Worldlog week 45 – 2013

The Party for the Animals will participate in the municipal elections of March in twelve municipalities! I am really proud of the developments our Party is going through at municipal level. The Party wishes to steadily expand its number of political representatives, but we are careful not to grow too large too quickly. We are currently represented in six municipalities. And if we have any say in it, that number will have doubled after the elections 😉

This week, we asked Parliamentary questions about the new admission of gen-tech crops into the European Union. We want our Government to vote against the admission of new genetically manipulated crops. Genetic manipulation affects the integrity of plants and animals. This technology is also a great risk for people and the biodiversity. Many problems arise because multinationals use this technology to produce commercial genetically manipulated crops, which severely burden the environment and our food with pesticides. The introduction of these crops in Europe is thus not a good idea for maintaining our soil and food quality and our freedom of choice.

We strongly reject genetic manipulation and strived for years to ensure a genetic technology free Netherlands and Europe. Genetic modification and large-scale use of poisons will lead to deforestation, poisoning of our soil, and our soil and surface water. This will lead to the destruction of our vulnerable but essential biodiversity, including the pollinators such as bees, humblebees and butterflies. This also means that the consumer becomes dependant on a handful of companies which monopolise our food supply.

The gen-tech crops on the fields do not benefit the environment, nor the consumer or the small farmer. The benefits of gen-tech end up in the pockets of the industry and large farmers who have transformed former primeval forests into monocultures GM soy for livestock feed. Additionally, gen-tech is a threat to contemporary and organic farming because the crops can be mixed. We want an agriculture without genetic manipulation, without agricultural pesticides, and without monocultures.

Great news! A new law will soon be implemented that will no longer allow that people with a help dog or guide dog are denied access to public areas. At this moment, it still happens every day that people with a disability are denied access with their help or guide dog to shops, restaurants, hotels, and other facilities. After a petition and a motion from us, the Government promised to soon come with a bill to solve this distressing situation. The bill is expected at the start of the next year.

Last week, I told you that the Animal Politics Foundation is organising a symposium in Istanbul. The symposium is intended for people who are interested in animal rights and animal politics, and more specifically for people who are engaged in the theory or practice of the relatively young, but influential political movement of Animal Politics. Will I meet you there?

Would you like to know more about the programme, the speakers and the booking possibilities? See https://www.partijvoordedieren.nl/recent/InternationalSymposium.

The symposium is held in Istanbul because there is a relatively new Party for the Animals in Turkey, namely the Hayvan Partisi. By holding the symposium in Istanbul we want to support this movement in Turkey.

I have received the Government’s answers to my previous questions about the killing of stray dogs in Romania. Well, the fact is that there are no answers! The Government’s conclusion is that it is up to the Romanian government to formulate its own policy.

This week it became known that China wants to export dog meat. Just like the Netherlands is exporting calves, pig’s ears and chicks. Read more about this on http://guardianlv.com/2013/10/dog-me.

This is simply TOO touching and with a happy ending!

See you next week,

Marianne