This recent terrible news leave us very sad. Elephants are living beings, not goods to be exchanged. An elephant can live for over 70 years, and these calves separated from their mothers and herds will grow alone in the cages of Chinese zoos.

The 51-year-old wife of the Zimbabwean leader, Grace Mugabe has sent 35 elephant calves, eight lions, a dozen hyenas and a giraffe to a Chinese wildlife park to settle a debt for boots and uniforms bought for the Congolese military.

The animals were captured at the Hwange National Park and flown out of Zimbabwe in a Russian-registered Boeing 747. The plane stopped in Moscow en route to Shanghai and the animals were finally released at the Chimelong safari park in Guangzhou, China.

There are fears that the elephants brought to China could be used to start an ivory trading operation.

Zimbabwean wildlife officials say that the capture of the animals would ease pressure on the “overburdened” parks and reduce conflict with local communities. However, a wildlife expert in Zimbabwe says that separating young elephants from their herd and environment is considered cruel.

Sharon Pincott, an elephant conservationist who monitored a clan of elephants in Hwange for 13 years, said: “What Zimbabwe is doing may be legal but it is in no way ethical, especially given all we know about elephant families today: their deep family bonds, their indisputable level of intelligence, the way they grieve.”

Patricia Awori of the African Elephant Coalition (AEC) Secretariat, a coalition of 29 countries that has proposed a ban on the export of African elephants outside their natural range, said: “The essence of being an elephant is that they live, function within and are shaped by their environment. Foraging for and consuming food, rolling in the mud, and frolicking with its siblings is an essential part of being an elephant. An elephant that ceases to be wild ceases to be.”

OIPA sent an official lettre to the Zimbabwe Government asking to stop the elephants trade. Those beautiful wild animals must be protected not traded.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

• Send a letter of protest
• Raise awareness among your community on this issue, CLICK HERE
• Read more about elephants, CLICK HERE
• Get Involved with OIPA, CLICK HERE
• Support OIPA, CLICK HERE

L'articolo ZIMBABWE SEND 35 LIVE ELEPHANTS TO WILDLIFE PARKS IN CHINA proviene da OIPA.

In China, dogs are often seen as food and there’s even a highly controversial annual dog meat festival called the Yulin Dog Meat Festival where nearly 10,000 dogs are slaughtered each year. And the dog meat traders who are responsible for gathering that many dogs are known for subjecting the poor animals to unbelievable cruelty.

Recently, a heartless meat trader in China began hunting a dog on the street with arrows. But even after being shot twice in his side, the extremely bloody dog was still managing to stand. Thankfully, a dog lover named Qiao Wei had witnessed the sick attack, and rescued the injured pup before it was too late.

Wei gently picked the dog up and rushed him to a veterinarian in central China. Once at the vet, the team took x-rays to determine the severity of the damage, and managed to remove the two arrows safely. Now, the dog is being cared for by the Qimin Animal Protection Association and is finally getting a chance to heal.

This very sad episode is unfortunately not an isolated case, OIPA beleives that investing in education and raising population awareness on dog welfare is the key to protect those animals.

Many Chinese citizens at the moment owns dogs as pets, which means that people is starting to care more about these animals. Cruel slaughtering and mistreatments on dogs are becoming very unpopular. However still a lot need to be done and we beleive in education and young generation’s engagement.

OIPA China is promoting a project which aims to building shelters for stray dogs in schools, in order to involve students, volunteers and their families. The project will take care of strays providing food, spay/neuter actions, vet assistance and promoting adoptions.

Contact: Simon Kwok, china@oipa.org

L'articolo CHINA, DOG STRUCK WITH ARROWS BY DOG MEAT HUNTER RECOVERS AT SHELTER proviene da OIPA.

The project aims at providing solution for the international strays issue through the development of good quality dog shelters and adoption in schools. Schools would be the best place as shelter for strays, as it provides safety and care.  In the process, students could learn how to care and respect animals.  It would develop to be the culture of schools.  Every year, international stray ambassadors will be selected.  New generation leaders of animal welfare will assist to promote the awareness of the needs of strays in the community in different countries.

OIPA is going to launch this project in China and other Asian countries, including Korea, Vietnam and Indonesia, which have serious problem on dog meat consumption. We hope the project can spread all over the world.

A similar shelter was created in China in Tianjin Normal University in December 2015. The little shelter has been built in the garden of the University and the project started because the university has occurred strays biting students incidents. The head of the security department did not think it was a good idea just to kill the strays, so he initiated to setup the shelter.  He thought it can build up a better culture in the university.
Until now, it has accommodated over 50 dogs and most were adopted by students.
More and more student volunteers will assist the guards to clean the shelters, bathe the dogs and bring food for the dogs. Male and female dogs are separated. A stray organization provides vaccinations, spay and neuter. Students are not allowed to adopt the dog to keep it in the dormitory, but only in their home.

*pictures from Tianjin Normal University Shelter

OIPA would like to launch this project and start from an educational place as schools to promote a culture of broad animal respect and proper dog managing. In the project the local Chinese population will be engaged and the animals will have a better chance to be adopted. Furthermore, the project involves the young citizens (students) which means that future generations may be much more sensitive to the stray issue and may have a better knowledge of dog managing.

After years of campaigning and petitions the situation of dogs in China has not changed much, therefore we believe that acting at the local level and involving the Chinese population is essential to reach good results on the long run.

The first province interested in the project will be Guangdong, where OIPA will start building the first shelters.

SUPPORT OIPA CHINA PROJECT, MAKE A DONATION

Get involved contacting OIPA China representative Mr. Simon: china@oipa.org

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L'articolo OIPA CHINA – SHELTERS FOR STRAY DOGS IN SCHOOLS, A WHOLE NEW WAY TO CARE FOR ANIMALS proviene da OIPA.

 The Yulin dog meat festival is being widely protested and condemned by local animal activists and western countries. They largely focus on the depressing cruelty to dogs.  These tortures and sufferings are heart breaking, as most of them affect dogs that are friends and family members. But stressing animal cruelty only escalates continuing conflict and confrontation between the two sides. A new campaign direction will be needed to change the situation.

Public Health is a universal concern. It draws people and government together to preserve a healthy living environment, and could help gain greater support for ending the dog meat trade, while lessening conflict.  Animal activists have raised the spread of rabies as a potential risk caused by the dog meat issue. Reports of other possible harmful effects of dog meat to health are also found.   These health issues would powerfully convince the government and people to stop eating dog meat, if more solid evidence is available. The benefit of this campaign direction will be based on objective fact and evidence, not on the subjective cultural value, emotion and personal preference which would divide people.

Rabies

China has the second highest rabies death rate in the world (1). It is estimated of owning 92.5 millions street dogs and 27.5 millions pet dogs (2).  According to statistics, around 1,500 persons died of rabies per annum in the recent years and it is decreasing to 744 persons in 2015.  There was a peak over 3,300 cases in 2007 (3).  The local government just simply slaughtered a large number of dogs in the region once rabies was found.  Sadly, the origin of these animal-related health disasters, also like plague, AIDS, mad cow disease and SARS, would be owing to pollution and the destroying of the environment by humans.  Animals carrying the virus are just victims and scapegoat.  Indeed, mankind should hold the responsibility.  An in-depth study to find the root cause of the rabies is necessary.

Ministry of Health report shows that four provinces (Guizhou, Guangxi, Hunan and Guangdong) compose 64% rabies in China (Table 1), and these areas are where many people favor to eat dog meat.  Table 2 shows Guangxi alone accounts for about 15% of rabies death in China.

Table 1: Provinces with highest rabies cases in 2005

*Total China rabies cases in 2005 was 2,571 cases, 4 provinces sharing 64%.

        Table 2: Guangxi rabies death cases

No evidence can prove that people eating dog meat will contract rabies, but there are some possible reasons why this may cause rabies.   It is obvious if large number of dogs are kept in Guangxi, rabies risk will be higher.  Report indicates that those people transporting, getting dogs out from the cages, slaughtering and butchery and cooking dog meat, etc. may expose high risk to rabies (4), as they are more likely to get dog bite and scratch and rabies virus keeps staying around them.  Another reason is rabies vaccine is not widely used.  Stray and rural dogs would certainly have much higher rabies risk.  Finally, the high death rate is partly due to people not taking proper treatment after dog bite.  As per analysis, the correlation between dog meat industry and rabies exists.

Cancer

Apart from rabies, the report reveals that dog meat put Guangxi people to have the highest morbidity rate of cancer in China.  People in the city have a morbidity rate of 29.38% and in the rural area of 47.73%.  In Yulin, that rate even increases to 78.89%.  Liver cancer, gastric and lung cancer are the most common forms.  In 2015, 80,000 people died of cancer in Guangxi and 130,000 new cases were found(5).  If these figures are accurate and evidence can be found about its relationship with dog meat, it will be a strong signal for Guangxi and all dog meat eating people about the fatal consequence of that action.

Dog meat with poison

Animal activists have shown that the source of dog meat mostly is stolen pets. Dog thieves will inject dogs with poison to kill them. There was a case in which a dog thief injected poison himself accidentally and it killed him shortly afterwards (6).  It demonstrates that such poison is fatal for humans too.  Unfortunately, these dogs with poison will be put together for customers and it is a serious food safety issue.

Food Safety Control

In the past years, media exposed many unsafe and even dangerous food, such as baby milk powder and food oil.  Chinese people are now very conscious about food safety including the food source, ingredients, authorities approval, etc.  According to the China Food Safety Law section 55 Restaurant…cannot use food materials which do not meet the food safety standard.  It explains in section 34 No.7 Poultry, livestock, animals, seafood and its products which died of illness, poison and unknown reason. Also, No. 8 Any meat and its products which has no quarantine or fail in quarantine.  Obviously, dog meat in the restaurants is illegal.  However, the government does not intervene too much, since these businesses are legal enterprises and they contribute to paying tax. They may even be considered as reducing the number of dogs and lowering the risk of rabies.

Global spread risk

Dog meat is not only consumed in China.  Exporting and illegal smuggling dog meat is prevailing in Asian countries.  In 2015, news reported that Japan imported 80,000 tons of dog meat for the supply of Korean restaurants.   Other countries may import dog meat as well, but it is unknown if such dog meat is safe and approved by authorities.

In the past, human-to-human rabies transmission cases are rare.  Nowadays, people can move to different countries easily.  If rabies virus transforms like the SARS virus and it becomes communicable among people, it will possibly spread rabies from rural to high density urban cities.  People should still remember the lesson of the SARS outbreak in China and globally in 2003.   Public health disasters have taken thousands of lives and caused millions of dollars in economic loss.  Governments, authorities and international organizations should closely monitor the dog meat export and spread of rabies to avoid another health disaster in future.

Conclusion

People eat dog meat  because they believe that it contributes to health benefits.  They would be insensitive to anything about animal cruelty and even claim that it is their culture and personal right to eat dog meat which should be respected.  They say that dog is edible just like chicken, pig and cow.  However, everyone would prefer to take clean, safe and healthy food and avoids food not knowing where it comes from, has no quarantine and has potential risk to personal and public health.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that every year there are over 55,000 people who die of rabies globally.  Mostly are in the rural regions of Africa and Asia (7).  The WHO jointly with other organizations target to reach zero human rabies death in 2030 (8), but dog meat consumption countries, like China, Indonesia, Vietnam, etc. would be a great hindrance to eliminate rabies, unless people stop eating dog meat.

To end the Yulin dog meat festival and stop people eating dog meat needs a very good reason.  It also needs a reputable authority who can show all the facts and evidence of the terrifying public health issue to the government and people in the dog meat industry and the consumers, proving that dog meat will endanger their personal and public health.  The Chinese government and the people would then be more happier to accept the necessity and support ending Yulin dog meat festival.  Nowadays, China is the respectful world leader.  It’s her time to lead their people and other countries to stop eating dog meat and to build a healthy world for the humans, the animals and the next generations.

Acknowledgments

Thank you for animal activists who contributed to share opinions and give support to the article.

                     * John Dally, Co-founder of Soi Dog Foundation

                     * Lewis Bollard

                     * Jeffrey Beri

References:

(1) WHO website

(2) Report by Humane Society International

(3) Ministry of Health report

(4) Report by Change for Animals

(5) China web news referring to Ministry of Health report

(6) Today’s Headlines (China web news)

(7) WHO website

(8) WHO website

L'articolo Dog meat threatening Public Health in China proviene da OIPA.

We had already talked about the Granview Aquarium of the city of Guangzhou in China, where Pizza, an adult polar bear is kept alone in a cage, and exposed to visitors and flash photos.

Now it opens a chance for the saddest bear of the world, as he was dubbed after the video of his terrible linving conditions have been shown to the world.

An incredible opportunity came from Yorkshire Wildlife Park in the UK: the Park offer a new home to the lonely bear. The Park, located in South Yorkshire, offered to take the bear from Granview Aquarium and transfer to his facility. There Pizza would receive not only the necessary care, but he would also be part of a community of bears.

The Yorkshire Wildlife Park request foresees that the Chinese property does not replace Pizza with another bear or animal. The cost of the transfer would be shared between the two structures.

Many pressures have been made by Chinese citizens and by the Association Animal Asia, which is supported by OIPA, in order to closed the zoo. Meanwhile, we hope that the polar bear could find the new and more welcoming home.

If the offer is accepted, Pizza will live in a habitat designed for polar bears, in a 10-acre park with two lakes available.

___________________________________________________________________

Trapped in dirty and little cages in Grandview Aquarium in China those animals are kept in terrible conditions.

It’s happening in Guangzhou, in China – a Zoo in a shoppingcenter host foxes, polar bears, a white wolf, and other species.

The Association Animal Asia is working with local authorities to improve the welfare of animals and at the moment after months of pressures and petitions the owner of the Zoo decide to start a dialogue with Animal Welfare Associations to find a way to improve the animal conditions in the zoo.

The animals are in concrete cages, with no lights except the flashes of the photos.
OIPA International is supporting Animal Asia to end this abuses.

The pictures of the polar bear shows the sufference of this animal, which normally needs big spaces where he can hunt, swim and run. In the zoo visitors keep taking pictures and knocking at the window disturbing the animal.

Zoo are always sad places for animals, trapped in little unnatural cages, but this one is really one of the worst we’ve ever seen.

Apparently those animals do not have even veterinary care, and some indiscretions revealed that few of them already died and have been substituted.

OIPA International condamn this treatments, animals can not be use for entertainment, they are living creatures and they have their own needs, they deserve to live free in their natural habitats and they can not be kept in cages as nice objects to be seen and showed to visitors.

This way to treat them is sad and completely unrespectful of whole natural lives.

L'articolo OIPA INTERNATIONAL ACTIONS: GRANDVIEW AQUARIUM, CHINA, ANOTHER SAD ZOO IN ASIA proviene da OIPA.

This massive slaughter of donkeys involves less controls on slaughter techniques and animal welfare conditions, especially in the rural areas. Therefore OIPA asks to the Burkinabe Government to take action and check over this situation.

L'articolo BURKINA FASO – DONKEY SKIN TRADE proviene da OIPA.

The local residents and festival organizers claim that the dogs are killed humanely and that “eating dog is no different from eating pork or beef”. Concerns over the preparation of the dogs have been fuelled by pictures that have circulated featuring two dogs in boiling water in China. It is claimed that this is because some Chinese prefer the taste of adrenaline-soaked meat. In some areas, dogs are beaten to death in order to release blood into the meat.

It is essential to take action to end this festival for several reasons:

• STOLEN PETS AND STRAY DOGS – There are not dog farms in China, which means that the dogs killed and eaten during the festival are stolen pets or stray dogs. The quality standards required for a dog farm is too high and would be too expensive, this is why dog farms do not exist.
• DISEASE SPREAD – Many stray dogs are captured, killed and eaten during the festival, but many of them are sick and have rabies which means that there is a risk for humans to contract rabies, too. Infact, China is the first country in the world for number of people with rabies, and the province of Guangxi (where the festival takes place) has the highest rate of people infected by this virus in the country. The contamination occurs during the contact whit infected dog still alive, not by eating the meat.
• TACKLE CRIMINALITY – During the festival the dog meat trade is a high profitable business and many pet owners are assaulted by thieves who stole their dogs. Three dogs of 15 kilos each could be worth even 150 euros.

This festival is a cruel tradition and international pressures are getting results, but still a lot needs to be done.

OIPA International is supporting Animal Asia Petition in order to stop the festival.

On the 21^st of June 2016 OIPA Italy will march in a public manifestation against the festival!

What you can do:

• Join the march in Milan (Italy)
• Start an event within your community to raise awareness on this issue!

Contact us to international@oipa.org

L'articolo THE YULIN FESTIVAL – SIGN THE LETTER TO END THE DOG MEAT TRADE! proviene da OIPA.