Day: November 10, 2021

Hunting

War against hunters being waged in Germany

Year long report, Germany– by North American Animal Liberation Press Office

Via: various local and regional newspapers.

According to local press, two hunting seats in Billiger Forest in Euskirchen (North Rhine-Westphalia) were set alight on the 20th of August.

This is not the first time that persons unknown have targeted Billiger Forest.
A total of eighteen hunting seats and towers have been destroyed in Billiger Forest since the beginning of the year, either by cutting or by setting on fire.

On the 26th of August in Eitzendorf (Lower Saxony) a hunting hut on wheels was targeted too.
Animal shit was found smeared over the walls, equipment was stolen, tyres slashed and windows broken.

In between the 29th of September and the 2nd of October, the police reported a total of 17 hunting towers felled in Erzgebirgskreis (Saxony) using a chainsaw.

On the 8th of October, a hunter in Vilsbiburg (Lower Bavaria) realised that the central locking nut that holds the high seat together had been removed when he fell of the tower as soon as he sat on it.

He then checked another seven towers in the area that had been manipulated in the exact same way, leaving no visible marks to identify the the towers were broken but ready to fall as soon as someone used them.

The police has recommended the hunters to check the towers and seats before using them to avoid injury.

Meanwhile, on the 10th of October the fire brigade responded to a call reporting a hunting hut on fire in Königslutter (Lower Saxony).

For the creative award, in June a hunter in Cuxhaven (Lower Saxony) reported that someone had set up a trap inside of his hunting tower.

Using holes and a rope, someone prepared a mechanism that would ensure that as soon as the tower’s door was open, a bucket of manure would fall on top of the hunter’s head.

https://animalliberationpressoffice.org/NAALPO/2021/10/29/war-against-hunters-being-waged-in-germany-2/

And I mean…To be a hunter means to commit and execute the murder of innocent animals.
To like this class of society you have to be very jaded.

These actions are not about personal enmities
It is about the defense of generally applicable ethical structures in this world.
Man is what he does. Nothing else.

Killing animals is not an expression of rationality and common sense;
Letting animals live is species-appropriate because it corresponds to their right to life.
Like it or not.

If hunters don’t get it, then they have to live with the fact that others have found a way to make it clear to them

And these will always find a way.
We are grateful to them for that

My best regards to all, Venus

General News

Mallorca: the bullfight in Alcúdia gets the fatal blow!

There will be no more corridas in the oldest bullring in Mallorca!!
Instead, it should be transformed into a socio-cultural center.

The bullring in Alcúdia is the oldest of its kind in Mallorca. Photo: Amalia Estabén

This has now been confirmed by the mayor of the municipality, Bàrbara Rebassa, on request in a municipal council meeting.
A company had been managing the community square for years.
But now his license has expired.

As the “Ultima Hora” reports, the concession is not to be put out to tender again.
If Mayor Rebassa has his way, the arena will in future be used as a center for the activities of clubs and cultural institutions.
If possible, the community also wants to set up rehearsal rooms for musicians.

The Alcúdia bullring was built in 1892 in the Sant Ferran bastion, which is part of the 17th century city walls. It has 1037 seats.
Traditionally, two bullfights were held here every year.

In recent years these corridas have been accompanied by anti-bullfighting demonstrations outside the gates of the bullring.

But there are also headwinds from the advocates of bullfighting.

On October 12, the community received a letter from a law firm.
According to Rebassa, it pointed out that the corrida is a cultural asset and that the law obliges the community to maintain bullfighting.
The mayor rejected this with the argument that the system no longer complies with the applicable regulations.

https://www.mallorcamagazin.com/nachrichten/lokales/2021/11/07/95409/aus-fur-stierkampf-alcudia-auf-mallorca.html

And I mean…There is still … the good news…

And the brave, civilized authorities of Spain, who view bullfighting as a disgrace to the country rather than a cultural asset.
There are still those too.
Time is ticking against the bullfight and we know… it will end!

My best regards to all, Venus

Environmental, Farm Animals, Fur and Fur Farming, General News

Sweden: Big Disappointment in Sweden: the Board of Agriculture Decided Today to Lift the Mink Ban.

Big disappointment in Sweden: the Board of Agriculture decided today to lift the mink ban

10 November 2021

Djurens Rätt

At the end of this year, the temporary ban on breeding mink for fur production will expire and the Swedish Board of Agriculture has just announced that it will not be extended. The decision means that 2022 may mean that half a million minks will once again be staying in cramped grid cages, with risks to animal welfare and continued spread of infection. Animal Rights are deeply disappointed with the decision.

In January 2021, the positive news came that the mink farms would be closed again for 2021 to reduce the risks of spreading the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. The breeding animals remained on the farms, almost as a promise to the companies that they would be allowed to start up again. It has now happened.

With today’s decision, the mink farms will be allowed to start their operations again on 9 November.

This is in contrast to Denmark, which recently decided that their ban on keeping minks will be extended for 2022. Other countries have also taken a different path than Sweden: the Netherlands imposed a permanent ban on fur farms following the pandemic, and during the week British Columbia in Canada decided on a plan to close down mink farms due to the spread of infection.

In order for the Swedish mink farms to be able to breed mink again, certain specific restrictions have instead been extended, such as a ban on the movement of live mink and isolation of the farms. But this is clearly not sufficient.

“I am deeply disappointed with today’s message. There are many reasons to stop mink farms from breeding minks in cramped lattice cages, the risk of infection spreading is just one of them. When the authorities made this decision today, they also took a stand for the mink industry to continue to conduct unethical activities in Sweden. I now urge politicians to take a new approach to the issue and introduce a permanent ban” says Camilla Bergvall, national chair of Animal Rights Sweden.

Minks have proven to be extra susceptible to the coronavirus, which also affects humans. The majority of Sweden’s approximately 28 mink farms have had outbreaks of infection, with consequences such as increased mortality and respiratory symptoms. Despite the breeding ban in 2021, the infection came on a farm during this summer.

Investigation in Sweden is ongoing

The Government has commissioned the Swedish Board of Agriculture and the Swedish Veterinary Institute to investigate the risks of the spread of infection between animals and humans in Sweden. That assignment will be presented in February 2022, and may involve other proposals for restrictions than the current announcement. However, there are few indications that a breeding ban will be introduced again. It will be up to politicians, especially in government, to implement other legislative proposals to protect minks from suffering and disease.

Animal Rights, with the support of at least 76% of the population, is not alone in proposing the decommissioning of mink farms for infection control and animal welfare reasons. Other examples are the Swedish Veterinary Association and several farmers.

Read more at source

Regards Mark

Farm Animals, General News, Live Transport

Portugal: 14 animals die during sea transport from Portugal to Israel.

14 animals die during sea transport from Portugal to Israel

10 November 2021

AWF

Live animal transport from Portugal to Israel: livestock vessel stuck off the Italian coast for two days, 14 animals died during the trip.

NGOs call on the ANIT Committee to ask for a ban of live animal transport at sea.

The vessel Phoenix III, heading to Israel with a cargo of 1,200 young bulls and 5,644 sheep, was dangerously stuck for two days at sea near Mazara del Vallo, Italy. 

Portuguese authorities were informed by PATAV (a Portuguese civic movement) that the vessel had stopped for 48 hours. The ship, which left Sines (Portugal) on October 22nd and stopped on 27th near Italy, then left again after two days and reached its destination port in Israel on November 4th. 

A coalition of NGOs, which followed the ship and filmed the animals while they were unloaded in the port of Haifa, wrote to the ANIT Committee (Committee of Inquiry on the Protection of Animals during Transport) urging to support a ban of live export.

The images taken during the unloading process show stuck and exhausted animals in high overcrowded conditions, with animals on top of each other, and very dirty bulls with broken horns. Some of the animals also showed heat stress symptoms. The animals were quickly loaded again on trucks. They will spend eight days in quarantine in the region of Mehola (90 km from the port), and then they will be transported again to different feedlots in Israel for 4-8 months before slaughter.

This case, as in the well-known cases of Karim Allah and Elbeik at the beginning of 2021, shows again how dangerous sea journeys can be for the animals.

In this incident, 14 animals were reported dead, but if the vessel were stuck for more days, we could have witnessed another tragedy.

In the letter to the ANIT committee, the NGOs referred to the importance of contingency plans and the need, by competent authorities and organisers, to take into account the forecast weather conditions until final destination when authorising a transport. Lack of feasible contingency plans and lack of weather verification have the potential to negatively affect animal welfare when unexpected situations arise.

Phoenix III is a 43 years old livestock vessel (Ex-reefer converted in 2011 at the age of 33 when it should have been already scrapped). Most of the livestock vessels operating in the EU are under similar age and conversion situation, andsince 2017, they are the No. 1 category for the number of detentions worldwide, and considered as a high risk in Paris MoU risk profiling. 

Furthermore, according to a recent study published in 2021, 36%of EU-approved livestock vessels have suffered major incidents, failures, or loss.

Besides that, there are concerns regarding the Phoenix III authorisation: according to the Romanian central authority Phoenix III had been transporting live animals without authorisation from April to August 2021 when it made 8 journeys exporting animals from Croatia, Portugal and Romania to Israel. On August 18 the vessel was re-authorised to export animals by Croatia.

Aside from the reason for the stopping, this episode is again a good example of how the welfare of exported animals remains largely unknown during the sea part of the journey, and during transport in third countries to the final destination.

The many tragedies already happened in the past (the Queen Hind, Karim Allah, Elbeik vessels among others) show that the protection of animals during transport at sea is not possible for various reasons: bad weather and technical failures can cause delays, most ports are not able to shelter the animals, and conditions at sea can deteriorate suddenly with no possibility to escape putting both animals and crew at great risk.

Given the comprehensive work that the ANIT did on transport via sea, the NGOs are now asking for the Committee to recommend a phase out of extra-EU sea transport and to urge stricter and refined rules on intra-EU sea transport.

Regards Mark