Category: General News

General News, Uncategorized

England: Five Ice-Age Mammoths Unearthed in Cotswolds After 220,000 Years.

WAV Comment – Talking of old fossils – there I was thinking the Conservative Party had only been around since 1834.  Just shows you; you live and learn. Joking aside; an amazing discovery to learn more about the past.

Regards Mark

Sir David Attenborough with some of the mammoth bones
Sir David Attenborough with some of the mammoth bones found in the gravel quarry near Swindon. Photograph: Julian Schwanitz/BBC/Windfall Films

David Attenborough will tell of ‘pristine’ skeletons found with other extinct species

Five ice-age mammoths in an extraordinary state of preservation have been discovered in the Cotswolds, to the astonishment of archaeologists and palaeontologists.

The extensive remains of two adults, two juveniles and an infant that roamed 200,000 years ago have been unearthed near Swindon, along with tools used by Neanderthals, who are likely to have hunted these 10-tonne beasts. More are expected to be found because only a fraction of the vast site, a gravel quarry, has been excavated.

Judging by the quality of the finds, the site is a goldmine. They range from other ice-age giants, such as elks – twice the size of their descendants today, with antlers 10ft across – to tiny creatures, notably dung beetles, which co-evolved with megafauna, using their droppings for food and shelter, and freshwater snails, just like those found today. Even seeds, pollen and plant fossils, including extinct varieties, have been preserved at this site.

Steppe mammoth
An artist’s impression of the Steppe mammoth. Photograph: Beth Zaiken/Reuters

All these will now offer new clues into how our Neanderthal ancestors lived in the harsh conditions of ice-age Britain, a period of prehistory about which little is known. The exceptional discoveries will be explored in a BBC One documentary, Attenborough and the Mammoth Graveyard, to be aired on 30 December, in which Sir David Attenborough and evolutionary biologist Professor Ben Garrod join archaeologists from DigVentures to film the excavation.

Garrod told the Observer: “This is one of the most important discoveries in British palaeontology.” While the odd mammoth bone often turns up, he said, finding such complete skeletons is “incredibly rare”. “Where these mammoths lie in the ground is exactly where they died a quarter of a million years ago – next to incredible things like stone tools and the snails they trampled underfoot.

“We have evidence of what the landscape was like. We know what plants were growing there. The little things are really revealing the context of these big, iconic giants. It’s a glimpse back in time. That’s incredibly important in terms of us understanding how climate change especially impacts environments, ecosystems and species.”

Lisa Westcott Wilkins of DigVentures, an archaeology social enterprise, said: “Exciting doesn’t cover it. Other mammoths have been found in the UK but not in this state of preservation. They’re in near-pristine condition. You can’t take it in.”

She added: “Archaeological sites from this period are rare, and critical for understanding Neanderthal behaviour across Britain and Europe. Why did so many mammoths die here? Could Neanderthals have killed them? What can they tell us about life in ice-age Britain? The range of evidence at this site gives us a unique chance to address these questions.”

The researchers believe that the mammoth remains and the artefacts date to around 220,000 years ago, when Britain was still occupied by Neanderthals during a warmer interglacial period known as MIS7. Falling temperatures had forced Neanderthals south, and this site was then a lush, fertile plain to which both animals and humans were drawn.

Archaeologists excavating the mammoth bones

Archaeologists excavating the mammoth bones. Photograph: DigVentures

The earliest mammoths came from Africa about five million years ago. This particular species, the Steppe mammoth, was the largest of them, and lasted from about 1.8m years ago to about 200,000 years ago.

Garrod, professor of evolutionary biology at the University of East Anglia, said the species weighed up to 15 tonnes, twice or three times the weight of an African elephant: “This was the largest species of mammoth ever. By the time they were about to be gone, they had dropped down to 10 tonnes, which still sounds a lot. We think that was an adaptation to the change in environment, climate and resource availability. It was becoming colder at that time, resources were getting sparser, and it drove that shrinking of the species. On top of that, there would have been undoubtedly local pressure from hunting and competition from other species.”

Speculating on why so many animals died at this site, he added: “Was there a massive glacial flood that washed these poor animals down? By looking at the mud, it doesn’t look like there was. It’s very uniform all the way down. Were they hunted by people? Were Neanderthals crouching down in the rushes and chasing them into the water? Possibly. There is definitely an association between a wonderful hand-axe and other stone tools and these bones. Did they chance upon this bunch of dead mammoths and have a mammoth buffet?

“Or was it just really muddy? With elephants today, if a juvenile gets stuck, often the adults won’t leave the site. They’ll try and help them. This is very thick mud. I’ve grown up near the seaside, near estuaries; you don’t need to be very heavy to get stuck in mud very quickly.”

The excavations also revealed further evidence of Neanderthal activity on the site, including flint tools that would have been used for cleaning fresh hides. Some of the bones have possible butchery marks.

DigVentures is a team of archaeologists that specialises in public outreach. They were called in after a Neanderthal’s hand-axe was found with the initial discovery of mammoth remains by amateur fossil-hunters Sally and Neville Hollingworth.

DigVentures raised the funding from Historic England, dug the site and is coordinating the analysis and research. They hope to continue excavations once further funds have been raised. The site is now protected from fossil hunters by natural flooding.

Westcott Wilkins praised the Hills Group, the quarry owners, for allowing them as long as they need: “There are also early discussions about wanting to build a public outreach centre where we can display some of the finds.” Other finds are expected to go to the Bristol Museum.

She noted that the mammoths were barely five metres below ground level and close to a busy road: “People are whizzing by, not realising that feet underneath their car is this scene. It’s very surreal. We’re all still trying to get our heads around what we found.”

Regards Mark

Environmental, General News, Hunting

EU: Ivory Trade: Steps Forward Against Elephant Poaching and Ivory Trafficking.

17 December 2021

News

The European Commission adopts a set of new measures to end ivory trade. While they will help in the fight against wildlife crime and to protect elephants, significant gaps remain.

Yesterday,(16/12/21) the European Commission adopted the revised Guidance on the EU regime governing ivory trade, following measures already taken under the EU Action Plan against Wildlife Trafficking to “eradicate illicit ivory from the EU market”. 

The new measures suspend trade in raw ivory on the EU market except for the exclusive purpose of repairing objects containing ancient ivory. Together with amendments made to Commission Regulation 865/2006, the Guidance also suspends intra-EU trade in worked ivory items, unless strict conditions are fulfilled. 

While Eurogroup for Animals welcome the Commission’s amendments to Regulation 865/2006 and the revised guidance document on the EU regime governing trade in ivory, some significant gaps still remain. 

The trade restrictions on worked ivory are only partially addressed in the Regulation (with the rest being in the guidance document), and those on raw ivory are currently only included in the guidance document and therefore are not legally binding for Member States.

Eurogroup for Animals has been directly involved in the process of developing the new rules, through participation in meetings, consultations, drafting documents and public mobilisation. 

The recently adopted measures represent a great achievement in the fight against wildlife crime and the slaughter of elephants. However, we will continue working, together with our members, to ensure that the new rules are duly implemented by Member States and strictly monitored by the European Commission.

Reineke Hameleers, CEO, Eurogroup for Animals

Regards Mark

Environmental, Farm Animals, General News

EU / China: EU investments driving unsustainable farming in China.

17 December 2021

Study found a significant increase in EU investments flowing to the Chinese livestock sector following the introduction of new investment rules in China. In the absence of sufficient animal welfare related standards in the country, this practice harms the global transition towards sustainable food systems, and fuels the public health and environmental crises the planet faces.

In 2020, EU and EFTA-based investors owned shares worth around €4.5 billion across four of the largest Chinese meat and dairy companies: WH Group, Muyuan, Mengniu and Yili. With the introduction of new investment rules in China, investors like JP Morgan Asset Management Europe, Allianz SE and BNP Paribas significantly increased their shareholding. 

In recent years, European livestock giants like Tonnies and Danone have also entered the Chinese market. Tonnies, whose core business is pork and beef processing, spent €500 million in 2019 on a slaughter and butchering centre in the Sichuan region, initially for two million pigs a year (rising to six million), while Danone earned almost €1 billion in profits from the 2021 sale of its stake in Chinese dairy company Mengniu. The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund, which holds the world’s biggest stock portfolio, also entered the market after the new rules were introduced, now owning shares worth approximately €437 million in these four companies. 

The business opportunities may seem eye-watering, but a perfect storm of economic, cultural and regulatory issues that accompany EU investments into the Chinese livestock sector could lead to misery for millions of animals. China’s livestock sector is growing in the direction of greater intensification and automation, and the welfare problems associated with intensive livestock are well known and increase with scale.

In addition to being detrimental to animal welfare, intensive industrial farming has a very negative impact on the environment (air, water and ground pollution), biodiversity (as related land-use changes often lead to habitat loss), public health (as intensive conditions tend to favour the spread of zoonoses and antimicrobial resistance) and climate change (as animals emit greenhouse gases, and also because of the related deforestation). Intensive farming also leads to huge volumes of waste (i.e. high level of water use, animal remains, excrement, water and soil pollution). 

Without careful management and awareness of the welfare concerns associated with intensification and automation – and in the absence of further regulation in China – EU investments risk transforming China into a living laboratory for futuristic experiments in animal husbandry, with consequences that could affect the entire planet. 

In that context, the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) – which has not been ratified yet – is also a missed opportunity as it does not allow to address a situation where investments fostered under the deal would fuel unsustainable sectors.

To prevent such situation, Eurogroup for Animals thus calls on the European Commission, the European Parliament and EU Member States to:

  • adopt effective rules on due diligence, including animal welfare within their scope; 
  • bring up the animal welfare dimension in the work started with China on agreed terms for responsible investment;
  • establish a cooperation mechanism with China around animal welfare standards;
  • promote a reform of the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principles in multilateral development banks where the EU and/or its Member States are share owners to include EU-equivalent animal welfare  requirements.

The sustainability of EU investments in the Chinese livestock sector – The role of Animal Welfare

File

Report: The sustainability of EU investments in the Chinese livestock sector – The role of Animal Welfare2.38 MB

Regards Mark

Environmental, General News

England: ‘Gentle giants’: rangers prepare for return of wild bison to UK.

European wild bison

The rangers will manage the first wild bison to roam in the UK for thousands of years. Photograph: Tom Gibbs and Donovan Wright

Animals arrive in Kent in spring 2022 and will create forest clearings – described as ‘jet fuel for biodiversity’

“When you see them in the wild, there’s this tangible feeling of humility and respect,” says Tom Gibbs, one of the UK’s first two bison rangers. “The size of them instantly demands your respect, although they are quite docile. I wouldn’t say they are scary, but you’re aware of what they can do.”

The rangers will manage the first wild bison to roam in the UK for thousands of years when four animals arrive in north Kent in the spring of 2022. The bison are Europe’s largest land animal – bulls can weigh a tonne – and were extinct in the wild a century ago, but are recovering through reintroduction projects across Europe.

“They are magnificent animals, truly gentle giants,” says colleague Donovan Wright, who spent 20 years working with rhino, cape buffalo and other large animals in southern Africa. “The Kent project is very different, but it’s no less important.”

Wright says: “How amazing will it be to track the largest land mammal in the UK on foot right here in [Kent]? To experience something like this only five miles from Canterbury would be just incredible, and help people reconnect with nature.”

Gibbs and Wright have just returned from training with wild bison herds in the Netherlands, where they were reintroduced in 2007. The £1m Kent project is called Wilder Blean and is run by the Kent Wildlife Trust and the Wildwood Trust, and funded by the People’s Postcode Lottery. A principal aim is for the bison to rewild a dense, former commercial pine forest.

Continued on page 2

Tom Gibbs (L) and Donovan Wright.
Tom Gibbs (L) and Donovan Wright. Photograph: Tom Gibbs and Donovan Wright
Pages: 1 2
Environmental, General News

Bugs across globe are evolving to eat plastic, study finds.
Plastic washed ashore on Berawa Beach, Bali, Indonesia.
Plastic washed ashore on Berawa Beach, Bali, Indonesia. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Bugs across globe are evolving to eat plastic, study finds

Surprising discovery shows scale of plastic pollution and reveals enzymes that could boost recycling

Bugs across globe are evolving to eat plastic, study finds | Plastics | The Guardian

Microbes in oceans and soils across the globe are evolving to eat plastic, according to a study.

The research scanned more than 200m genes found in DNA samples taken from the environment and found 30,000 different enzymes that could degrade 10 different types of plastic.

The study is the first large-scale global assessment of the plastic-degrading potential of bacteria and found that one in four of the organisms analysed carried a suitable enzyme. The researchers found that the number and type of enzymes they discovered matched the amount and type of plastic pollution in different locations.

The results “provide evidence of a measurable effect of plastic pollution on the global microbial ecology”, the scientists said.

Millions of tonnes of plastic are dumped in the environment every year, and the pollution now pervades the planet, from the summit of Mount Everest to the deepest oceans. Reducing the amount of plastic used is vital, as is the proper collection and treatment of waste.

But many plastics are currently hard to degrade and recycle. Using enzymes to rapidly break down plastics into their building blocks would enable new products to be made from old ones, cutting the need for virgin plastic production. The new research provides many new enzymes to be investigated and adapted for industrial use.

“We found multiple lines of evidence supporting the fact that the global microbiome’s plastic-degrading potential correlates strongly with measurements of environmental plastic pollution – a significant demonstration of how the environment is responding to the pressures we are placing on it,” said Prof Aleksej Zelezniak, at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden.

Continued on next page

Pages: 1 2
Environmental, General News

Pesticides have polluted our rivers and lakes – and there’s no quick fix.

From ‘The Guardian’, London.

Pesticides have polluted our rivers and lakes – and there’s no quick fix
Damian Carrington   I have been reporting on pesticides for more than a decade, but some revelations really stick in my mind. One was the discovery in 2013 of insecticide pollution in the ditches by Dutch fields that was so bad the water itself could have been used as an effective pest killer. Not surprisingly the impact on dragonflies, snails and other wild water creatures was devastating.

The situation does not appear to have improved. New research by the European Environment Agency showed excessive levels of pesticides in about a quarter of rivers and lakes across the EU, with the Netherlands the worst affected. More than half of all Dutch water bodies – 56% – had high levels of pesticides, including 62% of lakes.
Agriculture is particularly intensive in the Netherlands, but it is far from alone in dousing its landscapes in pesticides. In Italy, Belgium, the Czech Republic and Finland, about half of water bodies were heavily polluted, as well as 38% in Germany, 33% in Ireland, and 26% in France.

The EEA also reported excess pesticides in groundwater in about 5% of sites. The striking aspect of this was that the most common pollutant was atrazine, which was banned in the EU in 2007. “It is very persistent,” said the EEA, which also noted that, unlike most pollutants, pesticides are specifically designed to kill living things.

The data analysed by the EEA was taken from more than 20,000 monitoring sites across the EU between 2013 and 2019, but it is far from the full picture. Only half the pesticides detected have exceeded limits set by Europe – the other half could not be included in the study.
The data is also reported voluntarily by countries, meaning considerable gaps remain, but there is no indication of an improving situation. The UK is no longer an EU member, so was not included in the EEA analysis, but insecticides were revealed to be polluting rivers in England in 2017.

The number of different pesticides reported in EU rivers and lakes was more than 100 in Germany and Italy. France detected 215 different pesticides in groundwater. That reminded me of another striking finding from France, from a study I reported in 2017: virtually all farms could significantly cut their pesticide use while still producing as much food. Most pesticides are applied “just in case”, the work showed, doing little other than harming nature.

Only a few months after that, another memorable study laid out the big picture: the assumption by regulators around the world that it is safe to use pesticides at industrial scales across landscapes is false, said senior scientists. With no limit on the total amount of pesticides used, and virtually no monitoring of their effects in the environment, the damage is done before it is detected.

The new EEA analysis comes at an important time. The European Green Deal plan is aiming to reduce the use of, and risks from, chemical pesticides by 50% by 2030. Addressing the risks, as well as the volume, of pesticides is vital – the amount being used is falling, but the increasing toxicity of the chemicals is outpacing that fall.

But cutting pesticide use it is not going to be easy. Last week, the website DeSmog published an investigation into the powerful companies and lobby groups working to water down the EU’s targets for more sustainable farming. These companies and groups spent €45m lobbying EU decision-makers between 2019 and 2020, DeSmog reported, and held hundreds of meetings with relevant bodies.

Natacha Cingotti, at the Brussels-based Health and Environmental Alliance, said: “When working on pesticide-related policies, the imbalance of stakeholders in favour of industry interests is striking. The dominating actors are those very companies set to profit from the sale of harmful chemicals, not those who stand for health and environment protection.”

It looks like I’ll be writing about pesticides for the next decade as well.  

Regards Mark    


Environmental, General News

England: London Mayor (Sadiq Khan) Leads Ambitious Plans To Rewild Hyde Park.
The Serpentine in Hyde Park, west London, in autumn.
The Serpentine in Hyde Park, west London, in autumn. Photograph: Tim M/Alamy

WAV Comment:  London town – home of the brash, outrageous and free !

We very much welcome this releasing of funds to bring nature directly into central London.  Hyde park and Richmond park are such wonderful places for city folk to escape into a more natural environment before they head off back to metropolis land.

Anything that brings back nature deserves support; and we very much welcome this proposal.

Regards Mark

London mayor releases £600,000 funding to help create green rooftops and reintroduce lost species

Hyde Park could be redesigned and lost species including beavers reintroduced to London under ambitious rewilding plans.

The city’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, is working with Ben Goldsmith – a member of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the brother of Khan’s former rival for the mayoral election Zac Goldsmith – to boost nature in the capital, including making the royal parks wilder and encouraging people to plant green rooftops.

Ben Goldsmith said the plans would involve “more wild spaces, more scrub, river rewiggling and species reintroductions”.

Khan has released £600,000 in funding to assist the project, which will help London reach its net zero goal. Further fundraising will take place, with members of the new London rewilding roundtable group tasked with sourcing private donations.

Goldsmith said: “I’m so excited to be working with Sadiq on this new rewilding taskforce for London. All people need to experience close connection with nature in their lives, and yet for many Londoners this is a remote possibility today.

“From green rooftops to pocket parks, nest boxes for peregrines and swifts, rewiggling streams and reintroducing long lost native species, our plan is to weave wild nature back through the very fabric of our city.”

There are 1,600 places designated by local authorities as sites of importance for nature conservation, covering 20% of the capital. These include Richmond Park, Sydenham Hill Wood and the downlands in Bromley and Croydon that inspired Charles Darwin’s discoveries. At the moment, just half of these are deemed appropriately managed to conserve or enhance the wildlife.

The project will focus on 20-30 of these sites to protect species including stag beetles, sparrows, peregrine falcons and water voles. Khan has stated an aim for all Londoners to live within a 10-minute walk of green space, with this scheme aiming to connect existing spaces so everyone in the capital can enjoy nature.

A red deer stag at sunrise on a winter’s morning in Richmond Park, south-west London.
A red deer stag at sunrise on a winter’s morning in Richmond Park, south-west London. Photograph: Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images

It is also hoped the work will help tackle problems that plague Londoners including flooding and air pollution. Improving floodplains, rewiggling streams and boosting the health of rivers can alleviate floods, and planting more greenery can ease air pollution.

Khan said: “The UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. In London, we need to take bold action to ensure we not only halt the decline of biodiversity in our natural environment but pave the way for growth and change.

“That’s why I’ve announced my new rewilding fund, which will help restore the capital’s precious wildlife sites, improve biodiversity and ensure all Londoners have a thriving web of nature on their doorstep. And as part of our green new deal, we’re supporting young Londoners to gain the skills required for jobs that help secure a future for London’s natural environment.”

Nature campaigners have been trying to add wildlife back to London, with a beaver group comprising Wildlife Trusts, the Beaver Trust and Citizen Zoo working on how to return the species to the capital.

The community wilding group Citizen Zoo is also involved with projects to return grasshoppers and water voles to areas in the city in which they have been depleted or lost.

Sadiq Khan leads ambitious plans to rewild Hyde Park | Rewilding | The Guardian

Regards Mark

Above – Hyde Park London.

History

King Henry VIII expropriated the park from the church in 1536. It then became a hunting ground (Boo !) for kings and aristocrats, and later a place for duels, executions and horse racing. The park was the site of the Great Exhibition in 1851, and during WWII became a vast potato bed. 

Above – The deer at Richmond Park, London

General News

European Parliament Shows Broad Political Support to Stop Circus Suffering.

16 December 2021

Thanks to 1 million citizens demanding action for wild animals in circuses, today the European Parliament (EP) discussed the topic in plenary for the very first time. The European Commission’s position is not committal and in sharp opposition to the EP’s demand for action. However, the debate showed a groundswell of political support to end the suffering of wild animals in entertainment, and a recognition for the public and civil society demands.

Back in October Eurogroup for Animals and its members, along with InfoCircos, handed over the 1 million signatures collected through the Stop Circus Suffering campaign to representatives of the European Parliament, Eleonora Evi MEP and Anja Hazekamp MEP. 

Today an “EU ban on the use of wild animals in circuses” made it to the Plenary agenda with an oral question: “Does the Commission intend to introduce a ban on the use of wild circus animals in the EU in order to ensure that the exposure to the risks of the illegal wildlife trade and risks to public health and security are uniformly mitigated across the Member States and to assist with the enforcement of national restrictions for the majority of Member States that already apply them?” and was discussed after a statement from the European Commission (EC).

The EC’s representative clearly stated that it’s an ethical issue for which only Member States (MSs) have competency. Even if the welfare of wild animals used in circuses raises concern, it’s only on the MSs to act, hence he invited them to follow the ones which have already implemented bans.    

MEPs from across the political spectrum and from a variety of MSs countered this statement and urgedthe EC not to hide behind a lack of competency. They stressed the need to listen to citizens and base the decision on science: in circuses wild animals are not only imprisoned and forced to behave unnaturally, they also pose a threat when it comes to the risk of disease transmission, to the accidents which impact trainers and public, and the use of endangered species could fuel their illegal trade.  

New circus performances without animals could keep the tradition alive without inflicting unnecessary suffering to animals and not losing anything in terms of creativity and performance. 

We welcome the strong crossparty support from the EP and the call for the Commission to not hide behind a lack of competence as several grounds could be used to enact a ban. We will not stop our efforts until the EC acts to safeguard all the wild animals currently trapped for “entertainment”, their welfare is a European responsibility and we’re going to make their voices heard

Reineke Hameleers, CEO Eurogroup for Animals

Yesterday, AAP Animal Advocacy and Protection, a member organisation of Eurogroup for Animals, signed a contract with the Portuguese authorities to rescue almost all of the remaining wild animals from Portuguese circuses. Portugal’s national ban on the use of wild animals in circuses, enacted in 2018, will enter into full force in 2024. To aid the enforcement, AAP offered suitable rescue solutions for all the remaining wild circus animals, to which most of the circuses agreed. 

The rescue community is always willing to step up and offer solutions to enforcement authorities in implementing these important bans. But we must not forget that this cruel and dangerous use of wild animals in circuses is inherently a cross-border issue, as is the rescue of these animals. We are being asked to coordinate rescues across the EU, because there are no mechanisms in place for this. These transboundary issues are still left solely to Member States to deal with nationally, while they so clearly require an EU solution. We really need the EU to step up and play its coordinating and harmonizing role here

David van Gennep, CEO, AAP.  

Text of the Oral Question

EU Stop Circus Suffering campaign

Read the report Wild Animals in EU Circuses : Problems, Risks and Solutions also available in French

Regards Mark

General News

Medina Spirit- the new victim of the horse racing mafia

Update: December 10, 2021

After PETA requested a thorough investigation into the sudden death of 3-year-old racehorse and Kentucky Derby “winner” Medina Spirit, we’re taking it a step further to protect other horses trained by Bob Baffert. Yesterday, we called on the California Horse Racing Board to protect the surviving horses in trainer Bob Baffert’s barn by issuing what amounts to a restraining order against him.

Medina Spirit

Pending necropsy results, PETA is calling for 24/7 security guards and additional drug testing. We’re also pushing the board to ban Baffert from having unsupervised contact with the horses in his barn and from making any veterinary decisions about them, as well as appointing an independent veterinarian to make all medical decisions.

Update: December 7, 2021

Medina Spirit collapsed and died during a workout at Santa Anita racetrack.

Trainer Bob Baffert claimed that the horse died of a heart attack—but this isn’t the only time one of his horses has suddenly dropped dead.

Medina Spirit

Seven of Baffert’s horses died mysteriously during a 16-month period that was suspiciously linked to his reckless and routine administration of the powerful hormone thyroxine to horses without thyroid conditions.

He has continued to be embroiled in drug controversies since then, right up until Medina Spirit’s notorious positive drug test in the Kentucky Derby.

All of Medina Spirit’s veterinary records must be seized, and a thorough investigation must be conducted. Baffert’s attorneys must not be allowed to control the narrative.

PETA urges Del Mar and Santa Anita racetrack officials to bar Baffert pending the outcome of an investigation and necropsy.

Medina Spirit –  Bob Baffert

UPDATE: June 3, 2021

Now that a second sample from the Bob Baffert–trained horse Medina Spirit has tested positive for a prohibited substance, bettors who’ve been cheated by putting money down on the rigged Kentucky Derby may contact PETA or attorneys who are filing class-action lawsuits.

But it’s important to remember the other victim here: Medina Spirit.
He should be thoroughly examined by independent veterinarians to find out why he was administered a powerful medication and whether it was through injections to his joints rather than with a topical cream.
The racing industry must at last stop buying Baffert’s nonsensical excuses and kick him out for good.

Bob Baffert and Medina Spirit, the morning after the May 1 Kentucky Derby.

“Doping horses has got to stop—not only is it cruel, it’s also race fixing. This settlement serves as a shot across the bow to trainers who care more about their bank accounts than about horses: Stop cheating or risk having to pay up.”
(PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo)

Performance-enhancing drugs often mask horses’ pain, allowing them to race and train with injuries that would otherwise be disabling.
Illegal doping and the overuse of medication are rampant and frequently lead to injury, broken bones, and death.

As a PETA investigation showed, illegal drugging is common in horseracing, as is the misuse of anti-inflammatories, painkillers, muscle relaxants, and more to keep injured horses on the track and bringing in money when they should be recuperating from strains and injuries.

An average of three horses die every day on racetracks in the U.S.

https://www.peta.org/blog/bettor-sues-horse-trainer-owner-doping/

And I mean… Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit was training on a California racetrack. Then suddenly the horse collapsed.
Betamethasone has been detected in Medina Spirit.
This is an anti-inflammatory steroid that can be administered no later than 14 days before a race.
Of course Baffert did not want to know anything about it, he emphasized that he had not given the horse the remedy.

In recent years, however, Baffert has repeatedly been targeted by the state horse racing authorities, as permanently prohibited substances have been detected in horses from his stables.

Many people view horse racing as a harmless sport in which the animals are willing participants who enjoy the thrill to the fullest.
The truth is that behind the scenes lies a story of immense suffering.

The life of a horse used for racing is miserable and painful:

-The use of performance-enhancing and pain-masking drugs is rampant in the racing industry. The horses are more likely to suffer from pulmonary bleeding and catastrophic injuries on the track as they’re pushed beyond their physical limits.

– While their bones are still growing and not yet strong enough to handle the speed of racing, the abuse of yearlings and 2-year-olds in training is commonplace, resulting in catastrophic injuries and often death.

– Jockeys have been known to whip horses so mercilessly that the animals’ eyes have hemorrhaged and they’ve sustained other injuries.
As if the races themselves weren’t hard enough, the horses endure repeated auctions, serial ownership, and constant travel throughout their careers.

Racehorse at the slaughterhouse – Australia

Retirement equals slaughter.
Whenthe animals are no longer making money, they’re shipped to Mexico, Canada, or Japan to be slaughtered for food.

The easiest and best way to speak out against the horceracing Mafia is by not supporting these tragic events.

We want an end to all horse racing because it is a cruel and exploitative industry.
We can all help: Avoid anything horse racing related and educate your friends about the cruelty to animals practiced by unscrupulous veterinarians and business people to make money from horses.

My best regards to all, Venus