Dead Lion Cubs Found in Freezer at Cruel ‘Canned Hunting’ Farm

Posted by Carly Day | August 10, 2019

Officials inspecting a lion breeding farm in South Africa discovered a multitude of horrors during a surprise visit in July.

The first heartbreaking case of neglect was captured on video; two lion cubs locked in separate metal crates displayed serious neurological issues as their heads shook uncontrollably. With their front and back legs paralyzed, accompanying other serious injuries, the vet had no choice but to euthanize them at the scene.

Further searching revealed the bodies of around 20 tiger and lion cubs stuffed into a chest freezer.

Shockingly, this isn’t the first time inspectors have found severe animal welfare issues at Pienika Farm in the North West Province. In April this year, officers from SA’s National Society for the Prevention of Animals (NSPCA) visited the property and found dozens of lions and tigers cramped together in small cages, many with no water or shelter. Twenty-seven animals were nearly bald due to extreme mange. The caracals were so obese they couldn’t even clean themselves.

During that first visit, more cubs suffering from severe neurological conditions were found.

Animal welfare charges were laid, but no action has been taken since then, as officials are reportedly still gathering evidence. Further charges will be added following the second inspection.

This farm is just one of an estimated 300 lion breeding farms in South Africa, where big cats are bred purely for lives of exploitation. Many end up as fodder for the canned hunting industry — but only after being used and abused throughout every stage of their lives. Ultimately, they are harvested for the lion bone trade.

Advocacy organization the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting alerted The Sun to this tragic case, bringing the issue of lion farming in South Africa into the media spotlight.

“There are around 60 such facilities in South Africa breeding big cats for people to pet, bottle feed, and then shoot for a trophy,” said Eduardo Goncalves, founder of the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting. “The bones are often sold off to dodgy dealers in Asia who make fake medicines out of them. This is the reality of big cat factory farming in South Africa. It’s simply obscene. The animals are kept in appalling conditions, and their owners make a fortune out of their misery.”

What is canned hunting?

Canned hunting is where people pay a fee to kill exotic animals kept in a confined area. The animals have no escape and are conditioned to humans, so they lack the flight response of wild animals.

Not only is the practice of killing animals bred in captivity legal in South Africa, it is thriving. The Born Free Foundation estimates that more than 8,000 lions and other big cats are held in hundreds of farms in the nation.

“Africa’s lions are facing an unprecedented crisis,” says Dr. Mark Jones, Head of Policy at the Born Free Foundation. “There are now almost three times more in captivity than there are in the wild. These animals have a short and traumatic life in what is an incredibly cruel and cynical industry.”

The big cats are ripped away from their mothers at around two-to-three weeks old. The mother is then immediately forced to breed again in a torturous cycle. Gullible animal lovers pay to volunteer at lion cub “orphanages,” petting and bottle feeding these babies, falsely assuming their efforts are contributing to conservation.

The cubs are then exploited at lion-walking facilities, where tourists spend money to get selfies. Finally, they are sold to the canned hunting sites. After being ruthlessly murdered, their body parts and bones are sold.

An estimated 800 farmed lions are slaughtered by trophy hunters every year in South Africa.

“Here in South Africa, where lions are indigenous and a massive part of our heritage, we are condemning thousands of lions to a life of captivity, where their basic needs are not being catered for, and we are subjecting what is globally known as the king of the animal kingdom to a pathetic life in a cage, waiting for death,” said Senior Inspector Douglas Wolhuter, manager of NSPCA’s Wildlife Protection Unit.

These magnificent animals suffer from birth for a gruesome, unethical industry which is kept afloat by wealthy trophy hunters from around the world.

Add your voice to stop the cruelty. Sign our petition to end trophy hunting in S. Africa for good.

https://ladyfreethinker.org/sign-stop-cruel-canned-hunting-of-factory-farmed-exotic-animals/

Bloodbath

https://www.league.org.uk/fox-hunting?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4rrhkpyD5AIVyLTtCh3usQv-EAAYASAAEgK6afD_BwE

Reproduced from the ‘League Against Cruel Sports (LACS) – England.

Fox hunting is a ‘traditional sport’ in which hunters, usually on horseback, follow a pack of hunting dogs aiming to pick up the scent of a fox, chase it – and kill it. Fox hunting is illegal in England, Scotland and Wales, but evidence suggests that hunts are regularly breaking the law.

Carry on reading for some more fox hunting facts.

IS FOX HUNTING ILLEGAL?

Fox hunting is illegal in England, Scotland and Wales. It is still legal in Northern Ireland.

Fox hunting was banned by the Hunting Act 2004 in England and Wales, and the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002 in Scotland. But while these were both welcome and hard-fought pieces of legislation, overwhelming evidence suggests that both are being ignored or exploited by hunts on a regular basis.

Hunts in England and Wales invented the activity of ‘trail’ hunting after the fox hunting ban came in. This claims to be a non-lethal sport where the hunt simply follows a pre-laid trail rather than searching for and chasing a fox. However, years of evidence shows that hunts are using trail hunting as a cover for illegal hunting by claiming to be following a trail but still carrying on and hunting foxes the way they did before the hunting ban.

Hunts in England and Wales also use ‘exemptions’ in the Hunting Act. These were designed to allow certain types of ‘pest’ control or scientific research, but are being exploited by the hunts to give them an excuse to carry on hunting.

In Scotland, an exemption in the law allows foxes to be killed by ‘flushing to guns’, where a pack of hounds is allowed to be used to chase a fox from cover where it can be shot. However, evidence from League investigators shows hunts claiming to be flushing to guns – but without having any guns present in the right place.

MOST PEOPLE WANT TO STOP FOX HUNTING

If you are opposed to hunting, then you are in the majority. More than eight out of ten people are opposed to hunting. This includes more than eight out of ten people in rural areas – which shows that people who truly understand and experience what hunts do want to see it remain illegal.

Hunting is not a town vs country issue, and it is not a ‘class’ issue. More than seven out of 10 Conservative voters want hunting to remain illegal. Hunting is an issue of animal cruelty, nothing else.

Some argue that ‘hunting’ should continue because it’s a grand old British tradition. However, bear baiting and bull baiting were also traditions, and they were rightfully consigned to the history books. Traditions are measured in more than years. They have to reflect the values and attitudes of a society, and the vast majority of the British people oppose hunting with dogs.

IS FOX HUNTING ‘PEST CONTROL’?

Fox hunting is not a credible form of pest control. Hunters claim that they are helping farmers by killing foxes, but this is a senseless argument that most people no longer believe. The League does not believe that there is any requirement for lethal fox control, but even if there was, then hunting is neither a humane nor effective way of doing it.

Any suggestion that fox hunting is about ‘pest control’ can be dismissed very quickly by the fact that hunts have been caught capturing and raising foxes purely so they can then be hunted. In May 2015, a League investigation revealed 16 terrified fox cubs held captive in a barn linked to a fox hunt in Yorkshire. We rescued them, took them to a vet, and sadly one died, but we released the others to safety. We are proud to have protected those foxes.

While the scale of this fox ‘factory’ was shocking, it’s not an isolated case. In December 2015, League Investigators released a fox found locked in a building near to where the Belvoir Hunt was meeting. It is worth mentioning that a few months later, while monitoring the same hunt, our Investigators were brutally attacked, leaving one with a broken neck, which we believe was retaliation for us rescuing this fox.

Watch the story of 16 fox cubs found captive in a barn close to a hunt kennel.

Read on using the top link.

Sign the petition at:

https://takeaction.league.org.uk/page/19719/data/1

The Result – Photo – Mark (WAV).

Justice For Coyote Pups Killed And Strung Up On Display

Posted by Lori Lovely

Petition link – https://ladyfreethinker.org/sign-stop-the-barbaric-hanging-of-coyotes-by-savage-hunters/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email

PETITION TARGET: Vermont Governor Phil Scott

Two young coyote pups were dangled by their feet from a utility pole in front of a home in Vermont’s rural Essex County. The grisly sight took place on a main road and horrified people who passed by. These innocent victims were hunted, killed, and hanged in a smug showcase of vanity.

Brenna Galdenzi of the group Protect our Wildlife was shocked when she saw these poor creatures strung up for a gruesome display. Outraged, she told New England Cable News, “I don’t really think there’s any other way to look at those photos than to be completely appalled.”

Because these pups were hanged on private property, no current laws were violated. Coyotes can be hunted all year in Vermont. In fact, it’s open season on coyotes year-round in most of the US. Even more sickening, most states hold annual coyote-killing contests that are nothing short of “gruesome celebrations of slaughter,” as reported by The Washington Post.

Vermont has recently become the 2nd state to ban these horrific contests, but we need more. Animal advocates are calling for change. However, the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Board recently denied a petition to restrict coyote hunting. We must speak out to save coyotes and other animals from such brutal treatment.

Sign this petition to urge Governor Scott to call for legislation that would protect coyotes and end barbaric practices such as stringing them up like criminals on display.

Chinese businessman invites tourists to his ‘wombat hunting lodge’ where people pay $1,000 people pay $1,000 a night to shoot Australian wildlife with shotguns and sniper rifles.

• Tourists invited to a Victorian luxury hunting lodge to hunt and kill native wildlife
• It has sparked community outrage amid calls to shut down Murrindindi property
• The property is owned by wealthy Chinese businessman Tom Zhou
• A Chinese website for the lodge promises visitors an unforgettable hunt
• Police and local council are investigating reports of illegal hunting on the site

Read the full article, with photos, at https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7308485/Chinese-businessman-investigated-inviting-tourists-wombat-hunting-lodge.html