General News

Tattoos for animals is cruelty to animals

Text: Together for the Animals (“Gemeinsam für die Tiere”)

In the past you were considered a criminal with a tattoo, but today you are often looked at wrong if you don’t wear one.
But what is common to all people who have the color in the flesh?

They do it voluntarily and accept the associated pain for their little work of art.
Forcing a person to have a tattoo or forcing them to tattoo is coercion, mutilation and grievous bodily harm. And of course punishable!

WHY NOT ALSO IN ANIMALS?
A new trend is emerging among mindless pet owners: Tattoos for Animals.
They have their pigs, dogs, cats etc. decorated with painful pictures.
An animal does not even want a tattoo, nor has it consented to the pain associated with it.

No animal voluntarily lets a needle penetrate its flesh thousands and thousands of times until the injected color forms an image determined by the animal owner.
So it happens with coercion and violence, whereby both the animal keeper and the “artist” can be described as perpetrators.
It’s not a fashion trend, it’s just pure cruelty to animals.

Giving an animal pain for no good reason is against the law: For example, the administrative courts in Germany and Austria have decided – Ergo, it is illegal and must be severely punished, apart from the fact that it is morally reprehensible.

The passage “justified reason” in the legal text can be disputed because, strictly speaking, there is never a justifying reason for violence against other living beings.

We strictly reject this form of alleged art.
Tattoos are for people who get it done of their own free will, but never for animals.
There must be international action here and an offense punished accordingly, for animal keepers and tattooists.

Prison sentences and a lifetime prohibition of practicing the craft of tattooing seem to us only more than fair.
Leave tattoos where they belong: under human skin !!!

Please also all of you sign this petition against this cruel cruelty to animals, the animals will thank you:
https://www.change.org/p/government-stop-animal-tattooing-4c84b801-2bba-4d54-b195-cde4005a4729

And I mean…There are countless photos circulating on the Internet showing dogs and cats with tattoos and nose rings.
How does one get this perverse idea to do something like this to his pet?

Who says animals would agree to wear tattoos? 
There is no question that something like this is reprehensible for ethical reasons and that it is animal cruelty to do such a thing to an animal, because tattooing is pretty painful.

In some countries and after years of pressure from animal rights activists, tattooing or piercing of animals is already banned

In Mexico, for example, animal rights activists campaigned for a ban on tattoos and piercings on animals.
After this pressure, a new draft law should prohibit tattooing on pets for aesthetic reasons and punish the tattooing or piercing of animals with the equivalent of more than 1,000 euros.
The environmental protection commission of the Congress of Mexico City had already unanimously approved the new ban.

In Germany and Austria it is forbidden to have animals tattooed for aesthetic reasons and to cause them pain for no reason.

In New York there has even been an official ban since this year. According to the law, pets are no longer allowed to be tattooed or pierced.
“It’s cruelty to animals, it’s that simple,” said Andrew Cuomo, ex-governor of New York.

In the twenty-first century, after years of fighting over a ban on docking ears and tail for aesthetic reasons, we are still forced to look at shameful photos like these that are still circulating on the internet.
It’s not cool, it’s not aesthetics, it’s a degradation of animal dignity and a cruelty to animals that gets under the skin.

My best regards to all, Venus

Hunting

Basque-Animal Liberation Front: “Hunting licenses go up, but hunting towers go down”

Received anonymously by Animal Liberation Pressoffice

Fifteen hunting towers and seven posts attacked in Jaizkibel, Jarindo, Kastañarri, Gorbeia, Arrikurutz and mount Kintoa. The Basque Animal Liberation Front denounces the “deplorable state” and the slaughter of animals by hunters.

“We will not be passively looking elsewhere as long as the sensitive creatures of other species are exploited, oppressed, or killed,” the members of the Basque People ‘s Animal Liberation Front stated in a communique about the attacks on the hunting towers and posts on the night of 31 August and 1 September.

“Hunting licenses go up, but hunting towers go down”.

“As long as violence, domination, and murder of human and other animals continues to be normal, we see “legitimate and necessary” to attack companies, institutions, or structures that promote and reproduce such oppression.”

The Animal Liberation Front is a clandestine organization operating in various countries worldwide, with no known leader or public face, and carrying out direct action for animal rights.
The last few days are not the only actions the Front has taken in the Basque Country.

For example, in December 2018, several hunting stations were also damaged and in May and June of the same year, cement was dumped on the runway at Iruñera to create obsstruction and a fire was set in the bull fighting stadium.

https://animalliberationpressoffice.org/NAALPO/2021/09/06/basque-alf-destroys-22-hunting-stands-2/

And Imean…Hunters are psychopaths and as we know psychopaths have tremendous criminal energy and endurance.
Instead of locking them up in a psychiatric institution (which would also cause costs for the family), I find it much more economical to destroy their criminal craft.

Many thanks to the activists ♥ Great Job!

My best regards to all, Venus

 

Environmental, General News

Environmental Articles To Read.

 

 

Climate change: UN warning over nations’ climate plans

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-58600723

US and EU pledge 30% cut in methane emissions to limit global heating

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/sep/17/us-and-eu-pledge-30-cut-in-methane-emissions-to-limit-global-heating

Hole in the ozone layer that develops annually is ‘rather larger than usual’ this year – and is currently bigger than Antarctica, scientists say

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-10001063/Ozone-layer-Hole-develops-annually-larger-usual-year-scientists-say.html

Regards Mark

Hunting

Lebanon-hunters target anything that comes within range of the rifle.

Lebanon – end point of bird migration: Around 500,000 hunters are officially registered in Lebanon, they are allowed to shoot 12 species of birds.

But the hunting law in the “cedar state” is mostly only on paper.
In reality, many hunters target anything that comes within range of the rifle.

Now, during the peak of the bird migration, we receive photos every day, which the perpetrators themselves post on social media.

Almost all of them show strictly protected species in Lebanon – from bee-eaters and blue-nails to ortolans and orioles to barn owls and short-toed eagles.

Fortunately, there are many nature lovers in Lebanon who do not just watch the hunters go by.
They search social media for such posts, report the perpetrators’ profiles to us and the authorities, and thus ensure prosecution.

Together with its Lebanese partner associations SPNL and MESHC, the Committee against Bird Murder will again be on site with an international bird protection team from next week.

The economic crisis in the country and the political unrest make the operation a risk – wish us luck!
The pictures are all up-to-date – they show protected migratory birds illegally shot.

The animals with which the heart is laid are ortolans, which are highly endangered almost everywhere in Europe!

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

And I mean…The birds are eaten – as a “second use”, so to speak.
But the motivation is the pleasure of hunting! whoever hunts, kills for sheer pleasure.
And that applies to hunters all over the world.

What state of mind can we expect in someone who cowardly shoots an animal while it is eating or breeding, although he does not need its flesh and skin to live and then call it as a “hobby”, “nature conservation”, “protection of species”, “epidemic protection” “or” tradition “?

“Hunting is just a cowardly paraphrase for particularly cowardly murder of chanchenless fellow creatures.
Hunting is a side form of human mental illness”
(Theodor Heuss, former Federal President)

We agree, it couldn’t be better said!

My best regards to all, Venus

Farm Animals, General News, Uncategorized

EU subsidies and aquaculture – the weakened link.

Photo – Artur Rydzewsk

EU subsidies and aquaculture – the weakened link

13 September 2021

Opinion

Over 1 billion fish are being raised on fish farms in the EU at any one time. These are undomesticated species quite new to being captive in production systems, which are often highly intensive and are themselves new technologies undergoing development. 

While European aquaculture doesn’t have the transparency mechanisms to measure or report welfare conditions and outcomes, mortality rates of 15% to 20% are reported in cage farming in the mediterranean and in third countries that report mortality figures, and the Commission found very limited uptake of the effective stunning technologies commercially available for several fish species.

EU aquaculture and animal welfare policies are pursuing fish welfare objectives, while a new regime governing EU financial support to fisheries and aquaculture has weakened the links between EU investment and EU policy objectives. 

National aquaculture strategies and the implementation of EU financial support mechanisms need a smooth and coordinated implementation by Member States for subsidies to operate in support of policy initiatives and realise improvements in fish welfare. 

When compared to terrestrial farm animals, scientists, producers, policy makers and animal advocates alike were late to understanding fishes’ needs and applying animal welfare approaches to fish in aquaculture. Some milestones were:

  • 2005 the Council of Europe adopted guidelines for fish welfare during farming
  • 2008 EFSA scientific opinion on fish sentience
  • 2009 EFSA scientific opinion on welfare during husbandry and slaughter
  • 2009 The OIE adopted standards for fish welfare during transport and at slaughter
  • 2020 EU Platform on Animal Welfare adopts fish welfare guidelines

With the many EU and external research projects in the intervening years, we now have a wealth of knowledge for practical implementation. Initiatives from sector organisations, third party certifiers, and policymakers seek to apply knowledge to provide a better life and death for farmed fish, improve product quality and resource efficiency, and better meet consumers’ expectations.

In May 2021 the European Commission published its new aquaculture strategy until 2030 which includes fish welfare priorities including developing best practice codes and guidelines, setting validated indicators, providing training, and supporting a transition to lower-trophic species. 

The Farm to Fork Strategy previously committed the EU’s aquaculture policy to being a part of its animal welfare initiatives, and in August 2021 the inception impact assessment of the revision of all EU farm animal welfare legislation included specific options for fish welfare.

The European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) 2021 – 2027 regulation seeks to simplify Member States’ administration and programming. One approach to simplification is to only reference high level Union priorities such as sustainable economies and communities, and to maintain weaker links between national and EU aquaculture policies. Opening up the fund for investments to meet legal obligations has also weakened the incentive to invest it now in policy areas marked as important next priorities. This is where the link between the spending of EU funds and the delivery of EU policy is weakened. 

Maintained from the previous regulation is the requirement that financial support is consistent with Member States’ own multiannual national strategic plans, and those plans must themselves use the EU’s aquaculture strategy as their basis. However there is no real requirement that national priorities contribute to specific EU objectives, or even that Member States update their national plans now. Then the EU’s aquaculture strategy is referenced as a more complete set of policy priorities, but there is less impetus for Member States to direct financial support for the delivery of EU policy priorities.

Aquaculture is not an area of exclusive EU competence and Member States operate national policies and licensing regimes specific to their varied geographical and market contexts. Member States should take the fish welfare objectives from the EU’s aquaculture strategy as priorities in their national strategies in support of the moves to advance animal welfare in aquaculture.

The Commission funds aquaculture research and facilitates Member States’ coordination of aquaculture policies, and it needs to do more to provide substance and cohesion for its aquaculture priorities. It needs to look beyond the small portion of the EMFAF that it controls directly and to activate mechanisms in other policy areas including animal welfare. 

Animal welfare policy could consolidate knowledge into implementable indicators and guidelines through a dedicated Animal Welfare Reference Centre.  The Commission could mandate EFSA to provide the necessary knowledge, since its last opinion on fish welfare was more than ten years ago. 

The alternative path is that intensive aquaculture systems continue to evolve without accounting for the needs of the animals. Aquaculture takes the production and reputational losses that are seen with intensive terrestrial agriculture systems, and the fish continue to suffer unnecessarily.

The EU has identified the right fish welfare policy priorities, and they are aligned with voluntary measures being taken widely in the market. The new EU financial support regime (EMFAF) has weakened the explicit links between EU financial support and specific EU aquaculture policy objectives, but Member States can take up the common EU priorities and the Commission should use other mechanisms to provide the necessary resources and cohesion.

 Op-ed by Douglas Waley, Fish Welfare Programme Leader at Eurogroup for Animals

Regards Mark

Environmental, General News, Hunting

Even locals outraged as 1400 dolphins die in Faroese hunt.

Even locals outraged as 1400 dolphins die in Faroese hunt

There has been widespread condemnation after over 1400 Atlantic white-sided dolphins were killed in the Faroe Islands last weekend, believed to be the largest number of dolphins ever killed in the country.

Much of the criticism has come from within the country where usually there is a strong defence of the hunts, which are portrayed by locals as a long-standing tradition providing a necessary supplement to their diet.

The dolphins were herded into a bay on the island of Eysturoy on Sunday after being encountered far out to sea. Even though the hunt was sanctioned by local authorities, it appears there was confusion over the number of dolphins being driven to shore with first estimates putting the number at around 200.

As a result, local reports suggest there were not enough people on the beach to kill the dolphins when it became apparent how many there actually were. The process took several hours as dolphins were left in a distressed state while their fellow pod members were killed with knives.

The meat from the hunt is traditionally distributed to local people but with so many dolphins killed, there are concerns that much of it may have to be discarded.

Find out more about whaling in the Faroe Islands

Even locals outraged as 1400 dolphins die in Faroese hunt – Whale and Dolphin Conservation (whales.org)

Regards Mark

Hunting

Faroe Islands-illegal massacre of 1,428 dolphins

On September 12th, a huge school of 1,428 Atlantic white-sided dolphins was hunted and driven to their deaths for hours.

The driven hunt, the so-called grind, took place on the Faroe Islands, which belong to Denmark.
The animals were driven over a distance of approx. 45 km with speedboats and jet skis into the shallow waters near Skálabotnur, where every single animal was cruelly killed.

According to locals who shared videos and photos with Sea Shepherd, this hunt violated several Faroese laws regulating grind:

First of all, the grind supervisor responsible for this area was not informed and therefore never authorized the hunt.
Instead, the decision was made by another grind chief who was not authorized to do so.

Second, many of the participants did not have permission to participate. This permit is required in the Faroe Islands because it includes special training to ensure the rapid killing of pilot whales and dolphins.
The footage also shows that many of the dolphins were still alive and moving when they were dragged ashore with the rest of their dead school.

Thirdly, photos show that many of the dolphins were run over by motorboats and torn apart by the screws, resulting in a slow and painful death.
According to local residents, the grid was illegal and was reported to the Faroese police for these violations.

The Danish newspaper “Ekstra Bladet” published interviews with locals, whose full names were changed to protect their families, stating that many Faroe Islands are angry about the incident.

“I suspect that most of the dolphins will end up in the garbage or in some digging hole,” said a local.
“We should have quotas per district and not kill dolphins,” said another.

A local asked the Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen to investigate the incident:

“If she expresses herself critically in public, it will also be easier for the locals who want to end this barbaric tradition.”

Others fear that the international press will show the pictures of the slaughtered dolphins and that this will endanger their exports (e.g. the Faroe Islands export salmon to Germany, Great Britain, the USA and Russia).

Further information and images on our website:
https://sea-shepherd.de/…/1-428-delfine-bei-treibjagd…/

And I mean…Sea Shepherd considers this to be “the largest single hunt for dolphins or pilot whales in Faroe history” (followed by the hunt for 1,200 pilot whales in 1940) and “it is believed to be the largest single whale hunt ever documented worldwide”!

We call it mass murder.
Driven in any place that is a very wealthy European island group that has no need for meat to survive, based on secret licenses and documents, practically an illegal process, carried out by anonymous sadists and corrupt officials, who settled the crime among themselves.

An illegal massacre with no basis, no legal evidence.
Here borders were crossed and a new dimension of brutality and barbarism reached.

What the residents of the Faroe Islands can never be ashamed of

My best regards to all, Venus

Environmental, General News, Hunting

UK Wrongdoing: Challenge to badger cull due as Bern Convention Bureau considers alleged breach case.

WAV Comment – No final news yet, but we will report as soon as we know.

Regards Mark

Challenge to badger cull due as Bern Convention Bureau considers alleged breach case

13 September 2021

Press Release

Complaint alleges UK Govt in breach of international wildlife treaty obligations after failing to consider cull impact on badger population

A coalition of animal protection groups will have their complaint against the UK Government, alleging a breach of an international wildlife treaty, considered by the Bern Convention as its Bureau meets this week (15 and 16 September). 

The Bern Convention, to which the UK has been a signatory since 1982, aims to ensure the conservation and protection of Europe’s wildlife, and regulates the exploitation of species listed in Appendix III, which includes badgers.

Badger Trust, Born Free Foundation, and Eurogroup for Animals allege that the UK Government’s ongoing badger culling policy places it in clear contravention of its commitments under the Convention. Their complaint challenges whether the UK Government has adequately considered the impact of mass culling of badgers on the badger population and wider biodiversity, and whether there has been any significant disease control benefits to justify the culls. 

The consideration comes just a week after the UK Government announced that badger culling will be ramped up in 2021, with seven new licences issued expanding the cull area and setting maximum kill quotas that could see the highest numbers of badgers killed in a single year since culling began. There are now 61 areas with active cull licences, covering counties from Cornwall to Cumbria, and up to 75,930 badgers could be killed in 2021 – taking the total since the cull began to well over 200,000.

Britain is home to more than 25% of the European badger population. However, with more than 140,000 badgers killed under licence since the cull policy started in 2013, and with culling set to continue until 2025 under recently confirmed UK Government plans, that population is coming under severe pressure. The case was put on “standby” by the Bern Convention in 2020, with a request for further information, the first time a complaint made against the UK Government’s badger culling policy had not been dismissed at the initial stage. 

That the UK government continues to hand out new cull licences not only lays bare claims made by British ministers to be champions for animal welfare, but only serves to showcase a bewildering level of cognitive dissonance. No evidence whatsoever supports the ongoing culls in England, which is why, I suspect, no such evidence demonstrating a disease control benefit has been produced by the British government. We now rely on the other parties to the Convention to hold the UK government to account. England’s badgers — Europe’s badgers — cannot continue to be sacrificed for domestic political expediency.

Reineke Hameleers, CEO of Eurogroup for Animals

Whilst we are grateful that our complaint is at last being reviewed, it has been two years since we initially submitted our complaint in 2019. In that time another over 76,000 badgers have been killed under this failed approach to controlling bovine Tuberculosis – a respiratory disease in cattle that starts and ends with cattle. The latest licences for 2021 alone could take the same amount again, and the cull is set to run to 2025 – so we have years and years of further culling ahead. The impact on the badger population is unknown, and seemingly inconsequential to the UK Government who claim it is coming to an end, but in reality this senseless slaughter continues. We hope for a positive outcome from the Bern Bureau, and a brighter future for Britain’s badgers.

Adam Laidlaw, Executive Director of Badger Trust

The UK Government has hailed its badger culling policy a success. However, after eight years of culling which has seen the destruction of more than 140,000 badgers, representing perhaps a quarter of the UK badger population, evidence for significant disease control benefits among cattle herds in cull areas is lacking, and the Government’s woeful efforts to estimate and monitor targeted badger populations are failing to guarantee their eventual recovery. In spite of this, the Government has issued licences for 2021 which could see a further 75,930 badgers killed. We urge the Bern Convention to take action that will help to bring this inhumane, ineffective, unscientific and unnecessary slaughter of a native, protected wild animal to a permanent end.

Dr Mark Jones, veterinarian and Head of Policy at the Born Free Foundation

ENDS


Notes
A briefing on the complaint can be viewed here.

Final information relating to the complaint was submitted by Badger Trust, Born Free, and Eurogroup for Animals, in July in advance of the meeting this week. 

The original complaint lodged with the Bern Convention in 2019 can be found here.  

Time Out – Enjoy !

Regards Mark

Environmental, Farm Animals, General News

EU: Farm to Fork Strategy own initiative report: vote in committees moving closer to systemic change and higher animal welfare.

Farm to Fork Strategy own initiative report: vote in committees moving closer to systemic change and higher animal welfare

10 September 2021

News

On Friday 10th September the AGRI and ENVI committees adopted with a large majority (94 in favour, 20 against and 10 abstensions) the draft report on a Farm to Fork Strategy for a fair, healthy and environmentally friendly food system.

Thanks to the 48 compromise amendments passed, the Farm to Fork own initiative report is now closer to leading a systemic change and higher EU animal welfare production.

Nevertheless, parts of some compromise amendments would have needed to be altered, such as the one stating that the support of affordable food should not lead to cheap animal products that prompt intensive farming.

The committees also supported theconsumption of algae for a dietary shift, which is welcomed, but at the same time the one of insects. Eurogroup for Animals believes that insect farming should not be promoted as an alternative protein source for animal feed or direct consumption due to serious animal welfare and sustainability concerns. Moreover, insects are not a sustainable solution for the EU’s food system transformation. On the contrary, insect farming is a false solution, given its potential to prompt more intensive farming instead of promoting the much needed systemic change.

Besides the compromise amendments, the AGRI and ENVI committees also adopted favourable amendments concerning trade, animal experiments and PMSG production, specifically: 

On trade, a very clear amendment calling for EU animal welfare standards to be imposed on imported products. With the ongoing review of animal welfare standards and the growing calls by countries like France to see more production standards applied to imports (a concept they call “mirror measures”), there has never been such an opportunity to extend the scope of EU measures, and by doing so, to use the leverage that access to the EU market represent to incentivise foreign producers to improve animal welfare standards. 

On animal experiments, an amendment reminding that structural animal experiments that are not indispensable should have no place in the food chain, as the Animal Experimentation Directive (2010/63/EU) prescribes the replacement and reduction of the use of animals in procedures. 

The amendment also calls on the Commission and Member States to stop the import and domestic production of Pregnant Mare Serum Gonadotropin (PMSG), which is extracted from the blood of pregnant horses that are systematically impregnated and exposed to blood collections, involving health- and welfare issues. 

The amendment calling on the EC to suspend import of horse meat from “countries where applicable EU requirements relating to traceability and animal welfare are not complied with” was also adopted.

The adoption of amendment 2294 is an important and timely statement from MEPs, proving that the objectives of the Farm to Fork Strategy remain clear and encompass all species. The call underlines the Parliament’s commitment to extend EU animal welfare standards to third countries, similarly to other amendments adopted in this report. Furthermore, it serves as a poignant reminder that the implementation of the Animal Experimentation Directive is far from perfect, a call that reverberates repeatedly from MEPs offices.

Reineke Hameleers, CEO, Eurogroup for Animals

Unfortunately other key amendments for the protection of animals were rejected such as the call for a ban on fur production, and the amendment calling on Member States to ban mink farming.

Besides the serious ethical issues disconsidered in those decisions, they also don’t take into account the recently adopted Report on the EU Biodiversity Strategy, where the EP acknowledged that fur farming can significantly compromise animal welfare and increase the susceptibility to infectious diseases including zoonoses.

The plenary vote on this report is scheduled for the beginning of October.  Eurogroup for Animals and its members urged MEPs to vote for an initiative report that leads to real systemic change and steps up the game for animal protection in Europe. 

Regards Mark