In 2018, the animal photojournalist Aitor Garmendia and his colleague, the undercover investigator Linas Korta, happened upon a Spanish pig farm while working on a story about slaughterhouses. When they approached, they found the entrance of the farm marked by a container of corpses, and together, they opened the lid.
Inside, surrounded by dead bodies and excrement, they discovered a single living piglet, weeks old and trembling. They wrapped his shivering body in their clothes and rushed him to the vet. He died hours later.
The brand launched a dedicated plant protein ingredients subsidiary dubbed Lovingly Made Ingredients. It will provide its global supply of textured plant protein and ‘expand into broader external supply operations’.
Lovingly Made Ingredients will operate out of a new flagship plant protein facility in Calgary, where it will be the first of its kind on this scale. Moreover, Meatless Farm describes the move as one of its ‘biggest investments to date’.
It has invested an initial $12 million in its manufacturing infrastructure with the 30,000 sq ft plant. By 2023, it will have the capacity to produce up to 14,500 tonnes of plant protein ingredients.
The vegan sausage roll vending machine will be located at Observation Point, 56 Upper Ground, South Bank
A brilliant way to convert even more to plant based !
Above – Founding family Erika, Claire and Jim,and the Animal Aid Unlimited team.
WAV Comment – I (Mark) communicate with Erika every week; and we discuss many things that relate to nature and how the world could be improved on. Here below are their latest wonderful vidoes on how they keep going and saving animals, despite the terrible Covid situation in India, Enjoy
Regards Mark
Dear Mark,
Awakening trust and love in animals who have been abused is a beautiful part of our job. We rescued Alex a few months ago with a fractured leg. As a tonga pony, pulling carts filled with people or sand and bricks, he has endured blasting horns, toxic fumes in traffic, and suffered in heat exceeding 40C.
During his first weeks with us, Alex held his neck rigid and his head high. If you came near, his ears laid flat back, his eyes would flash and he’d immediately threaten to bite. It was clearly a learned distrust of any human contact.
Our first step in helping his emotional healing has been to give him freedom to make his own choices.
We keep him untethered so that he can move freely as every animal must, and decide where he feels comfortable. Now his posture is relaxed when we approach him with tasty biscuits. He loves them! And very slowly he is letting us touch his neck while he chews. Only for a moment, though!
If Alex ever accepts human touch, it will be his choice. And if he never accepts human touch, we’ll understand, and love him anyway.
Thank you for giving us the means to give forever sanctuary to our sweetheart, Alex.
Healing Bounce’s fear, a sweetheart rescued with wire embedded in his neck.
Bounce hadone of the most disturbing wounds we’ve seen in a long time. An animal lover from about an hour outside of Udaipur saw him running with a wire embedded in his neck and called us to rescue him. He was extremely fearful, so to catch him we lured him into a portable cage and then hurried him back to Animal Aid.
When we cut the wire off we found that the wound was even worsethan we’d suspected–maggots had burrowed into the deepest parts of the long gash. We immediately began treating the wound, without knowing if we’d found him in time to save his life.
From pain and despair, watch Bounce love life again.
Barnaby’s jaw was broken, but now he’s healed and home with mom and dad!
Street puppy Barnabywas probably innocently playing when a passing vehicle hit him right on his nose.
Bleeding from his mouth and nose, he seemed disoriented. We feared he might have a brain injury but were relieved to find him alert and with normal mentation. We found that he did have a very minor jaw fracture. Puppies this young are fast healers, so we were delighted that with pain medicine to ease the swelling, Barnaby ate like a champ.
We kept him quiet and comforted for 15 days, and as he grew stronger, we could see how eager he was to go back to his parents and siblings. This injury healed well, but without pain medicine, soft food and loving care, Barnaby might not have made it.
Darling Luna has an untreatable condition called cerebullar hypoplasia. This condition, which she’s most likely had from birth, is caused by developmental damage to the part of her brain that controls motor functions. This means that she has very wobbly legs and it’s hard for her to balance.
But this doesn’t stop Luna from being one of the most active, playful, and loving girls we’ve ever met. She’s all heart, and even though she falls down sometimes, gets covered in her food when she eats, and has to try extra hard just to stay standing in one place, she is full of joy.
Luna could never survive on the street, so she relies on sponsorships from caring supporters like you to give her a life-long home full of love and care in Animal Aid.
Oh so sad and suffering with mange, Mr Flowers(whose name occurred to us after we got to know him) was in danger of dying due to secondary infections caused by the skin disease. In villages and cities that don’t have animal rescue services, dogs like Mr Flowers don’t stand a chance. But we got to Mr. Flowers in time, and his sore mangey body responded beautifully to treatment.
Within three weeks, shiny black skin replaced the crusty yellow scabs, and a fresh new coat of fur is well on the way.
Update from May 25, 4:37 p.m.: On Pentecost Sunday, officials discovered around 150 dead cattle on a farm in Middle Franconia (Bavaria) after an anonymous tip.
Federal Minister of Agriculture Julia Klöckner reacted in horror to the death of the animals. “I’m stunned that something like this can happen,” she said.
About 150 cattle died in agony in the stable of a fattening farm in the Frankish part of Bavaria.
The police suspect the farmer of neglecting the animals. “We assume that the animals were not looked after for a longer period of time,” said Michael Petzold from the Central Franconia Police Headquarters on Tuesday. “The fact is that the animals were extremely neglected.”
“This is definitely not a technical defect or an accident, but neglect,” said a police spokesman. The farmer did not feed the animals.
The police are investigating the farmer,the motivation is still under investigation.
In view of this new case, the Social Democratic Party (the parliamentary group in the Bavarian state parliament) calls for better and more targeted controls to prevent such abuses in animal husbandry.
“This proves that the state government is still not controlling well enough, although a scandal of this magnitude now occurs every year,” said the agricultural policy spokeswoman Ruth Müller.
“We now need comprehensive clarification” (!!!)
Bavaria’s consumer protection minister Thorsten Glauber said that animal welfare violations are unacceptable and must have consequences. “It now needs comprehensive clarification by the investigative authorities.” According to a spokesman, the ministry has requested a report from the local authorities, which are responsible for the controls, but also the sanctions.
In this case, the district office and the veterinary office are responsible.
The affected company was checked for the last time in 2017 and 2018. That said the spokeswoman for the district office, Josephine Georgi.
No animal welfare violations were found, the stable was in good condition and there was enough feed. There are no legal requirements as to the intervals at which livestock farms have to be checked, explained the spokeswoman. These are carried out on an occasion and risk-related basis. The veterinary office could not provide a fixed cycle – for example annually.
Just last year, video recordings of abused cows shocked many people in Bavaria.
The recordings triggered the so-called Allgäu animal protection scandal. You could see how cows are kicked and beaten or dragged through a stable with a tractor.
Update from May 26th, 1:46 p.m.: After around 150 dead cattle were found on a farm in Central Franconia on the weekend of Pentecost (see first report), the remaining 50 animals have now also died.
Police spokesman Michael Petzold said: “Some of them were in such bad shape that they were put to sleep. They had to be delivered quickly from their suffering ”. The remaining cattle were emergency slaughtered, the spokesman said.
And I mean…“The police suspect the farmer of neglecting the animals.”
What else is supposed to have caused the starvation but neglect by the responsible animal molester?
There has never been enough time and staff to check the animal exploiters, especially not in times of Corona madness.
Animal farms in Germany were only inspected by the authorities every 17 years on average.
In Bavaria in particular, farmers practically do not have to expect official controls during their lifetime, as the control intervals are so short.
One scandal follows another because farms shamelessly exploit the government’s negligence and treat animals like objects.
The pictures from summer 2019 are still remembered.
Allgäu-SOKO animal welfare investigations-2019
At that time, an animal protection scandal from the Allgäu shook the nationwide public.
Recordings made secretly by animal rights activists (SOKO) showed sick and injured cows on a farm in Unter Allgäu, ankle-deep in their own droppings, as well as animals being pulled across the stable floor with a crane.
The blood of the many exploited, tortured and neglected animals is also sticking to the hands of the authorities / veterinary office!
Not only the farmer has failed, but the responsible vets have failed, the failure continues, it never stops !!!
Why do animal abusers have so many rights? Why do animal abusers have such great power?
WAV Comment – Lesley is an old friend, and we ave worked together on a few live export issues in the past.
Please watch the video and see the fantastic work they are doing at Eyes on Animals.
Regards Mark
Dear friends,
We just finished making a short video about some of the work that we do and why we do it. It shows the changes we have made and continue to work on so that animals suffer less and are better respected.
We are hoping to raise more awareness and draw new donors to join Eyes on Animals so that we can intensify our efforts on the ground.
This film will touch you and we want to thank you for being a part of Eyes on Animals. Without us all playing our part, we could not do such a work.
Please share this video with your loved ones and show them the organization you are supporting! With warm regards,
Hunland, Europes’ largest animal transport and trading company, stops transport of unweaned calves
MAY 27, 2021
Hunland Group has publically announced it will go beyond the ambiguous EU rules and completely stop transporting unweaned calves under the age of 3 months. The reason for their decision is that calves cannot be given the proper care and feeding they need while cooped up on a truck. Calves of this age are dependent on milk for nutrition, and cannot yet ruminate and eat roughage. It is impossible to place milk in the trucks’ watering system, or to offer it at the right temperature for safe digestion or to verify that each calf gets enough. To read about Hunlands’ decision, see HERE.
Good news! Europe has withdrawn the planned censorship of plant-based milk alternatives. A huge success for animal suffering-free nutrition!
After a final decision on Amendment 171 was a long time coming, there is finally some great news:
The EU Parliament has listened to the voices of almost half a million people and rejected the controversial Amendment 171.
With this application, agricultural associations called for the marketing of plant-based dairy products to be restricted to such an extent that it would have been almost impossible to advertise them as an alternative to dairy products.
What was touted as consumer protection by the agricultural associations of the dairy industry was clearly only one thing for many of us and consumer advocates: sheer harassment of the agricultural lobby to put obstacles in the way of increasing sales of plant-based dairy products.
We say, raise your cups and toast this decision with you with a glass of oat milk – which unfortunately has to be officially still called oat drink.
And I mean…The agricultural lobby with this absurd attempt to slow down the growing market for vegan products has failed for the first time.
Otherwise, the milk and meat mafia is used to the fact that their allies in the EU Parliament and especially in the EU Commission decide according to their requirements.
This seemingly unimportant debate about something like product names has existed for one simple reason: business interests.
The agricultural industry is seeing its influence waning because fewer and fewer people want to eat processed animal corpses or products made from animal products.
That is why the industry has always tried to deceive consumers and put happy animals or names such as “farm” and “nature” on the packaging of animal products – so that it is distracted from suffering and death.
We take one step at a time, but many steps slowly but surely bring us and those we fight for on the path to success.
‘The climate has won today’ – Shell ordered to cut CO2 emissions by 45% in landmark climate case
Multinational oil and gas company Royal Dutch Shell has been ordered to reduce its CO2 emissions by 45% in a landmark legal case.
Today, a panel of judges in a lower court in The Hague ruled that the company’s policies on the matter were too vague.
It said the reduction must happen by 2030.
The lawsuit was filed by the environmental organisation Milieudefensie voor Veranderaars (Friends of the Earth Netherlands), alongside other major charities and thousands of co-plaintiffs.
The case is unique in that no compensation is being demanded from the company. Instead, for the first time in history, Shell is being asked to issue a policy change.
“This is great news for all of us, ourselves and our children,” a spokesperson for Milieudefensie told Euronews Green.
“Shell will adjust its policy so that it will also emit less CO2 in real-time. It is not up to the judge to say how Shell should do this, but the company will not be able to continue pumping as much oil and gas as they do now.
“Even if Shell decides to appeal, the ruling will lead to more cases worldwide and politicians and oil and gas companies will feel the pressure to change their course.”
There were tears of joy outside the court from the Milieudefensie team.
“This statement is going to change the world,” said Roger Cox, Milieudefensie’s lawyer.
“People around the world are ready to sue oil companies in their own country, following our example.
“And not only that. Oil companies will become much more reluctant to invest in fossil fuels, polluting fuels. The climate has won today. “
However, for the Dutch-British company, the ruling is only legally binding in the Netherlands
Lawsuit against Shell
Today’s verdict comes after Milieudefensie began putting the case together 2018 – together with six other organisations, including Greenpeace, and more than 17,000 co-plaintiffs. The first hearings started in The Hague in December 2020.
“Shell is the biggest polluter in the Netherlands. The company emits nine times as much CO2 as the entire Netherlands combined. Shell has known since the sixties that the use of oil and gas are harmful to the climate,” reads a statement from the organisation.
According to Milieudefensie, only four per cent of all Shell’s investments go to sustainable energy. According to the environmental organisation’s experts, Shell has a responsibility not to harm both society and the climate
Since Shell itself does not accept this responsibility, Milieudefensie, together with its co-plaintiffs, decided to go to court.
“We see that Shell is not changing on its own and continues to cause dangerous climate change,” Nine de Pater, Campaign Director for Climate Case Shell, tells Euronews Green.
“After trying many different ways to convince Shell to take a greener course, the only option left for us was to get them forced by a judge. Shell must now comply.
“The problem of the climate crisis is too big to wait for the big polluters to do something. Shell is responsible for causing dangerous climate change, and as long as Shell is doing that, we will continue our fight against it.
“The science is very clear on this: CO2 emissions must be reduced and there is no more room for new oil and gas projects,” de Pater adds.
Andy Palmen, interim director of Greenpeace Netherlands, described today’s decision as “a historic victory,” after the verdict was announced.
“Shell cannot continue to violate human rights and put profit over people and the planet,” he said.
“This verdict is a clear signal to the fossil fuel industry. Coal, oil and gas need to stay in the ground. People around the world are demanding climate justice.
“Today the court confirmed that the fossil fuel industry cannot continue their climate pollution. We can hold multinational corporations worldwide accountable for the climate crisis.’”
The situation on Saturday became very precarious for a Russian circus trainer. He was locked in a cage with two lionesses when one of the two attacked him.
The family performance of a Russian circus turned into an absolute horror experience for the visitors. Two lionesses were in a large cage with the tamer Maxim Orlov at the performance.
When he was inattentive for a brief moment, one of the lion ladies, Vega attacked, lunged at Orlov and seared her teeth deep into his leg.
For a moment he was able to push the lioness back, but shortly afterwards she attacked him a second time and injured his arm.
Mass panic broke out in the tent
The attack caused mass panic among the audience, and one pregnant woman even suffered an epileptic seizure (!!!)
Screaming children and scared parents made their way out of the tent.
Only with the use of long, pointed poles could the lioness be pushed back and the trainer leave the cage. The man escaped only limping severely and with deep flesh wounds, he was taken to a nearby hospital. Nevertheless, the circus would like to continue to introduce live wild animals
Calls for a ban on live wildlife circus performances grew louder after the attack, part of a long series of similar events in Russia.
However, it does not seem as if the trainer intends to do without exotic animals in the future. Orlov commented on the incident in the hospital: “Such cases are extremely rare, but animals remain animals. We are already in negotiations with a zoo, maybe we can exchange our lioness for a little lion cub. The circus wants to negotiate with zoos”, said the animal trainer.
Animal rights activists demand a ban on animals in circuses
The attack was sharply criticized by animal rights activists. It was called for a ban on live animals in Russian circuses. Many people are also in favor of a ban.
“How many similar cases are there to come before people stop seeing wildlife suffering as entertainment for children,” one person said. Another said: “This is wild animal cruelty.”
And I mean…Both slaves were never allowed to lead a free, self-determined life.
The hour of vengeance has come – the press wants to sell it as horror scenes
So next time Vega has to expand her targets and hack as many circus fans as possible because they are the owners’ accomplices who finance their slavery
Update: As donkeys and mules continue to be abused for tourist rides on the Greek island of Santorini, PETA Germany gathered at the Greek embassy in Berlin to hand in a petition signed by over 160,000 supporters of PETA and our international affiliates calling for a ban on the cruel rides.
Please help keep the pressure on the Greek government to finally do right by animals and stop abusive donkey and mule “taxi” rides on Santorini.
Originally posted on November 13, 2019:
On the Greek island of Santorini, donkeys and mules are used as taxis to carry tourists up and down more than 500 steps to the old town of Firá several times a day.
Despite international outrage when an eyewitness report published by PETA in 2018 revealed that the animals were denied water and shade and many had painful wounds, a new PETA video exposé reveals that the suffering and abuse continue.
Open Sores and Bloody Injuries
Donkeys and mules were observed suffering from open sores, raw skin, and bloody injuries caused by their ill-fitting and makeshift saddles.
Some animals were forced to wear tight muzzles with sharp wire ends that could easily injure them as well as humans.
Denied Food, Water, and Adequate Shade
When there were no customers, most donkeys and mules were left to stand in the scorching sun. They were tethered so tightly that they couldn’t even reach the sole bucket of water available to them.
They weren’t given any food throughout the day.
Tourists Endangered
Eyewitnesses documented several instances in which tourists were almost run over, trampled, or pushed aside by panicked donkeys and mules, including one in which a man jumped up on a wall to get out of the way. In 2015, a woman was even trampled to death by a donkey.
What You Can Do
After PETA’s first exposé, the Greek Ministry for Rural Development passed new laws to protect animals.
Yet this footage shows that the laws are neither observed nor enforced.
The time has come for Greece to ban donkey and mule rides altogether, as this is the only way to guarantee the animals’ protection and end their suffering and exploitation.
When visiting Santorini, please never go for a ride on an animal. Instead, take the nearby cable car (which has been operating for decades), or explore Firá on foot.
Please join PETA in urging the Greek minister of agriculture to ban donkey and mule rides on Santorini.
Online Petition:End donkey and mule exploitation in Santorini
Since 2018, the animal welfare organisation PETA Germany and its international affiliates have been active for donkeys and mules who are exploited as living taxis and tourist attractions on the Greek island of Santorini.
I was shocked to learn that these animals are still forced to suffer despite the international outcry against their abuse. The images from 2018 clearly show that the equines were exposed to the scorching sun and did not have sufficient food, water, or shade. Every day, these donkeys and mules are used to carry sometimes extremely heavy tourists as live taxis.
The animal handlers often hit them with wooden sticks, and the tourists themselves abuse them by kicking their stomachs. Images from October 2020 are proof that the suffering and illegal acts continue on Santorini. Pictures show equines tightly chained in the sun without food or water, and animals are forced to endure this suffering day after day, deprived of everything that’s natural and important to them. This must stop! More and more tourist regions around the globe are showing their commitment to animal welfare, including Egypt, which plans to ban rides on camels and other animals around the Giza pyramids and archaeological sites. Santorini must follow this compassionate example.
Donkeys and mules in Greece have the right to receive proper care and to be free from physical harm. These rights must not be ignored by using the animals as a means of transport for tourists. The only way to guarantee them a life free from cruelty is by banning this exploitation. Please help do so!
And I mean… As picturesque as Santorini may be, there is also a downside: the donkeys that, day after day, often carry tourists for hours over steep paths and up 586 steps in extreme heat.
According to animal rights activists, more and more of the travelers are overweight, which is why many of the animals suffer injuries.
And although everyone can clearly see that these donkeys are not doing well, numerous tourists choose precisely this attraction.
While there is now a weight limit (a step in the right direction), donkey owners often ignore it. This is how the frightening images of the injured donkey emerged.
In addition: there are only a few breaks for the animals, they are literally shooed up the steps.
The saddles are improper, the tail straps are chafing, and many animals have open wounds.
And yet they are still used. Please sign this petition too.
Allgäu-
World Animals Voice 