In South Africa, the war of words between the various wildlife sanctuaries and rescuers on the one hand, and the government depts of Nature Conservation, Marine and Coastal Management, (all under Environment Affairs and Tourism) on the other, seems to be hotting up lately with everybody shouting the odds.
What side is the NSPCA on?
To put the seal on who's lying and who's truthing, can anybody from IFAW confirm or deny that MCM requested a grant from IFAW to pursue their management policy? This grant was allegedly refused on the grounds that the policy was untenable.
Nevertheless, it looks as if the good guys will win this battle, as our Francois of the Seal Rescue Unit in Cape Town challenges the MCM through the Public Protector, while our Chris and Bev of the Kalahari Raptor Centre challenge the Problem Animal Ordinance in the High Court on 9 September, and also take on the NSPCA in the Pretoria High Court on the issue of the Enkosini "canned" lions.
More good news is that there are signs of a softening attitude, in that according to the Pawtal website, the Minister of Environment Affairs is setting up a public chat room, the Cape foxes have been given a reprieve, and Baixinha the (potentially canned) rhino is free at last!
Contents
1 • Baixinha the Rhino wins Fight for Survival
Good news from the Wildlife Action Group ( www.sanwild.org ) in South Africa, forwarded by our Lorna on 6 July. Baixinha ("Pretty One") is a tame black rhino who was destined to be "canned" when she became too old to breed, until PETA started a campaign to save her.
2 • Good News for Cape Foxes (S. Africa)
Our Chris and Bev of the Kalahari Raptor Centre describes this as a small victory for Wildlife in
South Africa, as the Cape Fox has finally been accorded a measure of protection from ruthless
farmers and conservation officials. See also the KRC website www.raptor.co.za
3 • American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act: Sample Letter Ask your US representative to cosponsor the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, HR 3781.
Introduced by Connie Morella. The sample letter was prepared by our Brenda Schoss of Kinship
Circle, circulated by our Trevor, to our Shaynie, to us.
Our Terri, the rescuer of horses, has written a beautiful new tribute to the horses, on the LCA web
site. Do have a look at http://home.earthlink.net/~btida/LCA-Arizona/foolishhorse.html
4 • HumaneLines weekly Activist Newsletter Our Shaynie was particularly horrified by what is happening to the prairie dogs in Boulder
Country, Colorado, where technology company Storagetek is conducting a massive poisoning
campaign against them on their 440 acre plot. The reason - wait for it - the dogs are digging
holes in their jogging track! See humanelines@hsus.org The current topics in their news -
letter are:
HUMANE SCORECARD NOW AVAILABLE
NAVY BOMBING HURTS WHALES
OKLAHOMA COCKFIGHTING BAN OFFICIALLY ON THE BALLOT
STOP STORAGETEK'S MASSIVE ANIMAL POISONING
5 • IndoChina's Primates ruthlessly wiped out Our Charlotte did a search to find out what's happening in Indonesia and South-East
Asia, and came up with this report from the Indonesian nature protection group KSBK
(Animal Conservation for Life), working on a small grant from the International Primate
Protection League (IPPL). See http://www.ippl.org/05-02-05.html . A snail-mail
campaign has been launched here.
6 • Response from Umbro.com re Kangaroo culling Our June of Animal Lib received this response to a complaint about the use of skins
from "culled" kangaroos. Here's to you, Mrs Robinson!
7 • Australian Farmers want more Kangaroos culled Evidently farmers are not sensate creatures and may yet be pronounced "Fair Game",
a la Zimbabwe. This report from our Charlotte, who is recovering from a rather serious
illness. Welcome back Charlotte!
8 • Boycott Adidas to help Kangaroos From our Animal-Net on 19 June 2002, news of a campaign by "VIVA!" to boycott Adidas,
who according to a leaked internal memo, are rather worried about the possible shortage
of kangaroo skins for making running shoes. OK, if nobody buys them, that should solve
the problem! "Viva!" can be contacted at info@viva.org.uk
Not a bad idea. Our Moonflower has found a site that helps abandoned animals.
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/home All you have to do is visit the site!
10 • Canned Lions: A new way to reach the SA Officials Pawtal, the Wildlife Sanctuary Community of South Africa, informs us that the minister of
Environment Affairs is setting up a chat room to hear what members of the public have
to say. Meanwhile, some remarkable inside information on their policy has come to light,
thanks to our Julia. Compare what Julia found to the proposed new policy in the Northern
Province, as outlined by the Wildlife Action group and featured in our previous newsletter.
A remarkable about-face.
11 • TV program on Seals killing Sea Birds Report back on the war of words between our Francois and the producers of the local TV
program 50/50, plus details of the history of seal abuse in South Africa. It isn't a private
fight, so anybody can join in. Please do. It took almost 2 hours to correct the grammar
enough to make this stuff readable, so please at least read it! Note also that MCM
apparently sponsored this film at least by providing the transport, and that anybody who
uses words like "sweeping statements" is usually a liar.
12 • Stop Bullfighting in Barcelona We haven't clobbered any bullfighters for a long time, and this petition is to be delivered
by hand, so let's go for it. It comes from www.geocities.com/vngamiga , a group we
haven't heard from before. Their name "VNG" means "Friendly with animals".
13 • Save Bulls from "Toro de la Vega" in Spain This PETA Action Alert came from AnnieMals@championsforanimals.com who
prepared a sample letter for the "AnimalsInNeed" group.
During a vicious "party" called the "Toro de la Vega" in Spain, a bull was tormented
and stabbed for hours until he died a terrifying, painful death. You can stop this from
happening again by writing a letter to Spanish authorities and encouraging others to do
so as well.
14 • New Korean Animal Protection Act may be a Trojan Horse Our Russ of "It's Their Destiny" examines a report from the Korean Herald of 1 July 2002
and finds that it may be an attempt to legalize the torture of dogs and cats.
Alerts and Support groups,Web Sites,Books and Publications
Disclaimer: Whereas a reasonable effort has been made to ensure the authenticity of these reports, they
are presented in good faith and the sender cannot accept responsibility for any errors, omissions, loss or
damage attributed to them. Copyright © 2002 \RAINDROP Fundation.All rights reserved.
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