Posted on May 31, 2018 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
In the Opera Production “Against the Wall”, of the German Ludger Vollmer, the director had the “ingenious” idea of a symbolic “ritual slaughter” from a living sheep on the stages.
Clear! The real “ritual slaughter” could never be, according to the law it is forbidden, and the director said, he is informed!
Every evening, a sheep should lie on the stage with bound legs (for safety reasons) and then be pulled up with a stroke from the back legs of the desired scene.
It would burst an ampoule of “theater blood” on the floor to simulate the offering.
It looked harmless, but it was not.
I also participated in this production and I was very unhappy.
At that time, I decided to have a private conversation with the director.
I told him that the action would scare and terrify the animal, and with the loud music and the crowd of people on stage it would be (almost) torture. And that all every evening, in 15 scheduled theater performances.
He said he had discussed the whole thing with the management of the theater, and they were informed about the law, so … there was no problem for animal and theater. To intimidate me, he said that a member of the theater, a woman, had already ordered the sheep from her uncle’s farm.
He remained stubborn on his “brilliant” idea. Me too. “I’m warning you,” I said. “I have good connections to the animal rights scene, the thing will come to the press and then you can forget your production”! “But I love animals, you know …” he said. “If you love animals, let the scene go” was my answer.
I have contacted a well-known animal rights organization. “That’s not possible, we cannot allow that” was the answer.
Until the summer break, he rehearsed the scene without the sheep. He had now distanced himself from me, and our collaboration was purely formal, without emotion. Then came the summer and we were all on vacation, the samples were canceled.
When we started rehearsing in September, the director called a General Assembly of the production team on the first day of work: “I am very sorry to inform you that the scene with the ‘ritual slaughter‘ can not take place. There are some reasons for that, but I will not go into that ” he said, glaring at me with hatred. Some colleagues immediately turned their heads to my direction, others whispered and said nothing.
For me, it was one of the happiest day of my life.
After this incident the theater management announced that the theater will stop bringing live animals to the stage. The theater did not keep this promise, and one year later it put on stage a living Swan for the opera “Lohengrin” by R. Wagner. In that case, I had organized a real spectacle, which has led to the fact, that the theater actually never brought back living animals on the stage; but I think I’ll tell that another time.
Conclusion from my 30 years of experience in the theater: art and animal welfare actually have little to do with each other.
Most artists see their job (on or off the stage) as a great service to society and firmly believe in the naïve idea that art can change the world, that art even has a political impact!!
But as far as animal rights are concerned, most artists see it as a strange “stage”, an “uncomfortable subject.”
And that is why most of them, when it comes to animals, act according to the mentality “Cosi fan tutti”!
Posted on May 30, 2018 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
News just in from FRIEND Lesley – founder OF EoA in the Netherlands.
Minks from Holland transported in horrible conditions
Recently we were in Poland conducting inspections of animal trucks. We stopped a horrible transport truck originating from The Netherlands with hundreds of mink on board in tiny dirty wire cages. They were heading to fur farms in Poland. The animals were completely stressed.
They were trying to break free of their cages, performing stereotypic behaviour such as repetitive biting and licking at their cages and making heart-breaking sounds.
The cages were stacked in a sloppy way, with many animals having to endure standing on a sloping floor. Some of the mink had escaped and were running around the truck.
Eyes on Animals together with our partners TSB|AWF are now in touch with the Dutch and Polish authorities about this, and we are going to expose it via the media.
It is completely unacceptable that, in 2018, animals be transported in such a way.
SAV Comment
– The price of a fur coat ! – disgusting; and this is even before they suffer at the farm !
Posted on May 29, 2018 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
Nice to see that we now have so many international visitors – a special thanks to the many folk in the USA who regularly come to see what we have to say and listen to our gripes.
Fighting for the protection and respect of all animals everywhere.
Below – foxes taken from the front door – they come round for some food every evening – and they get it ! – we use their fur colour (see the really dark patch over the back hip on the one below) or a white tail tip as a means of identifying individuals. At the moment they are carrying a lot of food away – so we assume they have little baby cubs somewhere.
Links to 2 really brilliant English fox fan sites – look and enjoy:
The National Fox Welfare Society (NFWS) – covers London and surrounding areas.
Posted on May 29, 2018 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
Japan Slaughtered Over 120 Pregnant Whales in Annual Antarctica Summer Hunt
A prominent animal rights group has expressed outrage at Japan’s controversial whaling program after it emerged that more than 120 pregnant whales were slaughtered last year during the country’s annual hunt in the Antarctic Ocean.
Latest figures show that 333 minke Antarctic whales were killed last summer, 181 of which were females and 122 of which were pregnant.
The annual summer hunt, which lasted 143 days, killed 61 immature males and 53 immature females or 114 in total, according to meeting papers from the International Whaling Commission’s scientific committee.
Humane Society International senior program manager Alexia Wellbelove criticized the “cruelty of Japan’s whale hunt.”
Posted on May 29, 2018 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
We recently published and appeal regarding a horrific kill facility located in Ruma which is in Serbia. The words from activists who visited are as follows:
This so called shelter, has no rules, no regulations, every animal care law flouted in every possible way and nobody in in authority gives a damn.
We can’t even begin to tell you what we’ve seen here. It left us without words. Our souls hurt from the gruesome suffering we experienced when we entered here.
This is worse than anything we have ever seen in Serbia, ever. It has disturbed us forever. The horrors we witnessed in here when we visited was almost beyond comprehension as a human. Rotting dogs slowly dying. Sick, injured, just left rotting in pain. Dead dogs hacked up being used as food for the dying ones.
Today (29/5) we have been in contact with the activists who first attempted to enter the facility on 21/5 – they were stopped. But we have been given an update; and on 23/5 activists did actually enter the facility.
They say:
We entered Ruma kill station on 23rd, after filling written complains to the authorities.
On that day 15 lives are saved, 10 are reserved and we announced going back.
After our complains, we were accompanied with the Head man of Municipity of Ruma during our rescue. We were determined to open this horrible place and we made it!!!
Serbian Animals Voice (SAV) 