Touching Animal Souls

  On a small island 100 miles from Tokyo islanders, mostly fishermen, have declared resident dolphins to be citizens, fully protected while in the island's waters ... . The fishermen of Toshima Island show us how some Japanese revere and protect wild dolphins. BlueVoice is supporting our long time Japanese ally, Elsa Nature Conservancy, to help the Toshima Islanders educate Japan about the wonders of wild dolphins. The Toshima Dolphin Project will expand knowledge of this unique island and the relationship between the people of the island and its 16 resident dolphins. It will provide a vision that will inspire their fellow countrymen and bring to them an understanding of the importance of allowing dolphins to remain free and safe from hunters' blades. As we all know, Japan is a nation where up to 20,000 dolphins are killed yearly. Now we are supporting a dolphin watching initiative at Toshima Island in the hope that contact with wild dolphins and press coverage of this unique d...

Sasha accompanied me on a road trip to visit my father. 8 hours plus in the car. She never once complained about the music, or my singing, or my driving. She never hogged the sweets or drank the red bull. She never complained about how far it was. Not once did I hear her nag - are we there yet? She seemed grateful for my company. Not as grateful as I was for hers. Thank you Princess. Sent via my BlackBerry from Vodacom - let your email find you!

  Those of us that work with animals and apply ethical animal training principles are very fortunate because we get to practise these principles every day, and our teachers, the animals, reinforce us for using life strategies that work. For instance, we focus on what we want.  When the animals do what we want them to do, we consciously reinforce that behaviour. When the animals do something we don’t want to reinforce, we simply ignore that behaviour.  This is not focussing on what we don’t want. Being intuitive requires presence of mind.  When we practise our intuition, we succeed while training the animals – this enables us to become more intuitive. Being present requires that we breathe and stay calm…  A life strategy in its own right. When we have fun, and are enthusiastic (The word enthusiasm comes from the word ‘the God within’), our training sessions are more productive.  More than that, we are simply having fun ...

Petra Nicol shared the following link and had this to say about it: This photo marks the end of a career of Alvaro Múnera as a bullfighter. The man collapsed remorseful in the middle of the run when he realized that the bull refused to fight for his life. Alvaro has become an avid opponent of bullfighting. Múnera remembers that time: .. "And suddenly the bull looked ... the innocence that all animals have in their eyes, and he looked at me, that provoked a feeling inside, and I asked why? It was like a cry for justice. I would describe it as a connection, because if one confesses, and expected to be forgiven ... (silence, tears contained) "I felt like the worst shit on earth" ... This photo shows the collapse of Álvaro Múnera Torero. From that day forward he became a strong opponent of bullfighting. http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=124511414380802&set=a.120347784797165.26654.120082828156994&type=1 Sent via my BlackBerry fr...

http://www.thepowerwithin.co.za/episode-details.php?id=230  

Appreciate every moment we have with the creatures we love. Time is short. Never take them for granted. Everything is always about love. Lost this little angel today. Appreciate all who loved her and fought for her. Who gave her life meaning. Sent via my BlackBerry from Vodacom - let your email find you!

  I love this video I love that people don’t always see that animals may just be doing stuff because it is fun For so long people thought that animals never played and only played if they were learning. Yeah right. We can learn so many lessons. The most important one is always PLAY MORE!!

Love being on leave. Mucking out stables. Reading in good company of dogs and cats and Cleopatra the pig. Feeding ducks and geese. Mmmmm. Thank you Sasha for joy rides in the car Sent via my BlackBerry from Vodacom - let your email find you!

Sent via my BlackBerry from Vodacom - let your email find you!

#newyearseve and I spend it once more looking out for animals. Like so many who care about them, we worry about the impact fireworks have on their specialised hearing. So I sit and contemplate. Why? I get that it is a celebration and am all for celebrating. Do we really have to satisfy that instant gratification requirement so spectacularly? Is there no better way? Is it about having a bigger blast or louder bang in some sort of competitive adversarial conflict? Is it a sign of our fast paced attention deficit times that these minor frivolities take on such importance? Why? Here's hoping for a year where a sunset will once again be sufficient to thrill us. Where we will find the time to enjoy the magnificent beauty all around us at every chance we are afforded the honour!! Sent via my BlackBerry from Vodacom - let your email find you!