Please do Tweet Cameron even if you are not a UK citizen
This is an urgent action the vote could take place on Wednesday 26th March so you need to contact your MP immediately and urge him or her to vote against this devious attempt to bring back this hideous cruelty.
The hunting act has been in force for nine years, yet it is in danger of amendment unless we can put a stop to this. Despite the fact that the majority of people here in the UK oppose hunting with hounds, the devious Tory government, with no regards as usual to democracy, is doing its utmost to bring back this sadistic pastime.
I urge you to contact your MP and get this stopped now!
Hunting with dogs for sport has been illegal in England and Wales since 2004. Since that time those who have nothing better to enhance their lives except the hunting and slaughter of a defenceless animal have ceaselessly campaigned to repeal or overturn the ban.
Not only do the majority of the public support the ban but so do most MPs including Tory MPs making the possibility of overturning the ban unlikely. As a consequence these desperate hunters are attempting a different route to getting their own way – amending the bill. The concern is that this amendment will have exactly the same effect as repealing the bill, and that is it will bring back hunting
“The Federation of Welsh Farmers’ Packs and the Countryside Alliance are pushing for an amendment to the Hunting Act which would allow a full pack of hounds, rather than just two as allowed at present under an exemption, to draw out a fox to a waiting gun.
Those in favour of this amendment are selling it to the Government, to MPs, and will ultimately try and sell it to the public, as simply an amendment to ‘help the farmers’. This is far from the truth. The League looked at the argument back in October when the call was first made, and we exposed the myths underpinning the ‘research’ upon. You can read this here.”
And please contact your MP either by using the links above or by using your own e-mail. To find contact details of your MP click the link below and enter your post code: http://www.parliament.uk/get-involved/contact-your-mp/contacting-your-mp/ – Please do e-mail Cameron even if you are not a UK citizen, animal cruelty is the concern of every decent caring person worldwide.
If you have any doubt about the sickening barbarity of this so called “sport” or that foxes are thinking feeling sentient creatures much like your dog watch this video.
Surely any sane compassionate person would not want to chase this defenceless animal with packs of dogs and watch while the poor creature is torn to pieces. You have to ask what is wrong with people who are so determined to bring back this hideous pastime. What kind of mentality enjoys the brutality, the suffering and death of another living being?
Here is the kind of person who really enjoys this sadistic “sport”
“I have spent all week in a state of complete fury.
Like a man possessed with an advanced case of Tourette syndrome, I have been shouting at traffic and assailing my fellow men (and women).
What has brought on this demented state? The hunting debate
It is difficult to explain why this one issue makes me so furious.
Our Prime Minister of course, leader of the so called “compassionate conservatives“, David Cameron
Read more of this insane rant:
They think it’s all over Tory MP David Cameron sees red during this week’s hunting debate and looks forward to a fierce battle against the introduction of a ban.
Such is the brutality of fox hunting. What a brave women , thankfully there are still caring people in this word who value the lives of the other animals with whom we share this world. Animals who are sentient creatures, who suffer as we do, who fear death and wish to live.
I know it is rather late now for this, but I am not a professional writer and some things take a lot of research. Besides is it ever too late to pay a tribute to someone who has accomplished so much.
Researching the life of Tony Benn I have learnt so much about this remarkable man who will be sadly missed in these challenging times.
Anthony Neil Wedgwood “Tony” Benn passed away peacefully on March 14th. He was one of the few genuine socialists of our time here in the UK. A fervent campaigner for democracy and socialism Toney Benn was the longest serving MP in the labour party, he won more elections than any other Labour MP – 16 in all. He was a Member of Parliament between 1950 and 2001 and a Cabinet minister under Harold Wilson and James Callaghan in the 1960s and 1970s. In May 2001 he retired from the House of Commons,“to devote more time to politics.”
Toney Benn was a man of honour, principle and integrity, a passionate campaigner for social justice, genuine democracy, freedom of speech, human rights, trade unionism and compassion towards animals. He was also an advocate for pacifism and a fervent campaigner for the cessation of all wars.
In a statement his children Stephen, Hilary, Melissa and Joshua said:
“We will miss above all his love which has sustained us throughout our lives. But we are comforted by the memory of his long, full and inspiring life and so proud of his devotion to helping others as he sought to change the world for the better.”
Video from the people’s Assembly which Tony Benn helped to launch:
The People’s Assembly Against Austerity was launched – by Tony Benn, Len McCluskey and other trade union leaders – with a call to all those millions of people in Britain who face an impoverished and uncertain year as their wages, jobs, conditions and welfare provision come under renewed attack by the government.
As a tribute I would like to include a selection of notable quotations from Tony Benn.
On Pacifism
“All war represents a failure of diplomacy.”
“If you can plan for war, why can’t you plan for peace?”
“it would be a total corruption of the whole meaning and spirit of the UN Charter, which was carefully written to make it possible the peaceful settlement of international disputes, to try to present it as offering a blank cheque for war whenever the United States wants one”
“I was born about a quarter of a mile from where we are sitting now and I was here in London during the Blitz. And every night I went down into the shelter. 500 people killed, my brother was killed, my friends were killed. And when the Charter of the UN was read to me, I was a pilot coming home in a troop ship: ‘We the peoples of the United Nations determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind.’ That was the pledge my generation gave to the younger generation and you tore it up. And it’s a war crime that’s been committed in Iraq, because there is no moral difference between a stealth bomber and a suicide bomber. Both kill innocent people for political reasons.” Question Time, 22 March 2007
On equal marriage and the Church of England.
“When you think of the number of men in the world who hate each other, why, when two men love each other, does the church split?”
On the media and government control
“The one thing that is absolutely essential is that there shouldn’t be any governmental control [of the media] directly or indirectly.”
On vegetarianism and compassion towards animals
I never liked meat and my son Hilary, 30 years ago, said: “If the world ate the grain instead of feeding it to animals and killing them, there would be enough food for everybody.” That moment my wife and I became vegetarian and I never touched meat since.
‘The case for animal testing is now being directly challenged by scientists and doctors and their judgement must be taken seriously’.
“I am teetotal and vegetarian, so I do live on tea. I don’t like Earl Grey tea, but it may be a class prejudice against earls.”
“The support [for the bill to ban fox hunting] comes from people young and old–it is not confined to the young, although it is very strong among them–who believe that cruelty to entertain is wrong, and I share that view… As a vegetarian and someone who has always supported animal rights, I feel that we have a duty in a representative assembly to reflect properly the feeling that exists.”
“Madam, if you are so concerned about catching BSE, you should do what I do and turn vegetarian.”
“Having been made aware of the need for it, I have never lost sight of my vegetarianism. Unquestioning brutality like slaughter and capital punishment does corrupt you and is a blot on the civilizing of society. Such positions reflect on the values of a society. I am particularly revolted by religious slaughter but the slaughter of all animals is barbaric. Why breed animals simply to kill and eat them. How is it different to killing people?”
This is a very informative interview, not only about Tony Benn’s vegetarianism, but it reveals a lot about the personality and the world-view of this remarkable politician.
On Parliament
“Through talk, we tamed kings, restrained tyrants, averted revolution.”
On power
“No medieval monarch in the whole of British history ever had such power as every modern British Prime Minister has in his or her hands. Nor does any American President have power approaching this.”
On Marxism
“It is wholly wrong to blame Marx for what was done in his name, as it is to blame Jesus for what was done in his.”
“Well I came across Marx rather late in life actually, and when I read him, two things: first of all I realised that he’d come to the conclusion about capitalism which I’d come to much later, and I was a bit angry he’d thought of it first; and secondly, I see Marx who was an old Jew, as the last of the Old Testament Prophets, this old bearded man working in the British Library, studying capitalism, that’s what ‘Das Kapital’ was about, it was an explanation of British capitalism. And I thought to myself, ‘Well anyone could write a book like that, but what infuses, what comes out of his writing, is the passionate hostility to the injustice of capitalism. He was a Prophet, and so I put him in that category as an Old Testament Prophet.”
Interestingly Tony Benn died on exactly the same date as Karl Marx – 101 years later.
On Socialism and Democracy
“Although socialism is widely held by the establishment to be outdated, the things that are most popular in British society today are little pockets of socialism, where areas of life have been excluded from the crude operation of market forces and are protected for the benefit of the community”
“Democracy is not just voting every 5 years and watching Big Brother in between and wondering why nothing happens. Democracy is what we do and say where we live and work”
General quotations
“In 1993 I spoke in Hyde park to a couple of million people…afterwards someone from the BBC said ‘you’re a voice in the wilderness’ and I said ‘well there are two million people in my wilderness, how many are there in yours?’
“It’s the same each time with progress. First they ignore you, then they say you’re mad, then dangerous, then there’s a pause and then you can’t find anyone who disagrees with you.”
“I do not share the general view that market forces are the basis of personal liberty”.
“My Great-grandfather was a Congregational Minister and my Mother was a Bible scholar, and I was brought up on the Bible, that the story of the Bible was conflict between the kings who had power, and the prophets who preached righteousness. And I was taught to believe in the prophets, got me into a lot of trouble. And my Dad said to me when I was young, ‘Dare to be a Daniel, Dare to stand alone, Dare to have a purpose firm, Dare to let it (be) known.'”
Interview with John Cleary, 23 February 2003
“[The Labour Party]’s never been a socialist party, but it’s always had socialists in it, just as there are some Christians in the Church, it’s an exact parallel.”
“Simply having nuclear weopens destroys democracy. When a country has them, ministers – of all parties – lie. No minister has ever told the truth about any central question of nuclear policy”
“The word terrorists is a term of abuse used to describe those with whom you disagree. According to Mrs Thatcher the ANC are terrorists”
“I never had any sympathy with the Soviet system and it’s lack of democracy but I never believed the Russians were threatening to invade Western Europe”
Quotations about Tony Benn
“Tony Benn was the articulate advocate of socialism who inspired my generation. “He gave us all hope of a fair and equal society.” John McDonnell, chair of the Socialist Campaign Group of MPs
Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said Mr Benn had fought for his ideals “almost to the last breath of his life.”
“He was a hero to me and to millions more not only because of what he advocated – social justice, democracy and peace – but because of the way he advocated it, with passion, decency and without malice against anyone.”
Comments on Twitter
Really sad to learn Tony Benn has died. A man of integrity who used his voice to stand up for the poor and powerless RIP
A Tweet from Mark Russell @markrusselluk
The wealthy have never liked to pay for the labor that enriches them. Ever since slavery was eliminated, they have been trying to keep it as close to slavery as they can without violating the slave laws.
Michael Moore
Would you like to work for thirty hours each week for no pay. No of course not, such an idea is unacceptable. Yet the government are demanding that the unemployed work this number of hours for their benefit. Jobseekers allowance is not a wage, it is paid for one purpose only and that is to support those who are unemployed whilst they look for work. It is not payment for work. If it were the payment would be ridiculously low and therefore unlawful. On the lowest rate of £56.25 per week for those between the ages 16 to 24 it would amount to working for about £1.90 per hour. Not enough for even a single person to live on, let alone anyone with a family – by age twenty-four of course a man or woman could well have a family to support. It is inadequate as a benefit, it is inadequate as a wage.
In reality Workfare schemes are exploitative systems of free labour often undertaken whilst working for some of the biggest retailers in the UK, such as Tessco, ASDA and Boots. Charities have also taken part in these schemes, most notably the Salvation Army who were once the champions of the poor and the downtrodden. Oxfam have decided not to participate in the government’s workfare schemes because it undermines their work with the poor here in the UK. A sign of the changing times: when I worked for Oxfam a couple of decades ago their work did not include poor people here in the UK. There wasn’t the need.
Take Action
Please join Boycott Workfare’s action week to bring an end to forced unpaid labour here in the UK.
Our action can stop companies, charities and councils from exploiting forced unpaid work and make sure this new scheme falls flat on its face. Wherever you are, however you can contribute, take action on 29 March-6 April.
Included in the above link are a number of actions you can take, please don’t feel overwhelmed, take as many actions as you can, even if it is to write only one letter or e-mail to participating councils, charities and businesses. Their is something everyone can do from writing letters to picketing retailers such as Peacocks.
Among other actions the next link will provide you with a template letter for you to download which you can adapt to send to companies profiting from workfare and also a template letter which you may adapt and send to your MP along with their contact details http://www.boycottworkfare.org/?page_id=82n – You can also download a poster such as the one above to print out or put on your website or blog or share on Facebook.
There are more actions you can take further down
Remember workfare affects us all. If you loose your job and claim Jobseekers allowance you could be required to participate in Workfare. If you are claiming Employment and Support Allowance ESA and have been allocated to the Work Related Activity Group WRAG you may be sent to Workfare. Workfare is not voluntary. All three political parties consider it right to force people to work for no wages, so nothing will change after the next election. Workfare does not help people to find jobs. Workfare increases the already over inflated profits of big companies and Work programme providers, it gives millions of the tax payers’ money to the one percent while depriving the 99 percent of a decent standard of living and quality of life. In some way or another we are all affected, even if not personally you are likely to know someone who is, maybe a loved one such as a son or daughter, a sibling, a friend even your granny – if you are of working age you are not exempt.
More about Workfare
Here in the UK Workfare refers to government schemes whereby welfare precipitants must undertake work in return for their benefit payments or risk losing them. For example, people on one Workfare scheme, Mandatory Work Activity MWA, can be compelled to work without pay for a month or have their benefit cut for up to three years. As already mentioned it is not only unemployed recipients of Job seekers allowance who are forced to take part in Workfare schemes, but sick and disabled people may also have to join the Workfare programme if they have been assigned to the WRAG of ESA
Mandatory Work Activity will be replaced by the government’s new Help-to-Work scheme from April 2014 .
A New scheme “Community Work Placements”launching on 1 April 2014 will force claimants to work for six months without pay. Six months – 780 hours – is more than twice the maximum community service sentence.
More Action for you to take
There are in addition to the above schemes less obvious Workfare programmes such as Traineeships, a crafty way of introducing workfare for private companies. Unemployed people between the age of 18 and 21 will be forced to attend either a Traineeship, other unpaid work experience position or face a Community Work Placement.
Please read the following from the Void: Let’s Make Shoezones’s Workfare Scheme Fall Apart Faster Than Their Shoes
Shoezone are in the firing line on social media over their use of unpaid workers after@boycottworkfare tweeted the latest list of companies using Traineeships to avoid paying their staff.
Traineeships are the latest attempt by the Tories to introduce workfare for private companies by stealth. There is no pretence that Traineeships will lead to a real job with proper wages. According to the DWP these schemes, which can involve up to six months of unpaid work, are to ‘prepare’ people for becoming Apprentices, at below the minimum wage.
Traineeships are not apprenticeships. Note the comment in the above article from a representative of Shoe Zone concerning what “training” young people can expect if they work for free at Shoezone : “greeting customers and assisting them with their purchases, training on the till, dealing with stock replenishment and deliveries, and general tidying and store presentation.”
Does that sound like an apprenticeship to you? Not wishing to demean shop work as I have been employed myself in retail, but no way is this kind of work an apprenticeship. Apprenticeships when I left school were for skilled trades such as a car mechanic or a hairdresser. Apprentices where never paid well but they were paid and apprentices learnt a trade, a skill. Work in retail as a sale assistant is not an apprenticeship. For my first job in retail I received a proper wage, it may have been slightly less than for a more experienced member of staff, but it was a wage nonetheless and after a short time of only a few months I was paid a full wage. I was trained on the job. The above “skills” can be learnt in a couple of weeks or so most likely less, as for deliveries and replenishments these would be specific to shoe Zone and not applicable else where.
Please be sure to click the link above and take action such as : Boycott Shoezone, “tell them what you think on twitter @Shoezone and facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/shoezone “
Workfare in all its guises is an unjust scheme which benefits the rich by providing them with profit as a result of compulsory free labour, it is a means of coercing the poor by threatening them with the removal of their benefits without which they cannot provide food for themselves or their families, or heat their homes or pay rent – not that the meagre benefit adequately covers these costs of course but to find yourself with no money at all is unthinkable.It also means less paid jobs are available for the unemployed and it undermines wages. For example last Christmas ASDA sent home paid staff and replaced them with people forced to work for nothing on the workfare scheme.
Workfare is slave labour, it is unethical, exploitative and not worthy of any modern socially progressive society which considers itself just .
It is not only private businesses and charities who take advantage of this pool of free labour, councils across the country have made use of half a million hours of unpaid work as a result of this unfair system. Newport council has used 112 people, mainly in its street cleaning and rubbish collection department for about four weeks at a time. Scarborough council has used 120 people. Bexley borough council in London has taken more than 100 unpaid placements.
Read More http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jan/02/councils-benefit-half-a-million-hours-unpaid-labour-foi-request
Please help the Workfare Action Week by clicking the following link if you have not already done so and take as much action as you can. http://www.boycottworkfare.org/?p=3353
Vigils, Protests, Actions – Mark the Execution Date for Robert Henry – Thursday, March 20th at 6 PM ET. Seth Penalver and Herman Lindsey, Exonerated Florida Death Row Survivors and members of Witness to Innocence, to join protest at Florida State Prison. PETITION
“I realize that I cannot standby silently as my government executes its citizens. If I do not speak out and resist, I AM AN ACCOMPLICE”. Sr. Helen Prejean
Florida continues to increase the premeditated and unnecessary killing of captive prisoners. This is to be Richard Lynn Scott’s fourth killing in three months. He is already the…
Please read the above carefully including the information provided with the petition part of which which states that
“If Henry’s execution is carried out, he will suffer excruciating pain,” “This is state-sanctioned torture.Injecting a cruel cocktail into Mr. Henry is in violation of the U.S. Constitution and makes a mockery of our democratic system of justice. We cannot allow sadistic new protocols to trump Floridians’ commitment to decency and humane treatment of our fellow citizens.”
Campaign spokesperson Talitha Hazelton.
Since Robert has been on death row, he has served as a counselor and mentor to those struggling with the addiction issues. Mr. Henry knows the horrific toll of untreated addiction – his crack-cocaine addiction led to his condemnation to death, and the death of Ms. Harris and Ms. Thermidor.
I hope as many people as possible will sign the petition and attend the vigils and other actions. And don’t forget to contact Gov. Rick Scott and ask him to convene the Board of Clemency to commute Robert Henry’s death sentence. Tell him to suspend ALL executions. Governor Rick Scott: Phone: (850) 488-7146
Email: Rick.Scott@eog.myflorida.com
If you don’t live in the USA you can still sign the petition and send an e-mail to Governor Scott.
I find executions abhorrent, barbaric and inhumane, an anachronism of a bygone age. A punishment that should be consigned to history. As the above article points out “It is not about what those on Death Row may have done, it’s about US and what WE do.”
Also consider that many people innocent people may well have been executed.
Innocent on Death Row
“They’re playing Russian Roulette with our lives. Our lives have no value.”
John Thompson, exonerated after 14 years on death row
Whenever I talk to someone about the death penalty, and my belief that it has no place in society, I’ll come back to innocence a lot. For me, the possibility of executing an innocent person is one of the most compelling reasons to abolish state-sanctioned executions.
In the United States, 142 former death row inmates have been exonerated – found innocent of the crimes they were due to be executed for and released – since 1976. That’s one person released for every ten that have been executed.
Here in the UK the death penalty was abolished decades ago and also through out the EU .
The European Union holds a strong and principled position against the death penalty; its abolition is a key objective for the Union’s human rights policy. Abolition is, of course, also a pre-condition for entry into the Union.
Indeed, the EU is the leading institutional actor and largest donor to the fight against the death penalty. This commitment is outlined clearly in the EU Guidelines on the death penalty, the first ever human rights guidelines adopted by Council, in 1998.
Contact Gov. Rick Scott and ask him to convene the Board of Clemency to commute Robert Henry’s death sentence. Tell him to suspend ALL executions. Governor Rick Scott: Phone: (850) 488-7146
Email: Rick.Scott@eog.myflorida.com
If Robert Henry is executed he will become the 84th person executed in Florida since the death penalty was reinstituted in 1976, and the 14th during Scott’s tenure as governor.
Urgent Action – if you don’t live in the UK or live too far away from London to attend you could write to David Cameron and or send him a Tweet, details further down.
Join a demonstration March 13th 2014 to bring and end to the Badger Cull
A House of Commons debate to review the future of the badger cull to be supported by a public demonstration.
This debate is perhaps the most important badger debate in Parliament, and is absolutely critical in the campaign to stop the badger cull, with the possibility that the Government could announce two new cull zones in early April, initiating the national roll out of the badger cull.
Please also write to your MP, details about this can be found further down.
Lets show this government we mean business, please attend if you can, but at the least please contact your MP. This is a peaceful demonstration which I hope many will attend
Date & Time
13 March 2014 12.00pm – 2.00pm
Location
Old Palace Yard, Westminster, London
“To coincide with an all-day debate on the badger cull on Thursday 13 March, we are going to be attending an anti badger cull Demo at Old Palace Yard, Westminster between 12-2pm.
League Chief Executive, Joe Duckworth and Wildlife Expert and League Vice President, Bill Oddie will be speaking alongside other high profile anti cull campaigners and MPs.
We are hoping to gather a ‘Badger Army’ to show MPs and the media how opposed the public is to this cruel senseless slaughter of Badgers.”
Please try to personalise if possible as individual correspondence gets more notice but if you cannot for some reason please just send either of the above as they are.
The government need to be reminded about the strength of public opinion on the matter. The majority of people do not want the cull. I don’t care for the use of the word cull as it tends to mitigate the fact that this is a massacre of innocent defenceless animals. It is barbaric cruel inhumane and totally unnecessary and not worthy of any country that wishes to be considered as civilised. Badgers are a protected species, yet when they are deemed an inconvenience by this callous and undemocratic government it seems they can be murdered regardless.
“I am not interested to know whether vivisection produces results that are profitable to the human race or doesn’t…The pain which it inflicts upon unconsenting animals is the basis of my enmity toward it, and it is to me sufficient justification of the enmity without looking further.”
Mark Twain
Please take five simple actions to help bring and end to animal experimentation. Please take as many actions as you can, most petitions require a only signature and comments are optional though more effective.
I agree with Mark Twain that there is no justification whatsoever for vivisection – experiments on live animals. Besides many such experiments are scientifically meaningless , such as the barbaric experiments on baby monkeys at the University of Washington. Also these days many cruel experiments can be done by the use of alternative methods that do not involve cruel animals tests
Please sign the following petition:
Stop the atrocities at the baby monkey lab at the University of Washington and shut it down for good.
The University of Washington performs shockingly cruel experiments on monkeys involving the drilling of holes into the skulls of live monkeys and implanting coils on their eyes – I shudder to contemplate the horror of this. Other routine experiments include inducing convulsions, suffocation and torturing babies while still in their mother’s womb causing deformities. Also psychological cruelty, such as tearing baby monkeys from their mothers to study the resulting psychological damage.
If after all this sickening abuse the babies survive they are killed at one year of age.
Tax payers in the USA paid these vivisectors $18 million between 2010-2011 and another $12 million to other labs to breed baby monkeys.
Please help stop these atrocities now. This lab and others like it are nothing more than places of torture for defenceless animals.
Please sign the petition and share widely, let’s get this lab shut down and end this appalling treatment of these intelligent sentient creatures.
“Other schools, including Harvard University, have been forced to shut down their live animal experiments — if enough of us speak up, we can get the University of Washington to do the same.”
Experiments on living thinking feeling animals are just so horrendous, so cruel, so inhumane, cold-blooded and callous. One has to ask what kind of person conducts such obviously painful experiments on a living being. These monkeys must scream in agony, there can be no denial surely that animals feel pain. Monkeys are highly intelligent creatures who share 99 percent of our DNA. Even if they were not as intelligent, all animals feel pain and experience fear and consequently suffering. Any creature with a brain and any kind nervous system will suffer pain.
Take Action
Of course monkeys are not the only animals who undergo the agony of vivisection, for example here in the UK over 3118 Beagles were used in over 4693 experiments throughout 2012 and thousands were bred specifically for this purpose.
Please read – Baby Animals and Their Nursing Mothers Are Living (and Dying) in Horror at UK Lab
According to the BUAV, some of the many issues the investigation exposed included tests being carried out on puppies as young as four weeks and kittens as young as eight weeks before they were killed and dissected and nursing mothers being senselessly killed after their young were taken away too soon, while some of the other animals who were used were “allowed to suffer the full extent of the symptoms of serious and even deadly diseases.”
One particularly heartbreaking scene shows a tiny beagle puppy who is screaming in distress as a researcher attempts to deliver a lethal injection, but is unable to get a vein because they’ve been so damaged.
Please read more and sign the petition. If you use the following link to sign the petition rather than the one included in the second link you will be able to add a comment which is more effective.
Please don’t overlook the most abused of all lab animals – rodents, such as rats and mice. Sadly there is less sympathy perhaps for these creatures. In the USA alone over 100 million mice and rats are killed in laboratories every year. There are no laws to protect them from any and every kind of painful abuse
imaginable – for most sensitive caring people unimaginable.
Warning some people may find the following video upsetting.
Please watch if you can, this may make you think differently about mice and rats who need our help to bring about an end to their torture as much as monkeys, cats or dogs. Ninety-five per cent of animal experiments are performed on rats and mice.
“Mice and rats are affectionate and clever and would risk their own lives to save their friends.”
Please take the following action which is recommended in the above PETA web Page:
You can help make a difference for these vulnerable animals by urging your members of Congress to amend the Animal Welfare Act to include protection for mice and rats.
I am not sure if only people living in the USA can take part in the above action.
Rats and mice are sentient beings, they are mammals like monkeys, dogs and humans; they have a brain and a nervous system so feel pain and suffer like you and I or your pet dog. Such treatment of other living creatures is inexcusable, a crime against a sentient being. What right have humans to torture any creature. Animals exist to live out their own lives in their natural environment, they are not here for our benefit for either our use or abuse.
Gandhi once said:
“I abhor vivisection with my whole soul. All the scientific discoveries stained with innocent blood I count as of no consequence.”
Links with more information
BUAV – British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection
http://www.buav.org/ – “Our vision. To create a world where nobody wants or believes we need to experiment on animals” Lots of action you can take to bring about and end to vivisection.
The National Anti-Vivisection Society
http://www.navs.org.uk/home/ – The National Anti-Vivisection Society, founded in 1875, is the world’s first body to challenge the use of animals in research and continues to lead the campaign today. Again many opportunities to take action against animal experimentation
Recent Newspaper articles concerning animal experiments at Universities
Durham University
This prestigious university tortures and murders 8,000 animals
Durham University is facing a call to end animal tests, after using 8,000 in labs last year, an increase of seventy per cent
“Such ill treatment of animals does not reflect a civilised society where other species merit respect.
Sophie Kennerley, the AVC’s director of communications,
The Anti-Vivisection Coalition (AVC) claims animals have died, been seriously injured and mistreated in labs at the North’s leading university.
The campaign says documents obtained under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act reveal rabbits have suffered lacerations, swellings, abscesses, mastitis and obesity, fish have suffered fungal infections and died and vets have expressed concerns over the conditions of rats following surgery.
Professor Chris Higgins, the university’s vice-chancellor, said its use of animals in research work is strictly regulated and it strives for the very highest standards of care and wellbeing for all animals.
View the entire letter – the source of the opening quotation – to the London Anti-Vivisection Society, May 26, 1899 written by Mark Twain who strongly opposed Vivisection
This is so shocking in the extreme! Is no animal safe from man. What right have human beings got to murder animals whenever they so please. This is not our world to do with as we wish, we share it with myriad species of animals, it is their world too and they have as much right to live as we do.
Indeed it is very similar to the badger cull here in the UK. We will never have a peaceful just world while we mercilessly kill the earth’s other inhabitants. I always thought bison were protected, which of course they should be. But then badgers where protected until the government decided they were an inconvenience and needed to be massacred.
A beautiful Bison, still wearing its winter coat, taken many years ago.
As some of you may know, I have recently started another WP Blog named tahtonka.
It was created for two reasons, one to deflect the often intense pain from frequent postings, (like today’s story) on this Blog and second to reflect my education and passion for Global Culture.
The name tahtonka has become extremely meaningful to me for several reasons and those reasons for choosing it for the new Blog, were explained on its very first posting:
The government is trying to bring back fox hunting, please contact your MP now!
