Category: Farm Animals

Farm Animals

Austria: Mickey and Jackie, the pigs from the animal factory freed again!

Update: Mickey and Jackie, whom the police evacuated and whom the owner of the pig factory absolutely did not want to sell, are now safe after all!

We reported about it: https://worldanimalsvoice.com/2021/08/06/austria-peaceful-animal-rights-activists-brutally-beaten/

As a reminder: First, last Thursday, they were freed from the largest pig fattening area in Burgenland (Austria) by strangers and taken over by animal rights activists who built them an outdoor enclosure.

People and pigs were together for 12 hours, the siblings were called Mickey and Jackie.

After the older managing director of the company had given the pigs to the Association against animal factories (VGT) and the latter wanted to have them picked up, the younger managing director apparently thwarted his plans at the urging of the Chamber of Agriculture.

Even a price of 3,000 euros could not soften him, instead he had the police forcefully evacuate the animal rights activists who had rallied around the pigs.
Then Mickey and Jackie were loaded up and taken to the slaughterhouse.
Goodbye, thought so many people who had suffered with the pigs.

But now the VGT has received very good news: the two pigs were again freed by strangers on Friday morning.

The two pigs Mickey and Jackie were simply left in the animal transport trailer overnight by the operator of the pig factory and had to wait for their death in a hall.

Photos show that they apparently stayed overnight in the tractor’s transport trailer, which was parked in a hall.
There he was found by strangers who took the two pigs away and brought them to safety.

Rescued again: Mickey and Jackie are now in an unknown location, safe from the authorities and the cells of the pig industry.

This is probably unique in the history of animal rights activism in Austria: two pigs that have been freed twice from the clutches of the animal industry.

The Chamber of Agriculture and the operator of the pig factory are now empty-handed. The Association against animal factories (VGT) has nothing to do with either exemption, the photos were only leaked to it.

The VGT is a media company and therefore does not have to name the sources from where it gets its information. On the other hand, the VGT is the legal owner of the two pigs, since they were given to him.

The pigs are now in an unknown location.

https://vgt.at/presse/news/2021/news20210807fg.php

And I mean…VGT chairman Martin Balluch is overjoyed: “Many thanks to the people who brought about this rescue. They are the real heroes of this story”!
Yes! Respect and thanks to the activists, we are also overjoyed!
We come back to the times of the ALF’s liberation actions.

Of course, the liberation of Mickey and Jackie is a symbol of the misery of all other captured pigs.
And a warning to the meat industry and its lobbyists: we are here and we are fighting with system and determination against the exploitation and slavery of animals.

My best regards to all, Venus

Farm Animals, General News

Germany-Alt Tellin: memorial for burned pigs

On March 30, 2021, 57,000 pigs were painfully burned in a stable fire near Alt Tellin / Vorpommern-Greifswald in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

We had already reported on this: https://worldanimalsvoice.com/2021/04/27/alt-tellin-germany-the-fukushima-of-meat-industry/

The operator of Europe’s largest pig breeding facility, LFD-Holding, has already violated the animal welfare law and fire protection measures in the past.

Despite massive protests from the local citizens’ initiative and pending legal proceedings, the construction of the facility was approved.
Again corrupt lobbyists were at work, and thus to blame for the cruel mass deaths of 57,000 living beings

A fire protection expert claims that Alt Tellin should never have been built like this.
The barn units were connected to each other, so there was only one way out in an emergency.
In addition, pigs do not flee by themselves. They need to be released from their stands and boxes. They have to be brought out, and young piglets even have to be carried out.
And that with 57,000 animals at the same time? Rescuing the animals was impossible for the firefighters on site.

The expert angrily points to the pig manure under the slatted floors, which ferments quickly. This produces digester gas containing methane.
From 4.4 percent methane in the air, this gas-air mixture is capable of deflagration and is highly flammable. And a fire can suddenly spread through this gas-air mixture.
For this reason the major fire in the Alt Tellin pig breeding facility was only a matter of time.

Despite the terrible tragedy, the Agriculture Minister of Mecklenburg = (a country in northeast Germany) plans to re-approve the burned down sow facility in Alt Tellin as a “model stable”!!

Nevertheless, there were many people who initiated a beautiful initiative against this mass death dispite the difficult times, and thus set an active sign that they have not forgotten the victims.


Last weekend, a memorial site was opened by the Schweineleben e. V. and the Lebenshof 198.
Together with other organizations and animal lovers, they would like to commemorate the victims of the fire and the animal industry.

Around 40 animal welfare organizations and individuals from different federal states took part in the campaign.
After all, they made and sent 57 wooden crosses, donated money for the campaign, or traveled specially to help set them up.

They are calling for a political response to the fire in the pig farm in Alt Tellin.

(all photos from the action: https://www.schweineleben.de/gedenkstaette-alt-tellin/)

Our thanks, respect and solidarity to all those involved in this beautiful campaign
We don’t forget Old Tellin.

My best regards to all, Venus

Farm Animals, General News

India: 6 Videos the Dairy Industry Hopes You’ll Never See. We Show Them Here !

Dear Mark,

Think animals don’t suffer or die for milk?

You are in for a surprise! Here are six videos that will open your eyes to the secret, shocking facts of “modern” milk production:

Click on the wording below to watch the very disturbing footage.

6 Videos the Dairy Industry Hopes You’ll Never See

1. Male calves – who obviously don’t produce milk – are routinely abandoned, left to starve, or killed outright. The Indian Meat Industry Red Meat Manual says, “Most of the buffalo calves, generally males, are allowed to die intentionally by the owners for economic reasons.”

2. Some calves are turned into khalbacchas – stuffed, dead calves that are propped up alongside cows and buffaloes to try to fool their mothers into lactating.

3. Here is what artificial insemination actually looks like. Workers insert an arm, often without lubricant, into a struggling, frightened cow’s rectum, then push a metal rod carrying bull semen up into her vagina.

4. Here’s the ultimate destination for many cattle – the slaughterhouse.

In India, while no animals are reared specifically for beef, India is a top beef exporting nation of buffalo meat, referred to as “carabeef”. The Economic Times has reported that some beef tested was found to be from cows. Cow slaughter is illegal in many Indian states but not everywhere in the nation. Where do you think the beef industry gets cattle to kill? That’s right – largely from the dairy sector.

5. Let’s see how meat, egg, and dairy production wreaks havoc on the planet

6. Here, Indian doctors talk about the many scary ill effects of dairy consumption. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine warns us that milk consumption is linked to heart disease, type 2 diabetes, certain types of cancer, and other ailments that are running rampant in our society.

So, I think you’ll agree, dairy is pretty scary – not to mention cruelly obtained, environmentally destructive, and bad for you.

Share these videos on social media and with everyone who needs to see them. And if you haven’t already, kick the dairy habit by taking our vegan pledge:

Sincerely,
PETA India

Scary Dairy !

Regards Mark

Note – The image below is NOT associated with the article.

Farm Animals

Austria: peaceful animal rights activists brutally beaten

Austria, Pöttelsdorf, on August 6th, 2021-Report of the “Association against Animal factories”

When animal rights activists yesterday took over two pigs from the largest fattening pig factory in Burgenland, Austria, with 3,000 animals on fully slatted floors and built an enclosure for them, everything seemed to be about to take a good turn.

The two animals, although their joints were clearly swollen, were doing well, immediately examined their surroundings with interest, rummaged in the straw and enthusiastically ate fresh fruit and vegetables.
They were called Mickey and Jackie.

Mickey and Jackie in freedom

At around 9 o’clock the older of the two managing directors of the company gave the two pigs to the “Association against animal factories” (VgT) with the words “the pigs are left to you”, explicitly without asking for money.

The VGT quickly organized a place to stay and asked the animal rescue team to come and fetch the pigs.
But the younger manager revoked the donation about an hour later.

Then it went up and down, various people, including an organic farmer, offered up to € 3,000 for the animals, but apparently the Chamber of Agriculture prevented the handover.

After its intervention it was said that the pigs were not for sale, although the older managing director told the VGT afterwards that he would have gladly left them to the animal rights activist.
So the police went to evacuate around 5 p.m.

Police violence against peaceful animal rights activists

The VGT presents a video of the violent eviction of the peaceful animal rights activists who only wanted to save the two pigs Mickey and Jackie from their completely senseless death:

“Now he obviously wants to kill the pigs to injure us. It would be appalling if Mickey and Jackie were simply executed, ”said VGT chairman Martin Balluch, dismayed.
The result is still pending.

During and after the eviction, the official veterinarian present mocked the animal rights activists in an ugly way.

“Giving the animals straw and a run is cruelty to animals, they could get pneumonia” , she said!!

pigs in the hell of fattening pig factory-Austria

The VGT has a carcass inspection of the pigs from this farm dated June 11, 2021.
According to this, 43% (!) of the animals from this pig factory had pneumonia and 7% of them had foreign content in the lungs! Roundworms were found in the liver of 17% of the pigs and a full 70% of the animals had an illness, whereby bite and scratch injuries as well as swollen joints and calluses were not recorded.

VGT chairman Martin Balluch was there and was brutally torn from the ramp onto the animal transport by the police:
“These pigs are owned by the VGT, they were given to us and this donation cannot be easily reversed.
To do this, we will take legal action to get our property back. “

Finally: “Unfortunately, the state has used its power again to bend the law to the disadvantage of the pigs instead of protecting the animals.
Animals are still considered things for which there should be no emergency aid.
If the animal protection law were to be taken seriously, this pig factory would have to be closed.
However, with such official veterinarians all empathy is lost.
The Hippocratic oath to always stand up for the interests of her patients obviously does not count for her.
Instead, she said in all seriousness that the pigs were better off in the animal factory than outside.
The carcass inspection certificates of the pigs from this farm speak a completely different language.
The incident proves: with such official vets there will never be effective control of the animal industry, and with such animal factory operators it will never be possible to improve the lot of the pigs, unless there are very clear laws that prohibit fully slatted floors and make straw bedding mandatory.
These people have no conscience and no compassion. You can only get hold of them with legal prohibitions. ” (Martin Balluch)

https://vgt.at/presse/news/2021/news20210806mn.php

And I mean…State violence is escalating.
If 600 arrested demonstrators and one death in Berlin is the bill of a peaceful demonstration against Corona measures, why would the police have any inhibitions to brutally beat a few compassionate animal liberators who only wanted to protect two pigs that were given them free?

Was the farmer afraid that the animal rights activists would beat him and that’s why he calls the police to protect himself from the violence of the “terrorists”?!!

Of course not! In general, police officers are only the front-line workers of a skillfully working back-stage- dictatorship made up of experts from politics, the meat industry and the judiciary, and their violence is only a clear instruction that in the future we should understand “herd immunity” primarily as a deliberate lack of criticism and resistance towards the state apparatus

My best regards to all, Venus

Farm Animals, General News

England: Update 5/8/21 – Abuses At English Slaughterhouse. We Now Have Initial Reply From Food Standards Agency (FSA).

Petitions are good, but sometimes as individuals we have to take further actions to get any result. I think people are really out now to close this hell hole for animals down for ever.

Recently we covered in detail the issue of the English slaughterhouse which was not fit for purpose and which was non compliant with animal welfare legislation:

England: WAV Follow Up With Letter To Relevant Authorities Re English Slaughterhouse Abuses Filmed On CCTV. – World Animals Voice

England: Hewitt Slaughterhouse Abuses. WAV Now Write To Government Minister Responsible and Also To Food Standards Agency Re Veterinarian. – World Animals Voice

England: Shut Down Hewitt Slaughterhouse – Planned Events and Actions (If You Cannot Attend, Send A Letter) – Link Provided. – World Animals Voice

On the 4/8/21, I had a mail back from the Complaints and Transparency Adviser at the Food Standards Agency (FSA), which is the responsible section of the British government.  It is positive to read that an investigation into the abuses shown is already underway.

Further, it is also good to hear that the FSA should review all the procedures in the slaughterhouse constantly; which the approved veterinarian does not do from the footage obtained from the CCTV.

Also, it is positive to read that ‘We (FSA) are working closely with the slaughterhouse team and the relevant CCTV footage has been assessed by FSA vets. As this is part of an ongoing investigation with potential for criminal proceedings’.

As investigations are still currently ongoing, we accept that this statement is all that we can be provided with for the current time – but we do see several sounding positives here, especially the one relating to ‘potential criminal proceedings’.

I will publish further news on this issue as and when we hear more as a result of the investigation.

Regards Mark

————————————————–

The FSA letter is as follows (non edited).

Dear Mark,

Thank you for raising your complaint with us.

The Food Standards Agency takes animal welfare at slaughterhouses very seriously and in the interest of transparency we can confirm that an investigation into these allegations is already underway.

We have staff present in slaughterhouses during operating hours and CCTV, where there are live animals, is mandatory in slaughterhouses in England as part of measures to monitor and enforce animal welfare requirements.

We are working closely with the slaughterhouse team and the relevant CCTV footage has been assessed by FSA vets. As this is part of an ongoing investigation with potential for criminal proceedings, the FSA cannot comment further at this stage or pursue the matter through our external complaints process.

Yours sincerely,

Joe Montague

Complaints and Transparency Adviser

People and Organisational Change

Food Standards Agency (FSA).

Environmental, Farm Animals, General News

Europe: ‘No Animal Left Behind’ campaign reaches 100,000 signatures. Add yours now!

No Animal Left Behind campaign reaches 100,000 signatures. Add yours now!

15 July 2021

European citizens are making their voices heard by joining the #NoAnimalLeftBehind campaign.

So far, over 100,000 people from all over the European Union and beyond have signed the petition, and the number keeps growing.

Have you added your name yet? Please sign the petition now to ensure we are heard by the European Commission!

Europe’s animal welfare laws were introduced piece by piece over the last 40 years, but they are rarely enforced correctly, and there are serious gaps that leave millions of animals unprotected. 

2021 offers a very important window of opportunity for animal welfare in the EU: In the context of the Farm to Fork Strategy, a policy initiative by the European Commission with the overarching aim of making European food systems fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly, the European Commission is currently assessing the animal welfare legislation to evaluate whether it is fit for purpose. A review like this is not only rare and long-overdue, but is in fact also the first of its kind for animal welfare legislation.

We must make sure a full-scale review takes place, that our demands for the best possible welfare standards are heard, and that no animal is left behind. 

Regards Mark

Environmental, Farm Animals, General News

Cattle Farming Is One of the Most Destructive Industries on the Planet.
Source Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals : The tethering of dairy cows is still practiced in some countries. With the tether around their necks, they are confined to a few feet of movement.

This is a multi page article- page numbers at the end on left.

From Stacey at Our Compass – Thanks Stacey: – Regards Mark:

Cattle Farming Is One of the Most Destructive Industries on the Planet | Our Compass (our-compass.org)

Cattle Farming Is One of the Most Destructive Industries on the Planet

AUGUST 2, 2021

“Natural”: Humans are the ONLY species to drink breastmilk from another species and continuing past infancy. Do you understand why you and so many others are lactose intolerant? Because you’re not a calf.

This is what you do to them. Violence is so normalized in animal agriculture that many believe that subjecting animals to suffering, pain, confinement, and squalor is beneficial to animals: since animals are bred to be dead, any existence “gifted” is considered beneficial regardless of hellish treatment, violence, and suffering. It’s convenient for humans to define others’ exploitation in manners that is comfortable to ONLY humans. And the “existence” argument is an exercise in desperation and logic failure. For sure, as a vegan who doesn’t purchase products tested on animals, I am entirely unconcerned with the nonexistence of those animals who are not “gifted” a brief life of pain and blindness and fear for toilet bowl cleaner.

Please also understand that even the “small/local” farms contribute to a global foundation of animal exploitation on which abject animal suffering and cruelty comfortably rests: it is all related, the required mass confinement and industrialized “production” and slaughter of 95% of animals globally consumed arose directly from those “idyllic” fantasies of Old MacDonald Farms . The promotion of “sustainable agriculture” is a fairy tale that already has been and has subsequently been discarded due to a billions-demanded source of cheap “meat” and animal “products”.

And if you want dog/cat/horse consumption to cease because it’s inherently barbaric, you must reject causing the inherent barbarism of chicken/pig/cow/lamb/fish/etc. consumption. If you get angry at vegans for demanding the antiYulin corps cease causing the same torturous treatment and violent death of turkeys and piglets, just remember that when you eat pigs, you cause/sanction/support the consumption of dogs and cats.

It is ALL related.

The ONLY ethical is veganism. SL

Source Sentient Media

By Nimisha Agarwal

The Amazon Rainforest is being cleared of an area the size of a soccer pitch every minute. Most of this is not for agriculture that directly sustains humans, but for cattle farming — to provide grazing land for cattle and land for growing feed crops. 

When we consume the products of cattle farming, we might feel distant from these concerns. After all, why should someone enjoying beef in one corner of the world care about what is happening to a rainforest miles away? Yet cattle farming presents a serious problem for us all. If the Amazon forests were to be destroyed completely to meet our demands, the world would experience more droughts, a warmer climate, and massive flooding. And this is just one of the examples of how cattle farming is destroying our environment, placing the future of people and the planet in danger.

So what exactly is cattle farming, and why is it bad for the environment?

Continue reading on Page 2

Pages: 1 2 3 4
Farm Animals, General News

Germany: “kamikaze pigeon” equipped with fish hooks!

Report of the “Committee Against Bird Murder”

Brutal cruelty to animals-House pigeon equipped with fish hooks:

The colleagues from the association “City pigeons” Buchholz e.V. were notified of a live house pigeon that had been prepared with four fish hooks.


The razor-sharp hooks were anchored in the bird’s skin. The animal was found in the city center of Buchholz (Harburg district, Lower Saxony) and fortunately survived the ordeal largely unscathed.
Such “kamikaze pigeons” are usually used to kill peregrine falcons or hawks.

Suspects are mostly pigeon keepers who see the protected birds of prey as competitors for their hobby – namely races.

Anyone who has information in a specific case from Buchholz – for example on the possible origin of the pedigree pigeon used – is welcome to contact Buchholz city pigeons or the committee against bird murder.

https://www.facebook.com/Komitee.CABS/

And I mean…These are the same people who were concentration camp guards 80 years ago, that is to say, sadists.

They don’t keep pigeons out of love for animals but for reasons of prestige. If one of them doesn’t work, they’ll probably have their neck twisted on the spot.

I have two lolonies of pigeons in my city that I feed since two years every day- it is about 150 animals
It’s illegal in Germany, but I and my clients don’t give a shit.

But even worse than the hostile law against the pigeons is a hateful society against these peaceful animals, which calls the pigeons “Flying Rates”!

And the children of this society, the small children who learned from home “we go hunting pigeons” and terrorize the animals with kicks in places where they can get something to eat.

Obviously a moral change in society’s consciousness is not subject to an evolutionary autopilot.
In other words: what we did not understand centuries ago, we cannot understand today either.
That animals are not our slaves, not our food, not our objects of torture.

Today we are living the greatest apartheid system of all time, making the most intensive use of all technical and scientific possibilities: everything for the well-being of people and everything for the exploitation of animals.

My best regards to all, Venus

Farm Animals, General News, Live Transport

England: Big Table Round Up From Philip (CIWF).

Phil is someone that we have known and worked with for over 30 years on farm animal welfare issues – especially live transport (exports).

In the following link he provides a round up on some important animal welfare issues that have been taking place recently.

Philip is the CEO of Compassion In World Farming (CIWF), which is based in London, England.

Philip Lymbery | Big Table Round Up – July 2021

CIWF – Compassion in World Farming | Compassion in World Farming (ciwf.org.uk)

CIWF USA – Compassion in World Farming USA | Compassion USA (ciwf.com)

Farm Animals, General News

England: Orchard Pig Gig – World’s First ‘Festival For Pigs’ Arrives In UK, And It’s Vegan.
A vegan music festival aims to raise thousands of pounds to help rescue pigs Credit: Pigs in the Woods

World’s First ‘Festival For Pigs’ Arrives In UK, And It’s Vegan

The Orchard Pig Gig aims to raise more than £50,000 to help give rescue pigs a better quality of life

World’s First ‘Festival For Pigs’ Arrives In UK, And It’s Vegan | Plant Based News

There’s a party for pigs, and you’re invited. A unique vegan music festival, called the Orchard Pig Gig, is coming to the UK this weekend. The event is being advertised as the first of its kind worldwide.

Farm animal sanctuary Pigs in the Woods teamed up with vegan cider brand Orchard Pig to bring the concept to life.

The event will take place at the 10-acre sanctuary, located in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. Around 20 pigs live on the property, and they will be free to roam the festival grounds and interact with attendees.

Many of the animals were saved from slaughter. For instance, Angel the pig, mother of two pigs who are also at the sanctuary, was rescued from a petting farm. Since the pig family were no longer being used, they were due to be killed.

Another resident, Harry the pig, has been saved from slaughter twice within his first three months of life. Since he was the runt of the litter, he was due to be discarded as waste. And Florence was set to be euthanized by a city farm before she found a home at the sanctuary.

‘Pigs deserve a home’

Orchard Pig Gig will feature local plant-based food, as well as jazz, rap, and classical music performances.

“Our pigs are one of a kind and love to socialize and dance to music,” said Russell Haggata, Operations Director and Chairman at Pigs in The Wood.

“They can’t wait for this year’s Orchard Pig Gig. Our sanctuary wouldn’t exist without the generosity of donations, and we’re aiming to raise over £50,000 to improve the facilities for our pigs so that everyone can experience the joy these animals can bring,” he continued.

Emily Gray, Brand Manager at Orchard Pig, added: “Just like people, pigs deserve a home, and we believe they also deserve to party.”

Regards Mark