Posted on November 11, 2016 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
Above – sad day for all – except billionaires !
We are an animal rights / welfare group who also have concerns about the environment etc. Some may call us ‘tree and bunny huggers’, but that is fine with us. We feel that anything we publish is based on fact or substantial evidence.
We ask others, like those who voted for Mr. Trump this week, to consider the fact regarding the environment.
So, being tree huggers, we have looked a little more into this, educating ourselves more just like the Trump voters. We have found the following regarding the Paris climate agreement, signed up to by over 190 of the worlds nations, and now something which Trump says he is going to pull the US from.
Regarding Paris and environmental agreement, international law requirements are somewhat complicated. One of the reasons President Obama helped usher the deal into force early this year is because that meant that any country that was a party to the agreement couldn’t leave until it completed a four-year withdrawal process.
Michael Wara, an environmental law professor at the Stanford Law School, said Trump could use his office to issue an executive communication removing the United States from Paris, but even if he did that, the United States would still be a party for four years and could be subject to its legally binding procedural commitments.
The United States could take a shortcut and exit the UNFCCC, a move that could be likely, given Trump’s criticisms of the U.N. body. That could be done in one year rather than four, and would result in leaving Paris, as well. Or Trump’s administration could send observers to monitor negotiations but not participate in them and refuse to carry through on Obama’s nationally determined contribution pledge to cut carbon dioxide emissions 26 to 28 percent compared with 2005 levels by 2025.
The United States is poised to miss that target anyway without additional action, which will be a hard sell now that Republicans are in control of the legislative and executive branches of the federal government.
The United States and other parties are called upon to submit new nationally determined contributions for 2030 by 2020, and Wara said Trump could put forward a “business-as-usual” placeholder to stay on the right side of international law.
But it seems unlikely that the bombastic president-elect would opt for quiet underachievement over a grand exit.
Ebell has said he hopes Trump will submit the deal to the Senate, or that the upper chamber will vote on its own initiative. Doing so would “make it clear where the United States stands,” he said in a recent interview.
Departing Paris has consequences
Greens at home as well as those attending the Marrakech conference said they still hope Trump might not pull out of Paris, despite having spent more than a year saying he would. They note that he’s not a seasoned politician.
“There’s no history of how he would move from the campaigning arena to the governing arena,” said David Waskow of the World Resources Institute.
Several observers note that Trump has seldom articulated clear policy plans, which they said leads them to believe he might reconsider his campaign positions once in office.
Wara said Trump didn’t seem to realize, for example, that his stated support for U.S. oil and natural gas development was at odds with his pledge to prop up the domestic coal industry, which has been undermined by cheap and abundant gas.
Climate advocates also say Trump shouldn’t walk away from Paris, because doing so could undermine his ability to interest other leaders in issues that are higher on his to-do list.
“If a President Trump were not to honor U.S. commitments under the Paris Agreement, it will negatively impact his ability to get the cooperation of world leaders on other issues he cares about, such as trade and terrorism,” said Alden Meyer, director of strategy and policy at the Union of Concerned Scientists, at a briefing in Marrakech.
Frank Maisano of Bracewell LLP said Trump’s ascension doesn’t undermine Paris, because it’s “symbolic.”
“This is only a blow to global efforts in the form of the U.N. process, which continues to be a difficult and often broken process,” Maisano said.
He added, “Clean energy and technology issues will continue to play a significant role in international efforts to reduce emissions,” echoing a theme environmentalists are also voicing in the wake of the election.
“Look for nations who aren’t enamored with the details of how to meet the Paris Agreement to use this as a reason to raise new concerns,” Maisano said.
At a briefing yesterday with U.S. climate advocates in Marrakech, a reporter for a New Delhi-based outlet asked if poor countries can “count on the moral obligation of the next U.S. president” when it comes to climate finance pledges.
The Trump victory makes it unlikely that the United States will make good on the $2.5 billion it still owes to the U.N. Green Climate Fund, and the new administration is likely to curtail foreign aid overall.
We have looked into the facts; have Trump voters ?
He’s rescued hundreds of bears from bile farms but, for Animals Asia Vietnam boss Tuan, those still caged and suffering never leave his thoughts.
In 2011, an Animals Asia team was in Vietnam’s Gia Lai province to rescue a sun bear from a bile farm. As is always the case with bear bile farms, the animal, now known as Nelson, was kept in appalling conditions.
Animals Asia’s Vietnam Director Tuan Bendixsen remembers the tiny, rusting cage that had held Nelson for his entire life (pictured below).
Bear farms take their toll in myriad ways. Nelson’s teeth were shattered and infected from desperate attempts to chew through the iron bars, while the surface of his eyes were scratched affecting his vision.
Over 11 years rescuing bears from the bile industry, Tuan has no shortage of bad memories. He knows better than anyone what bear bile farming looks like: hopeless, fearful eyes, balding skin, open wounds, malnourished bodies and shattered teeth.
Tuan said:
“I’ve rescued over 150 bears in Vietnam and I’ve never yet seen a bile farmed bear held in conditions that are anything other than deplorable. Five years ago in Pleiku for Nelson’s rescue it was the same. I’ve lost count of how many farms I’ve been on, but they never fail to fill me with dread.”
So when local Forest Protection Department (FPD) officials told Tuan there were more bears being held in the province, he knew he had to act to spare them the horror he had seen repeated elsewhere so many times.
That day he made them a promise: if you can convince farmers to give them up, we can save the bears – anytime and we’d be back.
That pledge was vital. Vietnam’s Forestry departments are woefully under funded. If they were to find evidence of bear bile extraction they would most likely be forced to turn a blind eye. They simply have no facilities to care for confiscated bears.
Tuan’s promise changed all that. It empowered the FPD to go after those farmers, watch them closely for any mistakes and convince them every day that there is no future in the cruelty of bear bile farming.
This month, more than half a decade later, that pressure looks to have paid off as hopes grow that these bears (pictured above) can finally be saved.
“For five years I’ve known these bears were suffering unimaginable torment. Underfed, unable to stretch their bodies, sickness, pain and mental agony. We’ve seen it all before, but I know when I set foot on those farms it’ll be as horrific as the first time. The disgust of bear bile farming never dulls. The bears you can’t rescue, haunt you – they’re never far from your thoughts.
“Now we just hope we can rescue these bears and start to turn their lives around. We can’t give them back the years they’ve lost but we can make them free from pain. If we can get them back to our sanctuary we can give them sunshine, open air and bear friends to play with.”
The reward fund for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person who shot and killed a baby Salt River wild horse and wounded two other young horses soared to $25,000 thanks to a matching offer from Animal Recovery Mission a non-profit organization based out of Florida.
Immediately after the shooting, the Salt River Wild Horse Management Group (SRWHMG), an Arizona non-profit organization and the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign (AWHPC) offered a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrator, and the Humane Society of the United States and Schill Law Firm quickly added to the reward. In addition the public has contributed to the reward and rescue fund as well in a Gofundme account. As of November 7th the total reward fund had added up to $12,500. Any member of the public wanting to contribute to the reward can visit this link; http://wildhor.se/2epCqhn
However to date, no tips leading to the suspect’s apprehension have been received. This week, ARM Investigations, which is closely tied to the fight to protect the Salt River Wild Horses as a coalition partner of the Salt River Wild Horse Management Group, decided boldly to match the existing reward fund.
ARM is in the business of fighting extreme animal cruelty and was created to investigate, expose and derail some of the most untouchable animal cruelty in America today. ARM’s investigations have brought hundreds of illegal animal slaughter operations to their knees. The organization also focuses on conservation programs, including the protection and preservation of wild horses and burros.
Richard ‘Kudo’ Couto, ARM Founder and President stated, “In our experience, in cases that have become stagnant, we found that offering an extremely large reward often succeeded in bringing a crucial tip forward. These kind of despicable acts upon animals, in this case the innocent and cherished Salt River wild horses, are unacceptable and taking a stance is a moral and societal obligation to do the right thing; in addition, we hope it will discourage and any future heinous acts against the Salt River wild horses”.
“The coward who shot these innocent and beloved wild horses needs to be brought to justice,” added Simone Netherlands, President of the SRWHMG. “We are so thankful to our coalition partners and to Sherrif Joe Arpaio and MCSO and are hopeful that this spectacular amount of reward money will bring forth and encourage the tip that leads to the shooter’s arrest and conviction. Somebody knows exactly what happened, and that person can ensure that justice is served while receiving a financial reward at the same time.”
On Friday, Oct. 21 at about 6 p.m., according to MCSO, a witness saw a man wearing black shorts and a dark green shirt shooting three Salt River wild horses. The witness saw one of the horses flailing in the river, and observed two other horses get hit with rounds from a rifle or shotgun. The suspect chased after the horses as they fled. Two other individuals are believed to have been with the person who shot the horses.
On Saturday, Oct. 22 the Salt River Wild Horse Management Group found a Salt River wild horse, – a 6-month foal named Kai – dead, with gunshot wounds to the side of his neck and head. In a bizarre and sickening twist of events, Kai was also found mutilated of his genitals. Two other horses in the same family band appeared to have possible small bullet wounds but survived and are recovering on their own.
The two horses who were also shot at, are currently being monitored closely and have been acknowledged as incurring wounds, possibly from the bullet ricochets. The SRWHMG and their volunteers are on the Salt River daily to ensure their safety and determine if they will need to be brought in to be treated.
This is not the first time that the wild horses of Salt River have been shot at and injured. In-fact, volunteers of the (SRWHMG) who are on the river daily, suspect that these majestic horses are being hunted. Ironically, almost a year ago to this shooting, a wild horse by the name of ‘Dotty’ was found dead from three shots to the head and one shot to the shoulder. Two other horses also met the same fate and a pattern appears to be emerging given the hunting season period. It is important to note that prior to the Salt River wild horses garnering media attention, 1-2 horses a year were reported shot and killed.
The SRWHMG is dedicated to protecting, monitoring and studying the Salt River wild horses. The SRWHMG has been spearheading the effort to secure lasting protections for this iconic and beloved wild horse herd in the Tonto National Forest.
The public still has a chance to add to the reward by doing to the Go Fund Me page, which ARM will then match.
Whilst the Maricopa Sheriff’s department has been working hard to find the culprit, no strong leads have surfaced to date.
Anyone with information about the shooting can call either the Salt River Wild Horse Management Group at 480-868-9301 or the Maricopa County Sheriff’s office at 602-876-1011.
Posted on November 10, 2016 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
Vaquejada is a cruel rodeo event in Brazil in which bulls are chased around an arena like a soccer ball, pinned between two men on horses, violently yanked by their tails (which are sometimes even torn off), and knocked onto their backs—often causing painful and fatal injuries.
LUCKILY, the Supreme Federal Court of Brazil banned this horrible event.
BUT there’s a group that’s fighting to lift the ban by claiming that vaquejada is part of the country’s cultural heritage—which is obviously nonsense.
Cruelty has nothing to do with culture—no country should be proud of abusing animals.
Posted on November 9, 2016 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
Above and below – Pictures of the London Memorial.
Subject: Animals in War Memorial Remembrance Sunday 13th November 2016.
18 million horses killed in the First World War along with a quarter of a million pigeons, thousand of rats and hundreds of dogs. They did not give their lives, their lives were taken from them.
Animals in Wars past and present memorial on Remembrance Sunday 13th November at War Memorial Albion Gardens Place Ramsgate CT11 8HQ at 2pm.
Please bring wreaths and flowers to honour our animal brothers and sisters slaughtered in human wars.
Posted on November 9, 2016 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
Mark,
Shock and disappointment. Like you, that’s how all of us here at NRDC are feeling after witnessing last night’s election results.
Hillary Clinton, a climate champion, lost. Donald Trump, who embraces fossil fuels, has vowed to roll back the Paris accord and calls climate change a hoax, has won. Feeling shell-shocked is an appropriate response.
But we will not let that shock linger or, worse yet, turn to despair. We are going to transform it into concrete, planet-affirming action.
Know this: NRDC will fight for our environment, for our climate, and for our shared clean energy future — harder than we ever have fought before.
Donald Trump ran on one of the most stridently anti-environment platforms of any recent major-party nominee, but now he is the president-elect.
Analysts will sort out why people pulled the lever for this man. However, this much is equally clear. Whatever Americans voted for, it was not to turn back the clock on the environmental progress we’ve achieved over the last eight years under President Barack Obama.
It was not to continue allowing big polluters and their climate-denying allies in Congress to pillage our natural heritage and our planet for profit. It was not to walk away from the Paris climate agreement, the promise of clean energy and desperately needed progress on fighting climate change here at home. And it certainly was not to deny our fellow Americans their basic right to safe drinking water, clean air and healthy communities simply because of their income or skin color.
So it’s time for every American — Republican, Democrat and Independent alike — to stand and defend our environment and health.
Yes, today shock will prevail. But prepare yourself, because tomorrow the battle for all the environmental values we hold dear will begin. And we must be ready.
You can take heart from this: over the past 45 years, thanks to your support, we have fought — and won — uphill battles before. We succeeded in stalling, blocking or sinking the worst attempts by past presidents like George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan, senators like Mitch McConnell and congressmen like Newt Gingrich to dismantle some of our nation’s most cherished environmental laws… to privatize our public lands… to open our treasured wild places to destruction at the hands of the oil, mining and logging industries.
And let me tell you, the Trump administration will have to contend with an NRDC that wields a far more potent combination of grassroots activism, courtroom power, lobbying expertise and media outreach than we ever have had before.
Donald Trump will also have to contend with the over 2.4 million NRDC members and activists who will not tolerate selling out our environment, our health, our natural resources and our children’s future for profit and extreme ideology. And on the issue of catastrophic climate change — the defining challenge of our generation — failure is not an option.
In the meantime, we must ensure that President Obama — who has become an inspired and inspiring climate champion — does whatever he can in the remaining 70 days of his presidency, to put in place even tougher safeguards for our climate, our public lands and our wildlife.
In the weeks ahead, I will report back to you in more detail on NRDC’s action plan for defending our environment during the first 100 days of Donald Trump’s presidency — and beyond.
But I can share one key element of that plan right now: You. We’re counting on you to stay the course with NRDC. We need your outrage. We need your focus. We need your activism. We need your support. Are you in?
“Trump’s energy policies would accelerate climate change, protect corporate polluters who profit from poisoning our air and water, and block the transition to clean energy that is necessary to strengthen our economy and protect our climate and health,”
Tom Steyer, a billionaire environmental activist, told Reuters.
We have had the following (below) through this morning; and to be honest, we agree with much of it. But the American people have voted in a democracy; now they face the future under Trump leadership.
We see nothing positive for US animal welfare about the last days events. With wildlife killing sons, will Wolves and Coyotes be given better protection as they try to move South and breed in the West ? – no; no doubt there will be better legislation for hunters and wildlife killers – US wildlife has witnessed a very black day.
And knowing some of Trumps ‘advisors’; we will probably see a return to more or less nationwide ‘Ag Gag’ which will wipe over animal suffering in slaughterhouses etc and instead allow prosecution of those brave souls who go undercover to get the footage of abuse and animal suffering.
America; you have elected him; so now you sit and endure the political policies from a man who has no political experience; protecting gun owners and users; disregarding the environment and effectively only taking care of himself and his kind. Of course, you are all billionaires with top rate healthcare and all that; so no worries !!.
In Europe’s view, a very sad day.
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Dear Mark,
We have woken up this morning to the most shocking news. An extreme nationalist has won the US presidential election on a campaign filled with racism, misogyny and hatred.
This is a very frightening day, first and foremost to people of colour and other minorities living in the United States. We express our solidarity with them, and urge them to stay strong and united through this nightmare.
But we need to do more than mourn. This election result is the consequence of decades of ‘market knows best’ economics, through which ordinary people have been valued only for their ability to make the richest richer still, and everything we value has been turned into a commodity to be traded in the global marketplace.
Inequality has soared to unprecedented levels, communities have been hollowed out, their voices marginalised, the planet is being pillaged and burnt – all in the name of profit. And when, in 2008, this system was demonstrated to be utterly unsustainable by the collapse of the banks, the poorest were forced to pick up the tab, while the super rich went about their business as usual.
Trump provides no answer to these problems. He is himself a billionaire tax avoider who flaunts his ill-gotten wealth as a badge of honour. But he has successfully played on the unhappiness and frustration of millions of people in the most despicable way imaginable. He has fuelled a wave of hatred aimed at those already marginalised and discriminated against.
That’s why the markets and elites will try to come to terms with Trump. But we cannot. We will resist everything he stands for. But we can only do that by building something better. Only in a society in which everyone has their needs met and which is built on openness, on community and on equality, can we truly defeat these ideas.
On a day like today, we can all feel weak and powerless. But by coming together we can be powerful. We’ve seen this only recently in our campaign to beat TTIP, the biggest trade deal the world has ever seen, despite the concerted efforts of an army of corporate lobbyists. And we see it in countless examples across the world from landless struggles in Latin America to those against sweatshops in south Asia and agribusiness in Africa. We win small victories every day.
We believe the humanity inside us will win out – if we stay strong, stay safe and stay together.
