News
The number of news found: 34.
11/29/2008 ROTTING MONKEY HEAD FOUND AT CUSTOMS
Customs officials got a nasty surprise when they opened a suspicious smelling package at an airport and found a rotten monkey's head inside. Officers at Munich airport put the airmail parcel from South Africa aside when they noticed a foul smell coming from it. But they were horrified when they cut it open and discovered the decaying skull, covered in live maggots. The stench was so bad that officers were forced to evacuate the room to get some fresh air, before it was handed over to a specialist disposal firm. It is thought that the sender and the addressee on the package could face legal action over the incident because primates are protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
11/27/2008 UK WATERS INVADED BY FOREIGN SPECIES
According to Jonathan Owen of the Independent, British waters are being invaded by a wave of species making their way in from the sea, according to a new study. While foreign varieties of barnacles, brown seaweed and kelp may not sound dramatic, they are, in effect, slipping in under the radar, their progress hastened by climate change, concludes research by Dr Nova Mieszkowska from the Marine Biological Association. Their arrival will add to pressure on native species already under siege by a range of marine invaders to Britain's shores such as the American red signal crayfish and the Pacific oyster, writes Mr Owen. Some have arrived as a result of climate change, while others have made their way here on ships' hulls, in ballast water or through the global trade in aquaculture.
11/27/2008 EUROPEAN UNION FLOATS TIGHTER ANIMAL RESEARCH RULES
The European Commission proposed on November 5 a ban on the use of great apes in medical experiments as well as a range of other updated regulations governing the care and use of laboratory animals. Although the draft isn't as strict as some researchers had feared, scientific organizations say it threatens to slow research without providing clear benefits to animals. Scientific organizations and opponents of animal research have vowed to push for changes before the rules become final.
11/26/2008 CAMPAIGNERS EXPOSE CRUEL MONKEY TRADE IN CAMBODIA
An investigation carried out by the BUAV has gathered shocking never-before-seen video and photographic evidence of the dreadful suffering endured by monkeys trapped in the wild in Cambodia to populate appalling industrial-scale factory farms which supply the global animal testing industry. The monkeys are being shipped to China, the USA and Europe. The BUAV investigation also raises concerns about the conservation status of the long-tailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis) in Cambodia and the effect which the current trade has on it.
11/26/2008 AUSTRALIA INVESTS MILLIONS IN NON-LETHAL WHALE RESEARCH
Australia will invest millions of dollars in non-lethal whale research to show Japan that the animals do not need to be killed in order to be studied. The $3.87 million campaign begins just ahead of Japan's Southern Ocean summer whaling season, when its fleet regularly kills more than 1,000 whales for research. Critics say the hunts are a cover for commercial whaling, banned since 1986. The Australian campaign will invest in aerial surveys, satellite tags and genetic studies. Environment Minister Peter Garrett said researchers do not need to use "grenade-tipped harpoons." "Australia does not believe that we need to kill whales to understand them," Garrett said. The fund will also carry out an assessment of Japan's scientific whaling program.
11/25/2008 MORE THAN 200 STRAY DOGS KILLED IN BAGHDAD
Baghdad authorities killed more than 200 stray dogs on Sunday, the opening day of a campaign to cull dog packs roaming the capital that was prompted by a spate of fatal attacks on residents. Three teams of veterinarians and police officers used poisoned meat and rifles to kill the animals, said Dr. Hassan Chaloub, an official at the veterinary hospital supervising the effort. He said the capital has no dog shelters.
11/25/2008 NEW ANIMAL RESEARCH LABORATORY CONDEMNED
Oxford University's new 20 million pound animal research laboratory opened on Tuesday, amid widespread condemnation from animal-rights advocates. Despite the refusal of university officials to confirm the numbers, thousands of animals, including around a hundred macaque monkeys (which will be administered brain-lesions), are expected to be experimented upon. Anti-vivisection groups such as the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection and the Dr. Hadwen Trust commented on the inefficacy of animal research and the lack of interest in new scientific methods that do not rely on animal research. In addition, public concern about animal experiments is largely ignored by the University and the government.
11/22/2008 OHIO PASSES TOUGHER LAWS FOR ANIMAL CRUELTY
The Ohio House passed a bill Wednesday, Nov. 19, to protect animals and further punish those who abuse them. The bill, sponsored by state Rep. Courtney Combs, R-Hamilton, would increase the penalty for animal cruelty, require psychological evaluations for minors who torture or abuse animals and allow judges to issue court protection of companion animals in domestic violence cases. The law would leave the penalty for first-time animal cruelty as a second degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to 90 days in jail. But it makes subsequent convictions a first-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to 180 days in jail.
11/22/2008 MOUNTAIN GORILLAS THREATENED BY VIOLENCE IN CONGO
Due to escalating violence, Congolese rangers have been run out of the country's Virunga National Park, threatening the safety of some 200 mountain gorillas that live there. "There are documented cases of the gorillas getting caught in the crossfire and getting killed," says a park spokesperson. "It's the chaos of war and they are right in the middle of it." Only about 700 mountain gorillas remain in the wild.
11/21/2008 PRIMATES TO MEET GUINEA PIGS' FATE
Twenty-five rhesus monkeys from Nepal will soon be sent to the United States, where they will be used as subjects for research on HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. The National Bio-medical Research Centre in Lele, Lalitpur, is exporting the primates to the US to experiment vaccines for HIV and TB. The breeding facility of the NBMRC is funded by the US government. The centre has 210 monkeys and over 100 babies, all born in captivity. The NBMRC works with the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research in Texas, that has 6,000 monkeys.
11/21/2008 MEPS URGED TO PRESSURE CHINA INTO ACTION TO SAVE THE WILD TIGER
The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) is calling on MEPs in France and Germany to pressure China into taking urgent action to save wild tigers from extinction. On November 19 a documentary entitled The Tibet Connection was screened on ARTE TV in France and Germany highlighting the role of the organized criminal networks behind the ongoing illegal trade in tiger and leopard skins from India through Nepal to China, where their skins and parts are used for ornaments, Chinese medicine and clothing. At the same time commercial interests in China are campaigning for the opening of domestic trade in farmed tigers - a move which would spell
disaster for the world's remaining wild tigers.
11/20/2008 34 BIRDS OF PREY WERE FOUND POISONED LAST YEAR IN SCOTLAND
At least 34 birds of prey were poisoned in Scotland last year, a new report has revealed. RSPB Scotland, which carried out the research, said the numbers were probably just the tip of the iceberg. Victims ranged from a golden eagle – one of the only breeding pair in the Borders – to peregrines and buzzards. Twelve red kites were poisoned, making it the worst year on record for persecution of that rare species. All the dead birds were tested by the Scottish Agricultural Science Agency, which revealed the presence of poison.
11/20/2008 JAPANESE WHALE HUNT BEGINS
The whaling season has begun with a Japanese hunting vessel leaving port for the Southern Ocean, Greenpeace claims. The conservation group said the ship Nisshin Maru left the port of Innoshima on Monday. Greenpeace activists unfurled a banner saying "whaling on trial" as the ship left port. Japan has set itself a target of about 1000 whales in the Southern Ocean. Greenpeace International Whales coordinator Sara Holden said the ship left port quietly, without the usual fanfare that accompanies the start of the season. reenpeace will not send out a ship to trail the Japanese fleet, but conservation group Sea Shepherd plans to. The Federal Government sent out a ship last season, but has not said if it will do so this season.
11/19/2008 ZOO MOURNS DEATH OF POPULAR ELEPHANT
An inquisitive Asian elephant known for being the largest of its kind born in captivity in the United States died at the Houston Zoo this week after suddenly contracting an incurable disease. The zoo held a memorial service Saturday for the popular 2-year-old elephant named Mac.
11/17/2008 SCANDAL ROCKS US KOSHER MEAT INDUSTRY
A recent criminal affair threatens to cause a great shortage in kosher meat in the United States, as Agriprocessors, the country's number one kosher meat provider filed for bankruptcy last week and is expected to shut down. The Iowa-based slaughterhouse, which have been run by a family of Lubavitch hassidism for many years, was raided last month by immigration police, who allege the owners 80-year-old Aaron Rubashkin, and his son Sholom (49) were personally involved in the large scale forgery of identification cards for hundreds of illegal workers in the factory. The company provides some 60% of American Jews' kosher meat and in many small communities is the sole meat provider.
11/16/2008 ACTIVISTS THROW FLOUR ON FUR-CLAD LINDSAY LOHAN
U.S. actress Lindsay Lohan has been pelted with a flour bomb on arrival at a Paris nightclub wearing a fur stole. Animal rights activists showered the 22-year-old actress with flour when she went to the VIP Room Theater in the early hours of Saturday with her friend, disc jockey Samantha Ronson. The owner of the nightclub helped Lohan dust off her blue sequined dress and black stole before she posed on the red carpet. Ronson went on to spin tracks for a crowd that included reggae rapper Shaggy and "I Kissed a Girl" singer Katy Perry.
11/15/2008 WILD FUR TRADE BECOMING EXTINCT
The wild fur trade has been brought to its knees by the ever-fickle fashion industry, the anti-fur lobby and a global economy in turmoil. "It's subject to pure supply and demand forces based solely on the whims of fashion," said Scott Robertson, owner and manager of Robertson Trading Post in La Ronge. He is a fur buyer and one of the last of his kind. It's a skill he picked up from his father and it soon became a passion. "We do it mostly because we've always done it, not because it's a money maker - it's a bit like farming," Robertson said. Prices are based on previous sales results and current events. "It does not look promising. This is a year to be cautious." Every year Robertson sees less fur, but it has nothing to do with animal populations. "There is no shortage of wild furs, there is a shortage of trappers." One reason trappers no longer want to be involved with the fur industry is the plummeting price of pelts.
11/14/2008 TIGER ESCAPES, KILLS CARETAKER AT MEXICO ZOO
A tiger escaped from an unlocked cage at a commercial zoo and fatally mauled his caretaker before he was captured and killed. State officials said that Bioparque Estrella had closed on Monday when the tiger left his unlocked cage and fatally attacked 26-year-old Herminio Rodriguez Palma. It was unclear why the cage had been left unlocked. Some 150 police officers and zoo veterinarians began an intense search for the tiger at the 300-hectare wild animal park in the countryside northwest of Mexico City. He was captured and killed before dawn. Mexico has had problems with dangerous animals escaping from their caretakers recently.
11/14/2008 PARROT SAVED GIRL'S LIFE WITH WARNING
A babysitter's parrot is being credited with helping save the life of a 2-year-old girl who was choking at a Denver area home while the sitter was in the bathroom. "While I was in the bathroom, Willie (the parrot) started screaming like I'd never heard him scream before and he started flapping his wings," said Meagan, the babysitter. "Then he started saying 'mama baby' over and over and over again until I came out and looked at Hannah and Hannah's face was turning blue because she was choking on her pop tart." Meagan performed the Heimlich maneuver on Hannah, which stopped the choking.
11/12/2008 STELLA McCARTNEY NAMED GREEN DESIGNER OF THE YEAR
Beatle offspring Stella McCartney was named the first-ever Green Designer of the Year at the Accessories Council Excellence Awards earlier this week. The vegetarian fashion designer doesn't use leather or fur in her designs, and seeing as her mom was animal-rights activist Linda Eastman and Sir Paul also hearts the animals, it's clear the McCartney doesn't fall far from the tree.
11/11/2008 INMATES RAISING MONEY FOR JAILED DOG LOVER
Inmates are raising money to bail out animal lover Rennie Scicluna from Malta, who landed in jail after he failed to pay fines for keeping dogs at a makeshift sanctuary in Baħar iċ-Cagħaq. Mr Scicluna was imprisoned on Wednesday for 26 days as he could not afford to pay the €320 fine. Unless his helpers collect enough money, he may be there longer because he has another pending fine of €600. "I shouldn't be here... I'm hoping to be able to get out before, if enough money is raised... even the inmates are helping me," he said.
11/10/2008 RESEARCHER PERFORMS SADISTIC OP ON WILD MONKEY
In one of the worst cases of animal cruelty that the National Council of SPCAs (NSPCA) has investigated, the backyard researcher - believed to have been aided by two veterinarians - surgically removed the infant monkey last Friday and severed its mother's spinal cord on the same day in an experiment conducted in the backyard of a Bloemfontein house. The adult monkey was paralysed from the waist down. The NSPCA said the man apparently caught the monkey in the wild because it was pregnant and of use for the "merciless treatment" - apparently to obtain stem cells from the foetus's placenta. "This is a callous, sadistic man, and clearly, whoever is part and parcel of this is equally sadistic," Marcelle Meredith, the executive director of the NSPCA, said, adding this was the first case of its kind they had encountered. "This is a primate. We know the intelligence of these animals. They have feelings."
11/10/2008 THE SADISTIC "FIRE BULL" FESTIVAL IN SORIA
On the weekend of 15 November, a sadistic festival called "Toro Júbilo" will take place in Soria, Spain. During this festival, balls of pitch are attached to a bull's horns and set on fire. The bull is then released out into the streets and can do nothing but run around in pain, often smashing into walls in an attempt to douse the fire. The agony he must suffer is unimaginable. These fiery balls can burn for hours, and they burn the bull's horns, body and eyes and cause tremendous stress - all while spectators cheer and run around the victim.
11/09/2008 GIGI BECOMES ZOO'S FIRST GORILLA TO UNDERGO COLONOSCOPY
At 36, Gigi is the oldest gorilla at the Franklin Park Zoo. Like a human in her golden years, her advancing age has been a blessing and a curse, a source of wisdom and a cause for increasingly invasive medical tests. Earlier this week Gigi became the zoo's first gorilla to undergo a colonoscopy, a test very familiar to humans getting on in years. That's why veterinarians turned to physicians from Brigham and Women's Hospital to help perform the procedure.
11/07/2008 EU GREAT APES DEBATE LEADS TO TESTING BAN PROPOSAL
Europe's environment chief plans to ban laboratory tests on mankind's closest relatives - chimpanzees, gorillas, bonobos and orangutans - in a clampdown on animal testing by the drugs industry and other researchers. But other monkeys were not spared after other European Commission departments intervened in the EU's "Great Ape Debate," animal welfare campaigners said. "It is absolutely important to steer away from testing on animals," said Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas. "Scientific research must focus on finding alternative methods to animal testing, but where alternatives are not available the situation of animals still used in experiments must be improved."
11/06/2008 HISTORIC VICTORY FOR FARM ANIMALS - PROP 2 PASSES IN CALIFORNIA!
In a historic victory, California voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 2, a landmark measure that bans three of the cruelest factory farming confinement systems battery cages , veal crates and gestation crates -- in the state by 2015. By a vote of more than 60 percent Californians sent a clear message to big agribusiness that cruelty to animals is unacceptable. While Prop 2 will curtail the suffering of millions of animals in California, the repercussions throughout the country promise to be even more profound: As California goes, so goes the rest of the nation. California's new law against farm animal cruelty holds the potential to spark an unstoppable precedent for change in the way farm animals are treated nationwide.
11/06/2008 BERLIN OPENS SOUP KITCHEN JUST FOR POOCHES
A soup kitchen exclusively for dogs has opened its doors in Berlin providing companion animals of the homeless and unemployed with a free meal. Despite the looming financial crisis, director Claudia Hollm dismissed criticism that it may be more sensible to collect money for humans than for dogs. "Nowadays people underestimate dogs. They are incredibly important for those who lack social contact with other humans," Hollm told Reuters. "Making sure dogs don't go hungry is just as important as making sure that people don't starve," she added. Hollm, and her company "Animal Board," gets sponsorship from companies, including animal food manufacturers. The opening of the soup kitchen follows last month's launch of a new bus service in Berlin for dogs, which shuttles their furry friends to a luxury dog day-care center.
11/05/2008 WHALE SLAUGHTER IN FAEROE ISLANDS
The Faeroe Islanders slaughter long- and short-finned pilot whales in the Faeroe Islands in the country's annual, brutal whale "drives." Between 2,000 and 3,500 pilot whales are corralled by men in boats and forced into bays in this North Sea Danish Protectorate. The animals are trapped in the shallow waters. The islanders gaff the marine mammals with spears and slaughter them by severing the whales' spines with long knives. The whales are stoned, speared, stabbed, slashed, and clubbed by people in a festive atmosphere.
11/03/2008 TOXINS IN MARINE MAMMALS AN IMPENDING GLOBAL CATASTROPHE
The growing presence of toxic chemicals in the marine environment presents a crisis unlike any ever faced on this planet. Vast quantities of toxic chemicals enter the waterways and oceans of the world each day and accumulate then bio-magnify in the marine food chain. In a time when we have reduced the number of large pelagic fish by ninety percent and the bio-mass of the oceans by seventy percent, we are poisoning much of the living marine resources that remain. This has staggering global implications for ocean life and human health.
11/03/2008 HIGH DEER POPULATION GOOD FOR ECOSYSTEM
A recent study by researchers at Ohio State University and National Park Service found that higher deer activity is modifying forest ecosystems in unexpected ways. Out of several species of snakes, salamanders, and invertebrates studied, a greater diversity of animals were found in areas with deer populations than were in areas with no deer activity.
11/02/2008 ONE-THIRD OF WORLD FISH CATCH USED FOR ANIMAL FEED
One-third of the world's ocean fish catch is ground up for animal feed, a potential problem for marine ecosystems and a waste of a resource that could directly nourish humans, scientists said. The fish being used to feed pigs, chickens and farm-raised fish are often thought of as bait, including anchovies, sardines, menhaden and other small- to medium-sized species, researchers wrote in a study to be published in November in the Annual Review of Environment and Resources.
11/02/2008 MEXICO PAYS FISHERMAN TO HELP A SPECIES
About 800 fishermen in the northernmost crook of the Gulf of California have taken up the government's offer of payments to stop fishing with nets and, in some cases, to stop fishing altogether, Mexican conservationists said. The offer is intended to save a small porpoise that is threatened with extinction as an unintended byproduct of commercial fishing. The porpoise, called a vaquita, is often trapped and killed in the gill nets that fishermen use to catch shrimp, mackerel and sharks.
11/01/2008 GERMAN AUTHORITY HALTS PRIMATE WORK
Germany's constitution guarantees its citizens the freedom to conduct research - but local authorities in the northern city of Bremen are forcing a leading neuroscientist to halt his primate experiments. A court will probably now have to decide whether the controversial ruling violates federal law. Andreas Kreiter at the University of Bremen uses 24 macaques to study cognitive processes in the mammalian brain. Germany's largest animal-protection group, the Animal Welfare Association, has for years campaigned against the experiments, claiming that they are intolerably painful and have no short-term therapeutic use.
11/01/2008 DNA TESTS PROVE INNOCENCE OF AUSTRIAN ACTIVISTS
Following the arrests of the 10 animal protection campaigners in May of this year, police took DNA samples from each of them against their will, using violence in many cases – thus making it unlawful. The resulting samples were compared with DNA samples found at the scenes of apparently animal protection motivated crimes. Neither prosecution nor police made the results of these tests public, but now, after receiving access to further prosecution files, the defense team is able to reveal the findings: No matches! Neither the DNA from stamps used for letters claiming responsibility for criminal acts, nor punctured tires nor letters claiming responsibility for criminal acts, nor objects used to smash windows matched DNA from the 10 campaigners who where held on remand over the summer. This makes it official: After nearly two years of intensive surveillance, 23 house raids and extensive DNA tests there is no evidence of any animal rights related unlawful acts for the 10.
The number of news found: 34.
