A few days ago, the Austrian organization “RespekTiere” published a shocking report on the situation of animals in Serbia.

“How many times have we been in Serbia and always have we not only heard unbelievable stories of animal cruelty but also had to testify again and again.
An end to the violence against the most helpless in our society, against the animals, is not foreseeable, quite the contrary – the situation seems to be getting worse and worse! ”

That’s how the report starts.
Because it is quite long, only the main points of this report are told.

“There are quite wonderful people in Serbia, with an open heart and a lot of animal love, no question.
But there is another side that is fighting brutality, even against such people, and is constantly waging a merciless and cruel war on animals – we do not want to leave that unspoken!

Already in the course of our first trips to the center of the Balkan Peninsula, we were overwhelmed by the sheer dimension of violence against the animals – yes, in Romania, Bulgaria or similar countries, terrible things happen in relation to the so helplessly delivered animals.

Photo: Mountains of dead dogs – who is responsible ???

But while elsewhere in the majority, individual offenders let their madness run wild, they happen in the country on the Danube in the collective, and so the quality and quantity of animal cruelty is probably unique. In fact, the crime on animals is such a widespread phenomenon that one must already speak of a pattern; or a virus, nestled in the DNA of certain groupings, inherited by the bloodline.

In addition, animal cruelty is always accompanied by a second, at least as devastating social weakness: the lack of empathy. Only this mating allows the release of the beast in us – and makes the inner monster so dangerous, because it can be unleashed without any approach and completely unpredictable! By the way, the symptomatology can only be fought by itself, there is no panacea, no cure, no antidote.

Photos: terrible conditions: Wolf in the zoo …

Only very few examples support the accusation, discuss the situation; These are examples that we were able to list in our short visits, which of course probably represented only the smallest possible tip of the iceberg. Knowing the circumstances, the mentality, the places of the offenses, spreads a dizzying overall picture (and even the worst case is no exaggeration, believe us).

A few years ago huge containers were found in the landfills, where trapped stray dogs were thrown –  alive! Several of them were in one place, at any time, scattered throughout the land, a testimony of absolute inhumanity.
The poor animals were literally at 35 degrees in the shade, without water and without food, stacked on top of each other. Without escape.
Until the huge steel containers overflowed  and released corpses of thirsty, starving, self-tormenting, crazy dogs.
No pity, no tear. Not even a regret.
That’s just how it happens. Solution to the Street Dog Problem. Daily craft of dog slayerers who surpass any perversity.

So much at the moment; But what is the situation today? There is only one answer: shattering as ever!
Well, the containers in the dumps may have disappeared, that’s right. But the mass graves still exist; and the open, deep trenches still want to feed them.
Hellmouth is waiting for food.
And they are nourished by the corpses of the voiceless. In the pictures you can see such places of death, and the harrowing shots were taken less than two months ago.

Photo: the charred corpse of a dog at the field; note the rope around the forefoot – the anonymous victim had been dragged onto the open ground …

There are even very good laws regarding the handling of animals, for the protection of stray dogs, for example. But what good does the text on the paper, if the implementation does not work, the theory with the practice never and never keeps pace?

In the photo you can see a dog, recently tied up in barbed wire; only the use of bolt cutters was able to free the poor animal from the grip of the metal monster, which pulls all the more tightly with each movement and cuts in deeper and deeper with a thousand knives. Horrible open wounds were left behind on the maltreated body, a whole team fought for hours for the survival of the poor animal.

Such examples show only too well that animal welfare has remained a foreign word in large parts of the population. Even in the third millennium, in the middle of Europe.
He is at best smiled at, but often even directly threatened those who want to help, they are stones placed in the way and in fact thrown after them.
Activists are beaten up, a trivial offense; because where there is no knowledge, a crime can not be perceived as a crime. That’s the problem: animal cruelty is not recognized as an offense; even if the law says something else a hundred times. Perpetrators are completely surprised when their actions are sometimes branded as an offense – when … and then almost exclusively under pressure from the public.

Photos: Traces of brutal violence against dogs in the shelter – recorded in hiding, current time witnesses … All this did not happen many years ago, the pictures show the here and now !!!!

We no longer want to torture her with terrible individual cases; The fact is, we have to act. Do not allow such a concentrated madness right outside the front door no longer ignored. By the way, Serbia is a candidate for EU membership; a connection to the Union is envisaged for 2025.

But as long as such terrible things happen to the animals, the country can not and will not be ready for the EU, the question of accesion cannot even be asked. Cruelty to animals is a most terrible crime and can not be tolerated under any circumstances, as a trivial offense belonging to the “agenda”.

We ask you with all our heart, write to the representations of Serbia in your country. Ask the ambassadors to finally take real steps in the topic; Help them all to inform Serbian policy that, as long as such conditions prevail and nothing is done, Serbia can not be welcomed into the EU. Protest, NOW !!!

“RespekTiere” will soon, as much as we can tell, set with a spectacular action the starting point for a related campaign!

https://us12.campaign-archive.com/

My comment: Romania, Greece and Spain have been members of the EU for years.

There, it’s also about collective murder against animals, we could even talk about a national sport.

Galgos mass graves also reach us every day on Facebook. Horror Shelters in Romania with unimaginable torture for dogs have become a business in this EU country.

What do we learn from this?
WITH or WITHOUT being a member of the EU, the Middle Ages for animals remain the same (almost) everywhere.

And when the situation with the animals in one of these countries has improved, it is not because they have become EU members, but because animal rights activists have fought hard for the rights of animals.

According to EU law, each country is responsible for animal welfare!! And most crimes against animals (any kind of animals) are subsidized with EU funds.

Therefore, the best would be if all (still) EU member countries would go out of this crime syndicate, called EU. How England did it.

My best regards to all, Venus

Animal welfare groups, the media and the public are shocked by animal cruel videos shot in the capital Hanoi.

A pack of hunting dogs mangles and kills a single boar – as a “highlight” of a club event.

The fight was organized by a group of Argentine mastiff enthusiasts in an empty field in the southwest of Hanoi. The video shows a single boar released from a cage and a pack of mastiffs mauling the animal, cheered on by their owners and watchers. As the boar’s squeals eventually subside, all that is left is a bloody mess.

The recording was made on March 18, 2018 in the suburb of Hanoi. Millions have seen it on Facebook – and damn. The graphic footage has invoked wrath and revulsion from viewers on social media. Vu Ngoc Thanh, an animal expert, said the event was “barbaric and uncivilized.”

“Where is the humanity in this?” he said.

Nguyen Tam Thanh, an animal welfare officer from Animals Asia, said the fight was a display of violence to satisfy instinctual, cardinal desires, and such a thing has no place in civilized society.

The video evidence of this vile spectacle has shocked Vietnam and led to a violent backlash across the board.

The press has also quickly picked up on the incident: Every major newspaper in the country has reported and called for consequences, including VNExpress and Tuoi Tre. Even major news channels such as Vietnam Television (VTV) broadcasted contributions to this orgy of violence hosted by a hunting dog club.

But despite the general anger over this bloodthirsty event, the organizers remain stubborn.
One of the participating young men told the media:
“We do not stop because it’s not illegal – we just do not want it on social networks anymore.”

However, the brazen comments on the participants ignore the attitude of the authorities, which have pledged to crack down on it.
Nguyen Tam Thanh, animal welfare officer at Animals Asia and vociferous opponent of this gruesome drama explains:
Penalizing animal abuse and ills. “The behavior of the lawyer in the video is highly barbaric and the Vietnamese society does not tolerate this -treatment makes it difficult to adequately sanction this crime. ”

While Vietnam has passed its first animal welfare law in 2016 – the Animal Health Law – animal cruelty has not yet been punishable.

Tuan Bendixsen, Director of Animals Asia Vietnam, emphasizes:
“These cases are very clear that the current legislation does not have any legal consequences to fear.

This case must be understood by the competent authorities as a wake-up call. Vietnam needs more stringent animal welfare laws – laws that prohibit inflicting pain and suffering on animals. The current law must be clarified, expanded and made more effective by appreciable punishments! “

Animal welfare has become increasingly important in Vietnam’s public debate in recent years. Animals Asia released a cruel Spring Festival in which a pig had been chopped in half. The condemnation by the public and their demand to suppress such practices resulted in the prohibition of numerous barbarous festivals.

Something similar came to light in Indonesia last year, according to a research by the Scorpion Foundation, a partner organization of Animals Asia. The ensuing campaign eventually led the Indonesian authorities to announce a ban on all such events.

Injured buffaloes at the Do-Son Buffalo Fight Festival

The face of this buffalo is bleeding. He can only open one of his eyes while he is tortured painfully at the ring in his nose through the crowd.

For three decades, buffaloes have been tortured and forced into cruel, bloody battles.

The buffalo surviving the fight is faced with the next “opponent”. As long as there is only one left – weak and broken. The winner does not receive mercy. He too is forcibly killed, exploited and sold in parts for consumption as part of the “Do-Son festival”.

Please sign the petition: https://help.animalsasia.org/page/22492/petition

https://www.animalsasia.org/de/media/news/news-archive/brutal-dog-vs-boar-fight-in-vietnam-sparks-national-outrage-and-calls-for-law-change.html

My comment: We have two things to clarify here: The report is exactly one year old.
Thats the one thing.

In Germany, there are also atrocities against wild boars, which are crushed by hunting dogs. Not at festivals, but in the hunt for blood orgies in the woods.
That’s the second one.

But where cruelty happens in the name of tradition, we will never be tired of publishing it. No matter where it happens.

This is about a legal lynch murder, and is therefore also called tradition.
It is not tradition.
At each of such murders, the corpses of compassion, ethics and progress will fall there on the ground.
It is murder, it is an act that exclusively celebrates and represents violence from beginning to end.

Therefore: we no longer leave this brutal, morbid and irrational custom to a small group of this society that wants to savor its sadism and crime under the guise of tradition.
We act, now and everywhere.

My best regards, Venus

Make note and put it in your diary. If your employer has never dealt with this before; take time out and try to ask them to allow it to happen – promote it. As the info below shows, it could improve productivity by having your dog with you for the day !

Friday, 21^st June 2019 (21/6/19) is the Bring Your Dog to Work Day.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take_Your_Dog_to_Work_Day

Take Your Dog to Work Day (TYDTWDay) was created by Pet Sitters International and first celebrated in 1999. PSI created the day to encourage businesses to allow dogs in the workplace for one Friday each year to celebrate the great companions dogs make and promote their adoptions from local shelters, rescue groups and humane societies.

PSI believes that through the event dog-less co-workers will be encouraged to adopt when they witness the human-animal bond. The week leading up to Take Your Dog To Work Day is Take Your Pet To Work Week.

Articles and further information:

https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/fun/take-your-dog-to-work-day

https://www.bringyourdogtoworkday.co.uk/

https://www.awarenessdays.com/awareness-days-calendar/bring-your-dog-to-work-day-2019/

https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/take-your-dog-to-work-day/

Regards Mark

My little darling Arianne crossed the rainbow bridge this afternoon. This is why I have not done any posts for the last day or more. She had a really aggressive form of stomach and abdominal cancer which has taken her from a strong and healthy cat to a lifeless little soul in just a matter of weeks. Sudden; very sudden.

A very similar situation to that of Eco warrior Polly Higgins who died just a few weeks ago – see our post at https://worldanimalsvoice.com/2019/04/25/eco-warrior-polly-higgins-has-died/

‘Ari’ as she was known to all, first became my good friend about 15 years ago; when I captured and saved this little mite who was out on the streets. She had lost a large part of her coat; probably due to very little food; and was simply in a real sorry state. I took her to a veterinary friend to see if she had any microchip – we scanned her; found nothing; and so I remember telling her on the way back home in the car that she was going to have to put up with me from now on !

I named her Arianne after a girl in a track from one of my favorite bands – Led Zeppelin – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0DAnu5Sq6k – I played it a lot – thanks ‘Planty’.

She was special; as all our own pets are. She had a real habit of jumping up onto my lap whilst I was trying to write posts for either this (WAV) site or the sister site, ‘Serbian Animals Voice’ – https://serbiananimalsvoice.com/ Her situation at home on my lap made it all the more difficult to get easy access to the keyboard as I had to perform a series of convulsions with my arms; but that was always after she had been welcomed and given hugs and strokes first. At times I considered getting her opinion of things from a cats perspective; but I never followed up with it.

She was so strong and ‘street wise’ – and in all her time with me I think we probably only saw the vet a few times for relatively simple ailments. So watching her go downhill so suddenly in the last 3 or 4 weeks has really been a shock to me. She was suffering and in pain, not eating or drinking; and this afternoon, (3/5) I decided with massive deep regret that I could not continue to watch her deteriorate to nothing but skin and bone over the next week or so. I consulted, and there was no cure for her condition; in the end she would have died from the cancer and from lack of food and fluid intake. It is always immensely difficult to decide when to say goodbye to a loving and cherished companion; but for me, today was the day – animal welfare comes as the priority wanting before my own personal wishes of keeping her, come what May, and the suffering which would go with it.

It was really bad for me personally at the time this afternoon, but she passed here in her own home; being stroked and spoken to gently by a couple of us; telling her what a great little friend she was; so she did not die alone and in a strange place; unlike the many millions of strays, factory farmed prisoners, or lab imprisoned innocents who suffer at the hands of us; good (?) old man every single day.

With love; lots of good food and a caring home; her coat regrew from nothing in the start, becoming a beautiful black / brown in the early days. As time went on; her coat changed, showing more and more of the beautiful little ‘Tortoiseshell’ that she was.

I sometimes used to call her ‘Moonbear’, as she always reminded me of the bears rescued by Animals Asia – a little golden yellow patch on her chest – see the picture.

Wherever she has gone today; I hope she runs free and with full health and vigor once again. If she brings just half the joy to another owner somewhere that she delivered to me, then they will be a very lucky person.

Run free Ari and wait for me at the bridge; I will be back to reunite with you someday.

Mark xx

Leeds, UK: They are first fed and then slaughtered: dealing with two pigs at a British school provides heated discussions.

Actually, Farsley Fields elementary school in Leeds, UK, sounds like a real idyl: on a small farm belonging to the school grounds, teachers and children plant fruits and vegetables together and look after the animals living there.

In addition to chickens, this year includes two pigs, as can be seen from the homepage of the school. But exactly these pigs are now causing a lot of excitement.

The two Gloucester Old Spot breed pigs being reared on the farm.

Because the supervising headmaster Peter Harris wants to slaughter the animals during the summer holidays. This is how the children should learn where their meat comes from. “The pigs will not be pets and only be with us for nine months,” read the school homepage. “The pigs will live twice as long as those commercially bred for slaughter and will live a true and free farm life.” The meat is to be sold afterwards.

Charlotte Heap and classmates with the pigs being reared on the school’s farm.

For this at least unusual action receives the British teacher much headwind – but also support. The comments on the school homepage contain both clear hostility and support for the idea of explaining to children the origin of their food. The Internet already has an online petition urging headteacher Peter Harris to abandon the plans has been running for around six months now and has gathered more than 4,000 signatures.

https://www.change.org/p/mr-harris-headteacher-farsley-farfield-don-t-send-pigs-to-slaughter

Set up by a former pupil, it explains that she loved attending the school but was concerned about the message current pupils would take away from the animals being sent to slaughter.

She wrote: “I am vegan for the animals, so my main concerns are with the well being of these pigs who don’t deserve to die, and the message that we will be teaching the children at Farsley Farfield that it is okay to exploit and kill animals with the only justification being that people enjoy eating their bodies.”

But Mr Harris defended the school’s position, saying it would actually teach the children more about the provenance of their food and issues around animal welfare.

Charlotte Heap with her letter to the editor of the Yorkshire Evening Post.

Now 11-year-old Charlotte Heap, whose mum also teaches at the school, has written to Yorkshire Evening Post editor Hannah Thaxter, saying Farfield is one of the best schools in the city and its pupils are lucky to go there. In her letter she says parents were consulted about the plans, the children have understood the pigs would go to slaughter from the start and “no one is upset” about it.

She sheds light on the school’s award-winning work, what pupils learn from being able to spend time at Farfield Farm and what rearing the pigs has taught them.

“Most of us are fine with the idea. Some of us quite like the pigs and brushing them down. We’ve all learned a lot from this – where our food comes – and Mr Harris is a vegetarian himself. He wants people to make their own choices in life and to know where their food actually comes from. I think that’s important”!!!

https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/education/why-this-leeds-pupil-is-defending-her-primary-school-s-plans-to-slaughter-pigs-kept-on-its-farm-1-9732882

My comment: “The pigs will not be domestic animals and only live with us for nine months”
That’s how Mr. Harris decided.
Which is not very different from that practiced by the butcher next door.
The butcher also says, like Mr. Harris, that pigs are not home animals, but food for children, teachers and other animal-loving meat consumers!!

But Mr. Harris does not want to be compared to butchers, that’s why he changes the decor a bit.

And Mr. Harris means that as soon as he keeps the two pigs as free copies of the meat industry in the garden of the school, the children know the full truth of where their meat comes from.

So far, it is going well with the “truth”, but with the finale of this action, Mr. Harris has some difficulties.
Either way, he has to butcher the pigs, and in front of the children.
He has to do that so that his message arrives, namely: even free-living pigs do not escape the butcher’s sharp knife.
Such is the fate of non-pets, that’s what we humans have decided.
( Except of Korean, Chinese, Indonesian and Vietnamese pets, of course ).

We would recommend to Mr. Harris to visit a pig farm with his students so that he can conduct his experiment under “realistic” conditions.
And to prove us all that he is serious about education!

My best regards, Venus

I can remember attending circus demos as long as 25 years ago; and including the issue of wild animals in circuses as part of my contribution to the Animal Welfare Act for the UK.

Now, today, May 1^st, we have been given the following news:

Wild Animals Are To Be Banned From Circuses.

Finally, we get there ! – It is such a massive victory for the UK animal welfare movement I cannot even start to describe. Very mixed emotions today; about another issue.

Celebrate !

Regards Mark.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove has announced a new law to ban travelling circuses from using wild animals.

For as long as they have been around, the shows have been known to use wild animal performances, alongside their acrobatics. But the government intends to put a stop to this.

Mr Gove said: “Travelling circuses are no place for wild animals in the 21st Century and I am pleased that this legislation will put an end to this practice for good.”

The government’s official website explains: “The use of wild animals in travelling circuses has no place in modern society and does nothing to further the conservation or our understanding of wild animals.”

Some of the animals that still perform in these circuses include reindeer, zebras and camels.

The Wild Animals in Circuses Bill means that circus operators in England will no longer be able to use wild animals as part of a travelling circus.

Animal Welfare Minister David Rutley said: “The general public can still enjoy a trip to the circus, but it is good to know that wild animals will no longer be a part of that experience.”

The move comes after years of campaigning by animal rights groups.

The government also made a promise in February 2018 to introduce a ban by January 2020.

It’s not the first time that the government has got tough on animal rights. Two laws recently have marked a significant change in how animals are treated according to UK law.

Rules banning the trade of ivory in the UK were passed at the end of 2018, which aim to protect wild elephants.

Meanwhile, Finn’s Law was passed in Parliament recently to strengthen the protection of service animals.

What is legally classed as a ‘wild animal’?

Wild animals are defined as animals that are not normally domesticated in Great Britain and would not naturally be found here.

Although this ban only applies to wild animals, other domestic animals – such as horses, donkeys and dogs – will continue to be inspected regularly by officials.

New animal welfare regulations were introduced in 2018 making sure that the highest welfare standards are met.

David Bowles from the RSPCA said: “We’ve campaigned against having wild animals in circuses for many years. They have complex needs that cannot be properly met in a circus environment. It’s high time keeping wild animals in circuses is consigned to the history books and we look forward to the day that it is banned for good in England.”

http://www.ad-international.org/animals_in_entertainment/go.php?id=4699&ssi=10

https://www.freedomforanimals.org.uk/news/breaking-government-announces-bill-to-ban-the-use-of-wild-animals-in-circuses-in-england

We wish that!
A revolution against injustice, exploitation, a revolution against rulers.
For a world without slaves, subjects, lawless beings.
We are not the victims. No more.

Our conspecifics fought for it 130 years ago, so today we have the right to 8 hours of working time, protected and paid properly.

The time of human proletarians is over.
When everything started it was May 1, 1886.

The slaves of yesteryear are the dominant species of today.
Those have the acknowledged privilege to exploit other species as a sign of a good and high standard of living.

Just belonging to the same species automatically increments a person to those who have rights. In (almost) all areas of life.
It is the special right of the ruling species that only the oligarchs had before the May Revolution.

Therefore, the first of May is the reminder of a bitter and unjust reality for us: people have rights, or they can fight for it. Animals still have no rights because they can not fight for it.

But we can do it for them, and we do it. And we will continue to fight for it so that slavery and the massive exploitation of non-human proletarians will cease.

My best regards and a beautiful May 1st at all, Venus

‘Major Progress’ As China Greenlights 2 Non-Animal Methods For Some Cosmetic Testing

The new methods pertain to tests for eye and skin irritation, and according to vegan charity PETA, they will ‘will spare countless animals the agony of having substances dripped into their eyes and rubbed onto their skin’

China‘s National Medical Products Administration has accepted two non-animal (alternative) test methods for the regulation of cosmetics.

While the new methods won’t replace animal testing, according to vegan charity PETA, they will ‘spare countless animals’ from certain tests.

The new methods, which will go into effect January 1, 2020, are for eye and skin irritation tests.

Non-animal testing methods

PETA credited the The Institute for In Vitro Sciences (IIVS) for its ‘groundbreaking work’ in ‘training Chinese scientists and educating officials in modern non-animal methods’, helping to bring alternative test methods to China.

“We have seen first-hand how the partnership with NIFDC and our training program have built capacity and proficiency in alternatives,” Erin Hill, President of IIVS, said in a statement.

“The opening of the alternatives laboratory at the Zhejiang Institute for Food and Drug Control (ZJIFDC) is a wonderful example of how laboratories can expand to offer training and testing services in alternative test methods.”

‘Huge step forward’

“The approval of these two modern and humane tests is a huge step forward for China,” PETA US Senior Vice President, Kathy Guillermo, said in a statement sent to Plant Based News.

“No animal should be poisoned or blinded for a consumer product – or any other reason.”

‘Major progress’

“After years of pushing from PETA, the Chinese government has approved two more non-animal methods for testing cosmetics products in China,” PETA said in a blog post.

“The two newly approved tests, the direct peptide reaction assay for skin sensitization and the short time exposure assay for eye irritation, will spare countless animals the agony of having substances dripped into their eyes and rubbed onto their skin.

“This major progress is thanks to the groundbreaking work of the expert scientists and regulatory specialists at the Institute for In Vitro Sciences (IIVS), with whom PETA provided initial funding to train Chinese scientists and educate officials in modern non-animal methods.”

Cruelty-free is the best option

It added: “In 2014, the Chinese government announced that it would accept the results from non-animal test methods but only for non–special use cosmetics manufactured in China.

“Tests on animals are still required for all imported cosmetics and all special-use cosmetics, regardless of where they were manufactured.

“By purchasing only cruelty-free products, you can spare sensitive rabbits, guinea pigs, mice, rats, and other animals from excruciating tests, a lifetime of suffering, and death.”

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Source – https://www.plantbasednews.org/post/major-progress-china-greenlights-2-non-animal-methods-cosmetic-testing