| Home > News: Updated 28.09.06 |
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EXPOSED! Racing industry's 'systematic horse exploitation, injury and destruction' The chase after vast financial rewards by the global horse racing industry's dominant forces has led to over-production of a swift but physically weak Thoroughbred, according to a major new report, Bred To Death, published on 28 September by Animal Aid. Read more... |
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Victory for Animals! Wyevale takes ethical step to stop the sale of animals Following a 16-month campaign by Britain's largest animal rights group Animal Aid, Wyevale Garden Centres has announced a new policy decision to stop selling live animals in its stores. Animal Aid is absolutely delighted by this announcement, which marks the second major success in its campaign to afford better protection for domestic animals. A three-year campaign against DIY chain Focus also culminated in the company ceasing to sell live animals in 2005. Read more... |
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Millions of animals to be poisoned - please act now! The EU parliament is nearing the vote on adopting the REACH* chemical testing programme. Animal Aid is especially alarmed that, despite constant lobbying from animal protection groups across Europe, animals will still be poisoned to death to test chemicals under REACH. The exact number remains unknown but estimates range from 3.9 million to 45 million. A massive 20 per cent of the total testing is expected to take place in the UK. Read more... |
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Just started University? Ethical StudentYour guide to a cruelty-free uni life: giving information on vegan booze, sweatshop-free clothing and ecologically sound washing powder. Visit Ethical Student. Cruelty-free campus packAlready greened your own life? Want to spread the word? This guide is packed with ideas for protests and advice on campaigning. Email us and order one today! Free resources & speakersWe're happy to provide you with leaflets and posters for your university's campaign, so get in touch. Or if you can organise a talk at your university, we may be able to send someone to talk on animal rights issues. |
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Are you feeling peckish? Nakd fruit bars and Trek bars from Natural Balance Foods are full of healthy, natural, vegan ingredients. They are on sale in shops, and they are so good that we sell them in our catalogue and via our online shop. In order to support our work, Natural Balance Foods include the Animal Aid logo and website address on the packaging of the Nakd bars, which should allow us to reach new people. We are returning the favour with this mention on our website, so if you fancy a nibble, get Nak'd! |
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Well done Anna! Animal Aid's merchandise officer Anna Baker successfully completed her Olympic-distance triathlon, to raise money for Animal Aid, on Saturday, 2nd September. She returned to the Animal Aid office, aching but victorious. Thank you to everyone who has sponsored her. Read about Anna's experience here. Read more... |
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End Primate Experiments In Europe European Union Directive 86/609 is being revised. This Directive applies to animals in laboratories and is the template upon which all member states base their laws. In the UK, the relevant law is the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. This revision of the Directive presents an opportunity to improve the lives of animals in laboratories. Sadly, Directive 86/609 does not offer any possibility of a total ban on the use of all animals but it does present an opportunity to end the use of primates. Animal Aid has joined other leading animal protection organisations in calling for a Europe-wide ban on the use of primates in experiments. Read more... |
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Leading organisations unite for a ban on primate experiments To mark and support International Primate Day on 1st September, Animal Aid has joined other leading animal protection groups in calling for a ban on primate experiments throughout the European Union. International Primate Day was founded by Animal Defenders International (ADI) to focus attention on the plight of primates around the world. With EU legislators reviewing animal experimentation laws, animal campaign groups across Europe have pledged to work for a total ban on the use of primates in experiments. The so-called Berlin Declaration, which demands a complete ban on all such research, has already been signed by 86 animal protection organisations, plus leading academics and public figures. Among the signatories is the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV), which is supported by a coalition of European groups spanning 17 nations. BUAV has recently produced its own substantial dossier, Next of Kin: A report on the Use of Primates in Experiments. Read more... |
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More and bigger prizes in the Club Draw! The most enjoyable way to support Animal Aid is to join the Club Draw, especially now that we have increased the size and number of prizes. You pay a minimum of £2 per month by standing order, which entitles you to two numbers in the bi-monthly draw. First prize each time is now £300, there are two second prizes of £150 and four third prizes of £75. You also receive free Animal Aid membership, meaning that you receive our quarterly magazine, Outrage, 10% off all Animal Aid merchandise and discounts from many restaurants, bars, holidays and mail order companies. Standing orders minimise our admin costs, so, apart from the prizes, as much money as possible goes towards campaigning. Please print off and sign the Club Draw form, or, to be sent one through the post, phone Richard at Animal Aid on 01732 364546 ext 224. Good luck! |
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How veggie-friendly are supermarkets? Animal Aid is launching an important initiative as part of our vegetarian campaign. A key to spreading the veggie message and lifestyle is having easy access to non-animal foods, whether it's at home, school or in hospital. Animal Aid has worked hard in opening up new fronts and encouraging such institutions to provide and improve their vegetarian and vegan options. We are now turning our attention to supermarkets and would like to find out how veggie-friendly Britain's supermarkets really are. We will announce both the winner and name - and hopefully shame - those who need some encouragement. Read more... |
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Help laboratory animals by giving ten minutes of your time After 20 years, the EU law that governs animal testing across Europe and the UK is being revised. European Directive 86/609 EEC, which applies to animals used for experimental and other scientific purposes, is the legal template on which all EU member states base their national laws. In the UK, the relevant law is the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. The European Commission has invited experts and members of the public to submit their views on this new Directive through two online consultation forms. The deadline for both is August 18th. Please take a few minutes and complete the simple questionnaire. Read more... |
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Cheap Shots - Shooting industry tax 'irregularities' exposed The game shooting industry, while trumpeting its alleged contribution to the rural economy, is guilty of widespread tax 'irregularities', according to a new report by Animal Aid. The latest in a line of industry-financed studies (1) into the economic impact of 'sport shooting' in the UK is likely to be published in time for the Country Land and Business Association Game Fair at Broadlands in Hampshire on 28 July 2006. What it won't reveal, notes the national campaign group's new dossier, Cheap Shots, is the level of tax avoidance that contributes to the game industry's profits. In fact, just as the industry prepares to launch its latest pro-shooting propaganda offensive, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is undertaking a country-wide investigation into shooting's malpractices. Its initiative comes after Animal Aid provided the agency with a detailed dossier on how shooting businesses dodge paying business rates and VAT. Read the press release |
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Broken promises: government presides over rise in vivisection Today's announcement by the Home Office of an increase in animal experiments - to a 14-year high - represents a clear government refusal to heed the will of the people in favour of rewarding those who bankroll them. Despite government promises to reduce the number of animals used in experiments, the actual numbers have risen for four consecutive years. The latest figures show that, in 2005, more than 2.8 million animals were used - 34,158 more than in 2004. Once again, there was an alarming increase in the actual experiments copnducted on genetically modified animals (up by 43,000). The number of primates and fish used also rose markedly. A key figure in determining the types of experiments that receive funding is the Science Minister, Lord Sainsbury, who also has a massive financial stake (held in a 'blind trust') in biotechnology. His invitation to take up this powerful governmental position in 1998 - by which time he had been awarded a life peerage - followed his regular and large donations to the Labour party. Read the press release |
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End Animal Experiments - free pack available Animal experimentation is big news this year: the TGN1412 disaster that led to six human volunteers suffering organ failure; the proposed animal research facility at Oxford University: the Pro-Test rallies publicised far beyond all proportion for their size; and the Early Day Motion, signed by over 140 MPs that calls for an independent enquiry into the efficacy of animal experiments. These events and more have placed the issue of vivisection firmly onto the political and public agenda. Our updated End Animal Experiments pack offers useful information about this subject and suggests many ways in which you can help speed the end of this unethical and outdated research methods. The booklet, Bad Ethics, Bad Science covers the main issues and is fascinating to read. It arms you with all the arguments you need when doing street stalls or educating friends and family. In the pack, we have also included a new brochure - Human Tissue Research - that gives positive information about how we can all help reduce animal experiments by donating our brains and other tissues to science after death. Read more... |
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VERO A new group of Oxford University members and graduates called VERO (Voice for Ethical Research at Oxford) has sent an open letter to the Vice Chancellor of the University challenging its decision to build the new £20 million animal research centre. Founder member Sharon Howe, who returned her MA degree to the University earlier this year in a protest reported in the national press, believes that the project fails to take into account growing public and political concern over the ethical justification and scientific validity of animal experimentation, and that the money would be much better spent on developing cutting-edge, non-animal techniques. Read more... |
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Shock EU Move - Cruelty free cosmetics at risk On Wednesday 19th July, outside key Lush stores in London, Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Cardiff and Bristol, a giant rabbit encouraged members of the public to 'Vote Against Animal Testing in Europe' and to place their voting card in a ballot box. Since 1998, as a result of massive public pressure, there has been a total ban in the UK on the use of animals to test cosmetic products and their ingredients. This is now seriously at risk. With the European Union's controversial chemical testing programme approaching its Second Reading in Brussels, Animal Aid has teamed up with international cruelty-free cosmetics company, Lush, for a series of events to highlight the inevitable suffering of animals should this legislation be passed. As well as the voting cards for customers to sign, the campaign, which will be running all week, will feature window displays and leaflets in every Lush store throughout the UK and Ireland. Read more... |
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Animals: the Hidden Victims of War This month, the Imperial War Museum in London launches The Animals' War - an exhibition commemorating the animals who have died in worldwide conflicts. To coincide with this, Animal Aid has produced a brand new booklet - Animals: The Hidden Victims of War. Where others celebrate the bravery of animals, we remember the reality: that animals are victims, not heroes of war. From Hannibal's historic campaign using elephants in Roman battles to 'Roborats' - rats with electrodes wired into their brains by scientists keen to harness their acute sense of smell - animals have suffered throughout history in human conflicts. Read more... |
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'Sporting' Gun Modern agriculture is often utterly ruthless when it comes to the mere existence of wildlife that is perceived to interfere with its own profitability. The production of pheasants and partridges to be shot for sport is another activity that lays waste to a whole range of native species including stoats, weasels, foxes and even legally-protected birds of prey. Few animals are more despised by such interests than the humble rabbit. In order to justify their bloody persecution, they are falsely characterised as a 'pest' and unworthy of compassion and respect. The picture shown (left) is from the August issue of Sporting Gun. The image and caption say it all. The pleasure that some people take in destroying life and in mocking the victims of their violence is truly shocking. |
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Pets... We call ourselves a nation of animal lovers...but are we? One in two households are shared with a dog, cat, rabbit, bird, fish or other animal. Animal Aid's new leaflet asks, are we really a nation of animal lovers and summarises the inherent problems with the pet industry. Each year millions of animals are bred to be bought and sold for profit. Most are traded in pet shops, but a glance through the ads in your local paper will invariably reveal a long list of breeders selling animals. The novelty of a new arrival all too often wears off and animals are neglected, or worse, deliberately abused. Thousands of abandoned animals in need of a good home languish in shelters, whilst breeders continue to produce pedigree animals who fetch large amounts of money. If you can offer a permanent, safe and loving home to a companion animal, please always adopt from a sanctuary rather than buying one and ensure your animals are spayed and neutered to prevent pregnancy. Read more... |
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Ascot dominatrix gives punters a whipping As part of Animal Aid's call for a ban on the use of the whip, a PVC-clad dominatrix attended Ascot's Ladies Day to invite punters to offer their own rumps for a whipping. Racegoers showed they were good sports by accepting our dominatrix's challenge but admitted that it really hurt. A Lord was amongst those on the sore end of a whipping (really!). Read more... |
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Free Vegan Food Fayre On Saturday 17th June, Animal Aid, along with Vegan Campaigns, held a Free Vegan Food Fayre in central London as part of the London 21 Sustainability Weeks. The aim of the Fayre was to promote a healthier and greener capital and to focus on the health and environmental benefits of a vegan diet as opposed to animal welfare. With this in mind, we were hoping to attract people who were new to vegan food but cared about their health and the impact that eating meat has on the environment. Read more... |
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Animal Aid's Commons Challenge to Race Industry Animal Aid's Director, Andrew Tyler, and its horseracing Consultant, Dene Stansall, took the issue of the scandalously high levels of equine death and injury to Parliament last night (13 June 2006) when it debated the Chief Executive of racing's governing body. The Horseracing Regulatory Authority (HRA) has previously refused to debate Animal Aid but a request from the Associate Parliamentary Group on Animal Welfare (APGAW) to answer Animal Aid's charges before a gathering of peers, MPs, regulatory racing figures and animal protection representatives, would have proved embarrassing to decline. Read the press release |
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New NHS funded study shows up animal testing shambles A just released survey of animal research funded by the NHS provides damning evidence - says national campaign group Animal Aid - that animal experiments aren't just cruel, they don't appear to work. The report shows that:
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No Right to Protest? Over the past few weeks the government, prominent academics and drugs companies have lined up to vilify anyone who opposes the use of animals in experiments and represent them as violent and fanatical thugs. Seeking to reshape public opinion through smear tactics is a tried-and-tested political trick that diverts the public's attention away from issues that affect them most - in this case, the senseless use of animals as models for human disease and the immorality of doing so. Read more... |
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"Tally ho" rock relics under fire A benefit gig is being staged at Highclere Castle on 20 May by The Countryside Alliance. Among the old rockers showing their faces (as well as their ages) are Eric Clapton, Bryan Ferry, Roger Waters, Nick Mason and Mike Rutherford... Because some people just don't know when to stop - whether it's squeezing into tight trousers, or decimating wildlife - national campaign group Animal Aid have hit back. In a viral video released today, Charlie and the Spent Cartridges' 'Hunt Generation' - a spoof on The Who's My Generation - mocks the Countryside Alliance's forthcoming 'Highclere Rocks' event. Watch the video! |
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Tremendous support for live exports demo A cold and windy day at Dover docks last Saturday did nothing to deter hundreds of protestors travelling from all over the country to voice their anger at the resumption of Live Exports. The demo took place just one day after the first shipment of calves had been exported to Europe. Representatives from Viva!, Animal Aid, Compassion in World Farming, the Vegan Society and the Green Party all spoke passionately about the ways in which everyone can help bring an end to live exports. Read more |
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Bird Flu - Public's Health Threatened by Government's Pro-Industry Stance Animal Aid is demanding answers of the government as to why information issued about bird flu appears to be aimed at protecting the poultry industry, rather than the public's health. While assuring the public that properly cooked chicken is safe to consume, there is a conspicuous silence about the safety of handling raw and possibly infected carcasses. The national campaign group's demand comes in the wake of the announcement that the government has drawn up plans to suffocate birds to death through "ventilation shutdown" in factory farm sheds. Read the press release |
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The Great British Hypocrisy - Shipping Calves to Veal Crates Overseas On Saturday 6th May, Animal Aid will be taking part in a Viva-organised demonstration in Dover to voice our opposition to the resumption of the trade in live calves from the UK. Ten years ago, the BSE catastrophe saw the trade in calves to Continental veal crates collapse overnight, and animal protection organisations regarded this development as the "silver lining" of the BSE disaster. Despite having supported a ban on the use of veal crates in the UK on welfare grounds, this government has now publicly welcomed the resumption of the trade that will send calves to suffer the exact same fate in another country. Animal Aid decries such hypocrisy and callousness. Read the press release |
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Tax authorities close in on shooting industry cheats HM Revenue and Customs have announced that they are closing in on the shooting industry, as a result of evidence of 'tax irregularities occurring across the country'. The agency will be making unannounced visits to shoots looking for proof of malpractice, including failure to register for VAT and of commercial shoots posing as non profit-making clubs. The long-awaited initiative follows Animal Aid's lengthy presentation of evidence to the tax authorities that was based on our 2002 report called Feathering Their Nests. Read the press release |
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Report back from the Oxford demo On 22 April 2006, Speak Campaigns organised a mass rally and march in Oxford City Centre. More than 1000 dedicated animal rights supporters travelled from all over the UK to demonstrate against Oxford University's proposed new animal research facility, and to commemorate World Day for Laboratory Animals. |
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Time to use untapped resource of human tissue Every year hundreds of thousands of animals are bred and killed, to be used in test tube experiments, when an enormous quantity of human material is thrown away. It is not only the destruction of animals that is to be condemned. Aside from the serious animal welfare issues involved, the clear scientific advantage of experiments using human tissue is that the information provided is directly relevant to humans, unlike experiments on animal tissues. Human tissue research plays a vital role in developing a deeper understanding of human disease processes and their underlying mechanisms. Read more... |
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Vivisection Act is 20 years old... Unhappy Anniversary Despite the promise of open government and freedom of information, animal suffering in scientific research remains well hidden behind an official veil of secrecy. Animal Aid's new report, entitled 'Unhappy Anniversary' marks the 20th anniversary since the enactment of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 - and reveals 20 years of public deception. UK researchers repeatedly defend animal experiments by referring to the 1986 Act, claiming that it is among the strictest pieces of animal welfare legislation in the world. Instead, however, as the Animal Aid report clearly demonstrates, the researchers are given a licence virtually to do as they please - in the name of science - whilst being protected against charges of animal cruelty. Read our press release |
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Andrew Tyler's Independent piece on the 1986 Act Twenty years on from the 1986 Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act, our Director, Andrew Tyler, comments in The Independent: Twenty years ago this week, Parliament passed the law that governs animal research in Britain. It is an unhappy anniversary, despite claims by pro-vivisection lobbyists that the 1986 Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act (ASPA) is the most humane, wise and scrupulously enforced legislation of its sort in the world. Read more... |
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Easter - time to resurrect compassion It's Easter time and shops are full of greeting cards bearing images of cute, fluffy yellow chicks, while milk chocolate eggs are stacked to the ceiling. But the reality of the egg and dairy industry is not as pretty as the pictures on the cards, reveals national campaign group Animal Aid. Read our press release |
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Cheltenham horse death cover up The four year old, according to his trainer in an April 9 Racing Post report, suffered a badly severed tendon on the first day of the meeting in the Fred Winter Juvenile Novices' Hurdle, a race that also saw the death of another young horse, Bayard. Despite finishing the race, in last place, Alfred The Great was destroyed a week later. Yet it has taken almost three weeks after his death for the information to come to the public's notice, when confirmed by the trainer. Read our press release |
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Avian flu: call for immediate halt to importation, breeding and release of game birds Following confirmation that the H5N1 strain of avian flu has now reached Britain, Animal Aid has called for a halt to the breeding, importation and release of pheasants and partridges for the 2006 shooting season. There is no indoor way of producing a bird destined to cope in the wild until it is shot. It will make no sense, the campaign group argues, for DEFRA to require the indoor housing of all poultry if it turns its back on the outdoors breeding, rearing and release of some 35 million 'game' birds. Read our press release |
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Aintree claims yet another equine victim The notorious Grand National racing meeting claimed yet another equine victim when Terivic fell at Becher's Brook in the 3:45 pm John Smith's and Spar Topham Chase. He is the 31st horse to die at the three-day event since 1997. On the eve of the Grand National race itself, six year old Terivic died at Becher's Brook in a shocking scene that saw five horses fall at this appalling obstacle. He was seen struggling to rise from a broken back having jumped and fallen at the world's deadliest fence. In its shadow, and behind quickly-erected green screens, vets moved in to destroy the horse minutes later. His death rated barely a mention by the BBC racing commentary team, who were more concerned with celebrating the winner. Read our press release |
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Avian flu - Defra must resist hysteria-led bird massacre With the arrival of the deadly strain of bird flu in Scotland, Animal Aid fears an outbreak of panic that will lead to a government-orchestrated slaughter of 'every winged creature'. The national campaign group calls for the maximum consideration for animal welfare to be applied to all measures designed to tackle the disease. Read more |
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TGN1412 disaster must mark the end of animal tests The drug that caused catastrophic side effects when trialled recently on six human volunteers had already been tested on animals, but these tests failed to predict any of the major problems that were to follow. This is a principle finding of the just-published investigation into the TGN1412 human trial by the government's medicines regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). Read more |
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Pledge success for Kenyan orphanage We at HIPPO are very grateful indeed to Animal Aid and in particular to Chris Anderson for organising this appeal. It succeeded in its aim of raising £2000 for an extension of the irrigation system at the vegetarian orphanage in Kenya, which now has 86 children in its care. Our thanks also go to the many Animal Aid supporters who sent their tenners and in some cases considerably more than £10. Read more |
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Should the Grand National be axed for being too cruel? With thirty horses having died at Aintree since 1997, is it time the National was scrapped for being too cruel? Andrew Tyler, Director of Animal Aid, says yes. Peter Webbon, Chief Executive of racing's regulatory authority, says no Read The Guardian piece |
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Grand National: Call for 2006 race to be the last Animal Aid will be carrying its anti-Grand National message through the streets of Liverpool and to the gates of the racecourse itself throughout the three-day Aintree horse racing meeting, which begins on Thursday. Giant hoardings on a mobile campaign van will feature images of horses crashing to the ground and declare '375 horses raced to death every year' on one side of the vehicle, and 'Cruelty. You can bet on it.' on the other. Read our press release |
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New Horse Death Research Shows Odds Stacked Against Grand National Runners In the wake of the carnage at the recent Cheltenham Festival, when nine horses died - and in the run-up to the notorious Grand National on Saturday 8th April - Animal Aid exposes as a sham the much-trumpeted claim that the famous Aintree event is the ultimate test of skill for jump horses. Read our press release |
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The fishing industry:
Our new report on the fishing industry has identified ocean fishing as possibly 'the greatest welfare scandal of our time'. Despite an official government advisory body acknowledging that there is a scientific consensus declaring that fish feel pain and stress, there are no welfare rules or even guidance determining how fish are caught and killed. Read our new report |
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Avian flu bloodbath imminent? As bird flu rapidly approaches our shores, national campaign group Animal Aid has written to Defra minister Ben Bradshaw demanding a clear statement setting out which animals will be killed, under what circumstances and by what method, in an attempt to control the disease. Animal Aid characterises the government's response to the 2001 foot and mouth crisis as incompetent and callous. At the height of the foot and mouth panic, sheep were chased across fields and shot, while there were reports of others being drenched in disinfectant before being buried alive. Click here for more |
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Human Drug Trial Catastrophe Proves Once Again Animal Tests Cannot Be Trusted With news of the critical harm caused to six men who took part in the trial of a test medicine vaunted as a new treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, leukaemia and cancer, calls have gone up for novel pharmaceutical products to be tested on animals. The key point is that all such pharmaceutical products go through exhaustive animal tests and are passed sufficiently safe on the basis of those tests, before progressing to the kind of trials in which these men took part. Click here for more |
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Animal Aid accuses government of callousness and hypocrisy In the wake of the announcement that live exports of cattle can soon resume, national campaign group Animal Aid has launched a fierce attack on the government for its betrayal of modern farming's most vulnerable victims. Labour - in opposition and in government - has always professed to be alarmed and distressed by the cruelty inherent in the veal trade. Click here for more |
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Sharon Howe: Animal testing is both cruel and unnecessary The privilege of studying at Oxford is not something I have ever taken for granted. I was brought up on a council estate in Swindon and went to a pretty rough comprehensive. My parents struggled financially for most of their lives, but they put me and my education first and that is how - seemingly against all odds - I got into one of the country's top universities. It was a moment of great pride - for both me and my family - when I entered the grand Sheldonian Theatre in gown and cap to receive my first-class honours degree. Click here for more |
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Bird flu outrage as tons of poultry faeces dumped on summer wine village DEFRA Minister Ben Bradshaw assured the public on Sunday (BBC Radio 4 News, February 19) that the British poultry industry was 'very well prepared' for avian flu and has 'extremely high levels of biosecurity'. The following day, however, Animal Aid photographed tons of poultry-shed waste that had been dumped on agricultural land in Holmfirth, West Yorkshire - the setting for BBC TV's Last of the Summer Wine. The waste contained body parts and feathers. The best available evidence points to avian flu being caused - and spread by - the intensive poultry industry. In fact, H5N1 is reported to have developed as a result of Chinese poultry farmers putting an anti viral drug - meant for humans - into the drinking water of millions of chickens in an ultimately failed attempt to cure avian flu. The consequence, it is claimed, was that the virus evolved into the drug resistant H5N1 strain. Click here for more |
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Leading environmentalist slams animal donor schemes Animal Aid's criticism of charities that donate farmed animals to impoverished communities in the 'Third World' has received powerful backing from a leading environmental group. As we have argued, goats and other farmed animals do not alleviate poverty but add to it because of the cost of the animals' upkeep and the damage they do to landscapes that are invariably already environmentally stressed. Click here for more |
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No to Government badger cull Since the 1970s badgers have been scapegoated as the cause of bovine TB, even though studies found that 6 out of 7 badgers tested were not infected with bTB. The real villain is the dairy industry. When animals are crowded together in dirty conditions and exploited to their physical and mental limits, disease is inevitable and easily spread. Rather than taking responsibility, farmers blame the badgers. To appease the farmers, DEFRA has announced a 12 week consultation on a badger cull. If killing goes ahead, thousands of badgers will be trapped and shot. Click here for more |
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Defra squirrel 'control' plan a 'cynical and vicious scapegoating exercise' Today's announcement by the government of a new 'plan to control grey squirrels' is condemned by Animal Aid as a cynical and vicious exercise in scapegoating. Biodiversity Minister Jim Knight, in his statement announcing the slaughter programme, blames the grey squirrel for damaging woodland, for 'being largely responsible for the decline of the red squirrel in England' and - a new accusation - threatening dormice. Missing from the charge sheet are: starting the Second World War and spawning Al Qaeda. But perhaps this will be rectified in subsequent government announcements. Click here for more |
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Shooters put cats, eagles, otters on list of rural pests A recent edition of Shooting Times magazine carried a three-page article on Britain's 30 Most Wanted Pests. These are animals who interfere with the production of 'gamebirds' and fish for so-called sport shooting and for angling. The list included, incredibly, golden eagles, badgers, heron, red kites and other protected wildlife. Click here for more |
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