2009 Fall
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Table of Contents ANIMALS IN AGRICULTURE Down on the Goose and Duck Farm Smithfield Stalls Which Came First, the Gentle Hen or the Cage? All in the Pleasant Open Air: Animal Welfare Approved Farmers Spearhead Return to... more...
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Partnering with Prosecutors to Fight Animal Cruelty Even the best laws against animal cruelty and animal fighting are mere paper tigers if prosecutors won’t take cases based on such laws, or are unsure how to proceed with them. Recognizing the need to reach prosecutors and others in law enforcement about the importance of enforcing these laws,... more...
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Navy War Games Imperil Marine Life The U.S. Navy has announced its decision to proceed with construction of a 500-square mile sonar testing range off the Jacksonville, FL coast. Over 470 exercises will take place there every year, involving submarines, ships and aircraft in simulated war games. The proposed location is next to... more...
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Obama’s Ocean Task Force president obama has announced the creation of a 23-member federal task force to establish a comprehensive U.S. Ocean Policy that "will incorporate ecosystem-based science and management and emphasize our public stewardship responsibilities." Led by the White House Council on Environmental... more...
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Walrus Deaths Attributed to Sea Ice Reduction Scientists have reported that trampling by other walruses in a stampede likely caused the deaths of 131 walruses found on a beach in Alaska’s North Slope in August. Attributing a reduction in available sea ice to global warming, the scientists hypothesize that extraordinary numbers of walruses... more...
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U.S. Court Approves Gulf of Mexico Lease Sales In July, a federal appeals court announced it would permit the U.S. Department of the Interior to move forward with new oil and natural gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico, subject to an analysis of the environmental risks. The news came after an earlier court decision had blocked the Bush-era... more...
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About the Cover Forced from the shelter of surrounding mountains when the rest of his pack was trapped by humans (nearly 400 wolves were killed at ranchers’ behest by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services in 2008 alone), this young wolf, a year old at the time, and his mother, acclimated to... more...
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Pacific Northwest Orcas Surviving the Odds The Largest Members of the dolphin family, orcas, also known as killer whales, are perhaps the most recognizable cetacean, with their distinctive black and white markings. These small, toothed whales inhabit temperate to cooler waters throughout the world. Today, most people know of this popular... more...
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Rescued Parrots’ Fate Still Uncertain The Florida breeding facility that has masqueraded as a sanctuary and received 31 macaws seized in Virginia (AWI Quarterly, Winter 2009), is liquidating and auctioning off all its birds and exotic cats. Readers may recall that the macaws were seized in Orange County, Virginia, as part of a... more...
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Nepal’s Rhesus Monkeys: Free But Not Yet Wild In 2003 the nation of Nepal decided to allow captive breeding of rhesus monkeys for research and export, despite monkeys being sacred to both Hindus and Buddhists. Two facilities were established but only one amassed monkeys. From the start Nepal-based groups protested and even sued the... more...
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Needle in a Fruit Fly Move over, Charles Darwin. According to National University of Ireland pioneering biologist Kevin Kavanagh, because an insect’s immune system—specifically its haematocytes—closely resembles one part of the mammalian immune system—or its neutrophils—using moths, caterpillars or Drosophila (fruit... more...
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The Dark Side of the National Park Service For many Americans, a visit to a national park can be an enlightening and awe-inspiring journey. From the splendor of a sunrise at the Grand Canyon to the sheer beauty of Yellowstone and from the desolation of Death Valley to the history of Gettysburg, America’s national parks have been set... more...
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DOWN ON THE GOOSE AND DUCK FARM As the fall and winter seasons are coming upon us, so is the demand for warm winter jackets, bedding and other heat preserving items. While we know fur garments can be the cause of much animal cruelty, not a lot of thought is given to how goose and duck down—in everything from clothing to... more...
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Which Came First, The Gentle Hen or The Cage? Egg-laying hens in confinement bear some of the worst abuses the agricultural industry offers. To the detriment of their own well-being, hens are bred for increasing egg production. In an attempt to further maximize production and minimize costs, birds’ beaks are cut off and they are caged.... more...
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Smithfield Stalls Imprisoning more than one million breeding sows in the U.S., gestation crates used by Smithfield Foods are severe forms of punishment designed with one goal in mind: increased profit. In 2007, AWI identified Smithfield’s announcement to phase out gestation crates as a hollow public relations... more...
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All In the Pleasant Open Air: Animal Welfare Approved Farmers Spearhead Return to Raising Cattle on Grass In the mid-20 th century, the United States underwent an agricultural revolution that went largely unnoticed by the general public when the ability of science to industrialize farming overtook the knowledge and expertise of working farmers. Led by a few industry "visionaries," farm animals were... more...
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Combating Antibiotic Overload CONFINEMENT PRODUCTION OF LIVESTOCK in the United States would be virtually impossible without antibiotics. The practice of feeding farm animals low-doses of antibiotics in food and water originated in the 1950s in order to promote growth. It has since become standard practice, enabling... more...
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Pet Safety and Protection Act In an effort to stop experimentation on illegally acquired dogs and cats, Senator Daniel Akaka (D-AK) and Representative Mike Doyle (D-PA) are again sponsoring the Pet Safety and Protection Act. The measure, which we expect will be reintroduced as we go to press, will prohibit the sale of dogs... more...
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Refuge from Cruel Trapping Act Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-NY) has remained steadfast in her determination to end use of inhumane traps in the United States, but has shifted the focus of her legislation to our nation’s refuges. On October 1, she introduced H.R. 3710, the Refuge from Cruel Trapping Act, a measure to end the... more...
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Compound 1080 and M-44 Elimination Act Representative Peter defazio, (d-or) is expected to introduce the Compound 1080 and M-44 Elimination Act this fall. This bill would ban two deadly poisons—sodium fluoroacetate, commonly known as Compound 1080, and sodium cyanide, commonly known as M-44 devices—which are used by the U.S.... more...
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Carnivore Management in the U.S.: The Need for Reform by Camilla H. Fox Few Americans have heard of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services (WS) program. Even fewer are aware that their tax dollars subsidize the killing of millions of animals every year under this program; between 2004 and 2007, WS killed 8,378,412 animals... more...
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Teddy Goldsmith (1928-2009) With the death of Teddy Goldsmith on August 17, a towering tree has fallen in the thin remaining forest of visionaries and inspired amateurs who pioneered today’s environmental and humane movements. Teddy graduated from Oxford in1950 disillusioned with what he had been taught and spent... more...
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The Wauchula Woods Accord Toward a New Understanding of Animals By Charles Siebert Scribner ISBN: 978-0743295864 224 pages; $25 In the Wizard of Oz there is a scene in which Dorothy is in her house as it swirls in the tornado. She stands before her window and a cast of characters, friends and foes, whiz by outside the window as she begins a... more...
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Filling the Ark Animal Welfare In Disasters By Leslie Irvine Temple University Press ISBN: 978-159213840 176 pages; $24.50 In her book Filling the Ark, the University of Colorado at Boulder’s Associate Professor of Sociology, Leslie Irvine, asks the question "When a disaster strikes, who should enter the ark?" Indeed, a... more...
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Pablo Puppy Games AWI is pleased to announce the availability of new humane educational on-line resources for children. Coloring pages, a matching game and a board game titled "Walking the Dog" can all be found at: www.awionline.org. The materials are an excellent accompaniment to our delightful book Pablo... more...
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Birth Control Will Allow Horses to Continue Living a Wild Life The debate over wild horses on public lands has been raging for decades. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), charged with their management, has rounded up tens of thousands of wild horses since 1971. While many have been adopted out, vast numbers languish in holding facilities. AWI strongly... more...
