The science of how behavior is inherited in aggressive dogs

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  July-August 2013:

by Alexandra Semyonova

 Probably most people recognize that every dog breed results from human manipulation of inherited physical traits.  Until recently,  most people probably also recognized that much dog behavior is also a result of manipulating inheritance:  if you want to do sheep trials,  you get a border collie.  If you get a beagle,  he will likely become instantly deaf to your calls if he picks up a scent to track.  Read more

Editorials: Asian dog & cat meat trade could be on the way out

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  July-August 2013:

Editorial feature: Asian dog & cat meat trade could be on the way out 

By Kim Bartlett & Merritt Clifton

Recent developments signify that dog and cat meat industries of Southeast Asia,  South Korea,  and China may be approaching the beginning of their end,  if current campaigns sustain present momentum.  The dog and cat meat industries are vulnerable to eradication through a combination of factors,  including rising education and affluence,  the increasing popularity of keeping dogs and cats as household pets,  and democratization of traditionally oligarchic and patriarchal societies,  so that women and younger people––who are more likely to be sympathetic toward animals––have more say in what goes on.  

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Letters [July-August 2013)

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  July-August 2013:

Letters

Corrections:  Saving Baby

The printed version of Debra J. White’s May/June 2013 review of the book Saving Baby:  How a woman’s love for a racehorse leads to her redemption,  by JoAnne Normile with Larry Lindner,  contained several errors which were corrected in the electronic editions.  Normile was 43,  not 36,  when she became involved in horse racing.  She was 36 when she got her first horse,  seven years earlier.  The review misattributed to Normile a direct quote which came from another trainer who was trying to talk Normile into using the illegal drug in question.  Normile did not use the drug.  The horse Baby suffered an irreparably broken leg,  as the review mentioned,  but did not “crash” as the term is used in horse racing,  as he did not fall.  The incident allegedly occurred due to a poorly maintained track surface.  Normile is the founder of the national racehorse rescue organization CANTER,  not just a volunteer.  The last 104 pages of the 263-page book focus on how Normile founded and built the organization.  But the horse Scarlett,  mentioned in the review,  was not among Normile’s rescues.  ANIMAL PEOPLE apologizes for the many mistakes.—The Editor

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Sacrifice,  rhino horn poaching,  & elephants

Concerning the May/June 2013 ANIMAL PEOPLE editorial feature “Ag-gag laws & changing frameworks of perception,”  the message to be conveyed is that killing––either for food or for religion––is wrong.  Unfortunately, when I talk to Hindus about animal sacrifice,  they ask why the Government of India grants the annual Bakri Id holiday for Muslim animal sacrifices.  And I cannot ask Muslims why because this is politically incorrect.  Read more

Renowned wildlife researcher Lynn Rogers loses his permit to radio-collar wild bears

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  July-August 2013:

ELY,  Minnesota––Lynn Rogers,  74,   longtime director of the Wildlife Research Institute and the affiliated North American Bear Center in Ely,  Minnesota,  was on June 28,  2013 told by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources that the permit he has held since 1999 to radio-collar wild bears will not be renewed.   Read more

BOOKS—Saving the White Lions: One Woman’s Battle for Africa’s Most Sacred Animal

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  July-August 2013:

Saving the White Lions: One Woman’s Battle for Africa’s Most Sacred Animal by Linda Tucker North Atlantic Books  (2526 Martin Luther King Jr. Way,   Berkeley,  CA 94704),  2013.   489 pages,  paperback.  $16.95.

In November 1991,  not long after Nelson Mandela was released after serving 27 years in prison for fighting apartheid, South African author Linda Tucker and several friends drove to a favorite childhood haunt of hers in the “middle of the untamed African bushveld,”  as Tucker describes it.  Read more

Animal obituaries

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  July-August 2013:

Bijlee,  58,  a female elephant who spent 54 years appearing at weddings and in parades,  and begging on the streets of Mumbai and Thane,  India,  died on June 30,  2013,  nineteen days after collapsing on the Mulund-Bhandap Link road in eastern Mumbai. Suffering from severe chronic arthritis,  Bijee was allegedly abandoned by her mahouts. People for Animals,  the Thane SPCA,  Animals Matter to Me,  Wildlife SOS,  PETA/India,  the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organizations,  and the Plants & Animals Welfare Society combined efforts to try to save her,  five years after saving her once before.  “In 2008,”  recalled Vijay Singh of the Times of India, “Bijlee,  then known by her alias Ramkali,  had to walk over 100 kilometers to Alibaug to attend a wedding of a politican’s son. On her way back to Mumbai,  she fell in a ditch and a crane could pull her out only after nine hours.” Read more

Dogs most often listed for sale or adoption

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  July-August 2013:

Dogs most often listed for sale or adoption                              2010  2011  2012  2013  Avg.  Ppltn.

Large retrievers       8.7%  5.2%  8.2%  8.2%  7.6%  5.3 m.

Pit bull class           4.1%  3.3%  4.6%  6.0%  4.5%  3.2 m.

Small terriers          2.2%  2.1%  2.1%  5.2%  2.9%  2.0 m.

Collie class              1.3%  2.2%  3.4%  4.1%  2.8%  2.0 m.

Poodles                   1.4%  2.0%  2.8%  2.8%  2.3%  1.6 m.

Setter class              1.0%  2.3%  2.3%  3.6%  2.3%  1.6 m.

German shepherds     1.7%  1.4%  2.3%  2.1%  1.8%  1.3 m.

Spaniels                   1.2%  2.0%  2.0%  2.0%  1.8%  1.3 m.

Beagles                    1.2%  1.2%  2.3%  2.0%  1.7%  1.2 m.

Chihuahuas               2.4%  0.7%  0.4%  2.6%  1.5%  1.0 m.

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