Look at what sea otters & dogs eat

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2002:

SAN FRANCISCO, LONDON– Cats were accused of spreading
toxoplasmosis to California sea otters and dogs were accused of
spreading campylobacter bacteria throughout Britain in new studies
released in early July 2002–but while the allegations were quickly
amplified by mainstream news media and picked up by anti-feral cat
and anti-street dog activists, the research behind each study
overlooked key dietary factors in the transmission of the diseases.
Marine biologist Melissa Miller and colleagues with the
Wildlife Health Center at the Davis campus of the University of
California claimed in the July edition of the International Journal
for Parasitology to have traced an ongoing seven-year decline in the
population of endangered California sea otters to the fecal parasite
Toxoplasma gondi. They found the microscopic parasite in 66 of the
107 sea otter carcasses they examined.

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Latest U.S. data shows shelter killing down to 4.4 million a year

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2002:

Rapid progress against pet overpopulation in some of the
fastest-growing parts of the Sunbelt and the Midwest combined with
continued low shelter killing volume in the Northeast and Northwest
to bring estimated total U.S. shelter killing in 2001 down to 4.4
million–the lowest toll on record.
Our 2001 estimate is projected from data covering every major
shelter in cities and states including 42% of the current U.S. human
population of 281 million. The shelter tolls in 1999 and 2000 were
almost identical, at 4.5 million and 4.6 million, with the
difference being in how numbers were rounded off.

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Status-of-animal verdicts in U.S., Britain

From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  September 2002:

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled on
July 9 that a 10-year-old dog named Barney may
not be subject of a suit seeking visitation
rights,  filed by Anthony DeSanctis against his
ex-wife Linda Hurley Pritchard,  as the dog is
not a legal person.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Lillian Y.
Lim on July 5 ruled that jurors may be told that
a 38-year-old pony named Lucy who was euthanized
in 2000 by the San Diego Humane Society had no
market value,  but may not hear about her
emotional value to Herb Niederheiser,  of Ramona,
California,  who is suing the humane society for
allegedly unlawfully seizing her.  Niederheiser
had Lucy  for 25 years.

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New laws abroad

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2002:

The Bulgarian Parliament on July 10 declared brown bears a
protected species, who may no longer be hunted, bought, sold, or
displayed to a paying audience. About 800 bears inhabit the
Bulgarian mountains, 30 bears are in zoos, 21 are kept by gypsy
exhibitors of “dancing bears,” 11 are in breeding colonies set up to
maintain the zoo population, and four belong to circuses, according
to the International Bear Foundation. The Dutch-based IBF in 2000
paid for microchipping all 66 captive bears, while the Fondation
Brigitte Bardot and the Austrian group Vier Pfoten founded a 2.7-acre
bear sanctuary near the Rila monastary, founded in the 13th century
at the reputed site of the grotto of the 10th century animal-loving
vegetarian saint John of Rila.

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One orca freed, ten to be caught and sold

From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  September 2002:

VANCOUVER,  B.C.;  SEA OF OKHOTSK–The orphaned orca A-73,
who followed the Seattle/Vachon Island ferry boats throughout the
spring in southern Puget Sound,  was captured,  treated for minor
ailments,  taken back to the A-pod home waters in the Johnstone
Strait,  and reunited with the pod in mid-July 2002,  at total cost
of $800,000.
The greatest part of the expense was borne by the Nichols
Brothers boatyard in Freeland,  Washington,  whose jet catamaran did
the hauling.

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United States legislative roundup

From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  September 2002:

California Governor Gray Davis in mid-July signed into law a
bill by state assembly member Virginia Strom-Martin (D-Duncans Mills)
which encourages human services personnel to report any suspected
cases of animal abuse they may encounter on the job.  Animal cruelty
investigators are already required to report any suspected cases of
child abuse that they discover.  The Strom-Martin bill was introduced
to mandate cross-reporting,  but was amended to be non-binding after
child welfare agencies testified that the cumulative cost of the
extra paperwork would be about $200,000 statewide per year.

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Veggies and soy cut breast cancer risk–new studies

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2002:

 

LONDON, NEW YORK–Frequent consumption of soya milk and
tofu, the curded form of tofu favored in cooking, may reduce the
risk of breast cancer, the British charity Cancer Research U.K.
announced on July 6, 2002, citing findings from a study of 406
women living in Singapore.
Working in partnership with the U.S. National Cancer
Institute and the National University of Singapore, Cancer Research
U.K. scientists found that the women who ate the most tofu were 60%
less likely to develop the forms of high-density breast tissue most
associated with developing breast cancer. The findings were reported
the the peer-reviewed journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and
Prevention.
Often used in place of cow’s milk and meat products, soya
milk and tofu are staples of vegan and vegetarian diets in the U.S.
and Britain.
The study was the second in recent months to link
vegetarianism with reduced risk of breast cancer.
The International Journal of Cancer in May 2002 published a
study of 717 South Asian women who had emigrated to Britain, 240 of
whom subsequently developed breast cancer while 477 did not.
Isabel dos Santos Silva, M.D., and colleagues at the London
School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine found that “lifelong
vegetarianism may be associated with a reduction in the risk of
breast cancer through its association with a higher intake of
vegetables and (legumes).”

Islamic zoos & Chinese animals

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2002:

DEN HAGUE, JAKARTA, KABUL, AMMAN, LAS VEGAS– Mohammed,
reputedly fond of cats, might have given his special blessing to a
cat who found herself locked inside a minaret at a mosque in Den
Hague, The Netherlands, on July 26 after Friday prayers. The cat
summoned help by somehow switching on the minaret sound system and
amplifying her meows along with Turkish music throughout the downtown
area, the newspaper Algemeen Dagblad reported. Her people
recognized her voice and called the police, but the key to the
minaret was not found until Sunday.

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Prairie dogs

From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  September 2002:

WASHINGTON D.C.–The National Wildlife Federation on June 26,
2002 asked the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to protect blacktailed
prairie dogs throughout its holdings,  but continued to withhold any
denunciation of the 2002 Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation “gopher”
derby,  which killed more than 63,000 blacktailed prairie dogs and
Richardson’s ground squirrels.
The SWF is an affiliate of the Canadian Wildlife Federation,
which shares programs and policies with NWF.
Seven other U.S. conservation groups in early July asked the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list whitetailed prairie dogs as a
threatened species.  Utah and Mexican prairie dogs are already listed
as a threatened species,  and the Fish and Wildlife Service has
acknowledged that blacktailed prairie dogs are eligible for listing,
but has not assigned them a high priority on the waiting list of
candidate species.
Pressured by ranchers and prairie dog shooters,  the Nebraska
Game and Parks Commission on July 24 voted 5-1 against protecting
prairie dogs on state lands.

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