Category: Hunting

Environmental, General News, Hunting

Germany: First the Wolf, Now Fish Otters Can Be Hunted All Year Round – Despite Being A ‘Protected Species’ Under EU Law !

From animal buddy Di in Germany.

Bavaria has declared war not only with the wolf, but now with fish otters as well.

From 1/8/23 a new regulation is in place that allows all year round hunting.  The otter is a protected species under European law (?) and law suits are already being filed.  But the sheer cheek of these people !

Elections are up and down there.  One Markus Soder hopes to gain votes from the ‘right sort’ with these actions.  Mountain farmers, fishers, hunters etc,

Much of Bavaria is rural, and so he can indeed hope to succeed.

Regards Di and Mark

General News, Hunting

Scotland: Following On From the Welsh Ban On Snares, the Scottish Government Now Starts A Consultation On Same. England ? – Late In Any Action As Is Often the Case !

For those of you who are not UK residents, England is by far the largest UK nation, but politically, often the slowest.

Despite this, it (England) often lets the other nations, especially Wales and Scotland, change laws before it does so itself – a kind of tester of public opinion before taking the plunge.

The issue of snares is typical; Wales bans, now the Scottish government starts a consultation on the issue; whilst England does nothing but sits back to see what happens before it takes any action on ban snares along with Wales.

I predict that in the end Scotland will also ban snares like the Welsh.  Only after these ‘testers’ are done will the English government wake up and start doing anything; late as they often are.

Mark

The Scottish Government will launch a consultation over banning snares which capture wild animals.

Ministers want views on whether an outright ban should be put in place for the use of snares or if any exemptions should be considered.

It is also asking for opinions on extending the investigative powers of the Scottish SPCA. This would be a new measure which will give it more powers to tackle wildlife crime.

It is part of the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill, which is currently at Stage 1 in the Scottish Parliament.

Our recent post re Wales snare ban – https://worldanimalsvoice.com/2023/08/14/wales-uk-victory-snares-are-banned-in-wales-despite-intensive-lobbying-by-the-hunters-shooters/

Scottish Government to consult over banning ‘barbaric’ snares which trap animals (msn.com)

Regards Mark

General News, Hunting, Stray Animals, Uncategorized

Wales (UK): Victory – Snares Are Banned In Wales Despite Intensive Lobbying By The Hunters / Shooters.

For those of you who are non UK residents, the United Kingdon comprises of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.  Each has its own Parliament.

Great news – on June 27th, members of the Senedd in Wales voted through a total ban on snares as part of the Agriculture (Wales) Bill.

The next step is to make sure that this historic achievement is replicated by English, Scottish and Northern Ireland governments.

Snares are often used in areas to ‘protect’ the millions of purpose bred gamebirds (until the start of the shooting season) which are then shot and killed for fun by hunters each year – the sick ‘sport’ as they call it.  In the UK, lots of wildlife conservation organisations do not allow the use of snares on their land; which proves that despite the arguments put forward by the hunting fraternity, the use of snares is not necessary in modern conservation.

Snares are not selective as they often catch non targeted animals such as dogs, cats, and even our loved and protected badgers.

The ban on snares in Wales has been a difficult and long campaign; especially with pressure from pro-shooting lobbyists who wanted to allow the continued use of snares under a new name of ‘humane cable restraints’.  There is nothing humane about snares, they are simple killers, and yes, animals are restrained until their deaths which can be long and cause great suffering.

The Minister for Rural Affairs in Wales, Lesley Griffiths, stood firm and rejected the allowance of ‘humane cable restraints’ by the hunters; citing animal welfare concerns and the indiscriminate nature of snares, which can cause long term suffering to many species.

The victory in Wales is a wonderful result for the movement and one which will save countless animals from appalling suffering.  We thank the Welsh government (Senedd) for their decisive action to protect all animals from suffering.  The next step is to make sure that this historic achievement in Wales is replicated in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The Scottish government already has the issue under review, and there is an opportunity ton ban snares under the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill which is currently in its early stages.

England and NI; a parliamentary petition on nares obtained more than the 100,000 signatures required, resulting last year in a Westminster (London) debate in Parliament at the tart of this year.  Sadly, as we all know the regard current animal welfare s, the government is again dragging its feet in taking any action.  I wrote about this recently – https://worldanimalsvoice.com/2023/08/11/england-here-we-go-again-government-bullshit-promises-on-actions-already-making-their-way-through-parliament-which-would-have-given-animals-more-protection/

It is now vital that pressure on snares is kept on MP’s and the government; and that they know that action to ban nars throughout the UK is taken.  As a General Election is not far away now, there is never a better time to let the government know that in your opinion, THEY are failing animal in every sense.

Regard Mark

Environmental, General News, Hunting, Uncategorized

Denmark: Cruise line apologises after passengers witness dozens of pilot whales being slaughtered.

Cruise line apologises after passengers witness dozens of pilot whales being slaughtered

We have campaigned against this along with thousands of others for decades – at least the uninformed may know a bit more about the abuse that takes place every year.

Search Results for “faroe islands” – World Animals Voice

Myself, Joanne and Trev fight to get Faroese fish stopped in our local supermarket – when was this ? late 80’ s ? To see more pictures please click on https://serbiananimalsvoice.com/about-us/

Read the full story at:

Cruise line apologises after passengers witness dozens of pilot whales being slaughtered (msn.com)

Others have called on cruise ship companies to boycott the Faroe Islands in order to end the killing of whales in the area. “Cruise companies need to take a stand in support of ocean wildlife and remove the Faroe Islands from itineraries,” Rob Read, the chief operations officer at Captain Paul Watson Foundation UK, told Yahoo News Australia. “Their continued visits to the Faroe Islands inadvertently supports the abhorrent practice that is the Grindadráp.”

Regards Mark

Environmental, General News, Hunting

UK: The (UK) Government Plans to Extend the Ivory Act 2018 to Include Bans On Imports From Several More Species. Positive News.

UK ivory ban list to be extended to include five more species including hippos

Trading ivory from a hippopotamus, walrus, narwhal, killer whale and sperm whale will soon be made illegal, the Government has said.

The Ivory Act 2018 came into force last June to protect elephants and ban the import, export and dealing of their tusks.

But it will now be extended to cover five more species after it was revealed they are most at risk of ivory exploitation.

Hippos, walruses and sperm whales are all classed as vulnerable on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s red list.

Read more:

UK ivory ban list to be extended to include five more species | UK News | Metro News

Hippos and killer whales among five more species to be added to ivory ban list | UK News | Sky News

The sale of ivory from the tusks and teeth of five more species will be banned under government plans.

The import, export and dealing of elephant ivory was banned in the UK last year. The animals that could join the list are killer whales, hippos, walruses, narwhals, and sperm whales.

The creatures are hunted and killed for their ivory which is often used in decorative carvings.

The government plans to extend the Ivory Act 2018 to include them.

People found to be breaking the law can be given unlimited fines or be jailed for five years.

Parliament must vote on the extension of the Act before it can come into force.

Ivory ban to extend to hippos and killer whales – BBC News

Ivory ban to be extended to five new species (msn.com)

Regards Mark

Environmental, General News, Hunting

Wales UK: HISTORIC VOTE TO BAN SNARES IN WALES.

From the League Against Cruel Sports:

Historic vote to ban snares in Wales (league.org.uk)

HISTORIC VOTE TO BAN SNARES IN WALES

Posted 16th May 2023

Leading animal welfare charity the League Against Cruel Sports has praised politicians in Wales following a crucial vote on snaring.

A vote in the Senedd tonight [TUESDAY] has paved the way for a complete ban in Wales on cruel traps known as snares, the first country in the UK to take this big step forward for animal welfare.

The vote to ban snares was part of the stage three debate on the Agriculture (Wales) Bill, during which amendments designed to water down the snares ban were defeated.

The legislative process now moves on to the fourth and final stage in which the Senedd is expected to ratify the bill as early as next week, subject to King’s consent.

It follows over five years of campaigning by animal welfare charity the League Against Cruel Sports.

Will Morton, head of public affairs at the League Against Cruel Sports, said: “Wales is leading the way in animal welfare by being the first country to ban these cruel and indiscriminate traps.

“We thank the thousands of campaigners who are backing the ban in Wales and the MSs who gave cross party support to make it become a reality.”

The debate tonight saw the defeat of amendments to allow so-called humane cable restraints, a term used by the shooting industry lobby to try and mask the cruelty of these devices.

Snares are cruel wire traps – nearly quarter of a million lie hidden in the British countryside at any one time – and are used by shooting industry gamekeepers on ‘game’ bird shoots to trap wildlife.

They tighten around the neck, torso or legs of the animal and cause immense pain and suffering to their trapped victims for hours or days before the animal is either shot or faces a lingering death.

They trap indiscriminately and government figures from Defra show nearly three quarters of the animals caught are not the intended target species.

Polling carried out by YouGov in January 2021 showed 78 per cent of the Welsh public wanted snares to be made illegal.

Once the Agriculture (Wales) Bill is passed – something that is all but inevitable – it will then come into force two months after receiving royal assent.

Will added: “The ban on the use of snares will protect wild, farmed and domestic animals from falling victim to these brutal devices, a move that will be welcomed by the vast majority of the Welsh people.

“The next step is to lobby the UK and Scottish governments to follow the precedence set in Wales and to ban these barbaric devices.”

Ends

Regards Mark

Photo credit: Wild Moors

General News, Hunting, Uncategorized

Adidas called on to drop kangaroo leather after Nike and Puma announce phase-out.

Adidas called on to drop kangaroo leather after Nike and Puma announce phase-out

21 April 2023

LAV

Eurogroup for Animals and 6 animal welfare and conservation organisations sent a letter to the CEO of Adidas, asking the company to stop the production of shoes using kangaroo leather.

This initiative follows the encouraging announcements by Nike and Puma to end the use of “k-leather” in their lines.

In Australia 1.6 million kangaroos are killed each year, raising serious animal welfare concerns. In addition, kangaroo populations are already suffering from the consequences of climate change such as droughts, floods and bushfires while the methods to estimate populations are questionable. 

Kangaroo derived products, including leather, are exported to various regions including the European Union. The EU represents an important market for athletic shoes, and several brands continue to produce football shoes made of kangaroo leather, also called k-leather. Athletic shoes made from synthetic materials have proven high performance, making the use of kangaroo leather totally dispensable.

In March, Puma and Nike announced they will end the production of athletic shoes using kangaroo leather. We welcome this crucial shift for the protection and conservation of this iconic Australian species. However, Adidas continues to produce and sell k-leather shoes, despite the serious concerns raised by animal welfare organisations over cruel methods used to kill kangaroos, and despite EU consumers’ demands for cruelty-free products. 

Eurogroup for Animals and our members LAV, GAIA, Voiceless and World Animal Protection, as well as Kangaroos Alive and Pro Wildlife, are therefore calling on the CEO of Adidas to discontinue the use of kangaroo leather in the brands products. 

Read the open letter to Bjørn Gulden, CEO of Adidas.

Regards Mark

Environmental, General News, Hunting

UK: Trophy Hunt Ban – Government Has Not Checked Things Enough – Trophy Hunters Can Still Import Mass Dead Body Parts to the UK If They Go First Via Northern Ireland (Still part of UK). !!

Following on from our post yesterday relating to a ban in the UK of trophy hunting imports:

UK: We Have Values, and Being Part of a Trade In Endangered Species Body Parts Is Not Part of Those Values. – World Animals Voice

.. it now appears that the press have delved into this more and found that all is not as perfect as was first sold.

The law to ban trophy hunting imports was approved by MP’s very recently. (See above link).  This has now been exposed as a bit of a farce – why ? – the rules will NOT apply to Northern Ireland, and DUP (Democratic Ulster Unionist Party) MP’s have said that the bill is undermined and that Ulster (in Northern Ireland – part of the UK); will be used as a ‘backdoor’ by trophy hunters to continue getting murdered animals from the hunts into the UK.

It basically means that trophy hunters would be able to fly into Belfast (Northern Ireland), loaded up with dead hunted animals body parts; and then simply cross the Irish Sea to the UK.

Now that the Bill will be moving into the House of Lords before it becomes legislation; where it will undergo a lot of scrutiny; we can ony hope that all the loopholes will be exposed and corrected in the draft legislation.

If things are not entirely sorted out before becoming law; then one has to question all the actions undertaken so far by the government – it would appear that the Bill may have been rushed through Parliament without anyone looking into all the loopholes of what exists; there are even some saying that this current proposal may infact kill more animals than things in the past.

It would appear to currently be a failure to support the excellent work of so many anti hunt organisations and personnel; we can only hope the Lords will undertake an in depth review of the draft Bill before it ever becomes legislation – otherwise, what is he point of it all ?

Sticky time for the government; doing so much wrong as they often do.  General Elections not that far away now so that people can vote on issues such as this and many others; faith or no faith ?

Regards Mark

Environmental, General News, Hunting

UK: We Have Values, and Being Part of a Trade In Endangered Species Body Parts Is Not Part of Those Values.

This is about the values that we in Britain have, that we do not want to be part of a trade in endangered species’ body parts.

On Thursday 16/3/22, the UK Parliament in London voted (un opposed) and passed the ‘trophy hunting law’; which will now (once passed into law / legislation very soon) stop trophy hunting ‘items’, including hunted animals heads, the skins and tusks of murdered animals etc from being imported into the UK by the sadistic blood lust killers who pay highly financially to travel to Africa in order to undertake their murdering ‘sport’ (as they see it).

Many organisations, celebrities and good ol normal people here in the UK have campaigned about getting this legislation for years.

As expected, ‘pro hunt ‘conservation groups’ (??) have come out of Africa and expressed their concerns – you can read more here:

UK parliament passes trophy hunting law – Digital Journal

Saying things like ‘it is another way of re-colonising Africa’; But we here in England were ‘colonised’ by the Romans when they invaded us in 55BC; we were also invaded a lot by the Vikings; but hey, that is what happens and is called history; I may have been bummed off as an Englishman in 55BC; but throughout history, times and things change; and for me, this ban is very much to the positive; not really a move to re-colonise Africa !! – get a grip please, most of the world detests hunting animals for ‘sport’; and so they will work to oppose it.

Further reading:

UK parliament passes trophy hunting law (ibtimes.co.uk)

Bill banning import of hunting trophies into UK passed by MPs | Hunting | The Guardian

Bill banning import of hunting trophies into UK passed by MPs | Evening Standard

Cecil the lion did not die ‘in vain’, minister says as trophy-hunting ban passed (kentonline.co.uk)

Regards Mark

Check out all our old trophy hunt posts at:

Search Results for “trophy hunting” – World Animals Voice

https://bantrophyhunting.org/