We want to send congratulations to Lyn and our friends at AA on getting this amazing result. Being a UK live export campaigner for 35+ years I personally know the immense amount of work that is needed to achieve results such as this.
All the time you are speaking for them, your mind never distracts from the continual suffering to the animals that this trade brings. Without doubt, Australian live exports are probably the biggest nut of all nations to get victory over in this sordid trade.
We all want an immediate ban, but in this instance the head rules over the heart. Despite our feelings; it has to be accepted that ‘meat’ in some form will continue to be exported from Australia. As we say in the UK, better on the hook than on the hoof ! – sadly the process of killing animals will not stop, but the suffering on the ships will. In the next few years there will be a lot of things that need to be addressed by both Australia and the states they currently export to; a change from meat on the hoof to that on the hook. New slaughterhouses may need to be built in Australia to process the animals; and maybe methods with all involved to store and export meat by refrigeration. It is not what I want to see and probably what you all do not want to see; but it will happen; animals will be killed as always but they will be saved immense suffering on shithole rust buckets as they currently are. A large cruelty chunk of the puzzle will be removed; and that is something I at least welcome.
Going veggie or vegan for sure is the way forward and the way to reduce this suffering. Every rust bucket livestock carrier that ends up going for scrap is a real positive as far as I am concerned; it is every time, another nail in the coffin and another page written to put this disgusting abuse of animals into the history books.
Well done and big congrats to everyone who has showed year of tenacity to get this news today,
I wanted to write to you this evening to express the most heart-felt ‘thank you’.
Today, because of our combined efforts, we now know the date that the live sheep trade will end. Australian Agriculture Minister, Murray Watt, announced this morning that the live sheep trade will, after some 60 years of operation, end on May 1st 2028.
Importantly, the Minister also announced that this end date will belegislated in this term of government.
While of course we wish it was sooner, we also recognise and respect the need to consider all who may be affected by this historic decision. Considering the decades of dedicated effort and advocacy behind today’s announcement, it is understandable that some doubted whether this trade would end in their lifetime. Now we know with certainty that it will. We can now count down towards the day that the last sheep shipment will leave our shores.
And that is why, aside from my great relief at this announcement, I am filled with overwhelming gratitude to you Diana. Truly, this day would not have come without you. You supported our investigations. You refused to get disheartened. You achieved something extraordinary: you convinced an Australian government that animals deserved better and that an industry that had long enjoyed political support, should be concluded.
We now know beyond any doubt, that so powerful is human compassion, it can make the seemingly impossible, possible. The resilience so needed to stay the course was born of compassion. The courage we needed on the most difficult days was fuelled by compassion. The commitment to write letter after letter to politicians was driven by compassion. To witness together a government decision based on compassion for animals, is, I am sure you will agree, a momentous day. A day to long savour. Please remember your part in this, as I always will.
My deep appreciation today also extends to our colleague groups for their exceptional efforts that ensured the animal protection sector spoke for Australian sheep with a strong and united voice. They have been magnificent.
And it is so very appropriate that I also mention my wonderful colleague, friend and co-investigator Shatha Hamade. My time as an investigator in the Middle East had to come to an end, as my face had become too well known. When Shatha joined Animals Australia, it was as our lawyer, not an investigator. Yet she didn’t hesitate to say ‘yes’ when I told her she was needed.
Since then, as you know, Shatha has given her heart and soul to being where Australian sheep have needed her to be. And finally, my gratitude goes to Fazal Ullah, the crewman, who in witnessing the suffering before him, chose to act, rather than accept.
We will all be forever grateful for this young man’s courage. It is so very clear that today’s historic announcement has been the result of a team effort like no other.
Thank you so very much for the critical part you have played. For the animals,
After years of campaigning, the sentience of animals is now officially recognised in the Constitution of Belgium. The Constitution takes precedence in the hierarchy of Belgian legal norms, and now includes a reference to ensure the protection and well-being of animals.
After a lively debate in a plenary session of the Chamber of Representatives, including concerns raised by the agriculture sector, a critical two-thirds majority was ultimately reached to approve the addition.
Belgium is now the 6th EU Member State to include animals in its Constitution, following Italy, Germany, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Austria. Other nations have also acted to enshrine constitutional animal sentience, including Switzerland, Egypt, Brazil and India.
The following passage has now been officially added to Article 7 of the country’s Constitution:
In the exercise of their respective powers, the Federal State, the Communities and the Regions ensure the protection and well-being of animals as sentient beings.
Animal sentience is also enshrined in law at EU level, as Article 13 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union mandates EU Member States to consider animal welfare as a significant commitment. Animals are recognised as sentient beings, acknowledging their capacity to experience pain and suffering, and emphasising the moral duty to treat them with care and respect.
As well as sending a strong message about the commitment of Belgium to protect animal welfare, the inclusion should also have a direct impact as regulations made by federal and regional parliaments, as well as local authorities, must comply with the Constitution. It could also have the impacy of strengthening enforcement of animal welfare laws.
This is a historic victory for GAIA and all those who defend animals’ interests. Only 30 years ago, such a breakthrough was simply unthinkable. Today, animal welfare is becoming a constitutional value in its own right, joining other fundamental principles. This recognition reflects a major change in society and highlights the growing importance of animal protection in our country. It is this kind of progress that GAIA has been fighting for since it was founded.
(Note: this – special Polish Characters – is not displaying correctly)
TRANSLATION
Where does evil come from?/if so where/from man/always from man/and only from man
“Unde Malum”? – where does evil come from?
If you have a pet, close your eyes and think about it. You probably feel sympathy, maybe love, tenderness. Every day you make sure to provide it with the best possible conditions: a warm bed, toys; in the store, you read the labels and make sure to buy food containing 100% meat (God forbid the one with 99%!). I think similarly because I also have animals. And did you know that at the same time – perhaps this very second – cats in China are being tortured and killed? I would like to tell you about “Death (Torture) Groups” on Telegram, an inconspicuous communication application.
STRUCTURE
The Internet in China is subject to censorship. The Communist Party is closing access to all social media that most of the world is accustomed to. So how is it possible that Death Groups use Telegram? How does content flow to Instagram? For this purpose, a VPN service is used – it encrypts data in such a way that the Internet provider cannot locate the place from which the user connects. In practice, members of the Circles of Death can use Western applications quite freely.
Abusers focus mainly on Telegram. You can usually join groups if you provide a recording or photo of a self-inflicted act of torture. In this way, members minimize the risk of “moles” infiltrating the circle. Tormentors also organize streams where they broadcast their terrible deeds live for entertainment.
Torture materials are distributed around the world. Customized films sell well – in this case the customer can decide on the course of the execution. The second giant in this category are crush fetish films: recipients of such content gain sexual satisfaction from the sight of animals being crushed. Cao Shan, known to Chinese activists, operates under the guise of a shoe store. Customers can choose the type of footwear with which the animal will be killed.
Fot: Instagram/guardianes_felinos
Teenagers are also encouraged to get involved in the practice. Members of Death Groups are not necessarily middle-aged men and adult women who run a business on fetishists. Many of the perpetrators are students and even high school students. In fact, it happens that their parents are prominent members of Chinese society: bank heads, activists of the Communist Party; sometimes they even take part in adopting cats.
TORTURE
March 2024, China
One of the co-administrators of the Death Groups, Xu Ruiyang, was not accepted into the master’s program at Nanjing University despite excellent exam results. This state of affairs is probably due to activists who informed the public about Xu’s activities.
In December 2023, the owner of Monika, a long-haired red cat, loses her pet at the airport in Shanghai. Unfortunately, Monica encounters people with bad intentions. In March, members of the Circles of Death, in revenge for the activists’ activities, publish information about the kidnapping of Monika. The rejection of Xu’s application is the final straw. This is how the cat’s torture begins.
The perpetrators periodically pass the victim on to each other. During this time, Monica is beaten, electrocuted, and pricked with needles. One of the torturers cuts off her leg. The torture takes place to the accompaniment of jokes and mockery in Telegram messages.
The distraught owner reports the kidnapping to the Shanghai police three times. Besides, he’s trying to pay a ransom. He fails at this because of the complex cryptocurrency system. According to reports from Feline Guardians, attempted transactions are carried out by… customer service of telegram groups. Degenerates have created a real business. The police’s slowness does not lead to a breakthrough in Monika’s case.
March 26, 2024, probably Guangdong, China
A tri colour kitten is skinned alive. After the torture, it was still alive.
Fot.: Instagram/Feline Guardians Without Borders
April 2024, China
A woman adopts a ginger kitten through Xianyu – the Chinese equivalent of OLX. The cat will probably not survive to adulthood. The tormentor twists the kitten’s claws with pliers. Then he sticks toothpicks into it. As a “joke”, she pins a Hello Kitty badge on his body. The kitten is then doused with boiling water.
March 14, 2023, Fuyang, China
Xu Zhihui, a well-known blogger in China (nickname: Jack Latiao), kidnaps a homeless cat. The cat is burned with a hot iron. The next day he ties the animal to a tree. In this position, Latiao brutally beats the cat. Finally, he puts it in a plastic bag and sets it on fire. The cat burns alive.
Fot.: Instagram/Feline Guardians Without Borders
CONSEQUENCES
Here is just a sampling of several confirmed cases of telegram torture and murder. The scale of the crimes is shocking. Unfortunately, the perpetrators do not receive adequate punishment. There is no law in China that criminalizes animal cruelty. That’s why Lei Li, a torturer with twenty years of experience in harming animals, boasted to his colleagues that he legally tortured cats. The same man even appeared on TV. The “Today” program exposed Lea’s acts of cruelty. However, this man did not suffer any consequences.
One of the most famous admins of the Circles of Death, Wang Chaoyi, was sentenced to… 15 days of detention; not for torture, but for damaging the car window. Among other things, the man allegedly cut open the belly of a pregnant cat, which he forced to eat the remains of her own unborn kittens.
When the law fails, social pressure makes the most sense. Thanks to their activism, several degenerates were dismissed from their jobs. That is why it is important that we do not turn our eyes away from the harm – signing petitions, informing schools and workplaces of perpetrators; it all matters. It is worth mentioning all those who fight against the activities of Death Groups: the community centers around the volunteer group Feline Guardians Without Borders. People of good will from all over the world gather in local branches of the FG. In Poland, the topic was first discussed by YouTuber Dama Hearts in this video. I invite you, Reader, to read the interview with the spiritus movens of Polish activities for the victims of the Circles of Death.
Julia Koral: How did you find out about Death Groups?
Dama Kier: I learned about Death Groups from several people in the Spanish community I belong to. After the film about the cat in the blender, a considerable debate arose and people began to look for the source of the film. The thread has grown to gigantic proportions. I did not get involved in this case myself, suspecting that it was a one-time situation, and when they find the culprit, they will (according to the old rule of the Internet) make sure that this person will never commit similar acts again. I was quite devastated when I learned that the recording came from China and was part of a larger puzzle. I also know that different people learned about animal torture networks from different sources, ultimately ending up in one thread. Pseudo-Satanist and Nazi groups on Facebook and Whatsapp used these recordings as their edgy content.
J.K.: What is the estimated scale of the problem?
D.K.: This is really a difficult question. When consulting the problem with activists from China, I received information that similar cases of brutal animal torture have recently been reported in many countries around the world. We have a situation in Lithuania where several cats were crucified. In Canada, a teenager was brutally lynched for torturing a cat during a live broadcast and throwing it out of a window. In Turkey, animal torture is linked to promoting terrorism. In Russia, minors, on the orders of group administrators, murder their animals and write the names of the groups they belong to in their blood, and all this takes place in a sect-like atmosphere.
In Poland, we had situations where birds were boiled alive and a cat was cut with a guillotine. According to my findings, which we should not trust one hundred percent because OTOZ [Polish Society for the Protection of Animals] did not provide me with the necessary information, the case with the guillotine is a bit more complicated. Most likely, the teenagers were simply in possession of the video and did not kill the cat.
However, I have no proof that OTOZ does not have some modified version of the recording, I do not know what prompted them to draw such conclusions, because the accusations are specific. I also don’t know if they even have a cat’s body – if so, that changes things. This type of killing of an animal has been seen before, and the method of murder is consistent with the methods used by Chinese torturers. It’s the same with blender videos. This wasn’t a single situation. More than one person has committed such an atrocity. This raises another question: whether the guillotine teenagers downloaded the movie from the top of the page, or maybe someone is playing the Polish version of Chinese red rooms and reposting content from China to the community that is just being built.
So we have a network of dependencies that should be looked at by the relevant services.
When I was making a film about red rooms, the scale of abuse seemed extraordinary to me. The brutality and the number of victims exceeded my wildest expectations. It is also worth noting that the problem is not, as it might seem, local. The ranks of Chinese groups are swelled by people who plan to go abroad to study. Australia, the United States, and also Europe are targeted. One of the cat torturers with the most extensive achievements left his country. He currently resides in the USA, specifically in Brooklyn.
Fot.: Feline Guardians Without Borders
J.K.: How long do such groups last?
D.K.: All this macabre came to light in the spring of 2023, but some members of these groups have a surprisingly long history of producing snuff films. Before they united into a collective, they operated independently. Several of them had been torturing animals occasionally for over a decade. Now that they have established structures, they operate en masse. They have their own pages, groups and subgroups. Chinese communities of this type are characterized by a high level of organization. They have IT experts, recruiters who are focused on recruiting easily manipulated teenagers. There are people responsible for segregating between open and closed groups. What surprised me the most was the support team that offers connecting one user to another and special teams that manage communities on Telegram. I think it took them at least several months to reach this level of organization, and since they were operating efficiently when detected, I guess it all had its beginning during the pandemic – just like the increase in interest in child pornography.
J.K.: What would you say to people who say that the average Chinese person does not have access to Telegram, so there is no social reaction?
D.K.: This is a simple lie that no thinking person will swallow. There is such a global dependency in the virtual world – the more oppressed a nation is, the more ways it finds to fight for its independence. To move freely on the Internet, all you need is a VPN. Government organizations may go on and on about the Great Firewall, penalties for using non-government-approved applications, and possible consequences for breaking the rules, but the truth is that it’s all publicly available. New generations coming online are taking advantage of the array of opportunities to take full advantage of banned apps, media and websites. This is also the case with Telegram.
J.K.: How do you deal emotionally with dealing with this topic?
D.K.: It doesn’t affect me emotionally. I understand the importance of this case and the level of macabre we are dealing with, so this is not the time to let my emotions dictate what I do. However, I will not hide the fact that I am disappointed with the direction we are heading.
J.K.: What was the response to your material?
D.K.: Due to the level of violence, most people did not watch the material until the end, but even without detailed descriptions, many people decided to get involved in helping. Apart from a few individuals seeking applause by making statements that are not entirely logical, I have not noticed any negative reception. After the material was published, the number of signed petitions increased rapidly. We are planning protests that would raise public awareness. People plan to put up posters and inform about the pathology on a wide scale. This reflects very well on us as a global online community. We turn words into actions. We stand without fear in front of the threat and strongly oppose it. We are an oppositional collective fuelled by the mutual strength of fighting for justice.
J.K.: What is the reaction of Chinese society to the activities of activists?
D.K.: I don’t have enough data to comment on this matter honestly, but I know that due to the degree of cruelty of the Death Groups, special attention began to be paid to disturbing behaviour towards animals. Recently, a man was caught trying to catch several stray cats. He broke one animal’s leg. Passers-by who witnessed the entire incident intervened. It turned out that he was a member of the network who studied at Hunan University. We are trying to expel him from the university, just like the previous two tormentors.
Chinese activists also scattered leaflets informing about the situation from the roof of the building, thus paralyzing traffic, and this event spread on Weibo. At another university, where one of the students dropped off murdered animals on the campus, a campaign was organized to lay flowers and bring cat toys to honour the memory of those who could not be saved. In China, thanks to streams from feeders for homeless cats, public awareness has increased and there are many indications that it will continue to grow. It’s not ideal, because recently a dog that was a pet at the local equivalent of a junior high school was beaten to death with a baton. The reason was the lack of vaccination against rabies. The recording ended up online, and since the act of cruelty was carried out in front of students, debates about morality arose. Every change starts with taking small steps. This is also the case here.
As you know we do not specialise in any particular issue like many organisations – we try to cover different animal issues from many different places. If there is one thing that I really work on, then it is live animal transport. https://worldanimalsvoice.com/?s=live+exports
Today I am going to concentrate on animals, legislation and welfare organisations in Nepal.
Below you we see I have included many links for you to access. There is too much to cover in each so I advise you just look at any / each to see the wonderful animal work being done by our animal buddies out there. Without any decent legislation (I have included that in the links); our friends must be finding it very hard. I salute them for all their endeavours ! in a situation that I appreciate must be very difficult.
If you can give anyone a donation, please do; I am sure it will be greatly accepted.
…… and with a General Election just months, the League Against Cruel Sports (LACS); and all of us, want to see all the loopholes which the hunts are using under the guise of ‘Trail Hunting’ hut down for good.
Fox hunts have been using the excuse that they are ‘trail hunting’, a deception invented by them after the legislation to ban hunting was introduced, to fool the police, courts, politicians and the public about what they are really up to; which is targeting and killing foxes.
Last year, the government in Scotland, which has different legislation on fox hunting to England and Wales; banned trail hunting and toughened its hunting laws.
In 2023, Chief Superintendent Matt Longman, England’s most senior police figure on fox hunting crime, highlighted that hunts are claiming to be trail hunting, when in reality, they are using the practice as a ‘smokescreen’ for the continued illegal persecution of animals. He described illegal fox hunting as “prolific” and said the law needed “revisiting”.
With a General Election just round the corner now, the LACS will be pressing all the main political parties to include a manifesto commitment (ie what they will do if elected) to indicate their policy position to strengthen the Hunting Act and BAN trail hunting in England and Wales.
The LACS have already had backing from the Time for Change Coalition Against Hunting which currently consists of 35 animal welfare charities. People in the countryside are fed up with fox hunts and their anti-social behaviour, in which they trespass on people’s property, hunt over roads and railway lines, and intimidate Sabs brave enough to stand up to them.
In January, a helper at an animal sanctuary near Loughborough, watched in horror as the Quorn Hunt rampaged through neighbouring fields with several foxes; which it had nursed back to health and released locally, were sent running for their lives. At one point, the hounds gathered in a crazed scrum, yelping frenziedly, indicating that they had caught one of the foxes and were tearing it apart.
This is the tragic reality and it is now time for change.
Above photo – Mark (WAV) and East Kent Hunt Sabs.
Please visit league.org.uk/strengthen-hunting-act to see more.
For a great day out to see and help wildlife and the LACS, please support ‘Baronfest’ on Saturday 13th July 2024. 10am – 6pm; Tickets include all materials for issues, lunch and refreshments. Hurry, space is limited !
The LACS is 100 years old this year, 2024.
Cheers ! -for the foxes; Mark / LACS
Stop the Bloodbath – Do the right thing politicians. Your future depends on it !!!
At the old office I used to get a wild fox come in, climb the stairs and sit with me while I worked. After a while, he would go downstairs, through the door and return to the wild. My friend the fox.
I love taking photos of foxes: All following photos – Mark (WAV).
“At the moment we are planning our next move about this. Please stay tuned”.
Well, all I (Mark) can say now is that we have sorted our next move out.
It is on the advice of someone who has been helpful, knows their stuff, where we should try and who wants to fully support us in getting some results.
I am not going to say now what we are doing and who we will be in contact with, but we hope that it will have a big impact on the whole issue of the cats. It is taking lots to get a package together but it is well in progress.
So, now things are moving, and we hope that come Tuesday 7th May we will have things fully prepared so that we can forward the data to those who are in a position to do something about it; they are not anything to do with the Chinese embassies or authorities, but we are hoping they will become involved when we have forwarded our data.
Recently we said – :
“The embassy refused to accept our petition signatures”.
We are experiencing exactly the same re our UK and German petitions for cats being tortured in China.
Currently we have tried many ways to present petitions to the Chinese Ambassadors. With every message we send we are being completely ignored. We have attempted to get contacts via UK politicians, the UK Foreign Office and UK and German Ambassadors in China.
Everything we have tried has just been ignored.
The petitions thus continue, until we do find a way to formally present the petitions.
How you can support animal protection organisations in Ukraine
1 May 2024
Four Paws
In the third year of Russia’s war in Ukraine, inflicting suffering on both humans and animals, many are still looking for ways to show practical support. We’ve updated our list of ways to provide aid to animal protection organisations working on the ground.
Donations
Some of our members are actively working, or collaborating with other organisations, on the ground. If you would like to support those protecting the animals caught up in Russia’s war on Ukraine, you could consider making a donation to these organisations:
Please note that we cannot verify the work of each actor on the ground in Ukraine, and it is the responsibility of the donor to review these sources before making a gift. We have made every effort possible to verify the quality of work of the organisations listed above. Splitting your donation among several NGOs may help to improve the effectiveness of your gift.
NGOs
NGOs can get involved by coordinating collections of aid to be sent directly to Ukraine, in collaboration with local NGOs (see the Humanitarian aid law). Organisations can also raise awareness about what is happening to animals in Ukraine.
Want to learn more? Reach out to our Ukraine Task Force if you need help with making a donation, to learn more about organisations working in Ukraine or with translations.
Inhabitants of rural areas strongly oppose cruel and unjustified hunting and only 12% feel well-represented by hunting interest groups, a new survey shows. With rural inhabitants most affected by hunting policies, it’s time to change the rules.
The survey which focused on large carnivores like wolves, highlighted the broad support of rural communities towards their protection.
Rural communities show a similar progressive approach when it comes to hunting of other species. 67% prioritise the protection of biodiversity and animal welfare over the maintaining of hunting traditions. While hunting is currently regulated differently in each Member State, 65 % of respondents called for an harmonisation of hunting practices throughout the EU, based on scientific knowledge and in application of EU legislation, especially regarding the protection of biodiversity.
7 out of 10 respondents believe that each wild animal is a sentient being that needs to be protected, and want effective non-lethal and humane wildlife management methods to be researched and implemented.
A larger group (75%) are demanding a ban of hunting methods causing avoidable suffering to wild animals (underground hunting with dogs, glue-trap hunting, etc). This approach is largely supported by recreational hunters (68%) themselves showing broad support for policy change.
64% of respondents want a limitation of hunting to cases where independent scientific assessments conclude that the species poses a risk to the environment or public health, clearly calling for the end of leisure hunting. Besides its impact on animals, hunting also raises public safety concerns as only 31% of respondents feel rather safe going out during hunting season and a larger group (39%) avoids going out altogether.
The survey highlights the negative impact of hunting practices on the livelihoods of EU citizens living in rural areas, and demonstrates the need for the EU to promote humane practices in the management of wild animals and finally issue clear guidelines for an efficient regulation of hunting.
This survey clearly shows that the hunting lobby does not represent the interests of rural communities. Rural citizens across the EU demand change, they want protection for themselves and for wild animals victims of cruel, unnecessary and unjustified culling, whether it concerns wolves or other species. It is time for the EU to seriously look into this and promote solutions.
Léa Badoz, Wildlife Programme Officer, Eurogroup for Animals
10,000 inhabitants of rural areas in Germany, France, Spain, Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, Poland, Denmark, Sweden and Romania participated in the survey, which was conducted by Savanta in November 2023. The survey was commissioned by Eurogroup for Animals, Humane Society International/Europe, Fondation Brigitte Bardot, Dierenbescherming, Djurskyddet Sverige, Deutscher Tierschutzbund, World Animal Protection Denmark, World Animal Protection Netherlands, World Animal Protection Sweden and LAV.
British conservationists have launched an urgent appeal to rescue five shellshocked lions from Ukraine.
The Big Cat Sanctuary, based in Kent, hopes to evacuate a group of African lions who are currently living in critical conditions in war-torn Kyiv.
They include Rori, a male lion, and four lionesses – Vanda, Yuna and sisters Amani and Lira.
The lions, who are temporarily living in a shelter, have already had a traumatic life – with some rescued from private homes where they had been kept in dreadful conditions.
The charity is working alongside the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) to relocate them and build a new rescue centre at the Sanctuary.
Wild black bears are dressed in human clothing and being forced to fight for a circus show (social media /east2west news)
Sickening bear boxing matches at twisted circus cause uproar over animal cruelty
Images of wild black bears dressed in human clothes have sparked uproar and calls for an end to the use of circus animals in Russia as a prominent activist speaks up in favour of a total ban
The horrific animal cruelty can be seen in images that show wild black bears, who have been torn from their natural habitats, dressed in shorts and wearing boxing gloves with ropes tied around their waists being forced to wrestle each other in the middle of a circus ring in Russia. Circus shows such as this where animals are forced to perform are popular in some areas of the country, especially in resorts like Sochi on the Black sea.
Well it is the 1st of May today; so our Clustrmap, showing our worldwide visitors, https://clustrmaps.com/site/1a9kn has started afresh in showing locations.
As the month progresses, so will our visitor ‘red dots’ which shows their basic location in the world.
By clicking on the above link you will be taken to our new map, and see the national flag of each visitor.
Animal abuse is very hard on all involved; but we try to look forward to working with others to make this (currently very disturbed world) a better place for all; so we try to live forward looking, and don’t look back in anger.
Currently we have tried many ways to present petitions to the Chinese Ambassadors. With every message we send we are being completely ignored. We have attempted to get contacts via UK politicians, the UK Foreign Office and UK and German Ambassadors in China.
Everything we have tried has just been ignored.
The petitions thus continue, until we do find a way to formally present the petitions.
At the moment we are planning our next move about this. Please stay tuned.
Mark and Diana.
Did you know that India is the largest milk producer in the world and one of the leading exporters of beef and leather? And at the same time, the animal welfare guidelines in India are enormously low. Undercover investigations by Animal Equality reveal serious abuses of cattle and calves in Indian dairy farms, slaughterhouses and animal markets. Germany also plays an important role in this, as our country is the second most important sales market for leather from India.
We call on the Indian government to implement stricter animal welfare guidelines and end the cruel practices.
We have contacted the Ambassador of the Republic of India to Germany, Harish Parvathaneni, several times to personally hand over the voices of citizens against animal suffering to him.
Unfortunately, our requests went unanswered and the embassy refused to accept our petition signatures.
Nevertheless, on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, we protested with posters in front of the Indian mission abroad to educate employees and passers-by about the suffering of cattle. With our team in India, we will continue to work to improve animal welfare guidelines on farms and animal markets.
Undercover Investigations Show Cruel Abuse
In India, the image of the “sacred” cow prevails, but the reality for Indian cattle and calves in dairy farms, slaughterhouses and animal markets often means massive violence, as our undercover research shows. In order to move cattle, they are beaten with sticks and chains by the workers and stabbed in the genitals.
The animals’ tails are broken and chili is rubbed into their eyes. Footage from the slaughterhouses documents how cattle and buffalo are beaten to the head with hammer blows and how the animals’ throats are often cut several times if the first stab is not fatal.
It is best not to wear or eat animal products at all. In this way, you can reduce animal suffering every day. You can find great inspiration for a variety of plants on your plate on Love Veg
An estimated 1.5 million rabbits are kept as pets in the UK, but many owners and veterinarians have little experience with caring for the species. Rabbit Welfare works to educate the public, veterinarians and legislators about the need for better understanding, protections and care for rabbits.
We interviewed Rae Walters, CEO, to find out more about the organisation’s work.
Tell us a bit about Rabbit Welfare and its main battles?
We are focussed only on rabbits that are kept as companions, not those who are farmed, or used in science, but there is still so much work to do. We are based in the UK, where rabbits are the third most popular pet, but still so misunderstood and mistreated. We have welfare problems relating to so many areas, the main ones being:
Rabbits are often thought of as a cheap and easy pet, but have a lifespan of 10-12 years. Most only live to be 5 years old because they are not properly cared for .
Rabbits are hugely misunderstood and many are kept alone, with inadequate housing, a poor diet, and lack of vet care.
Pet suppliers typically sell unsuitable housing and give incorrect care advice.
There has been a boom in unregulated internet sales.
The number of abandonments is thought to be the worst in over 25 years, at an estimated 100,000 animals every year.
There is a lack of protection in legislation, and where it does exist, it is not enforced properly. Legislation needs to be improved so that rabbits have the same protection as other companion animals like dogs and cats.
What about you? Tell us a bit more about your role within Rabbit Welfare and why you joined.
I have been involved with the RWAF for over 25 years ! I joined first as a member in 1997, then offered to help at local events giving advice, and manning the helpline on a regular basis. I became a Trustee the following year. We knew we needed to attend as many meetings and get as involved in as many things as we could because we need to raise the profile of rabbits, and that is still the case today. So I started to attend meetings and my role grew and grew. It is now a full time job! I work on the strategy to improve rabbit welfare, as well as the admin, and run the rabbit friendly vet directory.
Richard Saunders BSc (Hons) BVSc MSB CBiol DZooMed (Mammalian) MRCVS. He works with me on all of the strategic stuff and assesses all of the rabbit friendly vet applications. He has been part of the team since 2010, and we are very fortunate to have him.
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When did Rabbit Welfare join Eurogroup for Animals and why?
RWAF joined Eurogroup for Animals in 2023. We had three reasons for joining
to keep in touch with like minded organisations in Europe after Brexit
as a relatively new and small organisation we felt as if we could learn from the Eurogroup for Animals network and see how it is working for change
to raise the profile of companion rabbits with the hope that they would be included in future legilslation
What were Rabbit Welfare’s main achievements in 2023?
Rescue crisis
We launched an urgent appeal for people to support our breeding amnesty and sign our petition to demand government action to make rabbit breeders require the same licensing as dog breeders.
Anyone is legally allowed to breed and sell rabbits. This results in uneducated and inexperienced rabbit owners having multiple litters which they can’t look after and are too many to sell to responsible pet owners.
We believe that a change in legislation would mean an immediate improvement in the welfare of rabbits being sold, and a subsequent drop in the number of rabbits being abandoned or dumped.
Our breeding amnesty campaign calls for:
An immediate pause in the breeding of rabbits.
Retailers to stop selling rabbits.
Classified sites to stop allowing adverts for baby rabbits.
Members of the public to support rescue and “adopt don’t shop”.
We had a great deal of support for the amnesty. The RSPCA, Blue Cross, Raystede Centre for Animal Welfare, Wood Green Pets Charity and Burgess Pet Care were all behind it. It was also supported by Gumtree and Preloved who both suspended adverts for new baby rabbits over the Easter 2023 period. This was a great start to the campaign and something we will build on for 2024.
Educating and supporting rabbit owners is key to improving welfare
Our free helpline is open to everyone, from rabbit owners to concerned neighbours alike. In 2023 the helpline received around 2,000 phone calls.
Every 12-18 months we print 50,000 of our comprehensive rabbit care booklet: On the Hop. These are sent to vet practices and rescues, given out at shows and events, and sold on our website. On the Hop is also available as a free download.
The ‘Good Practice Codes for the Welfare of Pet Rabbits in England’ was launched in 2021 and revised and relaunched in 2023. We were instrumental in this and have sent a link to as many businesses and local authorities as possible. We are also pushing Defra to adopt the Codes.
Farm parks, petting zoos and animal encounters
In our experience, the majority of these places do not care for their rabbits properly, and often allow handling sessions for children which is extremely stressful for the rabbits. We have written to every farm park, petting zoo and animal encounter in England to share the updated Codes of Practice and try to make changes.
We have had some great feedback from this, with some asking for more information, asking us to give lectures, and send On the Hop booklets for visitors.
Unlicensed breeders
For the last seven years we have had the benefit of the brilliance of Mark, our Welfare Officer, who investigates and reports unlicensed breeders. Unfortunately, despite providing local authorities with a comprehensive dossier of evidence each time, we can probably count on one hand the number of breeders that have been investigated and licensed as a result. This is another example of the system not working and why we want all breeders and sellers to be licensed.
Not all vets are rabbit savvy
Because of their complex care needs, rabbits are classed as an exotic pet, which is a surprise to many owners. Whilst in training, vets spend a worryingly little amount of time learning about rabbits. This does vary between vet schools, but to become rabbit savvy, it means the vet has to go out of their way to do more training and continual professional development (CPD) on rabbits. We have a rabbit friendly vet list on our website and a big part of our resources are dedicated to keeping the list online and up to date.
In 2023 we ran CPD courses free of charge and hosted three webinars on The Webinar Vet. This was at a cost to us of around £9000, but we had almost 3000 views in over 65 countries! This will make a difference to many practices and improve the outcomes for many pet rabbits.
Local Authorities are supposed to enforce the legislation that does exist to protect rabbits. We report many cases a year where for example a farm park has poor welfare. Sadly the results are usually disappointing. Local authorities have limited resources, and priorities mean they do not enforce the legislation. Different authorities can also have very different approaches, which we think should be standardised. In 2024 we aim to produce a pack for anyone who works with rabbits so they can see which legislation applies to them. This will provide clarity and should help with enforcement.
Brachycephalic (flat faced) breeds
This is a huge area of concern because brachy rabbits suffer many health problems. We are working with other organisations to try and make a change here but it is a long, hard process. Internally we have stopped using any images of brachy breeds on our website, magazine and marketing because we need to stop normalising these breeds and the health problems they suffer from.
How can the public act for Rabbit Welfare?
We would love for everyone to add their signature to our petition to amend legislation to ensure rabbit breeders require the same licensing as dog breeders. We’re close to 100,000 signatures!
Leicestershire Wildlife Hospital in the UK shared a post on Facebook on an injured pigeon it received that had been dyed pink. A spokesperson urged people to “think before you follow these social media trends”.
“The pigeon was most likely used for a gender reveal party and is absolutely shocking,” they added. “It has become a horrendous trend and we are urging you to spread the message about the effects that this can have. Quite simply, it is an act of cruelty and is no way to celebrate the gender of your baby.”
The spokesperson said that the dye made the birds an easier target for predators, while toxins could cause them to become unwell if swallowed or inhaled. They added that due to the birds being bred in captivity, it was likely they also had no sense of how to survive in the wild.
“This pigeon sadly didn’t make it, he was incredibly malnourished, dehydrated and had significant wounds caused by the cat,” they added.
“The sentence reflects Korean society’s increasing concern for animal welfare and intolerance for senseless cruelty such as this,” said Borami Seo, a director of the South Korea office of the Humane Society International.
“This cruelty case also emphasizes the importance of passing the Civil Act amendment that will legally recognize animals as living beings and further strengthen their protection in law,” Seo added.
A local business owner in Oklahoma walked outside her establishment one day to find a horrific sight: a dead puppy was lying outside.
After she called local authorities, they discovered security video footage showing exactly what had happened. It started when a man appeared, dragging the small dog by its back legs up the street, scraping the poor thing’s nose along the pavement. <https://www.care2.com/go/z/e/A0guo/zYC./d2EQY>
After he dropped the animal on the curb, that’s when the beating started. The man repeatedly punched, kicked, and stomped on the puppy. Finally, he picked the limp animal up and threw it on the ground, before walking away. After so much violence and trauma, the puppy passed away from its injuries.
The man’s ex-girlfriend ultimately identified him from the footage and turned him into the police, sharing that he had been abusive to her and her own puppy. This demonstrates the clear link between cruelty to animals and domestic violence.
Authorities have since arrested the man, but it’s clear he needs intensive psychological counselling to address his rage and violence. Sign the petition to demand authorities ban him from ever owning or living with animals again, and also mandate therapy sessions! <https://www.care2.com/go/z/e/A0guo/zYC./d2EQY> <https://www.care2.com/go/z/e/A0guo/zYC./d2EQY>
P.S. A man dragged an innocent puppy along the street, beat and kicked it, then threw it on the ground before walking away. Sign the petition to ask officials to intervene now. <https://www.care2.com/go/z/e/A0guo/zYC./d2EQY>
From left to right: MEPS Francisco Guerreiro, Tilly Metz, Caroline Roose, Sirpa Pietikäinen, Senior Political Advisor at Eurogroup for Animals Andreas Erler and IFAW Representative Filip Molnár
Candidate MEPs take the Vote for Animals pledge
25 April 2024
Press Release
MEPs of the Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of Animals celebrated their achievements for the last legislative term, while candidates for the next one pledged to continue to advocate for better protection of all animals at the EU level.
The Intergroup, which met for the last session for this term, brings together 94 MEPs from across all political groups, and provides a cross-party platform for discussions and initiatives on animal welfare in the European Parliament (EP). For the past four decades, it has been a crucial catalyst for action on this front.
Some of the noteworthy achievements of this term include:
The set-up of a Committee of Inquiry on the Protection of Animals during Transport (ANIT), which pushed for the revision of the outdated Regulation on animal transport.
The resolution on actions to accelerate a transition to non-animal science.
The working group on the ECI End the Cage Age, which contributed to get a resolution in the EP and a subsequent European Commission (EC) commitment.
The adoption of a resolution on improving Regulations on wild and exotic animals to be kept as pets in the EU, through a positive list.
The support for a campaign calling for an EU commissioner on animal welfare.
A working group on companion animals.
During her intervention, President of the Intergroup Tilly Metz said that the Intergroup has continuously made animal welfare visible in the EP, through reports, working groups, resolutions and parliamentary questions. She expressed her disappointment at the EC’s failure to put forward a full package of proposals to update the EU animal welfare legislation, despite continuous pressure by members of the Intergroup and animal protection NGOs.
In the run-up to the European Elections in June, candidate MEPs are taking a pledge stating a clear commitment to strive to improve animal welfare if they are elected, through the Vote for Animals campaign, run by Eurogroup for Animals and its members. The pledge, composed of ten asks, addresses live animal transport, imports of animal-based products, welfare of aquatic species, non-animal science and the conservation of wild animals, among others.
These were five intense years of fighting for better animal welfare. We have seen overwhelming civil mobilisation, which shows the willingness of EU citizens to better protect animals at an EU level. We need legislation that protects all animals, including aquatic ones, which are currently unprotected. We have yet to see a ban on cages, on fur farms, and fur products in the EU market,
MEP Caroline Roose (Greens/EFA, FR), Vice President of the Intergroup
Without the civil society – the ECIs, campaigns and other initiatives – we wouldn’t have been so strong. We require species-specific legislation, for example for octopus, and other animals which are unprotected. We must continue to bring animal welfare on the table in important discussions,
MEP Sirpa Pietikäinen, (EPP, FI) Honorary President of the Intergroup
As 300 million animals continue to suffer in cages, we need the European Commission to deliver on the End the Cage Age ECI. We need to push for a roadmap for a transition to non-animal science, and a ban on the transport of vulnerable animals
MEP Niels Fuglsang (S&D, DK), Vice-President of the Intergroup
To you, and to the average citizen, running over coyotes and wolves with a snowmobile sounds inhumane, barbaric, and just plain cruel. But unfortunately, this practice is legal in Wyoming and Idaho (wolves and coyotes), and Montana (just coyotes), where wildlife policy is stacked against wild carnivores.
If wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountains received the federal Endangered Species Act protections they deserve, Cody Roberts wouldn’t have felt emboldened to commit the heinous act of running over a yearling wolf before further torturing her in a bar and finally killing her.
Unfortunately, even if wolves are relisted to the Endangered Species Act (which is essential to prevent decades of conservation work from being undone, and why we’re suing the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service), it would still be legal to run over coyotes with snowmobiles and other motorized vehicles. Therefore, we’ve joined the Center for Biological Diversity and other groups in calling on the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to ban the use of snowmobiles or other vehicles to run down wolves and other wildlife.
This practice is utterly barbaric, and one would think that banning it would be straightforward. However, both Wyoming and Montana had the opportunity to prohibit this practice in 2019 and FAILED to do so.
It’s high time to hold wildlife policymakers accountable. They are failing wildlife. They are failing all of us. Thank you for standing with us to show Wyoming, and the rest of the country, that we will not allow wolves, coyotes, or any wild animals to be legally tortured. Last week, the Wyoming Fish and Game Commission convened and heard impassioned testimony from wildlife advocates across the country regarding the disturbing Cody Roberts’ incident.
Many individuals urged the Commission to support a ban of “whacking.” We MUST continue this call to end egregious practices like “whacking” and create a more compassionate world where wolves are safe from all persecution and inhumane practices and policies. Stay loud and join us in demanding justice and stronger protections for wolves, coyotes, and all wild carnivores. Here’s how you can create a safer future for wild lives:
If you haven’t already, sign this change.org petition calling on Sublette County officials to bring more severe charges against Cody Roberts.
Contact Wyoming State officials urging harsher punishments for Cody Roberts and strengthened protections for Wyoming wolves and coyotes—including banning “whacking.” Please remember to be polite and respectful in your comment. Call 307-777-7434 for Governor Mark Gordon Call 307-777-4600 for WY Game & Fish Department Director Brian Nesvick
Sample script:
olf & coyote “whacking.” The use of snowmobiles and other motorized vehicles to chase and down and kill wolves and coyotes goes far beyond practices of fair-chase and is purely cruel and inhuman; it must end. Please take action to ensure this never happens again. Thank you. Support our efforts to sue USFWS over their negligence in not relisting Northern Rocky Mountain wolves to the Endangered Species Act and our ongoing litigation in Montana in defense of wolves by donating today or monthly. It’s high time to hold wildlife policymakers accountable. They are failing wildlife. They are failing all of us. Thank you for standing with us to show Wyoming, and the rest of the country, that we will not allow wolves, coyotes, or any wild animals to be legally tortured.
For The Wild Ones, Carnivore Conservation Director
U.S. health and agriculture officials are ramping up testing and tracking of bird flu in dairy cows in an urgent effort to understand — and stop — the growing outbreak.
So far, the risk to humans remains low, officials said, but scientists are wary that the virus could change to spread more easily among people.
In putting together posts for WAV, you learn quite a lot.
One thing that has been interesting me lately is the issue of children who abuse animals during their childhood have been shown (by lots of research) to often progress more into domestic offenders, sexual offenders, women beaters / abusers, and serial killers and murderers of humans.
Unfortunately, in the past this link between the two has been largely overlooked by persons in authority; ie. those who can make a difference; when in fact, realisation, earlier intervention and acceptance of ‘something (weirder) being there’ by these very same may in some cases have stopped things getting more out of hand.
Obviously; not every person who abuses animals has committed or will commit other crimes. But harming people is statistically more likely when animal cruelty is previously involved. So, animal cruelty must be taken seriously.
Kip Kinkel, before his attack on Thurston High School parents and students, blew up cows and decapitated cats.
Luke Woodham, who murdered his mother and two schoolmates at Pearl High School, wrote in his journal about setting his dog Sparkle on fire.
“Animal abuse is often the first sign of serious disturbance among adolescent and adult killers,” Gail F. Melson, professor emerita of developmental studies at Purdue University, wrote in Psychology Today.
Domestic violence survivors have reported in studies that their abusers threatened to kill, torture, or otherwise harm their companion animals — or actually followed through on the threats — to prevent them from leaving their abusive situations.
88% of families surveyed that had incidents of child abuse also had incidents of animal abuse.
63% of children entering shelters admitted to incidents of pet abuse in their families.
More than 80% of families being treated for child abuse reported animal abuse in their homes.
Engaging in sex with animals is actually legal in four states — Wyoming, Hawaii, New Mexico, and West Virginia — and the District of Columbia. In more than 20 states, bestiality (sex with an animal) is only a misdemeanor crime.
Jeffrey Dahmer, the “Milwaukee cannibal” who dismembered 17 people three decades ago had first practiced his butchery by cutting up dogs and cats and impaling their heads on sticks.
Ian Brady, the (UK) Moors murderer who tortured and killed five children in the 1960s, boasted of killing his first cat when he was just 10, and went on to burn another cat alive, stone dogs and cut off rabbits’ heads before going on to target people.
Robert Thompson and Jon Venables (UK) would shoot pigeons with air rifles and tie rabbits to railway lines to watch them be run over – until in 1993 they killed toddler James Bulger.
Many infamous serial killers harmed animals when they were children, including Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, Gary Ridgeway, John Wayne Gacy, and the Boston Strangler. It’s long been a popularly held belief that children who are abusive toward animals are serial killers in the making.
If there is a trait in the triad that’s especially concerning, it may be animal abuse.This behaviour is a well-established early indicator of future assault, murder, rape, partner abuse and child abuse. Again, not all kids who harm animals will go on to hurt people — but some will.
Research has revealed that 25 percent of aggressive inmates had committed multiple acts of animal abuse as children. Forty-five percent of school shooters had histories of alleged animal cruelty, and 21 percent of serial murderers admitted to childhood animal abuse.
Psychologists point to harming animals as proof of a lack of empathy. Such behavior also indicates a propensity towards aggression. While there isn’t any hard data claiming the percentage of infamous offenders who began their career of pain by hurting animals, many believe that this is a serious warning sign.
Many of these offenders have admitted that harming animals was the first time they realized that they liked to cause suffering and, in fact, wanted to hurt people. Often neighborhood cats, dogs, and even crabs were the earliest victims of these menacing childhood “games,” which often led to painful demises. One notorious offender even began targeting animals after seeing his father do the same.
“This is a worrying development, but no surprise really. It reinforces what was said earlier, that youthful individuals engaging in animal abuse pose a high threat to Humans in adult life. A taste for cruelty developed in early life, and at a time when a personality is impressionable and as yet to be formed, tends to take firm hold, and influence a person’s conduct in later life”.
“This is why the activity of these “Cat Torture Rings” is so dangerous, and must be dealt with severely – they must be destroyed wherever they are found. Once and for all”.
“Young kids of school age appear to be the primary members of many of these groups. As we have said before, and it is shown many times over, people often start as animal killers and then move on to being human killers. SO WHAT IS CHINA ACTUALLY DOING ABOUT THIS ? – Very little it appears”.
Further, here in the UK, and again as published on this (WAV) site recently:
“It is getting worrying now – animals killers go on to kill humans”. FACT
“Children using catapults to kill and torture animals before sharing ‘sick’ images on WhatsApp”.
“A Sky News investigation finds hundreds of members of catapult groups on WhatsApp, where pictures and videos of animals killed or injured with the weapons are shared”.
“The youngsters – including some of primary school age – have been sharing footage and photos of their kills in groups on the messaging app.
In some videos, injured animals are shown dying slowly after being shot with hand-held catapults.
Sky News has discovered 489 members – including young children, teenagers and some young adults – across 11 catapult groups on WhatsApp”.
“In one video shared on a group, a deer lies twitching on the ground, severely injured with a head wound, having just been shot with a catapult by a child.
The young person who attacked the deer then stands over the animal while bringing a hand-held catapult in front of the camera for viewers to see”.
We say that the written word is mightier than the gun. Here we attempt to let the written word speak.
How many videosare uploaded toYouTube every day? Around 3.7m new videos are uploaded to YouTube every day – that’s around 271,330 hours of video content based on an average length of 4.4 minutes.
Over 1 billion messages are sent on WhatsApp every day.
Call me a liar for sure if you wish; but I suggest that neither YouTube, WhatsApp or Tik Tok, despite what they say, have any real control over what is published daily on their sites.
Or, by showing and allowing such communications, are we saying that WhatsApp are perfectly supportive of animal abuse and cruelty being shown on their site ?
Sky News has discovered nearly 500 members of catapult groups on WhatsApp, in which more than 350 photos and videos have been shared of animals that have been killed or wounded with the weapons.
They will say they don’t condone animal abuse – so the question is, why are they allowing it to be shown by such groups on their sites ?
Organisations such as these have a massive responsibility to control what is being shown on their sites. As said, with the huge quantities of uploads each day it is just not physically possible to control what is going on. So what is the driving force with these which allow this uncontrolled mass relay of abusive data to be beamed around the globe each day ? – can I suggest ‘money’ ?
Until we see more action by CEO’s etc of these organisations to actually do as they preach – that is taking action and taking down such sites; are we moving each day to a more frenzied; anti social; abusive; don’t give a damn as long as I get ‘likes’ situation. When will these sites be just as abusive as the dark web in allowing footage that currently shows kittens having screws driven into their eye sockets and their nostrils as the norm ?
Through these sites, how many additional animal abusers and human killers are going to be matured into further grievous action ?
These sites should have a responsibility; one of taking action to remove data which breeds killing and abuse. I do not see it; thus I close by saying; “through these sites the world is becoming amore abusive and harmful to both animals and humans each and every day. CEO’s, it is over to you to take action, and ACT NOW !”
Today, 24th April, is the World Day for Lab Animals.
24 April 2024
Every year on 24 April, World Day for Animals in Laboratories serves as a stark reminder of the millions of animals used in scientific research around the globe. At present, we are faced with a critical decision: whether to perpetuate existing policies that neither incentivise the development and uptake of innovative non-animal technologies nor lead to significant reductions in the number of animals used for scientific purposes, or to implement coordinated and concrete policies and mechanisms that empower stakeholders to embrace non-animal technologies.
In response to growing calls from Members of the European Parliament, EU agencies, citizens, academia and industry for a transition towards more biologically-relevant non-animal approaches, the European Commission took action in 2023. It committed to develop a roadmapto phase out the use of animals for chemical safety assessment, and to explore the possibility of a European Research Area (ERA) action to accelerate the development, validation and uptake of non-animal approaches in biomedical research and testing of pharmaceuticals.
These two initiatives represent significant opportunities to establish the necessary policies and mechanisms at EU level to accelerate the transition to non-animal science. The roadmap will serve as a framework for coordinating concrete actions to move away from animal testing in the context of the EU chemicals legislation. In doing so, it will set a precedent for other policy areas that still rely on the use of animals.
An ERA action has the potential to foster increased collaboration and coordination between Member States, and to identify specific areas where animal use can be avoided and where investments should be directed to advance non-animal technologies. It can also improve access to essential infrastructure for non-animal research, and facilitate the development of harmonised education and training programmes. This will ensure that students, educators, researchers and regulators are equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to effectively advance innovative non-animal approaches to address scientific challenges.
Eurogroup for Animals and its member organisations call on all stakeholders, including policy makers, scientists, industry, regulators and funders, to join forces to develop and implement forward-looking policies and mechanisms in order to move towards a future where humans, animals and the environment are better protected.
Today, we also take the opportunity to shine a spotlight on the recent achievements of several of our member organisations in advancing human-based science:
LAV is currently involved in legal proceedings against a contract research organisation in Italy which carries out tests on animals, including dogs and non-human primates. Following complaints from LAV, the Italian authorities carried out an inspection which revealed numerous irregularities. As a result, the former director and veterinarian were charged with mistreatment and unnecessary killing. The authorities seized all the dogs and non-human primates.
Doctors Against Animal Experiments (DAAE) engaged with 800 political decision-makers to request the correct transposition of Directive 2010/63/EU on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes into German law. Furthermore, DAAE granted two Herbert Stiller Research Prizes to advance animal-free research.
The RSPCA ran an event with the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) to discuss steps that the industry is taking to avoid, replace and reduce animal use, and opportunities for further progress. The RSPCA also launched their AWERB Directory, collating key resources to help institutional Animal Welfare (and Ethical Review) Bodies effectively challenge whether and how animals are used in research and testing. Furthermore, the RSPCA organised its third annual Focus on Fish event to share knowledge and ideas for reducing the suffering and improving the welfare of fishes used in science, as well as their fifth international meeting promoting practical approaches for avoiding and reducing ‘severe’ suffering.
GAIA contacted the Brussels and Walloon Ministers for Animal Welfare to encourage the establishment and implementation of an action plan to replace and reduce animal testing, similar to the Flemish Action Plan, in their respective regions. In its response, the Brussels Minister announced that a five-year strategy to reduce animal experimentation will be included in the Brussels Animal Welfare Code.
Djurens Rätt submitted 27,847 signatures to urge the Swedish government to reinstate dedicated funding for the Swedish 3R Centre.
Humanimal Trust published an updated edition of Humanimal, a children’s book focusing on the similarities between humans and animals. Moreover, Humanimal Trust also launched the First Global Creative Awards for children and young minds in order to captivate a broad audience with the concept of One Medicine via creative media, as well as online One Medicine Webinar series showcasing where collaboration between human and veterinary medical professionals can deliver better health for all species.
Menschen für Tierrechte (People for Animal Rights Germany, PARG) joined forces with the Berlin Greens to make “Animal-free Research Methods Development” a mandatory component of all relevant undergraduate courses offered at universities in Berlin. In addition, PARG also published an extensive University Guide that provides comprehensive information for studying life science subjects without the use of animals. PARG’s initiative “Exit from Animal Testing. NOW!” lead a government action plan and a commitment of two million euros for the development of a strategy aimed at reducing animal testing.
Animalfree Research launched a petition calling on the Swiss Parliament and the Federal Council to make a binding commitment and establish a concrete plan to gradually phase out harmful animal experiments, and take measures to systematically evaluate the benefits of state-funded research involving animal experiments and publish these results on a regular basis. Furthermore, Animalfree Research organised a forum on advancing personalised medicine with animal-free research.
Footage recorded at a python farm in Thailand has revealed that pythons are fed chicks before they are violently killed to make snakeskin accessories.
PETA Asia’s investigation into a facility with ties to Gucci’s parent company, Kering, shows that chicks are attached to sausages so that pythons will eat meat they otherwise wouldn’t consume.
Workers then pin the struggling pythons down, bash them on the head with a hammer, and drive metal hooks through their skull. Lastly, the snakes are inflated with water and skinned, all in the name of fashion.
Please ask Kering to stop selling snakes’ skin through Gucci or its other brands:
Tell Kering to Cut Ties With Cold-Blooded Snake Slaughter
A yearlong PETA Asia investigation into two python farms that supply skins to Caravel – a tannery owned by Kering, whose brands include Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent – revealed cold-blooded treatment of snakes. Workers pinned struggling pythons down by the neck and bashed them over the head with a hammer before driving metal hooks through their head. The snakes were inflated with water, even as their bodies continued to move, and skinned. Please take action for snakes by urging Kering to drop exotic skins now.
Pythons Bashed With Hammers, Impaled With Hooks
The investigators documented that workers pin struggling pythons down by the neck and bash them over the head with a hammer before driving metal hooks through their head. To make their skins easier to remove, workers inflate the snakes with water, even as they continue to move. According to Dr Clifford Warwick, a reptile expert who reviewed the video footage, it’s likely that most of the animals were conscious during this horrifically painful process. The snakes were then skinned.
CCBI’s owner claimed that his workers put pythons in a chilled room for one day before slaughtering them, but there’s no scientific evidence that imposed hypothermia (intentionally causing a reduction in core temperature) has any meaningful effect on reducing sensitivity or awareness in snakes.
According to the owner, at the time of the investigation, CCBI confined some 15,000 pythons at a massive factory-farm operation – one of the largest that PETA Asia has investigated. It slaughters approximately 2,000 snakes during its busy season, typically killing 20 to 30 pythons a day. The owner told an investigator about the farm’s contract with Caravel to supply it with 5,000 skins in 2024.
Kering’s Complicity in Snakes’ Suffering
Despite indisputable documentation of abuse at facilities that supply Kering with exotic skins – including PETA Asia’s 2021 investigation into an Indonesian slaughterhouse that provides Gucci with lizard skins – the company continues to tout its Animal Welfare Standards, which specify that animals must have “room to move around freely” and be “managed to promote good health and treated immediately should disease or injury be discovered”. The standards also require “humane handling at end of life”. Claims of upholding these standards were proved false by PETA Asia’s investigations.
Foxes are true survivors, at home in all regions of the Earth. Nowadays, the smart animals also feel at home in our cities. As an example, a close-knit clan has been living in Berlin’s government district for many years. High up in the North on the German coast, a vixen raises her litter alone. Rarely is there enough to feed everyone. Like after a storm, for example, when the vixen finds a lot to eat in the drift line on the beach. The little ones have to grow up fast, as once the autumn arrives, their single parent mother’s reserves are exhausted and she drives them out of her territory. For more than two years, filmmakers Roland Gockel and Rosie Koch kept track of the foxes in Berlin, Hamburg and on the North German coast. With the help of hidden cameras, they were able to unearth many secrets of the clever animals.
Without an arrest, investigators fear the still-at-large suspect will continue to torture animals, and potentially one day people. Cops and animal officials’ investigation, as of writing, remains ongoing
‘It’s important that these individuals are identified because usually these things progress,’ said Gary.
Animals went missing, died and suffered disease because of continued failings at a zoo once dubbed “the worst in the UK”, campaigners say.
An “emaciated” meerkat struggled to find enough food, bear cages were left uncleaned for too long and a baby kangaroo drowned at Cumbria Safari Zoo, it was claimed.
Other kangaroos were thought to have a disease and lemurs were injured because their “overcrowded” enclosures caused aggression, according to Freedom for Animals.
An activist for the animal-rights organisation who posed as a volunteer helper at the zoo for nearly a year found what they said was a “shocking” string of animal-welfare guideline violations, including “appalling” conditions, mistreatment and neglect.
Bosses at the zoo near Dalton, which is thought to house about 1,000 animals, insist they have no concerns over the work of their vets, who are “unrivalled” in their field. They also claim much of the video “pieces together snapshots in time, many pre-dating” their running of this zoo.
Four years later, a council report revealed 486 animals had died between 2013 and 2016.
Barrow Council refused to renew the zoo’s licence after inspectors raised concerns, but a firm formed by the staff took over managing the site and the council granted Cumbria Zoo Company Ltd a licence.
Now Freedom for Animals, which carried out a fresh investigation, says nothing has changed, despite the change of ownership.
The group claims a missing baby kangaroo was found drowned in a lake – described as “an unforgivable fatality that could have been avoided”.
A keeper was secretly captured on film talking of how one kangaroo had died, possibly of “lumpy jaw”, a bacterial disease linked to stress, poor diet or faecal contamination at feeding stations.
The campaigner investigating also filmed an “emaciated meerkat struggling to find food and warmth in its enclosure”, and its tail appeared injured.
Meerkats in pens that were said to be cold and draughty were filmed huddling together under heat lamps for warmth.
It was too difficult to get Andean bears out of their enclosure to clean it, another worker was recorded saying, and they added: “We’re trying to do it every other day because this pair are a pain in the arse.”
As a result, the cages – shared by lemurs – got dirty with waste very quickly, it was claimed.
And in one case mouldy food in those cages was left rotting, the footage suggested.
According to one keeper, a lemur was presumed to have frozen to death after failing to return indoors overnight.
Lemur mothers often abandoned their babies, while overcrowding caused by aggression led some to attack others, keepers were recorded admitting.
Some suffered injuries that required stitches, and one keeper said: “They’ve got big teeth so they do a fair bit of damage to each other.”
Freedom for Animals questioned why the zoo was still breeding them in an “already overcrowded environment that is clearly causing significant illness and injury”.
One lemur, called Bruce, vanished regularly, the campaigner said, after filming a keeper hunting in trees for the animal. A keeper said another lemur found dead “had stuff on his liver”.
Footage showed visitors feeding a giraffe on what the activists said was more than 300 pieces of carrot – a high-sugar food not in the animal’s natural diet. The giraffe was later filmed twisting its neck unnaturally.
Carrot-feeding is arranged twice a day, every day, according to the investigators.
It was also claimed flood damage to an electric fence left baboons, who normally spend most time outdoors, locked inside for almost five days.
The undercover investigator said one keeper told how the baboons’ housing was so “grim” that the animals chewed at the wooden walls.
The council, which issues zoo licences, has previously raised some of the concerns.
Freedom for Animals wants all the animals moved to sanctuaries.
“It is appalling that animals in this country are being treated this way and is a gross breach of the Animal Welfare Act and the Zoo Licensing Act,” a spokesperson said.
Karen Brewer, chief executive of Cumbria Zoo Company Limited, said: “The organisation making these allegations is anti-captivity by nature. We continue to welcome feedback, advice and guidance from those qualified to comment on the way in which the zoo is run.
“We are aware of a video now in circulation that pieces together snapshots in time, many pre-dating our running of this zoo, as do many ‘facts’ that surface in these reports.
“We have no concerns over the standard of veterinary care given to the animals who reside with us. Our veterinary team are internationally recognised and unrivalled in their field.”
The Independent has asked Barrow Council to comment.
25 animals, including dogs and primates, were rescued from a research facility in Verona where serious mistreatment of animals was discovered. The facility, which carries out animal testing on behalf of international pharmaceutical companies, is being charged with the neglect and unlawful killing of animals including beagles, marmosets and macaques.
The Court of Verona has brought forward charges against officials of the multinational pharmaceutical research company Aptuit, for the mistreatment and unnecessary killing of animals in the facility. The veterinarian and the company’s former president have been included in the register of suspects.
The prosecutors asserted that the company failed to comply with even the minimum criteria of animal management required by law, resulting in serious physical and psychological damage to the animals. These charges can lead to a fine of up to 30 000 € and imprisonment of up to 18 months.
Within this laboratory, thousands of dogs and monkeys were subject to injections, withdrawals and toxicity tests that lead to agonising deaths in deplorable conditions. The animals lacked fundamental necessities such as kennels, left on cold tile floors with no sunlight.
Due to the ongoing legal case, full details about the mistreatment are yet to be released.
A report released by LAV three years ago highlighted a shipment of several beagles to the Aptuit Company, which led to national demonstrations and demands for an official inspection. Following continuous pressure, 25 animals were rescued and appointed to LAV’s care after the Public Prosecutor’s Office ordered an inspection of the facility.
The 7 beagles are now cared for by competent staff in veterinary clinics. The primates, 7 macaques and 11 marmosets, have found refuge at the Animanatura Wild Sanctuary Rescue Centre in Semproniano, who are rehabilitating over 50 primates rescued from laboratories, aiding their recovery from years of physical and psychological trauma.
This seizure of animals from a laboratory represents the largest of its kind in Italy.
If these very serious irregularities were found in what is considered ‘excellence’ in pharmaceutical research, what is happening now, at this very moment, in the more than 500 Italian laboratories? We trust the authorities and hope that this is the beginning of a process that will discover what has been hidden until now.
Gianluca Felicetti, LAV
My wish is that for the time they have left to live, they can live in complete serenity, doing what they were born to do, which is simply to be animals.
Lorenza Zanaboni, LAV
LAV are calling for signatures of their petitionasking the Italian Minister of Universities and Research to finance non-animal methods, speeding up the transition away from animal testing.
We have cracked the 10,000 mark for the petition in Germany now – 10,077 to be exact. – thank you to everyone who made this possible!!
Unfortunately, we have nothing positive to report from China – our colleagues on the ground continue to report cases of extreme violence to us. Cat feeding stations in towns are now also being targeted – footage (as these are equipped with cameras) from last week shows a person taking cat body parts from a garbage bag and throwing them into the food area.
Unfortunately, actions like these are often acts of revenge for the pressure that the members of these cat torture groups have come to feel through the protests, online actions and publicity of their involvement.
Very good news – At least two parties involved have now been rejected by Chinese universities on the basis of their involvement in these machinations.
Thus, the “problem” is known, and our work is yielding cautious success.
We have to stay tuned!!
—————————————
At this very moment we are in the final stages of completing a Press Release (PR) ready to go out to any press and media in the world over the coming weeks.
We are covering who we are, what we are doing re the Chinese cat torture campaign work; and making a special point that in both England and Germany, we are unable (at this present time) to obtain Chinese Ambassador e mails in order that we can forward electronic copies of the petitions; which would include peoples comments.
Also, there will be several images (as those above) and information taken from these perverted sites so the press and media will know of and see the exact types of torture and suffering we are dealing with.
You would think that in order to cut down on the huge negative publicity they are getting from all of this, the Chinese authorities would contact us and give details of where we can send our petitions; effectively wrapping the petitions up. But no, they don’t; so we continue with the petitions; building on a huge global audience who are now aware of what is being done in the name of China. We don’t mind; every day is extra publicity for us to show the terrible suffering animals are enduring.
If it was not for the work of several groups and the pressures they are now putting on this issue; the fate of the tormented animals would have remained veiled in secrecy by these demented perverts – but now the torment and suffering has already gone global; and will continue to reach out to nations even more until the Chinese authorities both take action to prosecute the perpetrators; shut down these sites (with proof); and probably most importantly, introduce Chinese national legislation (law) which will prevent actions such as we no witness by providing animals in China with a legal voice.
We in the WAV Camp are determined; as are many others, to continue until we get positive results as said about above. The tortured animals no longer suffer in silence; yes sadly, they still suffer terribly, but the positive is now the world is being shown what is happening in China and elsewhere by these perverts.
As Diana says above, we know for sure that at least two parties involved in these tortures have now been rejected by Chinese universities on the basis of their involvement in these machinations.
For us that is a big positive; hopefully with continuing exposure it will increase.
Although the Republic of Azerbaijan joined the European Convention for the Protection of Pets in 2007, according to which the government was supposed to adopt possible measures to reduce the number of homeless animals (through neutering) without causing them suffering, pain, or discomfort, stray dog killings in the capital Baku and other regions have never stopped for all these years.
The mass killings are directly ordered and performed by government’s executive authority, but often government’s cruel behaviour towards homeless animals shapes the same attitude among citizens, who feel free to get around shooting and poisoning innocent dogs at night, in broad daylight and many times even if front of children.
No dogs are safe in Azerbaijan. Every day, dozens continue to be exterminated despite being neutered/spayed, notched on ear homeless dogs or roaming owned pets.
OIPA International has been exposing these slaughters for years, becoming the voice of local volunteers and animal activists who have never been heard.
This time, we ask for your help to call on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change secretariat to reconsider their decision to host the next 2024 UN Climate Change Conference, commonly known as COP 29, from 11 to 22 November 2024 in Baku. A country that does not respect and protect its animals and its humans, it cannot be a country able to respect the climate, the environment and a positive example of a global #OneHealth approach.
As if more evidence were needed, here’s the trophy display of one such sick, perverted Chinaman.. How many more?
Until the government takes action and introduces legislation to prosecute such bastards; and also introduces legislation to protect animal abuse and suffering; that’s how long this will continue – and we will continue to expose anything and everything UNTIL THEY DO.
Until then; BOYCOTT EVERYTHING CHINESE.
FG has a list of mail contacts for CN embassies in Europe:
Animal Abuse, Animal Abuse, and Sadly More Animal Abuse.
This country, for animals, is hell on Earth.
Once we have a petition link or other action that can be taken it will be posted here.
About 10000 dogs will be killed for human consumption for 10 days at Yulin dog meat festival. Most of those angels used to be someone’s family. They were stolen !!
This year too…The Yulin Dog Meat Festival will be held for 10 days starting June 21st.
While this may seem as an endless repeat of tortures and killings, we must bear in mind that each one of these victims suffers the unspeakable, and each is unique, and not just a number in the ongoing and growing list of perversions perpetrated on the utterly helpless.
Time for animal abusers in China to face proper justice
All pictures – WAV Archives.
A student expelled after beating a cat has prompted debate about morality and the lack of animal cruelty laws
Lawyers say it is difficult to define abuse or decide which animals to include, but tough laws could also ultimately help protect people from violent offenders
A video posted on Weibo last month – showing a college student in Jiangxi province holding a white kitten, kicking it, beating it with a coat hanger and hitting it against a door, making the cat cry out in pain – has roused public anger in China.
After the video was posted, the college announced they had expelled the student after receiving 14 letters accusing him of animal abuse. According to a document read out by a college spokesperson, “The incident spread widely online and affected the school’s reputation.” It also accused the student of sharing lewd videos and skipping classes.
A few days earlier, a similar case of animal abuse surfaced, this time involving a student who had scored the highest mark in a graduate school entrance exam for Nanjing University’s nuclear physics course. In that case, netizens found out he had previously uploaded videos of himself abusing a cat.
The university quickly responded to public concerns, saying that the student had not made it to the final round of applicants due to “failing the ideological and moral assessment”. He also failed to get into his second choice, Lanzhou University, a few days later.
Some said Nanjing University had crossed a line by rejecting a student based on “morals”. Others said it reflected what is most valued in the education system nowadays: universities should focus not only on passing on knowledge, but also on instilling into young people integrity and good values.
Of course, these weren’t the first cases of animal abuse recorded in China. Every year, there are numerous videos that shock the public, but after attention wanes, the issue is quietly forgotten without much getting done to prevent abuse from happening again.
At the heart of the issue is the lack of laws and regulations protecting animals from abuse. People resort to online condemnation, while universities might turn down those accused of abuse on “moral” grounds, a loose concept with debatable notions of what justice should look like. The situation would be different with proper rules in place and legal grounds to take action.
In the past, not much action was taken after cases of animal abuse came to light. In 2023, there were reports of internet food vlogger Jack Latiao torturing a cat for an hour, tying it to a tree, burning it and piercing it with a needle.
Police investigated the matter and detained him for causing a “negative social impact”, after which the vlogger apologised, but there was no further punishment that could be taken.
Meanwhile, in the United States, those convicted of the federal crime of animal cruelty face stiff fines and – depending on the state – up to 10 years in prison.
Currently, China has no laws that directly ban animal abuse. Lawyers say it is difficult to define abuse or to decide which animals should be included in the law. Right now, the only way the abuser can be punished is if the owners of the cat or dog sue the abuser for damaging their property. But, in reality, most abusers go after stray animals to avoid any legal liability.
One significant challenge in drafting an animal abuse law is the lack of public consensus that it is a serious crime. Many still believe animals have fewer rights than people. They may think animal abuse is wrong but do not believe people should be jailed for it.
But punishing such abuse isn’t just about protecting animals, it could also help protect people down the line. Research has indicated that animal abuse could be an early indicator that someone would commit serious crimes against people – including assault, murder, rape, partner abuse and child abuse.
The government might also consider criminalising such behaviour if there was more at stake. As an example, in 2020, Shenzhen introduced a regulation to ban eating cats and dogs as part of move to stop the spread of Covid-19.
At the time, many people were surprised that a long-held “tradition” could be banned so easily, but from the government’s point of view, Shenzhen is a relatively new city filled with young people who are against the idea of eating dogs. Moreover, faced with the urgent need to try to stop the pandemic from spreading, it was necessary to ban the practice.
When it comes to animal abuse, if enough people voiced their concerns, the government might eventually take action.
Roberts’ (above) social media accounts show how he is an avid hunter who frequently hunts wild animals alongside his kids. – What a way to raise kids !!!
Upset animal lovers descend on Wyoming over wild wolf torture video – claiming the footage has left them with ‘nightmares’ and calling for a boycott of the state
Video filmed by witnesses showed him kissing the barely conscious wolf and laughing at its distress as it lay on the floor of the Green River Bar
Roberts dragged the wolf into the bar over protests from the owner, and left it there for hours while he drank.
‘He was a jokester about it, while it was just sitting there bleeding to death… He was drunk and rambling mostly. A guy who thinks highly of himself.‘
The owner and many of the other patrons in the bar were unhappy with the situation, but no one challenged Roberts and the bar staff didn’t tell him to leave.
The only female wolf in Baden-Württemberg was probably run over by a car near Schluchsee on Wednesday. Exactly where a wolf pup was fatally captured in December.
WAV Comment – Does not look that ‘damaged’ if it was ‘run over’ by a car. Where is the driver ? – A hunters bullet does not cause massive damage !
Wounds and traces of blood in the fur: A photo shows the dead wolf that was run over on the B500 between the Windgfällweiher and the municipality of Schluchsee (Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald district).
It is not the first dead wolf in the Black Forest. Back in December last year, there was a collision between a car and an eight-month-old wolf pup.
WAV Comment – “Exactly where a wolf pup was fatally captured in December” We have contacts who reside in this very area. Hunters are not supposed to kill wolves; but … many of them ignore the rules – it is exactly the same with the protected Lynx. The body of a shot (hunted) animal will be thrown onto the road, without failure, after the bullet has been removed, and then left to be run over by a vehicle to make the incident look like a road kill, thus making it all look like a terrible accident – being hit by a car, when in fact the animal was actually shot by hunters.
Female killed in accident: wolf was pregnant
According to police, the collision occurred early Wednesday morning. Around seven o’clock, the animal is said to have crossed the road and was fatally hit by a motorist. The Forest Research Institute (FVA) in Freiburg has now seized the animal. Micha Herdtfelder, head of the Wildlife Institute at the FVA, has confirmed to SWR that it is a female wolf – most likely the female from the wolf pack at Schluchsee. In addition, the animal was pregnant.
The carcass is taken to the Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin for further examination. The aim is to obtain nationwide uniform data on the health and nutritional status of killed wolves.
Ministry of the Environment: Formation of packs in BW off the table for the time being
After the only female wolf in Baden-Württemberg was run over, the rebuilding of a pack may have moved into the distant future. “The formation of packs is now off the table in Baden-Württemberg,” said Claudia Hailfinger, press spokeswoman for the Ministry of the Environment.
As the only reproducing female wolf, the female wolf played an important role in the return of the once native predator. After their presumed death, only male wolves are now settled in Baden-Württemberg. According to the Ministry of the Environment, offspring depend on immigrant ferries. It is unclear whether this will happen next year or again in ten years.
He also had mange, a contagious skin disease. The puppy had been detected in July 2023 by photo trap of the Forest Research Institute (FVA). It was the first known wolf offspring in about 150 years. Since 1866, the wolf was considered extinct in Baden-Württemberg.
In 2015, the first wolf was detected in the country, the animal came from Switzerland. It was run over in the same year on the A5 in Lahr (Ortenaukreis). It was not until 2017 that the first male resettled permanently in the Black Forest.
In 2023, the first pack formed in the municipality of Schluchsee. However, Baden-Württemberg is still a long way from a stable population. Nevertheless, the number of specimens is increasing.
Another sedentary wolf detected in the northern Black Forest
In mid-February, a male wolf was genetically identified in the northern Black Forest. According to the Ministry of the Environment, the animal originally comes from a pack in the Gutenbrunn area of Lower Austria. The male dog is probably three or four years old. According to the ministry, his new “Hornisgrinde Territory” in the northern Black Forest is located in the already existing Wolf Prevention Black Forest funding area. The area encompasses the entire natural area of the Black Forest. It has a size of about 8,800 square kilometers.
So far, comparatively few specimens live in the country. By way of comparison, in the 2022/2023 monitoring year, a total of 184 wolf packs, 47 pairs of wolves and 22 sedentary lone wolves were counted nationwide by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) and the Federal Documentation and Advice Centre on the Subject of Wolves (DBBW). Nationwide, the wolf focus is also more likely to be in Lower Saxony and Brandenburg as well as in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Nevertheless, incidents on the pastures always cause a stir in the southwest.
Over 10,000 animals are abandoned each year in Croatia.
It’s not only a problem for domestic animals like dogs and cats, but also farmed animals.
An amendment of the country’s Penal Code has now made abandoning an animal a criminal offence punishable by up to 2 years in prison, as well as increasing penalties for causing unnecessary pain or suffering, killing or abusing animals.
Amendments to the Croatian Penal Code came into effect on 2 April, bringing with them the long-awaited positive changes in animal protection.
Under the new legislation, individuals who abandon any animal they are responsible for will face imprisonment for up to one year. If the abandonment results in the death of an animal or involves the abandonment of multiple animals, the perpetrator could be sentenced to up to two years in prison.
This significant victory for animal welfare is the culmination of extensive efforts by Animal Friends Croatia, which initiated a petition in 2021 urging for animal abandonment to be treated as a criminal offence. Notably, 80% of the population supported this campaign.
Animal abandonment can now be directly reported to the police or municipal prosecutor’s office, rather than to veterinary inspectors. This streamlined process aims to expedite responses and facilitate the prosecution of offenders. It also serves as a deterrent against animal abandonment, as individuals are now aware that they risk imprisonment and may take the long-term care of animals into consideration before acquiring one.
The penalties for causing unnecessary pain or suffering to animals, and for killing or severely abusing animals, have been increased from a maximum of one year to two years. In cases where these offences are committed for financial gain, perpetrators may now face imprisonment for up to three years instead of two.
Another new measure allows courts to impose restrictions on individuals who have committed animal-related offences if there is a risk of reoffending; a ban on owning or acquiring animals for a period of one to five years.
Animal Friends Croatia is now urging citizens with information about law violations to promptly report any instances of animal abandonment and abuse to the police.
Regards Mark
Excellent, and we congratulate our friends at Animal Friends Croatia for getting this fantastic result.
We have experienced similar issues in the past in Serbia – another Balkans nation.
In a move to update requirements for the appropriate accommodation, care, and killing of animals used for scientific purposes, the European Commission recently adopted a delegated directive with additional requirements for a number of species; but should more be done?
Article 50 of Directive 2010/63/EU on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes empowers the Commission to adapt the Annexes in order to ensure that they reflect technical and scientific progress.
At the time of adoption of the Directive, there was insufficient scientific evidence on the appropriate housing, care and killing methods for certain species, so species-specific requirements for these species were not included.
Since the adoption of the Directive, new scientific knowledge has become available on the welfare requirements of cephalopods, zebrafish and passerine birds used for scientific purposes, and on the killing of cephalopods and zebrafish in a manner causing least pain, suffering and distress. New scientific evidence has also emerged on the inappropriateness of using inert gases to kill rodents. In the light of this evidence, the Commission decided to revise the relevant Annexes (i.e. Annexes III and IV) to the Directive.
In early 2023, the Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks (SCHEER) was requested by the Commission to provide a scientific opinion in support of the revision of Annexes III and IV. A call for information was launched by SCHEER to invite all interested parties to submit scientific information on the specific questions on which SCHEER was asked to provide a scientific opinion. Eurogroup for Animals actively engaged with some of its member organisations to provide feedback. The scientific opinion was published in October 2023. Taking into account the opinion issued by SCHEER, the Commission drafted a Delegated directive and initiated a public consultation earlier this year, with Eurogroup for Animals contributing input to the draft. Subsequently, the Delegated directive concerning the revision of Annexes III and IV was officially adopted on 13 March 2024.
We welcome the efforts to establish new standards for cephalopods, zebra fish and passerine birds previously overlooked. However, we also express regret that the revision has missed the opportunity to update existing provisions for other species.
New tool allows citizens to report abuse of crustaceans
15 April 2024
ALI
Decapod crustaceans, such as lobsters, crabs, shrimps and scampi, are frequently kept alive throughout their journey through the seafood supply chain. A new tool allows anyone to report mistreatment whenever these animals are found suffering due to being stocked at high densities, tied, iced, or kept out of water.
Italian citizens can now directly report instances of cruelty towards decapod crustaceans, with the aim of pursuing legal action where possible, thanks to the newly launched SOS Crustaceans project, part of the On behalf of crustaceans campaign, by organisation Animal Law Italia. Through this campaign, the organisation’s team of legal experts will initiate a series of ground-breaking legal actions, so that the need for businesses to follow the latest scientific evidence is definitively recognised.
Something had to be done to actively protect these sentient animals from the many acts of mistreatment that they frequently experience in the seafood supply chain. We hope that through this project, at least some of the practices that the industry routinely exposes these animals to, such as detention on ice and stocking at high densities, will no longer be permitted.
Dr Lorenzo Fruscella, Campaign Lead
Decapod crustaceans would never experience temperatures close to zero in their natural habitats, but in the seafood supply chain they are often kept alive in cold storage, out of water, laid on beds of ice. In many cases their claws are tied, they are not fed, often for weeks, and are forced to live in barren tanks in close proximity with other individuals, despite the fact that most of them are solitary and highly territorial species, at times exposed to direct light sources. Their use within the industry also subjects them to repeated manipulations by inadequately trained personnel, to ultimately be killed with methods that cause prolonged suffering.
Although there are no laws at national level that protect these animals in Italy, there have already been multiple convictions for detention on ice. In Florence, a restaurant manager received a fine of €5,000 for having detained live decapod crustaceans in a cold room and with their claws tied. In 2019, a live lobster with its claws tied on an ice tray was found in the refrigerator of a restaurant near Milan. The public prosecutor requested a fine of €2,000 via criminal decree, which was later reduced to three months of community service.
Animal Law Italia hopes that obtaining further pioneering criminal convictions will be the first step towards changing the law to ensure that decapod crustaceans are adequately protected.
Please take action by supporting the petitions; thank you. Things (not always pleasant) are getting through to us now, that maybe the perverted abusers are now starting to feel the heat a bit more; we must keep on with the pressure regardless until the Chinese authorities take action to close these networks down.
This afternoon, 1515hrs GMT (15/4/24) , 16,097 people have signed the UK petition. 9,624 have signed the German petition. That is around 25,000 people who have supported.
Also, same time and date – there have been 143,315 Views of the UK petition, and it has been further shared and passed on by 12,790 people. Thus, just with the UK petition alone, around 145,000 people have now been informed, and are briefed on the cat abuses going on via the Chinese network sites.
Octopus farm must be stopped, say campaigners, as new documents reveal plans were reckless and threatened environment, wildlife and public health
8 April 2024
CIWF
Press Release
Campaigners are calling on a seafood company to scrap plans to build the world’s first octopus farm in Spain as new documents reveal that – as well as ignoring animal cruelty concerns – it failed to consider the significant threats the farm would pose to wildlife, the environment and public health.
Environment report was insufficient & exposes ‘hypocrisy’ of Nueva Pescanova’s sustainability claims
NGOs Eurogroup for Animals, Compassion in World Farming and AnimaNaturalis are urging company Nueva Pescanova to immediately stop the project on the grounds that, as well as causing cruelty to octopuses, the farm contradicts its own corporate sustainability claims. Among the concerns is that the farm could threaten dolphins and turtles near the site, and its discharges could add to local water pollution and CO2 emissions. The probability of these impacts was considered to be ‘significantly high’ by the Canary Islands Government.
The company’s website claims that it is committed to ‘maintaining biodiversity’, ‘protecting the ecosystem’ and ‘promoting the circular economy’. Yet its own environmental report for the farm at the Port of Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, was considered insufficient by the Canary Islands Government due to concerns that the plans could:
threaten local wildlife, including protected cetaceans (dolphins and porpoises) and vulnerable sea turtles, through noise and water pollution due to its close proximity to a Marine Protected Area (MPA).
pose a public health risk by using nearby seawater which is not of a high enough quality to be used for human food production.
cause pollution including CO2 emissions, odour concerns, and discharges that could significantly contribute to the already highly contaminated harbour waters.
threaten a protected species of algae – cystoseira – which is present in the surroundings.
involve highly unsustainable practices such as the use of wild fish as feed and high energy consumption of the facility.
Speaking on behalf of the team of Legal Natura legal experts who examined the documents, lawyer, Maria Angeles López Lax, said: “Nueva Pescanova’s environmental report was inadequate, lacking basic information to allow the Government to assess the impact of the farm on the environment and public health. It’s up to the company to prove that the farm would not impact on protected species or risk public health before permission can be granted, yet the company has failed to address even the most basic of these concerns.”
Octopuses are unique, intelligent, naturally solitary creatures who are not suited to the overcrowded conditions that are typical of factory farms. This would increase aggression and can ultimately lead to cannibalism. They are also carnivorous, meaning they need to be fed wild fish in captivity, an unsustainable practice that would put extra pressure on already overexploited fish populations.
Compassion in World Farming launched its report Octopus Farming: A Recipe for Disaster in 2021 revealing scientific evidence that octopus farming would be both cruel and environmentally damaging. A year ago, Compassion and Eurogroup for Animals launched Uncovering the Horrific Reality of Octopus Farming – its joint response to Nueva Pescanova’s plans to farm around one million of these intelligent, unique animals in an aquatic factory farm annually.
On World Octopus Day last year (8 October), 75 NGOs, experts and public figures, led by Compassion and Eurogroup for Animals, wrote to the Canary Islands Government urging it to reject the plans. Thousands of supporters also took action, urging the President of the community to stop the octopus farm.
It is unjustifiable to introduce this new type of factory farming, as climate scientists warn of the urgent need to change our food systems and evolve our diets to become more sustainable. We deserve better than continued environmental devastation to fill corporate pockets, and these incredible animals deserve better than lives diminished to confinement and suffering.
Keri Tietge, Aquatic Animals Policy Officer, Eurogroup for Animals
Not only would this octopus farm cause cruelty to these naturally solitary and intelligent animals and be environmentally unsustainable, it’s also hypocritical for Nueva Pescanova to push plans that contradict their own corporate sustainability claims.
Dr Elena Lara, a marine biologist and Senior Research Manager, Compassion in World Farming,
Our society should be in a moment of progress towards a more empathetic and compassionate treatment of animals. If this aberration continues, despite the rejection of the scientific community and a large part of society, we will be facing a serious rupture of these values.
On Feb. 29, a Sublette County man reportedly captured and tormented a wolf in Daniel, Wyoming. He allegedly taped its mouth shut and showed it off in a bar before taking it out back and shooting it. The man has been charged with possession of a live wolf.
The case of a man allegedly capturing a wolf and tormenting it — including by showing it off in bar — before finally killing it could spark enough outrage to shake Wyoming’s wolf management policy.
It’s legal to kill wolves in the part of Sublette County where the incident is said to have happened.
But keeping an animal alive and tormenting it in such manner, as was reportedly done, would be an egregious violation of hunting ethics and a black eye for Wyoming, two sources familiar with the incident told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday on condition of remaining anonymous.
Cowboy State Daily verified the reports of both sources, which also align with a report of an incident the same day from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.
One source said they had seen photos of the wolf, with its mouth taped shut, being shown off in a bar in Daniel, Wyoming, a tiny town in Sublette County.
According to the account of events, a man ran the wolf down with a snowmobile Feb. 29, disabling it. Instead of killing the animal on the spot, he reportedly kept the wolf and took it back to his residence, then to the bar — before finally taking it out behind the bar and killing it.
Citation Issued
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department verified that somebody has been cited and fined for being in possession of a live wolf, but didn’t release that person’s name, the name of the investigating game warden or any exact details of the case.
Sublette County Circuit Court records, however, show that local resident Cody Roberts, born in 1981, was cited for a wildlife violation stemming from an incident that day, Feb. 29, and that Adam Hymas was the investigating agent.
A records request from Cowboy State Daily for detailed Game and Fish written reports regarding the case was still pending at press time.
Multiple calls from Cowboy State Daily to a number in Daniel listed as Roberts’ went unanswered.
When asked over the phone about the story of a wolf being taken into the bar — identified in the photos as the Green River Bar — an employee referred Cowboy State Daily to the bar’s owner, who had not returned messages as of publication.
Game And Fish Account Of Events
Game and Fish spokeswoman Breanna Ball sent Cowboy State Daily a statement about the case via email Tuesday.
“An anonymous reporting party notified the Wyoming Game and Fish Department that an individual was alleged to be in possession of a live wolf. The reporting party notified the Department on March 1, 2024. According to the investigation, the individual possessed the live wolf on 2/29/24,” according to the statement.
“The individual was hunting when he came across the wolf in the predator zone and intended to harvest it. However, the wolf was transported alive back to his residence and later to a business in Daniel, WY. The individual euthanized the wolf later that day. The individual was cited for violating Chapter 10, Importation and Possession of Live Warm-Blooded Wildlife,” according to Game and Fish.
That offense carries a $250 fine.
Will This Affect Wolf Policy?
Wyoming has a three-tiered wolf management policy. Inside Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, wolves remain under full federal protection and may not be hunted.
In areas of Wyoming adjacent to the national parks, there is a “trophy hunting zone.” There, wolves are managed as a trophy species. Hunting is allowed, but hunters must have wolf hunting tags and can kill wolves only during designated hunting seasons and within predetermined quotas.
The rest of Wyoming, or roughly 85% of the state, is a “predator zone” for wolves. That means they may be killed at any time, with bag limit and no hunting tags required.
One source who spoke to Cowboy State Daily said the worry is that such an act of alleged animal cruelty could turn the tide of nationwide public sentiment against Wyoming’s wolf policy.
“When this story gets out, and it will, this is going to drastically change the discussion about wolf management in Wyoming,” the source said.
ACTION
SIGN: JUSTICE FOR WOLF RUN DOWN BY SNOWMOBILE, TORTURED, AND KILLED AT WYOMING BAR
PETITION TARGET: Sublette County Sheriff and County Attorney
A wolf in Wyoming was allegedly horrifically disabled after being hit by a snowmobile. The animal’s pain was drawn-out when the man responsible allegedly taped the wolf’s snout shut, brought the injured wolf home, took pictures posing with the abused animal, took the terrified wolf to a bar, and later killed the wolf outside the business in Sublette County, as reported by Cowboy State Daily.
In a video from Wyoming Game and Fish Department, obtained by Lady Freethinker via a Freedom of Information request, the muzzled wolf can be seen languishing in pain inside a bar.
The wolf was kept alive and in pain — apparently so the man could take pictures of the wolf’s suffering and subject the frightened animal to an audience before killing the animal.
Wyoming law permits what it calls “humane destruction” of certain animals. What this wolf endured was not humane.
Wyoming Game and Fish Department cited a man — but only for possession of the live animal.
“Animal cruelty charges are not applicable to predatory animals,” Wyoming Game and Fish Department said in a statement about the incident.
The law which Wyoming Game and Fish Department cites – Title Six – does not prohibit the “hunting, capture, killing or destruction of any predatory animal, pest or other wildlife in any manner not otherwise prohibited by law.” However, tormenting animals is otherwise prohibited by law. Title Six goes on to describe felony cruelty to animals as “knowingly, and with intent to cause death or undue suffering, beats with cruelty, tortures, torments or mutilates an animal.”
Other hunters have reportedly agreed that the circumstances under which this wolf was captured and killed were inhumane, according to Wyoming Public Radio.
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department has come under question for their handling of this case and we are calling on prosecutors to treat it with the severity it deserves.
No animal deserves to be tortured and suffer prolonged pain before death. Wolves are sentient, intelligent animals. They deserve to be protected from merciless acts of cruelty.
This wolf was made to suffer tremendous pain and fear before being killed in a manner resembling a public execution. Animal cruelty charges must be filed against the person responsible for mercilessly tormenting this wolf to send the message that Wyoming does not condone animal cruelty and to prevent others from inflicting similarly inhumane violence against animals.
Sign our petition to urge Sublette County officials to investigate and pursue felony animal cruelty charges against the person responsible for torturing this wolf to set a precedent that animal cruelty will not be permitted in Wyoming.
Farm Animals Programme Officer, Susanna Blattner, was recently invited by our member Essere Animali to follow trucks transporting lambs across Italy. The purpose of the investigation was to monitor any legal violations to the animals, intervening where possible, and to record firsthand the experiences of these lambs to show where the current Transport Regulation is falling dramatically short of protecting their welfare. This is her account of her experience.
As a veterinarian with experience in slaughterhouses, I thought I was ready for this experience. I arrived on the day of the investigation prepared; I reviewed European regulations until I could cite the most common breach articles from memory. I studied Italian regulations, legislative decrees, previous investigations, watched hours of videos, and talked to several colleagues to prepare myself as best as I could.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough. Theory doesn’t prepare you for certain things, and from this experience, I return even angrier and sadder but with a greater awareness of the importance of my role in Brussels.
The days were organised like this: wake up at 4am, head to a service station in Friuli, near the border with Slovenia, and wait in the car until a truck containing lambs arrived (sometimes they stopped at the service station) to follow and monitor it. In case of obvious irregularities, call the police and report any problems.
I expected long hours of waiting, but instead, the trucks kept coming. Sometimes I could even hear the lambs bleating from tens of metres away, and every truck spotted with a Hungarian or Romanian licence plate was a blow to the heart.
Their bleating was persistent. I still have it in my ears.
The times when the trucks stopped at a service station and I had the opportunity to inspect them were devastating. The trucks were overcrowded, the lambs touching the upper shelf with their heads, unable to drink. When I stroked them, they searched for me insistently, as if they understood that I was there for them.
Essere Animali
Their bleating was persistent; I still have it in my ears. One morning, we followed a truck from Friuli to Emilia Romagna – four hours of pursuit during which even on the highway, with the windows closed, I could hear their lament.
One of the things that struck me the most was my complete helplessness. I met police officers with big hearts who, when I explained that I was a veterinarian, listened to me and called Italian colleagues to try to do something for the welfare of those poor animals and penalise the people who had allowed such cruelties. I met veterinarians who worked with heart, and above all professionalism, ready to meticulously inspect every truck and penalise every minor infringement, with tearful eyes. But I also encountered police officers who accused me of wasting their time for “such a thing”, and veterinarians who laughed in my face because I wasn’t in touch with reality and it made no sense to fine a truck for “so little.” The “so little” were more than 800 lambs on a truck without adequate safety measures and devices for drinking.
A stronger Transport Regulation will be the key to changing the sad state of live animal transport.
However, what troubled me the most was the impossibility of protecting the animals being transported due to endless bureaucratic loopholes: the grey areas of the current transport law, that allow transporters to do things without considering animal welfare at all, the inability of law enforcement to impose adequate penalties, and so on.
But there was something that gave me a glimmer of hope – the people I met during this experience.
The petrol station attendant who, while we waited at the service station for the arrival of the veterinarians, brought us a bowl to give water to the lambs.
The clerk who, when he realised what we were doing, showed us videos of other atrocities done to animals that he had managed to film.
The travellers who, when they arrived at the service stations, came to ask us what was happening to the animals, and upon our explanation, realised the cruelty of this practice.
The television journalist who was with me all day to film the events, and at the end said to me, “But how can I still eat these little animals now?”
It was a strong, bittersweet experience, one that would be very challenging to repeat due to the physical and emotional fatigue it incurred, but one I will never forget either. I am now even more motivated to work hard, and fight to protect the millions of animals transported every year.
It’s critical the European Commission takes its revision to the Transport Regulation seriously, creating species-specific rules across the sector that robustly protect the welfare of all animals involved.
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