Here is a nice summation of how those pretty host finches, canaries, mynah birds and members of the parrot family get to you: “As a business its turnover is claimed to rival illegal drugs and arms, and it devastates swaths of tropical forest, each year claiming the lives of hundreds of thousands of exotic wild birds. And, say its opponents, those that do survive the crude techniques employed by the low-paid trappers are forced to endure journeys of thousands of miles crammed in to filthy, overcrowded cages.”
Never thought that those birds came illegally? Well, likely they did. Or, at least they came via cruel means.
Article:
EU urged not to lift its ban on 'cruel' import of wild birds
http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article994057.ece
By Jonathan Brown
Published: 14 June 2006
As a business its turnover is claimed to rival illegal drugs and arms, and it devastates swaths of tropical forest, each year claiming the lives of hundreds of thousands of exotic wild birds. And, say its opponents, those that do survive the crude techniques employed by the low-paid trappers are forced to endure journeys of thousands of miles crammed in to filthy, overcrowded cages.
Tomorrow in Brussels, vets from the European Union will consider whether to recommend the lifting of the temporary ban on importing wild birds, introduced at the height of last year's scare over avian flu.
A new report by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals claims to show that the EU ban has led to the collapse of the trade in wild birds in some parts of the world. It says that captive breeders closer to home have stepped in to fill the void, enjoying rising prices for their stock, and that, far from driving the trade underground, seizures of illegally imported birds have almost ceased.
According to David Bowles, the RSPCA's head of external affairs, the lesson learnt over the past months is simple: "There was this rumour going around that bans don't work. Our work shows that they do and that they are easy to enforce," he said.
Following a similar ban imposed in the United States in 1992, Europe has accounted for 93 per cent of the global avian trade protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) - a total of 2.7 million birds between 2000 and 2003. Britain remains one of the most lucrative markets - it is estimated 1.37 million households host finches, canaries, mynah birds and members of the parrot family - though not all are imported from the wild.
For every 10 birds finally sold, as many as six are thought to have died en route, it is claimed.
"The scale and degree of cruelty in this wasteful trade is wholly unacceptable. Legislation outlaws the capture of wild native birds within the EU. Yet the EU continues to fuel the international trade even though captive bred birds are readily available. Millions of birds have died or suffered as a direct result of these double standards," said Mr Bowles.
The RSPCA sent undercover investigators to Ghana, a country at the heart of the west African export trade. They found that the introduction of the ban had had a minimal effect on the trappers, who tended to use wild birds as a secondary source of income. Many had diversified into other jobs, with some switching to collecting reptiles, another potential wildlife problem.
Research found that the trappers were the lowest paid in the supply chain, with the lion's share going to the retailers in the developed world. In the Chaco region of Argentina, for example, trappers earn just $7 (£4) per bird, birds which sell for $400 in Europe. One example found that the very rarest birds, Spinx's macaw chicks, could command prices up to $40,000.
Trapping techniques include the gluing of birds to branches, netting, lassoing and simply plucking birds from nests or knocking them forcibly into water.
Les Rance, of the Parrot Society UK, said that even though many of his members were against the wild bird trade, African countries relied on it as a legal source of foreign revenue. "The importation is fairly well regulated in this country through customs and Defra. No one wants to be cruel to birds coming into this country, either importers or breeders."
The vets' recommendations will be put to EU ministers in July.
GEARI (the Group for the Education of Animal - Related Issues) is a non-profit educational group dedicated to assisting you in your search for information on animal rights-related issues, the environment and human health. Your reference source for animal rights information. Visit us at our web site at http://www.geari.org. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter, or Syndicate us via RSS.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Search for More Content
Custom Search
Past Articles
-
▼
2006
(726)
-
▼
June
(70)
- Farm Animal Stewardship Purchasing Act Would Requi...
- Site Set Up to Support Lost and Found Companion “P...
- Interesting New Site Takes a Look at the Truth Beh...
- Teen Will Spend Two Weeks Chained To a Doghouse to...
- Group Releases List of Precautions and Steps to Ta...
- American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act: Stop Hor...
- Excellent Summation of Laws Either Enacted or Curr...
- Pets as Companions: Words Mean A Lot: Changing the...
- Kangaroo Island Near Australia Takes on Feral Cat ...
- Designer Dogs: Big Price tags and Big Health Prob...
- Hawaii Makes Major Steps and Signs into Law Two La...
- Beluga Sturgeon Hearty to Have Survived from Prehi...
- For Two And A Half Thousand Dollars, Wellington Zo...
- For First Time in Decades, Japan and Its Pro-Whali...
- Man Will Start a Eight-Day Cycle to Raise as Much ...
- Jane Goodall and Researchers Send Letter to Federa...
- Group Asks Merriam-Webster to Rewrite Definition o...
- Groups Seek to Ban Foie Gras Production in New Yor...
- The Illegal Trade of Animal Parts Goes On: Seven A...
- Test Tube or Lab-Grown Meat Nears Dinner Table: B...
- South Africa's Proposals to Clamp Down On "Canned ...
- Britain Heads Towards Ban of Bearskin Hats Worn By...
- DVD ''Hood Fights, Vol. 2, The Art Of The Pit'', W...
- Children Who Live or Attend School Near Large-Scal...
- Group Asks That Federal Authorities Investigate th...
- Whole Foods and Safeway Suspend the Selling of Liv...
- Who Belongs In The Zoo? It May Be That Some Anima...
- In China, Protest Shuts Down Restaurant Serving Ca...
- Whole Foods Bans Sale of Live Lobsters
- In South Africa, Foreign Jet Set Hunters Kill More...
- Disasters Boost Charitable Giving in US, Including...
- Commercial Whaling May Once Again Continue: Vote a...
- Independent Journalist Asserts Constitutional Righ...
- Activists Confront Beyonce Knowles About Her Love ...
- Secure the Release of a Number of Chimpanzee Elde...
- An In-depth Look at Horse Slaughter: Why Is It Oc...
- Animal Rights Group Holds Los Angeles Mayor Antoni...
- A Nice Summation of How Those Pretty Host Finches,...
- Tropical Storm Alberto Makes Landfall / NOLA Pet E...
- The National Lawyers Guild Condemns FBI’s Operatio...
- The Ugliness and Truth of Horseracing Exposed: Un...
- On Eve of International Whaling Commission Meeting...
- Teen Girls Who Filmed Themselves on MySpace.Com Ki...
- Due to Japan’s Sneaky Tactics, Pro-Whaling Nations...
- The Hain Celestial Group Acquires the Assets of th...
- Group Urges India's Fruit Exporters to Donate Mang...
- Activists Have Been Banned from Demonstrating Wher...
- Actions to Expose Cruelty of Zoos in the Philippin...
- Grocery Chain Safeway Wins Praise for Moving Towar...
- Another Premature and Unnatural Elephant Death in ...
- Editorial: Why it’s A Common Sense Good Move That...
- Playing God: Some Chickens Genetically Engineered ...
- New Study: Some Species of Animals are Already Cha...
- Whale and Dolphin News
- Polo Ralph Lauren Is Eliminating Fur from All of I...
- Exposed: Principal Buyer of Canadian Dead Baby Sea...
- Whores to Business and Hunting the Florida Fish an...
- Ask For Maximum Sentence for Premeditated Dog Killers
- HSUS Has Filed a Notice of Intent to Sue Hudson Va...
- Protesters Have Frustrated an Attempt to Transport...
- Asia/ Film Reveals the Drama of Tibet's Poacher War
- Group Sues Woodland Park Zoo Over Treatment of Ele...
- Hell Freezes Over: Fudan University in China Seek...
- Group Shows Cruelty of Zoos Has No Boarders: Prot...
- Asian Elephants Used In the Ringling Brothers and ...
- Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission Will Decide W...
- In Indian Zoos, Life Can Be Brutal and Short: Visi...
- Thai Government Under Fire For Zoo Trading: Change...
- A Call to Action: University Of Wisconsin-Madison ...
- The Staff of the GEARI Blog Will Re Post in a Few ...
-
▼
June
(70)
No comments:
Post a Comment