New draft Egyptian constitution guarantees “protection of animal welfare”

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2013:

 
CAIRO––The 50-member constituent assembly responsible for
establishing the new Egyptian constitution has included recognition of
animal welfare in Article 45 of a redraft that is expected to be
ratified in early 2014.
Announcing the inclusion of the animal welfare clause on
December 1, 2013, Cairo animal advocate Dina Zulfikar forwarded two
different translations of Article 45 from the Arabic original,
diverging in idiom but parallel in apparent intent.

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Fishy deals menace wolves

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2013:

 

WASHINGTON D.C., LANSING, SALT LAKE CITY––Public comment
ended on December 17, 2013 on the latest U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
attempt to remove grey wolves from the U.S. endangered species list as
purportedly fully recovered.
“Wolves across the U.S. will be left to be hunted, trapped,
and even beaten or poisoned––whatever the state which they call home
sees fit,” warned Endangered Species Coalition executive director
Leda Huta.

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Animal Welfare Board of India bans circus use of elephants

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2013:
MUMBAI––The Animal Welfare Board of India on November 15,
2013 announced that it will no longer license elephants for circus use,
and will prosecute circuses that use sick, injured, and unlicensed
animals.
The AWBI acted in response to a nine-month investigation by a
team including representatives from the advocacy organizations
PETA/India and Animal Rahat, reported Vijay Singh of the Times of
India.
“PETA/India’s findings will be forwarded to the Central Zoo
Authority for further action,” Singh added.
The Central Zoo Authority in November 2009 decreed that
elephants may no longer be exhibited by zoos and circuses, but had been
unable to enforce the decree against circuses while the Animal Welfare
Board continued to authorize elephant use.
The Supreme Court of India in 2001 upheld a ban on the use of
bears, monkeys, and big cats in circuses. More than 280 lions, 40
tigers, and scores of aging ex-performing bears were transferred to
CZA-accredited Animal Rescue Centres near Agra, Bangalore, Bhopal,
Chennai, Jaipur, Tirupati, and Visakhapatnam. Since many of those
animals are now deceased, some of the Animal Rescue Centre space may
now be converted to house ex-circus elephants.
India has about 3,500 captive elephants, the most of any
nation; a 3,500-year history of elephant use and exhibition; about
28,000 elephants left in the wild, more than half of the total
population of Asian elephants; and the longest record of protecting
both elephants and elephant habitat, beginning about 2,240 years ago.

Public moral concerns warrant EU seal product import ban, rules WTO

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2013:

 

BRUSSELS––The World Trade Organization on November 25, 2013
upheld most of the 2009 European Union ban on the import of seal
products, overturning the ban only when applied to “seal products
derived from hunts conducted by Inuit or indigenous communities and
hunts conducted for marine resource management purposes.”
The WTO ruling allows governments permitting seal hunts the
opportunity to redefine commercially motivated massacres as “marine
resource management,” but those governments would then have to
demonstrate a need for such management that would be persuasive to
international regulators.

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Murders over animal fighting

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2013:
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico––Chihuahua state general prosecutor
Jorge Gonzalez Nicolas told media on November 20, 2013 that police had
arrested suspects Jesus Mendoza Hernandez, 21, and Edgar Lujan
Guevara, 31, in the alleged dogfighting-related murders of a family of
eight, and were seeking a third suspect.
The suspects “took money and three vehicles. It was all
apparently because of a bet made at a pit bull dog fight,” Gonzalez
Nicolas said, contrary to speculation in some media that a dog stud fee
was at issue.
The sum in dispute was reportedly $115.

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Walking horse trainer faces state charges after federal case is dropped

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2013:

 

SHELBYVILLE, Tennessee––A Blount County grand jury on
December 2, 2013 indicted Tennessee walking horse trainer Larry Joe
Wheelon, 68, and stable workers Randall Stacy Gunter, 44, and
Brandon Randall Lunsford, 32, on 18 counts each of aggravated cruelty
to livestock animals and conspiracy to commit the cruelty.
Each faces 13 felony counts plus five misdemeanor counts.
Farrier Blake T. Primm was indicted for one felony cruelty count
and one misdemeanor conspiracy count, both involving the same horse.
The indictments allege that the four men “Did purchase, mix
and/or apply acid or other caustic substances or chemicals to exposed
areas of walking horses, in a depraved and sadistic manner, without
justifiable or lawful purpose, and did purchase, mix and/or apply
compounds, including blistering compounds, to inflict burns, cuts,
lacerations, or other injuries or pain, to the legs or hooves of
walking horses,” in order to force the horses into a high-stepping
show gait called “The Big Lick.”

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Proposed poultry slaughter line speed-up would boil more birds alive

From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  October 2013: (Actually published on November 20,  2013.)

WASHINGTON D.C.––Fast-moving poultry slaughter lines cause nearly a million chickens and turkeys per year to be boiled alive when workers miss killing them,  according to USDA data. Yet,  reported Kimberly Kindy in the October 29,  2013 edition of the Washington Post,  “The USDA is finalizing a proposal that would allow poultry companies to accelerate their processing lines.” Read more

Stop dogfighting by addressing supply side economics

From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  October 2013: (Actually published on November 20,  2013.)

Police in Montgomery,  Alabama on October 1,  2013 took custody of the last 16 of at least 386 pit bulls who were impounded after raids in August 2013 on an alleged multistate dogfighting ring.  Thirteen defendants,  from Alabama,  Georgia,  Mississippi,   and Texas,  are facing related charges. Initiated by the Auburn,  Alabama police department,  the investigation and impoundments were assisted by at least 15 humane organizations,  both locally and nationwide.   Read more

Canada prohibits puppy imports by animal welfare agencies

From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  October 2013: (Actually published on November 20,  2013.) 

OTTAWA––Responding to rising concern about what dogs are being imported into Canada,  in what health under what conditions,  the Canadian Food Inspection Agency on November 1,  2013 rescinded a 2005 rule that allowed animal charities to import puppies almost without restriction.   Read more

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