There has been an outcry in the press about the delays in dealing with the animal welfare situation in Hyde Heath near Amersham (horses, ponies and donkeys).

The Buckinghamshire/Beaconsfield Advertiser and Buckinghamshire/Amersham Examiner have published, on their 'Newsdesk' page, an item by Sarika Sharma (17th January 2008):

Tim Was, a regional superintendent at the RSPCA, said: "We did not have the power to remove animals earlier"

But ......

Is the RSPCA only concerned with 'powers' and with 'removal of animals'. Is there a danger of preoccupation with prosecution?

Could nothing have been done in situ? If all the media coverage is to be believed (and I'm sure that arguments will be put up to the contrary and there will almost certainly be a court case to establish the rights and wrongs), a great deal of suffering could have been avoided by more timely intervention and help for the animals. Anyway, we are told that tests confirm that the dead horses died of emaciation (i.e. starvation). Such a death is not a rapid process. Should animal welfare not be the proper emphasis and the ultimate aim?

Why not take a look at www.alternativevet.org , while you're here?

At a time when homeopathy is being edged out of the medical establishment in the NHS, owing to lack of 'scientific proof', it is amazing to find the establishment lauding a different anecdotal discovery. The Independent today carries this item:

By Jeremy Laurance, Health Editor
Wednesday, 30 January 2008

This is exciting stuff indeed but it shows:

a) yet another 'accidental' medical breakthrough - I constantly maintain that all important medical discoveries have been accidental and serendipitous (www.alternativevet.org/animal_experiemnts.htm) - we should be doing away with the scandalous waste of animal experimentation that is costing us a fortune, achieving nothing but animal suffering and is, in fact, holding back medical advance.

b) that the medical establishment can accept anecdote, when it is convenient to do so - here they responded to a single anecdote - what is wrong with looking at the massive weight of anecdotal evidence supporting the enormous value of homeopathy?

Homeopathy is fast disappearing from the NHS map, as a result of a co-ordinated and energetic campaign. If you don't defend it, you'll lose it! Your freedom of choice is being eroded. Write to your MP.

By James.LeFanu, Sunday Telegraph 27.07.07

'Homeopathy is to medicine what astrology is to astronomy," observes Emeritus professor of surgery Michael Baum. "It is witchcraft, totally barmy, totally refuted."

Professor Baum is particularly incensed at its availability on the NHS, and together with several other distinguished professors is campaigning, with considerable success, to close down the Royal Homeopathic Hospital by encouraging primary care trusts to "review" their arrangements for funding treatments "unsupported by evidence".

So far eight trusts in London have stopped or severely restricted referrals to the Royal Homeopathic and no doubt this number will rise after a further open letter, last week, from Professor Baum to senior health service administrators. - - - - - -

- - - - - There is in all this a strong feel of biblical "motes and beams". Professor Baum might be more usefully occupied campaigning to curtail the massive over-prescription, "unsupported by evidence", of unnecessary medicines whose devastating consequences on people's lives have recently featured in this column.

AND:

A study found only 37 per cent of 132 primary care trusts still had contracts for homeopathic services. More than a quarter had stopped or reduced funding for the therapies over the past two years. Telegraph 30.01.08

Only 18% of modern medical intervention is evidence based! What is their problem with homeopathy? They bleat about funding when homeopathy is more cost-effective. One cannot help feeling that there's vested interest rather than science and dogma rather than patient welfare behind this campaign.

Why not take a look at www.alternativevet.org , while you're here?

Sign seen in flooded Upton on Severn, on 23rd January:

What a load of old killjoys these councillors must be!

Other pics of flooded Upton:

Rugby would be interesting, too!

Why not take a look at www.alternativevet.org , while you're here?

The horse, pony and donkey welfare disaster in Hyde Heath, Buckinghamshire, during last week, seems to have been a tragedy of massive proportions. That animals could suffer in this way and be exploited, as is alleged, is a terrible indictment of our human disrespect for animals. One assumes the full truth will emerge during legal proceedings. Meanwhile, we can only look on from the outside.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=507061&in_page_id=1770

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7179105.stm

While we all struggle to come to terms with the apparent enormity of it and while the horses, ponies and donkeys that have survived are brought back to health and are hopefully given some reason to respect humankind, there are some questions that should be asked.

Without in any way wishing to take away highly-deserved credit from those heroes and heroines in the field, who are now fighting for these unfortunate animals and who have laboured hard for hours and days to bring the situation under control, we have to ask how the central RSPCA machine is so willing to whip up this media circus and claim credit for a job well done, without also airing the other side of the story.

Why is it that good folk in the tiny village of Hyde Heath had to report suspected problems over several years, before the RSPCA finally acted? Local frustration and anger is running high and clients of the AVMC have given us unsolicited clear accounts of inactivity by the RSPCA, in response to numerous local pleas for help, over the years. This is confirmed in media reports. Accounts of dead horses left lying in fields and horses in very poor condition are recurring themes.

Why is it that the RSPCA can bask in glory, revel in the news coverage and attract a massive, emotionally-driven funding boost, without admitting or explaining their inactivity on many previous occasions? This ‘economy with the truth’ sits very uncomfortably with the image that the RSPCA would like to project. If reports are to be believed, how much obscene suffering could have been prevented, had the Society acted on the first report? One cannot help but feel that the 31 dead animals found there and the rescued animals may have represented but the tip of a ghastly iceberg.

The RSPCA is an extraordinarily wealthy charity, with powers that sometimes exceed those of the police. It has the right to take a statement under oath. It has the right to read people their rights and the right to prosecute. Its staff can be given police-type ranks and wear police-type uniforms. It has new powers vested in it, in the wake of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 (http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/welfare/act/index.htm).

Despite all these powers and privileges, it may come as a surprise to learn that there appear to be no controls in place, to oversee the activities of this massive and powerful organisation. It appears that no one puts vital checks and balances in place, to ensure constitutional propriety in the Society’s activities. It appears that the Freedom of Information Act does not apply to the Society’s transactions, as the RSPCA is not listed in Schedule 1 of that Act (http://www.opsi.gov.uk/Acts/acts2000/ukpga_20000036_en_10).

It is not apparent that anyone has the power to ensure proportionality in the way the Society operates. Furthermore, there appears to be no one to ensure that the Society properly takes up animal welfare challenges that are brought to its notice (as in this latest seemingly terrible case).

While rejoicing in the fact that this alleged animal atrocity has been brought to an end, let us resolve to ask what is being done to bring this Society under more normal and constitutionally-sound controls.

It is not easy, at first sight, to see to whom to turn with such questions. However, a good place to start may be your MP. Write to your MP now (find your MP: http://www.upmystreet.com/commons/l/) and ask what is being done to rein in this charitable body, which appears to be operating beyond control with animal lovers’ money, under current legislation. Another point of contact would be the Charity Commission (http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/), who should be able to advise whether each and all of the activities of the RSPCA are of a truly ‘charitable’ nature, under charity legislation. See also: http://www.alternativevet.org/rspca.htm.

Wider than this, one has to ask how this man was able to conduct his trade without being found out before. Are there not supposed to be checks on animals in transit in the UK and for export? Is DEFRA content that it has carried out its animal welfare duties correctly? This may be a catalyst finally to close down the iniquitous live export for slaughter trade (http://www.alternativevet.org/live_exports.htm).

Furthermore, those who sell animals into this trade cannot be held blameless (unless of course, it should turn out that all were stolen, which seems unlikely from the news accounts). How did this man acquire his unfortunate animals?

It is not sufficient to treat this catastrophe as a 'one-off' and to take a bow to a grateful British Public. Lessons must be learned and steps taken to smarten up the act.

Of course, we must also remember that the true facts have yet to emerge, after due legal process.

Why not take a look at www.alternativevet.org , while you're here?

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's TV campaign to get chickens out of factory farms is setting the media alight. Good on him! This is long overdue exposure of the ghastly conditions chickens suffer for human satisfaction (see http://www.rivercottage.net/ & http://www.chickenout.tv/).

However, when seeking to buy ethically, please be careful to realise that not all 'free range' is what it's cracked up to be. You really need to see the farm in question, to know what its 'free range' designation really means. Some free range farms exploit the law and are just as disastrous as 'factory' barn systems (see http://www.alternativevet.org/farm_assurance.htm).

Furthermore, not all 'organic' meets the high standards and enforcement of the Soil Association (see http://www.alternativevet.org/organic_agriculture.htm ).

RSPCA 'Freedom Food' farms are not listed for public information. Their names and locations are kept secret. Transparency is sadly lacking. The so-called 'standards' are not enforced standards but appear merely to be aspirations (i.e. they hope for better welfare!). While some Freedom Food farms may be wonderful ( I do not know, because of the secrecy), others seem to be guilty of 'factory farming' (see www.hillside.org.uk & http://www.alternativevet.org/rspca.htm).

To hear people on Jeremy Vine, yesterday (BBC Radio 2), pleading poverty as a salve to their consciences, over eating cheap chicken, is not only showing total disrespect for animal life, disregard of animal welfare and failure to be honest with oneself but it is also symptomatic of our culture, which demands that we should have cheap food to release our income to spend on possessions and recreation. If such cheap food did not exist (and it really shouldn't), then the option would not be there. Meat is NOT a dietary requirement. For those who like to eat meat and choose to eat meat, it should be regarded as a privilege and should demand respect for the animal whose life is sacrificed.

While supporting the 'chicken out' campaign in general, I cannot support the creation of a 'factory farm', for demonstration and research purposes. The welfare on such units is described by the RSPCA as being well below acceptable standards; how can we create such conditions, for whatever well-meaning purpose?

Why not take a look at www.alternativevet.org , while you're here?

The news this morning carries an item on the risks from mercury in energy-saving light bulbs and the extra hazards presented by handling broken bulbs.

It is right of the government's Environment Agency to draw attention to such risks. I, for one, am grateful for the reminder of the hazards of the mercury vapour and shall spread the word. However, without losing the message, I would also value proportionality.

How great a risk is this, compared to mercury wilfully injected into children and adults in government-funded vaccination programmes (e.g. influenza)? How great a risk is it compared to a lifetime of government-funded exposure to mercury from mercury amalgum fillings in our teeth, still the only type of dental filling funded by the NHS? How does it relate to the amount of mercury put into the atmosphere by power stations, as they generate the extra electricity required for conventional incandescent light bulbs?

Joined-up thinking is required but where is the information we all need, to help us to make informed decisions? Where is the government's inclusive, balanced and holistic comment on the whole mercury issue? Where are the government health warnings on vaccinations and mercury fillings?

Come on, government, this is research you should have commissioned, to help you make the decisions you make. Let us all have the information, please.

Meanwhile, for info., here's a collection of varying 'takes' on the light bulb issue:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7172662.stm 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/healthmain.html?in_article_id=506082&in_page_id=1774

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/technology/technology.html?in_article_id=505571&in_page_id=1965&ito=1490

http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/healthmain.html?in_article_id=506082&in_page_id=1774&ico=Homepage&icl=TabModule&icc=picbox&ct=5

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4922496.stm

http://www.newstarget.com/022279.html

http://www.reportage.uts.edu.au/stories/2007/society/lightbulbs.html

http://www.environment.gov.au/settlements/waste/lamp-mercury.html

http://web.princeton.edu/sites/ehs/chemwaste/mercury.htm

http://www.epa.gov/hg/spills/index.htm

http://h2e-online.org/docs/h2e10stepfluorescent121802.pdf

http://www.lamprecycle.org/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/12/18/nbulb118.xml

http://www.newswithviews.com/Peterson/rosalind1.htm

Why not take a look at www.alternativevet.org , while you're here?

The RSPCA has called for increased welfare for chickens reared for meat.

The RSPCA quite rightly states that the welfare of many chickens being reared for cheap food is very much below acceptable levels.

http://www.rspca.org.uk/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RSPCA/RSPCARedirect&pg=chickens

It is to be hoped that the RSPCA's own house is in order on their 'Freedom Food' chicken farms. However, no one can check, as the location of their farms is secret. I say to the RSPCA: tell us where all your farms are and let us all see how you lead the farming world in welfare standards.

It is an uncomfortable situation when our key animal welfare organisation is itself in the intensive farming business. There is always a danger that vested interest can blind one to the obvious.

www.alternativevet.org/rspca.htm

Cheap food policies engender corner-cutting, cost-cutting, lack of respect for the animals involved and massive welfare risks.

Why not take a look at www.alternativevet.org , while you're here?

The news that two new mothers have died, soon after giving birth is deeply tragic. No words can improve this terrible situation for the families but we can offer our prayers and express our sympathy, love and support. The enormity of their loss is unimaginable.

As far as the medical establishment is concerned, if this infection proves to have come from the hospital concerned, lessons must be learned.

Whatever the cause, I make a plea that homeopathic care in hospitals should be considered, alongside the current methods, whether in A & E, Maternity, Surgical Wards or elsewhere, in an effort to improve the level of care offered and to try to reduce the risk of such appalling tragedies. Who can tell when the risk might come closer to home and which of us may personally be at risk in the future, from hospital-borne infections.

"Teachers Amy Kimmance, 39, and Jasmine Pickett, 29, both became mums on December 21.

They died days later of complications from group A streptococcal infections."

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article653939.ece

information also at:

http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=7158121

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23430688-details/Two%20new%20mothers%20die%20of%20identical%20bug%20after%20giving%20birth%20at%20SAME%20hospital%20on%20SAME%20day/article.do

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/healthmain.html?in_article_id=505949&in_page_id=1774

http://itn.co.uk/news/f2f4def06f1fe6599d59f4e30f2194ed.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/7170464.stm

Why not take a look at www.alternativevet.org , while you're here?

With Norovirus gastroenteritis threatening schools at the start of a new term and already causing the closure of hospital facilities (98 wards in 44 hospitals so far), with an estimated cost to the NHS of £100 million and an estimated cost to UK business of £80 million in the last two days alone, why does no one ask if homeopathy could help? In the absence of a conventional weapon to fight this predictable annual infection, what possible objections could there be to trying homeopathy and homeoprophylaxis (preventive by nosodes e.g.)?

It appears that the establishment would prefer to lose these huge sums and suffer massive disruption to hospital services, operations, school time and industry losses, let alone all the human suffering and potential risk to life, than give homeopathy a chance to show its mettle.

Couldn't even one hospital break the mould and strike out into new territory, by consulting homeopathic doctors for a possible treatment and preventive? What can we lose? I suppose that the big danger would be that it might work!

Why has the pharmaceutical industry not leapt on this annual epidemic to cash in on a huge bonanza from vaccine production and sales? I suppose we can rest assured there will be something in the pipeline so that these rich pickings can be harvested in the future.

Why not take a look at www.alternativevet.org , while you're here? (e.g. www.alternativevet.org/nosodes.htm : www.alternativevet.org/homeopathy.htm

Here's hoping for a great 2008 for all visitors to my blog and websites.

Thought for the year: "We are rarely limited by others - most of our limitations are self-imposed."