The
Green Party is unique in its deep commitment to the rights of animals. The
assumption that animals exist simply to be used for any human purpose is
completely unacceptable and we consider that “a compassionate and respectful
relationship to other sentient creatures is essential for human dignity and
ultimately our own quality of life.” (Darren Johnson, London Mayoral candidate)
The
Green Party intends to raise public awareness of the rights and needs of
animals and would pass appropriate legislation to inform the electorate and to
enact policies aimed at protecting animals from exploitation and violence. All
animals, as sentient beings, feel pain and distress and nonhuman animals, though
they may do so in silence, suffer from incarceration, callous and cruel
treatment and the absence of social bonds, just as we do. Animal rights are a
central element of the Green outlook and our wholehearted commitment to justice
means that we must accord to animals the equitable consideration due to them.
The
fact that we consider animals as products to be consumed makes the greatest
impact on their lives. 850 million animals are killed to be used as food in the
UK every year. Factory-farmed animals suffer immensely, pushed well beyond
their biological limits, as profits are consistently prioritised over animal
welfare. The cellophane-wrapped packages in supermarkets, concealing the grim
realities of the life and death of farmed animals, serve to allow consumers to
close their eyes to suffering.
Broiler
chickens, reared so rapidly they suffer severe abnormalities of development,
battery hens, crammed into small cages, producing unnatural numbers of eggs
each year, pigs farrowing in narrow crates on bare floors, their piglets weaned
abruptly and too soon, are forced to suffer conditions in which all their
natural instincts are thwarted. The conclusion to this miserable existence is
what can only be termed industrial slaughter, in which intensive through-put
often makes effective stunning impossible.
Meat
and dairy products, however, are unnecessary and frequently unhealthy
components of our diet, containing high concentrations of saturated fat and
cholestorol, conclusively linked to heart disease, cancer and stroke. Many
studies have shown that a vegetarian or vegan diet is nutritious and healthy;
the Green Party would actively encourage a reduction in the consumption of meat
and dairy products and promote the consumption of healthy and ethically
produced food, through, for instance, the wider provision of vegetarian and
vegan food in educational establishments. This is very much in line with
current recommendations by nutritionists, as the incidence of obesity and
weight-related diseases is on the increase and children are particularly at
risk.
The
Green Party would phase out all forms of intensive farming, prohibit the export
of live animals and ban the import of commodities not produced to UK standards.
We would also work to get World Trade Organisation rules changed, permitting
bans on the basis of cruelty. Animals are not industrial products, but sentient
creatures, having their own interests. The global reach of giant food and
chemical companies threatens to cause animal exploitation on a scale never
before seen and we recognise that it is essential to restrict free trade if we
are to live alongside, rather than at the expense of, other species.
Every
year, nearly 3 million animals are killed in British laboratories, as well as
an undisclosed number for military research. The pain and distress they suffer
may be prolonged, repeated and the majority receive no anaesthesia.
Public
confidence in these tests diminishes as their unreliability and misleading
results affect human health. Every species of animal is unique and each suffers
different diseases and reacts differently to drugs. Scores of drugs “proven
safe” in animals go on to harm and kill humans; in fact, 70,000 people suffer
dangerous, often lethal, reactions to their animal-tested medicines every year
in England alone. This is particularly disturbing when we know that there are
many human-based scientific methods of research available these days. The fact
is that testing on animals is a traditional and largely unquestioned technique,
which benefits many powerful companies and provides liability protection for
the pharmaceutical industry. There are many human-based scientific methods of
research now available, from clinical studies, autopsies and epidemiology to in
vitro and in silico research, mathematical and computer modelling, scanners and
advanced techniques for analysing blood and tracing the path of disease in the
human body.
The
Green Party wholly supports humane, as opposed to animal-based, research and
would shift emphasis from curative to preventive medicine. We are unhappy with
the current government approach – the so-called 3Rs – in that we consider
Replacement to be the priority; the Greens favour a strong, financial
commitment to non-animal research and would seek to make the UK the centre for
such research. We would press for reform of the GATT (General Agreement on
Tariffs and Trade), to allow implementation of animal protection legislation,
including strict enforcement of the ban on animal- based cosmetics tests.
We
view with alarm the patenting and genetic modification of animals and consider
that Xenotransplantation – the use of animal organs as spare parts for humans –
to be unacceptable; apart from the immorality of using animals as tools, the serious
possibility of virus transfer represents an unquantifiable hazard.
Despite
continuing public opposition, foxes, hares, deer and mink are still hunted in
England and Wales. These activities are often justified as a form of pest
control, yet the truth is that hunting has little effect on populations.
Furthermore, if foxes and hares are considered pests, it is difficult to
understand why there is evidence that they are protected specifically for the
hunt.
The
Green Party would ban all hunting with hounds, coursing, shooting and snaring
and would strive to promote the wellbeing of all wild creatures. We would work
actively to bring about an end to angling through public education
programmes.
Circuses
which exploit animals, whether wild or domesticated, are already unacceptable
to many and the Green Party would end this practice immediately. All animals
used in sports such as racing would be given extra protection; there are many
cruel practices, largely unknown to the public, inherent in these sports, so we
consider that they would need close monitoring.
Local
authorities would be required to appoint an Animal Rights/Protection Officer
with adequate staff – already started in London – and to devise and implement
policies to protect animals under their jurisdiction. The Brighton and Hove
Green Councillors have been instrumental in adopting an ethical buying policy
for services, which ensures that all products used are manufactured in an
animal and environmentally-friendly way. All council services would be audited
to check their impact on animal rights. Other areas in which there would be
tighter supervision are the acquiring of companion animals from pet shops and
breeders, the subsidising of neutering programmes and, in order to avoid the
construction of more factory farms and vivisection laboratories, close scrutiny
of planning applications.
Caroline
Lucas MEP, the Green Party’s Principal Speaker, is Vice President of the Cross
Party Animal Welfare Group in the European Parliament. The Green Party sees as
vitally important that Europe-wide regulations on the transport of live
animals, often over cruelly long distances in terrible conditions, be improved
and properly implemented. Caroline tabled amendments on new proposals,
subsequently rejected by the Council of Ministers, but continues to press for,
ultimately, an end to this unacceptable practice. The REACH system, aimed at
the evaluation of thousands of household chemicals, would subject millions of
animals to toxicity tests and she is lobbying to have humane alternatives
accepted. She has also worked to improve the conditions of life for broiler
chickens, supported a European moratorium on the use of Low Frequency Active
Sonar, which annually kills thousands of whales and dolphins, participated in
last-ditch campaigns to protect the Iberian Lynx and asked the European
Parliament to introduce a complete ban on the production, import and sale of
cat and dog fur.
Green
MEPs, already leading the way in this sphere, will work for real progress on
animal rights, including a ban on the production, import and sale of battery
eggs in the EU, improvement and proper enforcement of the EU Habitat Directive,
action to end the bushmeat trade and an immediate ban on the use of primates,
cats and dogs in animal research.
… and beyond
Such
is the Green Party’s concern for the interests of other species, that it will endeavour internationally to initiate
and develop an Animal Rights Division within the United Nations.
Environmental
impacts of the exploitation of ever larger numbers of animals for food are
becoming more apparent. Fresh water is in increasingly short supply and 87% of
it is used for agriculture, mainly to grow fodder for animals. The production
of 1 kg. of animal protein takes 100 times more water than that needed for
plant protein.
Climate
change is now a very real danger. Clearing land to grow soya for cattle releases high levels of carbon dioxide,
nitrogen fertilisers increase levels of
nitrous oxide, methane emissions are produced by the animals and these are
three of the main greenhouse gases.
Not
only our quality of life, but our survival itself, is dependent upon compassion
towards others; the will to dominate, to oppress and exploit is inherently
unstable and unsustainable. It has been the norm in most human societies to use
animals as though they had no inherent value, no interests of their own and as
though there was no need to concern ourselves about them, except insofar as
their continued existence affected us and our wellbeing. The Greens challenge
that mindset. We strongly believe that, as fellow species, animals have a
perfect right to share with us this planet and its finite resources.