Animals news

• Article: Ban Hatch and Dispatch

  06-06-2025 17:08 via labouranimalwelfaresociety.org.uk
  A new campaign has been launched to ban male chick culling in the UK, which LAWS is proud to support.Here is an overview of this shocking practice and the campaign, written for LAWS by Jenny Canham of the Vegetarian Society.Sign the petitionThe UK is currently falling behind other European countries and risking its reputation as a global leader in animal welfare by continuing to allow the cruel, unnecessary and extremely wasteful practice of routine male chick culling in the UK.The routine culli
  
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• People, pets and livestock rescued as floods hit Queensland after ex-Tropical Cyclone Koji – video

  13-01-2026 06:29
  The risk of flash flooding will continue to threaten parts of Queensland throughout the week, but the widespread rain associated with ex-Tropical Cyclone Koji is forecast to dissipate. Clermont saw 203mm in the 24 hours to 9am Monday, while closer to the coast, the town of Eungella saw more than 400mm over two days on the weekend. Both towns are cut off – the latter possibly for monthsQueensland braces for heavy rain and floods after ex-Tropical Cyclone Koji batters north Continue reading.
  
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• More than 500 structures destroyed in Victoria’s bushfires as 12 major blazes continue to burn

  13-01-2026 04:41
  Conditions ease, with no emergency warnings in place for first time since Thursday, but communities urged to remain alertFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe bushfire threat in Victoria has eased, with no emergency warnings in place for the first time in almost a week, as the state and federal governments commit an initial $10m to help clean up more than 500 structures destroyed by the fires.The State Control Centre
  
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• Queensland braces for heavy rain and floods after ex-Tropical Cyclone Koji batters north

  12-01-2026 00:43
  Flood warnings in place as BoM forecasts more rain while thousands remain without powerFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastQueenslanders are bracing for floods as repairs are under way after a tropical cyclone battered the north coast.After days of intense buildup, ex-Tropical Cyclone Koji ran out of power as it crossed the coast and was downgraded to a tropical low on Sunday. Continue reading...
  
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• ‘It was calm … and then just hectic’: David Rigby couldn’t escape the Longwood bushfire so faced the inferno

  11-01-2026 07:59
  Rigby saved his Yarck home but many were lost. Another resident says: ‘No one actually knows how bad it is. So many livestock are dead’Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastOn the outskirts of Yarck, a small farming town in central Victoria, the ground is still smouldering. Gumtrees are flickering with flames as white ash whips through the air.Across the region houses are reduced to warped steel, with brick chimneys often the only thing left standing. Continue re
  
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• ‘An utterly miserable day’: Kempton Park meeting marred by death of three horses

  10-01-2026 18:19
  Nicholls laments loss of Grade One winner Kalif Du BerlaisPeso and Wertpol euthanised after fatal injuriesThe Lanzarote Hurdle card at Kempton Park was marred by the death of three horses, including the Grade One-winning Kalif Du Berlais, whose loss Paul Nicholls described as “a big kick in the teeth” and a “sad day”.Kalif Du Berlais – whose ownership group includes Sir Alex Ferguson – unseated Harry Cobden in the four-runner Coral Silviniaco Conti Chase and l
  
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• Are crabs animals and should we experiment on monkeys? Major review of Australia’s research code to mull tough questions

  06-01-2026 15:00
  Ending use of animals in teaching and limiting surgery in research settings to veterinarians among suggested changesSign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter hereFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesAnimal sentience, categorising crustaceans as animals and rehoming lab animals are all on the table as the Australian code for animal research is scrutinised for the first time in a decade.More than 845,000 animals – including mice
  
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• A ban on trail hunting makes little sense | Letters

  02-01-2026 17:18
  Stopping trail hunts because some break the law is as logical as closing supermarkets because people shoplift, writes Lindsay Gilmour. Plus a letter from Roderick WhiteIf the government is going to stop all trail hunts because some break the law (Labour ‘alienating rural people’ with plan to ban trail hunting, says Countryside Alliance, 26 December), can we also expect a ban on supermarkets because some people shoplift, a ban on cars because some drivers break the speed limit, or a b
  
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• ‘It’s a matter of time before a farmer is seriously injured’: on the trail of hare coursers in Wiltshire

  01-01-2026 07:00
  Police show the Guardian around hotspots for a rural crime that has links to international gangs – and is on the riseA cold, bright afternoon in the Vale of Pewsey and a couple of brown hares were nibbling away in a field of winter barley. It was a tranquil scene in this tucked-away corner of the English West Country but tyre tracks cutting through the crop were a sign of the violence that takes place when night falls.This is one of the hotspots in Wiltshire for hare coursing, in which cri
  
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• ‘Heartbreaking’: Florida wildlife groups decry state-sanctioned bear hunt

  31-12-2025 17:26
  Fifty-two black bears were killed in three-week hunt state officials said was necessary to reduce ursine populationWildlife officials in Florida say the slaughter of dozens of black bears during a controversial three-week hunt this month was a success, despite the opposition of protesters who condemned the “heartbreaking, bloody spectacle”.The Florida fish and wildlife conservation commission (FWC) on Tuesday announced that 52 bears were killed between 6 and 28 December, and promised
  
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• If you really care about animals, stop eating them | Letters

  30-12-2025 18:30
  Dean Weston says we are still killing animals by the billion, but praising ourselves for marginally reducing panic and pain, while Jo Barlow calls for transparency and truth about where our food comes from. Plus a letter from Scott MillerYour editorial applauds the government for rearranging the furniture in a burning house (The Guardian view on animal welfare: a timely reminder that cruelty is wrong, 23 December). Fewer cages, gentler gas, a close season for hares. All very civilised. Yet the c
  
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• Brigitte Bardot’s image complicated by her controversial politics

  28-12-2025 19:14
  Film star turned animal rights activist was anti-immigration and was repeatedly convicted of racial hatred, particularly towards Muslims Brigitte Bardot – a life in picturesBrigitte Bardot, hailed as the French Marilyn Monroe, was the first major film star to channel her glamour and fame into supporting France’s far right, who she backed for more than 30 years.Up until her death on Sunday, Bardot had expressed her contentment at Marine Le Pen’s anti-immigration National Rally p
  
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• Brigitte Bardot, French screen legend, dies aged 91

  28-12-2025 18:39
  Emmanuel Macron leads tributes to​ actor who became an international sex symbol ​and later embraced animal rights​ and far-right politicsBrigitte Bardot: a life in picturesPeter Bradshaw on Brigitte Bardot – a zeitgeist-force and France’s most sensational exportBrigitte Bardot, the French actor and singer who became an international sex symbol before turning her back on the film industry and embracing the cause of animal rights activism and far-right politics, has d
  
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• Brigitte Bardot: the zeitgeist-force who was France’s most sensational export | Peter Bradshaw

  28-12-2025 10:57
  Bardot titillated the world for five decades, but the controversy and voyeurism surrounding her shouldn’t overshadow an intriguing film careerBrigitte Bardot dies aged 91A life in picturesBardot … there was a time when it couldn’t be pronounced without a knowing pout on the second syllable. French headline-writers loved calling the world’s most desirable film star by her initials: “BB”, that is: bébé, a bit of weirdly infantilised tabloid pillow
  
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• Labour’s animal welfare strategy does not go far enough | Letters

  26-12-2025 17:59
  Readers respond to the government’s plans to improve the lot of animalsThe government’s strategy for animal welfare offers substantial improvements in the lot of kept animals but, in keeping with precedent, free-living wildlife is sold short (Editorial, 23 December). The law protecting wildlife is outdated and, as recommended by the Law Society, is ripe for review. Why, for example, have comprehensive protection for four of our native mustelids and almost nothing for the remaining tw
  
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• With numbers of abandoned cats soaring, we somehow found ourselves with 11

  26-12-2025 12:00
  How our two-bedroom terrace become something of a cat rescue centre is illustration of nationwide crisisHow many cats is too many cats? I can’t tell you exactly, but a couple of weeks ago, I had 11 cats living in my terrace house. And I can say with confidence this is absolutely, definitely too many.At time of writing, I still have seven. Continue reading...
  
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• Country diary: Little rituals to help sparrows and wrens | Paul Evans

  26-12-2025 06:30
  The Marches, Shropshire: Boxing Day has its own more violent customs between humans and animals. That’s not the world I choose to live inThe sparrows are a shuffling, chirruping shadow in the bushes, a static of anticipation. They are waiting for food, calling for it. They have not forgotten what the poet Emily Dickinson describes, in her poem Victory Comes Late, as “God keeps his oath to sparrows, / Who of little love / Know how to starve!” However, sparrows do seem to live in
  
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• The Guardian view on animal welfare: a timely reminder that cruelty is wrong | Editorial

  23-12-2025 19:25
  New protections for hares, and more humane conditions on farms, should be welcomed by allLooking after wildlife and improving the lives of farm animals and pets are the related but distinct aims of the government’s new animal welfare strategy for England. Its launch is timely: more than 1 billion chickens and around 8 million turkeys are reared each year – with many of the latter slaughtered in the run-up to Christmas. Winter is also peak season for pet abandonments, with animal char
  
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• Boiling lobsters alive to be banned in England amid animal cruelty crackdown

  22-12-2025 19:31
  Move is part of a long-awaited Labour strategy including outlawing hen cages and ending puppy farmingBoiling lobsters while they are alive and conscious will be banned as part of a government strategy to improve animal welfare in England.Government ministers say that “live boiling is not an acceptable killing method” for crustaceans and alternative guidance will be published. Continue reading...
  
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• More than 75% of Labour, Lib Dem and Green voters think PM should open talks on joining EU customs union – as it happened

  22-12-2025 18:02
  YouGov poll for the Times suggests even 40% of Conservative voters support such a moveWes Streeting, the health secretary, used an interview with the Observer published at the weekend to suggest that he favours joining a customs union with the EU. This is something that Keir Starmer has ruled out.But Labour supporters back Streeting on this. According to YouGov polling for the Times, 80% of people who voted Labour at the last general election say a future leader should open negotiations on joini
  
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• LAWS welcomes Labour’s Animal Welfare Strategy

  22-12-2025 12:24 via labouranimalwelfaresociety.org.uk
  Labour Animal Welfare Society (LAWS) welcomes today’s publication of Defra’s new Animal Welfare Strategy, which the government says will deliver the most ambitious animal welfare reforms in a generation, improving protections for pets, farmed animals and wildlife.The strategy sets a clear direction of travel away from outdated and harmful practices, and it reflects strong public expectations for real change for animals.Key commitments in the Strategy include:Companion animals (pets)
  
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• ‘It’s upset us all’: New Forest residents unnerved by man leaving animal carcasses by churches

  22-12-2025 07:00
  Case of man who apparently targeted Christians is latest in series of incidents in Hampshire of animal remains being dumped The people of the New Forest are accustomed to curious goings-on. The woods and heaths of the national park in southern England are the setting for all manner of tales of witches, pixies, cursed souls and rituals, and, even today, are a magnet for those fascinated by the otherworldly.But residents are aghast at the case of a local man who hit the headlines after admitting d
  
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• Hen cages and pig farrowing crates to be outlawed in England

  22-12-2025 07:00
  Humane slaughter requirements for farmed fish and end to puppy farming also in new package of animal welfare lawsCaged hens will be a thing of the past in England, the government has announced, as it launches a package of new animal welfare laws.Pig farrowing crates, which campaigners have said are cruel, will also be banned under the welfare changes. These cramped crates are used to stop pigs from rolling over and crushing their young, but once in them sows cannot turn over or move around at al
  
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• Do prawns feel pain? Why scientists are urging a rethink of Australia’s favoured festive food

  21-12-2025 15:00
  Studies show crustaceans can learn, remember, solve problems and form relationshipsMore summer essentialsSign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter hereCrustaceans are a festive season staple for many families, particularly in Australia where an estimated 18.5m kilograms of prawns and more than 150,000 lobsters are eaten over Christmas and new year.Globally, trillions are caught and consumed each year. Australia is a major producer, with prawn, lobst
  
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• US military to stop shooting live animals to train medics for the battlefield

  20-12-2025 15:12
  Defense department will still allow stabbing and burning, and ‘weapon wounding’ on animals to test weaponsThe US military will stop its practice of shooting pigs and goats to help prepare medics for treating wounded troops in a combat zone, ending an exercise made obsolete by simulators that mimic battlefield injuries.The prohibition on “live fire” training that includes animals is part of this year’s annual defense bill, although other uses of animals for wartime t
  
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• Shooting hares in England to be banned for most of the year

  20-12-2025 08:00
  Exclusive: Ministers also expected to announce trail-hunting ban in sweeping changes to animal welfare lawShooting hares in England will be banned for most of the year as part of sweeping changes to animal welfare law.At the moment, it is legal to shoot the animals during their breeding season, with pregnant hares left to bleed out, and leverets – their young – often orphaned as a result. Continue reading...
  
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• Rudolph at the Christmas market: cute festive attraction or damaging reindeer’s health?

  10-12-2025 15:33
  Keeping reindeer in pens for public enjoyment can cause them physical and mental harm, charities warnWith their fluffy coats, big brown eyes and reputation as Santa’s helpers, reindeer are a common and popular attraction at Christmas markets around the UK.But being stuck in a pen and approached by hordes of adoring fans is harming the mental and physical health of Rudolph and his brethren, animal charities have warned. Continue reading...
  
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• Retired greyhounds to continue to be rehomed overseas despite ‘distressing and sometimes fatal’ outcomes

  09-12-2025 06:33
  Independent review calls for sweeping restructure of NSW’s greyhound racing industry but government rejects key recommendations Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastRetired New South Wales greyhounds will continue to be rehomed overseas despite an independent review of the racing industry finding the practice is “distressing and sometimes fatal”.The state government has also rejected a recommendation to
  
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• An animal rights activist was on the FBI’s Most Wanted list for 15 years. Will he be returned to the US?

  07-12-2025 14:00
  Daniel Andreas San Diego, now 47, is fighting extradition from the UK amid accusations he set off three pipe bombs in 2003Twenty-two years ago, a dark-haired, bespectacled young man vanished off the streets of San Francisco. Daniel Andreas San Diego, a 25-year-old information technology specialist, diehard vegan and animal rights activist, was the FBI’s main suspect in a series of pipe bombings that exploded in front of the headquarters of Chiron Corporation and Shaklee Corporation, two Ba
  
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• US student who took four chickens after breaking into slaughterhouse sentenced to 90 days in jail

  05-12-2025 02:20
  Zoe Rosenberg, 23, studying at UC Berkeley, had said it was a ‘rescue’ and ‘will not apologize’ for her actionsA California student has been sentenced to 90 days in jail after breaking into a Petaluma poultry slaughterhouse and taking four chickens in an effort she called a “rescue”.Zoe Rosenberg, a 23-year-old student at the University of California, Berkeley, was convicted of felony conspiracy and three misdemeanor counts in October. On Wednesday, a judge se
  
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