St. Paul, Minessotta, U.S.A – Monday, June 11th marked the first national day of no kill in animal shelters in the USA, and, according to Animal Ark and the No Kill Advocacy Center, the event organizers, between 7,000 and 9,000 animals were saved that day because of it.

For the event, called Just One Day, 766 animal welfare organizations, including municipal animal control centers, private animal shelters and rescue organizations took a pledge to not kill any healthy or treatable animals on June 11th. Euthanasia technicians put down their syringes and picked up cameras. Instead of sending them out the back door in body bags, they committed to sending them home to new families, by reaching out to their communities and asking for support. They hosted special adoption events and offered discounted adoption rates. The response was overwhelming.

From a small rescue in Chicago called St. Sophia’s Forgotten Felines who adopted 13 cats/kittens and transferred in 4 from high kill facilities, to Kern County’s Just One Day event that had 40 people waiting in line prior to opening, to the significant achievements of  B.A.R.C. in Houston which saved the lives of 231 animals, to Miami-Dade Animal Services that adopted 57 animals and reporting “many more hold commitments”, there was unprecedented life-saving all across the nation.”Some shelters literally ran out of animals,” said Nathan Winodgrad of the No Kill Advocacy Center. “With empty cages all over their shelters, many of them realized they were not going to have to kill any animals on June 12th , either. Many decided to continue their events each day for Just One More Day.”

“We proved that there are enough homes for shelter animals,” said Mike Fry of Animal Ark. “So long as the shelters engage the animal-loving American public in positive and constructive ways, they will swoop in to help the shelters to save lives.”

With the tremendous success of Just One Day 2012, the inauguration of the annual event, organizers expect many more shelters to participate in 2013.

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New York, U.S.A. –  The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) handed nearly 110,000 signatures on its global petition to improve the treatment of farm animals, to the Executive Coordinators of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), Ms. Elizabeth Thompson and Mr. Brice Lalonde. The petition represents the significant and growing worldwide support for Pawprint – WSPA’s campaign to put farm animal welfare on the agenda at Rio+20 in June.

Every day, billions of animals suffer on industrial farms. Pigs, chickens and cows are unable to move freely, breathe fresh air or even feel the sunlight. Not only is this one of the worst animal abuses in the world, it also has negative effects on the environment, poverty and human health. Through Pawprint, people from every corner of the globe have asked world leaders to include animal welfare as part of the discussions at Rio+20.

“We are thrilled that tens of thousands of people around the world have acknowledged that the well-being of animals is crucial to the future of people and our planet,” said Luis Carlos Sarmiento, Country Director of WSPA-South America. “Now, more than ever, it is evident that better animal welfare belongs on the conference agenda.”

“It is very encouraging to see such vast support for implementation of comprehensive humane and sustainable agriculture practices,” said Mr. Lalonde. “Food Security and Sustainable Agriculture is one of the priority areas that will be addressed at Rio+20.”

In the lead up to the conference in June, WSPA has sponsored high-level expert meetings, and developed several credible reports and farm-based case studies – all of which showcase that humane farming is a viable, environmentally-friendly alternative to intensive industrial production methods. WSPA’s goal is to lobby five recommendations to the UN, national government delegates and the agricultural industry:

• Develop policies for sustainable food supplies
• Manage the unsustainable demand for farm animal products
• Support research and development of humane and sustainable agriculture
• Phase out subsidies and investments in unsustainable, inhumane systems
• Recognizes the importance of farm animal welfare to poverty alleviation and sustainable livelihoods

In addition to helping the animals themselves, humane and sustainable treatment of farm animals has been shown to provide a series of health, safety and environmental benefits:

• Meat from grass-fed cattle can contain as little as half the fat of that reared in intensive, grain-fed farming
• Cage-free poultry farms in the UK were found to be significantly less likely to harbour bacteria that can cause deadly food poisoning
• Grass-fed beef production can use just half the fossil fuel energy of intensive industrial farming

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The Kiev Zoo in the Ukraine has seen dozens of otherwise healthy animals die in recent years.  Animal welfare groups suggest that malnutrition, a lack of medical care and mistreatment are to blame for the widespread deaths.

The Kiev Zoo has been described as an unkempt warehouse for those with fur and feathers.  Some animal advocates suspect that corruption is the main problem at the zoo which recently saw an elephant drop dead, perhaps from a poor died, Maya the camel died of a digestive illness that could have been prevented and Theo the zebra was killed after crashing into a metal fence trying to reach his female companions that he had been separated from.

Naturewatch, a British-based animal welfare group, is among the organizations calling for the 100-year-old zoo to be closed and its animals sent elsewhere in Europe.  “The Kiev Zoo will never attain any basic standards, it’s so far removed from any zoo in Europe,” said John Ruane of Naturewatch. “The conditions have been absolutely horrendous and no matter how many more directors were appointed the situation still remained the same.”

New managers that took over last October have said that nearly half of the zoo’s animals either died or mysteriously disappeared over two years under their predecessors.  A recent government audit found that thousands of dollars were misspent as animals were illegally sold and funds earmarked for their food and care disappeared. Ukrainian prosecutors have also opened an investigation.

Even with the management change, animals are still dying.  The Kiev zoo was once a favorite tourist attraction for families but began to deteriorate after the collapse of the Soviet Union.  Animals were kept in cramped, poorly lit and poorly heated enclosures, fed improperly and left unattended, according to watchdogs.  The zoo then gained international notoriety in 2007 when it was expelled from the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria after the tragic death of a female bear.

Officials are having a hard time determining exactly how many animals died or disappeared under the previous management. The zoo now has 2,600 animals from 328 species.  Oleksandr Mazurchak, deputy head of the Kiev city administration, said about 250 animals died due to “problems” during two years under Berzina. The government audit last year also found that 131 other animals were missing.

Tamara Tarnavska of the Kiev-based SOS animal rights group believes the zoo must be closed to protect its animals from further abuse.  “The zoo is in such a condition that it’s no longer a zoo, it’s a concentration camp,” Tarnavska said. “When I look those animals in the eyes, I am ashamed to be a human being.”

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