Horse and Donkey Abuse in Tel Aviv

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Israel (ISPCA) is fighting against the overwork, neglect and abuse of work horses and donkeys in Tel Aviv.

The difficulty is mainly legal. The horses in the city pass from hand to hand. In order to confiscate an animal, it is necessary to prove that its legal owner is the one who has harmed it and not some other drayman. Moreover, in order to convict the abuser in court, there is a needed to prove that he is the legal owner of the horse.

{Dr. Zvi Galin, the Tel Aviv municipal veterinarian} relates that when the municipality began taking action against the carters, they raised a huge outcry: "They demonstrated outside the ISPCA and then they came to our shelter in the north of the city and claimed that we were harming their livelihood," he says.

Photo by PensEye.

Lambs Still Sacrificed for Passover

If you wondered whether this kind of thing still goes on for Passover...well, it sure does. But in this century, animal rights advocates can raise their voices in protest.

If he exists, what satisfaction would God really get from the sacrifice of a lamb? Wouldn't world peace or even an act of kindness carry more weight?

Anybody?

Photo by Mountain Mike.

Reform Pending for Kosher Slaughter Practices

We've been following the controversies surrounding methods of kosher killing. It looks like the criticisms have finally made a dent.

Amid claims by animal rights groups of gratuitous suffering, the Chief Rabbinate is planning to gradually phase out the use of the "shackle and hoist" method of kosher slaughter in Israel and South America.

"We are working toward upgrading the way animals are prepared for slaughter to minimize animal suffering," a Chief Rabbinate spokesman said Sunday on behalf of Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yona Metzger, who is responsible for kashrut supervision.

The spokesman refrained from saying what steps Metzger would take to encourage slaughterhouse owners to make the transition from the cheaper shackle and hoist method to the more expensive "rotating pen" method.

We plan to meet soon with importers and slaughterhouse owners who use the method in an attempt to reach an agreement," said the spokesman.

Photo by guylookin4fun06.

Calls to Stop Kosher Killings in Australia

Kosher killings of sheep in Australia are apparently being carried out against government standards for ritual slaughters.

The killings are primarily for the export market in Israel (ritual slaughter of animals for Jewish and Muslim markets requires that the animal is killed by having its throat slit.) Animal rights activists are claiming that the animal is not being stunned before it is slaughtered.

The RSPCA and Animals Australia believe that killing without any form of electrical stunning of conscious sheep is illegal under the current industry standard and have called on the minister to intervene as the practice escalates in Victoria.

The Australian standard for ritual slaughter states that animals must be electrically stunned, however exemption permits have been issued under special arrangements made under a legally disputed guideline.

It is believed abattoirs at Kyneton and Geelong last week began killing 1000 sheep each a week without stunning for kosher exports to Israel, while abattoirs at Warrnambool and Cranbourne were set to follow.

Photo by solarsunset3.

Congratulations to Israeli Animal Group

Congratulations to Beersheba Loves Animals for receiving government support for spay and neuter work. Every effort to help an animal in this world should be applauded.

The Municipality of Beersheba has approved a budget for a street cat spaying and neutering project. Tens of thousands of shekels will be invested in the project in 2008 in three Beersheba neighborhoods.

The project was initiated by a small NGO, Beersheba Loves Animals, made up of students. The association, operating for some four years, is committed to animal welfare in Beersheba and to increasing resident awareness of the subject by means of educational workshops on the prevention of cruelty to animals, promotion of laws and norms on animal welfare and finding foster homes for cats and dogs.

Here's their contact information.

Beersheba Loves Animals
The Association for Animals in Beersheba and Vicinity Mail: Schreiber Family 70/30 Beersheba 84451 Israel

Israeli Monkey Experiments Shock Citizens

Shocking pictures of monkey experiments have upset Israeli animal lovers.

Free the monkeys" and "Monkeys feel the same pain humans do" were among the signs waved by some 250 animal rights activists who gathered outside the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot on Tuesday in protest of controversial experiments on animal brains.

The protest came following a week of public outcry after the release of shocking hidden-camera footage taken by a monkey caretaker who worked in the institute's labs.

Some of the protestors went as far as likening the animals' suffering to the Holocaust, and wore black t-shirts bearing the words "For the animals, it is an eternal Treblinka" – a quote by Nobel laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer in "The Letter Writer"....

The Weizmann Institute of Science issued a statement saying that it "abides by all laws of the State of Israel as well as international codes of ethics (including the National Research Council) in all matters pertaining to animal experimentation and welfare. This includes minimization of suffering and an extremely high standard of animal maintenance and care. The Institute will terminate, quickly and unconditionally, any research that does not meet even one of these regulations.

Photo by ^Alfie^.

Trap, Spay and Return in Israel

Good, in-depth article on the attempt to get state-wide trap, spay and return (release) programs for stray cats in Israel. I did not know how bad the problem is there.

According to experts in relevant fields, Israel has a particularly large street cat overpopulation problem. In the words of a veterinarian from central Israel: "No other western country has as severe a problem as Israel with street cats."

The same veterinarian claims these issues are constantly being dealt with in the US and Europe, whereas "in Israel it's as though no one cares. There is no awareness here."

Photo by RachelandEric.

Increase in Israeli Youth Violence Against Animals

No country is immune to this problem. I've seen several reports on the increase of youth abuse against animals. Much like the abuse of human women and children, is there really an increase or simply an increase in reporting of such abuse?

The ongoing school strike is taking a heavy toll on homeless animals. The number of calls to the AHAVA Association for Animal Rescue and the LE'AN organization for the prevention of youth violence has risen dramatically in the past two weeks.

In Kiryat Motzkin, a group of teenagers gouged out the eye of a kitten using a broken-off car antenna. Roy Schindler, a high school student and volunteer in both AHAVA and LE'AN, rescued the kitten from its torturers. The kitten was taken to veterinarian Dr. Yair Ben Zioni, who stitched up his wounded eye and staunched the bleeding. The AHAVA association is now looking for a home for the semi-blinded kitten.

This week, AHAVA and LE'AN initiated a project wherein youngsters will fight youth violence against vulnerable children and the elderly, and of course in preventing animal abuse. Teenagers with a conscience of at least 15 years of age are called upon to help build a better society in Israel.

Photo by city_larkii.