Gov. Glenn Youngkin has just signed House Bill 1531, a ban on the use of bullhooks\u2014heavy weapons resembling a fireplace poker with a sharp metal hook on one end\u2014which are used to poke, prod, and \u201cbreak\u201d elephants so that they\u2019ll perform tricks or carry multiple people on their backs. The bill, introduced by Del. Kathy Tran (D-18th District) at PETA\u2019s request, was inspired in part by the plight of Asha, the African elephant who was captured in her native home of Zimbabwe as a baby and who endured isolation and exploitation for decades at the notorious Natural Bridge Zoo in Rockbridge County, where her handler consistently carried a bullhook to remind her of the pain he would inflict on her if she didn\u2019t obey his commands. Below, please find a statement from PETA Senior Vice President of Cruelty Investigations Daphna Nachminovitch:<\/p>\n
Today, Virginia is a kinder, safer place for elephants, thanks to Del. Kathy Tran\u2019s passion and work to protect\u00a0them from being tormented and terrorized with bullhooks, weapons often used by circuses and roadside zoos to beat captive elephants into submission. PETA is proud to call Virginia our home and encourages other states to follow its compassionate lead by banning these wretched weapons.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
A PETA undercover investigation<\/a> into Ringling Bros. circus\u2014which shut down after extensive PETA campaigns, before announcing a return without<\/em> the use of\u00a0 animals\u2014exposed how bullhooks are used to terrorize elephants before they\u2019re forced to \u201cperform.\u201d Another PETA expos\u00e9<\/a>\u00a0uncovered that a Carson & Barnes Circus employee viciously attacked elephants with a bullhook and instructed trainers to sink and twist it into the animals\u2019 flesh until they screamed in pain. Use of the weapon is prohibited by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums, the leading accrediting body for zoos and other such facilities in the U.S.<\/p>\n
PETA\u2014whose motto reads, in part, that \u201canimals are not ours to use for entertainment or abuse in any other way\u201d\u2014points out that Every Animal Is Someone<\/a> and offers free Empathy Kits<\/a> for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org<\/strong><\/a> or follow the group on X<\/strong><\/a>, Facebook<\/strong><\/a>, or Instagram<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n
The post Virginia Governor Signs Bill Banning Bullhooks; PETA Cheers!<\/a> appeared first on PETA<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n
This post was originally published on Animal Rights and Campaign News | PETA<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Gov. Glenn Youngkin has just signed House Bill 1531, a ban on the use of bullhooks\u2014heavy weapons resembling a fireplace poker with a sharp metal hook on one end\u2014which are used to poke, prod, and \u201cbreak\u201d elephants so that they\u2019ll perform tricks or carry multiple people on their backs. The bill, introduced by Del. Kathy… Read more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n
The post Virginia Governor Signs Bill Banning Bullhooks; PETA Cheers!<\/a> appeared first on PETA<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":708,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3409,24281,5645],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1588793"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/708"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1588793"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1588793\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1588794,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1588793\/revisions\/1588794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1588793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1588793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1588793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}