Month: February 2022

Farm Animals, General News, Stray Animals

EU: The Dog and Cat Meat Trade: Interview With MEP Petras Auštrevičius.
Office of Petras Auštrevičius

18 February 2022

Four Paws

As investigated by Eurogroup for Animals’ member, Four Paws, every year over 10 million dogs and cats are killed for their meat in Southeast Asia, with Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam hosting the most robust dog meat trade in the region.

Animals of unknown health status are sourced to supply the trade from multiple locations. Traumatised, diseased, with depleted immune systems and without food and water they are transported in poor hygiene conditions, in many cases, for thousands of kilometres and cross-border, often mix with other species at marketplaces, slaughterhouses and restaurants. Why should it matter to the EU to bring this trade to an end?

MEP Petras Auštrevičius, is Chair of Companion Animals Working Group of the European Parliament Intergroup on Animal Welfare and Conservation.

Many people do not realise that while in the EU most cats and dogs are treated as companion animals, there are other parts of the world where cats and dogs would be qualified as farm animals. Would you be able to elaborate on that? Why is such meat imported and what are the countries that import it?

It is estimated that annually 10 million dogs and cats are killed for human consumption in Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia. The trade involves extreme animal cruelty during capture, transport, holding and slaughter with dogs and cats often stolen or forcefully taken from their owners. In Vietnam the trade kills approximately 5 million dogs and 1 million cats, in Cambodia 3 million dogs and an unknown number of cats, and in Indonesia 1 million dogs and hundreds of thousands of cats. The trade is also existent in Africa, although poor data on the topic are available. The meat is largely found as a delicacy, however, there is quite poor social support for continuation of this trade. A great majority of Vietnamese, Cambodian and Indonesian citizens do not see the future for the cat and dog meat trade. The speakers and participants agreed that now is the time for ASEAN countries to ban the cat and dog meat trade and enforce their legislation on animal movement and rabies eradication to protect the consumers and prevent future pandemics.

Looking at the immediate impact on animals, why is it a particularly cruel trade for the animals?

Animals of unknown health status are sourced to supply the trade from multiple locations. Traumatised, diseased, with depleted immune systems and without food and water they are transported in poor hygiene conditions, in many cases, for thousands of kilometres and cross-border, often mix with other species at marketplaces, slaughterhouses and restaurants.

Why does the dog and cat meat trade matter to Europe? What risks does this trade bring?

The cat and dog meat trade and consumption pose a significant human health risk and severe diseases like rabies, cholera and trichinellosis are associated with it. Moreover, the meat contains high levels of antibiotic residues leading to antimicrobial resistance. Finally, mutated canine influenza or canine coronavirus carry a potential of infecting and spreading to humans giving sufficient ground to future pandemics. While human health risks are largest in the source countries, EU citizens can be affected as well. Disease outbreaks and zoonoses can jeopardise European travellers in Southeast Asia. Mutated viruses can be imported through pets rescued from the meat trade. Therefore, the EU has a direct interest to stop the cat and dog meat trade. Nobody expected the outcomes of COVID-19, that is why we must not be complacent.

Are there regulations in place at EU level to address this situation? Have these been sufficient?

ASEAN Delegation outlined the need for the European Parliament to address this issue, as well as for the ASEAN Delegation to commit relevant ambassadors to change. There are certainly things the European Parliament has and will be calling for, however the initiative for any concrete action lies with the European Commission. As there is currently no exchange of data on the movement of cats and dogs, as well as no tracking of animals, even across the EU, it is quite easy to imagine the worst case scenario. In particular, with the increase of demand for cats and dogs, and trends across the foreign rescue animals which is concerning when the health status of the animals is not properly screened.

Is there a way that we can encourage the EU and Member States to improve their response and finally put an end to this trade?

Certainly, the EU and the Member States must raise awareness among their citizens. A ban on the trade and consumption of dog and cat meat and introduction of legislation, as regulation would not resolve the cruelty involved therein and alleviate all health risks are the way forward. Such bans exist in China, the Philippines, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Thailand.

Want to learn more about the dog and cat meat trade? 

Visit Four Paw’s website. 

Regards Mark

Farm Animals

No mega dairy farm in Noviercas -Spain !

Noviercas is a small village of 158 inhabitants in Northeast Spain. It is located in the province of Soria, inside a region known as the “Spanish Siberia” because of the low population density, less than 8 people per square kilometer.

This village became famous when the co-op Valle del Odieta announced last year their intentions to build a 20,000-cow factory farm in the village.

Macro dairy farm of Valle de Odieta SCL in Caparroso- Greenpeace Spain

With 23,520 cows (16,128 dairy cows and 7,329 suckler cows), 900 hectares of land, a consumption of 600,000 kilos of fodder and four to six million liters of water every day – not to mention a planned production 180 million liters of milk peryear – the Norviercas factory farm would be the biggest dairy farm in Europe, and the project immediately became controversial for all the potential impacts it could bring to the area and to the farming sector.

Farmers are leading the opposition, as they estimate this factory farm would destroy 700 direct jobs, one third of the dairy farms in the region.

t would produce around 368,000 tons of manure per year, the equivalent of the waste produced by a city of 4.4 million people.

And the farm would consume between 4 and 6.35 million liters of water per day, more than the total consumption of the city of Soria (40,000 inhabitants). Impacts on the environment and local communities can be huge.

This farm has nothing to do with the European model of livestock farming.
We have witnessed fierce resistance to previous dairy mega factory farms with 8,000 thousand cows in the UK or even actions of civil disobedience against a 1,000-cow farm in France.

We cannot allow this model, imported from the US, to come to Europe.
Impacts of these huge factory farms are well documented and are reason enough to ask for a ban.

Stopping this farm would be a really symbolic step against the invasion of factory farms in Europe to defend a sustainable and social model of farming.
You can read more about it here in English, Spanish and French.

We will campaign with our allies to stop this project. Stay tuned!

https://www.foodandwatereurope.org/blogs/a-20000-cow-dairy-farm-in-europe-no-way/

PETA has started a petition against the construction of the Mega Stall.
Please sign and share

“Help stop plans for a new mega dairy in Spain that would be the largest farm in Europe and the fifth largest in the world.
If the plans go ahead, 23,000 cows will be kept in filthy, cramped conditions so that the owners can maximize their profits.
Can you imagine – 23,000 cows?
That’s more than the human capacity of London’s O2 arena!

Mega farms like the proposed one exploit animals on a scale that is almost unimaginable” (PETA)

Petition: https://secure.peta.org.uk/page/99582/action/

And I mean…One has to think about that slowly: 20 000 Cows on one Farm in North Spain, plus their calfs, as without calves no Milk!
50% of the calves are male, so useless for the further milking business.

All these Cattle have to be feeded, feeded more as usual as they are producers in the process of milk production.
So where will they get all the Power Feed from?
Corn and soy beans? What about the Carbon footprint?

And what about the immense suck of energy, as these cows live and produce best at about 7 dregrees Celsius?
They would have to cool them down constantly with water – another Problem, a lot of water will be spoiled, like at the farm in Saudi Arabia…

Subject to the outstanding approvals, the project is to be implemented in several growth stages over the next five years, i.e. by the end of 2022.
The Farmers Union: described a dairy farm of this size as a “time bomb” for animal health.

A single case of a disease like bovine brucellosis in the herd would require 20,000 animals to be culled. The compensation would amount to more than 16 million euros; Four times more than the annual animal health budget allocated by the regional government.

Although the sale of milk plummeted after the onset of the Corona virus and millions of healthy cattle were euthanized due to the closure of slaughterhouses, pointless investments are still being made in XXL stables!
In order to take action against the investment project, the farmers’ association has started a signature campaign.

But not everyone in Noviercas is against the system.
Some have sold their land to Valle De Odieta.
And politicians are also behind the project.

The mayor, stand up for the farm.
Presenting the 2019 project, Pedro Jesús Millán Pascual said “the dairy farm would bring jobs and more people to the town”.

But not a word is heard about the fate and suffering that awaits the 23,000 animals

My best regards to all, Venus

Hunting

Model for Europe: Luxembourg six years without fox hunting

Hunting lobbyists always like to use the lack of natural enemies as an argument when it comes to hunting encroachment on wildlife populations. At least in the case of foxes and other predators in our latitudes, this is a false conclusion.

Fox hunting has been banned in Luxembourg since 2015.
The horror scenarios projected by the local hunting association FSHCL, but also by the German colleagues at the time, did not come to pass: Environment Minister Carole Dieschbourg confirmed only last year in response to a parliamentary request from the opposition that after years there were no indications of an increase of the fox population in Luxembourg.

Controls and counts with wildlife cameras would rather indicate a stable, constant stock.

Even the infestation of foxes with the fox tapeworm has decreased since the hunting ban.
While the fox tapeworm was still diagnosed in 40 percent of foxes in 2014, it was recently less than 20 percent.

Nor can one blame the foxes for the decline in ground breeding or even biodiversity.
In Luxembourg, for example, the partridge was almost extinct at the beginning of the 1980s, despite the fact that fox hunting was still intensive at the time.

According to the Minister for the Environment, the loss of biodiversity, particularly among ground breeders, is due to the destruction of the habitat and the associated loss of insects as a source of food.

Luxembourg could be a model for Europe when it comes to fox hunting.

However, there is probably a lack of political will in this country to make hunting at least animal welfare-friendly.
For most animal species there is not even a reasonable reason for hunting within the meaning of the Animal Welfare Act.

Together with many other animal protection societies and the Fox Action Alliance, Wild Animal Protection Germany demands the abolition of fox hunting and the review of all animal species subject to hunting law with regard to a reasonable reason.

https://www.wildtierschutz-deutschland.de/single-post/fuchs-luxemburg

And I mean…While the German lust killers, also known as “hunters”, pursue the foxes with all sorts of violent means at this time of the year, the neighboring European countries present themselves in some cases much more rationally when it comes to hunting.
And they are proud that the abolition of fox hunting, which has been going on for over six years, is so effective.

German hunters kill and dispose of over 400,000 foxes every year
In most federal states, the red fox is hunted without a regular closed season.
During the mating season, during the gestation period, while rearing the young, while wandering in search of a territory.

They are hunted with traps, dogs are sent into their burrow, the retreat for the birth of the puppies, they are kept in barren kennels to train so-called burrow or ground dogs on them, they are victims of battue hunts and fox weeks.

Every year well over 400,000 red foxes die in Germany from hunting!
Foxes cannot be used as food, and fox fur has long ceased to be popular.
About 97 out of 100 foxes killed are thrown into bushes or, at best, buried.

The hunters in Germany basically justify the fox hunt with three “reasonable” arguments:

– The fox also transmits diseases that are dangerous to humans, such as rabies and fox tapeworm,
– It is by no means endangered because of its high population and thirdly
– The fox has to be hunted because there is a risk of wiping out ground-breeding birds that have become rare.

There is also not just one single scientifically reliable research paper that could be used to justify the three steep theses mentioned.
This is especially true for the blind claim that more intensive fox hunting would have a stabilizing effect on the populations of endangered species.
That is just as much nonsense as the statement that hunting can significantly reduce the fox population.

The opposite is true, as scientists and wildlife biologists can attest. The more vehemently these animals are pursued, the higher their reproduction rate.
In this way, losses can be compensated for quickly.
Nature arranged it that way.

So…the only honest reason for fox hunting and any other hunt is, that the perpetrators enjoy it.
And a murderer won’t let that can be spoiled.

My best regards to all, Venus

Hunting, Uncategorized

Pangolin: soon no more?

Researchers believe that the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan, China was ground zero for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Until its closure, numerous wildlife species were kept there, tightly crowded in cages – a rich breeding ground for pathogens.
Pangolins sold there are believed to have been an intermediate host for the virus, which originated in bats.

Pangolin poaching and smuggling is a lucrative business, with Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants willing to pay up to $400 for a kilo of pangolin meat.
Pangolins have become so rare in the wild that coming across one is not unlike finding a winning lottery ticket for villagers in remote corners of Asia.

Traffickers are frequently arrested while shipping hundreds of live animals or pangolin scales by the ton, but the true magnitude of the trade remains in the dark.

Eight different pangolin species exist in Asia and Africa.

All four Asian species are already on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, and pressure on the African species is mounting.
The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) has published an interactive map highlighting the international nature of the pangolin trade.

The survival of the pangolin is in the hands of the Chinese and Vietnamese governments – only they can pass and enforce stricter laws to curb hunting and shut down trafficking.

Back­ground

As endangered wildlife, pangolins have not received the attention they deserve, even though all eight species of the scaly creature are on the Red List. The situation is most dire for the critically endangered Chinese and Sunda pangolins, which could become extinct within the next fifteen years.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has seen the need to establish a specialist group dedicated to preserving the animal.
Hunting and illegal trade are the main forces driving the toothless insectivores to extinction – no other mammal is subject to such extensive smuggling.

The pangolin’s scales – which consist of keratin, the same material as human fingernails – are believed to have beneficial properties in traditional Chinese and Vietnamese medicine.

The ills they supposedly cure include “excessive nervousness and hysterical crying in children, women possessed by devils and ogres, malarial fever and deafness” (Nature 141, 72-72, 08 January 1938).

Pangolin meat is considered a delicacy and often among the most costly dishes on restaurant menus.

According to some estimates, hunters have killed one million pangolins over the last ten years. Between 2011 and 2013 alone, 23,400 illegally traded animals were confiscated.

Please call on Chinese and Vietnamese policymakers to stop standing by idly while the pangolin is hunted to extinction.

(Petition) https://www.rainforest-rescue.org/petitions/963/take-pangolins-off-the-menu-now#more

And I mean…Pangolins have been around for at least 47 million years.
This could be over soon.
The four Asian species are almost extinct.
The meat is considered a delicacy, the scales are used as talismans and, above all, for therapeutic purposes.
And according to local ritual customs, they are real all-rounders for stomach problems, asthma, rheumatism, inflammation, menstrual problems or even blood cancer.
Even the potency is said to increase the scales.

The stupid thing about it is that, like rhinoceros horn and human nails, they consist exclusively of keratin.
But tragically, it’s also a major destination for the global, illegal and devastatingly efficient wildlife trade, with up to 2.7 million pangolins poached each year.
International trade in pangolins or their scales has been banned under the Washington Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species since 2017.

In China, there were signs of change.
International trade in all Asian pangolins was banned in 2000.
While it’s a positive move, but many experts remain skeptical that these measures will make a difference.
Despite all measures, illegal trade of pangolin continues to be on the top of illegal wildlife crime around the world.

Clearly, measures to combat illicit trade are not enough.
In order to better protect the animals, measures must be taken along the entire supply chain.
Because so far, illegal traders in Africa and Asia have only rarely been arrested and if they are, then the majority of cases do not even go to court.
One speaks of well-equipped criminal syndicates.
Paying for, collecting and transporting large volumes of pangolin products requires significant upfront investment and coordination.

It also likely means the smugglers don’t have to worry about being intercepted by law enforcement as they transport tens of millions of dollars’ worth of shipments weighing tons.
Therefore: it is essential that those caught smuggling pangolin parts are properly punished.

And that on an international level.

My best regards to all, Venus

General News

Canada: Freedom Convoy protesters threatened with losing their pets! the new face of a dictatorship

Protesters arrested as part of “enforcement actions” could have their pets taken into care, Canadian authorities have warned
Canadians taking part in demonstrations against Covid-19 mandates were threatened with inadvertently relinquishing their pets if arrested by the police, authorities warned on Thursday.

According to an announcement on the Ottawa-By-law Twitter account, anyone arrested at demonstrations as part of “enforcement actions” by the government could have their animals placed in “protective care” for a week if they are unable to look after them.

The suspect must pay for the animal’s care. After eight days, if arrangements have not been made, the animal would be considered “relinquished.”
A tweet from Ottawa’s regulatory service included a photo of a dog hanging out of a truck window.

The ongoing protests in Canada began weeks ago as a convoy of truckers protesting vaccine and quarantine mandates for border crossings, but the movement has morphed into much larger demonstrations against Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Freedom Convoy protesters threatened with losing their pets“Attention animal owners at demonstration If you are unable to care for your animal as a result of enforcement actions, your animal will placed into protective care for 8 days, at your cost. After 8 days, if arrangements are not made, your animal will be considered relinquished. pic.twitter.com/OkbXc8RE3c”
— Ottawa By-law (@OttawaBylaw) February 17, 2022

The pets warning is the latest effort by the government to break up the protests, which have created “illegal blockades,” according to Trudeau, at busy border crossings and in major cities.

Trudeau recently invoked the Emergencies Act, giving police more scope to deal with protesters.
Canada also ordered a freeze on crypto donations to the Freedom Convoy, which has gained support from high profile pundits like Jordan Peterson.
The threat to seize pets has renewed criticism of the Canadian government, with some arguing that they are going too far.

“One possible, explicit punishment for participating in a peaceful protest in Canada — beyond freezing your bank accounts — is that the state will take your pet and, after 8 days, declare it “relinquished” if other “arrangements are not made.” https://t.co/9hrVSyHNlF”
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) February 17, 2022

Police have issued warnings to protesters continuing to demonstrate, increasing their presence this week in cities like Ottawa, according to CBC.
Police in Ottawa also began erecting fences in front of government buildings, including Parliament Hill and the Senate on Thursday.
Police have also been issuing written warnings to protesters, promising harsher action in the future.

“You must leave the area now.
Anyone blocking streets, or assisting others in the blocking streets, are committing a criminal offence and you may be arrested,” a written notice handed out on Wednesday read.

https://www.rt.com/news/549762-ottawa-freedom-convoy-pets/

And I mean…The Canadian truck drivers are particularly impressed because the “Prime Minister” Justin Trudeau wants to prescribe the injection without exception.
This little thing leads to one of the largest motorized protest marches of all time in Canada.
We are on the side of the protesters and support them.

Trudeau’s policy is a much more dangerous virus than the SARS-COV-II virus and all its variants, which have now been totally wiped out.
Some comments copied from the article:

My god, how low can this government sink? Trudeau has no ethics, no morals, no brains. How can he treat people like this? I detest him and all he stands for!

Ottawa Police has lost their minds from incessant trudeau boot licking.

Trudeau is taking personal bank accounts and now their dogs. At some point, extreme, unsustainable Liberalism always turns into a far left controlled dictatorship and attacks it’s own people, just like the United States.

Threatening to remove their Kids and now their Pets, tyrants will be dictators, no doubt about that.

Yes! That’s just how dictators are; they use all means to achieve their goals!

My best regards to all, Venus

General News, Uncategorized

Free Tibet (London): Behind the Chinese Mask of the Winter Olympics. Actions.

WAV Comment:  Whilst China wants the world to watch the Winter Olympics and think how wonderful they are as a nation; there is a much more sinister side to it all.  The 10th March will be the 63rd anniversary of China invading Tibet; at the time, an autonomous nation and people, who for years now are gradually having their existence deleted by the power of China within another nation, named Tibet.

10th March in London, sees actions against Chinese actions and dominance in Tibet.  Effectively, one nation wishing to eradicate everything about the existence and history of another.  Below you will see links to issues, including the teacher Rinchen who has been removed by the Chinese authorities for teaching Tibetan, and who is being held despite no information of her situation or condition being given to her family.

This is the hidden side of the China that they want to lose under the veil of issues such as the Winter Olympics.  Until the people of Tibet are free from being the tortured and persecuted slaves of the Chinese system, we will support them and stand with them; demanding a FREE TIBET.

Regards Mark

Dalai Lama – The real leader of Tibet.

Mark, we are calling on you to join us for a day of resistance and celebration to mark the 63rd anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan uprising, remembered every 10th March by Tibetans and their supporters.

The past 12 months have seen the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) increase its campaigns of cultural destruction and surveillance in Tibet and attempt to use the Winter Olympics to sportwash its human rights abuses. We must stand together and resist!

But the past 12 months have also seen Tibetans and their allies show what is possible when we stand together. Making headlines around the world and achieving huge victories. Whilst we will not stop our resistance, we must celebrate our victories.

Join us on 10 March to commemorate those who resisted the CCP, to mark our victories over the past year, and to continue the struggle for a free Tibet.

Event Details

Resistance
When: 10th March, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
Where: 10 Downing Street, London, SW1A 2AA
What: March from Downing Street to the Chinese Embassy

Commemoration
When: 10th March, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Where: Indian YMCA, 41 Fitzroy Square, W1T 6AQ
What: An event to commemorate the Tibetan struggle for freedom and celebrate our victories over the past 12 months.

Website – Free Tibet |

On 1 August, Rinchen Kyi, a Tibetan school teacher, was taken from her home and arrested for “inciting separatism”, despite there being no hint of a recognisable crime. Inciting separatism has a minimum sentence of 5 years.

Since her arrest, Rinchen Kyi has effectively disappeared; she was transferred to an undisclosed location and there have been no details concerning her health or whereabouts. Rinchen’s family, including her 13-year-old daughter, have not been told where she is being held or when they will be allowed to talk to her.

The next few days will be crucial; demand Rinchen Kyi’s release now! Email the Qinghai local government and your nearest Chinese embassy and call for the immediate unconditional release of Rinchen.

Demand the Release of Rinchen Kyi | Free Tibet

THREE MONKS IN DRAGO SEVERELY ILL AFTER SIX YEARS OF TORTURE

Geshe Tsewang Namgyal, one of the three monks imprisoned for six years in 2012

Arrested after the 2012 Drago protests, three monks were subjected to forced labour and denied adequate food

Tibet Watch has learned that three senior monks from Drago Monastery are still severely ill after their release from prison four years ago. The three monks, Tsewang Namgyal, Dalha, and Tengya, served six-year prison sentences from 2012 until their release in January 2018. 

The news of their failing health comes as their home county of Drago faces rising tensions due to a series of arbitrary detentions and demolitions. The county is also under close surveillance by Chinese authorities.

The monks are suffering from a range of serious conditions as a result of inadequate food, torture, and forced labour in prison including crippled legs, organ damage, insomnia, constant headaches, and loss of mobility.

More and actions – Three monks in Drago severely ill after six years of torture | Free Tibet

We stand with the good people of Tibet;

Regards Mark

General News

Sweden bans whipping in horse racing

At the end of January 2022, the Swedish horse racing authority Svesk Galopp announced that new regulations on the use of whips in horse racing will come into force with the start of the new season: From April 2022, whips may no longer be used in gallop races to ‘encourage’ the horses and drive to maximum performance.
The whips may continue to be carried, but only used to ward off dangerous situations.

Exemplary decision by the Swedish Equestrian Authority in horse racing

In Sweden, the use of the whip has been discussed for years.
In the past, the regulations were gradually changed.
For example, foam-padded sticks were introduced a few years ago.
Now the use of whips in horse races is to be banned altogether.

The Swedish authority writes: “Using the whip in horse racing is just not going to be a thing in 2022.”
(Helena Gärtner, Project Manager at the Scandinavian Racing Regulations Committee).

Previously, Swedish rules allowed the whip to be used three times in most races.
However, the use of the whip in show jumping and gallop races was not allowed for two-year-old horses.

In trotting races, such “aids” contrary to animal welfare may still be used: According to this, it is permitted to “maneuver” and “correct” the horses with the whips up to 400 meters from the finish line, as long as the animal is not put under excessive pressure.

The decision of the Swedish authorities to ban the use of whips in horse racing is a big step in the right direction and long overdue not only for Swedes.
Germany and many other countries must also take this step and speak out against the suffering of horses in so-called “equestrian sport”.
Horses deserve a life free of exploitation and violence – regardless of state borders and horse racing variants.

Not only the use of animal cruelty “aids” should be forbidden, but a general ban on exploitative equestrian sport is required.

Horse racing: exploitation and violence for profit

The multi-million dollar equestrian industry is based on the systematic exploitation of horses.
The animals are often sent to the starting line in horse races at a much too young age of two to three years.

Horses can be growing up to the age of seven – high-intensity training and the stress of competition then often lead to serious injuries, examples being irreparable damage to tendons and bones.

The use/use of horses that are too young, whose physique is still soft and not suitable for the strains of “modern” training in “equestrian sport”, and the enormous psychological stress on the animals ensure that many horses after only a few years of everyday exploitation and also die early or are killed due to physical and psychological damage.

Horses are prey animals that are often violently driven to maximum performance during races and forced to take risks that they would never be willing to take voluntarily.
When the sensitive animals fall during a race, they are usually seriously injured or even fatal.

In the industry, bleeding from the lungs, ruptured aorta and gastric ulcers are accepted for profit reasons: the psychological stress promotes gastric ulcers, and bloody nostrils can be observed in many animals after the race as a sign of bleeding in the lungs.

Cases are becoming known again and again in which riders have doped the horses: the animals are often given medication so that they can withstand the stress at all.

As soon as the animals no longer perform as expected, they are “sorted out”.
What then happens to them remains mostly unknown.

– Never attend equestrian events such as horse races.
– Please sign our petition and ask the federal government to finally ban the dangerous races.

https://www.peta.de/themen/pferderennen-petition/

https://www.peta.de/neuigkeiten/schweden-peitschen-pferderennen/

And I mean…Every lash, no matter how strong, is associated with pain. They cause the horses to literally run for their lives in pain and fear.
None of the animals would voluntarily achieve this unnatural peak performance.
In addition to the physical pain, the whip produces something akin to psychological terror.

It is unknown how many horses are injured during training.

“Training” includes cutting nerves (neurectomy) on the legs of jumping horses, inserting pointed objects into leg bandages, using electrical aids, or active, passive, and chemical parallel bars. This includes hitting the horse’s legs with wooden or iron bars.

If an injured horse stays alive, such injuries usually mean the end of a career in racing, that’s for sure.
The animals are then either used for breeding or sold.
If they are not (anymore) registered for racing or breeding, the association will not pursue the horses.
It is therefore unclear how many racehorses survive with consequential damage – or whether they are also euthanized.

This “industry” (horse “sport”) is just a part of the whole animal cruelty industries!
It’s about the abuse of animals as sports and fun equipment.

The horse is and will always be a device in the racing industry.
If the device is broken, it’s gone, it costs money and that’s what it’s all about.
As long as there are people paying for it, there will never be an end.

Not only whips and other tortures in horse racing but in principle this brutal, unscrupulous system – horse racing – should be banned

My best regards to all, Venus

Farm Animals, General News, Uncategorized

How Better Animal Welfare Could Stop Millions of People Dying by Damian Carrington.

Spanish flu, bird flu, Marburg virus, Lassa fever, Ebola, HIV, Nipah, West Nile, Sars, Chikungunya, Zika and Covid-19. That is just a partial history of the viruses that have spilled over from animals to humans in the last century.

The outbreaks are coming more frequently, as humanity’s growing population drives its destructive path further into wild areas. An average of 3 million people a year die from these zoonotic diseases.

But the world’s focus on preventing the next pandemic has so far been confined to boosting the detection of new diseases after they have infected humans and speeding the development and rollout of vaccines. That is of course necessary, but it is not sufficient.

Since the Covid-19 outbreak, there have been repeated warnings that action to stop spillovers at source is also vital, and extremely cost-effective. That means ending the destruction of forests that brings people and wildlife into contact, and a crackdown on the wildlife trade. Inaction has left the world playing an “ill-fated game of Russian roulette with pathogens”, experts say, and protecting nature is vital to escape an “era of pandemics”.

But tacking spillover is not mentioned in reports and strategies from the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB), a joint initiative of the World Bank and the World Health Organization, or from a G20 high-level panel on financing for pandemic preparedness.

A new report from experts at the International Union for Conservation of Nature provides another angle on the issue. While all zoonotic diseases ultimately come from wildlife, the IUCN report says few spillover into people directly. More commonly the diseases transfer via livestock, or animals like rats that thrive in places despoiled by humans.

So culling wildlife could not be justified, and could perversely make viruses spread more rapidly and animals flee. The IUCN report also says its examination of the scientific evidence suggests that tougher rules, or a ban, on the trade in wildlife would not have much impact on preventing future epidemics. Such moves could also harm the livelihoods of indigenous peoples and local communities, unless alternative ways to make a living are provided.

But the IUCN report comes to the same broad conclusion as the previous reports: preventing increasing rates of outbreaks is feasible, especially if “primordial prevention issues, rather than just preparedness and rapid response” are addressed. “The challenge rests in better understanding how our domesticated animals and human-dominated landscapes create opportunities for the emergence of infectious diseases,” says Jon Paul Rodríguez, chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission.

So what is the livestock industry doing to cut pandemic risk? Not nearly enough, according to another new report, which rates two-thirds of 60 major meat, dairy and fish companies as “high risk”. The analysis is based on seven, criteria including welfare conditions for both animals and workers, waste management and deforestation.

“Intensive farming environments, housing most of the 70 billion farm animals reared every year, are a known breeding ground for disease,” says Jeremy Coller, chair of the FAIRR Initiative, which produced the report and is backed by investors managing $48 trillion of assets.

“Aggravating factors like low genetic diversity, cramped enclosures and poor conditions for workers that do not offer adequate sick pay amplify [the pandemic] risk many times over,” he said. “It’s time for meat companies and policymakers to learn from Covid-19 and to invest in preventing the next pandemic.”

Another take on pandemic risk is on its way from Bill Gates in his new book, How to Prevent the Next Pandemic. “The plan is three elements,” he says. “First is to constantly improve health systems. The second is to build a global pathogen surveillance capacity so that no matter which country it shows up in, we can apply resources and understand what’s going on very quickly. And finally, innovation across diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines that will get us far better tools far quicker than we did this time.”

“I think it’s exciting that we have this opportunity to use our best ideas to stop pandemics for good,” Gates concludes. But there’s no mention of what is to my mind the very best idea of all – trying to stop pandemics at the source. The same was already true of reports from the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB), a joint initiative of the World Bank and the World Health Organization, and from a G20 high-level panel on financing for pandemic preparedness.

Tackling the root of the issue by protecting forests and wildlife would cost just a tiny fraction of the terrible losses caused by pandemics, and such action is of course already vital for ending both the climate and biodiversity emergencies. “In the midst of every crisis, lies great opportunity,” said Albert Einstein.

But the world has yet to grasp the opportunity presented by Covid-19.

Regards Mark

Hunting

UK: Stop the senseless policy of badger culling

Following Born Free’s formal response to the government’s call for views on new measures to reduce transmission of bovine TB among cattle, we are pleased to report that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has issued a positive response.

Despite efforts from the National Farmers’ Union to get this process shelved or watered down, new measures will include improvements in TB testing for cattle, speeding up TB cattle vaccine trials, expanding badger vaccination and ending intensive cull licences – although not until 2024.

However, we could still see tens of thousands more badgers brutally killed before the barbaric cull policy finally ends.
Since 2013, over 140,000 badgers have been trapped and gunned down, with many most likely suffering a prolonged and painful death, and at a public cost of over £70m, in the UK government’s ill-advised effort to control tuberculosis in cattle.

“This debacle is the largest slaughter of a protected species in living memory,” explains badger expert Dominic Dyer, Born Free’s British Wildlife Advocate & Policy Advisor. “Badgers have been shot across a huge area of England stretching from Cornwall to Cumbria, pushing the species to the verge of local extinction in parts of the country which they have inhabited since the Ice Age.

“Despite the huge cruelty and cost of the badger cull, the government has provided no reliable scientific evidence to prove that the mass destruction of badgers is making any significant contribution to lowering bovine TB in cattle in or around the cull zones.
The levels of bovine TB in cattle herds within cull zones remains virtually the same as that outside of the killing fields. The cull policy has made no difference, yet thousands more badgers will lose their lives before it is finally brought to an end.

“There are over 9.6 million cattle in Britain and we move more cattle than anywhere else in Europe, the movement of cattle is a key driver for the spread of bovine TB in both cattle and badgers.

For too long the government and the farming industry have wrongly blamed the badger for spread of bovine TB in cattle, which has become a dangerous distraction from tackling the root cause of the disease in the cattle industry.

Despite push back from the National Farmers’ Union, the government is now waking up to this reality and is finally getting serious about an exit strategy from badger culling.
But it can’t come soon enough.

“It’s time the government stops playing the badger blame game and brings an immediate end to all further killing of badgers.”

https://www.bornfree.org.uk/news/badger-culling-to-go-on

And I mean…Badger culling licences have been granted across 44 areas in England, Natural England published a list of regions where badger culling licenses have been issued on September 7, 2020.

Tens of thousands of the animals have been killed in a government-backed scheme lasting nearly a decade that has left campaigners fearing badgers could become extinct in parts of England.

New licences have been issued in areas in Lincolnshire, Wiltshire, Warwickshire, Somerset, Shropshire, Oxfordshire, Leicestershire, Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, Derbyshire and Avon.

This is no longer a badger control policy, it’s a badger eradication exercise.

The tragedy is, that the “vast majority” of badgers being killed were TB-free, with no impact from their deaths on reducing the disease in cattle.

Badger Trust executive director Peter Hambly said: “New national polling shows that only 15% of people in England support the ongoing badger cull, and yet the cull is bigger than ever and the Government continues to chaotically expand and intensify the killing.

“There is simply no let-up in the way the cull continues to expand and claim more badger lives.

“When the Government releases the 2021 cull figures, people will be shocked at the huge number of badgers killed and increasing areas of the country will be empty or near-empty of badgers.

“This is a national wildlife tragedy happening right before our eyes.”

This is the usual way to “solve” problems, most of which are caused by humans.
This is what the government in Denmark did with the millions of mink, and Germany is also practicing the cruel culling of thousands of chickens because of bird flu

The cruel irony is that such diseases will continue to affect us in the future, as long as we want to engage in factory farming and animal exploitation
Man is the only animal on the planet that doesn’t learn from his mistakes.

My best regards to all, Venus