Day: September 4, 2021

General News, Hunting, Uncategorized

England: 8/9/21 – Badger Cull and ‘Geronimo’ Justice Demo at Defra HQ, London. Lets Get The Cull Stopped.

Following on from the latest article on UK badger culling by Venus –

Hunt Sabotage: “it’s a class war”! – World Animals Voice

Here is more news of a demo organised in London on 8/9/21 regarding the badger cull and in memory of Geronimo.  Get the re and support if you can !

JUSTICE FOR GERONIMO & STOP THE BADGER CULL DEMO

1pm, Weds 8th September outside Defra HQ, 17 Smith Square, SWIP3JR.

Helen Macdonald, Dom Dyer + special guests speaking. Let’s make this huge & let Defra know the strength of global feeling & disgust at the execution of Geronimo

WAV articles associated with this issue:

England: Geronimo, Serbian Strays and Badgers. All Policy Victims Of Governments That Will Not Accept The Evidence. – World Animals Voice

England: Bovine TB Up By 130% – Higher Than When Badger Culls Began. Badgers Being Killed To Pacify Farmers; While They Take No Responsibility for Biosecurity. – World Animals Voice

England: What Good People Do For Wildlife – New Artificial Badger Sett Made For Schoolchildren; So They Can Learn About Badgers. – World Animals Voice

England: “Killing Geronimo is a PR Disaster for Defra” – Article By National Newspaper ‘The Independent’; London. – World Animals Voice

England: ‘Geronimo’ Has Been Murdered By The British Government and Sucked Up To By Ministry Vets. A VERY Big Mistake For The Future, And Government Hopes Of Re Election. George Eustace and Vet Middlemiss Need Their Butts Kicked Hard – And They Will Get It. – World Animals Voice

England: The Badger. – World Animals Voice

England: The Link Between Serbian Strays and UK Badger Culling – Killing Does Not Work, Despite What Governments Say. – World Animals Voice

Regards Mark

Hunting

Hunt Sabotage: “it’s a class war”!

Since 2013 the Conservative Government and the National Farmers Union have spearheaded a policy that has led to the barbaric deaths of 140,830 badgers, an almost unimaginable figure.

In 2020 alone more than 40,000 badgers were killed in 54 cull zones from Cornwall to Cumbria and from Lincolnshire to Cheshire.

Badger in trap

Almost the entire South West – Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Wiltshire is now a giant cull zone as the dairy industry looks to scapegoat and wipe out one of our best loved mammals.
Although there have been media stories suggesting the cull is coming to an end there are 7 new zones starting killing in 2021 bringing the total to 61.

Shooters

Despite these awful figures the picture on the ground is more positive.

In the eleven new zones in 2020, five failed to hit the original minimum kill figure and in the other thirty three zones that were in years two, three or four, eleven of them failed to hit their minimum target.
his means that of the forty four zones still in the first four years of culling, sixteen failed to hit minimum targets.

As usual the Government and NFU (National Farmers ‘Union) moved the goalposts halfway through culling and quietly reduced the targets for zones, when it became clear that the original minimum target couldn’t be hit, in a desperate attempt to turn failure into success.

Trap

Once the four years intensive killing is completed then zones become supplementaries and have an extended kill period of 6 months in order to keep a low badger population.
There are currently 21 supplementary zones, a figure which will increase every year as more zones finish their four year intensive culls.

This year, as they have every year since 2013, local sab groups will mobilise to fight the cull.
They’ll use military grade night vision and thermal imaging equipment, funded by the HSA (Hunt Saboteurs Association), to find and stop shooters and they’ll walk thousands of miles looking for and neutralising traps.

The HSA will again be providing thousands of pounds to support them with fuel and equipment.

Hunt Saboteurs

Hunt saboteurs and other anti-cull activists are making the badger killers fight for every life they take.
If it wasn’t for the stiff resistance they’re meeting on the ground, the number of deaths would be far higher and localised extinction would have taken place in large parts of the West Country.

We’ll keep fighting until this cruel cull is gone for good.

https://www.huntsabs.org.uk/the-badger-cull-coming-to-a-county-near-you/

And I mean…The publicity surrounding the culls has led to an influx of new members and supporters for the HSA, many of whom have become active saboteurs who go into the fields to intervene directly between the hunters and their prey.
The life of the Hunt Saboteurs Association looks more and more positive.
In contrast to the hunter’s job, which is becoming more and more difficult.

Without the Sabs the animal killers would have had it much easier

They themselves say: “We have more Sabs, more groups, better vehicles and equipment, more supporters and more money. This means that we can save more wild animals and be a louder voice for those who cannot speak for themselves”.

We wish that with all our hearts.

The larger the group, the greater the support in case of danger.
Because the police do nothing if the hunters are aggressive or attack saboteurs, but arrest people without justification whenever the hunters want it.

My best regards to all, Venus

General News

Shitstorm against the German “Torera” Kreutter

Clara Sofie Kreutter rode through the arena on a horse, killed two bulls, posed with the animals’ ears cut off – and was “overjoyed” to have fulfilled her dream.


On the other hand, a shit storm is raging against the German “torera”. Many on our Facebook accounts are also outraged by the gruesome spectacle that is still a tradition in Spain.

“A lifelong dream of killing a bull ??? Sounds perverse, this custom should be abolished,” comments a woman and also hits a nerve with many readers.

“Scrap – that’s all you can say about Sofie Kreutter …. https://t.co/aehYelOCoZ” – August 16, 2021

The tenor is very clear: the bullfight, which usually only has one loser, has to stop.

The reactions are sometimes even more violent, including on Twitter.
Some users even wish Kreutter a fate similar to that of the slain bull.

“Where can I bet on it? @Tipico_de? Fuffi on the bull! I hope that Ms. Kreutter will be taken properly by the horns. May her dream cause her a lot of pain”. – August 16, 2021

The tenor is very clear: the bullfight, which usually only has one loser, has to stop.

In Ledana, Spain, there were 1,100 spectators in the arena who cheered when Clara Sofie Kreutter (31) gave the bull the fatal blow. Or at least tried to.
On the first try, she does not succeed in a perfect lance push!

Because when the German wanted to inflict the fatal blow on the first 700-kilogram bull with her lance, she hit him too far back and too diagonally instead of vertically.
The animal dragged itself bleeding through the arena until it finally died in agony.

The German “torera” hit the second bull “right” in the neck. As a trophy for the second fatal blow, Clara Sofie Kreutter received the ears of the slain bull, with which she laughed and posed for photos.

Then she was carried out of the arena by spectators with two other toreras on the shoulders.

And what does she herself say about this massacre, which is considered a “sport” in Spain?

“I wasn’t nervous, but excited. But I’m glad that everything went so well. “
Worked well? She doesn’t say a word about the torture of the bull, saying to the cheering of the audience: “I would never have dared to dream that, I was absolutely overjoyed.”

PETA Germany had the facts carefully examined and now reported the woman to the public prosecutor.

Criticism does not only come from organizations. Numerous Instagram users visited the 31-year-old’s profile and tackled the torera hard. In the meantime, Kreutter has switched her profile to private.
Now the German is hoping for a career as a professional bullfighter.

https://www.rtl.de/cms/torera-clara-sofie-kreutter-netz-hass-und-shitstorm-gegen-deutsche-stierkaempferin-4815988.html

And I mean…Clara Sofie Kreutter has just had her premiere as a bullfighter. Bullfighter – that means, she murders animals.

Well … that just proves that if you come from one of the most civilized countries in Europe, you don’t automatically acquire the education, empathy and mind that will save you from choosing a job with animal suffering and animal murder.
It is therefore a shame, especially for a German, to professionally serve primitive traditions from the Middle Ages with enthusiasm although that person had every opportunity to learn a decent job.

Therefore it can be concluded that the ambitious German torera chose a job because it offers her pleasure in the suffering of another.
And whoever finds the highest perversion and joy in the suffering of others must be subject to the strictest punishment and social ostracism.

My best regards to all, Venus

General News, Vivisection

EU: It’s Time to Take Action for Animals in Laboratories.

It’s time to take action for animals in laboratories | Eurogroup for Animals

It’s time to take action for animals in laboratories

23 August 2021

Across Europe, millions of animals are used in education and science each year in experiments that frequently inflict suffering, which can be severe, but seldom deliver on their main promise, which is better health for humans. They include mice, fish, rats, guinea pigs, rabbits, cats, dogs and monkeys. We need your help to end this suffering – for the animals and for better medicine, better product safety and better environmental protection.

We want to see humane, human-relevant, animal-free science properly funded and fully utilised. That’s why we need you to join us and sign the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) calling on the European Commission to:

  • Protect and strengthen the cosmetics animal testing ban
  • Transform EU Chemicals Regulation
  • Put forward a concrete plan to transition to non-animal science

Did you know that Europe’s longstanding ban on animal testing for cosmetics is under threat?

Tests on animals for cosmetics products and their ingredients have been banned in the EU since 2009, and a ban on the sale within the EU of animal-tested cosmetics products and ingredients was fully implemented in March 2013. These bans – contained within the Cosmetics Regulation – were designed to ensure that animals do not suffer for the purpose of developing or marketing cosmetics and their ingredients, and that science without animal testing is used to assure safety.

Despite the bans, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), supported by the European Commission and the ECHA Board of Appeal, continues to demand new tests on animals for chemicals used as cosmetics ingredients under the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) Regulation. This policy – which they now apply even to chemicals used exclusively in cosmetics – erodes the bans and goes against the intention of legislators in creating them: that animals no longer suffer and die for the sake of cosmetics.

ECHA, the Commission and the ECHA Board of Appeal argue that the animal tests are needed to protect workers and our environment because the Cosmetics Regulation only covers consumer safety. This position places an artificial divide between consumers and workers, disregards a long history of safe use for many of these ingredients, violates the legal requirement to use non-animal methods instead of tests on animals wherever possible and forces cosmetics regulators to disregard the animal test results to avoid triggering the bans.

This is the moment to speak with one voice. We’re proud to be standing with other animal protection groups, Dove and The Body Shop to urgently mobilise 1 million consumers to sign a European Citizens’ Initiative.

Many companies have been cruelty free for decades thanks to modern, human-relevant, non-animal scientific methods. Help us protect and strengthen the cosmetics animal testing bans by signing the ECI Save Cruelty Free Cosmetics – Commit to a Europe without Animal Testing.

Did you know that the EU’s new Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability could mean millions more tests on animals?

With the new EU chemicals strategy, the EU and its member states are seeking to support innovation to design safer products; restrict toxic chemicals and to limit people’s exposure to chemicals that are harmful to our health. Sadly, the approach being taken now by the Commission and the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) to new chemicals laws could mean millions more animals suffering. And whilst we support the aims of the strategy, more animal testing will not help to protect human health or the environment.

This ECI calls on the European Commission to transform chemicals regulation so that it ensures the protection of human health and the environment by managing chemicals without new animal testing requirements. This means that the European Union should be using modern approaches to ensure an efficient, human-relevant and cost-effective approach to assessing and managing the potential toxicity of chemicals. Better protection is achieved by applying new science to more effectively and efficiently understand and regulate the potential of chemicals to cause harm. The Chemicals Strategy should be an opportunity to future-proof regulations to enable rapid adaptation to technical progress and the immediate adoption of existing and new emerging animal-free technologies. There is also a need for urgent investment in next generation, animal-free approaches that will also improve our ability to characterise and regulate chemicals. Help us transform European chemicals regulation by signing the ECI Save Cruelty Free Cosmetics – Commit to a Europe without Animal Testing.

Did you know that EU legislation has the final goal of fully replacing the use of animals in education, research, and testing, but the number of experiments on animals has not changed by much over the past decade?

Eleven years on from the adoption of Directive 2010/63/EU on animal experimentation, which raised hopes that scientific research in the European Union would transition towards non-animal methods, official statistics demonstrate that progress towards this goal is extremely slow. The number of experiments on animals has remained relatively stagnant- from 11.4 million in 2015, to 11.2 million in 2016, 10.9 million in 2017 and now 10.6 million in 2018 (the inclusion of Norway in these figures for the first time elevates that number to 12.3 million).

The rapid emergence of advanced non-animal models such as organs-on-a-chip, pathway-based approaches and computer models today offers the potential for increasing momentum and optimism towards the replacement of animals in research and testing. The EU’s own Joint Research Centre has produced key reports and undertaken activities to promote the use of non-animal models and methods in a range of research areas, but much more needs to be done by everyone involved. The EU still does not have a comprehensive strategy to coordinate and drive the phase out and replacement of animal experiments, encompassing the objectives of existing EU legislation and funding instruments. We believe that an Action Plan is urgently needed to turn the stated ambition of replacing animals in scientific procedures into reality. As animal protection groups, we provide a voice for animals and want to see animal suffering end as soon as possible.

In all sorts of other important policy areas that citizens care about – climate emissions, for example – the EU has set bold and ambitious targets to drive change. That’s what animals need too. We need to build on the EU’s stated ultimate goal of the replacement of animal experiments and make sure that we can unite all stakeholders behind more and urgent action – putting a strategic, ambitious action plan in place with milestones will be a huge step forward. Help us modernise science in the EU to phase out animal experiments by signing the ECI Save Cruelty Free Cosmetics – Commit to a Europe without Animal Testing.

 

It’s time to take action for animals in laboratories | Eurogroup for Animals

Related news

It’s time to take action for animals in laboratories

Latest EU statistics on animals used in science reveal ‘severe’ suffering occurring despite availability of alternative methods, and the pressing need for a ‘phase out’ strategy

MEPs say now is the time for a comprehensive plan to end European animal experiments and transition to human-relevant science

Regards Mark

General News, Uncategorized

Bulgaria: Have you met CAAI ?

Have you met CAAI? | Eurogroup for Animals

Have you met CAAI?

2 September 2021

CAAI

Interview

The “Have you met” is a monthly interview to raise awareness for our Member Organisations, their work, main battles and achievements for animals.

This month we had the pleasure to interview Stefan Dimitrov, animal welfare advocate and activist for Campaigns and Activism for Animals in the Industry (CAAI).

Tell us a bit about Campaigns and Activism for Animals in the Industry (CAAI) and its main battles.

CAAI is a Bulgarian non-profit organisation founded in 2017. Our mission is to end as much of the suffering of as many animals as possible in all fields of human activities with the limited resources at our disposal. Our group is roughly 30 activists on Slack, five of which are employed part- or full-time through grant projects.

We started our work four years ago with the launch of our fur campaign, including the first ever national investigation in a factory farm, and a National Citizens’ Initiative that got 35 thousand people to sign for a ban on fur farms. These signatures were gathered by 200 volunteers all around the country. This was the second-largest petition of its kind here.

Since then we’ve been working with politicians, the media, scientists and experts, celebrities, local environmental NGOs, and organising demonstrations to get the ban into national legislation, and to keep the topic of fur farming in the public air. A group of MEPs tabled the bill in late 2019, and, after parliamentary elections, now again in early 2021.

In the meantime we became members of the Open Wing Alliance in early 2020 and have been working on corporate cage-free campaigns since then. Our group began working on cages before that as well, during 2019 as part of the End The Cage Age ECI. We’ve also been active members of the Fur Free Alliance, and joined Eurogroup for Animals in early 2021.

In which countries is CAAI present?

In Bulgaria only.

What about you? Tell us a bit more about your role within CAAI and why you joined.

I’m currently in charge of communications on our cage-free campaign. More generally, I take care of IT and social media. I’ve also done volunteer recruitment and coordination, and work on developing our culture, values, and work practices.

I’ve been working as a volunteer since January 2018 and have been employed part-time since March 2020. I joined a couple of years after becoming vegan and realising that I needed to join a group and get organised with other people if I really wanted to impact the fate of animals in farms. I was in my first year in university back then, so I had time to spare and enthusiasm to use.

When did CAAI join Eurogroup for Animals and why?

CAAI joined Eurogroup for Animals in March 2021. Our partnership with Eurogroup for Animals was something we had been looking for since mid-2020. We believe it’s highly important both in terms of spreading vital knowledge, resources, and experience, as well as for synchronizing our efforts and increasing the effectiveness of collective actions.

What are CAAI‘s main achievements this year?

A couple of months ago we organized a key demo in front of the building of the Council of Ministers, while the new government was being sworn in. Numerous politicians and MEPs from 6 different parties joined us and we managed to secure widespread media coverage as well as personal meetings during the protest with the two new ministers of agriculture and health. These led to advances against the fur industry here in Bulgaria with the exposure of numerous scandals and corruption schemes surrounding the largest fur farm in the country, and allowed us to secure commitments from parties and MEPs in support of the ban.

We secured tens of cage-free commitments from local businesses, as well as translations and publications of global and regional commitments locally, in addition to running a large-scale online and offline ad campaign around Easter that garnered significant attention and thousands of signatures on our petition.

How can the public act for CAAI?

We all started as volunteers at CAAI and so volunteering is the lifeblood of the organisation. We recruit volunteers for multiple roles, especially skilled volunteers, with whom the organisation can grow. 

We also accept donations and sell merchandise. 

The most widespread support we receive from the public directly is signing petitions, attending protests, taking part in our online actions, and spreading the word to raise awareness.

Word to live by / Inspiring quote you like

Here is a rule to remember in future, when anything tempts you to feel bitter: not This is misfortune, but To bear this worthily is good fortune.” – by Marcus Aurelius

Regards Mark

General News, Uncategorized

Back To Normal A Bit ?

Hi all;

Hope you are all ok.  Well it has been a bit mixed up this week – the issue of ‘Geronimo’ here in England ended up with us getting more involved than we first thought – see:

England: “Killing Geronimo is a PR Disaster for Defra” – Article By National Newspaper ‘The Independent’; London. – World Animals Voice and

England: Geronimo, Serbian Strays and Badgers. All Policy Victims Of Governments That Will Not Accept The Evidence. – World Animals Voice

Have all taken up a bit more time for us, at the expense of other things.  But we don’t have a problem with this as he was used as a scapegoat by Defra.

Now we are trying to catch up with some posts and hope to get them out this weekend.

There are a few new posts for you to see, and all being well we will be back and running ok next week.

Regards Mark (and Venus)

Check this out for some amazing photos;

Funny Finalist Photos from the 2021 Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards (mymodernmet.com)

https://mymodernmet.com/category/photography/