Month: March 2020
Breaking News: Netherlands suspend animal transports because of Corona
The unbearable situation for animals in transport and the protests on the part of animal protection are finally having an effect: From now on, breeding cattle, horses, sheep, goats and exotic animal species should no longer be exported from Holland. Dairy cows that should be transported abroad for slaughter must also remain in the country.
The partial suspension of transports in Holland is a step in the right direction. We would like Germany to be guided by the legal implementation and to have a transport stop as soon as possible.
In view of the backlog of vehicles at the borders, the German Animal Welfare Association is calling for an end to long-distance transport of live animals. In the mega traffic jam on the A4 at the German-Polish border, but also on the border from Poland to Lithuania or in Croatia, animal transporters are currently stuck for hours or days due to the stricter border controls.
The situation is extremely stressful for the animals. They lack water and feed, cows cannot be milked and they are in their excrement because the litter cannot be renewed and the animals cannot be dumped.
Transports to third countries are particularly critical
Weekly animal transports to countries outside the EU start every week in Germany. Breeding associations have recently announced further transports to Azerbaijan, Algeria, Uzbekistan, Iran and Turkey. Transports to destinations in third countries, especially breeding animals, have nothing to do with security of supply in the EU, but follow purely economic interests.
Even under normal circumstances, live animal transports across Europe and the world are torture for the animals. If there are disruptions in the process, as is the case now in the times of Corona, it will go to hell.
Generally, long-distance transport needs to be stopped. In view of the dramatic situation, you have to start immediately, ”says Thomas Schröder, President of the German Animal Welfare Association. “When animals suffer, cows scream in pain because they cannot be milked, everyone should be aware that animals are not a commodity, they are living beings. The current situation shows us clearly how many animals are constantly transported over thousands of kilometers. ”
The German Animal Welfare Association, together with other European animal welfare organizations, wrote to the EU Commission asking them to suspend animal transport due to the current situation. Animal welfare reasons, but also the risk of the driver spreading corona, clearly speak against continuing transport. From an animal welfare point of view, the fundamental goal must be to completely abolish live animal transport.
https://vgt.at/presse/news/2020/news20200327mn.php
And I mean…When countries within the EU begin to act independently in animal transport and factory farming in general, there is hope that positive changes will result.
France was the first country in the summer 2019 to stop transporting animals due to heat records. The countries must finally become independent, we all have nothing to expect from the EU.
To do this, the animal rights movement must work in a targeted and united manner.
My best regards to all, Venus
|
|
|
What would our live be without those who, as the only ones, can teach us about love, solidarity, joy, symbiosis with all species …
Regards and a good night from Venus
Injured downer and pregnant milk cow left alone.
Again and again people report injured or sick animals, which are hidden behind scrap yards and cannot even get up. The farmers then like to speak of individual cases.
We discovered such a gruesome case near Stade, Lower Saxony three weeks ago. The injured animal has been lying there for at least 1 1/2 days, the animal is emaciated, obviously injured in the hind leg and cannot get up.
Such high-performance cows need a lot of feed and water. They constantly produce masses of milk and suffer agony if they are not milked. The farm is known for bad conditions in the village and has been reported to the veterinary office several times. Citizens report observations a few weeks ago of how a cow was placed in the same place and left to die.
We immediately informed the Veterinary Office today. Unfortunately, the answer is not surprising: The only employee responsible for animal protection cases is out of the house and, due to a lack of personnel, he is unable to act in the next few hours. We then asked the police for support.
We have heard from third parties that there is now a check about 5 hours after the first report. The farmer has now blocked the field of vision with a tractor.
SOKO animal protection. Downer Cow case update:
As the district reports, the cow was very pregnant and was unable to get up or move significantly.
If the animal is unable to get up, the apparent slurry of liquid manure that emerges from a yellow pipe under the animal is certainly a poor surface for attempts to stand up.
Finally, the question arises: if the animal cannot walk, how did it get there?
The animal was released as part of the inspection on the instructions of the authority. The district speaks of “no animal protection case” and “no gross misconduct by the animal owner”.
The Office did not respond to the question from SOKO animal welfare, how the animal was brought there. The press release says that organic causes could not be determined. An autopsy, which SOKO animal welfare requested, did not take place. So it remains in the dark why the animal was in poor condition.
The district did not answer the following questions:
6) Have fines or periodic penalties been imposed?
7) Was the company already known and had a history of animal welfare and / or hygiene issues?
8) How often has the company been checked in the past?
9) Has the rest of the barn been examined?
So a weak animal with a dangerous, difficult birth was left alone, day and night. What was previously done for the mother and her unborn child? Why doesn’t this stable even have a protected birth area for such cases?
The injury that you can see on the distance pictures was not even mentioned and the exploitation for milk is back on the agenda.
And I mean…Germany is the largest milk producer in the EU. This is made possible by the turbo cows and the agricultural lobby, which is an incredibly powerful device.
And oh yes, the farmers …
a) they show solidarity with the only party in parliament that has officially recognized fascists in leadership positions,
b) they insist on using pesticides even in nature reserves,
c) they absolutely want to continue poisoning the groundwater,
d) they are not interested in animal welfare but they are only howling, howling and howling …
They also protest against the anesthetic during piglet castration, are jointly responsible for groundwater contamination, insect mortality and antibiotic resistance.
They find it completely ok to put pigs in cages for 4 months, in which they cannot turn around, mothers take away their children, kill excess piglets and if they have exploited cows enough, they let them die without help or they sell the, illegal, in order to make the last money again.
They keep thousands of animals in stalls, densely crowded, with no activity or daylight.
The animals stand on slatted floors in their own shit, which then accumulates as manure.
How much groundwater is contaminated by the manure? The farmers never answered the question.
And then they are offended when we say that they enjoy treating the animals as if they were a piece of shit.
So, yes: obviously they enjoy it.
And even more if they conduct this cruelty to animals with the support of the authority.
My best regards to all, Venus
Coronavirus may mean Botswana’s hunting season is cancelled
First hunting season after controversial ban was lifted likely to be hit by coronavirus pandemic.
Animal rights campaigners have welcomed the uncertainty surrounding Botswana’s first hunting season since 2014, which has been hit hard by hunters pulling out because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Everything is at a standstill. All clients that were supposed to come in have either postponed or cancelled,” said Clive Eaton, owner of Tholo Safaris, a hunting company that last month bought licences to hunt 20 elephants.
Botswana, home to the world’s largest elephant population and almost one-third of Africa’s herd, lifted a ban on hunting in May 2019, saying the elephant population had increased to the point where farmers’ livelihoods were being affected.
While the country has no confirmed cases of coronavirus infection so far, it has banned arrivals from 18 high-risk countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Italy and Spain.
The Botswana Wildlife Producers Association (BWPA) said bookings across the industry had been cancelled or postponed and that it had asked for an extension of the hunting season, due to start in April.
But animal rights campaigners have urged the government to reinstate the ban lifted last year.
“We welcome the fact that foreign trophy hunters cannot kill elephants in Botswana, and hope that the government takes the time to reflect on and rethink its deadly strategy towards elephants and shake off this colonial pastime altogether,” Siobhan Mitchell, UK Director of Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting, told Al Jazeera.
“People in Botswana can find peaceful ways to co-exist and benefit from elephants and ensure rural people benefit. This time of global crisis is a great time to look for new and innovative ways to benefit economically and sustainably.”
More than 16,500 people have died from the coronavirus across the world. The pandemic poses a threat to economies like Botswana, where tourism is big business. The country’s vast tracts of wilderness are a magnet for those who want to see – or hunt – wildlife.
Proceeds from hunting licence auctions, worth around 13 million pula ($1.08m) annually before hunting was banned in 2014 due to declining elephant numbers, go to community trusts used for development.
However, a resumption in hunting, to reduce the impact of elephants on people and crops, proved controversial.
A leading wildlife charity, the Born Free Foundation, urged Botswana to abandon any return to trophy hunting.
“Born Free has always maintained that commercial hunting does not offer an ethical or sustainable wildlife management tool, nor is it an effective or sustainable way of funding conservation activities or local communities,” its policy head Mark Jones said.
An auction of licences to hunt 15 elephants is due to go ahead as planned on Friday.
The Trump administration just gave polluters a free pass to pollute our air and water with impunity.
Using the COVID-19 pandemic as cover, Trump’s EPA announced it will no longer enforce legally mandated public health and environmental protections nationwide — indefinitely, while the pandemic crisis lasts.
Letting oil refineries, chemical plants and other industrial polluters off the hook is disgusting and shamelessly opportunistic.
Tell EPA Administrator Wheeler we can protect public health and the environment at the same time.
Never before has the EPA just given up and stopped enforcing its own rules at this scale.
The pandemic has upended what is normal for everyone, but that’s not an excuse to toss aside environmental protections.
We’ve seen countless attacks from the Trump administration on wildlife and the laws that protect it. The Endangered Species Act is already under tremendous threat from being weakened in its ability to save plants and animals.
Now, with the EPA turning a blind eye to industrial pollution, our public health could be even more seriously threatened. This cynical ploy is a new low, even for this administration.
Take Action:
https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/
WAV Comment:
Believe it or not; now the China’s National Health Commission is recommending an injection containing bear bile as a treatment for COVID-19, despite the World Health Organisation insisting there is currently no cure for coronavirus.
PETITION TARGET: National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China
In a disappointing step backward for animal rights and human health, China’s National Health Commission is recommending an injection containing bear bile as a treatment for COVID-19, despite the WHO insisting there is currently no cure for coronavirus.
Bears harvested for their bile are subjected to excruciating and invasive extraction methods, including cutting a hole in their bodies and forcing a metal tube through the wound.
Kept in cramped cages, they suffer from starvation, dehydration, infection and other untreated medical problems. These bile farms, like live animal markets, are potential environments for bacterial infections and viruses to “make the jump” from animals to humans.
Shockingly, Tan Re Qing, a medication that includes bear bile, is recommended on a government-sponsored list of suggested coronavirus treatments. China is supposed to be curbing their wildlife trade because of its link to spreading zoonotic disease, and this directly contradicts that effort.
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, which started as a result of poor animal welfare standards, enough is enough. By recommending bear bile as a COVID-19 treatment, the Chinese government is encouraging animal cruelty and prolonging the wildlife trade, which poses a global health risk. China has made tremendous progress with its recent ban on wildlife consumption, but we must implore them to broaden their scope and end all wild animal exploitation.
Sign this petition urging China’s National Health Commission to remove Tan Re Qing from its list of recommended coronavirus treatments and to ban the use of all wild animals in medicine.
Please sign the petition via this link:
Thank you – WAV.
The video and pictures shown here are not from the PETA campaign – we have these from other sources – WAV.
Before the COVID-19 outbreak, many people had never heard the term “wet market,” which is believed to be the origin of the novel coronavirus. It’s simply a market that sells live and dead animals—often of a variety of species—for human consumption, like those that exist in New York. SARS is a coronavirus that’s believed to have first infected humans at a Chinese wet market, just like COVID-19.
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, avian flu, swine flu, SARS, HIV, Ebola, and other diseases are linked to meat production or consumption. Not all of these come from live-animal markets— Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a variant of mad cow disease, for instance, can affect a person who has eaten certain body parts of an infected cow—but such markets, where stressed, injured, and sick animals are commonly caged in public areas, are perfect breeding grounds for diseases.
In this video, Peter Li, an associate professor at the University of Houston–Downtown, states that at wet markets, “The cages are stacked one over another. Animals at the bottom are often soaked with all kinds of liquid. Animal excrement, pus, blood.” Such conditions allow viruses to spread from one animal to another as well as to humans who come into contact with them.
Although the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, China, where the coronavirus is thought to have first infected humans, has closed and that country has banned the consumption and farming of “wild” animals (hopefully, not only temporarily), it’s important to note that diseases don’t just affect animals humans have labelled as “wild.” Many wet markets continue to operate throughout Asia, Africa, Europe, and the U.S.
There are more than 80 live-animal markets and slaughterhouses in New York City alone.
Just as we don’t want to be infected with or die from COVID-19, other animals don’t want to suffer or be killed for food. A hen, for example, just wants to be left in peace so that she can teach calls to her chicks before they hatch (much like how a human mother talks to her baby in the womb) and teach her young the ways of the world once they’re born. And fish just want to be left alone so that they can protect their young, build nests, and swim freely.
No matter what species they are peddling, live-animal meat markets will continue to put the human population at risk as well as sentencing countless animals to a miserable death.
Join PETA in urging the World Health Organization to call for an end to deadly live-animal markets around the globe.
Link to add your name calling for action:
Before quarantine.. …. after quarantine
Regards and a good night from Venus
World Animals Voice 