Phil and I have been friends for what ?; probably 35+ years now.
In the early days we really got to know each other through our live animal (transport) export work from the Kent ports in South East England.
When I was undertaking stray dog and cat issues in Serbia – visit my old site at Serbian Animals Voice (SAV) | a voice for the voiceless – now an archive site only; I would sometimes get sidetracked into other issues of animal welfare, such as farm animals and the disposal of animal carcasses on the roadside.
I worked with another Phil (Brooke) at Compassion In World Farming re the terrible conditions in which farm animals were being kept – you can read about it and see some photos here:
Like other issues I have covered on this site associated with the battles with the Serbian government, the government always adopts the policy of them being right and us being wrong when they are presented with evidence of abuses. In the following link you can see the bodies of dead pigs which were literally dumped by farmers next to a min highway. You have to remember that we were working to improve conditions for stray animals, which included disease monitoring. Simply dumping dead farm animals on the roadside to (possibly) be picked at and eaten by stray dogs is not an ideal situation as you can appreciate. See our photos here:
I have kept Phil informed at different times about the situation for animals in Serbia as personally |I consider it is not good to say the least !
Moving along; after many years of work associated with campaigns, I am now pleased to see that Phil is the CEO of the much respected farm animal welfare organisation ‘Compassion In World Farming’ (CIWF). We still communicate and pass information over when necessary.
Here is an article by Phil associated with all the climate change issues in Australia. There is a disturbing video which shows cattle being sept away by the torrential waters of the floods. I will leave it with Phil to tell you more.
Regards Mark
What the ‘rain bomb’ in Australia tells us about our world bt Phil Lymbery (CEO CIWF)
Three weeks ago, as Russia invaded Ukraine, a tragedy of a different sort was rocking Australia, as a ‘rain bomb’ hit New South Wales and Queensland. The region was being hit by floods for a second year in a row. The extent and depth of this latest flooding is hard to believe. Record levels of water. Tragic deaths. Hundreds of displaced people and their pets. And I am very sorry to say, literally thousands of dead animals: domestic, farmed and wild.
Video:
The video of a farmer’s 300-strong dairy herd being caught in the deep water, with half the herd being washed away, will stay with me forever.
Scientific assessment
As Australian lives were being lost, both human and animal, with homes, cars and livelihoods being destroyed, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was publishing its latest update on the state of the planet.
It had a sobering message.
Climate change is already here and is causing widespread losses, but is set to get worse. The crisis is upon us, much earlier than first thought. Warming effects on ecosystems are being experienced earlier, are more widespread, and have greater consequences than anticipated.
Too little
While global attempts by humankind to adapt to the worsening climate hazards have increased, most of it is still too little, too late.
In many ways, Australia’s situation reflects the situation felt by many.
The Australian people are angry at their government for being too slow to cut carbon emissions and invest in renewables. A report published at the COP26 global summit last year backs up that assessment. It ranked Australia last among 60 countries for policy responses to the climate crisis, largely down to a stubborn reliance on coal-powered energy and coal exports.
But many other governments are equally slow to accept what scientists have been saying for years – we have to transform the way the world produces, consumes and thinks about food.
Without transformational change in the global food sector, the world will fall perilously short of sustainability targets set by world leaders for 2030. By Compassion In World Farming’s own analysis, without a move away from industrial animal agriculture – factory farming – several crucial Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will be rendered unreachable.
Taking action
We are a world in turmoil facing a planetary crisis like no other. And this is the critical decade for securing a liveable, sustainable future for our children.
We know the answers, but will humanity heed them?
As Australia starts the massive clean-up operation and tragically counts the dreadful loss of life, what will it take for governments around the world to recognise the severity of climate change?
What is becoming ever clearer is that actions speak louder than words; climate breakdown is happening now; our planet won’t wait any longer, and neither should we.
Philip Lymbery | Australia: ‘It’s raining, it’s pouring, the PM is snoring’
World Animals Voice 