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Ask North Dakota State University to End the Use of Live Pigs in Trauma Training Courses
---------------- LETTERS
1) Subject : The destruction of the SanWild Wildlife Sanctuary by the Maranda Mining Company
We urgently call on you to please submit this email to the various people listed below the draft as well as Minister Susan Shabangu asap. Your immediate action is needed to help SanWild to stop the Maranda Mining Company. Come on people, we all would like to believe in justice and we would all like a country that remains governable for our children. If we do not stand up for what is right or wrong, we will loose. South African government departments need to be held accountable for the decisions they make. Send this email now.
Email: c/o Zodwa Zitha cc. Adv. Sandile Nogxina – Director General cc. Mr. Pieter Albert – Legal Services cc. Jeremy Michaels – Media liasion cc. Pres. Jacob Zuma c/o Abram Mothwa cc. SanWild Trustees
To : zodwa.zitha@dme.gov.za cc : pietera@dme.gov.za, Jeremy.michaels@live.co.za , abram@po.gov.za, sanwild@pixie.co.za, sandile.nogxina@dme.gov.za Dear Minister Susan Shabangu
We are appalled to hear that the SanWild Wildlife Sanctuary that is home to more than 5000 rescued wild animals will be destroyed by open cast mining by the Maranda Mining Company due to a permit was granted by the Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) in South Africa to Maranda Mining Company (Pty) Ltd to start mining in this protected wildlife sanctuary.
Maranda Mining Company has repeatedly fooled the media and public by claiming that they will only mine on 1.5 hectares, but as they have already applied for and were given further prospecting rights it is our opinion that should they be allowed to get away with their irregular and dishonest actions now, it will be the beginning of the end of a unique wildlife sanctuary and that their mining activities will eventually destroy this unique project.
Mr. Michael Bryant the director of the Maranda Mining Company, an extremely arrogant individual has threatened SanWild on numerous occasions with further open cast mining operations over the entire 2600 hectares of Leydsdorp Townlands that forms part of the SanWild Wildlife Sanctuary.
He has further actively be working to discredit SanWild’s excellent work and have attacked trustees personally and the legal permits SanWild has obtained from the Department of Environmental Affairs on a number of occasions claiming that SanWild operates illegally and has no legal permits to run a wildlife rehabilitation centre and sanctuary. This is simply not true!
He has claimed repeatedly that the Trust is not a bona-fide organization and that some of the trustees are the sole beneficiaries of the trust. All of these defamatory claims have arisen out of his “bloodthirsty” quest for vengeance and to destroy SanWild’s ability to operate and raise funds. Not only does he want to extract minerals rights but in the process he is actively working towards destroying a bona fide animal welfare organization and the lives of many people that have found security and jobs here. Surely this proves beyond doubt the evil character of Maranda’s director and that he is up to no good?
We have been informed that due process was not followed to obtain this permit to do open cast mining in the SanWild Wildlife Sanctuary that is home to many endangered species of fauna and flora. We know that a public consultation process was not followed and that Maranda Mining did also not consult with the legal occupier of the land, the neighbors or other interested and affected parties. This surely is unconstitutional?
The information contained in the Maranda Mining Company’s EMP is misleading and factually incorrect. Despite numerous transgressions of this EMP your department has failed to investigate or act on the matter despite numerous correspondences from SanWild asking you to immediately act on the matter. You have the power to revoke any permit should any transgressions of an approved EMP take place.
Repeated requests to the DME to review the process and merits on which the permit was granted, has fallen on deaf ears now for more than a year! This is truly shameful.
The fact that your department has ignored repeated requests by donors and supporters as well as SanWild themselves to suspend the permit pending a full investigation into the matter and until you can reach a final decision, has been ignored. This is regrettable and shows a disinterest from your department in the dilemma and possible financial demise of a non-profit animal welfare organization.
Your department’s inability or unwillingness to act has forced SanWild to bring very expensive legal applications to try and compel your department to react. Their most recent application has also called on the court to review the permit as per the Public Administrative Justice Act.
DME has chosen to NOT oppose SanWild’s legal application, but has decided repeatedly to renew Maranda's mining permit despite all the lodged internal appeals, notifications of the transgression of the EMP and various legal applications. It is such a shame, but it does seem that someone is on the "take" here again. As supporters of SanWild we simply can come to no other conclusion anymore.
Your regional manager in Polokwane should be investigated as a matter of urgency and be laid off if necessary. Already a number of SanWild employees have lost their jobs as a direct result of SanWild’s legal battle as there has simply not been sufficient funding to continue to employ them.
We as the public, want answers and clarity regarding this case as it will determine the environmental and constitutional rights of all South Africans and will test the ability of the Department of Minerals and Energy to follow due process and apply their minds and goodwill to the protection and conservation of our wildlife and heritage in this country!
We therefore appeal to you to investigate this fiasco and expose the truth to the public in a fair and honest way.
I trust that your passion for justice will compel you to look into this matter and to bring it to the attention of the public and challenge those in authority to be held accountable. We trust that it will not be necessary for us to donate further funding towards expensive legal applications in which we firmly believe the truth will eventually be told.
However should it become necessary we will stand by SanWild even if this matter has to be driven to the highest court in South Africa where SanWild’s constitutional rights will be determined and justice will prevail for the SanWild trustees that have done an exceptional job in social upliftment, job creation, bio-diversity species protection and animal welfare?
Please be assured that the world’s eyes are focused on a unique project of which South Africa can be extremely proud. We look forward to your urgent response.
Yours truly,
……………………………..
2) Subject : REQUEST INTERVENTION TO STOP ANIMAL SACRIFICE DURING THE ISLAMIC FESTIVAL OF 'BAKRID'
“Meat cannot be obtained without injury to animals, and the slaughter of animals obstructs the way to heaven; let us therefore shun the use of meat.”—Hinduism
“Having well considered the origin of flesh foods. And the cruelty of fettering and slaying corporeal beings let man entirely abstain from eating flesh.”—Manusmriti 5.49. Hinduism
“Those who permit the slaughter of an animal, who kills it, who cuts it up, who buys or sells flesh, who cooks it, who serves it up, and who eats it, are all slayers.”—Hinduism
“What is religion? Compassion for all things, which have life.”—Hinduism. Hitopadesa Islam
“A good deed done to an animal is as meritorious as a good deed done to a human being, while an act of cruelty to an animal is a bad as an act of cruelty to a human being.”—Prophet Mohammed
“There is not an animal on the earth, nor a flying creature on two wings, but they are people like unto you.”—Islam. Qur’an "There is not an animal on the earth, nor a flying creature on two wings, but they are people like unto you". -The Koran
To :
The President, Jamiat-Ulama-i-Karnataka, 113/5, 2nd Floor, Lal Masjid Building, Old Market Road, Bangalore 560 001, Karnataka, India
Dear President, It is with chock and horror that I read that at this time of the year again the streets in Shivajinagar, Bangalore, are filling up with numerous bullocks, sheep , cows. and even the poor camels being paraded up and down the neighbourhood and led to slaughter
Magnificent white bulls in their prime, strong and beautiful, iconic creatures of myth and legend, being walked down the road: their final destination being the slaughterhouse, where they will bellow unheard in the wee hours and struggle mightily against a group of blood-spattered men who will hold them down and cut their throats....
Quite some time ago in southern India, the priestly class and intelligentsia substituted the age-old practice of animals sacrifice at temples with the act of breaking a hard brown coconut. In place of revolting flesh and blood, the result of cruelty perpetrated upon a helpless, voiceless and dependent species, a brass plate was offered to the presiding deity of the temple. This large plate contained halves of the broken coconut, the sacred red powder, a bit of camphor, a lighted flame and so on.
This revolutionary step ought to be considered a major milestone in the advance of humankind from barbarism and superstition to civilization and real progress as measured in terms of compassion and ethis. As an Upanishadic prayer goes : 'Lead me from darkness to light".
Apart from the sheer inhumanity of this act, this act of animal sacrifice is also violative of the Fundamental Duties of all Indian citizens, enshrined in the Indian Constitution under Section 51 A (h) which calls on all Indian citizens to develop scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform.
The Indian Penal Code 429 puts rigorous punishment on mischief by killing, poisoning, maiming or rendering useless any elephant, camel, horse, mule, buffalo, bull, cow, or ox, whatsoever may be the value thereof , or any animal of the value of fifty Rupees or upwards, shall be punished with imprisonment or with fine or both. The Prevention of Cruelty Act of 1960 was enacted to prevent cruelty to animals and its Rules regulate transportation of animals, slaughterhouses, establishment of Societies for Providing Compassion to Animals (SPCA) etc. Under the provisions of Constitution of India, the states enacted suitable Act and rules prohibiting slaughter of animals. Like Maharashtra government enacted the Maharashtra Animal Preservation Act, 1976 (9 of 1977), West Bengal Animal Slaughter Control Act, 1950 (22of 1950) , Karnataka Prevention of Cow Slaughter & Preservation of Cattle Act, 1964. etc....
I request you to intervene immediately and stop this slaughter. I also request you to issue a strong statement condemning the barbaric practice of animal sacrifices for ever.
You are surely aware of the fact that UK scientists at the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control (NIBSC) have developed a completely non animal method for batch release testing of botulinum products. This non animal method has spared the lives of about 5,000 mice annually, since 1999. Here is a good example where a government appointed laboratory has taken the initiative to develop a scientifically valid non animal method, which satisfies UK regulatory requirements. It is therefore bizarre that you attempt to justify the continued use of mice on your website for botulinum testing by reference to an article that is already four years old, considering the scientific technology available to you today. Political inertia on the part of Ipsen - not science - is the stumbling block.
Last weekend it was revealed that well over half a million living animals were subjected to experiments in Scottish laboratories last year.
Below is an e-mail I’ve sent to all MSPs on the subject. You will see I have concentrated on the risks genetically modified animals pose to humans as this is far more likely to make our politicians take notice than is the issue of animals suffering pain and death at the sacrificial altar of bad science.
I’d like you to read the Sunday Times article (link at the foot of this e-mail) and e-mail your MSP with a short message along the lines of: “I recently read an article which said that over 500,000 animals were used in experiments in Scotland last year and that over a third of those experiments involved genetic modification of animals.
Can you find out for me how many, if any, experiments were carried out in the (insert your town or area here) area last year and if any of those involved the use of genetically altered animals? Could you also advise me if the research using genetically modified animals could possibly pose a risk to our community?”
The MSPs will only really look at this if they get a communication from someone in their constituency. Even then they might simply refer you to your MP as the legislation on vivisection is not devolved. If they do, ask if they can contact their Westminster colleague on your behalf.
Subject: The health of every person in Scotland is at risk and that risk is controlled by Westminster.
E-MAIL FROM: John F. Robins, Campaigns Consultant, Animal Concern, P.O. Box 5178, Dumbarton G82 5YJ. Tel: 01389-841-639, Mobile: 07721-605521. Fax: 0870-7060327. Animal Concern incorporates the Scottish Anti-Vivisection Society which has been Campaigning for animals since 1876 E-MAIL: animals@jfrobins.force9.co.uk website: http://www.animalconcern.com/
Dear Member of the Scottish Parliament,
I write concerning a very real risk to public safety posed by the use of living animals in scientific procedures conducted in Scotland. These experiments increased by 40% to 555,567 in 2008.
As someone who campaigned vigorously against the introduction of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 I can tell you that this Act, which is not devolved and is fully administered from London by the Home Office, allows painful experiments to be carried out on animals in Scotland and, although experiments on cosmetics are now banned, animals can be used to test things like household cleaners and duplicate patent medicines.
When I first started working on this issue I was not opposed to medical experiments on animals but over the years I have learned that at best animal research can give a rough guide to possible benefits offered or risks posed to humans. At worse animal tests can pass very dangerous drugs as safe for humans (remember the clinical trials which killed human volunteers in London a few years ago) and can indicate that medicines which would be safe in humans are in fact dangerous (penicillin can kill Guinea Pigs and it is unlikely it would be licensed for human use if discovered and first testedtoday).
However it is not the cruelty or the futility of animal experiments in Scotland that I want to draw to your attention – it is the very real danger some of those experiments pose to the health of the general population of Scotland.
Even if you are not morally opposed to the legally permitted infliction of pain and suffering on animals in laboratories you should be very concerned about the safety and efficiency of this flawed science. In particular I would draw your attention to the 177,345 experiments conducted on genetically modified animals in Scotland last year. Some of these experiments involve introducing human genes into animals to produce drugs which can be given to humans or organs which can betransplanted into people with less chance of rejection.
In reality these humanising genetic modifications create a bridge across which diseases can cross from animal to human. There is also the chance that diseases could evolve or mutate in modified animals thus creating new diseases to which humans have neither resistance nor medication. Pigs and chickens are commonly used in genetic experiments and this may pose a risk of creating new forms of swine and avian flu.
A person would not have to receive a transplanted organ or a medication prepared from extracts from modified animals to become ill. A new virus could unknowingly be carried out by an infected laboratory worker and be spread through the community before the first symptoms show,
At the moment the Scottish Parliament does not even know where these laboratories are. Neither do local authorities and, more importantly, local health boards. The information is held by the Home Officeand treated with the utmost secrecy.
Before 1986 I used to get tip-offs from staff concerned about how animals were being treated in Scottish laboratories. These tip-offs led to monkeys being legally released from one lab, the public being made aware of painful experiments on greyhounds in Glasgow, the practise of dumping animal corpses in publicly accessible bins in Aberdeen being stopped and the use of mongrel dogs in various laboratories brought to an end. Since the new Act was introduced in 1986 any lab worker telling me (or you) about how animals are treated in Scottish laboratories risks going to jail for two years.
I did not learn about the potentially dangerous breeding of genetically modified pigs at a lab hidden in deep forest near Alness until nearly a year after the unit was closed. When I made the whereabouts of that lab public it was news to the Scottish Parliament, Highland Council and Highland Health Board.
My concern over this goes back many years. In the first week of Channel 4 I debated with scientists who hoped to use genetically humanised sheep to produce organs for human transplants. The Thatcher Government and subsequent Westminster Governments have also been cautious on xenotransplantation and have never licensed animal to human transplants in the UK. Their concern is that a patient who receives a xenontransplant may contract a new zoonotic disease. As I have said it would not take a transplant for that to happen.
I urge you to do three things.
1: Try and find out what animal labs exist and what experiments they carry out in your area. 2: Ensure that your local Health Board is aware of the nature of and risk from any experiments involving genetically modified animals in your area. 3: Seek devolution of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act to the Scottish Government.
Svajunas Beniuk, Lithuanian Man, Filmed Throwing Dog off Bridge Nov-18-09 The Internet is attempting to deliver its own brand of justice today, as thousands of users of popular sites like Reddit and 4chan have tracked down Svajunas Beniuk, a Lithunian man filmed throwing a dog off a bridge. Now he has been indentified and arrested by Lithuanian police(...) According to an email from PETA, the dog survived the fall, and it currently recuperating at veternarians office... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1228987/Man-threw-dog-bridge-posted-video-online-brought-justice-horrified-Internet-users-hunted-down.html
"Poultry project ruffles feathers" by Terry Smith, Idaho Mountain Express, Nov. 18 "A Virginia-based poultry protection group has condemned a Community School project in which chickens were raised and later slaughtered to teach eighth-graders about the realities of food production." Read more: [http://www.mtexpress.com/index2.php?ID=2005128823]
"Poultry project was misguided" by Karen Davis, President of United Poultry Concerns, Idaho Mountain Express, Nov. 18 "As an educator, I'm appalled that The Community School encouraged eighth-grade students to slaughter chickens as a classroom exercise - and in student-made killing cones." Read more: [http://www.mtexpress.com/index2.php?ID=2005128790]
Two Background Articles in the Idaho Mountain Express:
"Poultry project yields life lessons" by Terry Smith, Nov. 11 "The Community School's eighth-graders learned the realities of poultry production in a class project for which they procured 16 fuzzy yellow chicks, raised them to maturity, then killed, cleaned and dressed them for a 'good foods' banquet." Read more: [http://www.mtexpress.com/index2.php?ID=2005128745]
"You can't have your chicken and eat it too" by Terry Smith, Oct.30 "Thirty-one eighth-graders are learning about the realities of food production in a chicken-raising project at The Community School in Sun Valley." Read more: [http://www.mtexpress.com/index2.php?ID=2005128587]
What Can I Do?
1) You can post a Comment to today's article and to Karen Davis' letter in the above links urging a compassionate education. You can also submit a Letter to the Editor through the Idaho Mountain Express Website at: [http://www.mtexpress.com/contact.php/].
2) You can write a thoughtful letter to the head of The Community School, a private K-12 college preparatory school in Sun Valley, Idaho.
Mr. Andrew Jones-Wilkins Head of School The Community School PO Box 2118 Sun Valley, ID 83353 Email: [mailto:Awilkins@communityschool.org]
Please Note: This was the first time The Community School conducted the chicken slaughter project. Let us speak out and make it be the last.
It appears that while the school is defending the slaughter on grounds of "healthy eating" and "learning where food comes from," no effort was or is being made to teach the students about the ethical, healthful and environmental benefits of a wholesome vegan diet or how to prepare and serve delicious and nutritious vegan meals.
The claim that students have to kill animals in order to learn "where their food comes from" is as pedagogically false as arguing that the only way students can learn the effects of drug addiction is to conduct a project in which students inject themselves with harmful drugs. There are plenty of videos on YouTube that students can watch to learn how terribly and needlessly animals suffer in being slaughtered. Teachers should not be putting knives in the hands of their students to kill immobilized birds. This is a misuse of education, vulnerable students, and defenseless animals. There is no excuse.
-- United Poultry Concerns is a nonprofit organization that promotes the compassionate and respectful treatment of domestic fowl. Don't just switch from beef to chicken. Go Vegan. [http://www.UPC-online.org]
------------- BEAUTIFUL GREYHOUND CALENDARS FOR SALE! Order yours now and help protect these lovely dogs Demand has been so great for the beautiful 2010 calendars produced by Action for Greyhounds UK that they've had to get more printed. Order yours now, so as not to be disappointed, and at the same time help to save these lovely dogs from suffering and slaughter, as all profits go to help AFG's hardworking campaign to protect greyhounds in East Anglia. For more information. see www.actionforgreyhounds.co.uk/news.asp?article=156 Please feel free to forward/crosspost/circulate this message. www.greyhoundaction.org.uk ---------------
[Freedom_for_Austrian_Activists] news from the trial
From : martin.balluch@vgt.at
Date : 16 novembre 2009 20:01:41 HNEC
À : Freedom_for_Austrian_Activists@yahoogroups.com
the provincial court has decided that the animal rights trial will be held at the original court, contrary to the application filed by some of the accused.
this court's spokesperson has now announced that the trial will start at the end of February and will probably last till October.
that is all bad news for everybody involved, as this court is utterly biased and far away from where people live. the appointed judge is from the police, she came 6th in last years police shooting competition with pistols. she also is known as right wing and racist. the secretary of her spokesperson is directly related to one of the biggest opponents of animal rights in Austria, an avid hunter, who has filed a number of law suits against vgt already and who was being sabbed a number of times and whose breeding factories for pheasants and ducks were targets of liberation actions as well as being closed down through persistent investigations, publicity and cases filed at court by vgt.
one of the 10 activists charged had police visiting him again recently. he was questioned by police as he is being suspected of degrading the provincial flag of Tyrol (!), a crime under section 248 of the austrian criminal law code. he had published a video on youtube, where he was seen burning this flag.
ever new twists in this twisted story: besides a green party politician being considered a member of the criminal organisation for warning activists of police surveillance, and a judge, who ruled in favour of hunt sabs and who because of that had her phone tapped for 2 months and her position surveilled for 6 months more, we now have the criminal organisation committing the most atrocious crime of all: burning a provincial flag!
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HI ALL;
THIS JUST CAME IN FROM ARGENTINA.
BENNET IS IN GOOD HANDS.
REGARDS,
EARLE
Date: 18/11/2009 08:28:50
To: Earle Bingley
Subject: Re: Argentina - demand justice for benet - street dog set on fire]
THIS INFORMATION IS RATHER OLD. BENNET'S CASE WAS IN BUENOS AIRES. ANIMAL ADVOCATES WENT TO THE CRIMINAL'S HOUSE, THEY WANTED HIS HEAD. HE WAS EXPELLED FROM HIS JOB, FROM THE NEIGHBOURHOOD AND ANIMALS ADVOCATES WROTE GRAFFITI ON HIS HOUSE'S WALLS "CRIMINAL" - "PIECE OF SHIT" "COME OUT AND WE'LL SET YOUR BALLS ON FIRE - HOW DO YOU LIKE IT, MOTHERF-----SON OF A BITCH" ALL THESE GRAFITIES ON HIS WALLS AND MANY MORE THAT I DO NOT REMEMBER .
BENNET HAS GOT MANY FAMILIES WANTING TO ADOPT HIM BUT HE STILL HAS GOT A LONG WAY TO GO TO COMPLETE HIS RECOVERY.
INTERNATIONAL MOVEMENT AGAINST BULLFIGHTS MOVIMENTO INTERNACIONAL ANTI-TOURADAS MOVIMIENTO INTERNACIONAL ANTITAURINO MOUVEMENT INTERNATIONAL ANTI CORRIDAS www.iwab.org IMAB@iwab.org
Dear Friends,
As you know there were bullfights in Shangai in 2004. After that attempts were made in 2005, 2006 and 2007 to hold bullfights in other Chinese cities.
According to several articles published in Spanish newspapers, bullfights will return to China. But now it will not be a one off but to stay. What is being programmed is to build a bullring in Beijing near the Great Wall (in a theme park dedicated to Spain) that would be inaugurated in October 2010 with two bullfights and after that in 2011, 16 bullfights would take place. To facilitate these a breeding bull facility will be created in China with the Chinese government paying the import of 100 cows and 100 bulls. These animals are due to be send to China within 3 months. Obviously that once they have bulls breeding in China they will be able to have their own stocks which will enable them to build other bullrings in other cities and perform bullfights all over the country. We must prevent at all cost that this project goes ahead otherwise we will have another country with bullfights.
We all know that China is a lost cause when animals are concerned but we do believe that if they are bombarded with emails they may rethink and back off. We cannot allow the bullfighting industry expansionism.
To: suggestion@mail.gov.cn,content@mail.gov.cn,nzzd@agri.gov.cn,webmaster_En@agri.gov.cn, webmaster@agri.gov.cn,english@moe.edu.cn,webmaster@ccic.gov.cn,webmaster@mfa.gov.cn, mofcom@mofcom.gov.cn
I was saddened to learn that a Spanish matador named Manolo Sánchez has been contracted to provide breeding stock and matadors to establish bullfighting in China in a bullring to be constructed in Beijing near the Great Wall. http://www.abc.es/20091116/toros-/china-toros-200911161347.html
Bullfighting is a horribly cruel ritual in which a bull is slowly killed with swords. China is a country which is developing rapidly, and its people are quickly becoming more understanding in their relationship with animals. Bullfighting however, is an outmoded tradition in Europe that is steadily losing support due to the suffering that is inflicted upon the bulls. This is why its advocates are so keen to export it to what they see as a new market. They know that unless they expand into other countries, their "sport" will be ended soon.
In Europe, bullfights are becoming increasingly unprofitable, with many bullrings much less than half full.
There are some European customs that might possibly enrich the Chinese people, but this is not one of them. I urge you to do all that you can to prevent this loss-making barbarity from corrupting China and its culture.
Yours sincerely Name/Country
For the Animals Maria Lopes Coordinator of the International Movement Against Bullfights www.iwab.org
-------------------------
2) Subject : LET BRUCE GO HOME ! He has the right to live in his Home , like you and we all ..
I am writing to you with regard to a travesty about to occur in Northern Ireland and to beg you to intervene and help save a life.
The life in question belongs to Bruce, a young Staffordshire Bull Terrier who was living happily with his family in Northern Ireland. On September 19th 2007 Bruce was seized by council officials as an alleged “pit bull type” and taken to secluded kennels whilst his owner was taken to court for owning a banned type of dog.
While incarcerated in kennels his family were allowed to visit Bruce in October 2007, Bruce had lost weight, muscle and had a cut to his muzzle. Five months later Bruce was allowed a second visit from his family in March 2008, they were shocked with what they found: The wound on Bruce's muzzle was larger and had become infected, he had to have his tail amputated, had open sores, was underweight and looked totally rejected, yet despite the clear pain he was in, is described by experts as being a friendly dog that poses no danger to the public. In a desperate attempt to save Bruce, owner Shannon Brown, supporters and neighbours have created petitions and videos resulting in worldwide support to “Bring Bruce Home”.
Northern Ireland has not adopted the 1997 Amendment Act as in England, Scotland and Wales, despite being proposed several times, thus meaning any dog deemed to be “pit bull type” cannot be entered onto the Index of Exempted Dogs. If the proposal had been accepted in Northern Ireland, as with the rest of the UK, Bruce would have been home long before now, alive and well registered on the Index of Exempted Dogs. Northern Ireland is however currently considering legislative change but this is not likely to be achieved in time to save Bruce.
If Bruce lived in Southern Ireland where no breeds are nationally banned he would never have been seized at all. Bruce has been offered a place of safety with a reputable rescue in Southern Ireland where he could legally live out the rest of his life, this offer has been conveyed to the solicitor but has sadly not been accepted by the court.
I understand that you have the power to grant a pardon and we beg of you to do all within your power to allow Bruce the chance of life by requesting Bruce is granted safe passage to Southern Ireland and the rescue placement that is waiting there for him. This is all that is needed. I am sure, that you are aware of how emotionally committed good owners are to their pets. Dogs are part of our families as much as children. Please spare Bruce’s owner the further trauma of destroying Bruce so needlessly. Please pardon Bruce and allow a blameless animal the chance of life.
We claim to be a nation of animal lovers, surely now it is time to prove it?
Yours faithfully,
------------------- 3) Subject : I ask Texas Tech To End Cat Labs For Good
Dear Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center:
I understand that after two decades, Tech University Health Science Center (TTUHSC) has not purchased cats for research from Odessa, Texas Animal Control this year. I hope TTUHSC has joined over 90% of U.S. and Canadian facilities that use simulated models for medical training courses.
I am surprised that TTUHSC relies upon old-fashioned animal experiments in the first place. Please permanently replace animal labs with synthetic models like simulators and manikins.
Though human-focused tools yield data more relevant to people, TTUHSC courses have featured a drill in which students drive plastic tubes down cats' windpipes, causing them to bleed or swell. Constant intubation can scar throat tissue and lead to collapsed lungs or death.
Cats have also undergone a procedure that pumps air into their chest cavities. Trainees try to extract the surplus air via an inserted needle.
Animal-free learning methods cut overhead to confine, feed and destroy cats. A timely New England Journal of Medicine article highlights the "very detailed feedback and...more subtle measurement of trainee performance" gained from virtual reality simulators. The article concludes: Inanimate models are "safe, reproducible, readily available, and cost-effective."
Moreover, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Heart Association -- the agencies that sponsor most pediatric life-support courses nationwide -- don't promote animal use. They advocate synthetic models that give students an accurate depiction of human, not feline, anatomy.
Please let me know if TTUHSC has, in fact, replaced live cat use in medical training with superior and humane non-animal technologies.
Thank you,
-------------------
4) Subject : The horrible fate of millions of cats and dogs in Korea *l
Aan: information_usa@mofat.go.kr, ny@kntoamerica.com The Honorable Lee Tae Sik Embassy of the Republic of Korea 2450 Massachusetts Ave., NW Washington, DC 20008 Korean National Tourism Organization Two Executive Drive, Suite 750 Fort Lee, New Jersey 07024
Dear Mr. Lee,
Gentlemen,
I am outraged to hear that millions of cats and dogs are electrocuted, strangled, or bludgeoned to death each year in South Korea for food. As you know, the Korea Livestock and Sanitation Act forbids the cooking, sale and consumption of dog meat, and your Animal Protection Law considers dogs to be “domestic pets.”
I urge you to make every effort to support enforcing existing laws that protect cats and dogs and to support even more harsher measures on their behalf. Please use your authority and voice to put an end to the torture and massacre of South Korean companion animals. Until then, I shall continue to boycott Korean-made products and services.
The SHARK team has returned from secretly video documenting the two performances of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association's (PRCA) National Steer Roping Finals. Predictably, we have a great deal of disturbing video.
You may recall that the National Finals Rodeo, the world series of rodeo, is held in Las Vegas in December. The steer roping finals are held weeks earlier and over a thousand miles away in a backwater town called Guthrie, Oklahoma, because rodeo thugs don't want anyone other than hardcore fans to see this despicable and indefensible spectacle.
Years ago steer roping was called steer busting, until rodeo spin doctors decided that was being too truthful. Next they named it steer tripping, but that was still too descriptive, so now they just call it steer roping.
One of many injured victims about to be dragged-out by horses from the arena.
As usual, numerous animals were injured during the November 13 & 14 steer busting finals, and we video documented every single one of them. We are ready to begin campaigns against the unethical corporations who sponsored this obvious abuse. First, however, we want to settle a nagging issue.
As I mentioned, numerous animals were injured. On each night, the rodeo announcer made the following claim:
"We work in complete harmony with the American Humane Association..."
The first night I heard that I was shocked. The second night I heard it I wanted to jump up and yell, "You filthy, lying, animal abusing creep!"
After all, rodeo announcers are indeed filthy, lying, animal abusing creeps. They give cover to the thugs on the arena floor, especially when an animal is injured. That's when rodeo announcers do everything they can to divert the spectators' attention away from the victim. Rodeo announcers have to be in a good position to see what is going on, so they see all the nasty things that rodeo people do to their animal victims, and the announcers purposely keep people's attention elsewhere.
I planned to contact the American Humane Association (AHA) as soon as we got home to inform the organization about the statements, get an immediate statement indicating this was an outright lie, and move against the rodeo and its unethical corporate allies. So far, it hasn't quite worked out that way.
We want to settle this before we go to the corporate sponsors because if AHA has no involvement, then there is additional deception on the part of the rodeo.
By Monday morning we had returned home. I called AHA headquarters (800-227-4645) in Colorado and left a message for Joyce Davis, Office Services Coordinator. I also sent an e-mail via the AHA's website.
Later in the day I sent another e-mail, this time directly to AHA president Marie Belew Wheatley. When an auto-response indicated she was out of town, I called her assistant who was named in Ms. Belew Wheatley's e-mail. I e-mailed video clips of the rodeo so that there would be no doubt about exactly what was said.
Now it is Tuesday evening and we've heard nothing from the AHA. I am concerned for two reasons. First, as I already stated, we wish to move immediately against the cruel corporate sponsors. However, we want to include the deceptive use of the AHA name assuming that there was deception on the part of the rodeo.
Now I am concerned that there just might be some truth to what the announcer said. I know that if someone called me and said some animal abusers were claiming that SHARK supported them, I would be after that in a heartbeat. Unlike SHARK, the AHA has a large staff that can deal with this matter, so why haven't they?
I hope you can help me to get their attention. Please call the AHA at 800-227-4645, then press zero and leave a message for Office Services Coordinator Joyce Davis or anyone else, and tell them we need to know if there is any truth whatsoever to rodeo claims that there is a relationship between rodeo and the AHA.
If there is no truth to the rodeo announcer's claim, we will immediately move against the PRCA. However, if the AHA is backing the rodeo, we will be forced to expose that. In any case, we need to know the truth. Thanks in advance for helping to find it.
We will start work very soon on a YouTube video of the steer busting finals, and will send you a link when it is ready.
