City in India to Poison 100,000 Dogs

From the Dept of WTF?

Authorities in Indian Kashmir have begun poisoning stray dogs in an anti-rabies program that aims to kill some 100,000 dogs in the region's main city, officials said Thursday.

Animal rights activists vowed to go to court in a bid to stop the slaughter planned by Srinagar city, saying it is an illegal, extreme and cruel solution to a problem that could be better addressed with other methods.

With the world's highest rabies fatality rate, India has grappled with ways to control the millions of stray dogs that live on its streets.

In Srinagar, city officials vowed to press ahead with the plan.

Kenya's Political Troubles Have an Effect on Wildlife

The recent troubles with the Kenyan presidential election have brought problems related to Kenyan wildlife, but not in the way that you might think. Tourists have been scared off, which in turn effects revenue for conservation projects.

Conservation projects to protect Kenya's rich wildlife, from its rhinos to whale sharks, are at risk if the country fails to attract tourists back after a post-election crisis, the United Nations said on Wednesday.

Kenya relies on its game parks to draw hundreds of thousands of tourists every year. But, the sector has been badly damaged by a wave of cancellations following ethnic clashes triggered by President Mwai Kibaki's disputed re-election in December.

The violence that killed more than 1,000 people prompted European tour operators to cancel chartered flights to the east African country, dealing a heavy blow to its tourism industry -- the leading foreign exchange earner in Kenya.

Funding for conservation projects has shrunk as a result of of the slump in tourist numbers, conservation officials say.

Canberra Kangaroos May be Culled

Kangaroos in Canberra are facing an uncertain future.

A review was commissioned after the Department of Defence applied to relocate mobs of eastern grey kangaroos to New South Wales from Belconnen.

Earlier Defence plans to cull the kangaroos met with strong opposition from animal welfare groups.

ACT Commissioner for the Environment Maxine Cooper says she will not confirm the future of the native animals until her report is released.

"My report has had to deal with that very complex issue and that report's with the Government at the moment," she said.

"I do think it'd be appropriate for us to wait for the release of that report so people can actually get the totality of all the issues that I've had to deal with rather than just focusing up on this one particular issue of the eastern grey."

Photo by mfunnell.

New Animal Torture Law in Utah Passes House

It may soon be a felony to torture companion animals in Utah. Too bad it won't cover feral cats and dogs. Or other non-companion animals. The bill was a compromise between pro and anti torture advocates in the legislature.

And here is how torture is defined:

The bill defines torture as ''intentionally or knowingly causing or inflicting extreme physical pain to an animal in an especially heinous, atrocious, cruel, or exceptionally depraved manner."

That's setting the bar pretty high there. What's extreme? Is beating a dog with a plastic baseball bat "heinous, atrocious, cruel or depraved"? How about swinging a cat by the tail?

And why is it only companion animals. If someone catches a stray cat and microwaves it, are they only going to be charged with a misdemeanor?

Malaysia Finally Passes Laws Outlawing the Trade in Endangered Species

Although CITES outlaws the international trade in endangered species, local Malaysian law had no such prohibition. That has now changed.

Thinking about buying the pretty star tortoise for a pet? Think again. Under newly passed laws, you face a fine of up to RM100,000 for having one of those reptiles. Same goes for other exotic pets such as the Madagascar radiated tortoise, African leopard tortoise, pig-nosed turtle, Madagascar tomato frog, South American poison arrow frog and Indonesian yellow-crested cockatoo.

Trade in these animals are either barred or regulated by range countries and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites, an international treaty to stop illegal and unsustainable wildlife trade) but they still end up in local pet stores and zoos – reason being, wildlife authority Perhilitan cannot act against traders because these species are not protected under local laws, namely the Protection of Wildlife Act 1972 (PWA).

This has now changed with Parliament passing the International Trade in Endangered Species Bill 2007 last December. The long-awaited Bill promises to stem unbridled sale of wildlife as it specifies the wildlife allowed for trade and imposes licensing requirements. It essentially enables Malaysia to fulfil Cites obligations and enforce Cites wildlife trade rules.

It's taking a long time for some countries, but it's good to see that they are finally doing things like this.

Photo by Yeowatzup

Sea Shepherd Clashes With Japanese Whalers

Things are heating up in the Southern Ocean.

Anti-whaling activists clashed with Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean on Monday, prompting a diplomatic complaint from Tokyo to Canberra and a rebuke for the activists from the Australian government.

Members of the hard-line Sea Shepherd group threw bottles and containers of foul-smelling substances at the Japanese factory ship the Nisshin Maru as part of the organization's campaign to disrupt Japan's annual whale hunt.

Three Japanese sailors were injured after the chemical cocktail splashed into the eyes of two coastguard crew and one whaler causing irritation, said an official with Japan's Fisheries Agency in Tokyo. He declined to give the location of the incident for security reasons.

Here is a link to Sea Shepherd's account.

Here is some video:



Here is a little more:

Albino Moose Times Two

My friend Jo Anne sent me this picture. TWO albino moose. How cool is that? Happy Monday people!

300,000 Cattle Dead in Afghanistan Due to Cold Weather

300,000 animals have died in Afghanistan since December. That's a lot for any country.

Extreme cold has devastated the Afghan livestock sector, killing over 3,00,000 animals since late December and seriously affecting livelihoods, a new United Nations report said.

High prices for fuel, vegetable oil and cereals are compounding the vulnerability of poor households, reducing their access to food, it added.

The harshest winter weather conditions in nearly 30 years have killed over 800 people, and many others, notably shepherds and their families, have suffered severe frostbite, requiring disabling amputation, the report by Food and Agriculture (FAO) said.

Too bad the US is spending 275 million per day in Iraq. Think of how many heated barns (not to mention houses that could be bought with a single day's expenditures.

Paris Hilton: Let's Hope She Gets Herself Fixed Right After Her Dogs

Noted Socialite and Dumb-as-a-sack-of-hammers dog owner Paris Hilton said she had so many dogs because "they keep having babies". Here's a thought: how about taking them to the vet and getting them fixed?

And while you're at it, have them do you too. Let's nip those genes in the bud now shall we?

Dumb dumb dumb.

Photo by Alex CD

Is Animalblawg no More?

No note was on the site last time I checked, but it looks like Animalblawg is no more.

I tried to go to the site, but it looks like it's now gone. That's too bad. They always had such thoughtful posts. Who will be the animal policy wonks now?

Judge Denies Attempt by Bush Administration to Weasel out of Agreement

I originally wrote about this here.

In a nutshell, the Bush Administration entered into an agreement that set a timeline for making a decision on whether to list the sage grouse as an endangered species. They discovered to their horror, that if they stuck to the timeline that they might actually have to use science in their determination. It gets worse. Through the use of this science, they found that they might be forced to make a decision that might have an adverse effect on the oil and gas industry.

Oh, I'll bet someone at Fish and Wildlife spent a few hours in Deadeye Dick's chamber of horrors for that one. To him, the only good sage grouse is a dead one. Preferably after it's been drugged and tied to a stake so he can shoot the little bugger.

Anyways, they tried to back out of the agreement, and the federal judge is not having any of it.

A federal judge is holding the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to a deal reached with environmentalists that sets a timeline and other conditions on whether to grant threatened or endangered status to the sage grouse.

The wildlife agency sought to back out of a stipulation filed with the court in January that set a May 2009 deadline to determine whether to list the bird under the Endangered Species Act. The deal also required the agency to consider a new and critical scientific report on the bird due out in November and give the public 60 days to comment on the report's findings.

Across the West, decisions about the sage grouse are considered critical to the future of gas and oil drilling, agriculture and urban growth.

Last month, government attorneys sought to back out of the deal, saying top Fish and Wildlife officials never signed off on it. The agreement was approved by Department of Justice lawyers, who negotiated the timeline and other details with the Idaho-based Western Watershed Project.

Sigh. These people are just awful.

Four Factors for Animal Rights Movements?

This guy named Wes Jamison, a professor of agricultural and natural resource politics at Dordt College (Sioux Center, Iowa), is clearly an agent of the agricultural sector in the country. But at a recent presentation he gave to the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) Young Farmer and Rancher Leadership Conference, he made some interesting points about the growth of animal rights movements. (He's been studying this nutty thing for twenty years!)

While farmers have been focusing on competition and farm profitability, the world has been changing, according to Jamison. Animal rights discussions hinge on the human values that society has placed on animals.

Jamison outlined four factors needed in a society for an animal rights movement to rise, including urbanization, anthropomorphism (attributing human qualities to animals), belief in evolution, and a sense of equality. Unless all four factors are present, an animal rights movement does not exist.

Urbanization has made animals go from tools, instruments and commodities to something else. Animals now live in the house as members of the family.

“Animal rights does not cause society to change, but changes in society itself give way to animal rights,” Jamison said.

Interesting litmus test to apply to countries around the world to see if true.

Photo by Skinnyde.

Sea Shepherd Still Chasing the Japanese Whalers

The latest from Paul Watson (quoted in full because I know they won't care).

Leap year gave us an extra day this month, but despite that it looks like we have made it to the end of February without any whales killed for last six days.

We are chasing the Japanese in circles and there does not seem to be any rhyme or reason as to what the Japanese whalers are doing. What we do know is that they are wasting fuel and not catching any whales.

We had two Humpback whales breach beside the ship today.

The weather is getting colder and we are getting many hours of darkness now. The Antarctic winter is creeping up on us. The seas are getting rougher and we are getting blizzards. The Japanese whalers are running out of time.

Back in Japan the whaling industry is getting desperate. Last month the Institute for Cetacean Research (ICR) dumped 10 tons of unsold whale meat in to a primary school lunch program according to a recent article in the Australian Daily Telegraph. The Japanese government is trying to get children to develop a taste for whale flesh and blubber despite the high mercury content in the whale meat.

As the Japanese whaling fleet tries to kill whales in the Antarctic Whale Sanctuary, they have admitted to the Japanese media that they have over 3000 tons of unsold whale meat from last year’s whale hunt.

Says the article, “School kids urged to eat whale meat” dated February 28th:

A total of 200,000 free lunches of whale meat salad marinated in sesame sauce were served on January 21 and 22. Yokohama children have not eaten whale meat as part of school lunches in 26 years….

Manager of health education at the Yokohama City Education Committee, Ms
Atsukjo Ito, who coordinated the lunch program, said there were no plans for a second program.
(Observes Captain Watson: She did not say if this was because the children did not like it or not.)

…Leading Liberal Democratic Party Upper House member Yoshimasa Hayashi, who chairs Japan's International Whaling Commission committee, yesterday admitted there was a deliberate attempt to revive the domestic market for the meat. He said he saw no problem with feeding the meat to children as part of a public relations campaign. "We are trying very hard to regain a market for whale eating," Mr Hayashi said.

But, in a surprise concession, Mr Hayashi said Japan would seriously consider ending whaling operations in the high seas if they were allowed to extend its coastal whaling program. "There is a chance of an agreement. It will depend largely on US leadership to bridge the differences at the IWC," he said.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is concerned that the United States has struck a deal with Japan that would end whaling in the Southern Ocean but would legalize coastal whaling near Japan. Although we would welcome an end to whaling in the Southern Ocean we are opposed to killing whales anywhere by anyone for any reason.

However, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is not a protest organization and we will reluctantly support the rulings of the International Whaling Commission if they strike such a deal.

At least it will bring peace to the Southern Ocean and the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary will in fact be a whale sanctuary. At present it is simply a joke to call this a whale sanctuary as Japan slaughters over a thousand whales a year within its boundaries.
I believe that Japan is now looking for an excuse to get out of the Southern Oceans. It is becoming a major international embarrassment for them and they are losing more money every year. During the 2005/2006 season we intervened and caused them to fall 85 whales short of their quota. During the 2006/2007 season they did not make half their quota because of Sea Shepherd’s interference and a major accident and fire onboard the Nisshin Maru. Our goal this year is to prevent them from reaching half their goal. We know we have prevented them from taking a major part of their quota this season. I think we will have a major impact on the numbers this year.

Photo by iTopher

Former Vivesector Appointed as Head of Food Standards Agency in UK

Colin Blakemore, a professor of neuroscience at Oxford, was recently appointed as head of the Food Standards Agency. He is a man who unapologetically done animal testing (but opposes it for cosmetics), and has had nail bombs mailed to his home for it.

He prefers to reframe the whole debate, to talk of responsibilities, rather than rights. "The reason why I don't mistreat my own cat is not because it has some kind of rights. It's because I try to be a decent person. Our primary responsibility is to our own species. As for, say, mosquitoes, do we have responsibilities to them? No. Do you swat them? Of course. They don't have rights. They're bloody awful, carriers of disease. None of this, ah, pseudo-Buddhism."

It's an interesting article.

Plastic Bags Threaten Marine Life

I absolutely hate plastic bags and always try to pick up stray ones that I find for proper disposal. However, there are certain things for which I can't figure out how to live without them. I can use cloth bags for groceries, but what do I do for trash? And do paper bags help or just hurt because they come from trees.

I'm thinking that the danger to marine life is from those random bags that lie in the streets and get swept into our storm systems. But there sure is a lot of them.

This a sad story of a minke whale in 2002 who died a lingering death from all the plastic bags in her stomach.

The minke was found on the Normandy coast. At first, it was assumed she had died of natural causes.

When her stomach was cut open, scientists were amazed to find nearly two pounds of plastic bags, eaten by mistake as she searched for food.

The 2lb haul included two plastic bags from English supermarkets, seven transparent plastic bags, and fragments from seven dustbin bags.

In an ironic twist, one of the bags found in the gut of the dead whale appears to read: "We support good farm animal welfare."

Most worrying of all, there was no proper food in her stomach.

Minkes are among the smallest of the whales and the fastest moving. They can be seen swimming off the coasts of Scotland, Ireland and the South West.

These plastic bags also threaten other whales, dolphins and turtles who mistakenly consume them.

Photo by gooseflesh.