Animal Welfare: What's Happening

Hello! It has been a long time, I have been away and had lots going on with Christmas coming up, however I have still gathered lots of research with regards to animal welfare and have being signing lots and lots of petitions with some fantastic outcomes to them too! Also some eye opening statistics within this update that may make you think about possible changes you could make to better animals and the world we live in. Every little helps and as always with knowledge comes positive change.

Firstly some shocking numbers with regards to fishing, more than 85% of the worlds fisheries have been pushed to or beyond their biological limits and are in need of strict management (World Wildlife). It is sad enough that animals are farmed for our consumption, and unfortunately the life in the sea is not able to restore itself naturally and with our ever growing population eating fish is just not sustainable. I also read in an article somewhere that scientists have being studying Salmon in fishing farms and have found that many of the fish are showing high levels of stress and are becoming depressed, their actions showing they are giving up on life. This is just so so extremely sad, we can not do this to these poor animals any longer - if it is not a life you would wish for yourself then it is not a life you should inflict on others, animal or human. If you can do anything, it is to cut down on your fish intake and research other high protein sources. My favourite I have find is cannellini beans - seriously delicious!

IFAW created an awareness campaign for the Northern dogs in the UK this winter. I do my best to help charities who take in strays and need to help them to survive the freezing cold winters in other countries yet did not realise this was an issue so close to home. If you can donate any amount IFAW are collecting funds in able to provide dog houses for them and prevent a terrible death this winter. With us dramatically speeding up global warming which is then causing these more drastic winters I feel it is our responsibility to help those animals that do not have warm homes and give them the chance at life which they deserve.

A great statistic from Marc Bekoff - 'a reduction of meat consumption by only 10% would result in about 12m more tons of grain for human consumption. This additional grain could feed all of the humans across the world who starve to death each year - about 60m people'. Absolutely shocking both on the part for humans and animals. I have known this for a while however I do not believe most people are aware of just how much grain is used to feed the animals we eat, they eat a lot more than us. It does not make any logical sense to grow food to then feed animals to then kill them for food yet in the end there is much less food and people are starving. The consequences of eating meat spread far and wide and it is not necessary for every meal to contain meat - personally seeing meat wasted on plates is a huge upset for me, selfish if you must ask. Cutting down on meat consumption will help people, animals and the Earth itself and is easier than you think. Vegetables are delicious! Meat is not necessary. Try and see how you get on, follow great blogs and social media pages for support and ideas too!

Unfortunately many companies, farms and even schools are outed each month for the cruelty which is going on behind closed doors, kept away from the public who is made to believe what is happening is 'humane' do to a label on the packaging. Last month saw New York Times release an undercover video shot by Direct Action Everywhere regarding cage free hens - and it was not good, not good at all. I have chosen not to watch the video myself and as I am living a vegan lifestyle I know this harm is not being conducted for my benefit however anyone who still consumes egg or egg products it would be advisable to take a look. When I was a vegetarian I was disgusted by eggs which were not cage free and refused to have them in my household yet this video showed that cage free is not always what it seems. The description of the video stated that to be seen was dead chickens rotting on the floor, injured hens being pecked by other chickens with one bird having a piece of flesh hanging from it's beak. These are not violent animals but stressed, bored and intelligent animals who are driven to such behaviour due to their poor surroundings. If you wish to eat eggs with limited suffering the best way forward would be to first;y consume less eggs, and any eggs you do consume to be sought from farms where you can visit and see the animals or by individuals who keep a couple of hens and may give away or sell a few eggs.

For anyone from the US reading or whom may visit the USA this recent AAA report may come as a shock to you. There More than 1.5m collisions between vehicles and deer each year in the US. The worst thing which could be seen from this is that there are too many deer and the population is out of control. This is absolutely NOT the way to look at this! Unfortunately this seems to be the ideology taken in the US. Us as humans are becoming hugely overpopulated, we are building more houses, roads and destroying more forests than ever in order to cope with our own population issue. We must live with the animals of the world, not against them. I urge those taking to the roads in the US to watch out for wildlife on the roads as you would a lost child, take care and stay aware of your surroundings, being cautious on roads built through wooded areas. The deer you may hit, albeit an accident, is another deer's mother or child whom they need to survive. We must respect the wildlife around us and if a deer is ever sadly hit by a vehicle, the best done to save their life - like you would if a human was run over. We are not above all. 

It is a dark day for the wildlife of the US and the figures of culling come to light this year. The US department of Agriculture Wildlife Services kills approx 4,000 wild animals per day which is done at the taxpayers expense of around $250,000 per day. Requests mainly come from farmers and ranchers. If it is not hard hitting enough the number of innocent lives being lost because a minority see them as a nuisance, it really must be a kick in the teeth to know you are paying for it, an utter disgrace. Clearly the head of this department is not the correct appointee and the department needs a complete change in policy. Culling is not humane and should not be an option what so ever, nevermind the top option. Instead I call for the money to be used for neuter campaigns, suitable relocations, and a big NO to murder! There are so many petitions you can sign to support the end of culling, please do this when possible.

I for one have a serious hatred for littering. There is just no need. I remember one time been on holiday and a young man placed a can of pop next to the bin instead of in it, it was not overflowing. I could not believe my eyes and personally made the guy go back and pick it up and put it in the bin! Recently a picture of a polar bear with a tin can stuck on it's mouth has caught the attention of many news outlets that feel it poses a severe litter warning. Rubbish should not be ploughed into the seas where wildlife live, we would not leave it in our home so how dare we put it in someone elses. Please continue to dispose of rubbish properly, recycling when possible.

Good News!!

A wonderful victory for rats! I have recently gained much more knowledge on rats as to what they do for the Earth and their reason for being here. Rats in nature are here to clean up dirty areas, so where you find dirt - you find rats. They are not disgusting creatures, they are here to clean up after us and it seems it is us who are the disgusting animals who have washed this Earth of trash, giving the rats an enormous job to do! Because we do not clean up after ourselves accurately diseases are created, and sadly it is the rats trying to clean up after us which carry such diseases and pass them on. They are highly intelligent animals and have a better sense of smell than even dogs! Giant rats are now being trained to sniff out wildlife traffickers, particularly for the illegal importations on pangolins. A great day in the office for rats! A job they can finally be grateful for.

Another HURRAY for our wildlife! The UK government has committed an additional 13m to tackle illegal wildlife trade, doubling its current investment. This is brilliant news and I feel more people are aware of how big an issue poaching currently is, I myself have only recently discovered the astonishing figures, showing that poaching is very much out of control and more needs to be done.

Another right turn for the UK wildlife! It has been agreed that the current foxhunting legislation in Scotland is unduly complicated and makes it difficult for people to be prosecuted when partaking in illegal hunts. The legislation is been looked into in order for it to be strengthened, hopefully this is done as a positive to the wildlife and quickly to avoid more terrible deaths for innocent foxes. With the new year days hunt coming up soon it is vital to support those who will be out keeping an eye on each hunt, possibly saving lives.

Some good news for those poor animals breed into the fur industry! Fur farming has come to an end in Japan, YES! The last remaining fur farm in the country was shut down in response to legal troubles related to the treatment of the animals and decreasing demand for fur clothing. In Japan the popularity for fur clothing has significantly decreased in recent years due to increased ethical concerns. Since peaking in 2006 fur imports have decreased by 80%. This is a huge victory for wildlife and brings an end to a terrible industry in Japan, wonderful!

Lots of great victories coming upto the holidays, I recently signed a petition to help free Maya the dancing bear who was being kept for entertainment and has lived a life of misery. It must not have been even 1 month later when the good news came that Maya had been rescued and is now living life in a wonderful sanctuary. It is great things like this which come from signing those petitions you see online, the ever growing support and concern from the poeple shown for these animals helps put the pressure or and really make a difference. World Animal Protection is also dedicated to helping those people who rely on animals for income to find other ways to make money in which an animal does not have to suffer, the work they did to rescue Maya was incredible, a great charity to follow and support.

Breaking news this week has seen the great news that the slaughter and butcher of dogs at Korea's largest meat market has been banned. Dog meat can still be sold here however the display of live animals is no longer allowed as well as the butchering of live animals on site. Although this is not the ban of the sales of dog meat altogether it is a great step towards this goal and will limit the amount of dog meat on sale here as some sellers may not have other places to do this elsewhere. The dog meat industry is always in the eye of the public as it is well known that many of the animals are tortured and some even stolen pets. The fight continues...

India has stepped up this month also with the Central Zoo Authority prohibiting the use of wild animals in circuses. This is beyond amazing news and the decision was taken after the authority simply saw photos of the animals in the circus and deemed it unnatural. The authority has also directed the Chief Wildlife Wardens of each state to rehabilitate the animals who will no longer be performing, a happy life for them from now on indeed,

Following this there is more good news for Elephants in Botswana as they have just banned elephant riding! Many tourists were riding elephants because they love them, however recent campaigns have shown that this is absolutely not the case and the correct step has been taken to end this cruelty. Lovely news!

Lastly some great news from Spain, after many many years of fighting against bull fighting, with a resistance from the old members who deem it culture, a great step has been taken to protect the bulls used for this horrid sport. The Constitutional Court confirms a ban of public killings of 'El Toro de la Vega', this involved the chasing and stabbing to death of the bull. HSI reiterated that fiestas involving cruelty needs to be relegated to history.

QUOTES:

'Could you look an animal in thew eye and say, 'My appetite is more important than your suffering?'' - Moby

'All children should be taken by their schools to visit a factory pig or chicken farm, and to an abattoir, where they should be able to witness every stage of slaughter and butchery. Does this suggestion outrage you? If so, ask yourself what you are objecting to: informed choice or what it reveleas? If we cannot bear to see what we eat. it is not the seeing that's wrong - it's the eating.' George Monbiot

' When there are too many human beings in a given area, we make way for them. When there are too many wild - or stray - animals, we kill them.' - Diane Adams

Fact of the day - '92% of all drugs shown to be safe and effective in animal tests fail in human trials because the drugs don't work or are dangerous' - United States Food and Drug Administration. Keep supporting non animals testing and putting pressure on the companies who still partake in this. Again, if we would not want it done to ourselves, we have no right to do it to another. 

Thank you for reading and helping! Have a lovely Christmas, Jess xx

Christmas Shoebox For Dogs!

Everybody remembers making the shoebox presents in school for those children who may not wake up to presents on Christmas day, and this is something you can do for dogs also to help out a charity in need. Amicii Dog Rescue are a UK based charity who have a shelter in Romania which holds over 200 dogs. They rescue street dogs in need, dogs from the public shelter in Turda (public shelters for dogs in Romania are also known as 'death camps'), and also take in abandoned pets. You can also find out more about this amazing charity at: www.amiciidogrescue.org.uk. This year they are running their very own shoe box appeal and I thought it was a fantastic idea! Romania suffers from very harsh winters and please do be aware that the many rescue charities in Romania have outside shelters with dog houses therefore are unable to avoid thepoor  weather conditions.The dogs thus need plentiful supplies to survive (you can also adopt the dogs and foster - please see their website or social media sites for more information).

The boxes will be put on the last transport this year at the beginning of December therefore need to be with one of the UK volunteers by the end of November at the latest - so get to your local supermarket this weekend and pack up a shoe box full of necessities for the dogs of Romania, you may be saving a life. The charity have advised that they can be filled with: tinned dog food, dental sticks, biscuit bones, flea or wormer treatment, rope toys and new collars. They are not able to take plastic toys or tennis balls. Please contact the Amicii Dog Rescue facebook page for the address. 

When I saw the post I headed to my local Asda to find lots of goodies for my shoebox to send to Amicii, here is what I got:


Tinned dog food, total cost £1.70

Dentastix £1

Rope toy £1


Biscuit bones £0.85

Medium collar £3

The contents of the shoebox cost me £7.55 in total and to send the parcel 2nd class depending on the weight and size would cost £2-£5 approx. A small cost to help the dogs survive winter and continue on to be fostered and adopted in the future!




I absolutely loved creating this and hope the doggies at the shelter enjoy all the treats that are sent through the shoebox appeal! Merry Christmas!

P.S. Amicii Dog Rescue are at constant risk of them and the dogs being thrown off the land they rent as the land owner threatens to evict them often. They are currently raising money in order to build their own shelter elsewhere, if you can donate to this cause this would be great.
P.S.S. Another great Romanian dog rescue charity is REAN, you can find them on facebook also.

Thankyou for supporting these great charities, Jess xx

Animal Welfare: What's Happening PLUS Trophy Hunting vs Eating Meat: Are You A Hypocritical Bystander?

(scroll down for Trophy Hunting vs Eating Meat: Are You A Hypocritical Bystander?)

Animal Welfare: What's Happening

I have come across some fantastic organisations this week, aswell as some great success stories - however there is of course some issues which it is important for people to be aware of, so we can make those changes and protect more and more animals each and every day from cruelty. For those of you who are interested in  facts and figures regarding animals you can follow Animal Matters on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. They have lots of very interesting posts which bring to light new scientific theories and things you may not know or may have forgotten. One in particular which intrigued me this week was regarding the intelligence of pigs:


I was astonished that pigs were more intelligent than dogs - a fact some of you may have known - however I believe this is a very powerful fact as it brings to light the idea around pets and food, why do people choose dogs as pets and pigs as food, or visa versa in some countries? We use dogs as an aid also and rely on their intelligence, maybe this is something pigs can do for us in the future also when we learn to show more compassion than we currently do.

World Animal Protection released the top ten cruelest animal attractions last week on World Responsible Tourism Day, this included some of the more well known activities however also highlighted tourist attractions I was unaware of. Having this awareness then allows me to research or start petitions regarding these to make a positive change for animals. Lets not forget Tripadvisor stopped selling tickets to these type of attractions and the pressure is on for Expedia to do the same, you can find the petition for this at the Care2 site. Here is the full list of activities to avoid: riding elephants, taking tiger selfies, walking with lions, visiting bear parks, holding sea turtles, performing dolphins, dancing monkeys, touring civet coffee plantations, snake and cobra pictures and farming crocodiles. All of these activities rely on the animals being abused during or beforehand, and their life is likely to be ended once their use to the company or individual is limited. Please read the full article for further details on these activities and why they are cruel.

A must see documentary at the moment is The Ivory Game, available on Netflix. This contains lots of facts around the illegal production of ivory and goes behind the scenes with those who are trying to capture the people killing the elephants, and also the shops buying the illegal ivory. Hong Kong have said they will end the trade of ivory completely however China has yet to comment on this issue. The amount of elephants killed for their ivory each year is astonishing and this is a very serious issue, last year alone over 150,000 elephants were poached. These are extremely intelligent animals who can pass memories down through generations, killed so their tusks can be carved and sold for a huge price to the wealthy Chinese. Absolutely disgusting. There is a petition with Care2 very much worth signing at the moment to stop South African Airways transporting ivory and hunting trophies.

Currently hot in the media is animal welfare with regards to clothing. Animal Matters posted a statistic last week stating that EIGHTEEN red foxes are killed to make one fox fur coat, and FIFTY-FIVE minks are killed to make one mink fur coat. In this day and age there is no need to kill or mutilate animals to stay warm as there are an abundance of materials we can use instead. Death is not fashion and everyone can make a huge difference by avoiding fur clothing which is not made of fake fur. People pay more for clothing which resulted in a life being taken, it is unethical and unnecessary, we must step up and say enough is enough.

The Positives: Success!

Firstly, Cruelty Free International highlighted that a laboratory in Ireland has closed it doors following their plea. 269 dogs have being killed here in the last year alone after being bred in captivity and used for cruel experiments to test medicines. Instead of the dogs being rehomed they were killed even though dogs can be successfully rehomed after being in laboratories.Cats Protection, Dogs Trust and ISPCA have stepped up to take on the 500 dogs and cats and work to build up their confidence and rehome them to the right people, hurray!

Last week also brought to us some fantastic news that Swedish millionaire Johan Eliasch purchased 400,000 acres of the Amazon Rainforest from a logging company for $14million purely for its preservation. Such great news and is also the starting point for more people, who are able, to buy parts of the rainforest in order to preserve it and it's inhabitants. Lovely!

It is also coming to light more often these days how dog racing has a cruel background and often dogs are treated horrendously during training, some dieing on the track, and the rest being euthanized once they are no longer useful to the company. Thankfully dog racing at the Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium in London is to end by March 2017. This is brilliant news and is a very quick reaction as the doors will close in just under 5 months. This follows several other stadium closures which were successfully turned into retail parks which also support local business'.

Good to know: you can find a full list of the companies and brands that use less or 0 unsustainable palm oil in their products at rainforestfoundationuk.org. Help to save our rainforests and animals by reducing the demand for palm oil.

In future blog posts I will both have What's Happening updates aswell as posts regarding specific issues which go into more detail, and things you can do to help animals in need.



QOTW: ''When we domesticated animals - for our own benefit -  we took away their ability to fend for themselves and thus took on the responsibility to care for them. When you consider the number of companion animals who are abused, neglected or euthanized each year and the way we treat farm animals, you can only conclude that we are failing to live up to our obligations'' - P.K. Barkur



Trophy Hunting vs Eating Meat: Are You A Hypocritical Bystander?

Trophy hunting is hugely opposed world wide, however many government officials accept huge cash sums in order for those looking for a successful kill of a majestic animal to enter conservation areas and safari parks. It is such an incredible shame that this is happening and that a certain amount of people think it is okay to do this. Whether the animal is used to feed a village afterwards, the hunters enjoyment comes from the kill rather than diminishing the hunger of a small tribe. Now, how does this relate to the people who choose to eat meat? Often they are wholly against trophy hunting and see a big difference between this than the food on  their plate for the basis that 'they kill for fun' not for food. The point here is that meat is not needed for our survival, whether we have teeth or not supposedly shaped for eating meat, we do not need it to be healthy, strong and live a long life. So in essence the issue with trophy hunting is that it is done for fun, correctly said, they enjoy what they are doing. Unfortunately for people who eat meat, they choose to eat it because they enjoy it, many people saying they could not give up meat because it tastes too good, so how are these two things different? Besides from paying out to kill an animal in conservation, they are not. Being vegan I would never hunt and do not believe it is right to take any life away - be it human or animal - however animals hunted have a much better quality of life and have often lived for many years before they are killed whereas the meat on our plate comes from an 8 month old cow or 28 day old chicken bred purposely for food and kept in horrific conditions. With this said, it then means many of those against trophy hunting are a hypocritical bystander due to the relevance of enjoyment to both trophy hunting and eating meat, there is no denying this however other people may have other factors to add to this to free themselves of guilt from eating shop bought meat. I often think of a world where animals are no longer killed for food and in the history books our children read of how we once lived in a world where we bred millions or animals and slaughtered them before they even reached the age of one just for us to eat them, imagine what they would say. We are brought up in a world where this is happening and somehow kid ourselves that this is okay, it is not. Hopefully through further awareness and education compassion can resurface and this dastardly killing spree can end. It is sad to be in a world where that is highly unlikely to happen however I do believe the demand will reduce and on the road to this we can continue to fight for a high quality of life for both pets, wild and farm animals worldwide.

Jess

My First Blog - Animal Welfare

Hello, and thank you for reading my first blog post!

I am not a journalist, business owner or have any qualifications in English Language (apart from my B GCSE - which was 8 years ago), so please bare with me on any errors I make! I am here today as I have a huge passion for animal welfare, have recently become vegan after being vegetarian for 12 years, and have also realised some of the impacts of animal agriculture on global warming thus sparking my interest in this too. Unfortunately a love for animals comes with a price, learning that you cannot save them all as many people are unwilling to change - despite how close we are to destroying the Earth and wiping out species after species - is hard. People are ignorant. This is why I decided to create a blog, both to spread awareness and also a place for me to let out how I feel to prevent making myself ill from keeping in my emotions after all the horrible things I see which are happening everyday. These things cannot be ignored, the first step to change is to be AWARE, only then can action be taken. I would also like to include great animal success stories in my blog to show what can be done when people act, as I do not want anyone to feel as I did yesterday and it is important to show how big of a difference can be made! Awareness - Action - Success.

From doing an online animal course and finding out how we actually get milk, I cut milk out from my diet. I was horrified, and will post a blog around this as I believe most people are not aware of the process. Then from watching documentaries and doing research on global warming I saw how animal agriculture affects this, it actually causes over half of the impacts leading to global warming - if you are interested in this fact head to Netflix and watch COWSPIRACY, it really is an eye opener! Thus I became vegan.

Yesterday I saw a video which really affected me, I had a breakdown as I just felt hopeless because I just want to help the animals but cannot help them all. Awareness is unfortunately the first step however from me seeing this it lead to me creating this blog - spreading awareness and keeping my sanity - and one person saw my shared post of the video and decided on the spot to cut out milk. I was more than happy to help and give advice on how to do this, it is so easy these days with all supermarkets stocking soy alternatives for milk, cheese and butter, aswell as delicious vegan treats! The video was extremely disturbing, it was from a hidden camera planted by an activist and showed a dairy cow mother hung by a hip clamp on a tractor only metres away from her dead baby. The mother cow being full of milk and distressed struggled to stand due to the hip clamp and her wanting of caring for her baby, with her front legs eventually giving way. The farmer returned 30 minutes later only to get in the tractor and drag the mother cow away by the hip clamp, still on her knees. The cruelty seen is horrendous and is happening, however from this activist stepping up to capture this and then pass this on the farmer will be prosecuted and less dairy cows will be subject to this cruelty. Awareness - Action - Success.

Just before I go, I also saw a statistic posted by Animal Matters today stating that approximately 6,000 tigers are kept as pets in the USA, which is greater than the number of tigers in the wild throughout the whole world! Just astonishing. Hopefully petitions will be started soon now the figure is out, and this can be looked into. Tigers kept as pets are most likely to me tame now therefore may not be able to be reintroduced to the wild, however future purchases of tigers for pets could be haltered. Petitions are powerful, please take the time to sign them when you see cruelty - awareness and action!

Thank you for reading my post, being the first one it is long but I appreciate you allowing me to let out how I feel about such issues and hope you learnt something new today which you can take forward. Have a lovely day!

Jess xx

P.S there is only on day left to watch Before The Flood for free - if you are interested in global warming this is a documentary you should watch and is available on YouTube.