News
The number of news found: 22.
08/31/2004 DOCTOR FINED $70,000 FOR BUYING CUBAN DOLPHINS!
An American physician who bought wild dolphins from Cuba for aquatic parks in the Caribbean is facing a $70,000 fine by the U.S. Treasury Department for violating the trade embargo against the communist nation. "I've admitted the thing to the government and am paying a settlement." Dr. Graham Simpson, now living in Reno, Nev., said last week. He said he was "negotiating a fine of up to $70,000" but declined to comment further.Miami Herald first reported in February 2002 that Simpson, a naturalized U.S. citizen from South Africa, was under federal investigation for buying six Cuban dolphins for water parks he owned in the Caribbean islands of Anguilla and Antigua.
08/30/2004 PETA ASKS THE USDA TO PROTECT ANIMALS KILLED FOR FUR!
PETA fired off a letter to the USDA demanding that it begin protecting animals raised for the bloody fur trade after PETA investigators on a fur farm in Midland, Michigan, saw chinchillas who were being electrocuted, causing painful seizures to the animals' hearts, and having their necks snapped while fully conscious. Animals killed for their skins―including chinchillas, foxes, minks, and raccoons―currently receive no federal protection from the kinds of abuses that our investigators witnessed.
08/29/2004 BLUNKETT BARS US ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVIST FROM BRITAIN!
An animal rights activist who reportedly advocated the killing of scientists involved in animal research has been barred from Britain by the home secretary, David Blunkett.American trauma surgeon Jerry Vlasak and his wife Pamelyn were sent letters from Mr Blunkett earlier this week telling them they would not be allowed into Britain. They had previously been warned that they would not be welcome after he was quoted as saying millions of lives could be saved if a handful of vivisectionists were killed.
08/28/2004 MEAT-EATERS SOAK UP THE WORLD'S WATER!
Governments may have to persuade people to eat less meat because of increasing demands on water supplies, according to agricultural scientists investigating how the world can best feed itself. They say countries with little water may choose not to grow crops but trade in "virtual water", importing food from countries which have large amounts of water to save their supplies for domestic or high-value uses.With about 840 million people in the world undernourished, and a further 2 billion expected to be born within 20 years, finding water to grow food will be one of the greatest challenges facing governments. Currently up to 90% of all managed water is used to grow food."There will be enough food for everyone on average in 20 years' time, but unless we change the way that we grow it, there will be a lot more malnourished people," said Dr David Molden, principal scientist with the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), which is part-funded by the British government and is investigating global options for feeding growing populations.
08/27/2004 ALABAMA HUNTING REGULATIONS SPARK DEBATE!
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - A move to liberalize Alabama's hunting laws has sparked a debate so passionate you'd think the subject was college football. A state board has approved a series of proposals to loosen hunting regulations in Alabama, where hunting is a $3 billion industry helped along by one of the nation's longest game seasons. Under the new rules, hunters could use turkey decoys, crossbows and sights on muzzleloaders - practices that are all currently banned.
08/26/2004 DEADLY BIRD FLU VIRUS IN PIGS!
According to Chen Hualan, director of China's National Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory, the H5N1 virus was discovered in pigs years ago. UN Agencies had not been officially informed about the findings and FAO is now seeking confirmation from China's Ministry of Agriculture. There has been no reply so far.A transmission of the bird flu virus from birds to pigs would have dramatic implications also for humans because the virus could mutate to a more lethal form and spread more easily, also to humans.
08/25/2004 WOMAN CHOWES 38 LOBSTERS IN EATING CONTEST!
KENNEBUNK, Maine - America's top speed-eater wolfed down 38 lobsters in 12 minutes Saturday to win the World Lobster Eating Contest. Sonya Thomas, of Alexandria, Va., won $500 and a trophy belt for her efforts, consuming 9.76 pounds of lobster meat. Each contestant had a partner cracking the shells and pulling out the meat. Eleven competitors ate as many lobsters as they could in a 12-minute period, devouring a total of 300 pounds. "I have a natural ability because of my stomach capacity," said Thomas, who weighs a mere 105 pounds. "I could eat more, but something else - not a lobster." The competition, only in its second year, sought to elevate Maine into the big leagues of competitive eating, alongside New York's Coney Island with its Nathan's Famous hot dogs and New Orleans with its oysters.
08/24/2004 CHIMPS FROM DUTCH LAB FACE HOUSING CRISIS!
Amsterdam, Netherlands -- Dozens of chimpanzees from a Dutch laboratory face a housing crisis after plans for their early retirement on the Spanish coast collapsed because of residents' fears they would carry infectious diseases. The simian saga illustrates the dilemma of what to do with research chimps as more countries decide it is no longer acceptable to use humankind's closest genetic relative for experiments.The Dutch government agreed to pay for 39 healthy chimps to move to a proposed state-of-the-art facility near the town of Relleu, Spain. The center, to be built on 100 acres of land, was to feature trees, play structures, and housing with shady areas underneath. But Relleu has refused to grant a permit because residents fear the chimps carry diseases.
08/23/2004 THE TRUE COST OF MEAT!
Americans each chomp their way through an astounding 100 kilos of meat every year - that's a medium steak per person per day. This worries Robert Lawrence, because a meaty diet with so many calories in saturated fats squeezes out healthier fruits, vegetables and grains. But, as he told Liz Else, he's busy providing the academic ballast for a national campaign to save the country from itself. And fortunately for him, he's an optimist.
08/20/2004 ELEPHANT RAMPAGE IN BANGLADESH!
AGARTALA, India - Authorities in northeast India have urged Bangladesh not to kill about 100 wild elephants that have strayed across the border and gone on a rampage, killing 13 people and injuring dozens more. The appeal came after the Wildlife Society of Bangladesh asked New Delhi to take back the marauding animals, failing which Dhaka could destroy them. "We need to undertake a joint initiative to bring them back," Mukul Sangma, forest minister of India's northeastern state of Meghalaya, told Reuters this week. "I appeal to Bangladesh's forest authorities not to harm the animals until a solution is found," he said. "We must find out ways and means to ensure the safe return of the elephants."
08/18/2004 ONTARIO LOOKING TO END CANNED HUNTS!
Toronto -- The Ontario government is aiming to shut down game farms where captive wildlife is hunted down for a fee. The Natural Resources Ministry posted a notice on the Environmental Bill of Rights registry yesterday proposing to outlaw the practice next year."It quite frankly gives hunting a bad name," he said. "It's just not part of our hunting heritage here in Ontario."
08/17/2004 HELP KEEP CHICKENS OUT OF WEAPON TESTS!
HSV Technologies, Inc., is in the process of developing an electrical beam weapon that could be used by the military and law-enforcement officers to disable aggressors. According to news reports, the company plans to zap chickens as part of its tests. Even if the current is imperceptible, as the company claims, the chickens will no doubt experience fear, confusion, pain, and distress, which is reason enough not to subject them to such experiments.
08/16/2004 ANIMAL RIGHTS COURSE!
In the spring of 2005 Färnebo Folk high school will, in co-operation with Sweden's largest animal rights organisation, Animal Rights Sweden, start a one year long course called Organisation & Animal rights. This is the first ever one-year long course concerning animal rights in the world.During the course, the course participants will, for example, learn about contemporary philosophy and ethics within the broad framework of animal rights, the current situation for animals in general as well as the history, development and maintenance of popular new social movements, in particular the animal rights movement.
08/15/2004 ILLEGAL ORANGUTANS LEFT IN TERRIBLE CONDITIONS WHILE 45 DISAPPEAR COMPLETELY!
The Indonesian Government demanded the return of at least 70 smuggled baby orangutans that are currently kept at Safari World in Bangkok, Thailand. This request is timely as the Thai government will be hosting the CITES (Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species) meeting in October 2004. As a signatory of the convention in 1983, Thailand is obligated to return the illegal orangutans to their country of origin - Indonesia. Sadly, all of the requests made by the Indonesian authorities to date have not been answered. Last week an Indonesian delegation travelled to Bangkok for discussions with Thai authorities and to count and view the conditions of the illegal orangutans kept at Safari World. Thai authorities refused to give guarantees that the smuggled apes will be returned to Indonesia. During the inspection of Safari World, both Thai and Indonesian government authorities were shocked to find that 45 young orangutans had disappeared from Safari World since Thai raids on the park in September 2003. No explanation for the disappearance of these endangered apes was provided and the conditions of those kept at the park were disgusting. "The cages that some of the orangutans are kept in at Safari World are so small that they cannot even stand up and many needed urgent medical care," said Dr Willie Smits of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation.
08/14/2004 STOP THE KANGAROO SLAUGHTER!
The largest massacre of land animals on the planet takes place in Australia each year. Millions of adult kangaroos are shot for their meat and skins (for luxury items such as soccer boots made by ADIDAS or souvenirs). Millions of orphaned baby joeys, "worthless" to the industry, are shot, stamped on, clubbed over the head or abandoned to die. In pouch joeys are routinely ripped from the pouch and decapitated, or bludgeoned to death. Occasionally they are shot. The joey at foot is normally left to starve or to meet death by predation. There is no record of numbers of joeys killed or left to starve. Nowhere else in the world are the young of wild animals treated with such blatant disregard for their suffering.
08/13/2004 CALIFORNIA - BILL TO BAN FORCE FEEDING OF DUCKS AND GEESE FACES FINAL CRITICAL VOTE!
SB 1520 is headed for its last critical vote in the California Legislature. The bill, which bans the force feeding of ducks and geese, as well as sales of the product in California, will be up for a vote on the California Assembly floor this month.SB 1520 has already been approved by the California Senate by a vote of 21-14 and the Assembly Business and Professions Committee by a 9-4 vote. (It was amended in the Senate to include a 7 1/2-year phase out in order to continue to move forward.) SB 1520 is authored by Senate President Pro Tem John Burton.SB 1520 now needs 41 "yes" votes to pass out of the Assembly, and it's going to be a close vote. If passed into law, SB 1520 will become landmark legislation banning a commercial farming practice that is both inhumane and unnecessary.
08/11/2004 NYC GREEK CONSULATE DEMO FOR POISONED DOGS!
Animal welfare advocates and concerned individuals including the groups United Action for Animals, Welfare for Animals Global and In Defense of Animals held a demonstration at the Greek Consulate in NYC yesterday against the cruel slaughter of starving and homeless dogs in Athens, Greece prior to the start of the 2004 Olympic Games on August 13. Other events will be held this week in Washington, DC, Boston, Los Angeles and Houston.Croatia and Spain will also join by holding demonstrations in front of Greek embassies in Zagreb, Barcelona and other cities.
08/09/2004 100 MILLION MICE AND NOT COUNTING!
Boston - An August 2004 Scientific American book review of What Animals Want: Expertise and Advocacy in Laboratory Animal Welfare Policy by veterinarian Larry Carbone reveals the shocking statistic that "the number of mice consumed in U.S. laboratories every year has shot up to almost 100 million, of which three quarters are disposed of unused." Dr. Carbone provides veterinary care at the animal facility of the University of California at San Francisco. This 100 million figure stands in marked contrast to the 20 million estimate from 1996 which included all species of animals used in US labs, not just mice. In less than a decade, the number of mice has exploded the total figure for animals used more than fivefold.Such enormous numbers of animals bred, experimented on, discarded and killed would be troublesome enough without noting that mice are explicitly denied inclusion under the Animal Welfare Act (AWA), the sole federal law that offers some regulation of laboratory animal welfare. Often criticized for according little more than minimal protection the AWA is weakly enforced, and does not cover rats, mice, or birds who make up 95 percent of animals used in research.
08/07/2004 DOLPHIN CALF DIES AT NATIONAL AQUARIUM!
Experts at Baltimore's National Aquarium are studying this week's death of a dolphin calf that was born there four months ago. The Atlantic bottlenose dolphin named Bridgit died Wednesday afternoon. Tests showed she had a serious bacterial infection that contributed to her fatigue. Marine specialists and Johns Hopkins University veterinary pathologists are investigating the death of Bridgit, who was the youngest dolphin at the aquarium.Aquarium officials told WBAL-TV 11 News that two male dolphins became very aggressive when they were with the 4-month-old female dolphin. The aquarium said if trainers had known she was sick she would have been separated from the other dolphins. Witnesses said the males pushed the calf against the pool's glass and pushed her under water for longer than she had oxygen, 11 News reported. Marine biologists said rough play among dolphins is normal, but tests performed shortly after the dolphin's death showed that she suffered from a serious bacterial infection that could have impaired Bridgit's ability to tolerate the normal rough play.Bridgit's death is the second calf death this year. An unnamed male calf died of a respiratory infection in April. Experts say about a third of newborn calves die in their first year.
08/06/2004 THE RISKS FROM VIVISECTION!
A report of a survey of 500 doctors, published in the European and British Medical Journal, shows that nine out of ten doctors admit that animal experiments are misleading, while other surveys of over 20,000 people show that eight out of ten potential patients would want to see all animal experiments stopped immediately. However, although animal experiments stand in the way of true scientific and medical progress - as a cruel, useless and dangerous practice, causing untold suffering and millions of unnecesary deaths - the testing of drugs remains a profitable business, offering a perfect alibi for the marketing of new products regardless of the fact that the likely side effects (often ignored) can only be determined at the human trial stage.
08/03/2004 CIRCUS TIGER ESCAPES, CAUSES SCARE IN NYC!
NEW YORK - After escaping from the circus, a white tiger alarmed picnickers and motorists Saturday on what for him apparently was a calm, half-mile stroll through an unfamiliar urban jungle. The animal, named Apollo, was safely recaptured in the Queens section of the city but not before the sight of him on the Jackie Robinson Parkway caused a multi-car accident. Four adults and one child suffered minor injuries.
08/02/2004 UK JOBS THREATENED BY ANIMAL ACTIVISTS!
Europe's biggest drug maker, warned that investment and jobs were being driven out of Britain by animal rights activists. Chief executive Jean-Pierre Garnier told two British newspapers that several smaller companies had withdrawn from doing research work in the UK because of fear of violent attacks. "The animal rights issue has killed more investment and more science-based jobs than anything I can think of," he was quoted in the Financial Times as saying. Garnier did not name any of the companies affected. Last week, militants forced construction firm the Montpellier Group to pull out of building a new research laboratory at Oxford University - a move hailed by animal rights campaigners as a major victory. In January, plans for a primate research laboratory in Cambridge werescrapped after violent protests.
The number of news found: 22.
