Olympian efforts for animals in China

April 1, 2008 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2008:
BEIJING–Four months before the 2008 Olympic Games in
Beijing, China has yet to introduce a long hoped for and officially
hinted at national humane law–but a newly decreed ban on poultry
slaughter in traditional live markets strikes at the economic
viability of live markets themselves.
“Despite protests by poultry vendors who fear that the ban
will affect their livelihood, the policy will go into effect on
April 1, 2008 and all chicken, geese and ducks should then be
slaughtered at licensed abattoirs,” warned Chinese National Science
Council chair Chen Chien-jen.
Chen Chien-jen also heads the Chinese cabinet task force on
prevention of the H5N1 avian flu, which has killed 19 of the 29
Chinese known to have become infected.
Five H5N1 outbreaks hit poultry in China during the first
quarter of 2008. The most recent Chinese human fatality was a
44-year-old woman from Haifeng County in Guangdong who died on
February 28.

Asia
Law

U.S. cockfighting busts reveal Philippine connection

March 1, 2008 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2008:
HONOLULU–Alleged cockfighter Joseph Marty Toralba, 39, on
February 21, 2008 became one of the first persons indicted under the
May 2007 U.S. federal Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act,
prosecutor Ed Kubo told reporters. The act added felony provisions
to existing federal law against transporting animals for fighting or
animal fighting paraphernalia across state or U.S. national
boundaries.
U.S. Customs agents at the Honolulu airport on February 2,
2008 found 263 cockfighting gaffs in boxes imported from the
Philippines that Toralba said held gas stoves, prosecutor Ed Kubo
alleged. Toralba, of Colfax, Louisiana, keeps 650 gamecocks and
breeding hens, Kuba noted.

Mauled tiger rescuer gets a job offer

March 1, 2008 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2008:
KOLKATA–The Compassionate Crusaders Trust has offered a job
to Ashutosh Dhali, 45, of Deulbari, West Bengal, who was severely
mauled on February 18, 2008 while checking to see if forest guards
had properly tranquilized a female tiger who had been treed by a
rock-throwing mob.
“Forest guards encircled the tree with a net,” the Times of
India reported, “but the locals set the tree on fire,” causing the
tiger to flee.

Whalers spend winter hiding

March 1, 2008 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2008:
HOBART, TOKYO–Sea Shepherd Conservation Society captain
Paul Watson on March 2, 2008 reported that the crew of the Sea
Shepherd vessel Steve Irwin had pitched two dozen bottles of rancid
butter onto deck of the Japanese whaling factory ship Nisshiin Maru
in Porpoise Bay, off Antarctica.
The stink bomb attack came toward the end of a winter-long
campaign that saw Sea Shepherds, joined at times by Greenpeace and
the Australian coast guard, stalking the Nisshin Maru since the
Steve Irwin sailed from Melbourne on December 5, 2007. The Nisshin
Maru, four whale-catching vessels, and the supply ship Oriental
Bluebird spent most of the winter trying to elude observation,
rather than killing whales. The Japanese coast guard vessel
Fukuyoshi Maru #68 had shadowed the Steve Irwin since January 15,
but was ultimately not able to keep the Sea Shepherds away from the
Nisshin Maru.

Indian Supreme Court flipflops on bullfights

January 1, 2008 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2008:

NEW DELHI–As many as 400 villages in the
Madurai region of Tamil Nadu held traditional
mass participation bullfights called jallikattu
during the Pongal harvest festival on January 17,
2008, after a three-judge panel of the Supreme
Court of India on January 15 reversed an order
halting jallikattu issued by a two-judge panel of
the Supreme Court just four days earlier.
The original order kept in effect a ban
on jallikattu rendered by the Supreme Court in
July 2007, reversing a verdict by the Madras
High Court that allowed it. The Supreme Court is
to hear an appeal of the July 2007 verdict filed
by the government of Tamil Nadu later in 2008.
Jallikattu was allowed this year under
condition, summarized the Deccan Herald, that
“the authorities shall take all precaution that
the animals are not tortured. There would be no
cruelty on the animals. No liquor, no injury to
any of the bulls.”

Beijing bans selling songbirds

January 1, 2008 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2008:

BEIJING–Trafficking in song thrushes and
six other bird species often kept as caged pets
is now banned throughout China, effective since
January 1, 2008.
Birds already in private possession may
remain with those who have them, but may not be
sold or traded.
The seven prohibited bird species, also
including parakeets, larks, and mynahs, were
reportedly the first additions since 1989 to the
Chinese list of protected wildlife.

Puppy mills now an issue in China

November 1, 2007 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2007:

HONG KONG, BEIJING, MELBOURNE –Humane societies and mass
media a world away from the U.S. joined U.S. counterparts in autumn
2007 denunciations of puppy mills.
Hong Kong SPCA spokeswoman Rebecca Ngan Yee-ling complained
to Simon Parry of the South China Morning Post that “The public is
encouraged to buy pedigree dogs by certain movies, as well as by the
influence of celebrities bringing their pedigree dogs into the
limelight.” She described pet shops as “an area of vast concern in
terms of animal welfare,” and noted that at times more than 40% of
the dogs arriving at the Hong Kong SPCA shelters are cast-off
purebreds.
Ngan blamed the influx of purebreds for a slump in adoptions
of mongrels, dropping total dog adoptions from 876 in 2003 to 751 in
2006, while the animal control shelter operated by the Agriculture,
Fisheries, and Conservation Department in fiscal 2007 killed an
average of 941 dogs a month, up from 875 a month in 2006.

Elephant polo debate overshadows introduction of microchipping

November 1, 2007 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2007:
BANGKOK, MUMBAI–The Tourism Authority of Thailand on
Nov-ember 19, 2007 named the King’s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament one
of Thai-land’s must-see “Seven Amazing Wonders.”
The announcement reignited a debate over elephant polo that
has raged for more than two years through the Asian Animal Protection
Network electronic forum. Opponents, chiefly in the northeast of
India, where elephant polo has never been played, hold that the
game is cruel exploitation. Others see it as a chance for the
elephant participants to enjoy a day of light work on grass, as a
pretext for affluent humans to party.
The game itself consists of only two ten-minute chukkars,
in contrast to the elephants’ usual daily labor of either hauling
tourists or waiting for customers.

Guangzhou bans eating snakes– ban helps cats

November 1, 2007 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2007:

GUANGZHOU–Guangzhou bureau of forestry director Guo Qinghe
suppressed human consumption of cat meat during the first weekend of
November 2007 by announcing on local television his intent to enforce
a four-year-old Guangzhou city ordinance against eating snakes. “It
is illegal for companies, restaurants and individuals to sell live
snakes, snake meat, and related foods,” Guo said, not mentioning
cats, but in case there was any doubt about what he meant, Zheng
Caixiong of the official government newspaper China Daily spelled it
out.
“The popular Cantonese dish longhudou or ‘dragon duels with
tiger’ has been banned,” wrote Zheng Caixiong. “The delicacy
derives its name from snake and cat meat. Apart from having their
snakes and snake products confiscated, those caught flouting the ban
will be fined between 10,000 yuan ($1,300) and 100,000 yuan
($13,000).”

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