In the old office I used to get a wild fox come through the door, up the stairs and sit next to me in the office while I worked. We just chilled out and when he was ready, he went back downstairs and returned to the wild. My anti hunt advisor !!!
Above – ‘Sunday Smile ! (in my garden)’
Check out a lot about all the work for Serbian stray animals by visiting our old site at
Puppies drowned and their bodies hung from trees:
There is some fast jet, but that is ‘me’.
Find out more about Serbian strays at:
As a result of continuous “questioning” on the issue; they are now threatening to close the shelter “Alex” as some kind of revenge..
This is not going to stop us – we eagerly await a response from the EU which should definitely give us confirmation that export consignments took place.
Mark
Scientists think blue whales may breed in the waters around the Seychelles
Blue whales: Ocean giants return to ‘safe’ tropical haven
By Victoria Gill and Kate Stephens
Science team, BBC News
Blue whales – the largest animals on Earth – are making their home in a part of the Indian Ocean where they were wiped out by whaling decades ago.
Researchers and filmmakers in the Seychelles captured footage of the whales in 2020 and 2021. It features in the Imax film Blue Whales 3D.
But a year of underwater audio recording revealed the animals spend months in the region.
This means they could be breeding there, scientists say.
The researchers, including scientists from the University of Seychelles, described the discovery as a “conservation win” after the Soviet whaling fleet decimated the population in the 1960s.
One of the lead investigators, Dr Kate Stafford, told BBC News: “It turns out if you stop killing animals on mass scales and you give them a chance to rebound, they can recover.”
Continue reading at:
Blue whales: Ocean giants return to ‘safe’ tropical haven – BBC News
Regards Mark
24 November 2023
The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled against German chemicals company Symrise AG, who challenged a European Chemicals Agency request to perform animal testing on two cosmetic ingredients. This means additional animal testing may be demanded by regulators to assess the safety of cosmetic ingredients, despite the EU ban on animal testing for cosmetics in place since 2013.
In 2004, the EU responded to citizens’ long-standing concerns about animal testing for cosmetic products by introducing a ban to prohibit the testing of finished cosmetic products and cosmetic ingredients on animals. The testing ban was followed by another ban to prohibit the marketing of finished cosmetic products and ingredients in the EU which are tested on animals, which became fully effective in 2013.
Despite the bans, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has established that in certain cases, widely used cosmetic ingredients with a long history of safe use must be tested on animals to comply with the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) Regulation.
In 2018, the company Symrise AG challenged ECHA’s request to test two ingredients in its sunscreen product on 5,500 animals, refusing to carry out further animal testing that undermines the EU cosmetics bans. Following a legal battle between the two parties, the Court of Justice of the European Union has now delivered its official decision, dismissing the action brought by Symrise AG, and thus allowing ingredients used exclusively in cosmetics to be tested on animals under REACH to assess the safety risks of workers who may be exposed to the ingredients.
But the wishes of citizens are clear: animals must not suffer and die for the sake of cosmetics. The recent European Citizens Initiative (ECI) Save Cruelty Free Cosmetics – Commit to a Europe without animal testing gave clarity to EU citizens’ voices, calling on the Commission to protect and strengthen the cosmetics animal testing ban.
Following this ruling, it’s clearer than ever that we need a chemicals roadmap.
Eurogroup for Animals is deeply concerned by this decision, as it goes against the expectations and wishes of citizens and could lead to the demand of animal testing at the cost of thousands more animal lives. In its reply to the ECI Save Cruelty Free Cosmetics, the European Commission mentioned that its response might be affected by the Court’s ruling in the Symrise AG case. Now that the Court has ruled, we are regrettably witnessing a step backwards. This case will set a precedent that will pave the way for more animal testing of cosmetic ingredients to meet the requirement under REACH.
These loopholes in the cosmetics animal testing ban are indicative of a regulatory system that is, at the moment, unable to follow scientific progress on non-animal testing approaches. This is why it is imperative that the Commission delivers on the promise for a roadmap towards phasing out animal testing for chemical safety assessments. Eurogroup for Animals, together with fellow ECI organiser NGOs, aim to ensure that a concrete and actionable framework with specific milestones is delivered.
Regards Mark
23 November 2023
Press Release
For the very first time, more than 30 animal protection organisations made an official complaint to the European Ombudsman against the European Commission’s failure to uphold its commitment to a European Citizens’ Initiative in which 1.4 million citizens asked for a ban on cages.
In its answer to the End the Cage Age European Citizens Initiative (ECI), published in June 2021, the European Commission (EC) promised that by the end of 2023, it would put forward a legislative proposal to phase out and finally prohibit the use of cages for the listed animal species. Yet, in the recent work programme for the rest of the political term, the Kept Animals Regulation, which should have included the plan, was missing.. This means that this Regulation will now be left to the fate of the next Commission, creating heavy uncertainty on when the promised Regulation will be published.
In their complaint to the Ombudsman, the organisations said that the EC has failed to act in accordance with the rules governing the European Citizens’ Initiatives after generating legitimate expectations among European citizens. These shortcomings present a case of maladministration, both in light of Regulation(EU) 2019/788 and the very raison d’être of European Citizens’ Initiatives as an instrument of transnational democracy.
Prior to backtracking from its promise, the EC repeatedly confirmed that it was working towards the 2023 timeline, with multiple mentions of this date being made publicly by Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides, in the EC’s answers to parliamentary questions, at the EU Platform on Animal Welfare, and in various communications on the Farm to Fork Strategy.
Before making the official complaint to the Ombudsman, the organisations formally asked the Commission to come forward with a definite timeline for the publication of the legislative proposals within the current term, to fulfil its obligation to the ECI End the Cage Age. Yet, the EC has failed to provide an exhaustive reply to this request.
In addition to the cages ECI, 1.5 million citizens also asked for a ban on fur farming and the placement of fur products on the European market. The reply would also have been included in the Kept Animals Regulations, as transpired in the leaked Impact Assessment. In the latest Eurobarometer an overwhelming majority of European Citizens clearly said they want the EU to do more to protect animals.
A delay in the release of updated animal welfare legislation will also cost European farmers and food businesses, as this is a time where they need to reinvest in farming systems, and, unless they get a clear indication, they might invest in systems that are not future-proof. While the regulation to phase out cages continues to be pending, 700 million farm animals continue to suffer in cages in Europe each year.
The EC made clear expectations to citizens, but in the moment of truth, has let them down. This calls into question a core value of EU Institutions: democracy. The ECI was purposely launched to allow citizens to actively participate in policy-making processes. But what good does that do if their voices continue to be unheard?
Reineke Hameleers, CEO, Eurogroup for Animals
Regards Mark
East Kent Murder – Picture Mark
Search Results for “boxing day hunt” – World Animals Voice
Every Boxing Day, hunting horns sound across the UK, as the hunts come out in force to celebrate the cruel ‘sport’ of fox hunting.
In reality, the pomp and pageantry are just a mask for the cold cruelty of their entertainment – illegally hunting innocent, defenceless animals to exhaustion.
The countdown to cruelty has began. Will you stand up for the foxes?
Help us stop hunts on Boxing Day and every other day of the year
£10 could help us call for stronger laws to protect UK wildlife such as getting hunting banned on all public land including our national parks
£20 could help us persuade landowners to stop hunting, enforce stricter conditions and revoke hunting licenses for criminal activity
Search Results for “boxing day hunt” – World Animals Voice
£50 could help us continue to run our invaluable Animal Crimewatch service and report illegal hunting, animal fighting and animal abuse to the police
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We’d love to keep in touch. With your permission we’ll let you know the very latest news on our fast-moving campaigns, as well as appeals and other actions (such as petitions) so you can continue to help protect animals.
Boxing Day Hero (league.org.uk)
Lots more:
Search Results for “boxing day hunt” – World Animals Voice
Regards Mark
Hunt Sab Attack
My ‘Golda’ in the snow. Real fur in the right place !
WAV Comment – Get me out of here is just the most pathetic, animal abusive shows you could ever imagine. Ant and Dec, the presenters; plus the dim wit producers think that it is a real laugh each week for past it has been celebs to eat bugs, sheep eyes and testicles; camel penis, etc etc.
There is nothing funny, or even tv worthy about this show; it just brings together all the dregs of tv under the control of dreg producers. It should be taken off air.
I propose the programme should be re named “I’m a dickhead, put me into the trough with all the other ‘has beens’”
Take a look:
Real pathetic !!
Mark
The founder of a leading animal charity has shared that she has changed her will to leave her BUM to I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out Here! producers.
The change comes from PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk who is in protest over the show’s treatment of animals.
Newkirk shared that she hopes to challenge the “cruel and tasteless stunts” on the ITV show that involve live and dead animals.
Discussing the act, the PETA founder said: “The camels, kangaroos, sheep, and other animals whose body parts are served up have more dignity than the moronic producers of this vile show, who think nothing of disrespecting, exploiting, or killing animals for a lark.”
It’s not the first time I’m a Celebrity has faced criticism for their use of animals, with reports that Ofcom has previously received 10,000 complaints over the ITV’s show use of animals.
Read more:
Animal rights activist to give her bum to I’m a Celebrity producers (msn.com)
Regards Mark
22 November 2023
Press Release
Today, the European Parliament overwhelmingly approved the EU-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement. The deal sets a precedent in trade policy as it’s the first time the EU ratifies a trade agreement which conditions market access on the respect of animal welfare-related standards.
Under negotiation for five years, the deal liberalises trade in most animal based products, and should hence further stimulate animal agriculture in the EU and New Zealand. It does, however, include an unprecedented condition: the beef quota is reserved for grass-fed animals, explicitly excluding feedlots. And this condition is motivated by both animal welfare and sustainability reasons.
This is only the second time the EU has negotiated an animal welfare condition in a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) since the controversial EU-Mercosur FTA introduced the first one in relation to shelled eggs. Yet, while the volume of shelled eggs imported by the EU from Mercosur countries is quite low, in the case of New Zealand the EU managed to obtain an animal welfare condition for one of the most traded animal products between the partners.
Eurogroup for Animals welcomes this animal welfare condition as feedlots, in addition to being a major source of soil, air and water pollution, are highly detrimental to animals: they can provoke respiratory and digestive diseases, the main causes of cattle death under such rearing conditions.
This animal welfare condition shows that with the right political willingness, the EU can take into account animal welfare concerns in its trade policy. As the latest Eurobarometer showed, this is well supported by EU citizens. This FTA should give the right impetus to repeat animal welfare conditions in other trade agreements, especially where a beef quota is negotiated. Why would a feedlot in Mercosur countries be sustainable, but not in New Zealand? Omitting such a condition when renegotiating the EU-Mercosur FTA would certainly be incoherent.
Reineke Hameleers, CEO, Eurogroup for Animals
The EU-New Zealand FTA is also the first EU trade deal integrating sanctions in its Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) chapter. While this is welcome, the language is non-committal, specifically for provisions related to wild and aquatic animals, with words that focus on “acknowledgement” or “support”. This means that even in case of failure to comply with these provisions, no violation can be found.
Apart from the animal welfare condition, the FTA also includes a chapter on animal welfare cooperation. Regrettably, the language in this chapter remains weak and also non-committal. This is unfortunate as the EU and New Zealand, two like-minded partners, could work together on issues such as banning live transport which is under discussion as highlighted by the European Parliament’s resolution. For these reasons, Eurogroup for Animals supports the European Parliament’s stand to “quickly establish the domestic advisory groups”, and remains ready to work in this fora to foster effective cooperation as soon as possible.
Regards Mark
WAV Comment – have had this through today (22/11) from our campaigner friends at the Society for Animals in the Czech Republic, EU. stoptransport.cz – For a Better World for Animals and Stopping Cruel Transports
I have made no changes to the text, or added any further additions; the translation is via the system, so this is directly as supplied. With the above web link, there is an ability to translate if you wish.
Regards Mark
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Dear friends,
the institutions of the European Union are also busy because of the animal inhabitants of the member states.
At the beginning of October, we informed you that the European Commission is forgetting about the promises of changes to the regulations to improve the conditions of kept and transported animals.
Following our joint European action, the Commission said it would submit amendments to the Regulation on the Protection of Animals during Transport later this year – petitions
Later this week, we expect an important breakthrough regarding other missed regulations. Whether it will be good or bad for the animals, we will write to you.
Specifically, these are proposals for regulations on the labelling of animal foodstuffs according to the methods of animal husbandry, changes on the slaughter of animals and on the methods of animal husbandry (so-called farm animals). The last one reflects on the successful European citizens’ initiatives End the Cage Age and Fur Free Europe.
On behalf of the Society for Animals
Judit Laura, Adéla, Michala
An injured white mink. The chilling exposé titled ‘This is Fur Farming in the EU’ lays bare the grim reality of fur factory farming across six EU nations
A white mink with part of its face missing
All pictures – HSI.
Link:
Horrifying truth of fur industry revealed in footage from largest ever undercover investigation involving dozens of farms where animals engaged in cannibalism, had limbs gnawed off and were left with maggot-infested wounds
Wounded animals can be seen battling to survive in cages. The harrowing material was captured by independent animal rights investigators in more than 100 farm visits
The horrifying truth of the fur industry has been revealed in footage from the largest ever undercover investigation on European fur farms.
The chilling exposé titled ‘This is Fur Farming in the EU’ lays bare the grim reality of fur factory farming across six EU nations.
The harrowing material, captured by independent animal rights investigators in more than 100 farm visits, shows animals including mink, foxes and raccoon dogs in disturbing conditions.
Read the full article and see video footage by clicking on the link above.
Regards Mark
World Animals Voice 