Posted on January 12, 2015 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
Illegal fishing vessel Thunder. (Photo: Courtesy Seashepherd.org)
Sea Shepherd’s Epic Ocean Chase of a Notorious Poacher
A blacklisted ship is in hot water after the environmental group busted it illegally catching Patagonian toothfish.
Taylor Hill is TakePart’s associate environment and wildlife editor.
It’s been more than three weeks since the environmental group Sea Shepherd started chasing a blacklisted vessel illegally fishing in the Southern Ocean.
One thousand nautical miles later, Sea Shepherd’s Bob Barker is still in hot pursuit.
Captain Peter Hammarstedt and the crew aboard the 788-ton Bob Barker spotted the Nigerian-flagged boat, Thunder, illegally fishing in an area regulated by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources. The international watchdog had put the Thunder on its blacklist of fishing operators.
“When we found them, they were actively fishing,” Hammarstedt told AFP. Sea Shepherd said the boat was using illegal gill nets to catch Patagonian toothfish, often sold as Chilean sea bass in high-end restaurants.
When it ran from Sea Shepherd, the Thunder reportedly left behind about 27 miles of gill nets in the water, which the crew of the Bob Barker’s sister ship, Sam Simon, spent weeks hauling in. Sam Simon skipper Sid Chakravarty said the nets were found stuffed with more than 700 dead toothfish.
“The Sam Simon crew has given the world a chance to observe first-hand the destruction caused by this fishing method,” Chakravarty said in a statement. “Never has any conservation movement seen the recovery, confiscation, and documentation of such length of gear. The onus is now on the relevant international authorities to use this evidence to prosecute the Thunder.”
CCAMLR in 2004 outlawed the use of gill nets in its management area in the Southern Ocean, where the Thunder was fishing.
Back on the Bob Barker, Sea Shepherd, an activist group that’s no stranger to confrontation, initially threatened to “directly intervene” if the Thunder didn’t stop fishing and turn itself over to Australian authorities. But the Sea Shepherd crew decided to play the waiting game instead—chasing the vessel for more than 1,000 nautical miles to date.
On Friday, Hammarstedt told AFP the two boats were about 900 miles southeast of South Africa, and the Thunder had taken evasive maneuvers through heavy ice floes and treacherous seas in an attempt to lose the tail.
Now, it’s a waiting game. If Sea Shepherd can stay with the Thunder until it goes to harbor, Hammarstedt said the team can alert local port authorities to intervene and seize the vessel.
“Certainly we are prepared to chase these poachers to the ends of the earth and back if we have to,” he said.
Now 22 days in, the pursuit is the longest high seas chase ever, beating out an Australian patrol vessel’s 21-day chase in 2003 of the Viarsa I, suspected of poaching Patagonian toothfish.
Filed under: CAMPAIGNS - Global Animal Welfare Issues, GENERAL NEWS - International / National / Regional | Leave a comment »
Posted on January 11, 2015 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
Posted on January 11, 2015 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
Happy New Year?
Picture – FT
Dear Mark,
Lovely image isn’t it?
It shows Tibetan New Year celebrations in Lhasa… but manufactured by China.
Since 2008 many Tibetans have chosen not to celebrate their New Year – there seems precious little to be happy about.
No matter when China creates lavish festivities like these. Which is ironic when the government is determined to eradicate true Tibetan culture.
Propaganda like this shows how desperate China is to hide the truth. Together we need to make sure they fail.
Together we made many positive impacts in 2014, exposing the lies and sharing the reality that lies beneath:
Thousands of us supported the worldwide campaign for Khenpo Kartse’s release and the UK government took up the case after we lobbied them. He was sentenced to two years six months – indisputably unjust but much shorter than expected.
Following an appeal from Free Tibet and others, the UN demanded information from China about jailed singers and two have now been released.
We forced Twitter and YouTube to take down hundreds of fake accounts which China hoped would spread their propaganda to millions.
Our innovative ‘Tibet: know the facts’ graphic has now been seen by over 250,000 people – spreading the truth across the world.
There are simply too many real stories coming out of Tibet for China to win. Can you help us combat China’s lies and share the truth in 2015 with a donation of £10?
Namgyal Dolkar Lhagyari is part of the Tibetan exile community in India and is vice president of Gu Chu Sum, an association which provides support to ex-political prisoners and their families.
She has this message for you:
“I have so much faith in the power of the people. I’m sure a change is possible. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being who you are. Please continue, the battle is still not over!”
Thank you for all the support you give our work – we simply couldn’t do it without you.
Yours,
Eleanor, Free Tibet Director
Filed under: CAMPAIGNS - Global Animal Welfare Issues, GENERAL NEWS - International / National / Regional | Leave a comment »
Posted on January 11, 2015 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
Importance: High
PLEASE SIGN & CIRCULATE AS WIDELY AS POSSIBLE – TELL THE WORLD & SHARE ON FACEBOOK, TWITTER ETC.
Sent: 11 January 2015 11:47
To: United For Animals
Subject: ban-gas-chambers-for-coyotes-in-california/
Importance: High
How could Farra do Boi ever be called a festival?
It is unimaginable cruelty that defies all description, since according to some estimates as the featured picture reflects that the ox having had its legs hacked off and its chest slit open?
PLEASE SIGN & CIRCULATE AS WIDELY AS POSSIBLE – SHARE ON FACEBOOK, TWITTER ETC. ETC.
Filed under: CAMPAIGNS - Global Animal Welfare Issues, GENERAL NEWS - International / National / Regional, GLOBAL PETITIONS - Anything Animal, Anywhere ! | Leave a comment »
Posted on January 8, 2015 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
Posted on January 6, 2015 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
Reject the proposal contained in the draft of the ‘EU Animal Health Law’ that defines stray domestic animals as “wild animals”
Petitioning President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz and 38 others
This petition will be delivered to:
President of the European Parliament
Martin Schulz
First Vice-President of the European Commission
Frans Timmermans
President of the European Commission
Jean-Claude Juncker
Commissioner for Agriculture & Rural Development
Phil Hogan
President of the European Council
Donald Tusk
Rapporteur
Marit Paulsen
Member of the European Parliament
Michela Guiffrida
President of the European Parliament’s Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of Animals
Janusz Wojciechowski
Minister of Agriculture – Austria
Andrä Rupprechter
Minister of Agriculture – Belgium – Flanders
Joke Schauvliege
Minister of Agriculture – Belgium – Wallonia
Willy Borsus
Minister of Agriculture – Bulgaria
Desislava Taneva
Minister of Agriculture – Croatia
Tihomir Jakovina
Minister of Agriculture – Cyprus
Nicos Kouyialis
Minister of Agriculture – Czech Republic
Marian Jurečka
Minister of Agriculture – Denmark
Dan Jørgensen
Minister of Agriculture – Estonia
Ivari Padar
Minister of Agriculture – Finland
Petteri Orpo
Minister of Agriculture – France
Stéphane Le Foll
Minister of Agriculture – Germany
Christian Schmidt
Minister of Agriculture – Greece
Karasmanis A. Georgios
Minister of Agriculture – Hungary
Sándor Fazekas
Ministers of Agriculture – Ireland
Simon Coveney and Tom Hayes
Minister of Agriculture – Italy
Maurizio Martina
Minister of Agriculture – Lithuania
Virginija Baltraitienė
Minister of Agriculture – Luxembourg
Fernand Etgen
Minister of Agriculture – Netherlands
Sharon Dijskma
Minister of Agriculture – Poland
Marek Sawicki
Minister of Agriculture – Portugal
Assunção Cristas
Minister of Agriculture – Romania
Daniel Constantin
Minister of Agriculture – Slovakia
Ľubomír Jahnátek
Minister of Agriculture – Slovenia
Dejan Židan
Minister of Agriculture – Spain
Isabel Garcia Tejerina
Minister of Agriculture – Sweden
Sven-Erik Bucht
Head of DEFRA
Elizabeth Truss
Companion Animal Project Leader, Eurogroup for Animals
Joe Moran
Eurogroup for Animals
Mr Andreas Erler
Health Commissioner
Vytanis Andriukaitis
Member of the European Parliament
Herbert Dorfmann
Reject the proposal contained in the draft of the ‘EU Animal Health Law’ that defines stray domestic animals as “wild animals”
This petition is a joint action by Occupy for Animals and Rescue Association Hobo Dogs Finland, started on 21st of December, 2014. The petition was submitted for official registration to the European Parliament’s Committee on Petitions by Occupy for Animals on the same date.
ABOUT THIS PETITION
Up to now, the Commission made a substantial difference between wild animals and kept animals. Unfortunately, this could now change with the introduction of the new ‘EU Animal Health Law’ which is currently being discussed in its final stage.
For the last three years, the European Commission has been drafting an Animal Health Law, which is supposed to replace and encompass most of the present EU legislation on animal health, striving for simplification and greater consistency under common principles and general rules, and under the initial draft of the ‘EU Animal Health Law’, stray domestic animals, such as dogs and cats, should have been considered ‘wild animals’.
It seemed as if, due to the voting of the MEPs in April 2014, this had been avoided and they would no longer fall under the scope of ‘wild animals’ but would be defined under a new category of ‘non-owned animals of domesticated species’. It is crucial not to let abandoned and non-owned animals fall under the category of ‘wild animals’ in order to avoid a massive eradication of them. Dogs and cats must always be considered as domestic animals, even if they are no longer under direct human control.
Unfortunately, in December 2014, FOUR PAWS European Policy Office in Brussels, reported that the proposal is presently being discussed in the last stage of the legislative process conducted through the Trialogue (which includes European Council, Commission and Parliament), and that in the present draft of the ‘EU Animal Health Law’, an opposing trend has become apparent which might now even determine the decrease of protection: the proposal tabled by the European Commission wants to consider stray domestic animals again as wild animals, despite the fact that a majority of MEPs voted against this definition in April 2014.
According to FOUR PAWS, this is happening without publicity, in the attempt to get this unacceptable definition passed without attracting criticism as it would deliberately ignore the constant requests of EU citizens to increase the level of protection granted to all animals, not to decrease it.
It is extremely important that European citizens, and compassionate people from all over the world, speak up against this ‘two-class system’ for dogs and cats, depending if they have a family or not.
This classification is not only ridiculous, but it could lead to confusion in legal terms – to serious misunderstandings and legal uncertainty in all Member States – and be downright dangerous not only for homeless dogs and cats, but also for owned animal companions that might have got lost, or have escaped.
All in all, such an illogical distinction is scientifically wrong as it ignores the fundamental biological distinction between wild and domestic animals, and poses a serious threat to homeless animals as it would stigmatize them as ‘second class animals’. It would decrease their level of protection, ignoring the will of the European citizens who are calling for a BETTER protection of ALL animals, and it would indeed mean a major step back for the European animal welfare.
Please don’t let this happen!
Please speak up for Europe’s homeless animals by signing our registered petition and please ask your family and friends to sign it, too.
Thank you very much, in advance.
Pia Berrend / Founder & Campaign Manager at Occupy for Animals!
Taija Jolanki / Rescue Association Hobo Dogs
Filed under: CAMPAIGNS - Global Animal Welfare Issues, GENERAL NEWS - International / National / Regional, GLOBAL PETITIONS - Anything Animal, Anywhere !, LETTERS | Leave a comment »
Posted on January 4, 2015 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
SAV Comment – As Danica says below; not the start to a new year that anyone wants. But saying this, we know that as you can see, little Tik finally got to know love, warmth and a tummy full of food, all thanks to Danica who has to be admired by us all for her dedication to helping felines in Serbia.
Below we are showing some pictures of Tik when being cared for by Felix shelter.
We all strongly hoped that this year would not begin with heartbreak but sadly, our wonderful and audacious little Tik gave up the ultimate struggle for life.
He was just too small and too weak and he ultimately came to the point where his exhausted body simply couldn’t carry on. Possibly he got tired of fighting a desperate but apparently hopeless fight that seemed to last forever, and it was easier for him to just let go.
He fought the hardest he could, we did everything we could, but sometimes not even everything is good enough.
Fly free now, my sweet little angel, I know we’ll meet again one day 😦
Filed under: Animals Requiring Adoption or Homes - Worldwide, CAMPAIGNS - Global Animal Welfare Issues, GENERAL NEWS - International / National / Regional, SERBIA (Central Serbia: Capital - Belgrade) and (Serbia, SHELTER - Information | Leave a comment »
Serbian Animals Voice (SAV) 