Hard for Russian Veterinarians to Use Anesthesia Due to Russian Drug Laws

...leaving them to sometimes do procedures with nothing to numb the animals' pain.

Read the full article in The Moscow Times.

After eight years of fighting a strict law that virtually bans an anesthetic essential for their work, Russia's veterinarians say they have nearly reached the end of their tether.

Ketamine has long been used for operating on animals throughout the world, but when it came in vogue as a party drug in the late 1990s, Russia's response was to ban the substance entirely in 2003. Outcry among vets ensued, and it was reinstated for veterinary use in 2004, but under such strict conditions that it is almost impossible to obtain.

"It was technically legalized but in reality rejected. In the last eight years, only 5 percent of vets have obtained licenses to be able to use it," says Irina Novozhilova, president of VITA, an animal rights group. "I thought that when it all started, it would be sorted out very fast because you can't just ban a profession. To work without anesthesia is to cut animals when they are conscious."

Oleg Aristov, who runs a veterinary clinic in St. Petersburg, said the alternatives are heartbreaking.

"It is really painful for your pets to undergo operations [without ketamine]," Aristov said. "It hurts them."

This has left vets between a rock and a hard place, with two contradictory laws condemning them whichever way they turn.

"If a vet uses ketamine, that is a violation of Article 228 for the distribution of narcotics, whereas if they operate on conscious animals, it is a violation of Article 245 for cruelty to animals. So a vet is faced with the choice of which law to break," Novozhilova said.

In a worse case scenario, under the current laws, vets face a possible sentence of up to 20 years in prison just for doing their work. But they are left with few options.

"The best medicines are believed to be opiates, but they are completely banned in Russia, so ketamine is our only choice," Novozhilova added. "Measures other than ketamine absolutely do not give the desired effect."

Russia Bans Canadian Seal Imports!

Great news! But I'm not exactly sure why RUSSIA would ban them. (The other two neighbors that banned them are Kazakhstan and Belarus). Apparently, some claim about 90 percent of Canadian sales are to Russia. Russia does have its own seal hunt, but apparently they banned killings of animals under one year old. Weird. I don't see what they get out of it, unless they want to impress Europe, which has already banned seal products.

Excerpted from the Globe and Mail....

Russia and two of its neighbours have informed the World Trade Organization that they are banning the import and export of harp seal pelts – a move that animal-rights activists are celebrating as the death knell of Canada’s commercial seal industry.

Russia has been the biggest market for the Canadian seal fur industry. And harp seals are the prime source of that fur.

Customs Officials Meet to Discuss China/Russia Smuggling

From TRAFFIC,

Customs officers from Russia and China met last week to strengthen international co-operation in tackling cross-border smuggling of Tigers and other wildlife products.

Representatives from the Federal Russia Customs, Far East Customs Directorate, Far East Operative Customs, Siberian Customs Directorate, General Customs Directorate of China, TRAFFIC Russia and TRAFFIC China met from 16–18 November in Vladivostok, through a programme supported by WWF Russia, Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK.

During the meeting, participants carried out an analysis of the current situation regarding wildlife trafficking across the Russian-Chinese border, and discussed practical ways it could be addressed.

Russians Introducing Leopards Back to Caucusus

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was on hand when two leopards were released into the Caucasus. While I think the gesture is nice, it appears to be more of a publicity stunt to head off environmental criticism of the 2014 Olympic Games construction.

"We are standing here and admiring your animals. Glorious animals, very beautiful," Putin, surrounded by International Olympic Committee members, told Berdymukhamedov by telephone as he stood by the cage in the Sochi national park.

Russia won the right to host 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi and major construction works are about to begin.

Critics say huge construction projects may harm the environment. They question the need for spending billions of dollars on the games during a financial crisis and say they do not believe all the infrastructure would be ready by 2014.

Putin has at least shown some interest in saving the Siberian tiger, so let's hope this is more then just a gimmick.

Battle for Control of the Arctic Looms

WONK ALERT! The Arctic, and foreign claims to it, are discussed in this dense piece by globalsecurity.org. It will probably make your head spin. Suffice to say that untapped oil reserves are at stake. AND the Arctic is getting even more accessible due to global warming (knew it would be good for something!) Canada, Russia, the US, Denmark [via Greenland] and Norway want a piece of it.

Will control of the Arctic become another national security issue? And how will this new "cold war" affect the wildlife there? Will they become just another resource to exploit (even more so than now?)

Stay tuned and stay aware.

Putin an Animal Lover?

Vladimir Putin, former President and current Prime Minister of Russia, just got a tiger cub for his birthday. He'll be donating it to a zoo or a wildlife preserve. No word on who gave it to him and I can't imagine where it came from (torn from its mother?), but an interesting part of the article is this insight into Vladimir Putin.

As president and now prime minister, Putin is known for his tough talk and macho image. But children and animals seem to bring out a softer side.

His dog, a Labrador retriever named Koni, is often with him, even during meetings with world leaders. He told journalists that Koni has not met the tiger cub.

In August, Putin had occasion to pet a full-grown female Ussuri tiger after shooting her with a tranquilizer gun. He was visiting a wildlife preserve in Russia's Far East and shot the 5-year-old tiger as part of a program to track the rare cats, also known as the Siberian, Amur or Manchurian tiger.

Once the tiger was asleep, Putin placed a collar with a GPS tracking system around her neck. Television footage showed him patting her cheek.

Russians Love Fur

Apparently, it is so deeply embedded in Russian culture that everyone wants it.

“Greenpeace has absolutely no voice in Russia,” said Natalia Paslavskaya, director of 2nd Fur Salon, one of the most exclusive fur boutiques in Russia that caters to the most sophisticated clientele, usually able to afford paying $250,000 for a signature fur coat and ordering a new one every year. “I’ve got a vegan friend, but when she came to our shop, she just said, ‘I want it’,” Paslavskaya said.

Russia Says OK to Kill Bear Cubs

The International Fund for Animal Welfare is reporting the following on bear hunting in Russia....

Hunting for bears with young cubs is illegal in Russia, but the rule is not enforced for hibernating bears.

......under the proposed new regulations, hunters will be permitted to shoot cubs if they discover they have killed the mother in the den.

There are so many things wrong with these two sentences, it's hard to know where to begin. First of all, I just don't understand why you can't kill wide-awake bears with cubs, but you can kill hibernating bears with cubs. It can't be for the benefit of the bears. They are sitting targets when they are hibernating. It must be to protect the almighty hunter. They have a cleaner and safer shot when the bear is hibernating. Otherwise, a mother protecting her young may actually be dangerous and create conditions for a fair fight.

The other is the issue of killing babies. Now, someone could argue that it's "humane" to kill the cubs because they are now motherless and may die from abandonment. But I refuse to be that dismissive and analytical. Because these are BABIES. That is heartless to me. Even though bear hunting is a tradition in Russia, to kill a baby bear is unfathomable to me. I wouldn't even want to meet the hunter who could do it.

Of course, they probably hunt baby seals too so it wouldn't really phase them a bit.

Photo by animalrescueblog.

Let's Be Fair, Russians Kill Baby Seals Too

Canada is to seal hunting as Japan is to whaling. Neither is the sole actor in the massacres, but each has the highest profile. However, it is important that the spotlight be shared with the other perpetrators of these sad atrocities. They are just as guilty.

In other words, Russians kill baby seals too.

In Defense of Animals knows this and recently held a protest at San Francisco's Russian Consulate against hunts that take place in Russia's Archangelsk region.

Russia is the only country that allows seals less than 2 weeks old to be killed, organizers said.

Photo by perfil.