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North Carolina factory farm whistleblower unveils disturbing video

Anthony Gucciardi
Natural Society
Fri, 05 Dec 2014 18:35 UTC
Farm Chickens
© Natural SocietyPerdue farm chickens.
Does 'sustainable' farming really mean what you think it does? We've all seen the concerning images and videos depicting abused and sickly animals set for sale for the lowest possible price point, but very few have seen inside of a major 'sustainable' factory farm that even the USDA says passes its standard of care.

A North Carolina contractor for meat processing giant Perdue has now unveiled what truly happens behind these 'better' farming operations that we are made to believe are the much better option for ourselves and our families. The result: a very disturbing reminder to eat a high quality organic diet:

As a contractor for Perdue, farmer Craig Watts says he is contractually obligated to ensure that the chickens destined for your dinner table do not receive any form of sunlight or fresh air. In addition, the chickens are forced to lay not only on their own bed of feces, but feces that has accumulated for around the past year. This is because the floors are not cleaned between each import of new chickens, leading to thick layers of feces, other bodily fluids, limbs, and other items accumulating to the point where the underbellies of the chickens are worn red and their feathers are rubbed clean off.
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Attention

Killer whale washes up dead off Courtenay, Canada


cbc.ca
Fri, 05 Dec 2014 17:32 UTC
Image
© George BatesThe whale was towed in around 2 p.m. Thursday afternoon after a local resident notified DFO of what they thought was a dead orca off the beach.
Young adult female was believed to have been pregnant when spotted this summer

A young adult killer whale that washed up on the shores of Vancouver Island on Thursday has been identified as a member of the endangered southern resident population.

The whale was discovered by residents in Courtenay who saw it floating in the water and towed it to shore.

A biologist from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans - along with a whale watching expert - took preliminary samples as well as photos of the whale's dorsal fin in order to identify it.

The whale was identified as 18-year-old J-32, according to Paul Cottrell, a marine mammal coordinator with the department.
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Blackbox

Thousands of mollusks wash ashore in South Africa - event believed to be tied to 'heavy seas'?

David Strege
Grind TV
Thu, 04 Dec 2014 20:55 UTC
Image
Black mussels wash ashore on a South African beach. Photo is a screen grab from the video
A stretch of Rodderg Beach in South Africa turned into "mussel beach" recently when hundreds of thousands of black mussels washed ashore in a mystery that has local officials searching for the reason why.

The beach in Plettenberg Bay was covered with the black mussels over a 325-yard section. Some believed it was caused by a red tide, a harmful algal bloom, but marine experts dismissed that possibility.

Dr. Mark Brown of Nature's Valley Trust told The Herald of Port Elizabeth, South Africa, that the massive beaching is not linked "to red tide or anything sinister at this stage."

Instead, Brown believes the black mussels were dislodged by heavy seas.

"A similar event happened in November last year in the same spot," Brown told The Herald. "Essentially large swells and currents break beds of mussels off the reef and they wash up."

Comment: Residents evacuated as Pico do Fogo volcano in Cape Verde erupts after a 20 year silence

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Wolf

Man likely to have died from a dog pack attack in Madison, North Carolina

Danielle Battaglia
News and Record
Thu, 04 Dec 2014 19:31 UTC
Image
It was 1 p.m. and there was a chill in the air when Jose Robles left family he was visiting and went for a stroll down Bethany Road.

For Robles, 62, it would be the last steps of his life.

For his family, it was the last time they would see him alive.

That was Nov. 23.

About 10 a.m. the next day, deputies found Robles at the bottom of a steep embankment about a mile from where he was staying. He was dead.
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Health

Woman left bloodied after attack by koala in Willaston, Australia


au.news.yahoo.com
Wed, 03 Dec 2014 13:55 UTC
Image
Ms Forster was taken to hospital after the koala bite.
A woman has been left bloodied and required a four-day stay in hospital after being attacked by a koala north of Adelaide.

But despite her injuries, she says she doesn't blame the animal for the brutal attack.

Willaston woman Mary Anne Forster said she was walking her two dogs a fortnight ago when they pulled her towards a koala at the base of a tree.

"Obviously the koala felt very threatened because it attached itself with its mouth, jaws, to my leg and bit very hard, bit very deeply," she said.

After a struggle, she managed to break free.

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Wolf

An 85-year-old woman mauled by stray dogs dies, Louisiana


knoe.com
Tue, 02 Dec 2014 18:16 UTC
Image
An 85-year-old woman who was mauled by stray dogs has died, five days after the attack.

Grant Parish Sheriff Steve McCain confirmed the death of Bobbie Cheveallier Monday evening, after it was posted on social media.

Dogs attacked Cheveallier on Wednesday as she took out the trash from her home near Pollock.

McCain says deputies have caught 15 stray dogs for testing since the attack.

Cheveallier's son Randy Cheveallier says her legs had to be amputated.

He says nobody saw the attack.

Cheveallier says a neighbor's boyfriend saw three dogs in his mother's yard Wednesday afternoon, went over to see what was going on, and found her on the ground, unconscious.
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Health

4-year old boy savaged by family's rottweiler in New Port Richey, Florida

Chip Osowski
wfla.com
Mon, 01 Dec 2014 22:32 UTC
Image
The dog is currently under a 10-day rabies quarantine.
Kathryn Monroe is still trying to come to grips with what happened to her great grandson on Sunday. "I know we're all heartbroken. We're in tears." Said Monroe. "He's fighting for his life. That's all I can say. His one ear was severed, it's horrible."

Pasco County Sheriff's Deputies say 4-year old Jasper Debow Bridgeman was bitten by the family's Rottweiler at his grandmother's home at 9136 Suffolk Lane in New Port Richey shortly after 4pm on Sunday. Paramedics airlifted the boy to St. Joseph's hospital where he is recovering from his injuries. Pasco Animal Control took the dog to the shelter in Land O' Lakes.

The dog is currently under a 10-day rabies quarantine. Once the quarantine is completed, the dog's owners will then have an opportunity to determine if they want to keep the dog.

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Wolf

Denison, Texas woman attacked and severely injured by dog pack

Kristen Shanahan
kxii.com
Tue, 02 Dec 2014 22:18 UTC
Image
A Denison woman attacked and severely injured by a pack of dogs last week is speaking out just a day after being released from the hospital.

Lois Woodall, 34, says she is still in a lot of pain, but she is in good spirits. The bruises on her arms, gashes on her head and scars on her legs will permanently remind Woodall what happened to her the night of November 25th.

She went out to get medicine for her sick daughter and was walking home along the railroad tracks at East Sears and North Travis Avenue when a pack of dogs knocked her to the ground, tearing into her clothes and skin.

"They were pulling my legs, pulling me down and that's when they really start tearing me up, my legs and everything else," Woodall said. "Every time I tried to get up they just got me. One of them just chewed my head up, just pulling my hair, pulling my head real hard."
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Question

Cold weather movement? Southern California invaded by dozens of rare varied thrushes

Sanden Totten
scpr.org
Thu, 20 Nov 2014 18:42 UTC
Image
© Minette Layne via Creative Commons
A rare and striking bird is showing up in large numbers in Southern California.

It's called the varied thrush (Ixoreus naevius) and it has deep yellow and black stripes with patches of white on its underside.

Normally, this species lives in the Pacific Northwest and travels no further south than San Francisco

For some reason, this year is different.

"It's turning up in all these parks and just flying overhead and people are seeing it in all these weird places," said Dan Cooper, an L.A. based biologist and birder watcher.

In addition to it's eye catching color, the varied thrush also has a distinct bird call that sounds almost like a tea kettle whistling.

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Info

Biocide! Abandoned fishing nets trapping the ocean's turtles, seals, sharks and birds

Melissa Hills
Daily Mail, UK
Fri, 28 Nov 2014 15:22 UTC
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Experts say up to 14,000 turtles could have died at the Gulf of Carpentaria, northern Australia in the last nine years
These appalling photos reveal the largely unknown damage that abandoned fishing gear dubbed 'ghost nets' in a new campaign is doing to animals in the ocean surrounding Australia.

Turtles are the main victims that get trapped in abandoned nets in the Gulf of Carpentaria in northern Australia and experts estimate there could have been 14,000 that have died over the last nine years, large numbers of seals are also getting caught up in the nets across the country's waters.

World Animal Protection has launched the Sea Change campaign with the aim to make fishermen, fisheries and the general public more aware of this problem and they want to save one million animals by 2018.

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