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Pamela
head gardener
Australia
3949 Posts |
 Posted - 27/12/2008 : 09:23:28
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I have been told about a video of some horrific animal practices in China. Animals being skinned alive for the "fur trade". I was told not to watch the video as it would make me sick and so I have not as I could not bear it. But it does not stop me thinking about it. I really want to take some action. DO NOT WATCH IF YOU ARE SENSITIVE . There is also a petition to sign which I have done. www.thepetitionsite.com/petition/990436217
It would be good to send to any friends who have relatives in China - need on the grass roots campaigning. Animals are sometimes viewed in that country and others as an inanimate and insensitive object, and even worse, as a distateful object as they are often poorly kept and so are dirty. We need to get the young people in this country to campaign against it.
For one, I refuse to buy ANY (and I mean ANY) product from a country that treats its inhabitants without respect. I now go into shops and say I want sheets/clothing etc that are NOT made in China. This is not the only country. I also refust to visit these countries. As for buying fur, forget it everyone. The human race is quite sickening I think, with a few exceptions of people who care. Can you imagine other animals being so despicable?
How can we change attitudes of countries like China that regard all animal life as even lower than cockroaches - and although I kill a cockroach or a mouse I could never be cruel.
I think the older Chinese people will never change. We have to change the young people's views. One way is to say, particularly to a Chinese seller or shop assistant, no I will not buy any product from China while animals are treated without the respect they deserve in that country. And it is not easy to not buy anything from China. And when asked about travel I say, I will not go to any country that also does not treat their animals with respect.
But I want to do more. Who might be the best to write to? I am happy to do that.
I thought of writing to all the people in the public arena in Australia who are Chinese and ask them to join in a well moderated and respectful discussion forum with young Chinese people. We need a high profile cricketer or similar ?? Any ideas ???
Maybe Kev will be a good person to write to? All ideas appreciated.
"The air of heaven is that which blows between a horse's ears."
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Edited by - Pamela on 27/12/2008 09:24:41 |
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The Estate
head gardener
Australia
3676 Posts |
Posted - 27/12/2008 : 10:11:38
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Sorry I cant watch it but I have heard about their practices over there  I agree wont happen over night, and yes target the young ones 
My basic weeding rule: if they grow in rows they're flowers;
if they don't they're weeds.
Melbourne |
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Pamela
head gardener
Australia
3949 Posts |
Posted - 27/12/2008 : 12:57:40
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I cannot watch it also but I can imagine it very well. I really want to do something about this, even if I fail, at least I will know that I did not walk away. I have been feeling like this about the bile bears and this now just makes me flip.
Would love ideas to attack the issue.
I jsut buried Harry my dog, so not in the best of shape at the moment. I was not as close to him as I was to Violet but still very sad.
"The air of heaven is that which blows between a horse's ears." |
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Mary-Anne
garden sage
Australia
10809 Posts |
Posted - 27/12/2008 : 19:18:24
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Pamela.. So sorry to hear about Harry..
Friends are the flowers in the garden of life
Love Your Enemies... It Will Drive Them Nuts |
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tessa
head gardener
Australia
3682 Posts |
Posted - 27/12/2008 : 21:02:06
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oh pamela...i'm so sorry about harry.
sometimes...i think this is the best we can do...
to give the animals we can...a loving home. like you did for violet, and for harry, and tosca, and all the others that we have come to love through you.
i'm afraid no matter what we do...we will not change practice in other countries.
i, too, cannot watch the video.
cranky people live longer. i'm going to live forever! perth, wa |
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Gail
garden sage
Australia
7707 Posts |
Posted - 28/12/2008 : 03:54:22
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Pamela, I too am so sorry about Harry.
By making people aware of, and getting the word out about these cruel practises is a major step in helping. I doubt we will ever see a stop to it in our generation, it is too much in their tradition and livelihood, but with awareness and the displeasure of other countries, there might be hope in future generations. The media is one of the biggest ways of getting a message out so articles in newspapers and on tv shows like A Current Affair would help spread the word.
Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is knowing not to use it in a fruit salad.
A ounce of common sense is worth more than a ton of intelligence.
Gail, near Gympie, Qld |
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Pamela
head gardener
Australia
3949 Posts |
Posted - 28/12/2008 : 06:55:11
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Thanks all. Harry's time had really come. He was dying but not "gracefully" so I was lucky to find my vet at home and willing to help. Harry did not even notice the needle he was so out of it. I buried him in the garden just before we got hit with a tremendous storm. I will go down this morning and find a lovely headstone in the garden.
I am going to try to do something about these practices. I am writing to prominent Chinese people in Oz and asking them to take action in writing to the Chinese government. I think the way to fight it is to try to get a group of people linked by the internet who say and do refuse to buy ANY product from China until they stop animal cruelty. They wuld laugh if it was a few people but if it spreads ....
"The air of heaven is that which blows between a horse's ears." |
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tessa
head gardener
Australia
3682 Posts |
Posted - 28/12/2008 : 07:57:55
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i went to bed thinking about this last night.
australia's cruel treatment of sheep, i think, can only be stopped from overseas...because of the culture of sheep farming here, and the 'this is the way we've always done it' frame of mind, and the endless excuses and dismissals of the problem/torture. i'm thinking of mulesing and how PETA is one organization that is effecting change...and how they're doing it is to shame the overseas companies that are using australian wool. and this is working.
i think this approach might be the most successful...pressuring the companies that are investing money into the practice of cruelty in order to make a buck. i mean...go for the sector that is creating the demand.
maybe that is the tack to take with china?
on the other hand...
the live sheep exporting here will not stop...because the countries that fund it, muslim countries, will not be recognizing or withholding money from this form of torture taking place right here in australia, perth in particular (i have to witness it EVERY DAY). in fact these countries create the demand...and australia exploits this revenue source with no conscience and no local concerned consumers to hurt them in the pocket.
this is not to say that no one's trying.
this is just to say why nothing is working.
follow the money!
so then the live export trade makes me think about cleaning up my own back yard before moving onto someone else's.
there is that aspect too.
so much to think about!
cranky people live longer. i'm going to live forever! perth, wa |
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Pamela
head gardener
Australia
3949 Posts |
Posted - 28/12/2008 : 11:22:12
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You are right Tessa. I don't know much about mulesing except that the alternative, to leave them to the flies, results in more pain and death. The other alternatives were always seen as just too expensive by farmers but now this has to be factored in and PETA are to be congratulated for effecting this. But mulesing of sheep is not the cruelty that being skinned alive would be.
The live sheep export is something that I am deeply deeply ashamed about. I think we have to keep up the pressure for these animals to be treated humanely on the ships and on the ground when they arrive and by the executioners/ slaughtermen. I do agree.
"The air of heaven is that which blows between a horse's ears." |
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Betty
assistant gardener
Australia
159 Posts |
Posted - 28/12/2008 : 15:37:38
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Pamela wrote
But mulesing of sheep is not the cruelty that being skinned alive would be.
Not much different when you consider the lambs have to survive that ordeal whereas hopefully those animals in China die quickly, through shock or being slaughtered. Tessa bought up the subject of PETA, why not approach PETA seeing they are obviously powerful enough to effect change?
With my own sheep, we never mules them. We have started breeding crosses that don't need mulesing. The rams are Darmera/Dorper/White Suffock cross and I'm now seeing some bare tail areas on the lambs.
Very sorry to hear about your dog, Pamela. We can't love them all equally but it always hurts and leaves a gap when they go. I recently lost my lovely little mare, Beauty, and she was very much loved, so I can't talk about her yet. Suffice to say that not many horses seem to have peaceful deaths. |
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tessa
head gardener
Australia
3682 Posts |
Posted - 28/12/2008 : 19:14:55
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betty...i'm really sorry to hear about beauty.
please tell us about her life when you are able to.
cranky people live longer. i'm going to live forever! perth, wa |
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Mary-Anne
garden sage
Australia
10809 Posts |
Posted - 28/12/2008 : 19:46:27
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Sorry to hear about your horse.
Friends are the flowers in the garden of life
Love Your Enemies... It Will Drive Them Nuts |
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