Coast Guard Defends Medical Practice on Animals

I knew the military in general used animals for combat medical practice....hadn't thought of the Coast Guard though. PETA leads the charge against the Coast Guard.

For the full story, go here to the Washington Post.

The Coast Guard is defending its practice of using live animals in its combat medical training after an activist group released a video on Wednesday of a goat’s legs being removed with tree trimmers during what it said was training for agency personnel.

Live anesthetized goats have been used in Coast Guard training to treat combat wounds, but the agency could not verify if the video involved its personnel. The courses do involve “live tissue training using live animals,” Lt. Cmdr. Jamie C. Frederick, spokesman for the Atlantic Area, wrote in an email.

Frederick was responding after People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals called on the Pentagon to stop the practice. A congressman also has introduced legislation that would phase out the use of animals by the military for such training.

Northern Arapahoes Given Right to Kill Eagles for Religious Purposes

From the Seattle PI....

A federal government decision to allow a Wyoming tribe to kill two bald eagles for a religious ceremony is a victory for American Indian sovereignty as well as for long-suppressed religious freedoms, the tribe says.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service granted a permit March 9 to the Northern Arapaho Tribe allowing it either to kill or capture and release two bald eagles this year.

While no one questions the religious sincerity of Northern Arapaho tribal members, spokesmen for some conservation and animal rights groups question why the tribe can't meet its religious needs without killing wild eagles. They say the tribe could raise captive birds, or accept eagle feathers or carcasses already available from a federal repository that collects birds killed by power lines or other causes.

The Northern Arapaho share the Wind River Indian Reservation in central Wyoming with the Eastern Shoshone Tribe. The Northern Arapaho decline to say specifically what they will do with the eagles the federal permit allows them to kill.

Lawsuit to Challenge Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act

Read the full article in the Washington Post....

A group of animal rights activists sued the U.S. government Thursday to challenge the constitutionality of a rarely used law they say treats them like terrorists if they cause a loss in profits for businesses that use or sell animal products.

Five activists represented by the Center for Constitutional Rights filed the lawsuit in federal court in Boston, asking that the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act be struck down as unconstitutional because it has a chilling effect on lawful protest activities

I wish them luck!

BLM Admits Horse Roundups Have Involved Mistreatment

An internal review by the US Bureau of Land Management admits that the roundup of wild horses has involved some mistreatment, but they refuse to admit the treatment was inhumane.

Excerpted from USA Today....

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management's internal review of a wild horse roundup in Nevada found some mustangs were whipped in the face, kicked in the head, dragged by a rope around the neck, and repeatedly shocked with electrical prods, but the agency concluded none of the mistreatment rose to the level of being inhumane.

The Bureau of Land Management's internal review of a wild horse roundup in Nevada in Sept., found some mustangs were kicked in the head, dragged by a rope around the neck and repeatedly shocked with electrical prods, but the agency concluded none of the mistreatment rose to the level of inhumane.

BLM Director Bob Abbey did, however, determine additional training is needed for the workers and contractors involved. Abbey, the former BLM state director for Nevada, said the roundup this summer near the Utah line was done correctly for the most part. But he said the review cited some incidents of inappropriate practices, including helicopters jeopardizing the health and safety of horses by following too closely or chasing small bands or individual animals for too long.

"Aggressive and rough handling of wild horses is not acceptable, and we are actively taking steps to ensure that such behavior is not repeated," Abbey said in a statement announcing a number of procedures intended to improve and further review the BLM's standard operating procedures for roundups.

Horse Slaughter Could Start Up Again in One Month

Bad news for horses in the US. Of course, right now, they're just being shipped to Canada and Mexico anyway, where health and welfare standards are much, much lower.

Read the complete article at pantagraph.com.....

Horses could soon be butchered in the U.S. for human consumption after Congress quietly lifted a 5-year-old ban on funding horse meat inspections, and activists say slaughterhouses could be up and running in as little as a month.

Slaughter opponents pushed a measure cutting off funding for horse meat inspections through Congress in 2006 after other efforts to pass outright bans on horse slaughter failed in previous years. Congress lifted the ban in a spending bill President Barack Obama signed into law Nov. 18 to keep the government afloat until mid-December.

It did not, however, allocate any new money to pay for horse meat inspections, which opponents claim could cost taxpayers $3 million to $5 million a year. The U.S. Department of Agriculture would have to find the money in its existing budget, which is expected to see more cuts this year as Congress and the White House aim to trim federal spending.

The USDA issued a statement Tuesday saying there are no slaughterhouses in the U.S. that butcher horses for human consumption now, but if one were to open, it would conduct inspections to make sure federal laws were being followed. USDA spokesman Neil Gaffney declined to answer questions beyond what was in the statement.

Mexico and US Go at it Again Over Dolphin-Labeling and Tuna

From the Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest....

The long-running dispute between the US and Mexico over Washington’s ‘dolphin safe’ labelling practice for tuna products is likely to see a WTO appeal, after the two parties together asked for an extension of the appeals deadline. Meanwhile, animal welfare and consumer advocacy groups in Washington are urging the US to look into options outside the global trade body for resolving the trade row.

WTO appeals deadline extended to January

At its last meeting on 11 November, the WTO Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) decided to extend the deadline for submitting an appeal on the latest Tuna-Dolphin (DS381) ruling issued in September (see Bridges Weekly, 21 September 2011).

.....Washington had partially lost its claim in this high-stakes dispute over the US “dolphin safe” label for tuna products when a panel ruled the US practice unnecessarily trade restrictive (for further analysis on the tuna-dolphin case, see Bridges Trade BioRes Review, November 2011).

Polar Bears Keep "Threatened" Status

This is good news. For the full story, here's the link to the Environmental News Network.

A federal judge on Thursday upheld a 2008 decision to protect polar bears throughout their range as a “threatened” species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. The listing was the result of a 2005 petition and litigation filed by the Center for Biological Diversity, Natural Resources Defense Council and Greenpeace. The polar bear was the first species added to the Endangered Species List due solely to the threat from global warming.

Best & Worst States for Animal Protection

According to this Technorati article, the Humane Society rated the states on their animal protection laws.

BEST STATES
California (best-yay!)
New Jersey
Illinois
Massachusetts
Colorado
Maine

WORST STATES
Ohio
Hawaii
Alabama
North Dakota
Mississippi
Idaho
South Dakota (worst)


According to the Animal Legal Defense Fund, the states fell this way...

BEST
Illinois (best)
Maine
Michigan
Oregon
California

WORST
Mississippi
Idaho
Hawaii
North Dakota
Kentucky

Legislative Victories for Animals in the US

Here's a summary from the ASPCA.

Senator Maria Cantwell Receives Award for Animal Welfare Work

She is a US Senator from our home state of Washington. My husband worked for her years and years ago, when she was just a State representative.

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) received the Humane Society’s Legislative Leader award for her leadership in protecting animals. The Humane Society of the United States cited Senator Cantwell’s efforts to improve marine mammal rescue capability, including such challenges as disentangling marine mammals from fishing nets. The Society also noted Cantwell’s work on climate change.

West Virginia University to Build Animal Research Lab

Thanks to your tax dollars, federal stimulus money is being used to build a $14.5 million dollar research lab. It is the largest grant thus far under the stimulus package. It will house rodents for use in experiments.

Why would this West Virginia University project be the recipient of federal stimulus money? Because it will create JOBS! And research for drug development, which means more MONEY and JOBS!

From West Virginia Metro News...

The laboratory will be used to study human diseases and treatments.

“Setting up experiments to try and develop new insights that would be even before the drug development phase. It would be looking at biomedical or cellular mechanisms that are changed, for example in heart disease, and get insights into what might be a target for drug development.”

...The new facility is expected to result in 253 additional permanent jobs on the WVU campus, including 13 directly in the animal quarters and 240 in biomedical research laboratories around the Health Sciences Center. During construction, the project will add 113 jobs to the local community.

Humane Society Ranks States in First-Time Report

It's their first annual "humane state" report. Ohio, Mississippi, North Dakota, Idaho and South Dakota are at the bottom. California and New Jersey came out on top.

US a Hub for Eatin' Them Endangered Species

And here I've been yelling at China all this time. (Be warned there's a horrific picture of a cooked monkey head in this article.)

From Alternet.org...

"The United States is one of the world's largest, if not the largest, consuming nations for wildlife products. This includes wildlife used for food, whether for cultural reasons or luxury markets," says Leigh Henry, a senior policy officer for the World Wildlife Fund and the international wildlife-trade monitoring network TRAFFIC. "Since the demand continues, so does the trafficking."

Serial Poachers Devastate Montana

This article describes the devastation being inflicted on Montana's wildlife by serial poachers. It's also an insight into how serial poachers think. I would have thought serial poaching and serial killing were essentially the same, with the difference being the species, but this article says there is a difference.

Brian Golie, FWP game warden in Wolf Creek, .....classifies serial poachers as people who target trophy animals and will do anything to kill them. Serial killers, on the other hand, are people who kill everything they see and simply want to run up a tally. In some instances people kill an animal and cut off its head for the antlers. Others take the entire animal and still others leave the dead animal, although Golie said he's seen people come back months later after poaching an animal to try to recover the antlers.

Support Island Dog Inc.

I really like this group and donate to them. Puerto Rico's animal welfare is pathetic. It's not that different from the rest of Latin America, but Puerto Rico is part of the United States. There's no excuse for them not to be on par with at least the worst US state.

Minnesota Activist Indicted for Animal Terrorism

From the Minneapolis Star-Tribune...I don't see any mention in this article (or in this one from the Chicago Tribune) about threats to human life in this incident. Straight vandalism and economic loss. Is this a valid prosecution? Is it terrorism?

Scott DeMuth, who is being held in jail in Davenport, is scheduled to make his first appearance in U.S. District Court Friday.

According to the indictment, unsealed today, DeMuth committed "animal enterprise terrorism and cause[d] economic damage to the animal enterprise in an amount exceeding $10,000" between Nov. 9 and Nov. 20, 2004.

The Animal Liberation Front claimed responsibility for vandalizing two labs and three offices at the University of Iowa on Nov. 14, 2004.

DeMuth and Carrie Feldman, another activist from Minneapolis have been jailed since Tuesday for refusing to answer questions before the federal grand jury in Davenport.

They were found in contempt of court by U.S. District Judge John Jarvey after they were offered limited immunity for their testimony before the grand jury to compel them to talk.

Farm Animal Welfare Fight Heats Up in Ohio

Issue 2 in Ohio would create 13-member state board to oversee the care of farm animals in the State. The Humane Society and other groups oppose it as a power grab by big agriculture to prevent another Proposition 2 (the initiative passed last year in California to improve standards for farm animal care.) And, of course, this board would be dominated by big ag's people, so I think they're right. There may also be unintended consequences. Would such a bill lead to jurisdiction over puppy mill breeders as well?

It's an issue to follow though. If it passes, it will encourage other states' ag industries to go on the offensive to protect their "raw materials."

Elizabeth Kucinich and the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine

Cool! She's the new Director of Public Affairs and she's already started lobbying for the Great Ape Protection Act, which would phase out invasive medical research on chimpanzees. (For you international readers, she's Dennis Kucinich's wife. He's a US Congressman who has run for President twice.)

US Considers Removing Humpback Whales from the Endangered Species List

I don't feel too comfortable about this. Seems a little premature, even though the population has been recovering well.

Mules Serve as Military Animals in Afghanistan

The US Marines are using them because they're good for hauling stuff. I think it's sad to force one more species to participate in another human war.