URGENT Back off Badgers Petition!

Source.

 The government is consulting on their plans for the badger cull from now until 20th September which means we don't have much time to urge them to cancel their plan.

38 Degrees held a vote and 87% of participants are against the government's plans to shoot England's badgers.

Please sign the petition here and show your support for a long term, scientific approach to tackling TB in cows and against  the governments plan to shoot our badgers.  If we don't stop them, the badger shoots could begin in a just a few months time.

The government has scrapped trials of badger vaccines and are going against their own scientific advisers and launching the cull which experts say won't solve the Bovine TB problem.

Please spare just 30 seconds to sign this petition and share with your friends.  Thank you.

Short Hiatus

Hello all,

We're taking Suki on holiday so there will be no blog updates for a short time whilst we're tucked away in a cottage near Scotland.  There will be plenty of walking, fresh air and hopefully relaxation. 

In the meantime there is plenty to be getting on with (hint, hint) and we'll be back before you know it :)

Source 1.  Source 2.

Fluffy Friday #31

There is a sad story behind these adorable photos of little Minxy, the minature Falabella pony.

Minxy was born prematurely with her legs twisted, her owner needs to raise money for a lifesaving operation. 

Read more at the source.

End Live Animal Exports from Australia

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The cruelty of Australia's live cattle export trade to Indonesia has recently being exposed leading to a review by RSPCA Australia.  For more information on this please click here.

Australia exports hundreds of thousands of cattle, mostly to Indonesia and roughly 4 million sheep to the Middle East, yearly.

Following pressure from members of the public, the Australian government announced a temporary suspension of all live cattle exports to Indonesia.  However, after just five weeks it was announced that the live trade can resume.  WSPA has said "we need to let the Australian government know that this cruelty is not acceptable and that their actions are being watched internationally."

Please click here to see how you can voice your support along with the thousands of Australians who have already taken action.

 

So, how's Suki?

Suki Loves Destroyed Footballs!

We've had Suki for over 9 months now and the time has flown by, I feel like she has always been in our lives and has just fitted in perfectly.  

Attempting to completely demolish the ball..

Things don't always run smoothly though and over the last few months we have had some issues with Suki, she suddenly started making a mess on the floor every time we went out of the house together.  We don't go out very often without Suki, when we do it is never for a lengthy period of time.  Suki didn't really do this before so when she started to behave this way, we were quite concerned.  At first we decided that we would go out more often in an effort to show her that no matter what she did, we would continue our occasional night out but this only exacerbated things (we were also shattered after consecutive nights out!)  Eventually I did the thing I probably should have done first, checked my Dog Bible!

You didn't want to use this ball for anything did you?

The author of my Dog Bible is Victoria Stilwell who is a fantastic dog trainer and I have followed her career since she burst onto our screens with It's Me or the Dog which is still my favourite TV show.

Shake it!  Shake it!

The advice Victoria gave was that when we left the house we should not make a big deal of it and not bother with saying goodbye to Suki (usually we both make a fuss of her and tell her we'll be back soon) and to follow suit when returning home, ignoring her when she jumps up to greet us etc.  We both found this quite hard and the look of shock on her face when we first left without saying goodbye was hard to see but it has worked wonders!  

The book also helped us to realise that Suki has a touch of "separation anxiety" and I could kick myself for not recognising this before as I would have taken steps to encourage her to be more independent sooner.  In order to help her with this we have been trying especially hard with letting off the lead more which she is doing very well with.  She gets a bit carried away sometimes but she is so happy and free and it is helping with her independence.


The only down side to Suki running freely through the wild flowers is that she has unfortunately contracted conjunctivitis so the next challenge is administering eye drops!

The latest on Whaling

Source.

WDCS reports back after the International Whaling Commission:

At the end of July the US government announced that it is recommending that trade sanctions be imposed on Iceland over its commercial whaling activities. 

President Obama now has until mid September to make a decision.  There are still things we can do to help...  Click here to contact President Obama asking him to make the right decision, remember to let your friends know too.

Good News from HSI

During the 63rd meeting of the International Whaling Commission Japan withdrew its proposal to conduct commercial hunts in its coastal waters, which is fantastic news!

Please remember to take the action above and share with your friends, thank you!

Fluffy Friday #30

The Odd Couple. Part Two.

Happy 30th Fluffy Friday!

Let's continue with the remaining Odd Couple images following on from last week, once again BEWARE, seriously cute images follow...

Heron seems to have given up on fishing.

Am I boring you Pussycat?

Duck: "Pretend to be a statue.  Pretend to be a statue."

You can't help who you fall in love with.

Goat: "Pull my hair once more and I'll put these horns to good use."

Squirrel: "In Europe, we kiss on both cheeks."

And they floated off into the sunset and lived happily ever after...

We have so much in common.

Source

Lab Animals Directive - a step back? (Deadline 7th September 2011)

Source.

Back in June a public consultation on how to implement a new EU Directive into UK law was announced.  The Directive has been introduced to bring current standards into line for lab animals including dogs, mice and rabbits across the European Union.  This could be a good thing for many of the EU member states but unfortunately the new Directive could threaten the standards for lab animals here in the UK.

The RSPCA has said "if the new Directive is implemented word for word into UK law, animals may undergo more suffering and pain, inhumane methods of killing may be allowed and many labs could go years without being inspected!"

Our government could quite easily choose to allow our current higher standards to stay as they are, however, the RSPCA believes they are cutting standards in order to reduce regulation.

We only have until 5th September to voice our opinions and to save our standards, please click here and enter your details to contact your government representative and let them know that you care.  This action will take more time than usual as a template letter has not been prepared by the RSPCA, a letter in your own words is the only way the Home Office will accept your response to the consultation.  

The RSPCA have listed points to include, and please feel free to make some changes to the letter below that I have sent:

I was dismayed to hear that you are seriously considering amending our current standards for lab animals to bring it into line with the new Directive put in place across the EU member states.  The new Directive is could threaten the standards we have worked so hard to achieve here in the UK.

If the Directive is implemented word for word into our law, it is a concern that animals may undergo more suffering and pain, inhumane methods of killing may be allowed and labs may not be inspected for years at a time.

I agree with everything listed on the RSPCA website about the new Directive including the following points:

1.      No reduction in the number of Home Office Inspectors or frequency of official inspections of establishments. A significant number of inspections must be unannounced.

2.      No lowering of existing housing and care standards for animals – where UK standards are higher than the Directive these must be kept.

3.      The current tasks and membership of local Ethics Committees (Ethical Review Process)   must remain. These committees should continue to review all projects locally as well as ensuring animal use and suffering is reduced and high standards of housing and care are maintained.

4.      Procedures that cause animals long-lasting severe pain, suffering or distress must never be allowed.

5.      Inhumane methods of killing must not be used.

6.      The use of great apes must never be allowed and there must be a robust system to critically scrutinise any use of primates.

7.      Experiments on birds and reptiles before they are hatched must continue to be regulated.

Thank you for taking the time to read my objections and I sincerely hope that you will consider the points I have made. 

Yours sincerely... 
_______________________________________________

PETA is also campaigning against the new Directive and have an action here which you can take, they have already prepared a letter for you if you don't have the time to write one from scratch. 

Please remember to tell your friends! 

Farewell Peter Falk

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You will already know that Peter Falk, the famous face of Detective Columbo passed away in June.  Looking at Mr Falk, he always seemed like such a kind and caring man, so it came as no surprise to me to hear that he was a great animal lover.  

Mr Falk supported In Defence of Animal's Guardian Campaign, even appearing in one of their public service announcements along with his wife, Shera Danese; renowned Primatologist Jane Goodall and actors Wendie Malick and Kristen Bell.  The Guardian Campaign was IDA's attempt to convince people to use the word "guardian" rather than "owner" when describing our relationship with animals also to urge people to adopt from shelters.

Mr Falk and his wife were dog lovers and were passionate about rescuing dogs, they lived with dogs who were all adopted from shelters.

Rest in Peace, Peter.

Litter Bugs

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Happy August :)

 

How does a picnic in the park sound?

It's a beautiful time of year and certainly worth making the most of.  On the downside, I have noticed that our local park contains so much more litter due to people sitting out in the sun and having picnics, it is really disheartening to see.  Did you know that annually the RSPCA receives over 7,000 phone calls about incidents relating to litter and that RSPCA officers regularly rescue animals trapped or hurt by litter?  7,000 is just the tip of the iceberg as many wild animals hurt by litter are never discovered.

RSPCA have listed some of the preventable incidents dealt with here.

How to help:

This is easy... dispose responsibly!  

Recycle and re-use when you can.

If you are enjoying a picnic, please make sure you take your rubbish home with you and put it in the bin.

If you come across any litter in parks or areas where there a wild animals please pick it up and dispose of it safely.

Keep a look out for the plastic can holders which can be lethal to animals, there are so many of them around and it is important that you cut them up before disposing of them in the rubbish.

RSPCA have a useful guide showing particularly dangerous litter and how to dispose of it safely.

Please remember to share this information with your friends and family, thank you.

Happy Summer!