Posted on November 19, 2014 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
To :
Event organiser: Allan Cody
Quote: “The immorality of rodeos extends to the arrogance of the riders and their attitude to the animals, and to the way the audience is demeaned by watching such a tawdry spectacle.”
Dear Madam, dear Sir,
I object to the rodeo being held in Shellharbour.
I am concerned about your involvement Changing community values regarding animal welfare.
Rodeos are an outdated and cruel ‘sport’ where animals including bulls and horses are provoked with spurs, electric prods and flank straps to display ‘wild’ behaviour!
There is a 1 in 4 chance that an animal will be seriously injured (including broken bones) and a 1 in 10 chance that there will be a fatality.
They are banned in the ACT, Britain and in parts of Europe and United States.
It is no longer acceptable to subject animals to considerable fear and stress in a rodeo environment for the purpose of ‘entertainment’
I respectfully urge you to end this rodeo.
Sincerely,
Filed under: CAMPAIGNS - Global Animal Welfare Issues, GENERAL NEWS - International / National / Regional, LETTERS, PHOTOGRAPHS - **WARNING** (Animal Suffering) | Leave a comment »
Posted on November 19, 2014 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
SAV Comment
Criminals given police protection !!
Hunters have exported animals from the English port of Ramsgate for the last couple of years on the ‘Joline’ which is operated by Dutch exporter / haulier Mr. Onderwater.
ALL photographs are by V. Cameron and were taken at Ramsgate harbour, Kent, England.
Newspaper article link:
Fraudster shipped diseased cattle to Morocco
Tuesday, November 04, 2014
By Liam Heylin
Greed was behind a fraud by one of Ireland’s biggest cattle exporters which saw diseased cattle delivered to Morocco.
Paperwork indicating that the animals were healthy had caused potential reputational damage to the industry, a sentencing judge said yesterday.
Judge David Riordan warned he would impose a four-year jail sentence on David Hunter, aged 61, of Castlekeun, Mallow, Co Cork if a €50,000 fine was not paid by December 1, 2015, and a further €50,000 by December 1, 2016.
The judge said the potential reputational damage to the industry was “very serious”.
Defence barrister Donal O’Sullivan said he did not know if Hunter would be able to pay the fines which could put him out of business.
A co-accused Joan Stafford, aged 47, of 18 Nano Nagle Place, Killavullen, Co Cork, worked for 20 years for the Hunter family and it was claimed she was “brow-beaten” into taking part.
She was given a two-and-a-half-year suspended sentence and a 240-hour community service order on two charges.
Sgt Shane Davern said the Moroccan authorities discovered diseased animals exported by Hunter that had been certified as healthy according to the documentation in August 2011.
The sergeant said Hunter did co-operate with the subsequent investigation but he said there had been a dogged investigation by Department of Agriculture veterinary inspector Mary Cullinane.
The sergeant said that when Ireland’s total live exports stood at 400,000 cattle per year, Hunter was exporting 10% of that amount — 40,000 animals.
Sgt Davern said after 15 years without an Irish live cattle export to Morocco, serious efforts had been made by officers of the Departments of Agriculture and Foreign Affairs to establish the market.
The Moroccan authorities were particularly concerned about keeping out two bovine diseases, namely IBR and BVD.
A total of 120 cattle were exported to Morocco on June 30, 2011, by Hunter. Twelve of them tested positive in Morocco and had to be slaughtered.
Judge Riordan noted: “Mr Hunter, with the assistance of Ms Stafford to a greater or lesser degree, sought to circumvent the conditions attached to the importation of live cattle to the Moroccan market.
“In doing so they created a situation with the Moroccan authorities.
“It is hugely regrettable that after the efforts made by the Irish authorities to open up this market, that the likes of Mr Hunter would put those markets in jeopardy. They do create a difficulty and affect the national economy.
“These are crimes motivated primarily by greed. I see these offences as coming within the higher end of the scale in terms of deception.
“An aggravating factor is putting in jeopardy the live export market.
“Certification must have an integrity. The use of certificates in the manner described completely unwinds the system. It is hoped the Department of Agriculture has tightened up since 2011.”
Sgt Davern said there were three kinds of fraud involved:
Switching blood tests for healthy animals with those which had diseases;
Presenting documentation to give the impression some diseased animals were being kept out;
Changing a computerised form changing the word “positive” to “negative” in respect of animals for export.
The sergeant said that the system had depended on an element of trust.
Randall Hall BL said Ms Stafford lived in a council house and did not profit from what was done. He said she had felt brow-beaten into doing what she did.
But Sgt Davern said that she had a hands-on involvement and played a very important part in the process.
Both accused pleaded guilty at Cork Circuit Criminal Court to various charges.
Hunter admitted presenting cattle for export with false declarations on April 7 and June 30, 2011.
Ms Stafford pleaded guilty to a charge in 2011 in which nine animal tag numbers on a list were falsified to show they corresponded to disease free animals, and furthermore, on June 30, 2011, she used a list containing three altered cattle tag numbers.
Filed under: CAMPAIGNS - Global Animal Welfare Issues, GENERAL NEWS - International / National / Regional | Leave a comment »
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