Jordi Casamitjana | |
---|---|
Born | 1964 |
Occupation | Animal rights activist |
Jordi Casamitjana (born 1964) is a vegan, zoologist, [1] [2] animal protection campaigner, and animal rights activist. [3]
Casamitjana was born in Catalonia in 1964 but is a British citizen living in the UK since 1993. He identifies as an ethical vegan. [4] In April 2018, he was fired from the League Against Cruel Sports (LACS) after he disclosed to his colleagues that it was investing in firms related to animal testing. Casamitjana claimed that LACS's decision to fire him was based on his ethical vegan belief. [5] LACS said it was because of gross misconduct. He took legal action against LACS, which ended in an out-of-court settlement in his favour. [6] The landmark case confirmed that ethical veganism is protected under the Equality Act 2010 in the UK as a philosophical belief. [7] This was the first time the specific belief of ethical veganism had been legally recognised and protected in any jurisdiction in the world. [8] [9] He is also the author of the book Ethical Vegan: a Personal and Political Journey to Change the World. [10]
He was heavily involved with the first successful prosecutions under the Hunting Act 2004 [11] and in the ban on bullfighting in Catalonia. [12]
Casamitjana was one of the expert witnesses before several parliaments during the debates that led to the successful passing of animal protection legislation. For instance, on 3rd March 2010, he spoke as an ethologist before the Environmental Commission of the Catalan Parliament for the ban of bullfighting in Catalonia. [13] [14] On 22nd October 2014, he spoke before the Commission of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, Food and Environment of the Catalan Parliament for the ban on wild animals in circuses. [15] [16] On 13th November 2016, he spoke before the Climate Change, Environment, and Rural Affairs Committee of the Welsh Assembly for the ban of snares. [17] On 21st May 2019, he spoke before the Public Bills Committee of the UK Parliament for the ban of wild animals in circuses. [18]
Casamitjana also helped to close several zoological collections in the UK as part of his anti-zoo campaigning. For example, Glasgow Zoo, [19] [20] and several small petty zoos in the Scottish county of Fife. [21]
Casamitjana has worked as a freelance animal protection consultant, [22] undercover investigator [4] [11] and writer, [23] [24] and as an employee of campaign departments of several animal protection organisations, including the Monkey Sanctuary (Wild Futures), [25] the Born Free Foundation, [19] the League Against Cruel Sports, [26] [27] CAS International, [28] the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), [29] and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) UK. [30]
Jordi Pujol i Soley is a retired Catalan politician who was the leader of the party Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya (CDC) from 1974 to 2003, and President of the Generalitat de Catalunya from 1980 to 2003.
Polistes is a cosmopolitan genus of paper wasps and the only genus in the tribe Polistini. Vernacular names for the genus include umbrella wasps, coined by Walter Ebeling in 1975 to distinguish it from other types of paper wasp, in reference to the form of their nests, and umbrella paper wasps. Polistes is the single largest genus within the family Vespidae, with over 200 recognized species. Their innate preferences for nest-building sites leads them to commonly build nests on human habitation, where they can be very unwelcome; although generally not aggressive, they can be provoked into defending their nests. All species are predatory, and they may consume large numbers of caterpillars, in which respect they are generally considered beneficial.
The European hornet is the largest eusocial wasp native to Europe. It is also the only true hornet found in North America, having been introduced to the United States and Canada from Europe as early as 1840. Vespines, such as V. crabro, are known for making intricate paper-like nests out of surrounding plant materials and other fibers. Unlike most other vespines, reproductive suppression involves worker policing instead of queen pheromone control, as was previously thought.
The Principality of Catalonia was a medieval and early modern state in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula. During most of its history it was in dynastic union with the Kingdom of Aragon, constituting together the Crown of Aragon. Between the 13th and the 18th centuries, it was bordered by the Kingdom of Aragon to the west, the Kingdom of Valencia to the south, the Kingdom of France and the feudal lordship of Andorra to the north and by the Mediterranean Sea to the east. The term Principality of Catalonia was official until the 1830s, when the Spanish government implemented the centralized provincial division, but remained in popular and informal contexts. Today, the term Principat (Principality) is used primarily to refer to the autonomous community of Catalonia in Spain, as distinct from the other Catalan Countries, and usually including the historical region of Roussillon in Southern France.
The common woolly monkey, brown woolly monkey, or Humboldt's woolly monkey is a woolly monkey from Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, and Venezuela. It lives in groups of two to 70 individuals, usually splitting the group into smaller subgroups when active.
The European paper wasp is one of the most common and well-known species of social wasps in the genus Polistes. Its diet is more diverse than those of most Polistes species—many genera of insects versus mainly caterpillars in other Polistes—giving it superior survivability compared to other wasp species during a shortage of resources.
A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. The wasps do not constitute a clade, a complete natural group with a single ancestor, as bees and ants are deeply nested within the wasps, having evolved from wasp ancestors. Wasps that are members of the clade Aculeata can sting their prey.
Tza'ar ba'alei chayim, literally "suffering of living creatures", is a Jewish commandment which bans causing animals unnecessary suffering. This concept is not clearly enunciated in the written Torah, but was accepted by the Talmud as being a biblical mandate. It is linked in the Talmud from the biblical law requiring people to assist in unloading burdens from animals.
Polistes annularis is a species of paper wasp found throughout the eastern half of the United States. This species of red paper wasp is known for its large size and its red-and-black coloration and is variably referred to as a ringed paper wasp or jack Spaniard wasp. It builds its nest under overhangs near bodies of water that minimize the amount of sunlight penetration. It clusters its nests together in large aggregations, and consumes nectar and other insects. Its principal predator is the ant, although birds are also known to prey on it. Unlike other wasps, P. annularis is relatively robust in winter conditions, and has also been observed to store honey in advance of hibernation. This species has also been used as a model species to demonstrate the ability to use microsatellite markers in maternity assignment of social insects.
Gary Yourofsky is an American animal rights activist and lecturer. He has had a major influence on contemporary veganism.
Polistes fuscatus, whose common name is the dark or northern paper wasp, is widely found in eastern North America, from southern Canada through the southern United States. It often nests around human development. However, it greatly prefers areas in which wood is readily available for use as nest material, therefore they are also found near and in woodlands and savannas. P. fuscatus is a social wasp that is part of a complex society based around a single dominant foundress along with other cofoundresses and a dominance hierarchy.
Jordi Cañas Pérez is a Spanish politician who has been a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 2019. He previously was member of the Parliament of Catalonia between 2010 and 2014, during the IX and X legislature.
Polistes carolina is one of two species of red paper wasp found in the eastern United States and is noted for the finer ridges on its propodeum. It is a social wasp in the family Vespidae and subfamily Polistinae. The species is native to the United States from Texas to Florida, north to New York, and west to Nebraska. The wasp's common name is due to the reddish-brown color of its head and body. P. carolina prefer to build their nests in protected spaces.
This timeline describes major events in the history of animal welfare and animal rights.
Jan Deckers works in bioethics at Newcastle University. His work revolves mainly around three topics: animal ethics, reproductive ethics and embryo research, and ethics of genetics.
Vegaphobia, vegephobia, veganphobia, or veganophobia is an aversion to, or dislike of, vegetarians and vegans. The term first appeared in the 2010s, coinciding with the rise in veganism in the late 2010s. Several studies have found an incidence of vegaphobic sentiments in the general population. Positive feelings regarding vegetarians and vegans also exist. Because of their diet, others may perceive them as more virtuous or principled.
Joaquim Torra i Pla, known as Quim Torra, is a Catalan lawyer and journalist from Spain. He served as President of the Government of Catalonia from 17 May 2018 to 28 September 2020, when the Supreme Court of Spain confirmed a court ruling by the High Court of Justice of Catalonia condemning him for disobeying the Central Electoral Board during the April 2019 general election, leading to his disqualification from office.
The trial of Catalonia independence leaders, legally named Causa Especial 20907/2017 and popularly known as the Causa del procés, was an oral trial that began on 12 February 2019 in the Supreme Court of Spain. The case was tried by seven judges and was chaired by judge Manuel Marchena. Judge Pablo Llarena had previously coordinated an instruction between October 2017 and July 2018, as a result of which 12 people were tried, including the previous vice president Oriol Junqueras of the regional government and most of the cabinet as well as political activists Jordi Sànchez and Jordi Cuixart and the former Speaker of the Parliament of Catalonia Carme Forcadell. Some defendants remained in pre-trial detention without bail from the beginning of the instruction process and have thus already served part of their sentence.
Catalan Alliance is a far-right political party in Catalonia. It is a Catalan pro-independence, and nationalist party, and also opposes immigration. It is currently the governing party of the municipality of Ripoll. At the 2024 Catalan regional election, the party entered the Parliament of Catalonia for the first time, with two seats.