Posted on March 5, 2017 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
Dear Mark
Saving lives through school and community outreach
During the past month, our Compassion Education Team has given 10 presentations to 500 people, from primary school students to senior citizens, about how to help injured street animals, what are “animal rights,” reasons to go vegan, and what to do if you see cruelty.
Above – Rajkishor inspires 7th graders,
Neha motivates Udaipur animal lovers, and students pet dogs for the first time!
In addition to video and power-point presentations we brought 60 students from a local school on a field-trip to Animal Aid where they pet dogs, donkeys and even cows, and for many, it was for the first time in their lives. It’s harder to be compassionate when you are afraid, so by helping children overcome their fear of animals we are helping them to connect and understand the feelings of animals so that they will help them.
We held our 13th Sunday colony meeting where we’ve so far talked to over 300 Udaipur animal lovers who are regular callers on our emergency helpline. The objective of our colony meetings is to grow Udaipur’s animal protection movement from a grass-roots level, by encouraging animal lovers to take part in our first-aid training program, educating them on how to use the law to protect animals from abuse, and motivating them to use their voice to speak for those who cannot.
Major Sahib’s crisis turns into the happiest ending…
We found him lying in anguish on the side of the street, gravely wounded and broken.
The side of his head was being eaten by maggots and his body had given up all hope. We could tell that he had been lying in the same place for many hours if not days, and we believe that if we hadn’t rescued him right when we did, that this is where he would have died.
We named him Major Sahib for a good reason-this old boy was a soldier for LIFE.
He may have been tottering on the edge, but he definitely wasn’t ready to say goodbye.
Too injured to move, but still wagging his tail…
When we first got the call to rescue this young street dog, we thought he only had the injury we could see above his eye.
But as soon as we came in close, we were shocked. There were deep lacerations across his inner thigh and belly that were covered in blood. We were told he had been hit by a vehicle.
Unable to stand when we found him, this little braveheart still wagged his tail when our rescuer Nandu lifted him into our ambulance.
Just watch this video to see his overflowing joy after making a full recovery.
Revealed: exported EU animals subject to abuse and illegal conditions
Undercover videos show EU cattle and sheep being beaten, given electric shocks, and inhumanely slaughtered at destinations in Turkey and Middle East.
Animals exported live from EU countries are routinely being subjected to abuse, illegal transportation conditions and inhumane slaughter, an investigation has found.
Dozens of undercover videos and photographs obtained by the Guardian show live cattle and sheep from EU countries being beaten, shocked with electric prods, held for days in overcrowded pens and covered head to toe in faeces as they are transported fromEurope to their final destinations in Turkey and the Middle East in conditions that breach European law.
At their destination, at least some of the animals are slaughtered in appalling conditions. The footage shows cattle and sheep from France, Romania and Lithuania kicking and flailing violently as their throats are crudely cut or sawed at repeatedly, often in crowded street markets and run-down abattoirs.
The footage was collected over eight months by campaigners from the Australian animal rights charity Animals International, who worked undercover in Croatia and six Middle Eastern countries to follow animals from their departure at European ports through to destination.
The evidence they collected shows clear breaches of a number of European laws in almost every country the campaigners visited. European legislation maintains that export livestock must receive certain standards of care throughout the entire journey, including any stages that occur entirely in third countries. The standards dictate that animal handlers must carry out their task without violence or any method likely to cause unnecessary fear, injury or suffering; that transport and loading equipment must be designed, maintained and operated so as to avoid injury and suffering, and that transport is carried out without delay and at the minimum possible length.
The Guardian asked Conte & Giacomini, an Italian law firm specialising in animal rights and shipping and transport law, to review the evidence. They responded: “We might deem that the transports shown in the footage are all in breach of the [EU] Regulation EC No 1/2005 [on the protection of animals in transport].
“Moreover, we could also state that, according to the ruling of the European court of justice and to the interpretation of the regulation EC No 1/2005, the competent authorities of the member states of departure shouldn’t even have authorised these transports as they couldn’t ensure that provisions would be met,” they said.
In an EU port in Croatia, the video shows animals from at least five European countries, including Germany, Hungary, Romania, Poland and Slovenia, waiting to be loaded on to a vessel headed to Beirut. Cattle and sheep are seen being kicked, beaten and shocked with electric prods to the anus while being loaded on to the ship. A sheep is shown being picked up by an animal handler and thrown on to the boat; cows slide backwards on to each other while trying to climb steep loading ramps.
At a port in Turkey, footage shows cattle being unloaded from a vessel that has arrived from Ireland after a voyage of almost two weeks. Their hair is thick with faeces from the journey as they are crammed on to a small and open-topped truck to be transported along the next leg of the journey. In Palestine, Romanian cattle travelling unharnessed in the back of an overcrowded truck are shown being thrown violently against the railings, causing clear distress to the animals.
While European legislation covers EU export livestock up until they are unloaded at their final destination, it does not apply to the final stages of the animal’s life. The footage shows repeated instances in multiple countries of animals being brutally slaughtered. In a street market in Jordan, a Romanian sheep spasms violently across the blood-soaked pavement after its throat is cut. In an abattoir in Turkey, French cattle hang by one leg from the ceiling, kicking and twisting violently as their throats are repeatedly cut at.
Exports of livestock from the EU to the Middle East have grown rapidly in the past two years, with exports of cattle doubling since 2014 to 650,000 last year, while sheep exports rose by a quarter to 2.5 million, mostly to Libya, Lebanon and Jordan.
The increase in exports coincided with a landmark legal case at the European court of justice in 2015, in which the judge ruled that any transport provider carrying livestock from the EU to third countries must take steps to prove that they have complied with EU legislation throughout all stages of the journey. Transport providers are required to submit a log detailing their journey to the national authorities in the country of departure. It is these national authorities who are responsible for enforcing European regulations.
However, EU officials, member states and animal rights groups have repeatedly claimed that enforcement is poor across much of the continent. In November 2016, a paper presented by several member states to the European agriculture council called on the European commission to address the problem. It stated: “The continuing shortcomings in enforcement [of animal welfare in export laws] is simply not acceptable. Since the entry in to force of Regulation 1/2005 [on the protection of animals during transport], there have been numerous examples of infringements and lack of enforcement. Both member states and commission have to intensify their efforts to put an end to transports that are in obvious breach of the regulation”.
Animal rights groups including the Animal Welfare Foundation (AWF) and Tierschutzbund Zürich believe that financial motives drive many export and transport enterprises to breach European animal protection regulations, as it reduces costs and administrative charges. As a result, enterprises are encouraged to operate in member states with poorer enforcement of EU law.
This view appears to be supported by the European commission’s own Animal Welfare Strategy 2012-2015, in which the commission notes that “a diverging interpretation of [protection of animals in transport] rules may result in market distortions which, combined with reduced profit margins and different administrative costs, could put a transport business operator in a difficult situation. Furthermore, a lack of vigour in enforcement may put compliant transporters at disadvantage”.
After watching the footage, MEPs from Germany, France, Lithuania and Finland said they are calling on the European commission for stronger enforcement of existing laws and an extension of legislation to cover the slaughter of European-bred animals in third countries.
Sirpa Pietikäinen, a Finnish MEP and president of the European parliament’s Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of Animals, said: “These shocking revelations should be the final frontier for the European commission to take this seriously. We need EU strategy on this issue. Better law enforcement, agreement with supervision on slaughtering practices, with the goal of ending the transportation of living animals for slaughter to third countries.”
The MEPs join a growing movement that is calling for reform of Europe’s animal transport regulations. The Eurogroup for Animals, the EU umbrella group for animal advocacy organisations, has collected more than 700,000 signatures urging the EU to put an end to long distance transport of live animals.
“Europe is to all effects exporting massive animal cruelty, which is largely invisible for EU citizens”, says Reineke Hameleers, Eurogroup’s director. “It is crystal clear that the transport regulation is not fit for purpose and that we should move towards a food system where animals are reared and slaughtered as close as possible to the place where they are born. This is not only paramount for animal welfare but also essential for food security, the environment and to protect public health.”
A European commission spokesman told the Guardian “The level of enforcement of existing EU legislation on animal welfare during transport has improved over the last years (SAV Comment – ARSEHOLES!!) and has been considered one of the key priorities of the directorate general for health and food safety. Although the responsibility for the enforcement lies primarily with the member states, the commission has made considerable efforts to improve the enforcement and provides active assistance to member states.”
Talk to Mr ‘I can do nothing’ Van Goethem (pictured above) – so he and the Commission have made considerable efforts ???
The spokesman said: “The EU has limited power to enforce the union legislation on animal transport within the territory of non-EU countries. The commission will continue supporting training activities on animal welfare during transport and at slaughter, including for non-EU countries.”
The European commission has failed to respond to pressure on the protection of animals in transport before.
In early 2016, animal rights groups Tierschutzbund Zürich, the AWF and Eyes on Animals presented the commission with a 1,000 page report detailing hundreds of cases of illegal treatment of animals being transported over land between Europe and Turkey in the hot summer months. The NGOs claim the commission ignored all their requests, including an appeal for transport of live animals to Turkey in the hottest summer months to be halted.
Iris Baumgärtner, project manager at AWF, said: “Despite the fact that the commission and the member states have been well informed since 2010 of the suffering of animals transported to Turkey, the situation remains unchanged and the numbers of animals being exported are increasing. The commission and member states are ignoring the core elements of their own regulations.”
The governments of Ireland, France, Germany, Romania, Hungary, Lithuania and Poland did not respond to requests for comment. The Slovenian agriculture ministry said: “Should the Slovenian competent authority receive any information on any non-compliances in live animal consignments aboard any vessels, we would immediately institute an investigation into the problem and, based on investigation results, we would institute the required and prescribed measures for the prevention of any subsequent non-compliances.”
The Croatian agriculture ministry said they saw no truth in the accusations and that necessary procedures and checks in line with the EU regulation are implemented in order to ensure animal welfare. They said competent veterinary authorities were always present “in order to monitor and undertake necessary corrective measures if irregularities are detected”.
SAV Comment – so all the evidence gathered is wrong ?
Good job we can rely on the EU to ensure there is full protection for
all animals in transport – re Regulation 1/2005 !!
Go to ore ‘Search’ box at the top right and type in ‘Turkey exports’ to
see all of our past involvement with this campaign.
Here are some details of the man who has twice blocked this bill:
Christopher Chope represents Christchurch in Dorset for 20 years with a majority of 18000 and his constituency has the highest proportion of over 60s in the UK.
Filibustering should be banned in Parliament – A deliberate tactic to talk too long and thus selfishly, arrogantly and bullyingly talking out a motion that can then not be voted on.
Christopher Chope also blocked this bill in 2014. He was also responsible for steering through the poll tax in the Thatcher Government, voted against same sex marriage, is a climate change sceptic, called for abolition of Minimum wage in the same year he claimed £136,992 in expenses! and voted against Alan Turin statutory pardon. Voted against a private members’ bill which would have placed restrictions on hospital parking charges for carers. SHAMEFUL!
Here is a letter that one of ADI’s supporters received from Chope – his arrogance is beyond belief !
“Parliamentary protocol dictates that Members ought not to respond to correspondence from non-constituents. Nonetheless, I appreciate the time you have taken to get in touch.
The Government has promised to bring forward Government legislation on the issue of animals in circuses. It was not included in the Queen’s Speech on the grounds that there was a lack of Parliamentary time. The Government has pointed out, however, that, should more time become available during the course of this Session, such a Bill will be brought forward.
In light of the above, the attempt to bring forward this controversial legislation under the Private Member’s procedure is ill-conceived. I believe that it would be unacceptable for such a Bill to receive a Second Reading without any debate in the House of Commons.
I shall continue to put pressure on the Government to honour its promise to bring forward its own legislation.
Best wishes
Christopher Chope OBE MP
Member of Parliament for Christchurch
House of Commons, SW1A 0AA
Tel: 0207 219 4971
Email: chopec@parliament.uk
Why not send him an e mail ?
More than 10 years ago there was a public consultation on the use of animals in UK circuses.
Over 84% of the British public wanted circuses to stop using animals in performances. Thanks to people like Chope we have still not got legislation passed to do this – constant talking out in parliament by just a few members of Parliament. Shame on them !
They are supposed to represent us – not be an emperor figure like Trump who only does what he wants !
Posted on February 26, 2017 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
Mark,
Coca-Cola is lining its pockets with the use of THE new trendy sweetener – the stevia –which comes from the traditional knowledge of indigenous groups in South America, the Guarani Paî Tavytera and Kaiowa people.
While Big Soda
companies like Coca-Cola make billions off this knowledge, none of these communities are getting a single penny.
Coca-Cola’s dreadful attitude violates the rights of indigenous people as enshrined in international treaties.
But you can stop this by sharing this video to raise awareness of the Guarani’s plight.
Let’s stand in solidarity with the Guarani people against Coca-Cola’s exploitation —
you can help make sure that this message is heard far and wide.
The more people who know about the issue, the more power we’ll have to pressure Coca-Cola into settling with the Guaranis on a fair and equitable sharing of the profits out of the use of this natural sweetener.
SumOfUs is teaming up with Public Eye, Pro-Stevia Schweiz and France Libertés to make sure everybody knows about the bitter-sweet taste of stevia.
We know this tactic works. Our videos targeting PepsiCo have clocked over 20 million views and have gone viral because they were shared by members like you. They’ve brought PepsiCo back to the negotiating table, and forced it to come up with a new palm oil commitment.
You truly hold the power to make a difference: you can make this glaring injustice a thorn in Coca-Cola’s side. Spread the word!
With the Trump Administration fully underway, we face an unprecedented threat from the “pollutocracy” of billionaires, fossil fuel champions, and anti-environmental extremists that are about to sweep into Washington with Donald Trump. At NRDC, we’re gearing up to take them on — both in and out of court.
Join us for this teleconference with Mitch Bernard and Aaron Colangelo, who will share NRDC’s current and future litigation strategies on protecting our environment from the new administration’s most dangerous attacks. There will also be an opportunity to ask any questions you may have on this timely and important issue.
Taking part in a telephone conference call is easy.
The mission of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is to safeguard the Earth: its people, its plants and animals, and the natural systems on which all life depends.
Well we have now had an update on the situation from Venus. Here is her response:
Good Morning Dear Mark!
Dear Mark,
Today, Sunday, I turned on my PC and was (as always) prepared for the worst. Because only bad news reaches us when it comes about animals, doesn`t it?
But No! Today was not like every day, it came a message that gave me hope and joy. Perhaps some readers of SAV remember the letter-action I did against the construction of the world’s largest shark aquarium in Sinsheim (Germany). I had written a letter to the mayor of the city and had spread the same sample letter all over I could, so that other people could send it to the mayor. Today I got a message from the organization, which is fighting exclusively against the construction of the aquarium!
I translate:
“A few weeks ago, we asked you to write to Jörg Albrecht, Lord Mayor of Sinsheim, and ask him to take action against the shark tank “Shark City” (www.animal-public.de/stoppt-shark-city/).
The response was very large and we would like to thank all those who have followed this call for their time and effort.
As mayor Albrecht now announced, the construction application for the shark aquarium is currently not approved. In an interview, Albrecht stated that the project would not be in line with the valid development plan, a special area would have to be designated for the construction. Local politicians have to decide about the project-related development plan.
Investors do not have a right to a positive decision. This seems to have settled the plan to start construction of “Shark City” in May….”
This is a clear sign for me, that we can achieve better results for the rights of the animals by making animal protection a political issue and putting pressure on politicians.
HSBC have just announced that they’ll stop funding palm oil companies that destroy the rainforest. [1]
Whether you signed the petition, donated, or badgered them online, you made this happen – and it’s not everyday you topple a bank! [2]
We should feel pretty powerful today – and that’s why
it’s probably not the time to rest on our laurels.HSBC isn’t the only bank that’s been putting orangutan habitat at risk. If right now, we make HSBC’s decision as public as possible, we can show just how easy – and what good PR – it would be for other banks to do the same.
Please will you chip in a few pounds for an advert in the Financial Times demanding change from banks like Standard Chartered? If we use our momentum right now to win over other banks, people across South East Asia will be safer and swathes more rainforest could be saved. [3]
HSBC are the biggest bank in Europe, which is why we went straight for them. At first they told us they weren’t doing anything wrong, then that palm oil funding is too “complex” for them to clean up. But after just a few weeks of campaigning, they backed down.
If a bank as big as HSBC can do it, other banks are going to find it hard to make excuses. But right now, they think nobody knows what they’re up to – this ad will change that. 140,000 of us in the UK joined the campaign against HSBC.
Take a minute to picture 140,000 individuals all over the UK who you haven’t met. It’s pretty amazing that you were part of a team that beat one of the biggest banks in the world. You’ve done a lot. But if each of you can chip in £1 today, we can make sure this victory reverberates around the banking sector and creates exciting, long lasting change. Let’s get this ad in the paper next week!
Serbian Animals Voice (SAV) 