Month: October 2020

EU: Environmental Groups Campaign Against EU’s Potential ‘Veggie Burger’ Name Ban.

WAV Comment – Normal people understand and are not confused by the term Veggie Burger; they know it is made from vegetables. But we can understand that the EU officials may find it difficult – they seem to find everything that we take as basics hard to grasp. Thats why they are ‘officials’ we guess !

Veggie Burger – it has NO meat:

Ultimate Veggie Burger Recipe | Bon Appetit

Environmental groups campaign against EU’s potential ‘veggie burger’ name ban

19 October 2020

Policy director at Greenpeace says proposals come from ‘prehistoric age’.

Environmental groups across Europe have hit out at an EU proposal to ban plant-based products from using terms such as “veggie burger”, saying it contradicts the bloc’s objective to encourage sustainability. 

The organisations’ grievance concerns two amendments proposed by Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI) which would restrict the naming of meat and dairy alternatives to avoid consumer confusion.

Under the measures, plant-based products would be banned from being advertised using words such as “burger”, “sausage”, “yoghurt style” and “cheese alternative”.  

Critics say this will favour the meat and dairy industries and will unfairly affect the growing plant-based food sector, which provides more sustainable products. 

If MEPs vote in favour of the amendments next week, they could become part of the Common Agricultural Policy that would come into effect at the start of January 2023.

In a letter sent by 13 leading environmental organisations to MEPS on 8 October, the proposals were criticised for contravening the European Green Deal, which seeks to reduce the agricultural sector’s environmental footprint.

The groups argue that the move goes in the “completely opposite direction” to scientific evidence showing the harmful effects of the meat and dairy industries, and against growing demand for plant-based products.

Marco Contiero, the EU agriculture policy director at Greenpeace who was one of the letter’s signatories, told The Independent that there was “no justification” for amendments which go against environmental, health and economic considerations.

Mr Contiero added that they constituted an “attempt to prevent a new, very important business from actually conquering the market”.

Read more at source

The Independent

Innocent Death for ‘Meat Burger’

I think most ‘normal’ people understand the difference; kill or no kill.

Regards Mark

Australia: Coronavirus Outbreak on ‘Al Messilah’ Livestock Carrier at Fremantle Port Sees 24 MORE Crew Members Test Positive Within 24 Hours.

WAV Comment (Mark): 

Despite the overwhelming wishes of the Australian people to stop live exports; the government seems to ignore them and continue to bow and make excuses for support of the trade.  If I lived in Freemantle and heard this news I don’t think I would be very impressed with this situation.

Sems that the Health Minster and the WA Premier have now got a bit of a problem here.

The authorities want to ‘remove the ship so that it can be cleaned’ !

If Australia did not have the live animal export trade then there would be no (live export ship) crew infections; no risk to the people of Freemantle (Health Minister Roger Cook said authorities were working to get as many people as possible off the ship and into hotel quarantine) – so sick crew now being taken ashore into a hotel reduces the risk, does it ?

We say Karma to the government – sadly, people may die as a result of all this; livestock ship crew being taken ashore ? – increasing the chances of infection to other land based folk no doubt.  If the government has to keep on dreaming up excuses for the vile trade to continue; them let them dream up excuses for this new situation.

If the citizens of Australia don’t like it – then get them out !

You know how ‘Mr Coal’ failed you in the recent fires !

Further to our very recent post re Covid on a livestock ship docked in Freemantle:

It now seems to be getting much larger within a day – 24 crew now seem to have tested positive.

Source:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-10-19/another-24-cases-of-coronavirus-on-al-messilah-at-fremantle-port/12782686

Coronavirus outbreak on Al Messilah livestock carrier at Fremantle Port sees 24 more crew members test positive

Another 24 crew members on board a livestock carrier docked at Fremantle Port in Western Australia have tested positive for coronavirus, as a move to phase 5 of eased COVID-19 restrictions has again been delayed in the state.

Key points:

  • The 24 infected crew members remain on the Al Messilah in Fremantle
  • Authorities want to remove people from the ship so it can be cleaned
  • WA’s phase 5 restrictions have been delayed but there is relief for venues

One crew member from the Al Messilah ship had already been diagnosed and brought onshore to quarantine in a hotel.

The other 51 crew from a number of countries remain on the ship, which was scheduled to be loading stock but has now been delayed.

Health Minister Roger Cook said authorities were working to get as many people as possible off the ship and into hotel quarantine to allow for deep cleaning of the vessel.

WA Premier Mark McGowan said it was possible there could be “further positive results in coming days”.

“It is becoming clear that ships arriving with COVID-19 on board is one of the weakest links and the biggest risk to our way of life in Western Australia,” he said.

Mr McGowan demanded the Commonwealth “step up” and work with other jurisdictions on the issue, saying WA received around 30 vessels to its ports every day.

“We need a coordinated, international approach to this and we need our Federal Government to take international action,” he said.

Move to phase 5 restrictions delayed

WA’s tentative date to move to phase 5 of eased COVID-19 restrictions had been pencilled in to begin this weekend.

It would have seen the 2-square-metre-per-person rule abolished along with the 50 per cent capacity limit at major venues.

Mr McGowan said WA would extend phase 4 restrictions for now, but the 2-square-metre rule would be modified.

Regards Mark

South Korea: A Call to Action to Ask You to Join Forces With Korean Activists to Close the Dog Meat Farms and Businesses.

WARNING – click on the link below to see the reality of this industry.  This is

why your action is needed NOW !

https://koreandogs.org/

A few minutes of your time, may help save a life!

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”

– Mahatma Gandhi

The e-People petition is the South Korean government’s official petition site and your petition will receive a response from the Korean government.

Anyone from all countries can file a petition using the e-People petition.  It’s quite simple to file e-People petitions, but you can find help on (1) how to file e-People petition and (2) how to check the status of your e-People petitions on our website.

Please help save millions of Korean animals from horrific cruelty by taking this action today.  Click below Take Action buttons to file e-People petitions for each cities in South Korea.

Click HERE to see the list of cities we are campaigning.

Then you will see a large table – on the right side in RED is the call for action.

Where it says ‘Click’ on the right side you can do just that – you will then be taken to a further page giving you actions you can take info on the specific region / dog farm you have selected.  There are ghastly videos; local government contact e mails to write to, as well as a sample letter for you to copy and send (to the contact address list given).

There are many action links – about 290 to be precise; so please add this to your favourites and return to it to take more action when you have time.

Information:

Despite the fact that dog and cat meat consumption is an everyday occurrence and is being carried out all over South Korea, it is NOT LEGAL in that country.

Their Government does nothing to stop this illegal practice and they seem happy to ignore it; many Korean citizens are just as apathetic and must also be held accountable.

This is the 21st Century, and it is high time that all South Koreans, leaders and general public alike, stand up and take responsibility to enforce their own country’s laws. South Korea and South Koreans cannot continue to ignore these brutal and unethical trades, so let us campaign to urge each of South Korea’s cities to enforce their laws and to put an immediate end to these illegal dog and cat meat trades.

Below are the most populous cities in South Korea. Please sign our petitions and send postal letters to these cities calling for an end to these illegal trades. Postal addresses for the Mayors are shown in the change.org petition. You can use our petition as sample letter (just copy and paste) or use your own words.

Please note: We will be adding more petitions so please check back with us often. Thank you!

Please help us to help the wonderful South Korean activists with their massive campaign to shut down the dog meat in South Korea.

Regards Mark

England: Animal Petition Links.

Here are a few different sites – each with many animal welfare petitions.

Due to the huge amount, we (WAV) cannot provide individual links.  So ….

…… Please scroll through the links below and give your support to the petitions on them as you desire.

Remember – the more signatures; and the more international signatures on anything; the more chance of achieving success.  Don’t leave issues to ‘locals’; please make these issues international and get an international voice for them.

https://ladyfreethinker.org/category/speakout-petitions/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2KrqwNm-7AIVz-J3Ch1o3wFgEAAYASAAEgJf-vD_BwE

https://www.thepetitionsite.com/en-gb/animal-rights/

https://www.change.org/t/animal-rights-11

https://www.four-paws.org/get-involved/petitions

https://animalpetitions.org/

A keyboard with a green button – Online Petition

Regards Mark

absurdity

… it is absurd that we eat pigs, lambs, chickens, cows … and love cats.
What’s even more absurd is that we don’t even know why.

We only regard this as normal, but it is nothing more than the sum of the convictions and the moral rule of the social majority.

It is a fascist ideology that is adopted by most and therefore taken for granted.
We are not caught up in this violent ideology.
We know the truth and therefore we fight against this ideology with every means.

Regards and good night, Venus

Pathological perversity: colored chicks

For years, mainly in Asia, it has been observed that brightly colored chicks are given away to children.

But anyone who thinks it’s just a trend from Asia is wrong.

The coloration of the animals is a perversity that has already arrived in Austria from Asia via Turkey.

At Easter, in particular, the business with colorful chicks is booming in the USA and, as already mentioned, in Europe. If you search for colorful chicks on Twitter, you will also find something in markets in Spain.

By far the cruelest images of this practice come from the holiday paradise of Thailand.
In the scorching heat of Thailand, the chicks are packaged for sale in plastic – but since the plastic bags are airtight and contain neither water nor food, the birds suffer terrible agony.

As you can see in the video: the staining method is pretty brutal. Dozens of chicks are thrown into a pot, colored over it, and then stirred in the pot for minutes as if they were objects and not living beings. Another way to color the chicks is to squirt food coloring directly into the eggs.
The animals are then packed in plastic bags for sale.

Normal “common sense” will tell you that this cannot be healthy for the animals.

But the main issue is not whether the chemicals cause direct harm to the animals.
The much bigger problem is selling the chicks to children as a present.

Animals are not there to be given to children. They cannot treat the chicks responsibly, because as soon as they get their natural color on the feathers again, children are bored.

If the chicks get their normal plumage, then they are of no interest, and the animals either end up in the trash or in the animal shelter.

And because the boom is so popular with colored chicks, bunnies are also colored for Easter!

Christmas is at our door, and every year the same thing happens again: fun at the expense of the animals.

Don’t take part.
Teach your children to be responsible for animals and to respect their dignity and freedom.

Never buy animals as gifts.
If we don’t do that with people, then we shouldn’t do it with animals either!

My best regards to all, Venus

Germany: Circus elephant Mambo and his companion die painfully in the truck

‼ ️ UPDATE: VIRUS OR CHOKING DEATH? 💔 🐘🌈🐘💔
Mambo and his fellow-sufferer are dead

Two agonizing lives have come to an agonizing end: Mambo, who was born around 1983 in the wild and has been abused as a circus clown since his capture, suffocated miserably in a van about 2 weeks ago together with a fellow sufferer whose name was not yet known to us.

This can be seen from current entries in the Elephant database.


Mambo and the elephant cows Tonga, Nanda, Betty, and Kimba (also caught in the wild) have been at the “mercy” of the Casselly family of tamers for years, who force them to perform disgusting tricks in the arena: unforgettable the unspeakable pictures, taken in 2017 in the Karlsruhe Christmas Circus when Mambo pulled a carriage through the ring in which a pony was sitting.

Furthermore, he and his fellow sufferers were repeatedly abused during the breaks as mounts and also as springboards.

During the engagement in Reutlinger Christmas Circus 2018/19 Mambo made headlines when he had to pull children on a sled through the snow.

At that time the “Südwest Presse” found the completely inappropriate headline: “Fun in the snow: Mambo the elephant pulls children on sleds” and received a lot of criticism for it.
The last time the elephants stepped in Germany in 2019/20 at Offenburg Christmas Circus, from where we received a video that showed how the elephants were beaten with an elephant hook before their appearance behind the tent.

So far, we have not yet been able to find out exactly how this terrible accident came about in Hungary. As soon as we have more information, we will let you know.
We are shocked by the horrific death of the two elephants.

One cannot even imagine the panic that must have filled them.

We mourn the two gray giants and will always keep them in fond memories.

According to a Hungarian media report, Casselly supposedly wants to build a retirement home for the remaining 3 elephants or give them to a zoo so that they can spend their old age there.

The two dead elephants are not mentioned in the article in the Hungarian newspaper of October 9th.

And I mean…The “great gardeners of the forest” are exploited to amuse and increase the attractiveness of circuses. Now the life of Mambo and his companion ends miserably and painfully in a truck on the transport to Hungary.

These incredible animals are being driven around the country, caged and forced to perform, kept in small spaces, deprived of physical and social needs, and trapped in vans for much of the time.

Circus animals are prisoners for life who are forced to perform often painful feats. The elephants know perfectly well that if they disobey they will be in pain.

Without the infliction of pain with an aid such as stun guns or elephant hooks, no elephant would perform these dressage numbers in the arena and certainly not stand up on their hind legs.

By the way, the European Elephant Group found that bulls Mambo has deformed rear legs, which should be noticed by any attentive official veterinarian. And these deformations are based on regularly overloaded joints, tendons, and muscles.

The German Minister of Agriculture Julia Klöckner was asked by the state ministers to ban the keeping of wild animals in the circus.

But according to media reports, Julia Klöckner has no interest in banning wild animals in the circus.
The Germany Animal Welfare Association speaks of currently more than 300 circuses traveling around Germany in which wild animals are to be pitied.

“We do not need self-appointed stable-police to monitor compliance with animal welfare”.
No, these words do not come from China, where the government criticized animal welfare organizations that used pictures to draw attention to the horrific situations in the slaughterhouses for dogs.
These words also come from the German Federal Minister of Agriculture Julia Klöckner.

It is shameful and uncivilized that there are still circuses with wild animals, animals at all, and ridiculous wildlife shows in Germany …

My best regards to all, Venus

Australia: Chances They (Governments) Take With Live Animal Exports – Crew Member from the ‘Al Messilah’ Livestock Carrier Docked in Fremantle Has Tested Positive for COVID-19.

On top of the new cases confirmed from tests overnight, Health Minister Roger Cook today confirmed a crew member from the Al Messilah livestock carrier docked in Fremantle has tested positive for COVID-19.

https://www.watoday.com.au/national/western-australia/deeply-concerning-pattern-covid-outbreaks-detected-in-two-livestock-ships-docked-off-wa-20201017-p5661p.html

https://thewest.com.au/news/coronavirus/coronavirus-crew-on-key-integrity-in-geraldton-and-al-messilah-ships-in-fremantle-infected-with-covid-19-ng-b881696059z

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-10-17/crew-member-on-bulk-carrier-in-geraldton-tested-for-covid-19/12777364

Regards Mark

USA: Petition – Get Justice for Champ, a Dog Who Was Intentionally Starved as a Petty Act of Revenge. Maximum Penalty Please !

Petition Link:

https://www.idausa.org/campaign/justice-for-animals/latest-news/dog-abuse-south-carolina-justice-for-champ/

Justice for Champ

Get Justice for Champ, a Dog Who Was Intentionally Starved as a Petty Act of Revenge

Champ was on the brink of death when he was found by authorities in South Carolina. He had been intentionally starved by a woman who was trying to get back at her ex-boyfriend, who was Champ’s guardian. While Champ has recovered and now has a loving home, his abuser has yet to face the consequences of her heartless act of cruelty.

Now, we’re calling for justice on his behalf.

Justice for Champ

Elizabeth Jena James chained Champ in her yard and watched him slowly starve for an entire month because she was reportedly angry at her ex-boyfriend for leaving her. A tip led authorities from the Laurens County Sheriff’s Office to Champ, and when he was found, the Mastiff-mix weighed only about 50 pounds — about half of his healthy body weight.

His skeletal body was infested with maggots and hookworms, and he needed multiple blood transfusions.

Rescue Dogs Rock NYC heard about his plight and was able to immediately take him in. They raised funds to cover the cost of his medical care and helped him start over in an entirely new life. Champ’s had a long road to recovery, but he’s since been adopted into a loving home where he is adored.

James, on the other hand, has yet to be held accountable for her sickeningly petty and callous act of cruelty.

She was arrested and bonded out in 2018, but a grand jury later indicted her on felony animal cruelty charges.

She’s now facing a minimum of 180 days in jail, with a potential maximum of five years, and a fine of up to $5,000, in line with South Carolina’s animal abuse laws.

Join us in calling on Eighth Circuit Court Solicitor David M. Stumbo, asking him to seek the maximum penalties for James. She sat back and did nothing, while watching Champ slowly and painfully waste away to nothing but skin and bones in her yard. This is unforgivable and inexcusable; James needs to be held accountable for this vengeful act. And of equal importance, no animal should ever be left in her deficient care ever again.

Submit our alert to deliver your comments to:

  • Eighth Circuit Court Solicitor David M. Stumbo

USA: 22/10/20 – Saving Life on Earth Webinar. Register to Take Part Now.

Hi Mark,

https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/

Endangered wildlife knows no borders. The Center works to protect global biodiversity by using U.S. and international law to conserve imperiled species wherever they’re found.

Join us on Thursday, Oct. 22 for our next Saving Life on Earth webinar to learn about our work to protect amazing wildlife in Africa.

From iconic species like elephants and giraffes to weird but wonderful pangolins and sea cucumbers, we need your help to fight the wildlife trade that’s fueling the extinction crisis.

The presentation will feature our International Director Sarah Uhlemann and International Legal Director Tanya Sanerib.

The hour-long webinar starts at 4 p.m. PT / 7 p.m. ET.

Register and then check your email for the link to join (if you don’t see it, check your junk folder).

Tierra Curry
Senior Scientist
Center for Biological Diversity