Für die Tiere überall in der Welt. Vorbereitete Protestschreiben !!!!! Bitte mitmachen und verbreiten !!!
ANIMALS THROUGH THE WORLD
January 2010
8th Anniversary
www.iwab.org
IMAB@iwab.org
CONTENTS:
1. China - UPDATE - International Campaign Against the Return of Bullfights
2. Macedonia - Balkans Animals Suffering
3. Mexico - Protest Against the "Embalse de Toros"
4. Mexico - Protest Against the "Paseo del Buey" (Stroll of Ox) in Queretaro
5. Puerto Rico - Halt Primates-For-Research Farm Permanently
6. Republic of Ireland - Urgent appeal to Minister: Don't exempt hunts from fees
7. Turkey - Please help Meyvan the female bear
8. United Kingdom - Scottish Seal Shooting Scandal
9. U.S.A.- The Oklahoma Prison Rodeo: State Sponsored Cruelty
10. U.S.A. - Get Cruelty Off The Shelves - No Fur Campaign
11. U.S.A. - Save Iditarod dogs from horrific cruelty
12. New Book Against Bullfighting - Bullfighting A Troubled History
For the Animals
Maria Lopes
Coordinator of the International Movement Against Bullfights
CHINA
UPDATE - International Campaign Against the Return of Bullfights
International Movement Against Bullfights
www.iwab.org
On the 17th of November 2009 we launched a campaign against proposed bullfighting in China
http://www.iwab.org/campaign.html
This campaign is being noticed by the Chinese authorities as you will see from the newspaper article below.
Please, if you haven't protested yet then do so now. If you have already written, please write again. We must maintain the pressure.
Animal lovers seeing red over bullfight ring
Source: Global Times
[01:57 January 27 2010]
By Lin Meilian
Animal rights activists are trying to stop construction of a bull-fighting ring planned on the outskirts of Beijing.
The Global Times learned of the project after a news agency in Spain announced plans for a Spanish theme park near the Great Wall.
Although bullfights have lost popularity in Spain, a bullring in Beijing this October would be a major tourist attraction, according to a report by the Spanish news agency EFE.
In Spanish bullfighting tradition, the matador kills the bull and the animal's ears and tail are cut off as trophies.
The Spanish promoters say they want to train Chinese matadors.
Manolo Sanchez, a Spanish matador, said last November that he has reached an agreement with the government of Huairou district in suburban Beijing. He said local officials believe that bullfighting, a cultural pillar of traditional Spain, would help put the district on the map, according to the report.
"We believe Spanish-style bullfighting would be embraced by many supporters in China," he was quoted as saying. "In fact, some television stations in China broadcast Spanish bullfights regularly."
'Tarnished image'
The bullfighting arena, with a seating capacity of 7,000, is scheduled to open with two bullfights in October. Sixteen bullfights are planned for next year, according to El Mundo, a daily newspaper in Spain.
Three Huairou officials involved with the bullfighting project seemed uncomfortable discussing the project.
Zhou Huaiming, director of the district commission on science and technology, told the Global Times that he is uncertain over the current status of the project. He said he has not been involved in the planning since he and two other officials returned from Spain last year.
"We do have a plan and we have heard many opposition voices," he said.
He declined to provide details on the deal with Spain. The other two officers remained silent about this project.
It is not the first time that Spanish-style bullfighting has raised eyebrows in China.
Early in 2004, the Daxing district of Beijing ditched plans to host a bullfight performance in a new, 6,400-seat bullring at Beijing's Wild Animal Park. They abandoned their plans after animal rights activists complained that bullfights had "the potential to tarnish Beijing's and China's image."
Protest planned
The new project in Huairou faces similar challenges.
On November 17, the International Movement Against Bullfights (IMAB) launched an online campaign calling on Chinese authorities to stop what the group called a "barbarity."
"We must at all cost prevent this project from going ahead. Otherwise we will have another country with bullfights," the group declared.
They posted emails to Chinese journalists and to official websites, asking people to send protest letters. Thoughtfully, a sample protest letter was provided.
"The Chinese authorities may have been flooded with emails from all over the world,"
Maria Lopes, coordinator of IMAB, told the Global Times Tuesday.
Animal rights activists in China have taken their own actions.
Li Xiaoxi, a professor at the Air Force Command Institute and a former member of CPPCC Beijing, helped block Daxing's plan to build a bullring. Li told the Global Times that she and other members of CPPCC Beijing are now working to block the latest project.
"We found out that local officers have different opinions on this project," Li said. "I don't understand why they still want to have a bullring when even some places in Spain are considering banning it."
She first learned of the project from other animal rights activists on the Internet and immediately contacted local officers to complain.
"They turned a deaf ear to me, so I keep calling, calling and calling them," she said.
According to EFE's report, about 100 cows and 100 bulls are awaiting shipment to China in January so that matadors would be fighting bulls bred in China.
Li said she feels anxiety over bulls, because more bulls will enable the bullfight promoters to build other bullrings in other cities.
It is not known if the bulls are on their way to China or are already here.
With no response from the local government, Li sent a complaint letter to another member of CPPCC Beijing last December, asking for help.
The letter stated, "Bullfighting is a very cruel and brutal sport; even its motherland Spain is considering banning this controversial sport. Daxing has set an example. Such a bullfight should not appear in Huairou."
She said the proposal has been submitted to relevant departments last December and might be discussed at the upcoming "Two Sessions" in March, the annual meetings of China's top legislative and political advisory body.
Mang Ping, a professor at the Central Institute of Socialism, told the Global Times Tuesday that she is totally against the idea of bullfights in China.
"They are driven by the profit motive to import such a bloody business project…how could a local government face the public accusations?" she asked.
Bullfighting has been under fire in Spain.
Hundreds of animal rights activists stripped down to their underwear and splashed fake blood on their bodies during a protest outside the capital Madrid's bullring last May, AFP said.
About 30 percent fewer bullfighting performances were staged across Spain last year due to the recession, AFP reported.
Zheng Yang contributed to this story
http://china.globaltimes.cn/society/2010-01/501246.html
http://china.globaltimes.cn/society/2010-01/501246_2.html
http://china.globaltimes.cn/society/2010-01/501246_3.html