Kim Stallwood

Shocking new ADI cruelty exposé shames UK circus industry from Animal Defenders on Vimeo.

Frightened Panda clings to Policeman's leg after the Earthquake in Japan.

LINK

Here’s a link to a report posted by Ric O’Barry about dolphins who were subject to an international campaign, including the film “The Cove.” The volunteers are safe but the dolphins were killed by the tsunami.

One of the council chiefs who earned more than the Prime Minister has been appointed director of the League Against Cruel Sports. Joe Duckworth, former head of Newham council in east London, was the second biggest earner in a survey of local authority fat cats conducted last year, with a salary of £241,483. He resigned abruptly in July, but is set to replace Douglas Batchelor as chief executive of the LACS. Batchelor, who retires this summer, caused some controversy as the charity’s only employee to earn more than £60,000. Accounts show that he takes home between £110,000 and £120,000 – plenty, given that the LACS only spends £2.25m per year. A spokeswoman declines to say whether Duckworth will get the same when he joins, though she helpfully points out that whatever he gets, it will be a significant pay cut, and that anyway “he cares passionately about the charity

Matthew Bell: The Independent on Sunday Diary

Further to Jonathan Porritt’s critique of the UK’s environmental movement’s response to the government’s forest fireside sale which is now been chopped (forgive the puns), he commented (before the government’s u-turn announcement yesterday) further about their response to the coalition’s initiative. I like his strategic approach.

So my simple suggestion for the Big 10 is this: start all over again, but urgently. Develop a joint position to maximise the massive leverage that your collective membership still commands.

Then approach Mrs Spelman with a deal: if she withdraws the relevant clauses in the Public Bodies Bill, you will hold back from launching a national, joint, high-profile campaign to oppose the current proposals root and branch – in effect, to take on some of the heavy-lifting that has been carried so far by 38 Degrees and some brilliant local campaigns.

In return, you offer to work with Defra, the Forestry Commission and representatives of local action groups to come up with some genuinely radical proposals on how best to improve and extend the Public Forest Estate, how best to involve community groups, NGOs and the private sector, how best to turn the turgid rhetoric about the “Big Society” into a living, breathing blueprint for sustainable forestry in the UK over the next 20/30 years.

And this might well include creative ideas about different patterns of ownership, different ways of optimising public benefit, and indeed different ways of improving the conditions of the 60% of privately owned woodlands in England that are already poorly managed from a commercial point of view and are providing zero public benefit.

Leading environmental campaign Jonathon Porritt critically assesses a dozen of Britain’s environmental/green/wildlife non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and their reaction to the British Government’s proposed sale of historic forests.

A combination of growing public concern (evidenced by the 450,000 people who have now signed the 38 degrees petition), more and more local action groups, and a sudden realisation on the part of the Lib Dems and even some Tories that they are on a hiding to nothing with this one, tells me that this campaign is eminently winnable. Especially if you bear in mind that not one of the major environmental NGOs has so much as lifted a finger in support of the campaign. A few cautious ‘words of warning’ when pressed, but nothing that anyone else would recognise as a campaign. Why not?

Incredibly, the pro-hunting and pro-shooting Countryside Alliance produces a film in support of shooting birds in Britain which does not include one image of a bird being shot. Lot’s statements and images in this film which underscore why shooting birds is indefensible.

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YouTube Direkt

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YouTube Direkt

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YouTube Direkt

Not satisfied with wanting foxes, stags, deer and hares to be hunted legally by pledging support for the repeal of the Hunting Act, Hastings and Rye MP, Amber Rudd, now wants to see Britain’s beloved badgers killed next.

On November 29 I wrote to Amber this letter on the government’s proposed badger cull. I concluded,

I ask respectfully that you reply by stating clearly your position on this issue, including whether you are for or against the government’s proposed badger cull and why.

As is clear from her response reproduced in full below, her failure to answer directly my question can only mean she supports the government’s plan to kill badgers. If, indeed, this is incorrect I invite Amber to email me directly. I pledge to publish in full here any clarification of her position.

Thank you for contacting me about the control of bovine TB.

Bovine TB is having a devastating effect on many farm businesses and families. Thousands of cattle are slaughtered each year at huge financial and emotional cost to farmers. Last year over 25,000 cattle were slaughtered in England because of the disease.

The cost to the taxpayer of controlling bovine TB in England was over £63million in 2009/10 (excluding scientific research). These costs are rising year by year. Eradicating bovine TB is our long term goal, but it is clear that the approach to date has failed. We need to take additional measures urgently to stop the disease spreading and to start to reverse the rising trend.

No single measure will be enough to tackle the disease on its own. We need to use every tool in the toolbox. However, the science is clear, there is no doubt that badgers are a significant reservoir for the disease and without taking action to control the disease in them, it will continue to spread. That is why the Coalition Government committed, as part of a package of measures, to developing affordable options for a carefully-managed and science-led policy of badger control in areas with high and persistent levels of bovine TB.

Defra is currently running a public consultation on “Bovine Tuberculosis: The Government’s approach to tackling the disease and consultation on a badger control policy”. This consultation will run until 8 December.

A decision on our approach will be taken following the consultation on badger control. The Government intends to publish a comprehensive and balanced bovine TB eradication programme early in 2011.

Kind regards,

Amber