Here's What Your Support Helped LCA Achieve in 2020
An Animal Rights Article from All-Creatures.org

FROM LCA Last Chance for Animals
December 2020

Last Chance for Animals

Exposing Animal Cruelty - Millbank Mink Fur Farm, Canada - Trial Expected in Early 2021

LCA’s undercover mink farm investigation at Millbank Fur Farm in Ontario, released in 2018, documented disturbing accounts of animal neglect. More than three million animals are killed annually in the Canadian fur industry. With the evidence collected, LCA submitted a complaint to the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (OSPCA) requesting further investigation.
The OSPCA announced the Ontario mink farm was charged with 14 counts of animal cruelty and stated, “no one is exempt from the law.” The Millbank case remains active and before the Provincial Court in Guelph, Ontario. COVID has delayed the matter due to court closures. The Crown continues to advance the charges against Millbank; if a plea bargain is not reached, the matter is expected to proceed to trial in early 2021. If convicted on all charges, Millbank faces the maximum fine of $840,000 and 28 years in prison –two years per charge.

Working To Stop the S. Korean Dog Meat Trade

Here are some of the things LCA and S. Korean sister organization, Animal Liberation Wave (ALW), accomplished this year:

May 2020: An international petition to stop the S. Korean dog meat trade was launched with a gigantic balloon protest in Seoul. Because of the global COVID-19 pandemic, China has moved to end not only wildlife consumption but also the dog meat trade by leaving the animals out of the country’s newly announced “livestock” list. This leaves South Korea, another major dog-eating country, in shame as they have not taken any action to end this practice. Sign the petition here.
July 2020: Seorak, rescued from a S. Korean dog meat slaughterhouse, joined ALW, LCA and a group of activists to deliver an open letter to S. Korean President Moon Jae-in signed by 37 international celebrities asking to put an end to the dog meat trade. The open letter was delivered on the 2nd day of Boknal, the hottest days of the Korean summer, when the consumption of dog meat soup rises to combat the extreme heat.
November 2020: An anti-dog meat billboard featuring Seorak was put up in one of the busiest Metro's in Seoul. The billboard reads, “Dogs Loved and Dogs Eaten? No Difference!” and raises awareness that dogs sold for meat are no different than beloved family pets. Seorak's billboard will expose millions of S. Koreans to the horrific dog meat trade.

Saving Mountain Gorillas & Supporting Virunga National Park's AirWing Program

Fourteen rangers and one driver were murdered in 2020 while protecting the land, resources and animals of Virunga National Park. Since the Parks inception in 1925, 236 rangers and employees of Virunga have been killed in the line of duty, 61 of them in the last six years.
Virunga rangers and employees are dedicated individuals who aim to protect Africa’s oldest national park and its animals from armed groups, illegal poaching, and land encroachment and bring about peace and prosperity. The rangers go through intensive training, risking their lives on a daily basis to safeguard the Park’s exceptional wildlife.
LCA continues to be the major supporter of Virunga’s AirWing program. In 2020, construction began on a hangar at Katale/LCA airfield near Virunga’s headquarters to safely house the growing fleet of the AirWing’s aircraft. This project came after fortifying the entire airfield with 2-meter-high Bastion walls. A functional and modern AirWing program provides the best possible tool to secure the park and reduce threats to Virunga’s rangers and wildlife population.

Fighting Ag-Gag Laws

With COVID-19 ravaging the world and going on much longer than anyone expected, people have been desperate to understand what caused the outbreak so we can prevent it from happening again. It has become apparent that COVID is a zoonotic disease - one that originated with animals and transferred to humans, making this pandemic the most recent example of how the consumption, farming and capture of animals can work against humanity in ways we never imagined.
Dangerous agriculture gag (ag-gag) laws are being passed in states (and in foreign countries) that make it illegal to expose animal cruelty, food safety, labor and environmental violations. These violations will go unreported and shielded from public scrutiny, thereby magnifying the risk of zoonotic diseases and more.

34th Annual Fur-Free Friday Protest

California has banned fur effective January 1, 2023, with the passage of AB44, making California the first state in the nation to ban the sale and manufacture of new fur products. Since 1986, LCA has held the annual Fur-Free Friday protest in Beverly Hills, CA. COVID did not stop us from having the protest this year on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Peaceful protestors educated shoppers on the horrors of the fur industry and asked retailers to stop their fur sales NOW – and not wait until 2023.