Cheers & Jeers

Cheers:

To Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, for actively opposing a plan to kill up to four mountain lions in the Sabino Canyon region of Coronado National Forest. The mountain lions were being targeted by the Arizona Department of Game and Fish, which perceived them to be a potential threat to the throngs of tourists visiting the canyon. Friends of Animals members petitioned the governor, after which she publicly condemned the hunt and questioned efforts to remove the cats from what constituted prime mountain lion habitat. Unfortunately, one of the mountain lions was captured by ADF&G, and was relocated to the Southwest Wildlife Rehabilitation in Scottsdale, Arizona.

To the Tulsa World, for supporting an end to cockfighting. In response to the unanimous decision by the Oklahoma Supreme Court to uphold a state ban on cockfighting, the paper stated in an April 1 editorial, “This ugly stigma that has plagued the state for years will soon, barring any bizarre developments such as some misguided action by the Legislature, be a thing of the past.”

To Dan Piraro, creator of the popular “Bizarro” comic strip, for promoting veganism. On his Web site, www.Bizarro.com, he explains “I assumed humans had always eaten meat because it was natural for us to, and that food animals were raised on farms where they were fairly oblivious to their surroundings and only moderately inconvenienced until their swift and humane execution. Nothing could be further from the truth.”

To the city council and the people of Barcelona, for approving a declaration stating “Barcelona is an anti-bullfighting city.” The motion was a response to a petition of 250,000 signatures submitted to the council, which called for a ban on bullfighting. A spokesperson for the Catalan National Party told the Scotsman, “Bullfighting is unsophisticated and brutal. It is not something that should be tolerated in a modern society.”

Jeers:

To the World Wildlife Fund, for promoting several trips to Alaska throughout June, July and August 2004 as part of “WWF Travel,” an ecotourism program. When asked why WWF was sending their members to Alaska, effectively undermining efforts to save wolves in Alaska, the WWF travel desk representative stated that WWF did not consider the matter of wolf-killing a priority.

Contact:
Kathryn S. Fuller, President
World Wildlife Fund
1250 24th Street
NW Washington, DC 20037-1132
Telephone 888-993-8687
membertours@wwfus.org

To the Jim Henson Company, for allowing the use of the Muppets in Pizza Hut commercials, with jokes being made about Miss Piggy going “whole hog” for the pizza, which included sausage and pepperoni.

Contact:
Jim Henson Company
1416 North La Brea Avenue
Hollywood, CA 90028
Telephone 323-802-1500
Fax 323-802-1825

To Penn and Teller, for the hostile commentary made on their Showtime network series. On the April 1 edition, Penn ranted “I would personally wring the neck of every chimpanzee on earth if it would save the life of just one street corner junkie dying from AIDS.,”

Contact:
Matthew Blank, CEO
Showtime Networks
1633 Broadway
New York, NY 10019
Telephone: 212-708-1600 Fax: 212-708-1217

To CBS News Sunday Morning, for promoting the Iditarod on their March 21 broadcast, saying it was, “chasing the memory of a time when the hearts of men and dogs were the most powerful engines in the land.” The Iditarod is a grueling 1,500 mile race in which dogs are often injured or killed. The CBS report made no mention that two dogs died during the 2004 race.

Contact:
CBS News Sunday Morning
524 West 57th St.
New York, NY 10019
Telephone 212-975-7110
Fax 212-975-7352
E-mailsundays@cbsnews.com

To the BBC cartoon series “I am not an animal,” which is set in a research laboratory in which nonhuman animals are portrayed as living a “pampered life in a luxurious club class wing of a secret lab.” The animals are removed from the lab by anti-vivisectionists. Referring to the animals, the BBC’s publicity material asked: “Unable to find a decent restaurant in the wild ... can these poor, deluded freaks possibly survive?”

Contact:
Jane Root, BBC2 Controller
BBC TV
Centre Wood Lane, London W12 7RJ
E-mail jane.root@bbc.co.uk