France-Turkey: the unbearable ordeal of exported cows

France-Turkey: the unbearable ordeal of exported cows
27.09.2016
Europe
France-Turkey: the unbearable ordeal of exported cow
Domestic animals

The CIWF has just released shocking footage from its investigation into the transport of cattle from Europe to Turkey. France, a major player in this trade, must stop participating in it and ban this cruel practice, and we must rethink our consumption habits to adopt a cruelty-free lifestyle.

They are thirsty; they lick the bars of the trucks. They are hungry. They eat their own feces. They are full-term and give birth to a baby, which is immediately taken away. They are exhausted and they die there, in the trucks. This is the Turkish border. Some were born in France; the others come from elsewhere in Europe. Their ordeal is indescribable; the images are unbearable.

The CIWF Investigation

CIWF is a partner organization of One Voice. Its partners—Tierschutzbund Zurich, Animal Welfare Foundation, and Eyes on Animals—conducted an investigation in Kapikule, on the border between Bulgaria and Turkey, last June as part of an inquiry that began in 2010. Of the 200 trucks that passed through, 109 were inspected. The cattle had been confined there for several days, in direct sunlight, without clean water or food. The temperature exceeded 38°C inside the vehicles, where the smell of ammonia mingled with that of the carcasses. Because under these conditions, not all of them survive. Five calves were born there. One of them was delivered by cesarean section: his mother was cut open on the spot, in the street. He was already dead. She, exhausted, her belly still open, was unable to climb back into the trailer. So she was slaughtered while fully conscious. Next to the truck.

France is guilty

France’s involvement in this major scandal is far from trivial. France was the leading exporter of live animals to Turkey in 2015. The number of animals exported subsequently declined due to the bluetongue epidemic, but agreements are currently being negotiated to increase exports once again. It is also worth noting that over the course of the six-year investigation, 350 trucks transporting sheep and cattle were inspected. Of these, 89% of those originating from France were in violation of European legislation. And the French and European authorities have been aware of this situation for a long time!

We must say stop!

In the face of this horror that has already gone on far too long, One Voice supports the request made by CIWF to Stéphane Le Foll to halt all exports of live animals to Turkey. You too can take action by sending him a petition on the ministry’s dedicated page.

And help us change consumer habits—veganism is no longer a utopia! Because these cows belong to the dairy industry—there’s no doubt about it. Treated as production machines until the very end, and their calves as byproducts. So, to support the shift toward a plant-based diet, visit Vegan Pratique!

Photo credit: www.AWF-TSB.org & Eyes on Animals

Endless violence

Endless violence
Bretagne
Endless violence
Domestic animals

It was thanks to its whistleblowers that Cellule Zoé learned of this case. At this farm in Brittany, more than 200 pigs are kept in appalling conditions. Worse still, they serve as a vent for a violent farmer.

In indoor pens, pigs are kept locked up in the dark. They have no water, no food, and no bedding. There are too many of them, crammed together in the mud. Some are suffocating.

In outdoor pens, where they should only stay long enough to eat, pregnant sows are locked up for hours. On the concrete, without water and regardless of the weather—blazing sun or pouring rain—they must wait for him to remember they exist.

Let’s admit that sometimes, however, it’s better to avoid him. Because this farmer beats—the piglets, the sows… He beats them with a club until blood flows. He beats them despite their screams. He often beats them to death. But the cumbersome corpses, the suspicious corpses—the rendering plant doesn’t see them. Those, the farmer abandons in the wild…

His wife managed to escape with the dog—for here, once again, the bond reveals itself in all its horror. But she managed, in the end, to survive his violence, to escape. However, for his other innocent victims, it is up to One Voice to act. A complaint has already been filed. The proceedings are underway. We must put an end to their suffering and prevent this breeder from harming anyone again! We are fighting for that. We are fighting for them.

A new case of the Link between all violence

A new case of the Link between all violence
23.08.2016
A new case of the Link between all violence
Domestic animals

Morbihan (56) – The wife of the farmer ran away. She did not hesitate to take a stand against her brutal husband, because now she is safe from his violence, she knows what is happening on the farm. She denounces the blows from iron bars or clubs that unceremoniously fall on piglets and sows’ in her testimony, she mentions that the breeder goes so far as to plant his fingers in the eyes of the animals, beating them until they bleed. The most ill-fated corpses will not reach the abattoir, who themselves could raise the alarm. They will be discreetly abandoned in the countryside. One Voice filed a complaint  to ensure that the 200 pigs from the farm were kept safe.

If there is still a need to exemplify the link between animal abuse and violence against humans, here is a new individual case that will
convince. The Zoe cell, responsible for investigations within the One Voice association, was alerted before the summer of an untenable situation. The investigations are without appeal. The wife complained of domestic violence, but she was worried about the fate of the pigs of the farm, delivered to the free will of the master of the place.

Everyone is king at home, until mistreatment, punishable by law, requires outside intervention. The story of the fugitive wife and initial findings of investigation on the conditions of detention of animals have led One Voice to file a complaint and to mobilize around such unworthy behaviour.

Set in a perimeter without much maintenance, the buildings are in rough blocks, with tin roofs. These primary boxes have neither light nor litter, and the grated area much smaller than the mud where the piglets amass in number. Some suffocate, all dirty, either nervous or have given up. Pregnant sows remain enclosed in metal stalls, exposed without water in full sunlight, frothy lips, dehydrated. They will be in the wind or driving rain for hours until the farmer remembers them. A spell totally inappropriate for animals sensitive to climatic conditions, like the cleanliness of the buildings they occupy.

The farmer does not care. His cruelty is exercised freely. It is to be feared that the departure of his wife accentuates the resentment towards the animals under his responsibility. Such conditions are unacceptable, regardless of the economic context.

One Voice, an association committed since 1995 in the defence of the animal cause, has decided to make a complaint so that first protective measures are taken before definitive replacement of the pigs away from the farmer. This complaint, so-called duplicates with that of the battered wife, was initially classified without consequences. A second complaint was therefore lodged emphasizing these new elements, so that the authorities intervene urgently. A petition also circulates on the website and the social networks of the association.

Muriel Arnal, president-founder of One Voice, justifies the will of action of her association: « The suffering inflicted daily on defenceless animals is intolerable to us. When it is the work of violent individuals who are also guilty of mistreatment of other humans, which is generally the case with such owners, we do not sit idly by and watch. I hope that they will be put out of harm’s way and that we will quickly find a permanent solution for his pigs that we forget that they are indeed sentient beings. »

Press
contact, Muriel Arnal

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« Animals, are not products », a global mobilization

“Animals, are not products”, a global mobilization
16.08.2016
Monde
“Animals, are not products”, a global mobilization
Domestic animals

Twenty years ago, on August 29, 1996, 67,488 sheep perished at sea when the cargo ship carrying them caught fire. To mark this tragic anniversary, One Voice is partnering with CIWF for its global day of action: “Animals, Not Commodities.”

The little ewe stares wide-eyed into the dim light

She is afraid; the ship’s slow rocking is making her seasick. It has been a long time since her flock left the lush pastures of Australia. After two days of an exhausting truck ride, the men forced her aboard the gigantic cargo ship with electric prods.

Now, her fleece is covered in feces and urine dripping from the ceiling.

Up above, thousands of other sheep are crammed together in the open air beneath the gusts of sea foam. The ewe stands in one of the lower holds, where the ammonia-laden air is suffocating her and the ceiling is so low that she must keep her head down. It’s impossible to lie down: there are too many sheep around her. The rolling of the ship sweeps them against one another on the damp floor, where the trampled corpses of the weakest and the sea-water-soaked feed pellets that no one wants to eat lie scattered. She is thirsty, for they are rarely given water, despite the increasingly oppressive heat.

One morning, as the overloaded ship slowly approaches the Seychelles under a blazing sun, an explosion rings out in the engine room. Human screams and millions of terrified bleats rise up from all sides. The acrid smell of diesel and burnt flesh reaches the ewe’s nostrils along with the black smoke and flames. Panic breaks out. Under the pressure, a door slams shut. The sheep rush onto the burning deck. A huge crowd is already thronging there, turning in all directions. Some end up throwing themselves overboard. The fire devours the ship’s eight decks; fuel tanks explode, sending burning debris flying. The ewe’s fleece is on fire. She, too, plunges into the ocean, where the sharks await.

In the distance, the Mineral Century carries fifty-five crew members safe and sound. No one, however, has bothered to save a single one of those sheep swimming around the burning wreck.

This happened twenty years ago

On August 29, 1996, the MV UNICEB, a 20,884-ton cargo ship, caught fire on the sixth day of its voyage from Australia to Jordan. Abandoned in the middle of the Indian Ocean, the 67,488 sheep met a horrific death, either by fire or by drowning.

Twenty years later, nothing has changed. Pigs, cows, calves, and sheep are still being shipped by the millions from their places of birth to distant destinations. When a shipwreck or fire doesn’t kill them all, epidemics, hunger, cold, and exhaustion claim their share of casualties among the herds of animals on board. Finally, once they arrive at their destination, these sheep—most of which are destined for countries in the Middle East—are slaughtered without stunning, sometimes even on the unloading dock.

To mark the 20th anniversary of this disaster, CIWF is organizing the first Global Day of Action against Long-Distance Transport on Monday, August 29, 2016. One Voice and 38 other organizations from around the world are partners in this event. It is urgent that the transport of animals be rethought. Animals are not commodities, but sentient and sensitive living beings! We must reconsider how we treat them.

To support our cause, you can participate in one of the organized actions and write to Mr. Phil Hogan, European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, to ask him to end animal exports outside the European Union:

Commission Européenne
M. Phil Hogan
Rue de la Loi / Wetstraat 200
1049 Bruxelles
Belgique