How you can help

Petition : Put an end to Elephant Culling in South Africa
Click HERE for more.

Petition : HOPE FOR HORSE MADE TO CARRY LION
Click HERE for more.

7 SIMPLE THINGS YOU CAN DO TO HELP ANIMALS IN THE NEW YEAR

Think you can be a meat-eating environmentalist?... think again

Whales Revenge : Help us put an end to Whaling

Solomon Islands lifts dolphin export ban

Husky Justice - Please sign this petition

A.L.F. Inform Yourself

You Can Make a Difference in 5 Minutes Flat

Campaigning Against an Uncaring Government

You Can Make a Difference in 5 Minutes Flat

  • Keep your eyes and ears peeled for animal-related issues and write a letter in support of animal rights to the editor of every magazine or newspaper that you read - your letter might be read by millions of people!
  • Write to the producer of any program in which characters abuse or ridicule animals, and dash off a letter to the TV network that airs the show as well.
  • Include an ARA leaflet with every bill you pay, and place an animal rights sticker on the outside of the envelope.
  • Ask your child's teacher to stop keeping animals in the classroom or requiring the students to dissect.
  • Show your hairdresser some of the many great beauty products that aren't tested on animals.
  • Ask for more vegan options at local restaurants and grocery stores.
  • Include an animal rights quote or—better—Web link to a video in your e-mail custom signature.
  • Thank publishers and producers for animal-friendly messages on TV and in print.
  • Write letters to companies that conduct cruel experiments on animals, such as Iams and its parent company, Procter & Gamble.
  • Call and write to government agencies and members of parliament, asking them to support animal-friendly legislation and thanking them for any similar past support.
  • Call in to radio talk shows and tell the audience all about the huge array of vegetarian options available at your local grocery store or how much weight you lost when you went vegan!
  • At work Display animal rights literature for people to see and take.
  • Donate to groups that help animals.
  • Make cruelty-free investments.
  • Buy cruelty-free supplies for your office restroom and kitchen.
  • Buy animal rights books to donate to your local library. Visit www.animalrightsafrica.org to purchase select books for your library at a 30 percent discount.
  • Wearing clothes and buttons with pro-animal statements is a great way to be an advocate for animals who are exploited on factory farms.
  • Post Animal Rights Africa literature on bulletin boards (it's free).
  • Offer to show videos, sponsor speakers, and host seminars.
  • Take vegan meals (and the recipes!) to functions.
  • Speak up! When people ask you why you don't eat animals, don't just call it a "personal choice." Instead, paint a vivid picture of cruelty and explain how easy it is to go vegetarian!
  • Lend animal rights books to your friends and place them in the library of your condo, retirement home, town, school, church, or synagogue.

Campaigning Against an Uncaring Government

With its ivory trade, trophy hunting, live-animal export, elephant-back safaris and other abuses, South Africa has some of the worst exploitation of wild animals in the world. Our nation's heritage is being destroyed, and we urge people, both inside and outside the country, to become involved.

ARA is also working to convince the government to end the export of animals and the practice sport hunting – both of which are lucrative markets for the country. Live wild animals are being exported from South Africa to the US, Europe, South America, Asia – everywhere," says Michele. "They're going to safari parks and zoos. We're talking about half a million live wild animals being exported every year." As for the hunting – South Africa is the biggest trophy hunting country in Africa. Eighty percent of the trophies come from South Africa. Convincing the South African government to protect the country's wildlife is a vast campaign that any concerned individual can engage in. It involves more than communicating with legislators; it requires outreach to community leaders, companies and the general public. Here are some suggestions for taking action:

Do's

  • Educate yourself on the issues: Review the information provided by Animal Rights Africa.
  • Contact the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Martinus van Schalkwyk, and voice your concerns. Email (in care of his secretary): mwillemse@deat.gov.za
  • Write to provincial and national conservation authorities and object to the opening of conservation areas to hunters.
  • Write letters to editors of newspapers and magazines expressing your views.
  • Let hunters know that you are opposed to their violent pastime.
  • Support campaigns to end hunting, elephant-back safaris, the ivory trade, etc.
  • Write to or speak with travel agents and tour operators asking them not to support elephant-back safaris. Also ask them to approach the government through their tourism bodies to identify reserves and resorts, such as Kruger and Pilanesburg, where hunting is allowed so that ethical tourists may choose to avoid such facilities.
  • Only support tour operators and destinations that do not support elephant-back safaris.

Don'ts

  • Don't visit reserves, resorts or conservation areas that allow hunting.
  • Don't purchase ivory or products made from ivory.
  • Don't purchase the byproducts of hunting, such as venison, biltong, animal skins or curios from hunted animals.
  • Don't patronize stores that sell hunting equipment and promote hunting.
  • Don't join or support conservation organizations that promote or tolerate hunting as an acceptable component of "sustainable use."
  • Don't patronize zoos or circuses that use animals.