Category: Urgent

Live Export is Cruel and Heinous

On October 6, 2020

In AG GAG, Changes needed, Cruelty, Eating anything that moves, Eating Without Empathy, environmental destruction, Exploited for Profit, EXPOSED, Holocaust, Live Export, Meat and Dairy Industry, Speciesism, They value their lives just as we value ours, Urgent

#BANLIVEEXPORT

Blogger opinion: I always use root cause analysis for every problem/issue and if you could read this post in its entirety and continue in what is the root of this, eating meat and being part of the supply and demand for animals flesh there is something very wrong within your soul.

most of the information on this post borrowed from animalsaustralia.org Please support them.

What’s it like on board a live export ship?

An experienced live export vet has given ABC’s 7.30 a glimpse into the conditions endured by animals on live export ships — and it’s not a pretty picture.

In addition to the stress of the unfamiliar environment, noise, and constant ship movement, at the typical high stocking density of a long haul voyage, it is not usually possible for all animals to lie down naturally at the same time. Stocking densities allowed by Australian Standards for the Export of Livestock (ASEL) are much higher than any land-based feedlot or intensive housing system.

BEDDING

Adequate sawdust or other soft bedding to rest on is not available to cattle on board a live export ship. Some sawdust provisions are required but they are not nearly sufficient, leaving animals traveling on hard, non-slip surfaces which can often result in painful abrasions, lameness, and injury. Australian standards only indicate that bedding should be replaced “as necessary” leaving this decision in the hands of exporters.

FECES

The build-up of wet feces on live export ships can lead to cattle becoming coated in excrement. Apart from being distressing and unhygienic, fecal coated cattle cannot dispel heat through their body surface and are at greater risk of heat stress.

HEAT

Heat stress is a constant risk on live export ships. Animals suffering from heat stress literally cook from the inside out — they can suffer for days as their organs shut down one by one. In 2013, more than 4,000 Australian sheep died on board the Bader III as temperatures in the Gulf soared — turning the ship they were traveling on into a floating oven.

DISCOMFORT

Ship floors are often covered in non-slip ‘cleating’ (as pictured) which doesn’t allow sheep and cattle to rest comfortably. This can cause abrasions and lameness which may lead to septicemia.

INJURIES

This animal has slipped and is unable to rise. His hind legs are covered in abrasions and left hoof appears to be bloodied. Hoof damage, painful skin abrasions, and lameness are common onboard live export vessels due to the abrasive deck surface and inadequate drainage.

Cattle are also at risk of injury from slipping into open drain holes in the ship’s deck which drain water and fecal matter into the deck below.

INFECTION

Untreated, open wounds are at risk of infection and septic cellulitis from exposure to feces and urine. Skin abrasions often go unnoticed as they are covered by fecal matter. Infections can be so painful that an animal will refuse to rise, which in turn stops them from feeding and drinking and leaves them lying in their own feces.

DISEASE

High stocking densities, high levels of ammonia, and the stressful and unfamiliar conditions onboard ships can result in animals failing to eat (resulting in death), eye infections, heat stress, salmonellosis, and pneumonia.

FOOD AND WATER CONTAMINATION

Dirty pens filled with dirty cattle unsurprisingly lead to dirty water and feed troughs, contaminated with urine and feces. This can result in animals suffering from dehydration and not getting enough food.

ROUGH SEAS

Rough seas and unexpected weather put animals at increased risk of injury and seasickness.

Mechanical failure In 2014, the livestock ship Ocean Drover caught fire.

Live export has a history of disasters that have been devastating for animals – ventilation problems, engine failure and even fire have caused suffering and fatalities. Every journey runs the risk of something going wrong and animals are the ones to pay the price.

FATIGUE

Cattle have been known to lie down for long periods of time when the decks are cleaned and new sawdust is laid. Dr. Simpson states this is a result of exhaustion and fatigue from animals reluctant to lie down in their own feces not getting sufficient respite. Due to the lack of space onboard, animals are at risk of being smothered, injured, or repeatedly disturbed by others as they attempt to rest.

BIRTHING

This calf’s mother was pregnant when she boarded a ship to Mauritius. She was killed immediately after she was born.

Animals are often not properly tested for pregnancy before boarding and that has led to cows and ewes giving birth at sea. Animals who go into labour on live export ships are not often given the additional space and care that they need, and their young may be trampled or injured. As the calves or lambs will likely be killed (usually for commercial reasons) the new mothers’ risk of mastitis is significantly increased.

DEATH

This animal weighed more than 700 kg and should never have been loaded on a live export vessel. He wore down his toes, knees and joints so much that he eventually refused to stand and was euthanised.

Australian standards specify that no animal weighing more than 650 kg should be loaded on board a live export vessel. But some exporters have ignored these guidelines and loaded heavier animals, like the bull pictured, risking their lives. In Dr Simpson’s report to the government, she warned that any animal over 500 kg has an increased risk of injury.

Incredibly, government regulations allow a mortality rate of 2% of sheep and 1% of cattle on every voyage — which means hundreds, if not thousands, of animals can die at sea without any investigation into the cause.

This industry entails unnecessary pain and suffering for all the animals involved within it. Anyone who tells you different is either ill-informed, they’re a liar or they’re staying silent for fear of losing their job.
Dr Lynn Simpson, veterinarian

For as long as this cruel trade in living beings exists — we remain as committed as ever to sparing animals from falling victim to it. Will you join us?

Please spare 1 minute now to lend your voice to the animals — and help create a world free from the horror of live export.

Take action now »

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The Long, Cruel History of Concrete Bear Pits

By alafair

On January 16, 2020

In Call to Action, Changes needed, Urgent

written by Danny Prater

In 1879—140 years ago—one of the country’s first “bear pits” opened at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. In the startling historical photo below, you can see zoogoers looking on as a bear climbs a lone tree in a barren concrete pit. While our entire way of life has been revolutionized in the many decades since this photo was taken, things have remained shockingly unchanged for bears kept in captivity. In fact, bear pits have stayed relatively the same for so long that, were it not for the period clothing that they’re wearing, the people in this photo might be confused for roadside zoo patrons in 2019.

As our understanding of the complex social and physical needs of nonhuman animals has grown, people have become increasingly disillusioned with the idea of exploiting them for entertainment. In an attempt to more closely replicate animals’ natural habitats, most accredited zoo enclosures have been adapted over time to give animals more space and provide them with more mental stimulation. But bear pits, which are inherently cruel, don’t need to be modernized—they need to be closed down immediately.

While Lincoln Park Zoo’s bear pit, pictured above, has closed, at tourist traps and roadside zoos across America today, hundreds of bears spend their lives confined to small concrete-floored enclosures or pits. Some cubs are separated from their mothers as infants, so instead of being properly nurtured, they spend their days being forced to participate in photo ops with tourists. Their lives are typically devoid of any comfort or outlets for engaging in natural behavior.

These side-by-side photos show how little bear pits have changed over the decades, highlighting just how long this cruelty has been going on:

THEN (1951)NOWLEFT: St. Louis Post-DispatchLEFT: A polar bear in a barren pit begs for food at the St. Louis Zoo in the 1950s.
RIGHT: Two bears are in a barren pit at the Cherokee Bear Zoo.

THEN (1923)NOWLEFT: Bears are shown in a pit at the St. Louis Zoo in 1923.
RIGHT: Here’s a present-day bear pit at the Cherokee Bear Zoo in North Carolina.

THEN (1905)NOWLEFT: This photo, circa 1905, shows bears in a pit in Bern, Switzerland.
RIGHT: In 2018, a bear is in a pit at Three Bears General Store in Tennessee.

Bears are highly intelligent animals who experience a wide range of emotions. In the wild, they forage for a variety of foods and dig in the soft earth, brush, and leaves—but concrete pits deprive them of everything that’s natural and important to them. Surrounded by solid walls, they can’t scan the horizon, gain a perspective on their surroundings, or make much use of their acute sense of smell.

Enough is enough. Let’s end bear pit cruelty.

Take Action to Help Bears Today!

At Pymatuning Deer Park in Pennsylvania, an apparently arthritic bear named Bosco is being forced to live in a concrete pit, even after his female companion, who suffered from arthritis, died. Pymatuning was previously cited by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for confining the arthritic female bear in such inadequate conditions. Arthritis is known to be caused and exacerbated by living on concrete—but today, Bosco still struggles to walk on the same hard surface. With your help, he could live out his days free from concrete in a vast enclosure and get the care that he desperately needs.URGE PYMATUNING TO CLOSE ITS BEAR PIT AND SURRENDER BOSCO!

Click the links to learn more about—and take action for—bears being held in deplorable conditions at roadside zoos like Three Bears General Store and Cherokee Bear Zoo.

Help end this outdated cruelty. Join PETA in working toward a compassionate, humane future when no bears are exploited for cheap human entertainment.TAKE ACTION: HELP BEARS SUFFERING IN TOURIST

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We need Congress to declare Trump has no authorization to use military force in Iran

By alafair

On January 5, 2020

In Call to Action, Changes needed, Urgent

Trump issued an assassination order for Iran’s top general, escalating tensions and bringing us dangerously close to another endless war. And tensions continue to rise as over the last 24 hours Trump has used Twitter to issue dangerous and reckless threats to the Irarian people. Congress must use its power to stop Donald Trump’s reckless march to war with Iran.

RSVP now for a national strategy call on Wednesday, January 8, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT to hear from foreign policy experts and MoveOn leaders on the ramifications of Trump’s attack on Iran and how we can take action together to prevent another endless war.

Here is what we know so far about the situation, which is still unfolding:

Donald Trump brought us to the brink recklessly and unnecessarily. After successful diplomacy by the Obama administration and an intensive campaign from grassroots leaders, including MoveOn, to approve the Iran nuclear deal, the risk of war with Iran was at its lowest point in decades. Since taking office, Trump has surrounded himself with war-hawk advisers and changed course from pursuing peace to acts of war. His attacks, from the Muslim Ban to withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal to painful sanctions on Iranian citizens to the military assassination this week, make America less safe and could incite a war with devastating consequences for Iran, Iraq, the United States, and other countries across the globe.
War with Iran would be catastrophic, potentially worse than the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan combined. Starting a war with Iran would likely destabilize an entire region, funnel U.S. resources into an unwinnable conflict, and unleash mass-scale human suffering on Iran’s 80+ million civilian population and beyond.
Only Congress can decide whether U.S. forces should be put into harm’s way. Congress has the power to authorize war, and a bipartisan majority in both the House and Senate recently voted to prevent Trump from starting another war. However, that language did not make it into the final bill.

So here’s our chance: We need Congress to declare Trump has no authorization to use military force in Iran and cut off any money he might try to use for more attacks.

How can we do it? RSVP now for a mass call on Wednesday, January 8, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT to come together to stop Trump’s escalation to war with Iran.

Endless wars feed billions of dollars into military contractors and their wealthy owners and cost untold numbers of lives from all countries involved. MoveOn members have been leaders in the anti-war movement since our founding and played a crucial role in the opposition to the Iraq War. We must continue to work for peace as an essential part of how we create an America where everyone can thrive.

As we welcomed in a new year and new decade, none of us anticipated or wanted this incident to define how this new decade begins. Trump’s recklessness knows no bounds. Whether you are feeling hopeful or weary, ready to take to the streets or seeking reprieve from relentless organizing, or a valid combination of all of these, this call is for you. It is an opportunity to come together as a nation and as a community. We are in this together.

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