World's Waterbirds in Steep Decline

Michael Casey, Associated Press

AP Photo/Texas Parks and Wildlife Dept./Ruben Zamora

Fading Sight
A Northern Jacana searches for a meal at the Bentsen Rio Grande Valley State Park in Mission, Texas, in this Aug. 10, 2006 file photo. Nearly half of the world's waterbird species are in decline, mostly due to rapid economic development and the effects of climate change, according to a new global survey.



Nearly half of the world's waterbird species are in decline, mostly due to rapid economic development and the effects of climate change, according to a global survey released Tuesday.

The fourth Waterbird Population Estimate found that 44 percent of the 900 species globally have fallen in the past five years, while 34 percent were stable, and 17 percent rising.

Altogether, 12 families of birds have half or more of their global populations showing a decreasing trend, including storks, shoebills and plovers.

The numbers are slightly worse than 2002 — when the last study was conducted. At that time, 41 percent of waterbird populations worldwide were found to be decreasing.
The worst decreases occurred in Asia, where 62 percent of the waterbird populations had declined or become extinct. That was followed by a 48 percent decline in Africa, 45 percent in Oceania, 42 percent in South America, 41 percent in Europe and 37 percent in North America.

Simon Delany, a waterbird conservation officer for the Netherlands-based Wetlands International, which coordinated the survey, said the cause of the decline was a loss of wetlands either from economic and agriculture development or rising temperatures, which are blamed for worsening droughts and rising sea levels.
The survey represents about 50,000 hours of field work done in 100 countries.
"The most frequent known cause of population decrease is habitat destruction, often caused by unsustainable human activity," Delany told The Associated Press.

"The frantic pace of economic development is clearly having adverse impacts on the environment, including numbers and population trends of waterbirds," he said. "Human impacts such as urban sprawl, reclamation of wetlands, increase of pollution and hunting pressure can develop rapidly and conservation considerations are often not taken into account."




Darters, Screamers, Rails, Finfoots, Jacanas, Painted-Snipes, Stone Curlews, Seedsnipes and Skimmers were other species that have gone into decline, the report stated.

In North America, the King Rail population were found to be declining while the American White Pelican populations rose.

Delany said the threats are especially visible in Asia, where mangroves are being destroyed to make way for shrimp and fish farms and wetlands are increasingly being reclaimed for industrial estates and tourist resorts.

South Korea, for example, has converted about half the country's 988,400 acres of tidal flats for commercial purposes while China has taken half its mangrove forests since 1949 for land reclamation and aquaculture.

"Land reclamation is simply removing huge areas of wetlands, which means very large numbers of birds and other species have no where to live," Delany said. "Many of these birds are long-distance migrants, so they need these places to feed. If there is nothing available for them, they can't survive."

But Delany and others said there were positive developments in the survey, especially in Europe and North America, where most bird populations are either stable or on the rise.



He attributed that to stabilizing human populations as well as a greater environmental awareness that has led to stronger regulations and greater protection of wetlands.

A good example, he said, was the creation of the European Commission's Bird Directive, which requires members to set aside areas for bird conservation. "These kinds of policies are in their infancy in Asia and Africa," Delany said.

Mike Crosby, research and data manager for Birdlife International, said the findings were what most bird experts would have expected, and they served as a reminder of the urgency to set aside the most threatened wetlands for protection.

"The protection of really important wetlands needs to be strengthened ... to find a balance between the needs of local people and biodiversity conservation," Crosby said.


Reference:discovery

Va. Cockfighting Raid Nets 120 Arrests

By MATT REED, Associated Press Writer

Police raiding a cockfighting pit in southern Virginia charged more than 120 people, most from out of state, in a case animal-welfare advocates said shows that Virginia's weak laws against cockfighting have made it a magnet for the sport.


At least three-quarters of the people found in Sunday's raid of a Boydton farm came from North Carolina, where cockfighting has been a felony since 2005, Mecklenburg County Sheriff Danny Fox said. Boydton is near the state line.


Attending or promoting a cockfight is illegal in Virginia, but only if gambling is involved or admission is charged, Fox said. Even then, it's a misdemeanor that brings just a small fine comparable to a traffic ticket.


People paid $20 each to attend Sunday's cockfighting derby, Fox said.


Sheriff's deputies issued summonses to 122 people, and Homeland Security officers arrested 22, including suspected gang members who are facing deportation, Fox said. Authorities confiscated 126 birds.


Officials with The Humane Society of the United States spent the past eight months investigating the pit and took undercover video footage before informing police, said John Goodwin, the group's deputy manager of animal rights issues.





"Cockfighting has always been in Virginia, but it's become much bigger in the last few years along the North Carolina line," Goodwin said. North Carolina's law against cockfighting is punishable by up to 12 months in prison.


The Humane Society named Virginia one of "five states with laughable cockfighting laws" in August. Only Alabama's $50 maximum fine is more lax than Virginia's laws, Goodwin said.


During a typical cockfight, two roosters are outfitted with sharpened metal spurs and placed into a pen. They fight until one is dead or incapacitated.


"This is a primitive blood sport that goes back thousands of years," Goodwin said. "Unfortunately, some people haven't progressed beyond that."

Reference:sfgate

Hill man appears in court for dog shooting

By ROGER AMSDEN

HILL – A man charged with an animal cruelty for shooting and killing his neighbor's 6-pound dog last month waived arraignment on the charge in Franklin District Court yesterday.
Court officials said no trial date has yet been set for Michael Donato, 52, of Currier Hill Road, who is charged with a misdemeanor complaint of cruelty to animals. He is charged with shooting, Penny, a Jack Rusell-rat terrier mix after she wandered on to his property Dec. 14.
Donato turned himself in to Hill police on Dec. 19 after a warrant had been issued for his arrest on the charge and has been free on $5,000 bail since that time. The misdemeanor complaint carries a maximum sentence of up to 12 months in jail and a fine of $2,000.
Penny's owners, Kyle and Kirsten MacArthur of Currier Hill Road, said they were able to retrieve Penny's body from police after it was found stuffed in a salt bag in the back of Donato's pickup truck in Bristol, where Donato had been arrested for driving while intoxicated by Bristol police Dec. 14.
Kyle MacArthur said he followed Donato's pickup truck after having a conversation with him about Penny that led him to believe that his dog had been injured. He had called police, who stopped Donato in Bristol, to tell them that he believed that Donato was intoxicated and that his dog was in the back of the pickup truck.
Donato is scheduled to be arraigned Feb. 12 in Plymouth District Court on the DWI charge.
Merrimack County Attorney Daniel I. St. Hilaire, who has been working with Hill Police on the case, said Donato had previously complained to police about the dog coming on to his property and scaring his chickens.
Kirsten MacArthur said she wishes investigators had looked at pictures they took of Penny before they buried her before settling on the misdemeanor level charge. A felony complaint of animal cruelty carries a maximum state prison sentence of 3½ to 7 years and a fine of up to $4,000.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has written to St. Hilaire, asking that Donato be banned for life from owning or harboring animals and that he serve jail time if he is found guilty of the charge.

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Reference:unionleader

Homeless Pets Finding Families at Petland Stores Nationwide

CINCINNATI -- The year-end results of a new survey are in, and the news is good for homeless pets at Petland stores nationwide.

“In the last four years, Petland has placed more than 114,724 homeless pets,” said Frank Difatta, president of Petland, Inc. “We want our Adopt-A-PetSM program to grow even stronger in 2007 so we are inviting more pet care organizations and more individuals to take advantage of the program locally.”

Companywide, participating Petland stores have placed 24,440 homeless puppies and dogs and 90,284 homeless kittens and cats since 2003. Earlier data is not available.

“Some of our new, larger-format stores have separate Adopt-A-Pet Centers,” said Brian Winslow, Petland’s Director of Business Improvement. “Our goal is to match the right pet with the right person and meet the needs of both.”

Commitment to homeless pets at Petland
Ninety-five percent of the Petland stores in the United States have Adopt-A-Pet programs. Ninety-one percent of Petland stores say their community’s response to the Adopt-A-Pet program is “favorable” or “very favorable.”

Petland stores in Canada have an active adoption program called the Pets for Life Foundation. The foundation has placed more than 6,250 homeless pets since July 2001.

“The goal of Petland’s Adopt-A-Pet program is manifold,” said Julie Washburn, Adopt-A-Pet program coordinator for Petland, Inc. “Petland stores donate pet supplies, sponsor shelter pets for adoption and conduct fund-raisers for animal shelters and pet rescue groups.”

Petland store operators have joined with local animal shelters, local pet rescue groups and with members of the local community to place accidental litters of puppies or kittens. Homeless mature dogs and cats are accepted, too, via adoption days outside Petland stores or mature pets may be showcased in Petland stores equipped with facilities to accommodate them.

Healthy, well-socialized pets sought
Before Petland accepts a homeless animal for adoption, the pet must be at least 8 weeks old and pass a wellness check by Petland’s local consulting veterinarian.

Once accepted, Adopt-A-Pets at Petland are given their vaccinations and de-wormings. In most cases, the pets also are micro-chipped for identification and are scheduled to be spayed or neutered to end the overpopulation cycle.

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Reference:
cincinnati

Judge Dismisses Three of 68 Animal Abuse Charges Against Annette Mobley

by Judy Frank

A Marion County judge dismissed three of the 68 aggravated animal abuse charges against Joan Annette Mobley on Tuesday.

Ms. Mobley, 48, was arrested in 2005 after investigators found almost 150 dead, sick and/or neglected animals at the Perry Link Memorial Humane Animal Society, which she operated, and at her home.

Her trial on 68 counts of aggravated animal abuse began last Tuesday, and has been marked by heated exchanges between defense attorney Jes Beard and prosecution witnesses in the case.

Attorney Beard has contended the Marion County Detective Gene Hargis is incompetent and mishandled the investigation into who was responsible for the conditions at Perry Link.

Tuesday, in addition to dismissing three charges, Circuit Judge Thomas W. Graham reduced 51 of the charges to misdemeanors. That leaves just 13 charges to stand as felonies.

Prosecutors in the Mobley case have rested their case, and defense attorney Beard has begun calling witnesses.

The trial is scheduled to resume at 9 a.m. central time Wednesday in the Marion County Justice Center in Jasper.

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Reference:chattanoogan

Black bear gives birth to two cubs in Kund Park

PESHAWAR: A female black bear gave birth to two cubs at the Kund Park Bear Centre established on the confluence of the Indus and Kabul rivers in Nowshera.

“The bear was expected to deliver the cubs in February but unexpectedly gave birth on January 15 at the sanctuary where eight bears are already present,” said Dr Mumtaz Malik, the NWFP Wildlife Department chief conservator, on Tuesday. “The older cub is healthy and normal while the younger one died soon after birth,” he said.

Dr Malik, who is also the Anti-Bear Baiting Programme national coordinator, said that a female bear normally gives birth in February or March during hibernation, after mating in October.




“We have pitched a tent near the centre to closely monitor the bear’s movements in addition to paying special attention to their other requirements,” he said, adding that the newborn cub would be released in the forest habitat after turning one. The bear centre, which was established over an area of 12 acres by the NWFP wildlife department with assistance of the Wild Society for Protection of Animals (WSPA), is a unique facility in Pakistan where abandoned bears are sheltered.

Dr Mumtaz said that most bears in the sanctuary were Asiatic black bears while some were brown bears. The first bear, saved from a bear-baiting event, was taken to the sanctuary in 2001, he said.

The wildlife department has taken several steps for the protection and conservation of bears, said Dr Mumtaz, adding that an information centre at the Kund centre had also been set up to educate people, especially students, about bears and other wild animals.

Reference:courier-gazette

Volunteers help wildlife biologists survey animals

by John Boyle

Ah, the sun on your face, crisp mountain air in your nostrils — and a northern flying squirrel jumping at your head.

What could be a more invigorating volunteer experience?

“One flew out at me — it was an escapee, actually,” said Dottie Brown, a Candler resident who has volunteered for years with local wildlife surveys. “The specimen got away, and I felt really bad, but on the other hand, I got to see this creature make these unbelievable leaps from tree from tree. It’s amazing.”

Brown was helping the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission with a survey of the northern flying squirrel, one of numerous surveys the commission conducts every year with volunteer help. Several surveys are under way or coming up, and the commission is always looking for hardy souls who like the outdoors and monitoring threatened wildlife.

“When you’re doing this kind of cold work, you don’t always get longtime volunteers,” said Chris Kelly, a mountain wildlife diversity biologist with the commission and the northern flying squirrel project leader. “But a lot of people really get into it.”

Last year the commission and its volunteers checked 933 northern flying squirrel boxes to gauge the population size and overall health. The animals, which are only found above 4,500 feet, are cold-hardy critters that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed as endangered because their fir habitat has been severely damaged by the balsam wooly adelgid.

For the record, the squirrels can’t actually fly, but they do have a furred membrane between their front and rear legs that allows them to spread out and soar 30 meters. The biologists check the boxes, measure the rodents and put ear tags on the ones they haven’t caught before.
Brown has helped keep tabs on the critters, and peregrine falcons, for two years. She loves being outdoors and helping with conservation, but she really likes all the wildlife you
stumble across in the mountains, including the occasional bear.

“We were checking a box, and part of a landslide had ended up at the base of the box,” said Brown, 50. “At the bottom of that there was an entrance to a den, and Mr. Bear — a very handsome bear — he stuck his little head out, checked us out and decided he didn’t like us. He came out of den and took off, so Chris and I had the delight of climbing into a warm bear den.”
If squirrels — and the occasional bear encounter — aren’t your style, how about bats?
“Last year in the Cranberry iron mine we had around 1,000 bats,” said Scott Bosworth, another mountain wildlife diversity biologist with the WRC.

He’s talking about the former Cranberry mine in Avery County, where several species of bats hibernate. The mine is gated and not accessible to the public.
As with the flying squirrels, biologists monitor the animals to keep tabs on their population and health.

Not surprisingly, bats don’t give Bosworth the willies, a key trait he’s looking for in volunteers.
“No, it gets me excited, seeing those bats,” he said. “This is a very big mine — you could drive a truck into it — and there are bats hanging all over the walls. It’s really neat.”

While you may be pumped up about delving into some caves and mines, control yourself — Bosworth says normally they don’t take volunteers below ground because of the risk of injury and excessive disturbance of the bats. But you can help with bat counts in the summer when they trap bats with nets, a program that runs from May 15 through July 15.

“Volunteers can come out, but they can’t handle the bats, because they can carry rabies,” he said. “But they can help with the equipment, the type of measurements we take and learn about the different species of bats.”

Brown, who has volunteered with the National Park Service and even international agencies on animal surveys, says the benefits far outweigh any inconveniences. A student at UNC Asheville and a small retailer, Brown averages four or five days a month outdoors on the surveys.
“You never know what you’re going to see,” she said, mentioning the courtship rituals of peregrine falcons and the thrill of seeing the chick emerge for the very first time. “To see one of the chicks come out of the nest entrance after watching it so long is absolutely thrilling.”
Interested in surveying flying squirrels, bats, voles, frogs or other animals?


Scott Bosworth, a N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission mountain wildlife diversity biologist, coordinates surveys for bats and numerous small mammals. If you’re interested in assisting, contact Bosworth at 665-9608 or bosworthsc@
earthlink.net

Chris Kelly, a mountain wildlife diversity biologist with the WRC, coordinates surveys for northern flying squirrels, songbirds and peregrine
falcons. Contact her at 230-1320 or kellych@earthlink.net
The WRC also is looking for volunteers to help monitor frog and toad
populations statewide through the N.C. Calling Amphibian Survey Program. Volunteers adopt a route, which they agree to drive three nights out of the year while listening for frogs and toads. Surveys will be conducted Jan. 15-Feb. 28; March 15-April 30; May 15-June 30. Free training workshops will be held
periodically.

For more information, contact wildlife technician Kendrick Weeks at kendrick.weeks@earthlink.net or (919) 609-7605.

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Reference:citizen-times

Police say obsessed Oregon woman stole rabbits from police

The Associated Press

HILLSBORO, Ore. - An obsessed woman broke into a police holding area to take back about 130 rabbits she had been accused of neglecting, police said.

In October, Hillsboro police seized 150 live rabbits from the home of Miriam Sakewitz and found nearly 100 more dead ones in a trio of freezers.

Police and volunteers had cared for the rabbits since then, keeping them at what Commander Chris Skinner called a "secure, undisclosed location."

"They were having a quality of life they hadn't seen," Skinner said. "They were being cared for several times a day."

But on Jan. 14, volunteers found a lock and chain-link enclosure cut and 130 bunnies were gone. Skinner said suspicion fell immediately on Sakewitz.




"In her mind, they are her rabbits. She is very obsessed with them," he said.

Sakewitz couldn't immediately be located.

A phone call from a concerned hotel clerk led police to a motel in Chehalis, Wash. The clerk became worried about the way Sakewitz spoke of the rabbits, looked up her case on the Internet and called police.

Police said they tailed her and stopped her Monday, finding nine rabbits in her car, one dead. They said they found 132 more at a Chehalis horse farm, with two more dead. Police said she faces burglary charges.

Skinner said police had segregated the rabbits by gender, but Sakewitz mingled them.

"You see where I am going with this?" Skinner said today. "We are not sure how many rabbits we are going to end up with after a 29-day gestation period."


Reference:seattletimes

Feral cats pose real rabies risk

Demanding a property owner vaccinate feral cats, as the Rockland Board of Health recently did with a Tomkins Cove woman, might seem a little extreme. But, if someone is feeding the cats, then someone is encouraging them to stay, and the colony to grow.

The risk is real: Rockland has been a rabies-designated county since the early 1990s. That means the area has active cases of rabies in animals. The fatal disease is mostly detected in skunks and raccoons. Just this fall, a woman in Nyack ended up needing rabies shots when a stray cat around her property was diagnosed with rabies.

The Rockland County Board of Health is enforcing a rule in the county sanitary code that states: "... owner means any person keeping, harboring or having charge or control of, or permitting any dog, cat or domesticated ferret to remain on or be lodged or fed within such person's house, yard or premises."

In other words, you feed it, you own it.

The fine for failure to comply with regulations requiring cats to be vaccinated against rabies: $500. The cost of the vaccination at the health department rabies clinic is $5. It is certainly hard work to capture and transport a feral cat, but it is the responsible thing to do for someone who is attracting the cats with food.

The real way to stem the threat of rabies is to curb the feral cat population through an aggressive spay and neuter program. While many groups in Rockland work to aid people trying to take care of strays, the county lacks a larger program, such as a mobile van that would go to larger cat colonies and spay, neuter, vaccinate and release.

That is a costly proposition, but one the county must take into consideration.




A successful trap-neuter-release program, TNR in the vernacular of animal activists, needs to include all interested parties, says Ilene Axelband, who runs the nonprofit grassroots organization called CATS (Caring About the Strays) in Rockland. Rescue groups, local government, the health department, local shelters and veterinarians need to join efforts. "We're just not sure how to do it yet," Axelband says, "but in needs to be a group effort financially and physically." Action needs to take place consistently, not just when there's a report or rabies.

The Rockland Health Department holds three rabies vaccination clinics a year. The next one is 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 15 at the Fire Training Center, 35 Firemen's Memorial Drive, Ramapo. There is no charge for the vaccination, but a $5 donation per pet will be accepted to help defray the cost.
Petco on Route 59 in Nanuet offers rabies vaccinations on two Saturdays a month. The rabies shot alone is $14. The next one is 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Jan. 27. Call 845-624-5741 for information.
TARA (The Animal Rights Alliance), a nonprofit organization that runs a mobile van in Orange and Sullivan counties, will come to Rockland sites if a sponsor can provide 25 cats or more. The cats are spayed or neutered, and get rabies vaccines, for $50 an animal. For information, contact 845-754-7100.
Information about rabies is available from the county health department at 845-364-2656.

Reference:nyjournalnews

Implants battle cats’ sight loss

COLUMBIA — Gingersnap, a 4-year-old Abyssinian, rolled lazily on the examining table while Kristina Narfstrom rubbed the cat’s cinnamon-colored head.


Kristina Narfstrom examines Gingersnap, a 4-year-old Abyssinian cat who has a disease that causes blindness. (L.G. PATTERSON/The Associated Press)



Then, using a special viewer, Narfstrom peered deep into Gingersnap’s eyes to measure the 4-year-old cat’s losing battle with a disorder that is slowly killing her retinas, the thin film at the back of the eyeball that makes sight possible.

“By the time she’s 5, she’ll probably be blind,” said Narfstrom, a veterinary ophthalmologist at MU.

Gingersnap’s condition is similar to retinitis pigmentosa, an incurable genetic disease in humans that strikes one out of every 3,500 Americans and often causes blindness. Narfstrom, who discovered the feline version of the disease among Abyssinians in her native Sweden, is implanting special silicon chips in partially blind cats in an attempt to help replace or possibly repair diseased retinas in humans.

Retinitis pigmentosa attacks the eye’s photoreceptor cells, also called rods and cones, that register light and color.

The chips, which provide their own energy, have shown encouraging results in clinical human trials, in some cases improving sight in people with retinitis pigmentosa or at least slowing the disease’s development. Narfstrom said chips have been implanted in 30 people.

Narfstrom’s cats will help researchers fine-tune the chips’ performance and train physicians on surgical techniques to implant the devices because the structure of cat eyes is similar to that of human eyes.

The 2-millimeter-wide chips (about .08 inches), developed by Optobionics Corp. of Naperville, Ill., are surgically implanted in the back of eye. Each chip’s surface is covered with 5,000 microphotodiodes that react to light, sending electric signals along the eye’s optic nerve to the brain.

“We’re placing it right where the photoreceptors are, and if they’re lacking, this is supposed to replace what they’re doing,” she said. “At this point, it’s impulses of light they’re seeing, as opposed to images, but the aim of the research is to get more information out of the chip.”

Besides helping slow the advance of the disease, studies suggest that the electric currents generated by the chips may be regenerating damaged photoreceptors surrounding the implants.

Narfstrom said she should know in about two years whether the implants are actually encouraging retinal cells in her cats to grow.

The Optobionics chip is just one of many research paths now swarming with scientists looking for ways to protect and restore sight.

Besides genetic therapy, which is seen as a good tool to fight hereditary disorders, researchers are also looking to use stem cells to rebuild damaged retinal cells. Others are looking for substances that could trick healthy retinal cells surrounding the photoreceptors to take over for their diseased counterparts.





Then there are the many attempts, like Optobionics, of creating artificial sight. Some efforts include miniature video cameras that pipe images straight to the brain, devices that send signals to a network of miniature electrodes attached to the retina or chips that eventually could graft themselves to retinal cells, creating a cyborg-like system for producing images.

A French company is conducting trials for an implant that would release proteins in the eyeball to offset the damage done to retinal cells, perhaps indefinitely.

Tim Schoen, director of research development for the Foundation Fighting Blindness, a Baltimore area group that funds researchers, said technology to provide prosthetic sight is especially encouraging.

“This offers great hope to individuals who have completely lost vision,” said Schoen, whose group is not involved in the Optobionics chip. “We can treat these patients with gene therapy, but once the photoreceptors die, we have to replace them with stem cells or one of these artificial methods.”

Machelle Pardue, a researcher at Emory University and the Veterans Administration Hospital in Atlanta, who is working with Narfstrom on the Optobionics chip, said she’s glad she’s not the only one doing such research.

“I think it’s helpful because we all have slightly different ideas and expertise,” Pardue said. “In some respect, we are competing to find a product that will work, but that’s advantageous to the patients because it provides an incentive to move forward."


Reference:columbiamissourian

Trained Dogs Not Always Detecting Epileptic Seizures

(HealthDay News) -- Many dogs that are trained to detect epileptic seizures are actually predicting psychological seizures rather than "true" epileptic attacks, new research suggests.
"It's important to define what kind of seizures these patients have because we use anti-convulsant drugs to treat epilepsy, and we use other therapies for the nonepileptic seizures," explained Dr. Gregory L. Krauss, an associate professor of neurology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.

Krauss was lead author of one of two papers documenting the phenomenon in the Jan. 23 issue of Neurology.

"These papers by no means indicate that seizure dogs aren't doing something, but that many of the patients who request seizure dogs represent a small population of patients with seizures that are psychologically based," said Dr. Orrin Devinsky, director of the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center at New York University. "That specific group, who often have co-morbid psychiatric illness, are the ones that are most actively seeking out seizure dogs."

Specially trained "seizure dogs" allegedly can pick up on extremely subtle physiological changes in their human companion that may begin 45 to five or 10 minutes before an actual attack. The dogs then warn the humans so they can find a safe environment or take precautionary measures.

The two studies looked at a total of seven people who had seizure-response dogs. Most were monitored with video electroencephalogram (EEG) tests to detect abnormal electrical activity in the brain, such as that which causes epileptic seizures.

Four of the participants had no abnormal electrical activity during their seizures and were diagnosed instead with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES). Another person did not have an EEG test but was still diagnosed with psychological seizures. Two of the individuals did have epilepsy.




"We found that six of the eight patients who obtained dogs didn't have epilepsy," Krauss said. Since the report was submitted for publication, the researchers saw three more patients with seizure-response dogs. Two had PNES and one had epilepsy (her dog paced before seizures). Those with PNES were referred for psychological or psychiatric treatment.

"Nonepileptic seizures are probably much more common than people recognize," Devinsky said.

"About 10 percent of the patients we see at epilepsy centers don't have epilepsy but have psychogenic seizures," Krauss added. "It's a physical manifestation of an emotional problem, a form of abnormal coping. A lot of them are stress reactions."

"We're just cautioning people who provide these dogs and the public seeking out these dogs to make sure they have a firm diagnosis of epilepsy before matching them with this specially trained dog," he continued.

A second study in the same issue of the journal found that some patients with epilepsy can predict, on their own, when they are about to have an attack.

The finding could one day impact treatment: Individuals who can accurately predict an attack may be able to take preventive medication. It might also lead to an enhanced quality of life for patients.

Reference:forbes

Animal officer will offer oversight

Humane Society and county officer can work together in effort to control and find homes for animals.
By Chris Sikich


NOBLESVILLE -- After seeing animal-control costs rise to nearly a half-million dollars annually, the County Council wants to keep an eye on how the money is being used.

Some of those concerns exist because the Humane Society for Hamilton County, which receives $293,000 annually to run the new $2.3 million animal shelter, has been through three executive directors since 2003 and has gone through internal struggles.
"We are sort of in the animal business together," Council President Brad Beaver said of the nonprofit organization and the county. "We have to control dangerous animals, and the humane society wants to save and adopt animals."

In total, the county will pay $476,974 this year between animal control and the humane society. Beaver said the county needs to have an employee involved to help build accountability into the system when that much money is being spent.
"When they turn over their leadership several times in a few years and seem to have internal struggles, it is concerning," Beaver said.

Tom Rogers, 55, Carmel, started as the county's first full-time animal-control officer Jan. 1. Rogers has been doing the job part time for seven years in addition to his full-time duties as a juvenile corrections officer. He's left the latter job after eight years.




"Now we have our man on the spot," Beaver said.
Animal-control officers are responsible for taking stray animals to the shelter and making sure animals are up-to-date on shots. They also are responsible for dealing with dangerous animals, neglectful pet owners and animal-cruelty cases.
The council asked Rogers to make sure operations are running smoothly at the animal shelter. Rogers told councilors the humane society is well led by Executive Director Rebecca Stevens.

After being hired in May 2005, Stevens has helped the nonprofit organization emerge through its struggles and guided it through the move to a new building.
After being laid off from the humane society in November 2003, former public relations and community outreach coordinator Amy Van Ostrand wrote a letter listing problems she saw within the organization. She leveled serious charges of mismanagement at the shelter that led to the departures of two directors and several other changes.

"Can I understand their concerns?" asked Stevens of the council. "Sure, the humane society has been through a lot. All I can say is actions speak louder than words, and we've proven that through the last two years."

Stevens said 3,177 animals came to the shelter in 2006, and 89.4 percent were placed in homes. That's above the national average of 25 percent, she said. She also noted the humane society serves twice as many animals as in 2003 and still receives the same $293,000 from the county.

Rogers said the animal-control officer position has been needed for some time. Rogers noted many of the county's cities and towns have their own animal-control officers. He will be responsible only for areas outside city and town limits.

Reference:indystar

Pit bulls creating turmoil at animal shelter

By JAMES HANNAH
Associated Press Writer

DAYTON - They sink their teeth into workers, attack each other, lunge at the bars of their cages and produce a chorus of deafening howls. Dozens of muscular, high-energy pit bull terriers confiscated in dogfighting investigations are rattling the nerves of employees at the county animal shelter.

"It's something that's dangerous," 20-year-old Elizabeth Loikoc, who cares for animals at the Montgomery County Animal Control Center, said Friday. "They've got a mind-set to attack us."

The shelter is housing more than 70 pit bulls while the cases of their owners move through the courts.

AP Photo
This American Pit Bull Terrier barks aggressively in his cage at at Montgomery County Animal Resource Center in Dayton Jan. 17. Housing of 72 American Pit Bull Terriers seized by the Dayton Police because their owners were suspected of using them for dog fighting, has cost taxpayers about $60,000 as the cases go through court.


"It's nerve-racking," said Turbin Peterson, who has had several uniforms torn by the dogs and was recently attacked by several pit bull puppies as he was cleaning out their cage.
"They were all over me," said Peterson, 46. "They were biting me. I'm trying to shake them off, knock them off and still get out of the cage."

Peterson is among a handful of workers who have been bitten. One worker broke her wrist when she fell backward after a pit bull made a rush at its cage door.

Some of the pit bulls claw at their steel cages, bare their teeth and growl. They have ripped stainless steel water bowls from the walls, chewed up hard plastic floor mats in their cages and destroyed drain covers. Barriers have been placed between some of the cages so the pit bulls can't see their neighbors.

"If they can get close to another dog, they're in attacking mode," said Mick Sagester, shelter supervisor. "And we have some that are aggressive to people."

People coming to the shelter looking for lost dogs are no longer allowed to stroll by the cages because it is too dangerous. They now must bring photos of their dogs to the shelter and have employees check.




Despite the aggressive nature of the dogs, workers still find themselves getting attached to them. They refer affectionately to some of them by name - Grampy, Pablo, Rusty, Solo and Mystic Blue.

Some of the animals have scars on their muzzles and legs, and their ears have been clipped, signs they have been in fights, Sagester said.

The first of the pit bulls arrived at the shelter in July, and a second wave was came in October. They were confiscated as part of two separate dogfighting investigations by police.

Simon Denby, 33, of Dayton, and Ennis Lungs, 41, of Beaumont, Texas, have both been charged with dogfighting. They have pleaded not guilty, and the dogs are being held pending resolution of their court cases.

Police confiscated some of the dogs from Denby's kennel and others - in an unrelated case - from Lungs' van, which had been parked in an alley. Police said the pit bulls in the van had scars, some of their ears were chewed off, and there was the presence of injectable medicines associated with dogfighting.

Police said Lungs told them he simply transports dogs and that a hypodermic needle in the van was used to administer a certain drug to puppies to transport them.

"My clients have indicated to me that they do not fight these dogs," said defense attorney John Rion, who represents both men. "Mr. Denby is a licensed kennel operator. Mr. Lungs is a reputable businessman that transports dogs all over the country for dog shows and for hunting purposes and simply for pet transport."

Dogfighting is done underground and attracts people who want to bet on the outcome or who find it entertaining, said Eric Sakach, director of the west coast regional office of The Humane Society of the United States. Sakach has witnessed about a dozen pit-bull fights while working undercover with the Humane Society.



Reference:zanesvilletimesrecorder

Silverback Gorillas Eaten by Rebels

Todd Pitman, Associated Press

Rebels in eastern Congo have killed and eaten two silverback mountain gorillas, conservationists said Wednesday, warning they fear more of the endangered animals may have been slaughtered in the lawless region.


Only about 700 mountain gorillas remain in the world, 380 of them spread across a range of volcanic mountains straddling the borders of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda in Central Africa.

One dismembered gorilla corpse was found Tuesday in a pit latrine in Congo's Virunga National Park, a few hundred yards from a park patrol post that was abandoned because of rebel attacks, according to the London-based Africa Conservation Fund. Another was killed in the same area on Jan. 5, said the group, which based its report on conservationists in the field.

The group blamed rebels loyal to a local warlord, Laurent Nkunda, for the latest killing. Nkunda is a renegade soldier who commands thousands of fighters in the vast country's east who have in recent years assaulted cities and clashed sporadically with government forces.

Silverbacks are older adult males and usually group leaders, though some are loners.

Paulin Ngobobo, a senior park warden, wrote an Internet blog about finding the latest remains.

"We've learned a lot: the gorilla had in fact been eaten for meat. His name was Karema, another solitary silverback that had been born into a habituated group — meaning that he had grown to trust humans enough to let them come to within touching distance," Ngobobo wrote.

"We learned that the remaining gorillas are extremely vulnerable — the rebels are after the meat, and it's not difficult for them to find and kill the few gorillas that remain."




Ngobobo said the first gorilla reported killed had been shot by rebels and eaten.

"A local farmer was ordered to help the rebels collect the meat of the gorilla," Ngobobo said. "He told them that the meat was dangerous to eat, and immediately informed us."

Robert Muir of the Frankfurt Zoological Society, who accompanied Ngobobo, said: "We need to impress on Nkunda and his men that it is inexcusable to destroy national and world heritage of such critical importance. ... Now that we know that the slaughtered gorilla was eaten, the gorillas habituated for tourism are at extreme risk — and we are worried that more have been killed already."

The last remaining hippo populations in Congo are in Virunga and are also on the verge of being wiped out. Conservationists have blamed rebels and militias for slaughtering them, and say more than 400 were killed last year, mostly for food. Only 900 hippos remain, a huge drop from the 22,000 reported there in 1998.

Virunga park has been ravaged by poachers and deforestation for more than a decade. The 1994 Rwandan genocide saw millions of refugees spill into Congo, marking the beginning of an era of unrest, lawlessness and clashes between militias and rebel groups.

Mineral-rich Congo, which held its first democratic elections in more than four decades last year, is struggling to recover from a 1998-2002 war that drew in the armies of more than half a dozen African nations.

The job of protecting the country's parks falls on local rangers, and the risks are high. In Virunga alone, some 97 rangers have died on duty since 1996, the Africa Conservation Fund said.

On his blog, Ngobobo also described being shot at and beaten by the military, who he and other rangers were trying to persuade to stop cutting down the forest.

Richard Leakey, a conservationist credited with helping end the slaughter of elephants in Kenya during the 1980s, said: "The survival of these last remaining mountain gorillas should be one of humanity's greatest priorities. Their future lies with a small number of very brave rangers risking their lives with very little support from the outside world."

Reference:discovery.com

Federal Appeals Court Declares Horse Slaughter in Texas Illegal

Two of the Nation's Three Horse Slaughter Plants Face Closure, Criminal Charges

WASHINGTON – The Humane Society of the United States, which has been campaigning to ban the slaughter of American horses for export for human consumption, hailed a decision yesterday by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit overturning a lower court decision that invalidated a Texas state law banning the sale of horsemeat for human consumption. The HSUS filed an amicus brief in the case in March 2006, arguing in defense of Texas' state law barring the slaughter of American horses for human consumption overseas.

"This is the most important court action ever on the issue of horse slaughter. A federal appeals court has ruled that America's horses can no longer be slaughtered in Texas and shipped to foreign countries for food," said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO for The Humane Society of the United States. "When this ruling is enforced, a single plant in Illinois will stand alone in conducting this grisly business."

The criminal code of Texas has long prohibited the sale or possession of horse meat, but the law has never been enforced. In 2002, responding to citizen and local government concerns about the two foreign-owned horse slaughter plants in the state – Dallas Crown in Kaufman and Beltex in Fort Worth – then-Texas Attorney General John Cornyn issued a written opinion that the 1949 Texas law applies and may be enforced.

In response, the Tarrant County District Attorney attempted to enforce the law, but last year a federal district court in Texas ruled that the law was repealed by another statute and preempted by federal law. The District Attorney appealed that decision last year, and was supported by The HSUS in briefing before the Court of Appeals.

In its decision, the court flatly rejected the slaughterhouses' arguments that the ban on the sale of horsemeat does not protect horses from theft and abuse, and that regulating horse slaughter can achieve those same purposes, noting instead that "it is a matter of commonsense that…alternatives…do not preserve horses as well as completely prohibiting the sale and transfer of horsemeat for human consumption." The court noted that the horse on the Texas trail is a cinematic icon, but "not once in memory did the cowboy eat his horse."

The Court of Appeals also quickly brushed aside the slaughter plants' arguments that the Texas law at issue was invalid under state and federal law, noting that the Texas law "has not been repealed or preempted by federal law," and that "several states have already banned its commercial use for human consumption."

"The Texas law prohibiting the sale of horse meat for human food could hardly be any more explicit," said Jonathan Lovvorn, vice president of animal protection litigation for The HSUS. "The court's decision means that any individual employee or corporation involved in the horse slaughter business in Texas now stares straight ahead at criminal prosecution."




According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 100,800 American horses were slaughtered in three foreign-owned slaughter houses in 2006. Opponents of the slaughter ban argue the practice constitutes a humane way to kill old animals, but investigations by The HSUS show cruelty and abuse throughout the process. USDA statistics show that more than 92 percent of horses slaughtered in the U.S. are not old and infirm but in good condition.

Legislation to ban the slaughter of American horses nationwide was introduced this week in the 110th Congress, and this court ruling will give further momentum to the federal legislative effort. In the U.S. Senate, the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, S. 311, was launched Jan. 17 by Sens. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and John Ensign (R-Nev.), with 12 original cosponsors. In the U.S. House, Reps. Janice Schakowsky (D-Ill.) Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.), John Spratt (D-S.C.), and Nick Rahall (D-W.V.) introduced a companion bill, H.R. 503, the same day with 62 original cosponsors.

The measure received tremendous bipartisan support in the 109th Congress, winning a vote of 263 to 146 in the House. It stalled in the Senate in late 2006, however, and was not brought up for a vote before Congress adjourned, even though a similar effort had been overwhelmingly approved by the Senate in 2005.

-30-

The Humane Society of the United States is the nation's largest animal protection organization with nearly 10 million members and constituents. The HSUS is a mainstream voice for animals, with active programs in companion animals, disaster preparedness and response, wildlife and habitat protection, marine mammals, animals in research, equine protection, and farm animal welfare. The HSUS protects all animals through education, investigation, litigation, legislation, advocacy and field work. The nonprofit organization is based in Washington and has field representatives and offices across the country. On the web at HSUS.Org.


Reference:HSUS.Org

Turkey Industry Uses ‘Ethically Repugnant’ Breeding Practices

by Megan Tady

A national animal-rights group is calling attention to the forced artificial insemination of turkeys and the health effects of industry standards for breeding and growing the birds.

As consumer demand for turkey meat has grown, turkey breeders have genetically manipulated the birds to grow faster and to be heavier and larger-breasted.

Such anatomical changes have rendered most double-breasted turkeys unable to reproduce on their own, which, coupled with increasing demand for turkey meat, has prompted commercial breeders to turn to artificial insemination as a regular practice.

Calling it "unnatural" and "ethically repugnant," Farm Sanctuary, an organization devoted to protecting farm animals, released a video depicting the artificial-insemination process to accompany a report exploring the process.

In the video, which was reviewed by The NewStandard, workers "milk" male turkeys to collect their semen. The males’ legs are locked in a clamp while workers manually induce the turkeys’ genitalia to force ejaculation.




Farm Sanctuary said artificial insemination is part of a physically harmful breeding process. The turkeys’ abnormally bred bodies can lead to health complications, and their bodies are too big for their legs so they have difficulty walking.

A 2004 study published in Poultry Science found that the artificial insemination process can create a public-health problem by spreading diseases such as salmonella in turkeys. The study said that the practice of pooling semen, which happens during the artificial insemination process, can leave it at increased risk for contamination by pathogens found in fecal matter. Female turkeys may then be fertilized with the contaminated semen.

"Intensive turkey production and breeding has resulted in disfigured, unhealthy birds and an industry that requires unnatural measures to produce them," said Gene Baur, president of Farm Sanctuary, in a press statement. "The conditions under which these birds are kept and the constant forced ‘milking’ and insemination equates to a lifetime of suffering."

But Sherrie Rosenblatt, vice president of communications for the National Turkey Federation, an advocate for the turkey industry, defended the growing and breeding process.

"A number one priority for the turkey industry is to provide the safest, highest-quality products possible," Rosenblatt told TNS in a written statement. "Therefore, it is essential for the industry to ensure the well-being of the turkeys it raises. Whether it is on the farm or in the processing facility, the turkey industry acts responsibly in the raising, breeding, transporting and processing of all turkeys."

Reference:newstandardnews

Wild Manatees Captured in Florida River

A young manatee named Pilo rests placidly on the deck of a research ship as scientists give him a physical on Florida's Crystal River in November 2006.

The five-year-old male was captured during the first of three planned expeditions to the northwest Florida river, where manatees migrate every fall to take advantage of the warm, spring-fed waters.

The expeditions, which resumed this month, will amount to one of the most comprehensive studies yet done of Florida manatees in the wild.

During Pilo's half-hour-long checkup, biologists collected all manner of data from their peaceful patient—from pulse readings taken with a portable heart monitor to urine caught in a Frisbee placed under his genitals.

Pilo weighed in at 916 pounds (415 kilograms) and measured 9 feet (280 centimeters) long. The scientists gave him a clean bill of health.

"I'd give him a [rating of] perfectly normal, excellent condition," said Robert Bonde, a marine biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) who coordinated the expedition.

"He's a great-looking manatee."
A team of biologists wrestles a young male manatee onto a muddy beach along Florida's Crystal River in November 2006.

The scientists were conducting the first of three planned expeditions to study the manatees that migrate to the river every autumn.

"This is a really important study," said Nicole Adimey (pictured left, in blue cap), a marine biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Partly at issue, she explained, is a mysterious outbreak among Crystal River manatees of a virus that had previously been found only in captive animals.

Though the virus is rarely harmful, little is known about where it originated, how many wild manatees have it, and what's causing the current outbreak, which can cause skin lesions and other symptoms.



"Is there some kind of environmental condition here? What are the factors that cause outbreaks in the wild?" Adimey said.

"It's a big management question for [us]."


A dozen hands tend to an unnamed wild manatee captured on Florida's Crystal River in November 2006.

More than 40 scientists from ten state, federal, and nonprofit agencies took part in the expedition to study the manatees that converge on the river in the fall and winter.

USGS biologist Robert Bonde explained that animals like this male provide a rare opportunity to collect blood and other samples from wild manatees that biologists could otherwise get only from rescued animals in captivity.




"[These scientists] are very anxious to get as much information as they can to supplement what they're learning in clinics and hospitals about manatees [with] what they can get from a natural population," he said.
A wild manatee is released back into Florida's Crystal River after being captured for a spot checkup in November 2006.

Many of the 400-plus manatees that come to Crystal River in the fall to bask in the warm waters continue up Florida's Gulf Coast to the Suwannee River, scientists say.

The animals often congregate in the summer at the mouth of the Suwannee, where they forage on large beds of sea grass (see an interactive map of the Suwannee River).

But more and more Florida manatees are wintering in the Suwannee too, because it, like the Crystal, is fed by warm springs that provide comfortable refuge from the chilly Gulf waters.

According to the USGS's Bonde, in a few years the Suwannee could host a manatee population as big and as burgeoning as the one in the Crystal River.

"It's only recently [that] they're starting to use those springs [in the Suwannee]," he said.

"And they're going to build a little population [there], and it's going to grow, if we allow it to grow and we keep giving them … the things they need, like protecting the habitat."

Reference:nationalgeographic

Hickory Creek Animal Services- Puppies & Dogs need your help

ELLA, YOUNG F, PINSCHER MIX
This darling girl was adopted out with her brother then they were both returned. She's around 6 months old now and has been there far too long. Shelter even willing to waive the regular adoption fee if someone if you know someone interested in adopting! They would really like to see this wonderful young dog find a home. She's sweet, funny & playful. AVAILABLE TO RESCUE IMMEDIATELY.

There are many more that need urgent adoption.


HICKORY CREEK ANIMAL SERVICES, HICKORY CREEK, TX
*Hickory Creek is just north of Dallas, TX on I-35 immediately after you cross over the Lake Lewis ville bridge.

Shelter is again filling up on the dog side of the house. This is a small lakeside community and therefore very small shelter with extremely limited cage space (6 dog pens).
**DECISION CAN BE MADE TO PTS ONCE FULL AND THEY RUN OUT OF SPACE.
PLEASE CONSIDER HELPING SAVE EVEN ONE OF THESE SWEET PUPS BEFORE THIS HAPPENS.****

**Call Ken at 940-465-7444**

This shelter is absolutely great working with Rescue and due to it's location and being a little further out, they really need your help!

Homeless, abuse shelters want to provide for pets too

By DEBORAH CIRCELLI
Staff Writer

DAYTONA BEACH -- Standing in the kitchen at the homeless shelter playing with her braided hair, Janae is too young to fully understand why the two dogs she's grown to love can't sleep inside with her.

The 6-year-old looks forward to her family finding a home of their own so the boxers, Chance and Jessie, don't have to sleep outside in her parents' truck.

"We love them. They are our pets. We can't let them go," she said.

The 94-bed shelter, which opened at Segrave and North streets in October, has a dilemma that other more established homeless, domestic violence and family shelters also are facing -- what do to with a family's pets?

The shelter, like others in the area, doesn't allow animals because of health, safety and lack of space. The rule has caused some people to turn down shelter in order to stay with their animals while others find friends or family to care for them temporarily, staff at local shelters say.

The local homeless coalition wants to start a fund to raise money for kennel space when a family goes to an area shelter or treatment program and doesn't want to give up their pets.

"Homeless people shouldn't be forced to choose between getting treatment or shelter and giving up an animal that they love," said Lindsay Roberts, executive director of the Volusia/Flagler County Coalition for the Homeless. "That animal may be the only thing in the world that person has."







Linda Callaghan, executive director of the Homeless Assistance Corp., which operates the new homeless shelter, said maybe area kennels would donate space per month or families with big yards would consider adopting a pet for a short period.

"It's a big issue even going back to (Hurricane) Katrina when people wouldn't leave because they didn't want to desert their animals," Callaghan said. "There's a powerful bond between people and their pets."

Curtis Craig, owner of All God's Creatures kennel in Port Orange, said he'd be willing to work with shelters to temporarily house pets for a discount.

"It's a shame how these poor animals get displaced like this," Craig said.

While some of the shelters refer families to the Halifax Humane Society, officials there said they don't have the room to hold the animals temporarily because they took in more than 16,000 animals last year. Animals dropped off are put up for adoption as long as the animal is healthy and there is room, said Michelle Pari, community relations director for the humane society. Otherwise, the animals would be put to sleep.

Doris Wadd, acting operations manager for the Neighborhood Center of West Volusia, said she tells families outright, "If you really love your animal, you will take it to a no-kill shelter where it can get a new home. Being on the street is not a good place for anybody."

The Neighborhood Center helped find temporary shelter for a family from Tennessee, but they couldn't keep their pet iguana -- now staying with a relative.

"I don't know what we would have done if we didn't have family," said Sasha Carl, 19. "We couldn't afford to keep him or we'd get kicked out."

Janae's mom, Sherry, 33, who did not want her family's last name used, didn't have that option and couldn't give up the dogs, who "are very protective and are part of the family."

The dogs have been with her and her husband, who came here from Georgia, for more than a year before their youngest of four children were born.

"They've grown up together," she said . "The kids are very attached."

Reference:news-journalonline

Ringling Bros. Circus Comes to Birmingham Amid Charges of Elephant Abuse

January 16, 2007


BIRMINGHAM, Ala.– As Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus rolls into the BJCC Arena on January 24, The Humane Society of the United States is encouraging the public to avoid all circuses that use wild animals in their performances.

"Wild animals in circuses are subjected to inhumane conditions as they travel from town to town in circuses and traveling shows," according to Michael Markarian, executive vice president for The HSUS. "With so many choices in family entertainment, there is no justification for supporting circuses that use elephants, tigers and other wild animals to perform tricks and other unnatural behaviors."

This appeal comes on the heels of a groundbreaking lawsuit filed by The Fund for Animals, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), The Animal Protection Institute (API) and Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), along with a former Ringling Bros. employee, against the circus for its alleged mistreatment of Asian elephants.

The lawsuit charges that Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus violates the federal Endangered Species Act in its treatment of Asian elephants. The suit charges that this mistreatment comes in the form of abusive training methods, discipline, confinement of the animals, and separation of baby elephants from their mothers.





Witnesses and former circus employees have given sworn testimony to the U.S. Department of Agriculture that behind the scenes at circuses, elephants are kept tightly chained by one front and hind leg and unable to move freely. In the wild, elephants travel many miles each day. There are reports of circus elephants being confined in this stressful manner up to 20 hours or more each day. Research suggests that this leads to psychological and physical problems such as arthritis, crippling foot problems, and behavior that is indicative of high levels of stress, according to Markarian.

Undercover investigators have videotaped trainers beating elephants, contrary to statements that the animals are trained exclusively through positive reinforcement. The lawsuit alleges that trainers use a stick with a sharpened metal hook on the end (called a "bullhook" or "ankus") to repeatedly beat, pull, push, torment and threaten elephants.

"If the circus truly used positive reinforcement with elephants, the trainers would be carrying a bag of carrots, not a sharpened hook," said Markarian. "These sensitive creatures were not born afraid of this abusive device…they have learned to fear its sting."

The lawsuit against Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey is currently in the discovery stage in federal court in Washington. The plaintiffs are represented by Katherine Meyer of the public interest law firm Meyer Glitzenstein & Crystal.

Officials recommend rabies vaccinations for pets

By News-Argus Staff

RALEIGH -- North Carolinians are again being urged to vaccinate their pets by the N.C. Division of Public Health.
Last year, 520 rabid animals were found across the state, with a number of unvaccinated cats and dogs euthanized and many people forced to undergo expensive preventive treatment for rabies.
There is a simple, easy way to protect you, your family and your pets from this deadly disease, said Carl Williams, a DPH veterinarian.
"Get your pets vaccinated against rabies," he said. "As the New Year starts, now is the time to check and make sure that your pets are up-to-date on their rabies shots."
So far in 2007, there have already been 13 rabies cases identified. Most occur in wild animals, particularly raccoons.
Rabies is a disease caused by a virus. It is transmitted through contact with the saliva or nervous tissue of an infectious animal, usually through a bite. There is no post-exposure treatment for unvaccinated dogs and cats, and they are required to be destroyed or quarantined at the owner's expense for six months. Vaccinated animals need to receive a booster shot within 72 hours of exposure.

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Reference:newsargus

Zoological Group Protecting Rare Animals

By RAPHAEL G. SATTERThe Associated Press

LONDON -- It isn't often that the northern hairy-nosed wombat, the finger-sized slender loris, and the mountain pygmy possum share the spotlight. But these odd creatures are the focus of a conservation program launched Tuesday to safeguard some of the world's rarest mammals.


Note: A baby slender loris is seen in this undated photograph released by the Zoological Society of London on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2007. It isn't often that the northern hairy-nosed wombat, the slender loris, and the pygmy hippopotamus share the spotlight. But these strange and unusual animals are the focus of a conservation program launched Tuesday by the Zoological Society of London, one that aims to eventually secure the existence of some of the world's rarest mammals. The program, called EDGE (for Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered) targets 100 species for scientific study, and the zoological society aims to take action on the top ten by the end of the year. (AP Photo/Zoological Society of London)

Photo Credit: AP Photo


The Zoological Society of London's program highlights 100 species selected because of the peculiarity of their genetic backgrounds and the degree of danger they face. The species' lack of close relatives make their preservation particularly urgent, society scientist Jonathan Baillie said. He described them as natural masterpieces.

"Would we just sit there and watch the Mona Lisa disappear?" he said. "These are things that are just irreplaceable."

Many of the species are the only representative of groups that have otherwise died out. West Africa's pygmy hippopotamus, known for its thick, oily "blood-sweat," is the only member of its genus.

Others, like the Yangtze River dolphin, are thought to represent an entire genetic family. The dolphin may already be gone, like some others on the list.




Those that remain act as living fossils, offering glimpses into how the animal world looked millions of years ago. That's the case of the Andean mountain monkey, the only marsupial in an otherwise extinct lineage that dates back more than 40 million years. New Guinea's long-beaked echidnas, anteater-like creatures that lay eggs like reptiles, are even older, remaining unchanged since the time of the dinosaurs.

Donors are invited to sponsor a species and track its conservation progress through blogs and discussion groups on the Web site http://www.edgeofexistence.org. About $1 million is needed to fund the conservation projects, Baillie said.

Researchers hope the catalog of bizarre creatures might attract younger donors. "The younger generation is more interested in the weird and wonderful," Baillie said.

There's no lack of either. Many of the mammals are freakishly large, or small, or just long-lived. Australia's hairy-nosed wombat can grow bigger than a dog, while the Sri Lankan slender loris's 5-inch-long frame is dominated by huge night vision eyes. The mountain pigmy possums of Australia can live 12 years, a remarkable age for a one-ounce creature.

Others, like Madagascar's aye-aye, are just weird. The oddly-shaped primate sports an unsettlingly long, skeletal middle finger it uses to scrape insect larvae from holes in trees. Central Asia's long-eared jerboa, a small jumping rodent, boasts the largest ear-to-body ratio of any mammal, while the volcano rabbit of Mexico barely has any ears at all.

Still, some have undeniable charm, like the half-once bumblebee bat or the hairy-eared dwarf lemur, the world's smallest primate.

"There's nothing like them when they go," Baillie said.

Reference:washingtonpost

Animals stolen from petting zoo

By PAUL CHARMAN - Eastern Courier

The park is famous for a petting zoo, where children handle and feed small animals, but on January 4 thieves prized latches off two locked hutches and stole all the animals within.

The intruders made off with Trevor the guinea pig and a rabbit from one hutch and a tame mother rabbit and her five one-month-old babies from the other.

The zoo still has a flock of chickens and some pigs but children used to the smaller animals have been devastated by the loss, says park ranger Mimouk Hannan.

"It was a really selfish act which has spoilt the fun of a lot of people," says Ms Hannan.

She still holds out hope that the missing animals will be returned and has asked the public not to bring animals as replacements.

"We have families and children coming here from right across Manukau and asking after the animals that were taken."

With hutches that Waimokoia School youngsters built in the shape of Thomas the Tank Engine, the petting zoo has been an attraction for many years.

"Waimokoia students visit us every week during term time to help out on the park. There's going to be a lot of disappointed kids."

Omana Regional Park draws up to 2000 visitors at weekends, who are attracted by safe swimming, a playground and barbecue area and coastal tramping.

Plans are well advanced for the Omana Children's Day on March 4, boasting tractor rides, storytelling, puppets and traditional games such as egg and spoon races.

People with information about the missing animals should call Omana Regional Park rangers, phone: 536 6007.

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Reference:stuff

Scientists aim to save rare animals

Some of the planet's rarest and most unusual animals will be the focus of an ambitious conservation project launched by British scientists. The plan will focus on animals traditionally overlooked by conservationists, and will allow the public to track and donate to individual projects via a new website. This report is by Alok Jha, science correspondent of The Guardian.

Led by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), the Edge project has identified 100 species of mammals that have the fewest relatives left alive in the wild, making them the world's most genetically-unique mammals. The 10 most endangered, including the Yanghtze river dolphin and bumblebee bat, will be the focus of the first year's work. Jonathan Baillie of ZSL said the aim was to prevent hundreds of unique species from sliding unnoticed towards extinction.


"This is the first global-scale programme specifically developed to focus on these one-of-a-kind and highly threatened animals. We will be working to protect some of the world's most extraordinary species, including giant venomous shrew-like creatures, matchbox-sized bats and egg-laying mammals, all of which are teetering on the edge of extinction."


The almost-blind Yanghtze river dolphin is at the top of the list. "It's extremely threatened, a team was recently out there looking for it and could not find one - they truly are on the verge of extinction," said Dr Baillie.


Others include the egg-laying long-beaked echidna; the mouse-like long-eared jerboa which has the largest ear to body ratio of any mammal; and the world's smallest mammal, the bumblebee bat.


"If we lose them there's nothing similar to them left on the planet," said Dr Baillie. "If you were to think of an Edge species in art terms, it would be like losing the Mona Lisa, something that's irreplaceable and completely distinct."


Ten priority animals


In selecting the Edge list scientists first highlighted those mammals with the fewest close relatives, in order to work out which animals had evolved independently for the longest period of time. The results were cross-referenced with the International Conservation Union's official list of endangered species to identify the 10 priority animals. "When species have few close relatives there could be a number of reasons - they could have evolved for a long time and not created new species or their close relatives could have died off. Either way, they represent entire lineages," said Dr Baillie.


Conserving the animals on the Edge list would be important for keeping ecosystems healthy - the more different types of species that exist in the wild the more they can adapt to changing environmental conditions, he said.


The public can track the progress of the conservation effort and contribute through the project's website. "It's appealing to the general public through the website and identifying what needs to be done to empower people," said Dr Baillie. "It's one thing to tell people that species are threatened but it's another to provide solutions and allow them to get involved in the solution."


Many of the animals on the Edge list have been overlooked because they come from poorly-explored regions or species groups where scientists have had had little interest. Dr Baillie said raising the animals' profile would be key to their future.


In collaboration with local scientists and biodiversity groups, ZSL scientists will come up with the conservation plans needed for each species on the Edge list. Their plans will be posted on the website and move ahead as money becomes available. "We'll move as fast as we can with the funding available, through the internet and other sources. People can fund projects over the internet and, as soon as they are funded, we'll move forward with them. We'll also have blogs where people can follow progress, and web forums," he said.






ZSL scientists plan to expand the project. They are working on an Edge list for amphibians, and will then move on to other groups. "There is such a gap and so many people are interested in this that it will grow quite rapidly."


Source: The Guardian 16 Januar 2007.
Copyright Guardian Unlimited


Note: The first ten selected species, out of the 100 which the Edge Project wants to preserve in the next five years,are:


Slender Loris


Shy, nocturnal primate with huge eyes endemic to Sri Lanka. Populations are declining because its forest habitat is being destroyed and the animals are also hunted for meat and body parts (particularly the eyes) used in folk medicine.


Pygmy hippopotamus


Only 2,000-3,000 individuals remain in the wild, mostly concentrated in Liberia and Sierra Leone, and conservationists say its viability is extremely poor.


Yangtze river dolphin


Also known as the baiji, this is the only living representative of an entire family, having diverged from other river dolphins more than 20m years ago. It has rapidly declined over the past 30 years, and a survey last year failed to find any surviving animals.


Attenborough's long-beaked echidna


One of the few egg-laying mammals, the species is believed to be restricted to a single peak in the Cyclops mountains in the Indonesian province of Papua.


Hispaniolan solenodon


West Indian insect-eater with the unique ability to inject venom into its prey through grooves in upper incisors. Its numbers plummeted when predators such as dogs, cats and mongooses arrived with colonists.


Bactrian camel


Probably the ancestor of all domestic two-humped camels. Fewer than 1,000 individuals survive in Gobi desert.


Hirola


Called the "four-eye antelope" because its preorbital glands look like a second set of eyes. It is the sole survivor of a once abundant group of antelopes. An estimated 600 survive.


Golden-rumped elephant shrew


The size of a small rabbit, the elephant shrew can run at speeds of up to 25km/h and is endemic to Kenya but is threatened by the destruction and fragmentation of its forest habitat.


Bumblebee bat


World's smallest mammal is endangered in Thailand where it is known from a single national park. Since it was first described in 1974 this tiny mammal has been disturbed by collectors and tourists; other threats are from burning of forest near the limestone caves in which it lives.


Long-eared jerboa


Mouse-like animal with largest ear to body ratio of any mammal. Lives in parts of China and Mongolia but little is known of ecology and no conservation measures have been set up.


Reference: peopleandplanet

UAN Issues Reward for Information in Dog Decapitation Case

Information needed to find who left dog’s head in popcorn tin on owner’s car in Falmouth , Massachusetts
SACRAMENTO (January 11, 2007) – United Animal Nations (UAN) today offered a $1,500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever killed and decapitated a beloved pet dog and left his bloody, severed head in a holiday popcorn tin on the owner’s car. The dog’s owner was staying with friends at the Gosnold Grove Apartments in Falmouth when she made the gruesome discovery early on January 4.
The owner of the three-year-old pit bull named Nitrous was boarding him and her other dog, Nila, a nine-month-old female pit bull, at the Notorious B.L.U.E. Kennels in Mashpee. She later had a disagreement with the owners, which authorities believe may be connected to the death of Nitrous and the disappearance of Nila. On January 10, local authorities arrested the kennel owners after they verbally threatened Nitrous’ owner; they are still looking for more information about who killed Nitrous and searching for Nila.




“This was a blatant and senseless act of cruelty,” said UAN President and CEO Nicole Forsyth. “Local law enforcement already has some good leads in this case, so we hope our reward will encourage someone who knows more about this grisly act to come forward with information that could lead to an arrest.”

Anyone with information in this case should call Chuck Martinsenat theFalmouth Department of Natural Resources at (508) 457-2536.

UAN is offering this reward through its Zig Zag Memorial Reward Fund , designed to encourage witnesses to step forward with information about animal cruelty crimes and to advocate the need for harsher punishments in such cases. Research now shows that people who abuse animals are more likely to be violent toward humans.
“Given the connection between violence toward humans and violence toward animals, our society can no longer take animal cruelty cases lightly,” Forsyth said.

“We issue the Zig Zag Memorial Reward to encourage law enforcement agencies and prosecutors to apprehend animal abusers and punish them to the full extent of the law.”

The Zig Zag Memorial Reward is named for a Los Angeles dog who was burned, beaten and tortured for hours before dying, and whose assailants were apprehended but received scant punishment.

Now celebrating its 20th year, United Animal Nations (UAN) is North America ’s leading provider of emergency animal sheltering and disaster relief services and a key advocate for the critical needs of animals.

Letter to Chocolate Company Backing Chimp Haven

Dear Wayne Zink,
We see the Endangered Species chocolate bars in the store with attractive wrapper promising “10% of the net profits donated to support endangered species, habitat and humanity” and, like many other chocolate lovers, assume a portion of the money we spend will go to help the free-living animals beautifully illustrated on each candy bar. So it was with great alarm and dismay that we read in the New York Times story “No Golden Ticket, but More Than Candy” (7 Jan. 2007) that Endangered Species Chocolate has promised to donate at least $25,000 to Chimp Haven, a government-funded holding facility for chimpanzees who can be used in federal laboratories.
Enclosed is an excerpt from an article by Lee Hall, legal director for Friends of Animals. “Chimp Haven: What’s the Story?,” explains the role of Chimp Haven as a holding area for the National Institutes of Health pursuant to the CHIMP Act, signed by President Clinton in 2000. Chimp Haven, with its substantial government funding, competes with true sanctuaries that depend solely on private funding — sanctuaries far more deserving of donations, be they over $25,000 or under $25.
As a vegan organization, we at Friends of Animals appreciate that Endangered Species Chocolate offers vegan certified dark chocolate, but of course we also oppose the company’s use of dairy. Far from upholding your expressed core value of Reverence for Life, dairy means the commodification of cows who are forced to endure continual impregnation and separation from their young, half of whom are sold into the veal industry. Eventually, it’s likely that every one of these “happy” cows will wind up slaughtered for commercial gain.
Furthermore, scientists have implicated dairy as a significant contributor to global warming. Dairy cows are one of the largest sources of methane — which, according to United Nations reports, accounts for a substantial portion of relevant greenhouse gas emissions, and with about 20 times the potential warming effect of carbon dioxide.Protecting nonhuman animal communities from extinction is important work. And it’s important work because chimpanzees and other animals matter for their own reasons, not because they may be of use to researchers. Please read the enclosed document and make a commitment to support only true sanctuaries.
And please further consider how the use of land for the dairy industry is directly responsible for usurping habitat of a number of the world’s endangered species. Indeed, animal agribusiness now uses 30 percent of the earth’s entire land surface is the critical factor putting endangered species in North America at risk.
Your own product line demonstrates that the use of dairy ingredients simply isn’t necessary to produce good chocolate.
We hope you’ll consider these ways to really respect other animals’ lives, and we’d appreciate your timely response on both of these issues.
Sincerely,
Daniel Hammer,Staff Writer Friends of Animals
Contact:Wayne Zink, CEOEndangered Species Chocolate Company5846 W. 73rd St.Indianapolis, IN 46278Phone: 317-844-2886Fax: 317-844-4951 Toll Free: 1-800-293-0160 E-mail: info@chocolatebar.com
See Chimp Haven: What’s the Story?

Discovery Digital Caller ID Globe w/Clock

Foster parents are needed for abandoned animals

By Deborah Wheeler

We watched the humanitarian rescue efforts that took place in New Orleans of many pets after Hurricane Katrina. In our own backyard, one local had her own rescue effort in place long before Katrina.

Vickie Gatliff has been rescuing abandoned dogs that have been picked up by Walton County Animal Control for 10 years now. The county’s animal facilities in Chipley keep animals only for seven days before euthanizing them. Gatliff makes the trip to Chipley at least once a week to pick up as many dogs as she can. She limits her rescue attempts to the ones she believes can be placed in permanent homes and to the number she can take care of until a home is found.

Currently, Gatliff only has two foster homes. Each home is currently fostering only one dog due to the number of pets already in the home. (Gatliff recently suffered a shoulder injury, also.)
“I can use some help,” said Gatliff. “A girl called today with seven boxer/Lab-mix puppies. I have no place to put seven. So, I took two and someone else took two until we can do something else.”

Gatliff said she could use help from any dog lover willing to give love and nurture to a homeless animal.

“If they only want to foster a large breed, I can get them a large breed. If they only want to take a small breed, I can get them a small breed. If they only want to foster a Pekingese, I can use them,” she said. “We provide all the food and the vet bills are taken care of. All we need is a temporary home for a dog until it is adopted out. We try to make it as easy as possible.”




Gatliff said the only requirement is that all other pets at the foster home be spayed or neutered and if a large breed is desired, there be a back yard.

Gatliff has been in the rescue business for 10 years, beginning when she went to an animal shelter to adopt and realized there was a need.

“I was appalled by the number being euthanized,” she said.
“I go up there and walk down the aisle deciding which one dies and which one lives. I feel like a Nazi. I can only take dogs that are adoptable. Some people only want females or a small breed. And how many I take depends on how many adoptions I make,” she said.
Gatliff said Labs are very adoptable in this area, but small breed puppies are the easiest to adopt out. The second easiest is a smaller dog that is fairly young. A pure bred goes quickly, she said.

In this area, cocker spaniels are the most difficult to adopt, but eventually, homes are found for all she takes in, she said.

In December, Gatliff had 22 dogs adopted. That doesn’t count referrals she made when callers were looking for a breed she didn’t have.

“It’s about how many can we save and help,” she said.
Gatliff also accepts donations for her Adopt a Dog network at 3 Dog Framing, or by e-mail at adoptadog@myway.com.

Reference:story.waltonsun