Ukrainian volunteer killed delivering food to a dog shelter, and other news
ALL ANIMALS: Bringing you a digest of news and opinion pieces you might have missed from the past week, covering all things animal justice.
Ukrainian Anastasiia Yalanskaya, who was shot and killed last week delivering food to a dog shelter, pictured with her husband Yevhen Yalanskyi.
Ukrainian volunteer killed delivering aid to dog shelter near Kyiv
A 26-year-old Ukrainian was tragically killed on Thursday while delivering food to a dog shelter along with two other volunteers who haven’t been named, the Daily Mail reported.
Anastasiia Yalanskaya was delivering food to a dog shelter in Bucha, 30 kilometres outside Kyiv, when she was shot and killed in a suspected deliberate attack by Russian forces.
Her car was found riddled with bullet holes that appeared to have come from heavy weaponry at close range, her family said. The invading Russian forces have been accused of targeting civilians at random to spread fear.
Yalanskaya, known to be an animal lover, had completed her delivery to the dog shelter in desperate need of supplies, having gone without food for three days. She was nearly home when her car was attacked.
“She loved animals. We had a dog and a cat. She was the best partner I ever had,” said her husband Yevhen Yalanskyi.
Yalanskaya was a hero not only for the kindness she showed to those dogs but also for the aid she gave to other groups including a kindergarten in Brovary where around 40 children had been left without food, diapers, tissues and other supplies.
Endangered sharks found in pet food, genetic study reveals
Cat and dog food with traces of endangered sharks is being fed to companion animals by their unsuspecting guardians, a DNA study has shown.
Scientists discovered that several popular brands contained parts of sharks of endangered species, but included only vague descriptions such as ‘ocean fish’ on the ingredients list.
“The majority of pet owners are likely lovers of nature, and we think most would be alarmed to discover that they could be unknowingly contributing to the overfishing of shark populations,” study authors, Ben Wainwright and Ian French, of Yale-NUS College, Singapore, told the Guardian.
Using a technique known as ‘DNA barcoding’, the Singapore-based researchers examined 45 products from 16 brands. Most of the products used broad terms such as “fish”, “ocean fish”, “whitebait” or “white fish”, while others did not indicate the presence of any fish at all.
Yet around a third of all the samples taken contained shark DNA. The most frequently identified species were blue shark, silky shark and whitetip reef shark, with the latter two listed as “vulnerable” in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
The study’s authors suggested that shark meat was being taken from carcasses discarded after the more valuable fins were removed, or be indicative of a growing shark meat trade. Dr Andrew Griffiths of the University of Exeter said shark DNA was also being found in human food products, such as spiny dogfish and hammerhead shark meat in fish and chip shops.
Griffiths added that without specific rules against mislabelling pet food ingredients and few other ways for them to sell unpopular shark meat, “You could be unwittingly getting just about any fish.”
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New vegan UK TV ad to air on Channel 4, Sky Mac and Sky Cinema
A new TV ad highlighting the cognitive dissonance of the UK’s woke middle class when it comes to their consumption animals is to be shown on UK networks in the coming weeks, reported Plant Based News.
The 30-second ad will air on Channel 4, Sky Max and Sky Cinema and features three characters - all portrayed by vegan actors - talking about our oceans, the environment and animal welfare in Spain and China, all while eating burgers and other animal products.
The ad was funded by Miami Burger in partnership with Vegan Friendly, as revealed in a Plant Based News exclusive.
Visit Makethconnection.io for more information.
The development kitchen at Meatless Farm in Leeds. Credit: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian
Yorkshire startups vie for a slice of the alt-meat and dairy pie
The Guardian last week reported on a slew of new plant-based meat and dairy startups that have taken up residence in Leeds and other locations across the Yorkshire region in northern England.
Tom Watkins, co-founder of alt-milk startup Mighty based in Leeds, said Yorkshire was becoming the silicon valley of plant-based food companies.
“We’re a family business and never entertained the notion of being anywhere else,” said Nick Watkins, Mighty’s other co-founder and brother to Tom. “We love it here and the people we have access to are incredible.”
Other alt-meat and dairy companies based in ‘God’s Own Country’ include well-known brands like Quorn, plus emerging names like VFC, Over the Spoon and Meatless Farm.
Thijs Geijer, an economist at ING Research, speaking to the Guardian, likened Yorkshire and other emerging clusters as a “trend” very much like America’s Protein Highway and the Vegan Valley in the east of the Netherlands.
The demand for plant-based products has been driven by growing concern for health, welfare and sustainability, in the wake of the pandemic, but with inflation now looking, the question is whether households can afford to buy the more expensive products.
Shares of Oatly dropped 20 per cent in one day in November, while Beyond Meat also missed its profit target to worry investors. All this has led some to predict an end to the plant-based boom and the start of a new period of consolidation.
However, Meatless Farm successfully raised £30 million from investors ahead of another fundraising round, while other startups are also receiving millions in new funding.
Andrew Gough is Media and Investigations Manager for Surge.
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