Sorry to have to report this. The second leg continues. I’ll definitely keep you informed.
To find out how you can stop the Canadian Baby Seal Slaughter visit: http://www.hsus.org/protect_seals.html
I pulled these quotes from the article below. As you’ll see, even politicians are involved (Labrador MP Todd Russel), proving once again that the government of Canada not only support killing baby seals with picks, but actually takes place in it.
“Hundreds of hunters will kill and skin as many animals as they can Wednesday. There will be no hunting Thursday, when Fisheries officials will count the pelts to see if the quota has been met.
The hunt will continue if the quota has not been reached.
Labrador MP Todd Russell will be among those taking part. The federal politician has his sealing licence and said he supports the annual hunt.”
Article:
Seal hunt set to resume off Newfoundland's coast
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews
/20060412/seal_hunt_nl_060412/20060412?hub=Canada
Updated Wed. Apr. 12 2006 6:31 AM ET
Canadian Press
ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Canada's controversial East Coast seal hunt moves to the ice floes off northeastern Newfoundland and Labrador on Wednesday with sealers expected to slaughter 234,000 animals.
Once again, animal-rights activists will be present to document the final phase of the annual harp seal hunt, which the Canadian government insists is humane and sustainable.
Hunters already have taken their quota of 91,000 seals in the Gulf of St. Lawrence hunt, which ended last week.
"People were apprehensive about the ice in the gulf, but it was a very good year and the quotas were caught very fast,'' said Roger Simon, spokesman for the federal Fisheries Department.
Fisheries officials said between 200 and 300 boats are already anchored off northeastern Newfoundland and Labrador, waiting for the last instalment of the hunt to begin.
Hundreds of hunters will kill and skin as many animals as they can Wednesday. There will be no hunting Thursday, when Fisheries officials will count the pelts to see if the quota has been met.
The hunt will continue if the quota has not been reached.
Labrador MP Todd Russell will be among those taking part. The federal politician has his sealing licence and said he supports the annual hunt.
Russell told VOCM radio in St. John's that he wants to show everyone that the hunt is humane and well managed.
Protesters with the International Fund for Animal Welfare say they will be photographing the slaughter from a helicopter. They plan to use the scenes of carnage to promote a trade ban on Canadian seal products.
"If we can stop the markets for seal products, hopefully, we can reduce the number of seals being killed,'' Sheryl Fink, spokeswoman for the IFAW, said in an interview Tuesday.
Fink said international opposition to the annual Canadian hunt is growing.
"Between January and March of this year, we've had Greenland, Mexico and Italy put in place either full bans or temporary suspensions on the import of Canadian seal skins, and now Croatia has banned the import of Canadian seal skins,'' she said.
The United States also has a long-standing ban on the import of marine mammal products.
Canada's biggest market for seal pelts always has been, and remains, Norway.
The commercial seal hunt in Atlantic Canada in 2005 created more than $16.5 million in direct sales of product.
The primary market is the sale of pelts from beater seals -- weaned pups between three weeks and three months of age. Beater skins fetch upwards of $50 each on fur markets.
Canadian Fisheries officials estimate the size of the East Coast harp seal population at close to six million.
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Maine Fully Enacts Bill To Allow Judges To Include Pets In Protection Orders For Spouses And Partners Leaving Abusive Relationships
Finally some good news. I wrote about this issue that week, but it wasn’t yet a law. Well, now it is. Very good news and very precedent setting. A true common sense law.
New Maine Law Expands to Protect Pets
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2628&ncid=2628&e=11&u=/
ap/20060411/ap_on_re_us/protecting_pets_2
By JERRY HARKAVY, Associated Press Writer Tue Apr 11, 7:12 AM ET
PORTLAND, Maine - Spurred by growing evidence of a link between domestic violence and animal abuse, Maine has enacted a first-in-the-nation law that allows judges to include pets in protection orders for spouses and partners leaving abusive relationships.
ADVERTISEMENT
In helping pets, advocates hope to help battered women and others who aren't willing to abandon their animals to be saved themselves.
"This is a very innovative, new approach, and it makes perfect sense because the protection order is a critical stage for women and others seeking protection," said Nancy Perry of the Washington, D.C.-based Humane Society of the United States.
Gov. John Baldacci says the law, which provides for civil penalties such as fines or jail time for those who violate a protection order, should give pause to abusers who might resort to violence or threats against pets as a means of keeping their victims from leaving a relationship.
Law enforcement officials, animal welfare agents and advocates for domestic violence victims say it's not unusual to hear of abusers who vent their rage against a partner's pet.
"It's just another tactic to keep power and control over the victim," said Cindy Peoples of Caring Unlimited, a shelter in York County.
Susan Walsh, whose dog and sheep were killed by her husband, said many victims stand to benefit from including pets in protection orders.
"I've heard so many horror stories from other women that I knew I was not alone," she said.
When the bill came up for consideration at a public hearing in January, Walsh recounted how she remained in an abusive marriage in part out of fear for what might happen to her pets and farm animals if she left.
Walsh said her husband shot two of her sheep inside their Ellsworth barn. Another time, when she was visiting her parents in Pennsylvania, he deliberately ran his truck over her deaf and blind border collie in their driveway, she said.
Walsh, who stayed in the marriage for more than 12 years before her divorce in 2001, said she would have left sooner had it not been for her responsibilities to the animals.
"It's kind of hard to pack up a whole barn full of animals," she said. "And I knew that any animal I left behind would be dead in 24 hours."
The law was an outgrowth of a seminar by the Maine State Bar Association in June on the connection between animal abuse and domestic violence, said Anne Jordan, a Portland lawyer who serves on the Animal Welfare Advisory Council.
During an informal discussion after the presentation, a judge raised the idea of expanding the scope of protection orders, Jordan recalled.
Legislative support was overwhelming, said the bill's sponsor, Rep. John Piotti, a Democrat. He and others cited a study that found that 71 percent of pet-owning women in a Utah shelter said their abusers had either harmed, killed or threatened their pets.
Although Maine's law is unique, other states have statutes that reflect the link between domestic violence and animal abuse. Laws in California, Connecticut, Louisiana, Nebraska, Ohio and Tennessee encourage cross-reporting among agencies involved in law enforcement, domestic violence, child protection and animal control, Perry said.
Animal welfare agents already have been looking at ways to help potentially endangered pets whose owners are in abusive situations.
"A growing trend is called safe havens. These are cooperative agreements between shelters for women and shelters for animals," Perry said.
Several agencies in Maine participate in a program called PAWS — Pets and Women to Safety — that arranges confidential placement of animals in foster care so their owners can move into a shelter knowing that their pets will be safe.
The Animal Welfare Society in Kennebunk has a PAWS program that works with Caring Unlimited. "They've worked with all kinds of pets and farm animals," Peoples said, "from cats and dogs to horses and exotic birds."
___
On the Net:
PAWS: http://www.animalwelfaresociety.org/prg_paws.html
New Maine Law Expands to Protect Pets
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2628&ncid=2628&e=11&u=/
ap/20060411/ap_on_re_us/protecting_pets_2
By JERRY HARKAVY, Associated Press Writer Tue Apr 11, 7:12 AM ET
PORTLAND, Maine - Spurred by growing evidence of a link between domestic violence and animal abuse, Maine has enacted a first-in-the-nation law that allows judges to include pets in protection orders for spouses and partners leaving abusive relationships.
ADVERTISEMENT
In helping pets, advocates hope to help battered women and others who aren't willing to abandon their animals to be saved themselves.
"This is a very innovative, new approach, and it makes perfect sense because the protection order is a critical stage for women and others seeking protection," said Nancy Perry of the Washington, D.C.-based Humane Society of the United States.
Gov. John Baldacci says the law, which provides for civil penalties such as fines or jail time for those who violate a protection order, should give pause to abusers who might resort to violence or threats against pets as a means of keeping their victims from leaving a relationship.
Law enforcement officials, animal welfare agents and advocates for domestic violence victims say it's not unusual to hear of abusers who vent their rage against a partner's pet.
"It's just another tactic to keep power and control over the victim," said Cindy Peoples of Caring Unlimited, a shelter in York County.
Susan Walsh, whose dog and sheep were killed by her husband, said many victims stand to benefit from including pets in protection orders.
"I've heard so many horror stories from other women that I knew I was not alone," she said.
When the bill came up for consideration at a public hearing in January, Walsh recounted how she remained in an abusive marriage in part out of fear for what might happen to her pets and farm animals if she left.
Walsh said her husband shot two of her sheep inside their Ellsworth barn. Another time, when she was visiting her parents in Pennsylvania, he deliberately ran his truck over her deaf and blind border collie in their driveway, she said.
Walsh, who stayed in the marriage for more than 12 years before her divorce in 2001, said she would have left sooner had it not been for her responsibilities to the animals.
"It's kind of hard to pack up a whole barn full of animals," she said. "And I knew that any animal I left behind would be dead in 24 hours."
The law was an outgrowth of a seminar by the Maine State Bar Association in June on the connection between animal abuse and domestic violence, said Anne Jordan, a Portland lawyer who serves on the Animal Welfare Advisory Council.
During an informal discussion after the presentation, a judge raised the idea of expanding the scope of protection orders, Jordan recalled.
Legislative support was overwhelming, said the bill's sponsor, Rep. John Piotti, a Democrat. He and others cited a study that found that 71 percent of pet-owning women in a Utah shelter said their abusers had either harmed, killed or threatened their pets.
Although Maine's law is unique, other states have statutes that reflect the link between domestic violence and animal abuse. Laws in California, Connecticut, Louisiana, Nebraska, Ohio and Tennessee encourage cross-reporting among agencies involved in law enforcement, domestic violence, child protection and animal control, Perry said.
Animal welfare agents already have been looking at ways to help potentially endangered pets whose owners are in abusive situations.
"A growing trend is called safe havens. These are cooperative agreements between shelters for women and shelters for animals," Perry said.
Several agencies in Maine participate in a program called PAWS — Pets and Women to Safety — that arranges confidential placement of animals in foster care so their owners can move into a shelter knowing that their pets will be safe.
The Animal Welfare Society in Kennebunk has a PAWS program that works with Caring Unlimited. "They've worked with all kinds of pets and farm animals," Peoples said, "from cats and dogs to horses and exotic birds."
___
On the Net:
PAWS: http://www.animalwelfaresociety.org/prg_paws.html
Kentucky Legislature Votes To Make Illegal The Practice Of Using The Internet To Fire Remote-Controlled Rifles At Live Animals
Some good news. I bet many of you didn’t even know this existed. Well, unfortunately it does. Coward behind a computer. Not only easy, but dangerous.
Article:
Kentucky set to outlaw Internet hunting
Associated Press
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/fortwayne/news/local/
FRANKFORT, Ky. - The Kentucky Legislature on Tuesday voted to outlaw the practice of using the Internet to fire remote-controlled rifles at live animals.
A spokeswoman for Gov. Ernie Fletcher said the governor intends to sign the bill banning Internet hunting.
No such facilities exist in the state, but all Kentuckians would be banned from hunting on such sites, even if the target is in another state or country. At least 10 other states have passed similar measures.
State Rep. Robin Webb, a Democrat who sponsored the bill, said she considers Internet hunting unsportsmanlike.
The flurry stems from a Texas Web site that let users fire at animals from the privacy of their homes. At the urging of sportsmen's groups, Texas banned such operations last year.
Article:
Kentucky set to outlaw Internet hunting
Associated Press
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/fortwayne/news/local/
FRANKFORT, Ky. - The Kentucky Legislature on Tuesday voted to outlaw the practice of using the Internet to fire remote-controlled rifles at live animals.
A spokeswoman for Gov. Ernie Fletcher said the governor intends to sign the bill banning Internet hunting.
No such facilities exist in the state, but all Kentuckians would be banned from hunting on such sites, even if the target is in another state or country. At least 10 other states have passed similar measures.
State Rep. Robin Webb, a Democrat who sponsored the bill, said she considers Internet hunting unsportsmanlike.
The flurry stems from a Texas Web site that let users fire at animals from the privacy of their homes. At the urging of sportsmen's groups, Texas banned such operations last year.
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
ASPCA Leads in a Lawsuit against Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus and Feld Entertainment: Could Mean the End for Elephants in Circuses
A very good article about a very important lawsuit. If this suit follows through, it would mean big changes for abusive animal circuses such as Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. Essentially, elephants would be recognized as animals with specific needs that cannot be met in an organization that forces them to act via pain and punishment and has them living in unnatural, artificial, black top environments.
For proof on what really goes on behind the scenes in circuses, visit http://www.circuses.com/
I’ve pulled a few quotes from the article below that sum up the suit.
“The ASPCA is one of four plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus and Feld Entertainment, the company that owns the giant circus.
Using the federal Endangered Species Act, the plaintiffs argue that the way elephants are trained and housed by Ringling Bros. violates the law.
"We allege that the way they train their elephants wounds them," said Kimberly Ockene, one of the attorneys in the case, which is in the discovery phase in federal court in the District of Columbia.
She said the use of a metal bull hook to train the elephants and the practice of separating baby elephants from their mothers too quickly causes the animals physical, emotional and psychological suffering.
Ockene said the suit, begun in June 2004, likely will go to trial sometime next year.
In the suit, a former Ringling Bros. employee, Tom Rider, said that during his years caring for elephants with the circus he witnessed many acts that he considered cruel.
Rider, who also is a plaintiff in the suit, said he saw routine beating of elephants among other acts during his nearly two years with the circus.
"While working for Ringling Bros., Mr. Rider saw several of the other elephant handlers and `trainers' routinely beat the elephants, including the baby elephants, and he saw them routinely hit and wound the elephants with sharp bull hooks," the lawsuit states.
The suit also says that such actions were carried out throughout the country as the circus moved around.”
Article:
Lawsuit claims big top is elephants' nightmare
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-060
4100150apr10,1,7430800.story?coll=chi-news-hed
By Vincent J. Schodolski
Tribune national correspondent
Published April 10, 2006
LONG BEACH, Calif. -- There was the big top, a giant blue tent. There were acrobats, a trapeze and even a couple of clowns. There were hot dogs and popcorn and lots of overpriced souvenirs.
But there were no animals, and that kind of spectacle may be coming to your neighborhood if animal-rights activists and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals have their way.
Cirque du Soleil is world-famous for its innovative approach to circus performance, and many conventional circuses may start looking more like Canada-based Cirque as communities across the U.S. ban, or seek to ban, circuses with exotic animal acts--especially those involving elephants.
About 15 U.S. cities have ordinances banning circus acts that involve animals, and a measure is pending in the Chicago City Council to require that each elephant within city limits have at least 10 acres of personal space.
While activists express concern about all exotic animals in circuses, there is special worry about elephants. The animals often spend as many as 22 hours a day tethered, usually with chains on their ankles, said Colleen Kinzley, curator of the zoo in Oakland, who has worked extensively with elephants.
In the wild they roam and forage for as many as 18 hours a day, experts say.
The ASPCA is one of four plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus and Feld Entertainment, the company that owns the giant circus.
Using the federal Endangered Species Act, the plaintiffs argue that the way elephants are trained and housed by Ringling Bros. violates the law.
"We allege that the way they train their elephants wounds them," said Kimberly Ockene, one of the attorneys in the case, which is in the discovery phase in federal court in the District of Columbia.
She said the use of a metal bull hook to train the elephants and the practice of separating baby elephants from their mothers too quickly causes the animals physical, emotional and psychological suffering.
Ockene said the suit, begun in June 2004, likely will go to trial sometime next year.
Ringling Bros. said their elephants live a pampered existence.
"Our animals are amongst the best cared for anywhere," said Thomas Albert, vice president for government relations and animal policy with Ringling Bros. "Sadly, our elephants are better cared for than many children in this country."
Under the Animal Welfare Act, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is charged with guaranteeing the welfare of exotic animals in zoos and circuses.
Albert said the USDA regularly inspects Ringling Bros. facilities and that the things the ASPCA and the other plaintiffs allege would make it impossible for the circus to continue with elephant acts.
"They are alleging that anytime we do anything with an elephant we are violating the Endangered Species Act," he said.
At any given time, Ringling Bros. has about 54 elephants. Three of the traveling circuses have nine or 10 elephants on the road with each of them. A smaller one-ring circus travels with just two, he said.
`Leaders in animal care'
Ringling Bros. does a great deal to benefit elephants and other exotic animals in its possession, Albert said.
"We have been the leaders in animal care for 136 years," he said. The circus' breeding program, Albert said, was responsible for 19 elephant births in the last 14 years, accounting for 45 percent of Asian elephant births in the United States.
The elephants not on the road are kept at a Florida facility where they rest and are involved in breeding operations.
In the suit, a former Ringling Bros. employee, Tom Rider, said that during his years caring for elephants with the circus he witnessed many acts that he considered cruel.
Rider, who also is a plaintiff in the suit, said he saw routine beating of elephants among other acts during his nearly two years with the circus.
"While working for Ringling Bros., Mr. Rider saw several of the other elephant handlers and `trainers' routinely beat the elephants, including the baby elephants, and he saw them routinely hit and wound the elephants with sharp bull hooks," the lawsuit states.
The suit also says that such actions were carried out throughout the country as the circus moved around.
Dan Stockdale, a consultant and exotic animal trainer who also has worked with Ringling Bros., said he had a different experience.
"I have found almost all of the facilities I have visited to be extraordinarily professional and well-managed operations," Stockdale said. "I have had the privilege of being behind the scenes with several organizations and have seen surprisingly clean conditions, excellent medical care and very creative ideas for daily enrichment."
Oakland Zoo curator Kinzley said circus conditions can cause problems for the animals.
"The biggest issue facing elephants in circuses is that they spend a lot of time contained and with ankle chains," she said.
She said such confinement could cause the elephants to gain excessive weight and engage in "swaying" where they move their bodies from side to side. "When they are in chains, this is the only motion they can do," Kinzley said.
Natural behavior suppressed
She said confinement also prohibits natural elephant behavior such as bathing and mud wallowing.
Anyes Van Volkenburgh, a veterinarian in Malibu, Calif., said it is unnatural for exotic animals to live in a circus environment.
"Circus animals are deprived of living their lives according to their nature," she said. "Their instincts are not honored, their natural needs are ignored. As a result their mental and emotional health suffers as signified by stereotypical behaviors like pacing."
Van Volkenburgh said that such behaviors weaken and suppress the animals' immune systems and make them more susceptible to disease.
Cirque du Soleil is far from the only non-animal, themed circus performing in the United States. Circuses.com, a Web site maintained by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, lists 25 animal-free circuses.
Among them are: Bindlestiff Family Cirkus--vaudeville-style acts; Circus Luminous--elaborate costumes and a turn-of-the-century look; Cloud Seeding Circus--works with schools and museums; Flying Fruit Fly Circus--circus, dance, theater and live percussion; and New Pickle Circus--choreographed adventure of acrobatics, aerial work, dance and clowning.
For proof on what really goes on behind the scenes in circuses, visit http://www.circuses.com/
I’ve pulled a few quotes from the article below that sum up the suit.
“The ASPCA is one of four plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus and Feld Entertainment, the company that owns the giant circus.
Using the federal Endangered Species Act, the plaintiffs argue that the way elephants are trained and housed by Ringling Bros. violates the law.
"We allege that the way they train their elephants wounds them," said Kimberly Ockene, one of the attorneys in the case, which is in the discovery phase in federal court in the District of Columbia.
She said the use of a metal bull hook to train the elephants and the practice of separating baby elephants from their mothers too quickly causes the animals physical, emotional and psychological suffering.
Ockene said the suit, begun in June 2004, likely will go to trial sometime next year.
In the suit, a former Ringling Bros. employee, Tom Rider, said that during his years caring for elephants with the circus he witnessed many acts that he considered cruel.
Rider, who also is a plaintiff in the suit, said he saw routine beating of elephants among other acts during his nearly two years with the circus.
"While working for Ringling Bros., Mr. Rider saw several of the other elephant handlers and `trainers' routinely beat the elephants, including the baby elephants, and he saw them routinely hit and wound the elephants with sharp bull hooks," the lawsuit states.
The suit also says that such actions were carried out throughout the country as the circus moved around.”
Article:
Lawsuit claims big top is elephants' nightmare
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-060
4100150apr10,1,7430800.story?coll=chi-news-hed
By Vincent J. Schodolski
Tribune national correspondent
Published April 10, 2006
LONG BEACH, Calif. -- There was the big top, a giant blue tent. There were acrobats, a trapeze and even a couple of clowns. There were hot dogs and popcorn and lots of overpriced souvenirs.
But there were no animals, and that kind of spectacle may be coming to your neighborhood if animal-rights activists and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals have their way.
Cirque du Soleil is world-famous for its innovative approach to circus performance, and many conventional circuses may start looking more like Canada-based Cirque as communities across the U.S. ban, or seek to ban, circuses with exotic animal acts--especially those involving elephants.
About 15 U.S. cities have ordinances banning circus acts that involve animals, and a measure is pending in the Chicago City Council to require that each elephant within city limits have at least 10 acres of personal space.
While activists express concern about all exotic animals in circuses, there is special worry about elephants. The animals often spend as many as 22 hours a day tethered, usually with chains on their ankles, said Colleen Kinzley, curator of the zoo in Oakland, who has worked extensively with elephants.
In the wild they roam and forage for as many as 18 hours a day, experts say.
The ASPCA is one of four plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus and Feld Entertainment, the company that owns the giant circus.
Using the federal Endangered Species Act, the plaintiffs argue that the way elephants are trained and housed by Ringling Bros. violates the law.
"We allege that the way they train their elephants wounds them," said Kimberly Ockene, one of the attorneys in the case, which is in the discovery phase in federal court in the District of Columbia.
She said the use of a metal bull hook to train the elephants and the practice of separating baby elephants from their mothers too quickly causes the animals physical, emotional and psychological suffering.
Ockene said the suit, begun in June 2004, likely will go to trial sometime next year.
Ringling Bros. said their elephants live a pampered existence.
"Our animals are amongst the best cared for anywhere," said Thomas Albert, vice president for government relations and animal policy with Ringling Bros. "Sadly, our elephants are better cared for than many children in this country."
Under the Animal Welfare Act, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is charged with guaranteeing the welfare of exotic animals in zoos and circuses.
Albert said the USDA regularly inspects Ringling Bros. facilities and that the things the ASPCA and the other plaintiffs allege would make it impossible for the circus to continue with elephant acts.
"They are alleging that anytime we do anything with an elephant we are violating the Endangered Species Act," he said.
At any given time, Ringling Bros. has about 54 elephants. Three of the traveling circuses have nine or 10 elephants on the road with each of them. A smaller one-ring circus travels with just two, he said.
`Leaders in animal care'
Ringling Bros. does a great deal to benefit elephants and other exotic animals in its possession, Albert said.
"We have been the leaders in animal care for 136 years," he said. The circus' breeding program, Albert said, was responsible for 19 elephant births in the last 14 years, accounting for 45 percent of Asian elephant births in the United States.
The elephants not on the road are kept at a Florida facility where they rest and are involved in breeding operations.
In the suit, a former Ringling Bros. employee, Tom Rider, said that during his years caring for elephants with the circus he witnessed many acts that he considered cruel.
Rider, who also is a plaintiff in the suit, said he saw routine beating of elephants among other acts during his nearly two years with the circus.
"While working for Ringling Bros., Mr. Rider saw several of the other elephant handlers and `trainers' routinely beat the elephants, including the baby elephants, and he saw them routinely hit and wound the elephants with sharp bull hooks," the lawsuit states.
The suit also says that such actions were carried out throughout the country as the circus moved around.
Dan Stockdale, a consultant and exotic animal trainer who also has worked with Ringling Bros., said he had a different experience.
"I have found almost all of the facilities I have visited to be extraordinarily professional and well-managed operations," Stockdale said. "I have had the privilege of being behind the scenes with several organizations and have seen surprisingly clean conditions, excellent medical care and very creative ideas for daily enrichment."
Oakland Zoo curator Kinzley said circus conditions can cause problems for the animals.
"The biggest issue facing elephants in circuses is that they spend a lot of time contained and with ankle chains," she said.
She said such confinement could cause the elephants to gain excessive weight and engage in "swaying" where they move their bodies from side to side. "When they are in chains, this is the only motion they can do," Kinzley said.
Natural behavior suppressed
She said confinement also prohibits natural elephant behavior such as bathing and mud wallowing.
Anyes Van Volkenburgh, a veterinarian in Malibu, Calif., said it is unnatural for exotic animals to live in a circus environment.
"Circus animals are deprived of living their lives according to their nature," she said. "Their instincts are not honored, their natural needs are ignored. As a result their mental and emotional health suffers as signified by stereotypical behaviors like pacing."
Van Volkenburgh said that such behaviors weaken and suppress the animals' immune systems and make them more susceptible to disease.
Cirque du Soleil is far from the only non-animal, themed circus performing in the United States. Circuses.com, a Web site maintained by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, lists 25 animal-free circuses.
Among them are: Bindlestiff Family Cirkus--vaudeville-style acts; Circus Luminous--elaborate costumes and a turn-of-the-century look; Cloud Seeding Circus--works with schools and museums; Flying Fruit Fly Circus--circus, dance, theater and live percussion; and New Pickle Circus--choreographed adventure of acrobatics, aerial work, dance and clowning.
Oxford University Seeks to Deny Free Speech and Free Assembly to Animal Rights Activists: Not Only Ban them From University, but From City as Well
Let me first say that I do not accept violence in actions. In fact, I’m not alone as neither does the ALF. So, I’m not sure what the false logic of safety has to do with this draconian movement. Literally, they are taking away the rights of people to assemble and speak, based solely on their beliefs.
Second, how will they define “animal rights activist?” Would this include a person who wears a pin on their lapel? Is it the vegetarian? Will they be expelled from school? If someone speaks up for the case of animal rights n the philosophy class will the enforcers come in and throw the person off of the campus? See, this is bigger than they would think. You’d think a school like Oxford would understand the scope of such measures. Unfortunately though, with big money, this is a sign of things to come in the UK and the US.
Article:
University seeks to ban animal rights activists from 'whole of Oxford'
http://www.24dash.com/content/news/
viewNews.php?navID=7&newsID=4685
Publisher: Jon Land
Oxford University today applied to extend the scope of its existing injunction against animal rights activists to cover the whole city.
The hearing before Mr Justice Holland at London's High Court is the latest skirmish in the battle over the new biomedical research laboratory site in South Parks Road.
The current injunction allows a weekly demonstration against the construction of the £20 million project but places a ban on the use of amplified noise or cameras within a designated exclusion zone.
Charles Flint QC said that there was no intention to prevent lawful peaceful protests or the permitted monthly demonstration which was next due on April 22.
But, the proposed extension was necessary to protect persons working at the university and those associated with it from intimidation and harassment.
"The university premises are spread out throughout Oxford and there is no logical line to draw because of the width of the class of persons who are targeted in the defendants' campaign.
"It necessarily follows that it is not possible to identify particular buildings or colleges.
"The whole of the university is the target of this campaign."
He said that the judge would see from video evidence that the defendants had "clearly flouted" orders previously made.
"We also rely very strongly on the fact that the leaders of this campaign have publicly threatened criminal damage and direct action against those associated with the university, so it is in those circumstances in which the university returns to court to protect its staff and students, but also other persons."
Mr Flint said that the existing boundaries meant that protesters could congregate each Thursday immediately outside the Department of Experimental Psychology, which was a particular target.
An order imposed last month prohibited them from using any "megaphone, klaxon, siren, whistle, drum or noise amplification" within the zone and also banned cameras or video cameras.
Despite this, said counsel, witness statements from people in departments all around that area testified to noise during the weekly protests, spread over four hours, and at other times.
The judge referred to the "astonishing " nature of the noise and described it as "typically self-defeating".
One statement from a person who was actually sympathetic to the campaign said that she was finding life "intolerable".
He suggested an amendment allowing for amplified noise to be limited to one hour of the protest, such as lunchtime.
Equally seriously, said Mr Flint, it was possible from the current boundaries for campaigners to observe contractors entering the site.
"It is clear that some of those engaged in this campaign are determined to find out who the contractors are and trace them so they can intimidate these companies into withdrawing."
There was also a short-term problem of the noise affecting the forthcoming examination season.
Marc Willers, counsel for two of the named defendants, said that if the noise was restricted and brought back to an acceptable level, there was no need for an extension.
He said that there had been no arrests at the designated protest site for 18 months, and suggested that it was significant that there was no evidence from the police about the need for any extension.
"What is suggested clearly goes way beyond what is necessary in this case and amounts to an unjustified and disproportionate infringement on the right to protest.
"We say that the respondents should not be prevented from continuing any peaceful procession or assembly within the city of Oxford, providing that it is a lawful exercise of their rights.
"Whenever there is a concern on the part of the police that they are exercising their rights in an unlawful fashion, then there are ample powers available to the police to ensure that public order is maintained."
The individuals covered by the injunction are: Mel Broughton; John Curtin; Robert Cogswell; Max Gastone; Robin Webb; Amanda Richards; Greg Avery and Natasha Avery plus a number of named groups.
The hearing was adjourned until tomorrow.
Second, how will they define “animal rights activist?” Would this include a person who wears a pin on their lapel? Is it the vegetarian? Will they be expelled from school? If someone speaks up for the case of animal rights n the philosophy class will the enforcers come in and throw the person off of the campus? See, this is bigger than they would think. You’d think a school like Oxford would understand the scope of such measures. Unfortunately though, with big money, this is a sign of things to come in the UK and the US.
Article:
University seeks to ban animal rights activists from 'whole of Oxford'
http://www.24dash.com/content/news/
viewNews.php?navID=7&newsID=4685
Publisher: Jon Land
Oxford University today applied to extend the scope of its existing injunction against animal rights activists to cover the whole city.
The hearing before Mr Justice Holland at London's High Court is the latest skirmish in the battle over the new biomedical research laboratory site in South Parks Road.
The current injunction allows a weekly demonstration against the construction of the £20 million project but places a ban on the use of amplified noise or cameras within a designated exclusion zone.
Charles Flint QC said that there was no intention to prevent lawful peaceful protests or the permitted monthly demonstration which was next due on April 22.
But, the proposed extension was necessary to protect persons working at the university and those associated with it from intimidation and harassment.
"The university premises are spread out throughout Oxford and there is no logical line to draw because of the width of the class of persons who are targeted in the defendants' campaign.
"It necessarily follows that it is not possible to identify particular buildings or colleges.
"The whole of the university is the target of this campaign."
He said that the judge would see from video evidence that the defendants had "clearly flouted" orders previously made.
"We also rely very strongly on the fact that the leaders of this campaign have publicly threatened criminal damage and direct action against those associated with the university, so it is in those circumstances in which the university returns to court to protect its staff and students, but also other persons."
Mr Flint said that the existing boundaries meant that protesters could congregate each Thursday immediately outside the Department of Experimental Psychology, which was a particular target.
An order imposed last month prohibited them from using any "megaphone, klaxon, siren, whistle, drum or noise amplification" within the zone and also banned cameras or video cameras.
Despite this, said counsel, witness statements from people in departments all around that area testified to noise during the weekly protests, spread over four hours, and at other times.
The judge referred to the "astonishing " nature of the noise and described it as "typically self-defeating".
One statement from a person who was actually sympathetic to the campaign said that she was finding life "intolerable".
He suggested an amendment allowing for amplified noise to be limited to one hour of the protest, such as lunchtime.
Equally seriously, said Mr Flint, it was possible from the current boundaries for campaigners to observe contractors entering the site.
"It is clear that some of those engaged in this campaign are determined to find out who the contractors are and trace them so they can intimidate these companies into withdrawing."
There was also a short-term problem of the noise affecting the forthcoming examination season.
Marc Willers, counsel for two of the named defendants, said that if the noise was restricted and brought back to an acceptable level, there was no need for an extension.
He said that there had been no arrests at the designated protest site for 18 months, and suggested that it was significant that there was no evidence from the police about the need for any extension.
"What is suggested clearly goes way beyond what is necessary in this case and amounts to an unjustified and disproportionate infringement on the right to protest.
"We say that the respondents should not be prevented from continuing any peaceful procession or assembly within the city of Oxford, providing that it is a lawful exercise of their rights.
"Whenever there is a concern on the part of the police that they are exercising their rights in an unlawful fashion, then there are ample powers available to the police to ensure that public order is maintained."
The individuals covered by the injunction are: Mel Broughton; John Curtin; Robert Cogswell; Max Gastone; Robin Webb; Amanda Richards; Greg Avery and Natasha Avery plus a number of named groups.
The hearing was adjourned until tomorrow.
Monday, April 10, 2006
Even though Yerkes Cannot Prove that HIV Tests Would Lead to Any Benefit, Sooty Mangabeys May Be the Next Victims of Wasteful, Irresponsible Science
I think this article really brings to light a number of useful and necessary points.
One, is just the waste of life that occurs at these animal testing facilities. For years, Yerkes has been watched and documented as a facility that simply finds totally irrelevant “tests” on non-human primates to perform that amount to nothing.
From this, we see the second point: that is, that these tests cannot even be guarantee that any non-human tests will be relevant. So, this proposal by Yerkes to use Sooty Mangabeys just because they really have nothing else to do with them (except free them of course) is just misleading and irresponsible. So, for those who don’t care at all about other species, maybe they care about wasted resources. I’ve pulled four paragraphs from the article below to sum up the points.
“Recently, Yerkes researchers proposed a novel solution: The primate center will help conserve sooties in the wild in exchange for permission to do AIDS-related research on them here.
Chimpanzees were once deemed promising for HIV research, but they don't get sick from HIV. Sooties may be no better than chimps, said Theodora Capaldo, president of the New England Anti-Vivisection Society, one of the nation's oldest groups opposing animal experimentation.
"The thing that concerns me is they (Yerkes officials) have a 'product' - an abundance of monkeys - that they want to do something with, and now they're going to find something to do with them. But that's backwards thinking, the idea that availability drives inquiry," she said.
Yerkes officials say it's hard to predict results of future research, but sooties differ from chimps in several ways, including the amount of virus they naturally carry.”
Article:
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
Sunday, April 9, 2006 • Last updated 7:58 p.m. PT
Sooty mangabeys at heart of research fight
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1501AP_
Research_Monkeys.html
By MIKE STOBBE
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
ATLANTA -- As monkeys go, sooty mangabeys aren't cute.
Big-fanged, gray and hairy, they simply stare when threatened. Few zoos stock them. Some animal rights advocates can't even spell the species' name.
Nevertheless, the sooties are at the center of a precedent-setting debate over whether researchers should be allowed to experiment on an endangered species.
Scientists at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center in Atlanta have nurtured a group of these primates for decades. But after Yerkes started the colony, federal officials listed sooties as endangered.
The result: Yerkes has the world's largest collection of captive sooties, but with little hope of scientific benefit.
"We don't need them around just to look at them. We're not a zoo," said Thomas Gordon, Yerkes' associate director for scientific programs.
Recently, Yerkes researchers proposed a novel solution: The primate center will help conserve sooties in the wild in exchange for permission to do AIDS-related research on them here.
Such a trade-off has never before been permitted, said Timothy Van Norman, chief of the international permits branch at the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. "This is new territory," he said.
Yerkes officials are hopeful. Animal rights activists are horrified.
"It's a deal with the devil," said Rachel Weiss, president of Laboratory Primate Advocacy Group, a Georgia-based animal rights organization.
Yerkes - part of Emory University - is one of eight federally funded national primate research centers. Its scientific contributions include new understanding of monkey and chimp behavior and development of an experimental AIDS vaccine.
It has about 3,600 primates at a 25-acre campus in Atlanta and a 117-acre field station in nearby Lawrenceville.
Yerkes' colony of sooty mangabeys was started in the late 1960s, when the center picked up about 30, some from Kansas City's zoo. The colony grew, and now numbers about 230.
It would be larger, but the Yerkes staff segregate males from females and give females Norplant-like birth control pellets. The center spends roughly $170,000 each year for sooty care-taking, and is out of space to house any more.
In 1988, U.S. Fish & Wildlife listed sooties as endangered. That means Yerkes may not do invasive research, such as a biopsy, unless it benefits the species.
"We can't even take a blood sample for research purposes," complained Preston Marx, a researcher at Tulane University, which also has a sooty colony.
In the 1990s, researchers learned sooties are natural carriers of a monkey-form of the AIDS virus. Other types of monkeys get sick from the virus. Sooties don't. Researchers say if they can learn why sooties stay healthy, it may lead to new weapons against human HIV.
To do that, scientists want to expose the monkeys to different viruses and do biopsies or other invasive research.
For a decade, Yerkes has been asking the government to drop sooties from the endangered list or consider other ways to allow research.
They saw an opportunity when Van Norman, Fish & Wildlife's chief of international permits, suggested the agency might grant the right to research in exchange for supporting conservation of the monkeys in the wild.
Last year, Yerkes began providing up to $30,000 a year to support primatologist Scott McGraw's field-based conservation and research of sooties in the Tai National Park Reserve in Ivory Coast, West Africa.
In July, the center wrote Fish & Wildlife seeking the right to conduct research on the Yerkes sooties "given our contribution to sooty mangabey conservation."
The request is under review, Fish & Wildlife officials said.
The proposal is not completely novel - it echoes the agency's "safe harbor" policy. That allows landowners the prospect of future development of land that serves as habitat for threatened or endangered animals, as long as the animals' original population doesn't fall and other standards are met.
But animal rights advocates are uncomfortable applying such a trade-off to lab animals.
Sooties live in large pens at the Yerkes field station, with some freedom to roam and socialize. But being a research monkey is a "terrible life" that often involves indoor caging and pain, said Weiss, who was a Yerkes animal care technician in the mid-1990s.
"It's a tough call when you talk about conservation of a species versus protecting individuals. But we have to remember individuals comprise a species," she said.
Animal rights groups have criticized Yerkes before. They point to the death of a chimp in 2004. After that happened, a federal inspection of monkey carrier cages led to a fine for lack of proper ventilation.
Also, they argue, experimentation with sooties may not be fruitful.
Chimpanzees were once deemed promising for HIV research, but they don't get sick from HIV. Sooties may be no better than chimps, said Theodora Capaldo, president of the New England Anti-Vivisection Society, one of the nation's oldest groups opposing animal experimentation.
"The thing that concerns me is they (Yerkes officials) have a 'product' - an abundance of monkeys - that they want to do something with, and now they're going to find something to do with them. But that's backwards thinking, the idea that availability drives inquiry," she said.
Yerkes officials say it's hard to predict results of future research, but sooties differ from chimps in several ways, including the amount of virus they naturally carry.
"The sense from the scientists is we need now to move to the next level," Gordon said.
One, is just the waste of life that occurs at these animal testing facilities. For years, Yerkes has been watched and documented as a facility that simply finds totally irrelevant “tests” on non-human primates to perform that amount to nothing.
From this, we see the second point: that is, that these tests cannot even be guarantee that any non-human tests will be relevant. So, this proposal by Yerkes to use Sooty Mangabeys just because they really have nothing else to do with them (except free them of course) is just misleading and irresponsible. So, for those who don’t care at all about other species, maybe they care about wasted resources. I’ve pulled four paragraphs from the article below to sum up the points.
“Recently, Yerkes researchers proposed a novel solution: The primate center will help conserve sooties in the wild in exchange for permission to do AIDS-related research on them here.
Chimpanzees were once deemed promising for HIV research, but they don't get sick from HIV. Sooties may be no better than chimps, said Theodora Capaldo, president of the New England Anti-Vivisection Society, one of the nation's oldest groups opposing animal experimentation.
"The thing that concerns me is they (Yerkes officials) have a 'product' - an abundance of monkeys - that they want to do something with, and now they're going to find something to do with them. But that's backwards thinking, the idea that availability drives inquiry," she said.
Yerkes officials say it's hard to predict results of future research, but sooties differ from chimps in several ways, including the amount of virus they naturally carry.”
Article:
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
Sunday, April 9, 2006 • Last updated 7:58 p.m. PT
Sooty mangabeys at heart of research fight
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1501AP_
Research_Monkeys.html
By MIKE STOBBE
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
ATLANTA -- As monkeys go, sooty mangabeys aren't cute.
Big-fanged, gray and hairy, they simply stare when threatened. Few zoos stock them. Some animal rights advocates can't even spell the species' name.
Nevertheless, the sooties are at the center of a precedent-setting debate over whether researchers should be allowed to experiment on an endangered species.
Scientists at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center in Atlanta have nurtured a group of these primates for decades. But after Yerkes started the colony, federal officials listed sooties as endangered.
The result: Yerkes has the world's largest collection of captive sooties, but with little hope of scientific benefit.
"We don't need them around just to look at them. We're not a zoo," said Thomas Gordon, Yerkes' associate director for scientific programs.
Recently, Yerkes researchers proposed a novel solution: The primate center will help conserve sooties in the wild in exchange for permission to do AIDS-related research on them here.
Such a trade-off has never before been permitted, said Timothy Van Norman, chief of the international permits branch at the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. "This is new territory," he said.
Yerkes officials are hopeful. Animal rights activists are horrified.
"It's a deal with the devil," said Rachel Weiss, president of Laboratory Primate Advocacy Group, a Georgia-based animal rights organization.
Yerkes - part of Emory University - is one of eight federally funded national primate research centers. Its scientific contributions include new understanding of monkey and chimp behavior and development of an experimental AIDS vaccine.
It has about 3,600 primates at a 25-acre campus in Atlanta and a 117-acre field station in nearby Lawrenceville.
Yerkes' colony of sooty mangabeys was started in the late 1960s, when the center picked up about 30, some from Kansas City's zoo. The colony grew, and now numbers about 230.
It would be larger, but the Yerkes staff segregate males from females and give females Norplant-like birth control pellets. The center spends roughly $170,000 each year for sooty care-taking, and is out of space to house any more.
In 1988, U.S. Fish & Wildlife listed sooties as endangered. That means Yerkes may not do invasive research, such as a biopsy, unless it benefits the species.
"We can't even take a blood sample for research purposes," complained Preston Marx, a researcher at Tulane University, which also has a sooty colony.
In the 1990s, researchers learned sooties are natural carriers of a monkey-form of the AIDS virus. Other types of monkeys get sick from the virus. Sooties don't. Researchers say if they can learn why sooties stay healthy, it may lead to new weapons against human HIV.
To do that, scientists want to expose the monkeys to different viruses and do biopsies or other invasive research.
For a decade, Yerkes has been asking the government to drop sooties from the endangered list or consider other ways to allow research.
They saw an opportunity when Van Norman, Fish & Wildlife's chief of international permits, suggested the agency might grant the right to research in exchange for supporting conservation of the monkeys in the wild.
Last year, Yerkes began providing up to $30,000 a year to support primatologist Scott McGraw's field-based conservation and research of sooties in the Tai National Park Reserve in Ivory Coast, West Africa.
In July, the center wrote Fish & Wildlife seeking the right to conduct research on the Yerkes sooties "given our contribution to sooty mangabey conservation."
The request is under review, Fish & Wildlife officials said.
The proposal is not completely novel - it echoes the agency's "safe harbor" policy. That allows landowners the prospect of future development of land that serves as habitat for threatened or endangered animals, as long as the animals' original population doesn't fall and other standards are met.
But animal rights advocates are uncomfortable applying such a trade-off to lab animals.
Sooties live in large pens at the Yerkes field station, with some freedom to roam and socialize. But being a research monkey is a "terrible life" that often involves indoor caging and pain, said Weiss, who was a Yerkes animal care technician in the mid-1990s.
"It's a tough call when you talk about conservation of a species versus protecting individuals. But we have to remember individuals comprise a species," she said.
Animal rights groups have criticized Yerkes before. They point to the death of a chimp in 2004. After that happened, a federal inspection of monkey carrier cages led to a fine for lack of proper ventilation.
Also, they argue, experimentation with sooties may not be fruitful.
Chimpanzees were once deemed promising for HIV research, but they don't get sick from HIV. Sooties may be no better than chimps, said Theodora Capaldo, president of the New England Anti-Vivisection Society, one of the nation's oldest groups opposing animal experimentation.
"The thing that concerns me is they (Yerkes officials) have a 'product' - an abundance of monkeys - that they want to do something with, and now they're going to find something to do with them. But that's backwards thinking, the idea that availability drives inquiry," she said.
Yerkes officials say it's hard to predict results of future research, but sooties differ from chimps in several ways, including the amount of virus they naturally carry.
"The sense from the scientists is we need now to move to the next level," Gordon said.
Believe it or Not, Mattel Creates a “Bullfighting Barbie.” Glorification and Exploitation of the Horribly Cruel Spectacle of Bullfighting
Who would have ever thought they would hear bullfighting and Barbie in the same sentence?
For information on why bullfighting is cruel and unnecessary, visit http://www.sharkonline.org/indexbullfighting.mv You will also find pictures and videos that clearly show that for the bull, there is no fight. And for the “fighters”,
This is unbelievable. Just take a look at the pictures. Seems really out of place. So they take a child’s toy and associate it with extreme blood and brutality. Just really sick. Hard to believe it’s true. The message sent to kids is confusing to say the least.
Very graphic pictures. Hard to belive that any parent would want to associate toys and play time with such violent, graphic images.
I’ve included some information from a group that is trying to send a message to Mattel that this is just wrong. If you agree, please follow the message below.
Barbie Blood Bath!!!
http://www.sharkonline.org/indexbarbie.mv
Despite appeals from animal protection organizations from around the world, as well as parents concerned about the message the doll would give the children, Mattel refused to discontinue the product.
In these pictures, Mattel’s Bullfighting Barbie is superimposed over pictures of very real bullfights.
Mattel should be ashamed of its support for perhaps the worst organized torture of animals in the world.
Please call Mattel at 800-524-8697 or 310-252-2000.
Please write and tell Mattel CEO Robert Eckert what you think about Barbie glorifying the torture-killing of animals.
Mattel, Inc.
333 Continental Blvd.
El Segundo, CA 90245
And finally please fax your letter to Mattel at 716-687-3494.
Please also make a statement to Mattel by avoiding their other brand names too:
* American Girl
* Hot Wheels
* Matchbox
* Tyco/RC
* Fisher-Price
* Cabbage Patch Kids
* Sesame Street Toys
* The Learning Company
* Max Steel
* Intel Play
* Generation Kids
* Star Beans
For information on why bullfighting is cruel and unnecessary, visit http://www.sharkonline.org/indexbullfighting.mv You will also find pictures and videos that clearly show that for the bull, there is no fight. And for the “fighters”,
This is unbelievable. Just take a look at the pictures. Seems really out of place. So they take a child’s toy and associate it with extreme blood and brutality. Just really sick. Hard to believe it’s true. The message sent to kids is confusing to say the least.
| |  | |
| ||
 |
 | |
Very graphic pictures. Hard to belive that any parent would want to associate toys and play time with such violent, graphic images.
I’ve included some information from a group that is trying to send a message to Mattel that this is just wrong. If you agree, please follow the message below.
Barbie Blood Bath!!!
http://www.sharkonline.org/indexbarbie.mv
Despite appeals from animal protection organizations from around the world, as well as parents concerned about the message the doll would give the children, Mattel refused to discontinue the product.
In these pictures, Mattel’s Bullfighting Barbie is superimposed over pictures of very real bullfights.
Mattel should be ashamed of its support for perhaps the worst organized torture of animals in the world.
Please call Mattel at 800-524-8697 or 310-252-2000.
Please write and tell Mattel CEO Robert Eckert what you think about Barbie glorifying the torture-killing of animals.
Mattel, Inc.
333 Continental Blvd.
El Segundo, CA 90245
And finally please fax your letter to Mattel at 716-687-3494.
Please also make a statement to Mattel by avoiding their other brand names too:
* American Girl
* Hot Wheels
* Matchbox
* Tyco/RC
* Fisher-Price
* Cabbage Patch Kids
* Sesame Street Toys
* The Learning Company
* Max Steel
* Intel Play
* Generation Kids
* Star Beans
The Kenya Wildlife Service Says it Has Broken Up a Syndicate Dealing in Ivory and Other Illegal Animal Products
Let’s hope this isn’t just one of those once a year events made to appease international observers. Let’s hope it’s a concerted and continuous effort.
Article:
Kenya swoops on 'ivory syndicate'
Elephant poaching is a serious problem in Kenya
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4888020.stm
The Kenya Wildlife Service says it has broken up a syndicate dealing in ivory and other illegal animal products.
Officials say 14 people were held and 160kg (350lb) of ivory seized.
Those arrested, seven Italians, six Kenyans and one Tanzanian, have been charged with illegal hunting and possessing trophies without a licence.
Kenya, where wildlife tourism is a key revenue source, supports a global ban on the ivory trade to combat a chronic problem with elephant poaching.
The arrests and seizures were made in three separate operations. KWS said:
* A Tanzanian was held with 5kg (11lb) of ivory near Kajiado in southern Kenya
* An Italian was detained in the coastal city of Mombasa with 158kg (350lb) of ivory and other animal products
* Six Italians and six Kenyans were arrested and two buffalo carcasses recovered in a location not revealed by KWS
"We want to assure the public that KWS is putting every possible effort in the fight against wildlife-related crimes," a KWS statement said.
Article:
Kenya swoops on 'ivory syndicate'
Elephant poaching is a serious problem in Kenya
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4888020.stm
The Kenya Wildlife Service says it has broken up a syndicate dealing in ivory and other illegal animal products.
Officials say 14 people were held and 160kg (350lb) of ivory seized.
Those arrested, seven Italians, six Kenyans and one Tanzanian, have been charged with illegal hunting and possessing trophies without a licence.
Kenya, where wildlife tourism is a key revenue source, supports a global ban on the ivory trade to combat a chronic problem with elephant poaching.
The arrests and seizures were made in three separate operations. KWS said:
* A Tanzanian was held with 5kg (11lb) of ivory near Kajiado in southern Kenya
* An Italian was detained in the coastal city of Mombasa with 158kg (350lb) of ivory and other animal products
* Six Italians and six Kenyans were arrested and two buffalo carcasses recovered in a location not revealed by KWS
"We want to assure the public that KWS is putting every possible effort in the fight against wildlife-related crimes," a KWS statement said.
Friday, April 07, 2006
Cathy Kangas of PRAI Beauty Offers Canadian Govt. 16 Million$ to Cover Money Made by Baby Seal Slaughter if Ends Now: Canada Declines
But of course, corrupt Canada and their band of primitive, blood thirsty, seal baby killers decline the offer. After all, they love the money, but they also love to make up for their general insecurities by bludgeoning a baby animal who can’t move on the head with a primitive pick. Makes them feel strong again. Especially since they’re not man enough to get another type of job.
How amazingly gracious and unselfish Cathy Kangas is with her offer. What a great idea. I’ve often said that those who are rich and care can put their money where their mouth is and attempt to end this unnecessary brutal travesty. She is the first to do so.
Article:
Firm offers $16m to end seal cull
A US businesswoman has offered to raise $16m (£9m) for Canada to end a controversial seal hunt.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4884132.stm
Cathy Kangas, founder and head of PRAI Beauty, wrote an open letter to the prime minister on Wednesday.
But Canada, which says the cull of 325,000 harp seal pups is needed to curb numbers, has declined the offer. The cull got under way last month.
It has provoked an international outcry, with celebrities joining protesters in condemning the hunt.
"Your government has repeatedly stated that the $16m realised from the slaughter of Canadian baby seals is vital to the fishing communities of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and Newfoundland," Ms Kangas said in her letter.
"If you stop this year's hunt immediately, we will provide you with this $16m to be distributed at your discretion."
She proposes to raise the money from family, friends and animal protection groups.
But the Canadian government has turned down the offer.
"The short answer is no. We're not interested in the offer and would prefer she put the money in another worthwhile cause," a spokesman for Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn told the AFP news agency.
While the money would replace some sealers' incomes, it would not come to the overall value of the industry, he said.
Dwindling numbers
The cull, which reportedly earns C$16.5m ($14m, £8.3m) in meat and pelt sales, is an important source of income for fishing communities in Quebec and Newfoundland that have been hit hard by dwindling fish stocks in the Atlantic.
The Canadian government increased the total allowable catch this year, saying the seal population is now almost six million, nearly triple the level of the 1970s.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the cull would be carried out humanely and that Canada was the victim of an "international propaganda campaign".
Some 90,000 seal pups are expected to be culled in the Gulf of St Lawrence, before the hunt moves on to Newfoundland, where thousands more will be culled.
But the hunters have been frustrated by a huge fall in the number of seals they have taken in comparison to previous years because of thinning ice caused by warm weather.
HARP SEALS
Found in north Atlantic and Arctic oceans
Feed on fish and crustaceans and spend much of year at sea
Pups born on the ice and nursed for two weeks, after which their mothers abandon them
Can be legally hunted only once their white coats darken, at about two-weeks-old
How amazingly gracious and unselfish Cathy Kangas is with her offer. What a great idea. I’ve often said that those who are rich and care can put their money where their mouth is and attempt to end this unnecessary brutal travesty. She is the first to do so.
Article:
Firm offers $16m to end seal cull
A US businesswoman has offered to raise $16m (£9m) for Canada to end a controversial seal hunt.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4884132.stm
Cathy Kangas, founder and head of PRAI Beauty, wrote an open letter to the prime minister on Wednesday.
But Canada, which says the cull of 325,000 harp seal pups is needed to curb numbers, has declined the offer. The cull got under way last month.
It has provoked an international outcry, with celebrities joining protesters in condemning the hunt.
"Your government has repeatedly stated that the $16m realised from the slaughter of Canadian baby seals is vital to the fishing communities of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and Newfoundland," Ms Kangas said in her letter.
"If you stop this year's hunt immediately, we will provide you with this $16m to be distributed at your discretion."
She proposes to raise the money from family, friends and animal protection groups.
But the Canadian government has turned down the offer.
"The short answer is no. We're not interested in the offer and would prefer she put the money in another worthwhile cause," a spokesman for Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn told the AFP news agency.
While the money would replace some sealers' incomes, it would not come to the overall value of the industry, he said.
Dwindling numbers
The cull, which reportedly earns C$16.5m ($14m, £8.3m) in meat and pelt sales, is an important source of income for fishing communities in Quebec and Newfoundland that have been hit hard by dwindling fish stocks in the Atlantic.
The Canadian government increased the total allowable catch this year, saying the seal population is now almost six million, nearly triple the level of the 1970s.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the cull would be carried out humanely and that Canada was the victim of an "international propaganda campaign".
Some 90,000 seal pups are expected to be culled in the Gulf of St Lawrence, before the hunt moves on to Newfoundland, where thousands more will be culled.
But the hunters have been frustrated by a huge fall in the number of seals they have taken in comparison to previous years because of thinning ice caused by warm weather.
HARP SEALS
Found in north Atlantic and Arctic oceans
Feed on fish and crustaceans and spend much of year at sea
Pups born on the ice and nursed for two weeks, after which their mothers abandon them
Can be legally hunted only once their white coats darken, at about two-weeks-old
Citizens of Louisiana Will Have March Declaring Never Again! Should We Be Forced To Abandon Our Pets
In response to forcing people to leave their companion animals behind when hurricane Katrina hit.
This is in Support of The Louisiana Pet Evacuation Bill (SB607). A common sense law. Circulate this far and wide. If you know anyone in Louisiana, pass this along. Maybe next time the tragedy can be averted.
WHEN: Monday, April 17, 2:30 p.m.
WHERE: The Louisiana State Capitol, 900 N. 3rd St., Baton Rouge
FOR MORE INFORMATION: 504-305- 4113 or petevacuation@yahoo.com
PLEASE PRINT AND POST ATTACHED FLYER EVERYWHERE.
In large numbers, they will hear us.
In solidarity, we will triumph for our animals.
NEVER AGAIN! SHOULD WE BE FORCED TO ABANDON OUR PETS
Bring Your Pet & March on April 17 to the State Capitol Steps
in Support of The Louisiana Pet Evacuation Bill (SB607):
http://www.legis.state.la.us/billdata/streamdocument.asp?did=375498
Info: 504-305-4113 or email: petevacuation@yahoo.com
DIRECTIONS:
* If you are coming from New Orleans, take I-10 West towards Baton Rouge for
approx. 78 miles.
* In Baton Rouge, watch the signs: You MUST merge onto I-110 N, via Exit
155B, toward the Business District/ Metro Airport
* (Caution: Don't stay on I-10; it goes across the river bridge!)
* Go 1 mile on I-110 N, then take the North St. Exit/ Exit 1D, which exits
on the LEFT.
* At North Street, turn LEFT. Go less than a 1/2 mile on North Street
* Then turn RIGHT onto North 3rd Street.
* End at 900 N. 3rd St., Baton Rouge, LA
* The Governor's Mansion is on the right. The road splits with a park in the
middle; to the right there is parking along the lake.
* At the next split: To the left is the State Capitol Steps.
To the right, there will be some available parking spaces and some that are
reserved parking spaces.
* Proceed through the yellow caution light and there is a huge Public
Parking Lot.
LOUISIANA RESIDENTS:
SB-607, The Pet Evacuation Bill must pass.
Please attend the hearing, April 18, at the State Capitol:
Senate Judiciary B Committee will hear SB 607, The Pet Evacuation Bill,
on Tuesday, April 18, 2006.
WHERE: The Louisiana State Capitol
900 North 3rd Street; Baton Rouge, LA 70802
Senate Committee Room "E" located on the ground floor of the Capitol
(driving directions above)
WHEN: 9:00 a.m.
WHY YOUR PRESENCE IS NEEDED: You may sign in at the hearing and testify
about your experiences.
Or you may sign in to support SB 607 and not speak. We must fill that room
with people.
³If I Leave, They Leave²
HURRICANE RESCUE SHIRTS!
http://acustomtshirt4u.com/1800SaveAPet
FRONT: ³If I leave, they leave... In Memory of Hurricane Katrina Animals²
BACK: ³Animal Rescue New Orleans. 1-800-Save-A-Pet.com²
proceeds benefit ARNO
This is in Support of The Louisiana Pet Evacuation Bill (SB607). A common sense law. Circulate this far and wide. If you know anyone in Louisiana, pass this along. Maybe next time the tragedy can be averted.
WHEN: Monday, April 17, 2:30 p.m.
WHERE: The Louisiana State Capitol, 900 N. 3rd St., Baton Rouge
FOR MORE INFORMATION: 504-305- 4113 or petevacuation@yahoo.com
PLEASE PRINT AND POST ATTACHED FLYER EVERYWHERE.
In large numbers, they will hear us.
In solidarity, we will triumph for our animals.
NEVER AGAIN! SHOULD WE BE FORCED TO ABANDON OUR PETS
Bring Your Pet & March on April 17 to the State Capitol Steps
in Support of The Louisiana Pet Evacuation Bill (SB607):
http://www.legis.state.la.us/billdata/streamdocument.asp?did=375498
Info: 504-305-4113 or email: petevacuation@yahoo.com
DIRECTIONS:
* If you are coming from New Orleans, take I-10 West towards Baton Rouge for
approx. 78 miles.
* In Baton Rouge, watch the signs: You MUST merge onto I-110 N, via Exit
155B, toward the Business District/ Metro Airport
* (Caution: Don't stay on I-10; it goes across the river bridge!)
* Go 1 mile on I-110 N, then take the North St. Exit/ Exit 1D, which exits
on the LEFT.
* At North Street, turn LEFT. Go less than a 1/2 mile on North Street
* Then turn RIGHT onto North 3rd Street.
* End at 900 N. 3rd St., Baton Rouge, LA
* The Governor's Mansion is on the right. The road splits with a park in the
middle; to the right there is parking along the lake.
* At the next split: To the left is the State Capitol Steps.
To the right, there will be some available parking spaces and some that are
reserved parking spaces.
* Proceed through the yellow caution light and there is a huge Public
Parking Lot.
LOUISIANA RESIDENTS:
SB-607, The Pet Evacuation Bill must pass.
Please attend the hearing, April 18, at the State Capitol:
Senate Judiciary B Committee will hear SB 607, The Pet Evacuation Bill,
on Tuesday, April 18, 2006.
WHERE: The Louisiana State Capitol
900 North 3rd Street; Baton Rouge, LA 70802
Senate Committee Room "E" located on the ground floor of the Capitol
(driving directions above)
WHEN: 9:00 a.m.
WHY YOUR PRESENCE IS NEEDED: You may sign in at the hearing and testify
about your experiences.
Or you may sign in to support SB 607 and not speak. We must fill that room
with people.
³If I Leave, They Leave²
HURRICANE RESCUE SHIRTS!
http://acustomtshirt4u.com/1800SaveAPet
FRONT: ³If I leave, they leave... In Memory of Hurricane Katrina Animals²
BACK: ³Animal Rescue New Orleans. 1-800-Save-A-Pet.com²
proceeds benefit ARNO
Thursday, April 06, 2006
After Intimidation and Pressure by Canadian Government, Costco Wimps Out and Decides to Restock Dead Baby Seal Oil Capsules
Flawed logic – the customer is right. So, whatever they want, we’ll put on the shelves. What liars. It was Canadian government intimidation and pressure that led to the reversal. After all, they took the products off the shelves due to initial customer pressure. I’m sad to see that government lobbying for sick practices such as the Canadian baby seal slaughter has reached such levels. Even worst the companies bow to such intimidation.
The customer is right: Costco restocks seal oil capsules
http://www.cbc.ca/nl/story/nf-costco-seals-20060405.html
Costco announced Wednesday it will restock seal oil capsules at its store in St. John's, in the wake of consumer protests that it had caved to animal rights protesters.
Costco removed the capsules, which are rich in heart-protecting omega-3 fatty acids, from its shelves at its St. John's location in early March.
Tom Rideout said he was pleased to hear Costco will restock seal oil capsules on the shelves of its St. John's store. (CBC image)
Tom Rideout said he was pleased to hear Costco will restock seal oil capsules on the shelves of its St. John's store. (CBC image)
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society then claimed the decision was made in response to its lobbying efforts.
Louise Wendling, Costco's senior vice-president, said the company changed its mind because of consumer pressure.
"Our earlier decision to remove the product was misinterpreted," Wendling said in a statement.
She said Costco "does not and has never supported" the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a group headed by veteran anti-sealing activist Paul Watson.
"Let me be clear on this point – the only lobby Costco pays attention to is the consumer lobby. When there is sufficient demand for a product, we listen."
Seal oil capsules contain omega-3 fatty acids, which have been linked with protecting against heart disease and other ailments.
Seal oil capsules contain omega-3 fatty acids, which have been linked with protecting against heart disease and other ailments.
Wendling met Wednesday in Ottawa with Tom Rideout, Newfoundland and Labrador's fisheries minister.
Rideout applauded the decision.
"We thought it was suspicious," Rideout said of the removal of the capsules.
"However I am convinced that the senior officials of Costco who made the decision made that decision on a business basis.
Rideout said he had no assurances that Costco won't make such a decision again. However, he said, "I'm relatively optimistic you won't see this kind of a decision taken lightly again."
Rideout said he would be prepared to make similar trips to persuade other retailers who are persuaded by anti-sealing activists.
Rideout said Costco was not aware that the decision was made on the eve of the start of the hunt, which also coincides with annual public-relations – and fundraising – campaigns by groups opposed to the hunt.
Furor sparked over product removal
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's announcement sparked outrage among consumers in St. John's, with some Costco members organizing a boycott or resignations from the big-box retailer's membership lists.
Premier Danny Williams last Friday encouraged consumers to think carefully about whether they should shop at Costco.
Open-line radio programs have been filled with calls about the issue since last week.
Meanwhile, Karl Sullivan, a senior executive with the Barry Group of Companies, which produces the capsules, said the company was contacted Tuesday.
A Costco executive, Sullivan said, contacted company president Bill Barry.
"[They] apologized for the lack of communication after the product was pulled, and apologized for how it was handled on the side of Costco," Sullivan said.
Sullivan also said Costco wants the Barry Group to be its national supplier for the capsules as well as other products.
Sullivan said Tuesday, the day preceding Rideout's meeting, that the Barry Group will take some time to decide whether it wants to get involved with Costco again.
The customer is right: Costco restocks seal oil capsules
http://www.cbc.ca/nl/story/nf-costco-seals-20060405.html
Costco announced Wednesday it will restock seal oil capsules at its store in St. John's, in the wake of consumer protests that it had caved to animal rights protesters.
Costco removed the capsules, which are rich in heart-protecting omega-3 fatty acids, from its shelves at its St. John's location in early March.
Tom Rideout said he was pleased to hear Costco will restock seal oil capsules on the shelves of its St. John's store. (CBC image)
Tom Rideout said he was pleased to hear Costco will restock seal oil capsules on the shelves of its St. John's store. (CBC image)
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society then claimed the decision was made in response to its lobbying efforts.
Louise Wendling, Costco's senior vice-president, said the company changed its mind because of consumer pressure.
"Our earlier decision to remove the product was misinterpreted," Wendling said in a statement.
She said Costco "does not and has never supported" the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a group headed by veteran anti-sealing activist Paul Watson.
"Let me be clear on this point – the only lobby Costco pays attention to is the consumer lobby. When there is sufficient demand for a product, we listen."
Seal oil capsules contain omega-3 fatty acids, which have been linked with protecting against heart disease and other ailments.
Seal oil capsules contain omega-3 fatty acids, which have been linked with protecting against heart disease and other ailments.
Wendling met Wednesday in Ottawa with Tom Rideout, Newfoundland and Labrador's fisheries minister.
Rideout applauded the decision.
"We thought it was suspicious," Rideout said of the removal of the capsules.
"However I am convinced that the senior officials of Costco who made the decision made that decision on a business basis.
Rideout said he had no assurances that Costco won't make such a decision again. However, he said, "I'm relatively optimistic you won't see this kind of a decision taken lightly again."
Rideout said he would be prepared to make similar trips to persuade other retailers who are persuaded by anti-sealing activists.
Rideout said Costco was not aware that the decision was made on the eve of the start of the hunt, which also coincides with annual public-relations – and fundraising – campaigns by groups opposed to the hunt.
Furor sparked over product removal
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's announcement sparked outrage among consumers in St. John's, with some Costco members organizing a boycott or resignations from the big-box retailer's membership lists.
Premier Danny Williams last Friday encouraged consumers to think carefully about whether they should shop at Costco.
Open-line radio programs have been filled with calls about the issue since last week.
Meanwhile, Karl Sullivan, a senior executive with the Barry Group of Companies, which produces the capsules, said the company was contacted Tuesday.
A Costco executive, Sullivan said, contacted company president Bill Barry.
"[They] apologized for the lack of communication after the product was pulled, and apologized for how it was handled on the side of Costco," Sullivan said.
Sullivan also said Costco wants the Barry Group to be its national supplier for the capsules as well as other products.
Sullivan said Tuesday, the day preceding Rideout's meeting, that the Barry Group will take some time to decide whether it wants to get involved with Costco again.
USDA Has Fined Drug-Testing Company Covance, After Investigation Prompted By An Animal Rights Group's Allegations Of Animal Abuse At Vienna, Va.
I want to note here that this is extremely rare. Usually, the USDA just turns it’s head to it’s business friends.
Article:
Company issued animal-care citations
USDA warned by PETA of mishandling
http://www.azcentral.com/abgnews/articles/0406abg-covance0406.html
Luci Scott
Arizona Business Gazette
Apr. 6, 2006 12:00 AM
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has fined drug-testing company Covance, which has plans to build in Chandler, after an investigation prompted by an animal rights group's allegations of animal abuse at the company's Vienna, Va., facility.
Covance says that the citations were minor and that the offending employee, accused of mishandling lab monkeys, no longer works for the company.
Covance was fined $8,720 for 16 citations, three of which involved lab monkeys. The others concerned administrative issues and equipment.
"None of the issues cited by the USDA were pervasive or endemic," said Wendel Barr, a senior vice president with Covance. "While we don't agree with all of those citations, the company has agreed to (the fine) and we've already taken corrective action."
The investigation was conducted last year but the settlement was just announced.
Inspectors spent weeks at the facility and also viewed a videotape taken by a member of the group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. The PETA member had gone undercover and worked at the Covance facility for 11 months.
The video taken inside the Covance lab is on PETA's Web site.
PETA spokeswoman Mary Beth Sweetland said the group is unhappy with the fine, calling it too small.
"I think that the thousands of people who watch this video would assume that Covance would be fined a thousand times the amount that they were fined by the USDA," Sweetland said.
"The USDA is always aiding laboratories and making life difficult for those who take the time and the care to expose violations."
The animal-related citations involved a technician yelling at a primate and using more force than necessary to put a primate back into its cage.
"The three citations . . . were a total of three seconds out of 80 hours of tape," Covance spokeswoman Camilla Strongin said.
The third citation was prompted by the video showing the technician putting his hand behind a primate's head and apparently tapping or hitting, depending on who is describing the action.
"The view was that the contact probably was not warranted," Barr said.
Another citation had to do with a technician incorrectly measuring an animal for a cage.
Barr described Covance's training for its technicians as "exhaustive" and "robust."
"We do believe the issues cited were very minor, and I think the fine is probably an indication of the view of severity," Barr said.
Covance has purchased 38 acres on Price Road north of Queen Creek Road in Chandler but has yet to ask the city for rezoning. If it builds a facility in Chandler, the USDA will conduct similar unannounced yearly inspections.
Regular audits also are done by the Food and Drug Administration and Covance's customers, which are drug companies, Barr said.
USDA spokesman Darby Holladay said the agency takes all complaints seriously and follows through to "seek an outcome that makes sure that licensees or registrants are in compliance with the Animal Welfare Act."
PETA's Sweetland said that's not enough.
"Just like minimal standards of care in the Animal Welfare Act, the USDA also metes out very minimal fines to offenders," she said.
Article:
Company issued animal-care citations
USDA warned by PETA of mishandling
http://www.azcentral.com/abgnews/articles/0406abg-covance0406.html
Luci Scott
Arizona Business Gazette
Apr. 6, 2006 12:00 AM
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has fined drug-testing company Covance, which has plans to build in Chandler, after an investigation prompted by an animal rights group's allegations of animal abuse at the company's Vienna, Va., facility.
Covance says that the citations were minor and that the offending employee, accused of mishandling lab monkeys, no longer works for the company.
Covance was fined $8,720 for 16 citations, three of which involved lab monkeys. The others concerned administrative issues and equipment.
"None of the issues cited by the USDA were pervasive or endemic," said Wendel Barr, a senior vice president with Covance. "While we don't agree with all of those citations, the company has agreed to (the fine) and we've already taken corrective action."
The investigation was conducted last year but the settlement was just announced.
Inspectors spent weeks at the facility and also viewed a videotape taken by a member of the group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. The PETA member had gone undercover and worked at the Covance facility for 11 months.
The video taken inside the Covance lab is on PETA's Web site.
PETA spokeswoman Mary Beth Sweetland said the group is unhappy with the fine, calling it too small.
"I think that the thousands of people who watch this video would assume that Covance would be fined a thousand times the amount that they were fined by the USDA," Sweetland said.
"The USDA is always aiding laboratories and making life difficult for those who take the time and the care to expose violations."
The animal-related citations involved a technician yelling at a primate and using more force than necessary to put a primate back into its cage.
"The three citations . . . were a total of three seconds out of 80 hours of tape," Covance spokeswoman Camilla Strongin said.
The third citation was prompted by the video showing the technician putting his hand behind a primate's head and apparently tapping or hitting, depending on who is describing the action.
"The view was that the contact probably was not warranted," Barr said.
Another citation had to do with a technician incorrectly measuring an animal for a cage.
Barr described Covance's training for its technicians as "exhaustive" and "robust."
"We do believe the issues cited were very minor, and I think the fine is probably an indication of the view of severity," Barr said.
Covance has purchased 38 acres on Price Road north of Queen Creek Road in Chandler but has yet to ask the city for rezoning. If it builds a facility in Chandler, the USDA will conduct similar unannounced yearly inspections.
Regular audits also are done by the Food and Drug Administration and Covance's customers, which are drug companies, Barr said.
USDA spokesman Darby Holladay said the agency takes all complaints seriously and follows through to "seek an outcome that makes sure that licensees or registrants are in compliance with the Animal Welfare Act."
PETA's Sweetland said that's not enough.
"Just like minimal standards of care in the Animal Welfare Act, the USDA also metes out very minimal fines to offenders," she said.
Animal Rights Groups Honors Police for Saving Moose
Article:
Animal rights groups honors police for saving moose
http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=4731150&nav=4QcS
MILAN, N.H. An animal rights group is honoring the Berlin (New Hampshire) police department for its efforts to rescue a young moose that had become entangled in a child's swingset last month in Milan.
The 400-pound moose became trapped as it tried to snack on a backyard hedge and got tangled in the swingset's chains. The police department's maintenance man, Don Valliere, had to climb the swingset and use bolt cutters to free the animal.
Today, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent Berlin police Chief Peter Morency a letter thanking him for his department's swift and compassionate efforts.
Animal rights groups honors police for saving moose
http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=4731150&nav=4QcS
MILAN, N.H. An animal rights group is honoring the Berlin (New Hampshire) police department for its efforts to rescue a young moose that had become entangled in a child's swingset last month in Milan.
The 400-pound moose became trapped as it tried to snack on a backyard hedge and got tangled in the swingset's chains. The police department's maintenance man, Don Valliere, had to climb the swingset and use bolt cutters to free the animal.
Today, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent Berlin police Chief Peter Morency a letter thanking him for his department's swift and compassionate efforts.
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Maine's Governor Signs Bill That Allows Animals To Be Included In Protection Orders In Domestic Violence Cases: An Amazing Victory and New Precedent
This is an amazing victory and really sets a new precedent. Everyone knows the connection between violence to animals and future violence to humans. This is especially true in domestic violence cases where the abusive spouse will abuse or kill an animal of the house in order to retaliate towards the other or for some other sick reason such as control. Well, if this law spreads, it will do much to bring attention to this issue and to protect humans and any non-human animals living with them. Here are a few quotes from the article below. Please read it.
“In the past, she said in a telephone interview yesterday, he had retaliated against her by running over her blind and deaf border collie named Katydid, shooting two sheep and wringing the necks of her prized turkeys.
Experts on domestic violence say accounts like that of Ms. Walsh, who is now divorced, are not unusual. They say many men who abuse wives or girlfriends threaten or harm their animals to coerce or control the women.
To address the problem, Maine's governor, John Baldacci, signed a bill yesterday that allows animals to be included in protection orders in domestic violence cases.
"Many national studies on victims of domestic violence tell us that their abusers have threatened to kill, threatened to harm or actually harmed their pets as a means of keeping the victim from leaving the relationship," Mr. Baldacci, a Democrat, said. "With this new law, we hope to help remove another tool for emotional and physical violence used by the abuser to exert power and control over their victims."
In 2002, Dr. Ascione said, he interviewed 42 men in prison who had had violent relationships with women and found that half of them said they had hurt or killed pets.
"Police and prosecutors are well aware of the very close link between threats to pets and threats to family members," Maine's public safety commissioner, Michael P. Cantara, said. He cited a 2002 case in which an abusive husband had beaten the family's cats to death, buried them in the backyard and threatened a similar fate for his wife and children.
"To our horror," Mr. Cantara said, "that yard was filled with dead Maine pets."
Article:
New Maine Law Shields Animals in Domestic Violence Cases
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/01/us/01pets.html
By PAM BELLUCK
Susan Walsh told Maine legislators a chilling tale in January. She said she had wanted many times to take her two children and leave her husband, ending a relationship she found frightening and controlling.
But she said she was afraid he would harm the animals on their 32-acre plot called Blessed Be Farm in Ellsworth, Me. In the past, she said in a telephone interview yesterday, he had retaliated against her by running over her blind and deaf border collie named Katydid, shooting two sheep and wringing the necks of her prized turkeys.
"It wasn't just the cats and the dogs I had, it was the sheep and the chickens — I was terrified for their welfare," Ms. Walsh, 50, said. "I knew if I were to leave, he wouldn't hesitate to kill them. He had done it before."
Experts on domestic violence say accounts like that of Ms. Walsh, who is now divorced, are not unusual. They say many men who abuse wives or girlfriends threaten or harm their animals to coerce or control the women.
To address the problem, Maine's governor, John Baldacci, signed a bill yesterday that allows animals to be included in protection orders in domestic violence cases.
"Many national studies on victims of domestic violence tell us that their abusers have threatened to kill, threatened to harm or actually harmed their pets as a means of keeping the victim from leaving the relationship," Mr. Baldacci, a Democrat, said. "With this new law, we hope to help remove another tool for emotional and physical violence used by the abuser to exert power and control over their victims."
Maine is believed to be the first state with such a law. But the issue has captured attention around the country as police departments, domestic-violence programs, animal protection societies and state officials become increasingly aware of a link between domestic violence and animal abuse.
A new program in Columbus, Ohio, takes animals of victims of domestic violence and places them in a women's prison, where the inmates care for them. In Nashville, the city gives such pets a safe haven for up to 30 days. And in St. Louis, the Domestic Violence Pet Assistance Program finds foster homes for the animals.
"There are some batterers who are prone to using coercion and terrorizing tactics who very well know how strongly attached their partner is to the animals in her life," said Frank A. Ascione, a psychologist at Utah State University. "It's the dynamic of preying on the love and affection that women often have for the animals in their lives, who may be their only source of solace, their only source of unconditional love."
In the late 1990's, Dr. Ascione and colleagues interviewed 101 women in shelters for battered women and 120 women who were not victims of domestic violence.
They found that 54 percent of the battered women said their abusers had harmed or killed their animals, compared with 5 percent of women in the other group. Thirty-four percent of the women whose pets had been both threatened and harmed delayed going to the shelters out of concern for their pets.
In 2002, Dr. Ascione said, he interviewed 42 men in prison who had had violent relationships with women and found that half of them said they had hurt or killed pets.
"Police and prosecutors are well aware of the very close link between threats to pets and threats to family members," Maine's public safety commissioner, Michael P. Cantara, said. He cited a 2002 case in which an abusive husband had beaten the family's cats to death, buried them in the backyard and threatened a similar fate for his wife and children.
"To our horror," Mr. Cantara said, "that yard was filled with dead Maine pets."
Karen Days, president of the Columbus Coalition Against Family Violence in Ohio, said of her work at the Columbus city prosecutor's office: "I had a victim who was in my office, and the prosecutor agreed to issue a warrant for the arrest of her partner. But she was just adamant that she be able to go home first and get her dog. When I asked why, she said, 'When I left him before, he started mailing me pieces of my cat to tell me if you don't come back this is what I'm going to continue to do.' "
Ms. Days and others said that battered women without children might be the most attached to their pets. But in homes with children, there are other concerns, Dr. Ascione said.
He said that seeing animals abused made "some kids likely to act out what they may have witnessed," while others "get even more strongly attached to their pets," which can be dangerous if the "children start trying to intervene to protect the animals."
Jill Morris, the public policy director at the National Coalition against Domestic Violence, said that she had not heard of another law like Maine's but that some judges had begun to include animals in protective orders.
Ms. Days said her organization would be lobbying the Ohio Legislature to make penalties for domestic violence stiffer if animal abuse was involved.
Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States, said his organization conducted workshops for police departments, prosecutors and social workers on the problem.
"Oftentimes these situations go on for a long period, say months or years," Mr. Pacelle said. "We really try to spread the word about this."
Ariel Sabar contributed reporting from Augusta, Me., for this article, and Katie Zezima from Boston.
“In the past, she said in a telephone interview yesterday, he had retaliated against her by running over her blind and deaf border collie named Katydid, shooting two sheep and wringing the necks of her prized turkeys.
Experts on domestic violence say accounts like that of Ms. Walsh, who is now divorced, are not unusual. They say many men who abuse wives or girlfriends threaten or harm their animals to coerce or control the women.
To address the problem, Maine's governor, John Baldacci, signed a bill yesterday that allows animals to be included in protection orders in domestic violence cases.
"Many national studies on victims of domestic violence tell us that their abusers have threatened to kill, threatened to harm or actually harmed their pets as a means of keeping the victim from leaving the relationship," Mr. Baldacci, a Democrat, said. "With this new law, we hope to help remove another tool for emotional and physical violence used by the abuser to exert power and control over their victims."
In 2002, Dr. Ascione said, he interviewed 42 men in prison who had had violent relationships with women and found that half of them said they had hurt or killed pets.
"Police and prosecutors are well aware of the very close link between threats to pets and threats to family members," Maine's public safety commissioner, Michael P. Cantara, said. He cited a 2002 case in which an abusive husband had beaten the family's cats to death, buried them in the backyard and threatened a similar fate for his wife and children.
"To our horror," Mr. Cantara said, "that yard was filled with dead Maine pets."
Article:
New Maine Law Shields Animals in Domestic Violence Cases
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/01/us/01pets.html
By PAM BELLUCK
Susan Walsh told Maine legislators a chilling tale in January. She said she had wanted many times to take her two children and leave her husband, ending a relationship she found frightening and controlling.
But she said she was afraid he would harm the animals on their 32-acre plot called Blessed Be Farm in Ellsworth, Me. In the past, she said in a telephone interview yesterday, he had retaliated against her by running over her blind and deaf border collie named Katydid, shooting two sheep and wringing the necks of her prized turkeys.
"It wasn't just the cats and the dogs I had, it was the sheep and the chickens — I was terrified for their welfare," Ms. Walsh, 50, said. "I knew if I were to leave, he wouldn't hesitate to kill them. He had done it before."
Experts on domestic violence say accounts like that of Ms. Walsh, who is now divorced, are not unusual. They say many men who abuse wives or girlfriends threaten or harm their animals to coerce or control the women.
To address the problem, Maine's governor, John Baldacci, signed a bill yesterday that allows animals to be included in protection orders in domestic violence cases.
"Many national studies on victims of domestic violence tell us that their abusers have threatened to kill, threatened to harm or actually harmed their pets as a means of keeping the victim from leaving the relationship," Mr. Baldacci, a Democrat, said. "With this new law, we hope to help remove another tool for emotional and physical violence used by the abuser to exert power and control over their victims."
Maine is believed to be the first state with such a law. But the issue has captured attention around the country as police departments, domestic-violence programs, animal protection societies and state officials become increasingly aware of a link between domestic violence and animal abuse.
A new program in Columbus, Ohio, takes animals of victims of domestic violence and places them in a women's prison, where the inmates care for them. In Nashville, the city gives such pets a safe haven for up to 30 days. And in St. Louis, the Domestic Violence Pet Assistance Program finds foster homes for the animals.
"There are some batterers who are prone to using coercion and terrorizing tactics who very well know how strongly attached their partner is to the animals in her life," said Frank A. Ascione, a psychologist at Utah State University. "It's the dynamic of preying on the love and affection that women often have for the animals in their lives, who may be their only source of solace, their only source of unconditional love."
In the late 1990's, Dr. Ascione and colleagues interviewed 101 women in shelters for battered women and 120 women who were not victims of domestic violence.
They found that 54 percent of the battered women said their abusers had harmed or killed their animals, compared with 5 percent of women in the other group. Thirty-four percent of the women whose pets had been both threatened and harmed delayed going to the shelters out of concern for their pets.
In 2002, Dr. Ascione said, he interviewed 42 men in prison who had had violent relationships with women and found that half of them said they had hurt or killed pets.
"Police and prosecutors are well aware of the very close link between threats to pets and threats to family members," Maine's public safety commissioner, Michael P. Cantara, said. He cited a 2002 case in which an abusive husband had beaten the family's cats to death, buried them in the backyard and threatened a similar fate for his wife and children.
"To our horror," Mr. Cantara said, "that yard was filled with dead Maine pets."
Karen Days, president of the Columbus Coalition Against Family Violence in Ohio, said of her work at the Columbus city prosecutor's office: "I had a victim who was in my office, and the prosecutor agreed to issue a warrant for the arrest of her partner. But she was just adamant that she be able to go home first and get her dog. When I asked why, she said, 'When I left him before, he started mailing me pieces of my cat to tell me if you don't come back this is what I'm going to continue to do.' "
Ms. Days and others said that battered women without children might be the most attached to their pets. But in homes with children, there are other concerns, Dr. Ascione said.
He said that seeing animals abused made "some kids likely to act out what they may have witnessed," while others "get even more strongly attached to their pets," which can be dangerous if the "children start trying to intervene to protect the animals."
Jill Morris, the public policy director at the National Coalition against Domestic Violence, said that she had not heard of another law like Maine's but that some judges had begun to include animals in protective orders.
Ms. Days said her organization would be lobbying the Ohio Legislature to make penalties for domestic violence stiffer if animal abuse was involved.
Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States, said his organization conducted workshops for police departments, prosecutors and social workers on the problem.
"Oftentimes these situations go on for a long period, say months or years," Mr. Pacelle said. "We really try to spread the word about this."
Ariel Sabar contributed reporting from Augusta, Me., for this article, and Katie Zezima from Boston.
Scientists Cause Additional Suffering to Examine Suffering: Confusing Logic and More Waste of Life and Funds
How freaking stupid is this? “Let’s cause suffering to examine suffering.” Where do these guys stop? Sure, they claim a logic to it, but isn’t it enough to already know that the animals do suffer in the “experiments?” It’s pretty clear from this writing that they already do. So why cause more suffering to study suffering? It’s like these guys just have money to waste.
Here’s a quote from one of the brains behind the study. Wow, what a breakthrough. I bet none of us could have guessed this. What a bunch of jacks:
"For example, a mouse that has undergone a vasectomy would experience a brief period of moderate severity followed by a long period of very mild severity," said Dr Wells.
Wow, give this guy the prize now. You can see them now: “Yes, Dr. if we give this mouse a vasectomy it will cause suffering which will last over time.” “That’s brilliant doctor! You have made a major breakthrough!”
I think they just like giving mice vasectomies.
Article:
Science examines animal suffering
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4877410.stm
By Rebecca Morelle
BBC News science reporter
About 2.85 million animals were used in experiments in 2004
Scientists are carrying out a study to see if it is possible to report levels of suffering experienced by animals during scientific procedures.
The Home Office only issues statistics based on how severe a procedure is expected to be when it is licensed.
The study aims to see if suffering can be assessed and reported after the procedure has taken place.
A report setting out the preliminary findings of the investigation is due to be published.
The work is a collaboration between the Laboratory Animal Science Association (Lasa) and the Animal Procedures Committee (APC).
Levels of severity
Both the House of Lords select committee on animals in scientific procedures and the Nuffield Council for Bioethics have called for greater information to be provided on animal suffering during research.
At present, Home Office annual statistics on animal research detail the number of project licences that have been granted. In addition, each licence is categorised as mild, moderate, substantial, or unclassified (meaning the animal is under anaesthetic). This is based on the likely experience of the "average" animal in the experiment.
But critics say this information is not specific enough, and because each licence is classified before the experiments have taken place, offers no detail about the actual suffering of the animals used.
A working group from Lasa and APC, involving nine research institutions, looked at the feasibility of collecting and reporting information about the levels of severity of animal procedures.
"We looked at whether this data was readily available, if it could be collected easily, put together and then reported," said Dr David Smith, president of Lasa and chair of the working group.
They surveyed the current practices used in animal experiments in the nine establishments. They found the majority of those asked already keep a record of the suffering and severity experienced by individual animals.
The working party then examined ways this data could be usefully organised.
"We looked at a range of different systems to report this information, and concluded that to cover the full range of animal experiments, we need to report both the severity of the procedure and how long the animal spent in the experimental process," explained Dr Dominic Wells, a member of the working group from Imperial College.
"It became very clear to us that in many cases the severity would not be consistent for the whole of the experiment but, rather, would vary over time."
The scientists proposed a "two-grid" system, looking at the intensity of the adverse effects together with their duration.
"For example, a mouse that has undergone a vasectomy would experience a brief period of moderate severity followed by a long period of very mild severity," said Dr Wells.
'Bureaucratic burden'
The report did concede that providing this extra information could increase the bureaucratic burden upon scientists involved in animal research, but suggested there may be ways of reorganising the current system to offset this.
But it also suggested this would increase openness in animal research.
Dr Vicky Robinson, chief executive of the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs), commented:
"The potential for increased administrative burden is a concern and we would like to see this minimised wherever possible. However, scientists have a scientific, ethical and social responsibility to be as open about their work as possible."
Alistair Currie, campaigns director for the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (Buav) said he welcomed bringing more information into the public domain, but warned: "This is only of value if such assessments are conducted accurately and fairly and both experts and the public are allowed to scrutinise and test it."
The scientists involved in the study plan to further refine the proposals and test them on a wider range of organisations. When the study is complete it will be submitted to the Home Office.
Here’s a quote from one of the brains behind the study. Wow, what a breakthrough. I bet none of us could have guessed this. What a bunch of jacks:
"For example, a mouse that has undergone a vasectomy would experience a brief period of moderate severity followed by a long period of very mild severity," said Dr Wells.
Wow, give this guy the prize now. You can see them now: “Yes, Dr. if we give this mouse a vasectomy it will cause suffering which will last over time.” “That’s brilliant doctor! You have made a major breakthrough!”
I think they just like giving mice vasectomies.
Article:
Science examines animal suffering
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4877410.stm
By Rebecca Morelle
BBC News science reporter
About 2.85 million animals were used in experiments in 2004
Scientists are carrying out a study to see if it is possible to report levels of suffering experienced by animals during scientific procedures.
The Home Office only issues statistics based on how severe a procedure is expected to be when it is licensed.
The study aims to see if suffering can be assessed and reported after the procedure has taken place.
A report setting out the preliminary findings of the investigation is due to be published.
The work is a collaboration between the Laboratory Animal Science Association (Lasa) and the Animal Procedures Committee (APC).
Levels of severity
Both the House of Lords select committee on animals in scientific procedures and the Nuffield Council for Bioethics have called for greater information to be provided on animal suffering during research.
At present, Home Office annual statistics on animal research detail the number of project licences that have been granted. In addition, each licence is categorised as mild, moderate, substantial, or unclassified (meaning the animal is under anaesthetic). This is based on the likely experience of the "average" animal in the experiment.
But critics say this information is not specific enough, and because each licence is classified before the experiments have taken place, offers no detail about the actual suffering of the animals used.
A working group from Lasa and APC, involving nine research institutions, looked at the feasibility of collecting and reporting information about the levels of severity of animal procedures.
"We looked at whether this data was readily available, if it could be collected easily, put together and then reported," said Dr David Smith, president of Lasa and chair of the working group.
They surveyed the current practices used in animal experiments in the nine establishments. They found the majority of those asked already keep a record of the suffering and severity experienced by individual animals.
The working party then examined ways this data could be usefully organised.
"We looked at a range of different systems to report this information, and concluded that to cover the full range of animal experiments, we need to report both the severity of the procedure and how long the animal spent in the experimental process," explained Dr Dominic Wells, a member of the working group from Imperial College.
"It became very clear to us that in many cases the severity would not be consistent for the whole of the experiment but, rather, would vary over time."
The scientists proposed a "two-grid" system, looking at the intensity of the adverse effects together with their duration.
"For example, a mouse that has undergone a vasectomy would experience a brief period of moderate severity followed by a long period of very mild severity," said Dr Wells.
'Bureaucratic burden'
The report did concede that providing this extra information could increase the bureaucratic burden upon scientists involved in animal research, but suggested there may be ways of reorganising the current system to offset this.
But it also suggested this would increase openness in animal research.
Dr Vicky Robinson, chief executive of the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs), commented:
"The potential for increased administrative burden is a concern and we would like to see this minimised wherever possible. However, scientists have a scientific, ethical and social responsibility to be as open about their work as possible."
Alistair Currie, campaigns director for the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (Buav) said he welcomed bringing more information into the public domain, but warned: "This is only of value if such assessments are conducted accurately and fairly and both experts and the public are allowed to scrutinise and test it."
The scientists involved in the study plan to further refine the proposals and test them on a wider range of organisations. When the study is complete it will be submitted to the Home Office.
National Park Service in Point Reyes, California Plans to Shoot Fallow Deer
Again, they always default to the kill. In the background await the blood thirsty sharp shooters that would probably kill anything for the right price.
Article:
Park's Plan to Shoot Deer Has Critics Up in Arms
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-deer
31mar31,1,5295673.story?coll=la-headlines-california
By Julie Cart
Times Staff Writer
March 31, 2006
Nibbling placidly at the edge of a verdant meadow, the dappled brown and ghostly white deer with outsized, moose-like antlers are so popular they rival the spectacular bluffs and coastal valleys as a tourist draw.
But the National Park Service says the estimated 1,100 fallow deer, native to the Mediterranean and Asia Minor, and their exotic brethren the spotted axis deer, originally from India and Sri Lanka, are unwelcome pests that must be eradicated to protect Point Reyes' herd of native blacktail deer and tule elk.
The voracious deer are consuming so much forage, officials say, that they threaten to eventually starve the native animals.
A park service draft plan calls for hiring sharpshooters to kill male and female deer and using an experimental contraceptive drug on some females. Officials say they expect to eliminate all the fallow and axis deer by 2020.
The plan, expected to be finalized in coming weeks, has outraged some. Opponents are circulating petitions and picketing the park, and they have enlisted one of the world's foremost wild animal advocates — British primatologist Jane Goodall — to their cause. In a letter last year to Point Reyes Supt. Don Neubacher, Goodall opposed the lethal removal of the deer.
But if left unchecked, park service officials say, the deer will soon overrun the national seashore and expand into other parts of Marin County and beyond.
The name "fallow" is misleading. The imported deer are such prodigious breeders that they can double their population every three years, wildlife managers say. And biologists here report that they have discovered 4-month-old axis deer fawns pregnant.
Officials also say the deer carry Johne's disease, an intestinal disorder potentially fatal to native deer and elk.
Male fallow deer establish areas known as leks during mating season, using their hoofs and antlers to clear large areas of vegetation. When regrowth occurs, nonnative species often take the place of native plants, biologists say. More than a hundred leks have been counted in the Bear Valley region of the park.
The deer are prodigious eaters — the two nonnative species consume more than one ton of forage a day and out-compete native animals for food. Scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey estimate that the blacktail deer herd has decreased by about half since the seashore was established in 1962.
Some opponents of the eradication plan acknowledge that the growing numbers of imported deer are causing problems but say that the park service proposal is too extreme.
"The populations are obviously growing, definitely to the point that anyone with any sense knows we can't allow them to grow exponentially," said Trinka Marris, who heads a local group opposing the plan. "Where we part ways is the method to deal with it. We think they should be managed, not shot. The deer have been here longer than the park. So a lot of residents in west Marin are quite attached to them. It's the main focal point for visitors, to see the deer."
Fallow and axis deer freely roamed the headlands here when the park service purchased a former cattle ranch and established the 71,000-acre national seashore. The agency inherited the exotic deer, descendants of San Francisco Zoo animals brought in by the former landowner in the 1940s for hunting.
Without hunting and a large predator base, the exotic breeds are now so well established that they are easier to spot than the native deer and elk. Visitors often marvel at the large, fuzzy antlers of male fallow deer.
On a recent day, a group of hikers in Bear Valley stopped to gawk at a small herd of fallow deer lounging at Divide Meadow. The hikers were surprised to hear of the park service's plans for the animals, which they said should be granted an eviction exemption based on their loveliness.
"I have been taken by these magnificent, beautiful animals," said Richard Kirschman, who lives near Point Reyes and opposes the eradication plan. "When I see a big white deer come out of the fog, they look like a unicorn."
Park service officials say their first responsibility is to protect and maintain the habitat of native plants and animals. Such ecosystems are disappearing across the West as a result of fire, road building, livestock grazing, oil and gas drilling and new development.
All federal land management agencies have programs to eradicate nonnative plants and animals. The park service in California is killing feral pigs in the Channel Islands, and the Bureau of Land Management is struggling to stem the growth of water-guzzling tamarisk plants in the Mojave Desert. The challenge to effective management arises, as it has at Point Reyes, when eradication involves killing wild animals to which the public has grown attached.
This is the second time the park service has culled animals at Point Reyes. For almost two decades beginning in 1976, hunters hired by the park service shot and killed 2,700 deer, according to John Dell'Osso, Point Reyes' spokesman. Public outrage forced officials to end the program in 1994.
"Of course there's emotion wrapped up in it, and no one wants to hurt animals, whether it's native or nonnative. It's terribly wrenching to people," said Gordon Bennett, chairman of the Marin County chapter of the Sierra Club, which supports the park service. "We have nothing against the deer, it's just that they belong in zoos and private refuges, not on land that is supported by the taxpayers."
But local opponents say they have established a sound scientific case for retaining the exotic deer and have collected statements from prominent elk and deer experts concluding, among other things, that there is no compelling evidence that the population explosion the park service anticipates will actually happen.
"We are a concerned, well-educated group of people, who, I suppose, once in a while go too far," Kirschman said. "When I found out that the park's plan was to exterminate them, I was quite horrified. I understand that wild animals need their population managed. But this is something else. I'm reaching for anything I can. I'm trying to throw a monkey wrench in their plans."
In the view of park service biologist Natalie Gates, the public debate has become too emotional. The admittedly grisly prospect of a deer slaughter has blinded people to the necessity of stemming an ecosystem collapse, she says.
"It's a difficult situation, but it's not a difficult ethical decision, not at all," she said. "We are talking about an entire ecosystem. We are losing animals left and right now. It's not about the elk. We're talking about fawns dying from starvation, destroying plants and damaging water systems. If we were in any other part of the country this wouldn't be a problem. We are west Marin County. You can't make scientific decisions with emotion. That's how bad decisions are made."
Article:
Park's Plan to Shoot Deer Has Critics Up in Arms
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-deer
31mar31,1,5295673.story?coll=la-headlines-california
By Julie Cart
Times Staff Writer
March 31, 2006
Nibbling placidly at the edge of a verdant meadow, the dappled brown and ghostly white deer with outsized, moose-like antlers are so popular they rival the spectacular bluffs and coastal valleys as a tourist draw.
But the National Park Service says the estimated 1,100 fallow deer, native to the Mediterranean and Asia Minor, and their exotic brethren the spotted axis deer, originally from India and Sri Lanka, are unwelcome pests that must be eradicated to protect Point Reyes' herd of native blacktail deer and tule elk.
The voracious deer are consuming so much forage, officials say, that they threaten to eventually starve the native animals.
A park service draft plan calls for hiring sharpshooters to kill male and female deer and using an experimental contraceptive drug on some females. Officials say they expect to eliminate all the fallow and axis deer by 2020.
The plan, expected to be finalized in coming weeks, has outraged some. Opponents are circulating petitions and picketing the park, and they have enlisted one of the world's foremost wild animal advocates — British primatologist Jane Goodall — to their cause. In a letter last year to Point Reyes Supt. Don Neubacher, Goodall opposed the lethal removal of the deer.
But if left unchecked, park service officials say, the deer will soon overrun the national seashore and expand into other parts of Marin County and beyond.
The name "fallow" is misleading. The imported deer are such prodigious breeders that they can double their population every three years, wildlife managers say. And biologists here report that they have discovered 4-month-old axis deer fawns pregnant.
Officials also say the deer carry Johne's disease, an intestinal disorder potentially fatal to native deer and elk.
Male fallow deer establish areas known as leks during mating season, using their hoofs and antlers to clear large areas of vegetation. When regrowth occurs, nonnative species often take the place of native plants, biologists say. More than a hundred leks have been counted in the Bear Valley region of the park.
The deer are prodigious eaters — the two nonnative species consume more than one ton of forage a day and out-compete native animals for food. Scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey estimate that the blacktail deer herd has decreased by about half since the seashore was established in 1962.
Some opponents of the eradication plan acknowledge that the growing numbers of imported deer are causing problems but say that the park service proposal is too extreme.
"The populations are obviously growing, definitely to the point that anyone with any sense knows we can't allow them to grow exponentially," said Trinka Marris, who heads a local group opposing the plan. "Where we part ways is the method to deal with it. We think they should be managed, not shot. The deer have been here longer than the park. So a lot of residents in west Marin are quite attached to them. It's the main focal point for visitors, to see the deer."
Fallow and axis deer freely roamed the headlands here when the park service purchased a former cattle ranch and established the 71,000-acre national seashore. The agency inherited the exotic deer, descendants of San Francisco Zoo animals brought in by the former landowner in the 1940s for hunting.
Without hunting and a large predator base, the exotic breeds are now so well established that they are easier to spot than the native deer and elk. Visitors often marvel at the large, fuzzy antlers of male fallow deer.
On a recent day, a group of hikers in Bear Valley stopped to gawk at a small herd of fallow deer lounging at Divide Meadow. The hikers were surprised to hear of the park service's plans for the animals, which they said should be granted an eviction exemption based on their loveliness.
"I have been taken by these magnificent, beautiful animals," said Richard Kirschman, who lives near Point Reyes and opposes the eradication plan. "When I see a big white deer come out of the fog, they look like a unicorn."
Park service officials say their first responsibility is to protect and maintain the habitat of native plants and animals. Such ecosystems are disappearing across the West as a result of fire, road building, livestock grazing, oil and gas drilling and new development.
All federal land management agencies have programs to eradicate nonnative plants and animals. The park service in California is killing feral pigs in the Channel Islands, and the Bureau of Land Management is struggling to stem the growth of water-guzzling tamarisk plants in the Mojave Desert. The challenge to effective management arises, as it has at Point Reyes, when eradication involves killing wild animals to which the public has grown attached.
This is the second time the park service has culled animals at Point Reyes. For almost two decades beginning in 1976, hunters hired by the park service shot and killed 2,700 deer, according to John Dell'Osso, Point Reyes' spokesman. Public outrage forced officials to end the program in 1994.
"Of course there's emotion wrapped up in it, and no one wants to hurt animals, whether it's native or nonnative. It's terribly wrenching to people," said Gordon Bennett, chairman of the Marin County chapter of the Sierra Club, which supports the park service. "We have nothing against the deer, it's just that they belong in zoos and private refuges, not on land that is supported by the taxpayers."
But local opponents say they have established a sound scientific case for retaining the exotic deer and have collected statements from prominent elk and deer experts concluding, among other things, that there is no compelling evidence that the population explosion the park service anticipates will actually happen.
"We are a concerned, well-educated group of people, who, I suppose, once in a while go too far," Kirschman said. "When I found out that the park's plan was to exterminate them, I was quite horrified. I understand that wild animals need their population managed. But this is something else. I'm reaching for anything I can. I'm trying to throw a monkey wrench in their plans."
In the view of park service biologist Natalie Gates, the public debate has become too emotional. The admittedly grisly prospect of a deer slaughter has blinded people to the necessity of stemming an ecosystem collapse, she says.
"It's a difficult situation, but it's not a difficult ethical decision, not at all," she said. "We are talking about an entire ecosystem. We are losing animals left and right now. It's not about the elk. We're talking about fawns dying from starvation, destroying plants and damaging water systems. If we were in any other part of the country this wouldn't be a problem. We are west Marin County. You can't make scientific decisions with emotion. That's how bad decisions are made."
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Humane Society of the United States Denied Permit to Observe Second Round of Canadian Baby Seal Slaughters: Will Take Corrupt Canadian Govt. to Court
This is the first time this has happened. Things have become so corrupt and sneaky via the Canadian government that a group will now have to expend resources to defend their constitutional rights. It really shows how closely the government is tied to the Seal slaughter. They’re actually trying to prevent the world from seeing the truth.
A few quotes from the article below.
“On Monday, the society learned that its applications for renewed permits to observe the second phase of the hunt, expected to get underway next week off the north shores of Newfoundland and Labrador, had been denied.”
"The Department of Fisheries and Oceans and Loyola Hearn is trying to hide the cruelty that they know goes on in this slaughter every single year," Aldworth said.
"The only disruption that occurs to the commercial seal hunt is when images of it are broadcast around the world and the global markets for seal products close, and that is why Loyola Hearn wants to bar observation of this hunt."
Article:
U.S. animal-rights group heading to court after observer permits denied
http://news.yahoo.com/s/cpress/20060403/
ca_pr_on_na/seal_hunt_observers_4
LAUREN LA ROSE Mon Apr 3, 6:23 PM ET
TORONTO (CP) - Claims that observers interfered with the East Coast seal hunt are a "setup" by Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn and his ministry to protect the practice and the industry from public scrutiny, a leading U.S. animal-rights group charged Monday.
The Humane Society of the United States held a news conference to denounce the treatment of its personnel by department officials while they were observing the seal hunt on the Gulf of St. Lawrence two weeks ago.
Rebecca Aldworth, the group's Canadian wildlife issues director, accused Hearn and the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans of waging a campaign to discredit their efforts.
"The Department of Fisheries and Oceans and Loyola Hearn is trying to hide the cruelty that they know goes on in this slaughter every single year," Aldworth said.
"The only disruption that occurs to the commercial seal hunt is when images of it are broadcast around the world and the global markets for seal products close, and that is why Loyola Hearn wants to bar observation of this hunt."
Three of the group's members, including Aldworth, were among five observers banned from the hunt early last week after they were arrested March 26 when their inflatable boat apparently got too close to a sealing vessel in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
It's believed to be the first time a fisheries minister has exercised that authority.
On Monday, the society learned that its applications for renewed permits to observe the second phase of the hunt, expected to get underway next week off the north shores of Newfoundland and Labrador, had been denied.
Aldworth said the society will seek an injunction to allow it to continue watching the hunt.
"All this does is essentially remove our most experienced people from the operation and I think that puts our observers at risk," she said.
"I think that's reckless on the part of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans."
Department spokesman Phil Jenkins denied that the U.S. Humane Society was being targeted, insisting that officials apply equal standards to observers and sealers to ensure they adhere to the law.
"Our enforcement is there to make sure that the hunt is carried on orderly and safely and within the regulations, and it makes no distinction between who might be violating or allegedly violating a regulation," Jenkins said.
"These regulations apply evenly to observers and to sealers."
Jenkins refused to talk about the ongoing investigation, which is being led by the RCMP and Fisheries Department officials.
Steve Outhouse, a spokesman for Hearn, said last week that as long as the five observers, including two foreign journalists, are under investigation, the permits they hold will not be renewed.
If those arrested are charged and convicted, they would be banned from the ice for five years, he added.
At the news conference, Aldworth showed video of the incident in question, which she said clearly shows the inflatable boats of the observers remaining more than 10 metres away from the sealing vessels, as is required by law.
It wouldn't be of any benefit to the group to interfere in a way that would cause them to forfeit their observer permits, she added. "It's not in our interest to lose our permits."
Aldworth also said the group's right to observe in public spaces is protected under the Charter, making permits unnecessary and the observation ban a violation of constitutional rights.
This year's hunt has been targeted by high-profile celebrities like Paul McCartney, Brigitte Bardot and Pamela Anderson in recent weeks, calling on Canada to end the centuries-old practice.
A few quotes from the article below.
“On Monday, the society learned that its applications for renewed permits to observe the second phase of the hunt, expected to get underway next week off the north shores of Newfoundland and Labrador, had been denied.”
"The Department of Fisheries and Oceans and Loyola Hearn is trying to hide the cruelty that they know goes on in this slaughter every single year," Aldworth said.
"The only disruption that occurs to the commercial seal hunt is when images of it are broadcast around the world and the global markets for seal products close, and that is why Loyola Hearn wants to bar observation of this hunt."
Article:
U.S. animal-rights group heading to court after observer permits denied
http://news.yahoo.com/s/cpress/20060403/
ca_pr_on_na/seal_hunt_observers_4
LAUREN LA ROSE Mon Apr 3, 6:23 PM ET
TORONTO (CP) - Claims that observers interfered with the East Coast seal hunt are a "setup" by Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn and his ministry to protect the practice and the industry from public scrutiny, a leading U.S. animal-rights group charged Monday.
The Humane Society of the United States held a news conference to denounce the treatment of its personnel by department officials while they were observing the seal hunt on the Gulf of St. Lawrence two weeks ago.
Rebecca Aldworth, the group's Canadian wildlife issues director, accused Hearn and the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans of waging a campaign to discredit their efforts.
"The Department of Fisheries and Oceans and Loyola Hearn is trying to hide the cruelty that they know goes on in this slaughter every single year," Aldworth said.
"The only disruption that occurs to the commercial seal hunt is when images of it are broadcast around the world and the global markets for seal products close, and that is why Loyola Hearn wants to bar observation of this hunt."
Three of the group's members, including Aldworth, were among five observers banned from the hunt early last week after they were arrested March 26 when their inflatable boat apparently got too close to a sealing vessel in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
It's believed to be the first time a fisheries minister has exercised that authority.
On Monday, the society learned that its applications for renewed permits to observe the second phase of the hunt, expected to get underway next week off the north shores of Newfoundland and Labrador, had been denied.
Aldworth said the society will seek an injunction to allow it to continue watching the hunt.
"All this does is essentially remove our most experienced people from the operation and I think that puts our observers at risk," she said.
"I think that's reckless on the part of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans."
Department spokesman Phil Jenkins denied that the U.S. Humane Society was being targeted, insisting that officials apply equal standards to observers and sealers to ensure they adhere to the law.
"Our enforcement is there to make sure that the hunt is carried on orderly and safely and within the regulations, and it makes no distinction between who might be violating or allegedly violating a regulation," Jenkins said.
"These regulations apply evenly to observers and to sealers."
Jenkins refused to talk about the ongoing investigation, which is being led by the RCMP and Fisheries Department officials.
Steve Outhouse, a spokesman for Hearn, said last week that as long as the five observers, including two foreign journalists, are under investigation, the permits they hold will not be renewed.
If those arrested are charged and convicted, they would be banned from the ice for five years, he added.
At the news conference, Aldworth showed video of the incident in question, which she said clearly shows the inflatable boats of the observers remaining more than 10 metres away from the sealing vessels, as is required by law.
It wouldn't be of any benefit to the group to interfere in a way that would cause them to forfeit their observer permits, she added. "It's not in our interest to lose our permits."
Aldworth also said the group's right to observe in public spaces is protected under the Charter, making permits unnecessary and the observation ban a violation of constitutional rights.
This year's hunt has been targeted by high-profile celebrities like Paul McCartney, Brigitte Bardot and Pamela Anderson in recent weeks, calling on Canada to end the centuries-old practice.
Costco Removes Seal Oil Capsules From Their St. John's, Newfoundland Canada Warehouse Location: Corrupt Canadian Government Threatens With Boycott
From another group. A very interesting story. A great success as well. If you would like to see this continue, see below for simple actions.
My name is Steve Thompson and I am a Sea Shepherd volunteer based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
The email message noted below is an especially personal one for me. I was directly involved in the negotiations with Costco to get them to remove seal oil capsules from their shelves in St. John's, Newfoundland and now the provincial government of Newfoundland and the federal government are fighting back: http://www.cbc.ca/nl/story/nf_costco_williams_20060331.html This is an unbelievable situation. Government should exist for one purpose - to govern, not to pick sides and not to promote private business enterprises in Canada and especially not at the expense of the taxpayer.
If the images of 12 day old seals being bludgeoned with bloody clubs bothers you then now is the time to act and you don't have to travel to the ice floes to be effective. Write to Costco and thank them for their compassionate and morally correct decision and if you are a Costco member it would be a good idea to include this information in your letter. The details as to how to conveniently do this via email are mentioned below.
The old adage of voting with your dollars presently could not be truer, if you care about the seals choose to shop at locations that support your way of thinking, do business with the compassionate.
SEND A MESSAGE OF SUPPORT TO COSTCO
FOR BANNING SEAL OIL CAPSULES
https://www.costco.com/CustomerService/EmailUs.aspx?secure=1
Costco Has pulled Seal Oil capsules from their shelf in their Newfoundland outlets. This is a great victory for us.
The Premier of Newfoundland is calling for boycott of Costco in Newfoundland and the Canadian Minister of Fisheries is demanding a meeting with Costco Executives to try and reverse the decision.
Apparently Costco has received about 150 protest messages from pro-sealers.
We need to send a message to Costco that we applaud this decision.
Please take the time to send a message or/and if you can call your local Costco to thank-them.
You can send a message by clicking here
https://www.costco.com/CustomerService/EmailUs.aspx?secure=1
My name is Steve Thompson and I am a Sea Shepherd volunteer based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
The email message noted below is an especially personal one for me. I was directly involved in the negotiations with Costco to get them to remove seal oil capsules from their shelves in St. John's, Newfoundland and now the provincial government of Newfoundland and the federal government are fighting back: http://www.cbc.ca/nl/story/nf_costco_williams_20060331.html This is an unbelievable situation. Government should exist for one purpose - to govern, not to pick sides and not to promote private business enterprises in Canada and especially not at the expense of the taxpayer.
If the images of 12 day old seals being bludgeoned with bloody clubs bothers you then now is the time to act and you don't have to travel to the ice floes to be effective. Write to Costco and thank them for their compassionate and morally correct decision and if you are a Costco member it would be a good idea to include this information in your letter. The details as to how to conveniently do this via email are mentioned below.
The old adage of voting with your dollars presently could not be truer, if you care about the seals choose to shop at locations that support your way of thinking, do business with the compassionate.
SEND A MESSAGE OF SUPPORT TO COSTCO
FOR BANNING SEAL OIL CAPSULES
https://www.costco.com/CustomerService/EmailUs.aspx?secure=1
Costco Has pulled Seal Oil capsules from their shelf in their Newfoundland outlets. This is a great victory for us.
The Premier of Newfoundland is calling for boycott of Costco in Newfoundland and the Canadian Minister of Fisheries is demanding a meeting with Costco Executives to try and reverse the decision.
Apparently Costco has received about 150 protest messages from pro-sealers.
We need to send a message to Costco that we applaud this decision.
Please take the time to send a message or/and if you can call your local Costco to thank-them.
You can send a message by clicking here
https://www.costco.com/CustomerService/EmailUs.aspx?secure=1
Two Hindu Organizations Are Supporting A Hare Krishna Couple's Fight To Keep Cows In The Village Of Angelica, New York
Article:
Hindu groups support Hare Krishna couple's fight to keep cows
http://www.wlbt.com
BUFFALO, N.Y. Two Hindu organizations are supporting a Hare Krishna couple's fight to keep cows in the village of Angelica, New York.
The Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments Wednesday on whether an injunction that forced Linda and Stephen Voith to move their animals is valid.
The Voiths say the cows are integral to the practice of their religion, which protects and celebrates cows. The village says local laws prohibit keeping farm animals.
The Hindu American Foundation and World Hindu Council have weighed in on the Voiths' behalf.
The Voiths say they believe they've been targeted because their treatment of cows as members of the family does not sit well in an agricultural area with beef and dairy farms.
Hindu groups support Hare Krishna couple's fight to keep cows
http://www.wlbt.com
BUFFALO, N.Y. Two Hindu organizations are supporting a Hare Krishna couple's fight to keep cows in the village of Angelica, New York.
The Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments Wednesday on whether an injunction that forced Linda and Stephen Voith to move their animals is valid.
The Voiths say the cows are integral to the practice of their religion, which protects and celebrates cows. The village says local laws prohibit keeping farm animals.
The Hindu American Foundation and World Hindu Council have weighed in on the Voiths' behalf.
The Voiths say they believe they've been targeted because their treatment of cows as members of the family does not sit well in an agricultural area with beef and dairy farms.
Somali Animal Rights Community Looks to Save Many Dogs
Good to see a country like Somali contains a group committed to animal rights.
Article:
Somali Animal Rights Community saves many dogs
http://shabellenews.com/news/ne784.htm
Mogadishu 03 April, 06 ( Sh.M.Network) Authorities of lower shabelle region in southern Somalia have prevented an action aimed to poison many dogs, after officials in Marka, capital town of lower Shabelle region, had talks with Somali animal rights community (Somarco) officials.
The protection action for hundreds of dogs come as the lower Shabelle region authorities had consulted with Somarco officials to avert risks from animal dogs.
The head of Somarco Heibe Dahir Barale, said the talks between his team and lower Shabelle region authorities ended in a good mood.
Mr Heibe thanked Marka authorities for their efforts to rescue animals in Somalia in which he said every one should give care to Somali animals.
He appealed for all Somali community in everywhere in the country to save Somali animals, those held in severe life catastrophe.
After the meeting, commander of lower shabelle region troops Norie Ali Farah stressed that his administration would take a military action against any one who tries to put Somalia animals in risk.
It is for the first time that lower Shabelle region authorities met with Somali Animal Rights Community (Somarco)
Article:
Somali Animal Rights Community saves many dogs
http://shabellenews.com/news/ne784.htm
Mogadishu 03 April, 06 ( Sh.M.Network) Authorities of lower shabelle region in southern Somalia have prevented an action aimed to poison many dogs, after officials in Marka, capital town of lower Shabelle region, had talks with Somali animal rights community (Somarco) officials.
The protection action for hundreds of dogs come as the lower Shabelle region authorities had consulted with Somarco officials to avert risks from animal dogs.
The head of Somarco Heibe Dahir Barale, said the talks between his team and lower Shabelle region authorities ended in a good mood.
Mr Heibe thanked Marka authorities for their efforts to rescue animals in Somalia in which he said every one should give care to Somali animals.
He appealed for all Somali community in everywhere in the country to save Somali animals, those held in severe life catastrophe.
After the meeting, commander of lower shabelle region troops Norie Ali Farah stressed that his administration would take a military action against any one who tries to put Somalia animals in risk.
It is for the first time that lower Shabelle region authorities met with Somali Animal Rights Community (Somarco)
Monday, April 03, 2006
Pictures of Dogs and Cats Who Were Victims of Hurricane Katrina that Will be Killed Tomorrow if Not Adopted: Can You Help?
From another group. If you can help, please do so. Or, lives will be wasted.
There's a few things you can do. One, can you adopt one? If so, go through www.petfinder.org or contact Debbie, rescuerealtor@cox.net or Jennifer Rohrbach at whippetdogs@yahoo.com .
You can also give money to a shelter or group that will travel out there to save some. Instructions are below or again, contact Debbie, rescuerealtor@cox.net
or Jennifer Rohrbach at whippetdogs@yahoo.com
Or, pass along this informatics to a shelter or group that you think will put up funds to adopt a few. Again, for more information contact Debbie, rescuerealtor@cox.net
or Jennifer Rohrbach at whippetdogs@yahoo.com
IF YOU CAN HELP, CONTACT:
Debbie, rescuerealtor@cox.net
or Jennifer Rohrbach at whippetdogs@yahoo.com
VIEW ANIMALS:
http://www.petfinder.org/pet.cgi?action=1&pet.Shelterid=LA40&preview=1
Unless held over, most of these animals will die tomorrow morning. It is
likely that the puppies, and perhaps a couple others will be held, but I
walked through stray hold Thursday and it was packed. We had only 417 hits
on the Petfinder site yesterday. I cannot recall in the last 2 years so few
hits, and we cannot save these lives with so little interest. So I am
begging, please forward to any legit rescue group who has the ability to be
there TODAY, or to anyone who will provide a good home to these animals who
can get there TODAY. They will not hold for you or ship, so please don't
call and ask.
If you can financially contribute to a rescue group who is within driving
distance to encourage them to take an animal, please do, realizing that it
can cost as much as $500 if the animal has heartworms and needs
boarding...more if the dog is dysplastic, etc. So, while each and every
donation is appreciated no matter how small, please understand how much it
costs to get an animal out of the shelter and please understand if a local
rescue just can't do it right now. It is the same ones each week who save
these animals, and they are past full and broke.
If you are not familiar with Roicy Duhon Animal Control, it is a rabies
control facility in Lafayette parish, a parish that has grown by about
30,000 due to the hurricanes. They only have 12 adoption kennels for dogs
and limited cat cages. They kill by gas twice a week because of space
limitations. They are rabies control vs. adoption, meaning their function is
to get the strays off the street and control disease, not to adopt them out.
The Lafayette Consolidated Government risk manager will allow no foster or
volunteer program. Many in the parish are totally unaware of this facility,
or that it is an euthanizing facility, or that time can be so short.
Strays are held a minimum 5 days, then go to adoption if deemed
adoptable...keeping in mind there are only 12 adoption dog kennels, so that
means some might not even get a chance if they are older, etc. Animals put
out on Friday afternoon can be euthanized as early as Tuesday AM, meaning
they get 1.5 days. Those being put up for adoption on Tuesday afternoon, can
be euthanized as early as Friday morning, meaning they get 2.5 days. Please
do not direct your complaints to the staff because they are a great group of
people with a very small building and a very limited budget.
ARNO (Animal Rescue New Orleans) has committed to take ALL Roicy animals
that we can get fostered. They will pay vet bills. This will be a test with
Roicy in Lafayette and St John's in Laplace, because we are both tiny
facilities with a dozen adoption kennels. If it works, their goal will be do
this with all kill shelters in the state eventually and move the animals
through a network of rescue orgs throughout the country to eliminate the
killing of unwanted animals in the state due to space constraints.
ARNO is applying for funding from HSUS and have a critical meeting this week
with HSUS representatives who will be down inspecting their operations. They
estimate foster time to be up to 6 weeks. These animals would have to be
isolated from any personal pets for a period of 10 days. Your personal pets
would also have to be UPD on shots.
Unfortunately, I have found very little local interest in Lafayette in
helping the Roicy animals. This is sad but true. With the exception of a
select few local rescue groups who continue to pull from Roicy, most support
comes from out of town. I have trouble finding someone to hold a dog on
their porch for 3 hrs, much less foster for 6 weeks. I am begging that the
locals step up to the plate and make a place for one animal to make this
work. While I appreciate the offers from across the country to foster, this
must be on the state and local level. ARNO wants to change this state, but
needs the help of locals to do it.
IF YOU CAN HELP, CONTACT:
Debbie, rescuerealtor@cox.net
or Jennifer Rohrbach at whippetdogs@yahoo.com
http://www.petfinder.org/pet.cgi?action=2&pet=6034660&adTarget=&
;SessionID=443121b16123cad5-app4&display=&preview=1&row=0&tm
pl=&stat=
http://www.petfinder.org/pet.cgi?action=2&pet=6034662&adTarget=&;
SessionID=443121b16123cad5-app4&display=&preview=1&row=0&tmp
l=&stat=
http://www.petfinder.org/pet.cgi?action=2&pet=6034667&adTarget=&
;SessionID=443121b16123cad5-app4&display=&preview=1&row=0&tm
pl=&stat=
http://www.petfinder.org/pet.cgi?action=2&pet=6034773&adTarget=&;
SessionID=443121b16123cad5-app4&display=&preview=1&row=0&tmp
l=&stat=
http://www.petfinder.org/pet.cgi?action=2&pet=6034791&adTarget=&
;SessionID=443121b16123cad5-app4&display=&preview=1&row=0&tm
pl=&stat=
http://www.petfinder.org/pet.cgi?action=2&pet=6034810&adTarget=&
;SessionID=443121b16123cad5-app4&display=&preview=1&row=0&tm
pl=&stat=
http://www.petfinder.org/pet.cgi?action=2&pet=6020461&adTarget=&;
SessionID=443121b16123cad5-app4&display=&preview=1&row=0&tmp
l=&stat=
http://www.petfinder.org/pet.cgi?action=2&pet=6034859&adTarget=&;
SessionID=443121b16123cad5-app4&display=&preview=1&row=0&tmp
l=&stat=
http://www.petfinder.org/pet.cgi?action=2&pet=6034887&adTarget=&
;SessionID=443121b16123cad5-app4&display=&preview=1&row=0&tm
pl=&stat=
http://www.petfinder.org/pet.cgi?action=2&pet=6034932&adTarget=&;
SessionID=443121b16123cad5-app4&display=&preview=1&row=0&tmp
l=&stat=
http://www.petfinder.org/pet.cgi?action=2&pet=6034953&adTarget=&;
SessionID=443121b16123cad5-app4&display=&preview=1&row=0&tmp
l=&stat=
http://www.petfinder.org/pet.cgi?action=2&pet=6034969&adTarget=&;
SessionID=443121b16123cad5-app4&display=&preview=1&row=0&tmp
l=&stat=
http://www.petfinder.org/pet.cgi?action=2&pet=6034989&adTarget=&
;SessionID=443121b16123cad5-app4&display=&preview=1&row=0&tm
pl=&stat=
http://www.petfinder.org/pet.cgi?action=2&pet=6034998&adTarget=&;
SessionID=443121b16123cad5-app4&display=&preview=1&row=0&tmp
l=&stat=
http://www.petfinder.org/pet.cgi?action=2&pet=6035013&adTarget=&;
SessionID=443121b16123cad5-app4&display=&preview=1&row=0&tmp
l=&stat=
Canadian Government Attempts to Hide the Brutal Truth of the Canadian Baby Seal Slaughter: Bans Activists from Observing the Horror
As I’ve said before, like in all countries, the government is always in bed with money. In this case, even though it’s the activists who are being harassed by the brutal killers the government is targeting the activists and propping up the killers.
I’d like to ask them: if you have nothing to hide, then why are you going to extreme lengths to actually ban people from places they have a right to be? Guess they know what’s going on is not acceptable to normal people.
For more on the Canadian Baby Seal Slaughter visit: http://www.harpseals.org/index.html
Article:
Animal-rights activists banned from observing seal hunt
http://www.theworldlink.com/articles/2006/04/01/
news/news09040106.txt
TORONTO (AP) - Canada's fisheries minister said on Friday that he has banned five animal rights activists from observing the hotly debated seal hunt off the Atlantic Ocean while they are under investigation for allegedly trying to disrupt the annual harvest.
The activists countered that they had been threatened and abused by sealers during the hunt, which began last weekend, and called the indefinite ban against them an injustice meant to hide the cruel realities of the hunt from the public.
Fisheries and Oceans Minister Loyola Hearn said the government would not distribute permits to anyone who might jeopardize the safety of the hunt by confronting the sealers.
“If you step over that line and try to interfere in any way with the hunt, then you can be arrested and charged, as people were last week,” Hearn told reporters in St. Johns, Newfoundland.
The activists, whose observer permits were revoked after their arrests last Sunday, are members of the Humane Society of the United States. Steve Outhouse, a spokesman for Hearn, said the activists got too close to sealers on an ice floe in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Observers of the hunt - typically activists and journalists - must remain at least 30 feet from the fishermen, who kill the seal pups with ice picks or a bullet to the brain.
“While they're under investigation, they won't be allowed to go back out,” Outhouse said. “If there are no charges laid, that would presumably mean that they are innocent and can reapply again for permits.”
I’d like to ask them: if you have nothing to hide, then why are you going to extreme lengths to actually ban people from places they have a right to be? Guess they know what’s going on is not acceptable to normal people.
For more on the Canadian Baby Seal Slaughter visit: http://www.harpseals.org/index.html
Article:
Animal-rights activists banned from observing seal hunt
http://www.theworldlink.com/articles/2006/04/01/
news/news09040106.txt
TORONTO (AP) - Canada's fisheries minister said on Friday that he has banned five animal rights activists from observing the hotly debated seal hunt off the Atlantic Ocean while they are under investigation for allegedly trying to disrupt the annual harvest.
The activists countered that they had been threatened and abused by sealers during the hunt, which began last weekend, and called the indefinite ban against them an injustice meant to hide the cruel realities of the hunt from the public.
Fisheries and Oceans Minister Loyola Hearn said the government would not distribute permits to anyone who might jeopardize the safety of the hunt by confronting the sealers.
“If you step over that line and try to interfere in any way with the hunt, then you can be arrested and charged, as people were last week,” Hearn told reporters in St. Johns, Newfoundland.
The activists, whose observer permits were revoked after their arrests last Sunday, are members of the Humane Society of the United States. Steve Outhouse, a spokesman for Hearn, said the activists got too close to sealers on an ice floe in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Observers of the hunt - typically activists and journalists - must remain at least 30 feet from the fishermen, who kill the seal pups with ice picks or a bullet to the brain.
“While they're under investigation, they won't be allowed to go back out,” Outhouse said. “If there are no charges laid, that would presumably mean that they are innocent and can reapply again for permits.”
Misleading "Animal Care Certified" Logo Found on Eggs Will be Off Egg Cartons on Store Shelves Nationwide: Deceptive Business Practice Finally Exposed
A huge victory. Now you can support this effort or not, but no matter your stance, no one should support deceptive business practices. This is what occurred here. Surprisingly, the government actually agreed. You’ll also want to visit EggIndustry.com to learn the truth behind eggs.
Article:
The Misleading "Animal Care Certified" Logo is Going, Going...Gone!
March 31, 2006, marks the last day the egg industry could advertise this deceptive logo
Last fall
(http://ca.cok.net/cgi-local/dada/mail.cgi?flavor=archive
&id=20051004082330&list=ca),
told you that the Federal Trade Commission announced that as of April 1, 2006, the United Egg Producers' misleading "Animal Care Certified" logo will be gone from egg cartons on store shelves nationwide. This landmark victory came two years after Compassion Over Killing launched our campaign to put an end the egg industry's national public relations scam that misled consumers concerned about animal cruelty. Consumers should now expect to find an alternative logo reading "United Egg Producers Certified."
Read our victory announcement and campaign timeline to learn more about our efforts. (http://www.cok.net/camp/acc/)
Look for the logo! If you find egg cartons bearing the "Animal Care Certified" logo still being sold in stores or see the logo advertised in newspapers or magazines, please contact COK immediately by email (info@cok.net) or call 301-891-2458.
COK Launches New Website: EggIndustry.com
The decision to remove the deceptive "Animal Care Certified" logo from egg cartons nationwide is a step in the right direction for the egg industry. The guidelines set forth by the United Egg Producers, however, still allow for routine animal cruelty that includes intensively confining hens in wire cages so small, they cannot spread their wings.
In our ongoing efforts to pressure the industry to eliminate these abuses, we've launched a new website, EggIndustry.com, to expose the hard-boiled truth about modern egg production. This new online resource offers a photo gallery and video room revealing the conditions for hens inside battery cage egg facilities, expert opinions explaining the inherent cruelty of battery cages, a list of ways you can help egg-laying hens, and much more.
EggIndustry.com
Article:
The Misleading "Animal Care Certified" Logo is Going, Going...Gone!
March 31, 2006, marks the last day the egg industry could advertise this deceptive logo
Last fall
(http://ca.cok.net/cgi-local/dada/mail.cgi?flavor=archive
&id=20051004082330&list=ca),
told you that the Federal Trade Commission announced that as of April 1, 2006, the United Egg Producers' misleading "Animal Care Certified" logo will be gone from egg cartons on store shelves nationwide. This landmark victory came two years after Compassion Over Killing launched our campaign to put an end the egg industry's national public relations scam that misled consumers concerned about animal cruelty. Consumers should now expect to find an alternative logo reading "United Egg Producers Certified."
Read our victory announcement and campaign timeline to learn more about our efforts. (http://www.cok.net/camp/acc/)
Look for the logo! If you find egg cartons bearing the "Animal Care Certified" logo still being sold in stores or see the logo advertised in newspapers or magazines, please contact COK immediately by email (info@cok.net) or call 301-891-2458.
COK Launches New Website: EggIndustry.com
The decision to remove the deceptive "Animal Care Certified" logo from egg cartons nationwide is a step in the right direction for the egg industry. The guidelines set forth by the United Egg Producers, however, still allow for routine animal cruelty that includes intensively confining hens in wire cages so small, they cannot spread their wings.
In our ongoing efforts to pressure the industry to eliminate these abuses, we've launched a new website, EggIndustry.com, to expose the hard-boiled truth about modern egg production. This new online resource offers a photo gallery and video room revealing the conditions for hens inside battery cage egg facilities, expert opinions explaining the inherent cruelty of battery cages, a list of ways you can help egg-laying hens, and much more.
EggIndustry.com
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