English 9 B Advanced, 2007-08

(WSPA - World Society for the Protection of Animals)

Site : 

http://www.wspa-usa.org/

WSPA works with more than 800 member organizations.

in over 147 countries to raise the standards of animal welfare throughout the world.

Their Vision is that a world where animal welfare matters and animal cruelty ends.

Their Mission is that To unite an informed, global animal welfare movement that helps and protects animals and creates a climate for change, leading to enforced legislation that transforms animals' lives. We want people around the world to connect with WSPA to promote compassion to animals, to speak for them and foster understanding of their needs.

Through our collaborative projects WSPA is Campaignung Against Cruelty by exposing animal abuse and enforcing stronger laws; our Animal Rescue teams are working to save abandoned or neglected animals or those stricken by disasters; and by changing hearts and minds amongst people living and working with animals, WSPA is forging a safer future for all animals.

Education has always been the lynchpin of WSPA's work; we aim to inform, educate and influence all levels of society.

 Their work:

>companion Animals

Through the companion animal program, we seek to improve the quality of life for dogs, cats, and working equines around the world.  This is accomplished in a variety of ways, including educational programs, healthcare advice and clinics, and disaster relief. 

WSPA's work is primarily concerned with three groups of animals:

Stray animals who endure persecution, disease and starvation across the globe.

Working equines that are forced to work despite malnutrition, injury and little or no veterinary care.

Pet animals who lack the basic requirements for a comfortable life

>wildlife

Inhumane killing of wild animals for meat and other products.
ild animals are brutally killed all over the world so that their body parts can be used for medicine, decoration, jewelry and clothing. 

Capture and suffering of animals taken from the wild for live trade.
Animals suffer horribly when captured for live trade, as they are often transported long distances in cramped conditions. Many die en route or face a lifetime of captivity. 

Wild animals in captivity
Wild animals in the entertainment industry are often kept in substandard conditions. They spend their whole lives in tiny enclosures, suffer abuse from their owners, and are forced to act unnaturally.

>Marine Mammals

> Farm Animal Welfare

Billions of farm animals throughout the world are reared behind the closed doors of the factory farm.

They are caged, crammed and confined, forced to grow super-fast, and pushed to their physical limits in the quest for ever more meat, milk or eggs. WSPA's Farm Animal Welfare campaign is working to stop this suffering.

>Disaster Relief

When people's properties are destroyed, animals homes often disappear too. Wild animals face the prospect of having to flee their home habitat to survive, whilst domesticated animals are at grave risk of remaining trapped and abandoned without food or water on farms, in people's homes, or even at zoos.WSPA staff often come across individual animals in need of help.<One example of this was the dramatic rescue of a starving puppy found lost in the deserted rubble of Plymouth, the former capital of Montserrat that had been devoid of any signs of life since being buried by volcanic ash. The puppy, named 'Plymmie', joined over a hundred other dogs that were airlifted to new homes in the US and now lives with his rescuer, WSPA's John Walsh. >WSPA also helps to move animals away from danger, create temporary shelters or rehome rescued animals.In many places, the survival and well being of animals is not a luxury, it is a necessity.

-'In many parts of the world, WSPA is the only organisation which responds to natural or man made disasters which affect animals. Without WSPA many more animals would suffer or perish and many families would be without a much cherished resource or companion.'

NGOs address a host of issues, Including, but not limited to, women's rights,  environmental protection, human rights, economic development, political rights, or health care. In numerous countries, NGOs have led the way in democratization, in battling diseases and illnesses, in promoting and enforcing human rights, and in increasing standards of living.

Some of these NGOs only impact a small region of the world, while others have spread across multiple continents. Amnesty International, for instance, has more than a million members and affiliates in over 90 countries and territories.

NGOs have few formal powers over international decision-making, they have many accomplishments to their credit. In recent years, they have successfully promoted new environmental agreements, greatly strengthened women's rights, and won important arms control and disarmament measures. NGOs have also improved the rights and well-being of children, the disabled, the poor and indigenous peoples.

 http://library.duke.edu/research/subject/guides/ngo_guide/

I interested in one of the NGO wich is called GCI(Green Cross Internetinal)

Our mission

The mission of Green Cross International is to help ensure a just, sustainable and secure future for all by fostering a value shift and cultivating a new sense of global interdependence and shared responsibility in humanity's relationship with nature.

Green Cross International:

• Promotes legal, ethical and behavioral norms that ensure basic changes in the values, actions and attitudes of government, the private sector and civil society, necessary to build a sustainable global community
• Prevents and resolves conflicts arising from environmental degradation.
• Provides assistance to people affected by the environmental consequences of wars and conflicts.

What do we do ?