FW: War on Terror Money used to fund War on Animals

February 18, 2008

Fri, 15 Feb 2008 16:53:06 -0500afinleySubject: War on "Terror" Money used to fund War on Animals

In This Issue

U.S.A.F. Thunderbirds Show How Low They Can Go

Your Tax Dollars at Work

Marriott Sponsors Animal Abuse

SHARK Thanks Four Feet Forward

Arizona Activists - Call to Action

University of Illinois Rodeo Canceled

Veterinarian Who Horriffically Killed Elk Calf

Help SHARK Keep Momentum Going Strong Against the Rodeo

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U.S.A.F. THUNDERBIRDS SHOW HOW LOW THEY CAN GO

Dear Friends,

As usual in life, there is both good and bad news on the front. Mike Kobliska has found an astonishing story of the waste of tax dollars, as the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds are have lowered themselves to giving joy rides to members of the rodeo mafia.

The good news is that a rodeo that SHARK has exposed for animal abuse has been canceled.

YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK - PANDERING TO ANIMAL ABUSERS!

The website of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) has an article bragging that the rodeo mafia, along with rodeo sponsor Boyd Gaming, which owns and operates casinos in Las Vegas and other parts of the country, has sufficient influence on the U.S. armed services to induce the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds to give joy rides to rodeo thugs. Even more outrageous, the U.S. Air Force is allowing the thugs to fire the guns of these super-expensive aircraft! This is your hard-earned tax dollars being wasted by the millions!

U.S.A.F. Thunderbirds at Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo

The following link will allow you to read the propaganda for yourself on the PRCA's web site. Two rodeo announcers are highlighted - Boyd Polhamus and Bob Tallman. Polhamus and Tallman have announced at some of the most cruel and infamous rodeos in the country, including the 2007 National Final Rodeo that SHARK investigators exposed last December, and the Denver Rodeo that we exposed in January. Polhamus and Tallman, like all rodeo announcers, are intimately involved in rodeo animal abuse by deflecting the attention of attendees away from animal cruelty, injuries and deaths.

It's bad enough that the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds does an air show for the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo (and has for the past 54 years and yet deny it). Additionally, pilots for the Thunderbirds make a special personal appearance in the rodeo arena at the Cheyenne Rodeo, rubbing elbows with the very people who are maiming and killing the animals. SHARK is currently working on a video that will expose the unholy alliance between the Cheyenne Rodeo and the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds. Now, even before that video is ready for the internet, the Thunderbirds have dropped to a new low.

How can it be that during a supposed "War on Terror" that is costing billions and billions of tax dollars, the Air Force nevertheless has the time and money to give joy rides to rodeo thugs? It is yet another rodeo scandal in a time when rodeo scandals are coming so quickly we hardly have the time to list them all, but rest assured that we are surely going to try.

Terrified, abused horse at Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Please contact the Thunderbirds to let them know what you think of their support of animal abuse at the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo and giving joy rides to rodeo thugs with your tax dollars:

U.S.A.F. Aerial Events

1690 Air Force Pentagon

Washington, D.C. 20330-1690

Phone: 703-697-3462 / 703-571-7926

http://www.af.mil/main/contactus.asp

MARRIOTT SPONSORS ANIMAL ABUSE

While Marriott was not the only sponsor of the National Western Stock Show & Rodeo in Denver, CO, they were the one that shocked SHARK the most. SHARK has a video clip (which will be up on YouTube next week) showing (best we can tell from the audio clip) Barbara Reade, Chairperson of Marriott's Business Council and General Manager of the Cass Center Hotel making quite an embarrassing spectacle of herself while riding in the wagon in the rodeo arena along with another woman identified as Jennifer Atkins, General Manager of Marriott West Hotel. In the President's Box was: Patty O'Keefe, Regional VP of Marriott International and Deb Carkanes of Marriott City Center. Marriott is also credited for providing the visual screens for the event.

Horse being shocked in violation of rules at NWSS Rodeo, sponsored in part by Marriott.

Conversations with Marriott management have not yielded any reassurances that this was a one time incident not to be repeated. It is highly unlikely that the elite clients of the Marriott/Ritz-Carlton chain will in be impressed with the corporate management's decision to sponsor animal cruelty.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Please contact Marriott and let them know what you think of their sponsorship of animal cruelty:

Corporate HeadquartersMarriott InternationalMarriott DriveWashington, D.C. 20058Phone: 301.380.3000

https://www.marriott.com/suggest/suggest.mi

SHARK THANKS FOUR FEET FORWARD

As many of you know, back in December 2007 the PRCA falsely claimed copyright infringement on some of SHARK's rodeo videos on YouTube and our account was subsequently closed.

Fortunately, Carter Dillard of Four Feet Forward came to SHARK's rescue and arranged for Dara Lovitz, Esq. of Zarwin, Baum, DeVito, Kaplan, Schaer, and Toddy, P.C. to send YouTube a letter refuting the false copyright claims of the PRCA. YouTube reinstated SHARK's account and as of last week, all of our videos have finally been restored.

SHARK is sincerely appreciative of the help provided by Carter Dillard of Four Feet Forward and Dara Lovitz, Esq. of Zarwin, Baum, DeVito, Kaplan, Schaer, and Toddy, P.C. in the successful resolution of this issue. SHARK can now continue to expose rodeo cruelty and deaths to the world via our videos on YouTube.

CALL TO ACTION FOR ARIZONA ACTIVISTS

Bill HB2539 spearheaded by Phoenix City Councilwoman Thelda Williams, to ban the cruel practice of horse tripping in Arizona, is currently in need of action by Arizona activists.

Horse tripping is done during Mexican rodeos called charreadas, and involves two cowboys on horseback chasing a horse and causing the animal to flee. When the horse has reached full speed, a third horseman lassoes one of the horse's front legs, then stops and pulls back on the rope, causing the horse to trip forward and smash full-force into the ground.

Tripped horse

Most western states have already outlawed horse tripping, but the practice remains legal in Arizona because the state defines it as a rodeo event, making it exempt from animal cruelty statutes.

Tripped horses typically suffer serious injuries, from broken bones to spinal damage, sometimes dying as a result. Those who survive are usually so psychologically traumatized that they cannot even look at a rope without becoming terrified.

HB 2539 is sponsored in the Arizona State Legislature by Representatives Kyrsten Sinema, Ed Ableser, and Tom Prezelski, but it is need of the support of more legislators to pass. Please do your part to ensure that it does by taking action in the following ways:

PLEASE FORWARD this alert to your family and friends in Arizona.

PLEASE CALL the members of the Water and Agriculture Committee and ask them to support this bill, and send a follow-up email, or to have added impact, send a handwritten (best) or typed letter.

Water and Agriculture Committee Member Telephone Numbers

Manuel V. Alvarez - (602) 926-5895

Jack A. Brown - (602) 926-4129

Jennifer J. Burns - (602) 926-5836

Trish Groe - (602) 926-5408

John Kavanagh (Vice Chairman) - (602) 926-5170

Lucy Mason - (602) 926-5874

Lynne Pancrazi (Chairman) - (602) 926-3004

Jonathan Paton - (602) 926-3235

Bob Stump - (602) 926-5413

Albert Tom - (602) 926-5862

CALL BOTH of your Arizona State Representatives and urge them to support this bill. Get contact info for your elected officials.

For more information on this issue and to track the bill's progress, go to: The Fund for Horses

Special thanks to In Defense of Animals and Terry Watt for their work on issue.

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS RODEO CANCELED

The University of Illinois has a student rodeo club that hosts an annual rodeo the International Professional Rodeo Association. SHARK busted and exposed the rodeo for shocking animals a few years back. Learn more at our History via the Media. SHARK is happy to announce that the University of Illinois Rodeo Club has canceled its rodeo with the IPRA.

Calf being brutalized by roper

VETERINARIAN WHO HORRIFICALLY KILLED ELK CALF DECLARED A "GOOD NEIGHBOR!"

An organization called "Good Neighbor Law" has recently named none other than Dr. John Maulsby (You remember he is the monster that brutally murdered an elk calf, his family and herd - currently Colorado's State Vet that declared shocking horses is not cruel - see video ) to be November/December 2007 "Good Neighbor," citing of all things, his protection of animals. Not surprisingly, Good Neighbor Law is made up of people who deny global warming, oppose a ban on horse slaughter, support rodeos and are involved in other abuses against animals, and the environment.

I would say that awarding Maulsby any kind of award is a pretty good indication of what kind of organization this is - a bunch of whackos.

Please Help Us to Keep Working for the Animals

Your support is vital in helping SHARK keep the pressure on rodeos, their corporate sponsors, the media, and law enforcement officials. Without pressure, changes for the animals won't happen and we have come too far to let up now.

Donate Today!

Not able to donate? There are everyday ways you can help SHARK that don't cost you anything. Always use www.GoodSearch.com and select SHARK as your charity. GoodSearch.com is a non-profit search engine that gives small donations every time supporters use it for their online searches. Add a GoodSearch toolbar or put it in your favorites today! Learn more here. By doing your online shopping through iGive.com every time you make a purchase a percentage of your total goes to SHARK as a donation! This is done at no cost to you. Simply CLICK HERE to shop at hundreds of online merchants through iGive.com.

Kindest Regards,

Steve Hindi and Your SHARK Team

"Kindness and compassion towards all living beings is a mark of a civilized society. Racism, economic deprival, dog fighting and cock fighting, bullfighting and rodeos are all cut from the same defective fabric: violence. Only when we have become nonviolent towards all life will we have learned to live well ourselves." - Cesar Chavez