Major dog meat market in Busan to close next month
By Jung Min-ho
After years of criticism from animal rights groups, the largest dog meat market in Busan will close next month.
According to Busan Buk-gu Office, all 19 dog meat sellers at Gupo Livestock Market have agreed to shut down their businesses by July 11.
In return, the district office promised to give about 3.1 million won ($2,700) to each of them every month until December 2020 to help them make a new start.
After announcing its urban planning project to turn the market area into a park last October, district officials tried to persuade the sellers for months to open different types of businesses in other areas.
Animal rights activists welcomed the agreement.
“We wholeheartedly welcome and support the district office’s effort to end the trade of dog meat in Korea,” four animal rights groups, including Korea Animal Rights Advocates, said in a joint statement.
“It is a big step forward, but Korea still has many such markets, including Chilseong Market in Daegu … We will continue to work with everyone to end the practice of eating dog meat.”
14/6/19 is the 4th annual day of action against long distance live animal transport – and it is the biggest yet.
Last year, 2018; individuals and organisations from more than 30 countries staged over 100 actions against the trade in animal suffering.
In March 2019, the European Parliament voted for a ban on EU live exports to countries with lower welfare standards. So this June 14th you have the chance to help in keeping up the pressure to turn this breakthrough into legislation that could stop the suffering of millions of animals every year.
“The animal rights movement can not and will not win as well as the human rights movement can never win – because stupidity and wickedness of people will never end. Anyone who fights for the good fights an ultimately hopeless fight. But for those animals and for those people we can help with, this help can mean the difference between life and death, between happiness and disaster. Given the endless suffering on earth, all we can do about it remains a drop in the ocean. But anyone can help a being or a few beings. And then, after all, we can say that without us the world would be even worse, the suffering even greater. ” (Helmut .F. Kaplan)
This petition is only open for CANADIAN citizens to sign; but it is very important – your support is required and please crosspost.
CALL-TO-ACTION! Just three weeks left to sign this Government of Canada e-petition calling for a stop to live air transport of horses for human consumption. The petition is sponsored by Beaches-East York Liberal MP, Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, and closes on June 19.
BACKGROUND INFO: In 2018, over 7,000 horses were air shipped from Canada to Japan for slaughter for human consumption.
Up to 3 to 4 horses are loaded into crates smaller than a single horse stall, frequently in contravention of Health of Animals Regulations and International Air Transport Association (IATA) standards.
Further, these beings are having to endure flights that are 10.5 to 13.5 hours long, during which time (and for the additional hours spent for ground transportation, loading into crates, and loading and unloading crates from planes), they have no access to food or water. Please help. This needs to stop.
Petition “End The Cage Age” breaks the critical mark and writes history for the animals!
The Association Against Animal Factories (VgT, Austria) and 170 other clubs from across the EU have already collected more than 1 million signatures in just 9 months to end the caging.
One million EU citizens for ending the caging Petition “End The Cage Age” breaks the critical mark and writes history for the animals!
As of today, over one million EU citizenshave signed the European Citizens’ Initiative “End The Cage Age” – the largest movement for more animal welfare in the European Union.
Together with more than 170 animal and environmental protection organizations, the VEREIN GEGEN TIERFABRIKEN (Association Against Animal Factories) has launched this European Citizens’ Initiative, which aims to end caging for all agricultural “livestock”.
Over 300 million mother pigs, laying hens, rabbits, ducks and geese are still kept in cages. These cages are sparse, narrow and deny the animals their most important need: to move freely. “End The Cage Age”aims to break this system and potentially save hundreds of millions of animals in the EU each year from this unnecessary suffering, setting a strong milestone for the abolition of animal factories.
VGT campaigner Georg Prinz is pleased: “One million signatures are a huge milestone and we are proud to work with so many other clubs and initiatives on behalf of the animals, but the fight for the cages is far from over.
We will continue to collect signatures until September to ensure that the newly elected European Parliament understands how important this concern is to its citizens!
Together we demand: End The Cage Age – let’s end the cage age! “
In a modern, civilized society, it is intolerable how one deals with sentient beings. Prince continues: “Cages are one of the worst of all devices and measures to bring animals under human control, and it is time for us to evolve as a society and end this obsolete practice of keeping animals behind bars. A life in a cage is not a liveable life for an animal. “
My comment: Yes! It’s a wonderful initiative with great results already.
But I immediately thought of our other great campaign the “8hours Campaign” against the long animal transports.
At that time, we had collected 1.2 million signatures, it was the largest number ever to have collected for a petition!
Today, the animals still suffer in the truck for days.
And the responsible persons of this useless club (EU) can not do anything.
We need to learn something from this, we must accompany this one million signatures with a strategy and finalize a Plan B, should the EU Commissioners ignore this spectacular number of signatures and stand on the side of the agrarian mafia again.
But most of all, we have to be optimistic.
What once did not work, maybe this time works!
Yes, the UK is currently in the EU; and the EU policy on the slaughtering of animals for food is that as a generalisation, they have to be stunned prior to slaughter.
The EU legislation on the killing of animals aims to minimise the pain and suffering of animals through the use of properly approved stunning methods. … In 2009 the Union adopted Council Regulation (EC) N° 1099/2009 on the protection of animals at the time of killing which started to apply on 1 January 2013.
The regulation concerns the killing of animals in slaughterhouses as well as those kept for farming purposes. This includes the killing of fur animals, of male day-old chicks (of laying hens breeds) or other killing taking place in farms. In particular it concerns the killing for disease control purposes (as occurred, for example, in the UK for the control of Foot and Mouth Disease).
Animals killed due to, or following, scientific experiments are covered by a specific Directive.
Animals killed under other circumstances (hunting, bullfighting, stray dogs or cats in shelters, animals in the wild, etc.) are not part of the scope of this regulation. Those areas are covered by national legislation and Union competences are either limited (hunting) or excluded.
BUT, in certain member states of the EU, some animals are killed WITHOUT stunning first by religious groups such as Jewish and Islamic religions.
For many years, UK welfare organisations have been campaigning hard to ensure that all food animals slaughtered in the UK are stunned prior to slaughter. They have failed to date. Again now the RSPCA is pressing for this. You can add your name to an open letter to the UK environment Minister by clicking on the link below.
RSPCA steps up the call to #EndNonStun slaughter
Dear Mark
We know you’ve taken actions for us before, and we’d really appreciate your help with our latest call to #EndNonStun slaughter.
We have joined forces with the British Veterinary Association (BVA) to call on the UK Government to repeal a legal exemption that permits animals to be slaughtered without pre-stunning, causing unnecessary pain and suffering.
Over 94 million animals are slaughtered without being stunned first – that’s three animals every second on average.
Also, please share on your social channels #EndNonStun
We doubt very much that regardless of the above, Mr Gove will change the current stance in UK slaughter methods. It is a case of not wanting to upset the religious minorities that are in the UK. We say, would Christians be allowed to run a stun slaughterhouse in Turkey or Saudi Arabia ? – it sees that anyone can do anything in the EU, but when we look at Jewish and Muslim nations; then we have to comply with their policy only. Fair ?
Received anonymously (see above, or click here to view video from the action):
Can you imagine, spending your whole life, being detained, in your own shit? Can you imagine, that all you know about life, is a concentration camp, violence and suffering? Can you imagine, seeing your fellow inmates falling, agonizing and dying? Can you imagine, never have seen the sky, sunlight, a tree or a blade of grass? But that all of this would not matter at all, because others, by billions, will be born for the same purpose. We, have imagined them discovering daylight, fresh wind, life. And so we have stopped imagining, and started acting. We broke in and opened the prison doors. Prisons for the most innocent beings… And we will keep doing it.
From now on, let’s OPEN all the cages and all the farm doors!
And I main...It is the fascist conviction of the human species that maintains the slavery of the animals, that they are there to serve us as food, clothes, entertainment, test objects.
The legalization of this privilege, by a criminal system, of eating whatever pleases everyone leads to a two-class justice system, to the exploitation of the weaker par excellence.
Therefore, the message of the animal liberator goes above all to the meat eaters, to the perpetrators who give this second-hand murder order:
No cooperation with the hangmen, no cooperation with the slaves owners.
Stop eating animals
Australia: Live Exports Demo – Saturday 1st June 2019 – North Freemantle.
Firstly, with the result of the recent federal election, the appointment of HUGE live export fan, Bridget McKenzie to Minister of Agriculture position and at least another three years of the live sheep trade, we urge you to please commit to renewing your membership if it has lapsed, or join if you are not already a member. From as little as $5 per month via GiveNow – that’s just $1.17 per week and is of the greatest value to us in helping fund our ongoing campaign. Or you can pay an annual membership fee via our website.
Regarding this Saturday’s public outreach at Tydeman Rd. Please check staus on Facebook event page on Friday night and radar (see below) on Saturday morning.
The current federal government makes an animal protection scandal after another!
Scandal number 1: piglet castration without anesthesia
The federal government castrates piglets without anesthesia! Resolved laws are unlawfully changed back to the worse in order to satisfy the pig industry.
Extension of the term for piglet castration was extended for another 2 years. For many years there have been sufficient alternatives that are already being implemented in other EU Member States.
Thus, the Federal Government objects to Article 20a of the Basic Law and the associated so-called prohibition of deterioration.
Scandal number 2: Illegal practices with sow box
An existing judgment since 2015 states that existing crates are illegal.
These boxes have not met the requirements of the Regulation since 1992. Instead of ensuring the final implementation of the current law, the federal government wants the illegal cartons to last for another 17 years.!!! So that’s how Germany treats the Animal Welfare Law! Violation of Article 20a of the Basic Law and the so-called prohibition of deterioration.
Scandal number 3: illegally cut piglets` tails
The federal government has broken EU law since 1994 and routinely mutilates piglets!
Since 1994, it has been banned throughout the EU to cut the ring tails of piglets routinely. Nevertheless, in 95% of all piglets in Germany the ringlet tail is separated with a hot cautery.
Germany has not complied with EU regulations since 1994.To top it off, the Federal Minister of Agriculture, the stupid Klöckner, plans to reward pigs with illegally reduced tails as “more animal welfare”.
Scandal number 4: animal transports to third countries
Foto: Karremann
EU breach of law and animal cruelty on animal transports are part of everyday life! Federal Government prevents ban on animal transports to third countries! Veterinarians are forced to aid animal cruelty.
Long-term animal transports to third countries are extremely painful and violate existing EU law. The European Court of Justice decided in 2015 that the requirements for animal transports have to be complied with even beyond EU borders. Nevertheless, official veterinarians are being forced by court to authorize preliminary goods for transport.
Animals, mostly pregnant cattle, are sent to 6000 kilometers long trips to third countries. The Federal Government actively prevents such torturous transports being banned. In 2018, for example, it rejected a request from the Greens to stop animal transports to third countries. This means that the animal transports continue unchecked.
The money earned from animal transport seems to be the more important argument for the federal government than the immense animal suffering that must be prevented.
Scandal number 5: Animal transports are paid with our tax money
The federal government promotes cruel animal transports with millions of guarantees!
Is it even worse? Yes! things are getting worse when it comes to the federal government and animal welfare.
Because it not only advocates painful animal transports to third countries that do not have animal welfare standards, but it also supports them – with our taxpayers’ money!
My comment: The meat mafia has all politicians under control!
Animals are usually at the mercy of the violence and sadism of the meat mafia. Especially in the live export this is extremely dramatic.
But this is not just about the often tormenting transport itself.
EU countries send cattle to countries where there is no animal welfare law,and they know it!
There, cutting out the eyes or severing the tendons of the front and hind legs are common ways to tame the animals and then kill them with a neck cut – fully conscious. All of this happens in distant places, far from our eyes.
At a time when we are trying to reduce animal suffering through information and education, EU countries are doing everything in their power to export more and more animals, driving up meat consumption in third countries. Thanks to the European criminal agricultural policy, there are plenty of cattle for which customers are urgently sought.We send them to the third countries.
And nobody is responsible, nobody wants to take responsibility and action. The German actors point with their fingers to Brussels, Brussels says animal transport is country thing.
It is an industry of animal cruelty, officially approved.
This was an e mail sent to me on 27/5/19 by the EU Commission regarding a recent gripe I made that live animal transports across the EU, and to nations such as Turkey, from existing EU member states, were not being enforced in accordance with EU Regulation 1/2005 for the welfare of animals during transport. Here is what they said to me in response:
Dear Mr Johnson,
Regarding the enforcement of Regulation 1/2005 on animal transport, you should be aware that the control and enforcement is – with very few exceptions, such as EU competition law – a matter for the Member States. In the area of animal transport, however, the Commission does do audits of Member State inspection systems (“inspect the inspectors”). The resulting audit reports lead to recommendations which, in turn, are followed-up by the Commission. If you are interested in these audit reports, they are all publicly available here: http://ec.europa.eu/food/audits-analysis/audit_reports/index.cfm
As of the withdrawal of the UK, the EU rules on animal transport will cease to apply to the UK. However, these rules will still impact the transport of live animals between the EU and the UK, for example the mandatory check of live animals – including as regards the control of animal welfare aspects – upon entry into the EU at “border inspection posts”.
Yours sincerely,
European Commission
Task Force for the Preparation and Conduct of the Negotiations
with the United Kingdom under Article 50 TEU (GDR)
I think, as someone who has investigated live animal transport over the past 25+ years; I am fully aware of the legislative situation within the EU and the fact that they want to ‘pass the buck’ for Regulation enforcement to each individual member state. This is one way to approach it; but if nations such as Romania act the way they do with stray animals, then are we to expect anything better from them when it comes to enforcing the rules for live animal transport ? – they don’t really care much about animal welfare; full stop. So by passing responsibility for enforcement from the Commission in Brussels to individual nations, is rather like the national fire officer putting the arsonist as the chief of the local fire station ! – it kind of does not work.
What exactly do the EU mean by the words ‘audit reports lead to recommendations, which in turn are followed up by the Commission’ ?
This in my opinion is where the EU totally falls down over regulations. It is all very ‘recommend and suggest’; rather than hitting member states hard and directly for their failures of the enforcement of EU rules. We don’t want to have to wait another 3 years for a follow up to what was found to be wrong; only to find that the rules are still not being enforced. I personally say no second chances; strike whilst the iron is hot – hit hard with prosecutions when the problems are first reared.
I will show you investigations undertaken years ago by animal welfare organisations. Today, 2019, what exactly has changed since the investigations were undertaken originally between 2010 and 2015 ? – not much, if anything.
Have we not seen countless investigations showing where the EU regulations are being flouted for the live animals being exported to Turkey ? – as the following video says, 352 livestock transporters were inspected and 247 were found to be in violation of existing EU regulations (1/2005 on the welfare of animals during transport).
It is not just live animals from the EU to Turkey – similar things are happening every day right across the EU. Existing EU Regulations are not being enforced.
Brussels, Belgium (EU) 15 March 2012: The European Parliament adopted Written Declaration 49/2011 on the establishment ofa maximum 8-hour journey limitfor animals transported in the European Union for the purpose of being slaughtered.
378 (half of the total number of MEPs plus one) was the number required for the Written Declaration to become an official position of the Parliament, and this number was reached one day in advance.
The document, which “calls on the Commission and the Council to review Regulation 1/2005 to establish a maximum 8-hour limit for the journeys of animals transported for the purpose of being slaughtered“, will now be transmitted to the European Commission and the governments of the Member States.
This document directly refers to over one million signatures registered on the www.8hours.eu website. This massive mobilisation of European citizens is calling for an end to long-distance journeys for animals sent for slaughter in the European Union.
The long duration of the journeys of animals destined for slaughter in the EU often causes them intense suffering, as has been consistently reported over the years by Animals’ Angels investigators. Current EU legislation makes it possible for animals to be transported for several days, even though it is scientifically proven and acknowledged by the Commission that the suffering of the animals increases with the duration of the journey.
“This is a historic moment for all those who care about animals. The call of one million citizens cannot be easily ignored by the EU institutions” – said Christa Blanke, Founder of Animals’ Angels. “But this is just a fundamental milestone in a campaign that will end only when long-distance journeys of animals sent for slaughter are banned in the EU. We have been documenting the suffering caused by animal transports around Europe over many years, and we have seen that all improvements of transport rules are insufficient if long-distance journeys continue to be allowed”.
“In reality what goes on today on the European roads is animal cruelty. This has to be stopped. The European Commission has so far disregarded the demand for new rules for animal transports.
But it will be difficult for the Commission to ignore the demands of the European Parliament, which joins over one million citizens asking for long-distance live transports to stop” – said Danish MEP Dan Jørgensen, and adds: “I have made the signal to the responsible commissioner for animal welfare, John Dalli, many times, that the rules for animal transports need to be changed. Unfortunately he does not see the need to respond properly to this call.
But he is wrong, and he should act now. If not he will have to explain to the European parliament and to EU citizens why he insists on letting this cruelty go on”.
“We live in the 21st century in a society which we became used to calling a humane society. It is time to prove it” – said Czech MEP Pavel Poc, one of the promoters of Written Declaration 49/2011. “I am glad that the European Parliament took on the challenge by adopting this written declaration. An adopted declaration might still be far away from real actions and needed changes, but it is a significant message and I hope that all these initiatives will together create a strong enough pressure for the much needed policy change.”
Written Declaration 49/2011 and the collection of one million signatures from EU citizens are part of a larger campaign (www.8hours.eu) calling for a maximum overall 8-hour limit for journeys of animals sent for slaughter. The campaign is also supported by 126 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) from 19 member states and all political groups.
See a recent video of animals being transported from the EU to Turkey on YouTube.
15 March 2012: The European Parliament adopted Written Declaration 49/2011 on the establishment of a maximum 8-hour journey limit for animals transported in the European Union for the purpose of being slaughtered. Why, 7 years later, are we still NOT having a max 8 hour limit, but still working to the 2005 regulation 1/2005 ?
We had EU elections last week (23-26/5/19) to vote for new members of the European Parliament. Ie those who adopted the written declaration above which is still not in actions 7 years later.
Why are the EU Commissioners who should be doing something about this and the will of EU citizens and the EU Parliament, not doing anything to introduce new legislation ?
We often talk about the ‘meat mafia’. The situation is a David and Goliath thing – and the welfare lobby is very much the ‘David’. Is the meat mafia doing things with our EU representatives in the Commission to ensure that the will of the Parliament and the EU citizens are NOT enforced ?
Foto: Karremann
World Animals Voice 