Farm Animal Voice

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ISSUE 182

FARM ANIMAL VOICE CONTENTS UPDATE

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4 News Animal welfare headlines from around the world

INSIGHT 13 Foston Compassion’s stance on the proposed large-scale pig farm

INSPIRATION 14 The Good Farm Animal Welfare Awards Putting animal welfare at the heart of the food industry 18 The Ultimate Veg Man Interview with Guy Watson, founder of Riverford Organic 23 Remembering Compassion How legacy gifts ensure we can make a difference in years to come

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ACTION 6 The Big Move Europe unites to defend the hens 10 Exposed The illegal treatment of animals on long distance journeys across Europe

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22 The problem of cloning And why it should be banned 24 The Observer Ethical Award 2011 goes to... YOU! Front cover photograph © istockphoto/Adam Nollmeyer

Editor Richard Brooks Production manager Sarah Bryan Design Neo – weareneo.com Farm Animal Voice Compassion in World Farming, River Court, Mill Lane, Godalming, Surrey GU7 1EZ, UK Enquiries Tel +44 (0) 1483 521 953 (lines are manned Monday to Friday, 9am – 5pm) Email supporters@ciwf.org Compassion in World Farming is a registered charity (England), registered number 1095050.

Our Patrons Bishop John Baker, Alexandra Bastedo, Jilly Cooper OBE, Princess Alia Al Hussein of Jordan, Penelope Keith OBE, Bruce Kent, Joanna Lumley OBE, Sir Peter O’Sullevan CBE, Jonathon Porritt CBE, Sir Crispin Tickell GCMG KCVO

COVER STORY 8 RABBITS DO NOT BELONG IN CAGES UK farmer forced to rethink factory farm plans

CONGRATULATIONS! Firstly, I would like to say a BIG thank you to everyone who made our ‘Cows belong in fields’ campaign a resounding success! Not only did we succeed in keeping the UK’s first mega-dairy out of the UK – we won The Observer’s Ethical Award 2011 for best campaigner! This award belongs to you. Thank you.

As well as receiving recognition for our work to improve farm animal welfare, we recognise those who are putting animal welfare at the heart of their business: This year’s Good Farm Animal Welfare Awards celebrated all those companies and supermarkets whose commitments will benefit millions more hens, chickens, dairy cows and pigs.

But we cannot rest on our laurels.

We have yet to celebrate complete success in achieving a world that is truly kind and caring – to animals, the environment and people.

Your commitment to Compassion is remarkable. It is only because of you that we can continue to fight factory farming and make a real difference for farm animals. Thank you for your compassion.

Philip Lymbery Chief Executive PS: Thank you to all our supporters who took part in our recent Big Survey.

You are part of Compassion and your feedback is important.

8 Thank you to everyone who entered Compassion’s spring raffle in aid of our work to end the illegal and cruel treatment of farm animals. The winners are: 1st £2,000 Mrs E.M Hawksford, Minehead 2nd £1,000 Ms A P Alexandrou, Enfield 3rd £500 Mrs R Chaston, Kent 4th 6 bottles of wine Mrs Jeanie Krarup, Nottingham The raffle ticket seller prize 6 bottles of wine Ms Susan Vannelli, Birmingham

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My personal blog is available at: acompassionateworld.org or you can follow me on Twitter: twitter.com/philip_ciwf Philip Lymbery was named within the 'top 100' most influential figures in the grocery industry

by Grocer magazine in May 2011.

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UPDATE

CRUELTY

YOU ARE UP FOR ANOTHER AWARD!

TO PIGS EXPOSED

Hot on the heels of Compassion being crowned “Campaigner of the year” in the Observer Ethical Awards 2011, our 2010 Annual Review has been shortlisted for the Third Sector Excellence Awards 2011.

The winner will be announced Wednesday 28 September.

STOP PRESS In July, Compassion received amazing news from the US animal welfare group, the Humane Society (HSUS), that an agreement has been reached with the Battery Egg Producers’ Association to press for a federal law phasing out barren battery cages for laying hens.

More news to come in the next issue of Farm Animal Voice on this fantastic development.

This image comes from Compassion's own undercover investigation, the Mercy for Animals photos were too disturbing to print.

AUSTRALIA’S U-TURN ON LIVE EXPORTS Photo © Animals Australia

Compassion applauds the U.S. animal welfare group, Mercy for Animals, for its recent undercover investigation into pig farming in the state of Iowa.

The investigation, exposing shocking cruelty to pigs and piglets, comes at a time when some states are considering a bill that will make it illegal for campaigners to shoot films or take photographs of farms undercover.

NEW LABELLING LAWS TO HELP CONSUMERS MAKE A BETTER CHOICE Compassion welcomes new EUwide legislation announced in June 2011 that will make it compulsory to label the country of origin for all fresh pork, lamb and poultry meat (a separate piece of legislation for labelling beef was already introduced during the BSE crisis in the 1990s). We will continue working towards labelling that will identify not only the animal’s place

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of birth but also where it was reared and slaughtered, so consumers would know if long journeys had been taken.

Consumers increasingly wish to know the provenance of food.

More honest, transparent labelling would help us all make more informed choices about the food we purchase, where it comes from and the life the animal lived.

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Following a TV documentary in May showing Australian cattle being brutally treated at a slaughterhouse in Indonesia, the Australian government responded to public outcry and suspended all live export of cattle to Indonesia. Sadly, after just one month, the trade resumed on 6 July.

Our friends, Animals Australia and RSPCA Australia will continue investigations and intense lobbying until the live trade is replaced with a trade in meat.

COMPASSION CAMPAIGNS AGAINST UK LIVE EXPORTS

COWS WITH MRSA LINKED TO ANTIBIOTIC OVERUSE

Since we last reported about the recurring nightmare of live exports from Dover UK, we are dismayed that the export trade has moved to Ramsgate in Kent. Sailings so far have exported sheep and unweaned calves. The sheep face a long journey – probably only to be slaughtered on arrival. The calves may be destined for rearing conditions that would be illegal on animal welfare grounds in the UK.

A new report released in June 2011 found a new strain of the MRSA ‘superbug’ in British cows. The new strain is suspected to be linked to the overuse of antibiotics in dairy cows and there is a potential risk that the bacteria could be spread to farmers and others working with dairy cows.

Compassion believes that there is something seriously awry in today’s farming systems if animals have to be treated with antibiotics on a regular basis. This can lead to dangerous antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections in both people and animals. If animal immune systems were not undermined by the stress of intensive milk production, routine use of antibiotics would not be necessary.

At a packed public meeting in Ramsgate on Friday 17 June, Chief Executive Philip Lymbery spoke out against the export of live farm animals through Ramsgate port. With almost 200 people attending the meeting, it was apparent that the local residents support Compassion in opposing the live export trade. Philip was joined by Thanet District and Ramsgate Town Councillor Ian Driver, David Bowles, Director of Communications RSPCA, and KALE (Kent Against Live Exports).

There is little doubt that excessive reliance on antibiotics in intensive livestock farming is a growing problem – globally 50% of all antibiotics are used on farm animals.

For example, of the 13 antibiotics frequently given to the feed or drinking water of pigs in the UK, 11 are closely related to drugs used in human medicine.

Compassion has always played a lead in the campaign against live animal exports and long distance live transport. We now have an opportunity for the Ramsgate campaign to point the way to ending all live exports from the UK. Our ‘One Way Ticket’ campaign will incorporate high level public and political lobbying to empower the people of Ramsgate to win a ban on this cruel and unwanted trade from their home town.

The Director-General of the World Health Organisation warned only last year that, ‘the world is heading towards a post-antibiotic era’.

Compassion in World Farming has recently joined forces with Sustain and the Soil Association to campaign against the threat posed by antibiotic overuse in farm animals.

More to come on this in the coming months.

ACTION: Please write to your MEPs and MPs urging them to end this horrific trade.

Template letters are available at ciwf.org/OneWayTicket or contact Supporter Services for printed copies.

place Saturday A public event is scheduled to take ails will follow 13 August in Ramsgate. Further det e in your diary. but please make a note of this dat ecessary trade.

We must stop this cruel and unn

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ACTION

On 19 April 2011, Compassion in World Farming led 18 member organisations of the European Network for Farm Animal Protection (Enfap) across 15 countries to defend the ban on barren battery cages.

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Prague, Czech Republic

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he EU-wide legislation banning these cruelly-restrictive battery cages is due to come into force on 1 January 2012. However some governments, notably the Polish Government, have been calling for the legislation to be delayed. To ensure that the ban goes ahead on time and without exemptions, Compassion has been Defending the Big Move across Europe.

On Tuesday 19 April, our campaigners held public events and handed in petitions to Polish Embassies in 15 countries across Europe. Many of our campaigners also

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As the UK will be fully compliant with the ban, it is important that all other EU member states are too.

There are still a small number of countries, France and Italy for instance, which are lagging behind and we will be working tirelessly to ensure they too comply with the legislation when it comes into force in January.

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Michèle Danan, Head of Public Affairs, Compassion in World Farming

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Berlin, Germany

this year as to how they will be changing to other systems.

met face-to-face with representatives at Polish Embassies to urge them to stop calling for a postponement of the ban.

In addition, animal welfare supporters across Europe have so far sent thousands of postcards and emails to the President of the Agriculture Council urging EU Ministers to reject any attempt to delay the ban.

Thanks so much to all those who have supported Compassion’s Big Move campaign so far; you really are making a difference, and our message is being heard loud and clear. We have already made a real impact:

The Hague, Netherlands

POLAND CEASES CALLING FOR A DELAY Even more encouraging is the news that, following our campaign, Poland, the country most opposed to the ban on barren battery cages, has now stopped asking for a delay.

SPANISH ROYAL DECREE PUTS PRESSURE ON BATTERY PRODUCERS One of Europe's main exporters of eggs, Spain, was not expected to be ready to comply with the ban in 2012. Yet after more than 16,000 Compassion supporters sent emails to the Spanish Ministry, and thanks also to the efforts of our Spanish partner, FAADA, the Spanish Government issued a Royal Decree in June 2011, ordering all egg producers currently using barren battery cages to submit their action plans by July

“It is essential that all member states demonstrate they are ready to comply with this piece of legislation, which will improve the lives of hundreds of millions of hens. With the dedication of our supporters we have managed to help persuade the Spanish government to take action, which we encourage others to follow.” Michèle Danan, Head of Public Affairs, Compassion in World Farming.

These are significant steps forward in our campaign and will impact upon the lives of millions of animals.

Warsaw, Poland

But with only four months to go until the ban is implemented, we must keep up the pressure and ensure that the ban on barren battery cages goes ahead on time.

There can be no delays and no excuses.

Philip Lymbery, Chief Executive, leads the 'Defenders' to Defra, London.

Your support can make the difference Despite European Commission support for the ban, the governments of France, Portugal and Hungary have still to publicly produce an action plan for the changeover. We are now calling on the Agriculture Ministries of France, Portugal and Hungary to show their commitment to the ban. Please send the enclosed postcard to John Dalli.

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INSIGHT

RABBITS DO NOT BELONG IN CAGES When plans for an intensive UK rabbit farm application came to light in April 2011, public outrage and pressure resulted in one very unpopular farmer changing his mind.

Compassion’s concerns for such a backward step in farming aren’t undue, as the trend for rabbit meat is increasing.

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upermarkets have reported an increase in sales of rabbit meat, with Britons eating around 8,000 tonnes each year – 5,000 tonnes of which is imported from around the world. Some believe this trend is down to celebrity chefs endorsing rabbit meat as a lean and healthy option.

Although chefs refer to rabbit as game (wild rabbits that have been hunted), most of the rabbit meat found in the UK’s supermarkets is imported from rabbit farms in Europe. France and Italy produce the greatest amount of rabbit meat, with the vast majority of the rabbit farms using appalling battery-cage systems which fail to meet the basic needs of rabbits.

It's time for us to be banning cages and confinement systems for all animals, not introducing more of them.

Rabbits are highly active creatures. They are prey for many wild animals, so have strong instincts to hop, run, rear up with their ears pointed, forage, burrow and play. They live in complex family hierarchies. They require plenty of outdoor space in which to fulfil their natural behaviours.

So you can imagine Compassion’s concern earlier this year when we discovered a British farmer had lodged applications for at least six intensive rabbit farms across England.

Following a public outcry and media exposés, including interviews with Compassion, the farmer in question was forced to rethink his original plans and consider higher welfare alternatives.

He has since announced that he has plans to farm rabbits in outdoor paddocks.

As Compassion's Joyce D'Silva said on Radio 4's 'You and Yours' programme, the plans for rabbit factory farms "stink".

Such a quick reversal is evidence of how powerful public pressure can be. In his own words during a radio interview, the rabbit farms will be “as free-range as practically possible”.

By comparison, intensively farmed rabbits are confined in small cramped cages, shockingly similar to the soon-to-beoutlawed barren cages used to house laying hens.

Compassion believes that if rabbits, or indeed any animals, are to be farmed, then we have a responsibility to ensure that they are kept in humane farming systems. They must be allowed to live a life free from pain and mental distress, and be able to express their natural behaviours. Keeping thousands of rabbits in small, barren cages is completely unacceptable. It’s time for us to be banning these cruel systems, not to be introducing more of them.

High-fibre forage such as grass or hay should be available at all times. Barren, restrictive environments and lack of hay can lead to rabbits developing abnormal stereotypical behaviours, such as excessive grooming and repetitive gnawing at the cage. Our information

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shows that in intensive systems, rabbits can be so starved of any stimulation, such as hay to nibble and places in which to burrow, that out of sheer frustration they eat each others’ ears.

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Photo © istock/Dmitriy Shironosov

COMPASSION BELIEVES THAT IF RABBITS, OR INDEED ANY ANIMALS, ARE TO BE FARMED THEN WE HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO ENSURE THAT THEY ARE KEPT IN HUMANE FARMING SYSTEMS.

ACTION

EXPOSED THE TRUTH ABOUT LONG DISTANCE TRANSPORT Director of Media and Investigations, Ashley Lovell, reports on the importance of Compassion’s investigative work; how it exposes laws being violated and the resulting animal suffering. By exposing the true horrors of factory farming and long distance live transport, we influence policy makers to take action and encourage consumers to think twice about what goes in their shopping basket.

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ompassion has a proud tradition of using investigations to expose the realities of factory farming and the suffering caused by long distance transport. Our dedicated investigation team has collected strong, sometimes shocking, footage over the years. It is often the undercover footage that provokes the most reaction in the media, but all our investigative work ultimately seeks to influence animal welfare policy and legislation.

Using video and photos is a compelling and powerful way to bring the plight of intensively farmed animals to a wide audience. Our investigation team, which gathers the often disturbing images, is an essential part of what makes Compassion the world’s leading farm animal welfare charity.

In Europe, around six million farm animals endure long distance journeys every year, with some journeys taking as long as 40 hours.

horses are routinely transported by road or sea across continents. This transport often results in great suffering, and Compassion’s investigators have witnessed dehydration, pain and stress and, in the worst cases, death on these journeys.

HORSES – FROM ROMANIA TO SOUTHERN ITALY Every year more than 30,000 horses are transported from Central and Eastern Europe to Italy for slaughter. Thanks to a generous gift from Aston House Stud, Compassion was able to uncover the terrible suffering endured by horses during their journey – and that laws were being broken.

Our investigators followed a group of horses on their final journey as they were driven for over 24 hours from Cluj in Romania to Taranto in Italy.

As well as exposing the cruelty inherent in factory farming, our investigations also highlight the good examples, looking at organic farms and other high welfare systems.

With heartbreaking disregard for the animals’ welfare, the drivers transporting these horses to their death gave them no water and no chance to escape the narrow confines of their truck at any point on their arduous journey.

Two of Compassion’s most recent investigations have been into live animal transport.

This investigation will play a key part in lobbying the EU and relevant member states to enforce the existing welfare laws and also provides vital evidence in our efforts to end the trade in live animals.

Factory farming is known to cause great suffering – live transport causes immense suffering too. Live animals, including calves, cattle, sheep, pigs, goats and

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ACTION

SHEEP – FROM ROMANIA TO GREECE In April 2011, Compassion’s investigators monitored and filmed trucks full of sheep and lambs bound from Romania to Greek slaughterhouses. Investigators filmed lambs on the lower deck of one lorry unable to stand up as they were being trampled on by others; animals without access to the water system; and in one case, an empty water tank.

Factory farming isn’t just about indoor confinement – live transport causes immense suffering too.

There were also signs of cramped conditions inside other trucks, where lambs were not given enough headroom.

Worryingly, the journey log on one vehicle, required by law to show length of journey time, was falsely claiming a stop that did not happen.

Encouragingly, our investigation also revealed that a number of animal journeys were being carried out in compliance with the EU regulation on the protection of animals during transport.

Olga Kikou, Compassion's European Affairs Manager, based in Athens, “In response to this investigation, we are seeking for meetings with the Greek and Romanian authorities to discuss ways they can better enforce the regulation.

Any improvement will benefit thousands of animals who are transported across these countries every year.”

The film from this investigation is available to view on our website at ciwf.org.uk/investigations

NEARLY 300,000 SIGNATURES TO STOP LONG DISTANCE ANIMAL TRANSPORT – AND STILL GROWING...

Millions of sheep, lambs, cattle, horses and pigs are transported across Europe. Their journeys often cause intense and avoidable suffering. Current EU legislation makes it possible for animals to be transported for several days.

This must end! Help EU Ministers make the right decision and stop long distance animal transport. If you haven’t already done so, please visit www.8hours.eu and add your name to this petition. Thank you.

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INSIGHT

FOSTON PIG FARM COMPASSION’S VIEW Hot on the heels of our success over the Nocton mega-dairy farm, comes the proposal for a large pig farm in Foston, Derbyshire. Compassion’s Cows Belong in Fields campaign was a crucial factor in the Nocton case, so expectations were that we would oppose the Foston planning proposal with equal vigour. But we have not done so.

Compassion’s Chief Executive, Philip Lymbery explains.

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igs have had a raw deal during the factory farm era; the majority being kept in conditions that can only be described as of utter deprivation. After decades of campaigning, things are beginning to change. Pigs are beginning to be kept in more welfare-friendly ways. About 40% of the UK’s breeding sows, for example, are now kept outdoors. This is a very welcome development. What of the rest? Well, nearly all of the breeding pigs kept indoors are clapped in irons when about to give birth; incarcerated in the so-called ‘farrowing crate’, which is not much bigger than the sow herself. In this system, the sow is prevented from carrying out natural behaviours such as nest-building for her soon-to-be-born, and can do little when she has given birth but stand-up, lie down and act as a milk-bar for her piglets; a wretched life.

In a free farrowing system, such as this French farm, the mother is free to move around the pen.

Our approach at Compassion is to engage with interested parties wherever possible. We have urged the proposers behind Foston to commit to any new development being on a higher welfare basis; at least meeting RSPCA Freedom Food standards. This they appear to have done.

We have also pressed them in the strongest terms to reconsider the scale. This remains outstanding.

About 60% of the UK’s pigs are kept without straw bedding; condemned to a life in barren pens. A similar proportion are also subjected to the painful mutilations of tail-docking and tooth-clipping.

And then we come to a recent proposal for a pig farm at Foston in Derbyshire. It is a controversial proposal, for good reason. It plans to house 2,500 sows and their offspring in one site, the sheer scale of which brings concerns over divorcing animals from the land and the effect of so many pigs in one place. Do we have big pig farms already?

According to industry sources, the UK’s biggest pig breeding farm has 3,500 sows. It is also understood that there is an outdoor-based farm on a similar scale. In this latter case, whilst the scale is a concern, the direction of travel for pig welfare is more positive.

The truth is that if Foston meets the welfare standards it is proposing, then the farm will be above average in terms of welfare standards in British pig farming today.

The bottom line is that, ideally, we would like to see all pigs kept outdoors on a free range basis. Sadly, most pigs in the UK are not outdoors and are often kept in appalling conditions; mother pigs confined in ‘farrowing’ crates so narrow they cannot turn around, their piglets mutilated and often kept without straw or other bedding. We are concerned at the sheer scale and the indoor nature of the proposed pig farm at Foston, but the commitments to meet or exceed RSPCA welfare standards would be a welfare advance for the pigs concerned. We urge those planning the farm at Foston to retain their intended welfare standards but to break the proposal up into a number of much smaller farms.

But what is Foston proposing on welfare? The proposal includes a commitment to meet or exceed RSPCA welfare standards for pigs. This includes using a fully free farrowing system with no confinement for mothering sows; and providing enough straw for comfort and avoiding mutilations for all its pigs. Again, whilst the scale is a real concern, the direction of travel for animal welfare is toward a more enriched, albeit indoor environment for the pigs.

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MAJOR COMPANIES IN THE FOOD INDUSTRY HAVE HUGE INFLUENCE OVER ANIMAL WELFARE THROUGH THEIR PROCUREMENT POLICIES AND THE PRICES THEY PAY TO FARMERS. WITH YOUR HELP, WE CAN CONTINUE TO INFLUENCE THESE POWERFUL DECISION MAKERS AND IMPROVE THE LIVES OF COUNTLESS ANIMALS.

INSPIRATION

208 MILLION THANK YOUS

July 6th 2011 saw the leading lights of the food industry gather to celebrate Compassion’s Good Farm Animal Welfare Awards in London. As a result of our awards so far, we estimate that 208,205,528 animals’ lives will be changed for the better.

This year, the ceremony congratulated organisations in four categories: The Supermarket Awards, The Good Dairy Award, The Good Chicken Award and The Good Egg Award. Leading producers making progress in Pig Welfare were also recognised for the first time.

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v chef and farm animal welfare advocate, Paul Merrett, hosted the Awards at Freemasons’ Hall in Covent Garden. Attended by food industry leaders, celebrity guests included BBC Food Presenter, Nigel Barden, broadcaster and writer, Allegra McEvedy MBE, and actress Alexandra Bastedo. Brian Blessed wowed the audience through his narration of a short film, inspiring the industry to take steps to improve the future of dairy farming.

In total, 48 winners received awards at the ceremony and in this year alone, over five million hens, chickens, pigs and dairy cows and calves are set to benefit as a result of their policies. The event is fast becoming a key part of the food industry calendar and demonstrates the huge potential we have to transform farm animal welfare through changing company policy.

By engaging with the food industry through the Good Farm Animal Welfare Awards, higher animal welfare has a greater chance of being mainstreamed into UK food production.

208 MILLION THANK YOUS TO OUR FUNDERS AND SUPPORTERS In addition to the generosity of our supporters, the Compassion in World Farming Food Business programme is generously supported by The Tubney Charitable Trust, The Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and The Rufford Maurice Laing Foundation. None of this work would be possible without your support. Thank you.

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Ilaria Ida, Social Mission Manager of Ben & Jerry's Europe and the Ben & Jerry’s cow celebrate winning a Good Dairy Award GOOD CHICKENS & HENS

GOOD DAIRY

A further 5,136,168 chickens and hens are set to benefit each year as a result of the 2011 Good Egg and Good Chicken Award Winners’ policies. Among the 21 new Good Egg Award winners were the happy egg Co., Mr Kipling, Linda McCartney and Ocado. The 5 companies receiving a Good Chicken Award were The National Trust, The Black Farmer, Lake House Table, Packington Poultry and Traditional Norfolk Poultry.

We estimate that 210,309 dairy cows and dairy calves are set to benefit each year from our inaugural Good Dairy Awards.

Winners leading the way include Ben & Jerry’s, Beemster Cheese, Green & Black’s, Yeo Valley, OMSCo and major retailers ASDA, The Co-op and Waitrose.

Commendations were awarded to M&S, Sainsbury’s, Dovecote Park and Brookfield Farm.

Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones, The Black Farmer, said "It is a tremendous boost to win this award. It will not only showcase The Black Farmer range of higher welfare chicken but highlight to a wider audience the benefits of buying and eating chickens that have been well produced.”

The Good Dairy awards are helping to address some of the issues raised by the worrying trend towards intensive dairy farming and zero-grazing in the UK and beyond. This threat was brought to public attention during our campaign against the Nocton mega-dairy farm in Lincolnshire.

LEADERS IN PIG WELFARE

Award winner Carl Whitewood from Green & Black's said “Green & Black's are especially proud to be part of the first Good Dairy Award. At a time of increasing pressure to reduce costs within the food supply chain, there is a risk that animal welfare will come under further threat. Our hope is that this awards programme will awaken consumers and show them they have a choice. We can enjoy good food and know that producers are striving to provide the best conditions for their dairy cattle and calves”.

EXPANDING REACH...

Our work with food companies extends beyond the UK. A further round of awards will take place in Berlin in September and the EU Awards will take place in Paris in October 2011.

The evening also recognised producers who are leading the way in terms of better pig welfare. Our Leaders in Pig Welfare’ demonstrated that higher welfare for sows and pigs is possible in UK systems, paving the way for the industry to aim for a Good Pig Award when it is launched in 2012. Laverstoke Park Farm, Packington Pork, Bishop Burton College, Braemar Farm, Brydock Farms and Dent Ltd were all recognised for their Leadership in Pig Welfare.

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In addition, Compassion will be promoting the higher animal welfare message in Australia and New Zealand later in the year.

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Waitrose’s Heather Jenkins and Duncan Sinclair receive the award for Most Compassionate Supermarket 2011, joined by key suppliers who help Waitrose keep higher animal welfare at the heart of its business.

UK SUPERMARKETS THAT POINT THE WAY

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upermarkets are hugely important to farm animal welfare due to their enormous purchasing power and the vast number of shoppers they attract. They can achieve massive improvements for farm animals simply through their everyday procurement decisions. The 2011 Supermarket Awards are based on Compassion’s latest Supermarket Survey, which scores and rates the UK’s top supermarkets on their approach to farm animal welfare.

BEST VOLUME SUPERMARKET This Award goes to the best of the ‘big four’ UK supermarkets and was collected by Sainsbury's for the third time for its continued efforts in animal welfare.

The supermarket also won a ‘Good Calf’ Commendation in the Good Dairy category for setting up an alternative supply chain for black and white bull calves, which then go to Sainsbury's beef supply chain.

MOST COMPASSIONATE SUPERMARKET 2011 In addition to being crowned Most Compassionate Supermarket 2011, Waitrose also won a Good Dairy Award. Duncan Sinclair, Agriculture Manager, said: “A belief in the very highest standards of animal welfare is right at the heart of the way we do business.

Our customers always expect us to treat animals fairly, and with respect at all times, so we make enormous effort to make sure this trust is well placed”.

MOST IMPROVED SUPERMARKET In addition to its Elmwood chicken, the Co-operative continues to expand its higher welfare Elmwood range to cover more species, including turkey – one of the reasons the Co-operative were awarded Most Improved Supermarket in 2011.

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INSPIRATION

– THE ULTIMATE –

VEG MAN

Guy Watson, owner of Riverford Organic, talks to Compassion about setting up his own business and staying true to his values. Compassion's Lara Richardson interviews a fellow Observer Ethical Award winner.

As to why he specifically decided to ‘go organic’ in a time before it was hugely popular, or even well-known with consumers, is a mixture of personal taste and asking local grocers whether they would stock organic produce.

Guy says: “I didn’t like handling the chemicals. Now when I see a field that has been sprayed – it almost hurts me. I hate seeing that desecration of nature and I think we should farm in a way that is sympathetic with nature, that doesn’t involve battling with nature. If that means that food tastes really good as well then that’s a bonus.”

THE SETTING Totnes, Devon – you’d struggle to find a prettier place.

Rolling hills and fields with a sweet town centre that practically screams ‘put me on a postcard’. Hidden away, about 10 minutes out of town is Riverford Organic.

This family-run business delivers organic produce fresh from the Devon farm, straight to your home.

THE BUSINESS Riverford was started up 10 years ago by Guy Watson, a man with no plan he claims, but with a true belief system guiding him in what he wanted to do: “The whole premise was that I wanted to set up a business that was of some value, as opposed to just making money. That’s the way I had been brought up by my parents; that you should try and do something valuable with your life.”

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Receiving a guided tour of the office and the warehouses, it is easy to see that Guy is well respected by those who work for him. When discussing how he has made a success of running his own organic business, when others have failed, he puts it down to: “A combination of

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I JUST WENT OUT IN THE FIELD, BORROWED A PLOUGH AND GOT ON WITH IT

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personal determination and hard work, quite a lot of luck, being there at the right time, circumstances – having a farm available, being a farmer’s son and my pigheaded determination.”

Ben is one of four other siblings, working alongside Guy. It is a family business run on a large scale, so communication clearly is important.

Now, his small, quite literally backyard business, has grown into an empire. Winning the Best Online Retailer at the Observer Ethical Awards 2011, Guy has 60,000 customers. Clearly, he is an honest and reliable businessman – his longest standing customer has been with him since his first week of deliveries. Guy says: “She still gets her box today, 19 years later.”

What better way to test the food that Guy and Ben have discussed with me, than by tasting it in The Field Kitchen.

Only seasonal, organic produce is served here. We sit around a table for eight, myself and Guy – with six perfect strangers – and we all enthuse over the food. There are five different vegetable dishes and one meat dish for everyone to share. Fennel and spinach with cream is an instant winner, alongside asparagus served with sundried tomatoes. I can honestly say that I haven’t been that well fed in months.

THE FOOD

THE MEATBOX I am delighted that Guy’s brother, Ben, joins us at one stage. If Guy is the ‘veg man’ then Ben is most definitely the ‘meat man’. According to Ben: “Say ‘Riverford’ and people think vegetables – that’s the way it should be, it’s the right image to portray. We’re meat and 10 veg, or as I like to say: 10 veg and a bit of meat.”

Guy is utterly charming and is genuinely interested in what people think of the food that he is producing.

He gets up at the end of the meal to check what has and has not been eaten on other tables. He asks what we liked the most and the least of the six dishes we were offered and tells me: “I’m very proud of the food that we produce generally and particularly of the restaurant here.

The success of the business depends on enthusing people to cook. I simply advocate that if you want to be healthy, just eat more fruit and veg.”

This is an incredibly refreshing viewpoint, particularly as Ben runs the meatbox side of the business. He started the Riverford shop in 1983. It was a way of trying to get a bit of extra money for the pigs that their father kept. Ben says of his father’s pig farming methods: “Our father was keen on the welfare element – there wasn’t really a blueprint for non-intensive reared pork at the time. It was a tightrope between having a financially viable business and treating them well. In 30 years I don’t think that my dad made any money from the pigs.” Sadly, when foot and mouth difficulties arose, the decision was made to sell the pigs to a free-range farm in Dartmouth.

THE FUTURE When I ask Guy about his plans from here and the future of the business, he says: “I still have loads of ideas and plans of things that I want to do. But as I’ve grown older, I’ve become better at restraining myself as opposed to diving in the deep end which is what I used to do.”

Whatever has made Guy so successful with Riverford Organic – be it his principles, his ability to spot a trend, or in his words, his ‘pigheadedness’, he has set up an incredibly successful and sustainable business. If the future of public food awareness and consumption was left in his hands, we might have a healthier human and animal population and a greener countryside.

Ben now sources all his meat locally. It is all free range with much of the meat being organic as well. The pigs come from Exeter, the beef supplier is near Totnes and the lambs are reared near Dartington. When I comment on Ben using local suppliers and a local abattoir he admits: “It’s not just the animal welfare point, although that is important too, but communication-wise, it’s key.”

To find out more about Riverford Organic, please visit www.riverford.co.uk

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rk in ensuring the laud Compassion and its wo Zac Goldsmith MP: “ I app That is why I am e and with no exemptions.

2012 ban goes ahead on tim ion – to help educate fellow baking fans ass t in ethically supporting Bake with Comp rced from happy hens kep sou en be e hav t tha s egg cake and raise about using s and family, bake them a nd frie ur yo r the Ga s. tem tter welfare sound sys ion continue its fight for be ass mp Co lp he to y ne mo some across the globe.” for billions of farm animals

AUTUMN RAFFLE 201 1 1st Prize £2,000 2nd Prize £1,000 3rd Prize £400 4th Prize £100 Raffle ticket seller prize £100

MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO MILLIONS OF LIVES! Bake with Compassion: 22 – 30 October 2011 Last year, around 100 supporters Baked with Compassion and raised more than £5,000 by selling cakes, biscuits and savoury favourites across the UK! Bake with Compassion is a great way to raise awareness about what really goes in our food and how Compassion’s work to end the suffering of factory farmed animals is so vital. This year, we hope Bake with Compassion will raise even more money, so please visit ciwf.org/bake or call us on 01483 521 953 to find out how easy it is. We can help you ‘prepare’ all the right ingredients to make it the biggest fundraiser event yet!

If you haven’t received your autumn raffle tickets, or you would like additional tickets to sell, please call Supporter Services today on 01483 521 953 or email supporters@ciwf.org.

All proceeds from Compassion’s raffles go towards our work to end cruelty to farm animals.

GET IN TOUCH If you feel inspired and want to share your fundraising ideas and stories, or for more info rmation about sponsored events, please contact Supporter Serv ices: Tel: 01483 521 953 (9am – 5pm, Monday – Friday) Email: supporters@ci wf.org Visit: ciwf.org/fun to do wnload our FREE fundraising pa ck.

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c

Please support the Compassion raffle and help to stop the biggest cause of animal cruelty on the planet.

d

William Roache, actor and supporter

G E T S P O N S O R E D! Sponsored events or individual actions are among the oldest ways to fundraise for charity – and still very popular. Anyone of any age can make a big difference to their favourite cause, from undertaking a gentle walk to a daredevil skydive.

All you need to do is create an online account, select Compassion in World Farming as your chosen charity, and let everyone know – including Compassion! Donations can be made online using a credit or debit card leading up to the event, and three months afterwards. Gift Aid will also be reclaimed at the same time if the donor pays tax.

Today, websites such as JustGiving.com and VirginMoneyGiving.com make the whole sponsorship process very quick and easy – and can attract many more donations from thousands of likeminded people who support your cause, not just your immediate friends, family and colleagues. They’ll also find out about Compassion’s work to help end factory farming.

If you don’t have internet access, Compassion can set up an account for you. Please do call us to see how – or to ask for a good old-fashioned sponsorship form to collect sponsorship money on the day!

Here are just a few of the sponsored activities that are benefitting the lives of millions of farm animals. And don’t forget, there’s still time to visit our brave supporters’ JustGiving pages to find out what inspires them to act on behalf of farm animals – and donate!

FLYING FOR COMPASSION Compassion’s longest-serving trustee, Jeremy Hayward, took to the skies in June 2011 to change the lives of millions of hens across Europe. He has rais ed at least £2,043 so far. justgiving.com/jeremyskydive

IN AT THE DEEP END y Supporter and Universit e, Ro ily of Kent student, Em took the plunge for July Compassion animals in 2011 for the British Gas e Great London Swim – sh sons just over les ng mi im only started sw has raised £152. a year ago! To date, she -Jane-Roe justgiving.com/Emily

WALK WITH COMPASSION In May 2011, Team Compassion trekked 10km across the South Downs, and East Sussex’s Compassionate supporters took their dogs on a sponsored walk.

Nationwide, Walk with Compassion raised more than £3,000! justgiving.co.uk/teamcompassion

TAKING A RIDE Compassion supporter, Elizabeth Hill, has embarked on a 2,000-m ile roundtrip of Britain on horseback. Yo u can sponsor Elizabeth, her horses Ar tax and Dino, Shetland pony Dazzy an d Maggie the dog at justiving.com/ridea roundbritain.

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ACTION

THE REPEATING PROBLEM OF

ANIMAL CLONING In the wake of recent failure by the EU to agree a clear route forward on the issue of cloning animals for food, there is a significant risk that the UK will allow food from the offspring of cloned animals to be sold in the UK. It is therefore, worth reminding ourselves just why Compassion believes that cloning animals for food is not justifiable.

Compassion’s Director of Public Affairs, Joyce D’Silva, explains.

WHY CLONE? By cloning you can produce lots of ‘copies’ of the most high-yielding or fastest growing animals much more quickly than by conventional breeding.

This makes food production quicker and cheaper in the long run. Yet it is these highly-productive animals who already suffer from a range of disorders linked to their productivity levels.

HOW TO CLONE A FARM ANIMAL To create a clone, an egg cell is removed from a female animal. In pigs and sheep, surgery is usually required to obtain egg cells from their fallopian tubes. This is stressful for the animals.

Cloning itself is done in a lab, where a ‘donor’ egg cell is fused with a cell from the animal to be cloned. The cloned embryos are implanted into ‘surrogate mothers’, often by surgery. Many foetuses are aborted. In the case of Dolly the cloned sheep, it was reported that 277 cloned embryos were inserted into 40 surrogate mother sheep. The result was one ‘successful’ clone.

WHY CLONING = CRUELTY Pregnancy is typically prolonged and cloned calves may be 25% heavier than normal. Scientists call this excessive

THE POLITICAL SCENE Following our CLONING = CRUELTY campaign last year, the EU Parliament refused to sanction the sale of food from cloned animals and their offspring too. However the majority of the EU Ministers, including the UK Minister, want to allow the sale of food from the offspring of clones.

Talks collapsed in March 2011 and have yet to resume. In May 2011, the Agriculture Committee called for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to abstain from funding the production of food from cloned animals, offspring or their descendants.

Animal cloning, like megadairy farms, takes us in the wrong direction. All of our agricultural policies should be aimed toward humane, healthy, sustainable practices.

We cannot allow our government and others in the EU to ignore significant public opposition to cloning.

growth ‘Large Offspring Syndrome’.

Higher birth weights lead to painful births and often the need for Caesarean section.

Many cloned foetuses die shortly before birth and many of the surviving newborn clones die before weaning.

Complications include defects in the cardiovascular, musculoskeletal and neurological systems, as well as susceptibility to lung infections and digestive disorders. Many appear to have poor immune systems, making them especially vulnerable to infection. These animals have short lives of suffering.

The following extract from a 2006 scientific case study is not untypical: “Only 12 of the 93 cloned embryos reached full-term development.

Three were stillborn; seven died within 24 hours, the surviving two died at around one month old due to a bacterial complication.”

Compassion believes that cloning animals for food is not justifiable due to the associated impacts and risks to animal health and animal welfare.

Food from cloned animals (or their offspring) must be banned, and not be allowed to enter the food chain.

TAKE ACTION NOW Some 2,000 Compassion supporters recently contacted Jim Paice MP, the UK Agriculture Minister, about animal cloning. Nearly 3,000 wrote to their MEPs, sending some 14,500 emails in total. If you haven’t yet done so, you can urge the UK to re-consider its refusal to oppose cloning by contacting the Agriculture Minister via our campaign website: ciwf.org/cloningdefra.

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INSPIRATION

– REMEMBERING –

COMPASSION Gifts made in Wills are of vital importance to us and play a huge part in our achievements. Between a third and half of our work is made possible because of the legacies left to Compassion by some wonderful people.

Diana loved animals from an early age. office. As it turned out, the office was almost deserted that day as most of the team were at the Big Move campaign event in London campaigning against the barren battery cage (see page 6 for more details).

I

n April 2011, we received an incredible gift of £20,000 from Diana Haddelsey, a long-term, loyal supporter who sadly died last October, aged 61.

Diana’s love for animals began early in her life. Her childhood home in rural Hertfordshire was always full of cats and it was as a girl that she embarked on her lifelong passion for riding horses.

Diana’s gift has now been put to use funding this crucial campaign against the barren battery cage. Because Diana's gift wasn't restricted to one particular aspect of our work, we were able to invest it where the need was most urgent.

Diana’s legacy is now helping ensure that Europe takes one further step towards ending all forms of factory farming for good.

Diana lived her adult life compassionately. Working as a beautician at a smart London department store, she used only beauty products that weren’t tested on animals and the little meat she ate was high welfare. She joined Compassion in the mid 1990s around the time we were campaigning vigorously against the appalling transport of live animals from the UK to continental Europe.

Diana’s generosity has helped to make possible the lobbying, briefings, investigations and public campaigning that are essential in ensuring a better life for millions of animals.

When the time came to administering her estate, Diana’s sister, Julia, was happy to act as executor. Julia wanted to see firsthand where her sister’s bequest was going and we were thrilled when she arrived in person at our Surrey

We are indebted to Diana and all others like her who remember Compassion in World Farming in their Will.

Together we can put an end to factory farming forever.

If you think you might consider supporting Compassion in this way, you can call us on 01483 521 953 and we will send you a free guide to making or updating a Will. Or you can visit ciwf.org/legacy to download your free copy.

Thank you for your support.

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THANK YOU

CONGRATULATIONS! You are part of the team that has won the 2011 Observer Ethical Award for Campaigner of the Year.

This prestigious award belongs to you, as well as those farmers, celebrities, politicians and partner organisations who played a major part in fighting the spread of intensive dairy farming and zero-grazing.

A VERY SPECIAL MENTION goes to local group, CAFFO (Campaign Against Factory Farming Operations) whose determination and inspiration helped keep cows in fields, where they belong.

This award highlights what we can accomplish when we all pull together.

The spread of intensive farming across the UK is still an imminent threat and we must all remain vigilant.

THANK YOU FOR HELPING TO CROSS OUT FACTORY FARMING.

Compassion in World Farming, River Court, Mill Lane, Godalming, Surrey GU7 1EZ, UK Tel +44 (0) 1483 521 953 Email supporters@ciwf.org Web ciwf.org Compassion in World Farming is a registered charity (England), registered number 1095050.