Live mink can no longer be legally imported or bred in Bulgaria, following concerns over threats to native ecosystems and biodiversity from escaped animals.
On 1 June, the Bulgarian Minister of Environment and Water Borislav Sandov announced that he had signed the order to bring the ban into effect.
The decision was taken based on concerns over the environment and biodiversity, as the risk of American mink (Neovison vison) escaping from fur farms poses a serious threat to native species.
Conditions at the only mink farm in our country are unfavourable and are the reason that in recent years mink have escaped to enter territories of wildlife and cause damage.
Borislav Sandov, Minister of Environment and Water
The American mink is now widespread throughout the European Union and has caused significant adverse impacts on native wildlife, after individuals escaped from fur farms.
According to the Ministry, the species is included in the list of 100 most dangerous invasive alien species in Europe and is a priority invasive alien species for Bulgaria.
We thank Minister Sandov for this really important and very useful decision for the nature of Bulgaria. This decision is based on scientific and expert data on the damage from the breeding of the species American mink. At the same time, it is a solution that will prevent huge damage to wildlife and end the suffering of millions of American minks that are bred for their fur in cruel conditions! It’s just a ban order, but it’s so important to nature and the animals.
Petya Altimirska, head of CAAI
Whilst this ban will effectively render mink farming impossible in Bulgaria, it does not cover other species commonly farmed for their fur such as foxes, chinchillas and raccoon dogs.
Our member CAAI is calling for a wider ban on the breeding and keeping of any species for the purpose of fur farming in the country.
The European Citizens’ Initiative Fur Free Europe asks for a ban on all fur farming and the placement of farmed fur products in the European Union.
Hi all; I have now completed and sent my letter today 8/6/22 (by e mail) to my Member of Parliament (England); you can read it below.
I have also sent him several pictures of sheep in Australia which have undergone ‘mulesing’ without any form of anaesthetic.
I hope the letter explains my position of the issue of a UK – Australia FTA; and I now await response, which I will publish upon receipt.
Regards Mark
Dear Mr. Holloway Member of Parliament for Gravesham, Kent.
You and I have met in the past, and you have also had letters from me relating to an issue that is very close to me – that of stopping live animal exports / transportation. In lieu of the vote relating to Boris Johnson on 6/6/22; I now feel then need to write once again.
I have had the pleasure of knowing, working, and campaigning with Mr Philip Lymbery, Global CEO of Compassion In World Farming International, for over 30 years. I recently met up with Phil at Ramsgate, when we joined the anti live export campaigners at a public meeting opposing the trade through the harbour.
There are two issues that I wish to bring to your attention; for me, important issues that will have a major influence on how I vote in future – and they are:
Post Brexit Government promises to end live animal transport from the UK.
In June 2021, the UK government put forward legislation to ban the export of live animals for slaughter and fattening. There was a Defra consultation on the issue; for which I personally submitted responses. This consultation set the backdrop for the proposed legislation to ban animal exports.
The Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill reached the House of Commons last autumn (2021), following massive public support and receiving cross party support from a number of MP’s. BUT, despite intense lobbying since, the Bill has not been seen in Parliament since last November; and consequently it ran out of time to be passed in the 2021/22 Parliamentary session.
The dithering actions of the Conservative government and possibly opposition parties, means that today, 8/6/22, it is still legally possible for the export of live farmed animals to be undertaken from anywhere in the UK. Exporter individuals such as Mr Onderwater, the Dutch exporter and haulier who has used Ramsgate so often in the past are effectively still legally able to use Kent ports for this sordid trade if they so wish.
Thus, I consider that the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill needs to be given priority in the new Parliamentary session in order that UK live animal exports can be confined to the history books which is the only place they now deserve. I call on Mr Johnson, Mr Eustace and many other MP’s to give this issue the priority it deserves and get the legislation passed. There are other issues which parliament should be acting on despite heating costs and the price of food; so please look at these other important issues and get the legislation through parliament.
Campaigners against the trade from all over the planet will be taking part and demanding their governments do not just ‘talk the talk’, but actually pass legislation to stop this abhorrent business for once and all. Recent actions on awareness days have seen NGOs and campaigners in over 40 countries – from Brazil, to Australia, to South Korea – global actions have included solidarity marches through Kathmandu, a petition launch in New Zealand and a giant projection on the white cliffs of Dover here in England.
I request the action of Mr Boris Johnson MP; Prime Minister, to live up to his promise of ‘the best is yet to come’; and to thus get the Bill relating to live animal exports passed to prevent future sufferings from here in the UK; hopefully setting a standard to which other nations will adhere.
The UK Government has now signed a trade agreement with Australia – which one can only consider as bad news for British farmers and British animals.
We all saw how Liz Truss MP thought it, the agreement, was the best thing since sliced bread.
But, in its 2019 Election Manifesto, the Conservative party asserted us voters that:
“In ALL of our trade negotiations, we will NOT compromise on OUR high environmental protection, animal welfare and food standards”.
So, possibly you can write and tell me where you Conservatives subsequently went wrong; keeping in mind the following issue on the deal with Australia. Do I need to state:
Australia still allows pigs to be kept in cages during early pregnancy, whilst sow stalls have been illegal in the UK since 1999.
Confining hens in barren cages is still legal; and common in Australia, when the UK banned such systems in 2012.
The use of antibiotics on farm animals is rife in Australia. Australian farmers are known to use up to 16 times as many antibiotics on farms as we use here in the UK.
In Australia, sheep are mutilated every year through ‘mulesing’; a process undertaken on sheep stations, and without anaesthetic for the animals involved, where large chunks of its skin at their rear end, under the tail, are cut away. Please refer to attached pictures and see how abusive this is and the suffering endured by every animal involved – “we will not compromise on animal welfare standards” ! – it looks as if you have failed by not getting Australia to act on this as part of the trade negotiations just as one example.
Around 40% of Australian beef comes from cattle fattened on cruel, intensive feedlots; unlike those systems used in the UK.
Yet the new UK-Australia FTA fails to prohibit imports that don’t meet UK standards. Liz Truss can smile and consider herself good at trade deals; but when it comes to those between the UK and Australia, I personally think otherwise.
Even before tax parries are removed, Australian products like beef and lamb will have huge tariff-free quotas. The latest UN Food and Agriculture Organisation data shows UK imports of Australian beef are currently around 1,600 tonnes a year. In the first year after the FTA is implemented, the tariff free quota on beef alone will be almost 22 times higher than this.
If this deal is ratified by the UK Parliament, higher welfare farming methods used in the UK, when compared to Australia, could immediately be undermined by cheap, factory farmed imports. Remember Conservative promises – “we will not compromise on animal welfare standards”. Cheap factory farmed imports from Australia will encourage low welfare standards and practices to continue over there. These actions by Australian producers will thus put additional pressure on British producers to cut their standards as a result; which begs the question, where will the UK be in relation to very high standards that it always preaches.
The UK – Australia trade deal is a betrayal of us all; and of our high welfare British farmers who have improved standards throughout these islands. Of course, it will be the farm animals that will suffer most as a result of this Conservative policy in which we were all informed by government, “In ALL of our trade negotiations, we will NOT compromise on OUR high environmental protection, animal welfare and food standards”.
As a voter and animal welfare campaigner, I feel the need to inform you that I consider you have already failed in standards with your actions for a FTA with Australia.
Beef Production Is Destroying the Amazon. Turns Out, Leather Is, Too. | VegNews
Beef production is a known driver of deforestation but a new report outlines the links between leather and Amazon destruction.
More than 100 fashion brands have been linked to deforestation by a new report compiled by Slow Factory with data provided by research group Stand.Earth. While the cattle industry has been the top driver of deforestation in the Amazon region, the link between leather and deforestation is less known.
The group examined data from public or government sources—including 500,000 rows of customs data, websites, and annual reports—to find that due to a lack of transparency in various supply chains, leather products sold by more than 100 companies, including Zara, Asics, Adidas, and Clarks, could contribute to deforestation.
“The Amazon rainforest is fast approaching the tipping point of irreversible ecosystem collapse, according to scientists,” the report states. “We’re calling on the world’s leading fashion brands to act immediately to protect the Amazon rainforest, its people, and our global climate future.”
Leather and deforestation
In the last decade, 16.5 million acres of the Brazilian Amazon rainforest biome have been lost, mostly due to the cattle industry. Brazil is home to the largest cattle herd in the world at 215 million animals and its leather products—80 percent of which are exported—accounted for $1.1 billion of slaughterhouse revenue in 2020.
JBS is the largest cattle producer in the region and has been linked to illegal deforestation multiple times. Many of the 100 named companies source leather from JBS, either directly or indirectly, therefore contributing to deforestation. The report found that this issue is endemic to the Brazilian leather industry and tanneries such as Minerva and Fuga Couros, among others, are also contributors to deforestation. “Although none of these brands are deliberately choosing deforestation leather, they are working with manufacturers and tanneries that source from opaque supply chains and companies that have known links to cattle raised on recently deforested Amazon land,” the report states.
The report assessed the deforestation risk of the 100 named companies based on the number of links they had to Brazilian leather producers. One such company was Coach, which has a high risk of supporting deforestation with its 10 connections to the Brazilian leather industry. The company is also one of the 74 companies that have anti-deforestation policies in place and the report suggests that 30 percent of these companies are in breach of their own policies.
According to the report, the Leather Working Group (LWG)—the world’s leading nonprofit in environmental certification of the leather industry—only links leather to tanneries and not farms or supply chains, making it incapable of guaranteeing that leather products are deforestation-free. “If you’re wearing leather shoes, a leather belt, or carrying a leather handbag, it’s highly likely that it was made from cowhide that contributed to the destruction of the Amazon rainforest,” the report states.
Vegan leather: a sustainable, compassionate choice
Opacity in leather supply chains means that just about any leather product, regardless of brand, can be linked to deforestation. However, vegan leather—particularly the type made from plants and not plastic—is increasingly becoming a more accessible and sustainable option. And the choices are vast.
Innovators worldwide are proving that just about anything can be turned into leather without the need to slaughter animals for their hides. In Mexico, entrepreneurs Adrián López Velarde and Marte Cázarez developed Desserto, a vegan leather made from nopal cactus leaves. Spanish designer Carmen Hijosa tackled the leather issue by looking to the pineapple industry, discovering that the would-be wasted leaves could be turned into a sustainable vegan leather she called Piñatex. In the fashion capital Milan, innovative startup Vegea is turning waste from the Italian wine industry into vegan leather that has been used in place of animal hides across industries.
Fashion heavyweights are also getting into vegan leather, including Karl Lagerfeld, Louis Vuitton, and Hermès. Earlier this year, Gucci unveiled three shoe styles made with its own vegan leather. Inspired by Greek goddess of harvest Demeter, the new material (dubbed “Demetra”) is made from 77-percent plant-based raw materials, including wood pulp and viscose, and is tanned in the way leather would be but without animal cruelty or environmental harm.
Even brands named in the Slow Factory report are working to develop plant-based leathers to minimize their environmental impact, including Adidas. The athletic brand worked with eco-designer Stella McCartney to develop vegan versions of its iconic Stan Smith sneakers. Adidas and McCartney are also part of the Mylo Consortium, a group of fashion brands working with startup Bolt Threads to use its innovative Mylo vegan leather—which is made from mycelium, the fast-growing root systems of mushrooms. The partnership will result in new mushroom leather product launches in the coming months and hopefully, contribute to a shift away from Amazon-destroying animal leather in the years to come.
American meat corporations have bad reputations, and for good reason. These companies have reached near-supervillain status for their inhumane treatment of cattle, pigs, and chickens. Not only do animals that suffer in meat-packing plants — these corporations abuse their workers, too. New reports indicate that this industry quite literally doesn’t care if its workers live or die, and it is time Congress did something about this.
These corporations even went so far as to fabricate letters that falsely claimed America’s meat supply was at dire risk if plants temporarily shut down. As a result, former President Trump signed an executive order classifying meat plants as critical infrastructure, forcing their doors open amidst grave danger. Given what we know so far, upwards of 59,000 meat-packing workers caught COVID-19, and nearly 300 died. That’s not even counting the family, friends, and community members they spread COVID to after contracting it at the plants. On top of that, many meat-packing workers are immigrants, low-income, uninsured, or some combination of the three. These are communities that are already at an extremely high risk of contracting severe COVID, yet the industry decided profit was more important than human lives. The government must never allow this deadly manipulation to happen again.
Spencer is doing his bit for AAU despite personal health issues; and a donation is the least that can be done is to support him and the wonderful Animal Aid Unlimited (AAU)..
Second; live animal transport is happening the world over; on the road, rail and at sea right now, today, 1/6/22. Everything needs to be done to raise as much publicity about the international live export awareness day on 14/6 as possible. It does not matter where you are in the world, or how big or little a group you represent; just get involved on your patch.
I have personally seen the suffering of this disgusting business for well over 30 years; and now it is time to confine it as a sick chapter in the book of animal history – abuses.
Please support BOTH these asks for help;
Regards Mark (WAV)
Animals Angels.
Recent Live Export IAW – London.
From ‘Compassion In World Farming’ (CIWF) – London.
There’s two weeks to go until our seventh annual Ban Live Exports: International Awareness Day!
After two years of exclusively online events due to restrictions on gatherings, we’re so excited to be back with a rally in London. Will you join us on Tuesday 14th June and show your support for a ban on the live export of animals?
Rally location confirmed
The flagship UK event for Ban Live Exports Day will be at Parliament Square in London from 12.30-2pm on Tuesday 14th June. Join campaigners from far-and-wide as we come together with MPs and special guests to help end this suffering.
How to get involved:
■ Join our London rally and help call on the UK Government to progress the Kept Animals Bill, which would ban live exports from Britain, without further delay. ■If you can’t join us in London, don’t worry. We’ll be livestreaming at the event on our Facebook page so you can watch online. ■Get your banners ready! Download one here, or make your own, to bring to the rally or post a selfie on social media on June 14th with the hashtag #BanLiveExports. ■ Keep your eyes peeled as next month we’ll be launching brand-new actions to demand the UK Government, and the EU, end this cruel trade for good.
Together we can take the next steps towards ending a cruel, outdated, and unnecessary global trade. I look forward to standing with you on June 14th.
Sarah Moyes Senior Campaigns Manager UK
PS: Don’t forget to head over to our Facebook event and let us know if you’re able to join us for this day of action.
Regards Mark
On tour in the Netherlands againstall factory farming.
On a personal note, I give my full support to Spencer as we have 2 things in common; and that is Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and efforts for helping animals. As a sufferer of MS for 23 years, I know exactly what he is experiencing every moment of every single day.
As Spencer says in the fundraiser:
As anyone with M.S will tell you there are many challenges involved in navigating this condition and we all have our good days and bad days.
But just because you have a long term issue such as MS, it does not mean that you cannot continue to live your life and support vital animal advocate issues the world over; as I am attempting with WAV. AAU in India are doing some incredible rescues as you can see in the links given above; animals that were literally at deaths door have been saved, helped to heal, and returned to full health by the wonderful team at AAU. Supporting AAU is for sure one big thing that Spencer and I have in common.
So please support Spencer today by giving anything you can; here is the link once again:
Animal rights activists have been “sprayed with manure” as hordes of angry farmers confront them over a protest at Britain’s largest beef industry event, the campaign group has claimed.
The demonstration, which began in the early hours of Saturday, is said to have seen one protester taken to hospital after chaos unfolded outside Darlington Farmers Auction Mart (DFAM) in Co Durham.
Photos showed mask-clad activists from the Animal Justice Project (AJP) standing on the roof of the building holding banners and spraying coloured smoke flares.
A spokesperson for the group said campaigners have now been left “covered in excrement” after one event attendee allegedly used a sprayer to blast manure at them.
Another activist was injured after farmers allegedly ploughed towards a group of protesters in a JCB digger and “assaulted” them, the AJP claims.
The National Beef Association (NBA), which is organising the expo taking place over the course of this weekend, describes it as a celebration of the best of British beef, drawing in at least 5,000 guests annually.
The AJP has said their protest was “peaceful” and “silent” and aimed to highlight “farmed animal suffering and environmental safety concerns”.
Police have been on the scene since 5am working to bring the demonstration to an end as guests and demonstrators clashed with one another but activists have said they intend to stay indefinitely.
Mark Dent, chair of DFAM, said earlier he believed the protesters were the sources of “intimidation”.
He told the PA news agency: “We respect people’s right to protest, but the way they go about it doesn’t help their cause.
“There is no respect for people’s property or livelihood. I’m afraid then you lose your moral high ground… It’s a tin roof and they’re jumping up and down on it, and it’s bending.
“They’ve got their faces covered. It’s intimidation (and) threatening behaviour. I’m all for people protesting what they believe in, but it’s the way they go about it – the face coverings, the intimidation.”
He added: “If you have a pair of eyes you will see how important agriculture is around the world at the moment. Food is top of the agenda.”
An AJP spokesperson told PA: “We’ve been sprayed with cow poo by one farmer using a machine.
“It has been a peaceful protest and a silent protest and we are overwhelmed and outnumbered by hundreds of angry farmers.”
They added: “It’s really violent and there was one farmer who went along and sprayed everyone’s clothes. Shouting, swearing, spraying us with manure, ripped the banners down. It’s absurd.”
The group has said the farming event “glorifies the exploitation and killing of animals” which is “fundamentally wrong and unjust”.
Neil Shand, chief executive of the NBA, said: “Nobody has been hit by a tractor.”
A spokesperson for the NBA claimed there was a “wonderful atmosphere” at the event and did not comment further on the protest.
Durham Police said: “Our officers are working to bring the protest to a safe end and to minimize the impact on the wider community.”
Farmers Stab Pregnant Horses With Huge Needles At “Blood Farms.” Iceland Must End This Practice Now!
Click ‘Watch on YouTube’ to see (disturbing) undercover footage:
More than 5,000 horses in Iceland are currently locked in any one of the nation’s 119 “blood farms.” In these facilities, farmers mine live pregnant horses for hormones inside their blood. Handlers extract the mares’ blood during summer months, turn it into powder, then sell and ship it internationally to other farmers. That includes to facilities in Europe and the UK, where farmers use the hormone to force their livestock, such as cows, pigs, and sheep, to reproduce more than is natural. Animals endure all this exploitation just so farmers can enjoy more profits.
One undercover video shows handlers hitting pregnant mares before shoving and imprisoning them inside “restraint boxes.” Once locked in place, handlers then push huge needles into the pregnant horses’ jugular veins — extracting frightening amounts of blood. Farmers in Iceland regularly extract around 4x the maximum amount advised by International standards, taking 5 liters (1.3 gallons) of life-giving liquid from each horse, every week, for 8 weeks in a row. These pregnant animals’ blood is necessary not just for their own survival, but also for providing their foals with vital nutrients. Icelanders are speaking out in opposition to the cruel practice, and the European Parliament is considering a ban on these blood-hormone imports. We must stand with them in order to help these defenseless horses.
The UK government has recently (since Brexit and leaving the EU) undertaken a consultation on live animal transport which has been open to the British public and any for / against (live export) organisations wishing to submit comments on the subject of all categories associated with live animal transport (exports). We at WAV took a lot of time (several weeks) with precise submissions and evidence to argue our case on why we considered that long distance live animal transport is unnecessary and should be banned – or at the very most be a one off transport time of 8 hours maximum; which would basically stop all exports from the UK to mainland Europe.
Here is just one short clip of the response start:
Q1: Do you agree that livestock and horse export journeys for slaughter and fattening are unnecessary?
87% of respondents agreed that livestock and horse export journeys for slaughter and fattening are unnecessary. 11%4 disagreed and 2% did not express a definitive opinion. The majority of respondents who agreed that such journeys are unnecessary were members of the general public and animal welfare groups. The main reason respondents gave for agreeing was that they were concerned about welfare standards during the transportation of live animals. Many individual respondents and animal welfare organisations stated that live exports were cruel and degrading to the animals involved.
Great to see such a high figure of 87% of the British people and organisations basically agreed that live animal exports were unnecessary.
The full document which details the summary of responses to every section of the consultation:
Document title – UK Government: Improvements to animal welfare in transport Summary of responses and government response Date: August 2021
In this document – an Introduction by the UK government:
The welfare of all animals, including in transport, is a real priority for both the UK Government and the Welsh Government. The UK Government has a manifesto commitment to end excessively long journeys for slaughter and fattening, which we are taking forward through our Kept Animals Bill.
Now we have left the EU, we have the opportunity to look at alternative methods to better protect animal welfare during transport. The Farm Animal Welfare Committee (FAWC, now known as the Animal Welfare Committee) report in 2019 identified several aspects of transport that have a detrimental effect on animal welfare. They made a series of recommendations to the current regulations on animal welfare during transport. A Welsh Government response to this paper was published in 2020.
Following the findings in this report, we have looked at improvements to animal welfare in transport, including maximum journey times, thermal conditions and ventilation, space and headroom allowances and sea transport.
We have received a wide range of views to our consultation. We have listened to those views, and will continue to work with industry, NGOs and others to identify priorities where the evidence is clear and in other cases to explore some of the issues and evidence together in more detail. I want us to work together to develop practical solutions that generate the good welfare outcomes we all want to see.
This is a big step, but where the evidence is clear we must act. We want to work with industry to co-design solutions to achieve high welfare outcomes and help them make this transition.
The Rt Hon George Eustice MP Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Lesley Griffiths MS Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
As a result of the consultation, the following statement was issued by the UK government:
Live animal exports
Having considered the evidence available, including responses to this consultation, the government confirms it will proceed with a ban on the export of livestock (cattle, sheep, goats and pigs) and horses from England, Wales and Scotland for slaughter and fattening. Exports for slaughter and fattening from England, Wales and Scotland will be prohibited whether the animals originate from or are travelling through England, Wales and Scotland.
For the purposes of this consultation, exports for fattening were defined as exports where the animal is to be slaughtered within 6 months of arrival. A large proportion of respondents were critical of the proposed definition and considered a time limit to be unenforceable. Having taken account of this feedback, we propose to remove the reference to a 6-month time limit so that the prohibition will apply to all exports of livestock and horses where an animal is exported to the place of destination in order to be fattened for subsequent slaughter.
To further support our (WAV) welfare organisations call for a complete ban on live animal exports; I have decided to include here for you a series of undercover videos which were undertaken in years prior to the consultation relating to live export issues around Europe. I have included journey routes, times and animal species. So here we go:
CIWF live export investigations.
Below are undercover investigations undertaken by CIWF (London).
Video links for each are given; but if you wish to read additional information about the investigations, then head to:
World Animals Voice 