Animal Aid

Save the Windermere Geese

There are reports that the Lake District National Park Authority plans to kill 200 of the 1000 Canada geese who reside at Lake Windermere. The birds are blamed for ‘polluting’ the lake and causing ‘environmental damage’ as they graze. Animal Aid will fight this cull and has started a correspondence with the Authority.

Please help us by emailing the Authority to tell them that the planned cull is unethical, unnecessary and must be stopped.

Edinburgh's zoological prison

It is hardly surprising that both pandas at Edinburgh zoo have been sick with colic – no doubt as painful and distressing a condition in pandas as it is in children. The male, Yang Guang, is reported to have been sick for two weeks. His symptoms have included weakness and loss of appetite. Among the established causes of colic in children is ‘neurological over-stimulation’ – i.e. stress. How can these pandas not be stressed? Pandas’ natural habitat is a few mountain ranges in central China. They also used to roam lowland areas but farming and deforestation forced them out. In other words, yet another species has been driven to the brink of extinction through our own species’ greedy self-centredness.

An edited version of this article by Animal Aid Director Andrew Tyler has been published by The Scotsman newspaper.

Government says 'no' to massive dog vivisection breeding factory

Plans for a massive expansion of an East Yorkshire facility that breeds dogs for animal research have been rejected by the government. The local authority had earlier turned down the proposal by laboratory suppliers B&K Universal for its site at Grimston near Hull, on the grounds that the expansion would cause traffic disruption. But B&K appealed the decision. Now the government has ruled that the development cannot go ahead.

Another victory for the Monk Parakeets

Campaigners on the Isle of Dogs have persuaded Tower Hamlets Council to stop the cull of wild monk parakeets. The Council has now formally requested that Defra stop its cull, a step that the government agency has described as 'disappointing'.

Cheale Meats boss says he was sickened by the cruelty

An Essex newspaper has been shown around Cheale Meats slaughterhouse so that the company could ‘prove’ it had cleaned up its act after the shocking animal abuse filmed there last year by Animal Aid.

Friday’s BHA whip meeting: The not so innocent jockey victims

Despite having forced racing’s regulator to twice dilute the new whipping rules introduced on 10 October 2011, jockeys’ representatives meet tomorrow (Friday, 20 January) with the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) in what appears to be an attempt to weaken them further. Media reports suggest that the new goal is for stewards to be able to exercise greater ‘discretion’ when deciding penalties for offending jockeys.

‘Drug industry is now biggest defrauder of US government’

Animal Aid’s major report, Making A Killing, describes how drug company greed harms both animals (through laboratory research) and people. This week the industry has again come under fire, from a senior consultant in public health who has accused the drug industry of being the biggest defrauder of the US government.

New EDM for wild animals in circuses

In June last year, MPs overwhelmingly supported a motion to ban the use of wild animals in circuses. Despite this, the government has failed to act, and instead Defra has been looking at a system of licensing - which would not stop the suffering of circus animals. A new Early Day Motion has been tabled, urging the government to take action and impose an outright ban on this cruel and outdated practise.

Please contact your MP and ask them to sign EDM 2563: Ban on Wild Animals in Circuses.

Meet your Meat

Local campaigners have been holding demonstrations outside Cheale Meats – the Essex slaughterhouse exposed for horrific cruelty to pigs, which included burning them with cigarettes and kicking, punching and dragging them through the slaughterhouse.

The trouble with animal farming

Animal Aid has produced a handy new guide in the Trouble With… series. The 16-page, A5 colour booklet focuses on animal farming, with succinct sections on breeding, confinement, disease, slaughter and ‘high welfare’ products. Also detailed are the mutilations to which animals are subjected. Chickens, for instance, are ‘debeaked’, and lambs and calves have their testicles removed, often without anaesthetic. Other revelations relate to the destruction, by the egg industry, of millions of newborn male chicks every year; and, by dairy farmers, of around 100,000 newborn male calves.

Whipping for Profit: how horseracing rewards the cheat

An article from Dr Steve Jones: Though the British Horseracing Authority’s limits on whip use are clearer than ever before, when a jockey strikes a horse excessively or illegally, the result of the race always remains unchanged. It’s a bit like a sprinter keeping Olympic gold despite false starting, or a goal standing when the striker is ruled offside. In racing, cheats prosper.

Chimera monkeys: 'reckless scientific adventurism'

Today’s national newspapers carried (often uncritical) reports of the birth of two macaque monkeys, whose genetic material originates from six ‘parents’. Known as chimeras, for each monkey, diverse parent cells were brought together to create a single embryo, which was then implanted in a surrogate mother.

New year, New you!

After the lavish excesses of the festive season and with the coming year of austerity, you have probably considered making some New Year’s resolutions. The start of a new year is the perfect time to take steps towards a more compassionate, healthier and happier you. And there’s no better way of doing it than by embracing an animal-free diet, which is kinder to the animals, your health, the environment and not to mention your purse!

Oxford City Council says 'no' to carriage horses!

At a packed meeting last night (19 December 2011), Oxford councillors voted against plans to introduce a bylaw that would allow companies to operate horse-drawn carriages in the city centre.

A winter appeal

Animal Aid would like to thank all our supporters for their hard work this year. While we rely on - and are very grateful for - your donations, please also remember the animal sanctuaries that are struggling to feed an ever-increasing number of abandoned and abused animals while feed and energy prices soar. Their work is hard, emotionally exhausting and never-ending. Those with farmed animals often have the largest bills and some very long-term residents!

Animal Aid in Oxford to oppose carriage transport scheme that threatens horse welfare and public safety

Animal Aid’s Director, Andrew Tyler, and Horse Racing Consultant, Dene Stansall, will be in Oxford today to fight a proposal to introduce horse-drawn carriages to the centre centre. They will be addressing the full council, setting out our opposition to the scheme on animal welfare and public safety grounds.

Latest Bulletin presenting case for non-animal research

Animal Aid has just produced the sixth bulletin featuring some of the latest developments in non-animal research. It has been sent to all MPs and MEPs, encouraging them to be more critical of what the pro-vivisection lobby tells them, and to implement improvements to current legislation.

Congratulations – and thank you!

The draw for the annual Animal Aid raffle took place today. Congratulations to the four lucky winners, and thank you so much to everyone who bought tickets. The raffle is an important source of income for Animal Aid. We have written to all four winners today, enclosing cheques or holiday details.

Spelman badger cull decision 'vicious and counter-productive'

The decision by Caroline Spelman to approve the culling of badgers in two English pilot areas represents a miserable capitulation to a cattle farming industry that is intent on pursuing abusive practices that lead inexorably to high levels of disease.

Make landowners liable for wildlife offences

The Scottish Government has passed a law of Criminal Vicarious Liability to ensure that those who direct or turn a blind eye towards the persecution of birds of prey can be held to account by criminal proceedings initiated by the State.

Cheale Meats Latest Victims

Since Animal Aid first exposed the cruelty inflicted on pigs place at Cheale Meats in July this year, local campaigners have been holding demonstrations at the Essex slaughterhouse. They have also filmed the pigs as they arrive at the slaughterhouse.

Happy Christmas?

Have you ever stopped to wonder why Christmas - a time to spread peace on Earth and goodwill - is celebrated with the mass suffering and killing of turkeys (and other animals)? The festive season provides an excellent opportunity to reflect upon the treatment of our fellow sentient beings and start living a more compassionate lifestyle. So this Christmas, spare a life and have a meat-free feast instead.

Fixing the propaganda race: how the pro-whip lobby suppresses debate and misrepresents truth

Animal Aid supporter, Dr Steve Jones, shares his views on the use of the whip in racing: 'On October 10th 2011, the British Horseracing Authority’s new rules on whip use were implemented. The rules were the culmination of a year-long consultation led by a dedicated Review Group. Jockeys would be limited to seven cracks of the whip in flat races and eight in jump races. If they broke the rules, they faced longer bans, and could forfeit their riding fee and their percentage of any winnings.'

Cancer Research UK urged to stop experiments on animals

The first ever fall in Cancer Research UK’s annual income, announced this week, coincides with Animal Aid’s call for people to boycott the charity until it stops funding animal experiments. Animal Aid’s fully referenced scientific report, Victims of Charity, explains in detail how medical research on animals is cruel, unnecessary - and even dangerously misleading.

Animal Aid's Christmas Fayre 2011

Animal Aid's annual Christmas Fayre will be on Sunday 4th December 2011 at Kensington Town Hall, London from 10am-5pm. Our keynote speaker this year is the veteran campaigner, Peter Tatchell, who will be speaking on ‘For Human Rights and the Rights of Other Animals’ at 12 noon.

Help protect the Tullos Hill deer

The cull of roe deer on Tullos Hill in Aberdeen is due to begin soon. The Council plans to plant a tree for every citizen but the funders of this project demand that the deer are killed in order to ‘protect’ the new trees. Tullos Hill is a beautiful meadowland, which supports a host of wildlife and is an important archaeological site, with four cairns that were designed to be seen from each other. Planting trees will damage the ecosystem, destroy the views and mean the killing of animals who live there.

Unseen suffering of pigs

Today (November 23rd), Animal Aid is making public a series of photographs of a pig taken inside Cheale Meats slaughterhouse in Essex. In industry terms, this pig is known as a ‘cull sow’ – which means she was used to breed from, and when deemed insufficiently productive, she was killed and her meat turned into low-grade food products, such as processed meats, pies and soups.

Say Yes to medical research, but No to animal research!

Animal Aid’s Day of Action on Saturday, 19th November for the Victims of Charity campaign saw supporters across the country take to the streets to help us raise awareness about the involvement of medical charities in vivisection, and urge people to support compassion, not suffering.

Thank you to everyone who took part and made the day a success!

South West Christmas without Cruelty Festival 2011 with Benjamin Zephaniah

Come along to our annual event at the Corn Exchange in Exeter on 27 November. And this year we have a very special guest to add to the usual festivities. Benjamin Zephaniah, the nation’s favourite performance poet and long-standing animal advocate, will be joining us to speak and read a few of his poems, sign books and chat with visitors. Why not come along and meet him?