Day: November 24, 2020

Live Transport

Germany: Transport ban of 132 pregnant cattle to Morocco

The Cologne Administrative Court has banned 132 pregnant cattle from being transported to Morocco on the grounds that the cattle there are often not slaughtered in accordance with animal welfare standards.

The 132 Holstein cows were pregnant and, according to the carrier, should go to a Moroccan dairy farm. The judges didn’t believe that, however.

According to the court order, the sales contract and the logbook show that the buyer was a slaughterhouse.

Berlin, November 24th, 2020:
PROVIEH welcomes the decision of the Cologne Administrative Court to ban the export of live animals to Morocco.

Before the Cologne Administrative Court decided in favor of the ban, the veterinary office had initially refused permission to transport the pregnant cattle to Morocco.

Two exporters had sued against this – and lost in an urgent procedure.

The transport planned for November 18, 2020, was not allowed to take place because the judges in Morocco feared that the animals would be slaughtered in a manner that was not appropriate to animal welfare.

“The decision of the Cologne Administrative Court evaluates PROVIEH as a success for animal welfare. There is a very high probability that the cattle in Morocco would have been slaughtered under conditions that were contrary to animal welfare, ” comments Patrick Müller, Head of Capital at PROVIEH.

“The decision was intended to encourage other veterinary offices not to process any transports that are expected to contain animal welfare violations en route or in the destination country.

We finally need nationwide uniform regulations for animal transports so that there are no more blatant misjudgments, such as the one from the Potsdam Administrative Court a few weeks ago, where the transport of pregnant cattle was permitted with reference to the EU regulation.
The European regulation for the protection of animals during transport must also be interpreted uniformly and completely in terms of animal welfare. “

Time and again, massive animal welfare violations occur in the case of live animal exports.

Problems arise from the fact that the animals are not regularly and insufficiently fed and supplied with water, even at high temperatures.
Supply breaks are not observed, appropriate supply stations, especially in third countries, are not approached or do not even exist. In the EU, the regulations are completely inadequate, but compliance with these minimum requirements is not even ensured in third countries.

The applicable law is repeatedly circumvented when live animal exports to third countries: The animals are often declared as breeding animals, although experts doubt that the animals are actually used for breeding. Usually neither the climate is suitable, nor is there a suitable food base for the animals in the destination country.
The animals are “consumed” within a short time and are often slaughtered under dire conditions.

This has now also been recognized by the Cologne Administrative Court, at least in the case of a transport to Morocco.

Continue reading “Germany: Transport ban of 132 pregnant cattle to Morocco” →

Farm Animals, General News, Live Transport

EU / Romania: Live Export from Europe to Third Countries is Booming Despite Tragedies.

WAV Comment: Just shows; even with all the evidence; how bloody useless the EU is.

Live export from Europe to third countries is booming despite tragedies

23 November 2020

Animals International

Press Release

1 year after the live export vessel MV Queen Hind capsised killing thousands of sheep no one is held responsible. Eurogroup for Animals and Animals International, its member organisation in Romania, today remember the thousands of sheep who endured the most horrible death a year ago in the Romanian harbour of Midia.

For immediate release: Brussels, Bucharest 24 November 2020

The tragic anniversary is the opportunity to remind the lack of action by the Romanian Government and the EU Commission which led this barbaric trade to continue, with over 4 millions cattle, sheep and goats being shipped in despicable conditions to countries where animal welfare doesn’t meet the European standards.

Romania alone experienced a major raise in live animal exports since the Queen Hind capsised, with more than 2 million animals leaving the country by sea to reach North Africa and the Middle East, a journey that may take up to three weeks. 

While Romanian authorities insist that the density was 10% less than usual, the company hired to take the ship out of the water found secret decks with extra animals that were not part of the official vessel documents. The Romanian Government has not published their conclusions on the incident’s investigation.

The Queen Hind was overloaded, and animals were sentenced to an unavoidable death caused by greed and corruption. The Romanian Government has made no step forward to end live export and has also failed to progress in its commitment to work towards phasing out the trade.

Commented Gabriel Paun, EU Director of Animals International.

Temperatures in the Gulf may reach 50 degrees Celsius in the shade. Despite evidence of Romanian sheep suffering extreme heat stress, in July the Romanian Parliament passed a new law allowing live exports to take place when temperatures rise above 35 degrees Celsius. Even with the added requirements to shear animals and reduce stocking density by 10%, thisnew law breaches the EU transport Regulation that clearly demands Member States to freeze exports if temperatures soar above 35 degrees. 

This bill was debated after the Queen Hind tragedy and was initially aiming to improve the welfare of exported animals by freezing exports during summer, as Australia has done, and having a veterinarian on board all ships. But interference by foreign animal trading companies in the Parliamentary debates saw the bill watered down in a form that breaches the current EU Regulation. 

The audits carried out by the EC in European harbours indicate major deficiencies, especially in Romania which dedicates more than half of their maritime fleet to export of EU animals to third countries. The Commission concluded that these authorisations were granted superficially and that the fleet endangered animals and crew. 

Moreover, within the Farm to Fork strategy the EC intends to revise the EU animal transport regulation and the EP created the Committee of Inquiry on the protection of animals during transport (ANIT). 

Thanks to the ANIT Committee we believe that MEPs will have all the evidence they need to investigate how Member States apply the current Transport regulation and finally stop live transport in favor of meat and carcasses trade.

Commented Reineke Hameleers, CEO, Eurogroup for Animals.

Animals International and Eurogroup for Animals call on the EU Commission to start an infringement procedure against the Romanian Government for continuously failing to comply with the EU animal transport regulation. 

In the aftermath of the incident Eurogroup for Animals members Animals International and Four Paws were both involved in the rescue operations.

ENDS

midia map.png
ROMANIA-SAUDI-ARABIA-SHEEPS
vytenis-andriukaitis-75902633

Above – The ‘do nothing EU Commissioner    Andriukaitis

Below – the ‘animal welfare’ ignorant Romania Minister Petre Deae

Image result for Petre Daea romanian minister

Some of our WAV posts associated with this:

EU;; Have the Welfare Lobby Been Saying This for Years ? – DG SANTE audit reveals major problems with live export from Romania ! – World Animals Voice

Romania: The Live Export Sheep Trade Is Killing Farmers -Romania Needs Meat Processing; and Fast ! – World Animals Voice

Breaking – Romanian Government Calls Off Rescue Efforts to Save Sheep Still Alive Inside Export Ship, Despite Claims That Sounds Can Still Be Heard. – World Animals Voice

Syrian Crew; Registered in the Pacific; A Rust Bucket Vessel 40 Years Old, Ignorant Romania ; Useless EU – It All Adds Up to a Cheap and Nasty Live Export Business as We Have Said for Decades ! – World Animals Voice

Well Done France- Imposing a Live Animal Transport Ban in Extreme Heat. But EU, What About the 70,000 Romanian Sheep Being Exported In 40 Degrees Temperatures ? – Time the EU Enforced Its Policies – Hard Action not Soft Talk ! – World Animals Voice

EU: Live Export Latest – MEP Demands Action Against Romania – and … Is the new President-elect of the Commission committed to making a change for animals? – World Animals Voice

Kuwait / Romania: Livestock Ship Watch – 70,000 Live Sheep Exported from Romania en route to Kuwait. – World Animals Voice

Romania: Is Exporting 70,000 Live Sheep to the Gulf. They are Still In Port in Midia (Romania) – More News to Come. – World Animals Voice

Regards Mark

Environmental, General News, Hunting

USA: Trump is rushing to hold a fire sale of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/

WWF warn Donald Trump's plans for drilling in Alaska 'could kill' polar bears | Metro News

Donald Trump finalizes plans to allow oil and gas exploration in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge | Daily Mail Online

Hi Mark,

Just as polar bear cubs are about to be born and begin denning with their mothers, Trump is rushing to hold a fire sale of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

He invited oil and gas companies to identify which areas of the refuge’s coastal plain they’d like to drill, then proposed to toss out rules on offshore drilling. New cubs could one day see oil rigs from their dens.

This pristine landscape is not his to sell, so we’re in court to stop him.

Please support our work to keep drilling out of the Arctic by giving to the Saving Life on Earth Fund. Your donation today will be doubled.

Trump and his greedy friends know time’s running out for them to plunder public lands for personal gain, which is why they’re moving fast to auction off leases to drill in the refuge.

Those leases will make it harder to keep this treasured landscape from turning into an oilfield.

We can’t let them get away with this last-minute money grab.

We’re in court to block more than 1.5 million acres of Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from being opened to oil and gas drilling.

And we have a separate lawsuit in the works to stop Trump’s plan to open more than 18 million acres of the western Arctic.

Drilling in these areas will cause oil spills and greenhouse gas emissions already threatening polar bears with extinction. It will also decimate important caribou habitat, including areas where they raise their calves.

It’s obscene that after one of the worst seasons of wildfires and hurricanes in history, the administration’s priority is to worsen the climate crisis by giving handouts to Big Oil.

We can’t let the administration get away with ruining the Arctic refuge on its way out the door.

Please, help our fight for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge today with a matched gift to the Saving Life on Earth Fund.

For the wild,

Kierán Suckling
Executive Director
Center for Biological Diversity

Trump's Brazen Attempt to Open the Arctic Up to Drilling | Earthjustice
Opinion | The 'Drill, Baby, Drill' Crowd Wants Access to This Arctic Reserve - The New York Times

Environmental, General News, Uncategorized

EU and US block plans to protect world’s fastest shark.

EU and US block plans to protect world’s fastest shark

The population of shortfin mako, mainly caught as bycatch but also prized by sports fishermen, is facing an alarming decline

 

Mako shark, Cape Point, South Africa
The mako shark population could take five decades to recover even if fishing were to stop immediately. Photograph: Nature Picture Library/Alamy

Conservationists accused the EU and the US at negotiations of Atlantic fishing nations this week of blocking urgently needed plans to protect the world’s fastest shark species.

The strength and speed of the shortfin mako, which can swim up to 43mph, makes it a target for sports fishermen, particularly in the US, while its highly prized meat and fins have led to the shark being overfished globally – and dangerously so in the north Atlantic.

The population could take five decades to recover even if fishing were to stop immediately, according to scientists at the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), a fisheries management organisation.

https://c57143a4934f9b373b5b5a4496815464.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-37/html/container.html The majority of mako caught in the north Atlantic in 2019 were landed by EU vessels, mainly from Spain and Portugal followed by Morocco. Most mako sharks are bycatch – accidentally caught by boats hunting different species.

Last year, international governments voted to regulate trade in the endangered species, under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, after the EU co-sponsored a proposal.

But there was no outright ban, and this week Britain – in its first official act as an independent member of ICCAT – backed a proposal by Canada for such a ban. The UK said it was extremely disappointed that no agreement had been reached in 2019.

The EU and the US, however, refused to back the ban, saying it would not in itself stop mako mortality as bycatch. Each suggested separate proposals that would allow boats to continue to land mako in certain circumstances. Given the lack of consensus, the ICCAT committee chairman said he had no choice but to postpone any decision on mako catches until 2021.

“North Atlantic mako depletion remains among the world’s most pressing shark conservation crises, yet the EU and US put short-term fishing interests above all else and ruined a golden opportunity for agreeing a clear and simple remedy,” said Ali Hood, director of conservation for the Shark Trust.

Grantly Galland, an officer for the Pew Charitable Trusts’ fisheries team, said the delay in adopting a ban would speed the decline of a species already at dangerously low population levels.

“The only real advice from scientists to ICCAT is to have a no-retention policy. Another year of catching at the current level will leave the population in the north Atlantic in even worse shape,” Galland said.

Scientists warned last year that the important predator was declining faster than previously thought. They recommended annual landings of mako in the north Atlantic be reduced from 3,000 tonnes to 300, to allow the population to recover.

Ian Campbell, associate director of policy for Project Aware, a non-profit working with sports divers in ocean protection, said: “It has been heartbreaking to watch the US devolve from a global shark conservation leader to a primary obstacle to international, science-based protections for endangered makos.” He urged the incoming Joe Biden and Kamala Harris administration to “restore US commitment to science and the precautionary approach”, particularly for vulnerable marine life.

EU and US block plans to protect world’s fastest shark | Sharks | The Guardian