tagged w/ Animal Protection
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Justice for Dog Whose Face Was Blown Off By Fireworks!
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/441/petition-for-the-dog-whose-face-was-torn-off-after-people-put-a-lit-firework-in-his-mouth-and-later/
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Please sign the petition -- these two ugly humans need to be punished.
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care2 petitionsite
Justice for Dog Whose Face Was Blown Off By Fireworks!
Justice for Dog Whose Face Was Blown Off By Fireworks!
signatures: 90,724
deadline: ongoing
signature goal: 100,000
Target: Federal Ministry of Justice of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Sponsored by: International workers for animal rights
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Please share Vucko's story on Facebook.
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SARAJEVO -- Two intoxicated youths duct-taped a firework in a German shepherd's mouth and blew off his face. But the torture didn't stop there. The poor dog, known as Vucko, wandered for five days, unable to eat and with maggots infecting the meaty pulp of his ruined face. Vucko was finally picked up by authorities and euthanized after vets were unable to perform reconstructive surgery.
Click on the link in the story if you can bear viewing EXTREMELY GRAPHIC footage of Vucko being examined by vets. Notice the firework's shell casing still embedded in the dog's head.
We must bring the animal abusers to justice and ensure that this inhumanity is never repeated; sadly, animal welfare laws are practically nonexistent in much of Eastern Europe. Sign this petition urging Bosnian authorities to hunt down the guilty parties, expose the severity of animal abuse, and create proper legislation that will protect animals. Don't let Vucko die in vain!
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Pas Vucko je uzasno stradao kad neki su zalepili vatromet za usta od psa I zapalili to. Od explozije je pas tesko bijo ranjen u lici. 5 dana se vrtio u ulice od Sarajevo dok su ga nasli. Na zalost nista nije se moglo ucinit da se ga spasi i Vucka se trebalo eutanizirat. Te ljude koji su ucinili tu uzast bi trebalo da se osudi.
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.Justice for Dog Whose Face Was Blown Off By Fireworks!... more
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Los Angeles Times...
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PHOTO: Congress removed wolves in Montana and Idaho from the protection of the Endangered Species Act in April. (Associated Press)
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The new war on wolves
As soon as federal protection ended, the slaughter began.
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By J. William Gibson
December 8, 2011
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Congress removed wolves in Montana and Idaho from the protection of the Endangered Species Act in April. And this fall, the killing began.
As of Wednesday, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game reported that 154 of its estimated 750 wolves had been "harvested" this year. Legal hunting and trapping — with both snares to strangle and leg traps to capture — will continue through the spring. And if hunting fails to reduce the wolf population sufficiently — to less than 150 wolves — the state says it will use airborne shooters to eliminate more.
In Montana, hunters will be allowed to kill up to 220 wolves this season (or about 40% of the state's roughly 550 wolves). To date, hunters have taken only about 100 wolves, prompting the state to extend the hunting season until the end of January. David Allen, president of the powerful Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, has said he thinks hunters can't do the job, and he is urging the state to follow Idaho's lead and "prepare for more aggressive wolf control methods, perhaps as early as summer 2012."
Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead recently concluded an agreement with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to save 100 to 150 wolves in lands near Yellowstone National Park. But in the remaining 80% of the state, wolves can be killed year-round because they are considered vermin. Roughly 60% of Wyoming's 350 wolves will become targeted for elimination.
What is happening to wolves now, and what is planned for them, doesn't really qualify as hunting. It is an outright war.
In the mid-1990s, when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released 66 wolves in Yellowstone and central Idaho, most of the U.S. celebrated. The magnificent wolf, an icon of wilderness that humans had driven to extinction in the United States, would now reoccupy part of its old range. But in the region where the wolves were introduced, the move was much more controversial.
Part of the reason was the increase, particularly in Idaho and Montana, in paramilitary militia advocates, with their masculine ideal of man as warrior who should fight the hated federal government, by armed force if necessary. They were outraged by what they saw as federal interference in the region spurred by environmentalists, and their ideas found a willing reception among ranchers, who view wolves as a threat to their livestock — even though they ranch on federal land — and hunters, who don't want the wolves reducing the big game population.
The factions have reinforced one another, and today a cultural mythology has emerged that demonizes the federal government, the environmental movement and the wolves themselves. Many false claims have been embraced as truth, including that the Fish and Wildlife Service stole $60 million from federal excise taxes on guns and ammunition to pay for bringing wolves back; that the introduced wolves carry horrible tapeworms that can be easily transmitted to dogs, and ultimately to humans; that the Canadian wolves that were brought in are an entirely different species from the gray wolves that once lived in the Rockies, and that these wolves will kill elk, deer, livestock — even humans — for sport.
The false claims may have had particular resonance because they built on a long tradition in Western culture. During the Middle Ages, the Roman Catholic Church ruled that wolves belonged to the devil: Demons could take the shape of wolves, as could witches. Puritans brought similar ideas to America. Cotton Mather called New England before it was settled a "howling wilderness." Asked to investigate Salem's alleged witches, Mather concluded in his book, "On Witchcraft" (1692): "Evening wolves" (werewolves and witches) were but another of the devil's tests as New England passed from "wilderness" to the "promised land."
And that attitude has persisted. Gary Marbut, president of the influential Montana Shooting Sports Assn., wrote in 2003 that "one might reasonably view man's entire development and creation of civilization as a process of fortifying against wolves."
Politicians from both parties in Western states have been eager to help with the fortifications. In Idaho, Republican Rep. Mike Simpson and the state's governor, Butch Otter, made removal of wolves from the Endangered Species Act a political priority. In Montana, Republican Rep. Denny Rehberg has made delisting wolves central to his 2012 Senate campaign against Democratic Sen. Jon Tester. In April, Tester in turn persuaded fellow Democrats in the Senate to approve his inserting a rider in a budget bill that delisted wolves.
In early November, Sen. Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, made his own political contribution. Thrilled at the testing of a drone aircraft manufactured in Montana, Baucus declared: "Our troops rely on this type of technology every day, and there is an enormous future potential in border security, agriculture and wildlife and predator management." A manufacturer's representative claimed his company's drone "can tell the difference between a wolf and a coyote." Pilotless drone aircraft used by the CIA and the Air Force to target and kill alleged terrorists now appear to be real options to track and kill "enemy" wolves.
How far we have fallen since the mid-1990s, when we celebrated the wolves' reintroduction. During the 2008 presidential election, candidate Barack Obama declared: "Federal policy toward animals should respect the dignity of animals and their rightful place as cohabitants of the environment. We should strive to protect animals and their habitats and prevent animal cruelty, exploitation and neglect."
The president now should make good on that promise.
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J. William Gibson is a sociology professor at Cal State Long Beach and the author of "A Reenchanted World." http://www.jameswilliamgibson.com
.Los Angeles Times...
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PHOTO: Congress removed wolves in Montana and Idaho from... more
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CBS News US...
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December 6, 2011 4:38 PM
Kittens discarded in cat food bag rescued by dog
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Michelle Castillo
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PHOTO: Reagan, the dog who saved the day by rescuing two kittens from a discarded cat food bag (WHOTV)
(CBS News)
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Two kittens who were thrown mercilessly into a a bag and then dumped in the middle of the road are now available for adoption from and Iowa rescue group But if it weren't for the heroic actions of dog named Regan, they probably would not have survived.
WHOTV reports that the two kittens, named Tipper and Skipper, were sealed in a Meow Mix bag with the rest of the litter, and then left in the street. The bag had been run over by a vehicle, killing some of the kittens and making it difficult to tell exactly how many cats were inside. Somehow, Tipper and Skipper survived. "It was not a pretty sight," Linda Blakely from Iowa's Raccoon Valley Animal Sanctuary said.
That's when Reagan stepped in. He grabbed the bag, and carried it home. He didn't stop whining until his owner opened the bag. Covered in the blood and remains of the kittens who were killed, she found two seriously injured survivors.
"The instinct of the dog was to nurture and not kill the kittens. With all the blood some dogs would have responded to the scent. Reagan the dog is a hero," Blakely said.
Tipper and Skipper were traumatized and weak from the experience, and had to be fed with a bottle every two hours. They have recovered, and are now available for adoption. Blakely believed their their survival is proof that there is always a way to make things right, and wanted to remind pet owners that there's always a safe method to finding a new home for pets if you are unable to take care of them.
.CBS News US...
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December 6, 2011 4:38 PM
Kittens discarded in cat food... more
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http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/12/san-bernardino-county-cockfighting.html
Los Angeles Times...
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D.A. combats cockfighting with undercover video, $5,000 reward
December 6, 2011 | 9:30 am
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Click on link to view video:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/12/san-bernardino-county-cockfighting.html
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The San Bernardino County district attorney's office went multimedia in its efforts to combat cockfighting.
The district attorney's office released a video about the illegal blood sport in which roosters with blades strapped to their feet fight to the death. The six-minute video includes "undercover footage" of cockfighting matches provided by the Humane Society of the United States.
The video posts an offer of a $5,000 reward by the Humane Society to those who report cockfighting.
The district attorney's office has prosecuted 43 cockfighting cases in San Bernardino County in the last year. Cockfighting is illegal in all 50 states, but California is one of 11 states where it is a misdemeanor rather than a felony.
"One of the ways that a society should be judged is by how they treat their animals. I truly believe that," San Bernardino County Dist. Atty. Michael Ramos said in the video.
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Click on link to view video:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/12/san-bernardino-county-cockfighting.html
.http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/12/san-bernardino-county-cockfighting.html... more
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BuzzFeed...
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20 Asshole Celebrities Who Wear Fur
Celebrity Buzz
Many celebrities choose to wear fur as a symbol of their success and luxurious lifestyle. You would think that they would know better, especially with all the press about animal cruelty! Plus, they just look silly.
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1. 50 Cent (above)
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[NOTE FROM ETHICAL VEGAN: The headline is not mine.]BuzzFeed...
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20 Asshole Celebrities Who Wear Fur
Celebrity Buzz
Many... more
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Los Angeles Times...
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Southern California -- this just in
Nearly 60 animals seized at 'death trap' in rural San Diego County
December 2, 2011 | 4:51 pm
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Fifty-eight animals in the rural community of Campo were seized Friday by San Diego County sheriff's deputies and animal services officers in a raid on a small ranch that one animal services officer called a "death trap."
The animals included goats, sheep, llamas, cattle and horses. Many of the animals were sick, were on the verge of starvation and had overgrown hooves, investigators said.
On Nov. 9, animal control officers had found nine dead goats and a dead llama on the same property. Necropsies determined that the animals had probably died of starvation.
The owners were given a warning about the remaining animals but apparently were not following through on their promises to provide better feed and care, according to Lt. Dan DeSousa of the county Department of Animal Services.
"We were not going to allow these animals to remain and suffer the same fate as the others," DeSousa said.
The animals were taken to a county-run facility in Bonita. Investigators are gathering evidence and will present a report to the district attorney about possible animal cruelty charges against the property owners, DeSousa said.
Deputies and investigators allowed several dogs, several chickens and a pig to remain. "But we'll be monitoring to see how they are doing," DeSousa said.
Campo is an hour east of downtown San Diego. The owners were not home at the time of the raid.
.Los Angeles Times...
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Southern California -- this just in
Nearly 60... more
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NBC L.A. ...
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Wildlife WayStation in Dire Financial State
"We are at the end of our rope," said Martine Colette, the sanctuary's founder and director
By Ashley Gordon
| Friday, Dec 2, 2011 | Updated 3:29 PM PST
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Wildlife Waystation in Dire Financial State
Photo: Wildlife Waystation resident Bolero plays with a ball.
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Taking care of wild animals is no easy task. Couple the labor and maintenance involved with a troubled economy and the result is an animal sanctuary on the brink of closure.
Tucked within the Angeles National Forest is the Wildlife WayStation, an animal sanctuary that some 400 wild and exotic animals, birds and reptiles call home. Since it opened its doors in 1976, it has relied solely on corporate and foundation grants, private donations, animal sponsorships and bequests – all of which have dwindled under the current economic climate.
“We are at the end of our rope,” said Martine Colette, the sanctuary’s founder and director. “We cannot stretch a dollar anymore and we are out of dollars.”
Colette said she is experiencing the most significant drop in fundraising activity in her 45 years of animal welfare and rescue work, making it increasingly difficult to meet the $150,000 needed monthly to maintain the WayStation. She even issued a plea for public help.
The nonprofit has significantly cut back on permanent support staff, instead, relying more heavily on volunteers to help with the day-to-day operation.
In addition, Los Angeles County requires such a facility to obtain a conditional use permit in order to open to the public.
“When we have a hearing, we contact the associated [governmental] agencies and they actually formulate conditions that would be appropriate for that facility,” said John Gutwein, deputy director of the Land Use Regulation Division of the county’s department of Regional Planning.
While the WayStation remains a licensed animal sanctuary, the high costs associated with county-required repairs has kept its doors shut to the public for the last seven years.
Because of this, the organization finds itself in a Catch-22: It is in need of money to meet county requirements before the public is allowed on the premises; however, it is lacking the money that would be raised through public visitation to make repairs.
Gutwein said he visited the organization six or seven years ago and at the time thought the level of animal restraint was not suitable for outside visitors. He also expressed concern involving an evacuation plan for the animals if a fire were to start in the high-brush area.
Still, he said the WayStation’s issues are completely due to a lack of resources.
“If [Colette] did have the resources, I have no doubt she could make those improvements so perhaps parts of the facility could be open to the public," he said.
Colette said the WayStation is mostly funded by the Average Joe, the people the economy has hurt the most. For this reason, she believes the best case scenario for long-term sustainability of the organization would be a partnership with a company that could get behind its brand.
“I know that the public will be empathetic and there will be a certain amount of dollars sent to the station,” Colette said. “But the real solutions have to come from any of the options I’ve outlined.”
The worst case scenario would be the closure of the 160-acre property and would leave the government with the difficult task of relocating hundreds of troubled animals.
“We have an opportunity to make a difference in these animals’ lives now. Once we are unable to care for them, governmental agencies step in,” Colette said. “That is a very scary concept.”
Marcia Mayeda, director of the county’s Department of Animal Care & Control, said that if her department had to intervene it would work with the United States Department of Agriculture to find a solution.
“It is not easy. We’ve taken over 300 dogs over time from people who could no longer care for them,” Mayeda said. “Although tigers are way different, we do have a lot of resources to help find new homes from them.”
.NBC L.A. ...
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Wildlife WayStation in Dire Financial State
"We are at... more
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The New York Times...
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November 30, 2011
Arkansas: Meatpacker May Lose U.S. Contracts
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Labor officials have moved to cut off federal contracts held by one of the nation’s largest meatpackers, saying it discriminated against women and non-Asians.
The Labor Department says the company, Cargill Meat Solutions, discriminated against more than 4,000 qualified people who applied for entry-level jobs at a Springdale plant, with women less likely to be hired and Asians and Pacific Islanders unfairly favored over other races.
Federal officials said Tuesday that they wanted to cancel Cargill’s contracts and prevent future contracts until the company stopped discriminatory practices.
Cargill Meat Solutions holds contracts worth more than $550 million with the Department of Defense, labor officials said. The company, a subsidiary of Cargill Inc., in Minneapolis, attributed the problem to documentation, saying there was not a satisfactory record of why it did not hire certain candidates. Mike Martin, a spokesman, said that minorities made up 84 percent of the 1,300 people employed at the Springdale plant and that the accusation appeared to be based on a “statistical analysis” of the job market rather than a review of specific applicants.
The plant drew national attention this year when it had to recall 36 million pounds of ground turkey after a salmonella outbreak that sickened 107 people in 31 states. One person died.
.The New York Times...
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November 30, 2011
Arkansas: Meatpacker May Lose U.S.... more
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Technorati...
Obama Legalizes Horse Slaughter for Human Consumption
Author: madeline bernstein
Published: November 28, 2011 at 2:52 pm
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Horse slaughter plants are legal again in the United States. Restrictions on horse meat processing for human consumption have been lifted.
In a bipartisan effort, the House of Representatives and the United States Senate approved the Conference Committee report on spending bill H2112, which among other things, funds the United States Department of Agriculture. On November 18th, as the country was celebrating Thanksgiving, President Obama signed a law, allowing Americans to kill and eat horses. Essentially, one turkey was pardoned in the presence of worldwide media while in the shadows, buried under pages of fiscal regulation, millions of horses were sentenced to death.
Horse slaughter has been prohibited in the United States as funding for inspections of horses in transit and at slaughter houses was non-existent. This worked because the horse meat cannot be sold for human consumption without such inspections. The House version of the bill retained the de-funding language and the Senate version did not. The conference committee charged with reconciling the two opted to not include it. The result is that it is now legal to slaughter horses for humans to eat.
Notwithstanding that 70% of Americans oppose horse slaughter, that President Obama made a campaign promise to permanently ban horse slaughter and exports of horses for human consumption (horses can be sent to Mexico and Canada), that documentation of animal cruelty, slaughterhouse stench, fluid runoff and negative community impact exists, it is taxpayers that will bear the costs!
Wyoming state representative Sue Wallis and her pro-slaughter group estimate that between 120,000 and 200,000 horses will be killed for human consumption per year and that Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Georgia and Missouri, are considering opening slaughter plants.
During these trying times, is the only thing that Democrats and Republicans can agree on is that Americans need to eat horses?
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Read more: http://technorati.com/lifestyle/article/obama-legalizes-horse-slaughter-for-human/#ixzz1fG00lE9y
.Technorati...
Obama Legalizes Horse Slaughter for Human Consumption
Author:... more
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Consciousness TV...
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Up to 12 million bees found dead in Florida and no one knows why
By Eddie Sage on 05 October 2011
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Authorities have already ruled out disease, including the infamous “Colony Collapse Disorder” (CCD), as the cause of a recent honeybee holocaust that took place in Brevard County, Florida.
The UK’s Daily Mail reports that up to 12 million bees from roughly 800 apiaries in the area all dropped dead at roughly the same time around September 26 — and local beekeepers say pesticides are likely to blame.
CCD is the term often used to describe the inexplicable mass die-off of honeybees around the world, which typically involves honeybees leaving their hives and, for whatever reason, never finding their way back home.
Mass die-offs associated with CCD often occur at seemingly random locations around the world, and typically involve a gradual process of disappearance and eventual colony collapse — and the dead bees are typically nowhere to be found.
But the recent Florida event involved hundreds of colonies from 30 different sites in a one-and-a-half mile radius literally dropping dead all at the same time and leaving their carcasses behind, which is why authorities have dismissed CCD as the cause.
Based on the appearance of the dead bees, as well as the synchronous timing of their deaths, pesticide sprayings appear to be the culprit in this case. “I’m a pretty tough guy, but it is heart wrenching,” said Charles Smith of Smith Family Honey Company to News 13 in Orlando. His family’s company lost an estimated $150,000 worth of bees in the recent die-off.
“Not only is it a monetary loss here, but we work really hard on these bees to keep them in good health.”
The Florida die-off coincides with a recent county-wide mosquito eradication effort, during which helicopters flew over various parts of the county and sprayed airborne pesticides.
Officials, of course, deny that this taxpayer-funded spraying initiative had anything to do with the bee genocide, though.
“The fact that it was so widespread and so rapid, I think you can pretty much rule out disease,” said Bill Kern, an entomologist from the University of Florida (UF) toFlorida Today. “It happened essentially almost in one day. Usually diseases affect adults or the brood, you don’t have something that kills them both.”
Many of the beekeepers who lost their hives in the mass killing raised their bees to sell to American farmers, who then used them to pollinate food crops. Because of their massive losses, many of these beekeepers could end up losing their entire beekeeping businesses.
.Consciousness TV...
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Up to 12 million bees found dead in Florida and no one... more
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Los Angeles Times...
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Court ruling keeps Yellowstone grizzlies on 'threatened' list
November 22, 2011 | 1:16 pm
A ruling by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's 2007 decision to remove the "threatened" designation for Yellowstone grizzly bears under the Endangered Species Act
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Conservationists won a major battle Tuesday in their campaign to protect Yellowstone grizzly bears when a federal appeals court ruled that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service erred in removing Endangered Species Act protections for "one of the American West's most iconic wild animals."
The ruling by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the wildlife agency's 2007 decision to remove the "threatened" designation for the bears under the Endangered Species Act.
Tuesday's ruling cited climate change as having accelerated a beetle infestation destroying the bears' vital white-bark pine food source. The grizzly is only the second wildlife species, after the polar bear, to earn protection in recognition of harm caused by global warming. Both are considered "threatened."
The three-judge panel embraced conservationists' warnings that the decline in the grizzlies' fodder would likely drive them to forage in more populous areas around the park, increasing incidents of confrontation between humans and the omnivorous bears.
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Los Angeles Times...
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Court ruling keeps Yellowstone grizzlies on... more
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Los Angeles Times...
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Getting a handle on feral cats
A nonprofit group in South L.A. employs a trap-and-neuter service to bring down the feline population over time.
PHOTO: Stray Cat Alliance founder Christi Metropole is shown with some feline friends.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
By Ricardo Lopez, Los Angeles Times
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November 19, 2011
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The 90037 ZIP Code in South Los Angeles has about 60,000 residents.
And by some estimates, almost 12,000 feral cats.
Colonies of the strays roam the alleys and backyards of these low-income neighborhoods.
L.A.'s mild weather means the cats come into season frequently, breeding like wild. Add to that residents' inability to seek veterinary care when most are struggling to make ends meet, rescue groups say.
"I can hear them right outside my window when they're fighting and mating," said Cydney Fellows, a retired high-rise window washer who lives near Vermont Avenue and 22nd Street.
Sometimes she is awakened in the middle of the night by the dozen or so cats that frequent her apartment building. "I've been living here for almost 10 years. I've never seen so many stray animals in my life."
Officials say that the city's Animal Services Department is stretched too thin to trap any cats and that when residents take them into city shelters, many are euthanized.
But one nonprofit group is hoping to decrease the number that are killed. And even more ambitiously, the Stray Cat Alliance hopes to trap and neuter at least 7,000 cats within this roughly two-square-mile area, using a grant from a private company.
"When people are struggling to put food on the table, they don't focus on feral cats," said Christi Metropole, the nonprofit's founder. "We're stepping in to fill a need. Animal Services doesn't have the budget, and residents often don't know what to do."
The group's strategy is simple: trap, neuter and return the cat to the spot where it was captured.
This method, Metropole said, results in zero population growth. Eventually, as cats die, the population will dwindle through natural attrition. The cats that remain lead healthier lives and don't fight as much because they've been neutered, she said.
In recent weeks, Metropole's volunteers have begun canvassing the neighborhood, educating residents and encouraging them to help trap cats. On Saturday, there will be a small rally to officially launch the capture effort, dubbed "I Spayed LA."
Carol Brookshire's home, directly west of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, is the ZIP Code's "trap depot."
"My yard was overrun with cats and kittens, some diseased," Brookshire said. She remembers the band of cats that occupied her avocado tree-lined backyard when she moved here six years ago.
Now they're all neutered, and she has volunteered her home to be the headquarters for nighttime trapping missions.
In her garage, she demonstrates how the steel crate traps work. She admits it takes a bit of finesse to trap. Location and bait are important. Foods with strong scents, like sardines and rotisserie chicken, do the best job of luring cats from their hiding spots.
After a quick surgery at the nearby Animal Rescue Center, a nonprofit animal hospital, the trapped felines are returned to their homes within a couple of days.
Opened in January, the hospital offers low-cost medical services for residents' pets and partnering rescue groups. Some of the cats are put up for adoption if deemed suitable.
During a drive around the area, Metropole pointed out the handful of strays roaming the sidewalks along Exposition Boulevard. She remains undaunted by the sheer number of cats she wants to trap and neuter, instead mulling over future efforts.
"We just want to be able to move on to the next ZIP Code," she said.
.Los Angeles Times...
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Getting a handle on feral cats
A nonprofit group in... more
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Los Angeles Times...
Orphan turkeys seek future as pets, not dinner
November 18, 2011 | 6:00 am
Baby turkeys
Aren't baby turkeys surprisingly photogenic? These birds are also lucky. Twenty-five baby turkeys, or poults, were dumped off at the Farm Sanctuary animal protection facility near Palmdale recently. They were weak and dirty, and the very tips of their beaks had been removed, leaving experts to speculate the birds were rescued from a commercial factory farm.
“This isn't the first time this has happened,” says Susie Coston, national shelter director for the nonprofit Farm Sanctuary, who adds that such drop-offs are common around Thanksgiving. “Sometimes I think it's workers who feel really bad.”
Now needing permanent homes, the birds make good companion animals, sanctuary officials say. Prospective adopters should have large yards and be sure zoning allows turkeys, Coston says, noting that many communities allow chickens but not bigger birds.
Chefs need not apply. “Not wanting to eat them is the No. 1 thing we're looking for,” Coston says.
On Sunday, the public is invited to the farm in Acton, off the 14 Freeway, to meet some of the babies at the shelter's free Celebration for the Turkeys from 2 to 5 p.m.
Details: www.adoptaturkey.org.
.Los Angeles Times...
Orphan turkeys seek future as pets, not dinner
November 18,... more
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When whale biologist and Ocean Alliance founder Roger Payne began his career, the chief threat to whales was commercial whaling.
At that time, in the late 1960s, Payne estimates that 33,000 great whales were killed annually across the globe. That number has dropped significantly, due to the 1986 International Whaling Commission's moratorium on whaling. Although a number of countries continue to hunt whales, including Norway, Iceland and Japan — which many critics say cloaks its whaling practice under the auspice of scientific research — Payne believes that, at least for now, commercial whaling will not bring these cetaceans to the brink of extinction.
Instead, he worries about another threat: Pollution.
Payne bases this concern on Ocean Alliance's own research.
The conservation organization, launched in 1971 — and now, under Iain Kerr as its CEO, looking to move its headquarters to Gloucester on the grounds of a restored and renovated Tarr & Wonson Paint Factory — has been studying whales since its inception. Payne, himself, came into the spotlight when he co-discovered in 1967 that humpback whales "sing"¬ù to each other.
Arguably, the organization's most significant work is its massive, five-year study that measured the baseline levels of contaminants in whales around the world.
"People have known since the early '60s there was a real problem from pollutants," Payne says. "But no one had a global view of it. This was the first global view."
So, from 2000 to 2005, Ocean Alliance's 93-foot vessel, the Odyssey, snaked its way around 21 countries and 118 ports. During that time, Ocean Alliance's team gathered whale and marine life samples across the world, including more than 950 sperm whale biopsy samples.
"We looked at sperm whales because they are living at the same level of the food chain which humans are living at,"¬ù explains Payne. "So what is happening in the sperm whale is probably similar to what is happening with people."
For Ocean Alliance, the results of the survey were alarming.
"We go around the world," says Payne, "We look at sperm whales. We measure the background contaminants in them. And we discover — to our absolute horror — the concentration of a number of things."
Not only were the sperm whales exposed to common pollutants such as lead and mercury and a variety of metals such as gold and silver; they were also exposed to a wide range of chemicals such as DDT, PCBs, and fire retardants.
Moreover, one pollutant proved to be the biggest surprise: chromium.
"It was the most dramatic finding," he continues. "Chromium in its hexavalent form is a terrible carcinogen. It was the subject of the film 'Erin Brockovich.' And that is what we find in sperm whales all around the world."
Kerr, who captained the Odyssey for 10 years and is Ocean Alliance's CEO, says the study demonstrated that marine life is being hit hard on two levels.
"On the left hand, you have these compounds that are naturally occurring, but they have never occurred in the concentrations that we are now experiencing," Kerr says. "And on the right hand ,there are groups of compounds that have never existed naturally. In both cases, animals have no way to deal with them."
Enter Ocean Alliance's new study, sort of a Phase 2. This time, Ocean Alliance is teaming up with John Wise, head of the Wise Laboratory of Environmental and Genetic Toxicology at the University of Southern Maine.
Wise is a known commodity at Ocean Alliance; he and his wife, scientist Sandy Wise, analyzed the sperm whale biopsy samples from the alliance's 2000 to 2005 research.
Ocean Alliance turned to Wise because his lab studies the effects of environmental pollutants on human DNA. So how does that translate to whales?
"Our interest in DNA is that all life is dependent on it," Wise explains. "In humans, if you damage DNA you can get cancer and developmental abnormalities in children. We think in wild animals certainly the same is true, though most species don't live long enough for cancer to be a concern. The concern is pollutants in the environment are damaging DNA. And preventing the ability of the species to reproduce."
The scientists are 14 months into what Wise hopes will be a 10-year investigation. At this turn, they won't be sailing around the globe — they'll be closer to home.
Ocean Alliance and Wise will be honing their scientific eye on humpback whales in the Gulf of Maine, including those off the Gloucester coastline.
Because humpbacks live nearer to shore than sperm whales, they allow for easier and longer observational studies. So over time, for example, the team can note which female whales are reproducing, which are not — and it can answer some specific questions, like:
What are the long-term effects of pollutants on whales? Could pollutants cause developmental abnormalities? And — for a whale species already compromised in numbers — could something like chromium cause serious reproductive disorders?
Already this autumn, Payne, Kerr and Wise have led three expeditions out to Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary searching for humpbacks to biopsy.
The trips have been launched from the Gloucester Marine Railways, where Ocean Alliance's 90-foot boat, the Caribana, is docked. The vessel was donated to the group this past year and is captained by Joe Boreland, who was, coincidentally, a relief captain on the Odyssey expedition and has been working for the nonprofit intermittently since 1995.
It's unclear if Ocean Alliance will be making any more expeditions this season. But both Ocean Alliance and the Wise Laboratory are heading to the Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals in Tampa, Fla., later this month.
There, they'll be delivering data on another study they are conducting, this time examining the effects of the 2010 BP oil spill on marine mammals in the Gulf of Mexico.
What exactly do these studies on whales and other marine mammals mean for human health?
Payne stresses that the research cannot be underestimated.
"You can say that it is probably the biggest public health threat that has ever threatened human beings," he says. "About a billion people are dependent on fish as primary source of protein. And this, I would assume, would shorten the lives of these billions of people — the fact they are taking in all these contaminants when they take in such meals."
More at the linkWhen whale biologist and Ocean Alliance founder Roger Payne began his career, the... more
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NewsNet5...
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Animal rights group calling for all exotic animal auctions banned
Ohio SPCA has taken its case to Governor Kasich
Read more: http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/money/consumer/troubleshooter/animal-rights-group-calling-for-all-exotic-animal-auctions-banned#ixzz1crfh0pn8
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Posted: 11/04/2011
Last Updated: 18 hours and 9 minutes ago
By: Joe Pagonakis, newsnet5.com By: Joe Pagonakis, newsnet5.com
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MT. HOPE, Ohio - The Ohio SPCA is now demanding a ban on the sale of all exotic animals, following the terrible incidents at the Zanesville farm of Terry Thompson.
The animal rights group focused its attention on the Mt. Hope Alternative Animal and Bird Auction held Friday in Holmes County.
5 On Your Side cameras were not, allowed inside the auction, but hundreds packed the sale to bid on exotic birds, waterfowl, wallabies, reptiles, hogs and sheep.
The Mt. Hope Auction is not selling lions, bears and other potentially hazardous animals found running loose on Terry Thompson's farm.
The Mt. Hope Auction is being monitored by the USDA, and is in full compliance with Ohio law. Still, the SPCA wants sales of this type stopped.
"It's cruel to the animals, they are totally out of their environment and habitat," said SPCA Coordinator Lisa Bell. "We feel this should not be allowed."
The SPCA plans to take its case to Ohio Gov. John Kasich, asking for a ban or tougher restrictions on the sale of non-hazardous exotic animals.
Organizers of the Mt. Hope Auction would not comment on Friday's sale.
Some visitors to Mt. Hope believe the situation in Zanesville has caused to some to overreact.
"There's a big difference between Lions and Bear, and Wallabies and Pheasants," said Rob Weber. "They're a little exotic, I don't know how dangerous they are."
The SPCA claimed exotic animal auctions of any kind can perpetuate animal abuse.
"Ohio's lax laws, and the failure to enforce current laws, allows animals to suffer and die at the hands of abusers," said Ohio SPCA Spokeswoman Teresa Landon.
Police said Terry Thompson released dozens of wild animals at his Zanesville farm back on October 18, just moments before taking his own life.
Police were forced to track down and kill 48 lions, bears, and tigers to restore neighborhood safety.
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Scripps Media IncNewsNet5...
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Animal rights group calling for all exotic animal auctions banned... more
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Market Watch...
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press release
Sept. 27, 2011, 10:13 a.m. EDT
Hagens Berman and Compassion Over Killing File Antitrust Class Action Against Dairy Industry Groups
Class-action complaint alleges an industry-wide scheme to raise the price of milk by killing over 500,000 cows
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LOS ANGELES, Sep 27, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) --
Hagens Berman, on behalf of several dairy consumers, including Compassion Over Killing (COK) members, yesterday filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of consumers alleging that various dairy companies and trade groups, including the National Milk Producers Federation, Dairy Farmers of America, Land O'Lakes, Inc. and Agri-Mark, Inc. combined to form Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) in order to fix the price of milk in the United States.
CWT is a massive trade group representing dairy producers throughout the country who produce nearly 70 percent of the milk consumed in the United States.
The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California on Sept. 26, 2011, alleges that between 2003 and 2010, more than 500,000 cows were slaughtered under CWT's dairy herd retirement program in a concerted effort to reduce the supply of milk and inflate its price nationally. According to the complaint, the increased price allowed CWT members to earn more than $9 billion in additional revenue.
The plaintiffs in the case are represented by leading class-action law firm Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro, LLP. The case was initially researched and developed by Compassion Over Killing, a national animal protection organization.
"We believe this case serves two important causes," said Steve Berman, managing partner of Hagens Berman. "A resolution to this case will protect consumers from artificially-inflated milk prices and also will prevent the unnecessary and shameful killing of tens of thousands of cows each year."
"The dairy industry has consistently shown its lack of regard for animal welfare and the environment," said Compassion Over Killing general counsel Cheryl Leahy. "Now it's milking its own consumers by unlawfully jacking up prices. The dairy industry must be held accountable for these illegal profits."
The complaint further alleges that the program, which paid smaller farm owners to kill their entire dairy cow herds, unfairly increased the profits of agribusiness giants.
Dairy herd retirement ended in the summer of 2010, but CWT's tactics may affect the price of milk for years, according to the lawsuit. The end of the program came shortly after Land O'Lakes agreed to pay $25 million to settle a class-action lawsuit filed against the United Egg Producers and its members. That case alleged that egg producers were encouraged to reduce their flock size as part of a program disguised as an animal welfare initiative.
Hagens Berman is interested in speaking to consumers who purchased milk or milk products from 2004 to the present. Consumers can contact the firm by calling (206) 623-7292 or by emailing CWT@hbsslaw.com. More information about the case can also be found at www.hbsslaw.com/CWT .
Compassion Over Killing has released additional information about the case, which can be found at http://www.cok.net/camp/inv/dairy-price-fixing .
According to Compassion Over Killing, the most effective way consumers can safeguard animals and put an end to cruel factory farming practices is simply to choose meat, egg and dairy-free foods. For more information, visit COK.net.
About Compassion Over Killing
Compassion Over Killing (COK) is a nonprofit animal protection organization based in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Since 1995, COK has worked to end the abuse of animals in agriculture through undercover investigations, public outreach, litigation, and other advocacy programs. COK is on the web at COK.net.
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press release
Sept. 27, 2011, 10:13 a.m. EDT
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CNN...
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U.S. beefs up conservation efforts for endangered sea turtles
By Shelby Lin Erdman, CNN Radio
September 18, 2011 8:03 p.m. EDT
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PHOTO: Loggerhead turtles will be divided into nine distinct population groups based on where they live, according to new regulations.
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(CNN) -- The government has revised its rules on sea turtles to try to decrease the number killed every year and reduce the threats they face.
The new regulations place the Loggerhead turtle into nine distinct population groups, depending on where they live, instead of listing the marine animal as a single worldwide species. In all nine segments the turtles are listed as either threatened or endangered.
Officials at both the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, both responsible for overseeing the turtle conservation efforts, say they can better address the challenges the turtles face with the new geographical division.
Loggerhead or marine turtles live in tropical and subtropical waters around the world. The new "distinct population segments" for the turtles are: The Northeast Atlantic Ocean group, the Mediterranean Sea, the North Indian Ocean, the North Pacific Ocean, the South Pacific Ocean, the Northwest Atlantic, which includes the Gulf of Mexico and our Atlantic Coast, the South Atlantic Ocean, the Southeast Indo-Pacific Ocean and the Southwest Indian Ocean.
Researchers estimate more than 4,500 loggerheads are killed every year by commercial fishing, but environmentalists believe the number is probably much higher.
Commercial fishing is one of the biggest risks for the turtles, whether they live in the Indian, Pacific or Atlantic oceans, said Jim Lecky, the fisheries director for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
"They all continue to be challenged by a number of threats, incidental capture in fishing gear, longlines, gill nets, trawl gear, trap and pot lines, which tangle turtles and other species, and dredges; all have incidental mortality of sea turtles in those fisheries," he said.
But Lecky says that's not the only threat for the turtles. "They are all also challenged by losses of habitat, degradation of nesting habitat. There still is direct harvest of eggs in adults ... at some level and they are all subject to vessel strikes."
The turtles are facing all those threats, but at different levels. So the new rules will allow fine-tuning of sea turtle conservation measures and regulations.
"We believe that this revised listing of the Loggerhead will help us and our partners to better focus recovery and conservation efforts by allowing us to take a more regional approach. But, again, the separation of Loggerhead into these population groups will not reduce our current conservation efforts," said Sandy MacPherson, the national sea turtle coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
MacPherson also told CNN Radio, "These new listings will help us to provide more focused recovery and conservation, as well as more focused threat analysis and evaluation of conservation successes."
The Center for Biological Diversity said in a statement that Loggerhead populations "need more protection to survive this century."
The rule revisions also included designating five regional populations as endangered species, which the group characterized as "a wake-up call that a whole host of threats, from oil spills, channel dredging and commercial trawling to longline and gillnet fisheries, continue to kill off turtles faster than the animals can possibly hope to reproduce."
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CNN's Ninette Sosa and Barbara Hall both contributed to this report.CNN...
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U.S. beefs up conservation efforts for endangered sea turtles
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A federal jury says Chicago law enforcement must pay $330,000 to a family after officers shot their dog during a home raid that turned up no illegal activity.
Thomas Russell, then 18, opened the door to his home in February 2009 to find police officers with their guns drawn. He asked if he could lock up his 9-year-old black labrador, named Lady, before letting the officers inside. The Chicago Tribune describes what happened next:
Police refused the request and came into the house, the lawsuit said. When Lady came loping around the corner with her tail wagging, Officer Richard Antonsen shot the dog, according to the suit, which alleged excessive force, false arrest and illegal seizure for taking the dog's life.
The cops handcuffed Russell and his 16-year-old brother, and eventually charged Russell with obstructing their operation. He was found not guilty. According to NBC, the jury awarded $175,000 to Russell, $85,000 to his little brother, and $35,000 each to the brothers' parents. The officer who shot the dog owes $2,000 in damages, and his supervisor owes $1,000, according to NBC.
A law enforcement spokeswoman told the Tribune that the officers were protecting themselves.
FUCKING COWARDS!!!!A federal jury says Chicago law enforcement must pay $330,000 to a family after... more
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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
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Amphibian species clings to life
Fewer than 200 mountain yellow-legged frogs are believed to exist. The Station fire [Los Angeles, California] destroyed habitat; now 104 have died mysteriously in a zoo's breeding tanks.
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Authorities are puzzled by the deaths of 104 mountain yellow-legged frogs at the zoo in Fresno.
(Ken Bohn / San Diego Zoo)
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By Louis Sahagun, Los Angeles Times
August 17, 2011
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One of the nation's most ambitious wildlife reintroduction efforts has suffered a setback with the deaths of 104 mountain yellow-legged frogs that had been rescued from the fire-stripped San Gabriel Mountains in 2009, authorities said Tuesday.
The federally endangered frogs, which recently metamorphosed from the tadpole stage, died in captive breeding tanks over the last several weeks at the Fresno Chaffee Zoo.
"We have two frogs left. We're trying to determine exactly what happened," said Scott Barton, director of the zoo, which is highly regarded for amphibian husbandry. "We were thrown a curve ball with a species that was new to us. It's been a humbling experience."
Barton said the facility may "send these two frogs off to see if someone else will have better luck."
The zoos in Fresno, Los Angeles and San Diego are involved in a public-private effort to pave the way for the Rana muscosa population to reestablish residency in Southern California.
For thousands of years, mountain yellow-legged frogs thrived in hundreds of streams cascading down the San Bernardino, San Gabriel and San Jacinto mountains.
Since the 1960s, the species has been decimated by fires, mudslides, pesticides, fungal infections, loss of habitat and the appetites of nonnative trout, bullfrogs and crayfish.
Today, fewer than 200 are believed to exist in nine isolated wild populations, including a group in the San Gabriel Mountains' Devils Canyon that survived the devastating Station fire.
According to U.S. Geological Survey ecologist Adam Backlin, a lead scientist in the recovery effort, "saving the mountain yellow-legged frog from extinction is turning out to be more difficult than anyone anticipated."
The Fresno zoo is not the only facility to have run into problems while trying to spur a jump in the population of the 3-inch amphibians.
Thirty-six tadpoles have not been seen since biologists at the San Diego Zoo's Institute for Conservation Research released them a year ago into a remote San Jacinto Mountain stream from which they had been absent for a decade, zoo officials said.
In 2006, seven mountain yellow-legged frogs — found three years earlier in a shallow pool in the San Bernardino Mountains after a large brush fire — died at the San Diego Zoo. Studies showed those frogs died of the same type of fungal infection that is killing frogs around the world.
The species' minuscule scattered population gives mountain yellow-legged frogs the distinction of being one of the most endangered amphibians on the planet.
"These frogs are very specific in their requirements. What works for one group may not work for another, which is why we have three zoos involved," Backlin said. "The problem is that zoos do not have the space, staff or the funds to keep many of these frogs, which need … almost constant attention.
"This program is still in its infancy," Backlin said. "I have high hopes."
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Amphibian species clings to life
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