News
The number of news found: 49.
05/30/2008 GOODALL URGES NOBEL PRIZE FOR SPARING LAB ANIMALS
The primatologist Dr Jane Goodall the day before yesterday proposed that a Nobel prize be set up for advancing medical knowledge without experimentation on animals. The scientist, who pioneered research on chimpanzees in the wild, says moving away from animal research is a
"goal towards which all civilised nations should be moving." "As we move into the 21st century we need a new mind-set," she said. "We should admit that the infliction of suffering on beings who are capable of feeling is ethically problematic and that the amazing human brain should set to work to find new ways of testing and experimenting that will not involve the use of live, sentient beings. The scientific establishment should actively encourage such research. More funding should be made available for it. And rewards - such as a Nobel prize - should be given for it."
05/30/2008 NEW YORK'S "YOUTH HUNTING" BILL
With the number of hunters declining in New York at a significant pace each year, the special interests of the weapons and hunting industries are trying to lure young children into their dangerous and violent sports. Senate bill S8228 would allow children 14 and 15 years-old to hunt deer and bears with firearms, and would also allow children under the age of 12 to trap wildlife without a valid state trapping license. The companion bill has already passed the Assembly, and only the Senate stands in the way of this bill becoming law.
05/29/2008 THE SWISS ADDED AMENDMENT REGARDING ANIMALS AND PLANTS
The Swiss added an amendment to their constitution that included language on the dignity of animals, plants and other organisms. A bioethics panel was asked to investigate and make recommendations. The panel's recently released report is called "The Dignity of Living Beings with Regard to Plants." According to this report, the random and meaningless destruction of plants is a violation of the plant's dignity. If one willfully destroys plants for no reason at all except for the fun of it, that action violates the plant's dignity.
05/28/2008 DYNAVAX SHARES PLUMMET ON ALLERGY DRUG FAILURE
Shares of Dynavax Technologies Corp. plummeted after the drug developer said it is ending development of its ragweed allergy drug Tolamba after it failed a midstage trial. Dynavax said the drug did not show a significant improvement over placebo in reducing nasal symptoms. "The current trial displayed an unexpectedly high degree of variability in the data set possibly due to the subjective nature of symptom scoring used to assess efficacy," Chief Development Officer Martin Sanders said. "We have concluded that this problem may be difficult to overcome in future clinical studies."
05/27/2008 RESCUED MACAQUES FIND A BETTER LIFE
The Born Free USA Primate Sanctuary recently welcomed a large group of longtail macaques into its care. The 31 monkeys, many of them elderly, have been retired after spending up to 13 years in laboratory research. Thankfully, laboratory staff made the right decision to find a sanctuary for these animals, where they can live out the rest of their days without fear of further human interference. The research laboratory has ended its use of primates - so these monkeys will not be replaced by others.
05/27/2008 US PLANS MORE PRIMATE RESEARCH
Scientists in the United States are planning for an increase of non-human primate research. Currently, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) funds eight National Primate Research Centers with a total of about 26,000 animals. But several factors are expected to drive demand, among them the failure last year of an HIV vaccine candidate being trialled by the pharmaceutical company Merck. A greater focus on clinical research is also expected to boost primate work. But meeting the demand is a complicated issue. India, the preferred country of origin for the animals, has a long-standing ban on exporting rhesus macaques. Breeding more will take years, and it is not yet clear how many additional animals will be needed, because scientists have not yet told the NIH exactly what research must be done.
05/26/2008 KANGAROO CULL PROTESTERS ARRESTED
Police arrested eight Aboriginal activists after they climbed a fence into a government site to protest against the culling of 400 kangaroos, which are viewed as sacred symbols by the indigenous people. Police were cited as saying the four men and four women were expected to be charged with trespassing. About 30 protesters who remained outside the fence jeered the police. The protest was out of sight of the pens where kangaroos have been corralled before being killed with lethal injections. Defence Department authorities began the cull on last Monday on the site where about 600 kangaroos live. Scientists say the kangaroos' growing population threatens their own survival, as well as that of endangered native species of reptiles and insects.
05/26/2008 STRAY PARROT TALKS HER WAY HOME
A stray parrot captured on a street in Nagareyama, Chiba Prefecture, by a police officer earlier this month has been returned to her guardian after repeating her name and her guardian's address, police said Wednesday. After it was captured on May 6, the African grey parrot was taken to a veterinary clinic in the city where she repeated the words ''Nakamura Yosuke-kun,'' the name given to her by her guardian Yoshio Nakamura, and the guardian+s address including the house number. She also entertained clinic staff by singing songs, police said. The clinic notified police on May 19 and they located the Nakamura residence and returned the parrot to the guardian. ''I was careless because she hardly flies,'' Nakamura was quoted as telling the police. ''I had been teaching her things such as the address.''
05/25/2008 ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVISTS ARRESTED IN AUSTRIA!
In the morning of May 21 in Austria, Europe police broke into homes and offices of activists through the whole country. Ten people were arrested and eighteen homes/offices were searched. Police have seized all mobile phones, computers and documents, making campaign work for the immediate future impossible. This is the largest raid against AR people that Austria has seen to date. The search and arrest warrants are for animal rights activities dating back as far as 1997. Legal represtentation was quickly organised for all ten people arrested and solidarity demos are taking place outside the police station where they are being held. It is unclear at present whether they will be released after questioning or held on remand.
05/25/2008 OPRAH TO GO VEGAN FOR THREE WEEKS
Inspired by the book Quantum Wellness, by Kathy Freston, Oprah's going to be cutting all the meat, dairy, and eggs out of her diet in an effort to live a healthy, cruelty-free lifestyle. Oprah's going to be giving up alcohol, wheat, and sugar as well. Oprah says: "How can you say you're trying to spiritually evolve, without even a thought about what happens to the animals whose lives are sacrificed in the name of gluttony?"
05/24/2008 SAN MARINO BANS ANIMAL EXPERIMENTS!
The Republic of San Marino, an independent state within central Italy and a member of the United Nations and the Council of Europe, has become the first nation to formally abolish animal experimentation. Following a proposal made by the Italian anti-vivisectionist Dr Stefano Cagno, Massimo Tettemanti and Marina Berati, supported by the San Marino Animal Protection Society, a motion to abolish all animal experiments was submitted to the 60 members of the Great and General Council (the national parliament of San Marino) in September 2007, and adopted by them by a large majority. It is therefore now forbidden by law to experiment on animals in the Republic of San Marino.
05/24/2008 ICELAND OKAYS 2008 WHALE HUNT
Iceland's government approved the commercial hunting of whales this year, a move that drew quick criticism from conservationists. The quota for 2008 is 40 Minke whales. Whalers could begin hunting from Tuesday and continue through September. Iceland, which had observed an international moratorium on commercial whaling for sixteen years until a controversial October 2006 decision to resume the practice, had not previously taken a decision on whether hunting would go ahead this year. Asmundsson said the decision was taken after it was determined there was need for whale meat on the market. The decision drew immediate criticism from conservationists.
05/23/2008 CHINESE QUAKE KILLS 12,5 MILLION FARMED ANIMALS
The earthquake in China, which has claimed thousands of human lives, has caused enormous damage to the agricultural sector - mainly poultry and pig production. An additional consequence is the fear of the spread of disease. Dutch agricultural newspaper Agrarisch Dagblad reports that the Chinese ministry has stated that 12.5 mln livestock have died as a result of the earthquake, mainly poultry. Approx. 792,000 pigs in the province Sichuan have been killed. The disaster occurred just before the beginning of the warm season where some poultry diseases are at their worst. Structural damage, together with bad accessibility caused by the earthquake and poor hygiene standards, has increased the chances of diseases spreading. "Prevention of contagious diseases is one of our biggest priorities in the relief efforts," said Chinese government officials.
05/23/2008 CHINA COUNTY ORDERS DOG CULL AFTER QUAKE
A Chinese county has launched a drive to cull ownerless and hungry dogs threatening public health after the deadliest earthquake to hit the country in more than three decades, state media said on Monday. The 7.9 magnitude tremor that rocked the southwestern province of Sichuan on May 12 had killed more than 34,000 people as of Monday. The government says it expects the toll to eventually rise to more than 50,000. In Qingchuan county, where more than 2,670 people have died, authorities have ordered the "collective" culling of dogs to protect residents and guard against epidemics, the official Xinhua news agency said. "Most of the dogs in the county have not been fed by anyone and have been wandering around since the earthquake," Xinhua quoted local officials as saying. "They are prone to scramble for food with humans... and to bite people and spread diseases." The dogs will be disinfected and buried deep in the soil, Xinhua said.
05/22/2008 RESTAURANT CRITICIZED FOR KEEPING FISH IN A URINAL
A Chinese restaurant has been criticized for keeping ornamental fish in a urinal. The restaurant in Changchun city has around 20 fancy carp in an over 12-foot-long trough in the mens' bathroom. Experts have reportedly condemned the move saying it's harmful to the fish. The restaurant says the fish are not in any danger and that the water is running and staff change the water at least twice a day and add oxygen into the water much like a regular fish tank. The restaurant's owner adds the fish are just an attraction and not used in dishes. Guests say they're surprised to see the fish swimming in the trough which has a sign saying, "Please urinate here" above it.
05/22/2008 CLIMATE CHANGE IS ALREADY HURTING WORLD'S WILDLIFE
Wildlife on every continent has already been disrupted by climate change, according to scientists who have analyzed data going back to 1970. The researchers, who included members from the United Nations' climate panel, linked global warming to, for example, big declines of Antarctic penguins and African fish. The experts also said most damage can be explained by rising temperatures driven by human activity.
05/21/2008 HUMAN SHIELDS FOR KANGAROOS
Animal liberationists are threatening to act as human shields to prevent a kangaroo cull on military land. Killing pens and refrigerated trucks were in place on Sunday at a former navy transmission station in Canberra, ahead of the planned culling of about 400 kangaroos over the next few days. The cull will be carried out to protect rare grasslands and plants and the threatened perunga grasshopper and golden sun moth. The kangaroos will be stunned with tranquilliser darts and then given lethal injections.
05/21/2008 THE AGONY OF THE ANIMALS IN THE SPLIT ZOO GOES ON
The German veterinarian Eva Maria von Wick, after two years visited the Split Zoo again and on the Press conference emphasizes the abusive conditions in which 45 species and over 300 animal individuals are still captivated on 3,500 m2. Two years ago in the Split Zoo there were 55 species and 445 animals. Even though Ms. Wick intends to transfer all of these animals (especially the "wild" and "exotic" ones) to greater refuges in Germany, it hasn't happened yet due to the disapproval of the Management of the Zoo. This is due to their immature and irresponsible behavior which is contrary to the decisions of the municipality and expert committee. Amongst other things, the number of individual animals should be specified. Such a study should be conceptual, which means that for every autochthonic animal there must be a reason for its being on the Marjan Zoo, and they should be provided with maximum convenient environmental conditions.
05/20/2008 MUTANT MONKEYS BRED TO CONTRACT BRAIN DISORDER
Monkeys have been genetically engineered to contract Huntington's disease in a controversial experiment that could aid the development of treatments for the brain disorder. The rhesus macaque monkeys carry the mutant gene that causes Huntington's in humans and are the first primate models of the disease. Huntington's causes mood swings, depression and memory loss, followed by progressive tremor, neurological damage and death. There is no cure, with five to ten people in every 100,000 who inherit the mutated gene invariably dying from the condition. The use of genetic engineering to produce monkeys with so serious and distressing a disease has raised strong objections from animal rights groups. Of the five GM monkeys born, three were so severely affected by the mutant genes that they swiftly died.
05/20/2008 PETA WARNS OF LINK BETWEEN FACTORY FARM FILTH AND BIRD FLU
In the wake of avian flu outbreak in Darjeeling, an NGO for animals has released graphic undercover video footage of the filthy conditions of chicken and egg factory farms, stating them to be the reason for the spread of the deadly H5N1 strain. The report released by People for Ethical Treatment of Animals India (PETA) documents the scalding, starvation and mutilation of birds as well as the potential for the spread of disease from chickens to humans. The disturbing findings were sent to the West Bengal government last year and it was warned about how unsanitary conditions on factory farms could lead to an outbreak of the deadly H5N1 virus, a PETA release said here. PETA's report reveals how unhygienic conditions are responsible for the repeated outbreak of bird flu in India. In 2005, approximately 2 billion chickens were slaughtered in India. Tens of thousands of chickens are crammed into dark, filthy sheds, where the ammonia from the accumulated waste actually burns their eyes.
05/19/2008 BULLDOZER CALLED IN TO FIGHT BULL
Barbaric bullfighting bosses have plunged the cruel sport to new depths by calling in a bulldozer to batter a bull for refusing to take on a matador. Many spectators in the town of Pinar, in Spain's Andalucia region, even cheered as the ten-tonne terror goaded the terrified animal into charging. The bull ended up exhausted and bleeding - and the matador came in to finish it off. Some fans, however, were revolted. The town could now be banned from holding more bullfights. Andalucia's regional government spokesman Jesús Huertas said: "This was reprehensible and intolerable. We are going to deal with this forcefully to ensure nothing like it ever happens again."
05/19/2008 FISHERMAN WHO STABBED SEA LION GETS PROBATION
A fisherman who admitted stabbing a sea lion that apparently took bait from his fishing line was sentenced Thursday to three years of probation. U.S. Magistrate Judge Carla Woehrle also ordered Hai Nguyen, 25, of Garden Grove, Calif., to serve 200 hours of community service. He had faced up to one year in prison and a $20,000 fine. Nguyen pleaded guilty in November to a misdemeanor count of illegally taking and attempting to kill a marine mammal, admitting that he violated the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act. He said he meant to scare the sea lion away but never intended to kill it. Nguyen was arrested in July in Newport.
05/18/2008 MAKAH JUDGE FAILS TO EMPANEL JURY TO PROSECUTE WHALERS
They promised tough prosecution, but in the end the Makah Nation couldn't put together a jury to try five whalers who were charged with illegally killing a gray whale off Neah Bay last fall. Tribal Judge Stanley Myers on Wednesday instead granted the men one-year deferred prosecution and promised to dismiss the charges if they committed no offenses during that time. The whalers also were each ordered to pay a $20 fine. The deferral came after the judge summoned more than 200 people from the remote village of Neah Bay on the Olympic Peninsula to serve as potential jurors. But the judge gave up on empaneling a jury because just about everyone was either related or said they had strong feelings about the case, according to one of the whalers, Wayne Johnson.
05/18/2008 ANIMAL SACRIFICE SPARKS CRITISIM IN NEPAL
The king of Nepal drew the ire of an animal rights group this week after sacrificing five animals, including a buffalo, at a shrine outside Kathmandu. Reuters, reporting on the sacrifice as well as the King Gyanendra's uncertain future, said the king went to the shrine Monday to offer annual prayers to Kali, the Hindu goddess of power. The king faces the abolition of the 239-year-old monarchy because Maoists emerged as the biggest party in assembly elections in April.
05/17/2008 MORE THAN 500 COMPANION ANIMALS STRANDED IN VOLCANO ZONE
The pro-animal rights Coalition for the Ethical Control of Urban Animals (CEFU) disclosed on Wednesday that 500 companion animals in communities surrounding the Chait én Volcano remain in imminent danger. This newscame after rain and increased snow melt attributed to the volcanicactivity caused a river near the town of Chait én to overflow earlierin the week, flooding streets and burying houses in mud. "We have received word that heavy rains have caused flooding in andaround Chait én," CEFU Executive Director Alejandra Cassino told the Santiago Times. "Roughly 80 percent of the town's pets are stillthere, and we want them to be evacuated."
05/17/2008 POLITICIANS CALL FOR A HALT TO EDINBURGH ZOO GIANT PANDA PLAN
Politicians north and south of the Border are calling on Edinburgh Zoo to reconsider its plan to add Giant Pandas to its animal collection. Scottish Green MSP Robin Harper has tabled a Motion to the Scottish Parliament expressing concern at the proposal by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) to lease two Giant Pandas from a research centre in China for exhibition and captive breeding at Edinburgh Zoo. At Westminster, Liberal Democrat MP Mike Hancock has tabled an Early Day Motion (EDM) in the same terms, as it has been reported that the Prime Minister may sign a final agreement for the animals' transfer at the time of the Beijing Olympics. Although zoos describe their holding and breeding of Giant Pandas as a conservation measure, no captive bred Giant Panda has ever been successfully released into the wild. Any animals bred at Edinburgh Zoo would most likely be condemned to spend their entire lives in captivity.
05/16/2008 SNARED BADGERS FOUND DUMPED ON ROADSIDE IN ATTEMPT TO COVER UP CRIME
Scottish Badgers has been informed by Lothian & Borders Police of an enquiry in the Duns area of the Scottish Borders, after two dead badgers which had been found dead at the roadside were found to have been killed in snares. Post mortem examination revealed that both animals, a male and a female, had broken necks. It has been suspected for some time that badgers which have been killed illegally are being taken by their killers to be dumped amongst the carnage of road kill and this incident confirms that suspicion. This is the eighth snaring incident reported this year to Scottish Badgers which feels that it indicates a total disregard by the persons using the snares for the welfare of non target species. In another recent incident, still under investigation, it appeared that six badgers were snared and then killed illegally, in defiance of new regulations introduced by the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004.
05/15/2008 SIERRA CLUB EMBRACES HOOK-N-BULLET "GREENS"
The non-profit Sierra Club launched a new website, sierrasportsmen.org, which appeals directly to the environmental concerns of hunters and anglers. The environmental group is embracing outdoorsmen as "partners in a shared mission to protect habitat for fish and wildlife." Some 118,000 of the Sierra Club's 600,000 person membership engages in hunting or fishing on a regular basis and are passionate about protecting wildlife habitat. The group is hoping that the new website will help connect sportsmen across state lines on a wide range of conservation and habitat protection issues.
05/14/2008 NEW YORK VEGGIE PRIDE PARADE
The first Veggie Pride Parade in America will take place in Greenwich Village, New York City, this coming Sunday May 18 starting at Noon. Organized by the VivaVegie Society, the Parade includes a Blazing Procession of Carrots and Pea Pods, Banners and Signs, concluding with a Festival in Washington Square Park featuring music, speakers, and exhibitors.
05/13/2008 CANADIAN MP CALLS FOR SEAL HUNT HELP
Gerry Byrne is calling for a federal task force to help protect the seal industry. The Liberal Commons member for Humber-St. Barbe-Baie Verte made the call for quick action by the federal government in light of the imminent threat of a European boycott of seal products, market prices dropping at an alarming rate and anti-sealing protesters taking over the message about the seal hunt. Three years ago, the MP pointed out, the price of seal skins reached $105 per pelt, the quota was 975,000 seals over three years and hunters were only harvesting around 345,000 in any given year. "Today, just three years later, the price per pelt is below $30 and the number of protesters on the ice seems to exceed the number of sealers," Byrne said. "Europe is contemplating a total ban on seal products and we are barely harvesting half the quota. What happened in three years?" He said government would have acted more swiftly if any other food product produced in Canada dropped by over 300 per cent in less then three years and also faced an illegal ban by foreign governments.
05/12/2008 24 NAKED ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVISTS STRIP NAKED IN SYDNEY MALL
Shoppers in Sydney's CBD have copped an eyeful with a group of animal rights activists stripping off for a naked protest against live animal exports. Heads turned as 24 young men and women wearing only skimpy green satin dressing gowns sauntered out into the middle of Pitt Street Mall on Saturday. The group quickly disrobed and draped themselves on the cold paving slabs around a placard stating "Animals suffer and die in live export". The protesters endured the cold, occasional sniggers and a barrage of photographs from media, tourists and the voyeuristic alike in the hope some might see past the skin on show and heed their message.
05/11/2008 SECURITY ON ZIMBABWE'S WHITE-OWNED FARMS DETERIORATES
More than half of Zimbabwe's remaining productive white farmers are under ever increasing pressure to abandon their homes and businesses. Friedawall farm near Chinhoyi, about 100 kilometers north of Harare is the scene of intense and ongoing cruelty to animals on the property according to neighbors and workers who have fled the farm. The farm has large cattle and pig sections. Louis Fick, who owns the animals, says his workers have been chased away. He said Mashiringwani's employees have refused to feed more than 4,000 pigs, 15,000 crocodiles and several hundred beef cattle for the past week. He called the Zimbabwe National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The Society says its officials have not been allowed on to the farm to inspect what is going on and to feed the animals. Police at Chinhoyi have not assisted according to the Society. Attempts to get comment from Zimbabwe Police commissioner Augustine Chihuri and Mashiringwani were unsuccessful.
05/11/2008 SUFFERING IN THE NAME OF MEDICINE
The bear lies on his stomach in a coffin-like metal cage so small that he cannot move. He cannot sit up, turn over or scratch himself, let alone stand. Protruding from his stomach is a catheter that has been crudely inserted into his gall bladder, which is "milked" for his bile, used in traditional Chinese medicine despite the ready availability of cheap herbal and synthetic alternatives. The bear is an Asiatic Black Bear, or Moon Bear, named for the yellow crescent of fur on his chest. He is endangered and there are only an estimated 16,000 to 25,000 left in the wild. He has been in the cage for 15 to 20 years.
05/10/2008 ANTI-ZOO BOOK WINS GRAND PRIZE IN ERIC HOFFER BOOK AWARDS
The groundbreaking book, Thought to Exist in the Wild: Awakening from the Nightmare of Zoos, has captured the Grand Prize in the prestigious Eric Hoffer Book Awards 2008 contest. The Hoffer Book Awards honor excellence in independent publishing, freethinking writers, and books of exceptional merit. Published by the non-profit No Voice Unheard, Thought to Exist in the Wild, critiques one of America's most unquestioned institutions: zoos. Forty-five million American adults and children visit zoos each year, yet rarely does anyone consider what zoos really teach us about animals, ourselves, and the natural world. In Thought to Exist in the Wild, California writer Derrick Jensen uses his well-known lyrical style to range from the global to the personal, the heartbreaking to the comical, and from horror to beauty, to examine the history of zoos and their place in our current culture. New York City photographer Karen Tweedy-Holmes provides the visual narrative, with breathtaking and often haunting photos that portray the alienation and loneliness of animals held in zoos around the world, yet illuminate the innate beauty and dignity still retained by each animal, despite his or her captivity.
05/09/2008 HYGIENE IN FRENCH ABATTOIRS CALLED "APOCALYPTIC"
About a quarter of the meat that is sold in France was not processed in slaughter plants that meet European requirements on hygiene, the weekly journal Le Point recently reported on the basis of a secret report of the French department of food safety (DGAL). In almost half of the abattoirs for poultry and rabbits and in 42% of the pig, cattle and calves hygiene issues were at stake, the magazine added. "The situation in the slaughterhouses can sometimes be called apocalyptic," can be read in Le Point, giving a black list of 23 plants where hygiene is the worst of all.
05/09/2008 AUSTRALIA'S KOALAS AT RISK FROM CLIMATE CHANGE
Koalas are threatened by the rising level of carbon dioxide pollution in the atmosphere because it saps nutrients from the eucalyptus leaves they feed on, a researcher said Wednesday. Ian Hume, emeritus professor of biology at Sydney University, said he and his researchers also found that the amount of toxicity in the leaves of eucalyptus saplings rose when the level of carbon dioxide within a greenhouse was increased. The researchers found that carbon dioxide in eucalyptus leaves affects the balance of nutrients and "anti-nutrients" - substances that are either toxic or interfere with the digestion of nutrients.
05/08/2008 THE GEORGIA AQUARIUM TO ADD DOLPHINS
The Georgia Aquarium plans to add a $110 million dolphin exhibit that will open in 2010, the attraction announced Tuesday. Work will begin this summer. The aquarium will partner in the exhibit with Marineland of Florida, owned by Jim Jacoby, a member of the Georgia Aquarium's board. Marcus said Jacoby has offered to lend the Georgia Aquarium trained dolphins from Marineland's Dolphin Conservation Center. The expansion will create an 84,000-square-foot space about the size of two football fields, with a 1.3 million gallon exhibit tank, Marcus said.
05/07/2008 EUROPEAN RETAILERS JOIN MULESING BAN
A US-based animal rights group has persuaded two more major European retailers to boycott Australian wool from mulesed sheep. AB Lindex, with 346 stores throughout northern Europe, and RNB Retail and Brands, with 450 stores in 12 countries, announced they would source wool from nations that do not perform mulesing and only Australian farmers who do not use the controversial procedure. Lindex and RNB, both based in Sweden, made the decisions after American representatives from the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) flew to Sweden last month to lobby company executives directly.
05/07/2008 OUTRAGE AT THE EU MOVES TO FEED ANIMAL REMAINS TO CHICKENS
The European Union is preparing plans to allow pig remains to be used to feed poultry. The practice - banned in Europe after the BSE crisis 10 years ago - would save farmers millions of pounds as prices of cereal feed for chickens soar, say officials in Brussels. But the proposal has outraged animal rights campaigners, Muslim organisations and other groups. They claim the move would put families at risk, offend religious sensibilities and lead to a major consumer backlash.
05/06/2008 PETA BOSSES ADVERTISE FOR FILM SET CRUELTY INSIDERS
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) activists are urging Hollywood insiders to report animal cruelty issues on film sets after learning a chimpanzee was beaten behind the scenes of new blockbuster SPEED RACER. Officials representing the animal rights group are still investigating claims that ape actor Chim Chim was beaten after biting one of his human co-stars. The group has set up a "special hotline" and a website, NoMoreMonkeyBusiness.com, for their insiders, and promise all alerts will be treated with confidentiality.
05/06/2008 U.S. COMPANY RECALLS ABOUT 286,000 POUNDS OF MEAT
A New York company is voluntarily recalling about 286,000 pounds (129,700 kg) of fresh and frozen meat and poultry products that may be contaminated with bacteria, U.S. agriculture officials said on Saturday. The products produced by Gourmet Boutique LLC of Jamaica, New York, were sent to food service and retail establishments nationwide, a U.S. Department of Agriculture statement said. The meat may be contaminated with Listeria monocyotogenes bacteria, which can cause a rare but potentially fatal disease known as listeriosis, the USDA said. Infants, the elderly, people with HIV and patients undergoing chemotherapy are among those at risk for the disease. Listeriosis also can cause miscarriages and stillbirths.
05/05/2008 SA ELEPHANTS CAN BE CULLED AGAIN
South Africa has lifted a moratorium on elephant culling to combat a surge in population numbers. The South African government halted the killing of elephants in 1995 but since then numbers have more than doubled. The government says it is authorising the cull as a last resort and that culling will only be acceptable under strict conditions. The move comes despite an outcry from animal rights activists who say entire family groups would be slaughtered.
05/04/2008 CRUEL GUARDIAN LEFT HER DOG TO STARVE
An Alsatian dog lay dead in a flat for 10 days after its cruel guardian left it to perish in agony without food or water. The all-white dog, called Snowy, licked condensation from the window in a desperate attempt to get moisture. Paisley Sheriff Court was told a post mortem showed the dog had no body fat, no traces of food in its stomach and had lost two-thirds of its body weight. It had been shut in a room of the ground-floor flat, amid total squalor, with the door tied with string and wool to keep it from escaping. By the time worried neighbors raised the alarm it was too late and the dog had already died of starvation.
05/04/2008 NEW YORK FIRST U.S. STATE TO BAN ANAL/GENITAL ELECTROCUTION OF ANIMALS
New York is the first state to ban electrocuting animals in a particularly gruesome way to harvest their fur for clothing. National animal rights advocates say it's a critical move in their effort to ban the global practice. While still governor, Eliot Spitzer signed the measure into law in March and it's now effective. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals says the law bans the common practice of anal and genital electrocution of mink, foxes, chinchillas and rabbits. They hope it will force similar measures in other states. PETA's Melissa Karpel says the practice is widespread because it's cheap.
05/03/2008 NATIONAL TRUST SAYS NO TO BADGER CULL ON ITS LAND
The National Trust will not cooperate in a voluntary cull of badgers on its land in Wales. The Welsh Assembly included a pilot cull of badgers within its strategy to tackle the disease. But the trust, which owns 50,000 hectares of land in Wales, ruled out any cooperation because it said it did not believe there was a scientific case for killing badgers to prevent bovine tuberculosis. It also ruled out cooperation with any cull in England should it be part of the government's strategy to tackle TB. The trust added that it would only take part if the assembly or the government backed the pilot programme with legal force.
05/02/2008 ANIMAL FRIENDS AGAINST THE INDIAN PRIMATE TRADE
On Thursday, April 30, Animal Friends sent a note to the Indian Embassy in Zagreb in which it expressed deepest concern regarding the request from the Himachal Pradesh government for the long standing ban on the exportation of non-human primates from India for research to be lifted. In 1978, following widespread publicity surrounding the use of monkeys used in cruel radiation experiments in the USA, the Government of India made an important decision to ban the export of its indigenous primates. This ban has been in place for 30 years. The reason given for wanting the ban to be lifted is because of the conflict between humans and monkeys in rural areas. However, there are humane solutions to this problem that do not involve the trapping and exporting of monkeys.
05/02/2008 ALARM AT BUY NOW PAY LATER PLAN
Pet stores are offering cats, dogs and other species for sale on payment plans. Animal rights campaigners say the trend towards buying companion animals on layby will swell the number being abandoned or consigned to pounds, where there is a high risk that they will have to be put down. Pets World is one NSW chain offering animals on payment plans. Under the terms of the agreement, customers pay a 40 per cent deposit and the remainder over six months. They cannot bring the animal back or obtain a refund if it runs away or dies - nor are they entitled to compensation if the animal falls ill outside the 30-day "health guarantee".
05/01/2008 SWIMMING ORANG-UTANS' SPEARFISHING EXPLOITS AMAZE THE WILDLIFE EXPERTS
Orang-utans have confounded naturalists by learning to swim across rivers and to fish with sticks. Naturalists were shocked to see the apes swim across a river to gain access to some of their favourite fruits at a conservation refuge on Kaja island in Borneo. Orang-utans were previously thought to be non-swimmers. The wildlife experts were equally surprised to see an orang-utan pick up a tree branch and stun a fish before eating it. Other apes introduced to the island were seen trying to spear fish with sticks after watching fishermen using rods. The naturalists also noted that the apes quickly worked out that it was even easier to steal fish from unattended lines used by the humans on the island. The unexpected behavior has been captured in photographs published in the book Thinkers of the Jungle - the Orang-utan Report, by Gerd Schuster, Willie Smits and Jay Ullal, of the Borneo Orang-utan Survival Association. The pictures are thought to be the first to show an orang-utan using a tool for hunting. The apes live in Borneo and Sumatra and are regarded by some as second only to humans in intelligence. They are threatened with extinction as their habitats diminish.
05/01/2008 DISCOVERY COVE DOLPHIN DIES PERFORMING TRICK IN FRONT OF SPECTATORS
A dolphin at SeaWorld's Discovery Cove died after it collided with another dolphin while performing a trick in front of spectators. Officials said the dolphin, called Sharky, hit the other dolphin during a Sunday show at Discovery Cove. The incident was apparently a freak accident.
The number of news found: 49.
