‘To produce foie gras, ducks and geese are force-fed by having metal pipes shoved down their throats. Corn mush is pumped into their stomachs, two or three times a day, every day for weeks…’ – Tamara Ecclestone

Home Slaughter – a Tradition of Bloody Backyards

Organizing a performance in Slavonski Brod on November 27, we wanted to draw attention to the by law required stunning of pigs before slaughter and warn about the shameful legacy of the sick custom of home slaughter. The process of slaughter is the most brutal act in a relationship between man and animal and the best way to abolish this ‘tradition’ is going vegetarian or vegan.

Tamara Ecclestone Reveals ‘The Naked Truth’ About Foie Gras

Wearing nothing but a bracelet and appearing with two adorable ducklings next to the tagline ‘The Naked Truth: Foie Gras Is Torture in a Tin,’ Formula One heiress Tamara Ecclestone is the star of a brand-new ad for PETA. We launched this ad in Croatia because for the first time since our founding we wanted to bring attention to the suffering of geese and ducks that are being force-fed so their blown-up liver could be used for making a liver pate called foie gras.

Vegetarianism as a Solution for Climate Changes

On the eve of the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen from December 7-18 and after the event in the European Parliament on global warming and food policy on December 3 where the Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Dr Rajendra K. Pachauri and Sir Paul McCartney urged legislators and experts to focus on what an individual can do to fight climate change, we sent a letter to the presidential candidates for the Croatian elections asking them whether anyone of them is planning on becoming a vegetarian and were they ready to support the introduction of at least a weekly vegetarian day in Croatia in order to fight climate changes.

Projection of the Film ‘Invisible Animals’

On the International Animal Rights Day on December 10 in Rijeka, we had a premiere of a short film recorded in Croatia. The film was projected on a screen inside a completely covered tent, and visitors could watch it through tiny holes in the tent. Everyone who saw the film got a brochure Why Vegan? printed for this occasion. The film can be viewed at the independent web page www.nevidljive-zivotinje.com. This is Croatian ‘Meet Your Meat’ which shows animals and their pain we often do not or do not want to see.

Various

– We joined PETA Germany in thanking the goal keeper Ivan Banovic for rescuing a lost cat and carrying the animal off the pitch into safety when Sibenik played against Medjimurje in the Croatian soccer national league, getting a yellow card for doing so. For this compassionate act PETA awarded Ivan Banovic with a ‘Hero to Animals’ certificate.

– Our Vukovar branch held a joint information stall with the association Victories on November 28. Our regular stalls are being held in Split, Rijeka and Zagreb.

– The towns of Mali Losinj and Samobor are the 31st and 32nd Croatian town which banned circuses with all animals. We thanked the mayors Mr. Gari Cappelli and Mr. Kreso Beljak for these bans. If you also want to send them a thank-you note, please click on the link above for their e-mail addresses.

– We launched a petition for the legal ban on keeping all kinds of animals in circuses on Croatian territory – as it for example is regulated in Bosnia and Herzegovina – regarding the fact that the current Croatian Animal Protection Act regulates this ban only for wild animals. In addition the petition for the ban on circuses with animals in Slovenia can be found at www.cirkus-brez-zivali.org.

– On November 30 we participated in a public discussion ‘Man and other animals: Zooethics, zooright and zooactivisc’ in the Cultural Center Tresnjevka in Zagreb as part of the series of lectures by Hrvoje Juric on the subject Bioetics.

– Our campaign with the Zagreb hockey team popularly called The Bears is coming into its final stage, so we supported Medvescak hockey players on their games on December 6 and 13 when they played Villach and Jesenice. We are also planning organized support on December 27 when Medvescak plays Alba Volan.

– From the News section on our web site please check out new vegetarians in our Famous Vegetarian ssection and the book Dewey by Vicky Myron, a beautiful story about the small-town library cat Dewey Readmore Books who touched the world. On our Youtube channel we added a new film ‘Home Slaughter.’

– On December 12 we organized another socializing in the SublinK Internet Center in Zagreb, while on December 16 we invited everyone on a lecture by Martin Balluch, an Austrian physicist, philosopher, and prominent animal rights activist. On December 19 there will be another socializing of vegetarian and vegan children.

– Your financial support is highly appreciated and facilitates the planning and continuation of our work for the animals. If you want to help us and support our activities you can wire your donation to our foreign-exchange bank account, send a donation by credit card, through aspecified-purpose donation, or meet us at one of our information stalls or in our Zagreb office.

We thank you for your support throughout 2009 and wish you a peaceful and happy start into 2010, hoping to meet you again there.

Your Animal Friends Croatia