News
The number of news found: 31.
08/31/2008 GERMANS PROBING WHETHER BAYER PESTICIDE CAUSED HONEYBEE COLONY COLLAPSE
Bayer CropScience is facing scrutiny because of the effect one of its best-selling pesticides has had on honeybees. A German prosecutor is investigating Werner Wenning, Bayer's chairman, and Friedrich Berschauer, the head of Bayer CropScience, after critics alleged that they knowingly polluted the environment. The investigation was triggered by an Aug. 13 complaint filed by German beekeepers and consumer protection advocates, said a Coalition against Bayer Dangers spokesman, Philipp Mimkes.
08/30/2008 DOLPHIN PROTECTOR ABDUCTED AND VICIOUSLY BEATEN IN SOLOMON ISLANDS
On Tuesday, August 19th at about 8:30 PM, City Councilor, Lawrence Makili was abducted from his home in Honiara, Solomon Islands, by eight men in two cars. He was driven for about kilometers out of town when the thugs beat him and tried to kill him. Mr. Makili bravely fought back which may have saved his life. He received a broken right arm, fractured ribs, fractured, facial bone, and several other injuries. Mr. Makili, an outspoken dolphin protector, has been trying to stop the traffic in captive dolphins in his country. There are five different dolphin capture teams operating in the Solomon Islands. "Anyone of them could be responsible for this," stated Richard O'Barry, Director of Save Japan Dolphins Coalition. At this time, the identities and motivations of the attackers are unclear. No arrests have been made. Lawrence Makili has been an active campaigner to protect forests and has monitored the local tuna industry on behalf of Earth Island Institute to ensure the tuna catch is Dolphin Safe.
08/30/2008 DOG DIES WHILE COP DETAINS GUARDIANS
San Marcos police are investigating an officer who pulled over a speeding car, then kept the occupants waiting even though they were rushing a dying dog to an emergency veterinary clinic. Michael Gonzalez was allegedly driving 95 mph when he and girlfriend Krystal Hernandez were pulled over after midnight Aug. 5 as they headed south on Interstate 35 toward a clinic in New Braunfels. The teacup poodle, Missy, died while the pair said they waited 20 minutes for Officer Paul Stephens to issue a ticket.
08/29/2008 A MAJESTIC RARE ALBINO WHALE SHARK GRACES THE OCEAN
Divers were stunned by the sight of a 33ft albino whale shark as it glided through the waters off the coast of Darwin, an island in the Galapagos group. Half a world away, a rare snow-white albino whale calf held spectators spellbound as it swam off western Australia - so white, in fact that one observer described it as "sticking out like a neon lollipop." Both creatures are believed to be white because of a lack of pigmentation in the skin but they are expected to gradually turn to a darker colour as the years go by. The female whale shark, believed to be the only one of its kind, was first spotted by diver and naturalist Antonio Moreano in the Galapagos islands when he took a group of tourists on a nature cruise.
08/29/2008 ARGENTINE DOG SAVES ABANDONED BABY
An eight-year-old dog has touched the hearts of Argentines by saving the life of an abandoned baby, placing him safely alongside her own new puppies. The country's media are calling him "the miracle baby." He was born prematurely to a 14-year-old girl in a shanty town outside the capital, Buenos Aires. She is said to have panicked and abandoned the boy in a field, surrounded by wooden boxes and rubbish. Then along came La China, reports say, the dog which somehow picked up the baby and carried him 50m to place him alongside her own puppies. The dog's guardian reported hearing the child crying and finding him covered with a rag. The guardian called the police and the child is now being looked after by the authorities, while a decision is taken about his future. La China, worried about her own puppies, is reported to be petrified by her new found fame, and her guardian says he is worried that she is not eating.
08/28/2008 MOTHER DUCK'S "BIRD BRAIN" SAVES DUCKLINGS
Ray Petersen, a community police officer for Granville Downtown South, was walking in the 1500-block Granville Street when a duck came up and grabbed him by the pant leg. Then she started waddling around him and quacking. Petersen shoved her away, but the duck wasn't about to give up that easily. Making sure she still had Petersen's eye, she waddled up the road about 20 metres and lay on a storm sewer grate. When he started walking again, she did the same thing. She ran around and grabbed him again. It became obvious to him then that something was up. So when she waddled off to the sewer grate a second time, Petersen decided to follow. He went up to where the duck was lying and saw eight little babies in the water below. They had fallen down between the grates. So Petersen took action. He phoned police Sergeant Randy Kellens, who arrived at the scene and, in turn, got in touch with two more constables. While Kellens looked over into the grate, the duck sat on the curb and watched. Then the two constables, John Schilling and Allison Hill, marshalled a tow truck that lifted the grate out of position, allowing the eight ducklings to be rescued one by one with a vegetable strainer. Once the ducklings were safe, the duck, she set about marching them down to False Creek, where they jumped into the water. The experience has changed Petersen's mind about ducks. He thinks they're a lot smarter than he used to. And while he never ate duck before, he says he wouldn't dream of it now.
08/28/2008 PETA WANTS TO BUY SEAWORLD AND FREE SHAMU
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals wants to buy a SeaWorld park, possibly the one in San Diego, free the animals inside and replace them with virtual reality exhibits. Officials with the animal rights group say they have an anonymous donor willing to shell out big money to purchase at least one of SeaWorld's three parks, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported. Beer company Anheuser-Busch, which is in the process of being purchased by Belgium firm InBev, operates SeaWorld parks in San Diego, Orlando and San Antonio. Experts believe InBev will divest itself of Anheuser-Busch's parks, according to the Union-Tribune. PETA sent InBev a letter Friday offering to buy one park, with plans to replace existing animal exhibits with virtual reality exhibits, the newspaper reported. Neither SeaWorld nor InBev have commented on PETA's offer.
08/27/2008 GOVERNMENT WILL BAN BREEDING FOXES IN DENMARK
The Danish minister of justice, Lene Espersen, has decided to ban the breeding of foxes. A year and a half ago new measures were taken to make fur production less inhumane but contrary to the intention of the law the conditions for foxes worsened. There are 16 fox breeders in Denmark. They get 15 years to close down if breeding foxes is they main way of income. Part time breeders get 8 years. The government doesn't want to pay compensation hence the long period for closing down businesses.
08/26/2008 AUSTRALIAN RANGERS PUT DOWN ORPHAN BABY WHALE
An orphaned whale calf which had been suckling from a yacht in a Sydney bay in a futile bid to find its mother was given a lethal dose of anaesthetic on Friday as its condition deteriorated, Australian wildlife officers said. "It's a tragic end to a programme that dozens of people have put their hearts and souls into," state National Parks and Wildlife Service official John Dengate told Australian radio. The humpback whale, nicknamed "Colin" by local media, was found at the weekend attempting to suckle from a moored yacht at Pittwater Bay after being abandoned by its mother off Australia's east coast. Rangers injected a lethal dose of anaesthetic from an inflatable boat which took around 10 minutes to take effect. The whale was still alive when it was dragged to a nearby beach and covered with a tarpaulin. "Everyone is very connected to this animal and it is a very emotional decision," state Parks Service chief Sally Barnes said. The whale's struggle to survive captivated Australians, who strongly oppose Japanese "scientific" whale killing and flock to whale-watching tours during the giant mammals' annual migration to the Antarctic and return to breed in warmer Australian waters.
08/26/2008 JUNK FOOD NOW BEING FED TO CATTLE
As corn prices are going up, large scale factory farm operations are looking for cheaper foods to feed cattle. Cost-cutting measures like mixing reject M&Ms and potato chips with corn feed are no longer uncommon. Of course, compared to the dangerous but routine practice of feeding slaughterhouse waste, blood, and manure to feedlot animals, M&Ms and potato chips don't sound that bad. In the meantime, cattle ranchers raising grass-fed beef are struggling to stay in business, as more people are buying the cheap stuff.
08/25/2008 DISTRAUGHT ELEPHANT TO REMAIN IN DALLAS ZOO
The Dallas Zoo has decided to keep a troubled elephant named Jenny and build a larger exhibit for her after a public outcry over plans to send the animal to a wildlife park in Mexico. That plan met stiff resistance from Dallas Zoo officials and a national umbrella organization that accredits zoos in North America - the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Dallas Zoo officials argued that the Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tenn., was not accredited by the zoo association and, consequently, would not provide Jenny with proper care, a claim the sanctuary denies.
08/25/2008 LOOK OUT FOR SEALS IN SCOTLAND
Advocates for Animals on Friday launched a campaign calling for an end to the killing of seals in Scottish waters. The LOOK OUT for SEALS campaign is being launched at Spey Bay, Moray1, and will begin with a seven-day public awareness campaign tour of Scottish towns and cities. Thousands of campaign leaflets will be distributed across Scotland and a new website launched: www.lookoutforseals.org to raise awareness of the plight of Scottish seals. The animal protection organization is rallying public support for full legal protection in the Scottish Government's forthcoming Marine Bill.
08/22/2008 WATER FOOTPRINT: 15,500 LITRES OF WATER PER KG OF BEEF
In an industrial beef production system, it takes in average three years before the animal is slaughtered to produce about 200 kg of boneless beef. The animal consumes nearly 1,300 kg of grains (wheat, oats, barley, corn, dry peas, soybean meal and other small grains), 7,200 kg of roughages (pasture, dry hay, silage and other roughages), 24 cubic meter of water for drinking and 7 cubic meter of water for servicing. This means that to produce one kilogram of boneless beef, we use about 6.5 kg of grain, 36 kg of roughages, and 155 litres of water (only for drinking and servicing). Producing the volume of feed requires about 15,300 litres of water in average.
08/22/2008 EU COMMISSION WANTS TO TALK ABOUT CLIMATE
The European Commission launches today a public consultation on the European Union's approach to a global climate change agreement up to and beyond 2012 when the current Kyoto Protocol targets will end. Stakeholders and the general public are invited to put forward their views on a number of critical issues, such as mid-term emission reduction targets for developed countries and emission reduction actions for developing countries, adaptation to climate change, technology cooperation and finance. The results of the survey will help shape the EU's position on the global post-2012 agreement.
08/21/2008 JAPAN SEEKS TO ARREST SEA SHEPHERD ANTI-WHALING ACTIVISTS
Japan said it would take legal action against three members of the Sea Shepherd conservation group, including one Briton, whom it accused of obstructing its whaling fleet during clashes in the Antarctic in February 2007. In a further sign of Japan's hardline stance against anti-whaling activists, police will place the men, a Briton named by sources as Daniel Bebawi, 28, from Nottingham, and two Americans on an international wanted list as soon as arrest warrants are issued. Last month, police charged two Greenpeace activists with stealing a consignment of whale meat. The protesters intercepted the meat to support allegations that Japanese whalers were selling it on the black market.
08/20/2008 BIRDS REACTING TO CLIMATE CHANGE
Loads of British birds are laying their eggs earlier every year and experts think it's all down to climate change. A study by wildlife groups found some robins, tits and finches are laying earlier than they were 40 years ago. Birds' nesting and migration habits are also changing and experts think it's because they're trying to react to changes in our weather to survive. Hundreds of volunteers check thousands of nests every year to get an up-to-date snapshot of birdlife in the UK.
08/18/2008 COCA-COLA SPONSORS RODEOS IN GERMANY
Coca-Cola is the main sponsor of four rodeo shows to take place in Templin (East Germany) on the 23./24. August 08. Their proof of their sponsorship can be seen at www.eldorado-templin.de. Rodeo is cruelty to animals and not the innocent fun that it is painted by the wannabe cowboys of Germany. Coca-Cola knows this and has stopped sponsoring rodeo in the USA.
08/15/2008 KOREAN DOG FARMS UNDER SANITATION RULES
The Ministry of Environment said it will categorize dogs as livestock to regulate the sanitation practices of large-scale dog breeders. The central and local governments have refrained from putting dogs on a par with cattle, chickens and other livestock as it means an official recognition of dog meat as food. Under the current law, it is theoretically illegal to butcher dogs and trade their meat. As dogs are not currently listed as livestock, there are no legal grounds to regulate dog meat restaurants and those who breed dogs for human consumption. However, under the revised law, which will come into effect Sept. 28, large-scale "dog farmers" must build facilities to handle the disposal of dog excretion and report it to regional authorities. Dog farms have been one of main sources of pollution, as massive amounts of dog excretion are dumped into water and soil due to the absence of regulations, according to the ministry.
08/14/2008 NEW RESEARCH REVEALS 115 MILLION ANIMALS USED IN EXPERIMENTS WORLDWIDE
The Dr Hadwen Trust and the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection have collaborated on a major new initiative to produce the first ever statistical analysis of global animal research numbers, the results of which have been published in peer-reviewed journal ATLA. This research reveals that an estimated 115 million animals are used in laboratory experiments around the world each year. However even this massive figure could be an underestimate due to the way figures are compiled, and may be as high as 150+million.
08/14/2008 SEA TURTLE SHOWS EMOTION IN MOURNING DEATH OF HONEY GIRL
The body of the female turtle, named Honey Girl by the locals, was found on the sand on the shoreline at Laniakea Beach, Hawaii, about two weeks ago. A memorial was set up to honor her passing, with photos. One afternoon, a large male named Kuhina made his way onto the strand as onlookers watched. He methodically meandered his way up to a spot directly in front of the memorial, put his head on the sand and stayed there for hours, seemingly in mourning for the passing of a friend or mate...
08/13/2008 ANIMAL FRIENDS FOR THE PROTECTION OF SNOW MONKEYS IN JAPAN
The Japanese Ministry of the Environment is planning to include in the "Technical Manual of Conservation and Management of Japanese Monkeys" (which is a part of "Specified Wildlife Conservation and Management Plan") a plan to promote the capture of snow monkeys (Macaca fuscata) and allow their use in research laboratories. Animal Friends, as a member organization of the European Coalition to End Animal Experiments, sent a note of concern because of the animal welfare implications to the Japanese Prime Minister and the ambassador of Japan in Croatia.
08/12/2008 COMPANION ANIMALS UP FOR RENT IN TAIWAN
For NT$300 a day, a customer may rent a Chihuahua, or at another premium, bring home any of the sundry ensemble of dogs, cats, rodents, rabbits, hermit crabs, turtles and tarantulas at Ocean on Land, wholesale pet shop (medi.com.tw) of Yuli, Taitung. Trial guardians take out companion animasl for a minimum of three days and sign contracts, promising the return of the animals, alive and well. Young trial owners must secure the permission of parents. Should these owners decide to keep the animal, cost is sticker price minus half the amount gone toward rent.
08/10/2008 32 MONKEYS DIE IN ACCIDENT AT NEVADA LAB
Thirty-two research monkeys at a Nevada laboratory died because human errors made the room too hot, officials for the drug company that runs the lab said Thursday. Animal rights activists complain the company took too long to report the deaths. Charles River Laboratories Inc. issued a statement saying the monkeys died in Sparks on May 28. The company, based in Wilmington, Mass., attributed the deaths to incorrect climate-control operation. The company said that it reported the problem immediately to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but that it didn't notify the public out of concern for the safety of its 515 employees who work at its labs in Sparks and neighboring Reno.
08/10/2008 ACTIVISTS LASH OUT AT ISRAEL OVER INCREASED ANIMAL TESTING
Animal rights activists on Thursday expressed outrage over what they called Israel's lack of control over animal testing as official figures showed the experiments were up 11 percent last year. "The major problem is that Israel does not respect international norms," said Anat Refoua of the Let the Animals Live group. "There are no efficient controls to determine whether this testing is justified and whether they cause the animals to suffer," she told AFP. A total of 340,637 such experiments were conducted in Israel in 2007, an 11 percent increase over the previous year, the health ministry said in a report published on Thursday. It said 40 percent of the experiments caused the animals to suffer. It said 41 percent of the experiments were done for medical research, 40 percent for other scientific research, 15 percent for product testing and the remainder for other purposes.
08/09/2008 U.S. NUDE SWIMMER DEFIES BAN ON ANIMAL RIGHTS PROTEST
U.S. swimmer Amanda Beard unveiled a demure nude photograph of herself urging women "Don't wear fur" on Wednesday, hours after Chinese authorities had prevented her from her staging a news conference for "safety" reasons. The Athens 2004 Olympic gold medalist said she was determined to carry on even after plainclothes police banned her scheduled news conference at a Beijing hotel "for our safety". "What happens with animals when their skin is ripped from their bodies when they are still alive, it's heartbreaking for me," she said. The Olympics provided a great platform for making those views known, she added.
08/08/2008 KOSHER MEATS FIRM CITED FOR CHILD LABOR VIOLATIONS
Iowa labor officials said that they had uncovered dozens of child labor violations at the nation's biggest supplier of kosher meat. Officials from the state's Labor Commissioner's Office said their investigation, which spanned several months, uncovered 57 cases of child labor law violations at the Agriprocessors kosher meatpacking plant in Postville, where nearly 400 workers were arrested this spring in the largest immigration enforcement operation in U.S. history. The types of violations included minors working in prohibited occupations, exceeding allowable hours for youth to work, failure to obtain work permits, exposure to hazardous chemicals and working with prohibited tools.
08/08/2008 INDONESIANS THREATEN TO POISON ELEPHANTS
Indonesian villagers threatened Tuesday to poison rare wild elephants that are destroying their palmoil plantations in search of food. "The residents are so angry and have said they will put poison around the plantation areas to kill the elephants unless officials take quick action," said Jambo Dalem village chief Teungku Baili. He said he had warned officials in Trumon Timur district of Sumatra's Aceh province, but nothing had been done to protect the plantations. A herd of eight elephants grazed through the villagers' plantations twice last week, apparently lured to the rows of palm fruit after their natural habitat was wiped out to make way for the lucrative crop.
08/07/2008 SURPRISING NUMBER OF LOWLAND GORILLAS DISCOVERED IN AFRICA
A new tally of lowland gorillas has found massive and surprising numbers of these African primates alive and well in the Republic of Congo, Wildlife Conservation Society scientists announced. The new census puts the number of western lowland gorillas (called great apes, along with chimpanzees, bonobos and orangutans) within two adjacent areas in the northern part of the Congo at 125,000 individuals, including infant gorillas. Previous estimates from the 1980s placed the entire population of western lowland gorillas, which live in seven Central African nations, at fewer than 100,000 individuals. Sine then, scientists thought the number would've at least halved due to hunting and disease.
08/07/2008 DOG MEAT TRADERS ARRESTED
Six people illegally selling dog meat have been arrested and are facing up to four years jail in a fresh crackdown in the northern Philippines, officials said Monday. Animal rights activists from the London-based Animal Kingdom Foundation (AKF) accompanied police as they raided a public market near the northern mountain city of Baguio on Sunday. Police arrested six traders and confiscated around 260 kilos (570 pounds) of dog meat.
08/04/2008 FRENCH TOWNS BAN 10-YEAR-OLD BULLFIGHTING PRODIGY
Two French towns have banned bullfighting shows featuring a 10-year-old boy who has caused a sensation in Mexico, local authorities said on Saturday. The part-French part-Mexican boy, known as "Michelito", was scheduled to perform at a ring in Fontvieille in southeastern France on Saturday but the local mayor stopped the show citing security concerns. Organizers tried to reschedule in the Sonailler ring in the city of Arles but there too the performance was scrapped by district authorities. Michelito had been due to take part in a becerrada, which involves very young bulls that are not put to death. According to press reports, Michelito has appeared in numerous bullfights in Mexico. Michelito's father, who is French, was quoted on French media as saying the boy was disappointed about the bans because he has trained extensively in bullfighting schools, performs under strict safety conditions and loves what he does.
08/02/2008 ORANGUTAN DROWNS IN GERMAN ZOO
Staff at a Hamburg zoo say one of their orangutans died needlessly after a visitor broke park rules against feeding animals. The animal, they claim, drowned in pursuit of a bread roll that had been lobbed into her enclosure. An orangutan drowned in a German zoo on Wednesday after she fell into a water basin while trying to fish out a bread roll a visitor had thrown into her enclosure. Zookeepers at the Tierpark Hagenbeck in Hamburg rushed to Leila's aid, but by the time they had pulled her out of the water she was dead.
The number of news found: 31.
