WAV Comment – for our overseas visitors, ‘Made In Chelsea’ is a television programme.
Clean Kitchen was built to promote sustainable eating Credit: Instagram
Made In Chelsea’s Verity Bowditch To Expand Vegan Restaurant Amid £1.4M Investment
It’s hoping to become the ‘biggest’ plant-based food brand in the country…
Made In Chelsea star Verity Bowditch is eyeing an expansion of her newly opened vegan restaurant following a successful seed investment. Clean Kitchen, situated in London’s Camden secured £1.4 million in its first seed round.
Lead investors include ex-chairman of Quorn, Clive Sharpe, and the fitness influencer and businesswoman Grace Beverley.
Verity Bowditch’s vegan restaurant
Bowditch founded the business with former YouTuber Mikey Pearce less than a year ago, and the site opened its doors to the public over summer.
The vegan outlet offers fast food and built on the premise of maximizing sustainability and “clean living.”
Now, it’s hoping to open 40 new sites across the country. The move comes as the outlet celebrates thousands of daily orders and a 30 percent growth rate month to month.
And, in its first year, 2020, Clean Kitchen says it sold a staggering 50,000 burgers. The business is now valued at £7.5 million.
Clean Kitchen investment
In a statement sent to PBN, Verity Bowditch said: “There’s a clear demand for delicious, sustainable protein alternatives.
People are waking up to the impact that meat production is having on the environment and need a clear solution – one that also fits easily into their lifestyle. We provide exactly that.”
Moreover, Clean Kitchen “isn’t just for vegans,” rather for anyone who cares about the environment. The aim is to “disrupt the industry,” the Made In Chelsea star added.
Mikey Pearce adds that the pair have “big ambitions to be the biggest plant-based food brand in the UK.”
The organic dairy farm could face criminal charges over its treatment of animals. Credit: We Animals Media
Organic Dairy Farm Could Face Criminal Charges Following Violent Animal Abuse
The BC SPCA is examining more than 300 video clips of alleged animal abuse at the facility
An organic dairy farm in British Columbia, Canada, is being urged to close down following reports of animal cruelty.
Cedar Valley Farms became the center of an investigation after covertly filmed footage of the facility was sent to the BC SPCA – the British Columbia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
The videos, taken from May this year until a few weeks ago, captured workers kicking cows in the face and violently beating them with wrenches and pitchforks.
Cows were sprayed in the face with high-pressure hoses, dragged by heavy machinery, and were filmed limping and collapsing.
In other clips, newborn calves are pulled away from their mothers and thrown into wheelbarrows. Mother cows could be seen bellowing and chasing after their babies. On at least one occasion, a worker kicked a cow in the face to prevent her from reaching her calf.
Other footage showed workers illegally shooting the animals in the head, leaving them to die slowly for several minutes.
It’s a far cry from Cedar Valley’s animal welfare claims, and has resulted in its license being suspended.
Criminal charges
Marcie Moriarty is the BC SPCA’s chief prevention and enforcement officer. She says the footage indicates that Cedar Valley has violated the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and the Criminal Code of Canada.
“… We received video footage that appears to be depicting very serious instances of animal abuse on this farm,” Moriarty commented. “We immediately attended the farm on an unannounced visit and are reviewing more than 300 video clips as we prepare our case to present to Crown counsel.
“This is a high-priority investigation and we are building a very strong case to present to Crown counsel with a recommendation for charges.”
Craig Daniell, BC SPCA chief executive officer, took a thinly veiled swipe at the government’s inaction on the matter, naming it “absolutely unacceptable.”
“The BC SPCA is extremely concerned about the lack of accountability on commercial farms and has reached out repeatedly to the provincial government and industry for more than a year about the need for a third-party auditing system on farms to ensure that proper animal welfare practices are being upheld,” Daniell said.
“This would include video monitoring on farms with a third-party system of reviewing footage. Despite repeated calls for action, there has been none and animals are continuing to suffer.”
BC SPCA leads nearly 9,000 investigations into animal cruelty and neglect across the province every year. But if the government and industry remain immobile, the abuse will continue, Daniells said.
Calls for closure
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is campaigning for the closure of the facility.
Last week, the animal rights charity penned a letter to Lana Popham, the British Columbia Minister of Agriculture, and Marie-Claude Bibeau, the Federal Minister of Agriculture.
In it, PETA pressed the ministers to shut down the farm for good.
“Workers showed little regard for the animals, many of whom were emaciated and had mobility issues … The gentle giants, who can feel pain and suffer just as dogs, cats, and other animals, were traumatized,” the letter reads.
The industry as a whole “treats cows as mere milk machines instead of the complex, feeling beings they are,” it adds.
Farfetch joins brands like Gucci and Calvin Klein in ditching the animal product
Luxury fashion retailer Farfetch has confirmed it will stop selling Angora wool from April 2022. Animal rights activists have applauded the move, and urged shoppers to opt for animal-free alternatives instead.
The ban follows pressure from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), purported to be the largest animal rights organization in the world.
This included disruptions of shareholder meetings and more than 100,000 appeals from supporters. Last year, actor Sadie Frost joined forces with PETA, and called on Farfetch to ban Angora for good.
What is Angora wool?
Angora wool is a fabric made from the soft, thick hair of Angora rabbits. It’s long been considered a luxury fiber, however, Angora wool is increasingly falling out of favor.
PETA says the Angora wool industry is rife with animal cruelty, naming it “barbaric.”
A PETA Asia undercover investigator inspected nearly a dozen rabbit farms in China, which produces 90 percent of the world’s Angora, the charity says.
There, the investigator found rabbits living in cramped, dirty cages.
When the animals were sheared or plucked, they were suspended in the air or held across boards with their feet bound. Rabbits were “screaming in pain and terror,” PETA says.
Animals in the Angora industry are first sheared or plucked at around 8 weeks old. Then, they experience the process every few months. After two to five years, the surviving animals are hung upside down where they get their throats slit, and are sold off for meat, PETA reports.
However, a farmer told the investigator that most (60 percent) of the rabbits die prematurely, after a year or two.
Animal-free fashion
PETA Director of Corporate Projects Yvonne Taylor commended Farfetch’s decision.
“From high end to the high street, today’s retailers embrace fashion that leaves gentle rabbits in peace,” Taylor said in a statement. “PETA is celebrating this progressive decision by Farfetch, which will spare countless animals abuse.”
Farfetch – which has previously banned fur sales – joins an ever-growing list of brands taking a stance against the Angora trade. Gucci, Diane von Furstenberg, Calvin Klein, Roland Mouret, Tommy Hilfiger, and Stella McCartney have all committed to not selling Angora items.
We work for the end of all animal exploitation, and our contributions seek to eliminate some of the most terrible practices in the livestock industry.
At PACMA (Partido animalista of Spain ) we are against all forms of animal exploitation and we fight every day to achieve an end. However, in the meantime, we do everything we can at the political and legal level to minimize the brutal treatment to which the animals that are victims of the cruel livestock industry are subjected.
Veterinary neglect is common to all farms visited. Animals that suffer from innumerable health problems are not treated for reasons of economic profitability. / October, 2019. Castilla la Mancha.
That is why we have submitted proposals to the Ministry of Agriculture on the Draft Royal Decree that establishes provisions for the application in Spain of the European Union regulations on official controls on animal welfare.
We are clear that in the livestock industry, which bases its enrichment on the subjugation and suffering of animals, there is not and never can be any type of animal welfare.
However, if while we fight for the end of all animal exploitation, which is our goal, we can reduce the suffering of these animals as much as possible, it will be worth it.
Hell of the livestock industry (we refer to the investigation of the video below)
The animals exploited by the livestock industry live a hell: crammed into ridiculous spaces, barely able to move, and subdued. They suffer terrible mutilations, castrations without anesthesia, and the females live condemned to perpetual confinement in tiny cages.
There are many investigations investigaciones that have already demonstrated the inherent cruelty of this industry and that, in addition, have uncovered that the (scarce) regulations on animal welfare are often not complied with.
For this reason, and despite what the industry is trying to sell with its advertising for free and happy animals, we know that “animal welfare” cannot exist in an industry like this, but in our proposals we advocate some of the cruellest practices and methods eliminate, even if minimal, for these suffering animals, the most forgotten, the most ignored, the eternal sacrifices.
At PACMA we work for a society free from all forms of animal exploitation, and the proposals that we have presented do not lose sight of our main objective: the end of the subjugation and exploitation of all animals.
And I mean: The images in this video-reportage have been obtained between 2019 and 2020 in a covered way by “Tras los Muros”, supported by a team of individuals who have chosen to remain anonymous, gaining access at night to 32 pig farms. “Tras los Muros” is a graphic project that offers useful information for the approach and analysis of speciesism and its consequences.
The last text of the video it says… “forget the pig is an animal Treat him just like a machine in the factory “.
The animals are not even treated like machines!
Because even machines are routinely checked, oiled, maintained, cleaned ..
All those who cannot endure these cruel procedures should then also forego the products of these procedures
Will Young Handcuffs Himself To Puppy Breeding Facility To Protest Animal Testing
The facility breeds around 2,000 beagle puppies a year for animal testing purposes
Yesterday (November 16), musician Will Young handcuffed himself to the gates of a puppy breeding facility in a protest against animal testing.
The British entertainer locked himself to the steel gates of the Marshall Bioresources (MBR) Acres research site in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire.
There, thousands of beagle puppies are bred for biomedical research. MBR says these experiments help produce “life-saving” treatments for humans. It has been running such operations for more than 80 years.
Raising awareness
But not everyone agrees that the testing is justified. Campaigners say the puppies, who are sent to animal testing laboratories at around 16 weeks old, suffer tremendously during the experiments.
Grassroots anti-animal testing campaign Camp Beagle calls the industry “barbaric.”
“These beagle puppies will be used in the most horrific and unnecessary experiments for toxicology testing, in which tubes will be rammed down their throats and masks forced over their faces to ingest and inhale lethal doses of toxins,” the group writes online.
“They will be given no pain relief, blood will be taken out of their tiny veins every hour, they will vomit, blood, excessively drool, shiver from changes in body temperature, and cower at the back of the cages.”
Many of the puppies are killed at six months old.
Young joined Camp Beagle protesters at the MBR facility. He was photographed alongside the protesters with a sign that read: “Cambridgeshire. Famous for beagle torture. Thanks to MBR.”
The 42-year-old posted about the issue online. “I spent today at the gates of MBR Acres in protest of their testing on beagles. I wanted to raise awareness of animal testing and the fact that this is a puppy farm that farms over 2,000 beagle puppies a year to be sent out to their inevitable torture and death,” Young wrote.
“People do not know about it in this country and that is why I’ve handcuffed myself to the gates.”
Ricky Gervais Calls For Ban On ‘Terrifying’ Animal Testing In The UK
Ricky Gervais has criticized animal testing on dogs, calling the practice ‘terrifying’
Ricky Gervais is calling on the government to help protect lab animals, especially beagles. The British comedian slammed animal experiments and launched a campaign to ban all animal testing in the UK.
Gervais – who often speaks about various animal rights issues – urged the government to include animals used for testing in the Animal Welfare Act. The Animal Welfare Act outlaws activities that cause ‘unnecessary suffering’ to an animal.
Animal testing on dogs
The campaign aligns with a protest held at Marshall BioResources (MBR) Acres in Cambridgeshire last month. MBR breeds around 2,000 puppies a year. They are sold at 16 weeks old for toxicology tests.
Protestors are demanding that the facility releases the dogs it is holding.
According to The Independent, toxicology testing typically involves force-feeding animals chemicals or making them inhale pesticides. This can occur every day for up to 90 days without pain relief. Eventually, the dogs are killed.
The publication points to data from the government, outlining that dogs were used in 4,340 procedures in the UK last year. A majority (4,270) of tests were on beagles, marking a 5.3 percent increase from the year prior.
Activists have monitored the breeding site for more than a year, claiming to have witnessed ‘harrowing’ scenes. They said they saw workers grabbing dogs by their necks and loading them into crowded trolleys. Dogs cried ‘pitifully’ from crates.
Ricky Gervais speaks out
Gervais commented: “I’m deeply shocked to learn that thousands of beautiful beagles are intensively bred, right here in the peace of the British countryside, for painful and terrifying toxicity experiments that are also now proven to entirely fail the search for human treatments and cures.”
Actor Peter Egan joins Gervais in the campaign. Egan shared a video online about the cause and urged the public to sign a petition. So far the petition has garnered more than 50,000 signatures. The government must respond to a petition that gets 10,00 signatures.
In the video, Gervais said: “A dog, they’re amazing. They’re magical. It’s the closest I get to spirituality, just watching a dog.”
“They’re beautiful, they’ve got soul. They’re amazing, they’re brilliant. I couldn’t invent a better thing. A dog – it’s 15 years of joy. What an amazing companion a dog is.”
Is animal testing effective?
MBR addressed the controversy, claiming that the animals are ‘raised to be healthy, content, and comfortable in a lab environment’. The company added it is ‘proud’ of the work it does.
“We can comment that there is no such thing as an ‘animal experimentation industry’ as such experiments form a small but crucial part of a wide range of applications from ecology work to investigations into human and animal diseases including those that led directly to the vaccines and treatments for COVID-19, cancer drugs, pet medicines and products labelled as safe for pets,” it said.
But research suggests animal testing is not always effective.
In 2006, Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt said: “Currently, nine out of ten experimental drugs fail in clinical studies because we cannot accurately predict how they will behave in people based on laboratory and animal studies.”
Dr Ray Greek is the president of Americans and Europeans for Medical Advancement. Speaking to Gervais, Greek confirmed the statistic. “Yes, that’s exactly right. The drugs that we have that work really, really well today, we got those despite animal testing.”
Gervais responded: “It will be the greatest scientific discovery in the world, that animal testing doesn’t work. Let’s stop it and put all this money into something that works better. This seems to be a no brainer.”
The Przewalski horse population continues to grow. At the end of 2020, 487 animals of the endangered horse breed lived in the Xinjiang region in the far northwest of the People’s Republic of China.
For a long time the Przewalski horse was considered the only wild horse species that still exists today.
Research has shown, however, that the horses of the Mongolian steppe with the characteristic long mane and flour nose are wild descendants of the first domesticated horses – which of course does not make Przewalski, which is on the Red List of Endangered Species, any less worthy of protection .
The news that the wildlings are increasing in their original homeland is all the more gratifying.
The last free-living Przewalski horse was sighted in Mongolia in 1969. Since then, the Thakis have been considered extinct in the wild.
They had been hunted to extinction for their fur and meat and lost their habitat to grazing cattle.
The survival of the Przewalski horses is solely thanks to breeding programs in zoos and breeding centers.
The horses have been released back into the wild since the 1990s. In the meantime, several hundred Przewalski horses gallop through the grassy steppes of Mongolian protected areas.
In Mongolia, there are more than 500 wild Przewalski’s horses,with an adult population of 178 horses.
Exceptionally few captive Przewalski horses succeeded through the 1950s, and the last sighting of a wild individual occurred in 1969.
The species was listed as extinct from the wild in the 1960s until reintroduction programs began.
The species’ status has improved from extinct in the wild, followed by critically endangered, to a still-precarious endangered.
They are still considered critically endangered.
Like all wild horses, Przewalski’s horses live in small family groups consisting of a stallion, three to five mares and young foals.
Males without their own mares form their own “bachelor” groups. Bachelor horses fight bitterly for the right to mate and have their own group of mares (called harem).
They keep the rest of their herd in sight at all times and communicate through lots of noises, ear twitches and odor markings.
The Przewalski’s horse is a subspecies of Equus ferus and is considered to be the domestic horse’s closest relative.
It is a cousin to zebras and the wild ass, which also falls under the Equidae family.
The split between Przewalski’s horse species and the ancestors of domestic horses happened somewhere between 120,000 and 240,000 years ago.
The beautiful wild horses owe their name – pronounced Pschewalski – to the Russian researcher Nikolai Michailowitsch Przhevalsky.
He discovered the largely unknown horses during his expeditions to Central Asia at the end of the 19th century.
But even then the wild horses had become rare.
Scientists do not quite agree whether the Przewalski horses are actually real wild horses, i.e. were never domesticated.
A genetic study from 2018 suggests that horses in Mongolia may have been domesticated several thousand years ago and only then went wild again. A later study again supports the hypothesis that they are real wild horses after all.
And I mean…Horses play an important role in the culture of Mongolia. Przewalski’s horses, in particular, symbolize the national heritage and culture of this country.
Otherwise called the Mongolian wild horse, this mammal is an object of various folk tales. In this country, Przewalski’s horses are considered the riding mounts of the Gods and are hence called “takhi”, literally meaning “spirit” or “holy”.
These animals possess very sharp hooves, which they use in digging the ground, typically in search of a water source in their dry habitat.
There have been found prehistoric, 30,000 years old cave paintings in Spain and France, which feature sturdy ungulates, closely resembling those currently known as Przewalski’s horses.
Community members form very close bonds between each other. They feed together and practice mutual grooming. Communication system of Przewalski’s horses includes neighing calls, which display threat submission or frustration.
Additionally, these neighing calls are used to alert group members of a predator.
It is very good news to learn that the population of these intelligent and beautiful animals is growing.
In fact, there isn’t a single animal species that shouldn’t grow.
There is only one whose growth threatens all others.
However, if while we fight for the end of all animal exploitation, which is our goal, we can reduce the suffering of these animals as much as possible, it will be worth it.
The coat color varies from gray-yellow to red-brown © IMAGO / Xinhua
The population of the endangered Przewalski horses is growing again. © Erdenebayer | pixabay.com
Eel line and standing mane: Przewalski horses © IMAGO / Anka Agency International
World Animals Voice 