Summer 2019

Volume
68
Number
2
Summer 2019 Quarterly Cover
About the Cover

Scientific studies agree: Companion animals contribute to our emotional well-being and physical health. In turn, we do our best to keep them happy and healthy, and to help them experience a long and full life. Eventually, though, the march of time can bring on infirmity, and an ebbing in quality of their life for our beloved friends. When that time comes, it is more important than ever to do what we can to ease their burden and not prolong suffering. See page 14 to learn more about how best to care for aged and ailing pets.

Table of Contents

Animals in Laboratories

Mice have a strong preference to nest away from their own waste, and mice in laboratories should be housed in a system of cages that allows them to segregate space into clean and dirty areas...
In a laboratory, people matter: a key contributor to good animal welfare is the presence of compassionate caretakers. Research has shown that a “belief in animal mind” (BAM)—seeing animals as self-aware and capable of solving...
Cosmetics testing on animals is a few steps closer to becoming a practice of the past. The Canadian Cruelty-Free Cosmetics Act (Bill S-214) has passed the Senate and will now move forward to the House...

Companion Animals

To facilitate better information about the co-occurrence of child abuse and animal abuse, Representatives Ann McLane Kuster (D-NH) and John Katko (R-NY) introduced the Child and Animal Abuse Detection and Reporting Act of 2019. Recognizing...
A highly successful series of workshops in March in Ohio has led to lasting connections that could improve interventions and lead to prevention in cases of animal abuse and family violence. AWI sponsored workshops entitled...
Nearly 50 years ago, Congress passed the Horse Protection Act (HPA) to protect horses from the abusive practice of soring, which involves intentionally inflicting pain on the animal’s legs to produce an exaggerated high-stepping gait...
We all want to do well by our furry companions. We want to have as much time as possible with them, but also want to make sure that they do not suffer when they are...

Farmed Animals

The 2018 Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare (BBFAW) was recently released, revealing measured improvements to corporate commitments on animal welfare. On the key issue of animal housing, 115 global food companies have made commitments...
The Food and Drug Administration recently cleared the way for genetically engineered (GE) salmon to come to market in the United States. Dubbed “AquaAdvantage” and engineered by Massachusetts-based AquaBounty Technologies, the GE salmon is produced...
In January 2018, a report released by the World Health Organization’s newly minted Global Antimicrobial Surveillance System revealed widespread antibiotic resistance among people with suspected bacterial infections in nations around the world. Commenting on the...
The Food and Drug Administration and the US Department of Agriculture recently announced a formal agreement to jointly regulate cell-cultured meat and poultry products. Cultured meat is produced by the cultivation of animal cells in...

Humane Education

AWI entered into a unique partnership with HarperCollins Children’s Books last year to produce educational materials on endangered species and what we can do to protect them. The partnership coincided with the launch of a...

Marine Life

As of mid-May, according to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, 48 gray whales had been found dead along the coasts of California, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. Scientists who examined carcasses think the deaths are likely...
Each year, AWI and allies attend the Seafood Expo Global—the world’s largest seafood trade exposition—in Brussels. Companies from nearly 90 countries are represented, including many with ties to shark finning, fisheries bycatch of endangered and...
AWI has been following the situation involving dozens of wild belugas and orcas captured in the Sea of Okhotsk last summer and held ever since in the so-called “whale jail” in Nakhodka, in Russia’s Far...
In 1999, the Makah Tribe of northwest Washington killed a gray whale, the first killed by the tribe since the late 1920s. The kill was made after the US government obtained a quota from the...

Terrestrial Wildlife

Steel-jaw leghold traps and snares are a global brutality without a meaningful global response. Despite being prohibited in most countries, such devices are widely set in wildlife habitats across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. They...
To the intense dismay of conservationists and animal welfare advocates, Botswana has lifted a 5-year-old ban on elephant hunting. The Botswana government claims there is growing conflict between the animals and humans; many suspect the...
In March, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) released a report titled Evaluating the Taxonomic Status of the Mexican Gray Wolf and the Red Wolf. The report, commissioned by the US Fish...
It was our intent in this issue of the Quarterly to provide a summary of outcomes from the 18th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species...
A highly coordinated international operation targeting the illegal trade in reptiles has resulted in the largest reptile bust to date. Coordinated by Interpol and Europol, “Operation Blizzard” (April 12–May 22) involved law enforcement agencies from...
Rabies is a zoonotic disease caused by a deadly virus that attacks the central nervous system of mammals. The disease is usually transmitted by a bite from an infected animal. According to the Centers for...
In May, the United Nations issued a grim assessment of the state of global biodiversity and ecosystem services, revealing that approximately 1 million animal and plant species are threatened with extinction, more than ever before...
In March, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) released a proposed rule to fully delist all gray wolves (Canis lupus) across the contiguous United States except the Mexican wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) in Arizona...

Government Affairs

The dismantling of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) by the USDA continues unabated. The entire program—inspections, long-standing policies, and enforcement—is in shambles, leaving animals with virtually no protection. And gleaning what is happening is no...
To protect some of the world’s most endangered marine species, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation unanimously approved two bills: the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act (S 877) and the Driftnet Modernization and...
Representatives Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ) and David Schweikert (R-AZ) have reintroduced the Traveling Exotic Animal and Public Safety Protection Act (TEAPSPA), which would amend the Animal Welfare Act to prohibit the use of exotic animals...
The US Department of Agriculture published a proposed rule in March that should end the rubber-stamping of renewals for dealers and exhibitors licensed under the Animal Welfare Act, regardless of whether they comply with the...
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Take Reduction Teams—composed of industry leaders, scientists, nongovernmental organizations, and state and federal officials—advise NMFS on reducing harm to marine mammals from fishing gear. In April, the Atlantic Large...

In Remembrance

AWI and the entire conservation community were heartbroken to learn of the loss of our dear friend and colleague, Joanna Toole, a victim of the Ethiopian Airlines flight that crashed on departure from Addis Ababa...

Reviews

In Mama’s Last Hug: Animal Emotions and What They Tell Us About Ourselves, de Waal illuminates the continuity of emotions between humans and other animals with perfect examples of grief, humor, empathy, guilt, shame, pride...
Humans kill an estimated 100 million sharks every year. Sharkwater: Extinction—the second shark documentary directed and written by the late Rob Stewart—seeks to expose practices that contribute to the cruel and unsustainable slaughter of the...
What are the consequences of gray wolves being returned to Yellowstone National Park? How do salmon fertilize trees? Why aren’t we neck-deep in dead animals? Do trees migrate? How do earthworms affect wild boar populations?

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