Japan still killing whales, but moratorium holds

July 2, 2005 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2005:

SEOUL–Japan is still killing minke, sei, Bryde’s and sperm
whales in the name of research, and will kill humpbacks this year
as well, with a total self-set “scientific” quota for the year of
935.
Norway continues killing minke whales in coastal waters, and
Iceland has resumed whaling, but all still without world approval,
as the 57th annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission
ended in Ulsan, South Korea on June 24 with no major successes for
the pro-whaling faction.
“We entered the week with a strong fear that the balance of
power within the IWC would shift to a pro-whaling majority,”
summarized Whalewatch Coalition leader Philip Lymbery. His
delegation represented the Royal SPCA, Earth Island Institute,
Whale & Dolphin Conservation Society, Whale Watch, and Humane
Society International.

Most wanted poachers busted in India & Nepal

July 2, 2005 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2005:

DELHI, KASARA–The two most notorious living poachers on the
Asian subcontinent were arrested on June 30 and July 20,
respectively, as result of separate investigations.
The Indian Central Bureau of Investigation apprehended Sansar
Chand, 47, after tracing him to his Delhi home by identifying his
newspaper reading habits: a native of Rajasthan, Chand read
Rajasthani papers in a neighborhood where few others did.
First arrested for poaching and wildlife trafficking at age
16, in 1974, when he was found in possession of 676 animal pelts
including those of tigers and leopards, Chand worked with at least
five close relatives. He was reportedly convicted 15 times without
serving any significant sentence, even after he was caught with
28,486 contraband pelts in 1988. Fifty-seven cases are pending
against him in nine Indian states, wrote London Independent Delhi
correspondent Justin Huggler.
Apprehending Chand became an Indian government priority after
he was linked to the annihilation of the tiger population at Sariska
National Park. The loss of tigers, confirmed in November 2004 after
months of suspicion, destroyed the tourism appeal of one of India’s
former top visitor attractions.

Transforming Phuket animal conditions post-tsunami

July 2, 2005 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2005:

PHUKET, Thailand–Urbanization is hitting Phuket much harder
than the tsunami of December 26, 2004.
What that may mean for animals on the 400-square-mile resort
island near the extreme south of Thailand is anyone’s guess.
The Soi Dog Foundation and Gibbon Rehabilitation Project,
among Phuket’s most prominent pro-animal organizations, are
guardedly optimistic.
More development may mean more homes for dogs and cats, and
more donors to support animal charities.
Paradoxically, more development could even mean more
protected wildlife habitat. Tourism employs one Phuket adult in
four. The August-to-November bird migration season drives tourism
from midsummer until the winter holidays. That makes safeguarding
bird habitat, at least, a high priority for planners.
Yet more people might mean more traffic and less tolerance of
street dogs, already considered a nuisance by much of the Buddhist
majority, and mostly abhored by Muslims.

Tsunami Memorial Animal Welfare Trust takes over in Sri Lanka

July 2, 2005 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2005:

Colombo, Sri Lanka–The Tsunami People/Animal Welfare
Coalition on July 26, 2005 wrapped up emergency relief operations
begun after the December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, rolling all
remaining assets over into the Tsunami Memorial Animal Welfare Trust.
Coalition and Trust cofounder Robert Blumberg arranged that
ANIMAL PEOPLE officially sponsored the last of a six-month series of
vaccination missions by Pets V Care mobile clinics into refugee camps
and tsunami-stricken coastal villages.
“ANIMAL People recognized almost immediately after the
tsunami that something of major consequence had taken place regarding
animal welfare,” Blumberg wrote in the last Coalition update.
“Within days after the tsunami hit, Animal People sent financial
assistance to start the Tsunami People/Animal Welfare Coalition.
This allowed us to get on the road, assessing, treating and
vaccinating. So far the Coalition itself has vaccinated more than
14,000 animals in the tsunami zones,” Blumberg said. “Animal People
sponsored our first trips and now our last vaccinating trip, and is
now supporting the Tsunami Memorial Animal Welfare Trust as it
sterilizes and vaccinates in the tsunami zones and refugee camps.”

Pound electrocutions stopped in Manila

July 2, 2005 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2005:

MANILA–Seeking a cheaper, faster way to kill dogs than
either lethal injection or use of an antiquated carbon monoxide
chamber, Manila Veterinary Inspection Board members Manuel Socorro
and Condenio Panogan reportedly electrocuted approximately 100 dogs
from mid-May 2005 to mid-July before word of their work leaked out.
“Socorro “said they were given a one-year permit by the
Bureau of Animal Industry to conduct a study of electrocution as a
tool to put down dogs,” wrote Evelyn Macairan of The Philippine Star.
“This involved conducting a series of tests wherein the voltage would
be set starting at 100 volts and be slowly raised to 500 volts.”
Four days after Philippine Animal Welfare Society volunteer
and veterinary student Emil Reban witnessed some of the
electrocutions and described what he saw, the Bureau of Animal
Industries’ Committee on Animal Welfare revoked the permit
“immediately and indefinitely upon hearing PAWS president Nita
Lichauco’s petition to cancel it,” e-mailed PAWS member Ramona
Eliza T. Consunji on July 11.

White tigers, green polar bears, & maintaining a world-class zoo

July 2, 2005 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2005:

SINGAPORE–When the tigers are white and the polar bears are
a blotchy dark green, a zoo has problems.
Opened in June 1973, the Singapore Zoo and adjacent Night
Safari are together reputedly the best zoo complex within half a
global orbit, together setting the Asian zoo design and management
standard.
More than 1.2 million visitors per year view about 3,200
animals of 330 mostly tropical species at the Singapore Zoo and Night
Safari.
The animals are chiefly housed in semi-natural surroundings.
The equatorial Singapore climate is good for reptiles year-round,
including some of the largest tortoises, most active monitors, and
largest gharials and salt water crocodiles on exhibit anywhere.
Pygmy hippos thrive. Both Old World and New World monkeys
and big cats are uncommonly lively.
But there are jarring notes.
The Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore banned
traveling wild animal shows in 2002, yet the Singapore Zoo and Night
Safari still feature circus-like orangutan and marine mammal acts,
opportunities to hold and be photographed with young animals, and
elephant rides.

Asia

Anti-dog meat & fur movement building momentum in China

June 2, 2005 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2005:

HONG KONG–“We are tackling dog and cat eating in China by
freely distributing our video Dr. Eddie: Friend….or Food? in a
pack which includes a pet care leaflet, stickers promoting dogs and
cats as friends and helpers, and a letter from Animals Asia
Foundation founder Jill Robinson explaining why we believe dogs and
cats should not be on the menu,” Animals Asia Foundation executive
director Anne Mather e-mailed to ANIMAL PEOPLE on May 29, 2005.
“We are happy to say that the response to the pack has been
absolutely overwhelming,” Mather continued. “The initial 10,000
packs, which we expected to last a year, were finished in just six
weeks! We are receiving calls from pet clubs all over China whose
members have heard of the packs and are requesting their own. Thus
we are in the midst of producing a further 40,000 for free
distribution. In addition, <www.sina.com>, (China’s biggest web
portal), is streaming the Dr. Eddie film for free on their pet site.”
The Dr. Eddie video, also available in an English version,
tells the story of a dog whom Robinson rescued from a live meat
market in Guangdong a few years ago. Eddie is now part of the Dr.
Dog therapy program in Hong Kong, one of many Dr. Dog programs begun
by the Animals Asia Foundation in major cities of Southeast Asia to
help raise appreciation of dogs wherever they might be on the menu.

“Madness” in Karachi rabies response

June 2, 2005 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2005:

KARACHI, Pakistan–“Karachi mayor
Niamatul-lah Khan is about to go on a rampage,
poisoning 500,000 stray dogs in total disregard
of alternatives presented by the Pakistan Animal
Welfare Society, along with a large number of
doctors, health officials, and Karachi
citizens,” Engineers and Scientists for Animal
Rights founder Syed Rizvi warned on Friday, May
13, 2005, in an e-mail quickly distributed
worldwide by pro-animal newsgroups.
Born and raised in Karachi, Rizvi now
lives in San Jose, California, but maintains
close contact with Pakistani animal advocates.
“The City of Karachi is preparing 500,000
strychnine capsules,” Rizvi charged. “I have
been in constant touch with Mahera Omar of the
Pakistan Animal Welfare Society, who is asking
that e-mails and letters from the international
community be sent to the authorities, asking
them to refrain from this barbaric practice.
“Please e-mail to General Parvez
Musharraf, the President of Pakistan, who is a
dog lover himself,” Rizvi asked. “Some might
have seen his picture in Newsweek recently,
holding his two little dogs close to his heart.”

Japan looks to South Korea for help in restarting commercial whaling

May 2, 2005 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2005:

ULSAN, South Korea–Japanese whalers expect a home town edge
when the 57th meeting of the International Whaling Commission
convenes June 20-24 in Ulsan, South Korea.
The IWC meeting will start 10 days after the end of a 12-day
series of preliminary meetings on scientific issues.
“Ulsan is opening a $6-million whale museum this month on an
otherwise dilapidated wharf across from a shabby strip of whale
restaurants,” Los Angeles Times staff writer Barbara Demick reported
on May 2. On an adjacent lot, groundbreaking is expected soon on a
site for a whale research center, which is to include a processing
facility for whale meat.”
“Dozens of speciality restaurants along the waterfront of
South Korea’s self-proclaimed whale capital” sell whale meat, Demick
explained.
Retired whaler Son Nam Su, 69, told Demick that hunting and eating
whales is a cultural legacy of the Japanese occupation of Korea,
1910-1945, and that at peak the South Korean whaling fleet killed
about 1,000 whales per year.

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