Worldlog Week 50 – 2012

In a debate with Minister Blok of Housing and the Civil Service last Thursday, I requested that the new rules for the fire safety of animals stalls be expedited. In the past six years, more than one and a half million animals have died gruesome deaths in stall fires. In the tightly sealed stalls, the animals do not stand a chance of escape from the fire. It is truly unbelievable that this is still going on. Lawyers and insurers know that the current rules are inadequate as stalls in the Netherlands are legally defined as storage places for goods. Toilet rolls are better protected against fire than pigs as toilet rolls are viewed as more highly flammable than pigs!

Like people, animals deserve effective protection against fire. And a majority in Parliament agreed with us when they insisted on tougher rules by lending their support on 26 October 2011 to a motion we had submitted on the issue. However, former state secretary Bleker of Agriculture did not execute the motion and simply promised an action plan to explore whether supplementary rules were actually necessary to improve the fire safety of stalls. We are still waiting for this action plan… During the debate, however, the minister did say that he would present a detailed action plan in late January. To be continued!

Finally, policy to protect the wellbeing of pets in the Netherlands! Last week my colleague Esther Ouwehand received parliamentary support for two motions. One of these motions calls for better supervision of the pet trade and pet accommodation. The state secretary will also be speaking with municipalities about the financial deficits at animal shelters. The costs animals shelters incur in accommodating animals are barely if ever reimbursed because many municipalities fail in their obligation to organize proper animal shelter facilities. We are delighted that the national government finally seems to have woken up to the problems surrounding the pet trade and the situation at animal homes and shelters!

© Istockphoto.com/KoKimk

Interesting blog in the Guardian on climate change. It contains images of a Philippine climate negotiator during the COP18 climate negotiations in Doha. In an emotional speech, he speaks about the hurricane that tore across the Philippines last week, leaving many dead, wounded and homeless in its wake. We cannot simply keep watching the effects of our warming of the globe. We can already observe the consequences, such as this most recent hurricane in the Philippines and, for example, hurricane Sandy in the United States. These severe natural catastrophes should be opening our eyes. Also UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has called for action against climate change!

© Istockphoto.com/Mayakova

Despite the clear and present dangers, the consumption of fossil fuels is only increasing, as are CO2 emissions worldwide. To limit the risks of climate change to an acceptable level, we need to stop shifting responsibility to future generations. This means that we must drastically reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, cease the depletion of natural resources and put a stop to the loss of biodiversity.

Interested in finding out more about Abraham Lincoln’s ideas about ‘animal rights’ and ‘vegetarianism’? Read this article. Cool quote by Lincoln: 'I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights. That is the way of a whole human being.'

The holiday season has once again begun! This is how you shut up that annoying brother-in-law who believes that continued economic growth is the solution 😉

Until next week, Marianne