The fight continues...

(Image Source: RSPCA)

 

After the deaths of over 40 sheep and subsequent suspension of live animal exports at Ramsgate port Ipswich port helped the Live Export trade to continue just one week later.  Since then CIWF has reported that over 63,000 emails have been sent to Defra Minister David Heath and Ipswich port owners ABP against the live exports from Ipswich.  On 28th September it was reported that ABP had suspended the live exports from Ipswich.  The fight is not over as transporters will now be contacting other ports to take their place.

We need to show the farming sector that the public do not support live exports and call on UK farmers seeking their help in ending the live export trade.

It is the UK farmers, as well as the government, that have the power to end this trade.  As the sheep and dairy farming sectors receive generous subsidies from the tax payer they have a responsibility to respond NOW to public opposition.

The National Farmers’ Union (NFU), the National Sheep Association (NSA), and DairyCo represent the majority of farmers involved in the live export trade, although most sheep and dairy farmers in the UK do not export their livestock. We ask that the NFU, NSA and DairyCo to respond to the tragedy at Ramsgate, and the suspensions of the trade that have followed, by calling on the farmers they represent to end this trade for good.

Please sign CIWF's petition asking for the support of NFU, NSA and DairyCo.

Please click here to email Associated British Ports today and urge them to ban the trade in live animals across all its ports, for good.

Project Pig - Pressure on Poland

Refresh your memory on CIWF's Project Pig by checking out this post.  

To recap, CIWF has launched a campaign entitled Project Pig to ensure that the scheduled ban on sow stalls comes into force in January 2013, as promised.  The sow stall ban will be a huge step forward for pigs with millions of pregnant sows spending their lives together in groups instead of being confined in small metal crates, alone.

The ban was agreed to over 10 years ago in 2001 but only around half of EU Member States believe that their pig farmers will comply with the ban on time.  One of the worst offenders is Poland where the Government have estimated that over 2,000 farms will be in breach of the ban.

CIWF supporters have already sent thousands of urgent messages to the Polish Agriculture Minister calling for action, however, there is more to be done.  Please click here and add your name and e-mail address to the readily prepared letter to the main farming organisations in Poland encouraging them to comply.

UPDATE on Animals Stranded at Sea ~ Further Action Required

CIWF have reported further news about the cattle currently stranded on the Gracia Del Mar transporter in the Red Sea, 13,500 people have yesterdays action to help the animals which is fantastic news.

A well placed source has reported that the remaining live cattle have been transferred to another vessel, CIWF state that they "will continue to monitor the situation as it develops and work hard to ensure the cattle are receiving the treatment they need".

Despite this dreadful situation, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) have appallingly not responded.  The Animal News joins CIWF in voicing outrage at their lack of action.  The OIE have informed CIWF that they don't plan on taking any action until 12th March!  The CIWF have called this "in blatant disregard of the OIE's own rules on the transport of animals by sea, under which they are meant to take a leading role in emergency situations".

Please join us in e-mailing the OIE calling on them to help bring this disaster to an end and ensure procedures are put in place to guarantee that any future incidents like this are dealt with more promptly and effectively.

URGENT ACTION REQUIRED! Animals Stranded at Sea.

CIWF has reported a horrific situation occuring near Eritrea on a converted cargo ship in the Red Sea , thousands of cattle are dying or already dead after being stranded on the ship.  The vessel, Gracia Del Mar, is carrying cattle from Brazil to Egypt and it has been suggested that one of the ships engines has broken down resulting in ventilation failure and ultimately the extreme suffering and death of many animals.  

It is reported that more than 2,750 cattle have died already and the situation is worsening with every passing hour.

Conditions on the ship have been described as desperate, however, the ship has been refused permission to dock at a number of ports, including its destination of Egypt, due to the number of dead and dying cattle on board.  The surviving animals urgently require veterinary care or to be humanely euthanised, if necessary.

The Brazilian and Egyptian authorities must take action urgently, it is their responsibility and they have the resources to provide the support and veterinary care that is so desperately needed.  CIWF states "back in 2005 the World Organisation for Animal Health issued guidelines on animal welfare during transport at sea, both Brazil and Egypt signed up and as the exporter and importer they have clear responsibilities for the welfare of these animals."

Please click here to be directed to a readily prepared e-mail to the Brazilian and Egyptian Agriculture Ministers calling on them to fulfil their responsibilities and to allow the ship to dock, so that treatment can be administered to the surviving animals on board.  

Please do this as soon as possible!

Fresh Hope for Victims of Farm Animal Export

You may have read my previous posts regarding the export of live livestock through the port of Ramsgate.  According to CIWF, over 60,000 sheep, pigs and calves have suffered whilst been exported through the port within a 7 month period.

RSPCA have reported that their investigations have raised concerns that the boat used to transport the animals is not suitable and states that it is time to put an end to live farm animals being sent on long journeys to farms in Europe that, in the case of calves, could be considered illegal in the UK.


RSPCA continue by stating that "last year the European Commission report recommended no changes to the current rules on live animal transport.  Despite the depth of public feeling on the issue and the extreme conditions that animals, many as young as just two weeks old, are forced to endure."


However, there is fresh hope for animals!  

If the majority of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) sign the Written Declaration calling for the "establishment of a maximum 8-hour journey limit" by 15th March 2012 it will become an official position of the European Parliament.  This means only 369 signatures are needed, please click here to contact your MEP asking them to sign Written Declaration 0049/2011.  

If you haven't already, please sign this petition calling for Ramsgate to be allowed to cease trade from its port and for a limit of 8 hours to be put on the journey time that the animals endure.  

Remember people power and share this with your friends.

Thank you.

Tell Defra that farm animal welfare is important.

Around 80% of animals farmed in the EU each year are factory farmed.  The image portraying happy animals chewing the cud on green pastures couldn't be further from the truth.  What really happens is that these farm animals spend their lives shut in sheds, pens and even cages with many growing unnaturally and having not much else to do but eat before eventually dying in slaughterhouses or prematurely from injury or exhaustion.

The current EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform proposals fail to protect farm animals, in fact, Compassion in World Farming tell us that they are a backwards step for animal welfare and a huge missed opportunity for us to move towards more humane and sustainable farming practices.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) are currently conducting a consultation into the CAP reform proposals and it is now time to take this opportunity and tell Defra that animal welfare is an important part of the EU agricultural policy.

Read More.

Please can you spare a little time to fill in a few details here and send the readily prepared response to Defra's consultation on these proposed reforms?  Every response increases the pressure on Defra to act in the best interest of farm animal welfare so please ask your friends and family to do the same.

Thank you!

Update on Battery Cage Ban (Good News)

CIWF reports that the EU Commission has taken action to enforce the barren battery cage ban by starting the procedure that could mean 13 EU member states facing fines for not complying with the EU wide ban that came into force at the beginning of this year.  Formal letters have been sent to the 13 states about their non-compliance, which are effectively starting infringement proceedings against these Countries.

The UK needs to act now to avoid being the 14th rogue state failing to implement the ban, CIWF is calling on Defra to act swiftly against those flouting the ban.  The Commission  has stated that action would be taken against the UK in February if the illegal battery cages were still being used.

You can help by clicking here to be redirected to CIWF's Big Move campaign page.

Thank you!

Who is flouting the ban on illegal Battery Cages?

Source: CIWF

Further to my post about Happy Hens on 7th January, Compassion in World Farming have reported that despite the EU ban on barren battery hen cages taking effect at the beginning of 2012, industry estimates show that due to the non-compliance in a number of nations there are at least 50 million European hens still being illegally kept in barren battery cages.

CIWF reports that there are 14 EU nations that are not complying with the ban on battery cages and the worst culprit is Italy, where industry estimates show that the non-compliance is at least 41% - nearly 20 million hens.

The Italian Health Minister, Renato Balduzzi oversees farm animal welfare.  Sig. Balduzzi took office in November 2011 so will not have experienced the full force of CIWF's Big Move campaign yet.  Please click here to enter a few details and automatically contact Sig. Balduzzi asking him to set out Italy's plans for full compliance to the ban on battery cages, to provide accurate figures to the Commission of the Italian egg industry's level of compliance and confirm what action the Government is taking against producers who break the law.

Please remember to share this with your friends so we can increase the pressure on Italy to adhere to this much welcomed ban on battery cages and improve the lives of nearly 20 million hens.

Thank you!


Update
A day after writing this post I noticed this article informing us that it isn't just Italy that are flouting the ban on battery cages.  Sadly, up to 500,000 hens are still being kept in battery cages in the UK despite the ban.  The ban on battery cages was announced by the EU over ten years ago, in 2009 so British egg producers have had ample time to phase battery cages out.  The Government is confident that the new rules will be fully enforced by the beginning of next month...  Watch this space.

End Live Animal Exports

{Source: CIWF}

Compassion in World Farming have announced disturbing new figures showing that over 60,000 sheep, pigs and calves have been exported live through Ramsgate port in a 7 month period, this is despite the strong opposition from local residents.

Compassion has been supporting a locally run campaign seeking to end this cruel trade, Thanet District Council controls trade through the Port of Ramsgate and it is on this council to which we need to apply more pressure.  Thanet District Council charges live animal exporters only £750 per sailing for the use of their port, even though the actual cost to the port per sailing is likely to run into thousands.  The difference in cost is being funded by the tax payer.

I am not as concerned about the cost as much as I concerned about the needless suffering endured by thousands of animals, however, if the Council were to increase the fee it would make the exports too expensive to continue.

Please click on this link and fill in a few details in order to contact Thanet District Council asking them to take a stand against live exports by raising the fees to stop this cruel trade.

Can you share this action with your friends as well please?

Thank you!

A Happy New Year, for Hens!

{Source}

It's a very happy new year for battery hens, on the 1st of January 2012 the EU ban on the barren batter cage came into force.  Compassion in World Farming reports that hundreds of millions of animals will benefit from this remarkable piece of animal welfare legislation, and more than 130 million European hens are spending their lives free of the cruel battery farming system.

CIWF declares this a victory for not only battery hens but for each person who buys free range, organic or barn eggs and the major food companies that have made a stand and declared themselves "cage free".

Unfortunately, the barren battery cage is still in use, illegally in many countries throughout Europe.  Therefore, CIWF's campaign will not be ending here.  The goal is to continue to add pressure on all non-compliant countries and producers until the whole of Europe is cage free.  For more about the campaign, please click here.


Check out the RSPCA website for more news and how to ensure you only buy products from cage free hens.

Thank you.

CCTV in Abattoirs ~ Supermarket Responses (so far).

Further to this post about the welfare of animals in slaughterhouses, I am happy to say that I have heard back from the following supermarkets; Sainsburys, Asda and Waitrose.  Here is what they had to say...

Sainsburys 

"Thanks for contacting us about animal welfare in slaughterhouses.  I can certainly appreciate your concerns, given the footage filmed by Animal Aid.

I’d like to assure you that animal welfare is of paramount importance to us and we have a longstanding commitment to ensure all animals used in our products are treated humanely and with the utmost respect.   We have been recognised by Compassion in World Farming who recently awarded us Best Volume Retailer, providing the best animal welfare amongst the major UK supermarkets.

We work very closely with our suppliers to ensure they meet our high standards and use existing and new technology to support our commitments.

A number of our abattoirs already have CCTV cameras in place to enable us to monitor the standards at slaughter.  We are working with the remaining abattoirs to get CCTV installed as soon as possible.

I hope that my email assures you of our commitment to animal welfare and that you’ll be able to shop with us in confidence.

Kind regards

Lorna Clarkson
Customer Manager"

I'm happy with this response and will check early next year to see how things are going with fitting the CCTV in remaining abattoirs.

Waitrose

"Thank you for your e-mail.

Outstanding animal welfare is a priority for Waitrose.  All of our slaughter facilities are managed to the very highest standards and are approved and regularly audited by the Humane Slaughter Association.  We also work to recommendations laid down by both the RSPCA and Compassion in World Farming (CiWF).

I would like to take this opportunity to reassure you that we are leaders in this field and have consistently been recognised for our approach having recently been named as ‘Most Compassionate Supermarket’ by CiWF.

I hope that this information is of assistance.

Regards,

Susan Sharman
Waitrose Customer Sales and Support"

Not so happy with this response as it completely avoids the questions and fails to mention CCTV at all, I will respond to this asking again about CCTV.

Asda  

"Thanks for contacting us with your enquiry.

At the moment we do not require our suppliers to have CCTV in their abattoirs.

However, we are reviewing our position on this and a new policy is being drawn up to request that our abattoirs do have CCTV monitoring them. This policy will come in to effect in 2011.

The footage from the CCTV's will be used as a management tool to assist in the training of colleagues and to ensure that animal welfare practices are followed as required.

We believe that we do have very good animal welfare practices and monitor there implementation when we audit our suppliers.

Every member of our meat, poultry and fish technical team are animal, poultry or fish welfare officers who have been trained by the vets at Bristol University.

I hope this helps and if I can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Kind regards

Claire Brant
ASDA Service Team"  

I am pleased with this response from Asda but do worry WHEN in 2011 the policy will come into affect so will contact them again along with Sainsburys to check on how things stand early next year.

Marks and Spencer

"Thank you for your email about the UK slaughterhouses and the welfare of animals at the time of slaughter.

We are committed to ensuring all our livestock suppliers maintain very high standards of animal welfare. Our codes of practice cover the welfare of animals at every stage - on the farm, during transport, and at the time of slaughter.

We liaise closely with the RSPCA about animal welfare. Following their call for action earlier this year, we are re-issuing our codes of practice for livestock production to ensure they reflect best animal welfare practice.

We will require all our slaughterhouses to install CCTV. We will also stipulate that footage is independently monitored to ensure our welfare requirements are met and maintained at the time of slaughter. This will be in line with the requirements of the RSPCA Welfare Standards.

I hope this explains our position and demonstrates our commitment to high standards of animal welfare.

Kind Regards

Mike Thompson"

Another good response, so will be adding Marks and Spencer to the list to contact early next year.

Now to let RSPCA know what the Supermarkets said here.  Noteably absent from responses so far is Tesco, Lidl and Aldi.

Countryfile: Dairy Farming

I watched an episode of Countryfile on BBC One on Sunday evening, I've watched a few episodes before but this particularly sparked my interest. Not only was the Devon scenery beautiful, there was an investigation into the dairy industry by John Craven who in particular looks at the practice of killing male calves and goats at birth and asks if there is an alternative. I found it difficult to watch, especially as the report was illustrated by images of newborn goats looking absolutely adorable. However, I am glad I did see it through to the end as it was so informative and has made me think.

Each year thousands of male calves, lambs and goat kids are killed because they are male and they can't be used for their milk and their meat is not seen as a high enough quality. Some sectors are making efforts to stop calves being killed shortly after birth but unfortunately it is still a real problem for goats and sheep.

Watch it here. (Limited time only)

For more information I suggest you visit Compassion in World Farming which highlights many important issues.

Within the episode there is also an interesting report on micro pigs. They are undoubtedly adorable but I haven't made my mind up about whether or no it is cruel to breed them so small.