82% of caged broilers are burned by urine

July 1, 1995 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1995:

LONDON––Examining the carcass-

es of 384 broiler hens raised according to the

British Farm Standard and offered for sale on

supermarket shelves, an investigation commis-

sioned by the Royal SPCA and directed by

Cambridge University professor Donald

Broom reported in July 2005 that 82% had

been burned on their legs or bodies by pro-

longed contact with ammonia from feces.

“Lack of space and fast-growing

bodies that can become too heavy to be sup-

ported by their legs increases the likelihood of

birds receiving painful burns, as the birds

spend more time in contact with floor litter,”

said RSPCA scientific officer Marc Cooper.

LETTERS [July/Aug 1995]

July 1, 1995 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1995:

Kindest fate

The April 2005 edition of

ANIMAL PEOPLE included the

subheading “Dog Meat Farms Spread

Rabies.”

Perhaps the kindest fate for

dogs who are raised for consumption

is to be killed to prevent the spread of

disease, rather than being put through

the horrors of the dog meat markets.

Some years ago, I watched

a local TV program regarding cats

bred and sold for human consumption,

probably in southern China. What

shook and haunted me more than any-

thing else was the picture of cats

being skinned alive at the market and

being carried away alive for the pot.

Letters

Editorial: Compromise & the Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare

July 1, 1995 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1995:

Editorially favoring hunting, trapping, fishing, ranching, logging, rodeo, and ani-

mal use in biomedical research, the Spokane Spokesman-Review has probably never in recent

decades been mistaken for an exponent of animal rights.

Yet on September 15, 1952 the Spokesman–Review became perhaps the first and

only daily newspaper in the U.S. to editorially endorse “A Charter of Rights for Animals,”

drafted by the World Federation for the Protection of Animals.

The oldest of the three organizations whose mergers eventually produced today’s

World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA), the Dutch-based World Federation then

represented “humane societies in 25 countries,” the Spokesman-Review editors noted.

“Most civilized countries already have laws to cover most of the protection for ani-

mals that the federation asks,” the Spokesman-Review continued. “Beating animals, forcing

them to do work beyond their strength, transporting them in a manner to cause pain or without

adequate food, all are punishable now in the U.S., for example.”

White tigers, green polar bears, & maintaining a world-class zoo

July 1, 1995 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1995:

SINGAPORE––When the tigers

are white and the polar bears are a blotchy

dark green, a zoo has problems.

Opened in June 1973, the

Singapore Zoo and adjacent Night Safari are

together reputedly the best zoo complex with-

in half a global orbit, together setting the

Asian zoo design and management standard.

More than 1.2 million visitors per

year view about 3,200 animals of 330 mostly

tropical species at the Singapore Zoo and

Night Safari.

The animals are chiefly housed in

semi-natural surroundings. The equatorial

Singapore climate is good for reptiles year-

round, including some of the largest tortoises,

most active monitors, and largest gharials and

salt water crocodiles on exhibit anywhere.

PETA staffers face 62 felony cruelty counts in North Carolina

July 1, 1995 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1995:

WINTON, N.C.––The scheduled

first court appearance of PETA staffers Adria

Joy Hinkle and Andrew Benjamin Cook on

multiple cruelty charges was on July 19, 2005

postponed until August 16.

Hinkle, 27, and Cook, 24, are

charged with a combined 62 counts of felony

cruelty to animals and 16 counts of illegal dis-

posal of animal remains.

Police sources have indicated that

other persons associated with PETA may be

charged as result of ongoing investigation.

The court date was delayed, report-

ed Darren Freeman of the Norfolk Virginian–

Pilot, because the prosecution was “waiting

for lab results on chemicals found in a van the

two suspects were using when they were

arrested, and the results to determine the

cause of death of one of the animals.”

Ahoskie, North Carolina police

detective Jeremy Roberts told Freeman that the

van was registered to PETA.

Study confirms chicken cognition

July 1, 1995 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1995:

SILSOE, U.K.––Hens pecking

buttons to earn food rewards may have a

better awareness of passing time and be bet-

ter able to assess the prospects of future

gain than human slot machine gamblers, a

new British study suggests.

Silsoe Research Institute Bio-

physics Group animal welfare scientist

Siobhan Abeyesinghe varied the “payout”

for pecking so that her hens would get only

a small amount of food if they pecked

quickly, but would receive a large amount

if they delayed their pecks for 22 seconds,

long enough to demonstrate the ability to

mentally clock their own behavior and show

deliberate self-restraint.

Transforming Phuket animal conditions post-tsunami

July 1, 1995 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1995:

PHUKET, Thailand––Urbanization

is hitting Phuket much harder than the tsunami

of December 26, 2004.

What that may mean for animals on

the 400-square-mile resort island near the

extreme south of Thailand is anyone’s guess.

The Soi Dog Foundation and Gibbon

Rehabilitation Project, among Phuket’s most

prominent pro-animal organizations, are guard-

edly optimistic.

More development may mean more

homes for dogs and cats, and more donors to

support animal charities.

University of Nevada fined

July 1, 1995 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1995:

RENO––Substantiating complaints filed by

University of Nevada at Reno associate professor

Hussein S. Hussein, the USDA Animal & Plant Health

Inspection Service in May 2005 cited the university for

46 violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act

allegedly committed between May 25, 2004 and March

21, 2005.

The university agreed to pay fines totaling

$11,400 to avoid going to court.

“The violations included repeatedly leaving

10 research pigs without adequate water between May

and September and improperly housing the same pigs,

frequent poor sanitation of animal care facilities, lack

of veterinary care, improper oversight of research

activities, failing to investigate complaints of animal

neglect and poor record keeping, and failing to proper-

ly train university farm employees,” wrote Frank X.

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