(Notice) The first international fair-festival “Vegetarian World”
The European Vegetarian Union informs about the
first international fair-festival
“Vegetarian World”
Moscow,Sokolniki Culture & Exhibition Centre MAY 27 –30, 2003
Organizers: Sokolniki Culture & Exhibition Centre and Eurasian
Vegetarian Society non-profit organization.
Vegetarian World consolidates public organizations', business corporations' and State authorities' activity aimed at improving physical and psychical health, creating a healthy environment, promoting a healthy mode of life, and improving human attitude to nature and animals.
Vegetarian World promotes vegetarianism as high moral standards based
on violation aversion, mercy and high spirituality. Vegetarian World
showcases a great variety of food, cosmetics, medications, bio-supplements
and household goods for vegetarians.
Vegetarian World favours the development of the healthy and vegetarian food production in Russia and other countries and the consumer protection.
A PANDA who managed to evade searchers for three months was found
today in perfect health, sitting in a tree a short distance from the
French animal farm from which it escaped, the park's owners said.
The six-year-old red panda, a female weighing 7kg, was discovered by a
hunter around 15km from the Saint-Martin-la-Plaine park in central France.
The panda had already earned a reputation as a jail-break artist in Finland, where she was born. After having given her minders the slip several times there, she earned the name Escape.
[Link]
(04/11/2002) Animal Sacrifice Banned in Two Indian States
by Alan Emerson Vinon Chandra Pande, the governor of the
Indian states of Bihar and Jhrakhand, recently banned animal sacrifices in
temples.
The governor stated that the sacrifices violate the Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals Act of 1960 while announcing the ban. He also said that
he had empowered Principle Secretary Mithilesh Kumar to investigate
alleged violations of it.
Animal sacrifices, which have been part of religious ceremonies in
India for thousands of years, are very controversial in the country. Just
last month King Gyanendra of Nepal offered sacrifices at the Kalighat
Temple in Calcutta amid cries of outrage and tight security.
The number of animals sacrificed in India each year is believed to be in the tens of thousands. More than 100 animals are sacrificed at the famous Temple of Lord Naidyanath in Deogarh each month.
[Link]
(05/11/2002) Claw lovers count ways to kill crabs
Animal Liberation Western Australia (WA) has drawn attention to live crustacea in restaurants. The organisation's WA president, Michael Zampogna, says scientists have demonstrated that the crustacea feel pain and regulations are needed to protect them.
[Link]
(06/11/2002) Campaign gains ground to end horse slaughtering
By Barry Shlachter Knight Ridder Tribune
FORT WORTH -- The last roundup for tens of thousands of American
stallions and mares ends not far from Fort Worth's historic Stockyards.
Their destination, Beltex Corp.'s peeling walled compound on North
Grove Street, is becoming the focus of a growing campaign to end equine
slaughter.
For the past 27 years, trailers have hauled horses into the plant, the
nation's largest horse slaughter and packing facility and one of just two
left in the country. There, before the eyes of federal inspectors, the
animals are slaughtered after first being stunned in a manner like that
typically used on steers.
[Link]
(07/11/2002) Arabian oryx numbers rise
Abu Dhabi |By A Staff Reporter |
The population of the endangered Arabian oryx has now risen to around
5,000, with these straight-horned antelopes living in protected areas,
zoos and research centres in different parts of the world, said a senior
official from the Environmental Research and Wildlife Development Agency.
This was revealed by Moham-med Al Bowardi, Managing Director of the agency, while announcing the launch of the Arabian Oryx Conservation Committee's official bilingual (Arabic and English) website and its electronic newsletter, Al Maha.
[Link]
(08/11/2002) EU FINALLY BANS COSMETICS ANIMAL TESTING BUT THE BUAV SAYS 'NOT ENOUGH'
Today the results of an EU Conciliation Committee vote between the
European Parliament and the Council of Ministers, reveal that Europe will
at last ban cosmetics animal testing. But leading animal rights
campaigners the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) say
the vote doesn't go far enough to protect lab animals.
The vote marks the end of a thirteen-year struggle by MEPs to end cosmetics
animal testing, but their efforts have been hampered throughout by aggressive industry lobbying and fierce opposition by the Council of
Ministers, including the UK government which has not supported an outright
testing ban.
The Conciliation Committee has voted for:
(1) A complete animal testing ban six years from entry into force (around
2009)
(2) An sale ban from 2009 for 11 test areas.
(3) A sale ban from 2013 - 10 years after entry into force - for the further
3 test areas identified by Parliament at second reading (toxicokinetics, reproductive toxicity, repeat dose toxicity). This sale ban contains a "get
out clause" - it can be delayed if insufficient non-animal tests have been
developed.
(4) For the sale ban to come into force, non-animal tests must be validated
at Community rather than OECD level (but with due regard to the OECD) which
will be a quicker route to alternatives being accepted.
(5) The outstanding issue of labelling will be taken further through
discussion between the Council and the Commission next week).
Whilst animal campaigners the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection
(BUAV) has today welcomed the long-awaited EU test ban, it warned that without a total and immediate ban on the sale of animal tested cosmetics,
animal testing will simply shift to non-EU countries. It accused the cosmetics industry of sabotaging the best hope of protection lab animals had
against cruel tests for products like shampoo and lipstick.
Wendy Higgins, BUAV Campaigns Director said:
"This has been an extremely long and hard battle to convince Europe to finally stop killing animals in cosmetics tests. But without a total &
immediate sale ban, animals will continue to die outside Europe so that the
products can be sold inside Europe. All that will achieve is to leave the blood on someone else's hands but the suffering will go on. It is utterly
shameful that the cosmetics industry and many EU governments including the
UK have fought so hard against an outright and immediate ban, and it is now
for all MEPs to decide whether they will accept or reject this result."
BUAV Notes:
(1) A Conciliation Committee was convened in October 2002 after months
of disagreement between the Parliament & the Council. This vote came at the
second Conciliation meeting held on Wednesday 6th Nov 2002.
(2) In 1989 the European Parliament passed a resolution calling on the
EU Commission to "formulate a directive with the aim of ending the use of animals for decorative cosmetic testing".
(3) Now the whole EU Parliament & the Council of Ministers will vote to
accept or reject the decision - final decision must be reached by end of Dec/early Jan 2003.
(4) Now that this decision has come through, please stop sending your
Message On A Bottle stickers to the Department of Trade & Industry. Thank
you.
(5) Contact the BUAV on
info@buav.org or 020 7700 4888 for a Little Book
of Cruelty Free - a pocket-sized guide to cosmetics & toiletries approved
under the Humane Cosmetics Standard as "not animal tested".
British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection:
www.buav.org
(09/11/2002) The shape of fins to come in the Forth?
By Angela Alexander
THEY are among the most graceful creatures on the planet.
The dolphins which visit Scotland’s north-east coast every year attract wildlife enthusiasts from across the country to watch them frolic close to the Moray Firth shore.
Now a dramatic increase in sightings of the same bottle-nosed dolphins in the Firth of Forth is promising to create another mini-tourist attraction on Edinburgh’s doorstep.
[Link]
(10/11/2002) Team looks for nutty animal behavior to predict quakes
The Asahi Shimbun
Response network aims to minimize quake damage by picking up signs from
animals.
If your cat is doing laps of the house, your dog burrows obsessively, your peacock screeches for days, or your horse won't eat, look out-the big one may be about to
hit.
Armed with data backing up an age-old superstition, a team of researchers plans a response network that uses signs of abnormal animal behavior to predict earthquakes and warn quake-prone areas.
[Link]
(11/11/2002) Pets Shown to Help Prevent Childhood Allergies
by Amanda Evans
The results of a recent study of 474 infants in Detroit, MI have shown that babies living in homes in which at least two cats, two dogs or one cat and one dog also live are less likely than other babies to develop allergies.
"Physicians have been told for 30 years that having dogs and cats in
the household in the first few years of life increases the child's chance
of being allergic - our study shows just the opposite," said Medical
College of Georgia Professor Dr. Dennis Ownby.
The researchers, who published their findings in The Journal of the
American Medical Association, found that 33 percent of children who had no
exposure to a cat or dog during their first year of life developed
sensitivity to common allergens by the age of 6 or 7. In contrast, only
15.4 percent of children who'd been exposed were sensitive to the
allergens.
Extraneous factors such as the presence of pets later in childhood and
parental smoking were taken into account.
The researchers do not know why exposure makes children less likely to develop allergies, but suspect that it does so by causing the production of antibodies that provide protection from bacteria carried by animals.
[Link]
(12/11/2002) In The Name Of Food
By Janet Riddle
Our habit requires that blood be shed
so to slaughter the cattle head
Men with prods and a whip
pack them in trucks for one last trip
Inside they struggle for fresh air
the horror is seen in their stare
Made to suffer in the cold or heat
just because we call them meat
The last stop, the slaughter grounds
where they'll be reduced to simple pounds
From their journey they are wore
but they must endure even more
Down the ramp they slip and slide
with no place for the injured to hide
Forced, they enter the winding coral
so large and wide they scrape the rail
They don't yet know where they are led
or what is waiting in the killing shed
Pushed along like a food machine
they follow each other until the death is seen
To look ahead at each who fell
the nearing doom a caustic smell
Moved along, the one ahead drops
in utter terror, he rears and stops
Racing heart, wide eyed with fright
the panic sets in at the sight
Now he knows the path to his fate
begins right here at this bloody gate
If only this were a mistake
but the final step he was forced to take
Behind him the gate will close
all because of the food we chose
A captive bolt placed on his head
stunned he falls but he's not dead
The assembly line begins here
where billions come every year
In this room of bloody stains
a single back hoof is attached to chains
Off the ground his body is flung
to await the knife he is hung
But he wakes up, this isn't rare
and he's too much for one leg to bare
Tendons tear and bones break
he swings and struggles for life's sake
Ghastly terror and unrelenting pain
his screams and bellows are in vain
Men unfeeling to his brutal strife
slice him open with a knife
His body quivers, blood pours out
a simple meal it's all about
One last gasp as he's bled
his anguish over, now he's dead
(Notice) Contre l’intensification de la boucherie pendant les “ fêtes”
Venez manifester à Paris le 21 décembre 2002 !
Bientôt on goûtera plus fort qu'à
l'habitude la joie d'être réunis. Bientôt pleuvront les coups
plus fort qu'à l'habitude. Et les " paix sur la terre "
et les " vœux de bonheur " vogueront tranquillement sur
une mer de sang plus large qu'à l'habitude.
Beaucoup des animaux iront au grand festin : les vivants
autour de la table et les morts posés au milieu. Car le monde,
dit-on, est fait de deux moitiés, l'une née pour régner et
l'autre pour périr.
Nous refusons de jouer les bons vivants aux ventres de cimetières.
Nous ne participerons pas à la communion dans le sang.
Le 21 décembre, dans un défilé solennel, nous nous placerons du côté de l’autre moitié, du côté de ceux qui souffrent et qui meurent. Pour qu’on ne puisse pas étouffer leurs cris sous les paillettes et les flonflons.
(13/11/2002) Qualified Inventive Gourmet Vegetarian Chef
Required
Next year in June and July 2003 we will launch The Triloka Yoga retreat at Villa Lina in Italy. Villa Lina is one of the oldest and most luxurious of the historical estates in Italy.
We are looking for a gourmet vegetarian chef who is already a yoga practitioner , or who would like to develop their practice, to come and cook for 1 month on our retreat.
We are offering a luxury working holiday with accommodation, meals and travel included ( if a chef would come from outside the EU we would contribute to their travel expenses), plus a living allowance and some of finest yoga teaching in Europe. For more information please contact Anjalika:
(14/11/2002) Why Are US Dolphins Being Sent to the Caribbean to Die?
Subject: Action Alert Dominica: Florida Dolphins Fall Through the Cracks
Florida Dolphins Fall Through the Cracks
Dominica - - While the world watched, debated and cheered for Keiko, of "Free Willy" fame, no one seemed to notice when four others of his kind were quietly shipped from island to island in the Caribbean, left to suffer and die. Last year, Isla, Jessica, Tracey and Kimbit, dolphins from Key Largo, Florida, were carted off to be part of a captive dolphin swim program on the island of Tortola. There they were confined to a small, filthy lagoon, overrun by waste runoff, oil, garbage and fuel from a nearby marina and surrounded by ceaseless noise pollution. Then, after a year in this foul environment - while the world seemed to rally around Keiko - these sick and broken dolphins were passed around again, this time to the island of Dominica. Shortly after arriving on the island, Isla died and Tracey is known to be gravely ill. Why were four of our dolphins allowed to fall through the cracks?
The dolphins’ miserable journey began in September of 2001 when, against the best advice of marine mammal experts and protests from animal welfare organizations worldwide, the Florida facility "Dolphins Plus" sent the four dolphins to Tortola to be used in a swim program at Prospect Reef Resort. The controversial export took place with the permission of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), which is expected to ensure that any facility that imports dolphins from the United States meets this country’s standards of animal care. Also, if the dolphins are, in turn, transported to yet another destination, NMFS must receive notification of this as well.
All of these supposed safeguards failed Isla and her companions. And the fact is that, for every one "Keiko" that retires to a natural environment, there are countless more "Islas" who never escape the bonds of captivity and lose their lives in the process.
The finger of blame points in many directions, but this doesn’t change the fact that Isla is dead; Tracey may soon suffer the same fate; and the lives of three US dolphins hang in the balance. Neither Dolphins Plus nor US officials seem to be acting in the best interest of the dolphins. Currently in a murky holding pen, the dolphins are to be moved yet again as the swim program facility edges closer to completion. Reports from Dominica say that this could occur as early as December or January.
Time is working against Tracey, Jessica and Kimbit. We need your letters, faxes, phone calls and emails today. Will you join with WSPA and speak for these US dolphins?
Send your
letters to:
(1) The Honorable Pierre Charles
Prime Minister
Government Headquarters
Roseau
Commonwealth of Dominica
Tel: 767 448 2401
Fax: 767 448 5200
Email: pmoffice@cwdom.dm
Points to make: Dominica prides itself on being "The Nature Island of the Caribbean" and is in danger of tarnishing this reputation by being affiliated with an operation that exploits dolphins. Urge him to protect his island paradise and respectfully ask that he: Allow an independent body to assure the welfare of the remaining animals, and
Revoke the permit for Dolphins Plus to operate a captive facility on the island.
(2) The Honorable Charles Savarin
Minister for Tourism
Government Headquarters
Roseau
Commonwealth of Dominica
Tel: 767 448 2401
Fax: 767 448 5200
Email: mintour@cwdom.dm
Points to make: Captive programs are inconsistent with your idea of a nature-friendly vacation destination. Dominica is developing a wealth of wonderful programs to attract visitors and the exploitation of dolphins casts a shadow over these other, ecologically sound attractions. You will not be spending your tourists dollars in Dominica should this plan be allowed to proceed.
Points to make: While NMFS was quite vocal in the debate over Keiko, the "Free Willy" orca, it remained silent in the case of the less-famous animals from Dolphins Plus. Clearly, the National Marine Fisheries Service cannot guarantee the well being of captive dolphins once they leave the country. Given this lack of oversight and enforcement authority, NMFS must cease to grant permits that allow dolphins to be removed from the United States.
(15/11/2002) Scientists admit what animal campaigners have been saying for years - using
animals to model Multiple Sclerosis doesn't work!
An article in the New Scientist (Nov 16) reveals that a group of scientists
have declared that the medical world is wrong about the causes of multiple
sclerosis (an inflammatory and progressive disease of the human nervous
system). Leading anti-vivisection campaigners the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) welcome the news but say animal campaigners
have been criticising the scientific validity of animal models for years.
Scientists have long contended that MS is the result of immune system cells
attacking and destroying the myelin protein which sheaths nerves, and helps
them transmit signals.
Three neurologists (from the University of Glasgow and the Leiden University
Medical Centre) have disagreed, arguing that the autoimmune theory of MS is
based on inaccurate conclusions drawn from misleading animal experiments carried out in some cases in the 19th century. They argue that MS is
actually caused when support cells called astrocytes malfunction - perhaps
as a result of genetic and environmental triggers.
In the past, animal researchers discovered that injecting nerve or brain tissue into animals triggers their immune system to attack their nervous
system. They called this experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE), and
decided the same process was responsible for MS in humans. All subsequent treatments have been based on this theory.
Differences between EAE and MS
* EAE either kills animals or leaves them with permanent disabilities.
In humans, MS attacks subside and reoccur.
* Animals with EAE also suffer severe nerve inflammation, whereas in
MS inflammation is usually mild, if present at all. The time course of EAE
is also entirely different to MS.
* The EAE model is not induced in a way which mirrors the rise of MS
nor does it show the range of clinical symptoms and progression of the human
disease.
* Despite extensive research and a vast research literature (where more animals have been given EAE than there have been cases of human MS) the
cause of the clinical condition remains unknown. There is, to date, no effective treatment.
Chris Nay, the BUAV's Scientific Officer, says: "These three neurologists have confirmed what animal groups like the British
Union for the Abolition of Vivisection have been saying for years - using animals as a model of human disease is fundamentally flawed because
experimentally inducing symptoms in animals which only have broad similarity
to the symptoms of a given human disease is not a scientifically robust methodology. Furthermore, because research into MS has for centuries been
based on these misleading animal experiments, vital research into the human
condition has actually been delayed. It's time researchers stopped delaying
progress by experimenting on animals and switched to more modern non-animal
methods instead."
ENDS
Notes:
(1) Contact the BUAV at 020 7700 4888 or email
info@buav.org
(2) Release includes extracts taken from BBC On-line
British Union for
the Abolition of Vivisection,
www.buav.org
(16/11/2002) GAIA and Animaux en Péril are indignant at this new slap in the face
The Court upholds the law of cruelty. GAIA and Animaux en Péril are to appeal.
The animal organisations GAIA and Animaux en Péril are shocked by the acquittal of the seven cattle dealers against whom the public prosecutor had initiated proceedings before the magistrate’s court of Dinant on charges of serious ill treatment of animals at the Ciney cattle market.
Once again, the judge did not rule on the substance of the case, namely cruelty against animals. He acquitted the cattle torturers, considering that the video footage could not be accepted as evidence and that it constituted an invasion of the privacy of the cattle dealers.
GAIA and Animaux en Péril will appeal this second shameful ruling, which once again sends the wrong message to cattle dealers, namely: “don’t worry if visual proof of your misdeeds is submitted to the public prosecutor, you will not be found guilty anyway, for as always, it is your law of cruelty that prevails”.
GAIA and Animaux en Péril reject the invasion of privacy argument. What private life ? The private life that allows someone to torture animals undisturbed, with total impunity ?
Moreover, there is no legislation that specifically forbids pictures taken with a hidden camera to be used as evidence in court cases. In addition, the law of 8.12.1992 relating to the protection of private life is not applicable in this context. GAIA and Animaux en Péril in no way substituted themselves for the public prosecutor, since it is the latter who asked GAIA to hand over the footage and who proceeded to identify the culprits, and not
GAIA. The public prosecutor has confirmed this course of events.
In its opinion dated 13.12.1999, the Commission for the Protection of Private Life indicated that taking pictures of private individuals does not constitute an invasion of privacy when acts of delinquency or serious offences are involved. Moreover the Ciney cattle market is a public place, as a bailiff has noted. Furthermore there is the ruling of the Court of Hasselt, sentencing the porter of a nightclub on the basis of pictures taken by a hidden camera by private individuals and not by the police. The porter had prevented an immigrant from entering the nightclub, and was found guilty of racism on the basis of the sole evidence of video footage filmed by private individuals and not by the police. But the judge failed to take this precedent into account. Why these double standards ?
GAIA calls attention to the very many systematic complaints brought by public prosecutors in similar cases of animal abuse, and to the fact that the police, which has state-of-the-art equipment worthy of the FBI, will never go to the cattle markets of Ciney or anywhere else to make preventive police reports. Anyone who thinks that they would do so is deluded.
This ruling proves once again that some judges are totally impervious to social reality.
GAIA calls upon politicians to question whether the law on animal welfare is worth the paper it is written on, insofar as the judges refuse to enforce a law that is supposed to punish cruelty to animals. If the law is useless, one may as well throw it out of the window - at least the situation would be clear. But in any case, the current situation is untenable.
For further information: GAIA: +32 (0)2 245 29 50
Michel Vandenbosch: +32 (0)475/ 45 20 15
Ann De Greef: +32 (0)477/ 53 42 02
(17/11/2002) U.N. body halts trade of Black Sea dolphins
SANTIAGO, Chile - Delegates to a U.N. conference on endangered species
voted Thursday to effectively halt all trade in the Black Sea bottlenose
dolphin, a creature sought by aquariums around the world.
Reversing an earlier decision, members of the Convention on International Trade on Endangered Species approved a proposal by Georgia to make the
annual quota for trade in the species zero, conservationists said.
[Link]
(18/11/2002) Urgent: Les Eléphants risquent encore un
massacre... soutenu par la France!
Pierre Pfeffer, vice-président de la Société nationale de Protection de la
Nature, vient de nous donner une bien triste nouvelle.
LE MINISTÈRE de l'Écologie vient d'annoncer qu'à la prochaine conférence dela CITES (Convention sur le commerce international des espèces menacées), au
mois de novembre au Chili, la France allait soutenir les demandes de reprise
des exportations d'ivoire déposées par cinq pays d'Afrique australe. La plupart des pays d'Afrique et certains États asiatiques s'opposent à cette
reprise d'un commerce qui profite à des trafiquants internationaux et se traduit par un braconnage incontrôlable des éléphants et l'assassinat répété
de gardes dans les parcs nationaux. Le Kenya et l'Inde ont d'ailleurs déposé, pour la même conférence, une proposition de classement de toutes les
populations d'éléphants en annexe I de la CITES qui comprend les espèces
dont tout commerce international est interdit.
C'était aussi la position de la France depuis 1989. Une écrasante majorité
des Français est opposée à ce commerce. Le travail de l'ivoire n'emploie que
six ou sept de nos concitoyens, essentiellement des réparateurs, l'importation de tout objet d'ivoire étant interdite dans notre pays depuis
1989. Quelles sont les raisons obscures de cette soudaine volte-face ?
Si vous souhaitez réagir, voici les coordonnées de la délégation française
de la CITES (qui nous a été transmise par Tembo international):
CITES autorité de gestion :
Chef de bureau:
[Email]
Secrétariat :
[Email]
CITES autorité scientifique :
Coordinatrice : Mme Geneviève Humbert :
[Email]
A la faune : M. Jacques Rigoulet :
[Email]
(19/11/2002) Subject: China expanding bear farm industry
New figures reveal record numbers of bears being farmed for their bile, despite concerns over illegal trade
The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) has learnt of a dramatic increase in the number of bears being farmed for their bile in China. Chinese officials at this week's meeting in Chile of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) admitted to WSPA that the number of bears being farmed for their bile has increased by 28% in the last three years. A record number of 9,000 bears are kept on fewer but bigger factory-style farms.
The continuing expansion of bear bile farming, which threatens every living bear by fuelling the worldwide demand for their parts, comes in spite of a ban on the international trade in bear products and growing protests against the cruelty of keeping thousands of bears in cages and draining their bile from open wounds.
These latest findings are significant, given yesterday's decision by CITES to safeguard bears by maintaining a series of measures aimed at stopping illegal trade. This will mean that countries with wild populations and/or where bear products are consumed will now have to report to CITES on the action being taken to stop illegal trade. China is one such country and officials have informed WSPA that, while the number of farms has fallen by a third in the last three years, from 247 to 167, more bear bile is likely to be produced than ever before for use in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and products such as wines and tonics.
Even three years ago, Chinese authorities acknowledged that, at that time, China was producing almost twice as much bile annually (7,000 kg) than it was actually consuming (4,000 kg). In a worrying new development, officials also suggested that China's long term intention is to register its farms with CITES as captive breeding facilities and thereby circumvent existing bans on trade in bear products.
WSPA's Libearty Campaign Director, Victor Watkins, said, "China is flouting international opinion by expanding an incredibly cruel industry that causes severe suffering to thousands of bears deliberately kept alive with open wounds from which their bile is taken. We believe that these animals are the victims of a blatant illegal trade that threatens wild populations. WSPA strongly urges China to close its bear farms and act quickly to stop the illegal export trade in bile products, which continue to be used in TCM despite the availability of suitable humane
alternatives."
\\wSPA is calling on CITES to undertake a mission to China. WSPA's new report, 'The Bear Bile Business', reveals the key role played by China's bear farms in this illegal trade. The very nature of bear bile farming, which involves the milking of bile from an open wound, is intrinsically inhumane.
For further information, interviews with WSPA delegates to CITES, copies of'The Bear Bile Business', colour photographs and/or broadcast quality footage, contact:
- Santiago, Chile: Phil Wilson/Dragan Nastic, WSPA UK Mobile: 00 44 (0)7900 224 801
- London, UK: Jonathan Owen/Debra Ashton; WSPA, 0207 587 5000 (07801 386670)
Editors' notes
Trade in bear bile products is becoming more profitable than ever, with Chinese officials reporting that prices within China itself having quadrupled from an average of $240/kg to around $1000/kg. WSPA estimates the annual production of bear bile in China to now be worth in excess of $100 million at average international prices. All eight bear species are listed on the Appendices of CITES; the majority are listed on Appendix I, where no commercial trade is allowed of species already at risk of extinction due to trade. These include the Asiatic black bear; Malayan sun bear; Sloth bear; Giant Panda; Spectacled bear; and Brown bear (populations in China, Bhutan, Mongolia and Mexico). Due to the potential risk posed by uncontrolled trade, the polar bear, American black bears and all other brown bear populations are all listed on Appendix II.
Victor Watkins,
Director of Libearty Campaign.
Director of Wildlife.
WSPA
World Society for the Protection of Animals.
14th Floor, 89 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TP. UK
Tel +44 (020)-7587-5000
Direct: (020)-7587-5011
Fax: (020)-7793-0208
e-mail:
victorwatkins@wspa.org.uk
Internet:
www.wspa-international.org
Libearty - the World Campaign for Bears
(20/11/2002) Humpback Whale Entangled in Rope Rescued
by Liz Wiseman
An approximately 65-foot-long humpback whale entangled in rope from a
fishing net was recently rescued by the crew of a small boat used for
whale watching.
The Nautilus was about 12 miles off the coast of Kennebunkport, ME
when whale spotter Doug Barber caught sight of a humpback bobbing on the
surface of the water. This was very unusual since whales surface only to
breathe.
Upon closer inspection, the crew found that the whale, a regular in
the area named Sickle, had gotten approximately 300 feet of nylon rope
tangled around her left pectoral fin. This posed a danger to Sickle and
her young calf since the rope could have gotten caught on something
underwater and fatally entangled both of them.
After the crew moved the boat closer to Sickle so the line could be
cut, she and her calf came right up alongside and allowed the work to be
done.
"It was amazing," Nautilus crewmember Kathleen Anuszewki told a
Portland Press Herald reporter. "She did not resist at all."
Local reaction to the rescue was positive.
"Whales are as important as people, and if a whale's in trouble, you
should help it," said Biddeford High School student Ashley Gagne.
However, National Marine Fisheries Service spokesperson Teri Frady stated that the crew not only violated the Marine Mammal Protection Act and Endangered Species Act by taking action themselves instead of contacting authorities, but made finding out how Sickle became entangled difficult because they did not save the rope they’d removed.
[Link]
(21/11/2002) Norwegian Whaling Increasing
by Diana Moes VandeHoef and David Milner
Norwegian whalers have killed 634 minke whales this year - more than
during any of the 10 previous years.
Although commercial whaling generally is banned by the International
Whaling Commission, Norwegians are exempted. The only stipulation is that
the whale meat they produce be sold domestically.
The government of Norway, which sets a limit on the number of whales
that may be killed each year, has in the past claimed that its limits
adhere to an IWC-sanctioned formula - the Revised Management Procedure
(RMP) - intended to prevent whale populations from being depleted.
However, wildlife biologists have stated that the number of whales caught
by Norwegian whalers this year far exceeds the RMP number.
"Each year Norway increases the number of whales it kills while claiming a scientific basis for its (limit) calculations," said International Fund for Animal Welfare Global Whale Campaign Leader Vassilli Papastavrou. "However, Norway turned its back on science long ago and can no longer claim to be using the International Whaling Commission's mechanism for calculating catches."
[Link]
(22/11/2002) Dog in Shelter Adopts Orphaned Kittens
by Sandra Tatsuno
A mixed breed dog named Star that recently gave birth at the Carteret County Animal Shelter (CCAS) in North Carolina has begun caring for two orphaned kittens as well as her four puppies.
"I had been taking the orange kitten home to nurse, but she just wasn't
responding very well, CCAS staff member Michele Barber told a News-Times
reporter. "I had to force feed her."
In a last-ditch effort to save the
animal's life, Barber and her coworkers placed the kitten amongst Star's
puppies. Since Star was receptive to the new arrival, Barber added a black
kitten that also had been refusing to be bottle fed to the mix several
days later.
CCAS Manager Diane Markham is anticipating a happy ending
for Star and her brood, in part because the once-shy Star has become more
comfortable around people and therefore is more likely to be adopted. "She
is the sweetest dog," said Markham.
Star's willingness to nurture orphaned kittens is unusual, but not unprecedented. In 1994, a Doberman Pinscher at the Kitchener-Waterloo Humane Society's shelter in Ontario, Canada earned the nickname "Dobermom" by nudging, nuzzling and nursing several kittens, and a "maternally inclined" Labrador Retriever was honored in Ireland as one of the "2001 Pets of the Year" for adopting five.
[Link]
(Notice) CHRISTMAS COMPASSION, LET LIVE - FEAST VEGGIE
A Campaign by the European Vegetarian Union.
14 - 25 December 2002
Some of the latest Christmas cards, seasonal cartoons, songs and comments lead to believe that people are increasingly aware of the fact that culinary
Christmas traditions actually mean a peak in meat consumption.
The EVU is very aware of this problem and therefore wants to promote a "light" Christmas.
After all, vegetarian feasts not only save animals but are at the same
time beneficial for human health.
Our two menu suggestions (an easy and
a more elaborate
one) are specially developed to whet appetites for culinary changes.
Unfortunately these recipes are only available in German, French and English
but we would be happy if volunteers could translate them into other languages as well.
Of course, an international organisation like the EVU, with activities in more than thirty
countries, does not have the possibility to organise dinners, events or demonstrations. However, we can propose a scheme
consisting of a series of ideas...
[see
the list]
Hopefully many of our members, organisations as well as individuals, adopt one or several of
these suggestions and/or develop their own, which are perhaps more suitable
for their locality. All the different projects will then be compiled on our
EVU
website.
Please participate in our scheme "Christmas Compassion, let live - feast
veggie". Create interest for it in your community. Help us to turn this
campaign into a regular end-of-the-year event. Let us all work towards a
compassionate Christmas - for human and non-human animals alike.
Thank you for your support.
Pour un Noël de Compassion.
Laissez vivre: faites la fête en végétarien !
Une campagne de l'Union Végétarienne Européenne.
Du 14 au 25 décembre 2002
Au cours de ces dernières années, si l'on en croit les cartes de voeux de
Noël qui ont été envoyées, les chansons qui ont été chantées et tous les
commentaires que l'on a pu entendre, une tendance prometteuse semble se dessiner : de plus en plus de gens prennent conscience de ce que des
traditions de Noël mènent à une surconsommation effrénée d'aliments carnés.
L'Union Végétarienne Européenne est très sensible à ce problème et désire
donc encourager la promotion d'une fête de Noël «light», qui ne sauve pas
seulement les animaux mais également notre propre santé !
Notre équipe affectée à ce «Noël de compassion» a donc preparé deux menus
(l'un très facile à faire,
l'autre un peu plus
complexe) afin de susciter l' appétit d'une nouvelle réorientation culinaire.
Une organisation internationale telle que l'UVE, active dans plus de trente
pays, n'a naturellement pas la possibilité d'organiser des repas, des concours ou des manifestations. Cependant, nous pouvons vous offrir un
ensemble de propositions en ce sens
[voir la liste]
Nous espérons que nombre de nos membres, qu'ils soient des organisations ou
des particuliers, adopteront nos suggestions ou développeront leur propres
campagnes, sans doute mieux adaptées à leurs pays respectifs. Tous ces projets seront bien entendu rapportés sur
notre site
web.
Nous vous demandons donc de participer à notre opération : «Pour un Noël de
compassion » . Parlez-en aux membres de votre famille, à vos amis, à vos
voisins et à vos collègues. Aidez-nous à faire de cet événement une véritable tradition de fin d'année. Oeuvrez avec nous à la mise en place d'une célébration de Noël joyeuse et bénéfique à tous les animaux, humains et
non-humains.
Merci!
WEIHNACHTSFRIEDEN
/ LEBEN LASSEN - VEGETARISCH GENIESSEN
Eine Kampagne der Europäischen Vegetarier
Union. 14. bis 25. Dezember 2002
In den letzten Jahren wurden immer mehr bis dahin nicht gesehene Weihnachtskarten und -karikaturen verteilt, Lieder gesungen und Kommentare
gehört, die auf eine vielversprechende Tatsache hinweisen: Immer mehr Menschen erkennen, dass Weihnachtstraditionen zu einem
Rekordverbrauch an Fleisch führen: Hausfrauen und Restaurantpersonal bereiten einen Berg von
Gerichten vor, deren Hauptbestandteil das Fleisch von Tieren der verschiedensten Arten ist.
Die Europäische Vegetarier Union ist sich dieser Problematik bewusst und möchte daher für ein Weihnachten "light" werben, denn vegetarische Festessen
retten nicht nur Tiere, sondern fördern gleichzeitig auch die menschliche
Gesundheit.
Unser Weihnachtsteam hat speziell zwei Menus (ein einfaches und
ein etwas
aufwendigeres) entwickelt, um den Appetit für eine kulinarische Neuorientierung anzuregen.
Eine internationale Organisation wie die EVU, die in mehr als dreissig Ländern aktiv ist, hat natürlich keine Möglichkeit, selbst Festtafeln,
Wettbewerbe oder Demonstrationen zu organisieren. Wir können jedoch ein Schema anbieten mit einer Reihe von Vorschlägen,
[siehe die Liste]
Hoffentlich werden viele unserer Mitglieder, Organisationen wie auch Einzelpersonen, eine oder mehrere dieser Ideen aufgreifen und/oder ihre
eigenen entwickeln, die vielleicht in der jeweiligen Region ansprechender wirken. All diese Projekte werden dann auf
unserer EVU Website
zusammengefasst.
Bitte nehmen Sie an unserer Kampagne "Weihnachtsfrieden" teil. Wecken Sie auch Interesse dafür bei Familienmitgliedern, Freunden, Nachbarn und
Kollegen. Helfen Sie uns, aus diesem Ereignis eine Tradition zum Jahresende
werden zu lassen. Arbeiten Sie mit uns für ein frohes Weihnachtsfest für
alle - die menschlichen und nicht-menschlichen Tiere gleichermassen.
(23/11/2002) DOLPHIN DIES SHORTLY AFTER BEING FLOWN FROM TORTOLA TO DOMINICA
In September 2001
- despite numerous protests from animal welfare organizations worldwide - the captive dolphin facility "Dolphins Plus" of
Florida, USA, sent four dolphins (Isla, Jessica, Tracey and Kimbit) to the
island of Tortola to be used in a captive dolphin swim program at Prospect
Reef Resort.
The site for this facility was very poorly chosen. The small roadside enclosure confining the dolphins was heavily polluted due to close
proximity of a marina. The unhealthy water conditions, combined with other
environmental problems, contributed to serious illnesses of two of the dolphins. The problems were compounded by the lack of business, and
Dolphins Plus relocated the dolphins to Salisbury, Dominica, to be used in
another commercial dolphin swim program.
Several days after flying the dolphins to Dominica, the dolphin named Isla
died. Another dolphin, Tracey, is very sick and is being force-fed several
times a day in the hopes of keeping her alive. These tragic events have been confirmed by Dolphins Plus. Dolphins Plus was one of the first captive
dolphin facilities in the United States to advertise dolphin interaction programs. The facility boasts to have pioneered captive dolphin swim
programs; a business that has caused a dramatic increase in the violent captures of dolphins in Mexico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and the
Caribbean.
Hundreds of dolphins have suffered miserable deaths in captive dolphin facilities all over the world. At Dolphins Plus alone, ten dolphin calves
have died since 1990. We need to let Dolphins Plus and the authorities of
Dominica know that the public no longer tolerates this kind of animal cruelty.
Please write a letter to the Prime Minister of Dominica and the Minister of
Tourism. Urge them to revoke the permit of Dolphins Plus to operate a captive dolphin facility in
Dominica. Personal letters are always more effective. However, I have provided a short prewritten letter below should
you require one. Please be sure to sign your letter and state what country
you are writing from.
Send letters
and Faxes to:
(1) Honorable Pierre Charles
Prime Minister
Fax: 767 448 5200
Email: Pmoffice@cwdom.dm
(2) Honorable Charles Savarin
Minister for Tourism
Fax: 767 448 5200
Email: mintour@cwdom.dm
Due to the immense suffering inflicted on captive dolphins, I strongly oppose captive dolphin facilities. Upon the arrival of four captive
dolphins to Dominica one dolphin named Isla has died and another dolphin named Tracey is being force-fed in order to keep her alive.
In consequence, when choosing my next vacation, I will only be visiting Caribbean islands that DO NOT offer this form of animal abuse. I urge you to
revoke the permit the island of Dominica has granted to Dolphin Resorts.
Sincerely,
(24/11/2002) Oil Spill Threatening Marine Birds
by Sherry Morse and David Milner
A ship carrying approximately 77,000 tons of oil broke apart and sank
in waters off the coast of Spain on Tuesday.
The Prestige was damaged when it ran into rocks during a storm that
occurred last week, and began sinking while being towed away from the
Spanish shoreline.
The tanker went down along a migration route used by guillemots,
kittiwakes, shags, seagulls and other birds.
"We've already seen dozens of birds weakened by the thick oil covering
their feathers and expect to see many more as search and collection teams
patrol the beaches," said International Fund for Animal Welfare Emergency
Relief Team member Barbara Callahan. "We will do everything we can to save
these animals as they struggle to survive the devastating impact oil has
on them."
As oil permeates birds' feathers, the animals lose their ability to
regulate their body temperature. They also lose buoyancy and their ability
to fly.
The slick is still out at sea, but could wash up on beaches of the
National Maritime Park of the Atlantic Islands of Galicia if wind patterns
shift in the near future.
"The park is the most important wildlife area in Northwest Spain," said Callahan. "It has enormous numbers of migratory birds at this time of year and some species are particularly of concern, such as the spoonbill, as there are only about 100 of them and obviously their survival would be seriously threatened if the oil slick did go ashore."
[Link]
(25/11/2002) Ballet chief quits after animal protest halts
show
BY DALYA ALBERGE, ARTS CORRESPONDENT, AND VALERIE ELLIOTT
ANIMAL rights activists have forced a member of the board of English National Ballet to resign after they interrupted a performance to protest about his links with a company that experiments on animals.
Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty targeted Hamish Ritchie, chairman of Marsh UK, because his company insures the Huntingdon Life Sciences laboratory in Cambridgeshire. Mr Ritchie will also stop making personal donations to the ballet company.
[Link]
(26/11/2002) The fate of elephants
MPUMALANGA PROVINCE, South Africa
THE IVORY piles up in a nondescript warehouse at Kruger National Park, 36 tons of tusks, worth millions to the cash-strapped South African park system. The ivory, from broken shards to one prized specimen at least 6 feet long, has been taken from elephant carcasses found in the park since a worldwide ban on the ivory trade in 1989. Now it appears that South Africa will be able to cash in on the pent-up demand for
ivory.
Although animal welfare groups decried the move, fearing it would stimulate poaching, last week the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species approved a one-time sale of ivory stockpiles by South Africa, Namibia, and Botswana, with proceeds directed toward elephant conservation and management. The decision was complicated by reports after the vote that Kruger officials failed to disclose that five elephants had been killed by ivory poachers this year inside the park. For the scientists and researchers working at Kruger, every death of these engaging beasts is tragic. But with a herd of more than 10,000, up from an ideal level of 7,000 and increasing by 700 new births a year, the five recent poachings are not great cause for alarm. A similar ivory sale in 1997 by other African countries did not lead to a spike in poachings, according to Dr. Ian Whyte, senior scientist for large herbivores at Kruger. ''There has never been established a link between legal sales and the illegal trade in ivory,'' he said.
[Link]
(27/11/2002) UK: Puppy stab yob cleared
By James Clench
A YOB who stabbed a young girl’s puppy to death was cleared on a legal technicality
yesterday.
Dreadlocked Richard Anthony admitted a frenzied attack on four-month-old Labrador Rufus to
police.
But his trial could not go ahead because WPC Sarah Nicholson did not caution him before he
confessed.
The father of the 12-year-old girl, who cannot be named, branded the outcome disgusting. He said: “Anthony is weak, pathetic little man who goes around killing puppies.”
[Link]
(28/11/2002) How dogs got that way
Rick Weiss/WP Washington
WASHINGTON Research has long indicated that all dogs, from prissy Pekingese to slobbering St. Bernards, are the domesticated descendants of wolves. But scientists have tussled for years over when and where the transition from wild carnivore to man's best friend began - and why, exactly, dogs and humans get along so well.
[Link]
(29/11/2002) Turkeys give thanks for Moby
By David Usborne in New
York
Feathers are flying between the poultry industry in the United States and the animal rights group Peta – People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals – which has recruited Moby, the dance music star, to record a telephone hotline urging Americans to eschew their traditional Thanksgiving ritual of putting turkey on their tables.
[Link]
(30/11/2002) Hippos devour eight cows
Addis Ababa - Farmers in an Ethiopian village are keeping a close eye on their cows after a local hippo herd developed a taste for meat, devouring eight cows in the past eight weeks, the government press reported on Friday.
The people of Ginbo Woreda village, in the southern province of Kaffa told local police that the normally herbivorous hippos had taken to devouring cows and calves, the Amharic language daily, Addis Zemen, reported.
[Link]
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