Posted in Animals, Environment, tagged cheetah, conservation, predator, volunteer, volunteerism on February 21, 2017| Leave a Comment »
Telling visitors about the resident cheetahs during feeding time
It was an amazing month caring for orphaned cheetahs that raise awareness for their wild counterparts, who struggle with drought, habitat encroachment and human-wildlife conflict. When I wasn’t up to my elbows in dirty work, I also served as a copywriter and editor.
You can read about my experience at On the Road with Susan.
Posted in Animals on April 1, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Thanks to their farmer, Milena and Rahel still have their horns. (Susan Misicka, swissinfo.ch)
Can one man persuade 100,000 fellow citizens to care whether cows have horns or not? If the man is as bull-headed as Swiss farmer Armin Capaul, the answer is yes.
With his rosy cheeks, reddish-blond moustache and white beard, farmer Armin Capaul is a colourful character. A winter’s day finds him in layers of patterned knitwear and a red neckerchief. His bright blue car blasts country-rock music.
“Haven’t you heard of J.J. Cale? He’s a soulmate of mine,” says Capaul, referring to the late American singer-songwriter. I admit that I haven’t, and worry it’s a bad start to our visit. But he just laughs, and laughs some more when he sees my eyes widen at the sight of the narrow and twisted road leading to his 17-hectare farm perched high in the Bernese Jura. It’s home to cows and a bull, as well as goats, sheep, donkeys, dogs, cats and chickens.
Read the whole story here on SWI swissinfo.ch.
Posted in Animals, Fashion, tagged Animals, ethics, Fashion, fur on March 4, 2015| Leave a Comment »
Fur trim and coats are trendy, but are consumers aware of the grim conditions for most of the animals involved? A Swiss label law aims to inform, but many say that an outright import ban is needed.
It’s cold and everyone walking around Bern is dressed warmly, except for one woman. Clad in her underwear plus a scarf and boots, she’s also wearing a sign that says, “I’d rather go (almost) naked than wear fur”. She’s been collecting signatures for a petition to ban the import of fur products made with animal-torturing methods.
“It’s going really well – people have been very supportive. I’ve got so many signatures that I’ll have to get more forms,” Daniela tells swissinfo.ch. A moment later, a woman with a fur coat and bag walks past, giving her a dirty look.
Posted in Animals, tagged Animals, cats, dogs, Food, health, horses, Switzerland on February 18, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Hercules the kitty liked visiting these rabbits, who were being raised for meat.
Europeans are uneasy in the aftermath of a scandal involving horse meat found in hamburgers and lasagna. A few weeks ago I wrote a piece about how people are comfortable eating some animals and not others.
Click here to read “Animal lovers question morality of eating pets“.
Posted in Animals, Culture, Health, tagged Animals, contraception, Culture, Easter, eggs, health, Lent, music, sex, Switzerland on April 7, 2012| Leave a Comment »
In this week’s swissinfo.ch podcast, I focused on:
– a noisy Lenten tradition
– happy laying hens
– and a man who found a way to outsmart ovulation.
Susan's News 