Winter Bird Feeding Tips

Song trush

The winter can be a tough time of year for your garden birds. However, you can easily give your feathered friends a helping hand. Attracting birds to your garden will be more successful, if they have a place that makes them feel secure and comfortable even in the worst weather. Please check out the link below for some winter bird feeding tips and other useful information about how to help your garden birds.

Long-tailed tits

Winter Bird Feeding Tips

United for Animal and Human Rights – We Demand a Permanent Ceasefire in Gaza Now!

Earthlings

OPEN LETTER

As Animal Rights organisations and individuals we are part of a global social justice movement. We commonly prioritise the fight for freedom and justice for our fellow non human animals as our goal.

However, the current genocidal war of Israel against the Palestinian people of Gaza calls for a unified response of all social justice fighters, intersecting from the same root cause of oppression, be it animal or human rights groups. Now is the moment to show the world, that we as Animal Rights activists want to expand our moral consideration to include the fight against unjustified suffering and oppression of Palestinian humans and non humans alike.

Despite the pressure the ICJ ruling put on Israel six weeks ago, Israel keeps continuing its military attack on Gaza, whilst at the same time preventing essential supplies and medical aid to enter Gaza. 1 The death toll amongst civilians in Gaza increases every day. As of March 10th it stands at 31.045 people killed, including more than 12.300 children, and more than 72.654 people injured. 2

There is a further increase in settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since October 2023, with 425 Palestinians killed, including 113 children and more than 4.650 people injured, as of March 10th. 3

Nobody has been able to count the numbers of non human animal victims, but one must expect the worst, considering the circumstances.

UN agency UNWRA warns of a famine in Gaza: “The last time UNRWA was able to deliver food aid to northern Gaza was on January 23,…” 4

Sulala Animal Rescue is the only animal rescue in the Gaza strip.

Palestinian Animal League (PAL) is the leading animal protection group in the occupied West Bank. They have been a beacon of hope since their foundation in 2011, not only for occupied Palestine, but across the world, living and showcasing the very intersection of social justice by fighting for animal and human rights at the same time.

We, the following Animal Rights organisations and individuals acknowledge the injustice done to the Palestinian people and stand in solidarity with PAL and Sulala Animal Rescue, who symbolise the oppressed – humans and non humans alike – by demanding:

  1. An immediate, permanent and unconditional ceasefire in Gaza.
  2. To immediately lift the siege and allow supplies and humanitarian aid into Gaza.
  3. To de-escalate settler violence in the occupied West Bank.
  4. To start the peace process to end Israeli occupation once and for all.

ONE STRUGGLE – ONE FIGHT!

Please follow this link to sign the Open Letter.

Sources

  1. International Court of Justice, Order of 26 January 2024, Document Number
    192-20240126-ORD-01-00-EN, https://www.icj-cij.org/node/203447 ↩︎
  2. Israel-Gaza war in maps and charts: Live tracker, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/longform/2023/10/9/israel-hamas-war-in-maps-and-charts-live-tracker ↩︎
  3. Israel-Gaza war in maps and charts: Live tracker, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/longform/2023/10/9/israel-hamas-war-in-maps-and-charts-live-tracker ↩︎
  4. UN agency warns of ‘looming famine’ in Gaza amid Israel war https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/26/no-aid-delivery-in-northern-gaza-since-more-than-a-month-unrwa ↩︎

Large-billed Crow Project in South Korea

Large-billed crow

We would like to support Joey Rositano’s ‘Large-billed Crow Project’ in South Korea by sharing the link to the Kickstarter he is currently running for the digital version of his book ‘Scattering’.

‘Scattering’ is a limited edition photography book about crow feeding rituals on Jeju Island in South Korea. As part of their shamanic faith residents of Jeju Island leave portions of food for scavenging animals, especially crows. Over five years Joey Rositano documented the special relationship between people and large-billed crows in the village of Darakut in South Korea.

Kickstarter Book One – ‘Scattering’ by Joey Rositano

Joey Rositano is a photographer from Nashville, Tennessee. The last fifteen years he has mostly lived on Jeju Island in South Korea. He has written about shamanism on Jeju Island, published a previous photo book and worked on a number of other projects about the island.

Please check out Joey Rositano’s Kickstarter and share with anyone who might have interest.

Season’s Greetings

Peace and Compassion

As we gather with loved ones to celebrate this supposedly joyous season, let us reflect on the true spirit of Christmas as a time of peace, goodwill and compassion.

In a world marked by conflict, let this Christmas be a beacon of hope, inspiring us to condemn the scourge of war and violence that plagues our global community. May we, in the spirit of the season, strive for understanding, empathy and unity.

Let us extend our compassion not only to our fellow human beings but also to the countless sentient species that share this planet with us. All beings, regardless of their species, have intrinsic worth and deserve to be treated ethically.

May our hearts be open to the interconnectedness of all life, fostering a sense of stewardship and responsibility for the well-being of all sentient beings and for the fragile home we share – planet Earth.

Continue reading “Season’s Greetings”

Cats, Cars And Wildlife (Republished)

Editor’s note: This post has originally been posted on 29th May 2018, and has now been updated and republished.

What have cats, cars and wildlife in common? Cats are domesticated companion animals, cars are machines built by humans, and both are able to kill sentient beings when not supervised or controlled. Cars can kill cats and wildlife, and cats can kill wildlife too. Neither of both scenarios is ‘natural’, both are artificial and creations of humans. So what is the impact, and what can be done to keep both, our beloved companion cats and wildlife, safe?

Continue reading “Cats, Cars And Wildlife (Republished)”

Why Fireworks Should Be Abolished (Republished)

Editor’s note: This post has originally been posted on 12th March 2022, and has now been updated and republished.

So called silent firework displays, which are in fact not silent at all, unless they are replaced by laser shows, are increasingly praised as the ultimate solution when it comes to addressing animal welfare concerns. At the first glance silent fireworks seem to be a logical solution, as reduced noise pollution is addressing one of the best known problems in this context. However, as it is commonly the case, there is the bigger picture to consider, and that is where the controversy starts, at least for people who feel very strongly that fireworks are part of their cherished traditions and well deserved rights, and of course for people, who have some sort of financial interest in the business of producing, selling or using fireworks.

Mallard family
Mallard family

Most people would agree that we should not do any intentional harm to other sentient beings, be it directly or indirectly. Fireworks have a proven negative impact onto our shared environment, and are therefore potentially harming other human and non-human animals, who are unlikely to have given consent to being harmed, neither in the short nor in the long term. This simply means that by using any type of firework, intentional harm is being done to others, which is ethically not justifiable. Therefore we could actually stop at this point, but for the sake of the argument, let us look a bit more in detail into the threats and problems caused by fireworks.

Continue reading “Why Fireworks Should Be Abolished (Republished)”