Pigeons on screen at EP event on pigeons
Spending my lunchtime at an EP event discussing the humble urban pigeon. A much maligned & persecuted bird. Organised by @left.eu MEPs Sebastian Everding & @anjahazekamp.bsky.social
EP committee room with panel on animal transport.
At an EP event on live animal transport, which has - rather oddly - been organised by FACE, the EU hunting lobby.
The entire legislative file has been blocked in the joint AGRI & TRAN committees for about 9 months.
Advancements in non-animal methods are accelerating the shift away from animal testing for chemical safety assessment.
Learn more in our latest blog post by Jay Ingram, Managing Director, Chemicals at Humane World for Animals/Europe: www.humaneworld.org/en/blog/anim...
#HumaneWorld #EndAnimalCruelty
Given the Commission's proposal to revise the EU Animal Transport Regulation is going nowhere fast, it is a good thing that the Dutch government is now pulling its finger out to reduce maximum temperature for animal transports from 35 to 30 degrees.
nos.nl/artikel/2610...
Not just no agreement, no movement whatsoever on the animal transport file in the @europarl.europa.eu…
The EU has a signed MoU with Iceland on marine protection, so we're urging the Commissioner and Minister to discuss how to save the whales.
Read the letter: drive.google.com/file/d/1dPJH...
#SaveTheWhales #ForTheLoveOfIceland
Humane World has joined with our partners Hvalavinir and other international groups to write an urgent letter to EU Commissioner Costas Kadis as he meets this week with Iceland's minister Hanna Katrin Fridriksson.
Although Iceland's Minister has pledged a bill to ban commercial whaling, hundreds of whales risk being cruelly killed this summer before a bill is even introduced for debate.
Commissioner Roswall with animal protection NGO representatives
NGOs around the meeting table with Commissioner Roswall and her staff
Many thanks to @jessikaroswall.ec.europa.eu for today's constructive discussion with our NGO delegation on the EU Action Plan against Wildlife Trafficking. Greatly appreciated the opportunity to raise various animal protection issues related to wildlife trade.
European Parliament committee room with panel incl. Commissioner Hansen
Spending my morning at EP event ‘Towards a Legume Renaissance’, which is looking at production of fava beans for food & feed.
Commissioner @christophehansen.bsky.social delivered the opening address.
‘Sirpa Pietikäinen, Finnish MEP for the European People’s Party, calls for a ban on fur farming’: www.brusselstimes.com/opinion/2075...
@ec.europa.eu
#HumaneWorld #FurFreeEurope
A timely Op-Ed from @spietikainen.bsky.social on why @ec.europa.eu should deliver a ban on fur farming instead of ‘welfare standards’.
www.brusselstimes.com/opinions/207...
The @ec.europa.eu's call for evidence on the 'EU Strategy on Livestock' (hate that term!) closes today.
Here's our submission, in case you need some inspiration regarding the advancement of animal welfare & sustainable food systems.
ec.europa.eu/info/law/bet...
Every year, the same tragedy repeats itself. Thousands of seal pups are killed for fashion.
This isn’t about necessity: it’s about profit.
We can choose compassion instead. Share this post to raise awareness!
#HumaneWorld #EndAnimalCruelty
Never once have I heard campaigners call for wire cage floors to be replaced with straw. To be clear: we do not advocate for 'welfare standards' for fur farmed animals, but for a total ban on this inherently inhumane practice.
www.politico.eu/article/fur-...
Spoonbill preening on tree nest
Spoonbill
Spoonbill with fluffed-up crest
Spoonbill
Spoonbills are perhaps my favourite #birds.
There’s a colony that always nests in a copse at Haarlemmerliede. You can easily spot them in the trees from the cycle path.
If Europe stopped farming foxes, mink and raccoon dogs for fur, it could save nearly 300,000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions every year, plus 11,800 tonnes of air pollution.
Another reason why fur farming has no place in Europe. 🐾
#HumaneWorld #EndAnimalCruelty #FurFreeEurope #FurFreeFuture #FurFree
Fur is not just cruel, it’s also a climate problem.
Producing 1 kg of mink fur generates over 309 kg of Carbon Dioxide Equivalent, making it 31 times more climate-damaging than cotton and 25 times worse than polyester. Fox and raccoon dog fur have similarly high footprints.
Iceland is celebrated for its wild beauty and deep respect for nature.
But a recent investigation has exposed a very different reality.
Billions of chickens raised for meat in the EU still live in conditions that fall far short of society’s expectations. Read the full article on @eualive.bsky.social 👉 eualive.net/the-pecking-...
#HumaneWorld
"With the [fur] industry at a historical nadir, there has never been a more cost-effective time for an exit package. For an industry famously criticised for its cruelty, a state-supported exit offers something unexpected: a compassionate end."
www.brusselstimes.com/opinion/2032...
While not in the EU, the conditions on these Icelandic fur farms are much the same as those still operating here & use the same bogus industry ‘welfare standards’ & certification to humanewash their activities.
ICYMI, here's a link to @thisisbartosz.bsky.social's scoop on the leaked document.
Many thanks to @thomaswaitz.bsky.social @anjahazekamp.bsky.social @tillymetz.bsky.social & @cristinaguarda.bsky.social for raising fur farming issue at yesterday's AGRI debate!
www.politico.eu/article/comm...
Two mink looking out of a filthy wire mesh cage with text: UNFURGIVABLE - European Commission: 1.5 million citizens demand a ban on fur farming and trade
At yesterday's @agri.europarl.europa.eu meeting, Commissioner Várhelyi opted for plausible deniability regarding the leaked draft Communication on fur farming.
Claiming he hadn't even seen the document yet & it is still under internal discussion.
Watch here: control.eup.glcloud.eu/content-mana...
😢
😩 I wasn’t following the file, but the woman is clearly on a witch-hunt…
Voted by proxy this since I’m in Brussels.
Got a call at 7.30am from friend with my signed voting card. The polling station needed to see my ID too. 🙈
Lucky I could send through a verified copy of the ID card!
And yet the Commission seems set on allowing it to continue & to invest in alternative (scientifically untested) housing systems, rather than facilitating a just transition to other economic activities…
Ethics considerations aren’t the only reasons to shut down mink farms. More than any other farmed species, mink pose a risk for the emergence of future disease outbreaks and the evolution of future pandemics. See this article by Tom Peacock and Wendy Barclay in @pnas.org www.pnas.org/doi/epdf/10....
