In addition to AIA’s proactive advocacy work, outlined in its five year strategy 2022-2026, we also react to current situations of animal cruelty .
AIA’s International Campaigns Secretary, Marian Hussenbux is responsible for AIA’s global animal advocacy work. This involves writing to people of influence about animal suffering and cruelty around the world, often in support of campaigns run by other organisations.
AIA’S CAMPAIGNING ACTIVITY
May 2023 to September 2023
EUROPE
We have revisited several issues over the past few months, so much of this will be familiar to you. There are some glimmers of hope and a couple of very intransigent matters to report on.
Beginning with the United Kingdom:
We wrote to the Minister for Policing, Chris Philp, asking for wildlife crimes to be made notifiable. We cited the digging out of badgers and the killing of rare hen harriers by shooting, poisoning or the destruction of nests and chicks. The RSPB has at long last come round to the way of thinking of Wild Justice and Raptor Persecution UK et al and is attributing much of the disappearance of hen harriers to the effects of driven grouse shoots.
Police forces report that addressing this recording deficit is essential to halting the rise in wildlife crime. Survey work carried out by Naturewatch Foundation found that 87% of responding wildlife crime officers supported key wildlife crimes being given notifiable status.
The Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation asked other organisations to support their letter to Rishi Sunak about the much vaunted live exports pledge which has not been kept. So far we have received no reply to that letter.
Returning to the subject of grouse shooting, we thanked the water company United Utilities for deciding not to renew any more grouse-shooting and pheasant/partridge-shooting leases on their extensive land in the north once the current leases expire in 2027.
We encouraged them to resist the expected criticism emanating from the shooting bodies, and hoped that other water companies would take a lead from UU and also stop licensing cruelty. We had a thank you reply from CEO Louise Beardmore.
Fast-growth chickens and the Co-op’s ethical policies. At this year’s AGM, Co-op members were able to vote on a motion to ban the sale of these cruelly-raised birds and 96% of us voted for this motion. It was with some surprise that we were informed that the Board had decided not to accept this. We wrote to the Board and President asking how this decision aligned with the ethical policies for which many of us shopped at the Co-op and had done for years. We await a reply.
Two years ago, we asked ministers and the PM to ban the import into this country of trophies from hunting, also one of the government pledges. Together with Born Free et al we wrote to Lord True, leader of the House of Lords, asking him to do all he can to expedite this ban and not allow 2 Tory lords to amend it into a much weakened instrument.
Wales:
Natural Resources Wales was considering options for regulating gamebird releases in Wales, specifically Common Pheasant and Red-Legged Partridge, on behalf of Welsh Government Ministers. At the moment, releases of gamebirds within a boundary of a Site of Special Scientific Interest usually need consent from NRW. However, outside those boundaries, there is little regulation or monitoring of their effect. We submitted to their consultation.
In July the government reported a complete ban on the use of snares, the first country in the UK to do so.
Scotland:
Again in July, we lobbied the Minister on a possible ban on snares. A suggestion had been made that a new design – the humane cable restraint – could make them acceptable, something we cannot accept, and in fact the Welsh government discounted that design in their thinking.
Another review is being undertaken, with a deadline of October 3 to make submissions. We are joining with a large group of organisations to make ours. This is very important as there is much opposition to a ban.
If Scotland follows Wales, there will be more pressure on Westminster to follow suit.
France:
The chasse en enclos, canned hunting – is appalling. We asked the Minister of Ecological Transition to put an end to it.
Iceland:
A damning report on the whale hunt came from a government department itself. We wrote to 2 ministers and the Prime Minister, asking for an end to this outdated cruelty.
The excellent organisation Whale& Dolphin Conservation provided a template letter to send to the Icelandic Ambassador. A suspension of licence lasted until the end of August and we have written again to the Minister, reiterating the point that the trade is not compliant with their animal welfare legislation on suffering, so there should be a permanent ban.
UPDATE: As of September 1, Iceland has resumed whaling.
Ruud Tombrock, Executive Director of Humane Society International (HSI), issued a critical press release, saying that Icelandic Agriculture Minister Svandis Svavarsdottir has “inexplicably decided to ignore the unequivocal scientific findings that she herself had requested, showing that commercial whaling is cruel and brutal.”
The struggle continues.
Armenia:
Elephant Bunka is alone in Yerevan Zoo. We asked the President and Prime Minister to transfer him to sanctuary in SE Asia.
India:
We wrote to Prime Minister Sri Modi about the killing of street dogs in Kerala and other states, making the point that respect for the compassionate precept of ahimsa should make this wholly unacceptable.
We also wrote to the PM asking him to expedite the amendments to animal welfare legislation which have been promised. Nitin kindly sent a copy to Shri Maneka Gandhi.
United States:
The Snake River dams yet again: we reminded the Biden administration that breaching the four lower dams and replacing the services they provide must be a part of a comprehensive solution that brings endangered salmon, steelhead, and Southern Resident orca back to abundance. This would also uphold the federal government’s legally-binding commitments to Northwest Tribal Nations. We sent a copy of our letter to the excellent organisation Earth Justice, which is working persistently on this matter.
We also asked for the breaching not to be done by motorised means: there must be respect for the wilderness. We reminded the administration of the important point that the First Nations consider the salmon and orcas to be their relatives.
You may remember the appalling company Sloth Encounters in Long Island. The owner Larry Wallach had not only continued to illegally exhibit sloths but hauled them on the road to exploit them in people’s homes and restaurants.
Wallach was advertising for sale to the general public sloths and other exotic animals who are illegal to possess and sell in the town.
After some delay, Wallach was brought to a hearing and on July 11 the Suffolk County Supreme Court found Sloth Encounters guilty of civil contempt of court, writing:
“It is the opinion of this Court that the location continues to be operated as a petting zoo under the pretense that it is a pet store. This conclusion is well supported by Wallach’s own testimony.
The Supreme Court has further ordered that Sloth Encounters must:
immediately cease and desist from operating the subject premises as a ‘pet store’ or petting zoo” and that “the defendants shall be fined the sum of $250.00 per day, payable to the Town, for each day the defendants continue to operate as a pet store or petting zoo in violation of the March 30, 2023, Order of the Court.”
We are also very pleased to report that, thanks to Humane Long Island, “Suffolk County has adopted IR 1777, a local law to restrict the use of exotic animals in traveling performances. This important bill not only protects the welfare of animals and the safety of our children, but also teaches empathy to future generations and supports humane, cruelty-free performers who can go home at the end of their day and retire when they wish. “
Effective immediately, 14 species of animal, including large mammals, primates, sea creatures, some birds, are banned from travelling performances in the county.
Hawai’i: we sent our condolences to our friends at Hawaiian Humane Society on the occasion of the horrific fires on Maui and personally made donations to the Maui HS, which is working very hard, with the support of those residents in a position to do so, to save and rehabilitate the animals they can. Many have been moved from Maui HS kennels to the US mainland to make room for affected animals.
We urged the Biden-Harris Administration to designate the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Marine Sanctuary in the Pacific Remote Islands.
Much of the proposed sanctuary area is currently a part of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument. The proposed sanctuary may include all the waters of the existing marine national monument and the currently unprotected waters from 50 to 200 nm off Howland and Baker Islands, Palmyra Atoll, and Kingman Reef. The proposed sanctuary would not diminish the protections of the existing monument.
Some hopeful news from Hawai’i about the closing of the octopus farm:
The Nevada Bureau of Land Management is again rounding up wild horses by helicopter. Wayne Pacelle, President of Animal Wellness Action reports: “In July, Animal Wellness Action and other wild horse advocates watched in anguish as the BLM chased down 3,100 wild horses in helicopter roundups from a vast area in northeastern Nevada known as the Antelope Complex. The heat was blazing, with temperatures in the triple digits. At least 39 horses died, including from broken necks, broken legs, heat exhaustion, and colic. Public observers witnessed multiple baby foals being left behind during the chase…”
We wrote to the BLM (again) asking them to desist. It seems as though the precious wild equines are to be eradicated so that the ranchers can produce even more farmed animals destined to be become burgers.
A glimmer of hope: “Animal Wellness Action will work with [our] allies in Congress to introduce the Restore Our American Mustangs (ROAM) Act. With your help, we are looking forward to a new campaign to pass the ROAM Act and restore our beloved and iconic horses and burros to their rightful place on our western public lands.”
Elephants Happy and Patty in the Bronx Zoo. The Wildlife Conservation Society has a new Director. We joined with NonHuman Rights Project in again asking for them to be released to sanctuary.
You will know about the sad death of Lolita – Tokitae is her native Lummi name. We asked Eduardo Albor, owner of The Dolphin Company which has taken over the Miami Seaquarium, to honour Tokitae by allowing her friend Li ‘i and other cetaceans to go to the Whale Sanctuary in the Pacific North West. Mr. Albor had already started making arrangements for Tokitae to be transferred – sadly too late.
Canada:
We wrote to Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Marie-Claude Bibeau, about the appalling conditions in which dairy cows are kept – no inspections, no penalties for negligence, callousness or cruelty, no CCTV.
It is worrying to note that the minister’s biography on her web site does not mention animal welfare at all. “Agri-Food” says it all…
We thanked The Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs for their Resolution on Factory Farming. It is an excellent document which contends it is bad for animal welfare and bad for the environment. They repeat their belief that animals are our kin – and, interestingly, they included introduced species. As we know, such creatures are often blamed for being where humans have moved them. The secretary thanked us for our good wishes and will pass our letter on.
On the other side of the coin, we had to contact Ontario MPs on the subject of hunting. The penned hunting of coyotes with dogs is being reintroduced in the only province in Canada. We received one positive reply against this very cruel practice from Ted Hsu, MPP for Kingston and the Islands.
Australia:
Via the RSPCA, we made a submission to the Australian live exports phase-out panel asking for a final date to be determined for an end to the export of live sheep. A few days after that, Animals Australia, with whom we have worked for some 13 years on this vexed issue, sent out a report on exports to Oman for the Eid Feast of Sacrifice – we wrote to Minister Murray Watt about ending a trade which cannot be made humane.
On August 30 we wrote again, as more reports from Oman had revealed even worse suffering as the sheep were being sold illegally. Evidence gathered by Animals Australia investigators had forced regulations that require animals to be kept within approved supply chains. Sheep are no longer allowed to be transported in utes and car boots or sold for home slaughter, where there obviously can be no oversight of their suffering.
However, AA’s extensive evidence across dozens of locations in Oman reveals these rules are being ignored, with some sellers even confirming they receive a constant supply of Australian sheep – in breach of live export regulations.
Animals Australia has lodged six complaints with the live export regulator. It is shocking that this marks their 78th legal complaint since regulations were put in place 11 years ago, further reinforcing the fact we have observed over time that export companies cannot be trusted to police their own activities.
Shark nets are being installed again in New South Wales – we used a template letter to write to Minister Tara Moriarty asking for them to be removed. It is bad enough that sharks get entangled and take a long time to die, but many other species do as well.
New Zealand – Aotearoa:
We joined Greenpeace Aotearoa in writing to Minister Rachel Brooking, asking her to put a stop to destructive bottom trawling in the Hauraki Gulf and over seamounts, coral and other fragile environments. At that stage, she was considering restrictions. We have written to ask for an update but our 3rd message was blocked. It is even more disappointing as the Minister has a double degree in Ecology and Law.
~ Marian Hussenbux. September 2 2023
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