LCA Blog

LCA has launched a new ad campaign that forces city council members to confront the atrocities of the horse-drawn carriage industry, and urges them to vote for Mayor de Blasio's propsed ban on horse-drawn carriages.  From now until the end of June – or longer, depending on when the council votes on the ban – a billboard from LCA, NYClass and the Greenbaum Foundation will greet each council member as they walk from their office to City Hall.

The billboard (shown above) sits on Broadway, right atop the stairs of City Hall Station, where thousands of people pass by every day. The ad will be changed each month with a new message to underscore the many problems of horse-drawn carriages, including animal cruelty and public safety risk.

With its piercing gaze, tufted beard and sumptuous spotted coat, the Iberian lynx looks more like a fearless feline hunter than an animal on the brink of extinction. However, human activities and natural forces have nearly snuffed it out of existence. Only a few hundred Iberian lynxes still survive, making this the most endangered cat in the world.

What’s killing the Iberian lynx?

• Habitat degradation leaves them dispersed and vulnerable. The Iberian lynx once roamed throughout the Mediterranean, but now they can only be found in a small section of Spain. Roads, dams, railways, and other human structures slice the size of Iberian lynx habitats and diminish mating possibilities by separating groups from each other. Scientists project climate change will further disrupt lynx habitats, making it even harder for them to adapt.  

• Rabbit disease has robbed the lynx of its favorite food source. The Iberian lynx gets most of its sustenance from rabbits. Unfortunately, the deadly viral diseases myxomatosis and rabbit hemorrhagic disease (RHD) have ploughed through the European rabbit population. The Iberian lynx now struggles to find enough food among the dwindling rabbit population. 

• Road construction has lead to vehicle strikes. The Iberian lynx doesn’t understand the threat posed by new roads and highways weaving through their habitats. Experts say over 10 lynxes have perished under car wheels in the last ten years, adding up to a large portion of their miniscule population.  

What you can do:

Iberian lynx populations remain too low for us to just sit around and wait for the situation to improve. Doing your part to save the Iberian lynx is just two steps away:

1. Sign this petition to support important conservation efforts. 
2. Write or email Sonia Sanchez Mula, Environmental Press Officer from the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Environment, encouraging the Spanish government’s full investment in conservation efforts like habitat restoration, captive breeding programs, and decreasing Iberian lynx traffic fatalities. 

Contact details:

Sonia Sanchez Mula,  Press Officer (Environment)

En la Plaza de San Juan de la Cruz (temas Medio Ambiente)

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

We haven’t lost a feline species to extinction since the saber-toothed tiger. Together we can stop the Iberian lynx from following in its long-forgotten footsteps.

While most of us welcome the end of winter, this time of year is a nightmare for Canadian seals. Every spring, pregnant harp seals flock to Newfoundland and Labrador on the Canadian coast to give birth. Seal hunters capitalize on this beautiful natural pattern to swarm the coast and slaughter defenseless newborn seal pups during Canada’s annual commercial seal hunt. This is the largest slaughter of marine mammals on the planet.

Past reports have shown that 79% of hunters neglected to make sure the seals were unconscious by checking for corneal reflexes after the first clubbing. That means many seals remain conscious as they’re bludgeoned, bled, skinned, and dragged onto dirty boats, leaving vivid trails of blood in the snow.

Hunters massacre thousands of seals every year, despite the dwindling demand for pelts. Data shows prices for seal pelts dropped $64.50 from 2006 to 2013, yet the hunt survives thanks to millions of dollars in Canadian government subsidies that blindly support a dying sealing industry. Among other activities, hunters may use the money to pay for aerial cameras that allow them to find as many seals as possible with minimal effort.

Powerful countries like the United States and the entire European Union stand against seal slaughter by banning trade on goods procured from commercial seal hunts. Still, the Canadian government spends time and money supporting commercial seal hunting – even though a ban would not kill coastal economies, as the government claims.

The profitable whale watching industry sprung from a similar situation in the 1970s, when Canadian whale hunting was banned.  Experts believe the Canadian government could escape economic damage by shifting funds from the hunt to ecotourism initiatives. The millions who speak out against seal hunting every year could easily become millions of tourists, eager for a glimpse of the captivating harp seal.

Please join the voices that stand against seal hunting by sending an email to the Media Relations team of the Newfoundland and Labrador division of Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Arkansas’ animals have a lot to rejoice over this week. Following a campaign by Last Chance for Animals, a workplace gag bill has failed miserably in committee long before being voted into Arkansas law. This means that our dedicated whistleblowers can continue to detect, record and thwart animal abuse without fear that crucial evidence will be tossed out of court – or that they will be jailed for recording it in the first place. 

On Tuesday, March 24^th, Rep. Mark Lowery’s controversial bill ­– which required consent among employers, their representatives and employees for audio recordings in the workplace – failed in the Judiciary House Committee. Had HB 1774 passed, workers facing harassment or discrimination would have been unable to tape those crimes against them.

The bill would have also greatly affected animal rights groups like Last Chance for Animals, which send investigators to work in animal industries to gather evidence of cruelty.

LCA legal representative Zeynep Graves points out that, “Prohibiting employees from recording their conversations enables injustice to go undetected. Individuals are most vulnerable in the employment setting when they have information of, or are a victim of, unlawful activity.”

Only after LCA contacted Arkansas local ABC news and other regional press did Representative Lowery make concessions and amend the bill, greatly narrowing its scope. As the news story flourished and dissension grew, the bill was killed on the spot this past Tuesday.

Watch the video to see how it happened:

This action is a significant regional win, of course, in the ongoing fight against anti-whistleblower laws that eliminate our rights in the quest for animal abuse justice. It will also help set crucial precedence in other states that dare to introduce such animal and human rights-violating bills.

It’s important to note that Arkansas is a major farming state that supplies livestock to some of the largest meat manufacturers and retailers in the country, such as Tyson Foods and Walmart. In fact, both of these large companies have notably violated employment laws in the last decade, but have settled out of court with the Federal Labor Department. HB 1774 served the interest of these corporations, not the citizens of Arkansas, which is why its failure comes as a relief for the public.

Succumbing to loneliness, frustration, and physical ailments, elephants at the Los Angeles Zoo die an average of 10 years younger than elephants at all other North American zoos. And sadly, the facility doesn’t seem to care: they recently spent $42 million to build a new elephant exhibit that greatly enhanced the experience for visitors, but did nothing to benefit the elephants forced to live there. 

Last Chance for Animals won’t stand for this atrocity, and our legal team is fighting hard to stop it. We recently filed an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief in an appeal that seeks to end the suffering of three elephants at the L.A. Zoo:  Billy, Tina, and Jewel. The appeal is based on a taxpayer action filed by plaintiff Aaron Leider, requesting in part that the L.A. Zoo close their exhibit to elephants. LCA's brief was filed in the California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, in support of plaintiff Aaron Leider.

 At trial, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge John L. Segal said, "the Elephants of Asia exhibit at the Los Angeles Zoo is not a happy place for elephants, nor is it for members of the public who go to the zoo and recognize that the elephants are neither thriving, happy, nor content."

"Captivity is a terrible existence for any intelligent, self-aware species, which the undisputed evidence shows elephants are," noted the trial court. “To believe otherwise, as some high-ranking zoo employees appear to believe, is delusional. And the quality of life that Billy, Tina, and Jewel endure in their captivity is particularly poor."

The trial court found that insufficient space, a substandard living environment, and inadequate expertise of zoo personnel has caused the elephants to suffer from multiple injuries, as well as unnecessary physical and psychological suffering. The court also found that the elephants exhibit severe stereotypic behaviors of stress and psychological disturbance, such as repetitive bobbing, swaying, and rocking in place for hours (and in the case of Billy, for nearly half of his observable life). These actions stem from boredom, frustration, and isolation in a stimulant-free environment.

Forced to stand on a hard, cement-like surface, the elephants suffer chronic foot and joint problems – which are only made worse by their stress-induced behaviors.

Despite these findings, the trial court failed to apply the facts to the law, offering only limited relief for the elephants held captive at the L.A. Zoo. Specifically, the trial court ordered the L.A. Zoo to cease using bull hooks or electric shock on elephants, to exercise the elephants at least two hours a day and to rototill the exhibit's soil. Last Chance for Animals argues that the only remedy is to close the exhibit and transfer Billy, Tina, and Jewel to a sanctuary where they may live out their days without suffering.

UPDATE:

On 1/14/2016, the court of appeal upheld the trial court’s injunctions requiring that the elephants have specific amounts of exercise time, and requiring the rototilling of the soil in the exhibit. The trial court’s injunction prohibiting the zoo from using bull hooks or electric shocks on the elephants was never challenged by the city, so that will stand as well. Unfortunately, it rejected Leider’s cross appeal, and declined to close the elephant exhibit.