News
The number of news found: 20.
06/29/2010 TOXIS FOUND IN WHALES BODY ILL FOR HUMANS
Sperm whales feeding even in the most remote reaches of Earth's oceans have built up stunningly high levels of toxic and heavy metals, according to American scientists who say the findings spell danger not only for marine life but for the millions of humans who depend on seafood. A report released Thursday noted high levels of cadmium, aluminum, chromium, lead, silver, mercury and titanium in tissue samples taken by dart gun from nearly 1,000 whales over five years. From polar areas to equatorial waters, the whales ingested pollutants that may have been produced by humans thousands of miles away, the researchers said.
06/28/2010 MEPS VOTE ON NEW EU BIOCIDAL PRODUCTS REGULATION
Eurogroup for Animals applauds the Members of the European Parliament who voted for a number of improvements to testing rules involving the use of animals, while maintaining a high level of protection for human health and the environment. The European Parliament's Environment Committee voted on amendments to a proposed new EU regulation on biocidal products, which are used to protect plants, people and products against harmful or unwanted organisms. The proposal contains one of the longest lists of animal testing requirements seen in any EU legislation, which have to be undertaken before a product can be placed on the market. Animal welfare organisations urged Parliamentarians to use their vote to amend the legislative proposal to ensure that outdated animal tests are replaced with state-of-the-art testing strategies that can reduce animal use by half, if not eliminate it altogether for the assessment of certain types of toxic effects.
06/26/2010 SCOTTISH SCIENTISTS TO CREATE DISEASED PIGS
Edinburgh University's Roslin Institute is to develop genetically engineered pigs to be born with Cystic Fibrosis to be used in experimentation then killed. Dr Bruce Whitelaw of the institute has claimed that these animals and the 'technology' to breed them will then be sold drug companies. He claims as usual that this is all to cure disease but in the next breath admitted that it will "not necessarily" allow treatments to be developed. Another gem of work from the Roslin is that they've "developed a robust and reproducible rat model, which can provide a useful investigative tool for neuropathic pain mechanism."
06/24/2010 THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ACCEPTS TERMS "VEGETARIAN" AND "VEGAN"
The European Parliament Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety is considering a proposal for a regulation on "Food Information to Consumers." Carl Schlyter, a Vice-Chairman of the Committee, has put forward an amendment proposing that the following text should be included in the regulation: The term "vegetarian" should not be applied to foods that are, or are made from or with the aid of products derived from animals that have died, have been slaughtered, or animals that die as a result of being eaten. The term "vegan" should not be applied to foods that are, or are made from or with the aid of animals or animal products (including products from living animals).
06/22/2010 EP: LABELING "MEAT FROM SLAUGHTER WITHOUT STUNNING"
EU legislation permits animals to be slaughtered without prior stunning to provide food for certain religious communities. A proportion of this meat is not sold to Muslims or Jews but is placed on the general market and can be unwittingly purchased by consumers who do not wish to buy meat derived from animals that have not been stunned. At the same time, however, adherents of certain religions specifically seek meat from animals which have been ritually slaughtered. Accordingly, consumers should be informed that certain meat is derived from animals which have not been stunned. This will enable them to make an informed choice in accordance with their ethical concerns.
06/21/2010 FISH TRIES TO KILL FISH TRADER
An Indian trader holding a bag of fish preparing to sell them got a surprise when all of a sudden, a fish jumped into his mouth. According to the Mysore Evening News, an Indian online newspaper, Mohamad Kunhi, a fish trader from nearby Ka-sargod, has the good will of three teams of doctors to thank for his life. After it jumped into his mouth, the fish made its way inside the trader's lungs. He started choking and he nearly died. He probably would have were it not for the final team of doctors who found the fish inside of his lungs and extricated it.
06/21/2010 FISH TRIES TO KILL FISH TRADER
An Indian trader holding a bag of fish preparing to sell them got a surprise when all of a sudden, a fish jumped into his mouth. According to the Mysore Evening News, an Indian online newspaper, Mohamad Kunhi, a fish trader from nearby Ka-sargod, has the good will of three teams of doctors to thank for his life. After it jumped into his mouth, the fish made its way inside the trader's lungs. He started choking and he nearly died. He probably would have were it not for the final team of doctors who found the fish inside of his lungs and extricated it.
06/18/2010 SAVE WHALES, NOT WHALING - SEND YOU E-PROTEST!
In a few days time the International Whaling Commission are very likely to vote in favour of lifting the 24 year ban on commercial whaling. The "deal" would make the whale slaughter legal, potentially threatens the long-term survival of whale populations and "opens the floodgates" to far bigger slaughter in the future. Add your voice to the thousands of protests and send your e-protest NOW!
06/17/2010 MATADOR ARRESTED AND FINED FOR RUNNING AWAY
A matador was fined after running away from a bull and leaping over the arena wall. Christian Hernandez was arrested after Sunday's botched bullfight at the Plaza Mexico in Mexico City, apparently for breach of contract, local media reported. He was released after paying the fine. "There are some things you must be aware of about yourself," the 22-year-old Mexican matador said in a television interview. "I didn't have the ability, I didn't have the balls, this is not my thing." In a sight rarely seen in the world of bullfighting, Hernandez made a spin with his red cape at the charging bull, then ran across the ring and leapt headlong over the wall to safety, dropping his cape in the process. The crowd hooted in derision. Several months ago, another bull seriously gored Hernandez in the leg. Officials did briefly convince Hernandez to return to the ring, where he put his hands over his head and pointed upward before he made a second exit, shaking his head. He later said he would retire from bullfighting.
06/16/2010 COMISSION SEEKS THE PUBLIC'S OPINION ON THE EU POLICY ON ANIMAL WELFARE
The European Commission would like to find out the opinion of EU citizens and stakeholders on the EU Policy on Animal Welfare and to that end it launched, on June 1, an online survey. The evaluation is concerned with EU animal welfare actions over the 2000-2008 period and is being carried out with reference to farm animals, experimental animals, pet animals and wild animals, which are kept in captivity or submitted to a treatment that is controlled by humans. The survey is intended for individuals and stakeholders and seeks their views on four types of EU action (legislation, research, communication and international activities). The survey will remain open until Friday, July 31.
06/15/2010 JUNTA DE ANDALUCIA INVESTIGATES DEATH OF A YOUNG COW DURING FIESTA
On Tuesday, June 1, 2010, the Junta de Andalucía (the regional government of the Spanish region of Andalusia) started an investigation into the death of a young cow during a fiesta in Alhaurín El Grande (Málaga). The animal was repeatedly beaten by a group of youngsters and now the Junta investigates if they are responsible for the death of the animal.
06/14/2010 FRENCH LAWMAKERS MOVE TO BAN BULLFIGHTING
Two French parliamentarians said they had presented a bill to ban cock and bullfighting, which are widely criticized as barbaric. Lawmaker Muriel Marland-Militello of French President Nicolas Sarkozy's majority UMP party and Genevieve Gaillard of the opposition Socialist Party told a news conference that banning bullfighting was a question of France's honor.
06/11/2010 UK COULD BE FORCED TO PAY HALF A MILLION FOR COMMERCIAL WHALING
The London-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) today revealed that proposals to resume commercial whaling under the International Whaling Commission (IWC) for a 10-year period could cost European tax payers more than £5.6 million. A document posted to the IWC's website last week outlined basic costs for setting up a Monitoring, Control and Surveillance Scheme (MCSS) in the event that the IWC agrees the plan to allow commercial whaling by Japan, Norway and Iceland. The cost of the scheme is estimated at £1,290,385 per year, with first year start-up costs of £173,000. These costs do not include sightings surveys to gather vital data necessary for the calculation of so-called "safe" catch limits. The proposal to resume commercial whaling will come before IWC member governments when they meet in Agadir, Morocco, in two weeks.
06/10/2010 SEAWORLD ORCA DIES WHILE GIVING BIRTH
Taima, a 20-year-old orca born at SeaWorld Orlando in 1990, died late in the afternoon on June 6, approximately 20 hours after going into labor Saturday evening. The calf was stillborn. Taima's fetus was in an unusual position in the birth canal during the delivery process. The orca also experienced a condition in which the placenta was delivered before the fetus itself. After Taima was unable to deliver her calf, park veterinarians attempted to assist. But SeaWorld said the complications ultimately proved too severe. SeaWorld says it will not know the definitive cause of Taima's death until a full post-mortem investigation is completed, a process that is expected to take up to six weeks.
06/08/2010 TWO MORE JAPANESE THEATERS CANCEL SCREANINGS OF "THE COVE"
Two more movie theaters in Japan have canceled screenings of "The Cove," an Oscar-winning documentary that shows footage of a dolphin hunt in a Japanese village. In recent months, protesters with loudspeakers have been shouting slogans at the Tokyo office of Unplugged, the distributor of "The Cove," criticizing the film as a betrayal of Japanese pride. Unplugged said Friday the cancellations at Cinemart theaters in Tokyo and Osaka were triggered by worries about safety of moviegoers and businesses nearby. The Tokyo cinema where the movie was to open changed its mind Thursday after getting angry phone calls and warnings of protests.
06/07/2010 SLAUGHTERHOUSE WORKERS CHARGED WITH ANIMAL CRUELTY
MONTPELIER - Two former employees of a now-closed Vermont slaughterhouse have been charged with animal cruelty for the excessive shocking of calves with an electric prod, prosecutors said. The state Attorney General's office issued arrest warrants for Christopher Gaudette, 37, and Frank Perretta, 51, both of Grand Isle. The charges stem from revelations last November at the Bushway Packing Inc. slaughterhouse in Grand Isle, where hidden-camera video taken by the Humane Society of the United States showed days-old calves being dragged, kicked and shocked as they were loaded off a truck and taken to slaughter.
06/04/2010 PREGNANT RHINO SLAUGHTERED
A female rhino that was killed with its calf by poachers at a Gauteng nature reserve was pregnant and due to give birth in three months. The 25-year-old cow, known as Big Queenstown because she came that town in the Eastern Cape, was left lying next to her dead two-year-old calf with her horn sliced off. The calf's horn, however, was untouched - something which puzzles the owners of the Rhino and Lion Nature Reserve in Kromdraai, who found the two dead rhinos on Saturday morning.
06/03/2010 ANIMALS DYING AS WATER SOURCES DRY UP IN RAJASTHAN
Rajasthanâ's scorching summer is taking its toll, and not just on people wilting in the heat. With water drying up in ponds and reservoirs across Rajasthan, there are alarming reports of monkeys, chinkaras and cheetal deer dying as they stray out of their habitat into nearby villages. In the last three days at least 13 monkeys have died because of water scarcity in the last three days in Shahabad in Baran district, close to the famous Ranthambore National Park. Similar reports have come in from the border district of Barmer where various species of deer are commonly found. As many as 22 chinkaras, or gazelles, died of dehydration after they were unable to find drinking water.
06/02/2010 NEW ZEALAND OUTLAWS KOSHER SLAUGHTER
New Zealand has become the fourth country to outlaw Jewish ritual slaughtering, authorities said Sunday, after Iceland, Norway, and Sweden took similar measures in the past. Under the newly instated Animal Welfare Commercial Slaughter Code, announced by Agriculture Minister David Carter, commercially killed animals would have to be stunned before slaughter, making kosher slaughter, or shchita, illegal, according to the Jewish Australian News service.
06/01/2010 AUSTRALIA TO TAKE JAPAN TO COURT OVER WHALING
Australia announced Friday it will take Japan to the International Court of Justice to argue that its annual Antarctic whale kill violates international obligations, in a major escalation of its campaign against the hunt. The decision to take legal action against Australia's important trading partner underlines the government's "commitment to bring to an end Japan's program of so-called scientific whaling" in the southern seas, Environment Minister Peter Garrett and Attorney-General Robert McClelland said in a joint statement. Japan gets around an international ban on commercial whaling by arguing that it harpoons hundreds of whales each year for scientific research.
The number of news found: 20.
