UK: Dogfighting – Help The League Against Cruel Sports To Take Tougher Action.

 

It’s time to take a stand against dog fighting

Dog fighting as a ‘sport’ was banned in the UK in 1835, as even then it was considered barbaric.

But this horrific form of dog abuse continues.

Dog fighting remains a significant animal welfare issue in the UK.

It’s one of the most horrific forms of organised animal cruelty, not only for the violence the dogs endure during fights but because of the trauma they suffer throughout their lives. Training methods brutalise and fights inflict untold physical and mental suffering on ‘man’s best friend’.

We’re determined to expose and help prevent dog fighting in the UK and we’re asking the Government to take action to stamp it out.

Rewards for information

Do you have information about dog fighting in your area?

We’re looking for information about anyone involved in dogfighting, the locations of dog fights and information about any animal used or stolen for dog fighting. You could be eligible for a reward of up to £1,000.

Report any evidence of dog fighting in your area to our Animal Crimewatch team.

The three levels of dog fighting

Dog fighting operates at three levels, each of which will look different to an onlooker:

  • Level One – Street Rolls Dogs are forced into spontaneous fights in urban parks and housing estates without much planning, rules or specific training.

  • Level Two – Hobbyist: Often these people aspire to be professional dog fighters. Many are affiliations to gangs and have criminal convictions for other offences. These fights involve more ‘rules’ and formalised training regimes.

  • Level Three – Professional: Professional dog fighters are part of sophisticated dog fighting rings operating in the UK and worldwide with links to other serious crimes. Strict training regimes and rules apply and large sums of cash are wagered on the outcome of fights that last from 30 minutes to 5 hours.

Dogs forced into fighting suffer terrible injuries, both from the fights and at the hands of their vicious ‘owners’. Most will ultimately be killed in the ring or die soon after from their injuries. Those who can no longer fight are often brutally dispatched.

Watch Cupcake’s Story – A Dog Fighting Survivor. A moving but uplifting story of a dog that survived

 

 

Scale and prevalence in the UK

Dog fighting operates deep underground. It’s difficult – and often dangerous – to find information about what’s going on and who’s involved. Our investigators work tirelessly to raise awareness and bring these people to justice. Often this means working in difficult and dangerous situations.

There are many indicators that show dog fighting continues to be a significant animal welfare issue in the UK. Figures from the RSPCA show a steady number of calls relating to dog fighting over the last 10 years. Other evidence of dogs being imported for fighting, the clandestine sale of dogs in dark alleys for large sums of money, the seeming need for dogs as protection, and the apparent growth in the number of stolen dogs also indicate it’s on the increase.

In 2015 we ran Project Bloodline, an investigation aimed at exposing the scale of dog fighting in the UK. Basing ourselves in area which we consider ‘average’ in terms of suspected dog fighting activity – urban areas within Bedfordshire – we set about trying to uncovering the truth.

Within just a short space of time we received 40 pieces of intelligence which gave us an insight into the dark world of dog fighting including:

  • Reports of dogs being trained for fighting by being ‘body slammed’ and ‘head slammed’ against a wall to toughen them up.

  • The bodies of dead dogs used for fighting dumped near farmland.

  • Prohibited breeds being bred to supply the dog fighting and status dogs market.

  • A significant clandestine market in the trade of potential fighting dogs – our investigators were offered puppies for £1,000 each by a masked man during the operation.

  • We also were introduced to Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Cupcake, who had been used for fighting, her teeth ground down probably by trying to bite through the bars of her cage or chain.

We’ve now widened our investigations to key locations around the UK. We work with the public, rescue centres, veterinarians, community groups, law enforcement and politicians to raise awareness, to help communities tackle it and of course to support the animals that have been rescued from this living hell.

Dog fighting and other serious crime

Horrendous as dog fighting is, it’s not purely a matter of animal welfare.

Evidence from the UK and internationally points to dog fighting being a ‘gateway’ crime to serious and organised offences such as drug dealing and violence. Links between animal abuse and human abuse are also clear.

For this reason, in the United States, dog fighting is recognised by the FBI as a Grade A felony offence and it’s acknowledged as a way of identifying and tackling other criminal activity too.

An action plan for the UK

We’ve set out what needs to be done in our National Dog Fighting Action Plan. The plan comprises many elements based around the three areas of Prevention, Understanding and Prosecution (P.U.P).

Key recommendations include:

  • The formation of a National Dog Fighting Task Force

  • Dog fighting to be recorded as a specific offence separate to animal fighting in order to enable the scale of the problem to be more accurately assessed

  • Increased penalties of up to five years for the worst dog fighting offenders

  • The Dangerous Dogs Act should be reviewed as a matter of urgency

  • The implementation of a national register for individuals banned from keeping dogs to prevent those already convicted of animal cruelty from being able to re-offend.

Help us end dog fighting

  • Sign our petition for stronger penalties for dog fighting

  • Report any evidence you have of dog fighting in your area to our Animal Crimewatch team

  • Share this page on your social media

 

Taken from:  https://www.league.org.uk/dog-fighting

 

 

UK: BBC To Launch New Plastic Awareness Campaign After Success of ‘Bllue Planet II’.

The BBC is to capitalise on the impact of Blue Planet II by launching a campaign to help people to use less plastic.

 

The initiative, called Plastics Watch, has the backing of Sir David Attenborough (photo above), who said that he had been astonished by the response to his series in which the carnage caused by plastic in the oceans was highlighted.

The campaign will “provide information and advice to positively enable the British public to help reduce plastic pollution”.

 

Read more –  https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/bbc-blue-planet-fans-get-help-to-cut-plastic-8prnmt7gz

 

 

 

 

China: Yulin 2018 Has Started. Early Data From UK Press – Graphic Pictures !

Yulin 2018 has now started.

We are giving links here to UK Press coverage of the first day of Yulin in China.

What you see / read is what you get – it is un edited by us.

WARNING – there are many graphic pictures.

 

Links:

 

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/977695/Yulin-dog-meat-festival-pictures-China-lychee-dog-meat-festival-pictures

 

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/977873/Yulin-dog-meat-festival-2018-why-are-animals-tortured-dog-meat

 

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/977866/Yulin-dog-meat-festival-2018-facts-what-is-the-Yulin-dog-meat-festival

 

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/976693/yulin-dog-festival-2018-yulin-slaughterhouse-pictures-latest

 

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/977179/yulin-dog-festival-terrified-dogs-blood-soaked-hell-on-earth-blowtorches-dog-meat

 

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/965466/Yulin-dog-meat-eating-festival-2018-slaughter-China-Diaz-Ricky-Gervais

 

 

 

 

Australia: Live Exports Breaking News – Emanuel Exports Licence Has Now Been Suspended.

Brilliant News !

This was the export company who were filmed during voyages to the Middle East; which showed the immense suffering and horrific conditions on the ship during the animals journey.

Watch the conditions and suffering in the videos on our old post – link here:

Old Post – https://serbiananimalsvoice.com/2018/04/13/australia-the-real-horrors-of-live-exports-now-exposed-and-a-crap-aussie-government/

 

Mark, in almost 11 weeks since 60 Minutes showed horrific routine conditions on board live export ships, hundreds of thousands of Australians have emailed, written, phoned and rallied to stop live sheep exports.

 

Today, we received incredible news.

Around 4.45pm today, we received word that the Department of Agriculture has suspended Emanuel Exports’ live export licence.

This follows the news we shared with you earlier in the week, that Livestock Shipping Services, Australia’s other largest live sheep exporter, was halting exports for the Middle Eastern summer this year.

Together, these two businesses account for almost all live sheep exports from Australia.

We have long said that if the laws were enforced, live export would become impossible. This is proof of that.

Make no mistake, Emanuel’s is not the exception. What we saw in the 60 Minutes footage included routine conditions across multiple voyages. This is what long-haul live sheep export looks like, and it must not be allowed to continue.

This is a crucial step toward the inevitable end of live sheep exports.

Email your MP and Senators to tell them, now is the time for government to put Australia’s best interests first: protect our animals, provide certainty for the future, and legislate for a phase-out of live sheep exports.

 

 

China: Yulin – Jills Blog and Video Footage – The Reality of the ‘Festival’.

Yulin starts 21st June 2018 – Finishes 30th.

Dog meat, Yulin and veganism: is there a double standard?

14 June 2018, 12:18PM

As the summer solstice brings world media attention back to China’s Yulin city for another cycle of dog meat industry coverage, some familiar debates will resume.

Many voices will argue that those who oppose the dog meat trade must also oppose all meat eating, or risk being labelled speciesist or hypocritical.

While some dismiss this argument as being like criticising the police for not putting out fires, it does also raise legitimate and interesting points which are very much worth considering.

While I’m happy to say I live a cruelty-free vegan lifestyle today, I haven’t always, and wasn’t born or raised vegan, but made a lifestyle choice over quite a number of years.

During these years I was deeply engaged in animal welfare: opposing the fur industry, bear bile farming and the dog meat trade among many other causes.

My engagement with these causes led me to found Animals Asia and our campaigning improved the lives of thousands of animals – from hundreds of bears rescued from the bile industry, to reduced demand for dog meat and the improved living conditions of animals in captivity.

Continue reading at  https://www.animalsasia.org/intl/social/jills-blog/2018/06/14/dog-meat-yulin-and-veganism-is-there-a-double-standard/

 

 

 

India: Rescues From AAU. Please Help Them With A Donation To Continue This Brilliant Work.

Incredible recovery of dog dying in gutter: Phoenix’s Story

We got an urgent call that a dog was laying in a sewage ditch.

When our rescue team arrived they saw that she was only in a foot of water, but was actually starting to drown. Her nose dipped wearily into the water. Bubbles were emerging. If we had arrived even 5 minutes later, it’s possible she would have drowned.

When we lifted her out we could see that she had a completely fractured leg, hanging only by loose tissue. Maybe she had been hit by a car, was confused, lay in the water in a desperate effort to stop the bleeding or ease the pain.

Once back in Animal Aid we determined that she was in shock–her pulse was weak and she was hypothermic. We feared we might lose her. She urgently needed an amputation but was too weak to withstand surgery. So we spent several days stabilizing her–a balancing act between strengthening her, and holding the infection and pain at bay.

Her operation took place 3 days later and now–it’s like a miracle–meet Phoenix!

 

 

Donate for the animals who need a miracle.

Dog comatose on roadside makes amazing recovery

A dog lay in a coma by the side of a busy road, completely unresponsive.

We gently lifted him and rushed him to Animal Aid. We examined him from head to toe but found no sign of broken bones and suspected a head injury, so we treated him with a medicine that reduces brain swelling.

He didn’t awaken for 24 hours. And by the third day he—well, watch and see for yourself what Roxy’s pure radiant joy looks like today.

Donate to save animals in the most urgent need.

 

 

 

 

 

How To Get A No 1 Hit.