Teach your children that chickens are individuals, not “nuggets.”

regards and good night, Venus

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After an intense campaign by PETA USA, ExxonMobil – one of the last major sponsors of the brutal Iditarod dog sled race – has announced that it will sponsor the race for the last time in 2021.

ExxonMobil has supported animal cruelty in the Iditarod dog race for years

ExxonMobil has sponsored Alaska’s sled dog race Iditarod since 1978 – most recently with around $ 250,000 a year.
The company helped finance the mistreatment, suffering, and death of numerous dogs; a total of over 150 animals died. With numerous demos in front of gas stations, posters, and an online petition, the oil giant was convinced not to sponsor the race in the future.

We at PETA Germany emphasized the campaign with an online petition to the European headquarters in Hamburg and a demo in front of the building and would like to thank the around 15,000 supporters of the petition.

The Iditarod has claimed hundreds of injured, exhausted, sick, and dead dogs

In March 2020, over 220 dogs were withdrawn from the Iditarod race because they were completely exhausted, sick, or injured.
That meant that the remaining dogs had to work even harder.
Over 150 dogs have died in the past few years – most of them from aspiration pneumonia caused by inhaling their own vomit.

For more…at https://worldanimalsvoice.com/2021/01/22/exxonmobil-ends-sponsorship-of-the-brutal-iditarod/

And I mean…Iditarod was founded in 1973.
The race is held in memory of a dog sledding expedition in 1925 that brought a vaccine to Nome to control a diphtheria outbreak.

There are several explanations for the name Iditarod.
One of them is that it refers to an ancient path that connected gold rush locations and port locations in northern Alaska.

Iditarod ‘stands for animal suffering and greed for profit.

The participants are only motivated by the cash prize and do almost everything to get it. The animals run about 160 kilometers a day and are only allowed to rest for almost 40 hours over a period of two weeks.

The race takes place in the dead of winter and demands everything from the dogs.
Many injure themselves, fall into ice water, collapse, or get sick.

Their paws get sore from running and often your muscles give up at some point.
Most of the mushers come from the USA, Canada, and Norway.

Now! slowly the faucet of this money pit, which exists at the expense of the animals, is turned off!
There has recently been a doping scandal involving the four-time winner and young star Dallas Seavey, which means there are also image problems.

And then, one after the other, important sponsors drop out, so the Iditarod budget and prize money had to be cut significantly.

For example, carmaker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has announced that Chrysler car dealer “Anchorage Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram Center” in Alaska has endorsed the race.

Just a week before the start of the 2020 race, Alaska Airlines ended its decade-long partnership with Iditarod.
Two days after this announcement, Baird Private Wealth Management also responded and confirmed that it would no longer support the brutal race.

Most recently, the weighty financier Wells Fargo jumped out – now it is financially tight. We may only see the last race in Iditarod this year because now there are serious fears that the days of this bloody sport are really numbered.

But we have to keep pushing: here is the new petition to the Millennium Hotels- they have to withdraw their support to Iditarod, too.

https://headlines.peta.org/iditarod-race-will-leave-you-outraged/#takeaction

My best regards to all, Venus

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HSI welcomes tough new Chilean bill to outlaw cosmetic testing on animals

Humane Society International

HSI welcomes tough new Chilean bill to outlaw cosmetic testing on animals – Humane Society International

Chile is in the running to become the second South American country to prohibit animal testing for cosmetics following introduction of a federal bill in late December which, if passed, would prohibit new animal testing of both finished cosmetics and their ingredients, and severely restrict the import or sale of beauty products developed with reliance on new animal testing carried out anywhere in the world. Bill 13.966-11 was introduced by Deputy Vlado Mirosevic in close cooperation with HSI and our Chilean partner Te Protejo, with bipartisan support of government and opposition parliamentarians, as well as from several leaders in the beauty sector and cruelty-free domestic brands.

“We commend Deputy Vlado Mirosevic for his leadership in introducing a bill that will close the door on cruel cosmetics in Chile,” said Aviva Vetter, HSI cosmetics program manager for research & toxicology. “This bill brings us one step closer to ending animal suffering in the global beauty industry.”

Through the Animal-Free Safety Assessment (AFSA) Collaboration coordinated by HSI, leading brands are able to work behind the scenes with HSI and our partners to agree bill language, which can expedite movement of bills through the political process. The next step for the Chilean bill is review by the Health Commission in the Chamber of Deputies.

Since the launch of the 2017 Chilean branch of HSI’s global campaign to end cosmetic animal testing, HSI and Te Protejo have worked in close cooperation with decision makers to bring the country in line with the global cruelty-free trend. A 2019 public opinion poll by Inside Research on behalf of HSI and Te Protejo found that 74% of Chileans agree that testing cosmetics on animals is not worth the animals’ pain and suffering, and to date more than 100,000 Chileans have signed our petition supporting a ban.

Sign the pledge to be cruelty free:

HSI Donate – Humane Society International (hsi.org)

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Judge in Oklahoma Rules ‘Tiger King’ Zoo Must Give Up Big Cats Due to Violations

Judge in Oklahoma Rules ‘Tiger King’ Zoo Must Give Up Big Cats Due to Violations (yahoo.com)

The new owners of the Tiger King zoo have been directed to surrender all the lion and tiger cubs in their possession, as well as the mothers of the animals, to the federal government.

The Associated Press reports that the orders came from Oklahoma U.S. District Judge John F. Heil III last week, in a case against Jeffrey and Lauren Lowe and the G.W. Zoo due to alleged violations of the Endangered Species Act and the Animal Welfare Act.

“The Lowes have showed [sic] a shocking disregard for both the health and welfare of their animals, as well as the law,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Jonathan D. Brightbill of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, per AP.

Before the Lowes began managing the zoo, Joseph Maldonado-Passage—or Joe Exotic—was running the exotic animal park, and was the subject of Netflix’s Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness docuseries that aired last year. Exotic is currently serving a 22-year federal prison sentence in Fort Worth, Texas for his involvement in a murder-for-hire plot and violating federal wildlife laws. He’s been pushing for a pardon from Donald Trump—and on Jan. 6, Exotic’s legal team was gearing up for a reportedly “high level” meeting “in connection with” his pardon. However, with 24 hours left in Trump’s presidency, it’s unclear if Exotic will receive a pardon.

22/1/21 – WAV Comment – Don’t think he got it !

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If he cares for the environment; then why not every day ? – Publicity stunt ?

Argentina’s President Says He’ll Ditch Meat If Paul McCartney Plays For Him

Alberto Fernández has reportedly said: ‘If Paul McCartney plays Blackbird in my office, I’ll stop eating meat’

Argentina’s President says he will ditch meat on Mondays if Beatles star Paul McCartney plays for him. 

Alberto Fernández reportedly made the comment in a recent meeting with Argentine Vegan Union.

UVA set up a meeting with the politician to discuss a petition against the construction of factory farms across Argentina. So far, it had managed to garner more than 500,000 signatures. 

‘I’ll stop eating meat’

According to Buenos Aires Times, Fernández told the union: “If Paul McCartney plays Blackbird in my office… I’ll stop eating meat.”

However, UVA president Manuel Martí said in a later interview that Fernández showed ‘concern’ about how meat consumption impacts the planet.

Moreover, Martí says he’s contacted McCartney, and that the musician will send the President a letter asking him to implement no-meat Mondays.

“I hope Paul has the power to make him understand the necessity and importance of this,” he added.

Meat-free Mondays

Musician Paul McCartney and his daughters Mary and Stella created Meat-free Mondays back in 2009.

The campaign encourages people to ‘help slow climate change, conserve precious natural resources, and improve their health by having at least one plant-based day each week’.

It has received praise from a slew of celebs such as Billie Eilish and Ringo Starr.

Argentina’s President Will Ditch Meat If Paul McCartney Plays For Him (plantbasednews.org)

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-What I understood is that the longer you work the longer I will live

regards and good night, Venus

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Songbirds as a delicacy: The consumption of songbirds is an “old tradition” in many Mediterranean countries.

For this reason alone, millions of larks, thrushes, robins, and warblers are shot and caught every year.

In Spain they are eaten as paella (with rice), in Cyprus, they are grilled and in Italy, they are served with polenta (corn porridge).

The picture shows robins – freshly caught, plucked, and served with polenta.

Selling the birds is banned anywhere in the EU, but resourceful chefs and criminal gangs have established a well-functioning system to allow the authorities to conduct their business unhindered.

On the island of Cyprus alone, government employees estimate the amount to be over 10 million euros annually!
Hundreds of poachers are caught every year during the bird protection camps run by the Committee against Bird Murder, but butcher shops and restaurants are also regularly checked.

We are quite successful in this, because in many countries hardly any restaurant owner dares to offer songbirds to the public.
Today, the majority of trade takes place on the black market and is therefore no longer too extensive, as it was a few decades ago.

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

And I mean...In no other country in the European Union is bird trapping booming as it is in Cyprus.

Bird trapping in Cyprus has grown into a controversy that encompasses crime, culture, politics, and science. The practice was made illegal more than 40 years ago — but that simply forced it underground.

Today, trappers routinely cut wide corridors through vegetation and string fine ‘mist nets’ from poles to catch the birds, which are sent to local restaurants and quietly served.

A platter of a dozen birds sells for €40–80 (US$44–87), and the trade with songbirds is responsible for an estimated annual market of €15 million.

The delicacy is so prized and lucrative that it is suspected to be linked to organized crime, and those trying to stop it have been subject to intimidation and violence.

While bird conservationists and authorities have managed to master poaching elsewhere, it is hardly controllable in the Greek-speaking part of the Mediterranean island.

High-profit margins and a low risk of getting caught make bird trapping a lucrative source of income for many poachers.

Because the “connoisseurs” are ready to shell out more than 40 euros for the meager meal! The catchers themselves receive around 4 euros per bird.
The tender bird bones become soft during the preparation and are eaten along with them.

The police are already talking about the “caviar of the 21st century” because of the profit margins and are now afraid of professional poachers.

They do not shy away from violence if they see their lucrative business endangered.

Committee employees have also felt this at the bird protection camps, where they were assaulted more than once.
Poachers are shooting at activists’ cars with shotguns, they are throwing stones at them and spraying them with swine piss.

In France, there are even whole villages that hunt activists.

Therefore: Our greatest task for the future is to educate future generations about nature and animal welfare.

My best regards to all, Venus

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Meanwhile, consumers are setting an example: the corona pandemic has led to a significant change in consumer behavior. A recent study by the US group ADM (Archer Daniels Midland) showed that 56 percent of consumers worldwide are consuming more food and beverages based on plants instead of animals.

In Germany alone, almost 40 percent more meat substitute products were sold in the first quarter of 2020 than in the previous year.

The sausage manufacturer Rügenwalder Mühle made more sales last year for the first time with vegan and vegetarian meat alternatives than with meat products.

Multinational corporations such as Nestlé, Danone, and Unilever invest large sums in animal-free trend products such as nuggets, burgers, and plant-based yogurts.

You can read more about this in the Links below: current meat atlas and in the Handelsblatt.

https://www.boell.de/de/de/fleischatlas-2021-jugend-klima-ernaehrung

https://www.handelsblatt.com/unternehmen/handel-konsumgueter/branchenausblick-corona-pandemie-sorgt-fuer-gruene-welle-bei-konsumguetern/26773488.html

And I mean...Has the “Fridays for the Future” climate movement brought additional dynamism to young consumers and contributed to changing their consumption habits?

Was it the Animal Save Movement that accompanied the animals to their terminus – the slaughterhouse – and demonstrated there peacefully?

Or Anonymous for the Voiceless with the representation of the slaughterhouse hell on the screen and the lively street discussions?

Or the brave actions of the DAE organization in slaughterhouses?

And many other organizations that have tirelessly done great things for animal rights during the pandemic?

Maybe all together, we don’t know.
Perhaps we have all taken a big step together, no matter where we have demonstrated or informed people.

As long as we stay united and active, we can make big changes for animal rights.
We are dedicated to our mission and we will not stop until we live in a world where animals have their basic rights back.

My best regards to all, Venus

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Online Public Consultation on Sustainable Use of Pesticides launched

Public Consultation link – Pesticides – sustainable use (updated EU rules) (europa.eu)

Consultation Period: 

Feedback period  18 January 2021 – 12 April 2021  (midnight Brussels time)

Topic –  Food safety

You can contribute to this consultation by filling in the online questionnaire as per the above link..

If you are unable to use the online questionnaire, please contact using the email address below.

SANTE-F3-SUDREVIEW@ec.europa.eu  

Questionnaires are available in some or all official EU languages. You can submit your responses in any official EU language.

For reasons of transparency, organisations and businesses taking part in public consultations are asked to register in the EU’s Transparency Register.

Overview:

As part of the Better Regulation Evaluation of the Sustainable Use of Pesticides Directive (SUD) and the impact assessment of its planned revision, DG SANTE launched, on 18 January 2021, an online public consultation asking stakeholders and members of the public to have their say on the sustainable use of pesticides.

This online consultation will remain open for responses until 12 April 2021

Stakeholders are being consulted on the achievements of the SUD, implementation, enforcement and application problems and their underlying causes and on possible ways forward and their impacts. The consultation aims to provide the stakeholders involved in the application of the SUD and the wider public with the opportunity to share their experiences. It allows respondents to express their views on possible ways to make the Directive work more efficiently or better achieve its objectives.

The SUD aims to achieve a sustainable use of pesticides in the EU by reducing the risks and impacts of pesticide use on human health and the environment and promoting the use of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and of alternative approaches or techniques, such as non-chemical alternatives to pesticides.

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Survey: 62 % of Finns do not approve of killing animals for their fur

21 January 2021

Animalia

According to a survey by the polling company Taloustutkimus, 62 % of Finns do not approve of killing animals for their fur.

The figure has increased by two percentage points from 2019. The figures show a growing opposition to, and disapproval of, the fur industry in Finland. 

Opposition to fur farming has emerged also in other surveys published this Autumn. According to surveys commissioned by NGOs Animalia and Oikeutta eläimille, 76 % of Finns do not accept subsidies to fur farming. 73 % want to either ban farming altogether or think that the law should require considerably more space for the animals and offer better opportunities for the animals’ species-specific behavioural needs.

There has also been a tightening of attitudes towards fur farming in the Finnish Parliament. In August, the Social Democratic Party, which is the party of the Prime Minister, adopted an anti-fur position. The National Coalition Party, currently in the opposition, now calls on the decree on the protection of fur animals to be revised to meet “standards of a civilized state”.

The year 2020 has been catastrophic for fur farming in Europe, with Poland and France deciding on fur farming bans. The Netherlands decided to put an end to mink farming due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Denmark banned mink farming temporarily for the same reason. The Sars-CoV-2 virus has been found on fur farms in many other countries as well, and pressure is increasing for a Europe-wide ban on mink farming.

In Finland, the fur industry has received more than five million euros in subsidies during 2020 and no new restrictions on fur farming are in sight. In 2021, a new animal welfare law as well as a new decree on the protection of fur animals are to be decided on. It is possible to set new restrictions on fur farming through these legislative processes. Fur farming could be prohibited in the animal welfare law, and new restrictions on fur farming could be set in the decree on the protection of fur animals.

Animalia advocates for a ban on fur farming after a phase-out period.

Read more at source

Animalia Finland

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Taxonomy Regulation: industrial livestock farming must be declared unsustainable

20 January 2021

News

In a series of social media actions, Eurogroup for Animals is asking the European Commission to amend the current version of the draft Delegated Act under the Taxonomy Regulation (Regulation EU 2020/852) as regards livestock farming. The text currently contains no language suggesting that industrial livestock production is unsustainable.

The Taxonomy Regulation was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 22 June 2020 and entered into force on 12 July 2020. It establishes the framework for the EU taxonomy by setting out four overarching conditions that an economic activity has to meet in order to qualify as environmentally sustainable. It will influence not just how financial institutions regard industrial livestock farming but how this industry is viewed in the overall sustainability and climate debates.

The draft delegated act does not in any way acknowledge that industrial livestock production harms the Regulation’s objectives on water, pollution and biodiversity. This is because the delegated act does not take into account the indirect environmental degradation caused by the production of cereals for animal feed destined to industrially reared livestock. This production is nearly always carried out intensively with monocultures relying on the massive use of agro-chemicals, leading to soil degradation, biodiversity loss, overuse and pollution of water, and air pollution.  It is currently very difficult to ensure the “sustainable procurement of animal feed” because the existing certification schemes for soy have so far largely failed to halt the expansion of soy into pristine habitats and cereals are not generally covered by certification schemes.

Eurogroup for Animals takes the view that the delegated act’s section on livestock is out of step with the European Green Deal, including the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity Strategies, and Council Conclusions on these, of July 2020. 

Eurogroup for Animals is asking the Commission to amend the draft delegated act to make it clear that industrial livestock productioncauses significant harm to several of the Regulation’s environmental objectives and socannot be regarded as a sustainable activity. Additionally, the delegated act’s livestock section should include the transition to a circular economy.

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“The problem is that humans have sacrificed animals to such an extent that they are not even considered victims.
They are not taken into account at all.
They are nothing. They don’t count; they don’t matter;
They are goods like televisions and cell phones.
We actually turned animals into inanimate objects – sandwiches and shoes” – Gary Yourofsky

regards and good night, Venus

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The beneficiaries are six bullfighting associations, which will organize children’s activities such as bullfighting workshops, bullfighting painting contests, and literary contests, even magazine publications, colloquium talks, and even bullfights with death.

Six bullfighting associations are going to receive 44,000 euros from the government of the Region of Murcia to develop dissemination activities and support for bullfighting during 2021.

The activities they will carry out range from a contest for bullfighters without picadors to bullfighting workshops for children, children’s bullfighting painting contests, magazine publications, colloquium talks, or literary contests.

The beneficiaries are the Torre-Pacheco Bullfighting Club Association, the Peña Taurina Yeclana, the Lorca Bullfighting Club, the Cehegín Bullfighting Club, the Murcia Bullfighting Club, and the Calasparra Bullfighting Club.

The objective of this measure is to increase the dissemination of bullfighting, promote it and bring it closer to society through different actions of both a recreational and cultural nature.

Francisco Abril

The Director-General of Local Administration, Francisco Abril, stressed that “currently there are certain sectors opposed to the visibility and dissemination of bullfighting as what it has always been: a fundamental expression of the traditional culture of the Spanish people.

That is why it was essential to start these grants, to promote the sector and increase knowledge about the festival, especially among young people ”.

From AnimaNaturalis we believe that it is a scandal that in the midst of a pandemic and economic crisis due to Covid19, a government decides to allocate public money to the promotion of an activity that the majority of Spaniards reject, and also neighbors of Murcia.

https://www.animanaturalis.org/n/el-gobierno-de-la-region-de-murcia-destinara-44-000-euros-al-rescate-de-la-tauromaquia

And I mean…Public money again for the indoctrination of Spanish children into the torture of defenseless animals…

Bullfighting and bull festivals violate any ethics of modern civilized countries and societies and value a “culture” of primitive people
Education and the future of Spanish children are not worth a cent in and for Spain.
One notices that every single day.

As the Pisa study shows, in terms of education, Spain is at the bottom of the list in Europe, which is also noticeable in the fact that traditions from the Middle Ages are followed with enthusiasm.

One must be very primitive to be able to believe that in modern Europe one can get away with this kind of cruelty to animals in the long term.

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Like dogs: The company initially wants employee collars for corona distance protection in France!

The Beatles’ line of the song “And I’ve been working like a dog” takes on a whole new meaning: A Swedish company wants to equip its French employees with a band that triggers an alarm if they are too close to another employee.

For the time being, however, only the Confédération française démocratique du travail (CFDT) trade union, which wants to take action against the planned measure, is alarmed.

Essity is a publicly-traded manufacturer of tissue paper. The group’s headquarters are in Stockholm.

In Germany, Essity Germany has plants in Mannheim, Mainz-Kostheim, Neuss, Witzenhausen, and Ismaning, which is also the company’s German headquarters.

The AFP news agency reported on January 13th about the company’s plans for its approximately 2,500 French employees.
The CFDT union, however, is outraged.

The collar is comparable to the straps that “are supposed to keep dogs from barking,” the union said in a statement.

Specifically, the company’s management had suggested using tapes that would trigger an alarm if they were too close to another employee.

This band can be worn either around the neck or around the waist, as the French daily “Le Monde” reported.

According to the CFDT, the collars would emit a sound of 85 decibels as soon as the social distance is no longer maintained.

“It’s about disciplining the employees and calling them to order,” denounced CFDT union delegate Christine Duguet, who also emphasized that there was no contamination between the employees at Essity.

The union also speaks of an “attack on individual freedoms” that employees would not accept.
“[These tapes] will end up in the trash cans or in the lockers, that’s nonsense,” warned Duguet.

The management defended the project. One wants to “strengthen the security of the employees”(!!!)

“This device does not contain a geolocation system and is not associated with any personal information,” said Essity.
It is also inactive in the sanitary facilities, in the company restaurant, or in the hospital ward. It could help to react faster.

The plan is to introduce the utensil at several of the Group’s European locations.
A social and economic committee (CSE) will meet next week, where the management has to specify their project, explained CFDT.

https://de.rt.com/europa/112008-wie-hunde-konzern-in-frankreich-will-corona-halsbaender-fuer-mitarbeiter/

And I mean…Hopefully, our Minister of Health Spahn won’t read RT-online, that’s my only comment on it.
But I would like to add another comment, which I find very good, on this subject:

“I am not surprised. The overwhelming majority of the people keep their mouths shut and keep a mask in front of the mask. Two are better than one.
It can be locked up at will.
Nobody takes the few resistance people seriously anyway.
And the men and women continue to test the expansion of their measures.
As Jean-Claude Junker once said a few years ago publicly in the press: “We are putting the people to the test with our measures. We see how far we can go to make appropriate adjustments next time.”

Oops. Who cares, freedom, peace, joy, etc.
These are all myths from the distant past, if at all.

Humans have always been predestined for slavery. To this day, history is teeming with slavery. Freedom is something for wimps, they just talk and just can’t adapt.
Peace, order, and conformity with the state, these are the primary duties of the citizen.

Dears, it’s very simple. 😉”

My best regards to all, Venus

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“we strive to regain our normal life
so that we can continue to destroy the lives of others”

….and worst of all, we firmly believe we have a right to it

regards and good night, Venus

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As a leisure activity, hunters across Germany kill up to half a million foxes in the cruelest way every year – many of the animals are “only” shot or downright crushed and mutilated in traps.

For more…at https://worldanimalsvoice.com/2021/01/19/fox-hunting-organized-animal-cruelty/

And I mean…Every year in January and February foxes are hunted even more intensely and ruthlessly in Germany than they already are.

The so-called “fox weeks” are held right in the middle of the mating season – now even a whole fox month, preferably during the full moon weeks in January and February.

During a defined period of time, as many hunters as possible take part, often across territories, to shot on the fox. As a result, the “loden jackets” enjoy (!) a few dozen dead foxes.

In almost every place cross-territory fox hunts are organized, to which territorial hunters and young hunters are invited in order to kill as many foxes as possible. After the hunt, the animals are lined up in a line and the killings are celebrated by the hunters.

According to Section 17 of the Animal Welfare Act, it is forbidden to kill or harm an animal without good cause.
Nothing else happens when hunting foxes.
Animal protection has been anchored in the Basic Law since 2002 and is to be regarded as a binding asset with constitutional status.

The state protection goal of “animal protection” has the status of a fundamental right – but not hunting.

Thus the hunting law is subordinate to animal welfare.

Unfortunately, the hunter’s lobby is well networked in government circles and politics. In Luxembourg, on the other hand, the government was not impressed by the lies and slogans of the hunters and in April 2015 enforced a fox hunting ban that continues to this day.

The result: “No major problems”. The Luxembourg hunting association “Fédération Saint-Hubert” nevertheless tried to take legal action against the hunting ban – without success.

In 2016, the administrative court upheld the ban on fox hunting and the hunters’ flimsy arguments were clearly dismissed by the judge.

Hunting in Germany is an unlawful area.
According to their own statements, 380,000 hunters kill around 5 million wild animals in Germany every year.

The truth probably looks even worse: Wildtierschutz Deutschland e.V. estimates that a total of over 9 million animals are killed by hunting in Germany every year.

The hunters carry out these executions with legal government assistance.
“Hunters and the state go hand-to-hand in the forest”, where the murderers, heavily armed to the teeth, kill defenseless animals

A civilized country is not understood as such if it brutally massacres 500,000 foxes annually and proudly presents itself in the media as a potent -execution- gang.

A civilized country is understood as such when it feels and practices respect, compassion, and protection for every species of animal.

And it is therefore a shame for our society, by silence and passivity to give a minority of 0.45% the right to decide about life and death to defenseless animals.

My best regards to all, Venus

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Australian seafood consumers urged to stop buying flake to protect sharks | Australia news | The Guardian

Australian seafood consumers urged to stop buying flake to protect sharks

A new campaign highlights there is no legal obligation to label flake – a common term for shark meat – by species or where it’s from

Australian consumers will be encouraged not to purchase flake when they shop for seafood and to instead try sustainable alternatives in a new campaign that aims to put a spotlight on laws that permit the harvest of endangered sharks.

The Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) is asking consumers to “give flake a break” because there is no legal obligation in Australia for retailers to label flake – a common term used for shark meat – by its species or where it’s from.

Guardian Australia reported last year that a loophole in Australia’s national environmental laws allows for the continued commercial harvest of endangered sharks such as the school shark or hammerhead, meaning their meat can be routinely sold in shops, restaurants or exported overseas.

Leonardo Guida, a shark scientist with the AMCS, said the organisation was launching its campaign to try to make consumers more aware of the need for shark conservation.

He said sustainable alternatives to flake included King George whiting, farmed barramundi, mullet, wild caught Australian salmon and luderick.

Research by the AMCS found there was an average $2 difference between these options and the cost of flake. In some cases the sustainable alternatives were cheaper.

“Australia legally permits the harvest of endangered sharks, which can end up on people’s plates and they wouldn’t even know it because it’s often called flake,” Guida said.

“There’s no legal requirement to call a shark for what it is.”

Guida said the system was broken “somewhere between the boat and the plate” because fishers routinely recorded what species they caught but by the time the meat ended up with a consumer that information could be lost or difficult to obtain.

Guida surveyed 10 fish and chips shops in each state and territory and found less than a third of the shark meat on sale referred to a specific species.

He said promisingly, however, at least 40% of retailers offered a sustainable alternative.

Consumers can use GoodFish, a website and app developed by AMCS, to research sustainable seafood options, or ask their fishmonger or retailer.

The loophole in Australia’s environment laws applies to certain marine species that are given a special status known as “conservation dependent” that allows for their continued commercial harvest.

Under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, marine species that are listed as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered are classified as “no take” species, meaning they cannot be sold or exported.

But the eight marine species listed as conservation dependent – including the blue warehou, eastern gemfish, the scalloped hammerhead and the school shark – do not receive this protection.

Marine conservationists have long argued for the removal of this category from Australia’s national environment laws where it applies to threatened species but its existence continues to fly beneath the radar of most seafood consumers.

During last year’s review of the EPBC Act, led by the former competition watchdog head Graeme Samuel, the AMCS called for the species listed as conservation dependent to be given the threatened status they were eligible for.

The Humane Society International is the main organisation in Australia that nominates species for a listing under national environmental laws. It put forward several of the marine animals that were ultimately listed as conservation dependent.

One of those was the scalloped hammerhead, which qualified for an endangered listing but was given a conservation dependent status in 2018 after a six-year effort by the HSI to have it listed for protection.

“What we ask is that species be put in their rightful category because species that are endangered or critically endangered should be listed as that and protected from commercial utilisation,” said Nicola Beynon, the HSI’s Australian head of campaigns.

Samuel’s interim report, handed down last July, found Australia’s environment was in unsustainable decline. The report made several recommendations, but none in relation to the conservation dependent category.

He delivered his final report to the Morrison government at the end of October last year but it has not yet been released. The government is required to release the report sometime in February.

A spokesperson for the environment minister, Sussan Ley, would not say when the government planned to release the report but it would be within the statutory timeframe.

The spokesman said sharks were listed as conservation dependent based on advice from the threatened species scientific committee.

“Species listed as conservation dependent are subject to a scientifically determined and annually reviewed rebuilding strategy,” the spokesperson said.

In a submission to the Samuel review last year, the scientific committee said the conservation dependent category needed urgent reform and this was partly because it masked the actual conservation status of species.

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Austrian public broadcaster sheds light on live transport at prime time

18 January 2021

Four Paws

Cattle crammed into trucks, brutally loaded onto ships, slaughtered while fully conscious – disturbing images of animals being transported to the Middle East, including those of Austrian cattle in Lebanon, as well as interviews with Eurogroup for Animals’ members Four Paws and Animals International are featured in a new documentary which was broadcasted at prime time on Austrian television.

The documentary feature called “Animal transports – cheap meat at any price?” took a critical look at this much-discussed topic last Wednesday, 13 January 2021. The documentary looks at the crucial questions of how and why these animals from Austria are transported thousands of kilometres, also addressing the crux of why domestic calves are exported at all, while most of the veal for Austrian gastronomy is imported. In the past, these questions have triggered not only a public but also a political debate in Austria.

Every year about 45,000 calves are exported from Austria to countries such as Italy or Spain, while about 100,000 animals are imported to Austria to end up on the plates of local restaurants.

In Vienna, 60 per cent of the Wiener Schnitzel consists of imported veal. Most of it comes from the Netherlands and is produced under conditions that would not be permitted in Austria. This, however, is not comprehensible to the consumer as most menus are not transparent. A schnitzel from Austrian veal would cost 50 cents more, and 20 cents more for pork.

Read more at source

Der Standard

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“We are living in difficult times, suffering confinements, unable to enjoy our families. Many people feel overwhelmed, despair, anxiety, stress …

All this, has made you think about how the animals used in the fur industry feel?

All these animals feel the same as you, and they suffer from birth to death.

They live locked up in these cages exposed to inclement weather, hunger, thirst, and loneliness, all their lives, all the time.

Don’t get dressed with their lives”!

Text: Animal Equality

And I would say… that we haven’t learned anything from the Corona catastrophe.
Because we don’t have the same level of suffering as the other animals.
Despite restrictions, we still live on the sunny side of capitalism and decide – as before -about the cruel life and death of millions of other animals.

We are habitual criminals.

Regards and good night, Venus

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There are a million pigs in German stables that are to be slaughtered!!!

The overhang of pigs that have not been slaughtered in Germany is becoming more and more threatening.
The pig farmers’ stables are bursting at the seams.

There is a lack of slaughter capacities.

Due to the failure of large German slaughterhouses due to the Corona crisis, due to the lack of workers, and due to stricter hygiene rules, the entire system is about to collapse !!

The sows throw new piglets every day, while the farmers don’t get rid of their pigs when they are ready for slaughter.

Another problem: the animals are getting heavier. The optimal slaughter weight is around 92 to 105 kilograms per animal.
If the pigs are heavier, the price goes down. And the additional feed costs extra.

The Agriculture Minister of Lower Saxony, Otte-Kinast, pointed out the psychological strain on the farmers (!!!) affected by the pig jam:

“The desperation is huge,” she says.

In one week alone, 165,000 fewer pigs are slaughtered than in the previous year. These animals must continue to be fed and they also do not make room for piglets that are also accumulating.

Pig “congestion2 is still the main problem for the pig market in Germany, with around 680,000 pigs recently – and this also has a very negative effect on the particularly closely linked markets in the Netherlands and Belgium.

“We can’t get the compartments cleared fast enough. That’s why we’re currently on a collision course with animal welfare,” says a farmer.
This is a consequence of the corona pandemic (???)

The slaughterhouses have cut their production significantly for months.

At Tönnies, for example, the number of battles fell to around 70 percent of the pre-pandemic era.
Since then one speaks of a “pig congestion”.

https://www.ndr.de/wellenord/sendungen/zur_sache/Zur-Sache-Schweinestau-bringt-Bauern-in-Not,zursache2308.html

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Cool Van, Man:

England: Cool Van, Man ! – World Animals Voice

Major Job Now Completed:

England: Major Job Now Completed ! – World Animals Voice

Mount Everest – The Sacred Mountain Which Is Now Human Dumping Ground:

England: Mount Everest; The Sacred Mountain Of Dreams and Mystery; Now A Dumping Ground of Excrement, Plastic and Garbage, Made By; Guess; Mankind ! – World Animals VoiceEngland: Mount Everest; The Sacred Mountain Of Dreams and Mystery; Now A Dumping Ground of Excrement, Plastic and Garbage, Made By; Guess; Mankind ! – World Animals Voice

Trump Signs a Deal for the ‘Environmental protectors’ to work with the NRA to Kill More Wildlife:

USA: Trump’s outgoing U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (the Environments ‘Protectors’ ?) just signed an agreement to work with the National Rifle Association to recruit and train more Americans to shoot wild animals. The Final Acts of a Desperate Individual. – World Animals Voice

Mink Farms Cause Immense Animal Suffering, but are Coronavirus Reservoirs Putting Human Life at Risk:

Mink farms not only cause immense animal suffering, these coronavirus reservoirs put human lives at risk, say animal welfare groups. – World Animals Voice

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Basic rights for all feeling, thinking individuals.
Nobody may be disadvantaged or preferred because of their species.

regards and good night, Venus

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It’s the reminder no one needed: SeaWorld is beyond out of touch.

The abusement park company took to social media on January 11 to flex its speciesist muscles, posting a sonogram depicting the unborn baby of Luna, a beluga whale who has been confined at SeaWorld San Antonio for more than two decades.

The publicity stunt is seemingly a vain attempt to attract new visitors to its park in Texas (where Luna resides in a cramped tank), making it clear that SeaWorld has forgotten (or perhaps just doesn’t care) that no one wants to buy tickets to a place that dooms newborns to a lifetime of exploitation.

Such cringe-worthy abuse is not new to Luna. In order for her to conceive her first calf, workers sexually abused her by forcibly impregnating her with the sperm of Nanuq.

Despite rejecting her calf, Alta (who was one of the first belugas conceived through artificial insemination), Luna gave birth to two more babies—and now she’s been impregnated again, possibly by forced insemination.

Torn away from his family and Canadian home waters when he was just 6 years old, Nanuq was held captive and then made to participate in an intensive, experimental artificial insemination program at SeaWorld: He was shipped around Canada and the U.S. repeatedly and removed from the water roughly 42 times so that workers could collect his sperm.

He fathered 13 babies (including one with Luna), but six died at birth or shortly thereafter.

Nanuq died in 2015 while being treated by SeaWorld staff for an infection from a jaw injury that he had sustained while interacting with another animal.

SeaWorld Needs to Empty Its Tanks

Now it’s time for SeaWorld to end its use of animals, stop breeding all dolphins and whales, and relocate them to seaside sanctuaries, where they could live in large areas of the ocean while still benefiting from human care for as long as they might need.

Please urge SeaWorld to establish a firm and rapid plan to end its use of animals, stop breeding all dolphins and whales, and relocate them to seaside sanctuaries.

Petition: https://support.peta.org/page/1943/action/1

For more…at https://worldanimalsvoice.com/2021/01/17/seaworld-must-empty-its-tanks/

And I mean…At least 166 orcas have been taken into captivity from the wild since 1961 (including Pascuala and Morgan).

– 129 of these orcas are now dead.

-At least 166 orcas have died in captivity, not including 30 miscarried or still-born calves.

-SeaWorld holds 20 orcas in its three parks in the United States.
At least forty-nine orcas have died at SeaWorld.

A growing catalog of ‘accidents’, illnesses, failed pregnancies and premature deaths have helped to show up this industry for the cruel circus that it really is.

Orcas can live anywhere between 50 to 80 years, but in captivity, they are lucky if they can make it to twenty-five.

They are incredibly fast swimmers, and get up to 48 km/h in the ocean, and will eat about five-hundred pounds of food a day. Females don’t start breeding until they are close to fifteen years old, and once they start breeding they might produce a new calf every 3 to 10 years, and gestation lasts 17 months.

Nature has intended them to live free, exempt from domination, but the human species, with its self-proclaimed fascist right to exploit other animals, has predetermined a pathetic fate for many of these animals.

The right to life, freedom, integrity, and protection must be given to all species.

Only then is it a right and not a privilege of the ruler.

My best regards to all, Venus

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This tragic photo was taken by Lennart Nilsson *  in the 1940s in Spitzbergen / Norway.

Even then, it showed the brutality and horror of trophy hunting and the capture of wild animals.

The little bear’s mother was killed.
The baby bear stayed in this position all day and all night, crying sadly for his mommy.
He didn’t want to eat or drink anything.

With this sad photo, which unfortunately mercilessly and honestly reflected reality, Nilsson wanted to show us in an uncompromising way that it is not the bear that is the beast, but the trophy hunter who killed it.

* Lennart Nilsson (1922 – 2017), photographer and science filmmaker, born in Sweden, is known for his pioneering work in the imaging of embryos and microscopic images of human body tissue, bacteria and viruses.

In 1947, this photo was one of its first published and was used to illustrate an article called “White Bear Hunting”.
Nilsson commented on the content of this article at the time with the words:

“Man is the cruelest predator on the planet …”!

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

And I mean..Trophy hunting, like any other type of hunting, is an unethical and terrible result of the sadistic abyss of human actions and a product of today’s affluent society.

It is cowardly animal murder of living, loving, pain-sensitive beings. Many animals are threatened with extinction.

Nevertheless, they are killed out of sheer lust for murder.

A few affluent hunters obviously have a lot of fun doing harm to other living beings and disturbing the natural balance.
This hunt is all about the trophies as bed rugs or wall decorations over the fireplace of a hunting room.

The United Nations assumes that a high percentage of all animal species that are extinct are caused by the help of pathological hunters. It has been proven that hunters reduce biodiversity.

Grizzly bear killed by trophy hunters.

Germany also still allows the import of hunting trophies and not only that! the government also supports it with development aid.
This type of hunt, which is extremely ill in character, must be stopped globally.

My best regards to all, Venus

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It was a slaughterhouse visit on behalf of a customer that radically changed his life.
Top banker Philip Wollen (68) later describes this visit as the “most shocking experience of his life”.

That was almost 30 years ago – the Australian is now vegan and one of the most important animals and human rights activists.
That is why, on his 40th birthday, he decided to use all of his fortunes to make his contribution as an animal rights activist and philanthropist against crimes against animals, people, and the environment.

Together with his wife Trix, he founded the “Winsome Constance Kindness Trust”, which supports projects in five categories worldwide: children, animals, the environment, the terminally ill, and aspiring young people.

Among other things, the foundation supports schools, orphanages, clinics, nature reserves, castration programs for street animals, vegan mobile restaurants, and much more – meanwhile more than 500 projects in 40 countries.

Wollen is also known as a supporter of the international marine protection organization “Sea Shepard”.

For his work against animal suffering, he received the Peter Singer Prize last year.

Philip Wollen describes the commitment to animal rights as the most important task in creating social justice since the abolition of slavery.
His engagement became known with the speech “Animals should be off the menu”, which he gave in 2012.

Here is his full speech in English with German subtitles:

In it, he addresses the effects of meat consumption:

“When I travel around the world, I see poor countries sell their grain to the West while their own children starve in their arms. And the West feeds this grain to its livestock. Just so we can have a steak?

Am I the only one who can see that this is a crime? Believe me, every piece of meat we eat is a slap in the tearful face of a hungry child.

When I took this child in the eye, how can I be silent?

The earth can produce enough food to satisfy the needs of all people, but not the greed of all people. “

He wants to be a role model and encourage other people to work as activists towards a societal renunciation of meat and to stand up for a compassionate world in which all living beings are treated and protected with respect and courageously.

Regards and good night, Venus

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Incredible: An illegal puppy trade was discovered – and that in the middle of the Graz settlement area, in Austria.

Nine puppies, some of whom were sick and who had probably been injected with sedatives, were carted from Serbia to Styria, Austria.

Shameful: People even came from other federal states to buy them!!

The poor puppies are nursed up in the Noah’s Ark animal shelter in Graz (Photo: Christian Jauschowetz)

The fact that the illegal puppy trade on the street was exposed at all is thanks to an attentive passer-by, who started the rescue chain for the poor puppies with his report to the active animal welfare organization.

Charly Forstner von der Grazer Arche Noah (Bild: Christian Jauschowetz)

Chef Charly Forstner is horrified: “The puppies were hypothermic and completely apathetic, later you found injections and sedatives in the car from Serbia. It turned out that they got away from their mother much too young, some had fevers, worms, skin diseases, undesirable developments due to insufficient supply. Even pneumonia”

Almost unbelievable: People even came from other federal states to buy the cheap puppies in Graz!

“Anyone who buys or sells in this way is liable to prosecution,” says Alexandra Gruber, head of the Graz Veterinary Office, who courageously intervened.

And the expert clears up myths: “A cheap puppy can become expensive due to diseases and veterinary costs. In addition, it is irresponsible to buy an animal out of the trunk – please check beforehand where an animal comes from! “
Whoever acts like this supports suffering: “Animal factories in which boy for a boy are “produced” are shameful. Buyers support that. “

https://www.krone.at/2316626

And I mean…Such abnormalities exist as long as there are no stricter controls and no high fines for traders who should go up to 30,000 euros.
Why wasn’t the seller stopped at the border?

Because our good-for-nothing leaders in high politics have no plan for anything and are not even able to get illegal trade with animals under control.

And last but not least: because there are mindless buyers who support this business with pride and ignorance!

My best regards to all, Venus

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The world only changes for animals when we give them back their natural rights, which we, human tyrants, deny them.
The other species deserve basic rights no less than how we claim them for ourselves, and their lives have the same value as ours.

Our fascist attitude towards animals does not change in a few years, because the mechanisms that make it possible to turn us all into perpetrators go very deep.

But the least we should do for the animals is not to eat them!

regards and good night, Venus

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Terrifying: 111 million mice and rats annually for animal testing in the USA!

Rodents, fish, and birds are not considered animals there

Mice and rats, the most common animals used in the laboratory, are not covered by the United States Animal Welfare Act and therefore do not appear in the official statistics of animals used for scientific purposes.

A new analysis estimates that around 111 million mice and rats are subjected to animal testing annually in the United States.

The nationwide association Doctors Against Animal Experiments calls for better transparency of the animal experiment figures in the USA and in this country.

Most mice, rats, fish, and birds are not defined as “animals” in the American Animal Welfare Act since 1970.

Because of this, the numbers of these animals do not appear in the country’s official animal experimentation statistics, although mice and rats are the most commonly used in animal experiments.

“The United States plans to end all animal testing for regulatory purposes such as toxicity testing by 2035, which we clearly welcome.

In order to be able to estimate at all whether the country is getting closer to this goal, one must at least know how many animals are used for experiments each year, ” says Dr. Dilyana Filipova, a research assistant at Doctors Against Animal Experiments.

A recent study at the University of California San Francisco looked at this problem and found that over 111 million mice and rats suffer annually in American laboratories, in addition to the 780,070 animals from the official statistics.

This includes dogs, cats, monkeys, rabbits, pigs, and sheep. The study author asked for information about the mice and rats used in experiments at 16 of the 30 best-funded research institutions using the Freedom of Information Act.

In comparison to the approx. 39,000 “animals” defined in the Animal Welfare Act, around 5.6 million mice, and rats were used at these 16 institutes alone, which corresponds to 99.3% of all animals.

An extrapolation of this data using the animal numbers published in the annual statistics resulted in the staggering number of 111 million mice and rats.

But here, too, there is a large number of unreported animals that suffer and die invisibly in German laboratories!

For more…at https://worldanimalsvoice.com/2021/01/15/animal-testing-in-us-regulatory-use-and-routine-production/

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In Thailand, orangutans are forced to box.

On the outskirts of Bangkok, there is a popular tourist attraction that organizes boxing matches between orangutans.
The best known is certainly Safari World, a huge amusement park and zoo.

A swarm of crowds and tourists interested in this violent “sport” gather at Safari World to watch orangutans punch in a boxing match.

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They belong to the ocean-not here!

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WAV Comment – Double wow ! – is Sidney not a special little lady !

At 13 years of age, there could be so many other things that she could be putting her win into; mobile phones, clothes, shoes, etc, etc; but how amazing that she has given this wonderful sum of money to the local cast shelter at which she volunteers.

Congratulations on your win and what a fantastic win for the animals at Ferndale Cat Shelter,

We would suggest this little lady is gonna go a long way in the world of animal welfare; she has our full support.

——————————————————————————————–

Michigan Teen Wins $50,000 And Donates It To An Animal Shelter (wkfr.com)

This 13-year-old just changed 2021 for a small animal shelter in Ferndale, Michigan.

Meet Sidney Hertzberg.  She loves cats.  In fact, she volunteers at the Ferndale Cat Shelter.  She recently enter a Petco contest by writing an essay about her cat.  Her survey paid off to the tune of $50,000.  You can see the moment she finds out that she won in the video below from ABC 7 at about the :15 second mark.

Sidney told WXYZ,

I have an illness called POTS and so with some of the symptoms that come with the illness are dizziness, fatigue and muscle aches. My cat Mr. Mittens, I got him when he was 4 ounces and he was about a week old, so he was very, very small and he had to be bottle-fed. And I really thought I was going to help save his life, but I did not even know he would actually help save mine.

The 13-year-old then donated the entire $50,000 prize to the Ferndale Cat Shelter where she volunteers.  This story could end there and it would be incredible.  However, Sidney’s not finished.  Not even close.

She has also created a program called Sidney’s Seniors for Seniors.  The program not only places older cats with elderly humans but also pays for the cat’s food and medical bills.  If this what the next generation looks like.  We’re in great hands.

Read More: Michigan Teen Wins $50,000 And Donates It To An Animal Shelter | https://wkfr.com/michigan-teen-wins-50000-and-donates-it-to-an-animal-shelter/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral

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Like seahorses, sea dragons belong to the pipefish family and are also called “small shredded fish” because of their appearance.

They inhabit the seaweed and seaweed meadows off the coast of South Australia and their appearance is ideally suited to this habitat.

While catching their prey, they float through the water like a tuft of algae and approach their prey unnoticed, which they can suck in with their tube mouths in a flash.

With a size of around 46 cm, the sea dragons may not be among the largest dragons, but they are certainly among the most beautiful!

Don’t you think?

Regards and good night, Venus

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New Viva! Research: 9 in 10 Britons want intensive farming methods BANNED
 

Our new poll reveals that an astounding 85 percent of people want to introduce an immediate ban on intensive factory farming.

We also found that some 31 percent of Britons are set to slash their meat consumption or go vegan in 2021 amid Covid-19 concerns. Londoners are set to make the biggest change to their diets – with around 44 percent vowing to avoid animal products.

Additional links:

Viva! poll – 9 in 10 Britons want intensive farming methods banned amid virus fears | Markets Insider (businessinsider.com)v

European Business Cision Daily News – European Business Magazine

Viva! poll – 9 in 10 Britons want intensive farming methods banned amid virus fears (yahoo.com)

Open letter to government – please sign:

End factory farming – Go Vegan Now! | Viva! – The Vegan Charity

It’s time to go vegan

As you know, 3 in 4 of the world’s new or emerging infectious diseases such as coronavirus come from animals – mainly from factory farming and the trade in wildlife. This means that 57 zoonotic diseases were responsible for an estimated 2.6 billion cases of human illness and 4.4 million deaths in 2020.

But the good news is, experts agree a vegan diet can help people lose weight, reverse diabetes, lower their blood pressure and cholesterol, reducing their risk of severe Covid-19

We must go vegan now to prevent future pandemics!

Flat house factory video investigation:

The Flat House Factory | End Factory Farming Before It Ends Us – YouTube

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UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson blames Chinese for coronavirus pandemic telling world leaders it was triggered by ‘demented’ people who ‘grind up the scales of a pangolin’ in a bid to become more ‘potent’

• He made the remarks in a virtual speech to the One Planet Summit yesterday
• Pangolins are heavily-trafficked scaly anteater-like creatures found across Asia
• Endangered species blamed for transmitting the virus from bats to humans

Read the full article at:

Boris Johnson blames Chinese for Covid saying pandemic triggered by ‘demented’ traditional medicine | Daily Mail Online

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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/11/campaigners-condemn-killing-of-minke-whale-trapped-in-nets-in-japan

Campaigners condemn killing of minke whale trapped in nets in Japan

Animal killed with what appeared to be exploding harpoon, after one ‘half-hearted’ attempt to free it

Animal welfare campaigners have condemned the killing of a trapped minke whale off the coast of Taiji, a town in Japan best known for its annual dolphin cull.

The young whale, which had been trapped inside nets since 24 December, was killed early on Monday morning before being taken ashore wrapped in blue tarpaulin, according to the Humane Society International (HSI).

Ren Yabuki, an animal rights activist who filmed the whale throughout its 19-day ordeal, said fishermen tied a rope around its tail fin and forced its head beneath the water, where it took around 20 minutes to die. Death in such situations usually occurs because the whale clamps its blowhole shut and suffocates.

“Oh, no! The fishermen have killed the minke whale now,” Yabuki can be heard saying as he continued to film. “I’m so sorry … oh, no.”

HSI said it was “devastated” and “horrified” by the whale’s death, days after it and other animal welfare groups had called for its release.

“We feel saddened by this dreadful outcome. It is soul-destroying to think that by merely lifting the net three weeks ago, this poor animal could have been swimming free instead of being trapped in prolonged distress only to be harpooned and butchered for commercial sale in local markets,” HSI’s animal welfare programme manager, Georgie Dolphin, said in a statement.

The local fishing cooperative said last week it would attempt to free the whale, which measured about four or five metres in length, but added that the animal’s size and strong tidal currents could make that impossible.

Yabuki, the director of the Japanese NGO Life Investigation Agency, said he had witnessed fishers make only one half-hearted attempt to free the animal soon after it became trapped.

Japan abandoned its “scientific” whaling programme in the Antarctic after years of international pressure, but resumed commercial whaling in its own waters in July 2019. This year Japanese whalers will be permitted to catch up to 383 large whales, including 171 minkes, HSI said.

“While we mourn the tragic passing of this animal, we know that a similar brutal end comes to many more whales off the coast of Japan every year. They are the silent victims of Japan’s continued commercial whaling” Dolphin said. “What was rare was for it to be witnessed.”

Taiji, located in a remote part of the Pacific coast, attracted global attention after the 2009 release of the award-winning documentary The Cove, which followed fishers as they pursued dolphins in the town’s annual “drive hunts”.

Some of the animals are spared and sold to aquariums and marine parks for huge sums, while others are slaughtered for their meat.

Taiji’s fishers have defended the dolphin cull, telling the Guardian that hunting cetaceans was part of the town’s heritage and a vital source of income for the local economy.

• This article was updated on 12 January to correct the description of how the whale was killed.

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Every year, 320 million rabbits are slaughtered for meat in the European Union – and there are currently no legal provisions to protect them. This means that 99% of farmed rabbits are kept in small wire cages with little more space than an A4 sheet of paper.

Animal Equality has repeatedly documented the terrible suffering of rabbits in battery cages in Spain and Italy – where 60% of all rabbit farms in the EU are located.

In Spain alone, we have investigated 70 rabbit farms and 4 slaughterhouses and in each and every single one we have found evidence of extreme cruelty.

Animal Equality has released shocking, never-before-seen footage of rabbits suffering on farms in Europe as part of a campaign to urge Members of the European Parliament to vote in favor of measures that could put an end to the use of barren battery cages for rabbits.

Animal Equality`s investigators have seen rabbits with open wounds, painful eye infections, and even rabbits whose ears have been bitten off by their stressed companions.

Due to the crowded and unnatural conditions, up to 30% of farmed rabbits die or are killed even before arriving at the slaughterhouse – that percentage is higher than with any other farmed animal.

Rabbits are after poultry the most killed land animals worldwide
They are also brutally tortured and killed for other pets such as dogs and cats ️

320 million rabbits are raised and fattened for meat every year in the European Union.

The largest producers are Spain, Italy, and France.
The conditions in which the animals are kept are cruel – there are hardly any minimum standards for keeping them.
99% of rabbits kept in the EU live in tight metal cages, unable to meet even their most basic needs.

Animal Equality has conducted research on 70 Spanish rabbit farms for two years.
In this way, the most comprehensive pictorial documentation of the rabbit breeding industry in Europe was created to date.

Animal Equality,  also succeeded in taking pictures from Italian slaughterhouses and is launching an international campaign, in order to make public the suffering that animals endure in these breeding facilities.

“We are shocked by these images, where farmworkers kill young rabbits by blunt force trauma, and sick animals are left for days crammed inside filthy cages with no veterinary treatment. We as a modern and civilized society, should not tolerate these abuses.” ~ Matteo Cupi, Head of Investigations UK

“We are glad to hear, that a respected institution such as the National Theatre has taken a stand against needless cruelty to animals, deciding to remove rabbit meat from their menu, and to break their relationship with Spanish distributors.”

“Animal Equality has already taken legal action against 70 farms and 2 slaughterhouses, will continue to shed light on the cruelties inflicted upon animals in factory farms.” ~ Laura Gough, Spokesperson.

Help ban battery-cage farming of rabbits in Europe!

And I mean…On March 14, 2017, the European Parliament voted 410 to 205 votes for measures to improve the welfare of farmed rabbits, including drafting legislation to end the use of battery cages.

It was the result of a long-fought initiative by German EX-EU parliamentarian Stefan Eck to protect breeding rabbits.

Compassionate celebrities like Evanna Lynch, Victoria Summer, Peter Egan, and Dave Spikey also supported the campaign.

And so we thought that this legislation would annually help over 340 million rabbits who suffer from extreme ailments in battery cages.
Among other things, this report recommends removing cages so rabbits can be on the ground and develop some of their natural social behaviors.

The new ordinance came into force on August 11, 2014.

That was a step in the right direction, but the new regulation only stipulates completely inadequate improvements in husbandry – in particular, keeping in cages should remain possible.

In addition, the owners of existing housing facilities are granted transition periods of up to 10 years for new construction and conversion measures, depending on the investment requirements, which is why it can be assumed that nothing will change for the animals in the near future.

Rabbits are used for different purposes: as a supplier of meat, fur, and angora wool, as laboratory animals, and as pets.

Around 67.5% of the rabbit meat consumed in Germany comes from pure breed rabbits and is largely slaughtered privately and consumed for personal use or sold on a small scale.

In conventional rabbit fattening in large German herds with several thousand fattening places, cage management dominates, which is comparable to the keeping of laying hens in battery cages, which was practiced in Germany until recently.

The metal cages, which are often stacked on top of each other, can be seen from all sides and do not offer the rabbits any retreat or hiding place or any other structuring – only drinking and eating facilities are available.

The grid floor (made of metal, wood, or plastic) is litter-free, which often causes wounds on their legs when the animals stand and sit on the grid.

In addition, little space is given to the animals: The cages are usually 30-40 cm high and contain groups of up to 8 animals. Each individual rabbit has only approx. 800 cm² of usable space available in the finishing fattening: this corresponds to the area of ​​approx.

One DIN A4 sheet plus five EC cards.
Currently, millions of rabbits are suffering and dying in barren battery cages on farms across the EU – in conditions that would be illegal for chickens.

Although it is the second-largest farm animal in Europe, the EU regulations cannot yet guarantee species-specific legislation for the protection of rabbits.

My best regards to all, Venus

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-Yes? Can I help?

Sometimes it doesn’t work out so easily with human rights

I wish everyone good luck with the bed space and a good night,

Venus

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Virunga National Park, Africa’s most biodiverse protected area, exists to protect 1/3 of the world’s wild mountain gorillas, over one thousand species of mammal, bird, reptile, and amphibian, and provide a brighter future to more than four million people affected by conflict.

It is with immense sadness that Virunga National Park confirms the deaths of 6 Park Rangers in an attack by armed assailants on the morning of Sunday 10th January 2021. 1 other Ranger was seriously wounded in the assault.

The Ranger has been evacuated to a hospital in Goma and his injuries are no longer considered life-threatening.

At approximately 07.30am local time, the Rangers were ambushed while on foot patrol inside the Park. The attack took place near Kabuendo, which is located near the border of the Park, in the Central sector, between Nyamilima and Niamitwitwi.

Virunga Park-Ranger and his friend-gorilla

Preliminary investigations indicate that the Rangers were taken by surprise and had no opportunity to defend themselves and that those responsible for the attack are local Mai-Mai groups.

The identities of the Rangers who lost their lives are:

-BURHANI ABDOU Surumwe, aged 30 years
-KAMATE MUNDUNAENDA Alexis, aged 25 years
-MANENO KATAGHALIRWA Reagan, aged 27 years
-KIBANJA BASHEKERE Eric, aged 28 years
-PALUKU BUDOYI Innocent, aged 28 years
-NZABONIMPA NTAMAKIRIRO Prince, aged 27 years

Virunga National Park deeply regrets the tragic loss of life among its Rangers, who work tirelessly and with the dedication to protect both the Park and the neighboring communities from the tyranny of armed groups.

Their sacrifice will not be forgotten nor be in vain.

The thoughts and prayers of everyone at Virunga National Park are with the families and friends of all the victims, as well as the injured Ranger.

The Rangers of the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature are agents of the Congolese State. They do not have military status and their actions do not fall under the law of conflict.

All efforts will be undertaken to bring the perpetrators to justice and sustain the rule of law within the Park.

The park was established in 1925 as Africa’s first national park and is a UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site since 1979.

In recent years poaching and the Congo Civil War have seriously damaged its wildlife population.

For more…at https://worldanimalsvoice.com/2021/01/11/six-gorilla-rangers-murdered-in-congos-virunga-national-park/

And I mean…“Every day when the patrols set out, we know that they may come under fire.

We know we may lose someone or we may be killed ourselves. This is not an easy profession. Losing your friends and colleagues is very painful. But we chose to do this, and we know the risks,” said Innocent Mburanumwe, the deputy director of Virunga national park.

Getting a job as a ranger in the Virunga National Park is not easy.

First are the challenges of brute force: running several miles while carrying a heavy pack, and climbing 14,000-foot mountains in less than a day.
There are tests of survival skills and orienteering through one of the densest forests on the planet.

Then come the more nuanced abilities: marksmanship, spotting small camouflaged objects through binoculars, and an exam to identify and describe various animals and plants.

And finally, there’s the interview, where the selection panel tries to get to the root of the most important question: how much do you really care?

Is this just a job to you, or something more, something for which you’re willing to risk your life?

When spending time with the animals, the battle-tested, elite Virunga rangers soften, smiling reflexively beneath the surgical masks required to minimize the chances of disease transmission.

“These animals are so amazing,” one ranger says. “It was a switch in my mind – after seeing them, I knew I had to do everything possible to protect them.”

Virunga National Park has always been dangerous!
On December 27, 1985, a staff member found Dian Fossey’s half-naked body in her cabin in Virunga National Park.
The murder was never solved.

It is a shame for humanity that armed guards are needed to protect the last specimens of the mountain gorillas.

We mourn the death of the gangers very much. It is a crime of the worst kind that must be punished as severely as possible

My best regards to all, Venus

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How to push a sheep!

These sheep in video need help.

If a sheep lies on its back in the pasture…then it needs your help
It can no longer get back on its own.
If nobody helps it, it will die relatively quickly
Reason: gases collect in the stomach and the animal bursts internally
Quick help is required, as follows:

1) regardless of whether the sheep is kicking or lying motionless … go to the pasture and check the situation

2) if the sheep is alive, stand behind its back and …
reaches into his wool with courage

3) roll it back to its feet with momentum
The sheep will not harm you and you cannot do anything wrong

By the way, you save not just one life … but usually two
Many of the sheep are pregnant or suckling lambs

https://www.facebook.com/watch/tieresuchen/

And I can say: I did it too, and very often, because I live in the Black Forest and am surrounded by “farm”- animals.
It’s very easy.

The only thing to overcome is the feeling that you might hurt the sheep a bit if you pull its wool.
No problem! Sheep have a lot of space under their wool.

But even if it does … it will soon forget that as soon as it returns to its comrades.

regards and have a good night, Venus

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WAV Comment – A final attempt by the loser that the world hates – “I am going to take my stumps home and sulk” as we say in UK; stumps being cricket stumps; to attempt to ruin everyone’s game when you do not get exactly what you want; and sod everyone else.

This president (very soon not to be) is a loser and has spent millions trying to keep himself as the ‘Caligula’ that dominated ancient Rome.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caligula There are few surviving sources about the reign of Caligula, though he is described as a noble and moderate emperor during the first six months of his rule. After this, the sources focus upon his cruelty, sadism, extravagance, and sexual perversion, presenting him as an insane tyrant

Now, as he always has done in his endless deranged approach to environmental issues; NRDC inform us that he is making a last ditch attempt with environmental attacks; or taking his stumps home yet again !

Please use the ‘Take Action’ link below to add your name to putting this soon to be ex president where he belongs – far away in the deepest wild on his own; so that he can think back to why he lost the second term.  Maybe animal welfare and the environment just has a little bit to do with this ?

From NRDC:

Stop Trump’s Last-Ditch Environmental Attacks

In the final stretch of his presidency, Donald Trump and his administration are working furiously to sell off our public lands and waters, wreaking havoc on the climate and communities across the country. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Tongass National Forest, and thousands of acres of wildlands have all been put on the auction block for the highest bidder to dig, drill, and mine, which would extensively damage the environment and displace countless Indigenous communities. Demand that Trump and Interior Secretary David Bernhardt immediately halt these desperate, reckless attacks on our planet.

TAKE ACTION

Stop Trump’s Last-Ditch Attacks on the Environment | NRDC

Take Action Wording:

In the final days of his presidency, Donald Trump is still wreaking havoc on our environment and communities — opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling for the first time in history, removing protections for Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, allowing more logging and drilling in National Forests, opening hundreds of thousands of acres of land across the west for oil and gas drilling, gutting essential safeguards for millions of birds, and more.

Tell Trump and Interior Secretary Bernhardt that you oppose their final desperate attempts to allow their big polluter allies to pillage public lands and waters and wipe out imperiled wildlife with impunity — and that you support President-elect Biden’s commitments to undo Trump’s reckless actions as soon as he’s sworn in.

Please sign the petition to shut this mad mans actions up.

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ARIWA – Animal Rights Watch e.V.-Report

Disturbing images from the end of November 2020 show how hundreds of pigs, with their extremely sensitive noses, sleep, eat, drink and die in a pathetically smelly mixture of their own feces and urine.

They stand and lie inches deep in their own droppings

The explosive: The conditions have been known to the veterinary office since November and still exist because the technical problems that caused them have not yet been resolved (!!!)

The operation continues as normal without the animals concerned having at least been housed elsewhere.
It is unbelievable and yet everyday life in German “animal production”.

The veterinary office knows about the conditions and has been on-site several times. Even so, it doesn’t even order the animals to be housed elsewhere.

As almost always in pig fattening, the animals suffer from necrosis due to bitten tails, open wounds, umbilical hernias, and eye infections.
The omnipresent excrement makes the infections worse.

In one corridor of the plant, there is even no cover for the slurry basin: Apparently, nobody cares that pigs can fall into it and drown in agony.

The head injuries of many animals in the carcass house also suggest that sick pigs are regularly killed here with a bolt shot in the head – which ARIWA has already documented many times in other companies.

These pictures show once more: Even the absurdly low statutory minimum standards are not enforced in the animal industry.

The only solution to end this millionfold suffering is a consistent move away from animal products.

Ein „Leben“ im eigenen Kot

And I mean… “The only solution to end this millionfold suffering is a consistent move away from animal products”…

This is a solution that will take hundreds of years to become a reality. The world will never go totally vegan and is not willing to end this millionfold suffering in the immediate future.

But until then, the guilty must be punished.

We also don’t forgive a murderer because we wait for all people to understand that murder is not good.

And the slogan … but that’s the animal industry, it happens everywhere … it doesn’t help the animals and neither does us.

Wherever it happens, it is a crime and must be punished.

And if the veterinary office doesn’t do it, then we gather in front of the fattening facility and demand that it be closed.

Of course, factory farming is excruciating in every form of keeping.

But until this society has understood it and ceases to support this system, criminals in animal production and their state lobbyists must be shown and punished according to the law.

My best regards to all, Venus

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“I have no doubt that it is a part of the destiny of the human race, in its gradual improvement, to leave off eating animals, as surely as savage tribes have left off eating each other when they came in contact with the more civilized.” (Henry David Thoreau)

Yes, we agree!
The “devaluation of animals” is what gives us humans the right to eat them.
Every day that you eat animals is a day that you sacrifice other beings.
Second hand, by order
Animals are tortured and killed so that we can eat them.
This is immoral, pollutes the environment, and is harmful to health.
These are not opinions, they are facts
It depends on me, on you, on all of us to change that.
Morality can be learned

My best regards to all, Venus

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Before the virus that caused Covid-19 spread, Lufthansa was a healthy and well-run company.

That is why Germany has taken over the survival of the Lufthansa Group and is secured for the coming years with a 9 billion bonus package.

After all! More than the existing vaccinations

Regards and good night, Venus

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Beaten, kicked, failed: Animal cruelty in the organic slaughterhouse
Is that how you imagined everyday life in organic slaughterhouse?
Many people turn to organic meat because they think organic stands for animal welfare.

The latest undercover research by the German Animal Welfare Office (Deutsches Tierschutzbüro) uncovered the scandalous conditions at the” FÄRBER” company organic slaughterhouse at the gates of the capital Berlin!

The leaked recordings show cruel animal cruelty through mistreatment and mistreatment of defenseless animals and prove one thing above all:

Whether organic slaughterhouse, trusted butcher, or slaughterhouse giant – all animals fight for their lives, none die voluntarily and their killing is always painful.

After the video material was leaked to the organization, they immediately informed the responsible veterinary office.

The veterinary office and the public prosecutor’s office then received all of the evidence.

The company has now been closed by the responsible veterinary office.
It’s a success! the scandal organic slaughterhouse stops slaughtering!

Bio-Company and Bio Manufaktur Havelland have announced that they have discontinued their cooperation with the horror slaughterhouse.
A great success against cruelty to animals?

But that is not enough: those responsible must be held accountable and given fair punishment.

Please share this video so that everyone can see that only avoiding animal products is an effective protection against animal cruelty.

Geschlagen, getreten & fehlbetäubt – Tierqual im “Bio-Schlachthof”

And I mean: “Enjoy our meat” is the slogan of the FÄRBER company
“For quality, we get down to work every day”!!

http://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=221683049547546

To the video:
Minute 1: 8- stunning area. One can clearly see how brutally animals are treated.

Some of them are even hit with hooks. The electric pliers are used in an uncontrolled manner, which has the consequence that the animals are not completely anesthetized.

Minute 2:15 – The animals can witness the death of the other animals.
In the bleeding area (minute 2:40) the animals show violent movements because they are neither dead nor stunned and suffer hellish agony.

The failure rate is estimated to be 40% at this slaughterhouse, and according to the video recording.
That’s the worst thing you can do to an animal.

The video material clearly shows that neither a follow-up nor a veterinary examination is taking place.
Sick and injured animals are also slaughtered

A clear violation of animal welfare law.

The slaughterhouse FÄRBER is affiliated with the animal welfare initiative and enjoyed a high value as an organic slaughterhouse until the undercover investigation.
The main customer is the Bio Company, and Bio Manufactur Havelland has sent pigs to the FÄRBER slaughterhouse.

The slaughterhouse is now closed.
The video was shown on many TV channels.

But not much will change in the consciousness of meat-eaters.
Animal cruelty is suppressed with the excuse of isolated cases.
And with the reassurance that as soon as the slaughterhouse is no longer in operation, the other slaughterhouses will learn from it and slaughter “humanely”.

The most effective way to distort reality is to deny it.

My best regards to all, Venus

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The harmful effects of smoking are known worldwide, and pretty much every smoker knows about them.

Health authorities confirm that animal experiments do not provide any useful results regarding the negative effects of smoking on the human organism.

Nevertheless, they are still being carried out and in a manner that can hardly be surpassed in cruelty.

The majority of cigarette manufacturers are still commissioning contract laboratories in 2021, in which terrible scenes will then take place, to carry out experiments on living and sentient creatures.

In secrecy and well hidden from the public, the researchers torture and practice monstrous things on innocent animals at the request of the merciless tobacco companies.

Animals are forced to inhale cigarette smoke continuously for up to 6 hours a day for a period of up to a whopping 3 years.

Animals normally avoid inhaling smoke and so they are forced to do so by draconian means.

Dogs, especially beagles, for example, are connected to hoses and sometimes fixed, as are monkeys.
Rats are squeezed into narrow containers, in which the harmful smoke is pumped directly into their sensitive noses.

Officially abolished, but whoever controls a research laboratory has the hoses attached directly to the necks of dogs and monkeys.
To generate tumors, the skin of rats and mice is exposed directly to the smoke condensate.

Philip Morris, for example, had the effects of additives such as sugar, molasses, honey, plum juice, chocolate, lime oil, coffee extract, and cocoa tested on sensitive creatures.

To do this, thousands of rats were locked in tiny boxes.

Trapped there almost motionless, they were allowed to ingest the smoke for up to 6 hours a day for 90 days by pumping it into their nostrils.

Today

Countless pregnant rhesus monkeys have been horribly tortured at the Oregon National Primate Research Center.

Tubes were surgically implanted into them so that they could permanently inject nicotine into them during the last 4 months of pregnancy.

Shortly before the birth, the fetuses of the expectant mothers were cut out, these “premature babies” were killed and examined.

For more…at https://worldanimalsvoice.com/2021/01/08/animal-experiments-for-the-tobacco-industry/

More Information…The first recorded attempts to artificially induce animal tumors through the application of tobacco products occurred in 1911.

Health officials have known for decades that smoking cigarettes cause disease in nearly every organ of the human body and that animal tests are poor predictors of these effects.

Cigarette packets and another tobacco packaging must include warnings in the same size and format and using the same approved texts (in the appropriate local languages) in all member states of the European Union.

These warnings are displayed in black Helvetica bold on a white background with a thick black border.
Ireland prefaces its warnings with “Irish Government Warning”, Latvia with “Veselības ministrija brīdina” (Health Ministry Warning), and Spain with “Las Autoridades Sanitarias Advierten” (The Health Board Warns).

In member states with more than one official language, the warnings are displayed in all languages, with the sizes adjusted accordingly (for example in Belgium the messages are written in Dutch, French, and German, in Luxembourg in French and German, and in Ireland, in Irish and English).

All cigarette packets sold in the European Union must display the content of nicotine, tar, and carbon monoxide in the same manner on the side of the packet.

Tobacco products and their ingredients are not allowed to be tested on animals in Germany – and there is a good reason for that. Indeed, today tobacco product manufacturers have effective in vitro technologies (i.e., animal-free research methods) and human tissue and cell cultures at their disposal.

In addition, they can fall back on the accumulated knowledge from epidemiological and clinical studies on humans on the health risks caused by smoking.

In Canada, all tests required for tobacco products are carried out as animal-free in vitro tests.

In Belgium, Estonia, Slovakia, and the UK, none of the cruel animal experiments mentioned above would be legal, because animal experiments on tobacco products and their ingredients are prohibited in these countries.

The link between tobacco use and human lung cancer has not been recognized for many years because the results of animal experiments failed to show it.

In a recent article, a tobacco industry consultant reported that the results of years of inhalation studies with cigarette smoke in rats, mice, hamsters, dogs, and non-human primates showed no significant increase in the development of cancerous tumors.

The health authorities have known for decades that smoking cigarettes can cause health damage in almost every organ in the human body and that animal experiments do not provide any useful results with regard to the harmful effects of smoking.

Nevertheless, cigarette manufacturers and the contract laboratories they employ continue to carry out cruel and unnecessary animal testing for both new and existing tobacco products.

It’s not like the experimenters are using animals to find a cure for cancer.

Their goal is to find a new way to keep people hooked on nicotine and keep their profits high to offset the drop in cigarette sales that was felt after the smoking ban.

My best regards to all, Venus

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…some people think they can’t learn anything from fish

regards and good night, Venus

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It is fair to say that 2020 was a year full of bad news and everyone, especially in lockdown, was looking for something nice.

For this reason, many people decided to adopt a pet so that the time in their own four walls became a little more bearable.

Because many working from home, they could now take better care of the animals. Some animal shelters were even completely empty after the onslaught due to the high demand.

Unfortunately, the tide has now turned.

While some have thought about adopting an animal for a long time and taken appropriate action, others acted more spontaneously and were not aware of the consequences for the future.

This led to many “lockdown dogs” being given back.

There are more and more ads showing dogs for sale.
The owners want to collect several hundred euros for the animals, even though they only took them in a few months ago.

At that time, however, many were still unemployed or had more time, but can no longer look after the poor animals because the circumstances have changed.

“Unfortunately, due to obligations at work, we can no longer take care of him and give him the love and affection he needs,” said one owner to the Sunday Times who is now offering his 6-month-old Collie Spaniel for sale.

“I got a new job and that changed the situation completely,” says another.

Other owners have given their animals to local charities. The newspaper goes on to say that the animal welfare organization The Dogs Trust received more than 1,800 calls in the past three months because people wanted to get rid of their animals.

Chairman Adam Clowes said that it is primarily because many simply took in an animal during the quarantine without thinking too much.

“All the excitement during the lockdown -” We never have to go back to the office, come on, let’s get a dog! “- we see the consequences of that now,” says Clowes.

This thesis is supported by a survey by The Kennel Club, the umbrella organization of British dog breeders’ associations, which says that two-thirds of the people surveyed said that their dog was a “bright spot in lockdown” and a quarter admitted that they had little before informed and many of the “spontaneous buyers” were unsure what to do with the animal should the quarantine be over.

The animal welfare organization RSPCA has had to take in many abandoned dogs in recent months and fears that more will follow.

“We were concerned that many families who had time due to the lockdown would spontaneously take in a dog,” reports the RSPCA.

“And now, just a few months later, that’s exactly what happened. Many are only now realizing what kind of responsibility a dog entails, have run into financial difficulties or because they have to go back to the office, they no longer have time”

Many dogs in the shelters hope to finally be adopted, but you have to be clear about whether you can take good care of the animal.
We hope these poor lockdown pooches will find a new home soon.

Share this article to remind every animal lover of great responsibility.

Hunderte Hündchen, die während des Lockdowns spontan gekauft wurden, werden jetzt wieder abgegeben

And I mean…There is no sin more miserable than to betray the one who believed you.

The real issue of animal rights here is less that of suffering than that of betrayal.

When existence for one another does not work, and the strongest person decides the fate of the weak.
In the moment of need, of social isolation, the weak gave the traitor consolation and loyalty.

And then the victim stands all alone in an animal shelter, longing for the one who betrayed him.
The betrayal has condemned him to loneliness and sadness.

It is said that man learns only in pain.
The animals experienced it themselves.
Obviously we humans have learned nothing, understood nothing in these difficult times.

I have a simple message: be loyal to the animals, because only one animal will always be there for you

My best regards to all, Venus

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THE STARTLING LINK BETWEEN ANIMAL CRUELTY AND HUMAN ABUSE

By Jason Bales | January 6, 2021

In the early 1970s, notorious serial killer Ted Bundy began a brutal killing spree that likely resulted in the death of more than 100 innocent victims. He admitted to the murder of 36 women.

About two decades earlier, Bundy tortured defenseless dogs and cats.

Similar stories are true of Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy, “The Boston Strangler” Albert DeSalvo, and many others. But the connection between early animal abuse and later human abuse isn’t confined to serial killers.

Animal cruelty is linked to all forms of human abuse, from domestic violence to sexual assault.

Despite clear evidence suggesting the connection between animal abuse and future criminal behavior, authorities have failed to treat cases of animal cruelty with the same severity as violence against humans. They allow murderers like Bundy to hone their sadism without consequence.

Until January 2017, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) filed animal abuse under the “All Other Offenses” category in their National Incident-Based Reporting System.

But then John Thompson, the current deputy executive director of the National Sheriffs’ Association, stepped in.

Thompson, who has close to four decades of law enforcement experience, didn’t initially recognize that harming animals is a strong indicator of future violent crimes against people – what some call “The Link.”

“I spent 35 years in law enforcement and couldn’t have cared less about animal abuse,” Thompson admitted to The Atlantic. “I was stupid. No one was educated.”

When he did make the connection, Thompson pressured the FBI’s policy advisory board to create a separate category for filing animal abuse, which the agency did.

That decision may save lives.

It’s worth noting that not every person who abuses animals has committed or will commit another crime. But harming people is statistically more likely when animal cruelty is involved. And animal cruelty must be taken seriously.

ANIMAL CRUELTY AND MURDER

The link between animal torture and the world’s most sadistic serial killers has long been established.

Ted Bundy tortured his pets. Jeffrey Dahmer decapitated dogs and nailed cats to trees. John Wayne Gacy set turkeys on fire with gasoline-filled balloons. Albert DeSalvo stuffed helpless dogs and cats into boxes and shot them with arrows.  Dennis Rader, or the “BTK Killer,” hanged cats and dogs.

All of these heinous crimes occurred during the killers’ childhoods.

Recent studies also have revealed that many school shooters also abused animals prior to turning their guns on people.

Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, of the Columbine High School shooting, bragged about mutilating animals to their classmates. Kip Kinkel, before his attack on Thurston High School parents and students, blew up cows and decapitated cats. Luke Woodham , who murdered his mother and two schoolmates at Pearl High School, wrote in his journal about setting his dog Sparkle on fire.

Unfortunately, animals are easy first victims for killers.

“Animal abuse is often the first sign of serious disturbance among adolescent and adult killers,” Gail F. Melson, professor emerita of developmental studies at Purdue University, wrote in Psychology Today.

Without severe consequences for animal cruelty, killers will continue to escape the penalty and psychological intervention needed to prevent future crimes.

ANIMAL CRUELTY AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Household pets are often used as a way to control or further harm victims in cases of domestic violence. 

Domestic violence survivors have reported in studies that their abusers threatened to kill, torture, or otherwise harm their companion animals — or actually followed through on the threats — to prevent them from leaving their abusive situations.

Abusers also use animal abuse or threats against survivor’s beloved animals to isolate victims and children, to eliminate competition for attention, and to force the family to keep violence a secret, according to an article published via the Animal Legal and Historical Center.

This cruel behavior is commonplace for domestic violence victims, with more than 85% of women entering shelters discussing incidents of pet abuse in their families.

Another study, published in Violence Against Women, found that women in domestic abuse shelters were 10 times more likely to report their partner had hurt or killed their pet, compared to a group of women who had not experienced intimate violence. 

The violence toward animals harms more than just the pets; victims of domestic violence also suffer trauma and fear, which makes escaping their abusers. 

ANIMAL CRUELTY AND CHILD ABUSE

In households prone to family violence, animals are often the first victims of abuse, followed by children, according to Cynthia Hodges.

The statistics supporting a direct link between animal and child abuse are staggering:

• 88% of families surveyed that had incidents of child abuse also had incidents of animal abuse
• 63% of children entering shelters admitted to incidents of pet abuse in their families
• More than 80% of families being treated for child abuse reported animal abuse in their homes
• More than 60% of families with child abuse and neglect also had pets that endured abuse and neglect

But it gets worse: When violence becomes “normal,” some children sometimes push the boundaries of their own desensitization by becoming animal abusers themselves.

More than 30% of pet-owning victims of domestic abuse reported that their children had hurt or killed a pet, according to a survey by the Humane Society of the United States. 

Why do children who are abused, or witness abuse, sometimes become abusers themselves?

A report published by the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health posits that severe and prolonged trauma, especially when experienced at a young age, can stunt children’s emotional and social development.  Some children therefore become less empathetic toward animals and more likely to copy the abuse they see in their homes.

Randall Lockwood, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA)’s senior vice president for forensic sciences and anti-cruelty projects, also described how witnessing animal abuse can have a severe psychological impact on children.

Lockwood described how children suppress their feelings toward pets as a coping mechanism for the pain they experience when watching persistent animal abuse. This negatively impacts healthy empathetic development. In certain cases, children kill their pets themselves to gain control over the situation and end the animals’ suffering, Lockwood said.

Animal cruelty must be taken more seriously if this vicious cycle of abuse is ever going to end. 

ANIMAL CRUELTY AND SEXUAL ASSAULT

Bestiality is a taboo subject, but the practice exists and is part of the animal cruelty problem.

According to one study, of the juveniles who admitted to sexually abusing animals, 96% also abused humans. 

“The results suggest that animal sex offending may be linked to other criminal behavior,” the study concluded. 

While reliable scientific data on the prevalence of bestiality is limited, preliminary studies suggest sexual abuse toward animals is a pervasive and underreported issue with infrequent penalties. Complicating the matter is a lack of state and federal legislation prohibiting the inhumane acts.

Engaging in sex with animals is actually legal in four states — Wyoming, Hawaii, New Mexico, and West Virginia — and the District of Columbia. In more than 20 states, bestiality is only a misdemeanor crime.

There are no federal laws against sexual abuse to animals.

The leniency in existing legislation means that people who commit bestiality often go unpunished. Of 456 bestiality-related arrests made over the last 40 years in the United States, less than 40% resulted in prosecution.

The lack of prosecution also means the animal abusers are free to go on to commit crimes against people: More than 50% of animal sex offenders had prior or subsequent criminal records, including human sexual abuse. 

ANIMAL CRUELTY AND NON-VIOLENT CRIMES

Research also shows a positive correlation between animal abuse and nonviolent crimes, like theft and drug use.

One study, published in Between Animal Abuse and Human Violence, found that men who abused animals were four times more likely to have committed property crimes and three times more likely to have committed drug and disorderly conduct offenses.

Another study, on the relationship of animal abuse to violence and other forms of antisocial behavior, published in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence, sampled persons ranging in age from 11 to 76 years. Of those sampled, over 40 percent of animal abusers had committed property crimes (compared to about 10 percent of non-abusers), and over 35 percent of animal abusers had committed drug and disorderly conduct offenses (compared to slightly over 10 percent of non-abusers).

ANIMAL CRUELTY IS A HUMAN PROBLEM

Animal cruelty is a serious offense and is predictive of past and future criminal activity, from violent mass murders to minor drug offenses. In this area — as in many others, ranging from  zoonotic disease to combating climate change — helping animals is helping people. 

By taking animal cruelty more seriously, policymakers and law enforcement will save lives. Animal and human victims will be safer. Abusers can receive the psychological intervention necessary to prevent violent crimes in the future. Ultimately, the world will be a more peaceful and compassionate place. 

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Humans are for me one of many living beings on this earth who have the same right to live here as other living beings.

Anyone who abuses or tortures an animal devalues his own humanity.

I am then incidentally a misanthrope, as I don’t like child molesters, sadists, murderers, thieves, liars, and animal abusers.

regards and good night, Venus

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By now, you may have heard about palm oil: it’s a substance used in many products as a preservative, appearing in everything from foods to bath soaps.
Unfortunately, the way we farm it is rife with environmental and animal abuses.

That’s why it’s so disheartening to learn that a brand like “Earth Balance” that produces vegan products and claims to be both environmentally and animal friendly actually uses it in their products.

Palm oil is a vegetable oil made from the fruit of an African oil palm tree and it’s the leading cause of orangutan extinction. That’s because these primates’ habitat is being cleared rapidly to make room for palm oil plantations.

And when their habitat disappears, they are forced into spaces where they come into more conflict with humans and are poached.

Even worse: farmers often set fire to the orangutans’ forest homes, causing whole animal communities to go up in flames.

Just in the past few years, wildlife sanctuaries have seen huge increases in the number of horrifically burnt orangutans needing immediate life-saving care.

But not only are orangutans threatened by palm oil plantations, so is the broader environment. The palm oil tree can only grow in extremely humid conditions, but that’s where tropical forests are that act as a carbon sink for us.

Carbon sinks are important because they absorb greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, and when they’re upended, all of that stored carbon is released — making things that much worse.

So every time another forest is bulldozed to plant palm oil trees, we are inching closer to both devastating climate change and the loss of the entire orangutan species!

Destroyed forest, destroyed habitat

Palm oil is found in somewhere around 50% of western products. While it’s good for individual consumers to try not to buy products with palm oil, that’s not possible for everyone to practice, nor does everyone know how bad it is to support this industry.

For more…at https://worldanimalsvoice.com/2021/01/06/palm-oil-destroys-life/

And I mean…We here in Germany regularly contribute to the fact that every year thousands of orangutans die, lose their homes, burn, capture, and even sell as pets.

A study by the Society for international cooperation (GIZ) has shown that Germany imported around 1.3 million tons of palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia in 2015 alone!!

Wild animals like the Sumatran tiger or the Borneo pygmy elephant are becoming extinct. Maybe someone has lost their home for our chocolate delicacies.
The reason for the suffering and the clearing of the rainforest is palm oil.

Palm oil is the most commonly produced vegetable oil in the world.
Detergents, shampoos, chocolate, sweets, ready meals, and cosmetics – they all mostly contain the raw material of palm fruits.

Many foods, candles, cleaning agents, cosmetics, and even “biofuel” contain palm oil – to be more precise, in every second product in the supermarket.

So our purchase contributes to the destruction of rainforests, habitats for humans and animals, and the worsening of the greenhouse effect.

The Tripa peat forest in the Indonesian province of Aceh on Sumatra was once called the global capital of orangutans.

Only an estimated 200 of the great apes now live in the area.
According to estimates by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, IUCN, there are only about 14,600 specimens left in Sumatra.

The message has to be: Don’t choose palm oil, the demand for palm oil has to be drastically reduced, only then is it really possible to stop the clearing of tropical forests.
So we all need to be mindful. When shopping, we have to take the time to pay attention to the ingredients and the fine print.

Preferably buy organic products and products with local oils (e.g. sunflower, rapeseed oil, or olive oil).

Substances such as palmitates, glyceryl, or vegetable oil can be indications of palm oil, which destroys the habitat of orangutans and humans.

The orangutan is not the last in this chain to lose the desperate fight for survival sooner or later.
Humans themselves (and even here only the self-appointed, civilized part of humanity) will pay in the near future as the trigger and sole beneficiary of the catastrophe.

Sign on the petition if you want Earth Balance to stop using Palm Oil finally!

My best regards to all, Venus

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