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Despite the existence of the Hunting Act 2004, on Boxing Day this year thousands of people gathered to witness hunts depart from rural towns and villages, perhaps suggesting that not a great deal has changed since the introduction of this legislation.  Although there is a hardcore element flouting anti-hunting laws, many animal welfare groups, politicians and members of the public still strongly support the Hunting Act and are prepared to pursue all legal and political channels necessary to ensure that the coalition government's plan for a free vote on repeal is not a pro-hunting success story.  

A recent briefing by the RSPCA showed that although many pro-hunting groups would like the public to think the Hunting Act is an unenforceable piece of legislation, quite the contrary is true.  According to data, until 2010 there was a year on year increase in the number of prosecutions under the Hunting Act with a 70% success rate.*  It has been demonstrated in the courts that the Hunting Act is 'rational and proportionate', so now it is time for support for the Act to be shown and effective enforcement to become standard practice.  

Since late 2011 Network for Animals have been in contact with an anti-hunting group with a unique angle.  Conservatives Against Fox Hunting are tackling the issue of hunting with hounds by reaching out to Conservative MPs against fox hunting to help them present a unified, progressive front of 'Blue Fox' politicians who are willing to take a stand against this cruel sport.  In light of London's successful bid to host the 2012 Olympics, the founders of Conservatives Against Fox Hunting have chosen to focus on 'Cool Sports' instead of 'Cruel Sports' in their new year messaging. 

A spokesperson for Conservatives Against Fox Hunting said: “In 2012, Great Britain will host the Olympics, a momentous event that is universally regarded as the crowning pinnacle of sporting achievement and prowess. These Olympic Games have come to embody everything that is honourable, desirable, exciting and praiseworthy about sport, so it is a huge honour for a nation to be able to host an event that will be eagerly watched by a global audience of billions. Quite simply, there is no spectacle like the Olympic Games, so it simply defies credulity that at the same time as we prepare to present all that is finest about Great Britain to the world, there is a small minority of people who are actively campaigning for a return to blood sports, in the form of fox hunting, stag hunting, hare hunting and hare coursing with dogs."

In their pre-Boxing Day media release the group went on to highlight the unbalanced nature of this so-called 'sport', in which one side is set-up to lose from the moment 'play' begins, going completely against the nature of fair play and healthy competition.  

Network for Animals takes this opportunity to applaud Conservatives Against Fox Hunting for their attempts to ensure a whole political party is not tarnished with the label of animal cruelty and hopes that we can continue to work together to ensure a ban remains firmly in place.  We stand together in favour of cool sports, not cruel sports. 

*Read the RSPCA 'Update on the Hunting Act' briefing from December 2011 here

See the Daily Mail's coverage of the 2011 Boxing Day hunt

Our first field report covered our team in the Philippines and their efforts to bring food and veterinary care to pets and their owners following the recent flash flooding in the Philippines. Since then our team has worked hard during the christmas break to do what they can to improve the situation in an area that has suffered utter devastation.  Our vet on the ground, Dino, describes the latest scenes in the worst hit areas.  

"I returned yesterday afternoon from 3-days of work in Iligan and Cagayan de Oro. As you have seen in photos, it seems a miracle how those people survived the flash flood. The scene is really a nightmare.

While there are now several welfare agencies that are helping the flood victims, we are the only ones who are working on the welfare of the animals. So far the reception to our work here has been positive, probably because we are making sure we give rice to pet owners as well as providing food and medical attention to their pets. In fact, if you see the faces of the dog owners, you can see that what we are doing is rewarding.

Sometimes the progress of the work here goes slowly because there are dog owners who are keen to share their stories, their experiences of the flood, the stories of how they survived and particularly the role their dogs played in their survival.  Some have said that without the barking of their dogs that awakened them they could be dead by now. There are also lost dogs that were considered dead only to return days after as well as dog owners who worked as hard to save their dogs as they did their children. There are,of course, many orphan dogs.

You can see in the photos that there are many dogs in a state of shock.  They just lie down, listlessly, and nobody in the neighborhood knows who their owner is. These are what I call the orphan dogs. And there are plenty of them.  But even if the owner is still alive, they simply have nothing to feed themselves and their dogs.  There is simply nothing left - no water, no house.

I suggested to the vets who are helping us in our activities here to make a report to their heads of units with the recommendation to create a shelter for these dogs.  I recommended that they should make animal welfare a permanent component of the animal services of their office and we will do what we can to assist them in making this a reality. 

I will be returning to Iligan and Cagayan de Oro in January to make a follow up and continue the work."

As the year draws to a close it's a good opportunity to reflect on the successes and failures of the past 12 months as well as making plans for the future.  It's been a busy year for Network for Animals with new staff, new challenges and the odd moment of careful optimism.  We thought it would be nice for you, our supporters, to read our round up of the successes we achieved in 2011 and what we have identified as the key goals to strive for in 2012.

- 2011 saw the successful prosecution of dog meat traders under anti-rabies legislation in the Philippines.  We see these as benchmark rulings which will hopefully set a precedent for more prosecutions to come.

- This year saw two devastating natural disasters in Asia that we felt compelled to act on.  The first was the terrible flooding in Thailand, for which we gave a grant to SCAD Bangkok to assist with their relief efforts.  Then, only last week, our team in Mindanao sprung into action to distribute food, water and emergency vet care following the chaos of Typhoon Washi.

- We identified the re-emerging threat to badgers and chose to support a badger rescue operation in Cornwall so that they could continue their vital badger rescue work.  In addition to this we ran petitions and 'Email Your MP' campaigns on badgers with huge participation as well as providing Badger Trust with a grant to assist with the costs of their legal challenge against the cull.  We believe pressure from our supporters was partly instrumental in the Welsh decision to review their plans for a cull. 

- We delivered a petition on the dog meat trade to parliament with over 10,000 signatures and the support of more than a dozen MPs.  We also secured commitment from the Ambassador to the Philippines and senior government figures to continue to support our work on this issue. 

- We conducted our first raid of a restaurant serving dog meat in Baguio City in the Philippines, with the pledge to do many more next year.

- We provided free vet care for hundreds of horses in the Philippines, some of which were injured in horse fights

In 2012 we intend to continue building on what we achieved this year.  Our key goals are to:

- Assist in the prosecution of more dog meat traders and close more restaurants
- Pressure the government to abort plans for a cull of badgers in England
- Work with other organisations to ensure the Hunting Act 2004 remains in place
- Launch a new tourism-focussed campaign with the Kennel Club and Dogs Trust to tackle the dog meat trade
- Work with HSI to ensure that the Chinese market remains closed to seal products

We are always happy to receive feedback and suggestions about the work we are doing and hope that our supporters continue to stay with us for the coming year.  We will continue to fight for a world that treats animals with respect and animal cruelty is a thing of the past.

We wish you all the best for the festive season and a very happy new year.

Following Typhoon Washi, which struck Mindanao in the Philippines last weekend, we dispatched our vet in the region along to the worst hit areas with a disaster relief team to provide food and emergency care to displaced animals.  The typhoon caused widespread devastation across the region, washing away homes, businesses and lives.  With nearly 1000 people officially dead and many more missing, the consequences for people and animals in the area are dire.  We took the decision for our disaster team to distribute food and treat stray animals, but also to provide rice for people who were struggling in the aftermath of the typhoon. 

Dino and his team are working long hours in a precarious situation encompassing health risks and a demolished infrastructure.  His first report describes the tragedy in terms of devastating lost, but a gritty determination to pick up and carry on. 

"We did feeding in Iligan City yesterday. It was a successful yet pitiful situation there.  There were many dogs that died and there are still plenty left. There are stories of canine heroism, of dogs that saved the lives of their owners by barking and wet dogs jumping into beds that awakened their owners.  There are plenty of orphaned dogs, which you can see from the pictures I sent you. The city stinks and the smells are awful. Many people are wearing masks while they work here.  It's also very dusty from dried mud.  The city is in disaster state.

We did house to house distribution of dog food and rice. People could not be pulled out from their areas, instead they are making shanties or removing mud and staying where they are. Others are just along the roads with simply no place to go. Dogs ate dog food even if they are not used to it due to their hunger.  Water is also a big problem for humans and animals.  The city vets personnel are very active and were all there with me. They will continue the dog food and rice distribution while there is supply.  We will work here in Cagayan de Oro today with some people from the province.  We work the whole day today."

Dino's team will continue to work alongside the city vets and other aid agencies until the situation stabilizes.  We'll bring your more reports when we have them.