Giving A Monkey’s About Bishop’s Stortford Animal Rescue Charity

Herts & Essex Observer:

Monkey business was on the agenda at East Herts District Council’s most recent scrutiny committee meeting.

The plight of elderly capuchins Mouella and Fudge, who live at Bishop’s Stortford’s Animal Rescue Charity (ARC) in Foxdells Lane, was raised by Cllr Michael Newman.

Following the death of 90-year-old animal lover Elsie Quarmby in 2009, the pair of monkeys – who belonged to the much-loved former bank clerk from Hunsdon – were left in the ARC’s care for the rest of their lives.

But to be able to house the primates legally, the charity has to pay the authority £530 every two years for a wild animal licence. Although it was left some money by Ms Quarmby, this does not cover the cost…

Nuneaton Woman Kept 69 Animals In ‘Filthy’ Conditions

Coventry Telegraph:

A woman who kept 69 animals in “filthy and appalling conditions” has been given a life ban.

Carole Cartledge, 65, admitted ten charges of cruelty when she appeared before Nuneaton magistrates yesterday.

The case was brought by the RSPCA after inspectors and police visited her semi-detached home in Cherry Grove, Bilton, Rugby, following a tip-off.

They found rabbits, guinea pigs, chinchillas and birds in cramped, dirty cages and diseased, starving cats in locked rooms and cupboards…

Dog Walker Tasered For Not Having His Animal On A Leash

Telegraph:

A man walking his dogs in a federal park was hit with a stun gun and arrested by a park ranger who accused him of not putting a leash on the animals and giving a false name, astonishing passers-by who say the reaction was excessive…

Leopard Seized From Ohio Home Zoo Is Euthanized

Los Angeles Times:

A spotted leopard that survived a wildlife massacre at a ramshackle home zoo in Ohio has been euthanized after an accident at the Columbus Zoo & Aquarium, where it was being held in quarantine.

The leopard was being moved between two enclosures  about 11 a.m. Sunday when it was struck in the back of the neck by a heavy security door that was being lowered at the time. The change in enclosures appears to have been part of the zoo’s normal cleaning and feeding routine…

Trial Begins For Dutch Cove Guardian Erwin Vermeulen In Taiji, Japan

Sea Shepherd:

Thursday January 26 marked the start of court proceedings for Dutch Cove Guardian Erwin Vermeulen, who has been detained for more than 40 days on false charges of assault. Erwin was in Taiji documenting the town’s annual dolphin massacre, which runs from September until March, in an effort to bring global awareness to this horrific slaughter, when he was falsely accused of pushing one of the dolphin resort employees…

Animal Artist Given Own Exhibition

Press Association:

Orang-utans, gorillas, chimpanzees and an elephant are among animal artists being given their own exhibition of paintings.

The event, opening next week at University College London’s Grant Museum of Zoology, will feature works from zoos in the US and Thailand…

Farmer Jailed Over Rotting Animals

Rutland & Stamford Mercury:

A Nottingham farmer has been jailed for 12 months after scores of animals were found dead and decaying at his farm.

Rotting carcasses of pigs, cows, poultry and a donkey were found by trading standards officers when they visited Keith James Littlewood’s farm in Bestwood last June, Nottingham Crown Court was told. A number of animals were also found starving, with no access to food or water, and feeding off the carcasses of the dead animals.

Sentencing him for animal cruelty and breaching animal by-product laws at Nottingham Crown Court, Judge Michael Stokes QC, the Recorder of Nottingham, said: “I’ve never in my life seen anything as appalling that what I saw on the DVDs and photographs shown to me”…

Britain’s First Farm Animal Sanctuary Faces Closure

News Today:

Over 600 rescued animals are facing the slaughterhouse after Britain’s first farm animal sanctuary was served with an eviction notice from the land it has occupied for the last 15 years.

Animal lover Janet Taylor set up The Farm Animal Sanctuary in Evesham, Worcestershire, 25 years ago when she saved her first animal by spending just GBP1 to buy a frail lamb at a livestock market.

The sanctuary, whose patron is the famous actress and active animal rights campaigner Joanna Lumley, eventually found a permanent home after Janet secured a benefactor, retired businesswoman Patricia Bernie.

Animal lover Mrs Bernie kindly bought the 67 acres of land for Janet’s specific use and allowed them to live on and use it as they pleased without any terms and conditions.

But now the registered charity, which relies on public donations to survive, has been stunned after Mrs Bernie, who lives 20 miles from the sanctuary and doesn’t visit often, served them with an eviction notice – stating she wanting to use the land for herself. Britain’s first farm animal sanctuary looks after 635 animals, including sheep, dogs, cats, pigs, horses, cattle and various poultry, and Janet admits that due to their poor health it wouldn’t be possible to move the residents elsewhere…

Animal Charity Forms Met Unit Link

Associated Press:

A specialist London police unit that fights wildlife crime is joining forces with an animal charity.

The Metropolitan Police’s Wildlife Crime Unit (WCU) is teaming up with the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA), which warned that animal trafficking is a “major source of revenue” for criminals.

It is the first time a charity has directly funded a Met Police unit and it is hoped it will lead to more staff being recruited and trained in how to tackle wildlife crime…

Orangutans Saved From Murderous Attack With Seconds To Spare – SAFELY RELEASED TODAY!

Kalimantan / Borneo / Indonesia – On Sunday January 22nd FOUR PAWS rescued two orangutans (mother and daughter) from almost certain death at the hands of local people who have been paid by palm oil companies to hunt down and slaughter the animals.

Photographs taken at the scene show the terrified mother cuddling and comforting her young daughter. The mother was found to be pregnant.

The FOUR PAWS team has today moved the orangutan mother and her daughter in to a remote and safe area of the rainforest and released them there into the wild. The mother has been equipped with radio senders to enable monitoring of them both to ensure they are adapting well to the new environment.

Before finding the mother and daughter FOUR PAWS had scoured the area for orangutans in imminent danger from attack. Sadly no other orangutans had survived the earlier slaughter.

Orangutans, very close relatives of humans, are threatened by losing their entire habitat due to rainforest deforestation.. A few decades ago there were 250,000 orangutans. Today there are 50,000. But deforestation is not the only threat: Some palm oil companies are determined to rid the newly created farmland of orangutans who they see as a pest.

The orangutan massacres have recently come to the attention of the media in Indonesia. For the first time authorities have decided to arrest people including a senior manager at one oil palm company called Khaleda. It is alleged that Khaleda had offered a reward of 1million Indonesian Rupiah (£70) for each orangutan killed.

Over the course of the last couple of years hundreds of rewards have been claimed. The allegations are that certain palm oil companies paid up to £70 to their employees for the killing of orangutans found in their plantations. At first these stories were denied. However last September graves and bones were found by investigators and the scandal has now hit the Indonesian media with the welfare of wild orangutans quickly becoming a major political issue.

Killing orangutans is illegal in Indonesia, but the law is lacking enforcement. Before November 2011 only two low level arrests had ever been made. In the last two months 10 more arrests have taken place including the arrest of the senior manager of the plantation where the worst graves have been found.

With so many adult orangutans being slaughtered the hunters keep the babies alive and sell them to the pet trade. FOUR PAWS and its partner BOS do everything they can to rescue the traumatised little babies who are being illegally kept as pets. The orphans are then taken to the Samboja orangutan sanctuary where they are taught skills they will need in order to return to the wild and fend for themselves.

“Our investigation could not have been more timely. It is extremely fortunate we arrived when we did – a few minutes later and the orangutans could have been dead”, said Dr. Signe Preuschoft, FOUR PAWS’ primate expert. “We discovered a gang of young men surrounding the two orangutans. Both victims were clearly petrified and the gang were jubilant in anticipation of their rewards for catching and killing the animals. We hope that the public attention to our rescue action will help many more orangutans than the two we are about to release.

“For the first time in Indonesian history, the fate of the orangutan has become a genuine political issue. The massacres must not be allowed to continue. Orangutan habitat in the lowland rainforests needs adequate protection. Those breaking the law should be paying for their crimes, not charities and most of all not the orangutans themselves.”