Purrs 4 Peace Week 42 Announcement: So-called "Exotic" animals need Protection.

God loved the birds and invented trees. Man loved the birds and invented cages. ~Jacques Deval, Afin de vivre bel et bien

Each year thousands of animals are captured and tortured in transport and captivity as part of a global trade in so-called exotic pets. I became aware of this issue from reports by the Huffington Post and PETA about the raid on facilities operated by USGE (U.S. Global Exotics, Inc) which is one of the biggest importers of exotic pets for resale to pet stores around the world including PETCO and PetSmart. During this raid just some of the types of animals rescued included “kinkajous, wallabies, sloths, ringtail lemurs, coatimundis, agoutis, hedgehogs, chinchillas, hamsters, gerbils, rats, mice, flying squirrels, guinea pigs, sugar gliders, prairie dogs, ferrets, snakes, lizards, turtles, frogs, spiders, crabs, and scorpions.”

An undercover investigator spent months working in the warehouse carefully recording evidence of horrifically cruel conditions. These animals were routinely crammed into bins, feeding troughs, cardboard boxes, bags and even soda bottles. As if the cramped, dark conditions did not cause enough psychological and physical distress, they were deprived of food, water, and medical treatment. Starved, dehydrated and often suffering from injuries that left bone and tissue exposed, these 26,000 were discovered alive in just this one facility in Texas. Bu the investigator found evidence that employees threw animals they believed unsaleable into freezers to die. The animals rescued were taken in by the Detroit Zoo and other prescreened owners. But as the PETA alert stated “even though the animals rescued from USGE are safe, right now countless other animals are being packed into sweltering crates and are beginning the impossibly stressful journey to facilities that are every bit as cruel as USGE's.”

It makes my heart hurt to think about it.

Please, please, PLEASE! Do not buy such animals as pets. PLEASE do not buy ANY animal from a pet store or online. If you feel ready to bring a furry family member into your home, please adopt from a shelter or from other organization or individuals engaged in animal rescue. BUYING animals costs a lot more than your money. It has an incalculable cost in suffering and death.

Please support, with donations, organizations such as PETA that fight this cruelty: https://secure.peta.org/site/Donation2?df_id=3400&3400.donation=form1&set.custom.Campaign_Code=C10CECBLBBG&autologin=true&JServSessionIdr004=qdktxfiyu5.app334a

Please be an advocate in your own community to fight the sale of such pets at stores near you.

And this week, on Easter, Sunday....when I hope no well meaning parent will give a bunny to their child that came from a pet store....we will purrrrrrrr.

Week 42 of Purrs 4 Peace details are as follows:

• Week forty-two’s appointed time is Sunday, April 4, 2010.
• Participants should purr for three minutes commencing at 12 p.m. Eastern (U.S.) which is 5:00 p.m. (17:00 hrs.) in the U.K..
• The cat’s human staff should assist their cats with the project by stroking and nuzzling the cat at the appointed time.
• Please post your cat name and the country you purr in at www.confuciuscat.blogspot.com as a COMMENT if you are participating in this historic project. (posting a link to your own website-if you have one-is encouraged.) Or let me know by message on twitter or facebook.
• Posting purrs on facebook ( Acolytes of Confucius Cat or as friend to Alley Mason) and twitter (@ConfuciusCat) is encouraged, since it inspires purring in others, but not required. On twitter please use #purrs4peace in your tweets.

Peace * Paix * Frieden * Vrede * Pace * Paz * Shalom * Fred * Salaam * Om Shanti * Heddwch * Siochan