Bob Barker Funds Space for HIV-Infected Chimps

As I've often said, Bob Barker is a good man. From The Washington Post...Retired game-show host and animal rights advocate Bob Barker is opening a new area for five HIV-infected chimpanzees at a sanctuary in northwestern Louisiana. The former host of “The Price Is Right” donated $380,000 to create space at the Chimp Haven near Shreveport.

Bob Barker Offers to Pay to Move Canadian Elephants to Sanctuary

I hope, when I reach their age, I'm as active and effective as Bob Barker and Betty White are in the animal rights movement.

Excerpted from CBC News....

Legendary game show host Bob Barker says it will cost $200,000 to move three elephants from the Toronto Zoo to a California sanctuary, and he doesn't mind paying for it himself.

Toronto city council voted in October to move the elephants to a facility run by PAWS (Performing Animal Welfare Society) near Galt, Calif., called ARK 2000.

The former host of The Price is Right, interviewed on CBC News Network on Monday, said the three female African elephants — Toka, Thika and Iringa — would be better off in a warmer climate.

"I don't think there should be elephants in Canada," said Barker, 88, during a live interview with CBC’s Carole MacNeil. "I love Canada and I love Canadians, but it's not the place for elephants and I think it's becoming obvious to the people up there.

"I grew up in South Dakota and I know a little bit about cold, and it's just not the place for an elephant."

Attempted Delay in Toronto Elephants Transfer to Sanctuary

The zoo keepers at the Toronto are desperately trying to get the City Council to reconsider its decision to move three aging elephants to a sanctuary. They presented the Council with a petition with 1,100 signatures.

Followup: Some Zoo Keepers Fighting to Stop Elephant Transfer to Sanctuary

Excepted from the Toronto News....

War has erupted between Toronto Zoo elephant keepers and the animal rights group helping to co-ordinate a move of three aging elephants to a California sanctuary.

Zoocheck Canada’s Julie Woodyer told the Star she has rescinded an offer to pay for one of the dozen keepers to fly to the PAWS sanctuary this weekend with her and two councillors, Michelle Berardinetti and Raymond Cho.

She is also considering shutting the keepers out of training the pachyderms for the risky trip — a move the keepers say would be foolish and potentially dangerous for the animals they know better than anyone.

Woodyer said last week a trainer would be welcome on the trip, which follows council’s vote to override a zoo board decision to first look for an accredited zoo as a new home for Iringa, 42; Toka, 41; and Thika, 31.

That changed, she said, last Friday when one of the keepers started calling councillors directly, urging them to hold another vote and reverse the decision to send the animals to the 80-acre PAWS sanctuary in San Andreas.

“That’s insubordination — city staff can’t go above their managers’ head and do those kinds of things,” Woodyer said. “They were trying to sabotage the process. We’re happy to work with them but need them to be straight up and upfront with us.”

Toronto Zoo's Remaining Elephants to Go to Sanctuary

This is excellent news. Not only is Toronto closing its elephant exhibit, but the City Council voted to send the remaining elderly elephants to the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) sanctuary instead of another zoo.

Yay!

Happy Chimpanzees!

Here is a Thanksgiving video of the seven chimpanzees at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest.

Very heartwarming.

Silent Auction to Benefit Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

This is now one of my favorite organizations. The silent auction is set for October 1, 2010, and details are here.

You can donate too even if you can't attend the auction.

September 14th update - Auction is sold out! They are working on an online component that you can participate in. Good for them!

Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest is New Favorite!

I really like this place.

Fight Continues to Release Lucy the Elephant

Here's an update on the battle to release the Lucy the Elephant to a sanctuary. She is the lone elephant at the Edmonton Zoo in Alberta, Canada.

Sanctuary Founder Arraigned on Hit-and-Run Death

As this article notes, as sad as this is, it's only going to spur accusations that animal lovers are also unfeeling human haters. In other words, we are abominations within our species.

It's a load of BS though. But most of us are used to it and can take it. But, again, it's a sad story for the victim and the accused. Even worse, the accused appears to have tried to cover up the hit-and-run.

I hope the sanctuary animals find good homes. They shouldn't be made to suffer for all this.

Horse Rescue Group Blogging from Marysville, WA

I've received so many donation requests from "People Helping Horses" that I finally decided to send a donation. I've never been around horses much, but a friend of mine who has 3 horses and 2 burros (!) told me that horse groups have been hit particularly hard with the economy. Not only have horses been dumped or starved due to owner finances, but the price of hay has risen sharply all around.

I came across this lovely blog by who I think is one of the group's volunteers. The blog is only updated about once a month, but the postings are very heartfelt and genuine. There's such a special passion surrounding horse lovers and rescuers and I think it comes across very nicely in this blog. One also learns a great deal about what's going on in the horse world from the rescue stories shared.

Definitely one I want to follow.

Buddhists Go to the Birds

This is a nice story about the care of abused birds at a Washington, DC, Buddhist temple.

Awesome Pig Sanctuary

Pigs Peace Sanctuary is a wonderful place. They rescue farm pigs and pot-bellied pigs,farm animals, dogs, cats, you name it. We've visited it.

Emmylou Harris' Dog Sanctuary

Emmylou Harris has a dog sanctuary in Nashville. I found out about that from Best Friends.

The sanctuary is called Bonaparte's Retreat. From the site:

Bonaparte's Retreat is dedicated to providing nurturing foster care for shelter dogs when their allotted time at the shelter has elapsed; to prevent these wonderful animals from being euthanized and to find them permanent, loving homes.

Bonaparte's Retreat was created to rescue dogs who were unadoptable from Nashville Humane Association. It has evolved into rescuing dogs who have run out of time at Metro Nashville Animal Control.

We are working on starting a foster program for the dogs. For information on being a foster parent, please contact kate@emmylou.net