Monday, March 10, 2008

Animals in the news

The SPCA recently seized 100 starving Arabian horses from a ranch northeast of Edmonton, AB in Canada. Public complaints led to the seizure, which came too late for 27 horses found dead. Neglected ducks, rabbits, chickens, goats and sheep were also found on the ranch owned by Hinz-Schleuter Arabians.

The Canadian government is apparently imposing new rules for seal hunters. According to Reuters: ''From now on, hunters will have to follow a three-step process recommended by an independent panel of veterinarians. After clubbing or shooting the seal, a hunter must check its eyes to ensure it is dead and if not, the animal's main arteries have to be cut.'' Previously, all that was required if seals were found to be alive after an initial clubbing was that they be bonked on the head a second time. These new rules are supposedly going to make the process more -- er --''humane''.

J.D. Irving Ltd. is launching a constitutional challenge of Canada's Migratory Birds Convention Acts, which protects migratory birds, as well as their eggs and nests. February of 2007, the company had been charged with disrupting a Great Blue Heron nesting colony the previous summer by building a logging road through the middle of it and completely destroying 12-20 nests. At the time, they entered a plea of not guilty, claiming they'd exercised ''care and diligence'' to protect the Great Blue Herons' habitat.

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