Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)

On 14 May, thirty four of Britain’s best known companies received a Good Egg Award for committing to ditch the battery cage egg in favour of eggs from free-range, organic or barn kept hens.

http://www.ciwf.org.uk/good_egg_awards/english/default.aspx

They join the 70 EU companies which received Good Egg Awards last month in Paris

Wir zeichnen Unternehmen für den Umstieg auf Eier aus alternativen Haltungsformen aus

http://www.ciwf.org.uk/good_egg_awards/german/default.aspx

http://www.ciwf.org.uk/good_egg_awards/german/der_film_zum_preis/default.aspx

Tournez la page de l’élevage des poules en cage

http://www.ciwf.org.uk/good_egg_awards/french/default.aspx

http://www.ciwf.org.uk/good_egg_awards/french/le_film/default.aspx

Premiamo le aziende che usano solo uova non provenienti da allevamento in gabbia

http://www.ciwf.org.uk/good_egg_awards/italian/default.aspx

http://www.ciwf.org.uk/good_egg_awards/italian/pellicola/default.aspx

Premiando empresas que usan huevos de gallinas camperas o criadas en el suelo

http://www.ciwf.org.uk/good_egg_awards/spanish/default.aspx

http://www.ciwf.org.uk/good_egg_awards/spanish/pelicula/default.aspx

The EU is set to ban barren battery cages in 2012 due to public pressure and scientific evidence showing they are bad for the welfare of hens. However, ‘enriched’ and ‘colony’ cages will be allowed after 2012, which still seriously compromise laying hen welfare.

That’s why we’re celebrating cage-free egg sourcing. Hens in cage-free systems (organic, free-range or barn) lead a more natural life. They have more space to exercise, forage, perch, nest and dust-bathe. The best welfare potential can be offered by systems that provide outdoor access and tree cover which encourages hens to range and feel safe from aerial predators.

There are more than 300 million laying hens in the European Union. Around three quarters of them are currently housed in battery cages.

Chickens are complex creatures and display a wide range of behaviours. Some of these behaviours are particularly important for hen welfare such as nest-building, dust-bathing and perching. They also need to be able to stretch their wings and exercise.

Hens reared in barren battery cages in the EU spend their 13-month laying cycle in small barren cages with several other birds, stacked in rows several tiers high, in large windowless sheds.

They have too little space to exercise adequately and cannot fully stretch their wings. There is no litter for dust-bathing, no way to build a nest and no perch. Because of their breed modern laying hens often suffer from osteoporosis and bone fractures – a condition made worse by lack of exercise.

‘Housing systems should provide the possibility for hens to carry out activities which are behavioural priorities….[All systems for housing hens should provide sufficient space for walking, wing-flapping, and other activities necessary to maintain bone-strength and minimise risks of fracture. Certain behaviours, notably wing flapping and flying, are rarely or never observed in cages, even at low stocking densities… it seems that they are prevented by spatial restriction, even at allowances that exceed the current recommendation.’

European Commission’s Scientific Panel on Animal Health and Welfare

For a detailed analysis of the scientific evidence comparing the welfare implications of caged versus cage-free systems, look at our short scientific briefing ( 47.40KB), download our latest report ( 1420.84KB) or visit our laying hen welfare pages on our website.

Filed under: CAMPAIGNS - Global Animal Welfare Issues, GENERAL NEWS - International / National / Regional | Leave a comment »

  Boycott “Hurtful Essences” Shampoo 

*** May 16, 2009 is day of global boycott of P&G ***

For additional information see Uncaged’s site: http://www.hurtfulessences.org/

Uncaged Web Site:  http://www.uncaged.co.uk/

http://www.uncaged.co.uk/news/2008/west.htm

Despite claims from corporate giant Procter & Gamble (P&G) that it tests products on animals only as a last resort and only when required by law, published scientific papers show that P&G took an already approved ingredient in Herbal Essences shampoo – butylparaben – and force-fed it in massive doses to pregnant animals.

Click here to go straight to “What You Can Do”!

Evidence uncovered by the British animal rights group Uncaged shows that P&G force-fed butylparaben  – a preservative used for decades in personal care products – to pregnant rats to see if it harms their developing offspring.

The experiment killed 1,300 animals (100 pregnant mothers and their 1,200 newborns) subjecting the mothers to stressful force-feeding for approximately three weeks, after which they were killed in carbon dioxide gas chambers. Experimenters then removed the slowly dying babies from their mothers’ bodies and killed them.

Information on the safety of butylparaben, one of a class of products known as parabens, has already been amply demonstrated at least twenty years earlier. Many of the animals used by P&G for this experiment received massive doses of butylparaben, which, according to the researcher in charge of the study “far exceeds human exposure estimates.”

These tests are not required by any law, and detailed information on this ingredient has been widely available for many years.

IDA is joining with the British group, Uncaged, to support an international day of action to shed light on P&G’s unconscionable animal testing.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Use this form to contact Alan Lafley, P&G’s CEO to protest P&G’s animal tests.

You can use our automated message or send your own.

Tell them:

• You don’t believe their claim that they only test on animals “as a last resort” or “when required by law.”
• You have read the evidence presented by In Defense of Animals and Uncaged about butylparaben being force-fed to pregnant rats.
• You will not purchase Herbal Essences or any other P & G products until they stop testing their products on animals.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

You can go straight to this automated form, or use the contact info below:

CALL-IN: 513-983-1100
FAX: 513-983-9369, 513-983-4381
WEBMAIL: pg.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/pg.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php
EMAIL: comments.im@pg.com

POSTAL MAIL:

Mr. A.G. Lafley, Chairman & CEO
Procter & Gamble
One Procter & Gamble Plaza; Cincinnati, OH 45202

You can also contact Mary Woods, in charge of Herbal Essences in their Corporate External Relations Department: Woods.mj@pg.com

For additional information see Uncaged’s site: http://www.hurtfulessences.org/

In Defense of Animals, located in San Rafael, Calif., is an international animal protection organization with more than 85,000 members and supporters dedicated to ending the abuse and exploitation of animals by protecting their rights and welfare. IDA’s efforts include educational events, cruelty investigations, boycotts, grassroots activism, and hands-on rescue through our sanctuaries in Mississippi, Mumbai, India, and Cameroon, Africa.

In Defense of Animals is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization. We welcome your feedback and appreciate your donations. Please join today! All donations to IDA are tax-deductible.

In Defense of Animals
3010 Kerner, San Rafael, CA 94901
Tel. (415) 448-0048 Fax (415) 454-1031
idainfo@idausa.org

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PETA

There’s been a huge victory for seals today! Thanks to the tireless efforts of members and supporters, PETA has scored a major victory for baby seals who have their heads bashed in or are shot for their skins in Canada’s annual massacre on ice.

Following our campaign, in which compassionate members and supporters sent more than 100,000 letters and emails to their Members of European Parliament (MEP) urging them to vote for a ban in the EU on seal fur products from Canada, the MEPs have voted in favour of seals, recognizing that these “hunts” can never be humane. The ban sends a resounding message to the Canadian government that this bloody massacre must stop once and for all and that the world will not stand by as baby seals are bludgeoned to death in front of their wailing mothers for a product that no one needs.

The world is demanding an end to the slaughter. But the massacre is not over, and seals still need your help.

All eyes are on Canada as it prepares to host the 2010 Winter Olympics. Now is the time to demand that the Canadian government hear the worldwide call to stop this bloody massacre of seals.

For people who have not taken action: Please seize this opportunity to urge Prime Minister Stephen Harper to use his clout to help stop the slaughter. 

For all you’ve already done – and will do – to help with this historic campaign, thank you.

Kind regards,

Ingrid E Newkirk
Founder

—————————

HSUS

Today is a day to celebrate. The European Union has slammed shut the door on trade in the products of the commercial seal slaughter.

The Canadian government used every trick in the book to try to derail the ban: massive lobbying, misinformation, and even threats of trade reprisals. But the EU stood its ground and honored its citizens’ opposition to this trade in cruelty. By doing so, the EU has saved millions of seals from a horrible fate.

Every year, the ProtectSeals team has endured hazardous conditions to document the seal hunt. We are committed to showing the world that the Canadian government is lying when it claims that the hunt is humane.

On our trips to the ice, the ProtectSeals team has brought key opinion shapers such as Paul McCartney and Swedish Member of the European Parliament Carl Schlyter. After their trips, neither has wavered in speaking out against the hunt. Shortly after his trip to the ice, Schlyter drafted the first version of today’s EU ban. Our hunt footage was directly responsible for convincing the rest of the EU to agree to the ban. It gives me enormous satisfaction to know that we haven’t just documented the hunt, we have made history.

What Does It Mean?

This is the beginning of the end for the Canadian seal hunt. The Canadian government estimates that losing this primary market will cost Canada’s sealing industry $6.6 million (CAD) each year. The hunt brought in less than $7 million last year. It’s not hard to do the math.

Just the promise of an EU ban was enough to drive the prices for seal fur down to $15 (CAD) per skin — a decline of 86 percent since 2006. As a result, many sealers stayed home. Out of this year’s quota of 280,000 harp seals, fewer than 60,000 have been killed so far.

Now that the EU has banned its trade in seal products, countless more seals will live their lives in peace from this year forward.

What’s Next?

Canadian seal hunt supporters won’t give up just yet. With government subsidies still in hand, the sealing industry will be chasing down new markets. The ProtectSeals campaign is working to convince all targeted nations to follow the EU’s example.

We’re keeping the pressure on the Canadian fishing industry and government with the global boycott of Canadian seafood products. Since the boycott began, the Canadian fishing industry has suffered a $750 million (CAD) drop in the value of snow crab exports alone to the United States.

Canadian Senator Mac Harb has introduced his nation’s first bill to end the hunt. The ProtectSeals campaign is striving to convince other members of Canada’s Parliament to support the bill.

Yes, there is still much to do — and if you’d like to help, please visit humanesociety.org/protectseals to learn how.

But for the moment, please join me in celebrating this historic victory. Thank you for fighting alongside me to make this day possible. The seals could not ask for stronger allies.

Sincerely,

Rebecca Aldworth
Director of Canadian Wildlife Issues
The Humane Society of the United States

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