As we have covered many times; currently in England the government are undertaking Badger culling with the policy that it will reduce the spread of Bovine TB to cattle. This has been proven not to work in the past with the Krebs report, but the government are doing this now to pacify farmers who keep livestock. For years animal campaigners have been asking for vaccination to prevent the spread; but to date the government has only wanted to kill.
Here is a new article in a UK newspaper which shows pictures of dead (culled) badgers waiting to be incinerated.
It is now probable that the UK will be having a General Election before Christmas this year. The killing government have to think long and hard about this situation if they want support and votes to keep them in government.
For well over 15 years anti live export campaigners in England have argued that empty livestock transporters returning to England from Europe could be bringing illegal immigrants in within them; with folding floors and partitions, there are lots of places for humans to hide in a transporter.
Combine this with the fact that hundreds of carried animals have defecated and urinated inside the transporter whilst undertaking a consignment; specialist sniffer dogs used by authorities say at Dover for example, would probably have very little chance of identifying humans by smell only.
A win-win situation for illegal immigration all round; something we have argued about for many years, and for which, we have always been regarded as fools.
Now we ask who are the real fools; as it seems that illegal immigrants have been smuggled into the UK within livestock transporters. Check out the BBC report:
Animal Equality has released a report on Italy’s milk industry, revealing controversial practices the sector often tries to hide from consumers.
In footage obtained from our investigative work on several farms in Northern Italy, we exposed what actually happens inside dairy farms, compared to what is marketed by the farms’ advertising. What the footage shows is the tragic exploitation of cows, with endless amounts of suffering!
What we found:
– Calves taken from mothers a few hours after birth
– Calves and cows living in cramped, unsanitary conditions, and covered with feces and mud
– Farmworkers performing preventive practices and care without veterinary supervision, which is illegal
– Cows with mastitis and very serious wounds, including wounded hooves illegally covered with scotch tape
– Cows “grazing zero,” which means they do not have access to pastures, as opposed to what is constantly shown in the advertisements of dairy farms
All these practices-and not only in Italy- demonstrate one thing: that the image conveyed daily by the dairy industry is not the reality cows live in. This form of extreme exploitation causes cows enormous suffering, specifically by quickly consuming their bodies and leading to premature death within just a few years.
To justify this criminal situation, milk mafia sells milk to us as a natural food that makes us big and strong and a source of calcium.
Meanwhile, however, has been scientifically confirmed that the milk is not only unhealthy, but also makes sick.
70 liters of milk is consumed every German per year. We are world leaders. And that, although the human body does not necessarily need milk, nor is it originally designed to digest lactose. It is absolutely paradoxical that humans are the only creatures that consume milk from other animals, even in adulthood.
It is undisputed that milk is essential for starting life. The baby can easily digest breast milk thanks to the enzyme lactase. But actually only limited by a “genetic defect”, which has developed evolutionary history, this ability is retained and makes the milk consumption in adulthood possible. But is this consumption necessary at all?
We all thought or still think that milk is a healthy, balanced drink. But here is the first mistake.
Because milk is not just a drink, it can be called a staple food because of its high nutrient density. That’s why milk makes us sick.
It can trigger allergies, especially in infants, lead to chronic infections, skin problems and eczema, promote asthma, diabetes and even cancer. This could be due to the foreign proteins in the milk against which the body is fighting. Many of these diseases can be due to a milk allergy.
75% of the world population is lactose intolerant. If the body lacks the enzyme lactase, which is to split the milk sugar (lactose) into digestible components, it is called lactose intolerance. In Asia and Africa, for example, just one percent of the population can digest milk.
In the course of evolution and livestock started about 7,000 years ago, mainly populations in the north have developed the enzyme lactase to digest milk, which was actually intended as food in times of need. Originally our body does not seem to be dependent on milk!
Already as a child you learn: The calcium from the milk helps to grow, is good for the bones and makes you strong. That’s true. But what only a few know: The many animal proteins in milk can lead to hyperacidity in the body and in the blood.
To neutralize this hyperacidity, the body needs calcium, which it then has to remove from the bones. This calcium loss can be the cause of osteoporosis. And that, although it is said, milk prevents the disease!!
Similarly, many plant sources contain calcium and can adequately meet the need for this mineral. At the top are green leafy vegetables, broccoli, beans, soybeans, nuts and cereals.
Most people want to see milk as one of the most natural products fresh from the cow that lives on the meadow, with no additives, no hormones, no antibiotics.
And although the reality is shown every day and in many countries even by the state TV channels, the milk consumers are making a lot of ridiculous excuses to continue to consume a product which makes them sick and the animals victimized.
One of these excuses is the “organic” milk.
And the biggest lie of the milk mafia.
cow in “Organic” attitude
And even if the organic cows have a better life in the pasture, they also calve each year, they are also raped, their child is also taken shortly after birth and land as waste in the garbage container, and finally the organic cow lands after her activity as a milk machine in the slaughterhouse too.
Conclusion: We despise murder of people, but we regard murder of animals as normal. Because they are lower beings for us.
In our Western world, it has never been so easy to live without meat and milk.
Man can eat animals and just can not eat. Both is possible.
Above all, because we humans claim that we have developed a strong sense of morality that we can apply accordingly. But we have learned to turn feelings of empathy into apathy. We have learned not to feel, because otherwise we would feel responsible for our actions.
With the pet at home, it works.
We teach our children to love the pets, not to eat them. When it comes to our own dog or kitten, we must never do that, and we emphasize that among the evil Chinese, such a crime is quite common.
We must teach our children that it is not right to kill other beings for no reason. Children are very open to it. But we do not clarify it, we do not tell them the full truth, because we ourselves can not cope with the truth.
Who serves as an obedient servant the system of meat and milk mafia, will defend his schnitzel and not the truth about animals that become meat in the factories.
Ag-Gag laws seek to “gag” would-be whistleblowers and undercover activists by punishing them for recording footage of what goes on in animal agriculture. They were originally designed to prevent the public from learning about animal cruelty.
Twenty-five states have attempted to pass modern-day ag-gag laws, and six of those states have succeeded. The states that have passed ag-gag laws are (in chronological order), Iowa Utah, Missouri, Idaho, Wyoming, and North Carolina.
USA – Government Regulation of Factory Farms. The USDA is the primary federal agency charged with regulating animal food production and slaughter industries. Through sub-agency programs, the USDA oversees food production laws.
However, there are no federal laws that set humane care standards for animals in factory farms.
Factory farms perpetuate climate change, produce enormous volumes of manure, pollute the air and water, exploit workers, fuel antibiotic resistance and harm the rural communities they claim to help.
The meat industry depends, more than anything else, on walls.
The walls of farms and slaughterhouses prevent consumers from seeing what the production of their food really looks like. They prevent journalists and activists from exposing unethical, even criminal acts within. They enable corporations to paint happy, bucolic pictures of their operations that bear no resemblance to the reality of modern-day factory farming.
To get inside those walls, over the last two decades, dozens of activists have gone undercover, finding employment on factory farms and wearing concealed cameras, shooting hundreds of hours of footage over the course of months on the job. They have documented the routine acts of mistreatment and abuse of animals that are an inherent part of raising livestock for slaughter with maximum profit in mind.
The videos they have produced have made an enormous impact on the industry, grabbing headlines, pushing consumers away from meat, compelling retailers to pull products from shelves, and even causing government regulators to temporarily shutter some farms.
In response, the industry has pushed to criminalize undercover investigations, through legislation known informally as “ag-gag.” Ag-gag laws target activists in a variety of ways, from imposing criminal penalties on investigators for misrepresenting themselves on employment applications to outright banning the collection of footage on the premises of animal agriculture operations without the owners’ permission.
In Iowa, an ag-gag law passed in 2011 was struck down earlier this year by a federal judge. But thanks to the political power it wields in the state, the meat industry did not have to wait long to see the law resurrected. Just two months after the court’s decision, Iowa’s legislature passed a brand new ag-gag bill, and its newly elected governor, Kim Reynolds, signed it into law.
Our short documentary tells the story of one undercover investigator whose footage is at the center of Iowa’s ag-gag backlash.
Take PETA’s Cruelty-Free Shopping Guide along with you next time you head to the store! The handy guide will help you find humane products at a glance. Order a FREE copyHERE
Searching for Cruelty-Free Cosmetics, Personal-Care Products, Vegan Products, or more? Click HERE to search.
Want to do more than go vegan? Help others to do so! Click below for nominal, or no, fees to vegan literature that you can use to convince others that veganism is the only compassionate route to being an animal friend:
We hear a lot of bad news these days. Climate change frightens us deeply. Understanding more and more about animal suffering, the populations of many wild animals and insects in tragic decline, oceans without fish, and precious forests going up in smoke is hard to cope with.
Getting involved is one of the best ways to turn hopelessness into optimism. Visit Animal Aid if you can, immerse yourself in our rescue videos, and let our news of animals getting better help balance your weary hearts.
Dog’s massive wound shrinks before our very eyes.
Teddy was dying an excruciating death when we got the call. We found him curled up with a massive head wound, hundreds of maggots boring tunnels into his flesh. He hardly had the strength to raise his head. We rushed him back to the hospital, applied the powder that kills maggots, and in the morning began the arduous task of removing them and debriding the wound. What amazed us was not just the size of the wound–but how fast Teddy responded to treatment. His eyes say it all–the vastness of his innocence, his response to tenderness, and his trust. Repeated wound flushings and dressings were rewarded: Big wounds can disappear.
Please donate for the next sweetheart’s amazing recovery.
Lolo was mangled by a speeding rickshaw–but all better now!
Lolo was peacefully resting by the side of the road when a speeding rickshaw tore past, ripping apart a huge piece of flesh on his chest, slicing his forehead, and his delicate mouth. The driver didn’t even slow down, but horrified witnesses immediately called our ambulance to the rescue. Lolo has been such an incredible darling from the very first moments, patiently allowing our medical team to give him daily wound dressings, thoroughly flushing dirt and bacteria from the wound sites, and bandaging him up to hurry his complete healing–which took about 6 weeks. Lolo’s a happy boy now. You too can take away someone’s pain.
Disabled (and darling) dog bounces back after weeks of physio therapy
Hit by a car and found hiding under the street in a sewage ditch, this sweet girl was in terrible pain. Our rescuer had to crouch-walk through stench and filth to rescue her, but she hardly resisted. Back at Animal Aid we were relieved that she had no fractures but it would take weeks of physiotherapy to repair her damaged hips. We named her Koshish (which means effort in Hindi) because she was the best little physio therapy patient ever. Hurt by accident. Helped on purpose.
We have the fastest rates of recovery and the lowest rate of post-surgery complications in our history, and one reasons is that our anaesthesia protocols and practices are so good. Raju, our anesthetist and surgery assistant, helps assess dogs’ condition pre-surgery and monitors them continuously throughout the surgical process. Each day Raju and Dr Vaibhav perform 7-10 sterilization surgeries and several times a week they also perform surgeries like amputations, tumour removals, eye enucleations, and wound repairs. We deeply appreciate Raju’s meticulous accuracy in administering anaesthesia. Getting it right time after time requires concentration, practice and care, and Raju has all three, in fantastic abundance!
During 2010 – Mark worked with Dutch investigator friends at ‘Eyes on Animals’ http://eyesonanimals.com/ , as well as with ‘Animals’ Angels’ (Germany) http://www.animals-angels.de/startseite,en_ORG.html and PMAF (France) http://www.pmaf.org/to produce a 125 page official investigation report for the EU Legal Affairs team in Brussels, Members of the European Parliament (MEP’s) and UK Parliamentarians (MP’s) – a report which specifically investigated live animal (calves) transport between certain, specific (EU) member states.
If you care to click on the following link below you will see a written summary of just 1 of the 5 trails which was undertaken and clearly proved that Irish calves were not being given adequate food and rest at an approved Staging Post facility after they had made the crossing from Ireland to France.
Remember, this is just 1 of the 5 investigation reports that we produced in our ‘overall’ document of 2010; and it also lists all the non compliances with the EU Regulation 1/2005 for this specific trail / investigation are given at the end of this specific investigation report. Remember also that these investigations and reports do not just appear by magic. Many people, their time, money and several vehicles are often involved – they all take effort and time to record all the exact details which you can see detailed in the report.
Thus, it can be annoying in the least when all this work is undertaken, compiled and presented to the EU, and then they do nothing about it !
Click on the following link to read a very small part (1 of 5 investigation reports) of the overall trail / investigation report:
Today (19 / 10) has shown that in the UK Parliament; specific parties want to simply demolish democracy – by NOT allowing us to leave the EU.
Those hypocritical parties are:
The Liberal Democrats – who claim wrongly to take animal welfare ‘very seriously’. They have MEPs, and they do nothing serious.
The SNP – who appear to support the export of week old live Scottish calves down to Ramsgate, England; for further export on to Spain for further fattening. They never speak against it – unlike their full mouths on Brexit.
The Labour Party – all talk and no action when it comes to animal welfare – hunting legislation failures in the UK introduced by them has shown us that.
By breaking away from the EU, the UK would have been able to introduce legislation to stop live animal transport. By continuing as an EU member state, we are not allowed to stop it; – does that not really speak volumes about the EU and animal welfare ? The plans today to stop the trade in live animals by a UK Party led by Mr Johnson have now been scuppered at the moment only by the political parties mess above. Now we call for a General Election in the UK to put the wrongs of the above right.
All these parties above wish to do is remain and live in the farce which is called the EU; and adhere to the lack of regulation implementation that goes with it. In correspondence today we have pleaded with them to go away and live in the EU if they think it is so good – can we suggest Romania for them – great animal abuses for sheep to the Middle east; just as they would still see under EU ‘legislation’ which the EU is incapable of enforcing anyway.
If you are British, please never vote again for the above parties again; they are those who ‘talk’ big animal welfare concerns, when really they do not give a toss; as long as they can stay in Europe, then all is fine. Sod EU regulations enforcement on animal welfare – they are not interested.
Lib Dems, Labour and the SNP – parties that appear support the abuse of animals in live transport; and who DO NOT respond to the evidence we supply to them. They want us to stay in the EU, where the abuse happens; and we cannot stop it legally by being an EU member state; an independent state free from the EU; yes we could (and would) stop it.
Re 70,000 live sheep exported from Romania to the Middle East in conditions of extreme heat.
The Commission does not plan to introduce a ban on live animal exports as it considers trade of live animals an integral part of agricultural activity.
As regards animal welfare violations on transports of animals starting in the EU, it is the responsibility of Member States not to authorise transports in violation of Regulation No 1/2005. If necessary, a Member State has to refuse authorisation of a particular export.
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27 August 2019
E-002302/2019(ASW)
Answer given by Mr Andriukaitis on behalf of the European Commission
The Commission plans to carry out an audit in Romania shortly. The audit will provide the necessary information for the Commission to decide on further actions.
The Commission, as indicated in its reply to Parliament’s resolution on the implementation of Council Regulation No 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport within and outside the EU(1), is examining the request in paragraph 11 of the resolution to draw up and publish a list of operators who have perpetrated repeated and serious breaches of the regulation in light of applicable European and national legislation.. A list of sea transporters with repeated and serious breaches of the regulation has not yet been compiled.
The Commission cannot impose a general ban on export of live animals to non-EU countries on the basis of animal welfare violations in the non-EU country.
As the Commission pointed out in its replies to written questions P-004562/2018 and E-005366/2018 ‘the setting of animal welfare rules in non-EU countries and their enforcement is under the competence of the respective national competent authorities. An export ban on live animal transports to non-EU countries would also need very careful examination under World Trade Organisation rules, which are binding upon the Union and its Member States’.
The Commission does not plan to introduce a ban on live animal exports as it considers trade of live animals an integral part of agricultural activity.
As regards animal welfare violations on transports of animals starting in the EU, it is the responsibility of Member States not to authorise transports in violation of Regulation No 1/2005. If necessary, a Member State has to refuse authorisation of a particular export.
We have had 2 responses now from SE England MEPs; along with a response from a UK MP who is not really associated with the issues in the EU. But he has at least replied to our questions, which is more than can be said for most of the MEPs who allegedly represent us !
What do we as an organisation conclude from all this:
We asked about the issue of lack of signage on box trailers, and presented a report we did on the subject at least 5 years ago. Here is the link:
The responses given by those who did reply to us start:
“Thank you for your email. As an MEP I take animal welfare very seriously,”
“Dear Mr Johnson,
Thank you for your email. Please accept my apologies for the lateness of this reply.
Firstly, I would like to assure you that the Liberal Democrats take issues of animal welfare very seriously, and it is very much our thing. We have a proud history of raising animal welfare rights and want to continue doing that going forward.”
Both responses are from politicians representing the Liberal Democrat Party in the UK, who today voted to stay in the EU, and thus continue supporting live animal export abuses. This is a party which is completely EU supportive and will not hear a bad word spoken about it. They claim to us in their responses that ‘they take animal welfare very seriously’. We would like to be clear that with both responses; NOTHING was said about the report and evidence, and suggestions, that we gave / made with regard box trailers being used to carry live animals across the EU. Our evidence was simply dismissed with the weasel words claim from them that ‘‘they take animal welfare very seriously’ – we say but not seriously enough to do anything about it eh ? – stay in the EU, stay with the abuses !
With regard questions that we raised about the Romanian sheep incidents; we were simply directed to the EU response shown above; ie:
‘As regards animal welfare violations on transports of animals starting in the EU, it is the responsibility of Member States not to authorise transports in violation of Regulation No 1/2005. If necessary, a Member State has to refuse authorisation of a particular export’.
In other words, pass the Commission buck back to individual member states of the EU such as Romania, which as a member state of the EU, IGNORED requests by the EU Commissioner to stop the export of the sheep in the first place ! –
So where are we now ? – the EU tells us it is up to member states NOT to authorise transports in violation of Reg 1/2005; whist at the same time, Romania IGNORES requests from the EU to stop shipments due to the extreme heat.
Confused and in La La Land ? – we are.
“If necessary, a Member State has to refuse authorisation of a particular export’ – what chance with Romania doing this when it ignores all requests from other EU organisations to do this ?
… and the box trailer issue; nobody, as we have experienced from all EU circles over the past 5+ years, wants to address the issues we raise about unsatisfactory conditions for the animals and the lack of signage on vehicles. The EU and all its politicians, just want to WASH THEIR HANDS OF RESPONSIBILITY and let things remain as they are – which is utterly useless.
Today (19/10) in the UK special debate in the Commons, we hear the Lib Dem leader (Jo Swinson) whinging on about how wonderful the EU is and how the UK must remain in it.
Who really lives in La La Land ? – can we politely suggest the Liberal Democrat Party and their leader; Jo Swinson.
During 2010 – Mark worked with Dutch investigator friends at ‘Eyes on Animals’ http://eyesonanimals.com/ , as well as with ‘Animals’ Angels’ (Germany) http://www.animals-angels.de/startseite,en_ORG.html and PMAF (France) http://www.pmaf.org/to produce a 125 page official investigation report for the EU Legal Affairs team in Brussels, Members of the European Parliament (MEP’s) and UK Parliamentarians (MP’s) – a report which specifically investigated live animal (calves) transport between certain, specific (EU) member states.
If you care to click on the following link below you will see a written summary of just 1 of the 5 trails which was undertaken and clearly proved that Irish calves were not being given adequate food and rest at an approved Staging Post facility after they had made the crossing from Ireland to France.
Remember, this is just 1 of the 5 investigation reports that we produced in our ‘overall’ document of 2010; and it also lists all the non compliances with the EU Regulation 1/2005 for this specific trail / investigation are given at the end of this specific investigation report. Remember also that these investigations and reports do not just appear by magic. Many people, their time, money and several vehicles are often involved – they all take effort and time to record all the exact details which you can see detailed in the report.
Thus, it can be annoying in the least when all this work is undertaken, compiled and presented to the EU, and then they do nothing about it !
Click on the following link to read a very small part (1 of 5 investigation reports) of the overall trail / investigation report:
Today has shown that in the UK Parliament; specific parties want to demolish democracy – for the UK to leave the EU.
Those parties are:
The Liberal Democrats – who claim wrongly to take animal welfare ‘very seriously’.
The SNP– who support the export of week old live Scottish calves down to Ramsgate, England; for further export on to Spain for further fattening.
The Labour Party – all talk and no action when it comes to animal welfare – bad hunting legislation from the start has shown us that.
By breaking away from the EU, the UK would have been able to introduce legislation to stop live animal transport. The Party led by Mr Johnson have now been scuppered at the moment only by the political mess above. Now we call for a General Election in the UK to put the wrongs of the above right.
In correspondence, the Lib Dems have failed to address our evidence and concerns when it has been presented to them.. All they want to do is remain and live in the farce which is called the EU. In correspondence today we have pleaded with them to go away and live in the EU if they think it is so good – can we suggest Romania – great animal abuses for sheep to the Middle East; just as they would still see under EU ‘legislation’ which the EU is incapable of enforcing anyway.
If you are British, please never vote again for the above parties; those who ‘talk’ big animal welfare concerns when really they do not give a toss; as long as they can stay in Europe, then all is fine.
If all EU animal welfare is fine as they claim – how about this
Welcome to the wonderful Lib Dem world of EU Europe:
Lib Dems, Labour and the SNP – parties that continue to support the abuse of animals in EU in their beloved EU; and who DO NOT respond to the evidence we supply to them.
Please send to Jo Swinson – Leader; Liberal Democratic Party – England. Her wonderful vision of the EU.
Reality TV star and animal lover Pete Wicks has taken part in an undercover investigation into Finland’s fur farms
Towie star Pete Wicks has teamed up with the Humane Society International to expose the cruelty of the fur trade
The reality TV star and animal lover took part in an undercover investigation into Finland’s fur farms in conjunction with HSI and Finnish animal protection organisation Oikeutta Elaimille.
He visited several sites and shared sickening footage with fans, telling them he witnessed the suffering of mink and foxes stuffed into tiny metal cages.
In the video, Pete is seen wiping away tears as he stood next to cages of crying fox cubs.
He says of the experience: “Despite having seen lots of fur farm footage, nothing could have prepared me for the suffering I saw when I investigated fur farms in Finland with HSI/UK.
“It was sickening, I really don’t believe that anyone who has seen the state of these poor animals – terrified and trapped in tiny cages – would ever wear fur again.
“It is great that the UK banned fur farming, but it doesn’t make sense that we’re still selling fur from farms like the ones I visited in Finland.
“So I hope this new footage will help HSI/UK’s #FurFreeBritain campaign persuade politicians that fur cruelty should be banned from UK shop shelves.”
Fur farming was banned in Britain in 2000, but animal products worth more than £800 million continue to be imported from overseas countries including Finalnd.
The Humane Society International is now calling on the UK to ban fur sales alltogether.
Claire Bass, Executive Director of Humane Society International/UK, who investigated the fur farms, said: “We saw a few hundred of the millions of foxes and mink trapped in miles of battery cages in Finland.
“These poor young animals exist only as vessels for their fur, as broken and tormented souls.
“We saw weeping eye infections, infected wounds, dead cubs and cannibalism; all of this suffering to provide a frivolous product that the fashion industry does not need
“It’s important for consumers, designers and politicians to see that awful reality laid bare, that despite what the fur trade tries to portray on catwalks there is nothing glamorous about fur.
“As long as the UK allows British businesses to trade in fur, we are complicit in the cruelty.
“Britain was the first country in the world to ban fur farming, now it’s time for us to finish the job and become the first country in the world to ban fur sales too.”
Emergency Bear Rescue from an Illegal Farm in Tam Duong
16 October 2019
At about 2pm Vietnam time Tuesday, we received an urgent telephone call from local police alerting us to the imminent confiscation of a bear from an illegal farm in Tam Duong just under 20km from our Vietnam Bear Rescue Centre in Tam Dao National Park.
Our team sprung into action for what was to be the 210th bear rescued by our Vietnam team and brought to our sanctuary. Upon loading up the trucks, the team was swiftly on their way to the farm. What they found there was heartbreaking.
In a tiny cage whose floor was covered in faeces, we found a portly bear who had for the last 15 years — what amounts to almost his entire life — never set foot on the ground, only walking on the bars of the cage that was his prison. He had no visible food or water and was surrounded by the sounds of loud squealing pigs from the pig farm where he was held. The team on the ground decided to call the bear Tuan in honor of our fearless and pioneering Vietnam Director Tuan Bendixsen, especially given the fact that for the first time ever Tuan could not join the rescue. Tuan also means ‘handsome’ and this big bear is certainly a handsome boy.
The farmer said that he didn’t know that the bear needed to be microchipped and so he was handing him over to the authorities who were confiscating the bear. Due to our hard work over the decades, funded by supporters around the world, we have built a great working relationship and trust with the local authorities and police which is why we were able to act so swiftly in responding to this urgent rescue.
Our Vietnam Vet and Bear Team Director Heidi Quine reported:
“The farmer has had Tuan for fifteen years, since he was a five kilo cub which is very young. That’s a bear that should have been with his mother in the wild.”
After Veterinary Nurse Kat Donaldson used honey on a stick to calm and distract Tuan, our Senior Veterinary Surgeon Shaun Thomson anaesthetised him, making it safe for the team to use bolt cutters to remove the lock on the farm cage and remove Tuan for an initial health inspection.
The brief health check indicated that Tuan was in a fit state to be transferred to the sanctuary with the main areas of concern being his very soft paws and his excessive weight, probably brought on by being fed the same feed as the pigs on the farm.
Senior Veterinary Surgeon Shaun Thomson said:
“The anaesthetic for him when it finally set in went very smoothly. The health concerns we’ve found for him are mainly his weight and his pads on his feet, which are very soft from standing on cage bars for so long. They’re probably going to get a little bit sore and may crack before they get better as they dry out and he starts to use them, but with all the medications and equipment in the rescue centre we can manage that no problem.”
Soon after the health check, Tuan was transferred to the transport cage and the team was on the road again.
Slowed only by a herd of local cattle in the roadway, Tuan arrived back at the sanctuary just after sunset at around 6pm. He was placed in quarantine where he will be treated to a 45-day programme of enrichment to stimulate his body and mind after 15 years of cruel, damaging confinement. Although he is a big bear he is not strong so building his muscle mass will be a top priority for the team.
Our Vietnam Vet and Bear Team Director Heidi Quine, who was there throughout the rescue, said:
“Now that he’s back at the sanctuary, his quarantine begins and really a lifetime of care. And we need your help to do that. It takes a lot of resources, a lot of time, a lot of love and a lot of money to rescue these bears and make them better. It can be up to 30 years of care. We can’t do it without you and I really want to thank you. Thank you for supporting our work and thank you for anything you can generously give to help Tuan and his rehabilitation. We’ll keep you updated every step of the way.”
Over the next few months we’ll be keeping a close eye on Tuan and giving him all of the necessary health checks and treatment as well as a carefully balanced diet to help him to recover from his ordeal that has come to an end, thanks to our Vietnam team and all of our supporters across the world.
Shaun added:
“He’ll get a full health check in the next couple of months. It’s been such a privilege bringing him here today. Thanks for helping us do the job we do and getting Tuan home.”
Our new bear’s namesake our Vietnam Director Tuan Benedixsen had the final word:
“My colleagues on the ground chose to name this gentle giant, our 210th rescued bear in Vietnam, after me. I am of course, humbled to share my name with such a special bear.
“This is just the beginning. Tuan is deeply traumatised. After all, he’s known nothing but misery and abuse his entire life. I’m so grateful to the local authorities who have entrusted us with this bear, to the Vietnamese government for working with us hand in hand to end bear bile farming by 2022, and to you for supporting us in our work to give these bears the fresh start they so dearly deserve.”
cow in “Organic” attitude
World Animals Voice 