February 26, 2015 | News Releases
For Immediate Release: February 26, 2015
(Miami, FL) — Plaintiffs on February 11 voluntarily dismissed a lawsuit against activists with the group South Florida Smash HLS (smashhls.com). The lawsuit, “Worldwide Primates, Inc. v. Serignese,” commenced in the 11th Judicial Circuit Court on March 10, 2014.
The lawsuit originally alleged that 34 named defendants had tortiously interfered with Worldwide Primates’ business relationships. It sought a preliminary and permanent injunction, and damages. Amended complaints were filed in May, June and November. Prior to the voluntary dismissal, claims against 29 of the defendants had been dismissed by the Court or withdrawn. All claims against five remaining defendants have now been dismissed.
“We are extremely pleased that this meritless lawsuit has ended,” said Smash HLS organizer Gary Serignese. “As for Worldwide Primates, we will continue to vigorously speak out on behalf of the hundreds of monkeys each year that the company condemns to a miserable existence inside research labs.”
The Court imposed no restrictions on future protests targeting Worldwide Primates.
The defendants were represented by Thomas Julin and Paulo Lima of Hunton & Williams LLP, and attorneys James Green and Anne O’Berry.
Worldwide Primates is one of the largest importers of monkeys for research and testing in the United States. In 2014, according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service records, Worldwide Primates (16450 SW 180 St., Miami, Florida) imported over 2,000 monkeys from China, Mauritius and St. Kitts & Nevis to be sold for experiments.
# # #
December 17, 2014 | News & Information
Florida is home to three companies that provide monkeys to laboratories for use in research and testing: Primate Products, Worldwide Primates, and The Mannheimer Foundation (a fourth company, PreLabs, is constructing a new facility near Lehigh Acres).
In response to a public records request, ARFF has received copies of paperwork filed by Primate Products and The Mannheimer Foundation with the State of Florida detailing shipments of monkeys since January 1. ARFF is looking into why Worldwide Primates did not file the required certificates of veterinary inspection with the Florida Department of Agriculture.
Between January 1 and December 9, 2014, Primate Products shipped 1,245 monkeys to contract research organizations, universities and government labs. Click here to download a summary of the shipments. Compared to previous years*, Primate Product’s customer list has shrunk. Two customers– Charles River and SNBL— made up 80% of Primate Products’ business.
In May, Primate Products shipped 20 monkeys to Central State Primates, a site operated by PreLabs in Missouri. Two months after the animals arrived, a USDA inspector found unsanitary conditions and a female monkey with “excessive hair loss.” The inspector noted, “hair loss can be a sign that the animal is in psychological distress.” The facility was ordered to improve environmental enrichment for its caged monkeys. (Similar problems were identified during an inspection at Central State Primates in August 2013.)
This year The Mannheimer Foundation shipped a smaller number of monkeys (211) out of Florida. Its main customer was Merck Research Laboratories. Click here to download a summary of The Mannheimer Foundation’s shipments.
*ARFF released similar sets of records in August 2013, July 2012 and in November 2011.
December 16, 2014 | News Releases
For Immediate Release: December 16, 2014
(Miami, FL) – This morning, the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida (ARFF) delivered a bouquet of flowers to the Consulate General of Mexico, in downtown Miami, to congratulate Mexico’s congress on its enactment of a groundbreaking law prohibiting the use of lions, tigers, elephants and other wild animals in circuses.
The House of Representatives passed the legislation on December 11. Mexico’s Senate approved the legislation earlier in the week. The bill now needs the signature of President Enrique Peña Nieto to become law.
Legislator Arturo Escobar y Vega, of the PVEM (Ecological Green Party of Mexico), which pushed the measure, explained, “It is undeniable that there is cruelty and abuse during handling and training of animals in the circus industry, and it has been proven many times that animals are victims of physical and psychological damage.”
Flowers delivered to:
José Antonio Zabalgoitia, Consul General
Consulate General of Mexico in Miami
1399 SW 1st Ave.
Miami, FL 33130
Phone: (786) 268-4900
In June, Mexico City prohibited the use of animals in circuses. Thirteen Mexican states have also adopted bans.
“In circuses in Mexico, elephants, tigers and other animals spend much of their lives chained or in small cages. Training is often violent and abusive,” said ARFF Communications Director Don Anthony. “Sadly the situation is not any different for animals used in circuses that visit Florida, such as Ringling Bros.”
The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus has a long history of abusive treatment of elephants and other animals. ARFF will hold a demonstration against the circus at American Airlines Arena in Miami on January 8.
# # #
October 17, 2014 | News & Information
We’re halfway through the month-long Destin Fishing Rodeo. The tournament may be the last one in Florida where the bodies of sharks are brought to the docks and gruesomely hung up for the amusement of the crowd (there are other catch-and-release shark fishing tournaments in Florida).
In recent years there has been a positive change in the way we view sharks. More and more Floridians recognize sharks as magnificent creatures who are essential to the ocean ecosystem. Several shark killing contests have ended. The Outcast Mega Shark Tournament in Pensacola was cancelled in 2013. The St. George Island Shark Fishing Tournament and the Sarasota Shark Tournament both fizzled out after the 2009 events.
Please contact the following sponsors of the Destin Fishing Rodeo’s “Shark Saturday’s” and ask them not to support the cruel and senseless killing of sharks.
Inn on Destin Harbor
Phone: (800) 874-0470
Email: frontdesk@innondestinharbor.com
Landshark’s Pizza
Phone: (850) 424-6743
Email: landsharkspizza@gmail.com
Contact the City of Destin and let them know that the shark killing contest is a black eye for the community. Urge the Mayor and City Council to speak out against the contest.
Mayor Mel Ponder & City Council
City of Destin
Email: council@cityofdestin.com
Sharks need to be protected, not slaughtered in tournaments that encourage inaccurate and harmful images of sharks.
October 2, 2014 | News Releases
For Immediate Release: October 2, 2014
(Fort Pierce, FL) — The Animal Rights Foundation of Florida (ARFF) has sent a letter to the National Association of Letter Carriers, Branch 1690, protesting a donkey basketball fundraiser to be held October 5 at the Fenn Center in Fort Pierce.
During donkey basketball games, donkeys are mishandled by participants who have no animal-handling experience. The animals are often yelled at, dragged, shoved or kicked when they don’t cooperate.
In addition to concerns for the welfare of animals, these events place the public at risk. Participants can fall from donkeys’ backs, or may be kicked by mistreated or frightened animals. During a donkey basketball fundraiser in Pinellas County in 2003, a woman was either bucked off or fell from a donkey. She suffered injuries and later sued the event organizers.
“Donkey basketball fundraisers trivialize the abuse of animals, and teach a dangerous lesson to impressionable children,” said ARFF Communications Director Don Anthony. “We hope that the National Association of Letter Carriers will choose an alternate fundraiser that does not include cruelty to animals.”
# # #
September 22, 2014 | News Releases
For Immediate Release: September 22, 2014
(Fort Meade, FL) — “Lydia,” an Asian elephant who was born in the wild in Thailand but spent her entire life in the circus, died in May 2013 in rural Fort Meade, Florida. Her death came to light only recently as a result of a public records request from the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida (ARFF).
For the last three decades of her life, Lydia was owned by David Tesch, a circus elephant handler.
Beginning in 1998, Lydia spent the summer months performing and giving rides at York’s Wild Kingdom in York Beach, Maine. Lydia “retired” after the 2011 season.
Elephants are intelligent and social animals. In the wild, female elephants stay with their mothers and with their family group for their entire lives. Sadly, Lydia was forced to live alone, traveling the country performing at small venues and with disreputable circuses. Lydia was denied the opportunity to socialize or build relationships with other elephants.
Lydia was approximately 66 years old at the time of her death.
“It is sad that such a magnificent animal, a member of an endangered species, can die alone and unnoticed in a backyard in Polk County,” said ARFF Campaigns Coordinator Nick Atwood. “Lydia’s death heightens our concerns that other solitary elephants in Florida could fall through the cracks after a life of exploitation.”
Currently there are at least three female elephants in Florida living a solitary existence. These elephants deserve retirement to a sanctuary where they could find freedom from constant travel and an opportunity for normal social relationships.
# # #
September 10, 2014 | News & Information
I
n June 2013, laboratory animal supplier Primate Products closed its monkey quarantine facility in Doral. The building stood empty until recently. We don’t know if Primate Products has reopened the facility permanently or if it’s only temporary.
On August 6 an inspector with the U.S. Department of Agriculture visited the facility and measured high heat and humidity in a room holding 120 long-tailed macaques. Unlike animals in the wild, these monkeys confined inside metal cages are not able to regulate their body temperature by finding shade or water. Temperature extremes can cause significant stress and discomfort. As in humans, monkeys can suffer and die from heat stroke.
The USDA inspector took four measurements over a period of four hours. The heat index, what the temperature feels like to the body when humidity is combined with the air temperature, was between 94 and 96 degrees Fahrenheit.
Protection from temperature extremes is a basic requirement of the Animal Welfare Act. Primate Products was cited for the violation and ordered to correct the problem.
August 19, 2014 | News & Information
According to a recent article in the New York Times, biologists in Florida consider the tegu to be the “most troublesome invasive species in the Everglades.” The lizards arrived in Florida through the pet trade. The tegus in the Everglades are descended from released or escaped pets.
The National Reptile Breeders’ Expo concluded on Sunday in Daytona Beach. It’s one of the largest reptile industry shows in the country. Many of the vendors at the show, including Snakes at Sunset (Miami) and Underground Reptiles (Deerfield Beach), offer tegus for sale.
The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is negligent in allowing the breeding and sale of tegus.
You Can Help
It is illegal to buy or sell Burmese pythons as pets in Florida. The FWC has proposed a ban on the breeding of lionfish, another animal of concern (it is already prohibited to import lionfish into Florida). Please ask the FWC to also act to stop the breeding and sale of tegus as pets in Florida.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Email: Commissioners@MyFWC.com
Online comment form.
August 15, 2014 | News Releases
For Immediate Release: August 15, 2014
(Boca Raton, FL) – On opening day of Florida’s alligator hunting season, activists with the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida (ARFF) will protest the sport hunting of alligators at the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge.
In 2014, for the first time, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service will allow sport hunting of alligators at the refuge. The hunt is the only alligator hunt in the entire National Wildlife Refuge system.
WHAT: Alligator hunting protest
WHEN: Friday, August 15 at 6:00pm
WHERE: Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, southern entrance; 6 miles west of the junction of Loxahatchee Road (US 827) and US 441
“The Refuge should be a place where alligators and other animals are protected from harm, not hunted for sport or profit,” said ARFF Communications Director Don Anthony. “The suffering of alligators during public hunts in Florida is undeniable. Alligators are snagged with barbed hooks, pierced with arrows, and stabbed with harpoons. Death is rarely quick and alligators may be left to suffer long after being pulled from the water. It is disgusting that someone would enjoy inflicting pain and causing suffering to an animal.”
Visit ARFF’s website for more information about Florida’s alligator hunt: www.arff.org/alligators
# # #
June 24, 2014 | News & Information
This week, Miami New Times reported on t-shirt shops selling dead baby sharks as souvenirs. The sharks, by-products of the commercial fishing industry, are preserved inside bottles of blue alcohol/water solution.
We don’t know why a tourist would be interested in buying the body of a dead shark. The items have been sold in tourist shops in Florida and across the country for years, but New Times reported that they may be losing their appeal. A manager at one store in Miami Beach told the paper, “We’re getting rid of them because so many people have complained.”
One of the biggest retailers of the bottled dead sharks is Alvin’s Island, a chain with 12 stores in Florida. Please contact Alvin’s Island and ask them to stop selling bottled sharks in their stores. Contact:
Eliezer Tabib, President
Alvin’s Island
Phone: (305) 471-9394
Email: eliezertabib@marcodestin.net
Online comment form.
One source of the bottled dead sharks is a Fort Lauderdale-based company, Holiday Souvenirs. Please contact the company and ask them to no longer sell bottled shark souvenirs. Contact:
Manuel and Barbara Pascal
Holiday Souvenirs
Phone: (800) 521-4302 or (954) 564-6134
Email: hsshells@bellsouth.net, info@holidaysouvenirs.com
Sharks are magnificent creatures who are essential to the ocean ecosystem, but shark populations are dwindling around the world.
