Russia: Bears to be used to train hunting dogs

Russia: Bears to be used to train hunting dogs
18.01.2018
Russia
Russia: Bears to be used to train hunting dogs
Wildlife

We had investigated in the heart of these camps where hunters train their dogs by throwing them at wild animals, including chained bears. These practices persist, and the Russian legislators refuse to act! Let’s act against this barbarism!

Within the hunting dog training camps, an abject, daily drama takes place. Bears, foxes, martens and badgers are captured and fed to Laïka dogs trained for hunting during competitions. These animals live are atrocious. They are confined in cages without shelter, trampling in their droppings, fed with pieces of bread. Suffering is imposed on them for months and months, for years, even for the most resistant, and when they are considered too worn out, hunters kill and eat them.

During the competitions, the bears are tied by the neck, they cannot flee. They suffer the repeated assaults of several dogs biting them without respite. The more the dog bites, the more points he gets. The show is gruesome. Bears try to get rid of their shackles, and when too weak, they refuse to face the dogs, humans pull them by the neck, or hit them with a stick, so that they straighten up.

Since our investigation, we have asked for the prohibition of these barbaric activities, from another era. The bill aimed at banning this appalling practice has just been rejected by the Russian parliament. The country’s conservatives proudly make it the symbol of the cultural difference between Western and Eastern countries. All hope, however, is not lost: this legislation can be enforced by the Russian head of state. We cannot remain silent in the face of so much barbarity!

Support the work of animal advocates in Russia by creating a global sound box, please sign the petition: sign the petition!

A mockery of democracy concerning the Wolf Plan!

A mockery of democracy concerning the Wolf Plan!
15.01.2018
A mockery of democracy concerning the Wolf Plan!
Wildlife

Each year, the Ministry of Ecology establishes a quota of wolves to be killed, this is the Wolf Plan. One Voice is against it and calls for an outright ban on the slaughter of wolves. These exciting animals are a wealth for biodiversity, they have their place in the mountains and forests of France.

On January 4^th, 2018, we were received at the Ministry of the Ecological and Solidarity Transition to talk about the Wolf Plan 2018-2023. We discovered with amazement that it was already drafted and adopted, even though neither the opinion of the National Council for the Protection of Wildlife nor the results of the public consultation had been made. And for good reason, the consultation had not even started yet! It is a sham democracy that is being played before us, and this is unfortunately not the first time that public consultation has been despised.

How can a plan that takes into account the opinion of specialists and the public be developed and adopted even before any working meetings and the results of the consultation? We are faced with the fait accompli, and we are told that we will still ask public opinion? Who’s laughing at who? More than ever, we will have to respond to this consultation to allow the text to be amended before final ratification.

These magnificent animals fulfil a fundamental role in the ecosystem. We could talk endlessly about the personality of wolves, the different roles they fill in the pack, knowledge that the elders pass on to their young. Mothers are so loving, they complement each other … We could add that the protected nature of their species should be taken into account … We could finish by saying that the wolves represent an asset towards green tourism which is rarely put forward.

The rural code itself recognizes that “living things and biodiversity are part of the common heritage of the nation.” – L.110-1 first paragraph. But all this would be purely argumentative, and to lose sight of the main thing: the mountains should not be the scene of killings, but remain protected areas of nature, with animals that have the right to live in peace.

For One Voice, it is imperative to study the impact of pastoral rights over the biodiversity. Indeed, nothing says that agricultural activities are a good for the ecology of our country and more widely of the planet, everything indicates, on the other hand the opposite: destruction of the fauna and the flora of the mountain, sending lambs and sheep to the slaughterhouse …

In short, the only positive point of our meeting, which is light years away from the respect and protection due to wolves, is that the new text will only allow breeders who have made herd protection arrangements to be compensated in case of proven attacks, according to a graduated conditionality. Previously, nothing was required.

The consultation is open from January 8th to 29th, 2018. Let’s mobilize!

Hunting: terror in our countryside

Hunting: terror in our countryside
04.01.2018
Hunting: terror in our countryside
Wildlife

The investigators of One Voice have infiltrated the hunting industry. Their images illustrate the terror and barbarism that draws attention to our campaigns during these merciless hunts. Support the proposed law to ban it by broadcasting our images!

A day of hunting with hounds

It could have been a day like any other, a quiet and tranquil surprise meeting at a bend in a path with a majestic stag or a shy deer. It could have been a moment of exception. But that day, it is the howls of humans and dogs that set the tone, who invade the forest. The hunted stag leaping with terror in his eyes, as he runs for his life. Behind him, a pack of dogs and riders pursue him in a hunt without respite. Desperate, he throws himself into the water. He will be caught and put to death before being devoured.

The reality of the hunt

The hunt is particularly cruel. The images from our survey should be seen by as many people as possible. The reality of what is known as a hobby for some is not only terror for the animal being pursued but also for all the other animals of the forests that are hiding, panicked by the pack and the cries of the pursuing hunters. The residents also suffer the consequences. News has been regularly witnessed.

A law to ban the hunt

A law proposed on November 22nd by 14 senators would make hunting illegal as of June 1, 2018, with a fine of 15000 euros and one year imprisonment for offenders. But the validation process is long. To support this request, help us spread the images of our survey to as many people as possible. We must put an end to this barbaric practice!

For Maya, the Prefect has responded (largely) to our requests

For Maya, the Prefect has responded (largely) to our requests
02.01.2018
Lot-et-Garonne For Maya, the Prefect has responded (largely) to our requests
Wildlife

At the end of November, we invited the circus and their lawyer to look at another way out of this situation, by proposing to buy Maya from them, to save her in another way than by the legal one.

No response back from them except perhaps from legal threats. The circus does not obviously seek anything for the well-being of this elephant! We would have praised their generosity, but no, they seem to be ready to just let her die slowly.

We received in the wake of these proceedings, an “urgent summons” demanding the withdrawal of any communication defending Maya on our online media platforms, papers, etc., and for an apology from us!

At the same time, the Prefect of Lot-et-Garonne had received the advice from many international experts that we had recently put together, as well as the two letters from leading French institutions for veterinarians; and she has also heard public opinion expressed through our mobilizations at every moment (the gatherings, the signatures of the petition #JusticePourMaya, and more generally by your presence on social network sites that are on our side). The parallel action of these two components had probably played a major role in the Prefect’s decision to order a new veterinary inspection.

We had written to her to ask her to take into account certain aspects of this inspection, and by the answer she gave us, it seems that we have been heard!

Given the legal situation, it is unfortunately impossible for us to say more. Even if our frustration and our impatience to all of this is strong, and that Maya is not yet free, we see this as a great step forward!