World's oldest captive giant panda, Jia Jia, dies aged 38

After weeks of deteriorating health, the world's oldest giant panda in captivity has died at a Hong Kong theme park. Jia Jia was a gift from Beijing on the second anniversary of Hong Kong's independence from Britain.

Deutsche Welle, 16 Oct 2016

Hong Kong giant panda, Jia Jia

Veterinarians were forced on Sunday to euthanize the world's oldest captive giant panda in Hong Kong in order to prevent the animal from further suffering.

"This is a day we knew would eventually come, but it is nevertheless a sad day for everyone at the Park, especially for the Park's keepers who took care of her over the years," Ocean Park chairman Leo Kung said in a statement.

Giant panda Jia Jia was born in the wild and was taken to a wildlife reserve's breeding centre in 1980, when she was around two-years-old.

Euthanasia to 'prevent suffering'

After taking medication for high blood pressure and arthritis in old age, Jia Jia's condition deteriorated significantly over the past two weeks. As her food consumption plummeted from 10 kilograms (22 pounds) a day to less than three, the panda dramatically lost weight.

"Her state became so debilitated that based on ethical reasons and in order to prevent suffering, veterinarians from the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department and Ocean Park [authorities] agreed to a humane euthanasia for Jia Jia," the theme park said.

Race to save the species

Although pandas are traditionally symbolic animals in China, Jia Jia carried extra significance as she, along with another panda An An, were gifts from Beijing to Hong Kong in 1999 on the occasion of its second anniversary of independence from Britain.

Jia Jia, whose name translates as 'excellence,' held the Guinness World Record as the oldest living giant panda in captivity. The average lifespan for a panda is only 18 to 20 years in the wild, although that jumps to 30 for pandas in captivity.

Due to their low birth rate and the destruction of their natural habitats, captive breeding programs have become essential to ensuring the species' survival. According to Ocean Park, Jia Jia gave birth five times to six panda cubs whilst in captivity.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) estimates that there are fewer than 2,000 giant pandas now left in the wild.

tm/jlw (AFP, AP)

Blind couple left stranded in woodland after attack on guide dog

DutchNews, December 7, 2015

A guide dog in action

A blind couple were abandoned in woodland after their guide dog was attacked by another dog on Sunday, local broadcaster AT5 reports. 

The couple, named as Jasper and Marion, were left stranded in Diemerbos with their dog Ian, who was bleeding and unable to lead them to safety, after the other dog’s owner fled the scene.

‘The owner shouted at us to call our dogs to heel, but his dog went straight into a fight with Ian,’ said Jasper. ‘He [the owner] had difficulty separating his dog from Ian. We spoke to the man but he ran away. Marion tried to go after him but he got in his car and drove off.’

Ian was given emergency treatment by a vet but it is unclear if he will be able to resume his work as a guide dog.

‘Incidents like these can cause long-term anxiety towards other dogs,’ said Peter van der Heijden of the Royal Dutch Guide Dog Foundation (KNGF). ‘That would make Ian unsuitable for guide work. Guide dogs need to be 100% dependable in their work.’

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Prescription drugs polluting China's surface water

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2014-05-11

55-year-old environmental protection worker Hu Yuanbao picks up trash on the
 shore near the mouth of the Huangpu River in Shanghai, July 4, 2013.
(File photo/Xinhua)

China's surface waters have been polluted by multiple pharmaceutical and personal care products including 68 types of antibiotics and 90 types of non-antibiotics, reports Beijing-based Caixin Media, one of the country's leading financial news providers, citing a joint study by the East China University of Science and Technology, Tongji University and Tsinghua University published in Chinese science journal Science China on April 28.

Pharmaceutical and personal care products are micro-organic pollutants that have raised concern among both academics and the public due to their effect on human health and the environment. The substances have been found in wastewater, surface water, ground water and soil. The United Nations Environment Programme has expressed concern over the influence of these products such as painkillers and antibiotics on water resources.

The frequency and the concentration of these products found in surface water in China has been much higher than they have in Western countries. Antibiotics Sulfamethoxazole and Sulfapyridine have been found in samples from the Huangpu River. All the samples taken from the river during low water period have traces of sulfamethoxazole with concentrations ranging between 14.9 to 623.3 nanograms, much higher than those recorded in Japan and the United States.

Although less than 60% of the samples taken contained non-antibiotic pharmaceuticals and personal care products, many common medicines such as anti-inflammatory medicines, anticonvulsant drugs, hormones and medicines used to lower blood pressure, blood lipids and reduce bacteria were found in the samples.

These findings suggest severe abuse of additives in animal feed and prescription drugs in China. Most of these substances come from wastewater produced by members of the public, medical institutions, factories, the agricultural husbandry and fisheries industries as well as landfills, according to the study. A concentration of sulfamethoxazole up to 1,080 nanograms per liter was recorded from a sample taken from a section of the River Zhu. The high level of the antibiotic found in the region might have to do with the heavy use of additives in the feed and preventative medicines in local chicken farms.

Halal row prompts calls for clearer meat labelling

Yahoo – AFP, 8 May 2014

Religious leaders in Britain are calling for the comprehensive labelling of meat

at point of sale, including details of how it was slaughtered (AFP Photo/Pascal Pavani)

London (AFP) - Religious leaders in Britain on Thursday called for all meat to be labelled with details of how it was slaughtered after it emerged halal and kosher meat in supermarkets is often not marked as such.

Representatives of Jewish and Muslim groups said in a letter to the Daily Telegraph that consumers should be informed at the point of sale of precisely how animals have been killed.

The call for comprehensive labelling comes after it emerged that people eating at Pizza Express and other restaurants were eating halal-slaughtered chicken without their knowledge.

"Comprehensive labelling should be supported by faith communities and animal welfare groups alike," said the letter signed by Henry Grunwald, chairman of Shechita UK, the body which represents the Jewish method of religious slaughter, and Dr Shuja Shafi, Deputy Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain.

"It would offer all consumers genuine choice, whether they are motivated by animal welfare, religious observance, or even intolerance of anyone who looks or worships differently to them."

Food labels should specify whether or not an animal has been stunned prior to slaughter "and whether it has endured repeat stuns if the first attempt was ineffective," they added.

"They should also be told the method of slaughter: captive bolt shooting, gassing, electrocution, drowning, trapping, clubbing or any of the other approved methods," the letter said.

More than 70 percent of New Zealand lamb sold in Britain now comes from halal slaughterhouses, although there is currently no requirement for information to be stated on the packaging.

Halal methods are used in order to ensure the meat can be sold to both Muslim and non-Muslim nations, with Middle East countries a major market for New Zealand lamb exports.

"We all follow the rules set down by the European Union (in the British market)," Craig Finch, UK and Europe Regional Manager for Beef and Lamb New Zealand told AFP.

"Currently there is no labelling requirement in terms of halal.

"It's based on commercial and logistical factors -- we take a consistent approach that meets regulations across the board in our different markets around the world."

A sheep is pictured in a field at Sandfly Bay near Dunedin in New Zealand

on September 23, 2011 (AFP Photo/Paul Ellis)

Asked whether clearer labelling should be considered in Britain, Finch said that it was a matter for regulators in different markets and that limits should be placed on labelling because of space constraints.

"It really becomes a regulatory issue. But that information about slaughter methods is already clear on our website," he said.

Finch added that all of the lamb exported to Britain was from sheep that had been 'pre-stunned' and was unconscious before slaughter in accordance with New Zealand law.

Former health secretary Andrew Lansley meanwhile backed calls for shoppers to be given information to help them when making purchases.

Lansley told the House of Commons that the Consumer Rights Bill, which returns to parliament next week, could provide an opportunity to address the issue.

A bill put before the house in 2012 by Conservative MP Philip Davies to introduce a bill for compulsory labelling of halal and kosher meat was rejected by three votes following opposition from Labour.

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Kryon Q&A

Question (2004): Dear Kryon, the Canadian farmers have been hit hard with two cases of BSE, or Mad Cow Disease, reported as coming from Alberta. This is a fatal disease that’s scaring many people away from beef. Is Spirit trying to tell us to be vegetarians? Why is this disease coming out now? Will beef ever be as safe to eat as it was before?

Answer: As we’ve discussed before, there isn’t enough fertile land on the planet to feed humanity if you’re all vegetarian. In addition, we’ve told you that a balance is needed for most Human biological systems that includes meat. Therefore, one of the reasons for the existence of animals is for your sustenance, and they come here for that. Animals are in service to humanity, and they do it in several ways. (This has been channelled many times . . . the reasons for animals on the planet.)

We’ve also told you that in order for them to be healthy sustenance, they must be treated with a higher consciousness than they are now or they’ll die. This is what you’re seeing. This disease is one that’s here to draw attention to this issue, not to force you to eat vegetables. It’s to bring the plight of the animals into mainstream consciousness, and to eventually demand changes in the way they’re treated.

Many of you don’t wish to think about these precious creatures being sacrificed for your sustenance, but remember, this is all part of the support for your life on the planet. What you owe them is honor and dignity within the scope of creating food for your lives. When you see these kinds of diseases, they exist to make you stop and look at what you’re doing. If you don’t, these animals will self-destruct on their own.

Antibiotic Use on Farm Animals to Be Phased Out in U.S

Bloomberg, Alex Wayne,  Dec 12, 2013

Photographer: Marcel ter Bekke/
Getty Images

Use of antibiotics to fatten cattle, hogs and chickens for human consumption will be phased out by 2017, as U.S. regulators seek to curb a rise in more deadly forms of foodborne pathogens.

Farmers would no longer be able to purchase the medicines without a veterinarian’s approval under a plan announced yesterday by the Food and Drug Administration. Drugmakers will be asked to agree to increased controls over three months, then will have three years to change labels to remove production uses of antibiotics, including for weight gain and accelerated growth.

Antibiotics, often the last line of defense for humans against life-threatening germs spread commonly in hospitals, are starting to lose power because of overexposure. The FDA deliberately sidestepped rescinding approval of the drugs’ for livestock completely, saying a voluntary approach would lead to a faster reduction in the use of the medicines.

“It is a hollow gesture that does little to tackle a widely recognized threat to human health,” Avinash Kar, a lawyer for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a statement. “FDA has essentially followed a voluntary approach for more than 35 years, but use of these drugs to raise animals has increased.”

About 2 million Americans a year are infected by drug-resistant bacteria, often in hospitals and nursing homes, and at least 23,000 die, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Industry Approach

Congressional Democrats also criticized the FDA guidance, which they said isn’t strong enough to substantially reduce the use of antibiotics at farms.

“This voluntary, pro-industry approach is a step in the wrong direction,” U.S. Representative Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the senior Democrat on an appropriations subcommittee that funds the FDA, said in a statement. “For the good of public health, FDA should step up and implement tighter restrictions.”

Michael Taylor, the FDA’s deputy commissioner for foods and veterinary medicine, said the best strategy is to work cooperatively with the pharmaceutical industry.

“This approach is the fastest way to achieve our goal,” Taylor said in a statement. “Based on our outreach, we have every reason to believe that animal pharmaceutical companies will support us in this effort.”

Foodborne Outbreaks

Overuse of the medicine on animals eaten by humans is being blamed for foodborne outbreaks of antibiotic-resistant pathogens that have sickened 19,897 people and killed 26 from 1973 to 2009, according to data from the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington-based consumer advocacy group.

About 80 percent of antibiotics sold in the U.S. are administered to livestock, not to humans, DeLauro said. That gives companies little motive to volunteer to reduce the medicines’ use at farms, said NRDC’s Kar.

Zoetis Inc. (ZTS), the Madison, New Jersey-based animal-health business that Pfizer Inc. spun off this year, said it supports the FDA’s decision.

“Zoetis has been a leader in providing ongoing education to veterinarians and livestock producers on the proper use of antimicrobial drugs to treat, control, and prevent infection and disease in livestock animals,” the company said in a statement. “As the new policies move forward, we remain committed to researching and developing new therapeutic products and strategies.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Wayne in Washington at awayne3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reg Gale at rgale5@bloomberg.net

UK vets have 'repeatedly raised concerns' over bute in food

BBC News, Matt McGrath, Environment correspondent, 8 February 2013

One scientist called racehorses from the US "walking pharmacies"

An independent veterinary committee had "repeatedly expressed concern" about a drug found in UK horsemeat destined for export, the BBC has learned.

The discovery of horsemeat in UK foodstuffs is raising big concerns that UK testing regimes are not sufficient.

There are worries that if unregulated horsemeat is substituted for beef it could expose people to a drug called phenylbutazone - often called "bute".

Once used as an anti-inflammatory, its toxicity to some people led to a ban.

The drug in rare cases caused a serious blood disorder known as aplastic anaemia.

But it is still used widely to treat horses. Once treated these animals are not supposed to enter the food chain.

'Big trade'

In the UK about 8,000 horses a year are slaughtered for human consumption. This meat is then exported to other European countries. Under EU regulations, it must be tested for a range of substances including bute.

Last July the UK's Veterinary Residues Committee, which carries out that testing, issued a report. In it, they showed that among 60 samples of horsemeat destined for export in 2010, there were five positive results for bute.

The independent committee said that it had "repeatedly expressed concern over residues of phenylbutazone entering the food chain".

"The number has gone up a little over the past three or four years," committee chairman Dr Dorothy Craig told BBC News.

"We're finding a rate of about 5%. It's banned, so the number of non-compliant samples should be zero."

Since 2005, horses are required by law to have a "passport" that contains a declaration as to whether the horse is intended for human consumption.

These passports are also used to record if an animal has been treated with bute; most of the UK positives have come from difficulties with these documents.

"That's really where the problems come from - either a genuine error or where there's deliberate fraud going on," said Dr Craig.

In June 2012, the European Commission's Directorate General for Health and Consumers issued its summary of an audit of abbatoirs in Italy - the EU's biggest consumer of horsemeat. In it, they noted "numerous shortcomings were detected in the passports".

But the global nature of the horsemeat business is also causing problems in tracing exposure to bute.

Using bute on horses for human consumption is banned in the EU, but thousands of tonnes of horsemeat is imported from the US, Canada and Mexico where practices are different.

Many of the animals killed for food in these countries were once racehorses, and the use of bute at racetracks across the US is so widespread that one scientist speaking to the New York Times called these horses "walking pharmacies".

Research published in the journal Food and Chemical Toxicology in 2010 highlighted this risk, and EU officials warned last year about serious problems in verifying whether horses killed in Mexico were drug-free.

"This is a very big trade," says Mark Jones from Humane Society International.

"The potential is there for quite significant contamination and residues, given that the route by which this meat is moving is very far from watertight."

A man poses holding a Findus beef lasagne frozen readymeal

 near Sunderland, UK on February 8, 2013 (AFP/File, Andrew Yates)

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Mosquito attacks kill dozens of cattle

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 01/07/2010 5:56 PM

An unidentified species of mosquito has emerged as the number one enemy of farmers in the Riau regency of Inderagiri Hulu, as the insect has killed dozens of their cattle over the last month.

Local veterinarians have been unable to identify the type of the mosquito to find what caused the cattle’s deaths.

“We are still conducting a laboratory examination of the species,” head of the provincial husbandry agency Patrianov told Antara on Thursday.

He said the mosquito was most active at night, targeting mostly cows and goats.

“Local farmers have protected their cattle with mosquito nets, but to no avail,” Patrianov said.

There have been a few reports of chicken fatalities due to the mosquito, he added.

A resident, Ruli, said the mosquito bit humans, but caused no fatalities.

“But its bite causes more pain than common mosquitoes,” Ruli said.

Expert: Indonesia short of 9,000 veterinarians

Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta | Wed, 10/28/2009 9:46 PM

Indonesia will need 9,000 more veterinarians by 2020 to deal with future infectious animal diseases and to help develop cattle farming, an expert says.

Bambang Sumiarto, dean of Gadjah Mada University’s School of Veterinary Sciences, told a workshop on Wednesday that with only 11,000 veterinarians available, many regions could not eradicate infectious animal diseases due to a shortfall in specialists.

“As a result, experts other than veterinarians are taking over the veterinary jobs,” Bambang said.

There are currently five veterinary schools across the country producing graduates – UGM, Bogor Institute of Agriculture, Syiah Kuala University in Banda Aceh, Airlangga University in Surabaya and Udayana University in Denpasar. Brawijaya University in Malang, East Java, Mataram University in West Nusa Tenggara and Wijaya Kusuma University in Surabaya have only recently opened veterinary schools, and have yet to produce qualified veterinarians.

With less than 1,000 veterinary students graduating annually, the country faces difficulties in improving animal health, he said.

In the past few years, Indonesia has been fighting both avian influenza and its H1N1 variant, two diseases transmitted by animals.

City to start intensive anti-birdflu program

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 03/25/2008 12:43 AM 

The Jakarta administration and the national bird flu committee plan to intensify the bird flu prevention and control program in the capital, which will include strict monitoring of the poultry industry.

"The program has 10 items on its agenda, including the restructuring of the poultry business, regular cleaning of the poultry section at markets, minimizing transportation of poultry and enacting stricter regulations on the live chicken trade," Adnan Ahmad, head of veterinary health at the Jakarta Agriculture, Husbandry and Maritime Agency, said Monday.

He was speaking to reporters after a coordination meeting between the city administration and the National Committee for Avian Influenza Control and Pandemic Influenza Preparedness (Komnas FPBI).

The meeting was also attended by officials from the husbandry division at the Agriculture Ministry and from health agencies in Greater Jakarta.

Adnan said a 2007 city bylaw on poultry would regulate the live poultry trade and reduce the number of poultry slaughterhouses in the city starting in 2010.

In the future, poultry in the city will be kept and killed at one appointed slaughterhouse in each of the city's five municipalities, Adnan said.

Currently there are 259 poultry shelters and around 1,000 slaughterhouses processing approximately 400,000 chickens each day for consumption by Jakarta residents.

He said it was necessary to localize poultry and separate them from residents in order to curtail the spread of bird flu, which has claimed 105 lives throughout the archipelago in the past four years.

Komnas FPBI chairman Bayu Krisna Murthi said the program is focused on Greater Jakarta because that is where 70 percent of the country's bird flu deaths have occurred.

"More than half of the country's bird flu cases have happened in Jakarta and Tangerang," he said.

Bayu said research indicated the possibility of three new groups of bird flu virus strains, in addition to the already existing three groups, in the area.

"But further investigation has yet to prove their definite spread," said Bayu.

The program also aims to clear residences of free-roaming poultry, train doctors and nurses at local health clinics and private hospitals to deal with bird flu cases, hold public information campaigns, make preparations for a possible pandemic and continue the on-going research into the virus and vaccines.

The committee calculates that since 2004, bird flu has caused financial losses of around Rp 4.1 trillion (US$446 million).

This calculation is based on the value of exterminated chickens, decreasing demand and consumption of poultry commodities, additional costs suffered by the government and farmers to handle the disease and also losses suffered by other sectors, especially tourism. (dre)

Animal safety checks to continue in capital

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

To ensure Jakarta is free of animal-related diseases, officials will continue to inspect goats and cattle for three days after the Islamic Day of Sacrifice, or Idul Adha, which fell on Dec. 20.

"I have instructed officials to continue checking animals for three more days," Governor Fauzi Bowo said Thursday after attending Idul Adha prayers at the City Hall.

During the prayers, Fauzi presented a cow to the head of the Jakarta Spiritual Management Center, Abdul Madjid S.

Some 17 cows and 55 goats left at the City Hall on Thursday were to be taken to a slaughterhouse in Cakung, East Jakarta.

The head of the city's animal husbandry, fisheries and marine agency, Edy Setiarto, said officials would check the health of animals both before and after their slaughter.

"I hope there will be no reports of anthrax as there were last year," Edy said.

Last year the administration was forced to ban animals from several locations in Depok, Purwakarta, and Bogor from being transported into the city when it was discovered they were infected with anthrax.

Almost 3,000 officials, including 265 veterinarians from the Bogor Agricultural Institute and 50 more from the Jakarta branch of the Indonesian Association of Veterinarians, are expected to check the health of around 71,000 animals in some 2,200 slaughterhouses located in the capital.

Other officials have been deployed to check the health of animals in slaughterhouses throughout the municipality.

"We will check the condition of animals after they are slaughtered also. We will check things such as their kidneys, hearts and livers," said Chaidir Taufik, an official at West Jakarta's animal husbandry agency.

He said respiratory diseases had been the most common illness found in cattle and goats during the campaign.

"Some traders do not take care of the animals well," he said, adding that officials tell traders to treat their sick animals with antibiotics rather than sell them.

"Fortunately, at this stage there have not been any cases of anthrax reported," he said. (ewd)