A Compassionate World

Whether they are cold or wet blooded, small and cute, or big and ugly, Compassion campaigns for all farm animals, regardless of how much public sympathy is associated with them. This is why we care about fish as well as chickens, cows, sheep, turkeys and all animals reared for food on land or in water.

I started looking into aquaculture, or fish farming, in the early 1990s. My initial forays culminated in a report being published by Compassion in 1992 which showed how tens of thousands of fish are often crammed at high stocking densities into barren cages or pens.

Ten years later I reassessed the industry in a follow-up called, In Too Deep – Why Fish Farming Needs Urgent Welfare Reform. It was whilst debating issues with the fish farming industry in Edinburgh some years later that I realised that, though the debate within this area was fast moving, serious concerns about the welfare and environmental impact of fish farming remained. That is why I asked my close colleague and fish welfare expert, Peter Stevenson, to look deeper into what seemed to me to be the murky waters of this subject in 2007. Closed Waters was the result.

Nearly 20 years of study have reaffirmed our opposition to intensively farmed fish. Why? Because fish in these waterborne factory farms suffer serious problems, including frustration often of natural behaviours, physical injuries, increased susceptibility to disease, high mortality rates and, in some countries, inhumane slaughter methods. Compassion believes the transportation, confinement and slaughter of fish as well as the environmental impact of aquaculture, including on wild fish, birds and other wildlife, is an important issue in our campaign to end factory farming.

This is why I’m excited about recent developments in the European Union. A Report by the European Parliament has called for significant changes in aquaculture and the way fish are farmed. I’m proud to say that colleagues at Compassion have played an important role in making sure the welfare of fish is taken into account more seriously than ever before. And it’s progress that would not have been possible without you and your support. Thank you!

On June 17 at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, MEPs (Members of the European Parliament) voted overwhelmingly in favour of a Report to improve things in fish farming. The Report, ‘A new impetus for the Strategy for the Sustainable Development of European Aquaculture’, in the words of its proponent, Italian Socialist MEP Guido Milana, aims to improve “farming quality standards” and calls for improvements in the welfare of farmed fish.

The Report stresses that the new Lisbon Treaty “recognises fish as sentient beings” and commits the EU to paying “full regard to the welfare requirements of the animals”. The Report stresses the “need to reduce to a minimum the stress levels caused by farm density or transport and to search for more humane slaughter techniques, and the well-being of fish in general”. Also, the Report recommends that the European Fisheries Fund should focus support on farms which follow good practices thereby making them more economically viable for farmers to implement.

It is also too easy to forget about fish. To also think they don’t suffer. There is increasing scientific evidence that they are capable, in their own way, to experience the world in which they live. Scientists increasingly document how fish feel fear, distress and pain.

Even though there is hope for fish in the EU, we must be ever vigilant on their behalf throughout the world. For example, ‘super salmon’ – genetically modified fish that grow to adult size in half the time – could be available for human consumption in the US in two years if they are approved by the Food and Drug Administration. What concerns me is that, if this happens, the company will then seek approval from the EU to market ‘super salmon’ here. We cannot let this happen! Fish need all the help we can give them. Please help us to turn back the tide on factory farming in our waters.

Just back from Brussels, I can report that the EU Commissioner responsible for consumer health and animal welfare, John Dalli, has reconfirmed that there will be no delay to the 2012 ban on barren battery cages. This is hugely welcome news and should help to quell industry mutterings to the contrary.

The barren battery cage, a system that still incarcerates most of Europe’s laying hens, is due to be banned in just over 18 months’ time. That victory has been hard won by you, Compassion’s wonderful supporters, who have supported our long-standing campaign together with our partner societies across Europe.

Ever since the ban was announced, however, some in agri-industry and some countries have tried to undermine the ban. The most recent attempt was by the Polish government earlier this year. We mobilised our lobbyists against this threat and were delighted when the Polish attempt was thwarted. However, the danger didn’t end there. Even last night, I heard of a rumour of delay from as far away as the USA, underlining the need for us to be vigilant. And Compassion will remain so until the awful battery cage is finally banned come 1st January 2012.

Our three adopted hens are doing well rearranging our back garden to suit themselves! Thank you to everyone who has asked how they are getting on. Hetty, Hazy and Hope, as we’ve named them, are doing well. They remind me every day of the importance of ending factory farming. That hens, in common with other animals, have their own likes and dislikes. Their own wants and needs. Their own idea of what they want to do and where they want to go. Every day, I see how important it is to them to scratch the ground under their feet and to run around the garden flapping their wings. Every day, I say thank goodness that Compassion’s dedicated supporters have done so much to make life better for the millions of birds otherwise caged for life, unable to experience the most basic of natural behaviours. And every day, our hens remind me of the importance of vigilance and of ensuring that nothing gets in the way of consigning those barren battery cages to history.

Here at Compassion, we are blessed with our third wedding of the year! Congratulations to Jennifer Gatenby from our fundraising team who marries Frazer Balloch in St Lucia on Saturday 5th June. The happy couple will then return to the UK for their reception at Portsmouth’s Spinnaker Tower.

Congratulations to Sarah Sanderson, Compassion’s Production Manager, and Chris Bryan, who marry today in Chichester. This is the second Compassion wedding of the year. Thankfully, the rain has given way to glorious sunshine and wishing them both much luck on their special day and for a wonderful future together.

Congratulations to Sarah Upfield and Liam Slattery, our very own Head of Investigations, who are marrying today in Midhurst, West Sussex. This happy occasion inspired me to review some of the recent happenings for farm animals through a special wedding day lens…

Something old… the use of outdated, and outlawed, practices on farm animals in Europe. The EU prohibits the routine cutting off of piglets’ tails to make them fit bad intensive systems, yet, as Liam’s recent investigation shows, this mutilation is still commonly carried out.

Something new… our re-launch in France – see our new dedicated website for our exciting plans to engage with opinion formers, food companies and the general public. France is, of course, one of Europe’s most iconic countries when it comes to food, and a political heavyweight too.

Something borrowed… the time that barren battery cages are on, thanks to this week’s rejection of Poland’s call for a delay to the 2012 ban in Europe.

Something blue… the clear water that thousands of calves were spared crossing thanks to the work of the Beyond Calf Exports stakeholder forum. This Compassion initiative, with the RSPCA and a wide range of industry and other stakeholders, spared 61,000 male dairy calves from export journeys or an early death last year.

The UK Government is planning to drop its own ban on the debeaking of laying hens, according to a Parliamentary answer by Animal Welfare Minister, Jim Fitzpatrick MP. This is the clearest signal yet that Government promises on animal welfare are likely to be broken. And underlines our need to step up the pressure to ensure that the ban, due to enter into force in under a year’s time, is not written out of the statute books.

In answer to the question of whether it remains government policy to introduce the ban in 2011, the Minister replied that a consultation will be issued shortly on the proposal to “remove the total ban on beak trimming, to allow for routine beak trimming of day old chicks intended for laying to be done using the infra-red technique”. The Minister suggested that this was necessary until it can be demonstrated that hens can be managed commercially without the mutilation.

This is a clear case of the Government ignoring the very scientific and practical evidence that it used when agreeing the ban in 2002. It also ignores the lead taken by other countries, notably in Sweden, Norway and Finland, where debeaking has already been banned successfully. In Austria too, the majority of laying hens are kept cage-free and debeaking, often called “beak trimming”, is ruled out by the country’s major certification schemes. You can read more in our latest report marshalling the latest evidence in favour of the ban going ahead.

Debeaking (or ‘beak-trimming’ as it is often referred to) involves cutting off a part of the bird’s beak with a red-hot blade or an infra-red beam. It is a serious mutilation used to control feather pecking caused by factors such as inappropriate husbandry systems, management or strain of hen.

It looks like the UK Government has swallowed assertions that debeaking using infra-red is somehow better. This is despite evidence that removing part of a bird’s beak with an infra-red beam results in acute pain. It also causes the bird to show reduced growth rate, to eat less, to show more fearfulness and to avoid pecking more than birds debeaked using a hot blade. All of this suggests, as you’d expect, that debeaking is a traumatic experience – and yes, there is evidence that infra-red debeaking causes long term pain too.

It really is time to show the Government that back-tracking on animal welfare is far from acceptable. Please help us to step up the pressure on the Government by writing to your MP asking them to sign Early Day Motion 92 on this issue.

If you’ve not already done so, please also send this urgent e-card to the Government.

On behalf of the UK’s laying hens, I sincerely thank you.

As the news suggests that unofficial election campaigns are underway by some of Britain’s political parties, it seems a good time to revisit what we want from politicians to improve farm animal welfare.

At Compassion, we pursue a number of approaches toward achieving a better deal for farm animals, including our objective of feeding the world without factory farming. One of those strategies is to work with our elected representatives to educate them on the need for effective legislation and progressive public policies to protect farm animals. There’s no better time than a general election to lobby parliamentary candidates. Indeed, I believe every election, including local councils, the Welsh Assembly, the Scottish Parliament, the Westminster Parliament or the European Parliament, is a good opportunity to speak up for farm animals.

This is why Compassion is a proud member of the Vote Cruelty Free campaign. This is a non-partisan coalition comprising of the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection, International Fund for Animal Welfare, League Against Cruel Sports and Respect for Animals. Our mission is to ensure that public concern for animal welfare is recognised by working directly with candidates and elected officials to achieve positive change. Vote Cruelty Free covers a broad range of animal welfare issues. Compassion’s involvement focuses solely on farm animal welfare.

In the Vote Cruelty Free farm animal welfare manifesto, we particularly call for:

• A ban on the export of animals for slaughter or fattening
• Prohibition of ‘enriched’ cages for egg laying hens
• Government enforcement of EU legislation requiring pigs to be given enrichment materials and banning routine tail docking
• Animal welfare to be a core objective of Government food policy.

Interestingly, our lobbying on the latter point appears to be bearing fruit in that the newly unveiled UK Government food strategy cites “farmers producing efficiently, sustainably and safely to high standards of animal welfare” as a key goal for 2030. Having made progress, we need to keep it up. We need to ensure that governments properly achieve the reforms they have committed to. A case in point is the threat to the EU ban on barren battery cages.

Please help us to raise farm animal welfare up the agenda during the impending election campaign. Please go to the Vote Cruelty Free Lobby Your Future MP page and key in your post code to find out if your Prospective Parliamentary Candidates have signed up to support our campaign. Also, stay tuned for future announcements on how you can make a difference for farmed animals in the next general election.

Thank you.

People power can and does change things. That is the message delivered by the UK Environment Secretary, Hilary Benn, yesterday in his speech to the Oxford Farming Conference. And, as an organisation that helps people to help farm animals, it’s a message that strongly resonates with us here at Compassion.

“People power can help bring about a revolution in the way food is produced and sold”, said Mr Benn. He gave the revolution in non-cage eggs as a shining example, “A decade ago, only 16 per cent of eggs produced in the UK were free range. In the last ten years that’s more than doubled to just under 40 per cent. Waitrose, M&S and the Co-op now sell only free range or organic eggs. And with the UK 80 per cent self-sufficient in free range eggs this is a great example of how our farmers have responded to what consumers want, to the benefit of both.

Mr Benn was unveiling the UK Government’s food strategy that sets out goals for 2030, and the changes that need to be made to achieve them. As the Government press release puts it, these include:

·       “Farmers producing efficiently, sustainably and safely to high standards of animal welfare”

·       “Farmers and fishermen producing more with fewer resources and fewer carbon emissions”

·       “Informed consumers able to choose and afford healthy food, supported by better labelling and information.”

These are welcome and encouraging statements indeed. Congratulations to Hilary Benn for choosing the Oxford Farming Conference as the backdrop for this new plan. And congratulations to you, our supporters, for making sure that the voice of farm animal welfare has been heard in Whitehall. We will continue to work with Governments in the UK and across the globe to ensure that goals like those set out by Mr Benn above are identified and achieved.

Whilst this big picture vision is very welcome, we should not forget that the UK Government also appears to be considering undermining both the EU ban on barren battery cages and the UK ban on debeaking for laying hens. This is particularly ironic as the consumer switch to more welfare-friendly eggs has been so marked. You can read the background to this, including the Daily Mail article, in my earlier posting on this. And please help ensure that people power can and does change this situation by sending our urgent e-card to the Minister responsible for animal welfare.