Month: May 2014
“At a loss to understand….” – Letter from a Utah resident
Utah crows need your help
Click on the link below, to see how to send an email to help prevent a crow hunt from taking place in Utah. It doesn’t matter what country or state you live in, your help will be much appreciated…
Egypt: Feeding the Pyramids animals
ESAF (the Egyptian Society of Animal Friends) continues their program of feeding and treating the Pyramids animals. These are horses, camels, and donkeys who would normally be giving rides to tourists – perhaps not a great life for the animals at the best of times. But during the times of unrest in Egypt, since 2011, when there have been almost no tourists, life has been tough for the owners, who often have no income and no way to care for their animals.
ESAF and other Egyptian animal groups have been stepping in to provide food and veterinary assistance to the animals.
The camels, donkeys, and horses all need help. The camels tend to fare a bit better in difficult times since they are hardy desert animals, as are the donkeys; so it is especially the horses who need extra feeding and care.
ESAF has expanded their work to more areas to reach more animals. The total number of animals fed and treated from February 1 through April 30 was 8,311.
The working animals need on-going vet care – attention to their hooves and teeth, and care for wounds caused by saddles and by wire nose bands. The ESAF vets care for the horses and donkeys, fitting them with fly masks to keep the flies away and with soft nose bands to replace the wire ones.
Beginning May 1, they added carrots and clover to give the animals more nutrition – which is a tasty treat too, welcomed by the animals.
Ahmed El Sherbiny, Chairperson of ESAF, EFAW, and MENAW writes, “The tourism business is still almost nonexistent, but we hope it will be improved after the presidential election, May 26-27, and the parliament election too by the end of August… Many thanks to SPANA, Animal Aid Abroad, Sue Evans and her UK group, and Mr. Richard Gabriel for their generous contributions to support this important project.”
Thanks to ESAF for faithfully feeding and giving vet care to the Pyramids animals.
Photos: Courtesy of ESAF
To visit ESAF’s facebook page, click here.
Central American dogs and cats getting some help from SNIP
By Sharon St Joan
When an elderly Guatamalan man brought his young pup to be spayed, both looked hopeful, though a little apprehensive, but all went well. She sailed through the surgery with flying colors, and he was grateful that he won’t have to worry anytime in the future about having too many puppies to care for.
SNIP works with many other animal organizations throughout Central America to get community dogs and cats spayed/neutered – or “snipped.” Carla Ferraro, SNIP’s Founder and Executive Director, has developed an amazing, highly successful program.
Veterinarians are trained in the Small Incision Field Surgery Program, then they conduct low-cost spay/neuter clinics. The clinics benefit the vets too, since they gain new clients when the dogs and cats are brought back to them for vaccinations and any vet care that’s needed.
One of the unique features of SNIP’S program is that their first step is to identify a few community leaders in every new city they go to. It only takes a few, very committed local people – then these leaders organize events and act as a bridge to the rest of the community – explaining what spay/neuter is and why it’s a great idea. With the help of volunteers, these community leaders set up spay/neuter clinics, raise funds, and make sure everything is running well for the benefit of the dogs and cats and their people.
SNIP’s emphasis is on community animals living in low-income neighborhoods, where they often roam the streets. Dogs and cats may have one person who cares for them – or they may rely on several families to feed them and keep an eye on them. People want to do what’s best for their animals, but sometimes they’re not familiar with spay/neuter and its benefits in preventing a situation where there are too many animals to feed and care for – so explaining why it’s such a good idea is essential.
Now, 30% of the community dogs and cats in Costa Rica have been spayed and neutered – and SNIP’s goal is to bring it up to 70%. 30% is already a huge leap forward – from a time not so long ago when spay/neuter was almost unheard of in many rural communities. And Costa Rica is already a no-kill nation!
SNIP, working with local animal groups, conducts many clinics in Costa Rica and Panama. The recent clinic in Guatamala was a wonderful success, with many people bringing their animals.
To visit SNIP’s website, click here.
To visit SNIP’S Facebook page, click here.
Photo: Courtesy of SNIP
United States songbirds migrate with the wind, new study
This video from Canada says about itself:
Indigo bunting, Blackburnian warbler, stop on migration at my bird feeder
14 May 2013
My first sighting of Indigo bunting, Blackburnian Warbler, photos and video on their way North, Woodslee, Ontario.
From Wildlife Extra:
US songbirds are found to migrate with the wind
Millions of tiny songbirds, many weighing less than an ounce, migrate thousands of miles from North America to Central and South America each year. How they do it has been somewhat of a mystery, but now scientists have discovered how far they take advantage of prevailing wind patterns to save calories.
“Most of what we’ve known about migration routes comes from ducks and geese,” said Frank La Sorte, a Cornell Lab of Ornithology research associate and lead author of the paper in the Journal of Biogeography. “But terrestrial birds are much smaller and…
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‘Sea anemone’ not a sea anemone, new research says
Peaceful fish swim among beautiful sea anemones — and a new order of sea animals
This video is called Wonderful World – Sea anemones.
From Wildlife Extra:
Study of sea anemones leads to new branch on the tree of life
A deep-sea animal with tentacles more than six and a half feet long was once thought to be one of the world’s largest sea anemones, but has now been reclassified as belonging to a new order of animals and is not a sea anemone at all.
This animal, previously called Boloceroides daphneae, was discovered in 2006 in the deep east Pacific Ocean and labelled as one of the largest sea anemones in existence. But a new DNA-based study led by the American Museum of Natural History shifts it outside of the tree of life for anemones. Instead, researchers have placed it in a newly created order—a classification equal to carnivoria in mammals or crocodilia in reptiles—under the sub-class Hexacorallia, which…
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Study: Global Veganism Would Reduce Carbon Emissions More Than Energy Intervention
Producing nearly 15% of the Earth’s greenhouse gas emissions, the meat industry is one of the top contributors to climate change. Slowly, very slowly, movements like Meatless Mondays and Vegan Before 6 have demonstrated the value, and deliciousness, of adopting a vegan diet, but a carnivorous diet is still seen as evidence of prosperity.
In 2009, researchers at the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency calculated that global veganism would reduce agriculture-related carbon emissions by nearly 17%, methane emissions by 24%, and nitrous oxide emissions by 21% by 2050.
The researchers discovered that worldwide veganism, or even just worldwide vegetarianism, would achieve gains at a much lower cost that an energy intervention, like carbon taxes, for instance.
The study demonstrated tremendous value of a vegan or vegetarian diet in staving off climate change, but there are so many other benefits as well. Antibiotic resistance stemming from the meat consumed…
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American crows, new studies video
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology in the USA writes about this video:
To Know the Crow: Insights and Stories From a Quarter-Century of Crow Study
Thursday, April 24th, 2014
American Crows have followed us into our suburban and urban neighborhoods, becoming one of our most familiar birds. They have socially intricate lives, with more complex goals than converging at your local dumpster—in fact, socially, they are probably more like us than any primate. Ithaca is home to the longest running study of marked American Crows anywhere: it is now 26 years since Kevin McGowan first began banding them.
McGowan, a scientist who works in the Cornell Lab’s Education program, and his collaborator Anne Clark, of Binghamton University, gave a seminar about their research to a packed house at the Cornell Lab. Watch this archived video of their talk to hear their crow studies and stories, including tales…
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India: Press statement on The Hon’ble Supreme Court’s Verdict on the use of bulls in entertainment
Not a jallikattu bull, this bull was rescued from illegal transport by Blue Cross of India.
By Dr. Nanditha Krishna
May 7th, 2014 will go down in the history of India for the landmark verdict given by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India to ban the use of bulls for entertainment. This includes jallikattu, rekla (bullock cart) races and horse-and-bull races.
I am extremely delighted and would like to take this opportunity to congratulate each and every one who has worked for years to achieve this verdict.
I must particularly mention and thank Mr Jairam Ramesh who, as Minister for Environment and Forests, banned the use of bulls as performing animals in 2011. Subsequently, the Tamilnadu government permitted jallikattu through the Tamilnadu Jallikattu Regulation Act of 2009, while the Ministry of Environment and Forests withdrew its own Gazette notification through an affidavit to the Supreme Court this year. The Animal…
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Art, animals, and the earth 