Animal welfare is an emerging interest in Vietnam (please stop eating domestic cats)

A Vietnamese website (VN Express) says that animal welfare is an emerging interest among Vietnamese citizens. It's a good title and it made me smile. However, I immediately thought about cat meat which is still very much on the menu in Vietnam. So clearly, a concern about animal welfare is only emerging and is not yet established otherwise there would be no cat meat in Vietnam.

Animal welfare. Photo: Pixabay.

Apparently cat meat is technically illegal in Vietnam but you can buy it all over the country. It is referred to as "baby tiger". The business is inherently cruel and I'm told that over 1 million cats are killed annually to be eaten by Vietnamese citizens.

RELATED: How to stop the cat meat trade in Vietnam

Please stop eating domestic and stray cats. These are meant to be loved pets not livestock. And often they are killed in unregulated ways which is inherently cruel. The business does not square up with the headline on this page.

RELATED: Another gruesome report about Vietnam’s cat meat trade

Despite that, there are some positive signs that animal welfare is more of a concern to Vietnamese citizens. There was a story about a man setting fire to his cat. Obviously an utterly outrageous and desperately cruel incident. But it shocked and outraged Vietnamese citizens. They expressed disbelief that a person could be as cruel and as evil as this. The cat survived and has been treated.

The perpetrator of that desperate act of cruelty apologised on Facebook. He admitted that there was no excuse for it. Comment: obviously true. There was no need to even state that. I stress: it did not need stating because it is obvious. The online community refused to accept his apology. They continued to criticise him for his inhumane act. The cat has been named Dilo. The community rallied around to help fund his treatment.

And it even got to the point apparently where the store where this man worked was forced to shut down recently (for a while?) because of protests of some sort. Perhaps they were online protestations. The man lives in Hanoi by the way.

There was another interesting story about an overreaction by the authorities when they euthanised (I hope genuinely humanely) 15 dogs and cats belonging to a person who contracted Covid. I guess they were destroyed under a zero tolerance policy of some sort. The officials' actions drew condemnation from Vietnamese citizens and the international community. The measure was deemed to be too extreme because there are better alternatives.

The local authority later admitted that they had acted too hastily and promised to rectify the shortcomings in the future.

The petition was commenced online which urged the Vietnamese authorities to come up with veterinary guidelines to protect companion animals during Covid.

And in another incident, somebody was killing pets in Thao Dien, Saigon’s expat hub. The residents of the government owned apartments demanded an investigation. It was found that the pets had been poisoned in a targeted manner.

An expert, Wayne Capriotti, on the country's pet industry and the founder of the magazine Me Thu Cung (Love Pets) confirmed that over the last five years companion animal ownership has increased dramatically. He puts it down to humanising pets. This is a good thing because it places companion animals at a much higher status; as family members which provides them with protection.

Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021 allows for 5-year prison sentences for certain animal cruelty offences

I am republishing verbatim some of the explanatory notes of the above act which explains why it has come into existence. In summary the above act allows judges to apply much stiffer prison sentences to the crimes specified below in the bulleted table to a maximum of five years and an unlimited fine. The unlimited fine is unchanged.

 Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021 allows for 5-year prison sentences for certain animal cruelty offences

The above UK act "increases the maximum penalty for specific offences related to animal welfare in England and Wales from 29 June 2021. It does so by extending the maximum penalty, specified under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, of six months and/or an unlimited fine to a penalty of five years and/or an unlimited fine. These offences therefore become triable either way, and may be heard in the Magistrates Court or the Crown Court.

And:

".....the 2006 Act set out a maximum penalty of six months imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine for the more serious 'prevention of harm' offences. There are five such offences under section 32(1) of the Animal Welfare Act 2006:

• causing unnecessary suffering (section 4, Animal Welfare Act 2006);
• carrying out a non-exempted mutilation (section 5, Animal Welfare Act 2006);
• docking the tail of a dog except where permitted (section 6(1) and 6(2), Animal Welfare Act 2006);
• administering a poison to an animal (section 7, Animal Welfare Act 2006); and
• involvement in an animal fight (section 8, Animal Welfare Act 2006). 

There were a number of cases related to these offences in which judges expressed a desire to impose a higher penalty than that which the 2006 Act provided for, prior to this Act passing. There was a particular desire to increase the penalties available in the case of crimes that relate to deliberate, calculating and sadistic behaviour."

The RSPCA has been lobbying for this change and they are understandable thrilled. They said:

"This is a landmark day for animals and animal welfare in England and Wales. For almost 200 years the RSPCA has been investigating animal cruelty and rescuing, rehabilitating and rehoming animals. While we’ve seen vast changes in the way we keep animals during that time, as well as huge advances in legislation to better protect animal welfare, our sentences for animal abusers have long been letting our animals down. We’re absolutely thrilled that we’ve now reached this milestone moment and that courts will now have more flexibility to hand out sentences that better reflect the severity of the crimes they are dealing with and we hope the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act will act as a greater deterrent and help us cancel out cruelty once and for all."

The UK is a world leader with other countries such as Sweden on animal welfare laws protecting animals from abuse and cruelty. At the other end of the scale is China and some other Asian countries where there is either no animal welfare laws or poor enforcement. Without enforcement even the best laws are worse than useless. 

Dictatorships Russia and China bonded by animal cruelty and belligerence

China is certainly a dictatorship. Russia is, in my view, a dictatorship dressed up as a democracy. China has no genuine animal protection laws. There is mass animal cruelty. There is change afoot because there are people in China who want to see change and animals protected. But for such a large country to have no overarching animal protection law is a scandal and it surprises me that they are not made pariahs internationally.

 Dictatorships Russia and China bonded by animal cruelty. The circus lions of Russia where they are exploited and kept under deplorable conditions and trained cruelly. Image: see credit bottom left.

Russia lives in the past. My research indicates that in 2010 there were no federal laws in Russia to protect animals. In 2014, Russia for the first time adopted an overarching animal welfare act Federal Law Number 498 but it seems to be defective and I would argue poorly enforced. There is mass fur farming which is inherently cruel and what prompted this post was the desire by Russia to hang onto the past and continue to use animals in circuses.

Below is a list of countries which have passed bans on the use of wild animals in circuses according to Stop Circus Suffering.com. 

• Austria
• Bolivia 
• Bosnia and Herzegovina 
• Colombia 
• Costa Rica 
• Croatia Cyprus 
• El Salvador
• England 
• Estonia 
• Greece 
• Guatemala 
• Ireland 
• Israel 
• Luxembourg 
• Macedonia 
• Malta 
• Mexico 
• The Netherlands 
• Paraguay 
• Peru 
• Romania 
• Scotland 
• Serbia 
• Singapore 
• Slovakia 
• Slovenia

There is a growing movement in Russia to ban the exploitation of animals in circuses but they think their circuses are the best. There is a long tradition. The state-run company Rosgostsirk which, as I understand it, organises 38 static and five travelling services across the country received 1.3 billion rubles in state aid. The organisers of the circuses regard animal advocates as nutcases spreading myths. Their attitude is very similar to sport and trophy hunters who also like to entertain themselves with cruelty to animals.

My focus on circus animals in Russia was prompted by a story in the Mail Online in which the Saratov circus was opening after a Covid lockdown. They were very proud of their reopening but a vicious fight broke out between lions which scared the spectators. Some of them ran for the exit. The trainers gained control with sticks but the whole thing was unedifying and unpleasant. 

It highlighted the need for change. Lions and tigers in zoos are an outdated concept. The world has moved on. Russia refuses to move on which is why they are a pretty poor country with perhaps the biggest difference between the rich and the poor on the planet.

Note: This is a video from another website. Sometimes they are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it.

The video above from the Mail Online shows the scuffle or fight that broke out between the lions. It is sad to see because these lions are kept in deplorable conditions, constantly caged up and moved from pillar to post. Everybody knows it is inherently cruel to do this to lions and tigers but the Russians don't seem to see it that way. 

They considered the reopening of the circus as a "splendid momentous event". One trainer Vladislav Goncharov admitted that many countries had banned live animal performances but he said that Russia will continue to have them because children come to the circus primarily to see animals and clowns. He said "We will support and popularise it."

Cruelty is pretty well essential if you're going to train circus animals. It is inherent in the process. It is so demeaning to see these magnificent lions treated like this. As one animal rights group spokesperson, Irina Novozhilova, said, "No circus conditions will be humane for one simple reason. Training goes hand-in-hand with cruelty. Circuses are always cruel beyond limits. And circuses with animals should be banned."

Russia and China need to wake up on animal rights and welfare. Their outdated attitude to animal welfare damages them internationally. It brands them as insensitive thugs. It is time for change in these dictatorships.

Teenager kennel technician slept with dog at animal shelter during Texas snowstorm

The world is aware of the incredible snow storms and freezing weather engulfing Texas made worse by the power outages caused by what appears to be a less than robust electricity supply. People are in danger and we must not forget the animals. The feral cats are no doubt dying or barely surviving in the extreme weather.

Teenager kennel technician slept with dog at animal shelter during Texas snowstorm. Image: Marion Area Humane Society shelter.

Some animal shelters have suffered power cuts. The animals have been saved by foster carers who have taken them into their homes which have been heated. This story is about Emily, the youngest kennel tech at an area animal shelter: the Marion Area Humane Society shelter.

I'm told by 10TV that she drove to the snow at 8 p.m. on Monday and then spent the entire night in the shelter snuggled up to Flo a pit bull mix sleeping with her in her kennel. An example of complete dedication. Another technician, Riley, promised to drive in early Tuesday to check on the dogs and cats as well.

Riley gave the distinct impression when interviewed that the staff at the shelter are truly dedicated. She said that the cats and dogs at the shelter are like their children which is fully understandable and the staff will do all they can to look after them and the difficult circumstances.

"All these animals are our babies. We know all their names, although traits. Every single one of our staff members would be here if they could no matter what."

There are fifteen dogs and more than thirty cats at this shelter. They are in good hands. They deserve a big pat on the back for their commitment to the welfare of the animals in their charge.

Are banks doing enough for animal welfare?

The question that I have is whether high street banks, the big banks in any country, are doing enough for animal welfare by donating to, for example, animal shelters or conservationists and campaign groups fighting for improvements in wildlife welfare.

There's lots of options for a bank to donate even a small sum relative to their overall income to improve the plight of persecuted wildlife. It's a topic of major concern nowadays because of the coronavirus pandemic. People have been switched on to the need to respect nature because it is believed that the pandemic originated in a wet market in China where the workers disrespected nature. This allowed the disease to spread from a wild animal to a person and then to many more people.

Corporate giving clipart in the public domain (deemed).

Corporate donations to charity is probably quite a tricky discussion for directors of these big businesses. I have no idea whether they discuss it at all. But I would have thought that it would be good publicity for a cold-hearted big business to get involved in charitable giving particularly on the issue of animal welfare.

I can sense that there is a growing interest in the citizens of many countries in the area of animal welfare. If I am right then a bank giving for the purpose of improving animal welfare would be good publicity. Banks always need good publicity because they project an image of greed in my view and everything they do is about making money for the directors - the fat cats. They provide a very average service in terms of interest rates on savings to the decent citizens who are their customers.

I bank with Lloyds in the UK and there provided me with a terrible service recently after my debit card was stolen. They wouldn't compensate me until I pushed really hard and they provided terrible instructions on how to reset my pin number. The whole experience has been poor and they could do a lot better. I sense that the banks become complacent because we have to rely on them. Complacency breeds contempt which in turn breeds poor customer service.

Unsurprisingly, when I googled for information about banks giving to animal welfare charities I couldn't find anything at all. Absolutely nothing was thrown up by Google. I had hoped to see at least one bank donating a small sum of money by their standards to the advancement of animal welfare either domestic or wild animal but nothing, nada, zilch. That does not mean that some bank somewhere gives money towards animal welfare and it is simply not publicised or Google can't find information, but it looks bleak.

The British government, thanks to Carrie Symonds, is doing more about animal welfare and I can't see why the banks in Britain can't jump on that bandwagon and do more themselves. If they want to present a more caring image to the wider public there's nothing better that they can do than to give to animal welfare charities or charities involved in wildlife conservation. There is a pressing need on both fronts for improvements. Let's see it happen.

Woman in China wants to make a coat for a cold stray cat

This is a picture of a woman in China who is measuring up a stray cat for a coat. The picture you see was taken on the night of October 25 in the city of Qinhuangdao, Hebei Province which is in northern China. We don’t know the name of the good Samaritan in the photograph. 

The woman was filmed apparently planning to make a coat for the white stray cat that you see. She appears to be putting some felt material on the cat's back. The still image is part of a video captured by a passing woman who was with her husband. They spoke to the woman and found out that she was looking after some stray dogs as well. It tells us that this there are people in China who are very concerned about animal welfare. Sometimes people in in the West forget this because we see animal cruelty perpetrated at the wet food markets or the cat and dog meat market in the south of China and of course we can't forget the industrial scale of the cat and dog fur market. China is the major exporter of cat and dog fur. The industry is known for its cruelty.

The gentleness and kindness of the woman in the photograph also reminds us that there are no general animal welfare laws in China even in the 21st-century. The cat you see in the photograph is not protected by a nationwide animal welfare law. Thousands of years without proper protection of animals under the law has resulted in, I would argue, a generally poor relationship between the citizens of that country and their animals. This is manifested in the above-mentioned businesses which are based on animal cruelty. I know it is politically incorrect to criticise another country either directly or by implication but it is impossible to avoid it. 

 

Let's just say that this woman is an individual who is concerned about animal welfare and let's say that the government of China is not concerned about animal welfare. There is a disconnect between some citizens of the country and the government. But everyone says that there is a huge pressing need for the Chinese government to introduce animal welfare legislation ASAP in order to bring the country into the 21st century with respect to the relationship between the citizens and animals.