These are issues we a particularly concerned about and need your help to build awareness and make a stand. Currently we are most concerned about:
1) The plight of the Black Bears kept by the Suarez Bros. Circus and their proposed visit to St. Lucia, and
2) The proposal to develop a "swim-with-the-dolphins" facility here in St. Lucia.
Black Bears with Suarez Brothers Circus need help
As a result of PETA's persistent campaign on behalf of the beleaguered polar bears with Suarez Bros. Circus, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service confiscated the polar bears last November, citing multiple violations of federal law that include maintaining wildlife in inhumane and unhealthful conditions, and transferred them to zoos.
Unfortunately, the black bears with the circus are not afforded the same protection under U.S. federal law and have been left to languish in small, filthy cages in the hands of the circus.
Since arriving on U.S. soil, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has cited the circus for keeping the bears in rodent-infested conditions, for failure to provide veterinary care, and for repeatedly failing to properly contain potentially dangerous animals.
PETA has learned that the controversial Suarez Bros. Circus is making plans to perform in St. Lucia in the near future. Please send polite letters urging St. Lucia officials to support efforts to rescue the remaining two black bears by simply refusing to allow the Suarez Bros. Circus to bring its black bears to the island.
Contact:
His Excellency Dr. Kenny D. Anthony
Prime Minister of St. Lucia
Prime Minister's Office, 5th Fl.
Greaham Louisy Administrative Bldg.
Waterfront, Castries
St. Lucia, West Indies
Tel.: 1-758-468-2111
Fax: 1-758-453-7352
E-Mail: pmoffice@candw.lc
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The Honorable Philip J. Pierre
Minister for Commerce, Tourism, Investment and Consumer Affairs
Ministry of Commerce, Tourism, Investment and Consumer Affairs
4th Fl., Heraldine Rock Bldg.
Waterfront, Castries
St. Lucia, West Indies
Tel.: 1-758-468-4202
Fax: 1-758-451- 6986
E-Mail: mitandt@candw.lc
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Hon. Minister for Agriculture,
Senator Calixte George,
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries,
Government Building,
Waterfront, Castries.
St. Lucia, West Indies
Fax no.: 758-453-6314
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The black bears are still in Puerto Rico and local authorities have revoked the circus' wildlife permit. Please send polite letters asking officials to immediately confiscate the black bears.
Contact:
Lic. Luis E. Rodriguez Rivera, Secretary
Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources
P.O. Box 9066600
San Juan, PR 00940-6600
Tel.: 1-787-723-3090
Fax: 1-787-723-4255
Keep Caribbean dolphins in the wild where they belong!
For more information visit St. Lucia Dolphins and to sign our petition please go to www.gopetition.com.
Please could as many people as possible write, fax or email the people below to protest a proposal to capture wild dolphins in St. Lucia's waters for a dolphin encounter programme.
Background:
Minvielle & Chastanet Ltd., a large St. Lucian company wants to capture wild dolphins and put them in a sea pen for tourists to play with!
The foreign investors involved are Dolphin Fantaseas. A permit will be sought for 12 bottlenose dolphins for the St. Lucia facility to be captured in St. Lucia's territorial waters, in defiance of the SPAW protocol of the Cartegena Convention, which St. Lucia has ratified.
Our dolphins are a shared resource. St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Dominica and the islands to the north and south have thriving whale and dolphin watching operations, generating income for many.
These animals are large, wild and free ranging and it is wrong to confine them to enclosures, however "large" or "deep". They can never be as large or deep as the ocean which is their home.
The proposed St. Lucia facility is in an inlet at the entrance to Castries harbour which is not only extremely polluted, but is directly in the path of low flying aircraft coming in to land at the airport, and yards away from large cargo and cruise ships entering the harbour.
In times of heavy rain, the bay fills up with plastic rubbish from the Castries river. Plastic is extremely dangerous to marine mammals.
This will be a blow to the island's image as an eco-tourism destination, as this is the exact opposite of ecotourism.
Click here to open a sample letter (it's always more effective if you write your own).
Please address your protests to the following people:
For the attention of Mrs. Maria Fowell, Acting Permanent Secretary.
Ministry of Tourism,
Stanislaus James Building,
Waterfront,
Castries, St. Lucia, West Indies
Fax : 758-451-7414
Email : mot@candw.lc
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For the attention of Dr. James Fletcher, Permanent Secretary
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries,
Stanislaus James Building,
Waterfront,
Castries, St. Lucia, West Indies
Fax : 758-452-3853
Email : ps@slumaffe.org and chieffish@slumaffe.org
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For the attention of the Honourable Prime Minister, Dr. Kenny Anthony
Office of the Prime Minister,
Greaham Louisy Building,
Waterfront,
Castries, St. Lucia, West Indies
Fax : 758-453-7352
Email : pmoffice@candw.lc
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For the attention of Mr. Hilary Modeste, Director of Tourism
St. Lucia Tourist Board,
Vide Bouteille,
Castries, St. Lucia, West Indies
Fax : 758-453-1121
Email : slutour@candw.lc
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The names and addresses above are also available in this PDF.
Also, visit www.captivitystinks.org to see how many have died in captivity and are still "Dying to Entertain Us".
Kids Can Help Tigers at TigerAid Web Site
A new online action tool provides youth clubs, community youth groups and schools the opportunity to help protect tigers and their natural habitats.
The Kids 4 Tigers PledgePage is a free service for youth from around the world who share a common interest in saving wild tigers and their remaining habitats. The site is sponsored by TigerAid, a U.S. based, international tiger advocacy and conservation nonprofit group.
Visitors to the site will find information about the plight of the tiger with brief explanations regarding tiger facts as well as tiger images. The site allows visitors to create their own PledgePage, then manage their outreach activities with email and contact management tools, and to post photos, diary entries and other information about their own specific fundraising efforts.
Kids 4 Tigers participants may use their Kids 4 Tigers PledgePage page to initiate a weekend car wash; rally support through an effort coordinated by Parent Teachers Association's; organize a school event working through student councils; or start an annual Tiger Walk-a-Thon dedicated to a specific subspecies of tiger.
For more information visit: http://www.tigeraid.org/kids4tigers.asp
Support the proposal to ban wild caught birds into the E U, go to www.worldparrottrust.org for more details.
