• Leader: Vanessa Hudson
• Treasurer: Louise Cobham
• Nominating Officer: Richard Deboo

Jon Homan becomes responsible for Party membership and Andrew Knight, PhD, CertAW, MRCVS, FOCAE remains as a spokesperson.

Animals Count looks forward to the year ahead and preparing for the 2014 EU elections,  where we hope to improve on 2009’s 13,201 votes.

Many thanks to all our members and supporters for their continued support.

European Commission Urges Member States to Implement Ban on Hen Cages or Risk Facing Legal Action

Animals Count is heartened by the news that the the European Commission this week once again urged Member States to implement a ban on un-enriched cages for laying hens, which enters into force on 1st January 2012, and warned that it will adopt measures against those that will fail to comply with the relevant EU legislation. “The political decision for the ban was taken in 1999. Twelve years have gone by and the situation in some Member States is reportedly unsatisfactory. The consequences on animal welfare and the risk of market distortions are real. These would undermine investments and compliance efforts already made as well as consumer trust and this is clearly unacceptable,” Health and Consumer Policy Commissioner John Dalli said during his intervention at this week’s Agriculture Council, which discussed the issue. “The Commission,” he added, “does not intend to postpone the deadline of the ban and it will not hesitate to start, infringement procedures in cases of non-compliance.” Commissioner Dalli also announced that experts from the Commission’s inspection service, the Food and Veterinary Office (FVO), will start visiting targeted Member States as of January 2012. Any decisions on infringement procedures will be based on the outcomes of these audits.

Overall usage in 2010 was up on 2009 by 3 per cent. This can largely be explained by the number of animals being involved in breeding genetically modified (GM) and harmful mutants (HM).

Procedures on mice, birds and fish have all risen. Sadly, there has also been a large increase in the number of procedures on non-human primates. Procedures on new world monkeys (the group including marmosets, lemurs and capuchins) have increased by 78 percent.

Any increase in the use of non-human primates for scientific procedures is deeply troubling – the sentience and social nature of these animals means that suffering brought about by experimentation and captivity is likely to be at an extremely high level.

Thankfully, there were some small notes of positivity amongst the figures. Species for which usage had decreased include cats (-32%), guinea pigs(-29%), pigs(-15%), rabbits(-10%), rats(-9%), horses(-5%), and dogs(-2%).

The full report can be found here homeoffice

Animals Count of course remains against the harmful use of animals for scientific experimentation.

We seek:

An immediate ban on the harmful use of all primate species.
An immediate ban on the genetic manipulation of animals (including cloning).
An immediate ban on the use of animals for xenotransplantation.
A ban on all harmful use of animals within biomedical research, toxicity testing and education.
Increased funding for the further development, scientific validation and implementation of alternative methodologies.
In the interim, the following policies should be implemented:
Immediate, quantitative, binding targets for reductions in animal use with the aim of eventually replacing all harmful animal use with non-harmful or non-animal alternatives.
Mandatory, independent ethical review of all experimental protocols as a condition of licensing, with ample opportunity for prior, independent and public scrutiny of such protocols.
Mandatory retrospective evaluation to assess the degree to which experimental objectives were successfully met, the extent to which animals suffered, and to help inform both future research and further experimental licensing decisions.
Mandatory compliance as a condition of experimental funding, licensing, and publication of results, with a range of best practice standards, and each of the 3Rs: replacement, reduction and refinement of animal use, before and during experiments. These would include: minimum standards relating to animal sourcing, housing, environmental enrichment, opportunities for social interaction for social species, appropriate use of anaesthetics and analgesics (pain-killers), animal handling, non-invasive endpoints, and statistical input during experimental design.
Mandatory prompt, public sharing of all experimental results, to minimize experimental duplication.
Increased, compulsory training and continuing professional development in experimental best practice standards and alternative methodologies, for all animal researchers and technicians.
The provision of independently-scrutinized sanctuaries, maintained to high welfare standards, funded by industries and sectors using animals, for those animals retired from laboratory animal use, in which such animals shall be housed for the remainder of their natural lives.

We recognise Nick as an ethical candidate with shared values and our endorsement is an unprecedented event in Welsh politics.

Nick has declared his total opposition to the West Wales Badger Cull and has also declared that, once elected, he would seek to further the Assembly’s ban on traveling circuses being based in Wales to include entering the country.

Of our support, Nick said, “I am honoured to have my candidacy endorsed by the members of Animals Count. I very much share their concern that whilst many citizens regard animal issues as mainstream, other political parties have often poorly reflected them in the past. I would work to redress that balance.”

Animals Count looks forward to working with Nick through the Welsh Assembly to bring about greater equality for all.

We strongly urge all those in the Montgomeryshire constituency who regard animal protection as an important issue, to vote for Nick Colbourne on the 5th May 2011.

www.nickcolbourne.org

Animals Count Leader, Vanessa Hudson with Nick Colbourne in the Montgomeryshire constituency in March

However despite the fact that it is deaths at race meetings like Aintree which get the headlines there is a sinister side to this sport which gets much less publicity. Research by Animal Aid suggests that around 420 horses every year are killed, not only in racing accidents but also because they are no longer commercially viable. Countless more are likely to be destroyed before they even make it to the track, deemed too slow for racing. As also seen in greyhound racing when the bottom line is profit it is always the animals which suffer (see http://www.rdpa.org.uk for more details about the animal welfare implications of greyhound racing).

Animals Count is opposed to the use of Animals in entertainment and is calling for a ban on horse racing. Please see Animals Aid’s Race Horse Death Watch for more information.

More than 280 MEPs, EU officials, NGOs and international press learnt about the negative impacts which industrial pig farming has on people, pigs and the planet. The high turn out was the result of enormous pressure from members of the public, hundreds of whom wrote to their MEPs, urging them to attend.

Janusz Wojciechowski MEP is supporting a declaration on CAP reforms that will call for an end to subsidies that support industrial farming and introduce mandatory method of production labelling on pork products. This Declaration is currently in its draft stages but when formalised supporters organisations will be able to ask their members to write to their MEPs urging them to sign up.

Animals Count is fully supportive of this proposed reform and opposed to all forms of intensive factory farming. We will keep you posted about what happens next in Brussels.

Animals Count sincerely hopes that North Kesteven District Council in Lincolnshire will take the huge amount of opposition to this scheme into proper account and see sense enough to reject the proposal.

The plans propose keeping 4000 dairy cows indoors with no or extremely limited access to outside exercise or pasture. If passed, the scheme would very likely open the floodgates for many more such factories to open across the UK with Nocton Dairies also very likely to push for an increase in numbers – back to their original proposal of an 8100 cow unit.

Animals Count is thoroughly appalled by the plans and is opposed to all such styles of factory farming which put making maximum profit first and take no account of animals need to express natural behavior and experience natural environments.

If you haven’t already, please consider objecting to the plans by sending an email, referencing Planning Application 10/1397/FUL, to the following address:

planning@n-kesteven.gov.uk

Please note that planning departments do not take animal welfare issues into account when making their decisions. Although you may mention animal welfare in your letter, in order for your objection to be taken into consideration, you should also object in respect of another issue, such as the detrimental effects the development may have on the local people and villages or surrounding areas and wildlife and the environment. Please include your full name and address in order for your objection to be valid.

Please also be aware that even if you have objected in the past, you may still need to object again. This is because the original plans to keep 8000 cows were rejected. Nocton dairies then re-submitted plans for a smaller factory farm, lowering the number of cows to 4000. It is this new proposal that is now being considered by the council and no objections to the previous plans will be taken into consideration.

Consultation closes on Tuesday 11^th January. There is very little time left. Please, whether you are a meat-eater, vegetarian or vegan, if this matter concerns you, make sure you’ve registered your objections.

Our candidate in the UK General Election, Richard Deboo did a superb job and generated a great deal of media coverage across print, broadcast and on-line. We are tremendously encouraged by the publicity and support we received.

An enormous thank you also to our outgoing leader, Jasmijn de Boo. The co-founder of the Party, Jasmijn has been an extremely dedicated leader, tireless in her efforts to grow the party whilst remaining true to our most fundamental objectives.  

Our new leader, Vanessa Hudson, is equally passionate about striving to improve the lives of animals and is actively exploring new ways to get our message across.

The new year will see Animals Count continuing in our mission to grow our core support and recruit new members by attending events, speaking at seminars and maintaining an active web presence. 

The new coalition government continues to water down animal welfare proposals put in place by the previous administration so there has never been a more important time for animals to have an active, passionate and credible political voice. Please continue to support Animals Count in the coming year. Your support will help us to tackle the new government and ensure that when it comes to animal welfare, they don’t get an easy ride!

Once again, thank you all. Have a great Christmas and wishing you a very Happy New Year!

Ps. Animal Aid has produced a handy guide which gives some great advice about eating and giving gifts the animal friendly way. Click here to download their FREE Compassionate Christmas guide.

On 23 October, Animals Count held its 2010 Autumn Conference in London. After four years, Animals Count co-founder, Jasmijn de Boo, stepped down as leader and Vanessa Hudson became Animals Count’s new leader. Ms Hudson is a Producer/Director and has been responsible for the PR of the Vegan Runners (an athletics organisation). Former Deputy Leader Richard Deboo became the new Nominating Officer, replacing Fiona McNeill who stepped down.

The members discussed activities for 2011 and beyond, including contesting future elections. The aim is to grow the membership and supporters base and to continue to try to put animal issues higher up the political agenda by engaging with existing politicians and planning future election campaigns.

Animals Count will be represented at the Christmas Without Cruelty Fayre on 5 December in Kensington Town Hall, Hornton Street, London W8.