Dogs Stolen

Farmer in court after pig deaths
20th December 2006

A pig farmer was given a lengthy community punishment yesterday after welfare inspectors found six of his animals dead and dying in deep slurry.

Richard Read, 52, of Decoy Farm, Sedge Fen, near Brandon, was ordered to do 240 hours unpaid work and banned from keeping pigs for life after admitting six counts of cruelty and one of neglect

Demo held outside pig scandal site
11th December 2006

PROTESTERS gathered outside a slaughterhouse as part of an anti-animal abuse campaign.

About 30 people protested outside Dalehead Foods in Linton on Saturday to coincide with International Animal Rights Day.

Dalehead Foods was targeted following a scandal which broke in September when it emerged pigs had been boiled alive on site. Dalehead Foods confirmed pigs had been put into a water tank without being properly slaughtered on two occasions and that the worker responsible had been sacked.

The protest on Saturday attracted animal rights supporters from as far as Lancashire and included a candle-lit vigil

Sandringham gamekeeper fined after injury to bird
7th December 2006

Waters recede on Nirah threat
7th December 2006

Chances of an expensive public inquiry now rated as slim

The chances of a costly public inquiry being called to probe plans for a £400 million conservation and visitor centre at Stewartby have been downgraded.

On Friday, the county council finally received an outline planning application for the Nirah project, intended to transform the Quest claypit into the world's largest freshwater aquarium, filled with recreated habitats stocked with fish, reptiles and amphibians

Man is arrested over 'meat' graffiti
6th December 2006

A MAN has been arrested on suspicion of spraying graffiti on a restaurant.
Police were called just before 12.20am to reports of a man spraying the words 'Meat is Murder' on the front of McDonald’s, in Cathedral Square

ANGER AT SHOOTING FAN KATE
4th December 2006

PRINCE William's girlfriend has angered animal rights campaigners by joining a shooting party at Sandringham.

Kate Middleton laughed and joked as she watched William blast pheasants and helped pick up dead birds on the Norfolk estate. Andrew Tyler, director of Animal Aid, said: "It turns your stomach

URGENT ACTION ALERT
O and C Butcher have been exposed for selling real fur trim on their coats.

Despite protests and press attention, they still continue with the sale of fur.

Please spare five minutes to write polite letters requesting that O and C Butcher makes an ethical decision not to sell real fur.

O and C Butcher
129-131 High Street,
Aldeburgh,
Suffolk,
IP15 5AS

Tel: 01728 452229
Email: shop@ocbutcher.co.uk
www.ocbutcher.co.uk

Bloody nightmare
3rd December 2006

A stag was torn to pieces by dogs in front of horrified householders.

The attack took place in Bromham on Wednesday afternoon when five dogs got away from the pack, which was draghunting nearby

Grim aftermath: The blood-stained garage door (shown right) in Brett Drive after the attack by the hounds. They were the same Oakley Hunt dogs that fatally savaged a llama near Luton last month.

Chicken firm fined for slaighter blunder
1st December 2006

Pair's dog 'looked like a walrus'
28th November 2006

Two brothers allowed their Labrador dog to put on too much weight causing it unnecessary suffering, the RSPCA has told a Cambridgeshire court.

Derek Benton, 62, and his brother David, 53, failed to stop the dog's weight soaring to more than 11 stones, Ely magistrates heard.

Vets said nine-year-old Rusty was so fat he looked like a walrus. The brothers, from Fordham, are on trial over a charge of causing unnecessary suffering

NIRAH Campaigners Take Protest to City of London
27th November 2006

On Monday 27th November campaigners visited the London offices of MacArthur & Co to protest at what is seen as a gross misuse of public money.  

A group of about 20 protesters gathered outside with banners and placards to highlight MacArthur & Co's involvement in the NIRAH project.  MacArthur & Co are NIRAH's financial advisors and have been paid directly from local tax payers money via a loan by Bedfordshire County Council.  

MacArthur & Co have already received hundreds of thousands of pounds in payment for their services and according to NIRAH's accounts for 2005 the company is also due around three quarters of a million pounds in outstanding fees.

Dog shot in Essex
27th November 2006

Jan was out recently for an evening walk with her two dogs. It was a beautiful evening and her dogs ran off ahead of her. She heard a shot and realised there was rabbit shooting going on nearby, so she called her dogs back. As they were running back to her she herd another shot and then one of her dogs screaming.

Raif her beautiful German Shepherd pictured on the left had been behind hit. He died six hours later in the vets from his horrific injuries

Greyhound Survivors Book

An anthology of moving, rescued greyhound stories, entitled "Greyhound Survivors" to help raise money for Greyhound Action.

To order your copies please send a cheque for £8.75 to Grey's Publishing, 4, Fifer's Lane, Old Catton, Norfolk. NR6 7AF or email helenetheridge@btinternet.com

Campaigners Take Protest to County and Borough Councils
27th November 2006

A demo against the NIRAH project took place this Friday in Bedford.  Protestors first visited the reception area at Bedfordshire County Hall and demanded to speak to Madeleine Russell, Leader of the Council.  Apparently neither Madeleine Russell nor any other Councillors were available, however Tim Malynn, Head of Strategic Development and the Environment, did come down to talk to protesters

Nirah protesters in council skirmish
26th November 2006

There was a fishy kerfuffle in the corridors of local government on Friday.

At noon, around a dozen people turned up unexpectedly to protest against the "cruel" Nirah project.

Voices were raised and tempers became frayed before the protestors were eventually kicked out by council staff

Royal gamekeeper fined over trap
24th November 2006

Struggling turkey firm bought out
20th November 2006

Europe's biggest turkey producer is to take over a struggling rival and move into the organic market.

Bernard Matthews, based in Norwich, is to buy Cherryridge Poultry, which announced it was to fold by Christmas. A spokeswoman said the plan was part of a "long-term strategy to move into organic production"

Cromer zoo plans get green light
17th November 2006

A proposal to build a zoo in Cromer was given the final nod of approval by planning bosses yesterday.

A further major piece of paperwork - a licence to operate once animal welfare conditions have been checked - will have to be secured before the zoo can open.

But yesterday's decision is the final piece of the planning approval jigsaw, which has been running since before the plans were first made public in February 2005

Three arrested under hunting act
14th November 2006

Three hunters are the first to be arrested in Northamptonshire under the 2004 Hunting Act.

The three, aged 17, 23 and 35, were arrested after police received reports of people hunting with dogs in a field between Horton and Brayfield on Sunday

Zoo plans set to swing into place
12th November 2006

A planned new zoo at Cromer is poised to get planning permission, after officials checked out a series of concerns raised by councillors.

The major tourist attraction, which hopes to have 50,000 visitors a year, could be open by next spring if it gets the go-ahead on Thursday

Cromer zoo set for approval
11th November 2006

You may be aware the Cromer zoo decision was deferred at the North Norfolk District Council October meeting. To see the report for the meeting which is due to be held on the 16th of November click here

Ferrets unleashed in war against rabbits
11th November 2006

A GANG of ferrets will be let loose on Buntingford's bunny population, despite objections from a squeamish town councillor.

Rabbits that have digging holes in the Norfolk Road playing fields will become the latest victims of compensation culture after the town council agreed to release the ferrets.

The town council gave the green light for the cull at a meeting last Thursday amid fears of a lawsuit if someone is injured falling into the rabbit holes

Poultry producer to close
10th November 2006

The third biggest poultry producer in the country is to shuts its Norfolk factory at Christmas with the loss of 75 jobs.

Cherryridge Poultry at Northrepps, near Cromer, is trying to strike a deal to save the remainder of operations, on its rearing farms.

The company is well-known for its specialist free range, organic and barn-raised non-intensive birds such as Norfolk blacks

Life ban from keeping animals
7th November 2006

A MAN who kept sheep in a greenhouse and hedgehogs in plastic containers has been banned from keeping animals for life.

John Bass (60) was found guilty of nine charges of causing unnecessary suffering to a pig, two dogs, a hedgehog, a pigeon, a pheasant and 151 sheep.

The pig, two sheep, the pigeon and the hedgehog had to be destroyed.

During a trial last week the RSPCA said the hedgehogs were kept in "tiny and filthy"' plastic containers and 149 sheep were kept in a greenhouse

Nirah hits back over MP's Beeb remarks
1st November 2006

An MP and the BBC are facing libel action over remarks about Nirah.

The National Institute for Research into Aquatic Habitats has written to Mid Bedfordshire MP Nadine Dorries over remarks she made on BBC television's Politics Show last month.

Nirah's legal team has also written to the BBC demanding disclosure of all footage featuring Mrs Dorries, whether broadcast or not.

Stately home owner jailed
26th October 2006

A Norfolk stately home owner was put behind bars for four months today for a string of offences relating to endangered birds of prey and birds eggs.

Michael Barclay, 68, of Hanworth Hall, near Cromer, was found guilty by a jury at Norwich Crown Court of eight charges of illegally purchasing prohibited specimens of birds between June 1997 and May 2004 from John Metcalf, a former museum worker.

Metcalf, 66, of Billesden, Leicestershire, was found guilty of eight counts of selling prohibited species between the same dates and was given a two-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months

Fined £3,000 for dog's death
24th October 2006

A COUPLE whose dog died after being locked in a car during a heatwave should have been banned from keeping animals for life, says an RSPCA inspector.

Paul and Aisling Wadsworth, of Alderlands Close, Crowland, left two Newfoundland dogs to bake in temperatures exceeding 100F as they visited a butterfly park while on holiday in July.

Both animals suffered severe heatstroke as they were left in the vehicle for more than four hours on the hottest July day since 1911

Nirah cash may prompt 'planning application soon'
23rd October 2006

Move by council bosses to further release funds of £200,000 welcomed by supporters

THE stand-off between the county council and the backers of a bid to bring an aquatic conservation and visitor centre to Stewartby may have finally ended this week.

On Tuesday, the cabinet at County Hall agreed to release £200,000 to Nirah Holdings, the firm fronting the plan for the freshwater wildlife attraction.

The company was not prepared to immediately comment on the move, saying it had to first study the terms of the offer

'Harmless' hunt kills farmer's llamas
22nd October 2006

Hunting hounds savaged a flock of alpacas, resulting in the death of one of the animals.

Dogs belonging to the Oakley Hunt were drag-hunting when they got in to a field attached to Horsehill Farm, near Harlington.

Farmers James and Elizabeth Smith keep 26 alpacas, llama-like herbivorous animals from South America prized for their wool

Decision on zoo plan is delayed
20th October 2006

A series of "loose ends" need to be tidied up before final planning permission can be granted for a zoo in Cromer, it was decided yesterday.

Final planning permission could have been given yesterday for the Hall Road zoo, which is being put forward by Ken Sims, who runs the established Thrigby Hall Wildlife Gardens.

But councillors sitting on a North Norfolk District Council planning committee said that despite being behind the plan in general, they had various concerns about some of the detail involved

UK wildlife crime centre launched
18th October 2006

A new unit to tackle wildlife crime across the UK has been launched.

The unit, based in North Berwick, will tackle the illegal trade in endangered species and will try to prevent the persecution of rare birds and animals.

The National Wildlife Crime Unit, which was inaugurated in Edinburgh, is being led by the police but will link up with customs officers and wildlife experts

Stately home owner on trial
17th October 2006

The owner of a Norfolk stately home bought stuffed endangered birds of prey and kept them around the house, a court heard yesterday.

Michael Barclay, 68, of Hanworth Hall, near North Walsham, appeared at Norwich Crown Court and denied illegally buying stuffed examples of some of the world's "most endangered creatures."

He faces eight charges of purchasing the prohibited specimens including peregrine falcoms, owls and other British birds of prey

Girls present aquarium petition
17th October 2006

Two 10-year-old girls are to present a petition to Bedfordshire County Council in support of plans for a huge fresh water aquarium in the county.

The National Institute for Research into Aquatic Habitats (Nirah) wants to build the aquarium at Stewartby.

The council Executive Committee meets next week to decide Nirah's fate

Controversial zoo plan gets backing
13th October 2006

Nirah log-jam set to clear with 'cash set to flow soon'
6th October 2006

The legal log-jam holing up plans for a £375 million freshwater science and visitor attraction at Stewartby seems to be on the point of resolution.

Bedfordshire County Council and the company behind the huge scheme - NIRAH Holdings - fell out in July amid claims the local authority had attached "unacceptable conditions" to an offer of extra start-up cash

Row over secret aquarium report
6th October 2006

A secret report by a development agency on a £375m aquarium plan, supported by £3m public money, has been criticised

Shoot leader fined after assault
5th October 2006

A pub landlord and country sports enthusiast has been fined after being convicted of threatening a cameraman at one of the UK leading partridge shoots.

Richard Clarke, 48, fired a volley of abuse at Michael Huskisson who was filming the event at Six Mile Bottom, on the Cambs/Suffolk border

HLS in monkey farm row
4th October 2006

MONKEYS used by Huntingdon Life Sciences for research are being factory farmed in "appalling conditions" according to an animal rights group.

The British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection claims a 12-month undercover operation found the world's largest monkey breeding farm in Long Thanh, Vietnam, kept animals in decrepit cages and weaned young monkeys prematurely

Read more about the BUAV investigation here
(if you have trouble loading this page click here)

Object to Cromer Zoo NOW!

We have until the 2nd of October 2006 to put letters of objection in!
Please check out website: www.notocromerzoo.co.uk for full details

The slaughtered horses that shame our racing
1st October 2006

An undercover Observer investigation has revealed the shocking fate of thousands of British racehorses. Now campaigners want new laws to govern the sport

It is known as 'the sport of kings', full of glamour, effort and thrilling competition. But few of the thoroughbred racehorses that gallop their elegant way around the racecourses of Britain every week are left to see out their days grazing in golden pastures.

For thousands of British thoroughbreds that are too old, too slow or not good enough jumpers, the end is brutal: a bullet through the temple or a metal bolt into the side of the brain. Then their carcasses are loaded on to freezer lorries and driven to France, where their flesh is sold as gourmet meat

EAARC received this anonymously

Some time ago, EAARC made an appeal to save lambs from a certain death.  I'd like to say that after an uncertain future and a few hiccups, they are now very healthy and frollicking in the fields where they will be for the remainder of their life's

The attached photograph was taken the day they were rescued.  Hopefully all your other appeals are as successful

Twitchers accused of bird's death
30th September 2006

A complaint that a group of twitchers "hounded" a rare starling to death will not be investigated, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has said.

It comes after one of its members, Carole Barnes, 66, reported the "thoughtless" behaviour of about 30 bird watchers in Winterton, Norfolk

Wyevale Garden Centres stop selling animals
24th September 2005

Animal rights campaigners today hailed a decision by Britain's biggest garden centre chain to stop selling pets.

Wyevale Garden Centres, which has been selling pets such as rabbits and hamsters at 51 of its 115 stores, said it had begun winding down the sale of live animals.

The company said the decision to withdraw had been taken as part of a review of its business following a takeover earlier this year

Nirah row officer quits
24th September 2005

The senior council officer at the heart of the ongoing Nirah row has resigned.

Tim Malynn has been Bedfordshire County Council¹s environment director since 2003.

He is the fifth of the council¹s seven directors to quit in the last 12 months, following education director David Doran, deputy chief executive Jonathan Flowers, customer services director Paul Spencer and finance director Nick Bell

NIRAH on BBC Look East news - Makes interesting viewing
23 September 2006

Click here to view the NIRAH item. It's approx. 7mins 30secs into the clip.

Queen's gamekeeper for trial over bird trap
23rd September 2005

One of the Queen's gamekeepers is to stand trial on charges of setting an illegal trap to catch birds of prey on the Sandringham estate.

Dean Wright, 26, appeared before magistrates yesterday to deny three wildlife cruelty charges while working on the Queen's estate in Norfolk.

He spoke only to confirm his name, age and address, at Keeper's Cottage, in Amner, on the Sandringham estate

RSPCA inspectors discover 60 dogs
22nd September 2006

More than 60 dogs have been found in a cramped house by RSPCA inspectors who are to carry out an investigation. Officers seized the animals in Jaywick, Essex, and have now re-homed them.

CALVES DEMO
21st September 2006

Animal welfare campaigners have been protesting in Chelmsford against live exports. As part of Calf Action Week, Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) supporters petitioned the Government's Defra office in Beeches Road, dressed in calf costumes.

The aim was to raise public awareness and support for CIWF's Stop Live Exports campaign for the thousands of calves destined for continental veal farms.

The ban on the export of British cattle and calves, imposed a decade ago after the BSE crisis, was lifted in May

Boiled alive
20th Sptember 2006

A SLAUGHTERHOUSE is being investigated by the RSPCA after two pigs were boiled alive.

The abattoir in Cambridge Road, Linton, is run by Dalehead Foods, which claims to be the largest independent pork processor in the UK.

Now the RSPCA is investigating cruelty claims after a member of staff at the abattoir, who asked to remain anonymous, claimed two pigs had been put into a tank of scalding water while still alive

Pond's ducks are making us quack up
15th September 2006

On the surface it may appear like any other village pond ­ an oasis of calm and tranquillity.

But lurking below, a storm is brewing, which is certain to cause a flap among Laxfield's large duck population.

A number of villagers are so fed up with the mess left by the feathered fiends they want a cull ­ one elderly resident chillingly revealed: "I want to see them halved."

New bid for abattoir plan
15 September 2006

The applicants behind a £3 million abattoir have re-launched an appeal to build it on the Mid Suffolk Business Park in Eye.

This follows Mid Suffolk District Council's decision to defer C&K Meats current application for land off the B1117 in Yaxley at a meeting last Wednesday.

Chris Burrows, director of C&K Meats, said: "I am confident about the appeal and always have been. It is just the fact that the council wanted us to look at alternative sites.

"I think the meeting last week was a shambles. Mid Suffolk is frightened of making a decision."
Mid Suffolk said that it deferred the decision because it needs further information

Bernard Matthews: Pair should have been jailed
15 September 2006

Turkey giant Bernard Matthews has today hit back at claims made in court about the company's working practices and said two workers secretly filmed beating birds should have been jailed.

In an unprecedented move, the company has used a full page advert in today's EDP to stress it will not tolerate cruelty to any of its turkeys

Protest over animals at circus
8th September 2006

ANIMAL rights campaigners have claimed a victory after a protest outside a circus in Lynn drew a wave of support.

Members of the West Norfolk Animal Rights group gathered near the Knights Hill roundabout before marching to a nearby private field waving anti animal cruelty banners on Wednesday afternoon.

Slogans included Big Top Cruelty, Performing Animals Suffer and Have a Heart for Animals were displayed outside the entrance to the Circus Mondao, which has zebras, horses and goats in its show

Decision on abattoir is deferred
7th September 2006

A DECISION on plans for a fiercely-opposed abattoir on a greenfield site in a Suffolk village has been deferred - despite councillors telling of their deep concerns about the project.

Mid Suffolk district councillors said they wanted more information on the environmental impact of the abattoir, effluent lagoon and meat processing operation earmarked for Yaxley, near Eye.

They were due to give a ruling on the application, by brothers Chris and Kevin Burrows, of C&K Meats in Brome, and the deferral disappointed members of the public who had packed the council meeting to show their opposition

This is outrageous....they should have gone to prison.

Two members of staff at a Bernard Matthews poultry unit were ordered today to carry out unpaid work after a court heard that they played "baseball" with live turkeys. Magistrates' chairman Brian Winchester ordered each man to complete a 200-hour community order.

Prosecutors said a vet who saw footage of the incident described the abuse as the most "hideous" animal cruelty he had seen in 25 years.

Turkey cruelty pair plead guilty
7 September 2006

Two men who were secretly filmed beating turkeys with a stick have pleaded guilty to animal cruelty. Norwich magistrates were told that Daniel Palmer, 27, and Neil Allan, 30, both from Dereham, Norfolk, used poles "like baseball bats" to hit turkeys

Grandmother's dog killer jailed
4th September 2006

A man who battered his grandmother's Jack Russell terrier to death before throwing the animal's body at her has been jailed for four months. Christopher Munns, 18, of Saham Hills, Norfolk, claimed he lost his temper after Floss bit him in March 2006.

Magistrates in Mildenhall, Suffolk, heard Munns hit it at least five times with a screw-studded piece of wood. Munns, who admitted causing unnecessary suffering, was also banned from owning animals for 10 years.

Controversial abattoir set for go ahead
31st August 2006

A CONTROVERSIAL plan to build an 18-acre abattoir on a greenfield site near the picturesque market town of Eye has been recommended for approval, it emerged last night.

Mid Suffolk District Council planning officers have recommended the application for approval - but it would be bound by a long list of constraints including hours of working, size of buildings, landscaping and drainage and effluent management.

US serviceman slit dog's throat
30th August 2006

A US serviceman has been warned he could be jailed after killing his wife's dog by slitting its throat.

Dustin Yandell, 21, killed the golden Labrador and dumped its body in a bin outside his home in Newmarket, Suffolk.

Yandell admitted causing unnecessary suffering to a dog when he appeared before Bury St Edmunds magistates

Zoos: Places of hope or glorified prisons?
28th August 2006

Zoos are a relic of a bygone age. Like circuses, they stem from the Victorian era and have no place in the modern world.

Animals live a very impoverished life in them. They are frustrated through having no space and you can see when you watch them doing circuits of their cages. Animals are not like this in the wild. In zoos they lose their dignity.

Children get a distorted view of how animals are in the wild by visiting zoos and so they have no use as an educational tool

'Great' Br