Live transports are a lucrative business. Almost twice the cattle in Turkey or Egypt. But exports from the EU are systematically undermining animal welfare.
Blue tiles cover the walls of the slaughterhouse; huge fresh pools of blood cover the floor. A dozen men in rubber boots are standing around a black ox. Suddenly, one of the men approaches the animal with the blade in his hand. Blood splatters. Manholes is a brutal craft.
The pictures are from the animal rights organization “Animals International“, taken somewhere in the Middle East. What is considered in this country animal cruelty, there is an Islamic custom, even if there are now ways to numb the animals before.
Cruel scenes are not an isolated case.
In their research, animal rights activists repeatedly come across cattle from the EU. Their meat is sought after in the Middle East for their quality. Thanks to European agricultural policy, there is an abundance of cattle for which customers are urgently sought.
The animals in the slaughterhouse should come from Romania and Germany. At first glance, this is not recognizable, because the ear tags were removed to disguise the origin. Which dealer or exporter would like to be associated with bloody battle scenes?
Export of live animals is worthwhile
Living animals in Turkey are in particular demand, with nearly a third of exports – a total of 30,346 cattle – going there last year. The reasons why it must be live animals: The slaughter should be made according to Islamic custom and the entire animal can be recycled. A profitable business for everyone involved: While in Germany a cow contributes around 1500 euros, the dealer in Turkey, Lebanon or Egypt can demand double that.
EU Animal Protection Ordinance does not end at the EU’s external borders
For almost a decade, Iris Baumgärtner from the animal welfare organization “Animal Welfare Foundation” has been following up on the question, whether livestock exports comply with European animal welfare standards. Because the European animal welfare regulations apply from the place of departure to the destination – no matter where.
There are strict rules for thousands of miles of transport: animals must be unloaded for feeding and watering for a full day after 29 hours of driving. But beyond the EU borders, there is often a lack of appropriate care facilities and stables.
If this is not possible then the transports should not be approved. So far the theory. In practice, the veterinary offices of the districts are responsible for this. But after contrasts research, the transports are often waved after a superficial check.
Transport difficult to check
A veterinarian reports contrasts from common practice: she often receives only place names, no exact addresses. With the help of Google Maps, she tries to check if there are stables or the like there. “If there is no stable at the given location, but because there are only residential buildings or only a large playground, then of course I can prevent that.” But only then. The vet can, of course, also stick to a list of the EU with an overview of stables in third countries where the animals can allegedly be cared for. The problem: The list is from 2009 and is largely worthless, my animal rights activists.
Contraste has followed a normal cattle transport: starting point is the Bavarian Ohrbach. Here 62 pregnant young cattle (!!!) are transported away on a morning in May. Contrasts wanted to know where these cows are brought to. The competent Landratsamt calls on repeated demand the target: Gissar in Tajikistan. Nine days should take the ride there, it goes over 6,500 kilometers. Can the animals rest? The District Office Amberg-Sulzbach states: “At present, we only have the data for the transport planning, in which only the locations and not the exact addresses of the control, supply or collection points must be entered.”
Whether there are appropriate stables at the specified locations, was obviously not checked before the approval of the transport. A clear disregard for the European animal welfare regulations, judge legal experts – but unfortunately everyday life in the EU.
Translation: Venus
About this theme reported the first program (ARD) in the TV- Broadcast “Contrasts” on May 24, 2018 at 9:45 pm
Posted on May 27, 2018 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
Hamburg, Germany: No new animal laboratory at the University Hospital We demand: 32 million euros for animal-free research!
Hamburg wants to build a new building for the laboratory keeping of animals at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) and provides around 32 million euros for this purpose. The construction works are planned from 2019 – 2021. Allegedly, the building will replace the existing animal husbandry and modernize it, but there are several indications that the number of animals suffering from experiments should be increased.
Cruel and useless
Animal experiments at UKE are neither ethically nor scientifically justifiable. Animals are artificially made ill to mimic the symptoms of human diseases as an “animal model”. Subsequently, an attempt is made to heal these artificial symptoms. Since these have absolutely nothing in common with the disease in humans, the therapy methods thus found do not work for the patient.
Population or patient studies, cell cultures, multi-organ chips and mini-organs such as mini heart or mini brain from human cells offer innovative ways to conduct animal-free research in the interest of humans.
While 32 million euros for the laboratory new construction are made easy, Hamburg praises only every two years, a research award in the amount of just € 20,000 and not even for purely animal-free research, but also for measures that “refine” or merely reduce animal testing.
10 examples of animal experiments from the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE):
Document 1: Rabbits are drilled holes in the shins to test an osteoporotic drug >>
Document 2: Mice die from artificially induced meningitis >>
Document 3: Mice suffer from cardiac failure due to genetic engineering >>
Document 4: In sheep, a piece of aluminum foil is inserted into the brain, thus preventing the exchange of two endocrine glands to develop an “animal model” for the testing of dental implants in old people with bone loss >>
Document 5: In pigs, a small wire basket is pulled through a heart valve to damage it and simulate aortic valve weakness >>
Document 6: Ferrets are thirsty for certain behaviors >>
Document 7: Genetically Modified Mice Suffer from Malformed Bones, Joint Inflammation and Swollen Paws >>
Document 8: What happens in the brain of rats whose chatter hairs are all moved at the same time? >>
Document 9: Crushed spleen of BSE-prion infected mice is injected into the brain of other mice >>
Document 10: Intentional rejection reaction of transplanted kidneys in rats >>Doctors against animal experiments call on the Hamburg citizenship to invest the 32 million euros for animal-free research. In the new building, animals must not be tormented, but innovative human-relevant methods should be developed.
My Comment: Anyone who knows and studies the history of the Third Reich knows, how the animal experimenters tick. Their actions coincide 100% with the mass murderers of these time. In every detail. Even Zyklon B is still used for the killing of experimental animals, even if it is discouraged.
It is not possible to keep out of this area behaviorally disturbed people; otherwise no one would give in to it.
But we need to know public the names of those involved and make their actions public.
Especially in this area, the demanded transparency is important.
Best regards
Venus
P.S: In the link is also the petition against the new construction of the animal laboratory, please sign!
Posted on May 27, 2018 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
Yesterday I found a very nice article about the “romantic” pigeon flights as a sport.
A cruel sport by the way. But this article should also open the eyes of everyone who wants to decorate his wedding with the flight of (mostly) white pigeons.
Today we have internet, we have information, and nobody can say “ah, I did not know it”.
Here is the article with the link at the end:
How do “pigeon races” work? Is not it astonishing how the breeders persuade the animals to travel enormous distances to exhaustion? Daily distances of 700 kilometers? The resolution is as simple as shocking: So that the pigeons perform at their best, but often exceed their powers, their owners use perfidious methods. For the racing flights, pigeon owners use the loyalty of the animals. Pigeons are very close to their home beat, their partner and their offspring.
Dove couples stay together all their lives and the connection is very close. So, what does a dove do that snatches her partner away from her offspring and finds herself far away from a safe home beat in completely unknown surroundings? Correct! She will try to go back to where she is, what she loves more than her own life. Yearning, lovesickness and concern for the offspring, serves the “performance increase” immensely.
The owners take advantage of the desperation of their animals to return as quickly as possible to their homes and their families. Who calls this sport as “romantic” may not have understood a crucial point:
In the “widower method” pigeon pairs are separated from each other.
This method has prevailed nationwide for the “normal flight program”, according to breeders. The “nesting method” describes the separation of a parent from the partner and the newly hatched offspring.
Both means enormous stress for the animals.
Experts believe that between 10 and more than 50 percent of the pigeons that are transported away from their home for betting flights, do not return to their partner, their offspring. They strand as homeless animals on the streets of foreign cities, land in animal welfare, most of them die agonizingly.
Owners and organizers find this perfectly acceptable. They calculate these “losses”.
After all, this “romantic sport” is not about the animals, but about awards and prizes. There are hundreds of thousands of pigeons that suffer a painful death every year on the races. Dehydration, fatigue, injury … or starving to death in one of our inner cities. Pigeons that have just made it home are often broken in body and soul. “
But even if they have survived the ordeal, even if they have found their way back to their partner: Home-born pigeons are not safe in their lives, because the official breeding goal of the Association of German Pigeon Breeders aims at physical performance and the attainment of top speeds of 130 km / h. Animals that could not provide these services or show a lack of sense of direction that has fled are killed by the owners.
The killing of the rejected pigeons happens incidentally with full awareness. The pigeon’s neck is pulled long and the head is turned over. Execution for lack of performance is carried out by the breeder himself.
One may think of this sport as one likes: it has nothing to do with love of animals and romance. The sensitive and intelligent birds are degraded to the disposable.
But there are also some who plan the most beautiful day of their life, a wedding, with the use of white doves. They should symbolize peace and loyalty and complete the romantic staging.
Before you decide, you should know what this harmless custom can mean for the pigeons.
In fact, the birds who would never voluntarily abandon their home beat are exposed to it. They are torn from their homeland beat, transported to unknown places and often have to spend a very long time in confined spaces without food and water, before they are taken by strangers in the hand (which is extremely scary for the animals) and finally you leave they fly. There are many dubious providers, some even send the pigeons for this purpose and accept that the animals are left to themselves for days without any supply in the small cages.
Therefore, please: do not decorate a wedding or other celebration with the flight of white doves.
Pigeons are not balloons, but sensitive, intelligent animals. Like every animal.
Posted on May 22, 2018 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
We did not even notice but we can announce that we have now passed 4.000 posts on the site – 4,002 to be exact.
You can see all the months for the last 13 years or so on the left hand side of the page – just click on any month to read what was done at the time.
Nothing to celebrate really – as there is a lot of bad news. Would be great if everything was sorted positively for the animals and this site did not need to exist. But it does and we hope you find some of our posts of interest. Sadly we guess that there will always be cruelty and animal abuse; but we think it fair to say that even over the past 10 years or more, we have seen so many positives. There will always be that sector of the human race who get kicks out of cruelty; but we aim to expose and inform on them whenever we get the chance.
The reason that I created SAV all those years ago has still not achieved its aim – to provide compassion, respect and dignity to all the strays of Serbia. Politics has been the main brick wall that we have faced – and at the moment it is no better. All I can say is that today, 2018, a lot more people are aware of the suffering of Serbian strays than they were about 14 years ago when SAV was founded. People are power, and knowledge is more power – and the good people of Serbia will achieve their desired results eventually. The situation as it is cannot and will not go on.
Why the fuck does a beautiful girl like Tricia suffer ?
What I really want to say to people is that you do what you want to do. If I had taken the advice of many all that time ago; SAV would never have gotten off the ground; and who knows, Serbian strays may still have been suffering in silence. Now we also have a massive SAV Facebook grouphttps://www.facebook.com/groups/SerbianAnimalsVoice/with over 1200 dedicated animal welfare campaigners – it provides a window for Serbian shelters and campaigners to inform the world of the wonderful work they are doing; whilst at the same time getting help with funding for food, veterinary costs and all the other things that shelters need.
We took the chance all those years ago – and in the early days we rejoiced at getting 15 people visit the site each day. Now today, our daily visits go into the hundreds – each visit being someone who is being informed and educated about the suffering of animals around the world. So in that sense we are getting somewhere.
So, live the dream; take the chance and in many cases, do not listen to the well meaning advice of others !. You do what you want to do; suffer the good and bad times; but the main thing is do what you want to do.
Jill lived her dream – we still remember her courage for the baby calves exported in the live animal export trade.
Go where your dreams take you – it can be a very positive move !
Thanks for visiting the site and for having faith in what we do.
Posted on May 22, 2018 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
I had the real pleasure of working with Guy – founder of PICAS, here in England; in 2003, when we combined our efforts to submit a proposal to a local authority on non lethal methods of Pigeon control.
Guy is just one of the nicest blokes you could ever wish to meet; and his advice and ideas on humane pigeon control for the authority near to my home were just the best. PICAS – the Pigeon Control Advisory Service provide non lethal advice on bird control to authorities and organisations all over the UK; as well as international customers.
Check out their site via the following and learn more about pigeons – they are not the pest they are often accused of being. – Mark.
Posted on May 22, 2018 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
Support for live export ban grows as shutdown bill begins voyage through Parliament
Support for shutting down the live sheep export trade is gaining ground, with Labor set to formally endorse the proposal this week.
Key points:
·The Live Sheep Long Haul Export Prohibition Bill will be introduced to Parliament today
·Sussan Ley has backing of two Liberal colleagues, believes numbers will increase
·Shadow Ag Minister says Labor will lock in support for the bill
Liberal MP Sussan Ley will today introduce a private member’s bill that would ban live sheep exports to the Middle East during the northern hemisphere summer months in 2019 and entirely close the sector down in five years.
“This has been a trade marked by disaster following debacle and that’s gone on for 33 years, it’s had a very sad history, a very dismal history,” she said.
Shadow Agriculture Minister Joel Fitzgibbon told AM Labor will lock in its support for what will be known as the Live Sheep Long Haul Export Prohibition Bill.
“I will certainly be recommending to both the shadow cabinet and to the party room this week that we support the bill,” he told AM.
“I have no doubt that the bill reflects the view of the broader Labor Party and on that basis I’m very confident that the party room will embrace the bill.”
Labor’s support drastically increases Ms Ley’s chances of securing the numbers to debate the bill in the House of Representatives.
She already has the backing of Liberal colleagues Sarah Henderson and Jason Wood, and believes the numbers will increase.
“I’ve had conversations with two or three that … are very supportive. I will leave it up to them about when they talk about their support and to what degree they might get behind this bill,” she said.
But her hopes of securing Ian Goodenough’s support, who indicated an interest in the bill, have fallen through.
“After considering all the factors I have decided to initially back the Government position on the McCarthy Review to implement a series of changes,” he said.
Where to from here?
History shows most private members’ bills do not pass Parliament, because debate has to be approved by the Government.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has made it clear he has no intention of shutting down the trade because he believes the sector can be cleaned up.
Ms Ley needs to rely on Labor, the crossbench and some of her colleagues to get the bill over the line, and Joel Fitzgibbon believes that is possible.
However it is dependent on several factors, including Labor winning the impending byelections.
“If Labor can restore its numbers to 69, with Sussan Ley and Sarah Henderson we get to 71,” he said.
“We only need five more to get the absolute majority we need to pass the bill. We will find at least three of those on the crossbench and a number of the Government’s own ranks have approached me expressing their support privately for this bill.”
Like with any private member’s bill it is a juggling act with numbers, but the uncertainty has not stopped Ms Ley.
“I in some ways compare this to the gay marriage debate where several private members bills were tabled over the years and they didn’t provide the immediate response but they were all part of building the case, making the argument and looking at it … with fresh eyes,” she said.
The live sheep export trade will be under the microscope in the coming months, as politicians watch to see if the sector has implemented changes to improve conditions for the animals.
Any major incidents at sea could see more Liberal MPs supporting the bill, such as Mr Goodenough.
“I believe the bill has merit and could be used as an end measure in the event that the Government’s reforms do not improve the industry,” he said.
Queensland Liberal MP Warren Entsch said there would have to be another rethink about the industry’s future if large numbers of sheep died at sea.
“I don’t want to do a knee jerk reaction on this,” he said.
“The reality is that if these changes mean that we don’t see that image again then we know we have achieved the right outcome. If those images surface again, then I know something has to change.”
IN THE NEWS: Live export ban faces prospect of passing Parliament after Labor signs on.
IN THE NEWS:On MAY 11, 2018
Labor will support Liberal MP Sussan Ley’s bill to outlaw live exports, meaning an outright ban on the trade within five years is, for the first time, a realistic prospect.
Fairfax Media can also reveal that a second government MP is considering co-sponsoring the bill, indicating that momentum for a ban is rapidly building in the government.
Labor’s spokesman for agriculture, Joel Fitzgibbon, announced last week that the opposition no longer believed the industry – which is under fierce scrutiny after footage emerged showing thousands of sheep “boiling alive” on a ship heading to the Middle East – was incapable of repair.
However, he had stopped short of supporting the bill to be presented to Parliament on May 21 by Ms Ley, a former government cabinet minister who represents a regional seat in NSW.
Fairfax Media understands Labor has since been in intensive negotiations with Ms Ley over the contents of her bill. It agreed to support the bill after insisting it gave farmers a minimum five-year transition period to wind down the trade rather than face an immediate ban.
However, the northern summer trade, where the extreme conditions can cause mass fatalities of animals, would be banned from 2019.
MPs pushing for a ban believe they also have enough support in the Senate to pass the bill.
Liberal MP Jason Wood told Fairfax Media that he is considering co-sponsoring Ms Ley’s bill for the trade to be gradually abolished despite the Turnbull government resisting a “knee jerk” reaction.
Another Victorian Liberal backbencher, Sarah Henderson, said she will also second Ms Ley’s bill. The backbench push comes in spite of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s personal plea for the bill to be dropped.
Mr Wood said no Australian could treat their pets the way live exporters had been treating livestock.
Last weekend, Fairfax Media published gruesome new footage of sheep that had died en route to the Middle East. Vets said the sheep had effectively “boiled to death” in the heat.
“Under Australian law, if a dog was left in a car on a hot summer day, that would be regarded as animal cruelty; yet we have 65,000 sheep at a time being transported in these awful conditions,” Mr Wood said.
Mr Wood, the member for La Trobe, said there had been so many documented instances of animal abuse on board live export ships that calls for a ban could no longer be described as a “knee-jerk reaction”.
“This is something I have called for, for a long time. I’ve been given assurances from the industry before that animals wouldn’t suffer. I’ve obviously been conned,” he said.
Mr Wood wants the government to back the ban but, if he decides to co-sponsor it, up to three government MPs could join with Labor and the crossbenchers in the lower house to have the bill passed.
But with Labor down four MPs in the lower house following the resignations of four of its MPs and crossbencher Rebekha Sharkie – all caught up in the dual citizenship fiasco – any debate and vote is unlikely to happen until after byelections are held.
If the government refuses to grant the necessary procedure to allow the bill to be debated, those in favour of the ban will require an absolute majority of 76 to suspend standing orders and have it brought on for a vote.
If Labor retains its seats in the byelections, an absolute majority would require three government MPs, along with the crossbench votes of Ms Sharkie, the Greens’ Adam Bandt and independents Andrew Wilkie and Cathy McGowan.
The Liberal party will be campaigning hard to regain the once-Liberal seat of Mayo in Adelaide, which it lost at the last election to Ms Sharkie, who stood as a candidate for the now-departed Senator Nick Xenophon.
Labor will expect to retain Freemantle in Western Australia, although faces slimmer margins in Longman in Queensland and Braddon in Tasmania.
Any improvement to Mr Turnbull’s lower house majority could jeopardise the chances of the live export bill passing parliament, unless more government MPs are willing to cross the floor.
Next week, Agriculture Minister David Littleproud will receive the review he commissioned after the footage was first aired. He told radio station 5AA on Thursday that transitioning the industry, worth $1.8 billion, to one of local processing and exporting “was definitely a possibility”.
But he said the refrigeration required to support chilled meat imports in hot Middle Eastern countries was still “decades away” and, if Australia vacated the space, it would be filled by other countries with potentially lesser animal welfare standards.
