NEWS OF THE WEEK:

Scotland Bans Use Of Wild Animals In Circuses, Brits Shun “Beef” and “Veal,” Dec. 20, 2017 – Jan. 1, 2018

By Leslie Goldberg

SCOTLAND TO ANIMAL CIRCUSES: NOT HERE!

Scotland has become the first country in the UK to ban the use (and abuse) of wild animals in traveling circuses. The legislation was initially proposed by the country’s environmental secretary Roseanna Cunningham who said, “This is an important act that will not only prevent travelling circuses ever showing wild animals in Scotland in the future, but will demonstrate to the wider world that we are one of the growing number of countries that no longer condones the use of wild animals in this way.” (The Guardian)

STILL FIGHTING: BRIGITTE BARDOT

French former actress and long-time animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot is coming out with a new book “Tears of Combat:” “It is the record of my existence, of my fight of the way we are governed, my fight on behalf of animals and the deep expression of my disgust.” Bardot, now 83, used the occasion of her book release to take a dig at France’s new president Emmanuel Macron for what she called his lack of support for animal rights. She pointed to his recent vacationing at a hunting lodge and said, “He congratulated the hunters in front of their game while it was still warm...It’s scandalous and very inappropriate.” (Arab News)

FAILURE TO REGULATE CAFO’S

Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) got a pass (at least for now) from Scott Pruitt, head of EPA who concluded they couldn’t be regulated under the Clean Air Act. In 2009, HSUS and other groups including the Sierra Club filed a suit arguing that factory farms cause air pollution, water pollution and other environmental destruction and need to be regulated just like other industries. Pruitt, while agreeing that factory farms do indeed cause air pollution, said there is no way yet to quantify the emissions so the EPA can’t regulate them. “Once the agency has sufficient information on CAFO emissions, it will determine the appropriate regulatory approach to address those emissions,” he said. (Capital Press)

 SOME OF 2017’S WORST NEWS

A judge in Connecticut shut down a petition to grant legal personhood to three elephants in a traveling petting zoo. He called the suit, which was brought by DxE’s friends, the Nonhuman Rights Project, “wholly frivolous.” Apparently, he was not persuaded by the group’s insistence that elephants “have a sense of self, remember the past, plan for the future, engage in complex communication, show empathy and mourn their dead.” Maybe the judge could learn something from elephants. (Associated Press)

BRITS SHUN “BEEF” AND “VEAL”

The British are eating half the amount of beef and veal they did in 1975, according to ReportLinker. Citing information obtained from the UK National Statistical Office, ReportLinker reports that sales of vegetables as well as protein “alternatives,” have increased. The story made no mention of chickens. Hoping the former cow and lamb eaters aren’t making up for it with birds. (ReportLinker)

CLOTHING COMPANIES GO WITHOUT FUR

In the scramble to get “sustainability” kudos from a public increasingly concerned about the natural world, a bunch of companies either cut fur or limited its use this year. The corporations which stepped up include Gucci, Timberland, Northface, Burlington Coat Factory, Jimmy Choo, Michael Kors and Alexa Chung. (Sourcing Journal)

ISRAEL TAKES THE LEAD ON VEGANISM

It’s not just those huge animal rights demonstrations taking place in Israel that are impressive. Some 5 percent of Israelis claim to be vegan and another 8 to 10 percent claim to be vegetarians.  British newspaper The Independent called Tel Aviv the “Vegan Capital of the World.” Let’s hope that with so many households eschewing violence at the dinner table, the message of peace will spread throughout the region. (Jerusalem Post)