23/5/22 – Today is World Turtle Day.
Check it all out at:
World Turtle Day® | Home
Regards Mark
I have had some new (second set of) excellent photos through from my animal buddy Pauline.
You can view the first pictures she forwarded at:
Pauline has kindly sent some more – and here they are.
Thanks Pauline x; and thanks for the beautiful picture and mouse mat you sent me.
Regards Mark and Pauline.
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.
Link – National Animal Rights Day: Activists to make plea on June 5 in Hyderabad (telanganatoday.com)
Regards Mark
I have been personally involved with anti live animal exports for the last 30+ years, probably more like 35+ when I think about it. It was during the anti export campaigns from English South coast ports that Phil and I became friends all those years ago. He is now the CEO of Compassion In World Farming (CIWF) – Compassion in World Farming | Compassion in World Farming (ciwf.org.uk)
CIWF Patrons and high profile supporters:
United against factory farming | Compassion in World Farming (ciwf.org.uk)
Part of the SE England anti exports campaign:
England: I Met the Met, and Had The Bruises To Prove It. – World Animals Voice
The live animal export trade has always been top of my real hate listings; and regardless of where it happens; I will try to give additional support to locals who are attempting to make a difference and get the trade stopped.
Check out some/all past posts here if you wish:
Search Results for “live exports” – World Animals Voice
So, personally the very recent news in from Australia can only be positive for animals as far a I am concerned. I am English, not Australian, but follow the happenings in the Aus export trade very closely through the work of Animals Australia and others. The election results for Australia have only just started to arrive in the last day or so; but with a change in government now, it would appear that the (fed up) people are having their say about issues such as climate change, by putting ticks in boxes to attempt change. The feelings of most Australians about live animals exports was obviously another issue which influenced how some people voted.
Mr Philip Wollen is our WAV Patron; and he is an avid vegan and anti export campaigner; you can see him speak about the trade here:
Kindness Footprints – Phil Woolen – WAV Patron. – World Animals Voice
Lets kick off with a video from our friends and fellow (anti live export) campaigners at Animals Australia to show you a little about the Australian live export business;
Live Export Ships Exposed – Animals Australia
Here below I am supplying you with some links relating to the trade and the recent election in Australia. Some are pre election articles, but they are all associated with the trade in some way. I quoted our good friends at Animals Australia earlier, and by being involved like them as an activist against the suffering, cruelty and abuses, I know they have the tenacity and never give up approach to getting a positive result for Australian animals. I wish them more than the very best; their work is tireless. Good victories never arrive overnight, and the live export trade is one of those massively long and drawn out battlefields. I am confident that in this year the UK will pass legislation that will completely stop the trade overseas in live animals. I know that the same will happen in Australia very soon due toy the endless endurance and work of good Australian citizens, some politicians and the masses of ‘normal’ citizens who have the balls to get up and speak out against the trade. People vote, and they have in the last few days made their feelings clear about animal exports and the very important issue of climate change.
The battle in Australian exports is nearly over; it is now simply a matter of time to submit this abysmal record of suffering and abuse into the history books where it should have been placed many years ago.
Be yourself, no matter what they say !
We have presented the undercover footage; we have taken to the streets and we have put our tick in the voting box. Governments either act and change things, or like the coal digger, you get removed by the electorate. They have a choice, listen and act on it, or maintain the status quo and face the consequences. Anyone with anything between their ears will listen to the people and act.
Regards Mark
Labor confirms plan to end live sheep exports if Albanese becomes PM – ABC News
Australians taking a stand against live animal export this election | World Animal Protection
Australia Might Be About To Ban Live Sheep Exports For Good (plantbasednews.org)
Live sheep export is cruel, unpopular and unsustainable. | RSPCA Australia
Live export policy position of Labor not clear say WA livestock producers – ABC News
In memory of Mike Tucker and our beloved Jill:
Breaking – Coal digger Morrison loses election.
Lets hope;
Regards Mark
Can only be signed by EU member state citizens – go here to sign if you are:
https://www.eurogroupforanimals.org/fur-free-europe
18 May 2022
Press Release
Eurogroup for Animals, along with its members and other organisations, today supported the launch of the European Citizens Initiative (ECI) Fur Free Europe: in one year they will have to collect one million signatures to finally end fur in Europe.
The Fur Free Europe ECI calls on the EU to ban fur farming and the placement on the market of farmed fur products, since fur is unethical, unsafe and unsustainable:
- The complex behavioural needs of wild animals cannot be met in fur farms: keeping them in small cages and killing them solely, or mainly, because of the value of their fur cannot be legitimised for domestic species either.
- Fur farms pose a risk to animal and human health, as proved during the COVID-19 pandemic, when hundreds of mink farms were affected by coronavirus outbreaks, and new variants of the virus were transmitted from animals to humans.
- Fur farming has a significant environmental impact since the dressing and dyeing of fur involves the use of toxic chemicals. In terms of land pollution by toxic metals, fur production is ranked in the top five highest pollution-intensity industries.
The fur industry also poses a serious threat to native biodiversity, with some farmed species, like American mink and raccoon dogs, which escaped from fur farms and are now considered Invasive Alien Species (IAS) causing significant adverse impacts on European native wildlife.
At a meeting of the Council of the European Union (Agriculture and Fisheries) the Netherlands and Austria tabled an information note, supported by Belgium, Germany Luxembourg and Slovakia, calling on the European Commission to ban fur farming. The call to end fur farming in the EU on the grounds of animal welfare, public health and ethical considerations, was backed by a total of twelve Member States during the deliberations on this paper.
The ECI Fur Free Europe was officially registered by the European Commission on 16/03/2022 and will run from 18/05/2022 for one year.
We have an unprecedented opportunity to finally put an end to this cruel and unnecessary practice. European citizens have been asking for it for a long time, and their wishes started changing the fashion system, with many historic brands going fur free. Last year’s AGRIFISH Council proved that now there is also a political will. We call on the public to help us make history and ban fur once and for all, and on the European Institutions to support the public demand.
Reineke Hameleers, CEO, Eurogroup for Animals
Notes
The ECI Fur Free Europe
The European Commission Implementing Decision on the Fur Free Europe ECI
More information on fur farming in Europe
The 2021 request to end fur farming in the EU from Twelve Member States
Regards Mark
19 May 2022
Essere Animali
The Italian coalition in support of End the Cage Age – the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) calling for an end to the caging of animals reared for food – released a new investigation today carried out in seven Italian rabbit farms. The coalition calls on the Italian government to urgently introduce a national ban on cage farming and support the EU Commission’s commitment.
The footage was filmed between September 2021 and April 2022 by investigators from our member organisation Essere Animali, on farms located in Veneto (the region which accounts for over 40% of national rabbit production), Lombardy, and Emilia-Romagna, with the aim of giving a complete picture of the living conditions of rabbits reared for meat in Italy.
Italy is one of the largest producers of rabbit meat in Europe, with around 20 million rabbits reared in cages like those documented by Essere Animali. Breeding males spend about two years of their lives in these conditions before being sent to slaughter, females are discharged after one year, usually after giving birth to six litters, while puppies raised for meat are killed after 70-90 days, when they reach an average slaughter weight of 2.7 kg.
The animals are bred in sheds and confined in battery cages, inside which there are 2 or 3 adult rabbits or 6-7 young rabbits. The cages are made entirely of wire, including the flooring, and lack adequate environmental enrichments.
The footage shows:
– The presence of bodies of dead rabbits inside the cages;
– The presence of animals with injuries to their legs, caused by continuous rubbing against the wire, but also to their ears and head, due to the aggression that the animals express towards each other when they are forced to live in a high-density environment with few opportunities to move;
– The display of stereotypes – repetitive behaviour with no apparent function – such as making frequent movements in circles along the cage walls or repeatedly biting the wire.
The End the Cage Age coalition emphasises that these problems can be traced back to cage farming and the resulting lack of living space and positive environmental stimuli for the animals, as demonstrated by the scientific literature.
There is no law regulating minimum cage dimensions: adult rabbits have a space as big as an A4 sheet of paper. According to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the biggest issue for farmed rabbits is movement restriction. A standard cage provides only 1% of the space needed by a group of rabbits that, under natural conditions, would cover an area of at least 50 square metres. Even in enriched, larger cages with a raised platform, the space available to each rabbit remains very limited.
In cages, rabbits cannot fulfil their needs and express their natural behaviour, or even stand upright on their hind legs. Furthermore, rabbits are prey animals, shy in nature, and the absence of shelters or hiding places creates additional stress.
On 30 June 2021, the European Commission pledged to phase out and permanently ban the use of cages on European farms through dedicated legislation – an extraordinary achievement made possible by 1.4 million people who signed the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) End the Cage Age. Once presented, though, the legislative proposal will also have to be evaluated and approved by the Council of the European Union, composed of Member State ministers. Therefore, it is crucial that Italy unreservedly supports this transition.
In every farm visited, cases of injured, dead animals or animals with obvious behavioural problems were documented, and this is an unequivocal sign that cage rearing is not compatible with animal welfare. The Italian government is at a crossroads: in the coming months it will have to decide whether to endorse an anachronistic breeding system, which forces sentient beings to live in conditions of severe deprivation inside cages, subjecting them to physical and mental suffering, or whether to support the prohibition of this abominable practice and be a European bulwark of positive change in favour of increased protection of farmed animals.
Italian End the Cage Age coalition
Read more at source
Regards Mark
WAV Comment:
Its still not too late to sign up for the ‘League Against Cruel Sports’ (UK) Fox Day 2022.
Get all the information at Fox Day brought to you by the League | League Against Cruel Sports
TAKE ACTION FOR FOXES
You can show your support for foxes across the UK, by supporting our campaigns to protect foxes in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
How will you show your support to our UK foxes?
Foxes are beautiful and intelligent creatures, deserving of a peaceful life without fear. And yet they still face persecution by hunters and their dogs.
Sadly, this issue remains controversial. That’s why foxes need your voice right now.
This Fox Day, add your name to show your support for the abolition of fear for Britain’s foxes.
Fox Actions | League Against Cruel Sports
SUPPORT OUR WORK
From buying fox themed gifts, supporting our amazing fundraisers taking on personal challenges, to supporting future foxes, your kind support will help us protect more foxes now and in the future to ensure we end fox hunting once and for all.
Fox Day brought to you by the League | League Against Cruel Sports
Share your support for the foxes with all your friends and contacts:
Share your Support | League Against Cruel Sports
Regards Mark
PS – I have a real admiration and respect for foxes; so much that I spend time photgraphing them often. Here are a few of my shots – Enjoy ! – Mark
Before the move a few years back, a wild fox used to pop into the office; climb the stairs and chill out with me while I did computer work. I would never touch him as he was wild. After an hour or so gazing out the window, he would go down and vanish into the undergrowth to return to the wild. I told many friends about it, but they never believed; so I had to get photographic proof – so here is one of many shots of him sitting at my office window:
These little monkeys are stealing all my berries !:
Shoot them with Cameras; NOT GUNS !
Mark
Dont you just love these girls – the ‘Anadin Brothers’ !
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.
The Canadian Press
Animal welfare advocates ask court to stop white-tailed deer cull south of Montreal (yahoo.com)
Regards Mark
Dear Mark,
The worsening climate crisis. Rising energy prices due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Shameful oil and gas industry exploitation of the war to lock in more drilling. A health crisis in communities plagued by persistent pollution, compounded by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
These are big challenges we’re facing — but a critical part of the solution is to break free from fossil fuels, shift to 100% clean energy, and invest in clean air, safe drinking water, and healthy communities.
Yet, fossil fuel corporations and their allies in Congress are doing everything they can to block progress. That’s why it’s all the more critical for the president and congressional leaders to use the power and the tools at their disposal to crack down on pollution, advance clean energy, and protect our health.
It’s up to us to compel them to use those tools.
So please, act now to send a message to the Biden administration demanding strong executive action on climate, clean energy, clean air, and public health.
In the weeks and months ahead, we expect a raft of important regulatory proposals from the EPA, the Interior Department, and the Department of Transportation. These include plans to:
- Clean up pollution from cars and heavy-duty trucks and expand zero-emission and electric vehicles, as transportation is the #1 source of climate emissions in the U.S.
- Crack down on emissions from dirty, outdated, fossil fuel power plants, the #2 source of climate emissions and a major driver of the air pollution affecting public health
- Stop new offshore oil and gas drilling, which threatens coastal communities with devastating oil spills and keeps us addicted to dirty fossil fuels
- Eliminate lead in drinking water that’s poisoning children across America, and clean up polluted lakes, rivers, and streams
Together with strong climate legislation from Congress, these safeguards are critical to meeting the nation’s goal of cutting climate pollution 50-52% by 2030 and building a cleaner, healthier, and more equitable world.
This is a leadership moment for Congress and the White House.
NRDC will be working hard to ensure that strong federal climate legislation passes, and that these federal standards are strong enough to address our climate crisis and improve public health. Backed by millions of supporters like you, we will:
- Keep building massive public support for these policies through grassroots action to counter the destructive influence of fossil fuel industry lobbying power.
- Turn to the federal courts if necessary to block illegal actions that harm our climate and ensure the law is upheld.
- Fire up NRDC’s rapid response machine to mobilize our millions of members and supporters like you when the Biden administration releases proposed regulations, most of which will be open for public comment, public hearings, and more, in support of strong action.
We’ll call on you for help in the critical weeks and months ahead — but today, please join us in calling for President Biden to use the full extent of his power to lead on climate and clean energy, and lead boldly.
The science is clear — we don’t have much more time to avert the worst effects of climate change. The impacts of the climate crisis and our dangerous fossil fuel addiction are all around us. Rising temperatures, worsening extreme weather and wildfires, and rising fuel costs hit low-income and middle-class communities the hardest, especially communities of color.
Our leaders in Washington need to hear that the country expects them to stand and deliver on bold action to confront the climate crisis and set the stage for a generation of prosperity.
It’s time to close the deal. It’s time for Congress and the White House to act. And it’s time to let them know we’ve got their back when they do.
So please, help us build a growing chorus and join thousands of NRDC supporters to send your message now.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Manish Bapna
President and CEO, NRDC
Take action:
Regards Mark
World Animals Voice 