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The number of news found: 107.

06/30/2003 PLANS FOR LIVERPOOL TRACK THROWN OUT !

Dreams of bringing greyhound racing back to Liverpool have been dashed by city planners. The council threw out plans to build a stadium in Higher Lane, Fazakerley, after protests from residents. The £6.5m two-tier venue was earmarked for the 3.7 hectare site of the derelict Clifford Holroyde School, in Fazakerley. But the council's planning committee turned down the scheme after hearing more than 1,000 residents had signed a petition and submitted letters opposing it.

06/30/2003 THAILAND TO PUT BITE INTO DOG MEAT LAWS !

BANGKOK - After decades of unregulated trade in dog meat, Thailand is looking to impose controls to curb the spread of disease and fend off criticism from animal lovers, an official says. A new law will require the issuing of licenses for the transport and slaughter of dogs, Department of Livestock Development chief Yukol Limlamthong told Reuters. "The new law won't ban the trade, but control the spread of diseases," he said. "We would prefer people saw dogs as cute animals rather than a type of consumable meat." Yukol said the legislation was expected to come into force in the next fewmonths, and would only need approval from a cabinet minister, not parliament.

06/30/2003 ILLEGAL DRIFTNETS IN ACTION IN ITALY DESPITE EUROPEAN BAN ! NEW MASSACRE OF DOLPHINS, TURTLES AND MARINE BIRDS ?!

The recent operation of the Financial Police of Salerno who confiscated 3 tons of swordfish in the waters between Palinuro and Marina di Camerota, captured with pelagic driftnets, demonstrates a still common occurrence: the use of illegal pelagic driftnets nets in our seas. "A recent decree by the Minister for Agricultural and Environmental Politics" and a later communication by the Director General Tripodi" - explains Ilaria Ferri, Captivity Director of the association Animalisti Italiani PeTA "authorises all vessels that, following the European directive on the use of driftnets, have adapted themselves to use the system of authorised driftnets to also have on board and use the system of set-nets. In this way fisherman can, for all intents and purposes, use nets that, even though anchored, are in substance driftnets. This was confirmed a few days ago by the news of an impressive confiscation of illegal pelagic driftnets on the part of the Financial Police in the waters of Salerno. These nets, which are not very selective, cause the death not only of swordfish (many also undersized) but also of many protected animals such as dolphins, whales, turtles and marine birds.

06/30/2003 GE BRINGS SUFFERING AND DEATH TO 2600 ANIMALS !

One of the worst offenders in the EPA's notorious high production volume (HPV) chemical-testing program has been General Electric, which, time and again, proposes to kill large numbers of animals in chemical toxicity tests while ignoring existing data and public comments on its testing proposals. In direct violation of the October 1999 agreement to reduce the numbers of animals killed, GE has even conducted its proposed tests BEFORE the mandatory public comment period had expired, thus ensuring that PETA and other animal protection organizations had no chance to expose their clearly flawed and cruel plans.GE's most recent submissions again demonstrate the company's sloppiness and indifference. GE is proposing to test three different chemicals - n-methylphthalimide (PI), 4-nitro-n-methylphthalimide (4NPI), and 2,4,6-trimethylphenol (246TMP) - on more than 2,600 animals, some of them pregnant. GE will kill 675 animals in a reproductive/developmental toxicity test in order to "check a box," even though at least four separate studies resulted in no reproductive or developmental effects. GE will also kill 1,300 animals in a separate reproductive test when it could use another accepted test that reduces the number of animals killed by half.

06/30/2003 RUSSIAN SEAL PUP CULL PROTEST !

With Prseident Putin visiting the Uk this week, a demonstration has been arranged opposite Downing Street to draw attention to the continuing annual slaughter of baby Harp Seals by the Russian Government. Around 40,000 pups are murdered every year in the White Sea region of Russia; clubbed to death at the ages of 9 to 12 days old for "commercial" purposes only.

06/29/2003 STOP NEW YORK'S "RIGHT TO FISH" BILL!

Bill A. 2260 (introduced by Assemblyman Pete Grannis) the "right-to-fish" bill has passed in the Assembly and is now being considered by the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee. It is going through the Senate under its Assembly number. The bill allows "public fishing from a vessel on all waterways of the state that are navigable in fact or navigable in law." This bill is the result of a court case where the landowner tried to close the river running through his property to public fishing. The landowner won the court case. If this bill becomes law, no one will have the right to prohibit fishing on navigable waters running through their property.

06/29/2003 STOP FAMOUS PLAYERS FUR ADVERTISEMENTS: ON-LINE PETITION !

Skinned! has been campaigning hard to rid Famous Players, one of North America's largest movie exhibiting companies, of their national fur advertisements during the winter months. Famous Players has been accepting advertising from the Fur Council of Canada and from independent furriers, such as Pappas Furs, since 2001. The ads have been running at select theatres across Canada. Please sign the on-line petition urging Famous Players to cease all involvement with this barbaric industry.

06/29/2003 SARS DISRUPTS CHINA'S WILD GAME BUSINESS !

SHENZHEN - It's summertime in the south China boomtown of Shenzhen, but the living is hardly easy for the Big Nose. One of the city's top wild game restaurants, it was empty during a recent lunch hour, shunned by once eager customers. Just weeks ago, they thronged the place in search of exotic flavors, textures and medicinal effects. Now, after wide publicity over reports SARS may have leaped from wild animals to humans, they fear they might get the deadly flu-like disease as well. Shenzhen is in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, where the virus causing Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome first appeared last November. The scene is similar at Xinyuan, China's largest wild game market in Guangzhou, the Guangdong capital. Most of the cages that once held civet cats, snakes, owls, swans and other exotic animals are empty. Not long ago, the market teemed with people buying and selling more than 100 species of wild animals and boasted annual sales of $100 million.

06/29/2003 LIVE DOG LABS AT UCSD !

The Medical School at the University of California San Diego currently kills dozens of dogs each year in its first-year pharmacology and physiology classes. These vivisection teaching labs are performed on purpose-bred dogs and are neither research nor surgery practice. 95% of U.S. medical schools kill no animals in pharmacology, and 82% kill none in physiology, including Stanford, Harvard, Yale, and Johns Hopkins. Students and taxpayers are being forced to contribute to the $576 per dog even though there are effective, economical, and humane alternatives such as videos, computer simulators, and the observation of human surgery. UCSD does not feel that these labs are a threat to the animals' welfare.

06/28/2003 SWAZILAND ELEPHANTS LATEST !

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has published an Environmental Assessment (EA) in which our government proposes to allow the import of 11 young elephants taken from the wild in the Kingdom of Swaziland. The animals would be used for exhibition at Florida's Lowry Park Zoo and California's San Diego Zoo. If the plan is adopted, this will be the first zoo import of wild African elephants since the 1980s.

06/28/2003 BARBARIC KILLING OF ALASKAS WOLVES !

Alaska Governor Frank Murkowski just signed a bill to re-instate public "land and shoot" and airborne wolf shooting as a part of a renewed effort to conduct more widespread wolf control over huge areas of central Alaska. Hunters in planes search for wolves, "buzz" the pack, and chase them until the wolves are exhausted. Then a person shoots from the air or lands and shoots the wolves as they flounder in the snow. It's an inhumane practice - causing harassment, wounding and death. Led by Defenders of Wildlife, the people of Alaska have TWICE voted to revoke land-and-shoot in the last seven years. But certain state officials want wolves killed to boost moose and caribou herds for hunters.

06/28/2003 McDONALD'S TO CURTAIL ANTIBIOTIC USE!

McDonald's vulnerable public image is once again prompting the company to do the right thing. This time, the company is asking its suppliers to dramatically cutback antibiotic use in the raising of farm animals. The public health problems resulting from this antibiotic use have been well-known for years, but the meat industry has consistently belittled calls for reform. Now that McDonald's has made its move, the industry has to march in lockstep. But industry leaders wish they could have continued business as usual.

06/28/2003 INTERNATIONAL MOVEMENT AGAINST BULLFIGHTS !

The London newspaper "Evening Standard" published last June 11 an article where they compare David Beckham to the bullkiller "El Juli." So there is now a chance that David Beckham may pay homage to Catalonia and move to Barcelona. Although he is furious that Manchester United are negotiating his future while he tours the world, the England captain has been offered to Barca should Joan Laporta be elected president of the Spanish footballing giant. As well as coveting his abilities on the pitch, Barcelona are keen to cash in on the midfielder's marketing and merchandising potential, particularly in the Far East. But before England's captain is forced to grab the bull by the horns and pack his bags, it emerges that the biggest threat to his superhero status may not be Ronaldo, Raul or indeed any another footballer. Step forward Julian Lopez Escobar, bullfighter. Spain's leading sporting icon, he is feted as the world's greatest matador. At the age of 20, "El Juli" is the darling of Spain. His baby-faced looks may be more Michael Owen but, when it comes to adoration and remuneration, he will give "Golden Balls" - Victoria's pet name for her husband - a run for his money. "This is the Mozart of bullfighting," said aficionado Juan Carlos Arevalo. El Juli is paid £10,000 to £15,000 a bullfight but his price can soar to £50,000 for a major one. Just like Beckham he has swelled his bank balance through sponsorship and advertising deals. His face was used to promote Seat cars, adding fuel to the phenomenon dubbed "Juli-mania." Like Becks, he has a Posh - although she is a real one: he is dating Rosario Domecq, heir to the Domecq wine and spirit empire. If the pair were to marry their combined income would dwarf the Beckhams' net worth - and make their castle wedding in Ireland look a modest affair.

06/27/2003 THE RIGHT TO FOOD IS FUNDAMENTAL TO HUMAN EXISTENCE !

Rome, June 20, 2003 - "The right to food is fundamental to human existence," FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf said today in a key note speech at the opening of a two-day International Conference on the Right to Food and the Costs of Hunger. Organized by the International Jacques Maritain Institute and the National Committee for the relations between the Italian Government and FAO in scientific cooperation with LUMSA University, the conference will formulate recommendations on the right to food to be taken into consideration by the Intergovernmental Working Group responsible for the elaboration of Voluntary Guidelines to support the progressive realization of the right to adequate food in the context of national food security. "The right to food is the right of every fellow human being to live in dignity," Dr. Diouf said. He recalled that at the 1996 World Food Summit and at the World Food Summit: five years later, in 2002, Heads of State and Government reaffirmed the right of every person to have access to safe and nutritious food and pledged to cut by half the number of hungry by 2015.

06/27/2003 "ADOPT AN AIRPORT" !

Cetacea Defence is asking local ar groups to hold information days at airports during, July 1-8 World Week For Captive Dolphins. If there is not an airport close by, we are asking groups to do an information stall in their town center. On holiday? - don't support animal Cruelty! With support from Captive Animals' Protection Society, we are asking that people who are bound for foreign countries are made aware that they should not patronise dolphin shows, circuses, zoos or have their picture taken with animals such as chimps or snakes. We are asking you to adopt an airport on at least one day during July 1-8.Cetacea Defence and CAPS acknowledge that it is important to tackle this issue, where as an example a significant market to Sea World is the UK one (estimated some years ago at 15-20%).

06/27/2003 HHS - CROSSPOST FAR AND WIDE !

Hawaii - the Hawaiian Humane Society (AKA HHS) has been torturing the very animals it's entrusted to help - inflicting horrible cruelties far beyond what is acceptable by any reasonable standard of shelter operation... Usually between around 30 cats a night are kept in small metal traps stacked one on top of another urinating and defecating on each other all night. But that is only the least of the cat's worries because they are placed ONLY 16 INCHES FROM A BLAZING HOT INCINERATOR FOR SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 12 TO 16 HOURS TIME. This is akin to someone putting their face a foot away from and oven while it is turned up to broil - except THESE CATS HAVE FUR, AND ARE IN METAL CAGES WITH NO FOOD AND WATER.

06/27/2003 EU FOR 8 HOUR TIME LIMIT FOR TRANSPORTATION OF LIVE ANIMALS !

Strasbourg, June 4, 2003, Eurogroup delighted as European Parliament has today repeated its call for limiting transports of live animals to 8 hours. By means of a written declaration signed by more than 314 Members, the European Parliament has resolved that the Commission, national governments and candidate states should be urged to adopt the Parliaments' recommendations on the protection of farmanimals in transport. In several reports - the last one in November 2001 - MEPs have criticized the suffering of animals in long distance transports, the lack of enforcement of existing rules and have demanded the adoption of a journey time limit. As a result animals should be slaughtered near the farm and live transport replaced by a carcass trade.

06/26/2003 TAKE ACTION AGAINST HUNTING !

In the past three years, Seattle officials, with the help of federal wildlife employees, have rounded up and gassed more than 5,600 Canada geese in city parks. The birds are packed into mobile gas chambers on the backs of trucks and poisoned with carbon monoxide. In 2000, Seattle park officials began corralling Canada geese in parks during June and July, when birds molt and cannot fly. That window of opportunity occurs for about a month. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, under contract to kill the birds for Seattle, has killed 5,657 geese in the past three years, and the department figures that the population in Seattle parks has dropped by 75 percent. This year, the department of agriculture is permitted to kill up to 3,000 geese statewide. Ken Bounds, the superintendent of Seattle Parks and Recreation, said he's willing to issue a moratorium on the geese kill - next year.

06/26/2003 DEAD PORPOISES DISRUPT BERLIN WHALING MEETING !

BERLIN - Greenpeace activists stretchered three dead porpoises to the site of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) yesterday, disrupting the meeting to highlight the threats marine mammals face.The three harbor porpoises had been ensnared and drowned by fishing nets in the Baltic Sea. The activists urged the world whaling organization to tackle the problem of so-called bycatch, which environmentalists say kills 300,000 whales, dolphins and porpoises a year.Activists bearing the porpoises, about 1-1/2 meters (3 ft 3 in) long, marched on to the grounds of the hotel where the IWC meeting was taking place. The demonstration was timed to coincide with a coffee break in the meeting. Some delegates booed when they saw the dead porpoises.

06/26/2003 CATS ENTOMBED IN LA - WORKMEN FILL FOUNDATION WHERE CATS RESIDE !

One of the workmen said "all of the cats came running out," but that's highly unlikely. It is more likely that while several cats may have run out in fear, others, especially the naturally fearful kittens went as far back under the building as they could get, and that they are still there, entombed and doomed to suffer a cruel death; unless their tomb is reopened and they are gotten out. A mother calico cat and her two kittens are currently missing and her mate is hanging around where the opening was, apparently trying to communicate with her. A number of people have dug some of the dirt away and have apparently made an airway.

06/26/2003 BAN THE SLAUGHTER OF HORSES FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION !

The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (AHSPA), H.R. 857, has been reintroduced in the United States House by Congressman John Sweeney (R-NY), and Congressman John Spratt, Jr. (D-SC). The AHSPA will ban the slaughter of horses for human consumption and the domestic and international transport of live horses or horseflesh for human consumption. Americans don't eat horsemeat so it may be a shocking revelation to many people that thousands of horses are slaughtered every year to please the palates of the French, the Belgians and the Japanese. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of horses are stolen each year for the horsemeat trade. Horses have been our trusted companions and have assisted us throughout history. They deserve a more humane and dignified end to their lives than being slaughtered and served as dinner.

06/26/2003 CANADIANS ARE CLUBBING BABY HARP SEALS TO DEATH !

Canadians are clubbing baby harp seals to death on the ice floes off Canada's northeastern coast, a practice that was sharply restricted in the 1980s. Then, Canada banned the clubbing of newborn baby seals with their white coats intact. After about 12 days, the coats begin to shed, and it is legal to hunt them. This rule hasn't changed.

06/25/2003 THE TULI ELEPHANT CASE !

After five years of legal battles and delays in the South African court system, Riccardo Ghiazza and his company, African Game Services, have finally been found guilty of violating South Africa's Animals Protection Act, for their brutal treatment of 30 elephants cruelly stolen from their families in Botswana.

06/25/2003 ANIMAL WELFARE ORGANIZATIONS OUTRAGE AT PLANNED TIV PROGRAMME !

London, UK - The Born Free Foundation has joined forces with other animal welfare organizations to ask Granada Television to reconsider their decision to produce and broadcast a new TV show which may have serious implications for animal welfare.In the new reality TV show, Man vs. Beast sets a series of physical challenges where human contestants compete against animals. In the original American version, a bear competed against a man to eat as many hot dogs as possible; a swimmer raced against a dolphin and 50 men competed against an elephant to tow an aeroplane.

06/25/2003 VICTORY FOR THE WHALES IN BERLIN !

The Berlin Initiative proposed by Australia, Austria, Brazil, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, NewZealand, Portugal, San Marino, Spain, Sweden, U.K., and the U.S. has passed. It was carried with 25 countries voting in favor, 20 against, and 1 abstention. It means that the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has taken the strongest stand in years to protect the world's whales. It means that the IWC did not buckle under to Japanese pressure to overturn the commercial whaling moratorium and it means that Japan was unable to bribe enough countries to carry the vote. The 55th Annual Meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in Berlin will be long remembered as a milestone in whale conservation.

06/25/2003 GLASGOW ZOO CONFIRMS CLOSURE !

Glasgow, Scotland - It was confirmed by Scottish press that Glasgow Zoo is to close in September 2003. The Born Free Foundation and other animal welfare organizations, which have continually campaigned for the zoo's closure, have welcomed the news.According to the reports, the SSPCA will be working with the Zoo to re-home the animals, which include three Bengal tigers, two lions, a white rhino, llamas and a collection of primates. Concern, however, lies with the fate of the Zoo's five Asian black bears, which according to the press may be too old to re-home. Born Free remains concerned over the welfare of the zoo's animals at this uncertain time and along with the like-minded animal welfare organization, Advocates for Animals (Edinburgh), will continue to review developments and help to ensure the animals are relocated to appropriate new homes.

06/24/2003 POLICE CAPTURE RARE MONKEY TRADERS IN SICHUAN !

Sichuan police in Southwest China have cracked down on a large wild animal trafficking case involving a dozen local people and seized seven rare Sichuan golden haired monkeys. The case has once again exposed the fact that some rural Chinese are ignorant about of basic wild animal protection knowledge and continue to flout wildlife protection laws, said Pu Fangfang, director of the province's Beichuan County Public Security Bureau which is in charge of the case. Acting on a tip off, police learnt that a dozen locals in the county helped wild animal traffickers poach and sell seven golden haired monkeys last August. A nine month investigation resulted in Sichuan police finally tracking down the monkeys and making 13 arrests.

06/24/2003 COMMISSION SUPPORTS OIE GLOBAL CONFERENCE ON ANIMAL WELFARE !

In order to engage stakeholders and explain the International Animal Health Organization's (OIE) new strategy on animal welfare, the OIE will convene the "First Global Conference on Animal Welfare" in Paris, France on February 23-25, 2004. The best way to achieve the harmonization of international standards in the field of animal welfare is by basing standards on the best scientific knowledge available. For over 75 years, the OIE has played a key role in protecting animal health world-wide, thus becoming the world organization for animal health, recognized by the World Trade Organization (WTO). Due to the essential relationship between animal health and animal welfare, the representatives of its 164 Member Countries asked the OIE to take the international lead role in animal welfare.

06/24/2003 NETS DROWN 1,000 CETACEANS DAILY !!!

Nearly 1,000 whales, dolphins and porpoises drown every day after becoming tangled in fishing nets and other equipment, scientists say in what appears to be the first global estimate of the problem. Annually, the researchers said 308,000 of the marine mammals die unintentionally in fishermen's hauls. There are more than 80 species collectively known as cetaceans, or fishlike sea mammals. They range from porpoises weighing 100 pounds to the blue whale, the world's largest creature at more than 120 tons. Many species are near extinction because of centuries of overhunting.

06/24/2003 STAGS; BLOOD BATH DRAWS TOURISTS INTO WILDERNESS !

Siberia, Julius Strauss in the Altai mountains reports on a gory event for rich Russians in Siberia. First the stag was beaten and prodded into a large, wooden vice which held it fast. As the animal groaned and keened, blood was drained from its neck into glass phials. Then the antlers were sawn from its head just above the base. Blood spurted from the shorn stubs. Nearby, visitors, some of whom had travelled thousands of miles for the occasion, gathered and watched the bloody spectacle with approval. Some took photographs, others were offered phials of fresh stag blood to drink. Each of the guests present had paid hundreds of pounds to travel to remotest Siberia to take part in the bloody annual ritual. They are among a growing band of moneyed Russians who believe that drinking, or bathing in, stag's blood will cure sicknesses, help resist disease and perhaps increase virility. The phenomenon is the latest example of the way those who have prospered under the country's wild capitalism since the fall of the Soviet Union seek to assert their individuality by finding unorthodox methods of spending their profits.

06/23/2003 CIRCUS ELEPHANT DEATH LIST !

From 1994 to 2000, at least 30 circus elephants have died premature deaths: Name Age Sex Date Cause of Death; Kenya 18 F 02/00 Intestinal problems; Conti 54 F 09/99 Kidney failure; Pete (Petunia) 49 F 08/99 Kidney failure; Benjamin 4 M 07/99 Drowning?; Kenya 13 F 04/98 Injury of questionable origin; Kenny 3 M 01/98 Gastrointestinal infection? Herpes virus?; Sneeze 27 F 12/97 Kidney failure; Heather 8 F 08/97 Incompetent animal husbandry; Ola 40 F 03/97 Died after foot surgery; Name Unknown ? F 1997 Herpes virus?; Name Unknown ? F 1997 Herpes virus?; Tunga 32 M 09/96 Unknown; Hattie 27 F 08/96 Tuberculosis; Joyce 47 F 08/96 Tuberculosis; Bandula 30 F 06/96 Euthanized after suffering 26 years with arthritis; Stoney 21 M 08/95 Complications from training injury; Mary 50+ F 04/95 "Collapsed and died"; Jockey 20 M 03/95 Shot to death; Rhonda 9 F 03/95 Burned to death; Mike ? M 03/95 Burned to death; Lois 24 F 01/95 "Foot infection spread through her body"; Sahib 20 M 01/95 Killed because he was "unmanageable"; Bombay 40+ F 1994 Unknown; Dumbo 43 F 12/94 Tuberculosis; Mona 26 F 10/94 Metabolic disease; Kay 50 F 10/94 Kidney ailment; Amy ? F 09/94 Unknown; Tyke 21 F 08/94 Shot to death; Siam ? M 07/94 "Euthanized"; Assam 24 M 06/94 "Died under sedation". Most circus elephants are chained by at least two legs for 95% of their lives in a space no larger than an automobile. They are unchained only to perform. The natural behavior patterns of the elephant, which have evolved over thousands of years, are denied by this confined, chained, and dominated life. To disrupt and prevent the natural behavior of these intelligent, social creatures is not only inhumane and cruel, but stressful to the individual animal as well.

06/23/2003 THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION RULES !

The free trade rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO) have already had a highly detrimental impact on measures designed to protect animals.U.S. laws to safeguard dolphins and initially their attempts to protect sea-turtles were declared to be inconsistent with the WTO rules.The European Union has abandoned its ban on the import of furs from countries using the leghold trap, because of fears it could not survive a WTO challenge. Similarly, the EU still has not brought into force its ban on the sale of cosmetics tested on animals.

06/23/2003 EXCLUSIVE BEACHES FOR ENDANGERED SEALS !

Since 1996 the Mediterranean monk seal has been among the world's ten most threatened animals, reports the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. Between 400 and 600 of these seals still survive in the wild. Their numbers declined when they became the target of hunters and were incidentally killed by fishermen. Later, they suffered habitat destruction as a result of tourism and development, explains the Spanish newspaper El Pais. Hence, the seals sought shelter in caves. But pounding waves during storms turn the caves into death traps for seal pups. Now the governments of Spain and Mauritania are collaborating to create a protected area of beach near the caves and cliffs at Cabo Blanco on the Atlantic Coast of Western Sahara. This area is home to 150 monk seals, the largest group. Human interference will evidently be kept to a minimum.

06/23/2003 STATE APATHY TOWARDS STRAYS !

THE RECENT poisonings of dogs in Perama (allegedly authorised by the municipality) are a moral and social outrage. As the 2004 Athens Olympic Games loom ahead, the reports of widespread animal abuse in Greece circulate. The ensuing global concern will gather momentum - via the Internet and international media - and, in consequence, will wreak havoc on the expectations and projected financial outcome of the Games. Yet this tragedy could so easily be avoided if the Greek government were truly willing to implement nationwide humane reform. Instead, however, Greek officials disdainfully salute the world with their collective middle finger. To date, the government's response to nationwide incidents of cruelty towards animals appears to be a perpetual state of inertia and bureaucratic indecision. Legal humane proposals sit idle before parliament while the defenseless animals are taking the proverbial bullet for inhumanity. Tens of thousands of innocent, unprotected, abandoned animals are suffering and dying agonizing deaths by poisoning, hanging and shooting, as well as by starvation and neglect.

06/22/2003 OCEANS IN CRISIS !

A new study of America's oceans by a panel of scientists, politicians and fishermen calls for the creation of a federal agency to curb pollution, destructive fishing practices and runaway coastal development. The Pew Oceans Commission report said depletion of marine life requires "a serious rethinking of ocean law, informed by a new ocean ethic." Pollution is spawning "killer algae" and ocean "dead zones." Development is destroying coastal wetlands and estuaries. Bottom-scouring fishing nets are laying waste to coral and other seabed life, the panel found. Congress should enact a National Ocean Policy Act to create national marine reserves that would be protected like wilderness areas, the study concluded. (Defenders of Wildlife)

06/22/2003 CONDEMNED MEAT SOLD TO SUPERMARKETS !

Workers at a rundown factory which was polluted with pools of sewage butchered diseased chicken and turkey carcasses to be sold as food to leading supermarkets and old people's homes. The condemned meat, which was waste from slaughterhouses across the UK, was unfit for human consumption and intended only to be used as pet food or fertilizer, Nottingham Crown Court was told. At the dilapidated premises in Denby, Derbyshire, workers at the poultry company chopped the birds, some of which are likely to have carried deadly diseases, to create breast fillets, goujons and mince for national food manufacturers and supermarket shelves.

06/22/2003 CHINESE SHOW THEIR PASSION FOR DOGS !

Peixian butchers 300,000 dogs a year, half for local consumption and half for export to other parts of China and both Koreas. Trussed dogs, their jaws tied shut and some with their forepaws tied behind their backs presumably to make them easier to handle, are a common site. The locals deny that the dogs are tortured before slaughter to infuse their muscles with tenderizing adrenaline, as animal rights activists charge is the case elsewhere in China. But the slaughter isn't something someone of weak constitution would want to see.In a small village of brick-walled courtyards not far from Mr. Han's farm, Wang Junhua showed a visitor where he slaughters and skins as many as twenty dogs at a time: a series of bloody puddles beneath a cross beam affixed to a line of weeping willow trees. Mr. Wang first cuts the dogs throats and bleeds them before hooking them through the lower jaw and hanging them from the crossbeam. Then he guts them and skins them, he explained, gesturing with a cheerful matter-of-factness. The whole operation is done in just a few minutes to keep the meat fresh. Whether or not the dogs are still alive when skinned is a matter of debate.

06/22/2003 NETHERLANDS: SUPERMARKETS TO BAN BATTERY EGGS FROM 2004 !!!

Supermarkets in the Netherlands will stop selling eggs from laying hens, who live in battery cages, from 2004, Dutch animal rights foundation Wakker Dier has said. All large supermarkets in the country will sell eggs only from poultry farms raising birds in open barns or in other free-range systems, Wakker Dier said.

06/21/2003 OPPOSING WHALING IS "BAD" ENVIRONMENTALISM !

OSLO - Norway defended its whale hunts but said it had scant hope of winning support at an international meeting for its policy on whaling. "We understand that there's political opposition (to whaling at the IWC), but it's bad environmental policy," Fisheries Minister Svein Ludvigsen told Reuters. He predicted a tough battle to persuade the IWC that Norway's hunts, of 711 minke whales in the northeast Atlantic this year, did not threaten stocks. Norway has argued the case in vain for more than a decade.

06/21/2003 SCHOOLYARD POISONINGS SHOCK SKOPELOS !

Greece, Skopelos pupils hold a protest march against poisoning of strays on June 2. The banner reads: "Unscrupulous 'humans' murdered our friends. Why?" Lucy and Robin were the mascots of Peparitheio primary school on the Aegean island of Skopelos. The two dogs, a mother and son, were fed, walked and played with by the youngsters daily after headmistress Mahi Andreou decided to adopt the pair to promote responsibility towards animals at the school. The children had even raised the money to get Lucy sterilised after Robin's birth. On May 31, the 250 pupils lost their canine companions in a poisoning incident that endangered the lives of all those at the school.

06/21/2003 RECORD AMOUNT OF ANIMAL TESTING DATA RELEASED !

The largest amount of information about experimentation in laboratories in the United Kingdom involving animals that has ever been made public was recently released after a judge overturned an injunction against publication of the material. The 1,274 pages provide detailed accounts of attempts made from 1994 to 2000 by Huntingdon Life Sciences, the largest laboratory research firm in Europe, to perfect methods of creating animals from which organs can be safely transplanted into human beings. Among the more surprising revelations about the unsuccessful work, which involved genetic engineering and transplanting organs from one animal into another, are that: a) a primate died because a swab was accidentally left inside him during surgery b). an animal died because he was accidentally given a quadruple overdose c). an attempt was made by Home Office officials to have the suffering involved in kidney transplant tests classified as "moderate" rather than "severe" in order to make obtaining permission for the experiments easier d). Home Office officials took no action after learning that 34 baboons had been confined in crates for approximately 34 hours - 10 more than legally allowed - while being shipped from Africa. "The documents reveal at least 520 errors (or) omissions in the... research," said one scientist who reviewed the material.

06/21/2003 COW CONSUMPTION DANGERS !

The Tuesday, June 10, edition of the nation's most highly circulated newspaper, USA Today, has a front page story headed, "Consumers may have a beef with cattle feed." Elizabeth Weise opens her article with, "If you don't finish your steak at a restaurant, did you know the leftovers might be dinner for a cow? Or that calves, instead of drinking their mothers' milk, are fed formula made from cows' blood?" She tells us, "Americans have a bucolic image of cows happily chomping grass in fields. Many don't know that modern animal husbandry practices have provided cheap, plentiful meat through such standard practices as feeding cattle not only pieces of their herd mates (before the practice was banned in 1997) but also chicken litter, leftover restaurant food and out-of-date pet food."

06/20/2003 COCKFIGHTING WORLD CUP BRINGS HUNDREDS OF BIRDS TO THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC !

Santo Doming, Dominican Republic (AP) - It flaps, it slaps, and spurs in a wild triple combo. A bloodied Costa Rican cock finishes his Peruvian opponent by pecking an eye out as spectators shout out the stakes and swap wads of money. The 15-minute cockfight comes to an abrupt end as the loser is carried unconscious from the ring, quickly. There are more than 300 roosters from 25 countries awaiting their fight in the fourth annual Cockfighting World Cup, this year in the Dominican Republic. "It's a very emotional sport because they're like children, and it hurts me like a father when they are in pain," says Luis de Villiers, 60, who brought 10 cocks from Miami, Fla., to compete for the $4,000 Cdn prize. Others look for winnings in ringside bets with no limits. He keeps his cocks in Puerto Rico because cockfighting is illegal in Florida and 47 other U.S. states. It is also banned in Canada, Costa Rica, Australia, Japan and most of Europe, but there are cocks competing from these countries as well.

06/20/2003 WHAT'S EDUCATIONAL ABOUT DOLPHINS IN THE DESERT ?!

The Mirage Resort and Gambling Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, has been keeping captive dolphins since 1990. Originally, the plan was to create a halfway house for dolphins that were to be released back into the wild. After it turned out that the facility was going to function as yet another permanent captive dolphin breeding program, several animal welfare organizations and individuals protested the facility, but at no prevail. Today, The Mirage Resort keeps ten bottlenose dolphins in a barren, concrete tank and, according to their own statement, has developed into one of the most successful captive dolphin breeding facilities in the world. In nature, bottlenose swim up to 40 miles per day, putting all of their natural abilities to use. Seven of the dolphins at The Mirage Gambling Casino were born in captivity and have never seen the ocean. They will never know what it means to be a real dolphin in a dolphin's real world: the open sea. Reduced to ornamental dolphins at a luxurious resort in Las Vegas, they will spend the rest of their lives swimming in circles, going nowhere.

06/20/2003 FISH LOADED UP WITH TOXIC MERCURY !

A study of affluent Bay Area residents who were seeking health benefits by eating lots of fish found that they were also loading up on toxic mercury. Nearly all those eating big, oceangoing fish such as swordfish and tuna had concentrations of mercury in their blood exceeding a safety level set by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, the study by a San Francisco physician showed. The findings, published in the current issue of Environmental Health Perspectives, comes when health regulators are grappling with ways to reduce the exposure to mercury, an environmental contaminant that can damage the brain and nervous system. The study is the first to look at mercury levels among middle - and upper - income people who eat lots of fish for their health. The study did not try to compare mercury levels in people eating fish and those not eating fish, or to correlate mercury levels with symptoms, although some of her patients had disturbing symptoms.

06/20/2003 INDIAN SOFTWARE REPLACES LAB ANIMALS !

Indian scientists have developed a computer program for drug research designed to reduce the number of animals used in laboratory experiments. The program will help reduced animal experiments in India. The software, called Drug Discovery Assistant or DD Assist, is being used by India's Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI) in the northern city of Lucknow. Director of the CDRI, C M Gupta, said that the program will reduce the use of laboratory animals by nearly 90%. Now only two or three of the trials will be conducted on animals, compared to between 20 and 30 in the past.

06/19/2003 SCOTS JOIN FIGHT TO SAVE WILE DOG !

A Galloway wildlife conservation project became part of a global effort to save one of the world's most endangered animals. The World Conservation Union (WCU) believe the dhole, a little known Asian wild dog which looks like a cross between a fox and a wolf, is in danger of extinction. They estimate as few as 50 packs may be left in their natural forest environment, a habitat which has been massively reduced in 20 years by incursion and persecution. Fears that it could be wiped out led to an international effort to increase numbers, including a special European breeding campaign.

06/19/2003 1,000 DOGS BUTCHERED IN ZAMBO, MADE INTO FERTILIZER !

Zambonga City - Here's something for animal rights activists to feast on - in its campaign to get rid of stray dogs in the city's streets, the local government here has so far butchered 1,000 of man's supposed best friend, their meat ground, then made into fertilizer. City Veterinarian Mario Ariola said they could not incinerate the dogs' carcasses because it would be a violation of the Clean Air Act. Instead, the dogs' meat and bones were mixed with garbage, then underwent a process for these to become fertilizers. The process was done at the city's solid waste facilities at the Sta. Cruz commercial complex, Lumbangan dumpsite and at the local government's slaughterhouse in San Roque.

06/19/2003 LABOUR MORALITY GURU COMPARES FOX-HUNTING TO RAPE !

Hunting is morally equivalent to rape, child abuse and torture, according to one of Britain's leading Christian experts, who is closely connected to Labour's religious establishment. The incendiary claim, which brought immediate condemnation from pro-hunting groups, has been made by Andrew Linzey, professor of theology at Oxford University and a recognized authority on morality and its effects on people's relations with animals. In a report to be published by the Christian Socialist Movement (CSM), Linzey will argue that there is no moral defense for hunting as sport and that it should be completely banned. "Causing suffering for sport is intrinsically evil," he says. "Hunting, therefore, belongs to that class of always morally impermissible acts along with rape, child abuse and torture."

06/19/2003 ENGLISH MAYOR AGAINST BULLFIGHTS !

The Mayor of Stockport is against bullfights and also refused to wear the mayoral robe because it is trimmed with fur - and he is an animal rights' campaigner.Tory Ken Holt wore a smart suit rather than the red robe when he was invested with the chain of office at Stockport town hall. The robe is trimmed with ermine, which is the white winter coat of the stoatin northern regions of Europe. Coun Holt is also considering boycotting the annual visit to Stockport's French twin town, Beziers, as a protest against its financial support of bullfighting.

06/18/2003 DOGFIGHTS IN NORWAY: "DOGS SEWN WITHOUT ANAESTHETICS" !

A Norwegian man is charged with organizing dogfights and suturing injured dogs without anaesthetics, using fishing line. A 38 year old man from Oslo is charged with having organized dogfights and with acting as a referee in dogfights. The Norwegian police said: "We believe that the 38 year old is central in this group and that he was one of the people who brought the dogfight trend to Norway." One dogfight is said to have been arranged in Hokksund in 2000. According to the charge, bleeding dogs with wounds in their heads were sewn up with fishing line, without anaesthetics. The charged 38 year old is said to be an expert on Pitbull Terriers and has travelled the world to study the dogfight spectators spoke Norwegian.

06/18/2003 FAULTY FEED LABELING AT BUCKEYE EGG FARMS !

Buckeye Egg Farms, Ohio's largest egg company and the fourth largest in the country with 9.75 million hens in 3 counties, has been found in violation of federal labeling laws. FDA inspectors warned the company it was not properly labeling feed that could contain cattle remains, and was not properly recording the amount of antibiotics used in feed. Buckeye reports it is now in compliance. The company has an extensive history of environmental violations and is under the threat of closure.

06/18/2003 CHINA VS SARS: A GOOD DOG IS A DEAD DOG !

Hong Kong - In Beijing's Fengtai district, a family living in an apartment building in the Niwa neighborhood suspected that its pet dog, a Pekingese, had become infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Upon suspecting their animals' infection, a member of the family promptly threw the dog from the family apartment's window, on the sixth floor of the building. The small but tough dog did not die after its fall on to the sidewalk below. When the family discovered this, they dug a small grave for the animal and buried it alive. China's reality: Snapshot oneA group of Beijing children not much older than 10 chase a dog that had been hiding in a small nook. The dog had been abandoned by its owner. Some of the children are carrying poles as they chase from behind. Others are pelting the dog with stones as it runs. The group of children are laughing in a surprisingly callous manner. A boy in the group says that beating dogs is part of the fight against SARS.Snapshot twoNanjing's "Dog-Beating Corps" has come to the home of an elderly resident as a result of complaints from his neighbors. The man's neighbors informed the group that the man's trash had a "bad odor" to it. Hence, "with the blessings of the local police," the Dog-Beating Corps forces its way into the elderly man's home and bludgeons the eight stray dogs that the man has been caring for until they are all dead and then clean up the mess. The vast majority of the man's neighbors welcome this action and some even praise it. Snapshot threeThere are some panicking Beijing dog owners who fear that their pets are infected with SARS, but are unwilling to force their dogs on to the street where they will be beaten to death. Hence they go to pet clinics in hopes of having a veterinarian euthanize their dogs. Snapshot fourEver since the first SARS patient was discovered in the city of Hangzhou, a large number of people have been abandoning their pets on the street in order to avoid being infected. There's also a good many people who are calling the municipal government and asking that the authorities collect their pets from their homes and take care of them. These saddening snapshots effectively depict the confusion of SARS and how, once again, people who are desperate for answers are shooting arrows in the dark, hoping that their efforts will have some effect on a situation that is out of any individual's control.

06/17/2003 KILLING OF BEARS IN SLOVENIA !

More than one hundred bears have been killed in Slovenia since the hunting season opened on October 1 and the hunt is yet to stop. The slaughtery of 104 bears represented more than a quarter of the total Slovenian bear population and about one third of its adult bears. This cull may seriously effect the status of bears not only in Slovenia, but also Croatia, Austria, and Italy. Since October 1993, large carnivores have been protected throughout the year in Slovenia.

06/17/2003 MAN JAILED FOR TRYING TO SELL SMUGGLED CIVET MEAT !

A 46-year-old man who tried to sell a huge quantity of meat products, including civet meat, which had been smuggled into Singapore, was jailed for six months and fined $10,000. Electrician Lim Thiam Hock was caught here in March by officers from the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA), who were acting on a tip-off. They went to a warehouse within the compound of Hong Lim Industries in Penjuru Road, Jurong, on March 24 and found a container, used as a cold room, stuffed with most of the 997kg of meat products, as well as a Singapore-registered van used to store some of the meat. Apart from civets, the haul included pork cuts and pig intestines, and other game meat like monkeys, bats and snakes.

06/17/2003 FISH DO SUFFER AT THE HANDS OF ANGLERS !

People are usually disgusted by the abuse of animals for fun, but when the spotlight turns to angling, many are indifferent or even supportive. This may be because fish live in an alien environment and they do not seem to show distress in an obvious way and cannot vocalise pain. Whatever the reason, fish are regarded more like inanimate objects. Anglers often portray their pastime as a peaceful recreation - a way of enjoying nature and getting away from the pressures of modern living. However, angling causes fish pain, fear and stress. This is backed by scientific evidence. Fish suffer and many die as a result of their experiences at the hands of anglers, even if they are put back into the water after capture.

06/17/2003 NYC FUR PROTESTERS TURN VOGUE SIDEWALK "BLOODY" !

New York - Animal rights activists soaked themselves in fake blood and spat insults to mark a big day for Vogue magazine editor Anna Wintour, who was set to accept a prestigious fashion industry award. Five protesters draped in fur coats drenched themselves in the fake blood and crawled up the sidewalk to the facade of publisher Conde Nast's building in New York's Times Square, where Vogue's offices are located. The protesters smeared red fluid down the front of the building and clogged a revolving door with their bodies. Lunchtime passers-by stepped through pools of the red liquid as it oozed off the building into the street gutter. Wintour, Vogue's influential editor in chief, was to receive a lifetime achievement award at a dinner held by the Council of Fashion Designers of America. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which staged the protest, has long criticized Wintour and Vogue for promoting designers who use fur. Animal rights activists have left pools of blood at the door of Wintour's home, slapped a dead raccoon onto her plate at a restaurant and sent a box full of maggot-infested animal guts to her office.

06/16/2003 PORTUGUESE ASSOCIATION OF TRISOMY 21 PROMOTES BULLFIGHTING

The Portuguese Association of Trisomy 21 (Down Syndrome) has staged a bullfight on the July 5 in Setubal. It's outrageous that Charitable Organizations should use the torture of animals to raise funds. We have no doubts that the use of bullfights to raise money for good causes is merely an intentional and cynical exploitation of these causes to whitewash torture by the bullfighters. There are many ethical and moral ways to collect funds for charities without appealing to the sadistic bloodlust involved in the torture of non-human animals.

06/16/2003 MEXICO WORKING TO EARADICATE DEADLY PIG DISEASE !

MEXICO CITY - Mexico is stepping up a program to eradicate a deadly pig disease by 2006 that started killing Mexican swine as many as 50 years ago, a top agriculture official told Reuters in an interview. Javier Trujillo, Mexico's top animal health authority, said a vaccination campaign that began in the early 1980s has already managed to clear its northern states and the three states that comprise the Yucatan, of classical swine fever. The disease, also known as CSF, is a highly contagious disease that has close to a 100-percent mortality rate, usually killing infected pigs within a week of initial signs of infection, which include high fever, depression, weakness and conjunctivitis.

06/16/2003 USDA TO OFFER IRRADIATED BEEF TO SCHOOLKIDS !

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Agriculture Department said it will allow hamburgers and meat loaf treated with low doses of bacteria-destroying radiation to be served in U.S. school cafeterias. Individual school districts have the choice of not buying irradiated ground beef from the USDA, officials said. "Irradiation technology is another tool to enhance food safety," said Elsa Murano, USDA undersecretary for food safety. The department will make the products available in January 2004 for apremium of 13 cents to 20 cents per pound. Irradiation, which has been endorsed by the World Health Organization, exposes food to ionizing radiation that kills insects, molds and deadly bacteria such as E. coli 0157:H7. It is used to sterilize many non-food products and has been used on wheat flour since 1963.

06/16/2003 SAINT BERNARDS END UP AS CHINESE TAKEAWAY !

BONN - The noble Saint Bernard, self-sacrificing symbol of hope to generations of Alpine climbers and skiers, increasingly is ending up in the dog meat slaughter houses of eastern Asia, according to an alarming report by German conservationists.The Bonn office of the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) issued a warning to breeders of pure-bred dogs in Western Europe, particularly breeders of big and beefy Saint Bernards.Breeders should be aware that enquiries from potential buyers in Asia often are fronts for illicit dog meat slaughtering operations. These unscrupulous buyers are not the least bit interested in a champion dog's bloodline or the number of medals it has won. Instead they are only interested in how much tasty muscle there is on the bone.

06/15/2003 THREE ELEPHANTS KILLED BY TRAIN IN NORTHERN INDIA !

LUCKNOW, India - Three elephants were killed when they were hit by a passenger train as they crossed a railway track in a sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh, a forest official said.Uttar Pradesh's chief conservator of forests, R.L. Singh, said about 12 elephants had been killed by speeding trains in Dudhwa and neighboring parks in the past few years, prompting officials to call for restrictions on rail traffic in the sanctuaries.

06/15/2003 CHINA ODERS CATS OFF MENU !

GUANGZHOU, China - The civet cats are gone from their cages at the market, replaced by ducks and rabbits. The snakes, bats, badgers and anteater-like pangolins are missing, too. For years, hundreds of stalls at Chatou Wild Animal Food Market in China's southern business capital of Guangzhou were a snapping, hissing zoo of exotic, endangered wildlife destined for the plates of the most adventurous diners. Then came SARS and the discovery that civets and some other small animals carry the virus that has killed more than 600 people on China's mainland and in Hong Kong. Authorities ordered an end to the wildlife trade!

06/15/2003 SEA LIONS AND DOLPHINS - NEW WARRIORS ?!

Seaworld, Orlando has sold six sea lion pups to the Navy for training to patrol harbors for intruders and land mines.The Marine Connection have already joined worldwide protests from animal welfare groups and concerned individuals on the use of sea lions and dolphins for secret operations in the war in Iraq including at the key port of Umm Qasr, and it seems that the US Navy are now stepping up their programme. The sea lions will be trained by the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center in San Diego, and will be trained to carry a device in their mouth that is linked to a boat above. When they spot a diver they will swim up, press the device to his leg. The device will snap shut, the sea lion will swim away and the boat above will reel the intruder in. There also will be training to ferret out land mines.

06/14/2003 ANTI-DOG BREEDER PROTES CAMP !

This summer a protest camp will be set up to increase the pressure on the only dog breeder in Finland. The breeder is located in Karttula, and is owned by the University of Kuopio. The camp will take place in July and last for the whole month (June 28 - August 3, 2003). The campaign needs as many people as possible to show the breeder and the university that their actions are not acceptable! If you are interested in joining the camp or would like to get more information, please e-mail the following address: info@elainkokeet.net

06/14/2003 FOUR WOLVES KILLED AFTER ATTACKING LIVESTOCK !

MADISON, Wis. -- For the first time in decades, timber wolves are being shot in Wisconsin to prevent them from killing more livestock and other domestic animals. Four wolves have been trapped within the past two weeks and killed in northwest Wisconsin, Adrian Wydeven, the wolf expert for the state Department of Natural Resources, said Wednesday. The killing is permitted because the wolf has been downgraded from an endangered species to a threatened species. It was downgraded federally on April 1 and the state changed it in October 1999.

06/14/2003 SARS: ANOTHER DEADLY VIRUS FROM THE MEAT INDUSTRY !

Animal agriculture is not just a public health hazard for those that consume meat. In fact, the single worst epidemic in recorded world history, the 1918 influenza pandemic, has been blamed on the livestock industry. In that case, the unnatural density and proximity of ducks and pigs raised for slaughter probably led to the deaths of 20 to 40 million people across the world. Since then, the raising of pigs and poultry has resulted in millions more human deaths from the 1957-58 Asian flu, the 1968-69 Hongkong flu and the 1977 swine flu. All of these influenza strains seem to have arisen in the same region of southern China where intensive systems of animal agriculture have become a breeding ground for new killer viruses. Michael Greger, M.D.

06/14/2003 BRITAIN MAY BAN MUSLIM AND JEWISH ANIMAL SLAUGHTER METHODS !

London, The British Government appears ready to ban the slaughter of animals without stunning them. This would affect the supply of halal meat (animals that are slaughtered according to the Islamic sharia law.) For the last few years, authorities have gone out of their way to accommodate the request by the Muslim community to provide only halal meat for Muslim students in schools and even for Muslim convicts serving jail sentences. Under a new proposal to be put forward next month, Jewish and Muslim communities would lose the legal right to slaughter animals without stunning them. The communities have reacted angrily saying that such a ban would end thousands of years of religious rites. Under the European Union animal welfare regulations, all farm animals must be stunned before slaughter, unless they are killed by religious methods as halal for Muslims and schechita for Jews. Both methods involve religiously trained slaughter men using sharp knives to cut throats and let the animal bleed to death. The Farm Animal Welfare Council, appointed and funded by the government, has concluded a study that finds Jewish and Muslim methods of slaughter inhumane because it takes two minutes or more for the animal to lose consciousness.

06/13/2003 DEATH ROW FOR EXOTIC ANIMALS !

The Bergeron Exotic Animals Sanctuary in Picton, in Prince Edward County, is being threatened with closure. This is partly because of a change in zoning laws, and partly because the Medical Officer of Health is worried about public health and safety. In a dozen years no one has ever been hurt, injured or infected, at the sanctuary; and no dangerous animal has ever escaped. Its record is impeccable. The sanctuary is even advertised as an attraction by the local tourist board.

06/13/2003 US EYES CHANGE IN ENDANGERED SPECIEAS ACT !

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service called for changes to the Endangered Species Act to allow the service to determine the needs for critical habitat to avoid delays caused by litigation. Environmental groups said the proposal amounted to an attack on the habitats that protect animals and plants in jeopardy of extinction.

06/13/2003 AUSTRALIA DROUGHT PUTS KANGAROO WAR IN CROSS-HAIRS !

SYDNEY - Starving kangaroos have been terrifying drought-stricken Australian communities for months, gathering in school yards, invading towns and risking bullets from angry farmers by raiding gardens. While downpours are beginning to cause traffic chaos in the big cities as the drought on the eastern seaboard ends in floods, mobs of the Australian national symbol are still bounding down main streets of parched country towns in search of food. In one reported case, kangaroos attacked and killed a dog. The kangaroos' plight is desperate and millions of them are dying.

06/13/2003 2004 ATHENS OLYMPICS - GREEK ANIMALS RACE FOR THEIR LIVES !

Greece - "THE CRADLE of DEVASTATION" Animal control and abuse consists of mass poisonings, allegedly condoned by the government, shootings, hangings, live burnings and the placement of ground glass in raw meat. Both abandoned and owned animals alike suffer slow, agonizing deaths. The average age of a dog in Greece, with luck, is perhaps one and one half years of age.Preparation for the 2004 ATHENS OLYMPICS promises to be hell on earth for the tens of thousands of abandoned starving animals in Athens, as one by one and in great numbers, they are mysteriously disappearing in a "sweep the streets clean" campaign.

06/12/2003 COMMERCIAL FLEETS KILLING OF GIANT OCEAN FISH !

Only 10 percent of big ocean fish have survived a half-century of industrial fishing, according to a groundbreaking study published in the journal Nature. One of the main villains is longline fishing, where a single boat can trail a line up to 60 miles long that's covered in thousands of hooks. "From giant blue marlin to mighty blue fin tuna, and from tropical groupers to Antarctic cod, industrial fishing has scoured the global ocean," said Ransom Myers, a biologist at Dalhousie University in Canada. "There is no blue frontier left." He estimated the number of fish remaining in the world's oceans as part of a 10-year study of data from fisheries and scientific research institutes. "This calls for a reduction in fishing worldwide so we can allow the natural diversity and fish species to persist in the world's oceans," he said. (Defenders of Wildlife)

06/12/2003 WILL THE NEXT US PRESIDENT BE A VEGETARIAN ?!

Supporters of U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, couldn't wait for their man to roll into town on a vegetable oil-fueled peace bus.The bus, which actor and hemp supporter Woody Harrelson once toured around in, seems appropriate for a Santa Cruz-friendly presidential candidate who currently chairs the U.S. House of Representatives' 67-member Congressional Progressive Caucus.In addition to Kucinich, the event includes appearances by spiritual lecturer Marianne Williamson, author of "Return to Love" and "Illuminata," and author John Robbins, who wrote "Diet for a New America," a best-selling vegetarian handbook.

06/12/2003 A MOMENT IN TIME !

A whisper began around the world. It has risen to a rumble. Please join compassionate people everywhere for A Moment In Time for all of the voiceless creatures of the world. This World Prayer event is scheduled for August 4, 2003. With the combined spirit of those who care, this can become an annual day of prayer, meditation and reflection on behalf of the animals. Hopefully, it will also ease the anger, grief, and frustration many of us feel daily in the trenches of animal rights/welfare work.

06/11/2003 VOLUNTEERS RESCUING CATS FROM CULL IN SINGAPORE !

Cat lovers are rescuing stray felines from Singapore's streets and sending them to an animal shelter in Malaysia to save them from being killed in a government cleanliness campaign aimed at fighting Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). There are an estimated 80,000 stray cats in Singapore, but the cleanliness campaign targets only those caught near markets and other places that serve food.

06/11/2003 VOLUNTEERS COMING TO THE RESCUE AGAIN IN IDAHO !

Volunteers from across the United States are about to begin their third summer fighting to protect endangered gray wolves in Idaho's rugged Sawtooth Mountains. They are the Wolf Guardians, organized and equipped by Defenders of Wildlife. Operating from encampments deep in the backcountry, they employ a variety of methods to keep wolves away from sheep and cattle. They chase wolves away in the night by shouting, singing and banging pots and pans. They've also installed electric fences around livestock or strung up red flags in the forest -- something known as fladry that wolves have been shown to avoid. "Our team came from all walks of life, ages and experience levels. You just need to care about wolves," says Susan Kline, a volunteer from Simi Valley, Calif. (Defenders of Wildlife)

06/11/2003 COMPANION ANIMALS UNFAIRLY BLAMED FOR DISEASE SPREAD !

SARS has been a nightmare for not only people but also their companion animals. Many people have reportedly begun to desert or even kill their companion animals for fear of catching SARS from the animals. But these knee-jerk reactions have no scientific basis and will only aggravate the situation. The over-reaction is largely attributable to some media reports that companion animals like dogs or cats could carry and spread the SARS virus. But, as many experts have noted, there is no evidence indicating that household pets are carriers of the virus. The latest findings indicate that humans could be responsible for the first case of SARS because of their own actions - for example, eating wild animals. These appetites could result in the transmission of a virus from their animal carriers to people. Abandoning animals will not help to prevent the spread of SARS. Instead, people should give up bad practice such as random spitting and eating wild animals.

06/11/2003 UDAY HUSSEIN'S LIONS TO BE TAKEN BACK TO AFRICA !

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Lions once kept in a private zoo by the son of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein will be moved out of Baghdad to start a new life in the South African bush, animal welfare groups said on Friday. The animals, a lioness and her six cubs and two year-old lions, will be relocated to two different South African game reserves in the hope they will form new prides. U.S. troops in April rescued the lions, along with two cheetahs and a blind bear, from a private zoo that Saddam Hussein's eldest son, Uday, had established in one of Baghdad's presidential palaces.

06/10/2003 GOV. GARY LOCKE VETOES BODY-GRIPPING TRAPS LEGISLATION !

OLYMPIA - Gov. Gary Locke today vetoed legislation that would have allowed the use of body-gripping traps to capture animals for recreation or fur trade. Substitute Senate Bill 5179 would have essentially repealed Initiative 713 that voters passed in 2000. The initiative banned body-gripping traps for use in capturing animals for recreation or commerce in fur but allowed certain types of traps to be used to deal with animal problems. Such trap use requires a special permit through the state's Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW). The governor had supported legislative efforts that addressed specific animal problems but viewed the Legislature's final bill as outside the spirit and intent of the initiative.

06/10/2003 CHIMPS MAY HAVE CLOSER LINKS TO HUMANS !

(AP) - It may be time to move over and share the human branch of the family tree with chimpanzees, says a researcher who has studied how closely the two are related. Humans and chimps share 99.4 percent of DNA - genetic code for life - according to a team led by Morris Goodman of the Wayne State University School of Medicine. The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, proposes that chimps be added to the genus Homo, currently reserved only for humans.

06/10/2003 THE MORALITY OF OTHER SPECIES !

"There's far more rationality and mental complexity in farm animals than we acknowledge," a research director for Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) told BBC News. A briefing paper by the organization explains: "There is evidence that some animals do have some level of morality and some concern over other animals... Living within a group requires a moral code of behavior... Most animals that live in communities exhibit similar moral codes to humans." CIWF says there is evidence of altruism in other species, with, for example, some animals acting disinterestedly for the good of others. The organization held a May 10 conference on the awareness, emotions and intentions of other animals. In 1997, the European Union recognized that animals are sentient, possessing a level of conscious awareness.

06/09/2003 TWO SPANIARDS HELD IN SENEGAL OVER CAPTURE OF DOLPHINS !

PALMARIN, Senegal (AFP) - Senegalese police arrested two Spaniards for capturing protected dolphins, three of which subsequently died, according to a local parks official. The pair are suspected of capturing specimens of a protected species, said commander Mor Samb, conservation officer of the Saloum delta national park.

06/09/2003 ICELAND'S AHAB PREPARES TO BRING HOME THE BLUBBER !

REYKJAVIK - The restaurants serving whale carpaccio, sushi and pepper steak with Icelandic delicacies like smoked breast of guillemot do not mention that it probably dates from the last whale catch here 14 years ago. But there may soon be fresh meat on the menu, and blubber to serve soured in milk in February's traditional food festival, if Iceland goes ahead with plans to resume whaling despite protests from environmentalists and a booming tourist industry.

06/09/2003 SARS LINK TO WILD ANIMALS TIP OF ICEBERG !

Reports from the Hong Kong University that SARS has been found in no less than 3 wild species in China come as no surprise to animal welfare investigators who have been calling for the closure of the country's cruel animal markets for nearly 20 years. Animals Asia investigators have documented in excess of 60 wild, domestic and endangered species, at any one time, stressed and suffering in mass concentrations throughout these notorious "markets of hell." The cruel "animal stew" of mammals, reptiles, amphibians and birds, which are often wild caught, creates an ideal environment for bacteria and viruses to incubate and be transmitted from one species to another - including humans. The majority of the wild species of masked palm civet, raccoon dog and badger identified in the SARS outbreak, are routinely seen with infected, bloodied limb stumps as a result of being trapped and snared in the wild and arriving by the thousand into the markets stressed, sick, dying - and dead. Confinement of these animals in rusty, wire cages, in mass concentration, combined with violent and barbaric methods of slaughter, allow blood, gut contents, faeces and urine to contaminate the surrounding area. Unsurprisingly, these conditions allow viruses, previously kept under control by the immune system, to multiply and be excreted.

06/08/2003 JANE GOODALL WINS THE PRINCE OF ASTURIAS PRIZE !

Oviedo, According to Spanish newspapers Jane Goodall won the Prince of Asturias Prize for Scientific Investigation.

06/08/2003 CHINA TO CRACK DOWN ON EATING CIVET CATS !

Beijing is to crack down on the eating of civet cats after research by a Hong Kong scientist showed it was likely the SARS virus that has killed almost 700 people worldwide jumped to humans from the animal. Beijing's wildlife protection authorities pledged to deal a swift blow to the selling, serving and eating of civet cats, the Beijing Youth Daily. The University of Hong Kong's top microbiologist, Yuen Kwok-yung, said it was likely the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome virus jumped to humans from civet cats, considered a delicacy by many Chinese especially in southern China. SARS first appeared in southern China late last year.

06/08/2003 NEW HOPE FOR WHALES AT IWC 55 !

Auckland, A new initiative to be introduced by 18 countries to this year's June meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in Berlin will greatly strengthen the ability of the IWC to protect the world's cetaceans - whales, dolphins and porpoises. The Berlin Initiative would reorient the IWC away from exploitation of whales and toward conservation. Greenpeace says it is a timely proposal and takes into account the wide range of threats now facing cetaceans in our polluted and over-fished oceans. The 55th meeting of the IWC takes place in Berlin, Germany from June 16-19, 2003.

06/07/2003 U.S. OKS NON-SURGICAL OPTION FOR STERILIZING DOGS !

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Male puppies won't have to go under the knife to be sterilized thanks to U.S. approval of the first chemical option for neutering male dogs aged three to 10 months.The new alternative, a drug called Neutersol, is injected into the testicles. The procedure takes a few minutes and does not require the general anesthesia that surgical castration does. Sedation is recommended to prevent the dog from moving during the injection, the Food and Drug Administration said. Neutersol is 99.6 percent effective at sterilization, according to maker Addison Biological Laboratory Inc., a private company based in Missouri.

06/07/2003 PRINCESS CRUISES ENDORSES ANIMAL CRUELTY AT THE SEAQUARIUM !

"We are especially pleased that this exclusive partnership with the Miami Seaquarium - South Florida's most popular tourist attraction and a champion for the appreciation of marine life - enables us to offer an even greater range of activities for our junior passengers," said Dean Brown, Princess' executive vice president of customer service and sales. Please write to Princess and Carnival and politely ask them to join the good fight. Dean Brown, Executive Vice President Princess Cruises (Corporate Headquarters) 24844 Avenue Rockefeller Santa Clarita, CA 91355

06/07/2003 PLEASE HELP THE ANIMAL RESCUE SITE !

Please tell ten friends to tell ten friends today! The Animal Rescue Site is having trouble getting enough people to click on it daily to meet their quota of getting free food donated every day to abused and neglected animals. It takes less than a minute to go to their site and click on "feed an animal in need" for free. This doesn't cost you a thing. Their corporate sponsors/advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate food to abandoned/neglected animals in exchange for advertising.Here's the web site! Pass it along to people you know.

06/06/2003 INDUSTRY SEEKS TARIFFS FOR BRITISH POULTRY WELFARE PROTECTION !

The British Poultry Council (BPC) is calling for a system of tariffs to control poultry meat imports from outside of the EU. A spokesperson explained that, unlike the poultry production and processing industry in other countries, the EU poultry industry is having to meet certain welfare and food safety standards along with higher labor costs and environmental constraints. The Council also called on the British government to stand up for the poultry industry in future negotiations in the EU over the forthcoming chicken welfare directive.

06/06/2003 STARVING ZOO ANIMALS THE FORGOTTEN VICTIMS / SARS !

Starving lions at a mainland wildlife park attacked and devoured the weakest in their pen last week - another victim of the Sars crisis.With the number of visitors to the Haicang wildlife park in Fujian province plummeting by 97 per cent in recent months, the owner said he simply did not have enough money to properly feed his emaciated animals. "The pride ripped the lion open," said Liu Huichun, the wildlifepark's general manager. "There was nothing I could do. In all my years of dealing with wild animals I've never seen anything like it. They never attack each other. Never," he said. In a similar attack at the park on Saturday, a tiger was badly hurt when the other tigers in its cage tried to kill it.Since news of the Sars outbreak surfaced, visitors have stayed away from the wildlife park. "They're all afraid because they heard the virus came from wild animals," he said.The park has spent 400,000 yuan on Sars-prevention measures and cut staff salaries.

06/06/2003 ALL BRITONS COULD BE VEGETARIANS BY 2047 !

All Britons could be vegetarian by 2047 as 2,000 people a week stop eating meat, a study claimed.Already 40 per cent of Brits avoid eating meat at least once a week with six per cent of the population totally vegetarian.

06/05/2003 NEWCASTLE DISEASE HITS TEXAS !

Mexico, Russia, Japan, Cuba and countries in the European Union have embargoed imports of poultry from Texas after cockfighting spread exotic Newcastle disease to the state. Though the disease has only been identified in El Paso, the embargoes apply to the entire state, which ranks 6th in the country for poultry production and claims to stand to lose $100 million. With millions of birds being produced in close proximity every month, consolidation has caused the industry to be more vulnerable to disease.

06/05/2003 GO VEGGIE TO CHECK SARS, SAYS ANIMAL RIGHTS GROUP !

NEW DELHI: Animal rights activists here have come out with what they call a simple solution to combat the deadly SARS disease - go vegetarian. Activists of PETA, led by a member wearing a pig costume and a mask reading "No SARS - Go Veg," distributed SARS masks with the message "Say no to Pig-Farm Germs" in this city's commercial hub of Connaught Place. PETA said the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) epidemic that is causing chaos in China and a number of Southeast Asian countries had originated in a pig farm. SARS has claimed 613 lives worldwide, mostly in mainland China and Hong Kong.

06/05/2003 SWEDISH ALF ACTION: DBF OPENED OVER 1,000 CAGES AT MINK FARM !

On the night between April 9 and 10 the cages were opened for over 1,000 minks at Osttorps fur farm in Essunga, Sweden. The farm has over 8,000 minks, but only 1,000 was at this place were theminks were released. Around the farm there was a 1,5 meter high metal fence, but the farmer had left lots of material for us to build things for them to climb over the fence. "Rather die now in freedom, then tomorrow by torture and captivity." This action was carried out by the DBF (Swedish ALF) in memory of C and B, that knew how it is to change a life in a cage to one in freedom.

06/04/2003 A NEW CAMPAIGN AND A WEB SITE !

A new campaign in the UK has started to identify shops that refuse to sell fur and those that do sell it. Fur free shops will be given a special sticker to put in their shop windows to identify them as places compassionate people can shop.The site has just been put up but is yet to be developed so its only the front page for now www.furfree.info/

06/04/2003 IMPORTANT ACTION ALERT REGARDING NAVY SONAR KILLING WHALES IN OUR WORLD'S OCEANS !

USA, The Natural Resource Defense Council has been actively campaigning against the use of Navy low frequency active sonar which has been proven to kill whales in the worlds' oceans. You recently received the information about the latest stranding of Beaked Whales off the Canary Islands, and we all remember the Beaked whale deaths in the Bahamas in 2000. There is an urgency to act now, as the Navy could begin implementing the use of LFA sonar by November 1. "NRDC is facing an imminent legal and financial deadline in a case of extraordinary importance. We need your immediate help. Just days from now, NRDC attorneys will appear in U.S. Federal Court and seek to stop the U.S. Navy from operating a new and extremely dangerous sonar system that would blast hundreds of thousands of square miles of ocean habitat with noise so intense it can maim, deafen or even kill whales at close range. NRDC is racing to court because the Bush administration has just given its approval for the Navy to begin deploying this Low Frequency Active (LFA) sonar system across 75 percent of the world's oceans. Even worse, the Navy intends to begin operations of this frightening new technology as early as November 1!"

06/04/2003 PETA LEADER'S UNIQUE WILL !

Newkirk, 53, believes human beings have the responsibility to protect other forms of life and has decided to campaign to end animal abuse after her death by using her body to draw attention to common yet needless cruelties. A few of her wishes are as follows: 1) A portion of her own skin is to be made into a leather product, such as a handbag, and displayed outside the Indian Leather Fair each year to draw attention to the suffering of cows and bullocks slaughtered for their skin. 2) A portion of her body is to be cooked in a "human barbeque," to remind those who eat meat that it is flesh and that no one needs to eat it. 3) Her feet are to be cut off and turned into umbrella stands, similar to those made from elephants' feet, which she saw when she lived in Delhi as a child, to admonish against the use of animals as mere objects for human entertainment.

06/03/2003 A BILL TO PROHIBIT THE USE OF EXOTIC ANIMALS IN ENTERTAINMENT HAS BEEN INTRODUCED IN THE MASSACHUSETTS SENATE !

Massachusetts, A recent Joint Committee on Criminal Justice hearing on this bill was well attended by supporters. However, circus industry representatives, including a spokesperson for Ringling Bros., were also in attendance at the hearing and spoke out against the bill. These lobbyists will continue to use whatever means necessary to distract and mislead Massachusetts legislators and the public about the cruel and unnatural life that exotic animals must endure when used in circuses. Wild animals used in circuses are cruelly trained through the use of such barbaric tools as bullhooks, chains, whips, and electric prods. They are forced to perform physically grueling, even painful, tricks that may result in crippling injuries. Nearly all elephants used in circuses were captured in the wild and taken from their families. In addition, they spend the majority of their lives in the backs of trailers and boxcars, traveling from city to city in all kinds of extreme weather conditions. The elephants are chained by two legs, and bears, big cats, and primates are forced to eat, drink, sleep, defecate, and urinate in the same cramped cages. The circus deprives animals of the opportunity to exercise, roam, socialize, forage, and play. In addition to animal suffering, another serious issue associated with using dangerous animals is one of public safety. In the United States, elephants, big cats, and bears being used by circuses have killed 8 people and injured 97 more just since 1990.

06/03/2003 HOW MANY PUS CELLS IN A GLASS OF MILK ?!

The next time a friend or loved one takes a glass of milk to his or her lips, share the following: There are four eight-ounce glasses of liquid in a quart of milk. Depending on how you sip your milk, there will be between 20 and 30 million pus cells per mouthful.Pus in milk? A dairy cow filters ten-thousand litres of blood through her udder each day and utilizes dead white blood cells (somatic cells) to manufacture her milk. These dead cells are pus cells. Dairy scientists are aware that when one quart of milk is tainted with 400 million or more pus cells, some 35% of the milking cows in the herd are infected with mastitis. Udders bleed, discharges, including mucus, bacteria and blood drip into the milk.YUM! STILL FANCY THE WHITE STUFF???

06/02/2003 INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE SUFFERING OF THE BULLS IN EXTREMADURA (SPAIN) !

Each year, during the fiesta of San Juan in Coria (Cáceres - Extremadura), which lasts for several days, two fighting bulls a day are darted with blowpipes by the public. Their favorite targets are the eyes and testicles. In the end they are covered with darts like a porcupine or pin cushion (hence the term "toros-acerico"). Banderillas are stuck in their flesh and pulled out again. Their ordeal lasts for about two hours. They are then killed and castrated in the street. Other cattle are also abused during this blood fiesta. In 1995 British animal activist Vicki Moore was severely injured by the fighting bull "Argentino" in the town of Coria, when she tried to document his suffering. Later on she died due to her injuries. Since then nothing has changed. Coria tries to promote tourism and for this purpose receives subsidies from the European Union (ERDF - European Regional Development Fund).

06/02/2003 FERTILE HAVEN FOR A SARS II !!

Cruel Far Eastern animal markets trading in the flesh of exotic species, are an infection timebomb ready to release a deadly super-Sars bug on the world, experts warned. While Asia still reels from the devastating flu-like epidemic, a leading charity says conditions are ripe for a fresh disease to sweep across the region. And Bristol's Chinese twin, the city of Guangzhou, is at the center of the latest alarming health scare. Campaigners revealed that market workers there are still plying their sick trade in wild and domestic animals - even though the practice is banned by the government. Officials acted amid fears the barbaric trading posts sparked the quickfire spread of Sars. Despite the likely origins of the bug, the taste for exotic creatures which end up as delicacies on restaurants menus, has not been dulled. Campaigners now fear markets like Guangzhou's - overloaded with endangered wild animals kept in squalor and filth - are hotbeds of disease. Although hunting, sales and consumption of exotic animals is outlawed, Guangzhou traders were yesterday openly flouting the regulations. Experts fear the markets are an ideal breeding ground for new strains of Sars and other virulent bugs able to cross from animals to humans.

06/01/2003 FUR-FREE COLOGNE !

Germany, The first "fur-free Cologne"-Rally last year has been a great success. About 300 animal rights' activists turned it into the biggest anti-fur-demonstration in many years. Just a few days after the event took place Europe's biggest convenience store, KarstadQuelle, announced to stop their fur trading business in order to protect animals.But this has been just a small step in the right direction. In Germany there remain to be several fur-farms and it's still allowed to kill minks, foxes, raccoons etc. for the sake of profit using poison, gas, or electric-shock. Ruthless fur traders import the fur of cruelly killed dogs and cats from Asia, or the fur of wild animals who were caught in brutal traps in Canada, Russia, or Scandinavia. And there are still human beings lacking empathy who are out in the streets wearing fur-clothes. These people either don't know how the animals are treated, or they just don´t worry nor care about it.

06/01/2003 RIVER DOPLHINS COULD DIE OUT IN 10 YEARS !

Geneva - A rare freshwater dolphin found only in China's huge Yangtze River could die out within the next 10 years unless fishing methods there change, a global conservation body said.And the Yangtze dolphin, the baiji, could quickly be followed into extinction by the vaquita porpoise of Mexico's Gulf of California, New Zealand's Hector's dolphin, and several populations of whales, the World Conservation Union (IUCN) said.The warnings were issued in a new IUCN study on how the three groups of water-dwelling mammals, collectively known as cetaceans, are surviving at the start of the 21st century.

06/01/2003 ANIMALS' CONSTITUTION CAMPAIGN !

From the Animals' Constitution website: "With the prepared petition letter addressed to the Chairman of the European Convention you can support our call to include the protection of animals against avoidable, senseless cruelty as an objective in the future EU Constitution and to recognize animal protection as an indispensable part of European culture. The European Convention is a body preparing the draft of the future EU Constitution. It consists of 15 representatives of the heads of state or government of the EU member states, 30 representatives of the national parliaments, 16 members of the European Parliament and 2representatives of the European Commission, amongst others. Three proposals have so far been made to incorporate animal welfare into the future EU Constitution. It is of the utmost importance that we support these requests! Please fill in the petition letter and return it to us so that we can hand in all letters to the Chairman of the Convention, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, and inform the Convention members accordingly. The inclusion of animal welfare as one of the EU's objectives unter the Constitution is a basic prerequisite for enabling courts and stateauthorities all over Europe to prevent cruelty to animals."

The number of news found: 107.

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