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News & Press
Welcome to all the latest news and press from Animal Aid.
New Year's Resolution
Whilst you're enjoying a little seasonal indulgence this festive period, why not consider spreading the goodwill further by going veggie? Perhaps make it one of your New Year's resolutions - it's the perfect time for making a fresh start, and taking steps towards a happier, healthier, better you - and there's no easier way of doing that than by going veggie! Not only will you benefit, so will the animals and the environment.
Race Horse Welfare Under Commons Spotlight
Race horse welfare has been put under the political spotlight with a series of hard-hitting Parliamentary Questions by Lib Dem MP, Mike Hancock, The Member for Portsmouth South has this week also tabled a Commons Motion (see Notes below) demanding that the government press the racing industry to curb over-production of Thoroughbreds and to remedy ‘the alarming level of equine death on British racecourses’.
Ask Your MP to Back Early Day Motion for Racehorses
Every season the clock ticks down to death and destruction for thousands of race horses. Hundreds are shot in the head on racecourses or during training due to catastrophic injury, whilst thousands more who lack the ability to race meet the same fate in the slaughterhouse.
Animal Aid raffle winners
The winners of Animal Aid’s 2008 raffle have now been drawn. Thank you to everyone who bought or sold tickets for us. We are very grateful.
BBC drops Crufts
Following the broadcast in August of the BBC documentary, Pedigree Dogs Exposed, which revealed that strict Kennel Club breed standards have led to serious health and welfare problems in pedigree dogs, the BBC has confirmed that it will not be televising Crufts next March.
Peter Tatchell is New Animal Aid Patron
We are delighted to announce that Peter Tatchell, renowned campaigner for human rights, democracy and global justice, has become a patron of Animal Aid. Peter gained international attention for his attempted citizen’s arrest, in 1999 and 2001, of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, on charges of torture and other human rights abuses. But he has been a courageous and dynamic frontline political activist since 1967, when he launched campaigns in support of the indigenous Aboriginal population of his native Australia, including advocacy for land rights and scholarship schemes.
THE GAME DRAIN: How £millions are spent on producing a food that is worth a fraction of its production cost
As the ‘gamebird’ industry steps up its efforts to promote the ‘sport shooting’ of birds as a wholesome and natural means of food production, a damning new report reveals the massive squandering of resources and animals’ lives that are involved.
Using shooting’s own figures, the new Animal Aid report demonstrates that it costs more than 13 times as much to rear pheasants and get them airborne than the shot bird will fetch retail.
The Trial of Jamie Gray, Horse Dealer: A Statement from Animal Aid
The case of Jamie Gray, owner of Spindles Farm, Buckinghamshire, who stands accused of causing neglect and unnecessary suffering to animals, has brought the dark world of horse trading and slaughter into the spotlight. Whilst this case is extreme and shocking, we must not be tempted to believe that this is a ‘one-off’ situation.
‘Worst ever’ horse cruelty trial begins
The trial has begun of horse dealer Jamie Gray, following the discovery in January of appalling scenes of equine death and suffering at his farm in Amersham, Buckinghamshire. The magistrates’ court at Bicester heard today (December 9) how RSPCA officers removed more than 100 horses and donkeys from Spindles Farm. Vets and RPCA officers on the scene described it as the worst case of animal cruelty they had ever witnessed.
Pig meat: a healthy option?
Newspapers are full of warnings to consumers to avoid Irish pork products due to possible contamination with dioxins, chronic exposure to which can cause cancer in humans. Levels of dioxins up to 200 times the legal limit have been discovered, prompting withdrawal of the meat from sale. While industry representatives are desperate to pass off this danger to human health as an anomaly, the sad truth is that the horrific conditions on factory farms are the perfect breeding ground for disease and contamination, as our recent pig farm investigation revealed.
Have a Compassionate Christmas!
In this festive season full of celebration, parties, laughter and merriment, Animal Aid is asking people to spare a thought for the millions of animals for whom Christmas is a time of fear, exploitation, suffering and death. Each year millions of turkeys are slaughtered for Christmas dinner, along with ducks, chickens, pigs, cows and lambs. Prettily packaged cosmetics and toiletries can make lovely gifts, but were probably cruelly tested on animals. Puppies, kittens and hamsters are given away as presents, but later neglected or dumped by their new ‘owners’ when the novelty has worn off. Rabbits and foxes have their fur stripped from them to be turned into clothing and accessories. But there is another way!
Support Humane Gift Schemes
Several aid charities are once again making their, by now traditional, Christmas pitch for donations to buy farmed animals for some of the world’s poorest communities. At first sight, it’s an uplifting idea but the reality is that such animal gifts add to rather than diminish poverty.
National Climate Change March
On Saturday 6th December, thousands of people will be marching in London, demanding that world leaders take urgent action to prevent catastrophic global climate change. Many will also be asking governments to recognise the massive impact that livestock farming has on global warming.
Watchdog Bites the Lady
Ultra-posh purveyors of country fare, Daylesford Organic – run by Lady Carole Bamford, the wife of eye-wateringly wealthy JCB boss, Anthony Bamford – has fallen foul of the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The watchdog branded as untruthful a recent quarter page Daily Telegraph advertisement, which falsely presented Daylesford’s shot pheasants as organic. The adjudication came after Daylesford were grassed up by Animal Aid.
Exeter Set for Cruelty-Free Christmas Extravaganza
The South West is all set for a cruelty-free Christmas extravaganza this weekend when Animal Aid brings its popular eco-friendly Christmas Without Cruelty Fayre to Exeter Corn Exchange on December 6th. The Fayre is going to be the perfect place for people of all ages to find unusual cruelty-free gifts and cards and, at the same time, to enjoy a great day out. And entrance is free.
Bloodlust: Images that Reveal the Shooting Industry’s Dark Secrets
As the ‘gamebird’ shooting lobby tries desperately to sell its ‘sport’ as a branch of the food industry, fresh images from this year’s shooting season expose the cruelty and wastefulness of this bloodsport.
What's on offer at the celebrity auction at the 2008 Christmas Without Cruelty Fayre?
This year, at the celebrity live auction the lively Noel Lynch will be wielding his gavel, and kicking off the proceedings at 2.30pm in the downstairs foyer in Kensington Town Hall. Come along and take your chance at winning items from Barbara Windsor, Russell Brand, Martin Shaw, and many more!
Animal Aid Broiler Chickens Investigation Chosen By International Film Festival
This weekend, Animal Aid's investigation into intensive chicken farming will be shown at the annual Beyond TV international film festival in Swansea. One of only 21 out of 346 entries to be chosen, the 8-minute film documents the short lives of broiler chickens killed for the meat industry at just 42 days old. It shows their shockingly quick change from lively chicks to bloated and virtually immobilised birds imprisoned in a dirty, overcrowded intensive broiler shed. The film shows Animal Aid staff removing six sick and ailing birds, who were afforded immediate veterinary care before being taken to a sanctuary to live out their lives in peace.
Government welfare body attacks 'gamebird' battery cages
The government’s official advisory body on farmed animal welfare has today launched a devastating attack on the systems used to mass-produce pheasants and partridges for ‘sport’ shooting. The Farm Animal Welfare Council (FAWC), in its Opinion on the Welfare of Farmed Gamebirds, is especially critical of battery cages for breeding birds. First exposed nationally by Animal Aid in 2004, these are metal and wire mesh boxes that are open to the elements all year round and hold one male and six or seven female pheasants. Partridges are held in pairs inside a metal walled box that measures just 2ft by 3ft.
Controversial Oxford Animal Lab Opens in Secrecy
This week, political campaigner and Animal Aid patron Tony Benn joined a peaceful demonstration outside the newly opened Oxford University animal research laboratory.
The new £20 million animal testing centre at Oxford University opened today, November 11, after a sustained four-year campaign of opposition. This is a sad day for the countless animals who will suffer and die in the new facility and a wasted opportunity to advance science by embracing new, more relevant, non-animal technologies.
European Commission publishes its long-awaited proposal for revising Directive 86/609/EEC on animal experiments
After nearly six years of consultation and discussion, the European Commission has finally published its proposed revision of Directive 86/609/EEC - the law that governs animal experiments across the EU, including in Britain.
While the proposal offers some improvement on the current 20 year-old legislation, it falls far short of providing the meaningful protection for laboratory animals for which the public and European Parliament had hoped. Despite repeatedly stating the need to ‘steer away from animal research’ and ‘focus on alternatives’, the proposal does not set any targets for reductions in the number of animal experiments carried out, or for the phasing out of specific tests. The few concrete measures that are proposed, such as a ban on the use of great apes and wild-caught primates, contain dangerous loopholes that could still permit these animals to be regularly used.
Armistice Sunday Service for Animals
As well as the tragic loss of countless human lives in wars, it is often forgotten that millions of animals have also died on the battlefield and in experiments to develop yet more ways to kill people. Therefore, as well as the ceremonies to remember people at the Cenotaph in Whitehall and at other war memorials throughout the UK, there is a ceremony to remember animals on this Sunday (November 9) at 10.30 a.m. at the Animals’ War Memorial adjacent to Hyde Park, off Park Lane and just about opposite to the Dorchester Hotel.
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