Worldlog week 9 – 2014

Success! Our motion to put an end to stringing up live chickens, turkeys and ducks for slaughtering was passed! In the Netherlands, more than 450 million chickens and ducks are slaughtered every year. In a large part of slaughterhouses in the Netherlands, these animals are strung up on hooks alive. Stringing up of animals is cruel: it causes fear and stress and is very painful because of broken bones and ripped muscles.

For animals, the slaughtering process is always accompanied by fear, pain and stress. Stringing up chickens and other birds is a cruel slaughter method, of which Parliament now says that it must stop. The State Secretary of Economic Affairs only wanted to bring this method up for questioning in Europe. Parliament found this insufficient and fortunately clearly expressed itself in favour of a national ban.

Last week, I tabled a motion to place solar cells at and around Schiphol airport. This is good for the environment as well as safety. In the Netherlands, there is a debate going on about the danger of large birds, such as geese, colliding with planes. Tens of thousands of geese in the entire province of North Holland have been gassed or shot dead under the pretext of nuisance and air safety. Senseless and cruel. Over the past decades, however, the area around Schiphol was made very attractive to geese as a result of cultivation of high-protein crops and pastures. Areas with solar cells are not attractive to geese. Solar cells are perfectly applicable around airports. Germany has already installed solar panels around the landing strips of five airports and these panels are also being placed in Denver (US) and Delhi!

The internationalisation of the Party for the Animals continues. In January, I was in Portugal and two more invitations came in. Probably at the end of March, I am going to Madrid for a meeting of PACMA, the Spanish Party for the Animals. And I have been invited to come to Cyprus in April to speak at a conference of the recently founded party for the animals. Really great! The parties are preparing themselves for the European elections on 22 May next and would like to work together so as to explain to voters that Europe has to drastically change its course.

That became clear again last week, when State Secretary Dijksma announced not to implement an import ban on foie gras (goose and duck liver from forced-fed animals) in the Netherlands, as this would not be allowed by Europe. All too often, Europe is an excuse for Member States for not making rules to improve the protection of animals, nature and the environment. Europe is also regularly merely an obstacle, like now, with regard to the necessary import ban on foie gras. According to her, Europe does not allow that.

Beautiful! Save every tree as if it’s the last.

Shocking! The British army trains on live pigs with AK-47 firearms. Together with my colleague Esther Ouwehand, I asked questions in Parliament about the use of live animals in military training in the Netherlands.

Denmark outlaws ritual slaughter without stunning! My legislative proposal to prohibit ritual slaugther without stunning was adopted in the House of Representatives, but unfortunately it was rejected in the Senate. I am currently preparing a new legislative proposal. Next year, a new Senate will be elected, which is when I would like to defend the legislative proposal in the new Senate.

A few weeks ago, a Dutch farmer posted a photo of undercooled piglets that were attached to a bucket of warm water by their ears. I asked the State Secretary whether she thought this was an example of animal-friendly cattle farming. She did not, and pointed out the solution of these Canadian farmers.

And please sign to protect wildlife in Malawi against drones of hunters.

Until next week,

Marianne