Fall 2018

Volume
67
Number
3
Fall 2018 Quarterly Cover
About the Cover

Wild horses are protected under the Wild FreeRoaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, which says in its preamble that they are “an integral part of the natural system of the public lands.” Ranchers and state officials who seek unfettered access to western rangelands, however, see them not as integral but rather an impediment. As a result, wild horse numbers are kept artificially low. The Bureau of Land Management is now considering risky ovariectomies of wild mares, despite the availability of effective, far less invasive immunocontraceptives. For more on the BLM’s ill-conceived plan, see page 6.

Table of Contents

Animals in Laboratories

AWI congratulates the most recent Refinement Grant recipients: Dr. Brianna Gaskill, Purdue University: Investigating the link between laboratory personnel’s professional quality of life and the provision of environmental enrichment to animals under their care. Environmental...
Megan R. LaFollette, Dr. Marguerite E. O’Haire, Dr. Sylvie Cloutier, and Dr. Brianna N. Gaskill Laboratory rats may experience distress during handling, which can negatively impact their welfare. Rat tickling, a handling technique that mimics...
A team of scientists has developed an advanced computer algorithm that can predict the toxicity of new chemicals better than standard animal tests. This breakthrough has the potential to spare millions of animals from having...
Bret R. Tallent and Dr. Jonathan Lifshitz In this project, funded by an AWI Refinement Grant, we tested whether raising male mice in partially divided cages affected aggression and behavioral performance from weaning through 180...

Farmed Animals

Every five years or so, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association releases a National Beef Quality Audit, conducted through the beef checkoff program (checkoff programs collect money from producers to fund promotional campaigns and research). The...
The World Organisation for Animal Health (known by its French initials, “OIE”), at its annual meeting in Paris in May, approved a new chapter on the welfare of pigs for inclusion in the organization’s Terrestrial...
In March, the Law Library of Congress released an in-depth report on the legal status of religious slaughter in 21 European nations. The European Union’s Council Regulation 1099/2009 and the Council of Europe’s Convention for...
The North Carolina General Assembly gave final approval to a bill that restricts nuisance lawsuits against factory farms and other agricultural operations. The law is a reaction to several lawsuits won by plaintiffs who have...
The Council of Better Business Bureau’s National Advertising Division (NAD) has concluded that claims made by Perdue Farms in a national broadcast advertising campaign were misleading. NAD is a nonregulatory body that provides a mediation...
International transport of farm animals by sea vessel is a major animal welfare issue, particularly for long-distance journeys, such as those taken by cattle and sheep from Europe and Australia to the Middle East and...

Marine Life

AWI’s Susan Millward participated in the 19th meeting of the UN Open-Ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea, held in June in New York, where the topic was anthropogenic ocean...
AWI has joined forces with ProWildlife (based in Germany) and Whale and Dolphin Conservation on Small Cetaceans, Big Problems , a report that documents hunts of small cetaceans throughout the world. About 100,000 dolphins, porpoises...
In July, observers perched on top of the hillside overlooking Iceland’s Hvalur fin whaling station noticed that the large whale being dragged up the slipway looked different. The whale was a mottled grayish-blue color and...
The agenda for the 67 th meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC67), in Florianopolis, Brazil, in early September, will provide unprecedented opportunities for high-stakes drama and high-level dealmaking. Japan’s recent conduct, for example, suggests...
In March 2018, AWI and allies filed a lawsuit in the US Court of International Trade to force the Trump administration to uphold provisions in the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) that require the US...

Terrestrial Wildlife

A wide range of equine-related issues have come up in Congress this session, and wild horses in particular have been the subject of considerable deliberation among federal lawmakers. The House Appropriations Committee included language, sponsored...
Kaitlyn Gaynor et al., in a study published in Science in June, found that in areas of high human activity, animals are choosing to conduct more of their own affairs at night. Animals in such...
When Dr. Bill Clark is not training Kenyan pilots on how to dodge poacher gunfire, enlisting modern DNA technology to combat bushmeat trafficking, or reintroducing once-exterminated oryx antelope to Senegal, he can be found tucking...
A study by Alyson Andreasen et al., published in the Journal of Wildlife Management earlier this year, examined the fate of cougars caught in leghold traps and lethal snares set for other furbearers, particularly bobcats...
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) is a wildlife haven located in northern Alaska that encompasses one of the world’s last remaining intact arctic tundra landscapes. Originally designated as a refuge in 1960, ANWR is...
Researchers in Portugal (Nuno Santos et al., 2017) studied the live-capture of wolves for ecological research to assess the animals’ stress response and the potential benefits of reducing the length of time they are held...

Government Affairs

The Animal Welfare Act (AWA) is facing a grave threat. The Trump administration is engaged in a multipronged pro-industry agenda aimed at eviscerating the basic protections for animals mandated by this law—which for more than...
Both Congress and the Trump administration continue their assaults on wildlife, particularly through efforts to undermine the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Several members of Congress have now packaged together nine bills to dismantle the ESA...
In May, the Illinois legislature passed HB 4843, a bill introduced by Rep. Martin Moylan (D) to restrict the sale of ivory and rhino horn within the state. On August 14, Gov. Bruce Rauner (R)...
On a positive note, one effort to use a critical (and completely unrelated) piece of legislation to erode the ESA failed decisively. The bill in question is the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which sets...

Reviews

The cover of Birds of a Feather: A True Story of Hope and the Healing Power of Animals, features a photo of a veteran embracing a parrot, who rests her head on his shoulder. The...
Actress Ashley Bell’s first starring role was in a scary movie. For her directorial debut, she turns the camera around to address a real-life horror: the brutal captivity of Asian elephants. But her film, Love...
Thomas McNamee provides a window into what makes cats tick in The Inner Life of Cats: The Science and Secrets of Our Mysterious Feline Companions. Anecdotes centering on his own cats, especially beloved Augusta, are...