Performer turned sanctuarian Pat Derby, 69, founder of the Performing Animal Welfare Society, died from throat cancer on February 15, 2013 at her home on the ARK 2000 sanctuary she built near San Andreas, California. “Ed Stewart, her partner of 37 years, was by her side,” said the PAWS death announcement. Best seller Derby’s 1976 […]
Pack hunters struggle to explain how setting dogs on wildlife differs from dogfighting
Why no criminal prosecutions for operating chase pens? RICHMOND, MADISON––Since dogfighting is a felony in all 50 U.S. states, why is allowing a dog to kill or injure other animals outside of a fighting pit not subject to criminal penalties in any state? Why is introducing dogs into enclosures to chase coyotes and foxes not […]
After shooting street dogs, Malaysia massacres long tailed macaques
Minister orders “immediate investigation” PETALING JAYA, Malaysia––Malaysian natural resources and environment minister Douglas Uggah “has ordered an immediate investigation by a team from his ministry into the alleged inhumane massacre of wild monkeys by its contractors,” Michelle Chun of the Sun Daily reported on March 29, 2013. In effect, Uggah ordered the Malaysian federal wildlife […]
Trapper died from undiagnosed rabies, transmitted rabies via organ donation
Rare human-to-human transmission BALTIMORE, RALEIGH––Hunter, trapper, and fisher William Edward Small, 20, who died of an undiagnosed rabies infection in September 2011, transmitted rabies as an organ donor to a Maryland man who died of rabies in early March 2013––the first human rabies death in Maryland since 1976, and one of just a very few […]
Food Security & Farm Animal Welfare by Sofia Parente [WSPA] and Heleen van de Weerd [CIWF]
Free 20-page download from ciwf.org/foodsecurity Based on: The Impact of Industrial Grain Fed Livestock Production on Food Security: an extended literature review, by Karl-Heinz Erb, Andreas Mayer, Thomas Kastner, Kristine-Elena Sallet, and Helmut Haberl, Institute of Social Ecology, Vienna; free 90-page download from: http://www.uni-klu.ac.at/socec/inhalt/1818.htm Reviewed by Merritt Clifton Having commissioned a 90-page analysis of The Impact […]
Swallows may have evolved quicker take-off ability in only 30 years
Shorter wings help LINCOLN, Nebraska––Cliff swallows nesting under highway overpasses in southwestern Nebraska appear to have evolved shorter wings in only 30 years to help them avoid colliding with cars, ornithologists Charles R. Brown and Mary Bomberger Brown reported in the March 18, 2013 edition of Current Biology. The hypothesized adaptation might also help cliff […]
Doubledealing sabotages dolphin rehab & release project in Indonesia
Double-crossed twice in two months JAKARTA, UBUD––Double-crossed in January 2013 by Solomon Islands dolphin hunters, Dolphin Project founder Ric O’Barry was double-crossed again a few weeks later in Indonesia. Speaking on the @america live television program, hosted by the U.S. Embassy, Indonesian forestry minister Zulkifli Hasan on February 5, 2013 told O’Barry and Jakarta Animal […]
Ousted In Defense of Animals executive director takes dossier to state attorney general’s office
March 2013 SAN RAFAEL, California––Four executive directors and founder Elliot Katz have left the top management position at In Defense of Animals since 2009. Joe Haptas, the IDA executive director since July 2012, was suspended by the board on February 9, 2013, and responded on February 12, 2013 by demanding the resignations by 6:00 p.m. […]
Animals Asia Foundation saves Vietnam Bear Rescue Centre and halts Zimbabwe/China baby elephant deal––in same week
“This is a week we will never forget” HONG KONG, HANOI, HARARE––The Animals Asia Foundation on January 16, 2013 won a six-month battle against the ordered eviction of the Vietnam Bear Rescue Centre from the edge of Tam Dao National Park, Vietnam––and just three days later won the cancellation of a controversial sale of baby […]
Roadkill counts, 1937-2006, showed longterm decline
City worker logged 5,000 roadkills over 12.5 years MENTOR, Ohio––Cathy Strah, a transportation department employee in Mentor, Ohio, from 1993 to mid-2006 logged all roadkills collected by city workers, forwarding her data sheets to me. Her work, covering more than 5,000 animal deaths over twelve and a half years, was the longest-running all-species, year-round roadkill […]