Posted on June 21, 2015 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
GAR Greek Animal Rescue,=
DUSTY WAS RESCUED FROM A RUBBISH TIP IN GREECE BY DIANE, A TRUSTEE OF GREEK ANIMAL RESCUE (GAR)
THIS POOR DOG NEEDS OUR HELP SO PLEASE MAKE IT POSSIBLE FOR HER TO COME TO THE UK (SEE THE FILM)
Watch the very moving video here on Youtube –
PLEASE CIRCULATE WIDELY AND PUT ON FACEBOOK, TWITTER ETC. AND SHARE – THANK YOU
If you want to give a donation to help pay for Dusty to move to a forever home in the UK, then please click on the following:
Daniel Turner was not asked to set up a fundraising page – what a star he his – one of GAR’s youngest fundraisers must be about 13 now and has been doing sponsored silence and walks for years
Dusty is currently with GARs best foster carer in Athens and is doing really well!
Message from GAR:
Following the video that Gar uploaded to Facebook regarding a recent trip where a lovely dog named dusty was saved!!! I think we should all club together and help pay towards her flight over to the uk when she is fit and ready! So please if you can donate and help dusty.
P.S. When you make a donation, don’t forget to check the Gift Aid box if you’re a UK taxpayer as then your charity can claim an extra 25% from the government!
Filed under: Animals Requiring Adoption or Homes - Worldwide, CAMPAIGNS - Global Animal Welfare Issues, GENERAL NEWS - International / National / Regional, SHELTER - Information, The "Serbian Animals Voice (SAV) ALLIANCE, VIDEOS | Leave a comment »
Posted on June 20, 2015 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
NORTHER IRELAND – BIGGEST INDUSTRIAL PIG FARM EVER TO BE ESTABLISHED
– PLEASE OBJECT NOW !!!!!!!
THOSE WHO HAVE NOT ALREADY DONE SO – PLEASE DO NOW AND SHARE THE MESSAGE WIDELY – Thank you
Please object NOW!
We have been informed that the public consultation has been extended, but no closing date has yet been given.
We have just been made aware of plans to build a gigantic pig farm in Northern Ireland that will hold 30,000 animals at a time. These plans dwarf even those of the Foston proposal, which – as you will remember – we defeated together.
Although the proposal is in Northern Ireland it is vitally important that people from across the UK send in an objection.
If the plans go ahead it could lead to a precedent being set for more of these mega farms being built elsewhere.
Say no to the NI mega pig farm!
We have just been made aware of plans to build a gigantic pig farm in Northern Ireland that will hold 30,000 animals at a time. These plans dwarf even those of the Foston proposal, which – as you will remember – we defeated together.
Although the proposal is in Northern Ireland it is vitally important that people from across the UK send in an objection. If the plans go ahead it could lead to a precedent being set for more of these mega farms being built elsewhere.
Local activists were only made aware on these plans in the past few days. Please object NOW!
We have been informed that the public consultation has been extended, but no closing date has yet been given.
Please send the objection below. Or even better personalise it.
Please note: we have had a few technical issues with the form. We are trying to fix it, but in the meantime please copy and paste the message below into an email (with you name and address) and send to planning@antrimandnewtownabbey.gov.uk
If you have problems with that email send to info@antrimandnewtownabbey.gov.uk instead and put in the email header: “FAO Planning Department”.
Sample Letter (or modify to your own version;
but keep it polite please)
“Dear Antrim and Newtownabbey Planning Department
I am writing to you to lodge a formal objection to the planned pig farm off Reahill Road, Newtownabbey, County Antrim (Ref: LA03/2015/0051/F).
Animal welfare: I know this isn’t taken into account when deciding the outcome of planning meetings, but I strongly believe it should be. Pigs are highly intelligent animals. On a development this size it will be difficult to spot diseased or suffering pigs – which poses potential dangers to other animals on site and workers and local residents. I do not believe that it is possible to provide high welfare for 30,000 pigs on an indoor farm this size.
Risk to human health: keeping large numbers of animals near residential dwellings is a well-known potential disease risk to humans (one resident lives a mere 300 metres from the proposed site). In light of recent swine flu outbreaks a recent study that showed that potentially deadly superbugs can be spread by flies from pig farms to people living miles away this should be of particular concern.
Environmental impact: this farm will not be ‘green’. In fact, the methane from the pigs themselves will produce huge amounts of carbon equivalent gases. Local residents have said that the area is near a hill and floods regularly. It does not seem feasible that the local waterways/watertable will not be affected – especially as there will be two lagoons (one for water, and one for pig waste). In June 2012, Derek Hall of Hall’s Pig Farms (the site developer) was fined after an officer of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency traced a ‘milky liquid’ discharge found in Three Mile Water River to Mr Hall’s farm. The Rivers Agency have objected to the plans as a Drainage Assessment has not been submitted and believe that potential flooding issues have not been addressed
Earlier this year the Environment Agency rejected plans for a similar pig mega-farm in England. They said the scheme at Foston, Derbyshire would “offend human senses” and cause “significant pollution due to odour”. What is the Environment Agency’s position to this proposal?
Anaerobic digester: I understand that there will be an anaerobic digester on site. However, it is also my understanding that anaerobic digesters can actually be responsible for producing smells and toxic gases, and in the worst case scenario can be a fire or explosion risk. Good practice dictates that these should not be built near to residential areas (especially one of this size) and to do so would potentially put lives at risk. It will also use huge amounts of water – as will the farm itself – and would potentially pollute surrounding land.
Noise: the developers say that the noise will be minimal. This is hard to take seriously, as noise will be generated by machinery and from the animals themselves as they are taken to slaughter (over a thousand a week).
Increased traffic: industrial farms of this size generate large amounts of HGV traffic, from moving animal feed and waste products. This is likely to impact negatively on local roadways and the lives of local people.
Jobs for local people: factory farms are not big employers, so any benefit to the economy will be minimal at best.
This proposal is a significant development for the whole of the UK. Allowing it to proceed would set a dangerous precedent for the future intensification and factory farming in the UK. I strongly urge you to reject the proposed plans.
Yours faithfully”
[Very important – remember to add your name and address!]
Filed under: CAMPAIGNS - Global Animal Welfare Issues, GENERAL NEWS - International / National / Regional, LETTERS | Leave a comment »
Posted on June 20, 2015 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
With the summer heat in full swing, life at the shelter seems quite uneventful as most of the kitties are spending their days passed out all over the place, rightfully feeling it’s too hot to even move around. However, it’s not only that their needs remain the same, but now is also the time to start and finish all of the minor repairs at the shelter.
Almost all of the platforms, ladders and wooden wire spools the cats are having so much fun with while playing in the yard need to be replaced now, after being exposed to all kinds of weather over the last few years.
Autumn rains and the winter cold have taken their toll and no matter how well these wooden items were protected by paint or stain, they can’t last forever. And our kitties just love them all big time!
The old outdoor fence which became wobbly three years ago is miraculously still holding up, but the posts keep crumbling and deteriorating with every passing day and it’s been ages since we could close the gates properly. It would be fabulous if this summer we could manage to raise the funds to rebuild the brick-made pillars and the small wall between them, clean and polish the old iron fence above and replace the sheet metal part of the gates. It’s got to be done this summer before the rotten posts completely fall apart and the whole fence goes down, that is…
And last but not the least, not by a long shot – the kitties must eat every day and now the time is rapidly coming for the mandatory yearly vaccinations against rabies.
The problem is that donations regularly slow down as summer approaches and while we totally understand everyone’s busy planning their vacations, our situation is always unenviable at this time of year. The same thing has been happening forever; when the weather is nice, we’re barely keeping afloat, and when we have enough funds to do something, it’s impossible to work outside due to the weather conditions.
We should’ve gotten used to it by now, I guess…
Anyways, if you have a little extra you could spare to help us out please do so!
Even the smallest donation means a lot, as they all add up and get us closer to our goal. A three-digit number of lazy, relaxed kitties and a couple of their tired humans will be immeasurably grateful for your vital help!
Filed under: Animals Requiring Adoption or Homes - Worldwide, CAMPAIGNS - Global Animal Welfare Issues, GENERAL NEWS - International / National / Regional, SERBIA (Central Serbia: Capital - Belgrade) and (Serbia, SHELTER - Information, The "Serbian Animals Voice (SAV) ALLIANCE | Leave a comment »
Posted on June 18, 2015 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
The Unseen Extinction Wiping Out the World’s Wildlife
Researchers find that species we ignore, such as snails, are disappearing at a rapid pace—a sign that a mass extinction is upon us.
For years now, conservationists have warned that Earth is in the middle of the “sixth great extinction,” with dozens of species going extinct every day owing to habitat loss, pollution, climate change, and other factors.
But here’s even worse news: That may be just the tip of the iceberg.
According to new research, previous estimates may seriously underestimate the number of species that we’re losing. A paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that we may have already lost 130,000 species, or a staggering 7 percent of the world’s total biodiversity.
How could we have lost so many species without noticing?
It’s simple: The authors say most of these extinctions are not big, noticeable creatures such as rhinos and tigers. Instead they’re tiny insects and other invertebrates that don’t get much attention. These species tend to have very small ranges with specific habitat needs and aren’t often well studied. Of the estimated 1.4 million invertebrates worldwide, fewer than 16,000 have been evaluated for their extinction risk by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Red List. Of that number, nearly a third are listed as “data deficient,” meaning we don’t know enough about them to say if they’re at risk.
By contrast, every single known bird species appears on the Red List. Of the more than 15,000 birds and mammals listed, fewer than 6 percent are ranked as data deficient.
So, Why You Should Care? The authors of the new paper say that focusing on larger, more easily studied species means we’re not getting a true picture of the extent of the sixth great extinction. Thus we may be losing species that could be important to human health even before we discover them. Snails and other invertebrates form an important part of the food web for all manner of animals, so their extinctions can have a cascading effect on biodiversity.
To close that knowledge gap, the researchers took a random sampling of 200 land snail species around the world and then looked at the scientific record to see what we know about them. They didn’t find much. Snails haven’t been studied in some parts of the globe for decades, and some entire genus groups have never been studied at all. The researchers write that a full 84.5 percent of their 200 random species would be considered “data deficient” if they were added to the Red List today.
Even that doesn’t tell the full picture. Of the 200 species examined, 79 had not been observed in more than five decades. One example was a Hawaiian species known as the Amastrid land snail. Amateur snail-shell collectors have wiped out many of Hawaii’s snails, probably including this one. However, because no formal scientific studies have gone looking for it, it can’t yet be officially declared extinct.
Another example came from Mexico, where a species known only as Eucalodium moussonianum hasn’t been seen since 1872. Is it extinct? The original scientific description doesn’t mention the snail’s distribution or habitat, and no one has looked for it since.
Chances are high that these two species—and many others—are gone. “Mollusks are the species group most affected by extinction,” said the study’s lead author, Claire Régnier of Université Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris. The most common factors for their extinction include habitat loss, water pollution, and invasive species.
We do know of many other mollusk species extinctions because the animals leave their shells behind when they die. That’s not the case for most other invertebrates, Régnier said. The paper extrapolates this mollusk extinction risk to all other invertebrates because, as Régnier said, “they share the same characteristics as mollusks regarding their causes of extinction: size, restricted range, rarity, and specific habitat requirements.”
Régnier said the purpose of the paper is not to criticize the current ways that we look at endangered species and extinction risk but to “suggest an alternative methodology which would give us a more global idea of our current losses.”
That might not be enough to stop the sixth great extinction anytime soon, but it might help us to understand it and start to take action.
John R. Platt covers the environment, technology, philanthropy, and more for Scientific American, Conservation, Lion, and other publications.
Filed under: GENERAL NEWS - International / National / Regional | Leave a comment »
Posted on June 17, 2015 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
SAV Comment
We are giving donations to a lot of appeals all the time from our own pockets – we ask for no money on this site; instead that people donate directly to the groups and by pass ourselves. Sadly many people do not bother to give anything, although a lot of very small donations add up to a large amount that often meets the appeals need.
We are a volunteer run organisation – self funding even for this sites upkeep; we do not have loads of cash stored away to help every appeal that goes out.
Sadly, when the required funds are not met; the worst happens. The message in red below is from Lina in her own words. This is the sad reality of some animal ‘welfare’. We try to put appeals out well in advance, as this appeal was no exception. There was very little in the way of support or donations, so now the dogs will be turned back onto the streets probably to be rounded up by the Shinters.
For them there is no hope after all… They are forgotten, rejected … Nobody want to adopt them , nobody want to help them to stay on safe .. After all , they will go to street , right to death…
To donate –
Lina’s Animal Rescue is organisation for animal welfare from Serbia . . We have 23 dogs in small private unfinished shelter, 20 dogs in 2 boarding kennels and 20 kitties in one rescuers home. Funds are desperately needed to pay the boarding kennel fees. We have debt for April 510€ and for May 960€ . We are desperate , those dogs can not go again on the street. The life of street dogs everywhere is difficult, but here in Serbia the dog catchers kill them rather than rescue them.Those dogs urgent need help . Each dog’s boarding fees are 60€ per month ( 40 boarding kennel + 20 food ) .With 20 dogs currently in boarding facilities, the debt is too great to even think about renovating our shelter. They depend only on help from good people. Please share our story and donate , this is URGENT APEL ! Thank you !
Filed under: Animals Requiring Adoption or Homes - Worldwide, GENERAL NEWS - International / National / Regional, SERBIA (Central Serbia: Capital - Belgrade) and (Serbia, SHELTER - Information, The "Serbian Animals Voice (SAV) ALLIANCE | Leave a comment »
Posted on June 17, 2015 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
Latest 22/6/15 – The Chinese have ignored the world and as usual doing only what they want. The Yulin festival is currently taking place – thousands of dogs are being slaughtered by these Barbarian back street Chinese dealers.
What the Chinese scumbags do to animals
If our Cameron government does not have the balls to raise the issue, then we will – FREE TIBET !
Above
– we are proudly flying the Tibetan flag in full support for the people of Tibet; as the Chinese have banned the Tibetan flag from being flown in ….. yes, Tibet !!
They (China) do not want the Tibetan flag to be flown anywhere in the World, eradicate it effectively – so we are very proud in supporting the wonderful people of Tibet from the human (and animal) abusers that carry the name of shame – that is ‘China’
– FREE TIBET !!
The Yulin dog meat eating festival is due to take place on 22nd June; less than a week from now. Dogs will be tortured, skinned alive and held waiting for death in cages that will cause them immense suffering – please see the photo above.
There has been a massive international outcry to the Chinese government to stop this slaughter. The links below provide a way that you can make your voice heard. A sample letter can also be found below which you can send by e mail to all of the following addresses given.
Together we can work to get this event stopped, but there is now very little time.
Please act immediately and do whatever you can – thank you – SAV.
E mail the sample letter to:
SAMPLE LETTER
Mr. President Xi Jinping,
We are hoping that you will take a moment to hear our grave concerns about this horrific tradition, and do the humane thing by saying no to this festival and save the lives of countless dogs that will fall victim to this event – an event that will butcher, skin alive, beat to death etc thousands of innocent dogs and also increase the abduction of strays & pets, and also increase the torturous, inhumane prisons of dog meat farms – which will leave a stain upon the image of your country.
You hold in your hands the power to be a role model for not just your people but for other countries as well, by showing the greatness of a nation and putting all innocent life first and not just the lives of humanity – to finally be considered a compassionate species – not a superior species.
Countless voices are already being raised around the world for animals in need, speaking out and standing up for the voiceless, and it is time for these voices to be heard and acknowledged – that our paws will be seen, and countless others get involved , and we truly hope that you also will be part of helping save life – will you join us?
Please STOP THE YULIN DOG MEAT EATING FESTIVAL, pass along respect and compassion for animals to future generations, and not a stain that will affect them permanently – a stain that will continue to tarnish the human race. Is that the mark you want to leave? Only we can make the choice to change the world – we are the difference that can be made.
We look forward to your response
Respectfully:
Your name and nationality.
Petition links:
Report reveals Chinese dog eating as minority activity with widespread support for ban:
Filed under: CAMPAIGNS - Global Animal Welfare Issues, GENERAL NEWS - International / National / Regional, LETTERS, PHOTOGRAPHS - **WARNING** (Animal Suffering) | Leave a comment »
Posted on June 16, 2015 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
Well we may think that the military are good with camo, but it does cost quite a bit to even get anywhere near to good. Here is some that comes free of charge; can you see them ? – Enjoy ! – SAV.
Above – Excellent
Above – Good try but could do better
Very good – well planned and executed !
Filed under: GENERAL NEWS - International / National / Regional | Leave a comment »
