Triple-bill victory for Lucy and caged hens

It’s a hat-trick for animal rights campaigner Lucy Gavaghan. Last week the 14-year-old and her 280,000 signers celebrated her win after Tesco agreed to stop selling eggs from caged hens.

This week – her second petition calling on Morrisons and Asda to do the same, saw her win again. On Tuesday, Morrisons announced it would phase out the caged eggs, and three days later – Asda followed suit.

Lucy says she “can’t believe it” and is “so excited” now that all the major supermarkets will be caged-egg free by 2025.

Boris Johnson urged to help #FreeNazanin

This week marked over 115 days since Nazanin was arrested and thrown into prison, during which time she has spent several weeks in solitary confinement.

Amid growing concern for her welfare, Nazanin’s husband Richard made a personal appeal to Britain’s new Foreign Secretary asking him to deal with this “harrowing and urgent matter.”

The couple’s daughter Gabriella who turned two since her mother’s imprisonment is still living with her grandparents in Iran.

Writing on an emotional petition update to his 791,000 signers, Richard said: “Last week I requested an urgent meeting with the Iranian Embassy to discuss. To date, meeting them has been unexpectedly hard. Rather than mirrors, it has been smoke and walls.

“Nazanin remains under the control of her interrogators. As their collateral, conditions have improved: she is allowed weekly visits from Gabriella, and soon phone calls to her parents twice a week. Last visit her family could even give her a copy of War and Peace, her favourite on TV this winter. She remains subject to their techniques, where anything can still happen.”

The campaign continues.

‘Death-row’ dog Hank is saved

More than 289,000 people signed to #SaveHank – the dog who had been ‘condemned to die because he looks like a pitbull’.

The English Staffy crossed with a Labrador pup was taken from his owners Leonard Collins and Joanne Meadows on July 14 by council bosses as a suspected pit-bull type animal.

However experts have now concluded Hank doesn’t pose a risk to the public and have recommended he be placed on the exemption register.

Leonard and Joanne are “delighted” and “over the moon” with the outcome of their campaign and “overwhelmed and grateful” for the public’s support. 

Leonard added: “He is simply more than a pet – he’s my best friend and it’ll mean so much to have him home.”

Iran says it will #FreeGrandpaKamal

After serving five long years in Iran’s notorious Evin prison, 76-year-old Kamal Foroughi could be set free. 

His lawyers were this week told that Iran’s Judiciary and Prosecutors’ Office has agreed and signed for his release.

Kamal’s son Kamran says he will “believe it” when he “sees it” but is “delighted” by the news. 

In his latest petition update, Kamran said: “Apparently there is just one final document that is with the Sentence Implementation Bureau that should be delivered by August 2. Then, according to the Iranian authorities, Grandpa Kamal will be freed from Evin prison after serving five long years.

Fur no more

Anne Clarke’s 58,000 supporters have loads to celebrate after it was announced the Sunday Times fashion mag will ditch featuring fur.

The newspaper’s Style Magazine editor Jackie Annesley wrote to Anne acknowledging the strength of public support on her petition saying ‘real fur’ would soon be out of Sunday Times fashion.

The letter stated: “As for fur, we do of course understand your concerns and we are grateful to you for having written to us.

“You can tell your supporters that you have my assurance that we do not shoot real fur, we will not shoot real fur and we do not promote its use in fashion. We should, however, be free to contribute to the controversy around it.”

That’s a wrap!