Latest news with #LeanneKrueger
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Yahoo
Animal rights group reveals illicit market for ivory and endangered animals in Pennsylvania
A taxidermied giraffe was found for sale in a Luzerne County shop in an investigation by an animal rights organization. (Human World for Animals) A taxidermied giraffe head, cut from its body at the shoulders, was found on sale for $6,000 in a Luzerne County store. It is just one of hundreds of endangered animal parts being sold across the state uncovered through an investigation by a global nonprofit animal rights organization. State Rep. Leanne Krueger (D-Delaware) says Pennsylvania has a responsibility to fight illicit sales that fuel poaching of at-risk animals abroad. Her legislation, House Bill 994, would ban the sale of covered endangered animal parts within the state. 'Iconic species of animals continue to face the threat of extinction due to the demand for their parts,' Krueger wrote in a memo seeking support for the bill. 'While many of these species reside in countries or oceans thousands of miles away, we have a duty to ensure that the residents of our great Commonwealth are not supporting the poaching and trafficking that threaten these at-risk species of animals.' Lawmakers gathered with Humane World for Animals representatives Wednesday to rally support for the legislation. Gabe Witgil, wildlife trafficking program director at Humane World for Animals, said states must close legal loopholes that allow illicit animal parts markets to thrive. 'Iconic species across the planet continue to face the threat of extinction due to demand for their body parts,' he said. 'Each year, 10,000 to 15,000 elephants are killed in Africa to supply the global demand for their ivory.' The group's investigation team visited 31 Pennsylvania antique and vintage stores over a three week period in March and searched 31 online auctions between January and April, uncovering 383 pieces of ivory with a total retail value of $38,000. Bracelets, necklaces, figurines and even silverware were among the found ivory products taken from elephants, hippos, warthogs, walruses, mammoths and whales. 'What we found was a gruesome amount of evidence that accelerates the call to action,' said Whitney Teamus, the organization's senior director of investigations. 'The number of ivory items identified exceeds what we've seen in our previous investigations over the last several years, including in Connecticut and Florida.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Of the stores and auctions investigated, 59% had endangered wildlife products for sale. A key problem, the investigators said, was a lack of documentation for many ivory products being sold, which makes it difficult to determine if the parts were illegally imported. Many ivory items were found to be mislabeled as bone or mammoth ivory, which is currently legal to sell. 'The labeling of ivory was also disturbingly unreliable, with some vendors uncertain of the material they were selling, while others appeared to be intentionally mislabeling items,' Teamus said. 'This is a misleading sales tactic we and others have witnessed in other investigations to obscure the trade of these items.' Teamus told the Capital-Star that the number of endangered animal parts they found is likely miniscule compared to the total amount being sold in the state. 'There's tons more out there. Ivory is in your backyard, for sure,' she said. 'You think elephants are thousands of miles away. You don't think of them as being in your backyard.' What would H.B. 994 do if passed? The legislation would make the sale of ivory and other endangered animal parts illegal while expanding the list of protected animals that aren't covered under the federal Endangered Species Act, such as giraffes. While federal law prohibits the importation of endangered species parts and the sale of these parts between states, it does not ban the sale within states. Pennsylvania law currently allows endangered animal parts to be sold only with a permit. Animals covered by the the bill are the baleen whale, bonobo, cheetah, chimpanzee, dolphin, elephant, giraffe, gorilla, hippopotamus, jaguar, leopard, lion, mammoth, mastodon, orangutan, panda, pangolin, polar bear, ray, rhinoceros, sea turtle, shark, tiger and walrus. If passed, civil penalties would be imposed upon violators based on the value of the illegal animal product. Thirteen states and Washington D.C. have passed similar legislation. The bill passed the House Judiciary Committee by a 25-1 vote on Monday and now awaits consideration on the House floor. 'We expect the bill to be on the floor soon, and we'll work hard to maintain the bipartisan vote that we earned in committee this week,' Krueger said. 'I'm hopeful that we're going to be able to send this bill to the Senate very soon, and am hopeful that our colleagues there will see the value of ending the demand for trafficked animal parts in Pennsylvania.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Nearly 400 ivory items from elephants, others seized across Pennsylvania
(WHTM)– Three hundred eighty-three ivory items from animals, including elephants, hippos, and whales, were seized from 60 locations in Pennsylvania during an undercover investigation conducted by the Humane World For Animals. The Humane World For Animals, formerly known as the Humane Society of the United States, said it investigated online auctions and marketplace sales from January 2025 to March 2025, along with stores in 27 different Pennsylvania counties, and found that 18 counties had sellers with ivory or other wildlife products for sale. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now The Humane World for Animals said that nearly $38,000 worth of ivory items, ranging in price from $5 to $1,150, were recovered during the investigation. Items found ranged from jewelry such as earrings and bracelets, to items like tusk carvings, cigarette holders, and cutlery sets. The Humane World for Animals added that they also uncovered the taxidermized head, neck, and shoulders of a giraffe for sale for $6,000. 'Our findings are alarming,' said Whitney Teamus, the Senior Director of Investigations at Humane World for Animals. 'The number of ivory items identified exceeds what we've seen in our previous investigations over the last several years, including in Connecticut and Florida. The labeling of ivory was also disturbingly unreliable, with some vendors uncertain of the material they were selling, while others appear to be intentionally mislabeling items as bone. The main consistency was that no federal documentation or state permit was offered or provided for any ivory when asked.' Pennsylvania State Law prohibits the sale of products of endangered and threatened species, such as ivory from elephants and rhinos, without a permit. Federal law also prohibits importing, exporting, and selling endangered and threatened species products across state lines, with some exceptions. House Bill 994, introduced by State Representative Leanne Krueger (D-161), would limit in-state sales of imperiled species. The bill passed the House Judiciary Committee on June 2, the Humane World for Animals said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CBS News
09-04-2025
- Health
- CBS News
Crozer Health system in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, won't close Wednesday as negotiations continue
The Crozer Health system in Delaware County will not close on Wednesday night as efforts to secure $9 million in funding to keep it open remain ongoing, according to the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office. The financial deadline to keep the hospitals open was 4 p.m. on Wednesday. Sources very close to the negotiating table said there has been some positive progress. According to sources, enough money has been identified to avoid an imminent closure and buy more time. People are holding their breaths inside the medical facilities as a potential closure looms. One worker said in a text that they've been left in the dark and don't know anything. Another nurse at Crozer-Chester Medical Center said they've been told by management they have cautious optimism about a deal, but be prepared for closure. According to sources, a meeting of the movers and shakers has gone on for several hours on Wednesday. Lawyers for Prospect Medical Holdings , Crozer Health's parent company, said Tuesday that without an additional $9 million to cover payroll for two more weeks, the closure process at Crozer-Chester and Taylor Hospital , and other medical campuses across Delaware County would start Friday morning. The first action would be to divert ambulance traffic away from Crozer and Taylor Hospitals. CBS News Philadelphia got an exclusive look inside 911 operations Wednesday morning. Crozer EMS handles more than 50% of the county's workload. Sources say for months, officials have been developing contingency plans, and as many have told CBS News Philadelphia on background Wednesday, they fear they're at the end of the road with any deal to save these hospitals. Sources also said that if Prospect Medical does file a motion with the court to begin closings, Delaware County is set to declare a state of emergency. For state lawmakers, they're furious it has come to this. They believe that if a deal was so close, Prospect Medical should reconsider its timeline. "I think they could choose to stay open for a couple more days," Pennsylvania Rep. Leanne Krueger, a Democrat, said. "If they are this close to a deal, then they should buy themselves the time to actually execute the deal." "Remember, this is a for-profit company that has extracted hundreds of millions of dollars from our healthcare system to make themselves richer, and now we are on the verge of losing our healthcare system," she added. At the center of the possible closure of Crozer and Taylor are patients who depend on the hospitals for critical and primary care and more than 3,000 employees who work at the facilities. If the Crozer Health system closes, the only hospitals nearby in Delco would be Main Line Health's Riddle Memorial Hospital on Route 352 and Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital in Darby. "This is real close, it's in the neighborhood, it would be a disaster for us and they should keep it open," said Michele Jackson, who is a patient at Taylor Hospital. Jackson receives critical rehabilitation services at the hospital. "I'm handicapped, I walk with a cane, I have issues with my knees," Jackson said. According to the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, Jackson is one of nearly 200,000 who will lose quick access to essential and primary care if Crozer Health shuts down, leaving patients in a tough spot. "To me personally, it affects me greatly because I receive treatment here, care here all the time, specialized care, and now it's going to shut down soon," Alusine Baimba, a Taylor patient, said. "I don't know." "You just can't change doctors," she said. "You have to arrange, except for emergencies." Taylor Hospital has been caring for patients for decades. It's a major convenience for patients like Amanda Plemenos. "It would just be insane if it wasn't here," Plemenos said. "It would just be weird, just be an empty building to be able to help the community out with you know, I have a knee injury right now." It's not just patients that would be affected by the Crozer Health system closing, it would mean more than 3,000 people in the network would lose jobs. "It's heartbreaking, and we look in our patients' eyes and they really need our care, our patients are really sick right now," said Peggy Malone, who is the president of the Crozer-Chester Nurses Association. Jackson remains hopeful. "Hopefully, another hospital or someone will pick it up and keep it open," she said.
