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Animal Shelters Seek Help for Cats and Dogs Abandoned in Thailand

An animal activist in northern Thailand has made a public appeal on Facebook people to adopt a dog or cat abandoned due to the lockdown. Cats and dogs have been abandoned amid theCovid-19 lockdown in Thailand’s Chiang Mai province.

Save Elephant Foundation in Chiang Mai already had more than 1,000 cats and dogs under its care before the Covid-19 outbreak hit. Now the numbers of abandoned cats and dogs at the Foundation have surged to nearly 2,000. Prompting the management to post on social media asking for help from the public.

Chairwoman of the Foundation, Saengduen Chailert said many pet cafes had closed their businesses and abandoned their cats and dogs. Some 70 cats at the shelter suffered serious illnesses, she added. This has caused heavy burden to the Foundation.

She also said that over 700 dogs are from breeding farms that went out of business. The numbers kept increasing and more of them fell ill, said Saengduen. She said we need your help to find homes for many rescued dogs living at Elephant Nature Park. If you are interested to adopt a dog, we can assist you with transportation worldwide.

You can esquire about animal adoption of donations by Clicking Here.

Soi Dog Foundation overwhelmed with Cats and Dogs

Ozzy was rescued from a forested area in Phuket by the Non-profit Soi Dog Foundation. (Photo: Soi Dog Foundation)

Meanwhile, in southern Thailand on the Island of Phuket the non-profit Soi Dog Foundation that has been helping street cats and dogs in Thailand since 2003, says its also seeing a rise in animal abandonment. Channel News Asia reports about how the foundation discovered a dog named Ozzy.

He was dying when he was found in a forested area of Phuket last month. His ageing body was weak, dirty and infested with ticks. His paw pads were bright red from inflammation. Two bullets were also lodged in his chest and back leg.

The dog did not even flinch when Soi Dog Foundation rescuers tried to save his life.

“We could see he was in an enormous amount of pain,” said Sam McElroy from Soi Dog Foundation. “Ozzy had given up hope. This poor boy, 10-year-old probably, went into the jungle to die.”

But Ozzy is one of the lucky few street dogs in Thailand that made it to an animal shelter.

Cats and Dogs Simply Abandoned

Cola was a stray dog he had his front legs hacked off with a sword for biting someone’s shoes before being rescued by Soi Dog.

The Covid-19 crisis has not only affected people but also made it harder for nearly “two million” cats and dogs abandoned to survive on the streets.

Many of them risk starvation as those who usually feed them are unable to move around as freely. Due to the nationwide curfew and closure of various business venues. At the same time, the economic impact has put pressure on many residents.

“Community feeders have been the front line of relief, using their own personal resources and stretching themselves unbelievably, but they too are being impacted by the economic slowdown,” said Keren Nazareth from Humane Society International (HSI). The HSI is a global animal welfare organization that rescues and protects cats and dogs in different parts of the world.

“HSI is urging governments across Asia to take proactive steps for their street animals. Above all to avert great suffering, distress and deaths,” she added.

Earlier this month, Siam Commercial Bank’s Economic Intelligence Center (EIC) estimated the number of unemployed in Thailand would be in the tens of million this year. The country is “stuck in an unforeseeable economic turmoil” caused by the COVID-19 crisis.

Thai households also struggling

state of emergency thailand

In its April report, EIC said about 60 per cent of Thai households don’t even have enough financial assets to cover three months of expenses.

For stray cats and dogs, the travel restrictions has greatly limited the help they need to survive. A number of them rely on caring members of the public. Who feed them food and water, while others feed from scraps left out by restaurants and small food vendors.

But as the Thai government tries to control the outbreak, many restaurants and food stalls have been forced to close.

However, what this has meant for the millions of animals living on the streets is a sudden lack of their regular food and water supply from local communities. This can quickly lead to animals starving,” Nazareth said.

he COVID-19 pandemic has a profound impact on abandoned pets in Thailand. Besides those on the streets, cats and dogs in animal shelters have also been affected.

Lockdown Stopped Donors and Adoption

dog and cat adoption thailand

Soi Dog Foundation is one of the facilities facing cancellations from regular donors. Although a drop in donations is expected during the health crisis, its operations director McElroy said the situation has proved “very difficult.” Especially for non-profit organisations that do not receive government funding.

“We can only hope that the downturn doesn’t last too long. We are continually looking at innovative ways to raise funds but they are also difficult during this period,” he told CNA. Adding the pandemic has also produced “a severe knock-on effect” on the shelter’s population.

Last year, more than 400 animals at Soi Dog were adopted overseas and 500 others found new homes in Thailand. This year, however, the facility is facing severe overcrowding.

Travel restrictions imposed to control the global pandemic have stopped adopted cats and dogs from travelling to their new homes abroad. At the same time, the local adoption program has slowed down due to economic uncertainty.

“We are full and are having to find money to create more space within existing grounds. Above all to cope with the inevitable continuing intake of new cats and dogs.

The problem is the people, not the animals

cats and dogs thailand

Thailand has a large population of stray animals. Last year, there were nearly two million of them on the streets nationwide. An increase from some 800,000 in 2018 – according to Theerawut Suwathanathao from the Animal Welfare and Veterinary Service Division at the Livestock Department.

“The main cause of this problem is the owners’ lack of responsibility. People abandon their pets when they can’t take care of them or don’t love them anymore. The problem is the people, not the animals,” Theerawut said.

Since the COVID-19 crisis emerged in Thailand, Theerawut said provincial livestock officials have not reported an increase in abandoned pets. But according to McElroy from Soi Dog Foundation, there have been some cases of abandonment. He said the pet abandonment could have resulted from financial problems.

Sponsor or Adopt a Dog or Cat from the Soi Dog Foundation Click Here

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Trudeau’s Gun Grab Could Cost Taxpayers a Whopping $7 Billion

Trudeau plans to purchase 2,063 firearm from legal gun owners in Canada - Rebel News Image

A recent report indicates that since Trudeau’s announcement of his gun buyback program four years ago, almost none of the banned firearms have been surrendered.

The federal government plans to purchase 2,063 firearm models from retailers following the enactment of Bill C-21, which amends various Acts and introduces certain consequential changes related to firearms. It was granted royal assent on December 15 of last year.

This ban immediately criminalized the actions of federally-licensed firearms owners regarding the purchase, sale, transportation, importation, exportation, or use of hundreds of thousands of rifles and shotguns that were previously legal.

The gun ban focused on what it termed ‘assault-style weapons,’ which are, in reality, traditional semi-automatic rifles and shotguns that have enjoyed popularity among hunters and sport shooters for over a century.

In May 2020, the federal government enacted an Order-in-Council that prohibited 1,500 types of “assault-style” firearms and outlined specific components of the newly banned firearms. Property owners must adhere to the law by October 2023.

Trudeau’s Buyback Hasn’t Happened

“In the announcement regarding the ban, the prime minister stated that the government would seize the prohibited firearms, assuring that their lawful owners would be ‘grandfathered’ or compensated fairly.” “That hasn’t happened,” criminologist Gary Mauser told Rebel News.

Mauser projected expenses ranging from $2.6 billion to $6.7 billion. The figure reflects the compensation costs amounting to $756 million, as outlined by the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO).

“The projected expenses for gathering the illegal firearms are estimated to range from $1.6 billion to $7 billion.” “This range estimate increases to between $2.647 billion and $7 billion when compensation costs to owners are factored in,” Mauser stated.

Figures requested by Conservative MP Shannon Stubbs concerning firearms prohibited due to the May 1, 2020 Order In Council reveal that $72 million has been allocated to the firearm “buyback” program, yet not a single firearm has been confiscated to date.

In a recent revelation, Public Safety Canada disclosed that the federal government allocated a staggering $41,094,556, as prompted by an order paper question from Conservative Senator Don Plett last September, yet yielded no tangible outcomes.

An internal memo from late 2019 revealed that the Liberals projected their politically motivated harassment would incur a cost of $1.8 billion.

Enforcement efforts Questioned

By December 2023, estimates from TheGunBlog.ca indicate that the Liberals and RCMP had incurred or were responsible for approximately $30 million in personnel expenses related to the enforcement efforts. The union representing the police service previously stated that the effort to confiscate firearms is a “misdirected effort” aimed at ensuring public safety.

“This action diverts crucial personnel, resources, and funding from tackling the more pressing and escalating issue of criminal use of illegal firearms,” stated the National Police Federation (NPF).

The Canadian Sporting Arms & Ammunition Association (CSAAA), representing firearms retailers, has stated it will have “zero involvement” in the confiscation of these firearms. Even Canada Post held back from providing assistance due to safety concerns.

The consultant previously assessed that retailers are sitting on almost $1 billion worth of inventory that cannot be sold or returned to suppliers because of the Order-In-Council.

“Despite the ongoing confusion surrounding the ban, after four years, we ought to be able to address one crucial question.” Has the prohibition enhanced safety for Canadians? Mauser asks.

Illegally Obtained Firearms are the Problem

Statistics Canada reports a 10% increase in firearm-related violent crime between 2020 and 2022, rising from 12,614 incidents to 13,937 incidents. In that timeframe, the incidence of firearm-related violent crime increased from 33.7 incidents per 100,000 population in 2021 to 36.7 incidents the subsequent year.

“This marks the highest rate documented since the collection of comparable data began in 2009,” the criminologist explains.

Supplementary DataData indicates that firearm homicides have risen since 2020. “The issue lies not with lawfully-held firearms,” Mauser stated.

Firearms that have been banned under the Order-in-Council continue to be securely stored in the safes of their lawful owners. The individuals underwent a thorough vetting process by the RCMP and are subject to nightly monitoring to ensure there are no infractions that could pose a risk to public safety.

“The firearms involved in homicides were seldom legally owned weapons wielded by their rightful owners,” Mauser continues. The number of offenses linked to organized crime has surged from 4,810 in 2016 to a staggering 13,056 in 2020.

“If those in power … aim to diminish crime and enhance public safety, they ought to implement strategies that effectively focus on offenders and utilize our limited tax resources judiciously to reach these objectives,” he stated.

Millennials in Canada Have Turned their Backs on Justin Trudeau

Millennials in Canada Have Turned their Backs on Justin Trudeau

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Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding, But Still Accounting 48% Search Revenue

Google is so closely associated with its key product that its name is a verb that signifies “search.” However, Google’s dominance in that sector is dwindling.

According to eMarketer, Google will lose control of the US search industry for the first time in decades next year.

Google will remain the dominant search player, accounting for 48% of American search advertising revenue. And, remarkably, Google is still increasing its sales in the field, despite being the dominating player in search since the early days of the George W. Bush administration. However, Amazon is growing at a quicker rate.

Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding

Amazon will hold over a quarter of US search ad dollars next year, rising to 27% by 2026, while Google will fall even more, according to eMarketer.

The Wall Street Journal was first to report on the forecast.

Lest you think you’ll have to switch to Bing or Yahoo, this isn’t the end of Google or anything really near.

Google is the fourth-most valued public firm in the world. Its market worth is $2.1 trillion, trailing just Apple, Microsoft, and the AI chip darling Nvidia. It also maintains its dominance in other industries, such as display advertisements, where it dominates alongside Facebook’s parent firm Meta, and video ads on YouTube.

To put those “other” firms in context, each is worth more than Delta Air Lines’ total market value. So, yeah, Google is not going anywhere.

Nonetheless, Google faces numerous dangers to its operations, particularly from antitrust regulators.

On Monday, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled that Google must open up its Google Play Store to competitors, dealing a significant blow to the firm in its long-running battle with Fortnite creator Epic Games. Google announced that it would appeal the verdict.

In August, a federal judge ruled that Google has an illegal monopoly on search. That verdict could lead to the dissolution of the company’s search operation. Another antitrust lawsuit filed last month accuses Google of abusing its dominance in the online advertising business.

Meanwhile, European regulators have compelled Google to follow tough new standards, which have resulted in multiple $1 billion-plus fines.

Pixa Bay

Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding

On top of that, the marketplace is becoming more difficult on its own.

TikTok, the fastest-growing social network, is expanding into the search market. And Amazon has accomplished something few other digital titans have done to date: it has established a habit.

When you want to buy anything, you usually go to Amazon, not Google. Amazon then buys adverts to push companies’ products to the top of your search results, increasing sales and earning Amazon a greater portion of the revenue. According to eMarketer, it is expected to generate $27.8 billion in search revenue in the United States next year, trailing only Google’s $62.9 billion total.

And then there’s AI, the technology that (supposedly) will change everything.

Why search in stilted language for “kendall jenner why bad bunny breakup” or “police moving violation driver rights no stop sign” when you can just ask OpenAI’s ChatGPT, “What’s going on with Kendall Jenner and Bad Bunny?” in “I need help fighting a moving violation involving a stop sign that wasn’t visible.” Google is working on exactly this technology with its Gemini product, but its success is far from guaranteed, especially with Apple collaborating with OpenAI and other businesses rapidly joining the market.

A Google spokeswoman referred to a blog post from last week in which the company unveiled ads in its AI overviews (the AI-generated text that appears at the top of search results). It’s Google’s way of expressing its ability to profit on a changing marketplace while retaining its business, even as its consumers steadily transition to ask-and-answer AI and away from search.

google

Google has long used a single catchphrase to defend itself against opponents who claim it is a monopoly abusing its power: competition is only a click away. Until recently, that seemed comically obtuse. Really? We are going to switch to Bing? Or Duck Duck Go? Give me a break.

But today, it feels more like reality.

Google is in no danger of disappearing. However, every highly dominating company faces some type of reckoning over time. GE, a Dow mainstay for more than a century, was broken up last year and is now a shell of its previous dominance. Sears declared bankruptcy in 2022 and is virtually out of business. US Steel, long the foundation of American manufacturing, is attempting to sell itself to a Japanese corporation.

Could we remember Google in the same way that we remember Yahoo or Ask Jeeves in decades? These next few years could be significant.

SOURCE | CNN

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The Supreme Court Turns Down Biden’s Government Appeal in a Texas Emergency Abortion Matter.

(VOR News) – A ruling that prohibits emergency abortions that contravene the Supreme Court law in the state of Texas, which has one of the most stringent abortion restrictions in the country, has been upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States. The United States Supreme Court upheld this decision.

The justices did not provide any specifics regarding the underlying reasons for their decision to uphold an order from a lower court that declared hospitals cannot be legally obligated to administer abortions if doing so would violate the law in the state of Texas.

Institutions are not required to perform abortions, as stipulated in the decree. The common populace did not investigate any opposing viewpoints. The decision was made just weeks before a presidential election that brought abortion to the forefront of the political agenda.

This decision follows the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that ended abortion nationwide.

In response to a request from the administration of Vice President Joe Biden to overturn the lower court’s decision, the justices expressed their disapproval.

The government contends that hospitals are obligated to perform abortions in compliance with federal legislation when the health or life of an expectant patient is in an exceedingly precarious condition.

This is the case in regions where the procedure is prohibited. The difficulty hospitals in Texas and other states are experiencing in determining whether or not routine care could be in violation of stringent state laws that prohibit abortion has resulted in an increase in the number of complaints concerning pregnant women who are experiencing medical distress being turned away from emergency rooms.

The administration cited the Supreme Court’s ruling in a case that bore a striking resemblance to the one that was presented to it in Idaho at the beginning of the year. The justices took a limited decision in that case to allow the continuation of emergency abortions without interruption while a lawsuit was still being heard.

In contrast, Texas has been a vocal proponent of the injunction’s continued enforcement. Texas has argued that its circumstances are distinct from those of Idaho, as the state does have an exemption for situations that pose a significant hazard to the health of an expectant patient.

According to the state, the discrepancy is the result of this exemption. The state of Idaho had a provision that safeguarded a woman’s life when the issue was first broached; however, it did not include protection for her health.

Certified medical practitioners are not obligated to wait until a woman’s life is in imminent peril before they are legally permitted to perform an abortion, as determined by the state supreme court.

The state of Texas highlighted this to the Supreme Court.

Nevertheless, medical professionals have criticized the Texas statute as being perilously ambiguous, and a medical board has declined to provide a list of all the disorders that are eligible for an exception. Furthermore, the statute has been criticized for its hazardous ambiguity.

For an extended period, termination of pregnancies has been a standard procedure in medical treatment for individuals who have been experiencing significant issues. It is implemented in this manner to prevent catastrophic outcomes, such as sepsis, organ failure, and other severe scenarios.

Nevertheless, medical professionals and hospitals in Texas and other states with strict abortion laws have noted that it is uncertain whether or not these terminations could be in violation of abortion prohibitions that include the possibility of a prison sentence. This is the case in regions where abortion prohibitions are exceedingly restrictive.

Following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which resulted in restrictions on the rights of women to have abortions in several Republican-ruled states, the Texas case was revisited in 2022.

As per the orders that were disclosed by the administration of Vice President Joe Biden, hospitals are still required to provide abortions in cases that are classified as dire emergency.

As stipulated in a piece of health care legislation, the majority of hospitals are obligated to provide medical assistance to patients who are experiencing medical distress. This is in accordance with the law.

The state of Texas maintained that hospitals should not be obligated to provide abortions throughout the litigation, as doing so would violate the state’s constitutional prohibition on abortions. In its January judgment, the 5th United States Circuit Court of Appeals concurred with the state and acknowledged that the administration had exceeded its authority.

SOURCE: AP