Digital Commons Network^™

To The Rescue

Serial - All Animals 2009-15

Exotic cats escape backyard squalor; new life for nearly 250 Chihuahuas and shar-peis

President's Note

Serial - All Animals 2009-15

No abstract provided.

Front Lines

Serial - All Animals 2009-15

Targeting Asian Dog Meat Trade; Beneficent Birthdays; Youngster Speaks Out for Sharks; No Justification for Tail Docking; Man-Made Oases for Wildlife; Honoring Corporate Leaders

Community

Serial - All Animals 2009-15

No abstract provided.

Q&A

Serial - All Animals 2009-15

Making Waves

“When a coastal species suffers, surfers are there to bear witness”: Professional wave rider Dave Rastovich is the prince of tides for denizens of the deep.

Humane Living

Serial - All Animals 2009-15

Summer Chillin’

Languid lizards, sluggish squirrels, overheated orioles? Help backyard wildlife beat the heat with DIY dipping spots and shade zones.

In the Limelight

Classical music goes to the dogs with A Grateful Tail; book explores canine smarts; documentary highlights orphaned orca’s plight.

Hometown Heroes

Serial - All Animals 2009-15

One Clear Moment

Entering a puppy mill facility six years ago, Theresa Strader discovered her life’s mission. Her National Mill Dog Rescue group has since saved thousands from breeding mills.

Celebrating Animals

Serial - All Animals 2009-15

Photos from our readers

Firing Back On Lead Shot, Jennifer Weeks

Serial - All Animals 2009-15

California condors and golden eagles are just two of 130 species suffering the effects of lead ammunition. An HSUS-backed bill in California would force hunters to get the lead out.

What A Difference A Day Makes, Ruthanne Johnson

Serial - All Animals 2009-15

Born in WWI patriotism, Meatless Monday has undergone a revival—spurred by human health, animal welfare, and environmental concerns. Millions are heeding the call for reduced meat consumption, while innovative dishes are making Monday the most flavorful day of the week.

Your Pet

Serial - All Animals 2009-15

Backup Plan

Estate planning experts and others urge pet owners to prepare for the worst—to ensure the worst never befalls their faithful companions.

Industrial Farm Animal Production And Livestock Associated Mrsa (Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus)

Agribusiness Reports

Staphylococcus aureus is a leading cause of bacterial infection and is increasingly found to be resistant to antibiotic therapy. A newly described type of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus carried by farm animals, Livestock Associated MRSA (LA-MRSA), is now causing infections in humans with and without direct livestock contact. A reduction in the non-therapeutic use of antibiotics in feed would likely reduce the capacity of industrial animal agriculture to continue to create, disseminate, and perpetuate a large reservoir of LA-MRSA on a global scale, but more fundamental changes in the way animals are raised for food may be necessary forestall a …

The Public Health Implications Of Intensive Farm Animal Production In South Asia

Agribusiness Reports

Intensive farm animal production (IFAP) is being increasingly implemented to meet the rising demand for animal source foods in South Asia. The siting of IFAP facilities in urban or peri-urban areas leads to large proximate animal populations, increasing human exposure to pollutants and pathogens. Improperly managed wastes from IFAP facilities and abattoirs can contaminate water with excess nutrients, pathogens, veterinary pharmaceuticals, antibiotics, heavy metals, and hormones, and can release ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, volatile organic compounds, bioaerosols, and particulate matter into the air compartment. The unregulated nature of IFAP in South Asia creates a risk for zoonotic transmission, including anthrax, brucellosis, …

Would You Save A Puppy Or A Child From A Burning Building?, Harold Herzog

'Animals and Us' Blog Posts

A new study shows when we choose pets over people.

Environmental Impacts Of One Puppy Mill Among Many: A Case History, John A. Gill

Puppy Mills Collection

In recent decades, the animal welfare aspects of irresponsibly-managed commercial dog-breeding businesses have attracted national attention, prompting legislative and regulatory actions. However, the environmental impacts of such businesses, also known as puppy mills, have received far less attention. Most puppy mills are secretive; therefore, it is hard to get documented information about their environmental impacts. Although the former Whispering Oaks Kennels near Parkersburg, W.Va., also kept secrets, reliable environmental information regarding its operation became available because in the summer of 2008, Wood County cited the facility for violating the State’s water pollution and solid waste statutes. This report is based …

Can Acute Dermal Systemic Toxicity Tests Be Replaced With Oral Tests? A Comparison Of Route-Specific Systemic Toxicity And Hazard Classifications Under The Globally Harmonized System Of Classification And Labelling Of Chemicals (Ghs), Nigel P. Moore, David J. Andrew, Donald L. Bjerke, Stuart Creton, David Dreher, Thomas Holmes, Pilar Prieto, Troy Seidle, Tim G. Rowan

Experimentation Collection

Acute systemic toxicity data (LD50 values) and hazard classifications derived in the rat following oral administration and dermal application have been analysed to examine whether or not orally-derived hazard classification or LD50 values can be used to determine dermal hazard classification. Comparing the oral and dermal classifications for 335 substances derived from oral and dermal LD50 values respectively revealed 17% concordance, and indicated that 7% of substances would be classified less severely while 76% would be classified more severely if oral classifications were applied directly to the dermal route. In contrast, applying the oral LD50 values within the dermal classification …

Rescued Goats At A Sanctuary Display Positive Mood After Former Neglect, Elodie F. Briefer, Alan G. Mcelligott

Sentience Collection

Moods influence cognitive processes in that people in positive moods expect more positive events to occur and less negative ones (“optimistic bias”), whereas the opposite happens for people in negative moods (“pessimistic bias”). The evidence for an effect of mood on cognitive bias is also increasing in animals, suggesting that measures of optimism and pessimism could provide useful indicators of animal welfare. For obvious ethical reasons, serious poor treatments cannot be easily replicated in large mammals in order to study their long-term effects on moods. In this study, we tested the long-term effects (>2 years) of prior poor welfare …

Environmental Change Alters Personality In The Rainbow Trout, Oncorhynchus Mykiss, Ashley J. Frost, Jack S. Thomson, Charlotte Smith, Hannah C. Burton, Ben Davis, Phillip C. Watts, Lynne U. Sneddon

Sentience Collection

Boldness is a personality trait that defines how individuals respond to risky situations and has clear fitness consequences. Since the adaptive value of boldness is context dependent, the benefit of a distinct personality is less clear when the environment is unpredictable. An ability to modulate behaviour can be beneficial, although as behavioural plasticity itself may be costly this depends on the levels of environmental stability. Both boldness and its plasticity are linked with physiological stress coping mechanisms, whereby animals with reduced glucocorticoid responses to stress are bolder and less flexible in behaviour. We investigated the behavioural changes made by bold …

Site Fidelity And Homing Behaviour In Intertidal Fishes, Gemma E. White, Culum Brown

Sentience Collection

The theory of ecological cognition poses that the brains and behaviour of animals are shaped by the environmental challenges they face in their everyday lives. Site fidelity and homing ability was tested for five species of intertidal rock pool fish by tagging and displacing them to new rock pools at various distances from their ‘home’ rock pools. Three of the species were rock pool specialists whilst the remaining two spend a small proportion of their life in rock pools during early ontogeny. The three specialists showed strong site fidelity with >50 % of individuals found in the same pool 42 …

Are Juvenile Domestic Pigs (Sus Scrofa Domestica) Sensitive To The Attentive States Of Humans? The Impact Of Impulsivity On Choice Behaviour, Christian Nawroth, Mirjam Ebersbach, Eberhard Von Borell

Attention Collection

Previous studies have shown that apes, dogs and horses seem to be able to attribute attentive states to humans. Subjects chose successfully between two persons: one who was able to see the animal and one who was not. Using a similar paradigm, we tested a species that does not rely strongly on visual cues, the domestic pig (Sus scrofa domestica). Subjects could choose between two unfamiliar persons, with only one showing attention, in three different conditions (body, head away, body turned - head front). Subjects (n = 16) only showed a tendency towards …

Conceptualising The Impact Of Arousal And Affective State On Operant Conditioning, Melissa J. Starling, Nicholas Branson, Denis Cody, Paul D. Mcgreevy

Animal Training and Obedience Collection

Animal training relies heavily on an understanding of species-specific behaviour as it integrates with operant conditioning principles. Following on from recent studies showing that affective states and arousal levels may correlate with behavioural outcomes, we explore the contribution of both affective state and arousal in behavioural responses to operant conditioning. This paper provides a framework for assessing how affective state and arousal may influence the efficacy of operant training methods. It provides a series of three-dimensional conceptual graphs as exemplars to describing putative influences of both affective state and arousal on the likelihood of dogs and horses performing commonly desired …

Marine Invertebrates: Communities At Risk, Jennifer A. Mather

Ecological Impacts of Climate Change Collection

Our definition of the word ‘animal’ centers on vertebrates, yet 99% of the animals on the planet are invertebrates, about which we know little. In addition, although the Census of Marine Life (COML.org) has recently conducted an extensive audit of marine ecosystems, we still do not understand much about the animals of the seas. Surveys of the best-known ecosystems, in which invertebrate populations often play a key role, show that the invertebrate populations are affected by human impact. Coral animals are the foundation of coral reef systems, which are estimated to contain 30% of the species in the ocean. Physical …

Animal Welfare And Food Safety Aspects Of Confining Broiler Chickens To Cages, Sara Shields, Michael Greger

Agribusiness Collection

In most areas of the world, broiler chickens are raised in floor systems, but cage confinement is becoming more common. The welfare of broiler chickens in cages is affected by movement restriction, poor bone strength due to lack of exercise, and prevention of key behavioral patterns such as dustbathing and ground scratching. Cages for broiler chickens also have a long history of causing skin and leg conditions that could further compromise welfare, but a lack of controlled studies makes it difficult to draw conclusions about newer cage designs. Cage environments are usually stocked at a higher density than open floor …

Community

Serial - All Animals 2009-15

No abstract provided.

President's Note

Serial - All Animals 2009-15

No abstract provided.

To The Rescue

Serial - All Animals 2009-15

Cats find shelter after the superstorm; Rosie goes from dogfighting victim to artist’s inspiration.

Front Lines

Serial - All Animals 2009-15

Big Pork’s Big Scam; Horse Slaughter in the Spotlight; Filling Their Bowls; Conscious Capitalism; Meat-Free in L.A.; A Friend to Greyhounds

Fair Game?, Micheal Sharp

Serial - All Animals 2009-15

“It’s shoot first, ask questions later”: States are rolling back protections for gray wolves on the heels of the species’ fragile recovery. In Michigan, an HSUS-supported coalition is taking the issue to voters.

Haven Can’T Wait, Julie Falconer, Michelle Riley

Serial - All Animals 2009-15

A Louisiana sanctuary prepares to welcome more than 100 chimpanzees being permanently retired from research—the latest and most tangible milestone in a decades-long push to end invasive experiments on our closest genetic relative.

Hometown Heroes

Serial - All Animals 2009-15

Restaurants for Rescue

“The more money we make, the more we’re able to help more animals”: On a 61-acre Virginia ranch, entrepreneurs funnel day-job profits into helping cats and dogs.