Shark Finning –

Shark Finning

Shark finning… yet another barbaric practice to get your blood boiling. It is estimated that up to 100 MILLION sharks are killed each year for their fins.

The shocking point to this is that a bowl of Shark Fin Soup can cost as much as $150. There is ZERO nutritional value, the taste is mainly from the broth and the fin is added simply to provide texture.


What is really tragic is the fact that the shark gets hauled on board a ship, has its fins sliced off and then is tossed back into the sea and left to drown.

This is the reality of shark finning.

With the Chinese New Year, there has been an inevitable increase in demand for shark fin soup. Although culture is a wonderful thing, there are times when it clouds our judgment and becomes detrimental to the environment. I urge you to PLEASE not order this dish. Inform others, make wise decisions and play an active role in securing the future for all to enjoy. For more info and a list of petitions, click HERE!

Taiji dolphin slaughter 13 January 2011

I am at a complete loss for words to explain how utterly disgusted I am. My respect for the Japanese as a nation has plummeted to a new low. The image I had of them as one of the most civilised nations has been completely turned on its head. Their reputation has been tarnished forever. This is nothing short of barbaric savagery.

Do Captive Dolphins Die of Boredom??

In September 1982 the Seaquarium’s performing dolphin named Poncho died of intestinal failure. His intestines literally exploded. Now we know why. 
This photo was presumably taken by Miami Seaquairum Vet. Greg Bossart. In Poncho’s stomach were found:
• 2 Deflated Footballs
• 31 Coins
• 21 Stones
• 1 Trainers Whistle
• 1 Ten Penny Nail
• 2 Screws
• 1 Metal Tag
• 1 Piece of Wire
• 1 Metal Staple
• Several Other Unidentifiable Objects


“They get bored in captivity,” says former dolphin trainer Russ Rector, “They pop the footballs and swallow them whole.”

According to marine biologists dolphins living and dying in the wild rarely have anything other than fish in there stomachs but in captivity this is a common occurance.

“People seem to think the dolpin tanks are wishing wells and throw coins in. The dolpins snatch them up and swallow them,” says Rector, “At Ocean World (now closed) one of our dolpins died of zinc poisoning from swallowing too many pennies.”

Barbaric. Utterly Disgusting.

I have been criticized as being a bit “over the top” with regards to my love and passion for wildlife, nature and the creatures I share the planet with. I have resigned from my crappy poor paying job in the corporate world. It may be good for some people, but sitting behind a counter, shuffling paper back and forth and dealing with a chain of incompetent useless idiots… well it brought me not one iota of happiness. It was Ghandi, I think, who said “Our future depends on what we do in the present.” And this IS the present. So what AM I doing? I am raising awareness, sharing ideas and fighting rampant cruelty as best as I can. I have joined up with Sea Shepherd. Some of you groaning “those lunatics!” Yes. Sea Shepherd. Lunatics? Watch this clip and decide for yourself before you condemn the folks who actually have the balls to do something about protecting the marine environment.

My attempts may be in vain, after all saving the life of one animal will not change the world, but it will change the world for that one animal. At the end of the day, when all is said and done… will you have said more than you have done? Thanks Gina for these wise words. For one so young and yet so aware, you are an inspiration. You are already the voice that animals do not have.

Save the Rhino!

Poaching of African rhinos has risen 2,000 percent in the past three years & Rhino horns fetch up to $30,000 per pound.

The poaching of rhinos for their horns has risen dramatically over the last year and a half, conservationists report.

These crimes are fueled by demand for African rhino horn from the Asian market, where it can fetch more than $30,000 a pound ($60,000 per kilogram).

Africa is losing a rhinoceros every other day. South Africa, which holds more than 80 percent of the continent’s rhino population, has been losing at least 20 rhinos per month.

“Within South Africa’s national parks — not counting private land there, where poaching was rare — there were 10 rhinos poached in 2007,” said Matthew Lewis, senior program officer for African species conservation for the World Wildlife Fund. “Thus far in 2010 alone, more than 200 rhinos were poached within South Africa, with a lot of those poached outside national parks, so that’s a more than 2,000 percent increase in just three years’ time.”

The horns might weigh 6.3 to 8.1 pounds (2.9 to 3.7 kilograms) on average. Bits of crushed horn are a prized ingredient in traditional Asian medicines.

The crisis in Africa

Two species of rhino are native to Africa, while three are native to southern Asia. Of the two African species, the white rhinoceros is near-threatened, and the black rhinoceros is critically endangered. Some 4,000 black rhinos and 17,500 white rhinos are all that keep Africa’s rhinoceros population from extinction.

Hundreds of thousands of rhinos once roamed throughout Africa. Now highly organized international groups of illegal hunters are using helicopters and deploying technologies including night-vision scopes, silenced weapons and drugged darts to find and kill these giants.

“We’re up against the emergence of really high-tech poachers,” Lewis said. “This tactic of using helicopters and veterinary drugs on darts has really only come out in the last six months to a year. It really points to organized crime.”

Greed and nonsense

Most rhino horns leaving southern Africa are destined for markets in Asia, especially Vietnam, where demand has escalated in recent years.

“A lot of that has to do with how Vietnam’s economy has grown astronomically,” Lewis said. The country’s newly affluent middle and upper class seems to be seeking rhino horn as some kind of miraculous remedy, he said, although its traditional use in Chinese medicine is for fevers and nosebleed.

Rhino horn is made from keratin, “from compacted hair, a very similar substance to the hooves of a horse or a cow, or a person’s own fingernails,” Lewis said. “Taking rhino horn has the same effects as chewing on your fingernails: no medicinal properties whatsoever.”

With prices that high, there’s also the prospect “of creating anything and calling it rhino horn,” Lewis said. “People can throw in all kinds of crazy things, and it could actually be very dangerous.”

Trouble in Asia

Asian rhinos, which generally have smaller horns, seem to be less of a target for poachers. Still, two of the three Asian rhino species, the Javan and Sumatran rhinoceroses, are critically endangered at populations of 40 and 400, respectively, Lewis said, and only 2,400 or so Indian rhinoceroses remain in the wild.

“They were nearly wiped out 100 years ago, and they’re hanging on by a thread,” Lewis said. “Indian rhinos have much larger horns than the other two Asian species, and we’ve seen escalation to their poaching similar to Africa in the past three or four years.”

“We have to raise awareness and get on top of this,” Lewis concluded. “Rhinos could go extinct in our lifetime as a result of this if awareness isn’t raised.” He hopes increasing public awareness about the plight of rhinos could spur a crackdown on the criminals who buy and kill for these horns.

Facts on Fur

The fur trade. Just the very mention and the mind starts spinning. Of course it is an emotional issue, but before you think I am some kind of weird hippie or am here to promote my moral superiority, please bear in mind that I have actually done considerable research into the subject.

As with any argument, it is of utmost importance that one is first presented with the facts. Here they are. Undisputed.

Each year around 50 MILLION animals are slaughtered for their fur. Animals include, but are not limited to foxes, rabbits, cats, dogs, wolves, bears, hamsters, raccoons, mink, moles, chinchillas, lynx, beavers, skunks, seals, coyotes, leopards, tigers, otters and squirrels.

Around 85% of these 50 million animals are raised in various fur farms around the world. The living conditions of these caged animals invariably involves unhygienic, cramped and squalid living accommodations, with insufficient space for maneuverability and a lack of water. Cages, made out of wire mesh, are usually stacked on top of one another in long rows under an open shed. Sometimes, while being moved around, animals inside these cages have their legs broken. Small farms usually have around a hundred animals, while some of the larger fur farms, such as those in Scandinavia, can have up to a hundred thousand.

Animals subjected to these conditions frequently develop physical and behavioural problems induced by the stress of their caging. Aside from frantic and ceaseless pacing, reports of self-mutilation where the animals bite their skin, tails and feet are not uncommon. Malnutrition and overcrowding also result in increased disease susceptibility and more parasites. Because of these un-natural conditions one finds an unusually high rate of cub mortality, as much as 25% in foxes. Infanticide, where the mother eats her own young, is also a regular occurrence. Mink, which rely heavily on water, are often found dead from heat exhaustion, especially in summer where they cannot find water to cool themselves. Water is usually via a nipple system which freezes in winter.

Number of Animals to Make a Fur Coat:
12-15 lynx
10-15 wolves or coyotes
15-20 foxes
20-25 cats
60-80 minks
27-30 raccoons
10-12 beavers
60-100 squirrels

In order to preserve the pelt, and thus maximize profits, fur farmers employ some fairly gruesome methods in order to kill the animals. Some of these are listed as follows. Anal electrocution, where the shock causes the animals eyeballs to burst and it contorts so violently the spasms break its back. Some animals, struggling in pain and terror have their necks twisted and broken. Others, particularly seal pups, are bludgeoned to death. Their heads beaten so hard the skulls collapse. Some fury creatures are injected with strychnine which causes spasms in the muscles, starting with the head and neck. The spasms spread to every muscle causing continuous convulsions until death, in the form of asphyxiation caused by paralysis, comes some 15-25 minutes later. Cats are usually strangled with wire nooses and have water poured down their throats until they drown. Many creatures are simply gassed with exhaust fumes. This unreliable method often leads to the animal waking up to find itself being skinned alive.

As for the environment, it has been found that the amount of energy required to make a genuine fur coat is approximately 20 times that of a fake fur garment. Chemicals used to stop the fur from rotting also render it not bio-degradable and the very use of these chemicals can also lead to water contamination.

Unlike the meat industry, where the meat is used as a source of food, the fur industry serves no purpose other than to pander to the whims of vanity. Some 80 000 Cape Fur Seals and a further 350 000 Harp Seals are slaughtered each year in Namibia and New Foundland respectively. If you were to line these animals up side by side, you would have a line of almost 300 Kilometers long. However, less than 2% meat is used and carcasses are left to rot on the ice floes.