Petitions are a powerful tool to move stakeholders to improve the lives of animals.
As an animal lover, you probably find yourself signing petitions every day, in the hopes of making a difference. It's an uphill battle, but your petition signatures have helped us achieve amazing things for animals in the past few years alone.
Here's a quick look back at our recent successes - all possible thanks to your continuing support.
When you made Turkish Airlines agree to find solutions to stop the smuggling of African grey parrots
In 2019, our investigations revealed that smuggled African grey parrots were being transported on Turkish Airlines flights for the illegal exotic pet trade. The animals had their flight feathers chopped off and were crammed into small, dirty containers. Parrots trafficked like this often die before arrival.
Following over 180,000 petition signatures, Turkish Cargo (a Turkish Airlines subsidiary) agreed to ban global shipments of African grey parrots, whilst they collaborate with us to prevent the illegal smuggling of African grey parrots out of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where most of the animals were transported from.
When you held supermarket chains accountable for ocean plastic
Ghost gear (lost or discarded fishing nets) injures and kills hundreds of thousands of marine mammals every year. It's by far the deadliest kind of marine debris, and it's a byproduct of the fish on our supermarket shelves. Thanks to your support of our Sea Change campaign and 85,000+ petition signatures, Tesco, M&S, Morrisons, Co-op, Waitrose, and Lidl all agreed to protect animals in our oceans by joining the GGGI (Global Ghost Gear Initiative). By joining this alliance, supermarkets agreed to take measures to reduce the volume of fishing gear entering the oceans, recycling and removing existing ghost gear, and support marine mammal rescue initiatives.
When California passed prop-12 to protect farmed animals
In 2018, we campaigned for Proposition 12 in California urging voters to protect farmed animals. The help of our supporters was vital to spread the word amongst friends, family, and followers. We felt good about Prop 12's chances, and we're thrilled to receive the news that voters had moved it across the finish line on Election Day.
It is now required that all mother pigs, egg-laying hens, and veal calves farmed in California be provided with cage-free housing and even more living space by 2022.
But that’s not all.
This also has a positive impact on farm animals outside of California as well. Proposition 12 now requires that ALL meat sold in California from out-of-state producers must meet the same standards of in-state producers.
When Florida banned the sale of iguanas and tegus
In February of 2020, we alerted our supporters to the legislation that would end the sale and keeping of tegus and green iguanas in Florida, thereby helping to protect Florida’s native wildlife from these harmful invasive species. In July, it became the law!
Irresponsible exotic pet owners often release animals into the wild when the animals become too large or too expensive to care for. Iguanas and tegus reproduce in large numbers and present a threat to native wild animals by competing with the animals for food and eating the eggs of other species.
Green iguanas and tegus will now be spared a lifetime of captivity living as exotic pets in Florida.
When you moved Tripadvisor to stop promoting cruel wildlife attractions
Back in 2016, over half a million people signed our petition calling for the world's largest travel site to stop selling tickets to some of the cruelest wildlife activities, where tourists are allowed direct contact with captive wild animals or endangered species. This means activities such as tiger selfies, petting of lion cubs, and riding elephants. In 2019, they extended this to all captive dolphin and whale venues.
Will you help us once more?
The global wildlife trade causes suffering for animals around the world - whether they are exploited for tourists' entertainment, kept as pets, or killed for use in Traditional Medicine. It's time to put an end to this cruelty.
Sign the petition and share it with our friends and family: together, we can make this our next success.