Category: Farm Animals
Posted
Updated:
Author: Chloe Govindasamy – Public Affairs Intern
A new, independent report revealing that 97 dogs were euthanised following an outbreak of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) at a hunting kennel confirms that hunts are a major biosecurity risk, argues an animal protection charity.
The report, by researchers at the University of Edinburgh, also contains information which suggests both the hunt and Defra kept quiet about key aspects of the outbreak – such as claiming only 25 dogs were affected, rather than the actual total of 97.
Given that disease, not just bTB, is one of the biggest threats to the lives of farm animals and the livelihoods of farmers in the UK, this raises grave concerns about the way biosecurity across the UK is being managed.
Chris Pitt, Deputy Director of Campaigns at the League Against Cruel Sports, said:
“We’ve been saying for a long time that hunting is a major biosecurity threat to our countryside and this report confirms it. The 97 dogs which were destroyed because of bTB are just the tip of a diseased iceberg. This story isn’t about one kennel infected with bTB, it’s about the way hunts routinely avoid even basic biosecurity and animal welfare measures, meaning their poor dogs are often living disease carriers.
“There’s a simple truth here. When livestock dies, potentially of disease, it is given to hunts to feed raw to their hounds. These hounds are often in poor health due to kennelling conditions and lack of care, and pick up the disease. They then spread the disease back into the countryside – and the cycle continues. The government knows this is a huge risk but is either turning a blind eye or not giving people the full picture, both of which are unacceptable.”
Key concerns are:
· The number of dogs put down was 97, not 25, as originally admitted by the hunt, which suggests a deliberate attempt to play down the outbreak. The number of recorded bTB outbreaks in the Kimblewick Hunt’s territory almost doubled to 90 in the four months after the disease was discovered in the kennels.
· Government statements about the outbreak gave the impression that there was no real threat of disease spread by hunting hounds – while at the same time they amended regulations to restrict the feeding of offal to hunting hounds. If there was no threat – why change the regulations?
· The condition of the Kimblewick kennels – a typical hunt – is described as ‘suboptimal’, with dogs being kept in dirty, unhygienic conditions which are a breeding ground for disease.
· Some biosecurity measures were introduced at the kennels once the infection had been confirmed. However this backs up evidence that basic biosecurity measures at hunting kennels are generally low or non-existent.
Chris Pitt added:
“If farmers are concerned about disease on their farms, be it bTB or anything else, then they need to take a close look at any hunts in their area. There is stacks of evidence showing that disease can spread between livestock and hunting hounds, but the government seem intent on playing this down with misleading or disingenuous statements which deflect from the truth.
“They brought in new regulations last year while pretending there was no problem when clearly there was. And those regulations won’t make any significant difference – it’s a clear case of shutting the kennel door after the hounds have bolted.
“If this country wants to take disease control seriously and protect livestock, then proper biosecurity is vital – and that means stopping hunts from galloping all over farm land.”
– Ends –
Notes to Editors
· The Edinburgh report can be found here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/tbed.12969
· For more information about the diseases spread between hunting hounds and livestock, see a summary here or the full study, Hunting with hounds and the spread of disease, by Professor Stephen Harris, BSc PhD DSc and Dr Jo Dorning, BSc PhD.
· For more information or interview requests please contact the League Against Cruel Sports Press Office on 01483 524250 (24hrs) or email pressoffice@league.org.uk
· The League Against Cruel Sports is Britain’s leading charity that works to stop animals being persecuted, abused and killed for sport. The League was instrumental in helping bring about the landmark Hunting Act. We carry out investigations to expose law-breaking and cruelty to animals and campaign for stronger animal protection laws and penalties. We work to change attitudes and behaviour through education and manage sanctuaries to protect wildlife. Find out more about our work at league.org.uk. Registered charity in England and Wales (no.1095234) and Scotland (no.SC045533).
Source: LACS – https://www.league.org.uk/news/death-of-100-dogs-exposes-the-secret-threat-of-disease
Top Man Brian !
Save Me –
http://www.save-me.org.uk/dr-brian-may-biography
http://www.save-me.org.uk/
Step 1 – the victim is screwed in OP, without anesthesia.
Step 2 – the baby is castrated, all parts are cut out, without anesthesia.
Step 3 – the freshly massacred baby is left behind, without anesthesia!
This is the standard procedure of the castration torture.
And just one of many who suffer the animal slaves in modern concentration camps.
So, that some “gourmets” can continue to enjoy the body of the massacred animals.
My best regards to all, Venus
Painful death
Hundreds of pigs suffocate because ventilation in stable failed!!
Käßlitz (District of Thuringia) : pig breeding dies of carbon monoxide gases in stable, nobody switches emergency generator!
Hundreds of pigs had to die a slow and painful death in the district Hildburghausen (Thuringia, Germany), because nobody noticed the failure of the ventilation system.
This is reported by the “Free Word”. For months, the inhabitants of the village complained about the stench that came from the two pigsties on the outskirts, but so far nothing has changed.
Now it came to the tragic incident. Due to a power failure, the ventilation in the stables had failed. But no one cared that the emergency generator was turned on.
Explanation: Due to the power failure, the telephone system was not and there was no alarm.
Nobody noticed in what predicament the animals were.
In the end, most of them had to pay with their deaths because the gasses that accumulated in the barn stank the pigs of their own smells.
Update 14:40
Now it is clear that in the accident about 500 pigs have died. A veterinarian had seen the dead animals taken out of the barn with a wheel loader and reported the case. He now wanted to file a criminal complaint. The veterinary authority is currently determining how it could come to the disaster.
PETA has filed a criminal complaint:
“Although the whole village has lost the electric current, none of the staff has been informed” says Christian Arleth (Lawyer -PETA)
And I mean: Can anyone imagine that 500 people in the middle of a residential area can die helplessly due to poisoning?
What I can not imagine is that the police, fire brigades, doctors and all sorts of helpers did not do everything to prevent this death.
Who, as a witness in such a situation, does nothing, is punished for failure to help in an emergency situation. This only applies to human animals.
People have rights and are protected by them.
Animals have no rights. Nowhere!
And as long as humans do not recognize the animals as right bearers, as long as humans deny the animals their own rights, they will be treated by humans as subjects, as slaves whose death means no serious consequences for their owners and exploiters.
My best r egards to all, Venus
P&O stops transporting calves following BBC investigation
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-45487502
A ferry operator has said that it will stop carrying calves to Europe after animal welfare concerns were raised by a BBC Scotland investigation.
P&O said it was ending the practice with immediate effect following the broadcast on Monday of “Disclosure: The Dark Side of Dairy”.
The Scottish government said it was concerned at P&O’s reaction.
NFU Scotland said it was a “disappointing” decision and described the documentary as “sensationalised”.
About 5,000 calves were shipped to Europe last year from Scotland.
Click on the above link to continue reading.
BREAKING: live export bill PASSES Senate
That’s right, Mark. Just hours ago, a majority of Australian Senators voted to bring an end to Australia’s cruellest trade. This is a historic day.
In Australia, getting a bill like this passed is a two-step process. We’ve jumped the first hurdle, and there’s now only one thing standing in the way of this bill becoming law — the Morrison government.
To be passed, the government must allow the bill to be brought to a vote in the House of Representatives. The new Morrison Government is refusing to do so. Why? Because they fear that some of their own will ‘cross the floor’ and vote with the Australian Labor Party and crossbench members to pass the bill.
When he became Prime Minister, Scott Morrison promised he would govern for the people. Yet, by preventing this bill from being brought before the parliament, he has blatantly disregarded the will of most Australians who want live export cruelty to end.
This is far from over, Mark. With Labor committing to end the live sheep trade if they win the next federal election, today’s events officially make live export a powerful voting issue.
We’ve taken huge steps forward for animals in this journey. Back in 2011, when another live export bill was voted on in Canberra, only two Members of Parliament — Adam Bandt and Andrew Wilkie — voted in favour of animals. Opposite them in the parliament, casually chatting as if they were deciding on nothing more important than what to have for lunch, sat everyone else. In stark contrast, today — not only was a bill passed in the Senate, we also know that if the government allowed all Members of Parliament a vote on this issue, then those two compassionate politicians would be joined by scores of others.
Because of you, and other caring voices across Australia, it is no longer a matter of if this trade will end, but when. We are so close that it could have been today.
Let’s all remind our new Prime Minister of his promise to govern for the people. An end to live sheep export is only a vote away.
For the animals,
Lyn White AM
Animals Australia
Here we go again – the EU piling out all the words on how wonderful they are; whist the reality is they do little.
https://ec.europa.eu/food/animals/welfare/strategy_en
So ‘It focuses on enhancing knowledge among the many key agencies, organisations and individuals who are involved in the process’. For the last 13 years we (an organisation ?) have supplied endless information – text and photographs to the EU informing them that Serbia; a ‘candidate country’ for EU membership; has not been applying its own national laws – ‘the rule of law’; with regard them enforcement of existing national legislation for the welfare of animals.
See a summary of what we have been saying; and our arguments at https://serbiananimalsvoice.com/about-serbian-animals/
Our evidence to the EU: Serbia – the dog who’s eyes cried pus.
The result ? – the EU has never once been in contact with us re the issue of Serbian animal welfare.
Does the very recent post by Venus – https://worldanimalsvoice.com/2018/09/08/state-and-meat-mafia-team-work/ not really sum up the situation –
“The new state minister of economic affairs, Julia Klöckner, makes a good impression at the farmer’s day. Because there, she demands something that many farmers have been longing for: animal rights activists, who secretly film in stables at night, should be punished harder.”
“By law, she wants to penalize the entry into stables. Finally, it is the duty of the veterinarians to ensure animal welfare compliance: But how well does veterinary monitoring work? How consistently are animal abusers punished in agriculture?”
“2015. Although the investigation is still ongoing, these recordings show again animals in too narrow crates, injuries.
In 2017 and 2018, Greenpeace will release these images from the plant. Refunds Advertisement, because of too narrow crates. Again, it is being investigated.
But the procedure, according to the criminal complaint of Greenpeace, has been discontinued”.
Sounds rather pathetic does it not ? – and this is Germany, the powerhouse of the EU. So what chance of enforcement in Romania, Lithuania; Greece; Spain – and other EU member states.
The reality – Weasel words and documents from the EU that mean nothing.
Another reality – we can say with almost certainty that within the next few years Serbia will be welcomed into the EU club regardless of its application of the rule of law with its own, existing national legislation. With the UK walking out of the EU because i8t is bummed off with its dappy legislation; the EU is fishing for new member states to come along into the ‘believe all is well with us’ club. The EU has to show that it rules Europe come what may; enforcement of its own legislation; the rule of law; or not.
Animal rights activists being prosecuted for obtaining images and information of animal cruelty and suffering in member states; is this not an EU ‘Ag Gag’ pathway that we have witnessed over recent years in the USA ? – protect those who abuse whilst hitting the man who obtains the evidence of the cruelty ?
Something is wrong; very wrong; but as Venus says in her post; we have a stable and meat mafia teamwork; and they must not be shown to be doing anything wrongly or incorrectly.
The EU has always been known for its lack of enforcement of animal welfare offences. And so will it continue. The mafia must remain at the helm whilst the evidence gatherers are hung from the nearest river crossing bridge.
And so it continues – the supply of evidence simply ignored by the EU – do not disrupt the mafia system that we have going and which we enforce for the EU abusers.
“Enhancing knowledge ?” . Quite the opposite – keeping the abuses hidden from sight. Knowledge is a dangerous thing you know.
And the EU certainly knows how to keep it safely away from the common EU man and woman.
On September 5, a report was broadcast in Germany TV broadcast “Mainz Report”.
Title: “Torture in the mass animal husbandry is rarely punished”.
Because the report is in German, I translated the most important points of this.
I have to say, it was an exceptionally good report.
The Report:
“They come at night, secretly filming in stables, documenting suffering and death.
It is pictures like these that have been used to uncover animal protection scandals in recent years. But that should be over now.
BREAKING: Rescue of five moon bears happening right now in Vietnam
Latest – Bears Now Arrived At Sanctuary – A New Life Begins !
An Animals Asia rescue team arrived in the small town of My Tho in Vietnam’s southern province of Tien Giang this morning to rescue five moon bears from a bear bile farm.
The bears were likely captured from the wild and have been held for at least 21 years in tiny cages so that their bile could be extracted for use as a traditional medicine.
FOLLOW THE RESCUE TIMELINE
At present the condition of the bears is unknown but previous rescues have revealed a litany of painful and debilitating diseases and disabilities – many of which can be terminal.
The rescue team contains experienced veterinarians and vet nurses who will 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.”
Once freed from cages, the bears will be transported 1,700km by truck to Animals Asia’s Vietnam Bear Rescue Centre in Vinh Phuc province where they expect to arrive on Friday 31 August.
Bear bile farming reached a peak in Vietnam in 2005 when over 4,000 bears were kept around the country on private farms.
However, years of campaigning culminated in the signing of a landmark agreement between Animals Asia and the Vietnam government in July, 2017 to close every bear bile farm and send all the bears to sanctuary by 2022.
Vietnam’s Traditional Medicine Association has also vowed to stop prescribing bear bile by 2020.
The latest figures from the Vietnamese government show the number of bears in private hands has fallen to approximately 800.
The five moon bears in Tien Giang province are being voluntarily handed over by their owner.
Animals Asia Founder and CEO, Jill Robinson MBE said:
“More and more farmers are beginning to realise 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 Animals Asia’s Vietnam Bear Rescue Centre, the largest and oldest sanctuary for bears in the country.
You can follow the rescue as it happens on Animals Asia’s Facebook, Twitter and the dedicated rescue timeline.
https://www.animalsasia.org/uk/media/news/news-archive/breaking-rescue-of-five-moon-bears-happening-right-now-in-vietnam.html
Slaughterhouse Workers Have PTSD From Killing Animals. Here’s Why That Matters…
https://mercyforanimals.org/slaughterhouse-workers-have-ptsd-from-killing
The findings indicate that slaughterhouse employment increases total arrest rates, arrests for violent crimes, arrests for rape, and arrests for other sex offenses in comparison with other industries.
Ref – http://journals.sagepub.com/keyword/Slaughterhouses
World Animals Voice 