Winter 2012

Volume
61
Number
1
Winter 2012 AWI Quarterly Cover - Photo by Todd Klassy
About the Cover

A wild horse grazes near Glacier National Park in Montana. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and other federal land managers are required by the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 to protect wild equines. The BLM instead routinely rounds up and displaces wild horses from traditional rangelands in order to appease private ranching interests. Last year, in response to questions raised by AWI and others over BLM’s management priorities, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) initiated an independent evaluation of the science, methodology, and technical decision-making approaches of the BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Program. On January 27, at a meeting held in Spokane, Washington, AWI wildlife biologist D.J. Schubert provided testimony to the NAS committee tasked with reviewing the program.

Photo by Todd Klassy

Table of Contents

Animals in Laboratories

On December 1—almost one year from its publication date—the 8 th edition of the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals was accepted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). A great deal...
"Most current use of chimpanzees for biomedical research is unnecessary," according to a landmark Institute of Medicine report titled Chimpanzees in Biomedical and Behavioral Research: Assessing the Necessity.
The 62nd National Meeting of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science (AALAS) - the largest research animal-specific conference in the United States - was held in San Diego, California, October 2-6, 2011. AWI was...

Companion Animals

Every country has its own unique perspective on the relationship between humans and animals. It is all too easy to dismiss the practices of others as illogical or abhorrent. For the typical Westerner, eating dogs...

Farmed Animals

Undercover investigations by animal advocates are an increasingly important tool in exposing the disturbing realities of factory farming. However, a number of states have begun to consider legislation aimed squarely at the messenger rather than...
Nestled in the Western New York community of Alfred, Windy Ridge Natural Farms is a pasture-based poultry farm that raises its laying hens in accordance with AWI’s Animal Welfare Approved (AWA) standards.
A recent undercover investigation of several Sparboe Farms egg facilities revealed the unconscionable treatment of chickens on factory farms.

Marine Life

A federal judge in November upheld the listing of Alaska’s Cook Inlet beluga whales as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), rejecting a bid by the state of Alaska to overturn it.
The United States has prohibited the landing and possession of thorny skates in U.S. waters since 2003. Despite this, their numbers have dropped precipitously, to a point alarmingly below the threshold needed to ensure the...
Iceland is a study in contrasts. Known as the “land of fire and ice,” its lava fields, glaciers and craggy, mountain-ringed fjords make the country one of the top eco-tourism destinations in the world. A...
Between 2000 and 2008, an estimated one out of every 100 sharks caught around the globe was killed off the coast of Senegal.

Terrestrial Wildlife

The City of Calabasas, in the Santa Monica Mountains northwest of Los Angeles, has decided it will no longer use city funds to finance the killing of coyotes.
In this two-part series on wildlife immunocontraception, AWI discusses the practicalities and politics behind this emerging humane technology. In the first article ( AWI Quarterly , Fall 2011 ), AWI provided background information about immunocontraception...
2011 was a grim year for rhinos. In November, the International Union for Conservation of Nature declared Africa’s western black rhino officially extinct, and indicated that the northern white rhino is "possibly extinct," as well.
Just under twelve years ago, AWI reported on the efforts by the Guiye Waiye Environment and Conservation Group (GWECG) to counter extensive destruction of wildlife habitat in Papua New Guinea (PNG) (see " Trouble in...
According to a new study published in the journal Biological Conservation, breeding farms in Indonesia are being used to launder thousands of illegally caught snakes each year.

Government Affairs

For the first time in six years, Congress has opened the doors to restarting horse slaughter in the U.S. The bill to fund the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the rest of FY 2012 was...
As far as animals are concerned, the catch-all bill that Congress passed at December’s end to fund government operations through the rest of FY 2012 is as important for what it doesn’t do as for...
Lions and tigers and bears...do not belong on the road! It is impossible for circuses and other traveling exhibitors to meet the very complex needs of wild and exotic animals.

Legal

In mid-December, the advocacy group, WildEarth Guardians, settled a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought in federal court against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to obtain reports related to the aerial killing of...
The federal Horse Protection Act of 1970 (HPA) is supposed to protect Tennessee Walking Horses and other gaited breeds from “soring,” the practice of applying chemicals or mechanical devices to horses that inflict pain in...
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey - the “Greatest Show on Earth” according to its slogan - has a new distinction that probably won’t appear in its promotional materials: The circus company has been slapped...

AWI Special Event

Albert Schweitzer once said, “... all of us must feel the horror that lies in thoughtless torturing and killing.” In November, at the Hill Center in Washington, D.C., AWI awarded the Albert Schweitzer Medal to...