Month: February 2022

General News

Vegan Strike Group disrupts a bullfight for the sixtieth time!

Report: Vegan Strike Group

Mourão Portugal, 5 february 2022, at 15:00
Activists from the International Vegan Strike Group have stood up against the suffering inflicted on horses and bulls in preparation for and during a bullfight in a Portugese bullfight arena.

The activists come from Portugal, France and the Netherlands.
This was the fourth time the Vegan Strike Group has shut down a bullfight in Portugal.

In 2016 and 2019 the animal rights organization already did this in the capital Lisbon and in 2018 in the touristic southern Albufeira.

Bullfighting is a very cruel form of animal cruelty. Every year, more than 250,000 bulls and cows are tortured and killed worldwide during bullfights and related events. Tens of thousands of bulls and other animals are also seriously mistreated at village festivals.

In Portugal, bulls are not killed in the bullring. While bleeding, they are transported to the slaughterhouse later.
Horses are also greatly exploited in the bullfighting sector.

They are used time and again in the arena and experience a lot of fear and stress. Again and again the horses see and smell the blood, fear and death of the bulls. Sometimes they themselves are so badly injured that they die from their injuries.

Bullfighting is under a magnifying glass. In Portugal, the richest and largest football club Benfica has stopped offering a discount on bullfighting in Lisbon if fans bought a football ticket.

In addition, the French branch of Mercedes-Benz has decided to distance itself from the bullfights. This is a very important step, because bullfighting has become increasingly dependent on subsidies and sponsorship from companies in order to survive.

It is therefore now the time to continue to exert pressure through (direct) actions.
Please continue to support the peaceful actions from the Vegan Strike Group in the bullfighting arenas by sharing their posts.

https://www.facebook.com/VeganStrikeGroup/

https://fb.watch/b20tebMlIK/

And I mean…With animal suffering so obvious, one wonders how some primitive people can claim to perceive culture while at the same time witnessing slaughter.

Is it really the case that the preservation of a cultural asset justifies the torment of living beings?
Should such a bloody tradition even be considered an intangible cultural asset of the 21st century, or should it already lie dormant in the past?

What would we lose in “culture” if bullfighting were completely banned worldwide?
We would be one step further towards civilization, because it is not contemporary to torture and kill animals for pleasure.

The only hope remains in the future.
Because surveys show: the younger the respondents, the less support for bullfighting.

So we can only wait until the last Hemingway dies so that torture is no longer equated with culture.

We send our full respect and solidarity to the courageous activists.

My best regards to all, Venus

General News

Norway bans the torture of bulldogs and king charles spaniels 💖🐕

On January 31, 2022, a judgment of historical importance for animal welfare was made in the District Court of Oslo –
In the future, the torture of English Bulldogs and King Charles Spaniels will be banned under Article 25 of the Norwegian Animal Welfare Act.

The decisive impetus for this was a lawsuit by the animal rights organization “Animal Protection Norway”.
This was submitted because the two breeds are particularly heavily burdened by hereditary disorders.

English bulldogs suffer from diseases of the skin, the kidneys and especially the respiratory tract due to their breed.

King Charles Spaniels, on the other hand, suffer from heart problems, headaches, eye and joint diseases.

The “Norwegian Kennel Club”, the “Bulldog Club”, the “Cavalier Club” and six other breeders were unreasonable and disappointed.
But animal rights activists around the world are pleased with this verdict.
Quote from Åshild Roaldset, Managing Director at Dyrebeskyttelsen Norge:

“The verdict will receive international attention. This is a victory for Norwegian animal welfare and especially for our dogs. Dogs have the right to be bred to be healthy.”

We very much welcome this step, because torture breeding is a serious problem in animal welfare.
It is precisely these two breeds that have been massively bred illegally in Norway.
Well that’s the end of it now!

We appeal to all governments on earth to generally ban defined torture breeding of any species.
Breeders only care about one thing, namely their own profit.
This should be prevented worldwide and the rights of animals and their integrity protected.

And we also appeal to all animal lovers out there in general not to buy from breeders and to enrich them, but to adopt one of the many animal souls in need of help in the countless animal protection facilities on earth.

Breeders are making a fortune while animal sanctuaries and shelters are brimming with wonderful creatures.

ADOPT, DON’T SHOP!!! 💖

Text: https://www.facebook.com/marschfuerdietiere/

And I mean..In both races, increasingly extreme ideals of beauty led to massive health problems.
Inbreeding has led to them increasingly passing on genetic diseases.
The King Charles Spaniel breed is susceptible, among other things, to the so-called myxomatous mitral valve disease, a form of heart failure in dogs.
This puts them at an increased risk of a certain heart disease, for example.

Especially in the past 30, 40 years, at a time when animal welfare was being promoted with words and emergency dogs were being rescued all over Europe, Bulldog dogs were massively robbed of their health and zest for life.
The Bulldogs were getting bigger, wrinkled, wider, deeper.
At the dog shows, veritable excesses of bizarreness were celebrated.

The fact that the dogs can hardly breathe, that the severe wrinkles on their face require lifelong care and that 80% of the puppies are born by Caesarean section does not interest this scene of the so-called Bulldog friends at all.

Another well-known example is the pug, which was supposed to appear particularly flat-nosed and bug-eyed for a long time. As a result, many Pugs suffer from respiratory and corneal problems, and some specimens can even lose an eye

We would like all countries to change their minds and follow Norway’s example
Until then, there is one thing we can do: Adopt! don’t buy your friend from breeder

My best regards to all, Venus

Environmental, Farm Animals, General News

France calls to impose more EU standards on imports as it takes over the Council presidency

4 February 2022

Franck Riester & Julien Denormandie, French ministers for Trade and Agriculture, called on the EU to apply more EU standards to imports as they presented the priorities of the French presidency of the Council to the European Parliament.

Eurogroup for Animals recalls that in order to be successful, the initiative, known as “mirror clauses”, must go beyond environmental, animal and public health standards, to encompass animal welfare.

On 24 January, Trade minister Franck Riester called for more EU environmental and sanitary standards to apply to imports, implying the measures could be adopted erga omnes, and thus apply to all imports and not only to those with preferential market access in application of a trade agreement. According to him, the European Commission recognises the legitimacy of these “mirror clauses”, as several EU rules already apply to imports, such as the rules on welfare at the time of slaughter or the ban on import of beef derived from animals who received antibiotics as growth promoters. The following day, agriculture Minister Julien Denormandie qualified reciprocity in standards as a top priority, calling for the withdrawal from the EU market of “imports from third countries which do not respect EU standards”.

Eurogroup for Animals welcomes the approach behind the French proposals of “mirror measures”. Nevertheless, we call for this approach to go beyond environmental and public health measures and to encompass animal welfare. Indeed, it should not only be about accelerating the implementation of the already adopted regulation on veterinary medicines, or strengthening the maximum residue levels for pesticides. This is a matter of consistency between EU trade and agricultural policies at times where the EU is revising its animal welfare legislation. The EU should take the opportunity of this revision to include imports within the scope of the new legislation, as suggested already by  the Commission’s communication on the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) “End the Cage Age”.

By conditioning imports of animal products to EU-equivalent animal welfare standards, the EU would not only improve the welfare of trillions of animals, but also foster more sustainable methods of production abroad. Indeed, access to the EU market could be a positive and powerful leverage to incentivise farmers and producers to switch to more sustainable and humane methods of production. Such a measure is supported by 93% of EU citizens who want a legislative change to impose all EU animal welfare standards on imported food products. This ethical concern raised by EU citizens can guarantee that the measure would be WTO-compliant.

Regards Mark

General News, Uncategorized

England (London): Some Londoners Left Baffled as ‘Parade’ of 30 Horses Spotted On Battersea Street – No Problem; King’s Troop, Royal Horse Artillery Just Changing Route To Give The Horses A Break !
Battersea horses

WAV Comment – It always rains in London ! – Giving the horses a change of scenery – away from Hyde Park.  Certainly better than all the cars and other traffic clogging the streets.  VERY well looked after animals – mucked out 3 or 4 times every day I think when in the London barracks.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Horse_Artillery

All the Royal Horse Art, dropings and urine soaked straw is collected from the barracks each day and taken by truck to the royal botanic gardens at Kew (West London); where it is made into compost for the gardens as explained: – there is a famous saying at Kew where all the horse dung in the ‘windrow’ reaches a very high temperature (spontaneous combustion) and the London fire brigade sometimes get a call from Kew asking them if they can come over and put all the poo out ! (with some water to lower the temperature). RHA Horse poo – great compost = great plants at Kew gardens.

Mark

Residents in South London street were left puzzled this weekend after a ‘parade’ of 30 horses were seen casually walking past their street. The animals were seen on Friday (February 4th) on an early walk in the rain, filing past houses in pairs, the were captured by one curious resident who shared a post on Reddit

“Anyone know why there’s a parade of horses marching round Battersea?” the user asked. A flurry of comments on the social media platform followed with many users quick to offer suggestions as to what the horse might be doing.

One said: “It is the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment taking their horses out for exercise. They do this once a week to get them away from Hyde park. “I once saw the entire line going through the McDonald’s drive through at the Wandsworth Roundabout.”

Another had a different theory as to why they seem to have ventured further from home. “I’m guessing they’re related to the Household Cavalry that are based in central London. They’re often seen around the Hyde Park neck of the woods but perhaps they fancied a change of scenery?”

A third said it was routine exercise for the animals: “This is the Kings troop – usually based in Woolwich but also have stables in St James and exercise around central.”

While a fourth agreed that the animals were from the royal cavalry but disagreed on their regiment.

“It’s King’s Troop, Royal Horse Artillery. The Household Cavalry have black horses and would be wearing blue or red silks, depending on regiment (Blues & Royals or Life Guards). They’d also only lead 1 horse, not two like in this video.

“However they look like the Kings Troop Royal Horse Artillery – who may be rehearsing for the ceremonial events this year for the jubilee.

Others were distracted by something else, and instead more interested in the house from where the pictures were taken. One person said,

“I don’t know anything about the horses but can I just say I often walk past your flats and envy the people who live there, they’re absolutely gorgeous

While another added: “I was going to mention this too, I’ve walked past them since childhood and it’s always been a dream of mine to live there.”

Regards Mark

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/other/londoners-left-baffled-as-parade-of-30-horses-spotted-walking-along-battersea-street/ar-AATyxoU?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531#image=1

 

Environmental

Global warming – the reality delivers a tragedy

It’s a hard life for reindeer in Lapland.
They have to fight their way through the snow for half a year to get to the scarce food.
At first it sounds positive that future winters in Lapland will be an average of 3 degrees warmer due to climate change.
But less cold and less snow will become a big problem for the reindeer.

The Arctic is warming particularly quickly

The Arctic is considered an early warning system for climate change.
Because global warming is particularly severe there.
Air and water temperatures are rising much faster than the global average.

The Arctic climate report from May 2021 states that the mean air temperature north of the Arctic Circle has risen by 3.1 degrees Celsius over the past 50 years.
As a result, the Arctic is warming three times faster than the world. And so not only the reindeer, but also other fellow sufferers get into trouble particularly quickly.

The ice Bear

Asleep on an ice floe, this polar bear looks so peaceful and cozy plush. But he is in great danger. © picture alliance / imageBROKER, FLPA/Malcolm Schuyl

He is the symbol for climate change: the polar bear, whose paws are melting away the pack ice.
The polar bears hunt seals on the huge ice surfaces, which consist of ice floes that have been pushed together.
In holes in the pack ice, the seals gasp for air – and the polar bears shut.
By 2050, a third of the world’s polar bear populations could be gone if global warming continues to melt the pack ice, WWF estimates.
Because the polar bears are starving, are weakened for hunting, have fewer offspring, but instead face more competition from other bear species on the mainland and ultimately die exhausted.

The arctic fox

So cute and so endangered: the arctic fox is one of the animal species most threatened by climate change. © picture alliance / imageBROKER, W. Rolfes

If the polar bears die, the arctic foxes also lose an important food source.
They often follow the white giants on their hunt for prey to get hold of the leftovers of the polar bear’s meal.

The arctic fox survives temperatures down to -50 degrees.
But when the winters get warmer, he gets competition from the red fox, which pushes further and further north.
And because the red fox is bigger and stronger than the arctic fox, the latter often comes out on top.
Its camouflage – white fur in winter and grey-brown fur in summer – also fails as the snow melts earlier and earlier.

The walrus

The walrus is also poorly off in climate change. It loves and needs ice floes, but they are dwindling.

Like polar bears, walruses depend on the pack ice and its ice floes.
They can’t swim and dive that long, so they need frequent resting places.
When there is no ice, the massive marine mammals congregate on the narrow coastal strips, e.g. the Russian Arctic coast.

In these places it sometimes gets so narrow that young animals are crushed, mass panics arise and animals fall off the cliffs in search of a resting place.

The Narwhal

The narwhals cannot defend themselves against climate change with their “dagger”.

The narwhals, the unicorns of the sea, are hit twice by climate change.
The melting of the ice not only changes their hunting, resting and feeding grounds, the animals are also exposed to mercury.
The mercury blown into the atmosphere by coal-fired power plants entered the Arctic ice with air currents and precipitation. The rising temperatures are now ensuring that the ice is melting and the toxic contaminated sites are being released.

Unlike other animals, narwhals cannot get rid of environmental toxins.
They have no hair or feathers to lose.

https://www.wetter.de/cms/rentier-polarfuchs-und-eisbaer-die-tiere-der-arktis-verhungern-mit-der-erderwaermung-4911575.html

And I mean…Now there are gloomy forecasts
The earth has already warmed up by a good one degree.
If carbon dioxide continued to be emitted as it has been up to now, its content in the atmosphere could double in the next 60 to 80 years compared to the time before industrialization.

By the way: The lion’s share of environmental pollution is caused by the so-called “civilized” world.

Due to the warming of the earth, the poles are melting and the sea level is rising, new heat records are being reported year after year, meat consumption and water-intensive agriculture are increasing worldwide, therefore rainforest is being cut down cheerfully and diligently, the emissions of the civilized, “developing” world are increasing rapidly.

Why isn’t there actually a forecast of what will happen if the temperature rises by 3 degrees?

Because it’s probably the more realistic thing, so it’s better not to mention it at all, our experts and politicians do that as a profession, because then it has no consequence, just don’t mention it, then there will be no panic and enough illusion

Global warming will have an enormous impact on human living conditions.
There will be great damage for private individuals but also for entire economies.
There will be migration movements and associated attempts to defend themselves.
There will be clashes between states over access to resources.
It is to be expected that these clashes will not be free of violence.

Climate protection does not only mean showing consideration for nature and animals, but preserving living conditions and avoiding economic damage.

We can no longer prevent climate change, but we must do our part to slow it down – so that we can continue to survive on our planet.

The first and fundamentally most important contribution would be the abolition of factory farming and the renunciation of meat and animal products.

My best regards to all, Venus

Hunting

Iceland ends cruel whaling from 2024

Iceland plans to end all whaling from 2024, Minister of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Svandis Svavarsdottir said in a column in the Morgunbladid newspaper on Friday.

“There are few justifications to authorize the whale hunt beyond 2024,” the minister said, adding that, as things stand, it is highly likely that the practice will be banned when the current quotas end.

Whaling, which was re-authorized for commercial purposes in 2006, is becoming less economically justifiable, with only one whale killed in the past three years.

“There can be several reasons for this, but perhaps the simple explanation is that there have been sustained losses from this type of fishing,” she said.

Demand for whale meat from Iceland has dropped massively since Japan re-authorized whaling in 2019 after it withdrew from the International Whaling Commission (IWC).

Whalers in Iceland have also been required to go further afield to hunt the creatures after a no-fishing coastal zone was extended.

Iceland-Whale hit by exploding projectiles bleeds to death slowly and painfully – That’s how cruel whaling is

Social distancing due to the coronavirus has also rendered Iceland’s whale meat processing plants inoperable.

Amid widespread condemnation of the industry, Iceland is one of the few nations, along with Norway and Japan, that still allows commercial whale hunts.

2018 was the last full whaling season, with 146 fin whales and six minke whales killed.

https://www.rt.com/news/548371-iceland-whale-hunt-ban/

And I mean..Those responsible in the Icelandic government should have come to this good decision much earlier, because the demand for whale meat has fallen sharply.

There is absolutely no justification for getting involved in this incredibly cruel industry.
Iceland’s government generally allows minke whales to be caught as a sideline for fishermen, but it also gives the monopoly on the killing of the world’s second largest species, the fin whale, to an one alone millionaire, Kristján Loftsson.

No other country hunts this endangered species, no other country has exported such mountains of whale meat in the last 20 years as the northern European island state.
Iceland used to be one of the most active whaling countries.

Thousands of blue, fin and humpback whales died in Icelandic waters from the early 20th century to 1989. The small country benefited primarily from exports of whale products to Japan.

Luckily the harpoons have been dormant since 2019, the fishing fleet has been in port ever since and the chances of ending this massacre forever and ever are good; we only hope that Minister Svandis Svavarsdottir sticks to his sensible decision.

Like Japanese whaling, whaling in Iceland was just a bloody massacre, benefiting very few and harming very many.
First of all the animals.

“Scientific research” as a hunting ground for whaling has always been a cynical joke.
It’s about jobs and subsidies.
But developments in Iceland suggest the last remaining whalers have gone out of business

What the Icelandic government has done to these animals up until now has been a moral bankruptcy.
High time to abolish that

My best regards to all, Venus

Farm Animals

South Korea withdrews its plans for the new horsemeat pet food factory!

Published February 1, 2022 by Elena Waldman.

Progress!

Plans for a new horsemeat pet food factory in South Korea have been nixed!
Keep reading to see how PETA and local activists pushed for this victory.

PETA’s investigation into horse slaughter in South Korea revealed that horses who were retired from being forced to race (most with American parents or who were U.S.-born) and other horses were abused and killed at a massive slaughterhouse in Jeju.
PETA documented that workers and drivers repeatedly beat panicked horses in the face while they unloaded them and killed other horses in front of them.
Several workers and the slaughterhouse itself were convicted and fined, and the shocking video made waves around the world—to South Korea’s shame.

One of the horses killed, Cape Magic, had arrived with a large bandage on his leg, and PETA learned that he’d come straight from a track where he’d been forced to race less than three days before.
This precipitated a health scandal when it was discovered that during this time he’d been administered phenylbutazone—a drug prohibited in animals for human consumption.

After an outcry—which caused the demand for horsemeat to plummet further—Jeju officials announced a new horsemeat certification program for restaurants that promised not to use meat from horses forced to race.

However, the racing industry continued to cast off injured and unsuccessful horses—about 1,600 each year.
So Jeju proposed a new plan to profit from this pipeline—a new factory to kill horses for pet food. But the public doesn’t want dangerous drugs in the food of companion animals.
Local animal rights groups and civic groups spoke out against the proposal and agitated for a humane retirement system for horses.

Both Jeju Vegan and Animal Freedom Coalition started holding regular marches from the racetrack to the slaughterhouse.

When South Korean–owned horse Knicks Go won the famed Breeders’ Cup Classic race in November, a PETA activist got herself invited into the winner’s circle, where she unfurled a sign with a message that U.S. media couldn’t decipher but that Koreans couldn’t miss: “Korea Racing Authority, how dare you turn racehorses into dog food!”

As a result of this pressure at home and abroad, Jeju withdrew its plans for the new horsemeat pet food factory!

However, the flow of horses to existing slaughterhouses continues, and Korea still lacks an aftercare system for horses. You can help—please tell the Korea Racing Authority (KRA) to renounce horse slaughter and designate 3% of prize money to create a comprehensive retirement plan for horses formerly used for racing. Take action below:

https://investigations.peta.org/south-korea-horse-slaughter/#action

https://www.peta.org/blog/plans-for-south-korean-horsemeat-pet-food-factory-have-been-scrapped/

And I mean…Koreans bet more than $8 billion on horse racing every year.
So that the industry is always supplied with new horses (also for breeding), many animals are imported from America.
But some are not fast runners and as a result 1,600 horses are eliminated from the racing industry each year because they are no longer performing as intended.

One thing is certain: not only in South Korea, but also in Mexico, Argentina, Canada and the USA horsemeat is produced under dramatic circumstances.
Every year, the Netherlands imports meat from around 60,000 horses from Argentina, Uruguay, Mexico, the USA and Canada.
Most of the horsemeat in the world comes from these countries.

This meat is either exported or further processed for various snacks, horse steaks or smoked horse meat products.
A scam for the consumer is the supermarkets’ claim that the meat is also produced overseas under strict EU guidelines that guarantee animal welfare !!

What the horses go through before they are slaughtered until they are offered for consumption in our shops and restaurants is beyond horrific, both videos from South Korea and the Netherlands proved it (although coming from different corners of the world).

(The video is in Dutch, but you don’t necessarily have to understand the language, the language of the pictures is enough)

Horses aren’t the only animals to suffer either.
Such videos have often shocked and will continue to do so.
But the fact is that in Germany as well as in other countries, meat from torture production is imported and offered, while they advertise sustainability, animal welfare, controls and other phrases.

The market is dominated by a few import companies. Their statements regarding animal welfare and consumer protection are in stark contrast to the cruel reality, and as the undercover videos prove.

Without lies and hypocrisy, the meat industry would have been bankrupt long ago.

My best regards to all, Venus

Environmental, General News, Uncategorized

USA: (Alaska) Iditarod, The Worlds Cruelest Dog Race, Starts 5/3/22. It Must Be Stopped. Take Action Here.

Alaska’s dangerous Iditarod dog race is set to begin on March 5. And despite the fact that the 2022 death race hasn’t even started yet, already at least one dog has been killed. Just last month while training for the Iditarod, a team of dogs was hit by a truck. One of the dogs, Noddy, was killed.

Last year, in addition to holding in-person protests, PETA exposed abundant abuse during the race:

  • Nearly 200 dogs were pulled off the trail during the race because of exhaustion, illness, injury, or other causes.
  • Musher Dallas Seavey finished first after four dogs he pushed beyond the breaking point had to be removed from the trail.
  • Musher Martin Buser apparently put an injured dog back in the harness and forced him or her to continue racing, despite video footage showing the dog limping.
  • This pointless, cruel race is a matter of life and death for dogs.
  • Please take action now to urge companies to drop their Iditarod sponsorships.

Take action for dogs:

Note that here you can send several messages one at a time – simply follow the send instructions to each supporter company:

The Deadly Iditarod Race Should Be Terminated: Here’s Why (peta.org)

Watch the video of abuses:

It’s been reported that in the first Iditarod race, at least 15 dogs died—and the body count has continued to pile up since then.

Other dogs barely make it out alive. Take 2021’s race: By the time it ended on March 18, nearly 200 dogs had been pulled off the trail because of exhaustion, illness, injury, and other causes, forcing the rest to work even harder. Musher Dallas Seavey—who has raced dogs who have tested positive for opioids, operates a kennel accused of killing dogs who didn’t make the grade, and owns property where a whistleblower reported finding dying puppies—finished first after four dogs he pushed beyond the breaking point had to be removed from the race. Musher Brenda Mackey admitted that she pulled out of the race after the dogs she forced to run suffered from “the most awful diarrhea I’ve ever seen,” violently vomited, and developed aspiration pneumonia, the leading cause of death for dogs in the Iditarod. And musher Martin Buser apparently put an injured dog back in the harness and forced him or her to continue racing.

Discover nine other reasons why the Iditarod is a deadly nightmare for dogs forced to race:

Dog deaths in the Iditarod are so routine that the official rules call some of them an “Unpreventable Hazard.”

The Iditarod has killed more than 150 dogs since it began in 1973. Five died in 2017 alone. In just the last decade, dogs competing in the event have died from various causes, including asphyxiation, heart attacks, trauma from being struck by a vehicle, freezing to death, excess fluid in the lungs, and acute aspiration pneumonia—caused by inhaling vomit.

If the dogs don’t die on the trail, they’re still left permanently scarred.

The American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine reported that more than 80 percent of the dogs who finish the Iditarod sustain persistent lung damage. A separate study in the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine showed that dogs forced to take part in endurance racing had a 61% higher rate of stomach erosions or ulcers. And in a paper in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise—the official journal of the American College of Sports Medicine—researchers concluded that dogs used in sled races suffer from airway dysfunction similar to “ski asthma” (an asthma-like condition caused by intense exercise in cold weather), which persists even after four months of rest.

There’s no retirement plan.

Breeders of dogs used in sledding have freely admitted that “surplus” dogs are killed. They may be killed if they aren’t fast or fit enough for competition or if they don’t meet certain aesthetic standards—for example, if they have white paw pads. Dogs who finish the race but are no longer useful to the industry may be shot, drowned, or abandoned to starve.

Even when the race ends, dogs’ misery doesn’t.

A PETA eyewitness worked at two dog kennels owned by former Iditarod champions and found widespread neglect and suffering there. Dogs were denied veterinary care for painful injuries; kept constantly chained in the bitter cold with only drafty, dilapidated boxes or plastic barrels for “shelter”; and forced to run even when they were exhausted and dehydrated.

Dogs pull mushers’ sleds up to 100 miles a day.

During the race, they’re expected to run approximately 1,000 miles in less than two weeks, and race rules mandate only 40 hours of rest over the entire span of the race. They’re prohibited from taking shelter during any part of the race, except for veterinary exams or treatment.

As many as half the dogs who start the Iditarod don’t finish

Injured, sick, and exhausted dogs are often “dropped” at checkpoints, but event rules require that only dogs who started the race be allowed to finish, meaning that the remaining animals must work under even more grueling circumstances, pulling even more weight.

No dog would choose to run in this arctic nightmare.

Orthopedic injuries are the number one reason that dogs are “dropped” from the Iditarod—which makes it clear that no dog, regardless of breed, is capable of handling the grueling race on ice, through wind, snowstorms, and subzero temperatures. Even wearing booties, many incur bruised, cut, or swollen feet. They also suffer from bleeding stomach ulcers, pull or strain muscles, and sustain other injuries.

Thousands of dogs are bred each year for sled racing.

While only a few dozen dogs raised for the race will ultimately be deemed fit enough to compete, many more will be kept tethered and chained for most of their lives, some with nothing more than dilapidated plastic crates as their shelter.

Dogs at dogsled breeding compounds have died of numerous ailments.

Some have frozen to death, while others have died of complications from eating rocks—presumably a result of the intense frustration of spending years on a chain.

Dogs Deserve Far Better Than a Lifetime of Isolation, Cruelty, Suffering, and Death on the Iditarod Trail

The Deadly Iditarod Race Should Be Terminated: Here’s Why (peta.org)

Regards Mark

 

 

Environmental, General News, Uncategorized

Netherlands: Dutch Owned Super Trawler Spills 100,000 Dead Fish Off French Coast. Disgusting.
The FV Margiris uses giant drag nets more than a kilometre long. Pic: Sea Shepherd France
© Other The FV Margiris uses giant drag nets more than a kilometre long. Pic: Sea Shepherd France
The images of the massive spill have ben described as 'shocking'. Pic: Sea Shepherd France
© Other The images of the massive spill have ben described as ‘shocking’. Pic: Sea Shepherd France

An investigation has been ordered after the world’s second-biggest trawler shed more than 100,000 dead fish into the Atlantic, sparking claims they were dumped deliberately.

The spill from the FV Margiris off the French coast was caused by a tear in the super trawler’s net, according to the fishing industry group PFA, which represents the vessel’s owner.

Footage of the giant floating carpet of dead fish in the Bay of Biscay was taken by environmental campaign group Sea Shepherd France.

France’s maritime minister Annick Girardin has described the images as “shocking” and said she had asked the country’s national fishing surveillance authority to investigate.

The fish were blue whiting, a sub-species of cod, which is used by the industry to mass-produce fish fingers, fish oil and meal.

Sea Shepherd France has cast doubt on claims it was accident and believes the fish were discharged on purpose.

The group’s head, Lamya Essemlali, said: “It’s forbidden for a fishing vessel to throw overboard bycatch.

“It is supposed to bring the bycatch to port and to make a declaration.

“The EU regulation has been implemented so that we can reduce the non-selective fishing methods because it’s very demanding, time-consuming and costs money for a fishing vessel to go back to port and unload the bycatch, and then go back at sea.

“So the temptation is big for these vessels at sea without any witness, any control, to just throw overboard all the bycatch and stay in the area, and keep on fishing.”

She added: “There is total impunity at sea. There is no control, no witnesses and no fines.

“There is a lot of money to be made and we have to improve the controls at sea, we have to put remote e-monitoring cameras onboard all the fishing vessels.”

Trawlers like the Margiris use giant drag nets more than a kilometre long and process the fish on-board.

Ms Essemlali said: “It has an impact on the fish population itself but also it has an impact on the predators, like dolphins, because the fish that these super trawlers are fishing are the main preys of dolphins and sharks. And basically, we are driving dolphins to starvation.”

Thousands of dead dolphins have washed up on France’s Atlantic coast over the past years.

Following protests by activists against super trawlers, the Margiris was forced to leave Australian waters in 2012.

Traffic data by marinetraffic.com on Friday showed the vessel, which is owned by the Dutch company Parleviliet & Van der Plas and sails under the flag of Lithuania, was still fishing off the French coast.

Super trawler spills 100,000 dead fish off French coast (msn.com)

Regards Mark

Read more here:

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/pictured-european-trawler-dumps-100-000-fish-in-the-atlantic/ar-AATv4lZ?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531
Over 100,000 dead fish were dumped by a European trawe off the coast of La Rochelle, western France - Sea Shepherd
© Sea Shepherd Over 100,000 dead fish were dumped by a European trawer off the coast of La Rochelle, western France – Sea Shepherd

The dead fish carpeted the surface of the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of France - Sea Shepherd
© Provided by The Telegraph The dead fish carpeted the surface of the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of France – Sea Shepherd

Trawlers like the Margiris use drag nets measuring over a kilometre in length and process the fish in on-board factories, a practice heavily criticised by environmentalists.

Following protests by activists, the Margiris was forced to leave Australian waters in 2012.