Posted on February 3, 2017 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)

Photos – Reuters.

Heartbreaking photos reveal suffering of Mosul zoo animals including a lion and a bear left to starve to death by ISIS

These shocking photos reveal the suffering of Mosul zoo animals after they were left to starve to death by cruel ISIS thugs.
An emaciated lioness was found cowering in a squalid cage and lying on exposed cables at Al-Murur public park after the area was liberated from the terror group.
Another heartbreaking image shows a bear looking mournfully through the rusting bars of its enclosure.


Read more:
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Posted on February 2, 2017 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)

SaveKoreanDogs need your partnership to save the Korean dogs.
SaveKoreanDogs need your generosity to continue their important work of closing down dog farms and caring for the dogs rescued from South Korea’s dog meat industry. Donations have been very low and they are having difficulty paying for the running costs of their 3 shelters – home to 400 dogs rescued from the dog farms they managed to close down. They have just had a successful press conference which was the culmination of a campaign they have been working on over the past few months, which urged the Korean Government to pass the proposed amendment by the National Assemblyman Changwon Pyo for stronger Animal Protection Law. They are planning to launch another press campaign, in around October this year, to put pressure on the new Government, following the election of South Korea’s new President.

SaveKoreanDogs has many plans for 2017, which include:
An education program for senior citizens, to teach them about companion animals;
Hiring of additional staff to manage the shelters and provide better care for the dogs in their sanctuaries;
Hiring undercover agents to crack down dog farms and slaughterhouses;
Working on the Government level to bring about legislation that protects companion animals and to end the dog meat trade.
All of these plans cannot be realized and the good works accomplished without your generous support. So please donate whatever you can afford today – however small. Every penny makes a difference and saves the lives of these animals. Thank you for caring!
SaveKoreanDogs is a registered nonprofit charity in South Korea.
Speak out against the Notorious Gimpo’s “Dog Valley”!
“We found dog valley in Gimpo yesterday. Has an awful feeling being in the saddle of a mountain with about 10 dog farms all in the same small area, most with tall steel fences so you cannot see in, and everyone watching you as you drive in and out. Very odd feeling.” – A source in Korea.
Gimpo, Korea is one of the worst violators of animal protection laws in South Korea with countless dog farms terrorizing and brutalizing the helpless dogs while their government has turned a blind eye. We currently have two Sister City Campaigns targeting Gimpo. Please click below to take action on these campaigns TODAY! Updated Sister City Campaign – Gimpo, South Korea Sister City Campaign – Gimpo, South Korea – Liberty County, Georgia
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Posted on February 1, 2017 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)

Please find above a link to a new report by CIWF that shows that there is very little enforcement of EU Regulation 1/2005 on the so called ‘protection of animals during transport’ by UK and thus EU authorities (UK is currently a member state of the EU – so it all fails !).
It’s powerful stuff, copy send it and invite publication anywhere you think it will do good. We are starting with Mr Van Goethem at the EU; as we have said so many times; the EU talk of regulations; but in reality, such as with EU animal exports to Turkey; the likes of Mr Van Goethem show no inclination to do anything about animal suffering which is recorded and documented by welfare groups who are on the road; and not stuck in cosy EU offices like Mr Van Goethem.
This report makes it clear that UK authorities are not doing enough to enforce the regulation; as with the EU authorities who just don’t give a damn about any of it; which begs the question ‘why do they exist ?’ – could we not direct our EU financial contributions into an effective force rather than to departments who have people like Mr Van Goethem – those who do nothing.
Please share this post and report to whoever yopu consider may find it useful.
Until the EU takes REAL action rather than just spouting its utterly useless mouth off about ‘EU Regulations’, we will continue to show them up for what they are – a waste !
It could be argued one of the reasons why today, 1/2/17, the UK parliament will be voting to start the implementation of triggering Article 50 to LEAVE the EU. A nation of people fed up with EU weasel words which mean nothing in reality.
Here for example is what we mean – watch the videos of evidence and then question why the EU and Mr Van Goethem say that they cannot do anything. They are a disgrace !
We have sent the above to Mr Van Goethem at the EU – here is confirmation that it has been rec’d:
Your message
To: VAN GOETHEM Bernard (SANTE)
Subject: More Evidence for you to do yet more ‘nothing’ about !!
Sent: 01 February 2017 13:13:58 (UTC+01:00) Brussels, Copenhagen, Madrid, Paris
was read on 01 February 2017 14:14:00 (UTC+01:00) Brussels, Copenhagen, Madrid, Paris.
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Posted on January 28, 2017 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)

Bears in Hellhole Zoo Filmed Begging for Food, Eating Feces
Written by Danny Prater | January 19, 2017
Indonesia’s Bandung Zoo is again under fire after shocking video footage allegedly captured inside the facility surfaced showing underweight captive sun bears—their ribs protruding—begging tourists for food. Monitored for months, hungry bears forced to live in the same exhibit have even been filmed eating their own feces, possibly because of a lack of proper sustenance.
Bandung Zoo has a long, sordid history of animal abuse, and hundreds of the animals it imprisons are known to suffer from physical and mental health problems. Last year, Yani, a neglected Sumatran elephant, died at the zoo after she was left lying on the hard ground without veterinary care for more than a week.
The Indonesian government must stop turning a blind eye and shut down this hellhole. PETA urges everyone who opposes cruelty to stay well away from facilities that rob animals of meaningful lives and lock them up, condemning them to despair for the sake of an archaic and inhumane form of entertainment.
Take a Stand for Exploited Animals
Whether you’re at home or on a trip to the other side of the world, it’s important—and possible—to make compassionate, conscientious choices to prevent animal suffering. Did you know that an estimated half-million exotic animals are enslaved worldwide in the tourism industry? From selfies with tigers to elephant rides, these activities may be hurting living beings more than you know. If you’re planning a vacation to Indonesia (or any other country), make sure that the activities you participate in don’t involve captive wild animals.
Vote with your feet. Stay away from all tawdry, run-down roadside attractions that profit from the misery of animals. Just like the underweight sun bears seen in the video above, bears kept right here in the United States are locked in barren concrete pits and forced to beg tourists for food.

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Posted on January 25, 2017 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)


All photos – CIWF.
Relating to our recent posts on this issue:
SAV Comment – Lets have so glimmer of faith in the new band of experts which has been formed under the EU ‘Platform For Animal Welfare’ as we describe in the following post. This is the first real and very important test to actually see if the EU IS LISTENING to its citizens; or once again, even with the new reports and facts and figures, are we going to be ignored ? – We are watching very closely.
UPDATE on Campaign – 25/1/17.
From CIWF (England)
Today (25th January), Members of the European Parliament’s Agriculture Committee have voted in favour of a report that may pave the way for the protection and improvement of the welfare of Europe’s 320 million* farmed rabbits.
A key opportunity to improve rabbit welfare
Currently, over 99% of rabbits farmed for meat in the EU spend their lives confined in tiny, barren cages, unable to express their natural behaviours. This vote is the closest we have come to securing new legislation for Europe’s farmed animals in over a decade.
Unfortunately, the amendment that includes legislation did not pass at this stage. However, we will continue to push for species-specific legislation in the Plenary session in a few weeks.

We have been working hard for many years to improve the welfare of rabbits farmed for meat across the EU. In 2012 and 2014, we exposed their terrible plight through undercover investigations and achieved mass media coverage of both investigations, helping to raise awareness of this cruel trade.
Last May we presented our 600,000 signature-strong petition to Europe’s Agriculture Ministers, calling for an end to the farming of rabbits in cages and recently asked children throughout the EU to send in rabbit drawings of how they believe rabbits should be kept. We delivered these drawings to MEPs, ahead of today, urging them to vote in favour the report. We are pleased that many MEPs have listened and taken action on a number of the amendments that will improve farmed rabbits’ welfare.
Emma Slawinski, our Director of Campaigns, says: “Today we have overcome the first hurdle on the path to ensuring higher welfare conditions for rabbits.
“It is encouraging that the majority of MEPs voted in favour of the report presented by MEP Stefan Eck (GUE), recognising the need to move away from the obsolete cage system for rabbits – bringing rabbit farming into the 21st century.”
Ending the cage age for Europe’s rabbits
Following today’s Committee vote, the report – which is backed by many scientists – will be voted on in the Plenary session of the European Parliament in a few weeks.
It is essential that MEPs vote in favour of the report – proving that they do listen to the calls of citizens, and not special interest groups that wish to maintain existing cruel standards for rabbits. We remain hopeful that they will vote for an amendment in favour of the introduction of legislation to improve welfare for rabbits.
Our CEO, Philip Lymbery says: “This is a major step forward for the rabbits of Europe and has brought farmed rabbits to the forefront of the public and political agenda.”
*Estimated FAOSTAT figures for 2010-13
Filed under: CAMPAIGNS - Global Animal Welfare Issues, GENERAL NEWS - International / National / Regional, GLOBAL PETITIONS - Anything Animal, Anywhere !, PHOTOGRAPHS - **WARNING** (Animal Suffering), The "Serbian Animals Voice (SAV) ALLIANCE | Leave a comment »
Posted on January 25, 2017 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)


Next month, thousands of rural villagers in India will travel to the Chinchali Fair, a four-day festival celebrating the goddess Mayakka Devi. But for bullocks, horses, and ponies, the journey will be nothing to celebrate.
They will pull heavy carts hundreds of miles along rutted roads, their muscles straining every step of the way.
Many will endure this gruelling trip without rest or even the most basic care – and to force them to move faster, particularly as they tire, many will be beaten or whipped along the way. The journey for them will be painful, and some will die before it ends.

Your support will give us the resources that we need in order to help Animal Rahat provide injured animals with free veterinary care and relieve animals from the torment of illegal devices. As pictured below, many bullocks sustain neck wounds from yoke spikes or endure the sharp pain of metal nose wires. But at Animal Rahat’s camps, these awful items are confiscated immediately and any resulting wounds are treated. Last year, more than 300 animals were provided with vital medical care.
In addition to offering care and protection to the animals who are forced to make the journey, Animal Rahat provides buses to transport people to Chinchali so that the animals can stay home and rest while their owners celebrate. This year, the group’s other plans for the fair include the following:
Compulsory rest camps with food and clean drinking water for animals will be set up, and travellers will be invited to stop and rest their animals. Last year, Animal Rahat set up three such camps along the routes to the fair and one on-site treatment camp at the event itself – providing almost 4,000 horses, ponies, and bullocks with food, water, and much-needed respite.
Animal Rahat team members will work with local police to ensure that anti-cruelty laws are enforced.
They will confiscate whips, chains, and other illegal devices. Last year alone, more than 200 such items were collected.
Animals suffering from wounds, dehydration, lameness, or other maladies and forms of abuse will be provided with emergency medical treatment.
The bus service will be publicised by hiring performers to stage street plays in numerous villages in advance of the fair in order to show that travelling with Animal Rahat would prevent their animals from suffering.
Billboards will be posted along the routes to show which animal practices are punishable offences under the law.
Your donation to PETA today will help Animal Rahat come to the aid of thousands of working animals during the Chinchali Fair, spare hundreds more the arduous journey by providing motorised transportation, and strengthen the group’s vital work for animals in India throughout the year.
Through the compassion of kind people like you, Animal Rahat is changing people’s minds and improving animals’ lives.
Sincerely,
Ingrid E Newkirk
Founder
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Posted on January 24, 2017 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)



24/1/17 – We have had the following though today from the EU – Health and Food Safety e-News update – 24/01/2017. SAV.
So here we go yet again – now we are going to witness the creation of an ‘expert’ group called the ‘Platform on Animal Welfare’ who will work together; and who have so far produced a series of very expensive reports to inform us that citizens of the EU are very concerned about the welfare of animals !
We could have left out all of the high gloss, very expensive reports and done the job to basically tell them that for £10 at most. But then they never listen to us (welfare groups) about anything; the huge call for a maximum journey time for animals in transport of 8 hours being just one example. Millions of EU citizens voiced their opinion and disgust, and it resulted in ………… nothing in the way of action by EU ‘experts’.
While we are here, lets bring up the issue of live EU animals being transported to Turkey for slaughter. Watch the videos to see how our ‘EU experts’ such as Mr Van Goethem are enforcing the 5 freedoms and EU Regulation 1/2005 protecting animals during transport as they head off for slaughter into Turkey:


As you can see in our many post which we have provided links to at the end, we are currently in a position where the EU is even currently unable to even start to enforce its own animal welfare regulations (such as Regulation 1/2005 for the so called ‘protection’ of animals in transport – what an EU JOKE !) on live animal transport – both within many parts of the EU member states, and certainly for live animals being exported to Turkey.
This is how good; or should we say ‘utterly useless’ major EU ‘official’ people are.
And so what do we hear now ? – the creation of an EU ‘expert’ group called the ‘Platform on Animal Welfare’ who will spend millions of Euros and many, many months to provide yet further reports on what we consider to be the bloody obvious to all – that most ‘ normal and sensible’ (non EU official) put animal welfare high on their list of priorities.
The very expensive, glossy, great looking reports produced so far inform us for example, we have the following statement:
Looking at country results, it appears that more than four out of five respondents in each of the Member States consider the welfare of farmed animals to be “important” but with varying degrees.
Almost every respondent (99%) in Sweden, Finland and Portugal consider animal welfare to be ‘important’, in comparison to respondents (86%) in Croatia, Hungary and Poland, the countries with the lowest proportions of respondents.
That’s really great information Mr EU; but the question is – so what action are you taking to benefit animal welfare protection ?
With over 11 years experience in the welfare of animals and their countless abuses within Serbia, we know that for example, the vast majority of Croatians do not consider animal welfare to be very important. But they want to join the EU and take billions of EU Euros for … what, corruption ?
Do we have to have glossy reports from EU experts at huge cost to explain that to us Croatia is not so good at animal welfare as Sweden ? – maybe this is all that ‘expert groups’ can really do – spend lots of money to inform us of the obvious – stuff we already know – and then finally for the experts to not actually take any action to rectify what is being said, shown and petitioned throughout Europe by the welfare groups ? – What a complete and utter waste of time and money, but oh how so very typical EU officialdom – I think the term we have here in the UK to describe this is ‘jobsworth’ – people who in reality do nothing actually trying to justify their job and existence by producing useless and obvious information for the masses – information they already know !
It is also interesting, but no surprise at all to us, that from the report:
More than four in five respondents (82%) believe that the welfare of farmed animals should be better protected than it is now. More than two in five Europeans (44%) hold a stronger view, responding with “yes, certainly”, while more than a third (38%) of respondents believe that the welfare of animals should “probably” be better protected than it is now.
Who really cares if it is 70%, 80% or 82% ? – people want animals better protected. They want action from the EU experts who produce such crap. Again, something we have known for years, but something which the leaders of men at the EU do not appear to be able to pick up on without a glossy and very expensive ‘book of the bleeding obvious’ being placed in front of them. Even after this, will they act ?
One of the best statements comes at the start of the report publication – it declares:
Animal welfare legislation has evolved during this time, in accordance with citizens’ expectations and market demands. In 1998, an important step was taken called the Council Directive 98/58/EC, which provided general rules for the protection of farm animals kept for the production of food, wool, skin or fur or other farming purposes.
The rules were based upon the European Convention for the Protection of Animals kept for Farming Purposes and reflect the so-called ‘Five Freedoms’:
– Freedom from hunger and thirst;
– Freedom from discomfort;
– Freedom from pain, injury and disease;
– Freedom to express normal behaviour;
– Freedom from fear or distress.
(Don’t the videos from Turkey above show all this ? – we think NOT – SAV).
The Lisbon Treaty adopted in 2009, amending the ‘Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union’, acknowledged the recognition that animals are sentient beings.
The amount of data and video evidence obtained by EU animal welfare organisations over the last 5+ years regarding EU animals exported live to Turkey has clearly shown that the EU in its official expert capacity is utterly incapable of enforcing the 5 freedoms for any of the EU animals being exported there – the 5 freedoms they bleat on about in their documentation, which in reality means absolutely nothing. As is usual, the EU says one thing on paper, declaring that everything is hunky-dory, but the actual reality obtained by the welfare groups on the ground and in the trench shows that they are self declared incompetents (Mr Van Goethem) and cannot enforce anything even coming near to the 5 freedoms when the evidence is presented to them – they all adopt the ‘jobsworth’ stance as we have outlined earlier in this post. I have to look like the rules are being enforced; and even when presented with evidence to the contrary, I cannot act.
Probably the most important thing to come from this report is that there is no overall ‘conclusion’ – something which you do normally witness in reports. So whart exactly is the EU citizen supposed to conclude from all these acres of figures and declarations of the five freedoms ? – we don’t know because it does not really tell us how the experts are going to put all the figures they have obtained at great expense into meaningful practice.
Possibly the EU is embarrassed to inform us that over the years they have utterly failed to enforce the requirements of what is obvious to most that is outlined in the report anyway – we have to ask that with the statements made recently by Mr (I can do nothing) Van Goetthem; what changes for the future are we actually going to see on the ground; in Turkey, on the road in the EU ? – WHAT ? – what is the ‘expert’ group; the ‘platform’ actually going to do to ensure that member states of the EU actually take animal welfare seriously and actually do something to enforce it. And just as importantly, what action are they going to take when it is shown clearly that the rules and regulations are NOT BEING ENFORCED throughout some EU member states ?
Or are we going to continue to witness the ‘head in the sand’ approach of Mr EU Van Goethem and his ‘experts’ in holding their hands up and saying ‘actually we can do nothing’ despite all the evidence. Fortunately the UK is now pulling out of this utter farce of do nothings by using Brexit, and it will be able to work with excellent welfare groups to establish future trade deals with nations which for sure will be to the benefit of animal welfare.
As for the EU; does it have yet another new framework for its ‘expert’ team to work from, or after all this money being spent to inform us of the obvious, are we actually going to see the EU move ahead and do what it should have done decades ago – enforce the 5 freedoms and take aniaml welfare issues much more seriously, prosecuting for non compliance every time when necessary.
Time will tell, and we wait and watch with interest the expert actions of the newly formed Platform on Animal Welfare to witness exactly what they will do. Somehow, experience tells us that these are just ‘weasel words’ which amount to very little apart from keeping people inventing new group names, gathering data and putting it all into pointless reports so that they can keep their useless jobs. We hope we are wrong and that this information will enable animal welfare to benefit big time from the actions of the experts; but with the EU totally ignoring all our evidence on Serbia (currently gaining EU membership) over the past eleven years, to say that we have any hope in the experts doing anything would be a gross overstatement.
Well done UK; we are moving out and away from this utterly useless waste of space called the EU !
We shall see – Mark, SAV.
———————————
The PR we had today from the EU:
Animal Welfare: the Commission adopts the creation of a Platform
Today, the Commission adopted the creation of an expert group on animal welfare to be called the Platform on Animal Welfare. Vytenis Andriukaitis, Commissioner in charge of Health and Food Safety, had outlined this Platform in the Agriculture and Fisheries Council on 14 November 2016: “The aim of the platform will be to encourage dialogue between different stakeholders on animal welfare issues (…); it should focus on a better application of EU legislation on animal welfare, the promotion of the very high animal welfare standards and the use of the Platform as a facilitator for the development and use of voluntary commitments by business operators”.
The Platform on Animal welfare will bring together all relevant actors in relation to animal welfare: business and professional organisations, organisations from civil society, independent experts from academic and research institutes, EU and European Economic Area Member States, the European Food Safety Authorities and relevant international intergovernmental organisations like the World Organisation for Animal Health.
In the coming weeks, the Commission will publish the call for application for the selection of the members of the Platform which will gather a maximum of 75 participants. The first meeting of the Platform will be held during the Maltese Presidency.
Background:
In 2015 the “Eurobarometer on attitudes of European towards animal welfare” showed that EU citizens consider animal welfare to be a very important issue and that the EU has a role to play in cooperation with the Member States and business operators.
The Commission held a first stakeholders’ dialogue on animal welfare on 23-24 February 2016 with all main stakeholders and Member States. There was a broad consensus that an enhanced stakeholder dialogue would bring added value at EU level. Based on this wide-ranged support by the Member States, the Commission continued with the operational procedure for the establishment of the Platform.
SAV reference links: – currently under compilation, but well worth reading when we publish !
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