India reaffirms support of Animal Birth Control program

October 1, 2006 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2006:
NEW DELHI, ISTANBUL, BUCHAREST,
BELGRADE–The historic progress of compassionate
teachings about animals from east to west
appeared evident yet again in September 2006
rabies and street dog population control
developments.
India in September 2006 reaffirmed
neuter/return and vaccination as the official
national anti-rabies strategy.
Turkey was embarrassed by exposés of
inadequate supervision of a similar policy,
brought into effect by law in June 2005.
Several Romanian local governments,
including in the capital city of Bucharest,
appeared to be either ignoring or trying to roll
back animal control holding requirements, to
expedite killing.

Elephant birth control introduced in India

October 1, 2006 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2006:
About a dozen female elephants among the 30 elephants used
for patrol work by the West Bengal Forest Department are soon to
receive birth control implants, senior department official P.T.
Bhutiya told news media in mid-September 2006.
“Our department is suffering a budget cut, so we have been
asked to only maintain those elephants who are useful, and introduce
birth control amongst the whole population,” Bhutiya said. The
forestry department herd formerly produced three or four offspring
per year.
Of the estimated 400 elephants left in West Bengal, about
65-80 are captive work or exhibiton animals.

No more polar bears at Singapore Zoo

October 1, 2006 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2006:
SINGAPORE–Singapore Zoo director Fanny Lai told Reuters on
September 7, 2006 that the zoo will no longer exhibit Arctic and
Antarctic animals after the eventual death of Sheba, 29, the elder
of the two polar bears on exhibit at the zoo.
Singapore is located just north of the equator.
Lai told Reuters that she has asked the Rostock Zoo in
Germany, manager of the global captive polar bear survival plan, to
find a more suitable home for Inuka, 16, who is to be moved after
Sheba dies.

Marine mammal exhibitors join protest against Japanese coastal dolphin killing

October 1, 2006 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2006:

More than 60 organizations demonstrated
outside Japanese embassies and consulates in 32
cities against “traditional” coastal whaling on
September 20, 2006, the second annual Japan
Dolphin Day declared and coordinated by Ric
O’Barry of One Voice. Most notoriously practiced
at Taiji, the coastal whaling method consists of
driving dolphins into shallow bays from which
they cannot escape and then hacking them to death
en massé, after some are selected for live
capture and sale to swim-with-dolphins
attractions and exhibition parks.
The so-called “drive fisheries” have been
protested for more than 30 years by marine mammal
advocates including Sakei Hemmi of the Elsa
Nature Conservancy/Japan, film maker Hardin
Jones, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society founder
Paul Watson, and Steve Sipman, who invented the
name “Animal Liberation Front” in connection with
releasing two dolphins from a Hawaiian laboratory
in 1976. The Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks &
Aquariums and the American Zoo & Aquarium
Association finally issued statements of
objection to the “drive fisheries” in March 2004,
as did the World Association of Zoos & Aquariums
in June 2006.

Harsh monsoons test rescuers

October 1, 2006 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2006:
VISAKHAPATNAM–At least 49 people were reported dead in
Bangladesh and 46 in India on September 22, 2006, following the
ninth cyclone to hit the western coast of the Bay of Bengal in as
many weeks. The animal toll was not immediately available.
“We are hoping to get some help to add to our efforts,”
e-mailed Visakha SPCA president Pradeep Kumar Nath. “Help is needed
urgently for feed.”
The Visakha SPCA continued assisting animals elsewhere along
the stricken Bengal coast while rebuilding its own facilities,
destroyed by a cyclone and landslides on August 3, just 11 months
after a typhoon destroyed the previous facilities in September 2005.
“We send our deepest gratitude from the animals and villagers
for the flood relief help we have received from the World Society for
the Protection of Animals and individual donors,” Nath said before
the ninth cyclone hit. “So far we have been able to help more than
27,000 animals with over 66 ton of food, vaccinations, wound
treatment and deworming.”

Thai coup may hit wildlife traffic

October 1, 2006 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2006:
BANGKOK–The September 20, 2006 Thai
military coup postponed for six days the already
long delayed return of 41 smuggled orangutans
from Thailand to Indonesia. Still, Wildlife
Friends Found-ation Thailand founder Edwin Wiek
told members of the Asian Animal Protection
Network, “We believe that under the new rule the
conservation of wildlife will improve.”
The repatriation flight, orginally set
for September 23, was rescheduled for September
29.
Another seven orangutans are suffering
from hepatitis, the Jakarta Post reported on
September 16. Indonesia has refused to accept
them, at least until after they recover.
“The Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation
and Wildlife Friends, who were to facilitate the
repatriation for the Indonesian government, were
told that the Indonesian Navy plane that was to
pick up the apes could not land in Thailand until
further notice,” Wiek said earlier.

Cat defenders storm Shenzhen restaurant

September 1, 2006 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2006:

SHENZHEN–About 40 cat-lovers backed by
“a large crowd including children,” according to
China Daily, whom they gathered as they
marched, stormed the newly opened Fang Company
Cat Meatball Restaurant in Shenzhen on June 17,
2006, extracting a promise from the owner to
serve cats no more.
Zhang Jing and Song Yuanhui of the
Southern Metropolis Daily reported that “almost
100 animal rights defenders gathered in front of
the restaurant to protest,” one day after the
newspaper published an exposé of how cats were
killed there.

Asia
Diets

Helping from beyond the Great Wall challenges “foreign devils”

September 1, 2006 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2006:

HONG KONG, WASHINGTON D.C.–Animal advocates outside China
erupted as vehemently as Chinese counterparts to word of the summer
2006 dog purges, but had difficulty finding effective ways to
protest.
Because the Beijing government allowed discussion of the dog
purges to hit the Internet, western as well as Chinese domestic
reaction was markedly more intense than as recently as 2003, when
far more dogs were killed, to a fraction of the 2006 global notice.
“The killings have extra resonance in China’s Year of the
Dog,” the Financial Times editorialized. “The reaction has
highlighted changing attitudes since the animal last appeared in the
zodiacal cycle. In 1994, dog-beating squads were common even in big
cities and the People’s Daily, mouthpiece of the ruling Communist

Asia

Chinese public rejects trophy hunt auction

September 1, 2006 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2006:

CHENGDU–The China State Forestry
Administration on August 11 indefinitely
postponed a scheduled auction of 289 licenses to
allow foreigners to hunt animals of 14 species.
“The auction will be held in a proper way after
soliciting suggestions from the public,” said
State Forestry Administration spokesperson Cao
Qingyao.
Three days after the Beijing Youth Daily
published an exposé of the auction plans, “The
response from the public is beyond our
expectation,” admitted State Forestry
Administration deputy director of wildlife
protection Wang Wei.

Asia

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