England 17/7. It is hot here today, and has been for most of the last week. Tomorrow and Tuesday, the Met Office has put out Red alerts – the very highest heat conditions which could be expected – like 40+ C for England ! – come on man; no its true, conditions which have never reached these temperatures before are expected in the next few days.
Southern Europe, Spain, Portugal and France have experienced even higher temperatures. Everyone is saying it is global waring causing this, but the other question is ‘anything being done abut it really ?’
I went out this morning and put fresh water into all the water compartments that we have in the garden – currently about 7; in conditions like this especially everyone must ensure that animals have lots of fresh cool water to drink and bathe in. I took these pictures of all the birds enjoying their morning bath earlier, cleaning their feathers down and ridding themselves of all the dust, whilst having a good drink at the same time.
A lot of people from overseas would probably not associate London and the South east of England with Parakeets; but there are thousands of them flying freely in and around the area. Animal buddy Pauline sent me thee pictures of London area Parakeets – they don’t squark Cockney yet but I guess it is just a matter of time.
Talking of Cockney me old China’s, have a butchers at this and learn:
Joking aside, it is conditions like this, temperatures like this, which especially bring home the suffering that must be endured by crated animals all across Europe. It is now time to break the cages and liberate all the animals – you can do this (if you live in an EU member state) by adding your name to the citizens charter to free all the caged animals. Here is a link which provides all the details – watch the video and then take action:
The birds in the garden are free; they can bathe and wash down in stifling conditions like we are currently experiencing. Animals in cages do not have that pleasure; such is the want of man. Speak for them, break the cages and set them all free now. Please sign the petition (EU citizens) or pass to others that can.
I feel it is necessary to show this which has been sent over from Stacey – you know that I always publish her articles when they are sent.
It does relate to Earthling Ed as per the above post, but shows his discussions with a student and strict carnivore at UC Berkley.
Ed says, “In today’s debate I end up in a heated discussion with a UC Berkeley student who defiantly tells me that he won’t give up eating chicken. The debate takes a series of strange and unusual turns and is filled with some very interesting arguments. How do you think it went?”
Going to lay down a few facts not exactly related to EE, but that are important to write.
Veganism is for non-human animals. Just animals, trillions of whom are violently killed YEARLY. Animals are the victims of human supremacy, humans are not the victims of human supremacy. There are thousands of groups, organizations, and movements for humans that EXCLUDE non-human animals, so people wanting to include humans in the ONE movement for animals confuse me:
Advocating for animal liberation, is animal liberation FROM HUMANS.
I’m vegan for animals. Who is vegan for humans?
Most vegans I know also advocate on behalf of humans, note keyword of “direct”, such as “active” below, although veganism has tangential benefits to humans (environment, health), since the focus is animals, these benefits are not required:
Vegans can directly limit human suffering (actively participate in human-focused causes, goals, movements).
Vegans can also NOT directly limit human suffering (not actively participate in human-focused causes, goals, movements).
Vegans canNOT, however, NOT directly limit animal suffering (as vegans, we consume pbd – plant based diets – and reject products tested on animals, entertainment using animals, clothing including animals, etc., and if you do not do these, you’re not vegan).
In other words, ANIMALS ARE THE FOCUS OF VEGANISM. Not humans.
I’m baffled that people want to include humans in the ONE movement that seeks to liberate animals from humans.
As to EE’s video above, at some point humans have to decide to be the intellectual giants they claim to be or continue being the absolutely foolish, greedy, violent killers they are. If we were not talking about the mass, incalculable suffering, and violent death required to violate and kill trillions of animals yearly, this would be parody. It’s embarrassing that humans devolve into comatose comedians when asked to apply ethics to the ones who deserve it the most. SL
In today’s debate I end up in a heated discussion with a UC Berkeley student who defiantly tells me that he won’t give up eating chicken. The debate takes a series of strange and unusual turns and is filled with some very interesting arguments. How do you think it went?
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“I came across this story of a truck accident near Manchester, North England …” – Earthling Ed talks about his change from a KFC eater, through vegetarianism, to current Vegan, and being the co director of ‘Surge’, action for animals through a plant based diet.
28 Mar 2022 – Animal rights activist & YouTube superstar ‘Earthling Ed’ Winters joins Rich to make the moral and philosophical case for veganism. To read more about Ed and peruse the full show notes, go here👉🏾https://bit.ly/richroll670
All pics: Thailand Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation
More than 100 live animals found in women’s luggage
Two women have been arrested after trying to smuggle 109 live animals out of Thailand in their luggage.
Officers discovered 35 turtles, 50 chameleons, 20 snakes, two white porcupines and two armadillos in their bags.
The pair were trying to board a Thai Airways flight to India, and suspicions were raised following what was meant to be a routine X-ray inspection.
Officers discovered 35 turtles, 50 chameleons, 20 snakes, two white porcupines and two armadillos in their bags.
The pair were trying to board a Thai Airways flight to India, and suspicions were raised following what was meant to be a routine X-ray inspection.
Both have been arrested and charged with violations of Thailand’s Wildlife Preservation and Protection Act, Customs Act, and Animal Epidemic Act.
The incident happened at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport on Monday.
According to Traffic, a non-governmental organisation that monitors the trade of wild animals, such incidents are a “serious and growing” problem.
“It comprises the fourth-largest illegal trade worldwide after arms, drugs and human trafficking, and frequently links with other forms of serious crime such as fraud, money laundering, and corruption,” a March 2022 report warned.
Common motivations for wildlife smuggling include their use for food, traditional medicines, artefacts, fashion and exotic pets.
Between 2011 and 2020, Traffic’s research claims more than 70,000 wild animals – including their body parts or derivatives – were discovered at Indian airports.
And Chennai International Airport, where the arrested pair were travelling, had the highest number of wildlife seizure incidents in the country.
While Henry Hamilton-Smythe minor (8) was playing croquet with Cynthia Jane De Blaise-William (9), sweet-smiling Cynthia raised her mallet high and gracefully removed Henry’s head.
Two weeks later, in Henry’s nursery, she discovered his treasured musical box.
Eagerly she opened it and as “Old King Cole” began to play, a small spirit- figure appeared. Henry had returned – but not for long, for as he stood in the room his body began ageing rapidly, leaving a child’s mind inside.
A lifetime’s desires surged through him. Unfortunately the attempt to persuade Cynthia Jane to fulfill his romantic desire led his nurse to the nursery to investigate the noise. Instinctively Nanny hurled the musical box at the bearded child, destroying both.
Yesterday, the Home Office (UK) published the statistics of the number of animal experiments conducted in Britain in 2021. As usual these were shocking: there is no need for Britain to continue animal experiments –better, safer and kinder methods are available. It is very difficult to get access to laboratories due to high levels of secrecy in this cruel industry, and so the use of animation is a good way to give an insight into what happens to millions of animals each year.
Check out our brand-new animated film, for your quick and colourful guide to animal testing in Great Britain. The film explains about animal experiments – and the numerous non-animal methods, all of which are far more reliable than using animals. It is not gruesome or gory – and has lots of useful facts and figures! We hope that it will inspire people: You can take action by sharing our film with your friends!
This month is ‘plastic-free July’, a chance for us to reconsider our plastic consumption, which as we all know, is harming the planet, animals and marine life. With the sea change in public concern about climate change (sorry, couldn’t resist) there is some hope that we can start to repair the damage caused by our plastic habits, but we need to change those behaviours which caused it in the first place!
It’s also down to big companies to take seriously their responsibilities: You can help by starting up the conversation with local newspapers, TV and radio stations, about how supermarkets, restaurants, businesses, and delivery companies should be reducing their use of plastic.
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When you make a purchase from our wonderful Animal Aid shop you are also helping to fund our campaigns to protect animals.
We have a great range of plastic-free toiletries, cosmetics, sweet treats and gifts ideas – and we use biodegradable packing chips made from vegetable starch, instead of single-use plastic! Get shopping here
World Chocolate Day
On the 7th July it’s World Chocolate Day, so why not stock up on a few vegan goodies? Whether you’re a die-hard fan of the ‘Conscious’ chocolatiers, a vegetarian hoping to make the switch to vegan, or you’re just looking for gift ideas, browse our delicious chocolate range today! A few favourites from our team include Vego, Love Raw and Booja Booja!
We have had concerns about the UK – Australia Freer Trade Agreement (FTA) from the start. We expressed our concerns to UK government in June. See our original letter and the government response in the following links:
Whilst our concerns were based around animal welfare issues and antibiotic usage, pesticide usage has also raised its head as another topic. Pesticide limits in Australia are 200 times higher than the UK’s. Australia also have 144 licensed pesticides, whereas the UK only licenses 73 of these substances. So the questions have to be asked to the UK government about its environmental attitude when it appears to be rushing this FTA with Australia through without proper scrutiny from UK Parliament. The following article outlines the pesticide concerns.
Here is an article from ‘The Guardian’ newspaper in London,
UK trade deal with Australia amounts to ‘offshoring’ pesticide use, MPs say
A wheat crop in South Australia. ‘Pesticide limits in Australia are 200 times higher than the UK’s,’ said the MP Angus MacNeil. Photograph: David Gray/Reuters
Select committee says ministers want to rush through deal allowing food imports that fall below UK environmental standards
The government is rushing through a trade deal with Australia that would allow food produced with pesticides banned in the UK to be imported into the country, campaigners and MPs have said.
The international trade select committee in parliament has called for a vote on the deal, which would result in food produced below British domestic environmental standards being sold in the UK.
The SNP MP Angus MacNeil, who chairs the committee, said there was a risk that the deal would be rushed through without scrutiny by MPs, and that it amounted to “offshoring” pesticide use.
He told the Guardian: “There is no democratic input so far into the debate, and there will be pressure on government members to just push it through at the end of the month. We have asked that the time for approval be extended, that parliament gives us 21 more sitting days for parliamentarians to digest the report before ratification.
“As it stands, the UK could ratify this deal without any parliamentary vote whatsoever.”
The MP is calling for it to be put to a vote in parliament because “it is one of the most liberalising deals we’ve seen on agricultural standards”.
This week, the international trade secretary, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, skipped a session of the trade committee after the MPs accused her department of avoiding scrutiny on the issue.
“We had a fight with her yesterday,” MacNeil said. “The fallout we’ve had this week is the secretary of state not even turning up to the committee meeting.”
The Department for International Trade said at the time that Trevelyan pulled out because she was busy with other commitments.
MacNeil said the deal was far too liberalised on pesticides. “Pesticide limits in Australia are 200 times higher than the UK’s. They also have 144 licensed pesticides, whereas the UK only licenses 73 of these substances. The environmental movement talks about offshoring carbon; you could say that what we are doing is offshoring pesticides.”
Josie Cohen, the head of policy and campaigns at the charity Pesticide Action UK, said: “Australia uses toxic pesticides that are banned here on health and environmental grounds. They also permit residue levels many times more than in the UK. The government’s own advisers have conceded that overuse of pesticides in Australia will put our farmers at a disadvantage but claim existing border checks will keep food with high pesticide residues out.
“However, there is reason to believe that the UK’s border controls on food are nowhere near as robust as the government claims. Government ministers should not be running away from parliamentary committees with legitimate questions to ask – not least, what will the government do to keep consumers safe and why are they breaking their own manifesto commitment to maintain standards in trade deals?”
Orla Delargy, the head of public affairs at the charity Sustain, said: “Government appears to be trying to rush the UK-Australia deal through without giving parliament a chance to examine it properly. The government has yet to respond to the steer from its own advisers that our concerns about pesticides in Australian produce are valid and the food standards agencies have not examined the possible impact of this on public health, which feels like a huge oversight. Ministers have questions to answer about all of this – and parliament should not simply let them off the hook.”
A government spokesperson said: “Our trade deal with Australia does not create any new import permissions, and all agri-food products will continue to comply with our robust import requirements, including on pesticides.
“We have made enhanced commitments to scrutiny and transparency at every stage of negotiations for our agreement with Australia. This includes already giving parliament six months to scrutinise the legal text, in addition to the 21-day period provided by us triggering the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act process. The international trade secretary immediately offered an alternative two-hour slot on 6 July, which the committee has since accepted.”
Viva! urgently needs your help to end the suffering of ducks
Over two decades after we first exposed duck factory farming, comes the release of disturbing new footage from inside a filthy Lincolnshire duck egg farm – producers of Quack! Duck Eggs and suppliers of egg giants Stonegate and Noble Foods, who stock their products at major supermarkets Tesco, Morrisons, Waitrose and Ocado.
Following a tip off from an ex-worker, who reported extreme acts of animal cruelty and horrendous living conditions, Viva! Campaigns took immediate action and launched an investigation of Field Farm.
The undercover footage shows shocking scenes from inside the farm of lame birds dragging themselves over excreta-ridden barn floors using their wings and workers brutally killing ducks by dislocating their necks – a shockingly legal practice – and leaving lame, sick and blind birds to suffer in pain.
Here is a first-hand account of what an investigator found at the scene:
The smell was the first thing to hit me as I entered the farm and trudged through ankle-deep dirty layers of waterlogged straw; wet from leaked drinkers and rife with excreta. It was immediately clear that the conditions that these ducks live – and die – in are utterly appalling. Within seconds of being at the farm, I witnessed lame and injured ducks everywhere, left to suffer.
The drinking points, the only access to water these poor ducks have, were caked in dirt and, as a result, their drinking water was filthy and contaminated by the litter. Mice and pigeons accessed the ducks’ feed troughs.Viruses and bacteria could spread easily between ducks and wildlife.
I witnessed numerous lame ducks pushing themselves along this squalid litter on their bellies. They were unable to walk, so frantically flapped their wings in a bid to move. One duck I saw, walked with an unusual upright gait, her leg looked like it was rotting and the agony in her eyes was unmistakable. Other ducks had pecking injuries on their wings and the degradation these poor ducks faced, living like this, was almost too much to bear.
Help Viva! to expose the lies British consumers are being sold
Duck eggs are marketed as a luxury food in the UK, but the way that these intelligent animals are treated is abhorrent – British consumers are being sold a lie!
Will you help these poor defenceless ducks living in unsanitary conditions, pain and poor health?
We cannot turn our backs on animal suffering, and we will not. But we urgently need your help to support our ongoing investigations.
I am continually inspired by the overwhelmingly generous response that Viva! has from our supporters. Supporters just like you. Despite the cruelty, and horrific acts of senseless violence against animals carried out daily by humans, I never fail to be moved by how compassionate our supporters are. It reinforces my belief in humankind’s potential to improve the lives of animals and make a difference in the world. For this continued support and generosity, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Whatever you can give, small or large, thank you. Email Lincolnshire Co-op
We urge you to express your disgust, and ask that they permanentlydropthem as a supplier.
Cape Town – Anyone involved in trophy hunting has some level of moral disconnect, so the fact that President Cyril Ramaphosa was potentially involved in other crimes was not surprising.
This is the view of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), a non-profit animal rights organisation, in reaction to criminal investigations into Ramaphosa after millions of US dollars “concealed” in furniture on his Phala Phala farm in Limpopo were stolen – allegedly by a gang of Namibian nationals with the assistance of his domestic worker.
Ramaphosa is being investigated for alleged money laundering, defeating the ends of justice and kidnapping the suspects who were allegedly interrogated and breaching the Prevention of Organised Crime Act, no 121 of 1998 (“Poca”) and the Prevention of Corrupt Activities Act No12 of 2004 (“The Corruption Act”).
Ramaphosa has only confirmed that the matter was reported to the head of his security, and not the police.
It remains unclear whether Sars and the SA Reserve Bank have launched their investigations in relation to the breaching of the country’s laws around foreign currency.
In 2020, the same year of the theft of the money, PETA conducted an undercover investigation which revealed Ramaphosa’s alleged hidden connections and investments in the trophy hunting industry, after a hunting Safari owner was caught on video stating that the president had bought a 50% stake in their company.
In 2020, the same year of the theft of the money, PETA conducted an undercover investigation which revealed Ramaphosa’s alleged hidden connections and investments in the trophy hunting industry, after a hunting Safari owner was caught on video stating that the president had bought a 50% stake in their company.
“Footage reveals that Ramaphosa is quietly developing and expanding a trophy hunting property called Diepdrift — stocking it with animals from his own wildlife breeding operation, Phala Phala — and that he owns a 50% stake in Tsala Hunting Safaris. In other words, far from ‘conserving’ wildlife, wild animals are bred specifically to be killed for trophies.
PETA recorded conversations in which Ramaphosa’s managers admitted that he shares equally in the profits from all hunts conducted through Tsal and spoke of the importance of concealing his involvement,” the organisation said at the time.
“One person identified as the manager was quoted saying: ‘We try to keep the president’s name out of the hunting thing because … of all the greenies …. So he wanna spare himself this, how can I say, bad publicity and all of that.”
Following the PETA investigation, Ramaphosa distanced himself from the allegations last January, saying they were “unsubstantiated”.
In a statement he said: “Contrary to PETA’s assertions, neither Phala Phala nor I have a stake in the trophy hunting industry. It is furthermore also patently false that Phala Phala breeds game for the purpose of being sold to trophy hunters. Phala Phala is well known and recognised for its wildlife breeding and management practices that comply with the best ethical and lawful practice in the sector; as well as for its contribution to the racial transformation of the sector.”
PETA Asia Senior Vice-President Jason Baker yesterday told the Cape Times they were not surprised at recent developments concerning possible illegal activity involving Ramaphosa.
“We’re glad to see an investigation into the President’s animal breeding business, however we hope that authorities will also investigate the animal cruelty aspect of this. Anyone involved in trophy hunting has some level of moral disconnect, so the fact that the President is potentially involved in other crimes is not surprising,” said Baker.
“Animals shot by trophy hunters often endure a prolonged and painful death — simply so that hunters can chop off their heads and other body parts. The only solution to this is an end to trophy hunting, and we hope South African authorities will end this industry for good.”
“Animals shot by trophy hunters often endure a prolonged and painful death — simply so that hunters can chop off their heads and other body parts. The only solution to this is an end to trophy hunting, and we hope South African authorities will end this industry for good.”
Approached for comment on Wednesday, Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said they had nothing to add.
Meanwhile Ramaphosa is reportedly set co-chair the third session of the Namibia-South Africa Bi-National Commission (BNC) in Windhoek from June 28 to July 1, alongside his Namibian counterpart Hage Geingob.
Cape Times
Regards Mark
Comments from supporter Jack – thanks Jack:
Hunting in South Africa is out of control. The corruption at all levels of government. The so called “Farmers” 99% white apartheid people are at the core of Trophy hunting and poaching. The Private Rhino Owners Association is part of the Illegal Rhino horn trade. I lived in South Africa and witnessed this going on without any consequences.
World Animals Voice 