Viva!

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CAMPAIGNS UPDATE: FEBRUARY 2004



Welcome to the first Campaigns Update of 2004. We hope that the not-so-New Year
is being kind to you: after a hectic January, things have finally slowed down
here enough for us to tell you about our campaigns and update you on other news
you may have missed. We start off with news of a hugely successful event . . .





Day of Action Against Tesco: January 24th 2004



As you know, Viva! exposed appalling conditions on a pig farm belonging to one
of Tesco's major suppliers last year. Tesco's response to our investigation was
to defend the supplier in question. In order to publicise both the findings of
our investigation and Tesco's complacency about animal welfare, Viva! mobilised
our supporters for a Day of Action against them this January. In an apparent
attempt to have us call off the protests, Tesco called a meeting with us early
in January. At the meeting it became clear, however, that they were quite
unwilling to seek improved animal welfare standards from their suppliers as long
as customers did not complain - and that they knew that most of their customers
were completely unaware of conditions on their farms. Thanks to Viva!'s
supporters, that has changed now.



On January 24th Viva! activists distributed a total of 70,000 leaflets about our
investigation to the customers of nearly 200 Tesco stores. With protests taking
place from Truro to Inverness and excellent media coverage bringing the message
to many more people, we succeeded in embarrassing the supermarket giant across
the country. Numerous customers expressed their shock and horror at Tesco's
involvement in such animal exploitation and thousands of them took our
specially-designed "Tesco comment cards" to hand in to the stores. Many managers
clearly had no idea how to deal with polite but dedicated protesters on their
doorsteps and we can be sure that Tesco were completely taken aback by the scale
of the day.



Tesco also made a serious error in releasing a statement to the media declaring
that the RSPCA had investigated Cherry Tree Farm and found "no welfare
problems". In fact, Viva! is in possession of a letter from the RSPCA bluntly
saying that that statement is false and also noting that they have "serious
concerns" about the welfare implications of the farm's use of the farrowing
crate. Viva! has already had letters printed in the local press refuting Tesco's
statement and exposing them to still more embarrassment.





While Tesco are unlikely to accede to our demand that they ban the use of the
farrowing crate instantly, we have certainly forced them to acknowledge the
importance of this issue and to improve standards in general. Our campaign has
only just begun - but it has begun with an outstanding success.



Click here <http://www.viva.org.uk/Viva!%20Campaigns/Pig/tesco_investig.html>
to find out more about our investigation.





Avian flu



Those of us who saw them will not easily forget the horrifying recent television
images of chickens being "culled" in Asia in an attempt to contain the bird flu
outbreak that has already claimed a number of human lives. This is an animal
welfare disaster - and a potential human disaster - brought about by the global
spread of intensive farming: conditions of overcrowding and poor hygiene in
intensive farms have already been implicated in the spread of this disease. The
World Health Organisation has warned that if, as has happened in the past, avian
flu should mutate into a form which humans can transmit directly to one another,
it could be more devastating than the SARS outbreak of 2003. Nor is this a
problem confined to Asia. Last year there was a disastrous outbreak of avian flu
in the Netherlands which resulted in the slaughter of over nine million birds
and prompted Dutch Agriculture Minister to state that the whole future of
intensive farming in the Netherlands would need to be reviewed. A case of avian
flu has now been reported in the USA.



East Asia is a major exporter of chicken to the EU and Britain imported over
36,000 tonnes of Thai chicken meat last year. Although, at present, there is no
direct risk to human health in the UK, the poor conditions on Thai farms which
have contributed towards the spread of this disease and the contempt for animal
welfare revealed in the television images from Asia are a source of great
concern.



Click here
<http://www.viva.org.uk/Viva!%20Campaigns/chickens/brdflu_factsheet.html> to
find out more about bird flu and how you can help.






Religious Slaughter Early Day Motion




Viva!'s Parliamentary motion calling for an end to slaughter without prestunning
(EDM No 104) has now attracted the signatures of 72 MPs - an excellent result.
While EDMs have no legal force, they allow MPs to signal to the Government that
action should be taken on a particular issue. Many MPs never sign EDMs and
others are not permitted to do so by the rules of the House of Commons so the
support of over seventy MPs for a motion as contentious as ours is a real
achievement.



As you may recall, the Farm Animal Welfare Council called for a ban on slaughter
without prestunning as part of its report on all forms of slaughter published in
June last year. The Government have recently informed us that they are finally
about to start a consultation process before responding to FAWC's report.
Although this process is a paper exercise which will allow the Government to
procrastinate further, it does provide us with an opportunity to press our case
directly to decision makers. Our campaign, of which the EDM plays an important
part, will help to maintain pressure on the Government as they consider their
position.



Find out more about the campaign here
<http://www.viva.org.uk/Viva!%20Campaigns/ritual_slaughter/index.htm>





Viva! on Radio 4



Viva! campaigner Alistair Currie will be interviewed in the Radio 4 programme
"Beyond Belief", due to be broadcast at 4.30pm on Monday 16 February. Listen in
if you can.





Winning Wines!



Lastly, being veggie or vegan doesn't ever mean you can't enjoy the good things
in life. Although most wines are refined using animal products, specifically egg
(albumen) and fish (isinglass), you can avoid this nasty business by ordering
some of the lovely vegan (and organic!) wine from our Viva! Wine Club. The full
range is now available online: just click here
<http://secure46.cedant.com/timetogoveggie/wineshop/index.php> . It's so easy to
order and it is delivered right to your door!





To make things even easier, why not try our £54.00 introductory offer for a case
of red, white or mixed wine. You can also order over the 'phone 0117 944 1000,
Monday-Friday or request a catalogue to order through the post.



NB. Wine is only available for delivery within the UK.







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