I thought I’d end 2008 with a few good news stories about animals. Yeah, they’re out there if you look hard enough.

The first good news comes from eBay, of all places, and it’s something for wild elephants and their fans to celebrate: as of tomorrow, eBay will ban the sale of ivory products, which everyone should know comes from the tusks of dead elephants. According to the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), poachers kill over 2,000 African and Asian elephants every year to provide ivory to customers worldwide, even though its sale has been illegal since 1989. I’ve avoided eBay either as a buyer or seller because of its total absence of ethics when it comes to the sale of animal products, services, and live animals. But this decision is a tiny ray of sunshine peeking through the murky eBay cloud. It won’t lift my personal boycott of this popular website, but it’s a start in the right direction:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10787_3-10129546-60.html

Second up, some great news from Orlando, Florida, where an endangered right whale whose body was completely entangled in rope probably from commercial fishing gear was delicately relieved of its burden, which would have killed it eventually, and freed by rescuers to return to the Atlantic Ocean. There are no more than 400 North Atlantic right whales left on the planet, and this was third whale in the area found wrapped in rope just this year:

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/features_lifestyle_animal/2008/12/crews-free-whal.html

My third good news story has to do with the termination of a popular annual pigeon shoot at the Straustown, Pennsylvania Rod and Gun Club. Yes, I said pigeon shoot! This is a bizarre and inhumane ritual in which grown men and kids show up with their rifles and aim at captive, disoriented pigeons who have just been freed from their carriers. This is canned hunting at its most cowardly, and about as challenging as shooting at sitting ducks.

The Straustown last-minute cancellation is largely thanks to the efforts of Steve Hindi of SHARK (SHowing Animals Respect and Kindness) who has been working on banning pigeon shoots for many years. Steve’s a former hunter who put his rifle down permanently and got involved in animal advocacy precisely because he recognized the extreme cruelty of these pigeon shoots and had an epiphany.

Unfortunately, the end of pigeon shoots in Straustown does not mean there will be no more pigeon shoots in the state of Pennsylvania. For that, legislation banning the shoots is required. If you want to learn how you can help Steve accomplish that, or watch (graphic) video on the shoots themselves, click here:

http://www.sharkonline.org/?P=0000000854

Lastly, a gentle reminder that New Year’s Eve festivities can be as noisy and potentially dangerous as July 4th celebrations (where I live, people shoot guns into the air just for fun). So to all you folks with pets, particularly dogs and cats, please keep them inside tonight in a quiet place. Their senses of hearing, sight and smell are a lot more acute than ours and they’re more easily spooked by sensory stimulation. Dogs have been known to jump fences and run off to get away from it all. You don’t want your family pet to end up in an animal shelter! ‘

Happy New Year, fellow Xombies!