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No Traveling Circuses in NJ with Exotic Animals!

On December 17, 2018, New Jersey become the first state in the nation to prohibit the use of wild and exotic animals by traveling shows and circuses!

You’ve seen the acts – bears riding a motorcycle or dancing, elephants performing one unnatural act after another, tigers jumping through hoops of fire.

Well, NO MORE IN NEW JERSEY! 

As part of a coalition of animal activists, APLNJ is proud to have been instrumental in bringing forth this important legislation, paving the way for other states to follow suit. And follow they did!

A mere 4 days later, Hawaii’s governor signed similar legislation.

Please support our work, right here in New Jersey, by making a donation today.

Thank you for your support and all you do to make this world a better place for the animals!

NJ Animal Cruelty Statutes

Are you familiar with New Jersey’s laws protecting animals? While we often criticize them as limited are, New Jersey ranks second of all 50 states in overall protection, according to an HSUS report. To see the ranking, click here. If you are a New Jersey resident, you should familiarize yourself with our laws. Click here for a complete list.

Protecting the 1984 leghold trap law

New Jersey Senate Bill S179 (Senator Vin Gopal D-11) and Assembly Bill A3110 (Assemblyman Daniel Benson D-14 & Raj Mukherji D-33) would ban the manufacture, sale, possession, importation, transportation, or use of any trap that is a spring-loaded device that restrains an animal by capturing the foot, leg, or other body part, including an enclosed foothold type trap or any other type trap that uses a jaw, arm, bar, cable, or wire to grasp or pin the animal’s foot, leg, or other body part. Read more and get active.

Are you caring for community cats?

Are you involved in Trap-Neuter-Return? Then you need to be a part of our Feral Friends NJ network! It’s our Yahoo group that connects feral cat caregivers all across New Jersey. Get advice, find help, connect with others in your area, find out about free cat food opportunities, become eligible for spay/neuter subsidy and more. Read all about it.

Do you know the answer?

Question: How many hunting days are there in New Jersey? The answer may surprise you. Read more.

It ought to be a law or not!

APLNJ works with our political sister organization, the League of Humane Voters of New Jersey, to strengthen and enact laws that protect animals. To name a few, we’re lobbying to get Pedals’ Law, and the Trap Ban passed.

We are also fighting against harmful legislation – the poaching, logging, and prescribed burning bills. On March 25, 2019, the poaching bill passed the Assembly. It’s on the fast track to the Senate now. Please reach out to your state Senator (contact info here) to ask them to vote no.

Talking Points:

The deer poaching bill, (S2419/A3242) is an extreme bill that massively expands deer and other wildlife destruction methods to “stewardship” lands managed for more deer, and to the very groups from whom wildlife had to be statutorily protected. Expanded killing and wounding methods include:

• Killing animals directly over bait at point blank range
• Killing deer any time of day or night
• Jacklighting, or stunning deer with strong lights, a practice outlawed in Pennsylvania
• Criminalizes deer feeding, but allows hunters to bait
• Expands deer meat donation program to justify the increased killing
• The bill now incorporates the Draconian “Multi-Species Depredation” Permit, which could never pass on its own: Permits issued by the Division of Fish and Wildlife “authorize agents of the owner or lessee, to kill any animal of a species listed in the permit which is on the land and known to cause crop damage” (Emphasis ours). The legislation invites abuse: “Known to cause crop damage” and “on the land” apply to a wide array of species.

End wildlife killing contests.

Wildlife killing contests are organized events in which participants compete for prizes by attempting to kill the most animals over a certain time period. Killing contests glorify violence, while disrupting natural processes. These “contests” teach  children that killing is fun, life is cheap, and wild animals are disposable.

In March, legislation was introduced by Senator Nilsa Cruz-Perez (S3541) and Assembly members Daniel Benson, Eric Houghtaling, and Carol Murphy (A5224) to end these contests.

Please sign this petition and share it to encourage more legislators to sign on and make New Jersey the first state to ban them outright. Let’s permanently abolish contests that promote the mass killing of coyotes, foxes, squirrels, and other species for sport and prizes.