VOICELESS GIVES $140,000 TO FIGHT ANIMAL CRUELTY IN AUSTRALIA
Voiceless, the Fund for Animals has awarded grants totalling $141,000 to 17 organisations as part of its inaugural 2004 Annual Grants Program, including three grants of $20,000 each. On 29 November 2004, internationally renowned actor Hugo Weaving presented the grant recipients with their awards at a media conference at the Sherman Galleries, Paddington. Following is a list of all the recipients.
$20,000 Grants
Animal Liberation ACT – ‘Free Range Canberra’
This project will deliver a lobbying and awareness campaign to ban the production of battery eggs in the ACT and to encourage ACT consumers to buy free range eggs. This small but passionate organisation run by dedicated volunteers has been at the forefront of the fight to ban battery eggs since 1995 and, due mostly to its efforts, in 1997 legislation was passed to ban the production and sale of battery eggs in the ACT. Part of this legislation also restricted the importation of battery eggs, for which agreement was required from all other Australian states and territories. As agreement was not forthcoming, the legislation was never implemented. Animal Liberation ACT now seeks to build on its previous successes, with its Free Range Canberra project. To prevent a recurrence of the 1997 problem, it seeks to ban the production of battery eggs in the ACT but not the importation or sale of battery eggs into the ACT.
Compassion in World Farming – Humane Education – Camberwell, Victoria
CIWF Trust, the charitable education and research arm of leading UK based farm animal welfare organisation Compassion in World Farming, works internationally to prevent cruelty and promote respect for farmed animals and the environment. The Trust has produced a variety of educational resources that have been successfully introduced into schools in Britain, Ireland, South Africa and several countries in Continental Europe. Now, with Voiceless’ support, the popular visual, print and online resource "Farm Animals & Us" will be adapted so that Australian lower secondary school children can enjoy and relate to it, understand the effects that different farming methods have on the welfare of animals, and appreciate how consumer choice ultimately can effect better lives for farm animals.
The Humane Society International – Humane Choice Label
HSI Australia is a part of the largest animal protection organisation in the world, with over 8 million supporters globally. HSI works to protect animals and the environment in Australia and regionally, and over the past 10 years has developed one of the most effective campaign teams in the country.
Verna Simpson, HSI Australia’s director, said: "In partnership with Voiceless, we aim to be at the forefront of the promotion of products that will improve the lives of all animals, in this instance, assessing the potential for the development of a humane choice label in Australia." This award is to be jointly funded by the Berg Family Foundation and the Sherman Foundation.
$15,000 Special Award
Animal Liberation NSW – Purchase of an Education Van
This is a special award to help Animal Liberation NSW purchase a mobile education van containing audio/visual displays to make people aware of the cruelty behind factory farming in Australia.
Executive director Mark Pearson said: "We are thrilled to receive such a generous donation from Voiceless. These funds will be used to construct a mobile education vehicle with video monitor and dynamic images, which will travel through many parts of Australia including cities, towns and schools. This way we pro-actively bring the education and information to people where they are. The main subjects will be the intensive farming of animals in factory farms, such as piggeries and battery hen facilities. It will open the doors of these hidden, dark, cruel places to the Australian community."
$10,000 Special Award
Animals Australia – Billboard Campaign
The Animals Australia ‘savebabe.com’ billboards, for which this special award has been made, are part of a public awareness campaign designed to raise the community’s understanding of the way most female breeding pigs are kept in intensive and restrictive enclosures for most of their lives – particularly during pregnancy and during birthing and suckling their piglets.
The billboards will direct people to a comprehensive website for further information – ‘
www.savebabe.com’. The campaign will enlist the support of the Australian community to first learn about how pigs suffer in intensive confinement, and to then as consumers make choices which will encourage the pig industry to adopt alternative housing and management systems to improve the welfare of breeding pigs.
$10,000 Grants
Monash University, Victoria – Dr Pauleen Bennett, Psychology Department – Animal Welfare Textbook
The Voiceless grant will be used to support the development of a syllabus related textbook for students enrolling in the Graduate Certificate in Animal Welfare, an innovative and unique higher education degree course launched in 2003. Comprehensive course notes and online interactive exercises support the course, which is currently offered off-campus. This $10,000 grant will allow Dr Bennett, who is the convenor of the course, to revise the existing course materials and prepare a textbook and supporting CD Rom. These will be made available for sale to other schools and institutions, which will give a greater portion of the Australian community access to education about animal welfare issues.
Australian Wildlife Protection Council – publication of 2nd Edition The Kangaroo Betrayed! Maligned & Misunderstood
The Voiceless grant will help fund the publication of this collaborative production of papers by scientists, animal welfare and wildlife protection groups, and guided by Dr David Croft of the University of New South Wales. The 2nd edition is described by Maryland Wilson, president of the Australian Wildlife Protection Council, as "a heartbreaking expose of the insidious events that have led to the present crisis facing the nation’s kangaroos".
Ramingining – NT, Dog Management Program
The Voiceless grant will fund the continuation of an animal welfare program for dogs in the indigenous community of Ramingining (pop. 900) in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory.
The project aims to eventually expand to other indigenous communities beyond Ramingining. The Ramingining Dog Management Program, which was started in 2004, provides regular veterinarian visits to the community, a desexing program, and access to humane methods of euthanasia for injured animals. Due to the cultural sensitivity and support provided by Anne Celan, the Yolngu people of Arnhem Land were consulted and involved in the project from its inception. Anne is a teacher at the Ramingining Community Education Centre and the person who got the ball rolling on this project . The program’s initial success is directly attributable to the community involvement she helped facilitate.
$5,000 Grants
Against Animal Cruelty Tasmania (AACT) – Live Export Lobbying Campaign
This grant has been given to help AACT with their short-term goal of achieving a Tasmanian ban on live exports. They believe that the existence of a state ban would be an excellent first step towards a nationwide ban on this inhumane practice. This not-for-profit organisation was founded in 2003 in Hobart and strives to facilitate change through non-violent action, education and lobbying on a wide variety of issues.
Carmel Loane – teacher at Holland Park State Primary School, Brisbane: Holland Park State Primary School teacher, Carmel Loane in conjunction with the Queensland Department of Education & the Arts, has been awarded $5,000 to develop an online ‘Webquest’ program, promoting compassion and citizenship through the study of animal rights. The program, which will be aimed at middle school students, will make use of the Webquest format, which allows students to use resources and collaborative tools available on the Internet to enhance their classroom learning.
April Gadd & Tessa Rubenstein – Humanimal online magazine: April and Tessa, affiliates of the Australian Vegetarian Society, plan to produce "an entertaining, eye-catching and interactive online lifestyle magazine to inform the public about the benefits of making the shift to a vegetarian/vegan lifestyle". The grant will be used to set up the online magazine, which aims to reinvent the image of vegetarians and vegans as well as promote human and nonhuman wellbeing.
Sandy Anderson, Nar Nar Goon North, Victoria – VeganPet Food: This grant will assist Sandy to continue the development of a complete package of vegan, high-quality, nutritional requirements for dogs and cats including a tinned food and vegan pet chews. Sandy already markets a dry dog and cat food, the development of which took her many years and many thousands of dollars. "It is my labour of love" she says. "My lifetime love of animals has motivated me to help them maintain healthy and happy lives".
$1,000 Grants
Terara Public School, NSW This $1,000 donation is to support several learning initiatives undertaken to improve student awareness about appropriate and humane care for animals.
The Carey Baptist Grammar School, Donvale, Victoria
This $1,000 donation is to support the school’s "Nesting Box" project for students in years three and four, increasing awareness about animals’ needs.
$1,000 Donations
Animal Rights Advocates, WA: This $1,000 donation is to support the publication of a Perth street paper, "Animosity", to stimulate informed debate on animal issues and mobilise community involvement in animal rights campaigns.
Say No to Animals in Pet Shops, NSW: General support for a campaign which aims at reducing the numbers of animals purchased through pet shops, which, ultimately, will lead to a reduction in the number of cats and dogs euthanased.
The Vegetarian/Vegan Society of Queensland Inc
General support for this not-for-profit organisation that took its name in 1994 and promotes the adoption of a plant-based diet, providing information and support to all wishing to change to a vegetarian or vegan way of life.
NSW Wildlife Information and Rescue Services (WIRES): General support for this, the largest wildlife rehabilitation organisation in Australia. With nearly 2000 volunteer carers and rescuers operating across NSW, in 2003 WIRES received over 100,000 phone calls from the general public about injured native wildlife.
Voiceless
