September is the peak month in Spain for tormenting our fellow species in honour of the Virgin and the saints.

In Tordesillas, Castilla y Leon, the Toro de la Vega fiesta subjects a chosen bull – this year named Rompesuenos (Dreambreaker) – to the religious frenzy of men who hurl lances at him until he collapses and dies. Later in the month, a similar event takes place in Algemesi, Valencia. This time, it is a group of young bulls which are tormented to death. It was once the privilege of “mozos” – lads, to inflict this suffering; now the “mozas” – ladettes – are in on the deplorable cruelty.

We sent our good wishes to the campaigners against these fiestas; in Tordesillas, some 800 met to stand up for Rompesuenos the Sunday before his death. A small plane overflew the town, with a banner describing it as “human shame”, on the Sunday and at the actual slaughter. We protested to all the bodies responsible for this cruelty, including the prime minister. We also asked Pastor James Thompson, the Animals’ Padre, to send a formal address, as encouragement to the campaigners and to remind the religious that there is still a Papal Edict in force which bans, under pain of excommunication, bullfights and similar spectacles.

He begins:

“ In the name of Christ the Good Shepherd as well as that of St Francis of Assisi, a patron saint of Catholicism, blessings upon the animal rights activists of Spain. God and goodness are on your side.”

He continues: “That the church hierarchy of Spain should now allow it [such blood fiestas] – indeed, encourage it – is, surely, an affront to all decency. It is nothing less than a wilful way of playing down the cardinal virtues for exercising compassion and care towards more vulnerable life than one’s own. ..
By such barbaric and grotesque traditions as bull fighting the Catholic Church in Spain is not only sinning against helpless animals over which we are called of God to exercise a caring guardianship and stewardship, but it is also corrupting young and pliable minds. I mean that instead of following the example of saints such as Francis of Assisi, they are now being brainwashed, via the corrida, to believe that exploiting forms of life weaker than ones own is expected every day behaviour for the church’s faithful.”

He concludes: “So to you folk out in Spain who fight for animal liberation I say: Christ the Good Shepherd is smiling down upon you today. God bless each and every one of you; and always remember that you are nearer to victory than you may ever realise!

Your friend & fellow activist,

Rev. Fr James Thompson – the animals’ padre”.

www.animalpadre.org

On a sunny afternoon, at the lovely Golders Green Unitarian Church in London, followers of the Brahmo Samaj, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jain, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh and Unitarian Universalist religions joined together in the third celebration of our fellow species, supported by the Director General of the RSPCA and speakers from The Doctor Hadwen Trust.

Sri Dimond, one of the editors of Lifescape magazine, the vegetarian, ethical glossy magazine for women, just embarking on its second year, also supported us and there was a photographer from the local press.

The service, with well-chosen readings, prayers, hymns and music from the harpist Marilene Berryman and organist Anna Parkitna, was again organised under the auspices of the World Congress of Faiths, of which Feargus O’Connor, minister of the Unitarians and QCA committee member, is secretary. Quaker Concern for Animals co-sponsored the event, at which we saw the launch of The Interreligious Fellowship for Animals and Universal Kinship Fund, which will be administered by The Doctor Hadwen Trust and will support their valuable ethical research in the field of human medicine.

Jackie Ballard, DG of the RSPCA, lit a candle for the world’s animals and we also remembered Molly Stacey, our life member of QCA, who died the day previously, Edna, a Unitarian friend and those animal companions whom we have lost. A candle was lit for Rabbi Professor Dan Cohn-Sherbok, who was unable to give our address because of illness.

There was a recurrent theme throughout our service. We all, in some way or another, spoke of “kinship” and “fellowship”, of “the web of life”, of man’s overweening domination of a world not created by us and our sadness at the cavalier lack of respect accorded to creatures other-than-the-human, who do not speak our languages and whose own voices the majority refuses to hear.

The address, given by Feargus, explored the theme of emotion in other animals. We are generally open to the idea that the non-human primates share much of our make up and may react in ways we do, but there is also well-documented evidence that many other species reveal depths of emotion, hitherto considered the province of humans. Elephants may not have the power of human speech, but they have been known to shed tears at loss and ill treatment. Yet these facts are conveniently ignored, because if they were accepted, we would have to do something about it.

We hope to redress the balance in some way with our Interreligious Fellowship for Animals. This may be an innovation in this country. We aim to demonstrate to society that there are followers of all faiths, from all backgrounds, who feel strongly that our fellow species are due our compassion and respect and that a united, spiritual voice should be raised in their defence. We feel that this is long overdue.

According to the Sunday Express piece on June 18 06, military tests have doubled in Britain in the past five years and more than 100,000 animals have been subjected to painful research at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory at Porton Down since 2000, according to figures from the Ministry of Defence.

It is difficult to get details of exactly what takes place at this secret, highly guarded place, but the Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram did confirm that foreign companies and governments are also involved, helping to fund the research. What is known is that tests include chemically induced burns, inhalation of poison gas, lethal doses of nerve agents and injections of E coli. Animals involved range from mice and pigs to monkeys and were described by the BUAV as cruel and pointless.

The Peace Picnic organised for July 22nd by Jenny Pothecary of Catholic Concern for Animals therefore came at a fortuitous time. It will not be lost on Friends that the data gained from subjecting vulnerable animals to cruel and lethal procedures will be used to improve and enhance our military capability. These practices are therefore doubly deplorable.

I was happy to represent QCA and join others in bearing witness against the making of war and its facilitation by the brutal exploitation of our fellow species.

We were fifteen in all, supported by Green Party members, including my husband, an executive member, and Sue Baumgardt, AR Convenor. For the first time in weeks, it seemed, the dry weather ended and as we arrived at the gates of the establishment, skies darkened and a storm broke, with thunder and lightning and torrential rain. To me, it seemed an apocalyptic setting to an appalling place.

Though the attendant MOD police were very pleasant they know Jenny well, as she often prays there, even if she has to go alone they wouldn’t let us use the shelter just inside the gates, so we had our picnic under umbrellas.

Sue reminded us of numbers and species of animals involved at this place and the procedures used; Khalid, after asking for a few moments silence to pray and think about the creatures suffering and dying, perhaps even as we stood there, gave an Islamic view of vivisection, based on the principle that it is wrong to mutilate animals while they are living. I read the John Woolman piece we all know, finishing with William Penn’s “A good end cannot sanctify evil means; nor must we ever do evil that good may come of it”

We were very few in number, but there were other events organised for the day, including a last minute Stop the War march in London. However, it does not take many to make a protest and with the terrible events in the Middle East in everyone’s mind, using weapons which will certainly have been developed and tested on animals somewhere in the world, Porton Down was an important and significant place to be.

Incidentally, for those who, like me, have not previously visited, the place is not signposted Porton Down. There is, however, a sign saying Health Protection Agency

Marian Hussenbux.