Animal advocacy rumbles to life in the Islamic world

June 1, 2006 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2006:

BALI–“Humane Society Inter-national disaster response
assessment teams have been on the ground in Yogyakarta, Bentul, and
Klaten,” in Java, Indonesia, “since May 28, one day after the 5.9
magnitude earthquake struck,” HSI Asia consultant Dawn Peacock
e-mailed to ANIMAL PEOPLE on May 31.
“Today,” Peacock added, “HSI sent a vet to join the already
tired assessment team, and we are making a plan based on the
information we get back. The most likely needs so far are food,
water and basic first aid and shelter for stray or lost animals.
“Preliminary assessments have found that there is a need to
help animals who have survived the earthquake and are left without
guardians to provide adequate food and water,” Peacock continued.

Lebanon chimp case exposes traffic

May 1, 2006 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2006:

BEIRUT–“A recent botched attempt to rescue three endangered
chimpanzees and a baboon who were smuggled into Lebanon has exposed a
lucrative market for exotic animals, flourishing due to lax
enforcement of laws on animal importation and ownership,” opened
Meris Lutz in the April 19, 2006 edition of the Daily Star of
Lebanon.
Lutz affirmed in much greater detail the allegations of
would-be chimp rescuer Jason Mier, published in the April 2006
ANIMAL PEOPLE article “A planned chimpanzee rescue is thwarted in
Lebanon.”
Mier’s claims were also affirmed by Animals Beirut.
“Any chimpanzee held here is being held illegally,” Lebanese
agriculture ministry representative Fadallah Monayer told Lutz. Yet
the three chimps were openly exhibited.

Australia suspends livestock exports to Egypt after exposé of cruelty

April 2, 2006 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2006:

CANBERRA–Australian agriculture minister
Peter McGuarin on February 26, 2006 suspended
livestock exports to Egypt, after the Australian
edition of 60 Minutes aired video taken in
January 2006 by Lyn White of Animals Australia
that showed workers at the Bassetin
slaughterhouse near Cairo poking out the eyes of
cattle and cutting their leg tendons before
subjecting them to a version of hallal slaughter
that clearly flunked the goal of the animals not
suffering.
“Required is that the animal must be
unconscious at the time of slaughter, there
should be no cruelty to it, and that any stress
to the animal should be minimised,” said
Australian Federation of Islamic Councils hallal
certification representative Munir Hussain.
“Over 1 million Australian cattle have
been exported into Egypt over the past 10 years.
The vast majority have been slaughtered at
Bassatin abattoir,” said Animals Australia
executive director Glenys Oogjes.

A planned chimpanzee rescue is thwarted in Lebanon

April 2, 2006 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2006:

While trying to expose the clandestine chimpanzee traffic to
Cairo, Jason Mier told ANIMAL PEOPLE on February 17, 2006, “I have
[also] been working in Lebanon to get some chimps confiscated. I
knew of two when I went there in January,” he said. “Since then one
more has been found.”
Having arranged–Mier thought–for the chimps to be seized by
the Lebanese authorities and flown “to a sanctuary in South Africa,”
he praised “the complete difference between Lebanon and Egypt.
Lebanon is not a member of the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species,” Mier noted. “They have no animal welfare laws
or regulations for keeping animals, but animals need to be declared
upon entry with the proper customs duty paid. As this did not
happen, the government will confiscate. This has been the most
positive experience possible,” Mier enthused.

Wool industry & live transport developments

September 2, 2005 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2005:

“If animals have been subjected to cruelties in their
breeding, transport, slaughter, or in their general welfare, meat
from them is considered impure and unlawful to eat,” taught the late
imam B.A. Hafiz al-Masri of the Shah Jehan Mosque in England,
quoting parts of the Q’ran and Hadiths (sayings) of the Prophet which
forbid cruelty to animals.
Exposing crulety in the shipment of animals to the Middle
East for slaughter, and mulesing, the practice of cutting away
skin flaps from the anal region of sheep to prevent flystrike, PETA
in June 2005 tried to air a paid ad depicting mulesing and quoting
al-Masri on Al Jazeera, the Qatar TV network known for gruesome war
coverage, but the ad was refused.
The Australian Wool Growers Association in August 2005 broke
with the rest of the Australian sheep industry and agreed to end
mulesing by 2010 if PETA would lift a boycott of Australian wool
exports. Australian agriculture minister Peter McGauran and the
Australian Sheep & Wool Industry Taskforce rejected the deal. ASWIT
is a coalition including the National Farmers Federation and
WoolProducers, the largest organization representing the sheep trade.

Rosebud Sioux Tribe hog factory & Israeli foie gras cases

May 2, 2005 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2005:

The Rosebud Sioux Tribe has reached an out-of-court
settlement with the U.S. Department of Interior that will limit the
Sun Prairie hog farming development on the reservation to just the
two 24-barn farms that are already operating, instead of the 13 that
the Bureau of Indian Affairs authorized on behalf of the Rosebud
Sioux Tribal Council in 1998, reported David Melmer of Indian
Country Today on May 9, 2005. In addition, the existing barns may
operate for only 20 years under the current lease, not 50 years,
Melmer wrote. Approval of the settlement by U.S. District Judge
Richard Battey is anticipated. “The two existing farms have 24 barns
that produce 2,000 hogs each per year and will continue to produce a
combined 96,000 hogs per year,” summarized Melmer. “Since the hog
farm lease agreement was announced, Concerned Rosebud Area Citizens,
the Humane Farming Association, and the South Dakota Peace & Justice
Center have tried to shut the project down. In 1999 a new tribal
council began trying to stop the growth of the hog farm, and in 2003
the BIA was asked to close it. The Department of Interior withdrew
the lease; Sun Prairie fought the tribe and the federal government
to keep the hog farms open. Nearly two years ago, Battey ruled that
the lease termination did not comply with due process and found the
lease to be valid.”

Animal exhibitions in the Islamic world

May 2, 2005 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2005:

Bear-baiting

“Punjab [Pakistan] authorities have stopped an illegal bear
baiting event from going ahead for the first time in twenty years,”
World Society for the Protection of Animals publicist Jonathan Owen
announced on April 8, 2005. “The event, to have climaxed a
week-long fair at Pir Mehal in March, famed for bear baiting, was
disbanded after WSPA representatives warned police and wildlife
officials. Mehmood Ahmed, Secretary of Forests & Wildlife in Sindh
state, Pakistan, on March 7 announced at a ceremony in Hyderabad
honoring staff for successful actions against bear baiting with dogs
that his department is seeking amendments to the Sindh Wildlife
Ordinance that will ban bear baiting entirely. Mehmood Ahmed thanked
WSPA for “controlling bear baiting up to 80%,” the Pakistan Times
reported. Repres-enting WSPA, Animals’ Rights in Islam author
Fakhr-I-Abbas told the gathering that while the wild bear population
of Pakistan is in jeopardy, exhibitors of dancing bears and
promoters of bear baiting hold as many as 850 bears captive. In 2002
WSPA donated to the Pakistani government a bear sanctuary at Kund
Park in the North West Frontier province that WSPA built in 2000.

First animal shelters open in Iraq and Iran

January 1, 2005 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2005:

TEHRAN, BAGHDAD–If humane societies are imagined as a chain
of beacons, illuminating their surroundings and spreading the word,
two new points of light just ignited.
“We recently opened the first Iranian shelter for dogs in
Kooshkezar, and the first for cats in Karadj. Both cities are
suburbs of Tehran,” wrote Center for Animal Lovers founder Fatemeh
Motamedi, “After my husband Sirous provided us with land, the
efforts of dedicated volunteers have made possible building the
shelters,” which actually are to function mostly as out-patient
hospitals for street dogs and feral cats.
The Center for Animal Lovers’ plan is “to provide care for
sick and injured cats and dogs, and also take in strays, sterilize
them, give them a health check, then release them to safe public
areas,” Motamedi wrote. “Unfortunately adoption programs are
not socially popular enough yet,” for adoption promotion to be part
of the regular routine.
“At this point,” Motamedi continued, “our team consists of
two Iranian veterinarians and 18 volunteers, most of whom are
university students.”

Middle East

Poultry issues

January 1, 2005 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2005:

The Knesset, the Israeli parliament, on January 3, 2005
banned force-feeding ducks and geese to produce foie gras, effective
at the end of the month, one day after the Knesset Education
Committee refused a request from the Agriculture Ministry to delay
the ban until the end of March. Israel ranked fourth globally in
foie gras exports, the Israeli foie gras industry was worth $16.5
million per year, it employed 500 people, and it killed about
700,000 ducks and geese per year as of August 11, 2003. Then the
Israeli Supreme Court ruled that force-feeding ducks and geese
violated Israeli law, but allowed the industry an 18-month phase-out.

A California Court of Appeals panel in San Francisco on
January 11, 2005 upheld San Francisco Superior Court Judge David
Garcia’s March 2003 dismissal of a lawsuit filed by PETA in December
2002 against the California Milk Producers Advisory Board for alleged
false advertising. PETA argued that the slogan “Great cheese comes
from happy cows. Happy cows come from California” misrepresents the
reality of how dairy cattle are raised. Garcia ruled that the laws
against false advertising and unfair competition laws cited by PETA
exempt government agencies.

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