Archive | Animal Welfare

Pet Prozac

By Ruth Ostrow on 17 September 2012 in All Posts, Animal Welfare, Weekend Magazine Columns

Many pets today are said to be depressed and given Prozac. But none of us fare well in captivity.

I WATCHED an interesting show a while ago about a miserable parrot. In an episode of the program Bondi Vet, Chris Brown treated a self-mutilating parrot suffering depression.

The bird had fallen in love with its owner, and would self-mutilate by ripping out its feathers when it saw her with her husband, Brown said. The parrot would also charge at the man and act in an aggressive manner to intimidate the other male in the household.

The vet decided that ‘‘Harry’’ was seeking attention and sympathy, and put him on the antidepressant Prozac. Harry’s feathers started growing back after a few weeks and his hostility towards his male owner disappeared. Continue Reading →

Help save our wildlife

By Ruth Ostrow on 24 June 2011 in All Posts, Animal Welfare, Weekend Magazine Columns

WIRES animal rescue group is struggling due to lack of donations.

A STRANGE and surreal story. I was woken last week by the screeching of birds. Such a cacophony that I had to put two pillows over my head. But it wouldn’t stop.

I glanced up to see that my cat, usually the cause, was asleep. Suddenly I heard my cleaning lady, Eva, cry: “Ruth, what is it?” She was shaken, standing on the veranda of my little Bondi house. “Ruth… it moved,” she said, nervously pointing at what looked to be a large, stuffed toy perched at my front door. She’s from Hungary and had not seen anything like it before.

It was a tawny frogmouth – a nocturnal bird often mistaken for an owl. Continue Reading →

Four Corners animal cruelty

By Ruth Ostrow on 4 June 2011 in All Posts, Animal Welfare

Help stop the horror of animal export. Please post comments for a protest letter to the Government.

The Government is cracking down on live exports to Asia after horrific footage shown on Four Corners taken by an animal rights activists, blew the lid on the unspeakable cruelty that is going on under our noses.

But farmers are already putting the heat on the Government hoping for a backdown, according to The Australian. We must remain vigilant in our efforts to ensure that such needless suffering is stopped. Please help by raising your voices.

Use this blog to express your feelings!

Pet Friendly

By Ruth Ostrow on 3 June 2011 in All Posts, Animal Welfare, Weekend Magazine Columns

Landlords continue to discriminate against pet owners. Often it becomes “the dog or the home”. Should bias be illegal?

I MET a woman recently who’d just moved to Sydney.

She’s a single mum with a dog, currently staying with friends while looking for a place to rent. I knew the drill as she started to tell her story. Her tired face said it all. I remember moving back to Sydney a few years ago and the nightmare I had trying to rent with two cats. I was always banished to the back of the queue.

“Friends said I should lie,” she admitted. “But he’s a sheep dog. How can I hide him? It has come down to a home or the dog,” she said, almost in tears.

I wonder why such discrimination is still possible, especially since landlords can take bonds to cover pet damage. Surely animals don’t do any more damage than young kids (or teenagers for that matter, after their drunken parties). Continue Reading →

Intuitive Animals

By Ruth Ostrow on 25 May 2011 in All Posts, Animal Welfare

I once witnessed the loyalty of a dog who sensed his Master was soon to die, and sat at the foot of the bed whimpering for days before an operation. The dog never left the spot by the bed until he was dragged away.

The story I have talked about is one that is dear to my heart. The man going to have the operation was my father and the dog was our loyal family pet Pipi who lived with my father and adored him. For a few days Pipi cried before my father went into hospital. Dad, sadly, never returned. And somehow his dog knew what none of us would have dared to face. Continue Reading →

Alpaca on the Menu

By Ruth Ostrow on 19 May 2011 in All Posts, Animal Welfare

Machu Picchu dinner menu shocks me

Trends in food come and go. But the latest has caused even the hard-hearted to squirm. Breeders on the North Coast are investigating whether there is a market for the fluffy South American delicacy as an alternative meat source.

The Australian Alpaca Association said they were looking at what cuts people would buy while Mr Steve Ridout, of La Viande, the only Australian farm that breeds them for meat thinks they should be used for more than their wool.

What do you think? Continue Reading →

Customers want animal welfare: Coles

By Ruth Ostrow on 18 May 2011 in All Posts, Animal Welfare

Coles told me today, that their push to stock only hormone-free, free-range meat is a marketing ploy. “It’s what consumers want!” Woolworths will not be following suit.

Would you walk over it?

Coles spokesman Jim Cooper admitted to being swayed by consumer demand on animal welfare. “You bet!” says he said today, answering claims that their move to hormone-free, free-range meat is a marketing ploy. “It’s what consumers want!” Continue Reading →

Animal Land Rights?

By Ruth Ostrow on 15 May 2011 in All Posts, Animal Welfare

A new proposal by academics to introduce land rights for animals has been slammed by farming associations across the country. Under the proposal, certain animals would be given legal property rights. President of the S.A Farmers Federation Peter White has attacked the proposal saying farmers will suffer. But University of Western Sydney’s Dr Hadley argues the move will protect biodiversity.

I stand for protecting animals. My partner argues: Whose protecting our farmers?

Read the full story The Australian

But first watch News satirists The Onion debating the issue of Animal Rights.

On a serious and poignant note watch David Icke debate a mooted Animal Rights Bill in the U.K
Continue Reading →

Conflict of Interest?

By Ruth Ostrow on 14 May 2011 in All Posts, Animal Welfare

By Nathan Edwards The Daily Telegraph

ANIMAL ISSUE NEWS FOR THIS WEEK

• Alpacas are on the menu;
• Voiceless fundraiser Wednesday, with Emile Sherman who made The King’s Speech;
• Proud Dad Brian Sherman, founder of Voiceless, challenges our Uni’s to a duel; •While the RSPCA joins the hormone-free debate

The King’s Speech

Voiceless Animal Rights group are having their major fund raising night this Wednesday 18th May. Special guests will include Voiceless Director Emile Sherman (winner of the 2011 Best Picture Oscar for The King’s Speech), Dr Charlie Teo (internationally renowned neurosurgeon), Akira Isogawa (acclaimed fashion designer), Continue Reading →

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