Spring 2010

Volume
59
Number
2
Spring 2010 AWI Quarterly Cover - Photo by Kindness Ranch
About the Cover

Remy, following his use in research at a major university, was among eight cats to arrive at Wyoming’s Kindness Ranch when it opened in 2007. Remy lived in a cat yurt at the ranch, hid in cupboards, and prepared for life in the outside world by climbing perches, chasing laser pointers and toys, and interacting with resident staff. Because of his spirit and determination, he quickly became a favorite of ranch interns, availing himself of private sleepovers and additional socialization in their cabins. His adoptive family in Colorado reports he enjoys being the center of attention. Read more about animals formerly used in research who are being adopted out to families on page 14.

Photo by Kindness Ranch

Table of Contents

Animals in Laboratories

In a typically hardscrabble corner of southeastern Wyoming, a surprising series of sophisticated yurts and yards punctuate 1,000 dusty acres. Even more surprising, the yurts are home to very special cats and dogs, a number...

Farmed Animals

Despite popular belief that an organic label ensures animal welfare, this is not the case.
A record-breaking $11 million has been awarded to plaintiffs suffering from horrendous odors emanating from hog factories in Berlin, Missouri.
Despite corresponding feeding practices in large-scale industrial operations, in 2007, Tyson Foods sought to capitalize on growing consumer concern about the excessive use of antibiotics by marketing its chicken as "Raised Without Antibiotics."

Marine Life

It was reported in January that government officials and the California American Water Company (Cal Am) had reached an agreement regarding the future of the San Clemente Dam on the Carmel River.
In December, scientists studying the cognitive abilities of South American freshwater stingrays identified the fish’s ability to use tools.
Tilikum, SeaWorld’s largest killer whale, weighing over 12,000 pounds, killed one of his trainers in February, as spectators watched with horror.
Following an undercover operation and federal investigation, trendy Santa Monica sushi restaurant, The Hump, was charged with serving meat from an endangered sei whale and consequently closed its doors on March 20.
Reminiscent of the Save the Whales days of the 70s and 80s, Earth Day 2010 saw a pod of whales and a mass of people converge on the National Mall in Washington D.C. to rally...
The International Whaling Commission (IWC) is teetering on the brink of a frightful precipice. In June it will decide on a plan to legalize commercial whaling for the first time in over two decades.

Terrestrial Wildlife

The presentation of the Clark R. Bavin Wildlife Law Enforcement Award to eleven deserving recipients who demonstrated exemplary wildlife protection efforts was a highlight of the 15th meeting of CITES.
On February 23, the Silver City, NM town council unanimously adopted a resolution calling on the state to ban steel-jaw leghold traps, strangling snares and other painful body-gripping traps on public lands.
At the outset, the 15th meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) stood to be historic and precedent setting.
North America's largest bird has not had an easy go of it, and after a century of absence, a pair of critically endangered birds has made the Pinnacles National Monument a roost to raise their...
Few people have heard of “penning.” This cruel practice involves the live trapping of coyotes and foxes (generally with leghold traps or snares) who are then often shipped and traded across state lines and sold...
With the Insurance institute for highway safety reporting a record 1.5 million vehicle strikes against wildlife annually, animals are forced to circumnavigate a daily procession of cars, trucks, SUV’s and more, barreling down highways that...
The remote borderlands between the United States and Mexico contain vast and beautiful wilderness and include the richest diversity of plant and animal species in North America. Why then, did the US government, under the...

Government Affairs

Senator John Kerry (D-MA), a long-standing champion of whales, introduced legislation in early March “to amend the Whale Conservation and Protection Study Act to promote international whale conservation, protection, and research, and for other purposes.”
After the precedent setting ruling by a federal court late last year that an industrial wind energy project in West Virginia will kill and injure endangered Indiana bats, AWI and other parties to the lawsuit...

Legal

The success of the prosecutor training conference last year (AWI Quarterly Fall 2009) caught the attention of the federal government!
In January, AWI and 11 other groups filed suit against the U.S. Navy and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for violations of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) over the Navy’s planned Undersea Warfare Training...

Reviews

Many animal protection advocates were glued to their televisions this year during the Oscar Awards.
In Elephants on the Edge, G.A. Bradshaw exposes how - through mass slaughter, poaching and capture - we have ravaged elephant populations, while drawing comparisons between the ways people and elephants respond to traumatic situations.
The Book of Honu is a wonderful guide for all turtle enthusiasts, especially those interested in seeing Hawaii’s green sea turtle, or honu, in the wild.