Day: October 1, 2018

Farm Animals

Citizens take initiative against cage

 

EU- Flagge

 

On 25.09, the launch of the EU Citizens’ Initiative for the End of Cages in Agriculture took place in the EU Parliament in Brussels

More than 130 organizations met in Brussels last Tuesday to launch the EU’s End the Cage Age campaign. The campaign was launched by the international organization Compassion in World Farming (CiWF).

In addition to several MEPs from different countries and beyond the political spectrum, two Vice-Presidents of the EU Parliament also pledged their support. The aim of the initiative is to end caging of animals in agriculture in the long term and throughout Europe.

Eiersklaven

300 million caged animals

Within the EU, more than 300 million animals are kept in cages at any one time. Particularly affected is the laying of chickens in egg production. Even the “designed cages”, that are currently still allowed in Austria, can by no means even enable the least species-humanely life. By 2020, these cages will be banned in Austria, but large quantities of caged eggs are still imported from other EU countries.

“That’s why animal welfare cooperation is so important within the EU. Individual countries should and must promote animal welfare within their borders – but international cooperation to protect animals should not be forgotten, “said VGT (Association against animal factories) campaign manager Tobias Giesinger, who also attended the launch event.

Cage stand in the criticism

In addition to egg production, the crates in waiting stalls and farrowing pens in the pig industry are also criticized. Although there have been small reforms in Austria in recent years, animal welfare can not end there. “Animal husbandry, which mothers must lock away from their children, should urgently be completely reformed. Systematically locking animals into body-sized cages should not be a solution, “says activist Lena Remich, who was part of the VGT delegation in Brussels.

Schweinemutter in Kasten_n

EU-wide support to the population

The EU Citizens’ Initiative must now collect at least one million signatures in seven EU countries within one year. The goal of the organizers, however, is higher: at least two million signatures should be. The support of the population seems to be great. Surveys show that 94% of Europeans consider the protection of animals in agriculture important and that 84% want improvements and reforms to protect these animals.

MEP Stefan Eck stated: “I have a dream of a world without these barriers, without cages. Today is a symbol of hope.”

The initiative can be signed here: END THE CAGE AGE

https://www.ciwf.org.uk/news/2018/09/making-history-to-end-the-cage-age

Comment: We all have the dream and hope for a world without caged slaves.
In May 2019 are the EU elections. Now is the right time to put pressure on these useless officials.

My best regards to all, Venus

General News, Stray Animals

‘SAV’ Is Also Still Going – In Addition To This Site.

England

Dear all;

We still have the old ‘Serbian Animals Voice’ site running;  and we are cross posting all of the articles on this site (WAV) to old SAV also.

If you want to visit SAV, which is full of all our Serbian campaign work for over 13 years, and also learn a lot more about the Serbian animal situation, and how the (national) laws are failing to be implemented for the benefit of animals, then please go to:

 

https://serbiananimalsvoice.com/

 

SAV Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/SerbianAnimalsVoice/ 

We hope that after all these years, which has involved some hard campaigning; the brilliant Serbian campaigners have now taken control and are pressing on hard with things.  We have gone global via this site – WAV.

Only Serbian people can really make the changes for the better in Serbia.  We wish them every success with their work; now and in the future.

Regards Mark

SAV Logo Red by Paola

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Environmental, General News

EU: Plastic – Environment Committee To Vote On 10/10/18 on Single Use Plastics. Take Action and Sign The Petition Now.

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plastic

This year we’ve seen heartbreaking images of dead sea turtles and birds, their bellies bloated with plastic.

Scientists estimate that up to 12 million tonnes of plastic enter the oceans each year. And it won’t stop until the corporations who make the plastic products and packaging are forced to pay for their mess.

The European Parliament will soon vote on new rules to cut back on single-use plastics in Europe. 69 MEPs on the Environment Committee will vote on October 10, and that’s where we’ve got to beat the plastics lobby to win. 

Tell the European Parliament Environment Committee to vote for people and planet, and ensure that corporations pay for their mess.

Last year, hundreds of thousands of incredible SumOfUs members like you told the European Commission to finally get tough on plastics. And they listened. The EU proposal is far from perfect, but with some improvements it could drastically reduce the consumption of single-use plastics, and make life a little better for all.

MEPs on the Environment Committee need to ensure that any changes they make before October 10 are legitimate improvements to the rules, and not compromises for corporations. One key part of the proposed EU rules that they should strengthen, for example, is called “extended producer responsibility”. It means that corporations have to pay for their plastic waste, instead of leaving the cleanup for everyone else to deal with. The risk now, Mark, is that pro-plastics MEPs will try to weaken the rules, especially the part about making the corporations pay.

On the other hand, people with mobility-related impairments or neurological conditions rely on plastic straws because of their flexible and temperature-resilient qualities, so it’s only right that MEPs take extra care on legislating for plastic straws.

Together, we can convince the EU to take game-changing action against plastic waste and make the world more accessible.

Will you sign the single-use plastics petition to MEPs on the Environment Committee?

Hundreds of thousands of you signed and shared our EU plastics petition last year, tweeted at Commissioners and chipped in to fund huge billboards in Brussels calling on the European Commission to tackle the plastics crisis. We also exposed some of the world’s biggest brands for their throwaway plastic problem, forcing them to commit to voluntary action plans so we’d get off their backs.

But right now this is where we need to focus — and you can bet it’s where the plastics lobby is focussed too.

 

petition 3

 Sign the Petition 

 

Thanks for all that you do,
Eoin, Anna and the team at SumOfUs