Join CIWF’s Campaign to Ensure UK’s Animals are Recognised as Sentient Beings

ff-pig-animal-sentienceBy current European law, animals are recognised as sentient beings, acknowledging their ability to feel pain, suffer and also experience joy. No one who has seen a cow going outside for the first time after a winter indoors, a hen dust bathing, or a pig wallowing in a fresh patch of mud would disagree with that. The law says that as animals are sentient beings, full regard must be given to their welfare when creating new legislation or regulations.
Securing this status for animals was a massive step forward for animal welfare in 1997. It was the biggest campaign Compassion has ever run. The recognition of animals as complex and intelligent creatures has been the cornerstone of European animal welfare legislation since that time, and the basis for so much of the progress we have made together.

So what’s the problem?
The Repeal Bill, which moves all European law into UK law once we leave the EU, has left out this important protection. It is completely absent; both the recognition of animals as sentient beings, and the requirement for governments to pay “full regard” to their welfare.
Once the UK leaves the EU, we cannot be sure that future Governments will still treat animals as sentient beings. Please demand that the clause is brought into UK law.
This could be a disaster for animal welfare. We cannot let this happen. Please sign this petition calling on Michael Gove to take urgent action here

1st September – Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation

pope-francis-2017

1st September is the day of Prayer for the Care of Creation and Pope Francis has just announced a joint appeal with the  Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I,  for the world to work together on this special day.

Pope Francis said: “We invite everyone to adopt a respectful and responsible attitude toward Creation”.

“We also appeal,” the Holy Father added, “to those who have influential roles, to listen to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor who suffer most from ecological imbalances.”

What a wonderful message!  AIA member organisation, Catholic Concern for Animals endorses it fully and will take the message to its annual retreat which begins on Monday 4th September at Holland House.

Interfaith Group lobbies Mark Carney on the B of E ‘s Disregard for Faith Communities’ Beliefs

Five Pound NoteThe interfaith group, The Animal Interfaith Alliance, criticised the Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney for the bank’s cavalier attitude in showing no regard for the fundamental beliefs of faith groups such as Hindus and Jains.  In a letter to the Governor, they wrote:

Dear Dr. Mark Carney,

I write on behalf of The Animal Interfaith Alliance, an international alliance of faith groups founded in Britain concerned about the welfare of animals.  Our member organisations and individual members include Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jains, Jews, Muslims and Sikhs.  We are all united by our common concern for animals, based on our various faiths. Our member organisations are listed below.

We refer to the use of tallow on banknotes.

As a group which takes a spiritual perspective on the exploitation of animals for human ends, we are of course opposed to the use of animal products in items we use, and do everything humanly possible to avoid them.

There is, however, another aspect to our serious concern to which we must draw your attention. 

Many of our most active friends and members are Hindus and Jains, and, by your insistence on the use of tallow, the Bank of England is, in a cavalier fashion, showing no regard for their fundamental beliefs.

Your use of a product derived from the cow, an animal, as you know, revered and indeed loved as a mother in India, shows a lack of respect for their faith which appears to us to demonstrate general disregard for the requirements of adherents of all faiths.

Our organisation reveres and tries to follow the compassionate Hindu and Jain precept of ahimsa – harmlessness – and we are asking you to avoid animal products and to continue to seek a harmless constituent for the banknotes which is acceptable to everyone. 

Best regards,
Marian Hussenbux – Secretary International Campaigns
 
Animal Interfaith Alliance
http://www.animal-interfaith-alliance.com
 
Faiths Working Together for Animals

 

 

 

Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics hold Summer School on ‘The Ethics of Fur’

raccoons in a fur farm in europeOn 23 – 26 July, 2017, The Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics held its summer school at St Stephen’s House, Oxford in partnership with Respect for Animals on the subject ‘The ethics of Fur’.

Every year more than 60 million animals are killed and sold by the international fur industry. It represents one of the largest uses of animals today. The Summer School examined the ethics of the treatment of animals killed for their fur worldwide, including trapping, hunting, killing, and “farming” of animals. They also considered the use of animal fur products in fashion worldwide.

Papers were invited from academics worldwide on any aspect relating to the ethics of fur, including philosophical and religious ethics, historical, anthropological, legal, psychological, scientific, and sociological perspectives. Topics included the nature of animal suffering in fur production, the international trade in animal fur, methods of killing, the environmental consequences of the international fur industry, the use of fur in fashion, the role of international business, the media promotion of fur, changing legislation, especially in the European Union, and strategies for change.

St Stephen’s House is an Anglican Theological College and a Hall of the University of Oxford. See http://www.ssho.ox.ac.uk/.

Respect for Animals Educational Trust works internationally to raise consciousness of the suffering inherent in the fur trade. Its Director, Mark Glover is the recipient of the Lord Erskine award from the RSPCA. Further information about Respect for Animals can be found at http://www.respectforanimals.co.uk/home/.

The Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics was founded in 2006 and pioneers ethical perspectives on animals through academic research, teaching, and publication. See http://www.oxfordanimalethics.com.