Islamic leader condemns animal suffering

A prominent Islamic leader has issued a fatwa to condemn suffering caused by slaughter and the long distance transport of animals.

Dr Mohamed Sayed Tantawy, the Grand Sheikh of one of the most respected Islamic Universities in the world, the Al Ahzar University in Cairo, said in his legal opinion or fatwa: “We hereby say that the call of Islam is to be lenient with the animal and to treat it with mercy, among which is transporting the animal.” He also added: “The Islamic law has made it a must that the animal would be treated at the time of its slaughter with lenience and by the means that guarantee treating it with mercy.”

The opinion was prompted by a question by the Egyptian Society of Animal Friends (ESAF), a WSPA member society in Egypt. The legal opinion has been welcomed by Eurogroup for Animals, which is dedicated to improving the treatment of animals.

Study calls for end to inhumane practices

Study calls for end to inhumane practices

Intensive farming leads to unacceptable risk to people’s health, animal’s welfare, and the environment, according to an independent American study. The Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production studied industrial farming in the States for 2.5 years and concluded drastic changes will need to be made.

One of its recommendations is to phase out inhumane production practices such as gestation crates and battery cages within a decade. The current system increases the risk of animals becoming stressed and ill, and the risk of diseases spreading from animals to humans. The report also explicitly links food safety to the health of the animals producing the food.

Eurogroup for Animals welcomes the independent report that highlights the pitfalls of modern agriculture and its attention to animal welfare. Higher welfare standards would benefit animals and humans alike.

Call for seal products ban hits the headlines

A press conference to call for a ban on seal products across the European Union has made headlines across the world. The press conference in Brussels was held on Friday by Eurogroup for Animals, together with member organisations IFAW, HSI and GAIA to encourage the Commission to go ahead with the ban.

Reports on the call for a ban appeared in English, French, German, Spanish and Dutch on about 250 websites from Australia, to Sri Lanka, Australia, Canada, the US, Spain, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, France, and the Netherlands. These included websites by prestigious publications such as the International Herald Tribune, the Washington Post, the Globe and Mail, De Morgen, and Le Figaro. Three television crews were also present at the press conference to report on it.

Eurogroup welcomes this wide media interest, which shows people care deeply about a ban on seal products. It urges the Commission to do the right thing and impose a ban now.

Forum to discuss benefits animal welfare

Eurogroup for Animals is one of the organisers of the International Forum on Global Aspects of Farm Animal Welfare, which is taking place in Brussels on 22-23 April. The forum brings together anyone from farmers, retailers, politicians, academics, and animal welfare organisations to discuss the development of standards for animal welfare on a global scale. Eurogroup members RSPCA, Compassion in World Farming, and the World Society for the Protection of Animals are also involved in the event, as are the European Commission trade and health and consumers services.

Retail project calls attention to free-rangeeggs

Five of Eurogroup’s member organisations have joined forces to work together on a unique retail project. Animal welfare organisations Klub Gaja and OTOZ in Poland, Fauna Society in Hungary, Nadace na Ochranu Zvirat in the Czech Republic, and Sloboda Zvierat in Slovakia all surveyed supermarkets in their own country on eggs from non-caged chickens. Their research revealed that many supermarkets are still failing to meet increasing demand for eggs from non factory farmed chickens. In a survey done by the European Union last year, 59% of people in Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic said they would be willing to change their usual place of shopping in order to buy more animal welfare friendly products.

This project is the first animal welfare initiative to be given a grant by the prestigious Visegrad Fund, which finances joint ventures between the four countries. They will all be publishing the result of their survey this month.

EU rules no exemption on slaughteringfor Romania

The European Commission has refused to grant an exemption on cultural grounds to Romania over the home slaughter of pigs at Christmas. Many Romanian families kill one or two pigs in the festive season by slitting the animals' throats, which contravenes a European directive that stipulates pigs, sheep and goats should be stunned first if they are being killed at home for own consumption.

An investigation by Eurogroup for Animals and Vier Pfoten Romania uncovered that the practice is still widespread in the country. In reply to a Eurogroup letter alerting it on this worrying situation, the Commission admitted that Romania was in breach of European legislation. The Commission has now told the country to take action.

Eurogroup for Animals believes tradition should never be used as an excuse to make animals suffer unnecessarily.

New commissioner pledges animalwelfare improvements

New health commissioner Androula Vassiliou has promised to improve livestock transport as part as part of new measures to improve animals’ welfare. The former lawyer, who is following in the footsteps of Markos Kyprianou, was yesterday questioned by European parliamentarians to assess her suitability. Vasiliou, who will also be responsible for animal health and welfare, said she had watched videos on animal transport which made her feel ashamed. Her directorate would discuss a new proposal regarding stocking densities and transport duration.

In her speech Vasiliou also confirmed her commitment to animal welfare. She said: “I am very concerned about the decent treatment of animals, and feel there is a lot of room for improving animal welfare.”

Eurogroup for Animals welcomes this commitment and looks forward to working with her.

Decision to allow hormone-fed beef criticised

Eurogroup for Animals and other NGOs have hit out at a decision to force hormone-fed beef on consumers in Europe. The World Trade Organisation ruled this week that the European Union should lift its ban on the import of US and Canadian hormone-fed beef or face commercial sanctions.

The decision has been condemned by Eurogroup, Friends of the Earth Europe, RSPCA, WSPA and Compassion in World Farming, as they believe people are entitled to choose what they eat. Two thirds of consumers admitted to being concerned about residues in meats from antibiotics or hormones in a European-wide survey.

Adolfo Sansolini, trade policy advisor for Eurogroup, said: "The WTO has got to allow its member countries the freedom to decide how their food is produced. We are sorry to notice that these non-trade concerns are still considered just as a trade barrier."

Seal hunters under scrutiny

Seal hunters in Canada are having their bloody work exposed by two of Eurogroup for Animals’ member organisations. The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and the Humane Society of the United States have been closely monitoring the hunters with the help of helicopters and cameras since the hunt started at the end of last week. Already more than 1,000 animals have been killed out of the 275,000 allowed by the Canadian government this year. Footage shot by IFAW shows how the hunters kill the seals and in one video how a bleeding seal is being dragged across the ice.

Eurogroup for Animals welcomes this close scrutiny as it enables people to see for themselves what cruel actions are behind the trade in seal fur. The Netherlands and Belgium have already banned the import of seal fur, and the European Union is currently considering whether to adopt a European-wide ban.

Americans oppose food from cloned animals

The majority of Americans surveyed would not want to eat food products from cloned animals, according to a Food and Drug Administration report just published in the US. Each of the focus groups surveyed for the report brought up serious health and ethical concerns, and all of the parents questioned said they would never give food products from cloned animals to their own children.

Eurogroup for Animals believes this demonstrates that cloning for food is unwanted on both sides of the Atlantic, which is why the EU should ban the practice as well as the import of food products from cloned animals and their offspring.

Director Sonja Van Tichelen said: “Consumers in neither America nor Europe want to have food products from clones or their offspring, so why introduce it in the first place?”

Survey shows support for grant cuts for farmers who break rules

Eurogroup for Animals has welcomed a new survey which shows nearly nine out of ten European citizens support payments being cut for farmers who ignore animal welfare standards.

According to a Eurobarometer published today 86% of respondents believe that a reduction of payments based on non-compliance with animal welfare standards would be justified.

The survey was conducted among thousands of people across the whole of Europe and shows there is support for a reform of the Common Agricultural Policy. The European Union is currently reviewing the policy, and Eurogroup urges politicians to give more money to farmers who exceed standards for animal welfare. The results of the new survey demonstrate people care deeply about how animals are being treated and want to see this reflected in the grants.

New commissioner for animal health

Eurogroup for Animals welcomes the European Union’s new health commissioner, who will also be responsible for animal health and welfare.

Androula Vassiliou is taking over from Markos Kyprianou, who has left the post to become foreign minister in his native Cyprus. Kyprianou was committed to improving conditions for animals, and had intended to come with proposals on livestock transport before the end of his mandate.

His successor Vassiliou is also from Cyprus, where she worked as a lawyer and served as a health minister. She has been very active on human rights and the environment. She will be formally confirmed during a hearing in Parliament next month.

Eurogroup is looking forward to working with her and to discussing ways to improve the treatment of animals.

Eurogroup initiates coalition to ban cloning

Eurogroup has brought together a monster coalition of organisations representing anything from farmers, scientists, consumers to environmentalists to voice the widespread concerns about cloning.

The coalition has written an open letter to the European Commission to call for an immediate ban on the cloning of animals for food production, and on the import and sale of imported food products from cloned animals and their offspring.

Signatories from 20 different organisations point out that cloning is inefficient, would greatly reduce genetic diversity within livestock populations, and would encourage people to view farm animals as commodities rather than sentient beings.

MEPs call for ban on cloning

European parliamentarians are calling for the European Union to ban cloning of animals for food and any products derived from their offspring.

Members of the European Parliamentary Intergroup on Animal Welfare voted in Strasbourg in favour of a motion for a resolution to be presented to Parliament. The resolution urges the European Commission to prohibit cloning of animals for food and any products from cloned animals and their offspring.

News of the draft motion has been welcomed by animal welfare organisation Eurogroup for Animals, which provides the secretariat for the Intergroup and also favours an immediate ban.

Action needed on animal tests

The European Union should look for new initiatives to speed up the replacement of animal tests with reliable cruelty-free alternatives, members of European Parliament will be told.

Together with Jens Holm MEP, Eurogroup for Animals is co-hosting a hearing on alternatives to animal experiments at the European Parliament on February 13.

Director Sonja Van Tichelen will use the opportunity to argue the European Union should come up with a strategy to start replacing animal tests immediately. Already animal-free tests have proved to be more effective in most cases.

Eurogroup urges the Commission to release the New European legislation replacing the 1986 animal experiments directive as a matter of urgency.

Other speakers include, Stavros Dimas, European Commissioner for the Environment, and Neil Parish, president of the all-party Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of Animals.

Progress Without Pain; Alternatives to Animal Experiments. Wednesday 13 February 5pm – 7pm. European Parliament, Brussels.

Calls to stop the use of animals in shellfish testing

Eurogroup for Animals is calling for an immediate ban on animals being used to test shellfish for human consumption, after the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) scientific panel ruled it was a poor way of spotting potentially lethal toxins.

The panel analysed the different methods to detect toxins in shellfish at the request of the European Commission, and concluded using animals was a flawed method of uncovering the harmful substances. As a result EFSA is recommending the European Union to use alternative, animal-friendly tests instead.

Eurogroup has now written to Markos Kyprianou, Commissioner for Health at the European Commission, to call for an immediate end to the ineffectual tests that kill animals needlessly.

Call to stop suffering of pigs slaughtered in Romania without being stunned

Eurogroup for Animals and Vier Pfoten Romania are calling for an end to the Romanian practice of slaughtering pigs at home for Christmas without stunning them first.

Their investigation has uncovered that the cruel practice is still widespread in the country despite contravening a European Union directive stating animals must be killed without unnecessary suffering.

The two groups have now written to Markos Kyprianou, Commissioner for Health at the European Commission, to demand action.

Slovenian Presidency urged to act on
animals

Eurogroup met with the Slovenian permanent Representation to discuss what could be done for animals during their presidency of the European Union. The animal welfare organisation called for a ban of animal cloning for food production, asked that laboratory animals are better protected under European legislation, and urged that the ban on battery cages for laying hens from 2012 be kept. The demands and the reasoning behind it were laid out in a memorandum which was presented to the Slovenians.

Cloning for Food Unethical says the EU
Ethics Group

Animal cloning for food supply is unethical, according to the Opinion of the European Group on Ethics (EGE), published on 17 January. In the conclusions of its Opinion, the Group states that it "does not see convincing arguments to justify the production of food from clones and their offspring". A few days before, the European Food Safety Authority had published a draft Opinion which concluded that "the health and welfare of a significant proportion of clones has been found to be adversely affected". Those elements reinforce Eurogroup's statement that cloning for food is totally unacceptable on both animal welfare and ethical grounds. Eurogroup therefore calls on the EU to immediately set up a ban on production and marketing of food from cloned animals.