Genetics | STOP ANIMAL ABUSE

“And people ask me why I don’t eat meat…its not just the abuse they suffer, animals are sentient beings with feelings much like our own! I can’t be a part of that abuse & torture so prefer not to add to it by eating animal meats or stealing milk which is meant for animal offspring; being vegan or vegetarian is so much more healthy!! How would you like to live life in an iron jail for life; barely able to turn around.”

“I just don’t get this, the less an animal has suffered through life, the better the meat is supposed to be!! So why submit these animals to such barbaric torture, don’t tell me it’s to protect the young being sat on; that’s a load of old bull!!

If pigs are allowed to breed freely, are given straw to birth on & raise piglets, more will survive because the mom doesn’t sit on them on purpose!! When allowed, a sow will bring up her piglets just as well as a dog!!” These new viruses are being created by the way the animals are brought up…if your going to eat meat, the least you can do is make sure it came from a disease free farm!!”

On the heels of the recent viral diarrhea outbreak, yet another virus is plaguing pigs on factory farms in the Midwest, this time in Ohio.

“National Hog Farmer” magazine reports, “A new coronavirus has been identified in pig fecal samples from four Ohio swine farms, according to the Ohio Department of Agriculture.”The article explains that although the symptoms are similar to the ongoing outbreak of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDV), this is an entirely new coronavirus born of extreme confinement on today’s hog farms.

And according to “Feedstuffs,” the samples were taken from farms that “experienced outbreaks of a diarrheal disease in sows and piglets in January and early February.” The Ohio Department of Agriculture has yet to determine whether this new virus is the cause of the diarrheal outbreak.

Subjecting animals to a lifetime of confinement in crates so small they are virtually immobilized is perhaps the cruellest form of institutionalized animal abuse in existence. Combined with overuse of antibiotics, and unsanitary living conditions, these factory farm environments create a breeding ground for disease.

We can help stop the abuse of pigs and other animals on factory farms, as well as the spread of nasty superbugs, by choosing compassion at every meal. Check out ChooseVeg.com for delicious recipes and tips on transitioning to a plant-based diet.

News Link:-http://www.mfablog.org/2014/02/

Posted By Sarah Von Alt

Want the real simple truth? animals on today’s factory farms – even those raised on so-called humane farms – are treated as mere meat-producing machines, and their short lives are filled with misery and deprivation. See for yourself:

Viewer Discretion Advised -Farm to Fridge – The Truth Behind Meat Production

Mercy For Animals presents Farm to Fridge. Narrated by Oscar-nominee James Cromwell, this powerful film takes viewers on an eye-opening exploration behind the closed doors of the nation’s largest industrial farms, hatcheries, and slaughter plants — revealing the often-unseen journey that animals make from Farm to Fridge.

Learn more at:

http://www.MeatVideo.com
http://www.ChooseVeg.com
http://www.MercyForAnimals.org

GRAPHIC VIDEO: Why Arguments For Killing Of Giraffe Marius Don’t Stand Up To Scrutiny

February 10, 2014

“WTF…they didn’t have to kill him, Marius was offered various homes & even a business man was willing to pay thousands to save the giraffe! It seems it’s rules for one & rules for another in the EAZA operation! If they can’t or don’t want an animal that doesn’t fit their requirements, they should have a system in place whereby the un-wanted animal can always be offered an alternative home; if they can’t manage that…then perhaps they shouldn’t be breeding animals at all!!

Thanks to my dear friend on twitter.com/9marbar9 for heads up on these. Please sign:

Editor’s note: Liz Tyson is Director of UK charity, The Captive Animals’ Protection Society (CAPS). She previously lived and worked in the Colombian Amazon on conservation projects. She is a board member of conservation charity Neotropical Primate Conservation and a doctoral researcher at the University of Essex, School of Law. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely hers.

Liz Tyson

(CNN) — The killing of a young giraffe named Marius at Copenhagen Zoo sparked international outrage this weekend. On Sunday, he was shot with a bolt gun then publicly dissected before being fed to the lions.

In its defence, the zoo has argued that Marius’ death was necessary to protect the genetic diversity of his species. It was claimed that to allow Marius to take up space that could be used to house another animal with more desirable genetic make-up may hinder conservation breeding programs.

Contraception which required sedation is dangerous and giraffes might die during the procedure. As such, Marius’ birth could not have been safely prevented. Marius could not be re-homed because sending him somewhere other than a zoo which was a member of the European Association for Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) could result in him being sold into a circus, which would be against EAZA rules. In effect, the zoo’s hands were tied, it was implied.

None of these arguments appear to stand up to scrutiny.

As the head of the European endangered species program for giraffes stated in press, Marius was not from a rare sub-species.

Given that zoos claim that animals are kept in order to support the conservation of threatened species, it is therefore unclear why any member of Marius’ subspecies should be held captive at all.

Zoo staff get death threats

It was further confirmed that a contraceptive for giraffes has been developed in the last few years which allows females to be safely injected at a distance thus suggesting that Marius’ birth was not inevitable.

The director of EAZA supported the stance that Marius had to die and encouraged people to consider the “bigger picture.” But EAZA itself is less than consistent in its approach to inbreeding and, indeed, in its concern for the ultimate fate of animals in its member zoos.

EAZA and similar zoo bodies discourage member zoos from deliberately breeding white lions; a practice which is recognized as involving inbreeding in order to perpetuate the unusual white colouring of the animals involved.

Due to the serious welfare implications and the lack of conservation value of inbred animals, breeding of white lions is theoretically not allowed in EAZA zoos. In practice, both West Midland Safari Park and Paradise Wildlife Park in the UK breed white lions.

Both are EAZA members and yet, despite vociferously supporting the killing of Marius to prevent the same problem, a blind eye has been turned by EAZA to the persistent inbreeding of other species in its zoos. White lions are, perhaps tellingly, a great crowd pleaser.

In 2012 West Midland Safari Park were revealed to have sent four white lions to a circus trainer, who sent them on to a Japanese circus. That the safari park remains an EAZA member means that the rules on sending animals to non-EAZA collections are not consistently applied. Despite this, no exception was made for Marius.

In fact, rather than Marius being a tragic exception, the killing of animals considered to be surplus to requirements by zoos is something which is common in the industry. A 2003 study suggested that there are around 7,500 animals deemed “surplus” in European zoos at any one time.

Whilst it cannot be undone, Marius’ death has served an important purpose in shining a spotlight on a practice which is normally kept well-hidden from public view. As long as there are zoos, there will be unwanted animals. And as long as there are unwanted animals, more like Marius will be killed.

It has long been recognised that conservation success is achieved not in city centre zoos or safari parks, but in natural habitats. We would urge anyone with a passion for conservation to support effective in situ efforts which are truly making a positive impact on species conservation.

Viewer Discrestion Advised – Danish Zoo criticized for killing giraffe