People Are So Full Of It. Tyson Chicken.

So, this past weekend I went on a Marine Biology trip with my college to Wallops Island, Virginia. It was a great trip in the educational aspect, but in the political and dramatic sense, it sucked. I go to a women's college and let's just say that's not by choice. I generally don't get along well with girls (notice I say girls, because so many lack maturity in various levels) and going on a trip with 21 of them basically sucked the life out of me. I mean, don't get me wrong, not everyone was bad. There were just a few that got on my nerves.

Okay, so let me get down to it. I'll be changing the names of said nerve-sticking girls in order to avoid "incrimination" or whatever.

So, I'm an outright, open vegetarian. Albeit, I am new to this whole vegetarian thing, but my reasons for being a vegetarian run very, very deep. As a person who is incredibly concerned with animal welfare, humane treatment, and conservation, I cannot allow myself to be a hypocrit and eat animals. I just can't. I wouldn't eat my best friend, Klause (my German Shepherd), so I won't eat any animal. Sounds simple right? I mean, how can I judge China for the way they treat their dogs and cats farmed for food when we do the same exact stuff (maybe not the same acts, but the same level of cruelty) to cows, pigs, sheep, chickens, turkeys, and over livestock? How could I judge them? I couldn't, because I would be a hypocrit then. However, since I neither support dog/cat farming or cow/chicken/pig/etc farming, I'm entitled to dislike many animal farming practices.

The first thing I gave up when I decided to lead a veggie-life was chicken and eggs. The inhumane treatment of these birds is so incredibly disgusting to me and I feel it may be the worst treatment of all farmed animals in the U.S.

So, on Wallop's Island, there is a Tyson Meat Chicken Farm. We (the class) we're in our van passing it on the last day of the trip and this girl, we'll call her "Chicken Girl", was sitting next to me. I've taken many classes with Chicken Girl throughout my years at Wilson College and we've always been friendly with one another. She is a Wolf enthusiast and I greatly support that mentality, considering my deep love for large carnivorous mammals. So, we've always gotten along until about a week before the Marine Bio trip when we got into a tiny dispute (nothing bad, we got over it by the next class). I am a follower and supporter of both PETA and HSUS. When she discovered this information, Chicken Girl turned her nose up and asked, "You don't really go with them, do you?". I, of course, said "Yeah.". I was suprised to hear the distate in her question considering PETA and HSUS are two of the biggest oppositions against the fur-trade that takes so many canid lives. After I answered her, Chicken Girl proceeded to comment, "You do realize PETA kills more animals than they save and HSUS only cares about the money they pocket..." I actually laughed. I mean, could she be more rediculous. That rumor has long been proven wrong. All animal-welfare groups are faced with intense ammounts of animal death due to the state many animals are found in. Also, adoptees are not always easy to find and, like in any Humane Society, many animals are euthanized. This is the unfortunate side of a humanity job and there is absolutely no reason people in or in support of PETA or HSUS should be blamed for that. I explained this to Chicken Girl and then we dropped the subject when class started.

Chicken Girl gets this name because she is blatantly outright about her love for chickens. She often mentions the 13 chickens she has cared for and raised. So, again I was shocked by her actions during the trip.

As we drove past the Tyson Chicken Farm, she asked what I guess was a hypathetical question, "I wonder if they keep the chickens in open pens or cages?"... Under my breath, I said "Cages.", because I knew even though they may be kept temporarily in a pen, they always end up in a tightly packed cage which leads to their slaughter. Chicken Girl wigs out, looking at me and says, "How do you know?!" and my response is a simple one: "It's a meat farm!".

So, ignorance is bliss, and Chicken Girl says, "You're just going to assume based on the outside?! They could be egg-layers or meat birds! You don't know!"...

Okay, seriously. How effin' retarded are you? Tyson does NOT process eggs or egg-laying birds. It is a meat industry! They make those chicken nuggets, patties, and strips that millions of Americans ingest daily. These Tyson factories supply for chains like KFC which does not involve eggs!

To avoid more drama, I don't say this to Chicken Girl. Instead I just stifle the argument and say, "Save it. Spare me." I look out the window, she crosses her arms and looks away. I'm sitting there thinking, "Whatever, she's not worth it and I don't have to explain this shit to her."

So, needless to say, Chicken Girl is not a vegetarian and is an outright meat-eating hypocrit.

After this, I thought the conversation was over. Then the other girls started talking about road kill and the various animals they've accidentally hit. Chicken Girl covers her mouth and winces, saying, "Can we not talk about road kill, I can't handle it."

The other girls ignore this and go on with their conversation, while I sit there thinking, "What a fucking hypocrit?" I don't say anything, until she asks again. That's when I lost it!

I was like, "Are you kidding me? You can't handle road kill but you're okay with the amassed chicken slaughter that goes on in chicken factories around the globe?"

She wigs out again and asks, "What's your problem?!"

My answer: "You're full of shit. I'm saying that you can't stand road kill but chicken slaughter is okay with you? Even though you consider them pets?"

Her answer: "No, I'm not okay with it. I hate it, but you still don't know what goes on in that factory."

I'm completely baffled and I just blurt out, "Yeah, I do. Chickens fuckin' die there! They are murdered in that factory so that you can eat a chicken strip."

Chicken Girl doesn't respond, but her friend (we'll call her "Animal Hunter Girl") turns away from her original conversation and says the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life. Animal Hunter Girl says, "Animals die in the wild, but you don't propell against the wild!"...

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Are you effin' kidding me?! IT'S THE WILD! That's how animals are supposed to be! They're not supposed to be factory farmed for our consumption!! They're supposed to be hunted by their NATURAL predators in their NATURAL food chain! That's why I don't "propel" against the wild. Not only does it not make sense, but the wild does not treat it's inhabitants with such disrespect and inhumane treatment!

It's so stupid. I mean, Chicken Girl is clearly a gigantic hypocrit! She considers her chickens to be pets and for sure, would not eat them. She hates the amassed chicken slaughter, but still eats them! I mean, what the hell? Could she be more full of crap?

If you're going to stand for something, stand for it! Don't frickin' flip flop. If you're going to support chicken slaughter, support all chicken slaughter including your own.

So, now that that is said and done. I tell you all everything I wanted to tell her, but didn't to avoid drama.

Tyson factories throughout the world don't just have inhumane treatment problems, they have many others. They have been fined many times for illegal dumpage of pollutants (chicken feces) and for their extreme fumes that polute the air and water. Discharge of ammonia has become a very controversial subject for Tyson. Tyson has also been documented for hiring illegal immigrants to lower labor costs. This qualifies as a human right's issue.

As for the animal issues, Tyson has been investigated multiple times for inhumane treatment and slaughtering methods. 100,000 chickens die everyday in large Tyson factories. How do they die?

• throat cutting machines that may not always kill right away due to malposition
• if the chickens miss the throat cutting machines, workers are then instructed to rip their heads off
• chickens who don't die automatically from the throat cutting machines are then sent through the feather removal tank where they are scalded alive
• canibalization by other birds
• starvation due to lack of space to move or inability to move when too overgrown or heavy in weight
• workers will even toss arround dead birds just for fun

How the hell is this humane? These poor birds only live for two months in poor quality confinement. They are surrounded by their own feces, which is only cleaned out once every 18 months. A typical Tyson factory farm hold 24,000 or more chickens. Each bird is only granted 0.7 square feet of floor space, which isn't even big enough for their bodies. They are packed in like sardines. The crowding makes it impossible to move and that lack of movement encourages growth and weight gain.

These chickens are bred to grow quickly, specifically in the breast area to provide more expensive cuts of meat. Their breast muscles may become too large and heavy to hold themselves up and walk. This ultimately leads to starvation. Five times a day, workers must walk the enclosures to check for dead birds that would be canibalized if left behind.

Many of the chickens on these factory farms have inflamed patches of skin from sitting in their own and their neighbor's feces. These raw patches attract pecking from other birds.

Imagine this kind of life. Unable to move. Unable to eat. Constantly covered in feces. Pecked at by other birds. Covered in raw patchy skin that cannot heal due to their treatment. Living only two months and then having their necks sliced, being boiled alive, having their heads ripped off, or starving.

How could anyone support that?! And consider their own chickens exhempt from the rule. Or consider road kill worse that the horrible chicken slaughter in our country?

Chicken Girl, you are so full of shit. I can smell you from here. Take your hypocrisy elsewhere. I wish you could experience what those birds experience. I wish you could face that throat cutting machine. Let's see what you have to say then, because right now, you're nothing but a moron.

And the funniest thing is you never thought someone would call you out on it? I mean come on, you picked the wrong one to start with. Ignorance and hypocrisy must be bliss for you. At least, then you can pretend to be okay with yourself.

I hate hypocrits...

Thanks for reading,

Ashley

Human Crimes Against Wildlife (Inhumanity) 4

Hello again,

I don't think it's any suprise as to what these blogs are about anymore. Having written the past three blogs of this series, I am now 100% sure that there is nothing a human won't do to harm something or someone else. However, in my recent work with the Ursa Freedom Project and Animals Asia, I am also 100% sure that there is nothing we animal-loving conservationist won't do to protect our animals and this planet.

It is shocking to me how many people despise us, calling us Eco-Terrorists. Peoples' response to PETA and HSUS, especially, is a complete shocker to me. People act as though these groups are the devil. This whole theory that PETA and HSUS kill more animals than they save is complete and utter bogus. Unfortunately, any humane society- any animal welfare group is faced with death. Animals who don't get adopted are euthanized... this is fact. It sucks, but it's true. This is the truth for many organizations. Even Animals Asia is faced with death in their line of work. Every bear they rescue from bile farms are put through a life-saving operation that could both save their lives and take it. Many bears cannot survive this operation, but this operation does save more lives than it takes. It is crazy to me how many people judge these organizations.

Having said all of this, I'm going to move on to the real purpose of this blog. This blog will cover Circuses and Cock Fighting.

So, here we go...

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10. Circuses - yet another global problem, Circuses are absolutely disgusting displays of cruelty. Caged animal psychosis, abuse, neglect, humiliation, exposure to elements while traveling and over winter, insufficient housing, activity, and socialization, and basically, the lack of meaningful lives.

These circus acts are not what people think they are. They are not these amazing acts of animals doing cool tricks. These tricks are not enjoyable for the animals and they can barely comprehend them. The people who consider themselves "Trainers" are nothing more than abusive animal-beaters who routinely beat, shock, and whip captive animals to make them do rediculous things that have nothing to do with their natural behavior. The life of animals in circuses is one of violence and intimidation. These animals are incredibly intelligent and sensitive beings and the way they are treated is so inherently wrong that it is shocking to me that this practice still exists.

Apart from the violence, the circus also harms animals by depriving them of the little things they need to live happy lives. They are deprived of exercise and their ability to roam, socialize, forage, and play. Many circus animals have been observed portraying stereotypical behaviors such as swaying back and forth, head-bobbing, pacing, and bar-chewing. They will also self-mutulate due to the mental distress these animals are forced to deal with.

Personally, I find the circuses highly disturbing. Animals are not meant to ride motorcycles, balance on balls, or to walk tight ropes. These magnificent creatures are meant to be natural. Why do people go to zoos where the animals are put in as-close-to-natural habitats? So, they can see the animals being natural!!! Circuses are disgusting and the people who pay to see them are just as disgusting.

Animals are not ours for entertainment. They never will be. Sweden, Austria, Costa Rica, India, Finland, and Singapore have all banned the use of animals in entertainment.

Possibly the worst example of cruelty in the circus ring is the way elephants are treated. These gigantic, beautiful creatures don't deserve this. Trainers dominate elephants and make them perform circus tricks by sinking a bullhook, a sharp metal hook with a spiked end, into the elephant's sensitive skin. They wait to hear the poor elephant scream, so that they know they've got the elephant's attention. An elephant's skin is just as sensitive as human's skin and the bullhook bruises, punctures, and tears the elephant's skin very easily like a knife through butter. It is said that circuses will keep bads of topsoil handy to cover up bloody bullhook wounds on the poor elephants.

In 2006, Ringling was cited for causing trauma, behavioral stress, physical harm, and discomfort to two young elephants who sustained cuts and abrasions when they ran amok in an arena in Puerto Rico. Ringling has also been warned by the USDA for causing trauma and stress to two baby elephants who suffered painful rope lesions when they were prematurely pulled from their mother. Many of Ringling's elephants are infected with or exposed to a human strain of tuberculosis.

In nature, elephants do not stand on their heads. They don't walk trunk-to-tail, skip, crawl, or twirl. Especially, adult female elephants do not mount one another. Tigers do not hop on their hind legs and roll over in unison.

These animals are forced to endure filthy conditions and long and hot rides in poorly ventilated boxcars when the circus travels. Elephants are chained in filthy boxcars for an average of 26 hours and as long as 60-100 hours at a time.

In July 2004, a two-year-old lion named Clyde died from heatstroke while the circus train crossed the Mojave Desert. This poor lion was not even provided with water and was left completely dehydrated.

In May 2004, two Ringling horses were struck by a freight train as they were being unloaded from the circus train near Dayton, Ohio. One horse died instantly and the other was euthanized at the scene.

In August 1998, a 12-year-old wild-caught sea lion named Gypsy was found dead in her transport container in Illinois. In the wild, sea lions can live to be 20-years-old.

In January 1998, Ringling trainer, Graham Chipperfield, shot a Bengal tiger named Arnie five times while locked in his cage in retaliation for attacking Graham's brother during a photo shoot.

These are only four of the hundreds of deaths caused by circus life. There is absolutely no excuse for this. It is completely rediculous that the U.S. continues to allow this to occur. I hate it.

11. Cock-Fighting - this... unbelievable... unbearable act of cruelty is beyond me! This act has spread to the global level and despite the fact that it's illegal in the U.S., it is still running rampant through the United States. Isn't the U.S. allllll about freedom? How about the freedom of these birds? Third-world countries are the major source of cockfighting.

Roosters are forced to fight each other, sustaining horrible injuries and often, death. These birds fight for years, only to be killed when they are retired. In the fighting ring, the birds are forced to wear artificial spurs, long, sharp, and dagger-like, that transform the bird's natural spur into knive which can cause maximum damage. These steel blades are shard enough to puncture a lung, pierce an eye, or break bones.

These fights can last as long as 15 minutes. One bird must die for a winner to be declared... however... both will likely die due to the injuries they sustain.

My Favorite Animals - The Amur (Siberian) Tiger

The Amur Tiger

(Panthera tigris altaica)

The world's largest, living cat is easily among my top favorite animals- if not my absolute favorite. Why? They're all of the things we, as humans, consider positive. They are absolutely gorgeous, unique, courageous, strong, fluffy, majestic, and just plain magnificent creatures.

The Amur Tiger is also known as the Siberian Tiger, which is an incorrect name due to the fact that this tiger does not live in Siberia and, instead, lives in the Amur-Ussuri region of Russia. A few of these cat may even stray along the northern Chinese and Korean border.

The Amur Tiger is the largest and heaviest of all the subspecies of tiger. They have extremely long, fine hair (in comparison to other subspecies) and a layer of fat to aid them in their survival of the heavy winters of Russia. These cats have a lighter-orange colored coat to help them blend into the snow. Their large paws make phenomenal snowshoes.

A typical male can weigh more than five-hundred pounds and measure nine-feet from nose to tail. Some extreme individuals can weigh over eight-hundred pounds and measure well over ten-feet long. These cats reach maturity at 3-5 years of age and have no particular mating season. Most cats are reflex ovulators, meaning they begin ovulating upon arousal. A female tiger will carry a litter of 1-4 cubs for three to three-and-a-half months. When the cubs are born they are both blind and deaf, completely defenseless for the first eight weeks of their life. They will stay with their mother until they are one-and-a-half to two-and-a-half years old. These cats are what you would call a K-Selected species, meaning they care for their young similarly to way we humans care for our young. They have a very involved parenting method and completely provide for their offspring for the first two years of their life.

It is believed that there are only 431-529 individuals left in the wild, making them extremely and critically endangered. Sadly, this isn't the worst it has been for these cats. In the 1940s, the Amur Tiger was on the brink of extinction. There were as few as 40 tigers remaining in the wilds of Russia. Fortunately, antipoaching and conservation efforts by the Russians and other groups, led to the recovery of the Amur Tiger population. This population has remained stable for the last decade or so...

but...

Poaching of both the tigers and their prey continues today. This along with increased logging, construction of roads, forest fires, and inadequate law enforcement may eventually lead to the extinction of this beautiful creature (whom I adore).

You're probably wondering why I adore them so... It is a pretty simple reason. There is nothing else like them in the world. Not even their own fellow subspecies are as large, as fluffy, or at all the same.

Here are some interesting facts about these cats. These are the things that make me love them so much.

An Amur Tiger can jump as far as 23 feet.

The Tungusic people who live in the same region as this tiger, refer to the tigers as "Old Man" or "Grandfather". These are terms of endearment and respect.

Only six incidents of man-eating involving these cats have been recorded in the whole of the last two centuries.

Siberian Tigers have been known to take down prey as large as Brown Bears.

Amur Tigers in the wild can live as long as 15 years, whereas in captivity, their lifespan is shorter.

In case of a fight, they warn the intruders beforehand by rattling their tails. Though a male tiger fights fiercely over its territory, it will not harm a female with cubs should she enter his territory.

The Amur Tiger once roamed historically all over Korea. Korea is the only country where the tiger is the center of its culture. Korean people believe they have a very close spiritual relationship with the tiger and have personified this relationship throughout history.

In one Korean myth, Korea's National Creation Myth, tells of a tiger and a bear who asked the son of the ruler of Heaven if he would make them human. The ruler of Heaven agreed under one circumstance. If they could endure 100 days in a cave with nothing but garlic and mugwort to eat, he would grant their request. The bear endured and became a beautiful woman, who gave birth to Tangum, the legendary father of Korea in 2333 BCE. But the tiger grew hungry and impatiant. The Amur Tiger left the cave early, unable to cope with the hunger and waiting. After this, the people believe that same tiger has been slinking through the Korean mountains ever since.

If you look deep into this myth, you can see why the bear outlasted the tiger. Tigers, like any cat, are true carnivores who need meat to survive. They lack the proper functions to digest vegetative matter. Bears however are omnivorous and carnivorous. The tiger could not survive simply on garlic and mugwort. The tiger was set up to lose.

In many Korean folktales, listeners are reminded of the constant conflict between tigers and humans. In these tales, the tiger, while often gullible, is also extremely terrifying and sometimes deceitful.

In one specific tale that tells of how the uneasy relationship between tigers and humans was successfully resolved by a change in the way people view these animals. In the story, a terrified woodsman was ambushed by a tiger. The woodsmen bowed deep and low to the animal and claimed the tiger as his long-lost brother. The tiger became confused, but somehow touched by the man's respect and lack of fear. He believed the woodsman and agreed not only to spare his life, but also to help him hunt for food from that day on.

It seems to me that the greatest way to understand a creature like this is through the eyes of the people around them- through their culture. The Koreans both cherish and adore their long-lost tigers. I wonder how they must feel about the use of their tiger's body parts by the Chinese... I think if Korea could speak out against Traditional Chinese Medicine, much could be done to save and perhaps return their national symbol.

"By the way, I tried to say, I'd be there... Waiting for..."

the return of the Amur Tiger...

I adore the Amur Tiger and I hope by reading this blog, you may learn to love them just as much. From their fluffy disposition to their big ol' paws, these cats represent everything I love and I for sure don't want to live in a world without them.

Let's find the love for the tiger again and bring them back...

Let's Fight To Get It Back Again!!!

Thanks for reading,

Ashley

Bio-Diversity Hotspot - California Floristic Province

Hello again,

today is going to be a more positive day. While I was drinking out of my Giant Panda cup, I decided to start a blog series on the natural beauty of our planet. This blog series will portray and narate the beauty of our planet's 34 biodiversity hotspot.

A biodiversity hotspot is a biogeographic region with a significant reservoir of biodiversity that is threatened with destruction. To qualify as a hotspot, a region must meet two strict criteria. Each hotspot must contain at least 1,500 species of endemic vascular plants. It also must have lost at least 70% of it's original habitat.

To me, hotspots serve as a catch-22. They are both incredibly beautiful and yet, not as beautiful as they once had been. They are incredibly diverse, but not as diverse as they used to be. We desperately want to protect them and yet, they are the most threatened environments on the planet.


For the first entry in this series, we're going to talk about the California Floristic Province. This is the only hotspot almost completely enclosed within U.S. borders and is one of only four hotspots in northern and central America.

As the name suggests, the California Floristic Province is throughout most of California. It is a zone of Mediterranean-type climate with high levels of plant endemism. This hotspot also holds a number of endemic species who are incredibly threatened.


This hotspot is incredibly affected by wilderness destruction caused by commercial farming. Half of all the agricultural products used by U.S. consumers come from the California Floristic Province. Much like any habitat, this hotspot is heavily threatened by human encroachment, pollution, and land disection.


At one point, the California Floristic Province, covered 293,804 square kilometers. Today, only 73,451 square kilometers remain. In this remaining land there are:

• 2,124 endemic plant species
• 4 threatened endemic bird species
• 5 threatened endemic mammal species
• 8 threatened endemic amphibian species
• 2 extinct species
• 108,715 square kilometers of protected land!!!

This hotspot is incredibly unique, being as it is one of only five areas with Mediterranean-type climate throughout the world. It is characterized by hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters. Types of eco-systems are incredibly vast, including all of the following:

• sagebrush steppe
• prickly pear shrubland
• coastal sage scrub
• chaparral
• juniper-pine woodland
• upper montane-subalpine forest
• alpine forest
• riparian forest
• redwood forests
• mixed evergreen forests
• Douglar fir forests
• sequoia forests
• coastal dunes
• salt marshes

Mediterranear-type ecosystems are distinguished more by the endemism of its plants that its animals. 3,500 species of vascular plants thrive in this hotspot. Of those 3,500, over 2000 of them are endemic to the hotspot.

The California Floristic Province is home to the following regions:

THE SIERRA NEVADAS














THE TRANSVERSE RANGES OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

THE KLAMATH-SISKIYOU REGION

and THE CALIFORNIA COAST RANGES

The California Floristic Province is home to these spectacular endemic tree species:

• THE GIANT SEQUOIA (Sequoiadendron giganteum)
• and THE COASTAL REDWOOD (Sequoia sempervirens)

Picture (Giant Sequoia)

The California Floristic Province is home to these spectacular endemic birds:

• THE GUADALUPE JUNCO (Junco insularis)
• THE EXTINCT GAUDALUPE CARACARA (Polyborus lutosus) and THE GUADALUPE STORM-PETREL
• and the largest North American Bird anc critically endangered CALIFORNIA CONDOR (Gymnogyps californianus)

Photo (California Condor)

The California Floristic Province is home to these spectacular mammals:

• THE KIT FOX (Vulpes macrotis)
• THE ISLAND FOX (Urocyon littorialis)

Photo (Kit Fox)

• ROOSEVELT'S ELK (Cervus elaphus roosevelt)
• TULE ELK (Cervus elaphus nannodes)

Photo (Roosevelt's Elk)

• and once provided a home for THE GRIZZLY BEAR (Ursu arctos), THE GREY WOLF (Canis lupus), THE JAGUAR (Panthera onca), and THE BISON (Bison bison)

Photo(Jaguar)

The California Floristic Province is home to these spectacular reptiles:

• THE COAST-PATCHED NOSE SNAKE (Salvadora hexalepis virgultea)
• THE RED-DIAMOND RATTLESNAKE (Crotalus ruber)
• and THE WESTERN RINGNECK SNAKE (Diadophis punctatus)

Photo (Red-Diamond Rattlesnake)

The California Floristic Province is home to these spectacular amphibians:

• Batrachoseps genus of SALAMANDER
• and THE RARE ARROYO SOUTHWESTERN TOAD (Bufo californicus)

Photo (Arroyo Southwestern Toad)

The California Floristic Province is home to these freshwater fishes:

• LAMPREY SPECIES

Photo (Lamprey)

Human Crimes Against Wildlife (Inhumanity) 3

Back again! I'm here to face the ugly truth- to face the ugliness of our human race.

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