Farmers Stab Pregnant Horses With Huge Needles At “Blood Farms.” Iceland Must End This Practice Now!
Click ‘Watch on YouTube’ to see (disturbing) undercover footage:
More than 5,000 horses in Iceland are currently locked in any one of the nation’s 119 “blood farms.” In these facilities, farmers mine live pregnant horses for hormones inside their blood. Handlers extract the mares’ blood during summer months, turn it into powder, then sell and ship it internationally to other farmers. That includes to facilities in Europe and the UK, where farmers use the hormone to force their livestock, such as cows, pigs, and sheep, to reproduce more than is natural. Animals endure all this exploitation just so farmers can enjoy more profits.
One undercover video shows handlers hitting pregnant mares before shoving and imprisoning them inside “restraint boxes.” Once locked in place, handlers then push huge needles into the pregnant horses’ jugular veins — extracting frightening amounts of blood. Farmers in Iceland regularly extract around 4x the maximum amount advised by International standards, taking 5 liters (1.3 gallons) of life-giving liquid from each horse, every week, for 8 weeks in a row. These pregnant animals’ blood is necessary not just for their own survival, but also for providing their foals with vital nutrients. Icelanders are speaking out in opposition to the cruel practice, and the European Parliament is considering a ban on these blood-hormone imports. We must stand with them in order to help these defenseless horses.
A police dog known for having a “larger than life character” has died after chasing down two moped thieves, the Metropolitan Police said.
Six-year-old PD Xavier Charles, better known as “Stanley”, collapsed on Sunday morning while on duty.
The dog, who worked across London as a general purpose and firearms support animal, was described as “one of the very best police dogs” by the force.
The Met Police believe Stanley died from heart failure after collapsing on a job.
Stanley “loved to work”, the force said, and also competed in the national police dog trials in 2019.
In a post on Twitter, a spokesman for the Met Police said: “It is with the heaviest of hearts that we share the news of the sudden passing of one of our very own serving dogs whilst on duty.
“Six-year-old PD Xavier Charles, aka ‘Stanley’, was one of the very best police dogs who worked across London as a general purpose and firearms support dog alongside PD Stella, his best friend, & handler Pc Williams.
“A larger than life character, Stan loved to work and amassed over 280 results in his shorter than average career & making it to the national police dog trials in 2019.
“In the early hours of Sunday morning whilst chasing down two moped thieves, Stanley collapsed and sadly passed away, believed of heart failure.
“Whilst this is still very raw, we have been asked to share this sad news to not only remember this wonderful, faithful and loyal friend.”
Eurogroup for Animals welcomes two new member organisations
27 May 2022
IWNS
News
From Eurogroup for animals.
We are very pleased to welcome two new member organisations: Intimate With Nature Society (IWNS) Bulgaria and Shrimp Welfare Project based in the UK and Spain.
Intimate With Nature Society (IWNS) was founded in 2001 in Sofia, Bulgaria as an animal advocacy organisation while running campaigns to raise awareness about stray cats and dogs and animals used in entertainment and providing aid for stray animals in need. In the last couple of years IWNS has had two main objectives: control and reduction of stray companion animals’ population, and closure of illegally operating zoos.
Founded in 2021, the Shrimp Welfare Project aims to improve the lives of billions of farmed shrimps in India and Southeast Asia. 350 billion shrimps are farmed each year. This is more than 5x the total number of all farmed land animals put together. Shrimps are highly neglected and many of them suffer from conditions which can and should be addressed, such as: risk of disease, bad water quality, and eyestalk ablation. The Shrimp Welfare Project is the first organisation focusing exclusively on the welfare of these animals.
Now we move from US investigations to the UK; and witness something you would never have seen in the UK until (very) recently; young calves being kept independently in plastic crate ‘calf hutches’. This system has probably been adopted by UK farms after the use and experiences of same in USA.
We have the pleasure of Animal Aid being based here in our (WAV) home county of Kent, England. They (AA) are one of the UK’s leading animal welfare / vegan organisations and are very well known in British animal rights for their undercover work. So here is the link to their website where you can read and learn lots. take action, and learn more about their work and campaigns:
Animal Aid recently investigated calf hutches at a Somerset dairy farm. These plastic crates ‘house’ individual calves – and sadly they are commonly used by around 40% of UK dairy farms.
Calves are usually taken away from their mothers within hours of birth, causing immense distress to both mother and infant. Housed alone, unable to feed naturally, they are instead given a timetabled ration of liquid milk.
These young calves spend their first few weeks of life in the isolating hutches, before either being sent directly for slaughter, or reared for their flesh. Females may be reared as a dairy cow – with around 30% of females kept as ‘herd replacers’. This involves repeated pregnancies, with every baby taken away, until the cow’s body is exhausted and spent – at which point she will also be killed for meat.
Our investigation found:
Calves living in tiny hutches, with their natural instincts to bond, socialise and feed restricted or completely denied.
Calves desperately trying to have full-body contact with one another, despite their confinement, as they naturally would.
Animal Aid documented a baby calf being physically abused and shouted at by a farm worker, whilst another simply laughed. This has been reported to the relevant authorities.
Animal Aid put the findings of our investigation to Dr. Helen Lambert, an internationally renowned animal welfare scientist and expert on animal sentience. Dr. Lambert’s work has shown that cows are intelligent and sensitive animals, with complex social lives.
In our film of the investigation, Dr. Lambert explains how the separation of cows from their mothers causes both mother and baby immense stress, and how the isolation of calves in these hutches has a terrible impact on their well-being. Calf hutches mean that these babies cannot interact with one another, feed as they naturally would, walk freely, run, jump or play.
“Cows are emotional, complex, intelligent and social beings with markedly different personalities. Research shows us that keeping calves in these small hutches with little room to move, and few opportunities to interact with one another, can have long-lasting and permanent effects on their well-being.” – Dr. Helen Lambert PhD
No mother, and no baby, deserves to go through this horrendous treatment for the sake of products we do not need. Animal Aid urges everyone who is shocked by these revelations to ditch dairy and adopt a plant-based diet.
Write to your local paper or radio station, encouraging people to have compassion for animals by going vegan. You can direct people to our website for friendly advice and amazing recipes.
Thank you!
The Animal Aid team
… and here are a few links to our super county – Kent; ‘The Garden of England’
Zouma, 27, apologised for his actions after graphic footage was filmed and shared by his younger brother Yoan, 24, on social media.
He admitted two counts of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal, namely a cat.
Yoan, who was accused of aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring his Zouma to commit an offence, admitted one offence during the hearing.
Two further counts against the men were dismissed.
Zouma arrived at court accompanied by several security guards who emerged from a vehicle holding umbrellas to form a protective shield around him.
In the video, which was widely condemned, Zouma can be seen kicking the Bengal cat across his kitchen, before throwing a pair of shoes at it and slapping its head.
Prosecutor Hazel Stevens said the 40-second clip appeared to be carried out after the cats were deemed responsible for damaging a chair in the home.
She said: “Kurt Zouma is determined to chastise or carry out some sort of retribution for the damage caused.”
Ms Stevens told the court Zouma could be heard saying: “I swear I’ll kill it, I swear I’ll kill it.”
Experts said the cat would have likely suffered soft tissue damage to the head, as well as mental and physical suffering.
Concerns over the cat’s welfare were raised by a woman who saw the footage which was also shared on snapchat.
The woman was so appalled that she cancelled a date with Yoan, saying: “I don’t think hitting a cat like that is OK – don’t bother coming today.”
The court hearing comes following an investigation led by the RSPCA, which has brought the prosecution against the Zouma brothers.
The animal welfare charity seized two cats belonging to Zouma after the video was circulated online. The cats remain in the care of the RSPCA.
Zouma has agreed for the two male Bengal cats to be rehomed, the court heard.
Personally, I feel that he should be given a community sentence, working at a cat shelter for 6 months, say 15 hours week; cleaning out cat poo; as a financial fine for his actions is not enough. He gets tens of thousands £ a week for being a footballer; he needs to give his bit to animal welfare and the community; and working free of payment at a cat shelter is one way to this.
Lets see what the sentencing on June 1st brings; we will report it.
What can be learned from this ? – in the UK, when you abuse animals, you face the consequences of your actions; and sometimes they are not nice. Brits don’t like animal abusers. Alternatively, we will pay for him to have a one way flight ticket back to France, on the guarantee he remains there.
Hyderabad: As part of the 12th annual National Animal Rights Day, animal lovers from across Hyderabad will gather at Prasad’s Multiplex, NTR Marg, on June 5 at 4 pm, to make an emotional plea against animal cruelty and abuse.
Organised by the non-profit ‘Our Planet. Theirs Too,’ the event aims to educate the public about the consequences of society’s cruel treatment of animals while also commemorating the 50 billion animals killed in the United States each year for food, fur and skins, laboratory tests, and entertainment. Similar events have been held in Mumbai, Delhi, and other states, a press release said.
The activities will begin with a public requiem ceremony in which people will stand in a unified formation holding pictures of animals that died as a result of human abuse and exploitation. These posters, will then be arranged on the side as a tomb by the participants.
The Declaration of Animal Rights will be unveiled and signed at the event. This 100-foot-long scroll proclaims the rights of all animals and bears thousands of signatures from people all over the world in multiple languages, in support of animal rights.
There will be talks and poems about animal rights, and a street theatrical performance about animal cruelty. More about the National Animal Rights Day can be checked at http://www.TheNARD.org.
MONTREAL — A well-known Quebec lawyer is going before the Superior Court to prevent the cull of white-tailed deer living in a forest on Montreal’s South Shore.
Lawyer Anne-France Goldwater, who has previously voiced her opposition to the plan, has filed a court petition on behalf of herself, a wildlife rescue organization called Sauvetage Animal Rescue, and a local animal-rights activist.
Goldwater is asking the court to prevent Quebec’s Wildlife Department and the City of Longueuil from killing the deer until the case is heard.
Last November, Longueuil Mayor Catherine Fournier said the city would kill all but about 15 deer in order to protect the Michel Chartrand Park, which can’t support the roughly 70 deer living there.
Sauvetage Animal Rescue had proposed to relocate the animals, but the committee said last year the only short-term solution was to kill them.
Longueuil’s previous administration had planned to cull the deer in the fall of 2020, but the city relented after a strong backlash that included a petition, a protest and threats against the former mayor.
Goldwater says the case is expected before a judge next month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 18, 2022.
An animal rescuer is due to travel from South Africa to Ukraine this week to rescue nine lions from a zoo in a city that is under attack.
Lionel De Lange is today preparing to travel to the war zone via Romania in a convoy of vehicles to save the pride from Russian fire as well as the possibility of starvation as funds for their upkeep run out.
They will be temporarily relocated to a municipal zoo in Romania awaiting paperwork for relocation to a ‘forever home’ abroad, which could mean being flown out to Mr De Lange’s reserve in South Africa.
The intention is to move the pride to the temporary holding facility over the border in Radauti, north-eastern Romania, where another two lions rescued since the outset of the Russian invasion are also awaiting relocation.
Mr De Lange, who is due to fly to Romania tomorrow, is the founder and director of non-profit group Warriors of Wildlife (WoW) and runs the large, open-air sanctuary in the Eastern Cape. He has so far relocated 28 lions and a tiger from Ukraine in rescues carried out since 2019.
He told Metro.co.uk: ‘We know that we are going into an area where there could be attacks at any time, but this is what I’m committed to do, we have to get these animals out.
‘Hopefully we’ll be able to go in and out without any issues. We will check the latest intelligence and speak to people on the ground and the safest time of the day to go, when there are no attacks.
‘Then our intention is to take them back over the border. It’s going to be a long, long journey.’
The mission involves first going to the zoo in Romania, where Mr De Lange will check if the crates are ready and get the vehicles together, before driving on into Ukraine.
He is being joined by videographer Daron Mann, who will be providing content and updates on his YouTube channel as they embark on a round trip which will involve more than 12,000 air and road miles.
The route involves a complex navigation of border posts and checkpoints, with the team travelling in around six to seven vehicles to and from the city, which Mr De Lange is not publicly naming for security reasons. The largest truck will handle about four crates each containing a lion.
As well as the mortal danger from Russian guns, which also creates stress and restricts the animals’ movement, the big cats face food shortages from the private zoo’s lack of funds. On average, an adult lion needs five kilograms of meat a day, roughly equivalent to a bag of potatoes.
Racking up 2,600 road miles, they spent five days on the road, which involved using a crane to place the living cargo in the Ford Transit.
The big cats are set to be repatriated to Simbonga Game Reserve and Sanctuary, with Mr De Lange in the process of securing paperwork to give the pair a home at the 14,000 square metre haven.
The fate of zoo animals has been a side note to the unfolding horrors of the invasion, which has included a massive exodus of refugees and widespread evidence of war crimes by Russian troops.
However, Mr De Lange has said that, compared to humanitarian groups, there are few organisations dedicated to rescuing animals, and humans have a responsibility to animals in captivity that are in the line of fire.
In a Facebook update, WoW said: ‘The rescue is a go. We have our visas to enter Romania and then travel by road into Ukraine with a convoy of vehicles to evacuate 9 lions from a zoo in an area that is under attack.
‘We will then relocate the lions to a temporary holding facility in Romania while we wait on permits for them to travel to their forever home.
‘We will not divulge the zoo’s name or city in Ukraine for security reasons but will keep you informed of our progress all the way.
‘We have to complete the mission before the 30th May but hope to do so in the week before. It’s logistics and paperwork that we are now waiting on.’
*For more about Warriors of Wildlife and to donate click here
World Animals Voice 