Posted on April 25, 2018 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
Armed men stretch down one dog after another.
These are footage taken last week in the Moroccan city of Agadir. The reason for the shooting of the dogs is an upcoming visit from the FIFA, where the city should deliver a good picture. Namely, Morocco wants the 2026 World Cup to be held in the North African country.
The country has to prevail against its competitors Canada, Mexico and the USA. In the past, Morocco had already applied four times without success.
The killing of stray dogs in the run-up to such a spectacular football tournament had already caused massive horror internationally in the run-up to the European Championship in Ukraine in the Ukraine.
The protest was so strong that UEFA intervened and declared that it had never called for animals to be killed for the European Championship. “We respect the dignity of the animals and will continue to appeal to the authorities to do the same,” it said in a statement. The European Football Association donated a large sum to an initiative that castrates the animals and suspends them again. The Ukrainian government reacted to the many negative headlines back then. It imposed a killing ban and threatened with harsh penalties for animal abusers.
Whether Morocco really does a favor with killing the street dogs remains more than questionable. Especially since the competitors USA (1994) and Mexico (1970 and 1986) are given better chances to win anyway because of their experience in conducting such tournaments – and Canada, even if it is not considered an outstanding football nation, after all, on a broad infrastructure modern and World Cup-compatible sports facilities.
Nevertheless, I would like to categorize this criminal behavior of the Moroccans as follows: Morocco is a poor country and therefore cannot compete with the other competitors, USA, Mexico and Canada.
I do not mean that this country does not have the necessary infrastructure to run for office to win for the World Cup 26.
I mean, only rich countries have a chance to get to the top of the game with corruption and bribes. The visit from FIFA causes a massacre for the animals, but that will not help if Morocco would eliminate even all the strays of the country.
Because for FIFA is not crucial, how many millions of strays has the country but how many millions of dollars the country can pay for bribes, in order to get the first place for World Cup 2026!
From the link I enclose, everyone can read a lot about FIFA’s corrupt activities.
Posted on April 24, 2018 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
Tell Castle’s Bears to End Demeaning Tricks and Release Bears to Sanctuaries
Bears don’t ride bicycles, do handstands, or balance on balls in nature.
Yet Castle’s Bears dresses them in ridiculous costumes, muzzles them, yanks them around on leashes, and forces them to perform demeaning and possibly painful tricks for many Shrine circuses.
Instead of roaming, swimming, and foraging in the wild, the bears at Castle’s Bears are forced to perform demeaning tricks such as riding bicycles, doing handstands, and balancing on balls.
Last year, one was filmed urinating in apparent distress when forced to walk on his or her front legs.
Please join us in urging Castle’s Bears to release the bears to reputable sanctuaries.
Posted on April 23, 2018 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
The photo provided by the bear conservation organization Arcturos, shows the little brown bear Luigi. The animal was found on a road in the mountainous region of Pindos
and was taken by the bear conservation organization Arcturos near Nymfaion.
ATHENS. A Greek car driver has saved the life of a few months old orphaned brown bear. “Luigi” is now being fed by a bear conservation organization.
The animal was found a few days ago on a road in the mountainous region of Pindos in northwestern Greece and was taken up by the bear conservation organization Arcturos near Nymfaion. “The little one is fine now. We have fed him up, “said the spokesman for Arcturos, Panos Stefanou, on Wednesday the German Press Agency.
The little bear already has a name. “He likes to play with balls, so we named him after the name of the famous Italian goalkeeper Luigi,” said Stefanou, looking at Gianluigi Buffon of Juventus.
The wildlife conservation organization released a video of the little Luigi.
Arcturos has saved dozens of bears in recent decades. There are currently 21 bears under the protection of the organization. (AP)
Posted on April 23, 2018 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
June 10th, 2018 — that’s Dooms Day for the fin whales off the coast of Iceland.
That’s because, after a two-year respite, Hvalur, inc – the Icelandic whaling company has given notice that it has begun preparations for whaling season and will commence hunting this summer.
Fin whales are an endangered marine mammal, and while some species might be regionally in jeopardy, the fin whale is at risk of being hunted to extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range.
That’s why it is extremely baffling that Iceland, one of the most progressive nations on Earth, would allow one of its companies. Hvalur, Inc is responsible for the agonizing death of countless. The innocent mammals are harpooned, dragged in and then secured to the side of the ship. If they aren’t already dead, they must endure an excruciating trip back to shore before they are finally butchered and sent off to Japan for consumption.
Altogether, some 200 whales could meet be murdered if Iceland doesn’t ban this barbaric practice.
Ask Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir to do what is right. Sign the petition and ask Iceland to put an end to whaling now.
Earth Day is now a global event each year, and we believe that more than 1 billion people in 192 countries now take part in what is the largest civic-focused day of action in the world.
It is a day of political action and civic participation. People march, sign petitions, meet with their elected officials, plant trees, clean up their towns and roads. Corporations and governments use it to make pledges and announce sustainability measures. Faith leaders, including Pope Francis, connect Earth Day with protecting God’s greatest creations, humans, biodiversity and the planet that we all live on.
Plastic straws and cotton buds could be banned in England as part of the government’s bid to cut plastic waste.
Ministers pointed to one estimate that 8.5bn plastic straws were thrown away in the UK every year.
The prime minister said plastic waste was “one of the greatest environmental challenges facing the world”.
And Theresa May will urge leaders at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, which began earlier, to follow the UK’s lead in tackling the problem.
The Queen has formally opened the summit at an event at Buckingham Palace attended by prime ministers and presidents from the 53 states that make up the organisation.
It comes as 60 UK music festivals, including Bestival in Dorset and Boomtown in Hampshire, have said they will ban plastic straws at their events this summer.
Bestival’s co-founder Rob Da Bank said they were “leading the global charge against unnecessary plastic”, as the group of festivals also pledged to eliminate all single-use plastic by 2021.
Environment Secretary Michael Gove, who trailed the idea of banning plastic straws in February, will launch the consultation later this year.
“We’re going to consult on what the best way is in order to get rid of straws, get rid of stirrers and also get rid of plastic stemmed cotton buds that we use so many of,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“It’s a worldwide emergency – that’s why we’re choosing to act. It’s also why we’re working with other Commonwealth countries.”
Member countries
Fifty three countries are members of the Commonwealth. Our countries span Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe and the Pacific and are diverse – they are amongst the world’s largest, smallest, richest and poorest countries. Thirty-one of our members are classified as small states – countries with a population size of 1.5 million people or less and larger member states that share similar characteristics with them.
All members subscribe to the Commonwealth’s values and principles outlined in The Commonwealth Charter.
Leaders of member countries shape Commonwealth policies and priorities. Every two years, they meet to discuss issues affecting the Commonwealth and the wider world at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
All members have an equal say – regardless of size or economic stature. This ensures even the smallest member countries have a voice in shaping the Commonwealth.
Posted on April 19, 2018 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
UPDATE 20/4/18
Further to our post and the letter to the OIE below, we would like to offer our thanks to animal supporters who have supported our issue by copying and sending additional copies of the letter to the OIE and others. This has come as a surprise to us, but we very much welcome the additional support.
Thanks go to the following campaigners for supporting us:
Chantal Buslot – Belgium
SANG
Maria Schneider, – Germany
Anneke Andries, – Netherlands
Hennie Oosterman; David Weisman; Susan van Ockelen; Jeanet Verweij; Miranda van Ittersum; – Netherlands.
Jean S.; Armand Beaufort; Lisette G.; Aurelie B.; Cheryl Minottes; – France.
Yvonne Suters; Inge Schroeder; Wolfgang Beckingen; Mireille Dautz; – Germany.
Tina Bartels; John Summers; Henry T.; Vickey Osborn; Teddy Miller; – United Kingdom.
Amanda Fields; Jurgen Sorens; Rita Suffolk; Mary Dalton; Joseph Pritchard; Kimberley Fields; – USA.
Simon Sears; Beverly Woods; Anita Brewer; Daniel Russell; Petra Stafford; – Australia.
Andrea Sreiber – Serbia
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Hi all; this is Mark;
First; there have not been many posts on the site recently, and I apologize for this.
The reason is that we have been very busy re Serbian animal campaigning – I will try to cover what we have been doing as quickly as I can; with additional attachments as necessary.
Overview – Both the Serbian government / authorities have a illegal approach to (stray) dog and cat management which is completely different to us. We work within the law and try to promote it; they work against the law. You can read more about Serbian animal law at https://serbiananimalsvoice.com/about-serbian-animals/ which is on our site.
So; time again for another gripe in speaking out for animals in Serbia. The OIE – or ‘World Organisation for Animal Health’ (Health ??) has a website which can be viewed at http://www.oie.int/ The attitude of the OIE in the Balkans has been very much one of allowing stray dogs to be killed under the guise of ‘disease control’. Naturally, this works perfectly for the Serbian government and regional authorities who wish to kill off as many strays as the can – and reap the financial rewards that are associated with doing this.
Our view, which is supported by Serbian law, is different. We do not feel that healthy stray animals should be murdered just to comply with the term ‘disease control’. As you can read in https://serbiananimalsvoice.com/about-serbian-animals/ since 2005 there have been national (Serbian) laws which should give the right of life and protection to stray animals. Despite being ‘law’; the government and authorities have ignored our suggestions of a national sterilisation approach which would gradually reduce stray animal numbers; in favour of an attitude of killing as many strays as they can. This works in several ways in their favour – they get a ‘head count’ financial reward for every animal which they kill (up to 500 Euros per animal); and by not sterilising as we suggest; they have a continual source of new strays on the streets to catch and kill for this financial ‘bounty’. Some people may thus be getting very rich financially our of adopting this attitude; we have a tendency to call it ‘corruption’.
Ok; so now we need to give people the facts. Slavica has worked brilliantly hard to draft out a letter re this issue. We have then taken this draft and attempted to make it read better English. Slavica’s letter defined all the legal Serbian legislation with regard to the supposed ‘protection’ of Serbian strays – ie what the Serbian law says on paper and which the courts should work to re legal issues. We took the letter further by making suggestions of the ‘rule of law’ which is required to be shown by any member state wishing to join the EU. Serbia is one such country; it is currently an EU ‘Candidate Country’ applying for EU membership.
The EU ‘rule of law’ issue is an important one; as it requires that any state seeking EU membership needs to show / prove that it is enforcing all of its own national laws. If it cannot do this, then effectively EU membership should not be permitted. As we have always shown since the foundation of SAV back around 2005; Serbia has been NON Compliant with Serbian law regarding the treatment of stray animals. So, this new letter needed to make this clear.
A formal letter was produced which has now been presented to the Serbian government. Copies have also been provided to the EU ‘Enlargement Commission’ who are responsible for new member states. We suggested in our review of the draft that certain contacts at the EU dealing specifically with the ‘rule of law’ be informed of this current situation of non compliance. This has been done.
You can see a full copy of Slavica’s letter here – along with an additional copy of the letter which has been presented by the ‘No Kill Coalition’ who are based in the capital of Serbia; Belgrade.
So, here we now have it. A formal letter of the current situation for Serbian animals and the non compliances with existing Serbian laws sent to all those who should be informed of the situation; and this includes the OIE.
In an additional way, via Slavica also, we have today (19/4) been provided with a copy of the formal EU Progress report for 2018 in relation to Serbia.
A copy to this is given here if you wish to review:
This official report from the EU on the situation in Serbia is not especially good, and in many ways backs up what we have been saying for many years especially with regard to corruption.
On pages 20 and 21 there is a lot which shows that corruption is still prevalent within Serbia, which comes as no surprise to us. The EU had made several suggestions to attack this; and hopefully we would like to see actions regarding animal welfare get involved with this anti corruption policy.
Now that all the evidence has been provided to both the Serbian government, and more importantly, the ‘rule of law’ enforcement personnel in the EU; we can only hope that the evidence and non compliance with national legislation will work in favour of the animals in the future.
Who knows, we may even see the day come that we have campaigned for over so many years – the day when national stray sterilisation, vaccination and microchipping takes priority over the corrupt and money making attitude of many officials who simply want to undertake a stray dog kill approach as we are currently experiencing.
Stray sterilisation is the way to control and eventually eliminate stray animals on the streets. A policy which is better in the long term for all – strays and humans.
Whatever; our fight to be a voice for the voiceless will continue what ever happens in the towers of importance.
