Month: June 2020

Farm Animals, General News, Live Transport

Federal Court In Australia Permits Live Export Of 56,000 Sheep To The Middle East Despite A “Ban” Already In Place.

australia

 

A june

C june

 

Federal Court In Australia Permits Live Export Of 56,000 Sheep To The Middle East Despite A “Ban” Already In Place

 

By

Lauren Lewis

–

 

https://worldanimalnews.com/federal-court-in-australia-permits-live-export-of-56000-sheep-despite-to-the-middle-east-despite-a-ban-already-in-place/

 

Today, there are over 50,000 more reasons to be outraged and appalled by the horrendous conditions animals are subjected to during live exports. The latest travesty involves the ongoing plight of Animals Australia to save 56,000 sheep from this barbaric practice.

“As many of you know, new laws designed to protect animals from suffering on board live export ships in the searing summer months came into effect two weeks ago,” noted a post on the organization’s Facebook page earlier this week. “Sadly, they have just failed their first test, with the industry regulator granting an exemption that will allow thousands of sheep shipped in boiling conditions.”

 

B june 

 

Animal’s Australia and their legal team secured an urgent trial in the Federal Court in a bid to challenge the decision-making process. Sadly, yesterday, their case was dismissed, leaving the sheep victim to the live export process where they will either cruelly die on the ship or be slaughtered for their meat when they arrive in the Middle East.

“Animals Australia accepts the Federal Court’s decision, but we are, of course, disappointed. Our position remains that had the Department had all available expert evidence before it, this exemption would not have been granted,” Animal Australia’s Lyn White said in a statement, noting that the reason the legislation was introduced was to ensure commercial interests were no longer put before animal welfare. “There are no exceptional circumstances that justify knowingly putting 50,000 sheep at risk of heat stroke.”

The June 1st halt in live sheep shipments to the Middle East was implemented based on extensive scientific reviews that concluded that measures cannot be taken to sufficiently mitigate the risk of heat stress during June.

 

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“The summer halt is in line with the industry’s own northern summer moratorium. They cannot have it both ways; animal welfare either matters or it doesn’t,” concluded White. Applying for an exemption that will result in inescapable and inevitable animal suffering indicates that animal welfare does not matter to them in this case.

The fight to save sheep and other animals from having to experience the horrors of live export in the summer must continue. Their lives depend on it!

 

D june

 

Please urge the Australian Minister for Agriculture, David Littleproud, to demand that Australian laws be put in place to stop animals being subjected to live exports now! SIGN HERE!

You can help all animals and our planet by choosing compassion on your plate and in your glass. #GoVeg

 

 

 

General News

The longtime activist Reagan Russel was killed while protesting.

A longtime animal rights activist was fatally struck by a truck on Friday while she was protesting outside a slaughterhouse west of Toronto, her friends said.

Regan Russell, a member of Toronto Pig Save, died after being hit by a transport truck full of pigs on its way to Fearman’s Pork, a processing plant in Burlington, Ont., said Anita Krajnc, the group’s co-founder.

glass walls aktivistin russel tot

“She was in front of the truck when it ran over her,” said Krajnc, who did not witness the incident but had heard from other activists who were there at the time.

The death of the 65-year-old activist comes just two days after the province passed controversial legislation that hiked fines for trespassing on farms and food-processing facilities and made it illegal to obstruct trucks carrying farm animals.

Dozens of activists gathered at the plant Friday to mourn their friend.

“She was a sophisticated, well-educated woman who was very strong and always determined to do the right thing,” Krajnc said.

Russell had often joined Toronto Pig Save as they gave water to pigs on transport trucks at the entrance of the plant, she said, and Friday was no different.

“She supported Black Lives Matter, Indigenous rights and she was an intersectional vegan who understood the importance of equality in terms of racial justice and in terms of animal equality,” Krajnc said.

Camille Labchuk, the executive director of Animal Justice, said Russell was a life-long animal advocate.

“She was the most peaceful, logical, kind, compassionate person that I’ve ever met. She just stuck up for the vulnerable … we need more people like that, it’s terrible,” said Stephanie Schwartz, a fellow Toronto Pig Save activist.

Reagan Russel jpgright, Reagan Russel

 

A large number of activists have shown up at the scene, where the group plans to hold an all-night vigil in honor of Russell and the pigs she loved, Krajnc said.

“We have asked management to get some of these pigs in the truck to a sanctuary in her name,” she said.

Halton police said they received a call around 10:20 a.m. about a pedestrian who had been struck by a transport truck. They said the woman was pronounced dead at the scene.

The group has long protested the slaughter of pigs at Fearman’s Pork and were there Friday to protest the recent passage of law activists have dubbed the “ag-gag” bill.

Toronto Pig Save regularly holds “vigils” outside the facility, and on hot days activists will feed water to the pigs as they’re taken to slaughter.

Temperatures reached 30C Friday and much of southwestern Ontario was under a heat warning by Environment Canada.

“We have had many close calls here,” Krajnc said. “We have asked for trucks to stop for two minutes so we can bear witness, say goodbye to the pigs and give them water.”

The group drew international headlines in 2015 when Krajnc was arrested while giving water to the pigs on a hot day at the same spot.

Torondo Russeljpg

She was later found not guilty of criminal mischief when the case went to trial.

 

Sofina Foods Inc., owner of Fearman’s Pork, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/regan-russell-animal-rights-dead_ca_5eed3d5ac5b60982f6f5c1de

 

And I mean…In other countries, this action in front of the slaughterhouse is called “The Save Movement” and has the same goal: to accompany the animals to their last station.

I was often there at the same actions in my city (vigils), and I have often experienced how the truck drivers drive into the slaughterhouse.

Even if an activist is at the front and peacefully shows that the only thing the activists want is to be with the animals a little bit in their last hours before slaughter, they don’t stop.
Most even step on the gas, and if you don’t jump on the side, you run the risk of being run over like Reagan Russel.

The police are always present, discreet, and at a distance, but they are not there to protect the activists, but the slaughterhouse.

What can you expect from people who torture animals, beat animals, kill animals?
That they respect human life?
Those who are in constant contact with violence are dulled.
They have no inhibitions to do the same with human life as with animals..

RiP Regan Russel!

thank you so much for everything you did for the animal’s, sadly your life was tragically taken by one of those death trucks outside farms slaughterhouse.

In our eyes, you are a hero and will not be forgotten.

regan

Venus

Environmental, General News

Albanian restaurant serves bear meat in illegal wildlife trade that’s ‘out of control’.

Image of National Flag

 

 

From ‘The Independent’ – London

 

Click on this link to see photos.

 

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/bear-meat-albania-restaurant-wildlife-trade-illegal-virus-monkeys-online-a9568441.html

 

Albanian restaurant serves bear meat in illegal wildlife trade that’s ‘out of control’

 

 

A cub kept by a hotel owner to attract tourists - a common practice in Albania

 

Stop the Wildlife Trade exclusive: Bears, monkeys, wolves and birds of prey sold for hundreds of euros on popular Albanian websites, investigation finds

 

A restaurant in Albania is offering diners meat from illegally hunted bears – part of an illicit trade in wildlife that is “out of control” in the country, investigators claim.

Researchers said it was the first time they had seen bear meat cooked in Europe, and experts warned that the crude butchering of animals may lead to outbreaks of zoonotic diseases such as coronavirus.

 

Bears, monkeys and birds of prey are among live animals being sold on popular Albanian online marketplaces, the investigation found, raising fears for the survival of some species in the country.

Animal-protection charity Four Paws discovered that two of Albania’s leading online sites were carrying dozens of adverts selling brown bears and other species that are legally protected.

Many photographs of the animals – along with foxes, barn owls and wolves – showed them with their mouths taped up or their claws chained.

It’s a profitable business: a tiny capuchin monkey was offered for €750 (£675), and a barn owl, a bear cub and a wolf for €500 each.

The buyers are mostly restaurant and hotel owners who keep the animals to attract tourists, or individuals who want the animals as pets and status symbols, charity workers said.

Eagles, the national symbol of Albania, are especially popular with buyers and are often found stuffed as trophies in public places.

But hunting protected species, keeping them captive and selling them is banned in Albania, following a huge decline of native wildlife in the country.

Offenders may be jailed under the law, which was tightened in October, but enforcement of it is lax.

Four Paws said that after its team reported some of the illegal adverts, they were deleted but new ones reappeared.

“A large majority of the photographs displayed severe animal cruelty, such as foxes with sealed muzzles in plastic boxes, bear cubs in chains and birds with their feet tied,” said Barbara van Genne, of the charity.

Monkeys and birds of prey are often kept in bars and restaurants in Albania as a tourist attraction, while foxes are sold for their fur, according to the investigators.

Wolves are bought to be cross-bred with dogs for the puppies to be sold as guard dogs, commonly used in the mountains against wolves. But other animals are killed, stuffed and put on display.

Animals’ mouths are often taped to prevent them biting and their feet chained to stop them running away.

 

 

A restaurant in the town of Drilon has also been found advertising bear meat on its menu on Facebook. The listing, for “mish ariu” – Albanian for bear meat – added “ne sezone”, meaning “according to season”.

An online restaurant portal, updated earlier this month, confirms the restaurant offering.

A spokesperson for Protection and Preservation of Natural Environment in Albania (PPNEA) said: “What is especially alarming about this is not only the fact that bear meat is being sold, it is also the addition in brackets of “ne sezone”, which gives the impression that there’s a hunting season for bears.

“In fact there’s no hunting season for any wild animals in Albania, there’s a hunting moratorium and hunting ban for years throughout the whole country – passed in 2014 and extended in 2016 until March 2021.

“The massive decline of wildlife in Albania triggered this.”

Bear meat dishes have previously been seen in Asian countries. The meat can trigger disease caused by parasites, with symptoms including diarrhoea, cramps, fever and hallucinations.

Prof James Wood, head of department of veterinary medicine and an infection expert at the University of Cambridge, said Covid-19 and other zoonotic viruses can be carried by contaminated meat from any species.

“However, the risks are far greater from butchering and hunting than they are from simple consumption,” he said.

“Bears are no more likely to act as a source of a zoonotic virus than any other species group.” He added that cooking was a highly effective means of destroying the Covid-19 virus and other infections, but that “eating bears is, of course, highly undesirable for many reasons, including conservation and animal welfare, if they have been kept in captivity before being killed”.

 

Ms van Genne said: “Four Paws has been active in Albania since 2015 but we have never seen such atrocities before. Until now we have mainly focused on restaurants that keep bears in small cages for entertainment of guests.

“This bizarre new discovery is a further indication that the commercial wildlife trade in Albania is out of control.”

She warned that if the government did not intervene soon, “the few native wild animals left will be history”.

“The platforms need to introduce preventive measures such as seller identification to stop these ads. However, the main problem for the illegal trade remains – the lack of control and enforcement by the authorities,” she claimed.

In the 1990s, there were still about 200 pairs of eagles in Albania, but today the number has halved.

A wildlife sanctuary that can carry out criminal prosecutions, take in rescues and educate people in species protection was urgently needed in Albania, Ms van Genne said.

 

Regards Mark

 

 

General News

The liberation of Lion Jon

This lion was badly mistreated! The poor animal was released from a circus in France! 🦁

Flag of France, hand drawn watercolor illustration
Usually, a lion between the ages of ten and 15 weighs around 200 to 230 kilograms, but circus lion Jon weighs just 116 kilograms.

Löwe Jojpg
The animal was apparently mistreated for years: he has no longer claws – which is prohibited by law- his teeth are damaged and some of them no longer available, his fur has bald spots, and his body, especially the tail, is covered with scars and fresh, sometimes very deep wounds.

This is Jon, a famous lion, who arrived in St. Martin la Ebene on Friday, June 5th.

Löwe Jo 3 pg
He was entrusted to us by the “One Voice” association after the authorities confiscated him from a circus in Normandy.

The pictures are difficult to bear: Jon is a lion between 10 and 15 years old, weighing 116 kg, which is almost half less than a lion of his age.
His coat is very damaged in many zones.
He is an injured lion, he wears many injuries on the body with old and newer brands, especially on his tail, which has several living wounds, some of which are very deep.

löwe befreiung pg
The condition of his teeth is very bad, they are sawed, and he has no more claws.
We remind you that removing a lion’s claws is prohibited by law.

Muriel Arnal (Chair of the animal rights organization One Voice) says:

“When I saw him for the first time, I was reminded of zoos in war zones
But vets told me “it’s much worse in this circus”!
They would never have seen anything like this in their entire professional life
He is now slowly learning to eat small pieces again because he has no teeth.
He finds joy in life again.
The nurses keep him busy as much as possible to prevent stereotypes. Because he has spent a very long time in the cage.
Animals then make repetitive movements.
It is a sign of madness”

Despite a physical condition that we have never noticed in an animal, Jon has a very gentle character, shows no signs of aggressiveness, and even seeks contact. The main goal for us right now is to give him strength again.

After spending the first few days indoors, he was able to discover his outdoor enclosure. He eats all the food that is offered to him with an appetite.

john löwe7
This is the beginning of his retirement, which we hope very brightly, everything will be done to offer him the best possible placement later …
Our goal at the moment is to offer him correct living conditions, to provide him with appropriate and adequate food, and to treat the wounds that cause him suffering.

löwe jon 5

🙏 Whether it is “Tonga Terre d’Accueil”, the “Brigitte Bardot Foundation” or “One Voice”, the priority of all those working for animal welfare is to help and save animals and we will respond to the call of circuses which do not have the means to provide for the basic needs of their animals or which no longer use them.

Volunteering to hand over animals has already been done by some circuses and we encourage you to continue. It is not human to let animals die; the world is changing, the time is no longer for their exploitation but for their protection. Give them the retirement they deserve.

https://www.association-tonga.com/articles/arrivee-lion-famelique.html

https://www.n-tv.de/mediathek/videos/panorama/Zirkus-misshandelt-Loewen-an-Rand-des-Wahnsinns-article21842474.html (Video in French)

 

My comment: Although the animal rights activists have long had their sights on this circus, the French authorities are not taking action! Finally, Jon and three other lions were confiscated because the license to keep the four animals was lacking.

And nevertheless! The circus was allowed to keep four more lions!!

When will we finally stop torturing animals as if they were objects?
When will we finally consider animal exploitation as a form of slavery?
One day we will look back on all the crimes we have done to the animals and we will be ashamed.

We are fighting for this day to come as soon as possible.

My best regards to all, Venus

General News, Stray Animals

China: 19/6/20 – Yulin 2020; To Be or Not To Be ? – That Is The Question.

china-flag-

 

Yulin Dog Meat Festival 2016: What is it? When and where does it ...

 

WAV Comment 19/6/20:

We are just as confused as a lot of other people. The question is; what will happen this year (2020) ? – is the Yulin dog meat ‘festival’ on or off ?

With the Chinese government recently changing the classification of dogs a few weeks ago, so that they are NOT now ‘livestock’ and instead are ‘companion animals’; and hence ones which cannot be eaten; we would think that the slaughter and consumption of dog at any facility, such as the Yulin ‘festival’, would now be illegal.

If this is the case, we wait too see what the authorities are going to do about Yulin; as there is a lot of talk in the circuit that the festival will continue due to pressure from meat traders.

 

Legally, the case is now as we understand it:

China’s new National Catalogue of Livestock and Poultry Genetic Resources was very recently announced, with dogs not included on the list.

It is extremely encouraging to see this landmark decision that reflects the growing concern for animal welfare in China, following on as it has from the regulations passed earlier this year in Shenzhen and Zhuhai banning the consumption of cats and dogs.

This new catalogue policy means all the dog restaurants, markets and slaughterhouses countrywide selling dogs for food are now illegal.

https://www.animalsasia.org/uk/media/news/news-archive/china-removes-dogs-from-the-approved-livestock-list.html

 

The Yulin Dog Meat Festival – East Van to Elsewhere

 

 

From the Independent; London:

https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/wildlife-trade-cat-china-yulin-dog-meat-ban-festival-a9539746.html

 

China‘s government has called dogs “companions” and reportedly signalled a wider ban on dog meat consumption was ahead, just weeks before the Yulin dog meat festival.

The announcement today from China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs came as a final Directory of Genetic Resources of Livestock and Poultry was published and omitted dogs from the long list of animals allowed to be commercially bred, raised and traded.

A government spokesperson said that the majority of people who took part in a public consultation process opposed including dogs as livestock, adding that dogs have long been domesticated as “companions” and “pets” who guard the family home; act as search and rescue animals for police and assist those with visual impairment.

The spokesperson said that with the changing times, “some traditional customs about dogs will change too”. He added that more policies regarding dogs would follow but did not elaborate, the Daily Mail reported.

The announcement is in line with draft guidelines drawn up by China in April to reclassify dogs as pets rather than livestock.

The decision comes ahead of the Yulin dog meat festival next month, where thousands of dogs are butchered, skinned and cooked with blow-torches. It is scheduled to run for nine days from 21 June in the city, located in the Guangxi province.

Humane Society International (HSI) estimates that 10m dogs are slaughtered in China annually and said that many are stolen from homes and taken off the streets ahead of the Yulin festival.

The World Health Organisation has warned that the dog trade spreads rabies and increases the risk of cholera.

A 2017 survey revealed that in Yulin, nearly three-quarters of people don’t regularly eat dog meat despite efforts by traders to promote it. A 2016 nationwide survey found that 64 per cent of Chinese citizens wanted the Yulin festival shut down and 69.5 per cent have never eaten dog meat.

Dr Peter Li, HSI’s China policy specialist, said that the Yulin festival was a “bloody spectacle [which] does not reflect the mood or eating habits of the majority of the Chinese people”.

He said: “Now that the Chinese government has officially recognised dogs as companions and not livestock, we are hopeful that China will take stronger step to hasten the end of the dog and cat meat trade for which millions of animals continue to suffer every year.

“The announcement presents cities across China with the perfect opportunity to act upon the government’s words by protecting dogs and cats from the meat trade thieves and slaughterhouses.”

China’s ministry of agriculture noted that the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation’s livestock list does not include dogs and said that internationally, dogs are not treated as livestock.

In April, the cities of Shenzhen and Zhuhai, were the first in China to officially ban the consumption of cat and dog meat.

The finalised livestock list did officially declare a number of wild animals as “livestock” including several deer species, alpaca, guinea-fowl and the three most commonly farmed wild species for China’s fur trade – racoon dog, silver fox and mink.

The coronavirus outbreak started in Wuhan, China late last year. Covid-19 is thought to have originated in horseshoe bats and passed to humans via an intermediary species.

In response to the outbreak, China issued a temporary ban on all trade and consumption of wild animals and is considering revising legislation to make the ban permanent.

Last week authorities in Wuhan officially banned the eating of all wild animals and said the city would become a “wildlife sanctuary”. Currently, the ban lasts for five years.

 

Lychee and Dog Meat Festival - Alchetron, the free social encyclopedia

 

Further WAV Comment:

We are lucky here in the UK that Carrie Symonds; partner of the UK Prime Minister, is an animal welfare campaigner. As such, she has recently been in the UK press campaigning on the issue of the Yuli dog meat festival – you can read about it and see photos via the following link:

 

https://www.express.co.uk/news/nature/1289677/carrie-symonds-yulin-dog-meat-festival-humane-society-international-petition

 

Chinese dog meat festival goes ahead in Yulin | World | The Times

 

Yulin 2020 We need your Help

 

London Yulin Demonstration – 19/6.

 

Dear Friends

We have written letters, we have signed petitions and now we are taking to the streets.

Despite the fact the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture confirmed just a few weeks ago that dogs and cats are not livestock. Despite the fact we are in the middle of a pandemic. There is still signs the disgusting Yulin Dog Meat Festival will go ahead.

Our Activists our on the ground ready to stop trucks and we will offer sanctuary in our China shelter to dogs saved.

 

What else can you do?

Keep pushing the Mayor of Yulin

Donate to help our work and help us safe dogs

There is a demo in London today, 19/6, on the issue of Yulin. Our van is already there. Our lovely rescue Anastasia facing the Embassy saying loud and clear Dogs are not food.

 

Read it all at:

 

https://www.causes.com/posts/7756002-yulin-2020-we-need-your-help?conversion_request_id=535816088&ctag=4e41d358d84bdccacddcabbd80685a572b&ctoken=ngjHyklWCS6zLy4CzVixJ0DYxZafs9R65QIRrAVXmSitDHQT85Er812sSB53h48QbiX7aTl8rtUsO-VIIAOFSvVAMqoQbT_V&message_id=bb7a9e89fe5edc9b2fdf418d08a02028%40causes.com&uid=187862125&utm_campaign=post_mailer%2Fcampaign_update.cb_123519&utm_medium=email&utm_source=causes

 

Yulin Festival: China Dog Meat Eating Event Sparks Backlash | Time

 

WAV last comment – as we say, the Yulin festival should not now take place; but despite the petitions and the demos; as per one in London today; there is no guarantee that the festival will stop next week – it is due to start for 9 days on 21/6.

All we can hope is that the Chinese authorities enforce the ban on the slaughter of dogs for consumption, and as such stop the Yulin festival. We are watching the situation and will further report when we have news. 21/6 is going to be a very important day; a Go or NOGO situation for the mass slaughter of many dogs at Yulin.

We will report more when we have further news;

Regards Mark.

Farm Animals, General News, Live Transport

Australia: Live Export Update From RSPCA Australia – 19/6/20.

australia

 

19/6/20.

From RSPCA Australia:

 

Dear Mark,

For those of us who care about the welfare of Australian farm animals, it has been a tough couple of weeks

The live animal export issue has reared its ugly head once again. Is there any industry that’s as disaster-plagued as this one?

Once again, the Government has decided in favour of supporting this volatile industry, over our own laws and against the will of the majority of Australians.

Once again, animals will suffer in the hands of this industry, and pay the price for their reckless approach to animal welfare.

Time and again, we are disappointed, and frustrated, and gobsmacked by what this industry is allowed to get away with. Unfortunately, the Government (and the very elected politicians who fought for those basic safeguards) backflip whenever the carrot of live exporter profits follows the stick of animal cruelty.

But there are some silver linings to this dark cloud.

Every incident that happens, and every action you take, is another chip away at this industry, adding to its horror public track record, of decades of repeated evidence of suffering and cruelty.

We had a measure of success in the northern summer ban, a measure we could not possibly have foreseen before the notorious Awassi Express journeys of 2017 blasted a long-overdue spotlight on the routine heat stress, suffering and death this industry was willing to inflict upon Australian sheep.

There were no plans or intentions to include an independent observer on this ship, but thanks to your efforts, there is one on board now. With your support, we wrote to politicians to urge attention to this issue, we kept phoning and emailing the department, and we saw multiple people speaking out in favour of our call (including the WA Premier himself).

While we sadly weren’t able to stop the ship from leaving, at least there’s someone on board now who can record the consequences of this absurd decision. We’ll be keenly awaiting their reports, images and video evidence.

And now we can also let you know that we’ve submitted a formal animal welfare complaint to the West Australian Government. The evidence of the suffering these sheep are likely to endure is overwhelming, and we believe it may be in breach of WA’s animal protection legislation.

This ship should never have been allowed to leave.

This has been an extraordinary chain of actions and decisions by the regulator, and we will continue to work over the coming weeks and months to find out how it has unfolded and to ensure it can never happen again.

Finally, regardless of the outcome for this shipment, we believe that – much like those five disastrous journeys of the Awassi Express in 2017 – this latest debacle may be a turning point for this disaster-plagued industry.

The failure of the federal government to uphold even its own regulations, despite its knowledge of the dangers;

The failure of live exporters to adhere to their own promised moratorium, introduced as a last-ditch measure to avoid a total ban;

And the strange chain of events that led to this surprise exemption decision, may prove to be the final blow to any remaining public trust or confidence in the industry or the regulators.

Industries cannot survive without community support, and the RSPCA believes this latest live export fiasco is likely to have significant long-term consequences for the industry, and may in fact expedite the inevitable end to live sheep exports.

As always, thank you for your efforts.

The RSPCA Australia team.

General News

What is the problem

Zitat über Fleischindustrie o

In 2014, 346 million kilograms of meat ended up in the trash.

13 million pigs don’t even reach the slaughterhouse

Up to 80% of the workforce are contract workers who live in collective accommodation and often earn less than the minimum wage.

The meat industry has no Corona – Problem.

The meat industry is THE problem.

My best regards to all, Venus

Farm Animals, General News

Germany: Alarm mood at the meat baron Tönnies

The number of employees at the Tönnies slaughterhouse who were infected with the coronavirus has continued to increase.
Now that 983 tests have been evaluated, 657 were positive and 326 were negative, according to a spokesman for the Gütersloh district.

tönnies schlachthof

In the district of Gütersloh, the situation at the slaughterhouse Tönnies in Rheda-Wiedenbrück, where the company’s headquarters are located, is dramatically deteriorating: Various media report 400 new infections with the coronavirus.

tönnies-gebäude-werkbild

1,000 slaughterhouse employees were tested on Covid-19. Of the 500 tests evaluated, 400 were already positive.
According to the district office, everything is now being done to prevent a shutdown in the district.
To this end, the operation of the Tönnies slaughterhouse should be shut down as far as possible.

Tönnies 303
In the meantime, everyone who worked on the factory premises would be in quarantine.

7,000 people are affected.
The district administrator also announced that all schools and daycare centers in the district will be closed.

There are no official reports as to whether the slaughterhouse has to close completely.  Tagesschau.de says that the district administration has threatened the company with closure if Tönnies does not get the corona infections under control.

In addition, according to the media, cattle traders can only deliver until 2 p.m. This also indicates restrictions.

Tönnies LKW mit slogang

But the West German Broadcast reports, several animal transporters with live pigs have now driven off the premises in Rheda-Wiedenbrück, company’s headquarters.

A cattle dealer told the West German Broadcast that the pigs are being taken to a Tönnies slaughterhouse in Emsland. They would still be slaughtered there today.

A company spokesman has assured that no significant quantities of slaughter pigs will build up. Around 140,000 pigs would be slaughtered weekly at the Rheda-Wiedenbrück location.

This amount can be diverted to other Tönnies locations. Other companies would also provide “neighborhood help” (!!!)

The head of corporate communications at Tönnies apologized on behalf of the company for the situation that had arisen. “It is now about protecting employees and the well-being of the district, not about the company.”

Tönnies Clemens pgClemens Tönnies in his slaughterhouse

 

Obviously, the Corona crisis is fueling the power struggle at Tönnies

The dispute between Clemens Tönnies and his nephew Robert Tönnies escalates again.
Robert Tönnies demands the resignation of his uncle Clemens Tönnies after the Corona outbreak in the family slaughterhouse.

Robert Tönnies has been accusing the management of the company since 2017 for failing to implement applicable company principles for the abolition of employment contracts.
In the company’s system of factory workers, the nephew sees complicity in the above-average number of infections in the slaughterhouse.
The meat industry in the current corona pandemic has been criticized several times for working and housing conditions.

tönnies-rheda-wiedenbrueck-pg

“The fact that the number of infections in abattoirs, in particular, is far above average is certainly due to the system of work contracts; it forces many workers into unacceptable living conditions that are associated with a high risk of infection and offer little protection if an infection occurs, “ writes Robert Tönnies

“We have to assume that the working conditions and the accommodation of the people have contributed to the fact that the coronavirus was able to spread among the employees of the slaughterhouse in Tönnies,” said the Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia.

https://www.welt.de/wirtschaft/article209790633/Toennies-Die-deutsche-Fleischindustrie-bleibt-der-Corona-Hotspot.html

 

And I mean.. Tönnies is the largest meat producer in Germany, and the tenth worldwide.

30,000 pigs are slaughtered on his farm every day.
He has earned very well with his business model for decades. And the exploitation of agency workers is part of it.
Therefore, it is unlikely that he will change the model “work contracts with workers from the Eastern Bloc”.
If Clemens Tönnies had a problem with that, he would have changed these conditions a long time ago.

There is actually no scandal in which Clemens Tönnies is not involved. But he has good friends in the federal government so that he can continue to exploit people and animals and collect fat millions!

Therefore it is for the meat baron probably unimaginable that his meat empire have to remain empty for a while.
You can call it what you want, but that’s how Germany works, that’s how the EU works – a pure business club to which only selected business oligarchs have access …..

Up to 500 demonstrators demonstrated in Rheda-Wiedenbrück last Friday. They all protested loudly against the Tönnies company. The activists accuse the group, which is one of the ten largest slaughterhouses in the world, of exploiting people and animals.

-tönnies-demo

My proposition: Instead of closing daycare centers and schools, we have to close all slaughterhouses in Germany immediately as they are the real corona hotspots.
Citizens can safely survive a few months without meat and maybe they will get used to a new eating model without animal suffering.

My best regards to all, Venus

General News

Animals, our partners

Animals can coexist, animals make loyal friendships, animals respect each other, animals have an enormous range of feelings.

When will we finally learn to see them as equal partners and share our lives with them in peace, happiness, and freedom?

Regards and good night from Venus

Farm Animals

How long will we do this to the animals?!?

From Martin Balluch’s blog *, June 15, 2020

I feel sick in two ways when I have to look through these photos that have been leaked to the “Association against animal factories”.

First, because here again someone shamelessly dupes the public and pretends that everything is fine in pig farming in Austria.

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We know that from our Minister of Agriculture, how exemplary Austria is… and blah, blah… the pigs love the concrete slatted floor … that’s how they are!!
Secondly, looking at these photos makes me nauseous when I see the suffering of the pigs so directly.

I will never get used to it. These poor creatures in these terrible filthy holes, hurt, desperate, forgotten.

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The company Berger-Schinken with a pig slaughterhouse in Lower Austria is big. It has 4 branches and 3 markets, according to its own website http://www.berger-schinken.at.

And it has been honored by the Republic of Austria for several years. Last year, it is said, a record turnover of € 150 million was made. Well, someone immediately thinks that with so much profit, a lot will fall into the welfare of the pigs, which are delivered to the slaughterhouse by the partner companies!
After all, it is these pigs that make such wealth possible.

If you click on the website, on the tab “Sustainability”, the whole thing looks like this:

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“Regional optimal, from the farmer next door”...” why in the distance wander?”. Oh, madness!

Yes, why go so far when you have the animal factory right next door. Or is it one? If you approach the farm, you will soon see around 200 pigs rolling in the straw, in an open area with lots of air and sun!!

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Yes, what? Exactly! The pork is produced there. There, away from the eyes of the public, invisible and inconspicuous behind factory gates, where the rest of the approx. 2500 pigs of this farm are housed, which make up the majority of the pork production from there. This is where the Berger-Schinken wealth comes from. At the expense of poor creatures!

The first glance into this pig factory is enough for the rest of your life (see picture above and below):

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Horrible tightness, horrible full-slatted floor, horrible injuries, horrible lack of employment.

What should these animals do all day long?
Except hurting each other with despair?
What, please, is that a life?
How can we do this to them?

And what does Berger-Schinken company say? I have this screenshot from their website:

Schweine Im Stroh.Balluch pngDoing business – taking responsibility (!!!)

 

There they are again, the pigs “in the straw”!

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And the Berger-Schinken company also assumes responsibility right away. They even have an “animal welfare initiative” and an “animal-friendly environment” for the funny pigs, and they guarantee “compliance with basic animal ethics”.
What, please, is that for a kind of animal ethics?
The right of the stronger? The principle of human primacy over all animals?
The “we take what we can get”?

The “animals are things”, means of production that can be pushed to the biological limit to get maximum profit?
How can one sleep comfortably in the company boss’s villa, while the poor pigs, to whom one owes this wealth, need to vegetate on a bit of bare, dirty concrete floor on 0.55 m² (!) Per 85 kg (!) Pig?

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How long has this dead pig been there? Does nobody care? Where do all these maggots come from? Nobody notices? Is this all included in the calculation for input to the pig factory and output of meat, so that the most profit is generated?

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Do these totally dirty feed troughs belong there? Is it so much cheaper than the pigs just have to endure it? So that profit can increase from € 149 million to € 150 million?

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You shouldn’t be embittered as an animal rights activist?
Shouldn’t one want to send mankind to the hell?
You shouldn’t use harsh words to comment on that?

Do you want to remain understanding and tolerant?

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Dear reader, with heart and brain, put yourself, very briefly, in one of these pigs and tell me what you feel. Tell me how happy you are to live. Tell me what else you expect from life. Tell me what you actually do for a long day and how you differentiate day and night. Tell me how you can endure that and survive without completely despairing.

And in the end, brutal animal transport and death on the assembly line await you. Without compassion, without mercy.

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How long will this go on! How long will consumers be cheating? How long will government policy continue to ignore these conditions and do nothing because Austria would be exemplary anyway?

How long will we do this to the animals?!?

* Dr. Dr. Martin Balluch is the founder of VGT (association against animal factories).
An excellent Austrian animal rights activist, with a lot of success for the animals in his country, especially against the gate hunting.

https://martinballuch.com/schweine-die-erschuetternde-vollspalten-realitaet-hinter-dem-stroh-vorzeigestall

 

And I mean…The myth of the farmer next door is a protective mechanism for the conscience of meat-eaters.
Today we know what the reality is in the animal farms, we also know about the suffering of the animals we eat.

We want to deny this reality so that we no longer have to think about how we can solve the problem “mass animal suffering”.
In general, with meat consumption, we have adopted a violent ideology that we want to justify as such with the myth of responsible meat consumption.

And that can be found today in organic meat, in regional meat, in animal welfare from farmers next door, in “humane” slaughter …

And so the meat-eaters continue to cooperate with one of the most criminal systems in human history, with the meat production system.

My best regards to all, Venus