I've noted many times how all living creatures are equally affected by natural disasters. Bush fires, floods, eathquakes - we're all in it together.
Here's another example.
Days after the Japanese earthquake a dog was still watching over an injured dog. When it saw an approaching TV crew it went to them and led them to its injured friend.
Showing posts with label animal welfare. Show all posts
Showing posts with label animal welfare. Show all posts
Friday, March 18, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Land of extremes
This time of year I'm usually posting about bushfires causing death and destruction in Australia.
We do indeed have fires, in the west. Not far from Perth a deliberately lit fire has destroyed a dozen homes:
Photo: Alf Sorbello perthnow.com.au
There's a large area burnt out but fortunately no casualties reported.
The animals won't be as lucky, although people do their best to rescue them:
Photo: Alf Sorbello perthnow.com.au 
Photo: Sky News. Town of Lockyer
Photo: Courier Mail. The town of Toowoomba
We do indeed have fires, in the west. Not far from Perth a deliberately lit fire has destroyed a dozen homes:
There's a large area burnt out but fortunately no casualties reported.
The animals won't be as lucky, although people do their best to rescue them:
But this 'fire season' the big news is the flood disaster hitting Queensland.
The news an hour ago was that thirteen people are dead and another forty three are missing...and the worst of the flood is yet to come.
Towns have been destroyed by flash flooding, with 'tsunamis' of six to eight metres coming out of nowhere and catching people by surprise.
One third of Ipswich, a suburb of Brisbane, is under water. Brisbane itself, our third largest city, is on high alert with many suburbs already flooded and mass evacuations from the city centre. The river runs through the centre of the city and is due to peak at 4am Brisbane time. Fortunately the predicted 5.4 metre peak has been revised to 5.2 metres. It's still a hell of a lot of water - measure it!
5.4 metres down to 5.2 doesn't sound a big difference but it means thousands of properties won't be flooded. The current reports are that 20,000 properties will be.
The area under water is larger than France & Germany combined and the flood waters are headed south into New South Wales so the north east of my home state is threatened.
People are being rescued from cars which have been washed away and from the roof of their homes...
This shot from a television camera in a chopper shows a family on their sinking 4X4. The mother and son were rescued but sadly the father, a well-known local personality James Perry, is missing.
Photo: The Australian
The animals are affected too and people are doing their best to help them:
Men jumped in and battled to rescue this trapped horse, which was disoriented and couldn't find its way to the nearby high ground:
Photo: Network 10 
Photo treehugger.com
Photo: Armin Gerlach
The wild animals are in trouble of course, finding any high ground or something, anything, to cling on to, like this goanna:
And animals help each other in times of danger too.
This is one of the most amazing photos to come out of it so far. Armin Gerlach was visiting friends in the flood-hit town of Dalby when he spotted a brown snake (the world's second most venomous) giving a green frog a ride through the flood waters:
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Bin turkeys
Dubai has bin cats...
As I've observed before, things are a little different in Australia...
As I've observed before, things are a little different in Australia...
Friday, July 09, 2010
One hour old
Like so many buildings here we have resident street cats.
One is a young female who was born here herself not all that long ago and who's been putting on weight recently.
Today when we came back from lunch ...
Thanks to the immediacy of digital cameras and the Wierd World Web here they are an hour old.
One is a young female who was born here herself not all that long ago and who's been putting on weight recently.
Today when we came back from lunch ...
Thanks to the immediacy of digital cameras and the Wierd World Web here they are an hour old.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
What a fantastic photograph
Photo. Russell Vickery. Herald Sun
Actually it's not the photograph but the moment it captures that I find so heartwarming.
A wild animal which would usually run away or scratch & bite with firefighter David Tree giving it some of his own water.
In a bushfire all living things share the danger. These two have experienced the horrors of the fires, fought the common enemy, and now in the middle of the devastation they share a moment together.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
The whale shark PR
"Representatives of Atlantis resort...did not return calls to the AP on Thursday. They also did not respond to AP's request to speak to one of the marine specialists the hotel says monitors the whale shark around the clock."
That was in the International Herald Tribune.
Atlantis' handling of this story should be written up and used in marketing communication courses as a perfect example of what a company should not do.
A large juvenile female whale shark is being held in the resort's aquarium. According to the original announcement that she was there for paying customers to see, the resort said that the animal was recued by fishermen and they were giving it medical care.
I don't think anyone will be surprised at the revelations by ex-employees of Atlantis reported in Gulf News today - another bad PR hit for the hotel:
Sammy was not rescued by the Atlantis hotel, Gulf News has learnt, after speaking to ex-Atlantis employees who say that plans to have a whale shark in the hotel's Ambassador aquarium were clear from the beginning.
According to several previous employees who spoke to Gulf News on condition of anonymity, there was never been any plan to release Sammy and the hunt to find a resident whale shark was relentless, with fishing boats heading out every night to find one.
And they continue their PR strategy:
No comment was available from Atlantis or Nakheel after repeated attempts by Gulf News on Tuesday.
Like so many cliches, the saying that any publicity is good publicity simply isn't true.
There's been a raft of bad publicty, here and internationally, about the resort, not only about the whale shark. Instead of handling it professionally their strategy, if they have one, has been to ignore it.
The bunker mentality PR plan.
IHT story is here.
Gulf News' latest story is here.
That was in the International Herald Tribune.
Atlantis' handling of this story should be written up and used in marketing communication courses as a perfect example of what a company should not do.
A large juvenile female whale shark is being held in the resort's aquarium. According to the original announcement that she was there for paying customers to see, the resort said that the animal was recued by fishermen and they were giving it medical care.
I don't think anyone will be surprised at the revelations by ex-employees of Atlantis reported in Gulf News today - another bad PR hit for the hotel:
Sammy was not rescued by the Atlantis hotel, Gulf News has learnt, after speaking to ex-Atlantis employees who say that plans to have a whale shark in the hotel's Ambassador aquarium were clear from the beginning.
According to several previous employees who spoke to Gulf News on condition of anonymity, there was never been any plan to release Sammy and the hunt to find a resident whale shark was relentless, with fishing boats heading out every night to find one.
And they continue their PR strategy:
No comment was available from Atlantis or Nakheel after repeated attempts by Gulf News on Tuesday.
Like so many cliches, the saying that any publicity is good publicity simply isn't true.
There's been a raft of bad publicty, here and internationally, about the resort, not only about the whale shark. Instead of handling it professionally their strategy, if they have one, has been to ignore it.
The bunker mentality PR plan.
IHT story is here.
Gulf News' latest story is here.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Signage, fish and terrorism
Road signage, whale sharks and terrorism laws don't have anything in common except that they're subjects on my mind today, so this is a bit of a mixed bag of a post.
First the road signage and a detail related to our new address system which I've talked about previously.
Having road names and building numbers is obviously the best address system, as proven around the world for over a hundred years.
But to drag the directional signs on our roads into it is a huge mistake. As I've said before, the directional signs should remain as they are, to suburbs. Like this:
Instead, the RTA is changing the signs to things like this:
Where the hell is that?
It's hard enough trying to find our way around Dubai as it is, with the endless construction, diversions, new roads, moron drivers, without this confusing signage.
We know we want to go to, for example, Umm Suqeim 1 or Al Quoz or Al Barsha. We can't be expected to learn and remember thousands of street names.
I passed the sign to Al Rasaas Rd while driving along Sheikh Zayed Road earlier today. It was pointing to an exit in the direction of Jumeirah/Umm Suqeim...or it could have been to a flyover looping across to somewhere in entirely the opposite direction such as Al Barsha. I have no idea and the sign does nothing but confuse me.
So, feedback to the RTA. The new addressing system is great, but please don't confuse it with directional roadsigns. They are two totally different things.
And then the fishy business going on at Atlantis with the captive whale shark.
Gulf News has a major 'free the whale shark' campaign under way and it's getting an inordinate amount of radio air time. On Thursday the International Herald Tribune ran an Associated Press story about it, which you can read here.
I really don't need to say more about the subject than obviously the animal should be released the moment she's fit enough.
What interests me about it all is the appalling way the hotel has handled its PR over the issue. They've acted in the same way over the other negative stories in the media here and overseas, about rooms not being available, of no water, of running out of beer and wine, of no parking space. The PR strategy seems to be ignore it and it'll go away, which is absolutely the worst possible approach.
Look at this para from the AP story carried in the IHT:
Representatives of Atlantis resort, which is located on a man-made island built in the shape of a palm tree, did not return calls to the AP on Thursday. They also did not respond to AP's request to speak to one of the marine specialists the hotel says monitors the whale shark around the clock.
That kind of non-communication raises all sorts of doubts and questions.
They originally announced that the whale shark was in their aquarium for medical treatment after fishermen had found it in distress. But they fudged around the timing of her release in the one interview I've heard, since when they've gone completely to ground.
Full marks for helping the animal. But refusing to say even that she will be released leads to the suspicion that they intend to keep her as an attraction for the paying public.
That leads naturally to suspicions about the capture by fishermen, particularly as it was just before the hotel's opening. And to whether the announcement of it was nothing more than a sales pitch to let the paying public know she was in their aquarium.
The answer is simple - call a media conference, announce that the animal was in distress, that they're doing all they can to restore it to health and the moment it's recovered sufficiently they will release it. That gives the hotel nothing but good publicity.
Instead they've ignored the many opportunities they've been given. In this day and age I can't believe any company could handle their PR so badly.
There's an old truism. It ain't the problem that's the problem, the way you handle it is the problem.
And so to terrorism laws.
Again this is something I've talked about in the past. The terrorism laws introduced by our governments are open to mis-use and abuse by our own governments and their agencies. And they're doing it.
The latest example is the UK government using their terrorism laws to freeze billions of pounds of Icelandic bank assets held in the UK.
Here's what the Financial Times has to say:
Financial crime lawyers said the government's un-precedented decision to apply the freezing order for purposes other than tackling terrorism opened the way to its use in other cases centred on commercial and political interests.
The Treasury's action on Wednesday to protect the deposits of British account holders has highlighted broader concerns that some security-related laws passed since the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks are so widely drafted they are open to abuse.
I had many a debate when the laws were being introduced in the US, the UK, Australia and I seemed to be a voice in the wilderness. The general opinion was 'we need the laws to catch the terrorists' and 'our government can be trusted'. As I argued at the time, that's naive in the extreme.
I've talked before about the previous Australian government's use of terrorism laws in the case against Dr Haneef, which was thrown out of court. You can read about that here.
Of the UK government's threat to use terrorism laws against climate change protesters, which you can read about here.
Now we see the use of them against institutions of a friendly country, as reported in the Financial Times which you can read here.
I'll simply repeat a few things I said in those previous posts:
And worst of all the naive belief that only the bad guys are affected by the terrorism laws. That innocent people will not be caught up in the paranoia. The reality is of course that any of us could be caught up in it.
...everyone, should be dealt with in a way that is consistent with our established values of justice, of fairness...overly draconian new terrorism laws are open to abuse and they will be abused.
If we allow our governments to erode and gradually destroy our established values, we're going backwards.
Terrorists are laughing - our own governments are doing their work for them. The destruction of our way of life is coming from within.
Sorry, if you stayed with me this far that is, I seem to have rambled on for much longer than I intended.
Now it's almost time to go out for dinner, to a Chinese restaurant we like very much at the top of Beach Road. I should post about that tomorrow because if you enjoy Chinese food you should give it a try.
First the road signage and a detail related to our new address system which I've talked about previously.
Having road names and building numbers is obviously the best address system, as proven around the world for over a hundred years.
But to drag the directional signs on our roads into it is a huge mistake. As I've said before, the directional signs should remain as they are, to suburbs. Like this:
Instead, the RTA is changing the signs to things like this:
Where the hell is that?
It's hard enough trying to find our way around Dubai as it is, with the endless construction, diversions, new roads, moron drivers, without this confusing signage.
We know we want to go to, for example, Umm Suqeim 1 or Al Quoz or Al Barsha. We can't be expected to learn and remember thousands of street names.
I passed the sign to Al Rasaas Rd while driving along Sheikh Zayed Road earlier today. It was pointing to an exit in the direction of Jumeirah/Umm Suqeim...or it could have been to a flyover looping across to somewhere in entirely the opposite direction such as Al Barsha. I have no idea and the sign does nothing but confuse me.
So, feedback to the RTA. The new addressing system is great, but please don't confuse it with directional roadsigns. They are two totally different things.
And then the fishy business going on at Atlantis with the captive whale shark.
Gulf News has a major 'free the whale shark' campaign under way and it's getting an inordinate amount of radio air time. On Thursday the International Herald Tribune ran an Associated Press story about it, which you can read here.
I really don't need to say more about the subject than obviously the animal should be released the moment she's fit enough.
What interests me about it all is the appalling way the hotel has handled its PR over the issue. They've acted in the same way over the other negative stories in the media here and overseas, about rooms not being available, of no water, of running out of beer and wine, of no parking space. The PR strategy seems to be ignore it and it'll go away, which is absolutely the worst possible approach.
Look at this para from the AP story carried in the IHT:
Representatives of Atlantis resort, which is located on a man-made island built in the shape of a palm tree, did not return calls to the AP on Thursday. They also did not respond to AP's request to speak to one of the marine specialists the hotel says monitors the whale shark around the clock.
That kind of non-communication raises all sorts of doubts and questions.
They originally announced that the whale shark was in their aquarium for medical treatment after fishermen had found it in distress. But they fudged around the timing of her release in the one interview I've heard, since when they've gone completely to ground.
Full marks for helping the animal. But refusing to say even that she will be released leads to the suspicion that they intend to keep her as an attraction for the paying public.
That leads naturally to suspicions about the capture by fishermen, particularly as it was just before the hotel's opening. And to whether the announcement of it was nothing more than a sales pitch to let the paying public know she was in their aquarium.
The answer is simple - call a media conference, announce that the animal was in distress, that they're doing all they can to restore it to health and the moment it's recovered sufficiently they will release it. That gives the hotel nothing but good publicity.
Instead they've ignored the many opportunities they've been given. In this day and age I can't believe any company could handle their PR so badly.
There's an old truism. It ain't the problem that's the problem, the way you handle it is the problem.
And so to terrorism laws.
Again this is something I've talked about in the past. The terrorism laws introduced by our governments are open to mis-use and abuse by our own governments and their agencies. And they're doing it.
The latest example is the UK government using their terrorism laws to freeze billions of pounds of Icelandic bank assets held in the UK.
Here's what the Financial Times has to say:
Financial crime lawyers said the government's un-precedented decision to apply the freezing order for purposes other than tackling terrorism opened the way to its use in other cases centred on commercial and political interests.
The Treasury's action on Wednesday to protect the deposits of British account holders has highlighted broader concerns that some security-related laws passed since the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks are so widely drafted they are open to abuse.
I had many a debate when the laws were being introduced in the US, the UK, Australia and I seemed to be a voice in the wilderness. The general opinion was 'we need the laws to catch the terrorists' and 'our government can be trusted'. As I argued at the time, that's naive in the extreme.
I've talked before about the previous Australian government's use of terrorism laws in the case against Dr Haneef, which was thrown out of court. You can read about that here.
Of the UK government's threat to use terrorism laws against climate change protesters, which you can read about here.
Now we see the use of them against institutions of a friendly country, as reported in the Financial Times which you can read here.
I'll simply repeat a few things I said in those previous posts:
And worst of all the naive belief that only the bad guys are affected by the terrorism laws. That innocent people will not be caught up in the paranoia. The reality is of course that any of us could be caught up in it.
...everyone, should be dealt with in a way that is consistent with our established values of justice, of fairness...overly draconian new terrorism laws are open to abuse and they will be abused.
If we allow our governments to erode and gradually destroy our established values, we're going backwards.
Terrorists are laughing - our own governments are doing their work for them. The destruction of our way of life is coming from within.
Sorry, if you stayed with me this far that is, I seem to have rambled on for much longer than I intended.
Now it's almost time to go out for dinner, to a Chinese restaurant we like very much at the top of Beach Road. I should post about that tomorrow because if you enjoy Chinese food you should give it a try.
Friday, August 01, 2008
"A society is judged by how it treats its most vulnerable"
...which Mahatma Gandhi said included animals*.
I agree with the Mahatma.
The people working at the zoo which is such a disgrace to Dubai obviously do what they can to reduce the suffering of its inmates.
But...
Photo: Karl Jeffs. Gulf News
Well done Gulf News for publicising the zoo problem every so often.
They do it again today, on a page which is about the problems our unusually high temperatures are causing, to people and animals. This July has been about four degrees above average.
The page is headed by hospital reports that 123 heat related medical cases were recorded in July. On July 14 alone, when the temperature in some places hit 52C, fifteen people needed treatment.
Following this story on the effect of heat on humans is a report about the animals, packed into their tiny concrete cages and not surprisingly also suffering from the conditions.
The keepers are doing what they can, supplying water, making pools for the animals to try to cool off in, spraying water, setting up fans.
What an appalling situation, that they have to do this.
For many years there's been the promise of a new zoo. According to statements made during the last year it should have opened by now.
However you look at it, moving the animals to a new zoo makes sense. There's animal welfare, there's releasing prime real estate in Jumeirah 1 for development, there's the money generating tourist attraction of a new zoological park, there's the removal of a blot on Dubai's reputation.
I simply can't understand how the situation is allowed to continue.
For my earlier posts on the new zoo promises which have all turned out to be untrue, click on the 'zoo' label.
Gulf News story is here.
*“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.. I hold that, the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of man"-- Mahatma Gandhi (1869 - 1948)
I agree with the Mahatma.
The people working at the zoo which is such a disgrace to Dubai obviously do what they can to reduce the suffering of its inmates.
But...
Photo: Karl Jeffs. Gulf News
Well done Gulf News for publicising the zoo problem every so often.
They do it again today, on a page which is about the problems our unusually high temperatures are causing, to people and animals. This July has been about four degrees above average.
The page is headed by hospital reports that 123 heat related medical cases were recorded in July. On July 14 alone, when the temperature in some places hit 52C, fifteen people needed treatment.
Following this story on the effect of heat on humans is a report about the animals, packed into their tiny concrete cages and not surprisingly also suffering from the conditions.
The keepers are doing what they can, supplying water, making pools for the animals to try to cool off in, spraying water, setting up fans.
What an appalling situation, that they have to do this.
For many years there's been the promise of a new zoo. According to statements made during the last year it should have opened by now.
However you look at it, moving the animals to a new zoo makes sense. There's animal welfare, there's releasing prime real estate in Jumeirah 1 for development, there's the money generating tourist attraction of a new zoological park, there's the removal of a blot on Dubai's reputation.
I simply can't understand how the situation is allowed to continue.
For my earlier posts on the new zoo promises which have all turned out to be untrue, click on the 'zoo' label.
Gulf News story is here.
*“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.. I hold that, the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of man"-- Mahatma Gandhi (1869 - 1948)
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Kind deed
On a morning when there's a Gulf News report that at least 14% of pet shops in the UAE are in poor condition with low levels of animal welfare standards, I came across an example of caring.
At Umm Suqeim beach an injured or sick gull had been carefully placed in the shade, some corn placed beside it and a plastic bag of water above it.
It's not the first time I've seen little acts of kindness like this.
At Umm Suqeim beach an injured or sick gull had been carefully placed in the shade, some corn placed beside it and a plastic bag of water above it.
It's not the first time I've seen little acts of kindness like this.
Friday, January 18, 2008
New zoo didn't happen
Back in July I posted the reports of the alleged new zoo in Dubailand, quoting an official as saying: "Construction of a huge new zoo will start in August...all the animals at the existing Dubai Zoo in Jumeirah will be moved by the end of this year to the new and much bigger zoo being built in DubaiLand...the core zoo will be built within three months after construction starts in August."
Inevitably, as so many times before, it didn't happen.
So it's good to see that Gulf News is still raising the issue of the current disgraceful zoo, with a full page today headed "No room to swing a cat."
It points out that more than 1,100 animals are packed into a total space of 20,000 square metres - much of which is offices, pathways, visitors centre and seating areas. And more animals are arriving each month.
An new update from an offical at Dubai Municipality is: The plan to relocate animals from the existing to zoo to a new bigger zoo at Dubailand is still on cards. "The civic body is building the zoo in cooperation with Dubailand on an area of 350 hectares."...But the civic authority is still waiting for the final word from the authorities concerned to go ahead with their construction plan.
When projects all over Dubai happen at astonishing speed, why is it that the new zoo hasn't happened?
The feature is here.
Later PS
On the subject of animals and zoos, I've just received a video from blogger Caz in Australia which is well worth watching. The background is said to be that a woman found a badly injured lion in the forest and nursed it back to health. She then arranged for it to go to a zoo and after some time she went to see how the lion was doing. I must say I'm sceptical about the story, but whether it's true or not the video is astonishing. You'll find it here.
Inevitably, as so many times before, it didn't happen.
So it's good to see that Gulf News is still raising the issue of the current disgraceful zoo, with a full page today headed "No room to swing a cat."
It points out that more than 1,100 animals are packed into a total space of 20,000 square metres - much of which is offices, pathways, visitors centre and seating areas. And more animals are arriving each month.
An new update from an offical at Dubai Municipality is: The plan to relocate animals from the existing to zoo to a new bigger zoo at Dubailand is still on cards. "The civic body is building the zoo in cooperation with Dubailand on an area of 350 hectares."...But the civic authority is still waiting for the final word from the authorities concerned to go ahead with their construction plan.
When projects all over Dubai happen at astonishing speed, why is it that the new zoo hasn't happened?
The feature is here.
Later PS
On the subject of animals and zoos, I've just received a video from blogger Caz in Australia which is well worth watching. The background is said to be that a woman found a badly injured lion in the forest and nursed it back to health. She then arranged for it to go to a zoo and after some time she went to see how the lion was doing. I must say I'm sceptical about the story, but whether it's true or not the video is astonishing. You'll find it here.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
The endless zoo saga
After many false promises going back years there was a report last July that Dubai's new zoo was being constructed.
"Construction of a huge new zoo will start in August...all the animals at the existing Dubai Zoo in Jumeirah will be moved by the end of this year to the new and much bigger zoo being built in DubaiLand...the core zoo will be built within three months after construction starts in August."
I posted about that back on July 30th.
It sounded genuine, it was all finalised, land had been allocated, private investors were being invited to participate, visitor chalets were being built, a botanic garden was being included...
Then it all went very quiet.
Until today.
A small panel in Gulf News records that Dubai Municipality "hope we will be allotted a piece of land in Dubailand within a couple of weeks."
Hope.
That's positive isn't it. I hope I'll win the lottery.
So the latest news is that nothing's actually happened. The design for the zoo is ready - but as the land hasn't been allocated how do they know the design will work? Maybe it's too big for the land they'll eventually get. If they get it.
Meanwhile the 1,100-plus animals remain crowded into their appalling little prisons, which remains a blot on Dubai's reputation.
"Construction of a huge new zoo will start in August...all the animals at the existing Dubai Zoo in Jumeirah will be moved by the end of this year to the new and much bigger zoo being built in DubaiLand...the core zoo will be built within three months after construction starts in August."
I posted about that back on July 30th.
It sounded genuine, it was all finalised, land had been allocated, private investors were being invited to participate, visitor chalets were being built, a botanic garden was being included...
Then it all went very quiet.
Until today.
A small panel in Gulf News records that Dubai Municipality "hope we will be allotted a piece of land in Dubailand within a couple of weeks."
Hope.
That's positive isn't it. I hope I'll win the lottery.
So the latest news is that nothing's actually happened. The design for the zoo is ready - but as the land hasn't been allocated how do they know the design will work? Maybe it's too big for the land they'll eventually get. If they get it.
Meanwhile the 1,100-plus animals remain crowded into their appalling little prisons, which remains a blot on Dubai's reputation.
Thursday, September 06, 2007
That's all folks.
We're off on three weeks holiday in the UK and Europe, back late-September. There won't be much time for blogging I'm sure, so this may well be the last posting for a while.
Just a nice little cameo to take with me...in Knowledge Village this morning I saw a sad, unhappy looking bird standing on the hot paving in the full sun. It didn't move away as a cleaner, sweeping and picking up rubbish, walked close to it. All was very obviously not well with the bird.
The cleaner stopped and watched the bird for a few seconds, then gently picked it up and put it in the shade of a palm tree.
A nice thought to take away with me.
Just a nice little cameo to take with me...in Knowledge Village this morning I saw a sad, unhappy looking bird standing on the hot paving in the full sun. It didn't move away as a cleaner, sweeping and picking up rubbish, walked close to it. All was very obviously not well with the bird.
The cleaner stopped and watched the bird for a few seconds, then gently picked it up and put it in the shade of a palm tree.
A nice thought to take away with me.
Monday, July 30, 2007
New zoo true
It looks as though one of the stains on Dubai's reputation is about to be removed.
A new zoo, so long promised to replace the appalling zoo in Jumeirah, is, according to a Gulf News report, going to be replaced and the animals relocated "by the end of this year."
At first glance and with the limited information given in the drawings the new zoo looks good, with plenty of room for the animals on the 350 hectares (864 acres) site in Dubailand. There's no indication of how the animals will be housed, although the overall design would seem to indicate that they'll have suitable enclosures.
Dubai Municipality/Gulf News
It's said that construction of the new zoo will begin in August and the core zoo will be built in three months, while the rest will be built in stages through to final completion by early 2009.
An interesting additional comment was that there will be chalets for ovenight stays in the zoo.
The story and drawings of the new facility are here.
A new zoo, so long promised to replace the appalling zoo in Jumeirah, is, according to a Gulf News report, going to be replaced and the animals relocated "by the end of this year."
At first glance and with the limited information given in the drawings the new zoo looks good, with plenty of room for the animals on the 350 hectares (864 acres) site in Dubailand. There's no indication of how the animals will be housed, although the overall design would seem to indicate that they'll have suitable enclosures.
Dubai Municipality/Gulf News
It's said that construction of the new zoo will begin in August and the core zoo will be built in three months, while the rest will be built in stages through to final completion by early 2009.
An interesting additional comment was that there will be chalets for ovenight stays in the zoo.
The story and drawings of the new facility are here.
Thursday, July 05, 2007
What's the latest on Dubai's zoo?
That sickening story in Gulf News about the puppy found hanged and hanging from a window in Satwa had a para about the new animal welfare law that, it says, is in its final stages.
It reminded me that we were told back in May that an official contract for the design of the new zoo in Dubailand was expected to be signed early in June. I've heard nothing about it, have you?
We were also told that "the building work will start in July or August". Again, there's been nothing that I've seen or heard since.
Meanwhile the animals continue to be kept in their appalling tiny prisons.
The two Gulf News stories are here and here.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Plenty of good news...
...well, sort-of good news, it depends how you look at it. And, as ever, whether what's promised will be carried out.
The stories are all in Gulf News today.
First, the labourers labouring in 50 degree heat and high humidity.
Although not officially announced yet, a ministerial decision is apparently scheduled for next week, it seems that last year's 12.30 to 3pm break will be repeated this year. Minister of Labour Dr Ali Bin Abdullah Al Ka'abi is reported as saying that no major changes are likely and that the inspectors will be out in force to ensure companies obey the rule.
The fines, Dh10,000 for a first offence, are not too daunting, but company transactions will be suspended for between three months for a first offence and one year for a third offence. That's the part that may force them to rethink their practices.
Last year nearly 25% of the 3,000 companies inspected broke the rule.
You can read the story here.
Second story is from Abu Dhabi and is on animal welfare.
The Federal National Council apparently agreed to the Animal Welfare draft law in its session on Tuesday and the 17-article law will be referred to Cabinet.
The law calls for violators to be fined between Dh5,000 and Dh20,000 with the possibility of jail for not less than one month. It says animal owners must take care of their pets and not cause them any harm...I'd like to see the stupid bimbo who walks her dog around Dubai Marina on the scorching footpath late-mornings made to walk barefoot on it herself!
The law also talks about the nutrition of animals and their transport, not crowding animals of different species together, sale of sick or injured animals postponed until they have fully recovered, written permission required for exhibitions of animals for sale and so on.
I wonder whether it will apply to Dubai Zoo...
As Mahatma Gandhi said, you can judge a society by the way it treats its animals.
The story is here.
Next we have what seems to be a reasonably successful blitz by Dubai police to stop improper behaviour on the beaches.
In May & June 1,461 people, we can assume that means men, were caught for improper behaviour on the beaches. That ranges from swimming in unsuitable clothes, which I assume means underwear which becomes almost transparent after a dip in the sea, to taking photographs of women or otherwise harassing other beachgoers.
For a minor offence they have to sign an undertaking not to do it again, for a serious offence they are prosecuted.
It's another welcome move towards a more civilised society.
You can read the story here.
Finally, reckless pedestrians are being held accountable for their own stupidity.
Crossing roads at undesignated areas is illegal, irresponsible road crossing causing an accident will be punished by a fine of Dh500 or jail time. Unless they're killed, presumably, which happens to far too many of them. We're told that up to 40% of our horrendous road fatalities are pedestrians. So now the police say they will get tough on 'reckless pedestrians'.
Throwing drivers in jail because an idiot ran across Sheikh Zayed Road in front of six lanes of 120kph traffic is obviously not the right thing to do. So this is a good move, a necessary one, but it's only part of the job to be done.
Let's be fair to pedestrians, we need crossings, particularly bridges or underpasses on major multi-lane highways. And we need to educate drivers to stop at the road-level pedestrian crossings when people want to cross. As it is now, if you stop to let pedestrians walk on a designated crossing you're more than likely to be shunted in the rear by another driver, who simply doesn't expect the driver in front to stop. Or he blasts the horn and swerves round you at speed, just as the pedestrian is moving across.
The story is here.
The stories are all in Gulf News today.
First, the labourers labouring in 50 degree heat and high humidity.
Although not officially announced yet, a ministerial decision is apparently scheduled for next week, it seems that last year's 12.30 to 3pm break will be repeated this year. Minister of Labour Dr Ali Bin Abdullah Al Ka'abi is reported as saying that no major changes are likely and that the inspectors will be out in force to ensure companies obey the rule.
The fines, Dh10,000 for a first offence, are not too daunting, but company transactions will be suspended for between three months for a first offence and one year for a third offence. That's the part that may force them to rethink their practices.
Last year nearly 25% of the 3,000 companies inspected broke the rule.
You can read the story here.
Second story is from Abu Dhabi and is on animal welfare.
The Federal National Council apparently agreed to the Animal Welfare draft law in its session on Tuesday and the 17-article law will be referred to Cabinet.
The law calls for violators to be fined between Dh5,000 and Dh20,000 with the possibility of jail for not less than one month. It says animal owners must take care of their pets and not cause them any harm...I'd like to see the stupid bimbo who walks her dog around Dubai Marina on the scorching footpath late-mornings made to walk barefoot on it herself!
The law also talks about the nutrition of animals and their transport, not crowding animals of different species together, sale of sick or injured animals postponed until they have fully recovered, written permission required for exhibitions of animals for sale and so on.
I wonder whether it will apply to Dubai Zoo...
As Mahatma Gandhi said, you can judge a society by the way it treats its animals.
The story is here.
Next we have what seems to be a reasonably successful blitz by Dubai police to stop improper behaviour on the beaches.
In May & June 1,461 people, we can assume that means men, were caught for improper behaviour on the beaches. That ranges from swimming in unsuitable clothes, which I assume means underwear which becomes almost transparent after a dip in the sea, to taking photographs of women or otherwise harassing other beachgoers.
For a minor offence they have to sign an undertaking not to do it again, for a serious offence they are prosecuted.
It's another welcome move towards a more civilised society.
You can read the story here.
Finally, reckless pedestrians are being held accountable for their own stupidity.
Crossing roads at undesignated areas is illegal, irresponsible road crossing causing an accident will be punished by a fine of Dh500 or jail time. Unless they're killed, presumably, which happens to far too many of them. We're told that up to 40% of our horrendous road fatalities are pedestrians. So now the police say they will get tough on 'reckless pedestrians'.
Throwing drivers in jail because an idiot ran across Sheikh Zayed Road in front of six lanes of 120kph traffic is obviously not the right thing to do. So this is a good move, a necessary one, but it's only part of the job to be done.
Let's be fair to pedestrians, we need crossings, particularly bridges or underpasses on major multi-lane highways. And we need to educate drivers to stop at the road-level pedestrian crossings when people want to cross. As it is now, if you stop to let pedestrians walk on a designated crossing you're more than likely to be shunted in the rear by another driver, who simply doesn't expect the driver in front to stop. Or he blasts the horn and swerves round you at speed, just as the pedestrian is moving across.
The story is here.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
New zoo - or is it another false dawn?
According to a report in Gulf News, we'll soon will be rid of Dubai's disgrace of a zoo.
Dubai Municipality says work on the new one at Dubailand will start in as little as two months and it should be ready by September next year.
Talk about a new zoo has been going on for at least twenty years, so I'm not holding my breath.
Still, none other than the Director of General Projects Department, Rashad Bukhash, is quoted as saying that a consultant has been selected, a contract will be signed in about two weeks and that building will commence in July or August.
The animals and anyone concerned about their welfare will be very happy if, finally, it does happen.
Gulf News story here.
Dubai Municipality says work on the new one at Dubailand will start in as little as two months and it should be ready by September next year.
Talk about a new zoo has been going on for at least twenty years, so I'm not holding my breath.
Still, none other than the Director of General Projects Department, Rashad Bukhash, is quoted as saying that a consultant has been selected, a contract will be signed in about two weeks and that building will commence in July or August.
The animals and anyone concerned about their welfare will be very happy if, finally, it does happen.
Gulf News story here.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Bad zoo news
I'm told Dubai zoo's move has been canned yet again.
This really is unacceptable - the zoo is an embarrassment, a blot on Dubai's name, an absolute disgrace in this day and age. It's particularly appalling given the billions of dollars being invested in the emirate.
Can you imagine horses or camels being imprisoned in the way the animals at the zoo are cramped into tiny, unsuitable space? Of course not.
I don't understand how the municipality can let this continue. It's not only damaging Dubai's reputation, it's a missed commercial opportunity - not something of which the authorities are often guilty. A good, modern zoological garden is a tourist attraction, a money-making enterprise.
It's another problem that's being mishandled and needs Sheikh Mohammed's urgent attention.
This really is unacceptable - the zoo is an embarrassment, a blot on Dubai's name, an absolute disgrace in this day and age. It's particularly appalling given the billions of dollars being invested in the emirate.
Can you imagine horses or camels being imprisoned in the way the animals at the zoo are cramped into tiny, unsuitable space? Of course not.
I don't understand how the municipality can let this continue. It's not only damaging Dubai's reputation, it's a missed commercial opportunity - not something of which the authorities are often guilty. A good, modern zoological garden is a tourist attraction, a money-making enterprise.
It's another problem that's being mishandled and needs Sheikh Mohammed's urgent attention.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Good news for animals - for once.
Apart from horses and camels, animal welfare isn't high on the agenda in the region.
There are plenty of stray dogs, including many disgracefully abandoned by expats returning home. K9 Friends has been doing what it can for them, but the charity was in danger of closing because they received an eviction notice to leave their premises at Al Barsha.
Now apparently the Dubai Government has stepped in to provide land for a purpose-built dog welfare shelter. The new shelter will be funded by the government, we're told.
Slowly but surely we do seem to be moving in the right direction on a number of fronts. This is another example and the government is to be congratulated for this action.
Now, let's get some urgency into the new Dubai Zoo.
The story is here.
There are plenty of stray dogs, including many disgracefully abandoned by expats returning home. K9 Friends has been doing what it can for them, but the charity was in danger of closing because they received an eviction notice to leave their premises at Al Barsha.
Now apparently the Dubai Government has stepped in to provide land for a purpose-built dog welfare shelter. The new shelter will be funded by the government, we're told.
Slowly but surely we do seem to be moving in the right direction on a number of fronts. This is another example and the government is to be congratulated for this action.
Now, let's get some urgency into the new Dubai Zoo.
The story is here.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Good news on the zoo and on property.
A couple of positive news stories caught my eye in the papers this morning.
Zoo relocation
The long overdue relocation of Dubai Zoo seems to be going ahead at last, which will please animal lovers - not to mention pleasing the poor overcrowded animals.
It's the third time in five years that a new location has been announced, so let's hope this is final and the thing gets built quickly. The current zoo is a disgrace, a blot on Dubai's name. It's more like a Victorian zoo with the 1,200 animals cramped in tiny cages.
The new location is to be Dubailand, on a 500 acre block, and it will be constructed in stages with the first stage to be started this year. Stage one will be to rehouse the animals from Jumeirah Zoo and the target is to have that completed within eighteen months.
Real estate
The second story that pleased me was the report that from Sunday the new laws regarding real estatecowboys agents/brokers are to be enforced.
Dubai, and the UAE as a whole, is playing catch-up in so many areas, the explosion of growth forging ahead of infrastructure, laws, rules & regulations. Real estate is one critical area that needed swift action, particularly because of its effect on confidence in Dubai as a place to do business.
There have been complaints from the beginning of the move to allow foreigners to buy property about unscrupulous, unprofessional, untrained agents and brokers. Just over a week ago the government announced its broker registration laws. Now it is announced that as of Sunday the government will refuse to register sales transactions made by unlicenced brokers.
You can read the full stories at:
New zoo to have camel safari.
Real estate brokers face Sunday reality.
But the real big news of the day of course is that the UAE won the Gulf Cup last evening. Mabrook to all involved in the historic achievement. The only goal of the match was very well set up and well taken, worthy of winning the match.
If you're interested in football, the story is at Mattar lights up UAE skies
Zoo relocation
The long overdue relocation of Dubai Zoo seems to be going ahead at last, which will please animal lovers - not to mention pleasing the poor overcrowded animals.
It's the third time in five years that a new location has been announced, so let's hope this is final and the thing gets built quickly. The current zoo is a disgrace, a blot on Dubai's name. It's more like a Victorian zoo with the 1,200 animals cramped in tiny cages.
The new location is to be Dubailand, on a 500 acre block, and it will be constructed in stages with the first stage to be started this year. Stage one will be to rehouse the animals from Jumeirah Zoo and the target is to have that completed within eighteen months.
Real estate
The second story that pleased me was the report that from Sunday the new laws regarding real estate
Dubai, and the UAE as a whole, is playing catch-up in so many areas, the explosion of growth forging ahead of infrastructure, laws, rules & regulations. Real estate is one critical area that needed swift action, particularly because of its effect on confidence in Dubai as a place to do business.
There have been complaints from the beginning of the move to allow foreigners to buy property about unscrupulous, unprofessional, untrained agents and brokers. Just over a week ago the government announced its broker registration laws. Now it is announced that as of Sunday the government will refuse to register sales transactions made by unlicenced brokers.
You can read the full stories at:
New zoo to have camel safari.
Real estate brokers face Sunday reality.
But the real big news of the day of course is that the UAE won the Gulf Cup last evening. Mabrook to all involved in the historic achievement. The only goal of the match was very well set up and well taken, worthy of winning the match.
If you're interested in football, the story is at Mattar lights up UAE skies
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Bastards!
Two things I need to get off my chest today. Cruelty to animals and Dubai driving.
I've read cruelty to animals stories in two papers today. Emirates Today has a feature on the increasing popularity of dog fights.
Highly organised, two different sets of rules - European and Asian, locally-bred dogs, prize money and huge bets.
Twenty-first century? We're back in the Dark Ages.
Then an awful story in Gulf News Saluki found in Abu Dhabi with jaw broken but still wagging his tail.
The poor animal was found with his jaw snapped, so badly disfigured that the person who found him thought he'd been shot. He was still trying to show he wasn't aggressive and wanted to be friendly by wagging his tail.
Sorry, but I have to include the photo to show just what sick, depraved bastards we have amongst us.
The vet, Dr Jonathan Hale, said the injury was about five days old and "he had been kicked out on the street". Dr Hale added that this was a 'particularly sad case' as the dog did not demonstrate any signs of violent behaviour when he was found. "There was no excuse for someone to injure him," he said. "I want to make people aware of these things, so we don't become accepting and blasé about it all. It won't change anything for this dog, but maybe it will help avoid something like this in the future." The dog had to be put down of course.
We need a complete change of attitude to animals, education from a young age, parental example...and we need to punish the sick bastards who do this. I mean draconian punishment. We need a deterrent to stop other sick bastards from doing it.
And for those who think I have my priorities wrong with so much inhumanity to people happening around the world, understand that people who carry out deliberate sadistic acts of cruelty on animals are one step from doing the same to people.
Moronic drivers.
The other thing that made my blood boil today is morons endangering other road users by their cretinous driving.
I drove from Dubai Marina into Knowledge Village, a distance of maybe six kilometres. At the beginning of the drive I was behind a car driving erratically. The blonde female driver was chatting on her mobile phone, which was much more important, obviously, than thinking about her driving.
At the Al Sufouh Road junction my filter light goes green, I go - and am nearly wiped out by a cretin doing an illegal U-turn into my path. It happens on this junction several times a week so I'm prepared and manage to miss him. When they sit at the lights there's a big sign next to them telling them that U-turns are not permitted. They can't miss it, so doing the illegal U-turn is obviously quite deliberate.
Stop at the next set of lights, they go green, I go - and am nearly wiped out by yet another cretin, this one jumping the red light to do a U-turn in my path, and he's talking on his mobile.
It's at this point that blondie I mentioned at the beginning comes past me - and she's still talking on her mobile.
By the way, ignore all the letters to the papers complaining about local and Asian drivers, these were all Caucasians.
I've read cruelty to animals stories in two papers today. Emirates Today has a feature on the increasing popularity of dog fights.
Highly organised, two different sets of rules - European and Asian, locally-bred dogs, prize money and huge bets.
Twenty-first century? We're back in the Dark Ages.
Then an awful story in Gulf News Saluki found in Abu Dhabi with jaw broken but still wagging his tail.
The poor animal was found with his jaw snapped, so badly disfigured that the person who found him thought he'd been shot. He was still trying to show he wasn't aggressive and wanted to be friendly by wagging his tail.
Sorry, but I have to include the photo to show just what sick, depraved bastards we have amongst us.
The vet, Dr Jonathan Hale, said the injury was about five days old and "he had been kicked out on the street". Dr Hale added that this was a 'particularly sad case' as the dog did not demonstrate any signs of violent behaviour when he was found. "There was no excuse for someone to injure him," he said. "I want to make people aware of these things, so we don't become accepting and blasé about it all. It won't change anything for this dog, but maybe it will help avoid something like this in the future." The dog had to be put down of course.
We need a complete change of attitude to animals, education from a young age, parental example...and we need to punish the sick bastards who do this. I mean draconian punishment. We need a deterrent to stop other sick bastards from doing it.
And for those who think I have my priorities wrong with so much inhumanity to people happening around the world, understand that people who carry out deliberate sadistic acts of cruelty on animals are one step from doing the same to people.
Moronic drivers.
The other thing that made my blood boil today is morons endangering other road users by their cretinous driving.
I drove from Dubai Marina into Knowledge Village, a distance of maybe six kilometres. At the beginning of the drive I was behind a car driving erratically. The blonde female driver was chatting on her mobile phone, which was much more important, obviously, than thinking about her driving.
At the Al Sufouh Road junction my filter light goes green, I go - and am nearly wiped out by a cretin doing an illegal U-turn into my path. It happens on this junction several times a week so I'm prepared and manage to miss him. When they sit at the lights there's a big sign next to them telling them that U-turns are not permitted. They can't miss it, so doing the illegal U-turn is obviously quite deliberate.
Stop at the next set of lights, they go green, I go - and am nearly wiped out by yet another cretin, this one jumping the red light to do a U-turn in my path, and he's talking on his mobile.
It's at this point that blondie I mentioned at the beginning comes past me - and she's still talking on her mobile.
By the way, ignore all the letters to the papers complaining about local and Asian drivers, these were all Caucasians.
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