tagged w/ Animal Welfare News & Animal Welfare Videos
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Whoever thought that our heart-healthy, low-cal, doctor-approved trips to the supermarket fish counter would become fraught with moral choices?
That's exactly the case being made by "The End of the Line," the disturbing new documentary on what overfishing is doing to the world's oceans. (It opens in Los Angeles next Friday.) The film from director Rupert Murray and investigative journalist Charles Clover was screened Monday at UCLA to mark World Oceans Day. Producer Lawrence Bender and longtime environmental activist Kelly Meyer (wife of Universal Pictures President RonMeyer) hosted a crowd that included Rosario Dawson, Saffron Burrows and Kimberly Estrada.
Later this summer, the campaign will include broadcast and online public service announcements featuring Martin Sheen, Alyssa Milano, Rosanna Arquette, Ellen Page, Kelly Preston, Anthony LaPaglia, Gia Carides, Brenda Strong, Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon, Shawn Pyfrom, Keisha Whitaker, Ken Baumann, Kelli Williams, Dave Lieberman, Rene Auberjonois and former NBA player John Salley.
There's a new optimism stirring among activists in this community because after eight years of outright hostility emanating from the Bush White House toward environmental issues, the Obama administration is more willing to engage questions that involve complex international questions.
"The End of the Line," based on Clover's groundbreaking book of the same title, is the first feature-length documentary to take on the overfishing crisis.
According to the filmmakers, failure to take quick action will mean the end of most commercial fishing within less than half a century with dire consequences both in terms of depleting the food supply and the loss of jobs.
To make their case, Murray and Clover not only traveled to fishing grounds all over the world, but also confronted politicians and celebrity restaurateurs on camera.
As examples of what's in store for other popularly consumed species, Murray and Clover examine in detail the near extinction of commercial cod stocks and the impending collapse of bluefin tuna populations around the world, much of the latter caused by the West's newly aroused appetite for sushi and sashimi.
(Add that happy thought to your deliberations the next time you're trying to decide whether to spring for the toro at the local sushi bar.)Whoever thought that our heart-healthy, low-cal, doctor-approved trips to the... more
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SIOUX CITY -- Woodbury County Attorney Patrick Jennings said Tuesday his office has filed charges against a man who is accused of beating his puppy to death last week.
Meanwhile, the Siouxland Humane Society board has initiated a campaign urging people to lobby Jennings and his office through a letter-writing campaign to seek the toughest penalties allowed by law.
Bobby Loggins, 35, is charged with animal torture, an aggravated misdemeanor, and filing a false police report, a serious misdemeanor.
If convicted of animal torture, Jennings said, Loggins could face a maximum sentence of two years in jail and a $6,250 fine and be required to undergo a psychological evaluation and do community service.
He said he could not comment on the letter-writing effort.
Jerry Dominicak, humane society executive director, said the campaign has merit. "We feel this is something the public can do so the death of this dog was not totally in vain. ... No animal deserves to be treated in this respect and to be abused or tortured, regardless of it was a dog, a cat or any type of animal."
Loggins has disputed police reports that say he punched his dog in the face about 30 times for urinating on the carpet during a party. On Tuesday, he told the Journal, "It was an accident. It didn't happen the way that it was put in the paper. ... I'm hoping for the best."
He said the 5-month-old puppy was an American bulldog but declined to comment further until he could talk to his attorney.SIOUX CITY -- Woodbury County Attorney Patrick Jennings said Tuesday his office has... more
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Watercraft-related mortality is an ongoing yet preventable cause of manatee injuries & deaths. There were 42 confirmed watercraft-related manatee deaths through June 5, 2009 & there have been a total of 240 mortalities so far this year.
historically, watercraft has been the leading known cause of manatee deaths. However, with the cooperation and vigilance of the boating community, we hope that manatees can be protected from further injury during the July 4th weekend and the remainder of the summer boating season. Boaters often travel in waterways shared with manatees so they play an important role in protecting this endangered marine mammal.”
Boaters should follow all posted boat speed regulations, slow down if manatees are in the area, and stay in deep water channels when possible.
Call the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission at 1-888-404-FWCC (3922) or #FWC or *FWC on your cellular phone, or use VHF Channel 16 on your marine radio:
* if you see a manatee with a pink or red wound or with deep cuts. These are signs of a recent watercraft strike.
* if the manatee is tilting to one side, unable to submerge, or seems to have trouble breathing.
* if you observe a manatee calf (less than 6 feet in length) by itself with no adults around for an extended period of time. Manatee calves may remain dependent on their mother for up to two years. If the other dies before the calf is weaned, or if the two are separated, there is a strong likelihood that a dependent calf will not survive alone.
* if you see anyone harassing a manatee.
* if you see boaters speeding in a protected area.
* if you see a manatee entangled in monofilament line, crab trap lines, or other debris. Do not attempt to remove debris by yourself. Debris may be embedded underneath the skin and only a trained veterinarian can adequately assess and treat the wound.
* if you see a dead manatee.By doing a necropsy, scientists can often determine the cause of death and better understand the threats faced by manatees.
* if you see a manatee tagged with a radio or satellite transmitter. Sightings of tagged manatees help provide researchers with information that can be used to protect manatees and their habitat. Do not attempt to remove the transmitter. These devices are designed with a safety mechanism to prevent manatee entanglement if the tag becomes caught or obstructs a manatee’s movement in any way.
Florida boaters can request a free, “Please Slow: Manatees Below” waterproof yellow banner by contacting Save the Manatee Club via e-mail at education@savethemanatee.org. Include full mailing information along with the area where you boat in Florida.
PHOTO: Jennifer Dorning from Fort Myers, Florida enjoys boating from Sanibel to Cayo Costa. She often uses the Club’s banner to quickly alert other boaters that manatees are present. “The bright, easy-to-read banner is a great idea,” she said. “Before I had it, I was pointing to show other boaters where there were manatees, but often they couldn’t see what I was doing, and if they did see me, they had no idea why I was pointing.”Watercraft-related mortality is an ongoing yet preventable cause of manatee injuries... more
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Galapagos's giant tortoises are under threat from diseases such as avian malaria because local mosquitoes have developed a taste for reptile blood, it was claimed today.
Scientist fear this, combined with a rise in tourism, could have a devastating effect on the island's wildlife.
Dr Andrew Cunningham, from the Zoological Society of London, said:
"The chance of a disease-carrying mosquito hitching a ride from the mainland on a plane is also increasing … if a new disease arrives via this route, the fear is that Galapagos's own mosquitoes would pick it up and spread it throughout the archipelago."Galapagos's giant tortoises are under threat from diseases such as avian malaria... more
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IFAW - 70 elephants could be executed if we don't move them immediately.
WE MUST ACT NOW to save a large herd of elephants - adults and babies - that face the firing line in the southeast African country of Malawi.
http://https://www.ifaw.org/ifaw_asia_pacific/donate_now/malawi_elephant.php?msource=DR090504002#x
YouTube VIDEO link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNSQBZIlpyIIFAW - 70 elephants could be executed if we don't move them immediately.
WE... more
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Pierce Brosnan on Capitol Hill Asking for Your Support
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Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust's pre-release breeding dacility in Madagascar.
Thieves have stolen four of the world's rarest tortoises from Durrell Wildlife Conservation. Critically endangered Ploughshare tortoises stolen from breeding facility
June 2009.
Trust's pre-release enclosures inside Baly Bay National Park, Madagascar. The theft took place during the night on the 6th May and comes as a major blow to the conservation of the Ploughshare tortoise, a species that is on the edge of extinction and classified as Critically Endangered.
Conservationists believe the four tortoises are destined for private collections in Europe, USA or Asia unless they are found quickly.
Overseas collectors - Baly Bay is an extremely poor region and traffickers pay local people to find the animals. However, the real problem lies with the buyers and the collectors who encourage the illegal trade in endangered animals with no thought for the conservation of the species. Durrell hopes law enforcement agencies in Madagascar and abroad will do more to clamp down on this global trade.
While attempts have been made by the Madagascan government to try to halt the smuggling, the recent political unrest in the country has enabled international dealers to increase their efforts to profit from Madagascar's natural heritage. A tough stance is needed both within Madagascar and in the countries where illegal animals are sold before another species is sent to extinction by the greed of the illegal trade of biodiversity.Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust's pre-release breeding dacility in... 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... 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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The first known case of swine flu emerged a fortnight earlier than previously thought in a village where residents have long complained about the smell and flies from a nearby pig farm, it emerged last night.
The Mexican Government said it initially thought that the victim, Edgar Hernandez, 4, was suffering from ordinary influenza but laboratory testing has since shown that he had contracted swine flu. The boy went on to make a full recovery, although it is thought that at least 148 others in Mexico have died from the disease, and the number is expected to rise.
News of the infected boy is expected to create controversy in Mexico because the boy lived in Veracruz state, home to thousands of farmers who claim that their land was stolen from them by the Mexican Government in 1992. The farmers, who call themselves Los 400 Pueblos – The 400 Towns – are famous for their naked marches through the streets of Mexico City.
The boy’s hometown, La Gloria, is also close to a pig farm that raises almost 1 million animals a year. The facility, Granjas Carroll de Mexico, is partly owned by Smithfield Foods, a Virginia-based US company and the world’s largest producer and processor of pork products. Residents of La Gloria have long complained about the clouds of flies that are drawn the so-called “manure lagoons” created by such mega-farms, known in the agriculture business as Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs).
Cont....The first known case of swine flu emerged a fortnight earlier than previously thought... more
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Created using recycled plastic bottles by Cracking Art Group, these animals represent the art collective’s strong social and environmental ethic while bringing accessible contemporary art to the masses.
In their efforts to divert toxic waste from harming the environment, the group also recycles its animals, reincarnating old installations into new artworks to be displayed around the world.
The art group, which consists of six members from Italy, France and Belgium, derived their name from the term used to describe the transformation of petroleum to plastic, called ‘catalytic cracking’. All six artists use the medium of plastic to give rise to their own interpretation of “our contemporary problems and tensions.”
“Cracking is the gap of the contemporary man, struggling between the primary naturalness and a future more and more artificial.”
Please follow link for more pics (other locations and species)Created using recycled plastic bottles by Cracking Art Group, these animals represent... more
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Joeys rescued after the recent bushfires are seen at the home of caregiver Annie Williams in Gisborne, Australia.
Whilst the state of Victoria does not allow commercial hunting, Queensland, New South Wales, Western Australia and South Australia do.
Sanctioned by the Australian government, hunters are instructed to kill any joeys by decapitation, shooting or clubbing.
The controversial practice has been brought to the forefront due to the opening up of vast parts of NSW to commercial shooters.Joeys rescued after the recent bushfires are seen at the home of caregiver Annie... more
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A haunting image of a sea turtle, struggling through the deep ocean waters as discarded plastic bags wrap themselves around its flippers and body.
These majestic animals are dying in alarming numbers because they mistake the flimsy translucent bags - which could in theory come from British supermarkets - for jellyfish, a key element of their diet.
Once swallowed by the turtle, the tough plastic becomes lodged in its gut, sealing the fate of the sea creature. The plastic is indigestible and wraps around the turtle's insides. Slowly, agonisingly, the animal starves to death.
The endangered Green Turtle provides a potent symbol of the deadly threat to wildlife and the blight on the natural world caused by throwaway plastic bags handed out free in their billions to shoppers.
The oil used to make a plastic bag takes millions of years to form in the Earth - the bag is used for a few minutes and it then lasts in the environment for 1,000 years. Is that a wise use of the material?'A haunting image of a sea turtle, struggling through the deep ocean waters as... more
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An Australian government ruling that will permit thousands of baby kangaroos to be clubbed to death has caused outrage among animal rights activists.
The state of New South Wales is permitting culling for the first time after a drought forced kangaroos into residential areas. Up to 150,000 a year are to be killed by hunters.
Animal welfare groups have been horrified over official guidelines which legitimise barbaric killing methods for orphaned marsupials - or joeys - found in their mothers' pouches.
They say tens of thousands will now be decapitated, shot or clubbed to death with official blessing.
Nikki Sutterby from the Australian Society for Kangaroos said the public has no idea how many joeys were killed in the commercial shooting industry.
'If we estimate that 1/3 of the 150,000 kangaroos to be killed are females and 1/2 of them have a joey, that works out to 25,000 joeys to be decapitated, bashed to death or shot each year,' she said.
'There are already almost 4 million kangaroos commercially killed in Australia annually. Do the same sums and you realise hundreds of thousands of joeys are being killed horribly each year.
Official guidelines for hunters say that hairless joeys should be decapitated or bludgeoned to death while older joeys should be beaten to death or shot.
Miss Sutterby added: 'They don't want to allow joeys to be rescued because it would expose the dirty secrets of the industry.'
The Australian arm of the Human Society International said: 'Clubbing and decapitation of joeys is one of the forgotten cruelties of kangaroo hunting.'
But the RSPCA said it reluctantly accepted the decapitation and clubbing of joeys after two thorough investigations of the commercial kangaroo industry.An Australian government ruling that will permit thousands of baby kangaroos to be... more
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Florida's Manatees and the 2009 Florida Legislative Session
Please Help Safeguard Florida's Environment!
There are multiple bills in the legislature this year that threaten Florida's ecosystems, including the manatee's aquatic ecosystem. The nation's current economic difficulties are being used by the development community and their allies as an excuse to relax environmental safeguards in Florida.
These are a few of the damaging proposals coming out of Tallahassee:
Closure of 5 Department of Environmental Protection Aquatic Preserve Offices: Closure will eliminate services including monitoring, resource protection and restoration, permitting assistance, volunteer coordination, emergency response and cleanup, education and outreach activities and coordination with other agencies on potential impacts to these sites from adjacent alterations of habitats.
Dismantling of the Department of Community Affairs: The DCA provides oversight of the state's development by reviewing proposed amendments to county comprehensive plans and other laws. Bills proposed in both the House and Senate would weaken growth management provisions by either abolishing or reorganizing DCA and cutting staff that provide review of proposed local comprehensive plan amendments.
Wetlands Permitting: Proposals in the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee would weaken the Environmental Resources Permitting process by providing opportunities for developers to avoid wetlands mitigation commitments and sufficient storm-water treatment.
Transformation of Stan Mayfield Working Waterfronts Program into a Boat Ramp Development Program: Representative Trudi Williams (R- Ft. Myers), chair of the Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Committee proposed an amendment to transform this Florida Communities Trust program into a mechanism for building boat ramps.
You can help: http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5215/t/3145/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=1325&key=0
PLEASE HELP THE MANATEE!
THIS WILL ALSO HELP SAFEGUARD OTHER SPECIES OF WILDLIFE INCLUDING TURTLES, TORTOISES, BLACK BEARS...Florida's Manatees and the 2009 Florida Legislative Session
Please Help... more
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Environmental Protections Rolled Back as Western Drilling Surges |
Unlike other industries, BIG OIL & GAS enjoy waivers under the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the Resource & Conservation & Recovery Act, the Superfund Act, the Emergency Planning & Community Right to Know Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.
Oil and natural gas companies have drilled almost 120,000 wells in the West since 2000, mostly for natural gas, and nearly 270,000 since 1980, according to industry records analyzed by Environmental Working Group. Yet drilling companies enjoy exemptions under most major federal environmental laws.
Oil and natural gas operations have industrialized the Western landscape, punching thousands of wells on pristine lands, injecting toxic chemicals, consuming millions of gallons of water, clawing out pits for their hazardous waste and slashing the ground for sprawling road networks. Every well carries with it the potential for serious environmental degradation.Environmental Protections Rolled Back as Western Drilling Surges |
Unlike other... more
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From the article...LOS ANGELES -- Two animal rights activists were charged Monday with conspiracy, stalking and other crimes against researchers at University of California, Los Angeles and executives of a juice company.
Linda Faith Greene, 61, and Kevin Richard Olliff, 22, pleaded not guilty to the charges during their arraignment in Superior Court.
The Los Angeles County district attorney's office issued a statement calling the pair "alleged domestic terrorists" and describing them as associates of the Animal Liberation Front, an extremist animal rights group.
A county grand jury indictment was handed up March 27 and charged each with three counts of conspiracy to commit stalking, three counts of stalking, two counts of conspiracy to threaten a public officer or school employee and two counts of threatening a public officer or school employee. They were arrested Thursday.
The indictment alleges that an unnamed co-conspirator tried to place an incendiary device on the doorstep of UCLA professor Lynn Fairbanks' home in July 2006 but it was actually left at an elderly neighbor's house and failed to explode.
One of the overt acts in the conspiracy was Greene, acting as press officer for an animal rights Web site, posting a "communique" by the ALF which took responsibility for what it called a "moletov cocktail," according to the indictment.
Greene, Olliff and others conducted demonstrations at the professor's home and on the UCLA campus, during which they chanted threats through a bullhorn and disputed law enforcement claims that the wrong house was targeted, according to the indictment.
Greene is also accused of identifying Fairbanks as a "target" on a Web site, publishing her addresses and other personal information online.
The indictment alleges a similar campaign against a neurobiology professor, Dario Ringach, who later gave up primate research, citing harassment from animal rights activists and concerns for his young children.
A telephone message seeking comment was left Monday evening at the office of attorney David B. Rutan, who represented Greene and Olliff when UCLA got a temporary restraining order against animal rights activists.
Dr. Jerry Vlasak, an animal rights activist with North American Animal Liberation Press Office, said Monday that Greene and Olliff violated no laws.
"They're using their constitutional right to free speech. They're not breaking any laws or breaking in to sabotage or destroying vehicles or equipment," Vlasak said. "Everyone knows who they are. They're high-profile activists who never tried to hide their identities. Linda did TV interviews."
The indictment further alleges that Greene and Olliff stalked executives of Los Angeles-based POM Wonderful Juice Co., picketed at a corporate family picnic and conducted demonstrations at their homes.
Vlasak said the activists targeted POM because they believe the company was using animal experiments to support claims that pomegranate juice could improve erectile function in men with mild impotence problems.
A telephone message seeking comment from POM after hours was not immediately returned.
Greene was held on $450,000 bail and is due back in court Friday for a bail review hearing. Olliff was held on $460,000 bail.
Both defendants are scheduled for a pretrial hearing on May 20.
Over the past couple of years, animal rights activists have aggressively protested animal research at the homes of scientists.
Earlier this year, four people pleaded not guilty in connection with an attempted break-in at the home of a UC Santa Cruz breast cancer researcher in 2008. Last December, a man pleaded no contest to making harassing phone calls to UC San Francisco researchers at their homes and telling them that they would die the same way they made animals suffer.From the article...LOS ANGELES -- Two animal rights activists were charged Monday with... more
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Many Orang-utans and gibbons are are kept in zoos in appalling conditions.
Illegal-trade devastates Sumatran orangutan population.
Lack of law enforcement against illegal trade in Indonesia threatens the survival of orangutans and gibbons on Sumatra, a new study by the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC shows.
Despite considerable investment in wildlife conservation, numbers of the critically endangered orangutans captured, mainly for the pet trade, exceeded the levels of the 1970s. A lack of adequate law enforcement is to blame, TRAFFIC says.
Just 7,300 orangutans left on Sumatra -
Records of orangutans and gibbons put into rehabilitation centres serve as an indicator of how many of these animals were illegally held. Meanwhile numbers continue to decline in the wild, with the most recent estimate of just 7,300 Sumatran orangutans surviving.
Orangutans, which can weigh up to around 90 kilograms and reach 1.5 metres in length, end up in such centres after they become too old and big to be held as pets. But owners of the reddish-brown coloured apes do not face any legal consequences.
"Confiscating these animals without prosecuting the owners is futile," said Chris R Shepherd, Acting Director of TRAFFIC Southeast Asia.
"There is no deterrent for those committing these crimes if they go unpunished. Indonesia has adequate laws, but without serious penalties, this illegal trade will continue, and these species will continue to spiral towards extinction."
Other threats -
The report recommends that the root causes of trade be examined and that laws be better implemented for the protection of orangutans, gibbons and the island's other wildlife. Sumatra's wildlife is also threatened by habitat loss due to deforestation, logging, land conversion, encroachment, and forest fires.
WWF is working to reduce the destruction of wildlife habitat in Sumatra by working with industry to ensure High Conservation Value Forests are not converted for agriculture, empowering local communities to manage natural resources in a sustainable way, and providing alternatives.Many Orang-utans and gibbons are are kept in zoos in appalling conditions.... more
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A Japanese non-governmental organization, the Save the Dugong Campaign Center,SDCC (sdcc.jp) joined the 4th World Conservation Congress held by UCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (iucn.org/).
During the congress, a recommendation to protect the Okinawa Dugong was adopted.
CGR4.MOT027 Promotion of Dugong during the UN 2010 International Year for Biodiversity
The Japanese and the US governments has been planning to construct a US Marine base at the coast of Okinawa, the last habitat of the Okinawa Dugong.
This video explains the situation in Okinawa, what SDCC has done to appeal this situation in the other part of Japan and during the congress and the meaning of this recommendation.A Japanese non-governmental organization, the Save the Dugong Campaign Center,SDCC... more
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