Hi everyone,
This was sent to us by BARK and it was confirmed when we called the KCSAA (Kaohsiung Concerned Citizens for Animals Association)
Apparently the guy will go to court and/or get fined, but it's doubtful anything will stick because the laws aren't great in this area.
---------------------
The government dismantled the breeding ground!!!
The following webpage has many photos about dismantling process.
The remaining dogs are in a shelter and are emaciated and sick again.......some have ehrlichia, some have heartworm disease...but at least they aren't living in that hell anymore!
I will get more info later today so will keep you all posted.
http://www.kcsaa.org.tw/Joomla_159/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2004:2010121&catid=245:20101&Itemid=342
KHH Enviros
http://khhenviros.110mb.com
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Dog Protest UPDATE - Stupid Government Half Assed the Response
This was sent to me by BARK about the response of the Kaohsiung County government's response to the protest we held last week.
-------------------------
Bad news.
The county government didn't keep their promise to dismantle the breeder's location because he got a city councilor to lobby the county government to stop the demolition. The county government said the breeder will do the demolition by himself.
But, he obviously can't be trusted. He will simply move his breeding equipment somewhere else and then start all over again.
Animal welfare organizations are trying to make the county government keep their promise to shut down this breeder once and for all. This is very difficult since KHH city and KHH county will be merging soon. The county doesn't want to deal with this problem right before the election and the city simply doesn't care about it.
The deputy mayor is going to address the general public for the upcoming mayor election campaign. There is rumour of a much bigger protest on the day when the deputy mayor is addressing the general public- Sunday, January 31. I will keep you posted.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Dog Protest in Feng Shan - Lessons Learned
Hi all,
Today I just participated in the protest that took place in front of the Feng Shan county government offices and it was enlightening to be sure. It's left me with a lot of different ideas and feelings.
You see, believe it or not, even though I've considered myself an environmentalist for a long long time, I've never participated in a protest before. This was my first one.
It's been an interesting experience because it's put into reality what before I could only guess at.
First, The reason...
A man has been breading and selling animals on his property in Kaohsiung, county. When he couldn't make money off the dogs he would simply stop feeding them and toss their bodies in the river behind his house. He was caught, fined $100,000NT, which he didn't pay, and now he's doing it again.
Second, What happened at the protest?
Well, when I showed up there were 5 of us and about 30-40 police officers with riot gear standing in front of the building. I felt like it was a bit of over-kill, but then three bus loads of supporters showed up and the protest began in earnest. In all I think there were about 100 of us in the tiny square.
The woman who was leading the protest was firey and angry and brought us up to the steps, nose to nose with the cops, and demanded to see the governor. As the time passed, more people came out to talk with us, but it wasn't who we were there to see. The chants went load and more talking and a bit of struggling. At one point we tried to go in, but that wasn't happening because most of our protestors were quite old. The cops seemed to know this by the bored, relatively unconcerned look on their faces.
After a time someone came out to talk with us, the foreigners who had showed up. All in all we were about 7 foreigners, which was a little disappointing considering how many foreigners I hear bitching about animal cruelty here.
The man's name was Kris Wang, and one of our foreigners knew him to be the secretary of the Governor. He said that he was unaware of the problem and that now that they know, they will do something about it. I got his phone number and email, and if they don't follow through on their promise to do something, I will make that information public.
The resolution that was reached was that they would go to his place and shut him down today.
I pray they do it, or we'll go back again with more people.
Third, what now?
The question that is going through my head, which I cannot answer except with time and vigilance is:
Can we believe the government will do anything?
I don't doubt that the higher ups probably didn't know about this. It's possible, perhaps probable, because unless it's a BIG problem, they wouldn't hear about it. Now it's a BIG problem, but I'm sad to say that animal cruelty is not something that would surprise anyone in Kaohsiung, least of all the Governor.
In this particular issue, there doesn't seem to be any money at stake. This is just one man, and perhaps he's paid someone to look the other way, but he doesn't appear to be a powerful corporation or stakeholder. Thus, it should be an easy fix: arrest him.
He was given a fine, he disobeyed it. He's breaking the law, simple.
I don't know if it'll play out like that, but for something like this that won't upset the powerbase, so there's little reason to protect him when there's a popular uprising against him.
Time will tell...
When I know more of what has taken place, I will post it.
Thanks for reading
--Tim
Monday, January 4, 2010
KHH Enviros Newsletter - January 2nd, 2010
KHH Enviros Newsletter –January 2nd, 2010
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
2010 has arrived and it’s another new beginning!
2009, though ending on a bit of depressing note at the Copenhagen Climate Summit, was actually a good year for environmentalism. We saw the first climate bill make it through the house of representatives in the US, China has begun plans to build the world’s largest wind farms and Taiwan passed a bill to ensure the rapid growth of renewable, clean forms of energy. Not too shabby.
Unfortunately, one needs only look out their window to see that the job is not even close to finish. We have movement, and that’s good, but it’s gonna take some pushing to get this off the ground. 2010 will be the year the Green Movement explodes in Taiwan!
This year will be characterized by a lot more enviro events with partner organizations in Taiwan and abroad, and turning our organization bilingual. If the KHH Enviros is to make any significant impact, we have to reach out to our Taiwanese hosts more. Look for our Recruitment events soon; we’ll be going to Universities and possibly high schools to get the youth of Kaohsiung involved.
Get ready to go green this year!
KHH Enviros team
--------------------------------------------------------
1. Green News from Around the Island
2. Green Tip – Stages of Environmentalism
3. Let’s Get Recruiting Students– Please Come Help
4. “We’re Not Finished Yet” - YouTube Video
------------------------------------------------------
1. Enviro News From Around Taiwan
Taiwan has unveiled what it calls Asia's biggest solar power plant as the island, which imports almost all its energy, seeks to tap into clean renewable resources, the government said yesterday. The two-hectare (4.9-acre) plant in south Taiwan's Kaohsiung county, an area that enjoys year-round sunshine, is equipped with 141 huge solar panels that can generate one megawatt in total, said the Atomic Energy Council.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) made public the government's planned procurement prices for renewable energy generated by enterprises in the private sector, yesterday.
Nearly 70 percent of the population favors the notion of replacing nuclear power with renewable energy, while 50 percent think nuclear power should be maintained as an option, according to the results of a poll released yesterday.
Taiwan, which imports all of its coal needs, reduced purchases for a second consecutive month in November as power producers drew down inventories.
The public will get a discount for conserving water starting in January, the Water Resources Agency announced Wednesday.
The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) on Tuesday published a study on weather changes in Taiwan over the past century, which showed that local temperatures had risen by an average of 0.8 degrees Celsius.
Noting that there are around 200,000 hectares of fallow land around Taiwan, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) minister suggested yesterday that building “photonics greenhouses” on such land as part of efforts to promote the development of renewable energy would be a good policy.
The Cabinet-level Department of Health (DOH) renewed a campaign yesterday in which the public are urged not to use disposable chopsticks — a move that has persuaded more shopping malls, department stores and hypermarkets to take part in its carbon-reduction efforts.
The air conditioning system in Yuan Ze University classrooms is just like that at any other university. It costs a lot of money to run.
Motech Industries Inc., Taiwan's largest solar cell maker, said yesterday it will buy a solar cell module assembly plant in Delaware from General Electric Co.'s (GE) energy unit for NT$146 million (US$4.54 million).
The impact of a sandstorm sweeping in from China on Taiwan's air quality has subsided and air quality has gradually returned to normal, although the quality in southern Taiwan is still not ideal, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said yesterday.
Air quality from Taiwan's central to southern regions has reached the “red” condition as of yesterday, according to the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). It is expected to last two more days if the good weather continues.
After six years of field investigation, the first map of Taiwan's vegetation -- nearly 60 percent of which is forest -- was published Thursday.
President Ma Ying-jeou said yesterday that Taiwan, as a constructive member of the global village, is committed to reducing carbon emissions and the government will uphold its responsibility in that regard in the years ahead.
Taiwan dropped 15 places and was ranked at the bottom of “poor” countries in a worldwide gauge of national emission reduction performance released in sideline of the Copenhagen U.N. Climate Summit yesterday.
A Taiwanese delegate attending a global meeting on climate change in Copenhagen argued that it is not in the spirit of carbon emissions reduction if carbon emission credits are traded as futures.
Some 30 university students from Taiwan, acting as environmental ambassadors, joined thousands of protesters on the streets of Copenhagen Saturday to demand that world leaders take stronger action to fight climate change.
President Ma Ying-jeou yesterday called on members of a youth volunteer team organized by the National Youth Commission to spread the concept of carbon emission reductions and energy conservation as they perform volunteer services.
The U.S. plan to regulate greenhouse gases will pose both challenges and opportunities for Taiwan industries and investors, according to industrialists and analysts here.
The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) urged the Legislative Yuan to pass a greenhouse gas control act as a legal basis for facilitating efforts to curb carbon dioxide emissions and coping with the new situations that may arise from a global convention on climate change.
President Ma Ying-jeou said yesterday that the international community would get a better understanding of Taiwan's efforts in cutting back carbon emissions if government officials could take part in a global meeting next month in the Danish capital of Copenhagen.
The establishment of Taiwan's eighth national park, Taijiang National Park in Tainan, was described by Vice Premier Eric Liluan Chu at its opening yesterday as an important landmark in Taiwan's environmental conservation efforts.
Taiwan's nongovernmental organizations are still facing China's obstruction internationally with more than a dozen NGOs being requested to change their names this year, but the trend was unrelated to the new flexible diplomatic approach of Taiwan's government, according to a foreign ministry official.
--------------------------------------------------
2. Green Tip – Stages of Environmentalism
Courtesy of Tim Higgs
Greetings green people. This month our tip is less of a tip and more of a bit of ecological education, a bit of a pick me up, but more just a reminder that being green is emotionally charged. You’ll get frustrated, we all do, just don’t let it stop you.
---
“I don't remember the first time I cried for the earth, but it happens more and more these days.”
An environmentalist goes through a lot of different stages, I'm finding out, before they become comfortable enough with themselves to admit to being one.
The first stage is inspiration and awe.
When a person begins to learn – of their own accord – about the vast amounts of degradation occurring in this world, it often sparks a certain thirst for more knowledge. It's a wonderful moment to be in when you're finally learning something, after years of sitting in school, bored and annoyed, that truly sparks a passion for learning. I wish this stage could last forever; it's peaceful and satisfying.
The next stage, which quickly follows, is frustration.
When a person begins to learn about these deeply emotional issues, they' will undoubtedly want to talk about it, and share this shocking knowledge. Though there is often frustration with the greater world as a whole for allowing this sort of thing, it's when you begin to engage your friends and family that the frustration really begins. As the environmentalist begins to realize that daily priorities like work, family, bills, home ownership, and a considerable number of other considerations will invariably take priority. The environmentalist expects the knowledge he spreads to be the spark for action, when in fact most people just don't want to hear about it. They have enough problems in their own life to deal with the world’s.
After frustration there is a threshold one must reach and it can take a would-be environmentalist away from the path he or she was meant to be on. Once a person realizes the shear scale of the problems it becomes like looking up at a mountain, standing in bare feet. To add to this, you'll be climbing this mountain alone, it seems. At this point the person chooses to power through, regardless of obstacles, or despair takes hold and any good work they would have done is abandoned. This is usually not a conscious decision, but rather one that is socially built in. Instead of focusing on helping the environment, their focus shifts to more “practical” concerns. I.e. The same issues, like job and family, which took priority for the people who wouldn't help in the first place, become the would-be environmentalists priorities. If this stage continues through life this person becomes someone we all know: the “I remember when I wanted to save the world, too” person. The person who believes it's impossible, because they found the task too daunting in their youth.
It needn't end this way, though for many who start on the good work path it does. Some may hurdle the stage of despair, but for those who don't there remains a feeling of emptiness; of feeling like they were supposed to be doing more with their life to help the world. This feeling is pushed down by the everyday concerns and good work is replaced with work work. But for some, time in this stage is never quite satisfying. They recognize the hole and begin a more healthy relationship with environmentalism.
In essence what happens is there is an acceptance that perhaps the problems may not be solved. Perhaps family and friends will call you crazy and misguided. Perhaps you can't do environmentalism as your job and become the eco-warrior you dreamt about in stage one. Perhaps you may fail, but you'll do it anyway because it feels right.
This is the final stage of sustainable environmentalism. The identity of a “green person” becomes cemented into your self-worth. If you're not doing good work, you don't feel you're being a good person. You strive to do things more green, even if you can't do everything as enviro-friendly as you'd like. And you are happy to be known as an environmentalist by your friends and family.
It's difficult and frustrating, but try to get to this final stage. Don't despair, you're not alone.
-------------------------------------------------
3. Let’s Get Recruiting Students– Please Come Help
In the coming weeks we’ll begin going to Universities to sign people up to our mailing list.
It’s as simple as asking people for their email address. Easy!
If you’re uncomfortable with your Chinese ability, no problem! We’ll have a short blurb on a card ready for you to simply hand to them. They read it and sign up or don’t.
If you’d like to help, send us an email. We’ll have scheduled dates, and impromptu dates where we go when people can go.
4.
Our YouTube series continues on. This is a video produced after the Copenhagen Climate Conference as a message to world leaders that we’re not finished the climate work.
Indeed we’ve only just begun.
--
Wishing you all a Happy Holiday season, if indeed it’s your holidays.
--Tim
Managing Director
KHH Enviros Newsletter - January 2nd, 2010
KHH Enviros Newsletter –January 2nd, 2010
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
2010 has arrived and it’s another new beginning!
2009, though ending on a bit of depressing note at the Copenhagen Climate Summit, was actually a good year for environmentalism. We saw the first climate bill make it through the house of representatives in the US, China has begun plans to build the world’s largest wind farms and Taiwan passed a bill to ensure the rapid growth of renewable, clean forms of energy. Not too shabby.
Unfortunately, one needs only look out their window to see that the job is not even close to finish. We have movement, and that’s good, but it’s gonna take some pushing to get this off the ground. 2010 will be the year the Green Movement explodes in Taiwan!
This year will be characterized by a lot more enviro events with partner organizations in Taiwan and abroad, and turning our organization bilingual. If the KHH Enviros is to make any significant impact, we have to reach out to our Taiwanese hosts more. Look for our Recruitment events soon; we’ll be going to Universities and possibly high schools to get the youth of Kaohsiung involved.
Get ready to go green this year!
KHH Enviros team
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Green News from Around the Island
2. Green Tip – Stages of Environmentalism
3. Let’s Get Recruiting Students– Please Come Help
4. “We’re Not Finished Yet” - YouTube Video
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Enviro News From Around Taiwan
Taiwan has unveiled what it calls Asia's biggest solar power plant as the island, which imports almost all its energy, seeks to tap into clean renewable resources, the government said yesterday. The two-hectare (4.9-acre) plant in south Taiwan's Kaohsiung county, an area that enjoys year-round sunshine, is equipped with 141 huge solar panels that can generate one megawatt in total, said the Atomic Energy Council.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) made public the government's planned procurement prices for renewable energy generated by enterprises in the private sector, yesterday.
Nearly 70 percent of the population favors the notion of replacing nuclear power with renewable energy, while 50 percent think nuclear power should be maintained as an option, according to the results of a poll released yesterday.
Taiwan, which imports all of its coal needs, reduced purchases for a second consecutive month in November as power producers drew down inventories.
The public will get a discount for conserving water starting in January, the Water Resources Agency announced Wednesday.
The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) on Tuesday published a study on weather changes in Taiwan over the past century, which showed that local temperatures had risen by an average of 0.8 degrees Celsius.
Noting that there are around 200,000 hectares of fallow land around Taiwan, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) minister suggested yesterday that building “photonics greenhouses” on such land as part of efforts to promote the development of renewable energy would be a good policy.
The Cabinet-level Department of Health (DOH) renewed a campaign yesterday in which the public are urged not to use disposable chopsticks — a move that has persuaded more shopping malls, department stores and hypermarkets to take part in its carbon-reduction efforts.
The air conditioning system in Yuan Ze University classrooms is just like that at any other university. It costs a lot of money to run.
Motech Industries Inc., Taiwan's largest solar cell maker, said yesterday it will buy a solar cell module assembly plant in Delaware from General Electric Co.'s (GE) energy unit for NT$146 million (US$4.54 million).
The impact of a sandstorm sweeping in from China on Taiwan's air quality has subsided and air quality has gradually returned to normal, although the quality in southern Taiwan is still not ideal, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said yesterday.
Air quality from Taiwan's central to southern regions has reached the “red” condition as of yesterday, according to the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). It is expected to last two more days if the good weather continues.
After six years of field investigation, the first map of Taiwan's vegetation -- nearly 60 percent of which is forest -- was published Thursday.
President Ma Ying-jeou said yesterday that Taiwan, as a constructive member of the global village, is committed to reducing carbon emissions and the government will uphold its responsibility in that regard in the years ahead.
Taiwan dropped 15 places and was ranked at the bottom of “poor” countries in a worldwide gauge of national emission reduction performance released in sideline of the Copenhagen U.N. Climate Summit yesterday.
A Taiwanese delegate attending a global meeting on climate change in Copenhagen argued that it is not in the spirit of carbon emissions reduction if carbon emission credits are traded as futures.
Some 30 university students from Taiwan, acting as environmental ambassadors, joined thousands of protesters on the streets of Copenhagen Saturday to demand that world leaders take stronger action to fight climate change.
President Ma Ying-jeou yesterday called on members of a youth volunteer team organized by the National Youth Commission to spread the concept of carbon emission reductions and energy conservation as they perform volunteer services.
The U.S. plan to regulate greenhouse gases will pose both challenges and opportunities for Taiwan industries and investors, according to industrialists and analysts here.
The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) urged the Legislative Yuan to pass a greenhouse gas control act as a legal basis for facilitating efforts to curb carbon dioxide emissions and coping with the new situations that may arise from a global convention on climate change.
President Ma Ying-jeou said yesterday that the international community would get a better understanding of Taiwan's efforts in cutting back carbon emissions if government officials could take part in a global meeting next month in the Danish capital of Copenhagen.
The establishment of Taiwan's eighth national park, Taijiang National Park in Tainan, was described by Vice Premier Eric Liluan Chu at its opening yesterday as an important landmark in Taiwan's environmental conservation efforts.
Taiwan's nongovernmental organizations are still facing China's obstruction internationally with more than a dozen NGOs being requested to change their names this year, but the trend was unrelated to the new flexible diplomatic approach of Taiwan's government, according to a foreign ministry official.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Green Tip – Stages of Environmentalism
Courtesy of Tim Higgs
Greetings green people. This month our tip is less of a tip and more of a bit of ecological education, a bit of a pick me up, but more just a reminder that being green is emotionally charged. You’ll get frustrated, we all do, just don’t let it stop you.
---
“I don't remember the first time I cried for the earth, but it happens more and more these days.”
An environmentalist goes through a lot of different stages, I'm finding out, before they become comfortable enough with themselves to admit to being one.
The first stage is inspiration and awe.
When a person begins to learn – of their own accord – about the vast amounts of degradation occurring in this world, it often sparks a certain thirst for more knowledge. It's a wonderful moment to be in when you're finally learning something, after years of sitting in school, bored and annoyed, that truly sparks a passion for learning. I wish this stage could last forever; it's peaceful and satisfying.
The next stage, which quickly follows, is frustration.
When a person begins to learn about these deeply emotional issues, they' will undoubtedly want to talk about it, and share this shocking knowledge. Though there is often frustration with the greater world as a whole for allowing this sort of thing, it's when you begin to engage your friends and family that the frustration really begins. As the environmentalist begins to realize that daily priorities like work, family, bills, home ownership, and a considerable number of other considerations will invariably take priority. The environmentalist expects the knowledge he spreads to be the spark for action, when in fact most people just don't want to hear about it. They have enough problems in their own life to deal with the world’s.
After frustration there is a threshold one must reach and it can take a would-be environmentalist away from the path he or she was meant to be on. Once a person realizes the shear scale of the problems it becomes like looking up at a mountain, standing in bare feet. To add to this, you'll be climbing this mountain alone, it seems. At this point the person chooses to power through, regardless of obstacles, or despair takes hold and any good work they would have done is abandoned. This is usually not a conscious decision, but rather one that is socially built in. Instead of focusing on helping the environment, their focus shifts to more “practical” concerns. I.e. The same issues, like job and family, which took priority for the people who wouldn't help in the first place, become the would-be environmentalists priorities. If this stage continues through life this person becomes someone we all know: the “I remember when I wanted to save the world, too” person. The person who believes it's impossible, because they found the task too daunting in their youth.
It needn't end this way, though for many who start on the good work path it does. Some may hurdle the stage of despair, but for those who don't there remains a feeling of emptiness; of feeling like they were supposed to be doing more with their life to help the world. This feeling is pushed down by the everyday concerns and good work is replaced with work work. But for some, time in this stage is never quite satisfying. They recognize the hole and begin a more healthy relationship with environmentalism.
In essence what happens is there is an acceptance that perhaps the problems may not be solved. Perhaps family and friends will call you crazy and misguided. Perhaps you can't do environmentalism as your job and become the eco-warrior you dreamt about in stage one. Perhaps you may fail, but you'll do it anyway because it feels right.
This is the final stage of sustainable environmentalism. The identity of a “green person” becomes cemented into your self-worth. If you're not doing good work, you don't feel you're being a good person. You strive to do things more green, even if you can't do everything as enviro-friendly as you'd like. And you are happy to be known as an environmentalist by your friends and family.
It's difficult and frustrating, but try to get to this final stage. Don't despair, you're not alone.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Let’s Get Recruiting Students– Please Come Help
In the coming weeks we’ll begin going to Universities to sign people up to our mailing list.
It’s as simple as asking people for their email address. Easy!
If you’re uncomfortable with your Chinese ability, no problem! We’ll have a short blurb on a card ready for you to simply hand to them. They read it and sign up or don’t.
If you’d like to help, send us an email. We’ll have scheduled dates, and impromptu dates where we go when people can go.
4.
Our YouTube series continues on. This is a video produced after the Copenhagen Climate Conference as a message to world leaders that we’re not finished the climate work.
Indeed we’ve only just begun.
--
Wishing you all a Happy Holiday season, if indeed it’s your holidays.
--Tim
Managing Director
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