21 Polo Horses Died

via AP

At first I was really sad to hear about he 21 polo ponies that died in Florida. Reports were mixed but apparently they died from some sort of botched meds or toxins in their feed that caused their heart failures within hours. Read more here.

Then I saw the slideshow of prized ponies’ owners and polo fans in tears, in mourning and holding vigils, and I became sick to my stomach. Although I’m sad by this event, this made the news around the world. Why? Because they were revered animals and each horse was estimated about $200,000 value. Each day, there are innocent animals being slaughtered, abused, and mistreated everywhere, and yet we almost never hear about it. Horse abuse and mistreatment is a serious issue and people don’t know about the atrocities this beautiful species face today. This just saddens me.

Filed under: local issues , horses, polo ponies in florida

DO SOMETHING GOOD on Earth Day

It’s earth day – and more than ever before, it’s a day of reflection. With the increasingly changing climate, diminishing of natural resources, endangered wildlife, and other critical environmental issues, Earth Day marks the beginning of a new era of people doing something to better this planet for the next generations.

Please do something good for yourself and others (if you haven’t lately) — turn off the lights, recycle, stop and smell the trees or flowers, smoke less,  take a walk instead of driving if you can, pet an animal, donate to meaningful causes, and spread the word.

xo

Filed under: Global Warming, friends, international issues , april 22, climate change, earth day, environment, our planet

Canada’s Seal Hunt – Bloody Business

If you happen to come upon this blog, you already know the seal hunt is WRONG. Here are some pictures from Rebecca Aldworth (HSI/Canada) who has been writing and documenting the atrocity on the ice. It is simply heartbreaking. Read her full entries here.

An excerpt:

“So often the suffering of the seals during this slaughter is viewed at a distance.

	“It takes a special kind of person to club and shoot helpless baby seals.” © HSI/Sanchez, 04-03-09

From the air, from thousands of feet, somehow the pain of the animals does not transmit properly.

You see them wriggling across the ice, blood trailing behind them. You see their mouths open in a silent scream through the camera lens.

But from the ice it is different. You hear their cries, you see them try to escape, you smell the blood and you feel their terror.

Yesterday, the ProtectSeals team travelled to the seal killing area by our boat (a small, rigid, inflatable vessel), documenting the slaughter from 30 meters away. We witnessed so many seals dying a horrible death, as sealers shot at the terrified babies, and then descended on the wounded, struggling animals with wooden bats.

I will never be able to forget the agonizing assault on one seal. The pup was in front of our boat, and a nearby sealing vessel approached. The pup sniffed the air as if sensing danger.

He looked around, and then the first bullet slammed into him. His scream could be heard all across the water. He tried to crawl away but another bullet ripped through his flesh.

His outraged cries echoed as a third and fourth and fifth bullet hit him. Finally, he dove into the water. He did not come back up. The sealers shrugged nonchalantly and moved on.

We looked around frantically for him but he did not surface. Likely, this baby seal would have bled to death slowly and painfully under the water, like tens of thousands of other seals that are “struck and lost” each year in this cruel slaughter.

I want the world to remember this brave seal. His cries of protest are echoing in my mind and I want them to sound across the world. I want everyone to hear as I did the mortal cries of a wounded baby seal who doesn’t understand why he is being hurt.

And hearing those cries, know as I do that this slaughter simply has to stop.”

Images of the bloody business (via Humane Society of the United States):

Filed under: animal cruelty, hunting, international issues, ocean, seal hunt , animal cruelty, canada, canadian seal hunt, harp seals, Humane Society of the United States, rebecca aldworth, seal slaughter

Idaho Wolf Packs to be Exterminated

Some things never change. While President Obama’s victory in many ways represent good things to come, the seemingly less signifcant matters (in people’s minds) go remain the same. Awaiting the decision by the new Secretary of Interior, Ken Salazar, the Dept of Fish and Game may be able to target multiple wolf packs and families for extermination in Idaho. I suspect they are claiming “population control,” but it seems to me that it has been the longest time since this country has had a problem with wolf overpopulation. Farmers say their livestocks are in jeopardy but there must be non lethal and efficient methods to keep wolves away. Killing them is not the answer.

The species needs to be preserved, as wolves are endangered. Learn more here.

Filed under: animal cruelty, election 2008, environment, local issues , department of fish and game, idaho, ken salazar, wolves