…there appears to be no shortage of money in this area; the amount of fireworks being set alight is astonishing. Only just into November and already the fireworks are booming and banging all around, sending the local dogs (mine included) into a frenzy of fear.

Whatever became of Roman Candles, Spinning Wheels and Snowstorms? These gentle, pretty fireworks were relatively harmless and far less intrusive than the mega bombs so beloved by some of today’s residents. Even the rockets fly skywards with a monstrous whoosh and crackle, scaring animals and old folk alike.

I don’t mind fireworks, but please only on 5th November.

……Finally EU ministers have agreed to ban the import of seal products, following years of appealing by animal rights campaigners. Products from traditional hunts by indigenous peoples in Canada and Greenland will be exempt from the ban.

Canada says the decision is not based on science and it will challenge it at the World Trade Organisation.

The EU ministers’ decision follows a vote by the European Parliament in May to ban the sale of all seal products across the bloc’s 27 nations.

Ministers said on Monday that the ban was being put in place “in response to concerns about the animal welfare aspects of seal hunting practices”.

Every year Canada kills about 300,000 seals off its east coast - the biggest such hunt in the world. Hunters usually shoot the seals or bludgeon them to death with spiked clubs. The animals’ pelts, fat and meat are traded.

Anti-hunt campaigners say the practice is inhumane, and claim that some seals are skinned while still conscious.

…than to leave dogs locked in cars in this weather. They died. Any responsible dog owner is only too aware of how hot it gets in a car, even with the windows open; we all get over-heated as we travel in this spell of sunny weather.

To learn that  a Notts Police dog hander has left two German Shepherds in a car is very sad. Those dogs will have given unstinting love and obedience to their handler; maybe his act could be considered merely thoughtless, but I believe it is reckless in the extreme.

I am sure he is full of remorse, but it’s not enough to be caring in hindsight. He should have given more thought to his dogs. Very sad.

…..I go outdoors every evening at dusk, to catch a glimpse of our resident bat. Faster than any bird, so agile as it flits about and such a joy to watch, catching a late meal of insects as night falls. 

However, street lights are a threat to bats, a new study reports. Scientists have found that, as bats travel to feeding grounds, they avoid hedgerows illuminated by streetlights and the report advocates switching off street lights at night if we want bats to survive.
 

 …following a 10-year campaign by a Notts man.

On Tuesday 5 May 2009 the European Parliament voted to ban the import of all seal products into the European Union.

This represents a victory for Mark Glover and the Nottingham-based group Respect for Animals who have spent the last ten years campaigning against the trade in seal fur. 

The animal welfare campaigner from Carlton has travelled to Canada to record the annual seal hunt for the last five years in an effort to keep the cull in the public consciousness.

Mark, who has also taken several political guests across the Atlantic to witness the event, says he has been threatened, physically attacked and arrested in his pursuit of pictures.

“The Canadian seal clubbing every Spring is the largest slaughter of marine mammals on the planet… killing over a quarter of million seals a year.

“Those images were the key to show the rest of the world what was happening.”

The ban, which was voted in by a huge majority of MEPs in Strasbourg (550 to 49) will be implemented over the next year. I am happy to tell you that my MEP, Bill Newton Dunn, voted in favour of this ban. He will certainly get my vote in the forthcoming European Parliamentary Election.