Region: Global

Humane Society International/India and People for Animals welcome “major turning point” in campaign to end dog meat cruelty

Humane Society International / India

Alokparna Sengupta/HSI Dogs tied up in sacks for the dog meat trade in Nagaland, India. 2015

NEW DELHI—In a landmark decision, India’s Government of the state of Nagaland has ended the brutal dog meat trade. The decision announced today by the cabinet will end the import, trade and sale of live dogs and dog meat. Humane Society International/India and People for Animals have campaigned for years to end India’s dog meat trade, and welcome this decision as a major turning point in ending the cruelty of India’s hidden dog meat trade.  HSI/India estimates that around 30,000 dogs a year are smuggled into Nagaland where they are sold in live markets and beaten to death with wooden clubs.

HSI/India’s campaign to end the dog meat trade was launched in 2016 with an investigation revealing shocking video footage of dog meat death pits in Nagaland. Dogs were seen being clubbed to death in front of each other, beaten multiple times in protracted and painful deaths. Most dogs were beaten several times before dying. Download footage.

Alokparna Sengupta, HSI/India’s managing director, said: “The suffering of dogs in Nagaland has long cast a dark shadow over India, and so this news marks a major turning point in ending the cruelty of India’s hidden dog meat trade.  Our own investigation in Nagaland showed terrified dogs being subjected to horrific deaths in some of the worst inhumanity to animals HSI/India has ever witnessed. And the dogs we have rescued from this trade over the years have had to learn to trust humans again after the cruel treatment they endured.”

Dog meat consumption is prohibited in India through the Food Safety and Standard (Food Products Standard and Additives) Regulation, 2011. However, this is poorly enforced, and in the states of Nagaland, Mizoram, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh, thousands of dogs each year are illegally captured from the streets or stolen from homes, and cruelly transported from neighbouring states in gunny bags to be brutally slaughtered for consumption by being beaten to death.

Earlier this week, Indian Member of Parliament Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi made an urgent public appeal to urge the Government of Nagaland to stop the trade and consumption of dog meat after receiving new photographs of the trade from a Nagaland-based animal protection organization. The appeal led to more than 125,000 people writing to the Nagaland Government.

HSI/India’s Sengupta continued “We warmly thank Smt. Maneka Gandhi for her leadership and the vital impetus she has provided in achieving this decision from the Government of Nagaland so quickly after the latest evidence emerged. We also congratulate the Government of Nagaland and offer our support so that this decision can be robustly implemented. The Government of Nagaland has shown great leadership and we urge other states such as Mizoram, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh to follow by implementing a dog meat trade ban too.”

The Government of Nagaland is considering how to allot land to accommodate dogs rescued from the trade, and to promote the adoption of these dogs. HSI/India, which has rescued more than 150 dogs from the dog meat trade, will work with PFA and the state government to support adoption and implement the practical mechanisms needed to enforce the new order and end the dog meat trade.

HSI/India’s campaign is part of HSI’s broader campaign to end the dog meat trade across Asia in countries including South Korea, China, Indonesia and Vietnam.

ENDS

Media Contact: Shambhavi Tiwari, HSI/India media manager: stiwari@hsi.org

Humane Society International says move would spare many thousands of animals

Humane Society International / Global

WASHINGTON—In a move applauded by global animal protection leader Humane Society International, China’s State Council has finalized regulations that significantly modernize cosmetic safety assessment and lay critical groundwork for removal of the longstanding requirement to animal test all imported ordinary cosmetics, a practice which in the past decade has consumed between 50,000 and more than 120,000 rabbits each year. Effective Jan. 1, 2021, imported ordinary cosmetics such as shampoo, blusher, mascara and perfume may no longer have to be animal tested for eye and skin irritation in Chinese laboratories. Ordinary cosmetics make up the bulk of personal care products imported to China; so-called “special” cosmetics will still require animal testing.

Kitty Block, CEO of Humane Society International, which leads the global #BeCrueltyFree campaign and has long supported training in non-animal test methods in China, said: “We are delighted that China has taken this important step toward cruelty-free cosmetics regulation. China remains one of the few countries in the world to require animal tests for beauty products, so removing this requirement for everyday cosmetics would be a game changer for cruelty-free beauty. The era of cosmetic animal testing is nearly at an end, and through our global #BeCrueltyFree campaign we are passing laws in key cosmetic markets to ensure that no animal is ever again made to suffer in the name of beauty. We are also excited to be working with brand leaders and scientists in the beauty sector to build trust, acceptance and national capacity in animal-free approaches to cosmetic safety assessment.”

The new Regulations on Cosmetics Supervision and Administration encourages and supports cosmetics producers and operators in adopting modern science and technology and advanced management standards to improve the quality and safety of cosmetics. Validated and internationally recognized alternatives to animal testing are readily available to companies, and, through the Animal-Free Safety Assessment Collaboration, Humane Society International and our industry and NGO partners are developing and delivering free training resources to help countries increase their capacity to make cosmetic safety decisions without reliance on new animal test data.

The regulation also provides for routine post-market sampling inspections by provincial authorities, including for cosmetics with reported safety problems. It is unclear whether such inspections and investigations could involve animal testing. This uncertainty has long been a barrier to cruelty-free beauty brands entering the Chinese market.

Worldwide, nearly 40 countries have outlawed animal testing for cosmetics, driven in large part by the #BeCrueltyFree campaign led by HSI and our national affiliates and partners. Today

HSI is leading simultaneous legislative efforts in Brazil, Canada, Chile, Mexico, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the Association of South-East Asian Nations, with the goal of having robust bans introduced by the end of 2023.

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Notes to editors:

  1. Cosmetics used for hair and skin coloring, perming, sun protection, anti-hair loss, children’s products and cosmetics claiming new effects are termed ‘special’ cosmetics and are still subject to animal testing requirements. Cosmetics other than special cosmetics are ordinary cosmetics.
  2. China new cosmetic import registrations between 2010 and 2013 reflected between 6,000 and 13,606 government approvals for non-special-use (ordinary) cosmetics. Each of these products would have been subject to 3 animal tests, each using 3 rabbits (6,000 x 3 x 3 = ~54,000 rabbits in 2010; 13,606 x 3 x 3 = ~122,454 rabbits in 2013).
  3. HSI’s #BeCrueltyFree campaign was instrumental in securing cosmetic animal testing bans in India, Taiwan, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia, Guatemala, Switzerland and seven states in Brazil. A parallel effort in the U.S., led by the Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society Legislative Fund, has secured three state-level bans, together with an unprecedented agreement with the industry trade group Personal Care Products Council on language for a federal bill.

 

Humane Society International urges European Commission to support the early closure of this cruel industry

Humane Society International / Europe

Mark Hicken, Alamy Stock photo

AMSTERDAM—The Dutch Government has today said it will consider a one-stop voluntary closing scheme and breeding ban for mink fur farms in the Netherlands. It aims to make a decision in August 2020 and must notify Parliament before the new mating season starts in February 2021. Any decision on the early closure scheme and financial compensation cannot be announced before notifying Parliament as it involves a State Aid measure and therefore requires approval by the European Commission.

The Government statement is in response to recent motions voted on by MPs calling for the early closure of the 128 remaining mink fur farms in the Netherlands, following outbreaks of Covid-19 on 17 fur farms since 26 April.

Animal protection charity Humane Society International fully supports the early closure of fur farming in the Netherlands. Speaking from Amsterdam, Dr Joanna Swabe, HSI/Europe’s senior director of public affairs, said: “The Dutch Government’s confirmation today that it will consider ending the inhumane practice of mink fur farming before the existing 2024 deadline is a welcome next step towards the Netherlands finally being free of fur production. Exploiting, depriving and killing animals for frivolous fur fashion is not only incredibly cruel and unnecessary, but we now know that it can also serve as a reservoir for coronaviruses, posing a risk to human health. So we urge the European Commission to approve the government’s impending request to use State Aid to facilitate the end of mink fur farming three years earlier than legally required. While it is never desirable to provide public money to the fur trade, using such funds to terminate this abusive and risky industry would be a price worth paying.”

Since April, two fur farm workers are believed “extremely likely” to have contracted the virus from mink, after which around 723,000 mink have been killed to prevent further spread, including 615,000 kits.The early closure scheme will apply to all fur farms, including farms that have culled mink due to Covid-19. A ban on the transportation of mink to prevent the spread of Covid-19 is currently in place, which means that no new mink can be brought to an already-culled mink farm.

FAST FACTS:

  • SARS-CoV-2 was first identified on two mink farms in Netherlands on 26 April 2020.
  • On 3 June 2020, Dutch Ministers published a final report confirming animals on the infected farms will be culled, a measure taken “in the interests of both public and animal health”.
  • An estimated 60 million mink are farmed for their fur around the world, with the top three production countries China (20.6 million mink), Denmark (17.6 million mink) and Poland (5 million mink) in 2018.
  • Fur farming has been banned across the UK since 2003, and has been prohibited and/or is in the process of being phased-out in the following European countries: Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Croatia, Macedonia, the Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and most recently the government in Ireland has committed to ending fur farming. Bulgaria, Lithuania, Montenegro and Ukraine are also presently considering bans on fur farming. A proposal to ban fur farming in Estonia was also tabled this week. In the United States, California became the first US state to ban fur sales in 2019 following similar bans in cities including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Berkeley and West Hollywood. In 2020, legislators in Hawaii and Rhode Island introduced fur sales ban proposals, as have cities in Minnesota and Massachusetts.
  • Fur farming, however, continues in other countries with China, Denmark, Finland and Poland being the biggest producers, and globally an estimated 100 million animals are killed annually for their fur, including mink, foxes and raccoon dogs.

Download video of mink farms in the Netherlands (courtesy of Dutch organisations Bont voor Dieren and Animal Rights).

ENDS

Media contact: To request an interview with HSI spokespeople (Dutch and English speakers) please contact Leozette Roode, HSI/UK: lroode@hsi.org

Notes
Latest available figures show approximately 35 million mink were farmed in 2018 in Europe, including Denmark (17.6m), Poland (5m), Netherlands (4.5m), Finland (1.85m), Greece (1.2m) and Lithuania (1.2m). Figures for the same period show that mink were farmed for their fur in China (20.7m), the United States (3.1m) and Canada (1.7m), bringing the total to approximately 60 million mink globally on fur farms.

Humane Society International / Italy

Aumsama, iStock.com

ROME—The Italian coalition, End the Cage Age, published today a ranking of European countries, which shows the percentage of farm animals still kept in cages. Of the over 300 million animals who each year are caged in the EU, over 45 million are in Italy. The coalition is calling on citizens to engage with the relevant Ministers of Health and Agricultural Policies, asking them to work on the transition to cage-free systems both in Italy and in the rest of the European Union.

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In the European Union, most hens, sows, rabbits, quails, ducks and geese are raised in cages that critically limit their ability to move, forcing them to live a miserable life full of suffering, far from meeting minimum animal welfare objectives. Sensitivity for this issue is increasingly reflected amongst European citizens. Last year, following the campaign efforts associated with the End the Cage Age European Citizens’ Initiative, more than 1 million people signed a petition to end the use of cages in the EU. In Italy, over 90,000 signatures were collected and authenticated by the Ministry of the Interior.

Today the Italian End the Cage Age coalition, composed of Animal Equality, Animalisti Italiani, CIWF, ENPA, Humane Society International, LAV, Legambiente, Lega Nazionale del Cane, and OIPA, published a ranking of countries based on the percentage of animals raised in cages. In Italy almost all sows, rabbits and quails, as well as 62% of all laying hens are still kept in cages and it’s necessary to act as soon as possible to change this situation. Minister of Agriculture Teresa Bellanova and Minister of Health Roberto Speranza are responsible for implementing a transition to cage-free systems.

The End the Cage coalition asks citizens, starting today and in the coming days, to send tweets – using constructive language – addressed to the two ministers, asking them to commit publicly and concretely to phase out cages in our country. While Minister Speranza has already declared his willingness to start the dialogue on the transition to cageless systems for sows, so far there has been no reaction from Minister Bellanova.

The coalition declared: “Phasing out cages on farms is urgent because it responds to the pressing ethical request of millions of European citizens, and it is consistent with the growing attention in Europe for animal welfare and sustainability, as outlined in the Green Deal.

“Stopping the suffering of millions of animals is the ethical duty of every civil and democratic country. We hope that our Ministers will initiate public debate for a transition towards alternative systems as soon as possible, to ensure that our country does not fall behind in defending animals, and becomes a leader in the EU.”

The European Citizens’ Initiative is an official and unique tool provided by the European Union to influence political decision-makers. It involves the collection of at least 1 million signatures. Each signature is verified through a specific process by the Member States.

The End the Cage Age European Citizens’ Initiative has collected over 1.5 million signatures that are still being validated in all Member States. In Italy validation has already been completed, confirming the validity of over 90,000 signatures. When this process is completed in all Member States, the signatures will be delivered to the Commission, which will be able to pronounce positively or negatively on the request, possibly starting a legislative process to phase out cages.

The End the Cage Age Initiative was the result of the coordination of over 170 animal, environmental and consumer protection organizations across Europe, including 20 in Italy.

END

Humane Society International

Jacob Studio/iStock.com

SEOUL—Proposed new legislation that would require Korean regulatory and research funding ministries to promote the development and implementation of non-animal alternatives in safety and biomedical sciences will be examined at a National Assembly expert forum on June 30. Assembly member In-soon Nam and Humane Society International/Korea will co-host the forum.

The legislative initiative follows the release of government statistics revealing a shocking spike in the number of animals subjected to painful chemical-poisoning and other experiments in 2019, including forced feeding, inhalation, eye and skin tests without pain relief to assess the toxicity of insecticides (+187%), industrial chemicals (+115%) and pharmaceuticals (+40%).

Assembly member Nam said: “I believe this is a timely subject for discussion. We are living in the 21st century now, so it is only appropriate to discuss a new legal framework that will advance the current science policy for human patients and laboratory animals. As a member of the Health and Welfare committee, I am pleased to support this initiative and invite other science stakeholders to join in the discussion.”

Borami Seo, HSI/Korea senior policy manager for research and toxicology, said: “The proposed legislation provides the legal ground for the government ministries to fund the development of advanced and scientifically superior human-mimetic tools for testing and disease research, or to accept the findings from these proven non-animal methods. Time and again we’ve found that the only way to get some ministries to change their behaviour is by changing the law. It’s been six decades since the concept of animal testing alternatives was introduced to the scientific community and yet animal use in Korean laboratories remains at an all-time high. Our systems of research funding and experimental regulation are in urgent need of reform.”

The forum, chaired by Prof Kyung-min Lim from EWHA Women’s University, will feature presentations from the Korea Legislation Research Institute, the Korea Center for the Validation of Alternative Methods and HSI/Korea. The panelists include officials from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Korea Institute of Toxicology president Chang-woo Song, Dana Green Bio CEO Ki-woo Kim, National Assembly legislative officer Jung-cheol Goh, Korean Society for Alternative to Animal Experiments vice president Gwang-man Kim, and People for Non-Human Rights lawyer Coochwa Suh.

Date: Tuesday, June 30, 2020

Time:   1400 KST

Place:   National Assembly

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, only pre-registered guests will be admitted to the Assembly building to join the forum.

Last year HSI organized Korea’s first cross-ministerial forum to explore legislation to boost government funding for human-specific, non-animal approaches for testing as an alternative to experiments on mice, rats, dogs and monkeys that too often fail to predict human disease outcomes in the real world. After this forum, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety carried out a review of the proposed legislation, which led to a series of stakeholder meetings and a revised legislative proposal.

Leading companies and academic research groups across the globe are harnessing the power of non-animal human-relevant models to study and develop treatments for diseases ranging from cancer to COVID-19:

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Media contact: Borami Seo, bseo@hsi.org

Humane Society International and its partner organisations together constitute one of the world’s largest animal protection organisations. For more than 25 years, HSI has been working for the protection of all animals through the use of science, advocacy, education and hands on programs. Celebrating animals and confronting cruelty worldwide – on the Web at hsi.org and biomed21.org.

Humane Society International / Japan

Adam Peyman/HSI Hanko, or personal seal stamps, made from African elephant ivory for sale in Tokyo, Japan

WASHINGTON/TOKYO— Elephant advocates worldwide are urging the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, under Governor Yuriko Koike’s leadership, to complete Tokyo’s elephant ivory trade assessment, which is examining the trade in ivory in Tokyo prefecture, and propose measures to address it. As Tokyo embraces the “new normal” and continues to adapt to address COVID-19, the advocates are renewing their plea to protect elephants by urging the Tokyo government to immediately restart the Advisory Committee on Regulation of Ivory Trade, which has been suspended for four months.

While Africa’s elephants continue to be poached for their ivory, the government of Japan has failed to adequately control the legalized domestic trade in ivory, and loopholes in the superficial regulations have facilitated illegal trade. For decades whole tusks have been sold with no real controls in place to confirm legality. Eighty percent of raw ivory in Japan is processed into hanko signature seals. Japan’s ivory trade is also an international trade problem, undermining other bans on ivory trade. Since 2018, local authorities in China have made at least 65 seizures of ivory from Japan.

Major Japanese retailers have ceased elephant ivory sales to eliminate their role in the illegal domestic trade and export, including Yahoo! Japan, Rakuten, Ito-Yokado, and Aeon.

In January 2020, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government announced the development of a new committee to examine Tokyo’s ivory trade and regulations, and assess and propose measures to be taken by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. The committee of eight experts met once in January, but subsequent meetings and an expected policy announcement in May were understandably put on hold. In March, 30 international and Japanese environmental and conservation organizations sent a letter commending the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s progressive action.

Iris Ho, senior wildlife specialist at Humane Society International, said “While governments worldwide are busy tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, unfortunately, poachers are not on lockdown and are seizing the moment to kill wildlife with impunity, as evidenced in the recent death of six poached elephants in one day in Ethiopia. A ban on the commercial ivory trade in Tokyo prefecture will inject a much-needed positive development in global conservation as humanity reexamines our relationship with nature.”

The Tokyo-based executive director of Japan Tiger and Elephant Fund, Masayuki Sakamoto, said “While we are living and operating with COVID-19 in mind, Tokyo is evolving to be an international city in the ‘new normal’ time, which should ensure both the city’s socioeconomic function and the residents’ safety through measures including digitalization, which the government of Japan has failed at so far, while giving full attention to global standards. Now is the time for the vast majority of Tokyo residents to welcome steps to end the ivory trade, which has been mostly consumed just for carving hanko, in the face of elephants’ distress and international criticism.”

Last year, New York City’s Mayor Bill de Blasio appealed directly to Governor Koike to close down Tokyo’s ivory market and join New York City in taking steps to protect elephants from the ivory trade. Leading ivory consumer nations, such as China, the United States, and the United Kingdom, among others worldwide, have already taken steps to close their domestic ivory markets. Nations agreed at the 18th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) that those countries, like Japan, with open domestic ivory markets should report by the end of June 2020 on measures they’re taking to ensure that their domestic ivory markets are not contributing to illegal trade.

Amy Zets Croke, senior policy analyst at the Environmental Investigation Agency, said: “Tokyo’s progressive efforts to protect elephants are very welcome while Japan’s national government holds the line to protect its ivory industry instead of elephants. The international community is eagerly waiting for the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to follow through with its commitment and process to assess the trade in ivory. We respectfully urge Governor Koike and the Tokyo government to take steps to ban ivory sales in Tokyo as soon as possible.”

END

Media contacts:

Masayuki Sakamoto, Japan Tiger and Elephant Fund, yukisakamoto@jtef.jp
Nancy Hwa, Humane Society International (U.S.), 202-596-0808 (cell), nhwa@hsi.org
Lindsay Moran, Environmental Investigation Agency, lmoran@eia-global.org

Humane Society International / United States

dra_schwartz/istockphoto

WASHINGTON—Humane Society International and the Humane Society of United States have supported a fast-track research grant for non-animal approaches to investigate mechanisms, medicines and vaccines for the novel coronavirus and COVID-19, sponsored by the Johns Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The organizations believe that understanding the biological mechanisms that make humans especially susceptible to COVID-19 is urgently needed to inform the development and evaluation of effective countermeasures.

Laboratory investigations of human disease often attempt to artificially reproduce a condition in animals. Since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, a flood of studies have described infecting mice, hamsters, ferrets, monkeys and other animals with COVID-19. Yet most report that the animals used were either immune to the new virus, or manifested symptoms that differ substantially from the human condition, including in the most severe clinical outcomes. In addition, the animal-based approach is limited in its ability to predict the impact of comorbidities— the presence of two chronic diseases—in COVID-19 patients, or how the various treatments could impact or worsen the infection.

“We have great faith in the Johns Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing as a source of funding for research with the potential to spare humans, as well as animals in laboratories, from suffering caused by COVID-19,” says Kitty Block, president and CEO of HSUS and CEO of HSI.

The two organizations’ donation of $20,000 to the CAAT grant program aims to stimulate innovative and inherently human-relevant solutions for COVID-19. Models based on human biology—from cell and tissue cultures to complex organoids, organs-on-a-chip and computational tools—can help scientists understand the mechanisms of disease progression and rapidly identify interventions that are effective and safe in a human biological environment.

The groups previously released a multi-pronged policy plan for preventing another global health crisis like COVID-19.

– 30 –

Media contacts:

  • HSUS: Emily Ehrhorn, Senior Specialist of Media Relations, eehrhorn@humanesociety.org, 301.258.1423
  • JHU: Michael Hughes, CATT communications manager, mhughe18@jhu.edu, 410.614.4920

Humane Society International and its partner organisations together constitute one of the world’s largest animal protection organisations. For more than 25 years, HSI has been working for the protection of all animals through the use of science, advocacy, education and hands on programs. Celebrating animals and confronting cruelty worldwide – on the Web at hsi.org. 

Founded in 1954, the Humane Society of the United States and its affiliates around the globe fight the big fights to end suffering for all animals. Together with millions of supporters, the HSUS takes on puppy mills, factory farms, trophy hunts, animal testing and other cruel industries, and together with its affiliates, rescues and provides direct care for over 100,000 animals every year. The HSUS works on reforming corporate policy, improving and enforcing laws and elevating public awareness on animal issues. More at humanesociety.org.    

Subscribe to Kitty Block’s blog, A Humane World. Follow the HSUS Media Relations department on Twitter. Read the award-winning All Animals magazine. Listen to the Humane Voices Podcast.  

The Johns Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing, founded in 1981, is part of the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, with a European branch located at the University of Kostanz, Germany.

CAAT promotes humane science by supporting the creation, development, validation and use of alternatives to animals in research, product safety testing, and education. The center seeks to effect change by working with scientists in industry, government, and academia to find new ways to replace animals with non-animal methods, reduce the numbers of animals necessary, or refine methods to make them less painful or stressful to the animals involved.

Humane Society International welcomes vote signalling an end to the Netherlands’ horrific fur farm industry

Humane Society International / Europe

Jillian Cooper/iStock.com 

AMSTERDAM—Dutch MPs voted overwhelmingly today in favour of shutting down the estimated 128 remaining mink fur farms in the Netherlands, following outbreaks of COVID-19 on 17 fur farms since 26 April. Two farm workers are also believed to have contracted the virus from mink, after which hundreds of thousands of mink have been killed to prevent further spread. Humane Society International/Europe says it is good riddance to an industry predicated on the out-dated idea that exploiting, depriving and killing animals for frivolous fur fashion is acceptable.

Politicians voted in favour of the early closure of farms with compensation to be paid to fur farmers to end the practice earlier than the phase out due date of 31st December 2023, despite many fur farms being worth tens of millions of euros. Mink fur farming was banned in the Netherlands in 2013, and produced around 4.5 million mink pelts in 2018.

Speaking from Amsterdam, Dr Joanna Swabe, senior director of public affairs for animal protection group Humane Society International/Europe, said: “The intensive breeding and caging of animals on fur farms is an incredibly cruel practice that not only causes immense suffering to animals, but can also serve as a reservoir for coronaviruses. The Dutch Parliament has today said good riddance to an industry predicated on the out-dated idea that exploiting, depriving and killing animals for frivolous fur fashion is acceptable. While we are disappointed by the suggestion that taxpayers’ hard-earned money should be used as compensation to fur farmers who have kept this cruel industry alive in the face of massive public and political opposition, this vote calls on the government to act swiftly to end this inhumane practice before the existing 2024 deadline. That is worth a celebration. The Dutch government now has to take action to honour the Parliament’s wishes.” 

With clear parliamentary support for swift action, the Dutch Government will now be under pressure to ensure a ban on mink production given that this species is known to be susceptible to the coronavirus and could act as a reservoir for the disease. The Parliament also voted to maintain the ban on transporting mink and to prevent fur farms where the mink have already been culled from restocking with mink.

FAST FACTS:

  • SARS-CoV-2 was first identified on two mink farms in Netherlands on 26 April 2020.
  • On 3 June 2020, Dutch Ministers published a final report confirming animals on the infected farms will be culled, a measure taken “in the interests of both public and animal health”.
  • An estimated 60 million mink are farmed for their fur around the world, with the top three production countries China (20.6 million mink), Denmark (17.6 million mink) and Poland (5 million mink) in 2018.
  • Fur farming has been banned across the UK since 2003, and has been prohibited and/or is in the process of being phased-out in the following European countries: Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Croatia, Macedonia, the Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and most recently the government in Ireland has committed to ending fur farming.  Bulgaria, Lithuania, Montenegro and Ukraine are also presently considering bans on fur farming. A proposal to ban fur farming in Estonia was also tabled this week. In the United States, California became the first US state to ban fur sales in 2019 following similar bans in cities including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Berkeley and West Hollywood. In 2020, legislators in Hawaii and Rhode Island introduced fur sales ban proposals, as have cities in Minnesota and Massachusetts.
  • Fur farming, however, continues in other countries with China, Denmark, Finland and Poland being the biggest producers, and globally an estimated 100 million animals are killed annually for their fur, including mink, foxes and raccoon dogs.

Download video of mink farms in the Netherlands (courtesy of Dutch organisations Bont voor Dieren and Animal Rights)

ENDS

Media contact: To request an interview with HSI spokespeople (Dutch and English speakers), please contact Leozette Roode, HSI/UK: lroode@hsi.org

Notes
Latest available figures show approximately 35 million mink were farmed in 2018 in Europe, including Denmark (17.6m), Poland (5m), Netherlands (4.5m), Finland (1.85m), Greece (1.2m) and Lithuania (1.2m).  Figures for the same period show that mink were farmed for their fur in China (20.7m), the United States (3.1m) and Canada (1.7m), bringing the total to approximately 60 million mink globally on fur farms.

Humane Society International

Bliznetsov/iStock.com

SEOUL—Humane Society International/Korea is calling on legislators to back a series of tough new legal measures to address the lack of progress by Korea’s relevant regulatory and research funding ministries toward reduction and replacement of animal testing. Statistics on laboratory animal use in 2019 published this week by Korea’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs’ Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency[1] revealed a marginal 0.4% decrease in total animal use compared to the previous year (3,712,380 in 2019 compared to 3,727,163 in 2018), together with alarming increases in animal use for testing insecticides (+187%), industrial chemicals (+115%), education and training (+77.8%), pharmaceutical quality control testing (+40%), production of genetically modified animals (+12%), and experiments in the most severe pain category (+9.7%).

Borami Seo, HSI/Korea senior policy manager for research and toxicology, said: “These statistics make it clear far Korean authorities and science funding ministries have to go to fulfill their stated commitment to replace, reduce or even minimize the most severe suffering in animal testing. The future lies in human mimetic non-animal approaches like human organoids, organs-on-chips and next-generation computing and AI, not in poisoning or genetically modifying mice, monkeys and other animals. It’s time our government followed the example of the United States, the Netherlands and other innovation economies by making a serious investment in non-animal technologies to advance safety science and medical research.”

HSI/Korea has been working with members of the National Assembly and key ministries to make research and regulatory testing with non-animal approaches a higher priority. For example, Korean chemical, pesticide and pharmaceutical authorities should reflect on their performance in comparison to the US Environmental Protection Agency’s commitment to reduce mammalian testing requirements by 30% by 2025 and to completely eliminate them by 2035. Korean science funding ministries should look to European and American funding programs for organ-on-a-chip technologies to advance drug testing and human disease research.

Assembly member In-soon Nam and HSI will host an Assembly forum on June 30 to discuss a new legislative initiative to promote the development, distribution, and use of alternatives to animal testing methods. Presenters include officials from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the president of the Korea Institute of Toxicology Chang-Woo Song, the vice president of the Korean Society for Alternative to Animal Experiments Gwang-Man Kim, CEO of Dana Green Bio Ki-woo Kim, and HSI/Korea. Additionally, legal experts from the National Assembly’s Legislative office, the Korea Legislation Research Institute and the Korean lawyers’ group People for Non-Human Rights will join the discussion.

END

Media contact: Borami Seo, bseo@hsi.org

  1. MAFRA’s full statistical report for 2019 is available online (in Korean).

Humane Society International / United Kingdom

Rebecca Aldworth, HSI

LONDON—Scotland has banned the shooting of seals by the fisheries industry in a move welcomed by Humane Society International/UK as critically important for seal welfare in British waters. Large numbers of seals are shot in Scotland every year in the name of protecting commercial fish farms and fisheries. HSI has long been highly critical of this cull on welfare grounds, highlighting the lack of independent oversight, potential under-reporting of numbers of seals killed, the killing of pregnant females and mothers who may have dependent pups, and evidence that shooting does not always lead to instantaneous death.

The Scottish Parliament has approved the Animals and Wildlife (Penalties, Protections and Powers) (Scotland) Bill which amends the Marine Scotland Act (2010), repealing the provision to grant licences for the shooting of seals on the grounds of protecting fisheries and fish farms. The penalty for illegal seal shooting has also been increased to 12 months’ imprisonment/£40,000 fine or, on indictment, unlimited fine/5 years’ imprisonment.

Since the licensing requirement for seal shooting took effect in 2011, Scottish government figures suggest that 1,917 seals have been shot in pursuit of fisheries protection, although HSI says the true death toll is likely to be higher because of potential underreporting and a lack of independent verification of kills.

The timing of this ban is linked to regulatory requirements under the US Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) that come into effect in January 2022, meaning that Scotland would not be permitted to continue its lucrative salmon exports to the US after 2022 if it continued to allow seal shooting. In recent years, the US has been one of the top export markets for Scottish salmon, with exports worth £179m to the US reported in 2019. Whilst this is likely a significant driver in the development of the ban, HSI welcomes that officials from Marine Scotland told Members of the Scottish Parliament at a recent Committee hearing that the intention of the amendments is to enhance and improve the welfare of seals.

Humane Society International’s Senior Marine Scientist, Mark Simmonds OBE, says: “An alarming number of seals are shot and killed in Scottish waters, and there is evidence that some are likely to be injured and die a slow and painful death at sea and may not show up in the official statistics. It’s a huge concern and so a ban on seal shooting in Scotland is critically important for seal welfare in British waters. HSI has worked for many years to provide the solid scientific evidence needed to demonstrate the welfare impact on seals, so it is really excellent news that Scottish lawmakers have listened and put an end to the licensed seal cull in order to protect them from this cruelty.  

“We share our seas with these charismatic marine mammals, and it is simply unacceptable to kill them for eating the fish in their ocean home. It is important that this ban comes swiftly into force and that the situation is carefully and independently monitored to ensure there is not a spike in seal killing in the run-up to its implementation, or indeed illegal killing afterwards. Benign methods to keep seals away from fish farms will need to be deployed and carefully observed to ensure that they are safe.”

Claire Bass, Executive Director of HSI/UK, said: “The majority of consumers are not happy for seals to be collateral damage in the price of salmon, and now US import requirements have introduced a strong economic incentive to call a halt to the cruel killing.”

The UK is home to two seal species, the grey seal and the harbour (or common) seal. Grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) are among the rarest seals in the world, and the UK population of some 124,000 grey seals represents approximately 40% of the world population, and 95% of the EU population. There are pup nurseries on many coasts between the Isles of Scilly in the south-west, clockwise to Donna Nook in Lincolnshire. The largest being in the Inner and Outer Hebrides, Orkney, Isle of May, Farne Islands and Donna Nook. Less than 15% of pups are born away from the above areas, but there is also an important breeding population on the west Wales coast.

The UK is also home to at least 33,400 harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) and whilst there has been a recovery, there is concern about declines in some populations. Only the eastern Atlantic subspecies P. vitulina vitulina occurs in Europe, where its range extends from Iceland and northern Norway southwards to northern France, including the Kattegat/Skagerrak and south-western Baltic. The UK population represents about 5% of the world population, approximately 50% of the EU population, and 45% of the European subspecies. The vast majority of common seal haul-outs are found on the coasts of Scotland.

Seals face a multitude of other threats in addition to shooting, including entanglement in fishing gear and marine litter, pollution and disturbance on their breeding and moulting grounds.

ENDS

Media contact: Wendy Higgins, HSI UK: whiggins@hsi.org

Notes:

In 2017 the US introduced regulations requiring ‘reliable information’ demonstrating that ‘exports of fish and fish products to the United States are not the product of an intentional killing or serious injury of a marine mammal’.

More information about the relevant welfare concerns can be found in these online papers which HSI has helped to produce: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2016.00142/full and https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X17307303?via%3Dihub

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