http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/animalrights/ en-us Mon, 28 Dec 2009 09:03:16 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2416141/posts The traditional medicinal practice of smoking dried vulture brains to induce a vision of winning lotto numbers is killing off the bird's population in South Africa, researchers say. Scelo, a young healer in downturn Johannesburg's market for muti, or traditional medicine, says the birds are becoming more scarce. "I only have one every three or four months," he said. "Everybody asks for the brain. You see things that people can't see. For lotto, you dream the numbers." Rolled into a cigarette or inhaled as vapours, vulture brains can also help at the horse races, boost an exam performance, or lure... ABC News [Australia] http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2416141/posts#comment Mon, 28 Dec 2009 09:03:16 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416274/posts The so-called “Humane Society” of the United States (HSUS) has once again proven why its name – which conjures up images of saving helpless pets – isn’t deserved. A new Baltimore Sun investigation reveals that the 19 horses HSUS and Baltimore city officials confiscated last month from "A-rabbers" (street peddlers who sell produce in urban neighborhoods) have been penned up in unsanitary conditions and mostly forgotten about. Can someone tell us what's so “humane” about that?On November 10, Baltimore Health Department officials – with HSUS spurring them on – seized 19 healthy horses owned by these streetcart operators from their... Consumer Freedom.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416274/posts#comment Mon, 28 Dec 2009 15:35:30 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2411647/posts When the new West is won, will there be cowboys? In light of what her neighbors are up to, Double O Ranch owner Vicki Olson isn’t so sure. “I guess the point that I keep hammering at is that if they succeed, that means all of us third- and fourth-generation ranchers are gone,” Olson said. She is the average Montana rancher, 56 going on 70, working a spread gouged from the pebbly soil by her grandparents 100 years ago. Her neighbor, the nonprofit American Prairie Foundation, is methodically acquiring ranches and crafting a 3.5-million-acre wildlife reserve out of private property... The Gazette http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2411647/posts#comment Sun, 20 Dec 2009 14:40:25 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2410117/posts Lo Wung, 42, taught the monkeys so they could entertain crowds outside a shopping centre in Nshi, in eastern China's Hubei province. But the money-spinning primates turned the tables on their trainer when he slipped during a show, with one quick-thinking monkey flooring him with a kick to the head. The Telegraph http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2410117/posts#comment Fri, 18 Dec 2009 03:04:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2402912/posts For Ashley Valentín, giving up meat was easy. The hard part: finding something to eat in the school cafeteria. ``At first, there weren't that many options,'' said Ashley, 17, a senior at Miami Sunset High. ``There was always pizza. But eating pizza all the time is unhealthy.'' School cafeterias are taking note. While the Miami-Dade school district has long offered vegetarian items, it debuted three new vegan options this year: faux chicken nuggets, veggie burgers and hummus platters. The Broward school district also added veggie burgers to menus districtwide. And cafeterias are now offering vegetarian and vegan salads daily --... Miami Herald http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2402912/posts#comment Tue, 8 Dec 2009 16:44:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2400656/posts PET owners could be punished for not walking their dogs, under radical new laws being proposed by the RSPCA. Under the legislation, they would have to regularly exercise dogs, ensure animals are not kept chained up and give their pets adequate food and water. If the proposal becomes law, dog and cat owners across Australia would face prosecution, fines of up to $12,000 fines for animal cruelty and magistrates could consider jail in extreme circumstances. The Daily Telegraph (Australia) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2400656/posts#comment Sat, 5 Dec 2009 01:10:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2400437/posts [cross-posted] On the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha ('Feast of the Sacrifice'), Muslims rejoice for the descending of the pilgrims back down to the earth. While Ramadan is a time of suffering and lack, where Muslims gouge themselves new wounds and cover themselves with blood in the streets after long fasting, Eid al-Adha is a time of fullness. A dark part of it, not frequently talked about with Westerners, is the torture and murder of innocent horses. The justification for the torture and murder of innocent horses is contained within Volume 3, Book 47, Number 744 of the Sahih Bukhari Hadeeths:One... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2400437/posts#comment Fri, 4 Dec 2009 20:05:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2396116/posts ..Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) said that every part of the sacrificial animal attracts rewards for the Muslim who sacrifices it for the sake of Allah. Sacrificial animals are only symbolic, and scholars say what is most important for Muslims is the fear of Allah with which they slaughter the animals. The Quran says: "It is neither their meat nor their blood that reaches Allah, but it is piety from you that reaches Him. Thus have we made them (sacrificial animals) subject to you that you may magnify Allah for His Guidance to you." Scholars are of the opinion that the best... Gulf News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2396116/posts#comment Sun, 29 Nov 2009 02:23:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2395047/posts How are forest-thinning projects on Boulder County open space land affecting the tassel-eared Abert's squirrel? Which shorebirds and waterfowl are nesting at county ponds? How well have county wetland restoration projects really worked? These are the kinds of questions the Parks and Open Space Department hopes a new corps of volunteers will help answer when the county's new Natural Resource Monitor program begins next year. "We have a lot of acreage, and we have really diverse natural resources on our open space," said Michael Bauer, education and outreach specialist for the county's open space department... As the county designed the... Camera http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2395047/posts#comment Thu, 26 Nov 2009 18:53:54 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2389597/posts People Say Animals Are Preying On Larger Livestock. People living in major Valley neighborhoods... that coyotes have all but overtaken their neighborhoods. Don Hoopes and his 7-year-old son Jordan have a new ritual every night. They need to make sure all their animals are tucked safely inside, now that they know what can happen if they don't. Neighbor Richard Tate said, "I saw one yesterday morning trying to attack dogs in broad daylight." Tate's had a couple sheep slaughtered by coyotes already. He said they even tried to go after his ram. Tate said , "My concern is that if... CBS 5 News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2389597/posts#comment Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:42:05 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2386455/posts The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and environmentalists reached an agreement Friday that scraps a rule the agency had used to kill or permanently remove any wolf that killed three heads of livestock in a year. Fish and Wildlife spokesman Tom Buckley said the three-strikes rule "will no longer stand." Ranchers said the policy targeted wolves that grow accustomed to preying on cattle. Several environmental groups sued in May 2008, asking a U.S. District Court in Arizona to stop the removal policy on the Mexican gray wolf, a subspecies of the gray wolf. Buckley said agency officials hope a judge... Associated Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2386455/posts#comment Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:13:05 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2384924/posts For some people, hybrid wolf dogs are pets. For others, they're predators. Gary Schukantz said he last saw his three small dogs in his backyard ... "I didn't see any of my dogs, and I heard a yelp," . Schukantz said a hybrid wolf-dog came out of the woods and took off with his beloved pets. Shortly after the wolf ran off, Schukantz came across his youngest pet, a tiny Yorkshire terrier ..."We found his body and got him back," . Schukantz would have tried going after his pets, he said, but the wolf-dog turned on him and backed him... komo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2384924/posts#comment Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:38:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2383834/posts Hollywood actress and PETA spokeswoman Dominique Swain has reportedly been caught dumping unvaccinated puppies at an animal shelter. Swain, 29, arrived at a Malibu refuge with her father and a box of eight-week-old cocker spaniel cross dogs over the weekend, reports claim. The Lolita and Face/Off starlet, who posed naked in front of a school blackboard in a PETA animal rights advertisement, then reportedly told the shelter workers she couldn't pay for the puppies' vaccinations. "She said she had no money, despite [arriving] in her BMW," Fox News reported a witness as saying. 9News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2383834/posts#comment Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:09:39 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2373928/posts Youngsters in Churchill are warned not to dress in furry white costumes, to steer clear of baited traps stuffed with seal meat and to listen for the tell-tale sound of fireworks. That's because these candy-seekers have more to worry about than ghosts and goblins. They need to avoid a different kind of predator on Halloween - the polar bear. School children get a visit from the polar bear patrol team to go over safety tips. On the day of Halloween, several conservation officers take to the sky in a helicopter to see if there are any bears nearby. As dusk... The Canadian Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2373928/posts#comment Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:01:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2373041/posts Earth First! made headlines with its tree-spiking in the 1980s, but the guy who helped make the anti-logging tactic famous didn't invent it. Mike Roselle even titled one chapter of his new book "Why I Quit Spiking Trees." In it, the co-founder of Earth First!, the Rainforest Action Network and the Ruckus Society described how the practice brought old-growth timber cutting to national awareness, but became a public relations disaster for the protesters. "I think the Wobblies can take credit for it if they want, but it's been around as long as logging," Roselle said, referring to the Industrial Workers... Missoulian http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2373041/posts#comment Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:25:39 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2373224/posts A PROMISING young Canadian musician has been attacked and killed by coyotes while on a tour promoting her new album. Taylor Mitchell, 19, was considered a rising star of the folk music scene, having just earned a Canadian Folk Music Awards nomination. She was hiking alone on the Syline Trail in Cape Breton Highlands National Park when a pair of coyotes attacked her. Tourists rushed to her aid when they heard her screams and found Mitchell bleeding heavily from mulitple wounds "all over her body", according to The Canadian Press. "She was losing a considerable amount of blood from her... news http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2373224/posts#comment Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:22:18 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2372761/posts Springfield, MO) -- Retired "Price is Right" host Bob Barker may not be on TV anymore, but he's making news in the Ozarks again. The TV icon came home to Drury University to drop another major financial gift on the school. Barker wanted to tell us about the first of its kind program the money will fund. "What we're doing here today is something they're going to be talking about all across the country" says Bob Barker, Drury Alumni. It's a check for $1,000,000 that will start that dialogue. Barker is giving his alma matter the money to establish the... Ozarks First dot com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2372761/posts#comment Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:45:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2370522/posts South African traditional leaders plan to perform ritual animal slaughters to bless stadiums for the 2010 World Cup tournament ahead of the start of the showcase event next June, they said on Friday. Zolani Mkiva, chairman of the Makhonya Royal Trust, a grouping responsible for co-ordinating cultural activities, said the tournament, the first to be held in Africa, needed to be blessed in true "African style." "We must have a cultural ceremony of some sort, where we are going to slaughter a beast (cow)," said Mkiva. South Africa is set to host the World Cup -- the world's most watched... Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2370522/posts#comment Sun, 25 Oct 2009 15:51:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2368899/posts In my opinion, this over the top idea isn’t sustainable at any level. On a personal note, my cat eats with a footprint more like a Volkswagen microbus. I think I’ll give “Minners” a can of doplhin safe tuna tonight, just for spite. From Stuff.co.nz By TANYA KATTERNS – The Dominion Post Save the planet: time to eat dog? The eco-pawprint of a pet dog is twice that of a 4.6-litre Land Cruiser driven 10,000 kilometres a year, researchers have found. Victoria University professors Brenda and Robert Vale, architects who specialise in sustainable living, say pet owners should swap cats... wattsupwiththat.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2368899/posts#comment Fri, 23 Oct 2009 01:22:07 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2368341/posts The Dillon ranchers who lost more than 120 buck sheep in an August wolf attack last week lost 23 lambs from the same area when wolves struck again. Kathy Konen said this week that despite the presence of a herder and guard dogs, wolves struck the herd sometime in the early morning hours Oct. 17. She and husband Jon Konen lost 23 weaned lambs. "They're in the area, and they've killed once," she said of wolves. "We knew they would come back and kill again." The Konens in August lost 122 sheep to wolves in the same pasture in the... mt standard http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2368341/posts#comment Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:46:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2365408/posts About 30 animal rights protesters gathered outside the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on Sunday, waving signs decrying dogfighting in response to Michael Vick's arrival with the Philadelphia Eagles and drawing mostly praise from Raiders fans entering the stadium. Oakland has been the happy ending for many of the animals rescued from Vick's dogfighting and gambling operation in Virginia. Ten of the dogs in Vick's pit bull collection -- the ones that could be saved and rehabilitated -- found new lives in San Francisco's East Bay, fostered and treated by the group BAD RAP (Bay Area Doglovers Responsible About Pitbulls). On Sunday,... NFL Fanhouse http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2365408/posts#comment Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:31:52 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2363579/posts In a split decision, a U.S. appeals court upheld the convictions of animal-rights activists charged under a terrorism statute with using their Web site to incite threats and vandalism against a company that tests products on animals. The 2-1 decision was the first federal appellate court ruling on a constitutional challenge to the law. Defense lawyers call the Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty case only the latest example of the government infringing on activists' free speech. One compared it to the pursuit of communists and civil-rights activists a half-century ago. "The government is always doing the same thing, prosecuting the loud... LA Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2363579/posts#comment Fri, 16 Oct 2009 02:22:06 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2362445/posts Proposed wilderness designations for parts of the Colorado mountains could threaten the Army's only high-altitude training site for helicopter pilots, an Army officer said Tuesday. The proposed "Hidden Gems" wilderness designations would put all of the high-altitude landing zones used by the High-Altitude Army Aviation Training Site off-limits, said Col. Joel Best, senior aviation officer for the Colorado Army National Guard. "We really can't afford to lose any of that land for the security of this nation," Best said. He spoke at a briefing for Colorado county commissioners and legislators. The site, known by the acronym HAATS, is the only... ASSOCIATED PRESS http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2362445/posts#comment Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:54:21 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2357497/posts Two things struck many people as odd three years ago when sheriff’s deputies came to Sandy Saunders’s 150-acre farm, said they had found “shocking” conditions, arrested him on nine counts of animal cruelty, and seized five horses, three sheep and a goat that have never been returned. The first was that the barn owned by Mr. Saunders, a well-known local environmentalist and gadfly, was a popular and quite public gathering place. In the five weeks before the animals were seized, an annual barn dance there brought out perhaps 200 people, and a political fund-raiser drew 150. A woman who had... New York Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2357497/posts#comment Thu, 8 Oct 2009 13:26:13 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2356744/posts WASHINGTON - The Humane Society of the United States is asking President Barack Obama and Congress to require everyone who raises dogs and cats to be regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, documents show. HSUS also is asking for the creation of an animal protection division within the U.S. Department of Justice that is "similar to the Civil Rights Division, to ensure strong enforcement of federal animal protection laws," thus granting animals rights similar to humans. HSUS also calls for a new position of animal protection liaison in the White House. Indiana Council for Animal Welfare http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2356744/posts#comment Wed, 7 Oct 2009 15:14:24 GMT