All across Europe, billions of animals endure unimaginable suffering every day, as current EU laws continue to fall short in providing them the protection they desperately need. NGOs Eurogroup for Animals and FOUR PAWS have teamed up to host the photo exhibition Silent Suffering which will expose the pain and distress endured by farmed, companion, wild, and aquatic animals.
The invite-only event will take place on 1 October at the Royal Library of Belgium in Brussels, bringing together MEPs and representatives of animal protection organisations from across Europe.
The photos, put forward by Eurogroup for Animals’ member and partner organisations are spread across nine categories: cage farming, transport, broiler chickens, aquatics, fur farming, animals in science, large carnivores, pets, and trade.
Why this exhibition matters now
As the European Commission prepares to enter a new term, FOUR PAWS and Eurogroup for Animals call for animal welfare to be a priority, and for a revision of the outdated animal welfare legislation to be put forward without further delay.
Sir Brian May, Queen Rock Band lead guitarist, co founder of animal welfare organisation ‘Save Me’, https://savemetrust.co.uk/ and a Doctor of Astrophysics, has resigned as Vice President of the RSPCA after 11 years as he considers the farm assured scheme as promoted by the RSPCA is in fact, anything but.
Almost 4,000 farms are certified RSPCA Assured, which indicates that their meat, fish, eggs and dairy products have been produced to strict standards which exceed the UK’s legal requirements.
Here Brian plays lead guitar – the singer is the brilliant Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant – or ‘Planty’; This event took place at Wembley Stadium, LONDON on Easter Monday, 20th April 1992 for a Freddie Mercury (Queen vocalist) tribute concert.
As animal campaigners, we can all appreciate how very difficult it must be to pack up and walk away from a positions such as this. The RSPCA are a fantastic charity who get NO funding from the government – they live solely through donations and legacies such as funds left by the public in personal Wills.
Regardless of this particular issue, I do, and will continue to give a small monthly donation to the RSPCA – why ? – because I have full respect and support for all the wonderful works they do in other areas; rescuing animals from suffering and harm; campaigning against animal cruelty, undercover work in dog fighting for example. Like Brian, I have very serious concerns about their farm assured labelling; and serious concerns anyway about all animals kept under the ‘farming’ umbrella; but this does not automatically stop me making a monthly donation. For many now, times have gotten that bit harder financially, and all charities are grateful for any support given to them.
So, they still get a little support from me regardless of how I feel specifically about the farm assured labelling. Policy can and is already underway to be changed in this area; animal cruelty does not stop overnight, so for me and the RSPCA, it is because of their other work that I still support.
Sadly, the farm assured scheme has been questioned for many years by us in the AR camp; but I am now pleased to see Bri put his words into actions; and for this I support him 110%. In 2023, Chris Packham, known to many UK viewers for he BBC Watch series – Springwatch, Autumnwatch etc became the President the the RSPCA. Chris is also a massive AW person and is Patron of many fine UK animal organisations, such as World Land, Animal Aid and Compassion In World Farming. I understand that for years Chris has been saying that the RSPCA farm assured scheme must be scrapped; but I suggest that some others in the organisations fight to keep the scheme going.
So back to Brian – Fully respected and understood reason why you decided to leave as VP. Hopefully the RSPCA will review their farm assured policies and as such, will bring back to the British Public the respect they deserve when they see the sticky label on food in their local supermarkets. A label which should mean that their food products are produced to the highest animal welfare standards.
Most Brits care a lot about animal welfare – I know cos I am one of them ! As a consequence they have a right to know that what the food label says in what they as consumers get; a guarantee that the labelling means that their food is produced to the highest standards and that NO cruelty takes place when to comes to animals raised.
We now wait to hear what the RSPCA is going to do.
In he meantime, well done Sir Brian for speaking out; full respect for this and all your badger work.
You may have heard of this … TELEGRAM is the main platform for the Cat Torture Groups, for the reasons given below – the total lack of control, the strong encryption and no one, not even law enforcement, knows what is happening behind these closed doors.
Dear all, we apologize for being quiet on the issue in the recent 3 months. This is not due to there not being any reportable news, but due to private health-related issues of our own, which has caused us, and me, to withdraw for a while. There was certainly no holiday involved …
So there is news, some good and some bad.
Please view the accompanying video on FB – we cannot upload it here:
A professor was placed on leave — prohibiting him from conducting research or teaching — days after he started his new job at Rutgers University, university officials said.
Xiaobing Zhang, an associate professor at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in Newark, was put on leave Sept. 14, shortly after the university received a letter from an animal rights group saying he was barred from his previous research lab at Florida State University following accusations involving the mistreatment of animals.
Bad news: Member States propose to downgrade the protection status of the wolf, against science and public opinion
25 September 2024
Press Release
Wolves are likely to no longer be strictly protected as the Council of the European Union has adopted the proposal by the European Commission (EC) to request a downgrade of their protection status under the Bern Convention. This move seriously jeopardises the conservation efforts of the past decade and prioritises politics over science and data, while sending a dramatic message on the future of co-existence.
In December 2023, the EC published a proposal to downgrade the strict protection of wolves at international level, in a move that has been considered widely political. Now that Member States have voted in favour of a downgrade, the proposal must be endorsed formally at ministerial level, in time for the request to be presented and voted upon at the next Standing Committee meeting of the Bern Convention in December. If adopted, this could be translated in the EU under the Habitats Directive, giving flexibility to Member States to authorise the unnecessary culling of these majestic animals.
In the past decade, the EU has invested significant resources towards the recovery of wolves, resulting in an increase of 25% in population. Yet, populations have not yet reached a favourable conservation status and the proposal to downgrade their protection seriously jeopardises conservation efforts.
Hundreds of civil society organisations have urged the EU to strengthen the protection of wolves, not reduce it, as wolves are apex predators vital in ecosystem stability, and in the current global biodiversity crisis, their role cannot be compromised. The protection of wolves is also supported by the general public as 68% of inhabitants of rural areas state that the wolf should remain strictly protected. Over 300,000 citizens have also called for wolves to remain strictly protected.
The EU has funded innovative projects across Europe that have proven co-existence is possible and attacks on livestocks can be significantly reduced with preventive measures. The EC admitted, in its in-depth analysis, that culling is not a solution to protect farmed animals from depredation contrary to coexistence measures. It is therefore alarming to see that the EU, instead of further promoting and supporting such efforts, has opted to downgrade the protection status, giving way to unnecessary suffering.
Wolves are our allies, not our enemies and it is crucial to protect them. Member States are dangerously failing their mission to protect wild animals and our shared ecosystem. This is a very outrageous move and shows that Member States are ignoring their citizens’ calls and science. Facilitating culling sends a dramatic message on the future of conservation and coexistence. We urge the other parties to the Bern Convention to reject this proposal and protect wild animals in the EU and beyond and continue to champion biodiversity protection at the global level.
Léa Badoz, Wildlife Programme Officer, Eurogroup for Animals.
World Animals Voice 