News
The number of news found: 19.
10/31/2009 ANIMAL FRIENDS ON THE HOCKEY MATCH!
On last night's game of Zagreb's Ice-hockey club MEDVESCAK against the Austrian club KAC Klangefurt which MEDVESCAK won 4:1, among 7,000 fans who heartily supported the Bears at the Ledena dvorana Doma sportova on tribune in sector B, appeared a huge several meters long banner "ANIMAL FRIENDS LOVES BEARS". Fifteen activists and supporters of Animal Friends with this act and message gave support to the most popular sport club in Zagreb at that very moment, and once more brought attention to the brutal exploitation, torture and killing of animals for "fashion trends!" With this Animal Friends and Zagreb Bears announced the upcoming collaboration in which the Bears will be the main heroes!
10/30/2009 SHOCKING IMAGES REVEAL IMPACT OF OCEAN POLLUTION
Recent photographs taken on Midway Atoll in the North Pacific by professional photographer Chris Jordan show the shocking extent of ocean pollution, and the horrific impact it has on wildlife. Albatrosses often mistake plastic debris floating in the ocean for food, and bring it back to their nests to feed to their chicks. Every year, thousands of albatross chicks die from starvation, toxicity, and choking. Many of these deaths could be prevented if we recycled our waste, or disposed of it properly, rather than dumping it in the oceans. Many other animals are injured or die as a result of sea pollution, including fish, turtles and dolphins. These shocking images show the devastating impact of human wastefulness on wildlife and the environment, and illustrate the need to cut down on consumption, recycle, and take care of our world – for all its inhabitants.
10/29/2009 GIVE UP MEAT TO SAVE THE PLANET
In an interview with The Times, Lord Stern of Brentford said: "Meat is a wasteful use of water and creates a lot of greenhouse gases. It puts enormous pressure on the world’s resources. A vegetarian diet is better." Direct emissions of methane from cows and pigs is a significant source of greenhouse gases. Methane is 23 times more powerful than carbon dioxide as a global warming gas. Lord Stern, the author of the influential 2006 Stern Review on the cost of tackling global warming, said that a successful deal at the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December would lead to soaring costs for meat and other foods that generate large quantities of greenhouse gases.
10/28/2009 WORLD GO VEGAN WEEK
The 4th annual World GO VEGAN Week is taking place this year from October 25 through 31. This week is a celebration of compassion and a time to take action for animals, the environment and everyone's well-being. IDA encourages people to use this week to use this week to educate their community about the vegan lifestyle as a compassionate, sustainable, and healthy way of eating and living. Promoting veganism through outreach events and the media, IDA knows that the annual World GO VEGAN Week is helping make the word "vegan" a household word, universally recognized as meaning love and compassion for all living beings.
10/27/2009 SHELL WINS OFFSHORE DRILLING RIGHTS IN ALASKA
After years of controversy and delays, a federal agency has given a green light for Royal Dutch Shell to drill for oil and gas in the Arctic Ocean. The decision by the Minerals Management Service lifts one of the last big hurdles for the company to drill two exploration wells in two offshore lease areas in the Beaufort Sea. The company plans to do the drilling between July and October, 2010 - the next open-water season when the sea-ice melts. The plan has raised considerable opposition both from environmental groups, who point to the risks of pollution in one of the most remote regions of North America, and native villagers, who have sustained themselves for centuries on whaling.
10/26/2009 ZOO ADMITS CONNECTION WITH CIRCUS
A zoo in North Somerset has admitted many of its animals are on loan from the owner of a controversial circus. Noah's Ark Zoo near Bristol breeds tigers and camels for the Great British Circus - the only UK circus which still uses tigers in its shows. It has been keeping the arrangement secret from visitors and from the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA). Professional group BIAZA said it would investigate the allegations.
10/24/2009 JAPAN CATCHES 59 WHALES OFF NORTHERN ISLAND
Japan said Monday it has caught 59 whales - one short of the maximum allowed by international guidelines - under a research program that critics say is a cover for commercial whaling. The annual expedition off the port city of Kushiro ended over the weekend after harvesting 59 minke whales, the Fisheries Agency said in a statement. A maximum of 60 is allowed under the research program authorized by the International Whaling Commission. Japan and other pro-whaling nations have been pushing for the IWC to revoke the 1986 ban on commercial hunts amid arguments over the number of whales left in the world's oceans. Japan also annually hunts about 1,000 whales in the Antarctic Ocean and the northwest Pacific Ocean under an IWC research program. Critics say the expeditions are a cover for commercial whaling because the harvest is sold to market for consumption.
10/23/2009 GERMANS CONSUME MORE THAN 1,000 ANIMALS IN THEIR LIFETIME
Researchers at German Vegetarian Association estimated that Germans eat more than one billion animals, excluding fish or sea creatures, every year, reports the Daily Express. The study discovered that on average individual on average every German eats four cows, four calves, four sheep, 46 pigs, 37 ducks, 46 turkeys, 12 geese and 945 chickens.
10/22/2009 GREEN CALLS FOR ANIMAL REPLACEMENT IN THE EU
The South East's Green MEP launched a new campaign in the European Parliament on October 7, to urge EU lawmakers to replace the use of animals in testing and research with non-animal alternatives. Caroline Lucas MEP, who was recently named the new President of the European Parliament's influential cross-party Animal Welfare Intergroup, has joined with fellow MEPs to sign a Written Declaration calling for increased funding for the development of alternative methods to animal testing - and a 1% "research levy" on products that contain ingredients tested on animals. The Written Declaration, like an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons, will become the official position of the European Parliament if it can attract the support of at least half of all MEPs.
10/20/2009 BUDDHA BOY TO FIGHT FOR ANIMAL RIGHTS
Ahead of the world's largest animal sacrifice, the Buddha Boy, who came to limelight for Buddha-like meditation in the jungle for months allegedly without water and food, has vowed to stop mass killings of animals and birds at the Gadhimai Mela in Bariyapur VDC-1 in November. But the Gadhimai Management Committee is bent on slaughtering the animals as per the historic tradition to appease the deity. The sacrifice is scheduled for November 24 and 25 in Bara district. The organisers plan to slaughter at least 200,000 animals - including 60,000 buffaloes and 140,000 rats, goats, ducks, roosters and pigeons in the two-day-long Mela.
10/19/2009 EATING FISH DOES NOT PROTECT AGAINST HEART ATTACKS
In a study out this month, researchers found that consuming fish does not reduce the risk of heart failure. After 11 years of follow-up of 5,000 men and women, almost 670 had heart attacks. Those who consumed the most fish had no protective effect, compared with others. This research was part of the Rotterdam Study in the Netherlands where, like all Western nations, heart failure is common.
10/16/2009 INCY VEGETARIAN SPIDER IS A SCIENTIFIC FIRST
Scientists have discovered the world's first known vegetarian spider. Bagheera kiplingi, a South American species, lives almost exclusively on leaf buds and is thought to be the only spider of about 40,000 species to have rejected a carnivorous diet. Instead it has developed a laidback lifestyle based on nutritious wild acacia plants - and has no need to spin a web to catch its prey. The females have even dispensed with the time-honoured spider custom of eating their sexual partners immediately after mating. The vegetarian diet of B kiplingi appears to have prompted other changes. Since it no longer needs to go through the energy-sapping business of catching prey, it has diverted its web-spinning abilities to building family homes. Mothers use the nests to rear their young. B kiplingi does not, however, lead an entirely blameless lifestyle. Its food may be vegetarian but the spiders first have to steal it from under the noses of the ants that guard acacias against invaders. For zoologists, though, the most startling aspect of Meehan’s discovery is that spider physiology was thought to make plant-eating impossible.
10/15/2009 EXHIBITING ANIMALS IN CIRCUSES ABOUT TO END IN PORTUGAL
Exhibiting animals in circuses is about to end in Portugal, as the government published on the October 12 a new law prohibiting the purchase of all species of primates, bears, seals, hippopotamuses, penguins, crocodiles, elephants, big cats, sea turtles, some lizards, ostriches, scorpions, serpents, etc. Breeding animals that already live in circuses is also not allowed. From now on only authorized entities can legally hold certain animal species considered dangerous, and circuses as well as pet stores are not included. The Ministry of Environment justifies this law as a way to preserve the species and their welfare, as well as the population's safety. Animals and their existing offspring being already held must be registered within 90 days from the date the law is enforced at the Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e Biodiversidade (Nature and Biodiversity Preservation Institute).
10/14/2009 SWEDEN TURNING STRAY RABBITS INTO BIOFUEL
Stray rabbits are getting a raw deal in Sweden. Thousands of them living in the center of Stockholm are being culled, deep frozen and converted into biofuel for heating homes. Wildlife campaigners have criticized the practice.
10/09/2009 MASSIVE NUMBERS OF DEER TO BE SHOT
Officials at Valley Forge National Historical Park said that they would begin shooting massive numbers of deer, possibly as soon as next month, rejecting a Villanova activist's proposal to shrink the herd through contraception. Park managers also said that the growing number of deer would require them to shoot more animals than originally expected - 500 the first year, 500 the second, and between 250 and 300 in years three and four. That would reduce the herd 86 percent. "We've done a good and honest job of evaluating all the alternatives, based on the best available science," said Kristina Heister, the park's natural resource manager. But others say the park has rushed toward a lethal option, ignoring other, more humane possibilities.
10/08/2009 TEEN KILLS FRIEND WITH ARROW
An investigator says a teenager accidentally shot a friend with an arrow and killed him while the two were turkey hunting in southern Illinois. Wayne County Sheriff Jim Hinkle says 20-year-old Aaron Long of Fairfield was killed Thursday at Sam Dale Lake. Hinkle says a 16-year-old hunter accidentally shot Long in the back after mistaking the victim for a turkey. The sheriff calls the shooting an "extreme tragedy" and says it's unlikely the teen will be charged. Illinois State Police are investigating.
10/06/2009 WHALE ACTIVIST HITS VISA HURDLE
The Federal Immigration Department has cracked down on Sea Shepherd's Paul Watson, demanding to know the anti-whaling group leader's police and court records as it reviews his visa. Until now, authorities had let Captain Watson, who holds a US passport, come and go from his Australian-based ship on a tourist visa. The department has told him he must satisfy exhaustive new good-character requirements to get a business visa. An email exchange shows the Australian Embassy in Washington wants Captain Watson's bill of legal health from Norway, where his group claims it sank whaling ships.
10/05/2009 L214 HAS BROUGHT ANIMAL CRUELTY CHARGES AGAINST THE ABATTOIR CHARAL
The animal protection organization L214 produced an undercover documentary about slaughter procedures within the abattoir Charal, a meat company with a good reputation in France. The researcher has worked three weeks in the slaughterhouse. The following breaches of legislation were discovered: During standard slaughter, cattle were not killed immediately after stunning; during ritual killings cattle were suspended before the end of bleeding. Furthermore, the restraining equipment is situated facing the slaughter-chain, which increases the distress of the animals being forced into the trap. These breaches are increasing the suffering of animals during slaughter. L214 has brought animal cruelty charges against the abattoir and is questioning the veterinary supervision.
10/01/2009 WORLD'S LARGEST FRESHWATER FISH LIKELY EXTINCT
A three-year quest to find the giant Chinese paddlefish in the Yangtze river failed to sight or catch a single individual. That means that the fish, which can grow up to 7m long, has not been seen alive for at least six years. There remains a chance that some escaped the survey and survive, say experts, but without action, the future of the species is bleak. The concern for the Chinese paddlefish is that its fate will parallel that of the Yangtze river dolphin, a large mammal species that was once abundant in the Yangtze river system, but has recently been declared extinct.
The number of news found: 19.
