Posted on November 24, 2017 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
Photo – EoA (Netherlands)
There has been a lot of scaremongering here in England in recent weeks that the UK is not going to recognise animals as ‘sentient beings’ once the UK leaves the EU.
Animals are defined as being ‘sentient’ by EU legislation, although with live exports from the EU to Turkey for example, as we have exposed many times on this site, the EU does nothing to enforce its own regulations about animal welfare. As we have always said and often shown, EU laws really mean very little when it comes to protecting the rights of animals.
You may not believe us ? – so check these out for example:
Also, the UK has a very strong animal rights movement; and so it was (in our mind) unthinkable that animals would not be given protection once the UK leaves the EU. As we said, there has been a lot of scaremongering by certain groups in the last few months that animals were going to lose their protection. So we are very pleased to see that Minister Michael Gove MP has now clearly set out the governments position for animal welfare once the UK leaves the EU.
As we have said in past posts on this site, leaving the EU will actually allow the UK to strengthen its legislation on animal welfare – the UK will take back legislative control of regulations which have never been enforced by the oh so wonderful(?) EU – and this will allow the UK to strengthen animal protection as it sees fit; and as constantly pressurised by the excellent campaign organisations that exist in the UK.
Will leaving the EU and taking back control of our own laws be better for animals ? – we very much think so.
The EU has all the written legislation; it speaks the speak; but the reality is, when presented with the evidence by welfare organisations, the EU just turns the other way and says that there is nothing it can do; despite allegedly having all these rules in place in accordance with EU law !
When it comes to the EU protecting animals in accordance with EU Regulations; the whole thing is basically a joke. The rules are not worth the paper they are written on.
So, EU based animal welfare organisations who have constantly been ignored with their evidence of cruelty and abuse for many years now have to watch and see how things progress in the UK – which we will make sure they will.
Already there are movements in place to ban live animal exports from the UK on the very first day that the UK formally leaves the EU. EU member states have to decide if they want to continue presenting evidence to the EU – only then to be ignored – or do they follow the UK and get out – thereby taking back control of their own national laws law and making sure that they, as individual member states, enforce their own national legislation ?.
Time will tell; but the UK is leading the way on the issue of animal welfare.
(Minister) Michael Gove has set out the (UK) government’s position on animal sentience after we leave the EU in a Written Ministerial Statement
The sentience of animals WILL CONTINUE to be recognised and PROTECTIONS STRENGTHENED when we leave the EU, Environment Secretary Michael Gove confirmed today.
This Government is committed to the very highest standards of animal welfare. As the Prime Minister has set out, we will make the United Kingdom a world leader in the care and protection of animals.
It has been suggested that the vote last week on New Clause 30 of the EU Withdrawal Bill somehow signalled a weakening in the protection of animals – that is wrong.
Voting against the amendment was not a vote against the idea that animals are sentient and feel pain – that is a misconception.
Ministers explained on the floor of the house that this Government’s policies on animal welfare are driven by our recognition that animals are indeed sentient beings and we are acting energetically to reduce the risk of harm to animals – whether on farms or in the wild. The vote against New Clause 30 was the rejection of a faulty amendment, which would not have achieved its stated aims of providing appropriate protection for animals.
The Prime Minister has made clear that we will strengthen our animal welfare rules. This government will ensure that any necessary changes required to UK law are made in a rigorous and comprehensive way to ensure animal sentience is recognised after we leave the EU. The Withdrawal Bill is not the right place to address this, however we are considering the right legislative vehicle.
We are already proposing primary legislation to increase maximum sentences for animal cruelty from six months to five years, and the creation of a new statutory, independent body to uphold environmental standards.
The current EU instrument – Article 13 – has not delivered the progress we want to see. It does not have direct effect in law – in practice its effect is very unclear and it has failed to prevent practices across the EU which are cruel and painful to animals.
In contrast, here in the UK, we are improving animal welfare standards without EU input and beyond the scope of Article 13.
We are making CCTV mandatory in all slaughterhouses – a requirement which goes above and beyond any EU rule. We will consult on draft legislation to jail animal abusers for up to five years – more than almost every other European nation. We propose combatting elephant poaching with a ban on the ivory trade which is more comprehensive than anywhere else in Europe. Our ban on microbeads which harm marine animals has been welcomed by Greenpeace as “the strongest in the world”, and is certainly the strongest in Europe.
Once we have left the EU there is even more we could do. EU rules prevent us from restricting or banning the live export of animals for slaughter. EU rules also restrict us from cracking down on puppy smuggling or banning the import of puppies under 6 months. Article 13 has not stopped any of these practices – but leaving the EU gives us the chance to do much better. We hope to say more in these areas next year.
This government will continue to promote and enhance animal welfare, both now and after we have left the EU.
Above – Minister Michael Gove with Canine friend.
SAV Comment –
when we say ”the EU does nothing to enforce its own regulations about animal welfare” -this is evidence and proof of the situation, evidence and proof which the EU conveniently on its part, turns a blind eye to.
From our good friend Lesley at ‘Eyes on Animals’ in the Netherlands:
This week Eyes on Animals was on German TV!
The famous German filmmaker, Manfred Karreman, made a powerful documentary about our year-long inspections of live animal transports from the EU to third countries and of the slaughterhouses where the animals end up in.
You can view the footage here – **Warning** – animals suffering throughout.
PETA Asia just released eyewitness video footage of the Chinese donkey-skin trade, which is fueled by the demand for a traditional “medicine” that contains ejiao, gelatin made from donkey skin. The exposé reveals that thousands of donkeys are crammed into filthy concrete-floored pens, beaten with sticks at the donkey market, and bashed in the head with a sledgehammer at the slaughterhouse.
Ejiao can be found in beverages, candy, and even beauty products. Donkeys are now being imported into China for slaughter from other countries in Asia and from nations in the Middle East, Africa, and South America in order to meet the demand. While some countries, such as Pakistan and 10 African nations, have closed Chinese-funded slaughterhouses and developed policies to ban the export of donkey skin to China, others are shamefully considering a live-export trade. The industry is fueling a black market for donkeys, and many are being stolen or slaughtered illegally so that people can profit from China’s medicinal market.
The Northern Territory government in Australia exports donkey hides to China to support the cruel ejiao industry and is considering expanding this business by implementing a live-donkey export industry. View video footage from our exposé, and please urge Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to ban exports of live donkeys to China immediately.
Posted on November 22, 2017 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
Lawsuit Fights Trump’s Decision to Lift Elephant Protections
When the Trump administration took aim at
African elephants, the Center for Biological Diversity rushed into court to defend them. Our suit, filed
Monday with NRDC, challenges the administration’s abrupt reversal last week of an Obama-era ban on
elephant trophy imports from Zimbabwe.
Africa’s elephants have been in steep decline.
The last thing they need is the United States lifting the trophy-import ban, setting off a new round of killing. Trump has tweeted he’s putting the ban “on hold”
— but tweets don’t make policy. Until we’re assured
these elephants are safe and the crucial ban is firmly
The lyrics are based on a Victorian fairy story written by Gabriel, about two children in a country house.
The girl, Cynthia, kills the boy, Henry, by cleaving his head off with a croquet mallet. She later discovers Henry’s musical box.
When she opens it, “Old King Cole” plays, and Henry returns as a spirit, but starts aging very quickly. This causes him to experience a lifetime’s sexual desire in a few moments, and he tries to persuade Cynthia to have sexual intercourse with him.
However, the noise causes his nurse to arrive, and she throws the musical box at him, destroying them both.
Posted on November 21, 2017 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
The following video is NOT associated with NRDC
– but is included for info only.
Dear Mark,
It’s what we feared: The Nebraska Public Service Commission just approved the final permit for the Keystone XL pipeline.
This permit would allow TransCanada, the company behind the pipeline, to route the Keystone XL through Nebraska
— threatening hundreds of Nebraskan rivers and streams and the Ogallala Aquifer, which provides drinking water for more than a million people.
But the Nebraska PSC’s decision isn’t all bad news. While they approved a pipeline route through Nebraska, they did not, however, approve TransCanada’s “preferred” route. Instead, they approved an entirely different route that hasn’t been subject to review by either the company or government authorities.
That means the fight isn’t over — not in Nebraska or in court. NRDC will continue fighting with every tool, in every venue, and with all of our partners to make sure the Keystone XL is never built — including in federal court.
NRDC filed suit against the Trump administration for its illegal approval of the Keystone XL on the grounds that approval was based on an outdated environmental review that didn’t consider the pipeline’s true impacts on our climate.
And the Nebraska PSC’s decision makes our federal court fight against the pipeline even more critical.
The Nebraska commissioners’ decision comes just days after another tar sands pipeline, the existing Keystone pipeline, spilled 210,000 gallons of toxic tar sands oil in South Dakota.
The Keystone XL would carry 830,0000 barrels a day of tar sands oil through the American heartland, endangering lands, wildlife, and communities along its route with more catastrophic spills.
Moreover, the commissioners’ decision mistakenly ignores serious concerns raised by Nebraska landowners and indigenous people that the Keystone XL pipeline would threaten their water and climate.
But how long we can stay in court, and how hard we can fight, depends on NRDC supporters like you.
But the Trump administration — and the pipeline’s corporate backers — have proved incredibly dogged in their pursuit of this project, so NRDC and our allies must be prepared to fight whenever and wherever we need to, especially in federal court.
We defeated the Keystone XL once before, and I strongly believe that we can — and we will — do it again. Thank you for standing with us.
Posted on November 20, 2017 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
Donald Trump calls elephant hunting a ‘horror show’ after trophy import ruling
Washington: President Donald Trump on Sunday called elephant hunting a “horror show” and strongly suggested he will permanently block imports of elephant trophies from two African nations despite his administration’s earlier approval of the plan.
SAV Comment – So Why was the (President) Obama ruling from 2014 ever changed in the first place ?
Was it simply another ‘Republicans against Obama’ issue that is getting up Trumps nose; and by doing this he can then claim that the Republicans enforced / introduced the (new /revised) legislation?
Would be keen to hear what our US visitor friends think about it – please leave any comments in the ‘Contact Us’ tab. We will post anything we get – Thanks.
Posted on November 20, 2017 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
The infiltration of the animal rights scene by right-wing extremists.
In recent years, one hears or reads more and more often in forums about animal rights, that it does not matter which political side you are with, and with which political forces you cooperate; the main thing is, you do it for the animals.
Meanwhile, some web page that I personally know are controlled by rights and spread the right-wing ideology in the name of the animals.
Experience has shown that with animal friendly slogans one reaches more people in Germany than with xenophobic ones.
“Animal protection is homeland security”, stands since then in the party program of the neo-Nazis! The right-wing extremists know that political messages can be better communicated if they are combined with a soft theme, such as animal welfare.
The animal rights community has now recognized that it has a major problem with the infiltration of the right, and therefore some associations have organized informative lectures last year: “Handling neo-Nazis in animal movements”.
The ex-chairman of the animal welfare party Germany Stefan Eck, considers the infiltration in this party for completed!
As of December 31, 2014, Eck announced his exit from the animal protection party. As a reason, he gave the following public statement on his Facebook page:
“There are a considerable number of members of the Federal Executive Board who neither have the insight nor the will to consistently distance themselves from party members or people in their political environment with a right-wing populist or even right-wing extremist past and reject any cooperation with them. I cannot tolerate this because of my innermost conviction. ”
But leading figures of other large and well-known animal rights organizations in Germany show solidarity with the heads of right-wing parties or with ex-NPD officials in public at events for animals (NPD = National Democratic Party of Germany, a far-right political party in Germany).
And they allow flyers with neo-Nazi slogans to be distributed in demos against fur or animal transports!
I see a great danger if the animal rights scene does not distance itself politically from the right-wing extremists. For the activists can only lose, and the animal rights idea as well. Right-wing extremists are not “slightly confused” animal rights activists with good intentions, but cool-calculating neo-Nazis who need new voters. Considering that Germans hold 30 million pets, more than the citizens of any other EU country, it is easy to understand why the neo-Nazis have chosen the animal rights scene as a lucrative field of activity.
Organizations that propagate their fascist convictions under the guise of “animal welfare” are no cooperation partners for me.
Two groups I have supported in the past with articles and contributions no longer exist for me since they have degenerated into propaganda vehicles of a vile ideology.
Serbian Animals Voice (SAV) 