I don’t normally do this, but I need to start this post with a WARNING.
The shocking viral video I’m about to share is harrowing to watch. It shows upsetting scenes of violence, cruelty and abuse towards vulnerable animals.
However, I believe it must be watched. I believe it must be shared and viewed by as many people as possible in order to expose the horrific cruelty which is inherent within the animal agriculture industry all over the world. Because, as terrible as this footage is, what is most upsetting is that these are not isolated incidents. Thousands of hours of undercover footage from hundreds of random farms and abattoirs in dozens of countries show that this kind of abuse is inherent throughout the industry. Animal agriculture is rotten to its core and this video shows why. I know how hard it is to watch but I beg you to watch it if you can and to share it with as many people as possible, because we can only tackle this abuse if we are aware of it.
After the video, I’ll drop a link so you can take action to help stop this abuse. For the animals in this footage it is too late, but with your help we can prevent millions more from suffering the same fate. So for now, please set aside a few minutes, brace yourself, and prepare to expose these horrors to the world… Once you’ve watched the video, there are three things I want you to do: Share this page like crazy with everyone you can think of — this cruelty needs to be exposedIf you’re not already vegan, take the 22 Day Vegan Challenge — this horror show will only stop when we stop paying for it.
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Sorry all you innocent sentients – I and the others would have saved you all if it had been possible.
Your numbers were in the hundreds; there were just a few of us. All these years later I don’t (ever) forget your suffering.
So, it was time to take the export campaign to Europe. Very soon I will write again on the roadshow in the Netherlands; education is the real thing about all this – and educate we did.
On the road in the Netherlands – photo MarkA transporter loaded with sheep arrives at Dover – photo Mark
Sheep going for export (and death) – photo Mark
British calves being exported out of Dover – photo Mark
He used to stay awake to drive the dreams he had away …..
The drive home in the early morning hours was always bad – you always felt you had failed them.
In the spirit of Christmas, these bars are righteous.
Courtesy of Entyce/Ashley Wallace
Click on the picture
And I mean…This time of year is traditionally associated with eating meat, and the suppressed, tortured and brutally murdered animals around us have surely paid for our “loyalty to tradition” with their lives.
Only … the spirit of Christmas is not to be understood as a massacre of non-human animals, nor can it be justified with the guise of religion.
That is the message of this video!
This year, give the gift of love!
Help animals in the most meaningful way possible – don’t eat them.
North American Animal Liberation Press Office: Received anonymously:
We were bored in a winter afternoon thinking about our miserable lives, but we thought “fuck depression, lets do direct action”.
We started to think about all the people who lives in prison and the different types of prisons.
We realised that near us were people locked up in little plastic cages; a lot of crickets. They were in a pet shop called Petiberia with more species locked up inside, so we made a plan and we went there.
We entered the shop and while a person was distracting the security people, the other took as much as possible of the plastic prisons with the people inside and went out of the shop.
The workers were thinking in their dumb lives so they didn’t realise about was was happening.
After, we looked for a safe place for the crickets, and we ended up in a field.
We opened the cages there and they jumped out. But some of them were dead, so we estimate that the number of people that escaped that day was 125.
This is a simple and easy action and you can help a lot of people with it.
Kisses for the workers ❤ we’ll see each other again :P”
And I mean…Why are insects sold in plastic bags in pet stores?
Because some, mindless human animals want to keep exotic animals and reptiles in their living room as pets.
So-called feeder insects are mainly insect species such as grasshoppers, but also mealworms, wax maggots, crickets, moths and cockroaches.
These insects are grown in large breeding facilities and then shipped to pet stores.
Pet stores have large stocks of these so-called feeder insects.
They are usually offered for sale in plastic boxes, often without food, water or any kind of temperature control.
If the animals are not bought and fed, they often die in agony after a few days in the low-oxygen boxes.
Many people do not want to admit that insects are living beings with a complex nervous system.
They have a brain and have strong sensory perception.
It is not for nothing that insects are the most successful and most species-rich animal group in terms of evolution and at home all over the world.
It doesn’t matter whether an animal has two, four or eight legs: we are all sensitive and want to live.
Reptiles and amphibians have no business in our living rooms; keeping them must be prohibited.
Then the moral question with the ‘live food‘ would be resolved by itself.
In the name of the animals, our heartfelt thanks to the activists
The Oxfordshire county council has passed a rule that only allows vegan food to be served at official events.
The idea was brought up in order to lead by example in tackling climate change and global warming.
The ruling read, “This council recognizes that global meat and dairy production is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and deforestation and that reducing consumption of these foods is a key part of tackling climate change.
The government’s independent Climate Change Committee, advises that meat consumption should be reduced by a fifth and that public bodies should promote plant-based foods.
That and the avoidance of food waste are powerful ways to cut carbon emissions. Furthermore, in the UK, only 18 percent of children consume the recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables per day, and most young people’s diets lack fiber.
Providing appealing plant-based school meals along with education on healthy, climate-positive food choices are excellent ways to address these problems.”
With this ruling, the Oxfordshire county council’s events will only be catered with plant-based foods.
The ruling has met some opposition from other council members who do not follow a plant-based diet.
Other than that, this is wonderful news and sets an example for other city council members to adopt more plant-based foods into their diets.
This is wonderful progress as animal agriculture is a huge part of climate change and needs to be addressed more frequently.
They are now setting a positive example for citizens and aligning their actions with their climate goals.
Is it really a “doctrine of salvation” or an “extreme” if one refuses to actively participate in an ecological catastrophe?
What if someone refuses to ignore the barely comprehensible suffering of pigs, chickens and cattle etc.?
There is not one, not a single argument FOR meat consumption that cannot be debunked.
But hundreds against it.
Food from factory farming comes mainly from third countries.
Especially soy.
Rainforest is cleared for soy.
It is said that 4 m² of rainforest have to give way for a hamburger.
All agriculture in third world countries is being destroyed.
The result is hunger.
Millions of people starve to death because we don’t want to do without our cheap schnitzel.
Animal population Germany:
26 million pigs
11 million cattle
173 million poultry
In the first 6 months of 2020, 233,000 tons of pork were exported to China, half of the years before.
Factory farming has a huge impact on the environment.
A pig eats and metabolizes 4 times that of a human.
Most of this feed is imported.
Animal rearing is the main reason the rainforest is cleared!
In Europe, too, feed production contributes to the reduction of biodiversity.
Whether methane gas, ammonia or faeces, the environmental pollution is enormous, groundwater and surface water are contaminated.
The effects on nature are enormous.
Feed imports for 25 million pigs in Germany alone (F 13 million, Ita 9 million).
A pig metabolizes four times as much as a human … pig keeping in Germany alone corresponds to a doubling of the faeces of the German population and an enormous demand for feed is required.
Therefore: We welcome the decision of the Oxfordshire county council and can hope that other institutions will follow suit.
The argument that “nothing should be forbidden when it comes to eating” is irrelevant and can only be explained by the fact that it is first about eating and then about morality, only that in Europe eating is not meant in the sense of survival, but because of it culinary experiences and mostly at the cheapest level.
On the 24th there will be delicious goose in the evening wafer-thin with horseradish – delicious!
First holiday: the usual pork ribs with sauce, Potatoes and Peas & Carrots. Second holiday: stuffed duck
The “animal-loving” people always look forward to that “Festival of Love”
We call it hypocrisy, we call it perverse !
It’s the year 2021, in a few days even 2022.
We know about pain perception, self-awareness and needs of non-human animals …
Every week we see burning fattening systems, animal transports,
Reports from animal husbandry and slaughterhouses, we smell, hear and see all the fear, agony and panic …
We got sickness from consumption of “animal products”.
Nevertheless, we consider ourselves “fond of animals” and “environmentally conscious”.
Not logical, not ethically correct, not up to date!
Our morale breaks down with a crash- more than otherwise in Christmas time .
“Festival roast” is not a tradition, it is the shame of an over-fed human race
So … let’s take the “Festival of Love” by its name and replace our Christmas dinner with a peaceful Christmas menu for which no sentient being was subjected to violence.
We have been sent some videos celebrating some of the animal achievements this year.
Enjoy watching the videos and celebrate your victories; but please remember, at this time, there are still animals confined to cages and stalls, and bears confined to horrific cage systems in order to be milked daily for their bile.
The fight for animal rights is not over – will it ever be ? – but we must celebrate our wonderful results this year and the new lives that are happening for so many animals.
Regards Mark and Venus.
The first video is from Jill at ‘Animals Asia’; who says:
In Vietnam, 16 precious bears are celebrating their first-ever Christmas at our sanctuary.
And in China, 99 bears who made the long journey from the ex-bear bile farm in Nanning to our Chengdu Sanctuary will be celebrating Christmas with their new furry friends outside of concrete enclosures and surrounded by lush green trees.
What an incredible gift you’ve given these beautiful brave survivor bears. They may be thanking Santa Paws, but we are thanking you.
As a small gift to you, we’ve put together a special Christmas video that we hope will bring festive cheer and leave you grinning from ear to ear.
Some supporters sent baubles with touching notes of love and peace to Tuong Lai. You’ll see we made sure she received them.
And you’ll spot Goldie, Wonder, Yen and more joyful bears opening their Christmas gifts and filling up their big round bellies with some of the most deliciously sweet festive treats…
Once again, thank you so much. Your love and dedication to Asia’s animals are the reason so many bears have been freed from pain and suffering this Christmas. And it’ll be the reason no bear is left behind as we work towards ending bear bile farming in Vietnam.
I’d like to wish you and your family a bear-y merry Christmas, on behalf of everyone here at Animals Asia, including, of course, the rescued, contented bears whose lives you’ve changed for the better.
With festive bear hugs,
Jill Robinson MBE, Dr med vet hc, Hon LLD Founder and CEO
The second video is from live export campaigner friend of several decades, Phil at ‘Compassion In World Farming’ (London.
Philip says:
Every petition you have signed, every letter you have written and every £1 you have donated has contributed to making big changes for farmed animals this year that will significantly improve their lives in future. Without you, none of our work would be possible, so thank you.
To show you just how incredible you are, please have a look at this short video highlighting some of the wonderful changes you have helped to achieve.
I do hope you and your loved ones have a wonderful Christmas and I look forward to the great things we can achieve together in 2022. Once again, on behalf of everyone at Compassion: thank you so much for being wonderful! With my warmest wishes,
I do hope you and your loved ones have a wonderful Christmas and I look forward to the great things we can achieve together in 2022. Once again, on behalf of everyone at Compassion: thank you so much for being wonderful!
With my warmest wishes,
Philip Lymbery Global CEO, Compassion in World Farming
All photos from our animal friends at GAIA, Belgium.
22 December 2021
GAIA
GAIA reveals once again the sordid state of Flemish turkey farms with a brand-new video footage, shot in November 2021. The footage shows thousands of turkeys crowded together, severely weakened, crippled, injured and dying; and even corpses in an advanced state of decomposition.
The situation is exactly the same as when GAIA went to three turkey farms in 2019. The intensive farming of turkeys for meat is still completely out of order and respect for animal welfare is totally absent. How is this possible? The reason is simple: there are no specific legal standards for turkey farms. This must change immediately. “In the turkey farms we visited, the situation is so bad that they must be closed down,” insists Ann De Greef, General Manager of GAIA.
Belgium still does not have specific legislation to protect the welfare of turkeys. For example, there is no clear legal limit concerning stocking density: breeders therefore determine for themselves the number of turkeys they wish to cram into a henhouse. “It is practically impossible to squeeze even more turkeys together, because hardly any animals would survive and the death rate is already so high,” says Ann De Greef.
The appalling conditions our investigation team found in the turkey farms we visited shows what the absence of concrete standards leads to. We can’t just settle for minimum standards that make little difference to the well-being of turkeys
Ann De Greef, General Manager, GAIA
GAIA therefore demands strict regulations that will set the bar very high to make a real difference and put an end to the recently exposed abuses.
State of play
There are currently around 25 intensive turkey farms in Flanders. GAIA filmed the living conditions of turkeys on four farms (Casteele turkey farm in Heuvelland, Lavens turkey farm in Wervik, a third in Lichtervelde and a fourth in Lendelede). It is important to note that the Casteele turkey farm in Heuvelland belongs to the president of the Flemish Association of Turkey Breeders: the images of its operations give an idea of the state of play of the sector.
The situation as we discovered it in the four farms visited is terrible
Many turkeys crowded to the point where no additional animals can be added, stocking density taken to the extreme; numerous turkeys with necrotic tissue on their foreheads and hindquarters as a result of pecking, necrotic tissue on the ischium, elbow and other parts of the body, turkeys with bedsores, heavily soiled plumage (by faeces) and tangled, heavily soiled abdominal area, various decomposed and undecomposed carcasses, black scabs on bare skin caused by contact excoriation on a bony protrusion, severely lame turkeys, sick, weak and dying birds unable to stand on their feet in soaked litter, soiled with urine and faeces, rotten, turkeys with bony protrusions, birds with skin sores and heavily infected subcutaneous tissue, with gangrenous scabs on the scapula, severely weakened turkeys unable to reach the watering hole (starving and thirsty), several carcasses gnawed by one or more cats near the boot storage area (we saw a cat who was able to access the carcasses and feed on them); a basin filled with filthy and disgusting water, stagnant water near where a carcass was found; a large number of turkeys with cut beaks, etc.
Turkeys live in their own faeces and those of their fellows, in overcrowded barns, injured due to pecking behaviour which is due, among other things, to a hierarchy disturbed by the excessive number of crowded animals. As in 2019, GAIA observed appalling necrosis (necrotic skin where pecking wounds were inflicted) on the heads and flanks of many turkeys.
GAIA demands strict standards that meet the behavioural needs of turkeys
GAIA therefore calls for very strict legal standards for the breeding of turkeys, which meet the natural behavioural needs of the animals. Stocking densities should be much lower, animals should be able to roam outdoors, perches should be adequate and sufficient, the use of slower growing breeds should be made compulsory, bedding should be dry and sufficient enrichment should be provided (such as straw bales to peck).
Disgusting scandal
As the breed used in intensive turkey breeding is selected for rapid growth, turkeys grow so fast that many suffer from lameness. These animals can die of hunger and thirst because they can no longer reach the watering hole and the feeder. Birds are also unable to clean their plumage, a vital need. “The current intensive farming of turkeys in Flanders is a crying shame,” says Ann De Greef. “The whole system is still a disgusting mockery of the concept of animal welfare, rotten through and through. The situation in Flemish turkey farms is totally unacceptable. There is an urgent need to adopt standards. Concrete, genuinely strict and animal-oriented legal regulations that will effectively protect turkey welfare must be a top priority, otherwise it would be better to stop and no longer breed meat turkeys in Flanders.”
Basic principles of animal welfare and welfare
The veterinarian François Sivine, who analysed the images, speaks of general lack of hygiene and a deplorable quality of litter. He calls the “infirmary” (the place where some animals are kept in isolation) “unbelievable”: the litter on the ground is filthy and soiled with faeces and soaked in ammonia. The average morbidity (disease rate) is “excessive”. Sivine draws a damning observation:
The management of these facilities and their hygiene, as well as in the individual monitoring of animals, is totally unprofessional. This is pure negation of any notion of animal welfare. The behaviour of those responsible for the farms in question is in every way contrary to the most elementary principles of animal protection and welfare
François Sivine, Veterinarian
And Wallonia?
The Walloon Government recently adopted at first reading a draft decree relating to the welfare of turkeys on farms (the intensive / industrial type does not yet exist in the Walloon region). However, the Walloon Minister for Animal Welfare, Céline Tellier, and her colleagues preferred not to follow the recommendations of the experts of the Walloon Council for Animal Welfare who proposed to ensure a density in each henhouse of maximum 30 kg/m2 for females and 36 kg/m2 for males, which corresponds to 3 females per m2 and 2 males per m2. The draft decree provides for 42 kg/m2 for females (4 per m2) and 48 kg/m2 for males (3 per m2). “Obviously, the interests of certain lobbies weigh more in the balance than ensuring a level of decent animal welfare,” remarks Ann De Greef. GAIA, just like the Walloon Union for Animal Welfare and the Francophone Federation of Shelters for Horses and Farm animals for that matter, ask Céline Tellier and the other ministers of the Walloon Government to amend the text for the passage in second reading.