Why an ancient armored mammal needs better defenses

March 1, 2012 juanitoG Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2012:

Why an ancient armored mammal needs better defenses

HONG KONG–“We have uncovered disturbing information which strongly suggests that ‘medicinal use’ pangolin farms are already operating in China,” said Project Pangolin founders Rhishja Cota-Larson and Sarah Pappin on January 16, 2012.

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“The emergence of pangolin farming,” Cota-Larson and Pappin suggested, “may help provide insight into why the world is losing pangolins at such an alarming rate–an estimated 40,000 killed in 2011– and why China’s appetite for pangolins continues to increase.” As with bear bile and tiger farming, the growth of a captive population enables sellers to encourage customers to buy more pangolin products, even as the exploited species disappears from the wild.

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The conservation aspect of the disappearance of pangolins has drawn the most attention so far, but the suffering of individual pangolins is considerable. Most pangolins taken from the wild are transported to markets and sold alive, if the poachers can keep them alive. This is also believed to be the fate of farmed pangolins. If pangolins die in transport or markets, their remains are frozen and sold. Read more

NIH announces end of funding for buying cats from Class B dealers

March 1, 2012 juanitoG Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2012:

NIH announces end of funding for buying cats from Class B dealers

WASHINGTON D.C.–-The National Institutes of Health on February 8, 2012 published notice that NIH grantees will be prohibited after October 1, 2012 “from using NIH funds to procure cats from USDA Class B dealers. The procurement of cats may only be from USDA Class A dealers or other approved legal sources,” the NIH said. Read more

U.S. Supreme Court overturns California law requiring downers to be euthanized

March 1, 2012 juanitoG Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2012:

U.S. Supreme Court overturns California law requiring downers to be euthanized

WASHINGTON D.C.— The U.S. Supreme Court on January 23, 2012 unanimously overturned a 2008 California law requiring slaughterhouses to immediately euthanize non-ambulatory livestock.

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Focused on the issue of federal primacy over state legislation, the legal reasoning behind the 9-0 verdict signaled that the Supreme Court is likely to favor uniform national standards for livestock handling in any situation where state and federal law are perceived to be in conflict. This could mean any situation in which states have adopted supplementary humane standards meant to address gaps in federal laws which were last updated by Congress several decades ago. Read more

Editorial: Evolving an ethical response to mice & rats

March 1, 2012 juanitoG Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2012:

Editorial: Evolving an ethical response to mice & rats

Probably the most ethically vexatious of all mammals, if not all sentient beings, are mice and rats–who are also by far the most numerous, problematic, and at times the most deadly of all non-insect pests to human beings.

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From the origins of food storage, well before the beginnings of agriculture, mice and rats were the most ubiquitous and successful of food thieves. We owe our long association with dogs in great part to the role of dogs as rodent hunters, attracted not only to our refuse but to the chance to eat the mice and rats who were already feasting on it. Read more

Agreement Raises Flags for Egg-Laying Hens: A Chicken Activist’s Perspective on the "New Deal"

March 1, 2012 juanitoG Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2012:

Agreement Raises Flags for Egg-Laying Hens: A Chicken Activist’s Perspective on the “New Deal”
by Karen Davis, PhD, founder & president of United Poultry Concerns
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The January/February 2012 edition of ANIMAL PEOPLE included a full-page ad headlined “It’s Time to Ban Barren Battery Cages Nationwide,” urging readers to ask Congress to support the Egg Products Inspection Act Amendments of 2012.
The ad told us that “All the groups that have been leading the fight to ban battery cages-such as those listed below-actively support this legislation, because it’s the best opportunity to help the largest number of farm animals.” Read more

Letters

March 1, 2012 juanitoG Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2012:

Letters

The Animal Rights Agenda 25 years later

Concerning the January/February 2012 ANIMAL PEOPLE editorial “The ‘Animal Rights Agenda’ 25 years later,” I would have little to argue with in the statements quoted, except that I shy away from the term “animal rights,” as it has such negative connotations in the United Kingdom (at least), and have always had at the back of my mind the philosopher Bertrand Russell’s statement that “The logical extrapolation of animal rights is votes for oysters.” I prefer the cause of “animal welfare,” where humans accept that they have a responsibility to protect all the animals of the planet.

Letters

Accused of involvement in elephant poaching, Thai officials raid Wildlife Friends

March 1, 2012 juanitoG Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2012:

Accused of involvement in elephant poaching, Thai officials raid Wildlife Friends

BANGKOK--Responding to a week of daily raids by 60 to 70 staff of the Thai National Park, Wildlife and Plants Conservation Division, Wildlife Friends Foundation of Thailand founder Edwin Wiek convened a February 21, 2012 press conference at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand in Bangkok to present, Wiek said, “new facts on elephant poaching and the illegal elephant and wildlife trade.” Read more

WSPA bewilders anti-bear farm activists

March 1, 2012 juanitoG Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2012:

WSPA bewilders anti-bear farm activists

SEOUL--“Victory! Korea commits to end bear farming,” bannered a World Society for the Protection of Animals electronic newsletter distributed on February 18, 2012, but dated a month earlier.

The announcement bewildered veteran anti-bear bile farming campaigners, including Moonbears.org founder Gina Moon.
“WSPA welcomes the news shared by our partner Green Korea United,” explained the newsletter, “that the budget committee of the Korean National Assembly recently voted through a proposal to ‘prepare measures to end the practice of bear farming through investigation of the current status of bear farming and its management plan.’ The government has cleared a budget of 200 million Korean won ($175,000 U.S.) to ascertain the current situation of bears on farms in Korea, and design ways to end the practice.” Read more

Thai & Chinese dogs rescued

March 1, 2012 juanitoG Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2012:

Thai & Chinese dogs rescued

NAKON PHANOM, CHONQING–-Nearly 3,000 dogs were impounded from meat traffickers in Thailand and China during mid-January 2012, straining quarantine centers. The Thai navy seized 750-800 dogs from a boat on the Mekong River on January 13, plus 500 dogs who were found on a truck that was driving to meet the boat. About 500 more dogs were found hidden in nearby woods, to be sent to China via Laos. About 2,000 dogs were believed to have already been transported. Not known is whether some of those dogs were among about 1,100 who were intercepted a few days later by the Chongqing Small Animal Protection Association, of Chongquing in southwest China. The dogs were being taken to Guangdong.

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