Humpback Whale Flying Through The Air Goes Unnoticed By Male Canoeist

Here’s a great photo of a canoeist who hasn’t noticed the 36 tonne humpback whale behind him.

Weather Hampers Untangling Of Second Whale

TVNZ:

An early morning search for a second entangled humpback whale in the Bay of Islands was postponed due to worsening weather conditions.

A Bay of Islands Coastguard aircraft had been set to head out just after 7am this morning to locate the whale…

Rare Bird Found After 25 Years

Scotsman:

A Rare whimbrel has been found breeding on the Shetland Isle of Fetlar, almost a quarter of a century after it was ringed nearby.
The bird is believed to be the oldest known surviving ringed whimbrel in the world, more than doubling the typical 11-year lifespan of the species…

Hungry Bears Spell Trouble In The Rockies

Reuters:

A shortage of berries and other foods that hungry bears normally rely on to bulk up before hibernation has sent conflicts with humans spiraling to unprecedented levels in the Rocky Mountain…

Pevensey Farmer Banned From Keeping Pigs After Starving Animals

The Argus:

A farmer who let his pigs go so hungry they turned to cannibalism has been banned from keeping animals.

Keith Barnett, owner of the Happy Pig Company, based in Pevensey pleaded guilty to seven charges of animal cruelty earlier this month.

Yesterday, Hastings Magistrates’ Court fined ordered him to pay £880 costs and banned him from keeping pigs…

New Book by Noted Animal Sanctuary Director Shares Lessons in Love and Hope

Picking up where she left off in her first acclaimed book, Where the Blind Horse Sings, Kathy Stevens inspires us in Animal Camp with life-altering lessons shared by the animals in her charge and a plea to see them for “who,” not “what,” they are.

More info can be found here

Kitten Rescued From Rubbish Heap

Press Association:

A three-month-old kitten had a lucky escape after being placed into a plastic bin liner and abandoned in a communal refuse area in London.

The tiny black tom cat was rescued by an RSPCA officer after a neighbour heard a “miaow” coming from the heap of rubbish.

The pet was found in a puddle of rainwater inside a plastic cat carrier box that had been wrapped in a bin bag and left next to a communal bin near flats in Holborn, in the capital…

Pink Cat Owner Will Get Pet Back

BBC News:

A woman who dyed her cat pink with food colouring will have her pet returned to her.

However, the RSPCA said Natasha Gregory, 22, from Swindon, would also be informed of the potential hazards of dyeing cats…

Ireland Hunting Down Thousands Of Escaped Minks

Associated Press:

DUBLIN — The roads and rivers of northwest Ireland are suddenly lined with mink.

Managers at Anderson’s Mink Farm said Wednesday that many of their cages and fences were cut and opened over the weekend, freeing an estimated 5,000 animals into the wilds of County Donegal. About 28,000 others declined the invitation to bolt for freedom…

RSPCA: Back Off Badgers

RSPCA:

The coalition government has announced a public consultation on whether a badger cull should go ahead and members of the public have been given until Wednesday 8th December to express their opposition.

The RSPCA remains firmly opposed to any plans for a widespread cull based on current science, welfare concerns and practicality. The government proposal says that the cull would need to involve the killing of badgers over an area of 150km² and, within the cull area at least 70 per cent of the badger population would need to be eradicated, including thousands of healthy animals.

The consultation proposes that farmers and landowners be given full responsibility for funding and carrying out culling and/or vaccination measures and we are concerned that this would make the welfare issues involved with killing badgers worse and would be near impossible to monitor.

Scientific evidence suggests that culling badgers in an area initially increases bTB infection in cattle in the surrounding areas, and achieves only a limited reduction within the area targeted. It concluded that, “badger culling can make no meaningful contribution to cattle TB control in Britain”.

We believe that the government should listen to public opinion (the previous consultation on a badger cull showed 95% of respondents were opposed to a cull) and focus instead on the use of an approved TB vaccine for badgers along with other control methods.

Please help us oppose this cull by registering your opposition. Send a letter to your MP, sign our online petition or read the consultation document and respond to the government directly.