[img]http://www.herorat.org/sites/all/themes/heroratv2/media/logo-big.png[/img]
13 years ago, anti-personnel landmines were banned by the UN in the Ottawa Treaty because they were deemed to be too harmful to civilians after the war, when the militaries left and didnt clean up after the mess they made.
A primary example is Korea. The war left millions of undetonated landmines left over.
[quote=http://www.cdi.org/dm/2000/issue5/Landmines.html]North and South Korea rely on mines in their “peacetime” military and security policies to stop border crossings. An estimated 1.2 million landmines litter South Korea today. The South Korean Defense Ministry reportedly confirmed that 1.05 million anti-tank and anti-personnel mines are laid in "major defense areas north around the civilian control line and the demilitarized zone. In the rear areas, about 75,000 anti-personnel mines [are] installed for security." North Korea has also placed approximately 1 million "dumb" mines along their side of the DMZ. Experts do not believe that North Korea has laid mines in any other areas. [/quote]
These are just intentionally placed. Look at this map:
[img]http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/03/uk_korean_war/img/3.jpg[/img]
That blue line is the northernmost UN advance push. The orange line is the southernmost push of the north korean forces. Everything in between these lines are possible landmine spots. Thats a fuckton of explosives
Now, south korea has had 50+ years to take care of these, and theyve done quite a smashing job, but north korea is mostly mountains and rural areas, where there could be millions of landmines left over.
Thats just korea,
[quote=APOPO]There are currently 76 countries and territories around the world that are affected by landmines and/or explosive remnants of war. There is no credible estimate of the total number of mines in the ground worldwide, however the impact of mines can be measured in several ways, including totaling the amount of land that is unusable due to contamination, or gathering data about the number of people killed or injured by mines.[/quote]
So what can you do?
[url]http://www.herorat.org/[/url]
Adopt a landmine sniffing rat! You get newsletters and everything!
What's especially cool is they also can sniff out Tuberculosis!
Here's the letter I got for my rat!
[quote]
Dear Friend,
Thank you very much for adopting me. Let me introduce myself: my name is Chosen One and I am an African giant pouch rat. I am no standard however, because I save lives! I am a HeroRAT, Trained to sniff out unexploded landmines in africa.
Each day, someone is killed or injured by a landmine. Often they are children. My job is to find the mines before the kids do.
Luckily, I have two great advantages over the children. The first is my nose: I can smell explosives even when they are underground. The second is my size: I am too light to set off the mines.
As a mine detector, I have other advantages too. I am cheap - I work for peanuts. I am easy to train and I don't mind repetitive tasks. When trained, I can clear 100 square meters in less than 45 minutes.
You should probably know that I am a male rat and that I arrived in Mozambique in February 2010 to help clear some of the thousands of landmines left here after the war. We have been tasked with clearing the Gaza Province by 2014. You can see reports of our progress and details of mines cleared and areas made safe on our website.
I promise to do my best to make you proud of me. It is only with your support that I am able to carry out my work here searching for mines and, most important of all, saving innocent kids and adults from getting hurt. Together we are saving lives and limbs.
Thank you.
Love and whiskers,
(picture of rat's paw print :3)
[B]Chosen one the HeroRAT[/B]
Find out more about our work at [url]www.herorat.org[/url]. Please visit and tell your friends about us![/quote]
Isnt that awesome? My rat's name is Chosen One.
and for those of you who dont know:
[img]http://www.altpet.net/rodents/cricetomys/jo/johari1.jpg[/img]
Rats are Adorbz :333
D'aaw. Poor rats.
Rats freak my out. Mice are ok, but not rats.
[QUOTE=Monty Pie-thon;27178249]D'aaw. Poor rats.[/QUOTE]
no the rats are fine, theyre too small to set off landmines, and they get fed so they like doing it
Probably avavible in Bosnia.
What if I get a fat as fuck rat that sets off the entire minefield?
Dickshit assburgers the mine sniffing rat.
That's the cutests and coolest thing ever. Heart for them.
so do you have to live in worst/best korea to get one
This makes me want a rat instead of another lizard.
[QUOTE=Levithan;27178309]so do you have to live in worst/best korea to get one[/QUOTE]
no, and I'm pretty sure they mostly go to africa and the gaza strip
Belgium is also still cleaning up the mess from WW1. Landmines and bombs are very hard to get rid of.
Ha, I came by a minefield from WW2 not too long ago. I live in Denmark, and they are still not sure the place is completely clean.
Boy, landmines are a pain in the ass.
Thanks Rats.
Thats.
UN didn't "ban" landmines, the countries that signed the treaty promised to get rid of them.
North nor South Korea have signed the treaty. (Neither have USA or Russia or China...)
God damn rats, keep sniffing out my landmines.
[QUOTE=evilweazel;27178304]Dickshit assburgers the mine sniffing rat.[/QUOTE]
i fucking laughed so hard i pracitly lamo'd
Sounds pretty neat dude.
If only snakes were more intelligent :saddowns: They'd clear so much more ground, so much faster :D
And here's the twist: They get fed rats and mice. And only once per week. Cheaper in my eyes.
Anyway, I'm adopting one of the little fuzzy guys. I love rats <3
When I was in grade 3 I think it was, in the middle of the school field there was a dead rat, there was tons of snow too so it must've died from the cold, but anyways some kid decided to jump on the rat, and as I was walking by, the insides of the rat went flying, and landed all over my jacket.
[QUOTE=Superstormj;27186854]If only snakes were more intelligent :saddowns: They'd clear so much more ground, so much faster :D
And here's the twist: They get fed rats and mice. And only once per week. Cheaper in my eyes.
Anyway, I'm adopting one of the little fuzzy guys. I love rats <3[/QUOTE]
You shouldn't adopt it unless you plan on getting rid of mines. It costs money to train these, you know.
[QUOTE=Helix Alioth;27187029]You shouldn't adopt it unless you plan on getting rid of mines. It costs money to train these, you know.[/QUOTE]
Money's all I got man :)
Did anyone else notice that the map is a tad bit off,
[img]http://www.diderot.ac.ke/mun/mun_2005_2006/north_korea_map.gif[/img]
Pyongyang is a tad more left.
Also, I would like to take a rat, but, my cat would probably kill it.
I would if I had money online
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