Category: Farm Animals

Farm Animals, Fur and Fur Farming, General News

Finland: Brilliant News – Fox farming declines by almost 70% in Finland.

2 September 2024

Animalia

Oikeutta eläimille / We Animals Media

In Finland, one of Europe’s major fur producing countries, farms are downsizing and closing at a rapid rate. Over the last 5 years, mink production has declined by 50%, whilst fox farming has collapsed even more sharply at 68%.

New statistics on 2023 from the Finnish Fur Breeders’ Association, analysed by Animalia, have confirmed that the industry is in a steep decline.

In 2023, there was only one mink farm producing more than 10,000 pelts, compared to 11 such farms the previous year. There were six fox farms producing more than 10,000 pelts, compared to 8 in 2022, and 20 in 2019. Most mink are raised on farms producing fewer than 500 pelts annually, indicating that mink farming is a side business. Foxes, on the other hand, are mostly raised on farms with 3,000–10,000 animals.

22% fewer foxes and 4% fewer mink were born on fur farms. Over the last 5 years, mink production has declined by 50%, whilst fox farming has dropped by 68%.

The actual number of furs produced last year is significantly lower than expected from the rate of births, as nearly half a million fur animals were culled and destroyed in the autumn of 2023 due to avian influenza.

The few remaining farms are not financially viable. The average sale price of blue fox pelts was down 13% from the previous year. The production cost of a fox pelt currently exceeds the sales profit, and results in a loss of up to 50 euros per animal for the farmer. The average price of a mink pelt also declined by 2% from the previous year. 

Following the mass culling of mink on Finnish fur farms due a bird flu outbreak in 2023, farmers received over 50 million euros of public funds in compensation, increasing scrutiny over the industry’s economic value.

Employment provided by the industry has halved in five years, undermining the social argument for propping up production. 

In an opinion poll conducted by Animalia and Oikeutta Eläimille in 2023, 83% of Finns believed that fur farming should either be banned or that animals should be given significantly more space and opportunities to engage in species-specific behaviour. 

The new statistics support the argument for a Fur Free Europe, as proposed by the successful European Citizens’ Initiative.

Regards Mark

Farm Animals, General News, Live Transport

Romania: Animal Rights March 2024 to be held this month in Bucharest.

Great News.

https://www.romania-insider.com/animal-rights-march-2024-bucharest

Some of our past posts relating to Romanian issues – not current – note dates of articles:

Romania accused of ‘silence’ over ship that capsized killing 14,000 sheep.
Romania: Secret Decks of Sheep On The ‘Queen Hind’ Which Sank at Midia ??. We Still Wait For EU Action and the Report Promised by the Romanian Government.
EU / Romania: 30/3/21 – Some 200,000 animals trapped in Suez canal likely to die.
Animal markets in Romania
Poland, Romania, Italy: New investigation on the transport of lambs for Easter: Animal Equality, Animal Welfare Foundation and ENPA denounce unacceptable situation.

Biggest sheep exporter in Europe !

Regards Mark

Farm Animals, General News

Animal Rights Activists Voice Church Support Of Bullfighting At Popes Weekly Audience.

https://www.msn.com/en-za/news/other/animal-rights-activists-storm-pope-s-weekly-audience-in-vatican/ar-AA1oobeU?ocid=BingNewsVerp

Animal rights protesters from Peta interrupted Pope Francis’s weekly general audience on Wednesday, 7 August, calling for an end to bullfighting.

The activists ran into the room in the Vatican wearing t-shirts reading “Stop blessing corridas” and raised banners reading “Bullfighting is a sin” before they were escorted out by Swiss Guards.

Spanish-style bullfighting is also known as “corrida de toros”. The organisation has been urging the pontiff to condemn bullfighting.

In a written statement, Peta said: “These gruesome spectacles are often held ‘in honour’ of Catholic saints and on holy days, the Catholic Church can and must help end this abuse by condemning bull torture in the name of religion.”

Mark

Farm Animals, General News

International Action: STOP and Bring Lidl to its Senses.

Supplied via Diana:

https://www.lidlchickenscandal.com/

It is YOUR actions that mhttps://www.lidlchickenscandal.com/ake a real difference: Say STOP and bring Lidl to its senses.

Potentially deadly germs are thriving in the sheds of Lidl suppliers.

In tests performed on 142 chicken samples taken from Lidl’s store brands in five countries, a laboratory found antibiotic-resistant pathogens in every second sample.

You can change this: Sign the petition now and stop Lidl’s irresponsibility.

This is the bitter reality of what chickens have to go through for Lidl:

Chickens breaking down. Workers mistreating chickens. Sick and injured chickens suffering visibly… crammed together by the thousands in bleak sheds.

Miserable husbandry conditions mean that dangerous germs thrive in the sheds. So say NO to animal cruelty committed for Lidl. Become active now. Sign the petition.

Background:

Click here to continue reading about all international investigations– https://www.lidlchickenscandal.com/

  • Dates, locations and photographic data included.

Regards Mark and Di.

Farm Animals, General News, Live Transport

EU: Summer suffering: animals transported in extreme heat and washed up on beaches.

31 July 2024

Essere Animali

As heat waves surge throughout Europe, animals are vulnerable to extreme temperatures, especially when they are being transported by road and sea. A new investigation found animals forced to travel at temperatures above 45° without water and left under scorching sun in Italy, whilst another explored the issue of dead animals being tossed off of export vessels into the Mediterranean sea.

A recent investigation by Essere Animali, in which they monitored transport shipments of animals on highways in Italy, revealed some animals are being transported in trucks of internal temperatures reaching up to 48 degrees. Their photos and footage show pigs gasping for air and left without access to water. In one case, animals were left for long periods under the scorching sun with fans turned off in the truck, while drivers took their break.

Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case. The welfare of animals during transport continues to be poorly protected by European laws. According to regulations animals should be safeguarded against “extreme temperatures”, but there are no clear definitions, as well as no enforcement. Furthermore, national travel is exempt from this rule.

Essere Animali, together with Eurogroup for Animals, calls for the long distance transport of live animals to be banned, and that clear references are introduced for temperatures, taking into account humidity and the condition of animals.

Animals washed up on beaches

The demand for exports to third countries has risen sharply. The EU’s Member States export around three million animals by sea to distant countries, posing significant risks to animals with increased mortality rates. 

Treated like unwanted waste, deceased animals are disposed of in the Mediterranean. Not only is this completely insensitive, but it increases pollution and also risk of shark attacks at numerous tourist hotspots on Mediterranean beaches.

In over 50 media-documented cases, dead and discarded animals from livestock vessels were washed ashore in France, Spain, Greece, Israel and Portugal among others.

A new film by Animal Welfare Foundation shows the extent of this issue, with a clear call to action: live animal transports to third countries are wrong in every respect and must be stopped.

egards Mark

Farm Animals, General News

Belgium: 65,000 chicks gassed or crushed alive every day in Belgium Alone !

Male Chicks – A ‘Waste’ By Product Of The Egg Industry to the tune of 65,000 lives EVERY DAY.

26 July 2024

GAIA

Male chicks who cannot lay eggs are considered a waste product of the egg industry, condemned to a cruel death as soon as they hatch. In Belgium alone, 65,000 chicks are killed every day, adding up to 24 million per year.

The chicks are killed in shocking ways, such as being tossed into a macerating machine that crushes them, or being gassed to death en masse. 

Only one in three Belgian consumers are aware of this practice, according to a research by GAIA, which is asking citizens to participate in an audio petition to call for an end to this practice.

The petition asks citizens to record themselves crowing like a rooster, in order to express their outcry at this cruel practice and call for more respectful treatment of chickens. 

The recordings will be collated to create a powerful message for legislators. 

Alternatives exist

In-ovo sexing allows producers to determine the sex of the chick in the egg before birth, allowing for sorting before the embryo becomes susceptible. This technique is already used in some Belgian hatcheries. Countries like Germany and France have already taken steps to abolish chick culling, moving to this technology instead.

The survey by GAIA shows that 82% of Belgians believe that supermarkets should only obtain their supplies from producers who do not cull chicks. It also indicates that 82% of Belgians are ready to pay 2 euro cents more for each egg from such a producer. In addition, more than half of Belgians are ready to change brands and turn to a more respectful supermarket, which would offer eggs without grinding or gassing.

Leave a call to save the chicks

The audio petition will pass through twelve major cities in Belgium, asking citizens to share their cry on social networks in order to raise awareness among those around them. 

Supermarkets continue to sell eggs from chickens whose chicks are cruelly gassed or crushed alive after birth. However, there are effective technologies to prevent this massacre. It is therefore high time that they take their responsibilities, while responding to the wishes of the vast majority of Belgian consumers.

Sébastien De Jonge, Director of Operations, GAIA

Regards Mark

Environmental, Farm Animals, General News, Hunting, Uncategorized

USA: Trump’s Threat To Animals.

JULY 23, 2024

Trump’s Threat to Animals

BY JON HOCHSCHARTNER

I’ve been unsure how animal activists should orient themselves in the coming American presidential election. Obviously, in the United States’ two-party system we should vote for the Democratic nominee. But should we do more than simply cast a ballot for the candidate, whoever that ends up being?

I typically argue we should prioritize nonhuman interests to the greatest extent possible, as there are so few people who do. For me, that means picketing legislators and writing letters to newspapers in the hope of using the political process to accelerate the development of cultivated meat.

But, as the election approaches, I wonder if the threat Donald Trump poses to animals and our movement is so extreme we should pause our usual work and temporarily focus on helping to defeat him. I put this question and others to a group of animal advocates who were kind enough to share their time with me.

Merritt Clifton is editor of the Animals 24-7 website. Previously, he was news editor for Animals’ Agenda magazine, as well as the editor of the Animal People newspaper. When asked what a second Trump presidency might look like, Clifton referred to his coverage of the Republican’s first term.

Continue reading this article – see link at top.

Regards Mark

Farm Animals, General News, Live Transport

Belgium: Brussels (Home of the EU Parliament) only city to not authorise mobile exhibition on animal welfare !! – Suprised ? We Are Not !

The new animal welfare exhibition truck

Brussels only city to not authorise mobile exhibition on animal welfare

25 July 2024

GAIA

Press Release

Among 20 European cities, Brussels is the only city that has failed to issue a permit for a mobile exhibition that will travel around Europe showcasing issues related to animal welfare, causing concern to animal protection NGOs.

The mobile exhibition For the Animals, by Project 1882, a leading animal advocacy organisation in Sweden, started its Euro Tour in June, going through Helsinki, Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius, Warsaw, Berlin, Bratislava, Prague and Ljubljana. Its journey, through to November, will continue to Budapest, Madrid, Lisbon, Porto, Bologna, Torino, Aarhus, Copenhagen, Malmö, Gutenberg and Stockholm.

Yet, despite efforts by Eurogroup for Animals and GAIA, the city of Brussels has failed to provide a permit for the exhibition. In the long correspondence with several different authorities, the permit was rejected, on claims that the dimensions of the truck are too large, the roads in Brussels are “too fragile”, or because of metro and underground parking lots. This however, is questionable, considering that many other participating cities have similar landscapes and did not raise such concerns.

It is concerning that in Brussels, right in the heart of policy-making in Europe, citizens are unable to participate in this exhibition. With the reasons provided for the lack of permit, we wonder if there is a hidden motive, one that is based on the content of the exhibition, rather than the format? The reality of suffering of animals in Europe should remain visible.

Reineke Hameleers, CEO, Eurogroup for Animals

Today, we had to announce to dozens of major NGOs that Brussels, the Capital of Europe, was not able to host an exhibition that will nonetheless be present in all the major cities on the continent. Brussels, which recently hosted hundreds of tractors, apparently does not have the capacity to accommodate a truck for a one-day event? It’s grotesque and deplorable.

Ann De Greef, CEO, GAIA

Above – London.

Yours truly somewhere in the Netherlands – note free range chickens – how they should be !

Brussels, oh yeah yup I get it – home of the EU, where decisions like live animal regulations are rules, and where intensive farming regulations for the entire EU member states are made, Then they have never had the bollocks to do what EU man demands; just a few ? flimsy animal abusers from start to finish; their own little powerhouse doing what they want rather than to go with animal welfare friendly common man. 

Ever asked yourself why it was only upon leaving the EU that the United Kingdom was able introduce legislation which ended up with an export ban for British animals going into Europe ? – best thig the UK has done for a long time !

I know, its called getting out of the EU !

I travelled with the Ban live export tour truck in Europe decades ago – now out, the UK is free from the EU shackles of that abuse; whilst those still in Europe sadly still see live animal shipments day in day out – why ? cos the gutless Commission lets and animals suffer continually for a few pennies more,

SHAME ON THEM – Let the animals free !

Mark

 

 

Environmental, Farm Animals, General News, Uncategorized

Can octopuses be farmed?

One comment – well said: Human beings are the worst!!!! These beautiful beings are super intelligent, sentient, friendly and must be respected. You do not “FARM” sentient beings. You farm tomatoes!!!!!!!

18 July 2024

Currently, all octopus products available on the market are wild-caught, as octopuses have never been commercially farmed at scale. This is not due to a lack of trying.

In Europe, particularly in Spain, octopus farming has so far been confined to fattening young wild-caught octopuses in ocean cages, in order for them to reach market weight. These cages were typically anchored to the sea floor, or simply suspended from rafts being used to farm mussels. In an attempt to prevent aggression and cannibalism, ocean cages included individual, compartmentalised octopus shelters made of pvc pipes or other plastic cylinders. 

After having some success in the early 2000s, most octopus fattening systems have since shut down due to stricter fisheries regulations, unstable yearly catches, variations in octopus mortality rates, and expensive feed requirements. Raising wild-caught octopuses in on-land aquaculture tanks has also been attempted in Mediterranean countries as well as  Australia and Latin America. However, efforts have not progressed past the experimental level as there are limited options for scalability.

Research and investments have more heavily focused on breeding octopuses in captivity. These efforts have been ongoing since the 1970s with major hurdles linked to cannibalism, containment issues, inadequate feed options and low survival rates among pregnant and young octopuses. 

A new milestone was reached in 2019 when Spanish multinational seafood company Nueva Pescanova announced that they had successfully closed “the octopus reproduction cycle in aquaculture”, meaning they had bred and raised octopuses through every stage of their life cycle in an artificial environment. The company is now applying for permits to open the world’s first industrial octopus farm, aiming to farm and slaughter one million octopuses annually for introduction to the market by 2027. 

Although the first, Spain is not the only country interested in the prospect of this new industry.  Similar plans to factory farm octopuses are unfolding across the globe, including in Portugal, Greece, Mexico, Chile, Australia, China and Japan.

Octopuses have a complex life cycle and are particularly ill-suited to farming conditions, making it challenging to raise them in captivity. Here are some significant issues associated with octopus farming:

1.     Dietary needs 

Octopuses are carnivorous animals and require live food during the early stages of development. Providing a natural diet in a farming environment can be resource-intensive, unsanitary and costly. Feeding octopuses at the industrial scale is also environmentally unsustainable due to its reliance on wild-caught fish ingredients.

2.     Solitary nature

Naturally solitary, octopuses may become overly stressed and resort to aggression and cannibalism in crowded farming conditions. Their need for space and isolation makes intensive farming impractical and inhumane.

3.     Physical vulnerability 

Without an internal or external skeleton, octopuses have fragile skin that can easily be damaged in farm tanks. This issue is exacerbated with their tendency to use jet propulsion to move quickly about their environments.

4.     Unsuitable slaughter method 

No humane slaughter method exists to kill octopuses for human consumption. Nueva Pescanova’s plans propose using ice slurry, which involves plunging the octopuses into freezing water. This method is known to cause a painful, stressful and slow death.

A study by the London School of Economics found that octopuses feel pain and pleasure, leading to their recognition as sentient beings in the UK’s Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022. Professor Jonathan Birch and his co-authors argue that high-welfare octopus farming is impossible and that killing via ice slurry “would not be an acceptable method of killing in a lab“. They also recommended the UK government consider a pre-emptive ban on farmed octopus production and imports.

“Large numbers of octopuses should never be kept together in close proximity. Doing this leads to stress, conflict and high mortality. A figure of 10-15% mortality should not be acceptable for any kind of farming.” – Professor Jonathan Birch, London School of Economics.

Globally, there are also mounting concerns around octopus farming. The world’s first legislative ban on octopus farming was signed into law in Washington state in March 2024. Several other US states are introducing similar legislative proposals, with some such as California extending to ban imports of farmed octopus.

While it may be possible to farm octopuses, Eurogroup for Animals remains steadfast in its conviction that octopuses are unsuited to farming conditions and should not be farmed.

Uncovering the horrific reality of octopus farming

 DOWNLOAD PDF 2.09 MB

 DOWNLOAD PDF 2.11 MB

 

Exposing the environmental risks of octopus farming

 DOWNLOAD PDF 3.05 MB

 DOWNLOAD PDF 1.77 MB

Regards Mark