Looking back on 2016 … it wasn’t too bad a year and we did have some wins.
There were some wonderful moments for the animals such as a group of little ducklings were saved by awesome firemen after they fell down a grate. Mumma duck was sooooo thrilled to have her babies back. And, firemen rescued swans from freezing on ice, not just once, but three times.
However, I want to look back on some of the “wins” that didn’t necessarily make the “headlines” but will make life a little easier on those animals who are constantly abused – that is: animals used for human purposes. So here’s my top 12:
Let’s begin with a statistic I think shows why many people are turning to a plant based way of eating.
- 94% of Americans believe it’s important that animals used for food aren’t abused. The way the industry is with factory farming, this is a good sign that people are starting to become aware.
- In New Zealand battery cages are to be phased out by 2022, a great “win”. Unfortunately the egg industry managed to still have the cages by convincing the government to legalize the colony cage… still a cage, will be able to put more birds in – the campaign continues.
- Around the world many groceries, restaurants and even fast food outlets no longer support caged eggs. In New Zealand, McDonalds announced its switch to only free range eggs in all outlets in 2017. Many others committed to a particular date.
- In Australia the Woolworths supermarket chain went cage free and in N.Z. a campaign was launched for Countdown to do the same. Countdown is a subsidery of the above mentioned Woolworths.
- In North America the “Right to Farm” is a law that was brought in to deny nuisance lawsuits against farmers who use accepted and standard farming practices. Well, the U.S. Humane Society along with other organisations set out to expose this law for what it really is : allowing farmers to use reprehensible measures like extreme confinement, mutilation with painkillers etc. They were able to stop this Right to Farm measures from being introduced into some State legislatures. Still a lot of work to be done.
- The Blackfish Bill was passed banning SeaWorld and other corporations from imprisoning Orcas for profit. SeaWorld also announced that it would no longer have the Orca breeding program. I believe that the movie “Blackfish” has had a huge role in getting both these “wins”.
- France became the 1st country to totally ban Neonicotinoids – the bee-killing component in pesticides. This measure goes above and beyond the E.U. ban put in place in 2013. The German company Bayer is not happy and, in fact, has a lawsuit pending against the E.U. Learn more It’s almost like France has put up its middle finger to Bayer.
- And on the subject of bees, Canada is also trying to put in place a ban however, again Bayer has their lobbying hat on tight and the pressure is on. You can help by signing the petition: Save The Bees
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus ended their elephant performances and took the elephants off the road in response to growing public concern over how the animals are treated.- The number of Tigers, Pandas and Manatees all increased quite substantially which, if this keeps going, these animals will be able to come off the endangered list.
- On another note – the environment … 40,000 New Zealanders, who opposed the secret giveaway of community water resources, celebrated when The Ashburton District Council backed out of negotiations with NZ Pure Blue – a deal that would have allowed the corporation to extract billions of litres of waters from the aquifers beneath the town. The message was loud and clear – the last thing the community needs is a bottled-water company sucking the town dry for profit, especially in a drought-prone region. Mind you, this applies everywhere – as is being witnessed currently in the U.S.A. with the town of Flint as well as the Dakota Pipe Line.
- This was a story that absolutely delighted me.
The Australian mining company, OceanaGold, had a contract to build a massive gold mine in Cabanas, a country in El Salvador. Now this would have used the last remaining water source, so the country of Cabanas refused to issue permits. OceanaGold filed a lawsuit against El Salavdor. However, because of worldwide people power, the lawsuit was dismissed. But wait, there’s a bit of icing on this cake – OceanaGold had to pay El Salvador compensation and cover their court costs.
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus ended their elephant performances and took the elephants off the road in response to growing public concern over how the animals are treated.So I’ll end this post on that absolutely corker win… showing that the little guy can take on the giant.
You’ll be able to find lots of other stories on the internet, but these ones were either close to my heart, or a little different to the usual.
All my heartfelt thanks for supporting me with my journey this year. May your 2017 be blessed for you and your family and may we have many more “wins” so we can ease the suffering of the many animals who endure so much for us.
