Farm Animals, General News

UK: No routine checkups on welfare of fish at slaughter, officials admit.

Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) in a salmon farm cage
Campaigners are calling for farmed fish to be given similar rights to other farmed animals. Photograph: Bluegreen Pictures/Alamy

No routine checkups on welfare of fish at slaughter, officials admit

Campaigners say fish farmed in England, Wales and Scotland face cruelty, with no penalty for those who fail to meet welfare needs

The government has admitted there are no routine checkups on fish welfare at slaughter, after an investigation found no department would take responsibility.

Campaigners have said this means fish face cruelty with no repercussions for those who fail to meet their welfare needs, and have asked that fish are given the same oversight as other farmed animals.

An undercover investigation by Animal Equality into a Scottish salmon slaughterhouse this year showed fish having their gills cut while conscious and being repeatedly and painfully clubbed, with it taking up to seven blows to stun the animals.

Campaigners said the fish faced “vicious and imprecise bludgeoning”, and many fell to the floor to suffocate. Unlike farmed land animals, which have legislation for them to be slaughtered as humanely as possible, the fish farming industry sets its own standards regarding humane slaughter.

A government spokesperson admitted that in England and Wales, there was no routine animal welfare inspection programme at farmed fish processing premises.

While they claim the Animal and Plant Health Agency (Apha) did checkups in Scotland, freedom of information requests submitted by the Humane League to the Scottish government reveal there is no established process for regular welfare inspections at fish processing sites. The Humane League did not include Northern Ireland in the scope of its investigation.

Apha confirmed that it did not have “a routine programme of official inspections at fish processing sites”.

Scotland is the third biggest producer of farmed salmon in the world. The biggest, Norway, has a law mandating the pre-slaughter stunning of farmed fish. Scotland, England and Wales do not. The most recent estimate, from 2017, was that 22-52 million farmed salmon are farmed and slaughtered in the UK each year.

The same issue applies to trout farming in England. The trout industry has its own certification scheme, Quality Trout UK (QTUK), including standards for pre-slaughter stunning, but these are not enforced by the government and there are no routine checks.

Responses to freedom of information requests show not one public body has a clear understanding of what regime is in place, with the Food Standards Agency, the Fish Health Inspectorate, local government environmental health departments and Apha all confirming they do not conduct checks on fish farms in England. This means no government officials are monitoring fish welfare at the time of killing.

Cordelia Britton, the head of campaigns at the Humane League UK, said: “It is alarming that apparently zero government officials are inspecting fish welfare at slaughter. From our correspondence it seems clear that no relevant agency knows what’s going on, with each institution passing the buck to another. Without proper oversight, cruelty goes unnoticed. It is time for the government to take responsibility for how farmed fish are slaughtered, as they do for other farmed animals.”

Campaigners are calling for farmed fish to be given similar rights to other farmed animals. In the last few years there has been debate among scientists over the extent to which fish can feel pain, which is a growing area of research. In 2018 the science writer Ferris Jabr found that “the collective evidence is now robust enough that biologists and veterinarians increasingly accept fish pain as a reality”.

Dr Vicky Bond, the managing director of the Humane League UK, said: “Fish are often forgotten in discussions and decisions on animal welfare, and this is wholly unjustified. The scientific and public consensus is that they feel pain, so refusing farmed fish the same protections afforded to land animals is completely irrational. The government animal welfare committee suggested the law be updated with detailed stunning requirements back in 1996, and 25 years later farmed fish still have the same inadequate safeguards. This needs to change.”

A Defra spokesperson said: “The UK has some of the highest animal welfare protections in the world, including when animals are slaughtered or killed. We are carefully considering issues raised in the review of the welfare of animals at the time of killing (England) regulations, including detailed protections for the welfare of farmed fish.”

No routine checkups on welfare of fish at slaughter, officials admit | Fish | The Guardian

Guardian – England.

Regards Mark

Environmental, General News, Hunting

UK: UK Ministers Accused of ‘Dithering’ as Trophy Hunting Law Delayed Again.
A taxidermy workshop in Namibia, where animal trophies are stuffed.
A taxidermy workshop in Namibia, where animal trophies are stuffed. Photograph: Ton Koene/Alamy

UK ministers accused of ‘dithering’ as trophy hunting law delayed again

‘Animals abroad bill’ aimed at clamping down on trophy hunting and harmful animal experiences pushed back

A law that will clamp down on trophy hunting and prevent people buying harmful animal experiences such as elephant tours meant to be introduced in parliament this autumn been delayed, the Guardian has learned.

The measures should be contained in the animals abroad bill – one of several new pieces of legislation the government has planned to improve animal welfare standards.

However the start of its passage through parliament has been postponed, with ministers accused of “dithering”. The bill was first hoped to be published before the summer recess in July, but has since been pushed back repeatedly.

Frustration at the delay has further been compounded given a public consultation on restricting the import of hunting trophies closed in February 2020, and sources said it was unlikely the government’s response and the bill being published would happen before February 2022.

he hold up was blamed on the pandemic by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which said the final bill would be informed by “continued discussions” with experts.

There are understood to be technical rather than fundamental policy disagreements remaining.

Eduardo Goncalves, founder of the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting group, said he had been assured the bill is “still alive” but expressed concern there appeared to be “no timetable or target date for bringing it to parliament”.

He said: “The pledge has been in every Queen’s speech since 2019, the prime minister confirmed it at the dispatch box, there’s been an extended public consultation, so the question is how much longer is this going to take?

“Every week that goes by means more animals being senselessly slaughtered for a sick souvenir. There’s a feeling of deja vu among the more sceptical observers. They point to the fact that the government said it would ban lion trophies after the Cecil furore, and then quietly dropped it …

“The government has put in a lot of work to develop appealing policies on conservation and animal welfare, and deserves to get the credit for it. There’s a risk, though, that its reputation could take a hit if it’s seen to be dithering without clear cause.”

Luke Pollard, Labour’s shadow environment secretary, called the delay “another broken promise from this government” and warned it would mean more endangered lions, tigers and other precious wild animals would die.

He said ministers were “failing to deliver” having “abandoned” their initial timetable for passing the bill, and added: “Labour would consign trophy hunting to the history books.”

A Defra spokesperson said: “Our recently published action plan for animal welfare sets out the government’s vision to introduce a range of world-leading reforms to improve the welfare and conservation of animals at home and abroad.

“This year we have already introduced our animal sentience and kept animals bills to parliament and we intend to legislate further to protect animals abroad as soon as parliamentary time allows.”

UK ministers accused of ‘dithering’ as trophy hunting law delayed again | Wildlife | The Guardian

Regards Mark

General News, Hunting

Wales (UK): Wales Landowner Bans Trail Hunting After Use As Foxhunting Cover.

Dogs follow the trail of wild boar through a wooded area in south-western France.
Dogs follow the trail of wild boar through a wooded area in south-western France. Photograph: Valentine Chapuis/AFP/Getty

Wales landowner bans trail hunting after use as foxhunting cover

Natural Resources Wales says it cannot be sure trail hunting will not be used as smokescreen for illegal activity

One of the biggest landowners in Wales has banned trail hunting after a court ruled that a leading huntsman had encouraged the practice as a smokescreen for illegal foxhunting.

Natural Resources Wales (NRW), a government-sponsored body, said it could not be sure that trail hunting was not still being used as a “cover” for illegal activity so had decided to ban it completely.

The decision was welcomed by hunt saboteurs and animal rights campaigners who say the conviction in October of Mark Hankinson, the director of the Masters of the Foxhounds Association (MFHA), showed that trail hunting was a “fiction”.

Hankinson (below) was found guilty of encouraging or assisting others to commit an offence over his comments in two webinars in front of an audience of more than 100 MFHA members.

Mark Hankinson found guilty of telling others how to hunt illegally!

UK: Director of the Masters of Foxhounds Association, has been charged with intentionally encouraging or assisting others to commit an offence under the Hunting Act 2004.

In trail hunting, devised after the Hunting Act banned the hunting of foxes with dogs, a “trail layer” goes out ahead of the hunt, dragging a rag coated in an animal scent. Huntsmen cast the hounds to this scent, and follow it to the end of the trail.

Dominic Driver, the head of land stewardship for NRW, said: “The outcome of the court case against a senior leader of the MFHA has resulted in a loss of confidence in the organisation’s ability to ensure its activities are carried out within the law and terms of its agreement.

“In order to assure ourselves properly that trail hunting on our estate wasn’t being used as a cover for illegal activity, we would have to invest in skills and resources that we currently don’t have, to police it properly.

“Given what has historically been a minor use of the land we manage, this does not represent good use of our limited resources. All trail hunting activity on the NRW-managed estate will end with immediate effect.”

Lee Moon, spokesperson for the Hunt Saboteurs Association, said: “The fallout from the leaked webinars continues and these landowners now realise they’ve been duped by the hunting community. It’s only a matter of time before more large landowners follow suit leading to the loss of millions of acres of land and the total demise of some hunts.”

Chris Luffingham, deputy chief executive of the League Against Cruel Sports, said: “For such a major landowner like Natural Resources Wales to permanently end trail hunting on its land is hugely significant.”

The League is urging other major landowners such as Forestry England, United Utilities, the Church of England, the crown estate, the Duchy of Cornwall, local authorities, the national parks authorities, and the Ministry of Defence to permanently end hunting on their property.

NRW was formed in April 2013, largely taking over the functions of the Countryside Council for Wales, Forestry Commission Wales and the Environment Agency in Wale

Wales landowner bans trail hunting after use as foxhunting cover | Hunting | The Guardian

Regards Mark

Farm Animals

Germany-“Avernalic agony in the slaughterhouse”

Organization report: “Together for the animals”

The images are shocking and go to the bone, the criminal complaints read “Avernalic agony in the slaughterhouse”.

Undercover research in the “horse butcher’s shop” Härting GmbH in Kaiserslautern, during which meaningful video evidence was created by courageous animal rights activists, shows shocking conditions in this company, including the most severe animal cruelty.

The Härting horse butchery in Kaiserslautern is being accused of cruelty to animals and is not allowed to slaughter any animals for the time being – Photo: Ralf Vester

Operation was under observation for a total of 5 weeks in September and October 2021.

Apparently systematic violations during the slaughter of cattle in the area of ​​stunning and bleeding were recorded.
The recognizable incompetent anesthesia regularly fails.
The first bolt shot is often not enough due to amateurism and the animals still show violent reactions.

Death struggles over several minutes were captured in pictures, a total of 37 bolt shots on 18 animals can be proven.
The torture of the animals was also recorded by means of an eccentric driver, which was used on sensitive parts of the body such as the head and spine.

Unfortunately it doesn’t look any better with the horses and incompetence or indifference reigns here as well.
Despite unsuccessful anesthesia and severe defensive reactions, anesthetized animals are stabbed to bleed into the chest.

During the bleeding, clear movements can be seen, also in the eyes and nostrils.
And the same misery with the pigs.
After amateur anesthesia with electric pliers, many animals show violent reactions, struggle for air and exhibit body movements in the bleeding area that clearly indicate failure of the anesthesia.

Criminal charges against this horror operation were filed with the Kaiserslautern public prosecutor’s office on November 12, 2021, on presentation of the collected video material.

The responsible veterinary office was able to obtain a temporary suspension of the slaughterhouse until the situation was clarified.

You can find a video evidence of the atrocities of this company under the following link (The text of the video can be read partially translated below )
However, we expressly draw your attention to the fact that it is only for extremely strong nerves and only serves as evidence.
We saw it ourselves and are shocked:

https://fb.watch/9rzyt04TBy/

We strongly condemn such cruel treatment of sentient beings.
Before the only thing they have, namely their life, is taken away from them, there is absolutely nothing to excuse them.
If you do this to an animal, you have something very “bad” deep inside you and, in our opinion, must be stopped and punished with long prison sentences.

The operators of this death block are also to be brought to justice and sentenced.
The business should be shut down and locked with immediate effect, and the last thing he sees should be the wrecking ball.

Therefore we appeal to the court in Kaiserslautern not to get away with those responsible for these massacres with a black eye, but to let the full harshness of the judiciary prevail, because what they have done can be described simply with one word: CRIME !!!

https://www.facebook.com/marschfuerdietiere/posts/590604385613367

Some translated passages from the video:
“Horse butcher Härting GmbH in Kaiserslautern – it is a traditional company with a 100-year history.

Origin of the animals
our horses come from the southwest of Germany.
They are recreational and breeding animals as can be seen everywhere in the pastures.
These animals are given up when they can no longer be used for breeding or recreational riding.
The owners often bring these animals themselves to see for themselves that they are treated appropriately
Our pigs come from Guthof Franck.
These animals are fed normally and have enough space.

These are the slaughter conditions at a trusted butcher.

Brutal use of the electric driver against the head of the cattle
The cattle fought for minutes.
There are no individual cases, but sad everyday life.

These recordings were made over 5 weeks in September and October
All images were handed over to the police
Different animals – same fate

Who are you caressing
who do you let kill”

And I mean…Giving people the information is one goal.
But we have to get them to react to this information
It is more important and more effective when the consumer finally listens, looks and ACT.

There are apparently still people who do not want to understand that the consumer, with his consumer behavior, his greed for meat and animal products, is responsible for precisely these conditions.
The butcher, livestock farmer or whoever is just the executive organ.

As a consumer, you are the client – animals are sentient individuals who have rights and deserve a life without pain and suffering, like you who eat them.
It should be the highest moral principle for everyone that animals are not there to be exploited or “serve” people.

My best regards to all, Venus

General News, Uncategorized

England: Regular Visitor Back.

This is a regular visitor to the garden, but we were concerned as we had not seen him for a while.

Anyway, back now and looking beautiful – colours are amazing !

Had a good feed with all the other birds; I took these through the window, hence bad quality.

Welcome back my friend !¬

Regards Mark

Across the Northern hemisphere, we are heading into Winter now.  Things have been pretty mild here in the UK until the last few days, when it is noticeably colder.

But the weather has been cold and clear, so a good time for photos.  I ventured into the garden a few days back to see the amazing colours.  Here are a few shots;

Regards Mark

Farm Animals, General News, Live Transport

Live Animal Transport – A New Petition has Been Launched in the Czech Republic by Animal Campaigner Friends – Please Support.

WAV Comment – As many of you know. The stopping of live animal transport is one of our main issues.  It is great to see our Czech Republic friends have now set up a petition to support the stopping.  Below we have given all the links to the petition; please add your voice by supporting it.  Note – a ‘translate’ message should automatically appear when you go to the petition.

Regards Mark

Open petition to end long-distance live animal transport in Czech Republic

18 November 2021

Společnost pro zvířata

A new petition has been launched in Czech Republic by Společnost pro zvířata to demand a ban on long-distance live animal transport. They already have collected 4.000 signatures and they need to reach 10.000.

Back in June, our Member Organisation Společnost pro zvířata lit candles for the animals, victims of cruel transport practices, in front of the Czech Republic Ministry of Agriculture sending a strong message to the representatives. 

MEP Jiří Pospíšil, member of the Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of animals, also sent his support and lit a candle for the animals. 

The ceremony was also an opportunity to launch a petition calling the Czech government to :

  • Ensure maximum journey times of 4 hours for chickens and 6 to 8 hours for cattle, pigs, sheep and other mammal (including waiting, loading and unloading hours),
  • Work on a strategy to shift from live transport to a trade of meat and carcasses as well as genetic material only,
  • Ensure the protection of animals at the time of slaughter or killing by enforcing mandatory stunning.

The petition is nearing its goal of achieving 10,000 signatures. 

Read more and support the petition here.

Wording:

Petition for an end to long-distance transports with animals and for the export
of meat, for the breeding and life of animals as close as possible to their place of birth

for the Government and Parliament of the Czech Republic

motto: Animals are living sentient creatures, just like we humans. They are not goods.

Therefore, we, the undersigned citizens of the Czech Republic, ask the Government and Parliament of the Czech Republic to adopt legislation and its implementation in practice, which will ensure:

  • that the animals (used for farming purposes) live and live in or near the place of birth;
  • a maximum limit of 4 h (poultry) and 6 to 8 h (bovine, pig, sheep and other mammals) for transport to slaughterhouses, fattening and rearing/rearing, without exception and including waiting, loading and unloading;
  • the replacement of long-lasting transport of animals by the transport of meat, half-carcases and other animal products;
  • the creation of economic incentive tools for the above requirements;
  • the slaughter and killing of animals at their place of birth, as quickly as possible and brought unconscious by prior stunning, without exceptions;
  • severely penalise natural and legal persons for infringements relating to the protection of animals during transport and during the slaughter/killing of animals.

Regards Mark

General News

Solidarity with the demonstrators in Austria


In Austria, the pressure on unvaccinated people is enormous.
There is a 3G rule in the workplace, a 2G rule that excludes unvaccinated people from large parts of public life, as well as a lockdown for EVERYONE from Monday!

While this measure is expected to end on December 13 for vaccinated and convalescent people, it will then continue to apply for unvaccinated people indefinitely.
After the protests against the new Corona measures in Austria, Interior Minister Karl Nehammer warned against further radicalization of the opponents.
That is his impression due to the controls of the 2G rule and incidents during the demonstration of around 40,000 people in Vienna.

around 40.000 People protest against COVID-19 measures in Vienna, Austria, on November 20, 2021. © Reuters / Leonhard Foeger

There are death threats against the Chancellor and the Minister of Health.
Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg has been compared with the concentration camp doctor Josef Mengele. Mengele had killed many Jews through medical experiments during the Nazi regime.

“Tens of thousands have taken to the streets today in one of the largest protests in the history of Vienna, Austria, after the government implemented a new COVID lockdown and became the first in the world to announce compulsory vaccination.pic.twitter.com/FFriWCZioG”
— Michael P Senger (@MichaelPSenger) November 20, 2021

https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/proteste-wien-103.html

And…I have no comment to give but I picked up a very accurate one from the enlightened press (https://qpress.de/2021/11/16/oesterreich-verschaerft-den-zwang-zur-freiwilligkeit/) in Germany.

“Greetings from the good old days.
This time you don’t even send the brown staff into the neighborhood to save the world, now you do it at home.
Austria’s Chancellor A. Schickelberg does the honors and locks away those who are symptom-free.
They are a danger to the program and since there can be no more health or immunity without the pharmaceuticals, one simply has to weed out these cross drivers.
As a test, there is initially a test inclusion or exclusion of 10 days for the unwilling.

There can be no more grace.
The police are instructed to sweep all asymptomatic healthy people who can be shown to be walking around freely without an injection or a health certificate from the street on the spot.

There were no special blocking times here, unlike in Germany back then, in order not to allow malicious comparisons to arise.
Freedom should clearly prevail here.

Paths to work and the work itself are of course approved for the lepers in order to increase the gross national product.
Leisure activities of all kinds, on the other hand, can no longer be tolerated, as the virtual viruses have been shown to be particularly virulent and dangerous in such an environment.

The reality is that seven billion people have to be injected through … voluntarily and no matter what the cost.
Austria must not be left out.
From the point of view of the Austrian government, the current measure is suitable to significantly promote this voluntariness.
And no, of course there will be no vaccination Gestapo, it is all intolerable scaremongering”.

My best regards to all, Venus

Environmental

Chile – the Humboldt Archipelago must not be destroyed

The breeding area of the Humboldt penguins off the northern Chilean coast is a “hope spot” for life on earth. But as in the past, port and mining projects are once again threatening the vulnerable penguins.

Chilean environmentalists are calling for the birds’ habitat to be placed under strict protection.

80% of the world’s endangered Humboldt penguin population lives here.

Humboldt Archipelago in northern Chile – protection decided, but NOT implemented

The marine area off the Chilean coast is incredibly biodiverse because of the cold upwelling waters of the Humboldt current. In the north of the country lies the Humboldt Archipelago, which the Mission Blue Foundation has declared a “Hope Spot” – a place of hope for life on the planet.

Hope Spot

The unique and irreplaceable ecosystem is considered a priority for global conservation by international science. The special importance results from the unusual oceanic conditions of a continuous upwelling in the sea, which distinguishes this region from other areas of the country.

Cold water rises to the surface there, carrying nutrients that promote the growth and development of large quantities of plankton and phytoplankton.
The topography, consisting of numerous islands and islets, favors the life of larvae and the stages of their development.
The prevailing south-north currents and winds cause the larvae to disperse.

Continue reading “Chile – the Humboldt Archipelago must not be destroyed” →

General News

Germany and the dog fight mafia

Dog fighting is a heinous crime, but when it comes to monitoring their own platform for dog fighting videos, YouTube is falling far short of its obligation.

In just a few clicks, visitors to YouTube may find instructional videos about dog fighting and hours upon hours of material related to it.

A 2021 investigation conducted by animal welfare organization Lady Freethinker found 2,053 videos that depicted animal abuse, garnering a collective 1.2 billion total views.

The videos were posted across approximately 146 channels amassing 30.8 million total subscribers, covering wildlife, companion animals, and farmed animals in categories such as animal fighting, eating animals alive, hunting animals with other animals, monkey torture, and fox-hound hunting.

The charity also found channels on YouTube hosting videos of falsified animal rescues.
The controversial videos show cats and dogs placed in contrived “dangerous” situations in the wild, such as near predators including snakes and crocodiles, only to be “saved” just in time by a human2.

“YouTube must do a better job at monitoring and removing all videos that violate its terms and standards, alerting local law enforcement to illegal content, and holding channels accountable for their actions with suspensions and terminations,” said Nina Jackel, founder and president of Lady Freethinker told the Guardian.

From April to July 2020, YouTube removed 185 of the 2,053 videos identified in Lady Freethinker’s report, but that accounts for only 136.5 million out of 1.2 billion views related to dog fighting.

Often, these disturbing content creators simply rebrand themselves under a different name and continue to upload videos to YouTube.
In bringing these facts up to the company, YouTuber Charlie White, also called penguin0, found that learned that inquiries about removing channels with alleged animal abuse were directed to a separate manual review team.

The idea that the rest of these violent videos cannot be pulled down is an egregious lie, especially a year after the platform succeeded in removing hundreds of videos showing robots battling other robots under claims that they pictured animal abuse.

YouTube should not allow these videos to be featured anywhere on the site as they only promote violence and carnage.

Sign the petition below and demand YouTube’s CEO prohibit dog fighting videos on their platform!

https://theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com/clicktogive/ars/petition/YoutubeDogfighting

https://www.facebook.com/marschfuerdietiere/posts/590604385613367

And I mean…Dog fights will still be held illegally in secret in Germany in 2021.

Behind this cruelty to animals is an animal torture mafia, which secretly gets in huge amounts of betting income with the horror.

Dead dogs that are thrown away like rubbish with heartbreaking injuries and entire dog fight rings that are picked up are not uncommon for the everyday police force of the German executive.

Dog fighting isn’t even a “sport” as is so often referred to. It is a criminal business devised by unscrupulous people where two highly bred attack dogs are let loose on each other, usually until one of them is seriously injured or dies.

The dogs are made fit by using bestial practices for weeks for their “work”. They train up to four hours a day on treadmills, fully pumped with anabolic steroids and vitamin cocktails. Baby cats are used as bait and are usually torn to pieces by the tortured dogs.

Some dogs do not take part directly in the fights, but are used as bait to test the fighting dogs’ ability to fight. Often the animals are stolen from private individuals, and most of them have little chance of survival.

In illegal dog fights in Germany, fanatical masters pay up to 500,000 euros to the winner.

Some die after the fight. Others recover or need to be taken to the vet. But one can imagine that a criminal would not be willing to take his dog to the vet every week.

The worst fighters are often hanged, drowned, or left to die in the forest.

And the worst part is – these fights can actually take place anywhere, it’s usually a place where people don’t care what they hear or see.

In 2012, in the basement of a residential building in Ettenheim (a town in Baden-Wuerttemberg), the police discovered a prepared battlefield and eleven pit bull terriers that were being trained there.

In addition to 11 confiscated pit bull terriers, the police found an arena in a cellar that was completely built for the purpose of dog fights, blood-soaked carpets, various medicines and drugs, bolt guns to release half-dead dogs, as well as beer tent sets and alcohol for the well-being of the primitive spectators and bettors.
A cannabis plantation was also secured.

The following year, during a house search in Bayreuth, seven Kangals were found in the premises of the rocker gang “Black Jackets”, as well as video evidence that documented the diabolical hustle and bustle of the competitions.
These two examples are only two of the many that take place in the middle of Germany.

Unfortunately, dog fights do not only take place in Germany, but in many other countries as well.

China, the USA, the Phillipines, Turkey and also European countries such as Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary are plagued by these criminal machinations.

A criminal community of their own was also formed, spreading these bloody battles on social media. Against this must be proceeded with the full severity of the law, and above all with draconian increased penalties.

Dog fights are a symptom of a larger criminal community-internationally, these swamps of crime and animal suffering must be drained.

My best regards to all, Venus

General News, Hunting

France: Hunter Killer Pensioner Attacked By Brown Bear Whilst Hunting Wild Boar. He Shoots Bear Dead ‘Acting In Self Defence’. No Hunter, No Attack !

Pensioner in France kills bear with rifle after part of his leg torn off in attack (msn.com)

WAV Comment:  If there was no hunter in the first place then there would be no need for the alleged ‘self defence’. Did he care that the female bear may have had cubs when he killed it ? – Note this ‘pensioner’ is not just someone (an older person) out for a weekend stroll; it was an animal killing hunter who was out attempting to slaughter wild boar.  This puts a complete alternative angle to the heading of this newspaper story – not just a pensioner, but a hunter, killer pensioner.  Karma ? – possibly.

 

Pensioner in France kills bear with rifle after part of his leg torn off in attack

A brown bear has been shot dead by a man hunting wild boar after it attacked and tore part of his leg off in southwestern France, according to reports.

The 70-year-old is said to have fired his rifle twice in self-defence – killing the female animal instantly.

He was airlifted to hospital by helicopter and is described as being in a serious condition.

The authorities in France have launched an investigation into the incident happened near Seix, in Ariège, on Saturday afternoon.

A member of the local hunting association told the news website La Depeche said: “I was a little further away, I didn’t see what was happening but I heard the call on the radio.

“The bear attacked him and grabbed his leg, he tore his calf off and injured him in the other leg too.

“One person managed to stop the bleeding until the arrival of help.”

He added: “It doesn’t surprise me, they are coming closer and closer because there is nothing left to eat in the mountains.

“But he shot him only for the sake of himself.”

The attack is set to reignite the debate over the reintroduction of brown bears to the Pyrenees.

The move was controversial among farmers who believe the animals pose a threat to their livestock.

In last year’s census, 64 bears were counted across the Pyrenees.

Critics argue as numbers grow they are increasingly finding it more difficult to get food, bringing them into closer contact with people.

Local media report between January and October of this year, bears killed or are thought to have killed 625 sheep, 16 cattle, 17 horses and a dog.

Regards Mark