Australian police have arrestedthree people who escaped a Covid-19 quarantine compound near Darwin in the Northern Territory.
They had all tested negative the day before they broke out.
On Wednesday, police alleged that three people had scaled the perimeter fence of the compound in order to break out of the facility situated near Darwin in the Northern Territory.
Police say the trio escaped Centre for “National Resilience” (!!!) just before 4:40am.
Officers had set up checkpoints and were inspecting cars in the area in an attempt to find the absconders. The three were swiftly caught and taken into custody.
“Police and staff at the Centre for National Resilience are currently confirming the absconder’s identities prior to releasing further information,” authorities stated
Officials did not confirm whether the inmates (it’s amazing they didn’t call them unvaxxed criminals) were returning travelers or local citizens who had been put into quarantine.
According to the BBC, the center has been used in recent days to house people infected with Covid-19 from an outbreak in Katherine, a town 300km (185 miles) away.
The Howard Springs site can hold up to 2,000 people; it is situated within an old mining camp (!!!) which was turned into a quarantine center by the Australian government in August.
The three individuals arrested had tested negative for Covid-19 on Tuesday.
Fears of contagion were heightened after one person housed at the facility, having returned from South Africa, had tested positive for the highly mutated Omicron variant on Tuesday.
On Friday, a 27-year-old man scaled the facility’s perimeter fence and jumped into a waiting car.
He was later arrested but tested negative for Covid-19.
Suggestion: Send the Australian government to Re-education camp in China. China has no compulsory vaccination and can do without centers for national resilience.
In an ongoing campaign and petition, GAIA is calling on the three regional Ministers for Animal Welfare in Belgium to introduce a ban on the cooking of live lobsters, as is already the case in Switzerland, as well as a ban on cutting lobsters in half.
Each year, Belgium imports an average of 3.8 million live lobsters, mainly from Canada. Belgians are the largest consumer of lobster in the world per capita.
The whole journey of the lobster from capture to death is agonising. The lobsters are transported from Canada to Belgium in polystyrene foam boxes with gel ice packs. They are held vertically with their claws held upright. On arrival, the lobsters are at best kept alive in water tanks, sometimes for months. At worst, they are simply placed on ice. Exposed to air, they are unable to excrete bodily waste products, and their condition weakens significantly leading to a slow death. The animals are commonly then boiled alive or cut in half without being stunned.
Recent scientific research has concluded that that crustaceans, such as crabs and lobsters are sentient beings that feel pain. GAIA is therefore collecting signatures for a petition to introduce a ban on the live boiling or cutting of lobsters without stunning.
Such a ban would receive the support of a large part of the population. GAIA reports that 83% of Brussels residents are aware that lobsters feel pain. In addition, four in five Brussels residents believe that lobsters feel pain when they are boiled alive and consider that this is also the case when they are cut up alive. 80% of Walloons agree that there should be a legal ban on killing lobsters without stunning them.
Crustastun is an electrical stunning and killing device developed to render crustaceans unconscious without impacting the quality of the meat.
WAV Comment 1345hrs 02/12/21. No further news yet; but we are monitoring this very important issue and will bring you further news when we have it. Regards Mark
Photo: Jane J – Kent, England
NGOs and MEPs protest against live animal transports in the EU
Wednesday, 1 December 2021
A protest action took place on Tuesday in front of the European Parliament ahead of a crucial vote in the European Parliament against live animal transport over long distances and live export.
The action was organised by animal welfare NGOs in Brussels and accompanied by speeches from a a number of MEPs across party lines.
For the past year the Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry on the Protection of Animals during Transport (ANIT) has analysed the implementation of EU rules by member states and the correct enforcement by the European Commission.
The draft Report and relevant recommendations are going to be voted in the Committee on Thursday (2 December) and put forward for adoption by the plenary in January 2022. In the pipeline is also a revision of the Transport Regulation, for which a new legislative proposal is expected in 2023.
Animal welfare NGO Eurogroup for Animals told The Brussels Times that it has been campaigning for decades to stop live transport and has issued a white paper how it should be done in line with recommendations made by the European Food Safety Authority, the World Animal Health Organisation and the Federation of the Veterinarians of Europe.
For the time being, every year over one billion animals are transported in the EU and from the EU to third countries without effective protection. EU has become the world’s biggest live animal exporter, according to the NGOs.
“Over the years we witnessed endless and avoidable suffering: animals crammed on overcrowded and unsuitable trucks and vessels, and animals unfit for transport, such as pregnant, young or injured ones. The tragedies at sea and on the road have given the ANIT Committee plenty of evidence to stop live transport”, commented Reineke Hameleers, CEO, Eurogroup for Animals.
MEP Anja Hazekamp (The LEFT) is Vice Chair of the ANIT Committee and President of the Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of Animals. “The way animals are transported in the EU is heart-breaking, devastating and unbelievably brutal and cruel,” she said. “The investigation of the ANIT Committee confirmed that animals are currently not protected during transport and that changes are urgently needed.”
“I expect from my colleagues in the ANIT Committee that they give a strong message to the European Parliament: long-distance transport, live export and the transport of vulnerable animals, such as unweaned animals, so-called ‘end-of-career’ animals and pregnant animals, must be stopped,” she added.
Live animal transports are extremely important from an animal welfare viewpoint, Swedish MEP Emma Wiesner (Renew Europe) told The Brussels Times. “Our patience is running out. Transports take place in poor conditions where the temperature is not regulated, there is not enough space for the animals and they don’t get water during the transport. In addition, the transport distances are far too long.”
Which member states are most in breach of current regulations?
“There are many member states that violate current regulations. Romania, Greece and Spain are some that occur relatively frequently. Member states that do not comply with the law must be sued. The European Commission has every legal opportunity to do this, but has repeatedly failed to use this tool.
“In our compromise proposal, we set a limit of eight hours in transport. That is the current limit that already exists in Sweden,” she added.
Is there a majority in the parliament for changes to the legislation and for better compliance with the regulations?
“In the committee of inquiry, there is now a majority behind the compromises and I hope that they will go through. Europe must become better at taking animal welfare seriously. It’s about countries complying with laws and regulations already in place and about the total time that live animals can be transported. We need also to ensure that we control transports that go outside the EU,” MEP Wiesner concludes.
Update: The article has been updated to include an interview with MEP Emma Wiesner.
World Animals Voice 