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ANIMAL

Swedish naval base baffled by 28 tonnes of dead fish

A state agency responsible for military maintenance is facing charges of negligence after 28 tonnes of dead roach were found when a dock was emptied for cleaning at an underground naval base south of Stockholm.

Swedish naval base baffled by 28 tonnes of dead fish
Tim Regan, Swedish Fortifications Agency

Prosecutors are examining whether the Swedish Fortifications Agency neglected its duties when it failed to detect the arrival at the Muskö base of the populous school of minnows.

Among the tasks assigned to the agency, which is one of the largest landowners in Sweden, is responsibility for the upkeep of secure underground military facilities around the country.

Property manager Christer B. Andersson said the agency was taken completely by surprise by the enormous quantities of fish left behind when the dock’s gates were opened.

“We emptied other docks as recently as a few weeks before emptying this dock and only came across the occasional fish. It’s a bit of a mystery actually,” he told Sveriges Radio.

“Roach move in a very strange manner and they often move about in large schools. If we’re unlucky, a very large school might have got into this slipway and been left behind when we closed the outermost gates in order to be able to empty the water,” he added.

Andersson said the agency had taken steps to ensure that all docks would in future be checked for fish before emptying.

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ANIMAL

Paris authorities to shut down bird market over cruelty concerns

The Paris city council on Wednesday agreed to shut down a live bird market operating in the historic centre close to Notre Dame cathedral, responding to rights activists who called it a cruel and archaic operation.

Paris authorities to shut down bird market over cruelty concerns
Photo: AFP

The bird market on Louis Lepine square in the centre of the French capital has long been a fixture in Paris, operating close to the famous flower market.

But Christophe Najdovski, Paris' deputy mayor in charge of animal welfare, said that the market was a centre for bird trafficking in France while conditions for the birds were not acceptable.

“This is why we are committed to changing the regulations to ban the sale of birds and other animals,” he said.

The closure had been urged by activists from the Paris Animals Zoopolis collective who had called the practice of showing the caged birds “cruel and archaic”.

France and Paris have in the last months adopted a series of measures aiming to show they are at the forefront of efforts to protect animal welfare.

The government said in September it planned to “gradually” ban mink farms as well the use of wild animals in travelling circuses and dolphins and orcas in theme parks.

Parc Asterix, which normally has some two million visitors a year, announced last month it would close its dolphin and sea lion aquarium.

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