It’s 2020 but we still allow sociopaths to kill for fun
Who says money doesn’t rule the world?
Month: January 2020
The following has been sent to us by Stacey, who runs the ‘Our Compass’ site:
https://our-compass.org/2020/01/13/in-the-inferno-thoughts-about-selective-empathy/
Check out this great site – animal issues and lots of Vegan links.
Thanks Stacey;
Regards Mark
Source There’s an Elephant in the Room Blog
As Australia burns, the media shows harrowing scenes of indigenous species like koalas and kangaroos, injured, burned and dying. We see so many human interest stories, individual koala mothers with infants clutching at their fur being rescued and cared for; we are invited to feel the personal tragedy of a single kangaroo joey tangled in the fence where he was incinerated. Whether mourned or rescued, they are viewed as individuals, and we are united in hope for their survival, watching with bated breath as we are shown desperate creatures under an orange sky, fleeing through the smoke with the inferno roaring at their heels. The estimated number of 500,000,000 deaths has remained static for well over a week and has no doubt been wildly exceeded by now – possibly by several orders of magnitude – and will continue to climb.
I see occasional comments that wonder why no count is being publicised of those individuals who, as the defenceless victims of nonveganism, were always destined to be slaughtered; those innocent creatures whose lives and bodies were being ‘farmed’. Their plight is consistently downplayed and they are referred to sweepingly, only as ‘livestock‘. Live. Stock.
There are no human interest stories about them, no pitiful images of burned and desperate mothers seeking water from passers-by, no heroic bystanders pouring water on their burned fur and bleeding feet. No heartwarming tales of rescue and medical care.
We are not being shown videos of their desperate flight from the cracking, howling flames. Because they can’t flee. They are sitting targets. They are dying en masse. We see the occasional distance shot of cooked, bloated and unrecognisable bodies fallen in the paddocks where they were burned alive; the occasional image of sheep with their coats frizzled by flames. But even the ‘personal interest’ stories that I’ve seen, notably one where a heatbroken animal farmer was shooting cows individually in his fields, are focussed on his tragedy, his loss of livelihood. It was not a story about the tragedy of those unique individuals who were looking down the barrel of his gun, those sentient creatures who had faced hell and terror and were now injured and suffering unbearably.
There is no mention of the fact that the hell and terror of a slaughterhouse was the only route out of their situation in any case. The real tragedy from the perspective of their exploiter was that as damaged resources, they had no monetary value, and the fire-ravaged land may be unable to support the continuation of his profitable trade. Because before any individual can be exploited as a resource for our species, we must first disregard their every entitlement to consideration as living, feeling, autonomous beings. They become resources, livestock, property. They are then discussed in terms of property loss and damage.
The unfolding catastrophe is referred to a ‘humanitarian crisis’. This focus on the human exploiters and the disregarding of the torment of the individuals they exploit on behalf of nonvegan consumers, is a perfect illustration of the mindset with which we are all indoctrinated from childhood. Almost every single one of us will claim to care about members of other animal species to some extent or another. Few of us will openly claim that causing needless harm to the defenceless, the innocent, and the vulnerable is in any way acceptable. None of us would ever admit to being the sort of person that would do that.
And yet here we are, glancing impassively over anonymous corpse-littered farmland and feeling for those whose trade trapped them there, while pouring out concern and sympathy for the wild creatures with whose suffering we allow ourselves to empathise.
Here is our species, continuing to globally slaughter over 1.5 BILLION land based individuals per WEEK to indulge an unnecessary dietary preference, while watching the results of the planetary destruction this is causing, lay waste to a land that may never recover. Surely the irony can’t be lost on everyone?
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Put MEP’s and Commissioners in a Cage for 24 hours; and then see how quickly things would change !
Mark – WAV.
WAV Comment: I (Mark) am getting on my soapbox here about this; sorry if I have different views to others, but knowing the EU and how it operates; I don’t think we will see that much in the way of change. Nice words and PR’s; and a pile of EU ‘officials’ working day and night to dress it all up; for basically nothing – which means nothing being done in the way of progress for the welfare of animals in Europe.
Have animal welfare / rights organisations across the EU been saying this for years – that ‘conventional rabbit cages have worst welfare score’; and have they not supported this attitude with vast amounts of evidence / proof of the cruelties involved ?. We note that this report says that ‘conventional cages have the worst overall welfare impact score’ – it says nothing about banning them, just simply that ‘it includes recommendations to improve the welfare of these animals in all the systems currently available in the EU’.
In other words; and in my opinion only for this article, the EU ‘policy’ has basically no intention of ‘ending the cage’ as proposed by campaigns by animal welfare groups across Europe. At best, it is regarded by us as a kind of ‘tinkering round the edges’ strategy; which largely keeps current systems; whilst saying to citizens and the welfare groups that ‘improvements have been made’ !. Oh yeah, like what ? – Rabbits; the most farmed animal throughout Europe, we suggest, rabbits we still be kept in cages throughout the EU, and really the EU will have masses of new ‘yukspeak’ legislation that does very little, changes very little; but keeps the farmers and their lobbyists happy – and that for them is the main thing.
Have we not seen the ‘EU approach’ to all this in the past ? – ‘battery cages’ for chickens suddenly take on the new EU name of ‘enriched cages’ – and they move from each bird in an enriched cage now having at least 750 square centimetres of space rather than the old minimum for ‘battery’ cage systems, which was 550 square centimetres; or in other words, roughly the size of one A4 sheet of paper per bird, for their entire lives !
Read – Enriched cages condemned – CIWF – one of the UK’s leading farm animal welfare organisations:
https://www.ciwf.org.uk/news/2010/08/Enriched-cages-condemned
Lets move on to another ‘farm animal welfare’ issue that the EU is involved with and ignores the wishes of its citizens on – Live Exports (live animal transports). Have a look at all the people in Europe calling for change:
https://stoplivetransport.org/
.. and the European Parliament demands 8 hours !!!- https://animalwelfareandtrade.com/european-parliament-demands-8-hour-limit
Well, the reality is that despite the ‘demands’ of the European Parliament; the EU Commissioner(s) have the final say; and again in this case, they ignore the wishes of the EU citizens in favour of what is best for them; their own nation, and their lobbyists – and that in a nutshell means ‘NO Change’.
Here we are in January 2020 and nothing has changed regarding live animals being transported across / or from the EU to third countries since the Regulation (1/2005) of yes, 2005.. Reg 1/2005 is still the antiquated ‘bible’ which transporters never adhere to, and now we see the EU trying to invent new words and policies to make ‘live animal transport’ things a bit better, whatever that means ! – basically; the EU does not change to the wants of its citizens; it ignores them and does only what it wants at the demands of the un elected Commissioners.
Another example; Tell me about Monsanto / Bayer and the grip that lobbyists have within the EU – you can read a lot of this in our past posts in the subject. In Austria last month, we had:
Austrian leader blocks ban on weedkiller glyphosate, citing technicality
VIENNA (Reuters) – Austria’s caretaker leader on Monday made clear she would not sign into law the European Union’s first national ban on the weedkiller glyphosate due to a technicality, infuriating environmentalists while delighting farmers’ groups.
A large majority in parliament and, polls suggest, the public support banning the chemical because of fears it causes cancer. Austria, a popular tourist destination for its Alpine landscapes, also devotes the largest share of its farmland to organic agriculture of any EU member state.
We call the ‘technicality’ another name; and that is ‘lobbyists’. All the time the EU sucks up to them and the industry, there is no chance of change, despite what the citizens want. You could say that this is enough to make people want to wave goodbye to the EU; for all its inactions – and you know what, wow, yes, that is exactly what the UK will be doing at the end of January this year. Taking back control; away from all the EU cow poo.
Not a Happy Bunny – like most in the EU;
Regards Mark.
From the ‘Eurogroup for Animals’:
EFSA concludes conventional rabbit cages have worst welfare score
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published three scientific opinions on the welfare of rabbits kept in the EU for meat consumption. The conclusions show the need for the European Commission to use this scientific evidence to enact long overdue legislation for rabbits and end caged systems. At the same time, the opinions demonstrate the urgent need for better training of staff during stunning and slaughter of rabbits.
Rabbits are the second most farmed species in the EU in terms of numbers, but there is no species-specific legislation protecting their welfare in the EU. EFSA assessed and compared the welfare of rabbits in different production systems – organic, outdoor, floor pens, elevated pens, enriched cages and conventional cages – and concluded that conventional cages have the worst overall welfare impact score.
The overall welfare impact scores suggest that animal welfare in organic systems, on the other hand, is generally good. EFSA’s Opinion includes recommendations to improve the welfare of these animals in all the systems currently available in the EU. To facilitate the assessment of the welfare of rabbits kept in different systems it also recommends standardizing the use of validated welfare assessment protocols suitable for on-farm use throughout the EU.
Secondly, in response to two mandates, one from the European Parliament and one from the European Commission, EFSA also assessed the welfare problems like to occur in rabbits during slaughter and killing operations. In its Scientific Opinion ‘Stunning methods and slaughter of rabbits for human consumption’, the Authority identified ten welfare consequences resulting from 32 hazards that rabbits can be exposed to before and during slaughter (i.e. during pre-stunning, stunning and bleeding). These are consciousness, not being dead, thermal stress, prolonged thirst, prolonged hunger, restriction of movements, pain, fear, distress, and respiratory distress. 25 out of 32 of the hazards originated from staff, with most being attributed either to a lack of appropriate skills or to fatigue.
EFSA concluded that the preparedness and performance of staff also plays a crucial role in the case of on‐farm killing for purposes other than slaughter, such as disease control operations, and assessed this scenario in another dedicated Scientific Opinion. It identified 14 hazards which result in five welfare consequences: not being dead, consciousness, pain, fear and distress. Again, the staff were identified as the origin for all the hazards, either due to a lack of skills needed or due to the high kill rate that characterizes these operations and results in fatigue.
For both these opinions EFSA linked the hazards, welfare consequences, animal-based measures, origins and preventive and corrective measures, and also proposed mitigation measures to minimize welfare consequences. In assessing preventive measures, the crucial role played by the staff was also acknowledged.
Tennis star Roger Federer has responded to climate change critics – including campaigner Greta Thunberg – by saying he takes the issue very seriously.
Activists oppose Federer’s sponsorship deal with Credit Suisse over its links to the fossil fuel industry.
Some appeared in court this week after refusing to pay a fine for playing tennis inside Credit Suisse offices in 2018 to highlight Federer’s deal.
Federer did not address the deal directly in his statement.
The activists – most of them students – appeared in court in Renens, Lausanne, on 7 January to appeal against the fine. Some supporters gathered outside holding banners which read: “Credit Suisse is destroying the planet. Roger, do you support them?”
Greta Thunberg – the Swedish teenager who has become the public face of worldwide protests against government policies on climate change – joined the criticism against Federer and Credit Suisse when she retweeted a post from activists 350.org Europe.
Since 2016 @CreditSuisse has provided $57 BILLION to companies looking for new fossil fuel deposits – something that is utterly incompatible with #ClimateAction @RogerFederer do you endorse this? #RogerWakeUpNow pic.twitter.com/ED1fIvb4Cr
— 350.org Europe (@350Europe) January 8, 2020
The post said loans by Credit Suisse to companies investing in fossil fuels were incompatible with action on climate change and urged Federer to “wake up”.
In his response, the 20-time Grand Slam champion who is in Melbourne for the Australian Open, said: “I take the impacts and threat of climate change very seriously, particularly as my family and I arrive in Australia amidst devastation from the bushfires.”
Federer said he had “a great deal of respect and admiration for the youth climate movement” and was “grateful to young climate activists for pushing us all to examine our behaviours and act on innovative solutions”.
“We owe it to them and ourselves to listen. I appreciate reminders of my responsibility as a private individual, as an athlete and as an entrepreneur, and I’m committed to using this privileged position to dialogue on important issues with my sponsors.”
For its part, Credit Suisse has said it is “seeking to align its loan portfolios with the objectives of the Paris Agreement [to combat climate change] and has recently announced in the context of its global climate strategy that it will no longer invest in new coal-fired power plants”.
Federer is taking part in a fundraising event next Wednesday in aid of relief efforts to address the Australian bushfires which have killed at least 28 people and destroyed thousands of homes since September.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-51082875
WAV Comment – I (Mark) have been involved a bit in the past regarding Biosecurity issues on transporters carrying livestock. For proper biosecurity – ie to prevent the spread of disease and infection between animals carried at the same time and also at different times, vehicles by law are to be cleaned out (normally with a pressure spray) and fully disinfected before they take on a new consignment.
As this check was undertaken in the West of England, I would guess that maybe Calves have been involved in the shipments. I cannot prove this; just a gut feeling from experience. Cattle get Bovine TB; and this is a typical way that BTB can be spread from one consignment to another. As we have long argued, this is happening – 70% of all livestock vehicles stopped were non-compliant with required regulations – and that is more than worrying; especially when many cattle farmers are blaming the Badgers for spreading BTB amongst herds.
Maybe the farmers need to look at their own practices a bit more closely before they start blaming others.
Regards Mark.
‘Filthy’ animal trailer (above) full of poo and muck on M5 seized by police
https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/local-news/filthy-trailer-poo-seized-m5-3731000
It was described to be ‘three-inches deep in animal dung’
A disgusting trailer full of poo was seized as part of a joint-traffic operation on the M5.
Devon and Cornwall Police, Trading Standards and the DVSA carried out a multi-agency operation targeting farm vehicles travelling to and from the cattle market in Devon yesterday (Saturday, January 11).
Police said the vehicle was an example of “worst practice, poor potential animal welfare” and had red diesel, which resulted in the vehicle being seized.
Devon Live reports how the back of the trailer was said to have a “filthy animal compartment, three-inches deep in animal dung”.
Police say the vehicle also had defective breaks on the trailer and was “found to be using what is believed to be red diesel” and HMRC are investigating.
Alliance RP Specials tweeted: “Working alongside Trading Standards, (we) stopped this vehicle for routine inspection.
“What you see is possibly worst practice, poor potential animal welfare, poor trailer maintenance and red diesel.
“Thankfully no animals on board. Vehicle seized trailer prohibited. Operation Trailer.”
Rural Affairs Devon added: “This is the second time we’ve deployed Operation Trailer, nine vehicles where issued with prohibitions due to defects, two vehicles were seized for HMRC offences, and 70 per cent of all livestock vehicles stopped were non-compliant with required regulations.
“Please make sure to check your trailer.”
The operation saw nine vehicles issued with prohibition notices, four overweight vehicles/trailers, one tyre offence, one MOT expiry, two livestock trailers unroadworthy.
It also saw a non-compliant horse passport, horses transported with documentation, livestock transported without documentation, trailers not cleaned and disinfected and a trailer leaking slurry onto highway.
So Join Us In Trying To Find Them !
WAV Comment – Good man Lewis – Helping Australian Animals.
Lewis Hamilton says he will donate more than £380,000 to support the fire service and animal welfare charities affected by fires in Australia.
The Formula 1 world champion pledged US $500,000 and says he “can’t help but grieve for the defenceless animals thought to have died” in the fires.
The bushfires have burnt more than 6.3 million hectares across the country and 27 people have died.
Alongside a video of a koala being rescued, the 35-year-old Mercedes driver wrote: “It saddens me deeply to know that over 1 billion animals in Australia died a painful death, no way out, not their fault
.
“My love of animals is no secret and I can’t help but grieve for the defenceless animals thought to have died so far, pushing certain species closer to extinction.
“I’m lucky enough to visit Australia often and I know first-hand how beautiful the country is. Keep fighting Australia. I’ve spent some time speaking to people in Australia who are working at the heart of this and I’m filled with admiration for everything they are doing.
“I implore you to join me in thinking about the impact we are having on our planet. Let’s work together to make small changes, and encourage our family and friends to do the same, so we can help shift the direction we’re going in.”
Hamilton’s donation – which is in US dollars and converts to roughly £383,000 – will go to WIRES Wildlife Rescue, WWF Australia and the Rural Fire Service.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/51054445
Image Credit: Adobe Stock/Galina Barskaya
In a moving display, a herd of 17 Asian elephants visited a deceased herd member’s burial site, in Andhra Pradesh, India, to mourn their lost family member. This heartfelt moment exemplifies the strong social and familial bonds that elephants frequently form.
A day earlier, the herd wandered into a field. One member came into contact with a live cable wire, which tragically electrocuted him to death. Nearby elephant trackers diverted the herd away from the site and buried the poor elephant where he died.
When the surviving herd members returned a day later, they repeatedly circled the burial mound, stampeding the mud and making sorrowful trumpeting noises. After paying their respects, all 17 elephants retreated into the forest.
The emotional event deeply touched onlookers.
“The sentiments of the elephants had moved not only the forest personnel, but also the farmers, who despite suffering crop damage have not made a complaint of it,” Forest Range Officer K. Madhan Mohan Reddy told The Hindu. “We are just bowled over by their gesture.”
Forest officials predicted the herd’s return to the site and took precautions to prevent another tragedy.
“As per our request, the power was disconnected through all low-lying cables across the fields in the vicinity of the mound,” Reddy explained. “The power officials are now increasing the height of the power lines or shifting the locations of the poles.”
Elephants are well-known for grieving their herd members’ deaths for extended periods of time. These rituals and behaviors remind us of their ability to feel complex emotions, a capacity often mistakenly thought of as uniquely human. Elephants clearly experience sadness, love, compassion and distress.
Various other animals, including orcas, humpback whales, lemurs, and chimpanzees, also mourn their dead. Grieving symbolizes the close relationships animals form between family members and helps them achieve closure after losing a loved one.
As the recently-observed Asian elephants’ funerary ritual shows, mourning is not a process unique to the human experience.
Image Credit: Jordi Casamitjana/Facebook
After a two-day employment tribunal in the U.K., a judge officially ruled on January 3 that ethical veganism is a philosophical belief, akin to religion, and should be protected by the law.
Vegan zoologist Jordi Casamitjana brought the landmark case to adjudication. He accused the League Against Cruel Sports of firing him after he revealed to colleagues that the company’s pension fund invests in businesses participating in animal testing.
Casamitjana decided to take action and ascertain whether ethical veganism can be classified as a protected “non-religious philosophical belief” and, therefore, be defended by the Equality Act 2010.
In his ruling, Judge Robin Postle pronounced that ethical veganism does meet the criteria required to qualify as a philosophical belief under the act.
“I am satisfied overwhelmingly that ethical veganism does constitute a philosophical belief,” he said, “and it is now a new protected characteristic.”
Casamitjana thinks this exciting new development will help ethical vegans feel comfortable in their beliefs.
“I’m extremely happy with the outcome of this hearing and for the words of the judge who clearly understood what ethical veganism is,” commented Casamitjana after hearing the ruling. “I am not alone. Many people have supported me because they or their friends have experienced discrimination for being ethical vegans. Hopefully, from my dismissal something positive will come by ensuring other ethical vegans are better protected in the future.”
“Better protection means more vegans will be able to be open about their beliefs,” he added. “This can only be a good thing for the billions of animals still exploited by humans, an environment under duress, and stressed public health.”
In February, the tribunal will rule on whether the League Against Cruel Sports wrongly dismissed Casamitjana, discriminating against him due to his philosophy of ethical veganism.
It’s time to pick the most outrageous eco-villain of 2019, and we need your help.
See our nominees and click here to cast your vote.
For years we’ve given out our Rubber Dodo Award to spotlight those who are destroying wild places, driving species extinct, and tearing down the planet’s life-support system. Named after the most famous extinct species on Earth, this award does not come with a cash prize.
Last year, of course, the Dodo went to President Donald J. Trump — a no-brainer.
Previous recipients of the faux-accolade include Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke (2017), Utah Congressman Rob Bishop (2016), Monsanto (2015), USDA’s Wildlife Services (2014), the Koch Brothers (2013), Sen. James Inhofe (2012), BP’s Tony Hayward (2010) and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (2008).
Learn more about this year’s nominees and cast your vote by Jan. 15.
https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/
Who is the USA Eco Villain of 2019 ?
– Cast Your Vote here now before January 15th.
Below are some powerful images by environmental activist Robin Wood however, shows the effects of man’s effect on the natural world in a exceptionally powerful way.
Who wins the Rubber Eco Dodo Award ? – Is It :
David Bernhardt: For suppressing data showing pesticides harm at least 1,400 protected species, Trump’s interior secretary was under inspector-general investigation just four days after he got the job. A longtime lobbyist for polluters, he’s worked for decades to weaken the Endangered Species Act. As our interior secretary, he’s the ultimate fox guarding the henhouse. Bernhardt has launched an all-out attack on protections for America’s wildlife.
Donald Trump, Jr.: Donald the Younger’s never met an endangered species he doesn’t love to cuddle — once it’s dead. A trophy hunter of African elephants, leopards and Cape buffalo, he likes to have his picture taken with their bodies (once, holding an elephant’s severed tail). Recently, in Mongolia, he killed a threatened argali sheep — a species whose population had dropped 50% between 1985 and 2009.
Andrew Wheeler: Former coal lobbyist, now-Environmental Protection Agency chief, Wheeler apparently likes clean air and water about as much as David Bernhardt likes wildlife. A seasoned Beltway insider, he’s rescinded Obama’s Clean Power Plan, brutally overruled scientists, and gutted auto fuel-efficiency standards. He’s also slashed Clean Water Act protections, freeing up industry to destroy wetlands and dump toxic waste into streams across the United States.
Stephen Miller: This far-right advisor to the president is like the long-lost brain Trump never had. Sadly, that brain is racist. Miller has guided American immigration policy into the realm of outright inhumanity. His whispers in Trump’s ear are likely behind a ban on immigrants from Muslim countries, a shameful practice of removing children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border, and construction of a destructive border wall across precious wilderness.
VOTE NOW ! – Before 15th January.
World Animals Voice 