From our wonderful animal buddies at ‘Animals Lebanon’

Bears Homer and Ulysses rescued from zoo!

For more than ten years, these two Syrian brown bears were trapped in a zoo in southern Lebanon.

After seeing their poor conditions, we could not leave them. The bears were kept separate in small empty cement cages. One had a tooth painfully protruding through his lip requiring medical care. They were both malnourished and underweight.

The only way to free them would be to convince the owner that animals deserve better. We could not give up, but we also knew that with all the problems in Lebanon reaching the owner would be the only way to save them.

Finally, the owner understood and agreed to turn Homer and Ulysses over to Animals Lebanon so we could send them to a sanctuary.

The Wild Animal Sanctuary in Colorado agreed to take both bears and provide them with as natural of life as possible. The sanctuary cares for more than 650 lions, tigers, bears, wolves and other animals – including a fox and wallaby rescued by Animals Lebanon.

Four Paws agreed to assist with the care of the bears and help with the cost of the trip to the sanctuary.

A first attempt was made to get them to the sanctuary. But the collapse of Lebanon, government resignation, roadblocks, protests, and banks freezing assets forced their trip to freedom to be delayed.

A second attempt was made and flight scheduled, then coronavirus and COVID restrictions closed the Beirut airport. Their trip was again forced to be rescheduled.

Finally everything fell into place!

The airline was booked. Transport trucks arranged. Paperwork finalized. Four Paws veterinarians here to help. Officials on standby.

Only late the night before the flight did we get final confirmation – the trip, their freedom, was happening!

More wild animals trapped in zoos or kept as exotic pets need your help.

Weighing more than 130 kilograms, the bears were darted to sedate them. Then a quick medical check before being moved into large metal transport crates. It took nearly three hours of work, but the bears were finally loaded onto the air conditioned truck and we drove to the Beirut airport.

The bears flew from Beirut with Emirates, then transited Dubai before landing in Chicago. After all of the formalities and paperwork they were driven to the sanctuary.

Homer and Ulysses have now been released into temporary holding enclosures within the habitat so they can acclimate and their health can be assessed. They will then be released into a 103 acres (416,000 m2) enclosure where they can roam free with other bears.

Their rescue was only possible because of your support! Thank you to everyone who helped make this journey possible! The Wild Animal Sanctuary, Four Paws, Emirates, Karmagawa, and all of our supporters who so generously donated.

Your support is our lifeline – and for many animals the only hope. Homer and Ulysses are now in their new homes, but the other wild animals still need our help.

Donation – Animals Lebanon – Donate

For local donations please email contact@animalslebanon.org

Result !!

Regards Mark

This text is beautiful 😍

I adopted your dog today.
The one you left at the shelter.
The one you’ve had for 10 years.
And that you didn’t want to keep anymore.

I adopted your dog today.
Did you know he had lost weight?
Did you know he is terrified and depressed?
And that he seems to have lost all confidence?

I adopted your dog today.
He had fleas and was suffering from the cold.
Guess you don’t care what condition he’s in?
I was told you abandoned him.

I adopted your dog today.
Have you had a baby, or have you moved?
Have you suddenly developed allergies?
Or was there no reason he couldn’t stay with you?

I adopted your dog today.
He does not play and barely eats.
I think he is very sad and it will take time before he
regain confidence.

I adopted your dog today.
And here he will be loved. He has found his definitive family.
And a warm basket in which to rest.

I adopted your dog today.
And I will give him everything: Patience, love and security.
So that he can forget your cowardice.

By Aurore Claude

And I mean…Never betray your best friend.
Animals are not articles that can be exchanged at any time.
Adopt an animal and make it your partner for life.

Regards, Venus

NGOs call to stop the imports of cruelly produced horsemeat | Eurogroup for Animals

On 7 July, Eurogroup for Animals and Animal Welfare Foundation/Tierschutzbund Zürich (AWF/TSB) met with the European Commission to discuss the systematic violations of EU animal welfare and traceability requirements in the production of horsemeat imported into the EU.

Joined by Animals’ Angels US and by the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses (Australia), the NGOs presented the results of many investigations underlining the need for the EU to act and suspend horsemeat imports coming from Uruguay, Argentina, Australia and Canada. 

These investigations show that, in the production of such meat, there are systematic violations of animal welfare requirements in slaughterhouses located in these countries, as well as significant shortcomings in terms of traceability. 

Back in 2014, similar issues led to the suspension of horsemeat imports from Mexico. One could argue that the situation is even more serious with Australia, Canada, Uruguay and Argentina as in the cases of Australia and Canada, drug residues were found either in horses slaughtered or in the meat dispatched to the EU, and in the cases of Uruguay and Argentina, there were evidence that the audits were manipulated by removing or replacing horses ahead of the announced inspections. 

It is high time for the EU to ensure its imports-related requirements are respected. It’s also a question of protecting EU consumers – who are expecting a certain level of food safety and animal welfare standards – especially as, at the moment, indicating the origin of horsemeat on labels is not mandatory. 

Suspending imports and working with the partners to get animal welfare and traceability standards at the required level would be the most effective way to engage and ensure the progress are not only cosmetic changes. 

Eurogroup for Animals and AWF/TSB will continue their effort to demonstrate the need for the EU to act in this field, supported by more than 150,000 citizens (and counting

– if you haven’t, feel free to sign the petition). 

Have you read the WAV posts / info about the UK investigations ?

Check it out at

UK: 20/7/21 – Update On Horse Slaughter – Programme Shown On BBC TV. Watch On iplayer, But May Only Be For UK Viewers. ? Try Links At End. – World Animals Voice

UK: 19/7/21: Horse Slaughter – Exclusive Tonight: Animal Aid’s Undercover Investigation on BBC One’s Panorama. – World Animals Voice

Regards Mark

Enjoy – Scotland, UK.

It should be a “two-day” short vacation in Switzerland.
We decided not to talk about animals, for only two days we wanted to forget animal suffering and just enjoy nature at 3,000 meters above sea level.

Titlis-The summit under the bright sun

It became different, and it became more beautiful than we thought.
And by that I mean again when it comes to animals.
The beautiful city of Engelberg is the last stop where you have to leave your car or bus.
From then on you can only go up on foot or by gondola.
And this journey up to the top was what immediately made us feel good.

In addition to the fantastic mountain landscape with its gorges and dark fir trees, free-range cows grazed everywhere and they had an enormous amount of space available.
People who are neutral towards animals also notice it immediately, because they are almost the only inhabitants in the landscape.

Trübsee- happy cows

The higher we gindelt, the rarer the trees became.
The place where we finally arrived and wanted to stay overnight was called “Trübsee”.

That means “cloudy sea” in German, but it was anything but cloudy, because the lake gets the water from the waterfalls that flow through the glaciers and is actually nothing other than melted ice.
We soon realized that we had started talking about animals again.
The cows were everywhere.

Trübsee- cows by the lake

They had no trees, because the place is at an altitude of 1,800 meters, but in the event of a thunderstorm or a piercing sun there was accommodation, usually a stable that was open and the animals could freely come in and out.
The night was cold and you go to bed early there, because otherwise there is nothing but gray glitters, clear, thin air and a very unpredictable nature that creates a violent thunderstorm in a few seconds and suddenly calms down again and a starry sky comes out.
For the very few residents of the village, the day starts very early and we did it that way.
Especially because we wanted to visit the highest peak, Titlis!
At an altitude of 3,060 meters!
During the gondola ride, it was immediately clear to us that we didn’t have the right shoes because there was only snow.
You could also find some green stripes, but the landscape was white !!

When we came back down it was already noon.
The hotel manager was surprised when we asked about vegan food.
“Everything comes from the cows you see, meat, milk, cheese … everything is from our happy cows …” he said, pointing out the grazing animals.
We did not discuss animal ethics and principles with the hotel manager, but on the walk we took after lunch we could really see that the cows were happy.

Trübsee-the cows greet us in a friendly manner and have accompanied us a few meters on our lap

All cows were meat cows, there were none dairy cows.
The animals were clean, well fed, and had clean water from the lake everywhere. No secretion from the nose, no injuries!
There were only electric fences where their paths could cross those of the hikers, otherwise they could choose where to lie, where to graze, where to jump.

It is clear that a happy life for animals can only arise where there is space and freedom.
These animals had it. We petted many, they were curious and tame, and as soon as we made acquaintance, they continued to follow us on our way.

Trübsee- ready to come with you

Now that I am writing these lines, I notice that this short vacation was again accompanied by animal life and animal experiences.
At least with happy experiences.
One thing is certain: we will visit Titlis again soon.
We made friends with some animals there and we want to see them again.

My best regards to all, Venus

Part of a changing, forward-looking society is to question and discard outdated and bad traditions.

These 10 animal torment events around the world must be stopped immediately.

1. Fire bull -“Toro Júbilo”, Spain

In the small Spanish town of Medinaceli, torches prepared with black pitch are tied to the horns of a bull once a year in November for the “Toro Júbilo Festival”.
Then the bull’s head is lit on the horns.

With the burning flames on his head, which sear hair and skin, the organizers drive the suffering, panicked bull through the narrow streets.

Sometimes the so-called fire bulls burn for hours and, in unsuccessful attempts to extinguish the flames, run their heads against stone walls and lamp posts.

A sticky black substance made of tar or turpentine is placed over a bull’s head and set on fire before it is chased into the street.

2. Cruel Dog Meat Festival in Yulin, China

Despite the pandemic, which can be traced back to the unsanitary and cruel conditions in live animal markets, the infamous dog meat festival was held again in Yulin, China, in 2021.

Thousands of dogs are brutally killed at the festival in order to sell their meat and make leather from the animal skins.
The dogs are kept in tiny wire cages before being either cremated alive or killed with bludgeoning on the head between July 21st and 30th.

The suffering dogs do not always die directly, some animals experience their throats being cut when they are fully conscious.

Products made from dog leather, which comes from the cruel Yulin Festival, among other things, are exported all over the world.
It is often not clear which species of clothing and other articles of daily use made of leather are.
The only way to avoid animal suffering is to use leather alternatives that are free from animal suffering.

The dogs are killed and made into food or leather.

3. animal massacre, Gadhimai Festival, Nepal

EEvery five years at the Gadhimai Festival in southern Nepal, up to 200,000 water buffalo, pigs, sheep, donkeys and goats are rounded up in a sacrificial rite for the Indian deity of the same.

Continue reading “Tradition must not be a reason to torture animals” →