Mexican Town Opposes Bullfighting

From Latino Fox News......

Mexico's first "anti-bullfighting" town has signed a petition calling on the United Nations to approve a universal declaration on animal welfare.


More than 220 organizations, headed by the World Society for the Protection of Animals, are collecting signatures worldwide to petition the United Nations to adopt the proposed Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare.

Teocelo, a town of 15,000 inhabitants, last month became the first Mexican municipality to ban bullfighting and other events that involve animal mistreatment or cruelty.

The town on Thursday was honored by the London-based WSPA, one of the organizations most involved in efforts to abolish bullfighting worldwide

Horse Slaughterhouse Proposed in New Mexico

This article reaffirms my belief that it's more humane to slaughter horses in the US than to ship them for slaughter to Canada or Mexico. I don't like it either way, but one is better than the other for sure.

Another Anti-Bullfighting Protest in Mexico City

Yay!!!!! It happened last Saturday the 4th of February.

Mexico often has such an abominable attitude towards animals that it's easy to paint all citizens that way. I'm glad there are exceptions like these protesters.

Stupid Bull Tradition Catches Someone By Surprise

The title says it all....."Bull rampaging in Mexican streets gores man right in the crotch."

Maybe they should BAN this practice......

Full article in the Mirror.

Mexican Activists Staged Protest Early this Month

Late on this story. I copied the full article from the Latin American Herald Tribune.

MEXICO CITY – Animal rights activists staged a protest against the sale of pets in Mexico City, urging residents to adopt dogs and other animals instead of buying them.

Twelve activists took part in the demonstration organized by the AnimaNaturalis group Tuesday at the iconic Juarez monument on one of the capital’s main streets.

Two of the activists, one painted to look like a dog and the other like a cat, stood in gift boxes holding signs that urged people not to view animals as toys and to adopt pets instead of purchasing them.

The protest’s goal was to make “society aware” of the fact that animals “need time, love and lots of care,” AnimaNaturalis said.

“Trade in animals considered objects or toys grows alarmingly” during this time of the year, “and when they grow or are kept for a time, they are discarded,” AnimaNaturalis Mexico director Maria Teresa Menendez told Efe.

Parents and children should be “conscientious and take responsibility for raising pets and, in any case, it is better to adopt, neuter and care for domestic animals,” Menendez said.

Eight of every 10 dogs sold in Mexico end up in the streets, with most of them having been family pets at some point, official figures show.

Mexico City, one of the world’s largest cities, has an estimated 3 million street dogs that end up being killed in shelters or the victims of human cruelty. EFE

Matt Damon at a Bullfight? Say It Isn't So!

It's true! He attended a bullfight in Mexico City. That sucks!

Mexico and US Go at it Again Over Dolphin-Labeling and Tuna

From the Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest....

The long-running dispute between the US and Mexico over Washington’s ‘dolphin safe’ labelling practice for tuna products is likely to see a WTO appeal, after the two parties together asked for an extension of the appeals deadline. Meanwhile, animal welfare and consumer advocacy groups in Washington are urging the US to look into options outside the global trade body for resolving the trade row.

WTO appeals deadline extended to January

At its last meeting on 11 November, the WTO Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) decided to extend the deadline for submitting an appeal on the latest Tuna-Dolphin (DS381) ruling issued in September (see Bridges Weekly, 21 September 2011).

.....Washington had partially lost its claim in this high-stakes dispute over the US “dolphin safe” label for tuna products when a panel ruled the US practice unnecessarily trade restrictive (for further analysis on the tuna-dolphin case, see Bridges Trade BioRes Review, November 2011).

Mexican Border Town Offers Tax Exemption for Euthanizing Dogs

There's a stray dog problem in San Luis Rio Colorado, Mexico. The solution? If you bring in the dog for euthanization, you get a tax exemption...hooray!

Sarcasm there of course. Clearly, there's no spay/neuter program in this place. But there are animal rights activists in Mexico that will hopefully take notice and try to establish some kind of long-term and humane solution.

From Latino Fox News...

Mexican border town has a big dog problem, and it’s not sure what to do about it.

There are about 70,000 stray dogs roaming San Luis Rio Colorado in northern Mexico. That’s one dog for every two inhabitants, according to the BBC.

The town has become so overrun with dogs, that the government began offering a tax exemption of $17 per stray that was offered for euthanasia.

That move prompted an uproar in northern Mexico after animal rights groups argued the government was barking up the wrong tree, and they demanded the town stop what they called unnecessary “dog killings.” Activists said what the government was doing qualified as “animal torture,” and they called for legislative reform.

Mexican Senators Look at Banning Bullfights

I'm very, very surprised. And not very optimistic. Mexico is notorious for its bullfights and lack of animal rights. But, still, I can't dismiss it.

From Fox News (blech)...

Senators from the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, are working on legislation to ban bullfights and guarantee animal rights in Mexico, a lawmaker said.

The legislation, which will be introduced in the next session, would impose fines and jail time on violators, Sen. Maria de los Angeles Moreno, who is sponsoring the bill, said.

"Bullfights seem really thoughtless and savage to me," the senator said in a press conference on Monday.

Several groups, including Spain's Plataforma Prou, the Mexican Association for Animal Rights, or Amedea, and the Proyecto Proteccion Animal, have been consulted on the bill, Moreno said.

The legislation provides for the punishment of those who abuse animals, including pets, and it would create incentives for people to adopt pets instead of purchasing them.

Mexican Male Caught Smuggling Titi Monkeys

Caught at the airport in Mexico City, he had 18 of these monkeys and two of them were dead.

Unintended Consequences for US Ban on Horse Slaughter

Unfortunately, a record number of horses are now going to Canadian and Mexican slaughterhouses, where there is no USDA control over animal welfare conditions.

I don't support the slaughter of any animal, but if an animal will die anyway, don't we want the best possible conditions? I understand what animal activists are trying to accomplish, but every time I read one of these stories, I wonder if this ban was the right thing.

I just don't know.

This article also talks about my least favorite bastard chef Gordon Ramsey and the aftermath of his comments to eat horse. He's such a douchebag.

Mexican Activists Protest Bullfighting

Good.

Documentary Spotlights Plight of Mexican Dogs

This sounds like it would be very difficult to watch. It's called "Companions to None (Companeros de Nadie)."

The hourlong film is an unflinching commentary on the overpopulation of stray dogs in Mexico, who even outnumber us humans in some regions. Macho culture, argues {Dallas-based director Bill} Buchanan, goes some way to explaining why Mexicans are so reluctant to sterilize their male dogs. There is a common belief in Mexico, according to his narrative, that sterilizing a male dog will make the dog "gay."

Without a doubt, the most impressive thing about the film, shot on digital video, is the access Buchanan gets for his lens. In a series of gruesome shots that even the most hardhearted will find difficult to watch, Buchanan’s camera captures the method used to rid the streets of the thousands of unwanted stray dogs in Mexico -– electrocution.

You can watch the trailer at http://www.companionstonone.com.

US Horses Inhumanely Slaughtered Across the Borders

On January 8, I posted about the rise of horse neglect in the United States. The second half of the post contained a quote bemoaning the loss of horse slaughterhouses in the United States.

I didn't agree with this sentiment, but now, a new article is making me rethink this opinion.

This article appears in the New York Times and talks about the inhumane conditions of horses slaughtered in Canada and Mexico.

Amid pressure from animal rights groups, horse slaughter virtually ended in the United States last year, as courts upheld state laws banning it in Texas and Illinois, home to the nation’s last three horse slaughterhouses.

But there have been unintended consequences, including more grueling travel for tens of thousands of horses now being sent to slaughter in Canada and Mexico, where, animal advocates say, they sometimes face more gruesome deaths....

The American slaughterhouses killed horses quickly by driving steel pins into their brains, a method the American Veterinary Medical Association considers humane. Workers in some Mexican plants, by contrast, disable them by stabbing them with knives to sever their spinal cords, said Temple Grandin, a professor of animal science at Colorado State University.

“My worst nightmare has happened,” Dr. Grandin said. “This is an example of well-intentioned but very bad unintended consequences.”

Supporters of the ban on US slaughterhouses believe that horse owners should euthanize their animals humanely. Some opponents argue this is an expensive option because it could cost $140 or more to euthanize and disposs of the carcass. $140? How often have you spent less than $140 on a tune-up for your car? I have no sympathy for this lame argument.

But it concerns me that owners who refuse to euthanize these animals are making them suffer even more from inhumane slaughtering practices across the border. I don't want horses slaughtered for food, but if they have to be, I don't want them to suffer.

In the meantime, federal legislation that would forbid the sale and transport of horses for human consumption is awaiting action in both houses of Congress.