Animal

Je crois que des assos américaines et canadiennes surveillent ce qui se passe, depuis que les abattoirs américains de chevaux ont fermé leurs portes et que les chevaux sont abattus au Canada et au Mexique... Le gouvernement a sûrement déjà reçu plusieurs plaintes...

Un nouveau site de sensibilisation sur les animaux de compagnie ouvre ses portes et vous convie à une visite de ses pages ainsi qu'à participer à son forum. http://site.voila.fr/oliverscat/principal.htm

ils tuent des milliers de phoques et ils en gardent dans un aquarium

30 avril 2008 Agence France-Presse Ottawa Des centaines de canards sont morts ou en train de mourir après s'être posés sur un bassin de boue toxique lié à l'exploitation des sables bitumineux en Alberta, selon les autorités de cette province de l'Ouest canadien. Jusqu'à 500 oiseaux migrateurs ont été mazoutés après s'être posés lundi sur ce bassin de décantation du consortium pétrolier Syncrude, à 40 km de Fort McMurray, au nord-est de la province. http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20080430/CPENVIRONNEMENT/80430162/6108/CPENVIRONNEMENT

ah ! C'est vraiment dommage

contrairement à ce que l'industrie essaie de nous faire croire

Pauvres animaux ! Je présume qu'ils ne sont pas effarouchés par les humains... Il me semble avoir lu récemment que ces singes seraient envoyés dans des «labos de tortures» en Russie...

C'est là qu'on voit où le gouvernement met ses priorités !

Bien sûr Linda ! Tous les animaux élevés ou trappés pour leur fourrure souffrent le martyr

Ça ne m'étonnerais pas que ton texte soit aussi paru dans l'édition papier, mais pour s'en assurer il faudrait demander à quelqu'un qui a reçu le journal Le Soleil du 29 avril (il se vend à Québec)

merci pour cette bonne adresse terrienne

WOWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SUPER !!!!!!!!!!BRAVO VALOU !!! OUI, C'EST UNE TRÈS BONNE NOUVELLE

Le lundi 28 avril 2008 Le dernier homme sur Terre Dire que la population mondiale cause les problèmes environnementaux revient à accuser les pauvres des excès des riches. AFP Éric Moreault Le Soleil Québec Pour une certaine frange d’écologistes, la solution aux problèmes environnementaux passe par la réduction de la population mondiale. Doit-on stériliser les femmes et exercer un sévère contrôle des naissances? Changements climatiques, déforestation, surpêche, désertification, crise alimentaire, crise de l’eau; la liste de nos problèmes s’allonge sans cesse. Pour certains auteurs, la conclusion s’impose : nous sommes trop nombreux. D’où l’appel aux méthodes radicales pour empêcher la reproduction — le plus profond et le plus naturel de nos instincts. Il faudrait, pour respecter les capacités de notre planète, se limiter à deux milliards d’individus. D’autres évoquent même un milliard. Seul problème, nous sommes presque sept milliards. Or, les plus pessimistes nous voient déjà cinq fois plus, les uns contre les autres sur une terre aride à s’entretuer pour survivre. Remarquez, il faut prendre les projections alarmistes avec un grain de sel. En 1968, un fonctionnaire de l’ONU appelait à la stérilisation massive parce qu’on craignait que la population, en 2000, atteigne… 15 milliards. Qu’on le veuille ou non, ce discours cache mal un certain racisme. Les sociétés occidentales, sauf exception, sont déjà en dessous du seuil de renouvellement de la population. Il faut donc que les autres arrêtent de se multiplier comme des lapins — 17 des 20 États les plus démunis sont aussi ceux où le taux de fertilité est le plus élevé. Remarquez, il y a aussi une peur de l’immigration de l’autre dans les politiques natalistes des pays occidentaux… Ces éco-extrémistes se trompent de cible. Le problème n’est pas la population mondiale, mais la façon dont nous utilisons les ressources naturelles. Les Occidentaux font peut-être moins d’enfants, mais nous consommons pour quatre! Dire que la population mondiale cause les problèmes environnementaux revient à accuser les pauvres des excès des riches. En fait, le problème est surtout la croissance économique effrénée. Avec une croissance de 3 % par année — la zone de confort des banques et des richissimes —, l’activité économique doublera d’ici 23 ans, avec tout ce que ça implique comme pression sur les ressources naturelles. À titre de comparaison, les experts de l’ONU prédisent maintenant que la population mondiale va se stabiliser autour de 10 milliards, vers 2200 (d’autres scientifiques soutiennent qu’il y 9 chances sur 10 que la croissance de la population s’arrête avant la fin du siècle). Ça laisse un peu plus de temps pour l’environnement que pour faire face au «capitalisme sauvage». Reste que nous peinons déjà à nourrir sept milliards de personnes. Sans parler de la consommation d’énergie, de ressources et de pollution qui découlera de cette population supplémentaire. Alors, que faire? Il est malheureusement utopi­que de penser que la vaste majorité d’entre nous va se débarrasser de ses mauvaises habitudes et comportements irréfléchis : après nous, le déluge. Il faut donc miser sur l’éducation des générations suivantes : à l’importance de préserver l’écosystème terrestre; à des pratiques respectueuses de l’environnement; à la contraception; à l’éducation sexuelle; à l’égalité de sexes et, surtout, à freiner la surconsommation. Pas seulement ici, dans les pays pauvres et émergents aussi. ... http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20080428/CPSOLEIL/80427087/6108/CPENVIRONNEMENT

On pourrait le forcer à danser sur un seul orteil et s'il ne réussissait pas, on lui assènerait un bon coup sur la tête pour lui faire comprendre ce qu'on veut de lui

Pauvres petits anges !

LA HSUS PORTE PLAINTE SEARS FAIT PARTIE DE LA LISTE DES CHAÎNES DE MAGASINS QU'ACCUSE LA HSUS DE VENDRE DE LA VRAIE FOURRURE DE CHIENS SANS LE MENTIONNER. -------------------------------------- HSUS Files New Fur False Advertising Complaint with the Federal Trade Commission April 24, 2008 Fur from racoon dogs (known to be skinned alive in China) is often sold incorrectly labeled. The Humane Society of the United States filed a legal petition with the Federal Trade Commission today seeking criminal and civil penalties against more than a dozen nationally known retailers and fashion designers for the false advertising and mislabeling of raccoon dog and other fur garments. The HSUS filed a similar action against 12 retailers and designers last year, including five companies that are also named in the latest petition. "The epidemic of false advertising in the fur industry only seems to be getting worse," said Kristin Leppert, director of the fur-free campaign for The HSUS. "How many raccoon dogs will be skinned alive and sold as faux fur before this unconscionable behavior comes to a halt?" More than 20 companies have now been named in the FTC proceeding, including nine that were added in the latest filing: Bloomingdale's, Inc.; Caché, Inc.; Dr. Jays, Inc.; ELuxury.com, Inc.; Pasha & Jo; Ramosport; Saks Incorporated; Sears, Roebuck and Co.; and Yoox S.p.A. Over the last three winters, The HSUS has identified dozens of falsely advertised or falsely labeled garments—70 percent of which contained fur from the raccoon dog, an Asian member of the dog family, that has been documented to be skinned alive in China. Among the false names used for raccoon dog fur are faux fur, ecological fur, polyester, coyote, rabbit, Canis Latranis, raccoon and Finni raccon. In the U.S. Congress, Reps. Jim Moran (D-Va.) and Mike Ferguson (R-N.J.) have introduced the Dog and Cat Fur Prohibition Enforcement Act, H.R. 891, that would require labeling of all fur garments regardless of value, and would ban the sale of raccoon dog fur. The bill has 163 co-sponsors in the House, and The HSUS calls on Congress to act swiftly to pass this much-needed reform. What You Can Do Urge your representative to support the Dog and Cat Fur Prohibition Enforcement Act. http://www.hsus.org/furfree/news/false_advertising_complaint_ftc_042408.html

april 22, 2008 http://tinyurl.com/3rtxc9 The University of Calgary is leading a research team in a $5 million study to determine if a disease killing deer and elk in Alberta and Saskatchewan has any impact on human health. In the five-year study, the largest project to be funded by the Alberta Prion Research Institute, researchers led by Stefanie Czub of the U of C's Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, will learn about the human health risks associated with chronic wasting disease (CWD), a progressive, fatal illness of the nervous system spreading through deer and elk herds. Unlike bovine spongiform encephalopathy, known as mad cow disease, in cattle, CWD can cross from animal to animal and is more difficult to control. Part of Czub's project will involve inoculating macaques monkeys with high doses of CWD to see whether they develop the disease.

http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5g3ZqdZ44_GRGn2TM3D9Gx4-EWS-w Inuit hunters, scientists set to square off over polar bear quotas 21 avril 2008 Inuit hunters are bracing for another showdown this week with government wildlife scientists, this time over how many polar bears they'll be allowed to kill from one of Canada's largest populations of the iconic predator. Scientists say the bears of Baffin Bay have been overhunted for years - partly by Greenlanders - and they will argue at hearings beginning Tuesday in Pond Inlet, Nunavut, that the number of valuable tags for the animals should be cut by 40 per cent, if not eliminated. But Inuit say the bears are fine and that researchers haven't even counted them in more than a decade. They point to a recent admission that scientists drastically underestimated bowhead whales in the Arctic as a reason to be skeptical of bear estimates. Some say if they're cut off from harvesting an animal they depend on for food and clothing, they'll ignore regulations and shoot as many bears as they need. "We don't believe the scientists' information any more," said Jayko Alooloo, head of the Hunters and Trappers Organization in Pond Inlet, one of the three communities along the east shore of Baffin Island that hunts the bears. "(Hunters) will ignore new quotas." The territorial government wants the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board to reduce the Baffin Bay bear quota to 64 from 105 immediately and consider reducing it further or eliminating it. The last time anyone counted - in 1997 - there were 2,100 polar bears along the area's mountainous coast and rugged sea ice. But Nunavut increased hunting quotas in 2004. And the year after that, Greenland revealed its hunters had been taking more than twice as many bears as previously thought. Computer models suggest the population is now 1,500 - almost a 30 per cent drop. Nonsense, says Alooloo. The survey is too old. As well, scientists look for bears in the wrong places at the wrong times. Hunters north of Pond Inlet routinely see several bears a day, Alooloo said. "My brother-in-law, he's seen six bears in a day," he said. "They always see the bears and the tracks. That's why we don't believe the government. We know they're increasing every year." Alooloo points to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans' recent admission that, far from being threatened, bowhead whales have in fact returned to the numbers they enjoyed before commercial harvesting - just as Inuit elders insisted all along. "That's the same thing with the polar bear," said Alooloo. Scientific information has to be combined with traditional knowledge to develop hunting quotas, he said. Steve Pinksen of Nunavut's environment department defends the scientific estimates, saying bears are much easier to number than whales. "To assume that because one is wrong they're all wrong is not a fair conclusion. We do have what we feel is a fairly accurate population survey system." Greenland has acknowledged the problem and drastically cut its quotas, Pinksen said. Ian Stirling, a retired Environment Canada polar bear researcher, said bear sightings are misleading because hunters naturally go to the best habitat. Population declines would start at the margins, he said. "I don't think hunters would see changes in numbers of polar bears in the kind of travelling they do," he said. Other pressures could increase human-bear contacts. "It could be the ice is melting earlier in Baffin Bay and (the bears) are coming ashore a little bit hungrier and looking for an alternate food source." In fact, Stirling said a recent survey of hunters suggested about 57 per cent of them felt bears were thinner than they used to be. Still, Inuit are feeling increasingly beset by southerners telling them how to manage what they feel are their animals, said Colin Saunders, Pond Inlet's economic development officer. "Sometimes, scientists do need to listen to Inuit people more," he said. Inuit hunters are also frustrated by forces outside their control, such as anti-sealing campaigns in Europe and the American effort to declare polar bears an endangered species. "There are people who would rather generate an income from being out on the land rather than a nine-to-five job," Saunders said. "There are people who still want to hunt. That's just in them." Although a polar bear tag is worth up to $25,000 to a sport hunter, Alooloo said they will be cut off if the reduced quotas are imposed. Inuit needs will come first, as bear meat provides needed variety from seal and fish and the hide makes warm clothes. "It's Inuit food, like cows for southern people," Alooloo said. "It's going to be like cutting off our hunters' arm if the NWMB decreases our quota."

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080426.POLARBEAR26/TPStory/?query=polar+bear GAME OVER?: 'IF I WANTED ONE, I GOT TO GET IN NOW' U.S. hunters targeting polar bears while they can Looming import ban threatens to kill lucrative, but controversial, tradition of chasing trophies in the Arctic with Inuit guidance KATHERINE O'NEILL April 26, 2008 RESOLUTE BAY, NUNAVUT -- The rules of engagement are simple: The trophy must be male and at least 2.4 metres tall. And since March, big-game hunters, mainly Americans, clad head to toe in caribou-skin outfits and riding dogsleds, have been on the hunt in Canada's Arctic for one of the most controversial animals on the planet: polar bears. In this male-dominated, high-priced world, where Inuit-guided hunts can run more than $40,000 (U.S.), bigger is better, right down to the animal's baculum, or penis bone. But this year, the stakes to bag the iconic predator before the annual season ends next month are at an all-time high because these hunters are also being hunted. Amid concerns that climate change is threatening Arctic sea ice - the polar bears' main habitat - a U.S. government agency is considering listing the bears as a threatened species under its Endangered Species Act. The decision, which was originally to be announced on Jan. 9, is imminent, according to a government spokesperson. If the recommendation is adopted, it would likely lead to a ban on the importation of polar bear trophies to the United States. Without the trophies, hunters from the United States will largely stay home, killing off a lucrative sports-hunting industry that, over the years, has pumped millions of dollars into such struggling Arctic communities as Resolute Bay. Canada is the only country where sport hunting for polar bears is still legal. Some U.S. hunters were so afraid they wouldn't be able to export their pelt if a decision was made this spring that they cancelled their trips. Many lost deposits as high as $5,000. But because of waiting lists stretching into 2011, outfitters were able to fill those spots. "All of the hunters who have been around for years and years told me that if I wanted one, I got to get in now," said Allyn Ladd, 33, a bow hunter and unemployed dentist from Alaska, during an interview at Resolute Bay's co-op hotel. He's concerned that even if the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decides against listing the massive animal as threatened, it's only a matter of time before the hunt is shut down for good by either the federal or territorial governments. Located 600 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle, Resolute Bay, a mainly Inuit community of 250, is the farthest north in Canada that commercial airlines fly. Passengers are greeted in the tiny airport's lobby by a stuffed polar bear that was shot by Nathaniel Kattuk, a local Inuk outfitter. Like many other hunters who made the trek north of the 60th parallel, Mr. Ladd has dreamed of killing a polar bear since childhood. "As a kid you have dreams," the Arkansas native said in a slow accent. "One thing I've made a point in my life is to chase dreams." On Day 2 of his hunt this month, Mr. Ladd shot a 9-foot-6 polar bear from about 30 metres. "I was trying to get as close as I could, just to get better video," he said. By law, sports hunters have to be accompanied by an Inuit guide. The guide, who can tell the size of a bear by the width of its pawprint, helps track them down on the sea ice. As daylight fades, the bears become easier to locate because their white fur appears almost brown due to the shadows. Once a bear has been "glassed" - hunter-speak for spotted - the sled dogs are released to surround and distract the animal so the hunter can get closer to take the perfect shot. Most aim for the lungs. By the hunter's side is the guide, holding a rifle just in case their shot is off. The animal is then skinned, with the meat turned over to the local community. Some hunters do it for the glory, with a few paying for camera crews to shoot the feat and the animal's final seconds. Some are here for the thrill of the kill. "It's a super adrenalin rush. It's incredible," said Mark Beeler, a 49-year-old bow hunter from Milwaukee, Wis. "A polar bear is almost mysterious. Before this, I'd only ever seen a polar bear at the zoo." Others are trying to complete a hunting hit list. There are several, including the North American Grand Slam (hunters must bag 28 big-game animals from across the continent) and the prestigious Safari Club International 29 - a list of 29 North American predators and ungulate animals. While the future of the polar bear is a hot topic in the United States, it's also fiercely debated in Canada, with the predator becoming symbolic of animal rights and climate change. Scientists and Inuit disagree over the health of polar bear populations and whether the loss of sea ice is contributing to their demise. Canada is home to two-thirds of the world's 22,000-25,000 polar bears. This month, the World Wildlife Fund warned that some of Canada's polar bear populations could be wiped out by 2050 because of declining sea ice and overhunting. Caught in the middle are people like Mr. Kattuk, who owns Nanuk Outfitting Ltd. with his wife Martha in Resolute Bay. "I hope they still come," the 55-year-old Inuk said when asked whether hunters from the United States will still hire him if they can't bring their pelts home. Outside the kitchen window of his small, bright blue home, a spring snowstorm rages. The soft-spoken father of four, who employs five local guides, said the Nunavut government and local hunters and trappers organizations are equally concerned about polar -bear conservation, and that the kill would happen - with or without the sport hunters. "If there are too many of them, there will be problems," he said. "If there are too few, there will be problems." By the numbers 22,000-25,000 Approximate number of the world's polar bears. 16,000 Approximate number of polar bears in Canada. 13 Polar bear populations in Canada, 12 of which are in Nunavut. 468 Number of polar bears allowed to be killed in Nunavut in 2007-08. Sources: Nunavut government, Northwest Territories government, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Canadian government ANIMAL POPULATIONS Panel confirms species as 'special concern' UNNATI GANDHI April 26, 2008 The polar bear population is large enough that stricter legislation isn't necessary to protect it - for now. But the scientific group that advises the federal government on endangered species said yesterday that the environmental threats to the animal are real and looming. The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, which assessed nearly three dozen plants and animals at a meeting in Yellowknife this week, said it re-examined the status of Ursus maritimus and decided to confirm the species' designation as "special concern" (one category below threatened, and two below endangered). The special-concern tag was first applied to the polar bear in 1991, and was reconfirmed in 1999 and 2002. "There's no doubt the species is at risk in Canada. It's close to being threatened. And it's clear that some populations are declining," said committee chairman Jeff Hutchings in an interview from Yellowknife last night. Among those are the bears to the west of Hudson Bay and those in the western Arctic, which are declining primarily because of the loss of summer sea ice as a result of climate change, Dr. Hutchings said. The populations in the far northeast, in Baffin Bay and Kane Basin, are declining because of overharvesting, he said. But at the same time, populations in other parts of the region are increasing, weakening the argument to change their status to threatened or endangered. "Are things worse than they were in 2002? I'd have to say yes. And they're near to being threatened. And if the declines we're seeing today continue, their status will have to change," Dr. Hutchings said. The group's findings will be forwarded to Environment Minister John Baird. If they are accepted, the government will have to address issues the group has identified as threats to the animal's survival, including climate change.

Le samedi 26 avril 2008 Le gras trans du lait est aussi mauvais que celui des frites Stéphanie Bérubé La Presse Parce qu'il est naturellement produit par les vaches, on pourrait penser que le gras trans contenu dans le lait et dans les autres produits laitiers est moins dommageable que celui produit en industrie. Erreur. Après de longues études cliniques, un groupe de l'Université Laval vient de découvrir que, gramme pour gramme, le gras trans, peu importe d'où il provient, est également nocif pour la santé. C'est une très mauvaise nouvelle pour l'industrie laitière, mais qui est moins dramatique lorsque l'on sait que la teneur en gras trans des produits laitiers est beaucoup moins élevée que celle de l'huile artificiellement hydrogénée, par exemple. Ce qui veut dire que pour arriver à des quantités de gras trans inquiétantes, il faudrait manger chaque jour 10 portions de fromage, cinq de lait entier (ou beaucoup plus de lait écrémé), plus d'une tasse de yogourt ainsi que 20 cuillères de beurre. «Ce sont des quantités presque impossibles à obtenir dans une alimentation normale», précise d'ailleurs Benoît Lamarche, chercheur à l'Institut des nutraceutiques et des aliments fonctionnels. Pour arriver à nourrir les patients avec autant de gras trans d'origine animale, l'Institut a réquisitionné 28 vaches qu'elle a soumises à une diète particulière. Les ruminantes participantes donnaient ainsi du lait trafiqué, très riche en gras trans. À l'inverse, le groupe de scientifiques n'a eu aucun problème à trouver des aliments industriels très riches en gras trans courriel Pour joindre notre journaliste: sberube@lapresse.ca http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20080426/CPACTUEL/804260778/6685/CPACTUEL

OUFFFF Tant mieux alors !