PETITION TARGET: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi; Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
UPDATE: The ProTECT Act died for lack of action after being introduced and referred to the Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife. We are disappointed that this important bill did not receive the attention it deserved and that hundreds of animals will remain endangered by trophy hunters. We will continue to advocate for wild animals to be able to live their lives in peace. –-Lady Freethinker Staff
*
More than 125,000 animals are murdered, hacked apart, and imported every year by American trophy hunters. Elephants, rhinoceroses, lions, and leopards are stalked in the wild and slaughtered with guns, knives, or arrows for entertainment. Others are bred in captivity and given no chance to escape. Their lives end in pain and terror. Hunters then turn their tusks, heads, hides, and, at times, entire bodies into sick souvenirs commemorating the thrill of the hunt and the joy of the kill.
The Prohibiting Threatened and Endangered Creature Trophies (ProTECT) Act would help end the hunting of species classified as endangered and threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The bill from Representatives Ted W. Lieu (D-CA), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) and Peter King (R-NY) would end the permits allowing canned hunting within the States and the import of trophy items from animals on the list.
Supporters of trophy hunting claim that it helps control populations and fuel local economies, but science widely disproves these arguments. This gruesome sport is detrimental to the survival of our most at-risk species as the targeted animals are often the strongest and largest and have the best genes.
We must use our voices to tell Congress to treat this issue with the gravity it deserves and protect these animals from the horrors of this cruel sport. Sign the petition to urge the House and Senate leaders to support this bill and help put an end to trophy hunting.
