How often has Sylvester killed Tweety?

July 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2009:
How often has Sylvester killed Tweety?
by Judith Webster
The summer 2009 edition of B.C. Nature included an article
entitled, “Cat licensing: A conservation strategy that can work.”
As a cat and bird lover, I was inspired to investigate author
Sherril Guthrie’s claim that cat licensing and confinement bylaws
would “protect and restore our bird and small mammal populations, as
well as return cats to their rightful place as valued pets and
companions.”
Guthrie relies on American Bird Conservancy “Cats Indoors!”
campaign literature, which includes too many disputable studies,
extrapolations, and anecdotal reports to delve into deeply here.
However, in her strong opening paragraph, Guthrie discusses a new
bird count analysis by the National Audubon Society revealing that 20
of North America’s most common birds have lost over half their
population since 1967.

Scientists confirm– Hurt crabs feel pain

May 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2009:

BELFAST–Hermit crabs feel pain when
injured and change their behavior to avoid the
source of pain, reported Robert Elwood of the
School of Biological Sciences at Queen’s
University in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on
March 27, 2009.
“With vertebrates we are asked to err on
the side of caution and I believe this is the
approach to take with crustaceans,” concluded
Elwood.
“Ripping the legs off live crabs and
crowding lobsters into seafood market tanks are
just two of the many practices that may warrant
reassessment,” warned Jennifer Viegas of the
Discovery Channel.

Rabies risk is medically identified from eating dogs & cats

May 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2009:

HANOI–People who prepare dog and cat meat for human
consumption are at risk of contracting rabies, warned medical
researcher Heiman Wertheim, M.D. in the March 18, 2009 edition of
PLoS Medicine
PLoS Medicine is a peer-reviewed open-accesss online
scientific journal published by the Public Library of Science. With
offices in San Francisco and Cambridge, England, PLoS Medicine
“gives the highest priority to papers on the conditions and risk
factors that cause the greatest losses in years of healthy life
worldwide,” state the editors.
Wertheim and colleagues from the National Institute of
Infectious & Tropical Diseases and the National Institute of Hygiene
& Epidemiology in Hanoi, Vietnam, researched the association of dog
meat with rabies after encountering two cases.

Meat kills, confirms National Cancer Institute study of half million Americans

April 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2009:
WASHINGTON D.C.–“High intakes of red or
processed meat may increase the risk of
mortality,” National Cancer Institute
researchers conservatively reported in the March
23, 2009 edition of Annals of Internal Medicine.
Annals of Internal Medicine is a
peer-reviewed journal published by the American
Medical Association–and what the study authors
actually found was the strongest scientific
condemnation yet of the health effects of a
meat-centered diet, regardless of the type of
meat consumed.
The National Cancer Institute examined
the relationship of diet and mortality among more
than half a million middle-aged and elderly
Americans from 1995 until the end of 2005. The
participants, all between 52 and 71 years old,
joined the study by completing a 124-question
survey about their eating habits, distributed by
the American Association of Retired Persons.
“Follow-up for vital status was performed
by annual linkage of the cohort to the Social
Security Administration Death Master File, and
cause of death information was provided by
follow-up searches of the National Death Index,”
explained study authors Rashmi Sinha, Amanda J.
Cross, Barry I. Graubard, Michael F. Leitzmann,
and Arthur Schatzkin.

USDA probes claim that saliva test can reduce post-mortem rabies tests

March 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2009:
AMES, Iowa–A company called Dyne Immune created web buzz on
February 3, 2009 that a new saliva test to detect rabies might end
the need to confirm suspected cases through post-mortem
examination–but the enthusiasm expressed by rescuers without
veterinary background was not shared by rabies experts, ANIMAL
PEOPLE learned within minutes of receiving the Dyne Immune
announcement and making inquiries.
“No more killing an animal just in case!” exulted one poster
to an online discussion group.

“Mice are lousy models,” says leading scientist

January 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2009:

STANFORD–Many people have asserted that
mouse studies are poor models for human disease
research. But few have had the stature within
the biomedical research field of Stanford
Institute for Immunity, Trans-plantation and
Infection director Mark M. Davis, Ph.D., and
few have said so in a leading medical journal.
“We seem to be in a state of denial,
where there is so much invested in the mouse
model that it seems almost unthinkable to look
elsewhere,” Davis wrote in the December 19,
2008 edition of Immunity, in an essay deemed
noteworthy enough that both Immunity and the
Stanford University Medical Center issued press
releases to publicize his statements.

Ex-NIMH head Goodwin is back in the news

December 1, 2008 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 2008:
Frederick K. Goodwin, host of “The Infinite Mind” program on
National Public Radio since 1998, “earned at least $1.3 million from
2000 to 2007 giving marketing lectures for drugmakers, income not
mentioned on the program,” reported Gardiner Harris of The New York
Times on November 21, 2008, citing findings by Senator Charles E.
Grassley (R-Iowa).
“In a program broadcast on Sept-ember 20, 2005,” Harris
wrote, Goodwin “warned that children with bipolar disorder who were
left untreated could suffer brain damage, a controversial view.

Science

$75 million offered to further non-surgical sterilization

October 1, 2008 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2008:
(Actual publication date 11-5-08.)
CHICAGO For $75 million, can someone invent a vaccine against canine and feline pregnancy? Or a chemosterilant that will be widely accepted by the humane and veterinary communities?
If an effective immunocontraceptive or chemosterilant for dogs and cats existed, would it be used where most needed?
Might the money be more productively used in extending high volume, low cost, best practice dog and cat sterilization surgery to all parts of the world and in keeping existing low-cost sterilization programs operating, at a time of plummeting donations?
The headline item at the mid-October 2008 Spay USA national conference was the $75 million incentive package offered by Found Animal Foundation founder Gary K. Michelson, M.D., to encourage the development of nonsurgical dog and cat contraception.

Studies refute pretexts for deer hunting

October 1, 2008 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2008:
(Actual publication date 11-5-08.)
COLUMBUS, Ohio; WASHINGTON , D.C. Two of the most common pretexts for deer hunting in late October 2008 took a hit from data published by researchers who had no intention of discouraging hunting.
At least 31 states rationalize efforts to promote deer hunting by claiming an urgent need to kill more deer, to prevent deer/car collisions and protect biodiversity, supposedly harmed by too many deer devouring plants.
The Highway Loss Data Institute and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reported that the number of people killed in deer/car crashes rose from 101 in 1993 to 150 in 2000 and 227 in 2007.

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