Personal Plea

My lovely little sister (pictured above with Tess the beagle many years ago, she is now 18) and advertiser of this blog is embarking on a gap year before heading off to University next year, her first stop is Tanzania where she will be working on a project with Tearfund and Go Mad Tanzania for two months. I am hoping to have lots of African animal pictures to share with you when she returns. She needs to make £2,000 for the trip and is just over a 1/4 of the way there. If you would like to learn more and be so kind as to donate then please take a look over here.

Thank you.

Yet another proposal for intensive farming

You may remember my post back on 29th June about a proposal for an intensive pig farm, well I have just been informed of a proposal made to Powys County Council for a factory farm with a multi storey milking facility enabling it to accommodate around 1,000 cows.

Cows on dairy farms are forced to produce high yields of milk that are frankly unnatural and can result in cows dying of exhaustion. The life expectancy of a cow is around 1 years bur a quarter of dairy cows die before reaching the age of 3. Cows are repeatedly made pregnant to ensure the production of milk and the calves are taken from their mothers after a few days spending their weeks in tiny stalls, if the calves are lucky enough to be female they are used as dairy cows from the age of 15 months. Male calves are either killed at birth or sold to the veal industry.

Factory farming is torture for animals and causes a greater risk of disease for animals, the disease can also spread to humans. Intensive farming such as this also effects the surrounding environment with traffic, noise and bad smells.

Please follow this link that will direct you to a ready prepared letter to Powys County Council objecting to the application and asking them to reject the proposal. If you can spare a few minutes please enter your details and also make add your own thoughts to the letter, changing the title of the letter will also be helpful.

The deadline for registering your objection is 24th September so please make the effort to do this as soon as possible.

Thank you.

I'm back!

I've been very lucky the past few months and got to travel to places like Germany, Switzerland and Greece as well as visiting places within the UK like London, Bristol and Leeds. I have had a wonderful summer and picked up some interesting things on my travels, especially in Greece and I hope to share this with you in the coming weeks. Now that summer is over, the leaves are starting to fall, the RSPCA Christmas Catalouge has fallen through the letter box and it is time to get back to business! My inbox is full of the latest news in the animal world and I have a lot of catching up to do so keep checking back for new actions.

[I've missed you]

Think Pig!

The RSPCA have launched a new campaign entited Think Pig encouraging people to think about the welfare of pigs bred for meat. Around 160 million pigs are bred for meat across Europe and live in unacceptable conditions that people are not fully aware of.

Whether you are a meat eater or a vegetarian you can make a pledge to Think Pig and buy (or tell your friends to buy) meat from pigs reared on farms inspected to RSPCA welfare standards. See the RSPCA Think Pig checklist for what to look out for.

More about Think Pig (includes a video that may upset some viewers)

Sign up to make a pledge

Think Pig also has a Facebook Page!

Fluffy Friday #8

A baby panda was born this week at a reserve in Sichuan Province, China. Eight year old Ju Xiao gave birth to twins but only nursed the first cub, the second born was taken to a nursery to be looked after.

[more pictures]

VICTORY! Bull Fighting banned in Catalonia!

It is always nice to be able to share a small victory. Today I can share the great news with you that bull fighting has been banned in Catalonia (the north eastern region of Spain). Yesterday the Parliament of Catalonia's vote passed the motion to ban bull fighting by 68 votes to 55. Hopefully Catalonia is going to pave the way to outlawing this blood sport and the rest of Spain will follow.

The ban will be in force by 2012 but there is still work to do be done as each year around 11,000 bulls are killed due to the practice and we need to aim for a complete ban on bull fighting altogether.

Please spare a minute to click on this link and e-mail Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and urge him to follow Catalonia's example and put an end to bull fighting across Spain.

Canned lion hunting

When thinking of South Africa I always imagine animals like lions and elephants roaming freely along the plains, happily going about their business. I was shocked to hear that this isn't always the case, I received an email from HSUS today informing me of the captive breeding of lions that are bred to supply the growing demand for canned lion hunting. Canned lion hunting allows a hunter (usually wealthy and from the US or Europe, it was also marketed to people attending World Cup matches) to effortlessly turn the lion into an exotic animal trophy.

South Africa has a financial interest in protecting and conserving their delightful wildlife as each year thousands of tourists descend for a glimpse of the fascinating animals. Little do they know that thousands of lions are kept under inhumane conditions to keep the canned hunts going. The lions are kept in small enclosures and are made to depend on humans which is completely unnatural.

A few years ago the Ministry of Environment and Tourism in South Africa issued regulations to ban the canned lion hunting operations, in turn the canned hunting industry appealed to the court which has brought things to a standstill until the case is heard later on this year. The Minister, Marthinus van Schalkwyk was very outspoken against canned hunting and stated "South Africa has a long-standing reputation as a global leader on conservation issues. We cannot allow our achievements to be undermined by rogue practices such as canned lion hunting." Marthinus is now the Minister of Tourism for South Africa and has the power to impact on the canned hunting industry through his new role.

In May this year, Marthinus launched the first National Tourism Sector Strategy calling for growth in responsible tourism, unfortunately the need to eliminate canned lion hunting was not mentioned despite this practice tainting the image of South Africa. The marketing of canned hunts to tourists needs to be eliminated in order for tourism to grow in a responsible way. The strategy currently states, "Its natural environment is one of South Africa's greatest tourism resources, and therefore there is a need for the tourism industry to be actively involved in conserving and protecting our natural environment." Lions are a part of the natural environment and a big draw for tourists but lion breeding farms and canned hunting operators provide no conservation benefits.

Please click on this link and enter your details in order to contact Marthinus and let him know that he should call for the elimination of inhumane activities like canned lion hunting because in the long run it will drive tourists away from South Africa and a strategy that allows such operations to continue will ultimately undermine South Africa's tourism goals.

Article adapted from HSUS.

Edit: When completing the form over at HSUS it asks you to personalise the letter, I have added a paragraph about how the canned lion hunts has made me reconsider visiting South Africa as my tourism would be contributing to the industry.

Fluffy Friday #7

It's an ice cream van for dogs!

[more here]

Why is everyone picking on Grey Squirrels?

If you have read the newspapers recently you will have come across this story about a man who was fined £1,500 under the Animal Cruelty Act for drowning a Grey Squirrel. I found it difficult to read the story and see the picture of the perpetrator proudly standing next to the water butt he used to drown the squirrel (apparently he thought it was the kindest way). So, why did he kill the squirrel? Apparently the cheeky fellow had the audacity to raid his bird feeder (is it just me or is there something kind of ironic about being kind enough to put food out for birds and then murdering a squirrel who helped himself?)

The stories circulating the press have resulted in comments such as "£1,500 for drowning a Squirrel? You wait. It'll be slugs next. Then flies" (James Delingpol, The Telegraph - who also calls the RSPCA "gloating animal rights freaks") and "Why I hate Squirrels" (Quentin Letts, The Daily Mail - apparently one bit his daughters thumb and drew blood) The newspapers seem to be outraged and are condemning the RSPCA for being too harsh on the poor man who drowned the squirrel who stole his nuts.

What worries me is the influence the press has on it's readers, for example, the story about the fox allegedly breaking in to a house and savaging two young children was splashed across the papers for days on end causing widespread hysteria. Nobody has conclusive proof that it was a fox that did this, yet a fox seen nearby was destroyed. What is the general public going to think now? Foxes and squirrels are pests and must be killed on sight?

I have had a look at the reasons people think Grey Squirrels are to be "pests" and here is what I came up with:

* They are not native to Britain but were introduced from America and have now become widespread (surely the squirrel isn't to blame for this?)
* Some people see them as nothing more than tree rats (I think they are very cute)
* They cause damage to young trees (I couldn't find out how they managed to do this)
* They raid bird tables and dig holes to hide food they have stolen (perhaps people should put a notice by bird tables telling the squirrel, rats and any other animals that the food is for BIRDS ONLY!)
* They climb or leap across from trees on to the roofs of houses and tear up insulation for their nests and chew timber and strip insulation off electric cables (I've never heard of this happening to anyone before)
* They apparently steal bird eggs as well, but if you think about it quite a few animals do this and escape being labelled a pest. Some birds even throw out another birds eggs, lay their own in place and trick the other bird into caring for their eggs!

People used to blame Grey Squirrels for the decline in the Red Squirrel population but the furore around this died down as both species lived together in harmony for around 20 years before the Reds started to die out. It seems that the Greys are simply stronger and able to adapt more which has given them the upper hand. Reds are still around and seem to fare better in the conifer woods of Scotland. Unfortunately the newspapers are once again alleging that Grey Squirrels are once again to blame for this, which is completely inaccurate.

If you see a squirrel please don't view it as a pest, watch it twitch its nose and scuttle up a nearby tree. Watch how it delicately holds a nut in its hands and nibble it whilst nervously looking around for nearby threats. Surely it has as much right to go about its daily life as any other wild animal? If one should help itself to your bird food against your will, knock on the window to scare it off - don't drown it.

More about squirrels.

If you agree or disagree please let me know, I would love to hear your opinions.

Save the Tiger!

Did you know that there are around just 3,200 tigers in the wild at the moment? This is an incredibly small number and unfortunately it is decreasing. Tiger habitat is being lost rapidly and poaching has increased in recent months.

We can do something about this and there is still hope for tigers. They need protection, space and food in order for number to increase.

In 57 days the Tiger Summit is being held in St Petersburg, Russia and the World Wildlife Fund need our help to get as many signatures on their petition in time for this deadline to give tigers a chance.

Action stations!

1. Please sign the petition
2. Then tell your friends
3. Then use Facebook, Twitter, My Space to show your support for the campaign (there is even a nice badge for you to display on your Facebook/Twitter profile photo showing your support)

Read more about WWF's campaign to save the tiger.