"In the last 30 years, the African elephant population has declined to about 35 percent of its original numbers." Samuel Wasser Conservation Biologist, University of Washington DEMAND FOR IVORY DRIVES THE ILLEGAL TRADE Pictured below is confiscated ivory (top left corner), museum tusks (world record size), ivory scraps (lower right hand corner), cherished "legally" owned ivory tusks on the right, and various other specimens of ivory. They all have one thing in common: dead elephants. The only sure way to end the supply of ivory is stop the demand. Stop buying ANY ivory. You could be contributing to the demand for ivory without even knowing it. READ MORE THE IVORY BAN IS A MAZE NO ONE KNOWS HOW TO NAVIGATE "A confusing array of restrictions, bans and occasional legal mass sales make tracking and finding illegal ivory – made from the tusks of elephants slaughtered in spite of bans enacted decades ago — a challenge for the best of sleuths," writes Melissa Seagrest for Green Right Now. READ MORE
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"For more than 25 years, Zoocheck has been a leading voice for the protection of wild animals. We are the only Canadian organization with a specific focus on captive wild animal issues and problems." ZooCheck.com STRAIGHT FROM ZOOCHECK.COM: Zoocheck Canada is a national animal protection charity (#13150 2072 RR 0001) established in 1984 to promote and protect the interests and well-being of wild animals. Zoocheck works to improve wildlife protection in Canada and to end the abuse, neglect and exploitation of individual wild animals through:
Zoocheck has also provided vital support to the efforts of individuals, organizations and governments throughout Canada and around the world as they work to address wildlife problems and issues in their own regions. Training workshops have been conducted, campaign tools developed and advice, information and assistance provided to hundreds of different animal protection initiatives over the years. photo from zoocheck.com Biography Rob Laidlaw has spent 30 years campaigning to protect animals of all kinds. His work has taken him from Canada's north to tropical Asia and includes more than 1,000 visits to zoos around the world. He is a Chartered Biologist, avid outdoorsman, cave explorer, and a founder of the wildlife protection organization Zoocheck Canada. He regularly provides commentary on animal issues to print, radio and television media and speaks to groups of all ages throughout the world. In 2008, Laidlaw’s first children’s book, Wild Animals in Captivity, was released. His second book, On Parade, The Hidden World of Animals in Entertainment, is scheduled for release in 2010, while a third book about rescue centers and sanctuaries is now in the works. For more information, please visit Rob's websites at www.zoocheck.com andwww.wildanimalsincaptivity.com. "The bullet slammed into the lioness and she spun into the air, falling against the electric fence behind which she was confined. Standing on the other side of the fence were her three young cubs - she had been separated from them an hour earlier. "The overseas hunter fired another shot. She slumped to the ground in a crumpled heap. Both times, the hunter shot from a vehicle. He then posed with the dead lioness and pulled at her mouth to show her teeth." This is how Gareth Patterson described a scene that some of you will recognise from The Cook Report TV documentary on canned hunting. (Source captiveanimals.org) But you don't have to go to Africa to kill the animals of your dreams. You can do it right here in America. There are over 1000 canned hunting sites available for your killing pleasure in the U.S. All kinds of rare, exotic animals are fenced in on commercial hunting grounds that you can shoot just about any which way you choose -- for a price. Zebras cost somewhere around $4,500 to put a bullet through. Lodging costs are on top of the kill price. Killing a Transcaspian Urial Sheep will set you back upwards of around $17,000 while a Siberian Ibex is more than $19,000. The Blah Blah Blah Hunting Lodge advertises that their hunting adventure: ".... allows the opportunity to hunt and harvest the Trophy Zebra you'll want to hang on your wall...this hunt will offer 100% opportunity for a Mature Zebra. Year round, we offer hunts for beautiful Grants Zebra. There are no seasonal restrictions on hunting the Zebra in Texas, which makes it a suitable trophy year round." ( I guess the new word for kill is "harvest" .... ) I grew up eating elk and venison my entire childhood courtesy of my father who was an avid big game hunter. My brothers and I, along with my mother, helped pack out the meat from the forest and my father gutted/cleaned and packaged the meat in our basement using a band saw. But one thing he would never do, and would never support, is canned hunting. He hunted to put food on our table. He loved the hunt. He really did. But he told me if he had money he would not have hunted. He did it to provide for his family. He would not have done it for the joy of killing. The caption for this posting is what some or even most canned hunters feel. Trophy hunters often have their wish list -- a bucket list if you will -- of animals they want to kill during their lifetime. I cannot fathom this mindset. Canned hunters must have a perverted sense of joy and twisted sense of accomplishment along with what I can only describe as scary egos. These exotic animals are transported from their natural habitat and some are farm raised to continue the species for future hunting. They are on grounds that have fences. They are not living a natural life and they die a quite unnatural death. I will never understand the soul of these people. How they stand by their trophy kill with those "look-at-me" grins thinking they are powerful or strong or whatever it is that they believe they are. The whole concept of canned hunting is beyond my comprehension. Canned hunting seems so obviously wrong that it feels almost silly making that point. Hunters I know would never go to a commercial lodge where animals had been stocked like fish in a pond and where the grounds are fenced. There's no real challenge. It's not 'real' hunting. It's disgraceful. The whole thing is a barbaric, inhumane way to make money and be entertained at the great expense of amazing wild creatures. "Harvesting" animals on canned hunts should not only be illegal it should be viewed as horrendously shameful. Don't buy anything containing tiger parts. Poaching of tigers is driven by continued demand for tiger parts – like bones for Traditional Chinese Medicine and skins for clothes. READ MORE
Click below to watch 2 minute video about undercover investigation at Smithfield Farms and chicken producer Perdue. As consumers we need to hold companies responsible for abusive practices in their production of food. I do not understand how Smithfield chooses to raise pigs in such deplorable conditions and yet strives to be viewed as a humane company. How it is acceptable to know you are doing harm and yet the harm is allowed to be fazed out over a ten year period?? If you're a meat eater, learn about the companies you are buying from and don't line the pockets of animal abusers with your money. You have a choice. The animals don't.
From This Dish Is Veg By Robin Lawless The city that hosts the Nobel Peace Prize every year is taking a step toward making it a more peaceful world for animals. There will be no fur on the catwalk at Oslo’s Fashion Week next February, making Norway the first country to enact such a ban for the event.
The ban was a response to a massive candlelight vigil protesting fur last November by The Norwegian animal rights group NOAH. The organization also collected signatures from more than 200 designers, models, photographers and other members of the Norwegian fashion industry who refuse to work with fur. “It has been a very natural choice for us,” says Paul Vasbotten, general manager of the Oslo Fashion Week. “We are doing this in order to increase ethical values in fashion.” READ FULL ARTICLE |
Animal Rights & Welfare
Posts by Betsy Seeton "The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for white, or women created for men." ~Alice Walker The source of the quote is Walker's preface to Marjorie Spiegel's 1988 book, "The Dreaded Comparison" . Her next sentence was, "This is the gist of Ms. Spiegel's cogent, humane and astute argument, and it is sound." Archives
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