Digital Commons Network^™

Local Action For Animals As A Stepping Stone To State Protections, Jo Anderson

Law

Municipal ordinances can be an effective way to create animal protection laws at the local level, and could lead to great success at the state level. Passing laws at the local level allows people to help animals in their communities, while providing a model for other cities and jurisdictions. Local laws can also create momentum for statewide initiatives, which demonstrates a state’s strong commitment to protecting animals.

Legislation is a key avenue animal advocates use to effect change at scale, but there is not much research about how to choose tractable issues and lobby for them successfully. The goal of …

Going Vegan Or Vegetarian: Barriers And Strategies On The Path To Success, Jo Anderson

Diet

This is the third and final report in our series describing the results of Faunalytics’ longitudinal study of new vegans and vegetarians (veg*ns). It focuses on the critical issue of barriers and supports facing people who start a new veg*n diet, as well as the effectiveness of various strategies.

The United Nations, Animal Welfare And The Environment, Andrew N. Rowan, Kathleen Rowan

WellBeing News

A sustainable global future requires the world to address the well-being of not only people but animals and the environment. This view is also the founding premise for WellBeing International (WBI). A one-minute video produced by WBI includes the following message. “A responsible caretaker of our world must safeguard people, animals, and the environment for each element is tightly connected and depends on the well-being of the others.”

WBI is encouraged by the recent resolution on the nexus between the well-being of people, animals, and the environment passed at the fifth United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-5). However, considerable effort will …

United Nations - Convention On Biological Diversity And Cop15, Adeline Lerambert

WellBeing News

With wildlife and biodiversity in an unprecedented crisis, pressure weighs heavily on the UN‘s Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), a multilateral environmental treaty that went into effect in 1993.

In December 2022, the CBD’s fifteenth Conference of Parties (COP15) will convene in Montreal to adopt an updated post-2020 Global BiodiversityFramework (GBF). This Framework replaces the 2011-2020 strategic plan including the Aichi five goals and twenty targets. These targets have not been met and now need to be updated.

Planning for this update on a new Global Biodiversity Framework at COP15 began in 2016. COP15 was initially scheduled to be held …

Pet Dog Supply And Demand In The United States, Andrew N. Rowan

WellBeing News

To the surprise of many animal advocates, discussions are taking place this year on whether there may be too few dogs to support demand in the US. The campaign that began in the 1970s to reduce dog over-supply has been very successful. In 1973, approximately 7 million dogs were euthanized in shelters when the pet dog population was around35 million. In 2021, 300,000 dogs were euthanized in animal shelters, but the pet dog population had grown to somewhere between 65 and 90 million, depending on which survey is consulted. Although 300,000 is still too many dogs, it represents more than …

Vaccinations, Vegans, And The Problem Of Moral Consistency, Harold Herzog

Herzog - Dietary Issues

Vegans typically not only avoid the consumption of animal products, they also oppose animal research. However, the development of vaccines to prevent or lessen COVID symptoms may be an exception. Various positions are discussed.

One Health For The Sdgs But Also For Nature And Animals, Andrew N. Rowan

WellBeing News

Earlier this year, an open-access paper on One Health and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs) was published (in the CABI One Health journal). The authors (from institutions in the USA, Sweden,and Brazil) noted that human, non-human, and environmental health are linked in the One Health framework. The authors also argued that animals matter for sustainable development, although animal welfare is currently not included in sustainable development governance. For example, they state that “the2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development includes 17 goals and 169 targets on topics ranging fromhunger and poverty to peace and justice.” Several SDG targets address biodiversity and the …

Recent Surge In Monkeypox In Non-Endemic Countries: Concern For Public Health?, Satisk Kumar Gupta, Phd

WellBeing News

As the world learns to live with the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, another zoonosis caused by a monkeypox virus (a cousin of smallpox) is appearing in America, Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and Australia, having spread from its traditional “habitat” in Central and West Africa. Since May of this year, more than 4,000 monkeypox cases have been recorded in more than 40 countries (includingAustralia, Western Europe, and North America) where the disease is not usually found. Nonetheless, theWorld Health Organization (WHO) has decided that this latest monkeypox outbreak does not warrant the status of a PHEIC event (a Public Health …

Cities, Nature And Human Well-Being, John Hadidian

WellBeing News

William H. Whyte (1917-1999) may be best remembered as the author of The Organization Man. This 1956 bestseller described a corporate America in which, he argued, our esteemed sense of rugged individualism had been replaced by a softer ethos of conformity and “groupthink” (Whyte took this term from George Orwell). Amplified through other outlets such as the popular movie The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, the image of legions of corporate males complemented by their domestic female home builders came to define the America of the 1950s.

New Technology, Better Science, And Fewer Animals, Andrew Rowan

Tales of WellBeing

New technology is helping to replace the use of animals in safety testing, risk evaluation, and even basic biomedical research.

"The Mind Of The Bee" By Lars Chittka, Phd, Lars Chittka

Tales of WellBeing

In The Mind of the Bee, Professor Lars Chittka shares some of the remarkable discoveries regarding the tiny alien brains of bees and the ethical and conservation implications of these discoveries.

Wildlife Fertility Control: An Alternative To Lethal Management Of Wildlife, Andrew N. Rowan

WellBeing News

The first international conference on wildlife fertility control was held in Philadelphia in 1987. Subsequently, approximately one such event has been organized every four years (the 9th conference being held 35 years after the first). In 2017 and 2022, the Botstiber Institute for Wildlife Fertility Control (Institute) organized the most recent two meetings. The Institute is a new initiative of the Botstiber Foundation in Philadelphia, whose trustees decided to establish a specific program on wildlife fertility control. They founded the Institute in 2016 in partnership with the Humane Society of the United States. While the conference featured the customary talks …

The Uk Badger Cull: "Lies, Damned Lies And Statistics, Mark Jones

WellBeing News

In England, so often dubbed a nation of animal lovers, close to 177,000 native badgers, a protected species under UK law, have been shot under license since 2013, ostensibly to control the spread of bovine tuberculosis in cattle. There is no doubt that bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is a severe problem for cattle, farmers, and taxpayers. In 2021, over 72,000 herd tests, covering more than 9 million individual cattle, were performed across Great Britain. Almost 39,000 reactor cattle and their direct contacts were slaughtered under the compulsory test and-slaughter program. More than 3.500 new herd incidents of bovine TB were recorded …

The Well-Being Of Wildlife, Andrew N. Rowan

WellBeing News

The Wild Animal Initiative is a project to improve the well-being of wildlife. The project recognizes that improving the well-being of wildlife is very challenging but is, nonetheless, taking a proactive approach to the issue. Several members of the Initiative were speakers at the recent Botstiber Conference for Wildlife Fertility Control (the 9th such international conference held from May 23-25, 2022, in Colorado Springs –see companion article in this newsletter). Their presentations prompted the following thoughts on promoting the well-being of wildlife and on traditional lethal approaches to managing growing human-wildlife conflicts.

Uk Passes Its Own Animal Sentience Act After Leaving The Eu, Andrew N. Rowan

WellBeing News

When the UK (United Kingdom) voted to leave the European Union (EU), one of the

consequences would be the loss of legislation on various issues covered in

existing EU laws. The UK government had to pass new laws covering the many

items in EU legislation that would no longer apply to the UK, including the

statement in the EU governing treaty that animals were sentient. The

Conservative Government had promised to address the complicated range of

legislative gaps, including the declaration that animals are sentient beings, that

would be precipitated by the UK’s departure from the EU via new omnibus …

Dog Behavior And Aggression, Andrew N. Rowan

WellBeing News

An extensive study of the genetics of dog behavior (including individual dog personality) and appearance (physical traits) has just appeared in the major academic research publication, Science. The research team reviewed the behavior and genes of 2,000 dogs who had had their entire genomes sequenced. An additional 16,000 dogs, including mixes and pure breeds (128 represented), were also reviewed for behavior traits. The study reported that less than a quarter of the differences in dog personality could be explained by genetics. In contrast, at least 80% of the physical traits were closely tied to the dog’s DNA. These findings are …

Land Use & Food Supply, Andrew N. Rowan

WellBeing News

Intensive animal agriculture provides increasing amounts of milk and meat (and fish) for human consumption. However, it also consumes many planetary resources and contributes to climate change. Given current trends, it seems almost impossible that we would change our eating habits to reach a point where we might both feed 10 billion people while also repurposing farmland for vanishing wildlife populations. However, several organizations have begun to question the ever-growing demand for animal products by pointing to the devastation animal agriculture is wreaking on the earth and examining the financial wisdom of continuing investment in the firms raising and supplying …

The Impact Of Diet & Different Animal Advocacy Tactics, Andrea Polanco, Jo Anderson

Diet

Many different approaches to advocacy exist within the animal protection movement, from talking to people you know about animal suffering, to sharing social media posts, to protesting in public spaces. Currently, we do not fully understand how these approaches affect people’s behaviors, beliefs, and attitudes towards farmed animals, or even how common they are.

We conducted two studies in the U.S. to address this topic as fully and accurately as possible. The first was a retrospective survey. It explored people’s experiences with different advocacy types within the last five years and measured their current behaviors and attitudes. This tells us …

Invertebrate Sentience Annotated Bibliography, Anne-Sophie Blouin, Nicolas Goulet, Katherine Mills, Karya St-Pierre, Stevan Harnad

General - Animal Feeling

The bibliography identifies and summarizes over 60 scientific reports on the development and possible presence of sentience (the capacity to feel positive and negative states) in a range of invertebrate species. The summaries provide a useful snapshot of what capabilities might be required to identify the presence of sentience in a specific invertebrate.

Does Having A Pet Really Benefit Your Mental Health?, Harold Herzog

Herzog - Companion Animals and Health

A study in the United Kingdom of the effect of pet's on owner's mental health during the COVID pandemic produced surprising results. The owners of pets did not have improved mental health and those owners who were more attached to their pets were more depressed and lonelier than less attached owners.

Living With Lions, Andrew N. Rowan

WellBeing News

Lions face many challenges in the modern world. We have written about lion breeding and conservation and lion trophy hunting in previous WellBeing News posts. But lions also suffer the consequences of human-wildlife conflict, and many are poisoned or killed by exasperated livestock owners when the lions prey on domestic animals. Recently, in a webinar on the lions of Zimbabwe by Dr. Andrew Loveridge of the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (Oxford University), a new method of preventing human-lion conflict was described.

The Magic Of Being Among Gorillas In Rwanda, Eric Bernthal

Tales of WellBeing

WBI Board member, Rick Bernthal, describes his visit to Rwanda and the Virunga Mountains to see Mountain Gorillas.

Can Bereaved Pet Owners Suffer Prolonged Grief Disorder?, Harold Herzog

Herzog - Companion Animals and Health

Prolonged grief disorder has recently been added as a new diagnostic category to the American Psychology Association's manual of mental illnesses, usually referred to as the DSM. However, the diagnosis refers to grief at the loss of a "person." It excludes grief at the loss of a companion animals and yet there is evidence that people who lose a cherished pet may also experience prolonged grief disorder. Given that over 70 million US households include pets, if even a small percentage of people in those households experience prolonged grief disorder at the death of a pet, then the category would …

Plastics – Challenges For Life Below Water And Life On Land, Andrew N. Rowan

WellBeing News

The Challenge

The plastics revolution launched in the 1950s has led to the cumulative production of 8,300 million tonnes (MT) of plastic products and vast quantities of plastic waste (6,300 MT). According to a Pew Trust report (pg. 25), around 59% of the plastic waste generated in 2016 is “managed” (that is recycled, incinerated, or placed in reasonably well-managed landfills)[1]. The remaining plastic waste can be observed scattered across the globe. Some plastic (an estimated 3-5% annually) leaks into the world’s oceans, where it has become ubiquitous and is now a global environmental focal point. Plastic waste penetrates every marine …

Humane Management Of Global Dogs, Andrew N. Rowan

WellBeing News

In 2000, international animal protection organizations were spending around $110 million annually on global animal protection, with perhaps 10-20% of that total going to dog projects. By 2020, these groups were spending around $400 million globally on animal protection, with approximately $50 million spent on dog projects. These funds do not include the expenditures by local or national animal groups worldwide. For example, NGOs and municipalities spend approximately $5 billion a year on animal protection in the USA, with perhaps $3 billion focused on dog welfare. In India, around 2,000 local organizations collectively will spend more (probably a lot more) …

Saving Tigers In America: Part 3, Andrew Rowan, Kathleen Rowan

Tales of WellBeing

The last of the series on captive tigers in America reports on the closure of three problem facilities and argues that the captive tiger situation is beginning to improve.

Why Do People Think Cultured Meat Is Disgusting?, Harold Herzog

Herzog - Dietary Issues

Meat eaters (35%) and vegetarians (55%) found the idea of cultured meat (meat produced from the cell culture of animal muscle cells) disgusting. The disgust expressed by meat eaters and vegetarians originated from different perceptions. Meat eaters' disgust was influenced by the perceived unnaturalness of cultured meat whereas vegetarians were put off by the source of the cells and the similarity of cultured meat to actual meat.

Why People Care More About Beautiful Animals Than Ugly Ones, Harold Herzog

Herzog - Companion Animal Issues

Several studies indicate that people are more concerned about cute or beautiful animals than ugly animals, no matter the animal's capacity to harm humans or the animal's perceived cognitive capacities.

Attitudes Towards Chickens & Fishes: A Study Of Brazil, Canada, China, & India, Zach Wulderk, Jo Anderson

General - Animal Welfare

Across the world, advocates are working to improve the welfare of animals and to reduce the consumption of animal products. A key front in this work is addressing the consumption of small-bodied animals — namely chickens and fishes — as they are consumed in the highest numbers, by several orders of magnitude. Reducing the consumption of chickens and fishes could result in billions of individuals being saved, and achieving that goal requires us to understand how consumers think of them.

Many of the countries we have surveyed in this line of research—which includes Brazil, Canada, China, India, and the United …

Animal Sentience: Moving Forward, Andrew Rowan

Tales of WellBeing

Spain has just passed a law declaring animals to be sentient, while the UK bill on animal sentience now includes invertebrate cephalopods and decapod crustaceans.