Caught to eat, then abandoned

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2008:

 

 

Caught to eat, then abandoned

 

WINDHOEK--The all-volunter Cat Protection Society in

Windhoek, Namibia in mid-April 2008 rescued hundreds of cats who

were abandoned in company housing after the Malaysian firm Ramatex

closed a clothing factory that at peak operation employed 7,000

workers. Many other cats died from neglect before the rescuers

learned of their existence, wrote Denver Isaacs of The Nambian.

Opened in 2002 with heavy government subsidies,

Ramatex-Namibia tried to impose Asian sweatshop conditions, claimed

labor organizers. When the Namibian employees unionized, Ramatex

quickly settled a strike, but then hired " trainers " from China, the

Philippines, and Bangladesh to take over much of the work.

" Surviving cats are being fed on the site until they can all

be removed. The Windhoek SPCA has made its quarantine facility

available to temporarily house the cats, and all the veterinary

clinics in Windhoek are helping by examining the cats and treating

those who can be saved, " Isaacs wrote.

Other nations employing imported labor from places where dogs

and cats are eaten have had similar problems.

" VITA gets an enormous number of complaints about dogs being

caught and eaten by immigrant workers who live in Moscow and the

Moscow region, " the March 2008 edition of the VITA newsletter

mentioned.

As eating either dogs or cats violates both Russian federal

law and a Moscow city ordinance, VITA has asked the prosecutors in

the districts where the offenses have allegedly occurred to

investigate, and to bring charges where possible.

 

 

 

--

Merritt Clifton

Editor, ANIMAL PEOPLE

P.O. Box 960

Clinton, WA 98236

 

Telephone: 360-579-2505

Fax: 360-579-2575

E-mail: anmlpepl

Web: www.animalpeoplenews.org

 

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