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| Founded | 4 March 1988 |
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| Founder | Helmut Dungler (1963–2020) |
| Type | 501(c)(3) |
| Focus | Animal welfare |
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Region | Worldwide |
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| Website | four-paws |
Four Paws (stylized FOUR PAWS) is a global animal welfare organisation based in Vienna, Austria. It focuses on improving the living conditions of animals under direct human influence, by revealing suffering, rescuing animals in need, and protecting them. [1]
Four Paws was founded on 4 March 1988 by Helmut Dungler to protect animals from being farmed for their fur.[ citation needed ] In 1989, the first charges were brought against a number of fur farms in Austria. Furthermore, Austrian Airlines and Lauda Air stopped the transport of captured exotic birds.[ citation needed ]
In 1991, Four Paws demanded the mandatory labelling of eggs and a total ban on battery cages for egg-laying hens.[ citation needed ] In 1998, the organisation opened the first sanctuary for bears in Arbesbach, Austria. [2] In 1999, the foundation brought about the closure of Austria's largest battery cage egg producer. [3]
In 2000, Bear Sanctuary Belitsa opened in Bulgaria, and the first three former dancing bears moved in. [4] In 2002, animal welfare entered Germany's basic law, and Federal Minister Renate Künast thanked Four Paws by name.[ citation needed ] In 2005, the Federal Animal Welfare Act came into force in Austria and banned both fur farming and the use of wild animals in circuses. [5] In 2008, the Lionsrock big cat sanctuary opened in Bethlehem, South Africa.[ citation needed ] Helmut Dungler was awarded the Silver Order of Merit for Services Rendered to the Republic of Austria.[ citation needed ]
In 2010, Four Paws started a collaboration with the Princess Alia Foundation of Jordan, with the Al Ma'wa for Nature and Wildlife project. [6] In 2012, an EU-wide ban on conventional battery cages for hens came into force. [7]
In 2014, the Bear Sanctuary Prishtina in Kosovo was opened. In 2015, Four Paws initiated a campaign against canned lion hunting, which attracted 281,000 supporters. [8] In 2018, the organisation rescued lions and bears from "Europe's worst zoo", in Tirana, Albania. [9] The same year, the first International Animal Welfare Summit was organised by Four Paws in Vienna, with famous guests that included Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. [10]
On 17 January 2018, Switzerland took a step against anonymous pet trafficking on the internet. From 1 March 2018, online traders have had to provide their full name and address as well as the country of origin and breeding of the dogs offered for sale. [11] On 5 January 2020, Four Paws founder and president, Helmut Dungler, died unexpectedly. [12] In January 2020, Four Paws rescued sick lions at a zoo in Khartoum, Sudan, after worldwide outrage following concerning reports of the animals' condition. [13]
On 4 September 2020, the organisation, together with veterinarians Amir Khalil and Frank Goeritz from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research examined and approved "the world's loneliest elephant", Kaavan, for travel from the Islamabad Zoo in Pakistan to an elephant sanctuary in Cambodia. [14] The relocation to the Cambodia Wildlife Sanctuary, at the end of November 2020, was supported by singer Cher's NGO Free the Wild and by businessman Eric Margolis. [15] [16]
In January 2021, Four Paws published the Austrian edition of the Meat Atlas , in cooperation with the Heinrich Böll Foundation and the environmental protection organization Global 2000. [17]
In March 2022, four tigers were rescued from Argentina to find a new home in South Africa. It was the organization's first rescue in South America. [18]
On 16 April 2020, claims by Four Paws in The Independent stated there had been a surge in consumption of dog and cat meat in Vietnam as a result of fake news suggesting it would cure COVID-19. [19] Four Paws' head of stray animal care in Asia, Katherine Polak, was quoted as saying she strongly suspected doctors were now recommending cat and dog meat to treat COVID-19. However, on 24 April 2020, fact-checking nonprofit PolitiFact rated the claim as false. [20] Reporter Tina Nguyen called it mind-boggling and a nasty racist attack. [21] In May 2020, Four Paws responded with an official statement defending their claims. [22]
The organisation is positioned as "a strong, global, and independent voice for animals under direct human control" by offering sustainable solutions for animals in need, changing consumer behaviour, driving legal change, and building partnerships. The purpose of Four Paws is to inform the general public about animal welfare. The organisation also supports a ban on farming animals for fur, strict limitations on keeping wild animals in private captivity, and a ban on wild animals in circuses. [1]
Four Paws projects include the following: [1]
The Oregon Zoo, originally the Portland Zoo and later the Washington Park Zoo, is a zoo located in Washington Park, Portland, Oregon, approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) southwest of downtown Portland. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest zoo west of the Mississippi River.
The pileated gibbon is a primate in the gibbon family, Hylobatidae.
The Born Free Foundation is an international wildlife charity that campaigns to "Keep Wildlife in the Wild". It protects wild animals in their natural habitat, campaigns against the keeping of wild animals in captivity and rescues wild animals in need. It also promotes compassionate conservation, which takes into account the welfare of individual animals in conservation initiatives. Born Free also creates and provides educational materials and activities that reflect the charity's values.
The white lion is a rare colour mutation of the lion, specifically the Southern African lion. White lions in the area of Timbavati are thought to have been indigenous to the Timbavati region of South Africa for centuries, although the earliest recorded sighting in this region was in 1938. White lions first became known to the English-speaking world in 1977 through the book The White Lions of Timbavati.
Bile bears, sometimes called battery bears, are bears kept in captivity to harvest their bile, a digestive fluid produced by the liver and stored in the gallbladder, which is used by some traditional Asian medicine practitioners. It is estimated that 12,000 bears are farmed for bile in China, South Korea, Laos, Vietnam, and Myanmar. Demand for the bile has been found in those nations as well as in some others, such as Malaysia and Japan.
Jill Robinson MBE is a British animal welfare activist. She is the founder of Animals Asia Foundation.
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Animals Asia Foundation (AAF) is a Hong Kong–based charity that seeks to end cruelty to animals in Asia.
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Islamabad Zoo, previously Marghazar Zoo, was an 82-acre (33 ha) zoo in Islamabad Capital Territory. It was opened in 1978, and was under the administration of Capital Development Authority of Pakistan before its closure in December 2020 due to its mistreatment of animals.
International Animal Rescue (IAR) is a British wildlife protection and conservation non-profit organization. IAR aims to implement strategies which protect and mitigate the threats to wildlife and habitats.
Big Cat Rescue Corp., also known as BCR and previously known as Wildlife on Easy Street, Inc., operates an animal sanctuary in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States, which rescues and houses exotic cats, and rehabilitates injured or orphaned native wild cats. It was founded by Don Lewis and Carole Baskin in 1995.
Philip John Lymbery is the Global CEO of farm animal welfare charity, Compassion in World Farming International, Visiting Professor at the University of Winchester’s Centre for Animal Welfare, President of Eurogroup for Animals, Brussels, founding Board member of the World Federation for Animals and a Leadership Fellow at St George's House, Windsor Castle.
Animal welfare and rights in the People's Republic of China is a topic of growing interest. China has had limited animal protections by international standards, and animal-rights activists have condemned the treatment of animals in the country. Movements towards animal welfare and animal rights are expanding in China, including among homegrown Chinese activists, but face resistance from nationalists.
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