Farmer's spray paint prank raised bird watchers' hopes of a new species

• AAP
• January 20, 2012 11:59AM

BIRD watchers' hopes they had discovered a new species of hawk have been shot down after a New Zealand farmer was revealed to be spray painting the birds pinkish-red and releasing them for fun.

In a judge's decision released this week, Grant Michael Teahan was found guilty of two charges of ill-treating an animal after he defended the charges in the Dannevirke District Court in November, the Manawatu Standard reports.

In early 2009, locals were mystified by the appearance of the strangely coloured hawks and sent photos of them in to the local newspaper.

However, when one of the hawks was hit and killed by a car the spray painting was discovered.

The SPCA began investigating and Teahan was uncovered when he asked his nephew to send a YouTube clip to the media, showing a man catching and shooting a magpie in a home-made trap, which was covered in pinkish-red spray paint.

Computers seized at Teahan's Dannevirke property had files, photographs and films relating to red hawks deleted.

Another file showed a cow that had been spray-painted with "Merry Christmas".

Palmerston North SPCA manager Danny Auger told the Manawatu Standard it was the most bizarre case he had worked on.

"Various people got involved, like experts who thought maybe it was a new strain or a new type of bird or whatever, but then feathers were being found and it was obvious somebody was actually painting these hawks."

Teahan, who will be sentenced on January 30, is considering appealing his conviction.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/weird-true-freaky/new-hawk-species-a-spray-paint-prank/story-e6frflri-1226249257292#ixzz1mAg6sF6o

Animal rights activists hopping mad over kits (via Herp Digest)

Controversy over the sale of "frog-o-sphere" kits has reached Windsor, with an online petition to get one store to stop carrying them gaining almost 400 signatures in one day.

"I was floored when I saw they were selling these frog-o-spheres, especially at a place called Green Earth, which I thought was more of an eco-friendly, green place to shop," said Dan MacDonald, a longtime animal rights activist who started the petition against the Devonshire Mall store on Thursday. "A tiny frog in a plastic case, that's the least green thing I can think of. They might as well start selling fur coats and deer heads."

The kits, which contain one or more African dwarf frogs, gravel containing micro-organisms and sometimes snails and plants in a small cube-shaped aquarium, have been targeted by animal rights activists before. On its website, PETA calls them "cruel and terribly unnatural cubes" and claims the frogs are often neglected by untrained staff at the stores and warehouses where they're kept before being sold.

Christine, a manager at Green Earth who declined to give her last name, said she wouldn't comment on the petition.

However, she said staff receive training and know to only use dechlorinated water, handle the frogs while wearing gloves and feed them two food pellets per frog twice a week.

Christine said Green Earth has been selling the frogs since the spring and is currently sold out. She was unable to say how many kits the store has sold, but estimated five per cent of customers contact the store to ask for a replacement frog because theirs died shortly after purchase.

"From what we were told, they're very happy in the smaller aquariums because in the wild, they're at risk from predators, so they're constantly hiding. So they feel safer in that smaller container," she said.

Two experts contacted by The Star said the small aquarium was suitable for the frogs, at least until they're sold. David M. Green, a conservationist and amphibian expert at McGill University, said the frogs should be transferred to a tank holding between 75 and 190 litres of water to live long-term.

"You can keep them in there temporarily. Not for their entire lives, no, that's miserable. But they're fine for a few weeks. They live in puddles. They live in muck. They live in mud wallows," he said, adding the water should be kept at room temperature or warmed with a tropical fish heater.

Another expert said he didn't want his name used because he was worried about repercussions from extreme animal rights activists, who have targeted his colleagues in the past. He forwarded an email from his university's administration warning about extremists who made threatening phone calls, firebombed residences and cut the brakes of vehicles belonging to researchers and professors.

He said concerns about the size of the tank are the result of people projecting human concerns onto animals. "Sure, I would like a lot of space to run around, a clean habitat. But I am a human, not a frog," he wrote in an email.

Some postings on animal rights sites say the small tank is to blame for restless, aggressive frogs, but the expert said the source of the problem is more likely something counterintuitive - keeping the tank too clean.

"Probably the cruellest thing about the picture on the website is how clean the water is," he wrote. "Species from this family of frogs are adapted to hiding and feeding on the bottom in murky water."

Regardless of whether the tank environment is suitable, MacDonald said a big part of the problem is how the kits are marketed as toys and gifts, not pets. He said shoppers were tapping on the glass and asking if the frogs were real when he visited the store.

"A lot of people buy these on impulse, because they're very, very cute," he said. "But it is an ecosystem. If that's disturbed, it sets the whole thing off and the frog dies a really terrible death."

Neglected horse had half-metre-long hooves

A farm-owner in northern Sweden has been reported to police after a horse was found to have overgrown hooves measuring an "unprecedented" 50 centimetres in length.


“It's absolutely terrible. Just awful. The inspector who made the discovery was left in a state of shock,” Helena Ahlqvist, head veterinarian in Västernorrland County, told The Local.

“The case is unprecedented. No veterinarian has ever seen anything like it before. There's nothing like it described in any of the literature. It's a case of the most severe animal cruelty.”

According to Ahlqvist, the horse, named Charlie, was immediately put down following the discovery in late November 2011 on a farm near Sollefteå.

The veterinary reports state that Charlie was 27 years old, could no longer walk, and had not had his hooves tended to in years.

“When I stroked my hand over Charlie’s shoulders I could feel that he was only skin and bones,” wrote the veterinary head, Anders Paulsson, in his report.

“It can't be ruled out that he could no longer lie down and stand up.”

The report asserts that Charlie stood in his small stable all day, unable to move around at all, suffering from "severe physical and psychological pain". 

As horses are pack animals, the fact that the horse stood alone in a cramped stall resulted in complete indifference to the veterinarian’s voice, an indicator of deep suffering, according to the report.

Charlie was one of five horses referenced in the report and all five were found to have suffered from various levels of neglect and had to be be put down.

The owner has now been reported to police and may face charges of animal cruelty and violation of the animal welfare act according to the county administrative board.


http://www.thelocal.se/38682/20120123/

Cat Shot With Arrow: 'Cupid' Expected To Make Full Recovery

You can shoot an arrow through a cat, but it's still going to land on its feet.

A stray orange tabby in Houston earned the nickname 'Cupid' this week after he survived a piercing shoulder to shoulder wound, KHOU reports.

The 2-year-old feline managed to elude neighborhood residents for about three days before being captured by a member of BARC -- the city rescue group -- and taken to the Brittmore Animal Hospital.

Dr. Amanda Taylor took x-rays and determined that there was no 'paws for concern' before surgically removing the weapon.

"This definitely wasn't an accident. An orange cat doesn't look like something you hunt for. Luckily, this kitty is a tough one and came out OK," said Taylor, according to local reports.

Dr. Taylor added that no vital organs were harmed and that 'Cupid' is expected to make a complete recovery.

Video: http://main.aol.com/2012/01/20/cat-shot-with-arrow-cupid_n_1218741.html?ref=weird-news&ir=Weird%20News

Mouse taped to firework during New Year to be exhibited

A mouse that was taped to a firework rocket during Dutch New Year festivities and later died of its burn injuries is to be exhibited in a museum.

The rodent, named Astromuis – Astro mous – by the Dutch media, has been stuffed and mounted in a "triumphant position" surrounded by firework rockets on a display that opened to the public on Thursday.

Two 20-year-old men from the Frisian village of Drachten were arrested for maltreating the mouse in a country that takes animal cruelty so seriously it has 500-strong police unit dedicated to stamping it out.

Astromuis was rescued by police with burns to his stomach and paws but died last Friday. The mouse is not the first victim of cruelty to animals to be preserved for posterity in Friesland's Natuurmuseum.

Also displayed is Dominomus, a stuffed sparrow which was shot in 2005 after it flew into an exhibition centre where 18 million dominoes were precariously balanced ready to be toppled for a world record attempt.

The bird had knocked over 23,000 dominoes before it was killed to become an animal cruelty cause célèbre in Holland and has two popular songs and a website dedicated to its memory.

Another sparrow on display, Tennisbalmus, was killed by a tennis ball during a high-speed power serve in 1996.

Christiaan Walen, the museum's taxidermist, said that the Astomuis exhibit would help prevent future cruelty to animals.

"The story behind the mouse can help schoolchildren and other people learn respect for nature and everything that grows and thrives," he said.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/9010194/Mouse-taped-to-firework-during-New-Year-to-be-exhibited.html

Two dolphins who died after two-day techno party at marine park 'were fed drugs by ravers'

A pair of dolphins may have died after being fed drugs by ravers after a second animal died.

Police looking into the deaths in Connyland, Lipperswil, Switzerland, initially thought the deafening music from the rave may have killed dolphins Shadow and Chelmers.

But zoo vets are awaiting toxicology test results to see if they were poisoned by narcotics thrown into their enclosure during the rave.

Shadow was found soon after the event but Chelmers died two days later after a 'drawn out and painful' death.

Connyland keeper Nadja Gasser told local media: 'The death was very drawn out and painful. The death went on for over an hour. It was horrendous. I have not been able to sleep since.'

Read more here ...

National Zoo employee found guilty of attempted animal cruelty

When Michael Vick was facing animal cruelty charges four years ago, the star quarterback called on local defense lawyer Billy Martin for help.

When a National Zoo employee was charged with trying to poison stray cats around her Northwest Washington apartment complex this year, she, too, turned to the powerhouse lawyer. Neither case ended with the defendant’s acquittal.

Vick famously pleaded guilty to federal charges in 2007. And on Monday, after two days of testimony from dozens of witnesses last week, a D.C Superior Court judge found Nico Dauphine guilty of attempted cruelty to animals, a misdemeanor. She faces a maximum of 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine and is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 21.

Martin had argued that although security cameras captured Dauphine, 38, hovering over a bowl of cat food sitting outside the Park Square apartments March 2, she was simply removing the food to keep strays from congregating.

But prosecutors said the 40-second video showed Dauphine removing a plastic bag from her purse, reaching into the bag and dumping poison onto the food. A neighbor reported the incident, and no cats ate poisoned food.

The poison, Martin insisted, was not left by his client.

“Someone else could have leaned in, outside of the camera, and put the poison in it,” Martin argued.
Martin called Dauphine to the stand. Dauphine said she received a doctorate from the University of Georgia and was currently working at the National Zoo, where she is studying how domestic cats affect wildlife. The National Zoo’s Web site lists her as a postdoctoral fellow with the Migratory Bird Center.

“I’ve always loved animals, ever since childhood,” Dauphine said. “We always had pets when I was growing up.”

Dauphine repeatedly denied throwing rat poison on the food. “I would never do anything like that,” she said.

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Chambers said Dauphine — who, he said, had complained to building managers about neighbors feeding the cats — tried to kill the felines because she thought they were harming the environment, specifically birds.

During his cross-examination of Dauphine, Chambers introduced several of her published writings in which she allegedly wrote about the “outrage” of the “slaughter” of wildlife caused by cats.

Chambers also introduced a letter she wrote, published in the New York Times in 2007, in which she wrote about the “war between cats and birds” and that the “slaughter” was “one-sided.”

Dauphine refuted the examples, saying her writings were misconstrued by the editors.

When he announced his verdict Monday, Senior Judge Truman A. Morrison III said it was the video, along with Dauphine’s testimony, that led him to believe she had “motive and opportunity.”

He specifically pointed to her repeated denials of her writings.

“Her inability and unwillingness to own up to her own professional writings as her own undermined her credibility,” Morrison said.

Morrison said he reviewed the tape and Dauphine’s testimony to see whether her case could stand on its own two legs. “Or, in this case, four legs,” he said.

Martin declined to comment after the trial.

By Keith L. Alexander

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/national-zoo-employee-found-guilty-of-attempted-animal-cruelty/2011/10/31/gIQAIUNWaM_story.html

Hawk with nail in head alive and still flying free in San Francisco park

A hawk with a nail in its head is alive and still flying free around a San Francisco park after being shot with a nail gun and foiling rescuers' attempts to catch and help it.
This week saw members of the WildRescue group fail in their third attempt to capture the red-tailed hawk after it was spotted in the city's Golden Gate Park eating a gopher it appeared to have captured.
The group were told about the injured bird on Sunday and set about using wire-mesh traps - rather than nets, in which the nail could get caught and further harm the hawk - to try to catch it.

According to its rescuers, the bird is likely to have been born in the park to parents that live in the area.

They believe it was intentionally targeted with the nail gun, prompting one donor to add to WildRescue's existing reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the culprit.
Rebecca Dmytryk, the group's executive director, told the AP news agency of the difficulty of making sure the bird is nourished while also trying to keep it hungry so it can be lured towards its rescuers.
'We know he's gotten some nourishment, which is good because we know he's in a weakened state,' she remarked.

Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/879326-hawk-with-nail-in-head-still-alive-and-flying-free-in-san-francisco-park#ixzz1bVmkquod

San Mateo Woman pleads not guilty in lizard stabbing (Via Herp Digest)

Mercury News, (San Jose, California) 21 August 11 by Jason Green

A San Carlos woman charged with fatally stabbing her boyfriend's pet lizard and later trying to wrestle away a deputy's gun possibly suffered a mental breakdown triggered by years of domestic violence, her attorney said Friday.

Shawna Kim Apour, 37, pleaded not guilty Friday to a felony count of animal cruelty for the slaying of Speedy, her boyfriend's bearded dragon, as well as other charges related to the Aug. 13 incident and the run-in Tuesday with the deputy. "I think this person was put under tremendous emotional and psychological strain," said defense attorney Chuck B. Smith, alleging that she was abused by her boyfriend over a period of "several years." Pointing to his client's otherwise trouble-free record, Smith said he asked a judge Friday to lower Apour's bail from $200,000 to $25,000.

The San Mateo County District Attorney's Office countered with a request to hike her bail by $50,000 to reflect the fact Speedy had died between the time Apour was charged with animal cruelty and Friday's hearing, District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said. "It is now a more serious case," he said. The judge kept the bail at $200,000, Wagstaffe said. Apour is next scheduled to appear in court Aug. 31.

The events of the case were touched off about 3:40 a.m. Aug. 13 when Apour got up from watching a movie with her boyfriend and retrieved a knife, Wagstaffe said. She then went into a room where her boyfriend keeps his pet lizards and closed the door. When he heard the top of a terrarium open, he asked Apour through the door what she was doing and she replied, "Nothing. Don't worry about it," Wagstaffe said.

After she walked out of the room, the boyfriend saw blood on the inside of the terrarium. Fourteen-year-old Speedy had been stabbed deeply in the shoulder, Wagstaffe said. Apour left the home in the 1000 block of Crestview Drive, the knife still in her hand, and slashed the 1958 show Buick belonging to her boyfriend's brother, Wagstaffe said. She then pierced the tires of two nearby cars and carved "hate crime" into the hood of one, he said.

Sheriff's deputies who arrived at the scene ordered Apour to drop the knife but she waved it at them, Wagstaffe said. They used a Taser to take her into custody. Apour was charged with felony domestic violence, animal cruelty and vandalism, as well as misdemeanors for brandishing a weapon and resisting arrest. She was released on $25,000 bail the same day. A few days later, a railroad employee called authorities to report a woman, Apour, walking on the tracks near the San Carlos Caltrain station. Her mother was also nearby and had called 911.

When sheriff's Deputy Bridget Hensley tried to lead Apour away from the tracks, she went for the deputy's gun and Taser, Wagstaffe said. Hensley held her off until backup arrived to arrest her on suspicion of obstructing and trying to disarm an officer, both felonies, as well as misdemeanor resisting arrest and trespassing.

Vandals kill, mutilate catfish raised for school project

Vandals killed 31 catfish at Woodland High School near Sacramento that were being raised as part of a Future Farmers of America project.
Several students had been working on a project raising channel catfish to show at the Yolo County Fair this week, the Woodland Record reported.

One student arrived at the campus Sunday morning and discovered all of the fish dead, either poisoned by a liquid herbicide or mutilated.

"They were all dead, either poisoned or their heads crushed, one of the students told KTXL News in Sacramento.

Police are investigating the crime as a "felonious killing, torturing, and/or mutilation of an animal or fish." The school's agricultural department is offering a $500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the culprit.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/08/vandals-kill-mutilate-catfish-raised-for-school-project.html?lanow

260.8kg tiger shark catch sets a new world record

BRETT Sinclair broke a world record when he hooked this massive 260.8kg tiger shark during a game fishing competition near Port Hedland in WA's north.
   
Amazingly, he caught it on just 6kg fishing line, which is usually used to catch snapper and salmon. He beat the world's previous best catch on a 6kg line by more than 100kg.

The 27-year-old from Sydney was participating in the Dampier Classic when he landed the beast from a rented boat just after midnight on August 1.

It took more than three hours to reel the giant shark in.

"We had already caught a small tiger shark an hour or two before," Mr Sinclair said.

"When this one took the bait I thought it would be about the same size. I actually asked the other lads if they wanted to grab the rod and have a go but luckily they said no."

Mr Sinclair, an industrial chemist, was on the boat with his cousin and the boat's captain.

When the shark started to run we had to drop the anchor and go after it. It took hours for the shark to tire."
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/now-thats-what-i-call-a-shark/story-fn7x8me2-1226114439198

Hamster killer spared prison term

A man who killed his ex-girlfriend's hamster by throwing it out of a window during a row has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Ryan Goodwin, 23, hurled the pet, Kaya, in its cage from the first-floor window of his council flat during a furious argument with Sarah Symons during their break-up.

Goodwin, who has a £70 per week cannabis habit and receives £800 a month in benefits, was sentenced at Plymouth Magistrates' Court after admitting animal cruelty and being found guilty at an earlier trial of using threatening behaviour during the row in January.

District Judge Paul Farmer also banned him from keeping animals for seven years, telling him: "If you had been sent to prison today you could have no complaint. What you did was disgraceful."

Miss Symons was talking to police on her mobile phone when the incident occurred, and her horror was captured by the police 999 recording.

Goodwin, of Ipswich Close, Plymouth, arrived at court with Miss Symons.

Judge Farmer was told they had since reconciled and were again living together.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/hamster-killer-spared-prison-term-120811721.html

Dogs rescued from being restaurant meals

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Moscow Olympics bear now caged in parked bus in St Petersburg

Katya, a bear which performed at Games, is kept in appalling conditions in car park along with other retired circus animals


A 36-year-old bear which performed during the 1980 Moscow Olympics has been kept for the past two years in a rusty old bus on the outskirts of St Petersburg.

Katya has been kept caged in a bus since 2009. Animal rights groups say the animal is mentally ill owing to the dreadful conditions in which it lives. Photograph: Dmitry Lovetsky/AP

Animal rights activists say the bear and other retired circus animals receive only minimal care in cramped and stinking cages. Katya the bear was a long-time star of the St Petersburg State Circus on Fontanka, where night after night it and another bear rode motorcycles around the ring.

During the 1980 Games, the bears performed at a ceremony opening the football competition in St Petersburg, then called Leningrad. Katya also appeared in two films in the 1980s. Since its retirement in 2009, Katya and the painted bus on which it once toured with the circus have not left a car park near a busy road. The aging bear spends the hours jumping up and down in its cage and trying to crack the rusty metal railings with its chipped and yellowed teeth. Dozens of other retired circus animals also live in the cramped cages inside the bus and a minivan parked nearby.

The bus where the bear is kept caged. Photograph: Dmitry Lovetsky/AP

Some occasionally are taken out to accompany photographers to the centre of town to have their pictures taken with children and tourists. Others never get washed or examined by veterinarians, animal rights activists say. "They can't move normally and start going crazy," said Zoya Afanasyeva of the Vita animal rights group, as she stood by Katya's sweltering bus on a hot summer day.

"Apparently they are being taken care of, but not more often than once a day, and this care is perfunctory because the smell here in the parking lot is unbearable." Klava the bear shares a small cage with Pasha the boar. Birds with atrophied muscles live next to cats that do not meow and stare straight ahead with pus-covered eyes.


The circus director, Viktor Savrasov, said the animals are cared for and Katya's fate would have been worse if her trainer had agreed to have the bear put to sleep.

"Whatever happened, she did not leave her," he said of retired trainer Natalya Arkhipova, who still visits to feed Katya.

Animal rights activists have long urged Russia's government to strengthen animal protection laws.

 
Associated Press

guardian.co.uk, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/02/moscow-olympics-bear-caged-bus

Cruelty to farm animals should come as no surprise

The recently released footage of workers at a slaughterhouse in Essex punching, beating and stubbing out cigarettes on pigs makes for extremely distressing viewing. Animal Aid should be applauded for documenting such horrific and illegal abuse, and exposing it to the public and relevant government authorities.


The fact that Defra has decided that it cannot prosecute such obvious violations of animal welfare standards – on the grounds that the footage was obtained by trespass – is incredibly frustrating. Moreover, it is not entirely clear that trespass has to serve as an absolute roadblock to prosecution. Given the gravity of the incidents, it certainly seems like a proper use of Defra's resources to pursue the case further.

In any case, recording and publicising footage from this and other slaughterhouses is not of value only insofar as it leads to the prosecution and punishment of the wrongdoers. It is also of value in that it makes us confront a much wider issue: the very processes by which our food is obtained.

After all, while the cruelties shown in the footage appear to be in breach of legal standards, it is worth reflecting on what those standards are designed to regulate: a process that is quite astonishing in terms of its scale and efficiency.

At bottom, of course, that process is a massive slaughter. But it is one that is planned, industrialised and breathtakingly efficient. It is an organised slaughter that successfully "processes" around 100,000 cattle, sheep and pigs every single day in the UK. Across the EU as a whole, 800,000 cattle, sheep and pigs are slaughtered every day for food. Moreover, despite the good work of animal protection organisations, and despite much talk of a growth in public sentimentality towards animals, these systems of industrialised slaughter are on the increase. For one, the efficient processing methods perfected in Europe and North America are now being adopted elsewhere around the globe, as the modern westernised diet grows in popularity. Indeed, global per capita consumption of meat has more than doubled between 1961 and 2007 and is expected to double again by 2050.

Even when legal animal welfare standards are met within these modern slaughterhouses, we must question the "humanity" of the process of which they are a part. Societies introduce animal welfare standards, quite rightly, because they recognise that animals such as pigs are beings that can experience joy and suffering in their lives. And yet, those standards regulate a system in which vast quantities of those sentient creatures are lawfully bred, confined, mutilated, fattened and transported in lorries to death on an assembly line. It is hard to see what is humane about such a process, even without deliberate beatings, burnings and other such cruelties.

Crucially, within the context of an industrial system designed to dispatch animals so routinely and in such massive numbers, it can hardly be much of a surprise that there are some workers who commit the kind of horrific cruelties exposed by Animal Aid.

I do not say this with the intention of excusing those individuals. Undoubtedly, those who commit such acts do so of their own free will and should be held accountable and punished as such. But at the same time, it has to be acknowledged that a system which reduces so many millions of sentient, social and intelligent animals to "units" to be dispatched on an assembly line is likely to have some undesirable consequences. Not least, the fact that these animals are sentient, sociable and intelligent is likely to be neglected or ignored.

To expect humane practices within a system that is so fundamentally inhumane is perhaps to expect too much.

Alasdair Cochrane guardian.co.uk,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/aug/05/cruelty-farm-animals-slaughterhouse

Japanese 'doll' is actually monkey waitress wearing creepy human mask

YouTube footage of what looks like a doll but is actually a waitress monkey in a human mask has been summed up as 'so wonderfully creepy' by one of thousands of open-mouthed internet users to view it recently.

Although the footage has been on the video-sharing hub for nearly a year, it's attracted a fresh slew of criticism, wonder and general air of 'WTF?' from internet users.

'I will be having nightmares about this thing chasing me tonight,' comments one viewer, while another muses: 'Why does this video make me think of [musician type known for creepily distorting his face in videos] Aphex Twin?'

'Jigsaw has a sister?' quips a fellow YouTube user, invoking the nightmare-inducing puppet thing from the Saw horror films.

'Just wait until someone gets drunk and starts hitting on the "waitress",' is the comment from another tickled viewer, evidently able to distance him- or herself from the cruelty prompting many other observations along the lines of: 'This is sad.'

In the clip, the clothed creature - named Fukuchan - is seen scuttling around its place of employment, waiting tables and/or providing entertainment for punters.

Towards the end of the video, our simian hero removes its mask and, in what we've chosen to interpret as an act of defiance against its human oppressors, lifts what looks like a sponge on a sink and chucks it on the floor, very much like Andy from Little Britain might.

You go, little exploited monkey dude

Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/854918-japanese-doll-is-actually-monkey-waitress-wearing-creepy-human-mask#ixzz1RtntTgvq







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Al-Sayed al-Essawy, Egyptian 'Gladiator,' Fights Lion In Effort To Boost Country's Waning Tourism Trade

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/27/al-sayed-al-essawy-egyptian-gladiator-fights-lion-boost-tourism-_n_885416.html?ir=Weird+News

A self-styled Egyptian "gladiator" lived up to his vow of fighting a lion in a much-hyped effort to lift his country out of its post-revolution downturn, but whether his feat had any significant impact remains questionable.

Read on...

Alliance for Animals and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals File Complaint Over Crimes Against Animals

AFA and PETA filed a complaint with the Dane County District Attorney’s office on June 9, 2011, documenting over a decade of violations of Wisconsin’s Crimes Against Animals stemming from research involving staged animal fights in the Stephen C. Gammie  and the Catherine A. Marler labs.
The Wisconsin statute is easy to understand:

951.08 Instigating fights between animals.

(1) No person may intentionally instigate, promote, aid or abet as a principal, agent or employee, or participate in the earnings from, or intentionally maintain or allow any place to be used for a cockfight, dog fight, bullfight or other fight between the same or different kinds of animals or between an animal and a person. This section does not prohibit events or exhibitions commonly featured at rodeos or bloodless bullfights.

951.08 (2) No person may own, possess, keep or train any animal with the intent that the animal be engaged in an exhibition of fighting.

951.08 (3) No person may intentionally be a spectator at a cockfight, dog fight, bullfight or other fight between the same or different kinds of animals or between an animal and a person.

951.18 Penalties.

951.18 (2) Any person who violates s. 951.08 (2m) or (3) is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor. Any person who violates s. 951.08 (1) or (2) is guilty of a Class I felony for the first violation and is guilty of a Class H felony for the 2nd or subsequent violation.

Fights between mice have been instigated at the UW-Madison for over a decade. Mice have been kept for this purpose. Mice have been trained through multiple fights with other mice known to be winners or losers. Researchers have earned money from instigating the fights and have paid others in their labs from those earnings. Other university staff and probably students have been spectators at the fights.

Fights between mice are not genteel affairs. Wounding and even death are common results. A BBC video of a fight between mice is available here.


Coming on the heels of the university’s legal problems surrounding the illegal sheep decompression deaths, this new complaint makes clear that the university has a long history of disdain for or ignorance of Wisconsin State laws against cruelty to animals.

The university has now slipped a measure into the state budget bill by way of the University System Omnibus Motion. Item 27:

Liability Protections for Scientific Researchers: Specify that current law provisions prohibiting crimes against animals would not apply to persons engaged in bona fide scientific research at an educational or research institution or persons who are authorized or otherwise regulated under federal law to utilize animals for these purposes.

In short, the University does not want to follow Wisconsin's Crimes Against Animals laws.

What you can (MUST) do:

Contact your state legislators today. Ask them to request a formal Report on Item 27 of the University System Omnibus Motion passed in the Joint Finance Committee as part of the state budget bill.
Don't know your legislators? Click here. It's easy.

Telll them that the language of item 27 is confusing. Are all persons engaged in research at the university exempt from all the state’s anti-cruelty laws all the time wherever they are? Will the university be able to stage dog fights if item 27 becomes law? Tell them that the state has an obligation to regulate the use of animals and protect them from cruelty, especially at the state university.

You can read the complaint here.

http://www.allanimals.org/fighting_mice.html

Crocodiles in bedroom shock police team

London, June 8 : A team of policemen on a routine visit to a suburban home in south London had the shock of their life when they found four crocodiles in a bedroom.

The officers had visited the semi-detached house on an unrelated matter but made the surprise discovery of the reptiles in a bedroom, Daily Mail reported.

The West African dwarf crocodiles were crammed into makeshift tanks in the spare bedroom of the house in Waddon, Croydon, South London.

The largest of the reptiles, measuring over four feet, was in such a bad condition that it died soon after being transferred. The other three smaller female crocodiles were found in cramped and dirty pond liners.

The police called council licensing officers, who came to seize the crocodiles.

Rob Quest, manager of the London Animal Health Service, said he was shocked to discover it was rescuing crocodiles.

He said: "We were very surprised to get the phone call and to discover there were West African Dwarf Crocodiles.

"We are usually called in to collect venomous snakes."

The animals have since been transferred to Birdworld in Surrey where they are being fed on white mice and are happily sharing a large pond with terrapin turtles.

The owner of the protected animals did not have a licence for them and is expected to be charged with four counts under the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976 and faces a substantial fine.

--IANS

http://www.newkerala.com/news/2011/worldnews-3234.html

Township mob burns 'talking' monkey as witch

Children traumatised as animal welfare group blames 'dreadful superstition' fuelled by ignorance

David Smith in Johannesburg
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 31 May 2011 14.07 BST

A monkey was pelted with stones, shot at and burned to death in a South African township because residents believed it was linked to witchcraft, an animal welfare agency has said.

A mob chanted "Kill that witch!" as the vervet monkey was put in a bucket, doused with petrol and set on fire, according to witnesses. Children who witnessed the killing last week were said to be traumatised.

One resident, Tebogo Moswetsi, admitted he had captured the monkey as it sought refuge up a tree in Kagiso, west of Johannesburg.

"I was curious to see this monkey that people claimed could talk, and when I saw a group of people chasing after it, I joined them," he told South Africa's Star newspaper. "When it went up the tree, I climbed after it and brought it down because I was curious as I found it unbelievable that a monkey could talk.

"I feel guilty. I shouldn't have taken it down from that tree. I dropped it down after someone poured petrol on it. I had no choice."

Moswetsi added: "Someone struck a match. [The monkey] got out of the bucket and dropped down dead. They continued throwing stones at it."

Cora Bailey, manager of Community Led Animal Welfare (Claw) in South Africa, was alerted by a local resident and arrived at a scene of "sheer criminality".

She said: "We just got there too late. What was incredibly sad is that there were so many little children in the crowd – some of them very traumatised.

"There were youngsters literally laughing in my face. But there were older people who were devastated by it. Everyone was saying sorry. While I was talking, the monkey was burning behind me."

Bailey said there is a "dreadful superstition" about monkeys and witchcraft in some communities, fuelled by ignorance that the animals can become separated from their troops or displaced from their natural habitats.

"We deal with this kind of situation on a very regular basis. We usually manage to do crowd control so the monkey doesn't come to any harm."

Bailey said she was horrified by racist comments that have appeared online in reaction to the incident. "Every time this happens, it's people in the community who call us. Cruelty to animals is not a racial thing. I've worked in townships for 20 years and there are good and bad people in all communities."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/31/mob-burns-monkey-as-witch