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The number of news found: 45.

11/30/2003 BULL BUFFALO SHOT ON THE BORDER OF YELLOWSTONE-DESPITE NO RISK!

Agents of the Montana Department of Livestock shot a lone bull buffalo as he attempted to return to Yellowstone National Park. Bull buffalo are considered a "low risk" of transmitting brucellosis, the state's justification for the annual buffalo slaughter. In reality, bull buffalo are "no risk" because the bacteria is transmitted through fetal matter, and males do not have babies. There has never been a documented case of any wild buffalo transmitting brucellosis to livestock.

11/30/2003 DRIVER KILLS FEEDING COCKATOOS!

Police are looking for a driver who ran over and killed 25 cockatoos in southern Sydney. Police said a large number of sulphur-crested cockies were feeding by the side of Thomas Mitchell Drive, in Barden Ridge, when a small sedan swerved to the opposite side of the road and drove through the flock. Twenty-five birds were killed instantly and three more had to be destroyed by the RSPCA because of their injuries. Witnesses said the small yellow sedan with four male occupants wasspeeding at the time and failed to stop after the incident.

11/29/2003 HIGH COURT REFUSES TO CONDEMN HUNGER INFLICTED ON MILLIONS OF CHICKENS!

To Compassion in World Farming's (CIWF) dismay, the High Court has today ruled that keeping broiler breeder chickens in a state of chronic hunger for weeks on end is not unlawful. (Broilers are the chickens reared for their meat.) The Court's ruling comes in a case brought against the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) in which CIWF argued that DEFRA is breaching the law by permitting broiler breeders to be fed on restricted rations which scientific research shows lead to chronic hunger.

11/28/2003 UN EXPERTS DEMAND ACTION TO SAVE GREAT APES!

PARIS - At least $25 million is needed to save great apes such as gorillas and chimpanzees from the threat of extinction, a United Nations official said on Wednesday. "The clock is standing at one minute to midnight for the great apes, animals that share more than 96 percent of their DNA with humans," said Klaus Toepfer, executive director of the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP). "$25 million is the bare minimum we need, the equivalent to providing a dying man with bread and water," he said in a statement before a three-day international conference on the great apes starting in Paris on Wednesday. All great ape species risk extinction, either in the immediate future or at best within 50 years, because of growing forest destruction, poaching, live animal trade and humans encroaching on their habitat, the conference organizers said.

11/28/2003 EU CONSIDERS COMPREHENSIVE BAN ON THE CAT AND DOG FUR TRADE!

While several European countries have already prohibited the sale of dog and cat fur within their borders, 15 agricultural ministers from the European Union (EU) recently met in Brussels to discuss the possibility of a more comprehensive ban across the entire EU. On Monday, November 17, the Danish delegation to the European Union asked the Agriculture Council ministers to look into a ban on the import and marketing of dog and cat fur and skins in the 15-member European Union (which will expand to 25 members in 2004). The European Commission representative to the council, while supportive of Danish delegation's position, noted that it's up the individual EU nations to legislate the cat and dog fur trade, but said that the topic would likely be addressed at a conference of the International Office of Epizooties, scheduled for February 2004. While inconclusive, the Agriculture Council meeting was the latest in a flurry of activity over the unfolding dog and cat fur controversy in the EU, which has already led Italy, Denmark, France, and Greece to adopt bans.

11/26/2003 CHINA BLAMES RABIES EPIDEMIC ON PET DOG FAD!

BEIJING - Rabies cases leapt nearly 63 percent in China in the first nine months of the year as the people's mad affair with pet dogs deepened, the China Daily reported. Rabies, "mad dog disease" in Chinese, killed 1,297 people up to the end of September, far exceeding the 1,003 deaths the Health Ministry reported for all of 2002, the newspaper said. This is the fifth straight year that China has seen a big jump in rabies infections.

11/26/2003 WORLD'S ONLY KNOWN ALBINO GORILLA DIES!

The world's only known albino gorilla, Copito de Nieve (Snowflake), died early Monday at the Barcelona zoo, leaving this city without a beloved mascot and the scientific world without one of its most unique creatures. Zoo officials practiced euthanasia on the elderly gorilla, who had been dying from skin cancer since 2001. In September, officials announced his imminent death, and since then Barcelona citizens had flocked to the zoo to say their goodbyes to this emblematic, if often grouchy, animal so closely associated with the city for the past 37 years. In his time at the zoo, he fathered 22 offspring with three different females. None is albino. (AP)

11/24/2003 FATAL DEER HUNTING ACCIDENT!

A hunter in his 60s was killed Sunday in Grant County near Lancaster in far southwest Wisconsin. It is the first fatality of the gun-deer season. There were four other minor hunting accidents across the state during opening weekend, one each in Adams, Crawford, Dunn and Vilas counties. The DNR says at least two of those minor accidents appear to be self-inflicted shootings.

11/24/2003 CONGRESS PASSES IMPORTANT LEGISLATION TO PROTECT EXOTIC CATS!

November 20, 2003 - The Captive Wildlife Safety Act (S. 269/H.R. 1006) has passed the U.S. House and Senate. This bill is an important step towards ensuring the welfare of exotic animals by banning interstate commerce of several species of wild cats bound for the pet trade. Recently several tragic accidents have brought to the public's attention the danger inherent in keeping exotic animals as pets. There is still work to be done, however, as this bill only bans the commerce of the following species: lion, tiger, leopard, cheetah, jaguar, and cougar, or any hybrid of a lion species and tiger species.

11/22/2003 PASTOR DIES IN HUNTING ACCIDENT!

MUNSTER - A pastor at Family Christian Center, Sonny Michael, 45, was killed in a hunting accident on Wednesday morning in Fulton County. Michael, an avid hunter, fell after a 13-foot-high deer stand he had climbed on for better surveillance collapsed. "He was just a fanatic about hunting," said David Jordan Allen, the church's public relations director. "We lost a very important pastor at Family Christian Center. We are just at a loss for words."

11/22/2003 BRITAIN BACKS MOVES FOR EU BAN ON TRADE IN CAT AND DOG FUR!

Calls from more than 100 MEPs for an EU wide ban on trade in cat and dog fur were backed today by Trade Minister, Mike O'Brien in a written briefing to British MEPs. The MEPs, who are urging the European Commission to bring in legislation to stop the trade, sale and production of cat and dog furs, are hoping to sign up a majority of their colleagues for a ban by the end of this year. A majority of signatures would put pressure on the Commission to seriously consider such a proposal. Mike O'Brien said: "So far it has not been possible to prove or disprove whether domestic cat and dog fur is coming into the UK but there is evidence that a cat and dog fur industry does exist in other countries. These animals are often killed inhumanely and their fur used as trimmings on giftware products or for cheap clothing. We believe Europe wide action would be the most effective way of bringing this barbaric and despicable practice to an end."

11/21/2003 A JUVENIL FACES CHARGES IN HUNTING ACCIDENT!

LILLINGTON, N.C. - A juvenile is now being charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of 14-year-old Daniel Sheets last week. District Attorney Tom Lock decided there was enough evidence to charge the 15-year-old boy in juvenile court. After the teen was served with a juvenile petition Wednesday, he was released to his parents. Sheets died Nov. 11 after being shot in the woods of western Harnett County near the town of Broadway. He was hunting with the suspect and two other boys. Detectives say the suspect's story changed several times after Sheets' body was found last Wednesday. The juvenile first told investigators he didn't know who shot Sheets. He then said he shot Sheets because he thought he was a deer. Later, the juvenile admitted that the accident occurred as a result of "horseplay" between himself and Sheets. The boy is due in juvenile court Friday.

11/21/2003 U.N. AND U.S. TO TAKE ACTION AGAINST GREENPEACE!

The prominent environmental nongovernmental organization Greenpeace has come under attack from the International Maritime Organization and the U.S. government for allegedly overstepping its role in publicizing environmental abuses at sea. The IMO is claiming that some Greenpeace activities violated regulations designed to ensure safety at sea. It argues that ships and crew members have been endangered when Greenpeace activists shadowed or boarded vessels to protest substandard tankers and shipments of nuclear material and genetically modified organisms. The U.N. agency may revoke Greenpeace's "consultative status," which it has held for 12 years and which permits the environmental group to make and critique recommendations to the IMO. The IMO assembly is scheduled to make a decision on Greenpeace's status when it meets November 24 to December 5. The environmental group says safety has always been paramount in its operations and that all of its activists are properly trained.

11/21/2003 UW PROFESSOR BARRED FROM ANIMAL TESTING!

After finding repeated violations of animal-treatment rules, the University of Washington has suspended professor Chen Dong from animal testing indefinitely, an unusually severe punishment. The violations included cutting the tips of mouse tails without anesthesia, withholding food from mice without university approval and failing to euthanize mice that were suffering beyond an acceptable level, according to the university's Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. Dong, an assistant professor of immunology, had been running experiments without the committee's required approval. In one instance, he falsely claimed he had received approval for a study he published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

11/20/2003 SEA SHEPHERD CREWMEMBERS ARRESTED IN JAPAN FOR RELEASING DOLPHINS!

Sea Shepherd crewmembers Allison Lance-Watson (American) and Alex Cornelissen (Dutch) were arrested by local police in Taiji, Japan for interfering with the Japanese Annual Dolphin Roundup. The arrest took place late in the afternoon, Tuesday, November 18. Lance-Watson and Cornelissen dove into the frigid waters of the bay where 15 adult, adolescent and baby dolphins had been herded and penned in by Japanese fishermen. Swimming for over an hour, the two crewmembers untied and lowered sections of the net creating an escape route for the dolphins. Both crewmembers were immediately arrested as they swam to shore and taken to neighboring Shingu police station for questioning. Two other Sea Shepherd crewmembers remain in the area.

11/19/2003 NEW HAMPSHIRE MAN INJURED IN HUNTING ACCIDENT!

HANOVER, N.H. - An East Haven, Conn., man was injured when he fell from his deer stand in New Hampshire and lay in the woods for several hours before help came. Authorities said that 44-year-old Gus Vandermaelen was suffering from possible exposure and back injury by the time rescuers found him. He was found just after midnight Sunday morning.

11/17/2003 ORANG-UTANS FORCED TO FIGHT!

Two orang-utans slug it out in the boxing ring dressed in silk shorts and gloves. This is the sick sport drawing crowds of cheering tourists to safari park big fight venues in Thailand. The apes are plucked from the rainforests of Borneo and Sumatra in South East Asia at a young age and trained to box against each other in front of a referee. Now TV investigators have highlighted the barbaric practice for a documentary to be shown on Sunday. They warn that it is hastening the demise of the orang-utan - which experts say will be extinct in the wild in 10 years. Animal campaigners also say the apes - weighing up to 300lbs - could do themselves serious damage in the boxing ring.

11/17/2003 ILLINOIS ZOO WOLF KILLED AFTER ATTACK!

BROOKFIELD, Ill. - A northern gray wolf was killed at a Chicago-area zoo after it clamped onto the arm of a woman who jumped a fence to pet it, a report said Friday. It marked the first time in the Brookfield zoo's 69-year history an animal attacked a visitor, zoo officials told the Chicago Tribune. Cinnamon Bear, an 11-year-old wolf born and raised at the zoo, was shot once in the chest Wednesday by a zoo police officer after the 100-pound animal clamped down on the unidentified woman's arm when she tried to pet him. He was the last of the zoo's pack of northern gray wolves, and was the only wolf on display, the newspaper said. The woman, identified only as 40 to 50 years old, hopped a 3 1/2-foot fence and reached through a second 10-foot chain-link fence to touch the wolf, who was in a favorite sleeping corner of the outdoor pen. She was treated for a severe bite wound to her arm and released.

11/16/2003 BROTHERS SENTENCED TO LIFE IN HUNTERS' 1985 MURDERS!

Standish, Mich. - It wasn't until this year that the families of two Detroit-area hunters who vanished in 1985 learned their fates. There will be no such questions about the brothers convicted of killing them. Raymond "J.R." Duvall and Donald "Coco" Duvall were sentenced Thursday to mandatory life imprisonment with no chance of parole, said Christal Richards, a secretary for Arenac County Circuit Judge Ronald Bergeron. It took investigators 18 years to build a case against Raymond Duvall, 52, of South Branch, and Donald Duvall, 51, of Monroe. But a jury needed only two hours to find them guilty October 29 on two counts each of first-degree murder in the deaths of Brian Ognjan and David Tyll. The lifelong friends headed north on a hunting trip in November 1985 and never returned. The Duvalls were accused of savagely beating and kicking the 27-year-old victims and laughing at their pleas for mercy on a snowy night outside a bar in Mio in northeast Michigan. The bodies of Ognjan, of St. Clair Shores, and Tyll, of Troy, have never been found. Tyll's Ford Bronco also has not been found. No clear-cut motive for the killings emerged from the eight-day trial, although some prosecution witnesses said the Duvalls had spoken of having clashed with the hunters over a deer.

11/16/2003 NO SEATLLE GOOSE KILL FOR 2004!

According to documents obtained under the state public disclosure act, on August 4, 2003, Seattle Parks Superintendent Ken Bounds and other Parks Waterfowl Management Team members met and decided that "Parks will declare a moratorium on goose euthanasia for 2004." Also present at this meeting were Parks Public Information Officer Dewey Potter, Resource Conservation Coordinator Barbara DeCaro and Aquatics Program manager Kathleen Whitman. Give Geese A Chance applauds the Parks Department's decision to institute a moratorium on killing geese in Seattle Parks. However, the Parks Department decision for a one year moratorium is completely unacceptable. Give Geese A Chance is demanding a permanent moratorium on Parks sponsored goose killing.

11/15/2003 540 ZOO ANIMALS DIED IN LAST TWO YEARS!

KUALA LUMPUR - A total of 540 animals, or about 20% of the nearly 3,000 animal population at the National Zoo died over a two-year period due to a lack of professional veterinarian care. In 2001, a total of 254 autopsies were performed, which included 44% birds, 15% hoof stock (four-legged animals such as zebras, cows and buffaloes) and felines (5%). A zoologist closely associated with the zoo, who declined to be named, said the deaths were due to a lack of qualified veterinarians in the zoo. According to the 2002 report, the hospital also received 56 injured animals and some donated ones.

11/15/2003 DOGS BEATEN TO DEATH IN CHINA!

Fear of the SARS virus and the rumors that the virus can be transmitted from household pets to humans has unleashed a brutal wave of dog killing in China, according to recent news reports from the region. Asia Times reports, "A tragic fate has befallen the dogs of China." The Asia Times article published several accounts from China documenting the beating deaths of dogs. One is of a group of children no older than ten chasing a dog that was abandoned by its owner. The children carry poles, while others throw stones at the terrified animal. "A boy in the group says that beating dogs is part of the fight against SARS," the article states. Another account describes the actions of Nanjing's "Dog-Beating Corps," after they receive complaints from the neighbors of an elderly resident. The gang shows up at the man's home and force their way in to beat the eight stray dogs to death that he has been caring for. His neighbors welcome the action.

11/15/2003 JANE GOODALL CRITICIZES BUSH ADMINISTRATION!

The biggest threat to chimpanzees, the African ape that is the closest relative of the human species, may be hunters seeking bushmeat, renowned primatologist Jane Goodall told a Silicon Valley audience Saturday. But in the past three years, she said, another threat to endangered animals around the world has emerged - the Bush administration. Goodall, famed for her research with chimpanzees in Tanzania since 1960, was harshly critical of President Bush's environmental record while delivering the keynote speech at the second annual Wildlife Conservation Expo at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills. "What the Bush administration has done over the past three years to overturn environmental laws is unbelievable. It's shameful. We must not sit still and do nothing," she said.

11/14/2003 ALASKA GAME BOARD APPROVES AERIAL KILLING OF WOLVES!

Despite the fact that Alaskans have twice voted to ban the practice of aerial killing of wolves, the Alaska Board of Game, appointed by Governor Frank Murkowski, last week approved permits that will allow people to shoot wolves from aircraft. Under the plan, hunters and trappers can shoot wolves either directly from planes or helicopters, or after chasing the animals to the point of exhaustion and then landing the aircraft to kill them on the ground. The areas approved for aerial wolf control include almost two thousand square miles in interior Alaska where all the wolves in that area will be eliminated. (Defenders of Wildlife)

11/13/2003 CAPTIVE WILDLIFE SAFETY ACT PASSES IN SENATE!

Last week, the U.S. Senate passed S. 269, which prohibits the keeping of lions, tigers, leopards, cheetahs, jaguars, and cougars as pets by prohibiting the interstate transport of them for this purpose. Currently, there is a similar bill pending in the House of Representatives, H.R. 1006. This bill would not only benefit many states that are considering similar legislation, but will also establish a consistent policy for all states.

11/13/2003 WORKERS START ROUNDING UP TIGERS IN N.J.!

JACKSON, N.J. - Authorities early Tuesday began rounding up 24 Bengal tigers from a private sanctuary, culminating a battle that began after a 430-pound tiger was found roaming the suburbs. New Jersey officials got a court order to remove the animals after it determined they were being poorly cared for at the 12-acre Tigers Only Preservation Society, which is owned by Joan Byron-Marasek. The tigers were being transferred to a Texas animal shelter.

11/13/2003 HORROR CONTINUES FOR STRANDED AUSTRALIAN SHEEP!

Compassion in World Farming can today reveal the horrific fate awaiting over 50,000 sheep unloaded from the ill-fated livestock ship the Cormo Express. After spending almost 3 months at sea, unable to find a port to take them, the ship finally docked in Eritrea. Observers from CIWF witnessed the arrival of the sheep. "Many sheep were dead on arrival and there was a foul smell from the ship." Official mortality figures report that 5,691 sheep died (9.8% of the total loaded). The sheep were unloaded from the ship to a compound near a slaughterhouse in Asmara. The compound had inadequate feed and water for the massive number of sheep leaving fears that many sheep would perish before being slaughtered. At the small slaughterhouse the sheep would be slaughtered - over a lengthy period of time - by having their throats cut. "We were able to see some carcasses which had their throats cut but the heads were still attached to the bodies. There was definitely no evidence of pre-stunning." Joyce D'Silva, CIWF's Chief Executive says: "This tragic saga is a tale of ruthlessness and deceit. The livestock industry and the Australian Government contended that the welfare of these sheep was a priority, but delivered them to a country where there is no humane slaughter (and without bringing their own team and stunning equipment). This is an international disgrace. "Furthermore, Livecorp, the industry body that the government protects so zealously, reports in its news release of October 27 that the loading was 'going smoothly,' with the sheep 'running and jumping as sheep do,' yet our observers saw many limping at the Ghathelal holding facility. Judging from these recent observations, calling this 'spin' is too charitable. The industry is clearly fighting for the survival of the trade, backed by their allies, the Australian government, but CIWF and the international animal protection movement will do everything in their power to bring the barbaric and anachronistic live export trade to an end."

11/12/2003 PRESIDENT BUSH DECLARES WAR ON WHALES AND DOLPHINS!

Only weeks after new scientific studies revealed that U.S. Navy sonar testing is lethal to whales, the Bush administration won approval on November 7 to authorize the use of military sonar whenever and wherever Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfied wishes to deploy it. The Bill moves to the Senate next week and it is expected to pass. "Whales and dolphins are now to be sacrificed to George Bush's ridiculous strategies to combat terrorism." Said Captain Paul Watson of The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. "The President says that the security of the United States from terrorism justifies these extreme measures but I can't think of one terrorist organization deploying nuclear submarines and that is the only thing that justifies low frequency sonar detection. This is simply another pork barrel windfall for the defense industry."

11/11/2003 BLOOD FIESTA WITH LIVE CHICKENS IN SPAIN!

This Thursday, November 13, 2003 in the village of Villabona (Basque country, Spain) a fiesta with chickens will take place. From the early morning on village youths will ask the villagers for live chickens. Usually they will collect around 12 chickens. In the afternoon one chicken after another is put in a box, which is then buried into the ground. The head of the chicken will stick out of the box. Blindfolded village youths will then try to decapitate them with a sword.

11/09/2003 UN CALLS EMERGENCY MEETING ON GREAT APES!

The United Nations has asked 23 African and south-east Asian states to an emergency meeting in Paris to draw up a strategy to rescue the great apes, man's closest living relatives, from imminent extinction. "The clock is standing at one minute to midnight for the great apes," said Dr. Klaus Toepfer, Executive Director of the UN Environment Program, the agency which, with Unesco, is sponsoring the meeting at the end of the month. Environmentalists say the survival of the great apes, who share more than 96 per cent of their DNA with humans, has great symbolic importance for mankind's ability to develop a more sustainable future. Great apes act as key indicator species for endangered ecosystems and play an important part in maintaining the health and diversity of tropical forests. Yet almost all great ape populations are now classified as "endangered" or "critically endangered."

11/08/2003 CHIMPANZEEE RETIREMENT AND BANNING NONHUMAN APE EXPERIMENTS!

Experiments on chimpanzees will likely cease in the foreseeable future, primarily due to public concern in the U.S. and progress in other countries such as Great Britain and New Zealand, according to an official from the National Institutes of Health. "It wouldn't surprise me that at some time in the future - I don't want to get into when - that chimpanzees are not used," said Dr. John Strandberg, Director of the Division of Comparative Medicine in the National Institutes of Health National Center for Research Resources. Regarding the retirement of chimpanzees and the possibility that retired individuals could be retrieved for use in experiments under the Chimpanzee Health Improvement, Maintenance and Protection (CHIMP) Act, Dr. Strandberg announced that chimpanzee retirement is a "one way street," meaning that once a chimpanzee is retired, it is, in Strandberg's words, "extremely unlikely" that he or she would be pulled out of retirement for use in experiments, mainly because such individuals would not be considered as desirable candidates for experiments and because of the ever-increasing social ethic against experiments on chimpanzees. There are approximately 1300 chimpanzees in U.S. laboratories, and there is a moratorium on the breeding of chimpanzees who are maintained by the federal government. Though neither statement is an actual commitment to prohibit the use of chimpanzees in experiments, each indicates the importance of the public's role in voicing opposition to experiments on apes.

11/08/2003 ARKANSAS HUNTING ACCIDENTS!

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission reported 20 accidents during the 2002-2003 hunting season compared to 28 accidents the previous season. Although accidents are down, hunting-related fatalities stand at five - one more than the same number that died the preceding season.

11/08/2003 SENATE PASSES AMENDMENT TO HALT ABUSE OF "DOWNED" ANIMALS!

The U.S. Senate has approved an amendment banning the sale of "downed" livestock - animals who are too sick or injured to walk. Senator Daniel Akaka (D-HI) introduced the amendment to the Agriculture Appropriations Act, and it was accepted by voice vote. The House of Representatives had narrowly defeated a similar amendment by just three votes in July, but the final outcome will be determined by a House-Senate conference committee.

11/07/2003 RESPECT FOR ANIMALS WELCOMES GOVERNMENT CRITICISM OF CANADIAN SEAL CLUBBING!

Replying to an adjournment debate introduced by David Amess MP, government Minister Mike O'Brien expressed his disapproval of the continuation of the clubbing of seals each March on the Canadian ice-floes. The Minister does not accept that clubbing seals is humane and would like to see it stopped. Furthermore Mr O'Brien questioned the notion that the seals are responsible for the decline in the cod stocks in Canadian waters.Respect for Animals - Britain's leading anti-fur organisation - welcomes Mr O'Brien's comments. Speaking on its behalf, Campaigns Director Mark Glover said: "Most people in the UK are simply unaware that the clubbing of seals still takes place yet the number of seals being bludgeoned to death is now higher than ever. The government condemnation of this cruel practice is very welcome and will, we hope, send a very strong message to the Canadian authorities that the world is watching." Mr Amess MP for Southend West said, "I was delighted to have the opportunity to raise this important issue with the Minister and I hope that there will be an end to this bloody slaughter sooner rather than later."

11/06/2003 BABY ORANG-UTAN FOUND IN FREEZER!

Thailand - A frozen baby orang-utan was found along with more than 100 other protected wild animals, both alive and dead, at a suspected illegal wildlife trader's house in Nonthaburi. The owner of the house, Thanajak Suthinunt, was not at home when a joint team of officials from the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Varieties Department and Forest Police Bureau raided the house on the Bangkok-Nonthaburi road. The live animals, most of which were exotic birds, were found in small and dirty cages when the team entered the three-story house. Among the bird species found was an endangered crested wood partridge. The baby orang-utan, which was less than six months old, and five great Argus pheasants - which are listed as being almost extinct in their natural habitat in the region - as well as two otters and one small turtle were found in two cooling containers. Three stuffed baby tigers and one stuffed hog deer were also found in a small room on the third floor. Forestry officials said the baby tigers looked as if they had been taken from their mother a few days after they were born.Yutthasak Sutthinunt, 19, son of the house owner, admitted that his mother had been arrested for trading in protected wildlife seven years ago. He declined to say anything about the origin of the animals and corpses.

11/05/2003 CU'S LAUDENDLAGER DISCONTINUES EXPERIMENTS SEPARATING INFANT MONKEYS FROM THEIR MOTHERS!

University of Colorado Health Sciences Center researcher Mark Laudenslager - featured on national animal rights websites for his maternal separation experiments - has ended his 17-year study, the Committee for Research Accountability recently learned. The mission of the Colorado-based Committee for Research Accountability (CRA) is to end taxpayer-funded research on animals that is unnecessary and inhumane. Directed by Rita Anderson and Barbara Millman, CRA is a project of In Defense of Animals, a 20-year old animal rights group headquartered in Mill Valley, California. In maternal deprivation experiments, started in the 1940s, researchers permanently separate infant monkeys from their mothers in order to analyze their psychological and physiological responses. By studying monkey infants' suffering, they believe they can predict how human children respond to inadequate parenting. However, it is already well documented that human infants fail to thrive without proper nurturing.

11/05/2003 RAJASTHAN HIGH COURT ORDERS BAN ON ANIMAL SACRIFICE!

Hearing a public interest petition filed by Prani Mitra Sansthan, a non-Government organisation devoted to animal welfare, the Rajasthan High Court ordered a strict ban to be imposed with immediate effect on the sacrifice of animals, particularly goats, in different Hindu temples at Jaisalmer. Such orders were promulgated earlier also in the year 1999 by the Hon'ble High Court but these were not taken seriously and the practice of killing animals on the pretext of sacrificing them to please gods and goddesses continued. The petitioners had obtained sufficient information including actual photographs of the places where killing was carried out for presentation before the Court.

11/05/2003 DOLPHIN SLAUGHTER IN JAPAN "SHOCKING, SURREAL"!

A Canadian photographer describes the slaughter of dolphins for food in Japan as "shocking" and "surreal." Brooke McDonald was volunteering with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society when she took the photos in Taiji, Japan, three weeks ago. The controversial anti-whaling group released the images of bloodstained inlets and speared dolphins in a bid to embarrass the Japanese government into stopping the hunt. The hunt, locals say, has been part of Taiji's culture for at least 400 years. Using nets and sonar to confuse the animals, fishermen corral pods of striped dolphins into sheltered bays. They are then speared before being hauled aboard small boats. McDonald, 29, and her British colleague, cameraman Morgan Whorwood, spent five nights hiding in the woods above one of the Taiji bays, waiting for their chance to photograph the hunt in which 60 dolphins were killed on October 6. "It was the most shocking thing I've ever seen in my life," McDonald, a native of Vancouver, said in a telephone interview from Britain. Hunting dolphins is legal in Japan, and it is not banned by the International Whaling Commission. Aware of the potential for adverse publicity, the local government has passed a law blocking access to the cliffs above the bay to prevent people from witnessing the hunt, McDonald said.

11/04/2003 MAN INJURED IN HUNTING ACCIDENT!

PINE PLAINS - A 32-year-old Tarrytown man was injured after he was shot with multiple shotgun pellets Saturday afternoon during what police said was apparently a hunting accident. Andrew Shipman was hunting quail with a group of people at the Mashomack Preserve in Pine Plains when the accident occurred at about 3 P.M., state police at Rhinebeck said. Police said investigation showed that Shipman was separated from the group when an acquaintance, Brian M. Gillott, 30, of Old Greenwich, Conn., reportedly saw a flock of birds take off and fired a 12-guage shotgun in the birds' direction. Shipman was in the same direction and was struck with multiple shotgun pellets, sustaining injuries from his chin to his leg, police said. Police said the injured man was taken by private vehicle to Sharon Hospital in Sharon, Conn. Shipman's injuries did not appear to be life threatening, according to police. Investigation is continuing and no criminal charges had been filed as of Saturday evening.

11/04/2003 SHIP OF DEATH SINKS AUSTRALIA'S LIVE SHEEPTRADE!

Australia's live sheep exports have sunk to a 12-year low in the wake of a row with Saudi Arabia over the so-called "ship of death," Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) said. In its weekly report, the industry body revealed live sheep exports dropped over 55 percent in September, at the height of the turmoil involving carrier Cormo Express, which was stranded amid fears its livestock cargo was diseased. Australia exported more than six million sheep last year and would normally expect to ship about 500,000 a month, mainly to Middle Eastern countries which require live animals so they can be butchered according to Islamic practices. But it exported just 187,116 in September with MLA blaming the industry's struggle to cope with the effects of the Cormo Express affair and a rising Australian dollar. Shipments to Australia's largest sheep market, Saudi Arabia, were suspended on August 28 when authorities in the country rejected a shipment of 58,000 sheep, claiming unacceptable levels of the disease scabby mounthy. Thousands of sheep aboard the carrier then died of heat stress as the ship steamed around the Arabian Sea for almost two months looking for a port to offload the animals, outraging animal rights groups. Increasingly desperate Australian trade negotiators asked dozens of countries to accept the sheep but were rejected until Eritrea said in late October that it would take them if Australia also chipped in a million dollars (700,000 US) for transport, holding and slaughter costs.

11/03/2003 ABUSED DOG'S OWNER CHARGED!

LOWER ALLOWAYS CREEK TWP. - The alleged owner of a dog found with its nose and mouth taped shut, preventing it from eating, drinking and breathing, was charged Wednesday with the fourth-degree crime, according to authorities. Robert M. Lamano, 25, of East Lake Road, Woodstown, was charged with four disorderly charges and one indictable charge on animal cruelty against the dog, which had to be euthanized because of the extent of its injuries. Police said if Lamano is found guilty, he could serve up to two years in jail and owe a fine of up to $4,000.

11/03/2003 TESCO EXPOSED!

A Viva! undercover investigation into a pig farm which supplies Tesco has revealed severe animal suffering and embarrassed the supermarket giant, which claims to have high animal welfare standards. In August, Viva! secretly visited Cherry Tree Farm near Norwich, owned by the multimillion pound meat business Bowes of Norfolk and videoed what we found there. The Observer carried the story of our findings on October 19 in a quarter page article entitled "Revealed: horror at Tesco pig farm."

11/02/2003 NEW YORK GOVERNOR PATAKI APPROVES "CANNED SHOOTING" OF ANIMALS!

Despite overwhelming legislative support and thousands of calls flooding his office, NY Gov. Pataki vetoed a bill that would have banned the inhumane trophy shooting of exotic mammals held captive on fenced property, so long as the "canned hunts" take place on property greater than 10 acres. Whether eleven acres or eleven hundred, guides who work at canned hunts know where the animals feed, know how to trap the animals in corners of fences, and accompany their clients to guaranteed shots at point-blank range. Governor Pataki's decision to veto this much-needed legislation will result in untold suffering for wild animals.

11/01/2003 PETA - MEAT INDUSTRY!

The animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has purchased 150 shares of the Austin, Minnesota-headquartered Hormel's common stock. "Austin should be ashamed to be called 'Spamtown,' with those stupid banners all over town, because Spam production entails cruelty to animals," Austin native Bruce Friedrich, a PETA director, said in a statement announcing the stock purchase. The stock purchase would allow the activist group to submit shareholder resolutions to end what it called "some of the worst abuses" of animals. However, Hormel, like all other U.S. meat processors adheres to stringent animal handling regulations set forth by USDA. In addition, many processors follow even stricter animal welfare guidelines requested by their customers. Hormel makes Dinty Moore beef stew, Black Label bacon, and Jennie-O Turkey Store turkey products.

11/01/2003 DOLPHIN MASSACRE TURNS SEA BLOOD RED!

Animal activists have released a video of Japanese fisherman hacking to death dolphins they had trapped at a small port. An American anti-whaling group trying to stop the massacre took footage of the recent hunt that shows blood-filled coves and several dead dolphins being brought ashore in boats. The tape, shot by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, graphically captures the end of a hunt, in which fishermen pound on the water, causing waves that confuse the mammals' sense of direction, and then corral dolphins into small coves where they can be more easily killed with sickles. Though subject to government-set quotas, the hunts are not banned under Japanese law and are not subject to international regulations because they are done near the shore. Several dead or dying dolphins can be seen on the boats, bleeding profusely, in the footage. Activist Nik Hensey said: "It's a wholesale slaughter, which results in immense suffering for these animals. It's a sight that one just can't imagine." The mayor and officials in Taiji refused to comment, but a fisherman's union representative said the kills are conducted as humanely as possible and pointed out the hunts have been part of local culture for 400 years. Hunting dolphins is not banned by the International Whaling Commission.

The number of news found: 45.

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