Posted on May 19, 2016 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
This week saw the 21st anniversary of the notorious abduction by China of Ghedun Choekyi Nyima, the six-year-old boy who had been chosen as the Panchen Lama, one of Tibetan Buddhism’s most senior figures. Within months of his disappearance, China had appointed its own Panchen Lama, the son of Communist Party officials.
For China today, persecuting monks and nuns and exercising suffocating control over every aspect of religious life in Tibet is not enough: now it plans to appoint its own puppet Dalai Lama after the current Dalai Lama dies.
Above – The REAL Dalai Lama
Free Tibet is launching a major new campaign to defend religious freedom in Tibet and ensure that any Chinese-appointed Dalai Lama is shunned internationally.
The Dalai Lama is of the deepest importance to Tibetans and a fundamental issue of religious freedom. They will reject a Dalai Lama forced on them by the Chinese government.
Please, sign our petition calling on religious authorities and governments to support the Tibetan people and publicly declare that they will not recognise any Dalai Lama appointed by Beijing.
For more on our Beyond Belief campaign see our news story here.
For more information on China’s control of religion in Tibet see our website.
Have you taken action for the 2016 Yulin dog meat ‘festival’ in China ? – please see more and take action at
Filed under: CAMPAIGNS - Global Animal Welfare Issues, GENERAL NEWS - International / National / Regional, GLOBAL PETITIONS - Anything Animal, Anywhere ! | Leave a comment »
Posted on May 19, 2016 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
Mark,
Breaking news: We just found out that Bayer is definitely moving forward on its plans to buy Monsanto.
If Bayer succeeds, we are facing a
giant, international mega-corporation with total control over nearly everything we eat: the biggest seed company and pesticide company all rolled into one.
This would spell disaster for our bees and vulnerable farmers. It’ll usher in a new era of sterile crops soaked in cancer-causing pesticides.
If the deal is successful, this mega corporation will completely dominate the agricultural market, giving it almost total control of the most important aspects of our food supply.
And at the centre of Bayer and Monsanto’s corporate agribusiness model is the indiscriminate, widespread use of pesticides linked to the massive global bee die-off.
That is why we need to stop this deal from happening right now.
Here are some of the things we could do — but only if you can donate today:
initiate anti-trust lawsuits in the European Union and in the United States
work with shareholders of Bayer to rally big investors who are concerned about Monsanto’s bad reputation in the agricultural sector
mobilise citizens in Bayer’s home country Germany, where political leaders are already under massive pressure because of our campaign to ban Monsanto’s glyphosate in Europe
Together, we were able to help stop the Syngenta-Monsanto merger last year because we showed that a corporation that big would have monopolistic power over farmers and the entire agriculture industry.
This new merger being discussed right now could be even worse.
Once a merger like this goes through, it’s often impossible to undo the damage — we need to act now to nip this merger in the bud.
Monsanto is giving us a taste of what it does when it doesn’t get its way. Right now in Argentina, it’s withholding new soybean seed technology from farmers — the country’s biggest cash crop — because it doesn’t want oversight from the Argentinian government.
It’s likely that this giant new mega-company will use its size to “influence” more governments and people with their shady tactics. Let’s make sure they don’t get away with that.
Thanks for all you do,
Paul, Jon and the team at SumOfUs
**********
More Information:
Reuters, 19 May 2016
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Posted on May 19, 2016 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
From the Dogs Mouth:
Well the UK is now less than 5 weeks away from the remain in the EU, or leave the EU vote.
According to opinion polls the situation is very close:
It is not our position to try and influence people on which way they should vote. Everyone has their own personal reasons, of which animal welfare could be a small part for some; for others it will not be an issue at all.
We will be voting on 23rd June; the same as everyone else; and two major factors that will influence our decisions relate to live animals in transport, and the Serbian membership of the EU in the future. Will Serbia continue to ignore all the rules and legislation regarding (its own national) animal welfare as we have clearly presented over the years, or will it actually adhere to what Regulations and Directives the EU has in place ? – we very much doubt it.
British people (well at least half of them) are completely and utterly fed up with the false promises of action which are always coming out of the EU. The reality is that these are simply delaying tactics because the EU Commissions do not really wish to get involved with undertaking prosecutions against individual EU states who are NOT enforcing EU legislation, such as Romania, and others who for example export live animals to Turkey, but do not even ensure EU animal transport rules are enforced in the first place !
As an EU member state, the UK is a pretty good one. Largely, we abide by the rules and regulations, and try to comply whenever possible. Some nations do not adhere to the rules regardless of their membership; they take the money and handouts, at the same time doing their own thing. Is this one reason why the people of the UK are fed up with the EU – there appears to be very little positive movement to bring the rule breakers into line; so the question is asked; why should we enforce all the legislation when some others do not and appear to get away scott free with breaking rules !
Whilst EU Commissions do nothing about animal welfare enforcement,, animals in the EU will continue to suffer.
We have presented clear evidence to the EU (Enlargement Commission) of the immense animal suffering and non compliance with (its own) national legislation by Serbia. The EU has totally ignored us and what we say – so now the EU is in a situation – lose the UK and accept Serbia, or improve and keep the UK; and ensure Serbia actually does what the legislation of Serbia says on the Serbian tin !
If the UK does vote to leave the EU, and get away from EU legislation; effectively handing UK legislation back to the UK government, then this will not naturally mean that all the animal welfare groups based in the UK will pack up and do something else. In fact the situation is probably quite the opposite. The EU in terms of animal welfare legislation may benefit by the UK getting out. How ? – the UK has high animal welfare laws anyway, and these will be improved on and campaigned for even more with an EU exit situation – guaranteed !!
UK politicians will not be able to blame the EU for not allowing the UK to do or change ‘this or that’ regarding legislation; it will be back in their hands, and as a result, with all the excellent animal welfare campaign groups here in the UK, we could very easily have a situation where the UK government is forced to improve yet more (national UK) animal welfare legislation. If this is achieved then UK organisations can then go back to the EU and hopefully get EU legislation improved by showing what can be done regarding improvements by an ex EU member state.
With Serbia waiting to join, the EU has major decisions to make – does it improve animal welfare with help from nations such as the UK, or does it allow Serbia to become a ‘Romania 2’ and drag the whole ‘welfare’ issue further into the EU gutter ?
June 23rd will allow UK residents to decide on the future of the UK in or out of Europe. At the moment, from what we see and hear, the UK will be getting out; regardless of the views of the opinion polls.
We write on 19/5 to inform the EU that we are not happy with their actions – and our message is deleted without even being read !
This is the reality of the EU today – this shows how concerned they are at the views and feelings of their citizens.
Your message
To: JANZEN Jan (CAB-HAHN)
Subject: UK In Out ?
Sent: 19 May 2016 23:06:35 (UTC+01:00) Brussels, Copenhagen, Madrid, Paris
was deleted without being read on 20 May 2016 10:04:23 (UTC+01:00) Brussels, Copenhagen, Madrid, Paris.
“There are many reasons in Europe to feel at home. Europe is a guarantee for peace, a common space of freedom, security, justice and prosperity “(Reiner Wieland, Vice-President of the EU Parliament).
If it has this guarantee ever existed, it has expired since long!
The reasons that Mr. Wieland has mentioned, do not enable the EU citizens “feel at home”, but are since long been a reason to leave this home and to look for a new home.
The English, though they are not an EU country, have never forgotten the doom of the Greeks.
Environmental protection, energy policy, social laws, animal welfare – nothing that comes out of Brussels, making the lives of British safer, cheaper or more just.
Switzerland, Norway and Iceland are examples showing that it is better to be only loosely connected to the EU.
The nations of Europe, particularly the British, are watching every day with horror into which hopeless situation the EU states have fallen.
In addition, the embarrassing role of Germany in Libya conflict and their underhanded strategy against the ‘problem’ of emigrants from Syria, (what Germany caused itself helped by the US), wakes each day the fear that we have to do with a new “German Problem”.
These are all the reasons for which the vote of the UK gets a special meaning in June.
It is a purely political vote and the result will have only political consequences.
There are many indications for divorce, even if Cameron wants to prevent it.
Germany is still trying to fry an extra portion of sausage for the problematic whiner.
But the impression thickens in many EU partners that Britain’s departure is unstoppable.
Of course, the “German problem” remains in Europe, even if Britain should get out of the club.
A leaving of England would signal a new political landscape in Europe that we need now more than ever urgently.
Venus
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Posted on May 18, 2016 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
Students use cats intestine as a jump rope in their class !
Dissection teaches students that animals are just classroom tools to be used and discarded—and
recorded at Winston Churchill High School in San Antonio proves it.
You know this is wrong.
Cats are sensitive, highly intelligent animals who experience emotions such as pain, happiness, fear, and love—just as humans do.
The cats who were being cut apart in this classroom are no different from the beloved animal companions many of these students might share their homes with. In fact, the cats on the dissection table may have once been someone’s family member! Homeless, lost, or abandoned cats are often collected from animal shelters, injected with formaldehyde, and vacuum-sealed in plastic bags for dissection in classrooms just like this one.
Make sure this never happens again. Take action now!
Filed under: GENERAL NEWS - International / National / Regional, GLOBAL PETITIONS - Anything Animal, Anywhere !, VIDEOS | Leave a comment »
Posted on May 17, 2016 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
We need to get the USA to wake up and get this stopped – NOW !
Separating baby monkeys from their mothers, strapping them to dogs moving at 30 mph, and subjecting them to screaming crowds is NOT OK.
Exploiting animals in this way can cause them to develop neurotic and self-destructive behavior, and many of them suffer from intense loneliness and depression.
Tormenting animals is not entertainment.
https://forcechange.com/157325/demand-cancellation-of-monkey-rodeo/?utm_source=ForceChange+Newsletter&utm_campaign=a6ab0bddd2-652FC5_18_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_600a6911b9-a6ab0bddd2-278817597
Filed under: GENERAL NEWS - International / National / Regional, GLOBAL PETITIONS - Anything Animal, Anywhere ! | Leave a comment »
Posted on May 16, 2016 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
Dear contacts from EU and Member State inspection-offices, livestock industry players, animal-welfare and meat-quality scientists, supermarkets and fellow NGOs,
A few years ago you may remember that Eyes on Animals made a film ( https://youtu.be/adtjQDW9rVE ) comparing the advantages and disadvantages of using CO2 or electricity to stun pigs. We made this short film because more and more pig slaughterhouses were switching from electric stunning to CO2 gas saying that it was better for animal welfare because it avoided the pigs having to move into a single file. With a CO2 system they can move in groups which pigs prefer. Indeed, in electric-stunning pig slaughterhouses there is usually a lot of stress and impatience at the point when pigs are moved from a group into the single file raceway leading them to the head and heart stunner.
However, we never felt comfortable about the use of CO2 to stun pigs, as the high concentrations needed are very painful for the pigs to breathe in; they struggle (often violently) and unconsciousness is not immediate but takes approx 10-40 seconds. We were concerned that more and more plants were investing millions and millions of euro´s and dollars switching to CO2-systems meanwhile the EFSA report had even admitted CO2 is not a very humane option and it needs to be re-discussed and eventually replaced.
For us, the use of CO2 gas has no potential to be considered the more humane choice because no matter how much movement to the gondola and lift was eased, inhaling CO2 remains aversive and painful. For us there was a clear need to investigate other new options to render pigs unconscious in a faster and more humane way.
But it also made us realize that not much effort was put into improving the design of the electric system before switching to CO2. After all, correctly applied electric stunning is much quicker and less painful than inhaling CO2. Why wasn´t more effort put into improving the design of the single-file raceway in the electric slaughterhouses first?
Dr. Temple Grandin had even published drawings of how to do this over 20 years ago. Drawings of a corral-shaped raceway where pigs moved in a circular motion and with a side-step, never a funnel, to avoid bottle-necks.
Due to pressure from grocery stores to switch to CO2 and the economic advantages CO2-stunning offers to meat quality, ideas to improve electric-stunning systems went largely ignored and cO2 has now become the norm.
Nevertheless, recently Eyes on Animals went in search of a pig slaughterhouse that adopted a corral-shaped raceway and modified other parts of their design to make electric stunning systems less difficult to move pigs through and we found one finally- Thönes Natur Verbund in Germany.
Please find attached to this email (link below) our report of our visit of this slaughterhouse and here is a short film showing the pigs being moved through the corral-shaped double-entrance raceway. Indeed it was a small slaughterhouse, but there is no reason why larger plants cannot take this idea seriously by installing several raceways.
It is highly likely that CO2 will be phased out and made illegal in the near future. The future means a brand new stunning-method that is not aversive to inhale. But in the meantime, for pig slaughterhouses wishing to switch over to CO2, why not wait and first improve your electric-stunning raceway and then make the big switch when a humaner gas is finally available?
With best wishes,
Lesley Moffat
—
Lesley Moffat, MSc Ethology
Eyes on Animals – Director
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“I just want to eat meat, for which no animal was tortured,” a student said when he and his fellows visited the “innovative” slaughterhouse “Thönes Natur Verbund”.
Is such a thing possible?
I mean, no!
As long as people eat meat, animals will be tormented.
This know also experienced activists, as the people of “Eyes on Animals” whose work I greatly appreciate.
They also know that if we want less suffering, achieve less anguish for our “livestock”, we cannot act with the mentality of black or white.
In between, there are a few shades that we have to find and use.
And in this regard, the organization “Eyes on Animals” has done a very good job.
But even if animals in slaughterhouses suffer less in the future, we must not sleep with a clear conscience and believe that we have the right to eat animals when they are slaughtered animal friendly.
Not only the conditions in slaughter houses must be better.
This extremely meat oriented society should evolve also.
Be finally a meatless society.
A full empathy society.
If we put equal to animals and humans, then is (and remains) slaughter a murder. Then…
Would we torture people a lifelong in factory farming?
Would we stun humans in slaughterhouses with bolt gun in order to better slaughter them?
Would we transport people for days without food or water?
The answer is NO!
And therefore we cannot do the same to other sentient beings.
As long as this society continues meat consumption, the more important is the struggle of the animal organizations for a better life of the animals in the modern concentration camps.
But even more important is the education of this society about the operation of a bloody meat industry that solely preserves the meat man.
Venus
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Posted on May 16, 2016 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
On Saturday, April 30, Justin Bieber’s father hosted a party in Toronto, Canada. In an attempt to amuse party guests, he had a tiger and other animals, who were apparently brought in from the Bowmanville Zoo, at the event.
What Justin and other party guests probably don’t know is that Michael Hackenberger, the owner of that zoo, was recently charged with five counts of cruelty to animals because of PETA’s undercover footage, which shows him viciously whipping a young tiger during a “training” session and then bragging about it.
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Serbian Animals Voice (SAV) 
