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Elephant Rides Should Be a Thing of the Past
Los Angeles Times...
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Editorial
Elephant rides should be a thing of the past
Elephant rides are a tradition at the L.A. County Fair, but it's one tradition the fair should abandon, both for the animals' and the public's sake.
PHOTO: Rosie, an Asian elephant, cooled herself off with water during a break from giving rides at the Los Angeles County Fair. (Los Angeles Times)
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September 7, 2011
The Los Angeles County Fair is steeped in traditions, from its Ferris wheel to fried everything. But elephant rides are one tradition the fair should do without.
The Humane Society of the U.S., the country's most influential animal welfare organization, is against them, saying that elephants are typically trained for rides and other performance activities through the use of bullhooks and electric prods. The Assn. of Zoos and Aquariums "strongly encourages" its member organizations to discontinue rides in the interest of safety.
The elephants at the fair are supplied by the Perris, Calif.-based outfitter Have Trunk Will Travel, a member in good standing of the association. But its founders, Kari and Gary Johnson, are accustomed to controversy following in their elephants' footsteps. Officials of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, who asked the fair to cancel the rides, circulated a video from Animal Defenders International that purportedly shows trainers from Have Trunk Will Travel using bullhooks and electric prods to get elephants to perform.
In a statement, the Johnsons said the video was six years old and heavily edited. "We stand by our care and training methods," said the statement. Kari Johnson confirmed that the trainers use bullhooks — "the pointed end is to push them away, the curved end is to pull them toward you." But she defended the company's care of its six Asian elephants, saying they are well treated on a 10-acre ranch and noting that the outfitter is involved in research on and conservation of the endangered species.
What's more, the company has supplied Asian elephants to the fair off and on for 20 years without incident or evidence of inhumane treatment on the grounds, according to fair spokesperson Leslie Galerne-Smith.
In our view, the video is beside the point here. Zoos, including the L.A. Zoo, are spending millions to create elaborate habitats for elephants, which are the world's largest land mammals. Some zoos have reevaluated whether their facilities can sufficiently accommodate the needs of pachyderms. Some are also instituting a policy of almost no unprotected contact between keepers and elephants, which is considered more humane and safer for all. At a time when the management of captive elephants is focusing on conservation and the animals' well-being, hoisting people onto their backs seems out of step.
The animal welfare groups, the elephant supplier and the fair officials all say they care deeply about elephant conservation. If that's true, there ought to be a way to allow people — including fairgoers — a chance to see and learn about these stately creatures of the wild without riding them.
.Los Angeles Times... . Editorial Elephant rides should be a thing of the... more-
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Glendale, California Considering Ban on Companion Animal Sales
NBC NEWS | LOS ANGELES...
Glendale Considering Ban on Pet Sales
The Glendale city council is considering a ban on dog and cat sales in pet stores and from backyard pet breeders.
By Angie Crouch and Julie Brayton
| Thursday, Aug 18, 2011 | Updated 7:36 PM PDT
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Glendale Considering Ban on Pet Sales
Soon Sales of Cats and Dogs in Glendale Pet Stores may be Banned
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Animal rights activists say an investigation into deplorable conditions of a puppy mill in the Midwest that allegedly supplied dogs to several Glendale pet stores, helped convince the Glendale city council to consider banning the sale of dogs and cats from pet stores in the city.
"Animals that were injured," said Carole Davis, of the Companion Animal Protection Society, speaking about the conditions in the puppy mill in the midwest. "Animals that were covered in feces and urine. Animals that had hair that was matted so much that the eyes were closed off, and that they couldn't see."
The proposed ban comes on the heels of West Hollywood's city council adopting a similar policy last year. Los Angeles is also considering a ban.
"What's happening in California," according to Davis, "is a result of direct action by animal rights activists. Los Angeles is the second largest market for puppy mill dogs, after New York City.”
At Pets R Us in Glendale, the manager says they still sell rescued cats, but they stopped selling dogs a few months ago after the C.A.P.S. investigation revealed their supplier got them from a puppy mill.
Like Pets R Us, most Glendale pet stores have already voluntarily stopped selling dogs.
The new ordinance would still allow residents to sell kittens and puppies that come from unexpected pregnancies, but the ordinance would also prohibit so-called backyard breeders.
The city council voiced support for the prohibition after roughly 30 people crowded City Hall in support of the ordinance.
.NBC NEWS | LOS ANGELES... Glendale Considering Ban on Pet Sales The Glendale... more-
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Mountain Lion Shooting
Yeah, what a way to prove one's "manhood," huh?! Good ol' boys' sure do like having fun killing beautiful, innocent creatures of this world.Yeah, what a way to prove one's "manhood," huh?! Good ol'... more-
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CNN: Should Bullfighting Be Banned? 250,000 Bulls Killed Annually
CNN...
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August 9th, 2011
08:00 AM ET
Should bullfighting be banned?
By Stephanie Garlow, GlobalPost
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First Catalonia outlawed bullfighting, which the Economist likened it to a German state banning wurst or a French region condemning berets.
Now Peru's minister of culture has said the sport is "terrible" and that it causes excessive suffering for the animals.
So is bullfighting on the way out? Is it a "tradition of tragedy," as PETA claims, that kills 250,000 bulls annually?
Activists who gathered in Lima last week to protest the mistreatment of bulls would seem to agree. "Bullfighting promotes violence, torture and cruelty to animals for no reason," William Soberon, of the Anti-Bullfighting Front of Peru, told La Republica. "We're not in the colonial era."
Peru's newly appointed minister of culture, Susana Baca, said she felt sorry for the animals and that she cried when she once attended a cockfight. "I've never been to a bullfight but from the little I've seen in the media, I know it's terrible and I had to close my eyes," she said on the program "Buenos Dias, Peru."
But protests against bullfighting are nothing new in Peru. And comments by Baca that she would analyze the practice during her tenure quickly sparked controversy.
Bullfighter Fernando Roca Rey told La Republica that bullfighting should be seen as a cultural event and that "the minister can give her opinion, but that cannot be applied to the whole country." Bullfighting celebrations have been held in Peru since 1766 and the Plaza de Toros de Acho bullring is the oldest in the Americas and second-oldest in the world, reports AFP.
And the Spanish government recently dealt a blow to efforts to outlaw the sport when it ruled that bullfighting is an "artistic discipline and cultural product." The country's Ministry of Culture will now be responsible for the "development and protection" of bullfighting, a move that supporters hope is a step toward protecting the tradition from further regional bans.
Bullfighting is also practiced in Portugal and the south of France and is widespread in Latin America. Mexico City's Plaza Mexico arena is the biggest in the world with seats for up to 55,000.
And while public opinion might be swinging away from bullfighting — a poll last year for El Pais found 60 percent of Spaniards did not enjoy bullfighting — the sport still has big-name supporters. Peruvian novelist and Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa campaigned to convince UNESCO to classify bullfighting as part of Spain's national heritage.
And in novelist Ernest Hemingway, the sport found one of its most enduring voices of support. The art of the bullfighting, Hemingway wrote in "Death in the Afternoon," "is the only art in which the artist is in danger of death and in which the degree of brilliance in the performance is left to the fighter's honor."
.CNN... . August 9th, 2011 08:00 AM ET Should bullfighting be banned?... more-
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ALEC exposed: Protecting factory farms and sewerage sludge?
As suburbs engulfed the rural landscape in the boom following World War II, many family farmers found themselves with new neighbors who were annoyed by the sound of crowing roosters, the smell of animal manure, or the rumble of farming equipment. In defense of family farming, Massachusetts passed the first "Right to Farm" law in 1979, to protect these farmers against their new suburban neighbors filing illegitimate nuisance lawsuits against them when, in fact, the farms were there first. Since then, every state has passed some kind of protection for family farms, which are pillars of our communities and the backbone of a sensible system of sustainable agriculture.
However, in the past few decades, intensive corporatization of farming has threatened both the future of family farming and the ability of neighbors to regulate the development of industrial agricultural operations that have transmogrified many farms into factories. Small-scale farms that resembled Old MacDonald's farm (with an oink oink here and a moo moo there) have increasingly disappeared or been turned into enormous livestock confinements with literal lagoons of liquified manure and urine, super-concentrated smells that could make a skunk faint, or vast fields of monoculture crops grown with a myriad of chemicals and pesticides and sometimes even sewage sludge. For example, the decade before the first right to farm law was passed, it took one million family farms to raise nearly 60 million pigs but by 2001, less than ten percent (80,000 farms) were growing the same number of pigs.
Capitalizing on the sentiment of protecting traditional farming, giant agribusiness interests have convinced some states to revise their Right to Farm laws to stealthily protect the most egregious of industrial farming practices from legitimate nuisance suits. The Center for Media & Democracy has recently exposed and analyzed a cache of bills voted on by corporations and politicians behind closed doors and then introduced in state legislatures without any notice to the public of the role of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) bill factory in the production of the legislation and no disclosure of the fact that corporations pre-voted on the bills, let alone disclosures of the names of those companies. In 1996, ALEC suddenly took an interest in expanding right to farm laws. ALEC's corporate backers, unsurprisingly, hale from the factory farm side of the equation.
ALEC's Corporate Backers
ALEC's corporate members and funders have included a number of agriculture interests, including Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Cargill, and DuPont, as well as industry organizations like the National Pork Producers Council, the Illinois Corn Marketing Board, and the Illinois Soybean Association. Cargill is the nation's second largest beef processor, third largest turkey processor, and fourth largest pork processor. In three other areas, flour milling, soybean crushing, and production of animal feed, ADM joins Cargill as the biggest in the industry. Chemical giant DuPont is one of the world's largest makers of numerous pesticides, and in 1999, it purchased seed giant Pioneer Hi-Bred, the world's top seller of corn seeds, including genetically engineered seeds.
Unlike the corporations, the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) is actually led by farmers ... and lobbyists for multinational pork processors, like Don Butler, past president of NPPC and lobbyist for Smithfield Foods, the largest pork processor in the world. The farmers who lead NPPC tend to own farms similar to that of NPPC president Doug Wolf. Wolf's farm produces 24,000 hogs per year - and it also has a beef feedlot and 1,200 acres of corn, soy, and alfalfa.
Perhaps the most surprising "agribusiness" donor to ALEC is the most powerful of all: Koch Industries. It turns out that an early part of the Koch empire was the Matador Cattle Company, founded in 1952. To this day, Koch Agriculture Company retains Matador Cattle Company, which has about 15,000 cattle. However, in the 1990's, Koch Beef Company was the nation's 10th largest cattle feeder, with feedlots that held up to 165,000 cattle. Koch bought a new feedlot in 1996 and, among other things, decided to expand its capacity by adding 20,000 more cows. The neighbors did not think that was a good idea:
Some businesses and farm owners expressed concerns over the health of their employees, some of whom would be housed within 300 feet of Koch's cattle pens. Other neighbors cited concerns over the potential for groundwater pollution, the amount of dirt, insects, and odors added to the area contributing to health problems, a decrease in the quality of life for nearby residents, and the possible devaluation of land.
Koch overcame their objections with the ruling of a friendly regulator in Texas, winning the right to expand. With all these corporate interests in limiting regulation of factory farming, thank goodness their pals at ALEC approved a model version of a Right to Farm bill in 1996!
Why Corporations Care About Laws For Farmers
While nearly all farms in the United States are technically "family farms" (a tiny fraction are owned directly by corporations), multinational agribusiness corporations have a major stake in how these farms are operated. Often family farms take the form of Wolf L & G Farms LLC, the farm owned by the family of Doug Wolf (mentioned above). Particularly for chickens and hogs, individual farmers often contract with meatpackers like Cargill, Smithfield, or Tyson. In contract farming arrangements, the corporations provide the animals, medications, and feed to the farmers; the farmer is responsible for the animals' housing, manure, and the bodies of animals that die prematurely. When the animals are fully grown, they are picked up by the corporation, which slaughters, processes, and markets the animal and plays the farmer for the weight the animal gained in his or her care. The farmers have most of the debt and risk and the corporation has most of the power and profit.
More at the linkAs suburbs engulfed the rural landscape in the boom following World War II, many... more-
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Katya, Russia’s 36-Year-Old Olympics Bear, and Retired Circus Animals Kept Caged in Rusty Parked Bus
The Washington Post...
Russia’s 36-year-old Olympic bear, retired circus animals kept caged on parked bus
By Associated Press, Updated: Tuesday, August 2, 4:52 AM
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ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — For two years, a 36-year-old bear who performed during the 1980 Moscow Olympics has been kept with other retired circus animals in a rusty old bus parked on the outskirts of St. Petersburg.
Animal rights activists say they receive only minimal care in their cramped and stinking cages.
Katya the bear was a longtime star of the Big St. Petersburg State Circus on Fontanka, where night after night she and another bear delighted children by riding motorcycles around the ring.
During the 1980 Summer Games, the bears were applauded by thousands at a ceremony opening the football competition in St. Petersburg, then called Leningrad. Katya also performed in two movies released in the 1980s.
Since her retirement in 2009, Katya and the painted bus on which she once toured with the circus have not left a parking lot near a busy highway. The aging bear spends the long hours jumping up and down in her cage and trying to crack the rusty metal railings with her chipped and yellowed teeth.
Dozens of other retired circus animals also live in the smelly cages placed inside the bus and a minivan parked nearby.
Some occasionally are taken out to accompany photographers to downtown St. Petersburg to have their pictures taken with children and tourists. Others never get washed or examined by veterinarians, animal rights activists say.
“They can’t move normally and start going crazy,” Zoya Afanasyeva of the Vita animal rights group said as she stood by Katya’s sweltering bus on a hot summer day.
“Apparently they are being taken care of, but not more often than once a day, and this care is perfunctory because the smell here in the parking lot is unbearable,” Afanasyeva said.
Klava the bear shares a small cage with Pasha the boar. Birds with atrophied muscles live next to cats that don’t meow and stare straight ahead with pus-covered eyes.
Circus director Viktor Savrasov said the animals are cared for and Katya’s fate would have been worse if her trainer had agreed to have the bear put to sleep.
“Whatever happened, she did not leave her,” he said of retired trainer Natalya Arkhipova, who still visits Katya to feed her.
Animal rights activists have long urged Russia’s government to strengthen animal protection laws.The Washington Post... Russia’s 36-year-old Olympic bear, retired circus... more-
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Boycott Dean Foods to protest GM alfalfa
Now that Monsanto/Forage Genetics' new genetically modified alfalfa has been approved by the USDA, where will all that GMO alfalfa end up? Feed for factory farmed dairy cows. The number one dairy processor in the US is Dean Foods, so the best way to boycott GMO alfalfa is to boycott Dean Foods.
As the new documentary by Organic Spies explains, that means boycotting most of the biggest conventional milk brands, but it also means boycotting Dean Foods' WhiteWave brands.
Is it fair to boycott WhiteWave, known for its natural/organic Horizon and Silk products? If you look into the information Organic Spies has uncovered, the answer is resounding YES! It turns out that WhiteWave has a licensing agreement with Land O' Lakes. Land O' Lakes is the owner of GMO alfalfa co-creator Forage Genetics and a distributor of Monsanto's GMO corn, soy and RoundUp herbicide.
Another reason Organic Spies gives us to boycott all of Dean Foods brands, including Horizon and Silk, is that theres no separation between the lobbying and polical campaign contributions of the parent and its subsidiaries. Dean Foods has a single Political Action Committee that WhiteWave employees, including Kelly Shea, an Organic Trade Association board member, contribute to.
All of Dean Foods' conventional milk products are produced with genetically engineered feed, so they had an interest in seeing GMO alfalfa approved without restrictions, but they sent the same lobbyist who advocates for their conventional milk products to talk to the USDA about organic milk and the idea of "coexistence" between organic and GMOs. There's no way the lobbyist for Dean Foods' the largest conventioanl milk processor could have made a sincere argument that organic needs to be protected from contamination. It's little wonder, with industry lobbyists like this in the mix, that the USDA chose to approve GMO alfalfa, even though the inevitability of contamination means disaster for organic.Now that Monsanto/Forage Genetics' new genetically modified alfalfa has been... more-
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Victory in the Campaign to Ban Circus Animals
The Independent | London...
Victory in the campaign to ban circus animals
Government concedes defeat after bribes and intimidation fail to deter rebels
By Martin Hickman, Consumer Affairs Correspondent
Friday, 24 June 2011
MPs of all parties unanimously backed a ban on circus animals
MPs voted to ban wild animals in circuses last night after David Cameron's attempts to bully Conservative backbenchers into voting against the measure backfired and ended in a humiliating public defeat. In a decision hailed by campaigners as an "historic victory for animal welfare and protection", MPs of all parties unanimously backed a ban and the Government signalled that it would introduce one, ending forever the days of lions, tigers, elephants and other wild animals in the big top.
In an act of desperation, Conservative whips had warned they would impose the most serious parliamentary voting sanction, a three-line whip, to bring recalcitrant backbenchers to heel and get them to support the Government's alternative proposal of a licensing system. But in a victory for The Independent's campaign for a ban and for the long campaigns waged by animal welfare organisations, Downing Street backed down when it became apparent that it would lose the vote despite what backbenchers described as "desperate" measures. One of the three MPs who brought the cross-party motion for a ban disclosed that he had first been offered a government job – and then threatened that the Prime Minister would look "very dimly" on his recalcitrance – unless he amended or withdrew the motion. Mark Pritchard, a Conservative backbencher, stood firm and insisted that the measure be voted upon.
As astonished MPs listened, Mr Pritchard said: "Well I have a message for the whips and for the Prime Minister of our country – and I didn't pick a fight with the Prime Minister – I may just be a little council house lad from a very poor background but that background gave me a backbone. It gives me a thick skin and I'm not going to be cowed by the whips of the Prime Minister on an issue I feel passionately about and have conviction about.
"There may be some other people with backbones on this side and they will speak later, but we need a generation of politicians with a bit of spine, not jelly. And I will not be bullied by any of the whips."
MPs from all sides of the House including the Liberal Democrat MP Don Foster, Labour's Nia Griffiths and the Green leader Caroline Lucas attacked the Government's position, saying that both public and parliamentary opinion was in support of a ban.
The motion was to "direct" the Government to introduce a ban.
Shortly before the vote, the Animal Welfare minister, Jim Paice, said: "If at the end of this debate the House were to approve this motion then of course we will have to respect that."
Animal welfare groups were ecstatic. The RSPCA said: "This is a win for democracy as well as animal welfare." It said it hoped the Government would quickly and formally announce a ban.
Animal Defenders International, the group which shot undercover footage of the beating by a Romanian groom of Anne the elephant at Bobby Roberts Circus, said: "This debate and vote has exposed the Government and demonstrated just how out of touch they have been with their peers, the public, and animal welfare groups."
Mary Creagh, the shadow Environment Secretary, said: "The public will be absolutely delighted that MPs from all parties have stood up to the Tory-led Government on this issue to achieve such a fantastic result. The vote brings to an end 48 hours of chaos and confusion from the Government about their position on a ban. It is extraordinary that David Cameron used such bully-boy tactics to threaten his own MPs and tried to impose a three-line whip on the vote."
The Government had initially planned to ban wild animals from circuses but the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs was forced to do a U-turn, and instead proposed a licensing system, after Mr Cameron, a keen hunter and shooter, blocked the move.
Mr Paice blamed a court challenge to a ban in Austria for the decision, but there was no court challenge and he was forced to admit during an emergency debate, called because of the misinformation, that he had misled the Commons. The Government's subsequent claim that a ban could be challenged under the Human Rights Act or the EU Services Directive was challenged by lawyers and the European Commission.
The Government and MPs came under intense pressure from voters. More than 32,000 signed The Independent's online petition calling for the Government to change its mind, and supporters of the protest group 38 Degrees, which had forced Defra to abandon plans for its forests sell-off, deluged MPs' offices with hundreds of emails, letters and phone calls.
During the debate, MPs said the issue was emblematic of wider animal welfare issues. But the most astonishing contribution came from Mr Pritchard who had secured the backbench debate, which should have had a free vote. He said: "On Monday if I offered to amend my motion or drop my motion or not call a vote on this motion – and we're not talking about a major defence issue or an economic issue or an issue of public-sector reform, we're talking about a ban on wild animals in circuses – I was offered reward and incentive. If I didn't call for a ban – I was offered a job. Not as a minister, it was a pretty trivial job.
"Then it was ratcheted up to last night and I was threatened. I had a call from the Prime Minister's Office directly and I was told unless I withdrew this motion that the Prime Minister himself would look upon it 'very dimly indeed'."
He told MPs: "It remains a mystery why the Government has mounted such a concerted operation to stop there being a vote on this motion."The Independent | London... Victory in the campaign to ban circus animals... more-
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Police shoot man, dog in search for drugs
According to the Chicago Tribune, police shot and killed a man's dog and wounded the man's leg during a warranted search for drugs on Thursday afternoon. The police report says when the police entered the building, the man's pet "charged" at them, so they shot and killed the animal, hitting the man in the process. The man was then taken to the hospital.
Read more and see videos here:
http://www.politicalfailblog.com/2011/06/police-shoot-man-dog-in-far-sw-side.html?utm_source=BP_recentAccording to the Chicago Tribune, police shot and killed a man's dog and wounded... more-
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Poor Sampson, a Labrador, Is Horribly Obese | I Call it Animal Cruelty
Is Sampson the labrador Australia's most obese pet?
Kelly Ryan
From: Herald Sun
June 22, 2011 12:00AM
Sampson obese dog
Sampson the labrador with Kaden Lavery.
Herald Sun
AT 85kg, Sampson the larger-than-life labrador is a staggering 42kg over his ideal weight.
The hulking hound is so fat and so unfit that staff at the Animal Aid shelter in Coldstream say it will take him until Christmas to shed half his massive frame.
Sampson is at the forefront of Australia's epidemic of overweight pets.
He is too fat to be exercised. His bulging, blood-shot eyes are the result of fatty tissue around his head and high blood pressure.
The lumbering lab has to be taken to the shelter in the Animal Aid van for his weekly weigh-in because he can't comfortably fit on the back seat of vet Amber Lavery's family sedan.
She has taken Sampson in until he sheds at least half his weight, when he will be put up for adoption.
"He's the size of a small heifer," said Ms Lavery, who works for Animal Aid.
"It's obvious to get a case of such extreme obesity, Sampson has been fed excessive quantities of the wrong types of food over a very extended period of time.
"His former owners obviously couldn't resist his big brown eyes that follow you around saying 'Feed me'."
It is believed Sampson enjoyed regular feasts of fast foods and other fatty treats - food normally consumed by humans as occasional meals.
He is struggling to adjust from a life of gorging to a meagre meal of a little more than three cups of dry dog biscuits and water.
"Tough love means saying no," Ms Lavery said.
"He has a very keen appetite and shows a willingness to do anything he can to get food, any way he can."
Animal lovers can contribute to Sampson's expensive diet food at animalaid.com.auIs Sampson the labrador Australia's most obese pet? Kelly Ryan From:... more-
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This Week's Raccoon Attack Lays Bare Cultural Gap
Toronto National Post...
This week’s raccoon attack lays bare cultural gap
Getty Images
Getty Images
Then there's Toronto, where attacking raccoons that are destroying your backyard garden gets you handcuffed and escorted by authorities to the police station, where you'll be charged, and perhaps even publicly shamed, before being released.
Jessica Hume Jun 4, 2011 – 3:43 PM ET
In the Arab world, cats are considered vermin, dogs only get attention when they’re put into rings to fight each other to the death, and where animal cruelty laws exist at all, they are taken about as seriously as jaywalking rules are here.
Then there’s Toronto, where attacking raccoons that are destroying your backyard garden gets you handcuffed and escorted by authorities to the police station, where you’ll be charged, and perhaps even publicly shamed, before being released.
Such is the cultural gap that exists where treatment of animals is concerned, and 53-year-old Dong Nguyen, arrested and charged with animal cruelty after beating several baby raccoons in his backyard Wednesday, finds himself in the middle of a debate that is increasingly bitter.
Within hours of his arrest, a neighbour and her husband swung into action, printing flyers on which a photo of Mr. Nguyen was shown, identifying him as an “animal torturer” and calling for his expulsion from their west-end neighbourhood.
“This is barbaric cruelty, which has no place in our society or in this neighbourhood,” said Nanette Lang. “His release so quickly speaks to our lack of animal justice here; animals aren’t valued.”
Two other neighbours of Mr. Nguyen reacted quickly to his arrest as well, albeit with different motivation. Jack Fava and Zabar Moursalien hit the streets Thursday night to rally support for a demonstration they have organized for Saturday, in defence of Mr. Nguyen and in opposition to what they see as the city’s inertia in combating the “raccoon problem.”
“I do not support violence against animals in any way,” Mr. Moursalien said. “But the way this gentleman was treated -the handcuffs -it was like he killed a child. There were five to six police cruisers here [Wednesday]. I couldn’t believe it.”
Mr. Fava said his canvassing efforts revealed most neighbours sympathized with Mr. Nguyen, not the animals, who are plentiful in the area, nest in attics, get into residents’ garbage and destroy lawns and gardens.
Friends and family of Mr. Nguyen told the National Post Wednesday his actions were misrepresented, claiming he was simply shooing the beasts away with a broom. They offered no insight into how two raccoons died and another suffered a fractured right paw.
Thuy Nguyen, a settlement worker at the Vietnamese Women’s Association of Toronto who is not related to the man arrested Wednesday, used cultural relativism as one possible explanation for the accused’s approach to the raccoons earlier this week.
“Wildlife is not respected in Vietnam; people kill them, hunt them, sometimes even eat them,” she said. “Obviously, we don’t have raccoons in Vietnam, but if someone there was beating a wild animal, this would not be a big issue. No.”
Treatment of animals is one area that tends to highlight cultural differences, and while cruelty and abusive behaviour are not specific to any one culture, ethnicity or sex, Randall Lockwood, senior vice-president of Forensic Science and Anti-Cruelty Projects at the American SPCA, says it is important for cities with high levels of immigration to educate newcomers on local laws and customs.
“You have to be familiar with the laws of the culture where you live,” he said, adding that there is potential for very real concern when the cultural norms of foreigners conflict with those of their countries of residency.
“Animals are used in religious sacrifice in some Afro-Caribbean cultures. In California, there are very active outreach programs in the Vietnamese and Korean communities as to how animals are treated in our culture. We have concerns over the attitude toward dogs on some Native reservations.”
One country that exemplifies divergent attitudes toward animals is the United Arab Emirates, where the handful of shelters are run primarily by British and U.S. expatriates, who are generally shocked to learn the local attitudes toward animals and casual view of animal abuse.
It was the UAE’s expats whose efforts led to the country’s first animal welfare law being introduced in 2008.
One Dubai organization, Feline Friends, routinely saw cats that had been skinned, burned and thrown out of cars or apartment windows.
“There is a mentality that animals are dirty, they have diseases, and so they’re treated like vermin,” Robyn Crowley of Feline Friends told The National newspaper.
The repercussions of Mr. Nguyen’s actions will become clear over the next months as he makes his way through the courts.
But regardless of whether raccoons are seen as cute and cuddly or diseased vermin, the animals are protected under our wildlife and animal cruelty laws that, though they vary widely among cities and countries, are generally guided by morality, Dr. Lockwood said.
As for bludgeoning raccoons, he doesn’t see much grey area there.Toronto National Post... This week’s raccoon attack lays bare cultural gap... more-
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Animal Cruelty Protest in Malta Brings About Huge Support
Photo: Shot in the head with 40 pellets, bound at the legs and muzzle, and buried alive, Star's miraculous will to survive has inspired citizens of the tiny island to pass stricter animal cruelty laws.
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Continue reading on Examiner.com Animal cruelty protest in Malta brings about huge support - National Pet Rescue | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/pet-rescue-in-national/animal-cruelty-protest-malta-brings-about-huge-support#ixzz1OSzhxwwN
Animal cruelty protest in Malta brings about huge support
June 5th, 2011 6:25 pm ET
Cheryl Hanna
Pet Rescue Examiner...
It was an afternoon of protests against animal cruelty in Sliema, organized by Fleur Cilia Buckett, Joanna Attard, and Myriam Kirmond united as the March Against Animal Cruelty. Nearly two-thousand people were expected to attend.
Protestors carried signs stating "Stop Animal Cruelty," and many were accompanied by their dogs who wore colored ribbons in their collars symbolic for the support of Star, the dog who was cruelly beaten, shot with pellets in her head, and bound and buried alive in a shallow grave near Ghar Hasan in Birzebbuya. The dog's miraculous will to survive helped her scratch and push the dirt away from her nose at the spot her abusers left her to die.
Popular singer Shauna Vassallo sang Fejn, a song about animal cruelty.
The egregious torture and suffering of Star serves as a reminder for the country and for the people to enact stronger animal cruelty laws - not just for Star, but for all of the animals whose lives wind up in similar tragic fates. Buckett also wants the courts to invest in psychological counseling and provide help for animal abusers stating these offenders often abuse again.
Star was not able to attend the rally today since she is still too weak, but continues to slowly recuperate at St. Francis Animal Welfare Center in Tal Qali. The dog's horrific story and her amazing survival has touched people from all over the world - as far as Canada, Venezuela, and Australia.
Star's Facebook page entitled, " Star, the dog who lived," has more than 50,000 fans. Her page has become a place to encourage help for other dogs in dire need as well as a place for people to vent their anger. A reward page has been set up to help find the people responsible for Star's injuries.
Continue reading on Examiner.com Animal cruelty protest in Malta brings about huge support - National Pet Rescue | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/pet-rescue-in-national/animal-cruelty-protest-malta-brings-about-huge-support#ixzz1OSzbnNvcPhoto: Shot in the head with 40 pellets, bound at the legs and muzzle, and buried... more-
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Animal Rights Groups Seek Banning Greyhound Exports to Macau
Macau Daily Times...
Animal groups seek to ban greyhound exports to Macau
06/06/2011 09:39:00
Chinese animal welfare groups have urged the Australia Prime Minister Julia Gillard to ban the export of greyhounds for Macau racetracks. They accuse the Canidrome of destroying healthy dogs after they are found unable to compete, South China Morning Post reported yesterday.
Local animal welfare association Society for the Protection of Animals (ANIMA) is aware of the culling, but admitted there is little to halt the process without an official law on animal welfare protection.
The alliance of animal welfare groups from across China said in the petition to Gillard that healthy dogs are being destroyed in Macau at a rate of more than one a day. The greyhounds are imported to Macau at the age of two or three years old.
At the Canidrome they race four times a week. If they finish outside the top three in five races in a row, though still no more than five years old, they are allegedly given lethal injections.
According to Hong Kong’s daily investigation, last year, 383 dogs imported from Australia were culled at the Canidrome. In March alone 45 greyhounds were given the lethal injection.
Not only do track rules disallow the dogs to be taken on as pets, but it is also difficult to send them away to other countries because of anti-rabies quarantine restrictions.
Macau lacks legislation on transmittable diseases, thus other country authorities don’t consider MSAR laboratories as qualified. As a result, animals have to undergo quarantine in Hong Kong in order to travel out of Macau.
The director of ANIMA, Albano Martins, told the Macau Daily Times that preliminary discussions on this situation have been held between the association and the Civil and Municipal Affairs Bureau’s (IACM) animal shelter.
“The government-run animal shelter is concerned over the culling of healthy dogs after they are not able to race anymore. We are trying to find a way to send them to other countries to be adopted as pets, but that’s not an easy task, without a law on animal protection,” he said.
Macau SAR’s first animal rights protection bill was draft in 2008, but is still on hold. In the meantime, several provisions from legislations dating from the 19th-century are regulating animal welfare in Macau.
Martins said that currently Macau is also trying to cope with the plight of abandoned animals, and it would be very difficult to keep the greyhounds in the SAR.
Nevertheless, he suggested Macau make contact with other animal welfare groups in China to try to allow these race dogs a chance to have a second life.Macau Daily Times... Animal groups seek to ban greyhound exports to Macau... more-
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Animal Rights in Egypt: Truth or Myth?
Animal rights in Egypt: Truth or myth?
Amany Aly Shawky
Sat, 04/06/2011 - 11:53
Although the term “animal rights” may sound like Chinese to many, the Cairene community seems to be becoming gradually interested in the welfare of domestic animals.
“Comparing to other governorates, Cairo is animal heaven,” says Dina Zulfikar, one of the most renowned animal welfare activists in Egypt.
She says there are 11 animal rights organizations and they are all in the capital. “There is Brooke, an international organization dedicated to improving the lives of working animals in poor countries, the donkey sanctuary, and the Egyptian Mau Rescue Organization (EMRO) for Mau cats, which also encourages adoption,” adds the activist, explaining that there are also sanctuaries concerned with the welfare of cattle. Finally, there are three animal shelters: the Egyptian Society for Animals (ESAF), the Society for the Protection of Animal Rights in Egypt (SPARE) and the Egyptian Society for Mercy to Animals (ESMA), which currently shelters 632 animals (cats, dogs and horses).
It is very hard to get correct numbers and statistics on stray animals in Egypt. According to Zulfikar the census office and the American Embassy are the most reliable sources. However, she believes that thorough statistics are really hard to get today because of the increasing number of slum areas in the capital.
Mona Khalil, chairperson of ESMA, says that “the government stands rigid against any project to gather statistics,” and the Ministry of Agriculture does not see the urgency of projects concerning stray animals. Mass killing using poison or shooting seems to be the most common method used by the government to ‘solve’ the problem of stray dogs, she adds. “Strychnine is an internationally banned poison but the Egyptian government pays in dollars to import it to kill stray dogs. It is a highly toxic alkaloid.”
According to Zulfikar, there are enough people interested in animal welfare in Egypt, but in order to make this fight a priority, they need to get involved in politics. “There has to be a serious attempt to the change the law concerning animals and that would be achieved through the parliament."
Khalil explains that the major problem related to animal welfare in Egypt is lack of awareness. “ESMA approached 20 public figures and only one showed interest and got back to us,” she says. “It is not the animals' fault that we live in a country that has no human rights! What happened to mercy?”
“In the 19th century, there were masaqy al-kelab (fresh water source for dogs) behind Al-Azhar supervised by a dedicated sheikh called al-Sawaf,” says Khalil.
Both activists think that the Organization for Veterinary Service, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture and all society should all be involved in the passing of a new law on animal welfare. “We have the best laws for wild animal protection worldwide because they were passed through the Ministry of Environment. But domestic animals fall under the authority of the Ministry of Agriculture and are only mentioned in two vague paragraphs," Khalil says.
“The law that protects domestic animals is extremely vague, she explains, quoting the following excerpt: “It is forbidden to kill an animal without necessity,” stressing how the term “necessity” can be understood in many different ways.
"Donation money and sponsors are effective for animal rights organizations and shelters but awareness is even more important,” explains Zulfikar. She organizes events in public facilities and events to reach more people and raise awareness, for example at the Cairo Film Festival for children.
Zulfikar’s last event was “Orphans Day” in Saqqara, raising awareness on animal rights among a group of young children through games and drawing. “Children are the future,” she explains.
Breeders and pet shops also share responsibility for spreading awareness. “We all need to work together, the media, prominent NGOs, activists, animal welfare societies, law makers and enforcers, to reach a comprehensive and applicable law," Zulfikar says. “Do you know that most animal abuse is committed by kids? How do you expect to legally punish a child for abuse charges?"
“We have to refuse violations and report any incident of abuse to the police or to an animal organization,” says Khalil, addressing each and everyone one of us. “There has to be a change of attitude and animal lovers need to work together and know that they are not a minority anymore. There has to be an elaborate article in the Egyptian law concerning all types of animals, stray, owned, circus and working animals, in addition to exports and imports of animals.”Animal rights in Egypt: Truth or myth? Amany Aly Shawky Sat, 04/06/2011 - 11:53... more-
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Behind The Siamese Smile
Short documentary “Behind the Siamese Smile” exposes the shocking truth about Asian elephants in Thailand's booming tourist trade, which rarely receives any media coverage.
The documentary unveils the other side of the elephant tourist business in the Land of Smiles (Thailand), where domesticated Asian elephants are trained to give ingenious performances in tourist camps. Their cuteness and 'intelligence' never fails to attract tourists from around the world. However, not so many people are aware of the real situation of these animals or their living conditions. Besides uncovering the current situation of the elephants, the documentary also features an ancient taming ritual known as 'Pajaan,' where baby elephants receive hard training in order to enter the tourist business.
"Behind the Siamese Smile" aims to raise the public awareness of the animal's plights, while questioning the common perception of the Thai Asian elephants in the tourist business.
The documentary has been selected for screening at 2011 ISFF Detmold Short Film Festival in Germany as well as at the Once A Week Film Festival.Short documentary “Behind the Siamese Smile” exposes the shocking truth... more-
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Boulder DA investigating fatal dog shooting
The Boulder County District Attorney's Office announced today that it will launch an investigation into the fatal shooting of a family dog by a police officer.
The shooting occured on Tuesday, May 10th, in Erie, Colorado, a small town located approximately 30 miles north of Denver.
On Tuesday evening, Officer Jamie Chester responded to a harassment call at an Erie home. Upon leaving the patrol car, the officer encountered Ava, a German shepherd, in the home's driveway.
The dog's owner said the officer was backing away from the dog when he suddenly pulled out his gun and fired.
"He was starting to back away and he just pulled his gun and shot her without a warning or anything," Brittany Landis, Ava's owner, told KDVR. "He just pulled out his gun and shot her." Witnesses say the dog was not being aggressive toward the officer.
So far, the police department has defended Officer Chester's actions. They claim that Chester felt threatened by Ava because she had followed him up the driveway of another residence.
Erie Police Lt. Lee Mathis told KDVR, "the officer felt threatened by the dog and felt that the dog might attack him."
Erie's Chief of Police says that they take the incident very seriously, and they believe the District Attorney's office will conduct a thorough investigation.
http://www.kdvr.com/news/kdvr-boulder-da-investigating-fatal-dog-shooting-20110513,0,6693889.storyThe Boulder County District Attorney's Office announced today that it will launch... more-
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California state legislature passes bill to require labels on genetically engineered salmon
Dissatisfied with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) current review of the first-ever proposed commercialization of genetically engineered (GE) salmon, late yesterday the California Assembly Health Committee approved a bill which would require that all GE fish sold in California contain clear and prominent labeling. The bill, AB 88, was introduced by Assemblymember Jared Huffman. The Center for Food Safety (CFS), a co-sponsor of the bill, applauds the Health Committee for protecting the public’s right to know how their food is produced.
“The FDA has indicated that it will not require these GE fish to be labeled once they are approved,” said Rebecca Spector, West Coast Director of the Center for Food Safety. “As such, it is incumbent on the California State legislature, starting with the Health Committee, to let the people of California make informed choices about the food they eat by requiring the labeling of GE fish sold in California.”
Public opinion clearly and consistently calls for food labeling. Recent polls indicate that 95% of the public want labeling of genetically-modified foods, and that nearly 50% of the public would not eat seafood that has been genetically engineered. Consumers sent nearly 400,000 public comments to FDA demanding the agency reject this application and require mandatory labeling of this transgenic salmon should it decide to approve it.
The Center for Food Safety recently called on the FDA to recognize the immense public outcry for mandatory labeling of untested, unapproved transgenic salmon. CFS led a broad coalition of consumer, environmental, religious and animal welfare groups, along with commercial and recreational fisheries associations and food retailers, grocers and chefs in demanding the FDA deny approval of the long-shelved AquaBounty transgenic salmon and require mandatory labeling of the fish is approved despite intense opposition. If approved the transgenic salmon would be the first genetically engineered animal intended for human consumption.
“Until FDA completes an adequate environmental and human health review of genetically engineered salmon, it is up to individual states to protect consumers and their families,” said Spector. “California has always been a leader in environmental and food safety laws, and AB 88 continues this tradition by protecting the public from a potentially harmful food technology. More importantly, it gives consumers the right to know what they are eating and gives them a choice in the marketplace.”
Read CFS’s testimony presented at the Health Committee hearing at the link.Dissatisfied with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) current review... more-
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Dogfighting Phone App "Cruel," "Sickening," Says LAPD Union Chief
Los Angeles Times...
Dogfighting phone app called 'cruel,' 'sickening' by LAPD union chief [Updated]
April 25, 2011 | 11:21 am
The head of the Los Angeles police union said Monday that a dogfighting game application for cellphones should be yanked from the market because it glorifies illegal activity and promotes "cruel and immoral" behavior.
Paul M. Weber, president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, said he was particularly concerned that the Dog Wars game created by Kage Games would be embraced by local gang members and encourage them to engage in dogfighting.
"It's sickening, absolutely sickening," Weber said. "They should take it down immediately. These animals are defenseless. It's absolutely the wrong message to send to our children."
The Dog Wars app for the Android smart phone operating system encourages players to "Raise your dog to beat the best" and allows players to train a virtual pit bull to fight other virtual dogs and build street cred that "puts money in your pocket and lets you earn more in fights."
The company's website notes that the game player has a "gun for police raids and can inject the dog with steroids."
The Humane Society of the United States also released a statement urging Android to drop Dog Wars from its applications and calling the game "a step backward."
The humane society and other animal rights groups have been trying to educate the public about the dangers of professional and street dogfighting in the wake of the federal conviction of Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick in connection with a dogfighting ring at his former Virginia residence.
"Because Dog Wars actually instructs players on how to condition a dog using methods that are true to organized dogfighting, this game may be a training ground for young people to try the activity in the real world, encouraging cruelty to dogs and leading young people down a dead-end path," said Wayne Pacelle, the humane society's chief executive.
[Updated 1:30 p.m.: Michael Vick issued a statement Monday critical of Dog Wars. “I’ve come to learn the hard way that dog-fighting is a dead-end street,” Vick said in the statement. “Now, I am on the right side of this issue, and I think it’s important to send the smart message to kids, and not glorify this form of animal cruelty, even in an Android app.”]
An email to Kage Games was not immediately returned, but the creators have responded to criticism in an online statement, saying it is not illegal and other games on the video market include crime or killing as part of the gaming experience.
"Just because something is illegal in real life in certain countries, does not mean it is illegal to make a song, movie, or video game about it," company officials said in the statement.Los Angeles Times... Dogfighting phone app called 'cruel,'... more-
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Undercover Video of Abuse on Texas Cattle Ranch
On the heels of recently proposed legislation in Florida and Iowa that would make the filming or photographing of factory farm operations a crime, comes an undercover video made by Mercy for Animals (MFA) at a Texas cattle ranch.
The video is so graphic and disturbing you must be forewarned; it will take courage to watch it. The sudden, loud sound of a pickaxe slamming down on the head of a young calf in the opening moments of the film is appalling.
http://youtu.be/6366t4ramD8On the heels of recently proposed legislation in Florida and Iowa that would make the... more-
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Tesco China's Sale of Live Turtles Must Stop
Tesco China's Sale of Live Turtles Must Stop-
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