Latest news with #animalrights
Telegraph
9 hours ago
- Business
- Telegraph
RFK-backed ostrich farm fighting H5N1 cull boasted of turning birds into pet food
An H5N1-infected ostrich farm which has become a cause célèbre among animal rights campaigners and the US health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, once boasted of 'rendering' the birds down in vats so that their oil could be used in cosmetics and pet food. Universal Ostrich Farms, located in British Columbia, made headlines earlier this month after its owners claimed they were being unfairly ordered to cull their flock of around 400 birds by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). The cull order came after the CFIA said that several of the animals had contracted H5N1, the deadly avian flu virus that has decimated bird populations worldwide and which experts fear could one day jump to humans. Thousands of similar cull orders have been issued to infected farms around the world as the virus has spread, but the Canadian ostriches appear to have won a brief stay of execution after being swept up in the US-Canadian culture wars. A 'Save our Ostriches' campaign launched by the farm's owners has been jumped on by both animal rights activists and MAGA supporters in the US. Some 69 ostriches have died on the farm since an outbreak began in December last year, when PCR testing came back positive for H5N1. The farm's owners demanded the CFIA carry out further testing but their request was denied, and they are now claiming that the remaining birds have developed 'herd immunity,' catching the eye of RFK Jr, who has petitioned to have the birds relocated to Florida for further testing. Scientists have called the proposal both dangerous and irresponsible, given the serious risks any infected birds pose to public health. The farm's new 'Save Our Ostriches' website certainly pulls at the heartstrings but the contrast with the original website, still available through the internet archive, could not be sharper. While the new site urges readers to donate up to $1,000 or more to save the 398 remaining birds, the original site talked of 'processing and rendering' and selling the 'meat, skin and oil' of ostriches all over the world. 'Full vertical integration improves quality, increases efficiency, and boosts profitability,' the original website reads. 'Help save Anna. She's feisty, confident, and always full of attitude,' says the new, MAGA-friendly site today, beneath a cutesy picture of a fluffy and determined looking bird. Ostrich meat is imported and sold in Britain, including at major supermarkets but it is not clear if burgers and steaks from Universal Ostrich Farms were ever sold here. In British Columbia, Katie Pasitney, the daughter of one of the farm's owners, Karen Espersen, and now acting spokesperson for both her mother and business partner Dave Bilinski, has appeared in several emotional videos in recent weeks appealing for public help and support. The farm says the birds have not been used for meat since 2020, and are now mainly involved in medical research – specifically, the extraction of antibodies from ostrich eggs. However, official court documents from the recent dispute with CFIA contradict this claim. They state that 'some level of ostrich sales, along with sales or planned sales of products derived from ostrich fat and eggshells, continued through to at least December 2024'. The H5N1 avian flu virus was first detected in the late 1990s, but has spread rapidly through animal populations since 2020, killing millions of wild and farmed birds as well as a huge range of mammals – including polar bears, rhinos, whales, foxes, as well as domestic pets including cats and dogs. Thousands of poultry farms around the world – including in Britain – have been forced to cull their flocks, causing the price of eggs to skyrocket to unprecedented levels. Last year, the virus 'jumped' into the US cattle chain and since has become endemic. More than 1,000 dairy herds have been infected with the virus, and a fifth of the country's milk supply now contains detectable traces of H5N1. At least 70 people in the US, mostly poultry and dairy farm workers, have also caught the virus, one of whom has died. The virus's exponential spread comes at a time when the Trump administration has dramatically cut back on the government's response to H5N1. Just last week, the administration announced it had cancelled a $766 million contract with pharmaceutical giant Moderna for the mass-production of mRNA bird flu vaccines. The agreement was intended to strengthen the country's pandemic preparedness by diversifying its emergency H5N1 vaccine stocks. RFK Jr, a long-time vaccine sceptic, has repeatedly expressed concerns over the safety of mRNA vaccines despite them having saved millions of lives during the Covid-19 pandemic. President Trump has also cut funding to several departments at the US Department of Agriculture and Centre for Disease Control responsible for monitoring and containing the spread of H5N1. It makes RFK Jr's intervention into the Canadian ostriches' fate even more baffling. 'We believe significant scientific knowledge may be garnered from following the ostriches in a controlled environment,' Mr Kennedy wrote in a letter to the head of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Experts say the scientific value of the ostriches is minimal, as similar studies have already been conducted in other parts of the world, and transporting any sickened birds would put people and other farms at risk. In a statement published over the weekend, the CFAI said: '[Our] response to highly pathogenic avian influenza in domestic poultry is based on an approach known as 'stamping-out', as defined by the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH). 'Stamping-out is the internationally recognised standard and is a primary tool to manage the spread of [H5N1] and mitigate risks to animal and human health as well as enable international trade.' 'Given that the flock has had multiple laboratory-confirmed cases of H5N1 and the ongoing serious risks for animal and human health, and trade, the CFIA continues planning for depopulation at the infected premises'. The Telegraph contacted Universal Ostrich Farms for comment.
BBC News
20 hours ago
- Business
- BBC News
Belfast Zoo is completely unsustainable, says councillor
It would be "incredibly wasteful" for the council to keep running Belfast Zoo as it is, according to a Ronan McLaughlin said the zoo had lost about £1.9m in the past year, with an additional £2m earmarked in the past week for safety works in the next four years. McLaughlin, who sits on the council's strategic policy and resources committee, said "we have reached the point now where this is completely unsustainable".A spokesman for the Zoo said that "it continues to operate in a challenging environment, due to a general increase in the cost of goods, services and utilities, and continued competition from other venues and visitor attractions". It added: "The zoo offers a range of promotions, offers and events all year around to appeal to visitors, and the dedicated team remain focused on enhancing the visitor experience, improving the health and safety of our operation and protecting the animals within their care." Sinn Féin councillor McLaughlin said: "Every single councillor has a duty to get as much value for the ratepayer as possible."This is not about simply just closing the zoo. What we would like to do is to bring the zoo to a sustainable model."He also said the £1.9m figure "doesn't include any capital expenditure committed at the zoo". There had been safety work and improvements to the lion enclosure, he zoo, which is situated at Cave Hill in north Belfast, opened in has faced criticism in recent years, with animal rights' groups saying the environment was not right for many of the species. 'A great place to take kids' Donncha Murphy, from just outside Castlewellan, in County Down, said he had been to Belfast Zoo more times than he could count, and he last went just after the Covid said "it was a wee bit dead"."Places were shut down, but I don't think it should close at all, because on one hand, what's going to happen to all the animals?"There should be a big drive to try and promote it and get more people into it. Maybe new enclosures if we can afford it."It's a great place to go out for a family day out [and] school trips." Louise O'Neill, from Dungannon in County Tyrone, said she loves the zoo."The zoo's a great place to take kids to learn about animals or even just a fun day out with your family."You learn so much that you wouldn't learn about anywhere else." Amanda Tannahall, from Dunmurry, said she has not been to the zoo in years. w"It is good, all the animals and stuff, I took a load of wee kids with me," she said part of the reason it had been so long since she visited was because it was "so uphill".While there is nowhere else like Belfast Zoo, she added: "I mean you can only go to the zoo so many times." McLaughlin said he wanted to start a conversation about the future of the zoo."Ultimately it is residents and ratepayers who are footing the bill for this, so they should be as much in the conversation about what the future of the zoo may look like, but for me, it needs to be on a sustainable position," he added.
RNZ News
20 hours ago
- General
- RNZ News
Animal rights activists call for ban on public sale of fireworks
Animal rights activists have presented a petition calling for a ban on the public sale of fireworks, which they say cause unnecessary physical and psychological harm to the country's animals. The 'Pawprint Petition' contains more than 90,000 human signatures, and is supplemented by nearly 80,000 paw prints. Jazlyn Whales reports. Tags: To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
CBS News
a day ago
- General
- CBS News
Alarming video shows dog being dragged from minivan on Chicago's Eisenhower Expressway
Video was posted online showing a dog being dragged behind a car along a busy Chicago expressway overnight Sunday into Monday — and police and animal rights advocates want to know if it is a case of animal neglect or cruelty. The scene played out on the outbound lanes of the Eisenhower Expressway (I-290). Video showed a dog on a leash being dragged by a minivan. The video started at Independence Boulevard and continued past Kostner Avenue. All the while, people waved, yelled, honked their horns, and did anything possible to help the dog in clear distress. "He was just being swept along a highway at high speeds," said Jodie Wiederkehr of the Chicago Alliance for Animals. "So the injuries, the road rash, would be too severe to survive." Like so many, Wiederkehr was in disbelief upon watching the video. "It was very hard to watch," she said. "My heart sank. If the animal survived, it will likely have to be euthanized." CBS News Chicago reached out to Illinois State Police, who said not a single call came into 911 Sunday night about the dog swinging from the van. "That's critical," Wiederkehr said. "If you see a crime, it's very important to try to document it — but it's also critical to call 911 and report it." Back in February, someone spotted another dog in an empty trailer in the freezing elements heading down the Borman Expressway (I-80/94) in Northwest Indiana. That driver did more than record — he called police. The dog in that case was rescued after being abandoned in Gary. Indiana State Police arrested and charged the driver. "They need to be taught if you harm other beings, that you have severe consequences," Wiederkehr said. As Illinois State Police looked into the case Monday night, it remained unclear whether the dragging of the dog was intentional or an accident. But the alliance said there is no way any driver would not know they were dragging something. "A dog might only be 40 or 50 pounds, but you're going to feel that bumping — you know, that dog hitting the concrete over and over again," said Wiederkehr. "It was intentional." Late Monday, Illinois State Police were still looking for the driver. The video of the incident has been shared with state police. Unfortunately, it was not known late Monday how the dog was doing. But the video made clear the animal suffered severe injuries.
Arab News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Bulgaria cyber ‘elves' fight Kremlin and cruelty
SOFIA: A Bulgarian group of dozens of cyber activists at first clubbed together to battle Russian disinformation, but they have since found other foes — like animal abusers. They call themselves the BG Elves, which both refers to the kind-hearted characters of Scandinavian mythology and hints at a rivalry with the Internet's malicious trolls. The collective of about 70 anonymous cybersecurity experts have made a name for themselves by creating problems for their adversaries. One of their latest efforts was helping an animal rights NGO uncover evidence that led to the March arrest of a woman and a man accused of selling videos online of hundreds of animals being tortured to death. 'Our work was crucial, because for the first time a crime was solved in Bulgaria based on OSINT data, proving that our efforts can produce concrete results,' software developer Petko Petkov, the Elves' only public face, told AFP. OSINT refers to open-source intelligence, which is information gathered with digital investigation techniques like reverse image search and geolocation. In the summer of 2024, the NGO alerted the cyber sleuths to videos posted on Telegram of a masked woman torturing animals. The Elves tracked her down within hours. Using OSINT, they were also able to trace the locations where the videos of cats, rabbits and guinea pigs being tortured on camera were filmed by her accomplice. The videos sparked widespread protests in Bulgaria, and prompted the government to propose emergency legislation. Set up in 2023 in response to pro-Kremlin disinformation flooding Bulgaria, the group first zeroed in on the key players involved in the campaigns. 'There were about 10 of us in a chat group, we refined the concept, then put out a call for volunteers,' Petkov told AFP about the group's founding. They have grown significantly since and include experts in cybersecurity, social engineering and databases. 'We are not hackers, we are researchers,' said Petkov, 37, who moved from central Bulgaria to Kyiv shortly after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Dedicated to activism, the Elves try to fight the deluge of disinformation by disseminating 'counter-propaganda that makes people think,' he said. 'We noticed that a (disinfo) narrative... takes some time to reach people. Our idea was to flood the space with humor and irony before the propaganda takes hold,' said Petkov. Recently, they launched a viral meme campaign targeting the main false claims about Bulgaria's accession to the eurozone, distributing the content through profiles embedded within major disinformation networks. In March, BG Elves supported a Romanian journalist in an investigation that exposed a Russia-linked disinformation and propaganda network funded through online advertising. In the wake of the recent arrests, Bulgaria proposed a bill in parliament, which allows for higher prison terms of up to 10 years for torturing animals. Nearly 300 people have been convicted of such offenses in the last five years, but few end up in prison. Petya Altimirska, president of the animal welfare association CAAI, who had reached out to the Elves for help in the abuse case, has since received numerous reports of 'even more serious' cases, adding that the cyber sleuths are already 'on it.' While the group was praised for exposing the animal abuse, it has also faced criticism and numerous threats for its provocative approach and alleged political bias.
