Posted on August 16, 2017 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
Factory Farming in Asia Creating Health Risks.
Growth of intensive units has potential to increase antibiotic resistance and could result in spread of bird flu beyond region.
The use of antibiotics in factory farms in Asia is set to more than double in just over a decade, with potentially damaging effects on antibiotic resistance around the world.
Factory farming of poultry in Asia is also increasing the threat of bird flu spreading beyond the region, with more deadly strains taking hold, according to a new report from a network of financial investors.
Half of all antibiotics globally are now consumed in China alone. The Chinese meat and animal feed producers New Hope Group and Wen’s Group are now among the 10 biggest animal feed manufacturers in the world.
Read the rest of this very interesting article at:
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Recently, Chinese companies have been buying farms in the United States and Australia to provide feed for their country’s dairy and beef industries.
In late 2013 a Chinese company, (Shenghui), purchased the largest US pork producer, named ‘Smithfield Foods’, to help keep up with demand.
China’s demand for meat could potentially continue to grow and support hundreds of thousands of jobs in the US meat industry.
Sounds good for the USA;
but also think; from a climate perspective, the methane produced by the animals will still continue to be created, but it will be shifted to the United States rather than remain in China.
Read the rest of this on our recent post:
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Posted on August 13, 2017 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
On July 8, 2017, a dead wolf was retrieved from the lake Schluchsee in southern Germany, near my village.
He was shot. It is the 24th wolf shot illegally since the resettlement of the wolves in Germany in the year 2000. Of these 24 murders, there were only three convictions up to now – in all cases, the perpetrators had posed themselves.
After each murder there are always the same discussions:
“These are the poachers,” say the hunters, “we are very sorry,” say the friends of the hunters, the politicians, and the peasants who have nothing against wolves but want to protect their flocks.
As soon as the cruel battle of the whales and dolphins in Denmark begins, the German press hasten to report about it and tries to harass a reader-friendly readership against the “criminals”.
It is always the other countries that are criminally dealing with animals, there are always the others who are corrupt and proficient, it is the Chinese who massacre the dogs, and the rich safari hunters who cull our elephants.
It is terrible to exterminate animals, you have to do something!!!
Petitions are signed, donations flow without end to the protection of the threatened animals !!!
And so the German citizen always points to other people who illegally kill wild animals because their governments are corrupt.
Always the others!
The Green Minister of the Environment, Franz Untersteller, has taken a ridiculous position on the subject:
“Shooting a wolf is a criminal offense. I very much regret that a man has extinguished the life of this rare creature by force. “
Thus an incapable politician wants us to declare that the 24th murder of a strictly protected animal provokes only his sadness, and he even reminds us that it is a crime. They are the politicians who will continue their co-operation with hunters, the meat mafia, the circus industry, laboratory labs directors, etc … in the coming elections of Germany with the blessing of a dumbed people and want to persuade us that they do it all for our benefit!
I have absolutely no hope that in Germany that any government can work for my good – and I am a German citizen; a citizen of the gutless EU !
But if I at least knew that a (political) party wants to take the welfare of the animals into account and improve it where they can, then I would go to the elections.
So far, however, I am not aware of this political animal saviour, and the German animal protection party plays no essential role in the political scene.
I will not vote for this reason.
Best regards to you, Mark, and to all
Venus
Photo: Axel Heimken/dpa
Above – Martin Schultz (left) gets a kiss from Junker – Mr EU.
SAV Comment
We agree with Venus – there seems very little hope for positive animal welfare.
– it will be interesting to see what happens at the German elections in September 2017.
With Angela Merkel and now also Martin Schultz (President of the European Parliament from 2012 to 2017) as 2 of the main political contenders, it is very unlikely that the ‘animal welfare voice’ will start to be listened to in Germany.
Merkel does not listen, and Schultz, ex EU Parliament President – what more does one need to say; he is ex EU – and the EU policy ‘is what we have experienced with live animal exports to Turkey, for example, “there is nothing we can do”.
What faith in politicians to make the world a better place for all !
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Posted on August 11, 2017 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
Its been a long campaign for many, but finally:
CCTV to be compulsory in all abattoirs in England
Slaughterhouses in England will have to install CCTV as part of government plans to monitor animal welfare.
Under rules being phased in over the next year, Food Standards Agency vets will be able to ask to see footage of all areas where livestock are held.
Slaughterhouses found to be failing welfare standards could face a criminal investigation or lose staff licences.
Environment Secretary Michael Gove said the proposals would make the UK a “global leader on animal welfare”.
British Veterinary Association (BVA) president Gudrun Ravetz said the mandatory CCTV in all areas of slaughterhouses was “essential” to safeguarding animal welfare.
“We are particularly pleased to see a commitment to official veterinarians having unrestricted access to footage, which the BVA has been calling for,” he said.
“Vets’ independence and unique qualifications help ensure that the UK will continue to have the highest standards of animal health, welfare and food safety.”
Our recent post relating to a report by Animal Aid:
Animal Aid have worked so very hard to get cctv installed – congrats to them.
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Posted on August 11, 2017 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
Then scroll a long way down to the heading ‘Volunteering’.
Here you will see photographs of some of the (50) Dormouse boxes made a few years ago to try and encourage them back into the area at Jeskyns Park.
Well the great news today (11/8/17) is that we have our first Dormouse in one of the boxes. You can see a picture of him here. A very well equipped male by all accounts !
After a health and weight check, the mouse was returned to the box so that it could get back to sleep.
In the UK, you have to be licensed to be able to access boxes and to handle the animals. This little guy was found recently during a check of all the boxes by a licensed ranger.
3 boxes had nests in but the other 2 were empty when inspected. Maybe they also have occupants and they were out shopping or something !
Great news – we are very happy. Lets hope this is just the start of many, many more ! New Arrival No. 1.
Tell me more about them – please go to:
Status & conservation
Native and localised. Hazel dormice are rare and vulnerable to extinction in the UK.
They are a priority species in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan.
They are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
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Posted on August 11, 2017 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
We are giving a few links here about animal welfare / rights in China as we see this as a very forward moving area; much more so than certain areas of Europe where some governments just refuse to accept animals as sentient living creatures that deserve our protection during their lives; a basic requirement – nothing special about that.
There is a lot of information here, and so we provide links to the many write ups on the situation in China. We leave it to individuals to select what they wish to view by clicking on the links provided. Much of the news is very positive and we take great satisfaction from the fact that animals in China will certainly have better treatment in the future than they often have had in the past.
We offer support and congratulations to all the activists, groups and individuals who are working to make things much better for animals in China. SAV.
China’s growing animal rights movement is making its voice heard
Chinese Youth Embrace New Attitudes Toward Pets and Wildlife
Animal welfare and rights in China
Animal Rights in China – Times Are Changing
Chinese Animal Protection Network
Animal welfare and rights in China
I have questioned myself for a while if I should actually show the following. I have provided them to UK welfare groups going to China for additional ‘support’ for their campaigns. The pictures are probably around 10 years old now and show pigs in China going for slaughter and how they have been treated in the past. These photos were taken undercover. You can see the hooks going through the lower jaws of the animals and how they are then restrained on vehicles taking them for slaughter.
I have had these pictures in my private collection for many years and they have never been released. With the growing movement of animal welfare and rights in China I now feel that these must be shown as a memory of how animals were treated until recently.
Many people will be shocked by these, but this is the reality of animal treatment and cruelty. These photos could have come from many places in the world which treats animals as throw away trash. I hope that people will see these and gain more respect for living sentient creatures wherever they may be located in the world.
We don’t ask much, only that all animals are treated with respect and as sentient beings. Like you and me, if you kick them, they hurt. There is no difference; they are NOT different, so lets not pretend or think that they are, as some governments and people do.
Mark.
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Posted on August 10, 2017 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
Update 11/8/17.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-40896899
Here again we see the EU doing nothing until it is too late – ignoring things just like evidence about live EU animals to Turkey. Now that money, profits and the industry name being given a bad press, suddenly the EU ramps up a gear and becomes more involved.
The reality – they don’t care, only about their own reputation and making sure they go along with the animal mafia. Arrests in Belgium and the Netherlands over this; lets see exactly what comes of it and more importantly, what the EU actually does about it.
More official EU Regulations on paper no doubt, paper which just gets pasted over the real cracks in the system as with all EU legislation. Maybe the troubleshooter Mr useless Van Goethem will be put on the case – or by doing this will he get egg on his face ?
Above – EU Team ‘Do Nothing’
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About 700,000 eggs have been sent to the UK from potentially contaminated Dutch farms, up from an early estimate of 21,000, the food watchdog has said.
SAV Comment – not 21k but 700k – small error – hmm !
11 products containing egg – including sandwiches and salads – have been withdrawn from supermarkets.
Dutch police have now arrested two people suspected of using the insecticide fipronil.
Scandal ‘isn’t over’
Supermarkets in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany have withdrawn millions of eggs from sale.
In the UK, processed foods containing eggs, including sandwiches and salads, have been recalled from UK supermarkets Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Waitrose and Asda.
The FSA initially thought far fewer eggs – 21,000 – had been distributed to the UK from implicated farms between March and June this year.
Prof Chris Elliott, of the Institute for Global Food Security at Queen’s University Belfast, said it was not surprising that the figure had increased by so much – and warned “the scandal isn’t over yet”.
Fipronil should not be allowed anywhere near food.
Many of the affected eggs will have already passed through the food chain before anyone was aware of the scandal.
And the FSA has now pulled egg sandwiches and egg salads off the shelves that were made while contaminated eggs were still being imported.
It follows a joint investigation by Dutch and Belgian police of several premises thought to be using the substance, which can harm humans and is banned in food production.
The Netherlands is Europe’s biggest egg producer – and one of the largest exporters of eggs and egg products in the world.
It has since emerged Belgian officials knew about the contamination in June, but did not make the information public.
More than 100 poultry farms have been closed during the investigation, and 26 suspects identified and evidence seized from their companies.
It is thought that fipronil was added to disinfectant used on some chicken farms.
PS – Vegans do NOT eat eggs !
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Posted on August 9, 2017 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
Serbian Animals Voice (SAV) 