Day: April 16, 2021

General News

Sea Shepherd in Calapagos Archipelago

About 960 kilometers from the coast of Ecuador is the Galapagos Archipelago, world-famous for its unique flora and fauna.

Sea Shepherd has always considered the Galapagos Islands to be one of the last remaining untouched wilderness areas on earth. But even in this remote part of the world, human intervention is taking a heavy toll on this fragile ecosystem.

In this short film, which was produced in 2011, we introduce you to the work we have done so far to protect the Galapagos Marine Reserve and the life it contains.

This is the first time the film has been released online and we hope that the incredible work Sea Shepherd is doing is appreciated by all of our supporters.

Because this work is only possible thanks to your generous and ongoing support.

In South America, Sea Shepherd uses a variety of tactics to combat illegal fishing and poaching within the Galapagos National Park.
When the National Park Service first invited us in 1999 to help protect the Galapagos Marine Reserve, our presence had a powerful impact.

Among other things, we have helped arrest poachers, provided the local authorities with important equipment to improve their work, helped convict poachers and smugglers and set up the first specially trained dog squadron to discover illegal animal traffickers in Latin America.
Our work is an everlasting fight against the ever-changing techniques used by poachers and smugglers in the Galapagos Marine Reserve, where the aim is always to stay one step ahead of the criminals.

In Video you can see our work on site.

We thank the warriors of the seas and support them as we can

regards and good night, Venus

Environmental, General News

Google Earth time-lapse video shows the impact of humans and four decades of climate change on the planet.

Google Earth time-lapse video shows the impact of humans and four decades of climate change on the planet

A time-lapse video feature launched by Google Earth has drawn on nearly four decades of satellite imagery to vividly illustrate how the impact of humans and climate change have affected the planet.

The tool, unveiled on Thursday, shows how humans’ impact on the planet has changed glaciers, beaches and forests around the world.

Google says it undertook the complex project in partnership with several government agencies, including NASA and its European counterpart, in hopes that it will help a mass audience grasp the sometimes abstract concept of climate change in more tangible terms through its free Earth app.

The features, enabled by 24 million satellite photos compiled into a 4D experience, is the biggest update to Google Earth in five years.

Cornell University climate scientist Natalie Mahowald described the tool as “amazing” after watching a preview video of the feature.

“Trying to get people to understand the scope of the climate change and the land use problem is so difficult because of the long time and spatial scales,” she told the Associated Press.

“I would not be surprised if this one bit of software changes many people’s minds about the scale of the impact of humans on the environment.”

Most scientists agree that climate change is being driven by pollution primarily produced by humans.

But earlier images have mostly focused on melting glaciers and haven’t been widely available on an already popular app like Google Earth, which can be downloaded on most of the more than three billion smartphones now in use around the world

Google is promising that people will be able to see a time lapse presentation of just about anywhere they want to search.

The feature also includes a storytelling mode highlighting 800 different places on the planet in both 2D and 3D formats.

Those videos also will be available on Google’s YouTube video site, a service more widely used than the Earth app.

Google plans to update the time lapse imagery at least once a year.

Google Earth images of Dubai in 1985 (left) and 2020 (right).Credit: Google Earth

Aral Sea in Kazakhstan in 1984 and 2020.

Aral Sea in Kazakhstan in 1984 and 2020.Credit: Google Earth

Worrying !

Regards Mark

Farm Animals, General News, Live Transport

EU: The Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of Animals is calling to replace live export with a trade in meat, carcasses and genetic material.

The Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of Animals is calling to replace live export with a trade in meat, carcasses and genetic material

16 April 2021

In view of the announced revision of the Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 (Transport Regulation), Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) joined forces and set up the Animal Transport Working Group within the Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of Animals.

The working group has been very active recently, with its members joining NGOs missions in the field and taking steps when confronted with the two animal welfare crises involving the livestock vessels Karim Allah and Elbeik. 

There is a growing concern around the sustainability of live transport from animal health and welfare, environmental, societal and economic perspectives.

Taking stock of all the violations to the current animal transport legal framework, as well as the evidence about the unfitness of such a system, MEPs decided to publish a Manifesto to outline the main changes that should be translated into law. 

Among others, the MEPs are calling for:

  • Trading meat, carcasses and genetic material instead of live animals, with non-EU countries Setting up species specific journey times for the intra-EU trade, within a maximum journey time of 8 hours for adult mammals
  • Introducing species-specific requirements for the commercial movements of fish and invertebrates, laboratory animals, equidae, cats and dogs
  • Effective monitoring and enforcing mechanism to foster legal compliance

The Manifesto follows up on the recommendations made by Eurogroup for Animals in its White Paper on the revision of the Transport Regulation, published in January 2021.

Read the Manifesto here.

https://www.eurogroupforanimals.org/news/intergroup-welfare-and-conservation-animals-calling-replace-live-export-trade-meat-carcasses

Regards Mark

Environmental, Farm Animals, General News, Vegan Recipes

USA: POTUS Joe Biden Urged To Shift To Plant-Centered Food System To Combat Climate Change.

POTUS Joe Biden Urged To Shift To Plant-Centered Food System To Combat Climate Change

The politician is under pressure to transform the US food system leading up to his first ever climate summit as President on Earth Day

POTUS Joe Biden Urged To Shift To Plant-Centered Food System | Plant Based News

POTUS Joe Biden is being urged to shift to a plant-centered food system to ‘combat climate change‘.

To mark Earth Day (April 22) the politician is hosting his first climate summit as President. There, he will discuss the ‘urgency of stringer climate action’ with 40 world leaders.

POTUS Joe Biden

Biden has also announced a $2 trillion proposal to ‘strengthen infrastructure while also tackling climate change’.

However, the plan does not include the promotion of animal-free food or support farmers in transitioning from traditional animal agriculture to plant-based production.

As a result, non-governmental organization ProVeg International has created a petition, calling on the politician to shift to a plant-centered food system.

At the time of writing, the petition has garnered more than 1,500 signatures already. 

‘A terrifying prospect in climate change’

Moreover, Michael Webermann is the US Executive Director of ProVeg International. In a statement sent to PBN, he said: “To discuss environmental crises without centering food production is to wilfully avoid the facts.

“What we eat affects not just climate change, but the biggest issues facing the planet, including pandemic risks, deforestation, antibiotic resistance, and food insecurity. 

“For instance, the FAO tells us that if 40 percent of all crops produced for feeding animals were used directly for human consumption, we could feed nine billion people by 2050. One has to ask when policy will reflect the urgency of this situation?”

Webermann then concluded: “We’re facing a terrifying prospect in climate change, but in diet change lies a real solution. 

“Plant-centered diets, if adopted by many, could be the key to this crisis. We have scientific consensus. Biden’s plans must reflect it.”

You can sign ProVeg International’s petition here

Regards Mark

Farm Animals

Donkey transport in Mauritania- the unbelievable tragedy in the shadow of the world public
Report of the Austrian association “Respect animals” (www.respektiere.at)

It is one of the least known tragedies in dealing with animals, which nevertheless happens every day and for that reason alone is all the more shocking – the transport of donkeys from Mauritanian villages in the south and east of the country to the capital! It goes over distances of up to 1200 kilometers, mostly on slopes and through deserts, mind you.Terrible things happen in each case, and very few people even know about it.

Photos: Donkey transport on the PickUp loading area – unbelievable!

That is why we wanted to accompany such a mode of transport as early as 2019, but this could not take place for various reasons; Postponed to 2020, the pandemic intervened and once again made it impossible to act.

Now we sincerely hope that the project can finally be implemented in 2021 …

Our team watches the arrival of the donkey again and again – incredibly sad moments are the order of the day, death is a constant companion of them. Squeezed in almost to the point of immobility, many of the animals are unable to cope with the ordeal of the up to 2-day journey at temperatures often well over 40 degrees.

Again and again, the dying is unloaded or already rescued dead. They are the unmourned creatures of the planet, their demise is a hardly registered, hardly recorded one.

‘Highway to hell’, at least from the donkey’s point of view, this is how one would have to rename the famous ‘Road of Peace’ to the east – to where many of the youngsters come from …

Continue reading “Donkey transport in Mauritania- the unbelievable tragedy in the shadow of the world public” →
Farm Animals, General News, Live Transport

Canada / Japan: Tell Atlas Air to Stop Shipping Horses From Canada to Japan to Be Slaughtered.

Tell Atlas Air to Stop Shipping Horses From Canada to Japan to Be Slaughtered

It seems almost too preposterous to be true: Every year, more than 6,000 live horses in Canada are packed into transport crates and sent on harrowing flights halfway around the world to be slaughtered in Japan.

PETA’s video investigation reveals what happens in Japan to horses who are no longer wanted.

PETA went inside Japan’s largest horse slaughterhouse and captured footage of the horrifying final minutes of a horse formerly used for racing. PETA’s eyewitnesses watched as he was doused with water before being moved onto the kill floor. The terrified horse panicked, slipping out of his halter and escaping, only to be caught—and killed—minutes later.

Now, a recent exposé by Canada’s Global News shows that live horses are crammed into wooden shipping crates before being loaded onto cargo planes destined for Japan. Horses are often deprived of food and water and packed so tightly that they’re unable to stand naturally for the duration of the 16- to 18-hour flight. Numerous horses have died during landing accidents or “due to a combination of a substantial delay, the large size of the horses, and significant stress levels in the animals.” One horse, on a flight out of Calgary, was discovered dead and upside down in a crate.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is supposed to ensure that horses are segregated based on height and compatibility. But Dr. Maureen Harper, a former veterinarian with the CFIA, revealed a different reality: “They’re being shipped unsegregated. I was just horrified. They’re basically stuffing them in like a can of sardines.” She further explained that it’s impossible for any veterinarian to separate the horses adequately, stating, “The CFIA is knowingly not enforcing their own regulations. No veterinarian, on the ground, on the spot, can decide which horse is compatible with which horse at the time of loading. There’s no way.”

Some of these horses may come from the U.S. In 2012, PETA eyewitnesses followed a trailer from a meat buyer’s property in Iowa to a slaughterhouse in Québec and observed that the 33 horses onboard endured this 36-hour ordeal in subfreezing conditions and were never given food, water, or a chance to unload.

Your voice is needed today. Join us in urging Atlas Air, Inc., a New York-based company, to stop shipping horses to Japan, where they’ll be slaughtered.

TAKE ACTION

Tell Atlas Air to Stop Shipping Horses From Canada to Japan to Be Slaughtered | PETA

Regards Mark