all animal life

The modern chicken

2010-04-18T16:30:00.002-06:00

I found this post on the discussion boards at peta2. I know there is no point in trying to discuss this ther as my posts would be deleted, so I shall answer it here.

Quote

nickvicious 4/13/10 6:35 PM

The modern chicken isn't what it used to be. They have been bred to produce many, many more eggs than whats natural to them. In the process, chickens lose a lot their vital nutrients.

To rectify this man-made problem, sanctuaries often feed the eggs back to the chicken. I think that's the best alternative. It sounds bizarre and unnatural, but there isn't a whole lot that's natural about the animals we raise for food.

For example, turkeys can no longer breed on their own so they are artificially inseminated. The process is pretty violent for both males and females and probably traumatizing.

Nickvicious doesn't know as much about the modern chicken as he thinks he does.

In the past (more than 50 years ago) farmers usually kept a few chickens who would free range around the yard and were generally cared for by the farmers wife and the children.

The breed of chicken they kept was whatever was available locally.

The local breed varied from region to region.

The number of eggs laid varied from farm to farm and was dependent on a large number of factors.

In Italy there was a breed known as the leghorn that was a prolific layer of medium to large white eggs.

This breed of chicken has been around since at last Roman times, it is an ancient breed.

In the early 1950's farmers began to specialise in keeping laying hens and to keep costs as low as possible they wanted the breed that would produce the most eggs, so they filled their chicken sheds with Leghorns.

No-one did anything unnatural to the hens to make them lay more eggs. The eggs didn't lose any of their nutritional value.

Eggs became cheaper, cleaner, and standard - they were all white.

By the 1970's people were fed up of white eggs and some enterprising farmer (or more likely, his advertising agent), who had a breed other than leghorns, came up with the advertising ploy that brown eggs were nutritionally superior to white ones.

So suddenly everyone wanted brown eggs, but the brown egg laying hens didn't lay as many eggs as the leghorns did, so brown eggs were always more expensive.

To make brown egg production cheaper, poultry producers began crossing the leghorn with breeds of brown egg laying hens.

Nothing unnatural was ever done to the hens. All the farmers did was apply science.

As far as the turkeys are concerned, Yes they can breed, but not with the certainty of outcome that turkey producers require, so to keep costs down turkeys (the ones that will lay the eggs that will become poults that will grow into thanksgiving dinner) are artificially inseminated.

Secondly, there are many different breeds of turkey and the lack of breeding ability only applies to the large breasted varieties.

United States' Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act, H.R. 4733

2010-04-18T16:05:00.002-06:00

The U.S. government spends upwards of 1 billion dollars per year on animal products that feed government programs and agencies, like the National School Lunch Program, the federal Bureau of Prisons, and the Armed Services.

The Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act, H.R. 4733, would require the government to purchase food for these programs only from farms where animals can move freely and extend their limbs in their confinement-- that means no gestation crates, veal crates, or battery cages. Since it's essentially impossible for every packer to trace each piece of meat back to it's farm of origin, they would need all of their suppliers to comply with these standards; so the law would apply to virtually every farm in the country.

I'd just like you to take a moment to consider some facts.

United States' Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act, H.R. 4733 will never be passed, because it would increase costs to beyond an acceptable level.

Prisons used to have farms where inmates could be kept occupied doing something useful and also providing food for the prison kitchens and to sell locally or give to local food banks. some still do, in Canada, these prison farms, where animals were kept in small numbers, and no doubt got much care and attention, and where inmates learned a valuable trade, will all be closed down by the end of this year. Why you ask? Because Corrections Canada doesn't want to spend the $4million annually that it costs to run these farms.

When a head teacher in rural England taught her pupils the realities of small scale sheep rearing, in a sheep rearing area of the country she was hounded out of her job. Other similar programmes in schools have been condemned by peta. 4H programmes are also condemned by peta.

So now I have a question for you. Where are the people going to come from who are going to operate these free range facilities that you propose? Where will they learn the the skills they will need to keep the animals healthy and productive?

Peta claims "The green pastures and idyllic barnyard scenes of years past are now distant memories."

In fact such scenes only ever existed in movies, novels of fiction and in pictures. The reality was very different.

Did it ever occur to you that there were sound reasons farmers wanted to change the way they raise animals?

Prior to the widespread inception of intensive livestock operations farmers would keep a cow, a pig or two and maybe a few chickens. These animals provided food for the family with maybe a little left over to sell. The animals lived in cold draughty sheds with no power or water, but plenty of disease carrying vermin. To keep the heat in, and I'm sure you understand how important that is in Canada, buildings had low roofs and small windows and doorways. To take straw bedding into the buildings and to clean out manure the farmer had to use a wheelbarrow and a fork, water and feed had to be carried in a bucket. In winter the water froze. In summer the flies and mosquitoes were unbearable.

Life in those idyllic days was tough on both the farmers AND the animals, and what's more, cruelty was far more common than it is today.

After the second world war farmers wanted something better for themselves and for the animals.

At the same time the retail food system began to grow in order to feed the growing urban populations. Supermarkets became more common than corner stores. The supermarket chains wanted large quantities of a standard product at a low price.

So in order to meet the demand farmers began to specialise.

For example, a retailer want to buy 1000 sides of pork (to meet demand from consumers) of consistent size and quality at the lowest price.

The options are:
To buy 500 hogs from Joe Brown that are the same age, the same size, the same colour, have the same fat to lean ratio and can be delivered by two trucks at the same time.

Or
To buy various numbers of pigs from a number of farmers. The pigs available are different ages, different sizes, some have white skin and some have brown skin or spots (it might not sound important but it it) some are fatty and some are lean, they are not all available on the same day, and it will take several trucks to drive all over the area to gather them up and deliver them to the slaughter house.

Which option do you think the retailer will choose?

Modern livestock facilities are clean, well lit, well ventilated buildings where animals lead far easier lives than their ancestors.

The last thing the world need is sending livestock farming back to the dark ages.

It's that time of year again

2010-03-12T18:00:00.003-07:00

With the East Coast seal hunt about to begin, the anti sealers are pushing their lies and propaganda to encourage people to open their wallets and dish out the cash.

The only truthful message they send is a simple one:

Send money, we want your money.

The Canadian seal hunt is a lucrative business for AR groups worldwide and they all want a piece of the action.

The following piece of nonsense is from the Humane Society of Canada, but it pretty much encompasses the propaganda and emotional rhetoric banded about by all AR groups.

I've broken it up in order to address each point separately.

Humane Society comments in brown mine in plain text:

On the ice in the midst of a seal nursery where they were born, pups will be killed in sight of their mothers;

No. By the time the pups are killed, at approximately one month of age they have been weaned for over two weeks, and left to fend for themselves. Their mothers have returned to the ocean to moult, fatten up and mate.

adults will also be shot, stabbed and clubbed.

No. Most seals are shot with a high powered rifle, a few are clubbed. None are stabbed

When protests against the seal began thirty years ago,

You didn't do much research did you? There were protests as far back as 1969. That would be 41 years ago.

tens of thousands of seals were being killed, and today hundreds of thousands of seals are being killed.

Hunts between 1971 and 1981 averaged 172,000. Between 2000 and 2007 the hunts averaged 232,623.

We need new solutions to bring an end to the largest tax payer funded slaughter of marine mammals on the planet.

Tax payer funded? Do you mean monitoring the hunt is tax payer funded? Because there is a huge difference, you know. Yes. Due to constant interference by ARA's there has to be monitoring of the seal hunt by the Coast Guard and DFO, are you saying this is misappropriation of taxes?

Find out what The Humane Society of Canada is doing to stop this, and how you can help. Because when it comes to fighting cruelty, we don’t give up. Ever.

And what exactly, IS the Human Society of Canada doing to stop this? What is any ARA group doing to stop this? Absolutely nothing. It's far too lucrative.

Offering no proof that they actually even enforce the law, government politicians and the sealing industry claim that no whitecoat harp seal pups are killed any longer.

You say this in spite of acknowledging that the DFO and the coast guard closely monitor the hunt and convictions are in fact handed down every year.

The term "whitecoat" refers to the stage of development of a pup, and means the pup is 14 to 21 days of age

Oh dear, you really don't know much do you? The term "whitecoat" refers to a young harp seal between the ages of 3 and 14 days.

Instead, sealers simply wait less than a day until the seal’s fur begins to moult before they club, stab or shoot the seal pup.

Eh? Are you crazy? Why would anyone want a pelt from a moulting seal? A seal between the ages of 14 and 28 days is known as a "raggedy jacket" because it is moulting its coat which makes the pelt basically useless and this is why sealers do not kill seals of this age but wait until the process is complete at 1+ month of age.

This special website has been set-up by The Humane Society of Canada to make it easy for supporters to make a life saving donation to help save the seals.

Why don't you just say it like it is?

This special website has been set-up by The Humane Society of Canada to make it easy for supporters to make big fat donations to swell our coffers without us having to actually do anything.

Giraffe Puzzle

2010-03-12T15:10:00.000-07:00

Why Hunt?

2010-02-15T23:49:00.001-07:00

This video was created by California Waterfowl to promote understanding of hunting's place in a healthy balanced ecosystem and to help hunters explain how hunting intimately connects us to our environment, especially through the food we eat and share with others.

Dog puzzle

2010-02-15T22:13:00.002-07:00

2010-02-14T20:36:00.000-07:00

A family regularly shares breakfast with a colony of giraffes that poke their heads through the window of their home in Kenya.

By A Telegraph Correspondent
Published: 1:06PM BST 21 Jul 2009

Family share breakfast table in Africa with giraffes

Tanya Carr-Hartley and children Sala (5) and one-year-old twins Tisa and Kinna: Family share breakfast table with giraffes

Family share breakfast table in Africa with giraffes

Every day shortly before 9am the beasts stroll up to the house and poke their heads through the windows and doors in search of morning treats Photo: CATERS NEWS

Tanya and Mikey Carr-Hartley live in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro on a 140-acre estate, which is home to eight Rothschild giraffes, some of the rarest on the planet.

Every day shortly before 9am the beasts stroll up to the house and poke their heads through the windows and doors in search of morning treats.

The couple spend breakfast sipping orange juice and picking at croissants, literally sharing their dining table with the world's tallest mammal.

Now the pair are sharing the mesmerising experience with the outside world by opening the manor gates to guests at the world's only giraffe hotel.

The couple spent their childhood living close to the house in Nairobi, Kenya and have always been fascinated with the creatures.

"Mikey and I grew up near to this manor house," said Mrs Carr-Hartley.

"We are both third generation Kenyans who have always wanted to work in conservation.

"Mikey's family have been involved in the protection of animals for many generations.

"His grandad was even involved in the relocation of giraffes as far back as the 1930s. Moving the giraffes ensured their protection and continued existence.

"When the house came up for sale we jumped at the chance to buy it as we had always dreamed of one day owning it."

Giraffe Manor is home to eight Rothschild giraffes, they are some of the rarest on earth second only to the Niger giraffe, with only a few hundred left in the wild.

A conservation project to save them was started at the manor In 1974 when the grandson of a Scottish Earl, Jock Leslie Melville, and his American wife, Betty, bought the stately home.

Later that year they moved two endangered Rothschild giraffe onto the estate, where third and fourth generations live on.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/5877815/Family-share-breakfast-table-in-Africa-with-giraffes.html

According to ARAs this is unnatural

2010-02-14T20:34:00.001-07:00

An elephant produced an impromptu balancing act to make the most of an opportunity to get its trunk on a treat.

Elephant produces balancing act to snatch treat

Elephant: It reached out its long trunk out to gently grab the food from the toddler tourist who was being held up by his father. Photo: BNPS

The animal spotted a curious toddler holding a snack clambered up onto a narrow wall on the edge of its enclosure to snatch it.

Balancing on its tiptoes the elephant teetered precariously on the four inch wide ledge.

It then reached out its long trunk out to gently grab the food from the toddler tourist who was being held up by his father.

The moment was captured by amateur photographer Tobias Haase, during a visit to Hamburg Zoo in Germany.

Mr Haase, 34, from Hamburg, said: "The zoo is famous for its open animal areas.

"They keep the harmless animals like elephants in these enclosures without a real fence – just a big ditch which they can't jump over.

"People bring vegetables and other green food to give to the elephants – it's not forbidden and they love it.

"They're quite used to it and have learned to reach over and pluck the food out of visitors' hands.

"Sometimes they even do a bit of acrobatics to get there.

"On this day, the elephant was particularly agile. It saw the tourist holding out a bit of food and scrambled up on the ledge.

"It teetered there for a while, trying not to wobble off, as it stretched its trunk out for the food.

"It stayed there for a while trying to get more before it climbed down.

"It even looked like it was nodding thank you to the tourist before it wandered off into its enclosure."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/6162152/Elephant-produces-balancing-act-to-snatch-treat.html

Baboons steal rooftop luggage

2010-02-14T20:31:00.000-07:00

Bosses at Knowsley Safari Park are warning motorists to beware of the baboons, after the animals learned how to open rooftop luggage and began stealing items such as underwear after helping themselves to the contents.

A Different Perspective

2010-02-14T20:20:00.002-07:00

These photographs were taken by David Chancellor, a British photographer and won 3rd prize in the People in the News category of the 2010 world Press Photo contest.

Gonarezhou National Park, Zimbabwe

Local villagers fall upon the body of a dead elephant, starved of meat they reduce the huge carcass to bones in under 2 hours.

24 hours later the bones have also gone, all that's visible are the fresh tracks from the remaining elephants returning to Mozambique under cover of darkness.

While an affluent, well nourished North American may find these images disturbing, even disgusting, an empty belly soon gives a person a different perspective.

Abandoned piglet is lost and hound:

2009-11-15T22:12:00.000-07:00

Giant farm dog saves baby pig's bacon by adopting it as one of its own

By Liam Milller

A giant farm dog and a tiny piglet cuddle up as if they were family after the baby runt was dismissed by its own mother.

Surrogate mum Katjinga, an eight-year-old Rhodesian Ridgeback, took on motherly duties for grunter Paulinchen - a tiny pot-bellied pig - and seems to be taking the adoption in her stride.

Lonely Paulinchen was luckily discovered moments from death and placed in the care of the dog who gladly accepted it as one of her own. Thankfully for the two-week old mini porker, Katjinga fell in love with her at first sight and saved her bacon.

Giant farm dog saves baby pig's bacon

Motherly love: Baby piglet feeds on its new surrogate mum

And the unlikely relationship has made the wrinkly piggy a genuine sausage dog. In these adorable images Paulinchen can even be seen trying to suckle from her gigantic new mum.

The two animals live together on a huge 20-acre farm in Hoerstel, Germany, where Katjinga's owners Roland Adam, 54, and his wife Edit, 44, a bank worker, keep a pair of breeding Vietnamese pigs.

Giant farm dog saves baby pig's bacon

Nose place like home: The baby piglet nuzzles up to its new mum

Property developer Roland found the weak and struggling piglet after she was abandoned by the rest of her family one evening after she was born.

He said: "The pigs run wild on our land and the sow had given birth to a litter of five in our forest.
"I found Paulinchen all alone and when I lifted her up she was really cold.

Giant farm dog saves baby pig's bacon

"I felt sure some local foxes would have taken the little pig that very night so I took it into my house and gave her to Katjinga.

"She had just finished with a litter of her own, who are now 10 months, so I thought there was a chance she might take on the duties of looking after her.

"Katjinga is the best mother you can imagine. She immediately fell in love with the piggy. Straight away she started to clean it like it was one of her own puppies.

"Days later she started lactating again and giving milk for the piggy. She obviously regards it now as her own baby."

Mum of the year? Quite possibly.

Giant farm dog saves baby pig's bacon

Doting: Caring pooch checks up on her new addition

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1210909/Abandoned-piglet-lost-hound-Giant-farm-dog-saves-baby-pigs-bacon-adopting-own.html#ixzz0QoJNV1O0

According to ARAs this is unnatural

2009-11-15T22:06:00.002-07:00

An elephant produced an impromptu balancing act to make the most of an opportunity to get its trunk on a treat.

Elephant produces balancing act to snatch treat

Giant pandea faces extinction in two to three generations

2009-11-15T21:37:00.001-07:00

China's giant panda faces extinction in 'two to three generations'

China's giant pandas could be extinct in 'two to three generations' as the country's headlong rush for economic development destroys the animals' habitat, the WWF has warned.

By Peter Foster in Beijing
17 Aug 2009

Giant pandas: China's giant panda faces extinction in 'two to three generations'

The threat to the country's signature animal is caused by the increasing fragmentation of its living areas. This is making it difficult for different panda populations to inter-breed, said Fan Zhiyong, a leading conservationist and the species programme director for the World Wide Fund for Nature in China.

"If the panda cannot mate with those from other habitats, it may face extinction within two to three generations," Mr Fan told the state-run Global Times newspaper. "We have to act now."

Many Chinese panda populations are living in belts of bamboo less then a mile wide, leaving them dangerously vulnerable to human interference, he said.

In-breeding among pandas, who are notoriously selective when it comes to mating in captivity, leads to reduced resistance to disease and lower reproductive rates.

"The construction of highways at nature reserves permanently dissects the panda's habitat, obstructing migration, mating and healthy gene exchange," Mr Fan said.

"We may have to give up building some infrastructure or the panda will face a bigger threat to its existence than in 1980," he said.

Wild panda numbers dropped to as low as 1,000 in the late 1970s, but a painstaking conservation programme has increased numbers to around 1,600 today scattered across six mountain ranges in southwestern China.

However, according to WWF estimates, 43 per cent of panda habitats and 29 per cent of its population are not yet effectively protected by nature reserves and protected areas.

The conservation programme was suffered a set-back last year when the Wolong Reserve was devastated in the Sichuan earthquake. Restoring the reserve is now Mr Fan's top priority.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/6041990/Chinas-giant-panda-faces-extinction-in-two-to-three-generations.html

Tiger pups

2009-11-15T21:34:00.000-07:00

These cubs belong to Tom and Allie Harvey, owners of the Safari Zoological Park — a private zoo in Caney, Kansas.

The Harveys' have published a book, Tiger Pups, that tells the popular story of how Isabella came to raise the tiger cubs and is filled with exclusive images by Tom Harvey and National Geographic photographer Keith Philpott.

Tiger pups

Real-life Ram-bo

2009-08-16T14:55:00.002-06:00

The sheep who abseiled down electricity cable after snagging his horn

This hapless sheep has become a real life 'ram-bo' after inadvertently abseiling down a hill when its horn became snagged on an electricity wire.

The unfortunate sheep was spotted bleating for help more than 15 feet above the ground next to an telegraph pole.

Amazed onlookers watched the ram descend from a grazing pasture - apparently accidentally - while dangling from a live wire.

Enlarge Help? The sheep dangles some 15feet above the ground, its horn caught in the live electrical wire

Help? The sheep dangles some 15feet above the ground, its horn caught in the live electrical wire

Luckily he did not catch the current from the wire.

The drama unravelled at the small town of Helgoysund on the Norwegian coast on Wednesday.

Tourists at the scene mounted a rescue attempt and eventually roped him to pull him back to ground level in little over an hour.

Bemused spectators suggested he may have been trying to take the fast route down to a herd of ewes grazing in the field below.

Marita Vestersjo Landsnes, aged 13, caught the calamity on her camera phone. The schoolgirl said she couldn't believe her eyes when she saw the sheep sliding down the live wire.
Spectators suggested the sheep may have been trying to reach a field of ewes at the bottom of the hill

Spectators suggested the sheep may have been trying to reach a field of ewes at the bottom of the hill.

After nearly an hour, and some ingenious rope work, the German tourists managed to bring the sheep down

After nearly an hour, and some ingenious rope work, the German tourists managed to bring the sheep down unharmed

Her dad Geir Landsnes, 45, also watched the dramatic events unfold. He said Marita would never to go out without a camera again.

He said: 'As a reward for his embarrassing predicament we helped him to achieve his quest by allowing him access to the ladies.

'My wife saw something surreal from the kitchen window and realised it was the sheep hanging five to six metres off the ground from the wire by its horn and called me straight away, asking what to do.

'I asked my daughter Marita to photograph the rescue operation so I could see the images of what had happened.

'Marita is so proud that her images and I've encouraged her not to leave the house without her camera.'

The sheep had been grazing on the hill. He had got his horn stuck on the zip wire and as he got more agitated, was pulled down the hill on the wire he was attached to and ended more than up five metres above the ground.

The German tourists were in the area because the Landsnes family, alongside the sheep farm, run a small vacation place on the Norwegian island.

The sheep escaped unharmed.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1205004/Pictured-Ram-bo-Amazing-abseiling-sheep-tries-unorthodox-method-attracting-ewes.html#ixzz0NcbOQ9KV
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1205004/Pictured-Ram-bo-Amazing-abseiling-sheep-tries-unorthodox-method-attracting-ewes.html

Sealion hijacks patrol boat

2009-08-16T12:38:00.004-06:00

Sea lion at the controls of a Orange County sheriff's Department patrol boat

Sheriff's Department officers in California got more than they bargained for when they took a sealion aboard their patrol boat. They were forced to vacate the cockpit when the animal started climbing around the helmsman's seat and control console, and it managed to turn the steering wheel, sound the horn and put the throttle into reverse.

It took more than an hour and several sprays with a hose to persuade the sealion to leave the boat and return to the sea. The incident began when the Orange County Sheriff's Harbor Patrol fire boat was called to pontoons at Newport Beach to deal with the sealion which was reported to be acting aggressively towards children.

Attempts to get the animal back in the water failed, so the officers took it aboard with the intention of releasing it further from the land.

Sea lions are smart creatures and this attempt to take over the boat just proves their superior intelligence. He obviously thought the crew weren't experienced enough with matters concerning the sea so he should take over the controls.

Maybe he was trying to kidnap them to take them to his secret hideout where he would torture them until they agreed to their demands to give rights to sea lions.

Motor Boats Monthly, 1 July 2009
http://www.ybw.com/auto/newsdesk/2009060119

The bay of pigs

2009-08-16T10:12:00.000-06:00

Swine swimming in crystal clear water in the Bahamas

Shame about this guy's connection to the Sea Shepherd, but lovely pics.

Enjoy.

On the beaches of Big Major Spot Island, the Bahamas, a family of brown and pink boars and piglets live freely on the sandy white beaches and swim in the tropical surf

Swimming pigs

Underwater photographer Eric Cheng stumbled across the unusual residents during a diving expedition to the area

Swimming pigs

"We were in the southern Bahamas to photograph oceanic white-tip sharks," says the 33-year-old. "Our captain, Jim Abernethy, had heard that there were pigs on Big Major so we decided to go and check it out"

Swimming pigs

"Upon approaching the white sandy beach, it is easy to spot the pigs - both pink and dark brown - laying in the sand"

Swimming pigs

"I'm not sure how these domestic pigs (gone feral) came to live on this particular beach in the Bahamas, but they are well-known to locals, who have been feeding them for years," says Eric

Swimming pigs

"Because locals bring food, the pigs will run into the water and actually swim out to the oncoming boats, as if to greet them individually"

Swimming pigs

Spending several hours photographing and playing with the pigs, Eric and his team even managed to join them for a swim

Swimming pigs

"Nadine Umbscheiden, one of the photographers, was so at ease with them," reveals Eric

Swimming pigs

"We dubbed her the 'pig whisperer' because she was so good at getting the pigs to swim to our cameras!"

Swimming pigs

Eric is the editor and publisher of Wetpixel.com, and is technical advisor and photographer for Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

Swimming pigs

Eric says his his trip to the "bay of pigs" proved to be one of his strangest photo-shoots to date

Swimming pigs

Happy, happy swimming pig

Swimming pigs

Pictures: Eric Cheng / Barcroft Media

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthpicturegalleries/5844059/The-bay-of-pigs-swine-swimming-in-crystal-clear-water-in-the-Bahamas.html?image=4

More from Pet Defense

2009-05-03T10:47:00.003-06:00

180 AR H$U$

Anti-Pet Laws

Intro’d So Far in 2009

in 34 States

http://petdefense.wordpress.com/180-ar-anti-pet-laws-introd-so-far-2009-34-states/

HSUS Pushes ANTI-PET, Animal Rights Laws Nationwide–in PARTICULAR dog and dog breeding/related………….

….YES………….over 180 laws….

New Jersey leads the pack, with 23 separate bills, followed by

18 in Illinois,

15 in Massachusetts,

14 in New York,

13 in Hawaii,

9 in Tennessee,

8 in Connecticut,

7 in Texas,

6 in New Hampshire and Florida.

Other states with more than one bill are Arizona, Arkansas, California, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.

Wyoming, Washington, Vermont, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Kentucky, Kansas, Delaware and Colorado face one bill apiece

http://www.cfa.org/exhibitors/bill-tracking.pdf [Cat Fanciers Association site]

If for one second, you believed that supporting HSUS was a good idea, you better wake up and realize where your $$ are going. It’s going to support ANTI-PET LAWS against the buying, selling, breeding, showing, and owning of animals.

More information at http://petdefense.wordpress.com/

The gospel according to H$U$

2009-04-05T09:28:00.004-06:00

From The Endangered Owner

Unless you've been living under a rock this year, it's impossible to avoid the onslaught of "ANTI-dog breeder" bills that have been introduced in no less than two dozen states pushed by none other than the Humane Society of the United States.

These two dozen bills are worded almost identical in all states, with the common theme being to limit the number of intact animals a person can own and in most cases, allowing for WARRANTLESS searches of the breeder's premises.

Are these laws really about cracking down on substandard breeders? Or is it a nationwide push to make dog breeding so troublesome and expensive that hobby breeders will just quit?

According to Wayne Pacelle's blog,

"There are perhaps more than 10,000 mills in the nation, with Missouri accounting for more than 3,000, and then Oklahoma and Iowa the next biggest."
Last year Virginia was the "hub" of puppy mills (the "Virginia Is For Puppy Mills" campaign), and Pennsylvania is "the puppy mill capitol of the East"

Gee, with Wayne stating facts like that, it makes you wonder WHY legislation is needed in states like Nevada, Minnesota, Washington, Oregon, Tennessee, Illinois, Maine, West Virginia, Arkansas, Delaware, Texas, California, Florida....you get the idea. Are all of these states infested with "puppy mills" as well?? The real reason for these bills? To ensnare the "other guy"...the hobby breeder; those breeders who are not required to operate under USDA guidelines.

From the H$U$ website: "Under current law in most states, and under current regulations of the federal Animal Welfare Act, individuals running breeding operations that only sell puppies directly to the public are not required to be licensed and inspected by an oversight agency." (YEP, show folks, that's YOU!)

And further: "USDA exempts breeding facilities – regardless of the number of animals they have or financial thresholds they meet – where the puppies are bred and sold directly to private pet owners as "retail pet stores."........"Without oversight, the operations can easily fall below even the most basic standards of humane housing and husbandry."

A good breeding facility law: (According to H$U$)
applies to all breeding operations with animals or animal sales numbering over a specified threshold. (can you say "limit laws")

requires a licensing fee and pre-inspection. (Like $500 per intact animal fee...and "must be of good moral character", as we have seen in bills proposed this year)
includes routine, unannounced inspections at least twice yearly. (Warrantless searches of private property, unconstitutional last time I checked)
is enforced by an agency with adequate funding and properly trained and tested staff. (Oh yeah, we're just in the worst economic crisis since the Depression, but I'm sure Wayne and company would love to step in and take over this job, huh)
rotates inspectors to cover different areas of the state. (Uh-huh, I can see that happening...who would want to uproot their families to move to a different area...)
is equipped with strong penalties when facilities are in repeated non-compliance, including but not limited to cease and desist orders. (H$U$ translation: raids, intimidation of breeders into "signing over" all dogs so said dogs can be sold for profit to further stuff their warchests)

Do you get it yet?

Have you connected the dots?

The current nationwide push to "end puppy mills" is NOT about protecting animals...it is NOT about cracking down on substandard breeders...it is NOT about regulating commercial breeders that are already under USDA guidelines...

What it IS about is ending purebred dog breeding. Period. Using incrementalism (limiting the number of animals someone can own, which can easily be lowered next time, in a new law), the Animal Rights group, the Humane Society of the United States, is pushing it's REAL agenda: to eliminate the hobby breeder, who has now become "just another puppy mill" in the eyes of the public...There is no one left to throw under the bus. The bus is headed straight for OUR breeding programs.

Are you willing to throw away years of dedication to your breed and your breeding program? Are you still one of those breeders that thinks "this law won't apply to me"? Now it does. There can be no compromise, no backing down.

The only way to defeat the bullies is to get in their faces and scream, "HELL NO!! You will NOT take away MY rights...you will NOT tell me how many dogs I can own...you WILL NOT tell me how or when or to which dogs I can breed to!!!"

The "Anti-dog breeder bus" is roaring down the street...in YOUR state, or will be headed there shortly. There will be no "other guy" to sacrifice like we have done in the past because we are now the "other guy".

Join the Crusade Against HSUS Whitewash+Pass It Forward—->

2009-03-10T09:47:00.002-06:00

Abridged from Pet Defense

APBT and all Bully Type Dogs, Boxers, Mastiff Owners, Dobies, Danes, Rotties, Cane Corso, any medium-large dog breeds-AND small dog owners or any dog breeders, kennels, show dog owners, dog/cat owners, trainers, pet sitters, Parents with kids who own dogs of any kind:

Please consider joining the Crusade Against HSUS.

Everyone is faced with the same losses that HSUS presents….

All of you and the public at large may or may not know about HSUS, the Humane Society of the United States….the giant conglomerate multi-state, multi-country corporate entity with tons of sub corporations, and merged corporations….the largest Animal Rights conglomerated group with all the $$$$…..

If you think the “work” HSUS does is just work for seals or whales or lambs/pigs?

VERY VERY VERY WRONG. W–R–O–N–G…….

Maybe you think HSUS works for the government to shut down commercial kennels which HSUS and sidekick non profit Best Friends call “mills?” Like on OPRAH?

Same OPRAH named by PETA as person of the year?

Or maybe you think HSUS “really” likes APBT dogs, but just doesn’t want them bred by anyone? If so, you are sadly mistaken.

1. HSUS doesn’t work for the government, not publicly anyway

2. HSUS isn’t about saving shelter animals or milled dogs–no matter what they claim.

3. HSUS is a non profit that must do some work with/for animals in order to maintain that 501(c)(3) status

4. HSUS has bragged “From Congress to Courthouse to Statehouse the Victories Mount” [yeah, against owners]

5. HSUS bragged it passed 86 NEW State laws in 2007 [Since when do state laws cover whales or artic seals or polar bears? They usually don't]

6. HSUS’ actual agenda is really the same as PETAs, but without the stunts (main difference) and because of that PLUS the BIG $$$$$—-HSUS can use their $$ to buy+push power. Political power.

7. HSUS KNOWS the public is fooled by their misleading ads, videos, websites, blogs, U Tube, campaigns+more–because of the purposely “sugar-sweet” covers….children, puppies, poor little calves, poor little piggies, poor little dogs in raids, poor little u-name-it, and then there is the bad owner, bad dogs campaign against all APBT dogs or dogs that resemble APBTs, or even if they don’t resemble them, but HSUS says they are one anyway—

8. HSUS is a political marketing+media organization.

That is what they do. Tell STORIES. Draft laws AGAINST pet owners, pet breeders, pet sellers, pet would-be owners, former pet owners, poor people, old people, people that they know cannot defend themselves, people with less education, people who are in poor areas, people who don’t know their rights.

9. HSUS is NOT a friend to pet owners, breeders, or pet businesses of any kind; nor to reptile or bird owners, hunters, fisherman/women, pet stores, pet retail sellers, ANYONE selling in the pet trade, regardless of what you are selling.

HSUS would like to stop the Pet Trade in its entirety because HSUS doesn’t believe animals should be owned, much less used as a food product.

HSUS only wants pet guardians, if at all, with HSUS RESTRICTIONS ON HOW TO TAKE CARE OF ANIMALS.

10. HSUS purposely makes LAWS against pets, animals and the pet trade in general. You may not know what those laws are, but they are out there. Nearly all of them usually prohibit something rather than creating change for the better.

11. HSUS wants to pass the PUPS law before Congress. That is why HSUS purposely built up the milled dog thing on OPRAH and did exposes, and hired investigators. HSUS wants to stop the breeding of dogs that people want, and dogs that people want but can’t afford, and dogs that are bred in general, regardless of what type, kind, or breed.

After reading the provisions cited above, every single owner, breeder, business person, trainer and any pet related group of any type should realize—

you should be very MAD at HSUS if YOUR RIGHTS mean anything to you.

Animal Rights Fraud

2009-01-27T07:44:00.003-07:00

If the animal rights extremists have their way, a pup snuggling up to her mom will be something we will only see in old photographs.

Join the Crusade Against HSUS+Pass It Forward—->

From Pet Defense

Here is proof that AR extremists will use lying, FRAUD, misrepresentation and any low down scum bucket LIES they can think of—to get their propaganda message out to the public—the [hidden agenda] to stop pet ownership, and all use of animals.

—————————————————

But they will call it “saving animals”–not ending pet ownership.

Please HELP US BY FORWARDING THIS TO EVERYONE, INCLUDING NON PET OWNERS.

—————————————————

Extremist Beliefs:

AR EXTREMISTS BELIEVE THAT ANIMALS ARE NOT PROPERTY.

AR EXTREMISTS BELIEVE THAT PEOPLE SHOULD NEVER OWN AN ANIMAL.

THE TRUTH IS, THEY DON’T WANT TO SAVE ANY SHELTER ANIMALS. THEY WANT TO USE THE SHELTER ANIMAL SITUATION TO ADVANCE THEIR OWN CAUSE OF:

“ELIMINATE DOG BREEDING”
“ELIMINATE DOG BREEDERS”
“ELIMINATE PETS”
"ELIMINATE PET OWNERSHIP”

IF YOU THINK THIS IS TOO FAR FETCHED–THEN YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND THE AR MOVEMENT. IT IS ALL WRITTEN DOWN IN THEIR MANY, MANY BOOKS THEY PUBLISH. GO TO AMAZON.COM AND TYPE IN ANIMAL RIGHTS—THEY HAVE TONS OF BOOKS OUT.

Animal Rights Agenda Explained

2009-01-16T08:01:00.003-07:00

Join the Crusade Against HSUS+Pass It Forward—->

From Pet Defense

Below is the link to understanding how laws are passed by animal extremists to make animal use, breeding and ownership (yes, ownership) more difficult, and more EXPENSIVE………….

The money to support the animal rights agenda comes from millions of Americans who love animals and who, without understanding how their money will actually be used, mail checks to HSUS, PeTA, and other lesser known AR organizations.

This is America: It is our right to believe whatever we want and to try to convince others of what we believe.

However the AR movement goes beyond that. The biggest thing they do is pass laws that make animal use, breeding, and ownership steadily harder and more costly. This happens in several steps.

How Animal Rightists Pass Laws
http://www.pet-law.com/future/whatis.html
—————————————————————————————-

The above link is from pet-law, not Petdefense, but it is accurate and true.

Huge conglomerates that spend millions and millions in campaigns to pass ONE law use that money bascially from different sources, but MUCH of it pours in from $25 donations from pet owners who don’t know better.

Many young people (let’s say 18-20yr old) actually believe that the HSUS is helping save animals, or that HSUS is actually saving homeless cats and dogs.

Unfortunately, because HSUS shows commercials and websites and videos of cute dogs/cats, many people believe HSUS is saving such animals.

DON’T FALL INTO THIS TRAP FOR THE UNWARY!

Raid on Lickety Split Ranch

2008-08-24T23:20:00.004-06:00

By KRISTA SEGGEWISS
London Free Press

Wildlife authorities and police raided an infamous London roadside zoo yesterday, carting away unknown numbers of animals.

Members of the London Humane Society, Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources and police swooped down on the Lickety-Split Ranch and Zoo to search for and rescue native species such as deer or foxes under Ontario's Fish and Conservation Act.

Officials had no power to seize exotic animals under the provincial law, however, and at least one zebra and a donkey were left behind.

The ministry wouldn't disclose what types of animals or the number carted away in a trailer to a safer place.

"We had reason to believe there were some animals that fall under the description of wildlife that were in captivity illegally," said Russell Brandon of the ministry's Aylmer office. "It is our belief there is no licence."

Lickety-Split owner Shirley McElroy had a zoo licence from 1996 to 2006, but failed to renew it in 2007, prompting yesterday's ministry action.

Officials had to tranquilize one deer to remove it from the property.

The zoo has a spotty history.

Earlier this year, McElroy was fined $4,000 for having two lynx captive with no licence.

Lickety-Split grabbed international headlines in 2006 when pictures surfaced of Tyson, a kangaroo cramped in a small cage. Tyson has since disappeared from the property, without explanation.

Lickety-Split has been closed for more than a year.

The zoo owner was nowhere in sight yesterday and could not be reached for comment.

The grass was overgrown on the property, and rusted machinery, strewn wires, truck parts, empty trailers and tires littered the site.

"It's the worst case of animal husbandry I've ever seen," said activist Vicki Van Linden of Friends of Captive Animals. "We need to pass Bill 50 to give greater protection for all animals in Ontario."

The bill, proposed Ontario animal welfare legislation, introduced in April, would allow officers to search a property without a warrant if they have reason to believe an animal is in distress.

Yesterday's raid on Lickety-Split was done with a warrant.

Londoner Florine Morrison remembered taking her daughter to the zoo more than 15 years ago and seeing a black jaguar in a tiny pen with no shade, cowering in the corner to stay cool.

"They squirted him with a hose to make him get up for the visitors. I thought that was so cruel," said Morrison, a member of the London Animal Alliance.

"It's important for the city to make the McElroys follow the same rules as the rest of London."

Because the zoo no longer has a licence, it should be subject to a city bylaw that prevents people from keeping wild animals, Morrison said.

What If Noah’s Descendant Was Commanded to Build an Ark in America Today?

2008-07-13T11:30:00.001-06:00

Just for fun let’s say God came to Noah’s descendant, in which we will call him James, in the year 2008. James is living some where in the United States of America.

God clearly says to James, “This world has yet again become wicked and very evil. It is overpopulated and I see the end of every person before My eyes. James, as your forefather Noah built an Ark and saved two of every creature I want you to build an Ark and save 2 of every creature and if there is any Faithful men and women save them if they will come.”

God gave James the blue prints of exactly how the Ark was to be made and made certain James understood that he only had 6 months in which to build the Ark and get two of every creature onto the Ark. At the end of 6 months God will once again allow the heavens open up for 40 days and 40 nights until every mountain top is covered and every living creature including man was completely destroyed.

Finally, the last day of the 6 month period was up. God came to James and looked down and saw James sitting in his back yard lawn chair crying. However, God did not see the Ark He had commanded James to build.

God is now very upset and He roared down to James, “James, I am about to open the Heavens and pour out the rain upon the entire earth and flood it! Where is the Ark that I commanded you to build?”

Still weeping James cried out, “Lord I beg you to forgive me I was unable to do as you commanded. You see Lord things have changed here on Earth since Noah had to build an Ark.”

He went on to explain what had happened, hoping God would understand.

“First my Lord, I had to get a building permit. Also, I’ve been arguing with the inspector about installing and even the need for a sprinkler system for the Ark. Then my Lord the neighbors claimed I had violated the neighborhood zoning laws by building an Ark in my yard and exceeding the height limitations allowed in this area. Then we had to go to the Development Appeal Board for a decision.

With a few breathes he goes on, “Next the Department of Transportation demanded a huge bond be posted for all future costs for moving power lines and any other overhead obstructions, in order to clear a passageway for the Ark’s move to the sea. Now matter how hard I tried to get them to understand that the sea would be coming to the Ark they refused to hear me or believe me.”

By this time God is listening very intently at every word James is saying to Him to put. So James continues.

“I ran into more problems with the wood for the Ark. There is now a ban on cutting local timber because they want to save the spotted owls. I tried very hard to convince them that this WOULD save the owls but that was a no go!”

Exasperated James went on, “I started loading the animals two by two just as you told me to do and the animal rights group sued me. It seems they believe I am confining wild animals against their will. They also argued that the accommodations were too restrictive, and that is was of course cruel and inhumane for me to put so many animals in such a confined space.

Lord that is when the EPA rules I couldn’t build the Ark until they had conducted an environmental impact study on YOUR proposed world wide flood. In fact Lord, I am still trying to resolve the complaint with the Human Rights Commission on how many minorities I am suppose to hire for my building crew. However, then the Immigration and Naturalization people started checking the green-card status of almost all the people who actually do want to work.”

James was no longer crying by this time. In fact, the Lord could clearly hear disgust and even anger in his voice now. James went on to say,

“Oddly, the Trades Unions tells me I cannot use my own sons. They insist I have to hire only Union workers with, Get this Lord, “Ark building experience.” Where am I going to find Union workers with that kind of experience for crying out loud.

Then to make matters even worse, the IRS seized ALL my assets. They claimed I must be trying to leave the country illegally with endangered species.

So, please my Lord, forgive me for not completing the task you have set before me. I must tell you that it would literally take at the very least 10 years for me to get through all the red tape and government issues as well as all the other issues that keep popping up, until I could finish the Ark.”

Suddenly, the skies started to clear, the sun shined brightly through the clouds, and a double rainbow stretched across the sky.

James looked up into the beautiful sky and asked the Lord,

“Does this mean you are not going to destroy the Earth and all the sin filled evil people on it again?”

“NO!” said the Lord God in Heaven.

“I can clearly see the government has beat me to it.”

Black Wednesday For U.S. Dog Owners

2008-06-30T08:34:00.004-06:00

Are they doomed?

If you love dogs please read this and pass it on.

This is worrying stuff. How long before the domestic dog becomes extinct in the U.S.?

How long before our grandchildren are asking, "Grandpa, What's a dog?"

Animal Rights Wins In Dallas, California, Pennsylvania

by JOHN YATES

American Sporting Dog Alliance

http://www.americansportingdogalliance.org

asda@csonline.net

Wednesday was a black day for dog owners all across America, as
animal rights extremists posted legislative victories in Dallas,
California and Pennsylvania.

Dog owner advocacy groups fought hard in all three contests and had
clear majority support, but animal rights groups such as People for
the Ethical Treatment of Animals and the Humane Society of the United
States cashed in political chips with elected officials.

PETA and HSUS have been infiltrating local and state advisory boards
for many years, backed by a war chest exceeding $150 million,
hundreds of paid employees and thousands of volunteers.

Apathy remains th greatest problem faced by dog ownership advocacy
groups.

Wednesday's votes also highlighted what is rapidly becoming a
partisan division on animal rights legislation. In general, almost
all Republicans voted against the legislation, and almost all
Democrats voted for the bills. The Democratic Party appears to be
lining up behind the animal rights agenda in support of its
presumptive presidential candidate, Barrack Obama. Obama has
expressed strong support for animal rights.

Here is a summary of the four issues decided this week:

In Dallas, City Council voted 10-3 to pass an animal control
ordinance requiring mandatory pet sterilization, expensive permits to
own intact dogs and cats, mandatory microchipping and pet ownership
limits. The ordinance also bans tethering of dogs and imposes strict
requirements for keeping dogs outdoors. Home inspections also are
authorized.

In California, the Senate Local Government Committee voted 3-2 to
approve AB1634, which now will be sent to the Senate Appropriations
Committee. If this committee approves, it will be sent to the
legislature for a vote. This bill allows any person to act as a
vigilante and report any dog owner for an unsubstantiated violation
of any animal law. If any animal control officer agrees, the accused
person will have a choice between paying a fine or sterilizing the
animal. People who are accused of anything have no right to defend
themselves or to appeal. An accusation is automatic guilt.

In Pennsylvania, the House Rules Committee voted Tuesday to approve
HB2532, which is a de facto ban on tail docking, dewclaw removal and
ear cropping. In the absence of proof that the procedure was
performed by a veterinarian, the mere possession of a dog that has
had one of those three procedures subjects an owner to a criminal
citation for animal cruelty. This bill would destroy many rescue
operations, dog shows, competitive events and field trials in
Pennsylvania and result in the deaths of thousands of dogs. This bill
now goes to the full House for a vote, and then to the Senate.

Also in Pennsylvania, the House Agriculture Committee approved
amendments to the state dog and kennel law that fall short of changes
that were promised to dog owner advocacy groups. The actual text of
this legislation was not available at this writing, and a follow-up
report will be issued when the revised legislation is available. This
bill now goes to the full House for a vote, and then to the Senate.

Please see below for more detailed descriptions of all four issues.

Dog ownership advocates clearly outnumbered animal rights
sympathizers in public hearings on all four pieces of legislation, as
well as in written comments, emails and phone calls received by
elected officials. However, many of those officials chose to ignore
our voices, and that is doubly true of the Democrats. We are not
saying this to be partisan, as many of our officers and members are
loyal Democrats. We simply are stating a fact. Democrats voted
against animal owners this week by a shocking margin, and we urge dog
owners who are registered with this party to work to reverse this
policy.

Advocates of dog owners' rights also were hurt by the apathy of many
people who support us, but who did little or nothing to voice that
support to elected officials. At the Senate hearing in California,
for example, only about 10 people showed up. In Dallas, about 200 dog
ownership advocates attended the hearing, but that is a tiny
percentage of the estimated 300,000 pet owners in the city.
Attendance at the two Pennsylvania hearings was described as moderate.

Apathy by the large but silent majority of dog owners is a major
component of the animal rights strategy. While we outnumber them 100-
to-one, most of us don't get involved. In contrast, animal rights
groups rely on an almost religious fanaticism by their supporters to
gain a high percentage of participation.

The American Sporting Dog Alliance urges every dog owner in America
to join one or more of the several fine organizations that are
fighting for your rights. Each of these organizations has its own
niche, but all are excellent and deserve your support.

We welcome your membership and hope you will participate fully in our
programs. Please visit us online at
http://www.americansportingsdogalliance.org.

Please stand up and be counted now!

We also ask all dog owners who belong to field trial clubs,
sportsmen's organizations, show specialty clubs, breed clubs and
event clubs to urge those organizations to take an active political
role to defeat animal rights legislation.

The American Sporting Dog Alliance also is urging dog owners to
boycott all dog events in the City of Dallas for their own safety.
Under the terms of the ordinance, even a visitor to the city is
subject to citations, fines and dog confiscations. It is known that
PETA plans a protest at a July dog show in Dallas, and we expect them
to report show dog owners for alleged violations of the ordinance.
Because the Dallas animal commission is dominated by PETA members, we
expect that there will be a move to raid this dog show. All
professional handlers would be in violation of the possession limit
of six dogs, and none of the dogs are expected to have a required
Dallas breeding or intact permit.

If the Pennsylvania and California legislation becomes law, it will
not be safe for anyone to attend a field trial, dog show or
performance event in those states, or even to visit, pass through or
take a hunting trip there.

We urge all clubs to cancel or move planned events in Dallas now, and
also in Pennsylvania and California if their legislation is signed
into law. We believe that clubs have an ethical obligation to protect
the safety of participants and their dogs.

Continued apathy and non-involvement will doom dog ownership in
America, as well as hunting, field trials and other dog events. We
can't do it without you.

Here are the highlights of the four pieces of legislation that were
voted on this week.

California

We support the first part of AB1634, which calls for fines for dogs
that are allowed to roam and mandates sterilization after the third
offense.

However, the second part of the legislation violates basic
constitutional rights and human decency.

Here are the provisions of the second part of the legislation
(Italics are direct quotes, and words that are not italicized are our
comments):

· "The owner of a nonspayed or unneutered dog that is the
subject of a complaint may be cited and pay a civil penalty as
provided in this section. This civil penalty shall be in addition to
any fine, fee, or penalty imposed under any other provision of law or
local ordinance." In the first sentence, the committee
substituted "may" for "shall," which appears to leave the issuance of
a citation up to the discretion of an animal control officer.
However, the basis for this decision is not defined.

· "The owner of the dog shall pay the civil penalty to the
local animal control agency within 30 business days of the citation.
The local animal control agency shall waive the civil penalty if,
within 14 business days of the citation, the owner of the dog
presents written proof from a licensed veterinarian that the dog was
spayed or neutered." There is no provision for a dog owner to defend
him/herself in court or at a hearing, and no appeal is allowed. If
you are accused, you are guilty. Period. This is a violation of
constitutional guarantees of due process and equal protection under
the law.

· " 'Complaint' means an oral or written complaint to a local
animal control agency that alleges that the dog or the owner of the
dog has violated this division, any other provision of state law that
relates to dogs, or a local animal control ordinance. `Complaint'
also means the observation by an employee or officer of a local
animal control agency of behavior by a dog or the owner of a dog that
violates this division, any other provision of state law that relates
to dogs, or a local animal control ordinance." An example of what
this means is that a hunting or field trial dog that is in excellent
health and conditioned for performance could result in a complaint of
animal cruelty if anyone believes the dog looks thin.

· " `Local animal control agency' means any city or county
animal control agency or other entity responsible for enforcing
animal-related laws or local animal control ordinances." This
includes Humane Societies and other animal welfare organizations
empowered to enforce animal cruelty or other dog laws. Many members
of these groups support a radical animal rights agenda.

The Senate Local Government Committee approved this legislation by a
party-line 3-2 vote Wednesday, with Democrats in the majority. It now
goes to the Senate Committee on Appropriations, and then to the
Senate floor for a final vote.

Please contact members of the Appropriations Committee immediately to
voice opposition to the second half of this bill, and also individual
senators.

This link gives contact information for committee members:
http://www.senate.ca.gov/ftp/sen/committee/STAN...PPROP/_home1/PROF
ILE.HTM. The committee meets on Monday.

This link gives contact information for all senators:
http://www.senate.ca.gov/~newsen/senators/senators.htp. While Sen.
Michael Machado voted for this bill on Wednesday, he expressed many
concerns and might be convinced to change his vote.

Dallas

Here is a summary of the dog ordinance passed Wednesday by the Dallas
City Council by a 10-3 vote. The ordinance:

· Creates a permit for a dog or cat used for breeding or
competition. The cost of the permit is $70 annually for each animal,
plus the regular license fee of $30. There is no grace period or
exclusion provided for new residents or people who are visiting
Dallas, including participants in dog shows or other events. Visitors
can be cited, and we expect that they will be cited.

· Requires all other dogs or cats to be spayed or neutered.

· Limits a single household to a total of six cats and/or
dogs. People owning more than a half-acre of land would be allowed
eight. People who currently own a greater number of animals could
apply to the city to be allowed to keep their animals without
penalty, but they would not be allowed to buy a dog or breed a litter
of puppies until their number of dogs drops below the limit. The
ordinance applies to anyone who "harbors" more than six dogs, which
includes many visitors and participants in dog shows and other
events. Almost all professional handlers would be in this category,
as well as many owner/handlers.

· Subjects anyone who harbors a group of dogs that exceeds the
limits to unannounced inspections. This would include participants in
dog shows or other events.

· Mandates microchipping of all dogs and cats, including those
of visitors.

· Prohibits tethering of unsupervised dogs to trees or poles
except "for a period no longer than necessary for the owner to
complete a temporary task."

Forces owners to provide at least 150 square feet of space and a
building or designed doghouse for a dog confined outdoors.
And provides for confiscation of allegedly dangerous dogs, and other
penalties.

Please contact us at asda@csonlinenet if you would like to
participate in legal action or boycotts related to the Dallas
ordinance.

Pennsylvania

Dog owners in Pennsylvania were beset by two pieces of bad
legislation this week.

HB 2525 regulates a million dog owners and owners of 2,700 licensed
kennels in the state. It passed the House Agriculture Committee by a
17-12 vote Wednesday. All but one Republican (Rep. K. Boback) voted
against the bill, and all Democrats (the majority party) voted in
favor of it.

It appears that the final bill reflects some of the promises made to
dog ownership advocacy groups during the past several months of
negotiations, but that the Democrats have reneged on other promises.

Some dog owners groups have withdrawn their opposition to this
legislation, but the American Sporting Dog Alliance continues to
oppose it in its present form. While we support changes that affect
commercial breeders, these represent only a small part of HB 2525.
The rest of the bill has serious impacts on all dog and kennel
owners. The text of several amendments has not been published thus
far We will issue a full report on this legislation in the next
couple of days.

The other legislation is HB 2532, which provides what amounts to be a
de facto partial or complete ban on tail docking, ear cropping and
dewclaw removal by anyone except a licensed veterinarian. Although
most other dog owners' organizations have not taken a clear public
stance on this bill, the American Sporting Dog Alliance categorically
opposes it.

HB 2532 passed the House Judiciary Committee by a 28-1 vote Tuesday,
with only Republican Rep. T. Creighton voting "no."

The bill allows owners to dock the tails of puppies until they pass
three days of age, and to remove dewclaws during the first five days.
However, the burden of proof is placed on a dog's owner to prove that
this work was done legally before the age limits, or by a
veterinarian. It would be difficult for most dog owners to prove
this, and a large majority would not be able to prove it. The simple
possession of a dog with a docked tail or a lack of dewclaws would be
considered evidence of an animal cruelty violation, if the owner
cannot prove his/her innocence.

The bill continues a total ban against ear cropping, except by a
veterinarian, and anyone who is found in possession of a dog with
cropped ears is automatically guilty of criminal animal cruelty in
the absence of proof.

For all of these procedures, HB 2532 struck out a provision that
would have exempted dogs if their owners filed an affidavit with a
county treasurer that the work was done before the bill is passed.

That means a large majority of owners of many of the most popular
breeds will have no way of proving that they have complied with the
law. These procedures were done legally in the past on many dogs, or
legally by breeders in other states. In many cases, a dog owner has
no idea who performed these procedures. Thus, they would be guilty of
criminal animal cruelty for noncompliance.

This legislation will destroy rescue work for many breeds if it is
signed into law. Most dogs that are assisted by rescue groups, animal
shelters and private individuals either come from unknown sources, or
do not come with medical records. There will be no choice except to
euthanize these dogs, since it will be impossible to establish their
legality.

This legislation also will have a severe impact on people who live in
other states. On one level, Pennsylvanians will no longer be able to
buy puppies from dozens of breeds from nonresident breeders who
perform these procedures legally in their home states.

On another level, Pennsylvania professional trainers and handlers
will not be able to accept many dogs from out-of-state customers,
because proof will not be available.

But a larger impact will be on thousands of people who own dogs and
come to Pennsylvania for a vacation, to hunt, or to compete in field
trials, dog shows and other events. Anyone who brings a dog with a
docked tail, missing dewclaws or cropped ears into Pennsylvania is
subject to arrest for criminal animal cruelty charges.

This will affect many very popular breeds of dogs, such as almost all
Continental breeds of pointing dogs, flushing dogs, terriers and many
working dogs, such as rottweilers and doberman pinchers.

The bill now moves to the full House for a vote. Please contact your
own legislator and as many others as possible to express opposition
to this legislation. Contact information can be found at:
http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/..._information/repr
esentatives_alpha.cfm.

Here is a link to the text of the legislation:
http://www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDOCS/Legis/PN/Public/btCheck.cfm?
txtType=HTM&sessYr=2007&sessInd=0&billBody=H&billT yp=B&billNbr=2532&pn
=4030

The American Sporting Dog Alliance represents owners, hobby breeders
and professionals who work with breeds of dogs that are used for
hunting. We are a grassroots movement working to protect the rights
of dog owners, and to assure that the traditional relationships
between dogs and humans maintains its rightful place in American
society and life. Please visit us on the web at
http://www.americansportingdogalliance.org. Our email is
ASDA@csonline.net. Complete directions to join by mail or online are
found at the bottom left of each page.

The American Sporting Dog Alliance also needs your help so that we
can continue to work to protect the rights of dog owners. Your
membership, participation and support are truly essential to the
success of our mission. We are funded solely by the donations of our
members, and maintain strict independence.

PLEASE CROSS-POST AND FORWARD THIS REPORT TO YOUR FRIENDS

Why we eat the pig and revere the dog

2008-06-17T21:25:00.003-06:00

One question that animal rights/vegan/vegetarian activists love to ask is why do I eat the pig, the cow and the sheep, whilst I wouldn't dream of eating a cat, dog or horse. There is, they claim, no cognitive difference.

Here are a few reasons we eat livestock and not pets

Domestic pets

1. Small, easy to keep and feed.

2. Companionable, actively seek out human company.

3. Useful for pest control, protection, transport, hunting, message carrying, disabled person's assistance.

4. Can be trained to be clean in the house

5. Can be kept in a small space such as an apartment.

6. Relatively high level of intelligence.

7. Difficult to manage in large groups. Have to be caged. Considered cruel in some cultures.

Livestock

1. Large and cumbersome, not cheap or easy to keep.

2. Need large quantities of grass or hay

3. Produce enormous quantities of excrement

4. Seek out their own kind for companionship, have an instinctive fear of humans.

5. Cannot be trained to be clean in the house, will damage or destroy furniture and groceries.

6. Need a large amount of space, far more than the average homeowner has.

7. Mostly prohibited by law in urban areas.

8. Dangerous. Their sheer size, bulk and general lack of consideration makes these animals extremely unsuitable as domestic pets.

9. Convert products that cannot be digested by humans, such as grass and leaves into highly digestible, protein rich milk and meat.

10. Have a large waterproof coat that can be utilised by humans as protective clothing, furniture covering, book covers etc.

11. Produce a large number of byproducts that are used in almost every industry,

12. Relatively low level of intelligence.

13. Easy to manage in large groups.

Traditional uses of livestock species

Cattle - milk, meat, leather

Sheep - wool, meat, tallow (candles)

Pig - meat, fat (for baking, candles, lubrication, wood polish, soap) leather, clearing brush (natural routing behaviour) truffle hunting

Goat - meat, milk, fibre, leather

Poultry - meat, eggs, feathers, down, insect control, weed control

My view on the zoo

2008-06-02T22:16:00.002-06:00

Camel ride at London zoo around 1930

Someone said to me recently that, "Zoos exist primarily for the benefit of animals and the protection of genetic diversity etc. and not for the entertainment of people who visit them."

That may be the opinion of some people, but I disagree, and here's why.

I disagree that zoo's exist primarily for the benefit of animals.

I know a few zoos in the USA are free for visitors, this is the way I would like all zoos to be. Available to all as an educational resource and a place of recreation.

But take away the gate receipts and most of the zoos in the world would have to close and the animals euthanized. Even the government funded zoos rely heavily on visitors for money.

Zoos/menageries/animal collections, whatever you like to call them, existed a long time before anyone thought of conservation/preservation of endangered species/genetic diversity etc. Something which was pioneered by Gerald Durrel in the 1950's.

While it is good that zoos have gone this route, let's not forget that zoos play an enormous role in society and have done for thousands of years. In the days before television zoos were a primary source of entertainment. To others, zoos are a source of education. To see the sheer size and power of a large cat or bear is an experience that cannot be replicated by the Discovery channel.

Only by people seeing animals up close can they ever develop any respect for them, respect leads to interest, interest leads to understanding, understanding leads ultimately, to protection. If zoos were closed to the public, where would the next generation of zookeepers, zoologists and naturalist's come from? By watching insects on the windowledge?

Animals fare better in zoos

2008-06-01T11:30:00.004-06:00

This is what I've been saying for years. Hooray for the voice of reason

By Andrew Stern

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Scientists are learning more about how zoo animals feel and how a toy or a little training can sometimes help cut the endless pacing and other repetitive behaviours that are often assumed to be signs of distress.

Some big cats want a high perch from which to view visitors, polar bears want to scratch for hidden caches of food, and male barn swallows could use a tail extension to appeal to potential mates, according to experts from zoos and universities meeting on Friday at Chicago's Brookfield Zoo.

Visitors who see a cheetah pacing or a polar bear swimming in circles might assume they are stressed by confinement. But they may simply be expending excess energy or soothing themselves, experts said interviews at the symposium.

"We humans swim laps, and people take comfort in walking in circles. As long is it not injuring the animals, and not causing them pain, it may not be a sign of poor welfare," said Nadja Wielebnowski of the Chicago Zoological Society.

Wielebnowski measures stress hormones in zoo animals and her work is helping guide efforts to reduce stress when animals are moved, come in close contact with humans or are exposed to noise.

"Some species do absolutely great in zoos -- they get great food, they get it every day, they have great veterinary care. For some species, the zoo trumps the wild," said David Shepherdson of the Oregon Zoo in Portland.

But some species, like elephants, large cats, and bears, often do not fare as well.

In a study of polar bears in U.S. zoos, Shepherdson found 50 of 54 bears displayed behavioural symptoms of stress, but they showed no elevated levels of corticosteroids, which are hormones that indicate stress, he said.

Shepherdson found about half the animals reduced their repetitive behaviour when give some training or playthings that helped them mimic behaviour in the wild.

For example, polar bears given a plastic barrel tended to crush it just as they would a seal den in the Arctic.

NOT BELONGING

Experts are also discussing whether certain species, like certain types of leopard, do not belong in zoos at all because they prefer to remain out of sight.

"Essentially, we need to go against the knee-jerk human reaction, which is the view that (zoo animals) need companionship, they need a large enclosure, and that they are only interested in the world visually," said Vicki Melfi of Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust, which runs the Paignton Zoo in Britain.

She said animals more sensitive to smell should be accommodated, for instance, by not disinfecting their enclosures frequently so as not to wipe out scent markings. Other animals sensitive to sounds might be offered a dark, quiet corner to retreat to.

Wielebnowski suggested zoos might consider exercise equipment for animals to burn off energy.

Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States, said measuring hormone levels may not tell the story as well as observing listless or repetitive behaviour.

"You don't want a shell of an animal on display," he said. "Zoos are here to stay and they should make efforts to enrich animals' lives and they should ask a number of other questions about the suitability of certain species in captivity."

Source: http://uk.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUKN3044801120080530

Animal Adoptions Now available at GuZoo

2008-05-15T22:37:00.006-06:00

You can now adopt an animal at GuZoo Animal Farm for just $50 a year.

That's less than a dollar a week.

When you adopt an animal at GuZoo
You will receive:

Certificate - personalised with your name
Photograph
Information sheet about your animal
Updates throughout the year

Christmas card

Annual review of all the things that
Have happened at GuZoo. Throughout the year

Warm feeling knowing you've done something
Kind for the animals at GuZoo Animal Farm !

Animals available for adoption are:

Tuffy        Canadian Lynx
Casper       Siberian Lynx
Zuki         Timber Wolf     
Moses        Serval
Tyson        Baboon
Jacob        Camel         
Tim          Lemur
Jackson      Tiger      
Jerry        Cougar
Wallace      Lion
BJ           Bear



For more information on adopting one of these animals send an email to 
janeyc18@yahoo.com with your name, phone number, and which animal you
are interested in, or phone Irene at 403 443 7463

for more information on GuZoo Animal Farm click here

www.guzooforever.com

2008-05-14T22:30:00.002-06:00

Animal Rights. Where did it come from, where is it now, where is it going?

Part 2

Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA)

For about 140 years the RSPCA animal welfare advocates had made good headway in getting legislation passed to prevent the abuse of animals, but there was still a long way to go.

Those who supported animal welfare were largely the middle and upper classes, people who had a vested interest in treating animals well, farmers, hunters, fishermen, kennel and stable owners and, of course, the ever increasing number of pet owners.

In the middle years of the twentieth century there were stirrings towards a new doctrine, the philosophy that animals should not be used for the benefit of humans but that they are entities in their own right and deserve equal consideration with humans.

The Hunt Saboteurs (HSA)

The AR movement as we know it today is a far cry from the small band of friends, who, in 1963, led by John Prestidge, actively disrupted fox hunting in Devon, England.

The Hunt Saboteurs Association, as they called themselves, always acted within the law, they were an irritant to the huntsmen, and little else.

As others in the area heard about their activities, Hunt Saboteur groups began to spring up all over Southern England.

Band of Mercy

By 1971 there was a national network of dedicated activists disrupting hunt meets all over the country. Two of these activists were a law student called Ronnie Lee, and his friend Cliff Goodman, from Luton, Hertfordshire. They thought they could do a better job if they could prevent the hunt from happening in the first place, as the HSA only operated within the law, and their new tactics would involve law breaking, they formed a breakaway group, the Band of Mercy, in 1972.

All went well and the BOM spread their wings to include action against vivisectionists, as well as hunters. However, in 1975, their luck ran out and Ronnie and Cliff were convicted of arson and sent to jail.

Animal Liberation Front (ALF)

On their release, Cliff decided to give up the campaign, but Ronnie was more determined than ever. He got in touch with the other members of the BoM and told them he wanted to form a group that would fight for the liberation of all animals. They called the new group the Animal Liberation Front, ALF and the animal rights movement was born.

Where animal welfarists were mostly drawn from the middle and upper classes and those who had animals in their daily lives, the new AR movement drew its followers mostly from the working class and from urbanites who had little if any contact with animals except in the form of domestic pets. Of course, there were exceptions on both sides.

ALF's objective, in its own terms, is to end animal abuse. They do this by 'liberating' animals from exploitative situations, such as in fur farms, and laboratories where they are used for experiments, and by causing financial damage to 'animal exploiters.'

According to the group's current website, ALF's mission is to "effectively allocate resources (time and money) to end the "property status of nonhuman animals." The objective behind the mission is to "abolish institutionalized animal exploitation because it assumes that animals are property."

According to the ALF, "Because ALF actions may be against the law, activitsts work anonymously, either in small groups or individually, and do not have any centralized organization or coordination." Individuals or small groups take the initiative to act in the name of the ALF then report their act to one of its national press offices. The organization has no leaders, nor can it truly be considered a network, since its various members / participants do not know each other, or even of each other. It calls itself a model of 'leaderless resistance.'

There is a certain amount of ambiguity about the role of violence for the group. ALF pledges its commitment to not harming either 'human or non-human animals,' but its members have taken actions which can justifiably be considered as threatening violence against people.

Concern for animal welfare has a history stretching back to the late 18th century. Historically, animal protectionists, as they were once known, focused on ensuring that animals were treated well, but from within a humanist framework that envisions humans as responsible for (or as biblical language would have it, with "dominion over") the earth's other creatures. Beginning in the 1980s, there was a noticeable shift in this philosophy, toward an understanding that animals have autonomous "rights." According to some, this movement was essentially an extension of the civil rights movement.

Indeed, one of the participants in a 1984 break-in at the University of Pennsylvania to retrieve animals used in scientific experiments, said at the time that, "We may seem like radicals to you. But we are like the abolitionists, who were regarded as radicals too. And we hope that 100 years from now people will look back on the way animals are treated now with the same horror as we do when we look back on the slave trade" (quoted in William Robbins' "Animal Rights: A Growing Movement in the U.S.," New York Times, June 15, 1984).

Animal rights activists have been becoming increasingly militant since the mid-1980s, and increasingly willing to threaten people, such s animal researchers and their families as well as corporate employees. The FBI named the ALF a domestic terrorist threat in 1991, and the Department of Homeland Security followed suit in January, 2005.

Peta and the future of animal rights coming in part 3

'Have you seen this monkey?' asks Vancouver zoo

2008-05-08T22:00:00.002-06:00

Last Updated: Wednesday, May 7, 2008 | 6:12 PM ET

CBC News

Mia, a female spider monkey, is still missing, and presumed stolen. (Courtesy of the Greater Vancouver Zoo)

Staff at the Greater Vancouver Zoo are devastated after someone killed one of the facility's spider monkeys and apparently stole the other one overnight Tuesday.

The culprit or culprits cut through the fence of the spider monkey exhibit Tuesday night, killing the male, Jocko, and apparently removing the female, zoo spokeswoman Jody Henderson told CBC News on Wednesday morning.

"We can't find our female anywhere, and so we are assuming at this stage that she is gone with them," said Henderson.

"We are absolutely devastated. They are our family. We are all extremely attached. It's shocking anyone would do this," said Henderson.

Jocko, a male spider monkey, was found dead by staff at the zoo Wednesday morning. (Courtesy of the Greater Vancouver Zoo)

The two monkeys were both 17, and had lived at the zoo for 15 years, said Henderson.

The zoo appealed to the public for help on Wednesday and said it would be difficult for anyone without specialized training to keep the monkey as a pet.

Henderson said it was possible the monkey could have been stolen for sale on the black market, or it could have escaped on its own through the hole in the fence.

The missing monkey is described as about 50 centimetres tall. It is dark brown in colour, with a golden stomach and chest. It has steel blue eyes.

Anyone spotting the monkey is warned not to approach it because it may be traumatized, and is asked to call the zoo immediately.

"We need to find our female and find out who are these cruel individuals who would do such an awful thing," said Henderson.

RCMP said they have no indication yet why the monkey might have been stolen.

Source:

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2008/05/07/bc-monkey-killed-vancouver-zoo.html?ref=rss

Pet hippo becomes a weighty problem

2008-05-04T20:27:00.003-06:00

By Nigel Blundell

Last Updated: 1:01pm BST 19/06/2007

In pictures Jessica the pet hippo

When a newborn baby hippo was washed up by a flood onto the lawn of his riverside home, the game ranger who found the dying animal lovingly nursed her back to health.


	Top: Jessica with Tonie Joubert, who raised her and Bottom: relaxing with one of the other pets

The weakened female survived, put on weight, and grew . . . and g-r-e-w . . . and GREW!

Now the hippo that thinks it's a family pet has become a giant-sized problem.

For what started out as a cute, tubby 35lbs baby is now a boisterous seven-year-old - equivalent to a human 'teenager' -.weighing nearly three-quarters of a ton.

And like many modern teenagers, Jessica, as she has been named, finds family life too comfortable and just won't leave home.

Attempts to reintroduce her to the wild have all failed. And, being free to roam, the danger now is that she will be attacked and killed by other hippos - or shot by local farmers protecting their animals and crops.

As our pictures show, the reason Jessica prefers family life to that of a wallowing big hippopotamus are clear...

She eats, sleeps, swims and plays with retired game warden Tonie Joubert and wife Shirley at their home in South Africa.

She wanders round the house, drinks coffee on the verandah, hangs out with the pet dogs and enjoys Shirley's soothing massages that help her relax at the end of a happy hippo day.

The hippo greets Tonie, in particular, with special grunts and flicking ears whenever she sees him and follows him like a dog wherever he goes.

There is no strict daily routine, but certain crucial things must not be missed - such as the 10 litres of sweet warm coffee, which Tonie bottle-feeds her with every day, or the dog pellets which she expects as treats.

Most nights, Jessica totters off back to the river for a mudbath. But on other occasions she'll wander into the house, wet and dripping slime and plonk herself on the couple's bed.

It is becoming a problem because - unlike the famous hippo in the Silentnight bed adverts - she has broken the Jouberts' bed three times.

Even larger trouble looms because, being a big girl now, giant male hippos are beginning to turn up on the river's edge fronting Jessica's human home.

She became friendly with one of them, a 10-year-old bull nicknamed Charlie. But when he was shot by a neighbouring farmer, it also killed off hopes of finding Jessica a mate and sending her back into the wild.

"Jessica is so trusting," says Shirley. "Our constant fear now is that the same fate as Charlie's may befall our precious Jess, the gentlest creature on Earth."

Says Tonie: "Some people have told me I was wrong to save Jessica. They say you have to be cruel to be kind and that I should have left nature to go its own way.

"But that would have guaranteed she ended up in a crocodile's stomach.

"And look at the joy and companionship we would have missed out on."

The story of the extraordinary friendship between human and hippo is told in 'Jessica the Hippo', to be shown on the Animal Planet channel on Thursday, June 28 at 9pm.

Two common misconceptions about AR groups

2008-05-03T10:51:00.004-06:00

Zoocheck will do it for you.

The people at WSPA, Zoocheck, V4A. Peta and other animal rights groups are all trained professionals. So they must know what they're talking about.

If only!!!!

Few, if any, of these people are trained in zoology, or have lived and worked with animals for extended periods. They are mostly urbanites with too much money and even more free time who have nothing better to do than harass law abiding animal owners.

Far from caring for animals they spend their time lobbying politicians, demonstrating against animal "cruelty" and generally trying to persuade the public that they are important knowledgeable people who should be listened to. Even if these people own a pet of their own, I doubt they get to spend much time with it.

Although large organisations like peta do employ some qualified staff, these people are motivated more by money and drive for power than by the ethics of their profession.
For more information on this subject read http://www.marnieko.com/animalantics.htm

Even if they're not professionals, the people at Zoocheck, WSPA, V4A and peta care about animals and have the their best interests at heart.

These people don't give two hoots about animals.

They care about money (mostly getting other people's into their pockets as quickly as possible), self promotion, power, control, and intimidating others into compliance with their bizzare ideology.
They mostly attach themselves to one idea, (zoos are cruel, for example), from which they cannot be shaken in spite of mountains of opposing evidence.

These organisations have no desire to help zoos improve their facilities or help individual animals. It is not in their mandate to give financial donations or to volunteer their time. They do not even give helpful advice or encouragement. It's difficult to advise when you don't know anything. All these people know how to do is criticise. Their sole aim is to harass zoo owners to the point where they give up and go out of business. No matter how much zoos strive to meet their demands they will never succeed because these self proclaimed experts will continue to set the bar higher and higher. Not until every zoo in the world is closed will they be happy. Then when all the zoos are gone (heaven forbid that it will ever happen) they'll start on the animal sanctuaries.

I wouldn't trust these people to walk my dog, let alone run a zoo.

The baby monkey that thinks its mum's a teddy bear

2008-05-01T23:16:00.002-06:00

Last updated at 12:11pm on 1st May 2008

This little monkey is missing her mummy so to make sure she's not losing out zoo keepers have given her a teddy bear to cuddle.

Conchita is a three-week-old white-naped mangabey monkey who is being hand-reared at London Zoo.

The tiny primate keeps hold of her teddy bear companion while her mother recovers from a caesarean.

Conchita is being looked after at London Zoo with the help of a teddy bear

The playful mangabey monkey is being had-reared while her mother revcovers from a caesarean

But it's not all down to the teddy, as this mini-monkey is also being looked after by keeper, Andrea Payne.

The species, which are native to West Africa, are on the critically endangered list following loss of habitat.

Conchita is being looked after at London Zoo with the help of a teddy bear

The white-naped mangabey is restricted to a small region between the Nzo-Sassandra river system in Côte d'Ivoire and the Volta River in Ghana.

The species are typically slender with long limbs monkeys found in African tropical forests.

They can grow up to 90 cm long and females can weigh up to about 6kg.

Cheeky Conchita the monkey nibbles on keeper Andrea Payne's nose

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=563068&in_page_id=1766&ito=1490

Food for thought

2008-04-30T07:09:00.002-06:00

This is something we all need to think about!!

The Two Wolves

One evening an old Sioux told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.
He said, 'My son, the battle is between two 'wolves' inside us all..

One is Evil.
It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is Good.
It is joy, peace , love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather:
'Which wolf wins?'

The old Sioux simply replied, 'The one you feed.'

Which one are you feeding?

Habitat loss and climate change hit dragonflies

2008-04-27T21:11:00.004-06:00

By Paul Eccleston

Last Updated: 12:01am BST 21/04/2008

Britain's dragonflies are on the move from a twin threat posed by habitat loss and climate change.

The survival of some species is in doubt mainly because they have been ousted from their traditional haunts by human activity.

Southern hawker (left) and Common darter (right)

The British Dragonfly Society (BDS) says 36 per cent of the 39 dragonfly species are in decline.

And three species - Dainty damselfly, Norfolk damselfly and Orange spotted emerald - have disappeared altogether in the past 50 years.

Increasing loss of their wetlands home and the arrival of competing species from Europe and even north America is leading dragonflies to move further northwards to find new breeding grounds.

Dragonflies are sun-lovers and normally the more southerly species, which are not equipped to deal with lower temperatures further north, would stay put. But warmer temperatures are encouraging them to chance their luck further afield.

But this is in turn is putting pressure on resident and mainly endangered species found in Scotland who are being squeezed and left with nowhere else to go.

BDS Conservation Officer Katharine Parkes said: "Dragonflies have been around for 300m years and have survived the extinction of the dinosaurs and several ice ages...but can they survive the increasing pressures imposed by mankind?

"Understanding where and how quickly our dragonflies are moving will help us to plan for the future, with particular regard to the way in which conservation is carried out - it will be very important to make sure we are providing our wildlife with the best opportunities to react to changes. They are temperature-sensitive, making them useful for climate change impact studies."

The BDS is looking for volunteers to help record dragonfly activity in their own area and says it will provide full training and instruction.

The data collected will be used to make conservation decisions and to monitor endangered species and to help them recover. Records of breeding activity are of particular importance for identifying key sites.

Migrant hawker (left) and Common blue damselfly (right)

The BDS says a new national atlas is urgently required because the range and number of species is changing rapidly. When the last dragonfly atlas was published in 1996, the Small red-eyed damselfly had never been seen in the UK but now has breeding colonies from Devon to Norfolk and is continuing to spread.

As well as the threat posed by alien invaders new fish species introduced into ponds and lakes are also taking their toll either by eating the dragonfly larvae or by muddying waters as they forage for food which disrupts larvae development.

Dragonfly facts

Dragonflies do not sting or bite humans!

They eat vast quantities of mosquitoes and midges.

They are useful indicators of both aquatic and terrestrial habitats due to their life cycle.

They are visual hunters and can see in colour as well as ultraviolet light and polarised light, which enables them to see reflections of light on water. They spend at least a year as a larva under water, then feeding/roosting/mating above ground as adults for up to two months.

They are voracious predators. Adults feed on flying insects, especially small flies, midges and mosquitoes. Some of the larger species, such as the Emperor, will take butterflies and damselflies.

They can fly at over 25 mph.

They have been around for over 300 million years.

London Zoo celebrates its 180th birthday

2008-04-26T23:32:00.001-06:00

London Zoo celebrates its 180th birthday

By Richard Gray, Science Correspondent

Last Updated: 1:01pm BST 26/04/2008

It is now one of the world's leading conservation organisations, helping to protect endangered wildlife with breeding programmes, carrying out vital research and educating the public. But when London Zoo opened its doors 180 years ago, experts were more interested in turning its exotic creatures into beasts of burden and farmyard animals.


	In pictures: 180 years of London Zoo

Photographs, reports and keepers logs, which have been buried in the Zoological Society of London's archive, provide a glimpse of daily life at the world's first scientific zoo when it opened on 27 April 1828. In one report, experts revealed their plans to domesticate some of the animal species at the zoo, including using zebras to pull carts, exploiting reptiles for medicine and turning antelope and exotic birds into farm animals for food.

The zoo even began running trials in 1831 with zebra-drawn passenger carts to give rides to members of the public around the grounds.

"At that time they wanted to make animals less wild and domesticate them," said John Edwards, vice president of the Zoological Society of London and an expert on the history of London Zoo.

"In the early 19th century they would dress up the chimpanzees in human clothes and the public could ride on the animals and play with even the more dangerous animals like bears. That would never happen today.

"The focus now has shifted to such a degree that we are now trying to make sure animals remain wild. They are being bred for reintroduction into the wild rather than being taken out of the wild."

The documents from the zoo's early days have been revealed as part of celebrations marking the 180th anniversary since it opened. Compared to the modern veterinary care and facilities now available, the documents show the challenges that the keepers faced.

Sick animals were regularly treated with a dose of cod liver oil in the absence of any real medicines and they were cared for by the same doctor who also treated the staff rather than a trained vet. Daily logs filled in by the zoo's first superintendent, Edward Johnson, reveal the day to day trials and tribulations that faced the staff as they prepared to open the zoo for the first time.

On Monday 25 February 1828, he notes that an otter died as a result of a "diseased tail". Two weeks later, a lynx suffered a convulsive fit and also died.

Despite the deaths, the records also reveal great excitement about an emu at the zoo, which was a prolific egg layer. But this excitement was tempered when a female seal disappeared two weeks before the zoo opened. It was only recaptured two days before the public arrived.

In 1905 two polar bears Sam and Barbara escaped from their enclosure after biting the padlock off a gate but were frightened back inside after a startled keeper dropped a plank of wood when he found them wandering the park. The daily logbook also reveal that one of the few accidents involving humans at the zoo saw an inebriated keeper Edward Girling die after being bitten by a cobra in 1852.

A Marabou stork was also found at one point to have swallowed a domestic cat used in the zoo to control vermin, but it was "induced to disgorge it".

Mr Edwards said: "In those days there were no tranquillizer darts, so they faced some real difficulties in controlling the animals. It must have been quite terrifying as there were no methods of subduing the animals except by guile or brute force.

"The zoo's first hippopotamus escaped in 1860 and it had quite a savage temper. The superintendent sent out one of the keepers to get it to chase him and the keeper ran back into the enclosure so the hippo followed him."

The zoo's first animal was a Griffin vulture called Dr Brooks, named after the anatomy school teacher who donated him. He had used the bird to devour the cadavers at the school, but when he retired he could no longer feed it.

After the first year the zoo had 627 animals from 194 different species, with many donated by famous patrons including King William IV.

In the first three years after the zoo opened, visitors were only allowed inside if they were personally invited by one of the fellows of the Zoological Society and paid a shilling entrance. Visits on Sundays were strictly banned, but despite the restrictive rules, which were relaxed in 1831, the zoo saw more than 112,226 visitors in its first year.

It now boasts more than 1.1 million visitors a year and 16,800 animals, made up of 711 species.

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/04/26/eazoo126.xml

2008-04-26T10:41:00.003-06:00

An Open Letter to Oprah Winfrey

April 15, 2008
Ms. Oprah Winfrey
The Oprah Winfrey Show
110 N. Carpenter Street
Chicago, IL 60607

Dear Ms. Winfrey:

Would I be correct in assuming that you're planning a special report on the status of blacks in America, basing your show on information provided by the KKK and inviting the Imperial Wizard to appear with you?

No? Gee, I'm surprised, because such a show would be just like the one on April 4th about 'puppy mills,' based on information from HSUS, with CEO Wayne Pacelle as your main guest.

The problem with both of these show ideas is that the information is so deeply wrong and so fundamentally biased as to be basically hate speech. Having ignorant hate speech about breeders of dogs distributed by one of America's genuine icons to millions of people who trust her implicitly is ... well, 'sickening' isn't too strong a word.

Most importantly this sort of thing is bad for the dogs.

I am sorry this is so long. But even a summary of the incorrect information in a one hour show that was almost entirely off base, has to be long.

First, 'overpopulation' of dogs (too many whelped for the number of available homes, causing healthy puppies to be euthanized) is now a strictly local problem, chiefly in rural areas and almost entirely in the south. For every ten dogs put down in animal shelters in the 1970's only about one is so today, and the total is continuing to fall as a result of more pet dogs being spayed or neutered and increasing efforts to get good dogs adopted.

The U.S. now imports around 300,000 dogs per year from other countries (U.S. Centers for Disease Control estimate) and the number grows annually. Some animal shelters are importing from the streets of other nations in order to have adoptable animals available. If we truly have 'pet overpopulation,' why would this be?

While we all celebrate the steadily falling number of unwanted litters, there's also a decline in planned breeding. Small-scale home breeding is being steadily reduced due to increasing costs, unfavorable zoning, pet limits, expensive and punitive licensing of home breeders, and (in some areas) harassment of breeders by activists.

Since there are fewer accidental and homebred litters, demand is increasing for commercially bred dogs. Describing all for-profit breeding as 'puppy mills' adds fuel to efforts to ban commercial breeding as a full-time business. Such a law has just been passed in Virginia, is being considered in Vermont, and is likely to be proposed in several other states soon. Banning commercial breeding because of violations by a few makes exactly as much sense as banning automobiles to stop drunk driving or outlawing marriage because of spousal abuse.

Commercial breeders who sell to pet shops are federally regulated and inspected. The AKC inspects breeders who use its registry. All breeders, like all other dog owners, are required by law to provide good care. Anyone who sees mistreatment should report it to animal control.

If 'oops' litters and home breeding continue to decline, and legal commercial breeding of dogs is ended, where will they come from? The answer is illegal commercial breeding and even greater numbers of imports. Should that happen, animal mistreatment and 'puppy lemon' issues will be far worse than what we see today.

The pressure on all forms of pet dog breeding is far and away the most important problem of pets. It reduces quality, increases prices, makes more difficult the proper matching of puppy to family, and interferes with the post-purchase support of the puppy's new owners that is normal for good breeders. All of these mean more dogs winding up in shelters.

These issues were not even mentioned on your show, indeed, I'd be surprised if any of your guests would acknowledge them. They were committed and articulate, but they gave a seriously misleading picture of the status and future of our country's dogs.

Turning to the advice given to your viewers, shelter adoptions are commendable and often do work out well. However by far the most important way to help shelter animals is to see that they aren't given up in the first place, by helping families that want to get a dog make good decisions. Although many reasons are given for turning in a dog at the shelter, the translation is often "We shouldn't have gotten this dog." There is no appropriate 'one size fits all' advice on where to get a dog, let alone which dog to get.

The various breeds and mixes are not generic dogs in various kinds of fur suits; they have very different characteristics. Families who want a dog must think about size, activity level, how it will be confined, temperament, amount of mess, ease of training, need for discipline, age that would work best, and grooming requirements, as these often spell the difference between success and failure. No new dog requires less than an hour per day for care and attention; puppies and problem dogs may need several times as much. Does the family have enough time?

Mixed breeds can be wonderful, but an important reason for getting a purebred dog is predictability in physical attributes and temperament. Contrary to what was stated on the program, shelter dogs are rarely purebreds in a meaningful sense. The 1/3 fraction stated reflects appearance-based guesses by (often, hopes of) shelter workers who are seldom experienced with purebred dogs. At most shelters offering purebreds, only a handful of breeds are common and these are rarely the ones most suitable as family pets. The popular small breeds and mixes are uncommon to rare.

In addition, shelter dogs are the most likely to have behavioral and/or health issues. While most problems can be solved, the average shelter dog will need more skill and time than the average dog of the same age from a quality breeder. Shelter dogs are thus best suited to the family with more than average flexibility and some prior dog experience. Encouraging all families to adopt from shelters is setting many dogs and owners up for failure.

Rescue organizations that take dogs from shelters and other sources, foster them for a month or more with someone experienced with the breed, evaluate health and behavioral issues and begin any needed corrective action, are often excellent sources. They offer the best of all worlds, both helping a dog in need and minimizing risks. Reliable rescue groups can often be located via the AKC parent club for the breed.

Hobby and other home breeders generally supply puppies with the least chance of unpleasant surprises. Hobbyists give varying amounts of support, ranging from about the same as a pet shop, to "You'll be a member of our extended family, we have e-mail lists for our owners, and there's an annual reunion." However, since most have only an occasional litter, they're often very choosy about buyers. Not all breeds are available in a convenient time period, and again, the popular toy and small breeds are often in shortage.

Commercial breeders and pet shops try to keep popular breeds in stock; many can order almost any desired breed within a few days. Buyers should pay close attention to the registry used. AKC registration generally is the most reliable indicator of true purebred status but there are other sound registries, particularly among the rare breeds. When buying from a pet shop, post-sale help is generally quite limited.

Many excellent breeders advertise on the Internet and their web sites are a good place to begin research. But it is important for anyone unfamiliar with a breed to meet owners and spend time with the dogs. Committing to buy a dog sight unseen is risky at best.

Puppy buyers should carefully read the guarantee offered. Many states have 'puppy lemon' laws requiring sellers to make specific guarantees. All new puppies and dogs should be taken to a veterinarian for a 'new pet' exam and consultation after the family has had a couple of days to begin getting acquainted.

I believe the Oprah Winfrey show can play a valuable role in reaching the public with information that will help dogs and their families be happier together while further reducing euthanasia of shelter dogs. The show of April 4th presented the views of well-known activist organizations; I hope that in the future you'll revisit these subjects with qualified experts as guests.

Some possible guests would be: Patti Stand of the National Animal Interest Alliance, Nathan Winograd of the 'No Kill Solutions'
organization, David Frei the lead announcer for the Westminster Dog Show and spokesman for the Westminster Kennel Club, Karen Strange of the Missouri Federation of Dog Breeders, and Gary Patronek DVM, probably the leading U.S. expert on dog and cat population matters.

Sincerely,

Walt Hutchens

(Address, etc.)

Source: http://www.pet-law.com/

2008-04-21T08:19:00.003-06:00

The AR movement

Where did it come from? Where is it now and where is it going?

Part 1: AR Timeline

4000BC Noah selects two of each species and saves them from the flood by building an Ark

1800 First anti-cruelty bill introduced in Britain to stop bullbaiting.

1822 Second anti-cruelty bill passed to prevent cruelty to large domestic animals introduced by Colonel Richard Martin.

1824 Colonel Richard Martin organised the SPCA, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to help enforce the law.

1840 Queen Victoria commanded the addition of the prefix "Royal" to the Society.

1860 First Animal Welfare Act passed in the USA

1866 Henry Bergh organised an SPCA in New York.

1871 a Parisian, Louis Bonard, died and left $150,000 to the New York SPCA.

1873 SPCAs and Humane Societies spring up across the states following a lecture tour by Henry Bergh.

1877 The AHA, American Humane Association, founded with divisions for both animals and children.

1883 First anti-vivisection Society formed.

1890s Anti vivisection movement grows in strength on both sides of the Atlantic

1890s Audobon Society founded to focus on the protection of wildlife.

1920s Use of draft animals declines as Ford floods the market with cheap cars.

1940s and 50s Use of animals in agriculture declines with the widespread use of the tractor. Keeping of domestic pets increases considerably.

1954 AHA splits and the HSUS, Humane Society of the United States is formed.

1955 SAPL, Society for Animal Protective Legislation formed.

1958 First federal Humane Slaughter Act passed.

1959 Precurser to the International Society for Animal Rights formed

1960s Humane societies flourish with the ever expanding base of pet lovers.. Many run shelters and some offer access to animal healthcare.

1966 Laboratory Animal Welfare Act passed.

1967 Fund for Animals set up by Clevland Amory

1968 Animal Protection Institute formed by Belton Muras, a former member of HSUS.

1969 Endangered Species Act passed.

1970 the Horse Protection Act passed.

1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act passed.

1972 Band of Mercy formed in Britain, later to morph into the ALF, Animal Liberation Front.

1973 International Primate Protection League formed by Shirley McGreal.

1975 Peter Singer writes Animal Liberation and coins the term "speciesism"

1976 Led by Henry Spira, 400 groups join together and demonstrate against animal experimentation at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

1977 The tests stop and the laboratories are dismantled.

1980 Peter Singer and Jim Mason publish Animal Factories.

1980 Ingrid Newkirk and Alexs Pachero found Peta

1981 Animal Legal Defense Fund organized by Joyce Tischler

1983 Tom Regan writes The Case for Animal Rights

1987 Tom Regan writesThe Struggle for Animal Rights

1987 Revlon agreed to stop animal testing and contributed millions of dollars to alternate research.

1995 New fur law was passed. Any country who exports fur to Europe must either ban leg hold traps or adopt international humane trapping standards.

1999 SHAC, Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty started in the UK.

2003 Ban on animal testing in the EU cosmetic industry after a 13-year campaign led by the European Coalition to End Animal Experiments.

2005 British guinea pig breeding facility closes down after 6 year campaign by AR culminating in the exhumation of Gladys Hammond, Christopher Hall's mother-in-law, from a nearby churchyard. The body has never been found

2007 Ban on horse slaughter for human consumption in the USA

To be continued.....

Winter Returns

2008-04-20T10:57:00.003-06:00

Once again winter has returned to the Canadian prairies. It's cold and windy, the snow is nearly knee deep and it's not very conducive to leaving ones armchair.

I would like to bet that every livestock farmer and zookeeper in the province of Alberta has braved the weather to check on their stock, feed and water them and take expectant mothers into the calving shed for a warm place to have their babies.

I'd also like to bet that not a single ARA has ventured away from computer or TV. No protests this weekend. Poor Devon and Tove will be deprived of their protesting. Oh dear what a shame. Maybe they'll be down to Guzoo next week before the place gets a chance to dry out so that they can complain about how the animals are walking around in mud.

Peter Singer's dumb quote

2008-04-19T13:58:00.003-06:00

Veganism: Veganism is the best lifestyle to follow if you are concerned with your health, animal rights, environmentalism, and third world countries.

“Those who claim to care about the well-being of human beings and the preservation of our environment should become vegetarians for that reason alone. They would thereby increase the amount of grain available to feed people elsewhere, reduce pollution, save water and energy, and cease contributing to the clearing of forests.”

“When non-vegetarians say that ‘human problems come first’ I cannot help wondering what exactly it is that they are doing for human beings that compels them to continue to support the wasteful, ruthless exploitation of farm animals.”
- Peter Singer, Animal Liberation, 1990.

Why is it that because someone is a philosopher, who sits around and thinks, it is assumed that what he thinks is logical and moral? Just because that same philosopher writes a book and a few crazy jackasses read it and decide it is the truth the world has been waiting for, and they make the philosopher their God and follow his every word, does it make that philosopher any more credible?

A philosopher isn't a geographer, an anthropologist, a scientist or an agriculturalist, he's just a person who follows a certain set of beliefs rationally and calmly regardless of their truth.

How can anyone so well educated (the guy has 3 degrees, BA, MA and B. Phil) be so lacking in knowledge?

I don't have a degree in anything but here, now, for your entertainment and amusement I shall dissect his crazy logic.

Here we go:

First of all "veganism" is a totally flawed concept that exists only in the minds of those who adhere to it. Consequently the word "veganism" will appear in quotes.

Veganism is the best lifestyle to follow if you are concerned with your health, animal rights, environmentalism, and third world countries.

"Veganism" is not a good diet for your health. Only a diet containing meat can provide sufficient complete proteins and most importantly vitamin B12 which cannot be obtained from non animal sources.

Most "vegans" will admit that they take vitamin and mineral supplements - what they won't admit is that many of those, come from animal sources.

While I would be the first to agree that we would be healthier if we were to cut down our meat consumption, no way would I advocate cutting it out completely.

The healthiest diet to follow is one that contains a wide variety of foods, red and white meats, dairy products, fish, fresh and dried fruit and vegetables, nuts, grains, legumes and lots of water to wash it all down.

In no way does "veganism" help animals.

Without a need for animals to eat, there would be no animals (at least not land animals). No cows, sheep, pigs or chickens, no wildlife no birds, no cats or dogs. Food would be such a precious resource that all animals would have to be killed to prevent them damaging crops and stealing human food.

Meanwhile, crop production is responsible for the deaths of thousands of animals yearly. Animals that have the potential to damage crops are trapped and poisoned, birds and insects are killed by pesticide use and small (and sometimes large) creatures are killed during the harvesting process.

"Veganism" is not environmentally friendly.

Animals provide nutrients to the earth through both their dung and their decomposing bodies.

Insects and some animals provide the vital service of fertilization for plants.

Animals eat much of the plant by-products that humans cannot digest and turn it into valuable protein that they can.

Animals keep "wild"vegetation under control.

Animals can be raised in areas where human edible crops will not grow, therefore allowing a local food source, without which many people would starve because they cannot afford to import non animal foods.

Animals provide not only nourishment but also clothing, lubricants and glues amongst other things, which would otherwise have to be made from petro-chemical products that are bad for the environment, expensive and available only in finite quantities.

Animals are esthetically pleasing and enhance the landscape.

Veganism does not help third world countries.

There is already more than enough food to feed everybody in the world right now; in the year 2050 there will still be enough food for everyone. And yet more than 700million people are malnourished (I'm sorry but it was taking too long to try and find an accurate number, if I find one I'll correct it). It is primarily in the third World that malnutrition kills 10 million people (mostly children) every year.

The problem is not a world shortage of food. The problem of malnutrition in the Third World is a complex one that most Americans have no experience with and thus do not understand well. Yes, weather extremes and pests can contribute to poor harvests, but it is a result of wars, corrupt governments, export policies, debt, poverty, lack of education, interference by NGO's, and AIDS.

The root cause of malnutrition is inadequate distribution of the available food, for the world produces enough grain to provide 3,000 calories per person per day. Such an excess amount in fact, that large quantities are now being diverted to produce bio-fuel. However, we are not able to get the food to the people who need it most. I'm not referring to food handouts, but to policies that influence purchasing power, food prices and distribution practices.

The lack of food is due not to acts of nature but to acts of people.

“Those who claim to care about the well-being of human beings and the preservation of our environment should become vegetarians for that reason alone. They would thereby increase the amount of grain available to feed people elsewhere, reduce pollution, save water and energy, and cease contributing to the clearing of forests.”

Our philosopher obviously doesn't know that south american rain forests are being clearcut to make way for the soyfields to feed his "vegan" friends.

Soybean fields are not only replacing jungle and savanna land along the Eastern and Southern borders of the Amazon rainforest but also around cities that have sprung up deep within the rainforest such as Santerem and Boa Vista. Once towns and roads are built, an inevitable migration of homesteaders and other opportunists will occur. More jungle will be cleared for new towns and cities. Suburban sprawl, ranches and farms will cover the area where Brazil nut, mahogany, samauma and capirona trees once stood. Jaguars and spider monkeys will live in zoos, not jungles. (direct quote from http://www.mariri.net/content/view/28/1/).

Although the huge amount of vegetative waste can be turned into compost for soil amendment this is not nearly as efficient as using natural manure from animals, resulting in an increased dependence on environmentally unfriendly artificial fertilizers.

Save water and energy? Don't crops need to be watered? They certainly need considerable processing to make them fit for human consumption, and lengthy transport to get them to the consumers, both huge users of energy.

Pestecides applied to crops, especially in south and central America where non native crops are being grown are some of the biggest polluters on the planet.

“When non-vegetarians say that ‘human problems come first’ I cannot help wondering what exactly it is that they are doing for human beings that compels them to continue to support the wasteful, ruthless exploitation of farm animals.”

Slaughter plants throughout the world are some of the most efficient and astute businesses there are. No part of an animal is ever wasted. Everything is utalised and what's more animal muscle is ready for immediate consumption further processing is required to make it edible which is more than can be said for soy.

So there you have it. "Veganism" is the biggest blight on the face of the planet right now.

Save animals and the planet - Eat Meat.

Farley Mowat seized

2008-04-12T20:02:00.001-06:00

Canadian coast guard seizes anti-seal hunt boat

12 April 2008

MONTREAL (AFP) — The Canadian coast guard seized a boat belonging to opponents of seal hunting Saturday, the fisheries minister said, in a move described by the organization as an "act of war."

"The government of Canada has taken action to protect the safety and livelihoods of Canadian sealers by boarding and seizing the Farley Mowat to arrest its captain and chief officer for alleged violations of Canada's Marine Mammal Regulations," said fishing minister Loyola Hearn.

The owner of the Farley Mowat, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, countered that the boat had been "attacked" by two coast guard ice-breakers while in international waters in the Saint Lawrence gulf.

"This is an act of war," said the society's founder, Paul Watson.

"The Canadian government has just sent an armed boarding party onto a Dutch-registered yacht in international waters and has seized the ship."

But Hearn said in a press conference that the boat was captured in "Canadian internal waters," and he accused Watson's organization of being "a bunch of money-sucking manipulators" intent on taking money from donors.

Watson said the vessel's mission was to document evidence of cruelty by seal hunters to support a European motion to ban seal products.

"The Minister of Fisheries and Oceans has just handed us the victory that we were looking for," he said.

"The Europeans will not be very pleased with this move."

The seizure of the Farley Mowat came after a series of close encounters between seal hunters, the coast guard and the anti-hunt protesters.

On March 30 the Sea Shepherd vessel collided with a coast guard icebreaker in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and while there was no reported damage, Alex Cornelissen, captain of the Farley Mowat, said in a statement his vessel was "twice rammed" after he ignored warnings not to approach sealers.

And later fishermen sympathetic to the seal hunters cut the vessel's mooring lines while it was docked in the French isles of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon off Canada's east coast.

The annual commercial seal hunt, which opened March 28 in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, is often marked by confrontations between animal rights protesters and the hunters and Canadian authorities.

The Canadian authorities last week launched legal action against Cornelissen, accusing him of getting too close to seal hunters and obstructing the coast guard's work.

His assistant, Peter Hammarstedt, also faces charges and Hearn said both men risked fines of 100,000 dollars and six months in jail.

Watson angered many early this month when he said that the death of four Canadian hunters at sea in an accident on the second day of the hunt was lass a tragedy that the killing of the baby seals.

The fisheries ministry meanwhile said the number of boats taking part in the first fortnight of the hunt is markedly down on previous years, despite an increase of the fixed quota for the hunt to 275,000 seals from last year's 270,000.

Local media attribute the change to rising oil costs and lower prices for seal fur.

But the opponents of the hunt said it was a result of their protests.

"Our efforts to close (seal product) markets around the world are clearly having an impact," said Rebecca Aldworth of the Humane Society.

Source: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iMxfTBv-pgwBs0IespMtGqFZjheg

Paul Watson' big booboo

2008-04-11T07:49:00.001-06:00

Kerry Diotte

Thu, April 10, 2008

Animal activists often hurt their own causes

By KERRY DIOTTE

I love critters as much as most people.

I've grown up with cats and dogs and hamsters - and treasured them all.

Having been raised in northern Ontario where we owned a cabin (or camp, as it was called there), I also hunted grouse at an early age.

I've since lost my love of that and now prefer to photograph wildlife rather than see it dead on my plate.

Stories of animal abuse make me feel sick to my stomach. I truly admire people in the field of animal welfare who try to improve the lot of our feathered and furry friends.

What I don't understand, though, is why some animal advocates become so strident in their cause that there's a backlash and they wind up crippling their case.

Most people were rightly saddened to read news about the recent drowning deaths of four Quebec sealers from Iles-de-la Madeleine. They drowned when their disabled boat was being towed and it capsized.

But hard-core animal rights activists were actually rejoicing, not unlike religious extremists who cheer terrorist attacks that kill innocent people.

Sun Media received a few letters from animal rights types expressing their outright joy that seal hunters died.

I'm not a big fan of seeing seals killed, but it's been a way of life for people on the East Coast and in the North for generations.

Anti-sealing protesters have, over the years, forced slightly more humane hunting practices, at the least.

Certainly there's more need for improvement, since seals are still clubbed to death on the ice. New regulations require hunters to also slit their arteries in the process.

People can't help but view the clubbing to death of any animal as brutal. Can you imagine the uproar if cows, pigs and sheep were killed that way? It's not the most humane way of harvesting animals.

But radical animal rights people tend to sabotage their own causes by expressing outrageous beliefs and using questionable tactics to try to win their cause.

Witness the recent comments of Paul Watson, head of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

As friends and family mourned the deaths of the Quebec sealers, Watson told the media he considered the killing of young seals "a greater tragedy."

Watson made those comments after hearing quotes from a sealer who said he felt helpless watching the trawler capsize that led to the death of the four hunters.

Watson, who obviously has little tact, heart or common sense, chose this particular time to send out his abrasive and cruel comments via a news release.

"I can't think of anything that defines helplessness and fear more than a seal pup on the ice that can't swim or escape as it is approached by some cigarette-smoking ape with a club," Watson said.

"These men are sadistic baby killers and that might offend some people but it is the unvarnished truth - they are vicious killers who are now pleading for sympathy because some of their own died while engaged in a viciously brutal activity."

Those comments even made the head of Canada's Green party resign from the advisory board of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

It all goes to show that if you want a better world for animals, you shouldn't act like an untamed one yourself. People listen to reasonable arguments and campaigns. But most tune out wild-eyed radicals.

Source: http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Columnists/Diotte_Kerry/2008/04/10/5242246-sun.html

My kind of lawnmower

2008-04-08T22:37:00.001-06:00

Sheep Replace Lawnmowers In Italy

by Justin Thomas, Virginia on 04. 8.08

Police are having to double up as shepherds in Italy after local councilors decided to scrap the city lawnmowers -- and use sheep instead. About 700 sheep have now been employed by Turin officials to keep the grass verges and lawns in city parks neatly trimmed. Environment officials in Turin said they were paying 30,000 euros in gardeners’ fees to cut the grass in just one of the bigger parks.

Manager of the project, Federico Tombolato, said: "Using sheep is not only cheaper and more environmentally friendly, but we also get to sell them at the end of the process to raise more money."

But drivers faced blocked roads across the city as the sheep were moved around Turin and locals who liked to sit on the grass complained that it was now covered in sheep mess.

Via: Ecoscraps

Puppy Mills

2008-04-07T21:49:00.000-06:00

Puppy mills make me sick. Why don't those AR whackos do something about this?

166 dogs seized from a suspected puppy mill

Neco Cockburn, The Ottawa Citizen

Published: Monday, April 07, 2008

OTTAWA - Provincial offence charges are pending after 166 dogs were seized from a suspected puppy mill in the Bancroft area last week.

Dogs of various mixed small breeds, including poodles, pekinese, terriers and beagles, were seized when the Ontario SPCA, along with a veterinarian and the OPP, executed a search warrant on April 2.

The animals were wading in liquid feces and were found to be in "very poor condition, some suffering from dehydration, anemia, lethargy and parasites," the SPCA said, adding that some animals required immediate medical treatment.

The SPCA said the facility lacked proper ventilation and had "extremely poor" sanitation. The SPCA said it is likely that the Animal Care Review Board, a voluntary committee set up by the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, will determine the fate of the animals, which have been placed in shelters in cities such as Napanee, Brockville, Belleville, Renfrew and Kingston.

If the seizure is determined to be justified, the resident could be forced to surrender the animals, which would then be available for adoption. If convicted, the resident could face up to two years in jail and a fine of $60,000. SPCA officials had received complaints about the resident for 12 years. During that time, many orders were issued and the resident complied, the SPCA said.

Although some animals have been seized over the years, they were returned as a result of compliance, according to the SPCA.

ncockburn@thecitizen.canwest.com

Source: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/features/blotter/story.html?id=cc835d7a-3973-4eed-8575-ccff7540eeeb&k=340

Weight restrictions on a great British tradition

2008-04-05T10:59:00.004-06:00

Skippy the donkey on the beach in front of Blackpool tower. Photograph: Don McPhee.

Ever since Victorian holidaymakers rushed to the seaside to don knotted hankies, the postcard image of children riding donkeys has been inextricably linked to British summer holidays.

But today, the tradition is facing restrictions as new animal cruelty guidelines are introduced, banning overweight youngsters from seaside donkey rides.

A donkey code of practice is being brought in to stop anyone over 50.8kg (8st) from riding the animals amid growing fears that Britain's 850 donkeys are buckling under the weight of heavier children and putting their health at risk.

As childhood obesity becomes an increasing problem, a whole generation could miss out on what has become something of a rite of passage at Britain's seaside resorts.

The latest rules, drawn up by the Donkey Sanctuary in Devon and endorsed by the British Equine Veterinary Association, are targeted at all local authorities with beach donkeys – including Great Yarmouth, Brighton and Torquay.

Blackpool beach, which is home to the largest number of beach donkeys in the UK, is likely to see the biggest impact on its 200 animals.

The resort was approached by the charity to accept the first copy of the new code to hand over to the town's mayor, Councillor Robert Wayne, and Joan Humble, the Labour MP for Blackpool North and Fleetwood, at the north pier today.

The Lancashire resort already has stringent employment rights for its animals, brought in three years ago. These include working no more than six days a week between 10am and 7pm, with one full day of rest, a minimum of an hour's lunch break and a donkey 'MoT' at the start of the summer season to ensure the animals are fit.

Council inspectors also carry out spot checks to make sure the animals' rights are respected. Donkeys are also fitted with a microchip so they can be easily identified. These rules are also being rolled out on a nationwide basis along with the rider weight limits.

Donkeys, which were first brought to Britain to toil down mines and can live to the age of 50, are a common sight in Blackpool, plodding along the beach through sun and rain. During a summer season they can take tens of thousands of children on rides at £2 a go.

Despite their indentured servitude, donkeys are actually very intelligent. They have an incredible memory, recognising places and other donkeys from 25 years ago. They were first domesticated around 4,500 years ago and were a status symbol. But unlike horses, they do not have natural waterproof coats so they must have access to shelter.

Martin Taggart, Donkey Sanctuary's head of welfare, said: "We already see an excellent standard of care for many beach donkeys in the UK, including Blackpool. The code of practice will help to support local authorities to ensure all beach donkeys receive the same levels of care.

"The other purpose of the code is to provide a resource of advice and support to those working with beach donkeys or setting up new businesses. We are here to help in any way we can."

Blackpool councillor Henry Mitchell said: "It is 66 years since we recognised that these animals needed protecting against some owners who would work them day and night if they could. The new code endorses what we do already and gives it the backing of two powerful organisations."

The Donkey Sanctuary is hosting a free workshop on how to look after donkeys in Drumnadrochit, near Loch Ness. Similar classes are also being planned throughout the UK and Ireland. Advice will be offered on dental care, warning signs for when to call for a vet and basic first aid.

This article was first published on guardian.co.uk on Friday April 04 2008. It was last updated at 12:19 on April 04 2008.

Pigs with jobs

2008-03-31T08:42:00.004-06:00

Boss hogs cleaning up country hazards

Last Updated: 12:01am BST 05/04/2008

Ridding woodland of brambles is a pig of a job but it's one these animals love, says Vicky Liddell

In a peaceful patch of Cambridgeshire woodland, a group of pigs is dozing contentedly in the spring sunshine. It's a lazy scene, but these Oxford Sandy & Black pigs are far from indolent.


	An Oxford Sandy & Black pig (top) and Dan Bull on the Croxton Park estate

They have just finished clearing a block of woodland of weeds and brambles and, in a few weeks' time, they will be moved on to start work on another overgrown area. The pigs are part of a woodland management scheme that is attracting increasing interest from farmers and gamekeepers.

On the Dunlossit Estate on the Isle of Islay, a gang of Tamworth pigs has made short work of an extensive area of bracken. In other parts of Britain, pigs have been successfully tackling ivy and rhododendrons.

Dan Bull is farm manager of the 700-acre Croxton Park estate near Cambridge and one of the pioneers of using pigs in woodland. "We started using them 15 years ago as a way of regenerating the woodland for shooting," he explains. "The woods had become neglected and the beaters were finding it difficult to battle through."

After trying out several different native breeds, they settled on the Oxford Sandy & Black, and the animals' impact on the estate was instant. Not only were the woods opened up, the rewards in conservation terms were amazing: new species of wild flowers and a marked increase in bluebells and breeding birds.

"It's a good balance now between the species," says Bull. "The woods are full of song. The pigs make tunnels in the earth that the birds can use and the half-digested wheat attracts a wide variety of wildlife."

Another unexpected advantage of keeping pigs in the woods is the decreasing numbers of muntjac deer.

The pigs are kept in family groups and moved around the estate on an eight-year rotation. The enclosures range from two acres to 11 and the areas are marked with an electric fence. Stocking rates vary according to the state of the woodland.

On an eight-acre block, there might be six sows plus their offspring; on a two-acre site, just 10 sows. In a few months, they can clear all the invasive ground cover and scrub while leaving the trees unharmed. According to Bull, it's all a question of timing.

"As long as the pigs are managed, they will do a wonderful job." It is only when they are allowed to get bored that they can become over-enthusiastic. One of the Croxton farm pigs once picked up a piece of wood with its teeth and hurled it at the electric fence. But they have never escaped.

Driving on the estate with Bull, I am surprised by how self-sufficient the pigs are. Apart from a basic shelter, a trough of water and a daily helping of home-grown organic wheat, they pretty much look after themselves.

The sows build their own nests out of sticks and straw in favourite spots that they return to again and again. They farrow once a year, producing up to 10 piglets each - which are not interfered with at all. "We only bring them into the shed for winter because of the heavy clay soil in the woods."

Dan Bull clearly loves his pigs and the feelings are mutual. The pigs follow him as though he is the Pied Piper, although this may have something to do with the large sack of wheat over his shoulder.

They also have more than a passing interest in the buckles of my boots. Clearly sociable and extremely friendly, Oxford Sandy & Black pigs are ideally suited to their woodland tasks.

Also known as the "Plum pudding" or "Oxford Forest" pig on account of its black blotches, the breed is one of Britain's oldest. Prolific, hardy and yet very docile, it is also usefully resistant to sunburn because of its rust-coloured coat. And despite reaching crisis point twice in the past 50 years, the breed is now finally gaining in popularity.

Managing woodlands with pigs is not new, as Bull is quick to point out. "It's what our ancestors were doing hundreds of years ago. We turned against it at the beginning of last century, and it's only now that we're going back to the future using the old traditional pig breeds."

It's a system that seems to serve everyone. The woods are manageable, the flora is regenerated and the pigs are in their element. And, at the end, there is delicious free-range organic pork that is sold direct from the farm to restaurants and butchers.

At Croxton Park, both pigs and farmer are lucky. This is the premium end of the trade - a world away from the unfortunate farmers who are losing £26 on every hog they sell as a result of rocketing feed prices.

The Waitrose "Save Our Bacon" campaign, launched in February, is collecting signatures to help raise awareness of the plight of the British pig farmer, who is now far more endangered than the breeds themselves.

"The Oxford Sandy & Black are great outdoor pigs," says Bull. "They have an easy temperament but they're also very clever. At the end of a stressful day, there's nothing better than coming down to the woods and spending time with them."

source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/04/05/eapig105.xml

Food for thought

2008-03-30T08:26:00.002-06:00

By BRIDGET STUTCHBURY

Published: March 30, 2008

Woodbridge, Ontario

Olaf Hajek

Did your shopping list kill a songbird?

THOUGH a consumer may not be able to tell the difference, a striking red and blue Thomas the Tank Engine made in Wisconsin is not the same as one manufactured in China — the paint on the Chinese twin may contain dangerous levels of lead. In the same way, a plump red tomato from Florida is often not the same as one grown in Mexico. The imported fruits and vegetables found in our shopping carts in winter and early spring are grown with types and amounts of pesticides that would often be illegal in the United States.

In this case, the victims are North American songbirds. Bobolinks, called skunk blackbirds in some places, were once a common sight in the Eastern United States. In mating season, the male in his handsome tuxedo-like suit sings deliriously as he whirrs madly over the hayfields. Bobolink numbers have plummeted almost 50 percent in the last four decades, according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey.

The birds are being poisoned on their wintering grounds by highly toxic pesticides. Rosalind Renfrew, a biologist at the Vermont Center for Ecostudies, captured bobolinks feeding in rice fields in Bolivia and took samples of their blood to test for pesticide exposure. She found that about half of the birds had drastically reduced levels of cholinesterase, an enzyme that affects brain and nerve cells — a sign of exposure to toxic chemicals.

Since the 1980s, pesticide use has increased fivefold in Latin America as countries have expanded their production of nontraditional crops to fuel the demand for fresh produce during winter in North America and Europe. Rice farmers in the region use monocrotophos, methamidophos and carbofuran, all agricultural chemicals that are rated Class I toxins by the World Health Organization, are highly toxic to birds, and are either restricted or banned in the United States. In countries like Guatemala, Honduras and Ecuador, researchers have found that farmers spray their crops heavily and repeatedly with a chemical cocktail of dangerous pesticides.

In the mid-1990s, American biologists used satellite tracking to follow Swainson’s hawks to their wintering grounds in Argentina, where thousands of them were found dead from monocrotophos poisoning. Migratory songbirds like bobolinks, barn swallows and Eastern kingbirds are suffering mysterious population declines, and pesticides may well be to blame. A single application of a highly toxic pesticide to a field can kill seven to 25 songbirds per acre. About half the birds that researchers capture after such spraying are found to suffer from severely depressed neurological function.

Migratory birds, modern-day canaries in the coal mine, reveal an environmental problem hidden to consumers. Testing by the United States Food and Drug Administration shows that fruits and vegetables imported from Latin America are three times as likely to violate Environmental Protection Agency standards for pesticide residues as the same foods grown in the United States. Some but not all pesticide residues can be removed by washing or peeling produce, but tests by the Centers for Disease Control show that most Americans carry traces of pesticides in their blood. American consumers can discourage this poisoning by avoiding foods that are bad for the environment, bad for farmers in Latin America and, in the worst cases, bad for their own families.

What should you put on your bird-friendly grocery list? Organic coffee, for one thing. Most mass-produced coffee is grown in open fields heavily treated with fertilizers, herbicides, fungicides and insecticides. In contrast, traditional small coffee farmers grow their beans under a canopy of tropical trees, which provide shade and essential nitrogen, and fertilize their soil naturally with leaf litter. Their organic, fair-trade coffee is now available in many coffee shops and supermarkets, and it is recommended by the Audubon Society, the American Bird Conservancy and the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center.

Organic bananas should also be on your list. Bananas are typically grown with one of the highest pesticide loads of any tropical crop. Although bananas present little risk of pesticide ingestion to the consumer, the environment where they are grown is heavily contaminated.

When it comes to nontraditional Latin American crops like melons, green beans, tomatoes, bell peppers and strawberries, it can be difficult to find any that are organically grown. We should buy these foods only if they are not imported from Latin America.

Now that spring is here, we take it for granted that the birds’ cheerful songs will fill the air when our apple trees blossom. But each year, as we continue to demand out-of-season fruits and vegetables, we ensure that fewer and fewer songbirds will return.

Bridget Stutchbury, a professor of biology at York University in Toronto, is the author of “Silence of the Songbirds.”

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/30/opinion/30stutchbury.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin

2008-03-29T19:17:00.006-06:00

Wildlife Zoo Greets New Babies

March 26th, 2008 @ 12:50pm

by KTAR Web

Spring has sprung at the Wildlife World Zoo where some primates welcomed some new little ones.

Zoo officials say a ring-tailed lemur and a patas monkey gave birth in recent weeks.

While both babies are very young and will be clinging to their mothers for warmth and protection for the next several months, zoo visitors will still be able to get glimpses of them on display.

That patas are native to Africa and the ring-tailed lemur is only found on the island of Madagascar.

For more information on the Wildlife World Zoo, visit www.Wildlifeworld.com.

Source: http://ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=774385&r=1

Other new babies at Wildlife World Zoo

Twin Ocelots

Ring Tailed Lemurs

Spider monkey

Baby Aero leads the way in Chester Zoo’s springtime penguin parade

Mar 29 2008 by Liam Murphy, Liverpool Daily Post

Aero

CHESTER Zoo’s sweetest new arrival is the first of many treats in store for the zoo keepers on Penguin Island.

The Humboldt’s Penguin chick, named Aero, hatched on Monday after being incubated for 46 days by parents Warty and Hislop.

The Zoo’s penguin keepers decided on chocolate themed names for Easter, and it is hoped Aero will be joined by up to 20 other chicks between now and the middle of April.

Aero weighs in at just 85 grams, and has a sibling that is due to hatch out any day.

Penguins usually lay a clutch of two eggs and the parents take it in turns to incubate the eggs for around 40 days.

http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2008/03/29/baby-aero-leads-the-way-in-chester-zoo-s-springtime-penguin-parade-64375-20690424/

Zoo Welcomes Newest Additions

Friday, March 28, 2008 6:27 PM

POWELL, Ohio — New additions kept zookeepers moving on Friday.

The Columbus Zoo welcomed the birth of three North American River Otters about two weeks ago, 10TV's Kurt Ludlow reported.

The litter of pups was the first batch of baby animals the zoo expects this spring.

"It's been a long time since we've had actual babies on our department," said zookeeper Scot Shelley. "We've got a lot of older animals and it's nice to see some young animals coming in."

The Columbus Zoo's Dusti Lombardi said the entire staff was excited about the delivery.

"This is our first litter that has survived here," Lombardi said. "So this is really exciting for us – and the mom is taking care of the babies. She's doing an excellent job."

Audrey, the mother otter, gave birth to two girls and a boy, Ludlow reported.

A television monitor allows guests to see the new otters that are tucked away in a den.

"The babies will come out on exhibit," Lombardi said. "When they come out they are going to be adorable."

The otters were not the only special deliveries expected this spring at the zoo, Ludlow reported.

A baby penguin recently hatched, and will be on display in about a month, zookeepers said.

Flamingos, Markor goats, Bonobos, Okapi, Palace cats and Red Pandas were expected to be born at the zoo this summer.

Until then, Lombardi and the other zookeepers had their hands full with the new otters.

"They're going to be active during the day because babies are going to be out running around," Lombardi said. "They're going to be getting into trouble … as most babies do."

Source: http://www.10tv.com/live/content/local/stories/2008/03/28/zoo.html?sid=102

Its the weekend - time for some R & R

2008-03-29T11:32:00.004-06:00

Sydney, Australia: veterinarian Sam Gilchrist gives 13-year-old koala Petra an oral medication at Wildlife World. Photograph: Anoek De Groot/AFP/Getty Images

Rhenen, Netherlands: Polar bear 'Freedom' swims with her child for the first time outside in Ouwehands zoo. Photograph: Olaf Kraak/EPA

Moscow, Russia: Two polar bear cubs and their mother in Moscow zoo. Photograph: Yuri Kochetkov/EPA

Yokohama, Japan: a nine-month-old female golden snub-nosed monkey called Mei Mei relaxes at the zoological gardens. Photograph: Itsuo Inouye/AP

Emmen, The Netherlands: a newborn Asian elephant next to his mother. Photograph: Harm Meter/EPA

Valencia, Spain: a pair of suricatos sunbathe during the inauguration of Bioparc, the new city zoo. Photograph: Juan Carlos Cardenas/EPA

Heidelberg, Germany: a Geoffroy's tufted-ear marmoset carries its offspring at the zoo. Photograph: Ronald Wittek/EPA

AmsterDam, Netherlands: Baby giraffe Niek makes its first public appearance at the Artis animal park. Photograph: Koen Van Weel/EPA

Hamburg, Germany: Kumbuko, a baby giraffe, strolls around in its enclosure at the Hagenbecks Tierpark zoo. Photograph: Maurizio Gambarini/EPA

Leiferde, Germany: Three brown owl siblings in the Nabu-Artenschutzzentrum. Photograph: Nabu-Artenschutzzentrum/EPA

New York, US: Tundra, a male polar bear, breaks the ice prior to going for a swim in the Bronx zoo's outdoor pool. Photograph: Julie Larsen Maher/WCS/AP

Budapest, Hungary: Jorek, a one-year-old, 150kg polar bear cub, stands on his hind legs after a swim in his new home in Animal Park. Photograph: Istvan Kiss/EPA

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/wildlife

Rat flood hits Bangledesh

2008-03-29T10:10:00.005-06:00

Try telling these people a rat is a pig is a boy.

Rare flowering of the bamboo causes "rat flood"
in Bangladesh.

Last Updated: Saturday, 22 March 2008, 12:06 GMT

Rat infestation hits Bangladesh

By Mark Dummett
BBC News, Bangladesh

An infestation of rats is creating severe food shortages in the impoverished Chittagong Hill Tracts region of Bangladesh, close to the borders of India and Burma.

Sangram, a rat catcher in the remote Bangladeshi village of Theihkyong, has never been busier and nor has his work been as important as it is now.

Sangram has placed rat traps along field boundaries

That is because the fields surrounding the village have been stripped by an invading army of rodents, which villagers say crossed over the nearby border with India three months ago.

It has become more than a job. Sangram now needs the rats to keep his family members alive.

They eat two bowls of smoked rat a day, accompanied by the wild roots he finds in the forest.

"My wife, my five children and I normally eat rice, but the rats have destroyed everything," the grim-faced Sangram said.

"All we have left are the rats and these wild potatoes."

We are in big trouble and want people to realise that

Lal Jinja, priest

They live in a traditional one-room house - the roof is of thatched grass - the walls and floors weaved strands of bamboo. It sits on high stilts.

There is space underneath for a harvest of rice, maize and vegetables but this year it is empty.

Theihkyong is a poor village with two churches and a community school. But there is no clinic, no electricity, no running water or telephones.

The people here have to fend for themselves. They are proud of their independence and their identity as members of one of Bangladesh's tribal minorities, but when something bad happens, they have nothing to fall back on.

The rat minefield

The rat traps that Sangram looks after are huge and ingenious. A long bamboo fence divides two fields but every so often Sangram has left open a booby-trapped entrance.

When the rat walks in, it triggers the trap, and a bamboo pole, weighted with soil, drops with a thump.

He walks along the fence throwing the squashed, light-brown rats into a basket he wears on his back.

At home they will be strung together and smoked over an open fire until they are black and hard.

Sangram also checks uninhabited houses that dot the fields. Inside are dozens of carefully concealed snares.

It is the villagers' revenge. They have turned their desolated hillsides into a rat minefield. They have caught thousands of them.

In the community centre of Theihkyong they gather to show me baskets of dried rat tails.

They have kept them as proof of the crisis now facing the village, a crisis that outsiders refused to believe for months.

"We are in big trouble and want people to realise that," Theihkyong's priest Lal Jinja said.

"We want people to see these rat tails so they can understand our suffering."

The government and relief agencies are finally beginning to believe them and are waking up to the problem, which extends far beyond the boundaries of this single village.

Occupying force

According to the UN's development programme, about 125,000 people have been affected by food shortages and the rats.

Some have started to receive aid, but unless more arrives soon these people will be cut off from the outside world, without any food to eat for months.

The villagers have collected thousands of rat tails

That is because the monsoon is on its way. There are not many bridges and it will be impossible to ford the rivers once the rains come.

The starving communities sit in the hills along Bangladesh's south-eastern borders with India and Burma.

It is an impoverished region called the Chittagong Hill Tracts, where the indigenous Christian and Buddhist tribes complain of decades of mistreatment by the central authorities.

The only government institution that is decently funded is the army.

It says it needs a large presence to defend the region against a myriad of tribal rebel groups from India, Burma and Bangladesh itself. But locals say it sometimes acts like an occupying force.

The looming famine is proof of this neglect, as the crisis - and the rat invasion - were entirely predictable.

It happens to this region roughly every 50 years. That is how often the bamboo forests that cover the hillsides blossom.

Their seeds are high in protein and, when the rats eat them, they breed four times faster than normal.

After their numbers swell and they finish eating the bamboo seeds, they move into people's fields and eat their crops.

The blossoming, the rat problem, and the food shortages began two years ago in India then moved into Bangladesh in January and have now headed south into Burma as well.

The last rat plague in 1959 caused devastation just over the border in the Indian state of Mizoram.

The people there suffered so much and were so appalled by the lack of help from the government, they launched a rebellion that lasted 20 years.

In the Chittagong Hill Tracts, many people remember that time as well. One of them is the 93-year-old king of the Marma tribe, Raja Aung Shue Prue Chowdhury.

He tells me that the rats then "were as big as pigs".

Source" http://news.BBC.co.UK/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/7307117.stm

God talks to St Francis

2008-03-26T07:45:00.000-06:00

Imagine the conversation the Creator might have had with St. Francis on the subject of lawns:

God: "Frank, you know all about gardens and nature, what in the world is going on down there on Earth? What happened to all the dandelions, violets, thistles and stuff I started eons ago? I had a perfect, no-maintenance garden plan. Those plants grow in any type of soil, withstand drought and multiply with abandon. The nectar from the long lasting blossoms attracts butterflies, honeybees, and flocks of songbirds. I expected to see a vast garden of colors by now. But all I see are these green rectangles."

St. Francis: "It's the tribes that settled there, Lord. The Suburbanites. They started calling your flowers weeds and went to great lengths to kill them and replace them with grass."

God: "Grass? But it's so boring. It's not colorful. It doesn't attract butterflies, birds, and bees, only grubs and sod worms, it's temperamental with temperatures. Do these suburbanites really want all that grass growing there?"

St. Francis: "Apparently so Lord. They go to great pains to grow it and keep it green. They begin each spring by fertilizing grass and poisoning any other plant that crops up in the lawn. "

God: "The spring rains and warm weather probably make the grass grow really fast. That must make the Suburbanites happy."

St. Francis: "Apparently not, Lord. As soon as it grows a little they cut it, sometimes twice a week."

God: "They cut it? Do they bale it like hay?"

St. Francis: "Not exactly Lord. Most of them rake it up and put it in bags."

God: "They bag it? Why? Is it a cash crop? Do they sell it?"

St. Francis: "No sir. Just the opposite. They pay to throw it away."

God: "Now let me get this straight. They fertilize the grass so it will grow, and when it does grow, they cut it off and then pay to throw it away?"

St. Francis: "Yes sir.

God: "These Suburbanites must be relieved in the summer when we cut back on the rain and turn up the heat. That surely slows the growth and saves them a lot of work!"

St. Francis: "You aren't going to believe this, Lord. When the grass stops growing so fast, they drag out hoses and pay more money to water it so they can continue to mow it and pay to get rid of it."

God: "What nonsense. At least they kept some of the trees That was a sheer stroke of genius, if I do say so myself. The trees grow leaves in the spring to provide beauty and shade in the summer. In the autumn they fall to the ground and form a natural blanket to keep moisture in the soil and protect the trees and bushes. Plus, as they rot, the leaves form compost to enhance the soil. It's a natural circle of life."

St. Francis: "You had better sit down Lord. The Suburbanites have drawn a new circle. As soon as the leaves fall, they rake them into great piles and pay to have them hauled away."

God: "No way! What do they do to protect the shrub and tree roots in the winter and to keep the soil moist and loose?

St. Francis: "After throwing away the leaves, they go out and buy something which they call mulch. They haul it home and spread it
around in the place of leaves."

God: "And where do they get this mulch?"

St.: Francis: "They cut down trees and grind them up to make the mulch."

God: "Enough. I don't want to think about this anymore. St. Catherine, you're in charge of the arts, what movie have you scheduled for us tonight?"

St. Catherine: "Dumb and Dumber, Lord. It's a real stupid movie about..."

God: "Never mind, I think I just heard the whole story from St. Francis."

Source: http://www.chumfm.com/MorningShow/FunFiles/FunFilesDetails.asp?ArticleID=45

Exploitation or an excellent idea?

2008-03-26T07:22:00.003-06:00

Giraffes to help prune Hamilton's trees

Stuff.co.nz | Wednesday, 26 March 2008

Fairfax

TALL ORDER: Residents of Hamilton have been given the chance of feeding the giraffes at the Zoo - and getting rid of their tree prunings at the same time.

The giraffes are always hungry at Hamilton Zoo, and local residents are being given the chance to serve them up a treat.

Giraffes eat a range of tree branches which can be found in household gardens and Hamilton zoo-keepers have offered to prune suitable trees free of charge.

The giraffes preferred fodder includes Lemon wood, Coprosma, Feijoa, Red Robyn, Tree Lucerne and Ake ake.

Hamilton Zoo director Stephen Standley said that this was a great opportunity for local residents to contribute to the animal's diet while at the same time getting their pruning done for free.

"Tree branches or ‘browse' are a favourite treat of our giraffes and they offer numerous nutritional benefits. Because suitable browse is often sourced from common household trees, we are always interested to hear from members of the public ."

The long necked Africans might not be the only creature your household plants end up feeding, as the zoo's big cats will also benefit.

"Recycled browse is used to offer a new and intriguing scent for the cats," he said.

Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4452628a11.html

I have seen the light

2008-03-25T06:56:00.004-06:00

The following statement I copied straight from the Voice for Animals website:

"Animals are not commodities to be bought and sold. Stores who participate in this, and breeders who supply them will one day, in an enlightened future, be seen for who they are... slave traders."

Dear Voice for Animals,

I am writing to tell you that I have finally seen the light.

It seems you were right all along. The buying, selling and keeping of animals is nothing but slavery, they should not be owned but should be free to live their own lives, make their own decisions, go where and when they please.

As of today, I intend to turn over a new leaf. Liberation, not slavery is to be the order of the day.

This morning when I got up, I went outside and opened the gate. I told all my animals that they are now liberated. They can do as they please. They all quickly ran out through the gate and I closed it behind them.

Slavery is dead.

Yes, slavery is as outdated as sending small boys up sooty chimneys.

No more will I have to carry heavy bales of hay and straw in the morning before I go to work, in the dark, and at night when I get home, again in the dark, when the temperature is below freezing and the wind is howling, so that my animals can be comfortable and well fed.

No more will I have to defrost the drinker, when the temperature is -25C, so that my animals can get a drink.

No more will I have to shovel excrement into a wheelbarrow then push that heavy wheelbarrow across rough ground before tipping it, then going back to do it again, so that my animals can be clean.

No more will I have to mend the fence, in the dark, with frozen fingers and with the flashlight between my teeth, when the temperature is below freezing and there is a gale blowing, so that my animals can be safe.

No more will I have to drive to the auction mart to buy the aforementioned hay and straw, load said hay and straw onto a trailer, drive it home and unload it, so that my animals can be comfortable through the cold Canadian winter.

No more will I have to drive to the store that closes before I officially finish work, so I have to leave early, to buy oats, minerals, salt, dog, cat, rabbit and chicken food, so that my animals can not only be fed but well nourished.

No more will I have to drive to the aforementioned store, having left work early, to buy wood and nails to mend the aforementioned fence.

No more will I have to stop the car at the end of the drive to open the gate, in the dark, drive through, stop the car again, and close the gate behind me so my animals cannot wander on to the road where they might cause an accident or be injured.

No more will I have to stop the car at the other end of the aforementioned drive, get out, open another gate, drive through, get out again, and close the gate behind me so that the animals cannot get at the aforementioned hay and straw and spoil it, which they surely would do.

No more will I have to get up in the middle of the night to let out dogs that forgot to pee when I let them out before I went to bed.

No more will I have to get up in the middle of the night during calving and lambing season to check that the cows and ewes haven't dropped their babies in the snow and wandered off and forgotten about them, as some of them are prone to do.

No more will I have to take the aforementioned babies into my house and wrap them in warm blankets after the aforementioned mothers have dropped them in the snow and wandered off and left them, as I have had to do in the past.

No more will I have to walk for miles so that my dogs can have some exercise.

No more will I risk getting scratched, bitten, kicked, trampled, or knocked over because the aforementioned animals don't realize how big and strong they are and how weak and feeble I am.

No more will I have to go to work to earn the money to pay for all the aforementioned items.

And as I am not going to work, I will sit around and watch TV, or play cards or talk to people via instant messaging.

I will probably be sued when someone hits a cow that is laying in the road in the middle of the night, and writes off their car.

I will worry about them, knowing that they are having to scrape away the snow to find a few blades of last years grass, that they have no shelter when the temperature drops to below freezing and the wind is howling, and that they are at constant risk from disease carrying oand predatory critters, farmers guns, and rusty old machinery that litters the Alberta prairies, but my conscience will be clear, because they are free.

Within a few months I will get depressed and maybe suicidal, because there will be nothing to live for.

I will have to see a psychiatrist and take medication and become a burden on society.

But that's all right, because even when I feel like shit I will know that I have done the right thing in letting my animals go free.

Oh wait a minute, what's that noise I hear? It sounds like mooing, bleating, humming, clucking barking, neighing and braying.

My animals are all standing by the gate waiting to be let back in. I wonder why that is? I know you won't believe this, but they think having a human slave is preferable to having to fend for themselves.

Oh well, back to the grindstone.

Slavery is alive and well and living in Alberta.

Yours,

One of the unenlightened ones

The private zoo

2008-03-24T06:56:00.002-06:00

"The roadside zoo is a grossly substandard, usually amateur facility that lacks trained, experienced animal care staff, proper funding and safety practices.

Animals are confined to small, barren, often filthy cages, with next to nothing to do day in and day out.

Animals in roadside zoos suffer poor welfare as a result of inadequate housing, care and diet. Deprived of opportunities to exercise their natural behaviours, most animals experience some degree of frustration and boredom. In the most severe cases, these animals become psychologically disturbed and may manifest abnormal behaviours."

-World Society for the Protection of Animals

What a load of rubbish!!!!!

A "roadside zoo" should more correctly be called a "private zoo". As far as I am aware, all zoos are at the side of a road, otherwise how would anyone get there!

Anyway, to get back to the point, a private zoo is usually a family owned and funded collection of animals. A private zoo does not receive any government funding.

The animals may be large exotics, such as lions and tigers. or domestics such as rabbits, donkeys, goats and sheep. The latter being more commonly referred to as a "petting zoo". They may be restricted to one type of animal, or may contain a variety of species. Collections can start off quite small and grow as time goes by.

I have visited many private collections of animals. It is my experience that the owners of these collections are experts in their field. They know their animals intimately because they've been with them day in, day out for years. They have far more experience than a university trained "zookeeper" who may have been working at a different zoo last week.

Private zoos tend to lack videos, piped jungle sounds, indoor exhibits, fancy lighting, extravagant habitat exhibits, fancy gift shops or restaurants. These aesthetic extras are merely for the benefit of the visitor, they have no bearing whatsoever on the health or wellbeing of the animals.

Many private zoos become dumping grounds for unwanted animals both domestic and exotic. These animals are taken in, housed, fed and cared for, for the rest of their lives at the expense of the zoos owner.

There are currently, a number of private zoos in Canada but they are an endangered species.

Organisations such as peta, wspca, zoocheck and voice for animals have outlawed zoos as bad places where animals are systematically abused by both owners and visitors.

If you care about zoos, and would like your children and grandchildren to learn respect for animals, support your local zoo.

Dogs are allowed a walk with Old Masters in Tuscany

2008-03-23T18:07:00.004-06:00

Tuscany is about to become a dog-owners' paradise, with a new law allowing pets into art galleries, theatres, restaurants, cinemas, post offices, museums and beaches.

The law, which is due to come into force by June and reverses a longstanding ban, was drawn up by the Greens on the centre-left Tuscan regional council.

Fabio Roggiolani, a leader of the Greens and head of the regional health commission, said: “We are knocking down the barriers that separate Man from his best friends.

“Most people in Tuscany agree with this measure, which is in line with regional regulations forbidding discrimination or cruelty against domestic animals.”

To protect public health and hygiene, pets will have to have a veterinary health certificate, and dogs must be muzzled if necessary. Owners will have to guarantee that their pets will not disturb public order.

Mr Roggiolani said that “for obvious reasons” dogs and other pets would still be banned from the Teatro del Maggio Musicale, the Florence opera house. “We have to apply a bit of common sense.”

In theory the measure applies to all domestic animals. “A taboo has fallen,” Corriere della Sera said. “Fido can go with you to the trattoria, Sylvester the Cat can purr beneath Michelangelo's David, Tweety Pie can chirrup in his cage at the foot of his owner's hospital bed.”

In practice it is dogs that are most likely to have their daily walks extended to the beach or the art gallery. Roberto Santini, who runs a beach concession at the Tuscan resort of Forte dei Marmi, said that many of his clients had dogs, including Massimo Moratti, the president of Inter Milan football club, who often cut his holiday short because he could not bear to leave the dog behind.

Fulvio Pierangelini, an Italian celebrity chef, said that he was relaxed about allowing pets into his restaurant at San Vincenzo on the Tuscan coast provided they behaved properly, adding: “Mind you, I draw the line at cooking for them.”

Franco Zeffirelli, the opera and film director, who has four dogs, said that the move “rewards the dignity of Man's best friends”. He added: “Dogs and cats are rather like small children - they should stay where they are happiest. I would never take my dogs to La Scala. It would be torture for them.”

Cristina Acidini, head of museums in Florence, said that she loved animals but was horrified at the idea of pets running riot in the Uffizi Gallery. “There are hundreds of paintings with dogs or cats in them, but I am alarmed at the idea of them being allowed into art galleries, which are overcrowded as it is,” she said. “Museums are places for aesthetic meditation, not for pitbulls or dalmatians, not to mention parrots or goldfish.”

Marcella Amadio, a centre-right regional councillor, said that she was concerned about allergies. “I distrust people who love animals more than humans,” she said.

Margherita D'Amico, an animal rights campaigner, said that there would now be pressure for similar laws in other parts of Italy, including Rome.

Source: Times online March 19 2008 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article3578748.ece

Peta promoting junk food to children

2008-03-23T13:54:00.004-06:00

Source: http://www.peta.org/accidentallyVegan/

I Can't Believe It's Vegan. is a guide to vegan foods found in your local grocery store. The goal presumably is to persuade people that they are already half way to becoming vegan because many of these products are things we all eat every day.

Corn Pops, Pop-Tarts, Reese's Puffs, Kool-Aid, Cracker Jack, Barbecue Fritos, Krispy-Kreme Fruit Pies, Chocolate Creme Oreos, Swedish Fish, Campbell's Franco-American Mushroom Gravy, McCormick Rotisserie Chicken Seasoning (for non chicken eating vegan's?), French's Beef Stew Mix (wtf? ), Peanut Butter, Jam, Margarine, are some of the things listed in the guide.

However, these are all factory processed foods. High carbohydrate junk foods in my opinion, and most of it is made from dubious ingredients (large quantities of sugar, weird food additives and ingredients with unpronouncable names) and shipped long distances from source to supermarket, burning non renewable fossil fuels and damaging the environment.

peta is promoting this stuff to kids, so the kid sees it, and says, hey, I already eat a lot of that stuff - I'm already half way to being a vegan, so they start eating more of it, they show the list to their parents who then see that it's easy to buy vegan food for little Pammie, and so we are heading for a generation of kids who are even more unhealthy than they are at present.

If this is the diet peta is promoting, no wonder they are all brain dead.

Where are the fresh vegetables? Fresh fruit? Fresh herbs?

Where are Dried fruits? Nuts and seeds? Dried beans and pulses?

Where's the pearl barley and the rice?

Whatever happened to the homecooked meal? vegan or otherwise?

Another black mark for peta!!!!

If you love animals and want to eat a healthy diet, choose good variety of fresh fruit and salads, dairy products, grains, cereals and meat and stay away from the highly processed foods pictured here..

Happy Eating

2008-03-22T19:51:00.002-06:00

How to distinguish between animal rights and animal welfare.

Animal Rights activist Is more likely to:

Live in an urban area
Be a female teen or young adult (I know there are lots of granny activists and guys but they are in the minority)
Be readily influenced by what they see on a website or in an ad because they don't know any different
Be a brainless follower
Have a high disposable income
Have much free time for demonstration, letter writing campaigns etc.
Rarely, if ever, interact with animals
Make statements like, "I love pigs", when they really mean "I watched Charlotte's Web and Babe"
Be a vegetarian or vegan
Protest outside KFC
Assume animals have the same wants, needs, and reasoning skills as humans.
Less likely to be compassionate towards humans.

Animal Welfare advocate is more likely to:
Live in a rural or suburban area
Be of any age or gender
Learn from their own experiences
Know that information put out by animal rights organizations such as PETA and HSUS is mostly propaganda and lies.
Have more brain power than the average ARA
Have a lower disposable income.
Have little free time because they are busy caring for animals.
Interact with animals regularly, most likely on a daily basis.
Make statements like, "I still like pigs even though I have been bitten, trampled on, squashed and peed on by them numerous times"
Eat meat
Eat in McDonald's because KFC is too expensive.
Know that animals are animals and that they do not have rights.
More likely to be compassionate towards humans.

Summary

Animal welfare advocates care about animals.
Animal Rights activists care about denying other people their liberty.

A few facts:
HSUS is the wealthiest AR group on the planet. It spends $2million a year on travel expense alone keeping its multi national agenda going.

If animals rights activists have their way all these things will become distant memory:

Lab Testing, Aquariums, Bullfighting, Circuses, Equestrian competition, Fishing, Greyhound racing, Horse racing, Horse-drawn carriages, Hunting, Magic shows using animals, Movies with animal actors, Pet ownership, Ranching, Rodeos, Whaling, and Zoos among other things are all in danger.

Zoocheck and WSPCA

Both these organizations claim to be animal welfare groups working for the benefit of animals. Read their information carefully, look at the way the information is presented, and look at the way they beg for donations, then decide for yourself.

In my opinion they are animal rights groups.
http://www.wspa.ca/index.asp
http://www.zoocheck.com/

A trip to the zoo

2007-02-18T18:45:00.000-07:00

Cute eh?

I was at Guzoo recently and they had this little guy there.

I got to feed him his bottle, then I lay on the floor and let him climb on me. It was wonderful. He was very gentle and didn't scratch or bite, although he did chew on my hair.

I was just getting up when my friend decided to snap some pics.

Many people believe that the only place for a wild lion is in the wild, but the truth is, zoo lions live longer, are better fed, in better health and have greater reproductive success, than wild ones, and they are not subject to the stresses of hunting, protecting their young, disease, hunters and poachers, or loss of habitat.

A New Year, A New Day, A New Start

2007-01-01T14:24:00.000-07:00

As an animal lover, I am a firm believer that all animal life is valuable. All, animal life, that is, and human life is the most valuable of all.

If the human animal were wiped off the face of the earth tomorrow, the rest of the animal kingdom would get on with its life and not even notice, but if all species but humans were to disappear, humans would be unable to survive without them. The humans need animals in a way that no animal would ever need a human.

We need animals for food, clothing, companionship, for entertainment, for research, for education, we need their strengths and their instincts.

To misquote the words of a famous animal activist, animals are ours to eat, to wear, to hunt, to be entertained by, to experiment on. Animals were put on this earth as part of a very delicately balanced plan, we call it the web of life, the food chain, the balance of nature, and it is as important today as it has ever been.