News
The number of news found: 26.
01/31/2005 CHILE - DOLPHIN CAPTIVITY BANNED!
January 27, Chile has banned the capture and display of Chilean dolphins. The new regulations, signed by the Chilean Government earlier this month, prohibit the commercial display of all cetacean species, sea lions and marine turtles.
01/30/2005 ABUSES AGAINST WORKERS TAINT U.S. MEAT AND POULTRY!
Chicago, January 25, 2005 - Workers in the U.S. meat and poultry industry endure unnecessarily hazardous work conditions, and the companies employing them often use illegal tactics to crush union organizing efforts, Human Rights Watch said in a new report.In meat and poultry plants across the United States, Human Rights Watch found that many workers face a real danger of losing a limb, or even their lives, in unsafe work conditions. It also found that companies frequently deny workers' compensation to employees injured on the job, intimidate and fire workers who try to organize, and exploit workers' immigrant status in order to keep them quiet about abuses.
01/29/2005 PYTHON WAS THE FIRST ANIMAL HERO IN SUMATRA!
MEDAN, Sumatra, Indonesia-- Among the dogs, elephants, and other species who saved humans from the Indian Ocean tsunami on December 26, 2004, the most surprising story may have been that of the python who pulled a 26-year-old clothing vendor named Riza and a neighbor's nine-year-old twin daughters to safety near Bandar Blang Bintang, Indonesia.
01/28/2005 THOUSANDS OF ANIMALS KILLED IN ORISSA RITUAL!
Thousands of animals and birds were sacrificed in Bolangir in 'bali yatra' (festival of animal sacrifice) recently in the presence of 10,000 people. The district administration and the police remained mute spectators at Khairaguda Badakhela village. Every year, the village holds a 'Sulia yatra' a festival for mass sacrifice of animals on the second Tuesday of the month of Pausa. People from Bolangir, Bargarh, Sonepur, Boudh and Phulbani join in to 'celebrate' the festival, observed by the Kondh tribals of Orissa.
01/27/2005 60 FOXES SLAUGHTERED IN A SMALL VILLAGE IN SPAIN!
600 hunters got together in the small village of Porto do Son, in the region of Galicia, northern Spain for the Tenth Edition of the Fox Hunting. The slaughter has ended up with 60 animals who has lost their lives.
01/27/2005 TWENTY NAKED, 'SKINNED' ACTIVISTS PROTEST PIELESPAÑA LEATHER AND FUR EXHIBITION!
Barcelona - Crouched naked under a banner reading, "How Many Lives Just for a Coat?" 20 "skinned" members of AnimaNaturalis and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) confronted people attending the Pielespaña International Leather and Fur Fashion Exhibition in Barcelona on Saturday.The protesters wanted the public to know that millions of animals raised for leather and fur suffer horrendously before being gruesomely killed. One activist wore a body screen TV showing undercover footage of foxes, minks and other animals who are being electrocuted on fur farms and trapped in the wild.
01/26/2005 WOOL GROWERS EXPAND COURT ACTION!
The Australian wool industry's fight against a global animal rights campaign has won the support of an Italian clothing giant, as growers stepped up court action that could result in a multi-million dollar damages claim.Acting Prime Minister John Anderson also stepped in, condemning the campaign by the US-based People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).PETA is attempting to get clothing companies to join a worldwide boycott of Australian wool in an attempt to stamp out the practice of mulesing - where farmers cut skin folds from sheeps' backsides to give them lifetime protection against blowfly strike.The wool industry has agreed to phase out the practice by 2010 and is continuing research into alternatives.Italy's Benetton has been under pressure from PETA to join the campaign but has agreed to continue buying Australian wool.
01/25/2005 ANOTHER RETAILER JOINS MULESING CAMPAIGN
A powerful animal rights group has stepped up its fight against what it says is a cruel practice by Australian sheep farmers, claiming another major retailer has joined the campaign.Under pressure from the United States-based People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), British clothing company George has agreed not to buy Australian wool from producers who use mulesing on sheep, according to a statement from both groups.Mulesing involves cutting away skin folds from a sheep's backside to provide lifetime protection against fly strike. The Australian wool industry maintains the practice has been misrepresented by PETA and that mulesing saves sheep from a slow and agonising death. The industry has agreed to phase out mulesing by 2010 and research is continuing into alternatives to the practice."We have had discussions with our suppliers who ... instructed the buying teams to specify that wool fibre must come from farms which do not practise mulesing," George's sourcing manager Peter Yates was quoted as saying in the joint statement with PETA.
01/24/2005 REACH: COMMISSION SUPPORTS SEARCH FOR BALANCED SOLUTIONS TO ADVANCE PROGRESS ON NEW CHEMICALS POLICY!
The European Commission proposal for REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals) is currently under examination by the European Parliament (EP). In their remarks at a European Parliament public hearing today, Commissioners Günter Verheugen and Stavros Dimas underlined the Commission's commitment to helping to find a balanced solution to the main issues being discussed in the ongoing legislative procedure for the adoption of REACH. They both stressed the importance of delivering health and environment improvements while safeguarding the competitiveness of European industry and SMEs in particular.
01/23/2005 ANIMAL RIGHTS GROUP ADMITS FREEING FENCED DEER!
More than 30 deer were allowed to escape from a venison farm in southern Monterey County early Tuesday and an animal rights group is claiming responsibility, Monterey County sheriff's Cmdr. Tracy Brown said. GNK Ranch workers discovered that nearly 500 feet of fence had been cut away from the 8-foot-high posts, allowing 34 European fallow deer to escape into the hills. Brown said more deer escaped but returned to the farm, on Big Sandy Road near San Miguel. The fence surrounded a two-acre enclosure that housed up to 400 deer raised for slaughter, with their meat being sold mainly at San Luis Obispo County markets. Although an investigation is ongoing, a fax sent to local media outlets claimed the Animal Liberation Front carried out the act.
01/22/2005 UK ANIMAL PROTESTS SCARE OFF DRUG FIRM SUPPLIERS!
LONDON - Increasing numbers of suppliers to British drug companies are being scared away by extremist animal rights protesters, threatening the future of research in the country, industry leaders said on Wednesday.In the last quarter of 2004 there were 42 such "capitulations" by firms supplying essential goods and services to companies engaged in animal research, according to figures from the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI).That compares with 22, 23 and 26 cases in the previous three quarters. There was also a big increase in the number of abusive and threatening phone calls to companies and a steady rise in cases of damage to property.
01/21/2005 BODMAN VOWS TO SEEK TO EXPAND ALASKA OIL DRILLING!
WASHINGTON - Sam Bodman, the nominee to be US energy secretary, said Wednesday he would be "an energetic advocate" for opening an Alaskan wildlife refuge to oil and natural gas drilling.Bodman, 66, is a chemical engineer and virtual unknown to much of the energy industry. He is expected to easily win Senate confirmation, leaving his current post as deputy treasury secretary.
01/20/2005 GRASSROOTS ANMAL RIGHTS CONFERENCE IN NEW YORK CITY!
Grassroots Animal Rights Conference (GARC), New York University, New York City, February 18-21. This conference is unique in having been designed by grassroots animal rights activists for grassroots animal rights activists. It is also unique in its focus on the link between animal abuse and other forms of oppression both inside and outside the movement. Speakers include UPC President Karen Davis and many others. For information click on http://www.grassrootsar.org or contact info@grassrootsar.org.
01/18/2005 GREENLAND PLANNING TOURIST POLAR BEAR HUNTS!
COPENHAGEN (AFP) - Greenland is planning to organize polar bear hunts for rich tourists, who would be permitted to bring back the bear skins as trophies. The local government in the icy Danish territory hopes polar bear hunts will help bolster the faltering economy in the northwestern part of the island by creating jobs for hunting guides, Danish news agency Ritzau reported Saturday.
01/17/2005 GOLDFISH BAN DROPPED!
UK - Plans to protect goldfish by outlawing the use of them as fairground prizes have been dropped by ministers. The ban was due to be part of the Animal Welfare Bill amid concern that many fish are discarded and dumped when children who win them as prizes become bored. But Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett bowed to pressure from ministers who feared it would lead to more accusations of the Government creating a nanny state.The Bill will be changed, reported the Financial Times, in an attempt to reach a compromise.It is due to allow children to take them away as prizes as long as they are accompanied by someone over the age of 16.
01/16/2005 KOREAN GOVERNMENT SEEKS TO LEGALIZE SALE OF DOG MEAT!
IDA (In Defense of Animals) has learned from our colleagues at Animal Freedom Korea (AFK) that the Ministry of the Office for Government Policy Coordination in Korea plans to legalize the sale of dog meat by setting standards for hygienic slaughter and processing. The Ministry recently completed a report on "the hygienic control of dog meat," and is about to open an internal debate. Under current Korean law, dogs cannot be sold as food, but the law is not enforced. If the Ministry's plans for hygienic control succeed, it will effectively legalize the dog meat market.
01/15/2005 STARVING STRAY DOGS RAIDING MORGUES!
Phang Nga (Thailand): At a Buddhist temple used as a morgue and elsewhere in tsunami disaster zones, hungry stray dogs have been feeding on victims'; corpses, even managing to get into body bags to do so, relief workers say.It has become such a problem that a group of Thai veterinarians, armed with tranquilizer guns, has been given the task of capturing the strays. Aid workers in India have used real bullets. More than 60 dogs have been seized, including 40 around the Yan Yao Buddhist temple, which has become a makeshift mortuary here, where more than 4,000 people have died.Some 2,000 bodies are being kept in the temple while undergoing autopsies and other identification attempts. Most have been kept refrigerated, but some newly found ones sometimes lay on the open ground pending a post-mortem exam.
01/14/2005 USA: PILGRIM'S PRIDE WORKERS WILL NOT FACE CRIMINAL CHARGES!
Former workers at a Pilgrim's Pride chicken-processing plant in West Virginia, who allegedly kicked, stomped, and slammed chickens against a wall, will not face criminal charges, a prosecutor said.Ginny Conley, head of the state prosecutors' office, said that while the incident at the Pilgrims Pride plant in Moorefield was disturbing, it does not warrant criminal charges because "these were chickens in a slaughterhouse. It needs to be handled more on a regulatory end than prosecuting someone criminally."
01/12/2005 MINK CONVENTION IN MILWAUKEE!
The 58th annual International Mink Show will be held Jan. 14-16 at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel in Milwaukee. The three-day session, sponsored by National Fur Foods, will include rancher seminars on a variety of subjects, pelt judging and a display of equipment and industry services. The main meeting on Jan. 15 will feature an open discussion on the state of the North American mink industry, which will be followed by a fashion show, the annual banquet and dancing.
01/11/2005 A SENSE OF DOOM: ANIMAL INSTINCT FOR DISASTER!
In Khao Lak, 50 miles north of Phuket along Thailand's western coast, a dozen elephants giving tourists rides began trumpeting hours before the Dec. 26 tsunami -- about the time the 9.0-magnitude quake fractured the ocean floor. An hour before the wall of waves slammed the resort area, the elephants reportedly again grew agitated and began wailing. Just before disaster struck, they headed for higher ground -- some breaking their chains to flee. (Washington Post)
01/09/2005 VETERINARIANS TO TRAVEL TO TSUNAMI DISASTER TO AID ANIMAL VICTIMS!
DAVIS, California -- The Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights (AVAR), a national organization of veterinarians, veterinary technicians, and students has coordinated travel and relief work arrangements for two veterinarians who will be traveling to India this weekend to help animal victims of the recent tsunami disaster. The veterinarians will head to the coast of southern India, where they will split up and assist two different animal protection organizations with various tasks related to the tsunami disaster, including shelter work and visiting villages in remote areas of the country. One has experience with large animals, including elephants. The other recently returned from India and has experience traveling in the region and with shelter medicine.
01/08/2005 THE TOWN OF MOUANS-SARTOUX HAS DELCARED ITSELF AN ANTI-BULL-FIGHTING AND ANIMAL FRIENDLY TOWN!
On December 10, 2004 the town of Mouans-Sartoux (Alpes-Maritimes, in France) has declared itself an anti-bull-fighting and animal friendly town, which is a capital event because that way France moved in the direction shown by Spanish and Catalonia Towns.
01/05/2005 TWO DOLPHINS TRAPPED BY TSUNAMI IN THAI LAKE!
KHAO LAK, Thailand (Reuters) - Rescuers failed on Monday to catch two rare dolphins trapped for eight days in a small lake in southern Thailand after they were swept more than a kilometer inland by giant tsunami waves. The exhausted dolphins, one of which appeared to be injured, were dumped in a 600-by-900-foot lake left by the wall of water that struck Thailand's Andaman Sea coastline on Dec. 26."I'm pretty sure there are two dolphins. We see one frequently, but the other one is more shy," said Edwin Wiek of the Wildlife Rescue Unit of Thailand.He believed they were swept ashore in the first or second waves and were stuck behind a 12- to 15-foot embankment about 1,500 yards from the sea.
01/04/2005 DOG RESCUES 7-YEAR-OLD IN INDIA!
CHINNAKALAPET, India - "Run away!" her husband screamed from a rooftop after he spotted the colossal waves. It was a simple command that smothered Sangeeta in a nightmarish dilemma: She had three sons, but just two arms. She grabbed the two youngest and ran - reasoning that 7-year-old Dinakaran, the oldest, had the best chance of outrunning the giant waves.When the boy didn't follow, Sangeeta was crushed by grief, believing she would never see him again. The family dog made sure she did.
01/03/2005 SPECIES THREATENED WITH EXTINCTION!
The world's biological diversity continues to decline, with the latest World Conservation Union's (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species revealing that 15,589 species face extinction in the near future. Released at the 3rd IUCN World Conservation Congress in Bangkok last month, the authoritative list is an update of the last major analysis in 2000, which showed that one in eight birds (12%) and one in four mammals (23%) were threatened with extinction. The new report titled A Global Species Assessment showed that the pressure on birds and mammals has not eased and the infamous line-up has now been joined by one in three amphibians (32%) and almost half (42%) of turtles and tortoises.
01/01/2005 TSUNAMI KILLS FEW ANIMALS!
YALA NATIONAL PARK, Sri Lanka (AP) - Wildlife officials in Sri Lanka expressed surprise Wednesday that they found no evidence of large-scale animal deaths from the weekend's massive tsunami - indicating that animals may have sensed the wave coming and fled to higher ground. An Associated Press photographer who flew over Sri Lanka's Yala National Park in an air force helicopter saw abundant wildlife, including elephants, buffalo, deer, and not a single animal corpse. Floodwaters from the tsunami swept into the park, uprooting trees and toppling cars onto their roofs - one red car even ended up on top of a huge tree - but the animals apparently were not harmed and may have sought out high ground, said Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne, whose Jetwing Eco Holidays ran a hotel in the park.
The number of news found: 26.
