CEDA onlus - Comitato Europeo Difesa Animali - European Committee Defence Animals

London (GB) - 17 November 2009 (by our representative in London)

 

PRESS RELEASE

New Belgian laws announced to ban animal testing and fund alternatives The Lord Dowding Fund (LDF) today welcomed announcements made in the Flemish Parliament to introduce two groundbreaking laws which would ban all commercial animal testing and give extra funding to the development of non-animal research techniques.
LDF, the research wing of Animal Defenders International (ADI), attended a press conference in the Flemish Parliament on 17 November 2009, where the proposed laws initiated by the Flemish Green Party were unveiled.
LDF believes that the two laws should be implemented together as the restrictions to animal testing would be complemented by the promotion of alternatives. The ban on the use of cosmetic testing has led the way showing that this joined up approach is very effective. Animal testing must be banned to force companies and scientists to change their research methods or develop alternatives....
Danny Flies, Stop Dier Proeven, commented: "I salute the bravery of the Belgian Green party in proposing these two groundbreaking laws.  Let this be an example for politicians all over Europe to do whatever they can to invest in modern science without the use of animals in the interest of humans and animals."

For further information, contact Amanda Gent, LDF/ADI Public Relations, Office Tel: 020 7630 3344.

Email: prdesk@ad-international.org

London (GB) - 11 Juny 2009 (by our representative in London)

 

New results confirm the excellent level of prediction of the VALITOX® programme VALITOX®, the new alternative to animal testing financed by a number of associations (30 millions d´Amis, SNDA, Fondation Bourdon, Fondation Brigitte Bardot, SPA, LSCV) is about to be submitted to the ECVAM for acceptance into the pre-validation process. If selected, this will consist of a multi-centred study undertaken by three independent laboratories on a small range of substances. We remind you that VALITOX® is intended to replace animal testing in the context of tests of acute toxicity. It is enrolled in the European ACuteTox programme, the results of which have not been very encouraging, despite four years of funding.
The latest stage in the development of the VALITOX® test, which took place between January and May 2009 at the NOVALEADS
laboratory, consisted in ironing out difficulties encountered during earlier studies. The main issue has been to scale up the test to achieve the high outputs needed for its future application, in particular to meet the legal requirements of the REACH directive, and to resolve the problem of the so-called `false negatives´. A false negative is a toxic substance undetected by the test. The proportion of false negatives is thus an essential indicator for confidence in the test. To overcome these difficulties a new procedure, the DAP method, based on de-inhibiting of fluorescence has been perfected. The DAP method has simultaneously overcome the problem of false negatives and the scaling up of the test procedures for outputs compatible with the REACH requirements.
Finally, the NOVALEADS study has shown that in its present state the VALITOX® test predicts 82% of effects observed in humans, an unprecedented result for this type of alternative approach.
It should be noted that the results of the latest study have been accepted for announcement at the 7th world congress on alternative methods, to be held in Rome from the 30th August to the 3rd of September next. They are also to be published in the journal ALTEX (Alternatives to Animal Experiments), a sponsor of the congress.
 

Dr Christophe Furger
Director of Research and Innovation. Comité Scientifique Pro Anima.
email: pro.anima67@orange.fr - sito web: www.proanima.fr

London (GB) - Tuesday, 12 May 2009

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8046970.stm

 

By Chris Mason

BBC News, Ghent

 

The Belgian city of Ghent is about to become the first in the world to go vegetarian at least once a week.
 

Starting this week there will be a regular weekly meatless day, in which civil servants and elected coucillors will opt for vegetarian meals.

 

Ghent means to recognise the impact of livestock on the environment.

 

The UN says livestock is responsible for nearly one-fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions, hence Ghent's declaration of a weekly "veggie day".

 

Public officials and politicians will be the first to give up meat for a day.

 

Schoolchildren will follow suit with their own veggiedag in September.

 

It is hoped the move will cut Ghent's environmental footprint and help tackle obesity.

Around 90,000 so-called "veggie street maps" are now being printed to help people find the city's vegetarian eateries.

London (GB) - 1 May 2009

 

The Bali Times. 1 May 2009.
Indonesia’s Unethical and Illegal Primate Supply Chain Must End.
Sarah Kite

LONDON ~ A recent investigation carried out by the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) has highlighted the role of Indonesia in supplying non-human primates to the international research industry. It is a trade that undoubtedly inflicts great suffering on Indonesia’s macaques.
Moreover, it is not limited to the trade in research. A variety of primate species are also exploited and mistreated, for the pet, entertainment and food industries.
 

Read more

Sheffield (GB) - 22 Aprile 2009

 

Dear animal advocate
There are two urgent challenges ahead for animals and us - their advocates.
Firstly, if you live in a member state of the European Union, the next two weeks is one of the most crucial junctures in the historic battle over animal experiments.
Millions of animals need you to stand up and defend them by contacting your regional members of the European Parliament as a matter of urgency before they vote on a new European animal experimentation law on May 7th.
Millions of animals and the future of public health need you to counter the cruel deceptions of the animal testers.
Please visit http://www.uncaged.co.uk/news/2009/briefing.htm to start getting active and for a link to our emergency briefing.
Secondly, Global Boycott Procter & Gamble Day is approaching on 16 May. This campaign is a fantastic and uniquely effective way of recruiting new supporters as cosmetics testing is something that most people agree with us on and are agitated by, and the P&G products are so recognisable it empowers people to get active by boycotting them. It also acts as an effective 'gateway' for people to the whole issue of animal experimentation and animal rights.
Please unite with fellow activists on Saturday 16th May 2009 to expose the callous animal testing practices of the world?s largest consumer goods corporation, and makers of Herbal Essences.
With your help, we can give millions of consumers the information they need to vote with their purses and help save innocent animals from deadly poisoning tests. If we want to protect animals, it?s vital to empower consumers to pressure companies like P&G directly. Please visit www.uncaged.co.uk/pgday.htm to find out more information and how to register for the day.

With best wishes
 
Dr Dan Lyons, Director, Uncaged
www.uncaged.co.uk

London (GB) - 22 Aprile 2009 (by our representative in London)

 

http://www.makeanimaltestinghistory.org/

Dr Hadwen Trust: cyber march launched as Euro MPs prepare to vote on animal testing law Wednesday, 22, Apr 2009 12:00

As MEPs prepare to vote next month (May 09) on proposals to update Europe’s animal experiments directive [1], animal advocates are taking to cyber-space to demonstrate public support with a virtual march on the European Parliament. Launched today by the Dr Hadwen Trust for Humane Research, Four Paws and the Humane Society International,[2] the Make Animal Testing History virtual march is a global first for animal protection campaigning. [3] It is being launched throughout the European Union to coincide with World Week for Animals in Laboratories. You can join the march at www.makeanimaltestinghistory.org 

More than 12 million animals are used in experiments in Europe each year. [4] Animals such as rodents, rabbits, cats, dogs and monkeys are used in experiments that can cause physical and mental distress. The law that regulates experiments, Directive 86/609, is more than 20 years old and desperately out of date.
 

Improvements have been proposed such as better animal protection, a phase-out of primate experiments, ethical review and real progress on non-animal alternatives.
However, pharmaceutical and animal research industries are lobbying hard to thwart new welfare measures, even opposing limits on the level of pain animals are allowed to suffer or the number of times they can be re-used in experiments.

“The revision of Directive 86/609 is a key moment in the history of Europe’s treatment of animals.” says Wendy Higgins, spokesperson for the Make Animal Testing History coalition of groups. “It has a clear opportunity to lead the world in replacing animal experiments with advanced non-animal techniques, and until complete replacement is achieved it should be championing the most robust, transparent and progressive regulation achievable. Surveys show that citizens across Europe share that vision, but politicians seem to be largely ignoring their views and pandering to the vested interests of the animal research industry instead. It is vital that they start to listen and our Make Animal Testing History virtual march is a novel way of demonstrating public support for change. This gives the idea of peaceful demonstration a whole new virtual dimension that can appeal to a mass audience. The cyber community has a keen sense of social justice but is more likely to click a computer mouse than wave a placard.”

The virtual march at www.MakeAnimalTestingHistory.org is launched in no less than 13 European languages including Greek, Romanian, Bulgarian and Hungarian. Citizens from across Europe are being invited to get e-active by signing an on-line pledge and creating their own personalised avatar figure to join a mass cyber parade through Brussels towards the European Parliament building. Web visitors will be able to monitor the number of marchers from each EU member state, and after the EU Elections in June, they will be able to see which MEPs have joined the march too.

MEPs are due to vote on the 86/609 proposals in the European Parliament in May this year. It will be the first time that the full Parliament has voted in what is set to be a lengthy process of debate.

END

Notes

1. Link to the revised 86/609 proposal
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:52008PC0543:EN:NOT

2. The Dr Hadwen Trust for Humane Research is the UK’s leading non-animal medical research charity www.drhadwentrust.org; Four Paws is an international animal welfare organisation with offices in nine EU countries www.fourpaws.org.uk; Humane Society International is a leading animal protection organisation representing 11 million members across Europe, Australia, Canada, China, Costa Rica, India and the United States www.hsieurope.org

3. Go to www.makeanimaltestinghistory.org and click on the virtual march link

4. 12.1 million animals were used in EU experiments in 2005; Fifth Report on the Statistics on the Number of Animals used for Experimental and other Scientific Purposes in the Member States of the European Union published 5/11/2007 (these are the most recent EU wide statistics available).

December, 30/2008

 

Boos as singer opens Harrods sale
Anti-fur campaigners booed singer Katherine Jenkins as she arrived at Harrods to open its winter sale.

Protesters shouted "shame on Katherine" as she arrived by horse-drawn carriage.

The opera star turned out after chart -topping singer Leona Lewis reportedly refused to open the sale because of Harrods' policy of selling fur.

Protesters claim Harrods is the only major store in the UK to sell imported fur.
No-one from the Knightsbridge store was available for comment.

The boos were eventually drowned out by cheers from bargain hunters queuing outside as the singer was ushered into the store by owner Mohamed Al Fayed.

Campaigner John Wilson, from the Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade, said: "We are gathered here today because of our disgust at Ms Jenkins who professes to be against animal cruelty and the fur trade."

Followed by a group of bagpipe players, Ms Jenkins visited the shop's stationery, pets and musical instruments departments.

She was pictured buying two Jasmine di Milo dresses - one in grey and one in black.

Some bargain-hunters had been queuing from midnight to buy goods marked down by as much as 50%.
 

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23608367-details/Protesters+greet+opera+singer/article.do
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7801082.stm
http://www.teletext.co.uk/regionalnews/london/45b71273381898de0b74f2c5f758bcd9/Protest+at+Harrods%27+sale.aspx
http://news.uk.msn.com/uk/article.aspx?cp-documentid=12258943

http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/news/Katherine-Jenkins-booed-animal-rights-campaigners-opens-Harrods-sale/article-572219-detail/article.html

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5hpoTcor5AXNc6htBLTkekI6GP_ug
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jfbUNdbwLmWJ2HrVLlChYOBocqeQ

November, 9/2008

 

A new international anti-fur campaign against the fashion chain MaxMara has just been launched today by the Italian group AIP (Smash the Fur Trade). In recent years the international anti-fur movement has had some excellent results persuading large international companies to go fur-free by co-ordinating campaigns in many different countries.

As always CAFT will be taking part in the MaxMara campaign with protests in the UK. We will be protesting at the head office in London this Friday 14^th (following on from the Norwegian embassy protest nearby), and the following weekend, November 21-23, we will be taking part in the first international days of action.
More details to come, or email back if you want to know more, but in the meantime, please read the short text below, and use the details to contact MaxMara and ask them to adopt a fur free policy. Remember the fur industry is a ruthless, multinational business, only by working together with other activists throughout the world can we hope to fight back for the animals.

Text from the website: http://www.maxmaracampaign.net/en/index.html

 

All over the world campaigning networks and organizations are fighting to make designers and clothing companies "fur-free". We think it is time to ask the same ethical stand of Max Mara Fashion Group, owners of world renowned brands like Max Mara, Max &Co, and many more like Maxsport, Marina Rinaldi, Marella, Pennyblack, Newpenny, Persona, Iblues.

In Italy Campagna AIP managed to make fur-free all department stores and some clothing companies like Stefanel, Diesel, Miss Sixty and Belstaff. Department stores like La Rinascente, Upim, Coin and Oviesse, have a big portion of the italian clothing retail and some of them have concessions of the most important designers and fashion companies inside their stores, forced too not to sell any fur products.

The Max Mara campaign is similar to those waged at department stores, or similar to the internationally coordinated campaigns that have made important fashion companies like Zara, Guess and Stefanel fur-free. The campaign is based on regular demos, communication with Max Mara's customers and a spreading boycott.

With their 2000 shops all around the world Max Mara Fashion Group is one of the biggest retail companies worldwide. Among their brands the most known and widespread are Max Mara and Max&Co. This is a campaign with international support and demos in front of Max Mara stores in different countries.

 

You can find reports, events and more updates (in italian) at: www.campagnaaip.net

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

* First of all do not buy any fur and boycott all Max Mara Fashion Group brands' stores untill they will not be fur-free. Talk about this campaign to anybody you know and spread the message.

* Contact the company and tell them what you think. You can either send them a letter, a fax, an e-mail or make a phone call.

Each of these communications could be a lost customer for them, do not underestimate its impact. You can find all their contact details here

* Spread the campaign by distributing leaflets. You can find pdf leaflets in different languages in our resources section. Fell free to download and copy it.

* Organize demos or leaflettings at your local Max Mara or Max&Co shop.

* Contact us at info@camoagnaaip.net for more infos.

* You can contact the company at this address: (UK addresses below)

 

MAXMARA FASHION GROUP - Via Giulia Maramotti, 4, 42100 Reggio Emilia (RE) - Tel:0039-522-3991 - Fax: 0039-522-3993993

 

Head of Press Office - Magnolia Laurenzi - laurenzi.m@maxmara.it

Public Relations - Larisa Fasi - proffice@maxmara.it - fasi.l@maxmara.it

Public Relations - Giorgio Guidotti - guidotti.g@mmfg.it

More E-Mails:

info@maxandco.com, franchisingita@maxandco.com, franchisingexp@maxandco.com, info@marella.it, otb.iblues@marella.it

 

All e-mails to cut and paste:

guidotti.g@mmfg.it, info@maxandco.com, franchisingita@maxandco.com, franchisingexp@maxandco.com, info@marella.it, otb.iblues@marella.it, laurenzi.m@maxmara.it, proffice@maxmara.it, fasi.l@maxmara.it, guidotti.g@mmfg.it

• Maxmara Ltd in the UK (No email addresses yet, please email MaxMara head offices in Italy, see above)

• Head Office: Melrose House 4-6 Savile Row, London, W1S 3PD

• Stores MaxMara Ltd - 5, Albemarle St, London, W1S 4HF - Tel: 020 7518 8010

• MaxMara Ltd - 19-21, Old Bond St, London, W1S 4PX Tel: 020 7499 7902

• Max Mara - 37, High St, Wimbledon, London, SW19 5BY - Tel: 020 8944 1494

• Max Mara - 32, Hill St, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1TW - Tel: 020 8332 2811

• Maxmara Ltd - Bicester Village, Pingle Drive, Bicester, Oxfordshire OX26 6WD - Tel: 01869 354928

• Marina Rinaldi - 5, Multrees Walk, Edinburgh, Midlothian, EH1 3DQ - Tel: 0131 557 6676 - Fax: 0131 558 1232

• Marina Rinaldi - 2, Lislea Avenue, Belfast, County Antrim BT9 7HQ - Tel: 028 9066 2990

• Marina Rinaldi - 39, Old Bond St, London, W1S 4QP

September, 5/2008

 

Dear friends,

Every Sunday there is a bullfighting in the bullring in Barcelona, called "La Monumental", where every Friday bulls are tortured and killed. Every Sunday a group of brave antibullfighting activists protest in front of the bull ring.

 

The people who attend the bullfighting are about 20 local peasants and the rest are tourists brought by coaches (mainly from Ucraina and Russia, who do not know what a bullfighting is about).

 

The protesters try to inform the tourists to encourage them not to enter, but the coaches keep coming and the queue of tourists is very long...

 

Last 24th August two activists, Lluis and Samuel, were followed by the aggresive bullfighting supporters once the protest ended and they were brutally beaten on the floor being beaten in the stomach, testicles and head. Lluís was unconscious for some seconds and when he recovered he realised he also had been robbed.

 

After that, police station... hospital... Can you imagine???

 

These are the emails of the victims:

 

Lluis: lluis.barcelona@hotmail.com

Samuel: akhranveg@hotmail.com

 

PLEASE EMAIL THEM SHOWING THEM YOUR SUPPORT - THEY NEED IT!!!!

 

PS. Please call the email: "We support you from the UK".,etc.

Thank you very much