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POPSEndangered Bird Becomes Internet Sensation: Sirocco the Kakapo Hits the Big Time Sirocco was featured in a recent BBC series entitled "Last Chance To See," profiling some of the thousands of species of animals in the world that are threatened with extinction, mostly due to human incursion and our effects on wild habitat. A report last summer by the International Union for Conservation of Nature asserts that "nearly one third of amphibians, more than one in eight birds and nearly a quarter of mammals are threatened with extinction." As the Kakapo Conservation website reminds us, "6 billion people on earth; only 124 kakapo." Not a good ratio, and one repeated thousands of times over, around the world. Sirocco is named for a warm Mediterranean wind. Let's hope he wafts into human conscience with a renewed sense of wonder for the amazing and gorgeous creatures on this planet, and a reminder of our responsibility for them.
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POPSKangaroos Shot To Make Way for Car Race!! It seems that our wildlife is held in lower regard than 4 wheels attached to a heap of metal. Shame on our government for allowing National Parks & Wildlife to kill our native animals.
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POPSThe Burger That Shattered Her Life Meat companies and grocers have been barred from selling ground beef tainted by the virulent strain of E. coli known as O157:H7 since 1994, after an outbreak at Jack in the Box restaurants left four children dead. Yet tens of thousands of people are still sickened annually by this pathogen, federal health officials estimate, with hamburger being the biggest culprit. Ground beef has been blamed for 16 outbreaks in the last three years alone, including the one that left Ms. Smith paralyzed from the waist down. This summer, contamination led to the recall of beef from nearly 3,000 grocers in 41 states. Ms. Smith’s reaction to the virulent strain of E. coli was extreme, but tracing the story of her burger, through interviews and government and corporate records obtained by The New York Times, shows why eating ground beef is still a gamble. Neither the system meant to make the meat safe, nor the meat itself, is what consumers have been led to believe.
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POPSAnger at BBC Crufts decision Good on the BBC for taking a stand for the the voiceless (and the breathless, lame and half-blind): "The Kennel Club said breed standards had been revised to exclude "anything that could in any way be interpreted as encouraging features that might prevent a dog breathing, walking and seeing freely." Which begs the question: Why did the Kennel Club wait so long before revising their breeding guideliness? If they really have the best interests of the dogs at heart they would have such measures long ago instead of waiting to be outed by a tv doco. Shame on 'em!
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POPS“Happy Cows” in California? Not with Schwarzenegger Around… Despite having no arguments, Schwarzenegger has openly mocked this bill on his twitter page, along with making a video to prove his point, with the stance that no one should be bothering with cow tails when the economy is suffering. If signed into law, California would be the first state to ban tail docking in dairy cattle. You can contact the Governor’s office to urge him to sign the bill by emailing governor@governor.ca.gov or by calling 916-445-2841.
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POPSPace Eggs, Canberra, Australia, is a disgrace If you live in Australia please write a letter of complaint to supermarkets who stock Pace Eggs..ie Woollies, Coles. The only way to stop cruelty to animals is to hit the companies where they feel the most pain..their profit margin!
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POPSGray Wolf Hunt Begins in Idaho Northern Idaho Wolf Alliance representative Stephen Augustine said, "We fear that under the guise of wolf management, what's about to happen is a wolf massacre." "It is really astonishing that you could have an animal on the endangered species list at one point, and a bare five months later they're being hunted," said Augustine. "To my knowledge there isn't another animal that has had this happen to them."
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POPSDog who was set alight & left for dead to face his torturers in court "Their attack was so vicious that the Perpignan court authorities have already ruled that they should remain anonymous for fear of reprisals. 'They have cause widespread disgust, and there have already been threats of violence made against them' said a local police spokesman. 'Mambo was clearly looking for help when he went missing. He approached the pair because he is extremely friendly, but they showed him nothing but cruelty. 'He was held down by the woman, and then the man poured petrol over him, and set him alight. 'He was left for dead, but animal aid workers were alerted and managed to save him. He has made an amazing recovery. People are so distressed by what happened that 200 marched through the streets of Espira-de-l'Agly village in protest last week." This despicable pair face up to of 6 months in jail! That's not nearly enough. The laws need changing.
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POPSSad, Mad Australian shoots off at mouth. What a pathetic little man Robert Borsak is to describe shooting animals as "awesome". The Aurora Borealis is awesome; sunsets are awesome; birth is awesome...murdering these beautiful, intelligent creatures is definitely not.
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POPSUnited Egg Producers Recruits Kids In Its Sordid Campaign Against Animal Welfare
As outlandish as the cartoon is, it represents what the UEP has been trying to do for years: fight to preserve the status quo in its industry for the sake of the bottom line by deriding egg producers who choose not to use battery cages. A quick bit of background: Most egg-laying hens in the United States are confined in battery cages-barren wire cages so restrictive, the animals can't even spread their wings. Unable to nest, dust bathe, or perch, each bird has less space than a sheet of letter-sized paper on which to live for a year before she's slaughtered. It's hard to imagine a more miserable existence. In cage-free egg farms, while birds typically don't go outside (rendering the above cartoon even more absurd), they're at least able to walk around, lay their eggs in nests, and perch. In addition to cage-free birds typically not having outdoor access, even free-range birds are able to go inside barns when they want.
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POPSWhy Unfettered Capitalism Is Bad for Your Diet These are the companies that are trying to efficiently process tens of thousands of cows per day -- cows that have been lined up in Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) and fed grain (more efficient than using land to feed them their natural diet of grass), pumped with hormones and antibiotics to keep them from dying, which means a glut on the market of cheap (antibiotic-filled) beef. And these are the companies that are creating the seeds -- those seeds that the farmer can't even save for fear of litigation -- to grow the crops that require the use of their pesticides and which produce a proliferation of fast food. Yes, efficiency is the bottom line in our current agricultural system. Not safety, not health, nor least of all, taste. No, for a corporation that is beholden first to it's shareholders, its all about the quickest way to get to the bottom line.