An Odd Thing…..Gas….Pet Rabbits….Good Things From ‘Emergence’ Magazine……
by Bernie Bell - 07:32 on 17 February 2023
An Odd Thing….
An odd thing happened – one of many that happen, but we never get used to them….happening.
We know someone who is planning to visit Orkney in the summer and I was explaining about the Brough of Birsay being ….”only accessible at low tide, when the causey is exposed…” https://theorkneynews.scot/2018/03/09/didnt-we-have-a-loverly-time-the-day-we-went-to-birsay/
I only noticed my mis-spelling of the word ‘causeway’ after I’d sent the email.
Having finished ‘The Dark Is Rising’ I’m reading some of Seamus Heaney’s poetry, and I read…
“Running water never disappointed.
Crossing water always furthered something.
Stepping stones were stations of the soul.
A kesh could mean the track some called a causey
Raised above the wetness of the bog,
Or the causey where it bridged old drains and streams.”
I’d never come across the word ‘causey’ before and…. I had recently written of crossing water in relation to ‘The Dark Is Rising’….
http://www.spanglefish.com/berniesblog/blog.asp?blogid=16134
Funny old world.
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Gas…..
Another definition of gas is having wind….burping….farting…
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64652142
Centrica is full of it.
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Pet Rabbits….
Take One Home For The Kiddies
On shallow straw, in shadeless glass,
Huddled by empty bowls, they sleep:
No dark, no dam, no earth, no grass -
Mam, get us one of them to keep.
Living toys are something novel
But it soon wears off somehow.
Fetch the shoebox, fetch the shovel -
Mam, we're playing funerals now.
Philip Larkin
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“Amend legislation to ensure rabbit breeders require the same licensing as dog breeders."
The UK’s leading rabbit welfare organisation, the Rabbit Welfare Association & Fund is demanding a change in legislation to ensure rabbit breeders require the same licensing as dog breeders to ensure rabbits are no longer subjected to cruelty and poor welfare.
Currently, unlike other animals, there is no legislation around rabbit breeding in England. Anyone is legally allowed to start breeding and then sell the offspring – which results in uneducated and inexperienced rabbit owners having multiple litters, that they can’t look after or sell-on to responsible pet owners. And incredibly, there is no requirement to correctly sex the rabbits sold.
The lack of legislation is resulting in rabbit breeders having no licence, inspection, or standards, and a result of this is that babies are being mis-sexed and sold with no proper checks or care information. Unsuspecting owners are being faced with accidental litters, which can result in rabbits being dumped and our rescue centres becoming over-run.
Legally, pet shops must be licensed, this ensures that duties of care are met. Unfortunately, a licence is not needed if a person is breeding and selling rabbits online. This has become a boom area and is causing huge problems.
The Rabbit Welfare Association & Fund welfare team is witnessing an unprecedented rise in abandoned and mistreated rabbits, with an alarming increase in the number of rabbits for sale online.
In November, the Rabbit Welfare Association & Fund launched its ’Breeding Amnesty’ campaign where it called for an immediate pause by breeders to stop breeding and retailers, classified advert sites and resale sites to stop selling rabbits - as rescue centres across the UK are struggling to cope with the level of abandoned rabbits.
With a change in legislation, The Rabbit Welfare Association & Fund believes there would be an immediate improvement in the welfare of rabbits being sold and therefore a drop in the number of rabbits being abandoned or dumped.
The Rabbit Welfare Association & Fund and its team of veterinary advisers are calling for government action to curb this growing rabbit welfare crisis. They are urging the UK’s pet lovers to sign the petition and demand action.
In essence the Rabbit Welfare Association & Fund is calling for two changes in legislation, and update to the breeding legislation to include rabbits, and an update to the pet vending legislation to guarantee the sex of the animals sold.
The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018
Schedule 5 – breeding dogs. The legislation currently states that a licence is required if:
Either or both of the following—
(a) breeding three or more litters of puppies in any 12-month period;
(b) breeding dogs and advertising a business of selling dogs.
We want a schedule to be added to offer the same protection for rabbits. This would mean that breeders are licenced and inspected and put some checks in place to ensure that the rabbits used for breeding were
· kept in suitable accommodation
· provided with adequate food, drink and bedding
· exercised regularly
· transported in safe and comfortable conditions
· protected in case of an emergency, like a fire
· protected from pain, injury, suffering and disease
Legislation like this already exists in Scotland and we would like to see England, in the first instance, do the same.
Schedule 3, section 3 - Selling animals as pets
This currently states:
The licence holder and all staff must ensure that the purchaser is informed of the country of origin of the animal and the species, and where known, the age, sex and veterinary record of the animal being sold.
We want to see this tightened up so that the sex of the animals sold is correct, to prevent, amongst other issues, accidental litters.
Rae Walters, Director of the Rabbit Welfare Association & Fund said; “Animal welfare legislation is an important step in decreasing animal suffering, and it gives a legal duty of care to those responsible for animals to house and manage them properly or at least to a minimum acceptable standard.
“I urge all pet lovers to stand with us and sign our petition to improve the welfare of rabbits.”
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Good Things From ‘Emergence’ Magazine……
Our annual print edition is available for pre-order
“We shall not sever ourselves from the earth. We must chant our being, and we must dance in time with the rhythms of the earth.” —N. Scott Momaday
“Just as the Earth’s ancient patterns and pathways are undergoing seismic shifts, so too are our cultural landscapes. Over the last year, war has unleashed horrific violence across Ukraine, women in Iran have led a revolution against a brutal regime, and droughts and floods—and the recent devastating earthquake—have plagued communities around the world. What are the stories we need to orient ourselves when the world we have known is coming undone and new configurations are still taking shape?
Our fourth volume, Shifting Landscapes, is woven from this liminal space. Within you’ll find stories of changing rivers and migrating forests, blurred boundaries between human and animal, geological landscapes that reveal human histories, and prophecies that weave themselves into the land. Spanning 275 pages, this issue is our most photographic to date, with new works commissioned alongside feature essays that offer a window into the changes enveloping us, bringing to life stories from the Ganga Delta in India, Kenya’s Rift Valley, Arizona’s Sonoran Desert, and the prairies of South Dakota. And nestled within this volume you’ll find something new: a companion listening practice to David Haskell’s story “How the Earth Started to Sing” that offers simple ways of responding to the Earth's evolving song.
Contributors include: David Abram, Anna Badkhen, James Bridle, Jeffrey Jerome Cohen, Russel Albert Daniels, Natalie Diaz, Jamie Figueroa, Ross Gay, Stephen Gill, Bear Guerra, David George Haskell, Katie Holten, Laia Jufresa, Stephanie Krzywonos, Arati Kumar-Rao, Daniel Liévano, Tristan McConnell, N. Scott Momaday, Kerri ní Dochartaigh, Masatsugu Ono, Gheorghe Popa, Nathaniel Rich, Greg Sarris, Lauret Savoy, Jeremy Seifert, Chelsea Steinauer-Scudder, Ocean Vuong, Sarah Waiswa, Alexis Wright, Julian Yates.
Orders will ship early summer. Pre-order now for promotion specials. “
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Shifting Landscapes: Writing Practices
Practice Booklet
“In tandem with Shifting Landscapes, we’ve created a new booklet of writing exercises—logs, reflections, and short prompts—that invite you to connect deeply with the living world. Reflect on the changes happening in the places around you with this simple and elegant book of practices that you can take with you wherever you go.”
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Pre-order special
“For a limited time, get 15% off when you pre-order Volume 4 with Shifting Landscapes: Writing Practices and our new tote bag. Or pre-order two copies of Volume 4 and receive the tote bag as a free gift. Our 100% certified organic cotton tote is designed with artwork by Katie Holten from the interactive poem “Forest,” evoking a living, growing language of the redwood forests of Northern California.“
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Here’s one I made earlier…. https://theorkneynews.scot/2021/08/25/the-amazing-mosquito-migration/
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