Did you know…?
1
The coronavirus lockdown may have been unnecessary, says FREDERICK FORSYTH
THERE IS a growing body of evidence which, if it is ever proved true and it may well be when our present nightmare is over, would leave the Government’s policy over the past 20 months in discredited tatters.
We lack the figures that would prove it one way or the other because they are simply not being released to us. Which in itself is suspicious. In short, when the final all-sources death count is authenticated, did total lockdown cause more deaths than it prevented? And by how much? It is already established government policy swerved violently from inadequate to panic-stricken around March 14. This was because the Government swallowed, hook, line and sinker, the prediction of one man that without total lockdown there would be a holocaust of over half a million casualties.
RELATED ARTICLES
View original post 462 more words
Viewpoint: It’s time for state to close live animal markets
As world leaders continue to debate the closure of wild animal wet markets across the globe, New York can act right now to stem the spread of zoonotic diseases caused by the exploitation of animals by closing such markets in the state.
Live animal markets have for too long cruelly consumed millions of wild animals and endangered the planet’s health. Experts have said the COVID-19 pandemic likely arose from a wet market in China.
COVID-19 is not the only deadly disease to emerge from such markets across the globe. SARS, MERS, Ebola, Nipah virus and many others have jumped from animals to humans because of the wildlife trade.
In fact, three out of every four new or emerging infectious diseases in people come from animals and more than 34 million people worldwide have died from zoonotic diseases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and World Health Organization.
New York state is home to more than 80 live animal markets, including in Schenectady, Buffalo and New York City, the latter of which hosts the majority of them and where more than 21,600 people so far have died from COVID-19. Smuggled illegal bush meat from imported exotics such as monkeys, pythons and civets can make their way into such markets to be sold to consumers.
Many of these markets operate next door to schools and homes despite health laws prohibiting slaughterhouses near residential buildings, according to Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal and state Sen. Luis Sepulveda, who have introduced a bill (A.10399) to shut them. The markets are not regulated by the USDA, but by state agencies, which have weaker oversight rules and a small staff of inspectors who struggle to keep up with the quarterly inspections mandated by state law.
It would be shameful if state lawmakers failed to act on a bill at the center of the crisis, one that will save lives, end exploitation and suffering of humans and animals and help prevent future pandemics.
Priscilla Feral is president of Friends of Animals.
For the third year in a row, Nebraska wants to open a small and declining population of mountain lions to trophy hunters
A Humane World
Kitty Block’s Blog
Since January 2019, 15 mountain lions have already died in Nebraska, including 12 from trophy hunting. Photo by Moodboard/Alamy Stock Photo
Nebraska’s mountain lions have suffered enough. They were wiped out of existence in the state during the 1900s because of trophy hunting, and it was only in 2007 that biologists documented a new mountain lion kitten in the state’s Pine Ridge region. Unfortunately, the small population of lions now living in that area is once again in decline, and today, there are only about 34 mountain lions left in Pine Ridge, about half as many as there were two years ago.
Given this alarming drop, you would think wildlife officials in Nebraska would be pulling out all the stops to ensure these native carnivores survive and thrive. Instead, after allowing trophy hunters to put this tiny…
View original post 484 more words
A gray wolf is in Utah for the first time in years. The state is setting traps.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/sltrib/4HI2UDX5CBFIHMGHFLOYLCRTI4.jpg)
Earlier this week, a trapper working for the state of Utah went to investigate a calf that had been killed by a predator in Rich County. He brought coyote traps, expecting the typical culprit.
But after analyzing scat, tracks and other evidence, the trapper determined the calf was killed not by a coyote, but a rare gray wolf — a species that has been sighted in Utah only a handful of times since it was extirpated from the state in the 1920s.
Traps were set, but the wolf had not yet been killed as of Wednesday, according to Leann Hunting, director…
View original post 802 more words
Joe Exotic says Carole Baskin getting his zoo is a ‘treachery’ that ‘must not go unchecked’
(CNN)In response to the lawsuit that awarded Carole Baskin the zoo once owned by Joe Exotic, the “Tiger King’s” management team released a statement that said Baskin’s “treachery” has to be challenged.
This month, a judge ruled in favor of Baskin’s Big Cat Rescue in her suit against the Greater Wynnewood Development Group, LLC, the company Joe Exotic once owned, giving her control of the G.W. Zoo in Oklahoma.
Exotic, whose legal name is Joe Maldonado-Passage, is still in prison serving a 22-year sentence for a murder for hire plot against Baskin and animal abuse, among other charges. The allegations against him were documented in the smash Netflix docuseries “Tiger King,” released after he was sent to prison.
So his team spoke for him from Twitter.
“While we again acknowledge it is truly time to pray for justice for George Floyd’s family as well as an end to systemic racism in America, we must address Carol [sic] Baskin’s treachery before it goes unchecked,” a tweet from an account run by Maldonado-Passage’s management team read.
His team released a longer statement on the website “Help Free Joe,” in which the “Joe Exotic Team” said it “prays for justice for George Floyd’s family as well as an end to systemic racism in America.”
A few lines later, the statement said Maldonado-Passage’s legal team is filing appeals while his media team drums up public support.
CNN has reached out to Maldonado-Passage’s attorney for comment and is waiting to hear back.
The court order that awarded Baskin control of the G.W. Zoo gives her 16 acres of land in Garvin County, Oklahoma, as well as several cabins and vehicles, court records show.
The zoo’s current owner, “Tiger King” supporting player Jeff Lowe, must vacate the premises within 120 days of the order and remove all the animals, too.
Lowe’s attorney told CNN that the judgment wasn’t unexpected, and Lowe’s currently focused on opening a new “Tiger King” park within the next 120 days.
(CNN)In response to the lawsuit that awarded Carole Baskin the zoo once owned by Joe Exotic, the “Tiger King’s” management team released a statement that said Baskin’s “treachery” has to be challenged.
This month, a judge ruled in favor of Baskin’s Big Cat Rescue in her suit against the Greater Wynnewood Development Group, LLC, the company Joe Exotic once owned, giving her control of the G.W. Zoo in Oklahoma.
Exotic, whose legal name is Joe Maldonado-Passage, is still in prison serving a 22-year sentence for a murder for hire plot against Baskin and animal abuse, among other charges. The allegations against him were documented in the smash Netflix docuseries “Tiger King,” released after he was sent to prison.
So his team spoke for him from Twitter.
“While we again acknowledge it is truly time to pray for justice for George Floyd’s family as well as an end to systemic racism in America, we must address Carol [sic] Baskin’s treachery before it goes unchecked,” a tweet from an account run by Maldonado-Passage’s management team read.
His team released a longer statement on the website “Help Free Joe,” in which the “Joe Exotic Team” said it “prays for justice for George Floyd’s family as well as an end to systemic racism in America.”
A few lines later, the statement said Maldonado-Passage’s legal team is filing appeals while his media team drums up public support.
CNN has reached out to Maldonado-Passage’s attorney for comment and is waiting to hear back.
The court order that awarded Baskin control of the G.W. Zoo gives her 16 acres of land in Garvin County, Oklahoma, as well as several cabins and vehicles, court records show.
The zoo’s current owner, “Tiger King” supporting player Jeff Lowe, must vacate the premises within 120 days of the order and remove all the animals, too.
Lowe’s attorney told CNN that the judgment wasn’t unexpected, and Lowe’s currently focused on opening a new “Tiger King” park within the next 120 days.
MDC considers regulation changes regarding coyote hunting
MDC is considering revised regulations allowing the use of night vision, infrared, thermal imaging, or artificial light to hunt coyotes and control feral hogs on private property.
The Missouri Department of Conservation is proposing changes to the Wildlife Code of Missouri regarding coyote hunting and feral hog control.
MDC is considering the changes in response to citizen requests to the Regulations Committee to use night vision, infrared, thermal imagery equipment or artificial light to hunt coyotes and from landowners to allow their authorized representatives to use night vision, infrared, or thermal imagery equipment without prior approval from a conservation agent to address damage caused by feral hogs.
The proposed regulations would allow landowners who own property of any size and their authorized representatives to possess, control, and use night vision, infrared, and thermal…
View original post 273 more words
Jane Goodall: Humanity is doomed if we don’t change after this pandemic
https://www.livescience.com/jane-goodall-change-food-systems-after-covid19.html
(Image: © Getty)
Primatologist Jane Goodall said that humanity must “drastically change our diets” and our treatment of wild and farmed animals if we want to avoid future pandemics after COVID-19 subsides.
“Our disrespect for wild animals and our disrespect for farmed animals has created this situation where disease can spill over to infect human beings,” Goodall said on June 2 in an online event hosted by the campaigning group Compassion in World Farming, The Guardian reported.
“If we do not do things differently, we are finished,” she said. “We can’t go on very much longer like this.”
Related: 11 (sometimes) deadly diseases that hopped across species
CLOSE
Goodall pointed to habitat destruction, the farming and consumption of wild animals, illegal wildlife…
View original post 722 more words
‘COVID-19 May Be A Dress Rehearsal For The Coming Plague’ Warns Dr. Greger
‘As long as there is poultry, there will be pandemics’
The way we farm animals is likely to lead to further pandemics, says Dr. Greger
The COVID-19 pandemic may just be a ‘dress rehearsal for the coming plague’, according to acclaimed plant-based doctor Dr. Michael Greger.
Dr. Michael Greger, who has a background in infectious disease, is an internationally recognized speaker on nutrition, food safety, and public health issues. He is the author of Bird Flu: A Virus Of Our Own Hatching, which looks at infectious diseases and human’s role in them – as well as how we can protect ourselves.
Now his new book How To Survive A Pandemic* looks at the pathogens that cause pandemics and how to face them – and the role chicken farming is playing in the risk of future pandemics.
‘Just a dress rehearsal’
In a promotional video for the book, Dr. Greger says: “The current COVID-19 pandemic, as deadly as it may be, may just be a dress rehearsal for the coming plague.
“Decades ago, a flu virus was discovered in chickens that would forever change our understanding on how bad pandemics could potentially get. It was named H5N1 and appeared capable of killing more than half the people it infected. Half. Imagine if a virus like that started spreading explosively human to human. Consider a pandemic 100-times worse than COVID-19, not the fatality rate of two in 100, but more like one in two. A coin toss.
“Thankfully, H5N1 has so far remained more poultry than people, but it – and other new deadly animal viruses like H7N9 are still out there, still mutating, with an eye on that eight billion-strong buffet of human hosts. With pandemics, it’s always a matter of when not if. A universal outbreak with more than just a few percent mortality wouldn’t just threaten financial markets, but civilization itself as we know it.”
How To Survive A Pandemic
Dr. Greger goes on to discuss how the new book contains ‘everything you need to help protect yourself and your family from the current threat’ as well as tackling the question of what can we do to stop the emergence of pandemic viruses in the first place.
According to Dr. Greger, many infectious diseases including tuberculosis, measles, AIDS, and COVID-19 ‘share a common origin story: human interaction with animals’. So when it comes to limiting the risk of H5N1, Dr. Greger’s proposals including changing the farm system.
He says first we should move away from factory farms, where stressed chickens are kept in cramped, dirty conditions, and fed antibiotics to smaller free-range operations, and then stop eating birds completely.
He said: “The pandemic cycle could theoretically be broken for good. Bird flu could be grounded…[but] as long as there is poultry, there will be pandemics. In the end, it may be us or them.”
*How To Survive A Pandemic is available on Kindle and in audiobook format, and in paperback from August 20.
Coronavirus may not be mutating, but experts say there is still potential for danger
Covid-19 cases may rise as protests in US continue 02:30
(CNN)Covid-19 is not mutating, health experts say, but that doe
sn’t mean it’s not dangerous.
So far, evidence does not show that the coronavirus is changing to become more severe or more transmittable, but complacency by people and local governments could increase its spread, World Health Organization infectious disease epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove said Wednesday at a news briefing.
Almost 20,000 new US cases were reported Wednesday, data from Johns Hopkins University shows, and officials warn that packed protests over the death in police custody of George Floyd could exacerbate the pandemic that has killed at least 107,175 people nationwide.
“I remain concerned about the public health consequences both of individual and institutional racism (and)…
View original post 1,008 more words
