This is important because no animal deserves to live in cruel conditions they need to have a happy and healthy life

Long-distance journeys cause unnecessary suffering to animals. They can become exhausted, sick and injured, hungry, dehydrated and stressed, having to cope with high temperatures and humidity and extensive periods in cramped, filthy conditions, sometimes with little or no food and water.  Every year thousands of young bulls are exported to countries outside the EU including Turkey, Libya, Lebanon and Morocco. As if that wasn’t bad enough this year new markets have been sought and shipments have gone to Jordan and Egypt. A trade deal with Israel has also been ageed for cattle and sheep.  THIS IS GOING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION!  These are all countries with no or minimal animal welfare regulations in place and appalling standards, particularly at slaughter. These bulls are subjected to unimaginable suffering, crammed into hot, filthy vessels for up to two weeks, usually just to be slaughtered in a brutal manner shortly after arrival at their destination.  Slaughter methods in these destination countries include slashing tendons, stabbing in the eyes, being strung up by a rear leg, multiple slashes at the throat, being hit over the head with poles, all whilst fulling conscious and in front of other animals. The slaughterhouse workers have a lack of education, and training, lack of facilities, there is no vet present and there is little in the way of legislation. Street slaughter is common.  We are calling for the Minister to ban export to all countries outside the EU that do not share our welfare standards, both in documented legislation and in practice.  You can find out more about the industry here: https://www.ethicalfarmingireland.com/live-export/

Many puppies involved in the illegal trade are malnourished and diseased, with an estimated one-third dying in the hands of their new families, and breeding dogs are being kept in squalid conditions, in cages, overbred and abused. Hundreds of puppies are for sale in the Belfast area, where there is not one official licensed breeder. Unscrupulous breeders are taking advantage of the gaps in law and regulation to make thousands of pounds, and causing misery to puppies and dogs. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/20/the-new-drugs-northern-ireland-gateway-for-150m-puppy-trade https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-northern-ireland-58964948

The opening of a dog park in this community would give people a place to safely exercise and play with their dogs. It would provide a space to allow dogs off-lead which is essential for dogs to be socialised, safe and learn friendly play. At the moment there is a lack of spaces for dog owners to be able to safely let their dogs run off lead in public parks. Many of us living in the inner city do not have access to large private gardens to give our dogs a run around and we depend on our beautiful parks. However currently letting a dog off the lead in nearly all DCC parks including Fairview Park is a breach of DCC bye-laws, which can even result in a fine or prosecution! Dogs that are well socialised and exercised are healthier, happier, and less aggressive in behaviour. They are less likely to bark or be destructive or aggressive if they are able to expend pent-up energy during regular play or exercise off the lead. Well socialised and stimulated dogs tend to be much better behaved, happier dogs and dog owners, and this would mean much less rehoming of dogs and dogs surrendered to shelters. A dog park in this area similar to that in St. Annes Park is would be a great step in solving this issue and make the park a happier, safer place for everyone! This petition will be sent to Councillors in Dublin City Council to demand they build a dog park to serve the community. Please send the onto everybody you know who might be interested!

Pigs are sensitive, intelligent animals, legally recognised as sentient which means they can experience pleasure and pain, sorrow and happiness just like we can. However, 99% of pigs in Ireland are subjected to a life of misery in barren, slatted, overcrowded pens where they have no stimulation and cannot carry out any natural behaviours. Piglets are routinely mutilated at just a few days old by having their tails docked and teeth clipped which is in breach of the Pig Directive. Sows spend around five months of the year, nearly half their lives, in a cage too narrow to turn around in, unable to tend to or escape from their piglets. Pigs would naturally have their toilet area away from where they eat and sleep but when trapped in a cage or overcrowded pen that is not possible. Pigs are hardwired to root and forage and this innate behaviour is denied them causing stress and frusration. Overcrowded pens lead to competition for space and food and aggression follows, hence the docking of tails. If pigs were provided with a proper environment that suits their species the problems with fighting and piglet crushing would be greatly reduced. We are continuously being fed misinformation on pig farming with images of pigs on nice straw beds or in lush green fields, so the public are largely unaware of the grim reality which is the pigs on Irish farms never see a straw bed or grren field. They never get to run around or feel the sun on their backs. They never get to root and forage. They never get to nest build. They never get to be pigs. Pig Aware Ireland is a new campaign set up by Ethical Farming Ireland and My Lovely Pig Rescue to raise awareness of the suffering of almost all pigs in Ireland and push the Minister into actually enforcing legislation and enacting the Animal Welfare Strategy.

Intensive farms like the one currently planned for would mean up to 40,000 pigs would be confined indoors in overcrowded, barren concrete pens. The animals are often treated with antibiotics to keep them alive in such horrendous conditions, and their waste contains ammonia which causes respiratory problems in humans and pollutes sensitive natural habitats. According to the Bureau for Investigative Journalism, Co Tyrone has the fifth highest number of indoor reared livestock in the UK, with Co Antrim placed at eighth. The two counties have a combined total of 13.5 million animals reared indoors.

For some years now, Fingal Council has shown very little interest in keeping a clean environment around the Broadmeadow Estuary catchment area. Volunteers in "Swords Pickers" were able to remove truck loads of dumped rubbish from Ward River Valley Park and Broadmeadow Estuary in the first half of 2021 alone. If something is not done to fundamentally correct this, plastic & other waste will continue to travel from the parkland in Swords, through the Estuary and out into the Irish Sea. Development of either the full size all-weather playing pitch and/or the Broadmeadow Greenway in 2021 will obviously add to the problem by multiplying volumes of human traffic.

Badgers are not the cause of TB in cattle, and 8 out of 10 badgers here are healthy Badgers are a valued native species, protected by law under the Wildlife NI Order 1985 and the Bern Convention. According to Ulster Wildlife, twenty-five per cent of the European population is found in the UK, so we have an international responsibility to conserve and protect them. Vaccination should be used as a way to control bovine TB in the badger population. The most comprehensive scientific study of the effect of badger culling on levels of bovine TB in badgers and cattle in the world took place 1998 - 2006 and concluded ‘badger culling can make no meaningful contribution to cattle TB control in Britain’.

This petition is in response to Galway County Councils proposed destruction of Gort Uí Lochlainn Woods for a new housing development: https://consult.galway.ie/en/consultation/part-8-la0921-development-31-no-houses-coill-bhruachl%C3%A1in-gort-u%C3%AD-lochlainn-moycullen-co-galway Gort Uí Lochlainn woods is a beautiful mature, natural, broad leafed deciduous woodland that is used extensively by the community. This woodland harbours rich biodiversity with over 200-year-old native deciduous trees, inc. beech, holly, birch etc., a rich understorey and a stream releasing freshwater from the boggy uplands down to the limestone lowlands, all harbouring species of endemic flora and fauna, the latter including mammals such as foxes, badgers and bats; birds such as jays, sparrowhawks and a visiting barn owl; woodland and aquatic invertebrates. The present pandemic has highlighted the intrinsic value of outdoor recreation to human well-being; taking this woodland away from the neighbouring community is an affront to all human needs for natural resources for mental health and wellbeing and it is a natural classroom to teach our younger generation respect for their natural environment. Galway County Council proposes to destroy the woods without even conducting an environmental impact assessment, and in so doing are ignoring that: - The woods is a habitat to multiple wildlife and a variety of flora and fauna - The woods act as a flood protection system - The destruction of woodlands negatively impacts our fight against climate change

Morally and rightfully so, the use of animals in science must end. Let’s bring about higher morals in science now. The world of science will be tainted until animal testing ends. Innocent and vulnerable animals in sterile, artificial environments, who’s cries of pain are ignored under the attack of humans in white coats. Hostages being tortured to death. We must removed this violence from science now! Let’s remove this secretive world of cruelty once and for all! Animal free methods of science is the way forward, as seen in recent times. Together we can make this happen!

We're in a biodiversity crisis, and it's vital that we stop spraying chemicals that kill our bees and other pollinators. You have the power to influence customers to make better decisions and have beautiful gardens where biodiversity can thrive.

What if we made Greystones & Delgany greener, healthier and wilder? What if we were the first region in Ireland to create biosecurity by 2026? We can all be part of a legacy we can be proud of: handing over to our children and future generations an area that is climate-resilient and supports our wildlife to live alongside us. Please support this petition and we will bring it to the Government and Wicklow County Council to transform Greystones & Delgany (and North Wicklow). Greystones & Delgany are currently undergoing a frenzy of development, with new housing estates approved and planted in every available field left. Not only is the infrastructure (roads, public transport links, schools, healthcare, etc.) not keeping up, but nature is taking a huge hit. So what if the answer to overdevelopment was to create a Community Nature Reserve – a gift to current and future generations? Following 2 years of research by Eoin Llewellyn here are key realistic projects that can be implemented to rehabilitate nature. • Expand the Glen of the Downs on both sides of the Three-Trout stream with permanent native forest. • Return Kindlestown Forest to permanent native woodland (under the Government's new Project Woodland and/or Coillte's Millenium Forests programme) as each Sitka spruce plot is harvested, and link it to the Glen of the Downs SAC (Special Area of Conservation). • Relist and protect the Bronze Age hillforts of Coolagad (Kindlestown) and Downshill, ahead of the millennial anniversary of the Battle of Delgany 1022. (see Yasmin Fortune's research on www.glenodownsheritage.com) • Create 20-meter wide riparian ways and a nature reserve along the full course of the Three-Trout Stream, with green link path for people to walk and/or cycle to school and work. (see Eoin Llewellyn's research https://www.mywildireland.ie/projects/ • Add chestnut fencing and a raised boardwalk on South Beach to protect coastal flora and dune grasses from collapse, plus nature signage indicating plants and insects present. • Create a coastal nature reserve on 2 fields east of the railway line above the North Beach, thus extending Bray Head SAC (Special Area of Conservation) into Greystones. If this Nature Reserve was to see the light of day, Greystones & Delgany would become the first biosecure area in Ireland by 2026! At a time when successive lockdowns have highlighted the dire need for green spaces near urban centers, Greystones & Delgany could become a flagship example of a town living in harmony with nature, and a template to be replicated across the county and country. As the next County Development Plan is being drafted, let's change the story of Greystones & Delgany - from a town besieged by suburban sprawl, to a place where a greener, healthier and wilder future is possible. See - https://www.mywildireland.ie/projects/