From Badger Hero friends at the Somerset Badger Group.
Regards Mark
Category: General News
Prince Charles Reduces Meat Intake, Talks Ending Factory Farming (plantbasednews.org)
Prince Charles Talks Reducing Meat Intake, Ending Factory Farming, And Greta Thunberg
The Prince of Wales highlights what we must do to help mitigate the climate crisis and create more ‘harmony’ in nature…
Prince Charles has revealed he’s stopped eating meat and fish for two days a week, and has so ‘for years’. He made the remarks in a major interview with the BBC, where he discussed environmentalism and deplored intensive animal agriculture, industrial fishing, and deforestation.
Princes Charles interview
When asked about how he felt about his grandchildren inheriting the world in its current state, HRH replied that he was ‘deeply worried’.
Speaking on The Big Interviews, which aired today, he said: “I’ve always felt that we are overexploiting and damaging nature by not understanding how much we depend on everything that nature provides and somehow not understanding or being trained to believe that nature is a separate thing from us.
“And, that we can just exploit and control and suppress everything about it without suffering the consequences.”
Humans’ disruption on the planet is ‘mammoth’, he adds.
And it’s because of this that he has changed his diet. ‘For years’ he has limited his meat and fish intake, taking two days off. And one day a week, he doesn’t eat dairy.
Moreover, if more people did the same, pressure on the environment would be greatly reduced, he said.
“…The business of what we eat of course is important.”
Climate activism
And when asked about his views on Greta Thunberg, he said he’s always been thinking about the next generation.
Across history, ‘nobody would address the issues’, he said. But upon meeting her, he says he shared her anger: “They see their future being totally destroyed… People should notice how despairing young people are.”
Further, when pressed on Extinction Rebellion, despite commending their efforts, he noted that activism isn’t ‘helpful’ when ‘done in a way that alienates people’.
“The difficulty is how do you direct that frustration in a way that is more constructive rather than destructive.”
Carbon footprint
On personal impacts on the environment, Prince Charles was reminded of his own carbon footprint: the heating of the royal family’s palaces cited as an example.
“The more we disrupt it the more impossible it is.”
Prince Charles
And, on whether people should reduce the amount they fly and their meat intake, Prince Charles responds: “Flying, hopefully, will become easier and more sustainable.”
Collective pressures are being made to help boost sustainable actions in the private sector, he notes. Here, there are trillions of dollars available, he says.
Charles also spoke about where animal products are sourced, advocating for grass-fed ‘quality’ meat over industrial farming.
He also brought the conversation round to ‘endless perverse’ subsidies in industrial fishing and intensive animal agriculture industries. This is ‘crazy’, he says and has led to scaling emissions.
On COP26 in particular, he hopes to ‘unlock’ vast investment and opportunities in the wake of COP26, to approach a more sustainable economy. “It’s a last chance saloon,” he says.
The alternative? “It will be catastrophic, it’s already starting to be catastrophic because nothing in nature can survive the stress that is created by these extremes of weather…The more we disrupt it the more impossible it is.”
Regards Mark
Pigs are intelligent, emotional and loyal, but many meat eaters who struggle to justify their continued consumption can’t imagine giving up their favourite pork product.
Vegans like me seem to unsettle a lot of meat-eaters, particularly around the dinner table. It doesn’t even matter if we stay quiet about our chosen lifestyle; I find that carnivore friends spontaneously start justifying themselves to me, even though I didn’t ask. It’s as if their morality is challenged by the mere presence of someone who’s thought about it and decided to be vegan.
These sorts of meat-eaters have a favourite wisecrack: “Bacon, though…”
Vegans have heard it a million times. For many people, bacon is the deal-breaker. I’ve lost count of the number of times someone has said to me: “I would go vegan, but I wouldn’t be able to live without bacon.”
I wonder if people would allow the streaky snack to stand in the way of morality if they knew how intelligent and loving pigs are.
Researchers at Cambridge University discovered that pigs are as smart as three-year-old humans. They can follow logical processes, learn sign language and play computer games.
Neuroscientists at Emory University found that pigs can solve problems as well as chimpanzees. Even a slaughterman who killed pigs for a living said: “I reckon they got more sense than we have.”
Experts say that pigs have huge emotional depth: they display trust, empathy, forgiveness, grief, fear, sorrow and joy. In one study they were observed displaying empathy for others who were happy or stressed.
Pigs can dream and sing. In the wild they like to chase each other, play-fight, and roll down hills for fun. They show loyalty, and can remember someone they met as long as three years previously.
Bacon, though.
These wonderful animals have often saved people’s lives. A pig called Priscilla rescued a mentally challenged boy who was drowning in Texas’s Lake Somerville by swimming him to safety as he held onto her collar. A pig called Lucky saved a woman and her two grandchildren by waking them as their Illinois home began to burn down.
In Pennsylvania, a pig called Lulu saved the life of her owner, who had suffered a heart attack in her trailer. Lulu scraped her way out of the home and lay down in the road, bringing traffic to a standstill. When a driver got out of his car, Lulu led him back into the home, where an ambulance was called.
What love they show us – and what wickedness we show them in return. In intensive factory farms, sows are artificially inseminated over and over. The majority of sows reared in Britain are kept in metal crates just centimetres bigger than their bodies.
Even in farms with higher welfare standards, little piglets have their ears punctured, teeth clipped and tails cut without anaesthetic. On some farms, piglets who grow too slowly are killed by being slammed headfirst onto concrete floors. This standard industry practice is called “thumping”
Around 86 per cent of pigs slaughtered for food in the UK are killed in gas chambers. Yes, gas chambers. As Jane Dalton’s recent long read for The Independent revealed, pigs “scream in pain and gasp for breath while the gas acidifies their eyes, nostrils, mouths and lungs,” and “scramble to try to escape, panicking and in distress” before they “literally burn from the inside out”.
Bacon, though.
The human race’s complex relationship with pigs was shown in 1998, when two pigs escaped from an abattoir in Wiltshire, swam a river and ran off.
The pigs – Butch and her brother Sundance – spent a week on the run. They were dubbed the Tamworth Two and became a media sensation. Over 100 journalists drove to the south-west to search for them in muddy woods. Television crews hovered above in helicopters.
The pigs were mentioned in parliament and on Radio 4’s Thought for the Day. When their owner said that once they were found he would take them back to the slaughterhouse, there was a public outcry. These national heroes were eventually rehomed at a sanctuary. Sundance lived to be 14 years old.
The saga captured what scientists call cognitive dissonance. Most of the people cheering on the Tamworth Two were meat eaters. The same people tucked into pork chops or bacon sandwiches straight afterwards. But the thought of those two pigs getting killed still upset them.
It’s the same with pigs in popular culture. Peppa Pig and the piggy star of the movie Babe capture the hearts of all who watch. But what sort of love is it? Most of the same kids who are captivated by Peppa and her friends are also fed the flesh of other pigs – pigs that have had a hellish life and terrifying death. What would Peppa say?
As the vegan market rockets, there are now vegan sausages and bacon rashers that are just as good as their meat equivalents. I get that people love bacon. But if you can get the same salty taste and mouthfeel without hurting and killing a pig, wouldn’t that be better all round?
Regards Mark
A PETA eyewitness investigation of Hemopet—a canine blood “bank” in Garden Grove, California—found that this so-called “rescue” warehouses approximately 200 greyhounds bred for and discarded by the racing industry in tiny crates and barren kennels for about 23 hours out of every day—even when they were sick or injured in fights with stressed kennelmates—and boasts that it sells their blood to over 2,000 veterinary clinics in North America and Asia.
Barren Enclosures, No Space to Move Around
Hemopet kept many of the greyhounds in barren, rusty kennels. Others were locked in crates so small that they could barely turn around or even stand up or stretch, and could hardly even see any other dogs.
These greyhounds—who, like all dogs, were eager to run and play and longed for companionship—were taken out of their cages only to be bled, walked briefly, or put into barren concrete-floored pens for a few minutes. Dr. Emma Milne, a veterinarian who reviewed the footage, said, “The length of time they are spending in the cages is completely unacceptable, especially given the size and nature of the cages. Dogs are social animals with complex behavioural and social needs. These welfare needs are not being met at all in this environment” [emphasis in original].
Tails Severed and ‘Dangling by a Little Nerve’
If you’ve ever donated blood, you probably sat on a cushioned chair and enjoyed some orange juice before heading home. But at Hemopet, greyhounds—who are intelligent, gentle, active dogs—were confined for about 23 hours a day, every day, on hard surfaces for months or even years. This perpetual imprisonment caused them to suffer from hair loss, calluses, and pockets of accumulated fluid under the skin.
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WAV Comment – ABTA is the Association of British Travel Agents – the overseeing body to which travel agents belong.
Urge ABTA to Include Dolphin and Whale Captivity Among Its Unacceptable Practices
ABTA, a travel trade association, is letting dolphins and whales down! Remind it that marine animals need protection, too.
The company advises against the promotion of tourist activities such as bullfighting and elephant rides. Urge it to update its Animal Welfare Guidelines to add facilities that exploit dolphins and whales to its “unacceptable practices” list.
Why Marine Parks Suck
All animals deserve respect. They aren’t selfie props or circus attractions.
Whales and dolphins are complex, highly intelligent animals who have their own language and culture. In the ocean, orcas can swim up to 140 miles a day. Imagine how they feel being imprisoned in cramped tanks.
Orcas are left to languish in concrete tanks about 10,000 times smaller than their natural home range. They may also be drugged with diazepam and other tranquilisers. At SeaWorld, 140 dolphins are packed into just seven tanks. Their water is chemically treated, and they’re forced to perform confusing tricks. Life in a marine park is no life at all.
ABTA Needs to Do Better!
ABTA’s Animal Welfare Guidelines lists wild-animal performances among its unacceptable practices. But why is it OK with letting marine mammals endure a life of misery in watery prisons?
The UK hasn’t had these cruel attractions since the 1990s, and Belgium, Canada, France, and India have banned cetacean captivity. Airbnb, British Airways Holidays, Your Co-op Travel , and Virgin Holidays refuse to promote marine parks. ABTA is now lagging behind, allowing members like TUI to continue to support these barbaric spectacles.
Take Action
PETA has highlighted the cruelty behind marine parks to ABTA, but the organisation is dragging its feet. Join us and urge it to live up to its “responsible tourism at home and abroad” claim by doing the right thing for whales and dolphins.
Ask ABTA to revise its animal welfare guidelines and add promoting captive cetacean tourist destinations to its list of unacceptable practices:
Action – Urge ABTA to Include Dolphin and Whale Captivity Among Its Unacceptable Practices | People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (peta.org.uk)
Regards Mark
…would have bought a bed from IKEA long ago
regards, Venus
WAV Comment: The killing of hunt hounds is not new; it has happened for ages.
In the UK there was a thing known as the ‘cub hunting season’; where new hunt hounds were ‘tested’ out the innocent cubs of a fox pack to see if they had the ‘blood lust’ that was required of them.
Often, if they were found to be too docile and lack that killer instinct, then those hounds were ‘dispatched’ by the hunts – by that, we mean shot through the head and disposed of. It has been captured on video in the past.
Regards Mark
Latest:
Secret filming shows hounds being shot dead at hunt kennels
ITV is a major British television station.
Secret filming shows hounds being shot dead at hunt kennels | ITV News
An anti-hunting activist told ITV News Correspondent Rupert Evelyn the dogs are killed and “thrown away like garbage” when they are no longer “fit for purpose”
Secret cameras have recorded huntsmen shooting and killing hounds that had been used for hunting.
The pictures, filmed by anti-hunting groups the Hunt Investigation Team and Keep the Ban and shared exclusively with ITV News, is the first time footage of a hunt shooting its hounds has been shown publicly.
Hounds can be killed for several reasons including being too old to hunt, or if they get ill or injured. The practice is not illegal.
The pictures were taken at the kennels of the Duke of Beaufort’s Hunt in Badminton, Gloucestershire. The Duke of Beaufort’s Hunt told ITV News that its hounds are “humanely euthanised” if they cannot be rehomed. It added that the majority of hounds are “unsuitable for rehoming” because “they are not house-trained and have only ever been used to living in a pack environment”.
The secret footage, recorded over several periods between April and September, shows four separate examples of hounds being shot:
- In two cases, a huntsman is seen putting a gun to the head of the hound and killing it.
- In another, the hound appears to be unwell and is carried onto the grass by the hunt staff before being shot.
- Another shows the hound being shot twice, three minutes apart.
Watch the secret footage at a hunt’s kennels where hounds were filmed being shot dead – click on the above link.
Rob Pownall, Keep The Ban founder, said: “It’s some pretty upsetting footage but this is commonplace for hunts across the country. This is not an acceptable way to end an animal’s life. These hounds suffered immense pain.”The activities shown in the video aren’t actually illegal, but there’s no moral defence for what’s shown.”
The footage comes ahead of a vote later this month by National Trust members to decide whether trail hunts on its land should be banned during the next hunting season.
The National Trust suspended all trail hunting licences last year, alongside a host of other large landowners including Forestry England, following a report by ITV News about the content of webinars hosted by the Hunting Office.
Conservative MP Tracey Crouch, who is co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare, said the footage of the hounds being shot dead is “absolutely heartbreaking” and “distressing”.
“I don’t understand why a dog…needs to be euthanised in this way and I am sure there are much more compassionate ways of putting a dog to sleep”, Ms Crouch told ITV News.
“We have many working dogs across this country in different sectors, such as, for example, the police or army, and I doubt very much that those kinds of dogs are put to sleep with a bolt to the head, so I don’t quite understand why it is appropriate for hunting hounds to be euthanised this way.”
After watching the secret filming, Mike Jessop, a fellow of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, said that from what he saw, he did not believe the huntsmen were professionally trained in putting animals down.”There was no evidence of [the huntsperson] being veterinary trained or veterinary surgeons. The lack of use of any veterinary equipment that one would expect such as stethoscopes to ascertain the dogs were dead was just lacking”, he said.”The evidence from the video doesn’t show any illegal activity. My concern is whether there is any suffering after the shot, because nobody is being careful enough in checking the dogs are truly dead.”In one of the videos, the [hound’s] tail was still waggling very vigorously for quite some time, even when the dog was being loaded in the wheelbarrow.
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In Berlin, wolves are sighted for the first time inside the motorway ring. The debate about the wolf has reached the capital of Germany!!
The headlines from the German press:
“a wolf pack at the gates of Berlin”
“wolves only 30 kilometers from the city center”
“wolves within the Berlin ring” …
“the wolf in Berlin: when will the first child be torn, people ask”
Conservationists are happy, farmers are less enthusiastic. The hunting association is now reproaching the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation.
The most important question arises: do these strictly protected predators pose a threat?
How much wolf can Berlin take?
A wolf pack has settled west of Berlin in the nature reserve around Berlin.
About two weeks ago, two parents and four puppies ran in front of the lens of a photographer who was out and about in the 4,500 hectare nature reserve at the gates of Berlin and Potsdam for the “Heinz Sielmann Foundation”.
According to the foundation, the six animals have settled in a fenced area of around 1,800 hectares in the middle of the area – there they are largely undisturbed by humans.
The area is only around 30 kilometers from Alexanderplatz (in the center of Berlin). On Tuesday, the State Environment Agency (LfU) confirmed to the German Press Agency that the animals were wolves. Other wolf packs had not yet settled within the Berlin Ring.
It is very clear why the pack chose the protected area of all places: Here they will find everything they need. Space, water, enough food and above all: peace and quiet.
The area is actually too small for a pack, but the animals would have a lot of food there due to the high number of game.
Deer and wild boars were not enough for the animals: In August and September cracks were reported from goats and sheep grazing there.
The population is increasing, the animals go where they can find game. According to the hunting association, the game population has already been drastically reduced in this area.
“I wonder what happens when the wolf runs out of wild animals” so a hunter
“Not only do wolves deserve protection, grazing animals also deserve protection. The pastures should not be “set tables” for wolves. “ says Federal Agriculture Minister Julia Klöckner.
The Ministry of the Environment says: … “And if a wolf repeatedly ventures too close to human settlements, then it is classified as a problem wolf and can be shot.”
And I mean…“And if a wolf repeatedly ventures too close to human settlements, then it is classified as a problem wolf and can be shot.”
Apparently man is now an endangered species, badly decimated in its existence by the predators around him.
Worse still, the other species keep humans industrialized and slaughter them by the millions every day.
The useless copies are shredded by the millions….
Or how was that?
The normal ‘collateral damage’ in “beneficial” animal husbandry is 100 times greater than all wolves combined could ever cause for their survival.
By the year 2000 the wolf had been exterminated from humans in Germany.
Purely informative: The wolf is not settled but turns back by itself.
The wolf is (still) protected by European (Fauna-Flora-Habitat Directive FFH-RL, Appendix IV) law, and as an endangered animal species it has a high protection status in Germany (Section 44 of the Federal Nature Conservation Act BNatSchG).
Well… a few psychopaths with hunting license are of the opinion that they don’t have to comply with “nonsensical” laws – since 2000 there have been 64 deliberately and therefore illegally shot wolves in Germany.
The number of unreported cases is higher, because even entire packs just disappear from the scene.
No case has been resolved so far, let alone brought to court
Wolves do not practice mass animal husbandry, they either eat what is there or starve to death.
In contrast to us humans, who not only shoot animals for fun, although we do not need their flesh and skin for life at all, but enslave them, torture and brutally kill them in order to eat them.
May the family live long and in peace
My best regards to all, Venus
UK public now eating significantly less meat – BBC News
UK public now eating significantly less meat
Daily meat consumption in the UK has fallen by 17% in the last decade, a study has shown.
That reduction though is not happening quickly enough to meet a key national target, according to scientists.
The aim is to reduce the environmental impact of our diets.
This goal, set by the National Food Strategy, is based on a review of the whole UK food system – from farming and production to hunger and sustainability.
It recommends meat consumption in the UK fall by 30% over the next 10 years.
- Climate change food calculator: What’s your diet’s carbon footprint?
- Should there be a tax on red meat?
- Cows trained to use special ‘MooLoo’ toilet
“We now know we need a more substantial reduction,” said lead researcher Cristina Stewart from the University of Oxford.
The new study, published in the journal the Lancet Planetary Health, revealed that while most people are eating less red and processed meat compared to a decade ago, they are eating more white meat.
High consumption of red and processed meat can increase the risk of health problems including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and even certain cancers.
Meat production also has a higher environmental impact – producing more planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions – than other types of agriculture and food production.
Not all meat is equal
This Oxford-based research team used data from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey – a detailed survey of the dietary habits of more than 15,000 people across the country.
This showed that daily meat consumption had reduced by about 17g per person per day.
What it did not reveal was the reason people were changing their diets. But market research in 2019 suggested that almost 40% of meat-eaters were actively trying to reduce their consumption, with many citing either health or environmental reasons.
Dr Stewart stresses that, for those who want to reduce the environmental impact of what they eat, “any reduction in meat will have an impact”.
“You don’t have to be vegetarian,” she said. “Although, in general, meat-free dishes will have a lower impact.
“But if you’re someone that eats meat every day, reducing your meat consumption by 30% just looks like having two meat-free days per week.”
There is huge variation in the environmental impact of meat; it depends on what livestock are fed and where and how the meat is produced.
This Oxford-based research team used data from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey – a detailed survey of the dietary habits of more than 15,000 people across the country.
This showed that daily meat consumption had reduced by about 17g per person per day.
What it did not reveal was the reason people were changing their diets. But market research in 2019 suggested that almost 40% of meat-eaters were actively trying to reduce their consumption, with many citing either health or environmental reasons.
Dr Stewart stresses that, for those who want to reduce the environmental impact of what they eat, “any reduction in meat will have an impact”.
“You don’t have to be vegetarian,” she said. “Although, in general, meat-free dishes will have a lower impact.
“But if you’re someone that eats meat every day, reducing your meat consumption by 30% just looks like having two meat-free days per week.”
There is huge variation in the environmental impact of meat; it depends on what livestock are fed and where and how the meat is produced.
The COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow in November is seen as crucial if climate change is to be brought under control. Almost 200 countries are being asked for their plans to cut emissions, and it could lead to major changes to our everyday lives.
- Why the COP26 climate summit is important
- What will climate change look like for you?
- Will the UK meet it’s climate targets?
- Simple guide to climate change
“Locally produced meat has a much lower impact than meat that has been imported,” Dr Stewart pointed out.
She and her colleagues have also been studying the effect of “environmental impact labelling” on consumer choices. They have designed experimental labels that score a product based on its greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity loss, water-use and water pollution.
“When you don’t have the information about environmental impact of food, it’s really hard to shop with that in mind,” she pointed out.
Having the support of those we eat our meals with, the Oxford researchers say, makes it easier for us to change our diets. And the availability and prominence of meat-free food options has an effect on people’s food choices, too.
“So, for example, if you’re at a restaurant, you often see a vegetarian options ‘box of shame’ at the bottom of the menu rather than at the top with chef’s specials,” Dr Stewart explained.
The team’s ongoing study of what drives people to reduce their meat consumption has revealed some simple strategies that participants have found helpful, including:
- Trying one new vegetarian recipe;
- Making one meal in a day vegetarian, rather than going a whole day without meat;
- Reducing portion size: In a recipe that includes meat, like a bolognese, reduce the amount of meat and supplement that with lentils and vegetables.
“Hopefully this paper will help us understand the patterns and trends so we can tailor public health policies and behavioural nudges to help people choose more sustainable options,” said Dr Stewart.
WAV COP26 Links:
Search Results for “COp26” – World Animals Voice
Regards Mark
Stop the Grind | End Killing of Dolphins and Pilot Whales in the Faroe Islands
Gallery – Gallery | Stop the Grind
The world has watched in horror as the Faroe Islands government continues to allow thousands of pilot whales and dolphins to be massacred brutally and senselessly in the Grindadráp hunts. Now is the time for change. We are calling on the Faroe Islands’ government to do the right thing and ban this outdated and cruel practice. Stand with us and be part of the global movement.
Stop the Grind | End Killing of Dolphins and Pilot Whales in the Faroe Islands
The Stop the Grind movement is based in London with members all over the world. The campaign is a partnership between Sea Shepherd and Shared Planet, an impact-focused consultancy. We bring together a global coalition of stakeholder organisations and individuals with the common interest of ending the Grind. Our aim is to show that the world no longer accepts the senseless killing and to demonstrate that the global community will not standby and watch the Faroe Islands’ government act irresponsibly in silence. We must act together to ensure that our voices are heard.
Continue reading and see all the supporters at: About Us | Stop the Grind
Our past posts on this issue:
Search Results for “faroe islands” – World Animals Voice
Regards Mark
