❀ The Good News ❀

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Stop watching the News on T.V. filled with lies, propaganda, and made to make you feel helpless and afraid.

With all the negative news in the world, it's time to give you hope and inspiration. It's time to the weekly Good News! 

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Lots of amazing news for animals this week!!

Success! EU Closes Shark Finning Ban Loopholes

In a big win for sharks, the European Union finally adopted a strict ban on shark finning. Officially shark finning, a process whereby fins are harvested from living sharks, has been illegal in the EU since 2003. However, loopholes and exemptions in the law allowed the process to continue. Now, at long last, the process has been outlawed once and for all.

With the new regulation in place, conservationists finally have a law that can make a difference for these vital members of the marine ecosystem.

This win is thanks to millions of concerned citizens around the world, and thousands of Care2 members that signed petitions, asking the EU to reevaluate its stance on shark finning, and outlaw the practice permanently. Thanks to dedicated community members like you, the sharks will now have a fighting chance in European waters. 

(Read more) http://www.care2.com/causes/success-eu-closes-shark-finning-ban-loopholes.html#ixzz2YwcL8ZI1

Pennsylvania Law Makes Animal Abusers Pay

Agencies charged with caring for abused animals often struggle to care for them. Whether they’re flailing for shelter after a big bust or trying to cover the medical expenses of a seriously injured animal, law enforcement and animal welfare groups do their best for abused animals, but it can get expensive. That’s why numerous states require accused animal abusers to pay for the daily upkeep of seized animals.

Pennsylvania just joined that group when Governor Tom Corbett decisively signed H.B. 82 into law. This law requires defendants to pay up to $15 a day for upkeep, including shelter, food and other basic needs. If animals require extraordinary care, the accused may be required to pay more in order to support treatment. Veterinarians can evaluate individual cases to determine what kind of treatment is needed and how much it may add to overall costs.

(Read more) http://www.care2.com/causes/pennsylvania-law-makes-animal-abusers-pay-literally.html#ixzz2Ywe60SlD

Victory! The Sale of Dogs, Cats, and Rabbits Banned in San Diego!

The San Diego City Council passed an ordinance to ban the sale of dogs, cats, and rabbits in city “pet” stores. Last September, the San Diego Animal Defense Team (ADT) gave the city council a petition with forty pages of signatures requesting this ordinance. ADT joined with In Defense of Animals, San Diego Humane Society, Animal Protection and Rescue League, and other organizations to garner attention and support for the ordinance. More than 75 animal-related businesses and animal advocacy groups signed on to support the ban.

Pet stores get animals from commercial breeding facilities, including puppy mills, where animals are imprisoned for life in cramped, filthy conditions and used as breeding machines until they can no longer reproduce. Three to four million animals are killed in American shelters every year because of the difficulty of securing enough good homes for them. Please adopt rather than buy animal companions to break this cycle of suffering, misery, and death.

Victory! Bear Pit Closed

Eleven bears had been imprisoned in concrete pits at Chief Saunooke Bear Park in Cherokee, North Carolina, which PETA has been working to shut down for years. Following a PETA investigation, the roadside zoo paid a fine and surrendered its exhibitor's license to settle more than a dozen charges for violations of the Animal Welfare Act.

The bears now reside at the International Exotic Animal Sanctuary (IEAS) in Dallas, after a private benefactor generously offered to purchase the bears from the zoo's owner. 

(Read more) http://www.peta.org/b/thepetafiles/archive/2013/07/09/victory-bear-pit-closed-animals-get-real-retirement.aspx

Woman Helps Little Gopher in Trouble: Stunning “Thank You”

This story from Care2 is totally heart-warming, so happy to share it. The story is of a mother who has an instinct and knack for helping animals in need--placing their needs ahead of her own and going out of her way to help the poor critters. This story is about a gopher who's leg is caught in a leg-hold trap; the woman comes to free him, carries him home (despite him biting her arm the walk back), and feeds and cares for him (respectfully giving him space). 

"The day came when we felt he was well enough to be set free. I took his cage out to an open field across the road. I opened the door and he bounded out and started to run away.  But, then he stopped and turned around towards me.  He then ran back and stopped right in front of me, sat up on his haunches, paused and gazed at me for a moment – as if to say ‘Thank you.”  Then he scurried off never to be seen again. I will never forget that thank you."

(Read the whole heart-warming story here) http://www.care2.com/causes/woman-helps-little-gopher-in-trouble-stunning-thank-you.html#ixzz2ZK0VVwln

Two Former Circus Elephants Spared Euthanasia in France

Two elephants, Baby and Nepal — two former circus elephants that a French zoo was planning to euthanize after they tested positive for tuberculosis — will instead be spending the rest of their days on an estate on the Cote d’Azur owned by the royal family of Monaco. The fear was that the disease could spread so were therefor called to be euthanized. 

A campaign, led by French actress Brigitte Bardot, was created to save the two elephants. About 200 people formed a human chain around the elephants’ enclosure “to save Baby and Nepal” and Monaco’s Princess Stephanie condemned the decision to kill them as “radical and irreversible.”

In February, France’s Supreme Administrative Court put a stop to the euthanasia of the elephants, on the grounds that there was “substantial doubt” about the legality of doing so, says German newspaper Der Spiegel.

Princess Stephanie then offered to take in Baby and Nepal where they now live on the Roc Agel ranch, an estate owned by the Monaco royal family in southeastern France. The elephants’ new home is a nearly one-acre enclosure with a pool and wooden shed. A veterinarian who accompanied them on their journey said that, upon arrival, they showed signs of “well-being,” showering themselves with dust and humming softly.

(Read more) http://www.care2.com/causes/two-former-circus-elephants-spared-euthanasia-in-france.html#ixzz2ZK2oxChI

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Thanks for reading this week's "Good News!" Join us every week and feel inspired! 

Be sure to sign up for Care2's newsletter for some real news around the globe, to make a change, and to open up your mind to the Real World!

See that your actions count and get out there and do good! Be the Change!  

If you found this article to be helpful, please consider a small donation or visit the shop. Thank you for your love and support.

❀ The Good News ❀

. . . . . . . . . . 

Stop watching the News on T.V. filled with lies, propaganda, and made to make you feel helpless and afraid.

With all the negative news in the world, it's time to give you hope and inspiration. It's time to the weekly Good News! 

. . . . . . . . . .

Lots of good news for animals this week!!! :)

Victory! NIH to Retire Most Research Chimps

In a huge victory for chimpanzees being used in research, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has formally announced that it will be retiring most of the chimps it owns or funds. And will be sending about 310 federally-owned chimpanzees currently imprisoned in laboratories to sanctuaries!

The announcement means that hundreds of chimpanzees will now be allowed to live free from harm, after what has been decades in labs for some, and follows years of campaigning by animal advocacy organizations and caring members of the public who have spoken out on their behalf. More than 12,500 public comments were submitted to the NIH, while a Care2 petition asking the NIH’s Director Francis Collins to retire chimps gathered more than 21,000 signatures.

(Read more) 

India to Ban Animals to Test Cosmetics! 

In another huge victory for animals in laboratories, India has announced that it will implement a ban on using animals to test cosmetics! After an extensive campaign by PETA—which included appeals from high-profile politicians and multinational retailers such as LUSH and The Body Shop as well as lengthy discussions with PETA India's scientists—the drug controller general of India announced that testing cosmetics and their ingredients on animals will not be permitted in India.

This announcement comes on the heels of recently enacted bans on cosmetics testing on animals in the European Union and in Israel. 

Djala The Silver-Back Gorilla Is Going Home

Djala, a gorilla rescued from Gabon after his parents were killed for bushmeat, is on his way home.

The 440lb silverback left the Wild Animal Park in Kent, UK, last Sunday and is traveling more than 5,000 miles back to Batéké Plateau National Park in his native Gabon, West Africa. He was accompanied by four female mates and their four infants, between eight months and six years old. (He also has another 11 children.)

Djala was saved over 30 years ago by a French helicopter pilot who spotted a group of children playing with the orphan. He was taken to Libreville, the capital of Gabon, where he was raised by a Frenchwoman who looked after him in her garden. Eventually he got too big for the garden, and so she turned to the Aspinall Foundation for help.

Conservationist Damian Aspinall has had Djala under the care of the Foundation ever since. This journey is part of the Aspinall Foundation’s Back To The Wild campaign.

How inspiring to read about a program at a wild animal park that has the goal of returning animals to the wild! Remember that zoos are not real, or even close, conservation work, so do not go to them! 

(Read more) 

New York Creates First-Ever Animal Abuser Registry

In a first, the New York Senate has passed a bill that would require that convicted animal abusers — just like convicted sex offenders — register as such with the division of criminal justice services. Even more, those who have been convicted of abusing and torturing animals would also have to undergo a required psychiatric evaluation and would be banned from ever owning pets again.

Under the bill, the names and addresses of convicted animal abuses in New York would be made readily accessible to the public. Those involved in the sale and adoption of animals would be able to check the registry before allowing someone to own an animal. This new bill will protect animals from repeat animal abusers. 

(Read more) 

Wildlife Trafficking Takes a Hit After Unprecedented U.S. Action

President Obama has made another unprecedented move this week by signing an executive order to combat wildlife trafficking that is threatening endangered species and perpetuating organized crime.

The president launched the crackdown during his visit to Tanzania earlier this week, which brings hope for species whose populations are suffering from the effects of the recent surge in poaching that is estimated to be a billion dollar industry and is now being considered both a global crisis and a security threat.

The order allocates $10 million in State Department funds to fight the illegal trade and promises to assist foreign governments with anti-trafficking activities, in addition to making an effort to reduce the demand domestically and abroad.

It also pledges to establish a Presidential Task Force on Wildlife Trafficking composed of the State, Interior and Justice departments to develop strategies to combat wildlife trafficking and an Advisory Council on Wildlife Trafficking that will make recommendations and assist the task force. The Transnational Organized Crime Strategy will also now be considering whether to add wildlife trafficking to the list of crimes it covers, putting it on the same level as arms and human trafficking.

(Read more) 

Tasmania Gives the Thumbs Up to Gay Adoption

Last week was a big one for gay and lesbian couples. The Supreme Court in the United States invalidated part of DOMA and cleared the way for California to recognize marriages of same sex couples. And now the Australian state of Tasmania has given the thumbs up to same-sex couples who want to adopt.

The new law, just passed by the Upper House, allows any couple registered under the Relationship Act – basically their domestic partnership law – to adopt children. It was supported by all but three MPs.

This is a pretty big deal, especially when you realize that Tasmania was the last Australian state to decriminalize homosexuality in the 1990s.

(Read more) 

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Thanks for reading this week's "Good News!" Join us every week and feel inspired! 

Be sure to sign up for Care2's newsletter for some real news around the globe, to make a change, and to open up your mind to the Real World!

See that your actions count and get out there and do good! Be the Change!

If you found this article to be helpful, please consider a small donation or visit the shop. Thank you for your love and support.