Reuters reported on September 27, 2021, “South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in said on Monday there might be a need to prohibit dog meat consumption amid debate over the controversial practice and growing awareness of animal rights.
While no longer as common as before, dog meat is eaten mainly by older people and is served in some restaurants and can be bought at specific markets.
Moon made the remarks after being briefed by Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum on efforts to improve the handling of abandoned animals and a mandatory registration system for dogs.
“After the briefing, he said time has come to carefully consider imposing a dog meat ban,” Moon’s spokeswoman Park Kyung-mee said in a statement.”
This is great news and gives us hope that perhaps finally changes will come and we will see the end of the horrific dog meat industry in South Korea. This is a sign that the Korean government is starting to feel the pressure from many decades of campaigns and hard work by animal advocates both in and outside of South Korea to end the shameful and cruel dog and cat meat cruelty.
However, while we celebrate this good news, this is not the time to slow our campaign and lose momentum.
Unfortunately, we have heard similarly encouraging news in the past, with few actual results. For example, while he was campaigning for the Presidential elections, Moon Jae-In made a campaign pledge to strengthen animal welfare.
But as President, he has done nothing to address the dog meat issue. It now seems like he may have suggested reforming the dog meat industry as a way to appeal to a domestic and international population which has become increasingly concerned with the cruelty to dogs and cats in South Korea. Regardless of his actual intentions, considering he will only be in office until May 10, 2022, at this point it is obvious that there is very little time remaining for him to actually bring the end to the dog meat consumption.
WAV Comment: This wonderful news, and we send congratulations to our animal friends at KARA (Korean Animal Rights) and all other campaigners who have worked tirelessly and shown endless tenacity in their work to help suffering animals.
This bill should now allow a lot more to be done in the defence of animals rights.
Thanks to everyone; global supporters; who have taken actions in the past – this is your victory.
As we said recently, with elections inn S. Korea next March, politicians need to get the message – you vote for them; and they can be dismissed as well as re elected if they do the things you aim for.
This is a scenario which applies globally; and in the end, often makes long fought campaigns end in legislative reality; as we can see here.
Keep up the pressure on your issue(s) and continue to fight the fight – in the end success will come.
Regards Mark
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Cabinet passes revision bill to grant legal status to animals
The Korea Herald (by Yonhap) News reported on September 28, 2021, “The Cabinet approved a revision to the civil law Tuesday that would grant animals legal status as individuals with lives that deserve to be protected.
The revision was proposed by the Ministry of Justice in July to add the new clause, “animals are not objects,” to Article 82 of the Civil Code.
Currently, animals are identified as “an object that takes up space” and are not separated from inanimate things, so animal abusers have been punished only for damaging property if they face a penalty at all.
The revision came after social consensus was reached on the need to improve animal protection amid a steady rise in the number of companion animals and heightened awareness of animal welfare. It will be submitted to the National Assembly Friday for a vote on its passage. The ministry expects relevant laws to get tough on animal abuse and mistreatment once the revision comes into force.”
ALSO:
SEOUL, Aug 19 (Reuters) – Jin-hui, a cream-coloured Pomeranian, was buried alive and left for dead in 2018 in the South Korean port city of Busan.
No charges were filed against its owner at the time, but animal abusers and those who abandon pets will soon face harsher punishment as South Korea plans to amend its civil code to grant animals legal status, Choung Jae-min, the justice ministry’s director-general of legal counsel, told Reuters in an interview.
The amendment, which must still be approved by parliament, likely during its next regular session in September, would make South Korea one of a handful of countries to recognise animals as beings, with a right to protection, enhanced welfare and respect for life.
The push for the amendment comes as the number of animal abuse cases increased to 914 in 2019 from 69 in 2010, data published by a lawmaker’s office showed, and the pet-owning population grew to more than 10 million people in the country of 52 million.
South Korea’s animal protection law states that anyone who abuses or is cruel to animals may be sentenced to a maximum of three years in prison or fined 30 million won ($25,494), but the standards to decide penalties have been low as the animals are treated as objects under the current legal system, Choung said.
Once the Civil Act declares animals are no longer simply things, judges and prosecutors will have more options when determining sentences, he said.
The proposal has met with scepticism from the Korea Pet Industry Retail Association, which pointed out there are already laws in place to protect animals.
“The revision will only call for means to regulate the industry by making it difficult to adopt pets, which will impact greatly not only the industry, but the society as a whole,” said the association’s director general, Kim Kyoung-seo.
Choung said the amended civil code will also pave the way for follow-up efforts such as life insurance packages for animals and the obligation to rescue and report roadkill.
It is likely the amendment will be passed, said lawmaker Park Hong-keun, who heads the animal welfare parliamentary forum, as there is widespread social consensus that animals should be protected and respected as living beings that coexist in harmony with people.
Animal rights groups welcomed the justice ministry’s plan, while calling for stricter penalties for those who abandon or torture animals, as well as a ban on dog meat.
“Abuse, abandonment, and neglect for pets have not improved in our society,” said Cheon Chin-kyung, head of Korea Animal Rights Advocates.
Despite a slight drop last year, animal abandonment has risen to 130,401 in 2020 from 89,732 cases in 2016, the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency said. South Korea has an estimated 6 million pet dogs and 2.6 million cats.
Solemn with large, sad eyes, Jin-hui, which means “true light” in Korean, now enjoys spending time with other dogs at an animal shelter south of Seoul.
“Its owner lost his temper and told his kids to bury it alive. We barely managed to save it after a call, but the owner wasn’t punished as the dog was recognised as an object owned by him,” said Kim Gea-yeung, 55, manager of the shelter.
“Animals are certainly not objects.”
Click here for the full Korean Dogs latest newsletter:
We are all sure the UN COP26 conference in Glasgow soon will sort out all the worlds environmental issues; like eating meat rather than plant based; or plant based rather than meat, wont it ?
? are they having plant based food for delegates ? – see what we mean here:
Is it not disgusting, or worse, that the worlds appetite for meat could see parts of the Amazon rain forest turned into wastelands within the next 15 years !
The Amazon Rainforest is home to 427 mammal species, 1,300 bird species, 378 species of reptiles, and more than 400 species of amphibians. All are potentially at existence threat due to the ignorant wanting of meat eaters to stuff their faces with dead animals – meat produced by methods currently causing all this rainforest destruction. I am beyond words and anger about this; especially when I hear that the conference on climate change may NOT even be promoting a plant based diet to delegates and attendees !
There is big talk by the UN that the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) being held in Scotland (Glasgow) on 31 October – 12 November 2021 will bring big changes; but we wonder if issues such as food options will even be addressed. After all, the last we heard recently was that a plant based food selection was not even being arranged !
This morning (30/9 21) I have written to the conference now to ask if this is still the case; ie that all delegates will only eat meat (probably from Brazil !), where all the destruction is happening to make (Amazon) animal species extinct, or, if there are now (at last) plant based options for food selection. I have asked for, and expect, a formal reply soon.
The Amazon is one of the greatest places on the planet for species of flora and fauna. To think that a lot of this could be turned into arid savannah and dust within the next 15 years due to meat production is, to me, beyond belief; and is something that the UN needs to address NOW at their meat eating climate change conference in Glasgow in the coming months.
Regards Mark
‘World’s Appetite For Meat’ Driving Amazon Destruction, Says New Campaign
‘Experts predict that deforestation at this rate could turn parts of the Amazon into savannas in just 15 years’
The world’s appetite for meat is driving the destruction of the Amazon rainforest, according to a new campaign.
Animal-rights charity Mercy For Animals has released a video as part of its Behind The Firescampaign – which reveals the ‘destructive impact of cattle ranching’.
The video, which is narrated by celebrity actor Calum Worthy, shows how the ‘unprecedented’ number of fires that ‘ravaged’ the Brazilian Amazon last year were intentionally ‘set to clear every last plant from deforested areas’.
‘The biggest drivers of climate change’
“Brazil is the world’s largest beef exporter, and its meat production practices have far-reaching consequences,” Worthy states.
“Experts predict that deforestation at this rate could turn parts of the Amazon into savannas in just 15 years. World leaders must take swift and bold action to stop cattle ranching in the amazon and address the greater climate crisis.
“But cattle ranching in the Amazon isn’t the cause of the problem. According to the UN raising animals for food is one of the biggest drivers of climate change and habitat loss globally. Simply put, the meat we consume is burning up our future on this beautiful planet.”
Worthy adds that eating more plant-based foods can play an ‘important role’ in fighting the climate crisis and ‘protecting vital ecosystems’.
Scientists Warn Human Impact On Amazon Rainforest Is ‘Worse Than We Realize’
The rainforest’s climate is ‘changing fast and in alarming ways’, National Geographic claims and this has wide-reaching impacts on the entire planet
The Amazon Rainforest has been linked by scientists as a leading factor of increased global warming, due to deforestation and resource extraction at the hands of humans.
How humans ‘complicate natural cycles’ in the Amazon, such as logging and farming, is not only affecting its capability to absorb CO2, but contributing to global warming, reports National Geographic.
Scientists argue the world’s largest rainforest landscape may ‘release more carbon than they store’ and fear the rainforest is now a net contributor to climate change.
Climate change
Animal agriculture and meat consumption are widely blamed for causing deforestation and fires across the region by scientists and environmentalists worldwide.
The rainforest’s climate is ‘changing fast and in alarming ways’, National Geographic claims and this has wide-reaching impacts on the entire planet.
A recent report assessed the impact of Amazon rainforest destruction over fears it was rapidly approaching ‘tipping point’.
It was conducted by over 30 scientists and published in Frontiers. They looked at the causes behind interference in the Amazon’s capacity to absorb CO2.
Greenhouse gases
‘Activities in the Amazon, both natural and human-caused, can shift the rainforest’s contribution in significant ways’ according to National Geographic.
They can warm the air ‘directly’, or release other greenhouse gases that do. The article lists a range of resource extractions that can alter it. They include damming and soybean production for livestock feed.
Lead author Kristofer Covey told the organization: ‘Cutting the forest is interfering with its carbon uptake; that’s a problem…
‘When you start to look at these other factors alongside CO2, it gets really hard to see how the net effect isn’t that the Amazon as a whole is really warming global climate.’
Human impact on the Amazon Rainforest
Researcher Patrick Megonigal said the impact human activities have on the Amazon is ‘worse than we realize’.
Rising deforestation may alter the ‘flow of moisture’, another research protested in the article. This ‘could lead to the Amazon become a ‘drier woodland savanna’ permanently.
Moreover, humans have ‘diminished’ the rainforest’s capacity for offsetting its natural methane emissions.
Activists urged Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro to halt deforestation. The harmful practice reached an all-time high last year.
Grana Padano: documents from new investigation reveal shocking conditions on another farm
28 September 2021
Essere Animali
News
Two months after the release of an initial investigation, Essere Animali is releasing today a new video filmed on another dairy farm producing Grana Padano, the most widely consumed PDO cheese in the world. The footage shows dead calves, and exposes serious hygienic and sanitary neglect by the farm management, with animals forced to live and give birth among their own excrements.
Bologna, 29 September – After the release of an initial investigation on a dairy farm producing Grana Padano, which documented unacceptable living conditions for calves and violence by workers towards the animals, Essere Animali is publishing a new video filmed on another farm.
By releasing this second investigation, Essere Animali wishes to respond to the objections of the Grana Padano Protection Consortium, which previously dismissed the documented problems as isolated cases.
The new investigation exposes conditions on a farm located in the province of Brescia (Italy). The dairy production site is located next to the sheds which house some 1,000 animals, including cows and calves.
The undercover video by Essere Animali reveals:
• The presence of many dead calves, who died on the farm;
• Obvious hygienic and sanitary shortcomings, which indicate general neglect in the management of the farm;
• The birth of calves and ensuing separation from their mothers;
• The sheltering of calves in individual pens.
“With the first investigation on a farm in the province of Bergamo, we documented violence and insulting behaviour towards animals, while this new video of a farm in the province of Brescia shows inconceivable conditions of neglect, with animals forced to live in enclosures that are flooded or covered with excrement to the point that they struggle to move. Calves are also born in an unsanitary environment, conditions that presumably contribute to the high mortality rate found on the farm. With our investigations, we have unfortunately demonstrated that irregularities on factory farms are not isolated cases,” commented Simone Montuschi, President of Essere Animali.
The footage also highlights the maltreatment of calves on dairy farms, in particular the separation of calves from their mothers – which takes place immediately after birth – and their subsequent solitary confinement in small individual pens.
These practices are permitted by law and are carried out on almost all dairy farms, including those producing milk for ‘premium’ Italian products such as Grana Padano, but various studies demonstrate that such practices subject animals to social deprivation, stress, and suffering.
With the release of this investigation, Essere Animali is relaunching the No Animal Left Behind campaign, coordinated by Eurogroup for Animals, an organisation that brings together 79 animal protection NGOs in 24 EU member states, as well as the UK, Switzerland, Serbia, Norway, Australia, and the US.
These organisations are calling on the European Commission – which is committed to the Farm to Fork strategy, an initiative aimed at making the European food system fairer, healthier and more environmentally friendly – to revise the legislation on the protection of farm animals, which is currently considered grossly inadequate to guarantee them a life free from avoidable suffering.
With regard to the conditions of calves, Essere Animali and Eurogroup for Animals are calling for a revision of the current EU animal welfare laws to:
• Allow contact between the calf and the mother for at least eight weeks after birth, during which the animals must be kept in a system that provides for contact for at least half the day, with suckling permitted;
• Provide shelter that meets the behavioural needs of calves, which should be raised in groups and have access to outdoor areas
“This latest investigation proves for the upteenth time that most dairy farms don’t respect basic animal welfare rules but on the contrary, that calves and cows are treated as mere commodities. The revision of the legislation on farm animals is the opportunity for the European Commission to change once and for all this situation without leaving a single animal behind”, commented Reinke Hameleers, CEO, Eurogroup for Animals.
WAV Comment – over many decades campaigning for the rights of animals, I have seen my fair share of disturbing things. Sadly, this expose by PeTA at one of the Nippon Ham facilities in Japan is just another very disturbing investigation which has revealed the horrendous suffering of pigs.
I am providing information and links below; including video footage.
This is disgusting, the human filth that undertakes this cruelty on a daily basis cannot be classified as ‘normal’ human beings; they are the kind that dominated in prisoner camps in the past. This campaign needs your full support and actions. Please do it.
Crosspost please to as many contacts as you can;
Regards Mark
Piglets Slammed Into Concrete, Left to Die at Nippon Ham Farm in Japan
A new PETA video exposé of Japan’s leading pork producer, Nippon Ham, reveals that piglets and their mothers endure horrific abuse. While the company claims to care about human happiness and the “joy of eating,” it’s obviously not concerned about animal welfare. Pigs who are raised and killed for food don’t experience joy or anything else that would make their lives worth living.
Their lives are full of pain and suffering. See for yourself:
Very disturbing Video footage – But Must Be Watched:
Workers at Nippon Ham grab piglets by their sensitive ears and toss them around like inanimate objects.
Those who aren’t considered “profitable,” because they’re too small or sick, are thrown out like garbage.
Workers typically kill unwanted piglets by swinging them in the air and bashing their heads on the concrete floor or by injecting them in the heart with disinfectant. One piglet writhed in agony for five minutes after a worker poisoned him this way.
Another languished for an hour and finally died after a worker bashed his head against the concrete floor.
Piglets at Nippon Ham are taken away from their mothers when they’re as young as 22 days old, just as they are on most pig farms. Workers castrate them and chop their tails off without any pain relievers. A worker was caught on camera cutting into a young pig’s scrotum and yanking out his testicles with his fingers.
Suffering and Nowhere to Turn
Mother pigs, or sows, are forced to spend most of their miserable lives crammed inside metal crates that are so small they can’t even turn around. Their muscles atrophy and they’re constantly stiff and sore. They have no choice but to urinate, defecate, eat, and sleep all in the same cramped crate. Workers were even seen beating them with a heavy piece of the metal frame.
The traumatized sows had to endure the sight of their own piglets’ suffering right in front of them. Their babies squealed and thrashed violently while workers crudely castrated them or cut off their tails, and there was nothing that the mother pigs could do.
Born Into a Life of Abuse
Thousands of sows are confined and repeatedly raped via artificial insemination. They deliver litter after litter of piglets, who are always torn away from them to be raised for meat or breeding. When sows who aren’t forced to live on filthy factory farms are about to give birth, they make a nest in the dirt and cover it with soft grass and leaves. But at Nippon Ham, pregnant pigs have to stand on uncomfortable metal grates. After several years of round-the-clock imprisonment and frequent inseminations and pregnancies, they become exhausted and they’re sent to slaughter.
You Can Help Stop Cruelty to Pigs
Cruelty is pervasive in the meat industry, which treats animals as commodities rather than as living, feeling beings. There’s no need for anyone to eat ham, bacon, sausage, or any other animal-based foods—tasty vegan options are available at most restaurants, stores, and cafeterias today. It’s easier than ever to leave pigs and other animals off your plate.
Will you help pigs by refusing to buy pork and other animal-derived foods?
I watched the PETA video and it truly made me sick to my stomach. If it is within my power, I WILL NOT buy any Nippon Ham product. The people treating those poor pigs like that should be fired.
Thank you for your comment. – yes, disgusting ! – WAV
We reported on the then President elect, Mr Moon; back in 2017. You can see some of our articles that were published at the time on ‘Serbian Animals Voice’.
So where are we now ? – surprisingly, 2022 sees the election of a new President to South Korea; and suddenly, the dog farm / dog meat trade rears its head yet again. Mr. Moon, the man who was elected as President with so many promises for the dog meat trade back in 2017 is NOT allowed to run again for President under the South Korean constitution.
We remember, and publish here, pictures of the then to be President Moon informing us all that the dog meat trade was going to be a priority issue. We remember all the promises of things going to be done, and the pictures of Mr Moon cuddling up to dogs; who he alleged he was going to protect.
Well, to be basic, Moon has not really done much at all in his presidency. Now we are rolling along to new elections in March 2022. The issue of the dog meat trade is suddenly rearing its campaign head again.
We hope that the next elected president will do a great deal better than Mr. Moon; who we see as being all puff and no wind when it came down to reality. We greatly hope that the coming months will see legislation introduced which will put an end to South Korean dog meat farms for once and for all. We, and many other welfare groups will never let this abhorrent issue die; an issue which could have been resolved years ago had the president lived up to his promises of doing something about the trade.
For the first time in a long time we are hearing rumblings of changes in the dog meat trade. We welcome this, but based on past election promises, we are taking nothing for granted; we have been duped with false hopes and promises before.
Lets see what the next few months actually bring !
Regards Mark
President Moon kisses a dog – and gives election promises that were never kept.
Under the South Korean constitution, the president is restricted to a single five-year term in office, meaning the incumbent president Moon Jae-in is ineligible to run for a second term.
The 2022 election will determine the office of the President of the Republic of Korea. It is expected to be held by 9 March 2022.
S.Korea’s Moon hints at dog meat ban amid debate over animal rights
SEOUL, Sept 27 (Reuters) – South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in said on Monday there might be a need to prohibit dog meat consumption amid debate over the controversial practice and growing awareness of animal rights.
While no longer as common as before, dog meat is eaten mainly by older people and is served in some restaurants and can be bought at specific markets.
Moon made the remarks after being briefed by Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum on efforts to improve the handling of abandoned animals and a mandatory registration system for dogs. read more
“After the briefing, he said time has come to carefully consider imposing a dog meat ban,” Moon’s spokeswoman Park Kyung-mee said in a statement.
It was the first time that Moon raised a ban, which is likely to give fresh momentum to debate over whether to curtail the practice.
To boost their popularity, several presidential hopefuls have pledged to ban dog meat in recent weeks, especially as dogs have become popular as pets and advocacy groups have urged South Korea to close down restaurants and markets selling dog meat.
Lee Jae-myung, governor of the country’s most populous province of Gyeonggi and a leading presidential contender from Moon’s party, has vowed to push for a ban through social consensus.
But Yoon Seok-youl, an opposition frontrunner, has said it was a matter of people’s personal choice.
A poll commissioned by animal welfare group Aware released this month said 78% of respondents believed the production and sale of dog and cat meat should be prohibited and 49% supported a consumption ban.
But, another survey by polling firm Realmeter found people were divided over whether the government should ban eating dog meat, though 59% supported legal restrictions on dog slaughter for human consumption.
Dog meat sellers have insisted on the right to their occupation, saying their livelihoods are at risk.
Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Editing by Christian Schmollinger
‘Gassing methods can cause horrendous suffering to animals in their last moments.
Pigs are lowered into a chamber containing at least 70 percent CO2 in air.
During this time they will struggle, gasp for breath, squeal, and climb over each other until they finally lose consciousness.
The pigs must remain in the gas mixture until they are completely unconscious which can take up to 30 seconds. After this, the animals are then shackled by one hind leg, hoisted and their throats cut to drain their blood’.
OPINION: Why The CO2 Shortages Make It The Best Time To Go Vegan
The UK meat industry is reaching ‘breaking point’ and warns Christmas will be cancelled as it fears CO2 slaughters will be stopped…
This week’s headlines are overrun with the issues surrounding the current surge in gas prices. And, the knock-on effect they are expected to have on the UK’s food security. Damning reports from both farmers and meat processors warn that the CO2 shortages could cancel Christmas, and that the meat industry is reaching breaking point. This is affecting the slaughter process of pigs, poultry, and beef, as well as packaging.
Siobhan Dolan from vegan charity Viva! explains the connection between CO2 and the meat industry.
CO2 shortages and the meat industry
For billions of animals slaughtered each year in the UK, CO2 is the last thing they will breathe before dying.
In fact, this technique of slaughter, known as gassing, is the most common slaughter technique for many intensively farmed animals.
This is usually because it is the cheapest and quickest way to kill many animals at once. While it has often been thought to cause less suffering than other visibly more brutal methods, this is not true. And, gassing methods can cause horrendous suffering to animals in their last moments.
Pigs are lowered into a chamber containing at least 70 percent CO2 in air.
During this time they will struggle, gasp for breath, squeal, and climb over each other until they finally lose consciousness.
The pigs must remain in the gas mixture until they are completely unconscious which can take up to 30 seconds. After this, the animals are then shackled by one hind leg, hoisted and their throats cut to drain their blood.
The length of time it takes to kill pigs and the acute distress it causes have led to calls to ban the CO2 stunning method.
How birds are slaughtered with CO2
Most poultry birds killed in the UK face a similar fate. Birds are transported to slaughterhouses in crates.
Then, while still in the crates, they are placed into a chamber. Here, they are exposed to either concentrations of CO2 or a mixture of inert gases (nitrogen and argon). The gas mixture deprives birds of oxygen, causing them to lose consciousness and die.
In a nutshell, CO2 is used to slaughter millions of animals each year in the UK. And, the current shortage could pose significant delays to the number of animals processed for slaughter.
Factory farmed animals are bred and reared in filthy, overcrowded sheds. As a result, they often suffer from disease, injury, and psychological problems.
In these environments, profits take priority over animal welfare and Viva!’s countless investigations prove that animals suffer for food production.
Why are animals allowed to be killed like this?
Conditions on factory farms are likely to deteriorate even further. And, animals will experience prolonged suffering on factory farms if delays occur at slaughterhouses as the industry is predicting.
There are also reports from the industry regarding the possibility of animals being destroyed (killed) on farms, should the issue continue.
However, shouldn’t the bigger question be; why are we allowing animals to be kept in these conditions, killed in this way, and continuing to eat them?
Especially, considering how much we understand about animal sentience and the impact animal agriculture is having on the climate crisis?
CO2 shortages might mean you can’t eat turkey this Christmas, but there are plenty of incredible meat alternatives on the market that can win over even the most dedicated carnivores.
Veganism – Now might be a good time to give it a go…
‘This is significant given the number of land animals being raised for food in the country.
The Netherlands has more than 100 million chickens, 12 million pigs, four million cows, and 600,000 goats, according to DutchNews. It’s also the EU’s largest meat exporter’.
Dutch Farmers Face Calls To Reduce Livestock By 30% To Help Protect The Planet
The proposals sparked protests from the farming community, while environmentalists call for more action
Farmers in the Netherlands are facing calls to cut livestock production by almost a third. The proposal is in response to the ongoing ‘nitrogen crisis’ that the country faces, including concerns about ammonia pollution.
Is nitrogen dangerous?
Nitrogen is the most abundant element in our atmosphere – making up around 78 percent of the atmosphere, according to NASA. It’s essential for life, but too much can damage the ecosystem.
Excess nitrogen can leach into underground water sources or enter oceans via agricultural runoff. This can lead to algae blooms, which deplete oxygen in the water and can create aquatic dead zones. Dead zones typically cannot support life of any kind.
Ammonia is made of nitrogen and hydrogen. In high concentrations, ammonia can cause respiratory problems, dermatitis, eye irritation and in severe cases, blindness or death.
What is the nitrogen crisis?
In 2019, the Council of State – the highest Dutch administrative court – ruled that the government was breaching EU law, stating that the country’s efforts to reduce excess nitrogen in vulnerable natural areas were insufficient.
Up to 18,000 infrastructure and construction projects were halted in an attempt to lower emissions. The government also reduced daytime speed limits to 100km per hour (62mi) on motorways.
But according to the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, animal husbandry and manure applications are the chief culprits of nitrogen oxide and ammonia pollution.
This is significant given the number of land animals being raised for food in the country. The Netherlands has more than 100 million chickens, 12 million pigs, four million cows, and 600,000 goats, according to DutchNews. It’s also the EU’s largest meat exporter.
The proposals
Farmers could have to reduce numbers of dairy cows, pigs, and poultry.
The finance and agriculture ministry has published two proposals to cut livestock numbers by 30 percent. According to The Guardian, it’s one of the ‘most radical plans of its kind in Europe’.
Both proposals use buy-back schemes to reduce animal numbers – including dairy cows, pigs, and poultry. One proposal also subsidizes sustainable land management and livestock housing, while the other focuses on price incentives, such as a levy on ammonia emissions.
“We are a relatively small country with a lot of inhabitants, industry, transport and agriculture, so we are reaching the limits of what nature can take,” Rudi Buis, a spokesperson for the agriculture ministry, told The Guardian. “There is a high level of urgency for us to tackle the nitrogen compounds problem. This means that in the near future, choices must be made.”
Farming community’s response
The proposals have attracted criticism from members of the farming community. The Farmer’s Defence Force (FDF), which has nearly 60,000 members in its Facebook group, was established to help farmers who are under ‘attack of environmental extremists’.
On its website, FDF calls the nitrogen reduction plans ‘disgusting’. In July, FDF and fellow farming group Agractie staged protests in multiple regions in the Netherlands.
Some of the demonstrations saw farmers filling the roads with hundreds of tractors.
“The snow is not blackened by farming activities, the air is not poisoned with heavy metals by farming activities. You will not find increased cancer rates around farms,” FDF writes on its website. “The air was clean during the lock-downs – when the farmer plowed on and industry and air traffic came to a virtual standstill.”
The groups are planning further protests in the coming weeks.
‘Step in the right direction’
Meanwhile, other groups have pushed for more to be done to protect the planet.
Coalition party D66 previously proposed reducing the number of livestock in the Netherlands by 50 percent.
D66 parliamentarian Tjeerd de Groot spoke to RTL Nieuws about the issue in 2019.
“[Seventy] percent of Dutch nitrogen emissions come from agriculture, a large part of which comes from intensive livestock farming. That is huge,” de Groot said, per the NL Times.
“At the same time, the contribution of intensive livestock farming to our own economy is not even one percent. The ratio is completely missing.”
Bram van Liere, of environmental organization Friends of the Earth Netherlands, applauded the move.
“It’s a step in the right direction,” van Liere said to The Guardian. “We would do more on buying out farmers and helping them transition to sustainable agriculture.”
Do note, for those triggered by “Asian wet markets” as being “responsible” for Covid19 and subsequent, bigoted, targeted hatred towards Asians, Kaporos is a WET MARKET, in the USA (animal exploitation in any form fuels animal exploitation in ALL forms, if you’re not vegan, don’t complain about animal exploitation in “other places” as you directly contribute to it):
We’re delighted to inform our supporters that our Alliance to End Chickens as Kaporos Team succeeded in rescuing 708 chickens this month from the streets of Brooklyn.
We will publish a full Report on this year’s activities and accomplishments very soon. We thank everyone who has contributed to the success of our campaign.
The Alliance to End Chickens as Kaporos is an association of groups and individuals who seek to replace the use of chickens in Kaporos ceremonies with money or other non-animal symbols of atonement. The Alliance does not oppose Kaporos per se, only the cruel and unnecessary use of chickens in the ceremony.
For more information and background on what “Chicken” Kaporos is, please see HERE
Take PETA’s Cruelty-Free Shopping Guide along with you next time you head to the store! The handy guide will help you find humane products at a glance. Order a FREE copyHERE
Searching for Cruelty-Free Cosmetics, Personal-Care Products, Vegan Products, or more? Click HERE to search.
Free PDF of Vegan & Cruelty-Free Products/Companies HERE
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:
World Animals Voice 