Animals\' Angels - wir sind bei den Tieren | we are there with the animals

Animals’ Angels attended a day at the Science week to hear Veterinarians speak about animal welfare. Most of the talks were about how to “use” animals - very little about welfare was mentioned. The overall message was that the public must be told what it takes to convince them the animals are treated well. Additionally it was clear there is no in the field animal welfare “auditing” of the farm animal industry.

Animals’ Angels visits council yard and finds a few hundred sheep, 15 goats, and 110 cattle. Animals are generally in good condition. Mainly plastic sticks and rattles used for goading sheep. Still no sign to remind patrons to muzzle dogs. Main concerns today are, firstly, the suggestion by 2 members of the public that some cattle being left at these yards for a few days before the sale may be getting water, but not feed (claim requires further investigation); and secondly, the ongoing practice of a few individual patrons of this yard to buy goats and sheep (5-6 times per year) and bind their legs before transporting them out of this yard in a van. The co-operative efforts of yard management, regulatory inspectors and police are urgently required to halt this practice.

ANIMALS’ ANGELS investigators arrived at the auction at 11:30am; the temperature was 88 degrees Fahrenheit. Some cages with chicken were overcrowded and did not allow the birds to turn or move. The cage floors were bare wire and did not have a wood platform for the birds or small animals to stand on. Despite the hot day, the cages also did not have any water. Two roosters were located in cages next to each other. The roosters began fighting, pecking and spurring each other. Investigators attempted to stop the fighting but could not. No one from the auction wanted to move the cages apart. The roosters kept sticking their heads and necks through the cage wire and when one bird would get temporarily stuck, the other bird would spur him. After 20 minutes the birds calmed down.

ANIMALS’ ANGELS inspects Greencastle Auction. Inside the sales barn it was hot, 97 degrees Fahrenheit. During the day the temperature inside the sale barn must have exceeded 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and outside close to 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Upon arrival investigators observed the cows in the outside slow pen, which were exposed to the heat and direct sunlight. These cows, primarily Holsteins, were exhibiting signs of heat stress, such as panting. Some animals with extremely large udders were laying down and foaming from the mouth. Several cows were extremely emaciated, with body scores of 1.5 to 1. There was no water, food or shelter provided to the animals.

ANIMALS’ ANGELS visits Toowoomba Elders Saleyard- pigs, calves and cattle are for sale. It is a very quiet day with fewer animals than normal. We are pleased to see animals in reasonable condition and a generally calm atmosphere and we haven’t observed any obvious handling problems during loading. We have some concern that not all pigs may have access to water; and we hope that a contractor who has been advised not to poke, tap or hit bobby calves with his cane will continue to desist from this practice, as it breaches the code standards and constitutes a breach of duty of care under the Act. We appreciate this yard’s signage and its proactive effort to develop an internal animal welfare policy, and we look forward to seeing the welfare monitoring/record keeping procedures that this will introduce in operation.

ANIMALS’ ANGELS visits Toowoomba Landmark Saleyard and finds cattle and weaners. Majority of animals in good condition, apart from a cow affected with the infectious and contagious disease blight (pink eye); her other eye is functional. We are concerned about animals with impaired sight who occasionally come through this yard on ‘faulty permits’, which state that the animal has to be transported direct from saleyard to the slaughterhouse, but there is no way to ensure this happens and no stipulation of how far these animals are permitted to travel in their compromised state. Lack of education regarding how each link in the animal use chain must treat these animals with extra patience and consideration; confusion about at which point these animals should be humanely euthanased and who is equipped to make this judgement. Need to discuss this with regulator.

CEO and founder of ANIMALS’ ANGELS, Christa Blanke received the Eurogroup Award for outstanding merits for the animals. Many representatives of Eurogroup from all over Europe were present when the award was presented by EU Comissioner Dalli. In her speech, Christa Blanke encouraged all animal lovers to not give up, to no longer be fooled by the industry and to stand by their love for animals. Christa Blanke appreciates the award and promises that Animals`Angels will continue to be there with the animals.

ANIMALS’ ANGELS had a first meeting with Portugal’s new chief veterinarian. The discussion, which also addressed the horse market in Garvão and the cattle market in Rates, was very positive. ANIMALS’ ANGLES is confident that progress in the animal welfare situation can be achieved with the new chief veterinarian and we will continue to be in contact with her on a regular basis.

ANIMALS' ANGELS is invited to attend a meeting with 6 different Government Departments, animal welfare agencies and representatives from the veterinarian assns to discuss the options for dealing with horses at Lake Gregory in the Kimberley region. The group convened to provide advice and recommendations to the WA Minister for Indigenous Affairs as to the possible methods to remove the horses. Because of confidentiality we cannot state at this time the outcome of the recommendations which will be made to the Minister for his consideration.

ANIMALS’ ANGELS participates in the EU Commission’s working group for animal health. The topics of the conference include the bees’ dying, the Q-Fever in the Netherlands, the new animal welfare strategy of the Commission after the Lisbon Agreement enters into effect and the work of the independent inspection unit OIE, which inspects the efficiency of veterinary authorities worldwide.