2000

AQUABABIES COME TO DERBY

Just in time for the Christmas rush and iepulse buying Aquababies UK callously introduced a stall into the Eagle Centre. The normal 'isn't that pretty?' no-brains brigade all queued up and and shelled out £20 for a plastic cube filled with water. Derby and District Aquarists, RSPCA and DAR condemned the stall. What is really upsetting is that in February DAR challenged anyone to come forward who still had live fish which they bought before Christmas - nobody did... Sometime around March or April 2001 the stall quietly disappeared into the night. Was it the negative press which drove the punters away or was it our threat to organise a march through the Eagle Centre?

CHARLIE-BOY VISITS MEYNELL & SS FOXHUNT

Charles riding with the MeynellOn the 25th of November Derbyshire was 'honoured' with the presence of Prince Charles when he joined the Meynell and South Staffordshire Foxhunt. What is disappointing is no hunt saboteurs were present! (Thanks for pointing that one out Evening Telegraph...) Even worse than that, we had originally planned to do the Meynell that weekend but due to a lack of numbers on the day we had to go across and support the Notts Group on the Quorn. If so many people are against hunting - how come so few can be bothered to get off their backsides and do something about it? With as little as 7-8 people that day the newspaper report would have read slightly differently!
We have reason to believe Charlie does actually hunt with them more often than is mentioned in the local newspaper. Police presence tends to change from one panda car to 2-3 plus riot van plus suspicious looking dark secret service type vehicle every month or so. The latter seems a little over the top to protect one hunt from half a dozen sabs!



CAT KILLED BY AIRGUN

Mog, a cat owned by Julie Sutherland was put to sleep on Tuesday 12th of December after having been discovered on the Sunday with a shattered elbow joint. A Scarsdale vet judged the wounds consistent with an airgun pellet and stated that such injuries were not uncommon in small animals. It is legal in this country for a 17 year-old to buy an air gun and hand it to a 14 year-old. (If you think this is crazy, please write to your local MP voicing you concerns.) Anyone who does cause suffering in this way to an animal may face a £5000 fine or 6 months in prison. (A quick dig at the law here: Intent to damage ONLY property with an airgun, may lead to a 10 year sentence!)

6/8/00 BADGER CULL PROTEST

Badger Protesters

500 protesters took part in a rally, walk and picnic in Milldale today to declare the Government-sponsored badger cull unjustified and unscientific. Some farmers were also involved in the protest and said the Government should concentrate on finding a vaccine for infected cattle and examine the known ways of spreading bovine TB.

Milldale was chosen as it lies in one of the designated areas for the cull. The West Derbyshire area is bounded by the towns of Leek, Bakewell, Uttoxeter and Ashbourne.



SURPRISE SCOOP - BEING VEGETARIAN IS GOOD FOR YOU! (and animals...)

Every month the Occupational Health Department at a local company publish a newsletter for the minions that work there. There was an interesting section in July's edition (a rare novelty!):
Vegetarianism is without a doubt a very healthy option, but it is important to ensure that your food intake is well balanced. This is not very difficult or"as clinical as it might sound. Most of the meals you already eat probably contain ingredients from the different food groups.
(Phew - I can stick to my diet of chips and beer then!)
A varied vegetarian diet will supply all the essential nutrients you need to be fit and healthy. A typical vegetarian closely matches dietary recommendation for healthy eating, being low in saturated fat and high in fibre, complex carbohydrates, fresh fruit and vegetables.
As a general rule, as long as you eat a variety of foods including grains, fruit, vegetables, beans, pulses, nuts or seed, a small amount of fat, with or without dairy products (hurrah for veganism!), your diet will be healthy and you will be getting all the nutrients you need.
For new and old veggies alike some useful information for reference can be found at www.vegsoc.org

The report goes on:
Did you know- Medical Research (boo) has shown that on average, a lifelong vegetarian visits the hospital 22% less often than an average meat eater (unless they're sabs!), a saving to the NHS of about £45,722.
A study conducted over 13 years by Oxford University (boo) concluded that vegetarians were 40% less likely to suffer from certain cancers (unless they were caught trying to break into Oxford Uni to free all the lab animals). Vegetarians are also 50% less likely to suffer from gall stones and less likely to suffer from diet related diabetes.



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