SPANA (Head Office – London) – helping the working animals of the world who may otherwise not get any support. https://spana.org/
Established in 1923, SPANA’s goal is simple: to improve the welfare of working animals in the world’s poorest communities. Through three key areas – treating, training and teaching – we’re inspiring others to act in the best interests of working animals while also providing practical, professional and sustainable solutions today. We recognise that the fortunes of working animals and people go hand in hand: in the developing world, just one working animal can support an extended family of up to 30 people. SPANA’s work improves the lives of working animals while supporting the communities that depend on them. We rely entirely on our loyal supporters to help us in our huge but vital task.
WAV Comment – we are very happy to give a monthly donation to SPANA to help relieve the suffering a little of so many working animals. Please give a donation if you can – or better still; become a monthly donor. The working animals are sometimes all the owner has to help them make a living. All SPANA services are free of charge to owners; veterinary care and advice – medication, and rest if required.
Undercover recordings by “SOKO Tierschutz” (SOKO animal welfare)and Polish animal rights activists from VIVA! pl and Otwarte Klatki shows the killing of minks with gas.
On two farms in Poland,the third-largest fur producer in the world, exclusive recordings show how minks survive gassing, are brutally slain, and slowly die among carcasses. It is the world’s first recordings from the gasification boxes.
Although a new animal welfare law has been introduced in Poland, millions of minks are again being killed for the fur trade – in a cruel way.
The so-called harvest in a Polish fur farm: rows of minks are thrown into a gas box that is filled with carbon dioxide.
A hidden camera in the box proves the horror.
The animals, which are good swimmers, can hold their breath for up to five minutes and run around in the box in a panic. The bloodied walls of the box are silent witnesses of the agony.
After forty minutes the box is opened. Several animals are still alive. The workers try to crush them or to kill them. Even after this ordeal, breathing minks end up on the carcass heap.
The minks are put in boxes for killing, into which gas is then passed. The animals suffocate in agony. (Photo: Soko Tierschutz)
They will slowly die with their bones shattered. Everyday life for the workers, who cynically comment on the suffering of the animals:“There are two more alive. Beware of those who are alive, they will bite you”. A worker who wants to kill a mink with a kick is admonished not to destroy the head and thus the fur. The animal is then hit against a wooden edge.
The drama repeats itself on a second farm with over 10,000 animals.
Here, too, animals are hit against an edge, the animals fight desperately in the gas and under the corpses, there are minks that come out of the box alive after the gassing and are gassed again.
In both cases, the gas comes from the Linde Group. The logo of the company, which produces a large part of the CO2 in Germany, is emblazoned on the gas bottles.
Image: SOKO Tierschutz
SOKO Tierschutz calls on Linde to immediately stop supplying the entire fur industry with gas. “Linde is complicit in these tortures. It is no secret how terrible it is to live and die for the useless furs. Linde is part of this barbarism. We will remind the company of its responsibility with a campaign,” explains Friedrich Mülln, Spokesman for “SOKO animal welfare”.
In the meantime, Linde has declared that it does not want to supply any gas to fur farms in Poland. SOKO animal welfare is pushing for a worldwide delivery stop for the killing gases of the fur industry.
“We will also take action against Linde’s competitors in the next few months,” the SOKO spokesman announced.
“SOKO animal welfare” appeals to the Polish government to end the fur industry and to continue the path that has already been taken towards a ban on fur farms, despite massive opposition from the fur lobby.
For fur-breeders from the Netherlands, Denmark, and Finland, Poland has become an Eldorado for gigantic animal factories, where you can do what would be forbidden in your home countries or not possible due to high environmental standards.
image: “obs/SOKO Tierschutz e.V.”
“That must have an end. The EU first needs a ban on cruel fur farming and then an import ban on furs, because this is the only way to effectively prevent these crullers from escaping to third countries and to protect the lives of animals worldwide, ” said Mülln
And I mean…Poland, along with Denmark and Finland, is one of the largest exporters of fur in Europe, especially of mink.
Unlike in Denmark, where many mink will be killed this year because they may transmit the coronavirus, the regular “fur harvest” is currently taking place in Poland.
The pictures in the video show that the minks do not pass out quickly and die quickly, as the agricultural lobby likes to claim.
Fur farming has long been banned in many European countries. Corona made a great contribution to this.
In Germany, the “Animal Products Trade Act” came into force in 2017, which introduced such strict rules that the last fur farm soon closed.
In many other countries – Austria, the Czech Republic, France, or Norway – keeping them is prohibited or it is expiring.
The Netherlands is now ending prematurely because of Corona.
In Poland, on the other hand, according to animal rights activists, five to six million minks are killed on several hundred farms every year.
The agricultural lobby is strong in the country and in parliament because several thousand people work in the industry.
And so the mink breeding and torture continues for the time being.
“Humanity is waging war against nature. That is suicidal. Nature always strikes back with full force and fury,” said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres this week at a meeting of the United Nations.
Yes, it is! With factory farming (in any form) we have created situations where it is very easy for a virus or other pathogen to jump from one species to another.
But human animals (unlike other species) never learn from their mistakes.
We will not be able to prevent pandemics in the future either, and it is our own fault.
Watching and listening to Fiete... one sees clearly only with the heart…
Fietehas been saved from slaughter three years ago.
These animals have been rescued from slaughter, starvation, or severe neglect.
The animals that live here do no longer need to serve a purpose, they can do what they are there for in this world instead: Live.
Fiete lives in “Hof Butenland”, Sanctuary
This is the most beautiful sound in the world: the satisfied voice of an animal. “Those who do not close their eyes, ears, and heart have to love animals more than people” (Helmut Kaplan)
“The Medical University of Vienna is the largest medical school in Austria, is one of the most important research institutions in Europe and provides the entire medical staff for the Vienna General Hospital in Vienna”,so we read in Wikipedia.
And yet an animal experiment scandal reached us that left every civilized and empathetic person speechless: This university lets mice starve!
In a restricted-access breeding laboratory of the Med Uni Wien, at least 100 animals died of starvation due to serious neglect of care!
According to the “Association against animal factories” (VgT):
“After corona research has provided the latest evidence of how “inefficient and unnecessary animal experiments are”, now the latest evidence of how brutal the animal experiment industry is and how clever its marketing is. Around 100 mice are said to have starved and died of thirst due to insufficient supply – there are also other supply shortages in the room. Tierschutz Austria has filed a criminal complaint. “It’s terrible – these little mice are already housed in a most unsuitable manner anyway. Starving and dying of thirst in this way is incredibly cruel. It’s a real scandal,” said VGT campaignerRoland Hoog.
In 2019, according to the latest animal experiment statistics1, 205,858 mice were used for animal experiments.
94,180 mice – almost half – were used for so-called basic research.
“Above all, animal experiments out of pure curiosity of the researchers hide behind this name – there are no relevant possible applications for the results,” criticizes Hoog. The VGT calls for comprehensive education and significant improvements in the housing and management of animal care.
“Mice do not starve or die of thirst overnight. Apparently, there must have been a comprehensive lack of care and control,” says Roland Hoog.
If the Medical University of Vienna is serious, it should show responsibility towards animals and society: animals, society, and patients have earned modern human medicine and not senseless animal sacrifices.
The NAT (= Network Address Translation) database with over 300 established methods that do not involve animal experiments shows that animal experiments are not necessary.
There are better methods that clearly advance research, safety testing, and drug development.
Instead of investing 30 million in the new building of a retro project from which only the animal testing industry benefits, the “Association against animal factories” calls for the establishment of a research center to research and evaluate alternative methods that are free of animal suffering.
And I mean…They weren’t even able to take care of a few mice?
And they want to convince us that we have to entrust them with bigger tasks?
Should we leave our health to their hands?
Should we give them full confidence that they can save us from disease?
This department should be closed immediately.
And the “responsible” ones – these full-idiots without competence and conscience – must be dismissed.
Foxes are now part of the Berlin cityscape – but one fox has been attracting particular attention for months: the miner fox.
With thousands of followers on Instagram and various regional press reports, the miner fox is probably the best-known four-legged friend of its kind in the capital.
Now the red fox is also an ambassador for a campaign against the hunt for foxes. He is Berlin’s first fox with an Instagram account.The miner fox as an ambassador for PETA shows that hunting is not necessary
The trusting fox from Bergmannkiez in Berlin-Kreuzberg has his own Instagram profile.
For some time now, the fox has made Bergmannstrasse in Berlin-Kreuzberg his home: day and night he explores the area, observes what is happening, looks curiously into house entrances, and occasionally relaxes lazily in the midday sun.
Since May 2020, a resident (who wants to remain anonymous) has been taking pictures of him regularly on Instagram. When the animal sat under its balcony every night in the summer, the photographer decided to publish the photos.
The fox poses photogenic in the street, on sidewalks, and in house entrances. The miner fox shows – contrary to the claims of many hunters – that the animals can live peacefully next to us humans even without hunting, without the fox population getting out of control.
Since the first picture at the end of May, almost 2,700 users have subscribed to his account. The reactions to the photos were mostly positive – especially the restaurateurs in the Kiez liked the pictures.
The photographer also knows his neighborhood much better now!!
As great as the temptation is to lure and stroke the foxes in the city with snacks: Foxes are not cuddly toys, but wild animals that can get their own food. So if you are out and about on Bergmannstrasse, with a little luck you can spot, admire and take photos of the Berlin influencer – but petting or feeding him is not a good idea.
And I mean…Foxes are now sneaking undisturbed through parks and gardens. Wild rabbits hop over green areas. Beavers swim in lakes and canals. Squirrels do gymnastics and frolic through the trees.
Raccoons, martens, and wild boars unsettle and fascinate young and old alike. And first of all the many birds: Berlin is not only home to just under 3.8 million people and their pets, but also countless wild animals – more than in the surrounding area.
And the last ones now have all the freedom because of Corona!
The wild animals become real city animals; if you study them a little, you will learn and see with your own eyes the most amazing things:
Crows, which let crack their nuts in front of driving cars
wild boars, which lead their newborns across the street at intersections,
foxes, that steal eggs…
Animals experience as many exciting things as we humans do every day.
And the most exciting thing is that Corona taught us how to coexist.
a) from plucked animals that have already been slaughtered (dead plucked) or
b) from the much more brutal live plucking
Most down come from plucking, in which the down and feathers are torn from the animals’ skin during their lifetime. Sometimes this is even done automatically.
Live plucking is banned in Germany and the EU but most of the down used in Germany comes from China, Hungary, and Poland, where plucking by living things is common.
“Plucking troops”– hired for this alone- often injure the animals when they ruthlessly pluck live chords, especially when the feather of the down is still immature, which tears and tears the skin during plucking.
Larger wounds are sutured immediately and broken wings are only sparsely tied without anesthesia.
Plucking live birds is prohibited in the EU – unless the animals lose their down on their own when changing their feathers.
During this time they are allowed to strip them from their plumage (“feather change-molting”).
In many farms, this means that the plumage of the entire herd is plucked under the pretext of molting – even if the animals do not all change feathers at the same time, of course.
Most of the down comes from Asia (80% from China), where it is common to tear the feathers out of birds while they are alive. In Europe, a lot of down comes from Hungary and Poland
So far there are no independent certificates or seals that exclude live-plucking from down products. The existing seals and certificates were introduced by the down industry itself to reassure customers.
Since the retail and production chains for down are very opaque and there are hardly any controls, a buyer can never be sure whether the down of a product comes from live-plucked birds or whether geese and ducks were killed to get their feathers.
And with the purchase of down products, the cruel foie gras industry is also supported, because many foie gras farms benefit not only from the production of foie gras but also from the sale of the feathers of ducks and geese.
German bed manufacturers “officially” condemn live-plucking but let it happen from the back door.
A few years ago a “down dealer” from “Report Mainz” shot a false sales pitch with a leading German bed manufacturer on video.
The footage suggests that bed makers are actually still interested in plucking live animals.
The managing director announced the following to the alleged “Downtrader” – “Report Mainz” reports:
“Officially, I only buy from” Change Feathers “. Live plucking is never official. That is nonsense. We know that it has to be plucked. But under no circumstances can I buy it officially. If someone asks, just tell them it’s from “change feathers”. Who can check this? “(= That is why we reject the product” Down “in general and without compromise).
Not only “normal” abattoirs that are cruel to animals are supported with the purchase of down, but also the foie gras industry in particular.
Apart from the fact that most of the animals had to live in terrible conditions before they were slaughtered.
Live plucking for economy
The practice of live-plucking is banned in the EU (except when the geese are on feather change). Nevertheless, it has been proven several times in Hungarian companies in recent years. Live plucking seems to be particularly widespread in China, where a large part of the down sold in this country comes from.
And I mean…Every year around 10,000 tons of down and feathers are imported to Germany, mainly from Poland, China, and Hungary. Live plucking has a long tradition in Hungary and around 300,000 animals are plucked every year.
During live-plucking, the geese’s feathers are pulled out while they are still alive.
That hurts a lot, and it’s animal cruelty
For the poultry industry, this practice is many times more lucrative than plucking after slaughter, as an animal can be plucked four to seven times until it dies before it is slaughtered.
The fact that the geese are allowed to pluck when their feathers fall on their own does not mean that this procedure is followed consistently because this time is difficult to determine and individually from animal to animal. It is unlikely that an institution can determine this for each individual bird.
We regard this animal product in the same way as milk, leather, fur, or meat because it is also associated with painful origins.
Any consumer with a basic conscience and brain has to boycott this product; There are great variants of down that warm and protect just as well.
This is the only way we can damage the bloody down-industry and significantly reduce the suffering of these animals
The EU talks the talk; is very good at producing endless reams of reports and paperwork; charts etc; but the reality is it never enforces what is says it is going to enforce. Tell the young Dutch cattle exported to Lebanon and Libya that the EU is good at enforcing the rules.
Antimicrobial resistance
AMR : Commission publishes its progress report on the EU’s Action Plan
Today, the European Commission published its 5th progress report on the implementation of the European One Health Action Plan against Antimicrobial Resistance, which was adopted in June 2017. The key objectives of this plan are built on three main pillars: making the EU a best practice region; boosting research, development and innovation as well as shaping the global agenda. Addressing AMR through a One Health approach is also a priority for this Commission, as flagged in Commissioner Kyriakides’ Mission letter in November 2019.
The progress report shows that a number of AMR initiatives have been continued or put in place in recent months. For example, the Commission has adopted in the EU Farm to Fork Strategy a target aiming to reduce by 50% the overall EU sales of antimicrobials for farmed animals and in aquaculture by 2030. This objective will be supported by the implementation of the recent Regulations on Veterinary Medicinal Products and on Medicated Feed for which implemented and delegated acts are currently being drafted.
Another of the main updates of the Action Plan includes the new Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/1729 on the monitoring and reporting of AMR in zoonotic and commensal bacteria. The recently adopted Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe also flagged the fight against AMR as a key objective. The next progress report is planned to be published in mid 2021.
WAV Comment: The UK has now left the EU and is currently undertaking a consultation with overwhelming support to ban all live exports. EU member states are not allowed to ban the trade despite the wishes of most EU citizens. Does then dog wag the tail or the tail wag the dog ? – does anyone learn that all the time they continue to be in the EU, this abuse will go on ?
How many years have we sat and watched all this ? – that the EU is not enforcing its own regulations. And how many more years are Europeans still going to be shown and told this ? – the UK left the EU a year ago – now it is taking action for a ban. Learn European nations – learn !! – if the EU allows you to that is !
Dutch cattle documented going for slaughter in Lebanon and Libya
11 December 2020
Animals International
New investigation conducted by Eyes on Animals – in collaboration with Eurogroup for Animals’ members Animals International, Animal Welfare Foundation and Welfarm – exposes the fate of Dutch cattle exported out of the country’s territories.
Footage shows Dutch males bovines – born on dairy farms in Dwengeloo and Friesland – in a slaughterhouse in Beirut: animals were tied up, forced to fall down, and then had their necks sliced open, back and forth, with a knife. Moreover, this summer, Dutch cattle have been seen while loaded onto a vessel at the port of Cartagena (Spain) heading to Libya for slaughter.
Despite the good will of the Netherlands in not approving extra-EU export of its animals for slaughter, the export towards other Member States often means that these Dutch animals end up in non-EU abattoirs.
Slaughter conditions in Lebanon and Libya are known to be brutal. After having been transported for many days, very often animals arriving in the non-EU port, are in such bad condition that they cannot walk anymore. They clearly become unfit to continue their journey. However, instead of being euthanized, they are hoisted alive via a chain tied to one leg to be unloaded by the vessel. Once in the abattoirs, animals are chased, jumped on, have their tendons slit and eyes poked in order to keep them to the ground, chain them, and then cut their throats while fully conscious and fully sensitive to pain.
Eurogroup for Animals is urging the European Commission to ban any export of live animals from the EU to non-EU countries and to favour the slaughtering of animals close to the place where they are born.
WAV Comment: The fur industry has a lot of questions to answer regarding its abuses and what has resulted from this sick trade. Fur out now ! – globally.
First case of coronavirus detected in wild animal
By Helen Briggs BBC Environment correspondent
The first known case of coronavirus in a wild animal has been reported, leading to calls for widespread monitoring of wildlife.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said a wild mink had tested positive around an infected mink farm in Utah.
Coronavirus outbreaks at fur farms in the US and in Europe have killed thousands of the animals.
As a consequence, millions of farmed mink have had to be culled across Europe.
The USDA said it had found one positive case in “free-ranging, wild mink” in Utah as part of wildlife surveillance around infected farms.
Several animals from different wildlife species were sampled and all tested negative, the agency added.
It said it had notified the World Organisation for Animal Health, but there is no evidence the virus has been widespread in wild populations around infected mink farms.
The discovery raises concerns that the infection could spread between wild mink, said Dr Dan Horton, a veterinary expert at the University of Surrey, UK.
The case “reinforces the need to undertake surveillance in wildlife and remain vigilant”, he added.
Mink are known to escape from mink farms and become established in the wild. In the UK, a population of mink that escaped from fur farms many years ago is thought to exist, but they are sparsely distributed and rarely come into contact with people, Dr Horton added.
The virus has also been found in zoo tigers, lions and snow leopards in the US, and in a small number of household cats and dogs.
Introducing our brand new Large Animal Ambulance equipped with a hydraulic lift!
We sometimes find that bandaging a wound is the easier part of treatment. Often, what’s most difficult is moving the injured angel from the street to our hospital,especially when they are a 400 pound bull with a fracture.
We’ve been so lucky that our staff have had the strength and ability to work together in lifting really heavy animals even without an automatic lift. But it is amazing to lighten all their loads and most of all it makes rescue safer and stress-free for all.
Happiest thank you to the wonderful donors who made this possible!
Watch what happened when Penelope’s fractured pelvis healed!
The blood on her face was what alarmed our rescue team. But that wasn’t this beautiful girl’s worst problem.
Hit by a passing vehicle, Penelopehad alsosustained a fracture to her pelvis.Her facial laceration, although it caused a permanent droop to her eye, healed within just a few weeks. But her pelvis injury required 6 weeks of bed rest in order to heal.
Restricting her movement was necessary for healing, but boy was she glad when she was able to run again for the first time.Watch thisgorgeous wobbly whirlwind take the world by storm!
Jason’s wound was massive. All the skin of his front forelimb was pulled off when a vehicle tire caught the skin in its tread. His pain was hard to imagine, and we watched his face stilled with worry when we gently flushed his wound. But this little wonder-boy’s fear melted as soon as his wound was bandaged.
Rescuing him was so important. Because the world without Jason would be a little less beautiful.
For Someone “out there,” tomorrow will come because of you. Please donate
Delightful Jakeis a perfect family dog. He’sloving, playful, intelligent and friendly. A Labrador who was abandoned by his previous owners – possibly because of an old injury that has left him missing the toes on his hind leg. To his old owners he might have been less than perfect but we couldn’t disagree more!
Jake’s favourite thing to do is play – he carries his beloved bone toy over to every person who enters his area in the hope that they will engage in a game of tug-o-war, or even better, fetch! His damaged foot doesn’t slow him down at all. He’s a “people person” who also loves other dogs, and if you’re lucky enough to adopt him, your whole family will have an angel guarding your hearts for the rest of your lives.
The minks are put in boxes for killing, into which gas is then passed. The animals suffocate in agony. (Photo: Soko Tierschutz)
Image: SOKO Tierschutz
The trusting fox from Bergmannkiez in Berlin-Kreuzberg has his own Instagram profile.
World Animals Voice 