Between 2010 and 2017, experimenters at a top-secret UK government laboratory killed almost 50,000 animals in horrific tests. They exposed monkeys to biological weapons, poisoned guinea pigs, and blasted pigs with explosives.
Twice a year, UK military personnel travel to Denmark to participate in deadly trauma training drills, in which they repeatedly shoot live animals such as pigs or subject them to severe blast wounds from explosions.
Non-animal training methods are already widely available, and new technology is under development, so there’s no justification for torturing and killing animals.
Please urge the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to stop shooting, stabbing, and dismembering pigs in cruel military training:
I do understand that some supporters do feel that signing petitions do not have any real effect on an issue – in my early campaigning days I was on that boat myself.
But let me refer you to a post which I put on the site yesterday:
The Lee County Sheriff’s Office in Florida has arrested and charged the man who sadistically taped a dog’s mouth shut in February, nearly suffocating him to death.
A Lady Freethinker petition urging local police to track down and apprehend the perpetrator garnered more than 29,500 signatures. Thank you to everyone who signed for supporting the investigation which resulted in this arrest.
So, 29,500 good people signed the petition; it gave further support to Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno to enable him to continue with the case until the abuser was found and arrested. I think that this alone justifies the use of petitions wherever possible to take any specific issue further and to make authorities accept that they do have a responsibility to act when the people ask.
Electronic (on line) petitions now take seconds to complete; and I ask people to support them whenever possible to make what could be the difference.
So, saying that, I am giving another here which I would ask you to support. Details are:
Justice for Kitten Smothered in Spray Foam and Dumped in Trash
PETITION TARGET: Washington County Sheriff Pat Garrett
A cruel individual sprayed an eight-week-old kitten over the face and body with foam before heartlessly dumping the poor creature in a trash can in Washington County, Oregon.
A garbage collector discovered the terrified kitten as the worker did his rounds on May 3. When a trash can wouldn’t empty, he investigated, finding the cat hanging upside down from the back legs, covered in foam and unable to move. He knew the cat was still alive as he could hear pitiful cries.
Staff at the garbage disposal facility worked to remove the solidified foam before taking the cat to the Hillsboro Vet Clinic for further treatment. A vet at the clinic told FOX12 that the kitten’s entire head and face were covered with foam; if the cat had not been rescued, he would likely have suffocated.
This innocent kitten is lucky to be alive; whoever did this is clearly dangerous and needs to be caught before they hurt, and potentially kill, any more animals.
Sign this petition urging Washington County Sheriff Pat Garrett to use every resource to find the person responsible and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law.
Anyone with information about this crime is asked to contact Cpl. Brandon Talbott at the Washington County Sheriff’s Office on 503-846-2700.
This petition currently has over 21.000 names on it – lets make it more !
We covered the petition in early March re a dog in Florida USA who had had its mouth shut and duck taped; nearly killing it – here is the original post:
The Lee County Sheriff’s Office in Florida has arrested and charged the man who sadistically taped a dog’s mouth shut in February, nearly suffocating him to death.
A Lady Freethinker petition urging local police to track down and apprehend the perpetrator garnered more than 29,500 signatures. Thank you to everyone who signed for supporting the investigation which resulted in this arrest.
In a live news briefing on Facebook, Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno announced the arrest, stating that 18-year-old Oscar Lee Thompson III from Lehigh Acres was in the Lee County Jail facing a charge of aggravated animal cruelty.
“Over 70 percent of the people who hurt animals will eventually abuse a human being,” said Marceno. “If you hurt an animal in this county, you will go to jail. I have a zero tolerance for any kind of abuse, and I will dedicate whatever resources necessary to enforce exactly that.”
The dog at the centre of this heartbreaking case, now named Chance, is lucky to be alive after Thompson taped his mouth tightly shut with duct tape, suffocating him. By the time rescuers got to Chance, he was near death. He was panting, drooling, dehydrated and malnourished, as well as bleeding from wounds on his leg and chest.
Marceno — an animal lover himself — had vowed that his department would use all possible resources to track down the person responsible. He was so touched by the case that he adopted and deputized Chance, who made a full recovery and is now a “spokesdog” for the department.
Thompson was tracked down by a series of anonymous tips, which led to his DNA being found on the tape used to suffocate Chance. He will be arraigned on June 24.
We applaud the dedication of the Sheriff’s Office in tracking down animal abusers and treating Chance with the respect and love he deserves. Lee County is setting the standard for the rest of the country when it comes taking animal cruelty seriously.
Men thing! A bull victim has shown a French bull-murderer on May 25th that this job is for asses
For the French bullfighter Juan Leal it came at the weekend at a bullfighting event in Spain to a painful encounter with a bull. Leal had already injected the animal into the body with several banderillas (short, barbed spiked skewers) when it “hit back”. Although the animal stung the Frenchman in the asse!
In video you can see how the matador first leads the bull around him, but then he is levered off and impaled at the butt.
Leal falls to the ground, visibly in pain and bleeding on the ass.
Immediately, three more matadors intervene and drive the bull away from his “victim”.Leal ends the fight with bared ass and presented the audience with loud applause the cut off ear of the bull.
However, as the Spanish newspaper El Paisreports, the 26-year-old Frenchman resumed his fight against the bull after a short break in treatment, killing him and cutting off the animal’s ear.
This is always the case when the audience is satisfied with the performance of the Toreros.
Juan Leal holds up the cut off ear of the bull
Leal himself is unlikely to be satisfied with his appearance. According to “Marca” his butt was pierced over a length of 25 centimetersand there is a suspicion that his tailbone is broken. All in all a day to forget for the matador.
Máximo García Leirado, who operated on Leal after the fight, said, “It’s a miracle that he was able to end the fight and kill the bull. A normal person could not even walk with the injury. “
This was an e mail sent to me on 27/5/19 by the EU Commission regarding a recent gripe I made that live animal transports across the EU, and to nations such as Turkey, from existing EU member states, were not being enforced in accordance with EU Regulation 1/2005 for the welfare of animals during transport. Here is what they said to me in response:
Dear Mr Johnson,
Regarding the enforcement of Regulation 1/2005 on animal transport, you should be aware that the control and enforcement is – with very few exceptions, such as EU competition law – a matter for the Member States. In the area of animal transport, however, the Commission does do audits of Member State inspection systems (“inspect the inspectors”). The resulting audit reports lead to recommendations which, in turn, are followed-up by the Commission. If you are interested in these audit reports, they are all publicly available here: http://ec.europa.eu/food/audits-analysis/audit_reports/index.cfm
As of the withdrawal of the UK, the EU rules on animal transport will cease to apply to the UK. However, these rules will still impact the transport of live animals between the EU and the UK, for example the mandatory check of live animals – including as regards the control of animal welfare aspects – upon entry into the EU at “border inspection posts”.
Yours sincerely,
European Commission
Task Force for the Preparation and Conduct of the Negotiations
with the United Kingdom under Article 50 TEU (GDR)
I think, as someone who has investigated live animal transport over the past 25+ years; I am fully aware of the legislative situation within the EU and the fact that they want to ‘pass the buck’ for Regulation enforcement to each individual member state. This is one way to approach it; but if nations such as Romania act the way they do with stray animals, then are we to expect anything better from them when it comes to enforcing the rules for live animal transport ? – they don’t really care much about animal welfare; full stop. So by passing responsibility for enforcement from the Commission in Brussels to individual nations, is rather like the national fire officer putting the arsonist as the chief of the local fire station ! – it kind of does not work.
What exactly do the EU mean by the words ‘audit reports lead to recommendations, which in turn are followed up by the Commission’ ?
This in my opinion is where the EU totally falls down over regulations. It is all very ‘recommend and suggest’; rather than hitting member states hard and directly for their failures of the enforcement of EU rules. We don’t want to have to wait another 3 years for a follow up to what was found to be wrong; only to find that the rules are still not being enforced. I personally say no second chances; strike whilst the iron is hot – hit hard with prosecutions when the problems are first reared.
I will show you investigations undertaken years ago by animal welfare organisations. Today, 2019, what exactly has changed since the investigations were undertaken originally between 2010 and 2015 ? – not much, if anything.
Have we not seen countless investigations showing where the EU regulations are being flouted for the live animals being exported to Turkey ? – as the following video says, 352 livestock transporters were inspected and 247 were found to be in violation of existing EU regulations (1/2005 on the welfare of animals during transport).
It is not just live animals from the EU to Turkey – similar things are happening every day right across the EU. Existing EU Regulations are not being enforced.
Brussels, Belgium (EU) 15 March 2012: The European Parliament adopted Written Declaration 49/2011 on the establishment ofa maximum 8-hour journey limitfor animals transported in the European Union for the purpose of being slaughtered.
378 (half of the total number of MEPs plus one) was the number required for the Written Declaration to become an official position of the Parliament, and this number was reached one day in advance.
The document, which “calls on the Commission and the Council to review Regulation 1/2005 to establish a maximum 8-hour limit for the journeys of animals transported for the purpose of being slaughtered“, will now be transmitted to the European Commission and the governments of the Member States.
This document directly refers to over one million signatures registered on the www.8hours.eu website. This massive mobilisation of European citizens is calling for an end to long-distance journeys for animals sent for slaughter in the European Union.
The long duration of the journeys of animals destined for slaughter in the EU often causes them intense suffering, as has been consistently reported over the years by Animals’ Angels investigators. Current EU legislation makes it possible for animals to be transported for several days, even though it is scientifically proven and acknowledged by the Commission that the suffering of the animals increases with the duration of the journey.
“This is a historic moment for all those who care about animals. The call of one million citizens cannot be easily ignored by the EU institutions” – said Christa Blanke, Founder of Animals’ Angels. “But this is just a fundamental milestone in a campaign that will end only when long-distance journeys of animals sent for slaughter are banned in the EU. We have been documenting the suffering caused by animal transports around Europe over many years, and we have seen that all improvements of transport rules are insufficient if long-distance journeys continue to be allowed”.
“In reality what goes on today on the European roads is animal cruelty. This has to be stopped. The European Commission has so far disregarded the demand for new rules for animal transports.
But it will be difficult for the Commission to ignore the demands of the European Parliament, which joins over one million citizens asking for long-distance live transports to stop” – said Danish MEP Dan Jørgensen, and adds: “I have made the signal to the responsible commissioner for animal welfare, John Dalli, many times, that the rules for animal transports need to be changed. Unfortunately he does not see the need to respond properly to this call.
But he is wrong, and he should act now. If not he will have to explain to the European parliament and to EU citizens why he insists on letting this cruelty go on”.
“We live in the 21st century in a society which we became used to calling a humane society. It is time to prove it” – said Czech MEP Pavel Poc, one of the promoters of Written Declaration 49/2011. “I am glad that the European Parliament took on the challenge by adopting this written declaration. An adopted declaration might still be far away from real actions and needed changes, but it is a significant message and I hope that all these initiatives will together create a strong enough pressure for the much needed policy change.”
Written Declaration 49/2011 and the collection of one million signatures from EU citizens are part of a larger campaign (www.8hours.eu) calling for a maximum overall 8-hour limit for journeys of animals sent for slaughter. The campaign is also supported by 126 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) from 19 member states and all political groups.
See a recent video of animals being transported from the EU to Turkey on YouTube.
15 March 2012: The European Parliament adopted Written Declaration 49/2011 on the establishment of a maximum 8-hour journey limit for animals transported in the European Union for the purpose of being slaughtered. Why, 7 years later, are we still NOT having a max 8 hour limit, but still working to the 2005 regulation 1/2005 ?
We had EU elections last week (23-26/5/19) to vote for new members of the European Parliament. Ie those who adopted the written declaration above which is still not in actions 7 years later.
Why are the EU Commissioners who should be doing something about this and the will of EU citizens and the EU Parliament, not doing anything to introduce new legislation ?
We often talk about the ‘meat mafia’. The situation is a David and Goliath thing – and the welfare lobby is very much the ‘David’. Is the meat mafia doing things with our EU representatives in the Commission to ensure that the will of the Parliament and the EU citizens are NOT enforced ?
French Minister of Agriculture Didier Guillaume announced that France will stop using glyphosate. France also plans to halve the use of pesticides, insecticides and fungicides by 2025.
As early as January 2019, a court in France withdrew approval from Bayer’s Roundup Pro 360 weed killer.
This is a herbicide that contains glyphosate of the “Monsanto / Bayer” group and is mainly used in the wine industry. In 2018, a ban on five neonicotinoid pesticides entered into force in France.
This move brings the country to the head of a campaign against chemicals blamed for decimating bee colonies.
In May 2019, the Bayer / Monsanto group also lost the third trial. Bayer / Monsanto has to pay more than two billion dollars in compensation to a couple suffering from cancer. The jury was able to see company documents showing that Monsanto “never had any interest in finding out if Roundup was safe.”
There are already 13,400 complaints in the US against Monsanto. The EU extended glyphosate approval at the end of 2017 against French resistance.
But now it’s official: France stops using glyphosate! despite criticism from the main French agricultural association FNSEA.
According to a report by the Department of Agriculture (FAS) of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), French Minister of Agriculture Didier Guillaume confirmed that France is banning the use of glyphosate from 2021 with limited exceptions.
He also announced that France plans to halve the use of pesticides, insecticides and fungicides by 2025. Agriculture Minister Didier Guillaume recommends organic and biodynamic agriculture and urges producers to return to the methods of cultivation used by their grandparents, which have been forgotten, as read on Fruchtportal.de on 21 May.
The widespread use of pesticides is coming under increasing pressure as their negative impact on bees and other wildlife becomes more apparent, but that does not suit the chemical corporations.
“Agent Orange”- Poison Chemicals from Monsanto in Vietnam
Bayer, BASF and Syngentaare even threatening billions of euros in damages if the EU bans neonicotinoid insecticides on fields. The EU did it anyway, but still with loopholes and not to the extent that France did. Since 1 September 2018, the ban on five neonicotinoid pesticides in France is in force.
While France’s most important agricultural federation, FNSEA, and many other French agricultural organizations have already made negative statements, there are already producers of fruit and vegetables growing pesticide-free products.
My comment: During the Vietnam war, Monsanto was one of the main producers of the notorious defoliant “Agent Orange” – incidentally in a joint venture with Bayer – with which the US forces contaminated entire areas of the war zone. The sprayed from the air plant poison led for decades to serious diseases and malformations in the Vietnamese population.
Then the Vietnamese victims of US weed killers should also be compensated. Because a complaint of Vietnamese victims was rejected in 2005 by a US federal court. Until today!
Thanks to the Minister Didier Guillaume!
Unlike to Germany, there is at least a trace of responsibility and character in France. Our Minister of Agriculture Klöckner, you and your stupid companions in government, I would like to give you this shit to eat, so you realize how healthy and wholesome it is.
Firstly, we think that anyone who allows this to happen is not ‘Honourable’ – and being called the ‘Minister for Justice’ is simply a joke – where is the justice here ?
Please sign the petition so that the ‘honourable’ ‘Minister for Justice’ can wake up and do something about this.
Target: The Honourable David Lametti, Minister of Justice for Canada
Goal: Punish the owner who allegedly neglected over 100 animals in a dilapidated zoo.
Over 100 animals suffered when they were reportedly neglected and denied life-saving care at a zoo. Investigators apparently found multiple species of animals in poor health with limited access to food. Demand that justice be served in this case.
“There were animals that didn’t seem to have access to adequate food and water, dilapidated enclosures, animals that appeared to be in need of veterinary care,” stated Ewa Demianowicz of Humane Society International Canada. SPCA Investigators descended on Montreal’s St-Édouard zoo following multiple allegations of animal cruelty and neglect. Visitors claimed that the enclosures were broken down and full of rocks and fallen branches. Grassy patches were seemingly sparse, limiting available food and prompting visitors to bring apples for the deer, alpacas, and goats. The investigation apparently found two alpacas in poor health and four deceased animals, including two tigers.
The zoo has been closed and animal welfare agencies are working together to transport the remaining animals to a safer location. Norman Trahan, the zoo’s owner, has been charged with two counts of cruelty and neglect. Sign below to demand that he receive the maximum penalty possible, if convicted.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Minister Lametti,
Rescuers are working to move over 100 animals to a safer and healthier location after they were reportedly starved and denied life-saving care at St-Édouard zoo. Four dead animals, including two tigers, and two sick alpacas triggered the investigation that led to one of Montreal’s largest animal cruelty allegations. Visitors claimed that the enclosures were filled with debris and the animals were forced to drink green water. Concerned citizens routinely brought apples for the grazing animals to compensate for their apparent lack of food. This is unacceptable.
The person responsible for the alleged mistreatment of these animals must be punished. I demand that you seek the maximum penalty in this case and ensure that the responsible party never be a caretaker for animals again.
Are the citizens of the EU finally starting to understand things ?
We have always campaigned (along with millions of others in the EU) for live animal transport to be reduced to a maximum of 8 hours. Under constant pressure from the EU meat mafia to keep things ‘as is’, or even worse; we have got nowhere with our demands.
Tonight, 26/5/19; we will see how the EU will change. Those who have always regarded themselves as the ‘gods of Europe’ may well be dethroned this evening. It could be a big positive for animal welfare.
Juan Leal holds up the cut off ear of the bull
“Agent Orange”- Poison Chemicals from Monsanto in Vietnam
