Stray Animals

Mauritius: ‘Catch & Kill’- policy is a crime!stop the abuse and cruelty!

Mauritius presents itself to the world as a Paradise Island, yet hides a brutal secret.

Dogs are caught in nets, flung into a van with other terrified dogs and taken to the Pound. Covert filming over the years has shown dogs crammed together, left for days to fight for scraps of food, and most shockingly attacking and eating their kennel mates.

Squalid: A dog jumps up looking for its owner. He is on death row at the dog pound in Port Louis, Mauritius. Eighty per cent of the dogs caught and killed are pet dogs not strays

Without anaesthetic, dogs are brutally killed by lethal injection into the heart – it is such a hit and miss affair, that some die immediately, whilst many others pitifully stagger about bewildered, fall over and try to get up again.

Such painful torment is unimaginable!!

Despite calls for tourist boycotts by some groups and offers of help to change the situation by others, the Mauritian Government shows no remorse or any willingness to change its inhumane ‘Catch & Kill’ policy.

In spite of recent comments made by Minister Gobin which have been cautiously welcomed, due to our previous experiences with the Government, the Soi Dog Foundation will be continuing with the Petition until we see signs of actual changes for dogs in Mauritius. Therefore, we continue to seek and very much need your support. We call on citizens from all nations of the world to sign this letter and make it clear to this uncaring Government ‘NO MORE – STOP THE ABUSE AND CRUELTY’!!

Please sign this letter calling on the Prime Minister of Mauritius to end the outdated, indiscriminate, ineffective and inhumane dog control policy known as ‘Catch and Kill’.

Your signature today can help save thousands of dogs from suffering and a cruel death.

Petition: https://www.soidog.org/savethedogs/mauritius

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2127922/The-dogs-death-row-paradise-One-English-womans-battle-holiday-island-cruelly-kills-thousands-pet-dogs-year.html

And I mean…As soon as you find the holiday destination Mauritius in the travel catalog, it sounds like a romantic honeymoon, snow-white palm beaches, cocktails at sunset.

The island is a tourist magnet, especially for European tourists. In 2018 alone, 1.3 million tourists came to the island, including 132,000 Germans. The dogs are a nuisance for the tourists and therefore they want to get rid of them.

More than 20,000 pet and stray dogs are killed annually in a brutal way, terrorism against dogs is commonplace in Mauritius.

Some of the animals are strays but many more — up to 80 per cent — are much-loved pets that have been snatched from their doorsteps, with collars and security tags clearly marking their addresses.

They are captured as part of a ‘clean-up’ campaign, despite pleas from animal welfare organisations across the world.

And they are killed by an organisation with a name so ironic it would be laughable it wasn’t true — the government-funded Mauritius Society for Animal Welfare (MSAW) 

Kitted out in jaunty red caps and wielding giant fishing nets, MSAW dog-catchers snatch animals wherever they see them — sleeping on street corners, lingering in alleys or lazing on their own doorsteps.

The following tactic is particularly cruel: The state dog catchers disguise themselves as animal rights activists.
In Mauritius, the government itself finances some animal shelters to kill street dogs.

The innocent dogs are taken to a supposed refuge in Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius, where they are later killed, a man is in charge of keeping them against the ground, while another gives them the lethal injection, the dogs agonize and after a while they die while the others try to escape. The death of these dogs is slow and painful.

The worst part is that people don’t wait for the dog to be dead and bury it alive. In other words, not only do they take away their right to life, they also inflict great agony on them.

Each worker earns a bonus as a prize for each vilely murdered dog.

This material is a real disgrace to the Mauritius government, which has not done anything about it since the undercover investigation scandal five years ago.

The Mauritian government claims it is a humane way to control the island’s stray dog population!!
To call this brutal and uncivilized way of dealing with strays humane is evidence of cynicism – genocide is not humanitarian aid either.
Anyone with a trace of humanity will find this material insufferable. It is chilling to watch the cruel indifference of dog killers to their victims.

Mauritius is touted as an island paradise for international tourists, but it is a true hell on earth for dogs.

Sign and share the Petition

My best regards to all, Venus

Farm Animals, General News

China: Bear bile as a miracle cure against corona!

In recent years there have been increasing indications that China would like to improve its image in the global public with regard to environmental and animal welfare.

It sent out a promising signal: China’s decision to ban the consumption and trade of wild animals could have changed the fate of the countless animals plagued by the illegal wildlife trade for the better.


But right from the start, the ban excluded certain areas such as the medical use of animal products.
Ironically, the law, purportedly designed to protect wildlife, has seen the tremendous rise of a wildlife exploitation industry that happened in China’s past
Why?

This is now revealed in the course of the corona crisis: China’s National Health Commission recently published the recommendation for the treatment of the coronavirus with the help of a recipe from traditional medicine (TCM), which contains bear bile, among other things.
This is tapped from collar bears and sun bears as part of an extremely painful procedure – mostly under cruel conditions and up to twice a day.

New laws also enable China’s bear bile farms to continue.

The Chinese Animal Welfare Act, enacted in 1989, provides for wild animals as a resource that can be used for human benefit. In 2016, it was changed to further legitimize the commercial use of wildlife, and it was explicitly stated that animals can be used for traditional Chinese medicine.

China is considered to be the center of the bear bile industry.

According to reports, around 10,000 bears live there in captivity – many of them originally come from the wild. The use of traditional healing methods and the use of animal products in medicine has been promoted by the government in China for years, also currently in the treatment of corona patients.

The Chinese government recommends using a bear bile product along with a range of traditional herbal medicines to treat severe symptoms caused by COVID-19

This is all the more shocking given that wildlife management is believed to be the source of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A current study by Chinese scientists shows that formulations with bear bile are actually already being used.

The publication describes a clinical study in Guangzhou in which 72 patients, all of whom suffered from serious to severe consequences of the coronavirus, received a so-called “Tan Re Qing” injection.

The product, which in addition to bear bile powder also consists of other animal and vegetable ingredients, is also sold in China via online pharmacies, among others.

Bile juice is drawn off from them twice a day in an unbearable procedure.
This intense, excruciating process makes the bears moan and tremble constantly. If they still have the strength to do so.

For this purpose the farmers on the Chinese bear farms impaled catheters through the abdominal wall into the gallbladder.

A tube is passed through this tube directly into the organ without anesthesia.

There are different types of biliary drainage – with latex catheters, metal corsets, metal catheters, the free-drip method…
The metal catheter is usually between 13 and 19 centimeters long, heavily contaminated and causes unimaginable, permanent pain and damage that will sooner or later perish the bears.

It is considered “humane” to do without the catheter and let the juice drip from an opening in the abdomen, which is surgically connected directly to the bile.
So that the animal does not tear its pipe or hose out of the inflamed wound in pain, it is fixed in a steel corset and permanently condemned to complete immobility.

We speak out strongly against torturing bears for medical purposes.
We urge the Chinese government to remove this drug from their recommended list and include only traditional herbal medicines.
In neighboring countries such as Vietnam, drawing bear bile has been banned since 2005, and in Indonesia there are only a few known illegal bile farms.

The use of remedies with bear bile, which contain the active ingredient ursodeoxycholic acid, is – regardless of any medical benefit – completely superfluous, and yet associated with extreme suffering for the animals

There are numerous herbal alternatives, but also synthetically produced ursodeoxycholic acid.
The use of the animal product cannot be justified in view of the animal suffering it entails.

China and Vietnam have banned the consumption of wild animals. This ban must be extended to include the use of wildlife in traditional medicine, preventing animals such as bears, tigers and pangolins from being abused.

https://www.worldanimalprotection.org/news/cruel-bear-bile-industry-thriving-despite-pandemic-risks

https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1906612/seeing-animals-resource-cruel-substitute-real-wildlife

https://welttierschutz.org/tierleid-trotz-alternativen/

And I mean…The cruel bear bile business is not new.
What is new is the hocus-pocus with the healing of the corona symptoms through the.

In the flood of reports (mostly fake information) on the corona virus, this message was largely lost.

If we got that right now a product from the wildlife trade – Gall fluid from bears – recommended as a drug against a disease that is believed to have broken out in a wildlife market – COVID-19!!

Not only is this a crime for the animals, it is dangerous charlatanry against human health.
It is just as dangerous to believe that bear bile cures corona as it is to believe that vaccinations against Covid 19 are safe because they have been tested on animals!

According to the current state of knowledge, there is no evidence for the effectiveness of bear bile against Covid-19.

The recommendation of the Chinese Health Commission sends the wrong message.
Because this will only benefit the illegal wildlife trade, human health will go away empty-handed.

My best regards to all, Venus

General News, Live Transport

Behind The Scenes – Trailing Live Exports.

Other videos; older, but has anything really changed ?

Ask the EU.

We did UK horse export investigations during 2001 -2004; see more on it and our other live export work at:

https://serbiananimalsvoice.com/about-us/

Its Time To Decide – The World Wants Change; So Lets Have It !

Regards Mark

Enjoy – something good for a change – one of the best bands ever !:

Live at Ally Pally, London:

Environmental, Farm Animals, General News

UN criticised over statement on overuse of antibiotics in farming.
Court Rules Rampant Misuse of Antibiotics on Factory Farms Can Continue - EcoWatch
Picture – Ecowatch

Antibiotics health crisis - Compassion highlights the part played by factory farms | Compassion in World Farming
Picture – CIWF London

UN criticised over statement on overuse of antibiotics in farming

Statement calling for significant cut in antimicrobial drug usage is ‘real missed opportunity’, say critics

Animal health experts and UN leaders have called for a significant reduction in antimicrobial drug usage in food animals, which is already causing a “silent pandemic”.

But critics say the statement is “a real missed opportunity”, pointing to its failure to set reduction targets or even call for a ban on the use of antibiotics for animal growth promotion.

Drugs which are critical for humans are being used in enormous quantities in animal production. As a result there is a far higher probability of drug-resistant bacteria and viruses emerging. This could lead to some of the world’s most important drugs becoming ineffective against common infectious diseases such as pneumonia, tuberculosis and gonorrhoea, with death rates rising.

The joint statement issued this week by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the UN’s global leaders group on antimicrobial resistance called for “significant and urgent reduction in the amounts of antimicrobial drugs, including antibiotics, used in food systems” and said this was “critical to combating rising levels of drug resistance”.

The overuse of antimicrobials has led to what G7 leaders called a “silent pandemic” in June. Drug-resistant diseases already cause at least 700,000 human deaths globally every year, according to the statement. “The world is rapidly heading towards a tipping point where the antimicrobials relied on to treat infections in humans, animals and plants will no longer be effective.”

Stop the Overuse Of Antibiotics On Farm Animals! | Help Wildlife, Protect the Environment, Support Nature Conservation, Save the Planet
Eat Up My Beauties, I Need You Big.

Antimicrobial drugs, which include antibiotics, antifungals and antiparasitics, are used in food production all over the world, the statement said, and are “administered to animals not only for veterinary purposes (to treat and prevent disease), but also to promote growth in healthy animals”.

But despite the statement’s strong wording, experts said it had few teeth.

“Basically what [this call] lacks is a clear target for reduction,” said Thomas Van Boeckel, an antimicrobial resistance, disease, and livestock production systems scientist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.

Although commendable, the statement does not say “quantitatively what they mean by significant”, Van Boeckel said. That meant, “they make no commitment, basically”, he added.

He said the targets must be country specific. “It would be unfair, for example, to impose stringent targets on developing countries who need livestock for their livelihoods.”

Antibiotics are essential to human health. So why are we wasting them to make farm animals a tiny bit bigger? | UN Dispatch

But, he said, high-income countries and China could aim for less than 50mg of active antibiotic ingredient per kilogram of meat raised. Many EU countries are using more than that, he said, referencing a 2017 paper he co-authored.

Van Boeckel’s paper found that implementing a global cap of 50mg of antimicrobials, per kilogram of animal product, per year could reduce total consumption by 64%.

The paper said the 50mg cap corresponded to the average global use of antimicrobials in 2017. It further recommended user fees and caps on veterinary use to control antimicrobials.

“This statement is far too cautious and a real missed opportunity,” said Cóilín Nunan, a scientific adviser at the Alliance to Save our Antibiotics. “There is no target [and] not even a call for an immediate end to the use of antibiotics for [livestock] growth promotion.”

Most disappointing, he said, is how little the statement says about intensive farming. “Intensive farming, the root cause of so much animal disease and antibiotic use, is once again let off the hook. Where is the global leadership that is needed if we are ever to move to more sustainable farming practices and drastically cut farm antibiotic use?”

Henk Hobbelink, an agronomist and co-founder of the small-farmer focused NGO Grain, agreed and said the use of antimicrobial growth promoters in factory farming needed “to be banned, immediately and everywhere”.

Another solution that has been suggested is to develop animal-only antibiotics. Timothy Walsh, who is working with a team to develop animal only replacements at the Ineos Oxford Institute (IOI) for antimicrobial research, said it was “bonkers to use the same drugs in animal feeds as you would to treat neonatal sepsis”.

The IOI’s vision, he said, is to “move to a place where in supermarkets across the UK and beyond food will be labelled NHA [meaning] no human antibiotics” but it “will take, time, effort, money, goodwill and global policy”.

Sign up for the Animals farmed monthly update to get a roundup of the best farming and food stories across the world and keep up with our investigations. You can send us your stories and thoughts at animalsfarmed@theguardian.com


UN criticised over statement on overuse of antibiotics in farming | Environment | The Guardian

The Guardian – London.

Regards Mark

Factory Farms May Be Ground-Zero For Drug Resistant Staph Bacteria | Science | Smithsonian Magazine
Photo – Smithsonian Magazine

Environmental, General News, Uncategorized

Afghanistan: Kabul Zoo 25/8/21 – All Ok; Animals Being Cared For; They Have Food and Water. The Mayhew and One World (OWAP), and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) are in Constant Contact with Kabul Zoo; Monitoring and Helping.

WAV Comment – with the terrible situation currently in Afghanistan, there have been concerns about the animals kept in Kabul Zoo.  It seems that all the animals are currently ok – Both the Mayhew and One World Actors Animal Rescues (OWAP), and the Zoological Society of London are in touch with Kabul Zoo daily, cooperating to help the welfare of the animals.

The most important news (see below), is that the zoo is still in operation, and the staff continue to care for the animals the best they can under the circumstances.

The zoo is currently NOT in any immediate danger.

They have supplies of food and water and are in the process of acquiring further supplies..

Regarding Kabul Zoo

CWI is a proud supporting member of the Asia for Animals Coalition.

This morning they sent all members an email with details regarding the situation at Kabul Zoo. We are providing the full text of that email here to stop the spread of misinformation.

Please know that we have no additional details, and we are not actively engaged in this situation. Any other updates will also be provided here and in our social media.

WHAT IS THE SITUATION AT KABUL ZOO?

The zoo is still in operation, and the staff continue to care for the animals the best they can under the circumstances.

The zoo is currently not in any immediate danger.

They have supplies of food and water and are in the process of acquiring further supplies..

ARE THERE CONCERNS ABOUT THE ANIMALS?

Given that the situation in Afghanistan is unstable, there are concerns for the animals at Kabul Zoo. However, as of 25th August we can confirm that zoo staff are working as normal and the animals are safe.

WHO IS WORKING ON THIS ISSUE?

Both The Mayhew and One World Actors Animal Rescues (OWAP), and the Zoological Society of London are in touch with Kabul Zoo.

These organizations are not directly involved in the zoo’s activities, but are in direct contact with the zoo’s director. The Asia for Animal Coalition’s 22 core member organisations are here to support these organisations and are monitoring the situation.

Director of Kabul Zoo, Mr. AzizGul Saqib, has confirmed that, although the situation is fluid and the future as yet uncertain, that the animals have food and water. Mr Saquib stated:

” We providing the complete standard menue of the food” and that the Zoo staff and vets are still on-site and tending to the animals..”We will be in contact if we need any thing for the animals”

STATEMENT from the Zoological Society of London

ZSL London Zoo, part of international conservation charity ZSL, is committed to providing support to Kabul Zoo. The two zoos have worked together over the years, with our teams sharing expert knowledge and experience. With the rapidly changing situation in Afghanistan, ZSL London Zoo’s team remain in contact with Kabul Zoo at this time and will continue to provide support and advice whenever and wherever possible.

STATEMENT from THE MAYHEW

Mayhew is a UK registered animal welfare charity, working primarily with dogs and cats. Our work in Kabul with our branch, Mayhew Afghanistan, is delivery of a mass canine rabies vaccination programme and a TNR programme for the city’s free-roaming dog population. We do not have a shelter there.

The safety of our staff is a priority at this time, but we are hoping to resume our operations if and when circumstances allow and it is safe to do so. There will still be free-roaming dogs in Kabul and rabies will raise its ugly head again.

Mayhew’s relationship with Kabul Zoo started in 2002 when we were part of a group of NGOs that helped rebuild the zoo. Dr Mohammadzai DVM, our Afghanistan Country Director, has facilitated connections for Kabul Zoo with ZSL London and also provided training for vets and carried out more complex surgeries for them. We have a warm relationship with the Zoo Director.

WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP?

Share news only from trustworthy sources.

Please support organisations working on the ground.

We are currently seeking advice on the best organisation to receive donations in support of Kabul Zoo. This will be updated as soon as we have more information.

Regarding Kabul Zoo (cwint.org)

Compassion Works International.

Regards Mark

Environmental

Spain-Mar Menor: just a green soup!

GEO: 08/24/2021
A disaster strikes in the nature and tourist paradise of Mar Menor.
Tons of dead fish, shrimps and crabs have been rescued from the water for days

Dead marine animals have been washing up on the once beautiful beaches of Mar Menor for days © REUTERS / Eva Manez

Environmental catastrophe in Europe’s largest salt water lagoon: In the Mar Menor (the “Little Sea”) in southeastern Spain, around 4.5 tons of dead fish and crabs were taken out of the water within seven days, according to the newspaper “ABC” and other media on Reported Monday, citing the government of the Murcia region.
Authorities and environmentalists attribute the mass deaths to a lack of oxygen, which is caused by the high temperatures and also by pollution.

The head of government of Murcia, Fernando López Miras, called on the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in a letter on Monday to “immediately convene” a crisis meeting at which measures to save the inland water, which has been plagued by ecological problems for years, should be decided.
After several incidents in recent years, the Mar Menor must be declared a disaster area, said López Miras.

Civil Guard officers have taken samples from various locations in the Mar Menor for further analysis. The cause of death of the fish is currently unknown © Edu Botella / EUROPA PRESS / dpa

Almost two years ago, for example, around three tons of dead lagoon inhabitants – mainly small fish and crabs – were washed up. The Mar Menor was once considered a natural and tourist paradise – today you can usually only see a “green soup” that gives off a rotten stench.

The culprit is so-called eutrophication – a harmful enrichment of nutrients in the water caused by human activities.
This leads to a strong increase in algae and bacteria, which deprive other plant species, fish and other animals and small organisms of their livelihood.
High temperatures accelerate eutrophication.
A few days ago, a heat wave had brought temperatures in all of Spain Murcia of well over 40 degrees.

The conservative regional government blames the weather and the left-wing central government, which gives too little support.

Environmentalists, however, pillory the regional government. They do nothing against the intensive agriculture in the immediate vicinity of the lagoon, which is the main culprit for the problems.
Especially when it rains heavily, fresh water and a lot of fertilizer-containing mud get into the lagoon.

https://www.geo.de/natur/oekologie/riesiges-fischsterben-in-europas-groesster-salzwasser-lagune–30678376.html

And I mean…So … a foreseeable disaster..

Fertilizer also massively promotes the growth of algae and it is common knowledge that agriculture also increases the nitrate content in the groundwater considerably.

Contaminate the soil, poison the groundwater, damage the climate and marine life, torture the cattle and even collect subsidies for them.
This is how agriculture works everywhere, not just in Spain.
With devastating ecological disasters

So it’s no wonder that the Mar Menor looks like green soup, suffocate fish and marine life.
But otherwise, the subsidies for the bullfights continue despite tight budgets due to Corona, and money is being put in the sand for the cruelest spectacle in Spain, instead of investing effective measures against this ecological catastrophe.

Paul Watson said that “when the oceans die, we die too”.
We have to act while it is still possible.
Otherwise, a terrible disaster threatens and the survivors will hate us all for it.

My best regards to all, Venus

General News, Stray Animals

Afghanistan – NOWZAD (Pen Farthing) Latest News 26/8/21. Plane leaving Luton (London UK) to evacuate loads of rescue animals and their staff.

Afghanistan – NOWZAD (Pen Farthing) Latest News 26/8/21.

Ex UK Royal Marine Commando Pen With stray Afghan rescued dog.

Afghanistan: Plane leaving Luton (London UK) to evacuate rescue animals and staff

A plane is expected to leave Luton Airport later to evacuate staff and animals from a charity in Afghanistan.

The campaign to get Nowzad sanctuary founder Paul “Pen” Farthing along with animals and staff out of Kabul has become known as Operation Ark.

The privately funded plane is due to land on Friday but Mr Farthing said he was not being allowed into the airport.

There had been criticism about prioritising animals over people, but approval was given for the flight.

Royal Marine veteran Mr Farthing, who is from Essex, founded the Nowzad animal shelter, rescuing dogs, cats and donkeys after serving in Afghanistan in the mid-2000s.

He has said he would not leave the country without his staff or animals.

It is understood Mr Farthing has about 68 staff and 150 cats and dogs as well as other people described as “vulnerable”.

Read it all and see photos at:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-58340272

More reading from ‘The Guardian’ (London).

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/26/uk-defence-secretary-complains-about-pleas-to-rescue-pets-from-kabul

Regards Mark

Environmental, General News, Hunting

USA: New MT wolf hunting season will allow baiting and night hunting.

New MT wolf hunting season will allow baiting and night hunting

HELENA — Wolf hunting will look significantly different in Montana this year, with Fish and Wildlife Commission approving new quota and hunting methods for the predators at their Friday meeting.

In a split 3-2 decision, for the upcoming hunting season, a statewide quota of 450 wolves was approved, almost 40 percent of the estimated population according to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) data presented Friday. There were also individual harvest quotas set for each region that will allow FWP to close hunting should there be too many harvested at a time.

When the state’s or a regional quota is reached, the commission will convene to discuss further options during the season including increasing the number of wolves harvested.

Hunters are able to possess 10 wolf licenses and trappers are allowed a bag limit of 10 wolves. Each wolf harvested must be reported to the state within 24-hours.

The commission approved the neck-snare trapping of wolves and instructed FWP to establish education to inform hunters about good practices and how to avoid conflict with non-target animals such as dogs. If a non-target animal like a lynx or grizzly is snared, the commission will also meet to discuss potential immediate changes during the season.

The commission also approved controversial bait hunting and night hunting on private land of wolves.

Opposing Commissioners KC Walsh and Pat Byorth specifically objected to that aspect of the new rules, noting the ethics of what constituted “fair chase.” Baiting is not allowed for any other animals legally hunted in the state.

“It gives permission to behavior that we’ve been fighting and our game wardens fight on a daily basis, and now we’re giving permission all out of a desire to kill more wolves,” said Byorth. “We could kill more wolves with snares or public land- or private land I’d prefer. But there’s no reason to night hunt. There’s no reason to use bait.”

Vice-Chair Tabor said baiting, night hunting, and methods like snares are necessary to have better success for hunting the animals.

“These are tools. They’re not tools for everybody, but they allow for more opportunity for hunters to give them in essence better odds to be successful because they are an incredibly difficult animal to hunt,” responded Tabor.

During this year’s legislative session, lawmakers passed three bills revising laws on harvesting wolves. Senate Bill 314, sponsored by Sen. Bob Brown, R-Thompson Falls, specifically tasked the commission with reducing Montana’s wolf population to “a sustainable level.” It authorized them to consider increasing the number of wolves someone can take with a single license, allowing the use of bait while hunting and trapping wolves, and permitting hunting wolves at night on private lands.

House Bill 224 and 225 were both sponsored by Rep. Paul Fielder, R-Thompson Falls. HB 224 required the commission to allow the use of snares for wolf trapping, and HB 225 said they could extend the wolf trapping season.

The commission received more than 25,000 public comments on the matter, with the majority coming from out of state. Of the 19,000 letters received, about 1,000 originated from addresses within Montana, which FWP says were about evenly split between support for increased harvest and opposition to any taking of wolves.

Opponents raised several issues on Friday at the meeting, specifically that the new rules were politically based rather than scientific, ecosystems largely depending on wolves suffering and believing snares were inhumane.

Proponents that spoke said snares and baiting were necessary due to the rising number of wolves in the state.

The Associated Press reported Friday the Biden administration said they’re sticking by the decision under former President Donald Trump to lift protections for gray wolves across most of the United States. However, they did have concerns about overly aggressive hunter practices being proposed in states like Montana and worry it may lead to the animal needing protection once again.

New MT wolf hunting season will allow baiting and night hunting (ktvh.com)

Regards Mark

General News, Uncategorized

YouTube, Facebook and TikTok ‘earning millions’ from horrific animal-cruelty videos.

YouTube, Facebook and TikTok ‘earning millions’ from horrific animal-cruelty videos

‘These corporations have the power to remove these vile videos, and it’s reprehensible that they haven’t,’ says charity boss

Thousands of animals globally are tortured, maimed and subjected to prolonged suffering for grisly videos that earn money for the world’s biggest social media platforms, YouTube, Facebook and TikTok, according to a year-long investigation.

The horrors include baby monkeys being buried alive or tormented; kittens being stepped on or set alight; people eating live animals and puppies and ducks being crushed to death by snakes.

In videos logged over just three months last year, it’s estimated that YouTube earned up to $12m (£8.8m) from the sharing of animal cruelty content, and the creators themselves earned nearly $15m (£11m).

The stream of videos depicting cruelty “on a monumental scale” – seen by billions of viewers – has prompted calls for social-media bosses to shut down rogue accounts and take responsibility for their content.

Between July last year and this month, a coalition of animal-welfare organisations working in Asia documented 5,480 links to videos containing animal cruelty on YouTube, Facebook and TikTok, posted as entertainment, but also earning money from hits and shares.

The investigators said these videos alone had had about 5.3 billion views, highlighting the scale of the problem.

Analysis of the data showed that producers of the videos can become almost “celebrity-like”, with some channels gathering millions of followers, according to the Asia For Animals Coalition.

Instagram has previously been condemned for allowing videos and images of animal cruelty – some of them violent – on its website, masquerading as entertainment.

Indonesia, the US, Australia, Cambodia, South Africa and South Korea featured highly as countries where cruelty content was made, the new study found.

The UK was the 14th-highest country or region for creation of cruelty content – which was mostly hunting-related but also the deliberate baiting of birds and squirrels for shooting – but was the third-highest country for cruelty content being uploaded.

A video from Thailand last year featured a chimp dressed up spraying disinfectant; another showed a puppy being crushed by a python so the filmmakers could stage a rescue, and a third recorded a dog being set on a live kitten – all on YouTube.

The report authors write: “We documented shocking footage of individual wild animals kept as pets and repeatedly abused on camera. Kittens and other young animals were set alight as the filmmakers laughed.

“Live burials, partial drownings, beatings and psychological torment were also documented.”

YouTube had the most cruelty videos, the investigators said, but Facebook has allowed encrypted groups and pages where unacceptable content can be shared undetected. On Facebook and YouTube, most cases were “obvious and intentional”, the report said.

Birds, dogs and cats are most commonly abused, but some species used are classed as threatened, including pangolins, bears, gibbons, pythons and macaque monkeys.

Adverts are embedded in cruelty content, so companies and organisations were unwittingly profiting, including several animal-welfare and conservation groups – some of which have since taken action, the report notes.

Alan Knight, chief executive of International Animal Rescue, said: “It is inexcusable for social media companies to turn a blind eye to the sickening scenes of animal abuse posted on their platforms. It is their moral responsibility to crack down on content showing animals forced to suffer for entertainment and financial gain.

“There’s no doubt these media corporations have the power to remove these vile videos, and it’s reprehensible that they haven’t done so already.

“They feed the basest instincts of a depraved minority and must be denied a platform and an audience to stamp them out.”

The coalition is calling on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok and other social media platforms to work with experts to develop “robust” monitoring systems to identify and remove cruel content without relying on viewers reporting it.

The organisations say that even trying to talk to bosses at the online platforms is difficult. Adam Parascandola, of Humane Society International, described the content as “deeply disturbing but largely overlooked”, saying: “The devastating data revealed by this only scratches the surface in exposing the shocking extent of cruelty promoted on social media.

“Now more than ever, it’s time for social media platforms to stop profiting from animal suffering and instead take action to end this devastating cruelty for clicks.”

In the past, the social-media channels have insisted they do not allow cruelty to be shown, and remove content breaching their guidelines.

But the report authors say they have seen videos remaining live despite being reported multiple times, or channels that were shut down starting up again under a different guise.

Nick Stewart, of World Animal Protection, said: “Exploitation of wildlife is happening on a monumental scale, impacting the welfare of billions of individual animals. We must call out companies that are complicit in this exploitation and urge them to take responsibility for a solution.”

A TikTok spokesperson said: “We cannot comment on the specifics as we have not seen the specific cases. However, as a general principle, our community guidelines make clear that we do not tolerate animal cruelty on our platform, and we take action when people violate these rules – up to and including permanently banning them from the platform. We use a combination of technology and human moderation to identify and remove content that breaches our community guidelines.”

Those guidelines ban “animal cruelty and gore”, as well as “dismembered, mutilated, charred or burned animal remains” and animal slaughter.

The Independent also asked Google, which owns YouTube and Facebook, to comment, but did not receive a response.

YouTube, Facebook and TikTok ‘earning millions’ from horrific animal-cruelty videos | The Independent

Regards Mark

General News

To all pet owners: Sport only for two!

Is that familiar to you?
A cat simply cannot part with its favorite human and climbs into its pants while exercising its abdominal muscles.
“Whenever I try to do some serious exercise at home, my cat comes out and distracts me.
I just never manage to do something, ”complained cat owner Max Wu.

Yes! it sounds very familiar to me.
One of my cats, Blanquita, didn’t just take part in sports sessions that I did at home during the Corona.
I can’t even be alone in the bathroom! she’s always with me.
And I wish it stayed that way until our last day.
Mine or hers

Best regards to all, Venus