#animal welfare law

[thepastisalreadywritten]

Iceland cancels commercial whaling this season on animal welfare grounds, hailed as ‘a major milestone in compassionate whale conservation’ by HSI / Europe

Minister Svavarsdóttir ends decades of senseless whale killing and begins a new chapter in Iceland’s relationship with whales

Humane Society International / Europe

20 June 2023

BRUSSELS ― As news breaks that Iceland has cancelled this season’s commercial whaling on animal welfare grounds, global animal protection charity Humane Society International says it is thrilled and relieved at the announcement that will spare hundreds of whales from agonising deaths.

It urges the Icelandic government to make it a permanent ban.

Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Svandís Svavarsdóttir announced that Iceland’s whaling vessels will not kill any whales this season due to the conclusion that “the fishing method used when hunting large whales does not comply with the law on animal welfare.”

The suspension lasts until August 31st, which effectively cancels this season’s whale killing.

The minister’s statement continues:

“It is necessary to postpone the start of the whaling season so that there is room to investigate whether it is possible to ensure that the hunting is carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Animal Welfare Act.”

Ruud Tombrock, HSI / Europe’s executive director, said:

“This is a major milestone in compassionate whale conservation.

Humane Society International is thrilled at this news and praises Minister Svavarsdóttir for ending the senseless whale killing, which will spare hundreds of minke and imperilled fin whales from agonising and protracted deaths.

There is no humane way to kill a whale at sea and so we urge the minister to make this a permanent ban.

Whales already face so many serious threats in the oceans from pollution, climate change, entanglement in fish nets and ship strikes, that ending cruel commercial whaling is the only ethical conclusion.”

The announcement follows the Minister’s op-ed last year in which she said she saw little reason to permit whaling after 2023.

Publication last month of an independent report by the Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority ― commissioned by the Minister ― revealed some whales killed in Icelandic hunts had taken up to two hours to die, with 41% of whales suffering immensely before dying for an average of 11.5 minutes.

Kitty Block, CEO of Humane Society International, said:

“For those of us who have been campaigning for many years to end commercial whaling, to see the day that Iceland decides to stop killing whales and retire its harpoons for good, is truly historic.

Economic factors have certainly played a significant role in the demise of this cruel industry - with little demand for whale meat at home and exports to the Japanese market dwindling - but it is the overriding moral argument against whaling that has sealed its fate.

Harpooning these magnificent giants not only causes unjustifiable suffering to those whales who are killed but also unimaginable distress to the rest of their pod who witness their family members being chased and slaughtered.

Iceland is already one of the best places in the world to go whale watching, and the country stands to attract even more ecotourists now that it has abandoned whaling forever.

The world now looks at Japan and Norway as the only two countries in the world to still mercilessly kill whales for profit.”

FAST FACTS:

The International Whaling Commission agreed to enact a global moratorium on all commercial whaling in 1986.

Iceland left the IWC in 1992 but returned in 2002 with an exception to the moratorium, despite objections from multiple nations. 

Since re-joining the IWC, Iceland had killed more than 1,500 whales, including fin whales.

Iceland suspended hunting fin whales in 2016 due to a declining market for whale meat in Japan.

Hunting resumed for the 2018 season when 146 fin whales were killed, including a pregnant female and a rare fin-blue hybrid whale, plus six minke whales.

A single minke whale was killed from 2019-2021, and 148 fin whales in 2022.

Fin whales are classified by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature as globally vulnerable to extinction despite decades of recovery since the commercial whaling moratorium.

🤍🐳🤍

[cristinabcn]

ESPAÑA: LEY DE BIENESTAR ANIMAL

ESPAÑA: LEY DE BIENESTAR ANIMAL

SPAIN: ANIMAL WELFARE LAW La presente Ley tiene por finalidad garantizar el bienestar y proteger la vida de todas las especies de animales vertebrados domésticos o silvestres mantenidos en cautiverio. Asimismo impedir el maltrato y la crueldad causado por el ser humano que pueda ocasionarles sufrimiento innecesario, lesión o muerte. Así mismo esta ley busca garantizar la seguridad del ecosistema…

[fjordfolk]

there's a court case going rn that might end up defining the line between discipline and abuse in dog training in norway.

it's part of a case where an owner is charged with violence towards an animal + not providing sufficient care, and it's interesting for two reasons:

whether or not financial difficulties are a mitigating factor for not providing sufficient medical care (because the owner couldn't afford it, the dog had a broken tibia for six weeks before being taken in for surgery)

deciding whether this video shows 'rough treatment for training purposes' (per the defense) or if it's violence. it's more the general scope and repetition of this type of treatment rather than the specific actions shown that's up for consideration, but it's pretty clear in terms of where the bar might be set. video under the cut

the owner was found guilty and sentenced to four months in prison and losing the right to animal ownership in district court, and the case is now in appellate court with an expected judgement on feb 1st.

Ps. the dog is rehomed and is doing well.

[blackoutunit]

I don’t normally make posts like this but I wanna spread awareness to this topic

Cats in China are being brutally tortured and killed maliciously by various groups of people around - young people, ones who should know better.

They adopt cats and then murder them, often putting them through hell beforehand. Doing things such as chopping off all their limbs and hanging them up as “cat bugs”, skinning them alive, putting them in blenders, and many, many other cruel things.

It’s due to the lack of animal protection rights in China is why these people can get away with these things so easily.

They use live footage of cats eating from local feeders in order to capture them, and they’ve already gotten over millions of innocent felines - one of which was a kitten known as Mr. Wink, who was found frozen solid after one of them had drowned him.

These people also go about live streaming footage of themselves torturing and killing kitties that’ve done NOTHING WRONG for views, money and fun. And they gain more and more followers and views everyday.

This shit is not okay at all. They are still out there targeting these creatures, and even had set up a bounty to both find and kill Mr. Fresh (orange cat shown from a live feeder famous for his “side eye”), the money ranging from about $500-600.

Although Mr. Fresh is thankfully safe and in the care of a vet/new guardian. However, there are still many other animals, not just cats themselves, being tortured in China.

I highly recommend visiting and following @feline_guardians on Instagram and to sign their petition for animals to gain more rights in China.

Thank you for listening.

Plus I’m adding a picture of my cat that I redrew cuz he’s silly (and all kitties deserve both love and respect)

Save cats yall!! Every sign counts.

[flock-talk]

Yep Toto’s a Quaker!

Most of Canada doesn’t have laws against parrot species, however my province has begun the process of proposing an exotic pet law that would ban all parrots except for budgies so yknow we’ll see how far that one makes it.

@foxfire69

[miawashere]

animal cruelty

tw: animal abuse

recently, i’ve seen instagram accounts post animals they’ve k*lled. i have no idea if this is some kind of trend, or something only from my hometown. despite the fact that this is just evil and horrific, it also happens to be illegal. it depends on the state, but laws usually define animal abuse as abandoning, torturing, k*lling, and overworking of animals. in many states, you become a convicted felon if the animal dies because of your actions, and for some torture is considered a misdemeanor.

if you happen to come across social media pages that display animal cruelty/abuse, PLEASE REPORT THE ACCOUNT!! do not engage with the content. you can also report it to ic3.gov if it happens to be in the U.S., because it’s partnered with the FBI to help stop online crime.

[trans-leek-cookie]

Thinking about how I randomly got into The Smiths, then noticed a few different people talking about them negatively, went "Huh. Weird. I bet their fans are kinda pretentious, but what's the deal?" Then only learned later from someone reblogging an aesthetic photo of a shirt with a quote from one of their songs on it that one or multiple of the band members was like a Massive Racist, and looking more into that to find the guy said some racist shit about Chinese People Specifically

[mourning-again-in-america]

have the EAs worked out how much poorer the 90th and 75th percentile poorest would be in an America under various animal welfare laws?

[kleefkruid]

Since I got given a tv screen I also got my hands on an old ps4 and I've been playing minecraft on my study break, a game I only played a bit in 2011 and didn't look at since, and I have to say, it really is the game that stimulates my internal autism and ADHD goblins equally.

I can be mining in straight lines for hours, researching a strategy that will give me the most natural resources, while every type of rock goes in a neat labeled chest and I compare their in-game uses to their real life uses. (copper my girl you are being done dirty)

OR I'll be in the nighttime wilderness diving of a cliff with 10+ zombies running after me, carrying 3 pieces of gold horse armour but no sword, because I lost track of my house while pursuing a shiny shape on the horizon.

[is-the-owl-video-cute]

every time i see the absolute wild takes ARAs put out, or the straight up misinformation used to make animal agri seem scarier or more cruel than it is, I wonder what could be done if those efforts were put towards actually picking out the real, non-fabricated flaws of the systems in place and pressuring them rather than this "to evil to exist" stuff that will never go anywhere. like how much real change is drowned out by "milk demons are adding spikes to cow noses so that their moms hate them"

Honestly sometimes I wonder if peta is secretly run by people who profit off of skimping on regs for animal agriculture. What if the main Mind behind peta is the CEO of Tyson chicken and he just promotes progressively more insane ARA takes and lies so common society doesn’t take any animal welfare movement seriously and they can continue abusing animals for profits.

[ilovedirt]

I think it is important to remember the history of US child abuse protection laws in order to understand where we are at with many things today. For example, the first national child abuse case, that of 9yo Mary Ellen in 1874 -

excerpts from this great article you should read tw American History n everything

img transcription (emphasis mine):

At that time there were laws protecting animals, but no local, state, or federal laws protected children. Consequently, Wheeler turned to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) for help. The case was presented to the court on the theory that the child was a member of the animal kingdom and therefore entitled to the same protection from abuse that the law gave to animals. The court agreed, and the child, because she was considered an animal, was taken from her brutal foster mother.

Mary Ellen Wilson's case led to the founding of the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NYSPCC) in 1875. The first child protective agency in the world, the NYSPCC continues in the twenty-first century to work for the best interests of children. Similar societies were soon organized in other U.S. cities. By 1922, fifty-seven societies for the prevention of cruelty to children and 307 other humane societies had been established to tend to the welfare of children. After the federal government began intervening in child welfare, the number of these societies declined.

[isthehorsevideocute]

update photos of Falcon's condition

I'm putting these under the cut because even for me this is hard to look at

Spines protruding from the back. Definitely not normal for healthy horses

So much edema in the left hock you can't even make out the bones

Big nasty spur marks from excessive spurring

[worldofgoo]

ive been following the is the fox video cute blog for a while now and while i understand where theyre coming from its still a bit wild to me how pro-farm they are. like i watch videos they share sometimes and stuff bc the ethics of animal husbandry interests me a lot and like i guess the foxes seem relaxed enough? but it must be insanely boring/understimulating even if theyre not stressed to the point of illness. and like. anyone would agree that putting a cat or a dog in a cage their whole life is kinda unfair. dunno

[itstimeforstarwars]

Working in this office is just fending off all my coworkers offering me a peanut or an almond or a pistachio or a walnut. No thank you I do not like nuts, I say every day, but every day they offer me a peanut or an almond or a pistachio.

[petnews2day]

Florida man arrested for severely beating dog that scratched car

New Post has been published on https://petnews2day.com/news/pet-news/dog-news/florida-man-arrested-for-severely-beating-dog-that-scratched-car/?utm_source=TR&utm_medium=Tumblr+%230&utm_campaign=social

Florida man arrested for severely beating dog that scratched car

A DeLand man was arrested and accused of severely beating a stray dog with a rock and a beer bottle claiming the animal jumped on the hood of his car and scratched it, police said. Naaman Patrick McGregor, 37, arrested on Saturday and charged with felony animal cruelty, said he also kicked the dog like […]

See full article at https://petnews2day.com/news/pet-news/dog-news/florida-man-arrested-for-severely-beating-dog-that-scratched-car/?utm_source=TR&utm_medium=Tumblr+%230&utm_campaign=social #DogNews #Fl, #Abuse, #Animal, #AnimalCruelty, #AnimalWelfare, #Animals, #Arrests, #County, #Crime, #CrimeU0026Justice, #Cruelty, #Deland, #Dogs, #Enforcement, #Injuries, #Justice, #Law, #LawEnforcement, #Local, #LocalNews, #Negative, #News, #Overall, #OverallNegative, #Police, #U0026, #Violence, #ViolenceU0026Abuse, #Volusia, #VolusiaCounty, #Welfare

[evillordzog]

Community Cats need Exemption to Save Lives - Please Submit to Engage Victoria by 25th March

2 Mar 2024

Animal Justice Party have released a Guide for submissions to the draft 'Animal Care and Protection Act', and the date has been extended to 25th of March 2024. Victoria needs exemption from ‘abandonment' - to save the lives of Community Cats.   There are two parts for submissions - one on the draft text, and one on the Regulations.  Please ask for this Exemption in both: Part 3 Division 2, 21 (1)(d) 'person abandons the animal' : Exemption for Trap Neuter Return and Return to Field programs when run by trained/qualified authorised officers, or specialists in cat management.

AJP Guide: https://assets.nationbuilder.com/animaljusticeparty/pages/2702/attachments/original/1709183925/AJP_Guide_to_Animal_Care_and_Protection_Bill_and_its_supporting_regulations.pdf?1709183925                                                                   Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3bJX8dWsqA

Only individual submissions to Engage Victoria help. (signatures on petitions are rejected)

AJP says we need to submit in both parts: Upload your document (as the online form can delete sections); and also fill-in the Regulations Survey. Document submissions can only challenge the Act wording.  We can only comment on the Act in the Regulations. 

An animal lawyer points out that this Act recognizes animal sentience, but then gives industries’ exemption for cruel acts - meaning that animals have no legal ‘protection’, no ‘care’.   This draft Act gives animal industries of hunting, killing, racing, and maiming: exemptions - and these actions cannot then be challenged in court. 

We need the animal industry ‘exemptions’ and ‘exceptions’ of cruelty offences (wounding, torturing, tormenting, terrifying, starving, killing) to be removed.  That ‘use’ of animals be removed or re-worded to acknowledge sentience - and welfare.  To instead specify acts that should never be allowable, and specifically never licenced.  

We need many submissions - at shortest, please add to Part 3 Division 2, 21 (1)(d) an Exemption for Trap Neuter Return programs; and ask to remove all the cruelty animal-industry exemptions.   Please make individual submissions in your own name, words, and experience, using AJP’s Guide -  including the Exemption for Trap Neuter Return. 

Scientific evidence from the Australian Pet Foundation is not being followed - please refer to this in submissions, the Act requires ‘best available scientific evidence’:

Community Cat Programs work to save both cats and wildlife, and at much lower cost: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQbK3R36Xjg  https://petwelfare.org.au/2022/08/31/australian-pet-welfare-foundation-position-statement-on-cat-containment/  

24-hr cat curfews fail Victoria, and have failed in Casey and Yarra Ranges: https://petwelfare.org.au/2022/09/02/key-issues-to-consider-related-to-mandated-24-7-cat-containment/  

Way to prevent killing and lower pound intake: https://theconversation.com/australian-shelters-and-pounds-kill-50-000-mostly-healthy-cats-and-kittens-in-a-year-theres-a-way-to-prevent-this-pointless-killing-201947   Full scientific article: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/11/1771 

Australian Pet Welfare Foundation evidence shows that mandated containment results in farming kittens to kill - kitten-farming.  Science shows that 24-hr cat curfews do not work, and fail to save wildlife - and cost the community much more (six times plus) for greater trapping and killing. 

The Minister, in May 2022, announced this revised Victorian Act as part of ‘a 10-year state-wide cat-management strategy’.  ACT changed their animal Act then, in 2021, enacted statewide lifetime cat curfew with enforcement fines of $1600 if a cat steps past its property-line.  ACT’s Act recognised animal sentience, then enforced greater cruelty and inequity upon cats and carers.  Victoria also announced cat containment grants, re‘education’ of cat-owners, ‘RSPCA key role’ (Victoria’s high contract-killer of cats) and 2023’s voluntary, open-worldwide, Pet Census asking questions on only one species of pet - collecting skewed data. 

Local Councils are not using the ‘best available scientific evidence’ on cats when developing their Domestic Animal Management Plans.  Local Councils enact 24-hr cat curfews, not evidence-based, instead using misinformation, and personal opinion, as ‘politically popular’.  Often there is no community consultation on 24-hr cat curfews that adheres to the Local Government Act.  Local Councils cause community division, inequity, enable hate-speech towards felines, and abet cat cruelty by encouraging ‘free cat traps’ - rising the homeless cat population, rising euthanasia, and harming community health. 

I now have to write a different draft for Knox AdvoCats given the new AJP info. 

Comments: 

Homeless cats, ‘community’ and ‘stray’, are not ‘feral’.  ‘Cats should be categorised based on how and where they live. APWF recommends that cats should be recognised as feral or domestic, consistent with the RSPCA’s Best Practice Domestic Cat Management (2018). …consistent with the 2015 TAP, which classified cats as feral, stray, or domestic. …stray cats … live in and around where humans live or frequent should not be considered feral cats. …Sociability and adoptability cannot be judged in a highly stressful environment, such as in a trap cage; frightened pet cats may display more aggressive behaviours towards humans than truly feral cats (Slater 2013; Jacobson 2022). …5 days, and up to 14 days or longer, are required for many pet cats to habituate to a new environment and for accurate assessment of sociability.’ 

Authorised officers 'seizure' and 'disposal' of animals needs greater oversight. Currently officers are ‘authorised’ without training - just by written request, with photo, from their manager to the Minister.  Please require Victoria animal officers to undertake necessary training before authorising.  Please require 'expert' evaluation on seized animals by veterinary psychiatrists and postgraduate animal specialists.

What is Victoria doing to lessen pound intake and euthanasia?  ‘Victoria had the highest total number of admissions’ of cats - 52,893.  Victoria and New South Wales … having the highest total number of cats euthanized’ (14664 and 14464)  https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/11/1771 Some animals used for scientific purposes for Primary Industries are also obtained out of Council pounds.  

All traps are inhumane, licence must be clearly specified. refer to page20 AJP Guide.

page 31 Part 3—Care requirements. 17, 3d: the best available scientific evidence relating to the animal's species.  Local Councils have not followed the best available scientific evidence on cats - regarding population control methods that work, and vets concern about contained-cat diseases such as Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease.

Cat containment can hide more cruelty, and make it less likely to be reported, keeping cats out of sight and out of mind, as silent sufferers, and an easy target for populist hate speech and false blame.  More felines, females, as lesser-deserving of freedom outside, of public socialisation, jumping, walks, running, parks, friendships, at risk of domestic abuse?

Locking cats in Shed or Garage as Vic Agriculture, and Knox Council, advised can cause stress, harm, cold - can endanger cat welfare.  Contained cats that are not seen are less likely to be reported on by neighbours, including instances of tethering to a clothesline, starving, tormenting, trapping, killing, offences being hidden in house and backyards, unseen, and unreported by neighbours.

Code of Practice for the Private Keeping of Cats pages 34-35. Also add that Local Councils making 24-hr cat curfews are killing more cats and wildlife.  Refer to the failure in Casey and Yarra Ranges.  The six-times greater cost of trapping and killing.  That Local Councils with mandated cat containment raise stray cat numbers, that science shows are ‘farming kittens’ to kill.   

Code of Practice for the Private Keeping of Dogs pages 36-37

Page 72-74 Division 2 63— Although it is ‘an offence to not use an animal in the demonstration of any product, device’.  65 (b)(i) then makes exemption for ‘uses the animal for the purpose of hunting, taking, killing’ (d) (ii) an approved industry arrangement. page 85 (a) (i) administers the substance for the purpose of controlling pest animals, and (c) (i) hunting, killing. The ‘Felixer’ is named explicity for cats, and shoots 1080 poison that also torturously kills pet dogs, dingo pups, Wedge-tailed eagles, native marsupials and poisons habitat.  There is no 1080 anti-dote.  Victoria regularly lays 1080 poison in fox baits.  We need to ban 1080 poison, and to prevent the Felixer from ever being used in Victoria.

Heritable defects: pages 27-28  

Code of Practice for the Welfare of Horses pages 39-40

Code of Practice for the Welfare of Wildlife during Rehabilitation page 46

Victorian Local Councils have enacted high-cost 24-hr cat curfews which kill more kittens, cats, and wildlife - while spreading public misinformation of ‘save’ ‘protect’ ‘care’; not making evidence-based decisions, instead using ‘personal opinion’ as ‘politically popular’ against felines, and females.  

24-hr cat curfews divide communities, create inequity, remove living well from cat-owners, enable hate-speech, fail to save wildlife, target renters and the elderly with high fines, and cost all residents six times more for trapping and killing. Councils offer ‘free traps’, encourage reporting on neighbours without a written statement or being identified - removing cat-owners right to fair legal defence, raise the community mental health costs, and place shelter-workers at suicide-risk. 

Please fill in the Regulations Survey, and Submission by the 25th of March. This Act replaces The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.  How is ‘cat containment’ caging cats, legislating cruelty - ‘care and protection’?   https://engage.vic.gov.au/new-animal-welfare-act-victoria

Please submit before Victoria begins changing animal laws.