Month: May 2019

General News

England: 3/5 – ‘Arianne’.

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My little darling Arianne crossed the rainbow bridge this afternoon. This is why I have not done any posts for the last day or more. She had a really aggressive form of stomach and abdominal cancer which has taken her from a strong and healthy cat to a lifeless little soul in just a matter of weeks. Sudden; very sudden.

A very similar situation to that of Eco warrior Polly Higgins who died just a few weeks ago – see our post at https://worldanimalsvoice.com/2019/04/25/eco-warrior-polly-higgins-has-died/

‘Ari’ as she was known to all, first became my good friend about 15 years ago; when I captured and saved this little mite who was out on the streets. She had lost a large part of her coat; probably due to very little food; and was simply in a real sorry state. I took her to a veterinary friend to see if she had any microchip – we scanned her; found nothing; and so I remember telling her on the way back home in the car that she was going to have to put up with me from now on !

I named her Arianne after a girl in a track from one of my favorite bands – Led Zeppelin – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0DAnu5Sq6k – I played it a lot – thanks ‘Planty’.

She was special; as all our own pets are. She had a real habit of jumping up onto my lap whilst I was trying to write posts for either this (WAV) site or the sister site, ‘Serbian Animals Voice’ – https://serbiananimalsvoice.com/ Her situation at home on my lap made it all the more difficult to get easy access to the keyboard as I had to perform a series of convulsions with my arms; but that was always after she had been welcomed and given hugs and strokes first. At times I considered getting her opinion of things from a cats perspective; but I never followed up with it.

She was so strong and ‘street wise’ – and in all her time with me I think we probably only saw the vet a few times for relatively simple ailments. So watching her go downhill so suddenly in the last 3 or 4 weeks has really been a shock to me. She was suffering and in pain, not eating or drinking; and this afternoon, (3/5) I decided with massive deep regret that I could not continue to watch her deteriorate to nothing but skin and bone over the next week or so. I consulted, and there was no cure for her condition; in the end she would have died from the cancer and from lack of food and fluid intake. It is always immensely difficult to decide when to say goodbye to a loving and cherished companion; but for me, today was the day – animal welfare comes as the priority wanting before my own personal wishes of keeping her, come what May, and the suffering which would go with it.

It was really bad for me personally at the time this afternoon, but she passed here in her own home; being stroked and spoken to gently by a couple of us; telling her what a great little friend she was; so she did not die alone and in a strange place; unlike the many millions of strays, factory farmed prisoners, or lab imprisoned innocents who suffer at the hands of us; good (?) old man every single day.

With love; lots of good food and a caring home; her coat regrew from nothing in the start, becoming a beautiful black / brown in the early days. As time went on; her coat changed, showing more and more of the beautiful little ‘Tortoiseshell’ that she was.

I sometimes used to call her ‘Moonbear’, as she always reminded me of the bears rescued by Animals Asia – a little golden yellow patch on her chest – see the picture.

Wherever she has gone today; I hope she runs free and with full health and vigor once again. If she brings just half the joy to another owner somewhere that she delivered to me, then they will be a very lucky person.

Run free Ari and wait for me at the bridge; I will be back to reunite with you someday.

Mark xx

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General News

First stroke, then slaughter

 

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Leeds, UK: They are first fed and then slaughtered: dealing with two pigs at a British school provides heated discussions.

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Actually, Farsley Fields elementary school in Leeds, UK, sounds like a real idyl: on a small farm belonging to the school grounds, teachers and children plant fruits and vegetables together and look after the animals living there.

In addition to chickens, this year includes two pigs, as can be seen from the homepage of the school. But exactly these pigs are now causing a lot of excitement.

Schweine in der SchulepgThe two Gloucester Old Spot breed pigs being reared on the farm.

 

Because the supervising headmaster Peter Harris wants to slaughter the animals during the summer holidays. This is how the children should learn where their meat comes from. “The pigs will not be pets and only be with us for nine months,” read the school homepage. “The pigs will live twice as long as those commercially bred for slaughter and will live a true and free farm life.” The meat is to be sold afterwards.

kinder und zwei schweine pgCharlotte Heap and classmates with the pigs being reared on the school’s farm.

 

For this at least unusual action receives the British teacher much headwind – but also support. The comments on the school homepage contain both clear hostility and support for the idea of explaining to children the origin of their food. The Internet already has an online petition urging headteacher Peter Harris to abandon the plans has been running for around six months now and has gathered more than 4,000 signatures.

https://www.change.org/p/mr-harris-headteacher-farsley-farfield-don-t-send-pigs-to-slaughter

Set up by a former pupil, it explains that she loved attending the school but was concerned about the message current pupils would take away from the animals being sent to slaughter.

She wrote: “I am vegan for the animals, so my main concerns are with the well being of these pigs who don’t deserve to die, and the message that we will be teaching the children at Farsley Farfield that it is okay to exploit and kill animals with the only justification being that people enjoy eating their bodies.”

But Mr Harris defended the school’s position, saying it would actually teach the children more about the provenance of their food and issues around animal welfare.

Elfjährige Schüllerin mit PetitionsbriefjpgCharlotte Heap with her letter to the editor of the Yorkshire Evening Post.

 

Now 11-year-old Charlotte Heap, whose mum also teaches at the school, has written to Yorkshire Evening Post editor Hannah Thaxter, saying Farfield is one of the best schools in the city and its pupils are lucky to go there. In her letter she says parents were consulted about the plans, the children have understood the pigs would go to slaughter from the start and “no one is upset” about it.

She sheds light on the school’s award-winning work, what pupils learn from being able to spend time at Farfield Farm and what rearing the pigs has taught them.

“Most of us are fine with the idea. Some of us quite like the pigs and brushing them down. We’ve all learned a lot from this – where our food comes – and Mr Harris is a vegetarian himself. He wants people to make their own choices in life and to know where their food actually comes from. I think that’s important”!!!

https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/education/why-this-leeds-pupil-is-defending-her-primary-school-s-plans-to-slaughter-pigs-kept-on-its-farm-1-9732882

My comment: “The pigs will not be domestic animals and only live with us for nine months”
That’s how Mr. Harris decided.
Which is not very different from that practiced by the butcher next door.
The butcher also says, like Mr. Harris, that pigs are not home animals, but food for children, teachers and other animal-loving meat consumers!!

But Mr. Harris does not want to be compared to butchers, that’s why he changes the decor a bit.

And Mr. Harris means that as soon as he keeps the two pigs as free copies of the meat industry in the garden of the school, the children know the full truth of where their meat comes from.

So far, it is going well with the “truth”, but with the finale of this action, Mr. Harris has some difficulties.
Either way, he has to butcher the pigs, and in front of the children.
He has to do that so that his message arrives, namely: even free-living pigs do not escape the butcher’s sharp knife.
Such is the fate of non-pets, that’s what we humans have decided.
( Except of Korean, Chinese, Indonesian and Vietnamese pets, of course ).

We would recommend to Mr. Harris to visit a pig farm with his students so that he can conduct his experiment under “realistic” conditions.
And to prove us all that he is serious about education!

My best regards, Venus

 

Farm Animals

Mulesing: an animal torture for the wool industry

 

Australia

 

What is it about?
It is again about torture, suffering and economic crime in the name of profit.

It’s about surgical intervention on sheeps without the use of painkillers or narcotics in Australia.

We have to stop that.

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It was documented by a film crew producing 90 percent of the merino wool for our clothing. On several sheep farms, activists have found out that the first weeks of life of a lamb are determined by painful interventions that are usually performed without anesthetic: they cut off the tail, castrate male offspring, and then comes the “Mulesing” to protect the animals of the fly maggots.
The cries of lambs who have to undergo these procedures without painkillers are heartbreaking.

At 88 percent, Australia is the largest producer of fine merino wool worldwide. Around 90 percent of the 74 million merino sheep living there are undergoing “mulesing”.

What is mulesing?

The Merinos were bred to get wrinkled skin, so the wool yield per animal is even greater, which increases the profit per animal. It is clear: on much skin surface grows a lot of fine, soft wool. And that brings money!

Because of the unnatural abundance of wool, many sheep die of heat stroke in the hot months. Humidity and urine accumulate in the skin folds, attracting flies that deposit their eggs in the skin folds. The larvae hatched a little later can eat the sheep from the inside alive. In order to avoid the loss of sheep due to this “fly infestation”, the Australian rancher performs the “mulesing” (named after the inventor of the method, John Mules).

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In this barbaric mulesing, the lambs are thrown on their backs with force and their legs are fixed between metal bars.

Then they cut them – often with a simple pruning shears and without anesthesia – large plates of meat from the area around their tail, around the anus and (in women) around the vulva (no one would come up with the idea of a toddler even just a few square centimeters of skin cut out without anesthetic).

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The aim of this cruel procedure is to create a smooth, scarred surface that eliminates the need for fly eggs. Often, however, the opposite is achieved because it is these large, bloody wounds that are often attacked by flies, even before they can heal.

 

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The solution:

We call for an immediate ban on all operations on sheep without the use of painkillers or narcotics.

In addition, the government must oblige the wool industry to set a new date for an end to mulesing.
Because in order to abolish the mulesing, there is only one solution in the long run: Merino sheep must be bred, which are less wrinkled and have weak wool growth in the tail and anal area.

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That works, but has not been effectively promoted in recent years.

There was even an ultimatum that the Australian wool producers themselves had set: In response to pressure from animal welfare organizations, Australian farmers agreed in 2004 to cease “mulesing” by 2010. However, a few years later, the industry has given up plans to quit mulesing, and animal suffering continues unabated.  We want to change that now!

We need votes for that

In May 2019, a new government will be elected in Australia. If we get thousands of signatures together, we can pass this petition in summer in the presence of national and international press to the key politicians right in Australia and put real pressure on it.

Help us to stop mulesing and other operations on sheep without painkillers or narcotics in Australia!

We do not want sheep to suffer for wool! We need your vote!

Please support us with your signature and follow our initiative # nopain4sheep on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

https://secure.avaaz.org/de/community_petitions/Minister_f_Hilf_den_Laemmchen_kein_Leiden_mehr_fuer_Merinowolle/details

the Petition Letter:

Dear Ministers of Agriculture of the Australian State,

with dismay I had to learn that the Australian wool industry has still failed to enforce pain-free alternatives for the mulesing of Merino sheep, such as breeding less wrinkled sheep, which makes mulesing redundant. In addition, mulesing and other surgical procedures such as clutching and castration are still performed on the majority of farms without pain relief management.
Please take action to change the practice of these painful and cruel operations. We don’t want sheep to suffer for wool.
We urge you, as the Australian State Agriculture Ministers in charge, to set new legislation standards: A new deadline to end mulesing in Australia and an immediate ban of all operations on sheep without the administration of pain relief.
Please don’t disappoint our confidence in Australian government and wool growers: We don´t want to wear the wool from screaming sheep on our skin.
We want wool without suffering and pain!

Yours sincerely,

My comment: “Even if sheep do not show their pain, they suffer,” says a Swiss veterinary physician.
“Sheep as mammals have the same pain sensations as humans, so the two large wounds, which are after cutting away the two large skin flaps on the thigh, are very painful. It hurts very much, both at the moment of cutting, but also in the long term, when the wound Healed and often inflamed and swollen, which is sure to cause long-term pain”, he said

Of course, Australian animal tormentors can understand what it’s like to be operated on without anesthetic.
If they experience such cruelty themselves, they will not set a deadline for the abolition of mulesing, it’s tomorrow over!

My best regards, Venus

Hunting

Hunters are psychopaths

 

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Conservative peer Lord Ashcroft has made an emotional call to the government to follow the lead of the US and the Netherlands and ban the import of “barbaric” captive lion trophies.

It comes as he reveals his findings from an investigation in to lion farming in South Africa.

In the year-long investigation, called Operation Simba, he claims that lions are being bred en mass, with the aim of killing them and using them in “medicine” or as trinkets in the far east – so that hunters can make a profit.

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He also revealed that wealthy trophy hunters, some from the UK, pay thousands of pounds to shoot the captive animals, often from short distances, so they can be photographed with them and take the skin as a reward.

In his investigation, he followed one person, allegedly from Britain, who paid £3,000 for a lion named Simba to be released into a compound, so that he could shoot it and be photographed with it.

-lion-simba_4652713Simba was eventually released into the wild. Pic: Lord Ashcroft

Lord Ashcroft also shows evidence of a text conversation he had with a British man who advised him of the best way to smuggle the dead animals into the UK.

He says the slaughtered lion skins are being brought into the country inside deer carcasses, making it almost impossible for them to be detected by customs officials.

His probe into the lion farms also showed that in the space of two days, 54 lions were killed in a single slaughterhouse, so that their bones could be harvested and sent to companies who want to use them in “traditional” Asian medicine.

Reporting in the Mail on Sunday, he said: “Dead lions, some skinned and others waiting to be skinned, littered the blood stained floor.

skynews-lions-lion-farming_4652711Lions are slaughtered on an industrial scale. Pic: Lord Ashcroft

“A pile of innards and skeletons lay elsewhere inside. While discarded internal body parts were piled high in overflowing black plastic bags on a trailer outside.”

The harrowing findings did not stop there though, as he also discovered that lions and tigers were being cross-bred, in an attempt to create bigger, and “more imposing” animals, that are worth more to those who want to hunt them.

Lord Ashcroft has vowed to lobby the government over what he calls the “failure to close a glaring loophole” that encourages imports of lion skins into the UK.

The number of lions in the wild has fallen dramatically over the last 100 years, with only an estimated 20,000 left, compared to around 200,000 a century ago.

afrika Löwen

https://news.sky.com/story/lion-farming-investigation-reveals-hunters-spend-thousands-to-shoot-captive-lions-in-south-africa-11705841

This time I have no own comment, but a very intelligent analysis of the hunter`s  nature from: https://wildbeimwild.com/2016/12/20/jaeger-besser-verstehen-psychopathie/:

What kind of human must be one who enjoys taking the life of another creature?

At first glance, it may seem unlikely, but what if the same sick psychology that makes a man hunt a fox and shoot him, make a man invade a house and stab a knife into a human body?

These people are among us. They are military officials, veterinarians, gynecologists, dentists or guide scout groups. A whole range of factors such as genes, family relationships, education, intelligence and opportunities form a psychopath!

Neuropsychologists confirm: Violence leaves traces in the brain after a short time. The amygdala, the feeling-sorting office in the brain, is conspicuously regressed or disturbed by violent perpetrators and psychopaths. If this central part of the brain is defective, the feeling of disgust, among other things, is eliminated. The amygdala is also known as the almond kernel.

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Even monkeys whose amygdala does not work properly do very stupid things. For example, they try to pick up cobras from the ground.

Some serial killers are of the opinion that a higher power would make them kill something. The cannibal Richard Chase pushed the door handles of the strangers’ homes. When the door was locked, he took it as a sign that he was not welcome in this house and left. An unlocked door, on the other hand, was an invitation: he was “destined” to kill the person in the house.

John Douglas was one of the first criminal profilers at the FBI. According to him, serial killers take “mementos” of their victims to extend their violent fantasies.

Some take jewelry or hair strands, other photos or body parts. Hunters, and especially trophy hunters, proudly present the severed head of their prey on the wall and share pictures of themselves – smiling next to a corpse – on social media.

Just like serial killers, hunters have to prove their status as a person who has power over life and death.
Trophies and souvenirs remind them of the power they once had over another creature.

Some hunters also commit murder to humans.
Why? Because hunting non-human beings was not exciting enough anymore.

“Killing people is so much fun,” the Zodiac killer wrote in one of his letters. “It’s even better than killing game in the forest, because humans are the most dangerous of all animals.”

Both types of killers, serial killer and hunter, could leave their fantasies as such. Hunters could shoot photos instead of deadly bullets.
But both decide – with enthusiasm – to take a life to satisfy their own selfish desire. They plan their bloodlust carefully and then kill again and again, with no chance of an end.

It is time for us to recognize hunting as what it really is: a pastime for psychopaths with low moral hygiene.

It`s time to hunt the Hunters

 

My best regards to all, Venus

General News

England: Government Announces a New Law to Ban Travelling Circuses From Using Wild Animals. Finally, We Get There !

England

 

I can remember attending circus demos as long as 25 years ago; and including the issue of wild animals in circuses as part of my contribution to the Animal Welfare Act for the UK.

Now, today, May 1st, we have been given the following news:

Wild Animals Are To Be Banned From Circuses.

Finally, we get there ! – It is such a massive victory for the UK animal welfare movement I cannot even start to describe. Very mixed emotions today; about another issue.

Celebrate !

Regards Mark.

Lion-cub-owned-by-Great-British-Circus.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove has announced a new law to ban travelling circuses from using wild animals.

For as long as they have been around, the shows have been known to use wild animal performances, alongside their acrobatics. But the government intends to put a stop to this.

Mr Gove said: “Travelling circuses are no place for wild animals in the 21st Century and I am pleased that this legislation will put an end to this practice for good.”

The government’s official website explains: “The use of wild animals in travelling circuses has no place in modern society and does nothing to further the conservation or our understanding of wild animals.”

Some of the animals that still perform in these circuses include reindeer, zebras and camels.

The Wild Animals in Circuses Bill means that circus operators in England will no longer be able to use wild animals as part of a travelling circus.

Animal Welfare Minister David Rutley said: “The general public can still enjoy a trip to the circus, but it is good to know that wild animals will no longer be a part of that experience.”

The move comes after years of campaigning by animal rights groups.

The government also made a promise in February 2018 to introduce a ban by January 2020.

It’s not the first time that the government has got tough on animal rights. Two laws recently have marked a significant change in how animals are treated according to UK law.

Rules banning the trade of ivory in the UK were passed at the end of 2018, which aim to protect wild elephants.

Meanwhile, Finn’s Law was passed in Parliament recently to strengthen the protection of service animals.

 

What is legally classed as a ‘wild animal’?

Wild animals are defined as animals that are not normally domesticated in Great Britain and would not naturally be found here.

Although this ban only applies to wild animals, other domestic animals – such as horses, donkeys and dogs – will continue to be inspected regularly by officials.

New animal welfare regulations were introduced in 2018 making sure that the highest welfare standards are met.

David Bowles from the RSPCA said: “We’ve campaigned against having wild animals in circuses for many years. They have complex needs that cannot be properly met in a circus environment. It’s high time keeping wild animals in circuses is consigned to the history books and we look forward to the day that it is banned for good in England.”

http://www.ad-international.org/animals_in_entertainment/go.php?id=4699&ssi=10

https://www.freedomforanimals.org.uk/news/breaking-government-announces-bill-to-ban-the-use-of-wild-animals-in-circuses-in-england

 

General News

A May 1st for animals…

 

We wish that!
A revolution against injustice, exploitation, a revolution against rulers.
For a world without slaves, subjects, lawless beings.
We are not the victims. No more.

Our conspecifics fought for it 130 years ago, so today we have the right to 8 hours of working time, protected and paid properly.

The time of human proletarians is over.
When everything started it was May 1, 1886.

 

The slaves of yesteryear are the dominant species of today.
Those have the acknowledged privilege to exploit other species as a sign of a good and high standard of living.

Just belonging to the same species automatically increments a person to those who have rights. In (almost) all areas of life.
It is the special right of the ruling species that only the oligarchs had before the May Revolution.

Therefore, the first of May is the reminder of a bitter and unjust reality for us: people have rights, or they can fight for it. Animals still have no rights because they can not fight for it.

But we can do it for them, and we do it. And we will continue to fight for it so that slavery and the massive exploitation of non-human proletarians will cease.

 

Love is Liberation ALF_n

 

My best regards and a beautiful May 1st at all, Venus

Farm Animals, General News

New Zealand: An Expose Into The Chicken Meat Business.

NZ

 

We have all seen recent tv about NZ telling everyone how wonderful it is to live there.

Well here is the other dark side of NZ. Maybe it should think about the welfare of animals rather than just humans.

 

All of the following text and videos relate to a campaign being run by ‘SAFE’ in New Zealand – here is the link to their site – https://www.safe.org.nz/  – check them out and give them your support – WAV.

 

Sick and Deformed Baby Birds 

 

New Zealand Chicken Meat Industry Cruelty Exposed

At just five weeks of age, she stands with difficulty. Although still cheeping like a little chick, her adult-sized body is in so much pain, with swollen feet and legs which barely hold her up. Her skin is red-raw from lying in the ammonia-soaked litter. Around her are the bodies of other chicks who have died of heart failure – their bodies unable to cope with the unnatural growth rate. Tomorrow those who can no longer walk will be culled.

She wants to go outside, to breathe the fresh air, feel the sun on her back and the earth under her feet. But the so-called “pop-holes” to the outside are far away, there are thousands of other birds in the way and her legs hurt so terribly under the weight of her overgrown body.

The only time she will get outside is next week when the truck arrives. She and those around her who are still alive will be picked up, shoved into crates and taken for slaughter.

She is a free-range chicken.

 

 

Petition 2

Please sign the petition to help chickens – use this link:

https://safe.org.nz/campaigns/ecards/nz-chickens

Baby birds, bred to suffer

 

Chicken Meat Industry Cruelty Exposed

Confronting footage of an Auckland chicken farm shows dead and dying chickens. As previous investigations have shown, these scenes are replicated across New Zealand inside the industrial sheds where chickens are bred for meat.

The sick and deformed (SAD) chickens in the footage are just five weeks old, but because of selective breeding, they are already the size of adult chickens. The chicks struggle to stand up because of the size of their abnormal bodies. They are so top-heavy, that they can get stuck on their backs, and are left to struggle desperately trying to get back up.

The chicken industry’s own figures show that thousands of birds die every day of heart failure and other health problems, even before they reach the slaughter age of six weeks. Almost a third suffer from painful lameness. When their legs fail, they may be unable to reach food and water.

 

Life as a chicken used for meat

Around 120 million chickens were slaughtered for meat in New Zealand in 2017. Four out of every five land animals killed for meat in NZ are chickens.

These birds (often referred to by the poultry industry as ‘broilers’) have been selectively bred for their meat, rather than eggs. They are completely separate breeds from those used for egg laying.

The majority are housed in large, windowless sheds holding around 40,000 birds. The floor covering (litter) is only changed when the birds are removed for slaughter at around six weeks. This causes urine and faeces to build up in the litter, resulting in high ammonia levels in the air and burns to the soles of the chickens’ feet and ankle joints (hocks).

Birds are packed closely together, especially in their last weeks, and have little space to move. The legal maximum stocking density is 38kg per square metre, (which equates to 19 birds per square meter), giving each bird a floor area of less than the size of an A4 sheet of paper.

As the birds grow, conditions deteriorate and the sheds become increasingly overcrowded. They must constantly compete to reach food and water supplies. Antibiotics are routinely fed in an attempt to prevent diseases that can spread in these poor conditions.

 

Bred to Suffer

In NZ, nearly all farmers breed Cobb and Ross chickens, both of which have been selectively bred over many generations to put on weight very quickly. They double in size every week, reaching the desired slaughter weight of about 2.5kg at only about six weeks of age. Chickens would normally take six months to fully mature.

Horrifyingly, the net effect of this fast growth is that the industry has made a breed of bird that has severe health problems and is a ‘non-survivor’. This means that if any of these birds were fortunate enough to be rescued and allowed to live naturally, they usually would not survive past one-year-old due to their poor genetic disposition.

https://safe.org.nz/campaigns/issues/chickens-bred-for-meat