animals and religion

‘I want to touch a dog’ event an attempt to insult Malaysia’s clerics, says former Johor mufti -

Former Johor mufti Datuk Nooh Gadut said the “I want to touch a dog” programme organised by Muslims in Selangor yesterday was an attempt to insult ulama (clerics) and religious authorities.

The adviser to the Johor Islamic Re‎ligious Council said it was haram (prohibited) for Muslims to deliberately touch dogs as they were dirty (najis mughallazah) according to two Muslim schools of thought, Shafie and Hanbali.

"Don't try to create a culture that goes against Islam and the Shafie school of thought, especially when it has elements of insulting the ulama in this country," he was quoted as saying in Malay-language daily Berita Harian.

more than 1,000 people turned up at the event in Bandar Utama, which was aimed at making Malaysians more aware of the furry four-legged creatures and also to educate others on how to practise "sertu" (cleansing).‎

This was to help people overcome their fear of dogs and bring together Malaysians to promote tolerance and understanding that goes beyond culture, race or religion.

The Selangor‎ Islamic Religious Council (Mais) had approved the programme and Ustaz Mohd Iqbal Parjin was present yesterday to give a talk on the touching of dogs in Islam.

"Dogs are also God's creatures. We need to overcome the mentality of seeing the animal as an offensive creature. Teach the young to love others but at the same time know the limit of touching one," said Iqbal. –

 

PEOPLE AND ANIMALS

EXAMPLE 1
A postcard featuring a cute puppy sitting in a policeman's hat advertising a Scottish police force's new telephone number has sparked outrage from Muslims.   

Tayside Police caused uproar in the Muslim community after they released this advertisement featuring police puppy Rebel sitting in a hat

The advert has upset Muslims because dogs are considered ritually unclean and has sparked such anger that some shopkeepers in Dundee have refused to display the advert.

EXAMPLE 2
2014

Malaysian politicians and religious leaders have attacked the use of Scottie dogs during the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony, claiming it was disrespectful to Muslims.

Around 40 Scottie dogs were used in the opening ceremony in Glasgow last Wednesday to lead teams around Celtic Park.

The dogs, which all wore tartan dog coats with the name of each team on them, were widely praised on social media, with many people stating they thought they had "stolen the show". Hamish, who led out the Scotland team, received one of the biggest cheers of the night.

Judy Murray tweeted after the ceremony: "Scottie dogs in tartan coats at CG opening ceremony. Barkingly brilliant."

However, not everyone was as impressed. Political and religious leaders in Malaysia have claimed the use of dogs connected to Muslim countries was "disrespectful".

BUT BEFORE YOU RANT...THERE IS ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE

Traditionally, dogs have been seen as unclean and impure, with Islamic thinkers warning Muslims to avoid contact with the loyal animals.

Despite the Prophet Muhammad’s kindness to animals, including notable stories of the Prophet caring for puppies, it has often been considered that dogs are unclean and are incompatible with those that practice Islam.

Yet, a new fatwa by Egypt’s former Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa challenges this traditional view, stating that there is a misconception about dogs being impure and ritually unclean (najis).

Sheikh Gomaa, who was Grand Mufti for a decade of the Sunni Islamic world’s top Islamic authority, is one of the most respected Islamic scholars and clerics in the world.

During his television show which discusses Islam’s teachings, the Sheikh stated that there is nothing wrong with keeping a dog inside your house as a dog is not impure.

hot dog ....now...cool dog

Dogs Helping Dogs

An animal bloodmobile lets pooches donate blood for other canines in need

MAY 14, 2014

By TIME For Kids with Associated Press reporting

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MATT SLOCUM—AP

Harleysville, Pennsylvania, resident Paula Hackett holds her dog, Tosey, a five-year-old Great Dane, during a visit to the University of Pennsylvania veterinary school's animal bloodmobile.

If man's best friend is a dog, then who is a dog's best friend? That would be Rover. Or Glow, or Ivan, or Raina. These four canines recently donated valuable pints of blood to their fellow pooches. And they did it without having to travel far from home: They visited an animal bloodmobile.

MATT SLOCUM—AP

Paula Hackett leads her dog Tosey into the animal bloodmobile, where dogs can donate blood to help ailing animals.

Similar to the Red Cross vehicles for humans, the University of Pennsylvania's traveling veterinary lab goes to where the donors are to make it easier to give. The bloodmobile makes weekly rounds through suburban Philadelphia and New Jersey. Kym Marryott is manager of Penn's Animal Blood Bank. "You don't really think about it until you actually need it," Marryott told the Associated Press. "Just like in people, dogs need blood too."

Helping Paws

Like humans, not every dog is eligible to donate blood. The pooches are screened for health first. Dogs must have the correct blood type, weigh at least 55 pounds and be younger than 8 years old. About 150 dogs participate in the program. Each donates three or four pints a year, which can help animals suffering from illnesses like cancer or an accidental trauma like being hit by a car. One pint can save up to three dogs.

Owners volunteer their pet for the short procedure, which requires no sedation. That’s when a patient is given medicine to calm him or her down. Marryott said it's the dog that ultimately chooses to lie still and give. "If (the dog) wanted to get up and leave, he could," she said. "But they're really good about it, they trust their owner."

Sandy Lucas brought her 7-year-old black German shepherd, Raina, to the bloodmobile last week, when it was parked at a strip mall in Harleysville, Pennsylvania. The Pottstown, Pennsylvania, resident said she wouldn't have braved highway traffic and city parking problems to take the dog to Penn Vet's animal hospital in downtown Philadelphia, which is twice as far from her home. But the bloodmobile made it convenient to find out if Raina could donate, she said. "I was very, very thrilled that she had the right blood that was needed to help another dog out," said Lucas. "We'll definitely do it again."

DENISE HENHOEFFER—THE COURIER POST/AP

Remy, a six-year-old boxer, wears a blood donor sticker after giving blood during a K9 blood drive in Lumberton, New Jersey.

Just like people, the furry donors get a snack and a heart-shaped "U of P Blood Donor" sticker immediately after giving. In addition, they receive free blood screenings and dog food to take home.

Officials at Penn's School of Veterinary Medicine said they don't know of any other animal bloodmobiles operating in the U.S. And what about a catmobile? Felines are a bit less cooperative. They need to be sedated in order to give blood, so Penn does that only at its animal hospital.

The Philadelphia-based school does more than help animals. The Penn Vet Working Dog Center trains dogs to use their keen sense of smell to help humans. The dogs can learn to locate bombs, sniff out allergens, and even identify cancer. 

well there is hope after all

Super News for Sea Lions

The eastern population of Steller sea lions comes off the threatened list

OCTOBER 28, 2013

By Stephanie Kraus with AP reporting

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U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE/AP

A federal agency says the eastern population of Steller sea lions is recovering.

Steller sea lions have a reason to celebrate today. The eastern population has been taken off the threatened species list. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) decided that the population no longer meets the criteria to be considered endangered. In 30 years, the population has grown by more than 50,000.

The Steller sea lion, also known as the northern sea lion, is the largest member of the Otariid (eared seal) family. The eastern population’s habitat ranges from the coast of Alaska to California. It is the first animal to be delisted by NOAA since the eastern North Pacific gray whale. That creature was taken off the list nearly 20 years ago, NOAA spokeswoman Julie Speegle said.

Experts at NOAA recommended delisting the Steller Sea Lions earlier this year.

"We're delighted to see the recovery of the eastern population of Steller sea lions," Jim Balsiger said in a statement. He is the administrator of NOAA Fisheries' Alaska Region. "We'll be working with the states and other partners to monitor this population to ensure its continued health."

To Protect and Preserve
The delisting of the eastern population does not affect the Steller sea lions’ western population. That group’s habitat ranges from Cape Suckling, Alaska, to Russia. The western population remains on the endangered list.

LUCAS JACKSON—REUTERS

Stellar sea lions relax on a rocky shore near the town of Valdez, Alaska.

NOAA estimated there were about 18,000 sea lions in the eastern population in 1979. The group was listed as threatened in 1990. The decline was blamed on fishermen and other people killing the animals because they were eating fish and considered a “nuisance.” In 2010, the most recent year a count was available, the agency estimated just over 70,000 sea lions.

Although the species is being removed from the list, it will still receive protection under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, Speegle said by phone from her office in Juneau.

When an animal is delisted, the Endangered Species Act requires a monitoring plan that covers five years. NOAA has decided to double that length of time to monitor the sea lions over a 10-year period. "We are just proceeding carefully and cautiously to ensure that this species can be maintained in the recovered status," she said.

food environment animals ....sigh ...we are to blame

Goodbye, Bamboo

Endangered giant pandas are facing a new threat: the loss of their food source, bamboo.

JANUARY 11, 2013

By Kelli Plasket

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BURRAND-LUCAS/BARCROFT MEDIA/LANDOV

A giant panda feeds on bamboo in China's Qinling Mountains. The bears get water and nutrients from the plant.

In China's Qinling Mountains, giant pandas spend most of their day eating bamboo. The plant makes up 99% of the bears' diet, with some pandas eating about 40 pounds of it a day. But Qinling's pandas may soon have to find another food source. A new study published in the science journal Nature Climate Change reports that warming temperatures may cause the loss of most of the region's bamboo by the end of the century.

A team made up of researchers from Michigan State University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences used climate models to project the effects of climate change on the region's three main bamboo species. They studied the impact of rising temperatures on the spread and growth of bamboo. Bamboo is sensitive to temperature changes. "Even with a 3.6° Fahrenheit increase in temperature, we found that 80% to 100% of bamboo would be gone by the end of the century," Jianguo Liu, one of the study's authors, told TFK.

Protecting Pandas

The Qinling Mountains, located in eastern China, are home to about 270 pandas. That is about 17% of the world's wild panda population. The bear is one of the world's most endangered species.

In recent years, China has stepped up efforts to protect pandas from deforestation and poaching. But Liu says the country has yet to consider the long-term effects of climate change in its conservation planning. Aside from increasing nature reserve areas where pandas are protected, Liu wants China to lower its use of fuels that release greenhouse gases—as should the rest of the world. "The future of pandas," he says, "is in our hands."

EVEN THE ZOO HAS GONE TO THE DOGS

A zoo in China is facing an uproar of criticism this week, after it was revealed that its African lion is in fact a dog. The zoo, located in the People's Park of Luohe in the province of Henan, reportedly tried to disguise a Tibetan mastiff as a big cat, putting it on display in a cage marked "African lion", according to AFP. The Tibetan mastiff is a large, long-haired dog with a slightly lion-like mane, but the zoo's charade was exposed after visitors heard the animal bark.

sad

In August, Chinese media reported on an extraordinary account of a mother bear saving her cub from a life of torture by strangling it and then killing itself.
The bears were kept in a farm located in a remote area in the North-West of China. The bears on the farm had their gall bladders milked daily for 'bear bile,' which is used as a remedy in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).
A witness claimed that the mother bear broke out its cage when it heard its cub howl in fear before a worker punctured its stomach to milk the bile.
The workers ran away in fear when they saw the mother bear rushing to its cub's side.
Unable to free the cub from its restraints, the mother hugged the cub and eventually strangled it.
It then dropped the cub and ran head-first into a wall, killing itself.

a crying shame!! look what they are doing to my favourite animal

This happens every year in Feroe Island in Denmark . In this slaughter the main participants are young teens.
WHY?
A celebration, to show that they are adults and mature!

The calderon dolphin is near extinction and it is said that they get near man
to PLAY

They don't die instantly; they are cut 1, 2 or 3 times with thick hooks. And at that time the dolphins produce a grim cry like that of a new born child.

I PRAY THIS ATROCITY STOPS. TAKE CARE OF EARTH AND ITS INHABITANTS
ITS THEIR HOME TOO

about animals and us

america - The Supreme Court has ruled a federal law designed to stop the sale and marketing of videos showing dog fights and other acts of animal cruelty is an unconstitutional violation of free speech.

THIS MEANS - SALE OF SUCH VIDEOS IS NOW LEGAL....

The specific case before the court dealt with tapes showing pit bulldogs attacking other animals and one another in staged confrontations.

AND PEOPLE WATCH THIS FOR ENTERTAINMANT?

THATS ONE UP FOR FREE SPEECH AND HUMAN RIGHTS!

AND ONE DOWN FOR HUMANITY....

xenotransplantation

Twenty-five years ago, California's Dr. Leonard Bailey transplanted a baboon heart into human infant Baby Fae. The interspecies heart transplant generated headlines and ethical debates.

Unhealthy heart: Baby Fae was born in 1984 with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. After receiving the baboon heart, Baby Fae lived 20 days. She was the first infant to get a nonhuman heart transplant.

Primate provider: Where did Bailey find the baboon?

Moral storm: Baby Fae's operation sparked animal rights protests and medical ethics debates.

Heartfelt success: Although baboon hearts are no longer used, human pediatric heart transplants are now possible.
Just Fae: For privacy, the hospital identified the baby only by her middle name, Fae. Her first name was Stephanie. Years later, her mother revealed the family surname.

Life goes on: Baby Fae's mom, Teresa, attends college in Kansas. Bailey still works at the same hospital (doing what?).

Fae on film: Bailey will mark the 25th anniversary by introducing the documentary "Stephanie's Heart: The Story of Baby Fae."

perspectives

infidelity

Bee Movie

should we be exploiting animals the way we do?
is a life full of leisure a worthwhile one?

Having just graduated from three days of college, a bee by the name of Barry Bee Benson (Jerry Seinfeld) finds himself disillusioned with the prospect of having only one career choice – honey. As he ventures outside of the hive for the first time, he breaks one of the cardinal rules of the bee world and talks to a human, a New York City florist named Vanessa (Renée Zellweger). He is shocked to discover that the humans have been stealing and eating the bees' honey for centuries, and ultimately realizes that his true calling in life is to set the world right by suing the human race for stealing their precious honey. Because of this, Barry wins the lawsuit, and all honey in the world is confiscated and returned to the bees. But now, Barry and Vanessa realize that now all the honey in the world is back, every bee has been put out of a job, and thus cannot earn money for their families. Barry also realizes that without bees pollinating the flowers, the plant life is dying. To set things right, he and Vanessa find a way to re-pollinate the flowers by going to the final rose show in California, and bringing them as luggage to the airport. Afterwards, the Bees get all their jobs back and give the honey back to the humans, realizing that without their jobs they were not truly happy when they had all their honey, though the humans and bees treat each other better now. Barry becomes a member of the Bee Brigade, helping to repollinate the plants while running a law firm inside Vanessa's flower shop.

are we really superior to animals

One Kingdom

Author. Deborah Noyes

In ancient Egypt people worshipped cats, and in India the cow is sacred. Today in America we flock to zoos in record numbers and pamper our pets. But what do we really know about animals? And what do we feel in spite of them? Walking a mile in their paws, feathers, or fur is harder than it seems.

Here Deborah Noyes embarks on a quest for understanding, struggling science with science and love, attempting to distance but also bring closer the other kingdom. What results is a visionary meditation on how myth, history, and culture have influenced our views of animals and shaped our lives with them. Smart and unsentimental, Noyes’s wide ranging narrative and passionate portraits raise difficult but important questions, challenging what we think we know about our animal fellows while forming new perceptions with realities. We are all, bird, beast and boy, made of blood, bone and beating heart. Where do they end and we begin?

soar like an eagle in a storm, my crackpots

Did you know that an eagle knows when a storm is approaching long before it breaks?
The eagle will fly to some high spot and wait for the winds to come. When the storm hits, it sets its wings so that the wind will pick it up and lift it above the storm. While the storm rages below, the eagle is soaring above it.

The eagle does not escape the storm. It simply uses the storm to lift it higher. It rises on the winds that bring the storm.

When the storms of life come upon us - and all of us will experience them - we can rise above them by setting our minds on overcoming it. The storms do not have to overcome us.

Whether by faith in God, a strong belief in our selves, and determination, we can ride the winds of the storm that bring sickness, tragedy, failure and disappointment in our lives. We can soar above the storm.

Remember, it is not the burdens of life that weigh us down, it is how we handle them.
SO
RISE ABOVE
AND SOAR!!!

BY THE WAY, DOES THIS ESSAY QUESTION SOUND FAMILIAR
NATURE HAS MUCH TO TEACH US MJC PRELIM 2008……
THE ABOVE EXAMPLE WOULD CERTAINLY BE RELEVANT….

cloning pets

SEOUL - THE loss of Booger the pit bull terrier was almost more than Ms Bernann McKinney could bear.
Now she is the happy owner of five cloned Booger puppies, minus US$50,000 (S$68,600) and her house.
'This is a miracle,' said Ms McKinney at a news conference in the South Korean capital.
'I was able to smile again, laugh again and just feel alive again,' she said, blinking back tears of joy as she cuddled the five black puppies - all of whose names include the word Booger.
The puppies were born to two surrogate mothers on July 28, said RNL Bio, the company which arranged for the re-creation of Booger through his refrigerated ear tissue.
Ms McKinney, 58, a movie scriptwriter in California, sold her house to raise the US$50,000 to pay for the cloning.
'I had to make sacrifices and I dream of the day, some day, when everyone can afford to clone his pet because losing a pet is a terrible, terrible loss to anyone.'

fish is good for you

Fishy diet may protect against clogged arteries
Mexico City - A DIET rich in oily fish, which contains omega 3 fatty acids, may be why middle-aged men in Japan have fewer problems with clogged arteries than white men and men of Japanese descent in the United States, a study has found.
The research, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, found that Japanese men living in Japan had twice the blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids and lower levels of atherosclerosis compared to middle-aged white men or Japanese-American men living in the United States, Atherosclerosis is the buildup of plaque inside the arteries. Over time, they harden and narrow the arteries and can lead to serious problems like heart attacks and stroke.
'The death rate from coronary heart disease in Japan has always been puzzlingly low,' said epidemiology assistant professor Akira Sekikawa at the University of Pittsburgh, in a statement.
'Our study suggests that the very low rates of coronary heart disease among Japanese living in Japan may be due to their lifelong high consumption of fish.'

thanks cherlia

TO THE FIRST PERSON WHO DARES TO CHALLENGE ME AND PROVIDE ALTERNATIVE VIEWS - I WOULD LIKE TO SAY ----- I LOOOOOOVE YOU AND AM THRILLED TO SEE ONE PERSON REACTING TO/QUESTIONING SOMETHING I HAVE SAID IN CLASS.. THIS IS THE PURPOSE OF THIS BLOG - AND I HOPE TO SEE MORE CHERLIAS PLEASE...

good alternative perspective presented here
guess sometimes we measure comfort levels against our own perceptions of what is right and acceptable... hence, the perception that if lethal injections are "good enough" for us(in that it is less painful) than... being hanged pehaps, it's good for animals too

but this article is a very good trigger for the question on - should we treat animals as well as we would the less privileged in society/is it ridiculous to treat animals humanely....

given that the video i showed you - IT depicted unspeakable cruelty to farm animals...electric prods, slamming their heads on the floor to kill them, even keeping them barely alive just so they can sell them.....i guess, relative to that... lethal injections would be a more humane option.... (my opininon)
but this humane to sleep system does seem better (concede alternative view has its merits)... and if it is proven to be better for various reasons (caveat)- it would be good to turn to it as an alternative provided the humane to sleep systems does not put humans to sleep too in the process..(caveat).. he he (humour)...



BEING HUMANE TO ALL ANIMALS

The goal of euthanasia is a kind death. But for undomesticated animals, lethal injection can be torture. And it punishes them for a human crime--the fact that they do not find comfort in human touch.

I know we all feel terrible about putting unwanted pets to sleep. We want to make it better by making those last moments as sweet and gentle as they can be. Our hearts tell us that petting and cuddling them the way we would our own pets is the way to do that. But for animals who have been kicked out of domestic life, or who have never been pets--like feral cats--or who have been abused--as have so many dogs--close contact with a stranger is not comfort. It is a threat, an attack, and when we're trying to give a lethal injection, literally a death struggle.

How much kinder, to respect the instincts of the unloved animal and let those instincts direct the form of euthanasia. Threatened animals wish to get away, to den, in a secure place out of man's reach.

I know what images the term "gas chamber" evokes--the terrible old days of primitive suffocation machines, or smelly, toxic, combustion engine exhaust chambers. They were agonizingly slow. Animals had time to smell the bad air and to fear it, to feel the changes in their bodies and start to panic. Compassionate people abhor these old machines, and rightly so.

I've performed literally thousands of euthanasia's in my forty two years practicing veterinary medicine. Years ago, my practice even started giving lethal injections at our local Humane Society in order to stop them from using an old-style decompression chamber. I've had more experience with putting animals to sleep than a person could ever want, and I think that, at last, I've come up with a better way.

The Humane-To-Sleep System respects animals. It respects their instincts: their desire for self-protection, their avoidance of stranger contact, their denning inspirits. It respects their physiology, using odorless gas that leaves them unconscious in seconds. And, as a great bonus, it helps its human operators as well. With our unique cage system, there are no more terrible tugs-of-war with desperate dogs on the end of a leash. No more wild-cat struggles which leave handlers dangerously bitten and scratched, and possibly infected. No more risk of rabies. And no more “guilty blues” for tormenting an innocent animal literally to death.

I urge you now to put the old preconceptions aside and consider what it means to perform a true "euthanasia," a "good death." I believe that technology now permits us to provide a truly humane solution. I urge you to consider it with a fresh mind.
Sincerely Jack Zimmerly VMD

hey weijie

i googled kobe beef - but was not quite impressed or consoled

cos the only reason they massage etc the cow - is so the beef will be tender

and the steak looks good....

gee ... don think thats going to make me eat beef any time soon - even kobe beef...

I KNOW THE SECRET OF THE UNIVERSE!!!

hi there nicholas

you were right about the animal police - never knew they existed - thanks for the info

this is what i got from googling it... try tubing it... thats the verb for youtube

The primary responsibilities of the officers assigned to the Miami-Dade Police Department Animal Services Unit are to prevent and punish animal cruelty cases, protect the public from rabies and problems associated with stray dogs and cats, and pick up stray and injured animals.
Officers issue citations for failure to:
license a dog
vaccinate a dog or cat
properly control a dog
prevent cruelty to dogs or cats
control a dangerous dog
as well as several other animal-related violations.
The Animal Services Unit also offers pets for adoption and free spay/neuter services for the pets of Miami-Dade County residents. The unit is funded solely by dog license tag sales, shelter fees, enforcement fines, private grants and donations.