Pledge to say no to animals used in rodeos
Cruel form of entertainment
For the mere sake of ‘entertainment’, animals in rodeos are physically provoked into displaying ‘wild’ behaviour which can result in severe injuries and even death. Due to the undeniable cruelty, rodeos are completely banned in Britain and in parts of Europe and the United States — but not in Australia.
Tormenting frightened and unwilling animals in an attempt to demonstrate the ‘brute strength’ of man is a spectacle that has no place in modern society. – Animals Australia
Animals suffering for the show
Rodeos are a cruel spectator sport, condemned by all animal protection organisations, in which bulls, horses and sometimes other animals are physically provoked into displaying ‘wild’ behaviour by the use of such devices as spurs, electric prods and flank straps. Rodeo animals suffer many kinds of injuries, and are sometimes killed or have to be destroyed.
“The immorality of rodeos extends to the arrogance of the riders and their attitude to the animals, and to the way the audience is demeaned by watching such a tawdry spectacle.”
- Veterinarian
on attending an Australian rodeo
Animals Australia seeks to ban rodeos in Australia
Rodeos would not be financially viable without sponsors, and Animals Australia has already convinced many Australian companies, including Telstra and Kmart, to withdraw their sponsorship of rodeos in recognition of the endemic animal welfare problems. They can persuade other sponsors to make a similar ethical commitment, but they depend on us to report rodeo sponsors to them.
Supporting Animals Australia
The Wishing Well was established in 2010 to offer children in out-of-home care, such as foster care and residential care, a range of healing and treatment options usually not accessible as a free therapy in mainstream health.
The Wishing Well raises funds to enable children and young people to access developmentally-appropriate and trauma-informed treatments shown to be highly effective in dealing with severe trauma and neglect. These therapies respond to the unique needs of each child and young person.
The Wishing Well is a not-for-profit incorporated charity organisation, established and managed by people seeking to improve outcomes for children and young people in out-of-home care and their families.
The Wishing Well operates ethically, effectively and empathically with a view to achieving quality outcomes and a satisfying working environment, and as such we support organisations that encompass similar ideals.
The Wishing Well gratefully receives donations, funding and resources through bequests, corporate partnerships, fundraising events, grants, online donations and other fund raising activities. Please see our website for more information:
How you can help
There are a number of ways you can join with Animals Australia and help ban rodeos.
1] Click here to sign the pledge to ‘Say No to Rodeos’, and ask your family and friends to do the same.
2] Call for an end to one of the cruellest rodeo events: calf roping.
3] Write to your local MP, as well as your local newspaper, stating the facts about the cruelty of rodeos and why they should be banned (Note: Rodeos are permitted in all States, and the NT, but not in the ACT).
5] Send this page to people you know who have attended rodeos, so that they too will understand the cruelty behind this barbaric ‘entertainment’.
Avaaz’s innovative idea to stop Monsanto
The source of our planet’s food is under threat
Ten agro-chemical firms own 73% of the commercial seed market, and as many as 93% of seed varieties have gone extinct. In the US alone 85% of apple varieties have disappeared.
“Monsanto and co. are privatising the genesis of nature. And this corporate takeover is decimating sustainable farming, destroying the diversity of our crops, and making them vulnerable to diseases that could threaten our food security.” – Avaaz
Monsanto
After more than 100 years in business, Monsanto’s name has become synonymous with greed, arrogance, corruption and poison. In a stunning display of calculated callousness of the impact that their products have on the human health and the planet, Monsanto is responsible for some of the most lethal chemicals known to history, including Agent Orange, PCBs, and DDT. The products they produce, genetically engineered foods and chemical weed killers, are in more than 70% of the processed foods that we eat and feed our families every day. – Huffington Post
Avaaz’s revolutionary idea – a global non-profit online seed exchange
Farmers have been saving seeds in banks and barns across the world. Now they have devised a revolutionary project — a global non-profit online seed exchange where any farmer, anywhere can source a wide variety of plants for free, giving them an alternative to the genetically modified seeds sold by chemical companies. They have called on Avaaz to help them in this campaign.
“This could be the most innovative agricultural idea in decades and the best way to stop Monsanto.” – Avaaz
Supporting Avaaz
The Wishing Well was established in 2010 to offer children in out-of-home care, such as foster care and residential care, a range of healing and treatment options usually not accessible as a free therapy in mainstream health.
The Wishing Well raises funds to enable children and young people to access developmentally-appropriate and trauma-informed treatments shown to be highly effective in dealing with severe trauma and neglect. These therapies respond to the unique needs of each child and young person.
The Wishing Well is a not-for-profit incorporated charity organisation, established and managed by people seeking to improve outcomes for children and young people in out-of-home care and their families.
The Wishing Well operates ethically, effectively and empathically with a view to achieving quality outcomes and a satisfying working environment, and as such we support organisations that encompass similar ideals.
The Wishing Well gratefully receives donations, funding and resources through bequests, corporate partnerships, fundraising events, grants, online donations and other fund raising activities. Please see our website for more information:
How you can help
Avaaz’s campaign aims to raise enough money to help the farmers launch the online site, support seed storing in key countries, finance marketing and advertising, and fund the legal defence to fight back against Monsanto.
“This global online exchange could re-flood the market with all kinds of seeds and slowly break the monopoly that is putting our food future at risk!” – Avaaz
Support Avaaz, the farmers, and the global seed exchange:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/seed_exchange_nd_loc/?slideshow
Help stop the sectarian killings and abductions in Iraq
Amnesty International reports
Amnesty International has conducted a briefing that sheds light on a growing pattern of sectarian killings and abductions by the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). A takeover has resulted in a dramatic resurgence of sectarian tensions and the massive displacement of communities fearing sectarian attacks and reprisals. Amnesty International has also gathered evidence pointing to a pattern of extrajudicial executions of detainees by Iraqi government forces and Shi’a militias. Air strikes launched by Iraqi government forces against ISIS-controlled areas have also killed and injured dozens of civilians, some in indiscriminate attacks.
Consequences of the conflict in Iraq
Indiscriminate artillery shelling and air strikes by government forces against ISIS controlled areas have also killed and injured dozens of civilians and spurred many to flee fearing for their lives. The conflict in northern Iraq has displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians, who have fled to neighbouring Kurdish areas administered by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
“Once again beleaguered civilians in Iraq find themselves trapped in a spiral of sectarian violence from all sides. Hundreds of thousands have fled their homes in terror of abductions and killings by ISIS and air strikes by government forces, as all sides are showing utter disregard for international humanitarian law.”
– Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International’s Senior Crisis Response Adviser
Supporting Amnesty International
The Wishing Well was established in 2010 to offer children in out-of-home care, such as foster care and residential care, a range of healing and treatment options usually not accessible as a free therapy in mainstream health.
The Wishing Well raises funds to enable children and young people to access developmentally-appropriate and trauma-informed treatments shown to be highly effective in dealing with severe trauma and neglect. These therapies respond to the unique needs of each child and young person.
The Wishing Well is a not-for-profit incorporated charity organisation, established and managed by people seeking to improve outcomes for children and young people in out-of-home care and their families.
The Wishing Well operates ethically, effectively and empathically with a view to achieving quality outcomes and a satisfying working environment, and as such we support organisations that encompass similar ideals.
The Wishing Well gratefully receives donations, funding and resources through bequests, corporate partnerships, fundraising events, grants, online donations and other fund raising activities. Please see our website for more information:
Stop torture with Amnesty International
For over 50 years, Amnesty International has exposed governments who torture, and supported torture survivors to get justice.
Over the last five years, Amnesty has reported on torture in at least three quarters of the world – 141 countries, from every region.
“Governments around the world are two-faced on torture – prohibiting it in law, but facilitating it in practice. Torture is not just alive and well – it is flourishing in many parts of the world. As more governments seek to justify torture in the name of national security, the steady progress made in this field over the last thirty years is being eroded.”
– Salil Shetty, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.
How you can help
The Stop Torture campaign launches with a new media briefing, Torture in 2014: 30 Years of Broken Promises, which provides an overview of the use of torture in the world today.
Amnesty International is calling on governments to implement protective mechanisms to prevent and punish torture – such as proper medical examinations, prompt access to lawyers, independent checks on places of detention, independent and effective investigations of torture allegations, the prosecution of suspects and proper redress for victims.
Join with Amnesty International and help stop torture:
http://www.amnesty.org/en/stoptorture
You can help stop the next ‘cull’ of WA’s sharks
The situation in WA
Sharks are extremely important to the health of our oceans and maintaining the balance in marine ecosystems. In WA, the government is currently pushing for a three-year shark baiting and killing trial. Earlier this year, the policy was enacted after a spate of fatal shark attacks in WA, attributed mostly to great whites, and a three-month trial period was conducted.
“Despite a startling lack of supportive scientific evidence, the WA government is pushing ahead with its plans for a three-year shark baiting and killing trial.” – Animals Australia
The WA government has applied for Commonwealth approval to set up 72 baited drum lines off metropolitan and South West beaches between November and April until 2017. Documents released by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) have revealed that if the catch-and-kill policy gets the green light, they expect to bait almost 1,000 sharks over the next three years.
Between January and April this year, 173 sharks faced similar cruelty as a result of the WA government’s trial shark cull, introduced as a ‘public safety’ measure. Almost all of the animals caught were tiger sharks — 61 of them died ‘on the line’ or were killed — even though no human fatalities implicating a tiger shark have been reported in the region for more than 80 years.
Scientific evidence
Before this year’s trial started, 102 scientists signed an open letter to the Barnett government arguing against the use of drum lines.
“Due to the environmental impacts of shark control activities, it is not recommended that either shark nets of [sic] drum-lines be introduced into Western Australia.”
– Associate Professor Daryl McPhee, Bond University
Alternatives to shark culls
A group of scientific experts has advocated a non-lethal method — simply towing large sharks out to sea and letting them go. A successful trial of this strategy in Brazil reportedly reduced shark incidents by 97%.
More and improved community engagement and education has also been suggested as an effective and humane solution.
Supporting Animals Australia
The Wishing Well was established in 2010 to offer children in out-of-home care, such as foster care and residential care, a range of healing and treatment options usually not accessible as a free therapy in mainstream health.
The Wishing Well raises funds to enable children and young people to access developmentally-appropriate and trauma-informed treatments shown to be highly effective in dealing with severe trauma and neglect. These therapies respond to the unique needs of each child and young person.
The Wishing Well is a not-for-profit incorporated charity organisation, established and managed by people seeking to improve outcomes for children and young people in out-of-home care and their families.
The Wishing Well operates ethically, effectively and empathically with a view to achieving quality outcomes and a satisfying working environment, and as such we support organisations that encompass similar ideals.
The Wishing Well gratefully receives donations, funding and resources through bequests, corporate partnerships, fundraising events, grants, online donations and other fund raising activities. Please see our website for more information:
Sign the petition to save the sharks
Sign the petition and urge the WA Government to rethink its plans to continue to bait and kill sharks:
http://www.marineconservation.org.au/petitions.php/9/save-wa-sharks-stop-the-cull
Call on Kelloggs and General Mills to take action on climate change
Hunger – the effect of climate change
Oxfam reports that the number of people at risk of hunger is predicted to increase by up to 20 percent by 2050 – a direct result of climate change.
“Already, almost 870 million of us go to bed hungry every night. Not because there isn’t enough. But because of the deep injustice in the way the system works. And because too many of the ways we grow today are using up and destroying the natural resources on which we all rely.” – Oxfam
Food companies and greenhouse gas emissions
Farmers around the world are going hungry. Droughts, floods and other natural disasters caused by climate change are stopping them from growing enough food to feed their families and make a living. Two of the biggest food and beverage companies are contributing to the problem by not fully disclosing most of their emissions, and not setting targets to reduce them. They also do business with companies that worsen climate change by burning down forests and over-using polluting fertilisers.
“For the food and beverage industry, climate change is a major threat. For millions of people, it means more extreme weather and greater hunger. The Big 10 companies are significant contributors to this crisis, yet they are not doing nearly enough to help tackle it.” – Oxfam
Oxfam’s ‘Feed People, Fight Climate Change’ campaign
Oxfam are heading a campaign to take our message to Kelloggs and General Mills.
“If thousands of us demand that Kellogg and General Mills companies reduce their harmful emissions and call for other companies and governments to do the same, we could take the climate change out of our food.” – Oxfam
Supporting Oxfam
The Wishing Well was established in 2010 to offer children in out-of-home care, such as foster care and residential care, a range of healing and treatment options usually not accessible as a free therapy in mainstream health.
The Wishing Well raises funds to enable children and young people to access developmentally-appropriate and trauma-informed treatments shown to be highly effective in dealing with severe trauma and neglect. These therapies respond to the unique needs of each child and young person.
The Wishing Well is a not-for-profit incorporated charity organisation, established and managed by people seeking to improve outcomes for children and young people in out-of-home care and their families.
The Wishing Well operates ethically, effectively and empathically with a view to achieving quality outcomes and a satisfying working environment, and as such we support organisations that encompass similar ideals.
The Wishing Well gratefully receives donations, funding and resources through bequests, corporate partnerships, fundraising events, grants, online donations and other fund raising activities. Please see our website for more information:
Take action!
The ten biggest food and beverage companies in the world are slowly waking up to their responsibilities to help tackle some immense challenges facing the global food system. You can support Oxfam in their campaign to tell General Mills and Kellogg to stop climate change making people hungry. Sign the petition now:
https://www.oxfam.org.au/2014/06/take-action-on-climate-change/
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