Lithuania 2006 & 2005

 

During 2006, the five staff members at LiSPA devoted countless hours to rescuing 442 wild animals, providing humane education, organising consultations and presentations, participating in various meetings, interviews, committees, seminars and conferences and initiating public awareness campaigns.

The LiSPA Central Office is not simply just an office, it also maintain a Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Department that operates 24/7, every day of the year, servicing the entire country. If lucky enough to finish the working day at 5pm, a staff member still remains ‘on call’ until 9am the next morning, as telephone calls for service come at all hours.  Apart from our Wildlife Rescue services, we must still continue to keep abreast of Lithuanian and international animal issues, whether they deal with companion animals, livestock, captive exotics or laboratory animals. In other words, there’s always plenty to do! In addition to being a pro-active organization, we often find ourselves overwhelmed with re-active assignments, which practically always come as a surprise, distracting us from our scheduled duties.  Surprisingly enough, our team somehow manages to keep LiSPA’s reputation as the leading national animal welfare organization in Lithuania.

At the onset of 2006, LiSPA was asked by the Lithuanian Constitutional Court to provide a written statement regarding our national hunting policies.  Hunters wanted to hunt on private properties without the consent of landowners. However, LiSPA’s opinion was the opposite and we were listened to by our Parliament and subsequently a new law was enacted prohibiting hunters to hunt without the landowner’s permission. So the year started off with a victory.

 

Bird flu… and a visit from a stranger - Then came bird flu. The springtime threat of a pandemic killer flu caused all sorts of problems for our Wildlife Rehab Department. Wild birds (especially waterfowl) were feared by almost all Lithuanians, and people were avoiding any contact with sick, injured or even healthy birds. The State Food and Veterinary Service asked us to assist them in collecting dead birds but we declined from doing so as we decided that collecting dead carcasses is not an animal welfare issue.  In the midst of the bird flu scare, a strange bird arrived in Lithuania. The ‘stranger’ was a member of the most-feared waterfowl family, but there was no water anywhere in sight as Lithuania’s lakes and streams were still covered with ice. That’s not an ideal situation for a juvenile (yearling) Great White Pelican – or any pelican for that matter. These birds are found in Southern Europe and why the bird had strayed into Northern Europe is still a mystery. Having received enormous news media interest and having blood-tested negative for bird flu, the pelican quickly gained celebrity status in Lithuania. Both our National Zoo and the owner of a private park wished to put the bird on permanent display, whereupon LiSPA stepped in and opposed the keeping of a wild bird in permanent captivity. We argued, why incarcerate the bird, and prevent it from ever being able to experience flight again, simply because it had ‘visited’ our country?  The Ministry of Environment is responsible for wild fauna in Lithuania, and they granted the placement of the pelican in LiSPA’s care. Thanks to Naturewatch Foundation supporters, financial assistance was received to transport the pelican to wildlife rehabilitators in Greece where it could be returned to the wild, near others of its kind. Many bureaucratic challenges were faced as transportation of wild birds was restricted in the EU at the time due to the threat of bird flu. It took a month to secure all documents, not only in Lithuania, but in Greece as well. The leading Lithuanian TV channel sent a camera crew to accompany the now-ringed pelican and film its release at Lake Kerkini, Greece (see image). A lengthy prime time TV show was broadcast depicting the bird’s entire saga and happy ending. The life expectancy of a Great White Pelican may be 30 years, so it could be a while before we know anything regarding his further travels or whereabouts!

 

A continuing struggle - A whole book could probably be written about various LiSPA success stories, but there’s one area we have had and continue to have problems with – advertisers using animals in their promotional material. This year we have seen ridiculous TV adverts depicting bullfighting, people chasing chickens in a barnyard, dogs being yanked by their chain from doghouses, geese starved for three days, rabbits picked-up by their ears, etc. None of the mentioned events caused long-term physical damage to the animals and proving animal cruelty is difficult and all too often Government institutions label them as ‘borderline’. We won’t go into the details of each, but we’ve voiced our objections to each incident. It seems that the advertising agencies that create these adverts do so hoping that they will generate special interest group (narrow) objection and thus create controversy, which in turn will increase the scope of the advert, reaching more viewers and therefore making their product or service better known. Such adverts are usually geared to the younger viewing audience who find them humorous. Filing complaints to governmental regulating institutions usually results in the agency receiving a simple warning or petty fine.  LiSPA is officially recommended by National Government to maintain public surveillance on how the Lithuanian Law on the Care, Use and Keeping of Animals is observed. LiSPA has done a great deal of work regarding humane education, teaching schoolchildren about animal welfare. It is difficult for LiSPA to reach every child in the country, and TV is particularly strong in reaching young susceptible viewers. Such TV adverts destroy months of LiSPA’s hard work in seconds; they should be held responsible and accountable for their actions.

 

Areas of improvement - Live transport has certainly taken a turn for the better in Lithuania. The numbers of horses transported to Italy has markedly decreased and a total of four slaughterhouses have been granted licences by the State Food and Veterinary Service (SFVS) to slaughter horses in Lithuania. The SFVS has stated that during 2007 the long-distance live transport of horses will stop completely. 1,500 veal calves destined for further growing in Israel have escaped the long road journey by having been transported by air.  Laboratory animals will receive heightened welfare attention as this year our National Government has ratified the European Convention for the Protection of Vertebrate Animals Used for Experimental and other Scientific Purposes. All institutions must apply for permission to use laboratory animals to the Lithuanian Laboratory Animal Use and Ethics Committee in which LiSPA is represented. Approximately 25 to 30 per cent of applications are denied due to insufficient welfare considerations.  Traveling circuses using wild or exotic animals have not eluded LiSPA’s attention. Working together with the Ministry of Environment and the State Food and Veterinary Service, we have documented CITES and local law violations. This summer, LiSPA staff members have discreetly attended performances and photographed various cruelties. These will be made public just prior to the 2007 summer circus season in hopes of decreasing their profit margins and ‘running them out-of-town’.  Live fish (carp, trout, sturgeon) are commonly found in Lithuanian supermarkets. They are often overcrowded and bruised by rough handling. In the next few weeks, keeping such live fish for resale will be strictly regulated. The fish cannot be held for longer than five days, they must be stunned and slaughtered prior to being sold to the consumer.

 
In Lithuania, winters are bitterly cold with snow a metre deep, which means a constant flow of emergency calls for the LiSPA Rehabilitation. One of the most dangerous rescues concerns swans that appear to be stuck on the icy rivers, which involves the rescuer, with a rope tied around his waist, walking out towards the swan. Up until last year this was a seasonal hazard faced by LiSPA, but a new solution was found for the winter of 2005. The rescuer simply directs a remote-controlled toy car (with a rope attached) to approach the trapped swan, encircle it and tug it off the ice. Injured swans are brought back for surgery and are released only when fully fit. The new system has proved a great success.

When spring and summer come, the weather may be warmer, but the days are longer. Many birds and animals are active during daylight hours, so feed their young from sunup to sundown. During the summer, that’s a long, long day. The staff at the Rehab Centre care for many juvenile animals which must also be fed dozens of times throughout the day – including weekends and holidays!

 

All types of animals - But it’s not just wild animals that LiSPA cares about. During 2005 LiSPA lobbied Lithuanian MEPs to sign a written declaration opposing EU subsidies to farmers who export live cattle out of the EU. This live transport issue is important as once the animals leave EU territory, EU laws are no longer applicable, which means increased suffering for them.  A new law in Lithuania requires that sheep and goats must be registered within seven days of birth. This ensures the accountability of the farmer and knowledge of the whereabouts of these animals for Animal Welfare Inspectors.  Unfortunately, no-one foresaw that placing ear tags designed for adult animals causes unnecessary pain and suffering to newborns. LiSPA managed to get the law changed allowing the ear tag to be applied when the animals (and their ears) are substantially larger – at four months of age.

LiSPA was represented at the Lithuanian Laboratory Animal Use Ethics Committee which decides whether to allow experiments using animals. These decisions are based on using the 3R’s principle.  A good number of applications for experiments were denied. 

Exotic animals, whether in zoos, circuses or pet shops, are also under LiSPA’s watchful eye. LiSPA representatives attended the first meeting of a European coalition which aims to ensure good standards of welfare for all captive animals. As living standards improve in our country, more and more people are interested in acquiring exotic pets. Many of these newly-imported animals, birds and reptiles need very specific husbandry requirements, which in turn requires prospective exotic pet owners to be familiarised with all the animal’s needs. Many pet shops do not provide sufficient information to their clients which results in undue suffering for the animal. LiSPA has been asked to care for any confiscated exotic animals until court cases have been heard.

Lithuania’s homeless companion animals will soon have improved conditions at the capital city’s shelter. Last summer some headway was finally made in convincing the city authorities to allocate more desperately needed funds for this facility. Physical improvements, equipment and animal care programmes are scheduled for enhancement.

 

The implications of avian flu - The welfare of birds and animals is LiSPA’s prime concern. Fortunately LiSPA’s Chief Veterinary Officer Dr Kazimieras Lukauskas is keen to ensure that proper welfare standards are adhered to. He has assured LiSPA in writing that in the event of a bird flu outbreak in Lithuania, any enforced culling of birds will be done according to the standards that the World Organisation for Animal Health unanimously accepted (167 countries) during their annual meeting in May 2005. In Lithuania, there will be no burning, drowning or burying of live birds as we have already seen in some countries.