News
The number of news found: 18.
09/30/2009 BRIGITTE BARDOT ASKS PRESIDENT NICOLAS SARKOZY TO INITIATE A VEGETARIAN DAY IN ALL PUBLIC ESTABLISHMENTS
After the climate summit, which has just been held in New York, and ahead of the launch of "carbon" tax on fuels in France, the Foundation Brigitte Bardot contacted President Nicolas Sarkozy and demanded an investigation of animal farming, the environmental repercussions of which are more than alarming. In a letter addressed on September 25 to the Head of State, Brigitte Bardot is appealing to the President "to give meaning to the climate summit and stay in coherence with the launch of a carbon tax," by initiating one vegetarian day in all public establishments and by inviting private corporations to do the same, as an initiative of responsible citizenship. Brigitte Bardot sayst: "Other than environmental and humane concerns, the refusal of meat consumption is also the best way to protest against the inhumanity and cruelty in factory farms, during transport and during the slaughter of billions of animals that are sacrificed and eaten each year. "
09/29/2009 PALAU PIONEERS "SHARK SANCTUARY"
Palau is to create the world's first "shark sanctuary," banning all commercial shark fishing in its waters. The President of the tiny Pacific republic, Johnson Toribiong, announced the sanctuary during Friday's session of the UN General Assembly. With half of the world's oceanic sharks at risk of extinction, conservationists regard the move as "game-changing." It will protect about 600,000 sq km (230,000 sq miles) of ocean, an area about the size of France. President Toribiong also called for a global ban on shark-finning, the practice of removing the fins at sea. Fins are a lucrative commodity on the international market where they are bought for use in shark fin soup. As many as 100 million sharks are killed each year around the world.
09/28/2009 CANADA CHOOSES NOT TO FOLLOW EUROPE AND USA'S BAN ON DOG AND CAT FUR IMPORTS
A recent article by the Canadian Press has revealed that the government of Canada will not join the United States and Europe in barring cat and dog fur imports, in fear such action could weaken Canada's position against the banning of seal products by other countries. "It is absolutely appalling that Canada's government remains willing to engage in the trade of cat and dog fur simply to protect the cruel and unnecessary seal slaughter," said Sheryl Fink, Senior Researcher with the International Fund for Animal Welfare. The revelation is especially surprising in light of the fact that Prime Minister Harper and his wife are known cat lovers who support and participate in the Ottawa Humane Society's Foster Program. The European Union recently implemented a ban on seal products in response to demand from its citizens, who did not want to provide a market for products arising from inherently inhumane commercial seal hunts.
09/25/2009 SEISMIC SURVEYS DISTURB BLUE WHALES
Seismic surveys used for oil and gas prospecting on the sea floor are a disturbance for blue whales, the world's biggest animal and one of its rarest species, biologists reported. Lucia Di Iorio of Zurich University, Switzerland, and Christopher Clark, an acoustics specialist at the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology in New York, recorded the calls of blue whales at a feeding ground in Canada's St. Lawrence estuary in August 2004. The 11-day experiment was conducted during a period when a survey vessel was using a "sparker", a low-to-medium power device that sends an acoustic pulse to the sea floor and picks up the reflected signal to get a picture of the
topography.
09/24/2009 FLORIDA BOY SERIOUSLY BURNED WHILE ABUSING CHICKEN
Sabastian Padgett, his brother, Seth, and a friend were playing "wizards" in their home in Hudson, Florida, over the weekend when 10-year-old Sabastian took his magic wand (that is, a gasoline-soaked stick) and cast a "spell" on a chicken in the family's chicken coop. Apparently, the spell called for pointing the "wand" at a chicken, lighting it with a match, and then spraying Raid to send a burst of flame in the chicken's direction. Unfortunately for Sebastian, the "spell" went awry when his friend knocked over a bucket of gasoline, which spilled at the young wizard's feet. What happened next, according to Seth, is that Sabastian lit a match, causing the pool of gasoline at his feet to ignite, engulfing his lower body in flames. Sabastian put out the fire by dropping to the ground and rolling back-and-forth. According to the Pasco County Sherriff's office, Sabastian was flown to Tampa General Hospital by helicopter, where he remains is in serious condition with severe burns on his legs, stomach and chest.
09/23/2009 BLOODY HOLIDAY GIFTS FOR CHILDREN FROM HOME WITHOUT PARENTS IN TUZLA
Director of Home for abandoned children in Tuzla prepared their protégés bloody feast and memorable gifts for the holidays, Bajram/Eid. In all this he was supported by Municipal authorities. Children from the house for children without parents in Tuzla in early morning of September 22 attended the massacre of their pets. Namely, at the invitation of the Director of the House for children without parents in Tuzla, Municipal authorities, men were brought to kill 3 small dogs, that children bestowed with love and nurtured in the courtyard of their only home.
09/21/2009 GAMBIA: 13 SPECIES OF WILD ANIMALS GONE "EXTINCT"
The Minister of Forestry and the Environment has said that there are confirmed reports of 13 species of wild animals that have gone "extinct" in this country. He said animals such as elephant, giraffe, lion are among them. This statement by the minister was in response to a question at the National Assembly posed by the member for Banjul South Hon. Baboucarr S. Nyang on why animals are almost extinct nowadays. Hon Nyang said in the past, the Central and Upper River Regions were endowed with lots of animals in their forest parks.
09/17/2009 "TWEET" THE GIRAFFE'S SUDDEN DEATH PROMPTS PETA TO INSTIGATE FEDERAL INVESTIGATION
The shocking death of an 18 year-old giraffe named Tweet - who appeared in movies like Evan Almighty and television commercials for Toys R Us - has stunned his owners and prompted the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) to call for a federal investigation. Tweet had just finished filming his scenes in Zookeeper - a romantic comedy starring Kevin James and Rosario Dawson that is slated for an October 8, 2010 release - when the giraffe suddenly collapsed in his enclosure, reports the Boston Herald. According to the Gainesville Sun, one of Tweet's guardians, Patty Rivers, was in the enclosure with Tweet "when she noticed him list to the side and then topple." Veterinarians were hastily summoned, but Tweet was dead. The giraffe seemed healthy when examined the day before. "[The vets] said he was in excellent shape and everything looked good," Rivers told the Gainesville Sun. "We think he had a brain aneurysm or a stroke or something because it happened so quick."
09/16/2009 MUTANT FISH POINT TO THE WORLD WAR II POLLUTION IN SWITZERLAND
More than 9,000 tons of Swiss army munitions accrued in Switzerland's Lake Thun after World War II represent a grave environmental threat to the Alpine environment and Swiss people. The waters, where fishermen have discovered mutant fish, are used to supply drinking water to the surrounding population. (The Independent)
09/15/2009 "THE COVE" PUTS PRESSURE ON TAIJI FISHERMEN
Fishermen in Taiji, Japan will be releasing captured dolphins this week in response to international outcry following the award-winning film "The Cove." Some of the dolphins captured during the annual round up will be sold to aquariums, and while the rest are typically slaughtered in secret, the fishermen will be releasing them because of recent criticism. An anonymous Taiji fisheries official said that it's not clear whether the town will stop killing dolphins permanently. Taiji residents see the dolphin hunt as a tradition that is no different than killing other animals for food. However, the dolphins that are killed and sold as food, often as mislabeled whale meat, contain toxic levels of mercury and are potentially poisoning Japanese consumers.
09/14/2009 NUMBER OF VEGETARIAN CHILDREN IN THE U.S. IS GROWING
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) conducted a study back in 2007 that has begun to shed some light on an otherwise nearly-untapped subject: vegetarian children in the U.S. The study revealed that roughly 1 in 200 children in the United States choose a vegetarian diet. That's about 367,000 children. According to an article from MSNBC, there are other surveys that say the rate could be much higher in older children (teens) than what the CDC survey discovered, as much as 6 times that number in fact. The results of the CDC study were based off of approximately 9,000 parents/adults speaking on behalf of those who were under 18. Safe to say, the number of vegetarians in general is definitely on the rise. Kids are becoming more willing to accept flak from their classmates for the sake of the animals, and more equipped to respond to their criticisms with well-founded facts about their choices.
09/12/2009 SAN FRANCISCO MAY BAN DECLAWING CATS
Officials in San Francisco are considering whether to ban declawing cats on the grounds that the procedure is cruel. But the idea has run into opposition from a surprising source: the San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that while the group opposes declawing, it worries that a ban would result in more cats being abandoned or put to death.
09/10/2009 FATHER AND SON DROWNED DURING FISHING TOURNAMENT
Authorities said the two boaters who drowned this weekend during a fishing tournament were father and son. Family members said 67-year-old William Reed and his 38-year-old son John Reed were experienced fishermen. Authorities pulled their bodies from the water Saturday during a bass fishing tournament on Lake Okeechobee. The men apparently fell from their boat shortly after the start of the Christian Team Trails Fishing Tournament. Neither man was wearing a life jacket. William Reed was found shortly after 8 A.M. He was rushed to shore but later died. His son's body was discovered nearly an hour later.
09/09/2009 THE NEPALESE MONKEY FARMS WILL CLOSE
Nepal's government has decided to permanentlly halt the breeding of monkeys and all the monkeys are to be released from the farms back into the wild! The Nepalese government had previously banned the export of monkeys after international pressure, with over 50 protests in 13 countries and countless emails being sent to the Nepalese decision makers and anyone else who could influence them. Finally, through the tireless work of the local Stop The Monkey Business campaigners, and despite American "diplomacy" which at times verged on the point of blackmail, the Nepalese government has accepted the inevitable and decided to close the farms and release the monkeys.
09/08/2009 FURY AS JAMIE HELPS WITH CASTRATION ON TV SHOW
The young bull's eyes bulge and it bellows in agony during the gruesome scene for the cook's hit new series Jamie's American Road Trip. Superchef Jamie Oliver was panned by animal welfare chiefs after helping castrate a bull for his TV show. Oliver, 34, is seen holding down the terrified animal as a US cowboy goes to work with a pair of pliers - using no anaesthetic.
09/03/2009 ZOO SELLS ANTELOPE TO HUNTER
New Zealand - A public zoo has sold endangered antelope to a member of a party lobbying for the right to set up game reserves for commercial trophy hunting. Last month the NSW Environment Minister, Carmel Tebbutt, said a contract between Taronga Western Plains Zoo and Bob McComb, of the Shooters Party, stipulated the 24 blackbuck antelope would be used only for breeding. However a Freedom of Information application by Greens MP Lee Rhiannon has revealed the contract stated the zoo accepted no responsibility for the animals after they left. Rhiannon accused Tebbutt and the zoo of misleading the public.
09/02/2009 THE FOUNDATION BRIGITTE BARDOT ON THE WAR PATH AGAINST BOTOX
In a letter sent to Valérie Pecresse, Minister for Education and Science, the President of the Brigitte Bardot Foundation denounces the cruel and useless tests currently done on thousands of mice, that are killed by injection of botulic toxin (according to the LD 50 test which implies the deaths of 50% of the tested animals). Each batch of Botox injections means the deaths of 500 mice; they die after a slow and painful agony, during which the respiratory muscles get paralysed. For Brigitte Bardot "this is all the more scandalous since alternative methods do exist for this toxin which leads to a facial paralysis in the unique and shallow aim of keeping a smooth skin. It is sad to see that some people rather have a face frozen in an expression of deep stupidity than accepting a few wrinkles. However, that would leave me totally indifferent if this whim did not involve the deaths of animals sacrificed on the altar of vanity."
09/01/2009 MEAT PLANT AMMONIA LEAK FORCES THOUSANDS TO EVACUATE
An ammonia leak at the Columbus Salame meat processing plant on August 28 resulted in thousands of people being forced to evacuate from an industrial area of South San Francisco, according to CBS 5. Luis Da Silva, South San Francisco fire marshal, said the leak was reported
at about 5:45 A.M. at the plant. The leaking valve was finally closed around 8 A.M. One person was taken to an area hospital after being in close proximity to the leak, and at least two other people transported themselves to a hospital, Mr. Da Silva said.
The number of news found: 18.
