Animal Aid

Protect Birds In Malta

The Maltese government is under pressure from the hunting lobby to open a spring hunting season this year, despite previous spring hunting seasons being deemed a breach of the EU Birds Directive. Please write to the Prime Minister of Malta and urge him not to open any more hunting seasons.

Write to:
Dr. Lawrence Gonzi
Prime Minister of Malta
Office of the Prime Minister
13, St Paul's Street
Valletta VLT 1210, Malta

Ask Your MP to Back Early Day Motion for Race Horses

Liberal Democrat MP, Mike Hancock, has re-tabled his Early Day Motion (EDM) concerning race horse welfare. The new EDM has the same wording as the previous one (see below) – which gained the support of an impressive 112 MPs – but has been assigned a new number for this Parliament. The EDM calls on the Government to undertake a full audit of race horse production, death and injury, and to make its findings public. It also urges the government to curb the industry's over-breeding of Thoroughbreds.

Every year, more than 420 Thoroughbreds are killed on British racecourses or in training. Furthermore, thousands of race horses – many of them fit and healthy but unprofitable – are killed in racing yards or in British abattoirs annually. Their deaths are the grim consequence of an industry that produces more horses than it can possibly use or re-home.

Animal Aid already collates details of race horse deaths (see our Racehorse Death Watch site) but we recognise that not all injuries and fatalities come to our attention. The racing industry is largely self-regulated. It is, therefore, vital that it should present detailed information on the fate of Thoroughbreds so that the public and opinion formers can engage in informed debate.

Please ask your MP to sign EDM 94 if he or she has not done so already.

EDM 94 reads:
That this House is alarmed by evidence suggesting that many healthy but unprofitable thoroughbreds are slaughtered in British abattoirs or shot in racing yards every year; notes that the Chairman of the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) has acknowledged the problem of over-production of racehorses; believes that horse welfare problems flowing from racehorse over-production are likely to worsen as a result of the BHA's future fixtures list which will deny racing opportunities to hundreds of lower-rated horses; further notes that every year more than 160 horses die or are destroyed due to racecourse injuries; calls on the Government to undertake and put into the public domain a full audit of racehorse production, death and injury; and asks it to urge racing's regulators to act decisively to remedy the problems of racehorse over-production and the alarming level of equine death on British racecourses.

Help Ban Animals from Circuses

DEFRA has launched a public survey aimed at testing opinion on the use of animals in circuses. Although the consultation focuses on wild animals, it is still a valuable first step in working towards a total ban on the confinement and use of all animals in circuses.

It is important that you voice your opinion on this issue – and please encourage friends and family to do likewise.

The deadline is 15 March 2010.

There is a Question and Answer form for the consultation on DEFRA's website, and filling it in should only take about 15 minutes.

To save you time, we have drawn up this list of suggested responses to the questions.

Q1 - no
Q2 - yes
Q3 - none
Q4 - other (Animals should not be rehomed to zoos where they will endure confinement and public attention. All animals should be rehomed to sanctuaries that can deal with their specific needs.)
Q5 - yes
Q6 - every location
Q7 - no change
Q8 - no (Please also leave comment that the use of animals by the film industry is also inherently cruel, oppressive and abusive)
Q9 - no (Please also comment that there are companies providing goods and services to circuses, but business and industry is in a constant state of flux and all providers of such goods and services are required to be flexible and adaptable.)
Q10 - no
Q11 - yes
Q12 - no
Q13 - every location (Please comment that the evidence clearly shows that circus operators cannot be trusted to police themselves with regard to animal welfare. Therefore inspections should be frequent, thorough and unannounced.)
Q14 - yes
Q15 - other (Please leave comment that the evidence shows that current laws in animal protection are routinely flouted as has been captured on film by groups such as Animal Defenders International, so there is no chance that a Code of Practice would prevent abuse. Nor does any Code deal with the inherent cruelty of trapping or breeding animals for entertainment, their confinement and the lack of opportunity to display natural behaviour.)
Q16 - yes (Please also call for an outright ban on the use of animals in circuses)
Q17 - no
Q18 - equivalent (Please leave comment that you call for a ban on the use of animals but if DEFRA does decide to create a regulatory body, then it should be independent of the government and of the industry.)
Q19 - yes (Please call for a total ban.)
Q20 - no

Protest the brutal treatment of animals in Ukraine

A concerned Ukrainian supporter contacted us regarding the cruel treatment of homeless dogs in Ukraine. Rather than building a shelter, she reports that the authorities have constructed a 'mobile crematorium', which travels through cities where people catch stray dogs and throw them alive into the furnace. Please politely contact the Ukrainian Embassy to protest about this shocking cruelty.

Write to:
Ukrainian Embassy
60 Holland Park
London W11 3SJ
Tel: 020 7727 6312

Help Ban Gamebird Breeding Cages

A draft Code of Practice on the Welfare of Gamebirds Reared for Sporting Purposes has been published by the Gamebird Working Group, which was established under the 2006 Animal Welfare Act. The Working Group looked at a broad range of issues relating to game bird production, including diet, veterinary care, transportation and housing.

The draft Code is open to public consultation, which ends on 18 January 2010. We would like as many people as possible to write to DEFRA, calling for a ban on the use of battery cages and of devices that restrain and restrict the vision of birds during their breeding and growing cycle.

1) On the issue of battery cages for breeding birds, the draft Code offers three options for public consultation – to keep the cage system as it stands, to allow 'enriched' cages, or to ban the cages outright.

Please call for an outright ban on the cages.

2) Another especially contentious area is the industry's routine use of various restraint and vision-limiting devices on birds as they pass from cages to sheds and finally to the large pens, in which they are held prior to release for shooting. Apart from calling for a ban on the nasal septum-piercing bits, the draft Code fails to set out clear restrictions. Typically, it urges that the devices should not be 'generally' or 'routinely' used.

Please call for an outright ban on all restraint and vision-limiting devices.

3) You may also wish to leave additional comments on the rest of the Code.

Please send a concise and polite response to:

1. By e-mail to Animalwelfareconsultations@defra.gsi.gov.uk
2. Or by post: Phil Alder, Defra, Animal Welfare Act Implementation Team, Area 8B, 9 Millbank, c/o 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR.
3. Or by fax: 020 7238 6009 clearly stating the name of the consultation and addressed to the Animal Welfare Team.

Protect the Snowdonia Goats

Wild goats in Snowdonia are still being culled due to concerns that they are causing ecological damage. Such culls are not only cruel, but also ineffective as population numbers often soon return to pre-cull figures. Please politely contact the Snowdonia National Trust and Snowdonia National Park Authority to complain about this continued cull, and ask them to consider humane alternatives:

National Trust
Trinity Square
Llandudno
Conwy LL30 2DE
Tel: 01492 860123

Snowdonia National Park Authority
National Park Offices
Penrhyndeudraeth
Gwynedd LL48 6LF
Tel: 01766 770274

Protest the Egyptian football teams' slaughter of animals

The Egyptian national football team recently sacrificed a cow during training in the belief that it would bring them luck at the African Nations Cup. There is no justification for such brutality, so please politely contact the Egyptian Football Federation and ask them to ensure that it does not happen again.

Animal Cruelty in I'm a Celebrity...

Animal Aid has written to the Controller of Factual Entertainment at ITV Studios and to the broadcasting watchdog, Ofcom, to complain about the cruel use of animals in "I'm a celebrity, get me out of here". This is not the first time that the programme has received widespread criticism from animal protection organisations and the general public alike. Amongst the animals who have been used in the current series are horses, who were forced to cross a fast-flowing stretch of water; crocodiles, who seemingly had their jaws wired together; and rats and numerous insects, who were crushed and eaten in the name of entertainment.

In our letter to ITV Studios, we wrote:

Using animals in these endurance tests implies it is acceptable to torment and harm animals for 'fun' and has the potential to desensitise certain members of the audience and lead them to carry out acts of cruelty to animals for their personal amusement. The RSPCA has stated in the past that shows such as "I'm a celebrity..." are probably to blame for a rise in the number of cases of animal abuse that they are having to investigate.

There are plenty of ways in which you could test the endurance of the celebrities involved without having to harm animals in the process. Using and killing animals for entertainment sanitises suffering and debases our relationship with animals.

Please take a moment to write to your local MP expressing your concern for the cruelty meted out to animals on the show, and ask him or her to complain to Ofcom on this subject.

Support the Hunting Ban

A new initiative entitled 'Campaign For Decency' has been set up as part of the fight against a repeal of the hunting act. On the website there is a register 'Register Online Against Repeal', which will be used to lobby MPs and candidates during the campaign for their support to vote against a repeal of the Hunting Act 2004. The organisers need as many people as possible to sign up to the list in order to make the campaign effective.

Help Stop Circus Suffering

A recent undercover investigation by Animal Defenders International revealed the shocking animal abuse that goes on in many circuses. Despite widespread opposition to the exploitation of wild animals in circuses, and evidence showing the negative impact circus life has on their welfare, the government has still not implemented a ban. Please contact your MP and ask them to sign Early Day Motion 2179, urging the government to ban the use of wild animals in circuses.

Oppose slaughter rituals at the World Cup

Traditional leaders are set to propose that slaughter rituals take place at all the 2010 World Cup venues ahead of the tournament. The Makhonya Royal Trust wants a cow to be slaughtered at each stadium, to invite African ancestors to be with them during the event. However, tradition is no excuse for brutality, and cultures can still be honoured without it. Please politely contact the Tourism Minister of South Africa, and ask that this unnecessary cruelty is not allowed to go ahead.

Help keep the ban on beak trimming

In order to prevent stressed birds in factory farms from harming one another, farmers often carry out a routine mutilation known as de-beaking or beak trimming. Around a third of the beak is sliced off with a red-hot blade or infra-red beam when the birds are chicks. The procedure causes extreme and chronic pain, and hampers their need to eat and preen. A much more humane and effective way to prevent aggressive behaviour would be to improve the conditions in which they are kept.

Beak trimming was due to be banned in the UK from 2011, but that ban is now under threat. Please contact Jim Fitzpatrick MP and urge him to uphold the ban on beak trimming:

Jim Fitzpatrick MP, Minister for Food, Farming and the Environment
Defra
Nobel House
17 Smith Square
London SW1P 3JR

Take Action for Bulls in Spain

During the annual Toro Jubilo in Spain, a bull has balls of burning tar or turpentine attached to his horns, causing extreme pain and fear. Please politely contact the Prime Minister of Spain and ask that he puts a stop to this cruelty.

Write to:
Prime Minister of Spain
Presidente del Gobierno, D. Rodriguez Zapatero
Complejo de La Moncloa
28071 Madrid, Spain

Ask Nectar not to support the fur trade

Nectar are currently offering reward points for customers shopping at Sarah Coggles' website, a shop which sells fur. Please contact Nectar and politely request that they stop this indirect support of the fur trade, and remove their loyalty points scheme from the Sarah Coggles website.

Write to:
Freepost RRXL-TGET-CGZX
Nectar
Clipper Boulevard
Dartford
DA2 6QB
Telephone: 0844 811 0811

Kew Gardens Culling Wildlife

We have recently found out that Kew Gardens culls foxes, grey squirrels and rats, despite portraying themselves as friendly towards wildlife. Culling is never a humane or effective method of population control.

Please contact them to voice politely your opposition to this cruelty:

Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew
Richmond
Surrey
TW9 3AB
Telephone: 020 8332 5655 / 020 8332 5000

Email: info@kew.org

Protest plans for a new zoo in Scotland

The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland and Glasgow and South Lanarkshire local authorities are reconsidering plans for a £35 million 'animal-based visitor attraction' on the banks of the River Clyde in Glasgow, which will include giant pandas, manatees, jaguars and primates. There is a huge amount of evidence showing that captive life has a severely detrimental effect on the welfare of wild animals, causing them both physical and psychological suffering.

Please contact Glasgow City Council and South Lanarkshire Council to put forward your objections. The plans were dropped once before due to opposition so we need to show the authorities that people haven't changed their minds!

Write to them at:
South Lanarkshire Council
Almada Street
Hamilton
ML3 0AA

Write to them at:
Glasgow City Council
City Chambers
George Square
Glasgow
G2 1DU

Free Lolita!

Lolita is an orca who has been kept at a Miami marine park since 1970, in a tiny tank that is illegal according to America's Animal Welfare Act. Such a small tank is completely inappropriate for an animal that typically swims 75-100 miles a day, and can dive repeatedly to several hundred feet. Now she cannot dive at all, as her tank is not even as deep as she is long. Orcas are naturally sociable animals, who remain with their family for their entire lives, so this solitary confinement is particularly cruel. Campaigners know where her family members are, so it is possible to re-introduce her to her natural habitat. Please contact the US Department of Agriculture and the Miami Seaquarium, and ask that Lolita be allowed to return home:

Write to:
Miami Seaquarium
4400 Rickenbacker Causeway
Key Biscayne FL 33149
America

US Department of Agriculture:
Kevin Shea
Acting Administrator Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Administration Building
1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20250

Visit the Orca Network website for more information

Urge the Co-op not to fund animal research

Recently, the Co-op donated £150,000 to research into falling honeybee numbers, thought to be due, in part, to pesticides. An Animal Aid supporter contacted the Co-op to enquire whether this research would involve animals, and they replied that at the present time they do not know. They are currently reviewing outline research projects, so we are asking people to politely contact the Co-op and urge them to stick by their ethics and not support research projects that involve animals.

Please write to:
Plan Bee Team
The Co-operative Group
6th Floor
New Century House
Corporate Street
Manchester M60 4ES

Telephone: 0161 829 4359

Fight the Badger Cull

The Welsh Assembly has decided to go ahead with a trial cull of badgers in an attempt to halt the spread of bovine TB, despite prominent local and national opposition and evidence that such a cull will do little to solve the problem. The real problem lies with intensive dairy farming leaving cows susceptible to infection, and inaccurate TB tests allowing infected cows to spread the disease further.

Please contact Welsh Rural Affairs Minister Elin Jones to politely protest this cruel and ineffective decision.

Write to:
Elin Jones
Minister for Rural Affairs
National Assembly for Wales
Cardiff Bay
Cardiff
CF99 1NA

Demand a Ban on Animal Circuses

In July, Bolivia introduced a progressive new law prohibiting the use of both wild and domestic animals in circus performances. The UK claims to lead the way in animal welfare, yet shockingly still allows animals to be exploited in the name of entertainment. Animals forced to travel with circuses are often kept in cramped, unnatural conditions, and made to endure brutal training regimes and performances, causing both physical and psychological suffering.

Please write to DEFRA Minister Hilary Benn and ask him to follow Bolivia's compassionate stance and implement a ban on the use of all animals in circuses:


The Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP

Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

DEFRA

Nobel House

17 Smith Square

London
 SW1P 3JR

Please also contact your MP and ask them to sign Early Day Motions 976 and 948, urging the government to introduce a ban on animal use in circuses.

Find your MP Read the full text of EDM 976 Read the full text of EDM 948

For more information on the use of animals in circuses, or demonstrations against animal circuses in your area, please contact the Captive Animals Protection Society: Telephone: 0845 330 3911 Email: info@captiveanimals.org

Make Micro Chipping a Legal Requirement

Thousands of animals go missing each year - either by becoming lost or being stolen - and the emotional and physical suffering they might endure during that time can be terrible. Micro chipping is a sensible, practical and responsible way to ensure your dog has the best chance of finding his way home again, should the unthinkable happen. Speak Out For Animals are campaigning to make micro chipping of dogs a legal requirement in order to reduce animal suffering and encourage people to take their responsibilities to their companion animals seriously.

Stop Tesco Animal Cruelty

In addition to selling live turtles in China, Tesco has now started selling foie gras in its stores in Hungary. The production of this so-called delicacy is banned in the UK because of the cruelty involved. Ducks and geese are force-fed through a long metal pipe until their diseased livers swell up to ten times their normal size. Many birds die during this painful process.

Please contact Tesco to politely complain and ask that it stops selling foie gras in all of its stores:
Sir Terry Leahy
CEO Tesco
Tesco House
PO Box 44
Delamare Road
Cheshunt
Herts
EN8 9SL

Freephone: 0845 600441

Enforce the ban

Despite the much-welcomed ban on hunting with dogs, many hunts are continuing to kill foxes and other wild animals as normal. Often they escape prosecution by claiming that the deaths were accidental - even when they have deliberately led the hounds through areas where they know foxes will be. To try and put a stop to this blatant flouting of the law, an Early Day Motion has been put forward to add an amendment to the Hunting Act to include a 'reckless behaviour' clause. Please contact your MP and urge them to sign EDM 122.

Challenge Council's Lifting of Animal Circus Ban

Wycombe District Council recently voted to lift the ban on performing animal circuses in their area. This is a sad and retrograde decision to take, especially as more and more councils are banning such circuses due to the animal cruelty they embody. Circus animals are often kept in cramped conditions, with much of their natural impulses and behaviours frustrated. They may be forced to endure brutal training, and then perform for our entertainment. Such exploitation of animals is cruel and immoral.

Please voice your complaints about the council's decision to:
Wycombe District Council
Queen Victoria Road
High Wycombe
Buckinghamshire
HP11 1BB
Telephone: 01494 461000

Shame on the Danes

We have had many emails recently expressing disgust at the annual slaughter of thousands of innocent pilot whales in the Danish Faeroe Islands. Entire pods are driven into shore where they are brutally killed. This senseless murder of beautiful, intelligent creatures is inexcusable and must be stopped. Please complain.

Save Australia's Kangaroos

Kangaroos are now 'quasi-extinct' across much of Australia, yet they are still being killed for both commercial and non-commercial purposes. Many of the animals killed are juveniles, and this killing is a serious threat to the survival of this beautiful creature. Not only that but the senseless murder of sentient beings is always wrong, whether they are threatened with extinction or not.

Defend Threatened Sharks

The UK is currently one of five EU member states allowing their fishermen to remove the fins of live sharks at sea. After their fins are removed the sharks are dumped in the water to bleed to death in agony. Over half of the 30 species of shark found in British waters are threatened with extinction, and yet this barbaric practise continues.

Please contact Huw Irranca-Davies, Minister for the Natural and Marine Environment at DEFRA, to express your concern at:
DEFRA
Nobel House
17 Smith Square
London
SW1P 3JR

Stop the Bulgarian Dog Massacre

Despite the Bulgarian animal protection act having come into force in January 2008, stray dogs are still being abused, slain and poisoned. The former ‘isolators’ (death camps) are now called ‘animal shelters’. Docs for Dogs has a petition to urge politicians to end the cruelties of the death camps.

Scrap Livestock Subsidies

The Nutrition Ecology International Centre (NEIC) has launched a Europe-wide petition calling for an end to every kind of animal production-related subsidy, whether for breeding, fishing and crop cultivations intended for farmed animals' feed. NEIC estimates that in 2007, the annual support for animal farming across the EU was £2.75 billion – and that does not include promotional costs or subsidised animal feed costs.

In the last 50 years, in Europe and elsewhere in the industrialized world, there has been an exponential growth in the consumption of animal products. Today these items cost little to buy, sometimes even less than vegetable products, which inevitably require far fewer raw materials, energy and labour.

This is because farmers and fishermen receive direct and indirect funding, both from the state and the European Union. What we do not pay for at the cash register we pay for in taxes. And those who choose not to buy animal products pay, too.

This is all the more serious because the negative consequences of high consumption of animal products are greater on the environment, on human health and on poorer countries.

Given the huge health and environmental costs of animal product consumption, the European Community should, instead, support and promote only the growing and consumption of foods that are healthy and have little environmental impact.

Help end the killing of Scottish seals

Scotland is fortunate to be the guardian of around 90 per cent of the UK's internationally-important seal populations - yet some colonies have already declined by around 40 per cent.

Thousands of seals are needlessly shot by the fish and farming industries in Scotland every year. The Conservation of Seals Act 1970 permits seals to be shot during the closed season, which means that pregnant seals or those with dependent pups can legally be shot. There is no requirement for shooters to meet any standard of proficiency, resulting in additional suffering.

The Scottish government is currently consulting members of the public about a new Marine Bill. Please contact them and ask for the Marine Bill to include full protection for seals.

Labour Supports Bloodsports

Although Labour pushed through a ban on hunting with dogs, the government is trying to appease bloodsports fanatics by promoting 'gamebird' shooting.

At the 2007 Labour Party conference, Ministers - including the Sports Minister, Gerry Sutcliffe; Rural Affairs Minister, Jonathan Shaw; and Home Office Minister, Vernon Coaker - gave their support to the shooting industry at a reception organised by the British Association for Shooting & Conservation (BASC).

Every year, around 40 million pheasants and partridges are factory-farmed to be shot for so called 'sport'.

Take Action:

Please write to your MP of whichever party to register your disgust with Labour’s promotion of shooting, and ask your MP to contact Hilary Benn (Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs) to demand an end to the mass production of birds to be shot for sport.