About trusting whales who are over age 30

July 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1994:

ANIMAL PEOPLE reported in

June that according to a new Humane Society

of Canada study of all cetaceans known to

have been captured 1960-1992, captivity

cuts the average lifespan of orcas and beluga

whales by 43 years, and the average lifespan

of bottlenose dolphins by 15 years. It now

appears, however, that the HSC estimates of

orca and beluga lifespans in the wild were far

higher than current research indicates.

Cetacean ages are estimated by counting the

enamel layers on their teeth. Until 1984,

they were believed to grow one layer per

year. Then a postmortem on a 24-year-old

beluga who was kept in captivity from infan-

cy found that he had grown two layers per

year. Many references still state the old esti-

mates, but follow-up investigation has con-

vinced most marine mammologists to cut

those numbers in half. A study of captive

cetacean longevity by D.P. DeMaster and

J.K. Drevenak in 1988 produced similar aver-

ages to the HSC study––but also found that

the life expectancy for wild-caught dolphins

who survive their first year in captivity is 33

years, longer than dolphins live in the ocean,

while life expectancy for captive-born dol-

phins who survive to age one is 47 years.

First-year mortality is very high for

cetaceans––as for most animals––both in the

wild and in captivity.

AVMA says mad cow disease won’t hurt public

June 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1994:

SCHAUMBERG, Illinois––University of San

Francisco researchers led by Dr. Stanley Pruisiner reported

on April 22 that they have discovered how disease-carrying

agents called prions replicate, a key step toward finding a

way to fight scrapie, a fatal brain disease of sheep and

goats, and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), bet-

ter known as “mad cow disease.” More than 100,000

British cattle have been destroyed due to BSE since 1986,

while isolated cases have appeared in seven other nations.

The spring 1994 Farm Sanctuary newsletter

meanwhile asserted that “At least two British dairy farmers

whose cows had BSE, and who had been drinking milk

from their herds, died from CJD, the human counterpart to

mad cow disease…There is evidence to suggest that BSE

has existed in the United States for some time. In 1985,

several thousand mink at a Wisconsin fur farm died of

transmissible mink encephalopathy (TME) which was

caused by their diet, primarily ‘downer’ cows. Research

done in the U.S.,” Farm Sanctuary continued, “has linked

BSE with the use of ‘downer’ cows… Scientists are now

concerned that the disease currently referred to by the U.S.

meat and dairy industries as ‘downer cow syndrome’ could

actually be BSE.”

ANIMAL HEALTH

June 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1994:

“Often dogs show signs of lead intoxication

before children, and the signs in humans are more subtle

than in dogs,” University of Missouri veterinary toxicologist

Stan Casteel advises. Canine symptoms include prolonged

diarhea, vomiting, and stomach upset.

Fort Dodge Laboratories, a division of

American Home Products, has introduced the first vac-

cine for treating and preventing ringworm in cats. T h e

vaccine replaces traditional oral and topical treatments.

Michigan State University professor of veteri-

nary medicine Sally Walshaw, 49, on May 1 became the

ninth annual winner of the Leo K. Bustad Companion

Animal Veterinarian Award––and the first female recipient.

Walshaw teaches laboratory techniques. Said Richard

Walshaw, her husband and a fellow member of the MSU

veterinary teaching staff, “Before Sally, few people really

ever bothered understanding laboratory animals’ feelings,

and they indeed have a lot of feelings.”

New species discovered in the jungles of Southeast Asia

June 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1994:

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia– –Exploration teams in the

jungles of Southeast Asia reported two extraordinary finds in late

April––a small herd of kouprey, an extremely rare wild cow, and an

entirely new deer species, the giant muntjac.

Italian veterinarian Maurizio Dioli tracked the kouprey in

northeastern Cambodia from March 27 until April 7, never actually

seeing any, but collecting evidence of their presence, also observing

“one of the largest populations of Asian elephants and Sumatran tigers

in Asia,” and evidence, too, of enough poaching to “present a major

threat to the survival of the wildlife.”

Laboratories

June 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1994:

Residents of Cranberry and

Hampton Township, Pennsylvania, got a

close-up view of the realities of vivisection on

May 7 when the tailgate of a truck taking 2.5

tons of dead rats from Zivic-Miller Laboratories

to a landfill broke twice, littering two streets

with rat remains. Zivic-Miller, of Zelienople, a

Pittsburgh suburb, sells rats to research institu-

tions. The dead rats were unsold surplus, owner

Bill Zivic told Associated Press.

1990 University of Minnesota animal

intake records obtained by the Animal Rights

Coalition under the Minnesota Data Practices

Act indicate that the university purchased for

research use at least 139 of 248 dogs who were

individually identified in a 1992 USDA com-

plaint filed against Class B animal dealers Julian

and Anita Toney, of Lamoni, Iowa, for failing

to keep records on animal acquisitions. The

USDA charges, now four years old, are still

pending, while the Toneys remain the primary

suppliers of dogs to the university––which has

been suspected of using stolen dogs ever since

the late Lucille Moses traced dog thefts through

local suppliers to UM in the early 1960s.

Who needs low-cost neutering? PART ONE OF A NEW NATIONAL STUDY

June 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1994:

PORT WASHINGTON, New York––Low-cost neutering doubles the number of

poor people who get their pets fixed––and cuts animal shelter intakes in half.

Any doubts that either shelter administrators or veterinarians may have about the

efficacy of low-cost neutering should be laid to rest by the results of a new national study car-

ried out over the past six months by ANIMAL PEOPLE, under sponsorship of the North

Shore Animal League. The first part of the study, investigating the impact of low-cost neu-

tering on pet overpopulation, is published here. The second part, a comprehensive review of

veterinary experience, will appear in our July/August issue––including veterinarians’ ideas

about how to improve low-cost neutering pro-

grams to get even better results and resolve

grievances that often hamper programs.

Sex and animal protection

May 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1994:

Chances are, most of the people who attended the seminar on “Differences

between men and women” at the American Humane Association’s annual training confer-

ence last fall wondered what this had to do with animal protection. Presenter Judy Lang

asked the same question––after delineating the many behavioral differences found by recent

l research. By then the audience was bursting with examples of specific situations where a

better understanding of sex differences might significantly help.

One difference of note, applicable to both humane education and anti-cruelty

enforcement, is the disparate degree to which men and women recognize personal feelings.

As Lang pointed out, women have a much stronger neurolink between their brain hemi-

spheres, which results in greater capacity for connecting thought with emotion. Thus

women are less likely to blindly react. Some research suggests women are less likely to

abuse children and animals in part because they are more likely to recognize their own anger

and frustration before it emerges in hostile behavior, and are therefore quicker to use empa-

thy as a brake upon negative feelings. Men commit both violent crimes and suicide far

more often; women are far more likely to seek psychological help. Lang stressed that the

physiological difference is a matter of degrees, not of absolutes, and should not be consid-

ered a handicap or an excuse for inhumane behavior: men can and must be taught to

“count to a thousand” before reacting. What is important is recognizing that men often need

to be taught a mode of responding that for women may be inuitive.

ANIMAL HEALTH

May 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1994:

Zoonosis

The politics of rabies took a twist

on April 1 when in all seriousness Patricia

Munoz, public health director for

Washington County, New York, told the

county public health committee that she need-

ed an infectious disease control nurse on her

staff to handle the growing rabies-related

caseload. The Washington County public

health department handled about 500 more

cases of all types during the first three months

of 1994, including 16 cases of possible expo-

sure to rabid animals. Munoz got the com-

mittee to recommend the hiring, then dis-

closed that the nurse would also handle

hepatitis and salmonella cases, both of which

are far more numerous.

Laboratories

May 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1994:

The American Association for the

Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care

put the animal care program at the Davis cam-

pus of the University of California on proba-

tion for six months in mid-April, stating that

the lack of a centralized system for enforcing

care standards has led to uneven and some-

times inadequate care, including cages that are

too small and dirty, and rat infestations of

holding facilities.

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