Animals news

• Scottish salmon farm cleared tonnes of dead fish before inspection, charity says

  25-09-2024 18:54
  
  Footage taken by Animal Equality UK before MSPs’ visit was a daily procedure, says Scottish Sea Farms The removal of tonnes of dead fish from a salmon farm before a Scottish parliament fact-finding mission there gave a misleading impression of conditions, an animal rights charity says.Footage secretly filmed by Animal Equality UK shows salmon being disposed of on Monday morning before a visit to Dunstaffnage salmon farm, near Oban, later that day by committee members carrying out an inquir
  
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• Shooters to target feral cats in NSW national parks amid boom in population

  14-10-2024 03:44
  
  Invasive Species Council says 5 million native mammals, birds, reptiles and frogs are killed by feral and roaming pet cats a day in AustraliaGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA five-person team of expert shooters will soon target feral cats in New South Wales national parks as the state steps up efforts to control the pest animals.The intensive ground operation is being deployed in response to increased cat numbers, according to National Parks and Wildlife Service deputy
  
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• Accidental vet email further evidence of euthanasia of healthy greyhounds in Victoria

  13-10-2024 16:00
  
  As more cases of dogs being unnecessarily put down are revealed, activists want stricter reporting requirements for the racing industryGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastIt was an accidental email that confirmed what many animal activists fear is widespread in Victoria’s greyhound racing industry: young, healthy dogs are being euthanised.In July clinic notes from a vet intended for a greyhound trainer were mistakenly sent to a rehoming group that had been to the sam
  
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• Lab-grown meat could be sold in UK in next few years, says food regulator

  08-10-2024 06:00
  
  Food Standards Agency says applications for cultivated steak, chicken and foie gras have already been submittedCell-cultivated meat could be on sale in the UK within a few years, the food regulator has said, with applications for lab-grown steak, beef, chicken and foie gras already submitted, while another 15 applications are expected in the next two years.The Food Standards Agency (FSA) was awarded £1.6m of government funding on Tuesday to develop an efficient safety assessment process fo
  
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• Taurine torpor: bullfighting’s non-fatal French cousin fights for survival

  03-10-2024 10:11
  Picasso and Hemingway believed folk sports like the course camarguaise were the height of European culture. Facing financial struggles, rowdy spectators and animal rights concerns, can its practitioners keep the custom alive?In an arena in the southern French village of Raphèle-lès-Arles on a torpidly hot July afternoon, a young black bull paws the floor next to the exit door. Eight raseteurs – the white-clad runners whose job is to seize tokens fixed to the animal – ye
  
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• Bird flu outbreak kills dozens of tigers in Vietnam zoos

  03-10-2024 03:50
  The H5N1 virus killed 47 tigers, three lions and a panther at the My Quynh safari park and the Vuon Xoai zoo, according to state mediaForty-seven tigers, three lions and a panther have died in zoos in south Vietnam due to the H5N1 bird flu virus, state media reported.The deaths occurred in August and September at the private My Quynh safari park in Long An province and the Vuon Xoai zoo in Dong Nai, near the capital Ho Chi Minh City, the official Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported on Wednesday.
  
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• When Gyles Brandreth almost turned Guildford red | Brief letters

  02-10-2024 18:35
  Blind polling | Gen Z crossword | Stella McCartney and silk | Tory flip-flops | Belfast LoughThe blind polling of American voters (Kamala Harris’s economic policy slate more popular than Trump’s – poll, 30 September) reminded me of Gyles Brandreth’s excursion to Guildford in 2019 for The One Show on BBC One. He asked people in the town what they thought of a whole raft of policies, from scrapping university fees and restoring grants to having a 50% top tax rate, and most
  
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• Alpine dingoes at risk of extinction after Victorian government extends right to cull

  01-10-2024 17:00
  At least 468 shot by government controllers last year out of an estimated population of as few as 2,640 in the state’s east, advocates sayFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastTraditional owners and dingo advocates say a Victorian government decision extending the right to kill dingoes on private and public land until 2028 could threaten local populations with extinction.A government order, which took effect on Tues
  
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• Stella McCartney preaches Peace and Dove in mission to save birds

  30-09-2024 16:53
  
  Designer launches campaign to banish real feathers from fashion industry as she shows latest collection in ParisThe battle to banish fur from fashion being mostly won, with almost all luxury brands fur-free, Stella McCartney is now on a mission to save the birds.“1.5 billion birds are killed for their feathers by the fashion industry every year,” the designer said backstage after a street catwalk show held in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, launching a campaign to put bird cruelty in
  
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• The world is shifting away from using animals in research. Will Australia get left behind?

  28-09-2024 22:00
  Australia’s lack of transparency and funding leave it on the outer as researchers worldwide explore alternatives for training, study and testingFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA global shift in scientific and medical research is under way as countries hope to phase out experimentation on animals – but Australia risks being left behind.The transition from using animals to alternatives based on human cells
  
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• NSW man tossed chicken known as Betty White to ‘feed a hungry alligator’, court hears

  24-09-2024 09:54
  Peter Smith accused of act of aggravated cruelty on ‘a silkie bantam chook’ at wildlife park in Salt AshFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA man who tossed a chicken known as Betty White to its death in an alligator pen had simply wanted to feed the reptile, his lawyer has said.Peter Smith, 58, of Hunterview in regional New South Wales, pleaded guilty on Tuesday in Raymond Terrace local court to one count o
  
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• With agriculture at a sharp fork in the road, Australia needs savvy farm leaders | Gabrielle Chan

  23-09-2024 17:00
  
  There’s a war brewing between those who want to plan for future challenges and those who want to turn back the tideSign up for the Rural Network email newsletterJoin the Rural Network group on Facebook to be part of the communityThe leadership of Australian farming is a club that has strict rules. Like the classic movie Fight Club, the first rule about farm club is you don’t talk about farm club.But that doesn’t always work out well for farmers. There are clever people in the l
  
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• Veganism through the looking-glass | Brief letters

  20-09-2024 18:13
  
  Lewis Carroll and oysters | Tupperware | Storm Boris | Onstage bust-ups | Keir Starmer’s glassesBivalve veganism’s philosophical debate over oysters’ perceptions (‘I’ll have them with hot sauce’: should vegans eat oysters?, 12 September) appears to rage without any reference to Lewis Carroll’s The Walrus and the Carpenter. Curiouser and curiouser …
  Nic Howes
  Hereford• I’m sorry to learn of Tupperware’s demise. My Tupperware biscui
  
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• LAWS at Conference 2024

  18-09-2024 16:46 via labouranimalwelfaresociety.org.uk
  
  It’s that time of year again and, for the first time since 2009, Labour will be in power during Conference. LAWS will be exhibiting once again next week in Liverpool, so if you are attending you can find us at stand F8. We also have a fringe event and (of course) our traditional karaoke. More details below!LAWS Fringe Meeting – Monday 23 September, 18:30 at the Adelphi Hotel
  Don’t miss an exciting line up of speakers, with a chance for you to join in during the Q & A.
  
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• First large-scale UK onshore salmon project at risk over ‘factory farm’ claimss

  15-09-2024 10:00
  Animal rights campaigners win a judicial review over pioneering £120m scheme at Grimsby portOn former railway sidings at Grimsby docks in Lincolnshire, the seafood industry is backing new plans for an onshore salmon farm that it claims will create jobs, cut emissions and help meet the nation’s huge demand for the fish.The scheme would be the UK’s first large-scale onshore salmon farm, with the fish growing to a weight of four or five kilograms. The project’s backer says t
  
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• Fury in Turkey as animal lovers and politicians attack ‘massacre law’ to deal with 4m stray dogs

  14-09-2024 17:00
  
  A new bill forcing local authorities to remove homeless animals from city streets has led to a furious backlashNext to the network of the highways that crisscross Turkey, among the lush forests or mountain peaks that dot the country, large stray dogs are a common sight. Most are pale white Akbaş dogs or Kangal shepherds, with their distinctive dark muzzle, pale golden coat and large bodies designed to herd livestock, although on the streets of Istanbul they are more commonly found lazing ou
  
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• Fear for koalas after bushwalker finds fire ant nests near Queensland sanctuary

  12-09-2024 17:00
  Calls for suppression efforts to be extended after at least five nests discovered at Logan in the Daisy Hill koala bushlandsFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastFire ants have reached protected koala habitat and a koala priority area in south-eastern Queensland, with experts warning of the danger the highly invasive pest poses to native wildlife.At least five red imported fire ant (Rifa) nests were discovered in Neville
  
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• ‘I’ll have them with hot sauce’: should vegans eat oysters?

  12-09-2024 09:00
  
  Bivalve veganism is built on the philosophy that molluscs such as mussels and oysters feel no pain. But some say the scientific jury is still outAlex Karol is fantasising about the next time she gets to slurp up some freshly shucked oysters. “I’ll have them with lemon juice, shallots, and a couple of drops of hot sauce. Sometimes, I have a couple with a splash of vodka,” says the London- and Toronto-based publicist. Cost curbs her craving for oysters to one meal a month, and so
  
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• When dogs recall toys, and horses plan ahead, are animals so different from us? | Martha Gill

  07-09-2024 18:00
  
  We’re warned not to assign human qualities to other species, but evidence of their complex abilities is mountingThe details differ, but really it’s the same story, turning up every few weeks, for around a decade now. The revelation – and it’s always presented with a dramatic flourish – is this: animals are much more like us than we thought.Last week, it was that dogs could remember the names of their old toys – even when they hadn’t seen t
  
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• They had to find foster homes for hundreds of sick and traumatised labradoodles. We took one | First Dog on the Moon

  06-09-2024 07:46
  Contrast my anger towards puppy mills with the joy of seeing a rescue dog running on grass for the first time in its lifeSign up here to get an email whenever First Dog cartoons are publishedGet all your needs met at the First Dog shop if what you need is First Dog merchandise and prints Continue reading...
  
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• Beluga whale alleged to be Russian ‘spy’ was shot, animal rights groups say

  04-09-2024 16:09
  Hvaldimir rose to fame in Norway after his harness sparked suspicions he was Russian spyAnimal rights groups have said that gunfire killed a beluga whale that rose to fame in Norway after its unusual harness sparked suspicions the creature was trained by Russia as a spy.The organisations Noah and One Whale said they had filed a complaint with Norwegian police asking them to open a criminal investigation. Continue reading...
  
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• Slaughterhouse video taken by ‘extreme’ animal activists amounts to ‘ongoing trespass’, federal court told

  03-09-2024 10:58
  
  The Game Meats Company is suing Farm Transparency Project after footage of goats being slaughtered was published online and sent to a Channel Seven programSign up for the Rural Network email newsletterJoin the Rural Network group on Facebook to be part of the communityClosing arguments in a landmark case brought by a Victorian abattoir against an animal advocacy charity were heard at the federal court of Australia on Tuesday.The Game Meats Company of Australia is suing Farm Transparency Project,
  
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• Badger culling to end in England by 2029, government says

  30-08-2024 13:45
  
  Defra sources say some licensed culls will continue until 2026 but it is highly unlikely any new ones will be grantedBadger culling will end in England by 2029, the government has said.Some culls under existing licences will continue until 2026, according to sources at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), but it is highly unlikely any new ones will be granted. Continue reading...
  
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• I sympathise with Lily Allen on untenable pets – I love my cats but I don’t see how I can keep them | Michele Theil

  28-08-2024 09:00
  
  The pop star ran into unfair flak when she rehomed her dog because of its behavioural issues. I face the same dilemmaLast week, the pop star Lily Allen was viciously criticised on social media after it was revealed that she had rehomed her dog Mary – after Mary ate her and her children’s passports. The animal rights charity Peta published an open letter accusing Allen of treating her dog like an accessory “to be discarded when they become inconvenient”. Allen tried to put
  
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• Swedish hunters kill more than 150 brown bears in first days of annual cull

  23-08-2024 08:00
  
  Campaigners denounce ‘pure slaughter’, which could threaten survival of entire Scandinavian population More than 150 brown bears have been killed in the opening days of Sweden’s annual bear hunt, as controversy mounts over what conservationists have called “pure slaughter”.The Swedish government issued 486 licences to shoot bears in this year’s hunt, equivalent to about 20% of the remaining brown bear population. This follows a record-breaking cull of 722 bear
  
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• Farrow & Ball paint names ‘normalise’ abuse of animals, says Peta

  22-08-2024 20:00
  
  Animal rights group says shades such as Dead Salmon and Au Lait ignore the sentience of fish and exploitation of cowsPeta has urged the paint manufacturer Farrow & Ball to rename colours that “normalise exploiting animals”.Citing the colours Dead Salmon, Smoked Trout and Potted Shrimp, Peta said in a letter to Farrow & Ball’s colour curator that “renaming animal product-monikered paints would be a fun way to appeal to more conscious consumers”. Continue read
  
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• Buying puppies from unknown sources ‘devastating’ to welfare, Kennel Club says

  21-08-2024 01:01
  
  Survey found almost a third of UK dog owners spent less than a day researching the breederWould-be dog owners are buying puppies with little thought, effort or research, the UK’s leading dog breeding organisation has said, warning that convenience culture is having a “devastating” effect on puppy welfare.According to research by the Kennel Club, almost a third (29%) of dog owners in the UK spent less than a day researching their decision and the breeder. Continue reading...
  
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• Badger cull may have increased bovine TB risk in neighbouring herds – study

  21-08-2024 01:01
  England’s controversial eradication scheme may have caused higher rates of disease in surrounding areas, research showsEngland’s controversial badger cull may have increased the risk of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) among herds in neighbouring areas, according to new research.Researchers at the University of Oxford found that although badger culling reduced incidences of tuberculosis in the areas where it took place, in neighbouring areas the risk of the disease in cattle increased by al
  
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• Australia could save thousands of bats a year with simple tweak to wind turbines, study says

  20-08-2024 17:00
  
  Raising the wind speed at which turbines start spinning could prevent tens of thousands of bat deaths each year, researchers findFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastAustralian windfarm operators are being urged to embrace a simple measure used overseas that scientists say could dramatically reduce the number of bats killed by turbines.Curtailment – lifting the wind speed at which turbines start spinn
  
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• Vets extend strike in first industrial action to hit Britain’s pet-care sector

  18-08-2024 08:00
  
  Staff at a practice in Wales have accused its private-equity-backed owner of poor pay and overcharging customersStaff working at a chain of commercial vet surgeries have extended their strike, accusing their private-equity-backed owner of underpaying workers and overcharging pet owners as part of the first industrial action to hit the veterinary sector in the UK.Unionised vets, nurses and support staff at Valley Vets in south Wales, which is owned by one of the largest veterinary corporations in
  
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