Category: Hunting

Vote for Animals: placing animal welfare at the heart of the EU Elections.

1 February 2024

Press Release

The Vote for Animals campaign, launched by Eurogroup for Animals, aims to place animal welfare at the core of the upcoming EU Elections. The campaign encourages candidate MEPs to take a pledge for the animals, while informing citizens about the importance of these elections for progress on animal welfare in the EU, helping them to choose candidates that share their values and encouraging them to vote.

Candidate MEPs are being encouraged to sign a pledge stating a clear commitment to work to improve animal welfare if they are elected to the European Parliament (EP). The pledge, composed of ten asks, addresses live animal transport, imports of animal-based products, welfare of aquatic species, non-animal science and the conservation of wild animals, among others.

By taking the pledge, candidates commit to represent EU citizens’ demands for better animal welfare legislation. European citizens have been very vocal in demanding the EU to do better for animals. Six of ten successful European Citizens Initiatives are related to animal welfare, of which 1.5 million citizens have asked for a Fur Free Europe, and 1.4 million asked for a transition to cage-free systems. The last Eurobarometer, showed that over nine in ten Europeans believe that it is important to protect the welfare of farmed animals, while an overwhelming majority expressed the importance of better protection of kept animals during their entire lifetime.

Elected MEPs have the competence to drive animal welfare issues forward, by working to ensure it remains a priority on the EU agenda, being vocal on issues that need addressing, and voting in the interest of animals. During the current term, a significant number of MEPs have brought to light critical issues including the delay in the publication of the animal welfare legislation, the horrific nature of live animal transport and fur farming.

Elected representatives also have the opportunity to join the Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of Animals, which provides a cross-party platform for MEPs to discuss and exchange views on animal welfare issues and to initiate and promote related  initiatives  in the EP. 

The Vote for Animals campaign page is translated in all official EU languages, and citizens are encouraged to send a message to their representatives, asking them to sign the pledge. 

MEPs can serve as catalysts to push for better animal welfare legislation. The Vote for Animals pledge is our commitment to do our utmost to make sure the European Commission comes forward with ambitious legislation on critical issues that need much attention. If I am given the trust by the public, I promise to continue to place these issues at the core of my work, representing the demands of citizens to do more in this aspect. I encourage other candidate MEPs to take the pledge.

Niels Fuglsang, MEP (S&D, DK)

With so many EU citizens asking for more action on animal welfare, the European Parliament must be representative of these interests, to drive forward much-needed progress. This campaign provides both citizens and MEPs the opportunity to shape an institution that keeps animals at the core of their work.

  • Reineke Hameleers, CEO, Eurogroup for Animals

Elections

Russians kill innocent animals and shamelessly flaunt their deeds in photos – animal rights activists.

WAV Comment – Real Men always wear Combat Trousers !! ?

All Photos – UAnimals

Uanimals, a Ukrainian animal protection organization, has shared information that Russian soldiers have been killing animals in the occupied Kherson Oblast and proudly displaying their deeds in photographs.

The organization received the photos from a member of the volunteer community depicting Russians from the occupied part of Kherson triumphantly posing with the lifeless bodies of various animals.

Russian soldiers are shown holding dead hares and birds. Another picture shows a Russian posing next to a slain deer, a UAnimals associated at the Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology confirmed.
While the exact locations of these gruesome acts cannot be pinpointed, an analysis conducted by the organization validates that the photos were indeed taken in Kherson.

Before the invasion, deer thrived within the Askania-Nova Reserve and the Azov-Syvash National Park, both now under Russian occupation.

Read also: Russian occupiers pillage Askania-Nova Nature Reserve, committing ecocide

“These images are further evidence that Russians are killing everything alive in Ukraine and committing a true ecocide,” the organization said.

The left bank of Kherson Oblast has remained under Russian occupation since February 24, 2022, with military forces establishing an occupational “administration” within the Askania-Nova Reserve.

Ukrainian military personnel have reported that Russians are destroying natural reserves in the occupied Kherson Oblast. They deploy equipment, establish training grounds, and hunt unique animal species there.

Sick !!

Regards Mark

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/russians-kill-innocent-animals-shamelessly-141700369.html

I need something good after all this shit;

Time out – Enjoy – Brilliant Nige !!

Trophy hunting helps conservation? The industry’s biggest myths debunked.

18 January 2024

Four Paws

Despite the ever-growing biodiversity crisis, it is still legal to hunt endangered species for trophies, with elephants, rhinos, leopards, lions and polar bears often falling victim to this cruel practice.

The EU is the second largest importer of hunting trophies worldwide, with nearly 15,000 hunting trophies of individual animals imported between 2014 and 2018 alone. The industry often uses misguided messaging to justify their actions, but a new report, published by 30 NGOs from across Europe and Africa, scientifically addresses these myths. Here are just a few:

Myth: Trophy hunting helps in conservation efforts

Fact: It negatively impacts populations of endangered and protected species

Hunters often target large or strong animals, jeopardising the gene pool of a population and negatively affecting long-term survival. This also undermines efforts by local communities towards conservation and co-existence, as it normalises the killing of animals for personal pleasure.

Myth: It benefits local communities

Fact: For communities it is a lose-lose situation

The trophy hunting industry is riddled with corruption and mismanagement, maximising profits for hunting officials, hunting tour operators and government officials. Local communities benefit by as little as USD 0.30 and USD 5.90 per capita per year, depending on the country. Often, hunting fees do not even reach local communities.

For most communities, trophy hunting is a lose-lose situation. They lose their wildlife to the rifle of foreign hunters, and fail to profit from the money produced by this deadly business. Trophy hunting not only exploits wildlife and nature, but also robs local communities of their heritage and future existence.

Nick Clark, Wildlife Programme Leader, Eurogroup for Animals

Myth: Trophy hunting prevents poaching

Fact: Poaching and illegal practices are rampant in hunting areas

Evidence shows high poaching incidents in hunting areas, leading to depleted animal populations. This has been especially evident in the Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania, the largest

hunting area in Africa, where approximately 55,000 elephants were poached between 2007 and

2014, leading to a population decline of 80 %. In some instances, animals migrate from protected areas to reoccupy empty territories in hunting areas, only to end up victims of trophy hunting.

Myth: Trophy hunting reduces human-animal conflicts

Fact: Trophy hunting exacerbates conflicts between humans and animals

Trophy hunters often target large and more mature males, which often disrupts social dynamics, exacerbating conflict with people. As an example, elephants from populations that have been subject to illegal hunting over a period of time often become more responsive towards humans, and may express aggressive behaviour. Hunting can also encourage predators to venture more frequently into human settlements, preying on farm animals as an easily available food source.

There is increased opposition to trophy hunting from the public, member states and NGOs.

The European Parliament has called for an import ban on trophies from protected species, and Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Finland have already implemented, or are in the process of, import restrictions. 81% of citizens from major European trophy importing countries oppose the practice and call for an import ban.

Regards Mark

England: Boxing Day Hunt Meets Continued.

Our recent post – UK: 26/12 – Boxing Day Hunting – No Good As Always ! – World Animals Voice

Read the full Mail article (with many photos) here:

Thousands join Boxing Day Hunts across UK after animal rights activists tried to replace festive meet with a wheelbarrow race – as Labour is warned to end assault on age-old tradition | Daily Mail Online

You have to remember that this is the Daily Mail – a Conservative newspaper.

Note that time and time again they tell us

With traditional fox hunting banned, enthusiasts now take part in trail hunts, where packs of hounds follow an artificial scent – but animal rights campaigners claim this serves as a ‘cover’ for killing foxes.

Exactly – a cover:

Regards Mark

UK: 26/12 – Boxing Day Hunting – No Good As Always !

Today, December 26th, is the day every year when UK hunts attempt to display themselves to the British public to try and gather support for their bloodlusts of ripping British wildlife to shreds.

Below – A hunter attacks a female sab monitor during a hunt:

Take a look at some of our past posts relating to this:

Search Results for “boxing day hunt” – World Animals Voice

The end result of a hunt – photo Mark via East Kent Sabs.

Or also view this article in the London Metro relating to an incident involving the Warwickshire hunt, which includes hunt video footage:

Warwickshire: Hunting dogs kill and tear fox to shreds | UK News | Metro News

Regards Mark

England: Animal charities react to sentencing of Oxfordshire huntsman.

Animal rights groups said a sickening video showing a huntsman throwing a live fox to baying hounds was more evidence that legal trail hunting was being used as “a smokescreen” for illegal hunting with dogs.

Oliver Francis Thompson, 32, of Old Berkshire Hunt Kennels in Farringdon, swerved jail after admitting two animal welfare offences, one of which involved encouraging his dog to terrorise a captive fox.

In footage recorded in July 2020 that Thompson shared with his friends, he is shown with a young fox in a trap, with his Patterdale terrier Nellie being encouraged to bark and menace the animal at very close quarters.

Later, the fox is taken out of the trap by Thompson and, held by the scruff of his neck, is repeatedly thrust at the barking dog 19 times. 

In a second incident filmed on Christmas Eve in December that year, Thompson, in a hunting jacket, digs a fox out of its earth, surrounded by people also wearing hunting jackets, terriermen and a child. 

Continue reading with video and pictures at:

Animal charities react to sentencing of Oxfordshire huntsman | Oxford Mail

Regards Mark

England: Boxing Day Hero. League Against Cruel Sports.

East Kent Murder – Picture Mark

Search Results for “boxing day hunt” – World Animals Voice

Every Boxing Day, hunting horns sound across the UK, as the hunts come out in force to celebrate the cruel ‘sport’ of fox hunting. 

In reality, the pomp and pageantry are just a mask for the cold cruelty of their entertainment – illegally hunting innocent, defenceless animals to exhaustion.  

The countdown to cruelty has began. Will you stand up for the foxes?

Help us stop hunts on Boxing Day and every other day of the year 

£10 could help us call for stronger laws to protect UK wildlife such as getting hunting banned on all public land including our national parks 

£20 could help us persuade landowners to stop hunting, enforce stricter conditions and revoke hunting licenses for criminal activity 

Search Results for “boxing day hunt” – World Animals Voice

£50 could help us continue to run our invaluable Animal Crimewatch service and report illegal hunting, animal fighting and animal abuse to the police 

DONATE AND BECOME A BOXING DAY HERO

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We’d love to keep in touch. With your permission we’ll let you know the very latest news on our fast-moving campaigns, as well as appeals and other actions (such as petitions) so you can continue to help protect animals.

Boxing Day Hero (league.org.uk)

Lots more:

Search Results for “boxing day hunt” – World Animals Voice

Regards Mark

Hunt Sab Attack

My ‘Golda’ in the snow. Real fur in the right place !

South Africa: New Study Shows That Tourists Are Willing To Pay For A Total Ban On Trophy Hunting To Protect Wildlife In South Africa.

A joint team of UK and South African researchers carried out a survey on public opinion toward trophy hunting. The survey involved 1,000 people from countries that most frequently visit South Africa, both from within the African continent and overseas. It indicated universally strong opposition to the killing of South Africa’s lions for sport and revealed a desire to finance the protection of the nation’s iconic wildlife through paying a ‘lion protection fee.’

The key findings of the research revealed that 84.2% of those surveyed stated that being asked to pay an inbound tourist ‘lion protection fee’ was a ‘good’ or ‘great’ idea. The highest support was from overseas with the UK, U.S., and many European Countries in favor at 92.3%. Those who live in Mozambique were in favour at 88.9%.

Continue reading at:

New Study Shows That Tourists Are Willing To Pay For A Total Ban On Trophy Hunting To Protect Wildlife In South Africa – World Animal News

Regards Mark

Cool Cat !

Wales: Good News to Finish – ANIMAL rights campaigners welcomed a total ban on snares and glue traps in Wales, which came into force yesterday.

ANIMAL rights campaigners welcomed a total ban on snares and glue traps in Wales, which came into force yesterday.

Rural Affairs Minister Lesley Griffiths called it a “historic day” for animal welfare and said she is proud Wales is the first of the UK nations to introduce the move.

RSPCA Cymru’s Billie-Jade Thomas said: “We very much welcome the ban on snares and glue traps coming into force today.

Continue reading at:

Animal rights campaigners welcome Wales’ total ban on snares and glue traps | Morning Star (morningstaronline.co.uk)

Regards Mark