Dear Jennifer,
I hope all is well with you. Thank you for your recent gift of $5.00. Today, I want to tell you about how, with your support, PETA recently revealed another disgusting aspect of the "pet" trade that most people will never see.
People often use the words "rat" and "snake" as insults. This never made sense to me.
Snakes are gorgeous, graceful, sensitive, and fascinating animals. Most of the snakes who live near humans are harmless, and snake encounters are rare, thanks to their keen ability to detect vibrations using their bellies and lower jaws.
Rats
are affectionate, intelligent, and sociable. When they play or are
tickled, they make chirping sounds that are strikingly similar to human
laughter. These sensitive animals can bond with their human companions
to the point that if they are suddenly given away to someone else or
forgotten, they can pine—and even die.
Yet, as was revealed by a recent PETA investigation, the pet trade treats these animals as mere inventory to be crammed tightly into containers to take up as little space as possible in warehouses and transport trucks. No more consideration is given to their needs and feelings than would be given to a stack of T-shirts or a box of laundry detergent.
For more than two months, a PETA investigator worked undercover in stinking conditions at Global Captive Breeders, LLC (GCB), a company that bred and sold reptiles and rats in Lake Elsinore, Calif.
The evidence gathered during this investigation—made possible only because of your monthly support—prompted law-enforcement officials to mount the largest seizure of animals ever in California and the largest rescue of neglected rats in U.S. history. All the animals—more than 600 reptiles and 18,000 rats—were taken into the city's custody, and a criminal investigation is underway.
The facility, which typically housed thousands of adult rats and reptiles, including snakes, monitor lizards, skinks, tokay geckos, and sulcata tortoises, reeked of death and decay as well as ammonia from accumulated urine and feces.
Most of the rats were bred and sold to be fed to snakes and other reptiles kept as "pets." GCB kept them in abject filth and misery. Tubs used for housing flooded frequently, slowly drowning countless panicked rats and leaving hundreds of others to struggle to keep their heads above water as it rose. Exhausted, shivering, and terrified, many mother rats watched helplessly as their newborns drowned.
Rats were routinely grabbed by the tail and slammed into metal posts, racks, tables, and walls when workers (including the facility's manager) decided to kill them. Many didn't die quickly and were thrown into trash bins or reptile enclosures while still alive and convulsing.
Hundreds of rats were found dead in tubs, where they had been deprived of the most basic necessities—clean air, dry bedding, drinking water, nutritious food, veterinary care, humane handling, and adequate space to groom and engage in other normal and essential forms of behavior.
Many
reptiles were kept in dark drawers so small that they could not move,
eat, or eliminate normally and were trapped with their own waste.
Chronic deprivation was the norm at GCB. Reptiles often suffered for weeks before finally dying—hopeless, isolated, and robbed of all that was natural and important to them.
If you view our undercover video footage, you will see the decline of an albino boa constrictor the manager and a worker refused to help as the animal became more and more emaciated, lethargic, and shriveled over the course of a month. Denied even the mercy of euthanasia, the snake was left to die while lying alongside maggots amid the stench of his own rotting flesh.
PETA's investigator brought the suffering of sick and injured animals to the attention of the owner, the manager, and others but to no avail.
Thanks to you, the nightmare is now over. Because of PETA's investigation, GCB has been effectively shut down, and we are currently working with law-enforcement officials to get criminal charges filed against the company and ensure justice for its animal victims.
We are also using this investigation to expose the ruthless, greed-driven pet trade and to show consumers why they should never patronize stores that sell live animals.
On behalf of the thousands of animals who no longer suffer inside the GCB hellhole, thank you so very much for helping to make this investigation possible. Your loyal support of PETA's lifesaving work is stopping unimaginable suffering. You are truly a hero for animals!
With kind regards,
I hope all is well with you. Thank you for your recent gift of $5.00. Today, I want to tell you about how, with your support, PETA recently revealed another disgusting aspect of the "pet" trade that most people will never see.
People often use the words "rat" and "snake" as insults. This never made sense to me.
Snakes are gorgeous, graceful, sensitive, and fascinating animals. Most of the snakes who live near humans are harmless, and snake encounters are rare, thanks to their keen ability to detect vibrations using their bellies and lower jaws.
Rats
are affectionate, intelligent, and sociable. When they play or are
tickled, they make chirping sounds that are strikingly similar to human
laughter. These sensitive animals can bond with their human companions
to the point that if they are suddenly given away to someone else or
forgotten, they can pine—and even die.
Yet, as was revealed by a recent PETA investigation, the pet trade treats these animals as mere inventory to be crammed tightly into containers to take up as little space as possible in warehouses and transport trucks. No more consideration is given to their needs and feelings than would be given to a stack of T-shirts or a box of laundry detergent.
For more than two months, a PETA investigator worked undercover in stinking conditions at Global Captive Breeders, LLC (GCB), a company that bred and sold reptiles and rats in Lake Elsinore, Calif.
The evidence gathered during this investigation—made possible only because of your monthly support—prompted law-enforcement officials to mount the largest seizure of animals ever in California and the largest rescue of neglected rats in U.S. history. All the animals—more than 600 reptiles and 18,000 rats—were taken into the city's custody, and a criminal investigation is underway.
The facility, which typically housed thousands of adult rats and reptiles, including snakes, monitor lizards, skinks, tokay geckos, and sulcata tortoises, reeked of death and decay as well as ammonia from accumulated urine and feces.
Most of the rats were bred and sold to be fed to snakes and other reptiles kept as "pets." GCB kept them in abject filth and misery. Tubs used for housing flooded frequently, slowly drowning countless panicked rats and leaving hundreds of others to struggle to keep their heads above water as it rose. Exhausted, shivering, and terrified, many mother rats watched helplessly as their newborns drowned.
Rats were routinely grabbed by the tail and slammed into metal posts, racks, tables, and walls when workers (including the facility's manager) decided to kill them. Many didn't die quickly and were thrown into trash bins or reptile enclosures while still alive and convulsing.
Hundreds of rats were found dead in tubs, where they had been deprived of the most basic necessities—clean air, dry bedding, drinking water, nutritious food, veterinary care, humane handling, and adequate space to groom and engage in other normal and essential forms of behavior.
Many
reptiles were kept in dark drawers so small that they could not move,
eat, or eliminate normally and were trapped with their own waste.
Chronic deprivation was the norm at GCB. Reptiles often suffered for weeks before finally dying—hopeless, isolated, and robbed of all that was natural and important to them.
If you view our undercover video footage, you will see the decline of an albino boa constrictor the manager and a worker refused to help as the animal became more and more emaciated, lethargic, and shriveled over the course of a month. Denied even the mercy of euthanasia, the snake was left to die while lying alongside maggots amid the stench of his own rotting flesh.
PETA's investigator brought the suffering of sick and injured animals to the attention of the owner, the manager, and others but to no avail.
Thanks to you, the nightmare is now over. Because of PETA's investigation, GCB has been effectively shut down, and we are currently working with law-enforcement officials to get criminal charges filed against the company and ensure justice for its animal victims.
We are also using this investigation to expose the ruthless, greed-driven pet trade and to show consumers why they should never patronize stores that sell live animals.
On behalf of the thousands of animals who no longer suffer inside the GCB hellhole, thank you so very much for helping to make this investigation possible. Your loyal support of PETA's lifesaving work is stopping unimaginable suffering. You are truly a hero for animals!
With kind regards,
Ingrid E. Newkirk
President
P.S. The cruelty documented by PETA's investigator at GCB is typical of the filth, crowding, deprivation, and stress that PETA's investigations of pet-trade suppliers have recorded over and over again. Please help reptiles, rats, and other animals exploited in this trade by vowing never to patronize stores that sell live animals and by spreading the word. Please share the video with your friends and family. Thank you for all that you do for animals!
Before
you recoil at the idea of caring for a newborn with its cord and
placenta attached, consider the benefits noted by Lotus Birth advocates
and practitioners: Avoiding the cut allows the complete transfer of
placental/cord blood into the baby, boosting immunity and nourishment.
It also removes a roadblock to immediate bonding between mom and baby.