Animal Earth Human

Written by Benjamin Joffe-Walt
Published Sunday, January 10, 2010

When the Monte Carlo Circus’ lions and tigers arrived in Lebanon two weeks ago they were meant to be welcomed by beaming children, adoring parents and cooing students on field trips. But after Lebanese animal rights activists received an emergency alert from THE Jordanian border about abused circus animals en route from Egypt to Lebanon, endearing scenes of charming animals entertaining humans is not at all what took place. “We received a tipoff from someone at the Jordanian border about some six lions and three tigers coming from Egypt to Lebanon,” Maggie Shaarawi, co-founder of Animals Lebanon, told The Media Line. “They had asked the people transporting the circus animals how long it had been since they had been fed and they said three days. They asked how many days the animals had been in cages and they were told 10 days.” The tipoff, from the Princess Alia Foundation in Jordan, stated that the animals had been put in crates on December 11, shipped out of Egypt on December 21, and delayed for two days on the Jordanian border as the crew did not have the proper paperwork to continue with the animals to Syria. The crew admitted that the animals had not been provided with food or water since leaving Egypt, alleging that they had not been provided with funds to provide for the animals. The Jordanian foundation purchased food and water for the animals and they were transported through Jordan, entering Syria on December 26. The animal rights group in Lebanon, meanwhile, had alerted the country’s Agriculture Ministry about the case. “We opened a small investigation and before the animals arrived at the Lebanese border we contacted the head of animal resources at the Ministry of Agriculture and asked him to check the paperwork and health of the animals before allowing them into the country,” Shaarawi said. “He did not call us back and when we finally spoke with him he said that the animals had already arrived healthily and that the veterinarian at the border had reported that they are happy and jumping around.” “So we went and waited all day at the circus for the animals to arrive,” she continued. “Beyond not being fed, it turns out the animals had been living in small cages for six months. The lions had recently been declawed and some of them were still bleeding and had infections. There was also an adult lion who does not move at all.” There are no lion specialists in Lebanon, so the activists contacted Paul Hart, a specialist at a sanctuary for lions in South Africa. “He responded that the conditions that the lions are in are abysmal,” Shaarawi said. “He said that the lion cubs should be immediately confiscated.” Less than 24 hours after arriving from the arduous journey, the animals were on stage, performing to a $40-per-seat audience aside snakes, jugglers and clowns. “We took high resolution pictures of the animals and the next day went to the agriculture ministry and showed the same man the pictures,” she said. “He didn’t care so we went to the minister himself.” Lebanon’s Agriculture Minister, Hussein Al-Hajj Hassan, told the Animals Lebanon representatives that because Lebanon does not have robust animal protection laws, he did not have the legal framework to act against the Monte Carlo Circus’, which had brought the animals to perform in Beirut for six months. In the end minister agreed to launch an investigation into the health of the animals and whether the circus had followed the law. “He told us to please go back tomorrow with the veterinarian of your choice,” Shaarawi said. But a series of Agriculture Ministry officials tried to block the inspection, twice requiring the animal rights have their inspection permit reissued. When the inspection team finally made it to the circus grounds with the Agriculture Ministry’s veterinarian, a tense interaction ensued and the veterinarian allegedly did not take any notes. Nabih Ghaouche, the director of animal resources at Lebanon’s Ministry of Agriculture, declined to comment on the matter when contacted by The Media Line. Various other officials at the Ministry of Agriculture, including the minister, could not be reached for comment. The animal rights advocates claim that beyond the mistreatment of the circus animals, their permits to travel internationally were invalid. “They didn’t meet any of the international regulations,” Jason Mier, the Executive Director of Animals Lebanon told The Media Line. “They have no valid microchip paperwork. They have no health paperwork. The animal’s transport didn’t meet even basic standards. Every single step of the way what they did was illegal.” “We are not against having a circus,” he said. “It’s a lot of work but you can do it legally, so if you want to do it, just do it legally.” “But this circus is known for smuggling,” Mier said. “This is a bad guy and I hope someone shuts him down.” Under pressure from the assiduous activist, the minister declared the animal’s transport to have been illegal and announced on Thursday that they would be sent back to Egypt within 24 hours, effectively closing down the circus. “He warned them that he was being very lenient by not prosecuting the circus,” Meir said after a joint meeting with the minister and the local circus organizer. “But what they’re doing now is to try to use any connections they have to get the minister’s decision overruled.” “They are supposed to leave today or tomorrow,” he said. “But this is Lebanon and if someone tells you they’ll be there in 5 minutes, it will take an hour.” The story continues… Copyright © 2010 The Media Line. All Rights Reserved. Have comments? Email editor@themedialine.org.

By Natacha Khalife

Special to The Daily Star
Monday, November 30, 2009

BEIRUT: A woman enters the veterinary clinic of Animals Lebanon (AL), holding a cage in which a red-haired, blue-eyed kitten is loudly meowing. The red-faced woman is screaming; she seems angry. She comes to the front desk of the clinic, opens the cage and throws the kitten at an AL volunteer before leaving and slamming the door.

“We demanded she bring back this kitten that she adopted here,” said Safa Hojeij, one of the founders of AL. A brown kitten with a skin infection is sleeping in her arms, and she adds that the same woman also adopted this kitten. However, a volunteer saw the woman this morning throw this kitten in a trash can.

“We do not want our animals to be treated like that, even if it means that we have to take them back to the clinic,” she said.

This episode embodies the typical Lebanese mentality concerning animals that AL and Beirut for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (BETA) are fighting against, said Jason Mier, executive director of AL, and Nathalie Semaan, a volunteer in BETA.

However, two special stories have recently raised interest for animals in Lebanon, said Hojeij and Semaan. In February, AL helped to close an entire zoo where animals were neglected and underfed. It took six months of negotiations with the owner to rescue the 42 animals of the zoo, said Hojeij. “This brought a huge amount of awareness to the issue of zoos in the Middle East,” said Mier.

Then, two months ago, a sick and mistreated lion was found almost dead in a small cage covered by a tarpaulin sheets in the Karantina area of Beirut by BETA, said Semaan. This case was extraordinary because it was the first time in Lebanon that a judge issued a decision to remove an animal from its owners because of mistreatment. The lion, named Adam, died one week ago.

These stories triggered a wave of solidarity for animals, said Semaan. After the story of the zoo, donations for AL exploded, said Hojeij.

“In 12 months … we raised $144,000,” said Mier. BETA also noticed a rise of donations following the story of the lion, said Semaan.

Moreover, more and more people have been attending the events organized the associations. On World Animals Day on October 4, about 100 people walked with 25 dogs in the streets of Downtown Beirut, said Semaan.

Lana al-Khalil, president of AL, is the ambassador of World Animal Day in Lebanon, so AL was very involved in this event, trying to create a bond between animals and people, said Hojeij. “World Animal Day was a great success,” she added.

The number of people in BETA’s Facebook group also reflects the Lebanese growing involvement in animal welfare. After Adam the lion was found, the number of members on BETA’s Facebook group doubled, said Semaan. The Facebook group of BETA counts 416 members, and Animals Lebanon has 653 fans.

In spite of this rising awareness, improving animal welfare in Lebanon still faces a lot of difficulties. Only one law protects animals in Lebanon; if someone is caught mistreating an animal, she or he has to pay a fine of LL10,000.

“It is ridiculous – LL10,000 is nothing,” said Semaan.

Lebanon’s legislature is behind a lot of countries concerning animals’ rights.

AL is campaigning for Lebanon to sign the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES), an international agreement between governments, which aims to ensure that “international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival,” said the CITES Web site.

BETA, meanwhile, is seeking to extend legal protection for animals to include regulations as laid down by the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA).

“WSPA is a program which contains about 200 pages of regulations and laws to protect animals, and Lebanon does not even follow one of them,” Semaan said.

Lebanon’s law makers should also create regulations concerning the running of pet shops, said Semaan.

The majority of pet shops in Lebanon are just economically focused and not concerned about their animals’ welfare, said Shadi Tarek, a veterinarian and owner of a pet shop.

“They just want to sell and do not care about what’s going to happen to the animal,” he added. To open a pet shop, people should have a license, added Hojeij.

People’s mentality also holds back the progress of animals’ rights in Lebanon.

“People teach their kids that beating an animal makes them stronger,” said Semaan. Even if some people are joining the animal’s cause, many still doubt the importance of the matter, said Hojeij.

To remedy the animals’ bad treatment the associations focus on awareness, hoping that changing mentality will lead to a modification of laws. AL and BETA organize a lot of programs to foster a love of animals among Lebanese citizens, said Hojeij.

BETA runs a community service where children from the International College come to the group’s shelters of to take the dogs on a walk, said Semaan. For its part, AL has five school children volunteers, said Hojeij.

Informing prospective pet owners of the realities of caring for animals is also used to change attitudes.

People do not really realize the difficulties of having animals, said Hojeij.

“When someone comes in my pet shop to buy an animal, I first scare him or her by compiling all the difficulties that an animal implicates. If she or he still wants to buy the animal, it means that they’re ready,” said Tarek.

Advertisements also play a great role in raising the awareness of Lebanese people concerning animals.

“In the last 12 months we have had tens of thousands of radio spots, more than 50,000 flyers and brochures distributed, and this definitely gets more people interested and talking,” said Mier.

To inform a broader spectrum of the population, AL and BETA organize publicity events, said Hojeij and Semaan.

“Events are a way to touch people that usually do not care about animals,” added Hojeij. Thus AL organized parties to sensitize the young generation about animals, said Hojeij.

The groups hold parties at private houses and venues such as Snatch and B018, said Mier. As well as raising awareness, these events are also a way to earn money for the association, said Hojeij.

But the groups also take more concrete measures to directly improve animals’ welfare.

One of the main proceedings of AL and BETA is the Trap-Neuter-Return program, said Semaan and Hojeij. This consists of trapping a cat or a dog in the street, neutering the animal to prevent breeding, releasing the animal where it was found and providing basic food and water for the animal to live safely, said Hojeij.

BETA and AL also take abandoned animals that cannot have a high quality of life in the street and put them in shelters when they can.

“We currently have 55 animals in our care – most in the shelter,” said Mier.

BETA at this time puts up 240 dogs. Animals in shelters are vaccinated, neutered and put up for adoption. Adopting a cat cost $40, and a dog costs $80.

“In the last year we got about 210 cats and dogs adopted,” said Mier. BETA has found homes for about 500-700 dogs since 2004, added Semaan.

But the fight always goes on. AL was behind a pre-release of the movie New Moon on Monday at the Galaxy cinema in Beirut, three days before its official date of release. Half of the ticket price was donated to the association.

The next event will be the Beirut Marathon on December 6, where 10 percent of the donations will head to AL.

It is a lot of effort, but animals are important and deserve this fight, said Hojeij. Moreover, they contribute to the overall well-being of people, she added.

“It is very simple – proper animal welfare standards help relieve poverty, improve human health and increase respect for the general rule of law,” said Mier.

KATHMANDU, Nepal, November 22, 2009 (ENS) - Emotional appeals to Nepalese officials by animal advocates from around the world have not persuaded them to call a halt to the sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of animals and birds planned for November 24 and 25 at a village in Bara district in southern Nepal.

Every five years, animals and birds are slaughtered in the name of the Hindu deity Gadhimai. The event on the premises of Gadhimai Temple in the village of Bariyapur is believed to be the largest ritual sacrifice anywhere in the world and draws thousands of visitors from India and Nepal.

French actress and animal advocate Brigitte Bardot is one of those who sent a letter to Nepal’s President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav, who is a Hindu, pleading with him to stop the Gadhimai sacrifice. “I have dedicated my life to protect animals and the best gift I could receive for this lifelong struggle would be the announcement of the stopping of ritual sacrifice of animals,” Bardot wrote. “I personally find it hard to imagine that your heart can withstand such cruelty, knowing that you, being the head of the country, are ultimately responsible.”

The advocacy organization Animal Nepal is organizing protest events in Kathmandu ahead of the event and filing a case at the Supreme Court, as well as performing a symbolic ritual blessing in the hope that compassion will reign.

In addition, the Animal Welfare Network Nepal, which shares the Animal Nepal headquarters office, has joined with Anti Animal Sacrifice Alliance in an 11th hour plea to head priest Mangal Chaudhary and organizing committee chairman Shiva Chandra Kushwaha to stop the killing.

An Animal Nepal poster protesting the Gadhimai sacrifice. (Photo courtesy Animal Nepal)

“We beg to you on our knees to consider our plea. You, as the main two responsible persons for the world’s largest animal sacrifice, have the ability to show wisdom, compassion and courage by doing everything in your power to abolish the killing of innocent creatures in the name of the God. If you do so, the world will always remember you as the key decision-makers in stopping the killings,” the groups wrote.

The plea was reinforced during a symbolic peace ritual today at the Gahawa Mai temple in Birgunj.

Animal Welfare Network Nepal has also petitioned Nepal’s ministers of tourism, agriculture, peace and law and justice to put an end to the sacrifice.

Humane Society International says, “This horrendous cruelty somehow existed without much publicity until this year. Animal advocates and religious leaders both within Nepal and around the world have displayed outrage and disgust and are working together to pressure on the Nepalese government to put a stop to the mass animal sacrifice.”

HSI and its supporters are beseeching Nepalese leaders with a letter writing campaign, saying, “Even tradition is no excuse for cruelty in a civilized society.”

In a November 3 article in the “Kathmandu Post,” Maneka Gandhi appealed to the people of Nepal to abandon the killing of animals at the Gadhimai Festival.

A minister in four governments, the Indian politician, animal rights activist, and environmentalist said that this is not a way to honor the goddess, who will be instead be dishonored by the deaths and suffering of the animals. “Priests frighten villagers into believing that terrible things will happen if the goddess is not placated with animal sacrifices,” she wrote.

She detailed the ways in which the festival is a profitable enterprise for priests, moneylenders and animal sellers. “The festival is a business, and profit is the motive for killing so many animals. Villagers go into debt to buy the animals to be sacrificed. Debt leads to bankruptcies, and when the small farmers’ lands are confiscated to become the property of large landowners, then the former farmers become day laborers,” wrote Gandhi. “The festival exploits both humans and animals.”

The local business community is expected to raise about two million euros from sales of animal hides and carcasses as well as payment for logistics and recreational facilities.

The Tibetan Buddhist master Lama Zopa Rinpoche is requesting that all Buddhist centers and students read the Golden Light Sutra and pray that the killing may be halted before it begins. “I have asked Kopan Gompa [near Kathmandu] to send some monks to read it at the stupa and make strong prayers for the sacrifice not to happen, to dedicate like that and of course dedicate for world peace,” said Lama Zopa in a widely circulated email.

The Buddha Boy, known for his Buddha-like ascetic life in the jungle, today moved to the Gadhimai Temple in an attempt to stop the sacrifice in the district where he was born and raised. Officially called by his Tibetan name Palden Dorje Tamang Rinpoche, or by his Nepali name Ram Bahadur Bomjan, he intends to preach non-violence and offer a blessing at the venue to stop the slaughter.

Animals slaughtered at a previous Gadhimai event (Photo by Hamroblog)

Pramada Shah, director and vice president of Animal Nepal, explains what will happen during the Gadhimai event. “The fair reaches its climax on an ‘auspicious’ day, when thousands of buffaloes are sacrificed. The blood letting that takes place turns the entire area into a marshy land of blood,” she says. “It is expected that this year some 60,000 young he-buffaloes will be killed, as well as an additional 140,000 chicken, goats, pigs, birds and other poultry.”

“The sacrifice starts with the offering of five different animals: pig, buffalo, goat, wild rats and birds which include chicken and pigeon. The different animals represent the mental obscurations sacrificed by the community including anger, stupidity and desire,” Shah explains. “After the sacrifice of the first animal, a goat, thousands of pigeons are sacrificed by severing their heads. Next three wild rats are brought and sacrificed before a comb-like pole.”

“After this,” says Shah, “more than 250 people carrying naked swords and axes wrapped in red clothes, all with a license to kill, approach the temple. They frantically rush towards the field where more than 7,000 young buffaloes are kept. Before the beasts are slaughtered, seven buffaloes tied to a pole undergo the sacrificial ritual.”

The animal advocates are also appealing to the Gadhimai visitors urging them to keep the animals at home or donate the animals to them. Animal Welfare Network Nepal and the Department of Livestock Services have made arrangements to shelter any donated animals.

Organizers of the sacrifice claim a slaughterhouse has been built at a cost of over five million rupees to kill the animals and about 250 butchers have been hired.

Nepal’s government, wary of new disruptions threatened by the former Maoist guerrillas, has declined to ban the slaughter despite warnings by animal experts that the killings could trigger swine flu, bird flu and cattle diseases and have severe impacts upon the environment.

Animal advocates request that flowers, fruits and vegetables, incense sticks, sweets and coconuts instead of animals and their blood be offered to appease the goddess.

NEPAL
by Kalpit Parajuli

In Bara district, where the ‘living Buddha’ meditates, more than a million Hindus are preparing to sacrifice half a million animals during the festival of Gadhimai Mela. Actress Brigitte Bardot wants the inhumane practice stopped. More than 12,000 police agents are mobilised for the occasion.

Kathmandu (AsiaNews) – Hundreds of Buddhists and animal rights activists are protesting against the Hindu festival of  Gadhimai Mela in Bayapur, Bara district (southeastern Nepal). During the event, half a million animals will be slaughtered. More than a million Hindu pilgrims are expected to gather for the occasion on 25 November. Nepali authorities have deployed more than 12,000 police officers.Gadhimai Mela is one of the most important festivities on the Hindu calendar and the largest sacrificial happening in the world. It usually lasts a week, ending on the third Friday of November.

During the celebrations, the faithful sacrifice animals like buffaloes, sheep and chickens in honour of the god Gadhimai. According to Hindu belief, such offerings reduce the god’s anger, and bring people luck and prosperity. 

However, Bara district is also a major Buddhist pilgrimage site. This is where Ram Bahadur Bomjan, known as the living reincarnation of the Buddha, meditates year round.

At present, hundreds of Buddhists and activists are praying with him to stop the animal sacrifice.

“The killing of animals in the name of sacrifice is the most serious crime. So it must be stopped immediately,” said Rinpoche Sange Rangjung, a Buddhist monk and protest leader. “In no religion are animal sacrifices prescribed”.

Demonstrators, who are backed by French actress and animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot, are calling on the Nepali government to legislate in the matter to ban the practice in the future. 

By Deepesh Shrestha (AFP)

KATHMANDU - Every five years a temple in southern Nepal plays host to an extraordinary religious festival in which hundreds of thousands of animals are sacrificed to the Hindu goddess of power Gadhimai.

For two days, the tiny village of Bariyapur near Nepal’s border with India flows with blood as thousands of Hindu devotees flock to the temple to take part in what organisers believe is the world’s biggest ritual slaughter.

Many travel from neighbouring India for the festival, which has been running uninterrupted for around three centuries and is due to take place on November 24 and 25.

But this year, a group of animal rights activists is campaigning to stop what it says is senseless cruelty to innocent creatures - pitting themselves against Hindu devotees in this deeply religious nation.

“We launched our campaign to put a stop to the gruesome killing of animals in the name of God,” said Pramada Shah, director of campaign group Animal Nepal which has launched an online petition demanding the festival be cancelled.

“Even in the 21st century, innocent animals are facing cruel treatment due to people’s superstition.”

The campaign received a local boost when it won the support of Ram Bahadur Bomjam, a young Nepalese man believed by followers to be a reincarnation of Buddha after supporters said he could survive without water, food or sleep.

Bomjam, dubbed “Buddha Boy” by Nepalese media, has spent the past year meditating in the jungle near Bariyapur, but last week broke his silence to condemn the festival.

“Human beings have turned brutal by offering animal sacrifices to the goddess. This practice must be stopped now,” he reportedly told local media.

Bomjam’s supporters have organised their own campaign to put a stop to the festival, distributing pamphlets in the area and in Indian towns on the border urging people not to take part.

One reason for the event’s huge popularity is its proximity to India, where some states have now banned sacrificial slaughter.

“In India today there is greater awareness about animal sacrifice and suffering, so people and rights activists are against it,” said N.G. Jayasimha, campaign manager for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals in India.

“Some states have banned animal slaughter even for religious purposes - including Karnataka, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. So all these factors contribute to the numbers going to Nepal.”

But animal rights campaigners face an uphill struggle in Nepal, where Hindus make up 80 percent of the population and where ritual sacrifice is a part of everyday life.

Local authorities said they would increase security surrounding the festival, which begins with the sacrifice of two wild rats, a rooster, a pig, a goat and a lamb before the temple’s statue of Gadhimai.

Devotees can then bring their animals into the temple for ritual purification before taking them into the grounds where they will have their throats slit. The meat is distributed and eaten.

Nepal’s government has already pledged 4.5 million rupees (60,000 dollars) in funding for the festival and authorities say they have no power to stop it going ahead.

The temple’s head priest, Mangal Chaudhary Tharu, told AFP 800,000 people attended the festival in 2004, when about 400,000 sacrifices were made, and he said he expected more people to come this year.

“Nepal’s security situation has improved and we are expecting a larger turnout this year,” said Tharu, the fourth generation of his family to serve as a priest for the festival, whose origins have never been documented.

“We are not forcing devotees to sacrifice animals. It is an age-old practice and it must continue.

“The festival will lose its charm and become meaningless if we break with tradition.”

by PETA

As a Muslim living in America, I know what it is like to feel like a minority. But a recent Pew Forum study suggests that Islam is making inroads towards the cultural mainstream.

According to the survey, one out of four people worldwide is Muslim, and the countries with the largest numbers of Muslims might surprise you. India, for example, which is a majority-Hindu country, is home to the largest number of Muslims outside Indonesia and Pakistan. Russia, China, and Germany (my birthplace) also have large Muslim populations.

In an effort to reach out to the growing Muslim community, a new Web site, IslamicConcern.com, has just launched which includes hadiths (sayings from the Prophet Muhammad PBUH) and quotations from the Qur’an and Islamic leaders about compassion for all of God’s creation—including animals.

At IslamicConcern.com, people can learn about how modern factory farming techniques—such as branding animals, amputating their tails and castrating them without anesthetics, and burning off birds‘ beaks—violate the Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) teachings to cause no pain to an animal before she or he is slaughtered. Animals raised for food are often fed the ground-up bodies of pigs, chickens, and cattle, along with chicken excrement and other waste products as a supplement in their food, making their flesh haram (forbidden).

Even if you aren’t a Muslim, I encourage you to check out IslamicConcern.com. You might be interested to learn how much Islamic teachings about kindness to animals have in common with Christianity, Judaism, and other major religions.

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http://www.AnimalEarthHuman.org
Helping Humans See Animals in Society
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katedanaher@animalearthhuman.org

Speciesism - A prejudice or attitude of bias toward the interests of members of one’s own species and against those of members of another species. A word used to describe the widespread discrimination that is practiced by homo-sapiens against the other species. Human assumption of superiority.

Join hearts in a peaceful, prayerful vigil for the animal victims of our food choices

World Farmed Animals Day 2009
Bay Area Slaughterhouse Vigils
Friday, OCTOBER 2, 2009
5:00-8:00P

Bring poems, prayers, drawings and photos of safe & loved farmed animals, flowers, rocks/stones (as in the Jewish tradition of placing them on gravestones) and your big, open hearts to any of the following slaughterhouse locations to stand up & together for the innocent & voiceless

Slaughterhouse Vigil Location 1:
Rancho Veal Corp
1522 Petaluma Blvd N
Petaluma, CA 94952
(cows & calves killed here)

Slaughterhouse Vigil Location 2:
Fulton Processors, Inc.
1200 River Rd
Fulton, CA, 95439
(chickens killed here)

*Vigils happening at both locations simultaneously.

WORLD FARMED ANIMALS DAY, observed on (or around) October 2nd, is a time dedicated to exposing, mourning, and memorializing the needless suffering and killing of the more than 55 billion cows, pigs, turkeys, chickens, and other sentient land animals in the world’s factory farms and slaughterhouses. It is a time for all to speak out against the atrocities and brutalization of animals raised for meat, eggs, and dairy. The annual occasion is observed with activities in all 50 U.S. states and two dozen other countries and the date marks the birthday of ethical vegetarian Mahatma Gandhi. http://www.wfad.org/

For more info please contact: katedanaher@animalearthhuman.org

neurope.eu

Despite continuous efforts from the world’s animal rights organizations the numbers of companies and scientific laboratories still utilizing animal testing seem to be rising.

At the start of the year’s most important conference on the development of alternatives to animal testing, animal welfare groups are expressing concern over the increasing number of animals used for experiments.

Laying aside the progress made since the terminology like Replacement, Reduction and Refinement of animal testing was instigated in order to aid the cause worldwide introduced 50 years ago, the number of animals used annually for research in the European Union is more than 12.1 million, according to the latest EU statistics (2), and is still rising.

At the beginning of the 7th World Congress on Alternatives & Animal Use in the Life Sciences, which takes place in Rome from August 30 to September 3, Eurogroup for Animals is expressing its hope that the event, which will bring together worldwide representatives of NGOs, industry and science as well as authorities and decision-makers, will mark a new chapter for animals used in research.

The Congress’s motto is ‘Calling on Science’, and aims to highlight scientific progress covering innovative technologies, areas of animal use including the development of pharmaceuticals and safety assessment of specific product types, and scientific developments relevant to the 3Rs.

“The increase in numbers shows that relying on science is not enough,” says Sonja Van Tichelen, Director of Eurogroup for Animals. “Fifty years on from the introduction of the 3Rs, we now stand at a crossroads where major policy decisions must be taken to speed up the progress towards non-animal research. A coherent strategy, combined with EU and worldwide collaboration is absolutely essential to reach our targets.”

Eurogroup feels that a far stricter scrutiny of the use of animals is required for all research, including EU-funded projects; that more investment should be made into alternatives to animal testing, that a review of all legislative requirements involving animal use, such as food safety, should be undertaken as well as an impact assessment for all new policies; and that the EU should adopt an overall coherent strategy to work towards phasing out all animal use.

Examples in Japan pointed out by the Japan Anti-Vivisection Association (JAVA), who often work with PETA Asia Pacific, recently reported that Japanese cosmetics giant Shiseido continues their reliance on animal tests for its products, which include wrinkle creams and perfumes.

By John M. Glionna and Ju-min Park, September 4, 2009

One activist uses graphic images to make his case. South Koreans are increasingly taking the lead in their country in promoting animal rights, going so far as to question their cultural traditions.

Reporting from Seoul - As Lee Won-bok arranged his posters one Saturday at a busy outdoor pedestrian mall, passersby peeked over his shoulder in dismay and horror.

Some covered their eyes. But hundreds also clamored to sign Lee’s petition to outlaw a traditional culinary practice here: the eating of dog meat.

Each weekend, the 45-year-old animal rights activist stages a graphic photo display of dogs kept in cages, hanged and butchered, their meat prepared for market. He knows the images are hard to look at. But that’s precisely his point, to show the harsh treatment of an animal that many South Koreans now view as companions, not cuisine.

For years, foreign advocates have railed against the practice of butchering dogs and cats. Although Koreans have eaten dogs for centuries, the habit became more prevalent during the privations that followed the Korean War. It eventually spread from the poor and elderly to be adopted by the more affluent as niche cuisine.

Most protests were dismissed as the unwanted opinions of outsiders. But as the country has acquired more trappings of Western culture, the number of pet owners has exploded, and South Koreans are taking the lead in promoting animal rights here.

In recent years, at least nine domestic groups against eating dog have been founded to stage street and online campaigns nationwide.

“People don’t comprehend the suffering these dogs endure,” Lee said. “They may vaguely realize that people still eat dogs. But they need to know what happens to the animals.”

Lee, founder of the Korea Assn. of Animal Protection, gets in people’s faces. He has barged into City Hall to confront an official who favored consuming dog meat and brazenly displayed his photos at a local dog market as a vendor tried to choke him.

He represents a new breed of animal rights activist: a South Korean who aggressively questions the traditions of his own culture.

“Pets are now objects of emotional interaction, just as in Western society,” said Joo Eun-woo, a sociology professor at Chung-Ang University in Seoul. “Some people sleep with their dogs. For them, seeing these animals as food is taboo.”

In 2005, one in four South Koreans was a dog or cat owner. In addition, the number of pet shops and animal-themed television shows have risen in the nation of 48 million people.

South Koreans wield more influence than foreign activists, said Lee, who has been a vegetarian for 20 years. “People can no longer say, ‘Outsiders can’t tell us what to eat.’ Now Koreans are telling Koreans.”

On some weekend days, he is able to collect more than 1,000 signatures. He says he has amassed 300,000 over nine years.

“We are a new generation of Koreans, and it’s up to us to stop this practice,” said Won Ji-yeon, 17, who stood in line to sign Lee’s list.

National laws prohibit eating dog meat, but the government rarely enforces them. Dog markets are rarely, if ever, inspected for health and sanitary conditions.

Six years ago, a local court rebuffed a lawsuit that Lee filed seeking to suspend sales of dog meat soup, called boshintang, ruling that eating soup made from dog was too prevalent a custom to prohibit. But Lee and others successfully lobbied the government to outlaw the butchering of pet dogs that stray from their masters.

Canine cuisine enthusiasts say they distinguish between dogs they eat and those kept as pets. They say they reserve a special breed of dog for consumption, never mixing the two.

Activists say the lines often blur. Many domesticated breeds, including collies and spaniels, are also consumed after being scooped up as runaways. Lee rescues stray dogs as a way to keep them out of the hands of dog meat vendors.

On the three days each year when many South Koreans traditionally eat boshintang, activists stage street protests, portraying dogs kept in cages and hanged for their meat — anything, they say, to diminish the outmoded appetite for dog meat.

But the cuisine has its adherents.

Last month, on the year’s final boshintang day, the regulars packed into Mr. Moon’s Dog Meat Stew Restaurant, where the year-round menu includes not only boshintang, but also dog soup and dog served with vegetables and hot pepper sauce, along with non-dog dishes.

Hong Sung-woo said dog stew is healthy.

“It gives me stamina,” said the former government worker, now 84. “How do you think I’ve lived this long?”

The cuisine also remains popular among some government officials, including Cham Lee, the German-born director of the Korean Tourism Organization, who also raises Korean Jindo dogs as pets. He elicited criticism when he held a private wine and dog-tasting seminar. His verdict: Dog goes best with a light Shiraz, or a nice Riesling.

Parisians can eat horse meat because France is considered high culture, he said. But South Korea gets no such pass.

“Westerners eat one type of animal and tell the world they can’t eat another,” he said. “I say, if you eat animals, you eat animals.”

Lee, the activist, pledges to continue his campaign until the practice of eating dog ends.

He uses the signatures he collects to make the case to legislators that the public is on his side.

“Dog eating in Korea is not going to end in one day or one year,” he said. “But it’s only a matter of time.”

john.glionna@latimes.com

Park is an assistant in The Times’ Seoul Bureau.