News
The number of news found: 30.
09/30/2006 POLISH FARMERS FEEDING MBM TO POULTRY!
According to reports from a Czech testing laboratory, Polish farmers are feeding meat and bone meal to poultry - a violation of E.U. regulations. The analysis of feed samples revealed the presence of mammal tissue-possibly from cattle. Josef Duben, a spokesman for the Czech State Veterinary Administration, emphasized that this was an unofficial test and that an official test would follow.
09/29/2006 WYEVALE TAKES ETHICAL STEP TO STOP THE SALE OF ANIMALS!
Following a 16-month campaign by Britain's largest animal rights group Animal Aid, Wyevale Garden Centres has announced a new policy decision to stop selling live animals in its stores. Animal Aid is absolutely delighted by this announcement, which marks the second major success in its campaign to afford better protection for domestic animals. A three-year campaign against DIY chain Focus also culminated in the company ceasing to sell live animals in 2005. Wyevale is the second biggest retailer of pets in the country, with animals being sold in approximately half of its 115 stores.
09/28/2006 ORANG UTANS FACE EXTINCTION!
Kota Kinabalu : The orang utans in Kinabatangan could die out in less than 50 years. Scientists made this prediction after creating a model which charted the survival of the mammals based on factors such as forest cover and the life history of the animals. The scientists recently had a half-day session where the model was created and discussed. Kinabatangan has 1,000 orang utans, or about nine per cent of the total 11,000 orang utan population of Sabah. Cardiff University conservation geneticist Dr Benoit Goossens said the 1,000 orang utans were in 11 isolated sub-populations. 'The model shows if nothing is done, most of these sub-populations will be extinct in less than 50 years,' Goossens said.
09/27/2006 FIRST TRANSPORT TO FREEDOM OF INFECTED CHIMPANZEES FROM LABORATORY IN HOLLAND!
On Monday, September 25, the first six of a total group of 28 infected chimpanzees were moved from the notorious primate research center BPRC in Rijswijk, The Netherlands to the animal refuge center Stichting AAP in Almere in The Netherlands. The animals will finally get their well deserved pension in a 'World Class' facility after years of misery, bad housing and horrific experiments. In their former cramped cages at the BPRC some of them lived for over twenty years having never even seen the sun. They will be housed until they die peacefully, paid for by the Dutch Government. The first chimpanzees to be transported were greeted by the Dutch animal rights organization EDEV who would also stand outside the BPRC with banners and signs pointing out that the BPRC is still the largest primate (as opposed to great ape) research facility with 1300 monkeys.
09/26/2006 PIGS BOILED ALIVE AT SLAUGHTERHOUSE!
A slaughterhouse is being investigated by the RSPCA after two pigs were boiled alive. The abattoir in Cambridge Road, Linton, is run by Dalehead Foods, which claims to be the largest independent pork processor in the UK. Now the RSPCA is investigating cruelty claims after a member of staff at the abattoir, who asked to remain anonymous, claimed two pigs had been put into a tank of scalding water while still alive.A spokesman for Dalehead Foods confirmed pigs had been put into the water tank without being properly slaughtered on two occasions, once last week and in another incident in May.
09/25/2006 LIONS DYING IN CHANDIGARH ZOO AFTER FAILED EXPERIMENT!
Chandigarh, India – 21 lions are dying in a zoo in Chandigarh after a cross-breeding experiment to boost the park's attractions went disastrously wrong. In the 1980s officials at the Chhatbir Zoo in Chandigarh, bred captive Asiatic lions with a pair of African circus animals, resulting in a hybrid species. Within a few years it became obvious it had not worked. The offspring found it hard to walk, let alone run, because their hind legs were weak. And by the mid 1990s the big cats showed symptoms of failing immune systems. But it wasn't until 2000 that the breeding programme was ended, and the male lions given vasectomies, by which time the zoo had 70 to 80 such lions. Their number dwindled slowly, with disease killing some and some dying of wounds inflicted by other lions. Authorities say they are waiting for the population to 'phase out' before they can start breeding pure Asiatic lions.
09/24/2006 POLAR BEARS ARE DROWNING IN ARCTIC REGION!
Polar bears are drowning and receding Arctic glaciers have uncovered previously unknown islands in a drastic 2006 summer thaw widely blamed on global warming. Signs of wrenching changes are apparent around the Arctic region due to unusual warmth – the summer minimum for ice is usually reached between mid-September and early October before the Arctic freeze extends its grip. NASA projected this week that Arctic sea ice is likely to recede in 2006 close to a low recorded in 2005 as part of a melting trend in recent decades. A stormy August in 2006 had slightly slowed the 2006 melt.
09/23/2006 MAN TRAVELS SOUTH TO SAVE SEALS UP NORTH!
A wildlife conservationist from Vancouver brought his motorcade to Batavia Friday afternoon in protest of the slaughter of seals in Newfoundland. Anthony Marr, who started his cross-country trek July 13 in Vancouver plans to cover 35 states and six provinces logging more than 20,000 miles. Marr was joined on the Western New York leg of his trip by several local animal rights’ activists. With stuffed animals tied to the roofs of their cars, the drivers hope to draw support for their cause by urging all Americans to boycott Canada until the country passes legislation prohibiting the killing of seals. He also asks United States citizens to write to the Canadian government to urge passing of laws preventing the slaughter of seals.
09/22/2006 TOURISTS SOLD BODHRANS MADE FROM DOG SKIN!
A leading traditional-Irish music shop has admitted that some of the bodhrans it sells are made from greyhound skin. Custy's Traditional Music Shop in Ennis, Co Clare insists that Irish dogs have not been used in the making of the drums. Its manager also claims every Irish tourist shop sells bodhrans made from greyhound skin. Top-quality bodhrans are still made by hand in Ireland but most of the cheaper ones bought by tourists are imported from Pakistan.
09/21/2006 ANIMAL FRIENDS CROATIA AND PETA FOR BLACK BEARS!
Animal Friends Croatia's activists will protest today in Zagreb and call on Queen Elizabeth and British Ministry of Defence to stop the massacre of black bears for ornamental headpieces. Bears are being shot and trapped and often face a slow death in the woods from blood loss, gangrene, infection, dehydration or starvation. After beating the French troops at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, Britain adopted the towering bear skin hats for soldiers in ceremonial duties and to guard royal residencies and the Tower of London. The bear skins are shipped from Canada, and, according to the MOD, around 140 new caps are needed each year, and every cap takes the skin of up to one entire black bears. There were once as many as two million black bears in North America, but approximately 600,000 live today.
09/20/2006 WWF HAS BEEN LOBBYING THE LARGEST ANIMAL-TESTING PROGRAM OF ALL TIME!
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has been actively pressuring government agencies in the U.S., Europe, and Canada to increase the amount of testing that they require for pesticides and other chemicals. The result of the WWF's lobbying has been the establishment of what threaten to be the largest animal-testing programs of all time. Also, as an organization founded by trophy hunters, the WWF does not oppose killing animals for sport. The WWF believes that killing elephants and seals is OK, it supports the slaughter of whales by native tribes, and it refuses to speak out against steel-jaw leghold traps.
09/20/2006 AGRICULTURE HAS SERIOUS SIDE EFFECTS!
Many people view agriculture as a green industry, but commercial agriculture creates large amounts of ammonia, which negatively impacts the environment. Aneja discussed animal feces and agricultural by-products with 350 scientists from around the world in order to begin a dialogue that will affect everyone in America. Aneja, a professor of marine and atmospheric sciences, is working beside Dean William Schlesinger of Duke's Nicolas School to bring agricultural air quality to the forefront of national attention. And so far they have been very successful. The main issues surround ammonia and its serious effects on air quality.
09/19/2006 LONG DISTANCE TRANSPORT OF BRITISH-BORN CALVES!
British-born calves, alive and in their thousands, are again being sent on long and stressful journeys to be reared in veal production systems that would be illegal in their country of origin. Scientific evidence shows that calves travel particularly badly. Now that the ban on British beef exports has been lifted, up to 500,000 calves per year could be sent not only by road, but also by ship across the channel, causing them extra distress in what might already have been an unacceptable journey for such young animals.
09/18/2006 INTERNET A THREAT TO WILDLIFE?
'Is the Internet hastening the demise of African elephant?' asks The New York Times. Some animal welfare advocates believe that it is and that scores of other species are at risk as well. Illegal online trade is said to have increased as the Web itself has grown. Searches on English-language Web sites during a three-month period found 'more than 6,000 illegal or potentially illegal wildlife items for sale,' including turtle shells, elephant-bone sculptures, and even live black leopards.09/17/2006 RODEOS UNDER FIRE AS INJURED HORSE UNTREATED!
The Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) is warning organisers of rodeos to address animal welfare issues as a matter of urgency following an incident in the Northern Territory where a horse was left without veterinary assistance after it broke its leg. President of the AVA, Dr Kersti Seksel said that neither the general public nor the AVA would accept the continuation of rodeos where professional care could not be provided immediately. 'Incidents such as one reported in the Northern Territory recently are simply unacceptable - rodeos should not go ahead where a veterinarian is not present,' Dr Seksel said.
09/16/2006 STRAY DOGS IN SOFIA TO REACH 27,000 BY 2007!
Stray dogs roaming the streets of Sofia are rapidly increasing in numbers and by the end of the year they will reach 27,000, Darik News reported. A total of 3,825 such dogs have been caught over the first eight months of 2006, and 3,137 have been put to death, Miroslav Naydenov from the municipal company Ecoravnovesie said. Citizens have adopted 307 dogs, while the rest 128 have died in the isolator of the dog pound. At the beginning of the year Sofia housed over 17,000 stray dogs but their numbers grew by about 30% during the spring. They will increase once again in fall, by another 30% Naydenov said. He explained that Ecoravnovesie can reduce the expected 27,000 to no less than 20,000 but this wouldn't even put a dent in the problem.
09/15/2006 RUMSFELD TO PROFIT FROM BIRD FLU HOAX!
Not long ago, President Bush sought to instill panic in the United States by telling that a minimum of 200,000 people will die from the avian flu pandemic, but it could be as bad as 2 million deaths in the U.S. alone. This hoax is used to justify the immediate purchase of 80 million doses of Tamiflu, a worthless drug that in no way, shape or form treats the avian flu, but only decreases the amount of days one is sick and can actually contribute to the virus having more lethal mutations. The United States placed an order for 20 million doses of this worthless drug at a price of $100 per dose. That comes to a staggering $2 billion. A drug was developed by a company called Gilead, which 10 years ago gave Roche the exclusive rights to market and sell Tamiflu. Since Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was made the chairman of Gilead in 1997 and holds major portions of stock in Gilead, he will handsomely profit from the scare tactics of the government that is being used to justify the purchase of $2-billion worth of Tamiflu.
09/14/2006 STINGRAYS MUTILATED AFTER 'CROC HUNTER' DEATH!
Sydney, Australia - At least 10 stingrays have been slain since 'Crocodile Hunter' Steve Irwin was killed by one of the fish, an official said Tuesday, prompting a spokesman for the late TV star's animal charity to urge people not take revenge on the animals. Irwin died last week when a stingray barb pierced his chest as he recorded a show off the Great Barrier Reef. Slain stingrays since have been discovered on two beaches in Queensland state on Australia's eastern coast. Two were discovered Tuesday with their tails lopped off, state fisheries department official Wayne Sumpton said.
09/13/2006 NO MORE POLAR BEARS FOR TROPICAL SINGAPORE ZOO!
The Singapore Zoo is looking for a new home for its male polar bear and will no longer bring animals from the North or South Poles to tropical Singapore, an official said. Zoo director Fanny Lai told Reuters that Inuka, a 16-year-old polar bear born in Singapore Zoo, will be moved to a zoo in a temperate climate and that Singapore has told the Rostock Zoo in Germany – which keeps track of all captive polar bears in the world – that Inuka is available for transfer. She denied the planned move was in response to a local animal rights group’s campaign 'What’s a Polar Bear Doing in The Tropics?', adding that the Singapore zoo had decided to focus on being a rainforest zoo.
09/12/2006 DEVASTATING BLOW TO RUSSIAN FUR INDUSTRY: 30,000 MINK REPORTED LIBERATED!
Russian animal rights activists have liberated 30,000 mink from a fur farm in the Luzhsky district, Leningradskaja oblast, an area in the north western part of Russia which includes St. Petersburg. According to Russian media reports, the 'Pioneer' fur farm, one of several fur farm investment holdings of the LLC Severnaya Pushnina, was targeted by the Russian Animal Liberation Front on the night of 2nd September. Activists allegedly scaled the farm's fence and opened an unspecified number of cages, releasing the mink to spread out as far as 5 km away from the farm. Slogans were also spray painted on the walls of one of the farm's buildings.
09/11/2006 JACKIE CHAN AND PETA TEAM UP TO BATTLE DOG CULLING IN CHINA!
Asian superstar Jackie Chan has teamed up with animal rights group People For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals (PETA) to fight the large-scale culling of dogs in China undertaken to prevent rabies. Chan and PETA are now urging the Chinese government to use vaccines to tackle rabies rather than resort to killing dogs. For the purpose, the 'Shanghai Noon' actor has designed a greeting card which is currently being auctioned on eBay and the proceeds of the sale going to PETA Asia Pacific's humane rabies control campaign. More than 50,000 dogs were slaughtered in just one district of Yunnan province August, following the death of three people from rabies. (ANI)
09/09/2006 MADONNA SLAMMED OVER FATTENING PHEASANTS FOR THE KILL!
Washington – Queen of pop Madonna has landed herself in some hot soup with animal rights groups - by importing baby pheasants chicks to her English country estate, so that they can be nice and fat for the shooting season. Madonna, who along with hubby, British director Guy Ritchie owns a sprawling property in the west of England is reportedly getting set to charge customers up to 10,000 pounds a day for the privilege of shooting the birds once the season starts on 1 October (06). Andrew Tyler, director of Animal Aid, slammed the `Hung Up' singer, and said that her actions were `not in harmony with nature'. A spokesman for the singer confirmed the buy, but said that the purchase would not be taking place again.
09/08/2006 A VICTORY IN EUROPE FOR SEALS!
The European Parliament has adopted a proposal by South-East England's Green Party Euro-MP Caroline Lucas designed to halt the annual slaughter of hundreds of thousands of seals in Canada and Russia. Lucas, who is also a Vice-President of the RSPCA, co-sponsored a Written Declaration issued on Wednesday, along with four other parliamentary colleagues, calling for a ban on the import or sale of any products from hooded or harp seals. The declaration calls for the European Commission to immediately ban the trade in seal body parts and products - a ban already adopted in Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, Croatia, Slovenia, and the US, and under consideration by the Council of Europe.
09/07/2006 BIRDS DIE FOR DECORATING DRUMS IN INDIA!
Kolkata, India (Reuters) - Thousands of protected birds are being killed in India's West Bengal state to meet demand from drummers who want to decorate their instruments with feathers, officials and activists said. Egrets, pheasants and herons as well as endangered open bill storks are being trapped illegally or shot by arrows ahead of two important Hindu festivals, which will be celebrated in late September and early October.
09/06/2006 GOATS DIE IN TRUCK ROLLOVER NEAR COBAR!
The driver of a B-double truck has been treated for injuries he received in a rollover on September 3 near Cobar that killed more than 200 goats on board. Police had to close the Cobar-Louth road for several hours after the prime mover and trailers rolled. Police say the accident happened about 11:20am AEST when the truck tried to go round a bend. Two hundred and twenty goats died and the rest escaped. The road was closed for several hours while salvage work was completed.
09/05/2006 NEARLY HALF OF ALL FISH EATEN TODAY FARMED, NOT CAUGHT!
Rome/New Delhi - Nearly half the fish consumed as food worldwide are raised on fish farms rather than caught in the wild, says a new report from FAO. While in 1980 just 9 percent of the fish consumed by human beings came from aquaculture, today 43 percent does, the report shows. That's 45.5 million tonnes of farmed fish, worth US$63 billion, eaten each year. Currently, freshwater and marine capture fisheries produce 95 million tonnes annually, of which 60 million tonnes is destined for human consumption.
09/04/2006 WIS. ZOO EUTHANIZES 46-YEAR-OLD ELEPHANT!
Milwaukee - Lucy the elephant, believed to be the world's fourth-oldest African elephant in captivity, was euthanized Friday morning after staffers found her lying down in her stall, the Milwaukee County Zoo said. The medical staff had recently decided that if the 46-year-old elephant were found lying down again, she would be euthanized. Brittany, Lucy's companion and the only other elephant at the zoo, was allowed in Lucy's stall after she was euthanized so she could grieve. The zoo hopes to get another elephant soon as a companion for Brittany, who is in her late 20s. Lucy spent 44 years at the zoo.
09/03/2006 NORTHERN IRELAND DESTROYS ILLEGAL MEAT!
A Northern Ireland court ordered 254 pallets of mislabeled frozen meat to be destroyed. Northern Ireland’s Food Standards Agency (FSA) launched an investigation in November 2005 after it closed the Euro Freeze cold-storage facility in Northern Ireland. The closure was ordered after the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development seized a shipment of poultry from China that was destined for Euro Freeze. The poultry was destroyed due to violations of animal health standards. The closure also sparked a European Union-wide search for products that used ingredients originating from the cold-storage facility.
09/02/2006 HISTORIC PUSH FOR EU AND US BANS ON MONKEY EXPERIMENTS!
To mark International Primate Day (September 1st) organised by Animal Defenders International, motions have been simultaneously placed before the European Parliament and the US House of Representatives calling for an end to experiments on non-human primates. Motions are also being tabled in the UK Parliament, the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly, and it is planned for other countries to follow suit. This is believed to be the first time that a global animal protection campaign has been initiated in the US and European Parliaments on the same day, and signals an international drive to end non-human primate experiments.
09/01/2006 FARMED SALMON TAKING OVER WILD VARIETIES!
Edinburgh, Scotland, (UPI) – Researchers say farmed salmon that escape from their pens may be driving Scotland's wild salmon population towards extinction. The Scottish Executive says 1.6 million salmon have escaped from fish farms in more than 50 separate accidents since 2000, the London Telegraph reported. The newspaper said the accidental escape of farmed salmon from pens can lead to reduced survival of the progeny of wild salmon which breed with the domesticated fish. Scientists call the effect the 'extinction vortex' because it could lead to the demise of wild salmon populations that have evolved over thousands of years in particular rivers.
The number of news found: 30.
