Category: Farm Animals

EU: European citizens’ expectations ride high, as animal welfare acquis shown NOT TO BE FIT FOR PURPOSE.

WAV Comment – Are we ever going to see the scales fall from the eyes of the European Commission ?

As welfare people, activists and campaigners, we have been showing and asking for the ‘bloody obvious changes’ by the Commission for decades; and in the vast majority of instances, our requests have been ignored.

Now we have yet another Commission report; something which they are very good at producing, but not usually following up on (regarding actions), which has involved over 60,000 responses and has reached the conclusion that ‘ a clear majority agreed that a revision of the current acquis is needed, that species are not protected equally, that more information is needed as well as better and easier enforcement

Live animal transport has always really been my ‘main thing’ – you can read more about it at https://serbiananimalsvoice.com/about-us/ – there is a lot here about investigation work and the efforts made to stop the live animal transport business.

In the Netherlands campaigning about live animal transport.

I have witnessed the ‘dark side’ of live animal transport for decades: I did a lot of work re horses being exported for meat. From around 2004: To this day, Mark will never forget what was witnessed in the investigations into beautiful, live horses being exported from the UK to Europe as a scam for the meat trade under the guise of ‘riding horses’.  This, combined with live farm animal export work over the last 27 years or so has meant that the export of live farm animals is a top ‘hate’ and will always be campaigned against – be it in the UK, Europe, Australia, South America, North Africa, Anywhere ! – nobody needs to tell me how bloody useless the EU Commission is.

Things have not changed all these years later; and (Mark says) “in my mind I can still be there; watching, hearing, smelling what is in my opinion, just one of the biggest issues of animal abuse on the planet – anything to with the LIVE EXPORT trade”.  Despite the bad times, it only strengthens your resolve to work harder and put this business of utter cruelty into the history books where it belongs.

I (personally) do not hold out much hope for improvements by the non elected Commission; despite the wishes of the (EU) citizens, the endless evidence of abuses and non compliances provided by welfare groups – hopefully, and I wish for it more than just about anything, as I have for decades, the the scales of the abuses will fall from the eyes of the Commission masters who sit in their EU Ivory towers; promoting their own and nothing else much. Whatever, the fight goes on.

We say ‘the roof is bent and not fit for live animal transport’ – the EU says ‘problem, what problem ?’

In 2012, Mark formally wrote to the EU Legal team regarding investigations by Dutch colleagues into the treatment of British calves exported from the UK to other EU nations such as Hungary.  Calves that were still being crated many years after the EU formally banned crating.

He should not be there !, it is illegal under EU law; wake up Commission, please !!!

Regards Mark

31 March 2022

The European Commission has published their summary report of the contributions made by citizens, industry, public authorities and civil society organisations to the consultation on the future of animal welfare law in Europe, with the results showing a widespread desire for radical improvement, a desire for more information, and a furthering of protection to more species.

In October last year, the European Commission opened a landmark public consultation, asking citizens, farmers, businesses, Member State authorities and NGOs for their views and experiences on the fitness of the current rules relating to the welfare of animals in the EU, and to seek views on how they could be improved.

Nearly six months later, and with just under 60,000 responses in, we have the results, courtesy of the summary report (at bottom of page), which show:

A clear majority agreed that a revision of the current acquis is needed, that species are not protected equally, that more information is needed as well as better and easier enforcement

Majority support for the inclusion of more species within the scope of the legislation

Overwhelming support for a cage-free Europe 

A clear desire to see the end of waterbath stunning, the killing of day-old chicks and for new specific rules for the killing of farmed fish

An overriding wish from citizens to see max journey times for animals who are transported, a ban on live exports to third countries, and ban on the transport of unweaned calves

Massive support for an animal welfare label which also includes information on if or how animals have been transported and slaughtered, respectively.

It is these results that will now form the basis of the impact assessments that the Commission will draft for the new legislative proposals that will be adopted, most likely as a package, in the winter of 2023.

These results are very welcome, of course, but are no great surprise. “The organisations we represent day in, day out, have felt the weight of citizens’ expectations for change – for improvement – for years. I am only pleased that we now have clear signals that cannot be ignored. Vox populi, vox dei.

That the response rate was one of the highest ever seen by the Commission speaks volumes. We now expect the European Commission to quench the thirst for systemic change that flows through these results. The time for ambition is now. 

Whilst we expect proposals containing a swift phase out of caged systems, following the stunning success of the End the Cage Age European Citizens’ Initiative, we now expect a similar level of intent when it comes to ending live exports from the Union, to ending routine castration for pigs, waterbath stunning, the killing of day old chicks, and new powers to afford proper legal protection to the billions of other animals in Europe who deserve better, whether they be cattle, fish, poultry or pets. The citizens have spoken. Now it is time to honour their wishes.

Reineke Hameleers, Chief Executive of Eurogroup for Animals

Summary report

File

090166e5ea55b805 (1).pdf666.15 KB

Regards Mark

EU: Commission and Parliament uphold Farm to Fork strategy in light of Ukraine.

Commission and Parliament uphold Farm to Fork strategy in light of Ukraine

30 March 2022

The war in Ukraine shines a light on the vulnerabilities of the EU’s food system. With fears of food shortages, price increases and disruption to crop and fertiliser supply chains, both the European Commission and the European Parliament came forward last week with proposals to counter the impacts of the war and trace a path forward.

The Farm to Fork strategy takes some blows put remains standing

As the impacts of the war began to be felt on the EU’s food system, voices within the Commission, not least agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojchiekowski began asking for a pause in the roll out of the Farm to Fork Strategy. Particularly, rules on set-aside arable land and restrictions of certain chemicals in fertilisers were a particular bone of contention. 

It was argued that more land was needed to produce more protein crop, as the meat sector was suffering from the disruption in imports from Ukraine. Arguments echoed by Members of the European Parliament, such as Herbert Dorfmann (European People’s Party), leading member of the Agriculture Committee, also in favour of stopping the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies in their tracks.

However, to ensure broad support for a resolution, the EPP negotiated a text with other political groups. Calls to stop initiatives under the Farm to Fork strategy did not make the cut. 

Plant-based diets, the missing resilience link  

The Parliament did include a number of flexibilities in their final text, including on set aside land and aid to the meat sector. Importantly, nevertheless, the resolution confirmed that the Farm to Fork strategy is the right way forward to make the EU’s food system more resilient.

However, the most obvious link in the resilience debate, reinforcing the strategy’s commitment to move towards a more plant-based diet was overlooked. Yet it is a key aspect of the Farm to Fork strategy and a necessary step to ensure Europeans’ access to quality and affordable food.

As the Commission highlighted in a Communication published just hours before the European Parliament’s resolution was tabled, there is currently no risk of food shortages in the EU. The EU is self-sufficient in agricultural production and is one of the world’s major exporters. 

The stress on the food system brought about by the war in Ukraine is, therefore, due to Europe’s over-consumption of meat products that divert two thirds of cereal crop to feed for animals.

The EU needs to ensure that the agricultural sector prioritises food for people over feed for intensively farmed animals.

Regards Mark

Done With Dairy.

With thanks as always to Stacey at ‘Our Compass’;

Done With Dairy | Our Compass (our-compass.org)

Regards Mark

How is this confusing?

Why do you still breastfeed? Even beyond the suffering violence inflicted on animals and their infants, humans drinking the breastmilk of another species, beyond infancy and with teeth, is bizarre at best, disturbing in general. Does the violent irony of human infants being unable to drink cow’s milk ever hit you?

Feel free to milk humans who can produce breastmilk, that would at least be species specific and eliminate the disturbing nature of breastfeeding from other species and the required violence, reproductive exploitation, separation of mother and children, and violent death, including the downed cows who are so debilitated, diseased, and abused, they need to be moved by machinery, like bulldozers.

Profit and greed are not acceptable reasons; I don’t smoke to sustain tobacco farmers any more than I consume dairy to sustain animal farmers: they both result in suffering and death.

And don’t give me your regenerative nonsense, animal farmers make it sound as if animal exploitation is required to be environmentally responsible, and that animal suffering, violation, and death is just an unfortunate consequence of being “environmentally responsible”. Like, what would people do without the feces, bacteria, rot, gore, disease, pus, blood, decomp, and marrow, not to mention the suffering and violence, if they decided to NOT be “environmentally responsible”? — insert confused, bewildered emojis demonstrating utter clownish, ridiculous behaviour —

Grow up, people. Literally. SL

Source SAFE For Animals: New Zealand’s Leading Animal Rights Charity

For too long, mother cows and their babies have suffered at the hands of an industry which views them as little more than production units or waste products. Many people don’t realise that cows must give birth in order to produce milk, and one of the dairy industry’s darkest secrets is what happens to those newborn calves. 

The dairy industry

In 2021, nearly 5 million cows were farmed for their milk in New Zealand, over 4.5 million of whom gave birth to calves who were taken away within days of being born. The milk which would normally nourish and sustain their calves is instead taken to be consumed by humans. Female calves are raised by humans to one day replace their mothers in the milking shed, while male calves are often killed within a few days of being born, considered ‘waste products’ of the dairy industry.

Mother cows are not machines

Like humans, a mother cow will carry her pregnancy for nine months. She will love, nurture, nurse, and protect her calf until the day comes when her calf is no longer a baby, but a young adult who is old enough to care for themselves and begin a life of their own. Sadly, this otherwise unbreakable mother-child bond means nothing to the dairy industry.

Every year in Aotearoa, millions of mother cows helplessly watch as their newborns are taken away from them so that their breast milk can be harvested for human consumption.

This cycle of abuse only ends for mother cows when they are no longer able to pump enough breast milk to be profitable to the dairy industry. After 5-6 years of being impregnated, giving birth and being milked, mother cows will be sent to slaughter.

Male calves are not ‘waste products’

Around 2 million male calves, also known as ‘bobby calves’, are taken from their mothers and killed shortly after birth every year in Aotearoa. Because bobby calves are male and can’t be used for milking, the industry has no economic incentive to raise them. Male calves are deemed useless byproducts of the dairy industry, rather than the sentient individuals they are.

Some will be sent to slaughter four days after being born while others will be shot on the farm within just 24 hours of life, all so the dairy industry can take the milk that was meant for him to sell for human consumption.

Dairy is destroying our environment

Animals aren’t the only casualties of the dairy industry. The pollution caused by industrial dairy farming is severely impacting our environment. The dairy industry is New Zealand biggest climate polluter, generating more greenhouse gas emissions than the entire transport sector. In the last 30 years alone, the industry’s total emissions have risen 132%.

The dairy industry is also the largest source of water pollution and a major stressor on biodiversity and soil health. Run-off from dairy farms and synthetic fertiliser is poisoning our rivers, lakes and even our drinking water. As a result, 82% of waterways in farming areas are unfit for swimming and up to 800,000 kiwis may be at a greater risk of bowel cancer due to nitrates in water.

Dairy and your health

There is a growing body of evidence that links dairy consumption to many chronic diseases including diabetes, obesity, and cancer. According to Dr Neil Barnard of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, taking dairy off your plate can significantly reduce your risk of heart disease and diabetes and cut the chances of being diagnosed with certain cancers by more than 70%.

Mammals produce breastmilk to feed their infants until they are weaned onto solids. Humans are the only animals that consume milk from another lactating species throughout their lifetime. After infancy, most of us lose the ability to produce the enzymes that break down lactose, which explains why so many people experience bloating, discomfort and an upset stomach after consuming dairy.

Calcium, protein and iron are abundant in plants. It’s easy to nourish your body with plants once you know how!

Go Dairy Free!

Go Plant Based!

Dairy is not our future

It’s only a matter of time before Aotearoa can no longer sustain the continuous water pollution, soil damage and high greenhouse gas emissions the dairy industry creates. To protect the animals, our environment and our health; Aotearoa must embrace a future where its primary industries do not rely on the exploitation of our precious land and our animals for profit.

Our farmers are facing massive amounts of debt, increasing public scrutiny and a lack of industry leadership. Animal-free alternatives are shown to require up to 99% less water, produce 97% less greenhouse gas emissions, and requires no animal exploitation.

Governments around the world are recognising the harm dairy creates and are setting plans in place to assist farmers in transitioning away from animal agriculture. Now is the time for Kiwis to hold the New Zealand Government to account for failing to do the same. Our future depends on it.

Download Your FREE Vegan PDF HERE

Order a FREE vegan kit HERE

Dairy-Free Info HERE

Take the Dairy-Free Challenge HERE

Click HERE for more Dairy-Free

Fish alternatives can be found HERE

Learn about eggs HERE

Find bacon alternatives HERE and HERE

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Want to do more than go vegan? Help others to do so! Click below for nominal, or no, fees to vegan literature that you can use to convince others that veganism is the only compassionate route to being an animal friend:

PETA HERE

Vegan Outreach HERE

Get your FREE Activist Kit from PETA, including stickers, leaflets, and guide HERE

Have questions? Click HERE

Blood farms in Iceland – official EFTA complaint filed.

28 March 2022

On Monday 28 March, Eurogroup for Animals, jointly with 16 animal protection organisations, filed a complaint with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Surveillance Authority regarding blood farms in Iceland, as they are in breach of laws applying in the European Economic Area (EEA).

In November 2021, an investigation led by Animal Welfare Foundation and Tierschutzbund Zürich revealed the cruel conditions on Icelandic blood farms. There, blood is collected from pregnant mares in order to retrieve the pregnant mare serum gonadotropin (PMSG) hormone, also called equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG), which is used in industrial animal breeding to increase the reproductive performance of farmed animals. 

On Icelandic blood farms, the semi-wild horses are subjected to violence, risk numerous injuries, and suffer from repeated trauma. The amount of blood taken – five litres per week – exceeds any international guidelines existing on the topic.

Following these findings, Eurogroup for Animals has decided, jointly with 16 animal protection organisations, among which several are based in Iceland, to file an official complaint with the EFTA Surveillance Authority, arguing that Iceland does not properly apply its legislation on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes, which is derived from the EU Directive on the same topic. Indeed, Iceland, as a member of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), must follow the rules of the European Economic Area (EEA), most of which are aligned with EU rules.

The argument laid down by the complaint is that blood collection for the production of PMSG should not be approved by the Icelandic authorities as it does not respect the principle of the 3 Rs (replacement, reduction and refinement)  on which is based the relevant EU Directive, and thus the Icelandic law, on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes. Indeed, according to this principle, animal experiments must, whenever possible, be replaced by alternative methods not relying on live animals. 

In the case of PMSG, these alternatives exist as a number of authorised synthetic medicinal products are available on the pharmaceutical market. Achieving good reproductive results is also possible with informed management techniques and hormone-free methods, as adopted in organic farming. The Swiss pig breeders association even stated that they will voluntarily stop using PMSG, proving that this transition is feasible. 

Icelandic authorities argue that they do not see blood collection for PMSG production as an animal experiment – and therefore that this activity does not fall under this legislation and does not require any authorisation. Yet, EU authorities, as well as the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), have said the contrary at numerous occasions. Indeed, procedures using animals for the manufacture of drugs are classified as animal experiments.

The EU is the main destination for Icelandic PMSG and the hormone, in addition to being produced in cruel conditions, only further supports an intensive and unsustainable model of livestock farming, which goes against the goals listed in the European Green Deal, and more specifically the “Farm to Fork Strategy”. This complaint is thus crucial, alongside our call for the EU to ban production and imports of this hormone. 

Read more on products derived from equines.  

Associated WAV article on this issue:

The blood business with the mares in Iceland – and Germany – World Animals Voice

Regards Mark

Belgium: The evolution of food: towards animal-free and sustainable technology.

28 March 2022

GAIA (Belgium)

GAIA and Eurogroup for Animals are delighted to welcome you to Europe’s first-ever symposium on animal-free and sustainable meats, which will be held on 25 April at the Museum of Natural Sciences, Brussels.

Novel technologies, including cultivated meat and precision fermentation, are challenging conventional meat production. Which barriers still exist? What are the environmental and social benefits? And what is the perception of consumers? 

Come join us together with international experts who will help clarify, debate and answer such questions and many more. We’d like to take this opportunity to announce the highly esteemed Jane Goodall will be our virtual guest of honour during the event.

Agenda

Please find a copy of the agenda here.

Registration

Kindly note that you first need to fill in your email address on the registration page in order to proceed to the actual registration form. You can find the registration form here.

To go further

You can watch our short video series or read our FAQs that answers your most pressing questions.

Regards Mark

Enjoy !

EU: The European Parliament rejects calls to suspend new sustainability legislation, but misses the shift to more plant-based diets.

25 March 2022

On Thursday 24 March, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the need for an urgent EU action plan to ensure food security in and outside the EU following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Luckily the European Parliament (EP) rejected amendments calling for a review of the “targets and timetables” for certain initiatives and “suspend any new legislative initiatives” under the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies. However, we regret that the EP did not take the opportunity to recognise the urgent need for a shift to more plant-based diets and “less and better” animal products. To simply allocate more land to produce animal feed is not an acceptable solution as it will increase the threat to biodiversity and serve to prop up an already unsustainable model of intensive animal farming.

In a letter co-signed with Compassion in World Farming, European Vegetarian Union, Four Paws, Future Food 4 Climate, GreenREV, Humane Society International and ProVeg International, Eurogroup for Animals called on MEPs to accelerate the transition to a truly sustainable food system, with fewer animals and more plant-based diets. 

Feeding people with plant protein is more efficient than feeding animals to produce meat. For example, 2/3 of EU cereal and 70% of oilseed production go to animal feed. For pork, only 8.5% of the animal feed is converted to meat and 91.5% of protein is lost. 

The latest IPCC report reminds that “while agricultural development contributes to food security, unsustainable agricultural expansion, driven in part by unbalanced diets, increases ecosystem and human vulnerability and leads to competition for land and/or water resources”. Science is clear that a reduction in the production and consumption of animal products is needed. In a recent statement, more than 550 scientists called on the EU to accelerate the shift towards healthier diets with less animal products in order to reduce the dependency on animal feed in food production. 

The resolution was adopted with 413 votes in favour, 120 against and 49 abstentions.

Regards Mark

England: For Me, Doing Nothing Is Not An Option.

Phil and I have been friends for what ?; probably 35+ years now.

In the early days we really got to know each other through our live animal (transport) export work from the Kent ports in South East England.

When I was undertaking stray dog and cat issues in Serbia – visit my old site at Serbian Animals Voice (SAV) | a voice for the voiceless – now an archive site only; I would sometimes get sidetracked into other issues of animal welfare, such as farm animals and the disposal of animal carcasses on the roadside.

I worked with another Phil (Brooke) at Compassion In World Farming re the terrible conditions in which farm animals were being kept – you can read about it and see some photos here:

Serbia: Farm Animal Conditions – Update 26/11/10. Formal Statement on Conditions Now Provided by CIWF (Uk). | Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)

Serbia: November 2010 – Conditions ‘Ok’ at a Farm According to Serbian Veterinary Ministry – and Complaining Campaigners, ‘Dont Pressure Us’. | Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)

Serbia: Farm Animal Update 12 and 13/1/11. Throw Straw in the Liquid Excrement and Let Them Get On With It – Nothing Really Changes at the Serbian Republic Veterinary Ministry. | Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)

Like other issues I have covered on this site associated with the battles with the Serbian government, the government always adopts the policy of them being right and us being wrong when they are presented with evidence of abuses.  In the following link you can see the bodies of dead pigs which were literally dumped by farmers next to a min highway.  You have to remember that we were working to improve conditions for stray animals, which included disease monitoring.  Simply dumping dead farm animals on the roadside to (possibly) be picked at and eaten by stray dogs is not an ideal situation as you can appreciate.  See our photos here:

Serbia: Dead Farm Animal Bodies Just Dumped Near the Highway – A Perfect Food Source for Stray Animals; A Perfect method of Spreading Disease, and a Perfect Way for Corrupt Politicians to Keep Catching and Killing Stray Dogs ! | Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)

I have kept Phil informed at different times about the situation for animals in Serbia as personally |I consider it is not good to say the least !

Moving along; after many years of work associated with campaigns, I am now pleased to see that Phil is the CEO of the much respected farm animal welfare organisation ‘Compassion In World Farming’ (CIWF).  We still communicate and pass information over when necessary.

Here is an article by Phil associated with all the climate change issues in Australia.  There is a disturbing video which shows cattle being sept away by the torrential waters of the floods.  I will leave it with Phil to tell you more.

Regards Mark

What the ‘rain bomb’ in Australia tells us about our world bt Phil Lymbery (CEO CIWF)

Three weeks ago, as Russia invaded Ukraine, a tragedy of a different sort was rocking Australia, as a ‘rain bomb’ hit New South Wales and Queensland.  The region was being hit by floods for a second year in a row. The extent and depth of this latest flooding is hard to believe.  Record levels of water.  Tragic deaths.  Hundreds of displaced people and their pets. And I am very sorry to say, literally thousands of dead animals: domestic, farmed and wild.  

Video:

The video of a farmer’s 300-strong dairy herd being caught in the deep water, with half the herd being washed away, will stay with me forever. 

Scientific assessment

As Australian lives were being lost, both human and animal, with homes, cars and livelihoods being destroyed, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was publishing its latest update on the state of the planet.  

It had a sobering message. 

Climate change is already here and is causing widespread losses, but is set to get worse.  The crisis is upon us, much earlier than first thought. Warming effects on ecosystems are being experienced earlier, are more widespread, and have greater consequences than anticipated.

Too little

While global attempts by humankind to adapt to the worsening climate hazards have increased, most of it is still too little, too late.  

In many ways, Australia’s situation reflects the situation felt by many.  

The Australian people are angry at their government for being too slow to cut carbon emissions and invest in renewables. A report published at the COP26 global summit last year backs up that assessment. It ranked Australia last among 60 countries for policy responses to the climate crisis, largely down to a stubborn reliance on coal-powered energy and coal exports.

But many other governments are equally slow to accept what scientists have been saying for years – we have to transform the way the world produces, consumes and thinks about food.

Without transformational change in the global food sector, the world will fall perilously short of sustainability targets set by world leaders for 2030. By Compassion In World Farming’s own analysis, without a move away from industrial animal agriculture – factory farming – several crucial Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will be rendered unreachable. 

Taking action

We are a world in turmoil facing a planetary crisis like no other. And this is the critical decade for securing a liveable, sustainable future for our children.  

We know the answers, but will humanity heed them?

As Australia starts the massive clean-up operation and tragically counts the dreadful loss of life, what will it take for governments around the world to recognise the severity of climate change?  

What is becoming ever clearer is that actions speak louder than words; climate breakdown is happening now; our planet won’t wait any longer, and neither should we. 

Philip Lymbery | Australia: ‘It’s raining, it’s pouring, the PM is snoring’

Belgium: Animal Welfare Organisation Files New Complaint Against West Flemish Slaughterhouse.

Credit: Belga

Tuesday, 22 March 2022

Animal welfare organisation files new complaint against West Flemish slaughterhouse (brusselstimes.com)

An animal welfare organisation called Animal Rights is filing a new complaint against a pig slaughterhouse in Tielt for animal abuse, according to the Flemish centre for agriculture and horticulture (VILT).

Animal Rights says there is new evidence of recent animal abuse, though the slaughterhouse denies this. The company was previously fined for animal cruelty towards the end of 2019 after undercover footage from Animal Rights revealed violations.

Now the organisation says inspection reports from the Animal Welfare Department show that between October and December of 2021, there were more violations at the slaughterhouse.

“Pigs were beaten, a lame animal that could not get out of the truck on its own was first sprayed with a water hose before it was incorrectly stunned with the stunning device, there were problems with stunning equipment that did not work so the animals were only stunned at the blood carousel,” Animal Rights alleges.

“The slaughterhouse did not take the initiative to shut down the slaughter line and only did so after Animal Rights intervened.”

Slaughterhouse allegedly exceeded slaughter quota

Animal Rights says there are also violations of the slaughterhouse’s environmental permit.

“Recent figures that Animal Rights requested from the FAVV show that slaughterhouse Tielt slaughtered hundreds of thousands of pigs illegally in 2021,” said spokesperson Els van Campenhout.

No less than 1,737,629 pigs were slaughtered in 2021, while the environmental permit is for 1,500,000 pigs per year, so the slaughterhouse started their expansion of slaughter capacity illegally.

This is the impetus for the new complaint, and the organiation said it isn’t the first time the slaughterhouse exceeded its quota.

“The horror just continues in the slaughterhouse in Tielt. We demand its immediate closure,” said van Campenhout.

Slaughterhouse denies allegations

The slaughterhouse denied the allegations, and said they were sorry to see that a weekend awareness action from Animal Rights and other animal welfare organisations circulated photos from prior violations that were since remedied.

“We regret that the action group distributed old and dated images during the action Saturday. The images shown showing animals being mistreated are from the year 2017 and are in no way representative of the current situation,” they said in a statement.

The company admits that it has received warnings from the Animal Welfare Service since 2019.

“Although these were a limited number of warnings, we obviously took them seriously. To this end, we always immediately took the necessary measures to address the issues mentioned. In addition, we would also like to emphasise that these are warnings and not official citations, which indicates that these are incidents that happen, but are equally avoidable.”

According to the slaughterhouse, technical defects regarding anaesthesia have been corrected and an employee who improperly used equipment was sanctioned.

Regards Mark

London: Last London Chicken Slaughterhouse (Kosher) Blockaded By Animal Rights.

Chicken slaughterhouse blockaded by animal rights activists

Protesters have blocked trucks leaving a Hackney Wick abattoir this morning, demanding it be shutdown and replaced by community gardens. 

According to police, at around 8am Animal Rebellion activists used a lorry to blockade the road leading to the Kedassia abattoir on Smeed Road in Hackney Wick. 

Police were called at 8.14am on March 23

Some of the protesters have climbed on to the truck, to prevent it from leaving.

The lorry has been draped in a banner, dripping with red paint meant to symbolise blood. 

Protester and local resident Bel Jacobs said: “I’m a mother and I know that our kids need a space to learn how to grow vegetables, not kill birds.

“Community gardens would give us a much-needed green space and a social hub where everyone can meet and connect.”

The group is demanding Kedassia Poultry be shut down and replaced by community gardens – Credit: @sheepistakingphotos

Activists can be seen climbing on to the empty truck. The blockade began at around 8am on March 23. – Credit: Cavalier Fantome

Animal Rebellion say the abattoir is the “last remaining slaughterhouse in London”.

The action is part of a local campaign, called Gardens not Slaughterhouses, which wants to see the site transformed into community gardens.

The group is demanding Kedassia Poultry be shut down and replaced by community gardens – Credit: @sheepistakingphotos

 

Miranda Whelan, a spokesperson for Animal Rebellion, said: “We need to build a just and sustainable future by replacing slaughterhouses, which kill gentle and intelligent animals and damage the environment, with community gardens.

“Gardens improve the wellbeing of the local people and allow them to grow healthy, sustainable food.

“We are demanding that Kedassia shut down and let this land be used for something that will benefit the whole community.”

Kedassia Poultry Ltd is a Kosher chicken abattoir. It was targeted by a group of animal rights activists, calling themselves East London Chicken Save, in 2016, 

The animal and climate justice group state their protest aims to end animal suffering as well as to tackle climate change, claiming the Tower Hamlets abattoir kills thousands of chickens every week, produces “large amounts of waste” and that it wastes water.  

Those involved said that they waited for the chickens to be taken inside before blockading the entrance, “so as not to prolong their suffering”. 

The activists have formed a local campaign called Gardens Not Slaughterhouses – Credit: @sheepistakingphotos

The Gazette has attempted to contact Kedassia Poultry Ltd for comment.

Regards Mark

Animal Rebellion stage protest at Hackney Wick abattoir | East London Advertiser