Because of your support, World Animal Protection recently rescued Cam, an illegally captive bear from a life of awful abuse and misery on a bear bile farm in Vietnam.
When Cam was found, he was being kept in a narrow, steel cage that didn’t allow him to turn around and was fed a poor diet that didn’t meet his nutritional needs.
Thankfully, Cam was found by staff and government officials who were visiting different bear farms to ensure all the bears in these facilities were tagged. His release was negotiated with local authorities and a plan executed to bring him to his forever home. He is now settling into his new surroundings and can live a life free of cruelty and suffering.
Rescues like this are possible because World Animal Protection has been working with other partnering NGO’s and the Vietnamese government, to end the cruel practice of bear bile farming and protect the small population of bears that remain in the wild.
Sincerely,
Liz Quick-Corral Interim Executive Director/Director of Development
The brand anticipates ‘enormous potential’ in the future plant-based sector within Spain Credit: Supplied
Flax & Kale Unveils 45 New ‘Revolutionary’ Plant-Based Products
The range consists of 14 vegan meat products and 31 vegan cheese items developed by renowned chef Teresa Carl
Flax & Kale, the brand under a renowned restaurant specializing in health foods, has announced it is launching 45 new ‘revolutionary’ plant-based products.
Moreover, it claims to be ‘the only’ multi-category brand to create local plant-based products in Spain.
Flax & Kale
The range will be one of the biggest Spanish-produced plant-based product lines to date.
It consists of 14 vegan meat products and 31 dairy-free cheese items such as gouda, cheddar, and mozzarella in different forms.Vegan meat on offer will include a beef and chicken alternative available in hamburgers, croquettes, nuggets, meatballs, and mince.
Prices will range between €1.99 and €2.99 for the vegan cheese products, and €3.59 and €3.99 for the meat alternatives.
Celebrated international chef Teresa Carles formed the recipes. Moreover, they have been tested in the group’s restaurants for three years.
All are produced in a modern research and development facility in Lleida, Catalonia.
‘Plant-based leaders’
The Flax & Kale brand is under the Teresa Carles Healthy Foods restaurant group.
CEO Jordi Barri told PBN: “Our ambition is to become a leader in the plant-based market in Spain over the next few years.
“With a very diverse range and truly competitive prices, which we can offer thanks to 100 percent local production and sizeable investment over recent years in the latest generation industrial production lines.
“This launch is just the first step in that direction, and there will be many more steps in the coming months.”It comes as the brand anticipates ‘enormous potential’ in the Spanish plant-based sector this year.
Additionally, restaurants are adding more vegan options to their menus across the country.
Veganism in Spain
According to figures published on Statista, vegans and vegetarians in Spain are limited.
This is according to surveys revealing almost 90 percent of the population ate both meat and dairy.However, these figures are from 2019 – and updated data shows an increase in stores offering vegan food.
The products are soon available online and in leading supermarkets and restaurants across Spain.
Specific dates surrounding the launch are yet to be released.
Regards Mark
RIP Amy (Winehouse) – taken far, far too early, as many of the best people are.
WAV Comment – we very much welcome this excellent news from Turkey, and congratulate all those who have campaigned for improvements to animal welfare legislation, and the politicians who are making it reality.
Quote – The legislation aims to curb incidents of violence toward animals in the country, following public outcry regarding the treatment of stray animals by government ministries.
So really excellent news regarding the treatment of stray animals – EU take note and do something about strays in Europe !
As we said in a recent post, England: People Power For The Animals. – World Animals Voice people power works; and this must never be forgotten. Politcians work for you, they are elected by you; and they can be deselected by you. You have the power to make change.
Regards Mark.
Stray – Homeless but not wild – Help Me Please.
TURKEY WILL NO LONGER CLASSIFY ANIMALS AS COMMODITIES
Turkey’s highly anticipated animal-rights bill is expected to be presented to the Turkish Parliament and enacted into law in the coming weeks. The new legislation will redefine animals as living beings instead of “commodities,” as is the case under current laws. It also seeks jail time for anyone who kills, abuses, or tortures animals.
The legislation aims to curb incidents of violence toward animals in the country, following public outcry regarding the treatment of stray animals by government ministries. In addition, in recent years, incidents of violence toward animals have made headlines, including an incident in which seven dogs and seven cats died after consuming chicken laced with poison. This month, a man was fined for killing and eating stray kittens. Under current laws, any act of torture or killing of a stray animal is punishable under “damage to commodities” and comes with a lenient fine. In the past, courts have also handed down light sentences in a few exceptionally brutal cases.
The law’s new definition will automatically put crimes like these on equal footing as violence toward humans and carry a jail sentence. The jail sentence sought for crimes against animals will be from six months up to four years, which will avoid criminals getting out on bail or converting the prison sentence to a fine.
Sweeping animal-rights legislation
The proposed legislation follows Parliament’s creation of an Animal Rights Legislative Commission in May 2019. The Turkish Grand National Assembly’s Animal Rights Investigation Committee spent several months meeting with animal-rights activists, nonprofit organizations, academics, experts, and other people involved in animal welfare and rights for a more comprehensive approach to the matter. The committee has since made its recommendations in the new legislation.
The recommendations also included banning zoos, circus animals, horse-drawn carriages, dolphin parks, fur farms, and pet stores, while restricting hunting and animal experimentation. However, the law deals largely with animal companions such as cats and dogs and does not address the cruelty to farmed animals, including fish.
Improving companion animal laws
Countries around the world have different laws for animals who are considered companions. Last year, China’s Ministry of Agriculture announced it was removing dogs from the “livestock” category to instead consider them companion animals. However, this reclassification largely affects the global dog and cat meat trade, which animal-rights organizations have been working to ban for decades. According to the Humane Society International, approximately 10 million dogs are killed for food annually in China. Recognizing that dogs are companions instead of “livestock” is the first step toward eliminating the consumption and trade in dog meat.
The UK government announced back in 2017 that it did not intend to transfer the hard won EU animal sentience regulation into (UK) national law as a result of leaving the EU (Brexit).
British animal welfare campaigners were outraged with this – so it was time to turn up the heat with the British government, who always talk loudly about animal welfare issues. Why suddenly, on leaving the EU, would UK animals NOT still be covered by laws that gave them some protection as an EU member state ?
Battle lines were drawn between the campaigners and the government. The campaigners won, and by the end of the year the UK government was forced into a major U turn.
Despite words from the government, legislation did not materialise. In 2019, a coalition of more than 40 animal welfare organisations joined together, along with over 100,000+ signatures from British activists on a Parliamentary petition, asking Ministers to:
(Note – it has to be remembered that under UK law, if a petition exceeds 100K signatures, then the issue concerned (whatever it is about) has to be debated in the British Parliament, London).
Demands from the people included;
Impose a legal duty on governments to pay all due regard to the welfare needs of animals as ‘sentient beings’.
Recognise animal sentience when formulating and implementing policies.
Ensure clear, consistent processes for for all Ministers to deliver against their animal sentience duties.
Create an Animal Welfare Commission to monitor the government performance against animal sentience law.
As stated, with over 100k signatures on the petition, the petition was debated in Parliament as it had to be. The result being that Victoria Prentis MP (Defra) stated that the government would introduce the necessary legislation on animal sentience as soon as they could.
The people had won with their campaigning ! – efforts had resulted in victory.
But they still had to keep up the pressure for over a year longer to get the legislation. In the Queens Speech on 11th May 2021, defining the schedule for government legislation in the next parliamentary session, the government finally announced legislation would exist under UK law to recognise animals as thinking, feeling (sentient) beings.
The ‘Animal Welfare Sentience Act’ was introduced to parliament 2 days later, and will:
Formally recognise animals as sentient beings under UK law.
Establish and ‘Animals Sentience Committee’, or ASC, to ensure that across all government departments, policy making and implementation considers animal sentience.
Requires Ministers to respond to reports from the ASC, to ensure that they remain politically accountable.
This new law ensures that all farm animals are treated with respect and kindness, and that their experiences and feelings DO matter. This new law is a critical step towards the final goal of ending factory farming and replacing it with sustainable, compassionate alternatives, such as organic and free range farming.
The new legislation is currently working its way through parliament at this very time to become law.
What do we learn ?
Victory is never delivered on a plate.
As with the sentience Bill; the Brits had to work and fight hard to get it; but they did, and they achieved result. Brits are generally good animal welfare people; (II am one of them) – tell them that sentience does not matter and they will probably manhandle you out to the nearest airport, and put you on a one way ticket flight to a distant land.
But importantly, as we always ay in the UK, ‘politicians work FOR YOU’; they are not gods; as they can be put out to pasture whenever the electorate feels the need. So activists everywhere; keep on with your fights, whatever issue it is for, and in the end you will achieve. Personally, I have fought live exports in the UK for over 32 years; but only now, this year, 2021, have we seen the government listen to us and make first moves to get a ban on. Never give up; unite and fight the fight; good (us) always overcomes evil (them) in the end.
I take inspiration from wonderful Jill at Animals Asia (video above), and the multitude of other excellent campaigners dotted all over the globe; unsung heroes who fight endlessly for better welfare and the rights of animals – you all have my greatest admiration and respect. Look at the fur industry – it is on its knees and desperately hanging on in there attempting to survive much because the good, normal people have said ‘No’ to the disgusting abuses that are placed before them by the fur rabble humans.
It is a victory of the people, by the people, for the people but very much for the animals also.
Seeing a squirrel in the wild is always an exciting moment, but we rarely get to see the cute creatures up-close. Most of the time, you might just see a flash of fluffy red fur scurrying up a tree or darting across the forest floor. However, Swedish photographer Johnny Kääpä has earned the trust of his local squirrels, who now curiously approach his camera and pose for snapshots.
SIGN: DON’T EXECUTE MOTHER BEAR AND CUBS JUST FOR LIVING CLOSE TO ROAD
PETITION TARGET: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Agrizzly bear nicknamed Felicia and her two cubs could be killed just for living near a highway in Jackson Hole, Wyo., according to USA Today.
Wildlife Advocate Savannah Rose Burgess said the bear family has no record PETITION: Don’t Execute Mother Bear and Cubs Just for Living Close to Road (ladyfreethinker.org)of acting aggressively, charging, or taking food from humans who have been spotted approaching them. Felicia also caught the attention of award-winning photographer Thomas Mangelsen, who has documented her for more than six years and said she has always been calm and collected.
But wildlife officials are saying that “human-conditioned behavior” — through no fault of Felicia’s or her family’s– could lead to human-wildlife conflict. They propose relocating or killing the bear family as the only possible solutions.
If park rangers fail to scare the bears off with “targeted hazing operations” — which could include loud noise or rubber bullets — theseinnocent wild animals could pay with their lives, according to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) statement.
Killing an entire family of bears who have no history of acting aggressively must not be allowed.
Felicia and her cubs must be protected.
Sign this petition urging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to find an alternative solution for Felicia and her cubs that does not involve killing them.
The last known 800 Tapanuli orangutans on Earth face having their Indonesian forest home ripped from beneath them — by a British company’s thirst for gold.
Jardine Matheson and its gold mining company want to destroy this precious ecosystem in Batang Toru, Northern Sumatra out of pure greed — driving the rarest great ape to extinction.
Just in the past month, satellite images revealed a new expansion of the Martable Mine into the heart of orangutan territory. But if we act fast with a massive public campaign exposing Jardine Matheson, we can stop the mine’s expansion and protect the orangutans and their habitat before it’s too late.
The Tapanuli orangutan, which is the rarest great ape in the world, was first documented by scientists in 2017. It’s the first great ape to be recorded for a century and it only lives in the Batang Toru Forest in Indonesia.
Sadly, there are only 800 of the charismatic primates left.
Unfortunately for the newly identified and already endangered great ape, its forest home sits on top of a rich seam of gold – which is currently being mined by a British company.
Jardine Matheson has been run by the same British family, the Keswicks, since the Victorian era. It bought the Martabe gold mine in 2018 and has expanded it further into the habitat of the Tapanuli orangutan ever since.
So far, the Martabe mine has already destroyed at least 30 ha of Tapanuli orangutan forest habitat — an area of the Batang Toru forest equivalent to at least 42 football fields.
If we don’t act now, scientists warn that the entire Tapanuli orangutan population could be decimated in less than 10 years.
The survival of the Tapanuli orangutan truly is a test for humanity, but in reality it’s a simple one. All that Jardine Matheson needs to do is to halt any future expansion projects in Batang Toru and work with the International Union for Conservation of Nature on a plan to preserve the rarest great ape and its habitat.
When SumOfUs members come together, we achieve wonders. In May 2015, we got together to tell Jardine Matheson and its luxury hotel subsidiary Mandarin Oriental to save and protect the Sumatran Elephant, and it listened to all of us. Today, an even greater threat is looming over the last Tapanuli orangutans and we must ramp up the pressure on Jardine Matheson to do the right thing once again.
TAKE ACTION NOW red Rubber Stamp over a white background.
We are not getting mush through about Yulin this year – but here are a few links we have found mainly from the Press sources – Warning GRAPHIC videos and images.
A group of conservative politicians in the UK is pushing for the inclusion of lobster and octopuses in a new animal sentience bill, The Guardian reported. The influential Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation (CAWF) is meeting with the government to push for the sentience of invertebrates.
As it stands now, the bill recognizes that fish and other vertebrates feel pain, but does not include invertebrates. MPs in the CAWF believe they should be included. A report from CAWF found that fishing operations in the UK land 420 million cephalopods and crustaceans annually.
“Common arguments against crustacean and cephalopod sentience focus on distinctions between these animals’ anatomy and human anatomy (such as that they process information outside the brain, eg in ganglions). However, this anthropocentric view fails to capture what it means for an animal to be sentient. Crustaceans and cephalopods undoubtedly experience the world in extremely different ways to ourselves.
What matters, though, is whether that experience entails conscious experience of pleasure and pain. We believe that the evidence is sufficient to show that these animals do experience pleasure and pain,” the report said.
The report points to scientific studies to back up their proclamations as well as the backing of multiple scientists.
Lorraine Platt, founder of CAWF said in The Guardian, “All but a very small minority of scientists agree these are sentient animals capable of pain and suffering. It’s very important they are kept in the animal sentience bill. My Octopus Teacher is a very moving film about a female octopus, about how clever she is, how she can avoid predators, sharks, on a daily basis. If I feel this way I am sure many others feel the same way.”
Sign this petition to tell the European Union to pass laws declaring that all animals are “sentient beings” with rights to legal protection!
Classify Animals as “Sentient Beings” With Legal Protection in the EU
Please think about the suffering that wil go on in this event; and the suffering and abuses of all sentient beings worldwide who will be murdered in the slaughterhouse today.
World Animals Voice 