Above – Larry the Cat Belongs to No. 10 Downing Street – Government Residence.
WAV Comment – As an Englishman and animal activist, I (Mark) can remember for many years the fact that the Conservative Party viewed the animal welfare movement as the lowest of the low. We; ‘the low’, always said in response; ‘do you not realise what additional votes there are from the animal / environmental movement if only you undertook some serious animal welfare issues’. Our advice never worked; until recently that is; with Carrie Symonds doing her bit for welfare, and good others like Zak; Theresa Villiers, Sir Roger Gale and Sir David Amess; there is a realisation in the Conservatives that animals and the environment ARE actual issues that get them additional votes. The following is an interesting article (link referenced at end) – I have included photos of thos described so that you ascertain who people are; and who ‘may be pulling green strings at No. 10’ (Downing Street.
Regards Mark
Who’s pulling the green strings in Number 10 ?
There are two – or possibly three – interpretations of the Government’s sudden conversion to the cause of animal welfare. The inclusion of a range of measures in the Queen’s Speech, including recognising animal sentience, ending the export of live animals and taking steps to stop people keeping primates as pets, is a far cry from a Conservative Party that only four years ago was promising its MPs a free vote on bringing back fox hunting.
Many people have, of course, pointed the finger at the prime minister’s fiancée Carrie Symonds, known for her work in the field of marine conservation, now employed by the conservation charity the John Aspinall Foundation.
Above – Carrie Symonds – Fiancee to the Prime Minister.
Gossip about her influence over Boris Johnson and his seemingly new-found passion for green issues goes back to 2019, when environment secretary Theresa Villiers told Natural England to scrap the planned badger cull in Derbyshire.
Above – Theresa Villiers (Yellow Jacket) – Politician and anti live animal export campaigner.
Symonds had been briefed by Dominic Dyer, until last December the chief executive of the Badger Trust, and – so the story goes – she pleaded with Johnson to intervene.
“I gave her information to give to Boris and he brought it up in Cabinet,” Dyer confirmed to ENDS. “Her intervention was significant because she understood the issue, her views were clear and she was a patron of the Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation (CAWF), a group that had worked hard to build a platform against badger culling.”
The NFU later took out a Judicial Review against Villiers’ decision, and the High Court judgment – though it rejected the farmers’ claim – found considerable evidence for Johnson putting pressure on DEFRA ministers to halt culling in Derbyshire.
In fact, Dyer believes it would have been easy to persuade Johnson that stopping the cull was the smart thing to do. The county was in the middle of the so-called ‘Red Wall’ that the Conservatives would target in the looming (though yet to be announced) General Election. “She told him you could be shooting badgers that have been vaccinated, and there’s no public support for that – that’s why he intervened,” Dyer said. “He didn’t want this issue coming up on the doorstep.”
Below – Lorraine Platt at badger cull demo.
But there’s another view. CAWF founder Lorraine Platt has been working for more than a decade with sympathetic MPs to fundamentally change the party’s approach to all manner of animal welfare issues. “It’s important to remember that patrons have had key influential roles in promoting animal welfare for many years, sometimes decades,” Platt told ENDS. “Sir Roger Gale and Sir David Amess have both been in Parliament for 37 years.”
Sir Roger with pet dog.
Below – Sir David Amess
And, indeed, Platt argues, Johnson wrote a piece in the Daily Telegraph in 2018 arguing for an end to live animal exports. “He used his first speech on the steps of Downing Street as prime minister to talk about animal welfare, the first PM to have done that,” she said.
But if the animal welfare and broader environmental issues are really genuine passions for Johnson, then he appears to have a mixed record in advocating them. True, he’s written pieces about elephants and pangolins, but go back a decade or more and you can find articles questioning the science of climate change and rejecting recommendations from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
“If they seriously believe that I am going to give up eating meat – in the hope of reducing the temperature of the planet – then they must be totally barmy,” he wrote. Does this suggest that his embrace of green issues is superficial or that it has come later, raising once again the influence of his new partner?
CAWF patron Sir David Amess suggested to ENDS that giving Symonds all the credit for the government’s commitment to animal welfare would be to ignore the work of many other people.
“I can’t pretend to know the lady, I’ve met her once at the Conservative Party conference,” he said, “but I’ve got no evidence for her influence over these issues. I know that [environment secretary] George Eustice and [environment minister] Zac Goldsmith were talking positively about these things way before she came on the scene.” Dyer also acknowledges the considerable influence of Goldsmith in Number 10.
Zac Goldsmith (right) – key person in stopping UK trophy hunt imports.
So, Johnson’s new-found commitment to animal welfare could be down to Symonds, but it could also – or equally – be down to the fact that the Conservative Party, and the people who vote for it, have changed. Changing tack makes political sense.
And the third possibility? That it is intended to distract from other other measures, such as the proposed reforms to the planning system, that will have adverse impacts on the environment. Throw the blue-green voters a bone so they look away from potentially less palatable actions elsewhere, could be the thinking.
Dyer agrees there are contradictions within the Conservative agenda, whether it’s HS2 or airport expansions. “These are big issues and there are vested interests that will push back the other way,” he said.
Symonds, in other words, may have influence, but so do plenty of other people.
McDonald’s depots blockaded by animal activists demanding chain goes vegan
McDonald’s distribution centres which supply around 1,300 restaurants have been blockaded by animal rights protestors demanding the chain goes vegan.
Around 50,000 members of Animal Rebellion have descended on four of the fast food giant’s major sites in a bid to persuade it to introduce a fully plant-based menu by 2025.
As the world continued to battle the pandemic in the closing months of 2020,Animals’ Angels continued its mission to advocate for animals and expose abusers by conducting an extensive months-long undercover investigation into the Kalona Auction in Iowa.
Widely considered a dumping ground where the local Amish and Mennonite communities dispose of their used-up horses in exchange for new ones, the monthly Kalona horse sale is one of the largest providers of slaughter horses in the US, usually selling more slaughter horses than riding or work horses.
The auction caters to many of North America’s most notorious kill-buyers, including Boots Stanley, Bouvry Exports, Scott Kurtenbach, George Baker and Keith Tongen. Each auction sells between 300 to 500 horses, with Stanley and Kurtenbach & Bouvry buying the bulk of the slaughter horses.
The Kalona sale is also the only auction that uses a hydraulic gate to separate horses moving to the auction ring. As our investigators recently witnessed again firsthand, this is a cruel and chaotic process that inflicts unnecessary suffering on the innocent animals at the sale.
Months of horror at the Kalona sale
During Animals’ Angels recent investigation into the Kalona horse sale, our team observed auctions from August through November, and were horrified by the findings. A few of the heartbreaking observations are listed below:
In August, our team observed a draft mare go down multiple times in the pen, only to be forced back up again and again until she was sold, at which time the distressed animal went down yet again.
At the same auction, investigators saw a horse covered with dozens of whip marks, and witnessed a horse being kicked in the face by another horse with full force in an agitated pen.
In September, kill buyer Boots Stanley paid $50 for a horse (tag #695) with severe lacerations on his face which appeared to have been caused by an ingrown halter being ripped off prior to the sale.
In October, Boots Stanley purchased a dappled grey draft horse who struggled through the auction ring due to a left leg that had swollen to three times its normal size.
During the same sale, a Belgian draft horse died suddenly in the loose horse pen, indicating the horse had already been in dire condition when brought in, and a white donkey was mercilessly moved through the auction ring, even though the injured animal was unable to put any weight on his right foot.
In November, Stanley was once again buying blind, sick, and injured animals at the auction. Some of these horses later appear on his online broker program pages for hundreds of dollars, even though he paid as little as $50 for many of the animals.
During each monthly sale at Kalona, Animals’ Angels investigators documented consistently cruel and neglectful behavior:
The auction used a heavy hydraulic gate to block the entrance of the auction ring. Terrified horses were forced through a narrow chute while the auction workers hit the panicked animals relentlessly on the face and sides. One worker even went so far to strike a horse across the face with his wooden cane.
WAV Comment – you read it here first ! – please stay with us.
BREAKING NEWS 21/5/21.
EU Citizens’ Initiative: MEPs back calls to gradually end caged farming
Press Releases
The use of cages in animal farming could be phased out by 2027, after an impact assessment and a properly funded transition, the Agriculture Committee said on Friday.
In their response to the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) “End the Cage Age”, MEPs called on the European Commission to come up with a draft EU law on fair and sustainable farming and to propose a revision of existing EU rules on the protection of animals kept for farming purposes. These legal changes should pave the way to phasing out the use of cages in EU animal farming, after an appropriate transition period and a solid, scientific impact assessment, possibly by 2027, they say.
Alternatives to cage farming exist and are being successfully implemented in a number of member states, MEPs say. These alternative systems should be further improved and encouraged at national level, but to ensure a level-playing field for farmers across the European Union, EU legislation is needed, they add.
Species-by-species approach and properly funded transition
The gradual end of caged farming should be based on a species-by-species approach that would take into account the characteristics of different animals and ensure that they all have housing systems that suit their specific needs, MEPs say. They insist on ensuring sufficient time to make the transition and proper support, including adequate advisory and training services, incentives and financial programmes for farmers and livestock breeders before making any legislative changes. This would avoid farmers losing their competitive edge and EU production being consequently relocated abroad, where animal welfare standards are lower than in the EU.
MEPs also call for a more comprehensive food policy to support the shift towards a more sustainable food system that should focus not only on environmental, but also on economic and social dimensions. Such a policy should prevent small and medium-sized farms from abandoning livestock production and stop production being further concentrated in the hands of a few large farms, they say.
Same standards for all imported products
A fair trade policy that ensures a level playing field is a precondition for higher European standards, the Agriculture Committee says. The Commission and member states should therefore focus more on putting effective controls and customs checks in place to ensure that imported agri-food products meet EU animal welfare standards, it adds.
MEPs want all animal products imported into the EU to be produced in full compliance with the relevant EU legislation, including the use of cage-free farming systems and insist that existing trade deals should be re-evaluated to ensure that the same animal welfare and product quality standards are met. They also call on the Commission to promote animal welfare internationally.
Next steps
The draft resolution, approved in the Agriculture Committee by 39 votes in favour to four against, with three abstentions, will now have to be scrutinised by the Parliament as a whole, probably during the 7-10 June plenary session.
Background
The European Citizens’ Initiative allows one million citizens from at least a quarter of EU member states to ask the European Commission to propose legislation in areas that fall within its competence. The EU invites organisers of successful initiatives to present their initiative at a public hearing in the European Parliament, to the committee responsible for the subject matter.
During the public hearing on the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) “End the Cage Age” on 15 April, MEPs highlighted the importance of listening and acting on citizens’ concerns on animal welfare. However, many insisted that any potential phase-out of caged farming requires proper financial support, incentives and an adequate transition period. They called for strict and efficient measures to avoid imports of cheaper products with lower animal welfare standards from non-EU countries. Some also called for a proper impact assessment and insisted on EU legislative action.
The “End the Cage Age” ECI was registered with the EU Commission on 5 September 2018. By the time of submission, the initiative had gathered support from almost 1.4 million signatories from across the EU, with the required threshold for signatures met in 18 member states.
The initiative calls on the Commission to “end (…) inhumane treatment” of “hundreds of millions of EU farm animals (…) kept in cages for most of their lives”, and for an EU law to ban the use of: cages for laying hens, rabbits, pullets, broiler breeders, layer breeders, quail, ducks and geese; farrowing crates for sows; sow stalls, where not already prohibited; and individual calf pens, where not already prohibited.
Final vote on the ban of Estonian fur farms in June
20 May 2021
Loomus
WAV Comment – Estonia joined the EU as a member state on 9 December 2010.
The Environment Committee has agreed that the draft Act for Animal Protection and Nature Conservation, which would prohibit fur farms in Estonia, will be put to a final vote on June 2nd.
This announcement has brought joy and optimism to our Estonian member organisation Loomus. “Loomus has been working on the fur ban for years and the decision that the Environment Committee made today takes us very close to finally put an end to this cruel industry. We are glad that the politicians are taking animal-friendly steps and we are very optimistic that this time the farms will be banned,” said Annaliisa Post, Communications Manager and Board Member at the animal advocacy organization.
According to a Kantar Emor poll conducted in September, 75 percent of Estonians are opposed to the breeding of animals such as foxes and minks for their fur. In 2016, 69 percent of respondents agreed, indicating that support for a fur-free Estonia is growing.
European Commission introduces mandatory SARS-CoV-2 screening in all European mink fur farms
19 May 2021
LAV
On 12 May, the European Commission adopted the Implementing Decision 788 which sets standards for the surveillance and reporting of SARS-CoV-2 infections in mink (and raccoon dogs) bred for fur production.
This decision means that, for the first time, there is a mandatory and harmonised diagnostic screening and reporting system in place for all Member States, after more than 400 fur farms saw outbreaks of SARS-CoV-2 in 2020.
The Commission has deemed it necessary to initiate this monitoring in all Member States “without delay”, demonstrating the considerable risks to public health connected to fur farming.
The EU Commission has recognised the risk to public health connected to the presence of mink (and raccoon dog) farms for the production of fur and now, finally, it has adopted a system of control of these farms with active surveillance (diagnostic tests). In Italy we have already had outbreaks on 2 farms out of 8; the time has come for the Minister of Health to assume political responsibility to permanently ban fur farming.
Simone Pavesi, Campaigner, LAV
Diagnostic surveillance involves carrying out virological tests on a weekly basis, on live or dead animals, for a number equal to at least 5% of the population of any single farm. This sampling level can be adjusted from 5% to 20% in the case of positive results for SARS-CoV-2.
However, there are possible loopholes in Implementing Decision 788. Competent authorities can decide to switch from active surveillance to passive surveillance on farms that adopt risk reduction measures. Farms under passive surveillance will only be required to test animals if mortality is increased or farm workers test positive for SARS-CoV-2.
This creates the risk of reversing monitoring systems to those of 2020 where surveillance protocol was based on mere clinical observation, in clear contrast with scientific evidence which suggests mink are in most cases asymptomatic. This would increase the risk of creating SARS-CoV-2 reservoirs, with serious public health implications.
In Italy, a country which, while having suspended mink fur farming for 2021, still has operational farms, 77% of the adult population are in favour of the adoption of emergency measures to end fur farming and breeding. This illustrates that by allowing fur production to continue, the European Commission is more concerned with protecting the economic interests of a small group of stakeholders at the expense of the health of all European citizens.
WAV Comment – I have witnessed a lot of animal suffering in my time; but I found this video footage articularly disturbing. It is from Victoria, Australia. A farmer kills male goat kids with a metal pole in front of their mothers because they cannot produce milk; and they cannot produce mil because they are males, no other reason. It happens with milk producing animals the world over; the males are always considered a ‘by product’ of the business; because they do not supply milk and keep the herd numbers up. Thus, males are usually killed within hours of birth, exported live overseas to be killed for their meat, or sent to slaughterhouses serving more local ‘burger producing’ organisations. Whatever, the males never win. This footage is even more disturbing as it shows the male kid goats being yanked away from their mothers ; and then in full sight of their mothers, being hit in the head region by the farmer using a metal pole. Like useless vegetation, their bodies are simple thrown into a tractor bucket to be disposed of. If this does not stop everyone from consuming animal dairy, then I do not know what will. A complete and utter abuse and killing of baby animals who have done nothing wrong apart from being born male. This is common the world over; watch it and repent.
Regards Mark
Link, including disturbing video: WATCH THE VIDEO FOOTAGE HERE
Disturbing moment dairy farmer beats baby goats to death with a metal pole – before dragging their convulsing bodies away in front of their mothers
This is the disturbing moment a farmer killed male goat kids with a metal pole in front of their mothers because they cannot produce milk.
Secret footage was allegedly taken on a dairy farm in Bannockburn, Victoria
It shows a farmer drive up to a goat pen and pull the male kids from mothers
The farmer smashes them on head with metal pole and leaves them squirming
The confronting footage was put online by Animal Liberation Victoria on Friday
This is the disturbing moment a farmer killed male goat kids with a metal pole in front of their mothers because they cannot produce milk.
Secret footage said to be taken on a dairy farm in Bannockburn, Victoria shows a farmer drive up to a goat pen and pull out the male kids.
One by one he smashed them on the head with the pole, leaving them frantically squirming on the ground before they died from traumatic head injuries.
The video shows the farmer putting male goat kids into a blue container before he takes them out and kills them
After killing around a dozen, the farmer loaded the corpses on to his tractor and drove away.
The confronting two minutes of undercover footage is said to have been taken between mid-September and mid-October this year.
It was posted online by Animal Liberation Victoria on Friday.
The group told Daily Mail Australia they were supplied the footage by anonymous activists who planted cameras on the farm.
‘These newborns males are killed because they will never produce milk, and are therefore considered useless to the dairy industry,’ ALV president Noah Hannibal said in a statement.
‘This brutal slaughter takes place as part of an inherently cruel industry.’
The video captures the farmer hit the goats on the head for the squirm as a result of the trauma
The confronting two minutes of undercover footage (pictured) was taken between mid-September and mid-October
Nothing in the video was illegal because farm animals are not covered by the same animal cruelty laws as domestic pets.
Killing newborn goats is a normal practice across the industry.
Animal welfare guidelines, which are not legally binding, state that goats can be killed using a variety of methods including shooting and blunt force trauma.
‘A single blow should be delivered to the centre of the forehead and should only be used on kids that are less than 24 hours old,’ the guidelines state.
The Victorian Farmers Federation said the footage was confronting.
President David Jochinke told Daily Mail Australia: ‘As an industry, we do not condone the mistreatment of animals. Any producer who falls outside the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, as well as the standards and guidelines of the industry should be investigated and managed appropriately’
He added: ‘It is difficult to comment on the specific details of this circumstance, but we would encourage farmers to stun animals with a captive bolt wherever possible.
‘Any person who has stewardship of an animal should take their responsibilities seriously. I am supportive of Agriculture Victoria undertaking an investigation into this matter should they feel it to be necessary.’
The short film “Motherhood” by the Dutchwoman Eline Helena Schelleken shows how most of the sows in the EU have to spend their motherhood.
In the crate in the service center and then in the so-called “piglet protection cage” in the farrowing area.
Imprisoned, immobile and extradited.
Pigs are sentient, intelligent beings.
The meat industry exploits them efficiently as production machines. You can read the seven most important facts below.
At the beginning, the film shows what loving, feeling and tender animals pigs are. But after a few minutes it becomes clear how cruel it is to be locked in a cage for weeks.
Cage farming is a practice that is in stark contrast to the trend towards more sustainable agriculture, as outlined in the “Green Deal”.
We, as part of the” End the Cage Age”initiative, call on EU Executive Vice-President and Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis to support the EU-wide ban on cage farming.
1. Number of sows
There are around 11 million sows in the EU. The majority of them spend almost half of the year in a cage where they cannot even turn around.
Only fewer than 2 million sows live in alternative systems without a cage.
2. Days in the cage
Most sows are caged at the beginning of their gestation for around five weeks. About a week before the birth of their piglets, they are restrained again and remain in the so-called piglet protection cage for another five weeks.
Because a “production cycle” takes about 21 weeks, the sow spends a total of up to half of the year fixed in a cage.
3. Natural behavior
Locked up in crates and “piglet protection cages”, they are more or less tied up.
They can no longer exercise even basic behavior. During the labor process and the weeks of lactation, the sow cannot even walk a few steps or turn and flip over. It is degraded from a feeling, intelligent living being to a mere unit of production.
This is important in a way; but will have no real effect on you as visitors to this site.
I (Mark) will try to explain;
A ‘domain’ is a internet ‘address’ which can be used for global access by anyone. Here at WAV, our domain is ‘worldanimalsvoice.com’; we pay each year to have and retain this domain.
We have recently been informed by domain registrars in China that applications have been made for at least 4 domains for ‘World Animals Voice’ and that they will vary from our address – as far as we know, they are worldanimalsvoice.cn/ worldanimalsvoice.com.cn/ worldanimalsvoice.net.cn/ and worldanimalsvoice.org.cn
We have informed the registrar in China that these addresses applications are nothing to do with us (as we are UK and Germany controlled) or are they associated with us and that if they are taken out, then we will have no control over the content of same.
Our real ‘concern’ is that the name ‘worldanimalsvoice’; which we set up and use for this site, is / could be used (in China) when it has nothing to with us; having originated and been registered via the domain controller in China.
Our domain is only ‘worldanimalsvoice.com’
We hope that if these new domains are used, taking the name ‘world animals voice’; then they will be supportive of animal welfare / rights issues; and that their content will be positive towards animals. But we cannot guarantee this, or any of the content on any of these sites.
So you, as supporters to our site, can visit us you always do; but please just be wary that there may be other ‘world animals voice’ sites, namely (worldanimalsvoice.cn/ worldanimalsvoice.com.cn/ worldanimalsvoice.net.cn/ and worldanimalsvoice.org.cn) possibly being used. The info on them is not associated with us; has nothing to do with us and never will be controlled in any way by us.
There is no way to combat this and we have to accept the situation of world (computer) domains as it is.
Please put ‘worldanimalsvoice.com’ somewhere safe on your system so that you know this is the only way to access us. Any other address is outside of our control.
We trust you understand the situation and we will carry on with this site as always.
World Animals Voice 