BEIJING––Blood tests indicate that about 1% of the children in 17 provinces of China were exposed to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome before the outbreaks of 2002-2003 that hit 24 of the 31 provinces. Evidently passing from animals sold in filthy live markets to humans working in food preparation, and then spreading from human to […]
China to control wildlife cuisine but will not close live markets
HONG KONG––Hope that the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome epidemic of 2002-2003 might permanently close the notorious Chinese live wildlife markets was dealt a setback on July 10, 2003 when 12 government ministries and state administrations jointly announced that legal sales of domesticated wildlife would be “encouraged, guided, and supported.” The wildlife traffic will be more […]
Finding the sentience of fish
Credit scientific discovery. Credit People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Credit Finding Nemo, the latest pro-animal animated production in a 64-year string from Walt Disney Productions. Whatever the reason, humans around the world are suddenly talking about the suffering of fish as never before. The first paragraphs of previews of Finding Nemo tell the story: * New York […]
SARS shuts live markets, may change Chinese menus
HONG KONG––Animals sold in the live markets of Guangdong province, China, suffered first and worst from the conditions that afflicted the world with the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic of the past nine months––but Asian animal defenders are hopeful that a legacy of the epidemic may be the end of live markets for […]
Care for bears in China
BEIJING, HONG KONG, SHANGHAI––China cares about bears. That was clear from nationwide outrage erupting in February 2002 after a 21-year-old engineering student poured sulfuric acid and caustic soda over five bears at the Beijing Zoo to see if bears are really stupid. International Fund for Animal Welfare representative Zhang Li offered help to the zoo […]
Tapping the wells of kindness in China and southern Asia
HONG KONG; PAN YU, Guangzhou, China––Two burly Asiatic moon bears at a time lick strawberry jam from the hands of Jill Robinson, 42, at the prototype Animals Asia Foundation sanctuary in Pan Yu, China. Four more bright-eyed bears watch, as eager for their treat as any dog, yet with patience too. Another […]
Aftershocks ripple from SF/SPCA (December 2000)
And are still rippling, 20 years later SAN FRANCISCO, PHILADELPHIA, KNOXVILLE––The San Francisco SPCA and San Francisco Animal Care & Control in calendar year 2000 together killed fewer than 2,000 cats and dogs. That was under 2.6 cats and dogs per 1,000 human residents, 15.6% of the national average, 1,001 fewer than the 1999 previous […]
Telemetry testimony, 1998 & 1999
November 8, 1999 Nehemiah K. Rotich Director Kenya Wildlife Service Fax 011-254-501752 Dear Dr. Rotich: As promised during our meeting on November 2, 1999, accompanying are case accounts and other information pertaining to the use of telemetry and radio collaring by poachers to locate prey. There are two basic techniques involved, both of which have […]
Wills bankrupt; Horse thief too?; Ex-HSUS vp Wills cops a plea
by Merritt Clifton Wills bankrupt Former Humane Society of the U.S. vice president David Wills on August 22 filed for personal bankruptcy. Among his 17 listed creditors were HSUS, which in October 1995 fired Wills and later sued him for allegedly misappropriating $93,000; John Hoyt, president of HSUS and Humane Society International from 1970 until […]
Spectacular Nature: Corporate Culture and the SeaWorld Experience
by Susan G. Davis University of California Press (Berkeley, CA 94720), 1997. 313 pages, paperback; $18.95. Reviewed by Merritt Clifton Spectacular Nature author Susan G. Davis spent eight years studying SeaWorld San Diego, 1987-1995. I spent under eight hours at SeaWorld San Diego, on May 7, 1999 but it was time enough to confirm her […]