Italy Celebrates Animals Being Recognised in Constitution.

1 March 2022

LAV

On March 9th LAV is organising a conference at the Italian Senate to understand what concrete changes this milestone decision will bring about. The event will be accessible online with English interpretation

On March 9th the protection of animals, environment, biodiversity and ecosystems will be officially recognised in the Italian Constitution. What changes and what impact will this have?

These questions will be discussed the same day, during a conference organised by our member LAV, who, back in 1998 wrote and deposited the first draft law for the recognition of animals in the Constitution. 

The event, which will take place at the Italian Senate, in the same building where the Constitution was signed in late December 1947, can be also attended online, with the support of English interpretation.

Our CEO Reineke Hameleers and Massimiliano Conti, Commander of CITES Carabinieri, will take the floor for a welcome address. Gianluca Felicetti and Carla Campanaro, respectively LAV President and Legal Office Manager, will moderate the conference. 

Speakers include Professors Diana Cerini (UniBicocca Milano), Francesca Rescigno (UniBologna), Maria Vittoria Ferroni (La Sapienza Roma), Luigi Lombardi Vallauri (formerly UniFirenze and Cattolica Milano), Alessandra Valastro (UniPerugia), Sanja Bogojevic (University of Oxford). 

On behalf of the political groups that supported the approval process of the new law, the first signatories of the bill and rapporteurs will take the floor: Loredana De Petris, Alessandra Maiorino, Valentina Corneli, Patrizia Prestipino, Michela Vittoria Brambilla, Doriana Sarli, Rossella Muroni and Gianluca Perilli.

The event takes place on Wednesday 9 March from 2 to 5PM CET.

All the details on how to attend online will be available on LAV’s website on Monday March 7th.

Regards Mark

Unsettling Developments On Slaughter Without Stunning in Greece.

2 March 2022

Hellenic Animal Welfare Federation

Instead of complying with the ruling of the Supreme Court, the Government amends the law on which the ruling was based

After having been defeated in Court by animal protection organisations who had appealed a ministerial decision allowing ritual slaughter of animals without prior stunning, the Greek government took the unprecedented step of getting rid of the existing animal protection law that stood in its way. 

In October 2021, in a ruling that made history, the Supreme Administrative Court of Greece annulled a ministerial decision which, in 2017, had introduced ritual killing of animals without prior stunning, a killing practice until then prohibited under Greek national law. 

The Court ruled that the Greek State had not made use of the “margin of appreciation” and the “level of subsidiarity” provided by the EU regulation which gives Member States the possibility to ensure wider protection of animals, by maintaining their national rules or adopt new ones – taking into account the evolution of values and perceptions in their society – especially given the fact that Greece has had a legislation prohibiting any killing of animals without prior stunning since 1981.

The government decided to remove the inconvenient article from the law, downgrading Greek animal protection standards to pre-1980s levels. This unacceptable amendment was slipped into a massive bill on corruption which was submitted three days ago and will be voted by Parliament with expeditious procedures.

Regards  Mark

Hunting license in Germany – the fairy tale of the “Green Abitur”

Hunters always claim that they are the sole “experts” for wildlife and nature conservation, that they only have the “expertise” because only they have the so-called “Green Abitur”.
Let’s take a closer look at this “hunter training”.

Anyone in Germany over the age of 16 can register, there is no upper age limit.
Only an entry-free police clearance certificate is required. Any prior training to obtain a hunting license is otherwise not required.
Not even a high school diploma is a requirement.
Most of the candidates for a hunting license have hardly any relation to the future field of activity.

Hunting training is already available today in a two-week course, and sometimes even a pass guarantee is advertised.
Training amounts to 120 to a maximum of 180 training hours.

In the courses of the district hunting associations, which last several weeks, the number of hours does not increase as a result.The majority of the subject matter falls on the subjects of gun law, hunting law, weapon handling, hunting dogs, hunting methods, customs, “care” for later animal use or the like.

The actual nature conservation, ecological and wild animal biology teaching units are usually reduced to well under a third of the total teaching hours.
This is just enough to deal with the animals that you want to hunt in a kind of rough profile – comparable to prepared lay knowledge from pharmacy booklets.

Elementary basic biological knowledge that would be required to understand the complex relationships in flora and fauna remain largely unknown to those with a hunting license.

In this milieu there is a lack of any required knowledge about wild animals, their social ecology, interaction, ethology, population biology and so on.
The exam questions are dealt with in a multiple-choice procedure.
The individual surveys are compiled from a catalog of questions that can be downloaded anywhere on the internet together with the answers.
Some have to be answered orally.
It is even reported that a “certificate of expertise in nature conservation” was also attested to hunting license examiners who failed orally.

Even the shooting skills that are taught are often not sufficient to hit an animal deadly in every situation.

Further training is voluntary in all areas.
Among other things, the following is offered: trap hunting courses, courses on how to hunt foxes in the den, how to attract animals, crow hunting seminars, high seat construction.

All areas related to the direct hunting and killing of animals.
Training courses on wildlife biology, species or nature conservation are almost never found.

Let’s make it clear: the hunting license is enough for leisurely killing of animals, which is often painful.
And to achieve an impressive arrogance towards the lives of others.

In his book: “Hunters where?” the hunter Bruno Hespeler writes the following about the training of hunters:

“Let’s think about whose knowledge we claim for ourselves – even if only in certain areas: zoologists, biologists, ecologists, veterinarians, qualified foresters, qualified farmers, zookeepers, lawyers and gunsmiths.
Each of these professions requires a training period of between six and ten years.
Farming and forestry, for example, is inevitably dealt with in many young hunter courses over four or five evenings plus a hike in the woods… Overall, the lessons are anyway based on the most likely test questions, not on well-founded basic knowledge.”

So who are we to believe that hunting is a contribution to the ecosystem?
Definitely not a hunter.
The hunting license is only enough to kill.

https://www.facebook.com/jagdvergehen/

And I mean…We all know- hunting is murder.
It is unproductive and does not regulate wild animals, as hunters claim over and over again.

It is estimated that up to 10 million wild animals, dwellers such as deer, wild boar, foxes, but also several hundred thousand cats and dogs are ruthlessly and stealthily killed while hunting each year; the number of unreported cases is said to be far higher.

Many of the wild animals die a painful death because they suffer serious gunshot wounds from hobby hunters, but are still able to escape.
Hunters still enjoy privileges; Although the protection of animals has been enshrined in the German Basic Law since 2002, hunting law has not yet been adapted to the state goal of animal protection.

This is thanks to a powerful hunting lobby that ignores wildlife ecological, ethnological and cognitive-biological findings as well as the changed social attitude towards hunting.

The only reason one goes hunting is because it gives pleasure and gratification to one’s urges.
Speaking of urges: pedophilia and rape are not socially accepted either.
And those who can’t control their urges here receive psychological therapy or are locked away.

Nor is the killing of animals as a hobby accepted by the majority of the population.

My best regards to all, Venus

The Munich Philharmonic is now Russian free!!

Do you remember?
Exactly 4 days ago, on February 26, the Western press broke the news about the imminent dismissal of the Russian and chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra Valery Gergief if he does not want to renounce Russian politics.
https://worldanimalsvoice.com/2022/02/26/ultimatum-to-munichs-chief-conductor-gergiev-distance-himself-from-putin-or-dismissal/

Gergiev has since been thrown out. His offense: he did not comment!
As of today, the Philharmonie is free of Russians.
In order not to miss the circular conclusion to the “classic”, so one can say that something like this is a “fascist classic”.

At first glance, one might think that the unwanted Russian conductor Valeri Gergiev could now feel like a Jew in Munich in the 1930s.
Surely that’s pure exaggeration, but it’s guaranteed that Valerie Gergiev will soon think about whom to click his heels in the future.

Valery Gergiyev, Chief Conductor of the Mariinsky Theatre, with the symphony orchestra at Moscow’s Zaryadye Concert Hall – May 2, 2021

The artist agency that represented Gergiev canceled the contract with him.
“In the light of the criminal war waged by the Russian regime against the democratic and independent nation of Ukraine, and against the open European society as a whole, it has become impossible and clearly undesirable for us to represent Maestro Gergiyev’s interests.” said the head of the agency.
And with that, the highest level of mental shallowness in this banana republic has been reached.

Munich has always been an interesting place for Nazis.
This has apparently not changed to this day, although this time fascism is making its debut in a different neo-dress.

By the way: an Edeka supermarket branch manager in Kiel (Northern Germany) also drew the “right” conclusions and banned Russian President Putin from his shop: “No beer for Putin and nothing else either!”

Putin will tremble when there is such missionary zeal for sanctions against Russia!

Venus

South Africa releases endangered animals for shooting – to help the poor

From Magazin “Der Spiegel”: 02/26/2022
The South African government allows hunting of endangered species – including black rhinos, which are classified as critically endangered. The proceeds will go to impoverished villages.

South Africa has cleared a number of endangered species for shooting.
“A total of 10 black rhinos and 150 elephants can be hunted,” said the country’s Ministry of Forests and Environment.
Some leopards will also be shot under certain circumstances.
Proceeds from the sale of hunting licenses go to impoverished rural communities in the hunting areas.

Black rhinos are listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
The number of animals in the wild had recently doubled from an all-time low three decades ago to more than 5,000.
The ministry said the quota allocated was based on population estimates “which are currently trending upwards.”

In 2014-2017, black rhino poaching had increased dramatically.
On average, 1,000 animals per year were illegally killed during this period. However, the problem could be contained.
Last year, 451 black rhinos were illegally killed.

The official hunting quota for elephants has been set in accordance with international laws on trade in endangered species, the ministry said.
The elephant population is growing (!!!) and 150 animals is less than 0.3 percent.

According to the ministry, hunting of leopards is limited to animals over the age of seven (!!!) and only in regions where the populations are “stable or increasing”.

https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/umstrittene-grosswildjagd-suedafrika-gibt-seltene-tiere-zum-abschuss-frei-a-f934924f-4524-4d83-9a3d-498c846bbf23

And I mean…If a hunter buys such a license, can the animal stay alive?
No! because the hunter wants something for his money, namely satisfying the desire to end a life.

This is blood money.
There has never been a worse excuse to legitimize hunting and poaching.
This is an excuse to bring rich big game hunters into the country.
Any Saudi prince or son of American politicians will take great pleasure in pulling the trigger.
Or can the old king of Spain do it again…

What a disgusting perversion…
Nobody has lost anything in the habitats of these animals.
Rhinos defend their calves should someone get too close to their habitat.
Elephants and leopards too, by the way.
Because humans don’t respect their habitats and rob them, the simplest “solution” always comes up: shoot them down.

Shame on South Africa!
The goal must be for Africa to benefit from its biodiversity and intact nature without destroying it.

And quite frankly now: if a country like South Africa isn’t even able to help these impoverished regions without shooting down these endangered animals, then something suspicious is afoot

My best regards to all, Venus

28/2/22 – More Ukraine Links.

Hi all;

We all know the current terrible situation in the Ukraine; and obviously there is concern for animals as well ass humans.

Here is a link to WAN Ukraine which will provide you with names, sites and contact links if you wish to further follow things up yourself:

Results (worldanimal.net)

This post is additional to the Ukrainian info we provided recently at:

How You Can Support Animal Welfare Organisations In Ukraine. – World Animals Voice

Below (at the end) is additional info provided by friend Di;

Please note that it is possible that info is repeated in some cases; but that is not a problem.

The WAN info at Results (worldanimal.net)

Should be up to date and is a good starter.

https://www.surgeactivism.org/articles/ukraine-the-animal-photos-helping-to-tell-the-story-of-an-invasion

Info from Di:

Food will soon run out for stray animals as Russian invades, fear Ukraine’s shelters 

A list of shelters and charities you can support

  • Casa lui Patrocle – the Romanian animal rescue charity, located 25 miles from the Ukrainian border, has pledged to help families fleeing by providing veterinary care to their companion animals.
  • Sirius – the largest shelter for stray animals in Ukraine, established in 2000.
  • Happy Paw – a charity that cares for homeless cats and dogs.
  • UAnimals – works in Ukraine to protect animals from exploitation and abuse.
  • Shelter Ugolyok – recently announced via its Instagram account that it is in need of help, with some animals having been moved to basements.

Regards Mark

What is a turtledove worth?

Or to put it the other way around: what kind of punishment is appropriate for someone who kills a turtledove?

A criminal court in Malta has now answered this question for itself and sentenced a hunter to a fine of 1,000 euros for illegally shooting down a turtle dove.
In addition, the man’s hunting license was confiscated for two years.

Judge dr. Elaine Mercieca saw it as proven that on April 20, 2020, the man had killed a turtle dove near the village of Selmun during the closed season. The main piece of evidence was a video created by the Committee Against Bird Slaughter that shows the shooting down.

The committee welcomes the verdict, even if many feel that the sentence is too low.
The reason is that according to Maltese law it is “only” a closed season offense and not the shooting of a strictly protected species that is protected all year round.

Turtle doves are a huntable species in Malta and may legally be shot in autumn but not in spring when the birds are on their way to their breeding grounds.

https://www.facebook.com/Komitee.CABS/

And I mean…Hunting remains widespread in southern European countries such as Spain, Italy and Malta.
Maltese hunters even start shooting turtledoves in spring

According to estimates by the University of Giessen (Germany) from 2016, millions of turtle doves are shot every year in the Mediterranean alone.
In addition to the official catches or kills for the pastime of the registered hobby hunters, the number of unreported cases is many times higher.
In Italy alone, it must be assumed that 5.6 million birds of various species are illegally killed every year.

The Italian Hunting Federation, a member of FACE, the European hunting federation, has campaigned hard to blast the very last lovebirds out of the sky.

Driven by their murderous hobby, hunters don’t want to give up their beloved prey.

Planck and Einstein thought hunters were psychopaths.
If one reads the daily news how many wild boars with their children or how many foxes are being massacred by hunters and only out of a lust for murder, this opinion is confirmed.

My best regards to all, Venus

USA: A Message From Camilla Fox – Project Coyote. Speaking Up For The Underdog.

Dear Mark,

On February 10, wildlife advocates across the U.S. celebrated a federal district court ruling to relist wolves after the Trump administration removed federal protections for wolves in January 2021. The Biden administration failed to reinstate emergency federal protection, thereby opening up expanded slaughter across their range. Last week’s ruling reinstates federal protections for gray wolves under the Endangered Species Act across the lower 48 except for three separate groups of wolves. The first two groups, Mexican gray wolves and red wolves, are already federally protected. Tragically, the third group of wolves in the Northern Rockies states of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, are not included in that ruling and still face intense persecution under state management with new laws allowing liberalized killing through trophy hunting, trapping, snaring, baiting, aerial gunning and night hunting. We’ve been advocating for wolf protections for a long time and now is no time to let up

Project Coyote‘s new billboard campaign in Idaho and Montana challenges this egregious mismanagement, calling for the relisting of wolves in the Northern Rockieswhere populations continue to attract millions of visitors to famed Yellowstone National Park from all over the globe to glimpse a wolf in the wild.

At the base of this mismanagement of wolves and other apex predators is a governance system that is out of sync with current science and public sentiment. Such a broken system is reflected in myriad other states where wildlife commissions continue to allow and even expand the wanton killing of wild carnivores. Some recent examples of where we’ve been countering the actions of commissions that simply shills for a small contingent of hunting and agricultural interests include: expanded opportunities to trophy hunt black bears in California and North Carolina, hound hunting of coyotes in Vermont, wildlife killing contests in Virginia and trophy hunting of wild cats in Colorado. We’re also part of a newly formed coalition called Wildlife For All that aims to reform state and federal wildlife agency governance structures and institutions pushing for change that reflects diverse values for wildlife, more democratic decision-making and recognition of wildlife as a common good to be conserved for the benefit of all. Across all these issues and more, Project Coyote is on the front lines, advocating on behalf of North America‘s wild carnivores who have no voice and are often still seen as vermin needing to be expunged from the landscape. 

On another front, we’re excited to expand our reach into the Midwest through the Big River Connectivity project in collaboration with The Rewilding Institute, the Half-Earth Project and BeWildReWild. Through this partnership we aim to restore at least 9 million acres in the Midwest to create a wilder, more beautiful, more biologically diverse and more enduring Mississippi River watershed. We will do so by shifting the paradigm from traditional agricultural practices to a more holistic, sustainable and humane approach of interacting with land and wildlife. 

Our work is defensive and offensive — working to stop wanton wildlife killing while concurrently seeking to educate, empower and inspire action for wildlife and wildlands. Read more about these efforts below and our expanded team who will help bring these bold goals to fruition.

We could not do this work without you — our supporters and the many foundations who believe in our vision for a wilder world. Thank you for helping foster compassion for the other beings with whom we share this planet.

For the Wild Ones,

Camilla Fox
Founder & Executive Director

https://www.projectcoyote.org/

Regards Mark

Speak up for the underdog !

Ultimatum to Munich’s chief conductor Gergiev: distance himself from Putin – or dismissal

More and more Russian artists are coming under pressure in the West because of the “Russian invasion” of Ukraine.
Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter has asked the chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic, Valeri Gergiev, to distance himself from “ruler Putin”.
Otherwise he will be fired (!!!)

Valery Gergiev during a performance at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow on May 2, 2021

Munich’s Lord Mayor Dieter Reiter has asked the chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic, Valeri Gergiev, to distance himself from the so-called Russian invasion of Ukraine.
This is reported by the Bayerischer Rundfunk. Otherwise, the chief conductor is threatened with dismissal, according to the mayor.
Reiter literally:

“I made my position clear to Valery Gergiev and asked him to also clearly and unequivocally distance himself from the brutal war of aggression that Putin is waging against Ukraine and now especially against our twin city of Kiev.”
“If Valery Gergiev has not clearly positioned himself here by Monday, he can no longer remain chief conductor of our Philharmonic.”

In a letter addressed to Gergiev, Reiter was “stunned” by the “barbaric act of the Russian ruler Putin, who is pursuing his nationalist goals with all brutality and without regard to human life” (!!!)
He expects Gergiev to send a clear signal to the city leaders, the public, the musicians of the Munich Philharmonic and their audience by Monday, February 28th.

“Otherwise we will have to end the contractual relationship as chief conductor.”(!!!)

The 68-year-old Gergiev has been chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic, a city orchestra, since 2015.
The musician from the Caucasus is considered one of the world’s most famous conductors.

In addition to directing the Russian prestigious Mariinsky Theatre, which he has held for decades, he also regularly conducts some of the largest and most well-known orchestras in the world.
Gergiev is under contract in Munich until 2025.
He conducts 30 to 40 concerts a year.

Now the star conductor is again threatened with a work ban in the West. For example, he will not perform as planned with the Vienna Philharmonic in New York’s Carnegie Hall – “due to recent events in the world” (!!!)

In addition, according to media reports, it was said that the Scala Gergiev in Milan also issued a similar ultimatum as Reiter in Munich.

“Bayerischer Rundfunk” points out that in the past Gergiev had tried “to convince the public of his pacifist attitude”.
Shortly before his debut concert in the Bavarian capital in 2015, Gergiev told the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” that he wanted to work to improve German-Russian relations.

Valeri Gergiev

“We must do whatever it takes to avoid another major tragic conflict,” he said at the time.
“Big means: up to a third world war, which I hope will never happen.”

https://de.rt.com/inland/132578-ultimatum-an-chefdirigent-munchner-philharmoniker/

And I mean…First the following remark: This post comes as a declaration of solidarity to a man who works in the theater business, as I have been for 36 years.
But that’s not the only reason.
A legitimate question arises: if attitude control is to be introduced in the West, how will it differ from totalitarian regimes?

Wanting to force people to say something specific so that they can continue to practice their profession is illegal and has only the worst role models in Germany’s history.

Why does Gergiev have to take a stand? Are people now also being thrown out and put under pressure whose political opinions do not conform with those of their employer?
We thought we had a democracy here.
The right to speak, to express one’s opinion, regardless of whether the Lord Mayor likes it or not, is contained in the Basic Law on which Mayor Dieter Reiter swore his oath of office.

We live in an outrage society.
People who disagree will be defamed.
People who criticize the corona measures are Nazis, people who understand the need to respect Russian security interests are anti-democrats, etc.
The main thing is that we are the morally superior, the good guys.

Dieter Reiter emulates the Lord Mayor of Munich during the Nazi era, who freed the city’s orchestras from Jews.
Russian-free anyway.

So… That’s it for freedom of expression…
The racist little minds have taken over Germany again.

Venus

Sustainable fishing – a contradiction

A comment from Sea Shepherd CEO Captain Alex Cornelissen

For the past five years, Sea Shepherd has focused on illegal, undocumented and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
Our campaigns, mainly in West Africa, have provided us with a wealth of information about the impact of both IUU fishing and large-scale industrial fishing on the ocean.
It is evident that humans are wiping out all life in the ocean and this goes largely unnoticed.

The creatures in the ocean continue to be objectified:
– Fish species are referred to as “stock”.
– The removal of living beings is referred to as “catching”.
– Quantities are measured in weight rather than in individual animals.
– All species are simply referred to as “seafood”.
– And most important: the myth that fish do not feel pain.

Of course, these are carefully chosen terms so potential consumers don’t question the way we collect fish and other creatures from our ocean.
But our crews at sea see the destruction every day when dealing with trawlers.

We see the amount of bycatch of species not suitable for trade. They are killed and simply thrown back into the ocean.

We see sharks being killed by the thousands by tuna boats that are supposedly “dolphin friendly”.

We see dolphins being killed by many fishermen as they consider them pests that “eat our fish”.

We see seals suffering the same fate as dolphins because they are a competitor to our fisheries.

The way we look at and understand nature is fundamentally wrong, including that we have disconnected ourselves from the ecosystem of which we are actually a part.
This is especially true when it comes to how we deal with the ocean.

We dump our garbage at sea because we think the ocean is big enough and no one will notice.
We take what we want because we think the ocean is an infinite source of protein.
Our desire and demand for fish is now so great that we stop at nothing to get the “goods”.
The destruction of habitats and the extinction of species are accepted.

And then, of course, there’s the persistent claim that eating fish is a healthy choice for human consumption.
We have polluted the world’s oceans so badly that the entire food chain is affected, with pollutants concentrating the higher up the chain you go.
For years, pregnant women have been warned against eating tuna or swordfish because of their high levels of mercury.
This situation will only get worse the more we pollute our nature.

We are at a point in history where we must make a decision:

Do we stop supporting the destructive and unsustainable industry that is destroying our ocean, or do we continue on our current path with the result that our ocean will be empty in our lifetime?

Both decisions lead to the same result: we will stop eating fish either now or in 30 years.
Only the longer we wait, the more irrevocable the situation will become.
Our “infinite” source of protein has reached its limit, so it’s time we make the necessary decisions to restore balance to our ocean.

We see the success of our campaigns in the fight against IUU fishing in West Africa: the fish populations and ecosystems recover after just a few years.
But these areas are not large enough to revitalize entire regions.
Enforcing regulations and expanding protected areas against IUU fishing and large-scale industrial fishing are the basis of Sea Shepherd’s current campaigns.

Together with our government partners, we shut down dozens of illegal operators every year, saving millions of lives in the process.

It’s a matter of survival to stop the war on the seas.
We must not lose this fight.
A battle that will intensify in the coming years as fish populations continue to decline.
But also a fight that we – with your support – absolutely want to win.

https://sea-shepherd.de/news/nachhaltige-fischerei-ein-widerspruch/

And I mean…“When consumers order fish on the menu or buy it from the market they are supporting the destruction worldwide of marine eco-systems” said Captain Paul Watson on an excellent comment.

Over 2 trillion fish are taken from the sea every year, and that figure does not include the 120 billion killed on fish farms.
This kill is far larger than the estimated 65 billion animals slaughtered each year for meat and fur.

Traditional artisanal fishing communities in the Southwest coastal province of Kerala in India have long suffered from the mechanized vessels funded by Norway.

Commercial Norwegian fishing off India forced hundreds of thousands of Indians into poverty with the result that today Norway, the second-largest exporter of fish in the world (and the world’s No.1 killer of whales), is a major exporter of fish to India.

By destroying artisanal fishing, Norway reduced competition in India and increased their export sales to India.
Norway is also the world’s largest producer of farm-raised salmon.

In recent years, the use of the words “sustainable” or “sustainability” has increased as species and eco-systems are depleted.
It is the green-washing or blue-washing term of choice by the commercial fishing industry.

This life support system is maintained by a crew of living beings and we, the human passengers feasting merrily and ignorantly oblivious at the table, are murdering and consuming the crew that sustains this life support system.

My best regards to all, Venus