News
The number of news found: 49.
10/31/2007 NOVA SCOTIA BANS DEER URINE BAIT!
Deer hunters are, according to this story, no longer allowed to use bottled deer urine to attract the animals during hunting season in Nova Scotia. The five-week deer hunting season opened five days ago with more than 70,000 hunters eligible to take part. A new regulation this year states that while in a wildlife habitat, no person may possess or use a product that contains any body part or fluid of a member of the deer family, says a Natural Resources Department news release. The rule is designed to prevent the introduction of the deadly chronic wasting disease found in some deer populations in Western Canada and the United States, the release said. Many hunters have long relied on rags or undergrowth saturated with bottled deer urine and placed strategically throughout deer habitat as an attractant. This year, hunters must rely on their own cunning and perhaps a few well-placed apples and carrots.
10/31/2007 POLICE DISCOVERS LIVESTOCK SQUEEZED INTO STOCK CAR!
Police in rural South Africa found two cows and two goats being transported in a compact car barely large enough for four people. The blue Fiat Uno was impounded after residents alerted police in a town in northern KwaZulu-Natal, the South African Press Association was cited as reporting. Captain Jabulani Mdletshe said when the officers arrived, the driver had loaded the animals into his vehicle and was trying to speed away. He eventually stopped the car after being unable to outrun the police, and fled into the nearby bushes. The cows and goats were handed over to an animal theft unit.
10/30/2007 CAT ROUNDUP AT KENNEDY AIRPORT ALARMS RESCUE GROUPS!
To the alarm of cat rescue groups, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has started rounding up feral cats that live in a colony deep in the secured cargo areas of Kennedy International Airport. The cats, several dozen in all, have been tended for years by sympathetic airport employees. The cats sleep in makeshift kennels made out of plastic packing containers nestled in cargo carts that once carried transcontinental luggage but have been long retired from Kennedy's runways. They gather under and around a rusted old fuel tanker truck. 'It's just a happy cat camp,' said Ashot Karamian, president of the Urban Cat League, which specializes in rescuing stray cats in New York and has visited the site in the past. He estimated that hundreds of cats were on the site and said his group had spayed or neutered about 30 of them. But now the Port Authority, which manages the airport, has blocked his and other animal rescue groups.
10/30/2007 ANIMALS SKIN RECOVERED!
Officials of the state wildlife department last Wednesday nabbed eight persons, including a woman, and confiscated 32 skins of the Indian otter from their possession. The accused were nabbed near a hotel in Panipat. Sources said a team of wildlife officials comprising of senior officials from Rohtak and Panipat divisions were keeping a strict eye on the accused, after they received some information about their movement. The accused had allegedly come here to sell the skins to unidentified buyers. Confirming this to the TNS, DSP Pradeep Singh said the police had registered a case and confiscated the skins. The wildlife officials were investigating the case. Sources said Ram Karan, Mukhta, Beerbhan, Suresh, Harnam, Sarupa, Suneheri and Bhawali were arrested along with the animal skins. The wildlife team was investigating whether the accused were involved in more illegal sale of animal skins.
10/29/2007 A THIRD OF PRIMATES ENDANGERED!
Thailand - Almost a third of all apes, monkeys and other primates are in danger of going extinct because of rampant destruction of their tropical habitat, the commercial sale of bush meat and the trade in illegal wildlife, a report said. Twenty-five of the most endangered primates are singled out in the report, which was to be presented at the International Primatological Society in Hainan, China. Among those most at risk are the Miss Waldron's red colobus of Ivory Coast and Ghana, the Golden-headed langur of Vietnam and China's Hainan gibbon, whose numbers have dwindled to 17. The Horton Plains slender loris of Sri Lanka has been sighted just four times since 1937.
10/29/2007 MORE YOUNG PEOPLE GO TO THE VEGETARIAN ROUTE!
There is not a glut of research and statistics on vegetarian children and their diet habits, but a poll by independent market research firm Harris Interactive in 2005 showed that 3% of Americans ages 8 to 18 are vegetarians - meaning they do not eat meat, poultry or fish but may consume eggs and dairy. That figure is up 1% from a previous poll. About 3% of adults are vegetarians, says Reed Mangels, nutrition adviser for the Vegetarian Research Group, in Baltimore. But she says as many as 10% of adults consider themselves vegetarians, even though they may eat fish or chicken occasionally. Many nutrition experts say they've seen changes in the food landscape over the past five to 10 years that suggest a growing popularity of vegetarianism among young people. Families with herbivore children say it has become much less taxing to find kid-friendly vegetarian staples - such as soy milk, meat-free broths, lard-free refried beans and veggie burgers - in mainstream grocery stores.
10/28/2007 GREENS WANT BAN ON FOIE GRAS!
The Norwich city council could become the second in the UK to ban the sale of foie gras, with calls for shops, restaurants and authorities to stop selling the bird liver because it is deemed cruel. The Green Party has put forward a motion to ensure the product is not available in any council services and to discourage Norwich eateries to stop serving it. If successful, Norwich will follow York City Council, which last month passed a motion condemning the sale of foie gras. The move was welcomed by animal rights campaigners and it intensified pressure for a national ban on the fatty liver, which is produced by force-feeding ducks and geese until their livers become enlarged.
10/28/2007 PUERTO RICAN OFFICIALS WORRY ANIMAL ABUSE COULD TURN OFF TOURISTS!
Puerto Rican tourism officials are apparently worried that a recent incident of animal abuse could turn off potential tourists. Last week the Puerto Rican Tourism Co. and the government of Puerto Rico issued a news release saying they were 'appalled' by the acts that by no means are representative of the strong values of the Puerto Rican people.' The response came after dozens of dogs and cats were seized from three public housing projects, injected with something, then thrown off a bridge. Locals told the Associated Press that some of the animals were still alive and tried to crawl from the ravine. Officials are blaming a contractor, Animal Control Solution, hired to enforce a 'no-pet policy' in the buildings outside San Juan.
10/28/2007 SCIENCE CHIEF URGES BADGER CULL!
The UK government's chief scientist has advised ministers that badgers should be killed to prevent the spread of TB among cattle. Sir David King says culling could be effective in areas that are contained, for example, by the sea or motorways. His report follows a previous study that said culling badgers would be ineffective. The Independent Scientific Group found that targeting one site would only cause badgers to flee to other farms. The report was submitted to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in July and published on Monday.
10/27/2007 5,000 MINKS FREED FROM FUR FARM IN DENMARK!
Authorities and residents in western Denmark on Monday were chasing thousands of minks that escaped from a farm in what police suspect was an overnight raid by animal rights activists. About 5,000 animals were freed from the farm near Asp, 320 kilometers (200 miles) northwest of Copenhagen, police said. Investigators said animal rights activists were likely to blame, but no suspects had been identified.
10/27/2007 DNR WANTS TO SAVE COYOTES FROM BEING SOLD AS LIVE BAIT!
Indiana - Trappers catching coyotes during the off season may no longer be able to keep the animals alive and sell them to out-of-state hunting-dog trainers. The legislative Natural Resources Study Committee will next take up the issue at its Oct. 30 meeting. The Department of Natural Resources also will hold public meetings to discuss the proposed amendment. Dates for those meetings have not been set, although they should take place early next year. Trainers use them as live bait for hunting practice, the Department of Natural Resources said. Animal-rights activists claim using a live, wild animal for bait is cruel, while trappers say the captive coyotes are well-treated. Because of an ambiguous state rule, trappers who catch a live coyote out of season 'think they can do anything with it,' said Phil Bloom, spokesman for the Department of Natural Resources. Under a rule change preliminarily approved last month by the Natural Resources Commission, coyotes caught outside the normal trapping season must be euthanized within 24 hours.
10/26/2007 HILLARY CLINTON'S SOFTER IMAGE IS CLAWED OVER DUMPED CAT!
As the 'first pet' of the Clinton era, Socks, the White House cat, allowed 'chilly' Hillary Clinton to show a caring, maternal side as well as bringing joy to her daughter Chelsea. Once the presidency was over, there was no room for Socks any more. After years of loyal service at the White House, the black and white cat was dumped on Betty Currie, Bill Clinton's personal secretary, who also had an embarrassing clean-up role in the saga of his relationship with the intern Monica Lewinsky. Some believe the abandoned pet could now come between Hillary Clinton and her ambition to return to the White House as America's first woman president.
10/26/2007 GUARDIANS OF DOGS AND CATS KILLED AT PUERTO RICO BRIDGE SUE FOR $22.5 MILLION!
Companion animals owners whose dogs and cats were thrown to their deaths from a bridge have filed a multimillion dollar lawsuit against the company that took the animals away and others they claimed were involved in the killings. The $22.5 million claim was filed in federal court last Friday against Puerto Rico's public housing director, the municipality of Barceloneta, its mayor, the owner of a private animal control company and several others. The 45 plaintiffs -whose animals were snatched this month when local authorities enforced a 'no-pet rule' in the island's public housing - are seeking $500,000 each.
10/25/2007 MALAYSIAN MONKEY ACTIVISTS GO TO ANTI-CORRUPTION AGENCY!
A wildlife conservation group wants the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) to look into alleged business dealings involving a minister and a former director-general where wild monkeys are being exported for profit. The group said the ACA must investigate Environment Minister Azmi Khalid and former Department of Wildlife and National Parks DG Musa Nordin, who retired last October, for abuse of power. Malaysian Animal Rights and Welfare Society (Roar) believes that a company linked to the two is the beneficiary of a export programme created under the guise to trim down the population of long-tailed macaques in Peninsular Malaysia. Roar submitted a memorandum to ACA office in Kuala Lumpur calling for investigation into the matter.
10/25/2007 COMPLAINT FILED AGAINST COLORADO ANIMAL LAB!
Rodents drowning in cages when their water bottles malfunctioned. Cats being prepped for back surgery without adequate anesthesia. A monkey with a displaced colon, waiting four hours in pain for a veterinarian to arrive. That's what occurred at a University of Colorado research lab, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals charged in two complaints filed with the federal government on Tuesday and supported by a whistleblower's documents, photos and video footage. The complaints allege numerous violations of the federal law and guidelines that Karl Mann said he witnessed between August 2005 and March 2007, including inadequate anesthesia, unnecessarily painful procedures and substandard basic care such as a lack of food and water.
10/24/2007 DUTCH GOVERNMENT TO BAN TRADE IN SEAL PRODUCTS!
The Dutch government has informed Namibia's Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources that it will ban all imports and trade in seal products by the end of this year. The Dutch Minister of Agriculture, Gerda Verburg, announced this step in Parliament which will be cemented by a new law. Dr Abraham Iyambo was informed of the move in a letter dated October 5 and made available to The Namibian. 'These magnificent animals are much loved by the Dutch general public. The Netherlands believes that the method used to kill them, which involves clubbing and subsequent stabbing, is not ethical from an animal welfare perspective,' Dutch Minister Verburg wrote. Surveys have shown that the vast majority of Dutch people are against the killing of seals. The Government of the Netherlands has therefore called for a ban on all imports of these species and products thereof. She also criticised the seal 'trophy hunting' in Namibia offered by a tour operator.
10/24/2007 NO MORE EVIDENCE IN DOGS AND CATS MASSACRE CASE!
The physical evidence that would have helped to clarify some of the questions regarding the dead dogs and cats found underneath a bridge in Vega Baja no longer exists. Animal Control Solution (ACS) Owner Julio Díaz - who has reiterated the dogs picked up in Barceloneta were in freezers at his company and not underneath a bridge in Vega Baja - said Thursday those animals were cremated because they were decomposing. However, he did not want to identify the place where the animals were cremated 'to not continue ruining reputations.'
10/23/2007 NO BAN ON UNIVERSITY ANIMAL TESTS!
A call to suspend Oxford University's animal experimentation licence over a macaque monkey it 'humanely killed' after brain tests has been rejected. Junior Home Office minister Meg Hillier confirmed the primate, Felix, was put to death in June 'on completion of the work in which he was involved'. It was 'in accordance with requirements of the relevant project licence', her written Commons reply said on last Tuesday. Portsmouth Lib Dem MP Mike Hancock had wanted a suspension and an inquiry. Ms Hillier's written Commons reply read: 'I am satisfied that the requirements of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 have been fully met and I do not consider there is a need to vary or suspend the licence.' Felix's involvement in brain experiments sparked an outcry from animal rights campaigners who campaigned for him to be released.
10/23/2007 45 BIRD SPECIES FACE EXTINCTION!
Malaysia faces the extinction of 45 bird species in the next five to 10 years if it fails to introduce protected areas and breeding programmes for endangered species. A recent survey by conservation group BirdLife International found that five species were critically endangered, four were endangered and the rest were considered vulnerable, the New Straits Times said. 'It is sad. Many of the birds have been around for more than 50 years while some, as recently as 10 years,' Malaysian Nature Society Penang Branch chairman D Kanda Kumar told the daily. Kanda Kumar said rapid development has led to the loss of bird habitats, and that protected areas and breeding programmes were needed to save the populations. The critically endangered species are the Silvery Wood-pigeon, the Chinese Crested Tern, the White-rumped Vulture, the Slender-billed Vulture and the Christmas Island Frigatebird.
10/22/2007 MISS UNIVERSE SAYS 'NO' TO WEARING FUR!
Miss Universe, Riyo Mori of Japan, vowed Tuesday not to wear fur and declared herself an animal lover after a protest campaign by animal rights activists. 'I will say this out loud: I will not wear fur,' Mori told AFP. 'I love animals and I agree with those who oppose wearing fur products.' People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) launched a campaign last week to press Mori to renounce fur, angered that she went on the catwalk with a full-length fur coat. Mori and other contestants wore the fur coats during the final round of the preliminary pageant in Japan to select the national candidate, the Miss Universe Organization said. 'At that time I wasn't expecting to face this issue so soon as Miss Universe,' Mori said. But Mori said she felt the need to speak out about after being crowned Miss Universe in Mexico City earlier this year.
10/21/2007 AUSTRALIA AGAINST DOLPHIN EXPORTS!
Australian Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull joined opposition to a resumption of live dolphin exports from the Solomon Islands as it was revealed some of the marine mammals had already died. Two Emirates Airbus A310-300 jets at the main airport in the Solomons capital, Honiara, took off with 28 dolphins for a long flight to Dubai in the Middle East. It has been claimed one of the local men connected to the export scheme has previously been involved in slaughtering dolphins to sell their meat for food.
10/21/2007 AMAZON LOGGERS HOLD GREENPEACE ACTIVISTS CAPTIVE!
Brazilian loggers besieged eight Greenpeace activists on Wednesday in a remote Amazon town, angered by a campaign against global warming that they fear could hurt their image, the conservation group said. Hundreds of townspeople, including dozens of loggers in trucks, cars and motorcycles, blockaded the activists in a local branch of the government's environmental protection agency Ibama, a Greenpeace spokesman said. The incident, the second time in nearly two months that Greenpeace activists have been harassed in the Amazon jungle, underscores the often violent conflicts over natural resources between farmers and loggers on one hand and peasants and Indians on the other.
10/20/2007 THE FIVE ACTIVISTS FACE CHARGES FOR HELPING SEALS!
In a case that a prominent Canadian civil-rights lawyer says could have a chilling effect on free speech, Ottawa is taking a group of animal-rights activists to court for coming too close to a sealer while filming the hunt. The five activists face charges in Quebec for allegedly violating federal marine mammal rules that restrict coming within 10 metres of seal hunters. Federal prosecutors have already dropped an earlier charge accusing them of obstructing the hunt. The defendants - all of whom are with the Humane Society of the United States or the Humane Society International - appeared Thursday in a courtroom on Isles de la Madeleine in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. They have all pleaded not guilty. After having dropped the charge of interfering with the hunt, the remaining charge carries a maximum fine of $100,000.
10/20/2007 VGT-ACTIVISTS PREVENT TRANSPORT OF HORSES TO A SLAUGHTERHOUSE!
VGT-activists prevent journey for horses being transported to a slaughterhouse in Belgium. Once again the illegal long-distance transport of horses is stopped on Austria's roads! The 21 horses came into the care of VGT activists at the weekend after the transporter carrying them was found to be in breach of the law. With the assistance of the local fire service the activists were able to feed the horses. Another transporter was on its way to replace the illegal one and to take the horses on the last leg of the journey to the slaughterhouse. But courageous VGT activists chained themselves to the gates, protecting the horses and preventing the second transporter from being able to load them up and take them to their death. Secure places at sanctuaries have been found for all the horses.
10/20/2007 DOG NURSES STRAY KITTEN!
Stephens City, A stray kitten has found a new mother in a golden retriever, who began producing milk for the little feline after hearing its cries. Honey hadn't given birth in 18 months, but after her guardian, Jimmy Martin, brought home the kitten, she suddenly found herself playing mom. Jimmy Martin noticed the kitten, which the family dubbed Precious, about six weeks ago, when she ran in front of his concrete truck. After following her and realizing there was no mother cat in sight, he took her home. Precious now sometimes plays with dog bones, and Honey lets Precious gnaw on her like a puppy would.
10/19/2007 EFSA ABOUT METHODS OF KILLING AND SKINNING SEALS!
At the request of the European Commission EFSA is assessing, from an animal welfare perspective, the scientific evidence about the different methods of killing and skinning seals. EFSA is looking objectively at whether any of these methods could be considered as humane; and which methods are likely to cause the least pain, distress or suffering. A working group of EFSA’s Animal Health and Welfare (AHAW) Panel is preparing a report and draft opinion drawing on the available scientific data and information.
10/19/2007 MILITARY GOAT TESTS TO BE DROPPED!
Controversial tests on goats for military research are set to be stopped after a long campaign against the experiments. The Ministry of Defence is considering abandoning deep-diving tests carried out in Gosport which put goats into pressure compartments to produce levels of decompression sickness, after complaints from animal rights activists. Testing was suspended in March this year and now a committee of six experts is looking into less cruel alternatives, such as computer-modelling to simulate the effects of 'the bends', the sickness caused when divers rise to the surface too quickly. The tests, carried out by defence research company QinetiQ in Gosport, involve subjecting goats to various pressures in a hyperbaric chamber. The news comes after the French navy stopped its own live-test programme. Goats have been used in the tests because their respiratory system is similar to that of humans and they are thought to react to the decompression in a similar way. Altogether 69 animals have been killed at the laboratory in Alverstoke, Gosport, since testing started in 2001.
10/18/2007 EU REGULATIONS: AN END TO ANIMAL TESTING?
Campaigners, industry and the EU's experts are, according to this story, confident that a 2009 deadline for the phasing out of testing cosmetics on animals will be met. The European Centre for Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM) was set up to assess alternative testing methods being developed as part of the animal testing ban introduced by the cosmetics directive. Its latest assessment for 2005-06 reports progress with various new methods. Ten tests are awaiting final approval to replace tests for eye irritancy from cosmetic effects and some, such as those for severe toxic reactions to oral cosmetics, such as toothpaste, were described in the report as 'promising'. Other assessments are continuing on the reaction of some cosmetics to light, to determine the extent to which cosmetic ingredients might penetrate the skin, and to what extent they might cause skin irritations and allergies. Kirsty Reid, policy officer for research animals at Eurogroup for Animals, a non-governmental organisation, was cited as saying that many cosmetic companies are already using the new methods so as to build up the expertise in their laboratories before the 2009 deadline. For more complex tests which examine the possibility of chronic toxicity, such as ingredients causing cancer, the directive allows a deadline of 2013. But the ECVAM report casts doubt on whether this can be achieved.
10/18/2007 WILD ELEPHANTS CONVERGE ON INDIAN ISLAND!
About 100 wild elephants have converged on a river island in northeast India, demolishing homes, feasting on sugarcane and panicking residents, officials said Saturday. Thousands of villagers were using firecrackers and bonfires to scare away the rampaging animals. 'Dozens of houses have been destroyed in the past three days by adult elephants entering human settlements to look for their wandering calves,' said the local magistrate, L.S. Changsan.
10/17/2007 AUSTRALIA POSTS ANTI-WHALING MESSAGE AIMED AT JAPANESE CHILDREN!
The Australian government last week launched an anti-whaling video message aimed at Japanese children on the popular YouTube Web site. The video, which contains Japanese subtitles, features footage of humpback whales frolicking on the high seas and Australia's Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull interviewing school-aged Australian children who oppose Japan's scientific whaling program. 'Can you imagine what life on Earth would be like without these magnificent creatures? Hundreds of years of whaling nearly wiped them out,' Turnbull says on the video. 'We urge all countries, especially our friends in Japan, to bring their whaling programs to an end.' Each year, Japan harvests hundreds of whales from an Australian-declared whale sanctuary near Antarctica as part of its scientific whaling program.
10/16/2007 ACTIVISTS URGE MISS UNIVERSE TO SHUN FUR!
Animal rights activists launched a campaign to pressure Miss Universe, Japan's Riyo Mori, to stop wearing fur, accusing her of promoting cruelty. Mori, 20, a ballerina by training, wore a full-length fur coat at the pageant in Mexico City where she was crowned this year, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) said. It is encouraging its supporters to e-mail Mori after her office refused to respond to inquiries, the US-based rights group said. PETA also offered Mori weblinks to gruesome footage from dog and cat fur farms in China. The Miss Universe Japan office referred queries to Mori's office in New York, where she is based. No one immediately could be reached at the New York office. Mori has said she wants to use her tenure as Miss Universe to fight HIV and AIDS and that she hopes one day to perform on Broadway. PETA is famous for its publicity stunts in campaigning for animal rights. It has frequently targeted celebrities and companies that promote fur, most visibly the British fashion giant Burberry.
10/15/2007 NEW DOG DIET DRUG TO COMBAT OBESITY!
A new diet drug for dogs which can cut their weight by a fifth is no substitute for a regular walks and good food, vets said. Slentrol is billed as a weight loss drug for plump pooches whose owners can't resist giving them fattening treats or simply don't have time to exercise them. But the Royal Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals said pills are not the way to tackle the growing weight problem among Britain's 6.8million pet dogs.
10/14/2007 SALMON AND TROUT HATCHERIES CAUSE 'STUNNING' LOSS OF REPRODUCTION!
The rearing of steelhead trout in hatcheries causes a dramatic and unexpectedly fast drop in their ability to reproduce in the wild, a new Oregon State University study shows, and raises serious questions about the wisdom of historic hatchery practices. 'Among other things, this study proves with no doubt that wild fish and hatchery fish are not the same, despite their appearances,' said Michael Blouin, an OSU associate professor of zoology. 'Some have suggested that hatchery and wild fish are equivalent, but these data really put the final nail in the coffin of that argument.'
10/13/2007 LIVESTOCK TRANSPORTERS PLAN TO TAKE ON ANIMAL RIGHTS GROUPS!
Livestock transporters plan to counter a looming animal rights campaign against their industry by taking on more moderate allies. The World Society for the Protection of Animals is planning a global campaign against the long haul transportation of livestock. But the Livestock Transporters Association says its work with the RSPCA to draw up an animal welfare quality assurance scheme will make it hard for the campaign to gain traction. Executive director Luke Fraser says other industries should consider working with animal rights groups, not against them. 'There's value in industry working with the middle ground, which is people just in the general community who have an interest in the welfare of the stock, in our case the stock being transported, not necessarily people who want to shut down our industry but do want to see a humane industry', he said. 'We want to work with them and we'd expect that the rest of the industry would be sensible about that as well, and I think audited quality assurances schemes are the way to go.'
10/12/2007 GREENPEACE URGES KANGAROO CONSUMPTION TO FIGHT GLOBAL WARMING!
More kangaroos should be slaughtered and eaten to help save the world from global warming, environmental activists say. The controversial call to cut down on beef and serve more of the national symbol on our dinner plates follows a report on curbing greenhouse gas emissions damaging the planet. Greenpeace energy campaigner Mark Wakeham urged Aussies to substitute some red meat for roo to help reduce land clearing and the release of methane gas.
10/11/2007 STARVING LAMBS TO BE SLAUGHTERED!
Plans to slaughter and dispose of a quarter of a million lambs caught up in the foot-and-mouth crisis have been announced by the Scottish Government. The so-called 'light lambs' are usually sold to a specific European market but the outbreak in England meant they could not be moved. The onset of winter and lack of grazing means the animals face starvation. Farmers will be paid £15 to send each animal to an abattoir in an incentive scheme estimated to cost up to £6m. The problem has come to the fore in Scotland ahead of the rest of the UK because of the colder climate and pasture on many hill farms now becoming thin.
10/10/2007 STEM CELL BANK FOR DRUG TESTING MAY CUT ANIMAL EXPERIMENTS!
Plans to build a bank of stem cells that can be used to test the safety of new medicines were announced by a government-backed consortium of scientists and drug companies. The initiative, Stem Cells for Safer Medicine, will invest more than £1m in projects aimed at turning human embryonic stem cells into liver tissue. This could then be used early during drug development to weed out harmful compounds. The research could also help reduce the number of animals used to test drugs.
10/09/2007 GLORIA STEINEM SAYS 'NO' TO COVANCE CRUELTY!
Covance, Inc., one of Madison's largest employers, is no longer welcome as a sponsor of a local fundraising event. Gloria Steinem, who will appear in Madison to help celebrate the 30th anniversary of a local human services agency, asked that the organization drop Covance as a sponsor of their October 16th event. Ms. Steinem, one of the stars of the modern feminist movement and founder of Ms. Magazine, has taken a public stand against animal research. In its sprawling laboratory complex near Madison's airport, thousands of monkeys, dogs and other live animals are used by Covance to test drugs, cleaning products and other chemicals.
10/08/2007 COUNCIL SAYS NO TO ANIMALS AT A'TOWN CIRCUS!
The circus is coming to Andytown – but Belfast city councillors have banned animals from the spectacular show. On Monday the City Hall's Parks and Leisure Committee agreed to allow the Australian Super Circus to use land at Andersonstown Leisure Centre. The award-winning performers will be in town next year from February 6-17 and were expected to draw large crowds. However, the Council has insisted on the circus leaving its animals at home, and warned that any breach of the ban will see it being kicked off the site. The ruling means the West Belfast public will be unable to see the wide range of exotic animals that have made the Australian Super Circus world famous.
10/07/2007 100,000 DEMAND TOUGH EU STAND ON WHALING!
Green MEP Caroline Lucas and whale protection organisation Campaign Whale on Thursday presented a 100,000 hand-signed petition to European Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas in Brussels calling for urgent action to improve protection for whales and prevent the resumption of whaling. The petition calls for existing loopholes in EU legislation that permit whale killing, to be closed, to reflect overwhelming public concern. Dr Lucas said: 'The European public overwhelmingly supports a complete ban on all whaling, but there are several loopholes to the existing international law protecting whales – the EU must act to close them immediately.' A report produced by the Foundation for International Environmental Law and Development (FIELD) for Campaign Whale last year exposed serious flaws in existing legislation intended to protect whales. They would permit the killing of whales for so-called 'scientific' and 'fisheries management' purposes - even in the 'overriding public interest' - which might be used to justify whaling for 'cultural' or economic reasons.
10/06/2007 COUNCILLORS IN YORK APPROVE FOIE GRAS BAN!
Councillors in York have voted almost unanimously in favour of opposing the sale of foie gras. The motion, tabled by councillor Paul Blanchard, said the use of livers from force-fed ducks is 'a cruel practice'. It is now banned from council premises. The council is to write to hotels and restaurants in the city to inform them of its opinion of the French delicacy. York will become the first city in the UK to call for a nationwide ban on the sale of foie gras on cruelty grounds. Foie gras is produced by force-feeding ducks and geese until their livers swell to six to 10 times their normal size. Pneumatic pumps are used to force quantities of food into the birds, which animal welfare groups claim is cruel. Animal rights campaigners demonstrated outside the city's full council meeting ahead of the vote on Thursday night. The Liberal Democrat-led council's chief executive will now write to Lord Rooker, the minister for sustainable food and farming and animal health, stating the authority's concern over the sale of foie gras in the UK. He will also request a review of central government policies on animal welfare issues.
10/06/2007 ANOTHER AIRCRAFT CRASH IN FEDERAL COYOTE HUNT!
Two federal agents suffered serious injuries in a helicopter crash this month while conducting a coyote hunt in Pecos County, Texas. This accident is the latest in a series of air crashes that has led to growing call to cut off public funding for shooting coyotes using aircraft, a practice called 'aerial gunning.' In the latest incident, pilot Ronald Honaker and passenger Gerald Porter were briefly hospitalized when their helicopter experienced mechanical problems and crashed into a field outside Stockton, Texas, on September 12. On June 1, 2007, two federal agriculture agents died when their plane crashed during an aerial gunning trip in Wayne County, Utah.
10/05/2007 NATURE RESERVE DECLARES OPEN SEASON ON ILLEGAL BIRD HUNTERS!
Italian bird-hunters have slaughtered tens of thousands of wild birds in the Danube delta's unique biosphere reservation with illegally issued permits, according to a statement released by the wetlands' administration in the Romanian capital, Bucharest. There has been a dramatic drop in the Delta's bird population as a result of a massive ongoing drought and the depredations of Italian bird-hunting syndicates, Paul Cononov, the governor of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reservation (DDBR) said in the statement. The reserve, which is on the Unesco global reserve network list, is home to six globally threatened and near-threatened species, among them the slender-billed curlew, red-breasted goose, Dalmatian pelican, Ferruginous duck, pygmy cormorant and white-tailed eagle. To give the fauna a chance to recover, the administration of the reservation, acting on the advice of the Romanian Academy of Sciences, put off the start of the autumn hunting season from Sept 15 to Nov 1. However, Romanian hunting associations have ignored the ban and invited in rich northern Italian hunters.
10/04/2007 MICHAEL VICK TAKES EMPATHY COURSE AT PETA HQ!
Following news of his guilty plea, Ingrid Newkirk, president of PETA, contacted Michael Vick suggesting that he hear about animal protection issues, learn how animals feel joy and pain and deserve respect, and receive specific instruction on what to say to young people whom he has influenced in the worst possible ways. In mid-September, Michael Vick visited PETA's headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia. He expressed his willingness to learn and his belief that everything in life happens for a reason, and he offered an apology to PETA and to 'everyone' for 'what I have done to dogs.' Two weeks ago, Michael Vick returned to PETA to take the 'Developing Empathy for Animals' course, an all-day seminar on 'who animals are,' alternatives to cruelty, animal protection philosophy, and humane education, which PETA has now excerpted online. PETA believes that this course should be adopted by the NFL for all players to take in order to give them a chance to learn empathy, compassion, and nonviolence. Two days after the seminar, Vick came back to PETA's office to take the course exam.
10/03/2007 EGYPTIAN CITY TO GO BACK TO SHOOTING STRAY DOGS!
The population of stray dogs in Cairo's twin city of Giza will once more be controlled by shooting and poisoning the animals because it is cheaper than sterilization, the municipal veterinary department announced. In an interview Saturday with the flagship state-owned daily Al-Ahram, department head Dr. Abdullah Badr said that it was simply too expensive to implement a sterilization program.
10/02/2007 DESHAWN BROWN GETS 4 YEARS FOR SETTING DOG ON FIRE!
A 22-year-old Dallas man who tortured his dog by setting her on fire was sentenced Friday night to four years in prison for animal cruelty. Deshawn Brown stabbed his dog, poured an accelerant on her stomach and set her on fire in April 2006. Prosecutors say he was mad because she wouldn't mate. Prosecutor David Alex had asked jurors to give Mr. Brown the maximum sentence – 10 years – one year for each day she suffered before dying, he said. Jonnie England, executive director of Operation Kindness, the shelter that cared for the pit bull mix they named Mercy, called the jury's sentence 'insignificant.'
10/02/2007 ACT GOVT OFFERS $1M TO CONVERT EGG FARM!
The operators of a caged egg farm in Canberra have been offered $1 million by the Australian Capital Territory government to convert to a barn-laid system. The government has stopped short of banning Parkwood Eggs' battery hen farm altogether, but the financial sweetener has been criticised by the Australian Egg Corporation. Managing director James Kellaway says $1 million will not go far enough and the changeover could be a costly mistake for the producer. 'Last year, according to AC Nielson data we had 73 per cent purchasing caged eggs, 22 per cent were free range and 5 per cent were barn laid,' he said. 'So why should any person, any government any entity try and persuade businesses to go into a production system where there is reducing demand?'
10/01/2007 CANADA PREPARES LAW SUIT AGAINST DUTCH AND BELGIANS OVER SEAL FUR BAN!
Canada has taken first steps in preparation of a law suit at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) against the Netherlands and Belgium over their ban on the import of seal fur. 'There is no basis in science or international law to prohibit the sale of seal products,' a spokesman for the Canadian Ministry of International Trade told reporters. In what appears to be an attempt to prevent a prohibition on seal fur by the European Union as a whole, Canada has requested a consultation with the EU at the WTO in Geneva. Responding to the Canadians, Dutch Minister of Agriculture Gerda Verburg said the Dutch law, which was implemented earlier this summer, 'fits within the rules established by the WTO.' The Netherlands and Belgium have recently adopted laws prohibiting the sale of seal fur and other seal products. The two countries argue that the way the animals are killed - they are clubbed to death - is cruel.
10/01/2007 COURT WON'T DECLARE CHIMP A PERSON!
He's now got a human name - Matthew Hiasl Pan - but he's having trouble getting his day in court. Animal rights activists campaigning to get Pan, a 26-year-old chimpanzee, legally declared a person vowed Thursday to take their challenge to Austria's Supreme Court after a lower court threw out their latest appeal. A provincial judge in the city of Wiener Neustadt dismissed the case earlier this week, ruling that the Vienna-based Association Against Animal Factories had no legal standing to argue on the chimp's behalf. Group president Martin Balluch insists that Pan is 'a being with interests' and accuses the Austrian judicial system of monkeying around.
The number of news found: 49.
