• HS2 threatens Ancient Woodland
    1. Ancient woodland is irreplaceable. Once it's gone, its gone forever. It cannot be recreated. 2. Ancient woods are our richest land-based habitat. They have had relatively little disturbance over the centuries, which has allowed them to develop complex and diverse ecological communities of plants and animals. 3. Ancient woods are of archaeological importance, providing living records of the past and, are also some of our most beautiful places to visit. 4. Ancient woodland covers just two per cent of the UK and much of it is highly fragmented. 5. 256 species of conservation concern live in ancient woodland.
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    Created by Constituent Wood
  • Liz Truss - call an immediate end to the badger cull.
    There is no scientific basis that the culling of badgers will help combat the spread of Bovine TB. If anything, it will make the problem worse and the trial culls have been proved both ineffective and inhumane. It is a political tool with which the government perseveres, to appease the farming industry despite overwhelming expert, scientific advice. It seeks to remove an iconic, protected and much loved wild mammal from our landscapes and encourages illegal baiting and cruelty towards this and other wild animals.
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    Created by Paul Caton
  • Factory farming should be abolished!
    Whether we farm animals for food, use them for recreation, or keep them as pets, we need to make sure they are properly looked after. This requires more than simply protecting them from cruelty. We need to meet their needs for food, water and living space, protect them from disease, and create a healthy and stress-free living environment for them. When we slaughter animals for food, we need to ensure that, as far as possible, they have calm, painless deaths.
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    Created by Thomas Robinson
  • Freedom for the Wild Beavers
    Please sign and share this petition to save the first beavers who somehow managed to arrive in the UK and set up home. An article in the Guardian said... The future looks gloomy for the first wild group of beavers to be spotted in England for around 500 years after the government revealed it intended to trap the dam-building critters. To the delight of animal lovers, video footage proved the existence of a family of beavers apparently thriving in the River Otter in Devon earlier this year. But the government announced on Monday that it was planning to capture the animals and find a new home for them in a zoo or wildlife park. In a written parliamentary answer, George Eustice, a minister in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), said: "We intend to recapture and rehome the wild beavers in Devon and are currently working out plans for the best way to do so. All decisions will be made with the welfare of the beavers in mind. There are no plans to cull beavers" Please sign and share this petition. We can make a difference with a simple signature.
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    Created by Vanessa Fowler
  • Save the Free Beavers of England
    The beaver is the most important, formerly native, animal to Britain that could create landscapes that protect our native plants and animals. They also save taxpayers money in water treatment and flood management costs. The beaver was hunted to extinction and we have a duty to bring them back to our rivers. The effects of beavers will improve water quality, reduce flooding and help turn our river banks back into wildlife havens. This is resisted by some groups who want to exploit our river banks for private gain or fear change in the countryside. Free the beaver - Join the campaign group on: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/savethebeaver/ twitter @CastorAnglicus https://twitter.com/CastorAnglicus See recent Article in Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/georgemonbiot/2014/jul/04/stop-control-freaks-capture-englands-wild-beavers The Free Beavers of Devon A decision has been made at the most senior levels of DEFRA, probably a ministerial decision to remove the free beavers living on the river Otter in Devon. Officials from the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency AHVLA- Defra have been instructed to find out how to do this and if possible rehome the beavers in a Zoo, but possibly kill them if not. Who wants to get rid of the beavers? The political force is coming from Conservative ministers with pressure from the Angling Trust & some other groups who fear beaver’s impact on land & lifestyle. Why: Some groups are scared beavers will change rivers and supress fishing – the best scientific evidence clearly shows this is wrong and beavers enhance fish stocks and make rivers better for wildlife Beavers in the rest of the UK: There are probably 300 beavers living wild in the UK in over 10 populations, mostly in Scotland, but a few in places in England and wales. How can we stop this? The decision is made and attempts to trap the beavers are only a few weeks away – 1. Sign the petition: https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/save-the-free-beavers-of-england 2. write to your MP and tell them to stop 3. Write to the Government minister involved, Lord DeMauley: [email protected] What are the ‘Save the Free Beavers of England’ group doing?’ A broad alliance of wildlife groups led by the Charities: Devon Wildlife Trust & Wildwood Trust are campaigning for a change in policy to test the beavers to ensure they have no parasites and to monitor and mitigate any affects the beavers have to local landowners and river users. This has been rejected by DEFRA at the behest of ministers. Many DEFRA officials and wildlife experts believe that monitoring is the best policy. Where Trapping has been carried out in Scotland it led to the death of a young beaver. At present we are: 1. Contacting local landowners and ask them to refuse permission for DEFRA officials coming on to their land, which they have the legal right to do. 2. Promote the case that testing and monitoring is the best course of action 3. Contacting zoos and animals parks to refuse DEFRA’s request to rehome the beavers, as the conditions will cause great stress to the beavers and caused the death of a young beaver when tried in Scotland. 4. Set up a team to monitor DEFRA officials to ensure they do not break the law or act in a way that will hurt the beavers’ welfare 5. Mount a legal challenge to this process: A. Breach of Habitats Directive: There is a very good chance the UK is in breach or the Habitats Directive, beavers are a European Protected Species, in the way they have treated beavers, not recognized that beavers have re-colonised the UK in the last 15 years and not put in a proper licensing and monitoring system. B. Animal welfare grounds – private prosecutions of individuals for any harm they bring to the beaver C. Judicial Review of the Governments actions in this decision Video of Wild Beaver Mother & Kit in the UK: http://youtu.be/ZoDZpZ8bckQ
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    Created by Castor Anglicus
  • The Misery behind bacon.
    Today's factory farms are a living hell for pigs and other animals", says PETA Associate Director Mimi Bekhechi. Pigs, who are as sociable and intelligent as dogs, are abused in ways that would be illegal if dogs or cats were the victims. Pigs are more intelligent than dogs and used to live wild in Britain. Now they are kept locked in prisons for meat. Instead of being free, with a right to a natural existence, more than 90 per cent of piglets are factory farmed. In investigations of farms all over Britain, Viva! exposed diseased, dead and dying animals. In almost every fattening unit was glaring neglect and indifference - broken legs, abscesses, ruptured stomachs, animals coughing with pneumonia, others panting from meningitis, cuts and lacerations from the perforated metal on which they are forced to live. One farm investigated in Yorkshire - which supplied major supermarkets - looked almost derelict, with junk and debris everywhere and only an array of grimy windowless sheds as the give away to what it farmed. An overpowering stench of ammonia and faeces was overwhelming. There was no light inside but a cacophony of noise - a scrambling and clattering of animals in fear. The camera lights revealed baby pigs in barren metal pens and the noise was their feet on the bare metal floors as they charged to get away. There were so many of then that there was no place to go or hide. This near darkness, these utterly barren, sterile conditions is their home for over a month - about one-fifth of their lives. One pig had a broken leg, others were stunted and suffering from 'scabby pig' from which they will almost certainly die. Some were lame, others had deformed spines. Outside in a rusting trailer was a pile of rotting corpses, discoloured and bloated from days of decay were half submerged in putrid rainwater. In the 'second stage grower' pen, there were around 200 large pigs in an area of about 10m by 12m. Overcrowding is typical of this industry. The pigs squealed and screamed, biting in their desperation to be let out. The pigs are killed at about five months old for sausages, bacon, ham and pork. The 'breeding stock' - the pigs kept to produce the piglets which are killed for meat - usually give birth in a small farrowing crate on a concrete or perforated metal floor. A Viva! investigation of a Tesco supplier exposed mother pigs with ulcers and infections in cages inches bigger than their bodies; maggots crawling over dead piglets and starving, dying animals. Sows have strong maternal feelings and would normally spend days building a nest of leaves or straw. In a crate they cannot do this and so lapse into stereotyped behaviour where they repeatedly try to build a nest in their barren cell. The bars on the crates stop the mother pigs from being able to move - they cannot take a step forward or back or turn around. This causes the pregnant animals to ache all over and many have back and leg problems. The bars also stop them from reaching their babies when they give birth, although the babies can reach their mother's teats to suckle. The piglets are taken away early at about four weeks old and kept in the fattening units. Five days after her piglets are taken away, the sow is made pregnant again and the whole misery-go-round continues.
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    Created by Lin Kirby
  • Save Stamford Close Wildlife
    The desecration has already started, trimmers have been out, we have had a temporary reprieve after i had a go at the gardeners and they left. Then Plymouth police wildlife crime adviser got an undertaking from one of the committee to not do anything for two weeks! We have to stop it and stop it now!
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    Created by Lynn Armstrong
  • End circus animal cruelty
    Forcing wild animals to perform in circuses causes needless suffering. Beautiful wild Animals – like tigers, lions and zebras – are shunted around the country in trailers, kept alone in small cages, and forced to perform. The best circuses have long abandoned this cruel practice and wow their audiences with talented acrobats and clowns. We aim to finally tackle those few dodgy circuses that still exploit wild animals. Animal welfare experts like the RSPCA and the British Veterinary Association all back a ban on circus animal cruelty and they and many other animal welfare organisations have done fantastic work campaigning for a ban on wild animals in circuses. We were expecting a ban to be announced in the Queen's speech - but this was recklessly dropped at the last hour. For more information: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/dismay-as-proposed-ban-on-circus-animals-is-left-out-of-queens-speech-9487481.html
    1,545 of 2,000 Signatures
    Created by Clare Cummins
  • STOP UNIVERSITIES ANIMAL TESTING
    Here is a link that describes what happens. I'm not a fan of the daily mail, but a friend sent me the link to read - I felt sick and I cried; this is just barbarous. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2646004/Kittens-skulls-cracked-opens-electrodes-inserted-brains-shocking-series-experiments-University-College-London.html#newcomment I understand these pictures were taken in the US, but it's happening HERE and, as a nation of alleged animal lovers, we MUST stop it - NOW. I am a pet owner; I used to volunteer at a local rescue where traumatised animals, especially dogs, were an every day occurrence. All my pets have been rescues, including cats; I've SEEN what they FEEL and how they can suffer. My older dog has been with us for six YEARS and is STILL traumatised by his experiences; can you imagine what THESE kittens suffer before they're killed?! It's not even what I would call 'proper' medical assessment (though I don't agree with that either); it's universities carrying out animal torture....plain and very simple. I feel VERY strongly about this and I can't be alone surely?
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    Created by Tracy Holland
  • Stop East Lothian Council's Ban On Certain Pets
    East Lothian Council should not be able to dictate to their tenants what animals they can keep, unless the animal causes damage to the property or is a danger to the public. So if you have a GUINEA PIG, RAT, CHINCHILLAS, DEGUS, TURTLE, CHIPMUNK, SNAKE, LIZARD, GECKO, SCORPION, AFRICAN PYGMY HEDGEHOG, FROGS, TOADS, NEWTS, SALAMANDERS, STICK INSECTS, ANY INVERTEBRATE, TARANTULAS, SPIDERS, AFRICAN LAND SNAILS OR ANYTHING REMOTELY EXOTIC YOU WILL BE MADE TO GET RID OF THEM.
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    Created by Lisa-Marie Barry
  • Save our Hay Meadow in Warwickshire, and Say No to Secret Decision-Making
    The hay meadow is a beautiful and special place to be and well-used by children, walkers and dog-walkers, flower-lovers and others. It feels like an old friend, to me and many other people. Hay meadows are threatened in Britain and we need to preserve as many as possible. Once one is gone, it is gone forever. It is part of the green belt that forms a 'green lung' for Coventry and other nearby urban areas. Natural England should not make decisions about community resources like our field in secret. In law we have a democratic right to have environmental information, to participate in environmental decisions, and to have access to low- cost environmental justice. This is enshrined in an International UN treaty which is law in this country - the Aarhus Convention. This is a problem for all of us, near and far, if decisions about nature conservation are made in secret, without publicly available evidence. Tell Natural England that they need to give us the rules, and criteria; they need to give us their reasons and evidence and they need to offer us an independent appeal process where we disagree with their decisions.
    539 of 600 Signatures
    Created by Rachel Gering-Hasthorpe
  • Stop the call for the killing of birds
    Some of these bird numbers are already in decline and we shouldn't be worsening their situation. This is another example of humans thinking they can do what they want to the natural world for their own interests. We can't just decide to upset nature for some people's narrow-minded opinions and this body that advises the government is not one that has nature's interests at heart. Read here for more details. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/may/18/bird-killing-call-robin-starling-mallard-splits-conservationists This gives you a clearer insight as to what it's really about. http://tompride.wordpress.com/2014/05/18/heres-the-real-reason-the-tories-are-allowing-the-destruction-of-robin-eggs-and-nests/
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    Created by Elliot Lord