Here Come the Elephants

Hi all, animals all behaving themselves this week - no rant there.

Here Come the Elephants

One thing that I heard in the news, that I thought was in the past, REALLY upset me - animals in circuses! Pictures & video of elephants in a closed pen waiting to 'perform' in the GB circus in Newark, Nottinghamshire, UK. These most majestic of creatures, gentle, socially complex animals, have to endure being stuck in a tent, waiting to perform tricks for our entertainment, so we can laugh at them, go oooohhh & ahhhhh!! It has been 10years since the last elephant (Annie) performed in a circus in the UK, although she still has to experience frequent travelling. Circus owners state that they were not being physically abused, that they had passed veterinary exams and were 'happy'. Happy? How would/could they know? I would also question physical abuse, these creatures walk tens of miles a day, live in specific social groupings, forage for food and water in a climate many degrees hotter than western Europe - England that isn't! They live in enclosures, are forced into abnormal social groups (e.g. african & asian together) in a temperate climate and taught 'tricks'. I believe, as with humans, if our emotional, environmental and natural behavioural needs aren't met, this will indeed directly impact upon our physical and mental states - this does not translate to being 'happy' in anyone's language!

This is an outrage, and I totally agree with the RSPCA, taken from http://www.rspca.org.uk/ (1/3/09);

"Please think before visiting a circus" Dr Atkinson added: "In the meantime, we would urge any members of the public thinking of visiting a circus with performing animals to consider very carefully the ethical issues involved. "After all, how are we benefited as a nation for permitting tigers to leap through hoops and bears to ride bicycles?"

Also see BBC News, Animal welfare campaigners and circus owners join forces calling for an end to cruelty in big top and behind the scenes: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/201483.stm

Oh, and by the way, I remember from my youth being told that elephants were the only other creature that was capable of compassion (how true that is I don't know), either way, we reciprocate that by indulging ourselves in the 'good time' gained by demeaning and inprisoning such a glorious creature - aren't we the greatest eh? (Seriously, rant really over now - sorry).

My Garden at 9am
Golden mist is sprayed across the green,
Air crammed with birdsong hastily thrown
Feline forms hide silently in the scene
As greyhounds lope across the lawn unmown

Just a spontaneous outpouring as I sense the first signs of spring, the stretch in the day and the birds dropping twigs, moss, straw etc. all over the garage roof, car and paths.

Another version of the eco-friendly cat bed:


Other news I have come across this week - check out these sites etc.

• Greyhound & Whippet owners, great site for bespoke, leather, handcrafted celtic design collars http://tinyurl.com/cxdjpn

• In last year RSPB have raised £11k+ for albatrosses thanks to used stamps - http://www.rspb.org.uk/supp...

• People for Earth website, direct link to the page where you can add green news http://bit.ly/13Ox78

• Green Pepper website: It's Fairtrade Fortnight in the UK! Support Fairtrade for a fairer world http://tinyurl.com/ca2qzo

• Green Pepper weekly Green News Round-up is at http://tinyurl.com/cfa7lr

So to round off this weeks blurb & ramblings, here is a picture of what nap time looks like at my house
















The dogs room (I know, their own room)

The Cats Return

Well Hi, back again to rant, share info. etc. An uneventful week really, cats are back in the house but at only specific times so we can keep an eye on them. Don't feel too sad for them as they have; a garage with their own central heating (our boiler is housed in there), sheepskin lined beds and cushions. They have always been outdoor cats, they were born inside one of our old trees at the bottom of the garden, their father (Jack) "came with the house" (previous owner abandoned him) and the Mother (Snaggletooth) was a ferrell cat who now loves her luxuries. Snags would knock at the back door and just throw all of her kittens into the kitchen, one by one by the scruff of their neck, and then disappear on a hunting trip. Hours later, she would knock at the back door, locate each kitten in turn, and return them to the tree - we were the unpaid babysitters - we are now unpaid chefs and carers. Tabs, has a cold now, (black and white one here in the middle) so we have used eucalyptus oil in the garage to help her with her sniffles - I am just realising what I am writing??

Doggie Update

Inca and Shelly have had an uneventful week, which is good news. The weather is mild at the moment so lots of walks down the beach and plays with their wee friends - a pointer, collie, terrier, sheltie to name but a few. Trouble here in Northern Ireland is that they have an arcane law that requires greyhounds and similar types (i.e. lurchers, whippets, other sighthounds etc.) to be muzzled in public places. These are gentle, good natured, placid animals, ours live with 4 cats (7 at one point) quite happily. I wont go into the history of the law (I'll let my husband do that when he gets his blog up and running-he loves a good rant!) but it really needs repealed, such a sin to put one of those contraptions on such a beautiful animal for no good reason - I can think of many other breeds (and owners, politicians, etc.) who should be wearing one as a matter of public health and safety. I've included a video, a collection of moments of a day in the life of our 2 greys. Will probably be boring to those who are not into grey's, it's not funny as such, just a snapshot of how chilled and placid these loveable creatures are.
If your interested in retired greyhounds, whippets, lurchers etc. please follow this link http://www.jansgifts.co.uk/rescue_association.php - this is a place called Jan's Gifts in Rayleigh, Essex. Great resource for items for your sighthounds and also lists local adoption centres etc. for these breeds. We order from her - weird really, Ireland produces all the dogs but we have to go to Essex to purchase items for them - what's that all about, eh?

Other News

• Well, Northern Ierland has done it again. Local council, in response to so called "credit crunch" aghhhhh! IT'S A RECESSION, apologies for shouting, but really???? Anyhoo, the council is shutting down one of the local amenity sites which is a major recycling facility, one of the better one's in the city and easy access for those who rely on public transport. Must be taking Sammy Wilson's lead, you know, there is no such thing as man's contribution to climate change blah, blah..................?
• Little Egret was spotted in the River Foyle estuary, Northern Ireland, and we understand that they are nesting nearby - wondering if this is the most northerly breeding pair?
  

• http://tinyurl.com/amryhf Fishermen rescue trapped dolphins. Heartwarming stuff, how individuals step up where organisations don't. Curtesy of Problogger on twitter.

• Visit http://dailyclimate.org/ to keep updated with environmental news and climate change - curtesy of an Al Gore tweet.

• http://tinyurl.com/zah4g handy site for practical advice and environmental news.
  

• Environmentally friendly cat beds, tried and tested though some designs are seasonal.

Valentines Day Disaster

Hi, happy Valentines to anyone reading this, though I'm far from happy with it. Woke up to hear and see my husband doing a war dance downstairs. He had discovered that some cat (culprit yet to be identified, though we have our suspicions) was using the dogs room as a lavatory! Flying, as if by their own power, came shoes, leads, collars etc. into the hall. He cleaned the room, though the air was far from clean, and I set about cleaning shoes, even those yards from the incident - just in case. As another pair of shoes/trainers were ejected from the house into the garden, upsetting unsuspecting sparrows/finches in the middle of their morning breakfast, Shelly was found cowering and shaking underneath the stairs. We believe Shelly has ideas above her station and that she feels she should have been adopted into a more affluent lifestyle (chauffeur, gold plated bowls etc.), hence her reaction to the foul-mouthed, profanities that was filling the air. It took both my husband and I quite a while to bring her round. Meanwhile, Inca, who is more at home (we believe) with curries and beer, was lying down on her sofa with a "what's your problem?" expression. As the household began to have some semblance of returning to normal, their was a full scale assault on the back door by the feline contingent. The grey & white one (unofficially known as weird) was trying to burrow through the PVC stronghold, the brown/ginger one (unofficially known as spooky) was hurling herself at the window to complete reconnaissance duties - the other two (unofficially fatwab & snaggletooth) were prowling around the perimeter of the house looking for any weakness in our defences. We countered this strategy by placing 3 plant pots in front of the back door which successfully countered the spying and tunnelling. After 1 shower, 10 cigarettes, 3 teas, we were at last ready to leave our stronghold and collect our lunch (kindly made by my Mother-in-Law). After returning from collecting our lunch we found that our defences had remained intact (though what the postman thought of them is something else?).

Just a comment, according to T S Eliot, cats have three names; 1. Is their official name we give them, 2. is the unofficial name we call them 3. is the name they give themselves

1. The top photograph is recent surveillance footage of the suspects.
2. The second photograph is of the main suspect, trying to obtain food by underhanded (undertabled?) means.

First Ever Blog!

Hi there, this is my first ever blog and for the first time in my life I am stuck for words. So I thought I would use this to introduce myself to the blogging world (not that anyone will be looking at this!).
My name is Lynne, I'm English, my husband is from Northern Ireland and I have been living in Northern Ireland for the past 12 years. We have 2 rescue greyhounds (hence the title of the blog) and 4 rescued cats - did have 7 at one point! We feel strongly about animal rights, environmental protection and human rights issues - I suppose we are "greenies" at heart.
This is a picture of myself and our 2 girls - Inca & Shelly, in the middle of a blizzard in February this year. As you can see, they are all wrapped up in their waxed, fleece lined coats - warmer and smarter than my own. That's how it goes in our house, dog, cat & wild bird food first then whatever is left we spend on ourselves - how sad is that? I am a member of RSPB, IFAW, Amnesty International, the "We" campaign (set up by Al Gore) and follow and get involved in campaigns that match my own personal values and ethics e.g. Friends of the Earth etc. I sound really boring, I sound like an anorak - I'm not, though I do confess to being a sci-fi and sci-fantasy fan. That's a WHOLE other blog.
I don't know if I will keep this blog going, I don't know if anyone would find anything interesting on here, but I'm going to attempt it and explore it and see where it leads me. Oh, I'm also a Terry Pratchett fan too, mainly the discworld series - that could also be another entire blog. From not knowing what to write I am worried now about writing too much, that's weird.
There are many issues that I believe are worth writing about, or maybe that should read "I want to rant about"? For example, the Northern Ireland Minister for the Environment has stated that he does not believe that people are responsible for the increase in CO2 emissions, he does not believe in climate change and that people are the major contributors to this. ???????? OK, did I miss something here? How on earth (pun not intended) did he get this position? He does not believe the scientific research that everyone else has now taken as a "given", he has no scientific evidence for his point of view, he just thinks "nah, that can't be right and if I don't believe it despite the overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary, I'm gonna make sure no one else will hear any evidence/information that contradicts my point of view" - HOW can this happen in this day and age? What must the rest of the world think of us here in Northern Ireland, what an embarrassment!
I think I will use this space as somewhere I can rant without boring/sending to sleep etc. those around me, hey, if you get fed up you can always skip to another blog - unfortunately my friends have to listen to me (they're very good friends who are still around).

A couple of handy websites;

avaaz.org Relating to Human Rights
joinliveearth.org Relating to climate change etc.