ADI Annual Review 2008

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Campaigns, rescues, research, investigations and other activity for ADI, NAVS, and LDF in 2008

Š Animal Defenders International

ANNUAL REVIEW

Animal Defenders International Lord Dowding Fund for Humane Research National Anti-Vivisection Society


Animal Defenders International National Anti-Vivisection Society Lord Dowding Fund Millbank Tower, Millbank, LONDON, SW1P 4QP UK. Tel: +44 (0)20 7630 3340

953 Mission St., Suite 200, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103, USA. Tel. +1 415 543-2344 Apartado Postal 359888 BOGOTÁ, Colombia. 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

Auditors: Mathie, Neal, Dancer & Co.

Bankers: The Unity Bank Ltd

Solicitors: Bindmans Keystone Law

© 2009 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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Annual Review 2008

© Animal Defenders International

© Animal Defenders International

Overview

Chief Executive’s Overview of 2008 2008 was a challenging and busy year for ADI, NAVS and LDF. The year in Europe was dominated by the campaign to ban the use of primates under the new EU regulations on animal experiments. Our raft of proposals for new legislation on animal experiments were published early in the year and called for greater restrictions on animal use; more implementation of alternatives (including a new Europe-wide authority and network to put non-animal replacements ahead of animal use); transparency and public accountability in the process of authorisation of animal use; restrictions on severity and re-use of animals, and many other measures. The European Commission published their proposals for the new directive in November 2008 and this contained many of the things we had asked for, but there was still room for improvement. The follow-up campaign dominated the end of the year, and continued into 2009. In the US, we released our first major US undercover circus investigation. We caught the vicious beating of some female elephants by their trainer, which launched a government investigation. We were joined on the campaign trail in Texas by CSI actress Jorja Fox, and in New York, by Corey and Susie Feldman, who appeared with me on the ʻGeraldoʼ chat show. This launch has certainly reinvigorated the US circus animal campaign, and we continue to lobby for local and national action to ban animal circuses.

In South America, our undercover investigations continued to create a groundswell of public protest and political action, with legislation on animal circuses being tabled in Bolivia, Peru, Brazil and Colombia. It is certainly looking likely that circus animal bans will be in effect in South America before the UK government can catch up! Work is underway for new campaigns in Chile, Argentina and Venezuela. Other good news for the European animal circus campaign is that proposals are on the table for Greece and Norway, whilst discussions continue with the UK government on a ban on wild animals under the Animal Welfare Act – three years after being promised.

Overall a positive year for our campaigns – letʼs make 2009 even better. Jan Creamer Chief Executive ADI NAVS LDF


© Animal Defenders International

Who we are

© Animal Defenders International

Addressing a meeting at the European Parliament.

© Animal Defenders International

Exposing animal suffering at Huntingdon Life Sciences.

© Animal Defenders International

Spreading the word.

Who we are What we do Our group of organisations, Animal Defenders International, the National Anti-Vivisection Society, and the Lord Dowding Fund for Humane Research, work together globally for the protection of animals. We have offices in London UK, San Francisco USA, and Bogota Colombia as well as representatives and partner organisations in many other countries. We take an holistic, self-sufficient approach to achieving long term protection for animals. We are unique in that we can take a project all the way from a deep undercover investigation, science research, through public awareness drives and to drafting and securing legislative protection for animals. Our animal rescue work focusses on the areas in which we are campaigning. The scientific and medical research that we fund through the Lord Dowding Fund dovetails perfectly with our campaigns to end animal experimentation. Whilst others incorporate elements of these approaches we seek to draw together a start to finish strategy – a total campaigning approach. We use our own photographs, video and research, and produce publications in-house. Our total production approach saves money and increases our outreach. We believe, and hope that this review of activity in 2008 shows, our strategy is leading to increased success around the world.

Supporting cutting edge medical research without animals.

ADI NAVS LDF

Annual Review 2008

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Campaigns

Against Animal Experiments EU Lab Rules

Campaigns Director Tim Phillips interviewed on Colombian television about cruel malaria experiments on owl monkeys.

After a long and arduous campaign, November 2008 saw the introduction of the European Commission’s proposals to replace the 23-year-old Directive 86/609 on animal experiments. In 2009 these proposals move to debate in the European Parliament; they will be finalised in late 2009 or early 2010, after 7 years in consultation and development. Affecting over 12 million animals, this is the biggest challenge faced by anti-vivisectionists for over 20 years. The gains we make for laboratory animals could be far reaching, as could ground lost to animal experimentation interests. For the past several years, this work has dominated our time as we have spearheaded the efforts in Europe to protect animals. On the EU campaign trail in 2008 Following the adoption of our Written Declaration 40/2007 by the European Parliament, which called for a phase-out of all primate experiments in the EU, in January 2008 Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas received ADI representatives and leading MEPs who sponsored the Declaration. The discussion was constructive and we pressed Mr. Dimas to incorporate the phase-out in his proposal. One month later, the Commissioner announced that he would incorporate a ban on great apes and wild-caught animals – a major achievement and the result of years of campaigning by ADI and our supporters. Unfortunately, Mr. Dimas stopped short of proposing a phase-out with a fixed deadline on primates, so there was more lobbying to do. Key players in the work related to the revision, including ADI Chief Executive Jan Creamer, Lord Dowding Fund grant holder Prof Paul Furlong, and Commissioner Dimas, addressed a special ‘Progress Without Pain’ conference at the European Parliament in February. Our campaign regularly draws in expertise from scientists from the LDF, and neuroimaging expert Paul Furlong of the University of Aston was able to demonstrate how a series of cognition experiments on primates could be replaced using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). With the Commission expected to publish its proposal during the year, we intensified our activities in the European Parliament and, together with supporting MEPs including Jens Holm, Robert Evans and Moja Drcar Murko, in the Spring we launched our “manifesto” of demands for the new directive. Our proposals included: Extending the scope of the Directive to protect all animals used in research, e.g. invertebrates, foetal and embryonic animals. Ban on the use of great apes and wild-caught primates and timetable to phase-out the use of all primates, to be replaced by advanced methods. Independent ethical and scientific reviews of animal use, before and after experiments. Ban on duplication – 160,000 animals suffer in duplicated regulatory tests each year in the EU. Ban on the use of animals for tobacco, alcohol and household products, military experiments, psychological and behavioural research and other areas. Incentives for the introduction and dissemination of advanced non-animal scientific techniques. Thematic reviews to target replacement. Increased funding for the development of replacements and an EU centre to co-ordinate and implement these efforts. The European Commission published its proposal for a new Directive on animal experiments, replacing Directive 86/609/EEC. We cautiously welcomed the Commission’s text as an important step towards raising standards of animal protection and scientific practice in Europe. We were pleased that the proposal contained much that was cited in our

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Main picture: Just arrived from Vietnam a monkey inside the holding facility of Huntingdon Life Sciences.

© Animal Defenders International

Campaigns

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The Progress Without Pain conference, European Parliament.

© Animal Defenders International

LDF grant holder Prof. Paul Furlong at the European Parliament.

© Animal Defenders International

© Animal Defenders International

Jens Holm MEP and Jan Creamer launch our manifesto.

Julie Christie promoting “Kick animal testing out of the house.”

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Campaigns

manifesto, such as the ban on great apes and wild-caught primates; ethical reviews; licensing system for suppliers, establishments and individuals using animals etc. However there was room for improvement, for example on data sharing and some loopholes needed to be closed.

Save the Primates

The European lab rules campaign has incorporated many of our other objectives, and not least, the Save the Primates campaign. A clear line can be followed from securing our historic Written Declaration 40/2007 to the Commission’s proposals on primates – including bans on the use of great apes and wild caught monkeys and limits on primate experiments. Importantly, the Commission called for a phase out of monkeys born of wild caught parents. This is the first time legislation anywhere in the world has attempted to end the capture of wild monkeys by laboratory dealers – a proposal which came under heavy attack from the animal experimentation industry. We continue to push the boundaries with our campaign to end primate experiments; in the USA, we are publicising the issue to congress and others; in Colombia, Tim Phillips and Juan Pablo Olmos spoke to a packed house at Universidad Nacional de Colombia and did numerous TV interviews condemning malaria experiments using wild caught owl monkeys. In Israel we supplied expert support for a legal case against the Weizmann Institute following an exposé of horrific experiments by Israel’s Let Animals Live.

World Lab Animal Day 2008: Kick animal testing out of the house

World Lab Animal Day 2008 was used to promote our Kick Animal Testing out of the House campaign and leafletters hit the streets in the UK and USA. We also produced new resources for supporters on products which are not tested on animals. Following our success with the EU Cosmetics Directive we believe that ending the testing of household products in the UK and across Europe is feasible. In the UK, household product tests have now plunged to zero in 2006, and one test in 2007, but a formal ban would set an important precedent to end over 1,000 experiments across Europe. In the USA where less progress has been made, we have incorporated cosmetics testing into the Kick Animal Testing out of the House campaign.

Space experiments

Following reports that the Russian Space Agency was planning to send macaque monkeys to Mars to see how human might react to radiations on the red planet, ADI protested to the director of this project, Prof Boris Lapin. We then enlisted the support of Italian MEP and former astronaut Umberto Guidoni, who had a prestigious career with the European Space Agency (ESA), including two missions in orbit on board the Space Shuttle in 1996 and 2001. He won the NASA medal for exceptional service in 2002. Mr. Guidoni agreed that these experiments were unnecessary and wrote to Prof Lapin about the International Space Station (ISS) and the ESA’s research programmes to monitor radiation levels and effects on humans. It can only be hoped that the Russian Space Agency will adopt a more scientific approach to study human flights to Mars, for the sake of the monkeys as well as the future astronauts.

ADI NAVS LDF


Main picture: Kodak the capuchin monkey, we helped rescue, started his new life in 2008.

© Animal Defenders International

Campaigns

© Animal Defenders International

Addressing the Universidad Nacional de Colombia.

© Animal Defenders International

Juan Pablo Olmos, ADI South America Campaigns Co-ordinator.

© Animal Defenders International

A monkey awaiting experimentation at HLS.

Astronaut Umberto Guidonii MEP backed our campaign to stop experiments in space.

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Campaigns

Stop Circus Suffering Our Stop Circus Suffering campaign has become one of the most successful and potent animal protection campaigns ever. The campaign has now been formally launched in many countries, often in partnership with national animal groups: Ireland, Greece, Portugal, Norway, USA, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Six of these countries had legislation under discussion in 2008, with an unprecedented political and public response; if we can secure these measures, it would represent a seismic shift against animal circuses. In addition, our resources are utilised in countless other countries, increasing the reach of our campaign. A key to our success here is that resources are tailored as effectively as possible to where they will be used. DVDs and reports are based on our Special Investigation Department findings in each country and they are produced in the appropriate language; also research into the legal position is conducted. Whilst bringing local evidence to the fore, we efficiently make use of our experience and existing materials, making this a remarkably cost effective campaign. When we launched in Brazil it was the tenth version of our Stop Circus Suffering DVD – following the UK, Ireland, Greece, Portugal, Norway, USA (American English and a US version in Spanish), Chile, Latin Spanish (for Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru), and Brazil. When we launched Stop Circus Suffering in Brazil, we did not simply repeat the Portuguese version launched in Portugal, but made a new edit with a Brazilian actress for the narration. Here is a round-up of some highlights of Stop Circus Suffering activity around the world in 2008:

Europe

UK: The Government’s prevarication over the ban on wild animal acts, three years after it was promised in Parliament, has caused frustration, disappointment and worst of all, has led to the arrival of the first new elephants in a British circus in almost a decade. We have worked hard to ensure that the issue does not fall completely from the political agenda. A new ADI briefing was distributed to all MPs; we staged a special reception at the House of Commons hosted by Bob Russell MP; a ten minute rule debate was held in the Parliament; and over 180 cross party MPs signed an Early Day Motion calling upon the government to fulfil its commitment to ban wild animals in circuses, with a licensing system for domesticated species. The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) was expected to complete a feasibility study in 2008, intended to inform new regulations to ban the use of wild animals in circuses under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, but this remains unpublished. Many local authorities are confused by the discredited Defra circus report and we have had to commit resources to addressing and briefing authorities to protect existing bans, as well as secure more. Greece: Two years after the launch of the campaign in Greece, ADI continues to work with the Greek Animal Welfare Fund, pressing the Minister of Agriculture to ban the use of animals in circuses. Legislation has now been drafted. Portugal: Circo Victor Hugo Cardinalli, exposed by ADI when an elephant was jabbed repeatedly in the face, was back in the news when a supporter photographed an elephant that had collapsed. We also took the campaign to the island of Madeira. The Assembly of the Republic of Portugal is currently discussing three competing Bills on animal circuses. Ireland: With the passage of the first local bans, the campaign continues to be pressed hard at national level, with our campaign partners ARAN. We backed a rally in Dublin organised by ARAN in October which called for an end to the use of animals in circuses. In December, the Department of Agriculture of Ireland invited ADI and ARAN to make a presentation on animals in circuses as part of the consultation for their new Animal Health and Welfare Bill. Outside the meeting, we staged a photocall with our 10ft high inflatable elephant, Nellie. Norway: After a quiet phase the campaign is picking up again with our campaign partner NOAH, and pressure on Norwegian government to ban the use of certain species in circuses.

South America

South America has become a hotbed of our pioneering campaign activity, with our London and Bogota offices now coordinating activity throughout the continent. We now have ADI representatives in most countries and our main campaigns team is almost always on the move, from parliament to parliament. Our Stop Circus Suffering campaign has not only put animal circuses on the political agenda but many countries are now reviewing broader animal protection legislation and we are heavily involved in these discussions.

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Main picture: Actress Jorja Fox shows off a bullhook (used to control performing elephants) at our press conference in Austin, Texas.

© Animal Defenders International

Campaigns

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Jan and Jorja face the press in Texas.

© Animal Defenders International

ADI Animals in Entertainment Campaigner Alexandra Cardenas at the San Francisco event.

© Animal Defenders International

Corey and Susie Feldman represent ADI on Geraldo.

Alicia Silverstone backs our Stop Circus Suffering campaign.

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Campaigns

Bolivia: Within a year of launching the findings of ADI’s undercover investigation, the main Bolivian cities banned animal acts – El Alto, La Paz, Santa Cruz and Cochabamba. In May 2009, the bans were put to test by a planned visit by Las Vegas magic act The Fercos Brothers, featuring big cats. ADI campaigned vigorously for the local authorities to enforce the bans. The bans were upheld and the animals were kept out of the country. We have been working together with Congresswoman Ximena Flores Castro on a bill to ban wild and domestic animals in circuses. In August the bill was presented and ADI began an intense lobbying campaign to get support together with local organisations. In May 2009, the bill was approved by the Congress and it is currently waiting the Presidential assent to become law. This will be the first national animal circus ban in South America, a huge victory and testament to a very successful campaign. Brazil: An undercover investigation by our field officers exposed violence and deprivation in Brazil’s circuses and this was incorporated into a new DVD with a voice over by Brazilian actress Daniela Adler Piepszyk. The new DVD together with a new ADI scientific report, leaflets and posters, all in Portuguese, were launched at a press conference in Sao Paulo in association with the main Brazilian animal protection groups and the sponsorship of cruelty free cosmetics company Surya. The campaign secured huge publicity and a judge ordered that Circo Estoril, featured in the investigation, stop using animals. A Bill banning the use of animals in circuses was tabled by Congressman Antonio Carlos Biffi and has been lobbied by ADI. In 2009, the bill has been approved in the Commission of Education and is therefore progressing well. Chile: Chile had been the first of our hugely successful Stop Circus Suffering Suramérica launches some time ago, generating enormous public awareness and coming close to securing legislation. In 2008, the campaign stepped up again. Shortly after our exposé, Santiago de Chile banned the use of animals in circuses. In September, ADI launched Stop Circus Suffering in Concepción and Viña del Mar, alongside several animal protection groups. Huge publicity surrounded the campaign. ADI continues to work with key congress people to table legislation. Colombia: We have continued to negotiate with the Colombian Ministry of Environment for the release of ex-circus chimpanzees Karla and Panchito – see Rescues section. ADI also requested an official enquiry into the death of a 10 month old giraffe imported from a supplier in the USA. In June, ADI participated in a session of the Pereira Municipal Council opposite the circus industry – where our team received death threats and had to move hotels. Throughout the year, we have worked with Congressman David Luna, who tabled a bill to update the animal protection law, and Senators Jairo Clopatofsky and Elsa Gladys Cifuentes who tabled separate bills to ban animals in circuses. Currently, the two circus Bills have been withdrawn in favour of presenting a joint cross-party Bill in 2009. Peru: Following the launch of the new report ‘The Science on Suffering’ in the Peruvian Congress, Congressmen Alejandro Rebaza and Jose Antonio Urquizo tabled separate Bills to ban animals in circuses. We have undertaken an intense lobbying campaign in the Congress with a range of new campaigns materials. A new video was sent to members of Congress featuring horrific violence to circus animals and with the message ‘support the Bills and the violence stops’. This appeared in Latin Spanish and two Andean people’s languages. At a special press conference in the Congress, ADI’s Chief Executive Jan Creamer joined Congressmen Rebaza and Urquizo to promote the Bills. In 2009, the bills have been joined in as an amendment of the animal protection law and have been unanimously approved in the Agrarian and Andean Peoples Commission.

USA

Launching bills in the Peruvian Congress to ban the use of animals in circuses. A Chief Executive Jan Creamer addresses the meeting with Congressman Jose Antonio Urquizo.

In a week we crossed America with Stop Circus Suffering USA in a series of press conferences in Austin, Las Vegas, San Francisco and New York. We were joined on the campaign trail by CSI actress Jorja Fox, hip hop artist Remo Conscious, model Susie and actor Corey Feldman. Our new DVD and report incorporate undercover observations of nine US circuses. The footage shows an elephant being beaten to the ground and kicked in the face, electric shocks given to elephants and a tiger cub being hit in the face. A new range of campaigns materials was unveiled including DVDs, leaflets, posters and detailed scientific report. In a unique twist that highlights the ADI approach we have also produced the materials in Spanish to target the Latin American communities in the US. Often neglected by campaigners, this community represents a key part of the circus target audience and also the workforce, yet as our work in South America shows there is a vast, untapped, reservoir of support here. Our evidence has also be given to each member of Congress and was delivered to the San Francisco Mayor Newsom, the California Governor Schwarzenegger and Jorja Fox presented to Austin Councillor Lee Leffingwell. Huge publicity surrounded the campaign, including Jan appearing live on the national talk show ‘Geraldo’. This is just the start of a huge push on animal circuses in the USA that we will continue to progress in 2009. Annual

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Main picture: Sarah one of our rescued lions.

© Animal Defenders International

Campaigns

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Congressmen Alejandro Rebaza and Jose Antonio Urquizo address a press conference at the Peruvian Congress with Jan.

© Animal Defenders International

Nellie our elephant outside Ireland’s Department of Agriculture.

© Animal Defenders International

© Animal Defenders International

Exposed: A solitary, chained elephant in a Brazilian circus.

Launching Stop Circus Suffering Brazil.

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Rachel Hevesi of the Monkey Sanctuary and ADI Chief Executive Jan Creamer deliver a message to Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Campaigns

© Animal Defenders International

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 four key threats to the primate nations: hunting/bushmeat, entertainment, the pet trade and the laboratory primate trade. During 2008 we continued to distribute literature, education packs and our popular My Mate’s a Primate report and wallchart and ran numerous campaigns drawing issues out of the campaign. Experiments: This work features in the earlier section of the report. 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: we continued to raise awareness of this huge threat to primates. Pets: A new report was produced for all MPs highlighting the issues and calling for a ban under Animal Welfare Act regulation.

International Primate Day

For International Primate Day on September 1st, we targeted the issue of primates as pets. With Kodak the pet primate we helped rescue from Greece – see Animal Rescues – about to start a new life at the Monkey Sanctuary, we made the small monkey the first Primate Ambassador. ADI’s Jan Creamer and Rachel Hevesi of the Monkey Sanctuary delivered a huge picture of Kodak to Prime Minister Gordon Brown with a special message from the Primate Ambassador to the Prime Minister.

Political advertising case

ADI’s challenge to the Government’s ban on so called ‘political’ advertising was unfortunately rejected by the House of Lords in March 2008. 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. Our lawyers from Bindmans, who are representing us on a ‘no win no fees’ basis, argued that the blanket ban was not a justified interference with the right of freedom of expression. The Lords upheld the ban arguing that a more refined restriction to advertising would not work. We believe, along with numerous legal academics, high profile lawyers and observers such as Amnesty International, that the Lords’ arguments are flawed. We have therefore appealed to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The Strasbourg-based court is currently considering our appeal. We have no doubt that we have strong case.

Animals in Entertainment Our broad-based campaign on the use of animals in entertainment, which covers a wide range of activities, saw us in 2008 raising the issue of performing animals in films, TV programmes, advertising and art. Advertisers pressed to drop performing animals during the year included Dorset Cereals, Channel 4’s show Dangerous Jobs for Girls, Fabreeze, BDH/TBWA amongst others. ADI urged the Nicaraguan and Costa Rican Embassies in the UK and the USA for an inquiry following the exhibition of Costa Rican artist Guillermo Habacuc featuring a starving stray dog. And when we criticised the TV show Britain’s Got Talent for it’s attitude to performing animals, it drew hasty calls to our office from the producers with reassurances that performing animals would not continue to be included in the UK. Disappointingly, the US version of the show continues to feature exotic animals, but our US office is on the case.

Annual Review 2008

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Publications

Each year we produce a wide range of publications to meet the differing needs of our awareness drives. These can range from first strike materials such as posters and leaflets, to detailed technical reports for the media or politicians. Each year we will respond to the demands of legislators for accurate information on what can be very specific issues. We produce materials in a range of languages and always aim to ensure that resources are tailored for maximum impact. We distribute these in printed form and digitally. Here are just a few examples.

Our magazines: New Science from the Lord Dowding Fund; Toto News for our animal adopters; Political animals for Parliamentarians; and our main publication Animal

A selection of our scientific reports, information sheets and technical briefings.

Videos

The stories of the lions and tigers in the ADI Rescue Centre. Bringing the stories of the cats we dramatically rescued from Mozambique in 1996 up to date and our latest arrivals from a Portuguese circus in 2007.

BIG CAT RESCUE

tional

Resources

Witness the ADI investigations and campaigns that led to these rescues. Follow the twists and turns of the rescue missions, the negotiations, the seizures, the preparations, the difficulties that needed to be overcome, and the incredible journeys that brought the cats to their new homes. Finally enjoy seeing these lucky cats basking and playing beneath the African sun. Contact ADI to find out about adopting these animals.

We have one of the biggest animal protection video libraries in the world and on certain issues – animals in experiments and circuses – our footage is unparralleled. Core videos include Big Cat Rescue, Toto Goes Home, Unlock the Labs, and Stop Circus Suffering. Our latest DVD Save The Primates was in production ready for launch in 2009. Stop Circus Suffering USA (English and Spanish) and Stop Circus Suffering Brazil were all edited and launched in 2008 – this brings to ten the number of versions of this remarkable documentary each utilising a new voice over and an edit bringing to the fore evidence from that country.

BIG CAT RESCUE Saved from the circus and taken to freedom at the ADI Rescue Centre in Africa.

Online

We are steadily increasing our online presence and most of our resources are available to download through our websites with an increasing number of multi-lingual resources. We have primary websites for each of ADI, NAVS, and LDF, which are supplemented by campaign sites featuring videos and more information – stopcircussuffering.com and savetheprimates.com. We have two video sites in English and Spanish www.youtube.com/AnimalDefenders and www.youtube.com/user/adisudamerica respectively. We are linked to easyfundraising.org.uk and easysearch.org.uk which enable people to register as an ADI supporter and raise funds as they search the web or shop online. We also have a rising myspace and facebook presence. These are all areas which we will continue to develop and expand. Annual Report 2008

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Some outreach leaflets produced in 2008, including different treatments for different regions of the same subject.


Special Investigations Department

Exposing animal cruelty Central to our campaigning success is our commitment to effective undercover investigations. The reason our findings are so hard hitting is that we commit the time, effort and money necessary to get results. Before we launched our Stop Circus Suffering campaign in South America, our field officers were on the ground for two years gathering the evidence. They did not simply visit animal circuses, they worked inside them, filming the secret training sessions and the casual violence behind the scenes. This work can be dangerous and often frustrating but it is the reason that we stand on the brink of legislation to ban animal circuses in several countries. As we geared up to launch Save the Primates in 2009 in the European Parliament, our Special Investigations Department co-ordinated a groundbreaking investigation of the laboratory primate trade on three continents – giving people an insight into every aspect of this murky world.

One extremely brave unit infiltrated a gang of monkey trappers in the South American rainforest, travelling deep into the Amazon basin in canoes, filming monkeys being ripped from the trees and bundled into sacks. We then trailed the animals all the way to a Colombian laboratory where they were used in malaria experiments. One of our truly dangerous missions. Another team went to Vietnam to investigate the conditions that monkeys are forced to endure at one of the world’s largest primate laboratory suppliers, Nafovanny, which sends thousands of monkeys to experiments in the USA, UK and worldwide. Our footage of hundreds of monkeys trapped in collapsing, rusty cages not much bigger than the animals themselves is now being investigated by the UK Home Office.

Meanwhile in the UK, we concluded an ambitious long term undercover investigation with a field officer working for a year inside the notorious Primate Toxicology Unit of Huntingdon Life Sciences laboratory in Cambridgeshire, UK. Inside one of the biggest monkey laboratories in Europe, we recorded monkeys in tiny barren cages and other terrified monkeys strapped to chairs and forced to inhale test substances. Following our successful investigations in Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, we stretched our resources even further with an investigation of circuses in Brazil, covering huge distances and making long lines of communication for our field officers. But the successful infiltration of two of Brazil’s best-known circuses put the suffering of circus animals in the spotlight at a critical time as legislation was discussed. As our footage of a camel being beaten and having it’s lips cruelly twisted and an elephant in deplorable conditions was screened to millions of Brazilian TV viewers, a judge ordered that Circo Estoril be closed. ADI field officers infiltrated a gang working in the Amazon capturing wild monkeys for experiments.

We broke a major investigation of the US circus industry with the findings of an ADI team who monitored nine different circuses. One field officer secured a position with Bailey Brothers Circus as they travelled through Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri; our video of the elephants being savagely beaten to the ground and kicked in the face was broadcast across the USA. The investigation highlighted the courage of our field officer, alone in the circus, sharing accommodation with circus workers and constantly on the move, covering hundreds of lonely miles.

The range of our investigations was highlighted on International Primate Day when we released footage from pet monkey dealers in South America and Asia, showing a squalid world of chained, enslaved primates.

Our Special Investigations Department shines a light on the actions of those who would prefer that their cruelty remain hidden. Our footage makes uncomfortable viewing, not least for those who have to film it, but it has become an integral part of changing the world for animals.

Annual Review 2008

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Main picture: An elephant is dragged to the ground and kicked in the face. Exposed when our field officers worked undercover inside Bailey Brothers Circus in the USA.

© Animal Defenders International

Special Investigations Department

© Animal Defenders International

Monkeys strapped down and forced to inhale products inside Huntingdon Life Sciences, UK.

© Animal Defenders International

Monkeys being captured in Colombia.

© Animal Defenders International

Main Photo: Animal Defenders International

Shameful conditions inside a lab monkey dealer, Vietnam.

Laboratory rabbit.

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Animal Rescues

Animal Rescues We have rescued and/or funded facilities for chimpanzees, lions, tigers, monkeys, baboons, horses, snakes, dogs, rodents, birds, fish and badgers. As an organisation seeking long term change for animals either through increased awareness or legislation, our rescues focus on the issues we are working on – for example circus or laboratory animals. Our aim is to make a difference to animals used by a whole industry. Whilst there are many very good and worthy organisations dealing with unwanted and abandoned animals, we are more likely to find ourselves battling to secure freedom for abused animals that the owners are determined not to give up. When legal protection for animals is often wafer thin, or non-existent, this is an uphill battle. However the impacts can be far reaching: Our dash to Mozambique to rescue of all the animals from the Akef Egyptian Circus was great news for those animals of course, but ultimately, it also led to changes in the rules for cross border movements of circus animals in over 170 countries (CITES). Our efforts to save the Chipperfield circus elephant Rhanee span a decade; they have highlighted the plight of captive elephants to the public, provided some relief for Rhanee by pressing for companionship for her and improvements to her enclosure, but ultimately, her sad life remains a heartache. In 2008 our field officers confirmed that Rhanee is now living in an antiquated zoo in Poland with two other elephants, after Valwo Zoo rejected our proposals to take her to a sanctuary. In Colombia, the seizure of circus elephant Sujey was ordered but the legal device could not be made permanent and the circus now reports that the elephant is dead. Also in Colombia, negotiations to save Karla the chimpanzee, filmed by our field officers being punched and beaten with a chain in the circus, continue but have been thwarted as the authorities changed their demands. Her plight has opened the eyes of millions to circus suffering; she has been removed from the abuser and placed in a zoo with some companionship, but real freedom remains elusive. On a happier note, Kodak, the capuchin monkey that we took to the Monkey Sanctuary now has the companionship of another capuchin, Joey, and became a figure head for our primate pets campaign. When ADI takes responsibility for an animal by rescuing it, we take the view that because we have intervened in the course of their lives, we must therefore take responsibility for them for the remainder of their lives. Thus, our life-long adoption scheme is vital for funding the feeding and day to day care of these animals for what can be decades after the initial rescue. Adopters receive regular updates in the form of ‘Toto News’, certificates and rescue DVDs.

ADI Big Cat Rescue Centre

In our facilities in South Africa, the lions and tigers we have rescued from circuses enjoy natural African bush in large enclosures. Our big cats are well fed, receive regular veterinary attention, are safe in well fenced enclosures with solar power, in a section of a larger well-funded facility, and above all else they have space to roam and play. In 2008, we said farewell to Shere Khan our oldest and most graceful tiger resident when she passed away aged at least 18 years old. Saved from a circus in Mozambique in 1996, Shere Khan and her lifelong companion Mowgli, who passed away only a few months before, enjoyed over 12 years in the care of ADI. Currently, the centre is home to Sarah and Caesar the lions and Tarzan the tiger we rescued from a Portuguese circus in 2007.

Toto the chimpanzee

Toto the chimpanzee continues to enjoy life at Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage in Zambia, where we continue to pay for his care. His family has steadily increased from 3 to 12 with the introduction of young chimps into his group. His expanding brood provides him with new challenges daily, a world away from life in the circus since his rescue in 2003.

ADI Monkey Release Project

In an exciting new venture, we are funding the rehabilitation of Orlandito, a capuchin monkey, with the aim of returning him and his four companions to the wild in Colombia. All of the animals were seized from illegal animal traffickers and this ambitious project should not only give these lucky monkeys a very bright future but turn the spotlight on the illegal pet primate trade in Colombia. The first steps are the construction of an acclimatisation enclosure. We hope over time to be able to release the monkeys and then continue to monitor them in the wild.

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© Animal Defenders International

Animal Rescues

© Animal Defenders International

Tarzan is given his flea drops!

© Animal Defenders International

Sarah at our Big Cat rescue Centre.

We hope Orlandito will be returned to the wild.

© Animal Defenders International

© Chimfunshi

Main picture: Toto continues to enjoy the good life at Chimfunshi in Zambia where we continue to fund his care, years after we saved him from a circus in Chile.

Caesar relaxes in the sun at our rescue centre.

Annual Review 2008

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Lord Dowding Fund

Research without animals We all have a stake in the development of good scientific and medical research, but we don’t need to make animals suffer for medical progress. In fact recent history has shown that advanced, non-animal techniques are better for people, better for the development of science and technology, and it saves animals. Our commitment to end experiments is backed by a genuine involvement in non-animal medical and scientific research. In 2008 we awarded a quarter of a million pounds to scientists at the forefront of a wide range of fields including neuroscience, cancer, eye repair, cartilage repair and the use of animals in education. Broadly our aim is to advance science and show that research without animals is superior to outdated animal tests. Further, we aim to be involved in the development of research techniques that will be taken up by scientists all over the world, saving animals’ lives and improving techniques of human-based research. Whilst the researcher who announces the latest cancer-related discovery may get the immediate media attention, what of the scientists who developed the cellular techniques that made the research possible? That’s where we aim to come in.

Neuroscience: Including pain, vision and language

One of our key grants is supporting the annual running costs of the functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging facility at the Aston Life Sciences Academy. This has enabled a large number of researchers to undertake groundbreaking studies on the brains of human volunteers. No monkeys suffer and die here. A wide range of scientific papers continue to be published focusing on a variety of aspects of human neurology, including: Pain in heart burn related non-erosive reflux disease. The neurological basis of parental behaviour, the findings of which are potentially applicable to postnatal depression and identifying families at risk. Brain patterns in language tasks, which may prove vital for clinical assessment, pre brain surgery. Vision studies.

New cancer research model

The aim of this project is to develop an all-human in vitro model of the blood-brain barrier (B-BB) for use in studying how malignant cells from a primary tumour site can move into the brain and form secondary tumours. Previous research models have used rat and mouse cells. Uniquely, our model employs human cells and serum in a 3dimensional structure. The system has already been used to examine the passage of lung cancer cells increasing our understanding of the disease and taking us closer to a human based model to examine new treatments.

Establishing a new model for cataract replacement tests

Posterior Capsule Opacification (PCO) is the most common complication of cataract surgery, developing in a significant proportion of patients to such an extent that a secondary loss of vision occurs. Our team is developing a new research model that uses human tissue culture to examine lenses and to identify the ability of certain lenses to eradicate important processes in PCO development and prevent loss of sight in patients.

Replacing animals in education

25 years of supporting the development of computer simulations to replace animals in university teaching practicals has seen us save the lives of millions of animals. We are currently supporting work to ensure these programmes remain up-to-date and to expand their use to more countries. Thirty five of the computer-assisted learning resources have been broken down into components and upgraded so that they can be tailored to suit learning needs for pharmacology, physiology and biochemistry anywhere in the world. Eight are now available in foreign language versions including Chinese, Serbian and Spanish.

Tissue model to study cartilage repair

Clinical trials show that intensity pulsed ultrasound accelerates the healing of bone fractures by 30-40%. Without a recognised human-based in vitro test model, human clinical trials are delayed whilst animal tests are conducted – inevitably, these prove to be contradictory. Our project is designing a new biological model of cartilage which can provide high quality tissue regeneration data. Importantly, this will be a human-derived biological system, thereby avoiding species differences. The initial part of the project is proving promising.

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Main picture: Neuroimaging in the LDF funded fMRI facility at the Aston Life Sciences Academy.

© Animal Defenders International

Lord Dowding Fund

Establishing a new model for cataract replacement tests.

© Animal Defenders International

Examining the therapeutic effects of ultrasound on cartilage.

© Animal Defenders International

© Animal Defenders International

Cancer research examining the human blood brain barrier.

The fMRI facility we fund at Aston Life Sciences Academy.

Annual Report 2008

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Supporters, Fundraising & Finances Supporters

Special thanks must go to our devoted supporters who make all of our work possible, with their kind and generous donations, fundraising and their campaign activities. The undercover investigations, the awareness campaigns, the non-animal research projects, the rescues and legislation to protect animals – none of this would be possible without our loyal supporters. Supporter activity is vital to our campaigns – calls to mobilise people across the world in response to some of our biggest campaigns in recent years have not gone unanswered, with an incredible response. From writing letters, emails, faxes, leafleting, sending postcards, street collections and sponsored events supporter involvement has been magnificent. Thank you. Public support is the lifeblood of the organisation and we have responded to this by revolutionising our systems in our Supporter Relations Department, including a full upgrade of our database. We are now seeing the fruits of this. Donations to our campaigns are responded to promptly with the latest campaign updates, not just a standard response. Our system upgrades to ensure improved personal service have been implemented, and our promise that all money received is put to good use in order to have the greatest impact for animals prevails. Whilst such an overhaul was not without its difficulties in 2008, we are now genuinely seeing the benefits. We make sure that you know that you are part of our team, just as if you were in the building with us, every day. With the current economic situation, your support is more important than ever and we hope our service to you reflects that. We are also using our new systems to strengthen campaign activity, increasing the number of regional and local action alerts to supporters, targeting key letter writers for campaigns and more. We are enabling you to do more for animals on a personal level, both locally, nationally and internationally. The power is in your pen or your keyboard!

Finances Tarzan basking in the sun in the ADI Rescue Centre, South Africa.

The majority of our work is funded by legacies we receive from supporters who have passed on, which emphasises just how important it is for those who care about animals to make a bequest in their Will. On the back cover of this report we list those who left bequests in 2008. Their generosity, kindness and forethought sustained almost all of the activities and achievements in this report. We take very seriously our obligations to turn these contributions into a lasting legacy for animals and to ensure that this is a better world for future generations of animals. As the recession and global credit crisis began, we felt its impact almost immediately. House prices fell and sales froze, which meant that we had to wait until houses were sold before money could be distributed to us – even if we were waiting for a relatively small amount. This reduced our income significantly in the second half of 2008 and we moved into 2009 with a key area of income cut by more than 10%. We certainly felt the strain and had to dip into reserves in order to maintain our level of campaigns. It is also possible that this climate also had a negative impact on our merchandise sales, which had a poor year. This means that donations and other fundraising contributions are more important than ever in 2009. We are therefore especially appreciative that donations from supporters rose significantly in 2008 and see this as a response to our rising levels of activity and effectiveness. What wonderful supporters you are, to be so generous to continue to think of the animals in this financial crisis. Thank you. We believe that the level of activity and success in this Annual Report is confirmation of our increasingly efficient work for animals. We hope that you will agree that it would be difficult to find an organisation that achieves so much from the donations that it receives. ADI NAVS LDF


Main picture: Your support puts the sunshine into the lives of animals like Toto and Sims.

Supporters, Fundraising & Finances Income: £1,574,927

Legacies (75.75%)

Donations (15.25%)

Fundraising & Merchandise (3%) Grants received (0.5%)

Income From Investments (2.75%) Expenditure: £1,669,361

Interest & Other Income (2.75%) Legal & Professional (2%)

Bank Charges, Taxation, Depreciation, Irrecoverable VAT, Interest (7.25%) General Office Running Costs

Campaigns (includes

Investigations, Public Awareness, Advertising, Rescues, Publications)

(7%)

LDF Research Grants (14.75%) Cost of Merchandise (includes

purchase of merchandise, despatch costs, catalogue printing) (1%)

© Animal Defenders International

(68%)

(includes rent & rates, fuel & light, telephone, computer/network maintenance, equipment, insurance, finance staff costs)

Annual Review 2008

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Behind the Scenes

A selection of what goes on behind our campaigns activity and one or two of the lighter moments.

Lights, camera, action: Chief Executive Jan in make-up before going on the Geraldo Show which is broadcast across the USA. Our cosmetics campaign has made cruelty-free cosmetics widely available, but Jan still travels with her own to be sure. Sitting with Geraldo amongst the cameras waiting to go live. Even on live shows there can a lot of waiting around.

Working for legislation: Jan and Tim in discussion with Congressman Alejandro Rebaza and his team in the Peruvian Congress. In 2009, the Bill banning animal circuses sponsored by Mr Rebaza was passed by the Agrarian Commission.

Listening in: Key players in the European Parliament campaign – Jens Holm MEP, Helder (ADI Head of Parliamentary Affairs), and Carl Schlyter – listen intently during a meeting in the parliament.

At work in another hotel: Jan, Helder and Evgenia packing DVDs ready to deliver to MEPs in Strasbourg.

We can’t do it without you: Miya in Supporter Relations opens the day’s mail. Your responses to our appeals are vital for all of the work reported in this review.

Talking it through: Juan Pablo add animal protection groups in Peru.

Jack of all trades: The Portuguese lion rescue and Campaigns Director Tim constructs the crates, on the phone and preparing photos for the media, and whilst awaiting the arrival of the animals produces the first draft of what we later developed into the text for Written Declaration 40/2007 on primate experiments – a historic moment!

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Join Us

Please join us Office on the move: Often we will need to set up offices in hotel meeting rooms. Here Jan and Juan Pablo (ADI South America) hold a briefing in a Colombian hotel. The ADI field officers have had their identities obscured for safety.

Please help our work to end animal abuse and suffering around the world

Please complete this form in BLOCK CAPITALS, using a ball point pen, and return by post to:

Animal Defenders International, Millbank Tower, Millbank, LONDON, SW1P 4QP, UK.

Name:..........................................................................................

Address: ......................................................................................

...................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................... .................................................. Postcode:................................... Meeting the relatives: Jan with chimps at the Sanctuary of Curitiba in Brazil. We believed we had found somewhere for Karla but hopes were dashed later.

We are sometimes asked by similar organisations if they may write to our supporters. We would allow this only if the organisation is reputable. This allows us to raise funds for our work, if you DO NOT wish your name to be included, please tick here ■

Please accept my donation of

■ £100 ■ £50 ■ £25* ■ £15 £ ..........other

* A donation of £25 or more guarantees a year’s subscription to our magazine and other mailings

■ Please accept my Cheque/Postal Order. (Payable to ADI)

dresses a meeting of Corridors of power: Jan heads away from a meeting at one of the Commissions in the Peruvian Congress.

The laughing policeman: Jan shares a lighter moment with the policeman on duty outside 10 Downing Street, whilst waiting to deliver a message with actor Peter Pollycarpou (EastEnders, Birds of a Feather).

or please debit my:

■ Visa ■ Mastercard

■ Switch, Issue Number ■■■■

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Valid from Date

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■ I would like to sign up to the Monthly Giving Programme.

Please send me more information.

■ Please send me more information about your work. ■ Please send me information about Animal Adoptions. ■ Please sign me up for ADI’s email alerts! My email address is

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Annual Review 2008

23


Roll of Honour

© Animal Defenders International

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’ donation for loved ones. So please don’t forget us if you are making your Will. Without this forethought and commitment Tarzan (front cover) would not have stepped out to freedom, the undercover investigation at Nafovanny, Vietnam would not have been possible and programmes to replace animals in research would not have been developed, Stop Circus Suffering USA would not have been launched and political lobbying for circus animals in South America would not have been possible. 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. If you would like more information on leaving a legacy to ADI, NAVS or the LDF please contact us on info@ad-international.org, or 020 7630 3340 or at the address below. These are the friends who remembered the animals in 2008:

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.

L Alexander G Burgess I Collins R Cuff J Day B Delve Sanders (OBE) M Diggle R Downey T Ellis R George M Gleghorn M Greenwood I Gunner A Gwynn I Hickman K Hutchings E Jones J Kelly M Kelly P Kember J Larke A Lewis

R Mack J MacKay S Madan J Masters G Morrant R Orrah F Plunkett J Reid B Roberts T Rudd J Salt N Scaum V Smith G Sollis E Spires Smith C Thomas P Underwood S Vales P Wazejewski J Whitehouse T Yeo

Animal Defenders International National Anti-Vivisection Society Lord Dowding Fund Millbank Tower, Millbank, LONDON, SW1P 4QP, UK Tel. +44 (0)20 7630 3340 953 Mission St., Suite 200, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103, USA. Tel. +1 415 543-2344 Apartado Postal 359888 BOGOTÁ, Colombia. www.ad-international.org www.navs.org.uk www.ldf.org.uk


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