2021 was a BIG year for animal protection, seeing significant progress made in Europe and further afield.
To celebrate the year coming to a close, we are looking back on the top moments for animals in the past 12 months.
Together, we are advancing the conversation on animal protection in Europe and creating a better world for all – pet, farm, wild and animals used in science.
We saw many breakthroughs, let’s look back to some of the top moments:
The European Commission promised to phase out caged farming for animals following the successful ‘End the Cage Age’ European Citizens Initiative.
The No Animal Left Behind campaign closed with almost 200,000 supporters standing up for a better future for all farm animals in Europe.
The European Parliament voted in favour of a comprehensive plan to phase-out experiments on animals.
During a Council meeting in June 2021, twelve Member States called on the European Commission to investigate the possibility for an EU ban on fur farming based on animal welfare, public health and ethical considerations.
The European Commission took a major leap towards the better protection of fish welfare with the publication of the Strategic Guidelines on Sustainable and Competitive Aquaculture and concrete objectives in the legislative review Inception Impact Assessment.
We’d like to thank everyone who visited our website, social media channels, signed our petitions and helped to support this progress. We’d also like to thank our colleagues in Brussels and around Europe, and our network of member organisations, for all their hard work to achieve this momentum for animals.
We would both like to take this opportunity to firstly thank you for your support in visiting the site; many of you very regularly; and also to wish you all a happy, cruelty free, and meat / dairy free new year in 2022
Covid has changed a lot for us all over the last few years, and we are still no nearer to finding the reality of how it emerged in the first place – shame on all in politics for not asking questions to China and demanding answers / evidence.
Please stick with us in 2022; we aim to continue bringing you animal news and actions from all around the world. If there is anything you would like us to cover more; or you have anything to ask or show us; then please send your message through the contact us link.
WAV Comment: They parade themselves through the villages trying to look squeaky clean; but this above is the other side reality of what hunts and its associates do.
Hidden camera shows man stab fox with pitchfork in ‘torture’ attack
Hidden camera video reveals a man repeatedly stabbing a fox with a pitchfork, leaving it writhing in agony.
The attack, which took place in east Essex, was described by a campaign group as “torture” and “some of the worst abuse” they had ever witnessed.
A man was later reported to have been arrested.
The man and a woman seen in the video visited Great Monks Wood near Braintree, according to the Hunt Saboteurs Association.
Hunts build artificial earths – an underground network of pipes and chambers – to encourage foxes into an area. The wild animals are then trapped, only to be released just before a hunt so they can be chased, it’s claimed.Activists say the artificial earth in the video was rebuilt last year, and they have been monitoring it since then with concealed cameras.
The North London Hunt Sabs said they filmed the man earlier this month arriving armed with a terrier, rods, a net and pitchfork.
The group reported the couple placed the net over one end of the earth then used the rods and terrier to force the trapped fox into the net.
The man then held the fox by its tail and repeatedly tried to stab it against a tree, including aiming at its head, before carrying it away by the tail.
The footage did not reveal whether the animal survived, but it would at least have been suffering acutely, the activists said.
A spokesperson for North London Hunt Sabs said hunting was “steeped in animal abuse” and that lawful “trail hunting” did not necessitate building artificial earths or capturing foxes.
Lee Moon, of the Hunt Saboteurs Association, said: “This is some of the worst abuse we have ever witnessed, and the wanton cruelty is hard to fathom.
“Whilst most people who watch the video will be horrified, the calm and methodical manner in which the two individuals go about catching and torturing this poor fox show how commonplace their actions are.”
He said people who carry out such violence would have been indoctrinated into such behaviour since birth.
“Cruel and psychopathic individuals who see wild animals as their playthings to be tortured for their own sick ends.
“Acts like this are sickeningly commonplace within the hunting community.”
Essex Police told ITV News it had arrested a 48-year-old man from the Bures area after receiving reports of animal cruelty, adding: “He was arrested on suspicion of offences under the Hunting Act 2004, the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and the Wild Mammal Protection Act 1996. He remains in custody at this time.”
The Independent has asked the Countryside Alliance, which supports hunting, to comment.
WAV Comment: England – Boxing Day (26/12) has always been a bit of a battleground every year. Hunts parade themselves through local towns or villages; and the anti’s (those against hunting) also turnout to try and give them a bad time. It can often erupt into violent scenes; especially as we know the hunt Terrier men like to try and give anti hunt campaigners a good kicking if they possibly can – after all; they dig out and torture foxes, so why also not abuse the anti hunt brigade also ? The following is a newspaper article on some events this year.
Footage from the event shows punches being thrown by apparent hunt supporters on foot and protesters carrying placards as the event began.
A member of the local hunt saboteur group who asked to be named as Dave, said the police presence at the event was “appalling”, with only two officers there to maintain peace between the two sides.
A local photographer told the Swindon Advertiser that the event had turned into a “nasty scene”.
“There must have been around 50 protesters and twice that number of hunt supporters and it all turned sour.”
A spokesperson for the Avon Vale Hunt said: “The hunt has been made aware of an incident that occurred just after the hounds had left the meet in Lacock today.
“We do not know the circumstances but we do not condone violence even in the case of extreme provocation by anti-hunting protestors whose sole purpose is to antagonise those supporting a lawful activity.
Most hunts in Wales were cancelled because of restrictions limiting gatherings to 50, while meets in Scotland were restricted to no more than 500 participants and attendees.
It has been illegal to hunt foxes with a pack of dogs since 2004 but the practice has been replaced with trail hunting, in which hounds follow a scent to replicate the traditional hunt without killing a fox.
The National Trust, which owns most of Lacock and Natural Resources Wales, both announced an end to trail hunting on their land earlier this year.
But groups that back the traditional hunt, including the Countryside Alliance, argue that it plays an irreplaceable role in British rural life.
Polly Portwin, director of the Campaign for Hunting at the Countryside Alliance said: “Festive meets are hugely popular and well attended by both hunt followers and local communities, for whom the event has become a cherished family tradition.
“While many meets have been smaller scale this year due to the restrictions, they have still provided a big boost both socially and economically across the countryside, as does trail hunting throughout the season.”
The global animal welfare organization FOUR PAWS has launched a new campaign called “This is not Vietnam”, which aims to show that the majority of Vietnamese are against the cruel and barbaric trade in which dogs and cats are killed for their meat.
Among other things, the campaign calls on the public to send a short message via email or other means to the Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam, His Excellency Vu Duc Dam. This is intended to make clear the current mood in the population for an end to the dog and cat meat trade.
Every year around ten million dogs and cats are captured, transported and killed for their meat in Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia.
The majority of the animals in the dog and cat meat trade are stolen pets and strays. The scale of this cruel trade makes it one of the most massive animal welfare problems for pets in Asia.
A survey carried out in early 2021 found that the majority of the Vietnamese population is calling for the government to take action.
91% are in favor of restricting or banning the dog and cat meat trade.
When asked if they would support a trade ban, 88% of people answered yes.
Furthermore, 95% of those questioned stated that in their opinion the consumption of dog and cat meat was not part of Vietnamese culture.
This campaign comes at a pivotal moment in the country’s history as Vietnam’s perception and reputation of the dog and cat meat trade are changing, and the government now has the chance to act. A new generation of Vietnamese citizens join us in calling for us to break with the past and ensure that animal welfare is at the center of the change that Vietnam is currently undergoing.
Although progress may seem slow, there are already many changes in Vietnam.
Just this month, thanks to the cooperation of local authorities, the first city in Vietnam, Hoi An, committed to ending the trade in dog and cat meat.
However, there is still much to be done.
Our goal is to have stricter animal welfare laws put in place and enforced to put an end to this brutal trade.
This not only protects animals, but also people.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown how dangerous the trade in live animals, including dogs and cats, is for meat.
“By protecting animals, we are also protecting public health. Prevention is the key to this, ”says Dr. Karan Kukreja, director of the FOUR PAWS pet campaigns in Southeast Asia.
A current FOUR PAWS petition addressed to the governments of Vietnam, Indonesia and Cambodia calling for an end to the dog and cat meat trade has already been signed over 1.4 million times*
Almost 250,000 signatures come from Vietnam.
FOUR PAWS wants to end the dog and cat meat trade once and for all by working with governments, supporting local stray aid projects, closing dog and cat slaughterhouses and rescuing the animals there, as well as educating people about the dangers of the trade.
And I mean…The first city, the most popular with tourists in Vietnam, now bans dog and cat meat.
That is a very big step, more will follow.
An estimated five million dogs and one million cats are consumed in Vietnam each year – the highest figure after China.
In contrast to the local dog meat trade, hunting, slaughtering and consuming cats was explicitly prohibited in Vietnam until January 2020.
However, the law has been abolished and cat meat is more in demand than ever – especially in the north of the country.
In the elderly, consumption is mostly related to customs, superstitions and the lunar calendar.
Some locals believe that eating cat meat wards off bad luck.
Others eat the meat – especially black cats – because they believe it has healing properties- that it is a simple folk stupidity.
Everywhere in Vietnam violent arguments are taking place between professional dog catchers, who sell man’s best friend for good money to restaurants, and angry dog owners.
They are increasingly fed up with the fact that the police can hardly do anything and are resorting to vigilante justice more and more.
Angry crowds in the villages were already rushing after thieves and beat them to death, one of whom the mob set on fire and left him lying on the roadside as a warning.
Dogs or cats are not the better or nicer animals than poultry, cattle, chickens, ducks or pigs – there is no difference!
They also have feelings and none of these animals are “humanely” slaughtered.
So instead of getting upset that dogs and cats are being eaten somewhere and declaring war on other peoples because they eat the “cute” pets, everyone should check their own disgusting eating habits.
In the year 2021, soon 22 there is no longer any reason to promote animal exploitation and animal murder and everyone should stop consuming the meat of ANY animal -> the future is VEGAN!
If you order products online from Amazon; did you know that Amazon can donate to charity every time you shop ?
Don’t buy direct from the Amazon site; instead, go to ‘Amazon Smile’,
Whenever I buy from Amazon, I make sure that I buy through ‘Amazon Smile’; it is no different to the usual site; only that a small donation is made to the charity of your choice each time you buy.
When I buy, Amazon Smile gives directly to my chosen ‘Brooke Hospital For Animals’ which is located in London; here is a bit about them:
The Brooke Hospital For Animals
Location: London
Mission:
To promote the welfare and relieve the suffering of working equines and other animals in africa, asia, the middle east and south and central america, and in any other areas outside the united kingdom that the trustees may think fit, for the public benefit, in particular, but not exclusively, by: the support, promotion and provision of veterinary and other animal healthcare services whether in the context of veterinary clinics, animal hospitals, other animal healthcare facilities or…
Programmes:Activities: Makes grants to organisations, provides services, provides advocacy/advice/information, sponsors or undertakes research, Beneficiaries: Other defined groups, Purposes: Education/training, animals
This morning through my purchases, I have been informed of my help to Brooke through Amazon Smile:
You have generated
£36.99 as of 29 December 2021
Your current charity The Brooke Hospital For Animals has received £10,417.66 as of December 2021
Over £10,000 this year (2021) just by people supporting the Brooke; slightly adjusting the way they shop.
When you shop at Amazon, just type ‘Amazon Smile’ in your web browser and then shop as usual – the only difference is a donation is made to the charity of your choice. It takes nothing of your time, but can make such a difference to charities.
Federal officials making unannounced inspections this summer of a large beagle-breeding facility in Virginia found dozens of animal welfare violations: records indicating that hundreds of puppies had died of “unknown causes” over a span of months; dogs’ food dispensers teeming with insects;and reeking kennels with piles of feces, urine and food underneath them.
Based on the routine inspections conducted in July, officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture cited Envigo — an Indianapolis-based firm that breeds dogs and sells them as research animals to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries — for mistreatment of beagles and poor conditions at the facility in Cumberland, Va., about 50 miles west of Richmond.
Officials said records at the facility showed that in a seven-month period, more than 300 puppies died of “unknown causes.”
There were incomplete records on the deaths.
According to inspection reports posted online on Nov. 15, authorities found more than 500 puppies and dogs kept inside a building and experiencing “discomfort, lethargy or stress” because the temperature was above 85 degrees for at least five hours, and there was no air conditioning.
The officials from the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service also raised concerns about infrequent cleaning in areas where dogs nursing puppies could face possible disease and sickness. Flies, beetles and ants were found on self-feeders in some of the kennels.
At least a dozen dogs had problems including eye conditions, “severe dental disease” and inflamed paws, according to the inspection reports.
An Envigo spokesman said the company has been working with the USDA to correct the issues it outlined and added, “The highest quality of animal welfare is a core value of our company.” (!!)
Envigo said the use of animals for research is “essential for developing lifesaving medicines, medical devices and biologics, such as vaccines.”
Its animals, the company said, have “an integral role in the development of advanced pacemakers for heart patients” and in “critical research into Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis.”
Institutions and universities often spend thousands of dollars to do medical research on animals.
Beagles are bred for use in research because they are small and docile, according to animal welfare experts.
The Cumberland facility has been in operation since the 1960s and was previously run by another company called Covance. Envigo took over some of Covance’s operations in 2019.
USDA inspectors found other issues that violated the Animal Welfare Act at Envigo’s facility in Virginia:
-71 beagles were injured after dogs in adjoining kennels were able to bite their ears or tails through the wall. Those dogs were subsequently euthanized, “however substantial or minor” the injuries were, officials found.
-Food was withheld for 42 hours from roughly a dozen female dogs that were nursing 78 pups.
Making efforts to stop live animal transport / live exports campaigning has played a large part in my life for the last 30+ years. Maybe too large a part; there have been costs in other ways for sure ! – but would I do it all again ? – you bet.
I think maybe it best to let the pictures (mainly from my own personal archive) tell some of the story themselves a little more; I have added notes to pictures where I think applicable.
Above – ‘The Daffs’; our term for the exporter protecting police; looking like Daffodils in their bright yellow tops. Don’t you think ?
Our Dover export protests backdrop – the famous White Cliffs.
People against the live animal export trade were always at Dover in one form or other; one livestock driver famously quoted “they appear out of holes from everywhere – like bloody rabbits in the grass”; Dover was the main port used for export of live animals; until the protests eventually stopped the major cross Channel ferry companies taking the trucks as part of their business. A very big win for the anti export movement.
Mrs Plod makes sure I behave !
Dover – a battleground for live export protests.
When the ferry operators shunned the trade, which always was the easy route for the hauliers over the Channel things changed drastically. They (exporters / hauliers) were then forced, with no other options, but to charter their own vessel(s) to get the livestock transporters over the water into Europe. In addition to the costs of chartering a boat, they also needed a pilot to get their ship into and out of port; so the costs mounted in several ways.
One of the ships that had to be chartered for live export trucks to be carried – see them on the top deck.
It was hoped these spiralling costs would eventually be the death knell for the trade; and it was, until Dutchman Onderwater suddenly stepped in with his own boat; an ex Russian river battle tank carrier called the ‘Joline’; to start the live animal trade from Ramsgate, another Kent port. The Joline was a bathtub of a vessel (designed for river usage) and totally unfit for carrying transporters (and their animal cargo) over the choppy waters of the English Channel. Fully loaded, it was low in the water; very low. It carried nothing else apart from livestock trucks and their drivers.
The ‘Joline’ – unfit for Channel crossings, but used to carry trucks nevertheless.
A loaded Joline arrives at Calais (France).
A loaded Joline in the Engllsh Channel.
As an activist at Dover, you could be in the docks yourself doing some monitoring work, when without doubt you would always without fail; bump into a fellow campaigner there also doing some ‘sniffing round’. It was a kind of brotherhood; a quick chat and then off again into the darkness to do your thing.
As campaigners, we also headed into Europe quite a lot, regularly going to EU Brussels to vent our anger. In one photo you can see the large German anti export contingent who protested there with us. Euro citizens with a simple united cause – to try and stop the trade.
Our friends the German anti export campaigners – Brussels.
A livestock driver sends us his best wishes.
As a member state of the EU ‘club’, the UK was never allowed to ban live animal transport; even though it really wanted to due to pressure. Now it has left the EU via Brexit, it has taken back its own control rather than be dictated to by un elected Commissioners. Within a year the UK has held a consultation, and is now in the process via Parliament of banning all live animal exports.
Working with CIWF who are based in London, the ‘intensive farming tour truck’ was taken all over Europe; informing people of the horrors of the systems. In the pictures you can see it in the Netherlands leg of the tour, which I took part in. In Amsterdam, we were very fortunate to be granted permission by HM he Queen to set the truck up for the display in front of the royal palace; for which were are very grateful to her majesty. With the tour truck, you always entered from the rear; immediately joined with the calves in transport; then moved into the next section which was a simulation of a typical battery farm. Then you moved on again into an intensive pig unit, complete with sow stalls and cages. Videos played all the time showing the real reality of all these systems.
The intensive farming tour truck parked up at a London demo.In the Netherlands – parked up and ready for another days school visitors.
Finally as you walked to the front of the trailer, you moved into the ‘refrigeration food zone’, which showed all the veggie and vegan options for the modern shopper at the supermarket which does not involve all this cruelty. See the truck from the outside, a livestock transporter for most, moving into the meat free shopping white refrigerated section at the front. Once you had experienced it all, you came down the front steps to the desk outside and added your name to all the petitions we had.
The Tour Truck in the Netherlands.Tour Truck enter from rear.Netherlands – Nanda, myself and Monica wrapped up for the Winter tour.Welkom – Warm sunny days on the Dutch Summer tour.Enter at the rear and join the calves in transport.
The Netherlands tours were held in both winter and summer. That winter it was freezing; one of the coldest in Europe for a long time; you can see Nanda, myself and Monica getting ready outside for a cold signature session. I am in the middle with the black beanie – the thorn between the 2 roses you could say ! It was Nanda (on left) who really got me into eating Falafel; which is still a favourite food of mine today. But the summer tour was oh so great with constantly good weather; we even took some time out to sniff around and investigate the veal facilities that British calves were being exported to at that time. I have some great memories of being on the road with John C; who like all the best people, went fer too soon: England: Another Terrible Loss – John Callaghan. – World Animals Voice
John – one of the kindest blokes.
We had a busy schedule with the truck at the many pre arranged events – visiting schools, colleges and other facilities to inform students and the public about the realities of the intensive farming business. On some days, we visited (under invite) major eco facilities such as the wonderful ‘De Kleine Aarde’ to inform people, and also to see their wonderful ways of being ‘eco’. de kleine aarde – Bing images
De Kleine Aarde 1
De Kleine Aarde 2
Back in rainy ol’ London town; organised by friend Liza; we also kept the daily vigil against live animal exports going at the bottom of the steps of the Ag. Ministry in Whitehall. A very regular was my good friend Mike who used to dress up as a city gent, whilst mopping down the front steps of the Ministry, telling then to ‘clean up their act’ when it came to live animal transports.
Mike does his bit in London with the daily ban live export vigil.
Wonderful Mike (RIP)
Liza (middle) – the London Vigil Organiser (Blonde middle) with me and Ellie.
Why do it ? – well take a look at the photo of the British (exported) calf being restrained in a foreign veal crate. I don’t need to say any more, other than that is why we did what we did.
This is why we do it !!!
Photo – Jane
My great campaigner friend Jane – surrounded by Daffs !
The festival of Eid (still goes on each year, but not as shown now); saw thousands of British sheep being exported to France for ritual slaughter. As you can see in the black and white photo; simple trenches were cut into the fields, wire laid across, and the sheep put onto them. The sheep’s throats were cut without any stunning, and the blood left to soak away into the field trenches. Citizens would attend these events and buy sheep meat to take back home for their Eid meals. Friends of mine who were there to witness the situation, often spoke of being on public transport buses, and witnessing blood dripping out of black sacks onto the bus floor from the sheep carcasses they had just purchased and bagged up. Eid was a very bad time for live export campaigners; and has been until very recently, with Dutch exporters coming to the UK to purchase live sheep for Eid festival celebrations.
British sheep are ritually slaughtered in the French (Eid) killing fields.
Fortunately, now the UK has left the EU, we can make our own laws, and are currently waiting for new legislation to get approval in Parliament which will see all animal’s being stopped from being exported live to Europe, for both slaughter and also for further fattening.
The Joline sails with transporters – Val C
Has it been worth it ? – after some 35 years of campaigning; I say that every minute was worth it for the place we (UK) have arrived at now. Things in the EU are still bad, so much effort is to now be shifted there.
Education of people and exposing the realities is the real thing now; 20 years ago we did not have the internet at our door, petitions were not online; but in todays world we can now show everyone at the flick of a button the real abuses and suffering. Education is key to change – so please get out and educate !
Regards Mark
Brussels export demo.
Dover – we liberate the veal calf from the crate and stick the British PM John Major into it instead.
You can read a bit more about live export work and my seal / horse export work; and see the Serbian stray issue at my old Serbian animals campaign site:
The majority of the animals in the dog and cat meat trade are stolen pets and strays. The scale of this cruel trade makes it one of the most massive animal welfare problems for pets in Asia.
World Animals Voice 