(01/02/2003) FINAL APPROVAL FOR EU COSMETICS "TESTING & SALE BAN"
Info received from British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV)
campaigns@buav.org
Late yesterday (27th January 2003), following a third reading by the
Council of Ministers, EU proposals for a combined EU ban on cosmetics
animal testing and a ban on the sale of new animal tested cosmetics, were
approved. The European Commission must now bring the new EU legislation
into force, and each Member State must transpose it into national law by a
specified deadline.
The legislation (endorsed by the European Parliament earlier this month)
includes:
(1) A complete animal testing ban six years from entry into force
(around 2009)
(2) An sale ban from 2009 for the majority of animal tests.
(3) A sale ban from 2013 - 10 years after entry into force - for the
further 3 test areas (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.
The British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) today repeated
its criticism of the unnecessarily long deadlines; "We've all been
campaigning for so long to end cosmetics animal testing in Europe, and it
must be recognised as a great achievement, but there's just no excuse
whatsoever for forcing lab animals in Europe to endure another six years
of cosmetics testing before this outrage is finally banned. Even worse,
we'll be waiting at least a decade before the vital sales ban takes hold,
and it's the sales ban that will ultimately stop the cosmetics industry
just moving its animal testing around the globe."
The BUAV has been campaigning to end cosmetics animal testing in the UK
and elsewhere since 1972, and we are the only UK anti-vivisection
organisation to actively campaign and lobby in Brussels for a change in
the law. Before we've even caught our breath, however, the BUAV is already
planning the next stage in its cosmetics campaign. We will of course be
staying vigilant to make sure that any attempts by industry to jeopardise
the principles of this new legislation, are thwarted.
But now that EU legislation seems secure, individual Member States must
transpose that into national legislation within 18 months. Member States
are obliged to introduce legislation at least as strong as that introduced
at EU level. If they have the political will however, they can introduce
stronger legislation.
European test bans
We will now be working with animal rights groups across Europe to put
pressure on their national governments to bring in animal testing bans as
quickly as possible. Some Member States, including the UK, have already
ended cosmetics animal testing, but there are still plenty of
opportunities to shut down testing in other EU countries before 2009 and
so we'll be concentrating much of our effort in that area.
World wide action
The BUAV will also be building on strong campaign links with international
animal rights groups to help them campaign effectively to ban animal
testing for cosmetics around the rest of the world. Look out for future
news of how you can Get Active and help the BUAV's campaigns.
Notes to Ed:
1. A Conciliation Committee agreed a joint text on Wednesday 6th Nov 2002.
2. In 1989 the European Parliament first 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".
(03/02/2003) Italy: Historical Vote at the Chamber of Deputies
It has been approved a Law against animal fights and animal mistreatment.
The Chamber of Deputies has approved, with a favourable vote from all
Parties, a new Law, which punishes the mistreatment, the abandonment and
the fights of animals with penalties varying from 4 months to 4 years of
jail.
" It's a historical vote " states Walter Caporale, President of
the Association Italian Animalists, during a press-conference organized by
this Association Thursday 16th January at the Press-Room of the Parliament
in the presence of lawyers, Deputies of all Parties, Environmental and
Animal Rights Association - " for the first time in our Country
mistreatment of animal will be punished with 3 months to 1 year
imprisonment or with a fine from 2,500 to 10,000 Euro, animal fights with
2 to 4 years imprisonment and a fine from 25,000 to 100,000 Euro, animal
abandonment with 1 year imprisonment or with a fine from 1,000 to 10,000
Euro.
Violence against animals is increasing: horses transfixed; cats ripped,
beaten, slain, dogs boiled alive or shot, not to speak of the spreading
all over the Country of animal fights which involve at least 15.000 dogs
every year and a turnover of 750 millions of Euro and of the dramatic and
steady increase of abandoned animals (350.000 only in 2002, while stray
dogs and cats are 2 millions and dogs and cats with a home are more than
14.000 millions).
At present Article 727 of the Penal Code punishes the person who mistreats
or kills an animal with a mere fine from 1,000 Euro to 10,000 Euro and
doesn't provide the suitable means to the police and to the Magistrates to
repress and persecute dog fights; even if somebody is caught in the open
act, actually he doesn't risk anything.
At last even Italy conforms itself to other European Countries: animals
must be protected in that fellow living beings with a physical
sensitivity, due to be treated as "subjects of rights " and not
" res " (stuff) as they are still considered nowadays.
To support this Law which to come into force must be approved by the
Senate, Italian Animalists have also written to Deputies and Senators of
all Parties, have collected more than 400.000 signatures and have carried
out an advertising campaign, besides they have realized television and
radio ads, the promoter of which is the Italian actor Luca Zingaretti.
The message of this ad is clear: Violence is, undoubtedly, a dreadful deed
especially if it is used against the defenceless. At present somebody who
mistreats, tortures or even kills an animal is only punished with a small
fine. Italian Animalists are trying to have a Law approved against animal
mistreatment, which provides for more severe penalties as it happens in
other European Countries.
"During the next days", finishes up Walter Caporale, "we
will send a letter to all Committee Leaders and Senators so that the Law
against animal fights and animal ill-treatment can be discussed and
approved in a short time avoiding modifications which slow down the final
approval of it ."
(04/02/2003) NICARAGUAN GOVERNMENT BANS DOLPHIN EXPLOITATION
Nicaragua: Government has banned use
& exploitation of Bottlenose dolphins
The Nicaraguan Minister of
Environment, Jorge Salazar Cardenal, confirmed today, through a letter
addressed to WSPA`s Regional Director Gerardo Huertas, that his Government
has banned the use & exploitation of Bottlenose dolphins indefinitely.
In his communication, Salazar said that this new law guarantees that in
Nicaragua, these animals will be fully protected.
WSPA was expecting this ban after the
successful rescue, rehabilitation and liberation of Bluefield & Nica,
two bottlenose dolphins captured last August in Corn Island, Nicaragua,
and released by our organization just a month after.
During this operation, Minister
Salazar himself participated and collaborated with the liberation of both
animals and was touched by WSPA´s enormous efforts to heal and safe the
dolphins. As a result of a campaign promoted by WSPA Latin America and
member society Amigos de los Animales in Panama, at present, a similar
legislation is being considered at the Panamanian Congress as part of a
new law on Animal Welfare that also includes a circus ban.
(05/02/2003) No live animals will be used in Physiology 5000 labs this year
The witch is dead!
To the surprise and elation of
animal-welfare advocates both here and around the country, the University
of Colorado Health Sciences Center tersely - and privately - announced
Wednesday that "no live animals will be used in the Physiology 5000
labs this year."
They are better known as the notorious
"dog labs," in which healthy dogs are (were; love that past
tense!) anesthetized, flayed open, left alive on surgical tables for as
long as six or seven hours, and finally euthanized. The labs did not teach
surgical technique, nor did they involve pharmaceutical research. Their
sole purpose was to allow students to observe the effects of drugs on
organs...
[Link]
(06/02/2003) Canada expands seal cull as environmentalists fume
OTTAWA - Canada increased sharply the
number of seals that can be culled over the next three years yesterday,
dismissing protests from environmentalists who say this will have a
devastating effect on the seal population.
Fisheries and Oceans Minister Robert
Thibault said hunters would be allowed to kill a total of 975,000 seals
over the next three years, with the maximum catch in any one year set at
350,000 animals...
[Link]
(07/02/2003) Domestic Animal Cruelty Made Illegal in Spain
by Sherry Morse
The government of Spain recently enacted its first laws prohibiting abuse
and neglect of cats, dogs and other domestic animals.
Such cruelty had previously been
prohibited only by some local governments in the country that levied fines
against persons convicted of it.
"Mistreating domestic animals, an
absolutely aberrant practice that now goes unpunished, will be defined as
a crime," said Spanish Justice Minister Jose Maria Michavila.
Bullfighting is not addressed by the
new laws, and so remains legal.
The enactment of the legislation was
prompted by the efforts of Animal Freedom, the Altarriba Foundation and
other animal welfare organizations, which circulated a petition calling
for all animal cruelty ? not just domestic ? to be made illegal.
[Link]
The suffering of the Enkosini lions
continues without respite, reports the animal welfare community. It is not
enough that the lions were ripped out of their secure and tranquil 40 acre
sanctuary on the eve of High Court proceedings that would have determined
whether or not the lions had to move. It is not enough that the 8 lions
now lie panting in the blazing mid-summer heat of their bleak, treeless,
shade-less, 3 hectare enclosure, being gawked at by tourists.
The Enkosini trustees, Kelcey Grimm
and Greg Mitchell, were monitoring the health of two of the young male
lions, Nkosi and Madoda, with wildlife veterinarian Dr. Richard Burroughs
before their seizure by the Mpumalanga Parks Board (MPB) last week. Madoda
has two benign growths on his left shoulder and Nkosi has a more serious
lesion in his mouth that has dramatically increased in size over the past
two months. It is important that Kelcey and Mitch continue to monitor
their condition and report their findings to Dr. Burroughs. Furthermore,
biting flies are a terrible nuisance in the summer months, and unless
treated, the tips of the lions' ears can be eaten off by flies. This makes
the lions very uncomfortable, and they lose condition.
For these reasons, the Enkosini
trustees requested bi-weekly access to the lions to continue their
treatment. One would have thought that such a reasonable request would
have been granted without any difficulty. Incredibly, despite the need for
the lions to be protected against fly attack, and for growths and lesions
to be closely monitored on a regular basis, the MPB has refused the
request and prohibited the owners from enjoying access to their lions at
the Rhino & Lion Park. The owners may visit 'as members of the
public', but may not tend to the welfare of their lions.
Kelcey and Mitch then offered their
support in caring for the lions and meeting the lions' meat and veterinary
costs, yet the MPB refused this involvement as well. The likely motive for
this seemingly pointless prohibition is to build up a large food and
accommodation account with the Rhino and Lion Park, and then to present
Enkosini with the bill as a final slap in the face if the Enkosini
trustees were to win their High Court case, and come to collect their
animals.
The officials contend that the lions
are being adequately monitored by others such as the NSPCA, but this is
not true. Standing on the other side of the fence gazing at the lions like
tourists does not meet the welfare needs of the animals. Without the
Enkosini trustees' assistance, it will be impossible for the Lion Park
staff to apply ointments and sprays to the lions, and closely monitor
their health. The owners have raised these lions from birth. They have
spent countless hours with these lions over the last two and a half years.
There can be no question that they are better suited to monitor and assess
the well-being of the animals than anyone else.
The standard of care of the animals at
the Rhino and Lion Park has also been questioned. A concerned member of
the public, Mr Henri van Biljon, has been visiting the lions regularly in
order to check on their welfare. He has complained to staff at the Rhino
and Lion Park that there was no water in the lion camps on occasions. Also
that carcasses were left to rot without removal, causing flies and odour.
He noticed that the electricity on the lion camp fencing was frequently
left off. As a result of his complaints, Mr van Biljon has been banned
from visiting the lions again.
Where is the NSPCA in all this, one
might ask. The answer is that the NSPCA considers its working relationship
with MPB to be more important than the welfare of the 8 lions. Recently,
NSPCA Inspector Andries Venter presented himself at the branch of the Bank
which holds the Enkosini account, and demanded to be given access to
Enkosini's banking records - on behalf of MPB.
There is such a tender relationship
between the provincial conservation officials and the bureaucrats at the
NSPCA that one suspects both bodies are only waiting for the law on unisex
marriages to change before one of them pops the question. While the
romance between MPB and the NSPCA blossoms, the 8 Enkosini lions suffer
on, with only the courage of their owners and the support of the animal
welfare community standing between them and a fate worse than death - the
South African canned lion hunting industry.
Contact: Kalahari Raptor Center -
Email: krc@spg.co.za
(09/02/2003) CRUISE WITH THE VEGETARIAN SOCIETY
7 DAY 'HIGHLIGHTS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN' DEPARTING 20 AUGUST 2003
Cruise with the Vegetarian Society the length of the Mediterranean and
visit many of its principal cities whilst enjoying the company of fellow
society members and attending two morning conferences hosted by the
society's Chief Executive, Tina Fox.
[Link]
(10/02/2003) 20 février à Paris: manifestation pacifique devant l'ambassade du Vietnam
(62 rue Boileau, Paris 16e) à 15H30.
One Voice vient d'effectuer une
investigation au Vietnam où, comme en Chine, les ours sont encagés et
torturés pour leur bile. Nous avons rapporté des images de l'opération
d'extraction que subissent les ours quatre fois par an et à laquelle ils
ne survivent pas toujours. Elles seront présentées aux médias lors
d'une action le 20 février, qui marque une étape dans nos campagnes en
faveur des ours.
Au Vietnam, au contraire de la Chine,
une loi protège les ours depuis septembre 2002, mais elle n'est pas
encore appliquée. Dans les prochains mois, nous allons étudier avec les
associations qui oeuvrent en Asie pour les ours (notamment avec nos
partenaires de la campagne en faveur des ours en Inde), les solutions les
plus efficaces pour aider les ours exploités pour leur bile. Et une
grande campagne sera lancée à l'automne. Nous espérons parvenir au même
résultat positif que pour les ours en Inde, même si cela nécessite
quelques années. Notre objectif est la fin de la capture des ours et de
leur martyr dans ces cages qui ressemblent à celles des laboratoires.
Notre action prévue le 20 février à
Paris prend donc de l'ampleur. Pendant qu'une délégation ira à
l'ambassade de Chine pour rencontrer un responsable et lui remettre un
ours en peluche mutilé et un courrier, nous vous proposons de venir nous
rejoindre pour manifester pacifiquement devant l'ambassade du Vietnam (62
rue Boileau, Paris 16e) à 15H30.
We are not actually on orange alert
here on Maui. They say the risk is lower here. But a friend, Mele, who
operates a lei and Hawaiian crafts shop close to here, says everyone
stopped buying after the President's speech the other day. Economists are
trying to predict the impact of war on Hawai'i, where they say it took
twelve years to recover from the last Gulf War.
One impact of wars past made a lot of
noise here on Friday. A number of caches of bombs and other ordnance on
the island of Kaho'olawe were blown up, shaking windows and rattling
nerves on Maui. The Maui News reports that some people thought we were
being attacked, given anxieties about such matters.
Sheri, our world famous whale watching
waitress at the Five Palms restaurant, sent this email:
"Aloha Dan,
Just wanted to mention...Today, on Kaho'olawe there were a lot of
detonations of arsenal. I can't remember hearing (or feeling!) as many in
the last three months as I heard and felt today. The funny thing is the
whales were on a breaching marathon! We couldn't look up with out seeing
one breaching. They were all off the coast of Kaho'olawe and constantly
out of the water.
I was wondering if the explosions
affected whale behavior. I am more then 7 miles away heard the explosions
and felt the percussion and watched chairs vibrate. I would imagine they
felt it as well if not more so. The whales were definitely different all
day today.
Warmest regards
Sheri"
What we noticed here was that the
whales stopped singing. We had been hearing a lot of vocal activity for a
number of days, and then nothing. We heard a little bit of singing this
afternoon. This isn't enough data to make any kind of conclusive statement
about anything. But we probably should consider the fact that war,
preparation for war, and mitigation of wars' impacts on the
environment......may also affect the whales and other ocean creatures.
An estimated 1,000 dolphins are being
killed illegally for human consumption each year in Peru, according to new
evidence. Even though the trade has been outlawed for nearly 10 years,
"there are very clear indications of a flourishing black market for
dolphin meat," said Stefan Austermuhle, executive director of the
Peruvian conservation group Mundo Azul (Blue World).
The chasing and killing of dolphins,
including the sale and consumption of dolphin meat, was prohibited by Peru
in 1995. This ban came in response to the dramatic increase in dolphin
killing during the 1980s and early 1990s that amounted to an estimated
15,000 to 20,000 dolphins each year.
Initially, the ban seemed to have
dealt with the problem. "For years, the problem was thought to have
been solved," Austermuhle said. But reports and photographic evidence
collected by Mundo Azul show that the illegal killing of dolphins is still
widespread along the entire 3,000km Peruvian coast.
And despite the ban on the sale of
dolphin meat in supermarkets and restaurants, there are reports of it
being offered at parties and certain restaurants in Lima.
Austermuhle says the problem is not
being treated sufficiently seriously by the authorities. "The problem
is not restricted to isolated beaches which are difficult to control. Last
September, a dolphin was found on the beach of the harbour town of
Pucusana, just five metres away from the fishing dock and 50 metres away
from the office of the port authorities."
In order to fight the illegal dolphin
killing Mundo Azul has started a national awareness campaign for the
conservation of dolphins. The NGO, Peruvian citizens and the police are
also going to set up a beach patrols in order to trap the illegal dolphin
killers. Mundo Azul has also announced that it has begun an
undercover-investigation of fish markets and restaurants thought to be
places where dolphin meat is sold.
Funding is desperately required.
Please put this information on your website.If you are able to help Mundo
Azul in any way, please contact:
Stefan Austermühle
Mundo Azul
Las Acacias 185 A
Lima 18 – Miraflores
Greenpeace Activist News,
Vol. 3, No. 2
12 February 2003
In this issue, send a valentine to three antiwar presidents
- We've launched a new website opposing a war in Iraq:
www.greenpeace.org
- We've also set up a discussion thread about volunteering to help stop a
war here:
//act.greenpeace.org
- We encourage you all to participate in the world wide demonstrations
against a war on Saturday, 15 February. To find out more, please visit:
www.unitedforpeace.org
- Please send our new Valentine-themed e-card to your friends and
colleagues (not just your special someone!) from:
//act.greenpeace.org/
- The e-card asks people to thank the Presidents of France, Russia and
China for opposing a war in Iraq.
Please thank these Presidents yourself from:
//act.greenpeace.org
- You can send a letter to the 15 members of the UN Security Council here:
//act.greenpeace.org
(14/02/2003) HDutch test imported feed for dioxins
AMSTERDAM - Four Dutch companies have
received animal feed from Germany possibly tainted with carcinogenic
dioxin, the Dutch agriculture minister said this week.
Animal feed produced by a firm in
eastern Germany tested positive in January for dioxins, and about 100
tonnes of possibly contaminated feed from that company was exported to the
Netherlands.
"A company in (the southern Dutch
province of) Limburg imported the feed and sent it to four other
companies," Agriculture Minister Cees Veerman told parliament in The
Hague.
The four companies - three food
processors and a cattle farm that makes its own feed - are in Overijssel,
in the east of the Netherlands...
[Link]
(15/02/2003) Spanish racers hang greyhounds at season's end
MEDINA DEL CAMPO, Spain - A gory
sight confronts walkers in a Spanish wood - a dead greyhound hangs from a
tree near the remnants of a noose.
Bones, including a dog's jaw, lie
under a nearby tree, evidence of other animals that have met the same
fate.
The slain dogs are a violent
by-product of rural Spain's fascination with hare coursing, a sport in
which owners often regard their animals as disposable.
Tens of thousands of greyhounds run
hare coursing races in rural Spain each year. At the end of the season
many are hanged - slung from trees with a piece of twine - and if their
owners think they have run badly they sometimes hang them with their back
paws on the ground for a slower death.
Fermin Perez, head of a dog sanctuary
at Medina del Campo in central Spain, says he has been told of these
methods by racing dog owners. The British-based World Society for the
Protection of Animals (WSPA) also describes them in a report.
"I've seen dogs hanged at every
angle you can imagine," Perez told Reuters.
Owners have invented grim terms to
describe the different execution methods. Hanging dogs with their back
feet on the ground is called "the secretary" or "the piano
player", referring to the scrabbling of the dog's front legs as it
tries to reach the ground, according to WSPA and locals in Medina.
"If they're not running, they
hang," said Angel, a 21-year-old former hare courser from Medina del
Campo...
[Link]
(16/02/2003) Our dogs are friends and not food
By Sung Su Kim
Dogs are amazing animals and
considered as companion animals by many people around the world. This is
no coincidence. Their ability to return our affection quickly and easily
makes them endear to our heart even in environments and climates where
people are taught to regard animals as lesser beings. Their ability to
communicate with us so easily together with their eagerness to please us
enables them carry out special roles in saving human lives.
Unfortunately these wonderful animals
have been slaughtered for its meat in the part of the world, particularly
in China and Korea. The method of slaughter was often to inflict pain
deliberately due to an erroneous belief that doing so will increase health
benefit. Some people in the West, while looking at this practice with
disgust, comment that it must be their culture to eat dogs and choose to
look away rather than try to help the compassionate Asians to end this
practice.
Culture has been often used as an
excuse to turn away from suffering, including human suffering. People
often use cultural relativism to soothe their conscience for doing
nothing. Hence the popularity of cultural relativism. If people care a
little more and try to understand and solve the problem, cultural
relativism will not be so often used as an excuse to allow the suffering
to continue. The diversity of culture can be a wonderful thing and however
culture, understood as something demanding respect, is not the same thing
as common or unusual practices. We see the evidence of cruel treatment of
human beings and other animals throughout history. Is this a human culture
that we want to celebrate and respect? Surely we want regard various evils
in our history such as slavery and cannibalism as something to be rid of
rather than treat them as human culture and demand respect accordingly? If
we were going to respect others’ culture, the culture should be
respectable.
In Asia, people often place greater
values on friendship and loyalty than in the West. This does not mean that
betrayal does not occur. However in any society promoting the values of
trust and love can only be a good thing and something to be celebrated and
respected. That dogs are eaten in the part of Asia where people regard
friendship and loyalty as prominent virtues shows the extent of suffering
these people have experienced. When people suffer a great deal, sadly
people tend to become insensitive to suffering. Because animals are at the
bottom of the hierarchy in human esteem, people’s suffering tend to
create even worse deal for the animals. Because animal abuse is often
related toward violence against other humans, a vicious circle is created
and it is time for us to break this circle and heal the wound. Dogs,
because of their ability to return our love with love and loyalty in no
mistakable manner, can play a crucial role in this healing process. On the
other hand, a society that tolerates dog meat is sending out a message
that it isn’t such a big deal to betray loyalty and trust.
(17/02/2003) Captain Paul Watson Needs You to Help Stop the Horrific Slaughter of Harp Seals in
Canada
I am building an e-mail army of
compassionate warriors to oppose the Canadian seal slaughter. The
Government of Canada intends to kill over 350,000 harp seals each year for
the next three years. This cruel and wasteful slaughter is a subsidized
hunt implemented by the Canadian government to scapegoat the seals for the
Canadian government's mismanagement of the seal hunt.
We are launching a three year campaign
to oppose the slaughter of the seals. If you join this list, you will
receive regular updates on the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's
campaign. If you wish to become involved in distributing e-mail protests
and supporting actions against the seal slaughter, please respond by
sending your name and e-mail address to me.
I would like to build up an initial
list of 6000 names to make create a legion of cyber warriors to be called
upon to assist when needed.
If you care about stopping this cruel
slaughter of seals please join the list. Reply with your name and e-mail
address.
Please foreword this message to
everyone you know who might be interested in helping. Lets use the power
of the internet to recruit the numbers we need to defeat this annual
bloody massacre on the East Coast of Canada.
For those looking for the ideal place to spend vegetarian/vegan
holidays, here is an attractive offer:
JOY OF LIFE
is the motto of the vegetarian festival, which will be organized in
Turkey for members of the European Vegetarian Union and to which
interested vegetarians and vegans from all over the world are
invited.
WHEN:
From 21 June (Welcome Party) to 26 June 2003 (Farewell
Dinner)
Check out 27 June, 2003.
WHERE:
At the Club Natura Oliva in Bafa, Milas at the Bafa lake. The Bafa Lake is
a natural paradise on the border of the Aydin-Mugla province of the Aegean
Region. In ancient times Lake Bafa was a gulf on the Aegean coastline.
With time it lost its connection with the sea. It contains four islands
and is surrounded by historical sites.
This unique area combines natural beauty with cultural treasures and thus
makes it a perfect destination for sportsmen, ornithologists, artists and
photographers - in short, for anyone interested in nature, archeology and
history. A pleasant Mediterranean climate invites for long walks, swimming
or just soaking up the sun on the beaches of the sea or the lake.
For more details please look at
www.clubnatura.com
HOW TO GET THERE:
From Izmir airport, the Club Natura is 2 hours away and 12 hours
from Istanbul airport. A round trip Istanbul-Izmir by Turkish airlines
costs about 170.- Euro (however, free bus transport from and back to
Istanbul airport is included in the price).
WHAT
IS OFFERED / POINTS OF INTEREST:
Though the programme puts emphasis on leisure and socializing, it
will at the same time propose lectures, workshops (Turkish
vegetarian cooking etc.), slide shows and discussion groups. Morning
yoga sessions are planned and outdoor activities (boating etc.) will
be organized. Of course, a stay in Turkey would not be complete
without listening to Turkish music, which will be played for your
listening pleasure.
ACCOMMODATION:
The resort is situated on an extensive area covered with olive trees right
in the center of the natural environment. The housing is designed as
two-floor bungalows. Every bungalow has 4 rooms, each with bathroom
en-suite. For those preferring to be even closer to nature, possibilities
for camping are available.
FOOD:
All vegan and vegetarian breakfasts, lunches and dinners will be a
feast, prepared by experienced vegetarian cooks. Locally grown
organic ingredients will be used, the bread will be baked daily out
of locally grown organic grains and the olive oil used will be also
organic of the land where the festival will take place.
PRICE PER PERSON:
Accommodation: (From Saturday night to Friday morning) - 6 nights.
Festival Activities: (From Sunday to Thursday) - 5 days.
Full Board : 6 breakfasts, 5 lunches, 6 dinners.
Accommodation (rooms are available for 2, 3 or 4 persons).
Transfer by bus from Istanbul Airport to Club Natura and from Club Natura
to Istanbul Airport.
Registration - 390 Euro
EVU Members - 10% discount
Age 12 to 22 - 10% discount
Age 6 to 11 - 50 % discount
Age 0 to 5 - Free
A special note for those wanting to make the pleasure last: Accommodation
and full board costs 50 Euro per day and person.
IMPORTANT
DATES:
Deadline for booking 30 April 2003
(Booking after 30 April 2003 depends on room availability)
REGISTRATION
OFFICE:
Contact Person: Bora Sari
Address: S. Halil Ibrahim Cd. No: 51/8 Istinye – Istanbul
– Turkey 80860
Tel: 90.212. 277 77 11, Fax: 90.212. 277 60 42
E-mail:
bora.sari@orkestral.com
(18/02/2003) MEATOUT - USA/international - 20 March 2003
-Meatout is your best, once-a-year
opportunity to tell your friends and neighbors about the health,
environmental, and ethical benefits of plant-based eating.
-Meatout is your best, once-a-year
opportunity to have your friends and neighbors "kick the meat habit
and explore a more wholesome, less violent diet of fruits, vegetables, and
grains".
-Meatout is your best, once-a-year
opportunity to help the animals. Every 1% reduction in national meat
consumption prevents the agony and death of 100 million innocent, feeling
animals - more than the combined number of animals victimized by all other
human activities.
ONE person turns away from animal
products = YOU SAVE 1,500 ANIMALS!
Join thousands of caring people in all
50 states and around the world on March 20 by hosting a Meatout event in
your area. Participating is easy - Small & large events are needed -
We want you to join us !
Visit
www.meatout.org
to find detailed information and to request materials, even if your plans
are not yet finalized or you're just curious. Join us at and be part of
the solution! The animals need ALL of us working for them!
The United States Court of Appeals for
the Ninth Circuit recently blocked a resumption of gray whale hunting off
the coast of Washington State by the Makah Indian tribe.
The action, which prohibits the tribe
from hunting gray whales until the National Marine Fisheries Service
completes a review of the matter, was taken in response to the filing of a
lawsuit by The Fund for Animals, The Humane Society of the United States
and other animal welfare organizations.
The plaintiffs argued that the hunt
would have been a violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which
permits some Alaskan tribes to practice whaling on a limited basis, but
not the Makah.
"This attempt to circumvent our
environmental and marine mammal protection laws has failed," said
Humane Society of the United States Senior Vice President Wayne Pacelle.
"Let's hope that this represents the final chapter in this
wrongheaded effort to resume whale killing in the United States."
"We are elated that the court has
put a stop to this illegal and inhumane whale hunt," said Fund for
Animals president Michael Markarian. "American citizens want our
whales to be protected ? not persecuted."
(20/02/2003) Fish farms threaten stocks of wild species - WWF
OSLO - Fish farms are a mounting
threat to depleted world stocks because more and more wild fish are being
fed to their caged cousins, the WWF conservation group said yesterday.
"Four kilos (8.8 lb) of
wild-caught fish are needed to produce one kilo of farmed fish," the
Swiss-based WWF said in a report urging reform of fish farming ranging
from species like salmon, trout, tuna and sea bream to crustaceans like
prawns.
World farmed production roughly
doubled in the past decade to 20 million tonnes a year, increasing demand
for oil and fishmeal, made from species such blue whiting and pilchards,
to feed the farmed fish, it said.
Without reform, it said the
fast-growing industry could be consuming all the world's fish oil and half
of its fishmeal by 2010, up from 70 percent of fish oil and 34 percent of
fishmeal now...
[Link]
New report indicates that harp seal
hunt management in Canada is failing Date: December 14 1999
Posted by: Dave Johnston
A new study, soon to be published in
Conservation Biology suggests that the Canadian Government's management
plan for the northwest Atlantic harp seal hunt is not achieving it's
stated objectives. Current levels of human -caused mortality exceed what
the harp seal population can sustain and the herd is now very likely in
decline. Details on the study can be found at the IMMA website:
www.imma.orgpagophilus.org
Click on the site below for the
scientific report on the harp seal population status.
[Link]
(Notice) JOIGNONS-NOUS
EN FORCE À LA SEMAINE MONDIALE DE LIBÉRATION DES “ ANIMAUX DE
LABORATOIRE ” D'AVRIL 2003 !
MOBILISATION INTERNATIONALE ET UNITAIRE CONTRE LA
VIVISECTION !
Cette année, la Semaine Mondiale de Libération
des “Animaux de Laboratoire” aura lieu du 21 au 27 avril 2003, la
Journée Mondiale étant elle fixée au jeudi 24 avril 2003… !
International Campaigns et la
Ligue Française contre la vivisection (L.F.C.V.) vous invitent à
participer à cet événement international annuel et à manifester votre
opposition sans faille à la torture expérimentale sur l'animal.
Pas disponible le jeudi 24 avril ? Pas de problème…
organisez-vous pour le week-end du 26 et 27 avril 2003, dans le
cadre de la Semaine Mondiale des “ Animaux de Laboratoire ” !
VOICI UN
AVANT-GOÛT DU PROGRAMME PROPOSÉ :
- Organisation
d’un rassemblement (statique) ou d’une manifestation (mobile) avec
autorisation,
...en fonction de votre capacité de mobilisation,
dans votre ville ou votre région devant (si autorisation accordée) ou à
proximité (si pas d’autorisation) d’un établissement pratiquant la
torture animale (laboratoire d’expérimentation privé ou public, faculté,
CHU,…). Une présence pendant les heures de bureau, nous accordera
encore plus de crédibilité. Une liste des labos-élevages connus classés
par département sera disponible au siège de la L.F.C.V. sous forme
papier ou électronique.
- Diffusion
du message abolitionniste international auprès du public et de la
presse locale/régionale avec (liste non exhaustive) :
(1) Des
POSTERS (de grande taille) d’animaux torturés (fournis sur commande
– réutilisables chaque année) à poser ou pour “
homme/femme-sandwich ”
(2) Des PANCARTES ET BANDEROLLES affichant les slogans suivants
(identiques sur tous les points de manifestation sur le territoire) :
VIVISECTION : HORREURS – ERREURS – DANGERS : ABOLITION
!
VIVISECTION : TORTURE ! ; VIVISECTION : BARBARIE ! ;
VIVISECTION : NON !
VIVISECTION : ABOLITION !
“ VIVISECTION : ABOLITION ! ; AUCUNE ESPÈCE ANIMALE NE
POUVANT ÊTRE LE MODÈLE BIOLOGIQUE D'UNE AUTRE ” (Comité
Scientifique PRO ANIMA et A.F.R.S.)
“ CE QU'ON N'A JAMAIS (RE)MIS EN QUESTION N'A POINT ÉTÉ
PROUVÉ. ” (DIDEROT, 1713-1784)
(3) UNE TENUE MILITANTE
composée :
a) d’une blouse blanche maculée de
peinture rouge (à confectionner soi-même) et d’une casquette (fournie
sur commande) avec le slogan “Vivisection : Abolition!”
b) d’un masque ou un costume d’ “ animal de
laboratoire ” (chien, chat, mais aussi et surtout lapins, rongeurs,
primates et autres animaux martyrs)
c) Certains militants viennent aussi avec leur compagnon
animal.
(4) Un MÉGAPHONE POUR
S’EXPRIMER CLAIREMENT et DIFFUSER :
- Notre message de DÉNONCIATION de la
VIVISECTION et de son AMPLEUR MONDIALE. (Texte rigoureux fourni par nos
soins)
- Notre message de PROPOSITIONS SCIENTIFIQUES, pour une VRAIE
RECHERCHE BIOMÉDICALE et TOXICOLOGIQUE en EUROPE, recentrée sur la bio-médecine
humaine.
(5) TEXTE (fourni par
nos soins) DE DÉNONCIATION, de REVENDICATION et de PROPOSITIONS, sera
à remettre au préalable à la presse locale et aux média en général.
(6) ATTITUDE du CORTÈGE –
du SITTING.
Pas de hurlements hystériques, discordants, époumonés, qui nous discréditent
gravement auprès de l'opinion. Pas de provocation, d’insultes, ni
d’actions illégales. Le recueillement interpelle le passant, le fait réfléchir,
pas la vocifération.
- Reconduction
de cet événement chaque année
...en l’affinant et en l’amplifiant pour donner
aux citoyens les moyens d’exiger l’Abolition de la Vivisection !
Ce projet vous inspire ? C’est dès maintenant qu’il nous faut
nous organiser ! Vous craignez de ne pas y arriver ou de faire “ petit
” ? Qu’importe ! C’est l’expérience et elle seule qui vous
permettra de toujours mieux vous organiser pour amplifier la protestation
et exiger l’abolition de la vivisection !
Pour nous informer de votre projet local, vous tenir au courant de
l’avancée du projet global et obtenir tout conseil et assistance
pratique pour cet événement d’envergure mondiale, contactez-nous à :
international_campaigns@noos.fr
et
lfcv.toulouse@club-internet.fr
ou écrivez à :
Jacques
DESMEULES
Président de la Ligue Française Contre la Vivisection
Adresse:
L.F.C.V. 14, rue Pargaminières
31000 TOULOUSE
Tél: 05.61.23.53.96
Fax: 05.61.23.37.89
Michel
TONDEUR
Délégué Paris - Ile de France
Adresse:
L.F.C.V. 84, rue Blanche
75009 PARIS
Tél: 01.45.26.37.57
Fax: 01.44.53.96.28
(22/02/2003) UK food watchdog warns of mercury risk in tuna
LONDON - Pregnant women, breastfeeding
women and those planning babies should limit their consumption of tuna
because mercury found in the fish could present a health hazard, Britain's
Food Standards Agency said.
The groups concerned are advised to
eat no more than two medium-sized cans of tuna a week due to a low risk
that mercury in them could harm an unborn child's developing nervous
system...
[Link]
(23/02/2003) Wasting disease found in deer in Utah, New Mexico
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - Chronic
wasting disease, a wildlife illness related to mad cow disease, has
emerged for the first time in Utah's deer herd, state officials said in a
statement.
The disease was confirmed on Tuesday
in brain tissue from a male mule deer shot by a hunter last fall near
Vernal, in northeastern Utah, the state Division of Wildlife Resources
said.
Separately, two new cases were recently reported in New Mexico, where
the disease was found last year...
[Link]
Two weeks ago, Oceana WaveMakers in
the Southeastern U.S. took action to protect endangered and threatened sea
turtles. More than 3,000 activists wrote the government and urged the Bush
Administration to release a final rule to enlarge the openings of Turtle
Excluder Devices (TEDs) that are used as escape hatches in shrimp nets.
The bigger TEDs are needed so that the largest and most mature sea turtles
do not become trapped in shrimp nets and drown.
Early this morning, the final rule was
officially released. It is expected that the new rule will reduce the
annual number of endangered leatherback sea turtles that drown in shrimp
nets from 2,300 to 80. Deaths of threatened loggerheads are expected to
decrease from 62,000 to 4,000. Oceana will continue to push the agency to
do more to further protect sea turtles from unnecessarily drowning in
shrimp nets.
Thanks to everyone who took action.
Your efforts dramatically increased sea turtles' chance for survival.
Sincerely,
Dawn Martin
Oceana
(25/02/2003) Pigs slaughtered after new German swine fever case
HAMBURG - Some 22 pigs have been
slaughtered after a case of swine fever was confirmed in the western
German state of Rhineland-Pfalz, a local government official said.
The virus is of type Uelzen found in
wild pigs (wild boar) and wild animals are suspected as the possible
source for the outbreak of the highly infectious disease, said an official
in the local government authority of Bad Duerkheim...
[Link]
(26/02/2003) Berlin-Marathon on 28 September 2003
VEBU looks for vegetarian/vegan
marathon runners
On the occasion of the World
Vegetarian Day 2003 on 1 October, VEBU looks for vegetarian/vegan runners
who are interested in participating in the Berlin Marathon on 28
September.
The VEBU would like to use the Berlin
Marathon to point out that a vegetarian life-style does not only bring
health advantages but also qualifies people to participate in sports
activities of the highest levels.
Apart from finding participants for
the run, VEBU intends to use that opportunity to promote the vegetarian
way of life as an attractive alternative for athletes.
In Indonesia, unusual animals,
including endangered species, are consumed as health remedies, impotency
cures or gourmet treats.
MEDAN, Indonesia -- The eight fruit
bats are trying to sleep, but it's not easy. At midday, they dangle from a
stick alongside one of the busiest streets of this teeming city.
The bats hang head down, their feet
and mouths bound tightly with rubber bands. Passing cars, buses and
motorcycles belch so much smoke that the pollution at street level exceeds
any smog alert standard. The bats' little ears twitch amid the cacophony
of honking horns and revving engines.
But these bats are not destined to
suffer long. Captured in the rainforest about an hour outside the city,
they will be sold to passing motorists as a cure for asthma.
The recommended treatment is to cook
the bat's heart and eat it...
[Link]
(28/02/2003) Rescue mission
By Elva K. Österreich, Staff Writer
Carole Noon has a mission in life. She
dreams of giving her "people" a place to live out their lives in
peace and comfort. She would like to give them an island where they can
play together, go out in the sun and play, or curl up in a warm bower and
sleep in peace.
Noon walks by her people talking with
them, teasing this one gently, encouraging another, laughing with a third.
She has her dog, Esther, with her for the first time and these people have
never seen a dog before; it's quite a shock for them. They call to the
dog, yell at her, and even throw things at her.
Esther is only one of the new
experiences Noon's friends have encountered in the past few months since
Noon's organization took over the care of them.They have also encountered
such delicacies as fresh fruit with every meal and mirrors so they can see
who is living next to them.
Noon's people are known to most of the
rest of the world as chimpanzees and the organization she directs is the
Center for Captive Chimpanzee Care based in Florida...
[Link]
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