Guest guest Posted April 16, 2010 Report Share Posted April 16, 2010 From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2010: Letters Turtles & frogs It was a long fight, 16 years, but the California Fish & Game Commission finally did the right thing and voted unanimously to order the California Department of Fish & Game to stop issuing permits allowing non-native turtles and frogs to be imported into the state to be sold as food. Action for Animals founder Eric Mills worked tirelessly on this, and this is his victory. We will be working to get the pet trade included as well. They had 20 people at the meeting, and they had their lobbyist there, but the commission said that if turtles keep showing up in the markets, they will stop the pet trade too. That made them hopping mad. I emphasized in my talk that no wild animals should be pets, so I don't really know how keeping turtles, snakes, and frogs became acceptable, but this is a global problem. Susan Tellem of American Tortoise Rescue did an awesome presentation, posted to <www.tortoise.com>. --Karen Benzel Carmel, California <KarenBenzelPR Humane nation building is underway in Vietnam I really enjoyed the editorial on humane nation building in the March 2010 edition of ANIMAL PEOPLE. This is what we are trying to achieve in Vietnam with our Humane Edutainment program. We think Vietnam is ripe for humane nation building because a confluence of factors have opened the opportunity to act before factory farming and maltreatment of companion animals become entrenched as normative. We are still in fundraising mode, but hope to launch the program in time for the new school year this fall. Meanwhile we are conducting small-scale weekend workshops that combine wildlife conservation and environmental protection issues with training in leadership, time management, and team building for primary and secondary school children. We have 44 classes from Nguyen Tat Thanh secondary school come to the International Organization of Good Templars' Soc Son Campus, outside of Hanoi, every year. Each class comes twice, each time for two days. Each class has about 40 students. Additionally, we are hosting students from Trung Vuong, Nguyen Sieu, and Tan Trao secondary schools. The World Society for the Protection of Animals' local representative in Vietnam has been kind enough to provide some of the expertise. Things are looking up and I am looking forward to keeping you posted as the project further develops. --Robert E. Lucius The Kairos Coalition 340 Bishop Ave. Pacific Grove, CA 93950 <execdirector <www.kairoscoalition.org> Praises ANIMAL PEOPLE In response to your latest mailing, which includes an interesting and informative letter, I am again sending a modest donation that confirms my continued support for the publication of ANIMAL PEOPLE, your outreach to people in other countries on behalf of animals, and your specific endeavors to find ways and means to help animals with urgent needs in other countries, as well as to bring attention to the problems that have an adverse effect on people who care about animals, and to the work of shelters, sanctuaries, and other animal charities which continue to do great things on behalf of the rights, welfare, and other needs of animals. Although there has been much success of which to be proud, there is so much more to be accomplished--here in our country, as well as in the rest of the world. --Kermit C. Phillips Red Hook, New York Pakistan president kills goats to seek support Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari has a black goat slaughtered at his house almost every day to ward off " evil eyes " and protect him from black magic, his spokesperson Farhatullah Babar recently told the Dawn newspaper. Babar said the goats were killed as an act of sadaqah, meaning " voluntary charity, " a custom whereby one gives money or the meat of a slain animal to the poor to win Allah's blessing. Dawn reported that " Hundreds of goats have been sacrificed at Zardari's house since he was sworn in, in September 2008, " and added that " Zardari's detractors would see in his new-found religiosity a sign of nervousness in the face of growing woes, " as Zardari " has become increasingly unpopular and faces a range of problems from militancy to a stagnant economy and political rivalry. " Animal Save Movement Pakistan strongly protests these cruel acts of the President of Pakistan, and appeals to animal lovers to send messages to him via Pakistani embassies and consulates asking him to stop. --Khalid Mahmood Qurashi President Animal Save Movement Pakistan H#1094/2 Hussain Agahi Multan 60000, Pakistan <thetension Tiger parts trafficking exposed in Singapore A 3-month undercover investigation by ACRES has revealed that 59 out of 134 jewelery and antique shops visited in Singapore offered alleged tiger parts for sale. Evidence of the 59 shops selling alleged tiger parts was recorded on video. Approximately159 alleged tiger claws, 303 alleged tiger teeth, and 38 pieces of alleged tiger skin were found on sale during the investigation, which was conducted from December 2009 until February 2010. All commercial tiger trade has been banned since 1987 by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, to which Singapore is a party. However, there has been an approximate 50% decrease in wild tiger populations since the ban was enacted. The Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority is the CITES authority in Singapore. It is an offence in Singapore to import, export, or re-export any CITES-listed species without an AVA permit. The possession, sale, or display to the public of any illegally imported CITES specimen is also an offence. The demand for tiger parts and the amount of tiger parts being stocked by the shops appeared to be higher over the Chinese New Year period in this year of the tiger. Twenty-eight shopkeepers mentioned that an order for more tiger parts could be placed with them, and said that the delivery time ranged from one week to three months or more. Seven shopkeepers recognised that tigers are protected animals, that it is illegal to sell tiger parts, and that tiger parts are customs-controlled items. The alleged tiger parts were claimed to originate from Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, China, Myanmar, Indonesia, Laos, and Cambodia. --Louis Ng Executive Director Animal Concerns Research & Education Society 91 Jalan Lekar Singapore 698917 Phone: 65-9796-8592 <louis <www.acres.org.sg> Animal sheltering & neuter/return in Japan As an avid Animal People reader, I was shocked to read in the January/ February 2010 article " Japanese shelter numbers fall " (Jan/Feb 2010), stating that a good case could be made for Japan making fast progress toward becoming a no-kill nation. Only a small fraction of the animals entering Japanese animal control facilities exit alive. Many suffer inhumane conditions before they die. Thankfully, neuter/return is gaining momentum, and has the potential to decrease the destruction of cats. However, a lack of shelter support in coordination with neuter/ return has necessitated the release of friendly cats, who may become targets of abuse. Those helping dogs face such issues as open and obvious neglect or cruelty, without the option of bringing in legal reinforcement. Japan is among the very few nations in which dog-fighting is legal, and Japanese pet shops openly display puppies and kittens far too young to be separated from their mothers, isolated and curled up miserably in small plastic cases without comfort, companionship, or stimulation. This is not the face of a no-kill nation. --Susan Roberts Co-founder Japan Cat Network Hikone City, Shiga, Japan <info <http://japancatnet.com> Editor's note: The article " Japanese shelter numbers fall " pointed out that the number of dogs impounded and killed in Japan has dropped by more than 60% in 10 years. U.S. shelters currently kill 2.8% of the U.S. dog population per year; Japanese shelters kill 0.7% of the Japanese dog population. As the article stated, ANIMAL PEOPLE has no data pertaining to cat impoundments in Japan previous to 2007. -- Merritt Clifton Editor, ANIMAL PEOPLE P.O. Box 960 Clinton, WA 98236 Telephones: 360-579-2505, 360-678-1057 Cell: 360-969-0450 Fax: 360-579-2575 E-mail: anmlpepl Web: www.animalpeoplenews.org [Your donations help to support ANIMAL PEOPLE, the leading independent nonprofit newspaper providing original investigative coverage of animal protection worldwide, founded in 1992. Our global readership includes the decision-makers at more than 10,000 animal protection organizations. We have no alignment or affiliation with any other entity. Free online; $24/year by post; for free sample, please send postal address.] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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