News
The number of news found: 21.
06/30/2009 TV CHEF UNDER FIRE OVER TURTLE RECIPE
Television chef Herman den Blijker has come under fire from the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WFN) for featuring a recipe involving sea turtles in a tv cooking competition, the Telegraaf reports. During the show couples had to cook a dish using green sea turtles which had been bred in captivity on the Cayman Islands. The turtles are a protected species and the WFN says it is inappropriate to suggest it is ok to eat the them, even if they are farmed. "Eating turtles may be allowed on the Cayman Islands but exporting them and using them commercially in the EU and in the Netherlands is strictly forbidden," the organization was quoted as saying. "This is sending out completely the wrong signal."
06/29/2009 AUSSIE COMPANY SUPPORTS CRUEL SEAL CULL
The world's largest and cruellest slaughter of seals is about to commence on July 1 in Namibia. Australian-based fur and skins company, Hatem Yavuz, is directly implicated in this annual brutal slaughter. Hatem Yavuz alone bought all of the dead seal pup skins from last year's cull in order to make fur coats. This year, the highest quota ever - 91,000 cape fur seals - are set to be killed. Most pups will be so young that they are still being nursed by their mothers. The terrified pups will be rounded up, separated from their mothers and brutally clubbed to death. The market for Namibian Cape Fur Seal skins has collapsed over recent years due to lack of demand and import bans in the European Union, the United States, Mexico and South Africa because of the cruelty involved in the sealing methods. As of 2008, there was only one company left buying seal skins from Namibia - Hatem Yavuz.
06/28/2009 NORWAY SUSPENDS WHALING
Norwegian whalers have suspended their hunt mid-season this year with less than half the quota of 885 whales killed because demand is saturated, a fisheries organization said. Environmentalists said the decision was proof of consumers' lack of interest for whale meat, though industry officials said it was due to capacity problems at processing plants on land. Whales have been protected by a moratorium on whale-hunting since 1986, but Norway does not abide by the ban.
06/27/2009 SWEDEN PROMOTES CLIMATE-FRIENDLY FOOD CHOICES
Guidelines for climate-friendly food choices developed by the Swedish authorities recommend citizens to reduce their meat and rice consumption as a way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The first of their kind, the guidelines are now being sent out for reactions and inspiration from other EU countries. "Meat – beef, lamb, pork and chicken – is the food group that has the greatest impact on the environment," state the guidelines, jointly drafted by the Swedish National Food Administration and the country's Environmental Protection Agency.
06/26/2009 WORLD BANK WITHDRAWS LOAN TO BRAZILIAN CATTLE GIANT
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private lending arm of the World Bank, has withdrawn a USD 90 million loan to Brazil's cattle giant Bertin. The loan was used for the company to further expand into the Amazon region, which was causing destruction of the rainforest and fuelling global climate change. "It is good news that the World Bank is withdrawing these funds, yet scandalous that it was feeding a company that causes Amazon deforestation and climate change in the first place. It must now guarantee that it will not invest in such damaging projects in the future," said Paulo Adario, Greenpeace Brazil's Amazon campaign director. The move comes two weeks after a Greenpeace report "Slaughtering the Amazon" revealed that financial backing of the Brazilian cattle industry by the IFC and President Lula's government has led the industry to become the largest single source of deforestation in the world and a major source of global greenhouse gas emissions.
06/25/2009 TIGER POACHER SENTENCED TO THREE YEARS RIGOROUS IMPRISONMENT
A tiger poacher was sentenced to three years rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 10,000 by the Katni court in Madhya Pradesh. Dariya Juglal Bawaria, 60, was arrested by the Katni forest division on November 27. He is a resident of Pinjore, Haryana. Forest department officials recovered tiger and leopard spring traps, a cheetal skin, antlers, a spear and other poaching equipment. While sentencing Dariya, judicial magistrate Uma Shankar Agarwal observed that the traps appeared to have no other use but killing wild animals as leopard hair was found on one of the traps by forensic experts. "This is a unique judgment," Nitin Desai of WPSI said.
06/24/2009 800 GEESE NEAR NYC AIRPORTS EUTHANIZED
About 800 Canada geese around New York City's two airports have been trapped and euthanized, part of an effort to reduce the type of bird strike that led to a jetliner landing in the Hudson River last winter. Birds have been culled from 15 sites within five miles of LaGuardia and Kennedy airports. U.S. Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Carol Bannerman says agency biologists and other specialists are trapping and euthanizing the birds. Officials plan to kill 2,000 geese within weeks. U.S. Airways Flight 1549 had just taken off from LaGuardia on Jan. 15 and was over the Bronx when it ran into geese and lost both engines. Pilot Chesley Sullenberger safely landed the plane in the river that lies between Manhattan and New Jersey. All 155 aboard survived.
06/23/2009 SEA SHEPHERD CAPTAIN ARRESTED IN PORTUGAL
The captain of the anti-whaling ship, the Steve Irwin, has been arrested in Portugal on an outstanding 30-year-old arrest warrant. Paul Watson was arrested at Madiera airport as he arrived for this week's meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in Portugal. The Australian director of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Jeff Hansen, says Mr Watson was released after four hours of questioning.
06/22/2009 FRACTION OF QUOTA HARVESTED IN MAIN N.L. SEAL HUNT
Fishermen in Newfoundland and Labrador caught only a quarter of this year's seal quota as pelt prices plummeted, the recession clobbered their traditional markets, and Europe inched closer to a ban on the disputed products. Fewer than 500 vessels carrying 1,000 hunters ventured out for the annual hunt this year with about 70,000 harp seals taken out of the commercial, non-aboriginal quota of 273,000 animals for the province. A year ago, about 900 boats with roughly 4,000 sealers went out to take almost 218,000 harp seals. About 225,000 seals were killed in 2007.
06/21/2009 ANIMAL KILLS BY FEDERAL AGENCY MORE THAN DOUBLE
The number of animals poisoned, shot or snared by the U.S. Department of Agriculture more than doubled last year, and environmentalists who are critical of the killings are renewing their effort to cut the program's funding. The USDA's Wildlife Services division killed more than 4.9 million animals during the 2008 fiscal year, some of them pests that threaten crops. That's more than double the 2.4 million animals killed the previous year, but the agency contends the increase is due to more accurate counting methods.
06/20/2009 PAUL MCCARTNEY FOR MEATLESS MONDAYS
The ex-Beatles pop music sensation Sir Paul McCartney and his two daughters are avidly campaigning for meatless Mondays to "reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the world’s livestock, among the most serious contributors to global warming." The Independent reports: "The McCartneys have attracted support from across the worlds of showbusiness, science, business and the environment. The singer Chris Martin, Hollywood stars Kevin Spacey and Woody Harrelson, actress Joanna Lumley and Sir Richard Branson are advocating meat-free Mondays. Support has also come from comedians Ricky Gervais, David Walliams and Matt Lucas, the poet Benjamin Zephaniah and Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman. Another supporter, Sir David King, the Government's former chief scientist, said: 'The carbon and water footprints associated with producing beef are about 20 times larger than maize production. Eating less meat will help the environment.'"
06/19/2009 CHINA PLANS FIRST ANIMAL WELFARE LAW
Chinese legal experts are drawing up proposals for the country's first animal welfare law, which could criminalize the brutal culling of dogs and other forms of companion animals maltreatment. The recommendations, which will be submitted to the government by the end of the year, come after a public backlash against the authorities for slaughtering dogs to prevent the spread of rabies. Law professors at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences have been in discussions since last December with Britain's RSPCA and the US-based International Fund for Animal Welfare. The draft proposals are said to borrow ideas from the UK on sterilization programs and computer chip implants, but the main focus is on preventing maltreatment of animals.
06/18/2009 CAT SHOT WITH 50 PELLETS SURVIVES
Two-year-old Rosie was targeted by yobs and was left crying in agony following the attack. Guardian Tracey Homan, 39, from Guisborough, Cleveland, said: "I've never seen anything like it in my life. She was covered in blood and dragging her back legs along the floor. She's got about 50 wounds. The vet managed to get 20 pellets out, but 30 are still embedded in her body. She will just have to live with them in her body. I'm absolutely furious. I just can't believe somebody could be so cruel to an animal." Clare Turner, a vet at Wilton House, is hopeful that Rosie will make a full recovery. She said: "I've only been qualified for a year, but this is the first time I've dealt with a cat that has been shot. Fifty pellets in a cat is a lot. She's been very lucky."
06/15/2009 BRAZIL RETAILERS BAN BEEF FROM CLEARED AMAZON AREA
Brazil's top three retail groups have decided to ban the purchase of beef originating in deforested areas of the Amazon, the country's supermarkets association (Abras) said on Friday. The initiative includes Brazil's CBD (PCAR4.SA), known for its Pao de Acucar supermarkets, and the local subsidiaries of Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) and Carrefour SA (CARR.PA). The decision, taken up in a meeting earlier this week, came after environmental group Greenpeace published a report showing that the beef industry is the largest single driver of Amazon deforestation.
06/12/2009 TWO CONTRACT SWINE FLU IN THE NETHERLANDS
Two people have contracted swine flu after coming into contact with carriers in the Netherlands itself, the national health institute RIVM said. One is a child infected by its father who was in the US. The second is a shopworker who contracted the virus from a co worker who had been on holiday in the US. In total, 20 people in the Netherlands have now been infected with the disease, which has been contracted by over 25,000 people world wide. Some 139 have died, according to the world health organisation.
06/08/2009 PAINTED CHICKS LEAD TO ABUSE CHARGE FOR SWEDISH
A Stockholm magician has been charged with animal cruelty for painting several baby chickens as part of a show at a trendy night club last year. The chicks were sprayed with glow in the dark paint, and forced to endure the pulsating music and crowded dance floor of the F12 nightclub on a lively night in late-August last year, the Metro newspaper reports. The magician and organizers at the club claimed the stunt was "art", but a guest at the bar that evening had another opinion. "The chickens were really scared, shaking and peeping. It was horrible," Felicia Linder told the newspaper at the time. Linder called police who were also shocked by what they saw. "They were painted with glow in the dark paint, were running all over the place, and were really stressed. I've never seen anything like it in 30 years," Lisbeth Morin of the Stockholm police told Metro. The 27-year-old magician denies that he committed any crime, claiming he had no idea the chicks were suffering.
06/07/2009 BULL CATCHES MATADOR AND TEARS AN EIGHT-INCH HOLE IN HIS SIDE
Tossed into the air like a rag doll, Spanish matador Israel Lancho is gored by a bull in Madrid on Wednesday. The matador is now in critical condition after the bullfight at the San Isidro's fair in Las Ventas bullring. His gaping wound is nearly eight inches wide, with Spanish press claiming it was a miracle the bull's horn had missed his heart. Lancho, 30, had confessed he did not think he would survive. He is expected to remain in the intensive care unit of a Madrid hospital for several more days before being transferred to a clinic for at least a week.
06/05/2009 BRAZILIAN DEPUTIES APPROVE LEGISLATION TO BAN ANIMAL CIRCUSES
A ban on the use of animals in circuses is within reach in Brazil. Bill No. 7291 presented by the Congressman Antonio Carlos Biffi, has passed through the Commission of Education and Culture of the Chamber of Deputies in the Brazilian Congress. Following an intense debate with a strong presence of circus lobbyists and animal protection groups, the bill was unanimously approved in the Commission. The approval of the bill follows intensive lobbying lead by Animal Defenders International as part of the Stop Circus Suffering campaign in Brazil. This was launched in 2008 in conjunction with Brazilian animal protection groups and with the backing of cruelty-free cosmetics company Surya. The bill bans the use of both wild and domestic animals in circus shows. The Commission compromised by allowing 8 years for the implementation of the law. The bill will next be discussed in the Constitutional Commission and then in the Plenary.
06/04/2009 TEN-YEAR-OLD CHARGED FOR KILLING DUCKLING
Auburn Police have charged a 10-year-old for killing a duckling in Hoopes Park last month. Following an investigation, detectives were able to find three children who were involved in the incident. Detectives say they have enough evidence to charge one of the children for throwing stones at a group of ducks. A duckling was killed, and no one has seen the mother duck since. The child has been charged with cruelty to animals and will be tried in family court. Investigators say the circumstances of the case have made the result bittersweet. "It does feel good to know we have the kids responsible but it's also a sad feeling to know that kids would actually do this," Lieutenant Shawn Butler said. The surviving ducklings are being cared for by the DEC.
06/02/2009 SQUIRREL STEALS FLAGS AT CEMETERY
Every Memorial Day, volunteers place the flags next to the graves of nearly 1,000 veterans buried at Mount Hope Cemetery about 55 miles northeast of Detroit. The flags were undisturbed during a Mass held Monday. The Times Herald reports that workers at the cemetery on Tuesday noticed several flags had been torn off their wooden staffs, which were still in the ground. The mystery was solved in front of superintendent Ron Ceglarek's eyes. He watched a squirrel detach a flag stapled to a staff and carry it up a tree to the nest.
06/01/2009 ENERGY FROM PIG SLURRY HELPS FIND CLIMATE CHANGE
U.N. studies say agriculture is the main source of income for one of every three working people. It also is a growing source of pollution, as the global population increases and living standards rise in developing countries where more people are eating meat. The latest research by the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization says animal husbandry accounts for 18 percent of all greenhouse gases, when taking into account the grassland and forests that are cleared for raising livestock. When the FAO report came out in 2006, "people in the livestock sector were shocked because they thought they did a good job," says Akke van der Zijpp, a professor of animal husbandry at Wageningen University, a premier Dutch technical facility. Now they "are becoming slowly aware that this problem has to be solved." One way to deal with it is to reduce the methane animals produce by changing their diet or through breeding. Another is to make use of it and burn it.
The number of news found: 21.
