Many scientific experts believe that
we are in the midst of a mass extinction event -- a period of time on Earth during which there is widespread loss of precious biodiversity, like the
disappearance of entire animal species! So why in the world are we still allowing the intentional slaughter of endangered animals for sport? Sign the petition and demand that the United States Congress pass the Prohibiting Threatened and Endangered Creature Trophies Act (ProTECT) Act without delay!Animal trophies are as grotesque as they sound -- they are the body parts of animals, often rare and endangered species, that have been hunted for sport.
Cruel hunters put these body parts on display, a macabre flaunting of the violence they so enjoy. Elephants' tusks. Lions' heads. Skins and hides stretched into rugs. The grotesque list goes on and on.
The United States is the largest importer of these horrific trophies.
Rich, selfish hunters fly around the world, paying exorbitant prices to gain access to our Earth's most precious and vulnerable species. If the ProTECT Act is passed, it would put an end to these hunters' cruel whims by making it illegal to import trophies of threatened or endangered species.
The
ProTECT Act even goes one step further, and would also
ban the practice of canned hunting, an apt name for the practice of trapping wildlife within fenced areas and selling access to hunters who can then play out their cruel fantasies. More than a thousand of these trophy-hunting ranches operate in the United States, and thanks to a legal loophole, these places can offer the hunting of endangered, threatened, or even "extinct in the wild" animals if they are popular enough. This is sickening.
If the need to protect our world's biodiversity and natural beauty isn't enough, public demand can also be considered: a poll taken in 2015 showed that
86% of Americans oppose big game hunting.
The people have spoken, and we demand the ProTECT Act be passed to safeguard vulnerable species.Enough is enough. Threatened and endangered species must be protected at all costs. Lawmakers must stop catering to the desires of hunters and start taking the preservation of our natural world and animal life seriously.
Sign the petition to demand Congress vote YES on the ProTECT Act!