Posted on March 7, 2018 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
SAV Comment – Seems like a great idea. Especially if an additive could be put in the food also to effectively sterilise the animal. We understand that this type of sterilisation procedure is currently being trialled in some parts of Romania. If Turkey and Romania can take action, then why not Serbia ? – this method below solves 2 issues; it recycles plastic waste (which we all want) and encourages the public to do it, and at the same time it helps to feed the stray animals of the city.
Will Serbia attempt something like this or is corruption in Serbian authorities still meaning that the only way they make corrupt money is to continue capturing and killing stray dogs ? – like a Medieval approach !
The simple machine will provide a steady source of sustenance to the animals, who often rely on the area’s residents to feed them. It’s also bringing some positive change to a place where the fate of stray animals has not always been a happy one.
These complaints have led the Turkish government to draft a law which would require thousands of stray dogs to be transported to a “wildlife park,” removing the animals from the urban environment which they have adapted to, Deutsche Welle reports. Dogs have also allegedly been the targets of poisoning campaigns, according to the Associated Press.
The Pugedon vending machines aim to give these stray animals a brighter future, while also encouraging its users to get in a healthy recycling habit.
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Although the Serbian system promotes the Shinters (dogcatchers) to its citizens as the only way to keep them safe; when you look a little deeper you find there are lots of other solutions to orally sterilising stray animals:
A government Ministry and the vets and associates that advise it, should really be using public funds to research and develop strategies for the long term reduction of stray animal numbers – and by this we mean a ‘No Kill’ approach.
As the Serbian government and its authorities never seem to publish or provide details of these alternative ‘No Kill’ methods; one has to ask if the continual rounding up and killing of stray dogs (for a dividend) is the financially viable way for some, rather than resolving citizens concerns regarding the number of strays on the streets.
A decent government would look at all methods of reducing stray numbers over time; as per the oral sterilisation methods given in the above link. As we have always said, the continual killing of strays never resolves the stray population ‘problem’; (after all these years, and if it was effective as the government tell their citizens; would this method have not shown dramatic results by now ? – we suggest they look at the above graphic – an additional 67,000 dogs from one pair in 6 years – we have been campaigning on this for 12 years; and there are more than 1 pair of dogs in Serbia !) as other strays enter a ‘cleaned’ area – filling the void left by catch and kill methods.
Simple but effective oral sterilisation should be addressed much more by the Serbian government. If we can find the above through a simple web search, why cant they ?
Where is all the ‘continual kill’ policy money going ? – into misleading the public by telling them that this is the only way we, the government, suggest.
Not true; there are now alternatives as you can read above.
Will the Serbian authorities look at alternatives to resolving the stray numbers issue ? – NO; we are making money just fine thanks – Status Quo !
We immediately wrote to DG Sante at the EU Commission; Animal Transport Guidelines Project and the Eurogroup for animals;
We said in our post of 20/2 – We will publish their responses if we get one.
We asked a simple question – that being
– why then if everything is so good, are we witnessing so many EU animals suffering in transport on the journey to Turkey ?
Under Regulation 1/2005, the EU regulation allegedly ‘protecting’ animals during transport; all livestock drives have to pass a competence test and be ‘certified’ to ensure the ‘welfare’ of animals they transport in their vehicles. Seems they have gone off track when it comes to care for EU animals being transported to Turkey, as the video shows. So then the EU should be prosecuting those who do not comply – yes ? – not making new cartoons about drivers taking care !
So we have given our requests a few weeks; and true to form, nobody has bothered to come back to us and express their reasons and support for the new video put out by the Animal Transport Guides Project.
And so now we are waiting on our UK MEP’s to see if they can obtain any response from the authorities as to why around 70% of livestock vehicles inspected at the Bulgarian / Turkish border were seen to be non compliant with the Regulation 1/2005 which the EU thinks will ‘protect’ animals during transport.
So, why has nobody responded to us ? – maybe they are finding it really difficult to answer the question of a 70% failure rate when their EU certified drivers should know all the rules and be fully compliant with Reg 1/2005. Remember, as part of 1/2005, all livestock drivers are supposed to be fully certified so that they know the law about transporting live animals.
This lack of responses by ALL parties just goes to show that as we have said before, the EU wants it all to look good on paper and in videos, like this new one intended for ‘competent drivers’ who should already know the law. The sad fact for the animals involved is that all the time, the EU and its associates such as the ATGP and the Eurogroup, simply turn in the other direction when pushed hard with real questions relating to real experiences and encounters at borders. Such is the real reality of EU live animal transport.
All the time the EU turns its head away from the reality and fails to prosecute hard for offences; the sad reality is that things will not change, no matter how the EU wishes to ‘dress it all up’ to look good with new videos and guidelines.
As always, the EU has, does, and will continue to fail live animals in transport.
And with no responses from anyone; is it any wonder that people say the animal Mafia is at work within the EU to ensure the trade continues despite the irregularities and non compliances with the regulations.
Posted on March 5, 2018 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
Animal Welfare: Commission designates its first European Union Reference Centre
Today, following a public selection process, a consortium formed by the Wageningen Livestock Research (the Netherlands), the Friedrich Loeffler Institute (Germany) and the Department of Animal Science at Aarhus University (Denmark) has been designated as EU Reference Centre. Laid down in the Official Controls Regulation (Regulation 625/2017) which harmonised EU rules along the agri-food chain, this first Centre will focus on pig welfare. Improving the enforcement of the legislation of pigs is one of the Commission’s priorities in the area of animal welfare. The Centre will provide technical support and coordinated assistance to the Member States to carry out official controls on animal welfare. It will also contribute to the dissemination of good practices, as well as carrying out scientific studies, training courses and disseminating research and information on technical innovations.
Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis welcomed this designation, stressing that “this is another illustration that the EU remains, at international level, at the forefront in developing high animal welfare standards. After the establishment of the EU Platform on Animal Welfare in 2017, today marks another milestone since this is the first time that an EU Centre is devoted to support Member States in the application and monitoring of animal welfare rules within the Union”.
“another illustration that the EU remains, at international level, at the forefront in developing high animal welfare standards” – Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis.
Obviously he has not seen, or does not want to know about the suffering of live EU animals as they are transported by road to Turkey. Their suffering is anything but ‘high animal welfare standards’.
Commissioners turning the other way as usual whenever serious welfare concerns are shown.
The following show pig ‘welfare’ within the EU as we have exposed in recent posts.
Posted on March 3, 2018 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
Dear Mark, Today is the World Wildlife Day.
This day was launched in 2013 to draw attention to the loss of biodiversity. As a date, the initiators chose March 3, the anniversary of the signing of the Washington Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
If we take stock today of the stock of wildlife, we would not only be sad, we would be demoralized. In Indonesia, the orangutans die every day; their trees, their earth, their food disappear every day.
Because a “wild animal” called man makes dirty business with palm oil and wood. Trade in endangered species flourishes in the black market, especially in Asia. In Asian medicine, the body parts of large cats for various alchemical purposes are used to increase potency up to the remedy for rheumatism and arthritis. Originally this superstition especially threatened the tiger. Due to the great demand, however, other large cat species, such as the African lion or the jaguar, are increasingly being poached as “substitutes”.
The stock of lion stock is estimated at about 18,000 to 32,000 copies. The survivors are spread over 27 African countries and India. In 26 other states, the lion is already extinct. In West Africa, he is even considered “threatened with extinction”. Trafficking in offspring in South Africa is unfortunately still possible with permits.
The main reason for the extinction of most wildlife is the criminal dominance of the people in their kingdom. People are becoming more and more, they multiply indiscriminately, animals are becoming less and less.
Even more dramatic is the situation for the cheetahs. His disappearance is only a matter of time. Her stock is estimated at only 6900 animals. Their habitat is constantly being deprived of humans. The little ones are being illegally traded as domestic trolls, especially in Arab countries, and many are dying during transport. And what can one say about the biggest cat of prey in the world of animals: the tiger? It is said that there are only 3000 animals left in the world!! The reasons are the same as almost all wildlife: loss of their habitat, poaching, charlatans in Asian medicine who still sell tiger’s bones and teeth as a hypocritical drug.
And when I think of one of the most beautiful wildlife, the jaguar, I remember the statistic of CITES, which said that in the 1970s 15,000 animals were killed by fur hunters a year!!!
Nevertheless, after some extraordinary efforts by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, it has been possible to save the leopard for the moment, that is, it is not on the red list, and it is estimated that there are 60,000 animals left in Argentina and live up to Mexico.
The list of human crimes against wildlife is infinite and it does not stop. I am thinking of the criminal (and illegal) killing of wolves in Saxony and Brandenburg, the mass murder of foxes with 500,000 victims per year, which takes place for fun and joy in the murders in Germany.
My feelings on World Wildlife Day? Grief and pain for the animal beings, who know no wild or sadistic feelings, but are still called “savages” and are exploited without restraint. Anger, disgust and hate for the human being, the wildest of all animals, who transforms the lives of all animals into a crematorium every day with his criminal and destructive energy.
China’s Meat Consumption Continues to Drop as Interest in Veganism Soars
An article by Business World has revealed that “health-conscious” people in China are driving the once meat-heavy nation to a more plant-based way of living.
Currently, China is the world’s largest market for beef, poultry and pork, Business World point out. However, according to the publication, the most populated country in the world is “steadily growing wary of meat”.
After China’s health industry released new dietary guidelines suggesting reduced meat intake, China’s markets for several products, including pork, beef and poultry all declined, Business World report.
Concurrently, as meat intake declines, veganism continues to grow. While recent figures of veganism in China are unknown, the article highlighted data from 2014 which suggested that the vegan population in China had exceeded 50 million people.
Dairy Farms Make More Than Half of New Zealand Lakes ‘Unswimmable’
Dairy farming is polluting New Zealand’s lakes, making over half completely “unswimmable”. Government data released back in 2013 stated that around 60% of the countries’ lakes and rivers were not safe for humans to submerge themselves in.
The situation since then, it seems, is hardly improving. According to The Economist, around 6.6 million cattle are currently farmed in the country. This hugely outweighs their human population, which stands at roughly 4.7 million.
One of the problems is nitrogen-rich bovine urine, a catalyst for toxic algae. If contaminated water is consumed by somebody who is pregnant, it can have catastrophic and potentially fatal consequences for the unborn child. It can cause what has been named “blue baby syndrome”, a condition that has been known to kill animals such as dogs in the past. Another issue is manure, which can contaminate water sources with dangerous bacteria like E.coli.
Vegan Musician Moby to Donate 100% of Album Profits to Animal Rights
Vegan musician, author, restaurateur, and prominent animal rights activist, Moby, say that all of the profits from his new album will be given to animal rights organizations. Profits from his upcoming live shows will also be donated. The album, “Everything Was Beautiful, And Nothing Hurt,” is due for release this coming Friday.
The album is Moby’s 15thstudio album and follows previous political album releases including 2016’s “These Systems are Failing” and 2017’s “More Fast Songs About the Apocalypse.”
The album cover appropriately for “Everything Was Beautiful And Nothing Hurt” features a father cow reading to a baby calf designed by Matthew Grabelsky, a Los-Angeles-based artist.
Coconut Bliss Expands Vegan Ice Cream Bar Line With 2 New Flavors
Certified organic vegan ice cream brand Luna & Larry’s Coconut Bliss is gearing up for ice cream season with the addition of two single-serve frozen dessert bar treats drenched in Fair Trade certified chocolate.
The two new flavors bring the company’s frozen bar selection to eight varieties. The two new bars, Raspberry Acai in Chocolate and Vanilla Island, pair classic flavors with the company’s signature creamy coconut ice cream and a crunchy chocolate shell. The Raspberry Acai bar marries two popular berry flavors with dark chocolate in a delicacy the company says “will enliven your taste buds with its exotic flare.”
Beyoncé Advocates Benefits of Vegan Diet to 112 Million Fans
As the countdown to Beyoncé’s Coachella 2018 performance is officially ON, after being replaced last year when she was extremely pregnant with twins Sir and Rumi, Beyoncé has shared photos to her 112 million Instagram followers proving exactly why she’s Drunk In Love with a vegan diet. Of course, the health benefits of eating plant-based food looks Flawless on anyone, especially the famed international celebrity.
