SINPALABRAS

• An initiative of FAADA
• Edited by Logos

• Fur

  Fur

  Each year, more than 75 million animals are reared in captivity and killed for their fur. Europe produces the 70% of fur, especially Finland, Denmark and Holland. There are around 70 fur farms in Spain.

  Animals are reared in intensive conditions, unable to act naturally. Farms are basically rows of small metallic cages along open sheds. Floors are grilled for excrements to fall directly to the ground. Slaughtering methods are designed to avoid damage to the fur and to reduce costs and they include electric shock, suffocating gases or breaking their necks among others.

  Due to boredom, frustration and to being deprived of a biological and socially appropriate environment, those animals live in constant grieve. They are unable to adapt and stress gets evident with stereotypic behaviors, carried out repeatedly and obsessively, leading often to auto mutilation and cannibalism. Many clothes have real fur accessories of which we may be unaware. 90% of the foxes living in those farms are reared exclusively for cloth trimming, especially hoods for coats. It is expected that shortly, there will be more animals killed for the trims than for entire coats. We must not favor the fur industry; we should get information about the origin of what we buy. There are alternatives, it is not necessary that angora rabbits, foxes, minks or raccoons die for us to keep warm.

  More information: http://faada.org/causas.php?id_causa=2&leng=en

• Fish

  Fish

  Commercial fishing kills hundreds of billions of animals worldwide each year. Much more than any other industry.

  Most fishing methods are highly destructive for the environment as shrimp trawlers, which discard up to 85 % of everything they catch. Fishing has decimated our ocean ecosystems exterminating 90% of large fish population in the last 50 years.

  Fish factory farming is faster growing food industry, doubling its production every 20 years due to the global demand for fish. Spain, the European country with the highest fish consumption, is also one of Europe's largest producers of farmed fish.

  Crammed, fish swim in circles constantly, thus their fins and tails are worn down, deformed and damaged by rubbing against the sides of the cages or against other fish. On sultry days, you can see them gasping for breath.

  When nets are raised these animals can’t adapt to the surface pressure’s change. Those fish that are still alive once out of the water can have their gills cut off until they bleed - sometimes after electric shock, although most of them die suffocated by air or on ice. Another killing method involves stunning them in a carbon dioxide saturated water bath, which irritates their guts. It is estimated that fish can take up to 15 minutes to lose consciousness, even if they are paralyzed.

  More information: http://faada.org/causas.php?id_causa=11&leng=en and http://faada.org/causas.php?id_causa=26&leng=en

• Dolphinaria

  Dolphinaria

  There are about 1,000 cetaceans living in captivity worldwide. 98 of them in Spain. Most of them are confined in dolphinaria, zoos and water parks, but they are also used as a tourist attraction in some hotels. A reality that clashes with scientific evidence: marine mammals suffer in captivity. The shows, always to the sound of loud music, enhance unnatural behavior and don’t show how animals really are, how the species live in nature or how they interrelate. Living in artificial groups, forced, turning in a concrete tank without any environmental enrichment, may cause dolphins, orcas and beluga whales stress and aggressiveness, reducing their life expectancy and resulting in numerous health problems.

  Unfortunately the shape of their jaw looks like what in humans would be a smile, but for real, dolphins and orcas in captivity are frustrated, depressed and even aggressive animals. Significantly, many former dolphin and orca trainers are now fervent defenders of their freedom.

  Most cetaceans in captivity die prematurely, if dolphins in the wild can live up to 50 years in captivity they die at an average 20 years of age. The mean age of the 159 orcas which died in captivity was 6.5 years, whereas in the wild they would live around 70-90 years. Captivity is also the cause of attacks on caregivers and the public. Only in the U.S. there have been a total of 70 documented cases of attacks from orcas to their trainers. 4 killer whale trainers have died.

  More information: www.sosdolphins.org

• Exotic pets

  Exotic pets

  Globally, 4 million birds, 640,000 reptiles, 40,000 primates and 350 million tropical fish are traded each year.

  The trade of exotic animals for pets causes suffering to millions of animals; it affects ecosystems and leads those species to extinction. This trade also facilitates the spread of diseases, jeopardizing the health of both animals and humans. It is estimated that for every exotic animal that arrives to its destination alive, nine others have died along the way.

  Having an exotic wild animal out of its habitat and deprived of its freedom and of the opportunity to develop their most natural behaviors, such as flying in the case of birds- is unnatural. Not even with the best intentions owners can reproduce the complex diversity of natural habitats in captivity.

  Every year 60,000 iguanas are sold in Spain. Few people know that these exotic animals can reach large dimensions and require very specific, and often expensive, care. When owners get tired of these animals or they get sick, exotic animals often end up abandoned. The few private rescue centers that exist in the country end up bearing the consequences of this problem as a result of the irresponsibility of some people and of the laws that allow their trade. Many others end up abandoned on the streets or in native ecosystems, causing serious ecological problems.

  If we respect wild animals, we should let them live and protect their habitat, as it is the means where they are adapted and prepared to live.

  More information: http://faada.org/causas.php?id_causa=14&leng=en

• Vivisection

  Vivisection

  Over 100 million animals are used yearly for laboratory experiments, 11 million of them in the European Union. Researchers from around the world use animals to test everything, from cleaning products to food and pharmaceutical additives, industrial chemicals, agrochemicals, pet food, alcohol, tobacco and also for military research and for the development of transgenic animals thought genetic engineering.

  In March 2013 the European Union banned experiments on animals for cosmetic products; nevertheless those tests are still taking place in other countries in order to test perfumes, shampoos, toothpastes, dyes, creams, make-up and deodorants. Rats, mice and rabbits are the most used animals because they are easy to manage, are reared fast and are costless. But also cats, dogs, fish, birds, primates and farm animals are victims to experiments that cause them pain and suffering.

  New scientific research concludes that those experiments are not completely reliable and the extrapolation of animal results to humans may lead to mistakes. In the USA alone, around 100,000 people die every year because of drugs that had been tested in animals and were believed to be safe for humans.

  There are many alternatives to the use of animals in experiments, like cell, tissue and organ cultures, epidemiological studies, studies with human volunteers, clinical research or mathematical and computer models.

  More information: http://faada.org/causas.php?id_causa=1&leng=en

• Farmed Animals

  Farmed Animals

  65 billion animals are farmed around the world each year. 45 billion chickens and 1 billion pigs are slaughtered annually for meat worldwide and 5 billion laying hens live on farms. Billions of animals in overcrowded farms are crammed into cages or immobilized in compartments that are too narrow for them to even turn around.

  Intensive farming conditions deprive animals from performing their natural behaviors; they can’t make nests, exercise nor socially interact. They suffer from chronic stress, physical degeneration, tension and aggressiveness. In order to avoid damage between frustrated animals they are subjected to mutilation of teeth, beaks, horns and tails - without anesthesia.

  Selective breeding accelerates the growth of those animals at such an extreme rate that their bones and organs cannot adapt. Chickens grow nowadays twice as fast as 30 years ago.
  

  Before being slaughtered, many animals suffer long journeys and their slaughter often implies first stunning and then exsanguination. However in many occasions, stunning is not effective and the animal recovers consciousness during the process. The high level of hormones and antibiotics provided to those animals affects the consumer’s health.

  Environmentally, intensive breeding is not sustainable as it concentrates animals in such densities that they are a great source of greenhouse gases. It has been calculated that all the grain used to feed animals reared for human consumption could eliminate hunger on earth if it was directly consumed.

  More information: http://faada.org/causas.php?id_causa=6&leng=en

• Milk

  Milk

  About 200 million dairy cows worldwide produce about 500 million tons of milk annually. To maximize the productivity of cows, selective breeding keeps them in a constant state of pregnancy and lactation. They can produce more than 40 liters of milk daily. Pregnancy after pregnancy, they are separated from their calves and milked up to their limits. Then a new pregnancy and then back again. This entails an enormous physiological demand for animals and makes them more susceptible to metabolism disorders and mammary infections. Their udders are so artificially large that cows have to adopt awkward postures and many of them suffer from lameness.

  After giving birth, calves are separated from their mothers, causing extreme distress to both of them. Male calves of dairy cows are not considered suitable for breeding or meat so many of them are slaughtered just after birth or they are immobilized and subjected to a deficient diet in order to produce white meat. Humans are the only species that drinks milk from another species, and intolerances, rejections and colics could indicate that its consumption is not only unnatural but also harmful to us.

  The industry has been responsible for promoting the belief that milk consumption is beneficial to our health. However, there are other, even better, calcium sources such as broccoli, sesame and oranges. It is also significant that countries with the highest consumption of dairy, like he USA, are those with the highest incidence of osteoporosis among its population.

  More information: http://faada.org/causas.php?id_causa=6&leng=en

• Hunting

  Hunting

  30 million animals are killed every year in Spain. 270 species of vertebrates have become extinguished from this activity. That’s the sad balance caused by hunting, a hobby that has broken the ecological equilibrium of our native fauna and ecosystems by eliminating predators and introducing hybrids like wild boars with domestic pigs; in order to obtain more animals for hunting.

  The number of hunting licenses has decreased by 61% in the last 25 years. However, there are still 850,000 licensed hunters in Spain which, together with the non-licensed and illegal hunters, may easily double. Hunters fill our countryside with traps, baits and snares where any animal can fall, even domestic ones. Just in Catalonia, more than the 60% of the dogs rescued by shelters are hunting dogs. That makes hunters highly responsible for the saturation of shelters.

  According to Mutuasport, every year 44 hunters are killed by hunters in Spain and 2585 people are hurt due to this hobby. So hunting is a danger not only for hunters themselves but also for the rest of people going by the countryside or mountains. The 300 million cartridges that are shot every season leave 5,000 tons of lead on the ground. Also cans, plastic bags and aluminum paper are spread in mountains and pastures. Hunters say that their activity is environmental because it helps keep the environmental equilibrium. Make your own judgment. Evidence speaks by itself.

  More information: http://faada.org/causas.php?id_causa=13&leng=en

• Circuses

  Circuses

  About 200 Spanish cities no longer accept the installation of circuses with wild animals in their territories. But around 40 circuses still operate in Spain with 200 wild animals in their shows. Life in a circus causes great suffering - physical and psychological- to animals. They are confused and, in many cases, their living conditions lead to disorders and abnormal behaviors. Inadequate diets and hygiene also pose risk to their health. "Animal artists" are subject to human control through aggressive methods: they are dressed up and forced to take unnatural postures, which sometimes require constant overexertion of some parts of their body.

  They spend most parts of their lives tied or locked in cages, in which they can barely move and where they have to eat, sleep and do their bodily functions. Most part of their live is spent travelling in trucks from one place to another, unable to establish their own territory and in most cases under climate conditions that are adverse to their physiology.
  Animals in a circus can’t ever develop their own nature and the frustration of their instincts often results in attacks against their trainers –and occasionally their death.

  How can we instil respect for nature to our kids when we are showing them wild animals far from their environment, family and deprived of freedom? 20 countries have banned the use of wild animals in circuses -like Austria, Bolivia, Slovenia and Hungary , and others have established strict limitations.

  More information: www.infocircos.org

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