Unoffensive Animal

Victories for the animal freedom movement have come thick and fast this month.

For those on the ground, who have spent decades smashing traps and freeing badgers, perhaps the biggest news is that the grotesque badger ‘cull’ is finally ending! Since the Krebs report was published in 1997, the UK government has overseen a mass genocide in our countryside, killing an estimated 250,000 badgers based on dodgy science, lies, and greed.

After decades of protest, lobbying, and direct action, the government has finally seen reason. With countless thousands of traps smashed, stomped, and destroyed, and untold numbers of badgers released and set free over the last 30 years, we are delighted that the badger-saving pixies will finally take a well-earned rest (or, more likely, keep saving other wildlife), once the supplementary licences expire.

SeaLife’s London Aquarium is prison for 14 gentoo penguins (as well as countless other marine animals). The birds are kept in an underground crypt, without access to their basic natural needs or environment. After intense campaigning from No To Captivity, Freedom For Animals, and others, the tide is starting to turn. SeaLife has announced that it is ceasing its captive breeding program. This means that no more birds will be born into this miserable life, but the ones who are still there still need to be saved, so campaigning continues!

There have also been partial victories for CAFT, with Milan fashion week implementing a voluntary ban on fur on its catwalks – not enough of course, but a sign of another major win on the horizon as pressure against the fashion show intensifies. The MBR Suppliers campaign has convinced the company who supplied MBR with blood-letting kits (every bit as vile as it sounds) to drop their contract.

Amidst fierce campaigning by grassroots activists and organisations, including Protect the Wild, NatureScot have just received a licence application from the ‘Men of Ness’. If granted, this licence would allow ten men to sail to the remote island of Sula Sgeir in the Outer Hebrides to bludgeon gannet chicks (guga) to death. The chicks, who are an otherwise protected species, are sold on the Isle of Lewis as a ‘delicacy’. Killing these birds would be a crime anywhere else in the UK. The so-called ‘hunt’ has already faced fierce backlash, including smashed windows, activists perched on the roof of NatureScot, and one of Scotland’s largest-ever petitions. NatureScot are currently considering the application, and with enough pressure this could be yet another big win just around the corner!

The Animal Freedom Network national gathering is taking place at a sanctuary near Northampton from September 25-27. There is a great line up of workshops, including ones from:

ALFSG (Animal Liberation Front Supporters Group)

CAFT (Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade)

Camp Beagle

Hunt Sabs

Little Green Pigeon

MBR Suppliers

Project Livestream

Rescue not Retail

Shut Down All Dog Tracks

This is a free event, with food provided by Veggies on a donation basis. Accommodation will be on-site camping (please bring your own tent!), with limited space, so please apply in advance, and keep vehicles and spread to a minimum! There will be a shuttle service from Wellingborough train station. Contact [email protected] for more information.

The first-ever Parade for Animals was held in Bristol this month, with over 600 animal advocates from across the UK and beyond taking to the city’s streets. A sea of colour, noise, and energy flooded the streets, with participants speaking out for and representing all the animals currently exploited by humans on farms, in the wild, in laboratories, in breeders, in zoos, and more. The parade was a brilliant demonstration of a movement on the rise, and we hope to see twice as many participants next year.

There’s some exciting events to take part in this month, including:

CAFT’s Feral Summer – 12-17 June

The Animal Freedom Network are collaborating with CAFT for their Feral Summer tour in London on 12-17 June. This will see several days of protests across the capital to support their anti-fur campaigns, as well as campaigns against testing on animals and other issues.

MBR Acres National Protest – 21 June

There is a national protest outside the notorious puppy factory farm, MBR Acres, at 11 am on 21 June. This is an important protest against testing on animals, and the organisers hope as many people as possible will attend.

For more information:

www.animalfreedom.org.uk

[email protected]

@animalfreedomuk