On Saturday, June 16, Bite Back organised the first edition of the march for the closure of all slaughterhouses in Amsterdam. Around 700 activists coloured the streets of Amsterdam red and expressed their dissatisfaction with what is happening to animals in intensive livestock farming and how they are coming to an end in slaughterhouses all over the world. On the Rembrandtplein and Leidseplein there were those held in which the activists depicted the dead animals on the slaughter floor and echoed their cries through the air. Passers-by on Dam Square were also able to take a virtual look at a slaughterhouse using the iAnimal virtual reality experience.

A global action

The 7th edition of the Mars for the Closure of Slaughterhouses takes place in June in about forty cities around the world: in Paris, but also in Brussels, Barcelona, Brussels, Dublin, Helsinki, Istanbul, London, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Montreal, New York, Ottawa, Sydney and Tokyo, demonstrations are taking place or have taken place.

The aim of this march is to denounce the cruelty that animals have to endure on a daily basis in farms, slaughterhouses and fishing boats. It also symbolises the hope of an awareness that will lead us to a world where people no longer exploit animals, but see them as equal inhabitants of our planet.

A requirement for abolition

In the Netherlands, 1 750 000 animals of their young age alone are killed every day in slaughterhouses and some 4 billion fish are caught and killed every year. "We are calling for the abolition of livestock farming, fishing and slaughterhouses because the consumption of animal products is not necessary and because sensitive animals must not be mistreated or killed unnecessarily. Let us move together towards an end to the exploitation of animals and put an end to this unnecessary violence against living beings," said Alex Romijn, spokesman for the animal rights organisation Bite Back.

Things can be done differently

Animal products are not necessary for our health: the world's largest association of nutritionists, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND - more than 100,000 professional health experts) has already stated that vegetarian nutrition (including veganism), if balanced, is good for health, is nutritionally appropriate for all ages and beneficial for the prevention and treatment of certain diseases.

In addition to animal suffering, the pressure on society for animal products is enormous. Both the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (Planbureau voor de Leefomgeving), the Council for the Environment and Infrastructure (Raad voor de Leefomgeving en Infrastructuur) and RIVM and others indicated that they should consume more plants, and a report by CE Delft indicated that meat is sold at extremely low prices, despite the enormous social costs it generates. The livestock industry also causes enormous public health problems. Spokesman Alex Romijn: "There is therefore an urgent need to start dismantling the livestock industry and to tax animal products more heavily. In this way, we can move towards a society in which plant nutrition and veganism become the norm and we can close slaughterhouses. “

In the media

An article appeared in the media on the websites of Blikopnieuws and NH. A video fragment also appeared on the local television channel AT5.

We would like to thank all present, our sponsors, volunteers, members and sympathisers for their support! Thanks to you, this first edition of the Mars in Amsterdam has been a great success!