The Link Between Animal Welfare and Human Welfare

This is an interesting opinion piece about the link between animal welfare and human welfare in nations. From the Huffington Post....

Mexican Activists Staged Protest Early this Month

Late on this story. I copied the full article from the Latin American Herald Tribune.

MEXICO CITY – Animal rights activists staged a protest against the sale of pets in Mexico City, urging residents to adopt dogs and other animals instead of buying them.

Twelve activists took part in the demonstration organized by the AnimaNaturalis group Tuesday at the iconic Juarez monument on one of the capital’s main streets.

Two of the activists, one painted to look like a dog and the other like a cat, stood in gift boxes holding signs that urged people not to view animals as toys and to adopt pets instead of purchasing them.

The protest’s goal was to make “society aware” of the fact that animals “need time, love and lots of care,” AnimaNaturalis said.

“Trade in animals considered objects or toys grows alarmingly” during this time of the year, “and when they grow or are kept for a time, they are discarded,” AnimaNaturalis Mexico director Maria Teresa Menendez told Efe.

Parents and children should be “conscientious and take responsibility for raising pets and, in any case, it is better to adopt, neuter and care for domestic animals,” Menendez said.

Eight of every 10 dogs sold in Mexico end up in the streets, with most of them having been family pets at some point, official figures show.

Mexico City, one of the world’s largest cities, has an estimated 3 million street dogs that end up being killed in shelters or the victims of human cruelty. EFE

Humane Society Ranks States on Animal Welfare

Here's a way to find out how your state ranks.

California is #1 again....yay! Washington State, where I currently live, is #6!

At the bottom....(drum roll please) South Dakota!!!

New Laws to Start in California

From Hometown Station AM 1220.....

New legislation in California increases the misdemeanor penalty for animal neglect and makes it a crime to sell a live animal on any street, highway, public right-of-way, parking lot, or carnival. California SB 917

Two new laws in Oregon and California prohibit the possession, sale, trade or distribution of shark fins. The California law specifies that a person must hold a license in order to possess shark fins for scientific purposes. In addition, restaurants may possess and sell shark fins purchased before Jan. 1, 2012, until Jan. 1, 2013. California AB 376.

Animal Welfare in the State of California

California really is at the forefront of animal welfare and this is an excellent article detailing what's going on in the State and the challenges animal welfare faces. It also does a great job at profiling Jennifer Fearing who led the victory of Proposition 2. She sounds amazing.

Apparent Welfare Improvement at British Horse Fair

This excerpt is from Smallholder....

Welfare officers from international animal welfare charity The Donkey Sanctuary have reported an improvement in the welfare of donkeys and other equines at this year’s Appleby Horse Fair in Cumbria, which finished earlier this week.

Staff from The Donkey Sanctuary worked closely with the RSPCA, World Horse Welfare, Redwings Horse Sanctuary and The Blue Cross to promote donkey welfare at Britain’s largest horse fair. The team of three welfare officers, a vet and the charity’s head of welfare checked on the condition of donkeys at the fair and made sure that they had adequate access to food and water. They also spoke with donkey owners, sellers and members of the public, offering information and advice about donkey welfare.

The Donkey Sanctuary’s Head of Welfare, Michael Crane, says: “We are pleased to report an improvement in animal welfare at this year’s Appleby Horse Fair. Our welfare officers checked a number of donkeys at the fair and found all of them to be in a reasonable condition with access to hay and water. This is a real step forward from last year when four donkeys in an extremely poor condition were relinquished to The Donkey Sanctuary after being formally signed over to the RSPCA.

Questionable Practices at the Calgary Zoo

Another animal dies at the Calgary Zoo and more questions are being raised about their practices.

Look at all these incidents that have occurred there (listed in the Montreal Gazette article in the above link)...I don't track zoos, but this seems like an unusually high number of casualties.

The Calgary Zoo is again under scrutiny as details emerged Friday about how a capybara, a species of giant South American rodent, died after becoming caught in a hydraulic door last weekend as it was being moved from one area to another...

The fatality is one in a string of animal deaths in recent years. Incidents include a hippo who died in transport from Denver and a Turkmenian markhor, a species of wild goat, hung itself at the zoo after becoming trapped by a rope.

In April 2009, unseasonably cold weather froze two whopping crane eggs. They were a part of the zoo’s breeding program for the rare birds.

In November 2008, a virus killed a 15-month-old Asian elephant calf named Malti. She had been showing symptoms of the potentially lethal elephant herpesvirus, which leads to internal bleeding and heart failure.

In May 2008, 41 of the 43 rays at the Calgary Zoo’s 37,000-litre touch-tank died. The zoo blamed human error for the deaths, saying it didn’t have the expertise to manage the fish and that a lack of dissolved oxygen led to the deaths.

And an incident in June 2009, while it didn’t involve death, certainly drew controversy. Zoo patrons were shocked to see Barika, a western lowland gorilla, holding a knife and apparently pointing it at another primate in the enclosure. A zookeeper had left the knife behind in the exhibit. The Canadian Association of Zoos and Aquariums has since cleared the Calgary Zoo in the incident.

"No More Homeless Pets" Conference Scheduled for October

From a Best Friends email...

Join Best Friends Animal Society for the annual No More Homeless Pets National Conference, October 23-25, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Each year, five million healthy, adoptable homeless pets are still being put down. This is the conference for people who want to make a difference. Three days of action oriented training, inspiration and, of course, fun with Best Friends. Make valuable new connections to make your work for homeless pets even more effective!

Not only will you meet like-minded people in a dazzling Vegas setting, but there will be a wealth of presentations to help all of our work for the animals thrive, even in this tough economy, including:

* Scott Goodstein, CEO of Revolution Messaging and director of External Organizing for Obama for America presents: Welcome to the 21st Century: Learn How to Activate Your On-line Grassroots Base

* Dog trainers from National Geographic’s DogTown TV show share their training secrets and answer question about designing a plan for your problem pooch.

* Best Friends 25th anniversary surprises including questions and answers with some of the founders of Best Friends. And because this year marks Best Friends’ 25th Anniversary, there will be special presentations by the folks who founded Best Friends – and a few anniversary surprises, too!

Ted Kennedy and Animal Welfare

Interesting article on Senator Edward Kennedy that highlights his little-known contributions to animal welfare. It's from the Humane Society.

Is There Danger of Elitism in the Animal Rights Movement?

This post is inspired by a thought-provoking piece on the Provoked blog (clearly a good name for a blog!)

I believe that we have to be inclusive in the animal rights movement and attack the system using all kinds of methods in all sorts of fields. Economics, science, literature, film, politics, law, etc. I'm no sociologist or historian, but it seems like there has always been a variety of inputs involved in any kind of social change, even violence. Remember the impact John Brown and his failed raid on Harpers Ferry had on the abolition movement?

And, even though I sometimes want to smack people in the head because I am baffled at how little they care about, well, about ANYTHING, I am still practical enough to understand that there must be a mass change in thinking that involves a large number of people. This may take time and maybe lifetimes to build up to that tipping point, but we have to use everyone and every resource we can.

I do think that there is a real elitism in the movement, however. This is probably an unpopular view, but I think it's legitimate. Is a vegan's efforts at advocacy worth more than a vegetarian's or even a meat eater's if they happen to agree on the same issue? If a meat eater eats meat, but hates the factory farm system or animal experimentation, do we discount anything we can get out of them because they are not "pure." Or the vegetarian who still uses dairy? So instead of three votes, we alienate two, but still maintain our purity?

At the same time, do we have the time to wait for everyone to become vegan to enact laws that will at least allow more humane care in the short term. You can exhort people to go vegan, but if only vegans have legitimacy in the movement, then it's condemned to a very, very small voice and limited short-term impact.

What's the Difference Between Animal Welfare and Animal Rights?

Here's one perspective....

(See if you can figure out when the author starts talking about PETA. She doesn't mention it by name, but who else could it be?)

Animal Hoarding is a Serious Issue

Animal hoarding is a pretty serious act that causes untold suffering for animals.

From an article in, of all places, "Farm and Dairy: The Auction Guide and Rural Marketplace:"

...there are probably several factors that go into how a person develops into an animal hoarder, but “we think it may be related to obsessive-compulsive personality disorder.”

Because the stereotype of a little old lady walking into a court room to face several counts of animal abuse tends to make judges and juries feel sympathetic for the “criminal,” the legal system rarely prosecutes these people.

Unfortunately, “just one hoarder can cause tremendous suffering to animals,” notes LaFarge.

It’s not just one animal that was abused or neglected, it is usually hundreds that have suffered in deplorable conditions, many of these animals enduring a slow and painful death.

Leona Helmsley's Fortune Goes to Medical Research

Yesterday I read about how Leona Helmsley’s estate was divided up. Over $100 million went to medical research while about $1 million went to animal welfare causes. (Actually, less than $1 million dollars went to animal welfare because a portion went to guide dog associations and that is human welfare as far as I’m concerned.)

Originally, animal groups actually thought they’d get a huge piece of the estate because Leona Helmsley had supposedly wanted it that way. But a group of trustees got together, determined she was mentally unfit at the time, and decided to “responsibly” donate to medical research instead. To human causes.

I think that just sucks. (I’ll probably get into trouble for saying this, but whatever.)

It’s more money for medical research. I wonder how much of this wonderful research will involve animal experimentation, the absolute anti-animal welfare cause. Beyond that, it’s more money for more humans to make more money. I believe that medical research produces procedures and drugs that most humans either 1) can’t afford or 2) pay for and end up with huge medical debts. If medical research were truly for altruistic purposes, then drug costs would be subsidized and university research would not constantly find its way into for-profit entities who patent their findings with the FDA.

The majority of children die in the world due to simple causes, like malnutrition, infection and diarrhea. How much malaria could be prevented by basic mosquito control? Better living conditions and basic health care workers would be enough to prevent so much death and suffering. But we don’t want to promote that. Instead, we promote drug development to take care of people once they’re ill…that’s the way to more profit both in this country and overseas.

I am so tired of hearing that medical research saves lives as though that should end all arguments. If you don’t support medical research, then you are against humans. That’s just an argumentative device to shut down debate.

New Iberia Inspection Documents Available

I found them here.

What the documents show

# A USDA inspection on Feb. 18 focusing on allegations by Stop Animal Exploitation Now (SAEN) found the center in compliance.

# A routine USDA inspection in September 2008 found the center in compliance.

# A May 23, 2007, USDA inspection revealed several problems with drainage and waste disposal operations, and peeling paint in primate housing areas.

# A 2006 inspection found no problems.

# USDA inspections dated July 19, 2005 and Dec. 7, 2004, found numerous problems.

FL Animal Control Conducts Bizarre Experiment

News of the Weird

Owners claim dog died from being in non-ventilated Animal Control vehicle. How should Animal Control evaluate their claim? Stick another dog in the same situation and see if it dies too!

It was an "experiment" you see, even though they are just Animal Control, not a research facility.

Clay County violated five federal animal welfare regulations in a in September 2008 experiment that involved putting a dog in a non-air-conditioned truck for an hour at midday, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture investigative report. The incident prompted complaints to be filed with the Clay County Sheriff's Office and State Attorney's Office, both of which declined to file any charges. In addition, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals filed a complaint with the USDA.

....The dog’s owners said the dog was in the truck too long; a necropsy was inconclusive, but one pathologist said heat and dehydration were likely contributing factors.

To re-create and measure the environmental conditions, Animal Control staff put a dog from the pound, of similar size and weight to the dead dog, in the same holding cage for an hour. Weather conditions were also similar. The temperature did not exceed 86 degrees, the dog was closely monitored and suffered no ill affects, they said.

Pork Industry Moving into Defensive Mode

It's in response to the HBO film "Death on a Factory Farm."

The Pork Board has planned delegate meetings at the {annual Pork Industry} forum to discuss quality assurance rules including animal handling, and how much money to allocate to promote animal welfare.

"Our Pork Quality Assurance Plus and Transport Quality Assurance Programs are designed to demonstrate the care we are giving to our animals everyday on our farms," Cunningham said.

"It's not as much about what the animal rights activists are saying about how we are raising pigs as opposed to us demonstrating that we do care and we are giving the best possible care" she said.

Uh huh. I have a hard time with the logic of that statement. The pork industry does not make money from happy pigs, but from dead carcasses. There is no economic motivation to treat them well or to care about their wellbeing. The only real concern comes from the spread of illness to humans from eating diseased meat, but they only need to provide minimal care to avoid that.

USDA Issues Warning Letter to Oregon National Primate Research Center

PETA has filed complaints about this place for years, but it's the first warning they've actually generated.

In December, the United States Department of Agriculture issued a warning letter to the primate center for violations of the Animal Welfare Act, which regulates treatment of many commercial animals from pet kittens to laboratory guinea pigs. The warning cited three errors in veterinary care, including a serious 2007 incident where a pregnant monkey died when a researcher failed to notice she was having a troubled labor. The two other incidents involved a sponge being left in a monkey after surgery and a surgery performed on the wrong monkey.

The lab reported the incidents to the National Institutes of Health, said Jim Newman, a spokesman for Oregon Health & Science University, which runs the center. And the center added training and banned one researcher from animal contact in response.

Two Blogs, Two Views on Experimenting on Chimps

This blogger, Earle Holland at Oregon State University, doesn't seem to believe the allegations coming out about the New Iberia Primate Center in Louisiana. He is the assistant vice president for research communications in the Office of University Relations.

Here's his post about it.

Here's a PhD student at the University of Pennsylvania with an interesting post about the same issue, wondering how much we really need to experiment on chimps.

Doris Day Animal League is Part of the Humane Society?

I just recently became a member of the Doris Day Animal League. Checking out their website, I came across this page saying that they merged with the Humane Society in 2006.

The live link takes me to an announcement in 2006 about the merger. I also learned that the Humane Society merged with the Fund for Animals in 2005.

So now I'm a contributor and member of all three...without even realizing they were related!

Ontario Animal Welfare Law Goes Into Effect

It is now law as of March 1.

The provincial government says it's gone from "worst to first" and Ontario is now the only jurisdiction in Canada with special protections for law-enforcement animals like police dogs and horses.

The legislation also imposes new rules on the province's dozens of roadside zoos, giving the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals the right to inspect them.

Veterinarians are now required to report any instances of abuse or neglect.

And a new section of the act makes it illegal to cause an animal distress, train an animal to fight, or have structures or equipment used in animal fights.

Penalties for individuals under the act include fines between $1,000 and $60,000 and jail time between 30 days and two years.

Pet owners convicted of a crime under the act can also be barred from owning any animals for life.