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Monday 9 August 2010

Cameron Clones Carry 7,000 strong Petition


By Ben Aulakh

More than 7,000 people have singed a petition asking David Cameron to ban produce from cloned animals from entering the human food chain in the United Kingdom.

The petition is part of a campaign – ‘Cloning = Cruelty’ – launched by animal welfare organisation Compassion in World Farming.

On Friday August 6, staff at Number 10 Downing Street were confronted by 40 clones of the Prime Minster.

They accompanied Chief Executive of Compassion Philip Lymbery as he presented the petition, of 7, 739 signatures to the PM’s staff.

A release on the organisations website says, “The campaign highlights the intrinsic animal welfare issues of selective breeding in animals for food, such as meat and dairy.”

“It gives the concerned consumer a place to register their opposition to the cruel practices involved in cloning.”

The campaign has been launched after it was revealed that two beef cattle from the embryos of a cloned cow in the United States were bought by a farmer in Scotland.

Meat from one of the bulls – slaughtered in 2010 – entered the human food chain in the United Kingdom.

The European Parliament voted last month on an initial ban on food products from cloned animals, Compassion are hoping that the petition will provide momentum to help cement the ban in law.

Compassion added, “We believe that intensive farming already leads to significant animal welfare issues, with cows bred for very high milk yields at high risk of lameness and fertility.

“Apart from the high mortality rate of cloned animals, furthering this process will result in even greater yields and more severe accompanying health issues.”

There has been widespread anger that meat from such sources has been allowed in the UK, though the Food Standards Agency have stated that the produce is perfectly safe for human consumption.

You can sign the petition now at www.ciwf.org.uk.


Photograph from www.ciwf.org.uk.

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