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Archive for April, 2015

Say No To Dog Meat - Official Global Demonstration For Dogs and Cats. Part I of III

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Two years of intense planning finally paid off for the Say No To Dog Meat organisation this April with mass peaceful demonstrations organised around the globe hitting cities internationally by storm. Only one minor disruption was seen in Cambodia with a further three events called off due to sickness and weather events.

Say No To Dog Meat a registered Australian organisation that’s in the process of becoming a legitimate charity in Australia and soon in the United Kingdom kicked off events in Brisbane, Perth, Sydney and Melbourne. From there the organisations events then began sweeping the globe hitting Malaysia, Japan, Hong Kong, China, Viet Nam, Philippines, Cambodia, Borneo, Israeli, India and finally South Africa in Durban and Johannesburg.

Excited and jubilant animal lovers then began their events in London, Yorkshire, Belfast then onto to mainland Europe where events where held in Sweden, Germany, Portugal and France. By the time events had just come to a finish in Africa, Australia, Asia and Europe Say No To Dog Meat’s events then kicked off big time in America and Canada that saw over ten states in America hosting peaceful demonstrations from Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York, Ohio, Seattle - Washington, Texas, San Francisco, Alaska, Florida, Hawaii and finally Oregon.

As dawn arose over Indonesia masses of people then began meeting up in Jakarta, Bali, Surabaya and Jogja. Meanwhile in countries where people were not able to hold events due to work commitments or coming on board to late citizens all over the globe sent into us their personal message which was not only heart-warming but did bring a tear to some of the Directors eyes. Schools in China, Belgium, Philippines and Cambodia held their own small awareness event. Be it sending us in photos or in the video below saying “Say No To Dog Meat”.. Children in the Philippines wrote the message “Say No To Dog Meat” on their hands then verbally sent their message that is going viral. Well done children.

Say No To Dog Meat events management team and and Directors Michele Brown, Jose Depre and Donna Armes stated that they never expected to see such a massive turnout especially within Asia where demonstrations are not always allowed. However going through the thousands of emails we received going back a year a half ago we can see now that people did hold to their promise and joined us for the worlds largest anti dog and cat meat trade demonstration ever held stated Jose.

We cannot put a number on how many people turned up however, can say that it was in the thousands of which we are so proud of everyone involved. The most important people behind this event were of course the event organizers all of which joined early last year. If it were not for them or the many active organisations that stand with us this demonstration would never have blossomed into the worlds largest event for dogs and cats in the horrific pet meat trade stated Michele Brown.

Much positive feed back has come back from the event organizers, organisations and members of the public.

Brisbane - Australia.

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Michele, Director of Say No To Dog Meat whom kicked the first of all rallies off in Brisbane stated:

The Brisbane rally made my heart swell, at the outpouring of love and support in our fight to end the pet meat trade. Around 30 people attended and a few hundred people passed-by to sign petitions. In a city that’s known to be tough to hold rallies in, our Brisbane supporters were outstanding and I felt incredibly humbled to be surrounded by such passionate and kind hearted people, who worked so hard to help us raise awareness on the day. It was a privilege to be amongst them. Thank you to all Brisbane supporters; I couldn’t have done it without you!

America - Seattle, Washington. 

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Cindy whom held the Seattle Washington rally stated:

I felt that We were  part of a larger movement and we were happy that attention is being brought to this gruesome trade. Happy to be part of an organization working to end it!

America - New York.

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Meanwhile in New York Zannah Mass pictured at the front center stated:

New Yorkers and New York dogs took a sky-scraping stand for less fortunate dogs in Asia, Africa, Switzerland as well as US and Canada in smaller numbers as part of the disastrous pet meat trade of kidnapping, torture, and lies for money. Say No To Dog Meat.Net is Run by champions of the cause, brave folks on the front lines. SNTDM is a great resource for the rest of us.

South Africa  - Durban and Johannesburg.

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Both Celeste Manfron and Celeste Zeilinga from South Africa hosted events too. Celeste Manfron whom appeared in the local press stated and who’s participants are above stated:

The trade is absolutely horrific, it sees the torture of innocent cats and dogs for medicinal reasons, and the more torture the dog and cat endures the better tasting the meat. It includes skinning, blow torching and boiling the dogs alive or semi conscious so that they can still fell pain. Manfron went onto say “we want to let the world know, and let these countries know trade must end”.

Celeste Zeilinga and team are pictured below, both South African animal lovers not only helped but became part of the worlds first international global demonstrations for dogs and cats in the horrific pet meat trade never seen on this scale.

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When Say No To Dog Meat officially launched they included within their program an “Anti Racism” mission that has been supported by thousands of Asian citizens across the globe. International Animal Rescue Foundation and Say No To Dog Meat launched the Anti Racism mission to prove to the non-Asian public that the people of Asia want the barbaric dog and cat meat trade banned just as much as non-Asians do.

Dr Jose Depre Environmental and Botanical scientist stated “When ever we documented on the pet or even bush meat trade we’d read countless comments from members of the public that stated Asians were all hateful down to consuming anything that walked, that statement is just not true furthermore as part of our Anti Racism program we’ve proved its not true”. Jose said “winning the hearts and minds of Asian citizens was incredibly tough and at times a frustrating task, especially when you heard or read the most vulgar racist comments spat at innocent Asians just because they’re facial features appear identical, that’s uncalled for and something we had to work to stop”..

We did it and we’re going to continue winning more hearts and minds internationally until this trade is banished from the entire Asian continent for good he said. The proof is in the video that shows hundreds and hundreds of Asian citizens marching with Say No To Dog Meat 4th April 2015.

Meanwhile though in Africa banning the trade outright without taking into account poverty, hunger and climate change would see people die from hunger and malnutrition as many actually rely on dog and cat meat as their only form of food income in poverty stricken villages, communities and countries. The organisation stated that in countries such as Kenya, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria, Ghana and Niger climate change has ravished many communities of which rain fall in some villages hasn’t been seen in either months or over year.

We have an incredible mission on our hands of which we need to improve soil structure, increase irrigation and water wells, implement tougher X breeds of flora I.e maize and corn to withstand the extreme drought and further worsening of climate. Lastly an education and awareness program must be introduced to slowly ween people in pet and bush meat eating communities off the both via education on diseases, virus and food safety not forgetting the largest problem which is rabies that kills one person in Africa every 10 minutes.

Meanwhile all over the globe thousands of people took to the streets and demonstrated peacefully to highlight the barbaric treatment of dogs and cats in the meat-trade.

Sharna from Melbourne, Victoria - Australia pictured below stated “I felt our numbers couldn’t of been greater but still an amazing turn out. Including a member of parliament in our mist”.

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Rain did threaten to put a stop to some events in Australia however, kind compassionate citizens a-stand with Lorraine Price pictured speaking in Sydney still braved on despite Australia under heavy monsoon weathers. Check the Sydney crew below of which all helped create history.

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In Perth, Western Australia Leanne and team pictured below hosted a further Australian event with good turnout too. Well done ladies.

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Amanda and her fellow comrades pictured below from Ottawa, Canada held a peaceful demonstration in Canada where its still unknown weather the dog and cat meat trade is legal or not. Talks are still ongoing to get to the bottom of the truth in Canada regarding a statement that had been placed on a “Wikipedia” website. Say No To Dog Meat investigated this issue further and was told no such trade was permitted however, when asked if its illegal to kill dogs for private consumption this question out of all was neither answered or responded too by Food Safety and Agriculture.

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In Tel Aviv, Israel compassionate activists took to the streets to hold a sarcastic theatrical demonstration educating the public and children on the horrors of the dog and cat meat trade (pics 1-2 below). As one can see many people were either unaware the trade existed or knew very little about the trade at all.

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India, Chennai Say No To Dog Meat supporter Arya pictured below hosted an educative demonstration about the dog and cat meat trade to some forty or more people.

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Las Vegas, America Nancy really kicked off the events in style marching for justice of dogs and cats in the African and Asian pet meat trade. This demo was pretty large and was headed by drummers and professional photographers. The event really went down well seeing members of the public and children educated kindly without the use of graphic images.

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Meanwhile in Los Angeles pictured below some fifty or more people attended to show their support at the Santa Monica Harbor of which was a great day for all. In over fifty cites worldwide Say No To Dog Meat’s events were not just about holding a banner or poster up. Educative speeches or events and petition signing were held to educate and make aware up to date facts and history on both the African and Asian pet meat trade. Zaida and Christina hosted this event featuring on major news channels across Los Angeles. Christina stated “It’s great to connect with compassionate people. To see people taking action in what they believe in is powerful”. While Zaida said “It was wonderful to see the people come together. to march for what they believe in, to stop the dog and cat meat trade. Together we will end the barbaric trade”…

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Regardless of how small an event was or how large the fact is you attended and made your voice heard throughout the planet. Meet April below. She may have had only a small number of people attend however, she had one of America’s well known journalists cover a brief story for her beaming live across the United States.  Check out the coverage >here< by April who achieved marvelous results. Well done April..

Animal lovers united even in Alaska. Rhonda and co took to the local park to make their voices heard. Pictured below setting up their event.

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Peaceful demonstrations took a-hold in San Francisco hosted by Liesel. Donning banners and posters saying no to dog meat dogs were dressed as little sausage dogs as a statement to show dogs are not food. Liesel can be seen pictured with peaceful activists.

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Meanwhile in Hawaii information points were established of which Say No To Dog Meat directed people to the stands via international advertising and awareness. Information stands are very important in large foot traffic zones and were held in Europe too. Handing out flyers and brochures Michele from Hawaii educated inquisitive members of the public on both the Africans and Asian pet meat trade.

Michele left and friend to the right - Hawaii.

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Peaceful activists took the beeches of Florida holding a small event showing their support for our mission and innocent dogs and cats brutally tortured and killed slowly in the pet meat trade. Karina and co are pictured below. Great job ladies. florida1

Due to the high volume and incoming images and videos we have decided to split the document in to three parts. Don’t forget to book mark us for more amazing images and videos from Say No To Dog Meat’s first of many global demonstrations and events. If you’d you like to know more or become involved in #OperationUnite which is set to take the globe by storm please contact us here today at: contact@saynotodogmeat.info

 

Thank you for reading and, don’t forget to come back tomorrow for more amazing images and stories.

 

Editor

 

 

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