News Archive - Page 95 of 148

Micha died on the 12th November

Micha died on the 12th November
12.11.2019
Micha died on the 12th November

After a few days’ antibiotics were discontinued to see if he could regain his strength by himself, Micha’s health then deteriorated sharply. He would have to be anesthetized to undergo surgery and tests. Several days were necessary before the Tanière could recive this permission…Micha never woke up. He had tumours everywhere, even in his brain.

At the beginning of September, we had already denounced the conditions of extreme misery in which he and his companions were living in at their winter quarters of the Poliakov’s, in Loir-et-Che. The Minister of Ecology, Élisabeth Borne, had then discovered like the rest of the public that his paws were infested with maggots, his breathing was difficult and then she chose to intervene on his behalf.

Micha left behind him Bony and Glasha, whose suffering is evident, probably less glaring but equally serious, and Mina the little monkey and several parrots, horses and a dromedary, the of which has just died…

Even so, he still lived a real bears life be it only for a few weeks or so, a real bear’s life, eating until he was full, having recovered weight and a well-tempered character. All this after suffering horribly for hours, days, weeks, months, years…

But for the officials, the Prefect, the veterinarian and trainers, who have for too long permitted that no improvement takes place for the animals of the Poliakov’s, will they eventually be held accountable! Several law suits are ongoing, including one on November 28th, we will be facing the Prefect of Loir-et-Cher Administrative Court in Orleans.

For twenty years we have been demanding the liberation of the Poliakov’s bears. For almost two months we have been demanding that Bony, Glasha and the other animals are released from their infamous jails. For twenty years we have been calling for the cessation of the exploitation of animals in circuses. How many more deaths will there be before the publication of a ministerial decree prohibiting this medieval practice ?

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Micha, Bony, Glasha: The mistreatment continues in circuses!

Micha, Bony, Glasha: The mistreatment continues in circuses!
09.11.2019
France
Micha, Bony, Glasha: The mistreatment continues in circuses!
Exploitation for shows

Micha, is still in a critical condition and requires urgent care. Bony and Glasha are being ignored by the public authorities, despite of their state of health and conditions of detention. As we launch emergency procedures for them, the Prefect conveniently requests silence from the zoo-sanctuary. Do the authorities perceive the PR disaster that is coming after turning a blind eye for so many years? For Bony, Glasha and Micha, we will not be silent!

After regaining forty kilos and returning to a state of healthiness from that of a previously unhealthy state, Micha’s condition has become very concerning. In recent days, he has required emergency attention. In order to be able to help him, the zoo-sanctuary has had to beg for permission from the Poliakov’s to treat the bear-because yes, the torturous couple still own Micha!

A code of silence from the public authorities

In the online press release and the open letter Published by the prefecture three days after the filing of our appeal against it, the authorities boast of having obtained the consent from the owners, while expressly demanding that Micha’s condition be kept silent. Would the Prefecture try to put a leaden weight upon what these three bears have already endured? This code of silence around Micha’s health worries us about the survival of Bony and Glasha lingering in the depths of their infamous jails.

These outlaw trainers, still protected

During the ten years that Bony, Glasha and Micha were locked in the 2 m² cages of a circus truck, the authorities closed their eyes. Then they continued to keep their eyes closed when the bears found themselves locked in dungeons in disgusting conditions, beaten on all sides by the wind, exposed to diseases, etc. And this has been going on for 7 years. How can these trainers be so well protected? How can we treat these animals with such impunity?

Festival des Arts du Cirque 2005, Micha, Glasha et Bony filmés dans les cages du camion où ils vivaient. En 2012, ils seront transférés dans les geôles des Poliakov où sont encore Glasha et Bony. Quand auront-ils enfin le droit de recevoir soins et attention?! #CirquesSansAnimaux pic.twitter.com/IccJ3M7ab9

— One Voice (@onevoiceanimal) October 13, 2019

Our attack, has triggered a response from the Prefect

With this announcement, would the Prefecture hope to disarm those who defend Micha, Bony and Glasha?

A few days before its publication, Tuesday, November 5^th 2019, we filed a suite on the merits for the excess of power, against its inertia, its poor appreciation of the situation, and its silence in the face of our requests for the last two months.

Friday, November 8th, 2019, we also filed an urgent suspension:

to have the trainer’s certificate of competence withdrawn,
cancel their authorization to open
and to seize Bony, Glasha and the others animals from the clutches of the Poliakov’s.

Attempt to justify the unjustifiable

No, Mr Prefect, until the month of September all was not well! Maggots do not just appear in a matter of a few days in a living being, nor does serious malnutrition and nor does the greenish traces seen in the bottom of the feeding troughs. There is also the matter of rats in the dungeons and in the enclosure. How is it that the Poliakov’s were able to drag poor Micha into a performance with a certificate from a vet? (We question this horse vet! – in front of the Council of Order).

In conclusion, the Poliakov’s only allow the care of their animals when they are absolutely obliged to do so. The Prefecture does not wish for this mistreatment to be known. Also, since we have to get there…, our lawsuits continue on to get the truth and to secure the rescue of the other animals.

The hearing of our interim-suspension against the inaction of the Prefect will take place on November 28th at the Administrative Court of Orleans.

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Dog training: The solidarity of hundreds of dog trainers

Dog training: The solidarity of hundreds of dog trainers
09.11.2019
France
Dog training: The solidarity of hundreds of dog trainers
Domestic animals

For these hundreds of professionals, our investigation into dog training and the violent techniques used in this type of education is a relief for them. Professional trainers join with us to denounce « these heinous acts described and proven by (our) videos », encouraging us to persevere in our actions! They oppose those who have attacked us in court: they do not represent these people. Their solidarity touches our hearts and strengthens our determination to help the dogs who suffer at the hands of these violent dog trainers.

Contrary to the claims of the thirty or so trainers who have brought us to court, we have not been denounced by the dog training world, rather the opposite “the integrity of real professionals”. As proof, the solidarity of three hundred and fifty-seven professionals (to date) who along with individuals have been moved by our undercover investigation. These people were able to have their say, those who speak very rarely in public.

Enough is enough!

Several recent publications by those who claim to be spokespersons on social networks have put light to the powder keg. Those in the dog training industry and who have nothing to hide support us and want to say it loud and clear: they do not feel » unfairly criticize » or « accused » by our investigations. On the contrary, they have mixed feelings, our survey has never questioned the practices or values of dog educators as a whole, far from what has been targeted.

United against the violence!

To put an end to these barbaric methods, we will always call for a ban on training dogs to bite and the training of so-called defence dogs, transforming them into weapons by means of violent training methods. We repeat, every dog deserves to live in a loving home. A good communication and complicity between human and dog cannot be based on shouting, hitting and nor the pain caused by collars with sharp spikes or collars that discharge electric shocks… And in this venture, we are all united, associations, professionals and individuals, against a minority who practice this harmful method of training towards our companions of more than 30,000 years, dogs!

Wolves, the prey of the French State

Wolves, the prey of the French State
08.11.2019
France
Wolves, the prey of the French State
Wildlife

In politics, if you want to be credible, you have to be concerned with consistency. Difficult for the Ministry of Ecology to assume the persecution of a protected species. So, in order not to burn their fingers on sensitive material, they delegate their management, they strengthen the skills of a Prefect, as though they pass on a hot potato. But when an association like ours takes offense, it is forced to show its true face and recognize its position… Yes, in France, the massacre of wolves is carried out with the consent of government officials who are supposed to defend them!

Since the wolf population has painfully reached the threshold of 500 individuals, more and more our country seems not to care about its role in protection, but to work to decimate it.

From speeches to action, the big gap

Officially, however, the government is keeping up with the hype. They say they feel concerned about the decline in the biodiversity and the preservation of the wildlife. They claim to encourage cohabitation between wolves and humans… But it is with guns that he settles the question! Because in reality, it is by legitimizing the large-scale massacres of wild canids that the leaders put breeders and hunters in their pockets.

It’s not me, it’s someone else

To avoid having too much blood of a species–especially one who is protected-on their hands, and to be caught in the act of contradiction, the central power has found the parade… By the decree of September 12^th 2018, it designated a Prefect to coordinate the national wolf action plan. Until December 31^st 2023, it will be the Prefect of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, who « drives and coordinates the action of the Prefects of all the departments concerned by the national action plan on wolves for the implementation of the said plan”. Among other prerogatives, the magistrate was given unusual skills. He can « specify » the conditions for applying the decrees of the ministers responsible for ecology and agriculture. More prosaically, it is empowered to make exceptions to measures to protect species of wild fauna and flora. And decide, in this case, to joyfully increase the rate of « removal » of wolves, within the « limit » of 2% of the average size of their population estimated annually. But why stop there? Beyond this threshold, shootings called « simple defence », have been approved by the Prefects of the departments and are still possible! A wolf around? Hunters are called to the rescue! Let us recognize that this delegation of the “license to kill”, this dilution of responsibilities at all levels of the state apparatus, opens the door to the worst abuses… Without anyone-and this is the whole perversity of the system-being directly incriminated.

Recourse to the State Council

In November 2018, by a gracious appeal, we called on the Prime Minister to cancel his decree of September 12^th. Our request having remained literally a dead letter, we seized the State Council in March 2019. For the moment, the latter has not yet been decided. But we already know that the Ministry of Ecological and Inclusive Transition is neither on our side or that of the of wolves. On October 7^th, he sent a letter to the President of the Council asking him to reject our request. Thus, even the institution is supposed to be officially in charge of protecting the nature in our country, though it prefers to submit to the demands of farmers and hunters! Rather than establishing an alternative and an ethical solution to pastoral problems, rather than giving back their full place to these marvellous and sentient beings whose ancestors we have already persecuted, it lets lobbies take hold of the subject, put pressure on local elected officials (and in turn on state representatives) to spread slander!

Fanaticism and obscurantism

The return of wolves to France has raised deeply archaic fears. Even if, God and devil are not as much invited to the debate as in medieval times, the great predators find themselves as formerly hunted down on all sides, victims of terrible prejudices born of simple ignorance or skilfully maintained by those who want their skin. Treated like “monsters”, “game” or just like bulky competitors, they fall one after the other. These wolves, who have barely risen from the ashes, are dying again on the earth where, however, their ancestors and ours knew how to live together in peace, in the distant past… It was a very long time ago, during Prehistory. Long before Homo sapiens, under the influence of frenzied beliefs, believed himself one day to be the king of « Creation » and suddenly saw in the eyes of the wolf, his brother from a yester year, the look of the « Evil one » in his eyes. Do we want to once again stray from the path of wisdom? Do we really want to exterminate everything that reminds us of our wild origins and our own animality? The French government can always argue that 500 individuals are enough to make a species viable, we know, as well as scientists, that this is not the case. In fact, the Court of Justice of the European Union has just extended the precautionary principle to protected species. Doubt must therefore benefit them! Above all, like everyone else, the right to exist.

Until this hearing

While waiting to be at the State Council to defend them, we will in November 2019 be in these places:

11/14/2019 at the Lyon administrative court for the appeal against the merits against the prefect of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region who had assumed, last year, the right to increase the ceiling by three wolves annual slaughter,

11/19/2019 at the Lyon Court of Appeal against the Prefect of Savoy who appealed the decision of the Grenoble administrative court to have declared illegal his decree of September 10, 2015. This judgment had saved three wolves out of the 6 planned to be shot.

Dog training: the law of the strongest?

Dog training: the law of the strongest?
06.11.2019
France
Dog training: the law of the strongest?
Domestic animals

We are to be sued by the High Court of Valencia for having, it is said, « tainted the entirety of a profession » by denouncing some of the methods that are used in dog training circles, images and testimonies to support.

They had asked for a postponement of the hearing, we did not oppose it, it was up to the court to decide.

On November 5^th, the President of the 1st Chamber categorically opposed any dismissal, even in the short term, believing that the case was in good condition. There was therefore no argument. The matter was put under deliberation ration on January 14^th 2020.

The survey dates back to 2014-2017. Several reported cases have led our investigators to infiltrate dog training centres. They brought back facts, images and statements that are spine chilling.

A report, supported by the analysis of a behaviourist veterinarian, and articles followed, reporting unprecedented brutality against dogs, committed in front of children (a fine example of education). We have produced scientific studies on the damage that can result from such activities, which psychologically break individuals to subject them to the law of the « master ».

For having presented these facts, around thirty professionals are asking us today for more than 170,000 euros for « collective denigration ».

Freedom of expression!

We are accused of misinformation when raw facts were filmed and we have also highlighted the training centres of this profession practicing methods of care, for balanced dogs and not to be traumatized, those who are willingly to learn are abandoned if they do not obey the finger and the eye.

By underlining the Link, this scientifically substantiated relationship between violence committed against animals and that against humans in the vicinity, we have highlighted the fact that brutality is neither an end in itself nor as animal psychology, but that it can have serious consequences. This remains visibly incomprehensible to many canine educators…

A question of respect above all

If the investigations of the Zoé Cell, our ear on the ground against cruelty, produced scenes of maltreatment proven in various canine clubs, whose fault is it? One Voice has only denounced a pedagogy based on training and brutality, highlighting its shortcomings and consequences while stressing that other canine education methods, ethical and sustainable, exist…

As a non-violent association committed for 25 years in the respect of all animals, we are proud to have denounced practices unworthy of fear of seeing them become widespread. We repeat: there is a positive and non-violent education of dogs provided by professionals. Many dogs are affected and we are talking about respect for others. We hope for the foresight of justice. Otherwise all excesses are allowed, the debate is no longer public and no progress is possible.

Justice for Cersei

Justice for Cersei
04.11.2019
Bouches-du-Rhône Justice for Cersei
Wildlife

An animal obviously trafficked, Cersei was taken from her mother in her early weeks of life. This little lioness was found in great distress by customs officials, on the premises of a Marseille garage, a year ago. Taken care of quickly, she was able to be saved. How many wild beasts, often born in circuses, are still regularly victims of this trade? The culprits must be condemned! For Cersei, we will be present at the hearing November 4th.

Cersei was in a deplorable state when seized by the customs services in October 2018. Locked in the premises of a Marseille car garage, the little lioness – only a few weeks old and therefore not weaned – showed multiple signs of abuse. Her almost hairless body revealed scarlet skin, the result of acute inflammation. With a very swollen belly and eyes with corneal ulcers, this poor little girl was sweating in fear and pain. Thanks to the intervention of the authorities, she was first entrusted to the Marseille SPA, then transferred by the gendarmes to the Tonga Terre d’Accueil association, where it received care for a year. Recently, she was taken by plane that was organized by the Born Free Foundation to a sanctuary in South Africa. Cersei is now out of danger!

The tragic fate of lion cubs

This happy outcome should not obscure the tragedy of the case. What was Cersei doing in the hands of an individual? Torn from her mother, certainly the captive of a circus where births are not followed up by the authorities. We immediately lodged a complaint on her behalf in October 2018. Her jailer is a well-known individual with the police force and has a very rich record. He was notably condemned for acts of robbery with a weapon and the kidnapping of his own daughter, which earned him a stay in prison! And there is no lack of assurance here. During the hearings, the garage owner embarked on explanations that were full of words but vague, even going so far as to consider himself as the savior of Cersei!

Protect the big cats from traffic

We have brought a civil action against this man for the acts of detention of a protected species without authorization, as well as for the detention of specimens classified as wild species threatened with extinction. The hearing will take place this Monday, November 4^th 2019 at 8:30 a.m. at the Tribunal de Grande Instance in Marseille. We hope that light will be shed on the origins of Cersei who is a sanctuary, unlike his mother…

Help for captive wildlife!

On October 8^th 2018, a new decree had officially attempted to specify the conditions for keeping non-domestic animals. But the rules were still far too vague! They did not close the door on the worst trafficking of all because they only supervised the detention of « adult » individuals.

Thus, young animals who have not yet reached reproductive age were not protected by the law and their « owners » could do things that were uncontrolled! Anyone wishing to acquire a baby elephant or furnish their living room with a baby hippopotamus did not need to burden themselves with prior authorization and a certificate of competence or even a simple declaration.

We therefore petitioned a civil action for excess of power against this order in December 2018, followed by an interim measure in suspension. The summary judge of the Council of the State heard us on January 23rd and it is a magnificent victory!

The last belugas in a whale prison

The last belugas in a whale prison
02.11.2019
The last belugas in a whale prison

One Voice leads a nonviolent fight to defend animal rights and respect all life forms. The organization operates independently and is thus free to speak and act freely.

The last 50 belugas in a whale prison will soon leave their floating enclosures in Srednyaya Bay, even if their « owners » have tried to sell them to Chinese parks at the end. Embarking on two ships, they should be released in the Sea of Japan, in the middle of nowhere.

They
will escape the jaws of the new winter ice as well as a slow death at
the bottom of some Chinese pool in a dolphinarium, but their fate
causes the most serious concerns.
If the release of the 10 captive orcas was taken more seriously, we
would know more about the white whales, but we don’t. They have
since last June already been put back into the sea. More or less they
were released at the place of their capture, in Sakhalin Bay.

Nothing better than this for the final contingent of 50 belugas.

Packed
into dirty water within tiny containers in groups of five or six
individuals, they will be abandoned nearly a thousand kilometres from
their homeland.
It
is indeed in the bay of Uspeniya that the two vessels of the agency
VNIRO will throw them overboard like bulky packets, without satellite
beacon or any to track them, and without the presence of an
independent observer, refused by VNIRO.
What
will become of these juvenile belugas, many of which were taken from
their mothers when they were barely weaned and who are therefore
deprived of the experience necessary to survive in the wild? They
will be able to feed themselves, of course, because fish are abundant
in the Sea of Japan. But this region is also infested with North
Korean poachers who deploy their driftnets there, despite the
frequent raids by Russian border guards. A fate worse than death
awaits any beluga whales trapped in these nets!

No
chance for these ex-detainees to ever find their way back to the
Okhotsk Sea, where they come from. And very little chance of
encountering free belugas, because they only cross the bay of
Uspeniya in winter, during their migration to the north.

Why did they condemn them to such cruel conditions of transport, to such a botched release?

The
agency VNIRO says it’s because of the autumn storms that blocked
the road to Sakhalin.
But also because belugas do not have the
same prestige or the same market value as orcas. Russia has been
selling them at low prices to China for decades, where marine parks
have sprung up like poisonous mushrooms.
For decades, they have
been transported from one corner of Russia to the other in the bottom
of old dilapidated trucks, to amuse the spectators of a traveling
dolphinarium.
They will never know that these funny white clowns
when they spit water or are ridden by a hilarious trainer, actually
live in peaceful and complex societies, endowed with a vocal
repertoire of incredible richness, traditions passed down from
generation to generation and made up of loving families united for
life.
Less than 4,000 wild belugas remain in the icy waters of
the Russian Far East. And already 210 are languishing in Chinese
jails alone and no one knows how many more in Japan, Turkey or even
Russia.

So yes, this final evacuation carried out without a witness is a scandal!

Because
if Vladimir Putin’s orders were indeed carried out, as with regret
and dragging of the feet, it will undoubtedly be at the price of many
victims whose corpses will sink off and will never be found.
Now
the whale prison pens have to remain empty forever.
Russia
must finally give up catching orcas and belugas, it is the last
country in the world to still practice this, and strict and clear
laws must compel it! By supporting international experts and
courageous local associations active in the field, One Voice will do
everything in its power to try to convince them.

VNIRO
(Russian Federal Institute for Research on Fisheries and
Oceanography): research organization created more than 135 years ago
to scientifically support Russia’s activity in the field of fisheries
management, the coordination of the implementing fisheries research
plans and programs.

Chatipi: One Voice’s program for homeless cats!

Chatipi: One Voice’s program for homeless cats!
24.10.2019
Chatipi: One Voice’s program for homeless cats!

Because the suffering of homeless cats has no boundaries and because their numbers continue to grow One Voice created Chatipi. A simple, solid and effective response.

Because the suffering of homeless cats has no boundaries and because their numbers continue to grow One Voice created Chatipi. A simple, solid and effective response, which has been integrated into its global campaign against strays! The inauguration of the new Chatipi will take place in Veix on Saturday October 26th at 10 am in the presence of Sylvie Degery, Mayor of Veix, Muriel Arnal President-founder of One Voice and the Vice-President of the Departmental Council of Corrèze.

Stays
account for more than 11 million cats on the streets, they suffer
hunger, thirst, diseases, bad weather and violence. A figure that
continues to grow despite the sporadic use of sterilization programs
undertaken here and there. The shelters are overflowing and the
situation gets worse from year to year! It was in response to the
suffering of homeless cats that One Voice created Chatipi.

The mayor is legally responsible for the stray cats in his community

One
Voice’s Chatipi program is part of itscampaign to call for a national emergency plan for stray cats. It is an aid, offered to the
mayors, because it is them who are legally responsible for the
management of stray cats in their community. The current regulations
clearly stipulate that sterilization and releasing are to be
preferred than that of « euthanasia », which in fact is
considered as slaughter and is denounced by One Voice. This is the
only possible solution, because it is both ethical and effective …

Chatipi: genuine help for municipalities

Following
the pilot project carried out in 2013, Chatipi has been redesigned so
that it can be easily established wherever homeless cats need
shelter. The program assists and offers mayors the ability to meet
their legal obligations to protect strays by helping them create a
place for these cats to live.
Sterilized
and released cats must be able to protect themselves from bad weather
and violence, to be able to feed, watered and benefit from health
monitoring.

These
reception centres, which can be set up in a public area, will be both
an opportunity to respect them better and generate social ties
between the inhabitants of the municipality. This will also make cats
known, thanks to the online documentation made available by One Voice.

Do
you want to help us develop Chatipi in your municipality? Contact us !
And help homeless cats, you can also make a donation …

A court hearing against the Prefect of the Drôme to release Jumbo!

A court hearing against the Prefect of the Drôme to release Jumbo!
22.10.2019
Drôme
A court hearing against the Prefect of the Drôme to release Jumbo!
Exploitation for shows

A new hearing at the Administrative Court of Grenoble for Jumbo. It will be held on October 29th as part of our appeal against the Prefecture of Drôme. Rather than facing up to the reality of a hippopotamus being mistreated the Prefecture prefers to hide his face.

It is with the upmost patience that we continue our fight for Jumbo. On October 29^th, we will be at the Administrative Court of Grenoble to denounce once again the living conditions of this hippopotamus, sequestered by the Muller circus and the unacceptable sit back and do-nothing attitude of the administrative authorities vis-à-vis its torturers.

A new appeal against the prefecture of Drôme

Already two years have passed while we have waited for this hearing… they now intervene following our appeal, going back to 2017, an affair which has opposed us from the beginning, the Prefecture of the Drôme being the biggest hindrance. For the record, we filed a law suit against this institution for « excess of authority » after it refused to place Jumbo into a sanctuary, despite flagrant evidence of abuse that we have presented. Our proof is damning… It shows that the most basic needs of this hippopotamus, sequestered for 30 years now, are not respected and that his life, one that is deprived of water, is a living hell.

Inspections and illusions

But the Prefecture has preferred to hide behind inspection reports not mentioning any particular problems. It must be said that the visits by veterinarians are usually announced or even made at the request of the circus when it suits them! An inspector told Le Point magazine in 2017 that she had not performed a clinical examination of Jumbo, that she had not carried out a clinical examination of Jumbo, that she had not even touched him at the time when the hippos « owners » had urged her to establish a health status of the animal! She also acknowledged that she could not know if the “conditions were satisfactory” she had observed where the circus had parked up in the cities where the touring show was performing… We suspect that in honouring the planned visits of the veterinarian, the Muller circus had for once observed decorum and deployed all its resources to persuade the outcome of the inspection…

On the side of reality

On our side, we followed Jumbo tracing every movement of the circus. And we know the realities of his ordeal. Our investigations, the reports from our experts, attest to his immense distress. As for his torturers, we have had many opportunities to have witnessed first-hand their violence, both verbal and physical, from those who do not think as us: our teams have largely paid the price. Witness the screenshots on their Facebook page, included in the article of the newspaper Le Point, where we see their high degree of reflection and argumentation… It is of upmost urgency that Jumbo be removed from their clutches; his survival is at stake. In the wake of our appeal against the Prefecture of October 29^th to the administrative court of Grenoble, the lawsuit we filed against the circus Muller for ill-treatment – the first of its kind in France – will be held a month later in Valencia.

Please continue to support our action for Jumbo by signing our petition !

Laboratory of Pharmacology and Toxicology (LPT): Hell exists

Laboratory of Pharmacology and Toxicology (LPT): Hell exists
15.10.2019
European Union
Laboratory of Pharmacology and Toxicology (LPT): Hell exists
Animal testing

The German NGO Soko Tierschutz lifts the veil behind the scenes at the Laboratory of Pharmacology and Toxicology (LPT). An appalling return to an investigation into animal experiments which are performed out of sight, in defiance of the law and of all humanity. With Cruelty Free International, we call for the closure of this establishment and the abolition of cruel, unnecessary and outdated tests!

Image: SOKO Tierschutz/Cruelty Free International

Translucent pipettes, white coats, bluish protective masks, examination gloves and matching turquoise eyes… The internet showcase of the Laboratory of Pharmacology and Toxicology (LPT) in Germany, shines with cleanliness and for good reason. This organization, which claims excellence in the field of toxicological research, works for pharmaceutical, industrial and agrochemical companies around the world in order to meet the requirements of governments and regulatory authorities. So, it is better not to have dirty hands.

Please note, the images are particularly shocking.

The lab of horrors

But this sanitized atmosphere actually turns out to be a smoke screen. Which camouflages abominable atrocities. The NGO Soko Tierschutz and our partner Cruelty Free International managed to infiltrate the laboratory. The images they bring back are unbearable. Goodbye immaculate walls and mattresses, here blood is spurting from all sides. That of the monkeys, cats, dogs and rabbits who are massacred with the soul aim to provide statistics to the researchers. Toxicity tests involve poisoning animals, this is how scientists hope to determine how much a chemical or drug can cause serious harm, and what the « safe » dosage for humans would be. Subject to injections, forced to eat or inhale increasing amounts of harmful substances, guinea pigs are victims of vomiting, internal bleeding, respiratory distress, fever, weight loss, lethargy, skin problems or organic insufficiency before dying. No aesthetic, no pain relief is provided. It is in terror, the screams and appalling suffering that they agonize and/or die, alone, deep in their dungeons.

Tormented for nothing

As in December 2014, we are relaying this survey from our partners, in order to once again denounce what is happening in the laboratories in this country, in violation of European and German laws. We also issue an emergency appeal to the international community to end animal testing, as vile as it is useless. These tests are unreliable predictors for humans, as each species often reacts differently to the same substance. They therefore do not guarantee safe and effective drugs. On the other hand, they demonstrate to what extent the border between « good » and « evil » has very vague outlines in the minds of some… For us, it is clear: barbarism has no place in a society that claims to be civilized.