BULLETIN AUTOMNE 2009

[Animal 0]

Publié le 03 décembre 2009 à 05h00 | Mis à jour le 03 décembre 2009 à 05h00


Orignal: la récolte se stabilise

Ce chasseur a de quoi être fier de ce gros orignal mâle qu'il vient de récolter.

Collaboration spéciale André-A. Bellemare
André-A. Bellemare, collaboration spéciale
Le Soleil


(Québec) Après avoir établi des records historiques durant la dernière décennie, la récolte d'orignaux se stabilise au Québec, ce qui laisse supposer aux responsables provinciaux de la chasse qu'il survient aussi une stabilisation du cheptel dans bien des zones de chasse.

Mais, dans le bilan qu'il trace de la chasse de l'orignal de 2009, le ministère des Ressources naturelles et de la Faune (MRNF) ne mentionne aucunement l'influence des conditions atmosphériques ultra-douces du présent automne sur le succès des chasseurs. Le temps presque estival des derniers mois n'était pas de nature à favoriser la chasse des gros gibiers.

Statistiques

Avant-hier, selon les plus récentes statistiques compilées par le MRNF, les quelque 175 000 chasseurs d'orignal de la province avaient récolté 25 655 bêtes (11 735 mâles adultes, 10 436 femelles adultes et 3484 veaux).


Cet automne, comme c'est le cas tous les deux ans, la chasse était «permissive», c'est-à-dire que les chasseurs avaient le droit, dans presque toutes les zones provinciales de chasse, d'abattre indistinctement mâles, femelles et veaux. Lors des années de chasse dite «restrictive», les femelles reproductrices sont protégées dans presque toutes les zones.

Durant les années de chasse permissive 2009, 2007 et 2005, la récolte a tourné autour de 25 000 orignaux. Durant les années de chasse restrictive 2008, 2006 et 2004, cette récolte a été d'environ 18 000 bêtes. Un indicateur représentatif de la stabilisation du cheptel d'orignaux à la grandeur du Québec est la récolte des mâles adultes, qui atteint le même niveau depuis quelques années.

Même si les responsables québécois de la chasse n'ont pas procédé régulièrement à des inventaires aériens du nombre des orignaux dans toutes les zones de chasse durant les deux dernières décennies, ils évaluent actuellement ce nombre à environ 175 000. Quant à la vente des permis de chasse de l'orignal, il atteint presque 175 000, un record chez nous.

Récolte accrue

Dans certaines zones provinciales de chasse, surtout dans l'est du Québec, contrairement à ce qui a été noté ailleurs, il y a eu cet automne une croissance importante de la récolte d'orignaux : région du Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean (no 28), celle de la Capitale-Nationale (no 27), puis celle du Bas-Saint-Laurent (no 2) et celle de Chaudière-Applaches (no 3).

Par contre, dans l'ouest de la province, une baisse de la récolte a été observée dans les régions de l'Outaouais (no 10 et no 12) et de l'Abitibi-Témiscamingue (no 13).

En janvier et février prochains, le Ministère entend procéder à des inventaires aériens du nombre d'orignaux dans la région des Cantons-de-l'Est (no 4) ainsi que dans la partie sud-ouest de la région Nord-du-Québec (no 16).
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/le-soleil/sports/chasse-et-peche/200912/02/01-927339-orignal-la-recolte-se-stabilise.php

[Animal 0]

http://news.guelphmercury.com/Opinions/EditorialOpinion/article/571679


Transport regulations allow too much stress on farm animals

December 08, 2009

Karen Levinson

We see them all the time. Transport vehicles rolling down our highways with
row upon row of stacked cages full of chickens or trailers stuffed with
cows or pigs, poking their noses through the air vents.

What most people don’t realize is that transportation is one of the most
stressful conditions that farm animals endure and, in Canada, many farm
animals are transported on long, grueling journeys, in overcrowded, poorly
ventilated trucks, and are forced to stand in their own feces, often
spending days without food, water or rest. Not only are these stressful and
unsanitary conditions detrimental to the health of the animals, but they
may also provide breeding grounds for diseases that can be transmitted to
humans.

Canada’s current Transport of Animals Regulations, under the Health of
Animals Act, are among the worst in the industrialized world and allow for
some of the longest and most inhumane transportation times among developed
countries.

For instance, it is legal in Canada to transport monogastric animals –
those with only one stomach, such as horses, pigs and poultry — for up to
36 hours without food, water or rest, plus an additional five hours for
loading and off-loading. It is legal to transport ruminants – animals with
more than one stomach, such as cows, sheep and goats — for up to 52 hours
without food, water or rest, plus an additional five hours for loading and
off-loading. And, when coupled with a provision under the federal Meat
Inspection Act, it is legal to deprive Canadian farm animals of food for an
additional 24 hours at the slaughterhouse.

In comparison, farm animals in the United States cannot be transported for
more than 28 hours without food, water or rest. In the European Union,
horses, pigs and poultry cannot be transported without food, water or rest
for more than eight hours, and cows, sheep and goats cannot be transported
without food, water or rest for more than 12 hours.

While the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has been reviewing
Canada’s animal transport regulations for nearly a decade, nothing has been
done to improve the conditions for farm animals during transport. What’s
more, with major staff cuts, the agency doesn’t have the capacity to ensure
that even the most basic regulations are followed.

The result? Too many farm animals arrive dead at the slaughterhouse every
year and millions arrive diseased, injured or declared unfit for human
consumption.

Canada’s animal transport regulation are outdated and inconsistent with
current research on animal welfare during transport and are in urgent need
of revision.

A report from the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production,
Putting Meat on the Table: Industrial Farm Animal Production in America,
asserts that the stress of prolonged transport can suppress an animal’s
immune system and increase a healthy animal’s susceptibility to infection.
It may also trigger the emergence of a variety of diarrheal and respiratory
illnesses.

The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) Scientific Panel on Animal
Health and Welfare (AHAW Panel) reports that stress factors “increase the
susceptibility to infections of transported animals and the shedding of
infectious agents in those already infected.” The panel concluded that,
“Where transport is necessary, stressful conditions should be minimized and
journeys should be as short as possible.”

Infectious agents can also transfer from animals to humans. They can infect
animal handlers and workers in feedlots and slaughterhouses, who can then
transfer them from human to human. Such pathogens may also persist through
meat processing to contaminate consumer food products.

Food quality is also at risk when food animals are subjected to long-term
multiple stresses encountered during long distance transport. The Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations’ Guidelines for Humane
Handling, Transport and Slaughter of Livestock states that, “Poor
transportation can have serious deleterious effects on the welfare of
livestock and can lead to a significant loss of quality and production.”

In a National Cattlemen’s Beef Association document entitled Beef Facts:
Product Enhancement, Mark Miller describes a condition that happens to the
meat of cows exposed to various forms of long-term, pre-slaughter stress,
including transport exhaustion, fear, climatic stress, aggressive behavior
with young bulls, hunger, prolonged withholding of feed prior to slaughter,
mixing of unfamiliar animals and extreme adrenaline excitement. Their beef
exhibits a dark, purplish red to almost black colour, and a dry,
often-sticky surface that resembles a dry sponge.

A similar condition can occur in pigs subjected to the stress of long
distance transport. In 2000, this condition led to a $164,592,393 loss to
the U.S. beef industry. Proportional losses also occur in Canada.

While the CFIA is proposing regulatory changes to the animal transportation
regulations, which they claim will reflect current animal transportation
research and meet the concerns of society about animal welfare, there is
considerable doubt among animal protection organizations that the
regulatory changes will protect animals at all.

During his address to the participants of the certified livestock
transporter course for cattle truckers, CFIA humane transport specialist
Martin Appelt promised, “the new rules won’t contain hard numbers for
loading densities, transit times or rest breaks.” The new rules will only
serve as guidelines and will represent only “the bare-bone minimum standard
that is required,” he explained.

Without specifying the maximum number of animals that truckers can load
onto a truck or the maximum lengths of time that animals can go without
food, water and rest, the new animal transport regulations could give the
animal transport industry a carte blanche to subject farm animals to the
same horrible conditions they now face.

What we need is not weak regulations but stronger protection for animals
and humans, greater regulation enforcement, and more slaughterhouses closer
to major agricultural areas. This would create new jobs in agricultural
communities and shorten the distances farm animals must travel to wind up
on our plates.

Yet, some hope is on the horizon. On Oct. 28, Liberal MP Alexander Mendes
of Brossard – La Prarie in Quebec and Guelph Liberal MP Frank Valeriote
took a laudable first step to improve the lives of Canadian farm animals
during long distance transport and protect the health of Canadians. Mendes
introduced Bill C- 468 to amend the transportation of animals regulations
and shorten transport times, bringing them in line with those of the
European Union. Valeriote seconded the bill, which was also supported by
NDP MP Alex Atamanenko of British Columbia. The bill has received first
reading in the House of Commons.

But Bill C-468 is a long way from passing and will need the support of
other members of Parliament and the public if it is to make it past a
second reading. Until then, farm animals in Canada will continue to suffer
during long distance transport and the risks of disease will continue to
plague public health.

For more information, visit www.animalalliance.ca and then click on
“Campaigns” and, then, “Farm Animals” or visit www.humanefood.ca

[Animal 0]

Publié le 15 décembre 2009 à 10h38 | Mis à jour le 15 décembre 2009 à 10h48


Suisse: après les minarets, les avocats pour animaux


Quelques semaines après le référendum controversé sur la construction des minarets, une nouvelle consultation populaire annonce une bataille enflammée en Suisse.

Les Suisses devront se prononcer le 7 mars prochain sur l'instauration, dans tous les Cantons, d'un «avocat pour les animaux» destiné notamment à faciliter les recours contre les auteurs de maltraitance. À prime abord, le sujet ne semble pas se prêter à la controverse. Mais la ministre responsable du dossier a donné le ton au débat en affirmant que l'initiative est «inutile est dépassée». Les lois en vigueur seraient suffisantes et l'accent devrait être mis sur l'information est la prévention de la maltraitance, affirme-t-elle.

La Protection des animaux réplique que la volonté d'appliquer la loi fait défaut dans la majorité des cantons suisses et que seul un durcissement de la législation permettra d'obtenir des résultats. Cette «campagne politique promet de belles empoignades», constate ainsi le quotidien 24 heures.

En 2007, près de 150 000 Suisses avaient signé la pétition réclamant la tenue de cette consultation populaire.


Plus de détails sur LeTemps.ch et 24heures.

[Animal 0]

Listériose

Neuf produits rappelés
Mise à jour le mercredi 23 décembre 2009


Deux des produits rappelés mardi par l'Agence canadienne d'inspection des aliments.


L'Agence canadienne d'inspection des aliments (ACIA) et les manufacturiers Olymel et Siena Foods demandent à la population de ne pas consommer certains produits de viande transformés.

Ces produits pourraient être contaminés par la bactérie Listeria monocytogenes, responsable de la listériose. Ils ont été rappelés par les fabricants.

Dans le cas de Siena Foods, le rappel ne concerne que du salami cacciatore doux. Dans le cas d'Olymel cependant, la liste de rappel comprend huit produits commercialisés sous les marques Olymel, Royal, Lafleur et Roma.

La liste complète des produits rappelés, incluant leur code CUP, leur format et leur date de péremption, se trouve sur le site de l'ACIA.

Jusqu'ici, l'ACIA ne rapporte aucun cas de la maladie associé à la consommation de ces produits.

Les produits rappelés ont été distribués en Ontario et au Québec. Le salami de Siena Foods pourrait avoir été distribué ailleurs pays.

[Animal 0]

Three workers suspended and CCTV installed in organic abattoir following cruelty allegations


Posted 11 December 2009


Three slaughtermen have been suspended from a Soil Association-approved abattoir following an undercover investigation by Animal Aid that reveals what the government regulatory body, the Meat Hygiene Service (MHS), describes as ‘clear evidence of breaches of animal welfare legislation’.

The national campaign group’s footage of pigs and sheep being killed was shot secretly between October 19 and November 3 at Tom Lang Ltd, in Ashburton, Devon. The evidence was handed to the MHS. The film shows animals being kicked, slapped and thrown; improperly stunned; and even decapitated while they may still have been alive.

In a formal response to Animal Aid, the MHS has said that, as well as the suspension of the three workers, the plant operator has now installed CCTV ‘to record the slaughtering process’. This is in line with Animal Aid’s key campaign objective to see the compulsory introduction of CCTV in all British abattoirs and for the footage obtained to be periodically reviewed by an independent panel. The MHS has also announced that ‘evidence to support a potential prosecution of [T Lang’s] slaughterhouse operator and slaughterers is being collated’.

The Soil Association, which insists that it upholds the highest welfare standards, has suspended Lang from its scheme as a result of Animal Aid's evidence.

The Lang investigation is published less than four months after the release of 40 hours of Animal Aid footage shot secretly at three mainstream, non-organic abattoirs. That earlier footage showed ewes being stunned while baby lambs still suckled at their teats – as well as pigs and sheep being kicked, shoved and dragged. A slaughterman at one of the abattoirs – AC Hopkins, in Taunton, Somerset – faces prosecution under the animal welfare legislation.

Animal Aid declared at the time of publication of footage from those three abattoirs that it ‘convincingly disposes of the myth of stress- and pain-free humane slaughter’, given that the abattoirs in which filming took place were randomly selected. Tom Lang Ltd was also randomly selected for investigation, with a view to discovering how much better animals fare in a typical Soil Association-approved abattoir that produces organic meat. The new footage reveals that animals are at risk of random violence and practices that increase their pain and fear, whatever the system of killing.

Says Animal Aid Head of Campaigns, Kate Fowler:

‘The public is encouraged to believe that animals are killed in a humane, competent and considerate manner in mainstream British slaughterhouses. Our detailed secret filming over recent months in four establishments presents an unprecedented record of the horrors that are the everyday norm. We see animals subjected to random violence and incompetent practices that have clearly dismayed and alarmed the official industry regulatory body. That we should see such scenes in a Soil Association-approved abattoir will be especially distressing for those who expected better from such establishments. The evidence we have been accumulating points to a simple truth: the production and killing of animals for meat is an ugly, violent, business – however the final product is labelled. At the very least, CCTV must be installed in all British abattoirs so that some light is shone on the process. That won’t end the suffering but it could reduce it.’

http://www.animalaid.org.uk/h/n/NEWS/pr_factory//2241//

VIDÉOS
http://www.animalaid.org.uk/h/f/CAMPAIGNS/blog//4//?be_id=231


Still images from Tom Lang slaughterhouse footage
Posted 9 December 2009
http://www.animalaid.org.uk/h/n/NEWS/pr_factory//2237//

[Animal 0]

Last updated December 23, 2009 5:19 p.m. PT

Man sentenced, fined for trafficking bear organs
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Wildlife detectives say investigations into the illegal trafficking of bear gall bladders have led to prison time for one man and a hefty fine for another.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife says Wednesday that William A. Page, a meat cutter from Curlew, was sentenced to a year jail in Ferry County Superior Court after being convicted on six counts of unlawful trafficking in wildlife.

Page, 63, was sentenced Dec. 18 and was also fined $3,000.

Investigators say Page admitted buying 35 gall bladders in 2007 and 2008, including 17 from undercover officers. Investigators say some believe gall bladders have healing powers and can draw thousands of dollars on the black market.

In a separate case, Jason Yon, 51, owner of JAX Market in Spokane, was fined $1,000 in Spokane County Superior Court on Dec. 22 for two felony convictions of illegally trafficking in wildlife. He was found guilty of purchase four gall bladders during an undercover investigation.
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/6420ap_wa_bear_trafficking.html

[Animal 0]

30,000 animals perish as ‘cargo ship’ sinks off Lebanon
Dec 18, 2009


Nearly 30,000 animals – 10,224 sheep and 17,932 cattle – have reportedly drowned as the Panamanian-flagged ship Danny F II sank off the coast of Lebanon yesterday.

The sinking of the Panamanian-flagged ship Danny F II has served as a harsh reminder of why the long distance transport of animals for slaughter is risky business. Several crew members from the ship are still missing, and rescue teams have described how they pulled "shocked, distraught and cold" survivors from the sea.

Although the tragic loss to human life will naturally remain in focus in reports on this tragedy, we ask people to spare a thought for the nearly 30,000 cattle that have also perished, and whose suffering – both during the journey and with the accident – could have been avoided entirely.


The cruelty of long distance transport
Danny F II loading cattle in the Brazilian port of Vila do Conde bound for Lebanon.
WSPAWSPA has been campaigning to get governments and stakeholders from all countries involved in the livestock trade to stop the long distance transport of live animals as this cruel practice results in poor animal welfare. Millions of animals suffer every year as they are transported for as long as 30 days in filthy and stressful conditions, only to be slaughtered at their destination.

As Sofia Parente, Programs Manager for WSPA’s campaign on ending the long distance trade of animals for slaughter, says: “Previous WSPA investigations on the Danny F II and other similar cargo vehicles involved in the trade have shown how animals are packed tightly into the holds of ships, with limited access to food and water, suffering great distress, injuries and dehydration before they arrive at slaughterhouses at their destination. As many as 10 per cent of the animals can die during these journeys.”

The alternatives
The livestock trade can be easily replaced with chilled and frozen meat products derived from animals humanely slaughtered at their point of origin. Apart from significantly improving the welfare of the animals concerned, this move to chilled meat products would also bring economic, environmental and developmental benefits to countries at both ends of the trade.

http://www.wspa.ca/latestnews/2009/30000_animals_perish_as_cargo_ship_sinks_off_lebanon.aspx

[Animal 0]

Hundreds of dead animals found in Philadelphia home after apparent ritual religious sacrifice
By Soraya Roberts
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Thursday, December 31st 2009, 10:31 AM



The director of law enforcement of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says up to 500 animals have been found in Pennsylvania in what may have been a ritual religious sacrifice.



Up to 500 dead animals were found in a Philadelphia home after what appears to have been a ritual religious sacrifice, police say.

Investigators found the remains of cats, deers, turtles and other animals strewn throughout the Feltonville house and buried in the back, The Philadelphia Daily News reports.

"There's all kinds of stuff in there. Dead animals, dead critters, wax, feces, candles. It's a nightmare," Officer Jerry Czech of the Pennsylvania Game Commission told the newspaper.

According to George Bengal, director of law enforcement at the Pennsylvania chapter of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the remains may include the carcasses of two monkeys, one of which was found on an altar.

"We have uncovered some wildlife remains inside of the property," he said, adding that remains of cobras, leopards and beavers also appear to have been found. "We're still digging."

Bengal added that the animals were "definitely" used in some kind of religious ritual and that sacrificing animals for religious purposes is not against the law if the rituals are carried out humanely.

Unfortumately, some of the animals on the property appeared to have been tortured.

"[The turtles] looked like they were starved to death," Bengal told the Pennsylvania newspaper. "In that kind of a situation, religious ritual wouldn't apply, at least not in my eyes. If they're going to starve an animal to death, to me, that's a cruelty issue."

Further searches also reportedly uncovered 100 or more knives, mainly machetes.

Animal control officials were initially called to the house after dogs were reported as living there under unsanitary conditions.

Bengal said one dog was found at the side of the house "near death" and another sickly pooch was tied up in the basement.

"The whole basement was just covered in feces," he said. "It was just unsanitary -- no food, no water."

Three residents of the house are considered suspects and are expected to face charges of animal cruelty in relation with the two dogs on their property, Bengal said. But if they had a permit or license to capture the wildlife that was found, they will not have acted against the law in possessing them, officials said.

----------------
Monday, December 28th 2009, 6:40 AM

125 beached pilot whales die on Colville Beach on the Coromandel peninsula in New Zealand; 43 saved
The Associated Press

[Animal 0]

Japanese researchers develop see-through goldfish

AFP/HO/File – Japanese researchers have succeeded in producing goldfish whose beating hearts can be seen through translucent … .

by Miwa Suzuki Miwa Suzuki – Tue Dec 29, 3:50 am ET


TOKYO (AFP) – First came see-through frogs. Now Japanese researchers have succeeded in producing goldfish whose beating hearts can be seen through translucent scales and skin.

The transparent creatures are part of efforts to reduce the need for dissections, which have become increasingly controversial, particularly in schools.

"You can see a live heart and other organs because the scales and skin have no pigments," said Yutaka Tamaru, an associate professor in the department of life science at Mie University.

"You don't have to cut it open. You can see a tiny brain above the goldfish's black eyes."

The joint team of researchers at Mie University and Nagoya University in central Japan produced the "ryukin" goldfish by picking mutant hatchery goldfish with pale skin and breeding them together.

"Having a pale colour is a disadvantage for goldfish in an aquarium but it's good to see how organs sit in a body three-dimensionally," Tamaru told AFP.

The fish are expected to live up to roughly 20 years and could grow as long as 25 centimetres (10 inches) and weigh more than two kilograms (five pounds), much bigger than other fish used in experiments, such as zebrafish and Japanese medaka, Tamaru said.

"As this goldfish grows bigger, you can watch its whole life," he said.

Meanwhile another group of researchers who announced in 2007 they had developed see-through frogs said they planned to start selling the four-legged creatures, whose skin is transparent from the tadpole stage.

"We are making progress in their mass-production. They are likely to be put on the market next year," said Masayuki Sumida, professor at the Institute for Amphibian Biology of Hiroshima University.

Sumida said see-through tadpoles and adult frogs would be available in the first half of next year in Japan for laboratories and schools and as pets, with a price tag expected to be below 10,000 yen (110 dollars) each.

He also wants to sell the creature abroad.

Animal rights activists have pressed for humane alternatives to dissections, such as using computer simulations.

Sumida's team produced the creature from rare mutants of the Japanese brown frog, or Rena japonica, whose backs are usually ochre or brown. Two kinds of recessive genes have been known to cause the frog to be pale.

While goldfish are easier to keep, frogs are higher forms of life and therefore preferable for experiments, Sumida said.

[Animal 0]

Debate Grows Over Roundup of Wild Horses in Nevada
Kurt Golgart/Bureau of Land ManagementThe federal Bureau of Land Management this week began its “gather” of about 2,5000 wild horses in the Calico Mountains of Nevada, about 100 miles north of Reno. Balancing natural resources is the goal, officials say.



By RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD
Published: December 31, 2009

With helicopters swooping low and slow, wranglers this week began rounding up and corralling wild horses on a vast Nevada range, feeding an intense debate over whether removing the animals helps or hurts the preservation of an enduring symbol of the West.


On Mustang Range, a Battle on Thinning the Herd (July 20, 2008)


Kurt Golgart/Bureau of Land Management

The Bureau of Land Management says there are too many of mustangs in the Nevada range, upsetting the balance of natural resources for flora and fauna.
In one of the largest such roundups conducted in Nevada, federal officials said they were planning to remove about 2,500 mustangs from an area nearly three times the size of New York City, in the Calico Mountains 100 miles north of Reno.

There are too many of the animals in that area, upsetting the balance of natural resources for flora and fauna, including grazing land for cattle, federal officials said. About 140 horses had been removed as of Thursday. After two months of rounding them up and eventually trucking most to pastures in the Midwest, government officials expect 600 to 800 horses will remain.

“The fact is right now we have three to five times the population of wild horses that the range can sustain,” said Bob Abbey, director of the federal Bureau of Land Management, which is overseeing the roundup.

The roundup of wild horses, and burros as well, has been one of the most contentious issues in the West, where growth, farming, recreation and preservation do not always mesh.

Horse advocates unsuccessfully sued to block this roundup and celebrities like the singer Sheryl Crow and the actor Viggo Mortensen sent a letter to President Obama last week imploring him to halt it, to no avail.

On Wednesday, protesters gathered outside the San Francisco offices of Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat who has been sympathetic to the cause in the past but, through a spokesman, would not comment on the roundup.

Suzanne Roy, a spokeswoman for In Defense of Animals, which has fought to keep the wild horses on the ranges, said federal officials had tried to cloak the roundup in secrecy by beginning it on inaccessible private land and conducting it during the lull between Christmas and New Year’s Day.

The group also says the helicopters, which federal officials call the most efficient means to guide the herds to the corrals, traumatize the animals. But more than anything, Ms. Roy said, the horses should be allowed to stay put.

“Wild horses have tightly knit bands,” Ms. Roy said. “This shatters the social structure; foals are separated from their mothers; the horses are put in a very unnatural situation. The whole thing is just a major trauma and terror for these really beautiful horses that have lived peacefully on these lands for hundreds of years.”

But the land management bureau said the “gather,” as it calls it, would ultimately save the lives of horses.

Unlike other animals, wild horses cannot legally be hunted or slaughtered, and they have no natural predator. When the area gets overpopulated, food becomes scarce and the horses suffer, said Mr. Abbey, the agency director, who expressed exasperation with some animal rights advocates.

“If it were up to them, we would be allowing wild horses to starve to death, which is no way to honor an American icon,” he said in a telephone interview.

Most of the older animals are moved to distant pastures that provide lots of room and abundant food. The younger horses are put up for adoption, though the government has struggled to find qualified people who want to adopt, particularly in the recession.

A goal of the roundup, acknowledged Heather Emmons, a spokeswoman for the agency, was providing access to grazing land for cattle. Some ranchers have pulled cattle from pockets of the range because there has not been enough vegetation, partly because of the overpopulation of horses but also because of a lingering drought.

Bureau officials said the roundups include safeguards, like a check of the horses by veterinarians. Since Monday, one horse caught in the roundup had to be euthanized because, Mr. Abbey said, it would not have survived the winter because of its advanced age.

The roundup will give wranglers ample time to corral the large numbers and provide the best access to the horses, before they migrate to more treacherous terrain in the warmer months, Mr. Abbey said.

The government already keeps 34,000 wild horses and burros captive, mainly in Oklahoma and Kansas. Another 37,000, half in Nevada, roam on bureau territory in 10 states.
New York Times

[Animal 0]

Bilan des catastrophes naturelles en 2009
2009/12/26 par mariesophie

Dans le cadre d’une série d’articles sur le thème “Prévenir le risque naturel”, le quotidien Le Monde” a publié le 24 décembre 2009, un article sur les catastrophes naturelles de 2009 : “Février : des incendies font plus de 200 morts dans l’Etat australien de Victoria. Avril : plus de 300 personnes périssent dans le séisme de l’Aquila, en Italie. Septembre : au moins 700 personnes sont tuées par un tremblement de terre sur l’île de Sumatra, en Indonésie. Octobre : le typhon Parma fauche près de 300 personnes aux Philippines…“
Photo AP/Bullit Marquez Vendredi 9 octobre, au moins 181 personnes ont été tuées dans une série de glissements de terrain provoqués par des pluies diluviennes dans le nord des Philippines, portant à plus de 540 le nombre de morts dans les intempéries qui ont frappé l’archipel depuis deux semaines.

Des chiffres issus du Centre de recherche en épidémiologie des sinistre (CRED) travaillant pour l’OMS (Organisation mondiale de la santé) :

Durant les 11 premiers mois de 2009 : 245 sinistres ont touché 58 millions de personnes et fait 8 900 morts.

L’article souligne qu’il s’agit d’un bilan en forte baisse par rapport aux dernières années puisque “depuis le début de la décennie, ils se situaient dans des fourchettes beaucoup plus hautes, avec par exemple, en 2008, un total de 349 cataclysmes, 216 millions de personnes affectées et 235 000 morts” (Le Monde) Ce chiffre important en 2008 est dû, notamment au séisme du Sichuan, en Chine (près de 90 000 victimes), et au passage du cyclone Nargis en Birmanie (plus de 20 000 morts et un million de sinistrés). En 2004, le tsunami avait fait plus de 220 000 morts.

Selon ce premier bilan de l’année 2009, il est important de souligner également qu’il existe une interaction de plus en plus marquée entre les risques naturels climatiques et le changement climatique et que cette corrélation continuera à augmenter dans les années à venir. L’exemple des sécheresses non seulement en nombre mais également dans leur extension spatiale est significatif des prévisions du GIEC. A ce sujet, l’OMM (Organisation Mondiale de Météorologie) souligne que “cinquante-quatre experts provenant de toutes les régions du monde ont adopté un indice de sécheresse météorologique universel destiné à faciliter la surveillance des sécheresses et la gestion des risques liés au climat“. En effet, les sécheresses qui sont caractérisées par un important déficit de précipitations dans des régions données, ont un impact grave sur l’agriculture et les ressources en eau. En conséquence, les chercheurs réunis à l’Atelier interrégional sur les indices et les systèmes d’alerte précoce applicables à la sécheresse (Université du Nebraska-Lincoln du 8 au 11 décembre 2009) ont adopté “un indice de précipitations normalisé (SPI) auquel les Services météorologiques et hydrologiques nationaux du monde entier devraient se référer pour décrire les sécheresses météorologiques et selon lequel une période de sécheresse débute lorsque cet indice commence à être systématiquement négatif et s’achève lorsqu’il devient positif” (Source OMM).

Cet indice devrait contribuer à établir une prévention en terme de sécheresse dans les pays à haut risque, notamment en mettant en place des études afin d’anticiper ce type de phénomènes climatiques extrêmes moins spectaculaires dans l’immédiat mais catastrophiques à long terme, comme en Australie par exemple.
http://planetevivante.wordpress.com/

[Animal 0]

A major cockfighting raid over New Year’s weekend in Texas revealed the ugly truth about rescue missions of this nature. The only ones to suffer are the animals who are supposed to be protected in the raid.



The operation on January 2nd 2010 seized 118 fighting roosters.

Unfortunately, their capture will probably turn into a death sentence for the most of them.



On the other hand, the barbaric event will only mean a “slap on the hand” for the people arrested at the fight.



Authorities acted on a tip about a large-scale cockfight that was scheduled in a barn in the small town of Poolville over the first weekend of 2010. The sheriff’s department in Parker County began surveillance of the area and obtained the necessary search warrants when they had enough evidence. Then they coordinated the raid along with members of the local police department, the USDA’s Office of Inspector General and a six-member team from the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).



The raid was a huge success. Law enforcement officers confiscated large sums of cash and drugs and arrested 176 adults.



Sadly, the raid also took into protective custody 10-15 children who had been taken by their parents to watch the cockfight. They ranged in age from 7 to 15 years old.



As in previous seizures, the roosters were found in deplorable conditions. Six birds were injured and another half-dozen were already dead by the time the raid occurred. The dead roosters were found in the trash “among beer cans and bottles of whiskey.” The birds had been forced to wear one-inch knives around their legs during the fights – making it even more dangerous.



Although the operation successfully stopped a horrific act from being completed, the roosters will probably pay the biggest price for the raid. They were taken into custody and their fate will be determined at a court hearing.



John Goodwin of HSUS said this about their future, “They could end up abandoned, a few might be placed at some type of sanctuary, or their owners may want them back. But many of them will be euthanized because they’re bred to fight.”



The concept that these birds may lose their lives because of a raid that was initiated to help them - is repulsive.



And it seems even worse in Texas where the owners have the opportunity to have the birds returned to them. Although cockfighting is a felony in the state, it is perfectly legal to own fighting birds.



The Texas raid insulted animal lovers even further when most of the people arrested, were released after paying fines of $300. Some of the organizers will face further charges for animal cruelty, illegal gambling and organized crime, but for the majority - the fine will be the extent of their restitution.



HSUS members also noted the callous behavior of the organizers of the fight who brought along their young children. They noted, “Some of the cock-fighters brought their children to the fights – about 10 to 15 of them – and as sheriff’s deputies raided the facility, they abandoned their children and fled the scene. Fortunately, Child Protective Services was on hand to help.”



Sadly, the first raid on a large-scale cockfighting operation in 2010 was disappointing. And unless more work is done to stop the barbaric practice, it is likely to continue into the next decade.

Read more: animal welfare, cockfighting, cockfighting raid texas, cockfighting laws

[Animal 0]

13 janvier 2010
Saskatchewan (Canada)

Le Chef de bande de la communauté «Carry the Kettle First Nations» en Saskatchewan, somme ses membres de voter en faveur du rachat de l'abattoir de chevaux «Natural Valley Farms», qui a fermé ses portes l'an dernier après une enquête de l'Agence canadienne d'inspection des aliments qui avait révélé plusieurs problèmes au niveau environnemental, de même que des cruautés extrêmes perpétrées envers les chevaux (30% de tous les chevaux étaient dépecés alors qu'ils étaient encore vivants). La majeure partie de la viande chevaline canadienne est exportée en Europe et en Asie...

Le vote aura lieu demain à Régina et les membres de la communauté «Carry the Kettle First Nations» sont invités à voter «Yes»
pour l'achat et la réouverture de cet abattoir, qui pourrait créer selon eux, une centaine d'emplois ...
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=244029969525&index=1

[Animal 0]

Facing backlash in Europe, Canada hunts
for new seal market in China

A buyer visits a fur-company booth at the Hong Kong International Fur & Fashion Fair. Canada is looking to China to boost seal-fur sales. MN CHAN/GETTY IMAGES
Fisheries Minister, seal companies flaunt hunt's products in Beijing
S

Ottawa — From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
Published on Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2010 12:00AM EST

Last updated on Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2010 9:19AM EST


.Forget the Old World animal ethics of Europe. Canada is taking its seal hunt where the money is - to China.

Despite all the hubbub about the European Union's sanctions on the seal hunt, Europe is a relatively small market for Canadian seal products. But China is a big buyer, with greater potential and none of the uproar about animal rights that has made the seal industry a pariah in the Western world.

That's why Fisheries Minister Gail Shea and executives from five Canadian seal-industry companies are in China now, teaming up to work the market that could ensure the survival of Canada's moribund hunt. "There's huge market potential here," Ms. Shea said.

Tonight, Ms. Shea will introduce a seal-fur line at a fashion show at the China Fur and Leather Products Fair in Beijing. She'll also try to ease red tape for seal meat imports.

"They have a completely different approach over here," Bernard Guimont, president of Magdalen Islands seal products exporter Tamasu Inc., said from Beijing. "That's why we think it's a market that for sure has a great future for us."

The animal-rights activism of groups that attack the seal hunt as inhumane, featuring such celebrities as Paul McCartney and images of red blood staining white snow, has won a ban in Europe. But despite efforts to reproduce the campaigns in Hong Kong, the movement has yet to take hold in Chinese culture, where a tradition of eating a wide variety of animals, including dogs, makes it relatively immune to emotional appeals to spare cute seals.

"The Chinese eat anything. And they simply don't understand why you would put one animal above another," said Wayne Mackinnon, chairman of DPA Industries, which exports Omega 3 seal-oil capsules made from harp seal blubber. "I suspect that over the course of the next decade, the Chinese market alone could take all the seal products that we could make."

Sales of seal-oil products like DPA's might surpass sales of seal fur that was long the hunt's raison d'etre, but the collapsing economics of the fur industry threaten Mr. Mackinnon's business too: Unless sealers are hunting seals for fur, he won't get blubber at a reasonable price.

With pelts fetching only about $15, many sealers stayed home during last year's hunt, taking only a quarter of the catch allowed by Ottawa.

The landed value of the pelts totalled less than $1-million.

Ottawa, however, spent large sums campaigning against last year's EU decision to ban seal products.

But those efforts are more about culture wars than commercial deals. The federal government wanted to stop sanctions to protect the hunt's international reputation, and because siding with outport hunters over celebrity animal-rights activists from Europe was an obvious political choice for Conservative politicians.

The Foreign Affairs Department's "action plan" for the spring of 2007 alone had a $362,000 budget.

And the Harper government's fisheries ambassador, former Newfoundland finance minister Loyola Sullivan, racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses heading delegations to European capitals on a hopeless lobbying tour.

Last year, they launched a World Trade Organization legal challenge against the EU that will probably cost millions.

But in commercial terms, Europe was small potatoes: Most Canadian sales there were to fur processors, who sold their goods to other countries, but only about 10 per cent of the retail market was there. Most of Canada's exports are split between Russia and China.

China, rapidly becoming the world's manufacturing powerhouse, has been the centre of fur manufacturing for a decade, and its newly affluent millions have made it a bigger retail market too, Mr. Guimont said.

The Beijing fur show is rapidly becoming one of the largest in the world; the biggest is in Hong Kong.

The anti-seal-hunt campaign launched in Hong Kong last year has made some in the fur industry fear that activists will gain ground in the largest markets.

"We're taking that very seriously," said Rob Cahill, executive director of the Fur Institute of Canada.

*******

Not just for the fur

Seals have long been hunted for their fur, but defenders of the hunt have long tried to promote other products to defend the usefulness and viability of the hunt. Seal oil, sold for the health benefits of Omega 3 fatty acids, is the other major seal product in what is a relatively tiny industry. But sealers still harbour hopes that sales of seal meat and heart valves might one day take off.

Pelts

Fur used the be the most important seal product, but crashing pelt prices have hit hard. Peak prices reigned as recently as 2006, but a stockpile and a global recession brought a crash. Less than $1-million worth of pelts were landed last year. Pelts are cut from seals with blubber on them, and the skins are processed into fur and leather to make coats, hats, and gloves.

Oil

Seal blubber is processed into oil that is put into capsules and sold as Omega 3 oil, which is prized for its health effects. Trade statistics don't capture the size of exports in these products, although Wayne Mackinnon, chairman of DPA Industries Inc., which makes the supplements, insists Canadian sales total $10-million a year.

Meat

Despite Governor-General Michaëlle Jean's famous public snacking on a seal heart, exports of seal meat remain small, and the market is mostly described in terms of its potential. The costs of transporting and processing what is, in meat-industry terms, a niche product have meant that export sales to a few interested buyers remain small.

Heart valves

One hope for seal hunt advocates is a Greek doctor's work in advocating the use of seal heart valves in heart valve replacement surgery. It is only in the testing stage at the Quebec Heart and Lung Institute and elsewhere, but it offers the dream of commercial benefits mixed with the public-relations coup of a seal hunt product that saves human lives.

By Campbell Clark
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/facing-backlash-in-europe-canada-hunts-for-new-seal-market-in-china/article1427946/

[Animal 0]

Last update - 14:10 08/01/2010


Can a vegetarian chef help solve the Mideast conflict?

By Raphael Ahren, Haaretz Correspondent

Israel cuisine

Could vegetarianism help solve the Middle East conflict? U.S. celebrity chef Christina Pirello, who is currently in Israel teaching about macrobiotic cooking, doesn't suggest peace would break out the moment Israelis and Palestinians stopped eating schnitzel and shawarma. She believes, however, that meat causes people to lose their ability to accept somebody else's point of view and that most conflicts in the world could be solved if people ate less meat.

"Meat tends to make people opinionated and inflexible in many ways, physically as well as psychologically," the 54-year-old told Anglo File this week. "One thing I've noticed in my many years of keeping a plant-based diet is that people who eat plants - while they may not always agree with each other - always see the other opinion as valid. Sometimes the things we eat, particularly when they contain chemicals, sugars and saturated fat, it clouds your vision a lot."

Pirello, who won the 1998 Emmy Award for her U.S.-wide televised cooking show, is a vigorous proponent of a macrobiotic diet, which strictly consists of plant-based and unprocessed foods, such as grains, beans, vegetables and fruit.


Supporters of the diet believe the food they do eat has tremendous powers. Pirello, for instance, believes switching to a macrobiotic lifestyle 26 years ago saved her at a time when doctors who diagnosed her with leukemia told her she had only six months to live.

Despite the apparent limitations, macrobiotic dishes should still be "sexy, delicious and luscious," the Philadelphia-based Pirello said, while serving a purpose in life. "If I need to be strong and focused, should I be eating sugar as much as I like? If I need to be more relaxed should I eat so much salt? We [macrobiotics] pay much more attention to the way food affects us than any other style of cuisine," she asserts.

For Ginat Rice, the U.S.-born immigrant hosting Pirello during her 9-day visit, macrobiotics is much more than a diet. "It's a way of life, it includes the thoughts we think. It's not only the peas and the carrots, it's also my attitude. And I find that my attitude improves the better I eat," she told Anglo File, hours before over 50 people crowded her Jerusalem apartment for Pirello's first class on Sunday. Throughout the year, Rice and her husband Sheldon offer classes in macrobiotics as well as numerology, shiatsu and palmistry.

While Rice says it is impossible to estimate how many people in Israel follow a macrobiotic diet, an increasing number is interested in alternative approaches to food. She said getting people in Israel - which has a strong meat eating culture - to change, but that she finds much openness and awareness of natural food here.

"In the U.S., I find people are more square - saying this is what mother cooked, and what her mother cooked, etc," she added. "Here people are much more willing to listen to new ideas."


http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1141289.html

[Animal 0]

Une vingtaine d'ours sauvés d'un trafic de bile au Vietnam
(AFP) – Il y a 1 jour
18 janv 2010

HANOI — Une organisation de défense des animaux a affirmé lundi avoir sauvé 19 ours détenus dans des conteneurs dans une ferme du sud du Vietnam qui récupérait illégalement leur bile.

Les animaux, transportés près de Hanoï au nord, ont été découverts dans des conteneurs de 12 mètres, dans la province de Binh Duong, près de Ho Chi Minh-Ville (ex-Saïgon), a indiqué l'organisation Animals Asia Foundation.

Les conteneurs étaient "divisés en sept compartiments avec un ours par compartiment", a expliqué Tuan Bendixsen, responsable pour le Vietnam de l'organisation basée à Hong Kong, dans un communiqué. "C'est la première fois que nous voyons des ours détenus dans de telles conditions".

Un homme d'affaires taïwanais propriétaire des animaux les auraient placés dans ces conteneurs il y a deux mois quand les autorités vietnamiennes l'ont mis en garde contre le caractère illégal des "cellules" en béton dans lesquels il les avaient maintenus pendant plusieurs années, selon Animals Asia.

Les départements central et provincial de la protection de la forêt auraient eux-mêmes demandé son aide à la fondation il y a quelques semaines pour fermer l'établissement, a poursuivi Animals Asia.

Les trafiquants extraient la bile d'ours à l'aide d'aiguilles dans un procédé qui met en danger les animaux, affirment leurs défenseurs.

La bile, extrêmement prisée, est vendue pour ses vertus anti-inflammatoires, comme traitement pour des maladies du coeur et du foie, comme aphrodisiaque. Elle est aussi parfois ajoutée dans les shampooings, dentifrices et certaines boissons non-alcoolisées.

Les fermes spécialisées dans l'extraction de la bile sont interdites au Vietnam depuis plusieurs années, mais les propriétaires sont autorisés à conserver les ours qu'ils possédaient avant l'interdiction.

[Animal 0]

Four Chinese Held In Congo Rep For Ivory Trade
Date: 19-Jan-10
Country: CONGO
Author: Reuters


BRAZZAVILLE - Four Chinese nationals have been arrested in Congo Republic for illegally dealing in ivory, the first arrests of Chinese in the country in connection with the trade, police sources said on Monday.

The suspects face up to five years in prison and fines of $10,000. The arrests were made after a raid on their premises in central Brazzaville produced a haul of ivory bracelets, statues and other goods.

Ivory dealing has been banned since 1989 after decades of poaching in which Africa's elephant population was halved, with an estimated 600,000 animals remaining by the late 1990s.

But authorities say an influx of Chinese workers to the continent has led to a rise in poaching in countries such as Kenya. Chinese nationals can buy ivory at local prices and make a profit by selling it when they return home.

Congo's Chinese community numbers around 2,000, mostly involved in construction, timber, the restaurant trade and cut-price retail shops widely appreciated by most locals.
http://planetark.org/wen/56403

[Animal 0]

01/15/2010
An Avalanche of Criticism
Tests Halted on Pigs Left to Die in Snow

REUTERS
Happier swine. A sow and piglet enjoy the snow near Oxford, southern England.
A storm of protest has forced scientists in Austria to abandon experiments on pigs buried in snow. Animal rights activists say the tests on live animals are unacceptable. The researchers counter that it is vital to help save human lives in the aftermath of an avalanche.

The tests were supposed to last two weeks, but an avalanche of criticism has forced scientists to stop after just three days. Protests by animal rights activists have brought a controversial experiment involving pigs in the Austrian Alps to a halt. On Tuesday, scientists had commenced burying the animals in the snow and monitoring their deaths in an attempt to determine what factors make it possible for humans to survive avalanches.


By Thursday, though, the experiment -- led by the Medical University of Innsbrück and the Institute of Mountain Emergency Medicine in Bozano, Italy -- was temporarily stopped due to massive media interest sparked by the protests. A total of 29 animals had been selected for the tests, which were due to continue for two weeks. Ten pigs had already died in the experiment conducted in a simulated avalanche. Scientists involved say they were sedated and given an anaesthetic. The Medical University of Innsbrück posted a statement on its Web site saying that the experiment had been approved by the Austrian Science and Research Ministry.

"It is absolutely unacceptable that these highly sensitive, helpless animals are killed for such an unnecessary test," said Johanna Stadler, head of the animals rights group Four Paws. "People are shocked and outraged that such cruel experiments can even be carried out in Austria," Gerda Metias, president of the International Union of Animal Experiment Opponents, told the Associated Press.

'Morally Questionable'

Some activists suggested the researchers experiment on themselves instead. "The scientists should bury themselves, and their colleagues can evaluate the results," a spokesperson from the Austrian Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals told the Austrian news agency APA.

Anton Steixner, the official in charge of animal protection in the Tirol regional government, said that he had not been informed and was surprised at these "unusual methods." "To bury pigs alive under the snow is morally questionable," he said, distancing himself from the experiment. The Tirol Mountain Rescue service also questioned the sense of carrying out this kind of test. Meanwhile, Austria's Social Democratic (SPÖ) and Green parties have demanded an immediate end to the tests and want to discuss the approval by the ministry in parliament.

Hermann Brugger, who is leading the research project, says, however, that the tests will go ahead. "It makes no sense … to call off the experiment now," he said, arguing that that would mean those pigs that have already died did so in vain. He said the scientists needed the complete the tests in order to draw conclusions on how to improve the rescue of humans.

"In the dramatic situation after an avalanche, the emergency doctors can judge better which victims have a realistic chance of surviving." He told the Austrian TV station ORF: "We want to save lives, that's the only goal of this study."
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,672102,00.html#ref=nlint

[Animal 0]

Porcherie Porcivet

Violent incendie
Mise à jour le jeudi 17 décembre 2009 à 17 h 37




La porcherie Porcivet, située sur la route 161 à quelques kilomètres au sud de Saint-Wenceslas, a été complètement ravagée par les flammes dans la nuit de mercredi à jeudi.

Le feu a éclaté un peu après 0 h 30. L'incendie a été rapporté aux pompiers par le plus proche voisin de la ferme, lui-même alerté par une automobiliste.

« Elle cognait dans les vitres en faisant le tour de la maison. Je me lève tout abasourdie. Elle me dit que le feu est pris à côté », a raconté le voisin Rémi Hubert.

Dépêchés sur les lieux, les pompiers de Saint-Wenceslas, aidés de leurs confrères de Sainte-Eulalie et Saint-Célestin, ont dû combattre l'incendie pendant près de 9 heures.

Au moins 1500 porcs de plus de 90 kilos ont péri dans les flammes. Selon le propriétaire, qui habite à Drummondville, les pertes et dommages totalisent environ 750 000 dollars.

On ignore toujours pour l'instant les causes exactes de l'incendie.

Le propriétaire, qui était assuré, évalue présentement la possibilité de reconstruire.

http://www.radio-canada.ca/regions/mauricie/2009/12/17/004-incendie_porcivet.shtml

---------------------

[Animal 0]

3,000 cochons sont morts brûlés vifs à l'intérieur d'une porcherie appartenenant à «Sunnybrook Swine Inc. of Manitoba».
Les 7 employés qui se trouvaient à l'intérieur de la porcherie lorsque l'incendie s'est déclaré, ont pu sortir et n'ont subi aucune blessure.


3,000 hogs die in Manitoba barn fireWinnipeg Free Press: Friday, January 15, 2010


WINNIPEG — Three thousand hogs died in a barn fire southwest of Winnipeg Thursday afternoon.


RCMP said seven employees were inside the barn at the time of the 1:45 p.m. fire and all escaped without any injuries.


All of the approximately 3,000 hogs inside the barn at the time of the fire died.


The barn belonged to Sunnybrook Swine Inc. of Manitoba.


Area fire departments in the rural district, about 46 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg, attended and extinguished the fire.


RCMP, with the assistance of the Manitoba Office of the Fire Commissioner, continue to investigate. The cause has yet to be determined and no dollar estimate of the damage is available.

http://www.globallethbridge.com/world/hogs+Manitoba+barn+fire/2446529/story.html

[Animal 0]

mardi 19 janvier 2010
1 360 cochons périssent dans l?incendie d?une porcherie à Plurien


27 pompiers étaient sur place. Ils ont maîtrisé le feu au bout d’une heure mais le bâtiment est entièrement détruit et les animaux ont péri.

Vers 7 h 30 ce matin, au lieu-dit La Vallée à Plurien, le feu a pris dans une porcherie (maternité) de Philippe Rouxel. Dans cet incendie, 160 truies et 1 200 porcelets ont péri. La gendarmerie de Pléneuf-Val-André, les pompiers d’Erquy, Hénanbihen, Plancoët (avec une grande échelle) et Pléneuf pour un ravitaillement en eau, un adjoint au maire était sur les lieux. Les causes ne sont pas connues pour l’instant.

http://www.saint-brieuc.maville.com/actu/actudet_-1-360-cochons-perissent-dans-l-incendie-d-une-porcherie-a-Plurien_-1232074--BKN_actu.Htm

[Animal 0]

Incendie dans une étable

Écrit par Daniel Renaud
Vendredi, 15 janvier 2010
Mise à jour le Vendredi, 15 janvier 2010

Un producteur laitier a désespérément tenté de sauver ses vaches de son étable en flammes dans la nuit de vendredi, dans la région de Beauharnois.

Le feu a éclaté vers 3h15 dans le bâtiment situé sur le chemin de la Rivière Nord, à Saint-Étienne de Beauharnois.

« Le propriétaire était sur les lieux au moment où le feu s'est déclaré. Il a tenté de faire sortir ses vaches mais il n'en a sauvé que quelques unes sur son troupeau qui en comptait entre 80 et 100 », raconte le sergent Claude Denis, de la Sûreté du Québec.

L'homme a été incommodé par la fumée et traité sur place.

Plusieurs véhicules de pompiers ont été dépêchés sur les lieux. Faute de bornes-fontaines, les sapeurs ont dû installer des piscines pour contenir l'élément destructeur qui serait d'origine électrique.

http://www.ruefrontenac.com/nouvelles-generales/faitsdivers/16386-incendie-dans-une-etable

[Animal 0]

Une autre étable incendiée
Nouvelles générales - Faits divers
Écrit par Daniel Renaud
Lundi, 16 novembre 2009 08:45
Mise à jour le Lundi, 16 novembre 2009 08:51
Un deuxième incendie dans une étable en un peu plus de 48 heures a tué 300 veaux, tôt lundi matin à Warwick.

L’incendie a éclaté vers 4 h 10 dans une étable située au 37 du rang 4, dans cette municipalité du Centre-du-Québec. Appelés sur les lieux et aidés par
leurs collègues des municipalités voisines de Kingsey et de Victoriaville, les pompiers de Warwick ont dû agir avec prudence compte tenu de la présence
de bouteilles de gaz propane sur les llieux.

Rappelons qu’en juin 1993, quatre pompiers volontaires de l’endroit avaient péri dans l’explosion d’une bouteille de gaz propane alors qu’ils combattaient un incendie.

Malgré les efforts des pompiers, l’étable est une perte totale et 300 veaux de lait ont péri. On ignore les causes de la tragédie pour le moment. La Sûreté du Québec a ouvert une enquête.

Vendredi soir, un autre incendie, d’origine accidentelle, a complètement détruit un bâtiment de Henryville, en Montérégie, tuant 200 moutons et une centaine de lapins et de poules.

http://ruefrontenac.com/nouvelles-generales/faitsdivers/13791-etable-incendie

[Animal 0]

4 décembre 2009 à 12h31
Incendie à Rivière-Ouelle


Le bâtiment est une perte totale.
Photo: Tommy Lavoie, leplacoteux.com
Le bâtiment est une perte totale.
Photo: Tommy Lavoie, leplacoteux.com

Rivière-Ouelle - Un incendie a fait rage ce matin à la Ferme Martinoise inc., située au 122 de la Pointe à Rivière-Ouelle. Les flammes auraient pris naissance dans l’entrepôt de paille situé à l’arrière du bâtiment principal.

Les pompiers sont arrivés sur les lieux vers 8 h 15 pour maîtriser l’incendie qui s’est propagé à l’avant de la ferme. Ils ont réussi à préserver des flammes la partie ouest de l’étable ainsi que les deux silos.



La brigade des pompiers de Kamouraska-Ouest — comprenant celles de Rivière-Ouelle et de Saint-Pacôme — et les sapeurs de La Pocatière sont sur place afin d’abaisser la couverture et de sortir le fourrage en feu. Une équipe de pompiers se trouve derrière les bâtiments pour effectuer la même opération.



Le troupeau de vaches laitières, entre 160 et 170 têtes selon les informations reçues, a été pris en charge par d’autres producteurs agricoles. En avant-midi, les pertes animales étaient chiffrées à une dizaine de bêtes, dont quelques-unes affectées par la fumée. La maison adjacente à l’entreprise laitière n’a pas été touchée.

Des résidents ont été contraints de trouver refuge à la salle communautaire de la municipalité en raison de la fumée dense propagée par les vents dans ce secteur.

Collaboration : Tommy Lavoie, leplacoteux.com

[Animal 0]

Incendie ferme Matapédia
Mardi 19 janvier 2010 13:36



Un incendie a endommagé mardi matin un bâtiment de ferme à Lac-au-Saumon.

Une trentaine de pompiers de la municipalité, d'Amqui et de Causapscal ont combattu les flammes ayant pris naissance dans une grange située dans le 4e rang.

Le responsable du Service des incendies de la Matapédia, Ghislain Paradis, indique que l'intervention rapide des pompiers a permis de limiter les dégâts.

Extrait audio

Les sapeurs sont parvenus à sortir environ 80 bêtes qui se trouvaient à l'intérieur de l'étable.

http://www.rockdetente.com/rimouski/actualites/nouvelles-locales/124199-incendie-ferme-matapedia/

[Animal 0]

1 novembre 2009 à 11h00
Catastrophe plus grave évitée grâce aux pompiers à Grondines



Sophie Duquette et Pierre Marcotte avec une taure de race Angus rescapée âgée de huit mois.
Photo: Steeve Alain
Sophie Duquette et Pierre Marcotte avec une taure de race Angus rescapée âgée de huit mois.
Photo: Steeve Alain

Par Steeve Alain


Sophie Duquette et Pierre Marcotte ne tarissent pas d’éloges à l’égard des pompiers de Deschambault-Grondines qui ont, disent-ils, sauvé leur ferme d’un grave incendie il y a quelques jours.

M. Marcotte était dans la maison de la ferme Duquette et Marcotte lorsqu’il a aperçu en fin de soirée le 22 octobre de la fumée sortant d’un bâtiment. Aussitôt, il s’est dirigé vers les lieux qui abritaient une quinzaine de vaches de race Angus et s’est rendu compte qu’il faudrait de l’aide.

Il a appelé le service incendie qui, raconte-il, est arrivé sur les lieux très rapidement. «Il a fallu quelque chose comme quatre minutes. C’était fantastique de voir ça. Ça m’épate la vitesse à laquelle ils sont intervenus», dit Pierre Marcotte.

Alors que les bêtes étaient sorties à toute vitesse de l’étable, l’intervention des pompiers a permis d’éviter la propagation de l’incendie à l’ensemble du bâtiment et par le fait même aux bâtiments adjaçents et à la résidence de l’entreprise propriété de Sophie Duquette.

Selon M. Marcotte, le travail de l’équipe du chef Guy Boucher a permis d’éviter des dommages qui auraient pu s’élever à plus de 2 M$. Le feu qui s’est limité à la salle électrique installée dans une appendice aura finalement causé pour environ 100 000$ de dommages.

Malheureusement, 16 jeunes vaches ont dû être euthanasiées en raison de l’intoxication à la fumée et une autre risquait le même sort la semaine dernière. La ferme spécialisée dans la génétique Angus comptait au total 45 bêtes avant l’incendie.

Mme Duquette et M. Marcotte tenaient particulièrement à remercier les pompiers. «On entend seulement des mauvaises nouvelles, il faut aussi souligner les bonnes», laisse entendre M. Marcotte. PMT Roy, Dynamix Purina et le vétérinaire ont aussi donné un bon soutien, disent Sophie Duquette et Pierre Marcotte.



Le feu aurait pu se propager de l’appendice (à gauche) aux bâtiments principaux adjaçents et causer encore plus de dommages.
http://www.courrierdeportneuf.com/index.asp?s=detail_actualite&ID=127841

[Animal 0]

Last updated at 12:03 AM on 20/01/10

Grey seals converge on secluded areas of strait to give birth
SHERRY MARTELL
The Truro Daily News


PICTOU ISLAND – More than a thousand grey seals are congregating on the eastern shore of Pictou Island and other secluded areas in the Northumberland Strait.
A spokesman with the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans said the lack of ice floes in the strait this year is causing the grey seals to seek suitable areas along shorelines to give birth.
“The grey seals will use the ice if it is there and if not they will concentrate in secluded areas where it is appropriate for them to give birth,” said DFO spokesman Michel Therien.
Groups of gray seals have also been spotted on Henry Island, St. Paul Island and islands in St. George’s Bay.
According to historical data on the Environment Canada website ice levels in eastern Canada are the lowest they have been since 2006 when a tidal surge drowned more than 1,500 pups off Pictou Island. Therien said scientists are visiting areas where seals are pupping and department conservation and protection officers are monitoring the herds to ensure they are not being harassed.“We are advising the public not to approach them, mostly to prevent any accidents,” said the spokesman. “Serious wounds could be inflicted by seals.”
The mother seals, which can grow as heavy as 800 pounds, are very protective of their young.
On Thursday, DFO officials will be conducting an aerial inspection of Northumberland shorelines to determine where the grey seals are congregating and how many are present.
Pups are normally abandoned by their mothers about three weeks after birth and remain out of the water while they shed their downy white coats.
On Monday, a young seal that wandered away from the shoreline, was found on the road near the Pictou rotary.
DFO officials trapped the animal using nets and released it back into its natural habitat.
Anyone caught harassing grey seals taking refuge along shorelines could be prosecuted under Marine Mammal Regulations.
The grey seal population in the Northumberland Strait and the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence is about 300,000.
smartell@trurodaily.com
http://www.trurodaily.com/index.cfm?sid=319835&sc=68
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Publié le 12 janvier 2010 à 05h00 | Mis à jour le 12 janvier 2010 à 10h27


Îles-de-la-Madeleine: les phoques gris de plus en plus nombreux

Après le phoque du Groenland (ci-dessus), dont on estime le troupeau à 6,8 millions de bêtes, c'est au tour du phoque gris d'envahir le territoire des Îles-de-la-Madeleine et du sud de l'Atlantique.

Photothèque Le Soleil

Plus de 300 000 phoques gris occupent ces espaces, ce qui pousse les chasseurs de pho­ques des Îles-de-la-Madeleine à demander au gouvernement fédéral un quota d'abattage de 50 000 phoques pour cette espèce. Une présence qui n'est pas sans avoir impact sur les espèces de poisson commerciales. Selon Pêches et Océans, les estimations des quantités d'espèces de poisson commerciales mangées par les phoques sont importantes comparativement aux prises actuelles de morue du Nord, de sébaste, de flétan noir et de plie canadienne.

Le troupeau de phoques du Groenland atteindrait les 6,8 millions de bêtes, en hausse d'un million depuis quatre ans.

Selon Mike Hammill, chercheur scientifique à l'Institut Maurice-Lamontage de Mont-Joli (Pêches et Océans Canada), c'est le troupeau «le plus gros que nous ayons vu dans les 50 dernières années et peut-être même dans le dernier siècle. Les pratiques de gestion que le Ministère a mises en place au cours des deux dernières décennies ont mené à un accroissement de la population, et l'approche de gestion actuelle est d'assurer une probabilité de 80 %, que le troupeau compte 4,1 millions d'animaux ou plus».

Les chasseurs de loup-marin du Groenland réclament un quota de 300 000 têtes à Ottawa, comparativement à 280 000 en 2009 sur un troupeau alors évalué à près de 5,6 millions d'animaux.

http://www.cyberpresse.ca/le-soleil/actualites/environnement/201001/11/01-938155-iles-de-la-madeleine-les-phoques-gris-de-plus-en-plus-nombreux.php

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Publié le 29 janvier 2010


Moins de chevreuils abattus

"Il s'est abattu tellement de chevreuils depuis le début de la politique du double abattage qu'il n'en reste presque plus. Depuis deux ans, il y a trop de chasseurs qui ont passé leurs journées dans le bois sans même apercevoir un seul chevreuil", déplore le taxidermiste et président de l'Association des chasseurs et pêcheurs de l'Estrie, Georges Landry.

photo Stéphanie Mantha
Marc Gendron
La Voix de l'Est


(Granby) Les craintes de Georges Landry étaient bel et bien fondées. Selon les chiffres dévoilés mercredi par le ministère des Ressources naturelles et de la Faune, 2190 cerfs de Virginie de moins ont été abattus par les chasseurs en 2009 dans les zones de chasse de notre région, ce qui représente une diminution de 18% par rapport à l'année précédente.

«Ces chiffres-là ne m'étonnent pas, a d'abord indiqué le taxidermiste et président de l'Association des chasseurs et pêcheurs de l'Estrie, hier, en prenant connaissance de ces données. J'enregistre les prises dans le coin et j'ai remarqué une baisse d'environ 25%.»



Selon le Ministère, la diminution marquée du nombre de chevreuils abattus est due en bonne partie aux deux hivers rigoureux qui ont précédé la période de chasse de l'automne dernier, à l'application de mesures de contrôle des populations de cervidés ainsi qu'à une diminution de 7% du nombre de chasseurs au cours de cette période, des arguments que Georges Landry ne réfute pas.


«C'est vrai qu'il y a eu une diminution du nombre de chasseurs, note-t-il, mais c'est de la faute du Ministère s'il y en a moins. Il s'est abattu tellement de chevreuils depuis le début de la politique du double abattage qu'il n'en reste presque plus. Depuis deux ans, il y a trop de chasseurs qui ont passé leurs journées dans le bois sans même apercevoir un seul chevreuil. Il y en a même qui m'ont dit que la chasse, c'était fini pour eux, que s'ils y retournaient, ils ne prendraient même pas de permis, qu'ils iraient en chercher un seulement s'ils tuaient. C'est bien simple, le MRNF a réussi à les écoeurer.»

Le pire est à venir

Si la diminution a été aussi marquée au cours des deux dernières années, elle le sera encore plus dans l'avenir, craint M. Landry.

«Je prévois une autre baisse d'au moins 25% cet automne, affirme le chasseur d'expérience. Et comme le Ministère ne fait pas d'inventaire des populations de cerfs à chaque année, ils vont se rendre compte de la gravité de la situation beaucoup trop tard.»

Selon lui, le ministère des Ressources naturelles et de la Faune a manqué de vision en instaurant le double abattage.

«Ils ont cédé aux pressions de l'UPA, clame-t-il. Mais ils n'ont pas vu plus loin que le bout de leur nez. Si la chasse est en péril, ça peut avoir un impact économique sérieux pour une région comme la nôtre. Ce sont tant les magasins de chasse et pêche que les restaurants et autres commerces qui vont s'en ressentir.»

Déjà, en octobre, Georges Landry réclamait la fin de la pratique du double abattage, une pratique qui force certains chasseurs à abattre un cerfs sans bois, une femelle ou un jeune mâle, avant de pouvoir tuer un gros mâle. Il a d'ailleurs lancé une pétition réclamant l'arrêt du double abattage qu'il prévoit déposer très bientôt.

«On est déjà rendus à 3000 signatures. Ça avance, dit-il. Mais pour éviter le pire, il faut que notre appel soit entendu au plus vite et qu'on mette fin au double abattage.»
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/la-voix-de-lest/actualites/201001/29/01-944246-moins-de-chevreuils-abattus.php