(01/01/2004) Chirping birds save two Iranian children from ruins
BAM, Iran - The chirping of two pet canaries from beneath the rubble of a destroyed house in Bam saved two children after the birds attracted the
attention of rescue workers, Iran's official news agency reported yesterday.
"The two children were stuck in the debris next to their broken bird case," the IRNA news agency said. "After hearing the birds singing, rescue
workers went to the location and were removing the debris when they found the children."
[Link]
(02/01/2004) Taiwan Says Ducks Smuggled from China Had Bird Flu
TAIPEI - Taiwan reported its first case of a highly contagious bird flu Wednesday, but said six ducks smuggled from mainland China which
had tested positive had been destroyed.
The cabinet's Council of Agriculture said it was closely monitoring the situation to prevent avian influenza - which in rare cases
can be deadly to humans - from spreading in Taiwan...
[Link]
(03/01/2004) Legal challenge to primate centre - Campaigners say the case was prejudiced
Two animal rights groups have lodged a High Court challenge to a
government decision to allow a research centre which will experiment on
monkeys.
Animal Aid and the National Anti-Vivisection Society (Navs) are furious that
Cambridge University has been given permission to build the lab.
They are
appealing against Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott's decision to permit
the centre after a public inquiry. It is due to be built in the spring at Girton on the outskirts of Cambridge...
[Link]
(04/01/2004) USDA to Kill 450 Calves in Mad Cow Scare
WASHINGTON - U.S. agriculture officials have decided to kill 450 calves in a
Washington state herd that includes an offspring of the cow diagnosed with
mad cow disease.
Ron DeHaven, the Agriculture Department's chief
veterinarian, said Monday that the month-old calves would be slaughtered this week at an undisclosed facility that is not being used...
[Link]
(05/01/2004) China Confirms SARS Case, Begins Civet Cat Cull
BEIJING - China confirmed yesterday its first SARS case since a world epidemic was declared over in July, and began a mass slaughter of civet cats
on fears a new strain of the deadly virus may have jumped from wild animals
to humans.
Health officials in the southern province of Guangdong said a
virus gene sample from the SARS patient - a 32-year-old television producer - resembled that of a coronavirus found in civet cats, a Chinese
culinary delicacy...
[Link]
(06/01/2004) Fish eat away at malaria in India
Fish are being used to control malaria in India with remarkable
success, according to researchers from the Indian Council for Medical
Research.
The mosquitoes which transmit malaria have virtually been eradicated from some areas. Scientists presented the results of several pilot projects
at the Indian Science Congress in Chandigarh.
Malaria control takes up a
substantial slice of India's health budget, largely through buying insecticides.
The
theory is simple: find fish which like eating mosquito larvae and put them in ponds, rivers and wells where mosquitoes lay their
eggs. The eggs hatch, and the fish eat the larvae...
[Link]
(07/01/2004) Sunday Deadline in Chinese Wildcat Cull
GUANGZHOU, China - Health workers have begun drowning and incinerating thousands of civet cats in southern China over fears they carry a new strain
of SARS, but international experts are worried the cull may only add to the
danger.
The slaughter of caged civets in wild animal markets in Guangdong province began on Monday when China announced the first case of Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome since a world epidemic was declared beaten in July...
The civets are drowned in chemical disinfectant and their carcasses hauled away in huge metal containers for incineration. Guangdong authorities
have given a Saturday deadline for the slaughter of some 10,000 of the animals...
[Link]
1. Send protest letters to the Korean government before they legalize
dog-meat!
2. Sample letter to Korean President
3. The letter from the Olympic Committee
For the past year, KAPS/IAKA and animal friends from around world have been
lobbying the Korean government to not adopt a draft law which would recognize
two classes of animal - pets and livestock. Dogs and cats would not be excepted
from their definition and would therefore be "raised" as livestock for human
consumption. KAPS has argued that dogs and cats need to
be a special category, recognizing their longstanding role as companion animals, that could not be raised
as livestock. Nevertheless, the Korean government appears to be determined to
adopt the new law and has set in motion a process that could result in it being
approves by the Korean National Assembly in July 2004.
This, of course, is terrible news. If this law passes as planned, only dogs
and cats raised explicitly as pets will be protected. Not only does this mean that dogs and
cats raised for human consumption will have no protection from abuse whatsoever
but it also allows for any dog abuser to get away with torturing these animals,
legally, just as long as he claims the animal is not a pet.
We are asking you to send as many protest letters as possible to Korean President and the Ministry of Agriculture. This matter is most urgent,
as the Korean government has already set up a time-line for the introduction
if this new law: the law will be drafted and then sent to Korean Animal related organizations for
review in February 2004, before being passed on to National Assembly. Please
write protest letters in both email and regular mail and encourage others to do so,
too. (President Roh Moo-Hyun does not have an email address. If you try emailing
the Minister of Agriculture and the message does not go through, please consider
sending a letter through the mail instead. AN 80¢ STAMP IS REQUIRED FOR LETTERS
MAILED FROM THE U.S. TO KOREA.)
Animal Protection Law amendment schedule
* Consult related organizations and draw up Amendment: February, 2004
* Consult related departments and notify the public legislation in
advance: March to April, 2004
* Amendment examination by Regulation Inspection Committee: May to
June, 2004
* Parliament submission: July, 2004
* Legislation: August to December, 2004
* Enforcement: January, 2005
Send protest letters to:
President Roh Moo-Hyun
Blue House
1 Sejong-Ro, Jongno-gu
Seoul
South Korea, 110-050
Minister Huh Sang-man
The Ministry of Agriculture
1 Jungang-dong, Gwacheon
Gyeonggi Prov.
South Korea, 427-760
(-or- wmaster@maf.go.kr)
Sample letter to President Roh, Moo-Hyun:
Dear President Roh, Moo-Hyun,
I am appalled to learn the Korean Government is currently drafting an amendment
to the Animal Protection Law of 1991, making a distinction between certain breeds
of dogs as meat-producing livestock animals and other breeds as pets. In the draft
law, the definition of pet animal is an attempt to give legitimacy to dog and cat
meat. The dogs and cats are protected only if people raised them purposely as pet
animal. This means that any dog or cat purposely raised for food will not be
protected. Not only does this deprive protection to animals who are raised for
food or medicine but will also result in a situation where the law cannot punish any
animal abuser who claims that their dog or cat was raised for any purposes other
than pets. In 1991 your own government acknowledged that all dogs, not just
certain breeds, were entitled to protection from cruelty, mistreatment, and abuse.
Any amendment leaving dogs and cats purposely bred for food or medicine without
protection would be a grave injustice and a major setback for the animal protection efforts in
Korea.
If this new law passes, it would make Korea the first and only country in the entire
world to explicitly legitimize dog meat, legally sanctioning dog and cat killing for
human consumption. This would bring a great mark of shame to your country,
especially when the overwhelming majority of the rest of the world has banned
dog-meat, including Taiwan, Thailand and the Philippines. In fact, Taiwan has
recently strengthened their law to ban the killing and selling dogs as food. Almost
every other country in the world, especially those as developed as Korea, is
moving forward with animal protection laws. Why do you want to embarrass your
country and let it be known as the only country taking a step backwards?
Our boycott of Korea's bid for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games was successful.
After choosing Vancouver, Canada, as the host city, the International Olympic
Committee sent letters to International Aid for Korean Animals and The Korea
Animal Protection Society asking them and their supporters to stop bombarding
their offices with protest cards. I promise that if the proposed amendment to the
Animal Protection Law of 1991 passes, we will do everything in our power to see
that Korea will loose all of its bids to host any major event, including all
international sporting events and World Expositions. I, and my many animal loving
friends from around world, will send protest letter after protest letter informing
the organizers of such events as to the horrors that take place inside Korea,
letting them know that they should reconsider before choosing Korea as a host city.
All Dog and Cat are companion pet animals and should not be raised for human consumption.
(08/01/2004) USA - Key West Barber to Trim Chicken Population
KEY WEST, Fla. (Reuters) - In the latest of battles against the strutting,
free-roaming population of cocks, hens and chicks, city officials in Florida's southernmost city are hiring a local barber to catch and curb the
feathered fowl.
Key West's city commission agreed on Tuesday night to pay up
to $20,000 to hire Key West native Armando Para to capture the cluckers and
haul them out of town, likely to a farm in Brooksville, Florida, north of Tampa.
"There's some places chickens shouldn't be," Para said on Wednesday,
pledging to follow the city's orders when his contract is finalized in late
January...
[Link]
(09/01/2004) Bardot Slams China over Wildcat Cull
PARIS - French actress turned animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot has slammed Chinese President Hu Jintao for the drowning and incineration of
thousands of civet cats over fears they carry a new strain of SARS.
"The
eradication methods these animals are put through are unacceptable and they
have easily and quickly been ideally targeted although no scientific research has yet identified which species is the first to have caught the
virus," Bardot said in an open letter in English to the president...
[Link]
(10/01/2004) Children Mourn Killer Whale Keiko
OSLO - Hundreds of children have placed stones on the grave of "Free Willy" movie star Keiko the killer whale in Norway in an emotional
Viking-style ceremony denounced as absurd by a leading whale hunter.
About 300 children placed stones in a pile where Keiko's carcass was hauled out of a western fjord and buried after Hollywood's top cetacean
celebrity died of pneumonia last month, aged 27. Even the mayor of the local
township of Halsa attended...
[Link]
(12/01/2004) The Killing Fields
by Patricia Collier
Like all horrors of humanity, it's a cycle. We eat sick farm animals to whom
we have fed tainted feed made from other sick animals. We eat sick wild animals
too.
Then we kill the animals who ate the tainted feed (Mad Cow, you
know!). And then we kill the wild animals we ate because we too can become
ill (SARS, of course)!
The world has become one big killing field.
Humans excuse it all by citing
concerns for public safety. But such concern for fellow humans doesn't dawn
on anyone until someone gets sick. Or until herds of animals become incapacitated and the financial bottom line of "agribusiness" is threatened.
It's disheartening how concern for the animals gets lost in the maze of panic, excuses, trading blame and greed.
And when the sicknesses rear up and
bite us, we act amazed...
[Link]
(13/01/2004) I swore to myself that from now on I was going to try to work to stop any
animal testing
...watching little innocent mice and rats being slaughtered for useless experiments became a non-return point for me, especially after spending a
whole week trying to rescue a rat that I had already named Enriqueta.
The professor knew I was completely against the practices and was keeping an
eye on me during all the time though I tried to sneak out to Enriqueta's cage to open it and run away with her. Nobody expected the rats to be killed
that day and I shouted when the professor took Enriqueta the first one and
decapitated her. I couldn't believe my eyes, I couldn't believe anyone could
be so cold-blooded and cruel. I felt my heart stopping and suddenly beating
with more strength that ever, I stared at him and swore to myself that from
now on I was going to try to work to stop any animal testing. I have no words to describe how I felt when I was watching a sweet, healthy, funny and
curious rat and suddenly there were only the remains of a dead body with no
head and blood all over the table...
[Link]
(14/01/2004) Orangutans Face Extinction in 20 Years - WWF
LONDON - Orangutans face extinction in as little as 20 years because of logging and poaching, the conservation group WWF-UK said yesterday.
"Borneo and Sumatra, home to the world's last orangutans, have lost a
staggering 91 percent of their populations over the past 100 years," WWF-UK
said in a statement.
"There are now fewer than 30,000 orangutans left and it is likely that
they will become extinct in the wild in as little as 20 years' time if this
decline continues," it added...
[Link]
(15/01/2004) USA: Feds Delay Gray Wolf Protection Decision
BILLINGS, Mont. - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service postponed a decision Tuesday on whether to drop federal protection for gray wolves, which were hunted nearly to extinction decades ago but have made a remarkable recovery since the 1990s.
The agency said the state of Wyoming has failed to submit an adequate plan for protecting the animals if the federal government were to step aside...
[Link]
(Notice) Hotels won’t accept your pets? Buy your own holiday home!
What about a luxurious mobile home, securely placed on concrete
blocks, on a fenced-in site with many high trees and a little brook,
situated in a beautiful and unspoiled region of Belgium/Fagnes - between
Couvin and Philippeville?
Please find more details about the area on these maps
www.eurodetente.com :
An idyllic holiday area will pretty villages and forests, just as ideal for a relaxing
stay as well as for all kind of outdoor activities like walking, cycling and hiking. A
nearby lake-are has been developed for swimming, boating, diving, water-skiing
etc.
The almost new mobile home (10x3m) is elegant and so well equipped that a
comfortable stay even during extreme temperatures (double-glazing and
special insulation) is no problem. It consists of:
- one bedroom with a double bed, two bedside tables, overhead storage, wardrobe with two doors and inside drawers, dressing table, and electric heater
- one bedroom with twin beds, overhead storage and wardrobe,
- shower and wash basin,
- toilet,
- small storage compartment with water heater (gas)
- cosy dining-living room with sofa-corner (with a fold-away double bed), cabinets, shelves, gas-heating, dining table with four chairs
- open kitchen with large fridge incl. freezer compartment, 4 flame gas cooker and cooker hood, sink, working space and a lot of storage room
- extraordinary fittings (wooden doors and cabinets).
Further features:
- two doors/French windows
- partly covered terrace in front
- second terrace under trees,
- electricity,
- telephone (ADSL connection possible),
- water,
- septic tank,
- street lights
- a small brick building with plenty of storage room for garden furniture (for 8 people), an additional fridge and garden tools.
This comfortable holiday place will be sold with pots and pans – so there is nothing
in the way of happy holidays in one of the most idyllic areas of Belgium!
(16/01/2004) URGENT: The Safaripark Gaenserndorf in Austria:
40 Chimps who have been saved from Baxter Labs, Austria, and rehomed to the Safaripark
Gänserndorf in Austria (website:
www.safaripark.at ) and many animals
formerly held in zoos and circuses, urgently need international help and support.
The Safaripark Gänserndorf who has a reputation for taking compassionate and professional care of
"discarded" and confiscated wild animals from zoos and circuses mainly, is on the verge of
having to shut down, and the animals who live there - amongst them 40 Chimps rehabilitated from
a vivisection lab - could even face euthanasia.
Other parks and zoos are not willing to take any of these animals, states a public letter sent to
the Austrian authorities by the major Austrian AR/AW groups in the search for urgent government
help.
800 animals currently live in Gänserndorf. The Austrian AR/AW
organizations state that Gänserndorf currently is the only facility in the
EU that has specialized on the rehoming of abandoned "zoo-" and "circus-"
animals on a larger scale, and provides relatively big spaces for the
animals.
Please write to the Austrian authorities to ask them to financially support Gänserndorf to secure
the lives of the animals who are living there.
The Addresses are:
- Local Authories:
Landeshauptmann von Niederösterreich
Dr. Erwin Pröll
Landhausplatz 1, Haus 1a,
3109 St. Pölten, Austria Office: +43-2742-9005-12027 Fax: +43-02742-9005-13030 E-Mail: landeshauptmann.proell@noel.gv.at
- Chancellor of Austria:
Bundeskanzler Dr. Wolfgang Schüssel
Bundeskanzleramt
Ballhausplatz 2
1014 Wien/Vienna
Austria
E-Mail:
wolfgang.schuessel@bka.gv.at
(NOTE: from the US you would dial 011+43 as the country code, and from within the EU you would
dial 00+43)
(17/01/2004) Ebola May Come from 'Bush Meat,' Study Finds
WASHINGTON - The deadly Ebola virus, which emerged mysteriously from African forests, probably attacks people who butcher and eat infected animals, researchers said on Thursday.
The virus, which most recently killed 29 people in the Congo Republic, seems to break out when people slaughter chimpanzees, gorillas and small antelopes called duikers, the scientists said...
[Link]
(18/01/2004) Radio interview for Korean dogs and cats
On the 4th of October, 2003, 4FM did one hour special program for Korean dogs and cats. Aad Hoogesteger explained the plight of Korean dogs and cats
to Dutch audience throughout the program. Part of the program was a telephone interview in English...
[Link]
(19/01/2004) TIME TO BRING MEATOUT 2004 TO YOUR COUNTRY!
Time to start planning your Meatout activities for March 2004.
Time to promote healthy and compassion eating.
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.
1 person turns away from animal products = YOU CAN SAVE 1,500 ANIMALS!
Join thousands of caring people around the world on (or around) March 20 by
hosting a Meatout event.
PARTICIPAITING IS EASY:
- Small & large events are needed.
- You can print materials off our website.
- We have special leaflets for non-US events and some in Spanish!
Visit www.meatout.org to register, even if your plans are not yet finalized
or you're just curious. Join us and be part of the solution! The animals need ALL of us working for
them!
Modern farming in Europe has reduced the numbers of 24 common bird species by a third in a quarter of a century, a report by European
ornithologists says.
The authors include staff from the UK's Royal Society
for the Protection of Birds and BirdLife International...
[Link]
Alors qu'aujourd'hui toute la presse applaudit à la naissance de trois
nouveaux delphineaux au Dolfinarium de Bruges, que faire pour protester et
mettre fin à ces exhibitions, aussi choquantes qu'un zoo humain ? Car même
si les dauphins de Bruges ne sont pas "maltraités" au sens strict du
terme, c'est pourtant l'existence d'un lieu où l'on confine des êtres de
culture et d'intelligence pour en faire des clowns qui heurte nos valeurs
éthiques et se doit d'être éliminé du paysage belge.
Située au coeur des institutions europénnes, notre petite nation
démocratique a pour vocation de montrer l'exemple et devrait cesser de
fouler au pied, par le biais de ce cirque aquatique, la dignité d'un
peuple libre et noble dont la place est dans l'océan et non pas dans des
piscines en béton. Rappelons à ce propos cinq grands points essentiels:
1. Le Delphinarium de Bruges ne satisfait en rien aux exigensces de la Loi Belge sur
le bien-être animal, car il est tout simplement impossible de reproduire en bassin
l'environnement socio-éthologique minimal nécessaire à des mammifères marins
tels que les cétacés. C'est sur cette base scientifique que les delphinariums ont
disparu du Royaume Uni en 1993, suite à une enquête du Ministère de l'Environnement menée en 1986.
2. Les programmes de reproduction n'ont pas de sens puisqu'on ne réhabilite jamais
"in situ " les animaux produits de cette manière - y compris par insémination
artificielle ! - contrairement à ce qu'exige la CITES. Ces pseudo-programmes n'ont
pour but que de maintenir actives des attractions commerciales grâce à des jeux
d'échanges de bassin à bassin (Tex est aujourd'hui à Antibes) et de rendre
quasi-impossible leur fermeture, puisque ces delphineaux nés captifs ne sont pas
éduqués pour vivre en mer.
3. La reproduction en bassin ne tient de toutes façons pas ses promesses.
Aujourd'hui encore, des captures de "fondateurs" ont toujours lieu partout dans le
monde, comme le prouve l'! exemple récent des Iles salomon ou l'arrivée régulière
de dauphins capturés à Cuba qui arrivent par l'Espagne ou le Portugal plus ou moins
légalement. Des delphineaux nés à Bruges nagent avec des dauphins cubains à
Albufeira. Le Marineland d'Antibes achète ses dauphins à Valence !
4. La valeur scientifique et pédagogique d'un delphinarium est équivalente à celle
d'un cirque, c'est à dire nulle. Plus aucune université sérieuse ne collabore avec ces
structures depuis les années 70. Les dauphins savants de Louis Herman meurent
comme des mouches. Si des découvertes physiologiques intéressantes ont pu être
réal sées dans les années 50 et 60, au prix de nombreux dauphins massacrés,
aujourd'hui c'est en mer que les cétologues travaillent, plus jamais en bassin.
Quelles sont les recherches menées aujourd'hui à Bruges ? Toutes celles qui
concernent les moyens médicaux de maintenir en vie, aussi longtemps que possible, un dauphin dépressif dans un bassin
vide...
5. Ethiquement, enfin, pas plus qu'il n'est admissible de mener des expériences
médicales sur les grands singes, nos si proches cousins, il n'est concevable que des
animaux dotés de cultures de langage et d'une vie sociale hautement complexe soit
traités comme des poissons rouges. Et même moins bien que des poissons rouges,
puisque les aquariums domestiques bénéficient généralement d'un décor de plantes
et et de rochers, alors que le bassin en béton nu de Bruge est, lui, totalement vide
de tout objet, ceci afin d'obliger les dauphins à rester en surface.
Un jour prochain, si l'on se souvient que le delphinarium est désormais aux mains
d'exploitants espagnols très professionnels et particulièrement ambitieux, nous
aurons des bélougas, des orques ou des éléphants et il sera trop tard pour
protester. C'est pourquoi nous suggérons qu'à l'occasion de la Grande Semaine
Internationale du Dauphin Captif le dimanche 4 Juillet 2004 prochain à partir de 10
heures et jusqu'au soir, une action publique de sensibilisation et de distribution de
tracts soit menée du matin jusqu'au soir devant les portes du Dolfinarium de Bruges
au nom du Comité pour une Belgique sans Delphinarium.
D'ores et déjà, nous sollicitons l'aide et le soutien de tous les groupes de défense
animale, en Belgique, en France, aux Pays-Bas et partout dans le monde, pour faire
de cette intitiative citoyenne un succès et nous permettre de proclamer fièrement
un jour qu'à l'instar du Royaume Uni, la Belgique est devenue à tout jamais un
nouveau "pays sans delphinarium".
Merci d'avance !
Y.Godefroid Brussels
Comité pour une Belgique sans Delphinarium www.dauphinlibre.be
(21/01/2004) SARS Bites Deep Into Hong Kong Snake Restaurants
HONG KONG - Opposite a writhing mass of snakes in a glass tank, Kam Oi-ho stirred a steaming pot of snake soup and filled a bowl for his first
customer of the day.
Chinese people think eating snakes is good for you, especially in
winter when the meat is believed to keep you warm. But not this year.
"Our business has plunged 70 to 80 percent since the SARS outbreak last year," Kam said, as he looked around his near empty stall, which also sports
bottles of wine containing snakes and their innards (...).
Snake lovers used to have their fill in small Hong Kong stalls like Kam's,
where snakes are sometimes killed and skinned next to your table. There were
even special snake banquets, where every part was used and cooked in different ways...
[Link]
(22/01/2004) Chicken welfare is influenced more by housing conditions than by stocking
density."
Oxford scientists are publishing a report in the science journal Nature
today entitled "Chicken welfare is influenced more by housing conditions
than by stocking density."
The report makes clear that high stocking densities do affect chicken welfare. Crowded birds grew more slowly, jostled each other more and were
more likely to suffer lameness. The report goes on to show a range of other
things that can go wrong in broiler farming. Birds suffered from lameness under extremes of temperature and humidity. Mortality was higher in winter
when ventilation levels are reduced to conserve heat.
CIWF believes that stocking density remains crucial in preventing mass cruelty to factory farmed meat chickens. Changing the environment isn't an
alternative to giving chickens a decent amount of space to live in. Crowding
affects the environment. Crowded animals suffer from heat stress, humidity
and toxic ammonia released from their droppings.
Meat chickens also suffer terribly from painful lameness, and
intensive conditions make their problems worse. Lame birds are not getting
enough to eat or drink in the mêlée.
In response to the letter, CIWF spokesman Phil Brooke comments: "We must legislate to control stocking density and the use of breeds which suffer
from lameness if we are to end the appalling suffering of factory farmed meat chickens. This report shows a range of other things which can go wrong
in broiler farming. It is a scandal that there are no detailed laws specifically regulating the welfare of broiler chickens."
NOTES TO EDITORS
· For Betacam or VHS copies of the video "Live Fast, Die Young" about intensive chicken farming, further information or photographs contact CIWF's
press office on +44 (0)1730 233 904. Out of office hours call +44 (0) 7960
029713.
(23/01/2004) Making Way for Designer Insects
The insect world could shortly undergo a genetic makeover in the laboratory. Scientists are at work developing silkworms that produce pharmaceuticals instead of silk, honeybees resilient enough to resist pesticides and even mosquitoes capable of delivering vaccines, instead of disease, with every bite...
[Link]
(Notice) “Health for all” through a vegetarian lifestyle - an appeal by the European Vegetarian Union
Brussels, 21 January 2004
Press release
During their 113th session being held this week in Geneva, the Executive Board of
the World Health Organisation is discussing topics such as SARS and the global
strategy on diet, physical activity and health.
In his message preceding the world health report 2003, the WHO Director-General
said that “Twenty-five years ago, the Declaration of Alma-Ata challenged the
world to embrace the principles of primary health care as the way to overcome
gross health inequalities between and within countries. "Health for all" became the
slogan for a movement. It was not just an ideal but an organizing principle:
everybody needs and is entitled to the highest possible standard of health. The
principles defined at that time remain indispensable for a coherent vision of global
health…”
In an era of increasingly close-knit human communities and increasing travel
activities, health problems in one corner of the world are of concern everywhere.
Only recently it has become obvious how strongly the industry of tourism and
export can be affected by threats such as BSE, Avian Pest and SARS (which re-emerged this year after it had, according to WHO facts and figures, spread
already to 30 countries and produced a total of 8422 probable cases and 916 deaths
by early August 2003).
All the above mentioned problems and many others, mainly related to animal
diseases, have one common denominator: meat.
In last year’s “WHO/FAO Joint Report on Diet, Nutrition and the Prevention of
Chronic Diseases-Advisory” it was stated that there are major health benefits in
eating more fruit and vegetables, as well as nuts and whole grains and moving from
saturated animal fats to unsaturated vegetable oil-based fats. Based on these
recommendations and a multitude of other scientific findings, the European
Vegetarian Union appeals to the WHO Executive Board to put increased emphasis
on the promotion of a vegetarian diet.
(24/01/2004) Local Killer Whale Sighting Goes Down In Record Book
The folks who took an offhsore fishing charter out of Port Aransas Sunday morning came home with the catch of the day and they didn't catch it on rods n reels they caught it on tape. Capt. Dean Luke and his crew spotted 14 whales swimming along a chartered boat about 90 miles offshore Sunday morning...
[Link]
(25/01/2004) Rabbits on Death Row for Gnawing Alarms
AMSTERDAM - Dutch officials plan to shoot hundreds of wild rabbits which have nibbled through a prison's underground alarm, phone and power cables and tried to tunnel under its walls, officials say.
The hapless bunnies outside Overijssel prison in Zwolle are to be culled by hunters after the local municipality got a permit to shoot them. Catching them in cages to be released in the countryside failed to put an end to the destruction...
[Link]
(26/01/2004) Inhumane slaughter methods being used during the mass culling of millions of
chickens
Compassion in World Farming is outraged by the inhumane slaughter methods being used during the mass culling of millions of chickens in Asia due to
the current outbreak of Avian Flu. TV pictures show birds being thrown alive
into sacks, which are then dumped in holes in the ground.
CIWF is calling for all relevant authorities in the affected countries to urgently implement a humane slaughter policy with veterinary supervision.
Joyce D'Silva, CIWF's Chief Executive says, "Mass culling of animals always
raises a conflict between speedy dispatch and humane slaughter methods.
Britain's FMD crisis in 2001 made that very clear. The appallingly rough treatment of these chickens, followed by their probable suffocation or death
by heart attacks or the effects of the lime thrown into the burial pits is a
welfare scandal. I am writing to the relevant ambassadors today".
The rapid growth of intensive animal farms in eastern Asia seems to be mirrored by the increase in animal diseases such as avian flu which can
infect humans, with deadly results.
NOTES TO EDITORS
For Betacam or VHS copies of the video "Live Fast, Die Young" about
intensive chicken farming, further information or photographs contact CIWF's
press office on +44 (0)1730 233 904. Out of office hours call +44 (0) 7960029713.
Those who fight for specific animals, be that whales, monkeys, horses or dogs and cats, often face interesting criticism. Interesting because this type of criticism does not just come from those who kill or abuse the animals they are fighting for. It also comes from those who claim that they fight for all animals. Nowhere is this type of criticism directed more intensely than towards those who try to get dogs and cats out of food chain.
The second group of critics insist that those who object to the killing of dogs and cats for food must also object to the killing of livestock animals for food. To show that there isn’t any objective difference that warrants the favored treatment of dogs and cats, they claim that livestock animals are just as intelligent as dogs and cats. They dismiss the fact that many people love dogs and cats on the ground that what is ultimate in our affection is relative.
Before I became a vegetarian, I loved the taste of beef. I never touched dog and cat meat in my whole life. I gave up beef after reading Milan Kundera's book, ‘The unbearable lightness of Being’. The book was, so far as I am aware, not written to persuade people into vegetarianism. However the book provided me with an opportunity to find out more about the social nature of cows. After reading the book, I could no longer justify myself on eating them on the ground of taste. (However had I not loved dogs, reading the text would not have been enough to turn me into a vegetarian. I had a bit of compassion for other animals because I loved dogs and dogs were non-human animals.)
I welcome texts which explain why other creatures deserve more of our respect and believe they are good for the world. However, it is the context in which such sentiments have been expressed. For me dogs are as important as humans, meaning that I will hesitate if anyone asks me whether I would save a woman or a dog when both are drowning and I can only save one. However I would not demand that those who try to save human life should also include dogs in their efforts. It is not very fruitful to insist that humans should be just as equally appalled by the killing of dogs as they should be by the killing of humans.
Their respect of and love for livestock animals will serve better when they are expressed in the context of efforts trying to save livestock animals not in the context of efforts trying to get dogs and cats out of food
chain.
What may be "ultimate in our affection" is totally relative from people to people. However there shouldn't be any objections for anyone being a true advocate for creatures (humans or otherwise) that hold ultimate in their affection.
I welcome efforts to save more livestock animals and believe that the world will be a better place if everyone became a vegetarian. And I do my small bit by telling people about why no animals should be eaten in the right context. Meaning I don't say this when someone is angry with all the atrocity human species are still subject to and try to do something about it. The world becomes that much better if we all try to save those who are ultimate in our affection.
(28/01/2004) Parrot's oratory stuns scientists - Feathered prodigy: N'kisi leads the
field
The finding of a parrot with an almost unparalleled power to communicate with people has brought scientists up short. The bird, a captive African
grey called N'kisi, has a vocabulary of 950 words, and shows signs of a sense of
humour...
[Link]
(29/01/2004) Belgium Bans Cat, Dog And Seal Fur
Belgium has banned the import and trade of fur from dogs, cats and
seals.
The ban brings the number of EU nations that have outlawed the trade
in cat and dog fur to five – Belgium now joining Italy, France, Greece and
Denmark.
Belgium, however, has also taken one important step further towards animal compassion, by effectively outlawing commercial ties with Canada’s seal hunt, which is widely viewed by other nations as barbaric...
[Link]
(30/01/2004) The Pig Who Sang to the Moon
Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson's bestseller When Elephants Weep was the first book since Darwin's time to explore emotions in the animal kingdom.
In his latest book he focuses exclusively on the contained world of farm animals, revealing startling, irrefutable evidence that barnyard creatures have feelings too.
Jeffrey has given us permission to reprint some extracts from this exciting new book. This important book is highly accessible to all and we seriously recommend you buy it for yourself and get copies for all your friends. We guarantee that once they read it their views on current farming practices will change forever...
[Link]
(31/01/2004) Frying pan fumes 'kill canaries'
Fumes given off by cancer-causing chemicals used to make non-stick
frying pans are killing hundreds of pet birds every year,
environmentalists say.
The Worldwide Fund for Nature says it is hearing reports that many US caged birds are being killed by the fumes...
[Link]
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