Letters (December 2012]

From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  November/December 2012:

Letters

Where the Leaping Bunny is going

Thank you for your September 2012 article “Where is the Leaping Bunny going?”   The issue of using animals to test cosmetics, personal care,  and household products is far from resolved, especially given the new animal testing requirements instituted by the People’s Republic of China for companies registering products there.  As mentioned in the article,  the emerging market of China and the sheer population of the country make it an enticing place to set up shop.  However, until China adopts non-animal alternatives for safety testing,  untold numbers of animals per year will needlessly suffer and die. Read more

BOOKS: World Without Cats

From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  November/December 2012:

World Without Cats by Bonham Richards iUniverse (order c/o www.worldwithoutcats.com),  2012. 315 pages,  paperback.  $19.95.
According to World Without Cats publicity materials,  author Bonham Richards “has a doctorate in medical microbiology from UCLA and did postdoctoral research at the University of Washington.”  He taught biology for 24 years at California State University,  San Bernardino and the Univeristy of Southern California,  and “now resides in Camarillo.” Read more

BOOKS | The Peaceable Forest: India’s Tale of Kindness to Animals

From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  November/December 2012:
The Peaceable Forest:  India’s Tale of Kindness to Animals by Kosa Ely, illustrated by Anna Johansson Insight Editions (POB 3088,  San Rafael,  CA  94912),  2012. [Order c/o <http://peaceableforest.com/>.] 32 pages,  hardcover,  illustrated.  $16.99.
Kosa Ely has in The Peaceable Forest:  India’s Tale of Kindness to Animals recast into a story for very young children the parable of how the wandering sage Narada transformed the sadistic hunter Mrigari into an animal-loving vegetarian.  Significant in Hare Krishna teachings as a demonstration that sinners can achieve personal redemption,  this simplified version of the parable might help vegetarian parents to explain why their families do not eat meat. Read more

BOOKS: Food Security & Farm Animal Welfare

From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  November/December 2012:

Food Security & Farm Animal Welfare  by Sofia Parente [WSPA] and Heleen van de Weerd [CIWF] Free 20-page download from wspa-international.org/farming or ciwf.org/foodsecurity  Based on The Impact of Industrial Grain Fed Livestock Production on Food Security:  an extended literature review .. by Karl-Heinz Erb,   Andreas Mayer,   Thomas Kastner,  Kristine-Elena Sallet,   and Helmut Haberl,  Institute of Social Ecology,  Vienna

Free 90-page download from:  http://www.uni-klu.ac.at/socec/inhalt/1818.htm

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BOOKS | Full Planet, Empty Plates: The New Geopolitics of Food Scarcity

From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  November/December 2012:

Full Planet,  Empty Plates: The New Geopolitics of Food Scarcity by Lester R. Brown Earth Policy Institute (1350 Connecticut Avenue NW,  Suite 403,  Washington, DC   20036),  2012. 141 pages,  paperback.  $15.00.
Publicity materials for Full Planet, Empty Plates credit Lester R. Brown with producing more than 50 books,  including the annual Worldwatch reports he edited for 30 years as founder of the Worldwatch Institute.  Leaving in 2001,  Brown formed the Earth Policy Institute to continue amassing and evaluating economic data that helps to predict environmental trends. Read more

BOOKS | The Last Walk: Reflections on Our Pets at the End of Their Lives

From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  November/December 2012:

The Last Walk: Reflections on Our Pets at the End of Their Lives by Jessica Pierce Univ. of Chicago Press (1427 E. 60th St.,  Chicago,  IL  60637), 2012.  263 pages,  hardcover.  $26.00.
Colorado bioethicist Jessica Pierce in The Last Walk alternates between detailing the last year in the life of her dog Odysseus,  Ody for short,  and examining the larger moral, philosophical,  and practical issues raised by the aging and death of pets–for society and culture,  for herself,  and for her family, especially her early-teen daughter Sage.  Read more

BOOKS | The Dogs in Bali: Unforgettable Dog Stories From A Flawed Paradise

From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  November/December 2012:


The Dogs in Bali:
Unforgettable Dog Stories From A Flawed Paradise by Anna Sternfeldt Sternfeldt Media,  c/o www.dog-stories-from-bali.com 63 pages,  $11.95.

 

The praiseworthy stated intent of The Dogs in Bali is to further the work of the Bali Animal Welfare Association.  But author, photographer,  and publisher Anna Sternfeldt opens with the disclaimer,  rare in a self-publication,  that “The views,  opinions, positions or strategies expressed by the authorŠdo not necessarily reflect the views, opinions,  positions or strategies of Sternfeldt Media,”  which “makes no representations as to accuracy,  completeness,  correctness, suitability,  or validity of any information.”

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BOOKS: Can Animals Be Moral?

From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  November/December 2012:

 

Can Animals Be Moral? by Mark Rowlands Oxford Univ. Press  (198 Madison Ave.,  New York,  NY 10016),  2012. 288 pages,  hardcover.  $29.95.

 

Responding to recent works by ethologists Marc Bekoff and Franz de Waal,  who work from direct observation of animals,  and have been accused of anthropomorphism for arguing that there are not distinctions but continuums between animal and human behavior, University of Miami philosophy professor Mark Rowlands ends his own discussion of real-life animals in his preface.  Rowlands in gist seems to agree with Bekoff and de Waal,  while finding fault with their approach. Read more

Obituaries [Nov-Dec 2012]

From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  November/December 2012:

Obituaries

“I come to bury Caesar,  not to praise him.  The evil that men do lives after them.  The good is oft interred with their bones.” –William Shakespeare

Roy Curtis Marcum,  43,  a 14-year Sacramento County Animal Care & Regulation Department office,  was fatally shot through a closed front door on November 28,  2012 as he approached a house occupied by Joseph Francis Corey,  65,  to take custody of six Catahoula dogs.  Marcum,  who was unarmed,  was accompanied by two locksmiths,  who suffered superficial injuries.  Corey had been evicted the day before,  but was believed to have left the Catahoulas,  who are pit bull variants,  in the second floor house and ground level garage.  A 16-hour standoff followed the shooting, during which SWAT team members were able to slip into the garage and hide until  Corey descended a stairway into the garage to check on one of the dogs circa 5 a.m. on November 29.  Corey was then captured and charged with homicide. Read more
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