R. Dale Hylton Dies, Who the Heck Was He?

He was a guy that cared about animal welfare long before you were probably born!

He was hired in 1964 as an investigator and was part of a long-running Humane Society effort to bring federal regulations to the laboratory animal trade. He went to Pennsylvania posing as an animal buyer for a hospital's experimental program and documented unofficial auctions of animals.

He later wrote of discovering animal dealers who preferred "to trade truckloads of dogs with dealers across state lines with the primary purpose of frustrating any owner's attempt to trace any owned pet that had disappeared."

The society turned over its information to state and federal authorities, which led to the federal Animal Welfare Act of 1966. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the act is the only federal law to regulate the treatment of animals in research, exhibition, transport and commerce.

1966? Wow. Seems almost like a Rachel Carson for the Animal Rights movement...

UK Stamp Honors Working Dogs

This is cool. And, it's from a blog called Mutts from the Baltimore Sun.

The United Kingdom is honoring its working dogs with a new series of stamps illustrating the vital roles they perform.

The issue commemorates two events -- 2008 is both the Year of the Assistance Dog and the 100th anniversary of police dogs in Britain.

PETA Concerned They Don't Look Stupid Enough, Protests Kentucky Honoring Col. Sanders

I'm sorry, but this is just plain dumb. And I don't say this in defense of KFC, but this is a good example of PETA pissing off everyone, and making animal activists look like kooks.

"If the state legislature moves forward with this one, then they should change Kentucky's state bird from the cardinal to the debeaked, crippled, scalded, diseased, dead chicken," said PETA vice president Bruce Friedrich.

PETA has been involved in a longstanding battle with KFC, and even began a push two years ago to have a bust of Colonel Sanders removed from the Capitol. Sanders became recognizable worldwide after he began marketing his fried chicken.

Again, I'm not saying there aren't serious issues with the way chickens at KFC are treated. But, you have to ask yourself, how is their action going to be perceived by the average Joe. Is this going to accomplish anything? Is anyone going to listen to them?

PETA has done great investigative stories, especially on factory farming. But, when they do this kind of publicity hounding, I think people just tune them out, and don't take what may be major issues seriously.

Photo by Bren and MariLynn

Actvists Protest Hare Coursing in Ireland

Hare coursing in Ireland is being protested by activists there.

Animal rights activists are planning a major protest in Co Tipperary today as the country's largest annual hare coursing event gets underway in Clonmel.

The Campaign for the Abolition of Cruel Sports says the demonstration will mark the first time in 12 years that pickets have been placed on the meeting.

I'd never heard of hare coursing before this. From Wikipedia:

Modern hare coursing is practiced using a number of sighthounds: mainly Greyhounds but also Borzois,[3] Salukis, Whippets,[4] and Deerhounds[5] that were registered with a governing body (such as the National Coursing Club or Kennel Club in Great Britain, the Irish Coursing Club or currently NOFCA in the US). The objective of coursing is to test and judge the athletic ability of the dogs rather than to kill the hare.[6]

Most legal hare coursing is open coursing, that is, it takes place in the open (as opposed to Irish coursing which takes place in an enclosure with an escape route). There are two forms of open coursing. In driven coursing (such as the Waterloo Cup), hares were "driven" by beaters towards the coursing field. As they enter the field, a person known as a slipper uses a slip with two collars to release two dogs at the same time, in pursuit of the hare which is given a head start (known as 'fair law'), usually between 80 and 100 yards (70–90 metres). In walked-up coursing, a line of people walk through the countryside and a pair of Greyhounds are released when a hare is disturbed.[6]

The chased hare will then run at 40-45 km/h[7] The object of hare coursing is to test pairs of dogs, not to kill the hare; and the greyhounds which pursue the hare will, being faster, start to catch up with it. Since the Greyhounds are much bigger than the hare, and much less agile, they find it hard to follow the hare's sharp turns, which it makes as the greyhounds threaten to reach it. This agility gives the hare an important and often crucial advantage as it seeks to escape.

Under National Coursing Club rules, the dogs are awarded points on how many times they can turn the hare, and how closely they follow the hare's 'course'. The contest between the Greyhounds is judged from horseback.[6]

In Ireland, they have muzzled the dogs since 1993, but that hasn't kept hares from being killed.

Anti Whaling Fashion Shows?

Well I suppose any support is good.

The runway is a long way from the slipway, but the fashion industry has come out in force against whaling.

Kathy Ward, the director of Chic Model Management - home of Miranda Kerr - has confirmed talks were in place between modelling agencies and fashion labels about anti-whaling themed runway shows at this year's Australian Fashion Week.

Witnesses Testify in Puerto Rico Dog Massacre

Sad testimony in the Puerto Rico dog killings where animals were thrown over a bridge to die. (Scroll down to read the story half-way down the page).

The company's owner had denied responsibility, but it looks like he lied.

The owner of an animal-control company told petowners he took responsibility in the deaths of dozens of dogs and cats that were seized from public housing projects and thrown from a bridge last year, a witness testified Tuesday.

Julio Diaz, owner of Animal Control Solutions, told an Oct. 12 meeting at the Hector Ruiz project in the town of Barceloneta that he was the "person in charge" and would fire workers for the pets' deaths, tenant Carmen Agosto said.

"He offered a pet to the children, but they said they would not take it," Agosto testified at a preliminary hearing in the animal cruelty case.

Another witness, Angelica Vargas, described the shock of seeing her dog "Yoli," one of the animals who survived the fall, on a television news broadcast after the animals were rounded up.

"I cried, because at that moment I could do nothing," she said. Yoli's back legs will need to be amputated, due to injuries he suffered when he was hurled from the bridge, she said.

Photo by smiteme.

Year of the Rat Starts Badly in Guam

The USDA plans on poisoning hundreds or even thousands of rats on the Cocos Island (off the southern tip of Guam) in order to create a reserve for the endangered ko'ko bird, commonly known as the Guam rail.

Concern has been raised about the method of extermination.

Barrigada resident Viqui Gayer has collected 50 signatures against the use of the poisons, which she worries will spread through rodent predators to the oceans, and eventually to humans. Gayer said she started researching the poisons on the Internet after her dog died from eating a poisoned rat.

"It was a horrible way to die. I wouldn't even wish it on a rat," she said.

"These poisons are unnecessary. ... It kills animals, and whatever eats those animals also gets poisoned. It never ends. Once it's in the ecosystem, it stays there. ... What we need to do is stop people from bringing this poison to our island -- period."

Gayer suggested placing poisonless traps on Cocos as a safe alternative, but {USDA-APHIS Wildlife Services Assistant State Director David} Vice said traps would be ineffective.

"The thing about rodent eradication is if you miss one, you've failed," he said. "Trapping alone -- given all we've learned about rodents -- won't get rid of all the rodents."

The public has until March 1 to comment on the plan.

Photo by KiriS.

Chinese Chicken Steroid-alicious

Seems that in China, steroids aren't just for their athletes. They use them to make bigger chickens.

When a caterer working for the United States Olympic Committee went to a supermarket in China last year, he encountered a piece of chicken — half of a breast — that measured 14 inches. “Enough to feed a family of eight,” said Frank Puleo, a caterer from Staten Island who has traveled to China to handle food-related issues.

“We had it tested and it was so full of steroids that we never could have given it to athletes. They all would have tested positive.”

Photo by fab4chiky

Quote of the Week

I care not much for a man's religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it.

~Abraham Lincoln

Major League Players Involved in Cockfighting

Animal cruelty and irresponsible behavior is not limited to the NFL. Now it's affected Major League Baseball with two players, Mets pitcher Pedro Martinez and Giants Hall of Famer Juan Marichal, shown in a YouTube video releasing two roosters for a cockfight.

It's happening in the Dominican Republic where the activity is legal and, just like Japanese whaling, a "cultural tradition."

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent letters to both pitchers Thursday, calling on them to publicly apologize. The Humane Society of the United States said, "Major League Baseball should join us in condemning Martinez and Marichal for their shameful example."

"I understand that people are upset, but this is part of our Dominican culture and is legal," Martinez said in a statement issued by the Mets. "I was invited by my idol, Juan Marichal, to attend the event as a spectator, not as a participant."

In the video, which was posted Tuesday but has since been taken down "due to terms of use violation," the animal released by Martinez appears to be killed at a fight in the Santo Domingo Cockfighting Coliseum.

PETA also sent a letter to baseball Commissioner Bud Selig urging all major-league players and staff to take its animal sensitivity training course.

Sensitivity training? Dream on. Here's what PETA got instead.....

The Mets said in a statement that while they don't condone the sport, they understand it is part of other countries' cultures.

Photo by ireallylovecake.

By the Way, Norway is Killing Whales Too

With all the attention on the Japanese whale hunt, we forget about Norway, their partner in crime. This Nordic country is also doing its part to keep the oceans safe and sound from an exploding whale population.

Norway on Thursday authorised its whalers to harpoon 1,052 whales in the 2008 season, the same number as last year when whalers only caught half their quota.

"The quota is within an interval that researchers believe provides satisfactory security in regards to protecting the minke whale stocks," the Ministry of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs said in a statement.

Apart from Iceland, Norway is the only country to authorise commercial whaling despite an international ban in place since 1986.

Japan also allows whaling, but in accordance with a loophole in the global whaling moratorium claims the culls are for research purposes only.

Norway has significantly increased its quotas in recent years, arguing that stocks of minke whales are abundant in the North Atlantic. However, whalers have consistently failed to meet their quotas since 2001.

Photo by Tor Lundgren.

Polls Show Japanese Citizens Support Whaling

Back on January 5, we posted a story with one person's point of view that Japanese citizens themselves did not support their government's position on whaling.

Looks like that person was wrong.

Nearly two-thirds of Japanese support the country's much-criticized whaling program, a poll showed Friday, reflecting growing sentiment in the country that the international anti-whaling campaign is fueled by Western cultural bias.

The Asahi newspaper said 65 percent of respondents to a telephone survey favored the hunts, while 21 percent said they were opposed. Three-quarters of the men surveyed supported whaling, versus 56 percent of the women, it said.

The poll also said 56 percent of the 2,082 people surveyed supported using whales for food, versus 26 percent who did not. The poll, conducted Feb. 2-3, did not offer a margin of error....

Animal rights movements in general have gained little support in Japan, where many see the anti-whaling campaign as an attempt by Westerners to impose their cultural values on the Japanese.

I am still waiting for someone to explain to me how this is a cultural value. If this is for Japanese culture, there should be ceremony, worship and festivity surround the sacrifice of the whales. Or maybe they never did that because this was never really a matter of cultural relevance, but economic endeavor, something other countries have grown out of. Were they using whaling ships of this size and this technology since the beginning of Japanese history? Were they researching whales for commercial purposes in the 17th century? Somehow, I doubt it.

The more I write this blog, the more cynical I become.

Photo by timtak.

100 Year Old Tortoise Adopts Baby Hippo

This is just too cute. Lots of pictures.

Chinese Zoos Mistreat Animals. In Other News, It Rained Here in Seattle Today

Big surprise here. They treat their animals like crap. From the country that keeps dogs and cats in cages so small they can't stand, then butchers them for food.

Animal rights groups have been critical of the treatment of animals here for years. But it's been going on virtually unabated.

But as the Beijing Olympics approach, critics hope new light will be shed on the controversial zoos.

Rock star Paul McCartney said he will boycott the Beijing Olympics after seeing footage of another controversial Chinese tradition: The wholesale slaughter of cats and dogs for their fur.

Critics charge the animals are often beaten and skinned alive or thrown into vats of boiling water. "I wouldn't even dream of going over there to play, in the same way I wouldn't go to a country that supported apartheid. This is just disgusting. It's against every rule of humanity, " McCartney told The Guardian newspaper in 2005.

Bravo to Sir Paul for keeping a spotlight on the issue.

Tigers Escape Circus in Portugal

Two tigers escaped from a circus lorry outside of Lisbon. The incident is being used to remind the UK government of the risk from wild animals in circuses. The UK government has delayed a decision on their ban.

Two tigers escaped from a circus trailer near Lisbon in Portugal left unguarded when the lorry broke down and was towed away for repairs. Circus Chen had previously been investigated by ADI {Animal Defenders International} in 2005 who described the conditions the animals were forced to live in as deplorable. ADI also highlighted safety concerns including keeping a zoo area where the public were left unsupervised with animals.

Jan Creamer, chief executive of ADI, said: “Claims by circus owner Miguel Chen that this was sabotage seem ridiculous as they should have had personnel monitoring the animals to ensure such an escape could not happen. They are merely trying to avoid the blame for their own lack of responsibility.”

Circus Chen huh? Anyone ever heard of Circus Atlas? I ran into them in Terceira, Azores two years ago. I had a feeling they were bad and, everything I've seen on the web confirms this view. They are apparently a French circus.

Photo by cc.gatech.