NOUVELLES EN BREF 2- (BULLETIN AUTOMNE 2006)

[Animal 0]

From the Georgia Straight
Transnational poultry trade spreads virus
Publish Date: 13-Apr-2006



Re: "Flu viruses described as sloppy, capricious, and promiscuous" [March
30-April 6]

Your thoughtful piece on avian flu fails to mention the role of intensive
poultry farming in the global spread of the virus. Despite Dr. Danuta
Skowronski's assertion that wild waterfowl are "a constant source of new
viruses", considerable evidence is emerging to show that large-scale, commercial
poultry operations are at the root of the problem.

Virologist Dr. Earl Brown, whom you also quote, has stated: "High-intensity
chicken rearing is a perfect environment for generating virulent avian-flu
virus." When tens of thousands of chickens are kept in overcrowded, cramped
conditions, viruses spread like wildfire and have a greater opportunity to
mutate.

A recent report by GRAIN, an international organization dealing with
agricultural issues, confirms this view. It found little evidence of migratory
birds carrying and transmitting the highly pathogenic H5N1 subtype of avian
influenza. On the contrary, GRAIN's research concluded that the main vector is
the transnational poultry industry, which sends the products and waste of its
farms around the world through a multitude of channels.

Wild birds and back-yard, free-range poultry have been repeatedly blamed for
spreading avian flu, yet it is more likely they are victims, not vectors, of the
disease.

> Peter Fricker / Projects and Communications Director, Vancouver Humane Society

[Animal 0]

New mad cow case confirmed
15 avril 2006
CBC News
Another case of mad cow disease has been confirmed in Canada but officials don't expect international borders to close to Canadian beef as a result.

INDEPTH: Mad Cow Disease


Dr. Brian Evans, chief veterinary officer at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
The Canada Food Inspection Agency confirmed bovine spongiform encephalopathy was found over the weekend in a six-year-old cross-bred cow born and raised on an Alberta farm.

"This animal – had been showing progressive neurological signs consistent with BSE," Dr. Brian Evans, the agency's chief veterinary officer said at a media briefing in Edmonton on Monday.

It's the fourth such case since May 2003. All have been found in Alberta. A U.S. animal that tested positive for BSE two years ago also came from Alberta.

Evans predicted the new case would not affect U.S. trade, which just started accepting young Canadian cattle last July, after a two-year ban.

"All of the market access we've been able to re-achieve has been on the basis 738211; that the finding of additional cases of BSE into the future, small numbers, is entirely predictable and falls within that range of acceptable limits," he said.

Evans gave assurances that no part of the cow entered the human food or animal feed systems.

However, Evans said it was notable that the animal became sick after the 1997 feed ban that was designed to prevent infected cattle from being processed into feed and fed back to other cows.

"This case is, of course, unwelcome but it is not unexpected. We have always maintained we could find a small number of additional cases through our active surveillance program which targets cattle populations most at risk of having BSE," said Evans.

Evans said the feed ban is working despite the cluster of BSE cases in Alberta. The problem is that farmers are still using old feed purchased before the ban. A cow can be infected by just one one-thousandth of a gram of bad feed.

"Canada will eradicate BSE, but this is not a disease that disappears overnight. We are dealing with a long incubation period, a large population of susceptible animals and a complex feed system," said Evans.

The agency is trying to find out how and when the animal was exposed to BSE. It will test all cattle born on the farm the year before and the year after the infected animal was born. It will also test two calves born to the infected cow.

According the CFIA, the farm owner kept detailed records and has cooperated through out. He immediately notified a veterinarian that he had a suspected case on his farm and had to euthanize it.

FROM JULY 18, 2005: Truckload of Canadian cattle enters U.S.

The mad cow crisis is estimated to have cost Canada's cattle industry more than $7 billion.
http://www.cbc.ca/bc/story/mad-cow(2)060123.html

[Animal 0]

Chasse aux phoques
Quotas largement dépassés


Mise à jour le vendredi 14 avril 2006, 17 h 06 .




Les chasseurs de la Basse-Côte-Nord et ceux de la côte ouest de Terre-Neuve ont largement dépassé leur quota de chasse aux phoques.

La chasse aux phoques n'a duré qu'une fin de semaine sur la Côte-Nord. La région avait obtenu un quota de 7800 phoques. Or, en moins de trois jours, c'est plus de 20 000 bêtes qui ont été abattues.

Même chose du côté ouest de Terre-Neuve qui avait obtenu la part du lion du quota du golfe, soit 64 000 loups-marins. Les chasseurs en ont rapidement rapporté 84 500. On ne sait pas encore si le quota de chasse du côté est de Terre-Neuve sera respecté.

Directeur des communications pour la région du Québec à Pêches et Océans, Marcel Boudreau dit ne pas comprendre les causes d'un tel dépassement. « La fin de semaine s'est écoulée et là, on est en train de regarder quels mécanismes n'ont pas fonctionné. On prendra des actions en conséquence, si nécessaire », dit-il.

Le président de l'Association des chasseurs de phoques des Îles-de-la-Madeleine, Jean Claude Lapierre, espère que les chasseurs qui n'ont pas respecté les règles du jeu seront pénalisés l'an prochain. « S'ils ont dépassé le quota de 20 000, par exemple, bien, qu'ils le coupent l'année prochaine. Sur un plan de gestion, normalement, tu ne prends pas plus que ce qui t'est dû », affirme-t-il.

Prix records

Les chasseurs délinquants ont peut-être voulu profiter de la manne sans précédent que rapportera la chasse cette année, soit 85 $ pour une peau de première qualité comparativement à 55 $ l'an dernier. Une semaine de travail de quelques jours rapportera ainsi entre 6000 $ et 10 000 $ aux chasseurs.

http://radio-canada.ca/regions/atlantique/2006/04/14/002-phoques_quotas.shtml

[Animal 0]

HALIFAX (Apr 19, 2006)

The Grey Seal Research and Development Society, an association of
fishermen and fish processors, asked provincial politicians for help
yesterday in establishing a seal hunt in Nova Scotia.

The association said cod stocks can't recover in the North Atlantic
unless seal numbers are cut in half.

Group spokesperson Denny Morrow told the legislature's resource
committee that a rapid increase in the grey seal population since the
1980s has put pressure on cod and other fish. Populations have risen
from 30,000 in 1980 to more than 350,000 this year, he said.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans gave the society permission two
years ago to harvest 10,000 seals on the Atlantic and Fundy coasts.

They live on shore, instead of ice floes, like Newfoundland's harp seals.

"You shoot one, the rest go for the water," Morrow said. "We've got to
figure out how to harvest them."

Politicians from all three parties were sympathetic.

[Animal 0]

SPCA make horrific discovery near Oliver

Canadian Press

Tuesday, April 18, 2006
OLIVER, B.C. -- The SPCA has rescued 126 animals from what officials describe as horrific conditions on a rural property near Oliver in the southern Okanagan.

Society Constable Brad Kuich said 21 cattle, four sheep and one donkey were found, many of them emaciated, dehydrated or suffering from injuries.

They also found some dead animals.

"We did discover about 37 dead animals on the property,'' he said.
Kuich said charges of animal cruelty will be recommended against the property owners, who have not been co-operative.

The only food found on the property was one mouldy bale of hay, he said.

[Animal 0]

Halifax/Nouvelle-Écosse
Saturday April 22, 2006



Firefighters and farmers try to herd pigs away from a burning barn at the Visser farm in Waterville on Thursday. A fire destroyed several barns and killed 2,500 hogs. (Gordon Delaney / Valley Bureau)



Fire destroys hog farm
2,500 pigs dead, damage could top $2m in Waterville blaze
By GORDON DELANEY Valley Bureau




WATERVILLE — Plumes of black smoke filled the air Thursday as flames shot through barn roofs, and buildings collapsed in a heap of burning embers, twisted metal and the charred carcasses of hundreds of dead hogs.

The normally quiet rural community of Waterville was filled with the wail of sirens and the rumble of dozens of trucks as firefighters summoned from all over the Annapolis Valley vainly battled a fire that destroyed several large barns and killed almost 2,500 hogs.

The pigs were the livelihood of a young family — Mitchell and Jennifer Visser and their six small children — who lost their life’s work in a fast-moving blaze that levelled several adjacent barns containing pigs. Damage could top $2 million.

Firefighters were called to the Visser farm at about 8 a.m. But when they arrived, flames were already shooting through the roof of a three-storey barn across the driveway from the Vissers’ home, just off Parker Condon Road, said Kevin Ernest, a spokesman for the Waterville and District Fire Department.

Firefighters from 15 departments from Windsor to Bridgetown tried to contain the blaze by dousing adjacent buildings with water, but the flames moved rapidly from one building to the next, consuming everything in their path.

Most of the buildings were probably several decades old and constructed of wood and tin, making firefighters’ efforts hopeless.

"Once fire gets in those old barns, there’s not much you can do," said Abe Penner, a hog farmer and neighbour from nearby Morristown.

"There’s so much dry sawdust and stuff in them," he said. "It spreads really fast."

Mr. Penner was on his tractor Thursday morning when he learned about the blaze.

"As soon as I heard, I had to come here to see if I could help get the hogs out."

Quietly, he added, "But it was too late."

A group of firefighters, local farmers and farmhands managed to lure about 150 pigs out of the smoke-filled barns. Some were running wild and had to be chased away from the burning buildings, while some were herded into a waiting truck.

Many of the hogs that managed to escape were suffering from severe burns. Some collapsed near the buildings once they got outside. Others made it to safety, only to collapse and lie dying metres from the barn.

"The sound was horrible," said Waterville firefighter David MacCarroll, who tried to help herd some pigs to safety. "They were screaming."

But most of the pigs wouldn’t come out of the burning barns. Some came to an open doorway, just feet from safety, only to turn back and face the inferno and certain death.

Waterville firefighter John Jongeling tried to lure a few out by calling to them.

"C’mon, guys, c’mon," he called, clapping his hands like you would for a pet.

"They’re not like dogs," he finally acknowledged after the pigs turned back into the building. "They all did that."

"It’s tragic," said Marvin Saunders, a longtime Waterville resident. "Cattle are like that too. You can’t drive them out."

Of the 150 pigs saved from the fire, many will have to be destroyed, said Mrs. Visser.

"Some will have to be shot," she said as her husband tried to save what he could.

"I don’t know what we’re going to do," said Mr. Visser, 32, who bought the farm from his father in 1998 when hog prices were better, the Canadian dollar was lower and mad cow disease had not yet disrupted markets for livestock.

"I’ve been farming all my life. It’s what I always wanted to do," he told The Chronicle Herald in an interview in 2003, when the family was struggling with low pork prices and heavy debts.

The hog industry has been suffering low prices for a few years, with many piling on debt and others going out of business. The province has given hog farmers $2.8 million since last November to help them get through.

"As if I didn’t have enough to deal with the way the hog industry is going now," Mr. Visser said as the fire raged behind him. "Before this, I was taking it one day at a time. Now, I’m taking it one minute at a time."

He said he doesn’t know whether he will rebuild or get out of the hog business.

"I don’t know what I’m going to do. It hasn’t sunk in yet."

The buildings were insured, he said.

An investigator from the provincial fire marshal’s office was at the scene, but it could take some time to sort through the rubble and determine the cause of the blaze.

"It’s a significant loss for the industry and a significant loss for the family," said Henry Vissers, executive director of Pork Nova Scotia, the provincial hog marketing agency.

"It’s another producer that’s gone and another drop in production for the industry," he added.

Hog production in Nova Scotia has dropped to 180,000 hogs this year from 215,000 in 2000. Farmers fear if production continues to decline, meat packing plants may pack it in, leaving them without local buyers.

http://www.herald.ns.ca/Front/498314.html

[Animal 0]

Les entreprises japonaises retirent leur soutien à l'industrie baleinière
06 avril 2006


Greenpeace appelle Gorton's à utiliser son influence pour stopper la chasse à la baleine.
AgrandirTokyo, Japon — Vous l'avez fait!! Après des mois de pressions exercées par les Défenseurs des océans du monde entier, nos amis de chez Gorton's, Sealord et de leur maison-mère Nissui ont retiré leur soutien à l'industrie baleinière japonaise.

Ce premier pas ne signifie pas encore la fin du programme "scientifique" de chasse à la baleine, mais il met en exergue un élément fondamental: la chasse à la baleine est mauvaise pour les affaires. "En se débarrassant de leurs parts, Nissui et d'autres actionnaires ont pris une décision lâche qui leur évite de pousser Kyodo Senpaku à mettre un terme à la chasse baleinière. Il n'en reste pas moins qu'il s'agit d'une victoire pour les consommateurs. Quelques mois à peine après le début des protestations des consommateurs, l'intérêt commercial fragile des chasseurs de baleines s'est effondré. La chasse à la baleine est mauvaise pour les affaires" a déclaré Shane Rattenbury, notre responsable d'expédition lors de la récente campagne contre la chasse baleinière dans l'océan Austral.

Notre campagne a mis Nissui, qui possède un tiers des parts de Kyodo Senpaku - société nippone détenant et gérant la flotte de baleiniers japonais -, sous les feux des projecteurs. Corollaire direct, deux des plus grandes entreprises de produits de la mer ont été impliquées, par les liens qu'elles entretiennent avec Nissui, dans les activités de chasse à la baleine : Gorton's aux Etats-Unis (propriété à 100% de Nissui) et Sealord en Nouvelle-Zélande (dont Nissui détient 50% des parts). Les Défenseurs des océans de partout dans le monde ont envoyé des milliers de courriels à ces sociétés afin de leur dire que les consommateurs n'apprécient guère les activités de leur maison-mère et de les encourager à user de leur influence pour mettre fin aux activités de chasse à la baleine.

Globalement, les Défenseurs des océans ont envoyé un total de 100'000 courriels aux sociétés affiliées à Nissui.

En Argentine, des militants ont apposé des autocollants dénonçant la chasse baleinière sur les produits Nissui et envoyé plus de 20'000 courriels. Conséquence : Nissui a perdu des contrats d'approvisionnement en produits de la mer.

En construisant des liens menant vers notre page d'information concernant Gorton's, nos cyber-activistes ont fait remonter cette dernière en 2e position lorsqu'on tape "Gortons" dans Google.

"Ceci illustre magnifiquement le pouvoir qu'ont les consommateurs aujourd'hui dans un marché globalisé" explique Adele Major, de l'équipe web de Greenpeace. "Quelques clicks de souris ont suffi pour les faire plier".

Seule solution pour les chasseurs de baleines: acheter la CBI

Le massacre des baleines est mauvais pour les affaires, mais l'argent est toujours au cœur de la tactique utilisée par le gouvernement japonais afin de permettre un retour à la chasse commerciale. En dépit du rejet massif de la chasse baleinière par la communauté internationale, le Japon dépense chaque année des milliards de Yens afin d'acheter des votes lors des assemblées de la Commission Baleinière Internationale (CBI). Cette année, la délégation japonaise pense pouvoir obtenir le soutien d'une majorité de pays afin de faire tomber le moratoire international sur la chasse commerciale à la baleine.

Que feront les puissants gouvernements opposés à la chasse - Australie, Royaume-Uni, Etats-Unis et Allemagne - lors de la réunion de la CBI en juin prochain: vont-ils rester les bras ballants et laisser le Japon se payer la CBI?

Pas si nous y mettons notre grain de sel! Les Défenseurs des océans viennent de forcer un consortium de premier plan à se débarrasser de ses parts dans l'industrie de la chasse à la baleine. Pour prendre part à nos prochaines actions, n'oubliez pas de vous inscrire comme Défenseur des océans. Vous recevrez notre e-magazine (ezine) qui vous renseignera sur la façon dont vous pouvez contribuer à protéger les océans, à sauver les baleines, à faire partie de cette force globale. C'est gratuit et sans engagement.
http://oceans.greenpeace.org/fr/l-expedition/nouveaut%C3%A9s/les-entreprises-japonaises-ret

[Animal 0]

Socialists: Give apes human rights
Spain Herald
mai 2006-


The Spanish Socialist Party will introduce a bill in the Congress of Deputies calling for "the immediate inclusion of (simians) in the category of persons, and that they be given the moral and legal protection that currently are only enjoyed by human beings." The PSOE's justification is that humans share 98.4% of our genes with chimpanzees, 97.7% with gorillas, and 96.4% with orangutans.

The party will announce its Great Ape Project at a press conference tomorrow. An organization with the same name is seeking a UN declaration on simian rights which would defend ape interests "the same as those of minors and the mentally handicapped of our species."

According to the Project, "Today only members of the species Homo sapiens are considered part of the community of equals. The chimpanzee, the gorilla, and the orangutan are our species's closest relatives. They possess sufficient mental faculties and emotional life to justify their inclusion in the community of equals."
http://www.spainherald.com/3438.html

[Animal 0]

Des chiens auraient attrapé le même influenza qui touche des chevaux... La maladie de ces chiens aurait un lien avec leur consommation de viande de cheval...
-----------------------------------------------------------
Sinikka Crosland May 10, 2006

greyhound illness/horsemeat link


-recent news about dog flu spreading fast: the article below is from
2005: "But genetic tests of sick dogs found their disease almost identical
to the H3N8 influenza strain that afflicts horses, scientists at the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention and University of Florida discovered."

Mysterious Illness Striking Dogs Around U.S.
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/family/5021304/detail.html | POSTED: 11:17
am MDT September 26, 2005


Posted on 09/26/2005 11:33:36 AM PDT by jasoncann


WASHINGTON -- The mysterious respiratory disease that has swept greyhound
racetracks across the country and also afflicted pet dogs is a type of
flu -- an influenza strain that jumped from horses to dogs, researchers
reported Monday.

Such a rapid jump into a new species is rare; the flu usually evolves into
new strains more gradually.

But genetic tests of sick dogs found their disease almost identical to the
H3N8 influenza strain that afflicts horses, scientists at the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention and University of Florida discovered.

Moreover, they found evidence of widespread infection in racedogs around the
country and in pets of various breeds in Florida and New York.

Since this is a new virus for dogs, they are unlikely to harbor a natural
immunity to it.

There are no reports of people sickened by the new canine flu, which is
genetically different from human flu strains - and from the bird flu that
has killed more than 60 people in Asia.

Dogs at greyhound tracks in Colorado, Iowa, Massachusetts and Rhode Island
have reported deaths from the mysterious ailment.

The results were published online Monday by the journal Science.

This new dog illness made headlines earlier this year as greyhound
racetracks closed to control outbreaks. Veterinarians struggled to tell if
the illness was a new variant of kennel cough or an entirely new disease.

The CDC researchers counted outbreaks at 14 greyhound tracks in six states
from June to August 2004, and at 20 tracks in 11 states between January and
May 2005. It's not clear how dangerous the new canine flu is to dogs. Some
die, others experience only a fever and cough, but a large number show no
symptoms at all, the researchers report. While most attention has focused on
racing dogs, the researchers tested 70 dogs of various breeds with
respiratory disease in Florida and New York pet shelters and veterinary
clinics. Some 97 percent showed antibodies to the new canine flu strain.

Tests of blood stored by racetracks suggests the new flu strain began
infecting dogs sometime between 1999 and 2003, well before the first
outbreaks were recognized, the researchers conclude.


_______________________________________________

> In a similar story, last week 70 were euthanized at a shelter in Cheyenne,
> Wyo.
>
>
> http://business.bostonherald.com/businessNews/view.bg?articleid=138618
>
> Dog flu spreads fast: Tracks take steps, pets now at risk
> By Scott Van Voorhis
> Wednesday, May 10, 2006
>
> As many as 12 pet dogs in Massachusetts have tested positive for
> canine influenza, thrusting the state into the vortex of a new flu
> epidemic that appears to be spreading from coast to coast, a top
> animal testing center at Cornell University reports.
>
> The flu outbreak is an outgrowth of a vicious flu strain that ripped
> through local greyhound tracks last year. But the latest data shows
> the flu has hit pet dogs in Massachusetts and around the country as
> well. The Cornell data did not say specifically where in the state
> dogs had contracted the flu.
>
> ast year'soutbreak is believed to have played a role in the death of
> nearly 20 dogs at Wonderland.
>
> Local racetracks, after last year's deadly outbreak, are taking no
> chances.
>
> Raynham-Taunton Greyhound Track, which managed to escape any flu
> deaths last year, is once again turning to a quarantine to protect its
> dogs. That means no dogs are allowed in from other tracks, while
> Raynham-Taunton's greyhounds are also kept home.
>
> Two New Hampshire tracks will also quarantine their greyhounds, that
> state's racing commissioner said yesterday.
>
> But the illness has long since escaped the confines of greyhound
> tracks around the country, spreading to boarding kennels, pet stores,
> doggie day care centers and shelters, said Cynda Crawford, a scientist
> at the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Florida.
>
> About 5 percent of the dogs that come down with the flu die,
> preliminary research has shown, with others sometimes facing a
> months-long recovery.
>
> "It is definitely in the pet dog population and we have had a number
> of outbreaks in veterinary clinics," said Crawford, who has closely
> studied the virus' impact in Florida.
>
> Especially vulnerable are veterinarian offices or shelters where the
> virus often spreads quickly to dozens of dogs from just one infected
> pet, Crawford said.
>
> "It has that explosive potential," she said.
>
> Roughly 435 dogs across the country have now tested positive for
> canine influenza, according to figures posted online by an animal
> health research center at Cornell University. There were 3,150 dogs
> tested.
>

[Animal 0]

11 mai 2006-
Over 1600 sheep apparently died this month in India after ingesting
genetically engineered (GE) cotton. The massive deaths occurred after
several days of grazing in fields where Monsanto’s Bt and herbicide
resistant spliced varieties of cotton were planted. Scientists from
India's
Centre for Sustainable Agriculture are calling on the government to
launch a
study into the impacts of GE cotton toxins. Learn more:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/2006/article_387.cfm

[Animal 0]

Sea Shepherd Calls for Abolishment of Polar Bear Hunting
05/05/2006

The hunting of polar bears must be abolished. There is no place left for traditional wildlife exploitation in Arctic regions. Global warming is a reality and it is radically changing the world we live in.

Arctic wildlife is in serious jeopardy. This year harp seals were victims of reduced ice conditions and thousands of newborn seals perished from drowning.

Already corpses of polar bears have been discovered far from land – victims of exhaustion from being forced to swim large distances because of lack of ice.

The opening of the ice is allowing fishing boats to enter arctic regions and Newfoundland fishermen have been reported shooting at polar bears for kicks.

On May 4, 2006, the IUCN Red List was published and it upgrades the polar bear from conservation dependent status to vulnerable.

Global warming computer models predict that summer sea ice in the Arctic Ocean could disappear by the end of this century. If that happens, the polar bear and most seal species, including the walrus, could be driven into extinction.

In addition to global warming, marine mammals are also threatened by industrial toxins like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), mercury, arsenic and lead. These toxins accumulate in the fat of polar bears and are released into the bloodstream during winter hibernation.

The third factor threatening the polar bears is hunting. The International Polar Bear Treaty, negotiated in the 1970s, allows for 700 polar bears to be killed each year by traditional hunters. This treaty was signed at a time when hunting was the only real threat to polar bears. Now the factors of global warming and toxic pollutants have significantly raised the threat to the survival of these magnificent predators.

Considering this escalated threat level the hunting of bears should be abolished. The Canadian, United States, Russian, Swedish, Finnish, Danish, and Norwegian governments along with major petroleum companies should compensate traditional hunters.

“The hunting of the polar bear must be ended now,” according to Captain Paul Watson Founder and President of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. “We cannot afford to lose 700 bears a year to hunters if we are going to preserve this species. Yes, we need to address global warming although we should have done that decades ago and we need to address industrial pollutants but with human populations escalating, that is a daunting task.”

Defenders of traditional hunting in the Arctic region state that it is not traditional people who are responsible for the threats to the polar bear, so traditional peoples should not have to abandon their life style as a consequence of threats posed by industrial society.

“They may be right,” said Captain Watson. “But the survival of a species must take precedence over the survival of a ‘traditional practice.’ The world is changing radically. The question is not if the hunting of polar bear will be ended – the question is when. The traditional hunting of these bears will not survive the 21st Century. Now is the time for the people of the North to lead by example by trading tradition for conservation.”

The polar bear once ranged as far south as New England and was called the White Bear prior to the year 1700. As the white bear was driven further north it became to be known as the Polar bear in relatively recent times.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
P.O. Box 2616, Friday Harbor,
WA 98250 (USA)
Tel: 360-370-5650
Fax: 360-370-5651

http://www.seashepherd.org/news/media_060505_1.html

[Animal 0]

Angleterre----

Un ministre conservateur anglais se rendra en Chine pour demander l'arrêt des fermes de bile d'ours....


South West Euro-MP will take bear-bile campaign to China


Friday 19th May 2006


A local Conservative MEP is travelling to China next week to step up a campaign to bring an end to the cruel practice of bear bile farming, in which thousands of moon bears are treated with brutality.

Bear bile is mainly used by the Chinese, Japanese and Koreans as a medicinal product which can easily be substituted with cheaper herbs and synthetics. Around seven thousand bears are incarcerated in tiny wire cages across 247 Chinese bile farms. Rusting metal catheters are drilled into their abdomens to extract the bile.

The European Parliament passed a resolution late last year calling on the Chinese government to end the practice. Now Mr Parish will take that message to the government, and ask for a date when the practice will be outlawed.

Mr Parish will also visit a bear sanctuary operated by the Animals Asia Foundation. The main role of the charity is to compensate farmers for allowing their bears to be released into their custody where they can be rehabilitated and given a loving home.

With the help of the Chinese government, Animals Asia has been able to save 198 bears in China but thousands more remain incarcerated. Hundreds of volunteers across the South West region have been active in raising thousands of pounds for the charity - all of which goes towards the project to free the bears, rehabilitate them, and house them in the sanctuary.

Mr Parish said:

"Bear bile farms are not illegal in China if operated under licence and if anyone were to watch some of the videos I've seen, they would be horrified by the brutality.

"Animals Asia has been carrying out fantastic work to bring this trade to an end. They have been raising funds since 2002 to free bears from their incarceration. To date they have saved nearly 200 bears but we need to make sure the rest can be released from their misery. Because of the incomprehensible suffering these bears endure, it can take years for them to physically and psychologically recover.

"I will be visiting the bear sanctuary and holding meetings with senior Chinese officials. I will implore the Chinese Government to take a firm stance against this barbaric industry and to announce a date when it will end once and for all."

http://www.neilparishmep.org.uk/news.php?article=291

[animo-aequoanimo 0]

Il faudrait encore une couple d'autres mp comme ça.

[Animal 0]

Le mardi 04 juillet 2006

Photo PC


Les baleines l’ont (encore) échappé belle

Agence Science-Presse


Comme l'an dernier à pareille date, on peut intituler cet article: les baleines l'ont échappé belle. Lors de leur rencontre annuelle, les humains ont refusé d’entériner la reprise de la chasse à la baleine. Mais de justesse, et pas pour longtemps.

Car ce n’est que partie remise: l’an dernier, c’est par trois voix de majorité que les pays opposés à une reprise de la chasse l’avaient emporté. Cette année, une résolution envisageant la possibilité d’une reprise de la chasse a été adoptée par une voix.

Rappel : ce moratoire sur la chasse à la baleine existe depuis 1986. Depuis plusieurs années, quelques pays, dont le Japon, la Norvège et l’Islande font front commun pour réclamer, lors de la rencontre annuelle de la Commission baleinière internationale (qui avait lieu la semaine dernière dans l’île antillaise de Saint-Christophe et Nieves), que ce moratoire soit levé. Ils ont chaque année de plus en plus d’adhérents — en particulier du côté des petits pays.







Le Japon prétend que la population de baleines, qui approchait de l’extinction au début des années 1980, a largement eu le temps de récupérer depuis la fin de la chasse. Les opposants crient à l’hérésie.

Mais l’impasse qui persiste depuis des années met en jeu l’utilité même de la Commission baleinière. C’est dans cette perspective que la résolution qu’a réussi à faire voter cette année le Japon prend toute son importance: cette résolution souligne la désuétude du moratoire, l’attitude «irrespectueuse» des pays opposés à la chasse et le fait que les baleines dévastent les réserves de poisons.

Les écologistes sont rapidement montés aux barricades contre cette rencontre dont rien de bon n’est sorti, ont-ils dit. Le moratoire n’est pas immédiatement menacé, mais il a désormais une grosse épée de Damocles au-dessus de la tête.

Parmi les pays les plus fermement opposés à la reprise de la chasse: l'Australie, la Nouvelle-Zélande et la Grande-Bretagne. Et depuis peu, les États-Unis.

L’an dernier, un vote visant à créer un Sanctuaire des baleines dans le Pacifique Sud avait été défait. Ce projet a été défait cette année encore. Le Pacifique Sud est la principale zone de chasse des baleiniers japonais.

Une chasse scientifique?

Il faut dire que le Japon a trouvé une façon originale de contourner le moratoire sur le chasse. À la difference de la Norvège et de l’Islande qui ne se cachent pas de se livrer à une chasse commerciale (et pour des fins de traditions), le Japon invoque une chasse à des fins scientifiques; le moratoire de 1986 permet en effet de chasser un nombre limité de cétacés à des fins de recherches.

Ce nombre limité n’est pas défini. Il y a deux ans encore, le Japon s’était fixé un quota de 400 prises. L’an dernier, il était passé de 700 à 1000 — ce qui, ajouté aux prises des deux autres pays, avait donné un total de près de 2000 baleines tuées. La plus grosse année de pêche depuis deux décennies.




http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20060704/CPSCIENCES/60704056/1020/CPSCIENCES

[Animal 0]

Extrait du livre de John Robbins "Se nourrir sans faire souffrir" - éditions Stanké - Les éditions Stanké ont été rachetées par les Editions Quebecor : http://www.quebecoreditions.com

[...]
"Les animaux ne nous donnent pas leur vie. C'est nous qui la leur enlevons. Ils luttent et se battent jusqu'à leur dernier souffle comme nous le ferions à leur place. Le cochon affectueux et intelligent dont nous prenons la vie n'accepte pas simplement la mort comme étape nécessaire dans la production du bacon. Et il ne se met pas en ligne pour attendre son tour à l'abattoir en chantant son bonheur de devenir une saucisse fumée. Les poulets n'approchent pas le couteau qui va les tuer avec l'envie de danser et de chanter combien nous allons apprécier la chair de leurs cuisses. La vache, bien que douce et patiente, ne se rend pas docilement au couteau de l'abatteur. Elle se démène et beugle de toutes ses forces, même lorsque sa tête pend alors qu'on la maintient en l'air par une patte cassée par le choc de la traction.

Les animaux n'avancent pas doucement, ils se débattent et ils hurlent, beuglant leur protestation, luttant pour leur vie et appelant, jusqu'à la fin, pour être sauvés. Ils appellent pour que quelqu'un, quelque part, les entende. Entendez-les ! "
[...]

[Animal 0]

Le Canada confirme un autre cas de ESB chez une vache du Manitoba
le mardi 04 juillet 2006 - 19 h 20


OTTAWA (PC) - Des analyses confirment la présence de la maladie de la vache folle chez une bête d'élevage de boucherie adulte du Manitoba.

L'Agence canadienne d'inspection des aliments mène actuellement une enquête.

L'animal faisait partie d'un troupeau de bovins acheté par le propriétaire en 1992. L'animal était donc âgé d'au moins 15 ans, et serait né avant l'entrée en vigueur au Canada de l'interdiction visant les aliments pour animaux en 1997.

Les enquêteurs tenteront d'abord de retracer la ferme


d'origine, ce qui permettra d'obtenir les renseignements permettant de retracer les animaux du même troupeau et de déterminer les aliments auxquels l'animal pourrait avoir été exposé durant les premières années suivant sa naissance.

On tente également de retracer un descendant de l'animal infecté qui serait né en 2004.

Il s'agit du sixième cas de la maladie de la vache folle au Canada, depuis 2003.

http://www.tqs.ca/infos/2006/07/N070439AU.html