acompassionateworld

A new report out today highlights the need for urgent action to safeguard the welfare of birds in the meat chicken industry. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published two Scientific Opinions, one on the chickens reared for meat, the other on the breeding flock (the parent and grand-parent birds).

Chickens are selectively bred for fast growth rates; to put on weight in the quickest possible time. Growth rates have increased four-fold in recent decades and birds are now slaughtered for meat at just 40 days of age or less. EFSA concludes that these fast growing birds suffer from leg disorders, ascites (fluid in the peritoneal cavity), increased mortality and sudden death syndrome. The EFSA report stresses that there are serious welfare concerns about skeletal disorders in broilers that lead to lameness which they say is probably painful in most birds. The report also looks at the breeding flock. Their food intake is often severely restricted otherwise their fast growth would damage their health. These chickens can be stressed, frustrated and chronically hungry as a result.

Thanks to campaigns such as Chicken Out!, the plight of the factory farmed broiler chicken is increasingly known. The plight of its parents is much less understood. EFSA scientists have identified a range of serious welfare problems associated with modern-day chicken breeding:

• Severe painful mutilations without pain relief in the breeding flock; toes, spurs and combs are routinely cut off without proof that these are necessary or beneficial to the chickens or their welfare

• Barren environments: Broiler birds need their environment to provide security and comfort and this is ignored

• Stocking density: broiler birds need space to move and perch and this is not provided. This severely affects their behaviour patterns and encourages the spread of disease

• Restricted food supply; this is designed to prevent growing too fast but leads to competition for food resulting in injury and continual hunger for the birds

• Slaughter processes: birds are being hung upside down on slaughter lines that are unsuitable for the size of the birds which often weigh 3 to 4 kg and this creates additional, stress injuries and a painful death for the birds.

EFSA also points out that some broiler breeders are kept in cages. It calls for caged birds to have litter, nest box and perches in line with new requirements for laying hens in Europe. In my view, this recommendation fails to go far enough; a cage is still a cage, and keeping birds in such close confines must surely be rendered a thing of the past.

Much focus has been devoted to the appalling way in which broiler chickens are often reared on factory farms, and rightly so. This new scientific report underlines why urgent action is needed to stop the suffering of the breeding birds too. As Sonja Van Tichelen from Brussels-based Eurogroup for Animals puts it: “This suffering is hidden and far away from the eyes of the consumer. The industry can no longer claim that it cares for the welfare of their animals if they allow this to happen”.

At Compassion, we will be working with Eurogroup and other like-minded organisations, to urge the European Commission to propose tough new laws to stop the suffering involved in chicken breeding as well as rearing. Your support, as always, will be invaluable.

Compassionate shopping can be fraught with pitfalls. Especially when a sizeable proportion of the meat, milk and eggs on offer come from factory farms, much of it without clear indication of how it was produced. That is why we’ve come up with our Good Food Shopping Guide, available for download. To help you make those crucial choices that will make such a huge difference to how farm animals are kept.

A must-read article discussing one of these potential pitfalls, the Red Tractor logo in the UK, appeared in The Independent newspaper at the weekend. In short, Red Tractor does not guarantee higher welfare standards and can be found on factory farmed products.

It appears to me that there is an overall lack of transparency in the marketplace when it comes to animal welfare. That is why I believe that all meat, milk and eggs should be required by law to be labelled according to the farming method used to produce the food. Thankfully, we have this situation already for eggs in Europe. Battery eggs, for example, have to be labelled as ‘eggs from caged hens’. Issues still remain about how prominent this wording may be on the pack. But at least the law recognises that this information should be given to consumers by right, not at the sellers’ discretion. We now need to extend this principle to all livestock products, not just eggs.

Food produced by farmers who proudly use genuinely higher welfare systems, such as free range and organic, will trumpet the fact on the packet. They will use terms such as ‘barn’, ‘free range’ or ‘organic’. Factory farmed products, on the other hand, will be less likely to say how it was produced, often using broad statements such as ‘farm assured’, ‘farm fresh’, or ‘fresh’; terms which I see as pretty meaningless when it comes to describing welfare credentials.

Clear, transparent labelling is important. Without it, consumer choice is hampered. And those farmers who have invested in genuinely higher welfare farming systems may be harmed by a marketplace crowded with unclear claims. It is high time that all meat and milk, like eggs, were required by law to be labelled according to how they were produced. Compassion is campaigning to make it so. We have teamed up with leading animal welfare organisations who share our vision. We are taking our campaign to Europe. I’ll keep you posted as the campaign unfolds.

Following on from our fantastic Good Farm Animal Welfare Awards last week, I thought I’d share some photos of the venue and the event itself with you.

St Paul’s is a beautiful venue and the architecture magnificent. We were lucky to secure such a prestigious and iconic building for our Awards ceremony.

We held the ceremony itself in the Crypt – a really atmospheric location.

Of course we had my childhood hero, the legendary Bill Oddie, as our main host for the evening. Bill was brilliant and added his own special flavour to the ceremony. Thanks so much Bill, it was a real pleasure to be in your company once again.

Heartfelt congratulations to all the winners at the Awards. They truly deserve to be rewarded for their commitment to animal welfare.

Our engagement with supermarkets is also crucial to achieve the best change possible for farm animals. And we’re so pleased that they’ve taken up the challenge to make improvements in the name of animal welfare.

Well done especially to Morrisons (left) for being awarded best improver; Sainsbury’s (right) for the best of the ‘big four’ and Waitrose (bottom) for being awarded Most Compassionate Supermarket.

Keep up the fantastic work all of you. Together we can improve the lives of millions of farm animals.

With two out of every three of the world’s farm animals now factory farmed, it can be difficult to see how things can be different. However, to pay tribute to your support and how you’re really helping to make a difference, I’ve summarised here some of the successes we’ve achieved together for farm animals over the past three months.

Animal welfare as part of sustainability – The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), used by many top global companies to measure their sustainability credentials, has included a measure on animal welfare for the first time. It will feature as part of a new ‘sector supplement’ designed to deal specifically with the food processing industry. Compassion’s involvement in the development process over the last two years has ensured that key areas of our concern are covered. Read more…

Good Farm Animal Awards – Some 30 UK companies, including major retailers and food service businesses, were recognised by our Good Farm Animal Welfare Awards for their animal-friendly policy pledges. Around 174 million meat chickens and laying hens are set to benefit each year, thanks to these pledges. Congratulations go to Waitrose for receiving the Most Compassionate Supermarket Award, to Morrisons for best improver and to Sainsbury’s for best of the ‘big four’. Further events will be held in France and Germany later this year to recognise European businesses that have joined the move to compassionate policies for farm animals. Read more…

Local authorities – Over 90 local authorities in the UK have now become ‘cage-free councils’ as a result of our campaigning work. The 35 or more councils that have switched their egg sourcing to cage-free over the last 12 months were recognised at a packed event in Bournemouth, where the Local Government Association annual conference was taking place. Compassion’s stand at the event generated written expressions of interest from over 20 more councils seeking to take the cage-free pledge over the coming months. Read more…

Cloning – The European Parliament voted overwhelmingly for a ban on the cloning of animals for food. Working with Eurogroup for Animals, we are now pressing the European Commission and the Member States to follow the Parliament’s lead and agree legislation which would categorically ensure that no products from cloned animals or their offspring would be put into the European food market. Read more…

Fish – The European Parliament has produced a report that calls for significant changes in the way that fish are farmed – emphasising the importance of their welfare. The Strategy for the Sustainable Development of European Aquaculture is the first major EU report that takes the welfare of fish seriously. Significantly, the report stresses that as fish are sentient beings, countries must pay full regard to their welfare (Article 13, Lisbon Treaty). Read more…

South Africa – Cape Town launches its official meat-free day a week on 29th July. The city has become the first in Africa to officially endorse a weekly meat-free day following a campaign by Compassion in World Farming (South Africa), which was unanimously endorsed by the city’s Health Portfolio Committee. As Tozie Zokufa, our South African representative explains: “It is a triumph. We started negotiating with the City Health Committee last December. Their decision to work with us on this issue is not only a triumph for human health, but also for the planet and animal welfare too”. You can keep up-to-date with our campaign in South Africa through our new dedicated website. Read more…

European Farmers Network (EFN) – Our work to engage the farming community is now taking off with the launch of the EFN website. The EFN is a partnership between Compassion and the Food Animal Initiative (FAI) and seeks to provide a voice to higher welfare farmers, and ensure that their voice is heard loud and clear in Brussels, in the head offices of major food companies, and by those in the farming community keen to learn about new and better practices.

Thanks so much for all your support with our urgent campaigns and for helping to make a real difference for farm animals.

Over the weekend I reflected on the Good Farm Animal Welfare Awards we held last week in the Crypt of St Paul’s Cathedral in London. I began to wonder what Peter Roberts, Compassion’s co-founder, would have thought had he been able to join us.

I consider myself to be most fortunate in not only knowing Peter, but also working closely with him for two years. He was — and still is — an inspiration. I wouldn’t dare to suggest I know what he would say about the awards. But I can imagine how he would have reacted had he been there. Sadly, Peter passed away in 2006.

I would very much like to think he would be proud of the organisation he founded with his wife, Anna. He would be delighted to see it accomplish so much progress by working with the food business community, with retailers, food manufacturers and food service providers.

In his lifetime, Peter saw the emergence of factory farming as a post-second world war phenomenon. It started out with the good intention of finding cheap ways to produce food for an increasing population. But Peter and Anna were dairy farmers who had a clear understanding of what animal welfare meant and what good food tasted like. They had the insight to see that factory farming wasn’t all that it was made out to be. They knew it meant animal cruelty. They saw it required the extensive use of such chemical fertilisers and pesticides to produce large amounts of grains and cereals grown as mono-crops to feed to animals.

Compelled to make a difference to the world, Peter and Anna gave up dairy farming and founded Compassion, along with Direct Foods, a pioneering company that produced soya-based meat-like products.

Peter would have been amazed to see at the Good Farm Animal Welfare Awards how such leading retailers as Waitrose and Sainsbury’s, diverse organisations as the Metropolitan Police and the Scottish Government, and international companies as Coca Cola and Garrets, the leading marine catering management company, are changing their corporate policies in support of animal welfare. In most of Peter’s lifetime, the availability to buy free-range, organic eggs would have been severely limited to a scattered network of small, independent retailers. For most people, free-range eggs were unaffordable even if they could be found. Further, it would have surprised Peter that leading retailers, regional governments, important authorities such as the police, as well as internationally-recognised companies are adopting animal welfare policies.

Peter was someone who enthusiastically encouraged others, but acknowledged quietly his own accomplishments. I believe he would have expressed publicly a modest sense of satisfaction in Compassion playing a key role in encouraging the demand in meat and dairy products produced under stringent animal welfare guidelines. Privately, however, he would have been thrilled to see Compassion working alongside governments, institutions and industry helping them to adopt policies embracing animal welfare values. He was someone who always believed that there was more to be done. For example, I can see Peter with a big smile on his face shaking enthusiastically the hands of last week’s award recipients while simultaneously telling them softly what he thought they should do next!

So, on behalf of Peter and Anna, I want to congratulate all our award winners from last week! For example, Waitrose, for winning the Most Compassionate Supermarket Award, Coca Cola and the Met Office among others for winning the Good Egg Awards and Sainsbury’s, M&S, The Cooperative Food and Battersea Cats and Dogs Home among others for winning the Good Chicken Award.

There were more than 30 award winners at our Good Farm Animal Welfare Awards. Also, earlier this month, we recognised as ‘good eggs’ more than 39 local authorities who have pledged to buy only non-cage eggs. That’s one in five local authorities in the UK. Further, our awards programme increasingly recognises governments, institutions and industry throughout Europe. Their combined efforts mean that more than 25 million laying hens and 174 million broiler chickens will be raised for food in ways that put animal welfare at the heart of good farming practices.

These are the steps we must take to end factory farming by 2050. I know Peter is marching proudly alongside us.

“If we really want to reduce the human impact on the environment, the simplest and cheapest thing anyone can do is to eat less meat.” So says John Vidal in this month’s Observer Food Monthly magazine. The article goes on to dissect the damaging impacts of a run-away livestock industry worldwide; from environmental pollution to deforestation and a huge appetite for increasingly scarce resources like oil and water. The disturbing truth is that the global livestock population, already standing at well over 60 billion animals produced every year, is set to double by 2050.

The engine room of this livestock explosion is factory farming. That is why we are encouraging a ‘less is more’ approach; eating less, but better meat from animals reared in humane conditions. Worldwide, two out of every three farm animals are factory farmed; permanently housed indoors; reliant on food, usually grain, grown elsewhere. This puts animals in competition with people for precious grain resources.

The European Commission’s own data shows that 58% of EU cereal production is used as animal feed. Feeding cereals and soy to animals is inefficient as much of their food energy value is lost during conversion from plant to animal matter. Research shows that several kilos of cereals are needed to produce 1kg of edible meat. Using cereals and soy as animal feed is a wasteful use, not just of these crops, but of the land, water and fossil fuel energy used to grow them.

A sustainable approach to farming should avoid the excessive use of feed crops. Instead more emphasis should surely be put on raising animals on pasture, on mixed farming. Here, crop residues can be used to feed animals and their manure used to fertilise the land and improve soil quality.

Today, I’m writing in Brussels where I’ve been discussing how we can change things in Europe. How we can move Europe away from factory farming. One of the key policy levers is the huge agricultural subsidy regime in the EU, called the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). When the CAP is next reformed, and policy discussions have already started, we want to see a policy shift away from industrialised livestock production toward a more humane and sustainable model of agriculture. One that places emphasis and value on animals reared extensively on pasture over grain-fed and miserable animals within the confines of the factory farm.

Compassion’s vision is of a European agriculture that would replace industrial livestock production with humane, sustainable forms of animal husbandry. This would not only improve animal welfare but would produce healthier animals, a more resource efficient livestock sector and a reduced impact on the environment.

You can help bring about this vision. By choosing higher welfare meat, milk and eggs. By joining in with our work, including our coming-soon campaign to reform the CAP for a better farming system for animals, people and the planet – watch this space for details. And by spreading the word that less is more; that eating less, but higher welfare meat is better for the environment and for the animals themselves.

It’s always a cause for celebration when a company decides to do something good for animals. This year, we are proud to welcome 14 new companies as winners of our prestigious Good Egg Award. They’ve received this for pledging to go cage-free on the eggs that they use or sell.

This year’s winners are the Metropolitan Police, the Scottish Government, Sodexo Prestige, Garrets, Leith’s QEII, Westmorland, Pride Catering, Accent Catering, the Met Office, Coca Cola, NUS Services, Pieminster, Superquinn and the Battersea Dogs Home. Congratulations to one and all!

The Good Egg Awards are part of our flagship programme aimed at engaging, inspiring and celebrating companies on really important aspects of farm animal welfare. This year’s event in St Paul’s Cathedral was our biggest yet. The companies that we’ve recognised as ‘Good Eggs’ over the past four years are collectively delivering better lives for 25 million laying hens every year. For each and every hen released from the battery cage, that’s very good news indeed!

Big name companies, celebrities and guests packed into London’s St Paul’s Cathedral last night to celebrate the businesses that are making a real difference for farm animals. Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Marks & Spencer, The Co-operative Food, Pret A Manger and Virgin Trains were amongst the big name companies receiving our first ever ‘Good Chicken’ Awards for pledging to dump factory farmed chicken in favour of higher welfare chicken. In total, the pledges of the ten companies recognised on the night will benefit a projected 174 million chickens!

The Good Farm Animal Welfare Awards is the public face of our flagship programme working with the business community. We talk with companies in the UK and across Europe and inspire them to do great things for farm animal welfare. The awards event is where we showcase those companies leading by example by committing to animal-friendly policies. For the first time, we brought together our coveted Supermarket Awards with our ‘Good Egg’ Awards, and publicly unveiled our work with companies on higher welfare chicken meat too.

Waitrose won our Most Compassionate Supermarket Award, whilst Morrison’s picked up our ‘Most Improved Supermarket’ Award, and Sainsbury’s were awarded best of the ‘big four’, as gauged by our recent retail survey on animal welfare.

So, why do we see our work with commercial companies as so important? Because, working with progressive companies, we can drive huge changes. To me, we are building a dream, a vision. A vision where businesses buy only cage-free eggs, instead of those from the confines of the battery; where the food quality benefits of better welfare shine through; and where those companies who lead by example are truly rewarded with the positive riches that doing the right thing should surely bring.

It’s been a radical departure from the way Compassion has often worked in the past. And together with our work with local authorities, the success of our approach speaks for itself:

• Nearly 100 local authorities have become ‘cage-free councils’, denouncing battery eggs in favour of higher welfare and free range eggs in their buying policies;

• 25 million laying hens are benefiting Europe-wide, thanks to Good Egg Award-winning companies who have committed to switching to cage-free eggs;

• 174 million broiler chickens will be living better lives, thanks to the actions of our Good Chicken Award-winning companies!

That’s a lot of change. When I look out of my window and see our three adopted hens, it brings it back to me how important these strides really are. I see how important it is to them to feel the earth under their feet, the sun on their backs, and to be able to stretch their wings. And then I imagine what the 25 million laying hens might look like that are living better lives, thanks to the ‘Good Egg’ companies over the last four years. If all those 25 million hens stood wing-tip to wing-tip, they’d stretch half way round the world.

Congratulations to all those companies that are making such profound change possible! To read how The Independent newspaper covered the evening, click here. And thank you to everyone who is supporting Compassion’s work to help more businesses make better lives for farm animals.

Last week, we were in Bournemouth with our special event for local authorities who have recently become ‘cage-free councils’. Tonight in London, we will be revealing the business leaders we have been working with on new policy commitments to benefit farm animal welfare. The Good Farm Animal Welfare Awards is the public face of our flagship programme with the corporate community. It is designed to engage, inspire and celebrate companies that are doing the right thing for farm animal welfare, food quality and their customers.

Our host for the evening will be Bill Oddie, Britain’s best-loved wildlife presenter and a true boyhood hero of mine. And we have a great cast of big name companies that will be recognised for going cage-free on their eggs, bringing better lives to the chickens reared for meat, or for progressive policies across the board.

So, tonight will be an exciting night of celebration for farm animals. We will see companies leading by example, and will be highlighting how higher animal welfare also enhances food quality. I very much look forward to sharing with you the big names that are helping to put farm animal welfare at the heart of the food industry.

Last week, we were in Bournemouth with our special event for local authorities who have recently become ‘cage-free councils’. Tonight in London, we will be revealing the business leaders we have been working with on new policy commitments to benefit farm animal welfare. The Good Farm Animal Welfare Awards is the public face of our flagship programme with the corporate community. It is designed to engage, inspire and celebrate companies that are doing the right thing for farm animal welfare, food quality and their customers.

Our host for the evening will be Bill Oddie, Britain’s best-loved wildlife presenter and a true boyhood hero of mine. And we have a great cast of big name companies that will be recognised for going cage-free on their eggs, bringing better lives to the chickens reared for meat, or for progressive policies across the board.

So, tonight will be an exciting night of celebration for farm animals. We will see companies leading by example, and will be highlighting how higher animal welfare also enhances food quality. I very much look forward to sharing with you the big names that are helping to put farm animal welfare at the heart of the food industry.

I recently wrote about important reforms for farm animals in the US state of Ohio. Further great news from across the Atlantic was carried in a New York Times editorial over the weekend. California’s state governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed landmark legislation that will effectively outlaw the sale of eggs produced using battery cages.

The new law will require all whole eggs to come from hens that are able to stand up, fully extend their limbs, lie down and spread their wings without touching each other or the sides of their enclosure. It will come into force in 2015 to coincide with the implementation of the ban on battery cages introduced following a landslide ballot of Californian citizens in 2008.

Wayne Pacelle of The Humane Society of the United States congratulated Governor Schwarzenegger’s action, saying, “Californians have made it clear that they don’t want unsafe eggs from hens crammed into cages, and we applaud the Legislature and governor for heeding this call.”

The New York Times editorial welcomed the news, saying “there is no justification, economic or otherwise, for the abusive practice of confining animals in spaces barely larger than the volume of their bodies. Animals with more space are healthier, and they are no less productive.” The piece signs off with a sentiment that resonates strongly with all of us here at Compassion; “Industrial confinement is cruel and senseless and will turn out to be, we hope, a relatively short-lived anomaly in modern farming.”

With your help, we really can ensure that factory farming is indeed a “short-lived anomaly”. Please continue to spread the word about the campaign, and help end the suffering of literally tens of billions of farm animals every year.

I recently wrote about important reforms for farm animals in the US state of Ohio. Further great news from across the Atlantic was carried in a New York Times editorial over the weekend. California’s state governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed landmark legislation that will effectively outlaw the sale of eggs produced using battery cages.

The new law will require all whole eggs to come from hens that are able to stand up, fully extend their limbs, lie down and spread their wings without touching each other or the sides of their enclosure. It will come into force in 2015 to coincide with the implementation of the ban on battery cages introduced following a landslide ballot of Californian citizens in 2008.

Wayne Pacelle of The Humane Society of the United States congratulated Governor Schwarzenegger’s action, saying, “Californians have made it clear that they don’t want unsafe eggs from hens crammed into cages, and we applaud the Legislature and governor for heeding this call.”

The New York Times editorial welcomed the news, saying “there is no justification, economic or otherwise, for the abusive practice of confining animals in spaces barely larger than the volume of their bodies. Animals with more space are healthier, and they are no less productive.” The piece signs off with a sentiment that resonates strongly with all of us here at Compassion; “Industrial confinement is cruel and senseless and will turn out to be, we hope, a relatively short-lived anomaly in modern farming.”

With your help, we really can ensure that factory farming is indeed a “short-lived anomaly”. Please continue to spread the word about the campaign, and help end the suffering of literally tens of billions of farm animals every year.

I recently wrote about important reforms for farm animals in the US state of Ohio. Further great news from across the Atlantic was carried in a New York Times editorial over the weekend. California’s state governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed landmark legislation that will effectively outlaw the sale of eggs produced using battery cages.

The new law will require all whole eggs to come from hens that are able to stand up, fully extend their limbs, lie down and spread their wings without touching each other or the sides of their enclosure. It will come into force in 2015 to coincide with the implementation of the ban on battery cages introduced following a landslide ballot of Californian citizens in 2008.

Wayne Pacelle of The Humane Society of the United States congratulated Governor Schwarzenegger’s action, saying, “Californians have made it clear that they don’t want unsafe eggs from hens crammed into cages, and we applaud the Legislature and governor for heeding this call.”

The New York Times editorial welcomed the news, saying “there is no justification, economic or otherwise, for the abusive practice of confining animals in spaces barely larger than the volume of their bodies. Animals with more space are healthier, and they are no less productive.” The piece signs off with a sentiment that resonates strongly with all of us here at Compassion; “Industrial confinement is cruel and senseless and will turn out to be, we hope, a relatively short-lived anomaly in modern farming.”
With your help, we really can ensure that factory farming is indeed a “short-lived anomaly”. Please continue to spread the word about the campaign, and help end the suffering of literally tens of billions of farm animals every year.

I wrote the other day about our recent Good Egg Awards event in Bournemouth. A really fantastic occasion, where we recognised the efforts of over 30 local authorities who have pledged to go cage-free. As I said before, their commitment to animal welfare in this way deserves full recognition and we congratulate them all for making the pledge. I am pleased to share a few photos with you from the night.

We are now gearing up for our corporate Good Egg Awards being held next Wednesday (14th July), where we will be celebrating the next batch of ‘good eggs’. We shall once again be congratulating a number of companies who have committed to switch to barn or free-range eggs instead of eggs from caged hens. More on this soon.

I wrote the other day about our recent Good Egg Awards event in Bournemouth. A really fantastic occasion, where we recognised the efforts of over 30 local authorities who have pledged to go cage-free. As I said before, their commitment to animal welfare in this way deserves full recognition and we congratulate them all for making the pledge. I am pleased to share a few photos with you from the night.

We are now gearing up for our corporate Good Farm Animal Awards being held next Wednesday (14th July), where we will be celebrating the next batch of ‘good eggs’. We shall once again be congratulating a number of companies who have made a firm commitment to animal welfare. More on this soon.

The photos above show our special guest Pam Ayres; Pam Ayres with award winners Carrieanne Bishop and Jayne Long of Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council; and me presenting Pam with a bouquet of flowers.

I wrote the other day about our recent Good Egg Awards event in Bournemouth. A really fantastic occasion, where we recognised the efforts of over 30 local authorities who have pledged to go cage-free. As I said before, their commitment to animal welfare in this way deserves full recognition and we congratulate them all for making the pledge. I am pleased to share a few photos with you from the night.

We are now gearing up for our corporate Good Farm Animal Awards being held next Wednesday (14th July), where we will be celebrating the next batch of ‘good eggs’. We shall once again be congratulating a number of companies who have made a firm commitment to animal welfare. More on this soon.

The photos above show our special guest Pam Ayres; Pam Ayres with award winners Carrieanne Bishop and Jayne Long of Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council; and me presenting Pam with a bouquet of flowers.

The European Parliament voted overwhelmingly for a ban on the sale of food from cloned animals and their offspring yesterday. This is great news for consumers and animal welfare. It is a huge boost in our campaign to stop this particular strain of ‘Frankenstein’ food from being marketed in the European Union (EU).

Our own report ‘Farm Animal Cloning‘ shows that cloning entails severe health and welfare problems for both cloned animals and their surrogate dams. It’s a view that is supported by the European Food Safety Authority’s findings that cloning poses serious health risks for farm animals, including a significant percentage of deaths through cardiovascular failure, respiratory problems, liver or kidney failure, immune-deficiencies or musculoskeletal abnormalities. As our close partner in this campaign, Sonja Van Tichelen from Eurogroup for Animals puts it: “Cloning is inefficient, wastes animals’ lives and causes animal suffering and distress at all stages of the process and must be stopped”.

In our view, any ban in Europe needs to go beyond preventing the marketing of meat and milk from cloned animals. It should also include a prohibition on the marketing of food products from the offspring of cloned animals. This is because clones will be primarily used as elite breeding animals; it is their offspring that will be farmed for meat and milk.

The evidence shows clear suffering on the part of farm animals involved in cloning. Polls show that European citizens don’t want cloned meat on their plates. The European Parliament has spoken out against this unwanted technology. We are now looking to the European Commission and the Member States to follow the Parliament’s lead and agree legislation which would categorically ensure that no products from cloned animals or their offspring would be put into the European food market.

The European Parliament voted overwhelmingly for a ban on the sale of food from cloned animals and their offspring yesterday. This is great news for consumers and animal welfare. It is a huge boost in our campaign to stop this particular strain of ‘Frankenstein’ food from being marketed in the European Union (EU).

Our own report ‘Farm Animal Cloning‘ shows that cloning entails severe health and welfare problems for both cloned animals and their surrogate dams. It’s a view that is supported by the European Food Safety Authority’s findings that cloning poses serious health risks for farm animals, including a significant percentage of deaths through cardiovascular failure, respiratory problems, liver or kidney failure, immune-deficiencies or musculoskeletal abnormalities. As our close partner in this campaign, Sonja Van Tichelen from Eurogroup for Animals puts it: “Cloning is inefficient, wastes animals’ lives and causes animal suffering and distress at all stages of the process and must be stopped”.

In our view, any ban in Europe needs to go beyond preventing the marketing of meat and milk from cloned animals. It should also include a prohibition on the marketing of food products from the offspring of cloned animals. This is because clones will be primarily used as elite breeding animals; it is their offspring that will be farmed for meat and milk.

The evidence shows clear suffering on the part of farm animals involved in cloning. Polls show that European citizens don’t want cloned meat on their plates. The European Parliament has spoken out against this unwanted technology. We are now looking to the European Commission and the Member States to follow the Parliament’s lead and agree legislation which would categorically ensure that no products from cloned animals or their offspring would be put into the European food market.

The European Parliament voted overwhelmingly for a ban on the sale of food from cloned animals and their offspring yesterday. This is great news for consumers and animal welfare. It is a huge boost in our campaign to stop this particular strain of ‘Frankenstein’ food from being marketed in the European Union (EU).

Our own report 'Farm Animal Cloning' shows that cloning entails severe health and welfare problems for both cloned animals and their surrogate dams. It’s a view that is supported by the European Food Safety Authority’s findings that cloning poses serious health risks for farm animals, including a significant percentage of deaths through cardiovascular failure, respiratory problems, liver or kidney failure, immune-deficiencies or musculoskeletal abnormalities. As our close partner in this campaign, Sonja Van Tichelen from Eurogroup for Animals puts it: “Cloning is inefficient, wastes animals’ lives and causes animal suffering and distress at all stages of the process and must be stopped”.

In our view, any ban in Europe needs to go beyond preventing the marketing of meat and milk from cloned animals. It should also include a prohibition on the marketing of food products from the offspring of cloned animals. This is because clones will be primarily used as elite breeding animals; it is their offspring that will be farmed for meat and milk.
The evidence shows clear suffering on the part of farm animals involved in cloning. Polls show that European citizens don’t want cloned meat on their plates. The European Parliament has spoken out against this unwanted technology. We are now looking to the European Commission and the Member States to follow the Parliament’s lead and agree legislation which would categorically ensure that no products from cloned animals or their offspring would be put into the European food market.