Mega Dairy Update

The deadline for us to voice our opposition and take action against the mega dairy application in Lincolnshire was yesterday and the good news is that 38 Degrees was able to hand in their petition containing well over 50,000 signatures!  This has even been reported on the BBC News website so our opposition is well and truly noted.

A decision on whether the mega dairy will go ahead is expected in March.

URGENT! New Planning Application Now Submitted for Mega Dairy

 Source.

The first e-mail I came across this year was an urgent request for help from several animal welfare organisations regarding the Nocton mega dairy planning application which has now been resubmitted.  (Something to jog your memory).  The Planning Department at the Council have also contacted me directly asking for my comments on the application and need them before the deadline of 11th January.  If you would like to see the letter please let me know and I will e-mail it to you.

What you can do BEFORE Tuesday 11th January

Please sign this petition if you haven't already.

38 Degrees feel that the businesses behind the factory farm are being clever with the timing of their application and have submitted it just before Christmas hoping it will slip through quietly.  They have reiterated that if the mega dairy does go ahead it will be 30 times bigger than anything the UK has ever seen and make way for more cow factory farms across the country.

Please e-mail the Council directly with your objection at planning@n-kesteven.gov.uk

Visit the Viva website where they provide a template for you to send easily voicing your objection, copy and paste the template and either object online or send it to the e-mail address above.  If you have time, please edit the message to include your own opinions.

Let all your friends on Facebook or Twitter know about this and ask them to do the same, link them to this page where they can get all the information in one place.

I will keep you updated on this, thank you in advance for your help.

Urgent Action Required! Intensive Dairy Farming Application Re-Issued

Remember this? 

Earlier this year the planning application filed by Nocton Dairies Limited to Lincoln Council for the intensive dairy farm was withdrawn due to public pressure as well as one of the three companies behind the idea pulling out.  Yesterday a press conference was held in London and the remaining supporting companies announced their intention to press ahead with the UK's first "mega-dairy".  The new planning application states that plans will be scaled back by 50% offering cows a bit extra outside space, however, they still wish to keep up to 4,000 cows in grass free conditions, which according to 38 Degrees as well as this being bad for cows it is also bad for climate change and other farmers.

38 Degrees are asking for as many people as possible to sign their petition to block the intensive dairy farm going ahead.  Don't just sign it, forward to your friends to sign and ask them to pass it on as well.  This is very important as the businesses backing this planning application are doing everything in their power to make it happen so we need to do the same to STOP it.

Useful Links

Compassion in World Farming

More ways to Take Action

Oppose the UK's Biggest Factory Farm Facebook Group

38 Degrees Facebook Group

Article in The Guardian

I will be updating you more on this regulary and let you know what else we can do to help.

Yet another proposal for intensive farming

You may remember my post back on 29th June about a proposal for an intensive pig farm, well I have just been informed of a proposal made to Powys County Council for a factory farm with a multi storey milking facility enabling it to accommodate around 1,000 cows.

Cows on dairy farms are forced to produce high yields of milk that are frankly unnatural and can result in cows dying of exhaustion. The life expectancy of a cow is around 1 years bur a quarter of dairy cows die before reaching the age of 3. Cows are repeatedly made pregnant to ensure the production of milk and the calves are taken from their mothers after a few days spending their weeks in tiny stalls, if the calves are lucky enough to be female they are used as dairy cows from the age of 15 months. Male calves are either killed at birth or sold to the veal industry.

Factory farming is torture for animals and causes a greater risk of disease for animals, the disease can also spread to humans. Intensive farming such as this also effects the surrounding environment with traffic, noise and bad smells.

Please follow this link that will direct you to a ready prepared letter to Powys County Council objecting to the application and asking them to reject the proposal. If you can spare a few minutes please enter your details and also make add your own thoughts to the letter, changing the title of the letter will also be helpful.

The deadline for registering your objection is 24th September so please make the effort to do this as soon as possible.

Thank you.

Hello world!

My name is Helen and for quite some time now I have been contemplating creating a blog with a view to helping animals. Right now, I know very little about creating a blog so I am going to learn as I go along ~ please be patient!

"But how can a blog actually help animals?" 

I hear you cry.  Well, that all depends on you - here's how;

Every week I am inundated with e-mails from organisations such as the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), The League Against Cruel Sports, and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) to name but a few. They tell me what is going on in the world with respect to animals and ask me to do things like write to my MP and ask them to consider supporting the Fox Hunting Ban, or sign a petition asking the Canadian Prime Minister to consider abolishing the Seal Cull. I happily follow the link they provide, fill in my details then click on send hoping that the few minutes I have spent will actually make a difference.  The thing is, I want to do more. At the moment the only thing I can think of doing to help that doesn't involve travelling to Canada and throwing myself in front of a Seal Hunter (I have every intention of actually doing this if the Seal Cull continues) is to try and convince more people to join me in sparing a few minutes helping animals. 

I sometimes have e-mails asking me to donate to causes but unfortunately I can't afford to do this as much as I'd like to, this blog isn't for the purpose of asking you to donate either.

How do I know I make a difference? 

I don't think I make much of a difference alone, but I do think that a lot of people doing something whether it be signing a petition or writing a letter can make a big difference.  An example is something that happened recently, PETA sent out an e-mail to ask for help with stopping the construction of a proposed large-scale intensive dairy farm (battery farm for cows) in which 8,000 cows would be subjected to cruel conditions, confined to tiny stalls without access to grass or sunshine and at risk of disease.  I was asked to write to the Planning Office voicing my opposition.  PETA provided what to write and gave me all relevant links, all I needed to do was add my name and e-mail address and click send.  I happily did this and so did many, many others.  A few days later I received an e-mail from the Planning Office thanking me for my comments and informing me that the planning permission request for the intensive dairy farm has been withdrawn!  All because so many of us gave the animals a voice.  

In order to try and make this blog as interesting as possible I am also going to post lots of animal related news, pictures and stories. It would be lovely if you could keep reading and tell your friends as well, animals all over the world need our help and even the smallest thing can make a difference. I can't do this on my own and would really, really value your support.

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated” ~ Mahatma Gandhi