We need to step up on climate action. As scientists point out, nothing less is at stake than a viable future for humanity on this planet, and current policies are falling dramatically short. How to turn the tide? What is the most effective way to tackle the climate crisis? This Saturday December 10 three experience experts on ecocentric politics, youth activism, advocacy and legal action against b...
This year’s Animal Politics World Conference ‘Taking Political Activism to the Next Level’ is all about political activism and speeding up positive change for climate, nature, animals and people. During the upcoming conference on December 10th and 11th in Brussels, experts, politicians, activists, and NGOs from the Middle East, North Africa, EU, UK, the Balkans and Ukraine will gather to share the...
Last week, the Upper House (Senate) in the state of New South Wales passed a bill proposed by the Australian Animal Justice Party to ban puppy farms. This is a huge breakthrough for the more than a hundred thousand puppies “produced” in intensive puppy-breeding farms or ‘puppy mills’ every year – and for their mothers. “Puppy farms are intensive breeding farms for the ‘pet industry’,” said Emma Hu...
Causing damage to the environment and causing animal suffering should be considered a punishable criminal offence in the EU. This is the opinion not only of the Dutch Party for the Animals, which made a series of proposals to this effect, but also of the European Parliament's Environment Committee, which voted on this in late October. Nationally, the Party for the Animals and its Australian sister...
You are, of course, used to reading the monthly blog by Esther Ouwehand, political leader of the Dutch Party for the Animals. Unfortunately, Esther has been suffering from some health problems due to constant overwork, and has temporarily stepped down as MP. Dutch law stipulates that MPs can be replaced for a fixed period of four months due to illness, which is what Esther is doing now. She wishes...
On World Kangaroo Day, MEP Anja Hazekamp (Party for the Animals, the Netherlands) called on the European Commission to end the import of kangaroo meat and kangaroo products. Hazekamp is keen to know why the European Commission did not take action after worrying findings about the kangaroo hunt, which emerged during a parliamentary inquiry conducted by the Australian state of New South Wales. The i...
The European Commission wants to end the systematic slaughter of newly hatched roosters in the egg industry. It is a welcome step in the direction of a more animal-friendly food system, something that political parties for animals, nature, and the environment have been pleading for for years. But as the parties emphasize, to structurally improve the wellbeing of animals and to prevent a bird flu p...
A vast majority of the European Parliament voted in favour of the Party for the Animals’ proposal to award the highest possible international protection status to threatened species such as elephants, hippos, jaguars, lions, and snow leopards this month. This would entail any and all commercial trade in these animals becoming prohibited. The proposal to draw up a European positive list of allowed ...
Thanks to an initiative by the Party for the Animals, the European Parliament calls on Iceland, Norway, Japan, and the Faroe Islands to stop the whale and dolphin hunt once and for all. On World Animal Day, MEP Anja Hazekamp also drew attention to the suffering of fish and the ecological devastation caused by fish farms: “Seas and oceans are essential to life on earth. Fish farms are the factory f...
A proposal for universal healthcare for animals by the Australian Animal Justice Party was unanimously adopted in parliament in the state of Victoria. The ‘Veticare’ bill means veterinary care for pets will be subsidized or even free – depending on their human companion’s income. Also, state-funded wildlife hospitals will improve care for wild animals in need. A global first, that will make animal...
“Reality cannot be ignored except at a price; and the longer the ignorance is persisted in, the higher and more terrible becomes the price that must be paid.” That is what Aldous Huxley, the British-American author of Brave New World, wrote. Many political leaders could learn a lot from this quote. We are dealing with multiple worldwide crises: a climate crisis, nature crisis, energy crisis and a...
The Dutch city of Haarlem is the first city in the world to introduce a ban on meat advertising in public spaces. The livestock industry is one of the main causes of the climate and biodiversity crises, which is why the municipality wants to reduce meat consumption. Other cities have already banned advertising for fossil fuels, petrol cars and cheap air holidays. In Finland, too, the Finnish anima...
Threatened species such as elephants, big cats, rays, and sharks should be given the highest international conservation status. Proposals to this end by, amongst others, the Dutch Party for the Animals, were adopted last week by the European Parliament’s Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI). These proposals include a ban on the commercial trade in these animals, establish...