Day: July 22, 2021

General News

EU: NGOs call (on EU) to stop the imports of cruelly produced horsemeat.

NGOs call to stop the imports of cruelly produced horsemeat | Eurogroup for Animals

Photo – Act 4 Equines

On 7 July, Eurogroup for Animals and Animal Welfare Foundation/Tierschutzbund Zürich (AWF/TSB) met with the European Commission to discuss the systematic violations of EU animal welfare and traceability requirements in the production of horsemeat imported into the EU.

Joined by Animals’ Angels US and by the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses (Australia), the NGOs presented the results of many investigations underlining the need for the EU to act and suspend horsemeat imports coming from Uruguay, Argentina, Australia and Canada. 

These investigations show that, in the production of such meat, there are systematic violations of animal welfare requirements in slaughterhouses located in these countries, as well as significant shortcomings in terms of traceability. 

Back in 2014, similar issues led to the suspension of horsemeat imports from Mexico. One could argue that the situation is even more serious with Australia, Canada, Uruguay and Argentina as in the cases of Australia and Canada, drug residues were found either in horses slaughtered or in the meat dispatched to the EU, and in the cases of Uruguay and Argentina, there were evidence that the audits were manipulated by removing or replacing horses ahead of the announced inspections. 

It is high time for the EU to ensure its imports-related requirements are respected. It’s also a question of protecting EU consumers – who are expecting a certain level of food safety and animal welfare standards – especially as, at the moment, indicating the origin of horsemeat on labels is not mandatory. 

Suspending imports and working with the partners to get animal welfare and traceability standards at the required level would be the most effective way to engage and ensure the progress are not only cosmetic changes. 

Eurogroup for Animals and AWF/TSB will continue their effort to demonstrate the need for the EU to act in this field, supported by more than 150,000 citizens (and counting

– if you haven’t, feel free to sign the petition). 

Have you read the WAV posts / info about the UK investigations ?

Check it out at

UK: 20/7/21 – Update On Horse Slaughter – Programme Shown On BBC TV. Watch On iplayer, But May Only Be For UK Viewers. ? Try Links At End. – World Animals Voice

UK: 19/7/21: Horse Slaughter – Exclusive Tonight: Animal Aid’s Undercover Investigation on BBC One’s Panorama. – World Animals Voice

Regards Mark

Enjoy – Scotland, UK.

Farm Animals, Fur and Fur Farming, General News

Sweden: New Swedish report shows extensive spread of SARS-CoV-2 within and between mink farms.

New Swedish report shows extensive spread of SARS-CoV-2 within and between mink farms

22 July 2021

Djurens Rätt

News

Djurens Rätt, together with about 40 other organisations, sent a combined plea to the Swedish government and parliament on June 23, calling for a decommissioning plan for mink farms in Sweden. The government imposed a temporary breeding ban in 2021 after SARS-CoV-2 was transmitted on the majority of Sweden’s mink farms in the autumn of 2020.

In January of this year, the Swedish government stated that breeding minks would be prohibited during 2021. The decision came after nearly a year of warning reports regarding the development of Covid-19 among minks on Swedish fur farms.

Djurens Rätt, along with 44 other organisations, has written a joint appeal to the Swedish government and parliament, addressed to the Rural Affairs Minister Jennie Nilsson, calling for the permanent closure of mink farms. This is due to the significant dangers of infection propagation on densely populated mink fur facilities. 

Moreover, the Veterinary Institute in Sweden has recently released a report on infectious disease surveillance in animals and humans during 2020, the results of which being disastrous when it comes to mink farms. They found:

  • 23 of 26 farms had minks with antibodies for the virus, but only 13 infected farms were found during the active testing. All farms weren’t tested for antibodies (of approximately 35 farms in total).
  • Active surveillance didn’t start before October 2020 and it was still not mandatory for the farms to test their minks if they didn’t want to.
  • A lot of the farmers and workers were tested and there were indications that minks had been infected by humans, but also that minks infected humans. Some mutations with adaptations to the minks were also found. 
  • ”The high animal density that is typically present in a mink farm, provides ideal conditions for viral replication and transmission, also increasing the risk of virus evolution.”
  • “In Sweden extensive spread within and between farms occurred in spite of implemented biosecurity measures, as shown by the results from the surveillance carried out.”

Sweden has enough evidence to phase out this unethical industry. It is time to ban farming of minks in the country and to make sure that the current ban on breeding becomes permanent 

Camilla Bergvall, President of Djurens Rätt

Read more at source

Djurens Rätt – Stort upprop – stäng minkfarmerna i Sverige permanent!

General News

Views from an excursion

It should be a “two-day” short vacation in Switzerland.
We decided not to talk about animals, for only two days we wanted to forget animal suffering and just enjoy nature at 3,000 meters above sea level.

Titlis-The summit under the bright sun

It became different, and it became more beautiful than we thought.
And by that I mean again when it comes to animals.
The beautiful city of Engelberg is the last stop where you have to leave your car or bus.
From then on you can only go up on foot or by gondola.
And this journey up to the top was what immediately made us feel good.

In addition to the fantastic mountain landscape with its gorges and dark fir trees, free-range cows grazed everywhere and they had an enormous amount of space available.
People who are neutral towards animals also notice it immediately, because they are almost the only inhabitants in the landscape.

Trübsee- happy cows

The higher we gindelt, the rarer the trees became.
The place where we finally arrived and wanted to stay overnight was called “Trübsee”.

That means “cloudy sea” in German, but it was anything but cloudy, because the lake gets the water from the waterfalls that flow through the glaciers and is actually nothing other than melted ice.
We soon realized that we had started talking about animals again.
The cows were everywhere.

Trübsee- cows by the lake

They had no trees, because the place is at an altitude of 1,800 meters, but in the event of a thunderstorm or a piercing sun there was accommodation, usually a stable that was open and the animals could freely come in and out.
The night was cold and you go to bed early there, because otherwise there is nothing but gray glitters, clear, thin air and a very unpredictable nature that creates a violent thunderstorm in a few seconds and suddenly calms down again and a starry sky comes out.
For the very few residents of the village, the day starts very early and we did it that way.
Especially because we wanted to visit the highest peak, Titlis!
At an altitude of 3,060 meters!
During the gondola ride, it was immediately clear to us that we didn’t have the right shoes because there was only snow.
You could also find some green stripes, but the landscape was white !!

When we came back down it was already noon.
The hotel manager was surprised when we asked about vegan food.
“Everything comes from the cows you see, meat, milk, cheese … everything is from our happy cows …” he said, pointing out the grazing animals.
We did not discuss animal ethics and principles with the hotel manager, but on the walk we took after lunch we could really see that the cows were happy.

Trübsee-the cows greet us in a friendly manner and have accompanied us a few meters on our lap

All cows were meat cows, there were none dairy cows.
The animals were clean, well fed, and had clean water from the lake everywhere. No secretion from the nose, no injuries!
There were only electric fences where their paths could cross those of the hikers, otherwise they could choose where to lie, where to graze, where to jump.

It is clear that a happy life for animals can only arise where there is space and freedom.
These animals had it. We petted many, they were curious and tame, and as soon as we made acquaintance, they continued to follow us on our way.

Trübsee- ready to come with you

Now that I am writing these lines, I notice that this short vacation was again accompanied by animal life and animal experiences.
At least with happy experiences.
One thing is certain: we will visit Titlis again soon.
We made friends with some animals there and we want to see them again.

My best regards to all, Venus

Environmental, General News, Uncategorized

Turkey: Drought Caused By Climate Change Kills Thousands Of Baby Flamingos.

WAV Comment: Farming doing yet more destruction.

  “the water supplies that typically run into Lake Tuz have been redirected for farming”.

 

Drought Caused By Climate Change Kills Thousands Of Baby Flamingos

The lake, which is normally home to 10,000 baby flamingos, resembled ‘a desert’

Drought Caused By Climate Change Kills Thousands Of Baby Flamingos | Plant Based News

A severe drought in Turkey’s Lake Tuz has led to the death of thousands of baby flamingos. Environmentalists say the climate crisis is to blame, as well as agricultural irrigation.

Lake Tuz – which means Salt Lake in Turkish – is one of the largest hypersaline lakes in the world, with a surface area of 1,665km2 (643 sq mi). Approximately 10,000 baby flamingos are born there every year.

But this year, only around 5,000 hatched. Many of those who did died soon after.

The lake, which is sometimes a vibrant pink colour, had dried up. Observer for Yahoo! News, Istem Donmez, said the lake resembled a desert – a sight which was ‘very sad’.“There were no live flamingos, we only saw dead birds,” he said. “The water of the lake was all gone and there wasn’t even a reflection of water when you take a photo. In various places, there were dead flamingos, both large and small, on the bed of the lake.”

Environmentalist and wildlife photographer Fahri Tunç spoke to Reuters about the flamingo deaths. Tunç explained that the water supplies that typically run into Lake Tuz have been redirected for farming.

“This is the irrigation canal that comes from Konya. It needs to deliver water to Lake Tuz. As you can see, the water is not coming through. It stopped,” Tunç said.

“It is a sin we are all committing.”

Professor Doganay Tolunay of Istanbul University spoke to the Milliyet newspaper about water scarcity. He warned that precipitation levels are dangerously low in Anatolia, which is where Lake Tuz is located.

“Crops failed to grow due to lack of rainfall. A serious water and drought crisis await us,” he said.

Climate crisis

The drought preceded severe flash flooding that has taken the lives of hundreds of people in Europe and China.

Both flooding and droughts are a symptom of climate change, which is driven by human activity. In fact, according to NASA, humans have been influencing global weather patterns for nearly a century.

Ben Cook is a researcher at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies and Columbia University in New York City. He said: “Climate change is not just a future problem.”

“This shows it’s already affecting global patterns of drought, hydroclimate, trends, variability — it’s happening now. And we expect these trends to continue, as long as we keep warming the world.”