Find out more about the wonderful work in humane education done by Liberia Animal Welfare and Conservation Society and make a donation if you can 😀
Vegan education – it’s the only way to win!
Tag Archives: animal welfare
The time is NOW!
A message from Crustacean Compassion:
We wanted to provide a quick update on the Sentience Bill ahead of today’s debate. This afternoon at 14:30, the House of Lords grand committee meet for the second time this month to continue reviewing suggested amendments to the bill.
Two particularly important amendments being debated today are calling for invertebrates, like crabs and lobsters, to be included in the bill. If the Lords agree that these amendments should be made, then we’re a big step closer to getting these animals protected!
At the time of critical debates such as this, it is essential to show how much support there is for this issue! Make sure to show your support today by completing our two actions. They only take a few minutes and make a massive difference:
(1) Add your photo or video to our selfie wall #SelfiesForSentience (you don’t have to live in the UK to do this!)
(2) Write to your MP to keep this issue top of the agenda
Don’t forget to share on social media too so others can take part!
The debate can be watched on Parliament TV here. You can read the two amendments tabled to include decapod crustaceans via the links below:
1. Amendment made by Baroness Hayman of Ullock
2. Amendment made by Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb
Be a voice (and a face!) for these animals…
Join our Selfie Wall now and ask your MP to speak out for decapod crustaceans. Please don’t let these animals be ‘forgotten’ in the Sentience Bill!
Thank you so much.
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vegan, animals, animal rights, animal cruelty, animal welfare,
URGENT! PLEASE HELP!
Excruciatingly Cruel slaughter methods:
- Boiling alive
- Freezing alive before boiling alive
- Freshwater drowning
- Carving and dismemberment while fully conscious
These things happen legally because crustaceans and molluscs are not included in the Animal Welfare Act.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE tell the UK government to end these cruel practices and make it mandatory to treat these wild animals humanely – WITHOUT PAIN AND SUFFERING! – it will only take you a couple of minutes and it has to be NOW because they deciding right now whether to include crustaceans in the Sentience Bill and the Animal Welfare Act.
You don’t have to be from the UK to do this. PLEASE protect these animals by joining Crustacean Compassion’s selfie wall
And/or signing their petition.
No one has clicked these links in my previous posts – I pray to God you do now.
Thank you ❤
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vegan, vegetarian, animal rights, animal welfare, animal cruelty, petition, help please, lobsters, crabs, shrimp, mussels, cockles, octopus.
Take a selfie for lobsters
Stop lobsters, crabs and other shellfish being boiled alive by uploading a selfie to show the government you support Crustacean Compassion’s campaign.
The government is still undecided about including crustaceans in the new Sentience Bill, so please, no matter where you’re from, upload a selfie to tell the British government to do the right thing. This is an opportunity we’ve never had before. Thanks to Crustacean Compassion we are closer than ever to getting some protection for these horrifically abused animals. Don’t let it slip through our fingers. Add your picture to Crustacean Compassion’s selfie wall now!
And don’t forget to share! ❤ xx
Thank you.
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vegan, animals, animal rights, animal welfare, animal protection, marine animals, lobsters, crabs, crustaceans, molluscs,
Liberia Animal Welfare and Conservation Society
Liberia faces many challenges after the terrible civil war that ended in 2003. It is considered one of the poorest countries in the world. The country recovering process is faced with high unemployment rate, poor infrastructure, low literacy rate, and the Ebola crisis in 2014/2015 that killed over 4,000 people nationwide and further affected every sector of the country. Amidst all of these enormous challenges to national stability, animal protection is not considered as a priority issue. The animal protection issue is seen as a new concept and as a result many animals suffer needlessly.
The Liberia Animal Welfare & Conservation Society (LAWCS), is a local based registered and accredited non-profit animal protection organization in the country, and is run by volunteers without any national or local financial support. They have created Animal Kindness Clubs in 46 schools . LAWCS depends on outside animal lovers and donors to ensure that they can continue their vital animal protection work in Liberia.
The primary objectives of LAWCS are as follows:
- To prevent cruelty to animals
- To relieve animals’ suffering
- To promote the protection of animals
- To sensitize the public about the need to encourage respect for animals
- To sensitize the public about the conservation of all natures
- To create a bond between animals and humans
- To awaken interest and compassion for animals
- To engage in agricultural activities that promote animal welfare policies
- To serve as a forum for the exchange of ideas and experiences related to animals and conservation
- To spread knowledge concerning working animals, companion animals, wildlife and the environment among local communities
- To undertake activities that directly contribute to habitat protection, and conservation for a better environment for all animals and humans
- To promote the Universal Declaration of the welfare of Animals Rights
- To engage in any and all activities that a Non-For-Profit corporation is authorized to undertake in keeping with the laws of the Republic of Liberia
- To promote vegetarianism in schools and communities.
Help the Liberia Animal Welfare and Conservation Society reach more children ❤
Thank you xx
Megan & Flos #6: Corruption
As soon as Megan returns home from her adventures in space in episode 5, she receives a plea for help from a friend who is a volunteer at the local animal sanctuary. Something very strange is happening that doesn’t make any sense.
Megan agrees to help with the investigation into the sanctuary’s new management which reveals something highly unexpected.
Something dodgy is going on and, if Megan and friends don’t put a stop to it, the consequences will be dire.
Megan & Flos is an old-fashioned adventure comic for kids. Recommended for children aged 8 and up. There’s also a wordsearch puzzle at the end.
Format: Paperback 33 pages, colour interior, dimensions: 8.5 x 11 in / 216 x 279 mm, vegan children’s book suitable for ages 8 and up.
£3.00 in UK. Prices may vary depending on where it’s printed.
Ships worldwide from international printer lulu.com
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Comments from the web:
“OMG!!!!!! this is one of the best stories ever!! If you have read the others, every single second of this story will keep you tied on your seat and hats off to the illustrators who really did great illustrations. if you love conspiracy packed mysteries then you will really fall in love with this story…get on and read it, it’s really excellent.!!” – cwdoesmylaundry
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vegan, vegan comic, vegan children, vegan children’s book, vegan children’s story, animals, animal rights, animal welfare,
Making dairy farming a thing of the past, one farm at a time.
It’s easy to feel hopeless with the state of the world as it is. Every year it gets hotter, animal suffering increases, and the powers that be do nothing to address it. In fact they continue to subsidise it.
But then something comes along to really lift your spirits.
Refarm’d is a new plant-based drink subscription service, sourced lovingly from ex-dairy farmers.
They say:
WE HAVE THIS CRAZY IDEA
We want to turn all dairy farms into animal sanctuaries and we need you to convince these farmers to join the movement.
We work with farmers to transition from milk production to focus on producing plant based drinks and convert their farmland into an animal sanctuary.
We believe that by uniting together with farmers and providing them with the tools they need to move away from the dairy trade, we’re offering a viable new opportunity for their businesses to be part of the growing plant based movement.
We will assist the ex-dairy farms to sustainably and locally source the ingredients to produce plant based drinks on their farms. The farmers’ land will be converted into an animal sanctuary for their cattle that are no longer being used for dairy farming.
Show your interest (no payment, no commitment) in buying fresh plant-based drinks from them and let us do the rest!
As much as the animal agriculture is terrible on multiple aspects, – [the animal suffering, the environmental destruction, the damage to human health] – we cannot forget the farmers in these industries as well.
We believe the big majority of farmers are good people, that do care for their animals, but have just grown in an environment that normalizes animal exploitation so it has become a part of their identity, making it hard to take a step back and make changes.
The industry is in danger and most big companies have noticed it and adapt to the new market in order to survive. Small companies, family businesses however are the ones suffering the most. Lack of money, lack of time and lack of information make it hard on them to go in the right direction. The pressure, the insecurity as well as the very low buying prices (often selling for less than production costs) make for very uncomfortable living conditions.
We want to include helping the farmers in our mission to create the future of farming.
***
ANIMAL SANCTUARY
Farms are actually ideal places to become an animal sanctuary. They already have the land, the animals and the people that care for them [they wouldn’t be short of volunteers – I’d love to help look after the cows!]. No need to move animals, they can stay as a herd, nor to use more resources like land to create a new sanctuary.
Farmers joining our program have to give up any form of animal exploitation totally and to fully transition to an animal sanctuary.
Animals are put under legal protection and farmers under contract. Regular inspections and veterinary checks are performed to make sure of the animals’ well being.
The sanctuary is not working with donations. Instead, a part of the plant-based drinks price is dedicated to sustain these animals.
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So what Refarm’d need is enough people to tell them they’re interested so that they can go to the farmers and say – look, if you convert to plant-milk production, we’ve got the market ready and waiting for you. It’s scary for farmers to take the plunge, they need to know they can make a living from plant milk.
They need us to tell them “If you make it, we will buy.”
So go on, get over to Refarm’d and tell them you’re interested (there’s a button to click if you scroll down the homepage). Then you fill in a short questionnaire. It asks you what country and town you live in, and how much milk you would want to buy per week, and whether you would want it delivered, or whether you’d pick it up from the farm. Added bonus: it comes in refillable glass bottles! NB VERY IMPORTANT: when filling in the questionnaire you have to click NEXT and it takes you to what looks like a blank page, but it isn’t blank. You have to scroll up to find a couple more questions including name and email address and you can leave a comment or ask a question. Make sure you finish it otherwise they won’t be able to get back to you 😀
This is truly awesome! Please share far and wide!
Save the cows,
the gentle, beautiful cows.
***
vegan for the animals
vegan for the planet
vegan for the humans
vegan for the farmers
Luke read the letter
For all the Luke Walker chapters click here 🙂
Story continues from yesterday:
Luke read the letter.
“Explain,” said Dad, “and the truth this time. What did you send that caused alarm to the receivers?”
Luke explained. “They’re s’posed to be lookin’ after animals, not killin’ em! They’re pretendin’ it’s not cruel to kill ’em for meat so I found a picture on the internet of a bull bein’ killed in a slaughterhouse an’ I printed it out to show ’em how cruel it is. To show ’em so they wun’t keep doin’ it!”
Mum and Dad looked at each other without saying anything. Luke couldn’t tell whether they were still mad. He was about to make another attempt at convincing them he was right when Dad spoke up.
“And you sent this to their homes?” Luke nodded. “Well of course they were upset! You shouldn’t be writing to people’s home addresses Luke, that’s out of order! If you’ve got a problem with a company, you write to the company!”
“I did! We did! We wrote loadsa times to the sanctuary and they ignored us! For months! Then Tania’s mum said it was trustees who decided things at charities and they’re s’posed to run the charity for the reasons it was set up which is to prevent unnecessary sufferin’. So Maybury’s payin’ for unnecessary sufferin’ – coz it’s not necessary for people to eat animals – instead of preventin’ it. So Tania said they had no right to ignore us coz they should be countable for their actions and they’re breakin’ charity law so someone’s got to hold them to count for that! So one of us found their addresses from, erm, a website and we started writin’ to them at home.”
“One of us?”
“Don’t matter who. It’s not illegal.”
“And did that make them answer you?”
“No.”
“If you were hoping for a response you must have put our address on your letters,” said Mum.
“No. I didn’t,” Luke insisted. “We give ’em an email address to reply to.”
Dad took a deep breath. “These are good people Luke, they donate their time and their expertise to help an animal sanctuary. You’ve made your feelings clear and they’ve heard you. There’s nothing more you can do. You can’t force them to change. Sending them grisly pictures of slaughtered animals is going too far. No wonder they were upset.”
Luke was incensed. “They’re upset?! They’re the ones who did it! D’you think I liked lookin’ at that picture? No – I didn’t. Nobody wants to look at that, but people who pay for it to happen have no right to complain!”
“Luke,” Dad began.
“No, he’s right,” interrupted Mum. “It’s these people’s responsibility to run the charity by the principles it was started on. And if they go astray they have to be answerable. They should have answered the children’s very reasonable request in the first place. Ignoring them left the children with no other recourse than to write to them at home. They brought it on themselves.”
Luke was relieved that he’d finally got through to somebody. He nodded and looked at Dad who was harder to read.
“But you mustn’t be abusive in these letters,” Mum added.
“I’m not.”
“Or threatening, or use any foul language.”
“I don’t. I wouldn’t. I never have. I jus’ tell the truth. We all just tell the truth and ask ’em to stop. To save all the animals like they’re s’posed to.”
Dad still didn’t say anything.
Mum nodded. “Good, okay.”
Perceiving that the inquest was over, Luke left the room.
“Weird though,” Mrs Walker commented, “how did the police get our address? That creeps me out.”
Her husband shrugged. “I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation.”
****
Luke opened his bedroom door and grinned at his friend.
“What?” asked Joe.
“We’ve had a reply from Maybury!”
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More Luke Walker coming soon. For the first twenty chapters click here 😀
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vegan, vegetarian, vegan children, veggie kids, short stories, funny short stories, vegan short stories, vegan children’s stories, vegan children’s books, humour, animals, animal welfare, animal rights
“I didn’t do it!”
For all the Luke Walker chapters click here 🙂
Story continues from Friday:
When he entered the kitchen Mum had her back to him but she knew he was there.
“I got a letter from the police,” she told him.
“About what?” asked Luke, trying to sound casual. Mum turned to face him.
“Luuuke!”
“Whaaat?”
“Your face!”
Luke rubbed his face and smeared the tattoo. “It’s alright, it’ll come off.”
“Is that my eye liner?”
Dad stepped out of the pantry and suppressed a smile. “Sit down please Luke, we need to talk to you.”
Luke sat down.
“The police seem to think I’ve been harassing the Maybury trustees,” said Mum.
Luke raised his eyebrows. “Why would they think that?”
“I can’t imagine,” said Mum, “unless someone else has been writing letters and signing my name on them.” She clearly thought it was him but it wasn’t. He wouldn’t do that. Why would he? That would be a very stupid thing to do. Anything that led back to her led back to him. He never signed his letters and he certainly didn’t put a return address on them. So how had the police got her name and address? Was he being watched? Was he under police surveillance? What else did they know? This was very troubling indeed.
There was, in fact, a very simple explanation. For over two years the Secret Society of animal stick up for-ers had been writing to Maybury Centre for Animal Welfare, asking them to make their cafe vegan. At first Luke wrote once a week, sometimes twice. But when the Society realised the charity trustees were the decision-makers they decided to write directly to them. There were six trustees so that meant writing six letters a week and stamps became prohibitively expensive. But Luke wasn’t going to let a little thing like insufficient funds prevent him from doing something this important. So, he continued to write and when he didn’t have enough money for the stamps he scavenged them from his mother’s purse. He was sure she wouldn’t mind. After all, it was Mum who suggested he write to them in the first place. A couple of times, when there were no stamps to be found in her purse, he had hidden his letters in a pile on the kitchen counter. Mum was quite a devoted correspondent herself. She wrote to her friend Margaret in Wales; to Uncle Max and Auntie Beatrice who lived in Torquay; and to a couple of old school friends, Kath and Myrtle, who had moved to Stoke-on-Trent and Edinburgh respectively. Sometimes there wasn’t much to tell them so she’d just write a brief note on a postcard but she always put whatever she was sending in a plain white envelope from the box in the sideboard. Luke was getting all his envelopes from the same box so it was easy to slip his letters into her pile without her noticing and then she would put stamps on them at the post office by lifting the top right hand corner of each envelope just enough to add the stamp. He’d seen her do it. She never reviewed the names and addresses once she’d sealed the envelopes. What Luke didn’t know was that she also put one of her return address labels on the top left hand corner of each envelope in the same way.
Mum was staring at him, waiting for an answer.
“I didn’t do it,” he said truthfully. “I didn’t! Why would I?”
“Did you write offensive letters to these people?” asked Dad coldly.
“I just ask ’em to make the cafe vegan. Maybe that does offend ’em, I don’t know.”
“Nothing else? You’re not threatening or abusive?”
“No!” said Luke, annoyed at the accusation. “I jus’ tell ’em, like you said. I tell ’em I don’t like ’em sellin’ meat an’ fish an’ everything that’s cruel to animals, and I tell ’em they should know better. Stuff like that.”
Mum handed him the letter. “So how do you explain this?”
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Story continues tomorrow 😀
but if you don’t want to wait you can click here to read it now!
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vegan, vegetarian, veggie kids, vegan children, vegan children’s story, vegan children’s book, juvenile fiction, humour, animals, animal rights, animal welfare
Unnecessary Suffering
My flesh to you is unnecessary,
And my milk’s unnecessary for you,
So if none of these is necessary
Then my suffering’s unnecessary too.
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Raystede Centre for Animal Welfare‘s governing document states:
1.1 The objects of the charity are
(1) To prevent and relieve cruelty to animals and to protect them from UNNECESSARY SUFFERING and to promote and encourage a knowledge and love of animals and of their proper care and treatment.
and yet they serve meat, fish, dairy and eggs in their cafe.
Tell them they’re breaking their own laws!
Raystede Centre for Animal Welfare,
The Broyle, Ringmer,
East Sussex,
BN8 5AJ
Tel: (01825) 840252
info@raystede.org
And don’t forget to sign and share the petition 😀
Thank you 🙂
Quick! The animals need you!
If you’re a UK resident, Compassion in World Farming needs your help.
By current European law, animals are recognised as sentient beings, acknowledging their ability to feel pain, suffer and also experience joy. No one who has seen a cow going outside for the first time after a winter indoors, a hen dust bathing, or a pig wallowing in a fresh patch of mud would disagree with that. The law says that as animals are sentient beings, full regard must be given to their welfare when creating new legislation or regulations.
Securing this status for animals was a massive step forward for animal welfare in 1997. It was the biggest campaign Compassion has ever run. The recognition of animals as complex and intelligent creatures has been the cornerstone of European animal welfare legislation since that time, and the basis for so much of the progress we have made together.
But now, there’s Brexit!
Animal Sanctuary Poem Week: Day 4
Frettenham, Norfolk
Wendy Valentine’s amazing
Her firey compassion don’t stop blazing.
Her sanct’ry is home to many a horse,
It goes without saying, she’s vegan of course!
There’s chickens and ducks and budgies and turkeys,
And sheep and cows and llamas and donkeys.
There’s rabbits and emus, alpacas and deer,
There’s even some chipmunks and goats live here.
But rescuing’s not all that Hillside does,
They also investigate farms because
They need to make public the horror that’s hidden
Behind the farm gates of those animal prisons.
❤ 🙂 ❤
Hillside is now home to over 3000 animals and is one of the UK’s most successful campaigning organisations for the animals’ cause. They have always known that one of the main reasons animals are left to suffer in factory farms is because people have little or no idea about the immense cruelty involved in their food production.
Miss Mabel Raymonde-Hawkins
This wonderful woman, who sadly died in 1998, was a life-long advocate for animals. She writes in her book Sensible Pets and Silly People, referring to activities with her childhood friend when she was 5 years old: “… I do not think there was any crime we would not commit for an animal. We were always prepared to do anything we could to reduce the sufferings of any animals that came our way …” She went on to found Raystede Centre for Animal Welfare , in the 1950s I believe, and tirelessly continued as she had begun – saving all the animals who needed her.
The day she died was a great tragedy for animals because those left in charge of Raystede have betrayed her legacy by serving meat, fish, eggs and dairy in their café – something she would never have allowed. How do I know that? Read this (another excerpt from her book):
“Too often our entertainment, our food, our clothing and so-called sport are all at the expense of animals and a civilised society in years to come will look back with horror at the way that we have exploited animals …. Things have gone wrong. Things have got worse. The sparrows go on falling. The sheep go on suffering and it is time many more of us did much more about it … We must be less cautious, we must forge ahead with less timidity and decide that all cruelty should be punished and eliminated. …. Those of us who have grown old in the work and who have so little to encourage us for the future welfare of animals can at least hope that having carried the banner so far, we can, in falling, fling it to the hosts behind to carry on the work and hope that they will be more successful than we have been during this century.”
Heartbreakingly the hosts behind have dropped the banner and let her down horribly.
How dare they? How dare they betray her life’s work? How dare they betray the animals? How dare they do it in Raystede’s name?
Every time someone signs the petition to make Raystede’s café vegan, the CEO, Nigel Mason gets an email. Get everyone you know, and everyone you don’t know to sign it. Even better, write to the president (who worked there when Miss Raymonde-Hawkins was there incidentally) and tell him what you think of their betrayal. Tell him to make that café vegan! I know I can count on you. Thank you ❤
Raystede’s President:
Morgan Williams,
29 Hamilton Court,
The Strand,
Brighton Marina Village,
Brighton,
East Sussex,
BN2 5XD
Snow White and Rose Red remembered.
Once upon a time there were two beautiful girls called Snow White and Rose Red. They were very unhappy because they were imprisoned in a large windowless shed with thousands of others like them. They were cramped and miserable; they never saw daylight or felt the wind on their faces; and the prison guards were rough and cruel. Then one night, everything changed.
As the wind blew and the rain poured down, someone came and lifted them out of their prison and carried them out into the night.
The beautiful girls were scared at first. They tried to shelter their heads from the wind and rain, instinctively ducking under the chin of the person carrying them. What was this cold, dark, wet outside world? They had never seen it before and didn’t know what to think.
After hours and hours of jostling and jolting in the wind and rain; after feeling cold and wet and very very nervous; they arrived somewhere. Somewhere new. Somewhere unfamiliar.
They explored with care. They didn’t know what to make of it. They didn’t know who to trust. But they were curious. They weren’t so desperate to get away anymore. They started to wonder if this was, after all, something good.
As they settled in to their new surroundings they were approached by other individuals. One of whom in particular, Mrs Teapot, became their devoted friend.
And so they lived happily ever after 😀
Thanksgiving Turkey Rescue
Note that Naomi was rescued from a “natural” free range farm. There is no such thing as humane meat.
Save the monkeys!
Russian Academy Of Science training four rhesus macaques to travel into space and land on Mars.
Please sign the petition NOW to stop them.
Thank you.
R is for Rat
Rat noun
Oxford Dictionary definition: 1. large mouselike rodent. 2. colloquial unpleasant or treacherous person. verb 1. hunt or kill rats. 2. colloquial inform on.
Our definition:
- Rats take care of injured and sick rats in their group.
- Without companionship rats tend to become lonely and depressed.
- Rats have excellent memories. Once they learn a navigation route, they won’t forget it.
- When happy, rats have been observed to chatter or grind their teeth. This is often accompanied by vibrating eyes.
- Rats make happy “laughter” sounds when they play.
- Rats succumb to peer-pressure, just like humans. Brown rats are prone to disregard personal experiences in order to copy the behaviour of their peers. The urge to conform is so strong that they will even choose to eat unpalatable food if they are in the company of other rats who are eating it.
- Although very curious animals, rats are also shy, and prefer to run away than confront a potential threat.
- Rats are extremely clean animals, spending several hours every day grooming themselves and their group members. They are less likely than cats or dogs to catch and transmit parasites and viruses.
- A rat can go longer than a camel without having a drink of water.
- Rats’ tails help them to balance, communicate and regulate their body temperature.
Click here for the rest of the Rr page, click here, or go to the sidebar on the right, for the whole dictionary 😀
NO NETS PLEASE # 4: Hedgehog
NO NETS PLEASE # 3: Another Fox Cub
NO NETS PLEASE #2: Pigeon
NO NETS PLEASE # 1: Fox Cub
Reflecto Girl #4 … and so it begins
Name the Bunny!
Rescue rabbits
Rescue rabbits
Lovely rabbits
With natural habits
Need spacious homes
With other rabbits.
If you’ve got love
And space for rabbits,
Don’t pay breeders
Hell no! Dagnabbit!
So many need homes,
Save rescue rabbits!
At Raystede Animal Welfare Centre in East Sussex they take in around 1500 animals every year who need to be found new homes. They work hard to make sure that each animal is matched up with the right family to give them the best new chance in life and they provide advice on how to take the best care of the animals.
This is undoubtedly the case for so many animal rescue organisations which is why it’s so important, if we are able to provide a happy home for a companion animal, that we rehome abandoned, neglected, rescued animals rather than buy from breeders and perpetuate the problem.
The chap pictured at the top of this post is, like other rabbits rescued by Raystede, looking for a new home.
He is such a sweetheart and anyone from the UK wishing to adopt him should comment on this post suggesting a name for him. Then, on Friday, we will put all the suggested names in a box and draw out a winner. The rescued bunny will be trusted to the loving care of the lucky prize winner to whom he will be promptly delivered 😀
D is for Donkey
Donkey noun
Oxford Dictionary definition: 1. Domestic ass 2. colloquial stupid person
Our definition: The donkey’s wild ancestor, the African Wild Ass, is well suited to life in a desert or semi-desert environment, having a tough digestive system which can break down desert vegetation and extract moisture from food efficiently. They can also go without water for a fairly long time. Their large ears give them an excellent sense of hearing and help in cooling. Because of the sparse vegetation in their environment wild asses live somewhat separated from each other (except for mothers and young), unlike the tightly grouped herds of wild horses. They have very loud voices, which can be heard for over 3 km (1.9 mi), which helps them to keep in contact with other asses over the wide spaces of the desert.
Mature males defend large territories around 23 square kilometres in size, marking them with dung heaps – an essential marker in the flat, monotonous terrain. Due to the size of these ranges, the dominant male cannot exclude other males. Rather, intruders are tolerated—recognized and treated as subordinates, and kept as far away as possible from any of the resident females.
Wild asses can run swiftly, almost as fast as a horse. However, their tendency is to not flee right away from a potentially dangerous situation, but to investigate first before deciding what to do. When they need to, they can defend themselves with kicks from both their front and hind legs.
Though the species itself is under no threat of extinction, due to abundant domestic stock, the two extant wild subspecies are both listed as critically endangered. African wild asses have been captured for domestication for centuries, and this, along with interbreeding between wild and domestic animals, has caused a distinct decline in population numbers. There are now only a few hundred individuals left in the wild. These animals are also hunted for food and for traditional medicine in both Ethiopia and Somalia. Competition with domestic livestock for grazing, and restricted access to water supplies caused by agricultural developments, pose further threats to their survival. The African wild ass is legally protected in the countries where it is currently found, although these measures often prove difficult to enforce.
There are more than 40 million ‘domesticated’ donkeys in the world, mostly in developing countries where they are used principally as draught or pack animals. Working donkeys are often associated with those living at or below subsistence levels. Small numbers of donkeys are kept for breeding or as pets in developed countries.
The Donkey Sanctuary in Devon works hard to transform the quality of life for donkeys, mules and people worldwide through greater understanding, collaboration and support, and by promoting lasting, mutually life-enhancing relationships. They work inclusively with people frequently marginalised within their own countries and communities, whether due to poverty, ignorance, race, gender or disabilities. They treat every interaction as a two-way opportunity to learn and to teach. “We know that it is only together that we can help donkey owners and carers become donkey welfare ambassadors wherever they live and work.”
Dr Elisabeth Svendsen, in love with them since childhood, made it her life’s mission to rescue abused, neglected and abandoned donkeys and founded The Donkey Sanctuary in 1969. She said,
“To me they are the most beautiful, the most underrated animals in the world – and, as long as they need my help, they shall have it.”
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is finished for the time being.
Click on the picture or go to the dictionary in the sidebar 🙂 And now, on to E e
Look at this can
Look at this can, and picture if you can
What it would do to Peter Rabbit’s paw.
It’s as sharp as a knife, it would cut like a knife,
And cause bad infection for sure.
This is how it goes, when someone just throws
Their drink can on the ground.
Inevitably it must, succumb to the rust,
Get dangerously jagged and unsound.
Now think of this, just think of this –
What if Mrs Tiggywinkle walked over?
What if she trod, right over the sod
Where this can was hidden in the clover?
Or Tabitha Twitchit, perhaps Mrs Twitchit,
Might be walking her youngsters to school.
Moppet and Mittens, and Tom, her kittens
Could, on this can, cut their feet cruel.
“Oh I wish,” they would say, at the end of the day,
“That the can had never been left there.”
Their feet would sting, as infection set in,
“But humans who litter just don’t care.”
The Raystede Centre for Animal Welfare
At Raystede they rescue, rehome and provide sanctuary for more than 1500 animals each year. It is free to visit almost every day of the year and very important to their work is their educational service, used by schools in East Sussex and beyond. They also offer guidance to all ages on caring for animals.
They say: “Our Sanctuary, with its sizeable lakes, offers a safe haven for visiting waterfowl as well as for our chickens, turkeys, ducks and geese. We also offer a lifelong home for goats, horses, ponies and donkeys which are no longer wanted.”
This little person is named Sweetpea, and she is sooo friendly and gorgeous! You can see in the background the fields in which the goats can go to play.
Sweetpea again, what an adorable face!
This is Toffee! Isn’t he a splendid gentleman? Here he is standing in front of the stables and next to the climbing frame.
Toffee again – here he is trying to reach for a piece of paper I am holding. I love his beard!
Reach! Now he’s going for my camera.
Mmm! Tasty. He has a lovely soft tongue, he licked my fingers.
Hello there! Rocky is 7 years old. He likes people and scratching.
This is Lettie – she is taller than the other goats, so she can stand on her hind legs and eat off of the trees. Isn’t she so delightfully pretty?
Lettie again, having a good back-rub on the side of the stable
Snowdrop having a good scratch
This is where the goats live and spend a lot of their time.
POSTSCRIPT:
Sadly, while they do a lot of good for some animals, Raystede sells meat, fish, eggs and dairy in their cafe, thus paying for a lot of animal suffering and encouraging their supporters to do the same. A two year campaign of letter writing and a petition asking them to make their cafe vegan has received no response from those in charge who seem to think they are not answerable for the betrayal of their founder’s mission to make the world a better place for ALL animals.
Violet's Vegan Comics 