A powerful new short film is raising awareness about the plight of lions in South Africa who are tragically exploited from their birth until their death.
Presented by International Aid for the Protection and Welfare of Animals (IAPWA), in partnership with The Born Free Foundation and Olsen Animal Trust, CLAWS OUT: The Truth About Cub Petting, also fills a haunting void in educating volunteers and tourists about how they may inadvertently be contributing to horrific industries that use and abuse these innocent animals.
The Claws Out campaign, which launched in 2015, was founded by IAPWA’s Beth Jennings’ personal experience, prior to joining the nonprofit organization, following a trip to South Africa where she volunteered with orphaned lion cubs, believing that they would be released into the wild.
Jennings soon discovered that in South Africa, more than 6,000 lions languish in over 200 cub breeding parks where they are telling the same lies to volunteers, due to many of these cubs being sold into the canned hunting industry when they can no longer be used within the voluntourism industry. This is double the number of wild lions in the country.
“I created the Claws Out Documentary after realizing the impact that my personal story could have on others,” Jennings shared with WAN. “Since launching the blog four years ago, I have been inundated with messages of support from people that had no idea that an industry like this even existed – volunteers raising lions purely for profit, without knowing that they will die in captivity either by canned hunting or killed for their skeletons.”
The Claws Out campaign aims to roll out an educational program across the UK with expansion planned to other countries, as well as raising awareness of this link through the short film.
“It is vital that we all use our voice to spread the truth about this brutal industry to a global audience and create awareness for those that may otherwise unwittingly support this cruelty so as we can break this chain of exploitation,” Nicky Stevens, IAPWA Founder and CEO told WAN.
Campaigns like this are imperative to creating the necessary change that not only innocent animals need and deserve, but also for the compassionate people trying to save them.
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