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]
Lionsrock big cat sanctuary, Bethlehem, South Africa (2011)
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 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 2011, 50,000 signatures against the puppy trade were handed over to the European Commission in Brussels.[citation needed] At the same time, an international protest by Four Paws against a planned law to cull dogs was successful. The law was thrown out by the Romanian Supreme Court.[citation needed] 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 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]
Controversy
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]
Objectives
Disaster Relief Unit (2014)
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 rights. 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]
Bears: Four Paws rescues bears forced to live in poor conditions in circuses, zoos, or in private hands. The organisation has projects in Vietnam,[23] Austria,[24]Bulgaria,[25]Poland,[26] Ukraine,[27] and Kosovo.[28]
The Arbesbach sanctuary in Austria was built to provide a new home for brown bears formerly held in captivity.
Stray animals: Four Paws creates solutions to prevent outbreaks of disease and uncontrolled levels of reproduction among strays in places such as Myanmar,[35] Romania,[36] Ukraine,[37] and Cambodia[38] In addition, the organization is working to sustainably end the dog and cat meat trade.[39]
Horses: The organisation protects Europe's last populations of horses living in the wild Danube Delta in Romania[40] and in the Jordanian city of Petra.[40]
Orangutans: Four Paws looks after orphaned orangutans and prepares them to live independently in the wild.[41] Furthermore, the organisation funds a forest school in Indonesia's East Kalimantan.[42]
Fur farming: Four Paws supports a ban on farming animals for fur, a legal obligation to label all fur products and, in the long term, a Europe-wide ban on importing and selling all fur products.[43][44] In August 2018, Four Paws joined the Fur Free Alliance to launch a new campaign urging fashion brand Prada to adopt a fur-free policy like Gucci, Versace, Armani, Donna Karan, and Hugo Boss.[45] In February 2021, the organisation published a statement on the assessment conducted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the World Organisation for Animal Health, and the World Health Organization on SARS-CoV-2 in animals used for fur farming, demonstrating high risks for public health.[46]
Assistance for animals in distress: The organisation rescues animals after natural disasters and helps local people whose livelihood depends upon the animals.[47]
European Union: The organisation has urged the European Parliament to call for stricter regulation on the trade in live wild animals, a clear commitment to step up efforts to combat the illegal wildlife trade, as well as EU and member states' financial support to wildlife rescue centres and sanctuaries.[48] Moreover, the organization has criticized the EU Council's decision on the signing of the Mercosur agreement between the EU and the United States concerning "high quality beef".[49]
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 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.
Animals Asia Foundation (AAF) is a Hong Kong-based charity that seeks to end cruelty to animals in Asia.
The Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) is a volunteer-based, non-government organization whose goal is to prevent animal cruelty through education, animal sheltering and advocacy, based in Quezon City, Philippines. It was founded in 1954 by Muriel Jay. PAWS believes that the creation of a more peaceful society starts with the widening of mankind's circle of compassion which includes animals, thereby envisions a nation that respects animals, practices responsible pet ownership and protects wildlife. The volunteer-based organization rehabilitates these animals in the hope of finding them new homes and a second chance at a good life. PAWS does not take in pets of other people, but only victims of cruelty or neglect where the animal offenders are charged with violation of the Animal Welfare Act in court.
Bear-baiting is a blood sport in which a chained bear and one or more dogs are forced to fight one another. It may also involve pitting a bear against another animal. Until the 19th century, it was commonly performed in Great Britain, Sweden, India, Pakistan, and Mexico among others.
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 an animal protection and conservation non-profit organisation that comes to the aid of suffering animals with hands-on rescue and rehabilitation and the protection of wildlife habitats. IAR returns rehabilitated animals to the wild while also providing permanent sanctuary for those that cannot fend for themselves. Its work includes cutting free and caring for captive bears in India and Armenia, rescuing and rehabilitating orangutans and other primates in Indonesia and treating injured and orphaned howler monkeys in Costa Rica. IAR strives to educate the public in the humane treatment of all animals and the preservation of the natural environment. International Animal Rescue has offices in the United Kingdom, United States, India, Indonesia and Malta.
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.
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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↑ FOUR PAWS recommendations for MEPs working on the Own Initiative Report on the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2030 Four Paws, retrieved on 31. August 2020 (PDF; 129 kB)
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