China’s Premier Li Keqiang is coming to London – join the protest at Downing Street

China’s Premier Li Keqiang is coming to London today.

We can send a message straight to China’s leadership that it must end its occupation of Tibet.

If you can, please join the peaceful protest at Downing Street on Tuesday:

When: Tuesday 17 June, 9am – 2pm
Where: 10 Downing Street, London

The protest is being organised by a coalition of UK-based Tibet support groups: the Tibetan Community in Britain, Free Tibet, Students for a Free Tibet UK, and Tibet Society.

We hope to see you there. If you use Facebook you can view the event and share with your friends too.

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

Latest 22/6/15 – The Chinese have ignored the world and as usual doing only what they want.  The Yulin festival is currently taking place – thousands of dogs are being slaughtered by these Barbarian back street Chinese dealers.

http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/586115/Sick-pictures-of-roasted-pets-at-Yulin-Dog-Meat-Festival-Ricky-Gervais-condemned  

For latest news from the BBC click here –  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-33220235

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/11689773/Thousands-of-dogs-and-cats-slaughtered-at-China-festival-despite-government-promises-to-crack-down.html

What the Chinese scumbags do to animals

If our Cameron government does not have the balls to raise the issue, then we will – FREE TIBET !!

Petition link:   https://secure.avaaz.org/en/petition/Petition_the_Chinese_government_to_stop_the_Yulin_dog_eating_festival_and_pass_animal_welfare_laws/?fbss

On the 21st of June, the Yulin Dog Meat Eating Festival will take place in the Guangxi province of China. 15 000 dogs are slaughtered at this festival every year. Many of the dogs are reportedly abducted from their owner’s homes and arrive in trucks at the festival with their collars still on.

The dogs are skinned and boiled alive. Some are hung upside down and beaten then left to bleed out slowly. They are killed in front of other dogs, all in an attempt to increase the adrenaline in their muscles which the misguided believe will increase their virility when eaten.

This is just one example of the horrors inflicted on animals in China every day. Dogs are treated like this and eaten year round. Bears are kept for their whole lives in cages too small to turn around in, and their bile milked from infected openings cut into their stomach. Turtles are sealed into little bags and sold as living key chains. Domestic pets and livestock are kept in appalling conditions at markets. Live chickens, turtles, quails and other birds and animals are shoved into net bags and left in the sun on the sidewalk without food and water until they are sold. Cats are boiled alive and eaten. The Chinese government must stop the Yulin dog eating festival. They must pass laws that will ensure that animals – whatever the species – are bred, held and killed in a humane and sustainable way. They must make animal abuse a criminal offense.

Young Chinese activists are starting to take a stand and demanding change from their own government (Chinese driven petitions: http://chn.ge/134YzSe and http://1.usa.gov/18tt5Hp). They are fighting for animal rights at great personal and financial expense. Avaaz is just one of the internet sites blocked in China and makes their plight so much harder to get out to the world. Please stand with them and work for change in China’s animal welfare laws.

Update 23/6/2013: Despite widespread outrage from both within China, as well as the rest of the world, the Yulin festival went ahead as planned this year. The good news is that the Chinese government has started taking note of activist’s concerns and dispatched officials to Yulin in an attempt to control the torture of these dogs prior to being slaughtered. Keep the pressure up. Sign petitions. Make your voice heard and don’t stop until China passes animal welfare laws!

Update 14/2/2014: 2800 cats – many of them pets with collars on – are rescued when activists stop a truck transporting the animals in Wuhan, China.

Update 9/3/2014: Police brutally kill pet dog in Langzhong City, Sichuan, China. https://secure.avaaz.org/en/petition/National_Peoples_Congress_Legislate_Small_Animals_Protection_Law/?fbss

Update 6/5/2014: China has passed laws to protect 420 endangered species by outlawing the consumption of these animal products. This is a huge step in the right direction! It remains to be seen whether the law is enforced, but change is slowly coming.

Petition link:   https://secure.avaaz.org/en/petition/Petition_the_Chinese_government_to_stop_the_Yulin_dog_eating_festival_and_pass_animal_welfare_laws/?fbss

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Our recent post re Kew Gardens, London:

https://serbiananimalsvoice.com/2014/04/16/england-uk-conservative-government-to-rob-royal-botanical-gardens-of-funds-disgrace/ 

We now have an update from Julie; which reads as follows:

Kew Cuts Petition Update (25th May 2014):   Help us reach 100k signatures!

Julie Flanagan

London

Thank you everyone for the amazing support. The petition has caused quite a stir – your support is definitely helping to make a difference, but we need to keep the pressure up and hit over 100k signatures!

We now have a Twitter account @KewCuts and Facebook page ‘Stop Kew Cuts’ – please follow/like/share to keep informed about updates to the campaign.

We have had a lot of direct interest from MPs, and fantastic cross-party support at the recent Parliamentary drop-in session. The first EDM received excellent backing and in the new Parliamentary session we are planning to lodge further EDMs for MPs to sign.

MPs have been writing letters to Defra and other Ministers in support of Kew, and they told us that letters from their constituents really make them sit up and notice issues like this – please do let them know of your concerns.

Please, please continue to encourage all family, friends and colleagues to sign the petition and prove how much Kew’s unique work is valued by the public.

SAV comment – ‘EDM’ means Early Day Motion –

Source – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_day_motion

An early day motion (EDM), in the Westminster system, is a motion, expressed as a single sentence,^[1] tabled by Members of Parliament that formally calls for debate “on an early day”. In practice, they are rarely debated in the House and their main purpose is to draw attention to particular subjects of interest. EDMs may not^{[clarification needed]} be signed by government ministers, Parliamentary Private Secretaries or the Speaker of the House of Commons. EDMs remain open for signature for the duration of the parliamentary session.

EDMs can be tabled on matters ranging from trivial or humorous topics to those of great importance. The censure motion by which the Labour Government of James Callaghan was ejected had its origin in an early day motion (no. 351 of 1978–79), put down on 22 March 1979, by Margaret Thatcher.

MPs may ensure the text of an EDM is printed in Hansard by mentioning it by number in questions to the Leader of the House of Commons after the Business Statement (normally on a Thursday when the house is in session).

Examples of trivial issues covered include pigeon-bombs: an EDM was tabled in the 2003–04 session of the UK Parliament by Tony Banks, which concerns itself with a disclosure by MI5 that it had proposed using pigeons as flying bombs during World War II. The motion condemned the proposal, describing humans as “obscene, perverted, cruel, uncivilised and lethal”, and proposed that the House “looks forward to the day when the inevitable asteroid slams into the Earth and wipes them out thus giving nature the opportunity to start again”. It was signed by only two other MPs (Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell).^[2]

EDMs tabled on serious topics have included one demanding the release of Nelson Mandela when he was incarcerated in apartheid South Africa, and one calling for a consultation on the fingerprinting of children in schools without parental permission.^[3] Shortly after the 2005 general election, 412 of the 646 MPs signed EDM 178 calling for a Climate Change Bill;^[4] only three other early day motions had ever been signed by more than 400 MPs.

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The following petition is for UK residents only, as it calls for a complete ban on ritual slaughter within the UK.  To support this you need to be a  UK resident – Thank you SAV.

www.bit.ly/stunB4slaughter 

BVA LAUNCHES PETITION TO END NON-STUN SLAUGHTER

The campaign to end non-stun slaughter to improve animal welfare at the time of death has been stepped up with the launch of a government epetition by the British Veterinary Association (BVA), with the support of the RSPCA, at www.bit.ly/stunB4slaughter.

European and UK legislation requires all animals to be stunned before slaughter to render them insensible to pain. However, a derogation in the legislation allows animals to be slaughtered without stunning for certain religious communities – Dhabihah slaughter for Halal food and Shechita slaughter for Kosher food. It is important to note that over 80% of Halal slaughter in the UK is pre-stunned.

Scientific evidence shows that slaughter without pre-stunning compromises animal welfare; a position supported by the Humane Slaughter Association, the Farm Animal Welfare Council, and the Federation of Veterinarians of Europe. BVA and RSPCA are therefore renewing their call for an end to the practice.

BVA is also concerned that meat from non-stun slaughter is entering the market unlabelled because there is no requirement to label meat and meat products with the method of slaughter. The hindquarters of animals killed by the Shechita method are not Kosher and therefore enter the mainstream market unlabelled.

With animal welfare high on the list of UK consumer concerns BVA and RSPCA are calling for clearer labelling so that people can make an informed choice.

BVA hopes to achieve 100,000 signatures to the epetition so that consideration will be given to a debate in the House of Commons.

Launching the epetition BVA President and veterinary surgeon Robin Hargreaves said:

“BVA has long believed that slaughter without pre-stunning unnecessarily compromise animal welfare at the time of death. It affects millions of animals every year and action is long overdue.

“When the issue hit the headlines recently we were overwhelmed by the letters of support from members of the public as well as our own members, so we hope to get a lot of support for our campaign.”

David Bowles, RSPCA head of public affairs, said:

“We are supporting the BVA’s petition calling for an end to non-stun slaughter because it is a practice that can cause suffering to millions of farm animals in the UK.

“We recognise that religious belief and practices should be respected but we also believe that animals should be slaughtered in the most humane way possible.

“Non-stun slaughter can result in the animals experiencing very significant pain and distress and that is why we feel more needs to be done to end this suffering.”

It is important to note that the campaign does not relate to the expression of religious belief but to concern about animal welfare.

ENDS

Notes to editors

1. The epetition is online at www.bit.ly/stunB4slaughter. The full text of the epetition is:

End non-stun slaughter to promote animal welfare

We call for an end to slaughter without pre-stunning for all animals. EU and UK law requires all animals to be pre-stunned before slaughter to render them insensible to pain until death supervenes. But non-stun slaughter is permitted for certain communities.

We support BVA, RSPCA, HSA, FAWC and FVE who conclude that scientific evidence shows that non-stun slaughter allows animals to perceive pain and compromises welfare.

We must differentiate between religious and non-stun slaughter. Our concern does not relate to religious belief but to the animal welfare compromise of non-stun slaughter.

We note

over 80% of UK Halal slaughter is pre-stunned

hindquarters of animals killed by (non-stun) Shechita can enter the market unlabelled

While non-stun slaughter is permitted we call for clearer slaughter-method labelling and post-cut stunning to improve welfare.

Non-stun slaughter affects millions of animals. We support a good life and a humane death for all animals.

2. The 2011 Foods Standards Agency animal welfare survey in Great Britain found that in September 2011:

– 16% of Halal cattle slaughter was not pre-stunned; 1% was post-cut stunned

– 12% of Halal poultry slaughter was not pre-stunned; none was post-cut stunned

– 19% of Halal sheep/goat slaughter was not pre-stunned; 1% was post-cut stunned

– 100% of Shechita slaughter of cattle, poultry and sheep/goats was not pre-stunned; 10% of cattle was post-cut stunned.

See table available on the Channel 4 Fact Check blog for more detail at http://blogs.channel4.com/factcheck/factcheck-qa-ban-kosher-halal-slaughter/17877

3. BVA has recently released official figures on mis-stunning in conventional slaughter. More information is available at: http://www.bva.co.uk/news/3755.aspx

4. BVA (@BritishVets) and RSPCA (@RSPCA_official) will be tweeting using the hashtag #stunB4slaughter

5. For more information please contact the BVA Media Office on 020 7908 6340 or media@bva.co.uk

Sally Burnell

Head of Media and PR
British Veterinary Association
020 7908 6341
Out of hours: 07503 190 247
sallyb@bva.co.uk

Have you visited BVA’s new online newsroom yet? www.bva.co.uk/news

7 Mansfield Street, London W1G 9NQ
Switchboard: 020 7636 6541
Fax: 020 7908 6349
Media Office: 020 7908 6340 or media@bva.co.uk
www.bva.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/BritishVets

If you would like to sign-up to receive our electronic newsletter please visit: http://www.bva.co.uk/newsroom/BVA_e-news.aspx

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At an illegal club, wealthy businessmen and government officials watched while endangered tigers were electrocuted, then butchered and fed to the live audience. Fifteen people have been arrested, but nobody has been punished.

Click here to sign the petition demanding punishment for the people responsible for trafficking and electrocuting these tigers.

These events are called “visual feasts” and the people who attend think that watching the tigers suffer and die is a way to show their social status and power.

After the tigers are killed at the events, they are chopped into pieces and sold on the black market.

China has a long history of animal abuse, but the country is trying to clean up its reputation. Recently, the Chinese government destroyed illegal ivory stores as a show of goodwill. It’s up to us to make sure that the government treats these tiger killings just as seriously.

Tigers are incredibly endangered — right now, there are only about 3,000 wild tigers left in the entire world. This horrific crime cannot go unpunished.

To protect tigers, the Chinese authorities need to hold everyone involved accountable, including the people who trafficked the tigers into China from Vietnam and the people who bought and sold their remains.

Please take action to demand justice for these murders, before all tigers are gone for good.

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