We can’t blame animal hosts for virus; it’s OUR fault

I think I could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and self-contain'd, I stand and look at them long and long. . .  --Walt Whitman (1819-1892), Song of Myself, 32 

                                                   Jenny Desmond-HSUS pic

What to do to get through this pandemic – and all the other issues that keep us awake at night and worried all day?  There are myriad suggestions out there to take our minds off current events and scary headlines, and I’m going to try a variation of one of them: binge-watching. 

Instead of movies or TV shows, though, I’m going to set aside a few hours to look at one Dodo video after another, immersing myself in animal stories.  And animals, after all, “do not sweat and whine about their condition,” as Whitman wrote, and “Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with the mania of owning things,/ Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that lived thousands of years ago. . .”

I'll have popcorn.  And sheer pleasure.  Join me: newsletter@thedodo.com!

But . . . at some point, “the Dodo escape” will end, as it must.  The “real world” awaits.  (And no, a voluntary coma till early November is not an option.)  I and we have to buckle down and get through all this.  

From the overabundance of pandemic-relief info out there, I’ve found two sources to see or read that put things in perspective and suggest directions for action – because we can’t just sit here and hope for the best.

In order of sheer usefulness, first comes a documentary about “How to stop the next pandemic,” produced early this month by the New York Times.  In 14 minutes, it tracks new infectious diseases from 1940 till now, showing the steady increase in their numbers.  Frighteningly, “It’s not just Covid-19.  Pathogens once confined to nature [i.e., wild animals] are making their way into humans on a more regular basis.”

That’s the fault of choices we have made, the film makes clear.  Making better choices in future might head off the next pandemic.  https://www.nytimes.com/video/health/100000007293397/covid-pandemics-causes-documentary.html    

Next up: what is really an adventure story written in the form of an article about how viruses move from wild animals to humans – told from the viewpoint of one virus doing exactly what it exists to do: extend itself “as much as possible in abundance, in geographical space and in time.”  What could be better for an ambitious virus than to spill over into humans, with practically unlimited potential . . .?! 

Starting out small, very likely living in bats isolated in caves or forests -- its natural or reservoir hosts -- the virus may meet up with a potential new host who preys on bats, captures them or shares the same cave: humans. When a virus moves from a non-human animal to a human being, the virus becomes a zoonosis, and “the resulting infection is a zoonotic disease.”

                                          
                                               Denver Post pic

As the article makes clear, this viral path has become more and more common.  For instance, the AIDS pandemic also happened this way, with a virus moving from a chimp to a human.  And we know the rest.

Author of this article (and the book Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic), David Quammen puts the blame for Covid-19 squarely on the “catastrophic failures of human foresight, communal will and leadership.”  (Only consider what you’ve already read, and rued, about poor preparation despite warnings, selfish 

behavior by myriad humans and lack of a united front.)  https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/19/opinion/sunday/coronavirus-covid-evolution.html

The end of this story remains to be written, of course.  Right now, it’s a cliffhanger: will humans get smart, unite and defeat this virus?  Or will the virus prevail, taking its cruel toll indefinitely?  

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Endangered species stamps available again! 

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Crunch time for our bears & debt to our dogs

                                               

We’re in the midst of a killer pandemic, an economic crisis and a school crisis, while also at the start of the (“regular”) flu season.  Do we really need a bear hunt next month in New Jersey?  Sure, we never “need” a bear hunt here, but having one this year is even more misguided than any “usual” year for it. 

And yet, right now, the bowhunt portion of the 2020 bear slaughter is scheduled to begin October 12, about three weeks from now.   

What to do? 

The Bear Group, a program of the Animal Protection League of NJ (aplnj.org), offers a number of steps.  

First, By next Thursday, Sept. 24, phone 609-292-6000 and ask the governor to do two things: 

(1) issue an executive order to cancel the bear hunt immediately on all public and private lands in New Jersey;  

(2) cancel future hunts by granting the rule-making petition filed by APLNJ/Bear Group and a coalition of like-minded groups.  If granted by the governor, this petition would repeal DEP’s current rule (the Black Bear Management Policy), which makes it legal for bears to be hunted.

(If you can’t get through on the phone, please use this webform:  https://www.nj.gov/governor/contact/all/

Twitter: @GovMurphy #SaveNJBears  

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/governorphilmurphy)

Second, sign and share Senator Ray Lesniak’s bear protection petition:

https://www.lesniakinstitute.org/bears/#section1

Third, to keep up with what’s happening, join Monday’s Bear Group Town Hall Zoom Webinar at 7 pm (EDT) Sept. 21.  Register in advance, after which you’ll receive a confirmation email with info about joining the webinar.

https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_bEn9R7HVSmyTdiSZGeNjbw

Time is quickly running out for our bears -- please take action now!

A sign of the times  (seen at an area veterinary hospital) 

Returning pet favors

“When we were lonely and afraid and didn’t know where else to turn, our dogs stepped up and gave us the emotional support we so badly needed.  So in our new normal, we must pay them back at least some of what they gave us.”

That couldn’t be better said, could it?  We may clutch our animals (cats included!) for comfort, but do we give thought to giving back to our pets once we feel better and they may need support? Those early pandemic “shelter at home” days have loosened, and some of us now venture out beyond the supermarket.  Or we’re deep in Zoom meetings at home or even back to work (at work!).

Sampa

But what about the animals who were there for us when we needed them?

Able to form strong emotional bonds across species, dogs give unconditional affection.  But “separation anxiety” could set in as the pandemic wanes and people get out more, sentencing their faithful dogs to solitary confinement: not at all a fair return on their love investment!

(You’ll enjoy the many dog-people photos with this story.)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/lifestyle/dogs-loneliness-coronavirus/?utm_campaign=wp_animalia&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_animalia

A dog to remember

Speaking of dogs – always easy to do – I came upon a wonderful tribute to a dog, Zuzu, who played a big part in her owner’s life and Washington Post illustrations.  “A wonderful ambassador for her breed,” Zuzu “so effortlessly filled my world and unleashed in me a bottomless supply of love,” Nick Galifianakis wrote.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/19/AR2010081906354.html?tid=lk_inline_manual_55

True flight of fancy

 When the trumpet vine covering our backyard arbor came to blooming life this summer, I learned its red-orange flowers are trumpet-shaped (silent) standouts that attract hummingbirds. In that case, I hope recent visitors to the flower bunches spread the word and come back next year. 

No wonder I could barely see these birds: they beat their wings up to 80 times per second, I’ve read – an exhausting lifestyle!  To insert their long thin bills into flowers to extract the nectar, hummers hover in midair.

They also enjoy bee balm, salvia, coral bells, columbine and hostas before flying south for the winter.  (And given our recent cold snap, I hope they’re already en route.)

And finally, lest we forget:

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A call to re-start active animal advocacy

Summer’s pretty much over, school’s pretty much starting and at least some people are (pretty much!) getting back to work.  The weather will cool off soon, and there’ll be a brisk snap in the air.  It’s time for animal activists to get a move on!  

The Animal Protection League of NJ (aplnj.org) is ready and waiting for us.  Here’s what’s been happening.

It all starts with an issue: New Jersey black bears . . . and the bear hunt scheduled for next month (Oct. 12-17), with two more in December.  That’s right: Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, with all its horrors, bear hunts will go on – unless those of us who are against them for myriad strong reasons can prevail over Gov. Phil  Murphy and the state Division of Fish and Wildlife (DFW).

                                                                                 APLNJ pic

The groundwork to fight NJ bear hunts has been laid.

A new coalition against the hunts is the first thing to know about.  “The New Jersey Black Bear Coalition”  includes former state senator Raymond Lesniak (long a fighter for animals here), Robert Torricelli, former US senator, and over a dozen state and national organizations, including the Animal Protection League of NJ and its Bear Group program, the Humane Society of the US,  the Sierra Club NJ chapter, the Animal Legal Defense Fund and New Jersey Voters for Animals.   

In a July letter to Gov. Murphy, the Coalition urged him “to issue an executive order to stop the 2020 hunt in its entirety because the hunt is not consistent with your prior actions to ensure public health during the pandemic, is not based on science, and ignores public opinion against the hunt.”

A Lesniak-Torricelli op-ed published last month in InsiderNJ vividly describes the hazards of bear hunts in the midst of a pandemic, closing with “Our coalition’s request to suspend the 2020 black bear trophy hunt would remedy these problems, maintain the credibility of the governor’s prior efforts to flatten the curve, and protect public health.”  

https://www.insidernj.com/governor-murphy-ban-2020-bear-hunt/

Senator Lesniak has produced a petition against the bear hunts that everyone is invited to sign.  Here’s the link: https://www.lesniakinstitute.org/bears/#section1.  Please sign it now, and pass the link on to others you know would want to sign.

“Only a knucklehead would kill a bear,” billboards around the state will declare, urging people to “Tell the governor . . .  Stop the hunt."    

This month, each organization in the coalition will hold independent-but-standardized ZOOM meetings with members, so watch for APLNJ’s meeting notice.  Angi Metler, the organization’s founder and executive director, anticipates a ZOOM rally at some point after the meeting. 

The coalition is developing several initiatives, starting with a rule-making proposal for the Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) to change its approach on bears.

‘Fish gotta swim. . . '

A writer who looks on hawks, squirrels, lizards and moles with equal respect and affection, Margaret Renkl writes a regular column for the NYTimes about flora, fauna . . . and living.  Her latest piece describes the animals specified here, all doing their thing.  She understands why the hawk must chase the young squirrel, why the lizard keeps a careful eye on her and why the mole must dig. 

                       Eastern Mole                                            Getty pic 

Renkl agrees with poet William Blake that “every living thing is holy” – illustrated again in her earlier column (linked inside this one) with her reaction to the death of a feral cat. 

And since we’re mounting a statewide defense of our black bears, the belief that “every living thing is holy” is especially timely.  

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/31/opinion/hawk-lizard-mole-human.html?campaign_id=39&emc=edit_ty_20200831&instance_id=21773&nl=opinion-today&regi_id=20760274&segment_id=37211&te=1&user_id=a360dad7b26df61ea65737080d3deedd

P.S.  If you didn't sign and share Senator Lesniak's petition (above) with others, please do it now! 

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