Posted on May 8, 2017 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
SAV Comment
Hopefully the election on 9/5 will be a very positive move for national animal welfare.
What a pity that governments in nations such as Serbia still cannot accept that policy that sterilisation is the forward way to reduce stray animal numbers.
South Korea knows the way forward – does Serbia ? – uhm – NO
Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party of Korea plays with a dog at an animal park in Seoul, April 15.
South Korea will elect a new president on 9/5/17.
Each candidate has acknowledged the plight of animals, and the desperate need for improvement.
The Korea Herald reported, “All major candidates have incorporated animal welfare issues — from tougher punishment for animal abuse to a cut in medical costs — into their official platform to woo the growing number of animal lovers in the country.”
Will they do anything about the horrors of the dog and cat meat trade? That remains to be seen. But what we do know is your voice is being heard. Your pressure, and your support of brave advocates within Korea is having an impact, even on presidential candidates.
Yes, complete eradication of the hellish Dog and Cat meat trade is a long road for us. Stay involved! Keep up the pressure! And we will see that day!
You are making a difference!
Click HERE to see the Article- Korea Herald, Who will be the president for animals?
Or read the full article below:
[Election 2017] Who will be president for animals?
Major candidates vow phasing out dog meat consumption
Published : 2017-05-05 14:04 Updated : 2017-05-08 11:27
In this year’s presidential election, there is good news for pet lovers.
Presidential hopefuls may differ on their political ideologies, but they have all promised a better life for animals. All major candidates have incorporated animal welfare issues — from tougher punishment for animal abuse to a cut in medical costs — into their official platform to woo the growing number of animal lovers in the country.
According to government data, 21.8 percent of the South Korean households — about 10 million people — lived with a companion animal as of 2015. The pet industry was worth 1.8 trillion won ($1.58 billion) in 2015, and is expected to grow threefold by 2020 at the current pace.
One of the most contentious issues is a ban on dog meat consumption. The majority of South Koreans now reject dog meat, but it is still consumed especially among older generations in summer, in accordance with the belief it can restore vitality. The country may be slowly moving away from dog eating. The Seongnam City government in December decided to close the country’s biggest dog market, Moran Market, just south of Seoul, which had been home to 22 dog meat suppliers.
Presidential candidates did not specifically include a prohibition on dog meat consumption in their official manifestos, but some promised to ban it in stages. Asked by six local animal rights groups, three candidates — Ahn Cheol-soo of the centrist People’s Party, Yoo Seong-min of the conservative splinter Bareun Party and Sim Sang-jeung of the minor Justice Party — promised to phase out dog meat trade.
Front-runner Moon Jae-in of the liberal Democratic Party Korea reserved his answer, though his camp earlier agreed to forbid it in stages when asked by local daily Hankook Ilbo.
Conservative firebrand Hong Joon-pyo of the far-right Liberty Korea Party did not answer. He only promised to better manage conditions at dog farms.
The presidential hopefuls also laid out other plans to improve animal welfare. Moon, a pet owner himself, raising one dog and two cats, promised to set up more playgrounds for pets, promote adoption of abandoned animals and standardize medical costs for animals. He also vowed to establish more feeding facilities for feral cats and expand free spaying and neutering to keep their numbers under control.
“I will set up bodies committed to protecting animals in central and regional governments and push for a comprehensive animal welfare plan as a key policy,” he said at a playground for pets at Seoul World Cup Stadium.
Moon had also included animal welfare pledges in his election manifesto in 2012 during his first bid for the presidency. Government statistics show an estimated 80,000 dogs are ditched by their owners each year, with animal rights activists expecting the actual figure to be higher considering dogs not reported.
Ahn, who has consistently polled in second, vowed to standardize medical costs for pets, impose toughened punishments for animal abusers and make the process of breeding, transporting and selling animals more transparent. He also said he will stipulate animals as “living creatures” by civil law and reduce abandoned animals by 30 percent by 2022. “I oppose dog meat consumption. It should be banned in phases. I will persuade stakeholders in the dog meat industry (to give it up) and lead them to find other ways,” he said in a meeting with animal advocacy groups.
Hong, who has closely trailed Ahn, said he will discard the value-added taxes in the medical costs for pets to reduce the financial burden on pet owners and add a clause protecting animals in the Constitution.
Yoo pledged to step up monitoring on abandonment of animals, offer subsidies for animal vaccination to low-income families and standardize the medical costs. He is the only candidate who has promised to root out the “illegal operation of dog farms” via his official election platform. He also opposes the country’s culture of eating dog.
Sim vowed to revise the Animal Protection Act, which regards animals as property, and include animal rights in the Constitution. She is the only contender to use the term “animal rights” in her election manifesto. She has also said she would make it mandatory to register pets, ban the use of restrictive cages in animal farms for the next 10 years, increase the number of quarantine experts to curtail animal diseases and set up crematoriums for animals.
South Korea has frequently seen outbreaks of animal diseases such as bird flu and foot and mouth, which has led to the massive slaughter of both non-infected and infected animals. Lee Won-bok, head of the Korea Association for Animal Protection, said the group is pleased candidates have promised better protection for animals as part of their election platform.
“But the pledges lack specific goals and plans for implementation,” he said. “They are also too focused on pets, failing to cover wild animals, farm animals or animals used for experimentation.”
Posted on May 5, 2017 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
We are trying to get a feel from you as to how we work campaigns in the future. We will continue to cover issues of major importance wherever they are in the world, but we want feedback on where you think we should concentrate our efforts more.
The USA is taking a major downward spiral under President Trump when it comes to animals and environment; but it does not mean that we stop promoting the great work of many organisations who have been fighting for animals for years.
Also, there is a lot of good news and progress for animals coming out of the Far East, especially in locations such as China and South Korea. Things are not perfect at all, but many groups are working hard to make things a lot better, so should we support them more ?. South Korea has elections on 9/5 which could see major positive changes in the dog meat trade.
We (SAV) feel very positive about the Far East when it comes to animal welfare improvements. We cannot say the same about the attitude of new leaders in some other places.
Please respond to the short poll below so that we at least get some feedback on how you feel.
The system only allows a week for responses; so please take part soon.
Thanks – SAV.
If you want to leave more comments, then please use the ‘Contact Us’ tab at the top and give us more on your views. We would like to know your view – please take part.
Posted on May 3, 2017 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
SAV Comment –
It is great to see the work and campaigning undertaken on the streets by so many Chinese animal welfare groups. We support them in every way and by posting the positive video below, we hope to show the world that positive moves for animals are really happening in China now. Keep up the campaigning – direct action works !
The following is reproduced from the South China Morning Post –
China’s growing animal rights movement is making its voice heard.
China is the only major industrialised nation without major legislation against animal cruelty, but a growing number of campaigners hope to change this.
Wearing fake fur animal suits, chains and masks, the men, women and children – members of Freedom for Animal Actors (FAA) – protest outside the Beijing Workers’ Stadium. “I’m a monkey, chained, starved and beaten to learn to perform unnatural tricks. If you love me, don’t see my performance,” they chant in the video, as they try to deter people from attending a circus in the stadium.
FAA is one of a growing number of grass-roots animal welfare groups sprouting up on the mainland, where the scene is very different from the one recalled by Jill Robinson, founder of Hong Kong-based Animals Asia.
“When I first came to China in 1985, there was only one animal welfare organisation in the country. Today there are hundreds,” says Robinson, who set up Hong kong-based Animals Asia in 1988 and has since rescued more than 500 bears – kept for harvesting bile, used in traditional medicine – from farms in China and Vietnam.
Robinson says it’s vital that the hard work of welfare groups on the mainland is not overlooked amid the barrage of negative images spread worldwide on social media, from dogs crammed into cages waiting to be eaten at the annual Yulin dog meat festival, live rabbits having their fur torn off, cats skinned and cooked alive, and the Asiatic black bears she has worked to free, to a lone polar bear trapped in a shopping mall in Guangzhou, and live fish and reptiles sealed in plastic pouches and sold as keyrings. The list goes on.
“The people of China are often the recipients of criticism from around the world when it comes to animal welfare. But there is an enormous and growing movement of animal activists in China today.”
Animals Asia’s welfare director Dave Neale agrees, and says groups such as the FAA will change hearts and minds on the mainland.
Posted on May 3, 2017 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
There may be some changes to this site in the near future.We are currently consulting with a few contacts as to a way forward for the site.With the situation regarding a new President in the USA, who gives the green light to all animal and environmental destruction; we are looking possibly at focussing our attention more to positives in the Far East, and their associated campaigns, rather than the utterly negative attitude that has been brought around by the Trump administration.We cover one aspect of this a little further into this post.
Here is what Jamie Rappaport Clark,President of (USA) Defenders of Wildlife has to say today, 3/5/17:
Dear Mark,
I don’t know what to say. The first 100 days of the Trump administration were nothing short of a disaster for wildlife.
In just over three months in office, the Trump administration and anti-conservation forces in Congress have laid waste to our collective and widely popular protections for preserving our nation’s wildlife, wild lands and waters.
With every new Executive Order or bill in Congress, I have been shocked by what is undeniably the most anti-wildlife, anti-environment administration I’ve seen in my lifetime. Not only does it defy my understanding, but these attacks and actions overtly and unabashedly defy science, facts and reason.
The first 100 days of the Trump administration have included:
President Trump’s approval of Congress’ action rescinding the Alaska National Wildlife Refuges Rule, potentially allowing for extreme killing methods like shooting mother bears with cubs and killing wolves with pups during denning season on national wildlife refuges in Alaska;
An Executive Order undermining the Antiquities Act and opening more than a billion acres of protected national monuments up for review in the interest of allowing oil and gas industries and other special interests broader access to public lands;
An Executive Order calling for construction of a U.S.-Mexico border wall that could jeopardize the existence of at least 89 endangered or threatened species and 108 migratory bird species;
An Executive Order to “review and reconsider” the Clean Water Rule and putting our national health at risk; and
An Executive Order instructing the Department of the Interior to “review” offshore drilling restrictions in the Arctic, Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
And these are only a FEW examples of the many terrifying actions we’ve seen by this administration.
Back to me;
The US Presidency has very sadly become a family type business run for the benefit of the Trump family and not for American citizens – certainly not the common man.He spouts off during campaigns about ‘making America great again’, whilst at the same time daughter Ivanka (behind the scenes) is importing 53.5 tonnes of clothes for her own clothing label into the US – from China ! – see for yourself below.Where did he get the words ‘Buy American and Hire American’ from – part of his campaign slogan ???
Information shows that more than 1,200 shipments of Trump-branded products have flowed into the US from China and Hong Kong over the past decade. Nordstrum stores decided to drop the Ivanka Trump label; but Presidential ‘spokesperson’ Sean Spicer declared the action was a ‘direct attack’ on the Presidents policy of buy and hire American.Strange that, eh ? – what’s ‘hire American’ when you import goods from China ?
What is next ? – a sell off of US national monuments which it is claimed will return the land to the people.Possibly though this will enable certain Republican led States to sell off public land for industry such as mining and water.And who we ask will benefit from handing over public areas of outstanding natural beauty to the mining industry ? – lets think and hazard a guess – Mr Trumps friends and business partners ?
If ‘buy and hire American’ actually means importing products and services from China, then maybe we need to adopt a similar policy at SAV.We are not in business of any kind; but maybe we should now address the positives happening in the Far East rather than the negatives in America of what has happened since the Trump inauguration and the huge negatives with US animal welfare issues.America elected Trump; now America has to respond to the actions.Why should people such as us in the UK contribute (as we have done many times in the past) into ‘fighting funds’ enacted by groups in the US to fight various negative actions on nature, animals and environmental destruction ? – I have had many brilliant times visiting and enjoying places of natural beauty in the USA in the past; and the thought that a businessman cum President will now hand these wonderful lands over to mining companies etc to exploit for nothing but profit and financial gain fills me with dread.I am not prepared to financially support campaigns to act against Trump policy – there are loads of issues in the UK and EU that I can put my money into.America voted him in, now let America take the actions necessary to change things.Also I ask; for example, what exactly, or who exactly, will benefit from little bear cubs now being allowed to be slaughtered in their hibernation dens in accordance with new legislation ? – what exactly is the purpose of this and more importantly; the question that America should really ask; who exactly will benefit from this new action by Trump ?
Also; who exactly will benefit from ‘Ag Gag’; I guess that it is industry and financial lobbyists who wish to keep their abuses of animals on factory farms and in slaughterhouses under wraps.The public must not see this; or the undercover journalists and investigators trying to expose bad issues to the public will pay for their work and exposure of such by being handed down prison sentences, whilst the abuses and the abusers can continue with their work without worry.Sad, worrying and very ‘big brother’; I say no more.
Fortunately, the Far East now shows quite a lot of positive signs that it is moving forward with regard to better animal welfare legislation.Hopefully the new elections in South Korea on 9/5 will greatly improve this even more and set a positive precedent for the dog meat trade in the Far East.As for the USA, what can you say about the election of Trump ? – apart from basically negative for almost everything except business and status that involves his personal family.He gives not a damn about anything but his status and making money – to hell with the rest.
Maybe now SAV will look for and report more on the hopes and positives in the Far East rather than all the negative and damaging environmental / animal welfare news that we witness each and every day in the USA.Will the Trump actions make America great again ? – I think we know the answer to this already, but we wait and see – time and responses will tell.
The election of President Trump in the USA now causes many of us in the welfare movement to question exactly what his intentions are in relation to certain actions that we have already seen being scrapped and scrubbed by the stoke of his pen, whilst proudly displaying the executive orders across tv screens like some child waiting for praise from a parent and having a copy stuck on the fridge door.
Within the first two weeks of his administration, many thousands of documents detailing animal welfare violations nationwide across the USA have been removed from the website of the United States Department of Agriculture, or USDA, which has been posting such violations publicly for many decades. In doing such, and by hiding online records of animal welfare violations, the USDA national agency robs investigators, journalists, and the public of information— whilst at the same time taking pressure off of animal abusers. The records which have now been removed from view have revealed the many cases of abuse and mistreatment of animals, national incidents that, if the reports had not been publicly posted, would likely have remained hidden – thus allowing animal suffering and the cruelties associated with it to remain hidden. Ag Gag for sure !Many good people and organisations have now been plunged into the dark about animal welfare issues at facilities across the country thanks to the sweeping pen of Mr. Trump.
Countless cases of animal cruelty have been removed, and what would appear to be the actions and identities of abusive companies have been hidden. It should be the case with the national government that US citizens deserve more transparency and accountability, not less as is being shown under the Trump administration.
Reasoning has to be questioned.The USDA has long redacted sensitive information from these records; so it is not as if something new has now been eradicated from service.Mr. Dan Ashe, head of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, and also the former director of the (US) Fish and Wildlife Service; says the USDA’s removal of records is “not in the interest of credible, legitimate animal care facilities. What this action does is it erodes public confidence, because when people see something like that, they’re inclined, rightfully, to think that the government is trying to shield something from their view.”
What is President Trump trying to shield from public view by his actions ?; one has to ask.What is the true reasoning behind such actions ? – one has to think that money comes into the equation somewhere; scratch back favours for industry, political party donors and the rest who want it played and kept ‘their way’.
Mr Adam Roberts, Chief Exec of Born Free USA, associated with the Born Free Foundation originally created here in the UK, is “shocked” by the purge. He declares correctly that the documents originally shone a light on cruelty in “substandard roadside zoos, shameful animal circuses, puppy breeding factories and more.” He says “the government’s (Trump) decision to make it harder to access this information still further protects animal exploiters in the shroud of secrecy on which their nefarious activities thrive.” – Worrying !
From now on the documents will only be accessible via official requests made under the Freedom of Information Act, or FOI. FOI requests can take months to process; and also, many citizens will not be bothered to undertake FOI requests for information that used to be available to them at the strike of a computer button.
Mr. Roberts says that whenever Born Free receives welfare complaints from concerned citizens, the organization always checked USDA records to see if any complaints had already been made involving the facility or animal(s) in question. Waiting months now for a FOI report for information that previously could be obtained with the click of a button “may mean prolonged suffering for an animal or animals in need,” he declares.We at SAV support his views 100%.
In response to the Trump actions, animal-rights groups have since launched a counter attack. On February 6, the Humane Society of the United States initiated legal action against the USDA, arguing that the removal of records violates a 2009 settlement between the two parties. Other groups, including PETA, the Physicians Committee For Responsible Medicine, as well as Born Free USA, have filed a joint lawsuit against the USDA, arguing that by removing this data, the department is in violation of FOI and that the action hinders the groups’ ability to identify violations of the Animal Welfare Act. As far as we are currently aware, the USDA has yet to respond to either legal action.
As legal battles over access to information gather momentum, the impact on professional journalism, and consequently the public’s awareness of any national animal suffering, will be keenly felt. Mr Doug Haddix, Executive Director of Investigative Reporters and Editors, based in Columbia, Missouri; declares that the added burden of animal requests could slow FOIAs down even more.
By doing this, there is a clear destruction of belief and trust in a government service; instead it could be said that public trust in a US service intended for use by the US public has been destroyed in the swipe of a pen by a new president named Trump – the person who preached that he would make America great again.These actions do nothing for the ‘great again’; far from it. Many questions about policy are now being asked right across the EU and the rest of the world.Access to public data and documents should not be for the privileged few; and anyone concerned about both responsible and transparent government in the United States should be alarmed by the actions of Trump and the USDA; and what is now happening in the USA as a whole.
I got a lot of videos and news with photos in the last week.
All documented, as always, an incomprehensible suffering. The suffering of the animals.
A video made me particularly busy.
The video with the documentation of sheep and lambs.
In this documentation you can see how man has reached the lowest biological level and has developed into a piece of shit.
So I call someone, a piece of shit, which separates the still unborn embryo from the still living body of its mother and throws it on the ground.
Animal rights activists are often given the title of misanthrope, when they call animal criminals sadists, psychopaths, mental-murderers.
These are the philanthropists against misanthropes.
We live in a society of the so-called philanthropists.
The first rule of philanthropy is to love people.
No matter what they are: butchers, slaughterhouse workers, experimenters, furry owners, hunters, animal cruelties … all this is people you must love.
When I look at the following photos with the massacred animals and their executioners, I immediately think of the “philanthropists”!!
Everyone who has their hands full of the blood of animals, as first- or second hand animal-torturers, all of which are the “philanthropists”, that is, someone who pretends to love his fellow human beings.
As soon as someone denies this “man” the title of man, one is a misanthrope.
As soon as one criticizes and detests the whole society (with very few exceptions) as a perpetrators society, one is even a radical misanthrope!!
After this last video and many other videos I saw during my fight for the rights of the animals, I can say: my fellow men have done everything so I hate them.
It is not just the first-hand animal cruelties that force me into this hatred,; it is a whole sick society that grows with every day, and with it animal brethren, sadism, the brutal exploitation of the animals.
A society that has long since become the bearer of fascism against the weak.
This society deserves my hatred.
Posted on April 28, 2017 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
SAV Comment – We had no idea that SOI founder Gill had passed away recently – see more below.
Our heart goes out to John with the loss of his wife. Despite all his grief, he is fighting and working so hard for the dogs. As a tribute to the amazing work that Gill did during her life, we ask everyone to now please consider at least sponsoring, if not adopting a dog from SOI in her memory. Every dog saved by SOI is a dog that does NOT go into the dog meat trade – simple as that.
Thank you Gill for your dedication to all our canine friends.
Twinnsie – Latest photo Above – old pictures below.
What a beautiful girl !
Below is a new message from our adoptive doggie – Twinnsie
Dear Mark,
Hi, it is Twinnsie your sponsor dog! I am just getting in touch with the latest update on my life at the shelter. I continue to make good progress but I am still a little bit shy in my enclosure and will hide away if I do not know you. Once I get to know you and trust you though, I will happily let you take me for a walk!
I can be a little bit tense on my walks but the longer I am out, the more this goes away. Sometimes I stop and will lie down and refuse to walk further. All you have to do is wait a bit and I will soon decide to start walking again. After my walks, I am quite happy to head back to my enclosure, where I have a big drink of water and then relax with my doggy friends. I still have some work to do on my trust issues but meanwhile, I am being well cared for here at the shelter.
Thank you for sponsoring me!
That is all the news on me for now; let me tell you about what has been happening at the shelter.
Everyone, both human and animal, has been very sad lately as we recently lost our momma and Soi Dog co-founder Gill Dalley, who passed away after a short battle with cancer. Everyone misses her so very much but I know that all the humans here will carry on saving animals just as she would have wanted. Last December was a record month for visitors to the shelter, with 520 people visiting and 42 volunteers passing through and spending time with all of us. Although some of us are shyer than others, even the timid animals are curious about all the people who come to visit.
There were recently some new enclosures built to house more survivors of the horrible dog meat trade. There was huge excitement a few months ago when 60 dogs rescued from the dog meat trade arrived at the shelter. They had been living at another Soi Dog-funded shelter in north-east Thailand and this move was their first step on their journey to forever homes in the U.S. and Canada. Soi Dog now has a big network of partner rescue organisations that help to re-home the survivors of the dog meat trade. In addition to the new enclosures, extended sun shades were built in all the enclosures. We also have a brand new dog-walking area. This is very popular with all of us who enjoy our walks and one-on-one time with the volunteers. We have recently said goodbye to a lot of friends; 86 dogs and cats have found their forever homes so far in 2017. So many have found wonderful families all over the world in places like Europe, Canada and the U.S. It is sad to say goodbye but we are so happy for the future that lies ahead for them. We hope that one day we too will have that same chance.
Until then, I know I am safe and loved here at the Soi Dog shelter and that is all thanks to you sponsoring my care. Thank you again for doing that for me, I will write again soon.
Serbian Animals Voice (SAV) 