New year's hopes for animals' better lives

January marks a new year in animal advocacy, along with countless hopes for the better.

We’ll start close to home, with the latest story about the big, bad, black bears of New Jersey -- at least as they’re viewed by wanna-be trophy hunters. 

The recent Times of Trenton story about the Sussex county woman bitten by a bear before the animal then mauled one of her two dogs to death provoked more questions than answers.  Reportedly, she put her garbage out (in a bearproof trash can?  aware that two bears were in the vicinity? . . .) then let her two dogs out (hoping they’d chase or vanquish the bears? or, if she was unaware of the bears, without checking outside before letting her pets out?).

That was the beginning of the end.  One bear grabbed a dog and as the woman fought with the bear (?!) to free her pet, the bear bit her on the leg, then took the dog off to maul to death.      

Admittedly, the story was strange and sketchy, but seemed to indicate the woman took one, shall we say UN-intelligent, step after another.  Later coverage included the claim that there are way too many bears in NJ, and promoted the need for bear hunts.  That last came as no surprise, since last fall’s hunt had been cancelled, much to the chagrin of hunters seeking trophies.  

Donkeys: most of us probably think little more about them than “what’s the difference between donkeys and mules?” or similarly ignorant questions.  

What we don’t know is that donkeys are being slaughtered in great numbers globally for their skin, a derivative of which is "used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat anemia, insomnia and reproductive issues,” according to a Washington Post article (as was the bullfighting story above).

“Traditional Chinese medicine” is the bane of numerous animals – including  rhinos and pangolins – and now we know it takes nearly 5 million donkey hides a year to meet China’s demand for them.  

Now, besides from China itself, hides stolen from remote parts of Africa (economically dependent on donkeys) and the US (via Mexican slaughterhouses) are also reaching China, altogether decimating the global population of donkeys --already regarded as “one of the most maligned, mistreated and misunderstood animals on the planet.”

Toreador, en garde!

Possibly coming soon: the end of bullfighting (at long last) in Mexico City, where the world’s largest bullfighting arena offers “the oldest incarnation” of this “sport”?  It involves “bulls raised for the fight and usually dying in the ring at the tip of the matador’s sword.”  

Yes, end it, say modernist opponents whose proposed legislation would prohibit the “barbaric anachronism.”  But it’s part of our history, claim traditionalists who   support “an ancestral tradition.”

Entitlement and dominionism for humans; cruel, drawn-out public execution for animals.  The bill to ban bullfighting in Mexico City – seen as modernism vs. traditionalism -- is expected to be acted on early this year.

Bullfighting is a sentence to public execution coupled with a torture session, and filet mignon is nothing but a piece of cadaver under cellophane. –Brigitte Bardot

. . . where the air is rare

Once thought to be aloof toward their peers, giraffes are now known to “have lunch buddies, stand guard over dead calves and stay close with their mothers and grandmothers.”

Female giraffes even bond with other females, besides forming day care-like arrangements, taking turns babysitting and feeding each other’s young.  Giraffes are now seen as “socially complex creatures, akin to elephants or chimps.”

This link details such true “tall tales”:  https://tinyurl.com/muk5rw8x

If you’ve never noticed giraffes’ hornlike ossicones atop their heads, look now.  Those appendages play a huge (and high) role in giraffe fights, which may be rare, but can also be fatal. 

With those weapons, a giraffe can wound or kill an opponent.  As for why they may fight and who can fight whom, as well as their surprising sportsmanlike approaches, this link leads to details. https://tinyurl.com/2p8d7h5r

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Please make a new year's resolution: comment on this post at 1moreonce.blogspot.com