Category: Farm Animals

Farm Animals

France must ban chick shredding

Born to die: this is the fate of millions of male chicks in France’s farms.

Every year 50 million male chicks in France are shredded, gassed or suffocated in garbage bags. Because they don’t lay eggs – and don’t make any profits.

German chicks are still suffering this fate – but from 2022 chick shredding will be banned in Germany!

France also promised an end to the killing of chicks in 2019 – but nothing has happened so far.

SumOfUs members in France are calling on their government to follow Germany’s example – let’s support them now and ensure that chick shredding will soon come to an end across Europe.

Male chicks of laying hens are regarded as waste in the food industry: They put too little meat on for fattening and do not lay eggs – they therefore do not make any profit for the agricultural corporations.

The sex of the chicks can be determined three days after birth – during these 72 hours the chicks develop a level of consciousness similar to that of a three-month-old baby.

As a SumOfUs community, we have claimed the rights of many animals – from bees to orangutans and orcas.
Today we can together save the day-old chicks in France from the cruel death!

Call on French Agriculture Minister Julien Denormandie to stop chick shredding!

Sign and share: https://actions.sumofus.org/a/fordern-sie-die-franzoesische-regierung-auf-das-grausame-kuekentoeten-zu-beenden-fba21

And I mean…Worldwide, around seven billion male chicks are killed on the first day of their lives because they are not wanted in the egg industry, and the egg industry has enjoyed a steadily increasing consumption of chicken eggs for years.

In poultry production, rearing male chicks is not worthwhile. The chicks do not lay eggs and put on less breast meat.

The female chicks, on the other hand, are raised as laying hens.

But how do you get rid of the approximately 50 million male chicks that hatch each year in Germany?

The legislature has regulated that: chicks must not be older than 72 hours afterwards they are forgotten or shredded. However, this is valid until January 2022!

In May 2021, the Federal Council passed a ban on the cruel killing of male chicks in German laying farms. It will come into force in 2022.

The predominant method used is the gasification of the chicks with highly concentrated carbon dioxide (CO2)

An “alternative” method is to grind the animals. The chicks are thrown alive into rotating blades and thereby massacred.

The new law stipulates that killing the chicks in their millions shortly after hatching is prohibited from January.
Instead, methods should be used that determine the sex in the egg so that male chicks do not hatch in the first place.

In a second stage from January 1, 2024, the law provides for further regulations to avoid pain for the embryo.
Then methods for gender recognition in the egg should only be allowed if they are used at an earlier stage of the incubation.

Finally, the Federal Council has to deal with the law, which can delay the project but not stop it, although the poultry industry does not want to accept that!
The poultry lobby is promoting a voluntary industry agreement between food retailers and the poultry industry; and only from 2023!!
One of the industry’s pseudo arguments is that if Germany were to go it alone, the domestic economy would lose out and eggs would be imported from other countries with lower animal welfare standards to meet demand.

It sounds very suspect that suddenly the poultry industry is interested in animal welfare of other countries, although it has never shown interest and protection for the welfare of the animals in its own country…

The most effective way to protect chicks and other “farm animals” is to avoid consuming animal products.

Everyone who wants to work consistently for animal welfare must ban animals and animal products from their plates

My best regards to all, Venus

Farm Animals, General News, Live Transport

England: Is the EU actually starting to listen to its voting citizens ? – Opinion From the Dogs Mouth.

Is the EU actually starting to listen to its voting citizens ?

On 23 June 2016 an EU referendum took place and the people of the United Kingdom (UK) voted to leave the European Union (EU).

The UK formally left the EU at the end of 31 January 2020, after being an EU member state since joining on 1st January 1973, along (at that date) with other nations Denmark and the Republic of Ireland.

Why did the UK vote ‘out’ – or ‘Brexit’ ?  – a lot of UK citizens were seeing the EU and many (most) of its MEP politicians and Commissioners, as monolithic invertebrates who did little for the wishes and demands of the electorate; the requests of the ‘normal’ EU citizen, it was simple a case of the politicians riding the EU ‘gravy train’; often bettering themselves (in many ways), whilst dismissing the wishes of good European people with ‘yukspeak’ returns to their letters and e mails, asking them why this and that was not being addressed in the EU Parliament.

So, after years of basically very little worthy of mention from the EU, the vertebrate citizens of the UK said they had been given enough rubbish by the EU; and so they voted out, to leave, Brexit.  People wanted their personal parliament back with regards rules and regulations, free to decide rather than be told to by the EU.

Personally I was one of them – an ‘outer’.  It was not a simple question to ask yourself at tea time one day – do I stay or do I go ? type thing; I debated the issue with myself for months in advance; largely keeping my opinions to myself.  There were reasons for this which only other animal campaigners probably understand.

As an animal activist, and having been to the EU in Brussels many times on animal issues; and authoring endless amounts of complaints, reports and investigations into animal suffering issues within the EU, I had over the years, simply been lied to, given false promises, and made to believe time and time again that there were all the regulations and rules in place by the EU masters which thus prevented the evidence I presented at the table from being ‘true’.  In other words; the EU political system was basically calling me a liar, and the evidence which I personally presented, along with many other wonderful groups and people in the EU, was simply being dismissed and put into a file known as the ‘EU trash bin’.

As a person with decades of experience dealing with animal transport abuses along with many others; a voice had to be shouted and my opinion noted.  Consequently, I voted out of the EU, monolithic, invertebrate, gravy club; and decided that ‘going it alone’ would be the only way for the UK to get back the legislation needed as required by the citizens of the UK.  For example; for decades I had been attending demonstrations all over England asking for a ban on the live transport of animals.  But, under EU rules, and this is still the case for other EU member states; they (member states) are not allowed to introduce their own national legislation to ban live animal transport.  The EU says ‘No’, so no it is; despite overwhelming evidence from a multitude of EU animal welfare organisations showing the EU legislation, in the form of Reg. 1/2005 for the so called ‘protection of animals in transport’, simply was not working.  It never has worked, it does not work now, and it never will work in the future.  ‘Yukspeak’ to the EU citizen from Brussels; as I have said before.

So, I have been somewhat surprised and amazed to read over the last few weeks, that there is going to be progress in the form of bans on animal cages in the EU.

Ref:

CIWF London: 15/4/21 – Time to End the Cage Age – a ban on cages for farmed animals receives overwhelming support at EU Parliament hearing. – World Animals Voice

EU: End the Cage. It Started As A Dream; But Now the Dream Has Become Official Reality. – World Animals Voice

And the news this morning, 12/7/21; that the European Parliament, is answering to a call from cross party MEPs to clarify how the Commission is planning to deliver on its commitment to proactively reduce and replace the use of animals in EU laboratories

EU: MEPs say now is the time for a comprehensive plan to end European animal experiments and transition to human-relevant science. – World Animals Voice

Finally, is the requests of the EU citizen; the ‘normal’ person; being listened to, and more importantly, acted on, by the hierarchy in the ivory tower known and EU Brussels ?

Is there a reason for this ? – are all the years of bullshit and non sensical returns from the EU starting to show them that there are dissident things brewing around Europe ? – is it finally a case of bullshit no longer; the common man now sees clearly through the smokescreen that we, as a EU Parliament and Commission(s), have hidden behind for decades ? – is the emperor starting to lose his clothes ?

The link (source) given at the end is very interesting reading:

Italy would be the most likely of the “Big Four” member states to consider exiting the European Union if Brexit proves to be beneficial to Britain, according to a Euronews-commissioned poll.

Data from the Redfield and Wilton Strategies survey found that nearly half of Italians would be likely to support their country leaving the EU if the UK and its economy are regarded to be in good health in five years.

In the event, France and Spain both showed moderate support for changing its relationship with the bloc, while Germany was the member state least likely of the four major players to consider leaving the Union. 

Source:  https://www.euronews.com/2020/08/10/nearly-half-of-italians-would-support-leaving-the-eu-if-brexit-is-successful-according-to

The time came many years ago when the EU should have listened and acted to the wishes of its voting electorate.  They failed big time; and only now are we witnessing this rash of new promises and proposals which should make life a bit better for suffering animals.  The truth will be in the results and the realities.

On animal transport; as always, there is nothing in the way of real improvement.  I read nothing about a ban on live animal long distance transport; instead, I am fed spoonful’s of ‘farm to fork strategies’ on how things are going to be so much better – or in other words; am kind of acceptance by the EU masters that the current system does not really work.  Hmm; has this not been said by many for decades ? – why now does the sleeping monolith awaken ?

With the UK being out of Europe, it does not mean that we wipe our hands of EU animal issues; far from it.  It does mean though that by getting out, we can set our own better standards in the UK as well as continuing the fight for animal rights with all of our wonderful friends in Europe.

Oh, and by the way; since the UK left the EU a little while ago; the UK government is now putting legislation through parliament which will BAN the export of live animals from British shores.

Search Results for “uk live export ban” – World Animals Voice

People power works – be part of it.

Regards – Dogs Mouth Mark

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is dogs-mouth.jpg
Farm Animals

Germany: The number of pig farmers in Lower Saxony falls by 44 percent!

There is hardly a farm in Lower Saxony that earns its money raising and selling pigs, chickens and cows.

Most farmers have specialized in keeping one species of animal in order to meet the world’s highest standards.(!!)

For many farmers, however, the legal requirements and standards were also a reason to give up their animal husbandry.
For example, the strict regulations of the new fertilizer ordinance, the prohibition of non-anesthetized castration and the renouncement of the docking of curly tails in pigs as well as the requirements for keeping sows in crate stalls.

This trend has accelerated especially in the past three years, writes the “Landvolk =(one of the largest regional farmers’ associations in Germany)- press service”.

Image: SOKO Tierschutz

“Before the farmers convert or renew their stables with high investment sums in an uncertain market situation, they prefer to opt out, especially since there are usually major hurdles to overcome for building permits,” says “Landvolk” Vice President Manfred Tannen, who only gave up sow farming a few years ago .

He and his professional colleagues miss clear, reliable statements on how they can face the challenges of the future.
According to the results of the 2020 agricultural census, of all 35,348 farms in Lower Saxony, only 25,431 farms (71.9 percent) kept livestock in 2020.
This means that the number of livestock farms has fallen by 22.3 percent over the past ten years.

The number of dairy cow farms has fallen by 41.8 percent over the past ten years.
On the dairy farms there is a clear structural change towards fewer but larger farms.
The number of pig farmers decreased even more than the number of dairy farmers.

Therefore, more and more pet owners would also opt out due to the immensely increased construction costs and the lack of planning security.

https://moderner-landwirt.de/zahl-der-schweinehalter-in-niedersachsen-sinkt-um-44-prozent/

And I mean …The world’s highest standards?
In Germany? in the pig farms?

In the last few years one scandal chases the next other, corrupt veterinarians and authorities sell the “black- sheep”– theory and cover animal cruelty and the worst animal abusers.
Undercover activists who bring this to the public are being criminalized.
The “Landvolk” do not mention it.

These abuses in German companies can be found on almost every farm, but the Ministry of Agriculture is silent in order to enable the slaughterhouses to do their business.
This is how perpetrators are made victims

Well.. from now on, when the farmers cannot sleep, forget the sheep, because from today only pigs will be counted!

My best regards to all, Venus

Farm Animals, General News

Spain: Have you met Equalia?

Have you met Equalia?

12 July 2021

The “Have you met” is a monthly interview to raise awareness for our Member Organisations, their work, main battles and achievements for animals.

Let’s start this first edition with an interview of Guillermo Moreno, Equalia’s co-founder and Executive Director.

Tell us a bit more about Equalia and its main battles.

Equalia is a non-profit organisation dedicated to improving the living conditions of farmed animals with the lowest standards of animal welfare. 

Our mission is to achieve agreements with companies, institutions and stakeholders that positively impact the greatest possible number of farmed animals. 

Our vision is a world where intensive animal farming and intensive aquaculture makes way to food production models that respect sustainability and animal welfare.

We have 4 lines of action:

  • Awareness rising, 
  • Effective animal advocacy (movement construction and capacity building),
  • Corporate outreach,
  • Political campaigning. 

Our main battles this year include: 

  • Mandatory CCTV in all Spanish Slaughterhouses, 
  • Cage-Free Initiative, 
  • Higher welfare standards for broilers within the European Chicken Commitment initiative,
  • Farmed fish welfare (new line opened recently).

In which countries is Equalia present?

Equalia is currently operating in Spain.

We also cooperate closely with international coalitions, such as Aquatic Animal Alliance and Open Wing Alliance, in order to generate a global positive impact for farmed animals. 

What about you Guillermo Moreno? Tell us a bit more about your role within Equalia.

I am the co-founder and current Executive Director of Equalia. I come from a social background, with almost 15 years of experience in the animal welfare movement. I am a psychologist and I put all my knowledge at the service of the organisation. 

My role is to be at the service of the employees and to surround myself with employees, volunteers and advisors who have more knowledge than me and complement me.

When did Equalia join Eurogroup for Animals and why?

Equalia joined Eurogroup for Animals at the beginning of 2021 with the aim of creating collaborative synergies to give a voice to European proposals in Spain. 

The political lobby of the Spanish agri-food system in Europe is very strong, therefore it was required to strengthen the presence of a Spanish group to create effective collaborative ecosystems between Europe and Spain. 

What are Equalia‘s main achievements this year?

One of our main achievement this year is the fact that after two and a half year of intensive campaigning, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs published earlier this year a draft Royal Decree that will oblige the ~700 Spanish slaughterhouses to install video surveillance cameras.

The Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition-AESAN (an autonomous body of the Spanish Government, attached to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs), has announced that the Royal Decree will be approved by the end of this year. 

Spain will become the first EU country to approve the mandatory installation of CCTV in all slaughterhouses.

How can the public act for Equalia? (e.g. donation, sign campaigns, volunteering, ect.)

If, after learning about our work, anyone is interested in making a one-time donation or becoming a member of Equalia, it can be done here. 

If any philanthropist or philanthropic entity is interested in making a donation, please contact our Fundraising Manager at joseramon.mallen@equaliaong.org. 

Also, anybody can find skilled volunteering opportunities with us or other effective animal advocacy nonprofits in Animal Advocacy Careers’ Skilled Volunteering Board here  

What is your life motto?

It comes from a great friend:

In a world as fragmented and individualistic as this one, where we also have endless responsibilities and live under constant stress that prevents us from even feeling, weaving authentic and deep relationships is almost like a miracle of life.”

Regards Mark

Farm Animals, Hunting

Austria: Minister of Agriculture wants wolves to be shot

Austria’s Minister of Agriculture, Elisabeth Köstinger, in a broadcast called for the “removal”, i.e. killing, of wolves that keep killing sheep and goats.

This is legally possible (!!)

Elisabeth Köstinger

The wolf debate also reached the federal capital.
Agriculture Minister Elisabeth Köstinger of the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) took a political stand on Friday against the demands of the green coalition partner and behind those of the farmers who are calling for problem wolves to be shot down.

“If no action is taken now and problem wolves are removed, the local alpine pastures will soon no longer be able to be cultivated,” the minister said in a broadcast (!!!)

Across Austria, wolves had killed around 200 animals in the past few weeks.
In Salzburg, three wolves killed at least 75 sheep – around 25 are still missing.
The alpine farmers see it as “cruelty to animals such as would not have happened in the past hundred years” (!!!)

On Thursday they vented their anger at a rally in Salzburg’s old town.
Again and again they speak of the fact that the wolf falls into a “blood frenzy” when it rips off their animals.

Hubert Stock, the state’s wolf commissioner, describes this as a natural hunting behavior.
“It seems irrational, but as long as something is moving, the wolf hunts.”

In order to protect their animals, many farmers have not driven their sheep and goats up to the alpine pastures this year – or have already driven them down again.

Instead of in the heights, the animals are now housed on the fenced winter pasture near their farms.

ÖVP Provincial Councilor Josef Schwaiger points out the consequences for tourism: If animals no longer graze on the alpine pastures, the hiking trails would be covered with bushes.

Minister Köstinger also emphasizes the possible consequences of wolf cracks for the tourist use of alpine pastures and hiking trails.

“The peaceful coexistence of wolves and alpine farming is an illusion. Wolves are predators that often strike indiscriminately and kill alpine cattle.” (!!)

The Minister of Agriculture also points out that the “removal” – that is, killing – of individual problem wolves is legally “entirely possible”.

Even if the wolf is strictly protected according to the EU nature protection directive, the fauna-flora-habitat directive.
It says that all “deliberate forms of capture and killing” are banned in the EU.
Exceptions to this guideline are possible, however, if individual wolves would lead to “damage in particular to crops and animal husbandry as well as to forests”.

The State Council now wants to define conditions and areas of action by ordinance.
However, he should not get the necessary approval from the Greens. They spoke out against the regulation in advance.
The nature conservation organization WWF also criticized the demands of Agriculture Minister Köstinger.

“The wolf is a strictly protected species and an important part of intact nature,” says the WWF.
Instead of discussing the shooting of problem wolves, there should be nationwide coordinated herd protection programs as well as “a revival of shepherd life based on the Swiss model”.

https://www.sn.at/salzburg/politik/friedliche-koexistenz-ist-eine-illusion-ministerin-ist-fuer-den-abschuss-des-wolfes-106352221

And I mean…Shepherds howl when wolves, bears or eagles steal a sheep from them, but I have never seen a shepherd cry in front of a three-story truck that carries sheep hundreds of miles on top of each other through a heat of 35 ° or even 40 °.
They are the same animals that the farmer gives for slaughter anyway.
Because the farmers keep animals for economic reasons.

Grazing animals are also ultimately brutally killed in slaughterhouses without any control and carted into the mobile coffins on all the highways of the world.
And that is also subsidized.

Wolves make grazing animals impossible?
Whta an outrageous lie!
Wild animals make up just 3% of the total biomass of terrestrial vertebrates on earth!
The rest is “useful” animals + people!

According to the Federal Statistical Office, an average of more than two million animals are slaughtered in Germany every day.
Per day!

So … not even whole wild animals around the world would be able to do that in a hundred years !!

Wolves do not practice brutal mass animal husbandry, they either eat what is there or starve to death.

But the farmer’s knitting pattern is always the same: dissemination of incorrect or incomplete information, coupled with targeted scaremongering.

Köstinger is Vice President of the Austrian Farmers’ Union.
That can explain some of the reasons why she calls for the “removal” of the wolf.
To date, no Minister of Agriculture in Austria has supported farmers and hunters as outrageously as Köstinger.

Perhaps the Minister’s “removal” would be the best choice for humans and animals.

My best regards to all, Venus

Environmental, Farm Animals, Fur and Fur Farming, General News

USA: U.S. proposal would ban mink farming to stem COVID-19 mutation.

U.S. proposal would ban mink farming to stem COVID-19 mutation

U.S. proposal would ban mink farming to stem COVID-19 mutation – The Globe and Mail

A bipartisan proposal in the U.S. House would ban the farming of mink fur in the United States in an effort to stem possible mutations of the coronavirus, something researchers have said can be accelerated when the virus spreads among animals.

The bill introduced this week is an effort from Reps. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and Nancy Mace, R-S.C. It would prohibit the import, export, transport, sale or purchase of mink in the United States.

Researchers have said that spread of COVID-19 among animals could speed up the number of mutations in the virus before it potentially jumps back to people.

Last year, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control issued new guidance to curb the spread of the coronavirus between minks and humans. The agency warned that when COVID-19 starts spreading on a mink farm, the large numbers of animal infections means “the virus can accumulate mutations more quickly in minks and spread back into the human population.”

Denmark reported last year that 12 people had been sickened by a variant of the coronavirus that had distinct genetic changes also seen in mink.

“What we want to do is ban the inhumane practice of farming mink for fur,” Mace said Friday during an interview with The Associated Press. “At the same time, it’s also a public health crisis, so it helps fix both of those situations.”

“Knowing that there are variants, and being someone who cares about the humane treatment of animals, this is sort of a win-win for folks,” she added. “And I believe that you’ll see Republicans and Democrats on both sides of the aisle work on this together.”

According to Fur Commission USA, a non-profit representing U.S. mink farmers, there are approximately 275 mink farms in 23 states across the United States, producing about 3 million pelts per year. That amounts to an annual value of more than $300 million, according to the commission.

There have been several mink-related coronavirus cases in the U.S. In December, a mink caught outside an Oregon farm tested positive for low-levels of the coronavirus. State officials said they believed the animal had escaped from a small farm already under quarantine because of a coronavirus outbreak among mink and humans.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a mink on a Michigan farm “and a small number of people” were infected with a coronavirus “that contained mink-related mutations,” something officials said suggested that mink-to-human spread may have occurred.

While mink-to-human spread is possible, CDC officials said “there is no evidence that mink are playing a significant role in the spread of SARS-CoV-2 to people.”

Our Morning Update and Evening Update newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a concise summary of the day’s most important headlines. 

Sign up today.

Regards Mark

Question – what do you call a man that does not listen to others ?

Answer – Mr. Trump.

Related articles:

B.C. mink farm in quarantine after animal tests positive for COVID-19 – The Globe and Mail

One of two quarantined mink farms in B.C. resumes breeding program – The Globe and Mail

B.C. mink farmer euthanizes remaining 1,000 animals on farm after positive COVID-19 tests – The Globe and Mail

Environmental, Farm Animals, General News, Live Transport, Vegan Recipes

EU: Finally After Decades of Asking, The EU Consumer May Now Be Given More Detailed Information On Their Food Products – Production; Transportation; Slaughter Method Etc.

 

WAV Comment:  For decades, we (in past forms), along with other massive numbers of animal welfare groups across Europe, have been calling for this.  Are we now going to see the EU Commission finally wake up and listen to what people have been asking for years ?

One EU wide labelling system is drastically needed, rather than the current dozen different labelling schemes that include farm animal welfare criteria in at least six European countries.  Consumers need to know how their food is produced; is it free range or intensive ? (hopefully cages will go but we need this info earlier); stunned in a slaughterhouse or to religious standards (non stunning / ritual) only ? – we would like to see the country of origin and the country of slaughter; as this will no doubt involve the consumer if the animal involved has suffered live transportation. Labelling needs to apply to ALL products, and to an informative standard, rather than the yukspeak people have had so far. If people knew the facts; we think shoppers would amend their shop drastically. Is this why the EU has never moved on this issue ?

It is time for change, as it was time for change twenty years ago, but then, the EU considered itself above us / more important to bother with issues such as this.  People power is now demanding change, and they want it now; as we have seen with the cage systems; consumers want to know where their food comes from.  We regard this one standard labelling system as a positive move, but ALL aspects of animal welfare must be given / included to a nowdays much informed consumer. 

The days of buying products and not being given any useful information on them has passed, it is now time for change.  Bring it on !

Regards Mark

Close up food label on egg box from ASDA explaining UK Egg Codes. Food packaging, nutrition labels, food labelling, British produce, food Stock Photo - Alamy

BVA is campaigning for the introduction of mandatory method of production labelling of meat

Lidl trials new meat 'production method' labelling | Food and Drink Technology

European Commission gives green light for a comprehensive labelling system displaying the well-being of animals over the whole animal food production cycle

7 July 2021

Today, the European Commission’s Subgroup on Animal Welfare Labelling published its final recommendations giving green light for an EU-wide label on animal welfare which will create greater transparency, better opportunities for farmers and a progression framework to improve animal welfare. In order for the labelling system to be effective, it is, however, important the European Commission commits to a mandatory Method Of Production + (MOP+) label which guarantees a harmonised uptake across food industries in the EU.

MOP+ is the most transparent, progressive and fair labelling method. It gives clear and transparent messaging to consumers about how animals are reared as well as allowing for a benchmarking platform amongst existing labels. It also allows for a progression on animal welfare standards by stimulating improvements on animal welfare and providing a full range of products with different levels of welfare to the consumers. On top of that, it provides farmers with a transparent way of demonstrating their achievements on animal welfare, allowing for a fair compensation of their efforts.

The conclusions foresee the labelling to start off as voluntary and state that the possibility of becoming mandatory should be evaluated at a later stage. They also state that a voluntary label represents a great risk to the impact of the label, since not only could the uptake be low but it would also be likely to only be adopted by producers already committed to higher animal welfare standards. The impact of a voluntary label on animal welfare would therefore be lower than of a mandatory label. This would not serve the purpose of providing full transparency to consumers and a fair level playing field for farmers and certainly would not serve the purpose of improving animal welfare across the EU.

Further to that, the recommendations do not mention the coverage of the label in terms of range of production systems. It states animal welfare labels should cover as many individuals as possible. Eurogroup for Animals asks for the scope to be from minimum EU standards to premium standards, also clearly indicating products that do not comply with the minimum EU animal welfare standards, to guarantee the label’s effectiveness. 

Other positive key points of the recommendations:

  • EU animal welfare label should also protect the use of terms and claims indicating a better welfare for animals.
  • The scope should include not only the rearing but also the slaughter and transport phase. Standards used in animals that are directly involved in the production as sows or cleaner fish should also be included in the label.
  • Besides fresh products, processed products or products used in food services should also be covered.
  • The EU label should help harmonise and take existing labels into consideration, helping the consumer gain more clarity on those. 
  • Active participation of all stakeholders is necessary in the creation of an EU wide animal welfare related label and its development should be monitored and evaluated.
  • Animal welfare is an important part of sustainability, but in case of labelling integration, animal welfare can never be diluted.

Currently, there are a dozen different labelling schemes that include farm animal welfare criteria in at least six European countries, risking the Single Market to becoming fragmented.The European Commission aims to counter this trend and is expected to put forward a proposal for a harmonised food labelling scheme in the context of its Farm to Fork strategy (F2F). At the end of last year, the Council of the European Union on Agriculture and Fisheries also adopted Council Conclusions which had called for an EU-wide animal welfare label aimed at improving animal welfare for as many food producing animals as possible. 

File

Animal Welfare and Food Labelling1.84 MB

 

 

ENGA pushes for non-GMO food labelling across Europe

 

 

Country-of-Origin Labelling, Food Traceability Drivers and Food Fraud: Lessons from Consumers' Preferences and Perceptions | European Journal of Risk Regulation | Cambridge Core
For Shoppers - Global Animal Partnership Animal Welfare Food Labeling

Farm Animals, General News, Stray Animals

South Korea: KARA rescues 33 dogs from a dog slaughterhouse in Goyang Yongdu-dong.

KARA rescues 33 dogs from a dog slaughterhouse in Goyang Yongdu-dong

Early yesterday morning, Korea Animal Rights Advocates (KARA) raided the slaughterhouse in Yongdu-dong, Goyang City, and, with the help of the Goyang Animal Protection Department, officially took ownership of a total of 33 dogs at that site.🙏

While some of the dogs at the slaughterhouse were extremely afraid of people, others were so happy to see their rescuers it is clear they were once pets. When we leashed the dogs, there were some that walked right next to people. Pitbull, who appeared to have been tied up to protect the slaughterhouse, was also friendly to activists.🐕

Activists who stayed at the front of the slaughterhouse throughout the early morning immediately rescued all of the dogs as soon as abandonment of ownership was decided.

Inside the slaughterhouse, a dog was lying with an illegal electric skewer in his mouth. He was immediately taken to a nearby animal hospital and given CPR, but because of the electric shock the poor dog’s heart had stopped and he couldn’t be revived.😭

⠀

The slaughterhouse in Yongdu-dong, Goyang, had been feeding dogs the boiled organs of unknown animals. In the front yard of the slaughterhouse, a plastic bag filled with hair from the bodies of dead dogs was found. Inside the slaughterhouse, many different leashes from dogs that had been caught gave rescuers an idea of how many dogs died there in pain.😢

KARA will file a formal complaint against the animal abuser in Yongdu-dong, Goyang, on charges of beating dogs with golf clubs; slaughtering dogs brought to him by individuals; feeding livestock waste to animals; and slaughtering dogs with illegal electric iron skewers. 

The journey with the 33 dogs rescued from the slaughterhouse has just begun. It may not be easy to domestically adopt out many of those dogs, especially the large ones. There are also dogs who appear to be very unhealthy, and the time and costs to treat these dogs and restore them to health so they may be adopted will be significant.

KARA recently rescued 10 young puppies from a dog farm in Namyangiu, so the 33 dogs just rescued will need to be placed elsewhere due to the lack of a protected space at the KARA’s The Born Center.

💙 Your love and support is desperately needed to help protect and care for the dogs rescued from the slaughterhouse and give them the opportunity for a new chance at life. Won’t you please help KARA care for these poor animals?💗🙏

Learn more and updates at:

KARA rescues 33 dogs from a dog slaughterhouse in Goyang Yongdu-dong – Stop the Dog and Cat Consumption in S. Korea! (koreandogs.org)

Donate to KARA:

동물권행동 카라 (ekara.org)

 

Past Newsletters:

Newsletters – Stop the Dog and Cat Consumption in S. Korea! (koreandogs.org)

 

Read this article, combined with more actions to take at:

https://r.newsletter.koreandogs.org/alabj8odtht7e.html?utm_source=sendinblue&utm_campaign=_KARA_rescues_33_dogs_from_a_dog_slaughterhouse_in_Goyang!_&utm_medium=email

Regards to all

Mark

Farm Animals, General News, Stray Animals, Uncategorized

India: 5/7/21 – Latest From Our Great Friends At ‘Animal Aid Unlimited’.

Homepage | Help injured animals in Udaipur | Animal Aid Unlimited

Every new patient arriving in Animal Aid needs a little time to take in the new smells, sounds and looks of the other animals and the people caring for them. But within a few short days, most have bonded with one special “other”–a new best friend with whom they feel more confident and secure. Every species has their own way of chatting with each other–a word here, a nudge there, the extension of a playful paw.

Rana was terrified and bleeding, but now he’s doing great!

Rana was overcome with fear after being hit by a car. His lower canine tooth was dislodged and bled profusely and he couldn’t stand. Although he had no broken bones, it took several days before he had the strength to stand on his own.

His broken tooth needed to be removed surgically. When he woke up after surgery, Rana was so upset that he wouldn’t eat until he was cuddled and reassured.

We neutered Rana as soon as he was strong enough, and now he’s as good as new. If courage is measured by overcoming fear, Rana proved to be a very brave little boy.

Some little heroes need extra love in order to heal. Please donate today.

Sweetheart Rollie rescued with a horrific wound

A vehicle must have slammed into this beautiful bull at high speed causing a large and painful wound.Several passing motorists called us immediately after it happened, and we rushed to the site to find one of the most gentle beings we have ever met.

From Rollie’s first wound dressing until now, fully healed, he did everything he could to make his difficult medical treatments as easy as possible. And when he healed, Rollie surprised us all by becoming a father figure to the babies.

Innocence comes in all packages. Please donate today.

Sponsor Honey, the sweetest girl in town!

We rescued Honey in 2017 after someone had thrown acid on her back. She had suffered 3rd degree burns over a large part of her back.

This loveable, bright, infinitely charming honey of a girl was so severely burned that we weren’t sure we could save her. It took months for the wound to heal; in fact there is a little portion of her scar that never fully closes which is why we have given her a forever home in Animal Aid.

Honey is playful and truly one of those brilliant dogs who misses nothing, learns in a flash, knows so many concepts and navigates with wit and unstoppable sweetness through currents of ever-changing people and animals.

Click here to sponsor Honey:

Honey | Animal Aid Unlimited

Cub is all better now, rescued after animal attack.

Beautiful puppy Cub lay unconscious after being attacked by an animal.

Worried neighbors stayed by Cub’s side while waiting for our ambulance to arrive. Completely collapsed, this puppy was close to death. We immediately started him on fluids, pain control and antibiotics, allowed him to rest and thoroughly cleaned and bandaged his wounds. At first, he was too weak and exhausted to interact with his caregivers. But when he started to recover from shock, his little tail-wag told us we had reason to hope he could survive.

Be the reason a tail wags! Please donate today.

Celebrate the lives of Annie and Chintu with us.

On Sunday, Animal Aid lost two of our precious family members. Our hearts are heavy in saying goodbye to beloved Annie and Chintu, whose completely unexpected departures on the very same day left us all deeply shocked and sad. Annie’s memorial service was held in the morning and Chintu’s in the afternoon. We took great comfort in the shared sadness between all of our AA team, and each needed extra hugs from the many thriving animals in our midst.

Annie was born by C-section in 2011 after her mother was hit by a car and her pelvis broken. Her mother died in surgery; Annie was the only surviving puppy and we nursed with syringe feeds every 2 hours as she grew and could eat on her own. During the decade to follow Annie was always on the job as a mighty alpha girl who adored attention and ruled her area-mates with an iron paw. You had the feeling that if she trusted you, she would have been a dog who would sacrifice her life to defend you. Annie died suddenly and unexpectedly after falling into a coma in the morning, without any prior signs of illness. Her absence will forever echo through the hospital.

Chintu–well, now, Chintu was a different kind of hero. Partially paralysed from the neck down after surviving canine distemper as a puppy 6 years ago, Chintu’s astounding sparkle shined so brightly that even though he had major mobility issues, he convinced us that he would “manage” and boy, did he ever. A charmer of the highest order, one simply could not pass through Chintu’s area without being stopped by his insistent eyes and delightfully big ears, always laying flat in an attitude of utter gratitude–grateful for the day; grateful to be caressed; grateful for your love. Chintu became extremely ill with an acute systemic infection. We did everything we could to save him, including giving him the strongest antibiotics we could, oxygen, hydration drips and love, but his little body gave up Sunday. We will never stop missing him.

(20+) Watch | Facebook

Regards Mark

Farm Animals, Fur and Fur Farming, General News

London – Global Fur Ban: Natalie Emmanuel And Dame Judi Dench Join Stella McCartney’s Calls.

Global Fur Ban: Natalie Emmanuel And Dame Judi Dench Join Stella McCartney’s Calls

The luxury designer is calling for more people to sign the global fur ban petition – and enlisted the help of the celebs to help spread the word on social media

A host of celebrities are joining sustainable designer Stella McCartney on a campaign calling for a global end to the fur trade.

They include Sir Paul McCartney, Dame Judi Dench, Natalie Emmanuel, and Leona Lewis – among others. Moreover, it’s in partnership with Humane Society International (HSI).

Global fur ban

The luxury fashion designer – that has always been fur-free – enlisted the help of the celebrities to help direct more people to HSI’s petition that calls for a final end to the ‘cruel’ practice.

It involved a video of Dame Judi Dench posted on Instagram. In it, she pleads: “Every year, 100 million animals are bred and killed for their fur to supply to the fashion industry.

“I’m Judi Dench and I’ve long been an advocate of animal rights. Please will you join Stella McCartney and me and sign a petition? Don’t let them use fur. Please join us.”

Game of Thrones star Natalie Emmanuel added: “Our time has come. Animals are our equals. Animals are friends, not fashion.”

Additionally, in another video, Stella called on people to sign the petition in a cameo with her rock legend father, Sir Paul McCartney.

Stella McCartney campaign

The videos feature the celebrities sporting animal head costumes in collaboration with the designer’s most sustainable collection to date.As part of the Autumn 2021 collection, models wore the animal masks to show all creatures as equals. This was promoted in a mockumentary video narrated by David Walliams.

Moreover, it comes after Stella McCartney successfully staged protests in London’s Piccadilly Circus and Duomo di Milano in Italy.

Fur Trade

Whilst Stella McCartney claims to have already prevented 60,000 animal deaths by avoiding using animal fur, leather, or feathers: the industry remains very much alive.

Claire Bass is the Executive Director of the UK branch of Humane Society International.

In a statement sent to PBN, she said: “Stella McCartney’s new campaign and brand is everything the fur trade isn’t – fresh, innovative, sustainable and cruelty-free. 

“We’re thrilled to be working with her. And, to have the support of so many compassionate celebrities, to magnify the message that the age of fur fashion is dead. 

“As the UK government considers our call for a ban on the import and sale of fur from animals who have suffered overseas, this light-hearted campaign sheds light on a serious subject.”

You can sign the global fur ban petition here

Regards Mark