News
The number of news found: 22.
05/29/2009 FERAL GIRL IN SIBERIAN CITY OF CHITA WAS BROUGHT UP BY CATS AND DOGS
A feral girl who has spent her entire life shut up in a flat in the company of cats and dogs has been taken into care by police in Siberia. The child, 5, was unable to speak and acted like a dog when officers discovered her locked in a squalid, unheated flat in the city of Chita. "For five years, the girl was 'brought up' by several dogs and cats and had never been outside," police said in a statement. "The unwashed girl was dressed in filthy clothes, had the clear attributes of an animal and jumped at people." Police said that the girl had had a lack of contact with humans, despite sharing the three-room flat with her father, grandmother, grandfather and other relatives, the Ria-Novosti news agency reported. The girl, known as Natasha, is now being monitored by psychologists in an orphanage. She has the appearance of a two-year-old, although police have established that her real age is 5.
05/27/2009 CANADA'S GOVERNOR GENERAL EATS RAW HEART AFTER GUTTING SEAL
Hundreds of Inuit at a community festival gathered on Monday as Canadian Governor General Michaelle Jean knelt above a pair of seal carcasses and used a traditional ulu blade to slice the meat off the skin. After cutting through the flesh, she turned to the woman beside her and asked: "Could I try the heart?" After swallowing a piece whole and deeming it tasty, Mrs Jean, whose post is largely ceremonial, defended the hunt as a traditional hunting practice that is not inhumane. A spokesman for Stavros Dimas, the EU environment commissioner, offered no official reaction. "No comment; it's too bizarre to acknowledge," Barbara Helfferich said. Animal rights groups believe Canada's annual seal hunt is cruel, poorly monitored and provides little economic benefit. But Canadian authorities say it is sustainable, humane and provides income for isolated communities. EU governments are to sign the ban into law on June 25 after the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly to impose the measure. The new EU rule offers narrow exemptions so Inuit communities from Canada, Greenland and elsewhere can continue traditional hunts, but bars them from large-scale trading of their pelts and other seal goods in Europe.
05/26/2009 CHILE IN THE MIDST OF BIRD DIE OFF
Overfishing, global warming, mining and other man-made factors are being blamed for a trifecta of coastal wildlife disasters in Chile. Thousands of penguins, thousands of flamingos and millions of sardines have been found dead on Chilean shores for reasons that have evaded scientists.
05/25/2009 ANIMAL RIGHTS GROUP PROTESTS "LOBSTER GAME"
An animal rights group is protesting a restaurant's game in which patrons have a chance to win a lobster. At the Royal Palm Beach Ale House in Palm Beach County customers pay to use a metallic claw to try and snatch one from a tank of water. The claw is similar to ones used in arcades and other places where players try to grab stuffed animals or other prizes. The Animal Rights Foundation of Florida says use of the claw to try and grab a lobster is cruel because lobsters feel pain by being "bumped, poked, prodded and repeatedly tormented." The machine's makers insist the game is gentle with the lobsters.
05/21/2009 SWISS CONSIDER WHALING BAN EXCEPTIONS
The Swiss government says whaling could be allowed despite an international moratorium on the matter, but only under very strict conditions. The Federal Cabinet says it would only accept commercial whaling in very limited geographical areas, and only if it’s been scientifically proven that the killing of whales won’t endanger the species or its ecosystem. Swiss authorities say there should still be a ban in cases where there could be a threat of extinction, and has called for more sanctuaries to be created around the world to protect endangered whales.
05/19/2009 U.S. SENATE WANTS TO END THE SEAL SLAUGHTER
The number of people who are willing to stand by as the Canadian government allows seals to be slaughtered each year by the hundreds of thousands is decreasing fast. Recently, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed U.S. Senate Resolution 84, calling for an immediate end to the annual seal slaughter. This vote comes less than a week after the European Union voted to ban the sale of seal fur in its member countries. The most powerful leaders in the world have voiced outrage about this barbaric tradition, and their cabinet members are in full agreement. Even Canada's own senators have tried to introduce bills to end the slaughter.
05/17/2009 CANADIAN OLYPMIC COMMITTEE TURNS DOWN PROPOSAL TO USE SEAL SKIN AS PART OF TEAM'S UNIFORM TO PROMOTE SEAL PRODUCTS
The Canadian Olympic Committee turned down a proposal by the House of Commons to include the seal skin as part of the national team's uniform for the 2010 Winter Games hosted by Vancouver to promote seal hunting in the light of the seal product ban passed by the European Parliament. Aside from the fact that the uniform has already been designed, approved by the International Olympic Committee and are being produced, the Olympics forbids the international games being used to promote special causes, reported Globe and Mail. The House of Commons approved on Wednesday a motion filed by MP Raynald Blais to use the seal skin as part of the athlete's uniform for the winter games. However, even the Canadian Parliament is not solidly behind the seal hunt.
05/16/2009 INTERNATIONAL ANIMAL TESTING PACT SIGNED
The European Commission's Joint Research Centre, together with its counterparts in the US, Canada and Japan, have signed a new agreement aimed at reducing the number of animal experiments undertaken in labs worldwide. The co-operation document signed on April 27 should give new impetus to the availability of scientifically proven alternatives to animal testing methods. In the EU, some 12 million animals are used in experiments each year for safety testing and biomedical research.
05/15/2009 GREEK DOLPHINS TO DISAPPEAR WITHUOT URGENT STEPS
Common dolphins, once a frequent sight in the Mediterranean, may soon be extinct in Greece's Ionian Sea due to overfishing, environmentalists warned. WWF and a dozen other environmental organizations said research showed numbers of dark-grey, white-bellied dolphins had decreased from 150 to 15 in 10 years in protected areas in the Ionian, between Greece and Italy. "It is called the common dolphin but the problem nowadays in the Mediterranean is that it's not common at all anymore. It is endangered. It is about to be extinct," WWF Greece-based expert Giorgos Paximadis said. "Overfishing has caused the destruction of the marine environment and the dramatic decrease of common dolphins," Paximadis told Reuters, adding that it deprived the dolphins of their food. The environmental groups urged Greece to take measures, including the adoption of larger mesh size for all bottom-set nets, restrictions on trawling and on recreational fishing as well as stronger penalties for illegal fishing.
05/14/2009 ORANGUTAN CAUSES EVACUATION AT ADELAIDE ZOO
An "ingenious" 62 kilogram orangutan short circuited electrical wires and climbed a fence using a makeshift ladder in an aborted escape attempt from Adelaide Zoo. The elaborate plot by 27-year-old Karta got her to within metres of the public, and resulted in the closure of the zoo on one of its busiest days of the year. Zoo curator Peter Whitehead said Karta had twisted a stick into hot wires that encircled her enclosure, short circuiting the wires and allowing her to enter a vegetated area near the concrete and glass fence that separated her from the public. She then piled up sticks, grass and plant roots and used them to climb onto the fence. "You're talking about an animal that's highly intelligent," Mr Whitehead said. Karta was on the fence for about half an hour before climbing back down into the exhibit. "I think when she actually got out and realised where she was... she's realised she shouldn't be there so then she's actually hung onto the wall and dropped back into the exhibit," Mr Whitehead said.
05/13/2009 BELGIAN CITY GENT FIRST TO INTRODUCE MEATLESS DAYS
Starting May 13, the Belgian city of Ghent, one of the 370 European climate cities, may very well become the first worldwide to officially promote a weekly meatless day. According to FAO, livestock is responsible for eighteen percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. That's why city officials, in cooperation with the vegetarian organisation EVA, are determined to go the extra mile in our common battle against climate change. Other Belgian cities have already shown interest to follow Ghent's example. The first Thursday Veggie Day will kick off on Wednesday May 13 with a festive ceremony for the public. Tom Balthazar, councilman for the city's health and environmental committee, will officially proclaim Thursdays to be vegetarian days. At the official inauguration everyone will be invited to take part in the in the Meatless Thursday campaign, and vegetarian goodiebags will be handed out to citizens participating in the campaign. As of September, city schools will serve vegetarian lunches by default on Thursdays. All 5,000 city personnel will receive a free veggie city street map and a free vegetarian cooking brochure for professionals will be sent to all 1,500 restaurants. There will be cooking classes for both professionals and individuals. City run restaurants for Ghent staff have extended their vegetarian menu.
05/12/2009 OBAMA TEAM KEEPS BUSH POLAR BEAR CLIMATE RULE
The Obama administration said on Friday it will keep a Bush-era rule that weakens protection for polar bears' icy habitat and plays down links between the threatened status of the species and climate change. "Seeing the polar bear's habitat melting and an iconic species threatened is an environmental tragedy of the modern age," US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said. "The best course of action for protecting the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act is to wisely implement the current rule, not revoke it at this time," which would cause confusion, Salazar said. Government scientists would continue to monitor the situation, he said. But that did not mollify environmental groups that opposed the rule. Polar bears depend on Arctic sea ice as a platform for hunting seals, their main prey. The US Geological Survey said two-thirds of the world's polar bears - some 16,000 - could be gone by 2050 if predictions about melting sea ice hold true.
05/11/2009 AUSTRALIA TO SHOOT 6,000 KANGAROOS
Australia's army has started shooting 6,000 kangaroos to thin their population on an army training ground near the capital, an official said Friday, outraging conservationists who have vowed to protest. The killings are intended to protect endangered plants and insects that share the grassy habitat with the kangaroos. A much smaller slaughter of 400 kangaroos on another Defense Department site in Canberra last year was disrupted by protesters. Civilian marksmen contracted by the department began shooting the kangaroos on Tuesday night at Defense's Majura Training Area, where an estimated 9,000 of the wild marsupials roam, Army Brig. Brian Dawson told reporters.
05/10/2009 300 DOGS DUMPED ON MALAYSIA ISLANDS EAT EACH OTHER
More than 300 stray dogs that were dumped on isolated islands turned to cannibalism after weeks of starvation, animal welfare activists said. The plight of the dogs cast away by villagers on two small, uninhabited islands off Malaysia's western Selangor state ignited outrage after activists this week released photographs showing dogs eating the carcasses of ones that had died. Residents of a fishing village on Pulau Ketam, another island off Selangor, caught the dogs last month and took them to the islands covered in mangroves. The villagers said they never intended to be cruel - they believed the dogs could feed on the deserted islands' wildlife - but wanted to rid their island of dogs that defecate on the streets and sometimes bite children.
05/09/2009 AFGHANISTAN ZOO'S SOLE SWINE SINGLED OUT FOR QUARANTINE
The life of Afghanistan's only pig is about to become lonelier as the animal has been quarantined. A curiosity in a Muslim country, the pig is unlikely to contract or transmit swine flu. There are no pig farms or direct flights from Mexico in Afghanistan, and more broadly, it has not yet been determined whether pigs originally transmitted to humans the virus that caused the recent threat.
05/08/2009 GREAT APES SUFFER SETBACK IN EU ANIMAL TESTING VOTE
Researchers can continue most experiments on mankind's closest relatives - chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans - after European Union lawmakers watered down proposals to restrict testing. "The Parliament has produced a charter for the multibillion pound animal research industry to carry on business as usual, with scant regard either for animal welfare or public opinion," said Michelle Thew of the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection. One politician involved in drafting the laws took the unusual step of resigning her role in February, blaming excessive industry interference.
05/05/2009 THE EUROPEAN UNION BANS THE TRADE IN SEAL PRODUCTS!
History was made today. The European Union has closed its borders to products of cruel commercial seal slaughters, removing a primary market for Canada's globally condemned sealing industry. The legislative resolution was adopted with 550 votes in favor, 49 against and 41 abstentions. This is the beginning of the end for the Canadian seal slaughter. The EU was a primary market for Canadian seal products, and the Canadian government estimates the loss of the EU market will cost Canada's sealing industry $6.6 million (CAD) annually. With this ban, the EU joins the United States, Mexico, Slovenia, Croatia, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Latvia, which already banned the trade. This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
05/05/2009 FLU FEARS COSTS PORK INDUSTRY $2.5 MILLION A DAY
The National Pork Producers Council has called for accurate reporting on the recent influenza outbreak, adding the U.S. pork industry is nearing the brink of financial disaster. All employed in the pork industry must address influenza outbreak misinformation, which already has exacerbated an economic crisis in the pork industry, N.P.P.C. said
05/04/2009 OBAMA REVERSES BUSH ENDANGERED SPECIES RULES
President Obama's administration has reversed a controversial last-minute rule made by the Bush administration that critics said would have undermined protections for endangered species. The rule, put in place in the waning days of the Bush administration, would have allowed federal agencies to determine on their own whether their actions would impact threatened or endangered species, bypassing two federal agencies that otherwise administer the Endangered Species Act. The move came more than a month after Obama directed the Commerce and Interior departments to review the Bush administration's last-minute edicts. Salazar and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said their agencies are in the midst of a complete review of nearly 2,000 regulations relating to the ESA.
05/03/2009 EGYPT ORDERS SLAUGHTER OF ALL PIGS OVER SWINE FLU
Egypt began slaughtering the roughly 300,000 pigs in the country Wednesday as a precautionary measure against the spread of swine flu even though no cases have been reported here yet, the Health Ministry said.
05/02/2009 SWINE FLU VACCINE "NOT TO BE GIVEN TO VEGETARIANS"
The UK government confirmed that vegetarians would not be given the swine flu vaccine as "it's only fair." An official statement said "Basically, if you live by the sword you die by the sword. Millions of people in this country choose to eat meat on a regular basis, and it is only right and proper that they receive absolute priority when protection against this meat-based virus is handed out." The statement goes on to say, "Very few heterosexuals were given the available AIDS drugs, and this will work on the same principle. Vegetarians will be able to pay for the drug at a premium, but even then vigorous checks will be made to ensure that are just vegetarians, not vegans."
05/01/2009 CONTAINER WITH SWINE VIRUS EXPLODES IN SWISS TRAIN
A container of flu virus samples packed in dry ice exploded on a Swiss train, injuring one person but posing no other risks to humans, police said on Tuesday. The box held vials of swine flu virus, although a different strain than the H1N1 variety that has caused about 150 deaths in Mexico and infected people in the United States, Canada, Spain and Britain. A technician was transporting the container on Monday night to the Swiss national flu centre in Geneva, where scientists are developing a flu test for humans, police said.
The number of news found: 22.
