Protest re Korea dog meat/Man severs puppys head/UK foot and mouth/Kabul lion dies

[Guest guest]

fwd from Animal Lib NSW

 

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JEAN-CLAUDE VAN DAMME URGES SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT TO STOP CRUEL DOG AND CA

T KILLINGS

 

Action Star Joins International Campaign to Coincide With World Cup

 

For Immediate Release: January 24, 2002

 

Los Angeles - The " muscles from Brussels " has picked a new fight -- this ti

me with Asian lawmakers -- because he is fed up with Korea's appetite for c

ats and dogs. Jean-Claude Van Damme is asking Korean officials to prohibit

the beating, hanging, burning, electrocution, and boiling alive of dogs and

cats before they are slaughtered and eaten and has sent South Korean Presi

dent Kim Dae-jung a petition organized by American-based animal rights grou

p PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). All eyes are on Korea

as the World Cup draws near.

 

Although South Korean law technically prohibits such cruelty, these statute

s are mere facades with absolutely no enforcement. Before dogs are eaten, t

hey are often strung up and beaten, and the stress, pain, and fear resultin

g from this torture causes an adrenaline flow that flesh-peddlers claim inc

reases male virility. Then the dogs are burned about their bodies, purporte

dly to improve the flavor of the meat. Cats are often tossed alive into boi

ling water to extract a " juice " for use in tonics.

 

" The cries of tortured animals will drown out the cheers at the World Cup, "

says PETA investigator Cem Akin.

 

Joseph S. Blatter, the president of FIFA (F=E9d=E9ration Internationale de

Football Association), the international organization coordinating the 2002

World Cup cohosted by South Korea, has made an appeal to the Korean govern

ment to take " immediate and decisive measures to put an end to this cruelty

.. "

 

http://www.peta.com/news/NewsItem.asp?id=623

 

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KABUL'S BRAVE OLD LION DIES PEACEFULLY AT ZOO

 

BELOVED BEAST: Marjan the lion survived 23 years of war.

- Reuters

 

January 27, 2002 =A0-- KABUL, Afghanistan - Marjan the lion, who reigned re

gally at the Kabul Zoo during 23 years of war and cruelty, knew only a few

weeks of peace and kindness before being found dead in his cage yesterday m

orning.

 

He lost an eye to a grenade and lost weight in the deprivation of the war y

ears, but never lost his aura of dignity. His death tore at people for whom

he had come to symbolize Afghanistan's sufferings and aspirations.

 

" I consider myself a pretty rough guy . . . but I cried, " said John Walsh,

who helps lead an international drive to bring aid to the wrecked zoo's rem

aining animals.

 

Marjan, whose name refers to a precious stone beloved by Afghans, was 25 to

29 years old, Walsh said. The cause of death apparently was kidney and liv

er failure connected with old age.

 

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BOYFRIEND CUT OFF PUPPY'S HEAD

 

(Thu 31/1) Daily Telegraph:(Australia)

 

When Christopher Bunning got angry at his girlfriend he took it out on her

three-day old puppy. An enraged Bunning dragged the mixed breed puppy from

its cardboard box filled with blankets, squeezed it until it cried and then

used

a kitchen knife to cut off its head.

 

Bunning, 28, unemployed, who now lives in Ulladulla, threw the body at his

distressed girlfriend Heather Bell before she ran to a neighbour's house in

Kingswood screaming for help.

 

Bunning pleaded guilty yesterday in Penrith Local Court to a charge of comm

itting an act of aggravated cruelty upon an animal.

 

For his alcohol-fuelled crime on October 22 last year, Bunning was placed o

n an 18-month good behaviour bond and sent to court-ordered anger

management counselling.

 

Magistrate Paula Russell said Bunning's crime was a " disturbing series of

facts " and it was an inability to control his anger that led him to behave

the way he did.

 

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10 MILLION ANIMALS WERE SLAUGHTERED IN FOOT AND MOUTH CULL

By Robert Uhlig Farming Correspondent

Telegraph (UK)

(Filed: 23/01/2002)

 

THE number of animals slaughtered in the foot and mouth outbreak could be a

s high as 10 million - more than twice as high as official Government figur

es.

 

On the day that Britain was officially declared free of the disease by the

world animal health organisation, so opening the way for exports to resume,

the Meat and Livestock Commission said that more than six million beasts h

ad not been included in the official slaughter toll.

 

The Government said that 4,068,000 animals were culled between the first ca

se on Feb 20 and the 2,030th and last case detected on Sept 30. But the com

mission says that the true total is 10,849,000.

 

The official figures do not include two million animals slaughtered for wel

fare reasons such as dwindling feed and space. The National Farmers' Union

included these in its estimates.

 

But according to Jane Connor, economic forecaster at the Meat and Livestock

Commission, many more animals were overlooked because they were either kil

led with their mothers - and counted as only one animal - or because they w

ere killed after foot and mouth had closed the market for them, in which ca

se they were not counted at all.

 

" We will never know exactly how many were culled but it was many more than

the official figure, " Mrs Connor said.

 

According to her calculations, at least 1.2 lambs " at foot " were killed wit

h each breeding sheep - amounting to four million lambs slaughtered but not

counted.

 

And the official toll of 595,000 cattle did not include 100,000 calves and

50,000 calves close to birth that were killed with them, the commission sai

d. About 500,000 lambs were killed in the light lamb disposal plan because

they were considered unsellable.

 

Last night, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs conf

irmed the commission's figures as accurate but concentrated on the resumpti

on of exports.

 

Lord Whitty, the food and farming minister, said: " This is a very encouragi

ng step but we must not lower our guard; there is a great deal of work stil

l to do. "

 

Exports had resumed within minutes of the International Epizootic Office in

Paris giving its approval, which had not been expected until May.

 

Ben Gill, president of the NFU, said: " It's great news that this has happen

ed so quickly and is a testament to everyone who has worked hard to achieve

this, including Government, vets and scientists. "

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/01/23/nfarm123.

xml & sSheet=/news/2002/01/23/ixhome.html