Chris Day's Blog

Guy Fawkes - Bonfire Night

Chris Day — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:43:00 +0000

November 5th is a source of abject terror for many animals, especially our dogs but also cats, horses, ponies and wildlife.

Please do what you can to shield your animals, don't let off fireworks close to the house and turn up the radio or television.

In extreme cases, some natural medicines may help. Otherwise, you may need the help of your local vet.

Homeopathy: Aconite 200c, Borax 30c, Natrum carb. 30c, Natrum mur. 30c Nit. ac 30c, Phosphorus 30c, Rhododendron 30c & Theridion 30c are remedies that may help.

Bach Flowers: Rescue Remedy and Herbal Skullcap/Valerian may also help.

Aromatherapy: Lavender oil is also relaxing and may ease the worst anxieties.

Bonfire building should be left until the last minute, to prevent colonisation by toads, voles, hedgehogs etc.

Whatever your political persuasion, it may bring a wry smile to think what Guy Fawkes may make of the Treaty of Lisbon and its effect on the power of the Westminster Parliament. What amazing timing for the last obstacle to have been removed.

Our main site is: http://www.alternativevet.org

Blog silence

Chris Day — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 05:24:00 +0000

Apologies to any regular visitors for the blog silence for the last month - health issues - hope to resume normal service very soon.

Why not take a look at www.alternativevet.org while you're here?

Palestine, Gaza, Israel

Chris Day — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 07:03:00 +0000

As our thoughts go out to all those caught up in the recent horrors of war, two quotes come to mind:

Shakespeare - Henry V:

"Now thrive the armourers . . . . "

[These are the ones who truly profit from war.]

Bertrand Russell:

"War does not determine who is right, only who is left."

We can only pray for peace to fall on that torn region, for the suffering, grief and pain to end and for the destruction, devastation and pollution to cease.

Formation Sleeping again . . . .

Chris Day — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 06:40:00 +0000

You may remember my little piece about our cats, secretly rehearsing their 'Formation Sleeping' routine for the 2012 London Olympics.

http://chris-day.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2008/12/12/4018031.html

Well, this new olympic sport is apparently catching on and spreading fast. During the closing days of 2008, our dogs have taken up this tricky discipline and are practising determinedly.

Who knows where this new craze will crop up next or where it will end? Let's hope, anyway, that the self-appointed UK team will have perfected the routine in time for the Games.

Why not take a look at www.alternativevet.org , while you're here?]

Christmas Greetings & New Year Wish

Chris Day — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 05:43:00 +0000

Christmas Greetings to all visitors and readers. I hope you have an enjoyable and healthy festive season and I wish you health, and fulfilment for 2009 and, most of all, happy and healthy animals!

Towards the end of this year, we have run into bandwidth problems, meaning that the blog has 'gone down' for the last few days of each month, owing to a high visitor rate. While I apologise to any who encountered a blank page at any time, I am heartened that we have significant visitor traffic. I have now upgraded the bandwidth to cope with the increased demand and I hope you will not 'draw a blank' again.

Why not take a look at www.alternativevet.org , while you're here?]

Choke a Turkey - a sick example of implied animal abuse

Chris Day — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 12:36:00 +0000

[This is NOT an advertisement!]

Choke-a-Duck & Choke-a-Turkey

Our local garden centre has a Christmas toy department, in which these two products held pride of place, when I visited today. In my opinion, they are, at best, tasteless and are likely to encourage disrespect for animals, which is part of the desensitising process that can lead to real-life animal abuse . . .

. . . and even child cruelty or adult abuse - the link between animal abuse and violence within the family is well-established - ref.:

http://www.nspcc.org.uk/Inform/research/Findings/understandingthelinks_wda48278.html

http://www.pet-abuse.com/pages/abuse_connection.php

http://www.americanhumane.org/about-us/newsroom/fact-sheets/understanding-the-link.html

Even the language used on the packaging is graphic, violent and abusive.

"Grab and lift him by the neck while dancing - he will scream and cluck like mad, flapping his wings as he is gagging and choking!"

Of course, when a bird's neck is wrung, as will be the fate of a massive number of birds this Christmas, killed for those who eat meat, it will kick and scream and flap.

We have asked for these 'toys' to be taken off display. We shall see.

However, they are available worldwide, imported to the UK by:

PREMIER DECORATIONS LTD
Premier House
Braintree Road
Ruislip
Middlesex HA4 0EJ

United Kingdom

Telephone: 020-8624 5555
Fax: 020-8624 5678
E-mail: sales@premierdec.com

This company is a wholesaler, dealing only with retailers' orders of £2,000 or over.

The toys are also marketed as corporate stress-relieving gimmicks (executive toys), via many websites. Representative sites, picked at random off Google, are:

http://info-x.co.uk/gadget_166.asp

http://www.coolest-gadgets.com/20061022/vent-your-frustrations-on-the-choke-a-duck/

There is even a demonstration video, in case our imagination is non-functional! :

http://www.notjustballoons.co.uk/choke-turkey.html

These are novelty 'toys', marketed at a time when novelties usually sell well. My belief is that these items should not be marketed at all, for all the reasons mentioned in my first paragraph. My young daughter was horrified when she saw them - I hope others will be too.

http://www.alternativevet.org/welfare.htm

I encourage folk to ask retailers to remove them from display or to write to wholesalers and retailers. I shall e-mail Premier Decorations Ltd. I have notified PETA, VIVA and the NSPCC.

No-one likes a joke toy more than me (I'm a real sucker for them) but, when animal respect is at stake and a toy could lead to desensitisation of our children and to potential animal abuse, I have to lose my sense of humour.

Why not take a look at www.alternativevet.org , while you're here?]

The Millennium Wobble

Chris Day — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 10:15:00 +0000

Now, nearly nine years on, we have the answer to the wobbling of the Millennium Bridge!

We've had the wrong sort of leaves and the wrong kind of snow. Now we have the wrong sort of pedestrians, doing the wrong kind of walk!

" . . . . . But it was shut for safety reasons after only three days because of the persistent 'wobble'.

Engineers originally blamed the effect of hundreds of people stepping on to the bridge in unison for the problem.

But new research has shown that it was the combination of a large number of people and the random way in which they walked which kept the bridge moving with such large wobbles.

Dr John MacDonald, from Bristol University, who led the research, said that they had proved that the problem was caused by "the presence of lateral bridge motion without changing the pedestrian walking frequency and applying the same foot placement strategy to maintain balance".

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/science/sciencenews/3793981/Way-pedestrians-walk-caused-Millennium-Bridge-wobble.html

http://www.newstin.co.uk/rel/uk/en-010-008896073

Understand all that gobbledegook (thank heavens for academics) if you will but forgive me for asking - isn't a footbridge supposed to be walked on? What a good job we've now performed all that expensive research.

Is it me? Surely the bridge had to wobble in order to make people try to keep their balance in the first place?

The bridge (the first new crossing in Central London for more than a century) re-opened after the further expenditure of about £5,000,000. You'll see now why, when I wanted a footbridge in my garden, to span our new pond feature, I didn't consult this particular firm of bridge designers! What a good job that we once knew how to build bridges, over 100 years ago.

You may be comforted to learn that we managed with a few wooden rails and a few coach screws and nails.

Why not take a look at www.alternativevet.org , while you're here?]

Zzzzzzzz

Chris Day — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 16:15:00 +0000

Our sleepy cats - do not disturb!

Could 'Formation Sleeping' be the next new Olympic Games Sport for London in 2012?

Why not take a look at www.alternativevet.org , while you're here?]

RSPCA avoid legal consequences?

Chris Day — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:57:00 +0000

The RSPCA has managed a 'sort of apology', to the Hindu community, over the killing of Gangotri (a Jersey x Belgian Blue cow) at Bhaktivedanta Manor and Temple. They are clearly trying to evade legal action, that has been in process, since that drastic event.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7779331.stm

I wonder if this will now be an end to the matter.

It would probably be foolish to expect such an organisation to apologise fully and unreservedly.

This story appeared in March 2008:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/hindu-monks-sue-rspca-over-slaughter-of-sacred-cow-gangotri-802332.html

It is alleged that the cow was under proper veterinary care and that she was recovering. The vets working with the RSPCA killed the cow without having discussed the case with the attending vets.

[Why not take a look at www.alternativevet.org , while you're here?]

Elephants in Captivity

Chris Day — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:23:00 +0000

Young elephant at Whipsnade, displaying stereotypic behaviour

We suddenly, today, have media coverage of an issue that is of central importance to the welfare of zoo animals (NOT just elephants!).

Caged Tiger at Whipsnade - well you can't have them running around, can you?

Of course, wild conditions cannot be replicated in zoos and animals will know (and feel/suffer) the difference, especially those species that range over vast areas.

http://environment.uk.msn.com/news/headlines/article.aspx?cp-documentid=11794317

http://news.scotsman.com/world/Captivity-shown-to-shorten-elephants39.4787378.jp

This is not new! It has been aired for years.

e.g.: http://www.alternativevet.org/zoo.htm

http://www.captiveanimals.org/elephants/index.htm

http://www.fightback4elephants.com/

Nonetheless, while wild places exist for animals to live and breed successfully, it's never too late to try to do something about it. Think very carefully how you stand on this issue, before funding zoos with your hard-earned cash.

[Why not take a look at www.alternativevet.org , while you're here?]