A move by the government to implement a ban on testing new brands of bleach, disinfectant, lavatory cleaner, glue and air freshener on animals has been welcomed by animal welfare charities.

The government is responding to consumer pressure, which has led to some retailers not selling household products tested on animals.

Animal welfare groups will also be cheered by the news that the ritual halal and kosher slaughter, whereby the animal has to be fully conscious as its throat is cut, has been banned by the Dutch parliament.

The ban follows legislation tabled by the tiny Animal Rights Party, against the views of Dutch Muslims and Jews who say that the ban violates their religious freedom. The country’s Chief Rabbi has compared the legislation to the Nazi persecution of the Jews.

Party leader Marianne Thieme told the Daily Telegraph: “This (ritual) way of killing causes unnecessary pain to animals. For us religious freedom stops where human or animal suffering begins.”

A campaign against the use of the whip in horse-racing has been mounted by Animal Aid.

Headlined “IT’S TIME TO STOP BEATING HORSES” the campaign makes the point that “horses are the only animals that may be beaten in public for entertainment,” although until fairly recently foxes and deer could be torn to bits by dogs for the same purpose.

Also mentioned is the fact that Towcester racecourse has announced a ban on jockeys using whips from October this year, against strong opposition from jockeys, some of whom claim that the horsewhip is manufactured to deliver a mild sting.

There is a view that jockeys who favour the whip should be made to drop their trousers, bend over and take a dozen vigorous lashes, to fairly test the theory.

The government is considering a ban on abortion counselling by charities that also supply the abortions.

This, say the charities, will slow the process down as women go to one organisation for advice and another for the termination, a requirement the government say will better guarantee the independence of the advice.

With most thinking people figuring that the loss of Rupert Murdoch’s News of The World was not much of a loss to society, and only ever filled a much-needed gap, those buying the last issue will have noticed that every single ad was given away to charities.

These replaced the advertisers who deserted in droves, as swiftly as formerly fawning politicians, after details of the phone hacking emerged, and are still emerging. However, according to a report in Private Eye many charities, including the RNLI and two of News International’s own designated charities, didn’t want to be tainted by association with the Murdoch rag.

One that reportedly saw an obvious benefit was journalism ethics charity MediaWise whose submitted ad asked: “Ever been turned over by a tabloid? Got something to tell the inquiry into press ethics? Think it’s time for self-regulation to grow teeth?”

Sadly Rupert’s brave soldiers claimed there was no space to run it.

Charity Diabetes UK has warned that if current trends continue 60% of men and 50% of women will be obese by 2050, with the majority having type two diabetes, which can kill, and the rest at high risk, resulting in an estimated bill of £50 billion for the NHS. Currently in Britain 2.8 million people have been diagnosed with the disease, with a further estimated 850,000 unaware they have it.

Worldwide more than 220 million people are affected and according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) 3.4 million died in 2004 from the consequences of high blood sugar, a figure expected to double between 2005 and 2030. Given that obesity and poor diet are to blame the pandemic should be preventable. Continue reading →