The popstar turned animal rights activist visited the Rotherham animal sanctuary on Monday (July 1).
A spokesperson for Thornberry said: “We had the pleasure of welcoming Will Young, a passionate animal rights supporter, to Thornberry Animal Sanctuary.
Read in full with photos
Popstar and animal rights activist Will Young pays visit to Rotherham animal rescue centre (msn.com)
In a long-awaited win for animals, Colombia’s Congress voted overwhelmingly to ban bullfighting, international news reported.
The legislation is expected to be signed by President Gustavo Petro, who has been open about his disdain for the violent tradition.
“Congratulations to those who finally made death not a spectacle,” President Gustavo Petro wrote on social media.
The bill will make all bullfighting illegal in Colombia beginning in 2027. It also stipulates that anyone whose income was tied to bullfighting will have help finding more humane employment — demonstrating that the economy does not justify animal cruelty.
This win follows a long and difficult legislative battle. The city of Bogota made several attempts to ban the cruelty over the years, but the bloodsport could only be truly outlawed by Congress — because of a decision from the Constitutional Court in 2018 that bullfighting was a part of the country’s “culture.”
“The next generations will grow up in a country where culture will define things much more creatively than torturing animals for the amusement of a few insensitive people,” Juan Carlos Losada, a member of Congress, said about the win.
Bullfighting is bloody: Bulls are repeatedly stabbed until they give up the will to live in exhaustion and pain. The suffering of these sentient animals is not entertainment — it’s animal cruelty.
“We are prioritizing the welfare and defense of all animals,” Congressman Alejandro Garcia remarked after the vote. “To the whole world, we say Colombia is in a process of cultural transformation, where all beings retain dignity.”
Colombia will join other South American countries like Brazil, Chile, and Argentina in banning the violent sport. Seven countries still allow bullfighting — and the pressure is on for them to follow suit.
Lady Freethinker applauds Colombia’s Congress for passing this historic bill, as well as the animal rights activists who campaigned for years for this more compassionate future.
The heartbreaking story of a dog brutally attacked with a machete has resurfaced in Sancti Spíritus, stirring outrage among animal rights advocates. This time, they have identified the alleged perpetrator and are demanding justice from the Cuban regime.
Natasha Zapata reported this latest act of violence against an animal in the Facebook group “SOS Callejeros. Cuba,” identifying the citizen Y.A.C. as the aggressor.
Warning: Graphic Content. The following content includes images and explicit descriptions of violence against an animal. These images may be disturbing to some readers. Discretion is advised.
According to the accuser, the man also owns a mare with whom he engages in inappropriate behaviors, prompting her to call on authorities to take legal action against him under the Animal Welfare Law.
Zapata also noted that the man works as a cook in a slaughterhouse: “I can’t understand how someone unsanitary like him is allowed to prepare food,” she remarked.
The woman expressed her dismay at the existence of unscrupulous individuals and emphasized that the competent authorities must intervene, as she fears for the life of the aggressor’s mare and any other animal under his care.
In the comments section, Elizabeth Herrera Rodríguez explained that the dog lost an eye and that at the time of the violent act, it had wandered from its home and ended up in the aggressor’s house.
Continue reading at https://www.cubaheadlines.com/articles/284
We have a new government in the UK now.
Animal protection NGO, Cruelty Free International, is calling on the UK’s new Labour government to honour its manifesto pledge to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing”.
This commitment must lead to the end of the use of animals in UK laboratories, through the development of a roadmap with clear targets, milestones and actions, led by a new minister to co-ordinate plans across all departments.
The government must also provide further detail to expand on earlier commitments by senior members of the Labour Party that included a board of experts to be established in the first year and tasked with drafting a plan to phase out the use of dogs, minipigs and rabbits in testing, including medical testing.
Cruelty Free International stands ready to offer its expertise to ensure these policies are delivered in an ambitious but achievable way.
The organisation’s ‘Pledge Cruelty Free’ campaign in the build-up to the General Election asked all parliamentary candidates to make a commitment to put the 1998 ban on testing cosmetics on animals, covering ingredients used either primarily or exclusively in cosmetics, into law; make our homes safer by modernising the system for testing the chemicals that go into the products we use every day, such as food, clothes, household cleaning, furniture, electronic goods, paints and dyes, and removing animals from those tests; and ask that the government create a plan to phase-out animal testing forever, with a minister dedicated to delivering this target across all government departments.
Home Office statistics show that there were over 2.76 million uses of animals in laboratories in Great Britain in 2022. Ten per cent of those are tests required by regulators to assess the safety or effectiveness of chemicals, medicines and other products.
Cruelty Free International Head of Public Affairs, Dylan Underhill, said: “Sir Kier Starmer and his new government must honour their manifesto pledge to phase-out animal testing, and reflect both the views of the public and the strength of feeling that there is on this issue. With such a strong majority they can and must be bold to reflect the promise of change on which Labour built their campaign. Animal testing is simply not good science, yet inexplicably continues as the default method for testing the safety of products. We know that, as a country, we can do so much better in our protection of the millions of animals that suffer and die in laboratories every year.
“Their commitment must lead to the end of the use of animals in UK laboratories, through the development of a roadmap with clear targets, milestones and actions, led by a new minister to co-ordinate plans across all departments. The government must provide further detail on commitments that included a board of experts to be established in the first year and tasked with drafting a plan to phase out the use of dogs, minipigs and rabbits in testing, including medical testing. Cruelty Free International stands ready to offer its expertise to ensure these policies are delivered in an ambitious but achievable way.
“We know that there is so much for a new government to do in its first few days and weeks in office, but this is long overdue and cannot be forgotten or delayed any longer. The government must develop a roadmap with clear targets and milestones to phase out the use of all animals in experiments as soon as possible. We stand ready to offer our expertise in service of this ambition.
“A greater increase in funding, in line with the levels for similar ground-breaking technologies in the UK, needs to be accompanied by innovative incentives to encourage scientists and industry to move away from the current use of animals. Non-animal testing methods, in many cases, have already proven themselves to be faster, cheaper and more accurate than animal testing.
“Animal testing touches our lives in many ways that most of us don’t appreciate, from cosmetics and household products to clothes, furniture, plastics, electronic and white goods, paints, dyes, and food – all these things can be associated with animal testing on their way to our homes. We need Labour to take bold steps forward – without this, we will be condemned to a never-ending cycle of small reductions rather than the transformative step forward which is needed to meet the aspirations of the public.”
Regards Mark
WordPress now appears to be stopping us putting the latest post to the top of the site; and it seems that what you now see on the screen is NOT the latest we have published – there are newer posts. But to see then you have to now use the ‘Archive’ on the left and select the current month – ie. Currently July 20204.
As I write this the latest post is photos of a fox living in London.
So remember now; all the latest to be found under the relevant month in ‘Archive’.
Sorry, but beyond our control !
Images sent to me tonight by Pauline – London fox, or ‘vulpine’.
No mange; for a wild London streetwise, it looks in very good condition; love the ears !
Regards Pauline and Mark
From “Feline Guardians Without Border” with whom we cooperate.
It is heartening to see that even Chinese Officials are not blind re. this issue and animal abuse in their country in general. Far be it from us to blanket condemn all Chinese on the basis of the actions of a “minority”. Although of course, as we see daily, and most recently again with Yulin, there IS a problem with animal welfare/abuse in China that is far more substantial than with all other countries we know. And that also goes for South-East Asia in general. However, there ARE many also, who think differently, and who work VERY hard (given the circumstances and the lack of legislation) to change the status quo. And there are also people who genuinely care for (their) animals, as we do. Let us all hope that this trend continues.
| I feel such emotion as I write the following words, ‘we did it’. Legislation to bring the live sheep export industry to an end has just been passed in the Senate. This is the moment we have been hoping for – that we have worked so hard for. This is a moment for us to savour. As you know so well, this historic outcome for animals has taken many years, in fact decades, of our lives to achieve. In the face of great challenges, our resilience was tested time and time again, but we ‘stayed the course’, because our hearts would not let us do otherwise. It was long ago that our ancestors named the four legged woolly creatures who grazed peacefully together, ‘sheep’. Back then, no-one could have foreseen that these gentle animals would be subjected to an industry that would unite people across a vast continent to plead, on their behalf, for mercy. Nor could we have known the number of years it would take for governments to heed our calls for compassion. But that momentous day has finally come. |
| WATCH: In this brief video Shatha and I reflect on this momentous day. |
| On this historic day, it is so very important for me to acknowledge those who have helped achieve the passage of this legislation. To Dr Jed Goodfellow and Dr Bidda Jones from the Australian Alliance for Animals and Dr Suzie Fowler and Joanne Webb from RSPCA Australia – thank you so very much. Your public advocacy and political lobbying over the past year has been exceptional. The voices of Dr Lynn Simpson, and Dr Sue Foster and her team at Vets Against Live Export have been critical in providing scientific evidence and expertise to the calls to end live sheep export. So too my heartfelt gratitude goes to Stop Live Exports for their decades-long superb frontline work protesting and representing the sheep in WA – with a special ‘shout out’ to Katrina Love. To my own team at Animals Australia who have led the campaign to end live sheep export over the past two decades – shining light on the suffering of exported sheep year after year – you have been magnificent. Over so very many years, it was politicians such as Andrew Wilkie, Melissa Parke, Lee Rhiannon, Mehreen Faruqi, Josh Wilson and Sussan Ley who spearheaded debate on behalf of live exported sheep in parliament, ensuring they were not forgotten. To each and every MP and Senator who gave these animals their voice, we will be forever grateful. And to the Albanese government – and crossbench MPs – the first government in Australia’s history to recognise our societal responsibility to animals, we applaud you and we thank you. |
| So very many learnings have flowed from this journey together. First and foremost is the extraordinary power of compassion to bring like-hearted people from all walks of life together. It was compassion that led my life path to intersect with Fazal Ullah’s. Without Fazal’s extraordinary courage, Australians would not have witnessed the unimaginable suffering that had been occurring on sheep ships over many decades. I would not have met Shatha Hamade had our hearts not united in service to exported sheep. There were so many moments, when faced with great suffering in animal markets and slaughterhouses half a world away, that we made silent commitments to our sheep that we would be their voice. I am so very glad that those promises have been fulfilled today. And the truth is, I would not have ‘met’ you, and had the privilege of witnessing your amazing strength of heart, had it not been for our shared compassion for these animals. I know I have been changed forever through this journey together, and I suspect you have been too. It has challenged us to become more, to do more, to care more. And you magnificently accepted that challenge. Words could never adequately express my gratitude to you – for every email and letter you wrote, for every protest you attended, for every investigation you funded. From my heart to yours… thank you. This day would not have come, had it not been for you. Today, with the passage of this unprecedented legislation, history has been made. And we are one step closer to that kinder world that awaits us all. For the sheep, |
  Lyn White AM Director of Strategy |
Fantastic News – I personally know how long and hard anti live export work is.
Mega congrats to all those who reached this triumphant day !
And also especially to our own Patron Phil who has personally made this a major issue.
Regards Mark
In a recent heartfelt statement, actress Sonyaa Saamoor has expressed her deep-seated compassion for animals, emphasizing a philosophy that extends far beyond domestic pets like dogs and cats. Known for her roles in various television dramas and popularly known for her character in Kasautii Zindagii Kay , Saamoor has not only embraced a vegetarian lifestyle but has also become a vocal advocate for animal rights and compassion.
“My love goes beyond just dogs and cats; I have compassion for all animals. I am a true animal lover,” Saamoor passionately stated. “I am a vegetarian because I cannot harm animals. I don’t understand why people think only their pets’ lives are precious. Why isn’t every animal’s life precious?” Saamoor, who believes that connecting with animals and adopting a vegetarian diet enhances spiritual growth, remarked on the transformative effect it has had on her.
“I believe that getting closer to animals and becoming a vegetarian opens your heart chakra. It certainly opened mine,” she explained. The actress has recently adopted a cat, named her Diego. The actress also shared endearing anecdotes about her personal experiences with animals, particularly highlighting the often misunderstood nature of cats.
“People often have misconceptions about cats, but once you interact closely with them, you learn about their loving side,” Saamoor reflected. “Cats are funnier than dogs; their playfulness and mannerisms always make me laugh. My cat is my alarm clock, waking me up at exactly 6 am.” Her admiration for animals extends to a broader spiritual belief. “Animals are angels sent from heaven, brightening every difficult situation with their funny gestures,” she remarked, underscoring her belief that adopting a pet can enrich one’s life immeasurably.
Furthermore, Saamoor drew parallels between her advocacy for animals and teachings from various spiritual traditions. “Lord Shiva’s depictions teach us to be compassionate towards every animal. Every enlightened being that walked the face of the earth taught us to be compassionate towards all animals,” she pointed out. “We put up Buddha’s art on our walls but learn nothing about his teachings.” As she continues to promote awareness about animal welfare and vegetarianism, Saamoor hopes to inspire others to embrace a similar philosophy of compassion and respect towards all living beings.
Mark
World Animals Voice 