This month we decided to include an extense but very interesting article with an overview of worldwide cruelty to animals. Now that the world is again in another crisis with the bird influenza, where millions of chickens are being slaughtered every day, this article comes as a reminder of other crisises, such as other bird influenzas in the past, BSE, and many more.

  While human animals continue to use, torture and kill non-human animals as if they were their property this growing spiral will never end.

  Sometimes we wonder if all these endless crisises are not just Nature's way of taking revenge for the pain we inflict on her. Poetic justice? We wonder.........

  But we are still here and we will always be so long as there is a single animal suffering in the world. We must continue our long fight, the non-human animals rely on us.

  Maria Lopes

 

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 ARGENTINA

  DOG KILLINGS IN ARGENTINA

  Source: Meriem

  Please send protest letters to the authorities.

 argentina@un.int; ushuaiaprensa@infovia.com.ar ; stefanihector@hotmail.com ;

muniush@tierradelfuego.org.ar ; cdprensa@infovia.com.ar ;

ceremonial@tierradelfuego.org.ar ;

finmundo@tierradelfuego.org.ar ;

info@aerolineasargentinas.com ; info@tierradelfuego.org.ar ;

WEBMASTER@PRESIDENCIA.GOV.AR ; info@correocultura.gov.ar ;

Honorable Officials of Argentina:   

My comments are directed to government officials, tourism agencies, embassies and consulate generals of Argentina. I am a member of the international community who is appalled to learn about the indiscriminate slaughter of stray dogs for the sake of tourism.

Please note: I am a potential tourist who would never step foot in a country that disposes of innocent life to sanitize its streets.

Photographic evidence reveals dogs hung with barbed wire, one dangling lifelessly at the entrance to a resort. A killing truck equipped with a gas chamber combs the streets for more victims. In another shocking example, legislators from Rio Grande, province of Tierra del Fuego, enacted an ordinance permitting local pound workers to catch strays with rifles and tranquilizers. The dogs are held for a mere 24 hours before they are gassed or poisoned.

So far officials have responded with arrogance to appeals from humane advocates and Argentine Animal Welfare Associations. When a concerned individual phoned Hector Stefani, general secretary of town hall, the caller was sarcastically invited to participate in the killing and then hung up on.

Such behavior discredits Argentina and generates negative publicity around the world. I will encourage family, friends and colleagues to boycott Argentine tourism and commerce until authorities take moral, legal and financial responsibility for these homeless animals. I hope you will join the civilized world by swiftly instituting:

1--Affordable, nationwide spay/neuter, vaccination, identification and adoption policies to        
manage the surplus of dogs and cats;
2--Educational programs to foster responsible guardianship, emphasizing the necessity
to spay/neuter privately cared for animals;
3--The passage and enforcement of rigorous animal protection laws;
4--A ban on all cruel and unacceptable killing methods.

The way a society treats its most defenseless inhabitants reflects that society's sense of humanity. Towns littered with the mangled remains of companion animals convey little more than a compassionless and shallow people.

Please let me know about any efforts to reform the present system of stray "population control" in Argentina.

Thank you,

Name/Country

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AUSTRALIA

  Source: Mark Richards and HSI

  Australia's Northern Territory Government is once again pushing to allow tourists to come to Australia to hunt crocodiles for trophies. The proposal in the ‘Draft Management Plan for Crocodylus porosus in the Northern Territory’ (available at  http://www.deh.gov.au/biodiversity/trade-use/publicnotices/management-plans/croc.html ) is currently before Federal Environment Minister Dr David Kemp for his approval under the export provisions of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. If approved the plan will be in place until 31 December 2008.

Australian Government policy is to prohibit safari hunting of native animals and the prohibition of ‘recreational hunting of crocodiles for profit’ has been a condition of previous approvals for crocodile export. It is a policy that has been upheld for many years by both Liberal and ALP governments but comes under strong pressure each time the export management plan is due for renewal. Dr Kemp must maintain the condition that crocodile trophy hunts are prohibited to any approval of the proposed management plan. This is for the sake of sound wildlife management, animal welfare and Australia’s reputation as an eco friendly tourist destination. Crocodiles were protected in 1971 after commercial hunting took numbers down to extremely low levels. Protection has allowed the population to recover. A ban on commercial exports was lifted in 1985 and Australia currently exports approximately 12 000 crocodile skins a year. HSI opposes the commercialisation of crocodiles for their skins and rubbishes claims by the industry that it saved the species by creating incentives for its protection. The species rescue is correctly attributed to the foresight of the Northern Territory  public in protecting the species in 1971.

  Please send protest letters to:

The Director Sustainable Wildlife Industries
Department of Environment and Heritage
GPO Box 787, Canberra ACT 2601
Australia
wsm@deh.gov.au

 

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am against the trophy hunting of native animals and saltwater crocodiles.
There is a link between animal cruelty and cruelty against humans. Anyone capable of enjoying the torture of one sensitive species (such as crocodiles) can also take sick pleasure in harming another (humans). Many
peaceful anti-hunt protestors have been harmed by hunters, which proves that their violence is indiscriminate.

If you allowed crocodile trophy hunting, your country would also become less attractive in the eyes of tourists.

Thank you very much indeed for your time and for registering my views against trophy hunting.

Yours sincerely.

Name and Country

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CANADA

  ASK CANADA'S NEW PM TO BAN SEAL HUNT

  Source: KINSHIP CIRCLE

Prime Minister Paul Martin
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa
K1A 0A2
fax: 613-941-6900; email: pm@pm.gc.ca CC: Canadian Tourism Commission
55 Metcalfe Street, Suite 600
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1P 6L5
ph: 613-946-1000; www.canadatourism.com
online comments:
http://www.canadatourism.com/en/ctc/aboutctc/CTX_ContactUs.cfm Prime Minister Martin: I am disheartened to learn the annual slaughter of seals continues despite international disapproval. As long as officials sanction the world's largest massacre of marine wildlife, I will urge friends, family and colleagues to boycott Canadian tourism and commerce. An estimated 95% of fatalities in last year's hunt were 12 days to 12-months-old. Sealers are armed with high-powered riles and/or the hakapik (club) to shatter the skulls of wounded seals. While the 2003 bloodbath has concluded with no definitive numbers for seals bludgeoned or shot on the ice, the Canadian government has already authorized a three-year quota that permits hunters to kill nearly one million seals. The seals are hauled across ice with sharp boat hooks. The injured are dumped on to piles of dead animals. When confronted with proof from an international coalition of veterinarians that four out of five sealers do not confirm an animal's death before skinning, Canadian authorities still refused to crack down on sealers. According to a 2001 report, up to 40% of seal pups were skinned alive. Witnesses documented over 660 violations of the Marine Mammal Regulations. I call upon the Canadian government to address the critical problem of over-fishing, instead of scapegoating seals--who have never been linked with diminishing cod stock in any government-released study.
Please permanently ban the inhumane hunt. Until such efforts are made, I will not purchase Canadian goods and I will advise my country's lawmakers to enforce a ban on the import of seal products. Thank you, Name/Country

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GUINEA BISSAU

    WILD DOLPHIN CAPTURE IN AFRICA

  Source: Alan Cooper and Yvon Godefroid

The Marine Connection has just received news that a massive capture of wild Bottlenose dolphins is ongoing in Guinea Bissau, West Africa.  This would appear to be very similar to the Solomon Islands captures that occurred in 2003.  Like the dolphins captured from the wild in the Solomon Islands, these animals will be also be sent to captive facilities - no doubt many will die even before they are transported, due to shock and stress. Live capture "experts" reported to be contracted are from the USA and Japan - unconfirmed reports state the destination of these dolphins would be China and South America - with the animals being transported out of Bissau via charter plane.  Early reports also give the key person behind these transactions as being a Canadian citizen.  Your help is vital to support The Marine Connection's fight to stop these captures.  Please write/fax/email today, to protest against these captures from the wild population.  Your support could help save the lives of literally scores of dolphins and stop captures from the wild in Africa to supply marine parks.  We will post further details as they become available. Also from Yvon Godefroid we received the following information
This company http://www.riverzoofarm.com/offers.htm is now planning a huge 100 dolphins' capture in Guinea-Bissau.
CITES contacts: Jim Armstrong
Deputy General  CITES
email :    jim.armstrong@unep.ch
Tel: + 41  794770805 CITES Management authority of Guinea-Bissau
Direcção dos Serviços Florestais e Caça
Ministério da Agricultura, Pescas e Recursos Naturais
Caixa Postal 71
BISSAU
Tel: +245 22 30 40
Fax: +245 22 10 19 CITES Scientific Authority of Guinea-Bissau
Direcção dos Serviços Florestais e Caça
Ministério da Agricultura, Pescas e Recursos Naturais
Caixa Postal 71
BISSAU
Tel: +245 22 30 40
Fax: +245 22 10 19 Also the IUCN - world conservation union in Africa: IUCN Regional office for West Africa
01 B.P. 1618
Ouagadougou 01
Burkina Faso
Phone: + 226 307-047
Fax: + 226 307-561
brao@iucn.org IUCN Guinea-Bissau Country Office
Apartado 23
Bissau
1031
Guinea-Bissau
Phone:++245 201-230
Phone:++245 203-264
Fax: ++245 201-168
uicn@sol.gtelecom.gw Dear Sirs, I am terrible concerned and  I write to you regarding information which I have received regarding the massive capture of wild Bottlenose dolphins is ongoing in Guinea Bissau, West Africa Live capture "experts" reported to be contracted are from the USA and Japan - unconfirmed reports state the destination of these dolphins would be China and South America - with the animals being transported out of Bissau via charter plane.  Early reports also give the key person behind these transactions as being a Canadian citizen. I am writing to respectfully request you intervene and stop these captures, ensure the animals receive professional vet car and are released back into the wild population from which they have been taken. I trust you will take immediate action and look forward to receiving your reply as a matter of urgency. Sincerely
Name/Country

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NORWAY

  Norway Wants Permit to Kill Pregnant Alpha Wolf

  Source: Maria Borremans

Rømskog municipality in Østfold county, Norway has sent an application to the Directorate of Nature Management to kill the Alpha-female of the Kongsvinger/Årjang pack. Tracking of the female indicates that she is pregnant.

The reason they want to kill the wolf is that she has killed some hunting dogs.

This wolf is living both in Norway and Sweden.

Swedish authorities will not issue a permit to kill the wolf.

So now they are trying to get permission in Norway.

There are less then a hundred wolves !

If you want to read more about Rømskog this is their english website:

http://www.romskog.kommune.no/english/

Please send Rømskog Municipally a letter in protest to the killing of one very important wolf of Scandinavia.

The email address for Rømskog: postmottak@romskog.kommune.no


Here is a sample letter if you choose to use it.

Dear Sirs:

It has been brought to my attention that Rømskog Kommune wants to kill one of Scandinavia's few wolves.

This pregnant Alpha female is very important for the survival of the Scandinavian wolf population and I strongly object to the killing of this wolf.

Sincerely,

(Your Name)

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U.S.A.

  ALERT: Who's promoting Iditarod dog torture in 2004? 

From The Sled Dog Action Coalition, http://www.helpsleddogs.org :

Brutal dog-torture continues at the hands of hardhearted Iditarod mushers. Please help the dogs who are forced to run in the Iditarod dog sled race by sending protest emails to race sponsors and promoters. The Iditarod has a long documented history of dog deaths, illnesses and injuries. On average, 54% of the dogs who start the race do not even make it across the finish line. Of those that do, 81% have lung damage. Many dogs who are permanently injured in the Iditarod or who are unwanted for any other reason are shot in the head, dragged or clubbed to death. "On-going cruelty is the law of many dog lots. Dogs are clubbed with baseball bats and if they don't pull are dragged to death in harnesses....." wrote Alaskan Mike Cranford in an article for Alaska's Bush Blade Newspaper. Below is a list of organizations that are 2004 Iditarod race sponsors, musher sponsors or Iditarod promoters.Please blind copy the email addresses, blocks of 10 (email addresses with semi-colons in block form can be found on http://www.helpsleddogs.org/sponsors.htm on the bottom of the page): ir.dcx@daimlerchrysler.com,pressinquiries@na.ko.com,

heyer@na.ko.com,NewsOutback@OUTBACK.com,
marketing@mill-cop.com,
investorrelations@wellsfargo.com,
investors@kroger.com,
media@carnival.com,

bonnie_ingraham@mcs.k12.in.us,info@annamaet.com,
jdc@eaglepack.com, info@breg.com,

JBbradley@benton.k12.wi.us,neisgar2@benton.k12.wi.us,

pointmanl@tds.net,manager@lowes.com,
rlhaynes@adelphia.net,
teast@zcs.k12.in.us,microair@microair.com, ktreinen@hse.k12.in.us,
stvhr@stvincent.org,phillip.bayt@icemiller.com, phillip.genetos@icemiller.com,
art.kalleres@icemiller.com, Sheila.David@monroe.k12.wi.us,pxjones@comcast.net,

gear@downwindsports.com,info@isisforwomen.com,
AskMMs@MMMars.com,MMsWorld@mms.com,
ethel.us@effem.com,
info@ncshc.com,bergeson@ospi.wednet.edu,
bhorsey@aol.com,

yukonwind@earthlink.net,lodgepol@mc.net,
cfuelling@zcs.k12.in.us,
gene@menzies.com,gene@motosolutions.com,
jrautenberg@stvincent.org,cconner@nwshelby.k12.in.us,
pam.sees@nacs.k12.in.us,
pbschool@psci.net,sweber@surf-ici.com,
crestview@msdlt.k12.in.us,sgraves@mcsc.k12.in.us,
robert_lumpkins@cargill.com,
districtadministration@lionsclubs.org,
dccl@dccl.org,fenleyann@mhasd.k12.wi.us,
springdl@chorus.net,geraldb@argyle.k12.wi.us,
KellyB@argyle.k12.wi.us,
bschmidt@d158.k12.il.us,
info@huskyrescue.org,vicepresident@bayareasiberian.org,
treasurer@bayareasiberian.org,zvezda@ispwest.com,
leb7282@attbi.com,pikelegal@aol.com,
prairiedogsupply@mts.net,
sales@edmundoptics.com,sales@yummychummies.com,
contactus@melanzana.com,
smokey@melanzana.com,richard.edwards@polarisind.com,
inv-rel@gargoylesinc.com,office@gfwco.com,
business@affinity-petcare.com,
genevieve.dion@recreation.bombardier.com,
petfood@telusplanet.net, rfix@redrobin.com,relations@redrobin.com,
info@adfinc.com,
info@nationaldogfood.com,michael.moe@thinkequity.com,
dquazzo@thinkequity.com,chayssen@thinkequity.com,
bkirkpatrick@stanthony.k12.mn.us,windigo@cheqnet.net,
marie-pierre.grenier@recreation.bombardier.com,
steve.cowing@recreation.bombardier.com,
marcr.lacroix@recreation.bombardier.com,
wccinfo@wcclp.com,
site.operator@mars.com,
golpheneeb@rainier.wednet.edu,
sheila.schaeffer@nacs.k12.in.us,
msnhst@MICROSOFT.COM,
eduardos@intelligent-content.com,
scottz@intelligent-content.com,
strategicaccounts@amerigas.com,
pet.care@effem.com,

microsoftcom_contactus@css.one.microsoft.com

PLEASE PERSONALIZE SAMPLE LETTER (If you will be boycotting, please say so.): Dear Sirs, I understand your organization sponsors or promotes the Iditarod dog sled race, and I want to bring some facts to your attention. This race is condemned by animal protection groups and animal lovers across the United States. Please stop supporting this abusive race, and all of the evils associated with it. Mushers treat their dogs abominably. In the Iditarod, dogs are forced to run 1,150 miles, which is the approximate distance between Los Angeles and Seattle, over a grueling terrain in 8 to 15 days. Dog deaths and injuries are common in the race. USA Today sports columnist Jon Saraceno called the Iditarod "a travesty of grueling proportions" and "Ihurtadog." Fox sportscaster Jim Rome called it "I-killed-a-dog." Orlando Sentinel sports columnist George Diaz said the race is "a barbaric ritual" and "an illegal sweatshop for dogs." USA Today business columnist Bruce Horovitz said the race is a "public-relations minefield." Please visit the Sled Dog Action Coalition website  http://www.helpsleddogs.org and be sure to read the quotes on http://www.helpsleddogs.org/remarks.htm . All the material on the site is true and verifiable. At least 120 dogs have died in the Iditarod. There is no official count of dog deaths available for the race's early years. Causes of death have included strangulation in towlines, internal hemorrhaging after being gouged by a sled, liver injury, heart failure, and pneumonia. "Sudden death" and "external myopathy," a fatal condition in which a dog's muscles and organs deteriorate during extreme or prolonged exercise, have also occurred. In the 2001 Iditarod, a sick dog was sent to a prison to be cared for by inmates and received no veterinary care. He was chained up in the cold and died. Another dog died by suffocating on his own vomit. On average, 54% of the dogs who start the race do not even make it across the finish line. Of those that finish, 81% have lung damage. Tom Classen, retired Air Force colonel and Alaskan resident for over 40 years, tells us that the dogs are beaten into submission: "They've had the hell beaten out of them." "You don't just whisper into their ears, ‘OK, stand there until I tell you to run like the devil.' They understand one thing: a beating. These dogs are beaten into submission the same way elephants are trained for a circus. The mushers will deny it. And you know what? They are all lying." -USA Today, March 3, 2000 in Jon Saraceno's column Beatings and whippings are common. Jim Welch says in his book Speed Mushing Manual, "I heard one highly respected [sled dog] driver once state that "‘Alaskans like the kind of dog they can beat on.'" "Nagging a dog team is cruel and ineffective...A training device such as a whip is not cruel at all but is effective." "It is a common training device in use among dog mushers...A whip is a very humane training tool." Mushers believe in "culling" or killing unwanted dogs, including puppies. Many dogs who are permanently disabled in the Iditarod, or who are unwanted for any reason, are killed with a shot to the head, dragged or clubbed to death. "On-going cruelty is the law of many dog lots. Dogs are clubbed with baseball bats and if they don't pull are dragged to death in harnesses....." wrote Alaskan Mike Cranford in an article for Alaska's Bush Blade Newspaper (March, 2000). Jon Saraceno wrote in his March 3, 2000 column in USA Today, "He [Colonel Tom Classen] confirmed dog beatings and far worse. Like starving dogs to maintain their most advantageous racing weight. Skinning them to make mittens. Or dragging them to their death." The race has led to the proliferation of horrific dog kennels in which the dogs are treated very cruelly. Many kennels have over 100 dogs and some have as many as 200. It is standard for the dogs to spend their entire lives outside tethered to metal chains that can be as short as four feet long. In 1997 the United States Department of Agriculture determined that the tethering of dogs was inhumane and not in the animals' best interests. The chaining of dogs as a primary means of enclosure is prohibited in all cases where federal law applies. A dog who is permanently tethered is forced to urinate and defecate where he sleeps, which conflicts with his natural instinct to eliminate away from his living area. Iditarod dogs are unhappy prisoners with no chance of parole. Please end your organization's association with the Iditarod dog sled race. Sincerely,
Name/Country

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PETITIONS

!!! Free the Dolphin from West Edmonton Mall !!!

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/984344467?ts=1074887919&sign

STOP THE ABUSE OF ANIMALS AT EL ROCÍO

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/743618286

WOLF PETITION

http://www.clanloups.com/lettreEng.html

Tell Carl Brizi that bestiality is not to be swept under the rug!

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/891501721

Please urge Alberta's government to suspend the grizzly hunt

http://www.savebiogems.org/castle/takeaction.asp

Immediate action needed to protect Algonquin wolves

http://www.wolvesontario.org/wolves/action/

BAN ON THE BREEDING AND DETAINMENT OF THE SO-CALLED FATTENED RABBITS IN CAGES

Click in the English flag and then in "Zur Petition" then in the circle GB

http://www.tierrechtsbewegung.org/

Please help convince the Swedish Government to ban fur-farming by signing the on-line petition at:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/358991693

"Stop Proposed Culling (killing)of Deer in Oak Mountain State Park!"

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/634729247

Petition on LeFlore County, Oklahoma Abusive Dog Fighting

http://www.petitiononline.com/LeFlore/petition.html

Please sign   the petition to ban the import of wild caught birds into the E U

http://www.worldparrottrust.org

"Stop the Carpathian Brown Bear Slaughter in Romania"

http://www.avestours.ro/ursusarctos/protest/

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INTERESTING (ALTOUGH LONG) ARTICLE

PEOPLE AND ANIMALS

AN OVERVIEW OF WORLDWIDE CRUELTY TO ANIMALS

Pigs in The Netherlands 1997/1998
THE GREATEST KILLING OF ANIMALS IN HISTORY
Millions of pigs were slaughtered in The Netherlands in 1997 (more than 10 million, source: Dutch TV News 12-11-1997). Most pigs (about 9 million) were healthy. About 700.000 pigs suffered from the disease of classical swine fever (Dutch: varkenspest). Classical swine fever is according to most experts especially the result of overcrowded pigsties.

In intensive agriculture industry sows are chained to the ground during their entire life or they are confined to such a small space making it impossible for them to move or turn.

In the summer of 1997 farmers wanted more pigs, but there wasn't enough space to keep them and the transport of pigs was prohibited. The vets killed the little, healthy and playing piglets (three to six weeks old), squirting their hearts. Up to the first of November 1997 2,5 million healthy piglets were killed (Dutch TV News, 12-11-1997).

October 1997 the vets stopped these killings and refused to carry on with the slaughtering.

Live pigs are transported throughout Europe. A lot of pigs get wounded or die during transport. Often there happen accidents.
photo1 photo2

It seems that the English people do not want Dutch pork any longer, because Dutch animals live in appalling conditions.
(1997, 1998)

Hens, chickens in Europe
250 million hens in Europe live in coops measuring 45 by 45 cm. It is hardly possible for them to move. The European Community wants the coops to measure 45 cm by 80 cm. Only the European ministers have to give the green light.
(de Volkskrant, March 1998)

A hen is about 24 to 30 centimeters. One square meter contains 24 chickens, soon 21 once the new law is adopted.

Hens eat a lot of antibiotics to make them grow faster and their beaks are cut. (See also bacteria and antibiotics)
(Second part of 1900)

Hens, chickens in Asia
In South-Korea million chickens were slaughtered following the outbreak of a new influenza virus.
(1997)

Cows in Great Britain
A lot of cows (the first in Kent, 1985)) suffer from the disease Bovine Spongiforme Encefalopathie (BSE). Humans can also contract this disease even years after having eaten the contaminated beef. The British Government has tried to cover up the facts about the disease but now an epidemic in humans is to be feared.

Up to 1998 170.000 cows have contracted this disease and died. 23 British people died as a result of the human variant of BSE: Creutzfeld-Jacob.
(D. Wittenberg/ de Volkskrant, March 1998)

It is forbidden to export British beef but the beef manages to find its way to the markets in spite of the ban.
(1998)

Horses in Liverpool, Great Britain
Three horses died during the Grand National horse races on 6 April 1998. The race is also called the "Killing Fields". One horse broke its leg and had to be slaughtered.
In many countries horse races also result in a number of dead or injured horses.
(1998)

Whales
Since the moratorium, 12 years ago in 1986, 18.000 whales have been killed
(source: The World Wildlife Fund, May 1998)

The Japanese kill 540 whales on a yearly basis and Norway has doubled its catch. Also Iceland and South-Korea are known to kill whales. They say it is necessary for science, however most whales will be eaten by people.
A lot of whales die in fishing nets, because of the stress resulting from pursuits by tourist boots and accidents with these boots.
(May 1998)

Bears and dogs in Pakistan
In villages in the south of Pakistan people like to watch fights between dogs and bears. Before the fight the bears' nails and teeth are extracted. The spectators (sometimes 10.000) like to see the dogs (pitbull terriers) win. Both animals sustain injuries from the fight. The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) is trying to stop this cruelty to animals. Photographs are expected soon.
(Edition of the Nieuwsblad van het Noorden, April 1998)

Bulls in Brazil
In Brazil a lot of bulls suffer death by torture during Easter time according to WSPA. Bulls are driven into the streets of 23 places along the coast of the Santa Catarina region.
The spectators beat and prick the bulls with sticks and knives, throw pepper in their eyes and destroy their horns, break their bones and stick out their eyes.
(Edition of the Nieuwsblad van het Noorden, April 1998)

Bacteria and antibiotics
A lot of bacteria have become resistant to antibiotics. This conclusion was drawn by the commission for Scientific and Technology of the House of Lords in England. They conclude: "This research has been an alarming experience that has convinced us that resistance to antibiotics is one of the greatest threats to public health.
Cattle receive a lot of antibiotics to prevent infection and to grow faster. That is the reason why bacteria have become resistant to antibiotics.
'It is necessary for cattle not to receive antibiotics which are meant for humans, according to Dr. Prof. J. Verhoef of the University of Utrecht, The Netherlands.
(De Volkskrant, May 1998)

Europe's forests
Denmark rates lowest of 15 European countries as concerns the upkeep of its forests. Switzerland is the best. The Netherlands ranks eleventh.

Hunting in France
In France migratory birds are shot. In the summer of 1998 the French government extented the duration of the hunting season. Now migratory birds can be shot from the skies from 14 July to 28 February. With this decision the French government ignores the rules of the European Community.
(Nieuwsblad vh Noorden, 20 June 1998)

Chickens in The Netherlands
The new Dutch government intends to limit the number of chickens to 92 million.
(De Volkskrant, June 1998)

In the Netherlands about 90 million hens without beaks - after being docked- are kept in small coops. They move with difficulty as they have to stand and walk on grids all day long.

Hunting in Russia
The Russian tourist office sells hunting journeys to shoot protected animals, like brown bears, seals and wolves. For export the trophy hunters need a special export-license.
(De Volkskrant, June 1998)

Animals and smoking
Monkeys, dogs, rats, rabbits and hamsters are forced to smoke for the tobacco-industry to test the tobacco. The industry wants to prove that smoking is not detrimental.
(Brabants Dagblad, 10 December 1997, Proefdiervrij maart 1998)

Tree sparrow in Belgium
In Belgium a import firm in the port of Antwerp was held responsible for killing and freezing one and a half million Chinese Tree Sparrows. The birds were destined for Italy for consumption.
The birds are protected in Belgium. The firm was given a penalty by the Belgian court.
(Nieuwsblad van het Noorden,  1 July 1998)

Frogs
Since the eighties the population of frogs in the world has been reduced for which there is no clear explanation. Some scientists think it is a forerunner of a greater imminent disaster because of the air and water pollution. According to Henk Strijbosch frogs are sensitive to UV-radiation, which is increased by pollution. Radiation unsettles the frogs' DNA.
(de Volkskrant,  4 July 1998)

Animals in the British army
In 1996 more than 11.000 animals were used for testing war material, which is record since registration has been introduced. Monkeys are shot in the head to see what happens to their brains. Pigs are used to test bulletproof vests. Rabbits, sheep, goats, rats and mice are also used for experiments. The Dutch army used 1040 animals for testing.
(Proefdiervrij, maart 1998)

Animals in the Iraqi army
The Iraqi army used dogs for testing biological and chemical weapons.
(Proefdiervrij, maart 1998)

Norway has two extra weeks to hunt whales
Norway extented the duration of the whale hunting season with two weeks as the allowed total number of 671 whales had not yet been reached. This is conflict with the International Moratorium.
(NRC, 29 July 1998)

Israel fattens geese
In Tel Aviv they keep geese for their liver. After Hungary Israel is the greatest producer of goose-liver (foie de gras).
A 40 cm-long pipe is pushed down the goose's gullet and then into the stomach whereupon a porridge-like substance is forced down to reach the stomache. The goose's liver becomes too large and the animal will experience breathing problems. The pipe causes scars and inflammations. For these reasons 12% die before going to the chopping-block.
The liberal member of the Knesset Avraham Poraz wants this cruel treatment of the geese to be stopped.
(Nieuwsblad van het Noorden,  8 august 1998)

350 Pigs choke
The pigs died because of the lack of oxygen in the pigsty due to technical problems.
(De Telegraaf,  22 July 1998)

In a lot of countries pigs in the pig breeding industry are kept in pigsties which are too small. The owners extract their teeth, extend the balls of the males without administering a sedative. Because the pigs have too little space they eat each other's tails. The pigs are kinder than their owners.

The Netherlands/ millions of animals die in traffic
In a year's time between five and ten million animals in the Netherlands died resulting from traffic accidents.
(ANP, July 1998)

Germans eat oxen
In October 1997 German revelers ate 82 oxen during the Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany.
(NRC, 17 September 1998)

The danger of antibiotics (1)
The use of antibiotics to stimulate growth in animals must be forbidden. The official Dutch Board of Health warns the Dutch government that antibiotics can produce resistant bacteria which may be life-threatening to humans.
Especially antibiotics such as avoparcine, virginiamycine, tylosine, avilamycine, bacitracine and spiramycine.
(De Volkskrant, 29 August 1998)

The danger of antibiotics (2)
87% of the antibiotics in the Netherlands was intended for growth-stimulation for beef-cattle. The effect of growing faster was discovered by accident in the fifties.
The Dutch Board of Health says that use of antibiotics must be forbidden within three years. The Dutch organization for agriculture (LTNO) and the Dutch organization for cattle breeding and meat produce (Produktschap voor vee en vlees)