BOOKS: The Cat Whisperer

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2013:

The Cat Whisperer:
Why Cats Do What They Do –
And How to Get Them to Do What You Want
by Mieshelle Nagelschneider
Random House (1745 Broadway, New York,
NY 10019), 2013. 297 pages, hardcover. $25.00.

Feline perceptions and responses differ far more from those of
humans than do the perceptions and responses of dogs. Thus, while most
dogs train humans to understand their needs relatively easily,
misunderstandings of cat behavior may be the most common reason why cats
who once had homes land in shelters.

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U.S. will back bid to win Appendix II CITES protection for sharks and rays

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2013:

WASHINGTON D.C.–– U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director
Dan Ashe on February 26, 2013 told media that the U.S. will endorse
proposals to restrict traffic in the fins of porbeagle, scalloped
hammerhead, great hammerhead, smooth hammerhead, and oceanic whitetip
sharks, and in the gill plates of manta rays.
If approved by the 16th triennial meeting of the 177-nation
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species in Bangkok in
March, the five shark species and manta rays will be uplisted to CITES
Appendix II status. The listing proposals must be approved by
two-thirds of the national delegations in attendance. Trade in Appendix
II species is permitted but regulated to ensure species survival. Trade
is prohibited for Appendix I species.

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Euro scandal shows the big money in horsemeat is in labeling it “beef”

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2013:

 

PARIS––At least 28 companies in 13 European nations plus
Hong Kong have been involved in marketing horsemeat as beef, French
government investigators assessed in mid-February 2013, predicting that
more alleged perpetrators would be exposed by ongoing investigations.
Entrepreneurs seeking to resume horse slaughter in the U.S. have
argued that they would market to an upscale clientele in nations
including Belgium, France, Italy, Switzerland, and Japan, who would
demand that horses were transported and killed humanely. But the
horsemeat-as-beef scandal has revealed just the opposite: by far the
greater portion of the European horsemeat trade involves the lowest
priced meat products, in which the ingredients are most easily
disguised, and about which consumers and regulators tend to ask the
fewest questions.

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Seals in hotels

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  March 2013:

BEIJING––China Daily on February 22,  2013 spotlighted an Internet campaign against the fast-spreading practice of keeping seals in tanks as an attraction at hotels and restaurants.  The campaign was initiated by the Panjin Harbor Seal Protection Volunteer Association,  of Panjin,  Liaoning province,  and the Green Beagle Environment Institute of Beijing, whose volunteers have documented the presence of 43 captive seals at 20 facilities––most of them small and severely substandard.

Zoobiquity: What animals can teach us about health and the science of healing

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  March 2013:

Zoobiquity:  What animals can teach us about health and the science of healing   by Barbara Natterson-Horowitz, M.D. & Kathryn Bowers Knopf (1745 Broadway,  New York,  NY 10019),  2012.  308 pages,  hardcover.  $26.95.

 

Animals have long been involved in human health care,  as sources of purported medicines,  subjects of experiments,  and as witches’ familiars. “The idea that animals have healing powers reaches back to the dawn of human civilization,”  explains Creighton University medical historian Carrie E. Muffett,  M.D.,  on the Creighton pet-assisted therapy web site.  “The Mayans, for example,  believed that each of us is given a ‘soul animal’ to serve as a protective guide in earthly life.  The Egyptian deity Anubis,  physician of the gods,  bore a canine head.  Read more

Big Cat Rescue wins $953,000 judgement against traveling exhibitor

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  March 2013:

TAMPA,  Fla––U.S. District Court Judge Mary Stenson Scriven on February 8,  2013 ruled that Oklahoma wildlife exhibitor Joe Schreibvogel,  doing business as Entertainment Group.  Inc. and G.W. Exotic Memorial Animal Foundation, has since 2010 infringed on copyrights and trademarks belonging to Big Cat Rescue,  of Tampa,  Florida,  by using photos belonging to Big Cat Rescue and a logo similar to that of Big Cat Rescue to promote his shows under the name “Big Cat Rescue Entertainment.”  Scriven at the same time dismissed counterclaims filed by Schreibvogel.  Scriven awarded Big Cat Rescue damages of $653,000 plus $300,000 for legal expenses.       Read more

Dolphins in India

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  March 2013:

CHENNAI––The Animal Welfare Board of India on January 14,  2013 ordered state governments and wildlife agencies to deny permits to anyone who “proposes to import or capture any cetacean [whale or dolphin] species for training,  to use as a performing animal for commercial entertainment,  private or public exhibition,  private or human interaction, educational or research purposes.”  The directive formalizes policies which have informally prevailed against would-be marine mammal exhibitors since 1998,  when a now defunct Chennai aquarium called Dolphin City imported four dolphins from Bulgaria.  All four died within six months.  Whether the AWBI directive can be enforced is likely to be tested by would-be developers of dolphin parks in Mumbai,  Delhi,  and coastal Kerala state.

BOOKS: For Love of Cats

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  March 2013:


For Love of Cats by Animal Rescue League of Iowa, Inc. Landauer Publishing Co. (3100 NW 101st St., Suite A,  Urbandale, Iowa 50322,  2012.  160 pages,   paperback.  $21.95.

 

For Love of Cats,  presented by the Animal Rescue League of Iowa,  draws upon years of shelter experience with cats and making successful adoptions of cats,  beginning with what to consider when choosing a cat.  Factors include age,  gender,  and whether the cat is a purebred or a rescued stray. Read more

How to protest against killing contests without promoting them vexes animal defenders

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  March 2013:

MIAMI,  Fla.,  HOLLEY,  N.Y.,  ADIN,  Calif.,  CHICAGO,  Ill.––The Python Challenge was pushed by the Florida Wildlife Commission in the name of conservation,  albeit without strong scientific support.  The Hazzard County Squirrel Slam in Holley,  New York,  and the Pit River Rod and Gun Club’s Seventh Annual Coyote Drive in Adin,  California,  were promoted as opportunities to introduce young people to recreational killing,  though older hunters were more in evidence. Pigeons netted off the streets of Chicago at instigation of Alderman James Cappleman were allegedly killed at pigeon shoots in Indiana. Read more

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