Month: April 2021

Farm Animals, General News

England: The question is not, Can they reason? nor Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?

WAV Comment – for as long as I can personally remember, The question is not, Can they reason? nor Can they talk? but, Can they suffer? – has been something that has run through the British animal rights movement; a statement on which so many campaigns and offensives have been based.  It has appeared on everything over the years; the words of an English animal rights campaigner as far back as the 1700’s – one Jeremy Bentham.

Yes, animals can suffer and do STILL suffer; little changes – unfortunately; some centuries later, man still decides to make animals suffer by presenting and incarcerating them into the cage age system.  The man was a visionary; sadly mankind has not progressed in some areas that well.

Regards Mark

Jeremy Bentham on Cruelty to Animals | Robin Saikia

Jeremy Bentham on Cruelty to Animals

Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832) was an English philosopher, jurist and social reformer. He was the founding father of modern utilitarianism, a doctrine founded on his belief that “it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong”. Bentham is also remembered for his lifelong commitment to prison reform and for his views on animal rights. As regards animals, Bentham strongly opposed the widespread view, advanced by Descartes and others, that animals were mere automata, complex but soulless machines, incapable of suffering. The following brief passage, from Bentham’s The Principles of Morals and Legislation, can be fairly described as a cornerstone of the modern animal rights movement.

The day may come when the rest of animal creation may acquire those rights which never could have been withholden from them but by the hand of tyranny. The French have already discovered that the blackness of the skin is no reason why a human being should be abandoned without redress to the caprice of a tormentor. It may one day come to be recognized that the number of legs, the villosity of the skin, or the termination of the os sacrum are reasons equally insufficient for abandoning a sensitive being to the same fate. What else is it that should trace the insuperable line? Is it the faculty of reason, or perhaps the faculty of discourse? But a full-grown horse or dog is beyond comparison a more rational, as well as a more conversable animal, than an infant of a day or a week or even a month old. But suppose they were otherwise, what would it avail? 

The question is not, Can they reason? nor Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?

Stray Animals, Uncategorized

Animal shelter ALBA- Berlin/ Bosnia=a crime syndicat

For a few days, gruesome pictures of dead dogs have been circulating on social media in the so-called quarantine station of the shelter for abandoned animals in Stranjanin, which is managed by 𝗝𝗞𝗣 𝗔𝗟𝗕𝗔 𝗭𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮 (Bosnia and Herzegovina).

ALBA Zenica is a location of ALBA Berlin GmbH.

In autumn last year, employees at the ALBA Zenica animal shelter in Bosnia and Herzegovina published shocking photos and videos.
The disturbing recordings document the daily suffering of the animals in narrow, dirty cages and the barbaric, massive killing of dogs in the animal shelter.
In recent months, PETA Germany has been in close contact with the informants and Bosnian-Herzegovinian animal rights activists who brought these atrocities to the public.

According to information available to PETA, the ALBA Group Berlin has been financing an animal shelter of the subsidiary Alba D.O.O. since January 2017. (Alba Ltd.) in Zenica, Bosnia, and Herzegovina.
The shelter is owned by the city of Zenica.

As the leaked photo and video material show, the dogs in this facility are neglected and tortured, which is a clear violation of the regulation on the operation of animal shelters.
The images show the rotting bodies of deceased puppies, dogs with sad eyes that are vegetating in their own feces and urine, dirty, empty bowls.

One-shot shows a mother dog with her babies: the dogs are locked in a tiny cage, stacked on top of each other so that they cannot move or stretch out. The material also shows photos of emaciated and already deceased dogs that are scattered in the rain-soaked area.

Continue reading “Animal shelter ALBA- Berlin/ Bosnia=a crime syndicat” →

Environmental, Farm Animals, General News

No Animal Left Behind: Why no animal should be kept in a cage. But Will the EU Listen to Its Citizens ?

WAV Comment – we wait to see exactly how the EU takes note of its citizens; As part of the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) “End The Cage Age”, 1.4 million citizens across Europe have called on the EU to put an end to the use of cages in animal farming and were most recently also joined by over 140 scientists and leading food companies.

What is more important to the EU ? – the ‘business’ of meat and animal production, or going cage free for animals ?

We monitor with great interest.

No Animal Left Behind: Why no animal should be kept in a cage

The EU recognizes that animals are sentient beings. However, over 300 million farm animals, including hens, quail, rabbits, sows and ducks, are being confined in cages on EU farms each year. It severely limits their ability to meet essential behavioural, physical and psychological needs:

Despite the EU banning barren cages for laying hens, billions of hens are still kept in tiny cages where they cannot move freely or perform natural behaviours. In these so-called enriched cages, there is not enough litter on the ground for them to dust bathe in, which is a natural and important behaviour for hens. Their nesting area is limited and consists of plastic sheets to give them some privacy, whereas naturally, hens would take themselves off, away from others to lay their eggs in peace. Despite the name, enriched cages are grossly inadequate and do not offer hens the environment they need. 

Instead, hens should be reared in cage-free systems with access to outdoors that allow them to move freely from indoors to outdoors. Their outdoor space should have plenty of cover, as hens like to forage under trees. In good cage-free systems with access to outdoors, hens have multiple perches where they can fulfil their roosting behaviours, and escape unwanted attention from others. They also allow hens to nest properly, giving them the privacy and nesting materials they desire. 

In intensive systems, rabbits who are farmed for meat or fur are crammed into tiny cages with no room to move. Each rabbit has less than the area of an A4 piece of paper. They cannot stretch out, stand with their ears erect, dig, or hop about as they were born to do. The floor is often made of bare wire which can cause sores on the rabbit’s footpads and hocks, leading to chronic pain and infections.  Some rabbits are housed in pairs or groups, but the close proximity and the inability to move away from one another often leads to high levels of aggression and stress. 

This lifetime confinement in severely restricted and unsuitable housing is cruel and unnecessary. Rabbits can be reared in higher welfare systems, giving them space to hop, dig, jump and socialise properly. These systems may be free-range extensive systems or open indoor pens where the rabbits stay in stable groups and are given enrichment to relieve boredom and encourage natural behaviours. 

As part of the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) “End The Cage Age”, 1.4 million citizens across Europe have called on the EU to put an end to the use of cages in animal farming and were most recently also joined by over 140 scientists and leading food companies.

The truth is out there ! – EU: Cage or No Cage ?

Regards Mark

Environmental, Farm Animals, General News, Live Transport

EU: Live Exports – What the Suez Canal crisis meant for animals and for EU Regulations

Sheep crammed in corridors

Photos obtained by Animals International and from whistleblowers, indicate several breaches of EU laws. In one of the photos, it appears clearly that the vessel was overloaded, and animals were crammed not only in their pens but also on corridors that must be kept clear at all times, except during loading and unloading operations.

What the Suez Canal crisis meant for animals and for EU Regulations

9 April 2021

Animals International

16 vessels transporting live animals from the EU to the Middle East were affected by the Suez crisis on 23-29th March causing delays that were deadly for thousands of sheep, mainly from Romania but also from Spain.

Bucharest, April 12th, 2021 – Animals International claims that the Suez blockade caused extremely high mortality among animals and exposed weaknesses of EU laws.

According to Animals International’s sources involved in this crisis, the mortality was between 180 and 1,100 on each vessel. But the mortality declared by the Romanian authorities was just not higher than 0,22% among the 105,727 sheep and 1,613 cattle aboard 7 of the 11 ships.

We seek to clarify this gigantic reporting difference by talking to those who transported the animals. We learnt that Dragon had the highest mortality with over 1,100 dead animals. The answer to the difference seems simple. Thousands of dead sheep have been thrown overboard in the Red Sea before reaching their destination. The 0,22% refers to the animals who continued to die from the throwing point to the harbor of destination.

Gabriel Paun, EU Director of Animals International  

Photos obtained by Animals International and from whistleblowers, indicate several breaches of EU laws. In one of the photos, it appears clearly that the vessel was overloaded, and animals were crammed not only in their pens but also on corridors that must be kept clear at all times, except during loading and unloading operations. Furthermore, the surviving animals were loaded for further transport in the Middle East onto trucks that are substandard according to the EU laws. 

“EU Court of Justice rulings are clear. EU laws must be respected beyond its borders until the destination which is considered the place where the animals will stay for at least 48 hours. Upon arrival, the animals were unloaded from ships onto trucks and immediately transported further. These trucks were not protecting animals from injuries and the burning sun, they were crammed over each other”, added Paun.

Video and Photo evidence

Last but definitely not least, the Suez crisis indicates just another scenario never foreseen by the EU Commission and the Member States where there were no contingency plans for this situation. They had no legal means to order the vessels to return to the port of origin. The only reason that mortality was not closer to 100% is that the blockade ended after 6 days and not later. None of the vessels have decided to return to the port of origin and any extra day awaiting was equivalent to thousands of new deaths. “The Suez crisis exposes further weaknesses of EU animal welfare laws that must be subject to revision by the EU Commission and object to the ongoing EU Parliament inquiry on the transport of live animals”, concluded Paun.

Ultimately, all exported animals to the Middle East were killed while fully conscious by untrained and unequipped workers in breach of EU Slaughter Regulation 1099/2009.

Regards Mark

General News

Apizaco, Mexico – during a bullfight…

https://fb.watch/4Rds8GEPN8/

The bull attacks his killer and stabs him on the head with amazing precision! something like that happens in jobs with risk

He hits him on the floor with his horn, the killer loses his cape and without the “tool” the killer remains like a mechanical glitter on the floor, without a battery.

As always, the arena mafia rushes to help, but the second attempted murder against the bull also fails when the helper loses his tool “Capa” as well.

We would like to thank the video producer for making it possible for us to witness this successful battle

P.S: We don’t know anything about the killer’s chances in life. We think the audience should donate blood
The bull is most likely dead.

My best regards to all, Venus

General News

Bulgaria: Close the Lovech Zoo!

#Close Cruel Cages: Six bears in concrete pits at Lovech Zoo!

Six bears, two tigers, and two lions are kept under terrible conditions at the Lovech Zoo in Bulgaria.

Image: Four Paws

The concrete and outdated enclosures are neither suitable for keeping animals in a species-appropriate manner nor for accommodating other animals.
The zoo must prevent the animals from reproducing and must not accept new bears.

Nevertheless, the brown bears continue to reproduce, the last cub was born in January 2020.

During a visit in January 2021, a FOUR PAWS team got a picture on site. We were particularly shocked by the concrete enclosure of three bears. It had no natural vegetation, no places to retreat or hide.

At the time of our visit, the floor was covered with feces.

Image: Four Paws

The enclosures for the bears, lions, and tigers as well as those for some of the other animal species in the zoo are far removed from species-appropriate housing conditions and we see no possibility of converting them into suitable enclosures.

We, therefore, demand an end to breeding and the relocation of animals for which no suitable facilities can be made available.

Image: Four Paws

Support our work for a better life for animals in Bulgarian zoos and sign the petition here: http://bit.ly/cages-bulgaria
© FOUR PAWS | Hristo Vladev

Additional information: The lion cubs Simba and Kossara are the youngest victims to be born in a cruel cage, this time in a small and aging public institution in the town of Blagoevgrad in southwestern Bulgaria.
Her birth in early July, which allegedly was the result of inbreeding, was kept secret, but a few days later the media found out about it and reported on the little weakened pups.

In response to public pressure, the local authorities in Blagoevgrad organized the puppies to be taken to a veterinary clinic in the capital Sofia.

FOUR PAWS offered advice from experienced game rangers and rescuers for the puppies to give them the best possible care and medical care they urgently needed.

But the responsible authorities avoided meeting FOUR PAWS and at the end of August arranged that the pups should be secretly taken to an equally horrific facility in Bulgaria.

As a result, Kossara and Simba have ended up in a cruel cage in Varna, in a similarly unsuitable and hopeless situation as they were when they were born.

It is the fourth time in three years that lion cubs have been born in Bulgaria under appalling conditions and with bleak prospects.

For years, the Bulgarian Ministry of Environment and Water has legalized unsuitable facilities where various species of wildlife are kept by granting them a zoo permit without ensuring that they meet standards of husbandry and education.
Even the still illegal facilities have been allowed to continue to keep and breed wildlife.

This suffering has to stop. We need your help to save Simba, Kossara, and other wildlife like them from living in these cruel cages, and we urge the Bulgarian Prime Minister and the European Commissioner for the Environment to see Bulgaria end the legalization of inappropriate wildlife management!
#CloseCruelCages

We have to try.
At the moment we cannot offer these victims any other alternative besides the petition and the mobilization of the media.
Therefore: Sign the petition and share

My best regards to all, Venus

Farm Animals, General News

USA: Abject Suffering and Cruelty Required In Dairy – DxE Investigates – Watch the Video.

WAV Comment – with thnks to Stacey as always; regards Mark.

Watch the video on ‘Our Compass’ here:

Abject suffering & cruelty required in dairy | Our Compass (our-compass.org)

Source Direct Action Everywhere Instagram

In 2017, I entered a Land O’ Lakes dairy farm in California with a team of DxE investigators and the horrors I saw sent me on an unexpected journey. Was this farm just an anomaly, or was this routine treatment of dairy cows and their babies? I couldn’t understand how the dairy industry gets away with such cruelty – especially a company like Land O’ Lakes that boasts about following strict animal welfare guidelines. 

I have now gone into 14 Land O’ Lakes farms in California and Wisconsin, the nation’s top dairy-producing states. With the help of more than 20 grassroots investigators, we now have footage proving that this company routinely violates its own welfare standards, as well as animal cruelty laws.  

We have a 2 minute video proving that Land O’Lakes is going out of its way to mislead customers. Please watch and share on Facebook or Instagram (or above).

We’re reporting this cruelty, reaching out to company representatives, and sharing our findings with journalists. The Fresno Bee just published a story about our investigation findings which you can read and share here (or see below).  

Don’t be fooled by false advertising about “happy cows” and “pure milk.” There is nothing happy nor pure about the dairy industry, and when we take direct action, we can expose that.

Many thanks to everyone who helped with this investigation on the ground, and to all of you supporting online. Together, we are shattering the “humane” myth and making real progress for animal rights. If you can support this work financially, please chip in here. 

Alexandra

Source The Fresno Bee

By Joshua Tehee

The animal rights activist group Direct Action Everywhere is leveling claims of animal abuse at several Land O’Lakes dairy operations in the central San Joaquin Valley, including Zonneveld Dairy near Laton in Fresno County.

On Wednesday, Berkeley-based group released the findings of a three-year investigation it did at 14 of the company’s farms both in Wisconsin and in California.

Among the facilities were Zonneveld Dairy in Laton; Kasbergen Dairy, Curtimade Dairy, FernJo Farms, and Mancebo Holsteins in Tulare; Fern Oaks Dairy in Porterville; Giacomazzi Dairy and Grimmius Calf Ranch in Hanford; and Tony A Nunes in Visalia.

The investigation found dozens of violations of both Land O’Lakes company animal welfare policy and California law, according to the group, which said it has video footage showing newborn calves being dragged by their hind legs and dumped from a backhoe, among other things.

The group said it will file criminal complaints against the farms on Wednesday with letters of support from a veterinarian and a former federal prosecutor, both of whom have seen the videos, the group said.

A Land O’Lakes representative said the company was not aware of the allegations as of Tuesday afternoon, but that animal care is a top priority for the company and its member-owners.

“Participation in the National Milk Producers Federation’s National Dairy FARM Program is a mandatory condition of Land O’Lakes, Inc. dairy membership and we are committed to maintaining compliance with all aspects of the program and the science that guides its development,” the representative said in an email statement.

This is not the first time Direct Action Everywhere has taken action against a Land O’Lakes operation.

Members of the group, including former “Baywatch” actress Alexandra Paul, protested alleged abuse at Zonneveld Dairy farm in 2017. The group also removed a calf from the ranch, in what it called a night-time rescue operation.

It’s also not the first time the group has had sights on Valley farms.

In 2018, three women were arrested at a ranch north of Oakdale while trying to remove an apparently dying calf from the property.

And last month, the group protested outside Harris Ranch in Coalinga, after asking the Fresno County District Attorney’s office to investigate the company’s beef processing facility in Selma. Direct Action Everywhere claimed to have hidden camera video footage showing excessive suffering of animals at the slaughterhouse.

Joshua Tehee covers breaking news for The Fresno Bee, with a focus on entertainment and a heavy emphasis on the Central Valley music scene. You can see him share the area’s top entertainment options Friday mornings on KMPH’s “Great Day” and read more of his work here.

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Farm Animals

The film ‘The Scam’- poultry industry in Israel

Documentation of the disposal of laying hens – worldwide
As the chickens’ egg-laying yield decreases, the poultry industry rushes to dispose of them at a young age
The method used in Israel and around the world is to use an electric vehicle and to kill the animals with an electric shock.

In this video is the case in the Czech Republic

You can see workers simply filling trash cans in the barn with animals.
Most of them suffocate and from there spill into a large container.
This method is illegal in Israel

However, a few years ago we were able to document this violation twice.
In two different chicken coops in the Sharon area and most likely – according to the undercover worker video that nobody knows – it is proven that in most cases this method is also used here in Israel.
The industry wants to accelerate the destruction process.

It is very difficult to take over and dispose of a basket of hundreds of thousands of laying hens.
And if you take them out one by one, it can take days and that costs money and time, this cruel method saves both.
The tortured chickens pay the price to maximize profits

With cruelty and slow death, they will suffocate in the can along with the rest of their sisters.

You can find more information about the poultry industry in Israel in the film ‘The Scam’:

https://youtu.be/oLv64GyST

Glass Walls

And I mean…The video is of course linguistically inaccessible to most of us
But still, after the first five minutes, you have the feeling that you know these pictures. That this or similar pictures have been seen.

That is why this video speaks a universal language.

Every country in the world practices this fascist system of exploitation of the “other” animals.
Animals suffer from the violence of those who have rights, of people.
And that all over the world.

Even the very best animal protection law does not grant animals any rights, but only restricts the power of disposition of humans against animals.
The best that can happen to them is mercy or pity, and we know how slim those prospects are.
Every special video actually has the function of unveiling the injustice and making the invisible visible.
Because the animal industry relies on isolation and total secrecy.

There are many ways to give voice to the other species and to make their pain public and express it.
We have cleared up to their lawyers.

No method is better or worse than the other, each has its special moment when it can develop its power and effect.

Realizing this is the really more important basis of animal rights defense.

My best regards to all, Venus

Hunting

US State of Winconsin: Hunters massacre 216 wolves

It took- for trigger-happy hunters in the US state of Wisconsin- exactly three days to slaughter around 20 percent of the wolf population.

216 animals were killed in the bloodbath that took place at the end of February. Experts estimate that there were between 1,000 and 1,200 wolves in Wisconsin before the hunt.

The reason for the permit for the three-day hunt was ultimately an oversight by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

Wisconsin is the only US state in which the regulation of the wolf population is normally carried out by officials of the authority –
a shooting quota is set annually, which is based on standards for sustainability and the protection of the wolf population.

Jäger richten fürchterliches Massaker unter Wölfen an

Observations about the development of packs play a role. As a rule, only very old or sick animals or a few problem specimens that were noticeable through livestock cracks are shot down – the quota rarely exceeded 100.

However, since the Trump administration abolished numerous protections for wolves last year, hunter lobby groups and some Republican MPs have called for open wolf hunting.

The state of Wisconsin also wanted to hold one hunting, but only in the fall and not in the spring – because they were still waiting for new data on the population development and then wanted to incorporate this into the determination of the shooting rate.

But then the supervisory authority was taken by surprise by a lawsuit filed by the powerful hunting lobby group “Hunter Nation Incorporated” from the state of Kansas, which is 1,000 kilometers away.

According to the change in the law by Trump, the court ordered the supervisory authority to immediately permit hunting and allow applications for hunting permits.

The supervisory authority had no choice but to obey the court order – they simply had not recognized the legal situation in time and thus lost valuable time, for example, to develop control mechanisms.

More than 2,000 applications for hunting permits were received, and almost all of them had to be approved overnight, without careful scrutiny.

Continue reading “US State of Winconsin: Hunters massacre 216 wolves” →

General News, Uncategorized

Elephant Actions – Please Support, Thank You.

Fifty year old elephant Betty has lived a lifetime of suffering.

Captured from her home in Thailand at the age of just three years old, she was sold into the George Carden International Circus in 1986 where she has been forced to perform cruel circus tricks and to give rides ever since.

The Carden family continues to force Betty to perform despite the fact that she is chronically lame. She does not bend her left front ankle, which is evident when she walks or give rides. Betty also continually drags her trunk along the ground as she walks. It appears that she is using her trunk as a crutch to remain balanced or to hold her upright. Her impairment could pose a serious public health hazard should her lameness result in a fall while she was performing or giving rides.

In performance after performance, CompassionWorks International has found Betty exhibiting these clear signs of suffering, yet the Carden family and the USDA do nothing to help her.

Presently the Carden family has rented Betty out to Garden Bros Circus, where she is provoked to give rides and do tricks by Larry Carden. Garden Bros performs up to three times per day, which means that Betty is giving up tothree hours of rides and three performances per day.Afterward, she is loaded on a truck anddriven hundreds of miles only to do it all again.

Another Carden family elephant named Jenny lived a similar life of performance and tricks despite having health issues, and the USDA did nothing to help her. Jenny died. 

Isn’t it time the USDA DID THEIR JOB and took action for animals used and abused in traveling circuses?

Please join CWI in calling on the USDA to do their job: confiscate Betty and transfer her to a Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries-certified sanctuary where she can live out the remainder of her days without the stress and pain of circus performance.

248,000+ have signed this – add your name also.

Petition link:

Petition · Bernadette Juarez: Send Betty to Sanctuary Now! · Change.org

 

 

Dumba, the elephant hidden by a circus in a rubbish dump in Gard

It was after 10 pm on 1 January 2021 when we heard: at the end of a dirt track in a remote corner of the Gard countryside a single elephant constantly rocks back and forth in a tent, in the middle of a rubbish dump – a few square metres to move around in. Immediately despatched to the spot, our investigators are shocked to discover thatit has snowed, that the thermometer registers well below zero and that the elephant is shut in the trailer of the wagon opposite the tent. Dumba breathes heavily, sniffing the air with her trunk, which pokes out of a tiny half-open window in the roof. She has injuries on both sides of her head. We have submitted a complaint about her situation as a matter of urgency.

Dumba is over forty and her feet are so painful that she twists and turns even in front of strangers in an attempt to obtain relief.  The forced immobility and solitude to which she is subjected daily cause muscle wasting, musculo-skeletal pain and stereotypic movements.

Just like other elephants held in captivity by circuses, she was snatched from her family while she was a baby.  She has never been seen in the company of another elephant since.  Just like Baby, she is kept in solitary confinement by her trainer and rented out to the highest bidder for videos and performances.  Forced to have her photo taken with members of the public (which is illegal), in particular in the Cirque de Paris, she crossed paths with Jon, Patty, Marli, Céleste and Hannah before we obtained their release.  We had hoped to find her in March 2020 when we followed the Cirque de Paris.  On its usual site:  Baby.  She hadn’t been seen again in France since the end of 2018.  In Spain, where we are working in solidarity on her behalf with FAADA (Fundación para el Asesoramiento y Acción en Defensa de los Animales – Foundation for Advice and Action in Defence of Animals), she had been off the radar since the end of September 2020.

But one of our sympathizers came across her while out for a New Year walk, in an area that literally looks like a rubbish dump.

France, this refuge for trainers prosecuted for mistreatment. Her trainer had fled Spain with her in order to avoid court proceedings.  It would have been very easy for him to flee once again in order to hide Dumba elsewhere.  It was therefore essential that we act speedily.  Within a few hours we had despatched our investigators.

Foot problems are the main cause of death in elephants.  Dumba’s feet and her whole body are suffused with acute pain;  she is the very incarnation of suffering.  Elephants live in groups and continually communicate with one another in a very sophisticated way.  They help and support one another until they die.  Dumba is alone in her agony.  What sort of advanced country is it that still authorizes the abysmal mistreatment of these vulnerable giants?  I love elephants, I love my country, and I am ashamed.

Muriel Arnal, President and Founder of One Voice

The opinion of the expert on elephants to whom we sent the images was irrefutable:  skeletal problems, possible tuberculosis … injuries.  “The physical condition of this obviously elderly Asian elephant is very poor.“

«There are clear indications that this elephant is suffering from pain in her front legs, as shown by her alternating lifting of these legs and the fact that she brings her rear legs far cranial under her body.»

«The elephant keeps her mouth open for a much longer period than is expected and normal, which often is an expression of pain experience.»

«Keeping an elephant solitary for a prolonged period is an act against the welfare of the animal and as such illegal. When continued for several months and longer it inevitably changes the mental health permanently and irreversibly, expressed as stereotypic behaviour.»

Willem Schaftenaar, DVM
Retired zoo veterinarian of Rotterdam Zoo
Current competences and activities: Veterinary Advisor to the European elephant TAG (EAZA), Associate researcher of Elephant Care International

We have submitted a complaint of ill-treatment and neglect by a professional (an offence) to the court in Alès. Added to that is illegally operating an establishment keeping non-domestic animals. The seizure of Dumba must be organized as quickly as possible; a place in a sanctuary already awaits her. Sign the petition and let us join together to appeal to the relevant minister, Barbara Pompili, because we shall never abandon those whose suffering is scandalously hidden from view: circus animals!

Exploited under the big top, rented out to the highest bidder, kept in isolation in a wagon in the depths of winter – that’s what Dumba’s life is like as a circus animal. @barbarapompili this suffering must stop! #FreeDumba #CirquesSansAnimaux

Petition link:

Dumba – Baby et Dumba, éléphantes de cirque (elephantes-de-cirque.fr)

Please support these;

Thanks; Regards

Mark