R THE FO WE Y LF ET A I R C E O O S 86 F N Spring 2014 A A N C Price £2 (free to members) I I M L A G L S N A animalwa ch PUTTING ANIMALS ON THE AGENDA OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH INSIDE THIS ISSUE ASWA COMMITTEE ELECTIONS VICTIMS OF THE SYSTEM PAW A COFFEE FOR ASWA ASWA.ORG.UK | 1 IN THIS ISSUE A WARM WELCOME 3 ASWA COMMITTEE ELECTIONS 5 5 VICTIMS OF THE SYSTEM 6 ANNUAL WELFARE SERVICES 7 7 A REFLECTION ON PSALM 23 9 POETS’ CORNER 11 NEWS FROM PAW A COFFEE FOR ASWA 2013 11 Cover image courtesy of Mateusz Stachowski 11 Sunday 29 June Animal Blessing Service, St Michael’s, Animal Welfare Service, All Saints Sheerwater, Woking, Surrey, 3pm. DORIS’ DIARY Church, Snodland, Kent, 5pm. Easily accessible by rail to Snodland Pet Blessing Service, Kirton Church at Hello! My name is Doris, and I station. St Andrew’s, Kirton-in-Lindsey, North Lincolnshire, 3pm. am a Border Leicester ewe with Sunday 6 July Further details from Revd Kathy very large ears! I was rescued by Sung Eucharist, St Mary’s Church, Colwell, katherine.colwell@btinternet. London Road, Ewell, Surrey KT17 2AY, com, 01652 640552 or via the church ASWA secretary Sam Chandler, 9.30am. website www.the-umc.org.uk. as I had outlived my usefulness Speaker: Revd Dr Martin Henig, followed by All Age Pets’ Service at Animal Blessing (Pets) Service, Great as a breeding ewe. 11:00 am. Malvern Priory, 3pm. For further details please contact the Saturday 4 October Priory Office on 01684 561020 via Below are some great events ewe Pet Service, Thomas à Becket Church, email office@greatmalvernpriory. may enjoy! Pagham West Sussex, 3pm. org.uk or via the website www. greatmalvernpriory.org.uk Sunday 5 October Wednesday 12 March Animal Welfare Sunday Animal Service, Raglan Group of Inaugural meeting of the ASWA Suffolk Churches, Monmouthshire. Group, Stowmarket Parish Church, 7.30pm ASWA Annual Service, St Woolo’s Contact: 01291 690330 for further Contact: Peta Whiting Cathderal, Newport, Wales, 10.30am. details. Preacher: TBC Saturday 10 May Please note that this is NOT an animal Blessing of Animals, St Paul’s Episcopal ASWA AGM, St Michael’s Church, Chester blessing service. Church, Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA Square, London SW1W 9HH, 11am. Time TBA. Speaker: Ian Birchall, Kent Action Against Live Exports Sunday 9 November ASWA service of Remembrance at the Monday 12–Wednesday 14 May Animals’ War Memorial, Park Lane, Ecumenical Animal Welfare Retreat. London, 3pm. Led by Revd George Noddfa, Penmaenmawr, North Wales. Ochola. Contact Mrs Irene Casey, irene.casey@ talktalk.net for more information. for further details of events, please Sunday 1 June visit the website: www.aswa.org.uk Animal Blessing Service, St Michael and All Angels, Watford, 3pm. Speaker: Revd Dr Martin Henig. Sunday 8 June Animal Blessing Service, Craigiebuckler Church Hall, Aberdeen, 3pm. Springfield Road, Aberdeen, AB15 8AA. Telephone: 01224 315 649. Email: [email protected]. Sunday 15 June Animal Service, St Lawrence Church, North Hinksey, Oxfordshire, 3pm. Speaker: Revd Dr Martin Henig 2 | ASWA.ORG.UK HELLO AND WELCOME TO EMAIL ADDRESSES ANIMALWATCH PLEASE! ASWA is updating its membership Welcome to Animalwatch. In this issue, we look at some of the frustrations we, records to include email addresses. as people who care about animal welfare and animal rights, can face. We This will keep the ASWA membership have a report on the sad case of Lloyd and Leila, and a powerful reflection on better informed of our activities and Psalm 23 that tackles head-on the frustration we all often feel at the slow, or expand our influence to help animals. sometimes apparently non-existent, progress towards a cruelty-free world. On Just put “ASWA email address (and a more upbeat note, we also have a report on the Annual Service that took your name)” in the subject line and place at Truro Cathedral in October, and profiles of those standing for election send it to: to the ASWA committee. [email protected] Don’t forget that our next issue will include our Young Members’ Page. If you know of any young people interested in animal welfare, do encourage them to Thank you to all those who have submit stories, poems, artwork or reports of animal welfare activities in which already done this in response to the they are involved. appeal in previous issues. We hope that you enjoy keeping up-to-date with news and information on our website. Do check regularly for resources and information about upcoming events. Please do make a note of the dates in Doris’ Diary – especially the AGM ASWA NEWS taking place in May. We hope to see you there. Meat-free Lent Please send any items for consideration for Animalwatch to Revd Jennifer Brown, Editor, PO Box 7193, Hook, Hampshire, RG27 8GT. Email is even Lent is nearly upon us, and ASWA is better – [email protected]. Please note that, owing to space once again supporting the ‘give up restrictions, it may not be possible to print all contributions, and that letters and meat for Lent’ campaign. Recent other contributions may be edited for length. articles by Isabel Oakeshot and Philip Lymbery in the Sunday Times and Daily Jennifer Brown, Editor Mail respectively, based on their book, Farmageddon*, highlight the impact of the world’s increasing demand for The deadline for the Spring magazine is Monday 12th May 2014. meat, especially cheap meat. They describe industrial farm units creating air pollution greater than that found Jenny McKay - Great Budworth, in a major city, animals subjected A Warm Welcome Cheshire to our new members. to cruel practices and unnatural Val Osborne - Wolverhampton conditions, obliteration of wildlife, We look forward to hearing Mrs Margaret Pinder - Burntwood, from you. and the diverting of food resources Staffordshire to provide animal feed, leaving the Mary Richards - East Ham, London Janet Benfield - Coggeshall, Essex world’s poorest populations without Ros Smith - Yeadon, Leeds, affordable and reliable food sources. Revd Chris Brice - Kentish town, West Yorkshire London Meat consumption has both ethical Mr Roger Taylor - Bridgnorth, and spiritual dimensions, especially Mrs Mary Buckland - Mold, Shropshire Flintshire when industrial-scale farming is Hilary Vivian - Holsworthy, Devon involved. Consequently, fasting by Gary Burnett - Bilbrook Codsall, Sandy White - Walsden, West Midlands abstaining from meat during Lent Todmorden, Lancashire is both a spiritual discipline and a Dionne Carey - Truro, Cornwall Rob Woodward - St Albans, Kathryn Mary Darby - witness to our concern for our fellow Hertfordshire creatures, and our fellow human Kirton-in-Lindsey, Lincolnshire Charles Yates - Bromley, Kent Joyce Day - Oxford beings who also suffer as a result of Pauline Grant - Uckfield, these intensive farming practices. It East Sussex To all our new members we also provides an opportunity to think Mrs Christine Hamer - Irby, Wirral extend a warm welcome again about our own habits, and the Merseyside and, along with our existing impact that we have on others. Aaron Henzley - Bracknell, members, we would ask that Berkshire you encourage others who If you had your first meat-free Lent last Patricia Holmes - Tamatea, Napier, share your concern for animal year, or are having a meat-free Lent New Zealand welfare to join. Introductory this year, please let us know about Penelope Lethbridge - Exeter, leaflets are available from the your experience. Devon Secretary. * A review of Farmageddon can be read on the ASWA web site. ASWA.ORG.UK | 3 GOOD NEWS Archbishop speaks up for animals Archbishop Desmond Tutu, known throughout the world for his campaigning against apartheid in South Africa and his work to bring reconciliation between communities following the ending of the apartheid system, has now spoken up for animals. In his introduction to the new book, The global guide to animal protection, he says, “I have seen first-hand how injustice gets overlooked when the victims are powerless or vulnerable, when they have no one to speak up for them and no means of representing themselves to a higher authority. Animals are in precisely that position. Unless we are mindful of their interests and speak out loudly on their behalf, abuse and cruelty goes unchallenged. Churches should lead the way by making clear that all cruelty – to other animals as well as human beings – is an affront to civilized living and a sin before God.” Having such a prominent and well-respected leader in the Church speaking up for animals in this way is surely good news, as it will encourage others to consider animal welfare as urgent Christian issue. ASWA NEWS & NOTICES Remembrance Don’t forget, you ASWA Local groups Sunday Service can follow ASWA on Don’t forget that there are ASWA local Twitter – aswanews On Sunday 10th November, ASWA groups in different areas. The Oxford held its third Remembrance Service group meets quarterly in different You can also keep up for Animals at the Animals’ War locations around the Oxford diocese. Memorial in Park Lane, London. with what’s new via our website – The contact for the group is Revd www.aswa.org.uk. Martin Henig (martin.henig@arch. Yet again, we had a marked increase Check the website for the latest ox.ac.uk). The Surrey/South London in numbers this year, which was lovely, resources for youth & children. group meets monthly and alternates and we were also delighted that Pen between a Monday, Tuesday or Farthing from Nowzad Dogs was able Wednesday evening. The contact for to join us again and give a short talk ASWA AGM this group is Janice Hoyle (01372- about his work. Saturday 10th May 2014, 11am 842884).