Dog Returned After 220km Adventure C2NN item: http://www.care2.com/news/member/951765832/1306739
Maria-news-mail.com.au
IT was a happy reunion when Brett Wright was reunited with his dog, George, after the pooch was found more than 220km from home four weeks after going missing. When George, a lhasa apso, did not return to the South Isis farm after playing at the cattle yards, Mr Wright and his family had assumed the pup had been bitten by a brown snake.
The wandering canine was found in the Gladstone streets by a resident on November 6 and, thanks to a microchip, was able to be returned to the Wrights.
“They rang on Monday and I was able to go pick him up on Tuesday. He’s a beautiful dog and he was beside himself when I called his name when I went to pick him up.”
Wright said he was thankful George, whom the family had got from the Bundaberg RSPCA shelter about two years ago, had a chip in place.
Bundaberg RSPCA Shelter manager Vicki Beer said cases like George went to show how important microchipping a pet was.
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queensland news click here for original
Endangered animals sold to hunting safari
DARWIN - Exotic and endangered animals from an abandoned wildlife sanctuary were sold to a hunting safari in the Northern Territory, it has been revealed.
Some 300 animals, including herds of critically endangered African scimitar horned oryx and addax, were sent to Mary River Australian Safaris following two separate legal disputes.
The scimitar horned oryx is extinct in the wild, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The deal had been kept quiet until the accidental shooting of a pygmy hippopotamus in the Douglas Daly region, some 200km south of Darwin, last week raised questions about the whereabouts of Tipperary Wildlife Sanctuary's herbivorous animals.
Nico Courtney, 27, was out spotlight hunting with mates on November 12 when he shot what he thought was a pig, but was, in fact, a hippopotamus.
Speculation grew that many of the animals escaped when the open-plains zoo was sold in 2004, and had survived for several years in the NT outback without the help of humans.
But the fantasy of a mini African menagerie wandering freely in the Top End could not be further from the truth.
Warren Anderson, a millionaire property developer who established Tipperary Sanctuary in 1986, said that the NT government was to blame for the sanctuary's demise.
"That Labor government up there destroyed that wildlife park and you can lay the blame for the predicament these animals are in squarely on their shoulders," he said.
Mr Anderson was accused of animal neglect for failing to adequately feed two of his rhinoceroses in 2003 and subsequently arrested at gunpoint, but was later exonerated.
He eventually decided to sell the animals and the property.
At its prime, Tipperary was home to about 2,000 animals from Africa, India and Mongolia.
Mareeba Wild Animal Park, in far north Queensland, was to take most of the animals.
However, the deal hit difficulties when the Mareeba sanctuary was raided in March 2004 by the Australian Federal Police and the RSPCA.
The then owner of Mareeba, David Gill, fled back to the UK and sold about 300 of the animals to Mary River Australian Safaris.
A spokesman for the Australasian Regional Association of Zoological Parks and Aquaria (ARAZPA) told AAP some of the more crowd-attracting animals were eventually transferred to Mareeba.
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http://www.care2.com/news/member/951765832/1311321
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10610908
Good News this morning for the girls Tristna and Kristna, they spent the first night sleeping in their own beds. They endured 32hrs operation being separated successfully. Dr's say they have a long way o go bu are pleased with how everything went with surgery.
Sending best wishes for their long journey they have ahead of them.
News from Last Night.
Fears for people that had Dentistry work done up in the Northern Queensland region.
Equipment wasn't sterlized properly, and they are fearing the some patients may had contracted Hep C and Aids.
Patients have been tested and now face the waiting game over Christmas.
Best wishes are sent to the patients and their families.
This post was modified from its original form on 16 Nov, 11:22
The Wallabies WON.
Well done to all players.
Congradulations are in order for them.
Thank you Jenny for all the news.
I only have news that the Wallabies and Kangaroo's won their matches.
Sunday's Programme last night had about fishing boats are putting the Tuna industry at risk by over fishing in waters.
A touching stort about an Institute giving hope to people that have been declared never to walk again. It was very sad as he reporter has a friend over there at the moment and he is doing his best. We watched him crawl for the first time since his tragic accident and hopes he will be able to throw his wheelchair away.
Corey Brown accuses RSPCA of whipping up a storm - 6th November
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C2NN article from Animalib
MELBOURNE CUP-winning rider Corey Brown has taken the whip to the RSPCA, questioning its credibility. The animal welfare group raised concerns about Brown striking Cup winner Shocking after passing the winning post at Flemington on Tuesday.
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Racing Victoria stewards summoned Brown to their room at Flemington yesterday before the first race on VRC Oaks day. Brown said he had just flicked his wrist in a celebratory gesture and did not believe there was enough evidence the whip made contact with the horse. The Sydney jockey argued that if there was a hit it was unintentional. He said the video footage was inconclusive and any contact was ''not deliberate''. If contact was made, it was only ever so ''slightly''. Brown explained that when the whip bent, he had flicked it. ''I don't believe I made contact with the horse,'' he said. ''I didn't want to hit the horse.'' Brown reserved his plea when charged with unnecessary use of the whip.
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Stewards found him guilty and fined him $500. Brown immediately went to the jockeys' room before returning with a statement.
''It's insulting to me personally that this story got any legs in the media. 'The RSPCA really needs to take a good look at itself if this is the level of argument it going to run with. 'To be the key organisation representing the animal welfare in Australia and then to seek publicity based on rubbish … to me it means the wider community should really question the RSPCA's credibility.''
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Following Brown's first victory in the most prized race in Australia, which also earned him a 10-meeting suspension for causing interference to Cup favourite Alcopop and Kibbutz near the 1700 metres, the RSPCA again tore into the controversial whip issue.
''For a leading jockey's natural instinct to be to give his horse a final whip in celebration as it passes the post really sums up the inherent problems with the culture of whip use in Australian racing,''
RSPCA chief Heather Neil was reported as saying in yesterday's Herald. ''It's a bizarre way to reward a horse that's just won you a lot of money.''
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The RSPCA believes a rider of Brown's standing should not resort ''thrashing'' thoroughbreds to ensure the horse produces its best. On September 26, the Australian Racing Board revised its whip rules, having already made it mandatory for jockeys around the country to use padded persuaders.
When the first set of rules was introduced on August 1, it led to the majority of jockeys around the country launching strike action, with several race meetings abandoned. Under the revised rules, jockeys can strike a horse only five times up to the 100m, and from there the whip is to be used at the rider's discretion.
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original article: SydMorningHerald
C2NN story submitted by Animalib
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Bull slaughter outcry grows by ALEISHA TISSEN
“In its capacity to suffer, the bull is our equal,” reads a letter in part to President Jacob Zuma from Australian representatives opposing the ritual bare-handed slaughter of a bull at the First Fruits Festival.
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Signed by 32 high-profile Australians including representatives from Compassion in World Farming, an Aboriginal Koori elder, a professor in bioethics and a principal lawyer, the letter calls for the suspension of the ritual based on its “unnecessary and extreme cruelty, unbefitting of your proud people in a modern world which values peace, justice and, in the words of your predecessor Nelson Mandela, ‘nobility of the human soul’ ”.
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A copy of the letter has also been sent to the SA High Commissioner for Australia, Lenin Shope. .
Kate Timmins of London, who has created online petitions on Facebook and the Care2 petition site against “Ukweshwama”, writes: “I see what the young men do to the bull during this ritual, not as brave and proving a coming of age, but as a cowardly act of brutality, whereby a number of men far outnumbering the bull are intent on doing the most harm possible to an animal.”
The Facebook site encourages members to sign a petition to replace the ritual with a cruelty-free alternative.
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“I think its only right that people respect and honour people’s rights to traditional and cultural heritage, however, not in the name of deliberately inflicting pain, torture and suffering on another living creature,” she said.
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The Daily Sun’s editor in chief, Themba ‘TK’ Khumalo asks: “Is it barbaric for people to show pride in who and what they are? Is celebrating that which connects them with their ancestry now taboo?” Khumalo goes further to ask how animal welfare activists “would want the bull to be killed”.
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United for Animals’ Martha Norman comments that the “cloak of culture conceals a myriad of atrocities”. “There is nothing brave about killing a bull with your bare hands when there is a whole mob of you ‘co-operating’ in his torment. Achieving ‘manhood’ through torture is shameful,” she said.
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aleisha@citizen.co.za
original article: http://www.citizen.co.za/index/article.aspx?pDesc=107223%2c1%2c22
Australian Wool Industry cash pain to continue
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5 November 2009 - C2NN story submitted by Animalib
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POOR wool prices and a shrinking clip slashed Australian Wool Innovation's 2008-09 levy revenue by 24 per cent to $34.3 million. And, according to AWI forecasts, the revenue situation is not going to get any better, with the clip tipped to shrink further.
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The 2 per cent grower levy was 55 per cent of AWI's total revenue of $61.7 million. The other three major contributors were the Federal Government with a matching research contribution of $11.4 million, Woolmark licensing at $9.1 million and interest of $3.34 million. But despite the drop in revenue, AWI's expenditure fell only 8 per cent, to $78.6 million, resulting in an operating deficit of $16.9 million for the year.
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Chief executive Brenda McGahan said since November, AWI had cut $25 million in costs, 100 staff and 300 projects. The current AWI board has been critical of the previous board's expenditure on corporate communications. But, despite criticism, AWI reported an internal expenditure of $2.5 million for the year compared with $2 million in the previous year. WoolProducers executive director Greg Weller said the organisation lacked transparency, with "no mention of directors' pay" in the report. "A grower could be forgiven for thinking that they were trying to conceal (their pay rates)," Mr Weller said. "Also, AWI directors are looking to double the length of their contracts ... how can their shareholders vote on something if they don't know what they are voting for?"
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Hamilton ultra and super-fine wool grower Michael Blake said the Australian wool industry badly needed to rebuild itself. Mr Blake said AWI was missing the mark on where it was allocating its money. "They have misled the industry on the mulesing industry, which is damaging our markets," he said. He also questioned the ownership of the intellectual property of AWI's Chinese projects.
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By Brian Clancy & Matilda Abey, Weekly Times
original article: http://www.animalsaustralia.org/media/in_the_news.php?article=638
C2NN page: http://www.care2.com/news/member/984871304/1298375
Leading meat exporter condemns failure to stun cattle
.C2NN story submitted by 
Animalib
Please click the gold note to promote this story
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5 November 2009
- Australia's largest sheep meat exporter, Roger Fletcher, says the reputation of Australia's meat export industry will be severely undermined if animals continue to be slaughtered without first being stunned. Some halal meat processors who export to the Middle East have an exemption from stunning animals before they're killed.
.Princess Alia bint Al Hussein of Jordan has written to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, saying stunning does conform with Islamic law, and should be compulsory.
.Mr Fletcher says Australia can't afford to continue to risk its animal welfare reputation. "The whole of Australia, we're looked at as though we look after our animals, I think we would be frowned on by the Australian public and also across the world. Here is Australia going down one track, and we've got a minor group that's affecting good welfare standards."
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Read the full article... http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/200911/s2733938.htm
Australia to pursue EU over gillnet fears
C2NN article submitted by Maria 
Australia and New Zealand will raise with EU officials the issue of two Spanish boats using huge nets, known as gillnets, in waters between the two countries.
The governments are concerned the two vessels are using the nets, which have been banned in the North East Atlantic in waters deeper than 200 metres.
- The gillnets target fish species that live on the bottom of the ocean such as the beleaguered deepwater dogfish.
Australia's deepwater migratory sharks and other fish species are likely to be caught in the nets, including "harrison's dogfish", which is considered to be critically endangered due to overfishing.
Gillnets are a particularly lethal form of fishing.
- If the fishing net gets lost, it acts like a "ghost net" and continues to catch fish as it bobs about in the ocean.
- The gillnet fleets are targeting sharks for their meat and for liver oil which is used around the world in cosmetics.
- The oil from the deepwater dogfish is highly prized.
A spokesman for the New Zealand Minister for Fisheries, Phil Heatley, has told ABC News Online: "There are mechanics to deal with these issues and we will work through official channels. The key issue here is the proper management of the high seas."
Plundering the high seas
Fisheries Minister Tony Burke has told ABC News Online that officials will raise with European representatives the issue of the Spanish gillnetters at a crucial meeting of the fledgling South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO) in Auckland next week.
The SPRFMO hopes to establish a legally-binding body that would have control over the high seas areas of the South Pacific ocean from the most eastern part of the South Indian Ocean through the Pacific towards the Exclusive Economic Zones of South America.
Conservation organisation TRAFFIC is concerned about the lack of management and constraint shown by countries when it comes to issuing licences on the high seas with gillnets.
TRAFFIC global marine program leader Glenn Sant has called for action from Europe.
- "The European Union should take responsibility for these Spanish vessels and ensure they are only allowed to fish in areas with a gear type if they can demonstrate sustainable fishing..." He says Australian fish stocks will be affected.
These vessels are not unique to Spain or to the South Pacific. They are travelling the world fishing the deepwater shark species. South African officials have been recording the catch of many gillnetters arriving at its ports.
- One vessel landed 56,000 litres of shark oil at the South African port of Cape Town.
A representative from the European Commission is currently in Hobart attending the annual meeting of the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) .
original story:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/11/03/2732142.htm?section=justin
West Australia Oil Leak Still Pouring Oil Into the Sea After 2 Months - Marine Life Disaster "We recorded hundreds of dolphins and sea birds in the oil slick area, as well as sea snakes and threatened hawksbill and flatback turtles," said WWF-Australia's Dr Gilly Llewellyn, who led the team of ecologists. False claims? Protected species On Wednesday, PTTEP, the company responsible for the oil slick, reported high levels of mortality among oil- affected seabirds. "Clearly, wildlife is dying and hundreds if not thousands of dolphins, seabirds and sea-snakes are being exposed to toxic oil. The critical issue is the long term impact of this slick on a rich marine ecosystem, taking into consideration the magnitude, extent and duration of the event," said Dr Llewellyn.
C2NN item submitted by 
Cher- wildlifeextra.com
The area affected by the major oil spill off Australia's Kimberley coast contains a huge amount of marine life, including some of the most iconic and threatened species in the ocean, according to a marine wildlife survey conducted by WWF. The oil & gas has been spilling from a rig in the Timor Sea since August, and,
...so far, all attempts to stop the leak have failed.
...the leak is some 3.6 km below the sea surface.
Dolphins, turtles, birds and snakes
Dolphins, migratory sea birds and sea snakes were found in abundance in the area, in addition to marine turtles, and many of these species were recorded swimming through the toxic oil affected area during WWF's recent expedition to Timor Sea. The survey report paints a picture of a rich marine community under threat of toxicity from the Montara oil leak which has been ongoing for more than two months.
"It's a stark contrast to comments made this week by the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA) that claimed our survey found no evidence of harm to marine life. This is clearly a false representation of our results and appears to be an attempt to sweep this environmental disaster under the carpet," Dr Llewellyn said.
Overall the expedition recorded 17 species of seabird, four species of cetacean and five marine reptiles including two species of marine turtle. At least eleven of the species were listed migratory and two - hawksbill and flatback turtles - are listed as threatened with extinction under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
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submitted by
Simone-animalcampaigns.com
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Australia is behind the World
Sow stalls are already banned in the United Kingdom, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Finland. They are also banned in Florida and are being phased out in Arizona, California, Colorado, Maine and Oregon in the United States. All members of the European Union will be obliged to prohibit the use of sow stalls (except for the first four weeks of pregnancy) from 1 January 2013. The introduction of new sow stalls has been illegal in the EU since 2003.
Two of the largest pork producers in the US and Canada also recently announced their plans to phase out sow stalls.
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When buying bacon, ham and pork, most Australians imagine pigs living in ‘old MacDonald’s farm’ of nursery rhymes - roaming freely and wallowing in the mud. However, the reality of life for more than 90% of Australian pigs is starkly different.
Pigs in factory farms live short lives of suffering, pain and deprivation
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Follow this link to download a copy of
Consumer Action Sheet (
pdf)..---------------------------------------------------------
original article: http://www.animalcampaigns.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1009:voiceless-pig-factories&catid=47:animal-wildlife-charity-welfare&directory=113
Marty - theage.com.au
"COAL,'' says mining union chief Tony Maher, the hint of a smirk in his voice, ''is vegetable matter. It's organic. It's not toxic, it's not radioactive. It has a waste problem. And that waste is carbon dioxide.'' But Maher knows that this particular organic matter has a serious image problem. It is almost pure carbon. Burning coal makes electricity, steel, cement - crucial ingredients for economic development - but it also produced 12 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions worldwide last year, 42% of the world's total.
This mineral is the largest single contributor to what scientists say is dangerous global warming, to inundation, drought, desertification, fire, random destructive weather events and the global deaths, perhaps, of millions. As Al Gore has said, the burning of coal and oil are ''the biggest global warming causes by far''.
But coal is also one of Australia's most important products, our biggest export by volume, and second biggest by value.
At home, Australians' heavy reliance on coal-fired energy means we produce more emissions per head of population than any other nation on earth.
- Some scientists and environmentalists go so far as to propose the winding back or even shutting the industry as soon as economically feasible.
- Greenpeace says this could be done without dire economic consequences...by 2030 or even by 2020.
- Guy Pearse, a former Liberal adviser turned coal industry critic, says we should stop coal exports now, before they become an even larger part of our economy.
- Manufacturing union leader Julius Roe, who conducted consultations for the ALP's national policy platform, said the question of shutting the industry down was raised at every consultation.
But put the question to the hardheads in industry, and they barely stifle a laugh. Australia digs up 318 million tonnes of black coal per year, but we only use one-fifth of it and export the rest. It's our biggest export and our second largest source of hard foreign currency. According to the industry, if we stopped exporting it, there would be a dozen other countries with more and dirtier coal who would simply fill the gap.
''...our buyers would just shift to perhaps lower quality ones from South Africa, or Indonesia, and tweak the technology to be able to use it,'' says Australian Coal Association chief Ralph Hillman.
Almost as if climate change is not happening, the world market for coal traded between countries is growing fast. It's expected to increase by 300 to 400 million tonnes per year for the next five years at least...
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original article: http://www.theage.com.au/national/old-king-coal-20091107-i2w7.html
Jenny news.com.au
The property, a six-bedroom residence with panoramic views from Sydney Harbour to the Pacific Ocean, was expected to sell for at least $15m, but bidding opened at $18m, The Australian reports. Those attending the closed auction were asked to pay a $50,000 refundable deposit to bid. It is understood all 10 registered bidders were Australian and each had agreed to bid more than $15m.
The 4000sq m Victoria Road property, named Le Manoir, includes a tennis court, swimming pool, five bathrooms, two studies, a guest powder room, three-car garage, a large reception hall and a commercial-size kitchen.
The oldest son of News Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch, Lachlan Murdoch and his wife, model and TV presenter Sarah, are expecting their third child. They have two sons, Kalan, 4, and Aidan, 3.
Their new home, which has Georgian architecture with 3.6m-high ceilings, last traded in 1956 and was marketed by Michael Pallier, who said of the property "it would definitely be one of the most magnificent homes in Sydney". The Georgian-themed house is surrounded by 3m fences and a steel electric gate secluded at the end of a long, private driveway.
Original article: http://www.news.com.au/business/money/story/0,1,26311836-5013951,00.html
Maria - chinapost.com.tw
A dog who acted as a canine defibrillator by repeatedly jumping up and down on the chest of a heart attack victim received an Australian award Wednesday for pet bravery...
Teka, a 3-year-old cattle dog, is credited by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) with helping save the life of owner Jim Touzeau after he collapsed two years ago.
“My heart had definitely stopped,” the 71-year-old widower said at the Maryborough, Queensland, awards ceremony. “I don't know if she actually kick-started my heart, but the doctors said that if I hadn't come to and called for help the chances are I would be dead.”
Doctors said the Teka treatment was enough to give Touzeau enough consciousness to phone for help.
“She was really thumping on my chest with her two front feet,” he said. “She must have been thinking 'I'd better wake this fellow up or I won't get any dinner.'”
The canny canine's ministrations didn't stop there: Teka raced out on to the street and barked and jumped up and down to attract the attention of passers-by.
Touzeau told the Brisbane Times that the pair were fast friends. “I got Teka three years ago and she's a terrific companion. She just never leaves my side. Because it's just the two of us, I rely on her and she relies on me,” the self-employed glass blower said.
RSPCA Queensland spokesman Michael Beatty said Teka was now in the running for a Purple Cross, a national award for animals that have shown outstanding service to humans. “She is yet another example that animals have a sixth sense that we'll probably never understand but can certainly be grateful for,” Beatty said.
http://www.care2.com/news/member/951765832/1289485
AUSTRALIA in the NEWS: November '09
This post was modified from its original form on 02 Nov, 13:41
