USA: Treated Like Trash – Another Excellent ‘Mercy For Animals’ Undercover Investigation – ‘Grace’ was used, abused, and then discarded by the dairy industry. She Died After Having Her Calf Hauled Out of Her Body In Parts !

 

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SAV comment – please give your full support to the excellent investigative work undertaken by Mercy For Animals.  Also please never forget the issue of ‘Ag gag’; this is the kind of abuse that some US states are trying to use to PREVENT the footage shown here from being exposed to the general public.  Time to kill Ag gag and time to stop immediately this kind of animal abuse and suffering.  Keep up your excellent work MFA.

Is your pizza topped with horrific animal cruelty? A new Mercy For Animals undercover investigation reveals shocking animal abuse at a milk producer for Leprino Foods – the world’s largest mozzarella cheese maker and major cheese supplier to Pizza Hut, Domino’s and Papa John’s.

 

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Photo – Grace – MFA.

Dear Mark,

http://www.sliceofcruelty.com/   

 

The dairy factory farm knew her as #4391.

But to me, her name was Grace.

Yesterday, Mercy For Animals broke my undercover investigation exposing heartbreaking cruelty to mother cows and their calves at a Leprino Foods dairy supplier. Cheese from Leprino ends up at Pizza Hut, Papa John’s, and Domino’s restaurants around the world.

Today I want to tell you the story of Grace, one of the cows I met during my time working this case. After reading her story, please give today to help us stop the suffering of other dairy cows just like Grace .

Grace was used, abused, and then discarded by the dairy industry.

She was treated as a mere machine  — not an individual worthy of love or kindness.

Like all dairy cows, Grace was impregnated and had her babies taken from her immediately after birth. She endured this trauma time after time after time.

When Grace’s milk production slowed, she was impregnated again and the heartbreaking cycle would continue. The dairy industry’s plan for Grace — and all other dairy cows confined on factory farms — was to push her to physical limits until she “ran dry,” and then send her to slaughter.

But Grace’s story ended differently.

One day I witnessed a worker examining Grace. I could tell by her frantic bellowing that something was wrong. Grace’s baby had died in her womb.

My supervisor told me he knew Grace’s condition was so bad that he should call a veterinarian, but he refused to do so. Instead, he decided to proceed without a veterinarian’s assistance.

And that’s when things went horribly wrong. 

The workers began removing the dead calf even though Grace’s body wasn’t ready to deliver her baby. She screamed in pain and strained in misery as the workers forcefully pulled the dead calf from her body —  piece by piece

I watched helplessly as workers used a chain to finish removing the calf’s body from Grace, making the prolonged, botched procedure even more excruciating for her. 

After what seemed like an eternity, her dead calf was removed and thrown into a truck.

Grace should have been examined and given medical care after her gruesome ordeal, but instead she was left to suffer without any care or kindness at all. Grace was treated like trash.

 

The next day, Grace died. 

I wish I could say that this horrific scene was unusual, but it’s not. Dairy factory farms regularly cut corners to maximize profit, and it is the animals who pay the ultimate price .

And that’s why I risk my safety to be an undercover investigator with Mercy For Animals. Because animals like Grace deserve a voice. They deserve justice .

But I can’t do this work alone. Now I need your support. I need you to stand with Mercy For Animals as they pursue justice on behalf of Grace, and all the other cows I saw being beaten, kicked, punched, and dragged by tractors at this factory farm.

Please, make a special donation today so we can stop this cruelty .

Mercy For Animals is at the forefront of the fight to protect cows from suffering in the dairy industry — and on all factory farms across the country. Their work is having a real impact, leading to prosecutions of animal abusers and international animal welfare policy changes.

Just last month, Nestle, the world’s largest food company, announced sweeping animal welfare policy changes that will affect thousands of suppliers in over 90 countries. This historic announcement came on the heels of an MFA investigation , just like mine, that exposed cruelty at a Nestle supplier.

Right now, MFA needs your help to go head-to-head with Leprino Foods, and its customers Pizza Hut, Papa John’s, and Domino’s, to push for similar changes that will impact millions of animals.

 

Help me protect animals like Grace. Please make a donation to Mercy For Animals today

 

You’re the only hope for animals suffering on factory farms. Please don’t let them down.

Sincerely,

Robert

Undercover Investigator

P.S. Grace suffered horribly at the hands of the dairy industry. Please support MFA’s vital work to end cruelty to animals on factory farms by making a tax-deductible donation today . Do it for Grace

 

 

 

 

 

 

Live Exports – EU Live Farm Animal Transport Update 18/9/14.

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EU live farm animal transport update 18/9/14.

Over the last couple of days, we have been in direct verbal contact with the office of Commissioner Borg (Brussels, Belgium) regarding our letter calling for a one off 8 hour maximum journey time for all farm animals in transport.

This morning, 19/9; we have had a telephone call from Brussels; who have confirmed receipt of our documentation and that our evidence is under consideration.  Commissioner Borg’s office has verbally assured us that the issues detailed in our letter are being addressed and that we will be provided with a formal written response in the near future.

When the letter arrives with us, we will be sharing it with you on this site.  If it is necessary to then follow up with Commissioner Borg in the form of further correspondence, then it will be done.

Following are the current posts we have produced on this very important issue of animal welfare throughout the EU.  As we have said, our view on the issue is that a reduction across the EU to a one off 8 hours maximum journey time would greatly reduce, or completely stop a lot of the current long distance animal transports which are being witnessed.  We have said in the past on our posts:

Whilst some (welfare organisations) may be taking a form of action towards their own national governments; we stress that EU wide legislation which applies to all member states is made in the EU Commission, Brussels, and not by individual member states just for the benefit of individual member states.  The EU may update or produce new legislation in the form of a new or amended ‘Regulation’ – and this has to be officially adhered to by all member states to ensure that EU standards are met and maintained.  If a member state does not / is shown not enforce the official regulation, then the EU (as a whole, via the Commission) can take action against any individual member state that shows non-compliance”.

 

https://serbiananimalsvoice.com/2014/08/08/england-882014-eu-live-animal-transport-update-sav-write-to-eu-commissioner-responsible-for-live-animal-transport/

https://serbiananimalsvoice.com/2014/08/30/england-take-action-now-for-a-one-off-maximum-journey-time-for-farm-animals-throughout-the-eu-of-8-hours/

https://serbiananimalsvoice.com/2014/07/29/england-sav-now-commences-action-with-the-eu-commission-regarding-live-farm-animals-in-transport-sample-letter-to-copy-and-send/

 

We will be publishing the response to our documentation from Commissioner Borg as soon as we receive it on this site; including any further follow up response that we feel may be necessary.

MJ – SAV 18/9/14.

 

 

 

 

Australia: Victory (9/14) ! – McDonald’s agrees to dump cage eggs!

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http://www.animalsaustralia.org/features/mcdonalds-to-dump-cage-eggs.php

 

Mark — YOU DID IT! McDonald’s agrees to dump cage eggs!

When I wrote to you last week there was no end in sight for the battery hens whose ‘job’ it is to lay eggs for Australia’s biggest fast food giant.

Today, there is hope. This David and Goliath battle is over. And Mark, we won.

Under mounting public pressure and staring down the barrel of our national TV campaign, McDonald’s has announced a landmark commitment to take cage eggs off their menu!

This decision by the fast food giant to actively phase out their use of cage eggs will not only spare millions of hens from a miserable ‘life’ in a battery cage, it takes us another step closer to the day when this dreadful device ceases to exist in Australia.

But McDonald’s is just the beginning.

More fast food chains will now be under increased pressure to abandon their support of cruel factory farming industries. Which means for every hen going to sleep in a battery cage tonight — for every mother pig confined so tightly she cannot even turn around — for every chicken who has been bred to grow so quickly that he cannot even stand — hope for a kinder world is in sight.

McDonald’s big shift is the latest in a string of milestones that all point to one thing: with your help we are winning the fight against factory farming.

What you may not know is that all of these efforts have been underpinned by an extraordinary and committed group of individuals who make up the Make it Possible Fighting Fund. Their regular monthly donations sustain our investigations and public awareness initiatives. They are the reason that Animals Australia’s most ambitious campaign of all — Make it Possible — continues to reach one million people every single day with the truth about factory farming.

With your generous support we’ll no longer be imagining a world without factory farming. We’ll be living in it.

Lyn White AM
Campaign Director

Thank you for all you do for animals,

P.S. As someone who cares about giving animals a life worth living, I wanted to ensure you had a copy of our no-nonsense egg-labelling guide.

I find this is the perfect guide to print out and share with caring friends!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Serbia: 14/9/14 – Update and More Pictures of Little ‘Morgan’ – Please Donate To Help With Veterinary Costs If You Are Able, Thank You.

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Our recent post about Morgan – now we have more photos from Danica.

http://soft63.net/dist_id=109&channel=adcgb01&src=adc&pbsid=1410704163667_1410704159546_124_6158_76007733_1&v=ico&c=bc2a776626e4f77697e24cb20e08cecf&v_id=5e8ce580a7c4a215a39e4feda6906358

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We’ve just gotten another kitten, a sweet tripod ginger and white little boy which is totally blind in one eye and his other eye is not in good shape either. He might be about three months old and is skinny and weak, so the vet advised me (after a thorough examination) to feed him a high quality kitten food, give him vitamins and antibiotics and bring him back for a checkup in a week.

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As soon as he gains some weight and starts feeling better, we’ll decide about his future operations. His left rear lower leg has obviously been amputated, but we don’t know why or when. The bigger problem is that the surgery was performed badly and unskillfully, his leg was cut in the totally wrong place and his stump has basically had the skin sewn shut over the bone. What’s even worse, he leans on that leg as he walks and I fear the bone will protrude through the skin when he gets bigger and heavier and the bone itself might break longitudinally under the burden of his weight, just like one of Milance’s legs did.

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In order to save him from a sad and dreadful fate, the vet will either have to make him some kind of a prosthesis or amputate his entire leg.

Enucleation of his left eye which probably leaked out because of an untreated chlamydia infection will have to be done, and it’s possible the same surgery will be necessary for the other eye as well.

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But everything in its own time – for now, he’s eating, sleeping, cuddling and getting to know his new friends. We’ve decided to call him Morgan.

PayPal button: http://catshelter-felix.com/ and http://novisadcats.blogspot.com/

PLEASE DONATE WHATEVER YOU CAN TO HELP COVER THE VETERINARY COSTS OF MORGAN – Thank you.

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Serbia: ‘Nani’ 13/9/2014.

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Global: Farm, Veterinary and Stray Dog News Shorts – September 2014.

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BEUC campaigns for clearer labelling on meat

The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) has launched a Europe-wide campaign, called ‘Where is my meat from?’.

http://www.globalmeatnews.com/Industry-Markets/BEUC-campaigns-for-clearer-labelling-onmeat/?utm_source=newsletter_daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=04-Sep-2014&c=ZlsIu3Xzqrx1LrMZMQO37A%3D%3D

 

(UK) MPs outline recommendations on religious slaughter

MPS (UK) have made nine recommendations which they believe will help policy makers take more informed decisions on the rules surrounding around religious slaughter.

http://www.farmersguardian.com/home/latest-news/mps-outline-recommendations-on-religious-slaughter/66996.article 

 

Costs of Bedding, Trailer Wash-out and Transport Losses in Market Weight Pigs

Based on 2011 figures, the highest estimate for annual costs of wash-out and bedding to the US pig industry was estimated at $135 million, according to Rebecca Kephart and others in the Iowa State University Animal Industry Report 2014.

http://www.thepigsite.com/articles/4715/costs-of-bedding-trailer-washout-and-transport-losses-in-market-weight-pigs

 

Sustainable Street Dog Population Control in Bhutan

From the beginning, it has been HSI’s intention that our street dog program in Bhutan would eventually become self-sustaining—managed entirely by the Bhutanese themselves, guided by the best practices we’ve been sharing.

Topics: dog population management, stray dogs

http://www.hsi.org/news/news/2014/09/bhutan-sustainable-dog-population-control-090214.html 

 

European pig farming shame

Illegal pig farming in the EU is now so rife that the industry’s publications are packed with photos of farms clearly in breach of the law.

http://www.ciwf.org.uk/news/2014/08/european-pig-farming-shame/

 

Symposium Explores the Future of Farm Animal Welfare

CABI, together with the Royal Veterinary College (RVC), London, held a symposium marking the 50th anniversary of Ruth Harrison’s influential Animal Machines – a book that heralded an entire movement in farm animal welfare and the welfare of animals in intensive production.

http://www.thefishsite.com/fishnews/23709/symposium-explores-the-future-of-farm-animal-welfare

 

Effects of Transport Time and Location within the Truck on Bruises and Meat Quality of Pigs

A Canadian study indicates that the adverse effects of prolonged transport and low temperatures on meat quality can be aggravated by the location of the pig in the transport vehicle. Skin bruises were more prevalent in the winter than the summer.

http://www.thepigsite.com/articles/4705/effects-of-transport-time-and-location-within-the-truck-on-bruises-and-meat-quality-of-pigs 

 

Nestlé Announces Groundbreaking Global Animal Welfare Reforms

Nestlé—the world’s largest food company and makers of iconic brands—such as Nestlé Milkmaid and MAGGI—announced an industry-leading animal welfare program that will eliminate several controversial yet standard practices within its global supply system.

http://www.hsi.org/world/india/news/releases/2014/08/nestle-animal-welfare-program-082014.html 

 

Floor Type Affects Gait Development in Pigs

Changes in the gait patterns of growing pigs is not affected by the floor surface they are reared on.

http://www.thepigsite.com/swinenews/37222/floor-type-affects-gait-development-in-pigs 

 

Final Report of an Audit carried out in Austria from 25 to 29 November 2013 in order to evaluate the implementation of Council of Europe requirements for Animal Welfare in major farmed species

This audit describes the outcome of a Food and Veterinary Office audit which took place in Austria from 25 to 29 November 2013. The objective of the audit was to evaluate the implementation of measures aimed at the control of animal welfare on farms, in particular farms keeping species included in Decision 2006/778/EC and covered by the recommendations from the European Convention for the Protection of Animals kept for Farming Purposes (hereafter “the Convention”) with particular reference to the farming of turkey, geese and cattle.

Author/Organization: European Commission (DG SANCO)

Year: 2014

Where: Austria

http://ec.europa.eu/food/fvo/rep_details_en.cfm?rep_inspection_ref=2013-6805 

                                                                                                                        

World Vets eNews – August 2014

Contents: 1) A True Island Effort: Colombian Military Works Alongside World Vets. 2) Project Spotlight: Peru. 3) Coming Soon! 2015 Volunteer & Training Opportunities. 4) Leave a Legacy that will Contribute to Animal Welfare.

http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs101/1102516343880/archive/1118033351142.html  

 

Spain: A two-year investigation reveals horrifying treatment of rabbits allegedly supplied to top fashion designers.

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Photo: TakePart

http://www.takepart.com/article/2014/09/10/cruel-practices-spanish-rabbit-fur-farms-caught-tape?cmpid=tpdaily-eml-2014-09-11

 

A two-year investigation reveals horrifying treatment of rabbits allegedly supplied to top fashion designers.

 

September 11, 2014

 By John R. Platt

 John R. Platt covers the environment, technology, philanthropy, and more forScientific AmericanConservationLion, and other publications.

 

Rabbits with oozing wounds and horrible deformities.

Newborn animals strangled in front of their parents, and sick adults smashed against walls until they stop moving.

Cages caked with layer upon layer of excrement.

These are just a few of the horrifying images captured during a two-year investigation of rabbit fur farms in Spain, which, animal rights groups allege, supply some of the world’s top fashion designers.

Marc Jacobs, Diane von Furstenberg, Burberry, Christian Dior, Giorgio Armani, Yves Saint Laurent, and Louis Vuitton are a handful of the names suspected of buying fur from some 40 farms surveyed during the undercover investigation, the details of which were released to coincide with Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, taking place this week in New York City.

Representatives for Marc Jacobs, Diane von Furstenberg, and Giorgio Armani did not respond to requests for comment.

“These farms in Spain supply rabbit fur to companies around the world,” said Sharon Nuñez Gough, executive director of Last Chance for Animals, the Los Angeles–based group that conducted the investigation along with animal rights group Animal Equality.

Undercover investigators captured video and audio of representatives of two fur distribution companies claiming that the rabbit furs are sold to some of the world’s top fashion designers. Much of the fur, the distributors said, ends up in products sold in the United States.

The rights groups said they have attempted to contact the designers to corroborate these allegations.

“None of the companies we exposed have gotten back to us to deny their relationship with the suppliers who mentioned them,” Nuñez Gough said. The animal rights groups were not able to uncover any physical documentation to back up the distributors’ claimed client lists.

Other organizations, including People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, have conducted similar, albeit smaller, investigations and found similar conditions on rabbit farms in China and Spain.

“Every look into a fur farm is horrifying, and this is no exception,” said PETA president Ingrid E. Newkirk. “For fur farmers, rabbits are commodities—that’s why they’re stacked in cages and left to suffer from infections, respiratory viruses, heat exhaustion, and the constant stress of intense confinement.”

Newkirk added that while the videos from these types of investigations can be troubling to watch, they can persuade consumers to go fur-free and major retailers to adopt cruelty-free options.

Last Chance for Animals has put together a petition at its End Animal Cruelty site asking fashion designers to stop using fur in their products. It’s garnered about 80,000 signatures so far.

 

“We hope that the public pressure will help them reconsider the use of fur,” said Nuñez Gough. “We will also continue to investigate the fashion industry and expose the cruelty that goes on.”

Watch Sharon Nuñez Gough share findings from the Last Chance for Animals investigation of the fashion industry on TakePart Live.