So let’s look at the whole issue a bit more from another angle; let’s call it ‘WAV’s Angle’; how I personally (and I know I also speak for Venus) see the past on this particular issue and what I feel could help for the bettering of animal sentience / campaigning in the future – a change in campaigning being one thing that I feel needs real attention.  Some of you will dismiss my views expressed here, which I respect; others may support what I say in general.  They are only my views for a different future campaign approach; but it is simply my view, a perspective which I feel should at least be addressed by the welfare movement.

We activists are all in the position of wanting to get the best for, and stopping the needless suffering of animals; whatever the issue, and that goes without saying. We are, in reality, in the business of putting ourselves out of business if everything that we fight for eventually manifests; but we doubt it ever will.  As a campaigner, I have personally had well over 30 years of experience dealing with all aspects of fighting the live animal export trade; and in 2003 I was awarded the CIWF ‘Campaigner of the Year’ award for my investigative live export work; something of which I am proud of; and so now with this and decades of other experiences, I feel I have accumulated enough experience in this immensely cruel trade to at the very least have an opinion on the business (of campaigning tactics) for the future.

 

I have in the past, and it is still the situation with several groups I support, been more than happy to have put my personal donations channelled into supporting investigation work by these various organisations to investigate and document where there have been transport infringements with EU Regulation 1/2005 and the alleged ‘protection’ it provides to live animals in transport.  Hmm !

I continue to feel that even now, today, December 2021, there is still a limited and essential need for welfare organisations to obtain and document these continual infringements; by whatever modern means needs to be used by the organisations.  But I also now feel that now this type of specific work has to be limited more; and other ‘more direct and personal’ routes of campaign approaches need to be addressed at in more detail. 

With todays modern technology at the end of their computer mouse, the campaigner / EU citizen can often eventually find what they feel they need for letter writing etc.; but finding the correct and accurate information often takes them a lot of time; often too much time in people’s busy lives.  Quoting specific and useful facts to support their campaigning argument to the authorities and / or MEP’s often takes a lot of effort and time for individuals to obtain; and sometimes what campaigners read via some sites and sometimes use, can be wrong; which is detrimental to their individual and very worthy campaign efforts. 

This is where the animal welfare organisations such as the Eurogroup and their many member organisations should be making available to everyone in the easiest, simple ways, MEP’s e mail contact details (for example), as well as outlining in specifics the main points and issues that the citizens can trust as accurate and use as a guide when mailing to ‘their’ particular (national) MEP’s on the subject.  I am not suggesting that Dutch campaigners mail Italian MEP’s, that is for Italian campaigners to do; but EU  citizens need to have / be given a very simple way of obtaining contact details for the people that represent them in THEIR home nation. German MEP’s in Germany for German campaigners; Dutch MEP’s for Dutch campaigners, and so on.

It is fine and must continue if national welfare organisations continue to also represent campaigners; no problem there; but I feel that if MEP’s were to get 200 mails from 200 individual members of the public in their region, they may take a bit more note of the issue rather than just getting one mail from a welfare organisation that basically says “our people are not happy; and we speak for the thousands”.  Combined; a deluge from both individuals and welfare groups could (in my opinion) have a lot more effect.

I feel that major animal welfare organisations could, and should, be aiding and making it much simpler for concerned citizens, in reaching out to their regional MEP’s and if necessary, the Commission; reaching the persons who really matter and can have some influence.  We all need and should be provided with contact details for our national regional representatives that so we can contact them directly to show the strength of feeling within us; without having to trawl through endless sites to just find an e mail address, for example.

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