Despite significant public outcry and prolific evidence of the inherent dangers of the devices, the Environmental Protection Agency reauthorized the use of M-44 sodium cyanide bombs in early December
After significant public outrage regarding the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to reauthorize M-44 “cyanide bombs” to kill predators, the agency reversed course. One week after the initial announcement, the agency said it was withdrawing the interim reauthorization and would reevaluate the safety of the devices.
AWI seeks stronger protections against all forms of abuse, mistreatment, and neglect of equines, both wild and domestic. We campaign to end the slaughter of American horses and promote humane management techniques that allow wild equines to remain with their family bands on the range.
Equine rescue owners and horse enthusiasts from around the country gathered in Orlando on May 5-7 to expand their network and share best practices at the fifth annual conference of the Homes for Horses Coalition (HHC). The HHC is sponsored by the Animal Welfare Institute and The Humane Society of the US.
While all the talk coming out of Washington is about cutting spending, a few politicians are quietly trying to restore funding for the slaughter of horses for human consumption - which would also necessitate resurrecting an expensive federal inspection program that ended six years ago!
Today, a diverse group of equine industry and animal welfare organizations announced the “Final Stretch Alliance to End Horse Slaughter”—a collaborative effort to permanently ban the slaughter of American horses.
The House of Representatives passed two of AWI’s equine welfare priorities as part of the transportation and infrastructure package (HR 3684). One is an amendment banning the transport of equines to slaughter.
Equine welfare advocates from around the country gathered this week in Nashville to discuss horse rescue outreach at the fourth annual conference of the Homes for Horses Coalition. Sponsored by The Humane Society of the United States and the Animal Welfare Institute, the conference attracted more than 40 individuals representing 25 equine welfare organizations from 18 states.
Anson Wong, one of the world’s most infamous traders in illegal wildlife, has been jailed for attempting to smuggle a cache of snakes and a turtle into Indonesia from Malaysia.
Fish tanks are ubiquitous—found in doctor’s offices, Chinese restaurants, corporate headquarters, and in millions of homes throughout the world. Some studies report that they reduce anxiety, stress, and blood pressure, calm hyperactive children, and provide some relief for those suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
On October 16, 2015, Alice Ra’anan and Bill Yates of the American Physiological Society published a blog post for Speaking of Research entitled “Caveat Emptor,” with the subtitle “A current USDA case involving a major antibody producer underscores the need for the research community to demonstrate its commitment to high standards of animal welfare.”
In May 2014, the European Union’s (EU) 2009 ban on imports of commercial seal products was upheld by an appellate body of the World Trade Organization after a challenge from Canada and Norway (see Summer 2014 AWI Quarterly).
The European Commission’s EU Action Plan released this week falls short of protecting and restoring marine species, and jeopardizes continued access for EU fish products to the lucrative US seafood market, according to a coalition of animal welfare and conservation groups.
On the eve of inter-governmental meetings in Brussels and Geneva in June and July to debate the fate of elephants, a group of conservation organisations requests all EU governments to urgently halt all commerce in ivory and to destroy all remaining stockpiles. New data shows escalating exports of ivory from the European Union to China and worldwide. The organisations warn that any legal loophole in ivory trade creates the opportunity to launder poached ivory into “legal” trade and thus fuels the killing of elephants.
An alliance of 13 leading conservation groups is this week urging major buyers at Europe’s biggest seafood trade show not to do business with Icelandic seafood company HB Grandi because of its strong links to whaling. HB Grandi is controlled by the whaling and investment company Hvalur hf, which plans to kill 770 endangered fin whales during the next five years and sell the resulting meat and blubber to Japan.
A large, three-part playground for captive chimpanzees was constructed and evaluated in terms of area use and behavior changes. Comparative behavioral samples were obtained on 38 subjects in the existing indoor-outdoor run and in the enclosure. The chimpanzees used the inside run, connective chute, concrete slab, and grass areas most. Activity and environmental manipulation increased in the enclosure while abnormal and self-directed behaviors decreased.
The effect of a compatible companion on the behaviour and bodyweight of eight previously single-caged, 31-36 years old rhesus macaques was assessed 16 months after pair formation. The aged subjects preferred to stay in close proximity with their companion even though this reduced their available cage space. They spent on average 21% of the time (3 one-hour observations in the morning, at noon and in the afternoon) interacting with the companion in noninjurious species-typical ways.
Provision will soon become mandatory to enrich the environment of singly caged nonhuman primates in the research laboratory environment. Specific objects such as puzzle feeders have been recommended [1]. Bloom's study raises the important questions of how much time do environmental enrichment objects actually distract an animal and are different objects equally effective.
The eastern box turtle is collected in enormous numbers for the illegal wildlife trade. Only a portion of this trade is detected, and when it is, wildlife agencies must decide what to do with those animals. Their longevity (40+ years) makes such turtles both challenging to maintain in captivity and extremely valuable to the conservation of wild populations. Illegally collected turtles are often subjected to inhumane conditions prior to their confiscation; thus, supportive care prior to release may be critical to the success of any subsequent repatriation efforts.
In this period of canceled travel plans and rarely venturing past one’s own front porch—if it can be helped —living vicariously through the adventures of people such as Charles Bergman, the author of Every Penguin in the World: A Quest to See Them All, has become one way to remain connected to the planet and its nonhuman inhabitants.
A new, enhanced environment can give animals an opportunity to explore and interact. However, when animals are presented with these novel environments, they can be conflicted, with fear of the novelty opposing an instinctual desire to explore.
Though they’re usually intervening in illegal immigrant and drug trafficking schemes, Chilean officials put the kibosh on a massive illicit shipment of 427 exotic animals en route from Peru to Chile early this year.
In 2002, a subspecies of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin was identified in the coastal waters of western Taiwan: Sousa chinensis taiwanensis, now known as the Taiwanese white dolphin (TWD).
