Staat New York (VS) verbiedt elektrocutie dieren voor productie bont

New York is 1st state to ban electrocuting

animals to harvest fur

30-04-2008 FROM ASSOCIATED PRESS, Chicago Sun-Times, USA


ALBANY, N.Y. — New York is the first state to ban electrocuting animals in a particularly gruesome way to harvest their fur for clothing. National animal rights advocates say it’s a critical move in their effort to ban the global practice. While still governor, Eliot Spitzer signed the measure into law in March and it’s now effective.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals says the law bans the common practice of anal and genital electrocution of mink, foxes, chinchillas and rabbits. They hope it will force similar measures in other states.

PETA’s Melissa Karpel says the practice is widespread because it’s cheap.

(Bron: http://www.suntimes.com/)

Bij Kuinre een van grootste populaties ringslangen van het land

Veel ringslangen in Kuinderbos

30-04-2008 RTV Oost


In het Kuinderbos bij Kuinre zijn afgelopen jaar 2.500 ringslangen geboren. Dat zegt Staatsbosbeheer na het tellen van de lege eierschalen.

Een derde van de jonge ringslangen wordt volwassen, de rest wordt prooi van andere dieren. De populatie ringslangen in het Kuinderbos is één van de grootste van Nederland. De slangen kunnen 1 meter twintig lang worden.

Staatsbosbeheer waarschuwt wandelaars om de ringslangen niet op te pakken.

(Bron: http://rtvoost.nl/)
(Bron foto: archief Kraaijer)

Noorse walvisjagers doden de eerste walvis (een jong) van 'het seizoen'

Norwegian whalers make first catch of season

30-04-2008 Reuters


OSLO, April 30 (Reuters) - Norwegian whalers shot the first whale of the season on Wednesday of a quota of 1,052, a group opposed to the hunts said. Norway, with Japan the main whaling nation despite an international moratorium, resumed commercial hunts in 1993 and says that the minke whales it harpoons are plentiful in the north Atlantic.

"This morning, Norwegian whalers made the first kill of the season -- a calf," the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) said in a statement. It said the whale was shot by the Jan Bjoern vessel. Whalers were not immediately available for comment. The meat is typically consumed as steaks.

The WSPA said that a survey it carried out indicated that only one in four Norwegians under the age of 30 strongly supported the continuation of whaling.

The first whaling boats went out last week, according to the High North Alliance, which supports whalers. The whaling season off Norway stretches from April to August.

(Bron: http://www.reuters.com/)

Duiven in Seattle (VS) met pijltjes beschoten - PETA looft beloning uit voor informatie

In this April 2008 photo provided Monday, April 28, 2008 by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, a pigeon with a needle-like dart piercing its head is shown in Seattle. PETA is offering a $2,000 reward for information about the recent shootings that have left some Seattle pigeons impaled with darts, but still alive.(AP Photo/PETA, Franziska Edwards)

(Bron: http://www.peta.org/mc/NewsItem.asp?id=11341)

Oudste panda van Japan overleden in Ueno Dierentuin

Ueno Zoo's only giant panda dies

30-04-2008 Mainichi Daily News, Japan


Ling Ling, the sole giant panda at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo, died in the early hours of Wednesday only one day after he was taken off display for veterinary treatment, officials said.


The giant panda Ling Ling is pictured in April 2006.
(Photo courtesy of Ueno Zoo)

Veterinarians at the zoo in Taito-ku are poised to conduct an autopsy on his body in a bid to determine the cause of his death. A worker came to the zoo on Wednesday morning to find 22-year-old Ling Ling dead in its viewing pen. After examining video surveillance footage, zoo officials concluded that he died at around 2 a.m.

Ling Ling, which is the equivalent of 70 years old in human terms, became less active at the beginning of this year. The zoo took him off display on Tuesday for veterinary treatment.

Ling Ling was born at Beijing Zoo in September 1985, and was sent to Ueno Zoo in Tokyo in 1992. He was the only giant panda for which Japan holds ownership rights.

(Bron: http://mdn.mainichi.jp/)
(Bron foto: Mainichi Daily News)

Zeldzame reuzenrog gevangen door vissers in Bang Pakongrivier, Thailand

Thaise vissers vangen reusachtige zoetwaterrog

30-04-2008 Het Laatste Nieuws, Belgium


In de Bang Pakongrivier, nabij Chachoengsao in Thailand, hebben vissers een zeldzame reuzenrog bovengehaald. Het gaat om een zoetwaterrog, van een soort die misschien wel tot 450 kilo zwaar kan worden. Daarmee zouden dit soort roggen de grootste zoetwatervissen ter wereld zijn.

National Geographic
Bioloog Zeb Hogan onderzocht de vis ter plaatse. Hogan staat aan het hoofd van het ''Megafishes''-project van National Geographic dat is opgezet om een twintigtal reusachtige zoetwatervissoorten beter te documenteren.

Sterk
Reuzenroggen zijn zeer moeilijk te vangen, omdat ze, eens aan de haak, zichzelf ingraven in de modder op de rivierbodem. Meestal breekt daarna de lijn als vissers ze proberen binnen te halen. Er zijn ook gevallen bekend van dit soort rivierroggen die vingerdikke vishaken ombogen om te kunnen ontsnappen. De dieren hebben een gevreesde angel, waarmee ze zich verdedigen.

Na afloop werd de rog die de vissers in Thailand hadden gevangen weer vrij gelaten.

(Bron: http://hln.be/)
(Bron foto's: Het Laatste Nieuws)

'Vegan Streaker' opgepakt tijdens Koninginnedag in Makkum

Veganstreaker in kraag gevat in Makkum

30-04-2008 Leeuwarder Courant


MAKKUM - De politie heeft vanmorgen, kort voor de aankomst van de Koninklijke familie, twee linkse dierenactivisten gearresteerd in Makkum. Eén van de mannen is de 22-jarige Peter Janssen uit Vught, die vooral bekend geniet als de ‘Veganstreaker'.

Janssen dook in februari plots op in de show van Paul de Leeuw, waar hij in tangaslip en met beschilderd lijf protesteerde tegen dierenleed. De tweede verdachte is een 24-jarige inwoner van Assen. De politie had aanwijzingen dat het duo in hun blootje de openbare orde in Makkum wilde verstoren.

Ze worden op dit ogenblik ondervraagd op het bureau. De politie laat ze vanmiddag weer vrij.

(Bron: http://www.leeuwardercourant.n/)
(Bron foto: Leeuwarder Courant)

(Ga voor een exclusief interview met de 'Vegan Streaker' naar http://kraaijer-schrijft.blogspot.com/.)

Nog steeds worden staarten van lammetjes geknipt - Afknippen staarten bij wet verboden

Lammetjes illegaal gecoupeerd

30-04-2008 Hart Van Nederland


In Zeeland zijn ten minste 15 lammetjes gesignaleerd zonder staart. Het afknippen van de staart bij lammetjes is in Nederland verboden.

De Partij voor de Dieren wil dat er streng opgetreden wordt tegen illegaal couperen. Het verbod geld sinds 1 januari 2008. Schapenhouders die de staart verwijderen doen dat onder meer om te voorkomen dat de dieren de ziekte myiasis krijgen, een huidaandoening die door vliegen wordt overgebracht. Maar volgens de onderzoekers komt de ziekte voor bij zowel schapen met als zonder staart.

(Bron: http://www.hartvannederland.nl/)

In VS worden jaarlijks tussen 17 en 23 miljoen proefdieren misbruikt - 95% Van proefdieren in VS zijn ratten en muizen

Housing schools of research animals

OU’s Lab Animal Resources provides proper care for thousands of mice, frogs, fish and more

30-04-2008 Caitlin Bowling / For The Post Ohio University / cb119506@ohiou.edu USA


While people attempt to rid their homes of rodents and other pests, Ohio University’s Lab Animal Resources houses a few thousand mice, along with several thousand fish and various other animals. The department cares foar various animals used in research, teaching or testing in areas such as the College of Osteopathic Medicine, the Department of Biological Sciences and the Edison Biotechnical Institute, said Scott Carpenter, director of Lab Animal Resources.

“Our mission with the university is to ensure proper, humane care and oversight of the animal use here,” he said.

The United States uses an estimated 17 million to 23 million research animals yearly, about 95 percent of which are rats and mice, according to the Foundation for Biomedical Research.

During March, the department charged $12,820, the cost of care, to OU faculty researchers, said Andrea Gibson, director of Research Communications. The number fluctuates monthly based on the number and type of animals housed, she said. Ongoing studies involve cancer, behavioral, and diabetes research.

Current research involves the egg development of frogs, how striped salmon cope with water temperature changes and swordtail fish mating, Carpenter said.
Molly Morris, associate professor of biological sciences, studies the mating behavior of swordtail fish and how the fish maintain genetic diversity.

“Not all females like the same thing,” said Morris, adding some females prefer males with the same amount of vertical body bars on each side, while others prefer a symmetry. Morris, who separates the male and female swordtails when not mating, examines a female’s eggs to find out which male genotype the female prefers.

Female swordtails consider the size of the male, the males’ swords, whether or not it has bars and the number of bars when choosing a mate, Morris said. The differences in preference maintain variety in the species.

“The lab space they have provided is really superb for the type of research I am doing,” Morris wrote in an e-mail, adding that otherwise, researchers would need to find an outside source to feed and house the animals.

The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee at OU approves research, teaching or testing involving vertebrate animals and euthanasia. Ten people form the committee, which includes a veterinarian, a community member and a representative sample of OU researchers, Gibson said.

Three independent laboratories provide the department with the animals used in research.

“They are all research-bred animals from commercial entities that specialize in producing really healthy inbred animals … so they make a better research model,” Carpenter said.

(Bron: http://www.thepost.ohiou.edu/)

(Laboratory Animal Resources can be reached at (740) 593-2997 or lar@ohio.edu, http://news.research.ohiou.edu/)

Dieren op Robben Eiland (Zuid-Afrika) zouden worden verwaarloosd - Beheerder eiland (museum) aangesproken

Neglect of Robben Island animals denied

30-04-2008 The Star, South Africa


The Robben Island Museum has rejected a report that wild animals on the 574-hectare island are starving to death because of poor environmental management. The Cape Argus reported yesterday that among the animals affected were bontebok, springbok, fallow deer and rabbits, and that environmentalists blamed neglect by the museum, which manages the island.

The newspaper said the problem was mainly the result of an explosion in the wild rabbit population, which was "eating everything in sight". However the museum's director, Paul Langa, said the island had a programme to exterminate the rabbits - which had drawn accusations of brutality. It was also shifting many of the fallow deer off the island, though this was a complex operation.

It had a conservation programme in place, "but you can't fulfil all the requirements at one time", Langa said. "There may be methods better than what we are doing," he added, and invited suggestions.

He said it had to be remembered that the island was just that: an island, with its own environmental peculiarities. At particular seasons it got very dry, and this year had been a bad year "because it has been very, very dry".

The museum would issue a full response to the claims raised in the Cape Argus article, Langa added. The island hosts 23 recorded species of mammals, including small herds of bontebok, springbok, steenbok, fallow deer and eland. The rabbits were introduced by early European settlers.

The museum has in the past also run a programme to shoot out feral cats on the island in order to protect birdlife, though the SPCA suggested that rabbits might be responsible for the bird deaths. - Sapa

(Bron: http://www.thestar.co.za/)
(Bron foto: archief Kraaijer)

In Assam (India) woedt meer en meer strijd tussen mens en dier...

Man vs animal:

A wild battle for existence in Assam

30-04-2008 Arijit Sen / CNN-IBN, India


Guwahati: A 22-year-old female elephant recently dislocated its hip joint after falling 30 feet into a swampy pit in Assam's Karbi Anglong district. In agony for five days after being pulled out, it finally succumbed.

(Video: http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/64230/man-vs-animal-a-wild-battle-for-existence-in-assam.html)

In another incident, an elephant was hit by a train when it tried to save its calf stuck between the railway tracks.

Not just elephants, a leopard was recently battered to death by residents of Sivasagar district in upper Assam. It had strayed into the town and attacked four people before being killed.
The conflict between man and animals is becoming commonplace in Assam as encroachment increases.

"We human beings don not treat the animals right. It's only when we provoke them that they retaliate,” says wildlife expert, Parbati Baruah.

Baruah points out there’s a huge gap between concern for wildlife and actually translating those concerns into workable solutions.
"The people in wildlife committees should dedicatedly give time on the field. Or else we won't get results. One cannot do Project Tiger sitting in Delhi or Guwahati,” she says.

Conservation of animals is becoming difficult for the forest department as poaching is on an increase in the Northeast.
Training programmes to spread awareness hold key to preventing incidents like these but the state’s flagship elephant project has just Rs 1.5 crore as funds to implement this.

(Bron: http://www.ibnlive.com/)

Bijzondere diersoorten ontdekt in Brazilië door Conservation International

Legless lizard, dwarf woodpecker discovered

in Brazil

30-04-2008 ABC News, Australia


Scientists discovered a legless lizard, a dwarf woodpecker and another 12 suspected new species in Brazil's fast-disappearing Cerrado grasslands, an environmental group said. The discoveries were made during a 29-day expedition by US and Brazilian scientists in Brazil's vast wooded grasslands, one of the world's 34 biodiversity conservation hotspots, Conservation International said in a statement.

The grasslands are threatened by encroaching farmland and the expedition focused in and around the Serra Geral do Tocantins Ecological Station, a 7,160 square-kilometre protected area that is Cerrado's second largest.

The 14 suspected new species discovered include eight fish, three reptiles, one amphibian, one mammal and one bird, the group said.

The legless lizard, of the Bachia genus, resembles a snake due to its lack of legs and uses its pointed snout to move about its predominantly sandy environment.

Other outstanding new findings include a dwarf woodpecker of the genus Picumnus, and a horned toad of the genus Proceratophrys.

Besides the new species, the scientists also recorded several threatened animals such as the hyacinth macaw, marsh deer, three-banded armadillo, the Brazilian merganser and the dwarf tinamou, among more than 440 species of vertebrates documented.

This species of amphibian (Corythomantis greeningi) occurs mainly in the Caatinga region, with only scant recordings in the Cerrado.The discovery of this species in the EESGT is the first recorded for the Jalapao region. The secretions of its skin can cause irritation to the eyes and nose.

"We need to know our protected areas better, especially the ecological stations whose principal objective is to generate scientific knowledge of Brazilian biodiversity, so little studied and already so severely threatened," said expedition leader Cristiano Nogueira.

(Bron: http://www.abc.net.au/)
(Bron foto's: http://images.conservation.org/admin/packaging/viewtransmit_ext.aspx?messageId=102362&userName=sbruce&session=1969ac292ab5d15ee5b212802cbc9c19#)

Aantal Aziatische gieren daalt drastisch door gif in dood vee

Asian vultures could be extinct within a decade

30-04-2008 Thaindian News, Thailand


London, April 30 (ANI): A new study has determined that Asian vultures are in catastrophic decline and could disappear from the wild within a decade. The study was led by Vibhu Prakash from the Bombay Natural History Society, with colleagues from the Zoological Society of London. According to a report in The Times, at risk is the long-billed and slender-billed vulture, whose numbers have fallen by almost 97 per cent.

Scientists attribute this rapid decline in the species to an anti-inflammatory drug given to livestock, which is poisoning vultures that feed on the carcasses of treated animals. The drug, diclofenac, causes kidney failure in the birds. Conservationists have vehemently said that banning the sale of diclofenac and constructing more captive breeding centres is the only way to save the birds.

Diclofenac is used as a painkiller for human beings. Although the manufacture of a veterinary form of the drug was banned in India in 2006, it remains available. It is claimed that the human version of the drug is also being used to treat livestock.

Efforts must be redoubled to remove diclofenac from the vultures food supply and to protect and breed a viable population in captivity, said Prakash. During the study, scientists counted vultures in northern and central India. They surveyed the birds from vehicles along almost 19,000km of road. In particular, they took into account one species, the oriental white-backed vulture, which has lost 99.9 per cent of its population in India since 1992.

The oriental white-backed vulture is now in dire straits, with only one thousandth of the 1992 population remaining, according to the researchers.

Imminent extinction looms for at least three species of vulture in India. Captive breeding is their last hope, said Andrew Cunningham from the Zoological Society of London, principal investigator and co-author of the report.

All three species could be down to a few hundred birds or less across the whole country and thus functionally extinct in less than a decade, said the researchers.

According to Richard Cuthbert from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, who took part in the study, Time has almost run out to prevent the extinction of vultures in the wild in India. The ban on diclofenac manufacture was a good start but a ban on selling it and other drugs known to cause kidney failure in vultures is vital. (ANI)

(Bron: http://www.thaindian.com/)
(Bron foto: archief Kraaijer)

Ganzen bij Schiphol worden doodgeschoten en eieren doorgeprikt - Ganzen naar de poelier

Schipholganzen naar de poelier

29-04-2008 RTV Noord-Holland


SCHIPHOL De provincie Noord-Holland gaat enkele duizenden ganzen die rond Schiphol worden gevangen bij de poelier aanbieden. De provincies heeft al offertes aangevraagd bij verschillende poeliersbedrijven.

Gevaar voor vliegverkeer
De provincie kondigde eerder dit jaar maatregelen aan tegen de grauwe ganzen rond Schiphol, omdat ze een gevaar vormen voor het vliegverkeer. Naast het afschieten en vangen van de dieren worden ook ganzeneieren doorgeprikt. Volgens een woordvoerster van de provincie is er geen andere keus dan de gevangen ganzen naar de poelier te brengen.

De wet verbiedt namelijk het elders uitzetten van grauwe ganzen. "Dan blijven er twee opties over: destructie of consumptie.'' Volgens de woordvoerster is het niet ongebruikelijk dat de ganzen in het consumptiecircuit terechtkomen.

Noord-Holland schat het aantal ganzen dat rond Schiphol wordt gevangen op 2500.

(Bron: http://www.rtvnh.nl/)
(Bron foto: RTV Noord-Holland)

Verbod op circussen met wilde dieren in Noord-Ierland op politieke agenda

Calls to ban NI animal circuses

29-04-2008 Corks 96fn, Northern Ireland


Northern Ireland councils faced a new demand today to ban performing animal circuses from their properties. With Belfast the only one which refuses to offer any sites for performances, the Democratic Unionist Party MLA Robin Newton also called on parents to seriously consider the welfare of animals before buying tickets. The Northern Ireland Assembly should consider the issue, he said.

Mr Newton claimed: "There are many successful circuses that doe not use wild animals. Those that do are an antiquated relic of an earlier period." He also hit out at the Republic`s Arts Council for sponsoring a touring circus which is due in Co Down next month.

He said it was depressing that a statutory agency in the Republic was providing grants to a business based on performing animals.

Tom Duffy`s circus has been touring Ireland for over 200 years putting on shows involving wild animals such as lions and tigers. The circus, which is now in Ballyclare, Co. Antrim, is due to travel to Banbridge, Newtownards and Portaferry.

Mr Newton said: "This circus is a commercial business activity that trains wild animals to carry out tricks that are not natural and require many hours of degrading routine practice until the animal, in the eyes of the whip carrying trainer, gets it right."
He added: "A touring circus spends considerable lengths of time moving from location to location and the animals are caged as they travel in the beast wagons. They can be confined for hours with little time for exercise."

But a spokesperson for the Arts Council in the Republic of Ireland defended the decision to provide funding. He said in October 2005 the European Parliament passed a motion for member states recognising that classical circuses including animals formed part of European culture.

A spokesperson added: "Applicants within this art form are asked to present programmes that would add creative value to the range of work currently available to the public and to raise artistic aspirations of audiences, programmers and practitioners."

(Bron: http://96fm.ie/)
(Bron foto: BBC News UK)

Wetenschappelijk onderzoek in Nieuw-Zeeland naar extreem grote inktvis...

New Zealand scientists thaw 1,000-pound

squid corpse

29-04-2008 By RAY LILLEY, Associated Press


WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Marine scientists in New Zealand on Tuesday were thawing the corpse of the largest squid ever caught to try to unlock the secrets of one of the ocean's most mysterious beasts.

No one has ever seen a living, grown colossal squid in its natural deep ocean habitat, and scientists hope their examination of the 1,089-pound, 26-foot long colossal squid, set to begin Wednesday, will help determine how the creatures live. The thawing and examination are being broadcast live on the Internet.

The squid, which was caught accidentally by fishermen last year, was removed from its freezer Monday and put into a tank filled with saline solution. Ice was added to the tank Tuesday to slow the thawing process so the outer flesh wouldn't rot, said Carol Diebel, director of natural environment at New Zealand's national museum, Te Papa Tongarewa.

After it is thawed, scientists will examine the squid's anatomical features, remove the stomach, beak and other mouth parts, take tissue samples for DNA analysis and determine its sex, Diebel said.

"If we get ourselves a male it will be the first reported (scientific) description of the male of the species," Steve O'Shea, a squid expert at Auckland's University of Technology, told National Radio. He is one of the scientists conducting the examination.

The squid is believed to be the largest specimen of the rare deep-water species Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, or colossal squid, ever caught, O'Shea has said.
Colossal squid, which have long been one of the most mysterious denizens of the deep ocean, can grow up to 46 feet long, descend to 6,500 feet into the ocean and are considered aggressive hunters.

At the time it was caught, O'Shea said it would make calamari rings the size of tractor tires if cut up — but they would taste like ammonia, a compound found in the animals' flesh.

Fishermen off the coast of Antarctica accidentally netted the squid in February 2007 while catching Patagonian toothfish, which are sold under the name Chilean sea bass.
The squid was eating a hooked toothfish when it was hauled from the deep. Recognizing it as a rare find, the fishermen froze the squid on their vessel to preserve it. The national museum, Te Papa Tongarewa, later took possession of it.

The previous largest colossal squid ever found was a 660 pound female squid discovered in 2003, the first ever landed.

Researchers plan to eventually put the squid on display in a 1,800 gallon tank of formaldehyde at the museum in the capital, Wellington.

Colossal squid are found in Antarctic waters and are not related to giant squid found round the coast of New Zealand. Giant squid grow up to 39 feet long, and are not as heavy as colossal squid.
(Bron: http://ap.google.com)
(Bron foto's: AP)

Neushoorns bedreigd in Bardiya National Park, Nepal - Stropers jagen op de neushoorn

Rhino population threatened by illegal

poaching in Bardiya National Park

29-04-2008 Nepalnews.com


Three one-horned rhinoceros have been found dead in Bardiya National Park in the past two weeks, raising serious concern over the safety of the endangered animal in the protected area. A male rhinoceros was found dead in a forested part of the park on Monday by park's security guards. The body of the rare animal was badly mutilated with its horns and tails missing.

Park officials said that it is a work of illegal poachers who are taking advantage of the dent in the park's security arrangement. They said that the rhinoceros was found dead nearby the river bank on the western part of the park, and is one among the three that were found dead in the park with their horns and tails also missing. There are an estimated 30 to 40 rhinoceros in the park.

Rhinoceros horns are used as an aphrodisiac in traditional medicines as it is believed to have qualities that can enhance a person's sexual powers. The horns are also used to make expensive show piece or daggers. Similarly, rhinoceros tails are also used as an important ingredient in traditional medicines thought to cure many form of ailments.

After Nepal Army security personnel deployed for security in the park were barred from patrolling the jungle with weapons with the start of the peace process, the wildlife here are increasingly getting susceptible to hunters and poachers. The park's security officers say that as hunters are usually armed, they are finding that they are also putting their life at risk during these patrol missions.

There have been incidents where park officials have even been attacked by armed men involved in poaching in the area.

Illegal hunting and poaching coupled with forest fire has pushed the population of rhinoceros including other rare animals in the country's national parks and wildlife conservation area almost to an extinction.

Bardiya National park spread in an area of 968 sq. km is the largest and most undisturbed wilderness area in the Terai. Thickly covered with sal trees and carpeted with grass and savannah , the park has the second largest tiger population after Chitwan National park.

In another report, a Nilgai or blue bull, another wild animal on the verge of extinction in Nepal, was found dead in Koshi Tappu Wildlife Conservation Area. Now only 6 Nilgai remain in the conservation area. The animal also features in the list of rare wild animals in Nepal.

(Bron: http://www.nepalnews.com/)
(Bron foto's: archief Kraaijer)

Taiwanese rattenslang in plafond winkel Wormerveer

Python op de koffie

29-04-2008 door Eric Van Staten, De Telegraaf


Wormerveer - Een medewerkster van reptielenopvang Imperator toont aan politieagenten in Wormerveer een forse python. Ze heeft het dier net daarvoor uit het plafond gehaald van een elektronicawinkel.

Kees Smit, eigenaar van de elektronicazaak, kreeg gisteren de schrik van zijn leven toen hij bij het controleren van de sensor van zijn buitenverlichting tussen het plafond plotseling in de glinsterende ogen keek van een tweeënhalve meter lange python. "Mijn buitenverlichting werkte al een aantal dagen niet goed. Vandaar dat ik gistermorgen besloot om even te kijken wat er met de sensor aan de hand was. Ik stond op de trap met mijn hoofd tussen de plafondplaten toen ik plotseling tegen die slang aankeek."

De ondernemer is normaliter niet bang uitgevallen. Maar oog in oog met zo'n reptiel overkomt je natuurlijk ook niet iedere dag. "Het was best even schrikken.

De slang was polsdik en ik wist direct dat het geen addertje was." Volgens de eigenaar van de elektronicazaak ging de medewerkster van Imperator met de wurgslang om alsof het een kat was. Zelf bleef hij op veilige afstand staan. Smit vermoedt dat de slang afkomstig is van zijn bovenbuurman. "Die miste hem al een paar dagen."

(Bron: http://www.telegraaf.nl/)
(Bron foto: De Telegraaf)

Noot Kraaijer:
Volgens het Noordhollands Dagblad van 28 april is de slang een Taeniura (Taiwanese rattenslang). Zie: http://www.nhd.nl/nieuws/stadstreek/zaanstreek/article3426138.ece?secId=537.

Beroemdheden op Philippijnen protesteren met PETA tegen foie gras

Local celebrities say no to duck liver

29-04-2008 By Abigail Kwok, INQUIRER.net, Philippines


MANILA, Philippines -- Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla, Jr., Yasmien Kurdi, and Rufa Mae Quinto. What do these local celebrities have in common? Aside from being talents of a major television network, these stars also vow to never eat or buy foie gras again.


Yasmien Kurdi in earlier PETA protest

Celebrities signed on Tuesday a petition by animal right’s group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) to never eat or buy foie gras because “force-feeding ducks and geese up to two kilograms of grain and fat daily, with long metal tubes is extremely cruel.”

Foie gras is a popular French dish made from duck liver. These ducks are unique because they are especially fattened and force-fed for their livers to achieve a soft and buttery texture.

To date, 15 countries have banned the production and distribution of foie gras, including the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and Israel.

Other celebrities who signed the petition were Eddie Gutierrez, Bianca Valerio, Alicia Mayer, Isabel Roces, Raya Mananquil, and K Brosas.

(Bron: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/)
(Bron foto: archief Kraaijer)

PETA India pleit voor handhaving verbod export apen voor proefdierlaboratoria

Stop all monkey business: PETA

28-04-2008 Express India


Shimla, April 28 - Opposing Himachal Pradesh’s move to ask for lifting of the ban on export of monkeys for experiments, People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has written to the Centre, suggesting that no such request be entertained.
The body, instead, has accused the Himachal government of not taking any concrete steps to control the monkey population and now trying to find an easy way out by seeking a lifting of the ban on export of simians.

The government had recently assured a farmers’ body to approach the Centre with request to permit export of moneys for experiments in other countries. The government has also taken a decision to set up two primate protection parks and also step up its drive for sterilisation of monkeys.

But today, PETA has come out with a strong case to get any such move scuttled. It claimed that the monkeys taken from India will be subjected to cruelty of serious nature and the simians will be housed in tiny steel cages and starved.

“There is nothing fair about sending these highly complex, sensitive animals to suffer unimaginable physical abuse and psychological torment in laboratories,” said Dharmesh Solanki, senior vivisection campaign coordinator. “They will be caged and deprived of fresh air, sunshine, freedom of movement, companionship of others, and just about everything else that makes life worth living.”

“Instead, they will only stare - day after day, year after year - at the bars of their isolated prisons or the barren walls of the sterile room beyond. They will experience years of pain and suffering in laboratories as they are used in cruel and unnecessary experiments,” he said.

“In addition to the pain and fear that they will endure in experiments, they will suffer greatly from close confinement and isolation. Scientific reports indicate that 90 per cent of monkeys in laboratories exhibit some form of psychopathology. Between 15 and 25 per cent engage in self-mutilation. This is powerful evidence of the psychological trauma and suffering that they endure,” said a PETA release here.

(Bron: http://www.expressindia.com/)
(Bron foto: archief Kraaijer)

(Meer informatie over Peta India? http://www.petaindia.com/)

Sluiting Friesland Vlees is feit - Einde slachterij zou slecht zijn voor dierenwelzijn aldus eigenaar

Friesland Vlees sluit de deuren

28-04-2008 De Volkskrant, ANP


LEEUWARDEN - Slachterij Friesland Vlees sluit de deuren. Dat meldde eigenaar Aaldert Wildeboer maandagavond. Op zondag 6 april kondigde minister Gerda Verburg van LNV in televisieprogramma Buitenhof permanente poortcontrole bij Friesland Vlees in Leeuwarden aan. Bij Friesland Vlees zou van alles mis zijn. De aanvoer van runderen is door de vele berichtgeving over de poortcontrole stil komen te liggen. De controles zijn beëindigd en er zijn geen misstanden geconstateerd door de Algemene Inspectiedienst (AID) van het ministerie.

Wildeboer geeft Verburg de schuld van het einde van zijn bedrijf. ‘Dit gevecht kan ik niet winnen’, aldus de directeur. Honderd mensen verliezen hun baan. Het ministerie van LNV voelt zich echter niet verantwoordelijk voor de sluiting, aldus een woordvoerder.

Vleeshouwers van Friesland Vlees in actie. (Bart Mühl)

Wildeboer zat maandag met de top van het ministerie in Den Haag om tafel. ‘Ik ben daar allerhartelijkst ontvangen, maar ze wilden alleen hun eigen straatje schoonvegen. Ik heb toen met de vuist op tafel geslagen en gezegd ‘ik stop ermee’ en ben weggelopen’, aldus Wildeboer. De LNV-zegsman bevestigt het gesprek, maar zegt niet op de inhoud in te kunnen gaan.

Friesland Vlees werkte vooral voor Friesland Beef. Dat vleesbedrijf koopt runderen van boeren, liet dat bij Friesland Vlees slachten, waarna het vlees verkocht werd aan supermarkten. Friesland Beef ligt ook nagenoeg stil omdat supermarkten het vlees niet meer zouden willen afnemen.

Wildeboer stelt dat de sluiting van zijn bedrijf slecht is voor het dierenwelzijn. Friesland Vlees slachtte een groot deel van de runderen uit Noord-Nederland. Die runderen moeten nu naar slachterijen elders in het land, waardoor de dieren veel langer in de vrachtauto moeten zitten.

Wildeboer voelt zich slachtoffer van een competentiestrijd tussen de AID en de Voedsel- en Warenautoriteit (VWA). De AID is verantwoordelijk voor controle op vee bij boeren en tijdens het transport. De VWA houdt toezicht op de slacht van dieren. De AID en VWA zouden een conflict hebben gehad over welke runderen die bij Friesland Vlees werden aangevoerd door Friesland Beef wel en niet geslacht zouden mogen worden.

(Bron: http://www.volkskrant.nl/)
(Bron foto: De Volkskrant)

Twee schapen in Harenkarspel mishandeld en in water gegooid - Een schaap overleden

Mishandelde schapen uit water gehaald

28-04-2008 Gemeente Harenkarspel


Maandag 28 april ontving gemeente Harenkarspel de melding dat twee schapen waren aangetroffen in het water van een wiel langs de Westfriesedijk bij Eenigenburg. De buitendienst van de gemeente trof beide schapen aan, een was overleden maar het andere schaap leefde nog. De dierenbescherming was eveneens gewaarschuwd. Het sterk vermagerde dier is naar het dierenasiel in Kalverdijk gebracht.

Omwonenden hebben hun akelige vondst op maandagmorgen bij de gemeente gemeld. Waarschijnlijk zijn de schapen in de nacht van zondag 27 op maandag 28 april door onbekenden van de dijk gegooid en in het water beland. Aan de oren was te zien dat het oormerk was verwijderd. Eén van de schapen is aan de mishandeling bezweken. Dit overleden schaap is door de kadaverdienst gehaald. Het andere schaap leefde nog, ondanks een touw dat enkele malen om de nek was gebonden. Het dier is echter erg mager en er niet best aan toe. Het dierenasiel in Kalverdijk heeft het arme schaap opgevangen.

Er is bij de politie aangifte gedaan van de dierenmishandeling. Door de volstrekt ontoelaatbare handelwijze van de schapenbezitter is niet alleen onnodig leed aan dieren toegebracht maar is ook de gemeenschap van Harenkarspel met extra kosten opgezadeld.

(Bron: http://www.harenkarspel.nl/)

Dolfijn dood in SeaWorld Orlando (VS) na botsing in lucht met andere dolfijn

Dolphin Dies After Mid-Air Collision

Second Dolphin Survives

28-04-2008 NBC4 Maryland, Virginia, USA


Sharky, a 30-year-old SeaWorld dolphin, died over the weekend after crashing into another dolphin during a performance, a spokeswoman for the theme park said. The dolphin was performing aerial tricks with another dolphin named Jake in front of a crowd on Saturday when the pair collided, according to Becca Bides of SeaWorld in Orlando.
"This was a very unfortunate and random incident," Bides told The Orlando Sentinel. "We never had animals collide before."

Bides said park officials are reviewing their training protocol to try and prevent similar accidents happening in the future. "Even though it's rare, we're taking this very seriously."


Jake was not injured in the crash, she said.

(Bron: http://www.nbc4.com/)
(Bron foto dolfijnen: NBC4 / Bron foto SeaWorld: archief Kraaijer)

Twee knapen gooien dode ree van viaduct AI bij Oldenzaal

Dood ree van viaduct gegooid

28-04-2008 RTV Oost


Twee jongens hebben zondag een dode ree van het viaduct op de A1 bij Oldenzaal gegooid.

Een automobiliste uit Oldenzaal reed over de snelweg richting de Duitse grens, toen zij op het viaduct twee personen zag die het dode dier over de railing gooiden. De vrouw kon het dode dier ontwijken en kwam met de schrik vrij.

De politie is nog op zoek naar de twee jongens.

(Bron: http://www.rtvoost.nl/)

Dierenpark Zoo Parc Overloon nieuw thuis voor reuzenmiereneter

Reuzenmiereneter maakt opwachting in

Overloon

28-04-2008 Omroep Brabant


OVERLOON - Zoo Parc Overloon heeft er een nieuwe bewoner bij. Het gaat om een reuzenmiereneter, die de naam 'Pjeskebusk' heeft gekregen.

De naam 'Pjuskebus' komt van een Deense tv-serie en het betekent 'ragebol'. Ondanks het slechte weer was er flink wat belangstelling voor het bijzondere dier. Thijs Linskens, de kinderdirecteur van Zoo Parc Overloon, opende het verblijf voor de reuzenmiereneter. Het onderkomen is speciaal voor dit mannetje gemaakt.

De reuzenmiereneter komt in de vrije natuur alleen voor in Midden- en Zuid-Amerika.

(Bron: http://www.omroepbrabant.nl/)
(Bron foto: Omroep Brabant / Bron foto reuzenmiereneter in het wild: archief Kraaijer)

AID blokkeert zes mestkalverbedrijven Veluwe na ontdekken groeibevorderaar

Kalverbedrijven geblokkeerd na vondst

groeibevorderaar

28-04-2008 Agrarisch Dagblad


De aan- en afvoer van zes mestkalverbedrijven op de Veluwe zijn afgelopen vrijdag geblokkeerd door de Algemene Inspectiedienst (AID). De AID heeft bij drie kalveren een groeibevorderaar gevonden.

Op de bedrijven staan in totaal 4074 vleeskalveren die eigendom zijn van één veehouder. Tijdens de doorzoekingen is de veehouder aangehouden, maar inmiddels weer in vrijheid gesteld. Op alle zes bedrijven heeft de AID vrijdag en zaterdag een groot deel van de kalveren bemonsterd.

De verboden groeibevorderaar werd aangetroffen bij een routinecontrole door de Stichting Kwaliteitsgarantie Vleeskalveren (SKV). Het betreft het verboden Delta-1 Testosteron, die nog nooit eerder is aangetroffen als verboden groeibevorderaar voor dieren.

(Bron: http://www.agd.nl/)

Hoe slim kan een orang oetan zijn? Vissen met een stok op Borneo...

Orangutan goes fishing with sharpened stick

28-04-2008 By Paul Eccleston, The Daily Telegraph, UK


In a sight never previously witnessed an orangutan uses a sharpened stick to try and spear fish.

The hugely powerful creature uses fingers and toes to anchor himself on the branches of a tree overhanging the water.

The orangutan used a fishermen's poles to try and spear the fish but didn't quite have the dexterity. The male orang lives in a sanctuary on the island of Kaja in Borneo which rescues animals driven out of their traditional rainforest home by loggers and palm oil plantation owners.
The great apes, which share 97 per cent of its genes with humans, are routinely slaughtered if they get in the way of workers. Often they are butchered and their meat sold in shops with the animal's decapitated head used as an adornment.

But those lucky enough to be brought to the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOS) are lovingly cared for and nurtured in the hope that can eventually be rehabilitated and returned to the forest. Orangutan translates from the Indonesian into Man of the Forest. The beguiling creatures are great imitators and having seen local people fishing with sticks they are quick to try for themselves.

The orangutan used one of the fishermen's poles to try and spear the fish as they swam by but didn't quite have the necessary dexterity.
Instead he used the stick to hook out fallen fruit as it floated by. Another orang used a fishing stick to pick out fish trapped in lines set by locals.

The relentless demand for land for agriculture, the continuing loss of invaluable rainforest and the worsening plight of the orangutans are told in a new book, Thinkers of the Jungle.

It tells of the work of Dr Willie Smits who set up a charity in 1991 that evolved into BOS. It warns that unless something is done quickly orangs may disappear from the wild within 10 years.
Thinkers of the Jungle - The Orangutan Report is published Monday May 5 h.f.ullmann, price £29.99.

(Bron: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/)
(Bron foto's: The Daily Telegraph)

Tabaksfabrikant Philip Morris in beroep tegen niet afgeven milieuvergunning uitbreiding proefdiercentrum in Belgische Leuven

Philip Morris in beroep tegen weigering

milieuvergunning

28-04-2008 Het Laatste Nieuws, Belgium


Sigarettenfabrikant Philip Morris tekent beroep aan tegen de weigering door de stad Leuven van de milieuvergunningsaanvraag voor het researchlabo op het researchpark in Haasrode. Het bedrijf reageert verbaasd op deze weigering omdat het een louter formele aanpassing betreft van de lopende milieuvergunning aan de nieuwe wetgeving. Het Leuvense bezwaar tegen de dierproeven vindt het bedrijf onterecht.

Technische aspecten
"Door nieuwe wetgeving moest onze milieuvergunning geherklasseerd worden van klasse 1 naar 2 wat weliswaar gepaard ging met enkele technische aanpassingen aan de installaties, maar zeker geen uitbreiding van activiteiten inhoudt. Leuven moest zich enkel uitspreken over deze technische aspecten. Alle betrokken diensten gaven hiervoor een positief advies. Voor de dierproeven hebben wij een vergunning van de federale minister van volksgezondheid die daarvoor bevoegd is", aldus woordvoerder Paul Broeckx.

Minder schadelijk maken
"Met deze dierproeven testen we hoe we onze producten minder schadelijk kunnen maken en gaan we na of productaanpassingen geen schadelijke gevolgen hebben voor mensen. Momenteel is er jammer genoeg nog geen wetenschappelijk alternatief voor het gebruik van dieren om inzicht te krijgen in de noodzakelijke mechanismen. We verzamelen op die manier ook data die later kunnen gebruikt worden als referentie voor als we onderzoek kunnen doen bij niet-dierlijke alternatieven", aldus Broeckx.

Internationaal
In het Leuvense labo werken momenteel een 40-tal mensen. "Naast dit labo hebben we er ook nog een in de VS. Het is binnen het internationaal concern Philip Morris van fundamenteel belang", aldus Broeckx. Het bedrijf tekent zeker beroep aan tegen de Leuvense beslissing bij de bestendige deputatie van de provincie Vlaams-Brabant. Hierna is nog beroep mogelijk bij Vlaams Leefmilieuminister Hilde Crevits.

Felicitaties Gaia
De dierenrechtenorganisatie Gaia feliciteert inmiddels het Leuvense college met zijn beslissing om Philip Morris de milieuvergunnning te weigeren. Volgens Gaia gaat het om een precedent. "Het is goed dat hiermee onderstreept wordt dat de sigaretten van Philip Morris niet enkel dodelijk zijn voor mensen, maar dat het bedrijf er ook dieren voor doodt. Het wordt tijd dat het bedrijf inziet dat het verzet tegen dit soort voltrekt overbodige dierproeven nog zal toenemen" aldus Gaia. (belga/ka)

(Bron: http://hln.be/)

(Voor meer informatie: http://www.stopdierproeven.org/)

Ringslang joeg bavianan Dierenpark Amersfoort de stuipen op het lijf...

Bavianen Amersfoort niet meer in paniek

28-04-2008 RTV Utrecht


AMERSFOORT - De grote paniek onder de bavianen in Dierenpark Amersfoort is voorbij. De dieren durfden een aantal dagen de apenrots in hun verblijf niet op. Vermoedelijk heeft een ringslang de apen bang gemaakt.

Wanneer een van de jonge apen naar de rots liep, werd die door een angstkreet van de leider teruggefloten. Dierenverzorgers hebben de bavianen elke dag over de rots gejaagd. Dat lijkt te werken.

De apen vertonen nu weer normaal gedrag.Vorig jaar vertoonden mantelbavianen in dierenpark Emmen een zelfde soort gedrag als de apen in Amersfoort. Een verklaring daarvoor werd nooit gevonden.

(Bron: http://www.rtvutrecht.nl/)
(Bron foto: RTV Utrecht)

'Whale-watching' boten VS zijn vaak gevaar voor de walvis - Boten varen te hard wijst onderzoek uit

Whale-watching boats are putting whales in

jeopardy, study says

Skippers ignoring speed limits in effort to wow passengers

28-04-2008 By Beth Daley, The Boston Globe, USA


In the lush waters of Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, whale watching is one of the region's most beloved - and jaw-dropping - experiences. When one of the animals is spotted in the dark, cold waters, boats filled with awestruck tourists make a beeline to watch the leviathan feed and, if luck is with them, breach.

But a new study says whale-watching boats are going too fast near whales, endangering them and disregarding a decade-old pledge to slow down.

As part of the study, published this month in the journal Conservation Biology, researchers went undercover 46 times in 2003-2004 on ships owned by New England's whale-watching companies. Armed with global positioning system units, the observers recorded time, speed, and location at 5-second intervals. Every trip exceeded the voluntary speed limits, sometimes more than threefold, they found.

"I want to see whale watching, but it has to be done in a way as safe as we can make it," said Dave Wiley, lead author of the report, funded by the International Fund for Animal Welfare, an advocacy group. "They are going too fast," said Wiley, research coordinator for the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary.

The whale-watching companies are not named in the study.

Whale-watching boat owners acknowledge they sometimes exceed voluntary speed limits, but say they work hard to protect the whales. "We do the best we can to stay within the guidelines," said Steve Milliken, owner of the Dolphin Fleet Whale Watch in Provincetown. "They are our livelihoods and we don't want to see any thing detrimental happen to them."

Another operator, Rick Nolan, owner of Boston Harbor Cruises, said the study was conducted during "drought" years for whales, so if one was spotted, boats sometimes sped to get tourists to them. Whales have become more abundant in Massachusetts Bay since then, he said, and the pressure has eased.

Every spring and summer, more than 1 million people pay about $35 to $40 to spend several hours traveling to Stellwagen Bank to gape at humpback, minke, right, and fin whales. On a busy summer Saturday, as many as 20 to 40 whale-watching and private boats are searching the water, and the industry in New England now takes in about $30 million a year, according to the latest available statistics.

Federal law prohibits boats from "harassing" whales, but boats have the right to get close to the animals. The only exception is the right whale, whose numbers are so low that people must stay three-tenths of a mile away.

In 1999, whale-watching companies strengthened voluntary guidelines and speed limits after whale watchers collided with three whales in 1998, killing at least one of them.

Now, once a whale is spotted, tour boats agree to go less than 15 miles per hour within about 2.3 miles of the animal. As they get closer than 1.2 miles, they are supposed to go less than 11.5 miles per hour. Within about a half-mile, they are limited to less than 8 miles per hour to avoid striking an animal that can hold its breath for several minutes and surface far from where it went under. If one whale is nearby, others are probably there as well, sharing feeding grounds.

Research shows the slow speeds help prevent collisions.

The study found that whale-watching vessels sped up most often in the zone farthest from the whale, perhaps because they had spotted an animal and wanted to get to it, or were leaving and wanted to hurry back to port. But some boats also went more than three times as fast as promised in the zone closest to a whale, where the risk of a collision is high.

"It places the whales in potential danger," said Wiley, noting that there is no official enforcement of the guidelines. Without oversight, his study indicated, voluntary measures don't work.
Others agree whale-watching boats are going too fast, but say an answer isn't easy.
"The speed guidelines are often not adhered to," said Mason Weinrich, executive director and chief scientist of the Whale Center of New England in Gloucester, which studies whales. Whale-watching boats hire naturalists from his group to teach the public about whales.

Weinrich said enforcement would be difficult on the open sea, and noted there haven't been any known whale strikes since the voluntary guidelines were updated.
He said strikes from tankers and private boats that don't know how to approach whales pose more of a risk to the animals than whale-watching boats.

Nolan said Wiley presented the findings to whale-watching companies a few years ago, and since then boat owners have tried harder to adhere to the guidelines.

"But the guidelines are just that and subject to broad interpretation," he said. For example, boats are supposed to slow down once a whale is spotted, but observers may spot a whale at different times.
Wiley suggested the public look for companies that post the guidelines on their boats and in ticket booths. If the guidelines are not posted, the public should ask why.

The study means "we can't take voluntary agreements at face value," he said.

Beth Daley can be reached by e-mail at bdaley@globe.com.

(Bron: http://www.boston.com/)
(Bron foto's: archief Kraaijer)

Humpback Whales - Stellwagen Bank - August 2007

Just look at the speed of the boat.....

Meer en meer modebedrijven doen Australisch schapenwol in de ban - Succes voor PETA

Another fashion giant dumps Aussie wool

28-04-2008 By Peter Mitchell in Los Angeles, The Australian, Australia


ANIMAL rights activists have wooed another global fashion giant to boycott wool from Australian mulesed sheep. Miami-based Perry Ellis International, which boasts Australian professional golfer Aaron Baddeley as the face of one of its clothing lines, said it would direct vendors not to buy wool from suppliers using mulesing.

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) said "dozens" more global companies were poised to join the growing list of retailers calling for Australian farmers to switch to alternatives to traditional mulesing and clip-mulesing.

Perry Ellis is one of the largest retailers of men's suits and sportswear in the world, with $US830 million ($887m) in annual revenue and clothes sold in Wal-Mart, Sears and JC Penney stores in the US. President of Perry Ellis, Oscar Feldenkreis, said his company would be in contact with the Australian wool industry.
"Perry Ellis International has a long-standing commitment to animal welfare," Mr Feldenkreis wrote in a letter to PETA outlining the company's new stance on mulesing.
"We have been aware of the mulesing mutilation that is performed on lambs for a number of years."
Perry Ellis' boycott is the latest win for US-based PETA in its five-year war with Australian wool farmers.

PETA says mulesing, a technique used largely by Australian farmers where skin is removed from a sheep's rear end to protect it from fly strike, is "cruel" and "mutilation".


Singer Chrissie Hynde unveils a new graphic PETA advert showing a lamb subjected to the mulesing process against a tagline 'Mulesing: Shear Cruelty', at Circular Quay on January 31, 2007 in Sydney, Australia.

In recent weeks, European retailers Hugo Boss and IC Companys announced they had joined the ban, while retailers Abercrombie & Fitch, American Eagle Outfitters, Victoria's Secret, Timberland and H&M have similar stances.

Perry Ellis' Original Penguin sports line signed a three-year sponsorship deal to clothe Baddeley in 2007 and photographs of the Australian feature prominently in the company's latest annual report. Perry Ellis' ban includes wool from sheep that have been clip-mulesed, a new technique Australian farmers hoped would be acceptable to animal rights groups.

(Bron: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/)
(Bron foto's: archief Kraaijer)

(Voor meer informatie: http://www.savethesheep.com/)

Stijging aantallen dierenmishandeling in Engeland - 10% Meer in 2007 dan in 2006 - Dierenbescherming lanceert cijfers

Shocking animal cruelty figures

28-04-2008 ANTHONY CARROLL, EDP24, Norfolk, UK


A cat left in a plastic bag in a hedge, chinchillas dumped in a box on a playing field and oil covered birds. These are some of the harrowing and growing number of rescues the RSPCA was called out to in the east of England last year. Statistics released by the RSPCA today show that the number of rescues the animal charity attended in 2007 has gone up by nearly 10 per cent compared to 2006.

The figures show that the number of farm animals rescued rose by 430 per cent to 737 and there was a 20 per cent jump in the number of dogs that needed rescuing. In total 29,596 animals were rescued - 9.8 per cent higher than 2006 in which 26,596 creatures were helped.
Animal rescues included dumped chinchillas in Newark, a cat dumped in a plastic bag in Market Harborough and a terrier left in a hedgerow in Cambridge. Wild birds constitute the largest number of rescues with 7,021 and 6,424 cats, 1,648 dogs and 1,174 fish needed rescuing.

The number of animals abandoned by their owners was 1,417 - a rise of 44 per cent.

The RSPCA has released the set of statistics to coincide with the launch todayof RSPCA Week, the society's largest annual fund and awareness raising push. Simon Parker, acting RSPCA superintendent for the east, said: “We work around the clock to rescue thousands of animals every year from a wide range of distressing situations and 2007 was no exception.

“The RSPCA was on hand to help all types of animal whatever the emergency - birds injured by oil spills, cattle suffering from foot and mouth disease, cats in road accidents and dogs simply abandoned by their owners.”

“Sadly we noticed a rise in the number of animals we rescued last year because they were callously abandoned.”

The figures for the east of England cover Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Derbyshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Northamptonshire. For more information on RSPCA week visit http://www.rspcaweek.org.uk/.

Anyone who fears an animal is being neglected or has been abandoned can call the RSPCA on 0300 1234 999.

(Bron: http://new.edp24.co.uk/)

Protest tegen stierenvechten in Valdemoro, Spanje

Animal rights activists hang a banner to protest against bullfights on the Spanish landmark of the "Osborne bull" in Valdemoro, near Madrid, April 27, 2008. The banner reads " Abolition of bullfighting. Rights for all animals."

REUTERS/Andrea Comas (SPAIN)

(Bron: http://news.yahoo.com/)

HSL-trein rijdt in Duitsland vlak voor langste tunnel in land in op schaapskudde - 20 Schapen gedood, 23 passagiers gewond

ICE-Unglück

"Ich hatte mit meinem Leben abgeschlossen"

27-04-2008 Die Welt, Germany


Knapp zehn Jahre nach dem Zugunglück in Eschede ist die Deutsche Bahn an einer zweiten Katastrophe nur knapp vorbeigeschrammt: Ein ICE raste mit 200 km/h in eine Schafherde und entgleiste. „Der Weg durch den dichten Qualm war fast noch mal so schlimm wie das Unglück selbst", erinnert sich ein Augenzeuge.

Knapp zehn Jahre nach dem schlimmsten Zugunglück in der deutschen Nachkriegsgeschichte im niedersächsischen Eschede ist die Deutsche Bahn in der Nacht zum Sonntag an einer zweiten Katastrophe nur knapp vorbeigeschrammt. Die Passagiere hatten Glück im Unglück – 23 von 170 Personen wurden verletzt, drei davon schwer, als gegen 21 Uhr der ICE 885 „Nürnberg“ auf dem Weg von Hamburg nach München in eine Schafherde raste, die auf die Hochgeschwindigkeitsstrecke gelaufen war.

Im Landrückentunnel nahe Fulda, dem mit 10.779 Metern längsten Eisenbahntunnel Deutschlands, war der Zug entgleist. „Die Tunnelwände haben Schlimmeres verhindert. Auf freier Strecke hätte es zu einer Katastrophe führen können“, sagte ein Bundespolizei-Beamter. Beim Unglück im Eschede am 3. Juni 1998 war ein defekter Radreifen schuld am Entgleisen des ICE – 101 Menschen waren ums Leben gekommen.

Wir prüfen, ob der Weidezaun defekt war“, sagte Bundespolizei-Sprecher Klaus Arend am Unglücksort bei Fulda. „Wir ermitteln, wieso die Tiere auf den Gleisen waren. Das ist sehr ungewöhnlich.“ Der Schäfer war bei der Kollision des Zuges mit seiner Herde offenbar nicht vor Ort. Er sei zwar befragt worden, stand aber unter Schock, hieß es später bei der Polizei. Eine andere Unglücksursache wie etwa falsch gestellte Weichen schlossen Bundespolizei und Bahn am Sonntagnachmittag aus.

Bild der Verwüstung
Doch auch trotz des relativ glimpflichen Ausgangs bietet sich am Unglücksort zwischen den beiden Ortschaften Oberkalbach und Mittelkalbach ein Bild der Verwüstung: Auf den ersten Metern liegen die zerfetzten Leiber von 20 Schafen, die Wände des Tunnels sind blutbespritzt.

Als sich gegen drei Uhr am Sonntagmorgen Journalisten selbst ein Bild vom Ort des Geschehens machen können, kreischt noch immer eine Sirene des entgleisten Zugs durch den Tunnel. Etwa 200 Meter nach dem Tunneleingang liegen die ersten Trümmerteile des ICE. Kurz darauf sieht man gebrochene Gleise. Die Rettungswege links und rechts der Gleise sind mit Schotter übersät, in der Luft liegt ein Geruchsgemisch aus Schafstall und verbranntem Gummi. Die Höhe des Schadens war am Sonntag noch unklar.

Triebkopf in der Tunnelwand
Etwa ein Kilometer nach der Einfahrt steht das Zugwrack. Nur drei der zwölf Waggons stehen noch in den Gleisen – beziehungsweise auf dem, was davon übrig ist. Mit grünen Ziffern haben die Beamten der Bundespolizei die Wagen nummeriert. Der vordere Triebkopf des Zugs hat sich in die Tunnelwand gebohrt. Es dürfte sich um einen Totalschaden handeln. Aufgrund der Zerstörungen im Tunnel hat die Deutsche Bahn angekündigt, dass der Zugverkehr zwischen München und Hamburg noch einige Tage über eine Altstrecke abgewickelt wird. Verspätungen von bis zu 40 Minuten seien einzukalkulieren.

Während die Polizei die Ermittlungen zur Unglücksursache aufnahm, wurden die Zugpassagiere im Gemeindezentrum von Mittelkalbach versorgt. Dort realisierte auch Journalist Nico Gelev (36) aus Nürnberg erst richtig, was kurz zuvor geschehen war: „Ich hatte schon mit meinem Leben abgeschlossen. Kurz vor dem Unglück stand ich noch im Bord-Bistro. Davon ist fast nichts übrig geblieben. Da hätte es Tote geben können.“

Taschenlampe lotst durch Tunnel
Der Sportreporter befand sich am Samstagabend auf dem Rückweg von Hannover nach Nürnberg. Fünf Minuten nach Fulda habe es „auf einmal einen Schlag getan“. „Ich dachte, da ist uns jemand hintendrauf gefahren. Es fühlte sich an, als würden die Waggons ineinandergeschoben.“ Dann sah er auch schon Gepäckstücke durch das Abteil fliegen, selbst eine Waggontür habe sich gelöst. Kurz darauf sei es stockfinster geworden. Niemand habe etwas gesagt. Nach zehn Minuten sei ein Schaffner gekommen und habe die Insassen mit einer Taschenlampe in den Tunnel gelotst. „Der Weg durch den dichten Qualm war fast noch mal so schlimm wie das Unglück selbst“, erinnert sich Gelev. „Wir wussten ja nicht, was wir da einatmen.“ Kurz vor dem Ausgang musste auch er über die Schafskadaver steigen: „Aber mit dem Unglück habe ich die zunächst nicht in Verbindung gebracht.“

Immer wieder verirren sich Tiere auf Bahngleise. Eine Ziege hatte erst am vergangenen Freitag die ICE-Strecke zwischen Köln und Frankfurt am Main lahmgelegt. Nach mehreren Versuchen, das Tier zu fangen, wurde es von einem Polizisten erschossen. Im August 2006 fuhr ein Regionalexpress bei Weikersheim in eine Schafherde und tötete 250 Tiere. Im August 2003 erfasste ein Güterzug bei Gemünden eine Kuhherde. Eine Achse des Triebwagens sprang aus den Gleisen. Menschen kamen bei diesen Unglücken nicht zu Schaden.

(Bron: http://www.welt.de/)
(Bron foto's: Die Welt)

Kat na paar dagen uit IJ-tunnel gered door brandweer

Kat zorgt voor file voor IJ-tunnel

27-04-2008 AT5


Een kat heeft zondagmiddag voor een een lange file gezorgd voor de IJ-tunnel. Het dier was een paar dagen geleden de tunnel ingelopen, maar kwam vast te zitten in een schacht en zat sindsdien opgesloten.

De dierenambulance werd gewaarschuwd, maar die had de hulp van de brandweer nodig om het dier te kunnen bevrijden. De kat is overgebracht naar een spoedkliniek voor dieren aan de Weesperzijde.

Daar is onderzocht of hij door het verblijf in de schacht ook schade aan zijn longen heeft opgelopen. Als het baasje zich niet meldt, gaat de kat naar het asiel.

(Bron: http://www.at5.nl/)
(Bron foto: AT5)

The Bear Bile Business

WSPA has been working hard to help end one of the cruelest industries in the world -- bear farming in Asia. The bears are kept in tiny steel cages, unable to stand or move around. In order to obtain their gall bile for use in medicinal products and luxury goods, the animals are surgically mutilated and undergo torturous procedures on a regular basis. WSPA is campaigning to ensure that bear farming is brought to an end.

Bears Rescued from Torturous Bile Farm in Ziyang, Sichuan province, China (05-04-2008)

Nederlandse zet zich in voor bedreigde diersoorten in Indonesië

Femke den Haas: Rescuing endangered animals

27-04-2008 Ani Suswantoro, Contributor, Ragunan, South Jakarta - The Jakarta Post, Indonesia


How many Jakartans have seen the Braminy Kite (Haliastur Indus) or know that this endangered bird has been a symbol of the captial since 1995? The falling number of kites can be traced back to the early 20th Century, when Pulau Elang (Raptor Island) was renamed Pulau Pramuka (Scout Island)because few raptors could be found on the island.

How many know that the White-Bellied Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster) is a protected species? Despite their status as protected species as stated by Regulation No. 5/1990 on Conservation on Natural Resources and Ecosystems and Regulation No. 7/1999 on Flora and Fauna Preservation, they are still threatened by illegal poaching and trade, habitat destruction, public ignorance and the lack of attention from authorities.

But there is still hope through the organizations that are working to protect these birds. One of them is the Jakarta Animal Aid Network (JAAN), established in early 2008 by Femke den Haas and several other conservationists.

Den Haas, a Dutch national born in 1977 in Yaoende, Cameroon, has been working to improve the welfare of animals in Indonesia through the JAAN. Her encounter with Indonesian wildlife began at the age of 17, when she volunteered to monitor the release of 70 orangutans in East Kalimantan. The province's rich flora and fauna fascinated her, and she even took 6 months' leave of her senior high school studies in the Netherlands to join the project.

Back in Holland, she became involved in several animal conservation and rescue projects in Europe and Africa. "I learned that the illegal primate trade in Holland mainly came from Indonesia, so I decided to come back, where I could work right at the source," said den Haas.

She returned to Indonesia, and from 2002-2006, worked at the Gibbon Foundation, an international non-profit organization that works to stop wildlife trafficking and trade. The foundation set up several Pusat Penyelamatan Satwa (PPS)or Animal Rescue Centers - in Jakarta, Sukabumi, Yogyakarta, Denpasar and Manado, as well as other cities.

During her tenure as manager at PPS Tegal Alur, West Jakarta, den Haas began to realize the intricate chain of illegal animal trade and the difficulties to eradicate it, but she and her team persevered. It was during her work there that she met and married her Indonesian husband, Sudarno.
"Unfortunately, in 2006 the foundation stopped its cooperation, considering that Indonesia was not serious enough to protect its natural richness. I then resigned and joined International Animal Rescue (IAR) in 2007," said den Haas.

"In 2008, together with some dedicated individuals, Rio Cornel, Ardiansyah, Natalie Stewart and Karin Franken, we established the Jakarta Animal Aid Network (JAAN), to be more able to cater local needs. Sponsorship and support come from individuals and organisations alike," she said.

JAAN provides help to all kinds of animals, including caring for and finding homes for stray dogs and cats. It also rehabilitates and releases sea turtles, monkeys and other endangered species.

At present, JAAN is focusing on the rehabilitation and release of the Brahminy Kite and the White-Bellied Sea Eagle with the support of the Taman Nasional Kepulauan Seribu (Thousand Islands National Park), Coconut Island Resort, IAR and local residents.

The project, based on Kotok and Penjaliran Barat islands, was initiated in 2004 when PPS Tegal Alur received many of those birds. The local economy, sea and coastal conditions, and even the bad habits of some Jakarta citizens affect the birds' well-being. For example, the currents carry garbage thrown into the city's rivers to Kepulauan Seribu regency, contaminating the habitat.

JAAN's program is multifaceted to address these conditions and to protect the birds, including through public education, waste management and recycling, fertilizing and composting, ecotourism, and the protection and monitoring of coral reefs, fish and sea turtles.

The birds at the rescue center on Kotok and Penjaliran Barat islands have been confiscated or handed over voluntarily by their owners, and come from Jakarta, Sukabumi and Yogyakarta. So far, JAAN has released 40 birds into the wild and is rehabilitating 27 birds. Those birds that cannot be released will spend their entire lives at the center.

"Femke's care for animals does not end in ideas only, but is manifested into concrete actions. Upon observing the suffering of animals, she will do anything to help them," said Sumarto, former head of the Thousand Islands National Park. "Her dedication is beyond question, as reflected in her willingness to stay on the island to tend to the animals on New Year's Eve, when all staff are on leave. She is an extraordinary woman," he said.

JAAN welcomes assistance from volunteers in their rehabilitation and release program, and their tasks include monitoring and observing the birds after release, cleaning and maintaining cages and the beach, as well as participation in brainstorming ideas for a conservation campaign.

External funding is also highly appreciated for the continuation of JAAN's missionimprove the welfare of Indonesian animals and to stop illegal wildlife trade", according to den Haas.

When wildlife thrives, so does human life. Hopefully an increased understanding of this relationship among Jakarta's citizens and an improvement in the welfare and economy of local residents will help den Haas and her team's dream come true.

Jakarta Animal Aid Network (JAAN)
Jl. Jeruk Purut Buntu 2A
Cilandak, South Jakarta
Tel: (021) 7802556
jakartaanimalaid@gmail.com

(Bron: http://old.thejakartapost.com/)
(Bron foto's: Jakarta Animal Aid Network - http://jakartaanimalaid.com/)

Beren Azië gruwelijk mishandeld om gal te verkrijgen (melken) voor medicijnen

Suffering in the name of medicine

The terrible fate of bile bears in the East is mobilising animal lovers worldwide

26-04-2008 Eve Vosloo, The Independent On Saturday, South Africa


THE bear lies on its stomach in a coffin-like metal cage so small that it cannot move. It cannot sit up, turn over or scratch itself, let alone stand. Protruding from its stomach is a catheter that has been crudely inserted into its gall bladder, which is "milked" for its bile, used in traditional Chinese medicine despite the ready availability of cheap herbal and synthetic alternatives.

The bear is an Asiatic Black Bear, or Moon Bear, named for the yellow crescent of fur on its chest. It is endangered and there are only an estimated 16 000 to 25 000 left in the wild.
It has been in the cage for 15 to 20 years.
It is kept hungry and thirsty because then it produces more bile. Its mouth is full of broken teeth from its futile attempts to chew its way out of the cage, which is in a row of other cages with other bears inside them. There are other rows in a cellar where the light of day hardly penetrates.
The painful milking happens twice a day - bears have been seen moaning, banging their heads against their cages and chewing their own paws while it is taking place.

A woman walks into the cellar and, as her eyes adjust to the gloom, gasps in horror while her stomach churns. The sight before her eyes is almost unbelievable. She later describes what she sees as a torture chamber, a hell hole for animals. She walks past the bear's cage. A highly intelligent animal, it senses her compassion and stretches a paw through the bars of its cage.

Jill Robinson, who was working for the International Fund for Animal Welfare at the time, reaches out instinctively and holds the bear's paw. Their eyes lock, the bear's filled with pain, the woman's with tears. It is a moment that will change both their lives.

The woman vows then and there that she will not rest until the bear and the estimated 7 000 others like it in China, and 4 000 in Vietnam, are freed from their torment, and the barbaric practice of bear farming is ended for ever.

That was in 1993 and Robinson has remained true to her word. In July 2000, the organisation she established, the Animals Asia Foundation (AAF), signed a landmark agreement with the Chinese government to rescue 500 bears in Sichuan province, to work towards the future elimination of bear farming in China and to promote the alternatives to bear bile. This historic agreement was the first between the Chinese government and any outside animal welfare organisation.

Since October 2000, more than 40 bile farms have been shut down and more than 200 bears rescued and placed in the Moon Bear Rescue Centre established and run by the AAF in Cheng-du, Sichuan province.

Farmers have been paid to shut down their operations so that they have money to open other businesses or retire.
No more licences to operate bear farms are being issued but cubs are bred on some farms to face a living hell.

"The sanctuary and the accompanying education village (which employ about 150 mostly Chinese staff) are keystones to our work of change through education," says Robinson. "Our China Bear Rescue is advancing the concept of animal welfare within China on a large scale."

Another rescue centre has been opened this year by the AAF in Vietnam, and the first 80 of 200 rescued bears will soon be moving in.
Earlier this month, the Chinese sanctuary was in the news worldwide when it received 28 rescued bears. All the bears that arrive there are terrified and ill, but those in the latest intake were in the worst state the sanctuary had seen.

Angela Leary, media manager of the AAF, said this week: "Usually, when a new batch of bears arrives, we expect that one or two might not make it but the shocking condition of this batch is unprecedented. "Already 11 have died or have had to be put down, because they have liver cancer and other agonising ailments."

Robinson, who has been awarded an MBE for her ef-forts, says the bears were in "impossibly small cages, all skeletal, wounded in various ways and terrified of what would happen to them next". "When new bears arrive at our rescue centre, it is a harrowing time for all," she says on her website.
"Still in their tiny wire cages, they present the grim reality of bear farming as we see vicious scars from where they have sometimes literally grown into the bars, missing limbs from being trapped in the wild, teeth and claws deliberately cut back to take away their defences, and gaping infected holes in their abdomens.

"They are demented with fear and frighteningly aggressive as they crash their bodies against the sides of the cages and exhibit severe stereotypic behaviour as a result of being 'cage crazy'."

They often have crippling illnesses like arthritis, peritonitis, weeping ulcers and ingrown claws. Some have missing limbs and eyes. All are severely ill, many with liver cancer. They usually have to undergo surgery, which can last up to eight hours, and months of physiotherapy to help them learn to stand and walk. Then they slowly learn to play and swim and drink and eat at will and live the normal life that is every animal's right.

They are the lucky ones.

The level of sustained, extreme cruelty suffered by the bears is not just a concern for people in China. It diminishes people everywhere.

The AAF is becoming known around the world and animal lovers in many countries are trying to do what they can to help. It is funded entirely by people donating large sums or as little as $5 (about R40) to buy a pot of honey.
And in the midst of the terrible cruelty, there is a glimmer of hope that attitudes in China (where many other animals are very harshly treated in zoos and on farms where dogs are bred for food and eaten, as are cats) are changing.

After attending a recent symposium of animal welfare organisations in China, Robinson said: "It showed that there is a groundswell of change in China, with community concern for animals rapidly increasing and authorities becoming more aware of the need for animal welfare."

Perhaps they will one day manage to end the prolonged agony of the Moon Bears.

To learn more about the bears visit http://www.animalsasia.org/ where people can donate to the foundation or download petitions and find out how to lobby Chinese embassies around the world.

People can write (politely, as aggressive letters are counter-productive in China) to
Madam Yang Baijin, secretary general of the China Wildlife Conservation Association,
c/o the AAF head office,
Box 374, General Post Office,
Hong Kong or e-mail info@animalsasia.org

(Bron: http://www.int.iol.co.za/)
(Bron foto's: archief Kraaijer)

Proefdiercentrum Philip Morris in Leuven (België) mag om ethische redenen niet uitbreiden...

Leuven weigert milieuvergunning Philip Morris

om ethische redenen

26-04-2008 De Morgen


Het Leuvense schepencollege heeft het Philip Morris Research Laboratorium een milieuvergunning om uit te breiden geweigerd om ethische redenen. Dat meldt de Anti Dierproeven Coalitie die al sinds oktober vorig jaar maandelijks actie voert voor de poorten van dit bedrijf. De weigering wordt bevestigd door schepen van ruimtelijke ordening Karin Brouwers (CD&V). De beslissing van het schepencollege dateert al van drie weken terug.

"We zijn niet principieel tegen dierproeven op zich. Dit moet kunnen als ze nodig zijn om de wetenschap vooruit te helpen en de mensheid ten goede komen. In dit labo worden echter dieren gebruikt om de gezondheidseffecten van de rook van nieuwe sigaretten te testen, wat duidelijk niet ten bate is van de gezondheid van de mensen. De overheid voert op vele niveau's hoe langer hoe meer een antirookbeleid. Het zou dan ook contradictorisch zijn dit toe te laten", aldus Brouwers.

Volgens de schepen wil het Leuvense schepencollege hiermee in de eerste plaats een duidelijk statement maken. "We zijn een universiteitsstad, maar we willen niet alle research op ons grondgebied kansen geven. Wat ze doen met die dieren is erover. Toen ik hun aanvraag las keerde mijn maag om", aldus Brouwers.

Wellicht gaat het bedrijf in beroep bij Vlaams milieuminister Hilde Crevits. Dan zal blijken of het weigeren van een milieuvergunningsaanvraag om die reden wettelijk wel kan.
Volgens de Anti Dierproeven Coalitie worden in dit Leuvense labo jaarlijks tussen de 4.000 en 6.000 dieren opgeofferd om sigaretten te testen.

Muizen, ratten en andere dieren moeten gedurende een bepaalde tijd sigarettenrook inhaleren, waarna ze worden gedood en de longen en andere ingewanden worden onderzocht op de schadelijke effecten van tabak. De organisatie is "uitermate verheugd" over de Leuvense beslissing en hoopt dat het de eerste stap is tot de sluiting van het labo van de sigarettenfabrikant. (belga/jv)

(Bron: http://demorgen.be/)
(Bron foto: archief Kraaijer)

Philip Morris tobacco company in problems in Belgium

Leuven (Belgium) authorities do not allow

Philip Morris to expand its laboratory

on ethical reasons

26-04-2008 De Morgen, Belgium


Local authorities in the Belgium town of Leuven does not grant a licencse to expand for the Philip Morris Research Laboratory on an ethical basis. This says the Anti Animaltesting Coalition (an animalrights activists organization) which is protesting monthly in front of the gates of the American tobacco company. Local authorities confirm the decision, which has already been taken three weeks ago.

Karin Brouwers, spokeswoman for the local authority of Leuven: ‘We are not fundamentally against animaltesting. That must be possible if it’s needed to help science and mankind. In this lab however animals are being used to test healtheffects of smoke from new cigarettes, which obviously does not benefit the health of people. Our government more and more has an anti smoking policy. It therefore would be contradictory to allow Philip Morris to expand its lab facility in Leuven.’

With the decision made, local Leuven authorities want to express a clear statement. ‘We are an university city, but that does not mean we will allow all sorts of research in our community. What they are doing with animals is over the top. When I read the application of Philip Morris my stomach turned in circles.’, said Karin Brouwers.

Perhaps the company will appeal against the decision.

According to the Anti Animaltesting Coalition between 4.000 and 6.000 animals are being sacrificed every year to test cigarettes in the Philip Morris Research Lab.

Mice, rats and other animals have to inhale certain amounts of cigarettesmoke, after which they are being killed and their lungs and other organs are being searched for harmful effects of tobacco. The organization is ‘very pleased’ with the decision made in Leuven and is hoping that it is the first step on the way to close the Philip Morris laboratory permanently.

More info on the Anti Animaltesting Coalition:
http://www.stopdierproeven.org/

(The original article in Dutch: http://www.demorgen.be/dm/nl/2461/De-Gedachte/article/detail/257220/2008/04/26/Leuven-weigert-milieuvergunning-Philip-Morris-om-ethische-redenen.dhtml)

(Translation: Paul Kraaijer)

Philip Morris proefdiercentrum Leuven (België) mag niet uitbreiden om ethische redenen - Succes voor dierenactivisten

Leuven weigert vergunning Philip Morris

om ethische reden

26-04-2008 Gazet van Antwerpen


Het Leuvense schepencollege heeft om ethische redenen geweigerd het Philip Morris Research Laboratorium een milieuvergunning toe te kennen om uit te breiden. Volgens de schepen van ruimtelijke ordening Karin Brouwers (CD&V) wil het Leuvense schepencollege hiermee in de eerste plaats een duidelijk statement maken. "We zijn een universiteitsstad, maar we willen niet alle research op ons grondgebied kansen geven. Wat het labo doet met de proefdieren, is erover. Toen ik hun aanvraag las, keerde mijn maag om", aldus Brouwers.

Nieuwe sigaretten
"We zijn niet principieel tegen dierproeven op zich", licht Brouwers toe. "Dit moet kunnen als ze nodig zijn om de wetenschap vooruit te helpen en de mensheid ten goede komen. In dit labo worden echter dieren gebruikt om de gezondheidseffecten van de rook van nieuwe sigaretten te testen, wat duidelijk niet ten bate is van de gezondheid van de mensen", stelt Brouwers.

"De overheid voert op vele niveau’s hoe langer hoe meer een antirookbeleid. Het zou dan ook contradictorisch zijn dit toe te laten", aldus Brouwers. Wellicht gaat het bedrijf in beroep bij Vlaams milieuminister Hilde Crevits. Dan zal blijken of het weigeren van een milieuvergunningsaanvraag om ethische redenen wettelijk wel kan.

(Bron: http://www.gva.be/)
(Bron foto: http://www.stopdierproeven.org/)

Drie Engelsen hebben rabiës na gebeten te zijn door klein hondje uit Sri Lanka

Rabies dog attacks three people after it

lands in Britain from Sri Lanka

26-04-2008 Tha Mail On Sunday, UK


Three people are being treated for rabies this morning after they were bitten by a puppy infected with the potentially life-threatening disease. Defra confirmed today that a case of rabies has been confirmed in a puppy in quarantine in Britain. Three humans are understood to have been bitten by the animal and are being treated for exposure to rabies, a Health Protection Agency official said.

Defra insisted the UK remained "free of rabies" because the case had occurred in quarantine.
It said the likelihood of further infections was low, but other animals that may have come into contact with the puppy are now being checked.

The dog, which died on Thursday, was held in quarantine after being brought into the country from Sri Lanka and bit three people at the same quarantine centre where it was being held.

Confirmed: A case of rabies has been detected in British quarantine.

Dr Dilys Morgan, a rabies expert from the Health Protection Agency, said: "This animal died whilst in quarantine which has effectively contained any public health risk. "We understand that three individuals connected to the quarantine centre and rescue centre were bitten by the animal and all have received or will be receiving prompt protective treatment with appropriate vaccination. "Even if someone has been bitten by an animal with rabies, prompt post-exposure treatment following the bite is highly effective in preventing rabies."

Since the initial tests showed up a strain of rabies, a full investigation is now under way.

Acting Chief Veterinary Officer Alick Simmons said: "While initial tests show that this puppy has tested positive for rabies, this shows that the system is working and the case has been picked up while the animal is in quarantine. "This means it is contained and the UK's rabies free status remains in place. "We are now tracing animals that have moved from the kennels to ensure that all animals that have come into contact with the puppy are monitored. "However, any risk of the disease having spread to other animals is highly unlikely."

Officials have not confirmed the location of the incident but Tory MP Iain Duncan Smith said he had been informed it was in his Chingford and Woodford Green constituency in Essex. He received a call earlier this evening from environment minister Lord (Jeff) Rooker. The former Conservative leader said: "Naturally, I am very concerned about the welfare of the staff who have been affected. "I was assured by the minister that the situation is under control."
But he described it as "disturbing and worrying".

(Bron: http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/)
(Bron foto: The Mail On Sunday)

Ambassadeur Nepal in België spreekt met Anti Dierproeven Coalitie over plannen export apen uit Nepal naar proefdiercentra in onder andere de VS

Actie in België!

26-04-2008 Anti Dierproeven Coalitie (een eigen verslag van een geslaagde actiedag!)


Na een geslaagde actiedag in Nederland donderdag, was het gisteren de beurt aan België! Ook hier voerden we een hele dag actie naar aanleiding van Wereldproefdierenweek voor de rechten van de dieren in laboratoria.

We begonnen om 10.30u bij de Ambassade van Nepal, Brugmannlaan 210 te Brussel. Het was de tweede keer dat we er stonden. Net zoals in Nederland donderdag lieten we duidelijk onze afkeer horen over Nepals plannen om apen te gaan exporteren naar dierproeflaboratoria wereldwijd.

De internationale campagne om deze perverse handel te stoppen groeit met de dag! Zowel in Nepal zelf als daarbuiten voeren activisten actie om de Nepalese autoriteiten te dwingen deze plannen stop te zetten. Dat ons protest niet in dovemansoren viel, werd duidelijk toen de ambassadeur ons binnenvroeg voor een onderhoud. Hij beloofde ons na afloop alles te doen wat in zijn macht ligt om deze export van apen te stoppen. ADC zal echter niet stilzitten, wij zullen doorgaan met ons protest bij de Nepalese ambassades tot zij het exporteren van apen voor eens en voor altijd verbieden.

Daarna ging het verder richting Philip Morris, Grauwmeer 14 te Leuven. Wat ons meteen opviel waren de vele beveiligingscamera's die Philip Morris rond zijn gebouw geplaatst had. Die stonden er vorige keer nog niet. Wat hebben jullie te verbergen Philip Morris, dat je je gruwellaboratorium als een echte burcht aan 't beveiligen bent. Beveilig zoveel je wil, wij weten wat er binnen gebeurt. Onschuldige dieren moeten tegen hun wil sigaretten roken... Perverser kan het niet!!! Het gaat met jullie van kwaad naar erger.

Tevergeefs proberen jullie kritische politici aan jullie kant te krijgen, op het matje geroepen worden door de Minister van Volksgezondheid om uitleg te moeten geven over jullie onzinnige testen, en last but not least om ethische redenen geen milieuvergunning kunnen krijgen om jullie laboratorium uit te breiden.

Nu we de bouw van een groot dierproeflaboratorium in Nederland, genaamd Sciencelink, hebben tegengehouden, zullen we ons nog meer focussen op jullie, Philip Morris. De media vertoonde weeral veel interesse, een voorbeeld vind je hier.
We eindigden in stijl bij GlaxoSmithKline, Rue de l’Institut 89 in Rixensart. Elke medewerker die het terrein verliet, werd geconfronteerd met de gruwel waarvoor zij verantwoordelijk zijn. In dit laboratorium zitten zo'n zeventigduizend dieren, waaronder honden en apen, bang hun dood af te wachten. GSK is een fout bedrijf, ook al doen zij er alles aan een positief imago te creëren. Onzin natuurlijk, GSK maakt onnodig dieren kapot, goed wetende dat er ondertussen genoeg alternatieven voor dierproeven voorhanden zijn.

(Bron: http://www.stopdierproeven.org/)
(Bron foto's: Anti Dierproeven Coalitie)

Drie cavia's gedumpt op begraafplaats in Assen...

Knaagdieren op begraafplaats gedumpt

26-04-2008 Assen.nu


ASSEN - Het knaagdieren opvangcentrum in Gasselternijveen heeft drie cavia’s opgenomen, die waren gevonden op begraafplaats De Boskamp in Assen. Het centrum was gewaarschuwd door de dierenhulpdienst uit Assen.

Het gaat om twee beren (mannen) en één hoogzwanger zeugje(vrouwtje). De diertjes hebben allen lang haar en hun vacht is matig verzorgd. Van één van de beren waren de nagels erg lang.

De dierenhulpdienst Assen heeft de dieren opgehaald en gekeken of er nog meer dieren liepen. Het knaagdierencentrum vraagt bezoekers van de Boskamp of ze iets verdachts gezien hebben, en of men op wil letten of er nog meer dieren lopen. Er is foto materiaal van de cavia’s welke opvraagbaar zijn. Zij kunnen zich voorstellen dat er wellicht nog meer dieren zijn gedumpt.

Het knaagdierencentrum vermoedt dat het dumpen van de beestje te maken heeft met de meivakantie, die vrijdag is begonnen. De vakantie is een periode die door medewerkers van het knaagdierencentrum altijd met gemengde gevoelens tegemoet wordt gezien. Vakanties zijn al lang en breed geboekt, maar opvang voor de huisdieren wordt vaak vergeten en dan op de dag van vertrek moet er nog een oplossing worden gezocht.

Tips en meldingen zijn welkom op telefoonnummer 0612617950 Dat mag uiteraard ook anoniem.

(Bron: http://www.assen.nu/)

Bij San Diego (VS) 66-jarige man gedood door haai - Strand aantal dagen afgesloten voor publiek

Fatal Shark Attack Prompts Beach Closures

26-04-2008 NBC Sandiego, USA


SOLANA BEACH, Calif. -- Lifeguards and city officials have issued a 72-hour water-safety advisory for beaches from Torrey Pines to South Carlsbad State Beach following a fatal shark attack that killed a 66-year-old man.

Watch Video NEW IMAGES (WARNING -- Disturbing Images)

Dr. Dave Martin, a 66-year-old retired veterinarian, died in the attack Friday morning in Solana Beach, according to officials. Family friend Rob Hill said Martin had been a resident of Solana Beach since 1970. He was a member of a local triathlon club called SD Tri Club.

The attack happened around 7 a.m. near Fletcher Cove in an area known as Table Tops, lifeguards said. "The shark is still in the area. We're sure of that," Solana Beach Mayor Joe Kellejian said.
As a result of the attack, city officials announced a precautionary beach closure of 8 miles. The closure affects an area from Torrey Pines State Beach to South Carlsbad State Beach. Lifeguards said they would patrol the area throughout the weekend. The beaches are expected to reopen on Monday morning.

The public is advised to follow all signage and verbal instructions from both lifeguard and sheriff’s deputies. Lifeguards will be reminding people via loudspeaker not to enter the ocean and will be on patrol and warning signs will be posted, however no citations will be issues, officials said.
Experts said people who are concerned about their safety should avoid waters where seals and seal lions congregate. They also said stay out of the water from dusk to dawn.

The Attack
Because of the form of the attack and Martin's wounds, the shark was almost certainly a great white, according to Professor Richard Rosenblatt, a shark expert at Scripps Institute of Oceanography in La Jolla. He estimated the fish to be 12 to 17 feet long.
Witnesses said that Martin was lifted from the water by the shark. Great white sharks normally feed on seals, attacking from below with a powerful bite, Rosenblatt said. The great white ranges from north of San Francisco to the Gulf of California, so it is not unusual for them to be in the San Diego area, he said.

A group of nine swimmers entered the water near Fletcher Cove at about 7 a.m. for a morning ocean swim, according to Lt. Mike Cea of the San Diego County Sheriff's Department. They swam northward, and while they were swimming, Martin was bitten, Cea said.
Other swimmers looked back and saw Martin flailing before he was pulled under the water, Cea said. Witnesses said Martin was screaming when he resurfaced.
"It looks like the shark came up, bit him, and swam away," Solana Beach Deputy Fire Chief Dismas Abelman said.
The attack took place about 150 yards offshore. Several swimmers wearing wetsuits were in a group when the shark attacked, Solana Beach lifeguard Craig Miller said.

Martin's injuries crossed both thighs, San Diego County sheriff's Sgt. Randy Webb said in a prepared statement. Several other swimmers came to Martin's aid and pulled him to shore.
Witnesses, Friends Describe Attack
Dozens of swimmers and surfers were in the area where the attack happened and several people watched as the victim was pulled to shore. Those eyewitnesses said the swimmers who pulled the victim in were in various states of shock. And as it turns out, many of the people watching from the shore actually knew Martin.

Hill, a member of the Triathlon Club of San Diego, said he was running on the beach while about nine other members were in the water when the attack took place.
"They saw him come up out of the water, scream, 'Shark,' flail his arms and go back under," Hill said. "The flesh was just hanging," and the man may have bled to death before he left the water, Hill said.
Hill said he saw a seal lion on the beach Friday, which was unusual for the area, and speculated that perhaps the shark had been hunting them and got close to shore. The shark may have confused the wet-suited swimmers with his prey, he said.
"All of a sudden this girl comes running up the beach in her wet suit, fairly hysterical saying, 'He's bleeding to death, he's bleeding to death,'" said surfer Ira Opper.
He was checking out the waves early Friday morning, but nothing could have prepared him for what he witnessed.
"The victim was fairly ghost white at the time and they were just doing the best they can to resuscitate him," Opper said. "One wound, the right leg, was completely taped, but the blood -- you could see the blood coming through the gauze. On the left leg, the wet suit was completely shredded, and there was some bleeding."
It wasn't until later he found out he knew the man pulled from the ocean.

"I've known Dr. Martin for years. He's saved our dogs' lives and administered first aid himself to injured animals --just a wonderful person and a great neighbor, and it's a horrible loss," Opper said.
Another friend and former co-worker came upon the scene, without knowing Martin was the victim of the attack.
"I went down to the beach to go surfing and they had said the beach was closed and a man had possibly been attacked by a shark. And when I went into the office I found out it was David. It was a big shock," said Michael H. Mulvany, DVM.
He said he and Martin practiced together for 11 years at All Creatures Hospital in Del Mar.
"He was a nice guy. He always had a smile on his face. He never seemed to get down. I think that part I'll miss," Mulvany said.
Surfer Rob Blase from Ramona said that despite seeing the attack, he still planned on going into the ocean.
"It's not going to keep me from getting in the water. Your chances of getting struck by lightning or hit by a car are a whole lot better than getting eaten by a shark, Blase said.

Other Incidents
Earlier this year, stories of shark sightings swept the coast from San Diego County north through Orange and Los Angeles counties, the Los Angeles Times reported in late March. One surfer claimed a bite mark on his surfboard was made by a great white at Bolsa Chica State Beach, but lifeguards at nearby Huntington Beach said there was no evidence of great whites in the vicinity at that time. Other shore authorities also hadn't recorded any unusual sightings.

The last fatal shark attack in California, according to data from the state Department of Fish and Game, took place on Aug. 15, 2004, in Mendocino County at Kibesillah Rock. The victim was a man diving for abalone with a friend.

On Aug. 19, 2003, a woman swimmer was killed by a great white at Avila Beach in San Luis Obispo County on the central California coast.

The last fatal shark attack along San Diego County was off Ocean Beach in April 1994.
Overall, shark attacks are extremely rare. There were 71 reported worldwide last year, up from 63 in 2006. Only one attack, in the South Pacific, was fatal, according to the University of Florida.

Previous Stories:
April 25, 2008: Friends, Witnesses Describe Deadly Shark Attack
April 25, 2008: Shark Kills Swimmer Off Solana Beach
Related Stories:
December 23, 2005: Swimmer Describes Shark Biting Part Of Hand Off
December 22, 2005: Shark Attacks San Diego Man
November 3, 2005: Shark Attacks Surfer
October 21, 2005: Woman Relives Horror Of Shark Attack
August 19, 2003: Swimmer Dies After Apparent Shark Attack
June 13, 2003: Children's Pool Seal Attacked By Shark
December 5, 2002: Beach Residents Worry Seals Are Attracting Sharks
November 19, 2002: San Diego Woman Talks About Shark Attack
September 5, 2001: Shark Attacks Very Rare In San Diego

(Bron: http://www.nbcsandiego.com/)
(Bron Google Earth: archief Kraaijer)

Shark Attack Off Coast of Solana Beach Kills Man

This morning - 25 April 2008 - there was a fatal shark attack in Solana Beach in North County San Diego between the surf breaks Tabletops and Pillbox near Fletcher Cove. The attack happened around 7 AM, and lifeguards received the 911 call at 7:20 AM.

According to preliminary reports the victim was an athletic sixty-six-year-old male swimmer. At the time of the attack he was with a group of about 10 other swimmers training for a triathlon between 100 and 150 yards out to sea. In an attempt to save the victim, one of the group's members swam him in to the beach where he died.

According to Scott Bass, who was on a long distance paddle nearby at the time of the attack, "It was a nice morning, the weather was warm, and there was just a little bit of a red tide type of feel to the water. The waves were fun, but things felt a little off."

"Then, while I was on my way back home during the paddle, helicopters came crawling out of nowhere screaming over the ocean, 'There has been a fatal shark attack in the area! Exit the ocean! There has been a fatal shark attack in the area. Exit the ocean!'"

While details of the attack have yet to be verified, most believe the shark to have been a Great White. According to sources, the victim lost a leg and has a twenty two inch bite mark on his body. As a preventative measure, beaches have been cleared.

"It's pretty spooky," says Bass. "The entire coast of San Diego from Del Mar to Encinitas is empty right now. It's surreal."

Hoe lang kunnen jagers uit VS nog ijsberen doden in Inuit-gebied (Canada)....

U.S. hunters targeting polar bears while they can

26-05-2008 KATHERINE O'NEILL From Saturday's Globe and Mail, Canada


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.


American sporthunters, Mark Beeler, 49, and Allyn Ladd, 33, pose with a freshly killed polar bear taken by a local Inuk hunter. (Patrick Kane for The Globe and Mail).

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.

Since Ted Stallings was 18, the now 50-year-old businessman from Clovis, N.M., has been aiming to top that latter list by harvesting 31 hard-to-get-animals from across North America with two extras of his own: the now-impossible to hunt walrus and jaguar.

Earlier this month, the married father of two flew to Grise Fiord, an Inuit hamlet of about 150 people and the most northerly community in Canada, with his .416 Kleingunther rifle – “I like big guns,” he acknowledged – to help complete his collection.
It was his second attempt at harvesting a bear, and he estimates both hunts will likely cost a whopping $100,000 (U.S). “The polar bear has been the one that's been a real challenge,” said Mr. Stallings, who owns a helicopter and aviation services company.

Now that Mr. Stallings has finally got his bear, he's worried that it may never be displayed in his game room. It takes more than nine months to import a polar bear trophy into the U.S., and a decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the animal may derail or throw out his permit application.

He said “the antis” – a nickname hunters have for anti-hunters – are pressuring the American government into making a call that will have far-reaching and negative implications for several job-starved Arctic communities. “I bet you most of the people who want to shut this down have never even been to the Arctic,” he said.

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
120: Number of bears killed in Nunavut by sports hunters in 2006-07
330: Number killed by subsistence hunters in 2006-07

Sources: Nunavut government, Northwest Territories government, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Canadian government

(Bron: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/)
(Bron foto gedode ijsbeer: The Globe and Mail / Bron overige foto's: archief Kraaijer)

Pamela Anderson op de bres voor PETA in VS - Anderson overhandigt rapport aan politici over vervangen dierproeven

Anderson Delivers PETA Report To Washington

25-04-2008 Blend Celebrity, USA


Pamela Anderson will make her first trip to Washington, D.C. as an American citizen on Friday when she hand delivers a report to politicians blasting the U.S. Government for failing to update animal testing procedures.

The actress/model was a Canadian when she was last in the U.S. capital and she's determined to make a stir on Capitol Hill when she joins People for The Ethical Treatment of Animals activists to berate officials for not replacing outdated animal tests. Anderson will make a personal appeal to her 'new government' to replace a profusion of outdated animal tests with modern technology that is already widely used in Europe.

The report she'll deliver to politicians on Friday afternoon is the same PETA science report that inspired a recent front-page Washington Post article, which condemned the failure of the Department of Health and Human Services for not using "sophisticated, non-animal test methods in place of animal tests".

Anderson says, "Being a citizen excites me not just because I can vote, but because I can crack the whip on Capitol Hill to defend animals."
Anderson will continue her lobbying efforts at Saturday's (26Apr08) White House Correspondent's Dinner, which she is attending with pal and PETA Vice President Dan Mathews.

(Bron: http://www.cinemablend.com)
(Bron foto's: http://www.celebrity-gossip.net/)

De opvallende narwal loopt meer risico door opwarming polen dan de ijsbeer

Narwhals more at risk to Arctic warming than

polar bears

25-04-2008 By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer, San Luis Obispo


WASHINGTON --The polar bear has become an icon of global warming vulnerability, but a new study found an Arctic mammal that may be even more at risk to climate change: the narwhal.
The narwhal, a whale with a long spiral tusk that inspired the myth of the unicorn, edged out the polar bear for the ranking of most potentially vulnerable in a climate change risk analysis of Arctic marine mammals.

The study was published this week in the peer-reviewed journal Ecological Applications. Polar bears are considered marine mammals because they are dependent on the water and are included as a species in the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act.

Scientists from three countries quantified the vulnerabilities that 11 year-round Arctic sea mammals have as the world warms. After the narwhal - which is also known as the "corpse whale" - and polar bear, the most at risk were the hooded seal, bowhead whale and walrus. The ringed seal and bearded seal were least at risk.

"What we wanted to do was look at the whole picture because there's been a lot of attention on polar bears," said study co-author Ian Stirling, a polar bear and seal specialist for the Canadian government. "We're talking about a whole ecosystem. We're talking about several different species that use ice extensively and are very vulnerable."

The study looked at nine different variables that help determine ability to withstand future climate changes. Those factors included population size, habitat uniqueness, diet diversity and ability to cope with sea ice changes. This doesn't mean the narwhal - with a current population of 50,000 to 80,000 - will die off first; polar bear counts are closer to 20,000 and they are directly harmed by melting ice, scientists said.

But it does mean the potential for harm is slightly greater for the less-studied narwhal, said study lead author Kristin Laidre, a research scientist at the University of Washington.
Stanford University biologist Terry Root, who wasn't part of the study, said the analysis reinforces her concern that the narwhal "is going to be one of the first to go extinct" from global warming despite their population size. "There could a bazillion of them, but if the habitat or the things that they need are not going to be around, they're not going to make it," Root said.

Polar bears can adapt a bit to the changing Arctic climate, narwhals can't, she said.
While polar bears are "good-looking fluffy white creatures," Laidre said narwhals, which are medium-sized whales, are "not that cute."

The narwhal, which dives about 6,000 feet to feed on Greenland halibut, is the ultimate specialist, evolved specifically to live in small cracks in parts of the Arctic where it's 99 percent heavy ice, Laidre said. As the ice melts, not only is the narwhal habitat changed, predators such as killer whales will likely intrude more often.

"Since it's so restricted to the migration routes it takes, it's restricted to what it eats, it makes it more vulnerable to the loss of those things," Laidre said in a telephone interview from Greenland, where she is studying narwhals by airplane.

The paper is the talk of Arctic scientists said Bob Corell, the head of an international team of scientists who wrote a massive assessment of risk in the Arctic in 2004 but wasn't part of this study. He called it "surprising because the polar bear gets a lot of attention."

Inuit natives of Greenland were telling scientists last year that it seemed that the narwhal population was in trouble, Corell said.

(Bron: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/)
(Bron foto's: archief Kraaijer)

(Voor meer informatie over de narwal:
http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/%E2%80%8Cexplorations/06arctic/background/biology/media/pod.html)

Spaanse chimpansee uit afvalverwerkingsbedrijf nu in veilige opvang bij Stichting AAP in Almere

Chimpansee gered van afvalverwerkingsbedrijf

25-04-2008 Blik Op Nieuws


Almere - Vrijdag 25 april is na een transport van een vol etmaal de chimpansee Budy veilig bij Stichting AAP in Almere aangekomen. De chimpansee werd samen met zijn soortgenoot Dana al enige jaren geleden ontdekt in een soort 'mini-zoo' op een afvalverwerkingsbedrijf in het zuiden van Spanje. De dieren behoorden tot een privé-collectie van de eigenaar van dit bedrijf.

Er werden door verschillende Europese organisaties reddingsacties opgelijnd maar tot nog toe slaagde geen van de partijen er in om de dieren uit het kale, betonnen verblijf weg te halen. Voor Dana kwam de hulp te laat. Zij heeft de strenge winter met temperaturen van -15 graden Celsius zonder verwarming niet overleeft. De chimpansee is doodgevroren.

Ter plaatse kwam David van Gennep, directeur van AAP, tot zijn schrik wel een andere chimpansee tegen. "Chimpansee Paco zat in een soort hondenhok tegenover het dier dat we kwamen ophalen. In eerste instantie besloten we niet te vertrekken voordat we ook Paco konden inladen. We hebben al het mogelijke gedaan om deze uiterst vriendelijke chimpansee niet alleen achter te laten. Helaas is Paco eigendom van een circusdirecteur. Deze man heeft een vergunning en gaf geen toestemming om Paco met zijn maatje Budy te laten vertrekken" aldus Van Gennep.

Ook trof Stichting AAP tijgers, beren en nijlpaarden aan. Naar waarschijnlijkheid zijn dit veelal afgedankte circusdieren waarvoor een vergunning aanwezig is. Als de dieren niet vrijwillig afstaan worden door de eigenaar, is er niets voor de dieren te doen.

Gisteravond arriveerde Budy bij het Chimpanseecomplex van AAP, alwaar Budy zijn eerste medische onderzoeken onderging. Na drie maanden quarantaineverblijf zal Stichting AAP de chimpansee introduceren bij de chimpansees die reeds in het complex aanwezig zijn. AAP hoopt op een later tijdstip alsnog terug te gaan om de achtergebleven chimpansee op te halen.

(Bron: http://www.blikopnieuws.nl/)
(Bron foto: Blik Op Nieuws)

Balding Penguin Gets a Wetsuit

A 25-year-old African Penguin at San Francisco's California Academy of Sciences was losing its feathers making him too cold to swim. So, as AP Correspondent Haven Daley explains, biologists took a page from local surfers to keep him warm. (April 24 2008)

Protest tegen dierproeven bij een van universiteiten Zuid-Afrika

Protest over lab tests on animals

25-04-2008 By Kanina Foss, Independent Online, South Africa


Every second, about five animals die in laboratories around the world. They are dissected, infected, scalded, drowned, electrocuted, poisoned, de-limbed and brain-damaged, often without the benefit of anaesthesia or painkillers. Thursday was World Dayfor Laboratory Animals.

In Joburg, animal rights activists gathered to protest outside Wits, one of the universities in South Africa that conducts animal tests.

Scientists argue that the benefit to humans justifies the suffering inflicted on animals
"We believe that animals shouldn't be exploited the way they are," said Animal Rights Africa trustee Alan Rolstone.

Animals are used to test cosmetics, medical drugs, tobacco, and commercial products such as household cleaners.
Beauty Without Cruelty spokesperson Anne van Vliet said she had spoken to a vet who had been in attendance during a test on cats for painkillers. The scientists took two cats, one of which had been administered the painkiller, burnt their paws on a hot plate and compared their reactions.

Scientists argue that the benefit to humans justifies the suffering inflicted on animals.
But activists say animal testing is a fraudulent practice because it's unreliable, as animals are too different from humans.

"It has been proved time and time again that results from animal-based research are not reliable," said Van Vliet. "You cannot extrapolate animal research results onto human beings."
Van Vliet added that the conditions in research laboratories, where animals live in terror, contributed to false results.

(Bron: http://www.int.iol.co.za/)
(Voor meer informatie over Beauty Without Cruelty: http://www.bwcsa.co.za/)

Einde aan jacht op (verwilderde) katten in België

Jacht op katten wordt definitief verboden

25-04-2008 De Morgen, België


De jacht op katten wordt definitief verboden. Tot en met het jachtseizoen 2009-2010 mogen jagers verwilderde katten nog doden als deze ecologische schade aanrichten aan de fauna. Dat staat in het aangepaste jachtopenings- en jachtvoorwaardenbesluit van minister van Leefmilieu Hilde Crevits (CD&V) dat de Vlaamse regering vandaag goedkeurde.

De Vlaamse regering keurde de besluiten rond de jacht enkele weken geleden al eens goed. Maar na een reeks adviezen worden de besluiten nu bijgewerkt.

Schade aan vogelbestand
De belangrijkste aanpassing is dat de bestrijding van de verwilderde katten aan banden wordt gelegd. In Vlaanderen zijn er heel veel huiskatten, en een deel daarvan belandt uiteindelijk in de vrije natuur. Deze verwilderde katten kunnen heel wat schade veroorzaken aan het vogelbestand.

Wegvangen
Tot nog toe mochten de jagers deze katten daarom doden. De jacht op katten is nu definitief verboden en de bestrijding van katten worden aan veel strengere voorwaarden onderworpen. Er moet aangetoond worden dat de katten ecologische schade aanrichten aan fauna. Bij voorkeur moeten de katten weggevangen worden. Slechts als allerlaatste middel mag er op geschoten worden. Dit laatste is een uitdovende regeling, die met name loopt tot en met het jachtseizoen 2009-2010.

Om de kattenpopulatie in toom te houden, wil minister Crevits de houders van katten ook aanmoedigen om hun dieren te laten steriliseren. (belga/eb)

(Bron: http://demorgen.be/)

Zwitserland enige Europese land waar kattenbont legaal is....

The only place to skin a cat

Swiss protesters are battling to ban Europe's last remaining feline-skinning business.

25-04-2008 By Tony Paterson, The Independent, Ireland


From the outside, Ark Farm does not look like a cat lover's nightmare. It is a collection of rustic wooden barns and a farmhouse situated in an idyllic valley in the foothills of the Swiss Alps. Its owners have created an Aladdin's cave for country craft enthusiasts: full of spinning wheels, wooden looms, scented candles, Tibetan lambs' wool scarves, llama wool blankets and even sheepskin steering wheel covers.

When it comes to cats, Ark Farm boasts an array of cuddly toy moggies and high-quality colour postcards of kittens and their mothers in poses designed to melt any cat lover's heart.

The only thing that upsets the atmosphere of feline harmony is the pile of cat pelts lying on a table in the middle of the store. Last week they were on sale along with sheepskins, whole calf skins, and fox pelts, for 5 Swiss Francs (£2.50) each.

Switzerland is the last country in western Europe in which it is still legal for cats to be hunted for their fur which is used to make coats, jackets and bed blankets, reputed to be highly effective in combating rheumatism.
The practice has horrified the Alpine state's vociferous pro-cat lobby, SOS Chats which is fighting to have cat hunting and the trade in cat fur banned in Switzerland. Brigitte Bardot and Michael Schumacher are among the 131,000 people who have signed a petition in support of a ban.

Inside Ark Farm's crafts shoph, a salesman insisted the cat skins had been brought in by an old woman "who did not know what to do with them". Picking out a grey striped, professionally tanned and perfumed pelt from a pile, he stressed: "These skins come from cats that were run over."

A similarly cagey response to inquiries about cat fur was to be had at the local tanner's shop some two miles away in the country town of Huttwil. The store was festooned with pelts - from rabbits, horses, cattle and foxes - hanging on clothes racks. Asked whether the store also did a line in cat fur, the owner blushed, took one step back and insisted: "No nothing like that here. We don't do cats. Sorry can't help."

Yet perhaps the guarded reaction was to be expected. Late last year, an elderly woman at the same tanners shop was interviewed by French television and not only admitted that cats were skinned for their pelts but added it was also quite normal to eat what was left over. The traditional recipe on farms in the region, she said, involved cooking the cat with sprigs of thyme.

Reports like those have helped to create a public furore in Switzerland. The country's tanners and furriers are still smarting from a barrage of unwelcome publicity. Last year, television crews conducted a series of investigations using hidden cameras that exposed the cat fur trade. Tanners who denied involvement were caught in the act.

Switzerland banned all cat fur imports in 2006 because of concern about the allegedly cruel methods that were used by the exporting countries to slaughter the animals. But, at the end of this year, a ban on the production of cat fur will come into force throughout the European Union while Switzerland, as a non EU member, will remain unaffected.

The prospect alarms SOS Chats which runs a shelter for some 200 stray cats near Neuchatel. Tomi Tomek, its founder said that if the Alpine state remained exempt from the ban, she feared it would rapidly turn into a centre for a cat fur trade. "Switzerland would inevitably become Europe's leading supplier of cat fur, using its own dead cats," she warned.

However the extent of Switzerland's cat fur trade is disputed. The Swiss Federal Veterinary Office argues it is insignificant. It has asked the country's tanners about production levels and concludes that the output is minimal. "It is hardly an interesting market," said Marcel Falk, its spokesman. "As far as we are aware, only a couple of dozen cat furs are produced annually in Switzerland," he said.

But campaigners such as Ms Tomek, a strict vegetarian who will not wear leather shoes, are more than convinced that the country is doing a roaring trade in cat fur and that tens of thousands of cats are being killed annually for their pelts.

"For a long time, nobody believed us because we had no proof," she said, "But then we started calling the tanners and pretending we were interested in purchasing cat fur. We would say things like: 'My ailing mother desperately wants a cat skin blanket to help cure her rheumatism' and they would make us offers," she added. "We are not seen as liars anymore," she said.

She and her fellow activists say a cat blanket made up of six pelts would cost about ¤360 (£280). She has a wad of receipts attesting to the number of cat fur blankets, jackets, bags and other garments bought by her supporters. One tanner even supplied her with detailed instructions about how to go about skinning a cat. "They like feral cats most, and they should be about six years old, so that the pelt is of good quality and thick," she said.

SOS Chats says that, because under Swiss law it is legal to kill any cat when the animal is 200 yards or more away from its home, the trade flourishes. "In the autumn, cat hunters and the people who work for them go out and shoot the feral cats and all the other domestic cats that have strayed away from their homes," Ms Tomek said.

Her assertions have been given added credence by Swiss cat owners such as Isabelle Nydegger from Lucerne, who has seen three cats - Zeus, Zorra and Merlin - vanish in the past six months. Before the disappearances, Mrs Nydegger used to dismiss people like Tomi Tomek as extremists and, when her first two cats disappeared, she assumed they must have been run over or attacked and killed by dogs.

But when Merlin, her prized four-year-old white Siberian, went missing, she began to think otherwise "He was so well behaved that you could go for a walk with him and our dogs without using a leash. It is completely impossible that he would have wandered off."

Now she is convinced her favoured felines were either shot or netted by professional cat hunters who prefer strangulation as a means of killing the animal because it inflicts minimum damage to the pelt.

The steady flow of negative publicity about Switzerland's allegedly booming cat fur trade has started to concern politicians. Christophe Darbellay, the president of Switzerland's conservative Christian Democrats said recently he was alarmed by what he saw as growing international outrage over a cat fur trade still practised in a country that was renowned for its high standards of animal welfare.

His remarks have been echoed by Luc Barthassat, another Christian Democrat MP, who was confident that the Swiss parliament would pass laws banning the cat fur trade by the middle of this summer. "It is very personal for many people because cats are more than animals to them," he said.

- Tony Paterson

(Bron: http://www.independent.ie/)
(Bron foto: archief Kraaijer)

(Voor meer informatie over SOS Chats: http://www.sos-chats.ch/welcome/welcome.asp)

De vrouwelijke Amazone Molly vis overleeft al 70.000 jaar zonder mannetjes

Female fish get along swimmingly without males

25-04-2008 By NICOLE CARTER, DAILY NEWS FEATURES WRITER, USA


The female species has taken over! At least for some fish, that is. The Amazon Molly fish, which is made up entirely of females, has reportedly survived 70,000 years without reproducing sexually, using genetic tricks to avoid extinction, according to scientists at the University of Edinburgh.

And by tricks, we mean "interacting" with other male species to start up their reproductive engines. And once the offspring arrive, they are essentially clones of their mother, receiving no genes from a male.
Asexual reproduction usually produces bad genes over generations, but not for these little ladies. Scientists confirm that the species should have been extinct within the last 70,000 years, but has managed to keep producing generations of healthy offspring.

But some experts aren't convinced that there isn't at least some hanky panky going on.
"Maybe there is still occasional sex with strangers that keeps the species alive. Future research may give us some answers," said Dr Laurence Loewe, of the university's School of Biological Sciences.

(Bron: http://www.nydailynews.com/)
(Bron foto: http://www.utexas.edu/tmm/tnhc/fish/na/poecilii/poecilia/pformosa/i_pformo.shtml)

Inwoners Baghdad komen tot rust in de dierentuin - Dagelijks meer dan 8000 bezoekers - Meeste dieren uit Turkse en andere dierentuinen in Irak

With violence down, Iraqis flock to revitalized

Baghdad Zoo

25-04-2008 By ANNA JOHNSON Associated Press Writer, Oroville Mercury Register, USA


BAGHDAD—Families stroll the park's sidewalks and picnic in the shade as laughing children clamor to see the main attraction—lions once owned by Saddam Hussein's son, Odai. Damaged after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, the Baghdad Zoo has made a startling comeback, and thousands of Iraqis are flocking here to escape the city's grungy streets.

The zoo, located in the sprawling Zawra Park in the heart of Baghdad just outside the U.S.-controlled Green Zone, has been held up as an example of American reconstruction efforts. The military brought in new animals, rebuilt damaged exhibits and worked with international zoos and organizations to train the Iraqi zookeepers.

Still, the effects of war are all too plain. Because transporting refrigerated meat is too difficult, donkeys are raised in a fenced-off area. They are euthanized and fed to the lions. And although the zoo is far more serene than other parts of the capital, U.S. military helicopters frequently buzz overhead.

Mandor, a Siberian tiger belonging to Saddam Hussein's son Odai, walks in his pen Thursday at Baghdad's zoo. A looting spree in the city left nothing untouched, including its zoo, where over 300 animals are missing -- including monkeys, birds, horses, bears and camels. Only the lions and tigers remain, starving and neglected in their enclosures (april 2003).

The zoo's revival coincides with a reduction in violence across the capital. As a result, Iraqis are increasingly going outside for their leisure time. And in recent months an average of 8,000 to 10,000 Iraqis visit the zoo each week, paying about 20 cents each for admission, said Adel Salman Mousa, who has been the zoo's director for the past 18 years.

On a recent sunny spring afternoon, Iraqi families packed the zoo. Young couples sat side-by-side on park benches, teenagers rowed small boats in the zoo's pond and families took pictures with their cell phone cameras of the bears and other animals behind green cage bars.
Ahmed Noori, a Baghdad dentist who came here with his wife and 1-year-old daughter, said the zoo is a getaway for Iraqis who live under the constant threat of bombings and shootings.
"The Iraqi people are tired and need more places to relax like the zoo," he said. "This is one of the only well-protected areas that is safe."

That was not the case five years ago. After the 2003 invasion, the zoo was in tatters.
Iraqi fighters had booted the zookeepers from the park and set up defensive positions among the cages. Chaos ensued.

Looters stole or turned loose nearly every animal. Some animals lay dead in their cages, others roamed freely. Three Iraqis were found dead, apparently mauled by a bear. When U.S. soldiers arrived, they were forced to shoot a few lions.

Three months after the Americans captured Baghdad, the damaged zoo officially reopened. But violence soon raged in the capital and elsewhere in Iraq, making it too dangerous for many Iraqis to visit and for organizations to repair it.

Though there was some effort in the first years of the war to fix up the zoo, the U.S. military began to give the zoo a makeover in January 2007. They brought in new animals, mostly from Turkey or other Iraqi zoos that were shut down or could not afford to keep animals any longer.

Over the past year and three months, the U.S. Army has spent more than $2.15 million on the zoo, supplying it with generators because it receives only two hours of electricity a day, building new bathrooms for visitors, cleaning up trash, repairing cages and providing medicine to its animal clinic.
The U.S. backing was a crucial supplement to the zoo's annual allotment from the city of Baghdad of about $400,000, said Mousa, the zoo's director.

"Zawra Park and the zoo are the only escape for people in Baghdad, and the improvement in security and the work of Coalition Forces has made it a haven for people," Mousa said.
Iraqi government guards provide security at the zoo and the park, both of which are overseen by the 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). No weapons or vehicles are allowed in the park, and people are searched before entering.

Though the Baghdad Zoo isn't exactly San Diego, it does feature a wide range of animals: the lions, including two cubs and a few adults that once belonged to Odai, three bears, porcupines, several pelicans and ostriches, a couple of camels, peacocks, a cheetah and monkeys.

Over at the fish house there's a tank with small, yellow fish. Each fish also sports a red and black stripe sandwiching a white stripe with green stars and Arabic script—the Iraqi flag. The fish are from Thailand, where they are colored with laser technology and sold for $45 a pair.

The Army's plans for further upgrading the zoo over the next year include improving the horse stables and the lion habitat, according to Capt. Jason Felix. This summer, he said, three veterinarians at the zoo will go to England for training.

(Bron: http://www.orovillemr.com/)
(Bron foto's: archief Kraaijer)

Geen wilde dieren meer in circussen die Alphen aan den Rijn bezoeken

Alphense wethouder krijgt oorkonde voor

circusbeleid

25-04-2008 RTV West


ALPHEN AAN DEN RIJN - Wethouder Blom van Alphen aan den Rijn ontvangt vrijdag een oorkonde, omdat de gemeente heeft besloten om circussen met wilde dieren uit de gemeente te weren.

Blom krijgt de oorkonde van de Partij voor de Dieren in de Provinciale Staten van Zuid-Holland. De gemeente staat sinds begin dit jaar geen circussen en evenementen meer toe waarbij dieren optreden die onder dwang kunstjes hebben geleerd.

De Partij voor de Dieren heeft 77 gemeenten aangeschreven, met het verzoek om circussen met wilde dieren voortaan te weren. Vrijdagmiddag maakt de partij bekend hoe er door de verschillende gemeenten op is gereageerd.

(Bron: http://leiden.westonline.nl/)

Meerderheid Tweede Kamer wil verbod op fokken nertsen voor bontproductie

'Kamer voor verbod op nertsenfokkerijen'

24-04-2008 Trouw


(Novum) - Een meerderheid in de Tweede Kamer wil een verbod op het fokken van nertsen voor de productie van bont. Het houden van nertsen dient 'geen enkel redelijk doel', zegt PvdA-Kamerlid Harm Evert Waalkens donderdag in actualiteitenrubriek Netwerk. De Kamer is er nog niet uit of de fokkers moeten worden gecompenseerd.

"Als het houden van dieren niet voor de primaire levensbehoefte van mensen is, moet je je afvragen of je deze dieren mag houden", vraagt Waalkens zich af tijdens de uitzending. SP, D66, GroenLinks en de PVV sluiten zich bij de kritiek van de PvdA aan.

De nertsenfokkers zijn boos over het voorgenomen verbod. De Nederlandse Federatie voor Pelsdierhouders noemt het plan een poging om goedkoop politiek te scoren, zegt voorzitter Wim Verhagen. Volgens hem is een verbod niet beter voor de dieren omdat de productie zich naar China zal verplaatsen. "En daar hebben de fokkers geen oog voor dierenwelzijn", zegt Verhagen in Netwerk.

Milieuorganisatie Bont voor Dieren is blij met de aankondiging. Directrice Claudia Linssen hoopt dat er van het verbod een olievlekwerking zal uitgaan. In Engeland en Oostenrijk is het fokken van nertsen al verboden.

(Bron: http://www.trouw.nl/)

Gibraltar's Apes

Zo'n 25 apen op Gibraltar zullen worden afgemaakt, omdat ze bewoners en toeristen tot last zijn. De regering van de Britse enclave wil dat het aantal berberapen daarom wordt teruggebracht tot ongeveer 200.

Het plan stuit op veel weerstand. De apen zijn in de 18de eeuw naar Gibraltar gekomen en zijn onderwerp van een legende: Gibraltar zal Brits blijven zolang de apen er wonen.

Canadese zeehondenjager roept EU op geen verbod zeehondproducten in te stellen

Canadian sealer makes emotional video appeal

to EU not to ban seal products

24-04-2008 Brandon Sun, Manitoba, Canada


HALIFAX - A Canadian sealer is appealing to European legislators not to impose a ban on seal products. In an emotional video being played on YouTube, Wayne Dickson says the disputed industry is crucial to his livelihood and it's his right to carry on the historic hunt.

Dickson, a sealer based in the Iles-de-la-Madeleine, Que., says opponents of the annual hunt are distributing false information about how the animals are killed. He says if the European Union moves ahead with a boycott, it will have a devastating effect on fishing communities that rely heavily on profits from the seal pelts.

His comments come as animal rights groups plan a day of protest throughout Europe on Friday to press for a continent-wide ban on the products. One of the organizers in Brussels says news conferences will be held in various cities and will feature video of seals being slaughtered on the ice.

(Bron: http://www.brandonsun.com/)

Boegbeeld Anti Dierproeven Coalitie in geen enkel opzicht terrorist in dierenrechten acties

Robert Molenaar

Dierenactivist nr.1

24-04-2008 Door: Marcel van Engelen, De Pers


Ze torpedeerden met succes het plan voor dierenlaboratoria in Venray en staan vandaag bij het volgende doelwit: het apencentrum in Rijswijk. De radicale activisten van de Anti Dierproeven Coalitie staan onder aanvoering van Robert Molenaar.

Wie Robert Molenaar voor het eerst ontmoet, denkt onwillekeurig: wat een lieverd. Een jongen met zachtmoedige ogen, een losjes rollende stem en een hondje. ‘Ik kan hem niet alleen thuislaten en ik regel al zo vaak oppassers’, zegt Molenaar. Steeds als hij zijn huis verlaat om actie te voeren, bedoelt hij. ‘Het is een Jack Russel. Hij heet Jack.’

Vandaag heeft Jack weer oppassers, want er staan twee demonstraties op de agenda. Allereerst is in Amsterdam het consulaat van Nepal aan de beurt. ‘In dat land worden apen in de jungle gevangen om ze daarna te exporteren voor dierproefcentra.’ Centra als het BPRC in Rijswijk, waar de twintig tot dertig actievoerders vervolgens voor de poort staan. Bewapend met spandoeken, megafoons en leuzen. ‘Moordenaars!’ Het gaat er meestal niet vriendelijk aan toe.

Zeker, er moeten medicijnen worden ontwikkeld voor ziekten als malaria, aids of multiple sclerose. ‘Maar dat kan ook anders’, denkt Molenaar. ‘En voor mij hoeft geen dier te sterven. We gaan allemaal dood.’

Zijn opvattingen zijn ferm, maar hij zet ze zo bedaard uiteen, luistert zo ontspannen naar tegenwerpingen, dat de vraag zich opdringt: is dit nu de man die de inlichtingendienst AIVD ziet als een van de leidende dierenactivisten van Nederland? Iemand van wie naar eigen zeggen de telefoon wordt afgetapt, wiens familie in de gaten wordt gehouden en geregeld wordt gevolgd.

Ja, maar Molenaar weet goed hoe hij zich moet presenteren. ‘Daar let iedereen op die een boodschap heeft, toch? Het gaat mij om de dieren.’ Zijn opvatting: het angst aanjagen van mensen valt in het niet vergeleken met het leed dat dieren wordt aangedaan.

Molenaar wil dan ook geen afstand nemen van de dreigende leuzen op de villa’s van twee projectontwikkelaars, van intimiderende mails aan de wethouder of het in vlam zetten van een auto van een proefdierfokker, midden in de nacht, pal voor zijn huis. ‘Het is niet aan mij om acties van anderen te veroordelen.’ De illegale acties vinden namelijk altijd anoniem plaats, met bivakmutsen, onder naam van het onduidelijke Dieren Bevrijdings Front.

Dat DBF en de bovengrondse organisatie van Molenaar, de Anti Dierproeven Coalitie, mogen volgens de AIVD met elkaar verweven zijn, het kan ook een maffe eenling zijn die morgen besluit een molotovcocktail te gooien. Dat is het lastige.

‘Wij opereren open en bloot’, zegt Molenaar. ‘We kondigen onze acties aan en zetten filmpjes ervan op internet. Wij zijn er trots op een stem te geven aan de dieren.’ Robert Molenaar (30) stamt uit ‘een doorsneegezin, met een hond en een betrokkenheid bij het milieu’ in het oosten van het land. ‘Ik kan me herinneren dat ik op mijn twaalfde samen met een vriendje geld inzamelde voor Greenpeace. Wij waren het fanatiekste en haalden het meeste op.’

Een jaar of tien geleden las hij een brief van de internationale dierenrechtenorganisatie PETA. ‘Ik weet niet eens meer hoe ik er aan kwam, maar wel dat het me raakte. Het was een betoog tegen de bio-industrie en een oproep te stoppen met vlees eten. Dat heb ik gedaan. Zo is het balletje gaan rollen.’

Inmiddels is Molenaar veganist: hij gebruikt ook geen eieren, melk of kaas, niets van dierlijke oorsprong. En hij is voorman van de Anti Dierproeven Coalitie, een netwerkje van actievoerders dat zich ruim een jaar geleden afsplitste van die andere club fanatieke ‘dierenbevrijders’, Respect voor Dieren. Ze zijn nog nauw verbonden, maar elke organisatie heeft haar eigen doelwitten. Respect voor Dieren richt zich op het bont in de winkels en de dieren in het circus. Het ADC vanzelfsprekend op de proefdieren. ‘We zijn tegen alle vormen van dierenleed, maar als je effectief actie wilt voeren moet je kiezen.’

Een inspiratiebron was de internationale campagne tegen Huntingdon Life Sciences, het grootste dierproevenbedrijf ter wereld. Daar stonden actievoerders niet alleen voor de deur, maar werd iedereen die financiële banden onderhield met HLS aangepakt, zoals in Nederland het beleggingsbedrijf Van der Moolen. De actievoerders schroomden niet de bestuurders thuis op te zoeken, met verf, hamers voor de ramen en megafoons om de buren op de hoogte te stellen. ‘HLS is nu in financiële problemen’, zegt Molenaar fier.

Hij werkt parttime in de horeca en besteedt al zijn vrije uren aan het bestrijden van dierenleed, ‘het ergste leed van de wereld’. ‘Ik sta ermee op en ik ga ermee naar bed. Demonstraties organiseren, internationale contacten onderhouden, websites lezen, flyers maken. Ik ben er veertig tot zestig uur per week mee bezig.’

Daar zou je zwaarmoedig van kunnen worden. ‘Je kunt ook denken: elke dag is een dag dat je de situatie kunt veranderen, dieren kunt redden. Wij doen aan feel good action. Het gaat de goede kant op. Er is in Nederland steeds meer aandacht voor dieren, er komen steeds meer diervriendelijke producten op de markt.’

In de loop der jaren is Molenaar veranderd, volwassen geworden misschien wel. In 2001 werd hij samen met een Nederlandse vriend veroordeeld tot een half jaar gevangenisstraf, nadat ze in Denemarken de hokken bij een nertsenfokker opengezet hadden. ‘Ik noem dat geen jeugdzonde, want ik sta nog steeds voor hetzelfde. Maar één keer een half jaar vind ik wel genoeg. Er zijn 1001 andere mogelijkheden om je in te zetten voor de dieren.’

Vorige week blies de gemeente Venray de aanleg van het bedrijvenpark Science Link definitief af, na een jaar durende campagne van de Anti Dierproeven Coalitie. ‘Deze slag is door dierenactivisten gewonnen’, zei wethouder Lei Heldens.

Heb je het idee dat Science Link vanwege jullie van tafel is of spelen andere dingen een rol?

‘De provincie Limburg wilde een hap uit de miljardenbusiness die de farmaceutische industrie is, maar heeft zich verkeken. Grote medicijnenproducenten als GlaxoSmithKline en Novartis hebben eigen proefdierenlaboratoria. Kleinere bedrijven in chemicaliën, bestrijdingsmiddelen of voeding besteden hun dierproeven uit aan grote, bestaande dierenlaboratoria.
Er was ook geen universiteit bij betrokken, wat meestal het geval is. Academische onderzoekers kennen de wereld, hebben een netwerk. Venray kon dus geen geïnteresseerden vinden, en toen doken wij er ook nog op. Als wij geen actie hadden gevoerd was Science Link er wel gekomen, maar had het half leeggestaan.’

Het zou wel eens een pyrrusoverwinning kunnen zijn. De politiek belooft een harde aanpak, zoals gebiedsverboden. In Engeland blijkt een harde aanpak succesvol.

‘Een beweging hou je er niet mee tegen. Als je het hier indrukt, komt het daar naar boven. In Engeland wordt nog steeds met succes actiegevoerd. Deze week besloot Pakistan International Airlines te stoppen met het vervoeren van proefdieren. In Nederland probeert men nu ook legale acties zoals demonstreren voor de poort te verbieden. Onze juristen houden dat in de gaten. Bij de apenhel in Rijswijk staan we nu weer op de plek waar we willen.’

Bij het BPRC is in het verleden al zo veel actiegevoerd. Waarom nu weer dat centrum als mikpunt?

‘Juist omdat we altijd hebben beloofd deze dieren nooit op te geven. Van buiten kun je de rhesusaapjes in de ogen kijken. Dat raakt je direct. Het BPRC is nog altijd een open wond voor veel dierenactivisten. Het lijkt er misschien op dat we geen directe winst kunnen halen. Maar dat kan ineens omslaan. Als er nieuwe beelden naar buiten komen bijvoorbeeld.’

Alle medici zijn het erover eens dat goede alternatieven voor dierproeven nog niet bestaan. Dierproeven zijn vaak wettelijk verplicht. Moeten jullie niet bij de politiek zijn?

‘Het gaat hier om ingewikkelde dingen, waarvan politici nauwelijks kennis hebben. De kennis en macht liggen bij bedrijven met commerciële motieven. En bij wetenschappers die hun onderzoeksgebied in stand willen houden. Van de zeshonderdduizend dierproeven in Nederland (vooral op knaagdieren, red.) worden er maar 155.000 gedaan voor de ontwikkeling van geneesmiddelen, vaccins en sera voor mensen. (Ongeveer de helft van alle dierproeven wordt gedaan voor wetenschappelijk onderzoek, red.). Er worden ook proeven gedaan voor de ontwikkeling van chemicaliën of bestrijdingsmiddelen. Philip Morris gebruikt dieren om hun tabak te testen. Dat is toch waanzin?’

Waar ligt jouw grens?

‘We blijven binnen de wet. Maar als iemand een ruit inslaat om dieren in nood te bevrijden, kan ik daar niet tegen zijn. Wat me echt te ver gaat is fysiek geweld, zoals de moord op Pim Fortuyn door Volkert van der Graaf. Dat was zó dom.’

(Bron: http://www.depers.nl/)
(Bron foto Molenaar: De Pers / Bron overige foto's: archief Kraaijer)

Dieren Bevrijdingsfront in VS laat ruim 50 nertsen vrij uit fokkerij in Jefferson

Feds investigate mink release at Jefferson farm

Animal Liberation Front claims credit and issues a threat; all animals are recaptured

24-04-2008 DENNIS THOMPSON and RUTH LIAO, Statesman Journal, Salem (Oregon, USA)


Federal authorities were investigating the attempted release of about 50 mink by members of the Animal Liberation Front from a Jefferson farm, officials said. FBI agents spent Wednesday morning gathering evidence at the Jefferson Fur Farm, agency spokeswoman Beth Ann Steele said.

The released mink were discovered about 6 a.m. Monday, Steele said. Farmworkers caught them all before they could get away. "Guard dogs started barking right away, and the owners woke up and were able to recover the mink," Steele said.

A press release placed online Tuesday by the Animal Liberation Front contained an apparent threat against the farm's owners. It was signed by ALF-Cascadia. "Consider this your first warning," it read. "Tear down this death camp and let the mink live free. If you don't, we will be back to finish the job."

The ALF is considered a domestic terrorist group by the U.S. Department of Justice, and its threats are taken seriously, Steele said. The group's press release referred to them as "masked avengers" and acknowledged that some of the freed animals likely would not survive their release.

"It will be a hard road ahead for these mink and their offspring, but with our help, they now have a chance at survival," the release read. "Even if some of the mink do not make it, we feel is it better to die free than at the hands of their speciesist captors."

The Marion County Sheriff's Office is assisting in the investigation. The perpetrators destroyed breeding records, said Teresa Platt, the executive director of Fur Commission USA.

Platt's Coronado, Calif.-based association represents mink farmers in 28 states and keeps track of ecoterrorist incidents. Platt estimated the loss of the records was $5,000.

"Everybody in Oregon and agriculture has probably gone on alert because of this," Platt said.

rliao@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 589-6941

Mink in Oregon
In Oregon, 11 mink farms have permits with the state Department of Agriculture, said agency spokesman Bruce Pokarney.
The mink operations listed with the state range from 2,600 animals to 65,000 animals, Pokarney said.
Six of the farms are in Marion County, Pokarney said. Other counties with mink operations include Linn, Clackamas and Clatsop.

(Bron: http://159.54.226.83/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080424/NEWS/804240350/1001)
(Bron foto: archief Kraaijer)

Partij voor de Dieren wil meer openheid inzake dierproeven

Wereldproefdierendag: Partij voor de Dieren

stelt 85 vragen over dierproeven in Nederland

24-04-2008 Nieuwsbank


Den Haag, 24 april 2008 - De Partij voor de Dieren heeft vandaag, op Wereldproefdierendag, een groot aantal Kamervragen gesteld over het proefdierbeleid van de huidige regering. In 14 sets heeft Partij voor de Dieren-Kamerlid Esther Ouwehand in totaal 85 vragen gesteld aan de ministers van VWS, OCW, Justitie, Defensie en LNV.

De Partij voor de Dieren wil onder andere weten welke dierproeven precies worden verricht voor defensie, zoals de experimenten die gedaan worden met zenuwgas bij apen, of het kabinet bereid is het afknippen van tenen ter identificatie van genetisch gemanipuleerde muizen te verbieden en waarom er jaarlijks meer dan 408.000 dieren in proefdierlaboratoria- en fokkerijen `in voorraad' worden gedood of doodgaan zonder voor een proef te zijn gebruikt en die niet worden meegeteld in de officiële cijfers. Verder is de partij benieuwd naar het oordeel van de onderwijs- en vws-minister over voorlichtingspakketten die de farmaceutische industrie ontwikkeld heeft over dierproeven en gericht zijn op scholieren in groep 7 en 8 van de basisschool.

Belangrijke vragen betreffen ook de handhaving van de Wet op de dierproeven (Wod) en de opsporingsmogelijkheden van de minister van Justitie. Uit een evaluatie van de wet bleek dat de handhavingscapaciteit bij de Voedsel en Waren Autoriteit (VWA) minimaal is, dat overtredingen van de wet niet strafrechtelijk worden gesanctioneerd en dat Justitie feitelijk buiten spel staat. "Onder de gegeven omstandigheden heeft de Minister van Justitie onzes inziens geen schijn van kans zijn politieke verantwoordelijkheid voor de opsporingsaspecten van de Wod waar te maken", aldus de auteurs van het evaluatierapport `Noodzakelijk kwaad'.

Ook de openbaarheid rond dierproeven bleek een belangrijk pijnpunt in de verouderde wetgeving die proefdieren moet beschermen. De AIVD merkte in 2004 al op dat de geslotenheid over dierproeven het klimaat rond het verzet tegen dierexperimenten niet ten goede zou komen. De auteurs van het evaluatierapport wezen eveneens op de noodzaak de informatie over proefdieronderzoek openbaar te maken.

Esther Ouwehand: "Er valt veel te verbeteren aan de wetgeving die proefdieren moet beschermen. Desondanks gaat de politieke aandacht vooral uit naar het dierenrechtenactivisme dat zich verzet tegen dierproeven, en blijft de problematiek zelf onderbelicht. Ook voor de ontwikkeling en toepassing van alternatieven is de afgelopen jaren nauwelijks geld en aandacht geweest." De Partij voor de Dieren wil daar verandering in aanbrengen en het debat aanzwengelen via het grote aantal Kamervragen dat ze vandaag gesteld heeft over het proefdierbeleid in Nederland.

(Bron: http://www.nieuwsbank.nl/)
(Bron foto: archief Kraaijer)

Beagle door baasjes in Leeuwarden met klauwhamer schedel ingeslagen

Echtpaar slaat hond dood om verharing

24-04-2008 De Telegraaf


LEEUWARDEN - Een 45-jarige man uit Leeuwarden heeft met hulp van zijn vrouw hun beagle doodgeslagen met een klauwhamer omdat de hond te veel verhaarde. Dat maakte de politie donderdag bekend.

De man en zijn 40-jarige echtgenote togen naar een park in de Friese hoofdstad, waar de eigenaar de hond de schedel insloeg. Het echtpaar gooide het dier daarna in een vuilcontainer.

De man en vrouw zijn woensdag opgepakt door de politie. Beide verdachten hebben bekend, waarna ze zijn vrijgelaten in afwachting van eventuele strafvervolging.

(Bron: http://www.telegraaf.nl/)

Nepalese 'Pas Op Voor De Hond' bordjes zijn ware kunst...

'Danger dog' signs by Nepal artists are in demand

in L.A.

A Santa Monica resident tries to keep an old tradition alive by selling works by artists in Nepal.

24-04-2008 By Bettijane Levine, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer


WHEN she first went to Nepal in 1986, Michelle Page was struck by images of dogs hand-painted on metal signs hung above shops. "They were beautiful, personable dogs," she says. "Not generic, but very specific different breeds and sizes, as if the artists actually knew the dogs they were painting."

Some artworks were naive in style, others very detailed, Page says. She soon realized that artisans in Nepal were painting all sorts of animals on those 1-foot-square metal sheets. Signs with a pig, goat or chicken denoted the butcher shop within.

But the dogs were the most compelling and unforgettable. Some were the equivalent of "beware of dog" signs one might see here. Others translated into something more benign: "Brilliant dog in here."

Page, an assistant film editor who lives in Santa Monica, returned to Nepal repeatedly. Four years ago, she noticed that the dog signs she loved so much were being replaced by more contemporary and commercial versions: computer-generated images mass-produced on vinyl. She started collecting the old "danger dog" signs she found in shops. Then she sought out the studios where artisans created the signs, as well as banners and license plates. In June she traveled to Nepal again and returned with 100 dog signs commissioned from artisans whose work she particularly liked.

"It's just a hobby, not my vocation," says Page, who thought she'd try to find a market here for the work.

The signs sold out in weeks, so Page returned to Nepal in December for 300 more dog paintings, some of which now go for $150 at the Santa Monica Museum of Art and the Craft and Folk Art Museum. Page has started up her own website, nepaldog.com, and has even begun taking orders for custom portraits. Clients send a photo of their dog (or rabbit or cat) to Nepal with Page, and she commissions three or four artisans to paint the animal's image on metal. Clients pick the version they like (for $200), and she sells the rest.

Christine Knoke, a curator at the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, says she saw the "danger dogs" at the Santa Monica museum store.

"I was fascinated by them and their folk-art quality," says Knoke, who has commissioned portraits of her own three dogs.

Page says her side business has yet to break even, but she likes the idea of keeping alive the work of artists so far away. "Their income from painting signs is dwindling because of new technology," she says. "It's no different there than anywhere else."

bettijane.levine@latimes.com

(Bron: http://www.latimes.com/)

(Bron foto's: http://nepaldog.com/)

Onderzoek WWF wijst uit: poolijs smelt sneller dan verwacht - IJsbeer mogelijk uitgestorven rond 2050...

WWF warns Arctic ice melting faster

than predicted

24-04-2008 France24


Arctic sea ice is melting "significantly faster" than predicted and is approaching a point of no return, conservation group the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) warned in a new study released Wednesday. The volumes of the Greenland Ice Sheet and ice in the Arctic Ocean were estimated at 2.9 million and 4.4 million cubic metres respectively in September 2007 -- the lowest ever levels recorded, the organization said.

The sea ice shrank to 39 percent below its 1979-2000 mean volume, it said. "Recently observed changes are happening at rates significantly faster than predicted" by the 2005 Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA) and last year's report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), WWF said.


A polar bear alert warning sign posted inside the town of Churchill, Manitoba, in Canada, in November 2007, at the edge of the Hudson Bay. World Wildlife Fund's researchers have warned of the devastating effect the rapid melting of the arctic ice could have on polar bears in Canada, where two thirds of the world's population of the animals live.

The melting of arctic sea ice and the Greenland Ice Sheet was happening so fast that experts were now questioning whether the situation is close to "tipping point," where sudden and possibly irreversible change takes place.

"When you look in detail at the science behind the recent Arctic changes it becomes painfully clear how our understanding of climate impacts lags behind the changes that we are already seeing in the Arctic," said Martin Sommerkorn, one of the authors of the report.
The WWF will present its report, comprised of the latest research in the region, to the meeting Thursday of the Arctic Council, which groups Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States.

The conservation group's researchers also warned of the devastating effect the rapid melting of the arctic ice could have on polar bears in Canada, where two thirds of the world's population of the animals live.

"Previous models had predicted that melting sea ice would mean some polar bear populations could become extinct by 2050. The new evidence points to even earlier regional extinctions," said Peter Ewins, director of species conservation at WWF-Canada.

The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada will present the government with its estimates of the status of polar bears there on Friday.

(Bron: http://www.france24.com/)
(Bron foto bord: France24 / Bron foto's ijsbeer: archief Kraaijer)

Castreren biggen is zinloos - 'Varkens In Nood' eist onmiddellijk einde castraties biggen

„Stop met castreren van biggen"

24-04-2008 Reformatorisch Dagblad


AMSTERDAM (ANP) – Stichting Varkens in Nood eist dat onmiddellijk wordt gestopt met het castreren van biggen. De organisatie stelt donderdag dat onderzoek uitwijst dat er helemaal geen wetenschappelijke onderbouwing is voor de ingreep.

Per jaar worden in Nederland bij 10 miljoen biggen de balletjes verwijderd, in heel Europa worden jaarlijks 100 miljoen biggen gecastreerd. De ingreep gebeurt om te voorkomen dat het vlees bij bereiding een zogenaamde berengeur afgeeft en gaat stinken. Maar nu wijst onderzoek van Wageningen Universiteit uit dat de geur amper voorkomt en dat mensen het nauwelijks herkennen en waarnemen.

Varkens in Nood vraagt het ministerie van Landbouw en de Europese Commissie daarom de wetgeving aan te passen. De groepering is bereid naar de rechter te stappen als een reactie uitblijft. „Dit is absurd. Castratie dient geen enkel doel".

Volgens Hans Baaij (Varkens in Nood) geeft het onderzoek aan dat niet 10 tot 25 procent, maar slechts 1,2 procent van het vlees van mannelijke varkens de berengeur ontwikkelt. Baaij stelt dan ook dat het erop lijkt dat castreren vooral een kwestie van traditie is en niet is gebaseerd op feiten. „De afgelopen vijftig jaar hebben supermarkten, slachters en overheid elkaar nagepraat, maar niemand heeft kennelijk de moeite genomen eens echt te onderzoeken of het castreren van biggen echt noodzakelijk is".

De stichting eist daarom dat varkens die voor de Nederlandse markt zijn bestemd per direct niet meer worden gecastreerd. „De al jaren durende discussie blijkt aan één ding voorbij te zijn gegaan: de geur is voor consumenten nauwelijks een probleem. Hiermee lijkt de reden voor het castreren van mannelijke varkens te zijn vervallen".

De dierenrechtenorganisatie verzoekt de politiek snel de wet te wijzigen. „Mishandeling van dieren is verboden, maar castratie is als uitzondering toegestaan. Dat moet veranderen". Ook supermarkten wordt gevraagd hun verantwoordelijkheid te nemen. AH, C1000, Aldi en Lidl kunnen een brief verwachten van Varkens in Nood. „Supermarkten denken blijkbaar: beter duizend varkens gecastreerd dan één klagende klant".

De twee Duitse supermarktketens zijn uitgekozen vanwege de band met Duitsland, het land dat veel Nederlands varkensvlees afneemt. Baaij: „Tot nu toe werd steeds gezegd dat de Duitse koper alleen vlees van gecastreerde varkens wil, maar ook in Duitsland wordt nu gediscussieerd over de noodzaak om te castreren".

In Nederland kondigden landbouworganisatie LTO en de vleesverwerkende industrie in 2007 aan dat ze hun best doen om vanaf 2009 te stoppen met het onverdoofd castreren. Supermarkten, Hema, Burgerking, McDonald’s en Unox (Unilever) beloofden al eerder te stoppen met het verkopen of gebruiken van vlees van onverdoofd gecastreerde varkens. Maar Baaij wil ook af van het verdoofd castreren. „Ook het oppakken en verdoven geeft de dieren stress en pijn. Bovendien hebben ze soms wel een week napijn. Daarom willen ook de dierenartsen af van deze ingreep".

(Bron: http://www.refdag.nl/)
(Bron foto: archief Kraaijer)

Actievoerders Greenpeace op internationale visbeurs in Brussel - Greenpeace wil einde vangst enkele soorten bedreigde tonijn

Greenpeace blokkeert tonijnhandel op

grote visbeurs

23-04-2008 Greenpeace Nederland


Brussel, Belgium — Greenpeace-actievoerders uit vijftien landen blokkeren de stands van vijf grote tonijnleveranciers op de European Seafood Exposition in Brussel. Actievoerders bedekken de stands met visnetten, ketenen zich vast en bevestigen spandoeken met de boodschap “Tijd en tonijn raken op”.

Greenpeace roept bedrijven op te stoppen met de verkoop van bedreigde populaties van blauwvin-, geelvin en grootoogtonijn. Bezoekers worden via de geluidsinstallatie van de beurs opgeroepen om alleen duurzame tonijn en visproducten in te kopen. Eén van de geblokkeerde stands is van de grootste tonijnhandelaar van de wereld, Mitsubishi Corporation. Het bedrijf levert ingeblikte tonijn van het merk Princes, dat in de meeste Nederlandse supermarkten te koop is.

“Veel tonijnbestanden bevinden zich op een kritisch dieptepunt”, zegt Farah Obaidullah, campagneleider oceanen van Greenpeace Nederland. “Het is niet te geloven dat er nog zoveel bedreigde tonijn wordt aangeboden op een van de belangrijkste visbeurzen ter wereld, terwijl sinds de jaren vijftig de tonijnbestanden met zo’n 90 procent zijn afgenomen. Veel tonijnbestanden zijn overbevist. Dit wordt nog eens verergerd door omvangrijke illegale visserij."

Op dit moment voert het Greenpeace schip de Esperanza actie in de Stille Oceaan tegen de overbevissing van tonijn en voor het instellen van zeereservaten. Grote vissersboten vissen daar op niet-duurzame wijze of zelfs illegaal op tonijn. Steeds meer tonijn in onze winkels komt uit de Stille Oceaan, omdat tonijn elders al is weggevist. De aantasting van de tonijnbestanden in de Stille Oceaan is behalve een bedreiging voor de rijkdom van de zeeën, ook slecht voor de toekomst van de eilandenstaten. Die zijn namelijk voor hun levensonderhoud afhankelijk van tonijn.

Greenpeace bracht vorige week een nieuwe duurzaamheidranglijst van supermarkten uit. Het blijkt dat de meeste supermarkten nog steeds geelvintonijn verkopen en nog nauwelijks maatregelen hebben getroffen tegen illegale visserij op tonijn en de bijvangst van andere bedreigde diersoorten.

Wereldwijd vraagt Greenpeace aandacht voor de problemen waarin de vis en de oceanen verkeren. Wetenschappers voorspellen dat als de visserij niet verandert, er over veertig jaar geen eetbare vis meer in de zeeën zwemt. Greenpeace eist dat alle supermarkten actief werk maken van een duurzaam inkoopbeleid voor vis. Daarnaast roept Greenpeace overheden op om een netwerk van zeereservaten in te stellen. Volledig gesloten gebieden zijn essentieel om het leven in zee de kans te geven om te herstellen.

De European Seafood Exposition in Brussel is een van de grootste visverkoop evenementen in de wereld, waar meer dan 1600 bedrijven uit ongeveer 80 verschillende landen vertegenwoordigd zijn. De expositie trekt meer dan 20.000 bezoekers uit 140 verschillende landen, waaronder bedrijven die de visindustrie in de wereld domineren zoals supermarkten, cateraars, importeurs, exporteurs, groothandels en leveranciers. De stands die Greenpeace blokkeert zijn:
Mitsubishi Corporation (Japan), Ricardo Fuentes (Spanje), Dong Won Fisheries (Korea), Azzopardi Fisheries (Malta), en Moon Marine (Taiwan).

(Bron: http://www.greenpeace.nl)
(Bron foto: Greenpeace Nederland)

Zeldzame Goeldi Callimico aap gestolen uit dierentuin New Brunswick (Canada)

Baby monkey stolen from N.B. zoo

23-04-2008 Globe and Mail, Canadian Press


SAINT JOHN, N.B. — Officials at the Cherry Brook Zoo in Saint John, N.B., made a desperate plea Wednesday for the return of a stolen baby monkey. Police said someone jumped a fence, kicked in a door at the monkey house and made off with a young Callimico monkey named April.

Zoo Director Len Collrin said it appears whoever took the small, black primate, also known as a Goeldi's monkey, knew what they were doing. “They walked by a Golden Lion tamarind and went into the third enclosure, let the monkeys out and actually locked two back in,” said Mr. Collrin.

“One was still running around in the back hallway and last year's baby was missing.”
Mr. Collrin said the monkey is 30 centimetres tall and weighs less 500 grams, adding that it is a high maintenance animal that requires a special diet and won't make a good house pet. “There's a lot more to looking after a monkey than just feeding it,” he said.

“They're not a whole lot of joy. They're not toilet trained and they do require special diets.”

Callimico monkeys are a reclusive and diminutive species native to South America. Discovered a century ago by Swiss naturalist Emil August Goeldi, the animals are now considered an endangered species in the wild.

(Bron: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/)
(Bron foto: http://www.lostmonkey.dk/)

Kritiek op olifanten festivals in India - Veel olifanten leven in ongezonde omstandigheden

Step up security in temple fests

Elephant on rampage

23-04-2008 Kundur Sathya Narayanan / CNN-IBN


New Delhi: Every year, angry elephants trained to take part in temple festivals in Kerala turn on their trainers, injuring, killing people and damaging property. However, elephant lovers say it's the government that is really to be blamed. An elephant turned violent at the famous Kootalmanikyam temple at Irinjalakkuda in Thrissur District on Wednesday and killed three people, the police said.

While the animal trampled the woman, the men were chased down and impaled on one of its tusks, temple sources said.

“The state government had earlier issued 31-point directions to save the life of people gathering in festival grounds. It also contains directions to save lives of the endangered species of elephants,” says Secretary, Elephant Lovers Society, Kerala, VK Venkitachalam.

Meanwhile, many elephants are made to walk dozens of kilometers between temples during temple festivals in Kerala. Elephant owners and trainers are warned every year to care for their animals. However, many elephants still have to endure unhealthy living conditions and improper feeding. Some experts say that the solution could lie in using fewer elephants.

“Number of elephants participating in festivals is very large, some about fifty to sixty. So that has to be reduced. All elephants have to be given a fitness certificate by a veterinary surgeon,” says Expert, Elephant treatment, KC Panickar.

Last year, the Kerala government mandated the setting up of a committee in every district comprising forest officials, government representatives and activists to ensure that Captive Elephant Management Rules were followed. However, no such committee has yet been set up in any district yet.

(Bron: http://www.ibnlive.com/)

Elephant goes on Rampage - An angry elephant in a circus in Honolulu, Hawaii, 1994

Deze video plaats ik hier, om te laten zien dat ook een circusolifant plotseling een woedeaanval kan krijgen. Het is een opname uit 1994 in Honolulu, Hawaii. Een olifant is en blijft een wild dier, dat niet misbruikt moet worden in circussen en allerlei festivals in de wereld. De dieren hebben dan het volste recht om uit hun onnatuurlijke gedrag te breken, met alle gevolgen vandien. Laat dit soort beelden een waarschuwing zijn voor allen die bijvoorbeeld vinden dat olifanten thuis horen in circussen en festivals....Laat dieren in hun waarde!

This happened early 2008 at the Chettuva Festival in Kerala, India

In the festival Chettuva, in the state of Kerala, in southern India, during a time of the parade, a bystander who witnessed the spectacle threw stones, one after another, at one of the beasts until he succeeded and an elephant got angry. The incident resulted in the death of a man and wounding 17 other people. The spectator who sparked the wrath of the elephant was arrested by the police.

Anti Dierproeven Coalitie wil einde tabakstesten op dieren door Philip Morris in Belgische Leuven

"Tabakstesten op dieren moeten volledig

verboden worden"

23-04-2008 Gazet van Antwerpen


Het is de Anti Dierproeven Coalitie menens in de strijd tegen tabaksreus Philip Morris. Het ADC beweert dat Philip Morris in zijn vestiging in Leuven wrede dierproeven uitvoert en plant op vrijdag 25 april een protestactie voor het bedrijf.
Het Philip Morris laboratorium in Leuven is naar alle waarschijnlijkheid het belangrijkste laboratorium dat deze testen in België uitvoert. Zelf verklaren ze jaarlijks tussen 4.000 en 6.000 dieren te gebruiken. Concreet gaan de proeven als volgt: dieren moeten 60 dagen aan een stuk Marlboro sigarettenrook inhaleren, waarna ze gedood worden en onderzocht op schadelijke effecten van de nicotine.

Transparantie
Het protest van de ADC valt niet in dovemansoren. Open Vld kamerlid Katia Della Faille heeft in de commissie Volksgezondheid de bevoegde minister Laurette Onkelinx gevraagd om werk te maken van meer transparantie rond dierproeven. Eerstdaags wordt Philip Morris zelfs op het matje geroepen door minister Onkelinx om uitleg te geven over hun onzinnige testen.

Het ADC eist een volledig verbod van tabakstesten op dieren, zoniet zullen ze blijven protesteren.

(Bron: http://www.gva.be/)
(Bron foto: Anti Dierproeven Coalitie)

There's an Alligator in my kitchen!!!!

Rechtelijke uitspraak in Engeland legt pijngradaties proefdieren vast

Research animals ruling overturned

23-04-2008 Channel 4, UK - Source: PA News


A ruling that the Government was failing in its legal duty to ensure the suffering of animals used in laboratory experiments was kept to a minimum has been overturned. Three judges at the Court of Appeal said a High Court judge's finding that a Government adviser was "clearly wrong" in a conclusion over the level of pain experienced by marmosets could not stand.

But the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV), which originally brought the case after an undercover investigation at Cambridge University, said its main argument over the way the Home Office classifies the seriousness of experiments on animals had been upheld.

The Home Office categorises experiments as either substantial, moderate or mild, which affects whether licences are granted. BUAV said in a statement that the Home Office should in future have to examine each licence application to properly assess the level of animal suffering.

Chief Executive, Michelle Thew, said: "I am very pleased that the court has upheld our main point of principle relating to the way animal suffering should be categorised and bringing this important case will hopefully mean fewer animals will suffer in the most severe animal experiments."

Mr Justice Mitting, in a High Court ruling in July last year, said the Home Office was relying on expert advice which understated the extent of the "pain, suffering, distress or lasting harm" that could be caused to the animals at Cambridge University.

Lord Justice May, giving the judgment of the appeal judges, said scientific judgment was not immune from lawyers' analysis but the court must be careful not to substitute its own inexpert view for that of a scientific expert opinion.

The 10-month undercover investigation by the BUAV during 2000 and 2001 found that the Home Office had assigned a "moderate" suffering category to experiments which included highly invasive procedures such as removing the top of a marmoset's head and part of the brain to induce strokes.

These news feeds are provided by an independent third party and Channel 4 is not responsible or liable to you for the same.

(Bron: http://www.channel4.com/)
(Bron foto: http://www.contrevivisection.org/)

(Meer informatie over BUAV: http://www.buav.org/index.php)

Dierenactivisten demonstreren bij proefdiercentrum Charles River in Reno (VS)

Animal Rights Activists Protest Research Company

23-04-2008 Reporter: Joe Harrington Email Address: joe.harrington@kolotv.com Kolo TV, Reno, USA


A group of protestors stood outside the Reno Charles River Laboratories facility Tuesday night. Demonstrator Tania Tavcar says she doesn't necessarily want the company to shut down, but to find alternatives to animal testing. "They're thinking feeling animals and it comes down as cruelty there's just no question about it," Demonstrator Rick Schweickert said.

According to an article by the Reno Gazette-Journal, a Charges River official has said it was planned work at the Reno facility would mostly involve rodents, with some work involving primates and dogs.

Charles River could not be reached for comment by deadline. However, the company's Web site says it is committed to humane care of animals. "At Charles River, we work hand-in-hand with the scientific community to understand how living conditions, handling procedures, and stress play an important role in the quality and efficiency of research," the site states.

The protest came one day after a suspicious object was destroyed by authorities near the facility. Police say the object turned out to be several discs with wires, and there were no explosives.

"You look around and you look at the folks that are here this evening these are compassionate caring people, they are not the people who are going to plant bombs, they are not the people who are going to hurt anyone human or animal," Demonstrator Irene Payne said.

Officers from the Reno Police Department kept a watch on protestors. There are no reports of any violence associated with Tuesday's protest.

Charles River also has a facility in Sparks. According to KOLO archives, an animal rights group had previously claimed there were numerous violations at the Sparks facility, and several monkeys were injured. KOLO archives also say Charles River changed its procedures in response.

(Bron: http://www.kolotv.com/)
(Bron foto: archief Kraaijer)

(Meer informatie over Charles River:
http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080423/NEWS01/804230456/1004/NEWS19
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/15895777/detail.html
http://www.criver.com/research_models_and_services/research_models/index.html
http://www.peta.org/mc/NewsItem.asp?id=11008)

Roodrug spinnen reden voor tijdelijke sluiting klein ziekenhuis in centraal Queensland (Australië)

Redbacks close bush hospital

23-04-2008 The Age, Australia


Venomous redback spiders have taken over a bush hospital in Central Queensland, forcing it's temporary closure. Staff and three long-stay patients were evacuated from the 10-bed Multi Purpose Health Service hospital in the little township of Baralaba, in Banana Shire, south-west of Rockhampton on Wednesday.

Rural director of nursing Ellen Palmer said increasing numbers of the redbacks, agitated by recent wet and humid weather, had been taking up residence in the hospital in recent weeks.
"I've been up here seven months and I know they have had five months of fighting redbacks at Baralaba," she said.

The hospital was usually sprayed monthly, but it has now been decided to try to get rid them altogether. So on Thursday, the hospital will be closed all day to allow pest exterminators to fumigate it properly. "We can't have redbacks in the hospital because it's too big a risk," Ms Palmer said.

The patients have been transferred to the hospital at the nearby mining town of Moura and any emergency cases on Thursday would be handled at a doctor's surgery in Baralaba. Ms Palmer said that so far no patients or staff had been bitten by redbacks. "But the potential is there that's why we're taking these precautions," she said.

"Closing the hospital is quite a drastic measure really, but we weighed up all the pros and cons and we just thought this was the safest way to do it, based on the advice of the pest people."

(Bron: http://news.theage.com.au/)
(Bron foto's: archief Kraaijer)

Grizzly beer doodt trainer in dierentrainingscentrum voor film en reclame bij Los Angeles (VS)

Grizzly bear kills man at Southern California

training site

23-04-2008 ABC 7 News, USA


A grizzly bear killed a trainer Tuesday at a private facility for exotic animals used in movies and television, authorities said. Three experienced handlers were working with the bear at Randy Miller's Predators in Action facility when the bear bit 39-year-old Stephan Miller on the neck, said San Bernardino County sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Beavers. Stephan Miller is Randy's cousin, she said.

The center's staff used pepper spray to subdue and contain the bear and there were no other injuries, she said. A county Fire Department traumatic injury response unit responded about 3 p.m., but could not revive Miller.

Sheriff's Sgt. Dave Phelps said the bear was a 5-year-old male named Rocky. The Predators in Action Web site says Rocky is 7 1/2 feet tall, weighs 700 pounds and appeared in a scene in "Semi-Pro" in which Will Ferrell's character wrestles a bear to promote his basketball team.

Calls seeking comment from Randy Miller, a stuntman and operator of Predators in Action, were not immediately returned Tuesday evening. Randy Miller doubled for Ferrell in the bear wrestling match, according to the center's site.

The center, located in the San Bernardino Mountains east of Los Angeles, says it has two grizzlies, and also trains lions, tigers, leopards, cougars and wolves for uses ranging from film and TV to advertising and education. Randy Miller has 25 years of experience training animals and his facility has had a perfect safety record, according to the Web site.

It was not immediately known how long Rocky has been at the facility.

Randy Miller won a World Stunt Academy Award for his work wrestling tigers in the 2000 blockbuster "Gladiator" and performed stunts with his animals in films like "The Postman,""The Island of Dr. Moreau," and "The Last Samurai." He also helped recreate animal attacks for National Geographic documentaries and the Discovery Channel.

It wasn't immediately clear what would happen to the bear.

Denise Richards, who works with wild animals at Moonridge Zoo, a sanctuary for injured and homeless wildlife in nearby Big Bear Lake, said trained animals that turn on their handlers are often destroyed.

"You can train them and use as many safety precautions as you can, but you're still taking a chance if you're putting yourself in contact with them," Richards said. "It's still a wild animal. Even though it may appear that the bear attacked for no reason, there was a reason. I'm sure Randy understands why it happened. They're not cold-blooded killers."


Native grizzly bears are extinct in California.

---

Randy Miller's Predators in Action: http://www.predatorsinaction.com/

(Bron: http://www.wjla.com/)
(Bron foto's Randy en Rocky: http://www.myanimalmagnetism.com/id160.html)

Twee dagen na aankomst in dierenpark Polk County (VS) ontsnappen 15 Afrikaanse Patas apen

15 monkeys paddle to freedom in Polk County

23-04-2008 By Abbie VanSickle, Times Staff Writer, St. Petersburg Tims, USA


Lex Salisbury figured the island, surrounded by a wide moat, would be a safe, comfortable home for the 15 monkeys rescued from Puerto Rico. It looks like he underestimated them. "They ended up outfoxing me and swimming off the island," said Salisbury, the chief executive of Lowry Park Zoo. "I think they're more street-smart than a zoo monkey."

The animals, called Patas monkeys, arrived Thursday at Salisbury's Safari Wild property in Polk County. By Saturday, they had vanished. Since then, Salisbury has tried to round them up and bring them home. On Tuesday evening, he was still searching.

He was able to use Global Positioning System technology to locate them. But by then news media had heard about the missing monkeys and helicopters flew overhead. All that fuss may have concerned the monkeys, who split into two groups. One was alone. Salisbury put out food to lure them to safety.

"What we have to do is be patient now," said Salisbury, who said he owns the monkeys privately. "They've got to be relaxed enough to eat this food."

As for Polk residents, the Polk Sheriff's Office sent out a reverse 911 alert to beware of monkeys. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is helping, too.
When Fish and Wildlife spokesman Gary Morse answered his phone Tuesday, he immediately knew the topic. "The monkey business," he said.

The monkeys are typically quick-moving but docile animals that are harmless to humans. The monkeys' natural habitat is arid terrain in Africa. "They are absolutely no threat to people," Morse said.

What should you do if you spot the missing Patas monkeys? Don't approach them. Call the wildlife commission's toll-free hotline: 1-888-404-3922.

Abbie VanSickle can be reached at vansickle@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3373.

(Bron: http://www.tampabay.com/)
(Bron foto: archief Kraaijer)

Mogelijk gaat Enkhuizen circussen met wilde dieren weigeren

Enkhuizen sympathiek tegenover voorstel

circussen met wilde dieren te weigeren

22-04-2008 Noordhollands Dagblad, door PAUL GUTTER


Als eerste West-Friese gemeente overweegt Enkhuizen circussen met wilde dieren te weigeren. Veel politieke partijen staan sympathiek tegenover een initiatiefvoorstel van de Fractie Quasten om dit op te nemen in de gemeenteregels. ,,Hopelijk blijft het niet bij woorden.''

Volgens Stella Quasten van de eenmansfractie wordt het welzijn van wilde dieren in circussen structureel aangetast voor menselijk vermaak. Daarom wil zij de algemeen plaatselijke verordening (APV) zodanig aanpassen, dat het mogelijk wordt dergelijke circussen voortaan geen vergunning meer te verstrekken.

Reden dat Quasten dit in de APV wil hebben, is omdat landelijke wetgeving keer op keer uitgesteld wordt voor nader onderzoek. Gemeenten als Veendam en Winschoten hebben daarom al eerder zelf beleid gemaakt. Circussen met zogeheten gedomesticeerde dieren zijn hier nog steeds welkom. Hieronder vallen ook huis- en boerderijdieren.

(Bron: http://www.nhd.nl/)

Waar is Surinaamse lederschildpad Aitkanti? - Caribbean Conservation Corporation is contact met schildpad kwijt...

Wereldreizigster Aitkanti uit zicht

verdwenen….

22-04-2008 Door: Paul Kraaijer


Zwolle, Nederland – De Surinaamse vrouwtjes lederschildpad Aitkanti lijkt van ‘de aardbodem’ te zijn verdwenen. Het door het Wereldnatuur Fonds Guianas en Groot-Brittannië en de Caribbean Conservation Corporation (CCC) in Florida (VS) van een zender voorziene dier, zwom precies een jaar geleden nog rond in de wateren voor de kust van Portugal. Maar, waar is deze lange afstandzwemster nu?

De grote zeeschildpad werd van een zender voorzien in juni 2005 op de bekende broedlocatie van de lederschildpad, het Samsambo-strand van Galibi in het noordoosten van Suriname. Vanaf dat moment kon het dier gevolgd worden, onder andere via de internetsite van de Caribbean Conservation Corporation (http://www.cccturtle.org).

In november 2006 bereikte de Surinaamse schildpad zelfs de kust van Wales in Engeland. Zij had op dat moment maar liefst 11.500 kilometer gezwommen, een opmerkelijke prestatie. Aitkanti werd even wereldnieuws. Na enige tijd rondgezwommen te hebben in Engelse wateren, dook ze in maart 2007 op ter hoogte van Portugal. Vanaf dat moment blijkt de Caribbean Conservation Corporation Aitkanti echter uit het oog te zijn verloren. Op de Google Earth-kaart op de website van de CCC staat nog steeds 23 april 2007 als laatste datum waarop Aitkanti is waargenomen ver ten westen van de kust van Portugal.

Dan Evans, coördinator van het veldonderzoeksprogramma bij de CCC, laat weten dat Aitkanti in 2007 niet door onderzoekers is waargenomen op het Samsambo-strand om te broeden. ‘Misschien dit jaar’, oppert Evans. Maar hij heeft op geen enkele wijze meer contact met de bijzondere Surinaamse schildpad. Evans: ‘De zender heeft het mogelijk begeven of de batterijen zijn leeg.’ Hij tast natuurlijk nu in het duister waar Aitkanti zich bevindt. ‘Maar, we geloven niet dat er iets met haar is gebeurd’, aldus een positieve Dan Evans.

De lederschildpad wordt in haar voortbestaan echter ernstig bedreigd, vooral door de visserij. De visserij is jaarlijks verantwoordelijk voor de dood van duizenden zeeschildpadden. Een andere bedreiging is de vernietiging en vervuiling van stranden waar de vrouwtjes broeden. Hopelijk zwemt Aitkanti nog ergens rond en weet zij de weg naar het Samsambo-strand van Galibi dit jaar weer te vinden.

(Bron foto's: archief Kraaijer)

Gemeente Purmerend heeft per ongeluk ganzen vergast....

Verdwenen ganzen blijken vergast

22-04-2008 WebRegio.nl


PURMEREND - De verdwenen ganzen langs de Botterstraat in Purmerend blijken per ongeluk vergast te zijn door de gemeente Purmerend. Dit heeft een woordvoerder van de gemeente bekend gemaakt. "De gemeente heeft een fout gemaakt en zal excuses maken aan de bewoners", aldus de woordvoerder.

"De ganzen waren de weg overgestoken en hielden zich op bij de sportvelden. Een omwonende heeft toen gebeld over de overlast van de dieren. Omdat deze ganzen niet als de 'ganzen van de Botterstraat' werden aangezien, heeft de gemeente het bedrijf Duke Faunabeheer ingeschakeld om de dieren af te vangen. De dieren zijn gelijk vergast en niet naar de Botterstraat terug gebracht", stelt de gemeente.

Afgelopen vrijdag verdwenen de tien witte boerenganzen die al dertig jaar langs de Botterweg 'wonen'. In samenspraak met de gemeente hielden de bewoners tien ganzen. De omwonenden zorgden zelf voor de dieren en zorgden er ook voor dat de populatie van de ganzen beperkt bleef.

(Bron: http://www.webregio.nl/)
(Bron foto: archief Kraaijer)

Boeren in Noorwegen doden wolven met gif en explosieven - Politie en milieuactivisten proberen de wolf te beschermen

Police and conservationists campaign for wolves

22-04-2008 By Luna Finnsson, IceNews, Iceland


Farmers in Norway have been taking drastic measures to rid their farms of wolves, leading police and conservationists to team up in an effort to protect the animals. According to United Press International, Norway’s police have joined forces with environmentalists in a campaign to save wolves from death by poison or explosives, two of the ways famers are ridding themselves of what they consider to be a pest.

According to local researchers, as many as half of all wolf deaths in Scandinavia are caused by illegal hunting practices – in fact, many of the deaths are caused by farmers who claim the wolves are attacking their farm animals.

The situation has become tense. Kenneth Larsen of Hedmark University College is a researcher who tracks wolves for study. He recently went looking for a wolf he has been tracking, only to return to his car and find his tyres had been slashed.

Larsen’s college, Petter Wabakken, said that he and his team have found evidence of both poison and explosives being deployed against wolves and against their lairs. The region along the border with Sweden in Norway’s southern area is one of the most dangerous areas for wolves, he says.

According to Knut Maelen of the Hedmark Police District, the tyre slashing incident is just one indication of how bad things have become. He describes it as an “inflamed situation.”

(Bron: http://www.icenews.is/)
(Bron foto: Ice News)

Vrouw in Telford (Engeland) mag tien jaar lang geen huisdieren houden - Hond van vrouw is 'skelet bedekt met huid"

Mum gets ban over starving dog

22-04-2008 Shropshire Star, UK


A single mother from Telford, who starved her springer spaniel until it looked like a “skeleton covered in skin”, has been banned from keeping animals for 10 years.

Unemployed 26-year-old Laura Hanson, of McCormick Drive, Shawbirch, who also has a pet cat, sobbed in court as RSPCA prosecutor Nick Sutton described the plight of her two-year-old bitch Poppy.

Hanson admitted causing unnecessary suffering to Poppy when she appeared before Telford Magistrates Court yesterday. She was ordered to hand her cat over immediately to the RSPCA

(Bron: http://www.shropshirestar.com/)
(Bron foto's: Shropshire Star)

'Dierenliefhebster' Bridget Maasland gaat voor de lol eenden drijven met honden in Safaripark Beekse Bergen...

Bridget Maasland gaat eenden drijven met

bordercollies op Animal Event

22-04-2008 Safaripark Beekse Bergen


Televisiepresentatrice Bridget Maasland komt aanstaande vrijdag naar Animal Event in Safaripark Beekse Bergen. Maasland gaat samen met wereldkampioenen Ellen en Serge van der Zweep eenden drijven met een bordercollie. Op vrijdagmiddag 25 april om 13.00 uur vindt dit spectaculaire schouwspel plaats in de ‘Hart voor Dieren Piste’, nabij de entree van het Afrikaanse wildlife park.

De zwangere Bridget Maasland moet met lichaamstaal de hond, genaamd Nel, onder controle krijgen. Als Bridget de hond goed onder controle heeft met haar stem en lichaamstaal mogen de eenden los en gaat het echte eenden drijven beginnen.

Ellen en Serge blijven bij Bridget in de buurt om haar aanwijzingen te geven zodat de tv-ster samen met Nel de eenden de juiste richting in kan drijven. Bezoekers van Animal Event mogen ook zelf hun hond meenemen op het evenemententerrein. Wanneer zij Safaripark Beekse Bergen bezoeken, kunnen zij de hond tijdelijk onderbrengen in de hondencrèche van Eukanuba DogCity.

(Bron: http://www.safaripark.nl/)
(Bron foto: archief Kraaijer)

(Meer informatie: http://www.animal-event.nl/)

Zwerfhonden redden baby uit modder in dorpje in India

Dogs "rescue" girl abandoned by Indian mother

22-04-2008 Reuters, UK


PATNA, India (Reuters) - Hundreds of villagers have flocked to a remote Indian village to see a baby girl who was saved by stray dogs after she was abandoned in a mound of mud by her mother, officials said on Tuesday.

Villagers in the eastern state of Bihar saved the newborn on the weekend after they saw three dogs barking near a baby covered with mud. "The dogs removed the soil around and began to bark and the baby started crying which drew attention of the local villagers," Ram Narayan Sahani, a senior government official, said on Tuesday from Bihar's Samastipur district.

"The girl is crying but is safe in the lap of a childless couple who have adopted her."

Police said they were looking for the girl's mother, who they think had left the girl to die.

Female foeticide, though illegal in India, is widespread as boys are traditionally preferred to girls as breadwinners, and families have to pay huge dowries to marry off their daughters.
The United Nations says an estimated 2,000 unborn girls are illegally aborted every day in India.

(Writing by Bappa Majumdar; Editing by Alex Richardson)

(Bron: http://uk.reuters.com/)

Het gaat beter met de vlinder in ons land...

Vlinderstand loopt laatste jaren minder sterk terug

22-04-2008 Janneke van Reenen-Hak, Reformatorisch Dagblad


Op een zonnige voorjaarsdag zie je ze ineens weer in tuin of berm verschijnen: vlinders. Grote kans dat er dit jaar meer atalanta’s langskomen dan kleine vossen of dagpauwogen. Zachte winters doen laatstgenoemden de das om.

De Vlinderstichting is begin jaren tachtig uit nood geboren, aldus Kars Veling, projectleider bij de organisatie. „Sinds de jaren zestig loopt het aantal bloemrijke graslanden sterk terug, waardoor de vlinderstand achteruitholt. Ze zijn erg kritisch in hun voedselvoorziening. Als er iets mis is met de natuur, zie je dat bij deze dieren meteen terug.” De stichting viert dit jaar haar vijfde lustrum.


Een dagpauwoog zoekt voedsel op hemelsleutel, in de volksmond vlinderplant genoemd.

De afgelopen jaren is er nog steeds sprake van achteruitgang, maar die is minder sterk. Ook zijn er bescheiden successen doordat beheerders trachten leefgebieden aantrekkelijker te maken. Zo zijn bijvoorbeeld het veenhooibeestje in het Fochteloërveen (Drenthe) en de kleine ijsvogelvlinder in het Leusveld (Brummen, Gelderland) aan een opmars bezig. De successen zijn niet alleen bescheiden, maar ook kwetsbaar. „De dieren komen op geïsoleerde plekken voor. Eén keer een te hoge waterstand of verkeerd maaien kan een soort volledig laten verdwijnen.”

De zachte winters die elkaar de afgelopen jaren vrijwel zonder uitzondering opvolgen, zorgen ook voor veranderingen. De atalanta -oorspronkelijk een trekvlinder, maar inmiddels een standvlinder- redt zich prima in zijn winterse schuilplaats. Een winterslaap doet hij niet, in tegenstelling tot de kleine vos en de dagpauwoog, die juist last hebben van kwakkelwinters. Is het een dag zonnig en warm, dan ontwaken ze. Het vervolgens weer inslapen kost buitensporig veel energie, waardoor de dieren verzwakken en de winter vaak niet overleven. Veling: „Sinds 1995 is het aantal dagpauwoogen met 20 procent afgenomen.”

Nachtvlinders, zoals deze avondrood, vliegen niet alleen ’s nachts.

De Vlinderstichting kan rekenen op een enthousiast team natuurliefhebbers dat elke waarneming op de website meldt. „Een dag lekker weer staat dezelfde avond nog garant voor een regen aan meldingen.” De organisatie kan de gegevens goed gebruiken om de vlinderstand in de gaten te houden. Daarnaast wordt informatie verkregen over een aantal vaste routes dat elk jaar week in, week uit wordt gelopen.

Libellen
Nederland kent op dit moment 52 soorten dagvlinders. Daartegenover staan meer dan 2000 nachtvlinders. Hoe gaat het daarmee? Veling: „We gaan ervan uit dat het even slecht met ze gaat als met de dagvlinders, maar echt goed weten we dat niet. Hoe erg het is en welke soorten bedreigd zijn, daar hebben we nog geen zicht op. Er zijn weinig harde gegevens.”

De laatste jaren richt De Vlinderstichting zich niet alleen op vlinders, maar ook op libellen. Dat is minder vreemd dan het op het eerste gezicht lijkt. „We kunnen gebruikmaken van de dezelfde mensen. Vlinderkenners zijn vaak ook libelliefhebbers. De vlinderstand geeft informatie over de gesteldheid van het land. Libellen leven juist boven water, zodat we een totaalbeeld krijgen.”


De kleine roodoogjuffer.

Ter gelegenheid van het jubileum heeft de stichting meegewerkt aan het boek ”Ontdek vlinders & libellen”. De kleurrijke gids stimuleert natuurliefhebbers daadwerkelijk op pad te gaan in 25 vlinder- en libelrijke natuurgebieden, van de Weerribben tot Park Sonsbeek, midden in Arnhem.
De uitgebreide beschrijvingen van de tochten zijn afgewisseld met laagdrempelige informatie over vlinders en libellen. Laatstgenoemde verblijven het grootste deel van hun leven als larve onder water. Nachtvlinders vliegen -anders dan hun naam doet vermoeden- niet alleen ’s nachts. Het echte verschil is het uiteinde van de antennes op de kop. Bij dagvlinders zit er een knopje aan, bij nachtvlinders niet. Een strooprecept schept de mogelijkheid om dieren naar eigen tuin te lokken.

Het boek staat vol met foto’s en is ook voor de geïnteresseerde leek de moeite waard. Op de uitklapbare omslag staan tekeningen van een aantal bekende vlinders. Jammer dat de kleine vos en de kleine vuurvlinder daarin door elkaar worden gehaald. Ook de achterflap bevat een onzorgvuldigheid. Vlindergebied Sint-Pietersberg schijnt niet alleen in Limburg, maar ook in Overijssel te liggen. Dat neemt niet weg dat de gids over het algemeen een goed verzorgde indruk maakt.

Echte libelliefhebbers kunnen wellicht beter uit de voeten met ”Libellen van Europa”, dat alle waterjuffers en libellen tussen de Noordpool en de Sahara uitgebreid onder de loep neemt. Het boek beschrijft bekende soorten als het lantaarntje en de paardenbijter - die overigens niet bijt, maar veel bij paarden in de buurt vliegt om dazen te vangen. Daarnaast bevat de gids prachtige gedetailleerde tekeningen van soorten die op het eerste gezicht weinig van elkaar verschillen. Daarbij bedenkend dat de dieren vaak met duizelingwekkende snelheid voorbijsuizen, is de tip om een goede verrekijker aan te schaffen die je ook voor dichtbij kunt scherpstellen op zijn plaats.

Dip
Na een paar warme dagen begin februari bleef het dit voorjaar een tijd rustig met de vlinders. Pas begin april druppelden er weer wat meldingen binnen op de website van De Vlinderstichting. Vlinders zijn koudbloedig en hebben zonlicht nodig om hun lichaamstemperatuur op ongeveer 30 graden te brengen, zodat ze kunnen vliegen. Het is altijd lastig te voorspellen of er een goed vlinderjaar aankomt, aldus Veling. „Voor dit jaar verwachten we geen dip. We hebben vorig jaar weliswaar een matige zomer gehad, maar wel een goed voorjaar, waarin de vlinders zich hebben voortgeplant.” Te warm is overig ook niet goed. „Het jaar 2003 is warm en droog geweest, waardoor bijvoorbeeld de heide nauwelijks heeft gebloeid. Vlinders waren toen niet in staat zich voort te planten. Het jaar daarop zagen we een enorme dip, waarvan de vlinderstand nog steeds niet volledig is hersteld.”

Mede n.a.v. ”Ontdek vlinders & libellen”, door Barbara Rijpkema; uitg. KNNV, Zeist, 2008; ISBN 978 90 5011 272 7; 104 blz., € 14,95;
”Libellen van Europa”, door Klaas Douwe B. Dijkstra; uitg. Tirion, Baarn, 2008; ISBN 978 90 5210 700 4; 320 blz., € 39,95.

http://www.vlinderstichting.nl/

(Bron: http://www.refdag.nl/)
(Bron foto's: Reformatorisch Dagblad)

Studenten Universiteit van Michigan (VS) verzetten zich tegen dierproeven op hun universiteit

Student group slams MSU's animal research

MSU VP: Practice is necessary for biomedical studies

22-04-2008 Matthew Miller • Lansing State Journal, USA


Mitch Goldsmith came to the steps of Michigan State University's Hannah Administration Building on Monday to talk about one puppy, 66 minks and the ethics of animal research. Goldsmith, an MSU freshman, was there on behalf of a Students Promoting Animal Rights, a campus group that made the news earlier this month while protesting the Royal Hanneford Circus performing at MSU.

On Monday, the group called on the university to reduce the amount of animal research on campus and pointed to the deaths of that puppy, which became trapped in a floor drain in 2006, and the minks, which died of heat stress in the summer of 2007, as examples of "university negligence."

In both instances, MSU was given warnings by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for violating the federal Animal Welfare Act. Marc Breedlove, who heads the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee at MSU, which approves animal research on campus and investigates accidents, said those incidents were terribly upsetting to staff.

"They will try to make it sound like the reason these accidents happened is because we were lax or sadistic," Breedlove said. "But, in truth, these are very unfortunate incidents that we've already taken steps to make sure don't happen in the future." Drain lids in the rooms where dogs are kept now are screwed down, he said. The puppy that died had lifted one and fallen in.

The campus mink facility now has improved ventilation and water misters for hot days, he said.
Breedlove said a report last year to the federal government showed MSU had conducted no animal research that fell into the most extreme category, where experiments cause animals pain and they are not given anesthetics.

Goldsmith made more of the violations documented by the USDA, which the group obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. The university has "categorically stated that they're an extremely ethical organization and they treat animals with care," he said, "but these reports by the government say otherwise."

As for eliminating animal research on campus, Ian Gray, MSU's vice president for research and graduate studies, said it's highly unlikely. "The use of animals is a very integral part of biomedical research," he said. "For us to eliminate that would take us out of the mainstream as a research-intensive university."

Contact Matthew Miller at 377-1046 or mrmiller@lsj.com.

(Bron: http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/)
(Bron foto en meer informatie: http://www.sparmsu.org/)

Grieken en Turken op Cyprus bundelen krachten om de Cypriotische ezel te redden van ondergang...

Greek and Turkish Cypriots join up to save

the Cyprus donkey

22-04-2008 By Leo Leonidou, Cyprus Mail


OVER 2,000 Greek and Turkish Cypriots have joined forces in order to protect a rare breed of feral donkey, once labelled by President Makarios as “the only true Cypriots on Cyprus”. The animals could be under threat of extinction from reckless hunters, disgruntled farmers and drought, environmental activists have warned.

Using a Facebook group entitled ‘Save The Cyprus Donkey’, the people have come together after ten of the brown animals were found shot dead in Karpasia at the end of March. They describe the donkey as the symbol of Cyprus and say that it is their responsibility to protect one of the world’s last wild colonies.


“The ones that belong to us are murdered by the ones who do not belong to us. If we stay silent, that makes us a part of this murder,” their message states. A fortnight ago, members met at Monarga village from where they headed off to the Karpas peninsula’s ‘Golden Beach’ to commemorate the dead animals and discuss what to do.

“Hunters are shooting at them for fun, and farmers are killing them because they say they damage their crops,” the head of the Turkish Cypriot branch of the Green Action group, Dogan Sahir, told the Mail following the shootings. “The enemy of nature is the enemy of humans,” read a banner unfurled by a small group of demonstrators at a sandy beach near Rizokarpaso village, that has for decades been a donkey sanctuary.

According to news agency Agence France Presse, a 20-year-old primary school employee who addressed the rally said the main suspects in the unsolved deaths were farmers angered by crop damage. But fingers have also been pointed at hunters and developers eager to exploit the Karpas peninsula, one of the last unspoilt parts of the island.

Ironically, the Karpas donkey colony has been boosted by the 1974 Turkish invasion.
The vast majority of the area’s Greek Cypriot farmers fled south during the fighting, abandoning their animals. And as agriculture declined amid the growing urbanisation, the ‘freed’ donkeys were replaced by tractors and pick-ups.

A 2003 study found that about 800 donkeys were roaming the olive orchards and wheat fields, and along the beaches of the relatively unspoilt Karpas landscape.
Sahir believes the number of the indigenous donkeys living there has been falling rapidly since the last census was carried out. The breed is believed to be unique because it has managed to survive unassisted by humans in the wild since escaping from its owners centuries ago.

“We cannot know how many are left, but we do know that many have been killed since the count,” Sahir said. Commenting, a spokesman for the Veterinary Services described the shootings as “unacceptable”. He called on various environmental groups to exert pressure on the authorities in order to protect the donkeys.

“It’s a real shame what’s happening,” he said, adding that the Services cannot intervene as they do not have any jurisdiction in the north. Many years ago, the donkeys and mules of Cyprus were renowned throughout the Middle East for their size, strength and endurance.

They were also valuable to the island’s British colonial rulers during both world wars.
Cyprus donkeys were exported throughout the region for cross-breeding with horses to produce a mighty strain of mule. According to the 1931 Handbook of Cyprus, “the Cyprus donkeys are of good quality being able to carry a load from 168 pounds (75 kilos) to 224 pounds and over.”

(Bron foto: http://www.cyprus-mail.com/)
(Bron foto: archief Kraaijer)

Barnaby the Cyprus Donkey

Op werelderfgoed eilandje Macquarie Island (Tasmanië) start strijd tegen overpopulatie konijnen - Gif, honden en scherpschutters worden ingezet

Poison, dogs, sharpshooters head Macquarie Is

rabbit cull

22-04-2008 By Felicity Ogilvie, ABC News Australia


A World Heritage-listed island halfway between Hobart and Antarctica has gone from wildlife breeding ground to battleground. Macquarie Island is a sanctuary for penguins, seals and rare sea birds but they're being overrun by 100,000 rabbits. The rabbits arrived with hunters in the 1860s but their run of the island is about to end with a team of specially-trained dogs being brought in to kill them.

Tasmanian scientist Rosemary Gales has just returned from a trip to the island. "What we all saw was a progressively deteriorating landscape as a result of the grazing of the rabbits and also the impacts of the rodents," she told PM.
"So there's more land slips, there's fewer birds breeding in burrows, and the slopes where the albatrosses breed are becoming more and more unstable with some nests literally falling down the slope."


Macquarie Island's exploding rabbit population is causing mass erosion through grazing and burrowing. (AAP: Tasmanian National Parks Association)

The purpose of the trip was to show the island to the coordinator of the rabbit dog training program, a New Zealander called John Cheyne. Mr Cheyne has done this sort of work before. He has trained dogs to clear rats off another sub-Antarctic island called Campbell.
Mr Cheyne visited Macquarie Island to work out exactly what kind of dog to send.

"A good rabbit dog has got to come from good hunting stock, which means it's from proven hunting parents on either rabbits or something similar," he said.
"They've got to have a good heart, good nose, agility, fitness and a good coat, and also be biddable with handlers and other people.
"The recommended breeds of dogs are primarily labradors with some springer spaniels and one or two small terrier-type dogs."

The dogs won't kill the rabbits - that's the job of their handlers. The dogs sniff out the rabbits.
"The factors we've got to take into account are the very steep and difficult terrain, the very harsh climate so dogs need a good coat, and dogs generally have got to be pretty nimble, agile and fit for that sort of environment," Mr Cheyne said.

It is going to take at least 18 months to train the rabbit dogs. The dogs will then be sent to the island during winter in 2010 after helicopters drop poisoned pellets on the island. The bait is expected to kill most of the rabbits but the dogs will help take care of the survivors. Keith Springer is managing the $25 million Pest Eradication Project.

"The dogs and the other field teams, because the dog handlers are part of a sorter wider field team, they'll be working in conditions which will include quite frequent rain showers, squalls, snow, usually quite strong winds, and generally cooler temperatures than most people think is acceptable," he said.

After visiting the island, Mr Cheyne says some of the slopes have been so badly eroded by the rabbits they will be too steep for the dogs. "The very steep country that rabbits are now successfully living on, dogs are going to have to work over much of that and sometimes that is probably too steep for dogs to work on so there will be other techniques that will be utilised there to actually exterminate the last few animals," he said.

Mr Springer says in places the dogs can not go, the handlers will use heat-sensing equipment to hunt the rabbits at night. "We'll be looking to use binoculars and possibly some more high-tech equipment such as thermal imaging equipment to determine if there's any rabbits indeed left in that area, and then use some long-range shooting from those vantage points," he said.

12 dogs are being trained up to work on Macquarie Island for five years or until the last rabbit is sniffed out and killed.

(Bron: http://www.abc.net.au/)
(Bron foto: ABC News / Bron foto Google Earth: archief Kraaijer))

Verschil van mening in Zeeland over relatie teken en damherten...

Dierenbescherming heeft felle kritiek op

aanpak van teken

22-04-2008 door Piet Kleemans, Provinciale Zeeuwsche Courant


BURGH-HAAMSTEDE - De dierenbescherming Noord- en Midden-Zeeland is boos op de gemeente Schouwen-Duiveland. Het feit dat de gemeente - onder meer in het kader van de bestrijding van teken - met de provincie wil praten over regulering van het aantal damherten, is de dierenbeschermers in het verkeerde keelgat geschoten.

,,De dierenbescherming betreurt het zeer dat de gemeente een dergelijke uitspraak doet en de provincie aanspoort tot zo'n drastische maatregel. Wij spreken de hoop uit dat de gemeente haar oorspronkelijke voorstel intrekt."

Wethouder Gilles Houtekamer reageert verbaasd op de - in zijn ogen - volstrekt onterechte kritiek. ,,Ik kan er met de pet niet bij dat de dierenbescherming nu met deze reactie komt", aldus de wethouder. Hij legt uit dat de door de gemeente gewenste regulering niet alleen met het tekenprobleem maar ook met verkeersveiligheid te maken heeft. In de kop van Schouwen lopen veel meer damherten rond dan waarvoor - qua leefgebied - eigenlijk plaats is. Gevolg is dat dieren buiten hun directe leefomgeving op zoek gaan naar voedsel. Dat levert ernstig gevaar op voor de verkeersveiligheid. Bovendien beschouwt de gemeente het damhert als verspreider van teken. Dat alles bij elkaar is reden voor Schouwen-Duiveland om bij de provincie aan te dringen op maatregelen. ,,En daarmee blijven wij volstrekt binnen de normen van de wet."

Over de rol van het damhert met betrekking tot de teek verschillen de gemeente en de dierenbescherming van mening. De gemeente houdt het erop dat er onvoldoende bewijs is dat afschot van damherten leidt tot afname van het tekenbestand. Volgens de dierenbescherming werkt afschieten zelfs averrechts en zouden hoefdieren als damherten de verspreiding van de ziekte van Lyme - veroorzaakt door besmette teken juist inperken.

(Bron: http://www.pzc.nl/)

PETA wil vlees laten ontwikkelen uit in-vitrotechniek

Een miljoen dollar voor ontwikkeling 'in vitro vlees'

21-04-2008 NRC Handelsblad, ANP


Rijswijk, 21 april. Dierenrechtenorganisatie PETA looft 1 miljoen dollar uit voor de eerste wetenschapper die voor 2012 kipvlees kan produceren zonder daarvoor dieren te slachten. Dat kan volgens de organisatie door dierlijke stamcellen in een drager te plaatsen en daar te laten groeien, de zogenoemde in-vitrotechniek. Dat maakte PETA vandaag bekend.

Volgens de organisatie zitten wetenschappers op dit gebied zonder fondsen en kan de beloning van 1 miljoen dollar in het vooruitzicht stimulerend werken. ,,Er zijn al een aantal technologische stappen in de goede richting gezet, maar het zal nog jaren duren voor dit soort vlees op de markt zal komen.''

Aan het winnen van de dollars zijn wel een aantal voorwaarden verbonden. Zo moet het vlees qua smaak en samenstelling niet te onderscheiden zijn van echt kipvlees. Tien juryleden zullen de kip en het 'kweekvlees' vergelijken en bij een score van 80 of hoger, zal het bedrag uitgekeerd worden. Overigens moet het vlees dan wel tegen marktprijs op de markt kunnen komen en op grote schaal geproduceerd kunnen worden.

(Bron: http://www.nrc.nl/)
(Bron foto: archief Kraaijer)

Turkse overheid laat 2000 honden in asiel Istanboel doodhongeren - Asiel Beykoz om onduidelijke redenen gesloten

Oproep van Turkse dierenvrienden:

21-04-2008 Door: Özlem Kurtoglu


Beste dierenvrienden,

mijn naam is Özlem Kurtoglu en ik vraag uw aandacht voor een zeer dringende zaak. De Turkse overheid heeft onlangs in Istanboel besloten, het dierenasiel in Istanboel (Tierheim Beykoz) met totaal 2000 honden te sluiten met onduidelijke redenen en zonder inleidende waarschuwing.

U weet misschien uit eigen ervaring dat de zuidelijke landen totaal geen interesse hebben voor de zwerfdieren, hun opvang en verzorging. Dus is er omgaande besloten om deze 2000 honden eenvoudig te laten verhongeren en geen water meer geven om zo op een vreselijke manier een eind aan hun leven te maken.

Vanaf zondag worden de vrijwilligers, de verantwoordelijke dierenarts evenals de twee leiders Berrin Olcay en Yasemin Baban toetreding tot het asiel geweigerd! Slechts vanaf de buitenkant hoort men het gekerm en geschreeuw van de honden uit de kennels, waar zo langzamerhand het kannibalisme toeslaat!
"Beykoz 14 April.. The work of the Major of Beykoz" by İvan Jimenez (Bron foto: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=33910&l=b6913&id=774064111)

De onschuldige puppys, die zich in de - door de veranwoordelijken tegengehouden_ gebouwen bevinden, zullen ondertussen massaal door de hongerdood getroffen zijn.

Er is inmiddels een petitie in omloop (http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/helft-berrin-und-ihrem-tierheim-in-be) tegen deze onmenselijke beslissing van officiële Turkse zijde en er is ook al een video in omloop op Youtube.com hiervan: (http://youtube.com/watch?v=3fHLErahwLM) Wel is deze bijdrage in het Turks, maar men begrijpt al snel waar het om gaat.

Vriendelijke groet,
Özlem Kurtoglu
Mail: oezlem_kurtoglu@t-online.de

(Bron foto's: http://www.klausschaper.de/)

(Meer weten over het Beykoz hondenasiel:
http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=101842
http://wagny.wordpress.com/2008/04/19/wag-ny-the-stench-of-death-in-beykoz-turkey/)

VS werkt aan betere bescherming wetenschappers (universiteiten) die met proefdieren werken...

Of Mice & Men

In response to radical animal rights protests UC-sponsored legislation aims to protect animal researchers from harrassment.

21-04-2008 By Nicole Teixeira, Senior Staff Writer, The Guardian - University of California San Diego, USA


Animal rights were a source of debate long before the UC system was formed, but over the last five years, actions taken by both sides have escalated, bringing the issue to a head with increasingly violent animal-rights protests and stringent new UC-sponsored legislation.

The first major victory for animal-rights groups in the recent past occurred in 2003. Protesters gathered outside UCSD’s Basic Sciences Building on Feb. 19 to challenge a voluntary School of Medicine dog lab for freshmen. The lab used 24 privately bred dogs, valued at $576 each, for a half-day experiment involving vivisection and ending with the euthanization of the animals. Fifty out of 120 medical school students opted to skip the quarter’s first lab, and the lab was canceled completely in August 2003.

Three years later, in 2006, UCLA began experiencing its first major violent protests, having been the site of many nonviolent marches in previous years.

According to an anonymous July 11 communique released by the North American Animal Liberation Press Office, the Animal Liberation Front placed a Molotov cocktail on UCLA researcher Lynn Fairbanks’ doorstep on June 30 as retaliation for “breeding monkeys for painful addiction experiments.” However, a statement released by the FBI did not confirm that Fairbanks was the target of the attack and said the incendiary device — actually placed on the doorstep of Fairbanks’ 70-year-old neighbor — failed to ignite.

In February 2007, the Burnham Institute for Medical Research, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, the Scripps Research Institute and UCSD formed the San Diego Research Ethics Consortium. As of December 2007, all four institutions have adopted a common ethics training requirement, offered through SDREC. Courses focus on the ethics of stem-cell research as well as other ethical issues such as social responsibility and the treatment of human and animal subjects.

The UCLA protests returned with full force on June 24, 2007. An incendiary device, along with one gallon of fuel, was found next to UCLA researcher Arthur Rosenbaum’s vehicle. NAALPO press officer Jerry Vlasak said Rosenbaum “glues steel coils onto the eyes of primates,” and a group calling itself the Animal Liberation Brigade claimed responsibility in a June 27 communique released by NAALPO.

According to Newsweek, Rosenbaum’s wife received a package weeks later containing animal fur and razor blades from someone claiming to be with ALF, threatening, “What he does to animals, we will do to you.”

ALF also claimed responsibility for flooding UCLA researcher Edythe London’s Beverly Hills, Calif. home on Oct. 20. The group inserted a hosepipe into a broken window and reportedly caused more than $20,000 in water damage.

Two months later, on Dec. 5, the UCSD School of Medicine complex was evacuated for seven hours when former UCSD employee Richard Sills Jr. threatened to detonate multiple explosives unless all animals used in UCSD research facilities were released. The bomb threat, centered on a suspicious package found in the Leichtag Biomedical Research Building, was ultimately determined to be a hoax.

Then on Feb. 5, 2008, London was targeted again, this time with an incendiary device left at her home. Although the device did ignite and cause damage, no one is believed to have been present when the incident occurred.

UCLA responded to this latest attack by filing a lawsuit on Feb. 21 aimed at stopping the threats. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Gerald Rosenberg granted a temporary restraining order against the UCLA Primate Freedom Project, ALF, ALB and five individuals believed to affiliate with the groups. According to a UCLA press release, under the order, the defendants are prohibited from harassing UCLA personnel or coming within 50 feet of them during a demonstration. It also requires extremists to remove personal information about researchers from their Web sites.

“We’re dealing with terrorist organizations and people who are knowingly involving themselves with these terrorist organizations,” said John Hueston, a lawyer for UCLA, in a Feb. 27 Newsweek article.

Director of the UCLA Primate Freedom Project Jean Green told Newsweek she would comply with the restraining order but said, “We’re not going to just lay down.” Green has since removed the researchers’ addresses from her Web site, but reportedly hinted to Newsweek that she may continue the fight through e-mail.

Three days later, on Feb. 24, six masked intruders attempted to force their way into a UC Santa Cruz researcher’s residence and fled after a confrontation that involved a physical attack on the researcher’s husband.

“An attempted home invasion by masked perpetrators is not free speech — it is a criminal act that threatens, intimidates and stifles academic freedom,” UCSC Chancellor George Blumenthal said in a statement.

In March, UC Berkeley campus officials followed suit and said they were attempting to sue for a restraining order against informally organized activists who stage weekly demonstrations outside at least six Berkeley researchers’ homes.

“Calling a person an animal abuser and a puppy killer is protected speech,” said animal-rights attorney Christine Garcia, according to a March 5 article in the Daily Cal. “Constitutionally protected speech is not harassment.”

Later that same month, the UC system announced it is seeking to expand its UCLA restraining order to a permanent systemwide injunction, protecting all 10 UC campuses from the defendants named in the tempor