Animal Friends Croatia - areas of action
Animal Friends Croatia is a non-profit, non-governmental association, founded in 2001 whose goal it is to promote the protection of animals and their rights, as well as vegetarianism, i.e. veganism, as ethical, ecological and healthy life style. In their activities so far, AFC held hundreds of campaigns and events where they pointed out animal suffering in food industry, laboratories, fur farms, hunting and fishing, entertainment industry and educated about a problem of abandonment and abuse of companion animals.
The association’s activities encompass the following areas:
Food industry:
- industrial farming of animals and production of meat, milk and eggs
- slaughter and slaughter houses, pig slaughter, ritual slaughter for religious community needs, slaughter of horses
- subsiding meat industry
- neglecting animals due to subsidies
- farming animals in cages for their eggs, male chick grinding in egg production (maceration)
- animal farming for foie gras
- mass farming of bees
- dogs and cats on the menu
- animal transportation (legislation and practice, multi-week transport of animals by ships to Middle East for slaughter without stunning)
- harmfulness of meat, milk and eggs to health (hormones, antibiotics, animal protein, cholesterol, infections diseases, poisoning…)
- promoting plant based drinks instead of cow milk
- hunting and fishing
- fish farming
- harmful effects of fishing (environment, health)
- animal farming and world hunger
- linking meat production with ecological problems, destroying of the environment, greenhouse gasses, global warming and water consumption
- veganism as prevention of many most frequent diseases of today (cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, arthritis…)
- infections and poisoning through meat (salmonella, E-coli, dangerous bacteria)
- consulting on healthy diet
- advice on nutrition
- official stance of nutritionists about vegan diet
- how to get all necessary nutrients in a vegan diet (B12, calcium, iron, protein, D vitamin, essential fatty acids)
- cooking workshops for children and adults
- vegan meal recipes, holiday recipes for plant based dishes
- children and vegetarianism (veganism) (diet during childhood, children vegetarians/vegans in Croatia, advice for parents)
- vegetarian diet for pregnant women
- vegetarian diet for sportspeople (advice, menus, vegan sportspeople)
- vegan diet for balanced body weight, slimness and better appearance
- V-label on products and services in order to make it easier for consumers to spot vegan products and places offering them
- Green Monday: a day in a week when only plant based ingredients and dishes are consumed
- Vege guide to vegan products in shops
- vegan diet pyramid
- ZeGeVege Festival of sustainable living
- McDonald's and fast food (children exploitation, deforestation, animal killing)
- harmfulness of milk to health (misconceptions about milk, pant-based sources of calcium, allergies, sinus infections, lactose intolerance, mucus and harmful hormones in milk, misleading marketing about necessity of milk for healthy bones and growth)
- vegetarians'/vegans' rights
- vegetarian meals in public institutions, schools, kindergartens and similar
- list of restaurants and shops in Croatia offering vegetarian products
- lack of offers for vegetarians/vegans tourists
- holiday celebration with vegan meals
- definition of terms vegetarian and vegan (vegetarians do not eat fish and similar)
- promotion of books with vegan and animal rights themes
- famous vegetarians and vegans from the past until today
- famous persons' thoughts on veganism and attitude towards animals
- Meatout (20th March)
- World Health Day (7th April)
- Earth Day (22nd April)
- World Oceans Day (8th June)
- World Vegetarian Day (1st October)
- World Farm Animals Day (2nd October)
- World Animal Day (4th October)
- International Day of Action against McDonald’s (16th October)
- World Food Day (16th October)
- International Day of eradication of Poverty (17th October)
- World Vegan Day (1st November)
Companion animals:
- abandoned animals, stray cats
- abandoning animals before summer holidays (campaign "Families at the Seaside, Dogs in the Streets")
- legal fines for abandoning animals
- re-homing and problems with fostering (older dogs, black animals, handicapped animals)
- conditions necessary for keeping animals, responsible fostering (long term obligation)
- what to do if you find an abandoned animal (microchip reading, contacting info centers, advertising)
- how to home abandoned animal when found
- advertising spaces for animal adoption
- why you shouldn't buy animals
- breeding and breeders (overcrowding of dogs and puppies factories, dog breeding in Croatia, breeding illnesses and tragedies, "You buy one, kill one" , eugenic approach to breeding)
- dangerous and aggressive dogs are products of their owners
- exhibitions of "purebred" dogs
- desexing (necessity of spaying/neutering, desexing as ethical question, registration form for desexing at reduced prices)
- microchipping
- shelters for abandoned animals (killing animals after 60 days, irregularities in shelter's businesses, lack of shelters in Croatia…)
- Animal Protection Network, formerly know as Network Against Animal Abandoning
- how and to whom to report abandoning, neglect, abuse and killing of animals
- animal poisoning (legal sanctions, procedure for finding perpetrators)
- sticky traps for rodents
- violence towards animals (causes, connection of violence towards people and violence towards animals)
- teaching children about animals treatment and compassion
- dogs on chains (psychological effects - aggressive behavior, neck wounds from chains, local laws, petition for a ban)
- animal police and specialized inspection for animal protection
- ineffectiveness of veterinary inspection (numerous examples in practice)
- attempts to limit the number of companion animals in households
- dogs and cats in public transport
- animals as objects (giving them away as like live toys at Christmas, for birthdays and holidays, rejecting them when one becomes bored with them)
- exotic animals as pets (exotic animal trade, animal smuggling, pet shops - white and black lists of pet shops that do/do not sell animals)
- rabbits and rats as pets
- pets and fireworks (petition, legal ban on fireworks)
- rescuing animals from flooded areas
Animals in experiments:
- legislative framework for testing on animals (current legislation in EU and Croatia)
- experiments on animals for testing cosmetics and cleaning products
- ways of testing cosmetics on animals (Draize test - introducing chemicals into eyes or onto skin, irritation test, LD50 - poisoning half the animals)
- testing cosmetics on animals in China and companies that only test there
- ban on testing cosmetics on animals in EU
- Botox testing on animals
- so called white list of companies that do not test on animals
- Leaping Bunny label as a sign of non-testing (label "cruelty free")
- encouraging cosmetic companies not to test on animals
- manufacture of medicines
- misconceptions about development of drugs and science because of testing on animals
- methods of testing without using animals (in vitro tests, computer technology, cells and tissue culture, stem cells, molecular methods, artificial "human skin", research on human population, human volunteers…)
- 3 R principle (Replacement, Reduction, Refinement)
- testing on animals hindering development of medicine (examples from medical history)
- experiments on primates
- experiments on dogs and cats
- tragedy of thalidomide and failure of testing on animals
- "beagle affair" at Veterinary University in Zagreb, 2005.
- testing on animals for educational purposes (humane education, InterNICHE)
- mice and rats in experiments
- exploiting and killing animals in wars and military experiments
- invertebrates feel pain - (in)justice in using them in experiments
- REACH, European Union regulation for the control of chemicals (deleting requests for testing for skin irritation and eye test irritation on rabbits)
- testing dog food (Iams)
- Collaboration with the European Coalition to End Animal Experiments (ECEAE)
- World Day for Animals in Laboratories (24th April)
- Day of fighting animal experiments (21st July)
Fashion victims:
Fur
- farming animals for fur (keeping in cages, diseases, stress…), fur farms (foreign, domestic, Chinchilla d.o.o.)
- legal ban on fur farming in Croatia
- methods of killing (genital/anal electrical shock, neck fracture, gas suffocation, poisoning)
- killing animals in the wild for their fur (traps and pitfalls)
- ecological problems (poisonous cancerous chemicals in tanning and leather processing, soil and water pollution)
- dog and cat fur on clothing
- killing seals for fur (legislation and practice)
- fur as a sign of glamor and status (trends in fashion)
- project Shops without fur (list of shops and fashion designers in Croatia that do not sell fur)
- Rather naked than in fur!
- famous persons' stance regarding fur
- competition Design Against Fur
- International day of protest against Chinese fur industry (13th February)
- Slaughter of seals in Canada (15th March)
Leather
- leather industry and ways of manufacturing leather
- links between meat and leather industry
- skin from exotic and illegally caught animals
- killing kangaroos for meat and skin (killing for football boots, Adidas and football boots "Predator")
- poisons from leather manufacturers (dangerous waste, ecological problem)
- plant based and artificial materials for clothing and shoe making
Wool
- wool production
- sheep farming in Australia (genetically manipulated sheep to get larger amounts of wool)
- torture shearing
- export of animals and transport
- Merino sheep and cutting of skin from the rear parts of the legs (mulesing)
- abuse of sheep for the production of footwear Ugg
- Benetton and Australian wool (the cruel treatment of sheep, transport to slaughter in the Middle East)
- alternatives to wool clothes and blankets
Feathers
- plucking feathers from live geese
Silk
- cruelty in breeding silkworm and process of silk manufacture
- humane alternatives
Mother of pearl and pearls
- killing clam-shells for mother-of-pearl
- pearl farming by implanting foreign body into the shell
Sports and entertainment:
- fights with bulls and bull fights (bans abroad, bull fights in Croatia - Animals Protection Act)
- bull races (Human Race in Pamplona)
- rodeo: bull and calf abuse
- dog fights (how and whom to report to)
- greyhound racing
- dogsled racing in Alaska
- horse "sport" (horse racing, exposing horses to noise, horse abuse, legalized violence towards horses, A. Nevzorov and non-violent approach to horses)
- using horses for therapy riding
- horse competition in log pulling
- using horses as working animals (using horses for carriages as tourist "attraction", for pulling logs out of the woods, for police work….)
- animal circuses (methods of dressage, domestic animals in circuses, ban on using wild animals in circuses, horses in circuses, Croatian cities that banned animal circuses, circus Gartner, Circus Safari)
- dolphinariums and aquariums (training dolphins and dolphin shows, therapy swimming with dolphins, ban on building a dolphinarium in Croatia)
- ZOOs (deprivation of freedom, education and preserving species, breeding, young in ZOOs, killing animals in ZOOs, Split ZOO on Marjan, private ZOOs in Croatia, animals in improvised ZOO behind the Macola restaurant in Korenica….)
- behavioral problems in imprisoned animals (repetitive behaviors and actions, "ZOO psychosis")
- hunt (Hunting Law, killing dogs and cats, trophies, hunting tourism, hunting crime in Croatia, hunting lies, facts against hunt, large carnivores in Croatia on the brink of extinction, how and who to report to illegal actions of hunters)
- fishing and whaling (commercial fishing industry, killing whales in commercial whaling, Paul Watson and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society)
- "leisure" fishing
- dolphin slaughter (Richard O’Barry and freeing of imprisoned dolphins - Flipper)
- World Whale and Dolphin Day (30th June)
Animal in arts:
- exploiting and killing animals for "artistic" purposes (using animals in shows and at exhibitions, Vlasta Delimar shows with animals killings, transgenic art, art ethic)
Other:
- participating in drafting and amending the Animal Protection Act and by-laws
- sanctioning animal torture and killings through Criminal Law
- collaboration with governing Ministry and institutions as well as Members of European Parliament regarding improvements in legalities connected to animal protection
- animal rights (Dr Melanie Joy, cornice, species, intelligence and feelings of animals, Cambridge Declaration about Consciousness)
- zoophilia (legal ban in European countries)
- animals in pornography (non/existing legal protection)
- genetically modified animals, genetically modified food
- waste separation, recycling
- ban on using plastic bags (plastic waste and animals, consequences for environment, petition for ban on plastic bags)
- interviews and talks with famous persons about animal rights and veganism
- list of literature about animal rights and cookbook in Croatian and English
- advice for compassionate shopping
- video recordings and films, translated into Croatian language and with subtitles are available at: www.youture.com/user/afcroatia
