Digital Commons Network^™

Celebrating Animals

Serial - All Animals 2009-15

Your Best Shot

The End Of Animal Testing?, Angela Moxley

Serial - All Animals 2009-15

The HSUS works with scientists, companies, and regulators to end animal use in product safety evaluation

Slum Dogs By The Millions, Julie Falconer

Serial - All Animals 2009-15

With help from Humane Society International, animal lovers are bringing hope to the world’s street dogs

Downwind Of The Factory Farm, Ruthanne Johnson

Serial - All Animals 2009-15

Sick from pollution, plagued by flies and dirty water, and disgusted by animal suffering, neighbors of industrial farming operations are fighting to take back their lives

President's Note

Serial - All Animals 2009-15

No abstract provided.

A Mission Of Hope And Healing, Angela Moxley

Serial - All Animals 2009-15

An HSUS program leads volunteers and students on a quest to provide free vet care to Indian reservations

Letters

Serial - All Animals 2009-15

No abstract provided.

Front Lines

Serial - All Animals 2009-15

Right Whales’ Last Chance; Voted Off the Island; Coyote Cruelty Shutdown; Rescued Dog Repays the Favor; Ex-Matador Fights for Bulls; Answering the Call for Help; Action for Animals

Coming Home To Roost, Carrie Allan

Serial - All Animals 2009-15

Chickens are charming companions, but like other pets, they require care and affection

Where The Wild Things Are

Serial - All Animals 2009-15

Readers share their stories of wondrous backyard encounters

Q&A

Serial - All Animals 2009-15

Maryland Sen. Jamie Raskin Upholds the Veg Pledge

Humane Living

Serial - All Animals 2009-15

Bird Feeding Done Right; Recipe Box: Thanksgiving Feast

War On Wolves, Ruthanne Johnson

Serial - All Animals 2009-15

Though they’ve rebounded since being hunted nearly to extinction, America’s gray wolves are still dangerously close to being wiped off the map

Celebrating Animals

Serial - All Animals 2009-15

Your Best Shot

Your Pet

Serial - All Animals 2009-15

Bunny Bonding Basics

Landscape Heterogeneity And Marine Subsidy Generate Extensive Intrapopulation Niche Diversity In A Large Terrestrial Vertebrate, Chris T. Darimont, Paul C. Paquet, Thomas E. Reimchen

Population Distribution and Habitat Collection

1 Inquiries into niche variation within populations typically focus on proximate ecological causes such as competition. Here we examine how landscape heterogeneity and allochthonous (marine) subsidy might ultimately generate intrapopulation niche diversity.

2 Using stable isotope analysis, we detected extensive terrestrial–marine isotopic niche variation among subpopulations, social groups, and individual grey wolves (Canis lupus) that occupy a spatially heterogeneous landscape in coastal British Columbia comprising a mainland area and adjacent archipelago.

3 The inner island subpopulation exhibited the widest isotopic niche in the population, consuming extensive terrestrial and marine resources. Mainland and outer island subpopulations occupied comparatively narrow …

Relationship Between Pre-Slaughter Stress Responsiveness And Beef Quality In Three Cattle Breeds, V. Muchenje, K. Dzama, M. Chimonyo, P. E. Strydom, J. G. Raats

Slaughter and Slaughtering Practices Collection

The relationship between stress responsiveness and beef quality of 40 Nguni, 30 Bonsmara and 30 Angus steers was determined. The L* values, pHu, cooking loss (CL) and Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF) were determined. Catecholamine levels were determined from urine samples collected at slaughter. Bonsmara steers had the highest (P < 0.05) levels of catecholamines with respective epinephrine, norepinephrine and dopamine concentrations of 10.8, 9.7 and 14.8 nmol/mmol. Nguni steers had the lowest (P < 0.05) levels of catecholamines, with respective catecholamine concentrations of 5.1, 4.3 and 4.0 nmol/mmol. In the Nguni steers, there were significant (P < 0.05) correlations between catecholamines and L* and between dopamine and tenderness in meat aged for two days (WBSF2). In the Bonsmara, dopamine was correlated (P < 0.05) pHu, WBSF2 and CL. No significant correlations were found in the Angus. Therefore the relationship between stress responsiveness and certain beef quality traits may not be similar in different breeds.

Farm Animal Welfare In Great Britain: Past, Present And Future

General - Animal Welfare

This Report considers whether the vision implicit in the Brambell report of 1965 has been realized for animals farmed either intensively or extensively. It examines the development of Government and commercial policies on farm animal welfare since that seminal report 44 years ago and looks forward over the next 20 years. The effectiveness of Government policy, its implementation and the enforcement of laws and regulations are examined, along with the development of private sector initiatives to ensure a high standard of welfare for farm animals. The Report explores the ethical principles underpinning farm animal welfare and sets strategic goals.

Progress …

Animal Welfare: Review Of The Scientific Concept And Definition, Corrado Carenzi, Marina Verga

Assessment of Animal Welfare Collection

The aim of this paper is to present a review of the current scientific viewpoints about the concept and definition of animal welfare. The need of interaction among different disciplines is stressed, as well as the need to scientifically assess welfare, using validated indicators. The role of applied ethology in animal welfare science is stressed.

The paper provides a brief overview of the historical steps in the development of the concept and presents scientific viewpoints, briefly explaining their theoretical foundation.

The possibility of defining welfare on a scientific basis is explained, identifying the main problems according to the scientific, cultural …

Effect Of Restricted Access Time To Pasture On Dairy Cow Milk Production, Grazing Behavior, And Dry Matter Intake, E. Kennedy, M. Mcevoy, J. P. Murphy, M. O'Donovan

Housing and Confinement of Farm Animals Collection

The objective of this experiment was to investigate the effect of restricting pasture access time on milk production and composition, body weight and body condition score change, dry matter intake, and grazing behavior of autumn calving dairy cows in midlactation. Fifty-two (19 primiparous and 33 multiparous) Holstein-Friesian dairy cows (mean calving date, August 17 ± 91.2 d) were randomly assigned to a 4-treatment (n = 13) randomized block design grazing study. The 4 grazing treatments were: (i) full-time access to pasture (22H; control), (ii) 9-h access to pasture (9H), (iii) two 4.5-h periods of access to pasture after both milkings …

The Welfare Of Cows In The Dairy Industry

Agribusiness Reports

More than 9 million cows compose the U.S. dairy herd. Repeated reimpregnation, short calving intervals, overproduction of milk, restrictive housing systems, poor nutrition, and physical disorders impair the welfare of the animals in industrial dairy operations. Once their productivity wanes, the cows are often weak as a result of high metabolic output. Typically, these “spent” dairy cows are culled and processed as ground beef. In their fragile end-of-production state, handling, transport, and slaughter raise additional welfare concerns.

The Welfare Of Sows Used For Breeding In The Pig Industry

Agribusiness Reports

The conditions afforded sows (adult female pigs) used for breeding on industrial pig production operations present a number of welfare problems. Sows are routinely confined in gestation and farrowing crates barely larger than their own bodies, where they are unable to turn around during their pregnancy and lactation periods, often in excess of 128 consecutive days. Behavioral abnormalities such as stereotypic bar-biting and aggression arise due to environmental deficiencies and restricted feeding regimens. Sows in large, industrial operations are also affected by a number of production-related diseases and suffer from higher mortality rates. A reevaluation of current confinement systems and …

Welfare Issues With Conventional Manual Catching Of Broiler Chickens And Turkeys

Agribusiness Reports

Approximately 9 billion chickens and 270 million turkeys are raised for meat annually in the United States. When these farmed birds reach market weight, they must be caught and crated for transport from production facilities to slaughter plants. Conventional manual catching results in severely compromised welfare. Birds experience stress and fear, and can be physically harmed, suffering bruises, broken bones, dislocated joints, and other injuries. Alternatives to conventional manual catching practices that improve bird welfare exist, including mechanical harvesters, gentle manual catching, and, for turkeys, herding into specially designed transport crates.

The Impact Of Industrialized Animal Agriculture On World Hunger

Agribusiness Reports

Of the world’s nearly 6.8 billion humans, almost 1 billion people are malnourished. Feeding half the world’s grain crop to animals raised for meat, eggs, and milk instead of directly to humans is a significant waste of natural resources, including fossil fuels, water, and land. Raising animals for food is also a major contributor to global warming, which is expected to further worsen food security globally. To meet the daily nutritional needs of a rapidly expanding population, the world’s human community, particularly in Western countries, must reduce its reliance on animal products and shift to a more plant-based diet.

The Implications Of Farm Animal-Based Bioenergy Production

Agribusiness Reports

As the current and potential impacts of climate change become more evident and increasingly urgent, entities such as governments, corporations, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are seeking out non-fossil fuelbased sources of energy to mitigate those effects. In addition, many governments are investigating ways to promote their own domestic energy sources as a result of rising oil prices. Bioenergy—made from recently living organic matter, such as plants, agricultural waste and crop residue, meat processing wastes, or farmed animals’ fats and manure—has quickly become one of the fastest growing, and controversial, alternative energy sources. Globally, production of biofuels, generally used for transport, …

Advancing Humane Science

HSUS Annual Reports 2005-18

No abstract provided.

Ending Animal Cruelty & Fighting

HSUS Annual Reports 2005-18

No abstract provided.

Protecting Our Best Friends

HSUS Annual Reports 2005-18

No abstract provided.

Building The Humane Movement

HSUS Annual Reports 2005-18

No abstract provided.

From The President, Wayne Pacelle

HSUS Annual Reports 2005-18

No abstract provided.