Protest at Thai embassy London in support of WFFT

On 2 March 2012, roughly 30 WFFT volunteers, and other WFFT supporters from around the United Kingdom and other nations, gathered outside the Thai Embassy in London to show their support for WFFT and protest the forceful wildlife raids by DNP. The protestors legally demonstrated in front of The Embassy. They created and held signs depicting some of the confiscated animals, with verses reading, “Missing, Have you seen these loved animals”, “I support Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand”, “I urge the speedy and safe return of [WFFT’s] animals back to the WFFT sanctuary”, among others.

Senior embassy staff from the Thai Embassy, UK agreed to meet with Sophie Dubus, a volunteer of WFFT and member of the WFFT Supporters Group, and Philip Mansbridge, CEO of Care for the Wild. Dubus and Mansbridge urged The Embassy staff, and Thai Government to return the seized animals immediately; the two individuals spent about 45 minutes in the embassy discussing the issues, talking about the case studies of some of the animals and the issues associated with not maintaining the animals’ welfare, after handing over the 53,000+ signature petition which asked for the safe and speedy return of all of WFFT’s confiscated animals. The Embassy staff have promised to relay this information back to officials in Thailand.

We would like to thank all of our supporters who turned out for the protest in London. Your support in recent weeks has been tremendously appreciated and helpful. You actions and support give us the motivation to continue in our fight against the injustice towards wildlife and to see that our animals are provided with a safe and prompt return to the centre.

A protest is currently being organized in Bangkok and will occur in the coming weeks. This protest, in addition to seeking the safe return of all our animals, will be seeking the stoppage of the illegal wildlife trade and elephant poaching in Thailand. We are aiming to generate much Thai support through this demonstration which will aid us in stopping the illegal wildlife trade and elephant poaching, as well as building support for the safe and proper return of our animals.

For up-to-date information concerning what is happening please visit our facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/wildlifefriendsfoundation or our website at http://www.wfft.org/

A YouTube video from the protest can be found at: http://youtu.be/fscCQPVVQ3c

[vsw id=”fscCQPVVQ3c” source=”youtube” width=”425″ height=”344″ autoplay=”no”]

A news article concerning the protest can be found at:
http://www.demotix.com/news/1086640/animal-welfare-activists-petition-royal-thai-embassy-london