We sit around and dare to call ourselves civilized... civilized? Sure, we can build building. We can drive cars and communicate with one another. Yet, we refuse to communicate with the other creatures of our planet. Instead, we destroy them and try to justify the complete torture of so many animals.
Out of all the things you've read here, what can you point out as civilized, because I can't do it...
- Trapping - uncivilized... wrong. 18 different kinds of retarded
- Innocent Slaughter of Chicks - uncivilized... bull.
- Aligator Hooking - uncivilized... please, are you kidding me?
- Dolphin Slaughter - absolutely not...
- and the list goes on... and on... and on...
Where do you see civilized? I see... sick, disgusting, heartless, cruel, unusual, insanity, hate, and ignorance. Nothing civilized at all.
Well... Moving on. Today, we're going to take a look into Canine Distemper Outbreaks/Epidemics and Canned Hunting
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8. Canine Distemper Outbreaks/Epidemics - this can and may be a global problem, but as of right now, it is most destructive in Africa. When you think of Distemper, what image is put into your mind? Sick little puppies. I get the same image, but what's shocking is, it's not just dogs anymore. Canine Distemper Virus (CDV) has been making the jump across species for many years now and the species it has begun to affect may suprise you.
Species affect by CDV have now began to include Lions, Spotted Hyenas, African Wild Dogs, and several species of Seals. While these are the ones affected, they aren't the only carriers. Virus sequences have been found in ferrets, leopards, racoons, mink, panda, red panda, javelina, foxes, Baikal and Caspian Seals. CDV in wild carnivore populations is usually fatal.
How did this happen? The spread and incidences of CDV epidemics are increasing due to the globalization and the rise of domestic and feral dog populations associated with growing human populations, especially where these impinge on undisturbed habitats. Basically, due to our (the human race) lack of responsibility and faulty ownership practices, we have helped start the flow of a viral epidemic.
In 1994, CDV hit lions in Tanzania's Serengeti National Park. This killed up to one-third of all the lions in the reserve. A once healthy population of 3,000 plummetted to 2,000 in one year. It was a full blown epidemic that caused the death of an already endangered animal. As well as in the wild, CDV killed lions at three U.S. zoos but did not develop into an epidemic. Shortly after, the virus spread to the Maasai Mara National Reserve (the reserve seen on Animal Planet's Big Cat Diaries) and by the end of the year, 30% of the lions in both parks had died.
As well as Lions, the Black-Footed Ferret who was critically endangered in the 1980s was affected drastically by a specific variant of CDV. This variant nearly caused the extinction of the Black-Footed Ferret. A few years later, this variant killed large numbers of seals and dolphins.
It is believed that CDV first made the jump to Spotted Hyenas, a close relative to the typical canid, and then spread to the lions.
What does CDV look like? Many animals show similar signs when affected with CDV. These symptoms include becoming very skinny, uncoordinated, and unresponsive. As well as this, they have seizures, twitching, and convulsions.
Luckily for the lions and mostly thanks to Mother Nature's design, lions don't make good hosts for CDV. The CDV epidemics don't last long in lion population due to the infected animals either dying or developing antibodies for lifetime immunity. As well, lions only have a few cubs, making it difficult to spread considering 50% of all cubs die within the first year.
Why should we care? Because it is mostly our faults. If we took care of our pets and had them tested and vaccinated regularly, we wouldn't have these epidemics or these problems in non-host animals who include some of the most endangered animals on our planet. African Wild Dogs, Lions, Black-Footed Ferrets, and Caspian Seals to name a few.
Let this remind you to take your household dog to the vet and to keep it inside as much as possible where it cannot contract the virus and spread to other animals. Whether you live in Africa or America, take responsibility for your pets.
9. Canned Hunting - a global problem, including the U.S. and the U.K., canned hunting comes in many forms. - -trophy aerial hunting
- -canned animal 'hunts' on game ranches
- -live captive turkey shoots
- -gamebird (pheasant and partridge) shoots a.k.a. Cheney Specials
- -live pigeon shoots
- -captive lion hunt in South Africa
Hunters say the thrill of hunting comes from the chase not from the kill, but the booming canned hunt business seems to say the exact opposite. This shameful practice is nothing more that just killing for the sheer pleasure of it. This business is supported by cowardly people who are too lazy to actually hunt and just want to shoot fish in a barrel. Regular hunters despise this practice. In Britain, about 40 million pheasants and partridges are mass-produced like America's commercial poultry all so that they can be shot down by wealthy pricks with guns. From birth, these birds are kept in a cage, shed, or pen where they are exposed to death and disease on a daily basis. They don't know what to do when they're set free; all they know is that they're scared and for a good reason, because in about 3 minutes after release, they'll be gunned down for no reason at all.
Canned hunts are held at private trophy hunting facilities. Shooted pay to kill both exotic and native animals including endangered species. These animals are trapped in fenced enclosures and cannot escape. Shocking? Oh, it gets worse. Despite the fact that they're already in a enclosure and cannot escape, these game farms use bait to lure animals to a location where a shooter waits. How is this sportsmanship?
Where do these animals come from? Animals on canned hunts often come from private breeders, animal dealers, cricuses, and even zoos The animals (99% of the time) have been hand-raised and bottle-fed, making them no longer fear people. Who are the victims?
- African Leopards - endangered
- Exotic Cats like Servals, Caracal, and Golden Cats
- Bengal Tigers - critically endangered
- Grizzly Bears - endangered
- Scimitar-Horned Oryx - extinct in the wild
- Addax - critically endangered
- California Bighorn Sheep - critically endangered
- European Bison - critically endangered
- Pere David Deer - critically endangered
- Dama Gazelle - endangered
- Nubian Ibex - endangered
- Arabian Oryx - endangered
- Arabian Markhor - endangered
- Blackbuck - near threatened
- Bongo - near threatened
- Aoudad - vulnerable
- Eld's Deer - vulnerable
- Barasingha - vulnerable
- African Lion - vulnerable and endangered
- Mouflon - vulnerable
- Yak - vulnerable
- Tahr - vulnerable
Despite this, these animals are shot regularly on canned hunts. AND WHY DO THEY LOOK SO EFFIN' HAPPY?!?! It's disgusting.
Half-a-million so-called 'hunters' pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to some 4,000 canned hunt promoters in the U.S. alone. This is all to be sure of a kill - even if the chase only consists of poking the barrel of your gun through a cage. A person will pay almost $6,000 to kill a captive lion 'with a good mane'.
In a canned hunt, animals are fenced in or kept in cages until a "hunter" calls for the release. The enclosures may be smaller than an acre where the animal can only run in circles without an escape route. These animals are fired upon at nearly point blank range to ensure the "sportman" his kill. Accoarding to Bill Talkin of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, "None of the animals got more than 100 feet from the cage when they were shot." Where do you see sportmanship?!?!
The most popular form of canned hunting in the U.S. is captive bird shooting. About 55 million tame birds are killed in canned hunts each year. President George Bush Snr. celebrated his election in 1988 with a bird-killing spree in Beeville Texas. When questioned, Bush proclaimed, "These aren't animals, these are wild quail!". This the same type of 'hunt' Dick Cheney shot his friend in the face during.
What's worse? IN MY HOME STATE!!! In Pennsylvania, cowardly 'hunters' slaughter harmless pigeons and shoot turkeys bread in cages and chained to tires. This happens every year... and yet! It is still allowed- still legal.
HOW IS THIS CIVILIZED!?!?
If anyone can explain that to me, I'll commend you for at least having the balls, despite the fact that you're lacking the brains or heart to see how immoral this is.
Thanks for reading,
Ashley
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