Burger is experimenten op dieren spuugzat! 09-03-2010 St. Anti Dierproeven Coalitie
Afgelopen zaterdag werden zo'n 805 handtekeningen opgehaald in het drukke centrum van Leiden. Op verschillende plekken in de stad werden mensen aangesproken om ons burgerinitiatief te ondertekenen.
De stoepborden met foto's van honden en katten in laboratoria bleken weer ontzettend veel mensen aan te spreken. De dierproefsector voert al jaren een campagne waarin zij stelt dat er 'enkel op muizen en ratten' getest wordt en dat andere dieren slechts een klein percentage van alle dierproeven vormen. Deze uitgekiende strategie is opgezet om wanhopig een draagvlak te vinden voor de onethische experimenten op dieren.
De meeste mensen die wij spreken vinden dat dierproeven sowieso niet plaats mogen vinden in een beschaafde samenleving. Of het nu een muis of een aap is. De Anti Dierproeven Coalitie vindt dan ook dat dieren geen gebruiksvoorwerpen zijn en zal altijd een stem zijn voor alle dieren in de laboratoria.
De dierproefsector houdt keer op keer vol dat dieren een goed leven leiden in laboratoria. Maar hoe kan deze sector het volgende verklaren?
* Het nodeloos afmaken van honderdduizenden dieren die nooit gebruikt zijn in experimenten.
* Het moedwillig ziek maken van gezonde en soms zwangere dieren.
* Giftigheidstesten op dieren zonder verdoving want dat is 'in strijd met de opzet van de proef.'
* Het gebruik van dieren in pijnlijke hersenexperimenten.
* Commerciële dierproeven om een product te kunnen aanprijzen als een verantwoord product, zoals Danone en Yakult veelvuldig doen.
* Gebruik van dieren die tientallen uren in een krat opgesloten hebben gezeten in het ruim van een vliegtuig om vervolgens in Nederland of België gebruikt te worden in experimenten.
* Het uitvoeren van vergelijkbare proeven op dieren die ook in andere landen worden uitgevoerd.
* Het negeren van dierproefvrije technieken en het krampachtig vast blijven houden aan verouderde onderzoeksmethoden op dieren.
Deze misdaden tegen onschuldige dieren kunnen enkel gestopt worden door breedgedragen maatschappelijke druk. De Anti Dierproeven Coalitie loopt voorop in de strijd voor een dierproefvrije maatschappij. Het burgerinitiatief kan rekenen op de steun van velen.
Tot nu toe hebben al 36.635 mensen het burgerinitiatief getekend. We naderen de benodigde 40.000 handtekeningen. Nog tot 9 september dit jaar is het mogelijk om ons burgerinitiatief voor een einde van honden- en kattenexperimenten te ondertekenen.
HARICH - Om te voorkomen dat dassen worden doodgereden, zullen er onder de wegen meer loopbuizen moeten worden aangebracht. Boswachter Sjoerd Bakker van Staatbosbeheer in Zuidwest-Friesland pleit hiervoor bij de wegbeherende overheden.
De laatste twee dagen zijn alleen al in de Zuidwesthoek drie overstekende dassen in het verkeer omgekomen. Vorig jaar zijn in Gaasterland en omgeving acht exemplaren door auto's dodelijk aangereden. De enkele dassenbuizen die in deze regio bestaan, voldoen uitstekend. ,,It binne der net genôch. Der moatte mear komme”, zegt Bakker.
Dassen behoren in Friesland niet meer tot de bedreigde diersoorten. In de jaren negentig zijn ze hier uitgezet en is hun aantal gestaag toegenomen. In Gaasterland zijn de laatste keer 120 dieren geteld.
VLIELAND - Op Vlieland lopen mogelijk nog vier vossen rond, denken de jagers op het eiland. Staatsbosbeheer houdt het op ,,minstens één”.
Afgelopen weekend werden jachthonden ingezet om Vlieland voor de start van het broedseizoen vosvrij te krijgen.
Er werden sporen aangetroffen en een lege vossenburcht. Ook kregen de jagers eenmaal een vos in het vizier, maar het dier ontkwam. Tot nu toe zijn er negen dieren gedood. Vlieland heeft sinds vorig voorjaar een ongewenste vossenpopulatie.
LIEROP - Bij een varkenshouderij aan de Lungendonk in het Brabantse Lierop is dinsdagochtend om half negen een grote controle gestart.
Veertig medewerkers van politie, provincie, gemeente, arbeidsinspectie en het waterschap zijn het bedrijf binnengevallen. Dat heeft een woordvoerster van de politie laten weten.
De varkenshouderij met 8500 varkens wordt verdacht van het overtreden van de milieuvoorschriften. Ook zou er gerommeld zijn met de mestverwerking.
Het is niet bekend wanneer de inspectie wordt afgerond.
09-03-2010 By Bo Petersen, The Post and Courier, USA
A pygmy sperm whale and four dolphins have washed up along the coast in the past week. But the animals were found so far apart that wildlife biologists don't think the strandings are related.
Photo by Lloyd Mackall The pygmy sperm whale that washed up on North Litchfield Beach on Saturday had a heart condition and liver trouble, according to the results of a necropsy.
The whale was discovered Saturday at North Litchfield Beach; the dolphins have been seen since Thursday. One of the dolphins was found at Abbapoola Creek off the Stono River on Johns Island, another in Bull's Bay off Awendaw. The other two were found on Hilton Head Island and near Lemon Island outside Beaufort.
The run of strandings is unusual but not alarming yet, said Wayne McFee, of the National Ocean Service's marine mammal stranding program. Strandings of both species are seen year round.
"The fact that they're spread out around the state, it could be just that good weather has put people back on the water and they're spotting them," McFee said. But program personnel are watching to see if it becomes a trend.
A necropsy on the whale found a heart condition and liver trouble, and toxicology tests are under way to see if a cause can be pinpointed.
No results were available yet on the dolphins, but the mammals have been found to carry startling amounts of man-made pollutants as well as natural viruses.
Not a lot is known about pygmy sperm whales. They're not considered endangered, but they're rarely seen at sea. Strandings of the small whales are not uncommon, with as many as four or five per year in South Carolina. Natural toxins and man-made pollutants have been identified as causes.
A nursing mother and her calf were found on Sullivan's Island in June 2009. The mother had swallowed a black plastic trash bag and died of starvation. The calf couldn't live without her.
The 10-foot-long, 1,100 pound male was found rolling in the incoming tide by Litchfield beachgoers.
"It's very sad," said Lloyd Mackall, of Murrells Inlet, who photographed the stranding with his wife, Kay. "You know it's nature and that it's inevitable something will happen. But it's sad."
People are being to avoid snakes after a woman aged in her 40s became the eighth victim in six days to be bitten in NSW.
An unidentified snake sank its fangs into the woman's foot, leaving two puncture wounds, in the lower Blue Mountains on Tuesday afternoon.
The attack came after a 35-year-old male snake handler was bitten on the nose and forehead by a deadly brown snake in the NSW Hunter Valley earlier on Tuesday. He was taken to Muswellbrook hospital in a serious but stable condition and later transferred by the Westpac helicopter to the Mater hospital in Newcastle.
The victim from the lower Blue Mountains was taken to Nepean Hospital in a serious but stable condition. Her wounds would be tested and a suitable anti-venom administered, a NSW Ambulance spokesman told AAP.
On March 4 a two-year-old girl was bitten by a potentially deadly red-bellied black snake in Badgerys Creek, in Sydney's west.
Five other people were bitten in various locations in NSW on March 7.
Warm weather combined with recent rain has brought the snakes out, a spokesman for Sydney's Taronga Zoo said.
But bolder people sometimes try and handle snakes they come across, he added.
"The warm weather means its peak snake season and the bit of rain we've had brings out other animals which the snakes eat," the spokesman told AAP. "Most of the incidents occur when the snakes feel cornered. But some people do try and handle them. "Our advice is to give them a wide berth where possible."
The ambulance spokesman advised snake bite victims to remain still to prevent venom being pumped through the lymphatic system, apply a pressure bandage and dial triple 000.
What happens to all those chimps who've endured hell for our benefit? The lucky few get to retire to their own private island in Florida.
09-03-2010 AlterNet
It's a stunning day in Fort Pierce, Florida, just north of Miami. Sunshine has nudged out the winter cold and there's green grass and blue sky as far as you can see. Only the words "Careful -- she's going to spit!" interrupt the postcard moment.
Just as Triana Romero says those words, Tammy does as predicted (neither of us gets hit). Romero, director of communications for Save the Chimps, clearly knows Tammy, a 20-something chimpanzee, well enough to spot a spit-face when she sees one. Tammy is being silly, Romero says, and Tammy goes on being silly by blowing a stream of Bronx cheers that would impress even South Park's Terrance and Phillip.
Considering Tammy's background her silliness is pretty impressive. When the U.S. Air Force decided to stop doing chimp research, the apes and their progeny (deemed "surplus equipment") were sent either to the Texas sanctuary Primarily Primates or to the Coulston Foundation in Alamogordo, New Mexico, a biomedical lab with an abysmal record of animal care.
Here's what Encyclopedia Britanica's Animal Advocacy blog page says about Coulston:
The conditions were horrendous: animals were confined in concrete and steel cages for years; the laboratory conducted unapproved research methods; and basic animal welfare protocols were disregarded. Three chimpanzees died in October 1993 when a malfunctioning space heater sent temperatures in their room soaring to 140 °F. In just eight years, 35 chimpanzees and 13 monkeys died as the result of experimentation, poor veterinary care, and preventable diseases. Many independent government bodies investigated and found that the Coulston Foundation had repeatedly violated federal regulations, including the Animal Welfare Act, but enforcement of the laws was poor, and fines, though levied, were not collected....
In reaction to the Air Force's decision to divest itself of chimps, primatologist Carole Noon founded Save the Chimps in 1997 and eventually sued the Air Force on the behalf of the Coulston chimps, counting Dr. Jane Goodall (who sits on STC's advisory council) among her supporters. They settled out of court and 21 of the chimps were en route to Florida by 2001. Tammy was one of them.
Today 187 chimpanzees call this sprawling property, with its platforms, swings, hammocks, and most importantly other chimps, their home.
"This is where it all began," says Romero of a small, white house on the edge of the sanctuary where Dr. Noon lived. With a grant from the Arcus Foundation, (which also funded the Fort Pierce property) Save the Chimps also bought the Coulston property and the 266 chimps that came with it in 2002, making Save the Chimps the largest sanctuary in the world. STC transformed the grim enclosures in New Mexico into a more spacious, colorful and connected environment. They hope to transfer all the chimps from there to the Florida location by 2011.
Dr. Noon died of pancreatic cancer last year but her legacy is an inspirational feat of engineering and empathy. Situated on 150 acres of former orange grove, the sanctuary is divided into 12 islands, each with family groups of up to 25 chimps. The islands are separated by lakes (chimps can't swim), so there's no need for bars and just enough fencing to go from the water to their hurricane-proof shelters -- each island has one, with interconnected cages; the chimps can go outside any time except for brief daily maintenance intervals.
How do they know they're hurricane-proof? "If they're chimp-proof, they're hurricane-proof," says Romero, referring to the chimps' massive strength, seven times that of a human being (the staff has no direct contact with the animals, except for vet care).
It's impossible to think of that and not consider the recent tragedies involving wild animals in captivity. Last year Travis, a full-grown pet chimpanzee mauled his owner's friend and recently Tilikum, a killer whale at Sea World in Orlando attacked and killed trainer Dawn Brancheau.
Such events naturally raise the issue of keeping wild creatures as entertainers, pet or research subjects.
The United States is the only country in the world that federally funds medical research on chimps, a practice that might end with the Great Ape Protection Act, which was re-introduced to Congress in March of 2009. The legislation would release about 500 government-owned chimpanzees to sanctuaries and ban the breeding of chimps for research.
On March 5 the Humane Society of the United States announced the launch of a confidential whistleblower hotline so employees at the seven chimp research labs in the US (or other animal research facilities) can report alleged abuses by calling the confidential hotline at 1-866-293-HSUS.
The hotline comes a year after HSUS released the results of an undercover investigation into the New Iberia Research Center in Louisiana showing numerous examples of inhumane treatment, including horrible instances caught on video and aired by ABC News Nightline (shown here on Examiner.com).The HSUS website also says that “At any given time, about 80 percent to 90 percent of chimpanzees in laboratories are not used in research, but simply warehoused at taxpayer expense.”
Freeing captive animals, though, isn't as easy as sliding a door open. Jen Feuerstein, sanctuary director of Save the Chimps (which is a sanctuary and not an advocacy group) is an expert at helping apes from labs, entertainment and the pet trade assimilate into a natural environment, a process that can take up to a year for each individual.
Feuerstein, working closely with the staff, is the one who ultimately decides which chimps will mesh well, thus easing the socialization process. One of her favorite stories is about Alice, who lived with five other female chimpanzees in New Mexico. The other chimps had been kind to her but sometimes Alice would "scream for no reason..she would pull at her feet and hands...she never smiled. She didn't want to go outside."
According to Alice's profile she was isolated as a toddler and spent 12 years being used as a research subject. It was decided to help her integrate into the larger group by introducing her to Pam and Elway, two of the sanctuary's youngest inhabitants. Alice was intimidated by the playful babies at first, but one day the staff heard a new sound that threw everyone for a loop: Alice was laughing. (A chimpanzee laugh is an almost-silent heeheehee, kind of like panting; we hear it a couple of times during our visit.)
Alice is no longer intimidated by other chimps; in fact, she grew "stroppy" in Dr. Noon's words, and her group is even named for her. "She became who she was meant to be," Feuerstein says. Retirement to Florida isn't a cheap prospect for anyone and Save the Chimps relies exclusively on private funding; the sanctuary's food bill alone (including 600 bananas a day) is $450,000 annually. There's also vet care (including contraception), a 77-member staff and transportation: it costs $25,000 to migrate a trailer full of 10 chimps to Florida.
The result, though, is well worth the cost. These animals who have spent their lives serving humanity are retired to a life that's good as captivity gets. (Born or raised in captivity the chimps can never be released into the wild because they lack the necessary survival skills.) Some of them haven't felt grass beneath their feet in 40 years. Some stay on their concrete patios for two weeks before they are emotionally capable of venturing out into open spaces.
Ron, a 34-year-old male, was used in spinal studies in which a healthy disc was removed from his spine and replaced with a prosthetic that was eventually removed as well, leaving him a disc short. Romero says he is curious, mellow and loves people, his background evidently not causing him to see all people as threats. "I don't know a lot of humans who would be that forgiving," she says.
By the end of our visit we've seen the paintings these bright, engaged chimps do for enrichment, saw one chimp lounging in the sun, arms and legs spread, the most relaxed creature I’ve ever seen, and finally there’s Sophie. She runs up carrying an orangutan doll which she takes everywhere, like Linus with his blanket. Romero asks if she’s enjoying the sun and she nods. And I nod. Then Sophie shakes her head no. I copy. She has me engaged in "monkey see, monkey do," and I’m the monkey. I’m so smitten that it’s hard to leave. But their peaceful retirement is why it’s a sanctuary and not open to the public. Whether it’s tigers, whales or chimpanzees, Romero puts the question of captivity in an elegant nutshell, saying simply "They’re not for us."
