UK banning fur and whale meat!! :)

[Friendsoftheearth]

Such brilliant news this morning!

The UK is banning the life export of animals to and from the UK, additionally they are now planning to ban fur ENTIRELY, given how cruel the industry is, I am so delighted!
Whale meat transportation to Japan from Nordic countries will also now be banned.

The phasing out of petrol etc cars is also happening much sooner than planned, so hopefully this will help keep the pollution levels low.

Of all the things to come out of brexit, this is unexpected wonderful surprise for many, and it has really made my day! I hope the gov carry on with changes like this, it is most definitely the right direction for our country.

PS Harrods will need to rethink their winter collection :)

@Prozacyogurt

It is a damn shame whale meat is being allowed to be sold anywhere in the world - but alas we have had to put up with this for years.

Never understood why people get so hung up on whale meat. Chomping down on cod, cow, pig or chicken is absolutely fine but God forbid someone fancies a little whale.

I'm also uneasy with the ban on fur as the synthetic substitutes are far more environmentally damaging than what it's replacing.

I think that the reason people don't support eating whales is that there is no humane way to kill them.

I wish that they would ban fur from animals just raised for fur, like mink. It makes less sense banning fur from rabbits shot in the wild for food.

Also I wish that they wouldn't keep pushing electric cars as they are horrendously bad for the environment due to making the batteries and for generating electricity. It would be much better if small cars (like you find in Japan) became much more common, SUVs were banned (except for those who it is essential for) and that walking/cycling and public transport became the default way to get around.

Whens the anouncement about banning all hunting with dogs and heavy sentences for fox hunting?

@britnay yep, that's a problem in my area too. When I tried to get broadband here I was basically told it's impossible as I'm too far away from the exchange box thingy.

My electric keeps going out at the moment because everyone in the area is using their heaters and the system can't cope, dread to think what it would be like if everyone was using it to charge their cars too!

Are they banning sheepskin? I presume not. But how is this different from fur of animals killed for meat?

As for cars Id have an outright ban on innercity car journeys except permit holders.

jas That is really the kettle calling the saucepan black I would say. One of us is at least genuine, and it definitely ain't you buddy.

I don't think you are listening. I don't believe any animals should be transported anywhere, I don't believe animals should be consumed anywhere. But given the UK gov are unlikely to turn the country vegetarian on the 31st of January the very least we can do is improve the lives of the animals, the number of miles they are forced to travel and the conditions they are kept in.

You know as well as I do that the UK could not stop animals being exported across the continent before, it is part of the EU directive. Now we can do something about it, and I am very happy about that.

But you just carry on, well until lunch time anyway.

chang How long and approximately what is the cost in conversion out of interest?

It does seem like there is so much support for change. I really hope by the time my dc are adults we will see some of these huge changes becoming reality.

Anyway, saying the UK will “ban whale meat” is a bit of a red herring. It’s already banned from entering EU countries under existing EU regulations. Whale meat from Iceland and Norway can legally pass through EU (and UK) waters and ports accompanied by the correct documentation, but does not clear customs and therefore doesn’t enter EU states (or the UK).

The UK could ban it from entering UK ports, but it’ll need to do a bit of rejigging of existing legislation regarding how UK ports operate.

I am popping to a mindfulness class now, I hope you all have a good day I will check in later.
For those of us that care about animals, this is a small victory and I am relieved that animal welfare is making it onto the agenda at all. I was always worried it would slip down to the waste paper basket with a tory government back in December and not be considered at all.
I remember the early 1990s and no one in gov would give it the time of day. So it is not the huge advances I would like to see, but small stepping stones to something better.

You know as well as I do that the UK could not stop animals being exported across the continent before, it is part of the EU directive.

It’s not part of an EU directive. It’s one of the four freedoms of the single market.

This has Carrie Symonds all over it. Good for her.

KPO58 Also I wish that they wouldn't keep pushing electric cars as they are horrendously bad for the environment due to making the batteries and for generating electricity. It would be much better if small cars (like you find in Japan) became much more common, SUVs were banned (except for those who it is essential for) and that walking/cycling and public transport became the default way to get around.

I agree with what you say on fur, but I don't want to see small cars encouraged - because they tend to last or be kept in good condition as long as larger, more luxury cars and because I don't really think people should be using either small or large cars for urban journeys.

The UK is dreadfully behind the times on urban planning and public transport. In The Netherlands, little rural villages have good bus services and cycle lanes, in this country, you're lucky to have a footpath if you live 1/2 mile outside a town. I live a mile from the nearest, quite large town and there is no footpath at all - if you want to walk, you walk on the road. It would be so easy to put footpaths and bike lanes in too.

And bear in mind that many people in the countryside need 4 x 4s for towing, because the UK declined to negotiate an opt out from EU law for towing weights, which is not such a problem in the EU but here the trailer market is dominated by heavy and robust Ifor Williams, not the lightweight trailers in the EU. So legally, you need a big heavy 4 x 4 to tow even an empty trailer, although a decent sized saloon could probably tow one quite safely.

My electric keeps going out at the moment because everyone in the area is using their heaters and the system can't cope, dread to think what it would be like if everyone was using it to charge their cars too!

We had that problem when the gas main to our village was cut for a week in midwinter. The gas people came round giving out electric heaters which then overloaded the electricity supply and we lost that too.

friends

Animals will still be transported in shocking conditions, both in the UK and to the EU, regardless of the outcome of this consultation (meaning the ban might not even happen!)

Due to the huge shortage of vets in the UK (made worse by eu vets leaving the uk/not coming here) many local slaughterhouses have closed, meaning longer transport times.
That is nothing to be very happy about.

Instead of insulting me, how about pulling up the govt on not introducing higher welfare standards on farms, transport and slaughter?

I am popping to a mindfulness class now, I hope you all have a good day I will check in later.

How convenient. You still haven't shown us any proof that it's definitely going to be banned.

@Friendsoftheearth

SchrodingersImmigrant I have read so many of your posts in the past, and I know for sure that you definitely do not love the UK! You spend a vast amount of time and energy running the UK down at every opportunity. The only difference now is that you do not have the usual contingent of posters slamming the UK for every last thing anymore, hence your despair at the forum. My post is very far from whinging! I am celebrating a truly happy and positive movement, that this country at long last seems to be moving (at snails pace in my view) towards something representing an ethical and decent society that is kind to animals - or at least kinder. I have devoted forty years of my life to just this, and many millions of people in this country want to see a complete ban on hunting, exporting live animals long distance, real animal welfare and all the rest. This IS the future, you speak to anyone under twenty five and this stuff matters now, and it matters if we are to have any kind of future.

raspberry I will ALWAYS choose to save an animal's life over the use of plastic. Avoiding both is best - but using animal fur etc is purely optional for absolutely everyone in today's world.

It absolutely os not optional for everyone one on this earth and ots really closed minded for you to think so. In some climates they NEED fur to surive...Such as Northern Canada, Alaska and Russia.

@user1471565182

Im genuinely fucked if theyre banning reindeer fur. Its half my income.

Find something ethical to sell 🤷🏻‍♀️

WitchesBritches, could you explain what is so unethical about reindeer fur? The reindeer have as good a life as could well be imagined; they roam their natural habitat as they have done for millennia, followed by their Sami owners. Occasionally a few are rounded up and killed by their owners, who eat and sell the meat. What is unethical about making use of the skin at the same time?

If you eat the meat and throw the fur away, some other material - whether plastic or textile- will be used instead and that is unlikely to be without a cost to the natural environment.

As for rabbits, due to the high rabbit population in this country, it would be impossible not to keep them down at all if you want people to eat more vegetarian food. So the questions arising are:

is it more unethical to shoot them than to e.g. poison them (and if so, why)?

if you do shoot them, is it unethical to also use their fur (and if so why)?

@Bluebell798

Ugh awful about them banning fur. Glad I don't live in the UK. Whale meat is random though, didn't even know there was a trade in that.

Why?

Great news op

tea That is not accurate actually

Nothing you have said so far is accurate. Even your title is inaccurate.

*"The UK" is not banning anything.
*Approx 6,000 animals a year are exported live anyway, and nobody forced the UK to do it, they could have stopped at any time.
*tens of millions of live animals: chickens etc, WILL continue to be exported by the UK after Brexit and after this ban (if it happens), which will be by CHOICE of the UK government.
*No ban has happened yet.
*No fur ban has even been properly planned, its just a vague notion being used to pretend that the UK will be better off without the EU...and...
*You're kinda racist about the communities who do use fur, and you're telling lies.

So, please don't call me inaccurate. I can't see any accuracy in anything you've said. It's all just a load of waffle, and you appear to be promoting highly damaging plastics as well.

cortythatwas WitchesBritches, could you explain what is so unethical about reindeer fur? The reindeer have as good a life as could well be imagined; they roam their natural habitat as they have done for millennia, followed by their Sami owners. Occasionally a few are rounded up and killed by their owners, who eat and sell the meat. What is unethical about making use of the skin at the same time?

I agree; people living on the fringes of Europe have constantly had their culture and livlihoods threatened by Europeans. It smacks of sheer ignorance of anyone living beyond the Arctic Circle that people think European culture prevails. There is little more ethical farming than reindeer farming. Certainly its far more ethical than the meat farming in this country, including long transportation in crowded trucks to slaughterhouses, which may or may not comply with regulations.

I've actually eaten reindeer meat in Norway. My goodness it was delicious. By far the best meat I've ever tasted. And felt like it would have kept me going for 3 days!

Reindeer fur is also the best for keeping you warm, due to its composition. Why on earth would anyone want to ban that and force the Sami to use man-made fibres??

I honestly cannot see the government successfully banning petrol/ diesel cars. Replacing a battery of a rechargeable car can cost over £20,000