Category: General News

General News April 9, 2019April 9, 2019

Revenge is sweet

The ” horrendous” moment a lion attacks his trainer while cruelly performing in a circus has been caught on camera and it’s really awful (!!!)

The terrifying situation was filmed by a tourist as they watched the torturous circus in Lviv, Ukraine, causing mass outrage among viewers.

lion in Ukraine-2

Another lion turns on (slave) trainer Oleksiy Pinko and for a few moments, he completely disappears beneath the powerful creatures.

Frantically, Pinko tries to push the lions back with a metal rod, but one of the beasts rears up and bites him in the leg, while another locks his strong jaws around his arm.

The audience, which contained hundreds of people, including children, start to scream in horror while other trainers use water hoses and metal bars to pry the lions of Pinko who was feeling the full wrath of the big cats.

lion-web Ukraine

His arm, leg and back were mauled and clawed before he managed to fight the animal off. After a fearsome battle, Pinko manages to make his escape away from the angry pair and emerges limping and dripping with blood!

The watchers, however, seem to be and understandably more on the side of the meanly kept lions.

A witness said:

I was just grabbing my daughter and trying to run because I thoght they were going to get us!

One said:

“The use of wild animals in the circus needs to be banned”.

Another added:

“I’m sorry but I’m totally on the side of the lions here. It’s shocking making them try to perform”.

This is the “terrifying” moment a lion suddenly attacked a circus trainer in front of a large audience of children and parents in Ukraine.

Kouta – from Egypt who has worked in Russian circuses for many years – fought off the lion which then retreated

He then faced up to it as the predator eyed him for a new attack. Finally, the big cat retreated and ran out of the ring to its cage.

A mother watching with her two children said: ‘My heart stopped when the lion pounced at the trainer”!!!

‘I called up one lion, and the second one attacked me from the front,’ said Kouta afterwards as he showed his scratches.

‘I stopped him in the middle of the ring calmed him down but he refused to return to his sitting position. I stepped backwards, there was a stand behind me, I hit it and fell.

‘The lion jumped at me and bit me – but thank God not on my neck . He immediately let me go. My back, arm and leg were hurt.

He works (!!!) with ten lions and all those in the ring returned to their cages immediately after the shocking attack, he said.

Despite his injuries, Pinko made a full recovery and has been seen performing in the circus among the big cats since.

https://www.unilad.co.uk/animals/lion-brutally-attacks-trainer-in-the-middle-of-circus-show/

And I mean: The slave lion has told us, with his behavior, everything about his long torture.
That he, as a youngster, was captured and imprisoned. That his “education” was nothing but the breaking of his will through constant brute force, isolation, dirty, tight cages.
All this we have learned in this number.

We bow to you, Leo.
We solidarize with you, and fight every day so that your conspecific no longer have to suffer under the circus mafia (including complicity).
If there was a just judgment, you would appear there as a freedom fighter, not as a beast, as the dirty press has labeled you.
And you would have on your side a thousand civilized militants who, like you, fight for the end of slavery in the circus industry.

At the next attack hopefully the slave Leo extends the revenge in auditorium. For the love of justice!

My best regards, Venus

Farm Animals, General News April 8, 2019

USA: Video – New Investigation Reveals ‘Nightmare’ for Cows at Nestle Dairy Farm.

USA-Flagge

New Investigation Reveals ‘Nightmare’ for Cows at Nestle Dairy Farm

Posted by Katie Valentine | April 5, 201

Compassion Over Killing has released undercover footage of horrific abuse against cows at Martin Farms, a factory dairy farm in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.

COK’s investigator followed a delivery truck straight from Martin Farms to a Dreyer’s ice cream facility owned by Nestlé, the world’s largest dairy company.

At the farm, COK captured some of the most inhumane treatment they say they have ever witnessed, including gruesome violence against mother cows and their calves.

The video revealed “downed cows” — cows who cannot walk or stand on their own — hoisted up by their hips using metal clamps and dragged by tractors. In one instance, a manager shot a “downed” cow in the head, and she suffered in agony for almost a minute before she was shot again and died.

New Investigation Reveals ‘Nightmare’ for Cows at Nestle Dairy Farm

Image Credit: Compassion Over Killing

The meat from “downed” cows like her was casually doled out to employees in garbage bags.

In another shocking incident, a manager stabbed a cow with no anesthesia in a misguided attempt to treat a stomach malady.

Workers kicked, stomped on and hit cows, or sprayed them in the face with scalding water just to make them move faster.

As painful as the footage is, it depicts the typical activities at a factory farm. Shortly after birth, calves are separated from their mothers, and the mother’s milk that is meant for her calf is instead used for products for human consumption.

After being taken from their mothers, calves are branded and their horns are seared off. COK’s footage shows the anguish they endure during these brutal procedures, which are done without pain releif.

Cows are deprived of desperately-needed veterinary care and suffer from painful and bloody conditions such as prolapsed uteruses and open sores. One scene shows a mother cow with a severed teat, bleeding as she is being milked.

COK handed the evidence over to the Pennsylvania State Police and the Franklin County District Attorney, and is calling for swift legal action against Martin Farms.

In a statement released shortly after the undercover video was released, Nestlé claimed to have cut ties with Martin Farms. But other cows are still suffering at the hands or their suppliers.

Help stop the cruelty.

Sign COK’s petition calling on Nestle to end the cruel dehorning of cows, and start producing more vegan options.

Environmental, Farm Animals, General News April 8, 2019

China: Porcupines Poached for Chinese Medicine at Risk of Becoming Endangered.

China

Porcupines Poached for Chinese Medicine at Risk of Becoming Endangered

Porcupines across Southeast Asia are at risk of becoming endangered due to a misguided belief that undigested plant material found in their stomachs can cure cancer, diabetes, and dengue fever. This plant material, called bezoars, can only be removed through slaughter.

The prickly animal’s spines are also used in traditional Chinese medicine to prevent nosebleeds. The decline of porcupines is raising red flags in the conservation world and calls for porcupine protection are growing.

If the word bezoar sounds familiar, you may have heard it in a few of the Harry Potter books. In J.K. Rowling’s magical world, a bezoar from a goat counteracted most poisons. However, this is not the case in the real world.

There is no scientific evidence they offer any of the healing properties promised by traditional Chinese medicine.

Porcupine Poaching

The full extent of porcupine poaching is unknown despite calls to monitor and protect these animals. Since bezoars fetch between hundreds and thousands of dollars per ounce, the high price makes porcupines a prime target for poachers.

During the 1990s alone, the Malayan Porcupine declined by 20% due to overhunting. Though no comprehensive study has been done since that time, evidence suggests the decline has only continued.

Porcupine Farming

Almost as unpalatable as poaching wild porcupines, porcupine farming is common in Southeast Asia. The animals are bred, kept in small enclosures, and slaughtered for their meat, spines, and bezoars. Some sources claim that wild porcupines produce more potent medicinal properties, putting populations at risk.

Farmers have also admitted to using wild porcupines as founder stock. In addition, poachers will sell wild porcupine meat at a cheaper price than farmed meat. These activities put pressure on wild populations, threatening the species.

Porcupines are not at the forefront of conservation news. Though there are laws in place offering varying levels of protection, most protections are minimal and enforcement is difficult to navigate among legal trade.

Conservationists fear that porcupines will follow the path of pangolins. Illegally traded in the millions, pangolins became critically endangered before real protections kicked in.

Giving them the status of threatened or endangered would increase legal protections and raise awareness. CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) has not designated the porcupine any protections for trade.

What Can You Do?

It may seem daunting to think about combating the poaching of these adorable herbivores. But you can speak up for their protection. Email the U.S. ambassadors in Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia and let them know this issue needs to be addressed.

Environmental, General News, Hunting April 8, 2019

South Africa: Rhino poacher trampled by elephants then eaten by lions.

DEVOURED WHOLE

Bloody skull all that’s left of Rhino poacher trampled by elephants then eaten by lions at Kruger National Park in South Africa

A group of (Rhino) poachers were ‘surprised’ by an angry elephant who stamped their friend to death

They found what was left of the poacher on Thursday but it appeared he had been eaten by a lion pride.

All that was left to bring back to the camp was the poacher’s bloodied head and some clothes.

Read the full article at: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/8813772/head-rhino-poacher-death-kurger-national-park-south-africa/

Environmental, General News April 7, 2019

Petition – End Deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon.

Peru

End Deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon

Petition Link – https://forcechange.com/529869/end-deforestation-in-the-peruvian-amazon/

Target: Fabiola Martha Muñoz Dodero, Minister of the Environment, Peru

Goal: Protect the Peruvian Amazon and its endangered species from the dangers of deforestation.

The Peruvian Amazon is under attack. Illegal gold mining and other methods of deforestation have robbed the rare and biologically unique forest of over 70 square miles of forestland in only two years. Demand that more be done to combat this illegal deforestation.

Gold mining is the leading cause of deforestation in the rainforest. Researchers are calling the recent statistics “historical.” The year 2018 was the highest year on record, with 36 square miles of forest destroyed. This is a tragedy, with the once lush and green Amazon turning to dull, brown dirt.

There are perhaps 6,000 to 7,000 people living and mining illegally in the Amazon. This must come to an end. The rainforest and its hundreds of diverse species must be protected. Instead of fighting back, some local government officials allegedly have received payments from mining companies. Demand that the federal government step in and bring this deforestation to a complete stop.

PETITION LETTER:

Dear Minister Dodero,

Over 70 square miles of Amazon rainforest in Peru have been destroyed. Half of this was done in 2018 alone, which made 2018 the deadliest year on record for your nation’s forest. Between 6,000 and 7,000 miners run rampant in the Amazon, turning the lush land to dust.

Local government has proved inefficient at ending this destruction. It is time the federal government step in and protect what remains of the Peruvian Amazon.

Sincerely,

[Your Name Here]

Photo Credit: Roosevelt Garcia

Sign the Petition

Farm Animals, General News April 7, 2019

EU: Bad for Cows; and Humans !

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Jean-Claude Juncker

kuh in oldenburger Schlachthofgif

Last month you took action against harmful meat – and we won!

We moved closer to European rules against factory farming that floods the market with cheap disgusting meat, as many Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) were convinced by your pressure. [1]

But next Tuesday a different bunch of MEPs could deliver a big blow to us if they vote to block this progress. This is a harder bunch to convince, as they mostly want to keep things as they are – to protect the interests of big corporations. That’s why we are going to scale up our efforts!

For MEPs their Facebook wall is a big part of their public image -and they don’t want their public image questioned-, so they care a lot about what’s posted on their Facebook walls. If us, their electorate, put our concerns there, our representatives will have little choice but to vote in favour of our health on Tuesday – or be accountable for voting against us.

Lobbyist 1

Big business swamps the market with cheap meat, so that we consume more and more of it. But this meat is mostly produced from animals crammed in horrible conditions – and by abusing antibiotics. As a result, hundreds of thousands of people get ill from antimicrobial-resistant diseases – an estimated 700,000 of them die globally every year for this reason. [2]

Take Action:

https://act.wemove.eu/campaigns/stop-subsidising-intensive-farming-uk?action=facebook&utm_source=civimail-22183&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20190327_EN

We cannot miss our opportunity next Tuesday: this will most likely be the last vote on meat farming in this legislature – and it’ll be a determining one.

There are reasons to be optimistic. We already influenced many MEPs back in February by sending them public messages via Twitter. In this final vote we plan to use the same tactic – but with a tool many more of us have access to: Facebook.

We must flood our representatives’ walls with messages of concern visible to the whole world: to journalists, to other politicians, to other people like you and I. It’s an easy action, and it can make a real difference for your health.

Take Action:

https://act.wemove.eu/campaigns/stop-subsidising-intensive-farming-uk?action=facebook&utm_source=civimail-22183&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20190327_EN

Many small farmers don’t agree with a sickening factory farming model either – and they’ve come together to say so. In fact, we are mobilising because they called for our solidarity beyond borders, and we came in thousands to join their movement.

Some of the leaders of the farmers movement were recently at the European Parliament, and explained how industrial farming is degrading the soil of their farms, and polluting the water, while at the same time giving them little profits. Many farmers prefer sustainable meat farming, but they need regulations to support them! [3]

Small farmers in Europe are doing their bit – and now our community of action must do ours!

Olga (Bologna), Jörg (Lübeck), Virginia (Madrid), and the rest of us at WeMove.EU

[1] https://eeb.org/historic-european-parliament-vote-for-nature-friendly-farming/ https://www.greens-efa.eu/en/article/press/environment-committee-wants-significantly-greener-agriculture-policy/
[2] https://openletteranimalfarming.com
[3] 40% of the European budget subsidizes damaging animal factory farming because big businesses that sell the stuff this farming model feeds on (think pesticides, animal fodder, etc) are at work. They don’t want to go out of business – even if that means persuading us to eat more and more meat, of lesser and lesser quality.

Farm Animals, General News, Live Transport April 7, 2019

Australia: A Promise To Strengthen Laws for Dairy Cows.

australia

BIG NEWS: A promise to strengthen laws for dairy cows

In the lead-up to the Federal Election being called, Labor has committed to rectifying the double-standard in Australia’s live export laws that makes exporters legally accountable for the treatment of one group of animals, but leaves thousands of ‘breeder’ and ‘dairy’ cows — arguably, the most vulnerable — utterly exposed.

Mark, images of sick and dying dairy cows exported by Australia’s live export industry have shocked us all. Since I wrote to you, thousands of people have called on the government to close the loophole that, for too long, has excluded these vulnerable animals from basic protections under live export laws.

We had to ensure this appalling situation was a catalyst for change. And it’s close to being just that.

Labor’s commitment could be game-changing for so many animals. It could not only prevent a repeat of the suffering unfolding right now in Sri Lanka, but the additional layer of accountability on exporters could also impact the viability of sending these animals overseas in the first place.

Mark, if yours was one of the thousands of emails that helped catapult this issue onto the political agenda — thank you. We hope the government matches this commitment.

I appreciate that when it comes to political lobbying especially, you may wonder if your ongoing — and often repeated — actions are making a difference. Progress like this is proof that they are 🙂

I can definitively say, after 20 years in this field, that if there is one thing that pays off for animals — it is persistence. We are so close to major outcomes now, because every time we are told ‘no’, we hear ‘try harder’. And because we do — and because you stay with us — animals have hope, like never before.

For the animals,

Lyn White AM
Investigations Director

P.S. Labor’s pre-election commitment is fantastic, but obviously the situation for the animals right now in Sri Lanka is still dire. Our expert has just arrived and is already providing much needed assistance. We’ll keep you informed of any developments.

General News April 7, 2019

Animal rights and slavery

By Helmut.F. Kaplan, Austrian philosopher and animal ethicist*

The “Salzburger Nachrichten” Newspaper was published on November 24, 1994, and nothing has changed in the animal-disdaining leaf line to this day:

“The autumn bull market in Pinzgau (Austria) has a decades-long tradition in Maishofen. Also this year, hundreds of visitors from home and abroad came to the big event of the cattle breeders. Out of 60 offered bulls, 58 were sold at an average price of 30,000 Schillins (today will be payed 5,000 Euro for the best slave, note from Venus) per animal.

The leader was ‘Winston’.

The 15-month-old bull of the breeder Franz Gumpold from Saalfelden was acquired by the cattle breeding club Rauris by 84,000 Schilling. The picture in Newspaper shows breeder Gumpold ‘Winston’ in the arena of the auction hall Maishofen on 1994. ”

the winners in Pinzgau autumn bull market of 2018

The parallels between former slave markets and today’s animal auctions are so obvious that it is actually incomprehensible how they can not be seen by someone.
For the animals that are our slaves today, life is a continuous and inescapable nightmare.
Everything that torments us in the worst fantasies is a terrible reality for the enslaved animals. Daily, nocturnal, lifelong reality. Only death, which usually surpasses the horrors of life, ends the hell we prepare for animals on earth.

verdreckte Rinderg

All wickedness, primitiveness, and evilness to which men are capable, must be endured by innocent and defenseless animals.

We are the only real devils compared to whom all the other devils are harmless bunglers and sympathetic dilettantes.

*https://tierrechte-kaplan.de/tierrechte-und-sklaverei/

Translation and best regards from Venus

Environmental, General News April 5, 2019April 5, 2019

Beluga Whales Little Grey and Little White moved to the world’s first beluga sanctuary in April 2019. Confirmed.

belugas free

A historic victory for all and a special moment in the lives of these whales

Hello Mark,

I am so overjoyed to share this news with you. Finally, after years of being put on display in front of crowds, being made to do tricks, two beluga whales held captive by SEA LIFE have been forced to perform for the very last time.

When I heard the news I was overcome with emotion. Alongside you and other animal advocates, we have campaigned hard for the freedom of these whales for a long time. And now their days of exploitation in shows have actually come to an end. It’s almost hard to believe.

But it’s true. And it’s all thanks to you.

SEA LIFE and parent company Merlin Entertainments gave into pressure and last year announced they would be retiring the whales to a sanctuary in Iceland.

And they will be going there this month!

beluga jet full livery

This victory goes beyond these two whales. It is yet another blow to the captivity industry which exploits whales and dolphins for entertainment. It is a step closer to a future where all animals are free from exploitation.

Read this historic news here:
www.freedomforanimals.org.uk/news/shows-finally-end-for-sea-life-whales

We will be monitoring the move to the sanctuary, which will be a long journey for the whales from China to Iceland. We will post updates on our social media so please do keep an eye out there! www.facebook.com/freedomforanimals

Thank you for everything you have done to make this happen! Will you now join us today to fight for the freedom of all animals exploited in captivity?

Get involved in Zoo Awareness Weekend 2019

19th – 22nd April

A great way to help other animals held captive is to join our annual Zoo Awareness event! This takes place over Easter weekend. To speak out for animals you could:

Hold a demonstration at your local zoo or aquarium!
Distribute leaflets in your local area
Hold a fundraising event to support action to free animals
Write to your local paper about zoos
Hold an information stall in your town centre, local library or school

Volunteer on a street collection to raise funds

Whatever you do for animals, it is clear that when we work together we can win! And animals can be given a second chance! So let’s use this fantastic news about the belugas and keep fighting for other animals in need.

For the animals,

Nicola O’Brien
Campaigns Director

P.S. Thank you for all you have done to free whales like Little White and Little Grey from captivity. You are giving them a second chance at life!

General News April 5, 2019

Germany: Farmer massacred 13 fawns!

In the spring of 2018, a farmer from the Gifhorn district in Lower Saxony, (Germany) killed twelve fawns, during mowing. The public prosecutor’s office had charged him with 13 reasons for killing of vertebrate for no good reason. Now he was sentenced by the district court Celle to a fine.

kitze jpg

As the “Cellesche” Newspaper reports, the man had run over the animals while mowing, as he did not scare off the game from the meadows before, as it was supposed to.

Fawns on meadows: farmer continues to mow

The man drove with a tractor and a rotary mower without consideration over several meadows. He was, according to the prosecution, aware that could be on the meadows fawns. He continued mowing after noticing the injury or killing of the first fawns.

abgemähtes Kitze

He did not care about the suffering of the animals, the “Cellesche” Newspaper quotes the indictment.

It was mowing for biogas plant!!

The farmer was traveling to supply a biogas plant and mowed a total of 20 hectares of leased land. An employee of the plant testified that the defendant had noticed that he had “mown” two fawns.

Nevertheless, he has continued to drive, without acting on the other areas more caution, so the newspaper.

Kitzejpg

13 dead fawns after mowing

The result of the mowing: 13 dead fawns. For 12 of them is in the opinion of the local organic farmers responsible. However, the 13th fawn was probably killed by the carelessness of a contractor, explains the “Cellesche” newspaper.

Most died directly through the blades of the mower. Five fawns, however, were so badly injured that they had to be so received the coup de grace with the knife.

Farmer showed little regretin the courtroom

According to the newspaper, the defendant is not remorseful in court, but assures that he did not kill the animals on purpose (!!!).

The prosecutor’s charge that he fulfilled the facts of “rudeness” could not be substantiated during the proceedings.

The farmer was fined 2,000 euros.

https://www.agrarheute.com/land-leben/13-rehkitze-maeharbeiten-getoetet-geldstrafe-fuer-landwirt-552844

Ma comment: A farmer is a “serial criminal”!
With EU subsidies they buy monstrous tractors and drive recklessly through fields and forests. All of them have to Hunter’s license.

Farmers are antisocial, empathic-free and criminal pack. Farmers live at the expense of animals, and regard them as objects, as their slaves, with the right to torture and murder them; a criminal business that gives them good money.
So.. why should the farmer take care of the fawns?
Out of respect, empathy, or solidarity with the animals?

We can bet that until today he still can not explain why he had to pay 2000 Euros for the disposal of “13 meadow objects”.