Bears starving themselves to death on bile farms?: Some are suggesting bears suffering horribly on bile farms are trying to starve themselves to death to end the torture.
An article posted on the Mother Nature Network website tells the story of a bear on a Laotian bile farm who was refusing food. The owner of the farm admitted this was not uncommon. So the farmer tortures bears every day, forcing them to live in tiny cages with no room to move at all and punches a hole in their sides to extract the bile AND admits they starve themselves to death. Yet, he continues to torture them.
These are sick, twisted people who should be convicted criminals, forced to live in tiny cells as blood donors. Okay – that’s harsh in response to harsh, but this sort of brutality really pisses me off.
The article reports an estimated 12,000 bears are currently suffering on bile farms across Southeast Asia.
Support the PUPS Act: The Bradenton Herald out of Florida ran a letter Saturday from a reader supporting the Puppy Uniform Protection And Safety (PUPS) Act (S. 707 and H.R. 835). The bills would require regular inspections by the USDA for commercial dogs breeders who sell 50 or puppies each year over the Internet or through newspaper ads.
It closes a huge loophole in the current federal regulations and as importantly requires breeders to allow their dogs exercise time each day. I’m sure the 50 number is a compromise, but it should be lower, covering more breeders.
Developer bans live animal sales for stores in his shopping centers: Now here’s a developer I really like.
Shopping center developer Macerich has banned the sale of live animals in its 70 shopping malls across the nation. The company will no longer lease to these stores and will not renew leases to stores that are currently selling animals.
The decision by the developer comes in light of the efforts of film producer and animal activist, Jennifer Peterson – according to the story on GlobalAnimal.org.
I really like this paragraph from the report: “” Macerich is proud of their trailblazing pet sale ban and hope to demonstrate that animal welfare is good business. Encouraged by this landmark policy change, Peterson is redoubling her efforts to shut down the entire puppy mill industry. She’s certain it can happen by “ordinary” people getting involved. “”
Record number of dolphin beached in Cape Cod: A record 129 dolphins have beached themselves since January 12 of this year. Reuters reports 37 have been rescued and released into deeper water, but 92 died.