December 31, 2021

DEAR FRIENDS, 

As 2021 winds down, SHARK is still exposing animal killers with our drones and working to stop them. Holidays don't stop animal killers or SHARK. With your support, SHARK will continue to accomplish the impossible for the animals in 2022. Please donate here.

The following is Part 3 of SHARK's 2021 Year in Review mailer. See the entire mailer here.

In late May, SHARK investigators were in Oklahoma at a suspected cockfighting and dogfighting property. What we found there were starving dogs covered in flies and roosters living in flooded cages. Steve stayed in Oklahoma all week to get these animals help. See video here.

It turned out that the owner and abuser of the animals was a member of the local Native American tribe and therefore it fell to the Tribal Marshal Service (TMS) to investigate.

The good news is that our work forced the owner to get the dogs much-needed veterinary care. The bad news is that the TMS shockingly downplayed the situation and has taken no legal action.

 

How can anyone look at this picture (above) and write off her suffering? Unfortunately, law enforcement unwilling to do their job has been a consistent problem when it comes to protecting animals.

A few years ago, we told you of a pig wrestling event at the St. Patrick’s Parish in Wisconsin that was shut down thanks to SHARK’s efforts. Pig wrestling is a vile event where men, women and children tackle pigs by punching them in the face, kicking and body-slamming them for fun, see picture below.

We learned of another such event that was held at the Caldron Falls Bar and Grill in Northern Wisconsin. SHARK Investigator Mike Kobliska attended the event and obtained footage of the horrible abuse the pigs suffer as well as the event MC, exposing himself to the drunken crowd while children watched. We supplied videotape of the incident to law enforcement, and he was cited for Disorderly Conduct. See video here.

We are now thrilled to report pig wrestling has been permanently canceled at this location. The new owners of the bar confirmed that the pig wrestling is gone permanently and it has been replaced with a car show.

Live pigeon shoots in Pennsylvania, where innocent birds are forced into small boxes, then launched into the air and shot for fun, have been decimated by our relentless efforts against them. Most of the birds, who are on the brink of starvation (which makes them easier to shoot) do not die right away, but instead, suffer for hours or days after being wounded. These shoots are truly depraved and cause incalculable suffering. 

Children are often used to capture and kill wounded birds at pigeon shoots

While other animal groups have either abandoned or betrayed the pigeons in PA, SHARK has stood resolute in our defense of them. The pigeon shooters are so scared of SHARK showing up and filming them that they have been driven underground and limited the number of shoots they hold. This has saved tens of thousands of birds every year. See video here.

The main pigeon shoot SHARK focused on in 2021 was the notorious Philadelphia Gun Club. A SHARK investigator filmed a number of shoots at the gun club, capturing horrific acts of animal cruelty and a complete disdain for human life, as the wealthy and politically connected members of the gun club openly flouted COVID restrictions that were in place. These sociopaths just didn’t care about anything other than slaughtering small birds for fun.

Just some of the many dozens of wounded pigeons SHARK has rescued over the years at pigeon shoots

The President of the gun club is Edward Bruce DiDonato. DiDonato is an optometrist who has deep ties to Rider University in NJ, including having a lecture hall named after him, and being listed as a Director of the University. See video here.

SHARK released a video calling out Rider for this relationship, not just because of the heinous animal cruelty, but because over the past ten years, gun club members have attacked female activists who were protesting the club. This includes disgusting verbal harassment that was targeted to a woman and
 pigeon shooters driving their vehicles at female activists. DiDonato himself used his SUV to harass a woman who filmed him. Shockingly, Rider President Gregory Dell’Omo has refused to even respond to this important issue. Money, it seems, matters more to Rider than morality.

Please contact Rider President Dell’Omo and ask that he dissolve all relationships between Rider and DiDonato:  

Email: [email protected]    Phone Number: 609-896-5001



 

SHARK investigators have often called the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo the cruelest rodeo on earth. Given all the rodeos we have investigated that’s really saying something. Unfortunately, the claim was reproved this year with the indefensible abuse of just one horse.

It happened during an event misnamed “The Wild Horse Race.” The horses abused in this event aren’t wild - they’re terrorized. On July 29th one horse had a clearly injured leg, possibly broken, early in the event, which lasts several minutes. Instead of stopping and giving the horse immediate care, the contestant on the horse forced her to keep running for several minutes. The injured, suffering animal eventually collapsed (below)

 

The story of this poor horse is just one example of why we have to continue to expose rodeos everywhere.

You can stand up for this victim, and the others abused by rodeos. Please do not patronize any of the following sponsors of the CFD rodeo: Coca-Cola, Albertsons/Safeway, Grease Monkey, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Dodge automobiles and Coors beer.

See CorporateThugs.com for more sponsors of rodeos to boycott.

Bank of the West has been a long time sponsor of the CFD rodeo, including being a platinum sponsor. It is our pleasure to announce, that after our campaign exposing sponsors of this cruel rodeo, Bank of the West has dropped their sponsorship!

Rodeos can’t survive without corporate money, so this was a great turn of events for animals abused and killed by the CFD rodeo!

Back in February we heard that Disney+ was moving forward with a movie glorifying the world’s most cruel and deadly rodeo - the Cheyenne Frontier Days.

We quickly formed a coalition of animal protection organizations, released a video exposing the planned movie, and created a petition asking Disney to stand down.

We are very pleased to announced our efforts succeeded, and Disney+ cancelled the project! We want to thank all of our coalition partners and all of you who signed the petition and took action!