Some good news on the New Jersey legislative front...Both houses of legislature have approved Bill S 979, requiring only the signature of the present Governor to make it into law. S 979 requires manufacturers to add an aversive agent to antifreeze products, making anti-freeze unpalatable to both children and animals. Sen. Jeff Van Drew, D-Cape May, Atlantic and Cumberland is credited for shepherding this bill into law. Ethylene glycol is used in antifreeze but its sweet smell makes it attractive to both children and animals resulting in the poisoning of approximately 1400 children and 10,000 animals each year. Those are large numbers, indeed, and I am glad that there was no serious bipartisan squabbling in the state congress over this bill. I have heard from people who have actually tasted antifreeze, and they described it as being similar in taste as Gatorade. We have one of those rare occassions when a particular bill benefits both children and animals. The HSUS, HSLF, the Consumer Specialty Products Association and Honeywell International supported this bill.
When a member of the animal or plant kingdom goes extinct, there will be no second chances. Evolution will simply not repeat itself. There are reportedly eighty bird species that are unique to the Philippines and many of them have already made it to the endangered list. And we, to a great extent, have indiscrimate hunting to thank for it. In spite of two national laws protecting Philippine animals, the carnage continues unabated. The killings could occur as arbitrarily as guys getting together for macho time, or as a result of a well-planned hunting trip involving speed boats, bird callers, and camouflaged outfits. Either way, the outcome is the same. Philippine wildlife, our natural treasures, inches closer to a state of irreparable vacancy. Not too long ago, we learned about the Bacolod Air Rifle Club (BARC) whose unbridled killing of Philippine birds and ducks became the subject of an online petition calling for immediate government intervention. My post on that most disturbing c...
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