ANDREW POTTS, EXCLUSIVE, Gold Coast Bulletin; September 4, 2016 3:00pm
A CITY hall cage fight is brewing over plans to revive a ban on circuses with exotic animals performing within the city. Fur is expected to fly, with councillors set to defy the recommendations of bureaucrats and vote to ban circus animals on city controlled properties, nearly four years after such a ban was lifted.
A petition calling for the ban will go before the Community and Cultural Development committee on Thursday with council officers recommending that “no action be taken”. But committee head Bob La Castra said the advice was unacceptable and that he could not stand by and do nothing while animals “suffered”.
He urged ratepayers across the city to put pen to paper and lobby their elected representatives before Thursday’s vote.
Cr Bob La Castra is leading the charge to reinstate a ban on circus animals performing on the Gold Coast. Photo: Jerad Williams
“The views of those who believe this to be still acceptable are totally out of line and dated,” he said. “This should not be happening in our own backyard and we need those people who feel strongly about this to make their feelings known, so write to your councillors, speak out about it and fight this barbarity.
“By allowing these circuses on our land we are complicit in what they are doing and banning them would send a message that what they are doing is not right and that we are taking a stand.”
Police and Animal Rights campaigners outside Gold Coast Council Chambers protesting against the circus. Photo by Richard Gosling
If the ban is successful, circuses with exotic animals would still be allowed to perform on private property. A ban was first put into place in 2009 by the council with the backing of then-Mayor Ron Clarke. It was lifted in a January 2013 decision by the council in which Mayor Tom Tate used his casting vote to break a deadlock tie.
The Gold Coast Bulletin understands councillors on each sides of the argument are running the numbers to determine if the ban could potentially pass.
Both sides concede a vote could go either way.
But Southport councillor Dawn Crichlow, an ardent supporter of circuses, said she would fight the ban tooth and nail and declared the opposing argument to be “crap”.
Cr Dawn Crichlow with Massai the Lion. Pic Jono Searle.
“The kids want the circuses and I will fight all the way because it is a matterwhich is close to my heart and those of many others,” she said. “I am sick of the noisy minority coming up with all this crap.“I cannot believe this women condones & thinks it’s ok for children to see abused & tortured animals, just for their pleasure….condoning this just lets kids think that it is ok to be cruel to animals for the sake of entertainment???? By allowing circuses to carry on using animals is agreeing with the torturous training these poor young animals have to endure. Would it be ok to watch a double human act if you knew that one-half of the act was constantly being physically abused & tortured; just for entertainment???? NO, I DON’T THINK SO!!! ANYONE THAT DOES THINK ITS OK…WELL, I THINK THEY NEED TO BE SEEKING PROFESSIONAL HELP”
RSCPA chief executive Mark Townend called on the council to “move with the times” and end the mistreatment of exotic animals.
“I would hope the council gets into 2016 thinking because realistically circus animals are very 1970s,” he said. “There are great circus which do not put animals through these ridiculous things which are not in their natural behaviour.“I appeal to the council to move with the times because we can have a successful circus without putting animals through such treachery.”
The petition calling for the ban to be reinstated was submitted to the council in March by then-Robina councillor Jan Grew in the final act of her 22 year political career.
More than 45 councils across Australia have exotic animal bans in place. Both City of Melbourne and Penrith both voted to introduce their own boycotts this year. Protesters are expected to attend Thursday’s council committee meeting and security will be on hand.
“See how animals are really trained to perform for your entertainment!! Then ask yourself; is this fair on the animals? Do you enjoy knowing they have been hurt for you entertainment????”
“The Circus, where animals are miserable & go insane; confined to metal cages when not being abused & are trained through fear; fear of being whipped, hit with objects, tied by the neck i.e tortured, etc. etc.”
(Anyone who condones this…will be classed as an animal abuser through my eyes)
DUP Councillor Phillip Brett proposed the motion: “That this council recognises that it is inherently cruel and unjustifiable for circuses to use wild animals to perform tricks or engage in behaviour that they otherwise would not do in the absence of coercion, and adopts a policy to prohibit circuses including wild animals from using council owned property.”
The motion was seconded by Councillor Thomas Hogg and agreed by members.
The committee’s decision still has to be ratified when the full council meets on February 26 at MossleyMill.
Councillor Brett said that it will be up to the council to decide whether or not circuses which use horses and dogs in their shows will be subject to the ban, or just those which use exotic animals such as lions, tigers and elephants.
Botswana will ban commercial hunting from January 2014 over growing concerns about the sharp decline in wildlife species, officials have announced.
“The shooting of wild game for sport and trophies is no longer compatible with our commitment to preserve local fauna,” the environment ministry said.
The ban is likely to be controversial as many communities depend on hunting for their livelihoods.
As much as a third of the global elephant population lives in Botswana. Recent estimates place the number at about 130,000.
Conservationists are concerned about the erosion of river banks caused by the animals in some nature parks, the BBC’s Letlhogile Lucas in the capital, Gaborone, reports.
The ban, set to come into place on 1 January, could also pose a threat to local communities, in particular bushmen, for whom hunting is a means to survive, our correspondent adds.
Furthermore, selling hunting licences to wealthy Westerners is an extremely lucrative business, he says.
Hunting concessions currently exist in the northern Okavango Delta and the parks of the Kalahari region, famous for its upmarket safari lodges.
According to the environment ministry’s official statement, the government will continue to issue special game licences “for traditional hunting by some local communities within designated wildlife management areas”.
Average trophy fee per species
Elephant: Up to $30,000, depending on weight
Lion: $29,000
Leopard: $7,150
Buffalo: $3,744
Giraffe: $3,500
Zebra: $1,923
Due to its seasonal nature, hunting has only contributed a minimal amount to the tourism sector, which ranks second to the diamond industry in terms of its revenue earnings, the ministry said.
Designated hunting zones will be turned into “photographic areas”.
“The ideal scenario would be that it has a similar effect to the ban on whaling 20 years ago,” the organisation’s spokesman, Adrian Hiel, told the BBC.
“Whale watching is now proven to be more sustainable and profitable than hunting and killing the animals.”
Earlier this year, Spain’sKing Juan Carlosfaced international criticism for going on a hunting trip in Botswana. “He apologised to the Spanish people, not the world!”
For millennia, aboriginal people have hunted wildlife for food, traditional purposes and trade.
But coastalFirst Nations in British Columbiaargue that killing a threatened animal simply for thethrill of it is foreign to their culture.
“It’s not a part of our culture to kill an animal for sport and hang them on a wall,” said Jessie Housty, a councillor with the Heiltsuk Nation. “When we go hunting it’s for sustenance purposes nottrophy hunting.”
Grizzlies are officially designated as a threatened species, and black bear subspecies on the B.C. coast are among the most diverse in North America, ranging from the spirit or kermode bear to the Haida black bear. Yet, the B.C.government has ignored pleas from First Nations and conservation groups and has continued to allow these majestic animals to be killed for sport, even in many parks and protected areas and in the Great Bear Rainforest.
For this reason, the David Suzuki Foundation has been asking the government to protectgrizzly bears for many years, including setting aside large areas of their wilderness habitat, such as in the Great Bear Rainforest, where trophy hunting would be prohibited. Grizzlies have already been eliminated or are currently threatened in 18 per cent of the province, including the Lower Mainland and most of the Interior.
“Although the Coastal First Nations admit to having few enforcement tools at their disposal, this is an important step and will put pressure on the government to implement a comprehensive ban on the killing of bears on B.C.’s coast,” said Dr. Faisal Moola, David Suzuki Foundation Terrestrial Conservation and Science Program director. “We fully support the Coastal First Nations in their efforts to protect bears, which are crucial to sustaining the ecological health of their lands and waters.”
Killing bears for sport makes no sense scientifically, but it is also unethical and immoral to hunt these animals so they become a head on a wall or rug in front of a fireplace when tourists are willing to pay for the chance to photograph them alive and in the wild. Most British Columbians agree. A 2008 McAllister Research poll found that 79 per cent of B.C. residents believe that to kill a bear simply for the thrill of it is reprehensible and that the practice should end.
Today, the only place you’ll find a grizzly bear south of Wyoming is on California’s state flag. It would be more than a shame if all we had left to remember these magnificent animals in B.C. were a few films and First Nations carvings.
In the coming months the David Suzuki Foundation will be releasing a number of scientific and policy studies that make the case that grizzly bears should be legally protected in Canada. We’ll be urging government to follow the courageous direction taken by the First Nations on B.C.’ s coast and save Canada’s great bears.
View a map of grizzly mortality in Great Bear Rainforest. Data shown on this map are approximate representations only. We will update the boundaries for the Coastal First Nations and the Great Bear Rainforest as it becomes available. The kill locations for grizzly bears range from 1976 to 2011 and are from the BC Ministry of Environments Compulsory Inspection Database [accessed Dec 2011] .
South Koreawill ban the catching of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins for use in shows by designating them as protected mammals, the maritime affairs ministry said Tuesday.
An upcoming bill will also designate sea turtles and sea horses as protected species, the ministry said.
Currently it is legal to catch dolphins and whales for a show or for research if authorities give prior approval. Otherwise, it is punishable by a jail term of up to two years or a fine of up to five million won ($4,300).
The revised law would authorize seizures only for research. It would raise penalties to up to three years’ imprisonment or a fine of up to 20 million won.
Dolphins are widely used for shows in South Korea, but Seoul’s main zoo agreed in March to suspend its popular show over claims by activists that one of the dolphins was captured illegally.
In April, a court on the southern holiday island of Jeju ordered the release into the ocean of five dolphins which had been captured without permission and used in a show.
Some experts say dolphin shows have educational value and released mammals may not be able to adapt to the open sea. But animal rights activists have called for a ban on dolphin shows and tough rules on seizures.
Your voice is needed! California Senate Bill 1221, which would ban cruel “hounding,” passed the Senate floor, thanks to IDA members’ many calls and e-mails. SB 1221 now faces its biggest challenge in the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, June 26.
Hounding is a cruel practice where hunters use dogs to chase bears and bobcats for many miles until the exhausted animal either turns to fight or runs up a tree, only to be shot. This is incredibly inhumane and even many hunters consider hounding an “unfair chase” and unsportsmanlike.
The Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee is going to be a tough hurdle, and we need as many animal advocates as possible to fill the hearing room. The opposition will be out in force (there were over 700 at the last hearing) and we need to counter their numbers. If you haven’t come to the capitol for an exciting showdown, this is the one to see! You will get a chance to make comments in support of SB 1221.
If you wish to speak, you will probably get very limited time – all you will be able to say is your name, where you are from, and that you support the bill. Super easy, but super effective!
Please join us for the hearing at the Capitol!
Date: Tuesday, June 26
Time: The hearing is at 9 a.m., but we are expecting hundreds of opponents and we’ll start lining up outside the room at 6 a.m. The earlier you arrive, the better your chances of getting in the room. Hunters are used to getting up early to shoot animals, so let’s show them that we can get up early to protect animals!
For more information and carpooling, contact hope@idausa.org, 707-540-1760.
Important note for constituents of Assemblymember Jared Huffman:
If you are in Assemblymember Jared Huffman’s district, please make a brief, polite phone call today and urge support for SB 1221. To find out who your legislators are, click here and enter your zip code.
Assemblymember Jared Huffman’s phone number: (916) 319-2006.
Mumbai:Animal rights group PETA Wednesday strongly pitched for banning horse drawn carriages in Mumbai, citing cruelty to the animal, and suggested it be replaced with battery-operated vehicles.
Forcing horses to pull carriages through congested traffic on stifling hot streets is not only cruel but also dangerous for the horses, carriage occupants and passers-by, said Manilal Valliyate, veterinary affairs director of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India.
PETA officials, in a meeting with Sitaram Kunte, Bruhanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner, introduced an illustration of a battery-operated ‘peacock’ chariot and said that it might be the solution to replace cruel and dangerous horse-drawn carriages.
PETA wants horse-drawn carriages banned in Mumbai.
PETA claimed that the vehicle it suggested would be eco-friendly and owned and driven by the existing horse-carriage owners and drivers.
The proposal comes in the wake of Bombay High Court interim order to BMC to confiscate horses kept illegally. Kunte has agreed to look into the proposal made by the animal rights group.Horses in Mumbai are forced to live in filthy, damp stables amid their own faeces and urine and are often left to stand without any shade, which is a clear violation of law, Valliyate said.
Many of the drivers don’t have a valid licence to ply horse-carriages, he added.
A growing number of cities worldwide, including Delhi, Toronto, London, Oxford, Paris and Beijing, have banned horse-drawn carriages and adopted humane alternatives.
Pledging to Circulate the Truth about Barbaric Trapping.
I pledge to READ THIS ARTICLE, AND SHARE IT FAR AND WIDE!
Click to TAKE THE PLEDGE – 2,361 People took the pledge so far!
Goal is to ban barbaric trapping of animals in the USA, just as it is already banned in most civilized countries. PLEASE READ THE ELOQUENT ARTICLE BELOW, BY ONE OF THE GREATEST MINDS IN THE NATURAL WORLD AND PLEASE SHARE, RE-POST, SEND TO YOUR LEGISLATORS AND LET THIS GO VIRAL!
Wolf trapped and bludgeoned to death. Wild animals who are trapped are terrified, they are in agony, they cannot return – forever – to their offspring or families. They are subjected to the elements and other predators before their nemesis arrives to bludgeon them or strangle them to death.
Years ago I was backpacking in Aravaipa Canyon Wilderness with my friend, Rod, and his Malamute, Jake. Like most dogs, Jake was happily running ahead of us investigating this and that. Suddenly Jake let out a sharp cry and began yipping from someplace up ahead in the brush.
We rushed to him to find with his leg snared in a giant leg-hold bear trap set by a deer carcass. This trap was the size of a car tire.
We desperately tried to free him from the trap, but even with the two of us trying to open the contraption, the springs were just too stiff and we couldn’t get Jake’s leg out. So Rod and I took turns carrying 100 pound Jake on our shoulders, along with the heavy trap plus our backpacks, to our car so we could rush him to a vet.
The vet had to get a special trap opener to compress the springs so we could open the jaws enough to remove Jake’s leg. Jake was lucky. Because the trap’s teeth were so large, Jake’s leg was caught wedged between the teeth instead of having it go through his leg.
He fully recovered from the experience. But most pets and nearly all wildlife are not so lucky. There was no sign indicating the presence of the trap, nor any other effort to warn people of the lurking danger. Had either one of us stepped into the track, we might have suffered serious damage. Unfortunately the trapping of wild animals is a legal activity in all of the United States.
In fact, I am not aware of a single state “wildlife” agency that doesn’t promote trapping, instead of questioning its legitimacy. It’s amazing to me that in this day and age we still allow this barbaric activity to be justified in the name of “sport”. Leg-hold traps and snares are particularly treacherous devices. Animals caught in such traps suffer pain, exposure to weather, dehydration and often a long painful death.
Snares are even more gruesome with animals slowly strangling to death as the wire noose tightens. How is it that cock and dog fights are now illegal and yet we permit state wildlife agencies to sanction an equally cruel activity? The statistics are astounding. More than 4 million animals are trapped for “fun” each year, many enduring immense suffering in the process. Millions more are trapped as “nuisances” or die as “non-target” animals.
For example more than 700 black bear are snagged each year in Oregon as “nuisance” animals by timber companies (because in the spring bears eat the inner cambium layer of trees). Only a few states have banned the use of leg-hold traps for sport trapping and then usually only through citizen initiative process.
Yet 90 countries around the world have banned these traps and the entire European Union has banned these contraptions. Most trapping targets “fur bearer” animals like lynx, musk rat, beaver, marten, fisher, river otter, weasel, mink, bobcat, red fox, coyote, and bears, and in some states like Idaho and Alaska, trappers also take wolves.
Most of these animals are important predators in their own right, and help to promote healthier ecosystems in many, many ways from the way that wolves reduce the negative impact of large herbivores like elk to reduction of rodent populations by coyotes. Thus indiscriminate trapping disrupts natural ecological processes, often in ways we don’t appreciate.
If you want to see how sport trapping harms wildlife, view the video below; Hint it does have a happy ending. If you can, support groups that attempting to end this barbaric “sport.”
Watch this heartwarming story of a bobcat named Freedom, who was rescued from certain death in a snare that was illegally set on private property. You can help Predator Defense ban dangerous traps and enable people and wildlife to coexist at http://predatordefense.org.
This barbaric act—forcing dolphins to perform tricks for food—will be outlawed in Switzerland, following the country's decision to ban dolphins in captivity. (Photo: Tambako the Jaguar / Flickr)
In a major victory for dolphins and dolphin advocates, Switzerland’s House of Representatives has voted to outlaw the keeping of dolphins in aquariums or for entertainment purposes.
The Swiss Senate also banned the importation of dolphins going forward, meaning that the three dolphins currently “living” in Connyland, the country’s only dolphinarium, will not be replaced when they die, reportsSwissInfo.
“The grassroots group Ocean Care deserves a great deal of credit for working on this for many years, working with Ric [O’Barry, of The Cove] in Switzerland. We also think that Ric’s appearance last year during the Bambi Awards, which aired in Germany and Switzerland, and in which he said, ‘Don’t buy a ticket to these shows’ played a big part.”
The ban comes in the wake of two dolphin deaths last year at Connyland, an amusement park in Lipperswill.
Autopsies conducted in mid-January revealed that eight-year-old Shadow and 30-year-old Chelmers died from brain damage after overdosing on antibiotics.
Their deaths, which occurred days apart last fall, ignited international outrage after it was at first suspected that they were poisoned by hallucinogens thrown into their enclosure by ravers. Shortly before their deaths, a two-day techno party was held on the grounds of the amusement park.
Switzerland joins Norway, Luxembourg, Slovenia, and Cyprus as countries that ban dolphins in captivity.
In the boundless waters of the open ocean, a free, wild dolphin can live up to 50 years. A caged dolphin, on the other hand, circles its tiny tank without purpose—often to the point of depression and suicide. Even in the largest aquarium facilities, captive dolphins have access to less than 1/10,000 of 1 percent (0.000001) of the swimming area available to them in their natural environment. Compare this to the fact that some wild dolphin pods can swim up to 100 miles a day hunting for food, and you’ll begin to grasp why holding one captive in a tank amounts to nothing more than the cruel deprivation of basic cetacean rights.
Horses are the only animals who may be beaten in public for entertainment. Animal Aid has campaigned for many years to ban the whip from racing in Britain and has released this short viral film – created by Environment Films – to launch an international initiative for a global ban on the whip. The international movement includes the following groups: . RSPCA, Animals Australia, Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses [of Australia], Vier Pfoten [of Germany], Animal Rights Action Network (ARAN), National Animal Rights Association (NARA) [of the Irish Republic] and L214 [of France]. Also part of the international campaign is Concern for Helping Animals in Israel (CHAI), an organisation that has campaigned, successfully so far, to prevent the introduction of horse racing to Israel.
DUE TO THE NATURE OF THIS BLOG - SOME PICTURES & VIDEOS CAN & WILL BE VERY GRAPHIC - SO PLEASE, VIEW THIS BLOG AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION.
You can find out more about me & this blog by reading "ABOUT THIS BLOG" on the menu (when i finish it) lol
PLEASE NOTE.....
Not all of my posts will be current news, or even about animal abuse! I do like to share other animal news, uplifting stories or videos; some that are funny or just touch the heart!
If I have anything to say on any post, you will see it in bold blue writing. I try to remain a lady, but it's hard to contain my anger & emotions at the some of the stories I post; I don’t have a heart of stone, tears stain many articles I write!
Lastly, my apologies for any errors; I am learning whilst posting, so if you find anything that doesn't work or a broken link, sorry, I'm only human!!!!
ABOUT THESE POSTS
I would just like to make readers aware, that I search for stories on the internet; regards animal abuse etc. I copy stories etc. from the internet; assuming these stories are correct at time of publishing. Having said that, sometimes the press get it wrong! So I just want to add that at the time of me posting a news story, I presume all the facts seem present & correct.
Please note....all people mentioned in this blog, are presumed innocent, until proven otherwise, in a court of law.
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Face Book – Please Take Notice
For anyone wishing to connect to me via my Facebook page...PLEASE NOTE, ONLY PEOPLE I ADD AS ANIMAL ADVOCATES CAN SEE MY WHOLE PAGE...I do this out of respect for those friends I have who do not wish to see graphic images, videos or links of animal abuse!
As 99% of my page is animal related; anyone not in the above group of friends; will only see a limited amount of posts!!
DUE TO ANIMAL HATERS...I WILL ONLY ADD PEOPLE WHO CAN PROVE WHO THEY ARE via Facebook, Wordpress, Twitter etc. & WHO HAVE A GENUINE INTEREST IN ANIMAL WELFARE... i.e. if your Facebook page has absolutely nothing to do with animals, I see no point in joining my page. My Facebook is solely for animal welfare, I am not interested in playing games etc. I don't mean to sound rude but I am not interested in the amount of friends I have, its the quality of those friends that count.
PLEASE DO NOT SEND REQUESTS FOR YOUR FRIENDS TO JOIN. I do not want anyone to be upset by graphic images etc.
My aim is to educate & raise awareness to the horrors animals face, at the hands of humans, every day, around the world!!
We can not hope to achieve better laws, to protect animals, unless we unite as one, to speak up for those who are voiceless!!
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DUE TO THE NATURE OF THIS BLOG - SOME PICTURES & VIDEOS CAN & WILL BE VERY GRAPHIC - SO PLEASE, VIEW THIS BLOG AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION.
STOP ANIMAL ABUSE 
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