Melamine hit Africa too

June 1, 2007 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2007:
CAPE TOWN–At least 30 and possibly as many as 65 dogs died
after eating melamine-contaminated pet food in Cape Town, South
Africa, veterinary pathologist Fred Reyers told Helen Bamford of the
Cape Argus in April 2007.
Little noticed beyond Cape Town, the South African cases
followed much the same trajectory as the high-profile melamine pet
food contamination crisis in the U.S.
“Royal Canin, which makes its own brands as well as Vets
Choice, said in a statement that corn gluten contaminated with
melamine was delivered to South Africa by a third party supplier and
originated from China,” Bamford wrote.

Melamine fed to fish

June 1, 2007 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2007:
VANCOUVER–The potential for global ecological disaster as
result of cheating in international trade was illustrated on May 8,
2007, when the Vancouver-based Canadian division of Skretting
International recalled fish food sold to 25 Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife hatcheries because it contained melamine.
As melamine is water-soluable, it does not accumulate in the
bodies of fish, unlike heavy metals such as mercury and chemical
compounds, such as PCBs.
“We do not believe this poses any significant human health
threat,” said FDA food safety chief David Acheson.
But melamine itself was not the cause for worry. The greater
concern was what if the contaminant had been more volatile,
longer-persisting, or biologically active?

Falwell’s father was a dogfighter

June 1, 2007 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2007:
LYNCHBURG, Virginia–Obituaries for
televangelist Jerry Falwell, who died on May 15,
2007 in Lynchburg, Virg-inia, not far from
where the Michael Vick dogfighting case was
breaking, skipped lightly over at least two
aspects of his early life.
Little mentioned was Falwell’s role as an
ardent segregationist from his debut on WBRG
radio in June 1956 until several years after the
Congress On Racial Equality tried to integrate
his church in 1964.
Not mentioned at all was that Falwell’s
father, Carey H. Falwell, a key figure in many
of his sermons, was at least twice convicted of
hosting high-stakes dogfights, at a time when
dogfighting, cockfighting, and pigeon shoots
were among the fundraising mainstays of the Ku
Klux Klan.

Israel bans cosmetic & cleaning product testing on animals; EU advisory body approves alternatives

June 1, 2007 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2007:
JERUSALEM–The Knesset on May 21, 2007 voted 29-0 with two
abstentions to approve on third and final reading a law prohibiting
animal testing of cosmetic and cleaning products.
Taking effect immediately on passage, the law “frees the
2,000-3,000 animals in Israel who are currently used to test cosmetic
and cleaning products,” said the Jerusalem Post. However, the law
allows continued laboratory use of animals in developing medicinal
products and health care procedures.
Bill author Gideon Sa’ar of the Likud Party told the Knesset
that he intrduced it at request of his 16-year-old daughter, Daniella.
“On the basis of what Daniella saw and learned,” Sa’ar said,
“she convinced me that this bill needed to be passed. I am very
proud of this new generation, who want a more humane society.”

High Court favors impounding dogs

May 1, 2007 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2007:
MUMBAI–The Constitutional bench of the Bombay High Court on
April 20, 2007 heard arguments on the constitutionality of Animal
Birth Control programs in Mumbai and Goa. The cases before the High
Court parallel claims made by ABC program opponents in Bangalore and
Hyderabad that releasing street dogs after sterilization
unconstitutionally jeopardizes the safety of citizens.
“The 3-judges bench is expected to direct setting up
committees as per the ABC rules to monitor the implementation and
progress of ABC in Mumbai and in Goa,” reported Mumbai attorney
Norma Alvares. “The judges have accepted the argument that killing
dogs is not the solution to the problem, and want to give ABC a
chance to show that it is effective in reducing the numbers of dogs
and curbing rabies.

Obituaries

May 1, 2007 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2007:
Veronica Parker, 41, and her daughter Charlotte, 10, were
on March 24, 2007 trampled by an elephant in musth in Hwange
National Park, Zimbabwe, after leaving their vehicle to try for a
closer look at the elephant from behind an anthill. Kelvin Parker,
husband of Veronica and father of Charlotte, was uninjured. Tour
guide Andy Trevillia, 38, was seriously injured after trying to stop
the elephant with a rifle shot. Noted Zimbabwe Conservation Task
Force founder Johanny Rodrieguez, “The elephants in Hwange have
become increasingly skittish around humans because they associate
them with gunfire due to subsistence poaching, commercial poaching
(for ivory) and the fact that Zimbabwe is the only country in Africa
where shooting game for weekly rations is legal. The recent removal
of 12 juveniles from their herds for use in the tourist industry and
elephants being trapped in wire snares doesn’t help their
mood either.”

Obituaries

Animal obits

May 1, 2007 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2007:

Ralph, a young whale shark, died on January 11, 2007 at
the Georgia Aquarium. Aquarium executive director Jeff Swanagan and
Robert Heuter, director of shark research at the Mote Marine
Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida, disclosed on March 28, 2007 that
Ralph had been force-fed for months, and apparently died from
peritonitis after the feeding tube punctured his stomach. “Only one
other aquarium, in Okinawa, keeps whale sharks, who may live as
long as 120 years in the wild,” reported Brenda Goodman of The New
York Times. A study of 16 whale sharks kept at the Okinawa Expo
Aquarium from 1980 to 1998 found they survived, on average, 502 days
in captivity. That facility has kept at least one whale shark for
more than 10 years.

Obituaries

BOOKS: National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America

May 1, 2007 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2007:

National Geographic Field Guide
to the Birds of North America
Fifth Edition
Edited by Jon L. Dunn & Jonathan Alderfer
502 pages, paperback. $24.00.

National Geographic Birder’s Journal
502 pages, paperback. $16.95.

Both from the National Geographic Society
(1145 17th St. NW, Washington, DC 20036), 2006.
How many National Geographic Society birding manuals can one
person use?
For that matter, how many birding manuals from the many
rival publishers can possibly find an audience?
According to the publisher’s flack sheet, there are now from
46 million to 85 million birders in the U.S., depending on whether
one counts only those who buy field guides and keep life lists of
species seen, or includes everyone who watches and identifies
interesting birds now and then.

BOOKS: Whalewatcher: A global guide to watching whales, dolphins and porpoises in the wild

May 1, 2007 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2007:

Whalewatcher:
A global guide to watching whales, dolphins and porpoises in the wild
by Trevor Day
Firefly Books Ltd.
(66 Leek Crescent, Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada L4B 1H1), 2006.
204 pp., paperback, illustrated. $19.95.

Though Whalewatcher is structured as a field guide, armchair
travelers will probably spend more time with it than marine mammal
observers seeking to compile a life list.
More than 10 million people per year watch whales, dolphins,
and porpoises or about as many as watched birds a generation ago,
before the recent global explosion of interest in birding.
However, while anyone can watch birds from anywhere, few
people have any opportunity to watch marine mammals from their homes,
workplaces, or during a commute, and even those of us who do have
the opportunity rarely manage many sightings.

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