Winter 2017

Volume
66
Number
4
Winter 2017 Quarterly Cover
About the Cover

A 2013 UN report stated that from 2005–2011, over 1,000 orangutans were intercepted from wildlife traffickers. This is only a fraction of the ones taken or slaughtered, however. Poachers routinely kill mother orangutans to steal their babies for the pet trade. But what happens when illegally obtained animals (orangutans and countless other species) are seized by authorities? Some are returned to the wild. Others remain in captivity. Some are simply euthanized. See page 16 for more on how best to ensure that deliverance from the smuggling pipeline really does mean an end of the ordeal for such confiscated animals.

Table of Contents

Companion Animals

Meredith is a new animal control officer. She has been directed to visit a particular home on multiple occasions because of complaints from neighbors of dogs barking or running loose. During each visit she has...
AWI has battled with the US Department of Agriculture for years over its practice of automatically renewing the licenses of puppy mills, roadside zoos, and others who are habitually out of compliance with the standards...
Reports of the devastation wrought by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria dominated the media this past September. In the midst of all that, particularly notable were the scenes of residents being hauled up by helicopters...
AWI isn’t usually involved in disaster relief and recovery, but when there’s a problem staring us in the face and we know we can make a difference, we act. It started with a personal appeal...

Farmed Animals

In a unanimous opinion, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court decision striking down California’s ban on foie gras. The production of foie gras requires gavage, the forceful and often violent overfeeding...
Of the 9 billion land animals raised for food in the United States each year, less than 1 percent live out their lives on pasture, breathing fresh air. The vast majority reside instead within overcrowded...
A federal district court in Utah has ruled the state’s “ag-gag” law is unconstitutional. The law made it illegal for an individual to use false pretenses to gain access to or surveil an agricultural operation...
Seven workers at a Tyson factory farm in Virginia were recently convicted of cruelty to animals after an undercover investigation revealed severe mistreatment of chickens. In a video, the workers could be seen throwing, punching...

Marine Life

Every October, Iceland hosts the Arctic Circle Assembly, a gathering of representatives from governments, nonprofit organizations, indigenous communities, scientists, and industry. AWI’s Kate O’Connell joined more than 2,000 people from 50 countries at the 2017...
On November 15, a coalition of nine environmental and animal protection groups, including AWI, hosted a Lobby Day and reception on Capitol Hill to celebrate—and defend—the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) on its 45th anniversary...
In 2010, Tilikum, an orca held by SeaWorld Orlando, killed Dawn Brancheau, his trainer for the previous six years. Since that tragic event, the campaign to end the captive display of cetaceans has gathered tremendous...
On October 11, the Trader Joe’s grocery chain announced that it would stop sourcing shrimp from Mexico in response to a request from the Boycott Mexican Shrimp campaign, led by AWI, the Natural Resources Defense...
On October 4, the US Fish and Wildlife Service ruled against adding the Pacific walrus to the list of threatened and endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. Although the Obama administration ruled in 2011...

Terrestrial Wildlife

by Suzanne Stone, senior representative of Defender of Wildlife’s Northwest Program, specializing in wolf conservation Few conflicts are more challenging than wolves and livestock depredation encounters in the western United States. For centuries, wolves have...
AWI and Wildlife Preserves, Inc., filed suit against the National Park Service and the superintendent of Fire Island National Seashore (FINS) on November 29 over a wildlife management plan that calls for killing many of...
Carnivores in California can breathe a little easier, after AWI and allies reached a settlement with the US Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services program in November that will result in numerous protections for predators and...
Despite widespread opposition and controversy, President Trump’s border wall is moving forward: Just five days after the president took office, an executive order authorizing it was signed. The order attempts to waive federal regulations designed...
The Environmental Protection Agency’s recent decision to approve ZonaStat-D to manage deer populations was all the buzz at the 8th International Conference on Wildlife Fertility Control, held in Washington, DC, in mid-July. Approval of this...
An emerging black market for elephant skins is putting new pressure on elephant populations in Myanmar. Poaching has long been a problem in the country. But in the past, ivory was the draw and males...
For some wild animals, getting rescued from traffickers is just the start of another ordeal. Nobody really knows precisely how many live wild animals are seized from poachers and smugglers around the world each year...
This summer, the Vietnamese government agreed to a memorandum of understanding with the nonprofit Animals Asia to finally end bear bile farming in the country. On bile farms, the bears, primarily Asiatic black bears and...

Government Affairs

In September, the House passed HR 3354, an omnibus appropriations bill that would harm animals in a variety of ways. Among the amendments not allowed to come to the floor for a vote: one that...
When AWI discovered in July that the first unannounced inspection of the US Meat Animal Research Center (MARC) resulted in four citations for lack of adequate veterinary care, inadequate handling of animals with heat distress...
Shelter animals in California just got a huge helping hand from lawmakers in Sacramento. The Golden State has become the first in the nation to ban the sale of commercially bred pets in pet stores...
For 45 years, the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) has succeeded in its mission to protect individual marine mammals, as well as entire populations, from harassment, injury, and death due to human activities. Unfortunately, legislation...
AWI has joined the “Stop Puppy Mills Ohio” coalition of animal welfare groups, rescues, shelters, and Ohio citizens to launch a ballot initiative aimed at clamping down on puppy mills in the state. Ohio is...
Massachusetts is considering two bills that would, together, benefit both captive and wild elephants. H 418/ S 1898, introduced by Representative Lori Ehrlich and Senator Kathleen O’Connor Ives, would prohibit the use of elephants in...
AWI is endorsing an effort by Arizonans for Wildlife (AFW), a coalition of nonprofit organizations and Arizona state legislators, to collect signatures for a ballot initiative that would outlaw trophy hunting and trapping of bobcats...

In Remembrance

Wildlife has lost yet another champion. Wayne Lotter, 51, a vigorous leader in efforts to suppress wildlife crime, was murdered in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on August 16. Nearly nine years ago, Lotter joined with...

Reviews

Since her first visit to an aquarium at age 9, Clark’s dream was to learn everything there was to know about her favorite animals—sharks. Shark Lady is a story of how one woman overcame misconceptions...
Where the Animals Go is a unique book that contains full-color maps with detailed tracking information for one after another animal species—from whales, elephants, and orangutans to turtles, ants, and plankton.
Wild horses and settlers of the American west had a lot in common. They were tough, independent, and resourceful, with a deep need for freedom and open spaces. As more people migrated west, however, wild...