Born Free USA Submits a Comment in Opposition to the International Wildlife Conservation Council. In response to the recent decision of the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) to establish the International Wildlife Conservation Council (the Council), tasked with advising the agency about the benefits of Americans going abroad to hunt, Born Free submitted a comment to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) opposing the establishment of the Council. Along with other advocacy organizations, Born Free USA also signed onto a comment to the USFWS critiquing the formation of, and nominating process for, the Council. In January 2018, 38 members of Congress submitted a letter to the DOI, expressing deep concern over the formation of the Council and urging the agency to dismantle it. Born Free USA solicited questions from supporters and submitted them to the Council for the Council’s first meeting on March 16, 2018.
Born Free USA Files Complaint against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. On November 21, 2017, Born Free USA submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to DOI to learn how and why the Council was established. We are especially interested in obtaining this information in light of this letter sent to the DOI by several pro-hunting groups in July 2017. The information we requested is detailed here. Our FOIA request has been neglected, so on March 14, 2018, we filed a complaint against the USFWS.
Born Free Speaks Out against Trophy Hunting. Prashant Khetan, Born Free USA CEO and General Counsel, appeared on CNN twice in January 2018 to discuss trophy hunting: in a segment on trophy hunting and a live discussion with a trophy hunter on Cuomo Prime Time. Prashant Khetan was also quoted in an article about trophy hunting on CNN.com and published a trophy hunting op-ed for AlterNet. Born Free also authored, with other international animal welfare groups, a letter to CNN asking network executives to give equal air time to the compassionate conservation side of the trophy hunting debate, alongside its airing of the largely pro-hunting film, Trophy.
Recent Media:
- Prashant Khetan, Born Free USA CEO and General Counsel, in a live debate with a trophy hunter on CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time.
- Prashant Khetan in a segment on trophy hunting on CNN.
- Article on CNN.com in which Prashant Khetan stresses that killing animals cannot be equated with conservation.
- Op-ed on trophy hunting by Prashant Khetan for AlterNet.