Vivisection and Hunting News
Cosmetic testing ends in Europe
The ban on the import and sale of animal tested cosmetics and their ingredients will kick in throughout the EU on 11tn March this year. This ban represents a significant milestone and is the accumulation of over 40 years of campaigning by the BUAV to end cosmetics testing on animals in the UK and EU. You can find out more about the history of the campaign to end cosmetics testing on animals by visiting the website: http://buavnews.org/LN3-19DL9-4H8GG4-I4F3U-1/c.aspx .
Leading research initiative
A world’s first education and research initiative announced on Jan 16th will see the UK spearhead a collaborative global search for more ethical, human-relevant alternatives to animal testing. The UK’s leading humane medical research charity, the Dr Hadwen Trust (DHT), and Queen Mary, University of London, have joined forces to lead the global development of human-relevant methods and alternatives to animal use in diverse areas of bio-medical research. The Dr Hadwen Trust is to fund the first Professorial Chair in animal replacement science thanks to a £1 million legacy left to the DHT specifically for this purpose by lifelong supporter Alan Stross.
United Airlines refuses research primates
In a stunning blow for the global primate research industry, United Airlines announced that they have implemented a ban on the transportation of primates for the research industry! This decision means that there are now only 4 commercial airlines still willing to transport primates for the research industry. Those airlines are China Eastern Airlines, Vietnam Airlines, Philippine Airlines and Air France-KLM. To read the full story visit the Gateway to Hell site: www.gatewaytohell.net/united-airlines-ban-research-primates-from-their-flights/
Huntingdon Life Sciences largest ever lender
US Bank National Association, a subsidiary of US Bank Corp. has been uncovered by SHAC as the largest ever lender ($120m) to controversial animal testing laboratory, Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS). HLS have existed mainly on debt since 1998 and through campaigning lost their market-makers, shareholders, suppliers and customers over the years. Along with declining revenue and loss of orders from important customers as the global pharmaceutical industry make cutbacks, staff redundancies, the future continues to be uncertain for the multiple exposed animal testing laboratory as well as recent UK staff layoffs in 2012. Please help us kick off our campaign against US Bank by sending polite letters informing them of what they are involved with at HLS. For more information about Huntingdon’s financials and about the US Bank campaign, please visit: www.shac.net/action/US_Bank/index.html Sample letter: Dear Sir/Madam, I am writing to you because US Bank National Association, a subsidiary of US Bank Corp has loaned Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS) $120m. Without this loan HLS could not remain open and therefore US Bank are in large part responsible for the continuing cruel and violent actions going on inside HL S. HLS have a long history of violence; they were most famously exposed in 1997 when channel 4 TV filmed workers punching beagle puppies in the face. In 2005 ex-workers spoke out about cruelty they had witnessed and in 2008 Animal Defenders International went undercover inside H-L-S exposing cruel primate experiments and disgusting conditions. HLS also have a track record of law breaking and manipulation of data. During just one known primate study, HLS broke the law over 500 times; and workers have been caught taking drugs and drinking on site. Video footage, images and testimonials of this cruelty and misconduct can all be seen at the following link: http://www.shac.net/HLS/exposed.html There are many hundreds of companies including NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC, Citibank, Bank of New York, Merrill Lynch, Charles Schwab, Barclays Plc, Stephens Inc. and Fortress Investment Inc. that have stopped dealing with H-L-S because of our highlighting H-L-S’ track record of cruelty and sloppy work practices, which in the past have also included the falsification of scientific data, leading to protests. (http://www.shac.net/SHAC/victories.html) I am urging you to explore all get out clauses in this loan and reel it in. I also urge you to raise these issues with everyone you can within the company and do everything in your power to halt your support of Huntingdon Life Sciences cruel practices. Please raise this issue at any meetings you attend, and let all your colleagues know about HLS. For further information, please visit: www.shac.net If you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to contact SHAC, either by letter to SHAC, BM SHAC, London, WC1N 3XX, UK, or via email to: usbankcruelty@shac.net. Thank you for your time. Yours faithfully.
CONTACTS Directors – richard.davis@usbank.com, andrew.cecere@usbank.com, jan.estep@usbank.com, richard.hidy@usbank.com, bill.williamson@usbank.com US Bank Media – thomas.joyce@usbank.com, teri.charest@usbank.com, nicole.sprenger@usbank.com, amy.frantti@usbank.com, tessa.olson@usbank.com, judith.murphy@usbank.com, sean.oconnor@usbank.com, healthcare@usbank.com
Research violations
Animal welfare group Stop Animal Exploitation Now has asked the U.S. Dept of Agriculture to re-examine the 16 animal research violations for which Ohio State was cited last year to ensure corrections took place. Michael Budkie, the executive director of SAEN, said the group routinely examines reports for laboratories in the U.S. which the USDA makes available online. OSU’s large number of citations immediately stood out to the group as a problem, causing SAEN to file a complaint to the USDA. “We’re very concerned any time we see that many animal welfare violations because that starts to demonstrate a serious pattern of breaking the law,” Budkie said. “When you see that many violations, you are looking at a laboratory that is not following the regulations, they’re not providing adequately for the animals and they’re not meeting even the minimal standards.” The 10 violations cited in July, according to the USDA inspection report, included use of expired drugs on canines, inadequate veterinary care resulting in hair loss in half the grass rats, and hamsters being housed at 46.4oF, below the minimum of 60oF. Other violations in the July inspection involved housing all of the lab’s 12 macaques, a species of monkey, separately when pair or group housing is required for primates that exist in social groups in nature. 6 violations were reported in May, including an issue of unsanitary hamster procedure rooms and various plywood doors between animal stalls being significantly chewed, according to the May inspection report. Jeff Grabmeier, senior director of Research and Innovation Communications at OSU, said the university constantly ensures that its researchers are using the most humane methods in their work with the 130,000 animals under the university’s care. “We take seriously our obligation to meet and exceed all federal regulations involving the use of laboratory animals and we remain committed to continually looking for ways to improve the care of the animals housed at the university,” Grabmeier said in statement. Budkie said the regulations in the Animal Welfare Act that set the standards for the care of research animals were being overlooked. The act was signed into law in 1966 and, according to the USDA website, “is the only federal law in the US that regulates the treatment of animals in research, exhibition, transport and by dealers.” Budkie said the act was designed to protect animals from basic violations such as those in question. “If it’s not functioning in that way, then these animals are in significant jeopardy because if they’re getting away with these things that the USDA found, what else is going on that the USDA didn’t happen to uncover?” Budkie said. Jan Weisenberger, senior associate vice president for research, said in an email to OSU researchers that they inspect all animal research facilities and assured that time is also spent conducting continuous training for them. “We will continue to work with all of you to achieve this goal. The discoveries that you make every day are helping to conquer disease and promote both human and animal health.” None of the 16 citations from the USDA were considered to be a direct threat to animal safety or welfare, Grabmeier said. He also said the violations in the inspection were corrected by their due dates, and the 2 that remained would also be fixed by the dates the USDA requested. Budkie said that while USDA has not yet begun further investigation, it is required to act on any complaints it receives. OSU could potentially be fined $10,000 per violation, Budkie said, and SAEN hopes it will be substantial enough to have an impact. “That kind of a fine is really, in our opinion, necessary to get the attention of a facility like Ohio State because they make so much money,” Budkie said. “I’m sure it can be tens of thousands of dollars in animal experimentation that if the fine is not significant, then they have no reason to be concerned.” The USDA did not immediately return requests for comment.
EXCELLENT NEWS
The RSPCA has amassed a £160,000 “fighting fund” in just 8 weeks to pay for “major prosecutions” against illegal hunts and other groups. Gavin Grant, the charity’s chief executive, said the cash in the fund had “skyrocketed” in the wake of its successful action against the Heythrop Hunt.
Animal Cruelty Investigation Group
At long last we have created our new even more informative web site. You will find it now at: http://www.acigawis.org.uk/ You will notice that this new site is written more in the third person – which reflects the fact that there is now input from more individuals. We will be uploading more images and video clips in the near future and this web site will replace our Facebook presence as our prime means of campaigning. Our old web site address still works – people going there will merely be directed to our new site. web site: http://www.acigawis.org.uk/ Mike Huskisson
The “German Red Fox Award” is a prize awarded to members of the German furriers industry for designs using German fox fur. The competition is part of the Duesseldorf trade fair “Jagd und Hund” (Hunting and Dog) which ended on Feb 3rd. It is heavily supported and sponsored by the local Hunting Association and the publication mentioned above. They want to push for more German fox fur being worn as fashion and to revitalise a traditional industry – that is also heavily supported by the German ministry for Trade at the Hong Kong Fur Fair (German Pavilion) every year. Sadly, most article comments reflect a support for this. The lettering of the title is of especial interest as the particular font is not used any more in modern German writing. It was used up to the 1940s – the time of the Nazis. Indeed, the current German hunting legislation was formulated by “Reichsjaegermeister” (Reich’s hunting master) Hermann Goering – a fact that fills many hunters, especially the older generation or those with a right-wing tendency (of which there are many among the hunters), with pride. Also of interest is the magazine online shop, with suitable offers for children such as T-shirts and small rifles
Operation Zero Tolerance
4 Japanese whale-killing, factory ships armed with coast guards and grenade-tipped harpoons are within hours of entering a demilitarized zone and the international Great Southern Ocean Sanctuary. The bloody “War Against Nature” is set to rage. In a world in which the environment is being marauded, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is standing up and upholding the law to protect the great whales in an international sanctuary. Enough blood has been shed; in the 20th century humans slaughtered 1.5m whales. 4 Sea Shepherd boats — Steve Irwin, Bob Barker, Sam Simon and Brigette Bardot — are being led this year by former Australian Greens leader and environmental champion Dr. Bob Brown and former Australian Senator and former Environment Minister Ian Campbell. They have taken over from Sea Shepherd founder Captain Paul Watson who is restricted by a U.S. Court of Appeals preventing him from going within 500 yards of whale-killing ships. The Aussie leaders and 120 crew representing 24 nations (including Japan) are on a bold mission — Operation Zero Tolerance: Zero Cruelty: Zero Kills. It’s the 9th year of the Sea Shepherd campaign to protect the great whales in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary. This year, in addition to a helicopter, 2 long-range aerial drones (donated by Bay Shore Recycling Corp, N.J.) are being used to quickly locate the Japanese fleet as they enter the sanctuary. The quicker the Sea Shepherd find the whalers, the quicker they can get on their tail; the sooner they can prevent any whale slaughtering. As soon as Sea Shepherd discovers the whalers they closely follow the large fish-factory boats, blocking the stern-slipway. If the Japanese can’t load whales — they can’t kill them. It’s a very effective tactic — in 2012 the Japanese only took 26% of their kill quota and even lower in 2011 at 17%. The fiscal losses of the Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR a Japanese government agency) in 2012 were $20.5m. After a relentless 9-year Sea Shepherd campaign the whalers have lost $100m. Japan’s government-subsidized whaling program is indeed in strife. In 2011, the Japanese whaling industry siphoned $29m from the March 2011 (tsunami) Earthquake Recovery Fund. The Japanese 2013 quota of 935 minke whales, 50 fin whales and 50 humpback whales is set for lethal-scientific research, yet little (if any) peer-reviewed whale research has been released in the past quarter century by ICR. (The Japanese call a harpoon-tipped grenade that misses a whale a sampling error.) Instead the whale meat is sold into the marketplace. The absurdity here is that Japanese are no longer buying the whale meat. In fact, in 2008 several tons of unsold whale meat was placed in cold storage. Sea Shepherd Posted: 01/21/2013 3:15 pm
Australia tells whalers to leave
Australia has demanded Japan’s whalers leave the southern ocean, after a support vessel for the fleet was found to have entered its waters in pursuit of environmental activists. The Australian environment minister, Tony Burke, told the whalers they were not welcome in the region following confirmation that the Shonan Maru No 2 had entered the country’s exclusive economic zone near Macquarie Island. “Australia has made it clear to Japan on a number of occasions that vessels associated with its whaling programme are not welcome,” Burke said in a statement. “Our embassy in Tokyo has conveyed these sentiments directly to the Japanese government.” The Japanese vessel provides security for the rest of the fleet, which sails to the Southern Ocean every winter to conduct what Tokyo calls scientific research. The Shonan Maru No 2 tailed the Bob Barker, a Sea Shepherd vessel, for 2 days earlier this week, according to the group. It remained inside Australia’s exclusive economic zone, which stretches 200 nautical miles from Macquarie Island. The Japanese ship stopped just short of Australian territorial waters, which extend 12 nautical miles from the island. “Tokyo has ignored the call from the federal government for this part of the whaling fleet not to enter the zone,” Bob Brown, the former Australian Green party leader, who now leads Sea Shepherd’s anti-whaling campaign, told Australian radio. The body that organises Japan’s “scientific” hunts said the fleet had the legal right to enter the zone, and accused Sea Shepherd of using dangerous tactics to stop the hunt. “Since Sea Shepherd has been putting Japanese lives and property at risk, it’s been necessary to move as close to Australian territorial waters as possible to keep an eye on them,” Glenn Inwood, a spokesman for the Institute of Cetacean Research, told Associated Press. Australia, the most vocal international opponent of Japan’s whaling programme, has taken its campaign to ban the annual hunts to the international court of justice in The Hague. The International Whaling Commission banned commercial whaling in 1986, but Japan uses a clause in the moratorium to conduct “lethal research”. Meat from the hunts is sold on the open market.
Zambia has banned the hunting of lions and other endangered wild cats such as leopards because it sees more value in game viewing tourism than blood sport, the country’s tourism minister said. Sylvia Masebo told Reuters big cat numbers were also too low to have a sustainable hunting industry. “Tourists come to Zambia to see the lion and if we lose the lion we will be killing our tourism industry,” Masebo said.
The 2 Colorado police officers responsible for the January 1 shooting of the towering bull elk known as ‘Big Boy’ were arrested on Friday morning and are facing possible jail time. Officers Sam Carter and Brent Curnow are facing felony counts of tampering with physical evidence, attempt to influence a public servant and forgery, as well as misdemeanour charges of unlawful taking of a trophy elk. They have both now resigned but investigations are continuing. The 2 had been on unpaid leave since their arrests on 9 charges, including killing an elk out of season and tampering with evidence.
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Serbian Animals Voice (SAV) 