A south korean dog farm was recently charged and convicted of killing dogs for their meat after animal advocacy group Coexistence of Animal Rights on Earth (Care) recently sued them. Although this doesn't mean that all of the potentially 17, 000 plus dog meat farms will shut down, it is a step in the right direction when it comes to seeing the end of the dog meat trade.
Over 1 million dogs are killed in South Korea for their meat every year so a ruling like this certainly paves the way for more action taken against the dog meat trade. After the most recent Olympic games where athletes from around the world were adopting dogs in an effort to spare them slaughter for their meat, a light was definitely shone on the industry and brought attention to the trade itself. With international attention brought to this issue, it put pressure on the government to relook at the industry itself. Again, this is not going to be the end of the dog meat trade overnight, but it certainly demonstrates that the South Korean government is aware that it is an industry that is frowned upon and not well received internationally. With this ruling, I am hoping that more and more animal advocacy groups rally and continue to target these farms in an effort to reduce the amount of dog meat farms in operation. It is my hope that within the next 5 - 10 years, we see a complete abolishment of the dog meat industry and can move forward to tackle other animal welfare issues. Check out the original story from World Animal News at the top of the page! HAPPY VEG
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Sara Ross; who helped pen the Animal Welfare Act, charged with several counts of animal cruelty6/22/2018 In what I can only describe as shocking, a lady by the name of Sara Ross, from England, was recently convicted of over 20 counts of animal cruelty. 20 counts of animal cruelty is definitely shocking, but what makes this especially unnerving is the fact that Sara Ross is responsible for helping on the Animal Welfare Act.
Originally pleading not guilty, she recently admitted to some of the charges which involved failing to provide adequate shelter. There were several horses, dogs, cats, rabbits, and tropical birds, all in various states of anguish or suffering, discovered on her property. It's extremely hard to plead not guilty to these charges when the evidence is staring you directly in the face, begging for help. Animals starving or without shelter, animals in desperate need of help, and animals without hope, all under the care of someone who helped with the Animal Welfare Act in the U.K.. It's absolutely unacceptable and outrageous to think that she neglected the very same animals she helped offer protection through the law. After Parliament received a petition signed by over 425 thousand people, they recently held a debate involving MPs in regards to banning the import of furs. Many of the MPs spoke out against fur calling it "vile", "loathsome", and "the grimmest of human activity". The petition calls for a complete ban of any furs from entering the U.K.. Fur farms are currently illegal in the United kingdom, so the argument is that it's hypocritical to ban the production of furs but still import them from other countries. If they consider fur farming to be so atrocious, they shouldn't be supporting it in other countries, paying for the cruel treatment of hundreds of thousands of animals for something as despicable as furs. Big names have spoken out against furs with Stella McCartney leading a lot of the discussions against fur. Stella has been a vocal advocate for animals especially when it comes to fur, calling it unnecessary and barbaric. "Fur is not a byproduct; it is an industry that capitalizes on death, slaughtering more than 100 million animals per year."
In my opinion, fur farming is probably the worst of all animal industries because it couldn't be any less necessary. No one needs fur to survive, to prosper, to be healthy etc., there's literally no need for it. It's an awful industry that literally profits off of the undeniable cruelty animals suffer in these conditions. Living amongst dead animals and feces, covered in sores, emotionally and mentally broken, these animals are often fattened much beyond their natural ability to produce more skin / fur for pelts. The fact is, there's not a damned thing redeemable about the fur industry and the planet needs to come together to end fur farming entirely. I'm happy to see so many people speaking out against fur and my only hope is that we will continue to see countries turn their backs on fur until it has fizzled out entirely across the globe. With so many other options available that don't involve the inhumane treatment of animals, it's time to ban fur once and for all! Check out the original story at the top of the page! :) HAPPY VEG Yaaaassssss <3 Montreal is set to ban horse drawn carriages by the end of 2019 after 150 years. This is a serious win for horses, but also as far as animal rights go as a whole. Horse drawn carriages are utterly unnecessary and a complete abuse of our privileges as a dominant species. By forcing these animals to pull us around and to treat it as some kind of luxury, truly demeans these horses on top of putting them in a very dangerous position.
The moral of the story here is that it's a defining moment when something like a tradition of over a decade is finally recognized for exactly what it is. "Tradition" is the excuse used when bullfighting is defended but this hardly makes it acceptable. Thank you Montreal for recognizing that despite being a tradition, it's one that deserves to be buried in our history. :)
Visit the original story at the top of the page <3 HAPPY VEG The very first Elephant Sanctuary for former Circus elephants is under construction in France. With support from various animal welfare groups, Elephant Haven is beginning construction of a facility that will house the elephants in the most natural way possible for them. The facility will be like a natural environment for the former circus slaves which will allow them to live out their remaining years as naturally as possible amongst other elephants. Elephant Haven points out that there will be little to no human interaction and that visitors will have an opportunity to watch the elephants from a platform on site. Other positive things about this facility include;
5 large cats and 1 bear seemingly escaped their enclosures after a devastating flood hit the German town of Lunebach where the Eifel Zoo is located. While the large cats were found huddling in their enclosure, the bear had wandered out after the flood destroyed the fence of its enclosure. Once discovered, the bear was shot dead wandering on one of the public paths of the zoo in what I can only assume was their attempt to keep people safe. NO OTHER OPTIONS?
This also raises the question of whether this is proof that animals don't belong in captivity under these pretenses. I support any zoo that is using its facilities to help rehabilitate animals or aid in the conservation and repopulation of a species but this is not the first instance of an animal being shot or killed due to human error. I've reported on several zoos in the last year that have had incidents with people getting in to enclosures or animals escaping and inevitably being killed, so why is nothing changing?
In my opinion, the educational value of a zoo is greatly diminished with each tragedy like this. It's getting harder and harder to argue in support of zoos when stories like this are repeatedly coming up. These stories remind us that these facilities are sorely lacking in the safety department. When animals can escape or people can get into enclosures inevitably putting these animals at risk of being killed, can we really continue to support them? Hopefully at the very least, this zoo recognizes its lackluster security measures and secondly, recognizes that there HAS to be other options when dealing with these situations because immediately slaughtering these animals shines a very negative light on the safety of the animals. All I can think is that poor bear innocently wanders off, likely scared, only to met with bullets. It's so disturbing and sad to me. What do you guys think? Can you still support a zoo when these stories are repeatedly popping up? HAPPY VEG |
Stay educated and remain involved in animal welfare. Together, we can all make a difference!
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