Pictures: horses bring M25 to a standstill

WAV Comment – For those of you who are NOT in the UK; the M25 is the orbital motorway which circumnavigates London town.  A very busy road all of the time.  All the horses were eventually rounded up and moved to a safe location.  No killings and shootings of the animals by the police as we may see in other EU nations.  A bit of disruption, but expect many commuters were pleased to have some different cabaret on their morning commute.

Drivers were brought to a standstill on the M25 this morning, after a group of horses got loose on the carriageway in Hertfordshire.

Astonished commuters snapped these pictures, as police chased the animals to get them out of the road.

Three men Animal Equality exposed abusing pigs charged with animal cruelty offences

The workers, named as Artis Grogprkevs, 31, from Goxhill; Gavin Hardy, 39, from South Killingholme, and Troy Wagstaff, 30, from Grimsby, will appear in court next month. 

All three men have been charged with causing unnecessary suffering to pigs by inflicting blunt force trauma, physical violence and using a pitchfork inappropriately, shocking footage of which we exposed earlier in the year.   

Investigators visited Fir Tree Farm several times between 1st and 27th April 2018 after an anonymous tip-off about animal cruelty from a brave whistleblower. They recorded serious and repeated violent abuse of pigs by members of staff, including repeated incidents of pigs being violently kicked in the face and head. Workers were also filmed slamming gates on pigs’ heads, repeatedly jabbing pigs with pitchforks and laughing at the abuse.

Scarred and wounded pig resulting from abuse on Fir Tree farm.

Animal Equality passed all of our evidence to the RSPCA and welcome the news that they have now pressed charges. The three men in question are due to appear at Grimsby Magistrates Court on November 22. We expect them to face the full force of the law for this sickening and inexcusable abuse.

Footage from this investigation shocked the nation and we had many people contact us to say they had given up eating pork or were making the switch to a vegetarian diet as a direct result. It’s thanks to generous supporters like you that we’re able to carry out investigations like this one, bringing animal abusers to justice and showing people the truth behind the food they’re eating.

Please, help us continue this lifesaving work by donating today.

See BBC news on this:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-46017860 

Very heart-warming news out of Vietnam as the animal welfare non-profit Animals Asia has rescued five more bears from the cruel bile industry! The rescue team arrived in a small town in Vietnam’s southern province to rescue the five moon bears from a notorious bear bile farm. These sweet bears were most likely captured from the wild and have been held captive for at least 13 years, forced to live their lives in tiny cages so that their bile could be extracted for use as a traditional medicine. This extreme captivity, devoid of any stimulation or opportunity to express natural behaviors, left the bears traumatized and their bodies broken.

Once freed from their torture cages the five bears were transported 1,700km by truck to Animals Asia’s Vietnam Bear Rescue Center, where they can begin the healing process and long road to recovery. The physical and psychological condition of these bears is very critical, as after so many years of abuse rescued bears often suffer from numerous debilitating medical ailments and disabilities. The rescue team contains experienced veterinarians and vet nurses who always hope for the best, but have to be prepared for the worst.

Animals Asia Vietnam Director Tuan Bendixsen said: “As with many rescues, we have no information about the bears at present – not even their genders. But we know they have never received any health care in the last 13 years of extreme captivity and abuse. Repeated bile extraction takes a huge toll on the bears’ health and our team will be ready for anything. Our primary goal will be to get them out of cages which were never designed to be opened, keep them alive and get them back to our sanctuary where high-quality care can begin.” You can watch the bears’ rescue video here:

 We hope the link works ok – WAV

https://www.facebook.com/AnimalsAsia/videos/262740724570428/ 

 https://www.facebook.com/AnimalsAsia/videos/262740724570428/?t=0 

Bear bile farming is a huge problem in many countries throughout Asia, and reached a peak in Vietnam in 2005 when over 4,000 bears were kept around the country on private bile farms. Animals Asia has been working for twenty years to end the bear bile industry, and in July 2017 the years of campaigning finally succeeded in the signing of a landmark agreement between the non-profit and the Vietnamese government. According to the groundbreaking agreement the government of Vietnam will close every bear bile farm and send all the bears to sanctuary by 2022. Vietnam’s Traditional Medicine Association, which is a huge part of the problem, has also vowed to stop prescribing bear bile by 2020.

This agreement was a huge step in the right direction; however, with so many bears being held captive on bile farms it is a very long process to get them all to qualified sanctuaries. The latest figures from the Vietnamese government show the number of bears in private hands has now fallen to approximately 800. The five moon bears most recently rescued were voluntarily handed over by their owner with the help of the provincial Forest Protection Department.

Animals Asia Founder and CEO, Jill Robinson MBE said: “More and more farmers are beginning to realize that bear bile farming is finished in Vietnam. Demand for bile is plummeting as people learn of the cruelty behind every vial, while the government has made it clear the end of the industry is just a matter of time. For these five bears, the end of suffering cannot come soon enough. Now we have to get them home to our sanctuary where their new lives can begin.”

To date, Animals Asia has rescued 611 bears, mainly from bile farms in Vietnam and China. Over 170 bears currently live at the organization’s Vietnam Bear Rescue Center, the largest and oldest sanctuary for bears in the country. These five bears rescued recently are certainly very lucky, as their lives are about to improve monumentally.

Caretakers plan to introduce the bears to progressively larger spaces, slowly integrating them with other bears at the sanctuary. Before too long they will be able to roam large natural enclosures, where they can express their natural instincts and behaviors. Moon bears can live up to 30 years, and with these sweet darlings in such good hands they will enjoy many happy years under the sanctuary’s loving care.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meat_Is_Murder