Humane Society Calls for Refuge for 9 Chimps

These chimps are currently at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s New Iberia Research Center. This is the same place that was nailed by a Humane Society undercover investigation. Videos showed mistreatment of the lab animals.

The Humane Society wants 9 chimps that are not being "used" as part of experiments to be released to a sanctuary. I just love the language used by the Research Center's spokesperson.

{Dr. Jeff Rowell, NIRC director, in an e-mail Wednesday} "said the nine remaining animals are being housed as a family group at the center with access to indoor-outdoor caging.

“The animals have not been and are not currently being accessed for biomedical research,” Rowell said."

"Accessed?" Interesting. Let's make this as clinical as possible. It's irrelevant that these chimpanzees share 98.6 percent of our DNA. They may as well be centrifuges or test tubes to these people.

Lots of Deaths in Animal Research Facilities

Even I didn't realize how bad it was until I read this article from the Associated Press. The spotlight is on Charles River Laboratories.

This article lists some of the universities and private corporations with violations.

FBI Serves Search Warrant to ALF Supporter

From the Iowa City Press-Citizen...

The FBI served a search warrant Monday on a Salt Lake City home occupied by a supporter of the Animal Liberation Front.

Peter D. Young, 32, said at least eight FBI agents arrived about 11:30 a.m. The agents took computers, papers and other items it thought to be related to "animal enterprise terrorism," Young said, reciting language from the warrant.

"It's important to highlight the fact that I am being targeted just because I am a public figure on the subject" of animal rights, Young said in an interview Tuesday.

A federal judge in Iowa issued the warrant. Law enforcement there has a long-running investigation into animal releases at a University of Iowa laboratory.

Quote of the Week

There's about as much educational benefit studying dolphins in captivity as there would be studying mankind by only observing prisoners held in solitary.

--Jacques Cousteau

Great Video About a Dog Rescue

This is 5 minutes long, but a great one to watch.

Thoroughbred Dealer Convicted of Animal Cruelty

This guy sounds like a real jerk. He didn't know how his horses were being treated on his own farm? Come on, that's a Michael Vick defense that didn't work with him either. Plus, this is the guy's BUSINESS. And he didn't know? Yeah, right.

From the Associated Press...

Prominent New York thoroughbred breeder and owner Ernie Paragallo was convicted Wednesday of mistreating dozens of malnourished horses on his Hudson Valley farm.

A judge convicted Paragallo of 33 of 34 misdemeanor animal cruelty counts in a nonjury trial in Greene County.

The 52-year-old Long Island resident was charged after state police and animal welfare investigators raided his farm in Coxsackie in April and seized 177 malnourished horses. He could face up to two years in jail and $33,000 in fines, $1,000 for each count.

Most of the horses were eventually adopted by other horse farms around the nation, but several were in such poor shape they had to be euthanized.

Paragallo, who testified last week that he didn't know the horses on his farm weren't being fed enough, had no comment as he left court.

Animal Rights Lawyers Continue to Emerge

Interesting article in the Gazette, a Canadian publication.

Animal Research Grants a Waste of Taxpayer Money

I like this letter which appeared in the Brandenton Herald (FL)...

President Obama promised to eliminate wasteful government spending; funding for animal research is one area that is overdue for reform. As billions flow into this waste, 44 million Americans lack adequate health care coverage.

Each year, millions of cats, dogs, non-human primates and other animals suffer and die in research laboratories. Please do not advertise to sell your pets.

World Week for Animals in Laboratories (April 17-24) exposes their plight and the broken federal research funding system that perpetuates outdated animal experiments at the expense of modern and more humane technologies. Animal research is not necessary to promote human health despite claims from vested interests.

Recent published studies document that an old boys network in the federal grant award process keeps “aging cash cows” afloat while leaving younger, innovative investigators struggling.

The result: antiquated, unnecessary and ridiculous experiments like those identified recently by In Defense of Animals, including studies of cocaine-addicted quail, nipple preference in nursing infant monkeys, toy preference in young monkeys, and effect of high-fat diets on mice (it made them fat and sleepy).

As billions flow into this waste, 44 million Americans lack adequate health care coverage.

Gundl Bhutani

Sarasota

Saving Marine Animals that Are NOT Cute

We hear about the problem with charismatic land species. It's those species that either have a powerful personality or a cute face that endear people to them and garner news attention. Examples include panda bears, wolves, elephants, tigers, etc. It's easier to motivate people to save them as opposed to other species that are vital, but either boring or ugly.

It's the same problem with marine life. People want to save the dolphins and the sea otters, but what about the bluefin tuna? Or cod? They don't invoke the pathos of the tragic salmon or the merriment of a playful porpoise.

So what happens to them?

Marine Life Top of CITES Meeting Agenda

Oh look, more meetings.

From Al Jazeera...

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, or Cites that opened in the Qatari capital on Saturday will be discussing 42 proposals during the next two weeks.

Apart from issues like combating elephant poaching for ivory in Africa and banning trade in polar bear skins, those focusing on sharks and tuna are likely to be among the most contentious.

On its agenda is Monaco's proposal to have a complete ban on the international commercial trade in Atlantic bluefin tuna.
Australia and Japan are among the countries refusing to back a total ban.

Interesting to see Japan and Australia united on some issues, in contrast to their conflict over whaling.

Bunny!

It's book club night, so have a bunny.

Orcas Have Some Pretty Big Brains

They have the second largest brains of all marine mammals. That's pretty impressive and demands a deeply introspective review of how we treat them.

Scottish Judge Implies Wildlife Crime Not That Important

Lots of jerks in the news lately.

One of Scotland’s top sheriffs is under pressure to quit his leading role in combating wildlife crime after allegedly telling a former police officer concerned about the soft sentences given to those convicted to “get a life”.

Sheriff Kevin Drummond is claimed to have told a police conference on wildlife crime last month that offences against animals were not even “on the second page” after serious crimes such as robbery and assault.

His remarks left delegates, including wildlife crime investigators, shocked and bewildered. They said Mr Drummond was no longer fit to be involved in the Scottish Government’s Partnership for Action against Wildlife Crime (PAW), and demanded that he quit.

The row comes ahead of new government figures which are expected to show the incidence of illegal poisoning of animals in Scotland reached a record high in 2009. The figures are to be published within two weeks.

Mr Drummond, who sits as a sheriff in the Scottish Borders, is chairman of PAW’s legislation, regulation and guidance subgroup. He has run mock trials for the Government to help train police and procurators fiscal how to handle wildlife offences.

Weird Opinion Piece Re: Animal Abuse Registry

I can't tell whether this Phil Bronstein is just being a jerk. Here's a link to his opinion piece on the proposed animal abuse registry in California.

My first impression is that he's being an a#$#le, but maybe I'm overeacting because I don't agree with him.

Sea Lion Euthanized at Bonneville Dam

Sorry, another Washington State story.

Sea lions are killed here for eating salmon. About 60 have already been identified as nuisance animals with the possibility of future trapping and euthanization.

It really makes me angry. We all know that it's not the sea lions' fault that the salmon runs are either threatened or endangered. It's the humans' fault through overharvesting, the use of fish hatcheries, hydropower dams (like Bonneville) and the decimation of habitat.

But we don't euthanize humans for that, do we?