07/01/2012

(2012, January 7th.)

Dear Friends of the Animals in Europe!

My phone was ringing on Christmas Day. Wilhelm, 72, and his wife, 71, from Eastern Germany had collected another 700 signatures in the cold and the rain, and now they asked, rather shyly, whether it was still time to include the 700 into the final count.

These are the very people who did not give up, who were up and about with the lists. These are people like you, old and young, weak and vigorous, people all over Europe, who have made this 8 hours campaign such a huge success.

This has never been done before: in 8 months, starting with only 200,000 valid signatures, together we have collected over a million signatures for the 8hours campaign. We had no serious money, we had no infrastructure for campaigning in a big way, we had no name or standing with the media. We had "only" Adolfo – but he made more than good for all this. And finally here we are with the million and ever more signatures coming in.

When we started, my friends and family thought (and sometimes said) that now I had gone completely mad. But I knew it could be done. I trusted Adolfo completely and still do. I thought highly of the European network amongst the friends of the animals. I believed in their ability to put aside differences and work for a common goal. And I was not to be disappointed.

So I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all you did, to make this possible. I thank you for standing in city centres in the cold and the rain like Wilhelm and his wife. I thank you for suffering insults without retaliating. I thank you for creative ways to collect signatures and for long hours spent counting the lists. I thank you for the sheer stubbornness you showed in not giving up ever.

I cannot thank you for the love, which is at the bottom of all this hard work, because this would be patronizing. But I share this love with you, the love for all these forsaken animals, driven to a certain cruel death. You and I look at them with the eyes of love, regardless how dirty, bloody and ugly they are. So let us put this love into further action and continue to fight for the 8 hours. Adolfo and I rely on you.

I send my kindest regards, may God bless you and keep you in 2012.

Yours sincerely,

Christa Blanke

Christa Blanke is the Founder and Director of Animals’ Angels, an animal-rights organization based in Frankfurt a. M. (Germany). The organization was founded in 1998 following to the increasing media reports about the torture of animals during long-term transportation. In the last 20 years AA produced tens of reports on abuses in long distance transportations of animals, mostly from North-Europe towards southern Countries. They are also the initiators of the European "8hours" campaign to stop long animal transportation.

Adolfo (Adolfo Sansolini) is the european coordinator of the 8hours campaign and the Internationa Relations Manager at IHP-Italian Horse Protection