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6/4/07: No Ceasefire For Animals
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1. Clashes In Lebanon Disrupt BETA 6/4/07, from BETA Team, listmaster@betabeirut.com — We really wished we had good news this time, but as you may have heard there are, again, more clashes in Lebanon. It seems that we are not entitled to have any time with some kind of peace, there always has to be something dangerous happening and in the end it is the innocents and the animals that suffer the most. More than a week has already passed now with, at the beginning, severe clashes between the Lebanese army and some armed groups in northern Lebanon. Immediately following those deadly conflicts, car bombs and hand grenades went off in Beirut and its suburbs, and the first bomb exploded very close to one of the cat shelters in Ashrafieh area. Fortunately, the glass and walls remained intact at the shelter. There were a couple of days of peace in the north, but sadly severe clashes restarted two days ago. There are threats of more explosions in and around Beirut. There is a daily fear amongst the population that another massive/civil war breaks out anytime. Movement around Beirut is restricted and it has become difficult to circulate “freely,” especially at night - it really feels that nowhere is safe anymore. The horror of the July 2006 war would be nothing compared to a civil war. We have tasted its bitterness before; it is everywhere and gets to everyone... This is a kitten rescued by a CNBC reporter from one of the mostly bombed Palestinian camps in the north of Lebanon. The reporter was kind enough to pick up the dirty, starving kitten. A few days later, she found the sibling of the kitten and brought her to us.
Both kittens are now boarding at one of the BETA members home, getting lots of food, affection, warmth and care and of course playing with lots of toys. Imagine what would have been the fate of these two kittens if that compassionate reporter didn’t come to their rescue. They were under the bombing, freaking out, starving and not knowing what those terrible sounds were or why and where they were coming from. Now they’re safe, waiting for someone to adopt them. These two kittens were the lucky ones, do not forget that there is a lot of animals there - domestic, farm and pet shops - at the moment we are unable to reach them. We hope for the war to end so we can go to their rescue. We hope for the suffering to stop for both innocent people and animals. DONATE TO BEIRUT FOR THE ETHICAL TREATMENT OF ANIMALS BETA would appreciate any contribution towards the safety and wellbeing of animals of Lebanon during this difficult period. It may seem as insignificant to you, but no matter how small, any donation will surely look huge in their eyes! Thanks for donating at: Beirut for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (BETA) is a Lebanese Registered Charitable Organization (Charity # 205/AD). Through education and direct action, BETA rescues and rehomes stray and abused animals, while combating abusive pet shops and illegal trade in wildlife. We exist solely on the kindness of your adoptions, donations and assistance.
2. Ceasefire Hopes Vanish As Fighting Rages In Lebanon
"The Lebanese army was shelling at a very steady rate. We could hear machine-gun fire and see a number of explosions over the horizon," the CBC's Nahlah Ayed reported from outside the camp. The onslaught forced Fatah Islam fighters to abandon some of their positions. Local reports said both sides had been considering calling a humanitarian ceasefire to allow civilians a chance to escape the fighting. Instead, the fighting continued. "At the time the ceasefire was supposed to begin, the fighting was as intense as it has been this past couple of days," Ayed said. The government has vowed to crush the militants, although an all-out assault on the camp would risk sparking violence elsewhere in the country. "Some people talking from inside the camp to outside media say that the camp has largely been destroyed," Ayed reported. "We've also heard that there have been casualties on both sides, and likely among civilians." Three more soldiers died in fighting on Saturday, bringing the army's death toll to five with 15 others wounded. Lebanese soldiers take new positions: reports Thousands of Palestinians have fled the camp, but thousands more remain inside. Fatah Islam claims to have more than 500 fighters in the camp, armed with automatic weapons, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades. Sporadic gunfire exchanges have continued daily since a truce halted three days of heavy fighting at the beginning of the siege. Across Lebanon, about 400,000 Palestinian refugees live in refugee camps, many of which are rife with armed groups.
Brenda Shoss of Kinship Circle recently interviewed BETA’s Helena Hesayne — a Beirut born architect who volunteers nearly full-time for animals — for an upcoming Kinship Circle column about animals caught in war zones. EXCERPTS FROM BETA INTERVIEW Helena: To help the animals, because there is nobody else who will do it. We are the only animal association in Lebanon — just 9 volunteers, trying to do the work of a giant! BETA is no-kill and on-call 24 hours to help dogs, cats, all animals. We rescued a bird last week, a turtle just before the war. We hope to facilitate more adoptions abroad, so we can save more animals in the streets. Brenda: How does warfare accelerate problems for animals? Helena: ABANDONMENT. [People fleeing] don’t think of animals as family members. They think of them as possessions, like cars. During the [July 2006 Israeli-Hezbollah war], thousands of animals were left behind. Abandoned animals and strays bred in the streets... BETA is trying to secure a spay/neuter program. But while possible to release altered cats back into the streets, municipalities don’t want loose dogs — even if spayed/neutered. Brenda: Describe what happened to BETA’s shelter when it was bombed. Helena: The war began July 13, 2006. On July 18, two bombs fell just two meters away from BETA’s old shelter at the border of the Hezbollah camp and green line. Shrapnel from the missiles landed inside one of the dog’s cages and lodged between two bars. No animals or people were hurt, but our staff house sustained cracks and part of the ceiling fell off. One of our dogs, a golden retriever, flipped out after the bombing. He’d been a gentle dog under my care. The day after the bombing, he jumped on me and bit my arm. He is still the sweetest dog, but since the bombing he may randomly attack or bite. The other dogs are paranoid of planes. Each time they hear one fly overhead, they think it means bombs will fall. Even if they hear commercial planes, they turn and run or bark like nuts. Brenda: Where is BETA’s shelter now? Helena: We’ve been in a abandoned pig farm since one day after the bombing. We installed higher walls, steel doors, plumbing, everything... We moved about 150 dogs in two days, driving back and forth between the ruined shelter and temporary shelter. We only traveled from noon to 4:00 p.m. when the bombing was lightest. This dog shelter is in Beirut’s upper suburbs, close to the mountains in a pine forest, away from downtown Beirut. Currently, we have two separate cat shelters on each side of the old green line. During war, the shelters are isolated from one another. To get from one to the other is hell because there are burning tires and it is forbidden to drive. Last February, Margot, our cat person, had to transfer bags of food and litter in her arms for two hours (it takes 10 minutes by car). We are trying to consolidate all our dogs and cats into a new shelter secluded from war zones. Brenda: Does war breed an ongoing culture of violence? Helena: With so many [animals] abandoned during war, we can’t possibly reach them all. People go nuts [in an already volatile war setting] and start shooting animals right and left. Some in the extreme faction of the Muslim religion believe dogs pollute their souls. If a dog comes close to them, touches them, they cannot pray until they wash themselves seven times... During the height of the Hezbollah-Israeli conflict, we saw many dogs with bullet wounds. They shoot them. They poison them. But this type abuse is ongoing. Many of our rescues are abused, especially by children. They just like to kill puppies...Take a puppy and bang his/her head against the sidewalk. Or tie the dog with electrical wire. Or a guy on a motorcycle drives past a garage where there is a dog. The dog barks at him. So he takes out a gun and shoots the dog. Nobody can say or do anything... One of BETA’s staff members at home asleep awakens to dog barks. Suddenly he hears three gunshots and the dog is silent. They just shoot the dog. We deal with this everyday, war or no war.
Bullet, a Canadian white shepherd shot through his left eye, SURVIVES
Named Bullet for surviving his hideous wound, this dog was shot as he played in a garden. In March 2007, a woman phoned BETA about an injured dog in her garden. She heard gunfire and ran outside believing her own dog had been shot. Instead, she found Bullet — bloody and limp near her unscathed dog. “I drove like a maniac to get this dog,” recalls BETA’s Helena Hesayne. “Although he’s a white dog, he was completely red with blood when I first saw him. I thought he was dead. I carried him to my car and drove him straight to our vet.” “He was lucky. The bone of his eye deflected the bullet and it exited behind his ear. It did not penetrate his brain. We removed his eye and the bullet fragments. I kept Bullet at my place for a month and half. Now he is healthy and safe at BETA’s shelter. I want to find him a home in the U.S. because with a missing eye, he'll never get adopted here. He's very sweet and nice.” Nougat, a Labrador-Husky mix hit by a car and left for four days, SURVIVES
Four days passed before anyone called BETA. Her former caretakers knew she’d been hit, but did care. Once we found her, our vet operated on Nougat until 1:00 a.m. Her entire jaw was shattered and maggots covered her mouth and head — but he save her. Now called Bella Nougat, this lucky dog lives with Suzanne in Rhode Island. She flew to the states in April... Sugar and Spice, casualties of war, SURVIVE
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