Politics

Conservation and welfare organisations urge renewed commitment and action to end South Africa’s captive lion industry. Cape Town – In honour of World Lion Day observed on 10 August, four leading animal welfare and conservation organisations are renewing calls for South Africa to honour its commitment to phase out the commercial captive lion industry. As part of World Lion Day, FOUR PAWS South Africa, Humane World for Animals South Africa, Voice4Lions and Blood Lions hosted a virtual press conference today to provide an update on the current status of the industry, highlight recent research and evidence to reinforce the need for decisive action and outline the practical next steps needed to ensure that South Africa’s current captive lion population is the last generation bred for commercial exploitation. "The key message today is that there remains a significant gap between policy intentions and reality. Government has committed to phasing out the captive lion breeding industry, yet captive lion breeding remains legal and the industry remains largely operational. Closing that gap is now the critical challenge, because until policy commitments are translated into implementation, lions will continue to be born into an industry that government itself has recognised does not form part of South Africa's future wildlife vision. As we commemorate World Lion Day, we call for urgent action to turn years of consultation, recommendations and commitments into tangible change for lions," says Fiona Miles, Director at FOUR PAWS South Africa. Despite former Minister Barbara Creecy’s announcement in May 2021 that South Africa would phase out the commercial captive lion industry, the industry remains fully legal. “The reports that emanated from the High Level Panel and Ministerial Task Team provided a positive way forward, yet five years later we are still waiting for a result and the industry continues to thrive”, says Linda Park, Co-Founder & Director at …

Cape Town - To demonstrate global solidarity to end Indonesia’s brutal dog and cat meat trade, animal campaigners in twelve cities, including Cape Town and across six continents, submitted today a 700,000-signature petition to the Indonesian Consulate. The petition urges Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto to support the passage of the Animal Protection and Welfare Bill currently being debated, to ban the trade that sees more than a million dogs and countless cats stolen, trafficked and slaughtered for human consumption every year. If passed into law, Indonesia would become the sixth nation or territory in Asia to explicitly ban the cruel trade. Campaigners from global animal welfare organisation FOUR PAWS and Humane World for Animals members of the Dog Meat Free Indonesia coalition submitted the petition at Indonesian embassies and consulates in a dozen countries around the world. South Africa is home to an estimated 18.6 million dogs and cats dogs and cats. Although there is no trade in dog or cat meat in the country, the law protects them from deliberate cruelty and so petition signers from South Africa have signed in solidarity to afford dogs and cats in Indonesia the same legal protections. The dog and cat meat trade is a significant animal welfare issue in Indonesia involving the suffering and death of large numbers of animals, including stolen pets. Dogs and cats are trafficked across the country to supply markets, slaughterhouses and restaurants where they are slaughtered using crude and brutal methods. The trade’s mass movement of dogs of unknown disease or vaccination status is also a major human health concern. It facilitates the spread of deadly diseases, including rabies and directly undermines the country achieving its pledge to eliminate rabies by 2030 by bringing infected dogs into previously rabies-free areas. Dog thieves also remove vaccinated dogs from communities, breaking down ‘herd’ immunity achieved when at least 70% of dogs are …

Cape Town — Global animal welfare organisation FOUR PAWS celebrates a landmark victory following the National Council of Provinces’ decision to approve the Draft Notice Prohibiting Certain Activities Involving African Lion. This decisive step marks the beginning of the end for South Africa’s captive lion industry by prohibiting the establishment of new captive breeding facilities. The industry has long been associated with unethical practices such as hunting of captive bred lions, captive breeding, cub petting, and the lion bone trade. These activities have compromised animal welfare and damaged South Africa’s global reputation as a leader in conservation and ethical tourism destination. The approval of the Prohibition Notice is a triumph for animal welfare. It represents: A commitment to ethical wildlife management and biodiversity protection. A restoration of international confidence in South Africa’s tourism and conservation sectors. A promise to future generations that lions will be respected and protected in the wild, where they belong. “This is a victory for lions, for conservation, and for South Africa’s reputation on the global stage,” said Fiona Miles, Director of FOUR PAWS South Africa. “We now call on Minister Willie Aucamp to enact the Prohibition Notice without delay. This is just the first step - stronger action is required and can be achieved by prohibiting not only new captive breeding facilities, but by committing to a complete phase out of all captive lion breeding and trade for commercial purposes. In line with the cabinet approved Policy Position, the Minister must fulfil his obligation to end the captive keeping of lions for commercial purposes, put a halt to the intensive captive breeding of lions, and end the commercial exploitation of captive and captive-bred lions.” FOUR PAWS also extends its congratulations to the Ministerial Task Team (MTT) for the significant progress made in guiding the national Voluntary Exit …