May 13 2008
Give Wildlife a Break!
We are numbed by news of human killings every day – Iraq, Gaza, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe,….frankly my I can’t understand it. But what we rarely hear about is the daily wildlife death toll.
I’ve come across even more madness of the intelligent ape. In what may be the most memorable day of their lives, two boys in Sutter County California were convicted of a wildlife killing spree in which they slaughtered at least 13 deer a turkey and a vulture. They have just been sentenced to 40 and 50 hours of community services and of 2,400 and 2,000 each, and they won’t be able to hunt again until they turn 21. The news article doesn’t explain why these boys did it.
Do you think their punishment was fair? I think they should be banned from hunting for life! In fact, I wish that we could use our intelligence to turn people around – rehabilitate them. Perhaps these boys should be put into a program that inspires them to care about nature?
Ok if that was illogical, what about the use of rare and endangered species in Chinese diet and medicine? I’m all for culture, but not when it’s killing our environment. I don’t know how many wild animals die each year – but reading this and this made me extremely sad. How can we make a difference with this kind of appetite?
Its not just the species but the cruelty that these animals endure that makes me feel positively depressed. Sky News did a special under cover story on it and Sir Paul McCartney says he’ll never perform again in China after seeing the film on cruelty.
One real hero has emerged. Her name is Jill Robinson who has started a cause to rescue bears from bile farms through the Asia Animal Foundation
And talking about China and animals, have you ever heard of the animal Olympics? And abuse that happens in zoos where shows include dog fights and lions attacking goats.
What happened to humans that we can be so cruel? I know that animal cruelty happens everywhere, but somehow the scale in China seems deeper, they don’t have a law against animal cruelty, and some people are calling for an Olympic boycott based on this.
I was planning a personal trip to China this year, but when I came across all of this information about animal cruelty there I cancelled those plans. I wish I could do something to change things, to make people more humane and caring. Any ideas out there?
Before I go I’d like to invite all of you to help us with our strategic business planning for the next three years. Please help us by taking our user survey. It’s easy, just click on the box! Thanks a million. Paula
12 responses so far
people who don’t respect wildlife don’t respect the mankind.Is a human equation
I don’t buy products made in china when and wherever I can in the US — there is a growing need for them to recognize what they do is wrong - with the Olympics, the quake and hopefully a boycott on how they treat animals - perhaps a wakeup call is in order —
Yes, Paula, so cruelty against animals make me sick. It’s not ethic. Mahatma Gandhi were right when he said that “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”
Jill Robinson is one of my personal heroes. I’m happy to report that all bears and people at the AAF Sanctuary in Chengdu are safe. The buildings that the staff lived in are very damaged, but the moon bears are just fine. Same goes for the 60 giant pandas at the Chengdo breeding base. Sadly, there is no communications with the much larger Wolong breeding and conservation center in Wenchuan county. It sits just miles from the epicenter and the roads in are destroyed. If we lose the 230 giant pandas at Wolong, then our efforts to conserve my favorite bears are in very grave danger.
I’m leaving on vacation tomorrow to visit my Dad in my hometown in Florida. On May 19 I’ll attend a presentation by Jill Robinson at a wildlife sanctuary near Wauchula. I cannot wait to meet her! I might even stand a photo.
If you’re looking for more information on animal cruelty in China, visit the http://www.animalsasia.org and visit PETA.org and HSUS.org. Those organizations, whether you like them or not, have exposed the worst of China’s insanely inhumane treatment of non-human animals. Pay special attention to the information about fur on coats imported from China. I will NEVER visit China, not even to see my beloved bears, until they begin treating non-human animals as something other than a commodity.
s.
Paula, I made up mind along time ago to boycott the upcoming Olympics…of course my own country is shooting wolves as we speak. My beloved Florida Panther will soon be no more because too little, too late was done to save them. Remember when you quoted statistics on charitable giving towards wildlife conservation? Still grappling with that…how do we turn that around! How do we make people see we need wild places and wild animals. How do we help people FEEL anything, when they are only consumed with their own lives, and not the world around them. Whatever happened to “Ask not what my country can do for me, but what can I do for my country”!
On a daily basis, I encounter people that can’t listen to the news because of it’s “negative content.” They don’t vote because they “don’t like” any of the candidates. Mom’s that think their entire world is the PTA. They don’t want to hear about the animals in the Mara. They laugh at me when I talk about the plight of the mountain gorilla. They ask me how I can listen to the fact that women and children are being raped in DRC. It’s disturbing to me because I personally feel that if I don’t know, if I don’t listen, how can I do anything to help change anything in this world. The bottom line is MORE PEOPLE NEED TO CARE. I guess we keep going, we keep talking and if we get one person to care, then we are doing good. Lisa
Amen, Lisa.
s.
I am having problem to access many blogs now. What’s happening?
You are right, Lisa. Please, go on.
Well at least those boys weren’t shooting their classmates for a change. No let’s not ban them from hunting. Ban hunting. Ban guns. Or would that be unacceptable interferance with the culture?
I’m all for cultural revolutions!
Speaking of which, go to China. Look. Learn. Engage with the people there, share your opinions and your expertise, broaden your knowledge of the country.
No Paul McCartney in China? Every cloud has a silver lining.
another hero for bears, bile bears and dancing bears is Mary Hutton
She has quite a number of sanctuaries in southeast asia
here is her site: http://www.freethebears.org.au/
It is also a custom in China to torture meat animals before killing them to make them taste better.
One of my friends in Toronto caught her neighbour torturing skunks and raccoons that they were trapping, city wildlife, and then eating. She stopped them, got them charged, and told them she’d beat the crap out of them both if they ever tried it again but it’s a custom. Lovely. And skinning dogs and cats alive for the fur trade.
I would love to find a way to get the world to boycott China. of course, we should all be boycotted but there is a particular level of cruelty in that country that seems unsurpassed. If you read modern chinese history, the cruelty towards each other was pretty much as bad. As the author of Wild Swans, Jung Chang discovered,
“When people are happy, they are kind”
Hi all. Mina and I are at my Dad’s in Florida after a 16.5 hour drive. I just learned that Jill Robinson will not appear at the Florida and Boston events because she’s needed in Chengdu. We’ll hear from Alice Ng instead. I’m disappointed, but I understand the reasons.
s.