AGRICULTURE

January 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, Jan/Feb 1994:

World meat production is up from

177.2 million tons in 1990 to 184.2 tons in

1993, says the Intergovernmental Group on

Meat, an industry task force. Cattle produc-

tion slid from 54.3 million tons to 52.8, but

pork is up from 69.7 million tons to 73.8, and

poultry is up from 39.9 million tons to 44.2.

Total production in developed nations fell

from 104.2 million tons to 100.6, due mostly

to declines in the former USSR, but produc-

tion in developing nations jumped from 73

million tons to 83.6 million––an expenditure

of soil and water resources many of them can-

not afford to make.

Marine mammals

November 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1993:

U.S. president Bill Clinton told

Congress on October 4 that while the

Norwegian resumption of commercial whaling

in defiance of the International Whaling

Commission warrants trade sanctions, he

believes they should not be imposed “until we

have exhausted all good faith efforts to per-

suade Norway to follow agreed conservation

measures.” Clinton did, however, direct his

staff to inventory products imported from

Norway that might be placed under embargo.

Pending federal action, the Animal Welfare

Institute on September 28 called a boycott of

Norwegian fish, cheese, clothing, and sonar

equipment. Alaska governor Walter Hickel

meanwhile announced that he’s reached a deal

with Norway: Alaska won’t criticize

Norwegian whaling if Norway won’t join an

international tourist boycott called to protest

the impending Alaskan wolf massacre (see

“Wildlife,” page 12). Iceland confirmed

October 15 that it also intends to resume com-

mercial whaling soon, likewise defying possi-

ble sanctions.

Birds

November 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1993:

Cowbirds, native to the

midwest, invaded California 10 to 15

years ago and are now blamed for extir-

pating at least four threatened or endan-

gered songbirds from key parts of their

range. Female cowbirds indirectly kill

as many as 48 young songbirds apiece

per nesting season by laying their eggs

in songbirds’ nests. The songbird par-

ents then raise the fast-hatching cowbird

offspring ––who push the songbirds’

own eggs out before they hatch.

Songbird species such as the Bell’s

vireo, willow flycatcher, yellow-breast-

ed chat, and white crown sparrow are

believed capable of withstanding losses

of 10% of their eggs, but decline quick-

ly when the losses exceed 20%. Studies

of white crown sparrow nests in San

Francisco’s Golden Gate Park indicate

losses to cowbirds may exceed 50%.

Hopes for the eventual recovery of the

highly endangered Bell’s vireo were

raised this year when one or two pairs

reportedly nested along the Ventura

River, near Santa Barbara, for the first

time since 1908––but a lone Bell’s vireo

seen in Monterey County, a former

stronghold of the species, failed to find

a mate. Bell’s vireos apparently haven’t

nested successfully there since the cow-

birds arrived, circa 1983.

Wildlife: wolves and elephants and turtles and bison and bats and bears––oh my!

November 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1993:

The North American Free Trade

Agreement could harm endangered species

and wildlife sanctuaries along the

U.S./Mexican border, a U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service impact analysis says. “There

are serious habitat problems and endangered

species problems on the border now, and we

expect that NAFTA may in fact exacerbate

some of them,” USFWS international affairs

specialist Doug Ryan told the Los Angeles

Times on September 27. The USFWS report

confirms the view of the majority of national

animal and habitat protection groups; see

“Animal and habitat protection groups split”

on page 6 of the October issue of ANIMAL

PEOPLE.

Marine mammals

October 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1993:

The Dolphin Alliance, of

Melbourne Beach, Florida, announced

September 22 that Bogie and Bacall, the

Ocean Reef Club dolphins, will be going

home to the Indian River Lagoon as soon

as they complete rehabilitation with former

“Flipper” trainer Ric O’Barry, who heads

the closely allied Dolphin Project.

Publicity surrounding the 1988 capture of

Bogie and Bacall influenced the National

Marine Fisheries Service to ban further dol-

phin captures for the benefit of facilities

not open to the public. When the Ocean

Reef Club was sold recently, it lost the

grandfather clause enabling it to keep

Bogie and Bacall.

ANIMAL HEALTH

October 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1993:

IN THE VETERINARY CLINIC

Despite concerns about bites and animal-transmitted

disease, veterinary staff are as often hurt on the job by ordi-

nary slips, trips, falls, and lifting injuries, according to sta-

tistics supplied to ANIMAL PEOPLE by the American

Veterinary Medical Association Professional Liability Insurance

Trust. From 1988 through 1992, dog bites accounted for 16.3%

of claims, cat bites for 13.8%, kicks by horses and cattle for

5.2%, and all other injuries done by animals combined amounted

to just 4.1%––but slips, trips, and falls came to 17.2%, while

lifting totaled 16.2%. Three-fourths of the lifting injuries

involved lifting “small” animals, whose weight and ability to

struggle were probably underestimated by the injured. Average

costs per claim were $2,808 for animal-related lifting injuries;

$6,253 for other lifting injuries; $6,212 for slips, trips, and falls;

$4,174 for horse and cow-kicks; $1,527 for dog bites; and $678

for cat bites. Job safety statistics have apparently never been

compiled for animal control officers and shelter workers, but

similar ratios may apply.

Animal and habitat protection groups split on North American Free Trade Agreement

October 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1993:

NO IMPACT STATEMENT REQUIRED

WASHINGTON D.C.––The U.S. Court of

Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled September 24

that the Clinton administration doesn’t have to produce an

environmental impact statement on the North American

Free Trade Agreement before it takes effect. The ruling

reversed a lower court ruling that would have required sev-

eral years of study before the pact could be submitted to

Congress for ratification.

Public Citizen, one of three plaintiffs in the bid to

delay or stop NAFTA, pledged to appeal to the Supreme

Court within a matter of weeks.

“This decision has cheated the American public

out of the right to know,” said Friends of the Earth director

Jane Perkins.

Marine Mammals

September 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1993:

The hit film Free Willy gave new

impetus to the ongoing campaign to persuade

Sea World in San Diego to return an orca named

Corky to her native habitat off British Columbia.

Her mother and several siblings remain with the

pod from which she was captured 24 years ago.

Sea World contends Corky could no longer sur-

vive in the wild. Free Willy has also started a

campaign on behalf of Keiko, the star of the

film, who resides at the El Nuevo Reino

Aventura amusement park in Mexico City. Free

Willy producers Lauren Shuler-Donner and

Richard Donner are reportedly ready to buy

Keiko and move him to a better facility, perhaps

even a fenced inlet off Cape Cod, using

$200,000 contributed by Warner Brothers, the

film’s distributor. Captured off Iceland in 1982,

and kept at Marineland in Niagara Falls before

being sold to his present keepers, Keiko hasn’t

drawn interest from major aquariums because of

a purportedly debilitating skin condition.

Agriculture

September 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1993:

Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt on August 9

announced plans to hike grazing fees on 280 million acres

of public lands, from the present $1.86 per animal unit per

day to $4.28––still below market value, and half the $8.70

fee the House passed in July 1991, later killed by the

Senate. An earlier attempt by Babbitt to up grazing fees

was delayed by President Clinton until his budget cleared

Congress.

The European Commission on July 13 proposed

that horses in transport should be watered and fed every six

hours; calves under four weeks old, every eight hours; and

adult cattle every 16 hours. Horses and pigs would get 10

hours of rest after traveling 12 hours. If adopted, the new

rules will protect all animals traveling between member

nations.

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