animals is to try more sustainable and delicious vegan eating. Get started here!

Please help Save a local family of Bears in Tahoe Vista...our local children have been following the Mama and cubs since their birth, the Bear family mostly reside in the North Tahoe Regional Park backing to the Tahoe Forest.  California Department of Fish and Wildlife has set a Death trap at a residential home of someone who left food in his car with his windows down, thereby the bears entered the car doing damage.  As locals who care about Tahoe, our wildlife, and our home we strive to "Keep Tahoe Bearable"; encouraging humans to use Bear proof Boxes for the garbage, locking cars and not leaving food in them, using the "Bear Busters" to place electric mats, fencing, and more to deter bears from their properties.  We do not want our Bear families killed.  Please let the California Department of Fish and Wildlife know we want to save our bears and please remove the trap placed in Tahoe Vista, Ca and let's not Kill Our Bears.  We would suggest requiring all homes have Bear Proof Boxes, that our local trash company plan a pick-up route that accommodates both long term residents and short term visiting tourists, that we begin an education program "Bear Awareness" in Tahoe, much like the one in Yosemite and Mammoth.   As an educator and resident of Tahoe for 30 plus years, I believe we must protect our natural environment and its wildlife for our children, and their children to come.