Thursday, October 24, 2019

CHINA NEARS ECONOMIC COLLAPSE - PEOPLE ARE EATING THEIR DOGS


China’s ‘Pig Ebola’ Epidemic Leads to Increased Demand for Dog Meat

A butcher waits for customers at his stall at a market in Beijing on July 10, 2019. - Factory prices in China were unchanged in June from a year ago, data showed on July 10, reviving the prospect of deflation as the US trade war hits the crucial manufacturing sector. …
NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/Getty Images
2:05

China’s devastating outbreak of African swine fever, nicknamed “Pig Ebola” by outside observers, has compelled the destruction of millions of pigs and created a shortage of pork severe enough to put dog and rabbit meat back on the menu in rural areas.

African swine fever is not considered dangerous to humans, but it spreads through pigs with horrifying speed and can survive for long periods of time while it is carried on other animals or even human clothing. No vaccine is available, so infected pigs must be killed to prevent the fever from spreading. The most dire projections say China will lose over half its herd this year, which will wipe out almost a quarter of the global pig supply.
The damage to China’s pork industry has been extensive enough to disrupt the global food chain and factor heavily into China’s trade war with the United States. Pork prices in China rose more than 40 percent over the summer and more than 100 percent for the year in some areas. Consumers fear more shocks are coming because they suspect the official government figures are understating the severity of the epidemic.
The pork price surge is big enough to rattle the entire Chinese economy and turn bond yields negative for the first time in years. Analysts believe the pork shortage is so serious that Beijing cannot address the problem by tapping into national emergency reserves, a strategy it began implementing in August.
The South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported on Tuesday that Chinese diners are learning to make do without pork, an extremely popular food in China, and turning to more readily available meats like dog and rabbit. Supermarkets are pushing rabbit at discount prices while pork vendors are going out of business and pork is becoming a luxury item.
“The Chinese government has instituted emergency measures to boost pig supply, trying desperately to help farmers expand production while scrambling to import pork to sure up supply,” the SCMP wrote.


House Passes Bill Making Animal Cruelty a Federal Felony

Dogs look out from a cage at a dog farm during a rescue event, involving the closure of the farm organised by the Humane Society International (HSI), in Hongseong on February 13, 2019. - This farm is a combined dog meat and puppy mill business with almost 200 dogs and …
JUNG YEON-JE/AFP/Getty Images
3:25

The House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill Tuesday that would make certain types of animal cruelty a federal felony.

The Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act bans extremely abusive acts of animal abuse, such as crushing, and continues the criminalization of making and distributing animal crush videos.
“This bill sends a clear message that our society does not accept cruelty against animals,” said Democrat Rep. Ted Deutch of Florida, who introduced the legislation with Republican Rep. Vern Buchanan, also of Florida.
“We’ve received support from so many Americans from across the country and across the political spectrum,” Deutch said, reported ABC News. “I’m deeply thankful for all of the advocates who helped us pass this bill, and I look forward to the Senate’s swift passage and the President’s signature.”

The U.S. House just passed the Act, legislation that I introduced with my colleague @RepTedDeutch to criminalize animal abuse. This important piece of legislation would make animal cruelty a federal offense. Great news for my fellow animal lovers!

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“The torture of innocent animals is abhorrent and should be punished to the fullest extent of the law,” Buchanan said as well. “Passing the PACT Act sends a strong message that this behavior will not be tolerated.
The bill expands upon the 2010 Animal Crush Video Prohibition Act, which initially criminalized the creation and distribution of animal crush videos.
The PACT Act would make it a federal crime for “any person to purposely engage in animal crushing in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce or within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States.”
The legislation continues:
It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly create an animal crush video, if—(A) the person intends or has reason to know that the animal crush video will be distributed in, or using a means or facility of, interstate or foreign commerce; or (B) the animal crush video is distributed in, or using a means or facility of, interstate or foreign commerce.
Violators would be subject to criminal penalties, including a fine, a prison term of up to seven years, or both.
The measure provides exceptions for unintentional killing of an animal as well as conduct or videos of “customary and normal veterinary, agricultural husbandry, or other animal management practice,” “the slaughter of animals for food,” and other practices such as hunting, trapping, fishing, predator or pest control, scientific research, protecting a person’s life or property, and euthanizing an animal.
In response to the legislation, pro-life organization March for Life Action tweeted the bill is “good news for animal lovers” and asked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to “show the same respect and offer protections for unborn humans and those born alive after an abortion.”


House Republicans held a hearing in September on the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, legislation that seeks to protect babies born alive after abortion from infanticide.
House Democrats have refused to take up the measure, H.R. 962, which states infants who survive abortion deserve the same treatment and care as any other newborn.
Pelosi and other Democrat leaders have blocked a vote on the bill more than 80 times.

70% of Dems agree: if a baby is born alive during an abortion attempt, they should be given medical care. @RepHaleyStevens, as a Michigander, I call on you to sign the discharge petition to allow a vote on the Born Alive bill to !

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House Republican Whip Steve Scalise (LA) and Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO) filed a discharge petition on the legislation in April that requires more Democrat signatures in order to bypass Pelosi and force a vote on the Born-Alive Act.

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