divnbsp;/divp style=”text-align: center;”span style=”font-size:18px;”strongHelp Pass NY Senate Bill to Save Mute Swans/strong/span/pp style=”text-align: center;”span style=”font-size:18px;”strongMake Phone Calls Today to Protect NYrsquo;s Swans/strong/span/pdivnbsp;/divpYour help is urgently needed today to ensure passage of strongSenate Bill #S6589A/strong, sponsored by Senator Tony Avella, the billnbsp; that would protect New Yorkrsquo;s entire mute swan population from a death sentence.nbsp; This critically important bill passed in the Assembly (A.8790A) on May 29, and now we need to get it passed in the Senate in the next few days in order for it to become law. We are asking you to take a few minutes today to call the people listed at the bottom of this alert./ppThe legislation establishes a moratorium on the New York Department of Environmental Conservationrsquo;s plan to declare the graceful bird a ldquo;prohibited invasive speciesrdquo; and eliminate the statersquo;s entire population by 2025.img alt=”” src=”/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/mute%20swan.jpg” style=”width: 300px; height: 200px; margin: 8px; float: right;” //ppThe bill requires DEC to hold at least two public hearings and to respond to all public comments before finalizing any management plan for mute swans. In addition, DEC would be required to prioritize non-lethal management techniques and include scientific evidence of projected and current environmental damage caused by the mute swan population./ppIn January FoA and Senator Avella launched a well-publicized outcry when DEC announced that it would kill the swans because of the damage they purportedly cause to the environment and other species such as ducks and geese. ldquo;I was horrified to learn that our state wildlife agency would make such an extreme, unfounded proposal and do not believe that the DEC has provided evidence to justify the elimination of these beautiful swans,rdquo; Avella said in a previous statement./ppOther states including Vermont, Rhode Island and Connecticut currently use non-lethal methods to control their mute swan populations, which demonstrates that the precedent is there for using a humane alternative./ppnbsp;/ppimg alt=”” src=”/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/TakeActionLittle.jpg” style=”width: 192px; height: 49px;” //ppFriends of Animals urges its NY supporters to:/pp1.nbsp;a href=”http://openstates.org/find_your_legislator/”Contact your state senatornbsp;/aand ask them to passnbsp;strongSenate Bill # S6589A/strong, introduced by New York state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Queens), to stop the plan to kill mute swans.nbsp;/pp2. Contact the co-leaders of the NY Senate, Sen. Skelos at 518-455-3171 or a href=”mailto:skelos@nysenate.gov”skelos@nysenate.gov/a and Sen. Klein at 518-455-3595 a href=”mailto:jdklein@senate.state.ny.us”jdklein@senate.state.ny.us/a and tell them you want them to save our swans and pass this Bill #S6589A/pp3. Contact Sen. Grisanti, Chair of the Environmental Conservation Committee, where the bill is currently sitting, and ask him to pass the #S6589A out of his committee. Call Sen. Grisanti at 518-455-3240 or email at a href=”mailto:grisanti@nysenate.gov”grisanti@nysenate.gov/a/ppnbsp;/ppnbsp;/p