ANIMAL FRIENDLY COUNTRIES Planning a vacation? Consider this...

These are countries, that, per the most recent CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) conference, supported or voted to weaken animal protection measures (e.g., ivory trade, whaling, etc.). Why should you care? Keep in mind these are not all-inclusive and just represents the most recent CITES meeting (e.g., Taiwan has a horrible method of dealing with stray dogs, recent U.S. efforts to weaken dolphin protection laws, Spain's disgusting abuse of bulls and greyhounds). NOTE: This document is out of date (1997), but is not meant as a strict guideline of WHICH countries to visit, but as something else to consider when you make choices as a consumer. Depending on who's bribing who, or what political favors one stands to gain, the countries could just as well be reversed on other important decisions. Research the country, then send a letter to it's elected officials informing them these issues are important to you and that you WILL NOT visit their country if they are animal unfriendly. Go anyway. The letter is what counts most. Countries that were generally pro-animal at CITES Countries arguing to exploit wild animals at CITES Worst are in Italics Austria Australia Bahamas Benin Burkin Faso Central African Republic Chad Republic of China (Taiwan) Ethiopia Finland France Germany Ghana Guinea Hungary India Israel Ivory Coast Kenya Liberia Mali Malta Monaco Nepal New Zealand Niger Senegal Sri Lanka Togo United Kingdom United States Botswana Cuba Egypt Greece Japan Namibia Nigeria Norway Pakistan Peru Russia St. Kitts & Nevis St. Lucia St. Vincent & the Grenadines Signapore South Africa Switzerland Trinidad & Tobago Venezuela Zimbabwe Sources: Friends of Animals Magazine To learn more about the impact of this specific CITES decision, follow this link.