Summer is great for the elderly pooch, especially with a light T-shirt on for sun protection
But winter feels just miserable... Can't we breed iggies who are more heat-efficient?
I believe that the best, fastest way to change the status quo is if everybody who has a favourite breed could try to identify, honestly, both the positive and the negative welfare aspects of this breed—and accept the possibility that its appearance may have to change in the future. Confronting ourselves in this manner may be hard, but one day our dogs will be thankful that we did it. Just like our choices as farmers or consumers affect the lives of billions of sentient farm animals, our choices as breeders or members of the dog-buying public matter greatly to the world’s dogs.
With this belief, I will start with myself. I adore sighthounds – especially the smallest among them, the Italian greyhounds. My computer and drawers are full of “iggy” and greyhound pictures: photographs, old paintings, calendars. For 13 years, I owned a wonderful male Italian greyhound called Ernesto, or “Nesto.” Fortunately, despite the rarity of these dogs and the inbreeding atrocities visible in Nesto’s pedigree just four generations back, he didn’t suffer from the ailments commonly listed in breed descriptions – such as Progressive Retinal Atrophy or von Willebrand Disease. He did have epilepsy, though (and a family history of epilepsy), but he was lucky to be relatively unaffected by it, as it occurred only a few times in his life – which is not the case with all epileptic dogs.
“It is fascinating to speculate how dogs and humans might co-evolve further. We cannot say exactly what the domestic dogs of the future will look like because we do not know what future humans will need and therefore value. But pedigree dogs, as they are currently defined, are doomed.”
–Paul McGreevy, comment in The New Scientist (“We must breed happier, healthier dogs,” 8 October 2008)
Irish Wolfhound Sam, photo by Tirwhan, Wikipedia
Contributed by Alina Lilova
In my early teens, I used to worship the world of the dog fancy, which I was familiar with through hobby magazines and occasional direct contact. I could recognise dozens upon dozens of breeds, I would read their entire standards, I thought dog shows were fascinating, and I dreamt of studying “cynology,” or canine science.
How disenchanted I am today. Over the years, I slowly came to realise that canine science rests on shaky biological grounds because it is not dog-centric as its name implies. The individual dog doesn’t matter as much as the frozen ideal of the breed. Selective breeding isn’t used to create happy and well-adjusted family pets, but to improve “breed quality,” i.e. match ever more closely what the dog looked like in a mythical past or will look like in a utopian future, as laid out in the sacred books of the kennel club. Other concerns exist, but they are secondary.
Obsessively pursuing the Breed Standard like a pack of hounds, breeders risk losing sight of the animal welfare problems that come with their quest. The first problem is inbreeding, or the crossing of related individuals. While many laypeople believe that pedigrees serve to make sure no close relatives are mated, in fact the opposite is often true. The second problem is exaggerated physical traits: dog shows, like those fashion shows with super-skinny models, don’t always have the participant’s welfare in mind. In this article, I’m going to discuss the two issues as well as give my amateur opinion on the historical roots of the problem. Read the rest of this entry »
1. Start by putting a layer of leaves in to the container. Compact them down dense.
2. Sprinkle bits of dog food
3. Add more leaves and compact
4. Drizzle honey over the leaves
5. Add more leaves and compact
6. Repeat this process until the container is full
7. Take to the enclosure and gently turn the container upside down and shake out the cake
As you may have guessed this cake is not fit for human consumption but I know a couple of sun bears that enjoyed it muchos. The leafcake is excellent environmental enrichment and could be adapted for other species. It allows the bears to express their motivation to forage and use their senses of touch and smell to find the food. It also prolongs the feeding process and gives them something to do. Animals in captivity can become very bored and it is important to provide environmental enrichment that allows them to express their natural internally motivated behaviours. These bears spent ages delicately sifting through the leaves to find the food and licking the honey coated leaves. They really seemed to enjoy themselves.
British newspaper ‘The Sunday Times’ led an investigation in to allegations that Japan has been bribing smaller nations to vote in favour of allowing commercial whaling to recommence after a 24 year ban!
Many land-locked and/or poor countries have recently joined the International Whaling Commission after receiving large sums of ‘aid’ from Japan and several countries have admitted they vote ‘pro-whaling’ because of the ”help” Japan has given them.
It appears that Japan is recruiting small nations in need of financial aid to join the whaling commission to bolster the number of pro-whaling votes. When the ban came in to place in 1986 anti-whaling countries far out-numbered pro-whaling nations. However over the years more pro-whaling nations have joined the commission – some of them completly land-locked. Most of the anti-whaling nations are European with the notable exceptions of Denmark and Norway. However Europe must vote as a block and if they can’t agree all 22 European members will have to abstain from the vote – further bolstering Japans chances of success!
Actress Emily Deschanel is best known for playing a forensic scientist on the popular american crime show ‘Bones’. However she is also an animal advocate and has been vegan for 16 years. At a recent fundraiser for farm sanctuary she spoke about her reasons for becoming vegan and why she supports farm sanctuary.
I came across an excellent environmental enrichment idea for long beaked birds such as toucans and hornbills. An ingenious individual has adapted the popular game ‘Kerplunk’ to keep the birds entertained. The birds must pull chopsticks out of a tube to obtain the treats hidden inside. You can read more about it here .
Captive animals can become very bored and develop abnormal behaviours because their behavioural repertoire is so restricted in captivity. Animals prefer to work for food because it stimulates their foraging instincts. Animals have evolved to find the process of searching for food rewarding through the release of happy hormones such as endophins. So animal keepers must find ways to simulate natural behaviours in an unnatural environment to ensure good welfare.
Orangutan Outreach along with several other small organisations based in Asia have started a rescue mission in Borneo. There are hundreds of orangutans kept in small private cages all over borneo. It appears that it is often the case that the mothers are shot for meat and the babies are sold as pets only to live a life of misery – tied up or trapped in tiny cages, suffering from parasites, malnourishment and psychological torment.
If you are interested in finding out more about the rescue mission and endevour to create a sanctuary for these animals – please read this blog. It is fascinating, awe inspiring and heart-breaking. The people involved in this are true heroes and we must support them.
If you have any veterinary experience or experience of looking after wild animals – please consider volunteering!
The International Whaling Commission (IWC) will be meeting on 21st June to discuss a possible lifting of the commercial whaling ban. The IWC regulates the whaling industry and is responsible for the ban on commercial whaling which came in to force in 1986. However the commission is largely focused on regulating the whaling industry so that it can be sustainable and the ban had little to do with animal welfare. Whale stocks were hunted to near extinction and a ban was necessary. However three countries; Japan, Norway and Iceland have continued to hunt whales. Iceland and Norway have objected to the ban and set their own hunting quotas – ignoring international law. Japan operates it’s whaling industry under the guise of ’scientific’; research – the ban allows for limited whaling in the interest of scientific research. Australia have recently filed a suit claiming that Japanese whaling has nothing to do with science and is more commercially motivated.
At the upcoming meeting members will vote on a deal which will see the end to the ban and legitimize commercial whaling. The proposal would allow the three countries that have defied the ban to hunt legally provided they kill less whales than they have been doing illegally. This is a ridiculous proposal, it’s like telling a criminal that their activities are no longer illegal but as a trade-off they can no longer commit the crime so often. Firstly they probably won’t listen because they have already shown they have no respect for the law. Secondly, the international community should not bow to bully nations throwing their weight around. Thirdly, it completely disregards the fact that whaling is inherently inhumane and as such should not be inflicted on any number of whales.
How to Help
I have scouted around the net for various ways you can show governments and the IWC that you do not want to lift the ban on commercial whaling:
1. Everybody can sign this petition to the Norwegian Government here
2. Everybody can join WSPA Australia’s campaign to give the whales a voice. They are asking everyone to record messages to the International Whaling Commission which they will take to the meeting on June 21st here
3. In America you can write a letter to your senator asking them to support the International Whale Conservation Protection Act here. The USA is as ever a key decision maker and it id vital that they vote against lifting the ban.
4. Email the International Whaling Commission to tell them what you think at secretariat@iwcoffice.org
5. In this international community it is important that we all show our national representatives how we feel. You can find the name of the representative of your country in the IWC here. Please contact them and tell them how you would like your country to vote.
Australia took a decisive step to protect whales, filing a suit in the International Court of Justice against Japan’s “scientific whaling” in the Southern Ocean. The suit seeks an injunction to bar Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean Whaling Sanctuary a 50-million square kilometer area surrounding the continent of Antarctica, where the IWC has banned all types of commercial whaling.
This news comes as the International Whaling Commision meet to discuss a possible compromise with whaling nations that would allow them to resume commercial whaling with the understanding that they abide by quotas. The IWC is the body responsible for the management of whaling and its main purpose is to regulate the whaling industry. Established in 1946, in 2008 it has over 79 member countries.
Australia claims that Japan has abused its right to conduct scientific research whaling under Article VIII of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, which provides for a scientific exemption. They also assert that Japan has breached the terms of CITES by hunting endangered whale species. In 2008-09 Japan killed 1,004 whales, including 681 in the Southern Ocean. Since the moratorium came into effect, more than 33,000 whales have been killed under the scientific exemption clause.
The Australians are willing to call Japanese whaling what it is — a mockery of science and a crime against nature. Lets hope the rest of the international community back them up on this one!
Firstly, apologies for my lengthy absence from this e-zine. I was in Sulawesi, Indonesia for just over a month volunteering at an animal rescue centre. Then upon my return I was mentally and physically exhausted and spent the last few weeks sleeping metaphorically and physically. However with a rising mojo I am back! Sometimes we all just need a little time out, especially in fields where you care deeply about issues that are so wide-spread and commonplace that it can tie you up in knots trying to figure out where to begin.
I digress, back to April when I went to volunteer at Tasikoki Animal Rescue Center. Now despite my passion for animal welfare, up until this point I had never volunteered in the ‘field’ unless you count my local RSPCA cat shelter. It was a total shock to the system which wasn’t helped by the severe sun burn and heat stroke that struck me on my stop-over in Singapore.
The first night there was unbearably hot and I didn’t sleep a wink. So I was up and showered by the time the alarm clock went off at 5.30 am! Simon took us on our first day to show us the ropes. It was hot and tiring. There are a lot of hills in Tasikoki. I was also terrified of the Macaques. They were stressed and scared – much like myself. I was shocked by the conditions that they were living in. I thought to myself that their enclosures wouldn’t pass a lab inspection back in the UK. Aside from two release groups in Large open enclosures, the other macaques were kept either in solitary cages and slept on bars or in what I called cell block H where they live in small concrete enclosures with chicken wire walls. I couldn’t decide which was worse, the macaques in solitary looked worse off because of the bars and isolation but they were a lot calmer than those in cell block H. I think this was because in the cell block the macaques had no visual escape from each other, which caused a lot of stress and aggression. Read the rest of this entry »
