Welcome to Born Free USA

Born Free USA has launched an animal sponsorship program! Representing our core campaigns, the following animals can now be sponsored for you or a loved one: Parrot ($15 per year), representing National Bird Day; Fox ($25 per year), representing our trapping and fur free campaigns; Bear ($35 per year), representing our work against the gallbladder and bile trade; Tiger ($45 per year), representing our exotic "pets" campaign; Elephant ($75 per year), representing our animals in entertainment campaign; and Lion ($100 per year), representing our wildlife trade campaign. An animal gift sponsorship makes a great gift for a loved one — and for wildlife, too, because it helps with all our animal protection work!

Born Free USA Senior Program Associate Monica Engebretson joined colleagues from Trap Free New Mexico on an eight-city swing to highlight the dangers associated with trapping on lands. "The Troubles with Trapping" tour's goal was to raise awareness, capture the attention of decision-makers and move New Mexico a step closer to having trap-free public lands.

Bill description: This bill was drafted by Born Free USA and would require "owners" to pay for damages or expenses incurred when their exotic "pets" are released from their enclosures. The bill also requires people to immediately report discovered releases to local police and animal control.

Read the bill here.

Rescued from death’s door and the confines of a filthy festering swimming pool in Hisaronu, Turkey, nearly two years of careful care and preparation finally reached a stunning climax this week when the gate to their sea pen was opened for the first time and two dolphins were released.

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Carole Baskin spends much of her life with big felines — tigers, lions, leopards and such. As founder of Big Cat Rescue, a nonprofit educational sanctuary in Citrus Park, she takes pride in the way the sanctuary is operated — with attention to the animals' well-being and the public's safety. Not everyone is so scrupulous. Baskin said she wasn't shocked in October when a man in Zanesville, Ohio, intentionally released 56 big cats from a private piece of property. Of the 56 animals turned loose in the southwestern Ohio community, 49 were killed to protect the public — including 18 Bengal tigers and 17 lions.

Link: Tampa Bay Online