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May 22, 2019
DEAR FRIENDS,
For more than a quarter century, SHARK has been a powerful force for our animal friends. From the beginning, we’ve used revolutionary technology to fight cruelty, and our efforts have scored astonishing victories thought to be impossible by others. Our investigators put themselves on the killing fields and anywhere abuse occurs. This is dirty, difficult and often dangerous work, but the results of our efforts speak for themselves.
SHARK has rescued dozens of pigeons from being on the ground at live pigeon shoots. We have been assaulted, bloodied, held at gun point and hit by gun shot - but we do what has to be done to save these innocent lives
What is both fascinating and frustrating to me is that other groups, including and especially those with tens of millions of dollars in the bank, refuse to follow the highly effective roadmap we've laid out to dealing with animal abuse. Our drones, boats, hovercrafts, high-powered cameras, hidden cameras, etc. have proven their worth over and over for many years, and still the big groups refuse to go forward using this latest technology.
I believe the reason for this is that SHARK and those organizations are focused on two different missions. SHARK is focused on effectively dealing with cruelty and ending it. The large organizations are far more concerned about raising money, and paying themselves very, very well. Raising money is what they are good at. Activism? Making real change for the animals? Not so much.
SHARK is unique in the animal protection movement. Although we are a small band of investigators, none of us will never make the six-figure salaries of the bureaucrats in the big animal protection groups. As for me, I have always been an unpaid volunteer.
Although SHARK is small, and our annual donations only amount to what a large organization reaps in a day or two, our accomplishments are enormous. We'll list some of those accomplishments in this update, and we'll include hyper-links, so you can see for yourself that SHARK goes where no group has gone before, with techniques that are as visionary as they are productive.
I believe the reason for this is that SHARK and those organizations are focused on two different missions. SHARK is focused on effectively dealing with cruelty and ending it. The large organizations are far more concerned about raising money, and paying themselves very, very well. Raising money is what they are good at. Activism? Making real change for the animals? Not so much.
SHARK is unique in the animal protection movement. Although we are a small band of investigators, none of us will never make the six-figure salaries of the bureaucrats in the big animal protection groups. As for me, I have always been an unpaid volunteer.
Although SHARK is small, and our annual donations only amount to what a large organization reaps in a day or two, our accomplishments are enormous. We'll list some of those accomplishments in this update, and we'll include hyper-links, so you can see for yourself that SHARK goes where no group has gone before, with techniques that are as visionary as they are productive.
SHARK's drone as it is launched from our boat, the Bob & Nancy.
SHARK has been a pioneer in using drones to expose animal abuse
Another quality that makes SHARK so unique is that we have not corporatized our fundraising where we throw money away on slick advertising that only puts your hard earned money into someone else’s hands. When we need money we speak directly to you. That is what I am doing right now.
We are at that point where the funds we have remaining are draining and we may soon reach a crisis point, something that I very much want to avoid. That is why I sincerely ask for your help now. I implore you to first read what we’ve accomplished with your help in the past, and then to send a generous donation to SHARK so we may continue to secure victories and save lives.
There is no better or more effective way for you to help animals than by supporting SHARK. Every dollar you give to SHARK goes right into the fight. We don’t waste money on expensive office space, for every SHARK investigator works out of their own homes when not in the killing fields. We don’t hold fancy galas or spend tens of thousands of dollars on ourselves with lunches and entertainment. Every person in SHARK is dedicated to the cause and has put themselves in harms way more times than I can count. We don’t hide when the going gets rough, we get active and get the job done.
We are at that point where the funds we have remaining are draining and we may soon reach a crisis point, something that I very much want to avoid. That is why I sincerely ask for your help now. I implore you to first read what we’ve accomplished with your help in the past, and then to send a generous donation to SHARK so we may continue to secure victories and save lives.
There is no better or more effective way for you to help animals than by supporting SHARK. Every dollar you give to SHARK goes right into the fight. We don’t waste money on expensive office space, for every SHARK investigator works out of their own homes when not in the killing fields. We don’t hold fancy galas or spend tens of thousands of dollars on ourselves with lunches and entertainment. Every person in SHARK is dedicated to the cause and has put themselves in harms way more times than I can count. We don’t hide when the going gets rough, we get active and get the job done.
SHARK has exposed rodeo cruelty across our country and in Canada. When a group of Chinese activists wanted to fight a planned rodeo, they brought us in to help because they knew no one else in the world does what SHARK does
I can't tell you everything we have planned for the future, as secrecy is an important component of our campaigns, I can tell you that we are expanding our SHARK fleet of Angel drones and FAA certified drone pilots. This considerably increases our ability to use our most effective tool for exposing animal cruelty. I am excited, inspired and beyond enthusiastic for a future where no animal abuser can hide from SHARK’s drones…but we need your help in order to make that future a reality.
We need your help now and going forward because there are so many animal lives on the line, in so many places, and we don't want to lose the momentum we have, or the gains we've made. This is a critical call for help, and as always, the lives SHARK save are the lives you save.
Sincerely,
Steve Hindi
President, Showing Animals Respect and Kindness
President, Showing Animals Respect and Kindness
The video links below represent just a sampling of the more than 1,100 videos we have on our YouTube channel, which has 132,000 subscribers and have garnered more than 100,000,000 views!
Our victories and ground-breaking exposés cover an enormous range of issues. Rodeos, pigeon shoots, cownose ray killing contests, cockfighting and dogfighting, cows on dairy farms, dogs in research facilities, factory farmed eggs, animal wrestling, canned hunts, deer hunts, government killing programs, shark killing contests, and so much more prove that SHARK does what no one else does.
Our victories and ground-breaking exposés cover an enormous range of issues. Rodeos, pigeon shoots, cownose ray killing contests, cockfighting and dogfighting, cows on dairy farms, dogs in research facilities, factory farmed eggs, animal wrestling, canned hunts, deer hunts, government killing programs, shark killing contests, and so much more prove that SHARK does what no one else does.
•VICTORY! Maryland cownose ray killing contests banned indefinitely!
SHARK undertook a massive two-year effort to fight against horrendous killing contests in MD where majestic mother rays and their newborn babies were shot with arrows and beaten with bats. First we forced a sponsor of the contest to withdraw, then our video was the catalyst for legislation that put a two-year moratorium on the contests. Just a few weeks ago, new legislation passed making the moratorium indefinite! (Picture: SHARK along with our allies in the Save the Rays Coalition at the bill signing at the MD state House)
•SHARK exposes rodeo cruelty and ends horse tripping in Oregon!
No one has taken on rodeo cruelty as SHARK has. Our library of documentation
covers decades of work and rodeos covers decades of work and rodeos from one end of our nation to the other, including Canada. We've exposed the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo, Rowell Ranch Rodeo, Cowtown Rodeo and so many, many more. The video we took of horse tripping at an Oregon rodeo was so powerful that it spurred legislation to ban it. That was a major victory that only happened because of our video.
covers decades of work and rodeos covers decades of work and rodeos from one end of our nation to the other, including Canada. We've exposed the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo, Rowell Ranch Rodeo, Cowtown Rodeo and so many, many more. The video we took of horse tripping at an Oregon rodeo was so powerful that it spurred legislation to ban it. That was a major victory that only happened because of our video.
•VICTORY! Maryland Bans Pigeon Shoots!
After a SHARK drone and undercover operation at a MD pigeon shoot club, legislation was passed banning pigeon shoots in the state. This was a monumental victory! (Picture: from our undercover video, a worker shoots a pigeon in from of our investigator)
• SHARK Fights Cockfighting in Monterey County, California
Working off a tip, we took our drones to CA to film suspected cockfighting properties. Our video has exposed multiple properties for what were clearly being used to raise roosters for fights.
•VICTORY! US Senator Jim Inhofe shuts down his pigeon shoot fundraisers!
SHARK was the only group to respond to an anonymous tip that Jim Inhofe, US Senator from Oklahoma, was holding live pigeon shoots as political fundraisers. Our investigator went undercover at a shoot and captured ground-breaking video of the Senator's cruelty. The next two years we went after Inhofe with drone and pigeon rescue operations. We filed a complaint against the man who organized the shoot and he was found to have violated federal law. After three years of SHARK's relentless actions, Inhofe caved and stopped holding the pigeon shoots. This was an astonishing victory as our opposition was an powerful politician, and that other "humane" groups both thought it could not be won and refused to help.
•Groundbreaking Video Exposes Taxpayer-Funded Cormorant Slaughter
In an unprecedented three-week long action on the Columbia River on the Washington/Oregon border, we used our boat, drones and long range cameras to film a government sponsored slaughter of cormorants. What made this so important was that we were able to capture video of the notorious Wildlife Services, which is highly secretive government agency that kills untold millions of animals every year, shooting cormorants as they fell into the river to die. SHARK has taken on the cormorant issue in Canada as well, where that government is also slaughtering these beautiful birds.
(Picture: A cormorant SHARK rescued. He had been shot in the beak and left to die by government killers)
(Picture: A cormorant SHARK rescued. He had been shot in the beak and left to die by government killers)
•Drone Exposes Warehoused Research Beagles
We took our drone to Cumberland, Virginia, to document the warehousing of beagles who are doomed to be experimented on and tortured. This important video showed the sordid condition of thousands of dogs imprisoned in small cages.
• VICTORY! Sponsors abandon cruel canned hunt club
SHARK has undertaken major efforts at the Minnesota Horse and Hunt Club (MHHC). This vile place holds pigeon shoots and pheasant slaughters where tame birds are literally planted in the ground so hunters can easily kill them. We've shown the violence committed by the MHHC supporters including how the owner assaulted one of our female investigators and how another man tried to run down our people with his truck. Last year we filmed a pheasant slaughter at the MHHC that was so disgusting we were able to convince many sponsors of the MHHC to withdraw their support. Desperate for support, the MHHC brought in Gander Outdoors but we've taken on them and their CEO, Marcus Lemonis and will continue to expose them until they too abandon the sick cruelty committed at the MHHC. Ducks Unlimited has held pigeon shoot fundraisers at the MHHC and we've exposed them as well.
•VICTORY! Illinois pit-bull operation shut down!
SHARK's drones exposed a possible dog fighting operation by filming more than 60 pit-bulls that were chained on the property. We went to the authorities and out pressure on them to take action. We are pleased to report that the property has been cleared out with no more animals suffering on it! (Picture: one of the many dogs SHARK filmed on the property by our drone)
•SHARK vs. the NRA
The NRA is the reason why pigeon shoots have not been banned in Pennsylvania. The reason why the NRA fights so hard to protect shoots is that some of their former and current leaders are shooters themselves. This includes former president and current board member John Sigler, who we've confronted and exposed, and former board member Leo Holt, who we've filmed at the Philadelphia Gun Club. We've also shown how the NRA leadership has betrayed its members by support these unethical shoots. SHARK went to the 2019 NRA convention to confront members about how their money was being used to support rich pigeon shooters.
•VICTORY! Alabama Forestry Association (AFA) Pigeon Shoots Shut Down!
When SHARK discovered that the AFA was holding annual pigeon shoots, we took action. Our team was at the shoot and filmed the horror that unfolded. We took that video and pressured the largest company that was part of the AFA to use their influence to cancel the shoots and they did! In just one year, we stopped the slaughter of thousands of innocent birds annually!
•SHARK Exposes Cruel Factory Farming
SHARK has taken on the farmed animal industry with expose´s in California of the dairy industry and a massive egg production facility called Central Valley Eggs. When SHARK was in North Carolina using our new hovercraft to do rescue work for stranded animals in the aftermath of in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence, we documented the sad fate of farmed pigs. SHARK has also exposed the Nebraska based US Meat Animal Research Center, (USMARC) a government funded facility that works with the animal food industry. (Picture: a lamb left to die at USMARC)
•VICTORY! The Denver Post cancels it's train to the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo (CFD)!
Rodeos such as the CFD survive based on support from sponsors and media outlets who betray their journalistic ethics. We took on the Denver Post for being a shill for the CFD by sponsoring a train trip to the rodeo, and released a number of videos exposing them. We are pleased to announce that this year there will be no train as the Denver Post has canceled it!
•SHARK takes on corruption in the animal protection movement
We at SHARK are appalled at groups and individuals that scam good hearted people out of money. That's why we've spent time exposing Alex Pacheco, Animal Charity Evaluators, Animal Equality, Peter Singer, and Will Potter who have engaged in either wasting money while doing nothing for animals, unethical behavior or dubious practices if not outright fraud.
•VICTORY! NJ Deer shot in the face with an arrow saved!
When we found out that a deer in NJ had been shot in the face with an arrow, we took our cameras to find and film her. Our video of the deer we named "Grace," was covered on major news networks in two states. In the end, our efforts forced the state of NJ to remove the deer and let her live her life in peace. (Picture: Grace and her fawn)
•Victory! Pigeon torturing pleads guilty in Pennsylvania
In an important victory for pigeons in PA, SHARK's video of a teenager, who was working at a pigeon shoot held at the Philadelphia Gun Club, was used to force the worker to plead guilty to cruelty to animal charges. This was the first time someone was convicted of animal cruelty related to a pigeon shoot and it only happened because of our video.
• VICTORY! Cruel Mexican Rodeo Banned!
SHARK's undercover operation of a Mexican style rodeo at a NJ venue captured video of animals being brutally electro-shocked by workers who were drinking alcohol. Our video was so strong that not only did the company lose it's license to sell alcohol at events, which was a major way it brought in cash, but it was permanantley banned from the venue it had been using for years.
•VICTORY! Christian school stops holding rodeo fundraisers
When we found out that a NJ Christian school was holding a fundraiser at a rodeo, we took action. We filmed the event and ran a campaign to convince the school that animal abuse was no way to raise money. The campaign was success, and the school agreed to stop holding such fundraisers.
•VICTORY! Wisconsin Church Ends its Pig Abuse!
After four decades of abusing pigs for a fundraiser, WI based St. Patrick Parish ended their annual pig wrestling event. This success was the culmination of a strong campaign where we both filmed the cruelty and took on the church that put it on, to the point that SHARK President Steve Hindi offered $10,000 of his own money to replace the pig event with him wrestling church officials. (Picture: A pig who was abused at the wrestling event)