Day: January 19, 2022

General News

The time of the “good fascists”

Hong Kong: About 2000 small animals, including hamsters, will be killed after several tested positive for the coronavirus at a Hong Kong pet store where an employee was also infected.

Hong Kong will also stop the sale of hamsters and the import of small mammals, according to officials from the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department. The pet shop employee tested positive for the Delta variant on Monday, and several hamsters imported from the Netherlands at the store tested positive as well.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, animals do not appear to play a significant role in spreading the coronavirus. But Hong Kong authorities said they were not ruling out transmission between animals and humans.

“We cannot exclude the possibility that the shopkeeper was in fact actually infected from the hamsters,” said Edwin Tsui, a controller at the Centre for Health Protection.

“If you own a hamster, you should keep your hamsters at home, do not take them out,” department director Leung Siu-fai said at a news conference. “All pet owners should observe good personal hygiene, and after you have been in contact with animals and their food, you should wash your hands.

“Do not kiss your pets,” he added.

As a precautionary measure, customers who bought hamsters from the store after January 7 would be traced and be subject to mandatory quarantine and must hand over their hamsters to authorities to be put down, officials said.

They said all pet stores in Hong Kong must stop selling hamsters and that about 2000 small mammals, including hamsters and chinchillas, would be killed in a “humane manner” (!!)

“humane disposal” of the Minks in Denmark because of Corona

Customers who bought hamsters in Hong Kong from December 22 would be subject to mandatory testing and were urged not contact others until they recorded negatives tests. If their hamsters test positive, they will be subject to quarantine.

Hong Kong has been grappling with a local omicron outbreak traced to several Cathay Pacific crew members who dined at bars and restaurants across the city before testing positive for the Omicron variant.

https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/hong-kong-to-kill-2000-animals-after-hamsters-get-covid-19-20220118-p59pbs.html

And I mean…We suffer from mass hysteria and from a dictatorship.

We don’t need to look to Hong Kong, it’s a global dictatorship.
It’s no longer about the Corona virus, it’s about total control, about supremacy.

The dream of a few is to accumulate enough power to rule and exploit the rest of humanity.
An Omicron wave is very welcome there.

Because according to the will of leading billionaires and heads of government, this Corona dictatorship can be extended for years under the guise of pandemics.
Once people are conditioned like mice and rats, they’re just manipulative toys in the hands of those in power, whether it’s business or politics.
But the fact that defenseless animals are innocently dragged into this spiral of violence raises the suspicion of psychopathy.

By now, our entire “Banana Republic” has also become accustomed to the idea of ​​a second, third, fifth or nth wave of the COVID-19 mutations.
The thing can only work if scaremongering is created from above to keep the subjects in line, and then there is no way out of fascism or totalitarianism.

“When fascism returns it will not tell us: “Good morning, I am the Fascism”. He will tell us: “I am the new pandemic”, said a friend of mine.
I think he is right.

My best regards to all, Venus

Environmental, General News, Uncategorized

Sri Lanka: Elephants are Feeding On An Open Dump and Many Are Dying After Ingesting Plastic Waste.

Click on the following to see the distressing video footage:

Sri Lanka: elephants feeding in garbage dumps (msn.com)

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/cars/watch/sri-lanka-elephants-feeding-in-garbage-dumps/vp-AASMVtJ?ocid=msedgdhp

In eastern Sri Lanka, elephants are feeding on an open dump and many are dying after ingesting plastic waste.

Regards Mark

General News, Uncategorized

‘World’s First’ Vegan Violin Crafted By Musician Using Wild Berries And Spring Water.
The violin sidesteps traditional materials and contains plant-based products instead. Credit: Vegan Violins / PBN

Traditional violin making can include products derived from the skin and bones of animals

 For the first time ever, a violin has received certification from The Vegan Society’s Vegan Trademark. The creator of the musical instrument – traditionally crafted with animal products – maintains that the item is more ethical and acoustically speaking, an improvement.

Irish musician Padraig O’Dubhlaoidh is behind the creation, which took years of research to complete. The violin maker’s instruments have been played at high-profile venues, including Buckingham Palace, the White House, Carnegie Hall, and the Royal Albert Hall.

Violin makers have historically used non-vegan materials in their designs, such as animal hide glue, derived from the skin, bones, and tendons of animals. It is typically sourced from horses but rabbits, fish, and other species can be used too.

Further, violin strings and bows can contain ivory, horse tail hair, and animal intestines, among other animal-derived products. 

But O’Dubhlaoidh is insistent that animal body parts are not needed to create the instrument. The musician stayed true to the traditional tools and methods used in violin production, but with some modern twists of his own.

For instance, to develop the purfling decoration that wraps around the instrument’s edges, he used wild berries and spring water sourced from beneath the granite of the Malvern Hills in the UK, where O’Dubhlaoidh lives.

Although animal-free strings and bows do exist, they are not currently registered with the Vegan Trademark.

For ‘ethical musicians’

O’Dubhlaoidh explained the process in a statement sent to PBN.

“I learned a lot about my craft during years of research and ultimately, it was the science of conservation that brought about a series of breakthroughs leading to success. During my experiments, I also discovered that there are unforeseen advantages to a vegan violin.

“Apart from the benefit to animals, society, and our environment, it has become very clear that animal-based glues have harmful effects on violins, inducing powerful tensions on wooden components. The adhesive used in my vegan violins however, has no such effect. Irrespective of ethics, this is an acoustic improvement.

“With our planet facing crises on almost every front, the collective voice of people wanting a fairer future grows stronger every day. Ethical musicians are part of this movement and have long wished for a violin that is fully vegan yet retains all the qualities of the classic instrument.”

The Vegan Society’s marketing manager, Ericka Durgahee, applauded the launch.

“It’s incredibly exciting to have the world’s first vegan violin registered with the Vegan Trademark. This will be music to the ears of so many violinists who have longed for a high-quality instrument that is free from animal products,” they said in a statement.

“Every violin is also completely bespoke with the sound and feel tailored to the player’s individual style and preference. Padraig has done a fantastic job and we’re extremely proud of what he has produced.”

To learn more about the vegan violin, see O’Dubhlaoidh’s website. 

‘World’s First’ Vegan Violin Crafted By Musician Using Wild Berries And Spring Water – Plant Based News

Regards Mark

Environmental, General News

Joaquin Phoenix, Stephen Fry, And More Celebs Battle To Save Moon Bears From Extinction.

Celebrities like Ricky Gervais, Paul McCartney, and Alicia Silverstone are pushing for the end of the bear bile trade

Ahost of high-profile names are joining forces in an effort to protect the endangered Asiatic black bear (aka moon bear). The species is being pushed to the brink of extinction in Vietnam due to bear bile farming – a trade purportedly rife with animal cruelty. 

Sir Paul McCartney, Dame Judi Dench, Stephen Fry, Slash, Russell Crowe, Ricky Gervais, Alicia Silverstone, Mayim Bialik, William Shatner, Alan Cumming, Kesha and Joaquin Phoenix are among those pushing to rescue the remaining bears trapped in Vietnamese bile farms. 

What is bear bile farming?

Bear bile farming keeps moon bears captive in order to extract bile from their gallbladders. It began in Asia in the 1980s with the view of using it for medicinal purposes, according to animal protection charity Animals Asia. 

And it does come with benefits, the non-profit clarifies. The bile contains high levels of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA), which can be used to treat liver and gallbladder afflictions in humans. 

But obtaining the substance comes at a brutal cost. The trade involves keeping bears in cramped cages and often unhygienic conditions. The extraction process is invasive and results in “unimaginable physical and psychological suffering,” Animals Asia adds. 

Some bears must endure the “free drip” method, whereby a hole is created in the animal’s gallbladder and repeatedly reopened. Others undergo extraction of the bile through a four-inch needle. 

Bear bile farming was outlawed in Vietnam in 1992. But legal loopholes have allowed producers to continue their operations. Animals are frequently poached from the wild to be used for their bile, which has shaken wild moon bear populations. They are now on the endangered species list. 

In 2017, after years of rallying, the Vietnamese government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Animals Asia. The agreement assigned Animals Asia as its partner in shutting down the trade for good.

The charity is working to rescue the remaining moon bears in Vietnam – it predicts there are around 400 left on Vietnamese farms. However, around 12,000 bears are still living on bile farms across Asia, the organization states.

The rescue mission

Animals Asia’s Vietnam Bear Rescue Centre in Tam Dao is almost at full capacity, following the recent rescue of its 651st bear. Many of the rescues were young adults (five years or younger) or cubs, who were just a few months’ old. 

Now, the organization is building a second facility to accommodate the next group of rescued animals. This 12-hectare sanctuary will be located in the Bach Ma National Park in central Vietnam. The charity hopes to save all of Vietnam’s captive moon bears from bile farms by 2026. 

Celebrity support

Animals Asia launched a petition to raise awareness of the issue, which includes a pledge to “raise your paw for the moon bear.”

Broadcaster and actor, Fry, has placed his support behind the campaign. “The beautiful moon bear is at risk of becoming extinct in Vietnam if we don’t do something to save them. They have been cruelly farmed for their bile, often ripped from their mothers in the wild when they were just baby cubs,” he said in a statement sent to PBN. 

Actor Dench, also a signatory of the pledge, said she is “proud” to be a part of the effort, which is a “crucial step” in saving the species and “giving back the life stolen from hundreds of bears left in bile farms.”

She commented: “​​Animals Asia has pledged to rescue every last bear from every last bile farm across Vietnam. So I’m pledging my support, and I’m hoping thousands more will pledge their support as well.  Join me. Raise your paw for the moon bear, to finally end bear bile farming in Vietnam, and ensure that no bear is left behind.”

Those interested can find the petition and pledge here. 

Regards Mark

Jill Robinson Feeds Rescued Bears
General News, Uncategorized

‘Free Tibet’ (London) – A Time To Consider Human Rights Against Oppression.

We are an animal rights / welfare site.  But sometimes, when it is necessary, we also feel that it is right to give oppressed humans a voice.  I have been a member of ‘Free Tibet’ (London) for many years; and it is time the people of Tibet were given a voice – for you to see their suffering under Chinese rule.

The video and the graphics will explain a lot and hopefully provide answers to your questions.

“Tibet today is one of the most repressed and closed societies in the world.”

– United States Senator Robert Menendez


In 1950, China invaded the independent nation of Tibet and claimed it as its own. Ever since, it has kept Tibet under a brutal military occupation and claimed that Tibet is, and always was, part of China. 

Inside Tibet and across the world, Tibetans have never stopped believing Tibet is a nation.

SONY DSC

It has now been over 70 years since the occupation began, yet Tibetans still resist China’s rule and defy its oppression. They have never given up hope that one day they will be free.

What is life like in Tibet? Watch this video to learn more… Click ‘Watch om YouTube’

Tibet has been independently rated as the joint-worst place on Earth for political freedom and civil rights (tied with Syria). Despite this, Tibet does not get the international attention it deserves, and many are unaware of the atrocities committed in Tibet every day.

To learn, see and investigate more; please visit the Free Tibet website at:

Introduction to Tibet | Free Tibet

Regards Mark