Animal Aid

Bill Oddie Speaks up for Windermere Geese

Just three days before a mass petition is to be handed in to the Lake District National Park Authority, the campaign to stop the planned cull of Canada geese on Windermere has received support from world-famous birdwatcher and broadcaster, Bill Oddie.

Wildlife Campaigners Petition the National Park Authority

On Friday 24th February at 1pm, campaigners opposing the cull of Canada geese on Lake Windermere will hand in a 2,000-strong petition to the Lake District National Park Authority (on Oxenholme Road, Kendal) calling on it to reverse its ‘unethical and unjustifiable’ decision.

'Put the Gun Away' says Brian May

Queen’s Guitarist Joins the Campaign to Save Windermere’s Geese

Legendary rock guitarist Brian May has today announced his opposition to the proposed cull of Canada geese on Windermere. Dr May, whose organisation Save Me campaigns for better treatment of animals, has spoken out strongly in support of the geese.

Cancer Research UK's pro-animal research claims debunked

In reply to a recent enquiry from an Animal Aid supporter, Cancer Research UK offered three examples of ‘how the use of animals in our research has resulted in life saving scientific progress’, and implied that they were ‘effective anti-cancer treatments’. We must presume that these examples embodied the best defence CRUK could offer of its pro-animal research strategy. Our Scientific Consultant, Dr Adrian Stallwood, researched each example given, and has produced a thorough and important rebuttal of CRUK’s claims.

Yet another pig farm exposed

A recent investigation by Animal Equality at a pig farm in Norfolk found animals being kicked, slapped and beaten with iron bars and gate rods, and workers scraping a knife across the backs of pigs to force them to move.

Badger Trust gives notice of legal challenge

In a letter to the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) , the Badger Trust has outlines the legal challenge it will pursue if Defra does not abandon its plans to kill badgers.

Australian slaughterhouse faces closure due to hidden camera footage

An Australian slaughterhouse has been forced to stop the killing line and faces closure and prosecution after hidden-camera footage of chilling animal cruelty emerged. The New South Wales Food Authority ordered the immediate halt yesterday to slaughter at the Hawkesbury Valley Meat Processors at Wilberforce in Sydney after seeing undercover footage at the abattoir.

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.

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.