World’s top banks must stop funding factory farming to prevent future pandemics, say campaigners
Jane Goodall and nearly 100 other experts call on IMF and other financial giants to halt lending hundreds of billions of pounds to industrial agriculture businesses
Nearly 100 environmentalists, including the (UK) prime minister’s father, are calling on banks and the International Monetary Fund to stop investing in factory farming to cut the risk of future pandemics.
In a letter to 22 leading financial institutions worldwide, the signatories, who include Jane Goodall, warn that industrial livestock production increases the potential for further disease outbreaks, and contributes to dangerous antibiotic resistance.
Industrial farming also undermines food security, and contributes to climate change, biodiversity loss, including the loss of pollinators, deforestation and water pollution, the letter says.
It was sent to banking giants including JP Morgan Chase, Standard Chartered, HSBC, Lloyds, Santander and NatWest, as well as the World Bank, the European Investment Bank and the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development.
The 94 signatories also include television cook Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Tim Lang, professor of food policy at City University London, actor Joanna Lumley and environmentalist Stanley Johnson.
Eco activists have long argued that global financiers should not bankroll livestock corporations that risk environmental damage.
In the past five years, meat and dairy companies worldwide received at least $478bn (£370bn) in backing from more than 2,500 investment firms, banks, and pension funds, according to a report this year by Feedback, a UK group lobbying for changes to the food system.
High street banks provide billions in loans to the firms behind US chlorinated chicken, it said.
And over the past decade, the World Bank’s private investment arm has channelled more than $1.8bn into major livestock and factory farming operations around the world, according to research by Mongabay and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.
about:blank about:blank javascript:void(0) Urging them to end their support for or funding of industrial livestock systems, the new letter says: “As the world seeks to ‘build back better’ after Covid-19, it is widely recognised that we need to rethink our relationship with the natural world and to treat it, and the creatures within it, with more respect. This will involve reshaping the way in which we feed ourselves.”
The document highlights studies showing that the crowded, stressful conditions of industrial livestock production “contribute to the emergence, spread and amplification of pathogens, some of which are zoonotic”
Sean Gifford, of Compassion in World Farming, which coordinated the letter, said: “It’s vital that global financial institutions stop funding industrial livestock production and instead support regenerative forms of agriculture that are not only better for human health but also kinder to animals and the planet.
“We are at a turning point in history and we need major financial institutions and intergovernmental organisations to act now. The need has never been more pressing.”
A spokeswoman for UK Finance, which represents banks and the finance industry, said: “The banking and finance industry can play a central role in delivering a post-Covid economic recovery that is aligned not only to the government’s net-zero target but also to be approached in a fair, just and inclusive way.
“Banking and finance firms already play an important part in supporting local networks comprising of corporates, SMEs, local authorities, universities and other sources of expertise including agriculture. Lenders take their agricultural policies very seriously and regularly assess clients on their commitment to sustainable business practices.”
WAV Comment – Below you will find an article written just a few days ago by David Attenborough.
We have a saying that goes – ‘you can please some of the people some of the time, but you cant please all of the people all of the time’.
We don’t all agree 100% with the thousands of comments made by everyone about everything; there has to be and you have to accept a certain amount of flexibility with regard what some say and their own personal views. We did not make the programme which was shown by David Attenborough recently: https://worldanimalsvoice.com/2020/09/17/england-extinction-watch-the-full-video-here-a-must-watch/ and if we were the producers of it then we would not have definitely included some of the comments made by some scientists. But on the campaign front you have to look at the whole programme and the positives or negatives it portrayed – and in our opinion; there were more positives than negatives.
Sure; as Vegans we would have not shown a scientist who supported ‘moderation’ in the consumption of meat and dairy – but then we also know that there are some who will always eat meat and drink dairy regardless of what they are given as evidence to the contrary. The entire world will not stop eating meat and drinking dairy because we want it; and so in that context; by asking those continuing meat eaters to reduce and moderate their meat consumption could be viewed as an approach to further inform and educate. Education of the damage being done to the environment and the worlds animals are the most important factors; and if the programme educates (the uninformed ?) about the damage being done by meat production and dairy production around the world; then we support the education rather than an attack on just one scientist in a programme because he talks of ‘moderation’.
Sadly, animals will probably always be farmed to some degree for meat and dairy. That is a simple fact. Through education we hope; as per our approach with this site; we can show the facts of the meat / dairy industries and educate people to turn away from them. I personally write from England; and can honestly say that over the last year or two, there has been a massive if not astronomical change in British people who wish to support going meat free and dairy free. As a whole; people here in UK care about the environment, and especially animals and their welfare; so we have to continue to educate, inform and provide the evidence when necessary. We would love to in the business of putting ourselves out of business; because then all ‘our’ issues and problems would be solved. But it aint quite that easy.
People are massively / globally changing their attitudes to meat and dairy consumption because of what they are being shown and told – they are being educated about the damage to the environment farming animals for meat and for example, what happens to ‘by product’ male dairy calves which are of no use to the industry.
People now are saying ‘No’ to the animal abuses of the meat and dairy industries. It is up to us and thousands of other campaigners to continue to provide the facts and show the footage that we as campaigners don’t want to see. We abhor the footage of the fur farms and the fur industry; but hey; look at the humungous changes which are happening there – cruelty is gradually not being accepted – people power wins.
Our planet is facing an unprecedented challenge. As I warned last week, we are living in the shadow of a disaster – and it is one of our own making.
Just like the people who lived by the doomed nuclear reactor at Chernobyl, we are on the verge of destruction.
By regarding the Earth as our planet, run by humankind for humankind, we have already wrought untold damage.
We are polluting our air, draining our rivers, warming the oceans and making them more acidic. We have depleted the ozone layer and brought about potentially disastrous climate change.
Humankind, in other words, has set a course for a devastating future, not just for the natural world but for itself. And if we continue, we will, like the people who once lived in the shadow of Chernobyl, risk sleepwalking into global catastrophe.
What faces us today is nothing less than the collapse of the living world. Yet there is still time to change course, to find a better way of living.
We can, and must, begin to put things right. And at the heart of this global effort must lie respect for biodiversity – the very thing we are destroying.
It is no accident that the stability of our planet’s climate is wavering at the very moment the extraordinary richness of life on our fragile planet is in sharp decline. The two things are bound together.
Restoring biodiversity on Earth is the only way out of the crisis we have created. And that, in turn, means ‘rewilding’ the world, re-establishing the balance between the human world and the rest of nature, step by step, as I set out below.
I don’t pretend it will be easy, yet this blueprint for survival is not merely possible but essential if we are to have any hope of saving our civilisation.
Prioritise people and the planet over profit
What has brought us to this moment of desperation? I believe it is our hunger for perpetual economic growth.
This one goal has dominated social, economic and political institutions for the past 70 years. And the result is that we are enslaved to crude measurements of our gross domestic product (GDP).
Yet the price paid by the living world is not accounted for.
There are those who hope for a future in which humankind focuses upon a new, sustainable measure of success.
The Happy Planet Index, created by the New Economics Foundation, attempts to do just that, combining a nation’s ecological footprint with elements of human wellbeing, such as life expectancy, average levels of happiness and a measure of equality.
In 2019, New Zealand made the bold step of formally dropping GDP as its primary measure of economic success and created its own index based upon its most pressing national concerns.
In this single act, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern shifted the priorities of her whole country away from pure growth and towards something that better reflects the aspirations many of us have.
Ditch oil and embrace renewable energy
In 2019, fossil fuels provided 85 per cent of our global energy, but the carbon they release into the atmosphere warms the Earth and increases the acidity of the oceans, with disastrous consequences.
Now we need to make the transition to renewable energy at lightning speed.
A carbon tax penalising all emitters would radically speed up the process. The Swedish government introduced such a tax in the 1990s and it worked.
As the new, clean, carbon-free world comes online, people everywhere will start to feel the benefits. Life will be less noisy. Our air and water will be cleaner, with fewer premature deaths from poor air quality.
At least three nations – Iceland, Albania and Paraguay – already generate all their electricity without fossil fuels. A further eight use coal, oil and gas for less than ten per cent of their electricity. Of these nations, five are African and three are in Latin America.
Profound change can happen in a short period of time. This is starting to happen with fossil fuels.
We may yet pull off a miracle and move to a clean energy world by the middle of this century.
Rewild the Oceans with huge no-fishing zones
The ocean covers two-thirds of the surface of the planet, which means there is a special role for it in our revolution to rewild the world.
By helping the marine world to recover, we can simultaneously capture carbon, raise biodiversity and supply more food.
It starts with the industry that is causing most damage to the ocean – fishing. Ninety per cent of fish populations are either over-fished or fished to capacity.
But this can be fixed with a global effort to create a network of no-fishing zones throughout coastal waters where fish can grow older and produce more offspring. They then repopulate neighbouring waters.
We need no-fishing zones to encompass at least a third of our ocean to enable fish stocks to recover.
International waters – the high seas – are owned by no one, so all states are free to fish as much as they wish. The worst-offending nations pay billions of dollars in subsidies to keep their fleets fishing, even when there are too few fish left for it to be profitable.
But if all international waters were designated a no-fishing zone, we would transform the open ocean from a place exhausted by our relentless pursuit to a flourishing wilderness that would seed our coastal waters with more fish and help us all in our efforts to capture carbon.
The high seas would become the world’s greatest wildlife reserve.
Commercial fish farming, which often pollutes the seas, must be made moresustainable.
More radically, we can reforest the ocean. Kelp is the fastest-growing seaweed, forming vast submerged forests that boast remarkable levels of biodiversity. But even this wonder plant needs healthy seas. The forests are prone to attacks from sea urchins and, where we have eliminated animals such as sea otters that eat the urchins, entire kelp forests have been devoured.
Learn to get more food from less land
The conversion of wild habitat to farmland has been the single greatest direct cause of biodiversity loss during our time on Earth.
In 1700, we farmed about one billion hectares. Today, our farms cover just under five billion hectares, more than half of all the habitable land on the planet. +
If we are to farm less land, we must eat much less meat, especially red meat, and especially beef, which, when including the grain fed to cows, consumes 60 per cent of our farmland
To gain those extra four billion hectares, we have torn down seasonal forests, rainforests, woodland and scrub, drained wetlands and fenced in grasslands, destroying biodiversity and releasing carbon stored in their plants and soils. Removing the wild has cost us dearly.
How can we cease the expansion of industrial farmland while feeding our growing populations?
In short, can we get more food from less land – as we must do?
There are some inspiring farmers in the Netherlands who have turned away from fertilisers, machinery, pesticides and herbicides and erected wind turbines.
They have dug geothermal wells to heat their greenhouses with renewable energy, collected rainwater from their own greenhouse roofs and planted their crops not in soil but in gutters filled with nutrient-rich water to minimise input and loss. They use home-grown bee colonies to pollinate crops. These innovative farms are now among the highest-yielding and lowest-impact food producers on Earth.
For smaller-scale and subsistence farmers, there is an inexpensive low-tech approach: regenerative farming. Herbicide and pesticide use are reduced, crops are rotated to rest soils, and organic matter rich in carbon is brought back into the topsoil, storing carbon.
But these improvements will only get us so far. If we are to farm less land, we must eat much less meat, especially red meat, and especially beef, which, when including the grain fed to cows, consumes 60 per cent of our farmland.
Instead, we must change to a diet that is largely plant-based, which will reduce the space we need for farming and reduce greenhouse gases.
Estimates suggest that by changing our habits, humankind could feed itself on just half of the land that we currently farm.
Save our forests and rewild the Land
Much of the developed world cut down its forests long ago, putting most of the current deforestation pressure on the poorer parts of the world, especially in the tropics.
There the rich tree cover is still being destroyed to provide the beef, palm oil and hardwood that wealthier nations consume.
And it is the deepest, darkest and wildest forests of all – the tropical rainforests – that are disappearing. If this continues, the loss of carbon to the air, and species to the history books, would be catastrophic for the whole world. We must halt all deforestation now.
By directing our trade and investment, we can support those nations to reap the benefits of these resources without losing them.
We must find ways to make wilderness valuable to those who own and live in it, without reducing its biodiversity or its ability to capture carbon.
Reduce family size and slow population growth
When I was born, there were fewer than two billion people on the planet. Today there are almost four times that number.
When I was born, there were fewer than two billion people on the planet. Today there are almost four times that number
The world’s population is continuing to grow, albeit at a slower pace than at any time since 1950.
At current UN projections, there will be between 9.4 and 12.7 billion people by 2100. Largely due to the demand from wealthy countries, our consumption is exceeding the Earth’s capacity to regenerate its resources.
We want everyone on Earth to have a fair share, and that means we need to both lower consumption and find ways to stabilise our population growth.
The fairest way to stabilise the global population is to help poorer nations to develop. When this happens, diet and healthcare improve, child mortality decreases and families have fewer children.
It is also true that wherever women have the vote, wherever girls stay in school for longer and wherever women are free to follow their aspirations, the birth rate falls.
Raising people out of poverty and empowering women is the fairest way to bring this period of rapid population growth to an end.
Live sustainably to revive the natural world
Before farming began, a few million humans across the globe were living as hunter-gatherers, working in balance with the natural world. With the advent of farming, our relationship with nature changed.
We came to regard the wild world as something to tame, to subdue and use. We moved from being a part of nature to being apart from nature.
All these years later, we need to reverse that transition.
But there are now billions of us. We can’t possibly return to our hunter-gatherer ways. Nor would we want to. But there is plenty that we can and must do.
We must halt and reverse the conversion of wild spaces to farmland, plantations and other developments. We must end our overuse of fertilisers. We must reduce our use of freshwater. We must immediately halt and preferably start to reverse climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
If we do all those things, biodiversity loss will begin to slow to a halt, and then start itself to reverse.
Our greatest opportunity is now
We humans have come as far as we have because we are the cleverest creatures to have ever lived on Earth.
But if we are to continue to exist, we will require more than intelligence. We will require wisdom.
Homo sapiens, the wise human being, must now learn from its mistakes and live up to its name. We who are alive today have the formidable task of making sure that our species does so. We must not give up hope.
We can yet make amends, change direction and once again become a species in harmony with nature. All we require is the will.
The next few decades represent a final chance to build a stable home for ourselves and restore the rich, healthy and wonderful world that we inherited from our distant ancestors. Our future on the planet is at stake.
FAO/OIE/WHO Tripartite statement on the pandemic risk of swine influenza
15 September 2020
A recent report on the circulation of A(H1N1) subtype influenza viruses in the swine population in China with evidence of zoonotic potential has alerted the world to the pandemic risk associated with swine influenza viruses.
“Although there is limited data assessing human infections and circulation of these viruses in pigs, awareness and vigilance is strongly advised for a number of reasons” says Keith Sumption, Chief Veterinary Officer of the FAO. “The viruses analysed in the recent report from China show characteristics associated with increased ability for zoonotic transmission – the potential ability to infect humans. The viruses have some genetic markers to suggest human infection is possible; they can replicate in human airway cells, and viruses can be spread via respiratory droplets passed between ferrets.”
It is important that new and updated swine influenza surveillance data collected by countries are rapidly analysed and risk-assessed on a global scale to enable tracking how endemic and novel viruses are spreading. With the aim to facilitate and support this, OFFLU (OIE-FAO Network of Expertise on Animal Influenza) advocates timely sharing of swine surveillance data from all regions to ensure that a One Health approach is applied to emerging influenza A viruses and that diagnostic tools are regularly updated to detect a wide range of influenza viruses, including emergent strains.
It is recommended that laboratories continue to conduct tests for swine influenza according to OIE International Standards. Further testing information, protocols, and guidance for surveillance in animals and in humans are given on the OIE, FAO and WHO websites.
A number of countries have reported sporadic human infections with novel influenza viruses including strains of swine-origin, under the WHO International Health Regulations in the past decades. Cases of human infections with swine influenza A viruses from the 1C genetic clade have been reported from Eurasia in recent years.
The viruses analysed in the recent report from China show characteristics associated with increased ability for zoonotic transmission – the potential ability to infect humans. The viruses have some genetic markers to suggest human infection is possible; they can replicate in human airway cells, and viruses can be spread via respiratory droplets passed between ferrets.
Keith Sumption, Chief Veterinary Officer of the FAO
“The timely release of genetic sequence data and sharing of virus isolates of emerging influenza viruses with GISRS (Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System has allowed both public and animal health specialists to rapidly assess associated risks” informs Ann Moen, Chief Influenza Preparedness and Response Unit, WHO. “Such timely action is critical to inform effective mitigation measures and prepare for a potential pandemic.”
Over the past four decades instances of sporadic transmission of influenza viruses between animals and humans have occurred. These sporadic zoonotic infections remind us that the threat of an influenza pandemic is persistent. While avian influenza has been the focus of surveillance and pandemic preparedness, swine influenza should not be neglected. The 2009 H1N1 pandemic was caused by a strain of swine influenza A virus which was introduced into humans and spread worldwide. Since then humans have re-introduced these viruses back into pigs, where they continue to evolve. It is important to identify emerging influenza viruses in swine populations and investigate their potential to infect humans.
The Tripartite contributes to this through supporting the understanding of the complexity and diversity of human-animal interfaces in different regions and significant differences in capacities of animal and human health national surveillance between countries and across geographic regions.
“Influenza in swine is not an OIE listed disease and thus does not require reporting to the OIE by the veterinary authorities. However, due to the pandemic risk associated with animal influenza viruses, there is a need for continued surveillance and risk assessment of emerging strains in swine populations” says Dr Matthew Stone, Deputy Director General (International Standards and Science), OIE.
“Through the international partnership between OIE, FAO, WHO and contributing laboratories, emerging influenza variants, that may be of public or animal health concern, can be identified and flagged for further attention. We continuously monitor changes in circulating influenza virus strains in animal populations worldwide.”
The development of zoonotic influenza A candidate vaccine viruses, coordinated by WHO, remains an essential component of the global strategy for pandemic preparedness. Such readiness is dependent on continued monitoring through surveillance in animals including swine populations and timely reporting of human infections under International Health Regulations. The WHO Collaborating Center at China CDC has previously reported human infections by other 1C A(H1N1) variant viruses, including two recent viruses with a similar 1C.2.3 genotype. A candidate vaccine virus from a similar 1C.2.3. (Eurasian avianlike) A(H1N1) virus has been developed by the WHO Collaborating Center at China CDC, available for development of human vaccines for pandemic preparedness purposes.
Knowledge gained from international One Health cooperation, highlighted in the Tripartite’s Commitment (2017) and WHO Global Influenza Strategy, allows animal and human health experts to conduct timely risk assessment, update diagnostic tests and diagnostic reagents, anticipate vaccine component requirements, and develop response plans for current or future events.
From ‘Respect for Animals’; Nottingham England. Fighting the fur trade.
THIS IS HUGE !!!
Poland close to historic fur farming ban
Over two dramatic days, the Sejm (the lower house of the Polish Parliament) has held a historic meetings advancing the legal protection of animals in Poland. It concerned the so-called “Five for animals”: a proposed bill with key changes to animal protection law. MPs voted in favour of an amendment, which includes a ban on breeding animals for fur.
The sitting of Sejm on Thursday, 17 September 2020 was saw an impressive majority backing the legislation. Politicians from across the political spectrum supported the initiative and resulting in a majority of MPs (77%) voting in favour. Now the bill has to be voted on by the Senate (the upper house of Polish parliament) and signed by the president.
The sponsor of the Bill was the Law and Justice Party MP Grzegorz Puda, Deputy Minister of Funds and Regional Policy. He defended the project against attacks by fur industry apologists. In addition to the key issue of ethics of animal cruelty, he argued that the project had involved consultations with villagers who suffer from the stench, insect infestations, environmental and groundwater pollution as a result of fur production.
This victory over the cruel and unnecessary fur trade is a major moment in the anti-fur campaign: Poland is the third biggest fur producer in the world. Every year over 5 million animals are killed for fur in Poland. This cruelty is now close to finally coming to an end.
Respect for Animals is proud to campaign with our Fur Free Alliance colleagues Otwarte Klatki and Viva! Poland and commends their fantastic campaigning in Poland.
After many years of frustration, this legislation has progressed remarkably swiftly. Last week, we brought you news of a shocking new undercover investigation from Poland on one of the world’s biggest fur farms, which depicted horrible suffering of mink.
The footage revealed numerous cases of cannibalism, aggression, self-harming, open wounds and paralysis amongst mink on the farm. Also, it showed the lack of veterinary care on the farm and many cases of animals escaping.
After viewing the recent footage Mark Glover, Campaigns Director at Respect for Animals said:
“This is a shocking investigation. The suffering of these animals can scarcely be imagined.
“I personally know what impact seeing these atrocities first hand and close up can have. As the undercover activist said in the video, some of the things he has seen will live with him forever. I still live with some of what I saw in UK fur farms more than 20 years ago and it is not easy, but is certainly one of the things that has driven me on to work to end this disgusting industry.”
Just two hours after the publication of this footage a press conference was organised by the ruling party, in which they announced the “Five for Animals” bill.
Respect for Animals has been running an open letter to the Polish Embassy calling for a fur farming ban.
European pig sector suffering from animal welfare and environmental problems, says research by European Parliament
15 September 2020
The European Parliamentary Research Services recently published a comprehensive briefing on the EU pig meat sector that is meant to inform MEPs and their assistants. Animal welfare and environmental degradation feature prominently among the issues to be urgently addressed.
Pig meat production accounts for half of the total meat production of the European Union, which is also the main global exporter of pig meat products. Exports and pig meat prices increased substantially in 2019-20 due to the epidemic of African Swine Fever in Asia, which has decimated the local pig population.
But it’s not all about the economy, and it’s definitely not all roses. In a new report, the European Parliamentary Research Service importantly stresses that “the vast majority of pigs in the EU are bred, kept and slaughtered for meat within an intensive system that gives rise to numerous issues linked in particular to animal welfare and pollution.” And we are talking about 150 million animals.
The report goes into detail on the generalised lack of compliance with the Pigs Directive explaining that “Despite EU regulations prohibiting routine mutilation, most piglets in the main pig producing Member States are routinely subjected to harmful practices.” We were pleased to see that the important activities of the Intergroup for the Welfare and Conservation of Animals and our campaign End Pig Pain, which collected more than 1 million signatures asking for better lives for pigs, are mentioned in the report.
Another major issue is the environmental impact of pig farming, which is responsible, according to the research services of the European Parliament, for significant water and air pollution, as well as “odour and noise, the spreading of heavy metals, pesticides, toxic substances and pathogens (including antibiotic resistant pathogens), water pollution by residues of pharmaceuticals, excessive use of groundwater”.
During an historic meeting for the legal protection of animals, the lower house of the Polish Parliament discussed the “Five for animals” bill which proposes key changes to the animal protection law. 77% of MPs voted in favour of an amendment which includes a ban on breeding animals for fur.
The Five for Animals bill proposed measures that include, among other things:
A ban on fur farming
The strengthening of controls on the living conditions of animals
A ban on the use of animals for entertainment (e.g. in circuses)
A ban on keeping animals permanently chained
The definition of minimum pen dimensions
A restriction on the possibility of ritual slaughter
Otwarte Klatki started the fur ban campaign (called “Cena Futra” – price of fur) 9 years ago. Since then, they have exposed the reality of the Polish fur industry with crucial investigations.
Their last investigation exposed the suffering of minks in what is probably the biggest mink farm in the world, bringing fur farming back on the political agenda.
Just two hours after the footage went public the Polish ruling party announced the “Five for Animals” bill during a press conference. The initiative received crossparty support resulting in a majority of MPs (77%) voting in favour. Now the bill has to be voted by the Senate (the upper house of the Polish Parliament) and signed by the president.
This version is a must watch and especially should be viewed by politicians and those in power who CAN make the changes; so if you can pass it on to any in your ‘patch’ then all the better.
It is the full 1 hour version as per the original programme.
Please watch; get angry; get annoyed. Upset, whatever; rage and repent over what is shown, but please take the message on board – the planet needs you and all others to give a shit.
Pass the video (or link) on to whoever you consider it worthwhile.
Market access for Taiwanese duck eggs spells disaster for animal welfare
14 September 2020
In December 2018, Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration asked the European Commission to be allowed to export Taiwanese processed egg products, including duck egg products, to the EU. The application is still pending, but with the sector witnessing a move towards battery cages, Taiwanese NGOs are campaigning to raise awareness on what would be a serious step back, not only for animal welfare but also for public health.
The situation emphasises the urgent need for more stringent market access provisions in the EU, not only to prevent EU progress on animal welfare being undermined by imported products, but also to better promote higher animal welfare in third countries.
Under existing legislation, the EU does not impose any animal welfare criteria to imported eggs and egg products. While the EU has banned the use of battery cages for laying hens for more than a decade, this method of production can still be used by producers exporting to the European market, and by EU producers of other kinds of eggs.
The case of Taiwan’s duck eggs is interesting as this is an industry that used to rely almost entirely on cage-free systems. Unfortunately, the sector has not been spared by the trend of intensification and an increasing number of water-loving ducks in Taiwan – around 20% of the 2.16 million laying ducks – are now kept in tiny barren cages, away from the water which is so essential to maintain their health, regulate their body temperature, and keep their plumage in good conditions.
Investigations in Taiwan have revealed ducks with wounded feet caused by the dry conditions and rusty wire floors, and animals exhibiting abnormal stereotypic behaviors resulting from life in a cage. According to the Environmental and Animal Society of Taiwan (EAST), who launched a domestic campaign on this issue, the mortality rate of ducks kept in conventional cages is two to five times higher than that of ducks kept in cage-free systems equipped with water troughs and nesting boxes, illustrating the inadequacy of cage systems.
Such intensification has also an impact on public health. The recent COVID-19 pandemic, while having emerged from wildlife, has put the spotlight on zoonosis and on the risks related to intensive farming. Intensively farmed poultry are most notable for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), the recurrence of which is due to interaction between animals with a compromised immune system and wild animals potentially carrying low pathogenic viruses.
Over the past decade, Taiwan has faced many occurrences of HPAI, and has previously been unable to timely report the outbreaks and to address them transparently. It is often argued by the poultry sector that avian influenza is mainly spread by wild birds. However, the viruses carried by wild birds are usually of low pathogenicity and it is only when these viruses reach overcrowded sheds that they can evolve into a more dangerous form of avian influenza (1).
Humans can be contaminated by zoonotic influenza, whether they originate from birds or pigs. The previous pandemic, the H1N1 outbreak in Mexico, killed between 151,00 and 575,000 people worldwide, 80% of which were under 65 year old. It is thus important to favour systems that will be more resilient to such diseases, and the European Commission should consider this aspect when assessing Taiwan’s bid to export duck egg products into the EU.
A record-breaking 1.5 million EU citizens have called for a ban on cages in the EU, demonstrating the strength of public opinion on this issue.
As the EU considers moves to strengthen domestic regulations, it should not repeat past mistakes by leaving the door open to low-welfare imports. Any ban on cages should thus become a requirement for those exporting to the EU, including Taiwanese duck egg producers.
With the review of animal welfare legislation foreseen in the EU Farm-to-Fork strategy, the external dimension of our rules cannot remain overlooked. As the European Commission concluded itself, imposing EU standards to imported goods (as with the slaughter regulation) is the EU’s best tool to promote higher welfare abroad.
(1) Nickbakhsh, S. et al., 2016, Modelling the impact of co-circulating low pathogenic avian influenza viruses on epidemics of highly pathogenic avian influenza in poultry, Epidemics, 17:27-34
WAV Comment: Well done them – very effective. Fish too need a voice !
Activists protest against intensive fish farming conditions in Italy
17 September 2020
Essere Animali
On board of a motorised boat, activists from our Italian member Essere Animali reached a fish farm in the province of La Spezia, Italy. Arriving near the cages in the sea where hundreds of thousands of fish are confined, they unrolled a banner to protest against the poor living conditions of these animals, destined for the large-scale distribution market.
“Caged in the open sea – “FishToo need to be protected” reads the thirty square meter banner captured by the drone that the activists used for the shooting. The fish farm where the protest took place, is specialised in the breeding of sea bass and sea bream, and has about thirty cages located along the coast of the Ligurian province. The fish spend around 16 to 22 months for the fattening process in these cramped cages in the sea until they reach the commercial weight of 300 to 500g.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/fxwEqRVg3bg?autoplay=0&start=0&rel=0&enablejsapi=1&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eurogroupforanimals.org “Crammed into cages, tanks, or ponds, these animals live in conditions that do not allow them to express their natural behaviour. Their life is of deprivation, spent in unhealthy environments with very high densities where they are often fed with antibiotics to contain the inevitable spread of viruses and bacteria”, says Brenda Ferretti, Outreach Manager of Essere Animali. “Furthermore, compared to terrestrial animals, fish raised for food spend much more time on the farm, and at the time of the killing, they are victims of atrocious suffering. But fish are also sentient beings, capable of feeling fear and pain, and therefore worthy of being defended and protected”.
Essere Animali underlines the urgent need for a change in the critical conditions which fish are enduring in the aquaculture industry, the food sector with the highest growth rate in recent decades. According to the new FAO report “The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture” (SOFIA), aquaculture production now represents 52% of fish destined for human consumption. This means that half of the fish that reaches consumers’ tables comes from fish farms, where the predominant production model is industrial and intensive.
“Although fish are the animals raised in the greatest number in the food industry, they are also the least protected by national and EU legislation. This, combined with harmful breeding practices, such as the absence of effective stunning procedures which could reduce their suffering at the time of slaughter, pushes up to stand up for the protection of these animals”, continues Brenda Ferretti.
In this problematic context, the role of large-scale distribution is decisive. In fact, according to the Italian Institute of Services for the Agricultural Food Market (ISMEA), about 80% of purchases of fresh fish and processed fish products in Italy take place in modern distribution outlets. With its purchasing power, large-scale distribution can encourage farming practices that are more respectful of the life of the fish raised in their fish supply chains, binding its suppliers to adhere to stricter production standards. As part of their campaign #AncheiPesci (“#FishToo”), Essere Animali is, therefore, collecting signatures for a petition calling for better welfare conditions for farmed fish.
“Crammed into cages, tanks, or ponds, these animals live in conditions that do not allow them to express their natural behaviour. Their life is of deprivation, spent in unhealthy environments with very high densities where they are often fed with antibiotics to contain the inevitable spread of viruses and bacteria”, says Brenda Ferretti, Outreach Manager of Essere Animali. “Furthermore, compared to terrestrial animals, fish raised for food spend much more time on the farm, and at the time of the killing, they are victims of atrocious suffering. But fish are also sentient beings, capable of feeling fear and pain, and therefore worthy of being defended and protected”.
Essere Animali underlines the urgent need for a change in the critical conditions which fish are enduring in the aquaculture industry, the food sector with the highest growth rate in recent decades. According to the new FAO report “The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture” (SOFIA), aquaculture production now represents 52% of fish destined for human consumption. This means that half of the fish that reaches consumers’ tables comes from fish farms, where the predominant production model is industrial and intensive.
“Although fish are the animals raised in the greatest number in the food industry, they are also the least protected by national and EU legislation. This, combined with harmful breeding practices, such as the absence of effective stunning procedures which could reduce their suffering at the time of slaughter, pushes up to stand up for the protection of these animals”, continues Brenda Ferretti.
In this problematic context, the role of large-scale distribution is decisive. In fact, according to the Italian Institute of Services for the Agricultural Food Market (ISMEA), about 80% of purchases of fresh fish and processed fish products in Italy take place in modern distribution outlets. With its purchasing power, large-scale distribution can encourage farming practices that are more respectful of the life of the fish raised in their fish supply chains, binding its suppliers to adhere to stricter production standards. As part of their campaign #AncheiPesci (“#FishToo”), Essere Animali is, therefore, collecting signatures for a petition calling for better welfare conditions for farmed fish.
The advert shows a couple ‘making the connection’ (Photo: Supplied to Plant Based News)
A pro-vegan T.V ad – Israel’s first – has reached 35 percent of the nation, after being broadcast during one of the country’s most popular T.V shows – and has earned positive feedback with viewers branding it ‘effective’.
The 60-second advert, created by international non-profit Vegan Friendly, shows a couple shopping in a supermarket. When they ask for ‘extra fresh’ meat, they are handed a living lamb. The commercial ends with the message ‘make the connection’.
Millions of viewers
The advert was initially broadcast during the current season finale of Survivor Israel: this season has the highest ratings in the show’s history, and so the spot was chosen to ensure as many people as possible would see the commercial.
According to Vegan Friendly, a massive 35 percent of the country’s population – some 3 million people – watched the ad.
The organization’s founder and CEO Omri Paz told Plant Based News: “After so many years seeing commercials of animal products, it is exciting to see for a change a vegan commercial that talks about compassion for animals on the most popular show in the country.”
Positive feedback
The advert is now also available to watch on YouTube, where it has garnered praise. One viewer wrote: “Yes! Who could ever hurt that sweet innocent lamb! Not me! Not anyone who could see it and hold it. Make the connection! Go vegan!”
Another was inspired to share their transition to veganism, writing: “This is excellent. My own story is that I worked in a meat dept. for three years prior to ‘making the connection’. There was no slaughtering there. I never would have been able to do that, but still, I was one step more involved than just buying and consuming animal foods. I think my soul is quite curious and wanted to see what this experience was like while it still could. I came out of ignorance and switched to veganism just four months after quitting the job.”
One simply said: “This is spot on! Way to go veganism, people are so blind to make a connection to life! Definitely, this will make everyone rethink.”
/arc-anglerfish-syd-prod-nzme.s3.amazonaws.com/public/LC7FGIXEEVGPDO5H7H3NXNIAWQ.jpg)
World Animals Voice 