Worldlog week 25 – 2013
Much good news from the parliament this week! First of all, the painful alterations of chickens, cocks and turkeys will finally be banned thanks to the adoption of our motion. Farmers currently still cut off the beaks of 56 millions of chickens and turkeys each year, and all cocks have their spurs, combs and the rear ends of their toes removed. Unfortunately, the alterations will not be immediately banned but the ban will be gradually implemented between 2015 and 2021.
The chickens are kept so closely packed together that the farmer has no other option than to mutilate the animals to prevent a blood bath. We believe that the chickens should not be adapted to the way in which they are kept but that the stables should be adapted to the natural behaviour of the chickens.
Secondly, a majority of the House has adopted a motion to amend the Animals Act and bring in stricter rules for hobby dog breeders. The House doesn’t only want professional breeders but also hobby breeders to meet stricter rules. This is an important amendment to the Act, because it is in fact the hobby breeders who strongly contribute to the inbreeding and the extreme external characteristics which affect the welfare of animals in an unacceptable way.
According to experts, almost all breeds of dogs are born with serious congenital anomalies: 90 percent of all cavaliers, golden retrievers and German shepherds suffer from epilepsy or heart failure. At least 40 percent of pedigree dogs encounter hereditary defects in the first half of their lives. Fortunately, we are now going to tackle this!
And thirdly, our motion to ban the sale of pesticides that contain neonicotinoids. This poison is dangerous for bees and other pollinators, such as bumblebees, and is contributing to the massive death of bees. This motion pleads for a ban on the sale of pesticides to private persons. Additionally, products such as flea collars and ant pesticides containing the substance imidacloprid may no longer be sold. This film is suitable to demonstrate our motion to ban pesticides. It perfectly shows why we are so concerned about pesticides and GMO Giant Monsanto. GMO a go go!
Do you want to know what the DNA of a hamburger is? You can check it here. And even Fox News thinks it is possible: We will live longer without meat!
‘Plundering the Planet’: The new report of the Club of Rome has been published; they have been rowing against the current since the 70s and will continue to do so. Ugo Bardi (professor at the Florence University) said: ‘Human civilisation can only continue if we abandon our most wasteful habits’.
A sour way of window dressing in the ghost town of Enniskillen. Officials have decorated the empty shops with photos of filled shop windows prior to the G-8 Top. This is to prevent the participants from seeing how bad things really are
In Israel too, animal welfare is becoming an increasingly important issue, even for a large meat producer, who once said ‘Slaughtering by its very nature causes the animals great suffering’.
In Africa lions are raised to have them shot by financially strong hobby hunters, unfortunately these hunters come from the Netherlands too. See the episode of Louis Theroux ‘African Hunting Holiday’ to see how bizarre these hunting trips really are. And The Guardian recently made an update on ‘canned hunting’.
Have a good week! Greetings, Marianne