Winning a needed veto & making fear-free shelters

                                                                           APLNJ pic

Which tactic worked to cause Governor Phil Murphy to veto the “beaver trapping” bill that would have allowed more trappers to kill more beavers?  Much as we appreciate his move, we still need to know what reaches him so we might try the same approach with other pro-animal bills.

It’s doubtful he has a fondness for beavers -- or most wild animals. Was his veto just one small way to appease animal welfare advocates who have been on his case for breaking his campaign promise to stop the bear hunt?

The end of the legislative session brought one other (temporary) triumph for animals; the “deer poaching” bill (A3242) was not posted for a vote, as had been expected.  Why not?  Because “We lobbied very hard and educated legislators.  Members reached out to their assembly members and met with them in their districts.  A number of legislators were not in favor of the bill,” says Janine Motta, programs director with the Animal Protection League of NJ (APLNJ.org).

But, she warns, “This bill has reared its ugly head for 5 sessions (since 2011) and sure enough, Senator Smith, the prime senate sponsor all along, has already introduced it this session -- S335. So we continue our fight.”

To the question “What tactic works,” the answer seems to be: “Fight for animal welfare issues on every possible front.”

 

Fear-free animal shelters

Animal shelters: In my experience, not desirable places for animals to be, although sometimes a necessary evil. My visits to seemingly “good” shelters were infrequent; who knows what they were like day-to-day.

Animal shelters: held to be particularly bad for cats by an organization that should know:  the Association of Shelter Veterinarians, the group that released “Guidelines for Standards of Care in Animal Shelters” in 2010 -- guidelines that even today very few shelters have met.  

When I volunteered at an area shelter, I wished I could “transform how shelters make animals (and people) feel,” to borrow a phrase from a recent Animal Sheltering magazine article describing that very thing.  Preferring a gentler way of treating shelter animals than what she saw, author Brenda Griffin, DVM, tried different techniques “to calm nervous animals.”   

“Nervous”?  Well, of course.  Who wouldn’t be, in a new place with many other animals, strange noises and smells, and people coming and going, often moving fast and talking loud. 

We know how our own negative emotions can affect how we feel and behave; it’s the same with animals in a stressful new place.  Calmly and purposefully, Dr.  Griffin writes, we should approach an animal slowly, from the side, instead of approaching her quickly head on.  And because direct eye contact can be threatening, we should gaze off to the side.

Buster

Affiliated with “Fear Free” Shelters and Homes, she advocates minimizing potential stressful sights, sounds and smells by closing doors, limiting foot traffic and draping a blanket or towel over a cage door to provide privacy for the occupant.  Speaking softly and playing calming music at low volume also helps. 

Do’s and don’ts for creating the desired shelter atmosphere include positioning an animal on a pillow or padded (familiar) bed, rather than on a slippery, cold table top for an exam or procedure.  Tasty treats raise the comfort level too.  

Using “classical conditioning” helps shelter pets learn to associate things there with positive emotions, rather than with stress or frustration -- which can lead to suppressed immunity, increased risk of infectious disease and behavior problems.

We would prefer such treatment if we were in the animals’ position, wouldn’t we?  The golden rule applies.

https://www.animalsheltering.org/magazine/articles/taking-fear-out-shelteringhttps://www.animalsheltering.org/magazine/articles/taking-fear-out-sheltering

https://fearfreeshelters.com/

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Care for foie gras? (The world should say, ‘No!')

Mulard ducks

Imagine a goose or a duck, both sentient beings like us, with perceptions and feelings.  Instead of living normal lives, though, those creatures are fed and fed beyond their desire and beyond capacity. Then they’re slaughtered so their fattened livers can be served to humans as a special and pricey treat.  What a life.  

A so-called “delicacy of French cuisine,” foie gras (“fwa-gra”), or “fatty liver,” is derived from the liver of a goose or duck that has been fattened by a process of force-feeding known as gavage. Through it, the bird consumes more food than would be eaten in the wild or domestically; its liver can grow 6-10 times its normal size and often the animal can’t even stand or walk.  

Despite the fancy-sounding name, foie gras production is hideously cruel -- still another example of how people use non-human animals for their own purposes.

Those involved in producing foie gras take advantage of some waterfowls’ ability “to expand their esophagus and to gain weight, particularly in the liver, in preparation for migration. Unlike many birds, geese and ducks lack a crop.  In the wild, esophageal dilation allows them to swallow large foodstuffs, such as a whole fish, for later digestion.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foie_gras

                      Gavage                                           c. Gaia

Effective in 2022, New York City has banned foie gras as “inhumane” -- much to the dismay of restaurants that serve it, people who eat it and owners and workers at two duck farms in Sullivan County, NY, where most of the foie gras consumed in the US is produced.  Immigrants involved in foie gras production there depend on their jobs and farm owners fear the worst once they can no longer raise, force feed and slaughter the birds involved. 

In this one instance of animal cruelty, however, the times are changing.  The practices behind foie gras are losing support, and the workers’ and farmers’ wish to continue gavage -- treating helpless sentient animals with gross cruelty -- will stop.  As ways of thinking about animal welfare have gradually changed (“finally,” some might say!) new ways of earning a living will be needed. 

This is much the same situation as that facing Canadians who club baby seals to death for their fur: some (great) day coming, they too will have to make a living some other way. 

    

As a point of interest, foie gras is already banned in California, as well as India, Israel and Britain.  Even where it’s legal, some retailers don’t stock it: Whole Foods stopped selling the product in 1997. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/17/nyregion/foie-gras-farmers.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/30/nyregion/foie-gras-ban-nyc.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_191031?campaign_id=2&instance_id=13420&segment_id=18380&user_id=a360dad7b26df61ea65737080d3deedd&regi_id=207602741031

Phone the governor -- asap!

Beaver

Depending on when you read this, there may still be time -- and it’s worth the try! -- to phone Governor Murphy (609-292-6000) and urge him to veto the dreadful “beaver trapping bill” (A2731/S3407) now on his desk.  He has till noon on Tuesday to decide whether to serve the tiny number of beaver-trappers in NJ or to honor the many of us who continue fighting the increase in trap numbers -- for good reasons.  

Simply removing trapping limits will do absolutely nothing to mitigate any problems caused by beavers.  Worse, trapping beavers is horrifically cruel, with beavers often getting clamped in painful traps and being left to drown to death.

Humane and environmental groups in NJ have worked with local towns on beaver management with proven, non-lethal methods that are NOT harmful to ecosystems and are humane.  We should be addressing this issue in 2020 based on sound science, not 18^th century methods.  New Jersey needs a comprehensive beaver management plan.  

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Are we seeing the beginning of the end of pork?

Chinese pig farm

Pork: the most consumed meat in the world, particularly popular across Asia.  Pigs: born to die, to feed this global hunger.

Two variables may put a huge cramp in this consumption, ultimately allowing more pigs to be born . . .  and live. In order of occurrence, the first is African Swine Fever, now spreading around the world (not in the US) killing huge numbers of pigs.  Already, a quarter of the global pig population has been wiped out, and millions of pigs are still dying in Asia.

“Harmless to humans, this virus kills nearly every pig it infects, and there’s no vaccine.”

Historically, pigs’ ability to “turn garbage -- long their traditional food -- into meat” made them indispensable to poor villagers from Southeast Asia to England and, after 1492, in the Americas as well,” the Washington Post reports.  

Chinese pig farm -- after swine fever

Wherever that feeding practice still survives, and food scraps including virus-laden pork are still fed to pigs, they are far more susceptible to catching Swine Fever.   

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/01/06/why-global-swine-fever-epidemic-is-hitting-poor-people-hardest/?utm_campaign=opinions&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=Newsletter&wpisrc=nl_opinions&wpmm=1

The second variable that may ultimately let more pigs live is non-pork “pork.” (You probably saw this coming, after the fanfare for  “Impossible Burgers” and their kin.)

Impossible Food will introduce two plant-based pork products designed to win over some of the world’s billions of pork eaters.  (Just think about that number of consumers, then the number of pigs it would take to feed them all.)  

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/01/06/impossible-foods-is-finally-making-new-fake-meat-pork/?utm_campaign=todays_headlines&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=Newsletter&wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1

Alba, freed lab pig

“Impossible Sausage” will start out at 139 US Burger King locations; there’s no release date yet for “Impossible Pork.” Impossible Foods has said its primary motivation for plant-based products is to decrease meat’s impact on the environment, which is why it started with “beef”  products, and eliminate animal farming altogether by 2035.  

Helping our environment while helping animals: if that’s not a win-win, what is?

Exercise or cruelty?  

On a cold, windy January day, a muffled-up man rides his bicycle while holding onto the leashes of two dogs running on his right side.  How do they know to stop when he stops, say, at a corner stop sign?  And what if they stop, to relieve themselves, for instance -- what then? 

Will they be dragged along for a while till the cyclist realizes what’s up?  And overall, how long is he going to run the dogs, considering the weather, their ages and health? 

To me, this looked like a cruel stunt.  Does anyone reading this know more about it than I do?  Is there anything redeeming to say about this 3-way exercise in which 2/3 of those involved are exercising involuntarily?    

Read on!

Tiger

In case you’ve already run through your holiday reading list, an animal-friendly librarian has let us know about this new book: Animalkind: Remarkable Discoveries About Animals and Revolutionary New Ways to Show Them Compassion, by Ingrid Newkirk and Gene Stone.  

The authors emphasize the importance of having "love, understanding, and respect for all animals," which includes not using them for scientific and medical research, clothing, entertainment, and food.  They discuss sea and air migration; communication among frogs, primates, and birds; cognitive abilities; courtship and fidelity; grief and mourning; animal empathy; and various forms of play.

Rats

"Animals love," they write. "They grieve.  They feel emotional pain.  They worry.  And they can anticipate pain."  Newkirk (PETA founder and president) and Stone also campaign against cruelty and exploitation.  Pointing out that animal testing is an "extremely wasteful" method of finding treatments for human diseases, they cite several effective noninvasive research methods. 

Not content to merely describe the injuries to sheep during shearing, they also advocate for  plant-based and synthetic alternatives to wool.  And, allied with both concern about climate change and the growing number of non-meat “meat” products (see elsewhere here on “pork”), Newkirk and Stone advocate "a whole-food, low-oil vegan diet" of plant-based substitutes for meat, eggs, butter, and cheese. (excerpted from a Kirkus review) 

Blue Shark

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Happy new year (limited edition)

Pangolin

So, a new year.  But alas: we still have many of the same old troublesome people and problems -- some of them measurably, frighteningly worse since 2019, just last week!

We can work to control some things; others, not so much or not at all.

Dare we hope that for animals, 2020 will be a better year?  I’d love to say that African elephants and other endangered wildlife will make a comeback; that pangolins will no longer be the world’s most trafficked animal; that migratory birds -- and Monarch butterflies -- will travel more safely and reach their destinations . . . .

But I can’t.  

  

Monarch butterfly

Here in America, federal roll-backs and weakening of animal protection regulations and laws (the Endangered Species Act, just for one) will only make life harder for animals.

We can’t despair and give up.  We can’t fix everything that’s wrong for animals, but we can choose our battles -- “No one can do everything, but everyone can do something” --.and keep fighting.  This may be a time to “think globally, act locally.”

And we can appreciate and laud other good things that have happened for animals, such as a heroic rescue of animals in one Australian zoo and a brighter (alive!) future for countless fur-bearing animals here.

Words nearly fail in describing the wild fires raging in Australia: apocalyptic, hellish, end of the world.  To people and animals in the fires’ relentless paths, it must be terrifying.  Human deaths are mounting, while animal deaths are incalculable.

Koala

But a wonderful thing happened at Mogo Wildlife Park, home to the country’s largest private collection of exotic animals: zoo staff saved every one of the 200-some animals there from the raging fires! 

Either they took animals home with them -- the zookeeper housed monkeys and pandas in different rooms at his home, while a tiger was sheltered in another staff member’s back yard -- or they sheltered zoo residents in place (how do you take a giraffe or rhino home?!), sprayed down their enclosures and stamped out small fires as they occurred. 

.https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2019/12/31/zoo-director-takes-monkeys-pandas-home-save-them-deadly-wildfires/

No such good news for Australia’s “fragile colonies of koalas,” hit so hard by the fires that their deaths in great numbers have (already!) been called “a national tragedy.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2019/11/15/australia-fire-koala-bear/

fur-bearers rejoice

The HSUS last year announced two great steps forward for fur-bearing animals: First,

“Macy’s Inc. — the parent company of the iconic American department stores Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s — says it will go fur-free by the end of 2020. This includes permanently closing all of its fur vaults and salons, areas of the store dedicated to fur products.”

Probably Macy’s Inc. saw the financial writing on the wall: fur sales are declining as anti-fur activists gain influence.  But that’s OK!  We welcome this move for whatever reason, and as HSUS and HSI have done, we’ll work to make “fur-free” a universal concept.

Fox & kits

In a second positive step for animals, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill banning the sale and production of animal fur products statewide, effective Jan. 1, 2023.  (And before that, he had signed another groundbreaking animal rights bill banning commercial and recreational fur-trapping in the state.)  New Jersey legislators: are you reading this?

more cozy cats!

Long impressed by a cat rescue volunteer who faithfully cared for feral cats in her neighborhood, I’ve followed the subject. And now, it’s winter, cold and uncomfortable for New Jersey’s outdoor cats.  Unlike us, they can’t just bundle up.

Here are two links for caring “cat people” wanting to help cats living outside, with options ranging from the simple to the practically palatial.  As you help, please remember: “straw” is the magic word.

https://www.aspcapro.org/resource/spay-neuter-feral-cats-starting-program/top-ten-tips-caring-ferals-winter

https://www.neighborhoodcats.org/how-to-tnr/colony-care/feral-cat-winter-shelter

Tortie in snow

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Not your usual end-of-year appeal

This will be an appeal, or three appeals really, but there’s nothing traditional about them!

                                                                                             H. Marcoux pic

• First, please care for animals who still need and deserve homes for the holidays and beyond.


• Be alert to cats and dogs who need rescue and love, as well as the warmth a home would offer. You might check your area animal shelter and ask around: does anyone know of a needy homeless pet during this season of giving?  


• Second, assemble a pet disaster kit.    

Yes, this winter-holiday hubbub will die down, and yes, you’ll get past all the shopping, wrapping, visiting and festivating.  Then, before the next extreme event of any kind can happen -- and you know one of them is bound to affect you, me and us at some time! -- this appeal:  please make time to assure your pets’ safety before disaster strikes. 

Take it in steps: (1) Through Friday, January 3, 2020, just think about a disaster kit for your pets. And then, (2) assemble it.  (How?  you say.  Easy.  The ASPCA poster below will guide your thoughts now, and then later, your actions.) 

          ......... ASPCA Pet Disaster Preparedness Plan ..........

 Tips to keep companion animals safe in time of disaster

Never Leave Your Pet Home Alone
The safest place for your pet is with you, so if you must evacuate, take your animals along.
Check Boarding Place
Make sure it’s not in a flood plain and will be attended throughout a storm. Ask if crates are available for transport and if they have an evacuation plan – and get their emergency contact number.
Ask For Help
If you live in a high-risk area, arrange ahead of time for you and your pet to ride out the storm with friends in safe zones. Or check with hotels in safe areas to see if they will permit you to stay there with your pet.
Have Carriers Ready
Make sure travel carriers are safe, the right size, and easily available. And make your pet’s carrier a fun and safe place throughout the year by adding treats, toys and meals on a routine basis.
Have Medication Plan Ready
Talk to your veterinarian about medication options if your pet is fearful of thunder or travel.
Prepare a Travel Kit
Include food, water, bedding, towels, medical supplies, bathing supplies, flea/tick control and leashes – and have enough of everything to last two weeks.
Provide Plenty of ID
Do not assume your owner tag will immediately reunite you with your pet. If your neighborhood is evacuated and phone lines are down, or your pet is lost during travel, it may be months before you are contacted. Include several forms of ID on your pet’s collar, including a temporary tag with the phone number of a friend or relative outside your immediate area.
Microchip Your Pet
Make sure your chip is registered and that the contact information is updated. Keep current photos. Always have current photos of your pet with you – they can greatly aid in reuniting you with a lost pet. Report a loss immediately. If you become separated from your pet during a storm or evacuation, report it immediately to area humane societies, law enforcement and animal control agencies.
Volunteer
If you are untouched by a natural disaster, your volunteer time may be invaluable in helping those less fortunate.                          
                                                 .......... ASPCApro.org  ..........

 ·    Third, and most important if the two earlier appeals are to happen: please take good care of yourself, to take better care of animals!

Wishing animals and people a happy, healthy 2020!  (Will return early next year.)

                                                                                                                                                                               Dodo pic

  

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‘Culture’ can kill -- in Puerto Rico & everywhere

Cockfighting will soon end in Puerto Rico.  As of Friday, Dec. 20, the island’s “national sport,” declared to be part of its culture, will be illegal.

Needless to say, myriad Puerto Ricans who raise fighting birds and make a living off their deaths, are not happy.  Some have vowed to continue cockfighting underground.  Others have decried their livelihood loss.  Many have argued that the values of people on the mainland are being imposed on PR.

  

Finally reaching a longtime goal -- ending all spectator sports that pit animals against each other (think dog fights) -- the Humane Society of the US (HSUS) had long lobbied Congress for this prohibition, built into last year’s federal farm bill.  

Kitty Block, HSUS president, said, "Cruelty is not culture . . .  it's important to look at what [cockfighting] is, and what it's doing to the animals.   These are birds that are armed with weapons, and they slash eyes out . . . it's a brutal blood sport that should've gone a long time ago."

But, claimed some of those who raise and care for their birds (or the ones with potential, anyway), cockfighting is a “gentleman’s sport”!  To which Block responded, “Tossing animals into a ring to tear each other apart is anything but gentlemanly.”

https://www.peta.org/issues/animals-in-entertainment/cruel-sports/cockfighting/

“It’s part of our culture!” has been the protective cry of inhabitants to all those trying to stop the clubbing of baby seals in Canada for their fur. This hideously cruel centuries-old practice continues today despite protests from around the world, some countries’ banning of imported seal skins and even a drop in demand.  

“It’s part of our culture!” animal hunters and trappers have cried over the years.  And they’re still at it.

Accompanying the rising death toll for horses involved in horseracing, “It’s part of our culture!” the owners, gamblers and fans still cry -- in spite of 37 horse deaths at California’s Santa Anita racetrack alone since the end of last year.

Here’s a heartbreaking fact: “[M]any of the horses have seen so little of life they’ve never eaten a carrot.  Thoroughbreds die at the track, and . . . they all die young.”  Is that a fair fate for horses?  Is that what they’re alive for -- at too young an age being forced to race, to suffer injuries, to be put down?  

But “Years are expensive in the Thoroughbred industry, and years are what horses need,” says Sally Eckhoff, who knows and loves horses, and who wrote “These Horses Are Too Young to Die.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/30/opinion/sunday/horse-racing-early-deaths.html

What’s the beef?

The competition between beef and beef-substitutes is heating up.  So quickly successful have the ersatz burgers (the Impossible Burger and the Beyond Burger) become that beef producers are now fighting to halt those companies from describing their products as “meat.”  And raising questions about their healthfulness.   

Meanwhile, the beef-free substitutes are being gobbled up.  Two recent periodical articles have broken down the issues, and if you want to know more, I suggest the New York Times story linked below or the longer New Yorker article (“Value Meal,” September 30, 2019).

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/03/well/eat/fake-meat-vs-real-meat.html?te=1&nl=well&emc=edit_hh_20191205?campaign_id=18&instance_id=14271&segment_id=19300&user_id=a360dad7b26df61ea65737080d3deedd&regi_id=2076027420191205

A winsome relief

               Narwhal                        Dodo pic

With NJ’s notorious bear hunt starting up again this week, so needlessly and unfairly, let’s close on a happier note, about a puppy -- but not your usual puppy, adorable as s/he would be.  This sweet brown pup was born with an extra tail, short and soft although not waggable, on his head.

A rare birth defect, the half-size tail isn’t harming him and may stay right where it is, say those caring for the little guy.  For now, “Narwhal,” named for the whale variety with a unicorn-like horn in front, is just having puppy fun.   

https://newsletters.thedodo.com/t/ViewEmail/d/5F5F6CCDEA04CED32540EF23F30FEDED/083127FDFB36BBC9A0F01D70678E0DEE

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New & unfinished animal business

In an important first for animals in the US, a federal ban on animal cruelty, the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act (PACT), was signed into law on Nov. 25.  From the Washington Post:

“The bipartisan bill, which passed the House and Senate earlier this year, will outlaw purposeful crushing, burning, drowning, suffocation, impalement or other violence causing “serious bodily injury” to animals. Violations could result in a fine and up to seven years’ imprisonment.

“Advocates say the Pact Act . . . will fill crucial gaps in national law, which bans animal fighting as well as the making and sharing of videos that show the kind of abuse the Pact Act would criminalize.

“All states have provisions against animal cruelty, said Kitty Block, president of the Humane Society of the United States, but without a federal ban, it’s hard to prosecute cases that span different jurisdictions or that occur in airports, military bases and other places under federal purview . . . ”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2019/11/25/most-animal-cruelty-isnt-federal-crime-that-changes-monday-when-bipartisan-bill-becomes-law/   

2^nd chance dogs were catalysts

                  Oliver        WP pic

In my Oct. 7 post, I cited a Washington Post article that had traced all the dogs rescued from Michael Vick’s dog fight ring 12 years ago.  Since then, some of the organizations that had favored euthanizing all such dogs changed their views because of how well the Vick dogs did after rehab.   

So I invited specifics on just how animal organizations have changed their stand on this topic.  Here’s the response from Brian Hackett, HSUS-New Jersey State Director, State Affairs (bhackett@humanesociety.org):

Regarding dog fighting victims: The Vick case created an opportunity for organizations like Bad Rap in CA to evaluate each dog individually and make determinations based on their behavior.  They then were allowed to pull the adoptable dogs and work to find them homes.

                            Audie                                 WP pic

 It was a groundbreaking time both in terms of an organization advocating for the placement of the adoptable dogs but also in terms of law enforcement and prosecutors being willing to allow them to be transferred.  Until that case, it was the policy of many shelters and national orgs, including HSUS, to euthanize all dogs from fighting cases.

This was partially a lack of education about their behavior, partially that there were so many other dogs being euthanized at the time for space, and partially liability concerns.  Now, HSUS and many other orgs assess each individual from these cases so that the adoptable dogs can be placed.

We also now advocate for changing state or local laws that require euthanasia of dogfighting victims – I did just that by working hard earlier this year with Best Friends to repeal that law on our books and revise the dangerous dog law, so now only 8 states remain to do so and NJ is no longer one (Gov. Murphy signed this bill into law earlier this year) . . .

Senior pets may be the neediest

So it’s December, and even though “national adopt a senior pet month” has ended, it’s hard for me to stop pitching the idea -- no, the need! -- to adopt older pets.  I didn’t hear from anyone who did so last month so I'll just hope it happened.

As for me, I followed my own advice and visited the Trenton Animal Shelter, where I volunteered for a few years a while ago.  Cats in residence were older than 2.  I’ll check on dogs’ ages next time, gather more info and then report in.

“My face may be white but my heart is pure gold. There is no shame in growing old.”  That quote tugs on the heart strings, doesn’t it?  So does this sad, sad story of Cinnamon, a cat abandoned at age 17, then fostered in a loving place where she ever-so-slowly forgave and came to trust humans again. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq2dn5R1p7I

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