Proposed Federal Rule for Non-ambulatory, Disabled Veal Calves
Sponsor: The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
ASPCA Position: Support.
Action Needed: Please use the form below to urge FSIS to protect calves from further cruelty by moving forward and issuing this rule as proposed.
Back in 2013, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced its intention to enact a rule banning the slaughter (for veal) of calves who are too sick, injured or weak to stand. The formal language that would turn this from good intention to law has recently been drafted, and the USDA is accepting public comments until mid-July. Please join the ASPCA in supporting this rule.
It’s already illegal to slaughter adult cattle who are in such obviously poor condition, but a strange loophole in federal law allows a “wait-and-see” approach for disabled young calves: they can be pulled from the killing floor and given the chance to “recover,” which investigations have proven only leads to animal abuse as workers use inhumane techniques to force these baby cows, most of whom are no more than a few months old, to stand up. Instead of enduring further suffering, disabled calves should, like adult cows in physical distress, be immediately and humanely euthanized instead of entering the food supply.
What You Can Do
You can tell FSIS/USDA to protect calves by simply reviewing and submitting the sample comments below. If you have time, please add your own comments so the agency knows exactly what you think about protecting baby animals at slaughter plants.
Thank you for standing up for vulnerable animals, America.
Watch Misha and Tom, Two Wild-Caught Dolphins, Return To Their Home
Whale and dolphin advocates hope a new report chronicling the successful rescue, rehabilitation and release of two captive dolphins will provide a blueprint for others who want to see these animals returned to their rightful home in the wild.
Back to the Blue, a report released by the Born Free Foundation, tracks a two-year project undertaken to save Tom and Misha, two male bottlenose dolphins who were being exploited in substandard conditions in Turkey.
According to Born Free, Tom and Misha were taken from the wild off the coast of Turkey and used to perform and provide ‘swim-with‘ opportunities for tourists. The conditions they were being kept in, consisting of a small dirty swimming pool, led to heavy campaigning by Born Free, a network of local activists and other organizations who were concerned about their welfare and believed they would die soon without intervention.
In 2010, rescuers obtained custody of Tom and Misha and the two were promptly moved to a sea pen in southwest Turkey where efforts to return them home began as part of the Back to the Blue project, which was conducted jointly with the Turkish organization Underwater Research Society.
The report describes how they were returned to top physical condition, trained to hunt for themselves and encouraged to spend more time underwater on their own instead of relying on their human caretakers over a period of 20 months before they were finally set free.
“In captivity, we train the animals not to think on their own, to shut down their brains and do what we ask them to do. What we are trying to do when we release them into the wild is get them off autopilot and thinking again. If they can make it alive through a six-month period, then we know they have been successfully reintroduced. Within six hours of release, they were eating wild fish and swimming with another dolphin. It was fabulous,” said Jeff Foster, a marine mammal expert who led the rehabilitation team.
After about 20 minutes the team gave Tom the hand signal to swim through the gate and Tom slowly responded, swimming through the gate to freedom. Within seconds of Tom swimming through Misha joined him and hurriedly swam through the opening. They quickly rounded the corner of the small bay and raced excitedly around the area and out to sea.
Born Free believes this is the most comprehensively documented dolphin rehabilitation and release program that has been completed yet and hopes it will be used not only to set a new precedent for what’s possible, but also to raise awareness about the harm that continues to be caused by our desire to swim with dolphins and see them in tanks.
Rescuers note that while each individual is different, and not all may be good candidates for release, the efforts here add more scientific proof that this can be successfully done, despite arguments otherwise from the captivity industry.
“The rescue of Tom and Misha has made history. We now have the hard evidence that it is possible for these animals to be successfully and humanely returned to the wild. That is a dangerous concept for a multimillion dollar captive industry that profits from their very confinement, posing new ethical and moral challenges for the future of an outdated industry,” said Adam M. Roberts, CEO of Born Free USA and Born Free Foundation.
Tom and Misha’s story is thrilling, but they aren’t the only cetaceans who have been successfully released. More well-known cases involving orcas Springer (who was rescued, released and recently spotted with a calf of her own) and Keiko continue to show us we can do the right thing for these cetaceans and that if we choose to, they can thrive. All of these efforts also add fuel to calls to do the same for Lolita, Morgan and hundreds of others being kept in captivity, who should be returned to the ocean where they belong.
Posted on June 2, 2015 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
From a little guy crying out in pain whenever he was touched – the latest super footage shows what a few months of dedicated care can do – a strong and healthy lad now !!
We know from our daily monitoring of the site that little ‘Budi’ has become a great favorite with many visitors.
Here are our previous links from February when Budi was rescued as a pitiful little guy who was in so much pain due to bad keeping from his captors that he was unable to move or sit up on his own.
Links to our original posts where you can see the initial terrible state that Budi was in – so much pain and hardly able to move:
Well some 4 months on it is really pleasing to see that he has come on in leaps and bounds – he has become an inquisitive young orangutan with a huge appetite for food and a strong will to survive.
Thanks to many global supporters, his life is no longer in danger and his health is improving every day. The change in little Budi has been remarkable.
Well here is the latest video showing his amazing progress – Budi and new friend Jemmi were recently introduced to some of the other orangutans at baby school for the very first time!
The team at IAR has just sent over this fantastic footage and we’re delighted to be able to share it with you.
Budi has become a daily visitor to the centre where he can spend time with all the new friends he has made, learning how to become a specialist of the forest that his kind should be.
Access the following link and scroll down to see Budi and all his new friends at the sanctuary:
This just shows what love, attention and compassion can do in bringing something back from the deepest of deep.
We hope that will really enjoy the new footage of the little man who has grown to be so strong and agile now.
SAV.
Previous Photographs Below From Our Posts – despite what it says below abouut clicking to see the video; please click on this new link following to see the latest of Budi:
Posted on June 2, 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.
If our Cameron government does not have the balls to raise the issue, then we will – FREE TIBET !!
As we feel that this is a very important campaign, and there are time limits to take action, we are giving this some priority at the moment. Hence it will be taking prime slot on the site for a few days, after which it can still be found under ‘Recent Posts’ on the right hand side.
Please support this vital campaign; and pass to all your friends and supporters.
Thank you – SAV.
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Dear Mark,
This year on June 22, the southern Chinese city of Yulin will host its now infamous dog meat festival. But this is no festival. In just one day, up to 2,000 dogs will be slaughtered, all in the name of profit.
Dog meat traders started the annual Yulin dog meat festival in 2009 when they saw an opportunity to make money, but the event has attracted widespread criticism over cruelty and consumer health risks. This saw the authorities withdraw their support in 2013. Dogs are stolen from their homes or snatched from the street and crammed into cages so small and with such force their bones break.
They will be forced to endure multiple days of horrendous transport conditions and torturous heat, leaving most sick, dehydrated and in some instances, dead.
Dogs are often sedated by poison darts and even cyanide. Unhygienic transport, slaughter and food preparation mean that toxins and disease find their way into the meals of festival-goers.
Our journey is just beginning but together we can stop this so-called festival. Animals Asia has written an open letter calling on the dog meat traders to cancel the event.
Please add your name to our letter. 2,000 dogs are counting on you.
A public outcry saw last year’s event drastically reduced in scale, with the number of dogs killed dropping to 2,000 from the 10,000 of previous years.
A similar annual event, the Jinhua Hutou dog meat festival in eastern China, was cancelled in 2011 after widespread protests.
Together, we can help put a stop to the Yulin slaughter.
Posted on June 2, 2015 by Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)
A very sad day in UK politics as we are informed of the death of Charles Kennedy.
A decent, honorable man – if the UK parliament had just a quarter of its MP’s with the same attitude and approach as him, then it would be a much better place.
Charles was 55.
Taken far too early – but then the good often are.
RIP and thank you for being a good, decent human being.
We have been informing Mark about the situation with Serbia and EU accession; and the possibility that Serbia could become more involved with fur farming once it becomes an EU member state; picking up from whwere other nations in the EU have eiter stopped or greatly reduced their fur farming establishments.
It is very early days, but we havetold Mark the situation and that Serbia needs to be a nation to watch for fur production in the future.
Mark and Respect have achieved a great forward movement in their work fighting the fur industry, and are the organisation that was pivotal in the UK banning fur production and fur farming.
We know that now Mark and Respect will be keeping watch on Serbia to see if there is any movement there with regard fur farming and fur production. Obviously as a Serbian focussed campaign group with very many campaigner friens within Serbia; we will also all be watching the situation and will be able to relay information to Respect should it ever become necessary.
As you can imagine, this has been a huge decision for us. We are fiercely proud of our history and what we achieved as the BUAV. But the reasons for changing are clear, and we’re absolutely confident that our new name will enable us to increase our impact for animals worldwide.
Many people struggled to understand what ‘BUAV’ stands for or what ‘British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection’ means. We were also frequently misquoted and incorrectly referenced by a range of key audiences, from the media to the public. Sadly this confusion proved a major barrier to securing support.
Cruelty Free International is clearer, simpler and more positive.
It also reflects the work we do all over the world. After all, animal research is not just a British problem – it’s global. And we have been working internationally for years.
With a name that demonstrates this, we can better engage with potential supporters, governments and other key audiences we need to build relationships with.
Our vision remains the same: to create a world where nobody wants or believes we need to experiment on animals.
Our new name will help us realise that vision by bringing about a significant change in the number of people who support our movement – whether donors, campaigners, shoppers, companies, politicians or the media.
It will enable us to build on the successes of the past and meet the challenges of the future.
There is no need to make any changes to how you support us. Existing direct debits, gifts in Wills and Gift Aid declarations and are not affected, as we’re still the same organisation (please note Gift Aid only applies to Cruelty Free International Trust).
However, if you would like to discuss any of this, please don’t hesitate to get in touch on +44 (0) 20 7700 4888 or info@crueltyfreeinternational.org.
This is such an exciting moment for everyone involved with Cruelty Free International and our movement.
Together, we can achieve great things for animals.
Best wishes Michelle Thew
Chief Executive
PS We have refreshed our website to create a much more user-friendly site that will appeal to a wider audience –check it out and let us know what you think!
