Vietnam: 26/3/21 – Bile Bears Xuan and Mo Have Now Been Rescued by Four Paws and Are In Sanctuary Starting a New Life and Long Road to Recovery.

WAV Comment – some really fantastic news from Four Paws – absolutely brilliant to know that Xuan and Mo have already been recued now by Four Paws and are at the sanctuary home getting what they deserve after so many years of being kept in a basement and being used for daily bile extraction.

We covered this story in an old posts:

Vietnam: Urgent Rescue – Kept in a basement: Free Xuan and Mo from a life in darkness – Please Give Right Now ! – World Animals Voice

Vietnam Suffering Bears: The Life-Changing Moment Of Rescue and Relocation Is Now Just Days Away. – World Animals Voice

Donations to Four Paws to help them are always welcome – see above links or the web site.

https://www.four-paws.org.uk/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIosLP5-TN7wIVhpftCh3J8AsQEAAYASAAEgI35fD_BwE

We rescued bears Xuan and Mo from a life in darkness 

Their whole life Xuan and Mo were kept in a windowless basement in Vietnam. But Tuesday was a big day for them – the day we relocated them to our BEAR SANCTUARY in Ninh Binh. This was the day they saw daylight for the first time since many years!

The transport to our sanctuary took around 9 hours. The first health check unfortunately revealed that both suffer from a gallbladder disease. Xuan additionally has a liver disease and his teeth are in terrible condition. 

Xuan and Mo will stay in a quarantine area for the first three weeks to prevent any potential disease transfer to our resident bears. There, they receive intensive medical care, are gradually introduced to a new healthy diet, are provided an array of different enrichment, bedding etc. and trust begins to be built between them and their caretakers.

Kept in a basement: Free Xuan and Mo from a life in darkness

Breaking news!

Xuan and Mo were successfully rescued! On Tuesday the 23rd of March our team arrived in the Son La Province. Luckily, the bears were quite calm and not afraid when our team approached them. Maybe they knew that we want to change their life for the better. After a 10 hour drive, they finally arrived at their new home in our BEAR SANCTUARY Ninh Binh.

Bears are very resilient, but it will be a long way to recovery nonetheless. Both suffer from gallbladder disease. Xuan additionally has a liver disease and his teeth in terrible condition.

You can still support their recovery. Will you help them to start their new life?

***

A life in darkness

No light, no ventilation or fresh air, nothing but the rusty bars of tiny barren cages. Kept in a windowless and wet basement since they were cubs, bears Xuan and Mo have suffered unimaginably.

The only time they get to see light is when their owner comes to feed them or worse: puncture their gallbladder with a needle, a painful procedure to extract their bile. This bile was used for medicinal purposes by the family of the owner. For years these bears have known nothing but pain and abuse. Without our help, Xuan and Mo will go through this cruelness until the end of their life.

Our team is still shocked by what they discovered in Son La Province, Vietnam. These keeping conditions are one of the worst we’ve ever seen. We have to get them out as soon as possible. Will you join this mission and support their rescue?

They deserve so much more in life

At our BEAR SANCTUARY Ninh Binh, they could get all the care and time they need to recover from the horrors they have endured. There, they could discover for the first time what a species-appropriate life for bears can look like. But we can’t rescue them without you.

The fate of Xuan and Mo depends on your donation. Will you help us to rescue them?

How your donation can change the lives of Xuan and Mo: 

  • They will be relocated to our BEAR SANCTUARY Ninh Binh 
  • They will get the extensive veterinary care they urgently need 
  • They will have access to a large outdoor enclosure 
  • They will get enrichment, bedding material and showers 

Images © Hoang Le | FOUR PAWS

Regards Mark

Whaling in Norway – hunters refer to the Vikings!!

While diplomats and the media focus primarily on Japan’s whaling, Norway’s whaling has been on the upswing for years-long neglected.
In the Scandinavian country, requirements for whaling were systematically removed and an unauthorized catch quota was released.
In addition, the demand for whale meat in their own country has been pushed by the state – and exports to Japan have increased dramatically since 2016.

The whalers always like to refer to their roots back to the Vikings (!!!) – even though Norway is one of the most modern and prosperous countries in the world.

The world is silent – Norway continues to kill whales

Although Norway is gradually expanding whaling – the arbitrary quotas have been repeatedly increased by the government (see Fig. 1), in the medium term even 2,000 whales are targeted – the world public has remained astonishingly silent on this so far!

Fig. 1: Whaling in Norway: Approved quotas (blue) & animals actually killed (red) (as of March 2021)

And this despite the fact that the northern European country uses its own calculation model to calculate fishing quotas that have not been approved by the International Whaling Commission (IWC).
In the spring of 2017 it was also announced that an alarmingly large proportion of the whales killed in Norway are female, the vast majority of them pregnant.
This means that doubts about the sustainability of the unauthorized fishing quotas set by Oslo are more than justified.

Exports of meat for whaling to Japan

In 2014, the country started exporting whale meat to Japan. Within a short period of time, these have escalated from 82 tons (in 2014) to over 197 tons in 2016 and have remained at a high level since then (see Figure 2).

Fig. 2: Development of whale meat exports from Norway (as of March 2021)

In just five years Norway has exported more than 1.1 million kilograms of whale meat, 98.5 percent of which went to Japan.
Since Japan suffered a severe setback at the International Court of Justice because of its whaling in 2014 and significantly reduced the number of catches, Norway wants to fill this gap.

Norway

The IWC, whose moratorium is brazenly undermined by Norway, has not passed a single resolution against commercial whaling since 2001.
It is precisely this silence that Norway regards as silent acceptance.

What is “Pro Wildlife” doing?

We continue to work on increasing the pressure on Norway.
Our goal is to reach the long-overdue resolution at the IWC conference as soon as possible.
To this end, we inform political decision-makers at an early stage about the latest developments in Norway via >> briefings.

Our report “Frozen in Time” in 2016 revealed for the first time the package of control measures the Norwegian government used to appease the IWC – and how little is left of these promises.
We, therefore, call on the European Union that Norway’s whaling is no longer accepted and that it is finally given a resolution.

Our report already had an impact at the 2016 whaling conference, where the EU voiced clear criticism of Norway for the first time in many years and called for an end to whale hunting and exports.
This was supported by some other countries.

At the next IWC conference in September 2021, we will fight again to ensure that Norway’s whaling is no longer accepted.

https://www.prowildlife.de/hintergrund/norwegen-walfangland-nummer-eins/

And I mean…On the one hand the lax politics of IWC, on the other hand, its twin sister the EU Commission, which goes as far as criticism and never to punishment, enables murderers to continue the massacre of the whales.

And oh! this grueling tradition of the Viking nostalgics …
People who have had to eat human flesh in order to survive will therefore not hold on to it.
Appeared as an insane motivation too.

Traditions such as slavery, forced marriage, stoning, and human sacrifice have been abandoned by people. It was definitely a tough transition, but the “problems” were definitely worth it.

It’s good that today’s human animals have a conscience, a big brain, empathy, and decision-making ability to abolish traditions that are a construct of the greedy powerful and not of justice and compassion …

My best regards to all, Venus

 

Busy Day – Computer Housekeeping – So No Posts.

Hi all;

25/3 – sorry nothing from me today; I have been doing computer housework and major review of our photos – there are lots; so busy in another way.

Here are a few shots of some felines who used to come round (not ours but welcome visitors !) for some food, attention and a chill out sleep ! The white one had his own old Amazon cardborad box and a blanket as you can see.

I have loads of fox photos I have taken also, so will put some of these on the site soon.

Regards for now

Mark

One of my favourite British bands – ‘The Cure’: Enjoy !

How the media manipulate public opinion

Shark alarm in Mallorca: two meters long animal washed up on the beach!!

March 22, 2021 –
Shock for locals and holidaymakers: a dead shark washed up on a beach in western Mallorca (!!!)

The animal was about two meters long and had a large wound on the head, as reported by the “Diario de Mallorca” portal.

Hai must have been dead for a few days

Presumably, it is a blue shark or gray shark, it says in the report.
He was found on the beach of the former fishing village of Sant Elm (municipality of Andratx) and has probably been dead for several days.
Strong waves could have washed the animal ashore.
Now we want to investigate what the shark died of.

Blue sharks are not uncommon in the Mediterranean

Adult blue sharks can grow to be around three and a half meters long. They are not uncommon in the Mediterranean and live at a depth of around 350 meters. However, they usually do not swim close to the shore – only when they are sick or disoriented.
The animals are also dangerous to humans but are not considered aggressive.

According to the World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF) conservation organization, blue sharks are critically endangered in the Mediterranean.
They died en masse on bait lines for swordfish and tuna or in trawls.

Great white shark caused a stir in Mallorca in 2018 (!!!)

Almost three years ago, a great white shark caused a stir in the Balearic Islands. A five-meter-long animal was sighted near the island of Cabrera (south of Mallorca) – for the first time in decades in this Mediterranean region.

https://www.rtl.de/cms/haialarm-auf-mallorca-zwei-meter-hai-tot-an-mallorca-strand-gefunden-4727266.html

And I mean…The desired attention is already generated in the first few lines: Shark Alarm in Mallorca (!)
Dead the shark is certainly very dangerous.

An alarm would be if 50 living sharks around the beach were disoriented and not if you were on land and photographed the carcass with others (by the way – what a bleak motif!)

If the alarm bells have not rung for some … the great white shark comes from 2018 and then … even the most animal-friendly holidaymaker should change his mind about the “Beast shark” and classify these otherwise harmless mammals as an ultra-risk for swimmers.  And above all, because he was in his living space!

This is how the press works: with falsehoods, psychological tricks, and opinion control, today’s citizen comes to a conviction that fits the system of the respective country.

So that we stay informed of the real facts

 

My best regards to all, Venus

EU: 5 Freedoms Was Not Enough; Now We Have 7 Demands !

WAV Comment:  I really wish I had an ounce of faith that all these Euro Yukspeak words actually meant something; but I completely lost faith in the Eurojargon about better animal welfare many years ago.  For me, over 30 years of live animal transportation investigations and experiences may have had something to do with the loss of faith in ‘the EU systems’ that ‘protect’ animals, in this case, during transport – EU Reg 1/2005 for the ‘protection of animals during transport’:  https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2018/621853/EPRS_STU(2018)621853_EN.pdf

So now ‘the countdown is officially on’ ?

Now they talk about 7 key demands – and for so long over the years we have heard from the very same people about we the ‘five freedoms’ which should have applied to all animals within the EU:

The Five Freedoms include:

  • Freedom from Hunger and Thirst. By ready access to fresh water and diet to maintain health and vigour.
  • Freedom from Discomfort.
  • Freedom from Pain, Injury or Disease.
  • Freedom to Express Normal Behaviour.
  • Freedom from Fear and Distress.

These Five Freedoms are globally recognized as the gold standard in animal welfare, encompassing both the mental and physical well-being of animals; and the five freedoms have existed within EU strategy (on paper anyway) for quite a long time.

With so much undercover footage being presented to the EU over the years from farms, slaughterhouses, animals in transport, etc, by welfare organisations, showing failures across all the 5 freedoms, I guess we can say that the EU does not practice what it preaches. 

Yet here we are being told that there will be 7 key demands that will ‘shed light on the failures and poor enforcement of the current animal welfare legislation and call on the European Commission to commit to revising the entire legislation, leaving no animal behind’.

I really hope that no animal is ‘left behind’; but as I say, with a few years experience, and running animal welfare websites since 2005, cynical me thinks this is simply another stalling tactic by the EU simply because certain member states are not enforcing the regulations.  Romania and the sheep transporting ship which overturned leaving Midia – Romania: Secret Decks of Sheep On The ‘Queen Hind’ Which Sank at Midia ??. We Still Wait For EU Action and the Report Promised by the Romanian Government. – World Animals Voice  – February 2021, and still we have no answers !  So much for 5 freedoms, let alone 7 key demands !

The EU lost the plot on all this ‘animal welfare stuff’ many, many years ago; and I think the very recent incidents relating to the livestock carriers ‘Karim Allah’ and the ‘Elbeik’; where live animals were shipped around the Med for over 3 months, just shows what a complete and utter farce the whole EU ‘animal welfare’ thing is.   And I mean; have a look at just 2 of our past posts:

Spain: 10/3/21 – All Animals On The ‘Karim Allah’ Have Now Been Murdered By The Spanish Authorities After 3 Months at Sea. The Reality of Live Exports. – World Animals Voice

Togo: Live Animal Transport: Elbeik Still At Sea with 1700 Animals and Over 100 Feared Dead – Expected to Dock In Cartagena, Spain Tonight. ‘Karim Allah’ Killing Team Still In Cartegena. What Happens Later ? – World Animals Voice

Do not have any trust in the EU and its yukspeak, because that is exactly what it is – Yukspeak; or to put it another way; a means to further investigate, delay any action and produce yet more endless reports on what is the bloody obvious, and which everyone in the animal welfare lobby has known about and has been shouting about, and providing substantial evidence on for decades.

The EU is an over inflated no good – if it had any intentions of promoting animal welfare, then it would have acted a damn site more on animal transport legislation alone when we first saw the 1/2005 of that year come into force.  They failed then, they fail now, and they will continue to fail in the future.  Sadly, as always; it is the innocent animals that are the pawns, and who suffer as a result.

Regards Mark.

Continued on sheet 2 – select 2 from below.

Amazon Frontlines: There Is More to Water Than Just A Drink.

Brazil Has Been Slowing The Destruction Of The Amazon Rainforest

I had this sent to me on world water day (22/3); but it was late and I did not have time to post; so here it is now:

Regards Mark

Message:

Dear Mark,

Water has material benefits– children can bathe in it, for example. But for us Siekopai, water is significant beyond its material use. Water embodies another world entirely; it has a spiritual identity.” – Siekopai Leader Justino Piaguaje

Today, on World Water Day, we’re excited to share a video in which Siekopai leader and water protector Justino Piaguaje explains the importance of water for his people.

In this video, Justino tells us that for the Siekopai, as well as for other Indigenous peoples, water has a spiritual significance that goes far beyond its material value. This spiritual connection is part of the reason why Indigenous peoples from Standing Rock to the Amazon are risking their lives to defend Earth’s most precious resource. 

And yet, while Indigenous peoples have been fighting to protect our planet for centuries, only a fraction of the less than two percent of all global philanthropy that is directed to stopping climate change is invested in them! Amazon Frontlines launched the Frontlines Challenge alongside our Indigenous partners to help change this. By becoming a monthly sustainer of the Frontlines Challenge today, you can help us mobilize critical and urgent resources to Indigenous peoples on the frontlines throughout the year. 

Justino explains that in order to truly understand the importance of the natural world we must learn to see it with different eyes. Let’s support Justino and all the Indigenous water protectors showing us a pathway towards greater respect and balance with our planet. 

For our water and all the añapëkë (water dwellers),

Chantelle, Nico, Sophie, Alex, Ylenia, Jerónimo and the rest of the Amazon Frontlines team

Frontlines Challenge (amazonfrontlines.org)

22/3/21 Is ‘World Water Day’ – Prepare to Enter the ‘Dead Zone’; How Intensive Livestock Production Fuels Water Pollution Around the Globe. – World Animals Voice

Environmental terrorism – World Animals Voice

This is how meat production works in Germany

Press release:
-Systematic shafts uncovered /

-German slaughterhouse tortures animals to death /

-North Rhine-Westphalia authorities fail to protect animals

SOKO animal welfare investigators can use current images from the last few weeks to prove that animals were systematically slaughtered in full consciousness at the Prott meat center in Selm North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) on every slaughter day.

“The sheep were brutally slashed and thrown into a heap, cattle fought for their lives bleeding and dangling from chains and roared in pain,” says SOKO animal welfare investigator Friedrich Mülln, describing the situation.

The authorities had been warned for almost 20 years and failed to stop the shafts.

(The video is in German, but a detailed explanation of what you see is already in the report)

https://fb.watch/4qKQ6zfxkj/

The shaft of animals is illegal in Germany and only possible under very strict conditions in exceptional cases.
However, there are no special permits in North Rhine-Westphalia.

The Prott slaughterhouse, which is run by Germans, on the other hand, has specialized in slaughtering without anesthesia (!!!)

Continue reading “This is how meat production works in Germany”

Snake slaughter Festival in Texas: a spectacle for psychopaths

We all know what a rattlesnake’s “rattle” means — run.

Whether you learned about it from TV or movies, or from real-life experience, you know that this rattle is the precursor to a strike.
But of course, like all wild animals, rattlesnakes lash out at people out of fear — if you leave them alone, they’ll do you the same kindness, and you’ll both be a lot less afraid.

Following this line of thought, a rattlesnake’s “rattle” is really the closest thing it has to a scream.
And at this bloody event in Sweetwater, Texas, the screams are ear-splitting.

Sign the petition imploring the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to cancel the yearly Sweetwater Rattlesnake Roundup!

This horrific event, which has been going on for over 60 years, is utterly gruesome from start to finish.
First, rattlesnake hunters flush poor, solitary snakes out of their dens by pouring gasoline into them, forcing them to flee or suffocate.
Gassing obviously takes its toll on the snakes, their first of many traumas to come, but it also poisons the land and nearby plants and wildlife. It’s such an environmental hazard that it’s been totally banned in 29 U.S. states.

Continue reading “Snake slaughter Festival in Texas: a spectacle for psychopaths”

UK: ‘The Last Blast’. UK Government To Consult on the Use of Lead Shot In Hunting – the Biggest Change for Over 500 Years. A Significant Step Forward in Helping to Protect Wildlife, People and the Environment.

Biggest shake-up in 500 years for game shooting as ban looms on 'toxic' lead  shot | Daily Mail Online
Photo – Daily Mail

The last blast – Biggest shake-up in 500 years for game shooting as ban looms on ‘toxic’ ammunition.

  • The pellets inside shotgun cartridges are toxic for animals, nature activists say
  • Lead ammunition has been used to shoot birds in the UK since the 1500s
  • Shooting organisations say the ban could take eight years to come into force

It’s the biggest shake up for the British hunters in over 500 years as the British government now considers a ban on the use of lead shot.

Lead pellets are inside of the cartridges used in shotguns.  They are toxic and can be fatal if they are eaten by other birds, animals and all wildlife.

Under consultation is the phasing out of lead ammunition across all environments in England, Scotland and Wales.  But shooting organisations are also saying that the ban could take up to 8 years before it comes into force.  It is expected that some in the shooting fraternity are not happy and have become quite reactionary. 

Tim Bonner of the Countryside Alliance; the main pro hunt organisation in the UK, has declared that the phase out can be done on their time scale, or it will be imposed on them.  He also accepted that there are now alternatives to lead shot.

The UK government has requested an official review of the evidence; followed by a public consultation to aim at a proposed ban on the ammunition.

Environment Minister Rebecca Pow has stated that addressing the impacts of lead ammunition will mark a significant step forward in helping to protect wildlife, people and the environment.

Officials pointed to research by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust which shows that between 50,000 and 100,000 wildfowl die each year after ingesting lead from spent pellets which they mistake for food. Mr Bonner stated that such estimates were ‘a bit on the high side’; but then as a shooter and huntsman, he would.

The EU is expected to ban imports of game shot with lead – a major concern because around 60 per cent of British game is exported to Europe. Fears have been expressed by manufacturers as to whether they will be able to meet demand for new types of ammunition.

Last year several leading cartridge makers said that they thought that developing ‘high performance ammunition’ without lead in a short time frame, ‘without significant support’ from the Government, would be impossible.

Jonathan Young, editor of countryside sports magazine The Field, has voiced his doubts about the ability of steel pellets to kill game ‘efficiently and cleanly’.

But Dr Julia Newth of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust said: ‘Conservationists, shooting organisations and game meat retailers have recognised the toxic risks from lead ammunition.’

Produced by WAV with reference to:https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9391225/Biggest-shake-500-years-game-shooting-ban-looms-toxic-lead-shot.html

Sounds llike really positive news to me !

Regards Mark

Hunting Cartridges And Lead Shot, Clouse Up. Camouflage Background Stock  Photo, Picture And Royalty Free Image. Image 48723738.