News
The number of news found: 49.
03/31/2007 PETA BLASTS UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO FOR DEADLY NICOTINE EXPERIMENTS ON MONKEYS!
PETA, the world's largest animal rights organization, is calling on University of Toronto (U of T) President David Naylor to immediately implement a policy requiring that U of T's animal care committee be allowed to exercise oversight in all animal experiments performed by U of T faculty - no matter where the experiments take place. PETA's request comes in light of the cruel and deadly nicotine experiments that a U of T animal experimenter recently performed on squirrel monkeys. Because the tests were conducted at a U.S. government facility in Baltimore, they bypassed U of T's animal care committee. In a letter fired off to Naylor, PETA points out that if the
consent of the committee had been required, these wasteful and cruel tests may have been stopped. During the experiments, Le Foll tied squirrel monkeys to chairs inside tiny chambers and repeatedly injected them with nicotine so that they became addicted to the drug. The monkeys were killed at the conclusion of the experiment.
03/30/2007 CAMBODIAN THIEVES POISON ELEPHANT TO STEAL ITS TUSKS!
Thieves in Cambodia poisoned a 62-year-old domesticated elephant and sawed off its tusks to sell in the black market, officials said Tuesday. The male elephant, which was chained to a tree by its owner near his home in Rattanakiri province, about 325 kilometers (200 miles) northeast of the capital Phnom Penh, was found dead Saturday, said district police chief Lee Sam Ol. Police found several empty packs of poison commonly used to kill rats near the dead elephant. They believe the thieves had doused jack fruit, a tropical fruit eaten by elephants, with the poison, Lee Sam Ol said. The elephant's tusks, measuring about 0.8 meters (0.8 yards) each, had been removed, he said. Hor Ang, the province's deputy police chief, said the tusks could fetch up to US$ 3,000 (EUR 2,250) each in the illegal ivory trade. Conservationists have said that the end of years of armed conflict in Cambodia has allowed the elephant population and other wildlife to make a comeback in Cambodian jungles.
03/30/2007 BURGER KING ADOPTS NEW INDUSTRY-LEADING ANIMAL WELFARE POLICIES!
After nearly six years of negotiations with PETA, Burger King agreed to enact a new industry-leading animal welfare plan to improve conditions for the animals used and killed for its products. According to its news plan, Burger King will: Immediately begin purchasing 10 percent of its pig flesh from suppliers that do not use cruel gestation crates and double that amount by the end of 2007. Immediately begin purchasing 2 percent of its eggs from hens who are not confined to tiny wire battery cages and more than double that amount by the end of 2007. Issue a statement to its egg suppliers that it will give purchasing preference to those that do not use battery cages. Issue a statement to its chicken-flesh suppliers that it will give purchasing preference to those that use or switch to 'controlled-atmosphere killing' (CAK), the least cruel method of poultry slaughter in existence. PETA applauds Burger King for this groundbreaking announcement, and will continue to work with the company to improve its animal welfare requirements.
03/29/2007 SCIENTISTS CREATE A SHEEP THAT'S 15% HUMAN!
Scientists have created the world's first human-sheep chimera - which has the body of a sheep and half-human organs. The sheep have 15 per cent human cells and 85 per cent animal cells - and their evolution brings the prospect of animal organs being transplanted into humans one step closer. Professor Esmail Zanjani, of the University of Nevada, has spent seven years and £5million perfecting the technique, which involves injecting adult human cells into a sheep's foetus.
03/29/2007 PETA CALLS FOR CRUELTY INVESTIGATION OF IAMS AND MENU FOODS!
In the wake of a massive recall of contaminated and deadly dog and cat food, Menu Foods and Iams are under fire for their cruel and unnecessary laboratory tests on animals. PETA is calling on law enforcement authorities to investigate whether cruelty-to-animals charges should be filed against the companies for alleged failure to warn consumers about the tainted food as soon as they had the information and - just as disturbingly - apparently feeding the tainted food to cats and dogs in order to test it.
03/28/2007 SPANISH ISLANDS EXTEND 'HUMAN RIGHTS' TO APES!
Beginning a movement that may propel Spain as a leader in animal welfare, the Balearic Parliament has recently announced its approval of a resolution to grant legal rights to great apes. The Balearic Islands are located in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula, and form one of the Autonomous Communities of Spain The Islands are one of the most popular holiday destinations in all of Europe Deputy Margalida Rosselló presented the Balearic Parliament with the resolution early last summer, requesting a declaration of support for the mission of the Great Ape Project, International - to legally grant great apes freedom from torture, mistreatment and unnecessary death. This resolution has also been presented to the Spanish Government and is expected to be considered this summer after being deferred due to unrelated political issues last year. According the Pedro Pozas, Executive Director of Great Ape Project, Spain, 'the decision of the Balearic Government to approve this Proposal, makes it a world-wide leader in the protection of the great apes and their habitat, as well as in the support of their rights.' By declaring its support of fundamental rights for great apes, the Balearic Parliament has taken scientific evidence to the next level by establishing a legal recognition that these creatures are conscious, self-aware beings that should not be tortured, abused and neglected. The efforts by the Balearic Parliament to stop the oppression of intelligent and self-aware beings who cannot speak for themselves is an important step in the political arena of animal rights.
03/27/2007 TOMMY HILFIGER TURNS HIS BACK ON FUR ON THE CATWALK!
Designer Tommy Hilfiger has joined the likes of Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein by turning his back on animal skins in his collections. 'Tommy Hilfiger's decision to go fur-free ensures that our high ethical standards for production are upheld,' said the company's chief executive, Fred Gehring. In the world of high fashion, fur remains very much in vogue. Christian Dior and Gucci continued to showcase furs at the recent Paris fashion shows for their 2007 autumn/winter collections. British designer Stella McCartney argues that there are alternatives that could be used: 'I totally disagree with electrocuted animals on people's backs.' But demand for fur is such that more than 50 million animals will be killed for their fur this year, according to the charity Respect for Animals. Most live in poor conditions on fur farms before slaughter and some are skinned alive.
03/27/2007 GARBAGE SINGER IS LATEST RECRUIT FOR PETA'S ANTI-FUR AD CAMPAIGN!
The cult Scottish rock singer Shirley Manson has become the latest celebrity recruit in the rear-guard action against the re-emergence of fur on the catwalk and on the backs of the world's wealthiest and most famous women. Manson, who fronted the band Garbage before embarking on a solo career, will be pictured in a hard-hitting ad campaign launched by the animal rights organisation PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). Wearing a Stella McCartney evening gown, Manson holds up a skinned fox over the caption 'Here's the rest of your fur coat'. It is a campaign which last month saw the R&B singer Jamelia pictured naked with a white rabbit on her back and which promises many more celebrity shock adverts.
03/26/2007 EU CONSUMERS WILLING TO PAY FOR BETTER ANIMAL WELFARE!
EU consumers are willing to make an extra effort to buy animal welfare friendly products, even if this means changing where they shop or paying more for goods, according to a Eurobarometer survey on attitudes to animal welfare. The report shows, however, that citizens feel they lack the necessary information to distinguish between products on animal welfare grounds. In the first EU survey on animal welfare to cover all 27 Member States, as well as Turkey and Croatia, 62% of respondents said that they would change their shopping habits in order to access more animal welfare friendly goods. The survey also revealed that citizens do not feel that they are provided with this option at the moment, due to insufficient information on animal welfare in food production. A large majority of respondents backed the idea of labelling or logos to indicate the animal welfare standards met in producing the foods they buy. The survey demonstrates general support for financially rewarding EU farmers who use better animal welfare practices.
03/25/2007 PUPPIES DYING ON DISNEY MOVIE SET!
Snow Buddies, a sequel to Air Bud currently being filmed in the Vancouver, BC area, has contracted the use of upwards of 40 purebred Golden Retriever puppies. Most of the puppies were shipped under the legal age of 8 weeks (some may have been as young as 5 weeks) from an unlicensed breeder in upstate NY. As of Thursday, March 22, 2007, at least four of the puppies have died of parvo, 20 others are in intensive care and 20 more who were brought in have reportedly fallen sick - yet the filming goes on. If Disney distributes this movie as planned it will be over the dead bodies of these puppies who were used and discarded like props.
03/24/2007 HOLIDAYS IN NORTH WALES FOR HUNTSMEN TO SHOOT AND KILL WILD GOATS!
An English field sports company is offering holidays in North Wales for huntsmen to shoot and kill wild goats. The company based in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, advertises trips for people of 'all abilities and budgets' to come to Snowdonia and take potshots at the creatures. UK Custom Shop boasts that all the guns and ammunition needed to stalk the animals can be provided. UK Custom Shop offers on its website 'the opportunity for clients to stalk all six species of wild deer available in the UK as seasons allow' and that trips 'stalking wild goats in Snowdonia can also be arranged.' The shooting of wild goats in Snowdonia is already carried out, to control increasing numbers, by a contractor on behalf of the park authority, Countryside Council for Wales (CCW) and the National Trust.
03/24/2007 SEVEN ANIMALS DIE IN FOOD TESTING!
Menu Foods told the FDA it received the first complaints of kidney failure and deaths among cats and dogs from pet owners on Feb. 20. It began new tests on Feb. 27. During those tests, the company fed its product to 40 to 50 dogs and cats and some seven animals died, Sundlof said. Menu said last week that it had begun tests since complaints arose but didn't say the tests themselves had caused any deaths.
03/23/2007 FUR FAN WILL WATCH SEAL CULL FOR TV!
A fur lover will be forced to watch seal pups being clubbed to death for a new TV series exposing the reality behind the luxury goods trade. The show Guilty Pleasures - to be screened on BBC2 later this year - will take a fur fan to Canada where they will have to face up to the truth behind their passion for pelts. A TV insider said: 'Seal culls are brutal, bloody and very upsetting. But this is the reality behind the fur trade and it is only going on so these people can have the latest must-have items.' More than 325,000 seal pups are killed in Canada's annual seal cull which takes place over three weeks every March. The £30 pelts are used to make goods such as purses, boots, gloves and coats. The source added: 'Hopefully, being confronted by the facts will act as a wake-up call.'
03/23/2007 POISONER TURNS PARK INTO KILLING GROUND!
A poisoner left 80 ducks, swans, geese and other birds dead or dying after placing grain laced with a pest control toxin at Western Springs Reserve. More than 30 birds have died and 50 are sick after eating the contaminated grain near the Auckland Zoo. A 4kg box of grain, laced with what appeared to be alpha-chloralose, was found at the reserve, said the Auckland Regional Council. The grain appeared to have been scattered from the picturesque lake to Great North Rd, which borders the popular reserve. Police and the ARC are investigating.
03/22/2007 HISTORIC BILL MOVE TO END PRIMATE EXPERIMENTS!
The National Anti-Vivisection Society (NAVS) and Animal Defenders International (ADI) applaud the news that Ireland could become the first European country in the world to ban laboratory experiments on monkeys, after a long-running campaign in the EU. The news of this important step comes as Europe gears up to review animal testing rules including a possible ban on primate experiments (EU Directive 86/609). The proposed primate test ban appears in 'Restriction on Animal Testing Bill 2007', a Private Member's Bill proposed this month by Green Dail Member (MP) Eamon Ryan. ADI's 'My Mate's a Primate' campaign (launched in 2005) stunned many MEPs and others when it highlighted all the evidence of the similarities between humans and other primates. Three months after the launch of this unique campaign, animal protection groups in Europe signed the Berlin Declaration, calling on governments to end the use of primates in laboratories. The Berlin Declaration is now backed by over 70 animal protection groups. On International Primate Day last year, ADI teamed up with Ireland’s Animal Rights Action Network (ARAN) and the Irish Anti-Vivisection Society (IAVS) with a vigil in Dublin, calling on the Irish Government to ban primate testing. A new report from NAVS/ADI, called 'Primate Nations' was sent to all MEPs and national government officials, criticizing tests conducted on primates and importantly, describing the alternatives. 88 Euro MPs subsequently pledged their support for a Written Declaration put before the European Parliament calling for an end to all primate experiments in EU. A follow-up Declaration has been lodged for the spring session. Next month, April, will be World Lab Animal Month and the NAVS and ADI will be instigating a massive push in Europe and the USA to end primate experiments.
03/21/2007 BILL WOULD OK HUNTING COUGARS WITH CANNINES!
Salem - A state House committee has scheduled its first hearing on a controversial bill authorizing the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to hire independent agents to hunt problem cougars and bears with dogs. The hearing on House Bill 2971 will be Thursday before the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee. Rep. Arnie Roblin, D-Coos Bay, the chairman, said he will keep an 'open mind' on the issue that has animal rights activists up in arms. He said, however, that he believes there are too many cougars in Oregon, with populations probably highest in Southern Oregon. In 1994, voters approved Measure 18 outlawing the use of dogs to track cougars and bears. On the Senate side, a measure has been dropped to open the last three months of the regular cougar season to licensed hunters using dogs. These hunts would be limited to areas where harvest quotas have not been met.
03/21/2007 CUDDLY POLAR BEAR CUB BETTER OFF DEAD?!
Berlin Zoo's abandoned polar bear cub Knut looks cute, cuddly and has become a front-page media darling, but an animal rights activist insisted Monday he would have been better off dead than raised by humans. 'Feeding by hand is not species-appropriate but a gross violation of animal protection laws,' animal rights activist Frank Albrecht was quoted as saying by the mass-circulation Bild daily, which has featured regular photo spreads tracking fuzzy Knut's frolicking. 'The zoo must kill the bear.' When Knut - or 'Cute Knut,' as the 8.7 kilogram bear has become known - was born last December, his mother ignored him and his brother, who later died. Zoo officials intervened, choosing to raise the cub themselves. The story prompted quick condemnations from the zoo, politicians and other animal rights groups. (AP)
03/20/2007 BORNEO LEOPARD A NEW SPECIES!
Kota Kinabalu: Scientists have discovered that the clouded leopard found on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra is an entirely new species of cat. The secretive rainforest animal was originally thought to be the same species as the one found in mainland South-East Asia, WWF said. Researchers at the US National Cancer Institute say the differences between the Bornean and mainland clouded leopard were found to be comparable to the differences between other large cat species such as lion, tiger, leopard, jaguar and snow leopard. They believe the Bornean population likely diverged from the mainland population some 1.4 million years ago. The Bornean clouded leopard, numbering between 5,000 and 11,000, has small cloud markings, many distinct spots within the cloud markings, greyer fur and a double dorsal stripe. It is altogether darker than the mainland species which has large clouds on their skin with fewer, often faint, spots within the cloud markings. They are lighter in colour, with a tendency toward tawny-coloured fur and a partial double dorsal stripe.
03/19/2007 OHIO FAKE RESCUER DROWNS 650 ANIMALS!
Humane Society agents on Wednesday were searching for a woman wanted for animal cruelty. Prosecutors said Maureen McLaughlin admitted killing 650 puppies, dogs, and cats by drowning them in a trash can. McLaughlin recently told authorities she would fill a trash can with water, put the animals in a crate, and place the crate in the water. 'She would keep fur from each animal that she killed and write the name and date and descriptions of the animals,' said assistant city prosecutor Bill Hedrick. The investigation started when McLaughlin confessed to drowning her mom's cat and a neighbor's cat last week. Many of the animals she drowned since July 2002 were received through people thinking that she was a rescue. Authorities were working to determine why McLaughlin killed the animals when they say she knew that what she did was wrong. McLaughlin was charged with one count of animal cruelty because Humane Society agents recovered only one carcass.
03/19/2007 PIGS CLUE TO EARLY HUMAN COLONIES!
A DNA survey of wild and domestic pigs has thrown new light on how early humans reached the remote Pacific. Scientists from Durham and Oxford Universities have found a clear genetic link between modern and ancient pigs in East Asia and several Pacific islands. This suggests that colonists who transported the animals may have travelled from Vietnam via numerous islands, according to the researchers. Details appear in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal.
03/18/2007 DRUGS FOR HUMANS FOUND IN ANIMALS!
What are drugs used to treat asthma, infections of the urinary tract and bacterial conjunctivitis doing in animals in Malaysia? Farm operators are using them to enhance the growth of animals meant for your dining table. These irresponsible breeders seem to have ignored the fact that excessive doses of drugs like Salbutamol or Ventolin, Nitrofuran and Chloramphenicol can be dangerous to humans. Salbutamol can increase blood pressure and induce a rapid heartbeat, while Nitrofuran may cause cancer. Chloramphenicol can affect lung and heart functions. At the heart of the problem is the absence of a drug registry for veterinary medicines, especially beta-agonists which enhance the growth of animals. This means one can import any drug for use on animals, regardless of their adverse effect on humans. Veterinary Association of Malaysia vice-president Dr S. Vellayan, who has been campaigning for a drug register for years, is disappointed that nothing has been done about this despite a proposal to the government a decade ago.
03/18/2007 EGG MARKET PLAGUED BY DECEPTIVE LABELS!
The free-range egg market in Israel is growing: An increasing number of consumers are willing to pay twice the cost for eggs laid by hens raised in humane conditions, and seven million eggs are marketed as 'free-range' every year - 0.4 percent of all eggs sold. But the definition of free range eggs is not determined by law or official regulation: The only organization that conducts inspections, Hai-Meshek, is not officially recognized by government authorities, and conducts voluntary checks. There are two big free range egg marketers in Israel: Teva Gav and Min HaTeva Be'erotaim. While Teva Gav is subject to Hai-Meshek's voluntary inspection, Min HaTeva refuses to open its chicken coops even to their voluntary supervision. A senior source in the company remarked: 'We don't let Hai-Meshek oversee us, because they demand a great deal of money to do so. Anyone is invited to come and see the chickens themselves.'
03/17/2007 MEP DEMANDS EU STOPS STALLING ON SEAL FUR BAN!
Last year the European Parliament adopted a Written Declaration co-sponsored by Green MEP Caroline Lucas calling for an end to the trade in seal fur and products - by its largest ever majority - but the Commission has said it wants to study the issue further before listening to MEPs. Dr Lucas, South-East England's MEP and a member of the Parliament's influential Environment Committee, said the planned study was a delaying tactic and demanded the EU respect MEPs' wishes and ban fur imports immediately. A number of EU countries (Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy) have already taken steps to ban the trade in seal products, and the UK has expressed its support for an EU ban.
03/16/2007 RUBY THE ELEPHANT SET TO PACK HER TRUNK!
The L.A. Zoo's African pachyderm, headed soon for life at a sanctuary, enjoys a final meet-and-greet with local dignitaries. As if on cue, Ruby, the Los Angeles Zoo's 9,000-pound female African elephant, ambled out of her barn Monday, nudging a ball with her trunk. She made her way across a dirt yard in an off-exhibit area toward the iron-barred fence that separated her from a platoon of officials including Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who hailed her as 'one of the city of Los Angeles' true greats.' If it was a rare moment for the zoo a city department to be announcing that it would retire one of its few elephants to a sanctuary, it was just as rare a moment for Ruby to be viewing such a large gathering. Because of the complications of extensive construction, Ruby hasn't been on exhibit in nearly 2 1/2 years. And she has been solitary since the zoo's other female elephant, Gita, died last summer. This was as close to a crowd as she had seen in a while. And it may have been her last semipublic appearance here. At the moment, the zoo has no plans and no easy logistical way to put her on exhibit before she goes to the sanctuary. Ruby will be trucked to the sanctuary 'as soon as possible,' said zoo Director John Lewis. Keepers will accompany her and stay as she gets acclimated.
03/16/2007 VIETNAM PM ORDERS ACTION AGAINST ILLEGAL TIGER FARMS!
Vietnam's prime minister has, according to a statement on the government's website, ordered authorities to take action against illegal tiger farms that have 37 of the endangered animals. The tigers are being kept in cages on farms in three locations in Binh Duong province near the southern business hub of Ho Chi Minh City, said the statement from Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. The origin of the tigers was unclear, said an official at the provincial forest rangers' department who asked not to be named.
03/15/2007 COCKFIGHTING BAN APPROVED IN NEW MEXICO!
Bill Richardson signed a measure Monday that outlaws cockfighting in New Mexico, leaving Louisiana as the only state where the centuries-old bloodsport remains legal. State Sen. Mary Jane Garcia, who has introduced legislation to ban cockfighting over the past 18 years, thanked Richardson, who until this legislative session had declined to take a stance on the issue. The prohibition takes effect June 15. Richardson signed the bill at a ceremony at the state Capitol in Santa Fe.
03/14/2007 BAD NEWS FOR NEPAL MONKEYS!
A team of experts from Nepal Bio-Medical Research Center (NBMRC), Lalitpur have started a scientific research on rhesus monkeys by capturing them from around Bhutandevi, Hetauda. According to Dr Rupak Khadka, a member of the research team, the collected monkeys will be used for research of vaccines against dreadful diseases like HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria. The research center has taken permission from the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) to capture 50 monkeys including five male, according to him. The team has trapped 20 monkeys within three days from Bhutandevi area. Nine of them have been sent to Kathmandu, while the remaining are to be sent on Saturday, he said. There are already 80 rhesus monkeys at the breeding center of the research center in Kathmandu, Khadka said. DNPWC is paid Rs 25,000 for each monkey captured and used for the research, he said. The center has already taken permission for collection of a total of 300 healthy rhesus monkeys from Hetauda and other parts of the country.
03/13/2007 SPORTSMEN'S GROUP FINED $400 FOR USING LIVE TURKEYS AS ARCHER!
Elstonville Sportsman's Association, charged with violating state animal-cruelty laws for using live turkeys as targets during a September archery contest, pleaded no contest Friday. With a no-contest plea, a defendant agrees to the facts of the case but does not admit guilt. For sentencing purposes, it's the same as a guilty plea. The charges, lodged against the Rapho Township club after 40 turkeys were killed during the event, created worldwide debate between animal-rights activists and hunting advocates. District Judge John C. Winters fined the club $400, or $50 per count, plus court costs for the eight summary violations, which included four counts of cruel or ill treatment of animals and four counts of offering live animals as prizes in a contest.
03/13/2007 FISH ARE UP TO THEIR GILLS IN MERCURY!
So much mercury has accumulated in fish that there should be a worldwide public warning about eating seafood contaminated by the dangerous heavy metal, says a report summarizing the latest scientific evidence on global mercury pollution. The report, compiled by many of the leading academic experts on mercury pollution at a conference last year, is being published in Ambio, the journal of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It says that those most at risk from exposure to the metal - mainly children and women of childbearing age - should be careful about the quantity and types of fish they eat. The warning follows an advisory issued earlier this year by Health Canada, urging consumers to be cautious about eating too much albacore canned tuna because it contains elevated levels of mercury.
03/12/2007 BACKCOUNTRY SKIERS PUT HIGH STRESS ON WILDLIFE!
Backcountry skiing and extreme winter sports are stressing out native animals in the Alps, European scientists say. In a study of European black grouse, the researchers first put captive birds under stress to measure the levels of stress hormone corticosterone that emerged in their feces. The scientists then took that knowledge and used it to measure the stress hormone levels in animals in the south-western Swiss Alps. What they found is native birds in outdoor recreation areas are suffering higher stress levels than birds in undisturbed habitats. Corticosterone is used by many species to regulate stress, metabolism and immune reactions. The ability of animals to cope with that stress is yet to be ascertained, but the research team said Alpine wildlife may need protective zones to keep them away from increasing human activities.
03/11/2007 CHINA DOG KILLINGS STARTED AGAIN!
All companion dogs will be killed in a district of the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing as part of an anti-rabies campaign, the government said. Residents of the city's Wanzhou district have until March 15 to hand over their dogs, according to a directive on the district's official Web site. 'All the dogs in the area should be killed. A compulsory cull phase will begin after March 16. The forced cull will be carried out by the police,' the directive said. The statement said government guard dogs and those animals kept for research institutions, military and commercial purposes would be spared. Officials have rounded up dogs in other cities, such as Beijing, as
they crack down on strays and unregistered companion dogs. A spokesman at Wanzhou's Health Department refused to comment about the cull.
03/11/2007 TAKING ELEPHANTS FOR TOURISM!
After the banning of so-called 'canned' lion hunting, the South African government is now training its sights on elephant-back tourism. Draft recommendations on elephant management which listed culling as an option for controlling soaring herd numbers also recommended stricter controls on the capture of young elephants for use in tourism, the International Fund for Animal Welfare noted. Elephant calves are taken from the wild and tamed and trained for elephant-back safaris and walks. Their new owners often claim to be coming to the rescue of orphaned animals, according to IFAW. The recommendations presented by Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk include stricter controls to ensure the animals taken are genuine orphans. IFAW's Southern Africa director Jason Bell-Leask described elephant-back tourism as a 'business that is out of control, callous and greedy,' and the training of the elephants as 'wrong, cruel and exploitative.'
03/10/2007 BURIED ALIVE PUPPY HIGHLIGHTS ABUSE IN CHILE!
One recent summer's day, Ruth Moreno and her family were out walking in northern Chile when they came across an animal's snout sticking out of the ground, desperately sniffing for air. They dug away the surrounding earth and found a six-month old puppy, barely alive. 'It was shocking. We uncovered its little face but we couldn't free it from the ground and we went to look for help,' Moreno said. Eventually, the puppy was freed and taken to a veterinary surgery where it died the following day. 'It was in a very bad condition, malnourished and severely dehydrated, with hypothermia and blocked airways,' said vet Rodrigo Vasquez. The puppy had been buried alive. No one has yet established who did it or why. 'This is the most extreme case of abuse I've seen, but it's quite common,' Vasquez said. 'Just recently we had a dog brought in which had been knifed.' Animal rights activists say abuse of dogs is common across Latin America and, despite its reputation as one of the region's richest and most developed countries, Chile is no exception.
03/09/2007 THREE RARE LIONS KILLED IN INDIA SANCTUARY!
Poachers killed three highly endangered Asiatic lions in their only remaining sanctuary in western India, removing their claws and bones and raising fears for the future of these rare cats, wildlife officials said Tuesday. Rangers at the Gir National Park in the state of Gujarat found the mutilated bodies of two lionesses and a cub on Saturday deep within the park, said Bharat Pathak, the park's conservation officer. Only some 350 of the Asiatic lions that once roamed across much of Asia from Turkey to India still exist, all of them in the Gir park. The killings sparked renewed calls from conservationists to set up an alternate sanctuary. The poachers left the pelts of the lions, taking their claws, bones and skulls - which are highly prized in traditional Chinese medicine - raising fears that a professional gang of poachers was behind the killings, Pathak said. The department has announced a reward of $1,120 if 'someone can give a clue about who killed the lions,' he said.
03/09/2007 RESEARCH HIT BY ROW OVER ANIMAL 'DIGNITY'!
Scientists carrying out animal research in Zurich have run into trouble following the introduction of stricter legislation to reduce pain and stress. At least two experiments involving macaque monkeys have been put on hold amid confusion over how the law should be interpreted; even the Federal Veterinary Office says the issue is a grey area. Under Swiss law, scientists must submit a protocol involving all animal experimentation to a local evaluation committee.
03/08/2007 US POLICE FORCE TO RECRUIT CAPUCHIN MONKEY FOR 'INTELIGENCE' WORK!
An American police force is planning to sign up a monkey to reinforce its elite special operations team. Members of the special weapons and tactics (SWAT) unit in Mesa, Arizona, believe that a capuchin monkey, dressed in a bullet-proof jacket and equipped with a two-way radio and video camera, could prove an invaluable reconnaissance tool. The SWAT team's commander has agreed to a feasibility study into the use of a capuchin monkey. Sean Truelove, a SWAT officer who builds and operates reconnaissance robots, has applied for a £53,000 federal grant to fund the four-year monkey project. Capuchins have already been trained to be companions to quadriplegics, performing tasks such as serving food, turning off lights and brushing hair. Mr Truelove said the same training could prepare a capuchin monkey for police intelligence work.
03/08/2007 ELEPHANT BEATS OPRESSOR TO DEATH!
A working elephant beat its owner to death with its trunk in a forest in Vietnam's remote Central Highlands. The one-tusked male elephant was being transported to a new feeding ground by its owner, Y B'Riu M'lo, 60, when the animal suddenly broke its chain and started beating the man, said Nguyen Viet Nam, a local police officer in Dak Lak province, 350 km north of Ho Chi Minh City. The owner tried to flee, but the elephant gave chase and dealt several blows to the man with its trunk, the officer said. M'lo's family had captured the elephant in the wild 45 years ago and had used it as a working animal, dragging felled trees from the forest, Nam said. After the accident, local villagers recaptured the rogue elephant and chained it to a tree while officials decided its fate, said Nguyen Huu Thinh, deputy chairman of the local People's Committee. The elephant had previously attacked people but this was the first death, Thinh said. 'It often gets angry whenever spring comes because it's the mating season for elephants,' Thinh said.
03/07/2007 BIRD FLU VACCINE LINKED TO 18 TEENAGE SUICIDES IN JAPAN!
Japanese health authorities are, according to this story, investigating a flu medicine that is also available in Australia after a teenager jumped 11 storeys to his death after taking the drug. It was the 18th juvenile fatality linked to Tamiflu in 17 months. The story says that the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has asked the Japanese importer of Tamiflu, an anti-viral drug regarded as the most important shield against bird flu in humans, to collect information about the conditions of patients who take the drug. The 14-year-old boy's death follows a similar case two weeks ago, when a girl also 14, died after jumping from an apartment building at Gamagori, in central Japan. It also comes after a warning by the US Food and Drug Administration late last year about the dangers of giving children Tamiflu. The drug is being stockpiled in Australia as the first line of defence against bird flu. In Australia, as in Japan, it is only available by prescription. The Swiss manufacturer, Roche, says the rate of deaths and psychiatric disturbances among people taking its medication is no higher than for flu sufferers generally. It denies there is evidence of a direct correlation between the drug and the fatalities.
03/07/2007 BIG GAME HUNTING IS BIG BUSINESS!
South Africa already gives the green light to a controversial way to control animal numbers - big game hunting. Up to 7,000 wealthy tourists, largely from America, visit the country each year to hunt a wide variety of wildlife, including elephants. More than 54,000 animals of all species were killed last year, earning the country £150 million in trophy fees. Costs are high. Safaris average £650 a day, rarely run less than 10 days, and the trophy fee for an elephant is £18,500, for a lion £17,500 and for a zebra £600. The practice is also common in Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe. Although Tanzania allows hunting, Kenya does not, and both countries outlawed culling despite increasing pressure on land from animal and human populations.
03/06/2007 ANTI-WHALER NATIONS GIVE JAPAN A WARNING!
Anti-whaling nations New Zealand and Australia vowed Thursday to continue the fight to end Japan's annual whale hunts, warning that its plans to kill humpback whales off Antarctica in December could spark outrage. The warning comes just a day after Japan ended its latest southern whale program following a deadly fire that crippled the mother ship of its whaling fleet and left it drifting near the Antarctic coast. A crewman died in the fire. While New Zealand warned the incident could have sparked an 'ecological disaster,' Japanese officials had said it posed no threat to the environment and will not lead Japan to call off future kills. 'The (whaling) program will resume in December in the Antarctic,' a spokesman for Japan's Institute for Cetacean Research, Glenn Inwood, said Thursday. It would hunt minke, fin and humpback whales.
03/06/2007 POACHERS ENDANGER WILDLIFE!
The southern province of Soc Trang is famous for its so-called Bat Pagoda because of the many bats that hang from its ceilings. But today they are in danger because of hunters looking for wild meat to sell on the international and domestic markets. Bats are not the only endangered animals poachers look for - many species in tropical forests and national parks are also victims. Owners of bird gardens and stork parks in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta have complained that the number of rare birds has plummeted because of illegal hunting. Bird reserves at Dam Doi, Cha La, Cai Nuoc in Ca Mau Province, which had thousands of species 50 years ago, have been hard hit. The bird park at Bac Lieu, the largest in Viet Nam with 105 ha, has seen its bird population drop because of deforestation and illegal hunting.
03/05/2007 ELEPHANTS MASSACRED AS IVORY TRADE PICKS UP!
As many as 23,000 elephants may have been killed in just one year, as an international effort to stem the ivory trade has fallen to the wayside, particularly in Africa. Increased demand for white tuskiness in Japan and China, combined with declining funding for anti-poaching programs, has overwhelmed the intentions of a 1989 ban on international sales of ivory. In the year ending in August 2006, 54,000 pounds of ivory were confiscated in 12 international seizures - and customs officials assume that they find only 10 percent of the smuggled goods. With the advent of the new technology, an aggressive resuscitation of anti-poaching programs could be very effective, but there's no time to waste.
03/04/2007 JAPAN CALLS A HALT TO ITS ANNUAL WHALE HUNT!
Japan's whaling fleet, unable to recover from a mid-February fire that killed a crew member and disabled its main ship, has called off its controversial annual hunt a month early. While protesters expressed sympathy for the human loss, they also did a dance of joy that 'no more Southern Ocean whales will die from grenade-tipped harpoons this season.' Observers had also feared that the floundering 8,000-ton Nisshin Maru would cause an oil leak off Antarctica, and the government of nearby New Zealand had asked Japan to haul ass outta there. The whalers declined an offer from Greenpeace to tow the ship, managing to restart it this weekend. Since undertaking the hunt in November, the fleet had killed 508 whales - about 350 shy of its goal. 'We have been research whaling for 20 years, but this is the first time we have had to cut the expedition short,' said a Fisheries Agency official. 'It is very unfortunate.'
03/04/2007 URGE UNIVERSITY TO SEND LONG-SUFFERING MONKEY TO A SANCTUARY!
An animal rights group from University of Connecticut has been fighting for the release of a macaque monkey named Mowgli who has been transferred from a lab that was shut down at the UConn Health Center (UCHC) to the University of MS Medical Center (UMC) in Jackson. UMC plans to do painful, deadly experiments on Mowgli's brain so it is necessary to act now in order to have him released before its too late.
03/03/2007 GERMANY MOVES FORWARD WITH PROPOSED LEGISLATION TO BAN THE IMPORT OF ALL SEAL-DERIVED PRODUCTS!
Horst Seehofer, German Federal Minister of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection on February 26 announced that Germany will move forward with plans to implement a national ban on the import of all seal products. This decision will make Germany the second nation in the European Union to do so, following Belgium's national ban on January 27. If passed, the ban will eliminate the German market from the commercial seal trade, putting further pressure on the Canadian government to end the commercial seal hunt. This decision follows the German Parliament's October 19 motion calling for a national ban on seal products until an EU-wide ban is passed. As there is no immediate response on the EU-level, Mr. Seehofer will move forward with the German national ban. Throughout the past year, there has been strong opposition to this hunt and many nations have taken action to stop the trade of seal products in Europe. Last month, Belgium became the first EU nation to pass a national ban following the European Parliament's resolution in support of an EU-wide trade ban.
03/02/2007 CHICKENS SADISTICALLY ABUSED AT KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL GAME!
On Monday, February 19, 2007, three, possibly four, hens were thrown onto the basketball court from the stands at KSU's Bramlidge Coliseum at a basketball game. They were alive when they were thrown onto the court over a distance of approximately thirty feet. They were wounded, and they could not get up on their legs. One of the hens appeared to have blood on her shoulder. Another photo shows four hens painted red and blue (the school colors) in a plastic tub, apparently before they were thrown. The images show that these hens came from a battery-caged hen facility. They landed near the cheerleaders. The following video shows a bit
of what happened: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLTLV136K_U
03/02/2007 DOGS ARE SNATCHED FOR A LIFE OF CRIME!
The number of dognappings has soared as villains snatch Staffordshire Bull Terriers to use for protection or as guard dogs. The Metropolitan Police reported a 74 per cent rise in dog thefts in London in the year to last April. A total of 417 dogs were stolen 56 per cent of them Staffordshires against 239 the previous year. Experts claimed, however, that this figure was only the tip of the iceberg. The Met said in a report that dogs were used in 11 muggings and 11 assaults. In 18 crimes where a description was given, ten involved a Staffordshire.
03/01/2007 WORLD FIRST: GREAT APE TRIAL IN AUSTRIA!
In a groundbreaking case at the Mödling district court, south of Vienna, Austria, a judge is to rule whether a chimp deserves a legal guardian. The chimp Hiasl was abducted from his family tribe at the age of one in the jungle of Sierra Leone in West Africa in 1982 and illegally brought to Vienna, where he was seized by customs officers. He had been destined for a vivisection laboratory of the company Immuno, to be used for AIDS and hepatitis research. Authorities handed Hiasl over to foster parents. He was brought up and socialized in a human family, and from the age of 10 he has been looked after by an animal sanctuary. Since this animal sanctuary went bankrupt at the beginning of this year, Hiasl's fate is once again uncertain. In order to ensure that he would not be sold to a zoo, a benefactor donated €5000 to Hiasl and the president of Austrian animal rights organisation VGT, DDr. Martin Balluch, on the proviso that they both agree on how the money should be spent. This trick provided Hiasl's co-beneficiary with the legal loophole to exercise his right to demand a legal guardian for Hiasl. In an unprecedented move, DDr. Balluch applied to the Mödling district court, to have a legal guardian appointed.
03/01/2007 SCIENTISTS CREATE REMOTE-CONTROLLED PIGEON!
Chinese scientists have succeeded in implanting electrodes in the brain of a pigeon to control the bird's flight remotely, state media have reported. The Xinhua News Agency said scientists at the Robot Engineering Technology Research Centre at Shandong University of Science and Technology in eastern China used the micro-electrodes to command the bird to fly right or left, and up or down. The implants stimulated different areas of the pigeon's brain according to electronic signals sent by the scientists via computer, mirroring natural signals generated by the brain, Xinhua quoted chief scientist Su Xuecheng as saying. It was the first such successful experiment on a pigeon in the world, said Mr Su, who conducted a similar successful experiment on mice in 2005. The report did not specify what purpose the pigeons may perform.
The number of news found: 49.
