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