Occupy  for  Animals!
  • Welcome!
    • 99% >
      • Corporate Ecocide. It’s much more than Monsanto
      • Nature is the 99%, too
      • who Is really occupying your plate?
      • Why Occupy?
      • quotes & thoughts >
        • Quotations
      • we are all one
      • changing times >
        • Awakening ~ let the great revolution begin!
        • The Riot Dog
    • about us >
      • who we are and why we do what we do
      • get in touch with us!
      • Our other websites
      • support us
      • the gratitude page
      • find us on Facebook
      • follow us on Twitter
      • for Amber, with love...
      • blocked from our pages?
      • copyright infringement notification
    • wake up call >
      • animal kill counter
      • Holocaust on a Conveyor Belt - Assembly Line of Death
      • Don't do to others what you would not want others to do to you! >
        • what are factory farms hiding? See for yourself!
      • Earth ~ our only HOME!
      • Earthlings
      • The Superior Human?
    • consider >
      • animal kill counter >
        • the vegan revolution has started in Israel
        • 'Italian & Vegan' ~ vegan alternatives to Italian food
      • animals ~ be a guardian not an owner
      • animals and the catholic church
      • Bill & Lou
      • forgotten lessons of human-animal system
      • Scientists declare: nonhuman animals are conscious ~ Cambridge Declaration on Consciousness from July 7, 2011
      • Gandhi was vegetarian, whether you like it or not
      • selective compassion >
        • speciesism >
          • Are speciesists stupid?
        • The immorality and hypocrisy of our present diet
      • let compassion be your guide
      • Vegan: more than a diet, more than a lifestyle
      • animals' natural rights >
        • animal rights - by Dr Tom Regan
        • the theory of animal rights - by Professor Gary L. Francione >
          • the abolitionist approach
      • universal declaration of animal rights
    • Our petitions to the EU (European Union)
    • Europe's homeless animals >
      • Stray domestic animals are NOT 'wild animals'!
      • Europe's homeless animals - campaign
      • EU, when do you think it is time to act?
      • Tom Animalpastor in Brussels ~ Quo Vadis Europa?
      • EU: make spaying and neutering compulsory!
      • European tourist countries ~ the ugly truth
      • Italy ~ the Mafia involved in shelter activities
      • Sofia ~ Corruption and shady practices hinder the management of stray animals population
      • Turkey intends to kill all stray animals
    • the EU on animal welfare >
      • The European Institutions and the power of inaction
      • We demand that the EU create a Directorate-General for Animal Welfare
      • The spotlights have been switched on and they are shining brightly into the bedrooms of the EU and our EU-Sleeping Beauty has already opened her eyes. But when will she get up, at last?
      • On the press conference given on 12th of February, 2014 by MEP Andrea Zanoni and MEP Janusz WOJCIECHOWSKI regarding their visits in Romania and the mistreatment of Romanian dogs
      • Our observations to IREC's 'Right to Reply' from 7th of March, 2014 concerning the article called 'Neglect of Stray Dogs - MEPs Deliver Damning Indictment of Romania's Mismanagement' published by Dr Rita Pal on Huffington Post
      • animal cloning for food production in the EU
      • EU Animal Health Law
      • Cosmetics: the final ban will come into force in March 2013 and no cosmetic products or ingredients will be allowed to be sold in the EU if tested on animals
      • REACH ~ we have until 2018 to save up to 54 million animals from being poisoned and killed
      • John Dalli denis his commitments regarding animal transports made publicly on June 7, 2012 after one week!
      • MEPs demand an end to hotch-potch laws, with EU-wide measures to protect all animals
      • MEP Tiziano Motti: "Europe should apply non-bloody solutions for strays" (Press Release)
      • New EU-strategy fails to highlight benefits of animal welfare for animals and people
      • Proposed animal tests for GM food and feed ignore science and are totally unnecessary
      • Thousands of dogs and other animals spared cruel chemical tests in Europe
      • European convention for the protection of pet animals
      • written declaration on dog population management in the European Union
      • News from Eurogroup for Animals >
        • ritual slaughter exemptions cause animal suffering and put consumers at risks
        • Serious animal welfare failures revealed in Spanish slaughterhouses
    • Tom Animalpastor will be at St Peter's Square on 4th of October 2013
    • this & that >
      • ACTA: The new threat to the net
      • Stop PIPA & SOPA
      • Carole Raphaelle Davis - a soap-opera actress is on collision course
      • a message received and our answer concerning the 'traditional funeral ceremony' in Sumba Island, Indonesia
      • Is there Racism in the Animal Rights movement?
      • 80-year-old lady faces charges for feeding birds
      • For the producers and management of 7 stars TV
    • famous activists >
      • Animal Liberation Front ~ Modern Day Heroes >
        • Britches ~ the story
      • Captain Paul Watson and the real reason for his arrest
      • Gary Yourofsky on animal rights and veganism
      • Jill Phipps - tribute to a heroine
      • Wild Time Radio with Thomas Janak
    • inspirational stories... >
      • Act as if what you do makes a difference
      • "Animals are our friends, not our food,” says Lo Hung-hsien (駱鴻賢), a former pork raiser
      • Bella & Tara ~ real love and friendship knows no differences!
      • Canelo ~ 12 years waiting for his friend
      • Change comes with the children
      • Gülümser, the miracle cat
      • a homeless man, a dog, a cat... and a rat!
      • Lucky's incredible fight for life
      • Masrya's story
      • Rats - the APOPO HeroRATS detect landmines and Tuberculosis
      • The Witness
      • The worlds' bravest mouse
    • how children from Khalsa Montessori School in Arizona have helped dogs in Bosnia Herzegovina
    • Masrya's story
    • OFA's selection of newsletter written by Dr Carmen Arsene, FNPA
  • all connected
    • do you want to become extinct? >
      • Study predicts imminent irreversible planetary collapse
      • Arctic oil drilling
      • Climate change rate could be faster than thought, study suggests >
        • Global warming ~ not only is it real, it is accelerating, scientists say
        • Global warming's terrifying new math
        • How the climate will change ~ The role of latent heat of fusion in global warming
        • the methane time bomb
      • the global water crisis >
        • Tapped - is water a human right? Or a commodity?
        • "Water is a human right" - the first ECI to collect one million signatures
        • All the Water on Planet Earth
      • Dead oceans, dead planet >
        • 75% of world's coral reefs under threat, new analysis finds
        • Ocean acidification ~ the other carbon dioxide problem
        • Little has been done to protect marine life since the 1992 Rio Earth Summit
        • All the Water on Planet Earth
      • Earth's lung ~ deforestation and the construction of the Belo Monte dam are destroying the Amazon
      • Earth tipping point study in Nature Journal predicts disturbing and unpredictable changes
      • in the era of Ecocide...
      • Fukushima ~ the fate of Japan and the whole world depends on reactor No.4
      • Oil sands, tar sands or, more technically, bituminous sands, are a GLOBAL threat
      • UN urges global move to meat and dairy-free diet
      • UN issues 'final wake-up call' on population and environment
    • meat, the truth >
      • are humans designed to eat meat?
      • human starvation
      • killing fields ~ the battle to feed factory farms
      • Raising Resistance explores Latin American farmers’ struggle against the expanding production of genetically modified soy in South America
      • meat consumption and the destruction of our planet >
        • UN urges global move to meat and dairy-free diet
        • Livestock's long shadow
        • Livestock and Climate Change
      • meat demand and deforestation
      • meat production and water shortage >
        • Unsustainable water use depleting the world's major aquifers
      • meat is murder? more like suicide! >
        • Mad cow disease has hit the U.S. (April 25, 2012)
      • factory farms >
        • Rivers of Waste: The hazardous truth about factory farms
        • what are factory farms hiding? See for yourself!
      • making the connection
    • dangerous food >
      • the Monsanto Monster >
        • Study reveals that "safe" levels of Monsanto's GM corn and the chemical herbicide Roundup (glyphosate) are directly linked to causing cancerous tumors
        • How GMO foods alter organ function and pose a very real health threat to humans
        • Monsanto & The Genetic Conspiracy
        • Huge victory against GMOs as Monsanto driven out of the UK by consumer protests
      • animal cloning for food production in the EU
      • A quarter of all burgers tainted with drug-resistant bacteria
      • FDA admits chicken meat contains cancer-causing arsenic
      • Food Inc.
      • MRSA found in British milk: Superbug strain can cause serious infections in humans and is resistant to antibiotics
      • pesticide in agriculture ~ the slow poisoning of India
      • GMO pig development gets $500,000 from USDA
      • Enviropig - mouse and e coli genes injected into a Yorkshire pig embryo
      • Rendering... the grotesque and disrespectful way we continue to exploit animals, objectify them and commodify them even in death
      • You and your cat and Mad Cow Disease
    • organic ~ the green revolution
    • palm oil
    • Romania – the systemic evil of corruption, ignorance and indifference
    • hurt an animal, hurt a child! >
      • 'Making The Link' - A time for change...
      • Europe watches as a nation's psychological health erodes on a hitherto unimaginable scale
      • Peasenhall Primary School children rear pigs to send to butcher
    • Mexico's historic Oil Reform could plunge the country in even more poverty and misery, and protected natural areas would lose that status
    • articles of interest >
      • genetically modified cows produce 'human' milk
      • genetically modified rice created to produce human blood
    • The Benefits of Being Kind
    • SAMSARA - a documentary about Culture, Nature & Wildlife
  • fashion
    • alpaca
    • angora
    • cashmere
    • down
    • fur ~ general >
      • fur ~ fur farms
      • fur ~ fur traders & manufacturers
      • fur ~ Karakul lambs don't live older than three days
      • fur ~ fur is NOT green
      • fur ~ fur free
      • ban fur farms in the European Union
      • ban fur farms in Sweden
      • Kopenhagen Fur partnerships with Tivoli - Boycott them both!
      • black bears – the source of fur for Britain's Royal Guards' caps
      • seal hunt in Canada
      • seal slaughter in Namibia >
        • CITES must now protect cape fur seals in Namibia from extinction - Here is HOW
    • leather ~ general >
      • leather ~ India is one of the largest leather manufacturers in the world
      • leather ~ Millions of kangaroos are killed each year for their skin
      • leather ~ Pythons are the latest victims of fashion's new obsession
    • shahtoosh
    • shearling
    • silk
    • vicuña
    • wool
  • food
    • ALL about meat (including petition)
    • animal kill counter >
      • Holocaust on a Conveyor Belt - Assembly Line of Death (Samsara)
      • are humans designed to eat meat?
      • killing plants
    • from farm to fridge >
      • factory farms - definition
      • factory farming
      • livestock auctions
      • transportation >
        • Australia ~ shocking new evidence of live export breaches >
          • Indonesia - cattle being lifted by a crane from ropes tied to their heads
        • John Dalli denies his commitments regarding animal transports made publicly on June 7, 2012 after one week!
        • Truck with 31 bulls stranded at the Bulgaria/Turkey border
        • EU: report on animal transport successfully adopted in plenary
        • Jill Phipps - tribute to a heroine
      • Killing for a living
      • slaughter
      • Ritual slaughter for halal and kosher meat - all you need to know >
        • Denmark - Halal and kosher slaughter banned, as minister says 'animal rights come before religion'
        • Egregious brutality exposed at Israel’s leading kosher meat processor, Tnuva in Beit Shean, Israel
      • Ban religious slaughter throughout Europe >
        • ritual slaughter exemptions cause animal suffering and put consumers at risks
        • Top UK vet slams "unacceptable" slaughter of animals without prior stunning
      • The last moments of their life ~ an investigation by Elige Veganismo
      • Rendering... the grotesque and disrespectful way we continue to exploit animals, objectify them and commodify them even in death
      • You and your cat and Mad Cow Disease
    • bushmeat
    • cattle and cows >
      • Belgian Blue
      • milk is cruel >
        • Mothers against Dairy (external link)
      • veal
      • India ~ cow slaughter and the illegal cattle mafia
      • India is the world's biggest milk producer and all set to become the world's leading beef exporter in 2012
      • Mercy For Animals investigation exposes sadistic animal abuse at Burger King dairy supplier
    • dog meat >
      • Dog meat trade in Bali
      • dog meat trade in China
      • Thousands of dogs massacred for instant noodles in Jilin Province, China
      • Yulin Dog Meat Festival in China
      • the truth about 'pressed dog' actually known as 'waxed meat' in Mandarin
      • dog meat consumption in Nigeria
      • dog meat trade in South Korea
      • Dog meat trafficking
    • elephant meat
    • fish >
      • Bluefin tunas brutally slaughtered in Italy
      • dolphin slaughter in Taiji >
        • The Cove ~ full documentary
      • shark fin
      • whale hunt >
        • Whale hunt - Faeroe Islands' cruel, shameful tradition
        • Japan using tsunami funds for whaling hunt
        • South Korea vows 'scientific' whaling
      • over-fishing
      • Lance Armstrong's Livestrong website gives tips about how to cook various shark meats
    • goat milk
    • horse >
      • horse-meat scandal in Europe ~ organised criminal gangs operating internationally are suspected of playing a major role
    • Kopi luwak or civet coffee
    • lambs & sheep >
      • lambs ~ born to die for Easter
    • live sushi
    • pigs >
      • pig business >
        • Canada: Pig abuse exposed at pork supplier to major Canadian grocery stores
        • Canada - about 1,300 weanlings were shot dead at Manitoba hog farm
        • Thousands of dead pigs found in Shanghai river, China
        • Shocking brutality at East Anglian Pig Co. revealed by Animal Equality
        • Pigs brutally stabbed with swords on Spanish pig farm to supply leading UK Supermarket Morrisons
        • Shocking cruelty inside Harling Farm (AJ Edwards & son) UK >
          • Pigs suffer greatly despite concerns for the welfare
        • Sickening scenes at Freedom Food Pig Farm
        • Walmart's pork supplier exposed
    • poultry >
      • chickens >
        • American egg industry bill would keep hens in cages forever
      • turkeys
      • foie gras
    • Rabbits
    • reindeer
    • green turtles are considered a delicacy in Bali and are being smuggled and slaughtered under the disguise of ritual and religious purposes
    • Killing for a living
    • Why vegan? (external link)
    • animals should be off the menu!
    • The Emotional World of Farm Animals ~ a documentary
    • articles of interest >
      • Will the amendment to the Farm Bill introduced by Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) nullify laws against animal cruelty?
      • Ag Gag Bill dead in Florida
      • Five states now have 'Ag-Gag' laws on the books
      • California's slaughterhouse law overturned by Supreme Court
      • Farmers on red alert over outbreaks of new livestock disease
    • more about food... >
      • animal cloning for food production in the EU
      • bugs as food?
      • grow your own food
      • mad cow disease has hit the U.S. (April 25, 2012)
      • meat is murder? more like suicide!
      • why meat is addictive?
      • why are you addicted to cheese?
      • Swedish agricultural authorities are recommending a tax to reduce meat consumption and say such a levy should be adopted across the European Union
      • The Incredible Vegan Health Report (by Viva! Health)
      • U.S. vegan population doubles in only two years
      • 'Italian & Vegan' ~ vegan alternatives to Italian food
  • fun
    • exploitation of Asian elephants
    • camel races *
    • circus >
      • travelling Dolphin circus
    • dancing bears
    • diving horse
    • Dog races ~ Greyhounds are running for their life!
    • dolphinarium >
      • Lolita ~ slave to entertainment
      • Animal suffering at 'Marineland'
    • hunting >
      • hunting dogs ~ Galgo and Podencos
      • Fox hunting >
        • UK government: Leave fox hunting where it belongs - in the history books!
      • Salburun, which means "Hunter's Zest" in Kyrgyz language, has been held annually since 1997
      • trophy hunting >
        • Canned Hunting - Born to be killed - Lion hunting in South Africa
    • horse dressage
    • horse races >
      • Omak suicide horse race
    • Mutton Busting: both child abuse and animal abuse
    • rodeo ~ a legalized abuse of animals for COWARDS!
    • Romania tourist information
    • sled dog races *
    • sport fishing *
    • Tourist attraction - baby bear torn away from her mother to be used as tourist attraction in Ukraine
    • zoo >
      • Egypt's zoos ~ hell holes for animals! >
        • Egypt ~ the animals at Giza Zoo are in grave danger during unrest in Cairo
        • Egypt ~ The "mysterious" death of three American black bears at Giza Zoo
        • Egyptian zoos ~ the elephants, Karema and Naeema, are short-chained at Giza zoo
        • Masrya's story
  • greed
    • Earth's lung ~ deforestation and the construction of the Belo Monte dam are destroying the Amazon
    • 'Art' ~ animals killed/used in the name of 'art' >
      • Adel Abdessemed
      • Damien Hirst
      • Guillermo Habacuc Vargas
      • 'Die Guillotine' ~ Perversity from Germany
      • Hermann Nitsch
      • Katinka Simons, aka TINKEBELL
      • Nathalia Edenmont
      • Ondrej Brody and Kristofer Paetau
    • bear baiting >
      • bear baiting in Pakistan
      • bear baiting in South Carolina
    • bear bile farming *
    • breeding * >
      • puppy mills, puppy farms, pet shops *
      • teacup puppies *
    • corruption >
      • Prihvatilište KS Prača, commonly known as ‘Praca’, is a dog concentration camp in Sarajevo (B&H)
      • Sofia ~ Corruption and shady practices hinder the management of stray animals population
      • India ~ cow slaughter and the illegal cattle mafia
      • Italy ~ the Mafia involved in shelter activities
      • Romania - what you should know before visiting
      • The Romanian 'extermination enterprise'
      • Romania - THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY
      • Romania ~ organized crime & stray dog business >
        • the mayor of Botosani wants to send the city's stray dogs to Constanta, on a dubious 'pilot project'
        • Romania ~ a country cries out for revenge after the tragic death of a four-year-old boy who had been attacked by dogs
        • Oradea-dog-shelter, once Romania's privately funded pilot project par excellence, has become a living hell for the animals since the municipality has taken it over
        • Timisoara - the municipality pays huge sums of taxpayer's money to Danyflor to care for the stray dogs, but they receive not even a drop of water in their shelter. So where does the money go?
    • cock fighting *
    • dog fighting >
      • Rep. Steve King defends the right to watch dog fighting
      • Dog fighting in Pakistan
      • Dog Fighting in South Korea
    • horse fighting *
    • horse races in Italy
    • Italian Mafia making millions from brutal horse races
    • ivory trade >
      • Ivory fuels wars and profits
    • rhinoceros (Rhino) horn
    • Romania's homeless animals... no-one ever wanted them. Except PROTAN!
    • Romania ~ Roșia Montană, Europe's largest gold mine: a lot of gold, a lot of money and a lot of cyanide
    • SCAMMERS - How to recognize them, using the example of Jamie Hunt & Col Bayes
    • China reopens trade in tiger and leopard skins (2011)
    • wildlife trafficking
    • wombat Forest and its waters under threat of gold mining contamination
  • labour
    • horse carriage *
    • working animals >
      • Nepal ~ Brick kiln donkeys face the most extreme working conditions, excruciating injuries and disease
  • research
    • animal experimentation ~ hidden crimes >
      • Britches ~ the story
      • Rabbit test 1927
      • The 'smoking Beagles'
    • animal experimentation & vivisection >
      • Botox
      • Fetal Bovine Serum or Fetal Calf Serum
      • Iams / Eukanuba pet food
      • Premarin
      • Xenotransplantation - trading in spare parts
    • inside laboratories >
      • AstraZeneca: please set the Beagles free!
      • Donetsk Medical University, Ukraine ~ appalling living conditions and barbaric experiments conducted on dogs and other animals
      • Europe's biggest vivarium in Azambuja, Portugal
      • Green Hill, Montichiari, Italy
      • Mansoura University ~ merciless killing of donkeys as a mean of education
      • Animal testing and monkey business at Monash University, Australia
      • Monkeys killed for being of the 'wrong size'
      • University of Texas
      • University of Wisconsin–Madison conducts horrific experiments on cats
      • Wayne State University’s Inhumane Dog Experiments: Queenie’s Story
    • animal cloning for food production in the EU
    • animal experimentation - good science versus bad science
    • 1,000 doctors (and many more) against vivisection
    • animal experiments - safer medicines >
      • Cancer - The forbidden cures
    • Beagles are the dog breed most often used in animal testing, due to their size and passive nature
    • Cosmetics: the final ban will come into force in March 2013 and no cosmetic products or ingredients will be allowed to be sold in the EU if tested on animals
    • India, Government bans use of live animals for education and research
    • Iran plans to send monkey into space
    • Italy ~ 86% of Italians want to abolish vivisection >
      • News from 'Occupy Green Hill' >
        • Green Hill seized by police
        • Green Hill, Montichiari, Italy
        • 8th of May, 2012 International Day of Action against Green Hill and Vivisection
      • Italy: Make vivisection history (campaign)
    • List of animal derived ingredients and additives
    • Make vivisection history!
    • NIH Decision signals the beginning of the end for medical research on chimps
    • REACH ~ we have until 2018 to save up to 54 million animals from being poisoned and killed
    • UK - Government opens laboratory gates to lost pets, protects secrecy, poisoning and electrocution
    • Western beauty giants selling their brands to China's fast-growing middle classes are threatening to reverse years of progress in reducing animal testing
  • society
    • animal abuse >
      • animal abusers - named & shamed! >
        • Staff of the Faculty Of Veterinary Medicine Cairo University (FOVMCU) threw dogs off the third floor after experimenting on them
        • Alabama, "Purple Hearted Puppies" charged in an extreme case of animal neglect and abuse
        • Brazil, Camilla Corrêa Alves de Moura Araújo - a practicing nurse killed a little Yorkshire in front of her child
        • Bulgaria ~ Lynch mob enters private property and beats defenseless crippled doggy while TV-reporters film the scene and the police does nothing
        • Bulgaria, Raycho Ivanov, from Topolovo, tied his dog to the drawbar of his car and dragged him for many kilometers ~ 'Making The Link' initiator, Malcolm Plant, writes to the prosecutors
        • Cyprus - stray puppy thrown into cardboard crushing machine on the orders of the manager of 'Anastasia Beach Hotel' in Protaras
        • Greece, priest shot dog for trespassing the convent yard in Patra
        • Greece, a so-called shepherd systematically neglected his dog, brutally beat it and gouged out its eyes
        • Greece, Salamina ~ a man shot in cold blood a stray for trespassing his garden
        • Greece, a man of Albanian nationality tried to kill three dogs with a sledgehammer
        • Animals being mistreated at the University of Guadalajara, Mexico
        • UK, Robert Payne, ex-councillor for Keighley West, killed four kittens in barbaric attack
        • three Vietnamese soldiers tortured and skinning alive before eviscerating and barbecuing two rare monkeys
      • Bulgaria - Mrs Zinaida Zlatanova, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice, confirmed that the penalties for cruelties for animals will NOT be lessened
      • cruelty to animals and connections (incl. petition to the EU)
      • animal abuse - how to report
      • never be silent!
    • animal crush videos
    • bestiality zoophilia >
      • animal rape and animal brothel
    • BSL (Breed Specific Legislation) fails to target the problem: bad dog owners
    • Egypt ~ when migrating birds collide with wind turbines
    • British Government euthanizes 800 war dogs!
    • Camel cull in Australia
    • capitivity >
      • Help to save the Bosnian bears from euthanasia
    • Chernobyl - life in the dead zone
    • China ~ live animal key-rings for sale on street markets
    • companion animals ~ pets >
      • black cat superstitions & black dog syndrome
      • companion animal overpopulation
      • So you’re thinking about giving up your pet? You might want to reconsider!
      • gas chambers >
        • Daniel's Law ~ please help to make it pass!
        • Dogs being burned alive at Ohio shelter
        • Japan's radical response to abandoned dog problem
      • Helping Animals in Gaza
      • portraits taken on the very day in which the animal depicted is about to be put down or mercifully killed
      • Puppy mills (puppy farms) - prisoners for profit
      • the economic benefits of no kill animal control
      • a NO KILL NATION for just one day!
      • We want justice for Buddy
    • Coyotes - California city council of Seal Beach had decided that trapping and gassing coyotes in mobile gas chambers was good enough - until a public backlash caused them to abandon this misguided plan. But there are no laws to actually prevent it.
    • Democracy - The Romanian Way
    • dogs ~ man's best friends >
      • the sad of case of Lennox, the dog >
        • Lennox ''humanely put to sleep' , Belfast City Council confirmed on July 11, 2012
        • World declares war on Belfast!
        • One last push of urgent e-mails needed for a Lennox miracle
        • First Minister Peter Robinson has made a last-minute intervention to try and save the life of Lennox
      • China, a new policy proclaimed in Harbin Province prohibits large dogs
      • Denmark - 13 dog breeds are now banned, 12 more are lined up!
      • The Riot Dog
      • lost dogs
    • stray dogs - the anonymous >
      • Stray animals are NOT 'wild animals'
      • Bosnia & Herzegovina: on 3rd of October, 2013 the parliament will vote on whether to implement the "Romanian model" or not - if they, too, will kill all homeless dogs 2 weeks after capture
      • Bosnia & Herzegovina: if the law from 2009 gets suspended, the killing of stray animals would resume! >
        • Horror dog shelter in Bihać, Bosnia & Herzegovina
        • Prihvatilište KS Prača, commonly known as ‘Praca’, is a dog concentration camp in Sarajevo (B&H)
      • Bulgaria, the stray dogs of Sofia are in eminent danger! >
        • Sofia ~ Corruption and shady practices hinder the management of stray animals population
        • No mercy for stray dogs in Sofia
      • Egypt has organized intensive campaigns against stray animals. The animals are being poisoned with strychnine and/or shot dead with rifles
      • EU, when do you think it is time to act?
      • Humane dog population management guidance
      • India ~ Send stray dogs to China, Mizoram or Nagaland, for “whatever they do to them”
      • Italy ~ the Mafia involved in shelter activities
      • The history of Romania's homeless dogs
      • Romania - Laws regarding the management of stray dogs
      • Romania ~ a country cries out for revenge after the tragic death of a four-year-old boy who had been attacked by dogs
      • Romania - on the greatest animal genocide in European history, government initiated anarchy, violations of human rights and children rights
      • The Romanian 'extermination enterprise'
      • Romania - ​The city of Ploiesti sets a precedent, two years since the introduction of the 'Slaughter Law', as the first and only town in the entire country to deal in a humane and effective manner with their surplus dog population by implementing
      • How IREC tried to manipulate Prefect Rodica Paraschiv to destroy Ploiesti's newly adopted C-N-R program according to HCL 502/2015, with a ​manipulative letter containing erroneous, misleading and false information
      • Ploiesti Part III - Dr Carmen Arsene v. IREC - The Battle for Justice
      • on the press conference given on 12th of February, 2014 by MEP Andrea Zanoni and MEP Janusz WOJCIECHOWSKI regarding their visits in Romania and the mistreatment of Romanian dogs
      • Romania – the nazification of social relations
      • Romania – Our tacit approval of the evil will make us the evil’s accomplices
      • Romania – the systemic evil of corruption, ignorance and indifference
      • Romania - On the Seminar "Stray dogs: present and future" to be held on 3rd of June, 2015 in Iasi, Romania
      • The Romanian Extermination Enterprise >
        • The Romanian 'extermination enterprise'
        • The Romanian Extermination Enterprise - Who is going to pay the price?
        • The Romanian Extermination Enterprise - Fueled by EU-taxpayers' money?
        • The Romanian Extermination Enterprise
      • Romania's Animal Police, ANSVSA's market stunt to counter their image loss
      • Romania - ASPA raided a private shelter and the adjucent clinic of Vier Pfoten in Bucharest on 21st of March, 2014
      • Romania - ASPA's illegal 'blacklist'
      • Exposing ASPA - From Animal Protection to Animal Extermination
      • EXPOSING ASPA & IREC
      • Romania tourism
      • The Invisible Rape of Europe
      • The invisible rape of Romania and psychology of violence
      • The Eleventh Commandment of Romania: 'Thou Shalt Not Love!'
      • Romania - PROTAN and where the Romanian stray dogs "go"
      • Romania - Daciana Sarbu: 'A Head with Two Faces' - One face smiling at the death-bringers, the other face smiling at the protectors!
      • The life of an animal rescuer >
        • My name is Alexandra Sarau, I am an animal rescuer in Romania
        • A Thousand Tears fall for Luana... a Life taken too soon!
      • MEP Daciana Sarbu, aka Daciana Ponta, makes an impressive election "pledge" to help animals
      • Our observations to IREC's 'Right to Reply' from 7th of March, 2014 concerning the article called 'Neglect of Stray Dogs - MEPs Deliver Damning Indictment of Romania's Mismanagement' published by Dr Rita Pal on Huffington Post
      • Romania's public shelters - Come in, and die!
      • Romania - FPAM takes legal actions against the Romanian government and ANVSA
      • I am a citizen of Romania - Sunt un cetatean al Romaniei
      • Romania ~ organized crime & stray dog business
      • the mayor of Botosani wants to send the city's stray dogs to Constanta, on a dubious 'pilot project'
      • Romania - Craoiva lets the dogs to starve to death in the municipal shelter and wants to become a 'European Capital of Culture' .
      • Romania - what really happened in Craiova during the night from 3rd to 4th of February, 2014.
      • Oradea-dog-shelter, once Romania's privately funded pilot project par excellence, has become a living hell for the animals since the municipality has taken it over
      • Timisoara - the municipality pays huge sums of taxpayer's money to Danyflor to care for the stray dogs, but they receive not even a drop of water in their shelter. So where does the money go?
      • the mayor of Valcea considers killing all stray dogs after 7 days if not adopted
      • Romania - the mayor of Drobeta-Turnu Severin, Gheorghe Constantin, will apply the 'Slaughter Law' and kill all 577 dogs that are currently in the public shelter because he rather prefers spending the money that is needed for their 'maintenance' on the eld
      • OFA's selection of FNPA-newsletters written by Dr Carmen Arsene
      • Russia's homeless animals
      • Serbia - dogs eating each other at the horror-shelter in Leskovac is 'normal' says official
      • Turkey intends to kill all stray animals!
      • For a rabies-free future
      • Trap-Neuter-Release
    • Stray cats are starving to death in Belarus basements that authorities have sealed to control rats
    • deforestation and the construction of the Belo Monte dam is killing the Amazon
    • Over 1,000 dolphins killed by villagers of a remote Solomon island in conservation dispute
    • electrocution of wild animals *
    • electronic waste ~ the truth
    • European tourist countries ~ the ugly truth
    • event preparations >
      • Azerbaijan kills its stray animals in preparation of Eurovision Song Contest 2012
      • Ukraine, the European Football Championship and the mass murders of stray animals
    • extinction >
      • Tigers are spiraling to extinction in the wild >
        • China reopens trade in tiger and leopard skins (2011)
        • India ~ tiger poachers to be shot on sight
    • famous animals *
    • fireworks and animals
    • Fukushima ~ animals left behind >
      • Free the Fukushima animal rescuers Hiroshi Hoshi and Leo Hoshi
    • Kerala - tourist information
    • Killer whales trapped by ice near Inukjuak, in northern Quebec
    • loss of habitat *
    • military training exercises
    • Please help to rebuild 'Norma's Universe'
    • over-population control *
    • politics >
      • grey seal cull in Canada is politically motivated and not supported by science
      • Ukraine ~ a new law intends to legalize unlimited shooting of wolves, foxes and even cats and dogs
    • pollution >
      • Dead oceans, dead planet >
        • 75% of world's coral reefs under threat, new analysis finds
      • in the age of plastic
      • plastic bags threaten wildlife: mammals, birds, fish - no animal can escape!
      • the plastic cow
      • electronic waste ~ the truth
      • the garbage patch
      • Trashed - No place for waste!
      • tsunami debris
    • Puppy farms (campaign) >
      • Puppy mills in Lebanon
    • religion >
      • religion ~ animals and the catholic church
      • religion ~ Islamic legal tradition holds that dogs are "unclean" animals
      • religion ~ ritual slaughter for halal and kosher meat
    • Romania - The Shameful Chronology of Abandonment
    • Scammers - how to recognize them, taking the case of Jamie Hunt and Col Bayes
    • THANK YOU, UKRAINE!
    • U.S. Congressmen compare undercover investigators to arsonists and terrorists
    • zoophilia - bestiality >
      • animal rape and animal brothel
  • tradition
    • animal sacrifice >
      • Aid al-kabir or Eid al-Adha
      • Eid animal slaughter funds Pakistan terror groups
      • Dashain festival, Nepal
      • Gadhimai festival in Nepal
      • Animal sacrifice at Halavatha Munneswaram Kovil, Sri Lanka
      • Animal sacrifice in India
      • India ~ Owl sacrifice during Diwali, the Festival of Lights
      • traditional funeral ceremony and sacrifice, island of Sumba, Indonesia
      • Kapparot
      • the goats of Khokana
      • During the Lomisoba celebration in Georgia, hundreds of sheep, calves and chickens are sacrificed
      • Malaysia - ritual slaughter of cattle during Hari Raya Aidiladha in schools
      • The brutal festival at Nem Thuong village, Vietnam
      • Ukweshwana, the festival of fresh fruits
    • bullfighting - corridas >
      • The Mental Illness called the Corrida, by Captain Paul Watson
      • Will the EU-Commission respond in favor of the EU-Parliament's vote to end EU-subsidies for bullfighting?
      • Mexico City considers ban on bullfighting
      • Jallikattu
      • the story of Álvaro Múnera Builes
    • Dog spinning or “trichane” is a ritual celebrated in Brodilovo, a village in Bulgaria
    • Horse races in Italy
    • Salburun, which means "Hunter's Zest" in Kyrgyz language, has been held annually since 1997
    • Spanish fiestas >
      • Boar hunting 'Lanceo al Jabalí' set for comeback in Spain
      • Fiesta del Pero Palo, Villaneuva de la Vera (Spain)
      • El Toro Jubilo, or 'bull on fire'
      • Toro de la Vega ~ Tordesillas' sadistic fiesta
      • A Rapa das Bestas
    • Thanksgiving, Christmas & Easter >
      • turkeys
      • reindeer
    • Traditional Chinese Medicine TCM >
      • Open letter to China ~ 'Dear China'
      • bear bile farming >
        • Bear bile harmful to human health, according to research released at major Beijing event
        • rescued from Vietnamese bear bile farms
      • Pangolins are being hunted to the edge of extinction
      • Rhinoceros (Rhino) horn
      • Traditional Chinese Medicine could extinct the tigers within the next decade!
      • Vietnam proposes legalising use of tiger parts in traditional medicines (2012)



The spotlights have been switched on and are now shining brightly into
the bedrooms of the EU and our EU-Sleeping Beauty has already opened her eyes.
But when will she get up, at last?

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Introduction


March 3, 2014 - On 10th September the Lower House of the Romanian Parliament voted GEO 155/2001 to legitimise a 'catch and kill' policy for all homeless animals. The terminology used during the debate at the parliament was 'eradication'. Since this date media frenzy has been created because of the death of a young boy under what remains dubious circumstances.

On 25th September, 2013 Constitutional Court judge Petre Lăzăroiu, suggested that "the mass killing of stray dogs in Romania could traumatize the population"... then the entire place ruled to cull all dogs... and that the eradication of Romania's homeless animals - although it had been ruled unconstitutional in January 2012 - was now "constitutional"! Go figure!

On 25th of September, the Romanian Constitutional Court had an opportunity to define whether Romania is a country worthy of being called civilized or whether it should be consigned to popular perception of a country unworthy of being considered anything other than barbaric, mismanaged, corrupt and dangerous. They chose the latter.

Not only would this policy, bring infamy to Romanian authorities and by association, with Romania, apparently ill considered is the fact that an 'eradication' strategy simply will not be successful. Owned dogs will continue to breed and thereby ensuring a plentiful and constant supply of animals on the streets. Occupy for Animals, along with many others, suggested and still maintains, that assuring a constant supply of dogs seems to be a desirable condition in Romania. Resolving the stray animals issue would leave all those who make big money from it (including mayors and other politicians with a far too cosy relationship with local businessmen) without their huge profits and that is why a massive, country-wide sterilization campaign that would include ALL owned dogs, has never even been suggested. Without the sterilization of ALL owned dogs, Romania's 'eradication program' - just like all other previous 'catch & kill', or 'catch & incarcerate & starve to death' policies - will be a futile, very expensive but totally ineffective policy, given that it addresses the effect but NOT the cause.


The EU-Commission, along with the Parliament and the Council, are aware of the continued failure of the Romanian government to find a sustainable and humane solution to the problem of surplus dogs in Romania. The utmost cruelty practiced on a daily basis in various parts of Romania in the name of “euthanasia” of dogs is in flagrant breach of European values and of a number of international obligations binding on Romania. 

The inability of the EU Commission, so far, to come up with a credible solution has caused citizens of many EU countries to question the entire justification of the existing EU legal framework. In particular, it goes beyond the limits of imagination of a growing number of EU citizens that Romania, a country receiving millions of euros of financial assistance from other EU countries every year is, at the same time, “entitled” to completely disregard a set of European values. Such values are enshrined in Article 13 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (“TFEU”), acknowledging animals as sentient beings.

By now, it is clear that Romania, an EU Member State, remains unable to solve – in a sustainable and humane fashion – an issue that has been successfully solved in a number of less developed countries.


The competence

 
The letter demonstrates clearly that the European Commission has the legal competence – and a legal duty - to intervene.

According to independent legal research, the EU Commission has legal competence to intervene in the ongoing cruelties directed at Romania’s surplus dog population. The legal competence is not based on animal welfare (ARTICLE 13) ALONE, but IN PARTICULAR ON public health (ARTICLE 168).

Romania’s rabies eradication program is co-financed by the EU. The “control of the population of dogs” was explicitly listed among the measures agreed to be implemented under the program. In fact, in Romania, Article 1 of the recently-adopted Methodological Norms (enabling the culling of the dogs in practice) clarifies as follows:

“The purpose of the present norms is to reduce the number of stray dogs,…, to reduce the occurrence of rabies and other zoonoses, to reduce the risk to human health”.

The Methodological Norms (the killing norms) were adopted to fight rabies and protect human health, and killing is NOW taking place across the country. Often this is death by grotesque means. Encouraged by governmental exhortation, this is being enacted in the streets, in shelters, in the fields and in the woodlands. 

And that YOUR money is supporting this! YOUR money!

The EU have the power to freeze this funding until a humanely compliant strategy is adopted. But will they?

Your voice can decide! Your voice can be heard in the Hallowed Halls of the EU where elections are due in May!

Your voice can ask: "Which of these helpless creatures did MY money kill today?  MY money!  In MY Europe!"

Please join the 211 European organizations that co-signed the letter by signing the ECT-petition today. 


The burden proof

The burden of proof is on the Commission when it claims that EU funds granted to Romania under other programs are not being used, directly or indirectly, to fund Romania’s large-scale dog management business, enriching private businessmen operating as contractors to local administrations. 

This applies notably to the Regional Operational Program, as co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund. Under the Regional Operational Program alone, as co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund, the amount of 3,7 billion euros have been granted to Romania during the period 2007-2013. The total amount invested by the EU into Romania under Cohesion Policy 2007 – 2013 is understood to be approximately 20 billion euros. 

To date, the Commission has stated that it is “not aware of misuse of EU funds in relation to the killing of dogs in Romania”. The Commission has also stated that “according to the information received from the managing authority of the 2007-2013 regional program, none of the projects selected for financing include specific objectives related to stray dogs”.   

BUT, in view of the millions of euros of public funds that the local authorities in Romania are spending on the Catch & Kill program, how does the Commission explain the origins of the funds? 

What measures has the Commission taken in order to ascertain that EU funds granted to local administrations are not, directly or indirectly, being used for dog-related purposes under the pretext of, for instance, enhancing public health, public safety, tourism or employment? 

The company names of the private businessmen enriching themselves while operating as contractors to local administrations do not necessarily refer to dogs at all, but often tend to refer to generic consulting services instead. Therefore, the ECT, representing the 211 European organisations who co-signed the letter, urge the Commission to clarify whether (and on which grounds) the Commission continues to exclude the possibility that EU funds may, directly or indirectly, be used to finance the multi-million euro “Catch & Kill” dog management business in Romania.

...and the silence

Not only has the Commission not yet responded to the 211 European organisations that have co-signed the ECT-letter, the Commission has also - to date - not yet answered the parliamentary questions that different MEPs have formulated in response to the European Communication Team's letter.

Luxembourgian MEP, Claude Turmes (Dèi Grèng)  who appeared on national Luxembourgian TV RTL, in an excellent video-report made by RTL-reporter, Violetta Calderelli, agreed with the European Communications Team's claim that the Romanian stray animal eradication program falls under EU-competence, but that it cannot be that the millions of EU-funds that Romania receives each year to eradicate rabies, would be used to fund such an inhumane and ineffective stray animal population strategy. Mr Turmes agreed also, that the Commission should freeze this funding until Romania enacts a humane, cost-effective stray animal control strategy in accordance with international best practice.

MEP Claude Turmes further said that he had written to the Romanian ambassador in Luxembourg concerning the cruel treatment of dogs in Romania, but that the ambassador had, until then, not yet responded. On 11th of February, 2014, Mr Turmes has also formulated a parliamentary question to the Commission, which at to date still remains unanswered.

Please click on the picture below to watch the report made by Luxembourgian TV-station RTL, featuring MEP Claude Turmes, Pia Berrend, founder and campaign manager at Occupy for Animals and member of the European Communications Team, and Myriam Englaro, a Luxembourgian animal rights activist.

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Parliamentary questions have also been asked by Finnish MEP Sirpa Pietikäinen (PPE) on 11th of February, 2014. They, too, remain without response till to date.

The asked questions are:

1. Does the Commission agree that it has legal competence to intervene in the issue of Romanian dogs based on EU legislation on Public Health? (If not, why not?)

2. Does Romania’s Rabies Eradication Programme mention dog population control among the measures to be carried out?

3. Does the Commission agree that Romania’s Rabies Eradication Programme should urgently be clarified by way of an explicit condition as follows: Romania must implement long-term measures at the national level for the management of the dog population in accordance with international best practice. In other words, the current “Catch & Kill” policy should be replaced by more efficient and humane measures. (If not, why not?)

4. Does the Commission continue to exclude the possibility that EU funds are, directly or indirectly, being used to finance the multi-million euro “Catch & Kill” dog management business in Romania via local administration budgets? (If so, on what grounds?)


On 17th of February, 2014, the European Communications Team has written to ALL members of the Animal Welfare Intergroup. To date they haven't got any response yet.

That the Commission has not yet replied to the 211 European organizations that have co-signed the ECT- letter only signalizes that they are struggling to find a way out of the mess that they now find themselves in. But why does the Intergroup not respond? Why the silence? 

Ignoring things doesn't make them to go away!

On the EU-conference from 12th of February, 2014 regarding the mid-term assessment of the EU animal welfare strategy

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During the conference, Commissioner Tonio Borg (at 14:30) said, regarding the stray animal situation in Romania and the competence of the EU, that he had been inundated with emails from concerned EU-citizens regarding the cruel treatment of dogs in Romania. And he continued: 

"... but unfortunately, the Commission has no competence on certain particular animal welfare issues... there has to be a commercial element, or a cross-border element, but I still wrote to the Romanian Prime Minister, reminding him of the obligations which the EU and Romania have under the OIE. So we can always put, if not legal pressure, some kind of political pressure. But please do accept that we do not have competence on all matters relating to animal welfare."

Well... dear Commissioner, let us please tell you that, according to the independent legal research done by the European Communications Team, the European Commission DOES HAVE the legal competence – and a legal duty - to intervene.

And talking about "commercial element", let us also tell you that the Romanian Extermination Enterprise, legalized under Law no. 258/2013 which the Romanian Constitutional Court has ruled as being 'constitutional' on 25th of September, 2013, is a vast governmental project and stands for good money to be made by various companies involved in the rounding up, the supposed maintenance, the killing and the disposal of the animals, killed by violence or neglect. According to our calculation - which is based on figures and costs shared by the Romanian government themselves - it looks as if the Romanian government was ready to spent an incredible 403,104,000 euros of public money on a stray animal population control strategy that the WHO (World Health Organisation) considers to be ineffective!

We believe that this is a "commercial element" with a considerable "commercial value"!  As to a "cross-border element", we will enumerate a very important one for you further down this page...

At last,
someone switched the lights on!

On December 4, 2013 a delegation of the European Parliament went to Romania and had some meetings with Romanian officials ANSVSA - Sanitary-Veterinary and Food Safety National Authority - and the Mayor of Bucharest. The delegation members were assured that the law on dog management was a law on "adoption" and not on "euthanasia" and the citizens had access to public shelters which were totally transparent and complying with the law.

On January 28, the delegation returned to Romania in order to inform themselves on the situation directly on site by visiting as well dog shelters of the city halls. The Delegation found that there was a major discrepancy between what the authorities had told them during their first visit and what they found on site during their second visit. 


On 12th of February, 2014, the Vice-Chairman of the AGRI Committee and Vice-Chairman of the Animal Welfare Intergroup, MEP Janusz WOJCIECHOWSKI (ECR) together with the Vice-Chairman of the Animal Welfare Intergroup MEP Andrea ZANONI (ALDE) hosted a press conference in relation to their recent visit to Romania, during which the MEPs addressed concerns regarding the situation of stray dogs in light of the recently adopted Stray Dogs Euthanasia Law by the Parliament of Romania aimed at culling the stray population, and presented their reflections and conclusions and put forward plans, recommendations and possible initiatives in search of a solution on how to address the issue. 

It was a pleasant surprise to hear that the MEPs had finally seen the horrendous conditions in the so-called shelters by themselves, and which confirmed what we have been telling them for years.

"I did not question the necessity of reduction of stray dogs in Romania but I believe that Romanian authorities have decided to conduct this reduction in an inhumane and ineffective way", said MEP Wojciechowski.

"With this new legislation, owners are forced to sterilize their dogs with their own money. Otherwise, they will be punished with very severe financial fines which would mean excessive costs for poor owners, especially in rural areas.This situation will result in getting rid of dogs and another increase of homeless animals.This time number of these animals may increase even to millions", said MEP Wojciechowski. As far as we know the whole procedure of catching, keeping and anesthetising one dog is rewarded with EUR 250.

"I am convinced that it would be much cheaper and efficient to use these resources for sterilization of these animals. Therefore, the number of animals would be reduced", added MEP Wojciechowski.


"During my first visit I met several representatives of Romanian authorities, including mayor of Bucharest, who assured me that reduction of stray dogs will be conducted in a humane way - through adoption or - should other ways be impossible - through euthanasia in a humane manner. I have also visited several shelters - this visit proved that signals regarding violent treatment of dogs in these places are true", said MEP Wojciechowski.

Shelters are every often located in places which are difficult to find and they are closed for people who wish to adopt a dog. Although financed from public money, they are treated as private ownership. Furthermore, adoption procedure is very complicated and it makes adoption practically impossible.
  
MEP Wojciechowski said further:

"It has become a business for private companies that receive a lot of money to catch and put down these animals, or run these shelters - well... shelters is hardly the right word - given what is going on in them. This program costs a lot of money and it means a lot of profit for the companies involved. And so it's not in their interest to solve the problem. They want the problem, the issue to continue for as long as possible so that can earn as much money as possible out of it.

The new legislation doesn't solve the problem, it's exacerbating it"

Below, the pictures showing MEP Wojciechowski and his assistant on their way to the Slatina "dog shelter" where they found themselves in front of closed doors.... unable to get in.
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Romanian strays – Borg’s favour for Farage


by EU-Reporter Anna van Densky on February 17, 2014 - The fact-finding mission of MEPs Janusz Wojciechowski and Andrea Zanoni have blasted the myth of any improvements for Romanian stray dogs. The scenes of extreme cruelty, stories of shocked witnesses describing massacres in dogs’ ‘shelters’ that resemble concentration camps (pictured) – all this morbid evidence has reopened the debate on the fate of 100,000 dogs in ‘new’ Romania. The latest governmental regulations have firmly blocked the adoption process, and canine slaughter is becoming increasingly profitable.

While multiple European animal protection associations have sent money to Romanian shelters, they were not aware of the fraud taking place – after pictures are taken, the dogs are brutally slaughtered in their cages with sticks and spades, and the money provided goes to the false care-givers. Some are even left to die without food and water…

“They are gangsters. It is the mafia who has taken advantage of the situation. It is a profitable business to fill pockets and destroy victims,’’ a Romanian activist told EU Reporter, following an MEPs’ press conference on 12 February. “Moreover, the criminals are opposing the sterilization policy as it would shut down a source of future income.”

There was a brief pause in atrocities following the pressure of public opinion, but then Commissioner Tonio Borg stepped in, explaining that he had “no tools to influence the situation”.

“The mafia understood this as ‘la carte blanche’ to go on with the massacre of dogs,” another activist added. The Commission’s reaction, describing the complaints “as grievances falling outside the scope of EU law” was taken to be Borg washing his hands of the affair, which subsequently provoked an atmosphere of toxic frustration during the First European Conference on the Welfare of Dogs and Cats in October 2013.

Many of participants felt indignant that the commissioner managed to avoid the most controversial issue of Romanian authorities ordering the massacre thousands of healthy and gentle stray dogs in response to one bitten child. Activists regard the Romanian strays taboo as sheer hypocrisy on the part of Borg, developing his thesis on “building a Europe that cares for companion animals”, while Romanian ‘care’ meant elimination.

The Commission’s incapability to stand tall for animal welfare by indulging the Romanian government in this way was a heavy blow. However, with 70 million homes having companion animals, European animal lovers form a substantial part of the electorate and they are running out of patience. They are entitled to raise a question if they agree to invest taxpayers’ money into a country that is openly stamping on the very same humane values for which the Union was created.

Perhaps UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage should send a bunch of flowers to Commissioner Borg – one glance at the massacre of caged Romanian dogs would speak volumes on disengagement from EU enlargement policy.

The elections are coming soon, and it will be the turn of European citizens to allow MEPs to  “fall outside the scope” of their interest, if they are unable to respond to their grievances.

Come the ballot, we’ll see who has the last laugh!

Their tacit approval of the evil
makes them the evil's accomplices!

The EU has yet again not taken any serious action regarding the cruel treatment of dogs in the so-called shelters that the MEPs themselves had the opportunity to witness during their latest visit from 27/28th of January, 2014.

Although the European Communications Team has identified a solid legal ground which would enable them to intervene in the cruel treatment of dogs in Romania and has presented it to them on a silver plate, the Commission remains silent... and the MEPs continue to send letters to the Romanian government which will likely remain unanswered, just like the previous three letters sent by the Intergroup to President Basescu as well as the one from Commissioner Borg. Basescu did not find it necessary to respond to any of them.

It seems to us, as if the Commission, for political reasons, was unwilling to utilize the above-mentioned legal competence... and thus their tacit approval of the evil makes them the evil’s accomplices. 

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And what about the killings that are happening
on the streets of Romania, literally everyday,
in front of children and other sensitive people?

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The Commission seems not to care about the poor Romanian homeless dogs or the millions of Euros that Romania receives each year and which - as it seems - are being used to fuel the Romanian Extermination Enterprise, but what about the children and other sensitive people who have to witness animal abuse on the streets of Romania, sometimes on a daily basis? 

Millions of people capable of cherishing their relationship with animals and sensitive enough to cultivate their affection for them will be exposed to enormous psychological trauma resulting from the animal slaughter. 

What about the animal lovers and activists who are being outcast, verbally attacked and even aggressed simply because they care for the animals? 

Does the Commission care about them? Or has the Commission chosen to ignore them also?

The people have the right to love and care but the official policy of animal mass slaughter negates the right and makes it invalid. In this respect, animal rights violations are at one with human rights abuses. The psychological trauma and damage done as a result of such cruel and arbitrary decisions by the Romanian officials will have its devastating moral, legal, social and political consequences leading to the weakening of the state institutions and social order.
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Malcolm Plant, the initiator of the 'Making the Link Study and Project, wrote:

And so it is that sometimes a phenomenon can be identified, of such magnitude that it defies human senses. The ground on which we walk, facilitates our existence... our movement, but that this apparently flat ground is in fact a sphere suspended in space is not discerned until we adopt alternative perspectives.

The connection between animal abuse and inter-human abuse and violence is called 'the Link' and there is now a large body of research identifying that animal abuse can be a predictor of abuse against person and property. Individuals abusing animals in their homes are likely to enact abuse against members of their own family or even to manifest such abuse within the community.

Such research has previously been conducted in western societies where regard for companion animals has evolved to them being regarded as ‘'family members' and where few unwanted animals remain on the streets in the wider community. Isolated incidents permitting a contrast against the norms of a society allow such abuse identification possibility.

Imagine if you will, that such criteria identifying potentially aberrant individuals, exists as a society, as a nation. A country of 20,000,000 exhibiting all the ingredients to promote, learn and practice aggression. We will seek to reason here that such an environment exists and the conclusion of which challenges the very foundations of the security and homogeneity of the European Union. It will be further evidenced that the addressable entity is not the animal victim or even the individual who aggresses, but the society which promotes this on a hitherto un-imagined or identified scale. A national aggression training facility now being freely exported. Ramifications affect every country, every city, every street of the European Union. Should the rationale presented here be fully accepted then it is incumbent upon political powers to address.

We will provide evidence from learned expert Professors in this field. Also we will present results from a study conducted for the first time in such an environment. We will evidence the normality of abuse and aggression throughout this country. And finally we will present an act of such despicable horror on the streets of a European City that the resonance of the word ‘enough’ is invited to be echoed through every home in Europe.

There is a large body of research linking the abuse of animals with inter-personal abuse and aggression. Such research has primarily been conducted in western societies and where the severity of enacted aggression has ranged in gravity up to and including serial killers. Animal abuse in western societies can be arguably more readily identified as it contrasts with the moral norms of such societies. Inabilities of Romanian governments over many years to apply proven humane stray animal management strategies has resulted in an increasing expansion of the stray animal population. Perceived as verminous because of numbers and undesirable because of threats of aggression, abuse, maiming and killing in public places had become commonplace. The 'Making the Link' Pilot Study had identified that 86% of children in the study group had witnessed animal abuse in public places. Aggression potential is compounded by indications of proportionally different levels of domestic violence.

Two factors are essential to be considered in environments such as that which exists in Romania. ‘Situational Factors‘: included among these is displaced aggression where the victim of the aggression was not the originating cause.  Such aggression increases if the victim is categorized as representing a socially undesirable or reduced status group.

Opportunity is an important factor where situations present and heighten the opportunity for aggression and where in Bandura’s moral disengagement theory two factors, the cognitive construction of moral justification whereby the aggressor creates cognitive constructs to justify aggression and also the dehumanization of the victim. Romania’s government in categorizing the already outcast and devalued group of stray animals by formally categorizing as 'extermination worthy' increases the diminution of status and therefore enhances the possibility of the practice of aggression.

Assuredly, aggression practiced against animals carries a heightened likelihood of aggression against people and property. The MTL Pilot Study found that children who aggressed against animals also aggressed against people, admitted theft, arson, exemplified reduced empathy and presented suicidal tendencies. A survey of psychologists in the USA found that 87% considered animal abuse to be a mental health issue, yet in Romania 86% of the study group children had witnessed this in public places.

Social Learning Theory suggests that the main features of the socialization process are the models to whom children are exposed, the reinforcements and punishments they receive, and the beliefs they are taught and learn. It is argued that those who abuse animals are frustrated individuals who transfer their anger onto animals who cannot retaliate.

A scenario emerges where aggression is encouraged by ill-considered government legislation where the stray animal is deemed eradication worthy. This presents legitimization and encouragement of the practice of aggression against a potential animal victim on every street corner. Such unrestrained and socially acceptable behaviour leads to an increase in the need to satisfy through aggression and which increases the likelihood that this will be enacted against persons and property.

Major organisations such as WHO and OIE caution against mass euthanasia as a strategy for animal management primarily because historically it has always proven unsuccessful in addition to being significantly more expensive to implement that the proven successful management strategy of neutering. The Romanian government has therefore taken a poverty endemic, patriarchal society with already significant aggression problems into a previously unexplored domain by encouraging enactment of violence. Time will reveal what lies in this darkness and whether an aggression training facility is being created at the edge of Europe. It is hoped that this proves not to be so as, with travel restrictions removed, it will be empirically evidenced not only in Romania, but throughout the cities of Europe.

The MTL Study will seek to evidence how the stray animal issue can be addressed by introducing interventions which will seek to modify perceptions and attitudes. A group of adolescents 15-18 years old will be presented with a Humane Education/Responsible Ownership program over a 2 year period. This will be accompanied by introduction of an Animal Abuse Helpline whereby prosecutions for animal abuse will be sought thereby raising the perceived status of the animals. In order to evidence how humane controls can be enacted, a neutering program will be introduced. Psychometric measurements have been taken of 570 children. Split into control and study groups, measurements will be taken again in 2 years time. It is anticipated that positive psycho-social change will be identified. Particular focus will be on factors identified in the Pilot Study as causing concern ie empathy enhancement and aggression reduction. 

It is anticipated that the study will identify how change can be introduced and will serve a s a model to be implemented wherever such environments exist.

"Let he who has ears to hear, let him hear!
Let he who has power to speak, let him speak!
For he who lives with silence,
will hear the cacophony of societal destruction all around him!"



Neglect of Stray Dogs
MEPs Deliver Damning Indictment of Romania's Mismanagement

written by Dr Rita Pal on 5th of March, 2014 for the Huffington Post 

Highlights From the Vice-Chairman of the AGRI Committee and Vice-Chairman of the Animal Welfare Intergroup, MEP Janusz WOJCIECHOWSKI (ECR). Press Conference. European Parliament on 12th of February, 2014:

"This visit proved that signals regarding violent treatment of dogs in these places are true"

"I did not question the necessity of reduction of stray dogs in Romania but I believe that Romanian authorities have decided to conduct this reduction in an inhumane and ineffective way"

"It has become a business for private companies that receive a lot of money to catch and put down these animals, or run these shelters - well... shelters is hardly the right word - given what is going on in them. This program costs a lot of money and it means a lot of profit for the companies involved. And so it's not in their interest to solve the problem. They want the problem, the issue to continue for as long as possible so that can earn as much money as possible out of it".

"The new legislation doesn't solve the problem, it's exacerbating it"


The plight of Romanian dogs and the subsequent 14 day cull law has caused uproar. Mass protests were held all over Europe and the US. Social networks were buzzing with criticism of the Romanian authorities. Hundreds of petitions backed by famous animal rights activists circulated. Last year, all of these concerns fell upon deaf ears, leading us to question whether anyone was awake in officialdom. As a tsunami of concerns reached the Eurogroup, they wrote:-

"We are aware that a lot of unsubstantiated 'evidence' of perpetrated cruelties has been circulating during the last weeks and that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between reliable information and invented horrors".We suggested that the intergroup mount an investigation. Indeed, this is what they kindly did. Two visits to Romania [December 4, 2013 & 28th January 2014] were made by a delegation of the European Parliament. Their mission was to establish the truth and determine whether the contents of correspondence received from Romanian citizens was evidence-based. Correspondence alleged that dogs were being killed in front of children and this concerned the team.

Brief conclusions of their visits were as follows :

1. Romanian authorities had assured the delegates that canine population control was conducted according to European Standards. The delegation found that there was a major discrepancy between what the authorities had told them during their first visit and what they found on site during their second visit. 

2. Adoption from shelters was impossible due to an enormous amount of red tape/obstacles.

3. Dogs were left without food and water at some of the shelters visited.

4. There was a serious failure in the monitoring of shelter conditions. 

5. The whole procedure of catching, keeping and anesthetizing one dog is rewarded with €250. It would be much cheaper and efficient to use these resources for sterilization of these animals. Therefore, the number of animals would be reduced.

6. Romania would benefit from further transparency in dog shelters to ensure a higher level of compliance with European standards.

This has been the first ray of light from officialdom at the European Parliament.

Commenting on their visit, Dr. Aurelian Stefan D.V.M (who is the Veterinary Director [Romania Animal Rescue (RAR) /Animal Spay and Neuter International] based in Romania) stated :

"In my opinion, the EU should push Romania to develop a Master Plan to improve the animal welfare in Romania. Visiting shelters might help but that can be achieved by watching the footage on the web. Romania does not have a strategy and does not have cases of concrete measures such as fines or even jail time for animal abusers. In this respect, there is total silence and total neglect.Shelters are the most horrible places that will never be visitor-friendly and when you are allowed in, there is no difference between a Nazi extermination camp and a shelter like the Craiova shelter. Most of the dogs spayed in this town (over 7000) were spayed with help from RAR, and RAR also enabled local charities to get donations from our friends in the USA and Europe.

National strategy should include spay and neuter education, veterinary training and law enforcement. Of course, any other ideas are welcome. It is a simple strategy but such complex implementation that needs European help and pressure".

Occupy For Animal has started to ask whether Europe's Sleeping Beauty was finally opening her eyes. 

In its excellent summary, the animal rights campaign group also refers to a vital letter that was sent to the European Commission [EC] dated 23/1/2014 and supported by 211 organizations. The letter demonstrates clearly that the EC has the legal competence - and a legal duty - to intervene. The European Communications Team claims that the

"Romanian stray animal eradication program falls under EU-competence, but that it cannot be that the millions of EU-funds that Romania receives each year to eradicate rabies, would be used to fund such an inhumane and ineffective stray animal population strategy".This claim has been supported by Luxembourgian MEP Claude Turmes (Dèi Grèng) who has written to the Romanian ambassador in Luxembourg and formulated a parliamentary question. Similar questions have been asked by Finnish MEP Sirpa Pietikäinen (PPE). 

The EC has remained silent. Clearly putting pen to paper is proving extremely challenging. We ask whether the EC is able to determine the meaning of the word "action" in a period when the lights' and cameras' focus is on them. The world is waiting in anticipation to determine whether the Commission has any bite in the land of Count Vlad Dracula .

...and the EU Commission remains silent!

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