Suffering: Giant Pandas YaYa And LeLe At Memphis Zoo Credit: Panda Voices
UPDATE! A huge victory for Giant Pandas YaYa, 22, and LeLe, 24, who will be sent back to their homeland of China, according to a statement from the Memphis Zoo. In Defense of Animals and Panda Voices, who have been lobbying for the pandas’ release for nearly two years, announced the news today.
“After far too many years of suffering in a grossly inappropriate zoo exhibit, YaYa and LeLe will finally get improved care at a specialized panda refuge in their homeland,” said Brittany Michelson, Captive Animals Campaigner for In Defense of Animals.
“We applaud the Memphis Zoo and Chinese authorities for making the ethical decision to return the pandas to China once the loan contract ends in April 2023. We thank Billie Eilish and our many thousands of supporters worldwide for helping us encourage the zoo…
TheIditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, more commonly known asThe Iditarod, is an annual long-distancesled dograce run in early March. It travels fromAnchoragetoNome, entirely within the US state ofAlaska.Mushersand a team of 14 dogs,of which at least 5must be on the towline at the finish line, cover the distance in 8–15 days or more.The Iditarod began in 1973 as an event to test the best sled dog mushers and teams but evolved into today’s highly competitive race.
Teams generally race throughblizzardscausingwhiteoutconditions, sub-zero temperatures and gale-force winds which can cause…
Walmart has started selling service dog jackets and ID registration cards.
This is affecting every disabled person with a legitimate task trained service dog. It puts our lives more at risk.
ADA Federal Law, Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 specifically says that some organizations sell fraudulent registration cards and that they are scams because they hold no legal authority and donot make a dog a service dog.
Extensive training makes a dog a service dog. The fake service dog trend is getting out of control. And Walmart is promoting this for money.
Why do the 500,000 disabled people in the US who own service animals have to worry more about going to Walmart and having our $20,000 dogsattacked by pets in the store. That’s 500,000 service dogs lives and safety on the line.
Task trained service dogs save our lives. Mine is for cardiac alert. We encounter pets in Walmart all the time. And Walmart never wants to help.Even when dogs are actively barking and lunging trying to attack.
Instead of making things better and properly educating employees, they are creating a bigger problem by selling these products.
Walmart is not the only one adding to the problem. There’s many online stores and websites that also promote this.
Our biggest problem is the uneducated general public. But Walmart is by far the worst place to go with a Service Dog. I shouldn’t have to accept the fact that my Medical Alert Service Dog WILL be attacked at some point.
The Fake service dog trend is so out of control that it will happen. And it won’t be just me and my dog. Many service animals have already been attacked. And it’s only going to get worse unless we make a change now.
‘Puppy farms’ are industrial breeding mills that often see dogs kept in appalling conditions in order to produce as many as possible. Dogs in these mills are kept in confinement for the majority, and sometimes entirety, of their lifespan. They often suffer from untreated health conditions such as infections, tumours, and dysplasia. Dogs that are kept for breeding purposes are repeatedly impregnated until they are no longer useful, and then often are terminated. Too often dogs who are kept on puppy farms end up suffering from psychological damage and need to receive rehabilitation before they are able to be rehomed.
Puppy farming is not entirely unregulated in South Australia, with the state government introducing a Code of Practice in 2017; however, this code allows abusive behaviours such as keeping the dogs confined for 23 hours and 30 minutes a day. Additionally, it allows the farmers to kill the dogs however they wish to (with the exception of drowning) so long as it “causes death or unconsciousness as rapidly as possible”.
Locally in South Australia there has been multiple proposals to erect new puppy farms. These industrial grade dog-breeding complexes – if approved – would seek to house hundreds of dogs in less than half as many kennels (one example is in Two Wells If approved, 300 dogs would be housed in 114 kennels). The RSPCA Chief Executive Officer Paul Stevenson spoke about the Two Wells proposition, claiming that the mill would have to operate “seven days a week 24 hours a day” in order to properly care for the animals, and stated that he was “horrified” with the proposal.
Australia has a dog overpopulation problem with tens of thousands of dogs being destroyed every year due to shelter overcrowding. This tragedy can be accredited to the fact that we breed thousands of dogs for profit, despite the ongoing epidemic of dog homelessness. The sinister nature of puppy farms is multi-faceted as not only do they seek to keep dogs in sub-par living conditions in order to exploit them for profit, but these farm’s existence adds to the problem of overcrowding in shelters and the needless execution of innocent and unloved dogs and puppies.
The ‘adopt don’t shop’ initiative has done a brilliant job in promoting the grassroots movement of adopting dogs in need rather than contribute to the dog production industry; however, as a community we must put our foot down when we see exploitation at our doorstep.
The Animal Justice Party SA seeks to ban all puppy farms in South Australia in order to expel the exploitation from our state and reduce the needless death toll.
I support the Animal Justice Party SA in seeking to ban all puppy farms in South Australia in order to expel the exploitation from our state and reduce the needless death toll.
Last spring, just as COVID-19 hit our shores, a White Coat Waste Project investigation revealed that taxpayer funding from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) was secretively funneled to the notorious Wuhan Institute of Virology for wasteful and dangerous experiments on coronavirus-infected bats and other animals… including experiments that the State Department warned posed a pandemic risk.
Just one week after we released our international exposé, the White House cut funding for these animal experiments at the Wuhan Institute of Virology,
But now, despite being actively investigated for its role in the origins of COVID-19, the NIH says the Wuhan Institute of Virology, and 26 other labs in China, are still eligible to spend U.S. taxpayer money for wasteful, cruel, and hazardous animal experiments until 2024!
We need your help telling the U.S. government to permanently end taxpayer funding for the Wuhan Animal Lab and all other animal testing in China and other foreign countries!Want to know how else your money has been squandered?
Let’s just say the NIH is addicted to spending tens of millions of your tax money at foreign labs where animals are made to get hooked on drugs.
In recent years, Uncle Sam sent $11.6 million of your money to the U.K. to addict “junkie monkeys” to cocaine, morphine, and heroin, over $700,000 to hook zebrafish on nicotine, and $4.9 million to force pregnant mice to consume alcohol to cause birth defects.
It’s time to just say no to this cruel and wasteful spending. Please join me and White Coat Waste Project in urging the U.S. government to cut funding for ALL animal experiments in foreign labs.
Target: Vanessa Kauffman, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Specialist for National Wildlife Refuge System, Migratory Birds, Endangered Species Act, Public Lands, and Wolves
Goal: Investigate cause of unknown affliction sickening and killing songbirds.
The bird world is dealing with its own deadly outbreak. The U.S. Geological Survey has warned of an alarming rise of wild bird deaths attributed to a mystery illness. Afflicted birds exhibit symptoms such as swollen, crusty eyes, disorientation, an inability to fly, and eventual death. Presently, scientists can only try to mitigate the disease’s spread. In a nod to social distancing, they are encouraging people in mid-Atlantic states (where the clusters of deaths are centered) to take down bird feeders, bird baths, or any other devices that attract large groups of birds.
Several potential causes have been suggested, including infectious disease, pesticide poisoning, the lingering effects of an avian salmonella outbreak, and even the emergence of cicadas that may carry a dangerous fungus. No definitive answers have been discovered, however. In the meantime, blue jays, European starlings, and other wild songbirds continue to fall victim across Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and possibly more states.
Various state wildlife services have begun investigations. Sign the petition below to urge the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to launch a similar comprehensive initiative that seeks a cause and, more importantly, a solution to this ongoing threat.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Ms. Kauffman,
The avian population recently dealt with a serious salmonella outbreak, and this dangerous illness eventually killed seven humans as well. This incident, as well as the public health turmoil currently engulfing the globe, demonstrates in full that we cannot ignore grave threats to the living beings with whom we share this planet. We are all interconnected.
Therefore, the even more alarming epidemic taking place within mid-Atlantic songbirds should be of urgent concern not just to conservation groups in the affected states but to the country as a whole. Scientists studying the often-fatal condition that renders birds immobile and potentially blind are at a loss. They could use the expertise and abundant resources of this federal agency in solving a perplexing mystery. The stakes are high for these birds and potentially far beyond.
Please focus the agency’s efforts on this developing crisis as soon as possible.
“Groundbreaking anti-horse slaughter and aftercare legislation was passed June 10 by the New York State Assembly and is expected to be signed into law by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.”
“The bill, which had already been passed by the New York State Senate, prohibits the sale or transfer of Thoroughbred and Standardbred racing or breeding stock for slaughter. Violations are misdemeanors punishable by $1,000 fine per horse or $2,500 per business entity and will be doubled for second violations. Violations are also subject to Gaming Commission license implications.
“The bill also calls for racehorses to be microchipped and registered with The Jockey Club and has a provision that will allow residents and corporations to receive credit for donations to Thoroughbred aftercare programs through their tax return.
Apparently, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) under Joe Biden agrees with my conclusion that oil company activities in Alaska pose minimal risk to polar bears (Crockford 2019, 2020, 2021). Although this ruling is not yet final, they have proposed that oil exploration and extraction activities on the North Slope of Alaska can proceed over the next five years.
After noting that no major offshore oil spills have ever taken place in the Alaskan portion of the Beaufort Sea (see map below) and that all spills to date have been on land with no impact on polar bears, the proposed rule in the 200+ page assessment states:
Pandemic puppies. When the kids go back to school and owners return to work and pup gets to spend his days in a crate. Just 7 months. Vacs not completed and not neutered. Blue now in a foster home. pic.twitter.com/rOtr9Xngl9
Brown-headed Nuthatches are back in Missouri thanks to habitat restoration and translocation efforts. Photo by Frode Jacobson
The release of 46 Brown-headed Nuthatches, translocated from Arkansas to restored pine woodlands in Missouri’s Mark Twain National Forest in August and September 2020, marked this species’ return to the state. The brown-capped songbird had been absent since the early 1900s, following widespread habitat loss.
“I really think that a big take-home from all of this, and something we can all be proud of, is how well science, management, and conservation of species came together in this effort,” says Jane Fitzgerald, ABC’s Central Hardwoods Joint Venture (CHJV) Coordinator. “Most of the people who, decades ago, imagined all of this happening are now retired, but a new cadre of folks saw, and see, the vision and are moving the ball forward. In the Interior Highlands, we really are a conservation community, and I hope that continues for decades to come.”
During pre-colonial times, 6.6 million acres of Shortleaf Pine and pine-oak woodland covered Missouri’s Ozark Mountains. After settlement and development, which included widespread logging and fire suppression, these ecosystems were reduced to approximately 600,000 acres. The dramatic reduction in habitat led to the extirpation — or regional disappearance — of some bird species tied these open pinelands, including the Red-cockaded Woodpecker and Brown-headed Nuthatch.
The nuthatch release was only possible after successful habitat restoration, which required years of hard work and patience. Although the Mark Twain National Forest had been actively restoring 12,000 acres of pine woodland on the Eleven Point Ranger District by 2006, the work was greatly accelerated when the forest was awarded significant funding through the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP). The CFLRP, administered by the U.S. Forest Service, is intended to encourage collaborative, science-based ecosystem restoration of priority forest landscapes on and around national forest lands across the United States.
To help build this collaboration, ABC and the CHJV brought together key partners, including federal, state, and nongovernmental organizations and agencies that formally agreed to work together to restore pine woods in the same large landscape, called the Current River Hills. Ten years of dedicated funding was awarded to the Mark Twain National Forest in 2012, and now roughly 100,000 acres of Shortleaf Pine and pine-oak woodland has been, or is being, restored. It was this habitat restoration work that was vital to establishing the area as a place to bring back Brown-headed Nuthatches.
Shortly after the restoration work in Missouri began picking up, a team of researchers from the U.S.D.A. Forest Service’s Northern Research Station and the University of Missouri pooled resources to investigate various aspects of the bird’s biology, quantifying the Brown-headed Nuthatch’s preferred habitat conditions in Arkansas; showing how the Missouri restoration efforts benefited other songbirds while confirming the nuthatch’s continued absence; building habitat models; and assessing the habitat structure at the Mark Twain restoration sites.
In addition, the Missouri Department of Conservation’s (MDC’s) state ornithologist and a wildlife biologist at U.S.D.A. Forest Service’s Northern Research Station worked with ecologists from Tall Timbers Research Station in Florida who had experience with Brown-headed Nuthatch translocations. With this input, they developed methods needed to safely capture the birds in Arkansas, then safely transport them to Missouri.
Because the nuthatches were released on public land, anyone can see these birds. Mark Twain National Forest visitors can help monitor the nuthatches’ presence and movements by submitting their observations to the eBird database (www.ebird.org).
American Bird Conservancy is a nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving birds and their habitats throughout the Americas. With an emphasis on achieving results and working in partnership, we take on the greatest problems facing birds today, innovating and building on rapid advancements in science to halt extinctions, protect habitats, eliminate threats, and build capacity for bird conservation. Find us on abcbirds.org, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter (@ABCbirds).
What has happened in recent months with cows adrift in the Mediterranean should teach us all a lesson. Banning the exports of live animals violates the European Union’s free trade rules, so the change has to be much more profound, not only has to be a decision of the Spanish Government, but also of the European Parliament.
Every year, several million farm animals (calves, cows, sheep, pigs, goats, horses, etc.) are forced to endure trips of thousands of miles, only to be slaughtered on arrival or fattened in often inhumane conditions.
Animals transported alive suffer a lot due to overcrowding, lack of water and dehydration due to the high temperatures that they must suffer when confined in small places, often without adequate ventilation, the stress of travel, and problems such as accidents that can cause death.
More than 2,500 cows and calves have been found on two boats adrift for three months, and many more have already died during the trip. They are adrift as they were on their way to their final destination and they detected that they were ill and were refused entry, so they continue to circle the ship throughout the Mediterranean. Imagine that it is no way to live for an animal, locked up for months in two boats being rejected by everyone, waiting for death. Something has to be done so that animals are not slaughtered and also to prohibit long-distance transport of animals, each one of those trips is torture.
The suffering of these animals locked up in a boat for so long, waiting for them to be slaughtered now, after so much mistreatment, is completely unnecessary. It is not fair to animals that have to go through this. Do something but don’t kill them!
Each year, 1 billion birds will die from window collisions in North America. To learn more about this devastating crisis, and to find out how you can help, visit our Crisis page: https://t.co/z8pGX9ZyMApic.twitter.com/whBlptfGdm
A popular souvenir in China is a cruel prison for small animals. At markets, tourists can buy keychains with small animals like turtles, fish, salamanders, and frogs trapped in small plastic containers. These poor animals can barely move and are left to live in their own feces. Obviously, they’ll suffocate quite quickly. Signs selling the souvenirs actually tell people they don’t have to feed them for 3 months. This may be appealing to tourists or local shoppers, but it isn’t a Tamagotchi, they’re live animals.
As can be seen in the video above, the animals barely have enough space to move. Can you imagine being trapped in such a tiny space with nowhere to go? No animal deserves to live like this. These animals are meant to be outside and to roam and move around. Frogs should be hopping around, fish should be swimming far distances, and the other animals should be able to run, walk, find food, and release their waste in a different place than where they eat and sleep.
According to this petition, the animals only have enough oxygen to survive for a few days. According to the Dodo, “In the best case scenario, they’re freed from their prisons and end up as pets to people who aren’t prepared to care for them.” Either way, they’re subjected to a life in captivity where they may not live to their full life expectancy or act on their natural instincts in their natural habitat.
For more Animal, Earth, Life, Vegan Food, Health, and Recipe content published daily, subscribe to the One Green Planet Newsletter! Also, don’t forget to download the Food Monster App on iTunes — with over 15,000 delicious recipes it is the largest meatless, vegan and allergy-friendly recipe resource to help reduce your environmental footprint, save animals and get healthy!
40,913 SUPPORTERS 45,000 GOAL Celebrities in Pakistan are sounding the alarm about a desolate bear, imprisoned in a zoo where she is in desperate need of immediate care. Otherwise, animal lovers fear she may die.
Tell authorities in Pakistan to follow their citizens’ demands and release this poor, suffering bear to an appropriate sanctuary now!
A video has started circulating online exposing the horrible reality for a female bear named Ranoo, who is kept captive in the subpar facilities of the Karachi Zoo in Karachi, Pakistan. In the video, the bear is shown panting in the immense, scorching heat, surrounded by a sparse environment offering little in the way of shade or relief.
Zoogoers observed that the bear appears both extremely hungry and thirsty, with no food or water in sight. Her fur appears extremely matted and ragged, while her nails are overgrown, suggesting serious negligence. Experts say that the poor, imprisoned animal is not even being treated with proper medical care.
Meanwhile, Ranoo is also struggling with the pain of having been separated from her family. While the rest of her bear community is back in the Pakistani city of Skardu, she was torn away in order to entertain paying guests at the Karachi Zoo’s shameful facilities. Now, she lives her whole life under lock and key, in a small and barren enclosure, all on her own. In fact, she is the only bear living at the zoo. Even Murtaza Wahab Siddiqui, an advisor on Law and Environment to the Chief Minister of Sindh, admitted that “there may be issues of loneliness since she is the only bear…”
Despite her horrible condition, officials in the country do not appear to be concerned. In response to the uproar from multiple celebrities as well as citizens throughout Pakistan, Murtaza Wahab Siddiqui tried to reassure the public that all was well. He claimed the poor, mangy animal was “in stable health condition” and was “being looked after.”
This is clearly not the case. Even worse, authorities in Pakistan already have not been taking negligence and animal abuse at zoos seriously. Several months ago, in July 2020, a fire that broke out at Islamabad Zoo — combined with staff members’ inaction — caused two lions to actually burn to death.
As actor Ushna Shah wrote to her fans on Instagram: “Do not support zoos or marine animal shows and please educate your family and friends against them. Make them understand that such exhibits are cruel.” We wholeheartedly agree.
We can’t trust anything the authorities say when it comes to this poor bear’s health. The only thing we can do is demand that she be released to a sanctuary — along with her whole family — to spend the rest of her days in peace.
Sign the petition to demand that Ranoo the bear be reunited with her family, and that the whole bear group is sent to a reputable sanctuary!SHARE8.3KTWEETEMAILEMBED
People love to release balloons into the sky on happy occasions: sports games, graduations, weddings, you name it. But the tradition has a deadly effect on wildlife and our environment!
Will you sign the petition asking for a total ban on releasing balloons into the air in all states that allow it?
There are plenty of ways to celebrate that don’t put toxic materials into the world where innocent animals can ingest them and die. Sometimes the balloons even have strings attached, which can entangle birds or even kill them. No animal deserves to die so humans can have a nice moment.
Some balloon companies say their balloons are biodegradable, but even those take years and so are still a risk. Others claim all their balloons burst into tiny pieces that don’t matter. But actually, microplastics are polluting our water now more than ever.
There is already so much litter that ends up in the wild by accident, we really shouldn’t allow activities that will always result in toxic litter on purpose. One Green Planet has a whole list of ideas for celebrations or honoring someone instead of balloons, including bubbles, planting a tree, or luminaries in recycled bags! The simple fact is: this is an unnecessary and harmful practice and we shouldn’t allow it.Some states in the U.S. have put laws in place banning balloon releases, and that’s a great start! They are: California, Connecticut, Florida, Tennessee and Virginia. And even some cities have taken charge: Ocean City, Maryland; Louisville, Kentucky; Huntsville, Alabama; San Francisco, California; Nantucket, Massachusetts; Provincetown, Massachusetts; and Baltimore, Maryland, according to balloonsblow.org.
But we need every single state to follow suit if we want to end this totally preventable litter from harming our animals. Will you sign on asking for a total ban on balloon releases?SHARE4.6KTWEETEMAILEMBED
It’s been a while since there’s been news about public lands rancher/wolf killer Craig Thiessen from New Mexico. He’s the guy who pleaded guilty to killing a trapped Mexican gray wolf pup (named “Mia Tuk” by an Albuquerque schoolkid) with a shovel in 2015. He got off relatively easy for violating the Endangered Species Act and was mysteriously never prosecuted for animal cruelty by New Mexico, but the U.S. Forest Service took his violation of the grazing regulations very seriously and they yanked his grazing permit in November 2018.
Trespassing bull on the Canyon del Buey allotment, June 12, 2020. Photo: G. Anderson/WWP
Thiessen appealed the loss of his permit all the way up to the regional director, who affirmed the District Ranger’s decision and ordered the cows off Canyon del Buey allotment by the end of August 2019. As you can probably guess, Thiessen defied this direction and his cows are still in trespass on the Gila National Forest. There’s been some legal back and forth between Theissen and the feds and that process is ongoing (more on that here soon), but there’s something else for the taxpaying public to be enraged about:
Canyon del Buey LLC was the largest recipient of Farm Bill livestock subsidies in Catron County in 2019, raking in $135,683 dollars of federal funding. Of that, $119,029 came under the “Livestock Indemnity Program” which is designated for livestock losses in excess than usual due to extreme weather or due to animals reintroduced by the federal government, i.e. wolves. It’s impossible (so far) to determine whether the Thiessens got money for extreme weather or livestock depredations, but at about $1,000K per head (see page 6 at link), that’s a whole lot of dead cows we taxpayers are paying for. (And it’s not the first time: Craig Thiessen has also received almost $400,000since he whacked Mia Tuk.)
This was in addition to the $9,550.50 Craig Thiessen got for claimed wolf depredations in 2019. Not clear which livestock were his, but as we’ve shown, many of the Catron County wolf depredation reports are a little more than fishy. At least that $9,550.50 came out of a privately-established compensation fund (the “Groves Estate”) and not taxpayer pockets, but it’s kind of offensive that someone who admitted to bludgeoning a wolf pup to death with a shovel can turn around and get money for his dead cows. It’s almost as if the game is rigged to benefit wolf-hating ranchers.
Animals were rescued from a “shelter” where they reportedly endured unimaginable neglect, such as untreated tumors, infections and one report of a dog whose jaw was “literally rotting out… laying there, waiting to die.” The owner of the shelter had previously been charged with abuse, was allowed to continue owning animals, and remains a free man even today. Sign this petition to demand authorities finally prosecute the accused abuser.
PETITION TARGET: Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Volodymyr Yelchenko
After a plane landed in Toronto from Ukraine, airport workers discovered a shocking scene on board: 38 French Bulldogs lying dead in their cages, likely from suffocation during the flight, and hundreds more covered in vomit and barely able to stand, dehydrated from traveling so far without water.
French Bulldogs are already so vulnerable to respiratory problems that some airlines refuse to allow them on their planes, but this particular flight reportedly shrink-wrapped some of the cages, dramatically increasing their likelihood of death.
The helpless dogs were likely imported from large-scale breeders, or puppy mills, as the demand for French Bulldogs has soared during the current coronavirus pandemic, according to the Daily Mail. Even for commercial breeders, though, transporting 500 dogs on a plane is a near impossible task.
The investigation is still ongoing, but one thing is clear: innocent dogs’ lives are being taken for profit, and it must end.
Sign this petition urging Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Volodymyr Yelchenko to push the Ukrainian government to ban all puppy mills involved in this tragic event, potentially saving hundreds of dogs from suffering a similar fate.
Renee Kraft started this petition to Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and 10 others 2 minutes
Due to the impact of Covid -19 the Town of Hempstead Animal Shelter (TOHAS) shut its doors to the public only allowing adoptions of animals following Covid -19 guidelines. Despite the pleas of trappers and homeowners they discontinued their much needed and popular Trap Neuter Return (TNR) services leaving trappers and homeowners to pay out of pocket for spay and neuter expenses.
Now with the reopening of NYS phase 2, TOHAS has not provided any information when they are opening and resuming TNR services despite the fact that under NYS phase 2 spay and neuter services are permitted to be performed per the NYS COVID executive orders under NIACS code 541940. There is no excuse for the TNR program to not be opened!
There is an overpopulation of feral cats on Long Island. We are exploding right now with an abundance of kittens. Too many to place as pets and mamas are quickly getting pregnant with the next litter. Have you ever seen kittens lose their eyes to infection? Have a URI so bad it could barely breathe? Have it’s little body devoured by worms and parasites from the inside out? TNR is the only humane way to control the feral population and reduce the suffering.
Please sign this petition telling TOHAS to open their doors and resume their TNR program immediately. Taxpayers funded this program, they need these services now!
All this has led to a joint statement from the British Fashion Council and Council of Fashion Designers of America regarding the need for a fashion industry reset. Other publications, such as Global Fashion Agenda’s CEO Agenda COVID-19 Edition discussed a humanitarian and existential crisis [for the industry].
What is fascinating in all these words, articles and dramas is, given that COVID-19 is a novel zoonotic disease none have discussed the fashion industry’s use of exotic and endangered animals. Company supply chains use both captive breeding facilities and wild-harvested ‘product’.
While ‘sustainability’ is the word on the fashion industries lips, repeatedly one of the most fragile ‘components’ of the luxury fashion business is left out of the sustainability conversation – endangered wildlife. COVID-19 is the result of business, including luxury retail and fashion, being blinkered to this most fragile component in its supply chain. Just what needs to happen for (luxury) fashion to break out of this tunnel vision? Sadly, the use of exotic and endangered species by the fashion industry falls into no man’s land between vegan fashion and pro-wildlife trade fashion; their main area of overlap being animal welfare.
Image Brus_Rus
The result is that endangered species, those listed for trade restrictions under CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) have been ignored for decades. In a recent email Eva Kruse, CEO of GFA, she said “The legal trade in endangered species is a critical issue and not one we have engaged with in depth before here at Global Fashion Agenda. With regards to biodiversity as a topic, we find that our community of brands and retailers generally hold a low level of knowledge in this area.” What makes this astonishing is that a 2016 European Parliament said “The wildlife trade is one of the most lucrative trades in the world. The legal trade into the EU alone is worth €100 billion annually.”
On Monday evening, I sat through a session of The Act #ForNature Global Online Forum hosted by the UN Environment Assembly. The session I chose to watch was Adapt to Thrive: transformational change for nature and business. During this session Business For Nature CEO, Eva Zabey, used the example of Kering Chairman and CEO, François-Henri Pinault chairing The Fashion Pact as an example of the fashion industry doing something practical about the need to align business with a ‘nature-positive’ approach. As this example was given, HowToSpendItEthically.Org would like to clarify The Fashion Pact’s commitment to the CITES listed endangered species used in the fashion industry supply chain.
Firstly, what is the Fashion Pact? French President, Emmanuel Macron proposed a mission to Kering Chairman and CEO, François-Henri Pinault to bring together ‘a global coalition of companies in the fashion and textile industry (ready-to-wear, sport, lifestyle and luxury) including their suppliers and distributors, all committed to a common core of key environmental goals in three areas: stopping global warming, restoring biodiversity and protecting the oceans.’
From the site: The “Pact” contains best efforts that are concrete (i.e. visionary but achievable) and that intend to directly address each of the priority areas.
It goes on to say: The “Pact” will not reinvent the wheel but create an overarching framework for action in relation to the One Planet Lab work streams. This includes direct links to the significant work already taking place in existing initiatives within the fashion sector in the manufacturing part of supply chains. The new targets will build on the existing initiatives such as Apparel Impact Institute, C&A Foundation, Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Fair Fashion Center, Fashion For Good, Sustainable Apparel Coalition, Textile Exchange, The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), UN International Labour Organization/Better Work, ZDHC. The aim is to ensure that new actions will fill the “gaps” across fashion supply chains.
Did you notice what is missing? CITES, whose aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival. How can this not be included when one of the 3 goals of the pact is restoring biodiversity and direct exploitation for trade has been confirmed as the second biggest contributor to the extinction crisis, playing a greater role than climate change?
The industry has a blind spot in relation to its use of wildlife, be it by accident or deliberate. This has been apparent from going through publications, announcements, talks, conference proceedings etc. If wildlife ever features – and it almost never does – it is only in the context of considering animal welfare issues.
So right now when Kering and the (luxury) fashion industry says it is working to reverse biodiversity loss, HowToSpendItEthically.Org response is mais non!
Bears are highly intelligent with strong family ties. They spend prolonged periods raising and nurturing their young. Photo by Jos Bakker
Missouri has proposed a hunting season on its small and still-recovering population of black bears, who were once nearly wiped out because of overhunting and logging, which decimated their habitat.
The Missouri Department of Conservation estimates that there are now approximately 540 to 840 bears in the state. But some studies show that those numbers may be inflated. And even if there are as many bears as the MDC claims, it’s still not a large number.
Missouri has no good reason for allowing such a hunt. Bears self-regulate their own populations because of limited food availability and slow reproduction. There have also been minimal bear-human conflicts in the state, and these are entirely preventable.
Fact is, the only reason the MDC is proposing this hunt is to appease trophy hunters. But Missourians do not support it, not least because it would deprive a majority of the state’s residents of the joy of seeing a black bear in the wild. According to a March 2019 poll conducted by Remington Research Group for the Humane Society of the United States, nearly half of Missouri residents outright oppose hunting the state’s bears while fewer than a third support such a hunt.
Instead of allowing trophy hunters to kill them, the MDC ought to be working hard to preserve its bear population. Bears are critical for a thriving ecosystem. They disperse seeds across vast distances—even more seeds than birds. They open up forest canopies and allow sun to filter to the forest floor. They also break logs while grubbing, which helps the decomposition process and facilitates the return of nutrients to the soil. Keeping bears protected is critical to maintaining the state’s biodiversity.
These are also incredible animals, highly intelligent with strong family ties. Bears have the largest brain size of any carnivore and are highly sentient. They spend prolonged periods raising and nurturing their young. They are also slow to reproduce, which means hunting them can lead to their numbers dropping even faster than projected. Trophy hunters also tend to target adult breeding animals, which can lead to cubs being killed by incoming male bears looking to take over the newly opened territory.
Black bears are naturally shy and typically try to avoid humans, and the only times they are likely to come near humans is when there is food available. The MDC can help avoid such conflicts by expanding public education about simple, non-lethal preventative measures that residents can take to coexist peacefully with bears–including using bear-resistant trash cans, cleaning up BBQ grills, feeding pets indoors, and using electric fencing around chicken coops and beehives.
In what is also a concerning development, the MDC’s proposal leaves the cruel practices of bear baiting and bear hounding on the table “if management needs change in the future,” although these are not part of the current proposal. Hound hunting, or using packs of dogs to pursue bears, is an incredibly cruel practice that causes stress and distress to wildlife, and to the hounds themselves. Baiting—the practice of leaving large piles of junk food to attract the animals and then shoot them—is particularly heartless. Baits often attract mother bears who are looking for food but who find themselves in the crosshairs of a hunter instead. An overwhelming 77% of Missourians are strongly opposed to these methods, according to the Remington poll, and the MDC should not even be considering it.
Missouri’s wildlife officials would do well to heed the needs of the state’s wonderful wild animals, and the wishes of their residents, instead of kowtowing to a handful of trophy hunters. If you’re a Missouri resident, please let the MDC know that you’re opposed to this unnecessary killing of the state’s small and vulnerable bear population. The agency is accepting input on this proposal until June 5th, and raising your voice in opposition to it could make all the difference.
An online petition for Kaavan the elephant had gained over 280,000 signatures
He was brought to the Islamabad zoo from Sri Lanka in the mid-1980s
Caretakers responded to his aggression by chaining his legs and beating him
Animal rights groups have launched petitions to cover the costs of moving him
A court has ordered the release of a ‘mentally ill’ bull elephant to a sanctuary after 35 years suffering in a Pakistani zoo.
Local and international animal rights organizations launched a campaign to free Kaavan the elephant a year ago after reports that zookeepers were beating him and denying him food.
The Islamabad High Court today ordered wildlife officials to consult with Sri Lanka, where the Asian elephant came from, to find him a ‘suitable sanctuary’ within 30 days.
An online petition gained over 280,000 signatures and small protests were held outside Marghazar Zoo.
The campaign also attracted international attention, with rights groups and celebrities, including the singer Cher, calling for the elephant to be moved to a more humane facility.
After hearing the news of his release today, Cher said: ‘This is one of the greatest moments of my life.’The plight of Kaavan, a mentally tormented bull elephant confined to a small pen in an Islamabad Zoo for nearly three decades, has galvanized a rare animal rights campaign in PakistanPakistani caretaker Mohammad Jalal sits next to Kaavan the elephant at Marghazar Zoo in Islamabad Animal rights groups called on Pakistan to relocate Kaavan to an animal sanctuary. But the Capital Development Authority, the local agency in charge of managing the zoo, had refused
‘The pain and suffering of Kaavan must come to an end by relocating him to an appropriate elephant sanctuary, in or outside the country,’ the court ordered, criticising the zoo for failing to meet the animal’s needs for the past three decades.
The court has also ordered dozens of other animals – including brown bears, lions and birds – to be relocated temporarily while the zoo improves its standards.
Elephants are gregarious by nature, and males can become aggressive when they are separated from the herd.
Kaavan, who was brought to the zoo from Sri Lanka in the mid-1980s, grew even more unruly when the female elephant he was being kept with died in 2012.
Activists say caretakers responded to his aggression by chaining his legs, beating him and confining him to an enclosure that was far too small.
Sunny Jamil, an activist at the Help Welfare Organization – a local animal rights group – said the mangled ceiling fan in the roof of the enclosure testifies to its insufficient height.
Jamil, who visits the zoo regularly, says the pen can reach 40 degrees Celsius (100 F) in the summer, and that the elephant is given little water to cool down. ‘It is cruel,’ he said.Kaavan, who was brought to the zoo from Sri Lanka in the mid-1980s, grew more unruly when the female elephant he was being kept with died in 2012 Activists say caretakers have responded to his aggression by chaining his legs, beating him, and confining him to an enclosure that is far too small
Mohammad Jalal, the caretaker for the 36-year-old elephant, said: ‘I have hardly seen him happy.’
Kaavan swayed back and forth as Jalal spoke – a sign of mental torment – and at one point hurled a brick at onlookers.
Animal rights groups have launched petitions to cover the costs of the move to the sanctuary.
The Capital Development Authority, the local agency in charge of managing the zoo, had originally refused the transfer – perhaps fearing it would lose visitors.
Instead, it had worked on bringing in another female elephant, said Sanaullah Aman, an official with the agency.
Aman denied the allegations of abuse and said ‘every possible step’ was being taken for Kaavan’s wellbeing, without elaborating.Mohammad Jalal, the caretaker for the 36-year-old elephant, said: ‘I have hardly seen him happy’
A zoo dubbed the worst in Britain is threatening to put down its animals because it is running out of money to feed the exotic breeds amid the coronavirus lockdown.
Tracy and Dean Tweedy, who own Borth Wild Animal Kingdom in West Wales, fear they only have enough money to feed more than 300 animals for a week.
The married couple say their money is running out to care for their stock and are planning ‘as a last resort’ to euthanise ‘the animals that we care for’. Married couple Tracy, 49, and Dean Tweedy (pictured) say their money is running out to care for their stock and are planning ‘as a last resort, euthanising the animals that we care for’ The zoo is running out of money to care for its 300 animals and the married couple said they are planning ‘as a last resort’ to euthanise ‘the animals that we care for’
Council chiefs ‘lost confidence’ in the ability of the zoo to operate safely following the deaths of two lynx and other animals.
In January this year, the zoo was ordered to close because it did not have trained gunmen in case of an animal escape.
But it was allowed to reopen in February before having to close again in March due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Ms Tweedy, 49, said many staff are on furlough and the zoo’s business relief grant of £25,000 has nearly run out.
She said: ‘We were already only scraping by financially after the long, quiet winter season.
‘We need help now more than ever. Despite everything, we are as determined as ever to not give up.’ Council chiefs have ‘lost confidence’ in the ability of the zoo to operate safely following the deaths of two lynx. Pictured, the lynx in the zoo before it escaped and was shot https://secured.dailymail.co.uk/embed/gamp-video/8352217/video-1571188.html#amp=1Ms Tweedy, 49, said many staff are on furlough due to the coronavirus pandemic and the zoo’s business relief grant of £25,000 has nearly run out It costs £3,000 a week to run the zoo and if the animals cannot be fed or re-homed, a cull of the animals has been considered. She said it costs £3,000 a week to run the zoo and a cull of the animals has been considered if they cannot be fed.
After the money runs out, the couple will have to start looking at re-homing but are considering euthanasia as a last resort.
Problems for the zoo began in late 2017 when Lilleth the Eurasian lynx escaped and was shot dead by a marksman after being found at a nearby caravan site.
A second lynx, Nilly, also died in what was described as a ‘handling error’.
A report revealed one in five of the zoo’s animals died in just one year. It was discovered that monkeys, crocodiles and a leopard also died from its animal stock during 2018.
Tracy and Dean bought the zoo for £625,000 in 2016 to start a dream new life with their family, but it has turned into a nightmare A report revealed one in five of the zoo’s animals died in just one year. It was discovered that monkeys, crocodiles and a leopard also died during 2018.Pictured, the police at the zoo when the Lynx escaped
Tracey said: ‘It would be tragic if mid Wales lost its only zoo. We work with so many local organisations on animal education and wildlife conservation that we see ourselves as a vital asset for the communit.
Tracy said many of the animals would be very hard to re-home due to licence requirements needed to look after the exotic animals.
‘We also run as a sanctuary for animals that have been rescued from the exotic pet trade. For many of these animals, we are a last resort.ADVERTISEMENTnull
‘They came here because destruction was their only alternative.
‘They would be very difficult to re-home as the licence requirements to look after these animals and provide the proper care, can be very involved and expensive,’ she said.
The couple say Westminster has announced a fund to help zoos in England but there is no similar support in Wales.
The Welsh government said it had already provided all licensed zoos with details of existing support schemes. Ms Tweedy said many of the animals would be extremely difficult to re-home due to licence requirements to look after the exotic animals The couple say the Westminster government has announced a fund to help zoos in England but there is no similar support in Wales
‘If any zoo operators have concerns about their ability to meet the needs of their animals, they should contact their local authority’s animal health team for advice without delay as they are on hand to offer support,’ a spokeswoman said.
It said its £500m economic resilience fund provided more generous support than one specifically for zoos would have.
A spokesman for Ceredigion County Council earlier said: ‘The local authority has lost confidence in the ability of the zoo to operate responsibly and safely.’
Zoos were forced to close at the end of March due to the coronavirus lockdown and many have warned their futures are in danger from the impact of the pandemic.
Andrew RT Davies, Shadow Minister for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in the Welsh Parliament, said: ‘This is a dire situation that the zoo finds itself in, but I’m afraid that zoos right across Wales are in the same precarious situation and desperately need support due to the profound impact of Covid-19.
‘It’s outrageous that whilst the UK Government has taken action and given £14 million to support zoos in England the Welsh Government has still not followed suit.
‘It is high time that the Welsh Labour Government listened to the plight of our zoos and introduce the much-needed fund.’
GoFundMe has helped many needy causes and individuals with legitimate fund raising campaigns throughout the years. It makes fundraising easy and accessible.
However, GoFundMe is now approving fundraisers for Africa Trophy Hunters!
The promotion of senseless killing of “trophy” animals by GoFundMe especially at a time in history when the planet is in an ecological crisis in terms of the environment and its wildlife is reprehensible. GoFundMe should take down this fundraiser immediately. This campaign is regressive and has tarnished the GoFundMe image.
Alternate positive campaigns to create sustainable, cruelty free employment in Africa and elsewhere should be encouraged. Why would GoFundMe promote such a deplorable campaign rather than promoting positive changes benefitting local tourism, the environment and the animals.
GoFundMe – do the right thing and disassociate yourself from this cruel and deplorable campaign. Take the Africa Trophy Hunters fundraiser down!Start a petition of your ownThis petition starter stood up and took action. Will you do the same?Start a petition
A former planning commissioner allegedly threw his cat while he was attending an online business meeting. Demand that this animal be removed from this person’s home and that rescuers do everything in their power to find this sweet cat a new home if it is found that this senseless and thoughtless act was committed.
In an effort to increase the time until a coronavirus treatment and vaccine is available, lawmakers, experts and medical facilities are looking to humans instead of animals to be tested for potential vaccines.
Peter Singer and Richard Yetter Chappell argued the case for testing on humans in a recent Washington Post op-ed. The slow speed of animal testing makes it a less than ideal solution to coronavirus vaccine. “For example, conventional standards require that new drugs be tested on animals before clinical trials with humans are permitted. For covid-19, sufficiently promising treatments should jump to human clinical trials as soon as is reasonably possible, bypassing the usual lengthy period of animal testing,” they wrote.
Pandemic situations dictate that the “significant risk” associated with human testing isn’t equal to the “catastropic toll” the virus could cause around the globe. United States lawmakers are recommending that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and its parent agency, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), allow human trials for coronavirus testing. “[A] more risk-tolerant development process is likely appropriate in the case of a COVID-19 vaccine. The enormous human cost of the COVID-19 epidemic alters the optimization of the risk/benefit analysis, ” the group’s statement shared.
Texas A&M University is known for its medical facilities usually used for animal testing. The university is asking the government to allow it to switch processes to test on humans to increase national testing capabilities. The FDA requires that people with human lab experience to manage human testing and the university is seeking a waiver. A&M System Chancellor John Sharp blamed the government’s “federal red tape” for their delayed permission to test.
Sharp said in an interview, “Red tape is one thing, but red tape in the middle of a pandemic is pretty ridiculous. This ain’t the time to follow the rules, this is the time to follow common sense and open up facilities that they know are some of the best in the country.”
Matthew Memoli, an immunologist at the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said it’s important to weigh the risks and take into account our lack of understanding about coronavirus. He told Science Mag, “Where you’re going to give somebody a virus on purpose, you really want to understand the disease so that you know that what you’re doing is a reasonable risk.”
Scientists believe that the spread of COVID-19, or coronavirus, started at an exotic animal market in Wuhan, China. You can help stop the incidence of viruses like these by signing this petition to ban the wildlife trade.
Interested in joining the dairy-free and meatless train? We highly recommend downloading the Food Monster App — with over 15,000 delicious recipes it is the largest plant-based recipe resource to help reduce your environmental footprint, save animals, and get healthy! And, while you are at it, we encourage you to also learn about the environmental and health benefits of a plant-based diet.
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The zoos and animal gardens in Germany are also suffering from the corona crisis. Due to the lack of income, they are under increasing pressure.
Bankruptcies are imminent – but what will become of the animals?
The animal park Neumünster has drawn up emergency plans for the slaughter of its animals because of the existential corona forced closure. It also says who will be the last to go to the slaughterhouse in the event of a fall: the 3.60 meter tall polar bear«Vitus», said Zoo Director Verena Caspari.
Vitus, the polar bear- Neumünster
The background is that the zoo currently has no income from visitors and is only kept alive by donations.
“We are an association,” said Caspari. “We do not receive any urban funds, and everything we have applied for so far has not yet been received by us. We currently only survive with donations.”
There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true. —Soren Kierkegaard. "...truth is true even if nobody believes it, and falsehood is false even if everybody believes it. That is why truth does not yield to opinion, fashion, numbers, office, or sincerity--it is simply true and that is the end of it" - Os Guinness, Time for Truth, pg.39. “He that takes truth for his guide, and duty for his end, may safely trust to God’s providence to lead him aright.” - Blaise Pascal. "There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily" – George Washington letter to Edmund Randolph — 1795. We live in a “post-truth” world. According to the dictionary, “post-truth” means, “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.” Simply put, we now live in a culture that seems to value experience and emotion more than truth. Truth will never go away no matter how hard one might wish. Going beyond the MSM idealogical opinion/bias and their low information tabloid reality show news with a distractional superficial focus on entertainment, sensationalism, emotionalism and activist reporting – this blogs goal is to, in some small way, put a plug in the broken dam of truth and save as many as possible from the consequences—temporal and eternal. "The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it." – George Orwell “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” ― Soren Kierkegaard
Following in the spirit of Britain's Queen Boudica, Queen of the Iceni. A boudica.us site. I am an opinionator, do your own research, verification. Reposts, reblogs do not neccessarily reflect our views.
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Pictured, the police at the zoo when the Lynx escaped
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