tagged w/ Animal Protection
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Antonin Scalia thinks people's "right" to giddily watch animals rip each other apart is more important than those animals' right not to be ripped apart. http://animalrights.change.org/blog/view/animal_torture_the_supreme_court_and_absurdity_from_the_nyt_and_lat
From Reuters:
Justice Antonin Scalia said the court needed to consider "the right of people who like cockfighting, who like dogfighting and who like bullfighting to present their side of the debate."
From AP:
Justice Antonin Scalia was having none of it. In the area of free speech, Scalia said, "it's not up to the government to decide what are people's worst instincts."
Scalia also pointed out that opponents of animal fighting may feel more free to use the images to express their views than proponents. "People who like bull fighting, who like dog fighting, who like cock fighting ... that side of the debate is entitled to make its point as forcefully as possible," he said.
Their "side of the debate"? "Entitled to make its point as forcefully as possible"? A Supreme Court justice thinks there's a debate about whether humans should be sadistically training animals to maim and kill each other for humans' amusement, about whether we should pit animals against each other and cheer and bet money on their suffering and gruesome, violent deaths.
A Supreme Court justice thinks that those who enjoy encouraging violence and inflicting extreme suffering on those more vulnerable are "entitled to make [their] point as forcefully as possible" by selling videos of that violence, to show how fun it really is.
You know what, Scalia? There are also people who truly believe that acts of pedophilia don't really hurt children. Should they be able to make their point "as forcefully as possible" too? Are their "rights" as people who like molesting children something we should consider when we make laws meant to protect children?
But according to these initial reports, it doesn't appear the other justices are falling all over themselves to stand up for animals either. No decision is expected until next year, but it doesn't look good. I'll be interested to read (and will pass along) the more detailed accounts of, and reactions to, what went on today later...Antonin Scalia thinks people's "right" to giddily watch animals rip each other apart... more
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LAKELAND, Fla.---- Animal control officers hope to trap a pack of raccoons that mauled a 74-year-old Florida woman who tried to chase them from her yard.LAKELAND, Fla.---- Animal control officers hope to trap a pack of raccoons that mauled... more
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"The Bushmeat Crisis" - the commercial hunting of many critically endangered species
(DRC, Africa)
GORILLA HANDS FOR SALE AT A MARKET IN THE
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO... FOR 6 US DOLLARS.
*WARNING: GRAPHIC & DISTURBING IMAGES
This slideshow includes other critically endangered species also for sale.
Some are STILL ALIVE.
Please follow link to 'Endangered Species International' (ESI) for more information & to see what you can do to help..
For the first time, ESI reveal's photos of their field monitoring using undercover methods at key markets in the republic of Congo. Their research reveals that most of illegal bushmeat sold in markets originates from one single region where primary and unprotected rainforest still remains.
ESI estimates about 300 gorillas are illegally killed each year for the bushmeat market in the city of Pointe Noire.
With your help, ESI can stop the illegal commercial hunting of endangered species in Central Africa.
DID ANYONE HEAR THIS?
$6.OO...
THIS IS UNEXCEPABLE!"The Bushmeat Crisis" - the commercial hunting of many critically endangered species... more
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London designer Gitta Gschwendtner has completed a wall that incorporates 1,000 nest boxes for birds and bats in Cardiff Bay, UK.
(Etherington, R., 2009, August 28, par.1)
The new housing development of Century Wharf which provides approximately 1,000 new apartments and houses; Gschwendtner’s design for the ’Animal Wall’ will match this with about 1,000 nest boxes for different bird and bat species, integrated into the fabric of the wall that separates the development from the adjacent public riverside walk.
(Etherington, R., 2009, August 28, par.6)
Through consultation with an ecologist, four different sized animal homes have been developed, which have been integrated into a custom-made woodcrete cladding to provide an architecturally stunning and environmentally sensitive wall for Century Wharf. The animal wall also transcends the barrier between the private and the public, with the wildlife roaming freely between the two areas.
(Etherington, R., 2009, August 28, par.7)London designer Gitta Gschwendtner has completed a wall that incorporates 1,000 nest... more
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jmsrmy
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3 months ago
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Big Cat Rescue is a nonprofit 501(c)3 charity dedicated to the care of exotic cats. We provide a permanent home for unwanted wildcats and we educate the public in order to eliminate the causes of abandonment and abuse.
Your tax deductible donations are what makes this possible. With your help we can end the suffering and give these great cats a home for life!
Thank you for watching if you would like to find out more please visit:
http://www.bigcatrescue.org
if you would like to make a donation please visit:
http://www.bigcatrescue.org/donate.htmBig Cat Rescue is a nonprofit 501(c)3 charity dedicated to the care of exotic cats. We... more
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BigCat
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5 months ago
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The problem with owning exotic animals as "pets".....
You just never know what kind of calls you are going to get when you are in the animal field. Follow along as your friends from Big Cat Rescue answer the call of a "snake rescue." Florida is a dumping ground for exotic animals.The problem with owning exotic animals as "pets".....
You just never know what kind... more
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BigCat
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5 months ago
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H.R. 669: Nonnative Wildlife Invasion Prevention Act. To prevent the introduction and establishment of nonnative wildlife species that negatively impact the economy, environment, or other animal species' or human health, and for other purposes.
This will NOT affect hamsters, guinea pigs, etc. so don't drink the KoolAid the animal dealers are trying to sell you. The bill is to allow the US Fish & Wildlife Svc come up with a list of truly dangerous invasive animals that won't be allowed as pets. The parakeet police are not going to come take your pets. It is a common sense bill for people with common sense. Find out the truth from someone other than a breeder, dealer or animal exploiter.
Millions of wild animals, including reptiles, large felines, nonhuman primates, and others, are kept in private possession in the U.S. The trade in exotic animals is a multi-billion-dollar-a-year industry.
HR669 will help prevent these "pets" that often are just released into the wild from destroying our native animals and habitat.
PLEASE HELP SUPPORT HR669!H.R. 669: Nonnative Wildlife Invasion Prevention Act. To prevent the introduction and... more
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BigCat
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5 months ago
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"Earthrace" is joining the fight for the whales.
JAPAN has asked Australia to prevent the Sea Shepherd ship Steve Irwin leaving port to harass its whalers in the Antarctic next summer, but the plea may have little effect.
The anti-whaling activists plan to upgrade their fleet from an ageing, former North Atlantic fisheries patrol boat to include another ship - something out of the future. The global speedboat Earthrace would head south under Sea Shepherd colours next summer, the group's leader Paul Watson said.
"It looks like a spaceship. It can do 40 knots and dive under waves completely. We'll be using it to intercept and block harpoons."
In 61 days last year Earthrace circled the globe fuelled by biodiesel. The New Zealand owner/skipper, Pete Bethune, said he decided to become involved because "this is happening in my backyard and it really pisses me off. I'm going to make a stand."
He said he was adding half a tonne of Kevlar to the vessel to toughen it against the ice. It had the endurance to go half way round the world on a tank of fuel.
"They won't get away from me," he said.
Earthrace's role was unveiled as the International Whaling Commission heard that Sea Shepherd's protests endangered the lives of whalers in the Southern Ocean last summer when the Steve Irwin was involved in two collisions.
"These are highly dangerous, and it can only be described as a miracle that there has been no death or large-scale accident to date," said a Japanese delegation member, Jun Yamashita.
"We cannot tolerate such audacity," Mr Yamashita told the commission. "We ask for
all appropriate measures, including a ban on the ship from leaving port, so that we can prevent these acts from being repeated."
Mr Watson, who is not permitted inside the meeting, said the Steve Irwin was soon to leave Brisbane for Hobart after a $500,000 refit. Its buckled hull plates had been repaired, and it was fitted with a powerful water cannon on the bow to match the whalers'.
He dubbed next summer's campaign Operation Waltzing Matilda and has adopted a symbol with a kangaroo wearing a pirate's eye patch.
An official from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, David Dutton, told the 71-nation meeting in Madeira that the Rudd Government was "deeply concerned" about clashes in the Southern Ocean..."Earthrace" is joining the fight for the whales.
JAPAN has asked Australia to... more
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'A Westport farm family makes way for 12 orphaned ducklings'
The ducklings were barely 2 weeks old when their mother was run over and killed earlier this month by a motorist in a parking lot at the Dartmouth Mall.
The 12 orphans have found temporary shelter at a Westport farm, and the man who allegedly ran over their mother June 13 could face several charges, including animal cruelty.
The New Bedford Standard-Times reported yesterday that police said a 25-year-old Acushnet man ran down the mother duck. He did not stop his 2003 Kia Spectra after the incident and left the mall soon afterward, the paper said.
The newspaper also reported that the man later explained to the police that he left because a witness started yelling at him and he did not want a confrontation.
Meanwhile, the ducklings are being cared for by Christine A. Ponte and her husband, Joseph S. Ponte, who own the Westport farm. In another six weeks, when they are stronger and ready to fly, the couple will release them into the wild, they said.
The ducklings seem comfortable in their new home, which they share with a baby deer named Lucky.
The dozen feathery brown ducklings move together as a group, often climbing on top of one another and looking around curiously.
At a glance they look identical, but some are just slightly smaller and tend to follow the biggest one, pecking at one another.
At night they sleep in a cozy room with a heat lamp.
They are growing by the day, almost like weeds, Christine Ponte said.
She feeds them and pets them and cleans their cage, but also makes sure she does not grow too fond of them.
“I gave them a new life and a new start,’’ she said. “I try not to interact with them. . . . I want them to just go back where they belong.’’
Ponte said she could not believe someone would want to hurt the creatures intentionally.
“How can you do something like this?’’ she said. “A lot of people do it and think it’s OK to do it for fun.’’'A Westport farm family makes way for 12 orphaned ducklings'
The ducklings were... more
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PHOTO: A mountain gorilla is having a snare removed. Illegal logging/deforestation has created access for illegal hunting and illegal wildlife-trade. The snares are used to catch "bushmeat" (anything that ends up in the trap).
Large numbers of endangered animals have been killed by armed groups at Africa's oldest national park in the Democratic Republic of Congo since the start of the year, park officials and environmental groups said Tuesday.
Chimpanzees, elephants, antelopes, birds and hippos have been slaughtered after Virunga National Park became the scene of intense fighting.
The park, on the frontier with Uganda, was made a world heritage site by the UN's cultural body UNESCO, and is home to endangered species such as the mountain gorilla.
"Four chimpanzees were killed last week in the central zone and 11 elephants since the start of the year," park director Emmanuel de Merode told AFP.
He added "a large number of game animals", including antelopes, had also been slaughtered.
Bantu Lukamba, from local environmental NGO Innovation, said: "At least 31 animals, including 11 migratory birds and three hippos were killed over 21 days."
They died between May 25 and June 16, he said.
Armed groups have overrun the park since violence flared up last year.
It became the theatre of intense fighting, mainly between government forces or their proxies and rebels of the National Congress for the Defence of the People.
"It is impossible to get control the situation in the park, given the huge number of armed men who exploit its resources," Merode said.
The park is also home to Lake Edward, which in 1980 was the world's most important hippopotamus sanctuary with 27,000 of the animals.
There are now less than 300, according to Merode.
Created in 1925, Virunga National Park is the oldest in Africa.PHOTO: A mountain gorilla is having a snare removed. Illegal logging/deforestation has... more
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If you care anything about primates, hypocrisy or justice, you’re going to want to read this blog entry from Priscilla Feral, President of Friends of Animals.
In a nutshell, PeTA is, for the third time, again suing Primarily Primates, Inc., a non-profit animal sanctuary in San Antonio, Texas that is managed by Friends of Animals (FoA) and operates solely to house and rehabilitate various non-native animals, such as primates, birds and an African lion.
These animals are typically the throwaways from pet trade and biomedical research facilities and without PPI’s intervention would have had an uncertain future – if any at all.
After two unsuccessful lawsuits, both of which were dismissed for unsubstantiated claims, one would think PeTA would not only examine its own agenda for legitimacy, but seriously reconsider wasting further donation dollars on giddy court cases. But, as Feral writes in her blog;
“As a $30 million per year organization, PETA can afford to file all the frivolous lawsuits it wants, hire as many lawyers as it wants, and make all of the frivolous arguments it wants. However, PETA is hard-pressed to explain how this lawsuit helps any of the animals in PPI’s care…”
The mission statement of Friends of Animals is to ‘cultivate a respectful view of nonhuman animals, free-living and domestic.’ They engage in nationwide spay and neuter campaigns, strongly support veganism and are staunch advocates for animal care, activism and compassion. Funny, but according to PeTA’s PR machines, they do, too.
So, we’ll be watching this case closely in the coming weeks. In the meantime, we hope you will send a letter to PeTA expressing your outrage that donation dollars are being spent on eating one of their own.
Personal Note:
I have always been a strong supporter of PETA. I have also supported Friends of Animals and many other organizations that promote animal rights, animal welfare legislation and environmental ethics. So, readining a post like this is disturbing.
I can't imagine where PETA would expect them to go. It would think the primates are in the best place possible. If this news is true, it would be disappointing on many levels...If you care anything about primates, hypocrisy or justice, you’re going to want to... more
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Has the recent violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo threatened the populations of lowland gorillas? How many are left?
The short answer is yes, dramatically.
Not to be confused with Western Lowland Gorillas, which are thriving in significant numbers in neighboring Congo (a recent census counted 125,000).
Today fewer than 5,000 Eastern Lowland Gorillas are estimated to remain in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), formerly known as Zaire. Some 17,000 inhabited the region as recently as 1994, but today habitat loss, hunting ('bushmeat'), and war and violence are combining to push them over the edge.
Following the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, an influx of refugees, along with bloodthirsty militias, moved across the border into the neighboring DRC. These militias set up training grounds in the very forests the gorillas call home, making conservation work impractical to say the least. Park rangers, game wardens and wildlife researchers either fled their wooded beats or were removed at gunpoint.
In the wake of this, civilian populations in the affected areas still had to make ends meet somehow. So hunting for so-called “bushmeat,” and cutting down the forest for firewood, charcoal and space for agricultural plots became the means for day-to-day survival, and continue to this day.
Some 91 percent of the human population in the region practice subsistence agriculture. This means that large swaths of gorilla habitat throughout the region have been converted to farms. At the same time, 96 percent of the locals rely on firewood as their main supply of energy for warmth and cooking. “Forested parks are for many of them the last remaining source of fuel,” reports the Year of the Gorilla website.
*please follow link for the rest of this story*Has the recent violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo threatened the populations... more
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*NOTE* In 2008, over 17 million dogs were placed in America's animal shelters. Only 1 in 10 were adopted out. Pet over-population is a HUMAN problem and it is our responsibility to fix it.
The LA Times original post - http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2009/06/california-budget-cuts-could-mean-pets-are-put-to-sleep-faster-in-animal-shelters.html
California's animal shelter system is facing cutbacks because of the state's current budget crisis. California Governer Arnold Schwarzenegger has a proposal which could cause shelters to reduce the minimum hold time for strays. This means that euthanization could happen in just three days instead of six.
It's no surprise that animal advocates disagree with the proposal. Jennifer Fearing of the Humane Society testified at a budget committee hearing Thursday: "If shelters are no longer reimbursed by the state for holding animals, they will be forced to cut services. The 'savings' generated by suspending this mandate is a paltry 0.1% of the $24-billion deficit. These funds are the only state dollars that presently go to assisting local governments with the costly problem of pet overpopulation."
The saddest part is that many animals find homes through adoptions at shelters, not to mention the many pet owners who reclaim their pets from a shelter. Shortening the time that animals can be held will obviously lead to an increase in animal deaths, including the deaths of animals who could be adoptable. With the cost of caring for the animals offset by adoption fees and owner reclaimation fees, it makes very little sense to make such a change.*NOTE* In 2008, over 17 million dogs were placed in America's animal shelters. Only 1... more
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Deadline by: 06 June 2009 – Signatures: 5,882!
British troops fear for fate of mascot Sandbag the dog who could be killed when they leave Iraq.
Rumour has it that Sandbag the dog has survived being shot five times.
But the British soldiers in Iraq who have adopted him as a camp mascot fear he will not last long after they return to the UK at the end of this month.
They are worried he will be put down by local Iraqis or killed by other dogs when they leave ... :(
A true military dog, he loves helicopters and often follows the troops out on patrol.
He also bears scars from numerous scraps with other dogs and - according to base legend - several bullet wounds.
Captain Guy Myram, the squadron's second in command, said: "Apparently anyone in combats is his master - although he doesn't warm to the Americans so much because they're not wearing the same as us."
Another soldier said: "He's very loyal to the troops - if you get mobbed by other dogs, he will literally fight every single one of them. "He's a Tyson among the pups."
Sandbag was born on the forward operating base at North Port in Umm Qasr about two years ago and quickly endeared himself to the British troops stationed there.
The soldiers have had him vaccinated, given him a collar, and even know to let him into the camp when he barks outside the front gate.
Sandbag is not the only animal to make the base their home. There is also Hesco the cat, named after the sand-filled blast walls on top of which the feline likes to sleep.
The soldiers from the Queen's Royal Hussars, based at Paderborn in Germany, are now trying to work out a way of saving Sandbag when they hand the base over to the Americans at the end of this month.
The men investigated getting the much-loved mascot flown back to Britain, but discovered it would cost several thousand pounds to put him in quarantine.
One soldier joked: "We thought about putting him inside a container of kit back to Germany and throwing in a couple of steaks."
The current plan to take Sandbag to the nearby Umm Qasr Naval Base, where British troops are expected to be stationed until at least 2011.
But it remains to be seen how well he will get on with Jack and Royal, the two dogs who already live at the Royal Navy-led coalition camp on the naval base.
Information from a Facebook group "Help British Troops Save Sandbag (the dog) Please join and sign :)"
From petition creator - "There is a dog that has been helping the Military in Basra and when the troops pull out he will be left there,probably to die! He must be allowed to return to the UK with the Troops he has served alongside"
Please sign this petition to the Prime Minister to Save Sandbag the Dog!
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/sandbag/
IF YOU ARE NOT BRITISH, PLEASE X-POST AND FORWARD ANYWAY!
Or, if you would please spare 2-3 minutes of your time, write a quick email to the Prime Minister. Let him know that you are aware of the immense and unjust suffering of Iraq's dog population. Ask that he spare Sandbag such a cruel fate.
NOTE: All homeless animals are considered an ENEMY. Dogs and puppies are beaten to death. They are shot at. For entertainment, they are even burned alive.
* Please see post for PM contact infoDeadline by: 06 June 2009 – Signatures: 5,882!
British troops fear for fate of... more
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The Marine Mammal Center reminds coastal residents and visitors to “Leave Seals Be”.
Or, to call The Center’s 24-hour response hotline (listed below by region).
The goal of the campaign is to discourage illegal pick-ups of newborn harbor seal pups on beaches that many members of the public mistakenly believe have been abandoned by their seal mothers.
While the Center is able to rehabilitate orphaned and injured harbor seal pups, there is no substitute for the care and feeding these pups receive from their mothers as mother’s milk contains important antibodies that help build the young pup’s immune system.
Therefore, well-meaning beachgoers who attempt to help these pups by taking them home, returning them to the water, covering them with a blanket, or approaching them too close, actually are doing more harm then good.
Also, harbor seals, along with all marine mammals, are protected under The Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 making it illegal and punishable by law to “take” marine mammals without a permit or to harm or harass them.
What YOU can do for a Stranded Marine Mammal
If you see a seal in distress, call our rescue and response Hotlines. After your call is placed, the Center will monitor the pup for 24-hours or more, depending on the situation, and if necessary trained volunteers and staff will rescue it safely.
Call The Marine Mammal Center at 415.289.SEAL (.7325) with as much information as you have.
In Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties, call 831.633.6298.The Marine Mammal Center reminds coastal residents and visitors to “Leave Seals... more
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The population of Burmese pythons in Florida's Everglades may have grown to as many as 150,000 as the non-native snakes make a home and breed in the fragile wetlands, officials said Thursday.
Wildlife biologists say the troublesome invaders -- dumped in the Everglades by pet owners who no longer want them -- have become a pest and pose a significant threat to endangered species like the wood stork and Key Largo woodrat.
"They eat things that we care about," said Skip Snow, an Everglades National Park biologist, as he showed a captured, 15-foot (4.6-meter) Burmese python to U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who was on his first fact-finding mission to the Everglades since the Obama administration took office.
With Snow maintaining a strong grip on its head, the massive snake hissed angrily at Salazar and the other federal officials who gathered around it at a recreation area off Alligator Alley in the vast saw grass prairie. It took two other snake wranglers to control the python's body.
"A snake this size could eat a small deer or a bobcat without too much trouble," Snow told Salazar before the secretary boarded an airboat for a tour of the Everglades.
Everglades biologists have been grappling with the growing python problem for a decade. The snakes are one of the largest species in the world and natives of Southeast Asia, but they found a home to their liking in the Everglades when pet owners started using the wetland as a convenient dumping ground.
"They're fine when they're small but they can live 25 to 30 years. When they get bigger you have to feed them small animals like rabbits, and cleaning up after them, it's like cleaning up after a horse," Snow said. "People don't want big snakes."
TRAPPERS AND HUNTERS
Pythons captured in the Everglades are often killed. Wildlife officials are trying trapping and other eradication methods, and are considering offering bounties to hunters. Scientists are experimenting with ways to lure the snakes into traps, including the use of pheromones -- chemicals that serve as sexual attractants -- as bait.
"They are estimating there are 150,000 of these snakes. They proliferate so quickly," said Florida Senator Bill Nelson, who accompanied Salazar on the airboat tour of the Everglades. "They've already found grown deer, they've found full sized bobcats inside them. It's just a matter of time before one gets the highly endangered Florida panther."
But biologists played down the risk to the panther, the most endangered species in the Everglades. There are believed to be only about 100 left, but they range over a territory of some 2 million acres.
"It would take some awfully unique circumstances for a python and a panther to meet up," said Darrell Land, a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission biologist. "And the cats are very wary and they have very quick reaction times."
Pythons are not the only invader troubling the Everglades.
New fish and rodent species have also become pests, and two thriving colonies of the Nile monitor lizard, an Africa native that can grow to 7 feet in length, have established themselves on opposite sides of the state.
Nelson, a Democrat, said the Obama administration had committed $200 million, including $100 million of stimulus money, so far this year to Everglades restoration, a 35-year project valued at $8 billion when it was started nearly a decade ago.
The project is designed to restore natural water flow and native wildlife populations to the shallow, slow-moving river that dominates the interior of southern Florida.
NOTE: Pythons & the Nile monitor lizard can eat many of Florida's endagered species. Including tortoises, turtles, salamanders... and even marine mammals that come close to the area's waters.The population of Burmese pythons in Florida's Everglades may have grown to as many as... more
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PIC: Karley - the 6 month old puppy girl beaten by Asst. Fire Chief Glynn Johnson - Riverside CA. Due to the severity of the beating, Karley had to be euthinzed(http://cbs2.com/local/Puppy.Riverside.Fire.2.859405.html)
The finding that animal cruelty cases are increasing with economic difficulties is troubling.
Animal cruelty investigators seem to be seeing more cases of people who either can't afford to feed or look after their pets, or cases of people moving in the middle of the night and leaving their animals behind; even abandoning horses in someone else's pasture.
It needs to be stressed that poverty can only be seen as an excuse for neglecting animals. There are many people, as demonstrated in today's Nanaimo Daily News, able look after their animals regardless of their economic circumstance.
Our first concern about an increase in animal cruelty must be whether those engaged in such abuse may also be mistreating humans, children especially.
For some time, forensic psychiatrists have warned that animal abuse can be the first signs of a budding psychopath.
This does not mean a rise in animal cruelty cases equates to an increase in psychopathy, only as a warning that a certain type of ethical behaviour may be waning.
It is important to point out that regardless of the implications for human beings, an ethic of kindness to animals for their own sake is also important.
We should remember that neither new nor stricter laws, though long past overdue, can be seen as a way to eliminate animal cruelty.
They may be necessary as an effective deterrent, but deterrence only works to a point.
Education is vital around animal welfare. Animals cannot possess rights since a precondition to a right is awareness of possessing that right. Therefore, it is important that we learn that as humans we have a responsibility to be kind to animals.
For nearly a decade now, animal protection agencies have been working to toughen up the animal cruelty section in the Canadian Criminal Code. Legislation has been prepared and died when elections have been called.
Part of the difficulty lies in the definition of how an animal is defined in relation to cruelty and neglect. What is good for protection of pets may be bad for the livestock industry.
Somewhere between the rights of those who harvest animals, whether they are seals, pigs or cattle, there must be a balance that protects animals from abuse and the continuance of such industries.
Animal welfare advocates may be calling for education and a new way of looking at animals, and the concern has to be that views on animals may be changing for the worse in the absence of such education.
We live in the age of objectification, with too many of us looking at each other not as individuals but simply as a means to an end. Such a view bleeds over for some into looking at animals as objects, easily treated with indifference and callousness.
New laws with tougher penalties may be needed, and they cannot in any way be seen as a solution for this problem.
What seems to happening is that an increased number of people may be losing touch with that vital ethic of kindness to animals. The fix for that isn't education as much as good parenting.
Julie Hitchcock, a cruelty investigator with the Nanaimo SPCA, may agree. She sometimes speaks to young people about the topic.
Her observations should give alarm to people who know, understand and practice the ethic of kindness to animals.
"I find a lot of kids are completely oblivious to what's involved in caring for an animal," said Hitchcock.
While she's not saying they are cruel, or even disposed to cruelty, that lack of knowledge creates a big gap that can lead there through neglect.
It's not that we need to change the way we look at animals, only that we need to return to that important ethic around kindness.
Without that, the toughest laws in the land on animal cruelty won't end this disturbing trend.zPIC: Karley - the 6 month old puppy girl beaten by Asst. Fire Chief Glynn Johnson -... more
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TRAGEDY: Fifty-five whales beached themselves at Kommetjie on Saturday. Officials said more were still coming ashore.
VOLUNTEERS who had spent hours trying to rescue 55 false killer whales that stranded themselves at Long Beach, Kommetjie, in Cape Town wept hysterically when officials decided to shoot the animals on Saturday afternoon.
"We euthanised 42 and another two were euthanised during the night,” said Mike Meyer, a marine and coastal management scientist.
Meyer said government officials and animal welfare groups held an emergency meeting after many of the animals that had been eased back into the water turned around and stranded themselves lower down the beach.
Meyer blamed adverse weather, big swells and a strong rip tide for the rescue operation’s failure.
Fifty-five of the false killer whales began beaching at around 7.30am on Saturday.
The misnamed animals are actually the largest members of the dolphin family . Most pods are led by a big female and they will follow her if she swims ashore.
The beach was chaotic yesterday as Metro Police and others tried to prevent people witnessing the slaughter as Meyer walked from one animal to the next to put a bullet in its head. The sea ran red with blood as citizens wept hysterically.
Officials manhandled journalists trying to photograph the killings.
Meyer said the stranded animals did not stand much chance of surviving their ordeal, even if freed. He said that marine and coastal management would have to develop a protocol to deal with future mass strandings.
About 10 to 13 of the pod are believed to have escaped.
Many dolphins and whales strand themselves. No one knows why but researchers believe that naval sonar can drive them ashore.TRAGEDY: Fifty-five whales beached themselves at Kommetjie on Saturday. Officials said... more
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“Dying to Learn: Exposing the Supply and Use of Dogs and Cats in Higher Education” documents the hidden practices of colleges and universities in which unscrupulous Class B dealers, who obtain animals from shelters, sell former pets to education facilities, where these animals are used, and often killed, for dissection and live surgeries in teaching laboratories.
It traces the route that brings dogs like Cruella, a shepherd-mix from Michigan, to an unhappy end at university teaching labs.
The result of a two-year investigation of animal acquisition and use at 92 public colleges and universities in the U.S, “Dying to Learn” reveals that 52% are using live and dead dogs and cats for teaching, despite the availability of viable alternatives.
The report also dentifies specific schools that are obtaining animals from unethical sources.
DETAILS:
Cruella's story: http://www.dyingtolearn.org/cruella.html
Download report in full: http://www.dyingtolearn.org/dyingToLearn.pdf
What you can do to help the animals: http://www.dyingtolearn.org/takeaction.html“Dying to Learn: Exposing the Supply and Use of Dogs and Cats in Higher Education”... more
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By 'Fovea Exhibitions'
The mountain gorillas of the Virunga National Park live surrounded by violence. Heavily armed soldiers of guerrilla warfare, poachers, illegal charcoal makers, all roam the forest poised to destroy what gets in their way.
Still... a village and the world were outraged when a family of the gentle primates was murdered in cold blood in July 2007. Just over 200 of the extremely rare mountain gorillas, of which there are only 680 in the world, live in the Democratic Republic of Congo, virtually the epicenter of humanitarian crisis and civil wars that have left almost 6 million people dead in the last 15 years. Last autumn a peace treaty was signed, and rangers discovered 5 babies gorillas have been born.
The non-profit charity Fovea Exhibitions will host Stirton's internationally award-winning photo essay through August, documenting the story of the tragedy and the renewal of some of the last mountain gorillas on the planet.
The reception will celebrate both Fovea’s second year anniversary and the 2009 Year of the Gorilla.
FOVEA 's mission is to educate through visual journalism.
It was founded to create a space where today’s important humanitarian and social issues can be explored in depth through the medium of photojournalism. Fovea mounts exhibitions by the world’s most talented and thoughtful photojournalists, and hosts events where the public can engage them, and industry experts in discussion about the subjects they have covered.
In an effort to reach the next generation, Fovea also brings photojournalists to public schools in the Hudson Valley where they give interactive presentations to elementary, middle and high school students.
Fovea Editions Inc. is a registered 501(c)3, not-for-profit educational charity.By 'Fovea Exhibitions'
The mountain gorillas of the Virunga National Park live... more
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