DUBAI // Local authorities and non-profit groups are calling for a co-ordinated national attack on animal cruelty, after the shooting of two cats this month and other incidents.
Mickey, a cat from Al Barsha, was shot 12 times and suffered skull, lung, pelvis and leg injuries. The other cat, Safa, who lives near Safa Park, has been shot in the head twice in three months.
"Proactive steps against animal cruelty are taken by the authorities but such acts happen globally when individuals ignore the law," said Dr Max Spicer of The Veterinary Hospital in Al Quoz, who treated both cats.
Such crimes and other cases of cruelty prompted the municipality's veterinary department to last week organise its first UAE Animal Welfare Conference.
Participants including representatives from municipalities, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (Ifaw) and K9 Friends met officials from the Ministry of Environment and Water to call for a more cohesive strategy.
Dr Elsayyed Mohamed, the programme manager of Ifaw, said common violations included dog fights, irresponsible ownership, improper transport and keeping exotic and endangered animals as pets.
"We need a nationwide database clearly identifying the number of cases that go to court and penalties should be specific and categorised," Dr Mohamed said.
Jackie Ratcliffe, chairman of the dog rescue group K9 Friends, said: "There is still frustration and emotion around this topic. The laws are there but need to be properly implemented because, in the area of cruelty, there are still unanswered questions."
In 2007, the President passed a law outlining animal welfare policy, and in 2008 a ministerial decree outlined which crimes against animals were punishable.
The animal welfare division in the Ministry of Water and Environment is responsible for setting laws and regulations, and carries out its own inspections, while municipalities are responsible for enforcing the laws in their emirates, issuing fines and referring cases to prosecution.
In Dubai, the municipality's veterinary department investigates cases. Adil Al Badri, the head of theanimal welfare unit, said its inspectors had seen cases of overcrowding, animal depression, injuries, overworking and disease on farms, at ports and in markets, and issued fines accordingly.
In Abu Dhabi, the animal welfare department at Abu Dhabi's Food Control Authority investigates the treatment of animals at farms.
"If there is good management, animals will not fall ill and disease will not spread," said Mutasim Al Rosan, a food-safety inspector at the Ministry of Environment and Water.
Mr Al Rosan said a law regarding the transport of animals would soon be introduced and a national law on farms inspection was also being studied because "a unified code of practice is currently not in place".
Animal welfare is a matter of "fine tuning", said Dr Hamid Orban, a specialist from the animal welfare section at Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority, who also stressed transport was a crucial issue.
"One of the main unanswered questions is who is responsible for issuing licences for transporting animals and overseeing the movement within the Emirates?" Dr Orban said, agreeing with Dr Mohamed that there were too many "irregularities in penalties".
"It is irresponsible ownership that leads to animal suffering," he said.
Mrs Ratcliffe said the situation was far better than when the organisation was established in 1989.
Since 2000, she said, more than 3,000 dogs had been given new homes through K9 Friends. And about 143 dogs were being cared for in K9 Friend's new shelter in the Jebel Ali Industrial Area, paid for by the Dubai Government in 2007.
"Cruelty is often caused by ignorance," Mrs Ratcliffe said. "We have many educational campaigns to teach young kids so that these cases do not happen in the future."
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Developers can never again claim that residents of Alaska’s Lake and Peninsula Borough want them to build the dangerous Pebble Mine at the headwaters of Bristol Bay.
In a major victory for opponents of the mine, voters in the Bristol Bay region have passed the Save Our Salmon initiative, which would prohibit the borough from issuing permits for mining projects that would threaten to destroy salmon habitat.
Pebble Limited Partnership hopes to develop the mine roughly 200 miles southwest of Anchorage and just north of Iliamna. Pebble Mine would be the largest open-pit mine in North America, involving the excavation of billions of tons of raw ore containing copper, gold and molybdenum.
The mine would threaten the largest remaining wild sockeye salmon run in the world, which sustains the world’s richest commercial wild-salmon fishery; the habitat for tens of millions of salmon that spawn in the streams of the Bristol Bay watershed; and the subsistence ways of life of Alaska Natives who depend on fishing to feed their families. Sixty-five percent of the borough’s residents Alaska Natives, and most continue to practice traditional subsistence fishing activities that have sustained their people and culture for thousands of years.
The issue will now head to court in November because Pebble Limited Partnership has challenged the initiative’s legality. So has the state of Alaska, which claims authority over the development of natural resources belongs to the legislature, not local governments.
Concern that Pebble Mine could cause an environmental catastrophe in Alaska has unified a vast coalition of sport and subsistence-fishing interests, commercial fishermen and seafood processors, Native groups, former state and federal regulators and elected officials, conservation groups, and even churches.
Pebble Limited Partnership, which includes Northern Dynasty Minerals and the giant mining company Anglo American, has waged its own public relations campaign to convince the public that the mine would be an economic boon to the Lake and Peninsula Borough region.
But when local residents mailed in their ballots over the past few weeks, the majority approved the initiative 280 to 246.
What chance does a relatively small group of voters have against an international juggernaut willing to spend millions of dollars trying to force the construction of an open-pit mine in such a rare and special place? We’ll see what the courts say.
But the voters have already decided: Pebble Mine isn’t welcome in Bristol Bay.
In a major victory for opponents of the mine, voters in the Bristol Bay region have passed the Save Our Salmon initiative, which would prohibit the borough from issuing permits for mining projects that would threaten to destroy salmon habitat.
Pebble Limited Partnership hopes to develop the mine roughly 200 miles southwest of Anchorage and just north of Iliamna. Pebble Mine would be the largest open-pit mine in North America, involving the excavation of billions of tons of raw ore containing copper, gold and molybdenum.
The mine would threaten the largest remaining wild sockeye salmon run in the world, which sustains the world’s richest commercial wild-salmon fishery; the habitat for tens of millions of salmon that spawn in the streams of the Bristol Bay watershed; and the subsistence ways of life of Alaska Natives who depend on fishing to feed their families. Sixty-five percent of the borough’s residents Alaska Natives, and most continue to practice traditional subsistence fishing activities that have sustained their people and culture for thousands of years.
The issue will now head to court in November because Pebble Limited Partnership has challenged the initiative’s legality. So has the state of Alaska, which claims authority over the development of natural resources belongs to the legislature, not local governments.
Concern that Pebble Mine could cause an environmental catastrophe in Alaska has unified a vast coalition of sport and subsistence-fishing interests, commercial fishermen and seafood processors, Native groups, former state and federal regulators and elected officials, conservation groups, and even churches.
Pebble Limited Partnership, which includes Northern Dynasty Minerals and the giant mining company Anglo American, has waged its own public relations campaign to convince the public that the mine would be an economic boon to the Lake and Peninsula Borough region.
But when local residents mailed in their ballots over the past few weeks, the majority approved the initiative 280 to 246.
What chance does a relatively small group of voters have against an international juggernaut willing to spend millions of dollars trying to force the construction of an open-pit mine in such a rare and special place? We’ll see what the courts say.
But the voters have already decided: Pebble Mine isn’t welcome in Bristol Bay.
Peta update
In the aerial view of SeaWorld, one can see how little room orcas have. Inside the circle is Tilikum, whose nose and tail almost touch the ends of his tank.
In a groundbreaking move for animals, PETA, with the help of three marine-mammal experts and two former orca trainers, will file a landmark lawsuit tomorrow asking a federal court to declare that five wild-caught orcas forced to perform at SeaWorld are being held as slaves in violation of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
The 13th Amendment prohibits the condition of slavery, without reference to "person" or any particular class of victims. PETA's general counsel, Jeffrey Kerr, stated, "Slavery does not depend on the species of the slave any more than it depends on gender, race, or religion."
In the wild, orcas work cooperatively, form complex relationships, communicate using distinct dialects, and swim up to 100 miles every day. Their life at SeaWorld deprives them of everything that is natural and important to them. They are limited to small, barren concrete tanks and are forced to perform stupid tricks in exchange for dead fish.
Our understanding of animals grows every day. Animals should no longer be regarded as "things" to dominate, but as breathing, feeling beings with families, intellect, and emotions. The 13th Amendment exists to abolish slavery in all its forms—and this lawsuit is the next step. Please read about this precedent-setting lawsuit, post it on Facebook and Twitter, and tell everyone you know about it.
You can help animals imprisoned by SeaWorld today. Click here to write to The Blackstone Group—the company that owns SeaWorld—and ask that it immediately set in place a firm and rapid plan to release the animals to sanctuaries that can provide them with an appropriate and more natural environment.
In a groundbreaking move for animals, PETA, with the help of three marine-mammal experts and two former orca trainers, will file a landmark lawsuit tomorrow asking a federal court to declare that five wild-caught orcas forced to perform at SeaWorld are being held as slaves in violation of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
The 13th Amendment prohibits the condition of slavery, without reference to "person" or any particular class of victims. PETA's general counsel, Jeffrey Kerr, stated, "Slavery does not depend on the species of the slave any more than it depends on gender, race, or religion."
In the wild, orcas work cooperatively, form complex relationships, communicate using distinct dialects, and swim up to 100 miles every day. Their life at SeaWorld deprives them of everything that is natural and important to them. They are limited to small, barren concrete tanks and are forced to perform stupid tricks in exchange for dead fish.
Our understanding of animals grows every day. Animals should no longer be regarded as "things" to dominate, but as breathing, feeling beings with families, intellect, and emotions. The 13th Amendment exists to abolish slavery in all its forms—and this lawsuit is the next step. Please read about this precedent-setting lawsuit, post it on Facebook and Twitter, and tell everyone you know about it.
You can help animals imprisoned by SeaWorld today. Click here to write to The Blackstone Group—the company that owns SeaWorld—and ask that it immediately set in place a firm and rapid plan to release the animals to sanctuaries that can provide them with an appropriate and more natural environment.
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