In contrast to the top authorities in the Croatian government, especially the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, which failed the test when panic hit the country with the appearance of bird flu and thus became an example which shouldn’t be followed when human treatment of animals is in question, five Croatian towns improved the overall impression and brought some light into the gloomy Croatian reality.

World anti-McDonald’s Day marked in Split and Rijeka

This year, Animal Friends Croatia marked the World anti-McDonald’s Day in two cities – Rijeka and Split. Whilst in Rijeka a Super Size Me movie projection was held, a protest against McDonald’s happened in Split. About twenty activists from Split, Zagreb and Hvar gathered on 16 October in Marmontova Street in Split, and, carrying numerous banners in a colorful and noisy protest march, showed what they think about the McDonald’s’ destruction of animals, environment and human health.

Pamela Anderson wrote to Croatian designers

As part of PETA’s international campaign against fur, Pamela Anderson contacted Croatian fashion designers by sending them a letter with a video, urging them not to use fur in their creations. Matija Vuica, Leonarda Boban, Amarie, Ivana Popovic, Hippy Garden, Madame DEMODE, Robert Sever, and Image Haddad were amongst thirty-odd designers whom Pamela Anderson contacted through Animal Friends Croatia. Nokia Cro-a-porter also supported and joined this action, and during the opening of this autumn’s fashion and media show 500 leaflets ‘Fur is dead! Compassion is in fashion’ and 200 pins ‘Hands up if you wear fur’ were handed out to the visitors of this happening.

Panic and mass murder of poultry in Croatia

23 October 2005 will go down in history as Bloody Sunday, when the biggest public mass slaughter of healthy poultry started in Croatia. Having the excuse that this was the only way to prevent a bird flu epidemic, elimination of more than 20,000 poultry in homesteads was carried out in Croatia. Plausibly the most shameful thing was calling the neck breaking of poultry and shooting them with fire-arms euthanasia.

A week after the general histeria, lots of questions were left unanswered: Why the mass murder of healty poultry happened in the first place; Why preventive measures of education and quarantine weren’t taken; Why the scenes of apocalyptic Hollywood blockbusters; Why the media blockade of everyone who publicly critized the slaughter of healthy birds and, in the end, did we really need all this? Mass histeria went over Croatia like a hurricane, leaving behind tens of thousands of animal carcasses and economic damage. Today almost no one even mentions bird flu. Except maybe politicians who ponder whether this ‘training’ was successful enough or not and whether the European Union got a clear message that Croatia is willing to dance on every tune which is playing in the West.

Croatian towns are banning circuses with animal acts!

In less than three weeks, five Croatian towns made a historic decision and banned circuses with animal acts! Varazdin followed a praise-worthy example of Mursko Sredisce already after eleven days (21 October), whilst on the 27 October Velika Gorica and Rovinj joined on the same day, with Split to follow one day later.

Animal Friends congratulate the mayors and the town governments of these towns and invite you to send them a thank-you note with a few words of support to their e-mail addresses:
– Mr Zvonimir Puljic, the mayor of Split, grad@split.hr
– Mr Giovanni Sponza, the mayor of Rovinj, gradonacenik@rovinj.hr
– Mr Tonino Picula, the mayor of Velika Gorica, gradonacelnik@gorica.hr
– Mr Ivan Cehok, the mayor of Varazdin, gradonacelnik@varazdin.hr
– Mr Rudolf Klenert, the mayor of Mursko Sredisce, grad-mursko-sredisce@ck.t-com.hr

Announcements and news

– The promotion of the most controversial book published in Croatia in 2005 Eternal Treblinka: Our Treatment of Animals and the Holocaust by Charles Patterson will take place in cooperation with the Department of Culture of the City of Zagreb on Wednesday, 9 November, at the Faculty of Arts. As an announcement to the promotion, on 5 November a performance of Robert Franciszty will start in front of the Zagreb Cathedral.

– From 10 to 18 November a New Circus Festival (www.cirkus.hr) without animal acts will take place in Zagreb. Unlike classical circuses which torture animals for their shows, this Festival promotes new circuses as an artistically relevant phenomenon of the new age.

– After Animal Friends Croatia and other organizations reported Mr Ivo Covic from Zupanja who hunts badgers for the production of badger fat, the Inspection of Nature Conservation together with the Veterinary Inspection went into inspection and found out that, except for illegal breeding, the reported hunter used badgers for the training of the dogs for hunt and used pit bull terriers for hunt.

– This year, too, Croatian actor Goran Visnjic showed high degree of sensibility towards animals. Three years ago he supported PETA’s anti-fur campaign, which was organized by Animal Friends Croatia in Croatia, whilst this year he is a spokesman for the International Fund For Animal Welfare (IFAW) and appears on posters for their anti-fur campaign.

– Animal Friends appeal to citizens who, because of fear from bird flu let their feathery companion animals go, not to do that. They are not a threat to any of us, just like birds like pigeons, sparrows, etc., also present no threat to humans. Pigeons are, for instance, the most resisting species to a bird flu virus.

– Animal Friends branch from Krizevci celebrated the first year of its existence and activity last Saturday! We wish our activists from Krizevci many anniversaries like this one and lots of success in their future work for animal rights.

Until the next issue of our e-newsletter please except our gratitude for your support in our mutual fight for the animals.

Yours, Animal Friends Croatia