"Tails of Asia"

"Tails of Asia"

WFL Endangered Stream Live takes a close look at the use of dogs and cats for food and fur. Expert panel of guests include Dena Jones/ US Programs Director for the WSPA, Jill Robinson/ Animals Asia and Bill Dyer/ IDA.

Visit the show and resource page to listen & learn more
http://wflendangeredstreamlive.org/tailsofasia.html

EUROPE BANS CAT AND DOG FUR TRADE

From the Daily Express UK News:

A total ban on the trade in dog and cat fur comes into force across Europe on Thursday - just as fur fashion is staging a revival.

The man who has campaigned for the ban for nine years, Conservative MEP Struan Stevenson, welcomed a move he said would save the lives of millions of animals slaughtered every year in Asia - mostly in China - to serve a European market.

But he warned it was now up to importers and retailers to stay vigilant against a "vile" trade in which cats and dogs are rounded up and often skinned alive.

Mr Stevenson said: "The ban comes just in time as I understand there is something of a revival in fur in the fashion world. The onus is now on retailers and others to ensure that such demand doesn't encourage unscrupulous fur dealers to search for ways to break the law. We all need to remain vigilant if we see suspect fur in this country and ask questions as to its origin."

Humane Society International, supported by Mr Stevenson, first exposed the trade nearly a decade ago, revealing evidence of a thriving cat and dog fur market in many European countries including France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark.

The Scottish MEP took up the issue in the European Parliament, receiving high-profile backing from Heather Mills and her former husband Sir Paul McCartney, and rock star Rick Wakeman.

Heather Mills collected more than 250,000 signatures in an on-line petition on her web page demanding an EU ban. And in 2004 Dennis Erdman, the director of television show Sex And The City, persuaded Hollywood celebrities to write to the European Commission supporting a ban.

Formal European Commission proposals for the ban were endorsed by EU governments at the end of 2006.

The resulting law prohibits all EU imports and exports, or any trade in cat and dog fur, in the 27 EU countries from the start of 2009, although five EU countries have already unilaterally banned the trade - Italy, Denmark, France, Belgium and Greece.

The EU-wide ban follows similar legislation in America and Australia. But China continues trading cat and dog fur, with a thriving market in Russia. Mr Stevenson said: "I urge the Chinese authorities to ban this trade and in particular to close down the export of cat and dog skins to Russia."
Monday December 29,2008

Be a Part of Fur Free Friday on Nov. 28th

Join us together with IDA, In Defense of Animals and activists all over the country to take a stand for millions of animals that are killed for their fur.
Many popular designers and brand clothing companies still use fur in the USA to profit from animal suffering. Millions of animals are brutally killed and are oftentimes skinned alive. Find local events in your area through IDA.

The law allows the fashion industry and stores to omit any mention of real fur content on their labels, such as fur trimmed jackets, etc. Real fur is often dyed to make it look fake to mislead the unknowing consumers.
Dog fur is being sold in the United States on fur jackets that are not labeled. Dog fur is also being sold as faux fur. You can help make a difference by raising awareness, telling your friends and by not bying any fur products.

Legislation can stop this loophole, put a damper on the market and protect consumers from being tricked. Please take action now and send an automated message to your government representative.

Automated email provided by IDA

STOP LIVE DOG BURNING TESTS IN CHINA

Animal Defenders International (ADI) a sister group of The National Anti-Vivisection Society (NAVS) is launching a campaign to shame the Chinese Government into halting cruel tests involving burning of dogs. Tim Phillips, Campaigns Director for ADI says:

“These are perhaps the cruelest experiments we have ever uncovered, these dogs must have been in almost unimaginable agony. Worse still, these animals suffered and died in vain, there are ways of conducting this research without animals, and dogs are simply a bad research model for human beings."
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This petition will help to enhance and support the campaign to put an end to Chinese Torture on Animals. It will be forwarded to the Chinese Government.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/454118246

Dogs and Cats in China

Millions of domestic dogs and cats, plus rabbits, foxes, coyotes, mink, raccoons and other animals are suffering unconscionable treatment and agonizing death in China. World wide fur production is outsourced to China because of their low labor costs and there are no animal welfare laws for cats, dogs and captive wild animals there. Their fur being shipped world wide, unmarked and mislabeled; it’s even being sold as 'fake fur' or 'fun fur'. China is the largest fur distributor in the world and the government is profiting from a fur trade worth over seven billion dollars. Stores across the world are selling mislabeled fur from these dogs, cats, rabbits and other animals in China. China supplies more than half of the finished fur garments imported for sale in the United States alone. Current fur products on store shelves are from these same animals and range from purses to key chain accessories to collar accents to coats and more.

Dogs and cats for example, are being crushed into barbed wire cages for transport to slaughter; forced to lay on each other for days with no food or water. They are being removed with tongs, then stabbed in the groin, bludgeoned or bled to death. Videotape, photographs and witnesses reveal some animals continue to live after their skin has been stripped. Their mutilated bodies tossed aside on top of those who came just before them. Footage taken by undercover investigators touring fur farms in China reveal why outsiders are banned from visiting.

Thousands of pet cats in Beijing were sent to die in secretive government pounds as China mounts an aggressive drive to clean up the capital in preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games. The round-up was particularly intense in areas around Olympic venues and in streets and alleys surrounding five-star hotels where guests stayed during the summer games. The crackdown on cats was seen by animal campaigners as just one of a number of extreme measures being taken by China's leaders to ensure that its capital appeared clean, green and welcoming during the Olympics.

WFLF maintains that the abolishment of animal cruelty should be a mainstream focus with regard to the association between crimes against animals and crimes against people. As stated by the National District Attorneys Association, “Animal cruelty can be linked to the vast majority of serial killers, many habitual violent offenders, and most children and teens who kill.”

The subject of animal cruelty together with the green movement has grown in popularity exponentially world wide, yet media coverage regarding the world’s largest animal atrocity remains dated and vastly uncovered. This barbaric treatment of animals goes against every rule of humanity.

Please join WFLF in spreading the word to encourage other people to take action against these horrific acts of violence.

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way it treats its animals." -Gandhi