The last few weeks were dominated by cooperation with our European sister parties. For example, together with our sister parties PACMA and PAN we organised the premiere of the documentary film #Powerplant, in Portugal (Porto) and in Spain (Madrid). Both shows drew full houses and during the Q&A session afterwards I was talking with the audience. In Porto I was accompanied by my Portuguese colleagu...
Animal Welfare Party’s Jane Smith has made UK political history by retaining her seat on Alsager Town Council beating both the Labour and Conservative candidates with 357 votes (9.8%). How did she do it? She tells all about that in her blog, recently published in the Huffington Post.
The Dutch Party for the Animals has been declared the most climate friendly Dutch party in the European Parliament by the Climate Action Network Europe (CAN). Over the past five years, the Party for the Animals gained the highest number of votes on plans concerning climate protection, making it the Dutch climate champion in Brussels according to CAN.
PACMA, the Spanish Party for the Animals, has had another success in the elections last Sunday. However, despite the many votes, the party did not win a seat in the Spanish Parliament due to Spain’s lop-sided electoral system. However, according to opinion polls, PACMA will win two seats in the European Parliament. PACMA is part of a growing political movement of parties for animal right...
Due to the adoption of a motion by the Party for the Animals, the Dutch government will be forced to resist a deal on chickens between the European Commission and Ukraine. This deal would have allowed Ukraine to export factory-farmed chicken meat to Europe. The lives of these fast-growing chickens are miserable and short. Over a short period of time, they are fattened to the extent that ...
The documentary #Powerplant premiered in Portugal (Porto) as well as in Spain (Madrid). Both shows drew hundreds of people and were followed by a question and answer session with Marianne Thieme, the leader of the Dutch Party for the Animals and also one of the leading figures in the documentary. The show was co-organised by the Portuguese and Spanish parties for animal rights and sustaina...
March has been a month of hope. On the 10th of March, the Party for the Animals joined 40,000 others on the street to call for a strong and fair climate policy during the largest Climate March in the Netherlands ever. The fact that so many people were willing to face the cold and the rain on their free Sunday, demonstrates the growing concerns about the future of our planet. Despite the ...
The international movement “Animal Politics EU”, which consists of the Party for the Animals in the Netherlands and its ten European sister parties, will gain five to seven seats in the forthcoming European Parliament elections, according to opinion polls in several European countries. This means the animal rights movement in the European Parliament could triple in size. At the moment, there are t...
On Friday 5th of April, Marianne Thieme, the leader of the Dutch Party to for the Animals, spoke in the parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo. She was invited by local Bosnian animal welfare and environmental organisations to make a case for a definitive ban on fur farming. Thieme argued that fur farming is a danger to all: animals, nature, humans and the quality of our enviro...
Last week elections were held for the Provincial Councils and Water Boards in the Netherlands. As with every election until now, the Party for the Animals made gains again. Party for the Animals celebrates gains at regional elections It was the first time that the Party for the Animals took part in the elections in all 12 provinces of the Netherlands and it has now gained seats in all provinces. ...
The Dutch Party for the Animals nominates its current MEP Anja Hazekamp as leading candidate for the European elections. Her candidacy will be presented to the members at the party congress on 31 March. The Party for the Animals wants to sound a green and progressive critical voice in the European Parliament in the next few years too. Party for the Animals MEP Anja Hazekamp Anja Hazekamp (1968),...
This February, I returned to Parliament after sick leave. It is good to get back to work! There is still an incredible amount of work to be done if we want to live on a habitable planet and free the animals by fighting for their rights. Current state of affairs: man continues to wreak havoc on the planet. We are polluting our environment, causing an unprecedented loss of wildlife, cutting down the...
Last week, Animal Welfare Party in the United Kingdom again achieved local success. Thanks to Jane Smith, Animal Welfare Party councillor, the town of Alsager will work with a robust pollinator strategy to help pollinating insects and improve the natural environment. Pollinators like bees and butterflies are vital to our food supply, but are currently under serious threat. The pollinator strateg...