A review of the year’s campaigns, rescues, research, and other activity for ADI, NAVS, and LDF
Photo: T. Phillips / Animal Defenders International
ANNUAL REPORT 2007
www.ad-international.org Lord Dowding Fund for Humane Research www.ldf.org.uk National Anti-Vivisection Society www.navs.org.uk Animal Defenders International
Overview
Millbank Tower, Millbank, LONDON, SW1P 4QP UK. Tel: +44 (0)20 7630 3340
953 Mission St., Suite 200, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103, USA. Tel. 00 1 415 543 2344
www.ad-international.org www.navs.org.uk www.ldf.org.uk
Board: Ms A. Brice Mr N. Brice Ms J. Creamer Ms P. Dibley (Chair) Mr T. Phillips Ms M. Windebank (Vice-Chair) Chief Executive: Jan Creamer
Campaigns Director: Tim Phillips
US Programme Director: Jennifer Blum Auditors: Horwath Clark Whitehill
Bankers: The Unity Bank Ltd
Solicitors: Charles Russell Bindmans
© 2008 Animal Defenders International. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced for commercial purposes by any means whatsoever without written permission.
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T. Phillips / Animal Defenders International
W. Smith / Animal Defenders International
Animal Defenders International National Anti-Vivisection Society Lord Dowding Fund
Overview of 2007 Chief Executive’s Summary
2007 proved a remarkable and exciting year for our organisations. Our move to Millbank Tower saw the pace of our campaigns start to accelerate and ADI, the NAVS, and LDF working with real synergy to help suffering animals around the world. We can be truly proud of our achievements in the political field. The adoption of our Written Declaration to phase out primate experiments by the European Parliament was a huge victory. The campaign displayed great ingenuity, the strength of our scientific research, our involvement in the political process, and downright hard work! We were at the same time engaged in the political process to ban the use of animals in circuses in the UK, Bolivia and Peru. Our Field Officers continued to show courage and determination to secure evidence of animal suffering. This led to the explosive impact of the launch of our investigation of the South American circus industry. Through the LDF we supported some of our most exciting and important projects to date. More than ever before, this work is intrinsically linked to our political and other campaign activity to end the use of animals in experiments. The dramatic rescue of the Portuguese big cats showed how our rescue work continues to be a way of not just helping individual animals – as important as that is – but creating a campaign platform for permanent change that will protect generations of animals. We are now working with ever increasing efficiency and effectiveness in Europe, the USA and South America and believe there are few if any organisations that can boast the global impact of ours – especially considering the resources currently at our disposable. I hope that you enjoy this review of 2007. It was certainly an exciting, eventful and important year. Please continue to back us and encourage more people to support us, so that we can do even more. Jan Creamer Chief Executive
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Campaigns
My Mate’s a Primate My Mate’s a Primate
‘My Mate’s a Primate’ is a campaign to highlight the crisis of human exploitation facing our primate cousins; it focuses on the four key threats to the primate nations: hunting/bushmeat, entertainment, the pet trade and in experiments. During 2007 we continued to distribute literature, education packs and our popular My Mate’s a Primate report and wallchart. Experiments: Primate research was the dominant theme of the year, as we lobbied hard for signatures to a Written Declaration in the European Parliament for a ban on the use of Great Apes and wild-caught primates, and for a phase-out of all primate research – see later. Pets: We objected vigorously when the UK Government decided to delist smaller primates (woolly lemurs, tamarins, owl monkeys, titis and squirrel monkeys), raccoons, and kinkajou, from the 1976 Dangerous Wild Animals Act (DWAA). This leaves these animals with a status comparable to domestic pets and with little or no welfare protection until the 2006 Animal Welfare Act (AWA) is fully implemented. We have been pressing for the prohibition of primates as pets under the AWA. We also backed The Captive Primate Safety Act presented by Senators Boxer and Vitter in the US Senate to end interstate and foreign commerce in monkeys, chimpanzees, and other primates for the exotic pet trade. Entertainment: Ending the use of primates in entertainment remained a high profile issue for us, particularly in South America, where we exposed the treatment of monkeys and chimps in circuses. Bushmeat: The issue came to the fore again in the US, with a court case concerning the illegal import of monkey meat. We protested Malaysia’s plans to lift a 23-year ban to catch and export “nuisance” monkeys for meat and research in Asia and the West. The plans were subsequently dropped with the Government citing that "Only 20 percent were healthy and, of this, only half the number were suitable for export." We also launched a media campaign in support of the chimpanzee personhood case being brought in Austria. Ultimately, the Judge denied rights to 26 year ex-laboratory chimpanzee, Hiasl.
International Primate Day
For International Primate Day on September 1st, which we founded two years ago, we made the theme primates in experiments for the second year running, and highlighted the campaign to end experiments on primates in Europe. Celebrity supporters Meg Matthews, singer Maria Daines, and ‘Green Goddess’ columnist Julia Stephenson were very good sports, and posed inside a laboratory primate cage outside the Houses of Parliament for our press call. Maria’s song ‘Monkey in a Cage’ was launched the same day, and topped the indie charts the following week.
Against Animal Experiments Written Declaration 40: End Primate Experiments in Europe
2007 was the year, thanks to your support for our campaign, that the European Parliament voted by means of a Written Declaration, for an end to all experiments on primates. The adoption of our Declaration could be the single most important political breakthrough for over a decade, however, now we must work hard to bring it into the legislation. We embarked on this bold campaign to ensure that ending primate tests was included in the revision of Directive 86/609EEC (the rules for animal experimentation in Europe - see later). Key to our success was engaging every nationality and all of the main political parties – a huge cross-party success. We tested the mood of the European Parliament by launching a Written Declaration the previous year, that called for an end to primate tests in six years. This closed in early 2007 with almost 100 signatures and informed the approach to WD40. Written Declaration 40/2007 was therefore launched on April 24 2007, World Lab Animal Day, sponsored by a group of respected and visionary MEPs: John Bowis (UK), Martine Roure (France), Jens Holm (Sweden), Rebecca
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Opposite Main: Baby baboon – primates were at the heart of our campaign in the European Parliament. Small pictures from the top: Jens Holm MEP and Jan Creamer launch our Written Declaration 40 on primate tests at the European Parliament. A door hanger reminds MEPs who have yet to sign Written Declaration 40 – 36 hours later we had enough signatures and the Declaration was adopted. MEPs Liz Lynne and Jens Holm with Jan Creamer appear as primates in a stunt outside the European Parliament with the theme – “I am a primate”. Our ‘gorillagram’ visits offices in the Parliament and delivers a report to Robert Evans MEP.
Harms (Germany) and Mojca Drcar Murko (Slovenia). The Declaration “Urges the Commission, the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament to use the revision process of Directive 86/609/EEC as an opportunity to: (a) make ending the use of apes and wild-caught monkeys in scientific experiments an urgent priority, (b) establish a timetable for replacing the use of all primates in scientific experiments with alternatives; Instructs its President to forward this declaration, together with the names of the signatories, to the Council, the Commission and the Member States.” In order for the Declaration to be adopted by the European Parliament, we needed the signatures of half the 786 MEPs. We therefore mobilised campaigners across Europe to lobby their MEP to sign; detailed briefings were produced for MEPs, in their own languages. Our supporters and campaigners across Europe threw themselves behind the campaign and our team did not let up; we pounded the corridors in Brussels and Strasbourg, addressing meetings, distributing information at Plenary sessions, and staging information stalls inside the Parliament. Our specially printed postcards from supporters, in French and English, steadily poured into MEPs’ offices, alongside letters from constituents. The campaign was a testament to the strength of our arguments – the more these were articulated, the more information we distributed, the more MEPs signed. Importantly, the backing of the political heavyweights in all the main political groups was secured – Conservative, Socialist, Greens, and Liberals. On the final days of the campaign, MEPs were rushing to sign before the deadline, even though the minimum number had already been achieved! This resulted in a massive 433 signatures, making it the most supported Written Declaration on an animal protection issue ever, and the third highest number of signatures on any Declaration since 2000. The Declaration was adopted and now the European Commission has to respond with a plan. The Declaration marks the start of a major campaign to end primate experiments – a course is now signposted. We will be ensuring that the route is followed – in January 2008 we were in Brussels discussing this with the Commission.
Get Chimpanzees out of the Labs USA
World Lab Animal Day 2007 saw the launch of the San Francisco office ʻGet chimpanzees out of laboratoriesʼ campaign in the USA. One of the objectives of the campaign to end primate tests in Europe was to stop plans for a European chimpanzee super lab, thus leaving the USA isolated as a user of chimpanzees in experiments. Our chimpanzee campaign in the USA is part of a broader campaign under My Mateʼs a Primate to halt the staggering 57,518 primate experiments in the USA each year. The campaign received a boost the following month, when the National Center for Research Resources, a wing of the National Institutes of Health, announced a permanent end to the breeding of chimps for research.
World Lab Animal Day 2007
Once again World Lab Animal Day* was marked on every continent, with campaigners using the UN-registered day as a platform to fight to end animal experiments. We were involved in events in the UK, USA, Ireland, and launched the Written Declaration campaign for primates in the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Campaigners distributed a special new leaflet, which incorporated postcards for the public to send to their MEPs. The leaflet was also produced in French by the French Anti-Vivisection League. *World Day for Laboratory Animals, as it was then, was instigated by the NAVS in 1979, and is registered with the United Nations as an
international day of commemoration. The 24th April was chosen as this is the birthday of Air Chief Marshal Hugh, Lord Dowding, the WW2 Battle of Britain hero, and a past President of the NAVS, who worked so valiantly in the House of Lords to help laboratory animals.
Revision of Directive 86/609
Directive 86/609/EEC is the European legislation on animal experiments, which is translated into UK law by the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. The Directive is over twenty years old, and this is the first major review of the rules since it came into force. We have been working on this issue for over two years, taking part in the European Commission’s ‘experts consultation’ and fighting to save as many laboratory animals as possible. This Directive affects the lives of millions of animals in Europe’s labs and this is the best opportunity we have had to campaign for some sweeping changes. For example, the eradication of duplication in regulatory testing, which we are pressing for, would save an estimated 160,000 animals every year. We would estimate at least as many could be saved in fundamental research. So whilst battles to change the wording of an EU Directive may not grab the
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T. Phillips / Animal Defenders International
T. Phillips / Animal Defenders International T. Phillips / Animal Defenders International
Main Photo: C. Dodkin / Animal Defenders International
Campaigns
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Campaigns Opposite Main: Laboratory rabbit – our Field Officers continue to collect evidence of animal suffering. Small pictures from the top: Tim Phillips Campaigns Director addresses the Intergroup meeting at the European Parliament with Neil Parish MEP, Delphine Bourgeois of Eurogroup, and John Bowis MEP. Celebrities Meg Matthews, Maria Daines and Julia Stephenson, appear outside the UK Parliament in a real laboratory primate cage for International Primate Day. Jennifer Blum, our USA Program Director, spreads the word about our “Get Chimps out of labs” campaign. French MEP Martine Roure, one of the sponsors of our Written Declaration at the campaign launch. Shortly afterwards Martine became Vice President of the European Parliament.
headlines, it is vital that organisations like ours lead the way. We will be continuing to brief MEPs, the Commission and representatives to the Council of Ministers right up until a final decision is made. Among our proposals are: A ban on the use of great apes and wild-caught primates, and a timetable for the phasing out of the use of all primates, to be replaced with advanced methods. Expand scope of law to include protection for all animals used in research, e.g. invertebrates, foetal and embryonic animals, genetically modified and those killed for organs, or as surplus. Ban on duplication. Bans on the use of animals for tobacco, alcohol and household products, psychological and behavioural research, military experiments and other areas. Transparency, accountability, freedom of information and data sharing. Strict licensing laws for projects and establishments. Harmonisation across Europe and standards for training of personnel. Ethical and scientific reviews of animal use, before and after projects. More introductions of advanced non-animal scientific techniques. More regular reviews of the legislation to set timetables to end tests – every 2 years.
Keep animals out of REACH
In June, the REACH Regulation came into force and the European Chemical Agency (ECHA), based in Helsinki, will be fully operational by June 2008. Our ʻKeep animals out of REACHʼ campaign, so hard-fought and which so many of you backed, saw the estimated animal death toll slashed by millions. Nevertheless it remains the world’s biggest animal testing programme and could still claim the lives of 8 million animals. Therefore this work moves into a different phase – we continue to press for improvements in data sharing, the acceleration of the validation of alternatives by the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM), and for measures under the revision of Directive 86/609/EEC that will help to continue to reduce the number of animals killed.
Kick Animal Testing out of the house
Successful mobilisation of consumers, campaigns, and our exposés (notably of Toxicol Laboratories and Inveresk Research) have brought us to the brink of ending the testing of household products on animals. Government figures released in 2007, revealed that for the first time no animals had been used in household testing in the UK the previous year. We are pressing the UK Government to unilaterally ban these tests and to press for a Europe-wide ban through the Council of Ministers as part of the changes to be made to Directive 86/609. On a cautious note, our exposé of Inveresk showed how commercial testing is left in the hands of animal experimenters – licences to test individual products on animals are not reviewed in advance by the Home Office, but only occasionally spot checked, as project licences for commercial testing cover many different tests. In addition, the vivisectors are left to decide how the tests are classified. We have asked for an audit of all commercial animal testing with particular reference to household, industrial and agricultural tests. Nevertheless important progress can be made. Our ʻKick animal testing out of the house campaignʼ is running in Europe and the USA with information on cruelty-free products and suppliers.
Cosmetics testing
Our work in Europe continues to include the area of cosmetics testing where pressure still needs to be maintained. Whilst numbers of animals used in Europe have dropped dramatically, from some 30,000 per year, as tests are phased out, the most recent EU statistics reveal that in 2004, Spain performed 75 cosmetics tests on animals and France a disgraceful 5,496. Directive 2003/15/EC of 27 February 2003 amending Council Directive 76/768/EEC (known as the Cosmetics Directive), was a major victory; for the first time, legislation introduced a ban on the use of animals for an entire sector of products, albeit using a step-by-step approach. After a 20-year campaign dating back to the strategy devised by NAVS and others in 1982 for the UK’s Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, we had European legislation. Implementation of this Directive has been important in setting out a mechanism by which animal experiments can be replaced in an area of testing across the European Union, and influencing countries like the USA where progress has been slower. There has been much resistance from animal experimenters to this ‘timetable approach’ and it is important for us to ensure that it continues to move forward. For consumers, details of cruelty-free
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H. Constantino / Animal Defenders International
J. Simpson / Animal Defenders International Animal Defenders International
T. Phillips / Animal Defenders International
Main Photo: Animal Defenders International
Campaigns
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Campaigns Opposite Main: Tarzan relaxes in his new home after being rescued from a Portuguese circus (bottom small picture).
cosmetics and toiletries are available from our office and online.
Animals in Education
Small pictures from the top: Our Senior Political Officer, Helder Constantino, explains the case against animal experiments on an information stand. We kept animal experiments in the news and continued to campaign for the timetable to phase out cosmetics tests to be kept. A World Lab Animal Day Tshirt. Tarzan as we found him in a rusting circus cage – several months later he was safe, and free.
Keep Death out of the Classroom
Our successful campaign to end the use of animals in higher education highlights the innovative long term approach we take to issues. Over twenty years ago we first began developing computer simulations to replace animals in university practicals and were soon saving hundreds of thousands of animals a year. You will see from our research section that we continue to fund the development of these programmes, ensuring that they remain up to date and meet the needs of educational establishments. The past three years have seen us promote these alternatives to teachers in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Greece, Brazil, China, and India, and in 2007 at the 6th World Congress on Alternatives and Animal use in Life Sciences, in Japan. With your support we hope to expand this activity. As we press the European Commission to end the use of animals in education under the revision of Directive 86/609, it helps enormously that we are able to say how we helped to develop the resources that enable the immediate replacement of the use of animals in higher education practicals.
Stop Circus Suffering UK
Having been devastated by the public reaction to our exposés and investigations, the UK circus industry nonetheless continued to limp on in 2007, whilst the Government prevaricated. After such early promise, it is certainly not the Government’s finest hour when in 2008, it is still legal to tour the UK with lions, tigers and elephants. At the start of 2007, we were concluding our submissions of evidence to the Academic Panel of Defra’s Circus Working Group (CWG). ADI participated in the CWG process, but warned that Defra’s insistence on only looking at published scientific studies would result in too little evidence; this has not been an area of great academic interest and therefore the studies have not been commissioned. We therefore submitted a huge amount of evidence on comparable studies, for example the effects of captivity and transportation on animals in other industries, in order to provide material that can be read across to the circus situation. All of the groups submitting evidence took the same approach. However, Defra and the Academic Panel excluded all such evidence, on the basis that the “particularity” of the circus environment is such that it cannot be compared with zoos, or animals in transport for other industries. Also excluded was the empirical evidence including observational studies and video, which indicates that animals living in cages on the backs of lorries, constantly travelling, are experiencing deprived and unstable environments and this compromises animal welfare. The CWG proved to be a deeply flawed process. In November 2007 when the CWG report was finally published it was not only inconclusive, but also contradictory and admitted that huge amounts of evidence were simply not looked at. ADI commissioned a special legal report and 2008 will therefore see us continuing to work for a political resolution to this issue and an end to this abuse of animals.
South America
ADI’s Stop Circus Suffering South America campaign got underway during the year, with four incredibly successful
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T. Phillips / Animal Defenders International
Daily Mail
J. Simpson / Animal Defenders International
Main Photo: T. Phillips / Animal Defenders International
Campaigns
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Campaigns Opposite Main: Karla the chimpanzee: Our Field Officers working undercover in a circus in Colombia caught her vicious abuse on video and we launched a major campaign to save her. Small pictures from the top: Our campaign launch in Bogota. Our Primate Nations report tackled the use of primates in research and was distributed in different languages. A donkey is kicked by a circus worker in Ecuador. The violence we exposed in circuses in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru shocked many South Americans. A protest on bicycles keeps interest in the campaign in Colombia.
campaigns launched in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru in March, April and July. This followed a two and a half year investigation of the South American circus industry, which exposed shocking cruelty to animals. These campaigns will be sustained in 2008 and there are launches in more countries to come. We are grateful to the Persula Foundation who provided a grant towards this important campaign and to the dedicated coalition of South American animal protection groups backing the campaign. During the year, we appointed a South America Campaigns Co-ordinator, based in Bogota, Colombia.
Bolivia
The campaign was launched with press conferences in Cochabamba and Santa Cruz with our campaign partners. These attracted massive publicity, which was sustained throughout the year with demonstrations and other events. Our initial strategy was to press for city bans and staged launches in our key target cities of Cochabamba and Santa Cruz. Bans were secured in these and several other municipalities as well. By the autumn there were reports that several circuses were leaving Bolivia as their principle audiences had been lost. In late 2007, the Government responded by saying it would implement Bolivia’s first animal protection legislation. ADI was presented with the first draft and we made a series of amendments. Not surprisingly, this will include a ban on all travelling circuses with animals, but we also drafted sections on zoos, animal experiments and other issues. Whilst we may not secure everything we wish, ADI will have had a profound influence on this animal protection legislation. Passage of the Act is expected in 2009. However, in March 2008, after lengthy negotiations with the Government, it was agreed that a ban on wild animals in circuses would be attached to a Presidential Decree on biodiversity this year, with the full ban (all animals) remaining in the legislation in 2009. The Bolivian Government also plan to build a quarantine facility to ADI specifications to enable them to seize illegally trafficked animals and victims in cruelty cases.
Colombia
Huge publicity surrounded the launch of the campaign with our campaign partner groups. The launch resulted in a media battle with the country’s major circus family, the Gascas, who claimed that the video footage was from Europe. As a result, more coverage was gained with the release of a DVD of violence to animals at only Gasca-owned circuses! Numerous events and demonstrations were staged during the year; attempts by the circus industry to sue ADI were resisted, and eventually thrown out by the court. Much publicity centred on the violent abuse of a chimpanzee named Karla – an ADI Field Officer filmed her being savagely attacked by her trainer. We also pressed for the release of Panchito, a young male circus chimp who received a savage beating in front of an ADI Field Officer. Panchito was also beaten during a performance until he bled. ADI hopes to rescue these two chimpanzees.
Ecuador
Brutal footage was obtained during ADI’s undercover investigations in Ecuador – a thug beating dogs with a metal bar; a lion called Indiano living in a tiny cage and being kicked; goats and a bull being whipped; a donkey being kicked. The footage was unveiled at a press conference in Quito with our campaign partners. Considerable media coverage was achieved and used as a launch pad for a campaign for a national ban on the use of animals in circuses. We are presently working with biologists at the relevant ministry, looking for mechanisms on which to base this prohibition. As a result of the campaign, circuses have been inspected, revealing animals in awful conditions, irregularities in documentation and inadequate facilities. The authorities have seized animals but most have been returned due to the current lack of a law to hold them – confirming how vital it is to secure legal protection for these animals.
Peru
The ADI campaign was launched in 2007 in partnership with several Peruvian animal protection groups. As in the previous launches, extensive television and newspaper coverage was secured. During the week of the launch Kiara, a nine-month-old lioness, escaped from a circus in an urban area of Lima. This drew attention to the safety risks cited in our report and DVD. The Ecological Police, for INRENA (the National Institute of Natural Resources), captured Kiara and placed her in a zoo, where it was discovered that – even at less than a year old – this poor lioness was scarred, malnourished, and the claws had been removed from her front paws. ADI offered to take the lioness but after a brief legal tug of war there proved to be no legal avenue to permanently seize Kiara – she was returned to the circus. Two
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Campaigns
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Campaigns
Opposite Main: Kodak saved from the pet trade. Small pictures from the top: Actress Samantha Janus helped with our campaigns and appeared on TV for our lion and tiger rescue. Model Twiggy continued to support our work. Toto and Sims get up to speed and show what life can be like after the circus! Our report on the abuse of animals in South American circuses.
very old lions were delivered to INRENA by the Circo Africa de Fieras in Lima, Peru, but they were so ill that they had to be euthanised. The surge in public awareness following the campaign saw four municipalities of Lima – San Miguel, Villa El Salvador, Commas and El Agustino – ban animal circuses at the height of the capital’s circus season. In August the Municipal Council of Magdalena del Mar unanimously approved an Ordinance prohibiting circuses with animals. At the end of the year we were working with Peruvian Congressmen on legislation banning animal circuses. In May 2008, a Bill will be presented to Congress with cross party support and we will be pushing hard to end the suffering of animals in circuses in Peru once and for all.
USA
ADI USA in San Francisco lobbied on circus and animal entertainment issues in 2007, while preparations were being made for the 2008 launch of the Stop Circus Suffering USA campaign. We were especially grateful to rapper Remo Conscious who has thrown his weight behind the campaign and provides the narration for the new video.
Greece
Our Stop Circus Suffering campaign in Greece involves perhaps the largest national coalition of animal protection groups we have ever worked with – 50 groups across Greece! Campaigners like Argos have been involved since 1998 when they secured bans in Thessaloniki with our ‘Ugliest Show on Earth’ video. In March animal circus bans were secured in Kalamata and Serres. Circo Medrano defied the ban in Serres, but protests ensured the police arrested two circus workers. They moved to Corfu, where lobbying blocked a licence to perform. The circus ignored this, so the police arrested the manager, imposed a fine and halted the performances. Greece clocked up its 27th Municipality ban in Aridea Pellas in June. The Greek Government and MPs are being lobbied, and ADI continues to supply information, research, and essential video evidence to fuel this campaign.
Ireland
With excellent campaign partners in Ireland, this campaign has really raised the public awareness of the issue of animals in travelling circuses during 2007, with publicity stunts, lobbying, presentations to schools. Wild animal bans have been achieved in Fingal and Cork, and it is hoped that a push for national legislation can be pursued.
Portugal
Stop Circus Suffering campaign hit the TV news and newspapers again at the start of 2007, with our dramatic rescue of two lions and a tiger from a Portuguese circus – see rescues section. Resources continue to be distributed around the country, including a push for a ban, on Madeira. The year ended with protests outside a performance in Lisbon by Suzanne Chipperfield with her tigers – ADI had exposed her performing there a year earlier.
Taiwan, Netherlands and others
Our most potent tool in ending the abuse of animals in circuses is the evidence collected by our undercover Field Officers. This has been used by campaigners all over the world, and ADI is happy to allow the use of such footage for campaign purposes; all we ask is that credit is given to our people who took the time and were brave enough to secure this evidence. Consequently the shockwaves of our work are felt globally. In June, campaigners in Taiwan used ADI video and information to help secure a ban on the import of wildlife for circuses. We also supplied video, photographic, scientific and empirical evidence, to campaigners pressing for a ban on the use of wild animals in the Netherlands, securing the first Dutch municipality ban and the Dutch Government’s rejection of circus self-regulation.
Animals in entertainment The campaigns on the use of animals in entertainment cover a wide range of activities, which saw us active in 2007 on the issues of performing animals in movies, TV programmes and advertising. Advertisers pressed to drop performing animals during the year included Audi, Ask.com, Bombay Sapphire Gin, and the Abbey Building Society.
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Brian Aris T. Phillips / Animal Defenders International
Main Photo: J. knight
Campaigns
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Investigations
We were delighted when British Airways responded to our protests by removing all mentions of bullfighting in their website promotions in Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Portugal and Spain. Our efforts for legislation in Peru and Bolivia have included action on zoos and dolphinaria. We lobbied on San Francisco Zoo following the escape of a tiger which killed a man and was then shot. In the UK we protested the shooting of a chimpanzee called Johnnie who was trying to escape from Whipsnade Zoo: Two chimps, Coco and Johnnie, escaped from their enclosure. Coco was recaptured. Johnnie was shot. A zoo spokesman stated: “No staff or members of the public were injured. But in the interests of public safety Johnnie was shot. That is normal practice if a chimp cannot be recaptured. But at no stage was the safety of our visitors at risk.”
Special Investigations Department Gathering the evidence to stop the suffering
One of the key reasons our campaigns are proving so highly effective is that they are backed with such powerful evidence collected by our Field Officers. Each year we commit considerable resources to investigating animal suffering. We are one of the few animal protection groups in the world committed to deep cover investigation – actually placing Field Officers to work inside animal abuse industries for extended periods – and we believe that we have run deep cover investigations in more countries than any other animal protection group in the world. In South America, our Field Officers moved from country to country working inside circuses for two and a half years before we launched the Stop Circus Suffering campaigns detailed in this report. Our Field Officers, showing great courage and determination were able to record on film: Goats beaten and whipped and dogs beaten with metal bars during training sessions; lions whipped, beaten with metal poles and kicked; a monkey and a bull being pelted with stones; horses and llamas being whipped and beaten with lumps of wood, and a donkey hit and then kicked; Karla and Panchito the chimpanzees, screaming desperately as they were beaten; an elephant beaten to perform; as well as a unique record of the misery, degradation, and confinement these animals have to endure daily. During this particular operation, there were two assaults on Field Officers, numerous threats, several cameras were smashed – one by Karla a chimpanzee we were trying to help! During 2007, our Field Officers were active gathering evidence on animal circuses, vivisection, illegal animal trafficking, bushmeat and more. In 2008 they will continue to bring you the truth that the animal abusers seek to hide.
Political Animals Parliamentary Action: UK, Europe, USA, Peru, Bolivia
No matter how much public awareness we can raise of the plight of animals in a range of industries, no matter how successful we are in changing the public’s view of other species, ultimately, we need to secure permanent change in the form of legislation. Therefore throughout 2007 we were involved in discussions with legislators in a number of countries; this included briefing politicians, their assistants and civil servants, drafting legislation, tabling parliamentary motions and declarations. This work is discussed under the different campaign headings, but it often allows us to work
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Animal rescues
to a wider remit. For example, whilst working on legislation to ban animal circuses in Bolivia, we lobbied for legislation on animal experiments, zoos and other areas. Within the European Union, this has allowed us to lobby on a range of issues including different aspects of REACH, or commenting on the EU animal welfare strategy, and other issues.
Political Advertising Case
Striving to halt institutionalised violence to animals through legislation in the UK is deemed “political”. The NAVS has been a “political” group since losing its charitable status in 1947. Similarly, ADI is not a charity because that status would hinder our work on long-term political change that needs to take place to protect the other species who share our planet. That means being denied the enormous tax breaks charities enjoy, but also, it prevents us from advertising on TV or radio. For the past two years we have been challenging the iniquity of this broadcast advertising ban, with our lawyers working on a “no win, no fee” basis, because this is a matter of public interest, and it goes to our right to express our opinion under the Human Rights Act. ADI’s case to challenge the Government’s ban on so called ‘political' advertising by animal, environmental and human rights organisations moved to the House of Lords in December for a two day hearing. The case arose when an advertisement produced for ADI’s My Mate’s a Primate campaign in 2005 was banned by the BACC, not because of the content of the advertisement, but because NAVS and ADI are deemed to be ‘political’ groups under the Communications Act 2003. Although we lost our case in the High Court in October of 2006, the Court felt that our case needed to be heard and therefore gave permission to leapfrog the Court of Appeal and take our case straight to the House of Lords. A boost to our cause came in May 2007, when the report of the Advisory Group on Campaigning and the Voluntary Sector, chaired by top lawyer Baroness Helena Kennedy, QC, agreed that the Communications Act 2003 has a censoring effect on the voluntary sector and that the ban in the Act on all advertising by ‘political’ organisations should be repealed. Our lawyers presented volumes of evidence and arguments supporting our case, and at least two of the four Law Lords appeared to be supportive. However, the judgement received on 12 March 2008 was against us, leaving us looking to the European Court for our remedy. If we had won, the law would have been amended. As it is, we rely upon the European Court to uphold our right to express our opinion in the broadcast media, and we are hopeful of the outcome, as a favourable decision has already been made by the European Court in a similar case.
Animal Rescues Portuguese lions and tiger saved
On 2nd February, following months of negotiation and agonising delays, two lions (Caesar and Sarah) and a tiger (Tarzan), rescued from a traveling circus in Portugal, arrived safely at the ADI Rescue Centre in South Africa. Special thanks go TAP, Portugal’s national airline who reduced the flight costs of the cats to help make this mission possible. TAP staff were also a huge help along with the ground handling staff Neotrans at Lisbon airport and Johannesburg, our thanks also to our shipping firm, PBS. Tarzan moved into temporary quarters next to our elderly tigers Shere Khan and Mowgli – although the fence had to be reinforced to stop his efforts to go and join them. He will be moving to a larger enclosure in 2008. The lions, Caesar and Sarah, were released into a large natural bush enclosure. The pair appear to adore each other and as they run and play, the sound from their feet is similar to rolling thunder. The rescue attracted considerable publicity in Portugal, South Africa and the UK where actress Samantha Janus appeared on TV to highlight the suffering of animals in travelling circuses. The story of the remarkable rescue and of the other big cats rescued by ADI is now available in the DVD ‘Big Cat Rescue’.
Toto ADI NAVS LDF
Annual Report 2007
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Animal rescues Opposite Main: Caesar the lion arrived at the ADI Rescue Centre in February after his rescue from a circus in Portugal (top small picture shows him in the circus). Small pictures from the top: Caesar in the circus. Our precious lions and tiger are unloaded in Johannesburg after the flight from Lisbon. Caesar steps out into the quarantine facility at the Rescue Centre. Sarah with Caesar behind in their new ADI home in the African bush.
Toto, the chimpanzee we rescued from a circus in Chile in 2003 continues his blissful life with his growing chimpanzee family at Chimfunshi in Northern Zambia, where we continue to pay for his care. He also made his big screen debut when our film ‘Toto Goes Home’ was screened in the Artivist Film Festival in Los Angeles. The film received a commendation and was then screened at the Artivist Film Festival in London.
Kodak the capuchin monkey
December saw us moving Kodak, a small capuchin monkey rescued from the pet trade. Kodak had been cared for temporarily at a sanctuary in Holland whilst waiting for a permanent home. ADI paid for Kodak to travel to quarantine in Guernsey, and will cover both his quarantine costs, and the move to a permanent home at the Monkey Sanctuary in Cornwall for a life of relative freedom and the company of other monkeys. ADI and The Monkey Sanctuary will be using Kodak’s story as part of our campaign to end the keeping of primates as pets.
Rhanee, Karla and Panchito
Each year is marked by battles to rescue certain animals that we come across in our investigations and campaigns, and all too often, there is not the animal protection legislation in place to help them. These are tough, often heartbreaking battles, that we may be forced to pursue for years. Rhanee the elephant has remained close to all our hearts since ADI first exposed her vicious abuse at Mary Chipperfield Promotions. After Chipperfield’s trial, Rhanee and a lot of other animals disappeared. However, we tracked this poor elephant, living on her own in a barren enclosure at a zoo in Spain. Heavy lobbying, publicity and negotiations secured her a companion, water, a pool and shelter, but not her freedom. The zoo were adamant that they would not release her. In 2007, when we learned the zoo was closing, we flew to Madrid to discuss her future. Older now and more arthritic, the zoo said they did not think she could stand a long journey but they would allow us to have her provided she stayed with her companion (coincidentally called Toto), and her needs were met – although they would favour a European Zoo. We provided a flight plan showing that we could move her to the warmth of California with a shorter journey time than the projected road journey to many European zoos that they were considering. This would have placed her in perhaps the best captive elephant facility in the world. Valwo/Madrid Zoo tried to sell her to Belfast Zoo, but this failed, so we really felt it might be her chance for a new life with ADI. But it was not to be. The zoo ultimately decided to keep and possibly separate the elephants, rather than hand them over. A very sad and disheartening outcome, and with the clock ticking against Rhanee being in the condition to make a journey to freedom and peace. We continue to look for ways to help Rhanee. Karla: ADI Field Officers working undercover in an animal circus in Colombia witnessed some of the most sickening scenes we have ever encountered when a female chimpanzee, called Karla, was punched in the face by her trainer, and beaten with a chain. During the attacks Karla screamed, fled and desperately tried to shield her face from the blows. Karla would be considerably stronger than her tormentor, but like other circus animals, she has been beaten into submission. ADI succeeded with a legal action against the circus for the cruelty towards Karla, a llama, and a pony. The llama and pony disappeared, whilst Karla was hastily handed over to a zoo. It is believed the circus will either attempt to reclaim her later, or the zoo will sell her (if they cannot breed with her to provide the circus with a baby chimp). Indeed, documents leaked to ADI from the zoo, revealed attempts to get offers for Karla. Throughout 2007 we worked to save Karla and her plight has captured the hearts of many Colombians. Her story has featured regularly on television and on newspaper front pages – one newspaper holding a poll where readers voted overwhelmingly for Karla to be handed to ADI. We would rehome Karla, and support her for the remainder of her life. Panchito: An ADI Field Officer witnessed this young male chimpanzee being attacked by his trainer. Later poor Panchito was cruelly beaten during a show, until he bled. Our Field Officers have gathered evidence to submit to the Colombian authorities. In 2008 we are continuing in our efforts to help these lost members of the chimpanzee nation.
Sad Farewells
By early 2007, Shorty, one of the lions we rescued from the Akef Egyptian Circus in Mozambique in 1996, was very elderly but still enjoying his freedom at Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre in South Africa where ADI rehomed him. He passed away later in the year, after over a decade of freedom. Mowgli and Shere Khan, saved in the same rescue in 1996, were two grand old ladies by 2007, but still very active. In the autumn, and aged over 18 years old, sadly dear old Mowgli died. Shere Khan, her lifelong companion, remained in good health, but in January of 2008 she too passed away. All three of these big cats began their lives in tiny cramped circus cages, but thanks to ADI
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J. Simpson / Animal Defenders International
T. Phillips / Animal Defenders International J. Simpson / Animal Defenders International
T. Phillips / Animal Defenders International
Main Photo: T. Phillips / Animal Defenders International
Animal rescues
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Research without animals Opposite Main: Preparing cell cultures for a new model to examine human neuro-toxicity. Small pictures from the top: Our computer simulations that replace animals in higher education – a Chinese version. MEG scanning for study of the human brain. Working towards the creation of a novel biological model of cartilage, free from animalderived products. Our new leaflet shows people they can support medical research without contributing to animal suffering.
supporters ended up living most of their lives free to roam their own part of the African bush. Blondie is now the sole surviving big cat from the 1996 Mozambique rescue. Also during the year, we said farewell to dear Pasca, one of the beagles we saved from vivisection in an undercover sting on UK lab dealer Interfauna, in 1994. Interfauna had said that these dogs would never settle to family life, but each enjoyed rich, fulfilled, normal life. Whilst it was sad to say farewell to these old friends, it is also a poignant reminder that when we do successfully save animals from terrible torment, it is not merely a blaze of publicity, but a whole lifetime of living that is secured.
Adoption Scheme
We were pleased to launch a new adoption scheme during 2007 which has been positively received and is now making a significant contribution towards the care of our rescued animals. We will continue to promote and expand the scheme in 2008, to enable us to save more animals. Adopters receive special newsletters, rescue DVDs and certificates for adopted animals.
Research without animals Neuroscience, including vision, hearing, cognition and pain processing
Our largest single grant commitment continues to be supporting the running costs of the functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) facility at Aston Life Sciences Academy, for the five years up to 2009. A total grant commitment of £400,000. This exciting project has kept us on the frontline of developments in neuroscience and highlighted the importance of human study instead of animal experiments. A sample of the type of work we were involved in during 2007 included: Vision research studying the neuronal networks involved in sustained attention and vigilance; speech and language research exploring the characteristics of the neurophysiological networks involved in the perception of phonetic information in auditory stimuli – speech perception being, of course, a uniquely human process; cognition and neuropharmakokinetics research examining the effects of psychotropic drugs on attention and working memory; pain research, such a cruel and grotesque use of animals, is instead undertaken using Synthetic Aperture Magnetometry (SAM) with volunteer patients who can describe the pain they experience. Much brain research is conducted on nonhuman primates, and as such is particularly cruel as it takes highly intelligent, sensitive individuals and subjects them to unimaginable pain and terror. These Lord Dowding Fund research projects are an essential complement to the campaigns of ADI and NAVS, because they show governments, regulators and the scientific community that there is a better way to conduct scientific and medical research. Following our successful campaign to persuade the European Parliament to sign up to a policy calling for an end to the use of primates in research, our next step was to persuade the European Commission that such a move is a practical step. Therefore we were delighted when in early 2008, Professor Paul Furlong of Aston University addressed the European Parliament and the Commission, to show how certain primate experiments could be replaced.
Brain Cell Toxicity Screening System
This project laid the foundations for the development of a simple system using human astrocytic cell lines, for the high throughput screening of toxins. The aim was to develop a co-culture model which would examine the relationship between human neuronal cells and astrocytic cells. Astrocytes are important in fighting toxins in the central nervous system, detoxifying chemicals and reducing the products of toxic exposure. The project aimed to select a suitable cell line and test toxins that previously induced reactivity in the cells and the relative cell toxicities were then determined. The results that were obtained support the model’s further development as a human astrocytic model in its own right, and as part of a co-culture system. We now have the basis for a simple
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Animal Defenders International
T. Phillips / Animal Defenders International J. Korotoga/ Animal Defenders International
Main Photo: T. Phillips / Animal Defenders International
Research without animals
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Research without animals Opposite Main: Support for the fMRI imaging neuroscience facility at Aston University remains our biggest single LDF project. Small pictures from the top: Examining the human brain instead of the brains of monkeys. Human brain research in action. Despite the huge advances in nonanimal research crude and cruel animal experiments continue. Spreading the word.
system, using human astrocytic cell lines for the high throughput screening of toxins.
A 3-D test of neuro-toxicity using brain cells
Neurones and glial cells are fundamental components of the brain but are susceptible to damage. Neurones in particular, have little regenerative capacity, which can lead to permanent impairment of the central nervous system. This project therefore researched the use of a human embryonal carcinoma cell line (NT2) which can be differentiated into neurons and astrocytes upon exposure to retinoic acid. The aim is to develop another human cell model to assess human vulnerability to neurotoxins.
Extending the lifespan of computer–based alternatives
Two years ago we embarked on one of our most ambitious projects yet, ReCAL, which is a project to extend the lifespan of our now ageing computer assisted learning (CAL) resources. This funding has now been extended up to the end of 2009. Our computer assisted learning packages have been vital in saving the lives of animals in higher education practicals, but it is necessary to keep updating these to meet the requirements of emerging technology, and allow university teachers all over the world to access these teaching materials, and replace animal use. Our current aim is to make our computer assisted science teaching programmes globally accessible through the Internet, to enable multilanguage versions to be created more easily than was previously possible. The basis of ReCAL is to break down existing programmes into their learning components, make these available as discrete objects and provide online tools to enable teachers to reassemble them and tailor them to their own courses or different curricula. To date seventeen alternative computer programmes have been subjected to the ReCAL process. The webbased repository allows authorised individuals to search for, view, download, edit and upload learning objects. Each programme generates around 100 learning objects and there are now more than 2000 catalogued into the online repository. New learning objects can be added and we have already demonstrated the ease with which different language versions may be created.
A culture system as a model for Multiple Organ Dysfunction Syndrome
This study aimed to develop a cell culture system where different types of human cell were cultured together, in a dynamic environment, as an alternative to the animals used in organ breakdown experiments. Some researchers use mono-layers of a single cell type. Other systems allow more than one cell type to be cultured, separated by a membrane, but they are static. To mimic the complex living environment, cells must be cultured under static conditions then transferred to chambers to be measured under flow. LDF actively discourages the use of FCS (foetal calf serum), so the first half of this project involved adapting the cell lines to grow in serum free (SF) media, which was successful. Additionally, mono-layers and bi-layers, which mimicked the living Blood Brain Barrier (BBB), were cultured under static conditions, challenged with bacteria and examined. The results showed that bi-layers could be successfully cultured. It was the first time these cell types had been cultured together in a bi-layer and neither cell line was previously cultured in SF media, proving that alternatives to animal tissue are possible. The second half of the project assessed the bi-layer to ensure it behaved like the living BBB – this was done by testing the electric resistance of the layers. Chemicals associated with infection were also monitored to ensure the bi-layer behaved like a BBB. The results for one chemical differed between the mono- and bi-layers. This was important as it shows that cells behave differently when they are in different layers.
New Science and the future
We now publish detailed reports on our research projects and other developments in the field of non-animal research in our magazine New Science which can be obtained free of charge, by calling our office. Also scheduled for 2008 are exciting new research projects in the fields of cataracts, modelling human cartilage, and establishing an all-human three dimensional model of the blood-brain barrier to investigate cancer metastasis.
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Lord Dowding Fund
T. Phillips / Animal Defenders International Animal Defenders International
J. Simpson / Animal Defenders International
Main Photo: T. Phillips / Animal Defenders International
Research without animals
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Finances Opposite Main: Dear Shere Khan, here in November 2007, who had been in our care since 1996, died in January 2008. She remained lively and alert to the end. Small pictures from the top: Monkeys inside a Spanish laboratory animal dealer – photographed by our Field Officers. We produced a strong scientific critique of the EU Scientific Steering Committee’s justifications for primate use. This was distributed in English, French, German, Italian, Polish (pictured), and Spanish. Rescuing animals and spreading the word: Jan Creamer talks to the Portuguese media as our big cats are shipped out. Pasca: Another old friend we said farewell to in 2007. We had rescued her from a lab animal dealer in 1994.
Working for animals Supporters
Special thanks must go to our generous supporters who made all of the work in this report possible with their kind donations and fundraising. The rescues, the non-animal research projects, the undercover investigations, the awareness campaigns, and legislation to protect animals – none of this is possible without the kindness of our supporters. In addition our supporters play a vital role in our activity – letters and postcards to members of parliament or companies, or newspapers; street collections; leafleting; recruiting. Whenever we have issued urgent calls for help, the response has been magnificent. Following our move to new offices we began an overhaul of our internal systems and databases to ensure better service and improved information for supporters. These measures take time and there are always so many things to do, but we look forward to having an improved, modern and efficient supporter information operation in place by the end of 2008.
Finances
Income: £1,452,929 Legacies (75%)
Donations (11.5%)
Fundraising and Merchandise (6.5%) Income from Investments (7%)
Expenditure: £1,306,404
Campaigns, Public Awareness, Advertising, Meetings, Rescues etc. (74.25%) Legal & Professional (2%)
Depreciation, Tax & irrecoverable VAT, Bank Charges & Interest (8.5%)
General Office Running Costs (includes rent & rates, fuel & light, telephone, computer maintenance & computer & other equipment, insurance, finance staff cost etc) - (7.25%) LDF Research Grants (8%)
Once again, the majority of our work was funded by legacies which emphasises just how important it is for those who care about animals to make a bequest in their Will. It is the kindness and forethought of these supporters that makes so much of what we achieve for animals possible. We take seriously our obligations to turn these contributions into a lasting legacy for animals, and we try to ensure we are making this a better world for generations of animals to come. Activity over recent years has been dominated by major political events – the REACH European animal testing programme, the Animal Welfare Act, and the revision of Directive 86/609/EEC, which will affect the UK’s Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act. The legislation laid down by these measures affects the lives of millions of animals and it is vital that we respond effectively to ensure the best possible outcome for animals. Once these decisions are made, then the opportunity to influence matters may be gone for decades. We have committed heavily in terms of
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W. Smith / Animal Defenders International J. Simpson / Animal Defenders International
Feial Rogers
Main Photo: T. Phillips / Animal Defenders International
Finances
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Roll of Honour
The majority of our work is funded by legacies from those who kindly remember the animals in their Will. The undercover investigations, the research, the reports, videos, legal cases, rescues and publicity events all owe their existence to legacies. We are very grateful to receive legacies and ‘in memoriam’ donations for loved ones. So please don’t forget us if you are making your Will. Without this forethought and commitment Caesar (left) would not have stepped out to freedom, the European Parliament would not have adopted a Declaration to end experiments on primates, programmes to replace animals in education would not have been developed, and the campaigns that led to legislation being put before Parliaments in Bolivia and Peru would simply never have been launched. These supporters left a genuine legacy for animals. As always it is with mixed feelings that we are grateful for these vital funds to continue our work because the animals have lost a valued friend. These are the friends who remembered the animals in 2007:
Photo: T. Phillips / Animal Defenders International
D Allen I Arrow D Ayers B Aylott P Barley W Barrett D Baxter E Baxter E Buckley M Burnett J Burns K Chard E Chatt D Deane M Elliott H Elliott E M L Farrants P Fraser-Carey P Gates D Green E Haigh M Hercus V Hill M Hubbard ADI MISSION: To educate, create awareness, and promote the interest of humanity in the cause of justice, and the suppression of all forms of cruelty to animals; wherever possible, to alleviate suffering, and to conserve and protect animals and their environment. NAVS MISSION: To raise the conscience of humanity to the iniquity of painful experiments on animals; to raise awareness that millions of animals suffer and die in cruel, unscientific, and futile experiments, which are unreliable, unethical, and unnecessary.
LDF MISSION: To support and fund better methods of scientific and medical research for testing products and curing disease, which replace the use of animals; to research and publish information to demonstrate that animal experiments are unnecessary and harmful.
We are opposed to violence or intimidation whether directed at humans or other animals.
M Hunter R Ingham H Jeffs M Jorgensen J Kite R Langworthy M Lawrence R Llewellyn D Lock E Mico D Mortimer R Newsam D Pilbeam R Pottesman H Price M Russell B Stevenson M Sutcliffe M Wilde M Wilkinson E Williams S Wilson V Wood J Woodward
Animal Defenders International National Anti-Vivisection Society Lord Dowding Fund Millbank Tower, Millbank, London, SW1P 4QP. Tel. +44 (0)20 7630 3340 953 Mission St., Suite 200, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA. Tel. 00 1 415 543 2344 www.ad-international.org www.navs.org.uk www.ldf.org.uk