BRUSSELS—Today’s decision by the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention to downgrade the protection of the wolf represents a dangerous step backwards for biodiversity and sets a worrying precedent for wildlife conservation in Europe, according to several animal protection organisations.
Meeting in Strasbourg this week, the Committee agreed to reclassify the wolf from “strictly protected” to “protected” under the Bern Convention. The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), Eurogroup for Animals and Humane Society International/Europe warn that this politically motivated decision undermines decades of slow but steady progress in the recovery of the species.
“This decision disregards science and opens the door to political interference in conservation efforts,” said Ilaria Di Silvestre, IFAW’s Director of Policy and Advocacy for Europe. “The wolf is still endangered in many parts of Europe, and weakening its protection will only lead to further conflict and threaten its recovery.”
Dr Joanna Swabe, Senior Director of Public Affairs at Humane Society International/Europe (HSI) added: “The EU decision-making on lowering legal protections for wolves sets a dangerous precedent for other European species, such as bears and lynx. All decision-making relating to the protected status of wildlife species must be based on robust scientific evidence. Instead, decisions on wolves have clearly been driven by political expediency and succeed only in appeasing vocal interest groups, such as hunters, who prefer to take recourse to rifles, rather than seeking coexistence with large carnivores.”
Although the wolf has recovered in parts of Europe, six out of nine European wolf populations remain in a status of near threatened or vulnerable. Conservationists emphasise that protective measures are vital to ensure that the species reaches and remains in a favourable conservation status. If transposed into EU legislation, the downgrade of the wolf’s protection status would allow for greater hunting flexibility, but experience and scientific evidence have shown that culling is an ineffective solution to reducing attacks on domestic animals, as opposed to preventive measures successfully implemented by many farmers across the EU.
Léa Badoz, Wildlife Programme Officer at Eurogroup for Animals commented: “The wolf is unfortunately the latest political pawn, a victim of misinformation. Downgrading protection will not solve the challenges of coexistence nor help farmers. It is based on misconceptions and threatens wolves, while failing to provide real support for farmers and local communities, many of whom are in favour of coexistence with the wolf. Proven coexistence measures must be the priority, and the EU should help through financial means.”
The three NGOs are committed to promoting coexistence with wildlife and closely monitoring any subsequent changes to the EU Habitats Directive, to ensure that the protection of European species is not further compromised.
The teams are stationed at key checkpoints of Indo–Nepal border towns, assisting the border police
Humane Society International / India
Shaili Shah/HSIA goat rescued by HSI/India at the Indo-Nepal border checkpoint ahead of Nepal’s Gadhimai animal sacrifice festival 2024.
BIHAR, India—Ahead of the Gadhimai festival in Nepal, which is the largest mass animal sacrifice event in the world, animal protection organizations Humane Society International/India and People For Animals are urging devotees not to bring animals for sacrifice. HSI/India and PFA have deployed teams to assist the border police in their work prohibiting the illegal transport of animals across the Indo-Nepal border. HSI/India and PFA will work to ensure that confiscated animals are taken to safety in accordance with Indian law.
Held every five years in Bariyarpur village in the Bara district of Nepal, the Gadhimai festival sees hundreds of thousands of animals, including buffaloes, goats, pigeons and more, beheaded as part of an historic ritual to appease the goddess Gadhimai.
Arkaprava Bhar, HSI/India’s senior manager of campaign capacity building, who is leading on-ground efforts at the border, said: “Along with our colleagues from PFA, we are at the checkpoints around the borders and assisting law enforcement officials to ensure every animal we find brought for sacrifice is protected. Our mission is not just about stopping the illegal transport of animals but about standing up for compassion in our traditions. Under the leadership of border forces, we are conducting thorough vehicle checks to ensure that no animals are smuggled across. In the past few days, we’ve stopped trucks and vehicles carrying buffaloes and goats, all bound for the festival where they would have been beheaded had we not been there. They are the lucky ones, spared this terrifying ordeal. We will save as many lives as possible and spread the message to end blood sacrifice.”
A few days prior to the border work, the teams also conducted door-to-door awareness campaigns and distributed around 3,500 local language pamphlets in 12 villages near the Indo-Nepal border, urging devotees not to sacrifice their animals.
HSI/India and PFA have been working since 2014 to stop animal sacrifice at Gadhimai. Following persistent efforts, the gruesome animal sacrifices have declined from an estimated more than 500,000 animals killed in 2009 to around 250,000 animals in both 2014 and 2019 including an estimated 3,500 buffaloes.
In 2014, the Supreme Court of India took a significant step to curb this practice by directing the Indian government to prevent the illegal transport of animals across the border into Nepal for sacrifice at Gadhimai. The court also called upon animal protection organizations, including HSI/India, PFA and others, to formulate an action plan to ensure its orders, which HSI/India has implemented ever since, were effectively enforced. Subsequently, in September 2019, the Supreme Court of Nepal ordered an end to live animal sacrifices at Gadhimai and urged authorities to create a plan to phase out this practice nationwide, but this has been widely ignored.
Facts:
The Gadhimai festival involves a month-long celebration or “mela,” culminating in the ritual slaughter of hundreds of thousands of animals.
Water buffalo, goats, chickens, pigs, ducks and rats are decapitated with blunt metal swords in an alcohol-fueled killing frenzy.
The majority of these animals are illegally transported from India into Nepal owing to porous borders.
This rule is being openly flouted as the majority of animals are transported illegally across the border without an export license.
Mass sacrifice events pose serious public health risks, exacerbated by the unsanitary conditions at the festival site. With no toilets for millions of pilgrims, the air is filled with the stench of feces, blood and death.
The origins of Gadhimai date back around 265 years, when the founder of the Gadhimai Temple, Bhagwan Chowdhary, had a dream that the goddess Gadhimai wanted blood in return for freeing him from prison, protecting him from evil and promising prosperity and power. The goddess asked for a human sacrifice, but Chowdhary successfully offered an animal instead and this has been repeated every five years since.
HSI/India representatives are available for interview on request.
Wendy Higgins, director of international media: whiggins@hsi.org
Shaili Shah, HSI/India media relations specialist: 99 3059 1005; sshah@hsi.org
Humane Society International / Mexico
Indómita Bolivia
AGUASCALIENTES, Mexico—Humane Society International/Mexico, in partnership with the Centro de Ciencias Agropecuarias at the Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes (UAA), recently completed a pioneering spay/neuter training program for 14 government veterinarians in Aguascalientes. This hands-on program, the first of its kind in Mexico, was designed to equip veterinary professionals with the advanced surgical skills needed for high-volume sterilization campaigns across the state.
As part of a pilot program under the train-the-trainer model, three UAA veterinarians received training at HSI’s top-tier veterinary training center in La Paz, Bolivia. After an intensive three-week course, they gained the skills necessary to become trainers themselves. The trainees, who are part of government agencies already conducting large-scale spay/neuter campaigns, included 10 veterinarians from the ISSEA (Aguascalientes Health Department), two from the city’s Canine Control Center, and two from PROESPA (the Aguascalientes Environmental Agency). This initiative aims to enhance surgical skills and provide additional tools for local veterinary teams to perform humane and efficient spay/neuter surgeries.
Bárbara Morales, companion animals and engagement manager at HSI Mexico and program leader in Aguascalientes, highlighted the significance of this initiative: “This training marks a major step forward in our efforts to control companion animal populations in Aguascalientes. By building local capacity in high-quality, high-volume sterilization procedures, we are making a lasting impact on animal welfare and public health.”
The course blended theory and practice, incorporating international best practices to ensure trainees gained the skills needed for safe and effective sterilization campaigns. In late November, the UAA-trained veterinarians participated in feedback sessions led by the Bolivian trainers who initially trained them.
The Bolivian team’s feedback provided valuable insights to help improve the program for future trainings. This collaboration exemplifies the ongoing partnership between Latin American countries facing similar companion animal welfare challenges.
Dr. Claudia Edwards, program director at HSI Mexico, emphasized the long-term benefits: “Spay/neuter surgeries are crucial for reducing the overpopulation of dogs and cats and preventing the suffering of stray animals. This training improves animal health and welfare, strengthens the human-animal bond, reduces the burden on shelters, and helps lower the number of animals surrendered to the Canine Control Center.”
HSI’s Latin America Veterinary Training Program, launched in 2014, has trained over 300 veterinarians across the region, focusing on humane, high-volume, low-cost sterilization techniques. The program’s mission is to enhance the human-animal bond by providing veterinarians and veterinary technicians with the skills needed to perform safe and effective spay/neuter surgeries, thereby reducing the population of unwanted animals and contributing to healthier communities.
BRUSSELS—A new online Master Class course to train scientists in testing cosmetics and chemicals without using animals is being hailed as a game-changer for cruelty-free testing worldwide. Featuring real-world case studies to walk scientists through animal-free testing step by step, the curriculum launched by the Animal-Free Safety Assessment Collaboration (AFSA) has attracted over 1,200 participants from nearly 70 countries since its debut in 2023, highlighting a global interest in innovative, ethical testing methods. Its final module is now open for registration, completing the ten-module course.
Created with input from industry, method developers, regulatory and animal protection experts, the course guides users through every stage of “next-generation risk assessment” culminating in advanced techniques like data integration to ensure robust consumer safety conclusions. These cutting-edge methodologies not only eliminate the need for painful animal-based testing but also provide more valid and reliable results concerning the safety of chemicals and products.
A result of wide-ranging contributions from global experts in animal-free safety science, the AFSA Master Class aims to provide the educational building blocks for lasting change, encouraging kinder scientific practices that will also better ensure human safety. Regulators, product developers, contract research organizations, and academic professionals from across the globe are all active in development of the course, illustrating the truly collaborative nature of animal-free safety science worldwide.
Dr. Catherine Willett, senior director of science and regulatory affairs at Humane Society International and principal coordinator of the AFSA Master Class, said, “Consumers and companies alike want to move away from painful and outdated animal tests, but learning more about the cutting-edge tools available in the animal-free toolbox, and how to use them to make safety decisions, can be challenging. The AFSA Master Class demystifies animal-free safety assessment, making it easier for companies to replace rats, rabbits and guinea pigs with advanced non-animal models and computer simulations.”
Course participant Mark Broussard, managing partner of Desert in Bloom Cosmetics Lab, said, “The AFSA Master Class really helped me understand the entire process of determining the safety of a novel cosmetic ingredient using non-animal methods, since I am working with a novel plant extract that has not before been safety tested or used in cosmetic/therapeutic products for human use. I think the new approach methodologies will yield more valid, more reliable results on the safety of cosmetic ingredients without subjecting animals to the painful animal-based testing procedures.”
“The safety of the cosmetics and personal care products that consumers use and trust every day is of the utmost importance,” said Dr. Julia H Fentem, EVP safety, environmental & regulatory science at Unilever. “Our unique AFSA Master Class program is focused on the safety assessment of cosmetic products and ingredients without generating new animal data and covers all aspects of using non-animal tools and data for internal company decisions-making as well as regulatory safety assessments.”
The AFSA Master Class will help equip key stakeholders with the right tools and knowledge to better explore animal-free methods of safety testing and contribute to the wider shift towards the cruelty-free future of cosmetic and chemical safety science.
The full AFSA Master Class is freely available online at AFSAcollaboration.org/masterclass.
Editor’s note: The AFSA Master Class is a product of in-kind contributions from the following member organizations: Avon Products Inc., Crème, Delphic HSE, DSM-Firmenich, Givaudan, Humane Society International, Institute for In Vitro Sciences, International Flavors & Fragrances, Inc., Lhasa Ltd., L’Oréal, Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics, Procter & Gamble, Symrise, Unilever.
Investigative footage of wounded foxes and public health regulations being flouted released by HSI/UK
Humane Society International / United Kingdom
HSI
LONDON—Shocking new footage of animals suffering on fur farms in Finland—a country that supplies fur sold in the UK—reveals foxes with raw open wounds, weeping infected eyes and deformed splayed feet. The investigation, carried out in late October by leading animal protection organisation Humane Society International/UK in partnership with Finnish animal protection organisation Oikeutta Eläimille, also found zoonotic disease prevention measures being flouted on the fur farms visited, constituting an alarming public health risk. Investigators, who took biosecurity precautions, also filmed obese “monster foxes” with unnaturally excessive skin folds from selective breeding to increase their fur yield, and foxes displaying repetitive behaviours indicative of mental distress. The UK has allowed imports of more than £16 million of fur from Finland since 2000.
Finland is one of the last remaining European countries in which farming animals for fur remains legal, with the Finnish trade boasting that almost 100% of its fox fur farms are certified by the SAGA scheme (including the WelFur protocol), a set of guidelines promulgated by the Finnish auction house SAGA, which promises “the highest level of animal welfare”. However, the horrifying conditions documented—including on SAGA-assured farms—show the heartbreaking reality of the industry: foxes confined in small, barren cages for their entire lives, never able to feel the grass beneath their feet nor carry out natural behaviours such as running, digging and hunting. Fox fur originating from Finland is used by brands such as Woolrich, Ermanno Scervino, Yves Salomon and Fendi and can be found in UK shops such as Harrods.
Claire Bass, senior director of campaigns and public affairs at Humane Society International/UK, said: “Finnish fur farms describe having animal welfare as ‘a top priority’ but this investigation tells a very different story. Forced to spend their entire lives in cages only a little bigger than their own bodies, many of the animals we saw were chronically stressed, others had diseased eyes and mouths and some had raw, clearly untreated injuries. In addition, we saw regulations designed to stop the spread of avian flu on fur farms flouted. I’ve visited around 20 fur farms in the past six years and from what I’ve witnessed on every occasion it’s clear that the fur trade routinely disregards both animal welfare and public health.
These appalling conditions are worlds apart from the ‘luxury’ image the fur trade tries to portray, and stores like Harrods should rethink having their brands anywhere near this indefensible suffering. We urge MPs and the UK Government to back Ruth Jones’ Bill to bring an end to Britain’s involvement in the cruel and dangerous fur trade.”
Singer-songwriter and animal advocate Will Young said “Fur is disgustingly cruel and it breaks my heart to see foxes and other animals suffering for this outdated ‘fashion’ product. I’m proud to be joining Humane Society International/UK in urging the Government to support Ruth Jones MP’s Bill to ban imports. We need a Fur Free Britain!”
Outbreaks of both COVID-19 and highly pathogenic avian influenza on more than 500 fur farms in Europe and North America have alarmed scientists and public health officials. Since the avian flu outbreaks on fur farms in Finland in 2023, where the original source of the infection was believed to have been wild gulls, the Finnish authorities have introduced biosecurity measures and mandatory carcass testing periods. They have also introduced regulations requiring the use of netting to prevent wild birds from accessing the housed animals’ cages and their food and drinking water; the netting is required to be checked regularly and any birds observed inside must be removed immediately. HSI/UK investigators found farms risking public health by flouting these rules. In many instances the netting failed to cover the full length of the cages and, on one farm, the decaying body of a wild gull was found just underneath a row of caged foxes.
Kristo Muurimaa of Oikeutta Eläimille said: “Finnish fur farms are a disease disaster waiting to happen. The cages are open to the elements and there’s no way to reliably prevent avian influenza or other possibly dangerous viruses from spreading. We urge the Finnish Government to follow the path of 21 other European countries and ban fur farming, supporting farmers where necessary to secure a rapid closure of this industry.” Although fur farming has been banned in the UK on animal welfare grounds for over 20 years, this cruel and frivolous fashion product is still imported and sold here. HSI/UK estimates that the amount of fur imported into the UK over the five years 2019-2023 equates to approximately 7 million animals brutally killed.
HSI/UK leads the Fur Free Britain campaign for a ban on the import and sale of fur, which has gathered over 1.2 million petition signatures and support from a host of celebrities including Dame Judi Dench, Stella and Sir Paul McCartney, Leona Lewis OBE, Alesha Dixon and Strictly Come Dancing’s Pete Wicks.
In October 2024, Labour MP Ruth Jones introduced a Private Member’s Bill to prohibit the import and sale of fur; HSI/UK welcomed the tabling of this draft law as a significant step forward. The Bill proposes to extend existing bans on trade in fur from cats, dogs and seals to include foxes, raccoon dogs, mink, chinchilla, coyotes and other animals killed for fur fashion, and prevent the import and sale of new animal fur from all species. If passed into law, the ban would end the UK’s complicity in the cruelty and public health risk of the global fur trade.
Fur facts:
Tens of millions of animals suffer and die each year in the global fur trade. The vast majority of animals killed for their fur are kept in barren battery cages on fur farms.
In addition to the physical and psychological torment of being confined in small, barren cages for their entire lives, the methods typically used to kill animals on fur farms are equally distressing. Foxes are typically killed by anal electrocution and mink are gassed.
The UK was the first country in the world to ban fur farming and since then an additional 21 European nations have banned the cruel practice—most recently Romania and Lithuania.
HMRC records show that almost £40 million of fur (£39,703,694) was imported to the UK in 2023 from countries including Finland, China, Spain, Greece and Poland.
During the 2023 outbreaks of avian influenza on Finnish fur farms, where mammal-to-mammal transmission was believed likely to have occurred, the Finnish authorities ordered all the animals on infected farms (around 500,000 mink, fox, raccoon dog and sable) to be killed on public health grounds.
In a July 2023article published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in July 2023, Professor Wendy Barclay and Dr Thomas Peacock of Imperial College London warned that fur farming poses a risk for the emergence of future disease outbreaks and should be considered in the same category of high-risk practices as the bushmeat trade and live animal markets. The PNAS article states that “fur farming takes place in a high-density animal environment that allows for rapid spread of viruses with pandemic potential—and for virus adaptation to animals that would be unlikely to occur in nature.” The virologists also strongly urge governments to consider the mounting evidence suggesting that “fur farming, particularly mink, be eliminated in the interest of pandemic preparedness”.
A September 2024 study published in Nature reporting on viruses found on Chinese fur farms found 39 viruses identified as a ‘high-risk’ for potential to spread to humans, including 13 potentially high-risk novel viruses and 11 zoonotic viruses. Study author Professor Edward Holmes of the University of Sydney, described the fur trade as ‘a roll of the dice’ and noted that fur farms present a ‘clear epidemic or pandemic risk’.
A Decree of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry sets out precautionary measures to prevent the spread of avian flu from wild animals to fur animals. Visiting the farms, investigators took full biosecurity protection measures, wearing new bio-suits, shoe covers, and face masks for each farm, and returned negative COVID-19 tests prior to visits.
ENDS
Media contact: Sally Ivens, HSI/UK: 07590 559299; sivens@hsi.org
Politicians and campaigners gather in Westminster to urge the Government to end the UK’s role in the fur trade
Humane Society International / United Kingdom
Clive Tagg/For HSI
LONDON—More than 50 cross-party MPs and Peers attended a Parliamentary event calling for an end to fur imports and sales in Great Britain this week, meaning almost 200 MPs now support the Fur Free Britain campaign. Leading animal protection organisations Humane Society International/UK and FOUR PAWS UK organised the event, to encourage the Government to back the Fur (Import and Sale) Bill tabled last month by Ruth Jones, MP for Newport West and Islywn. Adam Jogee, Labour MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme, hosted the event, which was also supported by singer-songwriter Will Young.
During the event, appalling new footage from HSI/UK’s latest investigation on Finnish fur farms revealed the cruel conditions in which animals are kept in the fur industry. Attendees heard from cross-party MP speakers—Tim Farron MP, Sir Roger Gale MP, Adam Jogee MP and Ruth Jones MP—as well as Kristo Muurimaa of Finnish animal protection group Oikeutta eläimille who has investigated hundreds of fur farms; Mike Moser, former CEO of the British Fur Trade Association turned Fur Free Britain campaigner, and David Leigh-Pemberton from the British Fashion Council who spoke about the decision to ban fur from London Fashion Week.
Singer-songwriter and animal advocate Will Young demonstrated his support via a written statement read to attendees: “This Labour Government promised to ‘introduce the biggest boost in animal welfare in a generation’ and with [Ruth Jones’] Bill there is a real opportunity to deliver on this promise and make a difference to millions of animals. I hope to see the Government put its full support behind this Bill and make a ban on fur imports and sale one of Labour’s first ambitious improvements for animal protection in this session.”
The UK introduced the world’s first fur farming ban over 20 years ago. Despite this historic step, fur can still be imported and sold in the country. HSI/UK estimates that one million animals’ worth of fur is still imported here annually.
Confined in tiny, barren wire cages for their entire lives, animals on fur farms endure severe physical and mental suffering. They are killed by gassing or electrocution at around eight months old.
After the event concluded, host Adam Jogee MP said: “I hear from my constituents about animal welfare issues on a daily basis and fur is no exception. But fur isn’t just an animal welfare issue, it’s a major health risk. Reflecting on COVID-19 almost five years on, the evidence shows that we cannot honestly claim to be doing all that we can to prevent another pandemic if we continue to support trade in a cruel, frivolous fashion product with shockingly high disease risks. I’m proud that the Labour Party banned fur farming over 20 years ago and now it’s time we take another historic step to protect animals and public health by backing Ruth Jones’ Bill and ending the UK’s role in the fur trade for good.”
Recent polling shows that 77% of the British public support a ban on the import of fur and over 1.2 million Fur Free Britain petition signatures have been gathered. Celebrities including Will Young, Dame Judi Dench, Stella and Sir Paul McCartney, Leona Lewis OBE, Alesha Dixon and Strictly Come Dancing’s Pete Wicks have backed the campaign.
Claire Bass, senior director of campaigns and public affairs at Humane Society International/UK, said: “The UK took a vital step by banning fur farming two decades ago and now Ruth Jones’ Bill represents a critical opportunity to end our involvement in this inhumane, unnecessary, and dangerous industry. We’re delighted that so many new MPs are joining us in urging the Government to back the Bill, reflecting public opinion that protecting animal welfare and public health are much more important than frivolous fur fashion.”
ENDS
Humane Society International / Latin America
HSI
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica—This month, Humane Society International/Latin America provided advanced training to Costa Rican government authorities and other animal welfare institutions to enhance their capacity to combat illegal dog fighting and cockfighting. The two-day educational session engaged more than 50 representatives from Costa Rican agencies and organizations including, but not limited to, the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ) and the National Animal Health Service (SENASA).
The training addressed issues such as the link between animal cruelty and human violence; the regulatory framework concerning animal fighting in Costa Rica, and the connection of animal fighting to other illegal activities, such as drug trafficking and organized crime. Other specialized training covered investigative techniques and evidence gathering for cases involving organized dog fights and cockfights.
Andrea Borel, executive director of HSI/Latin America, said: “With this training, we are pleased to empower local authorities to investigate and prosecute these illegal and cruel instances of animal fighting in Costa Rica. Abusing animals for human entertainment has no place in our society.”
Cockfighting is a bloody practice in which two or more birds bred specifically for fighting are placed in a ring or “cockpit” for the sole purpose of fighting for human entertainment and gambling. Dogfighting is also an illegal and extremely cruel activity, in which dogs are bred, conditioned and trained to fight for the same purposes.
These fights usually result in the death of one or both animals involved. Those animals who do not die suffer terribly from their injuries and from not receiving treatment. Dogs are sometimes killed by their owners via the most horrible methods. Both types of animal fights often co-occur with other illegal activities, including drug, arms and human trafficking.
In Costa Rica, the Penal Code (Article 279) punishes, with sentences of three months to one year in prison, anyone who organizes, encourages or carries out fights between animals of any species, without exceptions in the national territory.
Animal protection organizations HSI/India and People For Animals, along with Acharya Prashant encouraged devotees not to transport animals illegally across Indo-Nepal border
Humane Society International / India
HSI/IndiaA press conference held in Patna ahead of the Gadhimai festival. While addressing the media, Alokparna Sengupta (MD, HSI/India); Acharya Prashant (founder PrashantAdvait Foundation), and Gauri Maulekhi (trustee, PFA) urged the devotees not to sacrifice animals during the Gadhimai festival this year.
PATNA, India— In a press conference held in Patna, spiritual teacher and author Acharya Prashant joined animal protection organizations Humane Society International/India and People For Animals, to urge devotees to refrain from sacrificing animals during the Gadhimai festival. The animal sacrifice event will take place between December 7th to 9th.
Held every five years in the Bariyarpur district of Nepal, Gadhimai is the world’s largest animal sacrifice event, where thousands of animals—including buffalo, goats, pigs, pigeons and chickens—are beheaded as sacrifice to appease the goddess Gadhimai. A significant proportion of the animals killed at the festival are illegally transported into Nepal from India, with a large percentage coming from the state of Bihar.
Prior to the press conference, representatives of both organizations along with Acharya Prashant met the chief secretary of Bihar to request a directive to police and law enforcement officials ensuring no illegal transport of animals and a statement urging devotees to refrain from animal sacrifice. Additionally, former Member of Parliament Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi, Acharya ji, HSI/India and PFA wrote to the Government of Bihar urging preventive action.
The organizations’ representatives quoted orders of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 881/2014 titled Gauri Maulekhi v. Union of India & Ors which acknowledged the smuggling of animals across the Indo-Nepal border and directed authorities to ensure that no live animals are exported out of India into Nepal, except under licence mandated by the Foreign Trade Act 1992.
During the press conference, Acharya Prashant joined the animal welfare groups in encouraging devotees to celebrate the festival with compassion and to honour traditions without harming animals. “Devotion should inspire compassion, not cruelty. Slaughtering animals in the name of the divine diminishes the spirit of worship. Let us honour the Goddess by upholding the sanctity of all life during Gadhimai,” he said.
Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi, chairperson of People For Animals, added: “Protecting animals is not just about preventing suffering, it’s about fostering a society that values compassion and respect for all living beings. We must challenge outdated traditions and create new ways to celebrate festivals that honour life and not take it away.”
To assist in the prevention of illegal border transportation of animals for mass sacrifice, teams from HSI/India and PFA will deploy at strategic border checkpoints to help the border police who will inspect vehicles crossing the border, register cases and confiscate animals.
Alokparna Sengupta, Humane Society International/India’s managing director said: “Just as we did in 2014 and 2019, this year too we stand firmly against the cruelty of animal sacrifice, which is highly regressive and has no place in today’s society. We can honor traditions without the need for animal suffering, creating a better, kinder world for animals and people alike in the future.”
HSI/India and PFA have been working since 2014 to stop animal sacrifice at the site. Following their combined persistent efforts, the gruesome animal sacrifices at Gadhimai have considerably reduced from an estimated more than 500,000 animals killed in 2009 to around 200,000 animals in 2014 and tens of thousands of animals in 2019 including an estimated 3,500 buffaloes.
Owner Mr. Cuong will start a gas cylinder supply business with support from Humane Society International
Humane Society International
Nhan Tran/AP Images for HSI
DONG NAI, Viet Nam—A dog meat restaurant and slaughterhouse in the Trang Bom district of Viet Nam’s Dong Nai province has closed after 20 years as part of the Models for Change program by animal protection charity Humane Society International. Launched in Viet Nam in 2022, the program helps people transition out of the cruel and dangerous dog and cat meat trade to tackle animal cruelty and rabies transmission in partnership with Dong Nai’s Department of Livestock, Animal Health and Fishery. Forty-year-old owner Mr. Dao Van Cuong plans to set up a business selling paint and subsequently also supplying household gas cylinders to local residents with a one-off startup grant from HSI.
Dong Nai province, situated in the south of Viet Nam and bordering Ho Chi Minh City, has around 500 restaurants serving both dog and cat meat. It is also a trafficking route for dogs headed for slaughter in the north of the country. HSI began working in the province at the request of city officials and to date HSI has supported rabies education activities for children, trained government veterinarians in spay/neuter techniques and conducted rabies prevention workshops throughout Dong Nai.
Phuong Tham, Humane Society International’s Viet Nam country director, said: “Here in Dong Nai and in Thai Nguyen we are proud to be helping the government achieve its goal of eliminating human rabies deaths from dog interactions by 2030, including by addressing the dog meat trade. Viet Nam cannot hope to eliminate rabies and meet that 2030 target without tackling this trade. We hope our Vietnamese Models for Change program will become a key component of Viet Nam’s strategy to provide alternative, economically viable livelihoods for those like Mr. Cuong who are dependent on the trade, and that the program will serve as a practical complement to legislative and regulatory reform.”
For more than two decades, the restaurant and slaughterhouse now run by Mr. Cuong has received shipments of thousands of dogs from across the country, who have been killed and served for human consumption. Across the province, live dogs are delivered to facilities like this, tightly packed in cages on trucks driving for hours from neighbouring Mekong Delta province. Many dogs are also supplied by local traders collecting dogs via motorbike from nearby residents who sell their pets or breed puppies for the meat trade. Mr. Cuong took over the business nine years ago but the guilt and stress he felt from killing dogs contributed to his decision to leave the dog meat trade once and for all and switch to an alternative livelihood.
Mr. Cuong said: “For nine years I’ve killed dogs and chickens, butchered them and served them to my customers. The money is okay but this work doesn’t make me happy at all. I don’t want to kill these animals anymore, it makes me feel bad. Selling paint and gas cylinders to local residents will be a much more peaceful business. I’m looking forward to a business where I have a clear conscience and I am not involved in slaughtering dogs. I couldn’t have made this move without the support of HSI’s Models for Change program and the Dong Nai authorities, so I’m grateful for all their support.”
On Mr. Cuong’s final day of business, HSI rescued the last remaining 16 dogs who were found cowering in cages at the back of the restaurant. HSI moved them to a temporary facility where they are receiving veterinary care—including neutering and vaccination against rabies and distemper—and will be assessed for local adoption. Many of the dogs have matted fur, skin conditions and infected eyes.
HSI’s Tham said: “These dogs were clearly terrified when we found them. They’ve been through an ordeal and came close to death for the dog meat trade, but thankfully we got them out just in time. For these dogs, the dog meat trade is over and no more dogs will ever suffer and die at this facility again. But for the millions of other dogs for whom the suffering continues across Viet Nam, and the millions of citizens whose health is put at risk from the spread of rabies and other diseases, we will continue to campaign to end this cruel and dangerous trade.
Following the rescue, HSI’s Viet Nam team held a round table meeting with Department of Animal Health officials from both Dong Nai and Thai Nguyen provinces at which provincial leaders agreed to propose a directive to their respective provincial People’s Council to ensure the strong enforcement of laws and regulations on rabies and cross provincial animal transport and slaughter, that would make it more difficult for the dog and cat meat trades to operate.
Rabies kills more than 70 people in Viet Nam each year, according to the World Health Organization, with almost all cases caused by dog bites, including verified cases and data from Viet Nam’s National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology showing human infection after killing, butchering or eating dogs. International organizations, including the World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Organization for Animal Health and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have set the goal to eliminate dog-mediated human rabies by 2030, with Viet Nam being one of the key target regions for achieving this milestone. Tackling the dog meat trade in Viet Nam is key to eliminating rabies.
Mr Nguyen Truong Giang, director of Dong Nai Provincial Department of Livestock Production and Animals Health, said: “When it comes to tackling rabies, we must address every way in which this disease is spread in Viet Nam. It’s clear that the dog meat trade contributes to the spread of the virus, which is why we are pleased to be working with HSI’s Models for Change program to help dog and cat meat trade workers transition to better and safer livelihoods for themselves and their community.”
Dog meat facts:
Viet Nam’s dog meat trade is largely supplied through snatching dogs from the streets or stealing pets from private homes. Traders frequently use poison bait such as meatballs laced with cyanide, and catch the dogs using painful taser guns and pincers.
Traders also go village to village to purchase dogs from rural communities that occasionally sell “excess” dogs for extra income.
For long distance transport, dogs are tightly packed into small cages and driven for hours or even days without food and water, many sustaining injuries as well as enduring exhaustion, dehydration, suffocation, heatstroke and even death to reach a slaughterhouse, market or restaurant.
The sale and consumption of dog meat is not illegal in Viet Nam, but the unregulated trans-provincial movement of dogs has been illegal since 2009, and pet theft was made a punishable offence in 2016. While several cities including Hanoi and Hoi An have pledged to end the trade, enforcement of laws is rare and trucks continue to openly transport hundreds of dogs at a time on national highways.
Most people in Viet Nam don’t eat dog meat. An Aug./Sept. 2023 Nielsen opinion poll commissioned by HSI found that around one quarter of the population (24%) had consumed dog meat (thịt chó) in the last year, with 64% and 68% of respondents respectively supporting a ban on dog meat consumption and trade. A belief by some consumers persists—despite no scientific evidence—that dog meat has medicinal properties and can increase male virility.
HSI’s Models for Change program came to Viet Nam in 2022 after successfully operating in South Korea since 2015, where the HSI has closed down 18 dog meat farms, rescuing more than 2,500 dogs and helping dog farmers transition to more sustainable livelihoods such as chili or water parsley growing.
Media contact: Wendy Higgins, director of international media: whiggins@hsi.org
Mexico’s Constitution is one step closer to enshrining animal protection, granting Congress to enact animal welfare laws, and mandating humane education in schools
Humane Society International / Mexico
Victoria Razo/AP Images for HSI
Update (11/26/24): 17 State Congresses have approved this historic amendment, which means the bill has passed, since it had already been approved by the Senate and Chamber of Deputies.
MEXICO CITY—Humane Society International/Mexico celebrates a landmark victory for animal protection in Mexico as the Chamber of Deputies officially approved a constitutional reform on animal welfare. This historic reform would, for the first time, enshrine animal welfare in Mexico’s Constitution, strengthening the nation’s commitment to protecting animals from cruelty and neglect.
The constitutional amendment introduces significant changes to articles 3, 4 and 73, formally enshrining animal protection and empowering Congress to legislate on animal welfare. The reform also establishes humane education as a mandatory guideline in all educational institutions nationwide. By granting animal protection the highest importance in Mexico’s legal framework, the reform safeguards the legal protection granted to animals from being easily undone by future legislation. As the Constitution defines a nation’s most important values and ideals, this constitutional reform serves as a strong symbol of a growing societal shift towards empathetic and caring attitudes with regards to animals, positioning Mexico as a leader in animal welfare legislation.
Anton Aguilar, executive director at HSI/Mexico, stated: “This is a historic moment for animal protection in Mexico that sets a powerful precedent for future generations. With this constitutional reform, the government has taken a significant step toward ensuring that the protection and welfare of animals become a priority in public policy. This landmark constitutional reform has the power to transform the lives of millions of animals—from street dogs and cats enduring cruelty, disease and neglect, to the billions of farmed animals exploited for food, and the countless wildlife threatened by illegal trade. On behalf of these animals, we are grateful to the Chamber of Deputies and the countless advocates who have fought for this reform, and we look forward to seeing this bill passed in the Senate shortly.”
HSI/Mexico has advocated for this reform, together with civil society organizations including Igualdad Animal and Movimiento Conciencia, by reaching out to legislators and mobilizing public support through online petitions in English and Spanish that gathered tens of thousands of signatures. The new President of Mexico, Dr. Claudia Sheinbaum, announced on her first day in office that she would prioritize passing this bill as one of the 100 top commitments of her administration. Today this promise is much closer to being fulfilled, pending approval by the Senate and two-thirds of the State legislatures, as required for constitutional amendments. HSI/Mexico will continue working alongside the government to ensure these new protections are effectively adopted, implemented and enforced.
ENDS
Media contact: Magaly Garibay: +52 5538762199; mgaribay@idee.agency
