'In 500 years (maybe less) people will look back at us and wonder about many things. No doubt the behavior we consider normal today will inspire horror in our more enlightened successors.' - Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson

In this issue:
- Vegetarian Barbecue in Rijeka
- Jeffrey Masson in Croatia!
- Stop Experiments on Primates
- Citizens of Rijeka, Do Not Abandon Animals!
- Death of Sheep on Kornati
- Dogs from Project 'Socialize to Find a Home'
- Various

Vegetarian Barbecue in Rijeka

For all citizens of Rijeka who missed our spring invitation to make a switch to a healthy and nonviolent diet, Animal Friends Croatia prepared vegetarian food tasting on July 7 at the Republic of Croatia Square in order to encourage them to stop eating animals and start enjoying the richness and variety of vegetarian cuisine, including the vegetarian steaks and kebabs. At the info stall the actual petitions were signed and recipes for meatless meals handed out.

Jeffrey Masson in Croatia!

Apart from spending a vacation at the Adriatic with his family, the author of the bestseller 'When Elephants Weep' Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson during his visit to Croatia held an impressive lecture titled 'The Face on Your Plate: Do Animals Have Feelings?' in the Cultural Informative Center in Zagreb. The same day, on July 9, before the lecture Jeffrey Masson was signing his book 'When Elephants Weep' in Algoritam bookshop in Zagreb, while three days later, on July 12, his Croatian publisher organized the book signing in Dubrovnik as well.

Stop Experiments on Primates

Animal Friends Croatia marked this year's Day of Fighting Animal Experiments with the action 'Stop Experiments on Primates', which took place on July 21 in Zagreb,. With this action, during which a 'primate' was 'crucified' in an 'experiment' on the main Zagreb square, Animal Friends Croatia brought into spotlight the suffering of primates in morally indefensible and scientifically questionable practice of subjecting primates to painful and invasive experiments. Also, Animal Friends called upon Croatian public, politicians and relevant authorities to legally ban all experiments on primates in line with the efforts within the European Union. Day of Fighting Animal Experiments was also marked in Rijeka and Split.

Citizens of Rijeka, Do Not Abandon Animals!

Animal Friends Rijeka on July 28 organized an info stall in order to inform their fellow citizens about the penalties for abandoning and alternatives for abandoning companion animals. Also, the contacts of the institutions in the Rijeka surrounding which temporarily keep companion animals were provided as well as information on what to do with a stray animal that is found, how to find a home for it, and why it is necessary to spay/neuter and microchip all dogs. Some of the found dogs which are looking for their new homes also shortly visited the stall.

Death of Sheep on Kornati

Appalled by the decision of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management to pay compensation for the dead sheep whose death was caused by the very sheep owners of Kornati because of their recklessness and neglect to provide water during draught that caused a natural disaster in Croatia, Animal Friends Croatia sent a demand to the minister Petar Cobankovic to penalize sheep owners according to the Animal Protection Act instead of financialy 'rewarding' them for breaking the law. Animal Friends Croatia also sent reports to the Veterinary Inspection and District Attorney's Office in Sibenik and notified the Croatian media about these steps.

Dogs from a Project 'Socialize to Find a Home'

On Saturday, August 11, 2007, Animal Friends Croatia set a thematical info stall in Zagreb presenting the project 'Socialize to Find a Home'. There the dogs' trainer Barbara Luter and assistant trainer Jelena Seric introduced some of the dogs who participate in the project, and who showed what they learned so far. Tula, Ara, Berta, and Amon are waiting for the potential new guardians, whilst Zuco is the first dog who found a new home. More information about the dogs at: www.prijatelji-zivotinja.hr/index.en.php?id=816.

Various

- Animal Friends Croatia filed criminal charges to the District Attorney's Office in Djurdjevac against the employees of Agricultural Cooperation Djurdjevac, who during the seizure of around 60 cows on the property of Slavko Lukic in Molve Grede near Djurdjevac were beating the cows with wooden batons and were hitting the cows on the head, thighs, and other parts of their bodies intentionally and brutally, which had nothing to do with the standard procedure.

- Animal Friends Croatia announced findings of the European Commission about illegal practice in Croatian slaughterhouses, whose objective was to evaluate control systems which have been put in place to ensure that meat exported to the EU is obtained from animals which have been slaughtered under conditions which offer guarantees of humane treatment at least equivalent to those provided in Council Directive 93/119/EC. The report acknowledged big shortcomings in slaughterhouses in which animals have been brutally slaughtered, and not receiving the minimum of protection during slaughter – adequate stunning.

- After one dog was rescued in 2005 and two dogs in 2006 from Jamurka pit and after Croatian Ministry of Culture decided to close Jamurka pit in Knezevic zdrilo, on July 16 thanks to the donation of people who adopted the dogs that were thrown into the pit alive that decision started to implement. Not only that Animal Friends Croatia arranged the closure of Jamurka, Lovorka Dosen, a member of a group also filed a criminal charge, but no one was still prosecuted.

- Joining the initiative of Freedom for Animals Belgrade group, Animal Friends Croatia has sent an open letter to the President of Serbia, Boris Tadic with an appeal to intervene on behalf of the Lippizaner horses that are starving on a ranch in Novo Naselje, a district of Novi Sad. In the letter we demanded that, for the sake of animal welfare, the starvation of horses should be ended immediately, while the horses should be allowed to move to Croatia, where they will be offered permanent and appropriate care. The appeal has also been sent to the Croatian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, with a request that additional effort should be made in order to solve this case in a satisfactory manner and prevent the death of the horses.

- Croatian cruelty-free list is regularly updated, and the new company on the Croatian 'White List' is Eudermic.

- In July this year in cooperation of Animal Friends Croatia and Vegan publisher, the second, extended edition of 'The Livewire Guide to Going, Being and Staying Veggie' by Juliet Gellatley has been published in Croatian.

- New articles and news in general can be found in the news section on the Animal Friends Croatia's home page, together with interesting video clips in the section Funny Animations and Ads.

- Beside the on-going petition 'Animals Matter To Me', for which Animal Friends Croatia collected more than 20,000 signatures so far, at the AFC web site there is also a new petition 'Stop Experiments on Primates', which can be signed at www.prijatelji-zivotinja.hr/index.en.php?id=810.

We thank everyone who stayed with us during these summer months inspite of heat and vacations and we look forward to your support and taking part in our activities in the months to follow.

Your Animal Friends Croatia