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Campaign for the Abolition of Animal Slavery
Anchor:
vegetarian
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'The
human appetite for animal flesh is a driving force behind virtually
every major category of environmental damage now threatening the human future:
deforestation, erosion, fresh water scarcity, air and water pollution, climate
change, biodiversity loss, social injustice, the destabilisation of communities
and the spread of disease,' the Worldwatch Institute has warned. Raj
Patel, author of Stuffed and Served (Portobello Books) believes growing food for
animals is a waste of resources in an overcrowded world. That's because animals
are hungry and the grain they eat takes energy, usually fossil fuels, to
produce,' he says. The world's fertiliser industry uses natural gas as a basic
ingredient and therefore contributes to global warming when it uses fossil fuel
to manufacture the extra fertilisers needed to ensure cattle and other animals
have sufficient food. it takes even more plant protein to make animal protein.
It requires four calories of plant protein to make one of chicken protein, while
the ratio for pork is 17:1; for lamb, 50:1; and for beef, a staggering 54:1.
'That is a lot of energy and a lot of grain diverted,' adds Patel. In 2006,
farmers produced an estimated 276 million tonnes of chicken, pork, beef and
other meat: four times as much as they did in 1961, according to the Worldwatch
Institute. Police offer £40,000 to live export protesters Kent
police force has offered £40,000 in compensation to animal rights campaigners
after they were prevented from joining a protest against livestock exports. The
group of London-based protesters accused Kent police of heavy-handed tactics
after their coach was stopped as it entered Dover in July 2006 en route to a
demonstration against the shipping of live animals to the Continent. The
campaigners, who included a disabled boy and several elderly people, claimed
they were threatened with arrest after leaving the vehicle to plead their case
with police. They were photographed before being escorted back to London by 2
police cars and 2 motorcycles. Now lawyers for Kent police have offered each of
the 32 protesters £1,250 in an out-of-court settlement following a claim
brought against the force alleging that the group was unlawfully denied the
right to protest. The case was brought by the law firm Irwin Mitchell, which has
brought several previous prominent human rights cases. The animal rights
proceedings are the latest in a catalogue of legal complaints about the policing
of demonstrations, including the May Day protests in central London and the
decision to prosecute Maya Evans, a vegan cook who was arrested in 2005 for
reading out a list of Britain's dead from the Iraq war underneath the Cenotaph.
One of the campaigners said: 'The way in which we were treated was disgraceful.
The police pulled us over by claiming the coach was not roadworthy but it
rapidly became clear that they did not want to let us reach the protest. At
first we were told that we could demonstrate for half an hour. But 10 minutes
later we were all told to get back on the coach and anyone refusing to do so
would be arrested. The police started filming everyone on board the coach and
when one of our group tried to get off he was forcibly prevented from doing so.
We were then escorted all the way back up the motorway to London and told that
we could not turn off the motorway at any point for water or toilet breaks on
one of the hottest days of the year. It was a ridiculous situation – most of
us were middle-aged or elderly and we had all come to exercise our democratic
right to stage a peaceful protest.' Edited
from The Independent. 25 Sept Response
from KALE’S EU complaint Over the last 2 years we have been submitting regular
official complaints to the Legal Affairs department (DG SANCO) of the EU Health
and Consumers Directorate-General, Brussels, in relation to issues of concern
about animal exports which we have witnessed departing from Dover, including
possible non-adherence to current (EU) animal welfare legislation Data for these
complaints resulted in 17 formal KALE submission documents, comprising of in
excess of 200 A4 pages of information, being provided as evidence to the legal
affairs team in Brussels. In
February this year, Brussels sent to the UK a team of investigators from their
Food and Veterinary department (the FVO), tasked with a mission of evaluating
the EU ‘System of Control in Relation to Animal Welfare During Transport’.
KALE have now obtained access to the Final Report produced by the FVO on
this same mission. The inspection
number was 2008/7690
and a pdf copy can be viewed by visiting http://ec.europa.eu/food/fvo/ir_search_en.cfm
and clicking on the ‘en’ box for
English language, should anyone wish to read it in entirety. The main points of
the EU report from the FVO Uk visit and investigation include: (Note – all
bold and underline by KALE) ·
The ‘Executive Summary’ declares: “there
is not a complete assurance that vehicles have been approved as required or that
transporters have developed
adequate contingency plans. The lack of a facility to unload animals in the
vicinity of Dover port is a major
limitation on the options available to transporters and (Defra) for dealing
with emergencies or delays at this important point of transfer”. ·
Although applicants
undertaking animal transport were asked to sign a
declaration that they understood the need for effective contingency plans for dealing with
disruptions to travel, there were no subsequent procedures in place to assess the appropriateness
of the plans which transporters drew for their usual trade routes. Two incidents at
Dover in 2006 indicating that several transporters, including those based in the UK, had not carried out sufficient planning for possible disruptions. ·
At the original place(s) of departure,
the checklist used by Animal Health
(AH) officials did not include the requirements introduced by
Regulation (EC) No. 1/2005, which included checking temperature monitoring
equipment or to request
certificates of approval for means of transport and certificates of competence
carried by transport personnel. Also,
although checks were made to ensure (water carrying) equipment was in place, the (fluid)
capacity of the water tanks was not measured. ·
In a check at
departure in June 2007, AH officials had concerns about ventilation on a vehicle
which was going to be loaded with calves. AH
contacted counterparts in Dover who agreed to check the vehicle when it arrived
at the port. However, the
transporter organised for the vehicle to board a regular ferry
rather then the livestock one, and
therefore
the checks were missed.
The vehicle returned in July 07 and was served notice to prevent it from being used.
Driver interviews indicated that the ventilation system was probably inadequate to maintain suitable conditions
on board, particularly when
on the Ro-Ro ferry. ·
10% of journey logs after shipments were
not returned, and the issuing
of warning letters from Animal Health Divisional Offices (AHDO) had
not achieved any better compliance. ·
In the famous
October 2006 incident at Dover, which resulted in some transporters waiting in
the harbour for over 8 hours, and calves being shot in the docks due to stress,
officials made contact with authorities in Belgium and it transpired that the transporters did not go directly to the Belgian
control posts they had been ordered to visit after their arrival from Dover. ·
In November 2006, when a
transporter overturned on the boat during a sailing in rough weather, killing several animals, the (Dover)
port operations manager provided strong evidence to the investigators that the sailing should ‘not have
taken place’.
The master of the ship that night has not been traced since and has not subsequently
worked from Dover again. ·
Although the
decision to sail (or not sail) still currently remains with the master of the
vessel, the central competent authority are ‘considering adapting their procedures for
reacting to rough weather conditions’. ·
The highest rates of non-compliance
with welfare requirements (27%) related to both lack
of cleaning and disinfection and journey time
documents. (How did
Bluetongue arrive in the Uk we have always asked ? ! ? – partial proof maybe ?
– MJ) ·
The inspection team
in one consignment selected at random identified that 20% more calves had been included in the health certificate signed by a
Local Veterinary Inspector (LVI) than had been indicated in the plan in the
journey log.
AH staff were aware ‘ that such practices
occurred from time to time and had written to LVI’s on the topic’. ·
The training (of officials) benefits
the quality of inspections, ‘however, the newer requirements introduced by
Regulation (EC) No. 1/2005 have
not been fully integrated into the training
provided, particularly for Animal Health
officials’. So,
reading the above, I hope you agree, the efforts over the last few years to let
the EU legal people know the real situation(s) at Dover has verified a lot of
our concerns about the entire industry. Defra
may think the system works, but we know and have provided evidence that it does
not completely in reality. Has it
all been worth it ? – Yes, for sure it has; would we do it again ? – we will
if the need arises. More details to
come in future editions of KALE News. Best Regards –
Mark KALE EU Correspondent
– 1st Oct 2008 Dover
live export reports from KALE Fri
5th to Sat 6th Sept - Friday night did nothing to dispel
the gloom of the week continuing on with high winds, lashing
rain and rough seas. Frequent and heavy squalls, ferocious at times, whipped the
water into a frenzy with white topped waves rolling in and crashing into the
beaches & the quays. The main direction was SSE turning to SSW with wind
speeds of up to force 9 in the gusts at times and with a rising tide this did
not alter all night. Between the squalls the wind did drop to almost stand-
up-able strength but rose again swiftly as the next squall hit and in the glare
of the arc lights we could see the rain sweeping across the docks in an almost
horizontal curtain, Into this chaos and severity of weather "agri
shipping" decided to export sheep across the channel, making it blatantly
obvious they care nothing for the welfare of the animals just in making a fast
euro. Write and complain to your M.P. about this sailing, which should not have
taken place. Kale registered an official complaint to Animal Health in the
docks. The usual 4 Kale members braved the night - to the bitter end - and
monitored this travesty of non compliance with regulations. Our watch began at
21.00 hrs. 21.30 hrs Pentalina B
berthed at Dover Eastern Docks. After berthing it rolled and pitched in the
berth as the tide rose but did not lower her stern door. So we waited, while
squall after squall roared across . Even the ferries were having trouble
maintaining their berthing positions. Lorry
arrivals: 00.27 hrs Dutch Van Veen double trailers each carrying 3 tiers sheep.
01.05 hrs Dutch, no name, articulated lorry with grey trailer, 3 tiers carrying sheep. This and the following 2
lorries are identical in appearance and must all come from the same company as
their registration numbers are mixed and matched. 01.05 hrs Dutch, no name,
articulated trailer, 3 tiers carrying sheep. 02.07 hrs Dutch, no name, 3 tiered
articulated trailer carrying sheep. This one was inspected and when it loaded
last onto the ship it drove on cab first, which left all the trailer sticking
out on the open part of the deck and the driver then opened wide all the vents.
Then the driver in white T shirt went forward, no doubt to the dry, comfy saloon
to sit out the voyage . By this time Kale knew that further protest at sailing
in such adverse conditions was futile. Animal Health were on the dockside
letting it all happen - yet again - so we just watched as the ship shut up the
stern door and prepared to sail. 02.50 hrs with extreme difficulty getting off
the quay- the wind kept her stern pinned - but eventually Pentalina B made it
off and sailed. We then watched, open mouthed , as she left the harbour , at the
violent rolling and pitching , she is a very small ship and was being tossed
about like a cork in a maelstrom. Tally for this disaster of a shipment = 4
Dutch all with sheep. Fri
12th - Sat 13th Sept - 4 KALE monitors present.
Pentalina B berthed at 21.45 hrs. 23.10 hrs Dutch, Van Veen, double grey
and red trailers carrying 3 tiers of sheep. 23.11hrs Dutch, Klaas Swter, black
cab /double trailers each carrying 3 tiers of sheep, speeding in
past a lorry stopped by police on the offside lane. 23.11
hrs Dutch, Dirk Aantjies cab with Gebr Gizzell double trailers with GG logos,
carrying 3 tiers of sheep. 23.50 hrs
Dutch, no name white cab articulated trailer carrying sheep in 3 tiers. O1.OOhrs
Dutch, the twin of the previous carrier, drove directly on to the ship, which
promptly shut the stern door and prepared to leave. 01.25 hrs Pentalina B
sailed, bound for Dunkerque West. Sat
20th Sept - The usual 4 Kale members plus a welcome visitor
presented themselves at the Eastern Docks entrance at 02.45 hrs to monitor the
shipment. Pentalina B berthed in Dover at 04.15 hrs.
02.50 hrs Dutch, name not legible, articulated trailer carrying 3 tiers
of sheep. Not inspected. 03.25 hrs Dutch, Van Veen articulated trailer with 3
tiers of small sheep. 03.25 hrs Dutch, Van Veen, the twin of no2, both inspected
for a short time. 03.35 hrs Peter Z, agent for Agri Shipping and Pentalina B
into the docks in his white van. 03.40 hrs Dutch, 3 tiered articulated trailer
with the words on a small metal plate ‘Vevoer Van Vieron’', carrying sheep.
03.48 hrs Dutch, Dirk Aantjies, double trailers each with 3 tiers with name GEBR
GIZELL and sheep logo, carrying sheep. Not inspected.
04.05 hrs all the transporters parked north of the locked gate and within
15 minutes loading began as soon as Pentalina B docked and lowered her stern
door. 05.25 hrs Pentalina B sailed bound for Dunkerque West carrying 5 Dutch
transporters. Fri
3rd Oct - The usual 4
Kale members turned out for this shipment starting their watch at 02.30 hrs. It
was with disappointment, upon checking, that 3 transporters had already turned
up and were parked in Hammond's Yard by their cargo sheds. Not having an arrival
time for these nor their index plates we only had appearance to go on for
identifying them. All 3 were Dutch and carrying sheep. 03.40 hrs another
un-named Dutch lorry with 3 tiers of sheep.
Pentalina B berthed at 04.05 hrs and quickly lowered her stern door. Ship
sailed at 04.35hrs. Sat
4th Oct - The usual, by now bleary eyed, 4 Kale members turned
out for this shipment plus a very welcome visitor. Watch started at 01.00 hrs.
At 02.10hrs an Irish transporter, Fahey, exited the docks coming from a regular
ferry and probably returning from a Rosslaire/Cherbourg run. At 02.30hrs Dutch,
Sleegers arrived with 3 tiers of sheep; 02.50hrs Dutch, Rinus van Beers also
with sheep. Ship berthed at 03.25hrs. 03.59hrs a British artic with 3 tiers of
sheep followed immediately by a Dutch one also with sheep.
All loaded and sailed away by 04.45hrs.
A total of 3½ trailers. Animal
Welfare is top concern Meat
free preferred to vegetarian Red
meat and cancer – government hiding the truth A
major new scientific report has produced ‘convincing’ evidence that eating
red meat increases the risk of bowel cancer. But instead of alerting consumers
to the risks, the government is helping to fund propaganda offensives by meat
industry bodies aimed at concealing the bad news. The Meat and Livestock
Commission (MLC) and the red meat promotional body north of the border –
Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) – both expressed alarm ahead of the publication of
the World Cancer Research Fund’s new report.
In June, the MLC revealed that it was involved in a propaganda offensive
aimed at doctors to discourage them from giving out advice based on the new
scientific evidence. Richard Lowe, chief executive of the MLC, told a conference
of meat processors:
‘Our guess is that meat and meat products will be presented [in the
WCRF report] as having convincing evidence of links to cancer. Meat bodies now
are lobbying on a combined response and targeting the healthcare profession
because the danger is from doctors giving advice based on this.’ More
recently, the QMS declared:
‘There are considerable industry fears that a report from the World
Cancer Research Fund due out in Nov 07 will again use epidemiological research
to raise concerns over the role of red meat and may go so far as to move it into
a category of "probably linked with bowel cancer" from its current
position with the charity of "possibly linked with bowel cancer".’ The
admission came in what turned out to be a successful application by QMS to
Scottish Enterprise for a grant to promote the consumption of red meat. The WCRF
report is a follow-up to its highly influential 600-page dossier published 10
years ago. The 1997 report was itself bad news for the public image of meat,
eggs and milk. Animal Aid Director Andrew Tyler said:
‘The
tobacco industry fought for years to suppress the evidence that smoking causes
cancer. They put their profits before public health and, as a result, are
responsible for the sickness and deaths of millions of people. And now, the meat
industry – when faced with accumulating evidence of serious human disease
caused by their products – is resorting to the same dirty tricks. It seems
that their strategy is to bombard not just consumers but doctors and health
workers with misleading information about the cancer risks associated with
animal products. Even more extraordinary is that public money is being used to
fund this propaganda.’ Meat
and global warming In early July several
newspapers reported that methane emissions from both ends of cows and sheep
purposefully bred and used for meat are causing so much concern in government
that it is spending tens of thousands of pounds on research to find ways to cut
down on the emissions from the animals, which account for about a quarter of the
methane – a greenhouse gas 20 times more powerful at driving global warming
than carbon dioxide – pumped into the atmosphere in Britain. Each day, every
one of Britain’s 10 million cows pumps out an estimated 100-200 litres of
methane. Researchers are attempting to find a diet for cattle that will result
in less flatulence, when the government would be better served fighting global
warming by advocating veganism. Foie
Gras The UK Wide list of
outlets that are currently selling
foie gras is now on myspace at http://www.myspace.com/foiegrasaction
Please bookmark this page for the current list of outlets selling foie gras plus
updates re new additions and subtractions to the list. Please continue to email ban_foie_gras@reincarnate.com
with your own updates for the myspace website.
INTERESTING
FACT: Bovine
TB is a problem on the UK mainland - it is also a problem on the Isle of Mann -
Badgers don't live on The Isle of Mann. Commentary by Captain Paul WatsonThe meat industry is one of the
most destructive ecological industries on the planet. The raising and
slaughtering of pigs, cows, sheep, turkeys and chickens not only utilizes vast
areas of land and vast quantities of water, but it is a greater contributor to
greenhouse gas emissions than the automobile industry. The seafood industry is
literally plundering the ocean of life and some 50% of fish caught from the
oceans is fed to cows, pigs, sheep, chickens etc in the form of fish meal. It
also takes about 50 fish caught from the sea to raise one farm raised salmon. We
have turned the domestic cow into the largest marine predator on the planet. The
hundreds of millions of cows grazing the land and farting methane consume more
tonnage of fish than all the world's sharks, dolphins and seals combined.
Domestic housecats consume more fish, especially tuna, than all the world's
seals. So why is it that all the world's large environmental and conservation
groups are not campaigning against the meat industry? Why did Al Gore's film
Inconvenient Truth not mention the inconvenient truth that the slaughter
industry creates more greenhouse gases than the automobile industry? Sea
Shepherd Conservation Society is the only conservation organization in the world
that endorses and practises vegetarianism. My ships do not serve meat or fish
ever, nor do we serve dairy products. We've had a strictly vegan menu for years
and no one has died of scurvy or malnutrition. There is not enough fish in the
world's oceans to feed 6.6 billion human beings and another 10 billion domestic
animals. That is why all the world's commercial fisheries are collapsing. That
is why whales, seals, dolphins and seabirds are starving. The sand eel for
example, the primary source of food for the comical and beautiful puffin is
being wiped out by Danish fishermen solely to provide fish meal to Danish
factory farmed chickens. This is a solid conservation connection between eating
meat and the destruction of life in our oceans. In a world fast losing resources
of fresh water, it is sheer lunacy to have hundreds of millions of cows
consuming over 1,000 gallons of water for every pound of beef produced. And the
pig farms in North Carolina produce so much waste that it has contaminated the
entire ground water reserves of the entire state. North Carolinians drink pig
shit with their water but its okay they say, they just neutralize it with
chemicals like chlorine. Most people don't want to see where their meat comes
from. They also don't want to know what the impact of their meat has on the
ecology. I did not set the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society up as an animal
rights organization and we have never promoted animal rights in the
organization. What we have promoted and what we do is oceanic wildlife and
habitat conservation work. And the truth is that you can't practise solid and
constructive conservation work without promoting veganism and/or vegetarianism
as something that promotes the conservation of resources. The problem is that
people………… just refuse to accept that their eating habits may be just as
much a part of the problem as all those things they are trying to oppose. That
one 16oz cut of prime rib is equal to 1,000 gallons of fresh water, a few acres
of grass, a few fish, a quarter acre of corn etc. What's the point of taking a
shorter shower to conserve water as Greenpeace is preaching if you can sit down
and consume 1000 gallons of water at a single meal?
And that single cut of meat would have cost as much in vegetable
resources equivalent to what could be fed to an entire African village for a
week. The bottom line is that to be a conservationist and an environmentalist,
you must practise and promote vegetarianism or better yet veganism. It is the
lifestyle that leaves the shallowest ecological footprint, uses fewer resources
and produces less greenhouse gas emissions, it's healthier and it means you're
not a hypocrite. In fact a vegan driving a hummer would be contributing less
greenhouse gas carbon emissions than a meat eater riding a bicycle. Going vegetarian helps
Earth more than conserving water Many
people consider themselves environmentally friendly and do their best to make an
extra effort on that day. Sadly, many people are unaware of the devastating
effect that factory farming has on the environment. A major 2006 report by the
United Nations said raising animals for food is "one of the top 2 or 3 most
significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every
scale from local to global." You save more water by not eating a pound of
beef than by not showering for an entire year. Nearly half the water consumed in
the US is used for livestock. It's not just water you can help conserve either.
Think about all the land and energy you can save, too: Every minute, an area of
rain forest the size of 7 football fields is destroyed to make room for grazing
cattle, and more than one-third of all raw materials and fossil fuels currently
used in the U.S. go to raising animals for food. Farmed animals produce about
130 times as much excrement as all the humans in the U.S., and are a major
contributor to global warming. Visit www.goveg.com
for more information.
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The Shoreham Protester, 7 Stoneham Road, Hove, BN3 5HJ, United Kingdom. Tel: +44 (0)1273 885750. Email: shoreham.protester@ntlworld.com Last Updated 19 October 2008 |