Diana - I never imagined the impact I would have when I started my first petition on Change.org asking a restaurant in Kansas to stop serving lion meat. But I won with the help of other Change.org users! I still wondered if the sale of lion meat was happening in other places, and who was letting this happen. It turns out there are a lot of problems with lion meat: it's not only bad for lions, but also humans. The origins of lion meat are nearly untraceable, with some of it coming from farms where they're raised for circus entertainment, their hides, and slaughter. Killing lions for human consumption also falls between the cracks of federal agency responsibility, and therefore the meat is rarely inspected. Since the processing goes unregulated, lions aren't even protected by humane slaughter laws. Lion meat isn't regulated by the USDA or the Food and Drug Administration -- even though it's often deceitfully marketed this way. This lack of clear oversight makes it nearly impossible to trace the origin of lion meat and how it's processed. And to make matters worse, experts say that serving lion meat at restaurants in the U.S. could further drive the dwindling wild population into extinction. Restaurants market lion meat because it's shocking -- but the government shouldn't be allowing a gimmick like this that could decimate the lion population and make people sick. My petition asking a local restaurant to stop serving lion meat won -- and was widely covered in the media. By showing popular support for a ban on all lion meat, I believe the USDA will be forced to listen. Thank you for your support. Cheryl Semcer Hoboken, New Jersey | 
No comments:
Post a Comment