Blogging About Critters Since 2007

Monday, January 31, 2011

Mysterious Sled Dog Deaths

Bad allegations connected to Whistler. Full article at the BBC News...
Canadian police are investigating the reported killing of 100 huskies which had been used to pull tourist sleds in the ski resort of Whistler.

An animal rights group claims the dogs were killed inhumanely by an outdoor adventure company and thrown into a mass grave.

Local media reports say business slumped after the 2010 Winter Olympics and the dogs were no longer needed.

The company could not be reached for comment.

"We've opened a police file and assigned an investigator," Police Sergeant Steve LeClair told AFP.
'Throats slit'

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) in British Columbia, alleged that an Outdoor Adventures employee was told to cull the dogs in April last year.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Air Canada Criticized for Transporting Research Monkeys

Awful. For the full Toronto Star story, go here.
The arrival of 48 monkeys on a flight from China this weekend has brought Air Canada under fire for shipping primates destined for research laboratories, but the airline says it is obliged by federal law to accept monkeys as cargo.

A Pearson International Airport employee tipped off the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection that a shipment of monkeys destined for Montreal was being held at the Toronto airport after arriving from China on Saturday.

Sarah Kite, director of communications and special projects for the BUAV, said monkeys destined for research facilities are usually transported in cramped wooden crates in the plane’s cargo hold, where they can be subject to fluctuations in temperature, stopovers and in some cases long delays....

Air Canada is one of a small number of airlines that continues to transport these primates, Kite said. Under pressure from animal rights groups and the public, many airlines have banned the practice. British Airways, for example, has a policy of “not carrying live animals that are for use in any laboratory, or for experimentation or exploitation,” according to media liaison manager Sophie Greenyer.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Proposed Nebraska Legislation Angers Horse Activists

From the Lexington Clipper-Herald....click here for the full article.
Two bills introduced in the Nebraska Legislature are drawing fire from the largest animal advocacy organization in the world. Newcomer to the Legislature Sen. Tyson Larson introduced LB 305 on Wednesday, which would create a state meat inspection program, which would in turn allow horse meat to be transported across state lines. He also introduced LB 306, otherwise known as the Livestock Animal Welfare Act.

"Basically, it would mandate that humane societies and horse rescue operations would have to accept a horse if one was presented to them, or they would face a class four misdemeanor," said Larson. "I'm giving them an alternative. If they don't want us to process horses, what are we supposed to do?"

Monday, January 17, 2011

Spanish Tradition Under Threat by Activists

This sounds awful. Go to AFP for the full story....
Every year on the night of January 16, the eve of Saint Anthony's day, the patron saint of animals, the paved streets of the small town of 600 people are transformed into a sort of racetrack in which the fences are burning logs.

"It's a festival in which the horses are sanctified by the flames, they are liberated from all their ills," said Quique, 30, who takes part in the festival every year.

Tree branches for the fires are collected for weeks ahead of the festival. The flames are regularly doused with water to produce columns of smoke intended to purify the animals.

The tradition is under threat from animal rights groups, who say the horses suffer as they leap over the flames.

But the residents of San Bartolome de Pinares fiercely defend the festival, arguing that if the horses were really suffering they would not go near the flames.

"We don't force them," Quique said.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Canada Reaches Seal Product Deal with China

In order to offset the loss of the seal product market in Europe, Canada has made a deal with China. I'm not surprised. China as a whole still doesn't have a national conscience about these issues. Although 40 Chinese animal rights groups have protested, they don't really have any political or financial clout to change anything.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

University of Texas May Receive Surprise USDA Inspection

PETA has complained to the USDA that the University of Texas has been severely mistreating its lab animals. There may be a surprise inspection, but I don't really understand how effective a "surprise" inspection is when the facility is notified in advance!!

Monday, January 3, 2011

Best & Worst States for Animal Protection

According to this Technorati article, the Humane Society rated the states on their animal protection laws.

BEST STATES
California (best-yay!)
New Jersey
Illinois
Massachusetts
Colorado
Maine

WORST STATES
Ohio
Hawaii
Alabama
North Dakota
Mississippi
Idaho
South Dakota (worst)


According to the Animal Legal Defense Fund, the states fell this way...

BEST
Illinois (best)
Maine
Michigan
Oregon
California

WORST
Mississippi
Idaho
Hawaii
North Dakota
Kentucky

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Grey2K Video Exposes Cruelty at Tucson Greyhound Park

Grey2K is a greyhound advocacy group. Here is the link to the video showing kennel conditions. They had professional investigators there last summer.
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