Category: General News

Farm Animals, General News

EU: No Animal Left Behind: why do farmed fish need specific laws to protect their welfare?

No Animal Left Behind: why do farmed fish need specific laws to protect their welfare?

2 May 2023

Fish are farmed in their billions in Europe, yet sadly, they currently receive little to no welfare protection, and many of their needs are still unknown. Countless fish are farmed in the EU every year in awful conditions where they experience overcrowding, high mortality rates, inhumane slaughter methods, and stress and injuries from routine handling and transport. The European Commission has the power to address these issues when revising the animal welfare legislation this year, by including species-specific laws for fish in farming, transport and slaughter.

Fish are sentient animals with individual personalities, who experience diverse emotions and live complex lives. Importantly, each species of fish is unique and varies greatly from another, which also means that their needs are not ‘one size fits all’. Fish in aquaculture are not domesticated animals – most are carnivorous predators and many of them are solitary animals by nature. 

Just like other animals, their environment impacts their wellbeing, whether its available space, water quality, water temperature, etc., there are a lot of factors to take into account for each fish species. 

Unfortunately, to date, fish have been neglected and misjudged. As our recent exposé revealed, billions of fish are suffering in the EU because aquaculture systems are based on a poor understanding of their needs and natures, and high mortality rates have been accepted with little regard for the welfare of the fish involved.  https://www.youtube.com/embed/dJwhDA63egY?autoplay=0&start=0&rel=0&enablejsapi=1&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eurogroupforanimals.org The needs of farmed fish have been neglected for too long

These poor beings often spend up to two years: 

Packed in overcrowded conditions where diseases can spread quickly

Being routinely handled, which is extremely stressful for farmed fish and can cause scale loss, skin, fin and eye injuries, muscle bruising, reduced appetite and impaired development

Struggling psychologically, as the farm environment is devoid of stimulation, particularly when compared to the dynamic, ever-changing sea and river environments in which fish evolved to live.

If they manage to survive the farming environment, the journey to slaughter is yet another tribulation, where fish typically undergo:

Starving for days or even weeks, which can increase aggression, competition and stress amongst farmed fish

Crushing as they are lifted out of the water in a large group net

Inadequate transport methods where water quality, water movement, noises and vibrations are severe stressors

A slow death from asphyxiation as the fish are put on ice or into an ice slurry bath which can last for minutes or hours. 

Learn more about these issues on pages 7-9 of our new exposé report. 

It’s time for the European Commission to protect farmed fish

The European Commission has the power to dramatically improve the lives of farmed fish when they revise the animal welfare legislation later this year. They must factor in strong, precise, and targeted rules for fish welfare that take into account their sentient status and the best welfare practices that we know of. 

They should be handled with care, offered enriching lives and slaughtered in a way that doesn’t inflict intense suffering. There is no substitute for these basic needs. 

We’re trying to change history for farm animals this year through phase two of the No Animal Left Behind campaign. 

Add your voice to our movement!

Farm Animals, General News

EU: No Animal Left Behind: investigations reveal laying hens are suffering in cages on EU factory farms.

25 April 2023

Humánny Pokrok

All over Europe, laying hens are living stifled and limited lives behind bars. Recent investigations by Essere Animali, Equalia and Humánny Pokrok highlight what life in a cage really looks like for these poor sentient beings, emphasising why a truly cage-free future isn’t just desirable, but critical for their welfare.

No space to move. No access to natural light. Their bodies mutilated. These are just some of the circumstances laying hens in cages tragically experience in their short lives, in which they’re forced to lay huge quantities of eggs while suppressing their own natural behaviours and needs.

It’s an unbearable existence – and it’s one that the European Commission has the power to change, by effectively phasing out cages across Europe while also making specific rules for laying hens in their upcoming revision of the animal welfare legislation. Both are key opportunities for policymakers to put the wellbeing of these innocent birds first, and change millions of lives.

The time is now. Captured and shared by our members across the continent, these undercover investigations prove the issues laying hens in cages face span several Member States. Their problems are an EU concern, which only EU laws can address sufficiently. Read on.

Equalia: laying hens in cages in Spain

In 2021, Equalia published a shocking expose video on the experiences of caged laying hens on a Spanish factory farm. Not only did their footage show laying hens in great physical, emotional and mental distress, it also proved that these kinds of housing conditions can become incredibly unhygienic – posing a great risk to public health. 

You can see:

Dead laying hens decomposing next to the living

Plucked and injured birds struggling to cope, and immersed in near-total darkness

Mites growing in eggs intended for human consumption, and pests like rats running among the birds

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has already concluded cages are unsafe, as there’s a clear connection between the amount of birds in cages and prevalence of diseases such as salmonella.

While Equalia acknowledges progress has been made towards transitioning to cage-free systems in Spain, it’s clear more needs to be done to ensure they’re truly banned from Europe’s farming systems. No shortcuts are to be taken if we want to be confident that the health and happiness of these birds – and that of Europe’s citizens – has been addressed as seriously as it deserves.

Essere Animali: laying hens in cages in Italy

In Italy, what Essere Animali recently uncovered about an egg-producing hens farm is nothing short of sickening. Their hard-hitting footage and investigative work shows a range of immoral and even illegal actions taking place, such as:

Hens being illegally slaughtered without being stunned first 

Animals being violently treated, including by being thrown to the ground, grabbed by the legs and crushed into cages by workers’ feet

Eggs falsely and illegally being marketed as ‘free range’

Since the launch of Essere Animali’s investigation, the farm has fortunately been sentenced on several charges – but it’s worrying that these abuses and illegalities were able to slip through the cracks in the first place, especially as this investigation was preceded by another in 2019 detailing similar problems. Sign Essere Animali’s petition here for better animal welfare laws.

Humánny Pokrok: laying hens in cages in Slovakia

This year, our member Humánny Pokrok published the first investigation exploring the lives of caged laying hens in Slovakia. Filmed across three locations, what they found was far from pretty.

Their footage shows laying hens: 

Suffering from severe feather loss and untreated injuries 

Shoved together in tiny, suffocating and lightless spaces

Dying in obscene ways – one laying hen was even recorded being thrown into a garbage can and buried alive

The footage spread quickly throughout Slovakia. In the first 48 hours after it was published, it had reached one in five people, and inspired further political discussion about a ban on cages. Slovakian residents can sign Humánny Pokrok’s ongoing petition for such a ban here.

Laying hens deserve comfortable and satisfying lives! Do you agree?

Citizens across Europe have already called for the cage age to end – now it’s time for the European Commission to deliver, as well as to create specific rules for laying hens to ensure they live happier, freer, and healthier lives. It’s completely in the power of policymakers to bring about this positive change.

It’s time for the suffering of laying hens to end, and begin a new era that puts their welfare first.

This year, we’re calling for no animal to be left behind in the updated animal welfare legislation. Add your voice to our call for change.

Regards Mark

General News, Vivisection

EU: World Day for Animals in Laboratories: EU citizens want to move towards non-animal science.

World Day for Animals in Laboratories: EU citizens want to move towards non-animal science

24 April 2023

DAAE

On this World Day for Animals in Laboratories (WDAIL), Eurogroup for Animals and its members join EU citizens in calling on the European Commission to step up its efforts to move towards more human-relevant and innovative non-animal science.

EU legislation on animals in science sets the ultimate goal of replacing all animals used for scientific and educational purposes with non-animal approaches. Yet, millions of animals continue to be used every year in research, testing, and education. In the EU and Norway alone, over 7.9 million animals were used for scientific purposes in 2020. 

In this context, EU citizens continue to express their dissatisfaction with what they see as insufficient action to move towards non-animal science. After the first successful European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) Stop Vivisection in 2015, the recently closed ECI Save Cruelty Free Cosmetics – Commit to a Europe without Animal Testing, has again collected over one million signatures. It calls on the European Commission to end the harmful use of animals in cosmetics and other chemical tests, and to put forward a concrete plan to transition to non-animal science. 

EU-wide support for ending animal testing is also clearly demonstrated by a recent opinion poll conducted in the EU Member States with the highest number of animals used for scientific purposes. In particular, the survey showed that 77% of EU citizens agree that the European Commission and its Member States should develop a coordinated strategy to transition to scientific research, testing, and education without the use of animals. 

Over the past year, there have been several highlights of how advanced non-animal strategies can be more effective in tackling human disease and assessing chemical safety. For instance, at the European Society for Alternatives to Animal Testing (EUSAAT) congress, several of our members and other participants presented positive developments in scientific areas where non-animal approaches can become the new norm. Additionally, the Commission’s Joint Research Centre published several reports describing advanced non-animal models in different disease areas with a view of accelerating the development of these technologies. Last October, experts from EU agencies, industry and academia also informed the Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of Animals of innovative non-animal solutions for regulatory purposes.

Today, we also highlight recent successes of several of our member organisations in advancing human-based science:

Doctors Against Animal Experiments (DAAE) recently won the Lush Prize 2022 in the Education and Training category for their Non Animal Technologies (NAT)-database, and launched the “AFA-net”, a network of researchers working in the field of non-animal-derived antibodies. Last year, they also exposed the severe suffering of non-human primates used in brain research in Germany, and they will continue to campaign to end this practice. On WDAIL, for example, DAAE are planning actions in 14 different German cities focusing on brain research using non-human primates.

LAV funded an in silico research project at the University of Parma focused on predicting mutations of the Covid-19 spike protein. They also persuaded the Italian Ministry of Health to financially support 16 public institutes to develop research projects using alternatives to animal testing. This year, LAV will continue to campaign for increased public funding for non-animal methods, and to take legal action against specific research projects involving non-human primates.

La Fondation Droit Animal, Ethique et Sciences (LFDA) has started to chair the Advisory board of the recently created French 3R centre (FC3R). They also recently participated in a conference on alternative methods to animal testing to explain their actions in this field. For instance, this year, the LFDA will award their 14th Prize of Biology Alfred Kastler for the development of a replacement method to animal testing. 

The RSPCA commissioned a poll which showed that 77% of UK citizens agree that ‘the UK Government should commit to ‘phasing out’ the use of animals in scientific research and testing’. They also raised awareness among political parties and Members of Parliament to commit to a strategy for phasing out animal experiments. Last year, the RSPCA also organised several events on ending severe suffering in animals used in science, as well as training, workshops, and presentations on how to create a ‘Culture of Care’ within establishments that use animals for scientific research and testing. This year, the RSPCA will continue to advance their two priorities: ending severe suffering for lab animals, and achieving a global commitment to phasing out animal experiments. On WDAIL, for example, they are planning a press release to promote their explainatory video on the latter.

Regards Mark

Farm Animals, General News, Live Transport

EU: Draft Impact Assessment – a good start for an ambitious legislation.

Draft Impact Assessment – a good start for an ambitious legislation

20 April 2023

Press Release

The draft Impact Assessment report on the revision of the EU’s animal welfare legislation, leaked today, reaffirms the European Commission’s aim of making the EU the global leader in animal protection.

In the Farm to Fork Strategy, the European Commission (EC) committed to revise all animal welfare legislation, to align it with the latest scientific evidence, broaden its scope and make it easier to enforce. The proposed measures are based on scientific recommendations provided by EFSA, the European Food Safety Agency, anchoring them in a strong evidence-base. 

The proposals are expected by late September, however, the details of the Impact Assessment (IA) working document, as revealed by Agra Facts, are promising for the billions of animals involved.

The EC recognises that “Societal demands are not met – As identified in the Fitness Check, the trend is clear: many EU citizens pay increasing attention to animal welfare. A clear reflection of this is the ECI ‘End the Cage Age’ …. Ethical concerns are also raised against e.g. the systematic killing of male one-day old chicks and against long-distance animal transports and fur farming…..In addition, most EU citizens expect a more sustainable food production, i.e. less intensive farming and breeding systems.”

The impact assessment looks at 18 measures to improve the welfare of kept animals. Eurogroup for Animals particularly welcomes measures to: 

Phase out of cages for all species 

Increase space allowance for all species

Ban the systematic culling of male chicks

Introduce welfare requirements for the stunning of farmed fish

Ban cruel slaughter practices like water baths and CO2 for poultry and pigs

Ban mutilations, like beak trimming, tail docking, dehorning or surgical castration of pigs 

Limited journey times for the transport of animals destined to slaughter

Apply the EU’s standards to imported animal products in a way that is compatible with WTO rules

We are also pleased to see that on fur farming the EC is acknowledging the serious welfare issues that a cage system causes to wild animals and is taking into consideration the 1.7 million voices calling for a Fur Free Europe. 

The final Impact Assessment still has a long road to go before the actual proposals will be adopted, and we call on the Regulatory Scrutiny Board and Interservice Consultation to improve the proposals mainly with regards to shortening transition times to phase out cages and tightening the rules on live animal transport. 

This is a very good start and reflects the decades of citizens campaigning and scientific evidence produced in the EU. In light of the results of the Impact Assessment, the EC must seize this once-in-a-generation opportunity and come forward with strong legislation that effectively improves the welfare of animals in Europe and globally. Ambitious legislation will benefit animals, citizens and farmers alike.

Reineke Hameleers, CEO of Eurogroup for Animals

Regards Mark

General News, Hunting, Uncategorized

Adidas called on to drop kangaroo leather after Nike and Puma announce phase-out.

Adidas called on to drop kangaroo leather after Nike and Puma announce phase-out

21 April 2023

LAV

Eurogroup for Animals and 6 animal welfare and conservation organisations sent a letter to the CEO of Adidas, asking the company to stop the production of shoes using kangaroo leather.

This initiative follows the encouraging announcements by Nike and Puma to end the use of “k-leather” in their lines.

In Australia 1.6 million kangaroos are killed each year, raising serious animal welfare concerns. In addition, kangaroo populations are already suffering from the consequences of climate change such as droughts, floods and bushfires while the methods to estimate populations are questionable. 

Kangaroo derived products, including leather, are exported to various regions including the European Union. The EU represents an important market for athletic shoes, and several brands continue to produce football shoes made of kangaroo leather, also called k-leather. Athletic shoes made from synthetic materials have proven high performance, making the use of kangaroo leather totally dispensable.

In March, Puma and Nike announced they will end the production of athletic shoes using kangaroo leather. We welcome this crucial shift for the protection and conservation of this iconic Australian species. However, Adidas continues to produce and sell k-leather shoes, despite the serious concerns raised by animal welfare organisations over cruel methods used to kill kangaroos, and despite EU consumers’ demands for cruelty-free products. 

Eurogroup for Animals and our members LAV, GAIA, Voiceless and World Animal Protection, as well as Kangaroos Alive and Pro Wildlife, are therefore calling on the CEO of Adidas to discontinue the use of kangaroo leather in the brands products. 

Read the open letter to Bjørn Gulden, CEO of Adidas.

Regards Mark

Farm Animals, Fur and Fur Farming, General News, Uncategorized

Why do people enjoy wearing violent suffering and decomp?

With thanks to Stacey – Mark

Go here and listen:

Why do people enjoy wearing violent suffering and decomp? | Our Compass (our-compass.org)

Why do people enjoy wearing violent suffering and decomp?

APRIL 18, 2023

Source Real Fur Film

Actions

Please sign petition HERE to Ban Fur Farms in Canada

Related, please sign petition demanding department store Dillard’s be fur-free HERE

You can also send Dillard’s a message via their Contact Us page or via their floating Feedback button on the right-hand side of their site

Please visit HERE to reserve your free ticket for the private screening of Real Fur: “A documentary uncovering the true cost of fur in the fashion industry.”

Background

Fur farms are not only cruel to animals but also pollute the planet and cause zoonotic diseases. Contrary to the belief that real fur is “natural” and better for the environment, fur production actually destroys the environment in various ways. 

Over 75 percent of zoonotic diseases (according to the WHO) are caused because of close proximity to animals kept on farms.

In November 2021, the Animal Save Movement joined a global movement to ban fur farms. We took part in the #MakeFurFarmsHistory campaign which included protests in over 10 countries and a letter-writing campaign to ban fur farms in Canada. 

Thanks to these actions and the support of the community, a bill was introduced into Canada’s parliament that calls for a federal ban on fur farms. 

Curious to learn more about fur in the fashion industry? Want to find out how you can take action to help animals on fur farms? Join us and our friends at Arise Productions for the private screening of Real Fur – a documentary uncovering the true cost of fur in the fashion industry.

See the award-winning documentary film, meet director Taimoor Choudhry, and hear from prominent animal rights leaders: Camille Labchuk, Lesley Fox, Ashley Byrne, and Jenny McQueen, who are part of a discussion panel.

When: April 25 at 4:30PM PDT/ 7:30PM EDT
Where: Online on Eventive 
How: Reserve your free ticket HERE

And FYI: for those people who are so superficial and need to demonstrate to the world their healthy portfolios, do what other people do and buy a sports team or have a school named after you, there is ZERO legitimacy to fur. ZERO.

And for others with lesser incomes who buy “fur-lined” products, remember that animals suffer just as much for a “little” fur, they aren’t just a “little” dead. And for those who opt for faux fur, it’s important to note that many times, real fur is actually disguised as fake fur when real fur costs less (do remember that the life of the animal is priceless), please see The Guardian’s How To Tell If Faux Fur Is Actually Real Furthermore, some items are not required to include labels that designate fur as real or faux. Just leave it out altogether.

I became vegan after watching a documentary on fur, it was after seeing a dog tortured for his fur that I became aware that ALL animal exploitation is related, the cows who are forcibly impregnated overandoverandoverandover until their abused bodies no longer produce milk at a profitable level and who are then violently killed, suffer as mink do, who are forced to endure squalor, neglect, and disease, and then who are agonizingly gassed for their fur.

… In other words, don’t feign shock about fur if you’re still eating animals, the foundation of animal exploitation fuels and includes ALL animal exploitation, if you eat “bacon”, you’re deliberately supporting animals being anally electrocuted so their fur isn’t damaged during the “killing phase” of “fur farming”. And the US fur industry (used to if no longer) reprehensibly promotes that, since they kill animals onsite, they’re more “humane” than “food farming” slaughterhouses where animals are forced to endure further trauma via transport. Imagine using the death industry as a benchmark of ethics for your death industry.

Why do people conveniently neglect the THIRD option, which is to NOT SUPPORT ANY?

Because it’s really sad that I have to say this: stealing another’s fur is depraved, nothing but selfish, privileged, greedy, and barbarically cruel.

There is a special corner of hell reserved for those humans. Enjoy the bonfire. SL

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

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 copy HERE

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

Click HERE to find out How to Wear Vegan

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

People see what justifies or suits their choices
Oblivious to the suffering of others
And to those of more
Enlightened voices

Karen Lyons Kalmenson

Regards Mark

General News, Stray Animals

India: Animal Aid Unlimited – March 23 Videos of Rescues and March Stats.

Dear Mark,     

No one is more vulnerable than a baby, and even more so orphaned babies. Without a mom, keeping babies growing healthy and strong needs the right nutrition–usually multiple times in a day– many hands and loving hearts. To the team members here, including volunteers and donors from afar, we thank you for being the arms rocking, the voices soothing with lullabies, and the milk bar attendants whose “customers” are waiting for their morning bottles!

Dilli’s smile was so worth the wait!

Incoordination and constant paddling was the result of a head trauma for this innocent little road accident victim. Neighbors knew to call Animal Aid for her rescue. After a few days of treatment she had regained some awareness and was able to eat with help, but she couldn’t orient or focus herself and circled helplessly. We hoped her circling would not be permanent, and that time would heal.

We were overjoyed to find that within a couple of weeks, all the play that had been locked inside her began to emerge. Her ability to coordinate improved, and so did her ability to interact and play. “Dil” means heart in Hindi, and we’ve called her Dilli, watching with delight as her normal abilities have gradually returned. Dilli is all heart, and she has captured our hearts too. Sometimes waiting is the very best thing you can do.

Recovery is so beautiful. Please donate today.

New fur was just the beginning

of Snowpea’s new life!

Sweet Snowpea’s skin infection made her become shy and inward from pain. Her skin was so itchy that she had scratched until she bled, causing sores that, if left untreated, could have become fatal. 

Saving this gracious, poised, seemingly reserved girl, with open sores from her throat to her toes, was no less dramatic than closing a bleeding wound. We hurried to give her medicine and to start her series of medicated baths over several weeks.

As the wounds healed and velvety new fur began to emerge, we found that all her quiet and stillness had been evidence of her pain, not her nature. Take a look at this little hurricane of fun today! Snowpea will melt your heart!

Help someone heal and join the fun again. Please donate today

Amazing help behind the scenes

For five years, Susan, a retired public defender, has used her skills in lapidary and metal work to help animals by managing the Animal Aid shop as a volunteer, donating hundreds of semi-precious stone pendants and crafting masterpieces in copper, silver and other metals. And she does it all in the midst of caring for her 11 animals and regular fosters. 

The words “thank you” really don’t fully express our gratitude.

Here’s how you helped us in March!

Thank you for helping so many animals heal last month. Every animal we rescue, admit into our hospital for treatment, or treat directly on the street is a special someone who needed help from a friend, and thanks to you, they got it. 

We thank you deeply for all you do, are, and inspire for animals.

Founding family Erika, Claire and Jim,

and the Animal Aid Unlimited team.

Regards Mark

If you want some fun, then get Madness !

Everything about them just shouts London.

Environmental, Farm Animals, General News

EU: No Animal Left Behind: why do laying hens need specific laws to protect their welfare?

No Animal Left Behind: why do laying hens need specific laws to protect their welfare?

17 April 2023

Did you know millions of laying hens in Europe never get to see daylight? Trapped in so-called ‘enriched’ cages, these innocent birds spend their days confined, depressed, injured and sick. They’re often deliberately mutilated, too, as their beaks are trimmed – a cruel practice that causes them chronic pain. The European Commission has the power to change their lives completely when revising the animal welfare legislation, by including specific laws for laying hens that protect them from harm and honour their unique natures.

Laying hens are extremely intelligent animals. Not only can they dream and remember people, places and things, they also understand geometry and can solve puzzles!

Able to feel everything from joy and curiosity to pain, laying hens are sentient beings with striking personalities, who deserve to feel safe in the world – just as every other animal does.

Sadly, laying hens are far from being taken care of in Europe’s farming systems. Trapped in uncomfortable cages with wire floors – without access to daylight and enduring injuries, frustration and boredom – their one constant is suffering.

What do laying hens experience on EU factory farms?

Among other things, laying hens are forced to endure: 

A stifling lack of room: In the ‘enriched cages’ millions of laying hens are trapped within, they have only 600cm² of usable space – when evidence shows they need around 2,500cm² to behave naturally. Due to these extreme limitations on their movement, these poor birds can get no respite from each other, flap their wings or turn comfortably. 

Beak trimming: In their confinement, laying hens often get stressed and aggressive with one another. To stop them from pecking their peers and causing them injury, their beaks are often trimmed, putting them in a state of constant pain. Of course, this ‘injurious pecking’ would not even be an issue if these innocent beings were not housed in such horrible conditions to begin with. It’s brutally unfair that they are mutilated as a result of their poor housing conditions. 

The inability to be themselves: In nature, hens will spend about 50% of their time foraging and scratching at the ground, and are also highly motivated to dustbathe. Enriched cages completely fail to satisfy these needs, as birds are fed from a feeder, and any litter that is provided is quickly depleted (so the benefits are short-lived).

Uncomfortable and harmful habitats: Caged hens have reduced bone strength, more fractures and bone deformities due to their suffocating lives behind bars. The wire floors on which they exist not only cause them pain, but are often filthy too, as they are not sanitised sufficiently.

Learn more about these issues on pages 20 – 30 of our No Animal Left Behind report.

Europe’s laying hens could – and should – have much better lives

Many of the problems laying hens encounter exist due to shortfalls in the European Union’s animal welfare legislation – which policymakers are now due to revise. They must not miss this opportunity to include strong, precise, and  targeted rules for the welfare of laying hens based on our Hens’ Asks, which include:

The complete and unambiguous banning of cages for laying hens and other species – which is also what European citizen’s want, as shown clearly by the huge response to the ‘End the Cage Age’ ECI

A smaller number of hens being housed in the same spaces – to decrease aggression, stress, and injurious pecking among birds, as well as make them more comfortable in general

Access to the outdoors and natural light – as well as an uninterrupted period of darkness for at least eight hours a day (to facilitate comfortable sleeping patterns).

Along with addressing these needs, the Commission must honour their commitment to properly eliminate cages in Europe as soon as possible. The recommendations in our new report, ‘Phasing out cages in the EU: the road to a smooth transition’ explains how to achieve this crucial change in a sustainable, pragmatic way. 

It’s time we turn the page for Europe’s laying hens – beginning a new chapter that puts their welfare first. Are you with us?

We’re trying to change history for farm animals this year through phase two of the No Animal Left Behind campaign. Add your voice to our movement!

Regards Mark

Farm Animals, General News, Live Transport

EU; We Have Known It For Decades – New review on live animal transport echoes our call for change in the industry.

New review on live animal transport echoes our call for change in the industry

18 April 2023

Opinion

We were pleased with the conclusions drawn in the “Transport of live animals in the EU: challenges and opportunities’’ review produced by the European Court of Auditors. Published on April 17, it re-emphasises the need for a serious revision of the Live Animals Transport Regulation – a bold move for animal welfare that we have been campaigning for for years.

The review recognises many problems involved in long-distance transport, and presents some important proposals for addressing them.

It highlights that reducing the number and length of journeys, improving the conditions for live animals during transport, and finding alternatives to transporting them could mitigate the negative impacts of this practice – of which there are many.

What is more, the report recognises that the Regulation is not implemented in the same way by all Member States, resulting in some industry players being able to exploit the different systems enabled by national sanctions.

In addition, the report acknowledges that the quality of animal welfare during transport is not considered in the cost of transport/price of meat – and neither is the environment. The review points out that there is a contradiction between the Green Deal’s call for a transition to a more sustainable food system and the increased amount of live animals that are transported, and further cites studies that show that transporting meat and carcasses is more sustainable than transporting live animals.

Horrible for animal welfare and economically and environmentally worse than the alternatives on offer, it’s clear that live animal transport does not belong in the future of farming in the EU.

Another critical aspect the report addresses is the need for more reliable data on live animal transport. The tracking systems that are currently available do not provide an accurate read on the number and condition of animals transported into, and especially outside of, the EU. In 2018, the Commission estimated that TRACES recorded only 31.6% of cattle and 3.5% of sheep exported by livestock vessels from Croatia, Slovenia, Spain, France, Ireland, Portugal, and Romania combined. With no insight into what’s happening on these long journeys across Europe, who knows what these poor sentient beings are going through?

So far, decisions in the live animal transport industry have mostly been made based on consumer preferences and economic factors. Based on the review’s findings, and with the European Commission soon to revise its animal welfare and transport rules, the European Court of Auditors urges that they instead focus on: 

Promoting the transport of meat rather than live animals, as well as the use of local and mobile slaughterhouses – to reduce the suffering of animals and their time spent travelling

Increasing transparency and harmonisation in meat labelling – for example, through an EU animal welfare labelling system, so consumers can make more considered buying choices and are aware of where their animal products have come from

Harnessing the latest technologies to track all animal journeys – so the EU really knows what’s happening while animals are on the move, and can take clearer steps to protect them.

The report adds to the pile of evidence and conclusions shared in the last couple of years from the ANIT Committee, EFSA, the fitness check of the European Commission and several investigations by animal NGOs that demonstrate live animal transport is causing tremendous suffering to animals. It should give the final push to the Commission to propose a revised Transport Regulation that doesn’t allow for animals to be transported beyond eight hours (or four hours for poultry and rabbits), prohibits the transport of vulnerable animals (like unweaned calves) and bans live exports. We believe no more evidence should be needed for the Commission to make these decisions once and for all.

Learn more about our views on live animal transport in our 2021 white paper.

Regards Mark