Digital Commons Network^™

Maro Spring 2002

Mid-Atlantic Regional Office

• 280 fighting birds seized in PA
• Animals, too, were affected by Sept. 11 attacks
• Meet HSUS disaster dogs
• Albany area gets spay / neuter van
• Great Lakes' Appalachian spay / neuter program in high gear
• Arthur's plight may change state's bear policy
• Northern Rockies Ft. Hall spay clinic
• Humanely handling "nuisance" bears
• Tough NJ cruelty law passes
• Empire State Animal Protection Forum
• Rusti says, "Thank you!"
• Good works nationwide (Nina Austenberg)

Mwro Spring 2002

Midwest Regional Office

• Help stop cockfighting in Kansas
• Why haven't we shut down puppy mills?
• News in farm animal issues
• MWRO hosts animal fighting seminar
• Say hello to SPOT!
• Around the Region
• Let's make this an educational year (Amy Suarez)
• Seminar promotes shelter outreach

Nero Spring 2002

New England Regional Office

• NERO plays home to homing pigeon
• Animal fighting hits close to home
• Improving farm animal welfare in Maine
• Training animal advocates to be political activists
• Teachers, animals, alternatives
• VT unveils animal plan
• Providing a safety net for our pets (Joanne Bourbeau)

Nrro Spring 2002

Northern Rockies Regional Office

• NRRO Feral Dog Rescue Project
• NRRO supports Alaskan villages
• Ft. Hall spay/neuter clinic
• Selected 2001 Accomplishments
• Join us for specialized disaster training
• Keeping up! (Dave Pauli)
• NRRO sponsors technical rescue class

Swro Spring 2002

Southwest Regional Office

• Mourning a great friend, champion
• Clinic vet helps Native Nations
• Arkansas launches campaign to make animal cruelty a felony
• Joining forces to stop pet overpopulation
• Oklahoma: stop cockfighting and protect the animals with a vote in November
• Overcoming national and personal tragedies (Lou Guyton)
• Clinic event a success!

Wcro Spring 2002

West Coast Regional Office

• CA horse survives wildfires
• Arthur's plight may change state's handling of bears
• Native Nations Clinics a success
• 2001 California fire season keeps WCRO busy
• First Strike Seminar presented
• HSUS, Lions Gate send dogfighting message
• HSUS offers reward in puppy killing
• More than a dream, school makes humane education a priority
• Legislative Update
• Sentences in horse shooting case a disappointment (Eric Sakach)
• Trainer acquitted in elephant abuse case
• Animal Cruelty study released

The Importance Of Ethics In Conservation Biology: Let's Be Ethicists Not Ostriches, Marc Bekoff

Ecology Collection

No abstract provided.

Anatomical And Electrophysiological Analysis Of The Trigeminal Nerve In A Teleost Fish, Oncorhynchus Mykiss, Lynne U. Sneddon

Veterinary Science and Medicine Collection

The trigeminal nerve in the rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, was examined for the presence of A-delta and C fibres. Sections of the three branches of the trigeminal nerve were found to comprise a range of fibre types including Adelta and C fibres. The size range of the cell bodies of the trigeminal ganglion reflected the fibre range since they correlated with the size range of axons in the nerve branches. Electrophysiological recordings of evoked activity from the ganglion confirmed the presence of these fibre types and the proportion of these mirrored the proportion of fibre types in the anatomical analyses. …

Possibilities For Refinement And Reduction: Future Improvements Within Regulatory Testing, Martin L. Stephens, Kathleen Conlee, Gina Alvino, Andrew N. Rowan

Experimentation Collection

Approaches and challenges to refining and reducing animal use in regulatory testing are reviewed. Regulatory testing accounts for the majority of animals reported in the most painful and/or distressful categories in the United States and Canada. Refinements in testing, including the use of humane endpoints, are of increasing concern. Traditional approaches to reduction (e.g., improving experimental design) are being supplemented with complementary approaches, such as the use of tier testing to eliminate some chemicals prior to in vivo testing. Technological advances in telemetry and noninvasive techniques will help decrease either the demand for animals in testing or animal suffering. Further …

Vegetarianism And Virtue: Does Consequentialism Demand Too Little?, Nathan Nobis

Human Health Collection

The article discusses the moral aspects of vegetarianism. This will make vegetarians more compassionate and caring for animals and will result in better health and less finances. The virtue theory or the vegetarian justifying principle connotes that one should not support even symbolically bad practices to animals when good alternatives are readily available. Becoming a vegetarian is a way of attesting to the depth and sincerity of one's belief in the wrongness of how we treat animals and its consequence to humans. Consequentialism does not demand too little because it requires that one conforms his behavior to the vegetarian justifying …

Convergence Of Complex Cognitive Abilities In Cetaceans And Primates, Lori Marino

Sentience Collection

What examples of convergence in higher-level complex cognitive characteristics exist in the animal kingdom? In this paper I will provide evidence that convergent intelligence has occurred in two distantly related mammalian taxa. One of these is the order Cetacea (dolphins, whales and porpoises) and the other is our own order Primates, and in particular the suborder anthropoid primates (monkeys, apes, and humans). Despite a deep evolutionary divergence, adaptation to physically dissimilar environments, and very different neuroanatomical organization, some primates and cetaceans show striking convergence in social behavior, artificial ‘language’ comprehension, and self-recognition ability. Taken together, these findings have important implications …

The Quality Of Mercy: Organized Animal Protection In The United States 1866-1930, Bernard Unti

Animal Welfare Collection

Historians have largely neglected the animal protection movement, despite its unique accomplishments and its relationship to other reform efforts. While humane advocates in the pre-World War U era rarely transcended anthropocentrism, they launched significant initiatives to extend ethical concern beyond the species barrier. From 1866 onward, they waged campaigns against cruelty to animals in transportation, slaughter, education, entertainment, science, recreation, municipal animal control, and food and fur production.

This study situates organized concern for animals in relation to other post-Civil War reforms--including temperance and child protection. It explains the rise of humane work in light of antebellum trends in law, …

Cognitive And Communicative Abilities Of Grey Parrots, Irene M. Pepperberg

Sentience Collection

Grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus) solve various cognitive tasks and acquire and use English speech in ways that often resemble those of very young children. Given that the psittacine brain is organized very differently from that of mammals, these results have intriguing implications for the study and evolution of vocal learning, communication, and cognition.

Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes) Recognize Spatial And Object Correspondences Between A Scale Model And Its Referent, Valerie A. Kuhlmeier, Sarah T. Boysen

Sentience Collection

In the present study, the contributions of spatial and object features to chimpanzees’ comprehension of scale models were examined. Seven chimpanzees that previously demonstrated the ability to use a scale model as an information source for the location of a hidden item were tested under conditions manipulating the feature correspondence and spatial-relational correspondence between objects in the model and an outdoor enclosure. In Experiment 1, subjects solved the task under two conditions in which one object cue (color or shape) was unavailable, but positional cues remained. Additionally, performance was above chance under a third condition in which both types of …

In Search Of King Solomon’S Ring: Cognitive And Communicative Studies Of Grey Parrots (Psittacus Erithacus), Irene M. Pepperberg

Sentience Collection

During the past 24 years, I have used a modeling technique (M/R procedure) to train Grey parrots to use an allospecific code (English speech) referentially; I then use the code to test their cognitive abilities. The oldest bird, Alex, labels more than 50 different objects, 7 colors, 5 shapes, quantities to 6, 3 categories (color, shape, material) and uses ‘no’, ‘come here’, wanna go X’ and ‘want Y’ (X and Y are appropriate location or item labels). He combines labels to identify, request, comment upon or refuse more than 100 items and to alter his environment. He processes queries to …

Canis Lupus Cosmopolis: Wolves In A Cosmopolitan Worldview, William S. Lynn

Human and Animal Bonding Collection

The subject of wolf recovery in North America sparks heated controversy, both for and against. This paper explores how this subject is informed by cosmopolitan worldviews. These worldviews pull nature and culture into a common orbit of ethical meaning, with implications for the normative relationships that ought to pertain in landscapes shared by people and wolves. This theoretical outlook is illustrated using the controversy over wolves in the northeastern region of the United States. I conclude with a set of reflections on theorizing the cosmopolis, the interpretation of cosmopolitan landscapes, and living with cosmopolitan wolves.

The Quality Of Mercy: Organized Animal Protection In The United States 1866-1930, Bernard Unti

This study situates organized concern for animals in relation to other postCivil War reforms--including temperance and child protection. It explains the rise of humane work in light of antebellum trends in law, education, philosophy, and religion, and the perception that animals were at the heart of many sanitary and public health concerns. It qualifies interpretations that reduce animal protection to an exercise in social control. It denies the importance of the Darwinian assertion that humans were animals to the movement's formation. Finally, it disputes claims that concern for animals served a "displacement" function until some human reforms became socially acceptable.

Resolving Conflicts Between People And Canada Geese: The Need For Comprehensive Management Approaches, John Hadidian

Wildlife Population Management Collection

Canada geese have become established and are now numerous enough in many urban and suburban areas that conflicts with humans have become frequent. Although potential threats to human health are often cited as a justification to manage goose populations, currently available science suggests that this is not a serious issue. This leaves the primary concern as one of aesthetics– people do not like having to deal with what can sometimes be copious amounts of goose droppings. Animal welfare interests have questioned the humaneness of different roundup and killing programs, and advocated non-lethal approaches and egg addling. Both approaches currently are …

The “Nuisance” Wildlife Control Industry: Animal Welfare Concerns, John Hadidian, Laura J. Simon, Michele R. Childs

Wildlife Population Management Collection

The recent and rapid growth of the private “nuisance” wildlife control industry follows the unparalleled current period of urban and suburban expansion. Nuisance wildlife control businesses range from simple home-based services to sophisticated franchised businesses. The nuisance wildlife control operator may hold an advanced degree in the wildlife sciences, or simply be an entrepreneur without formal education or even background experience in wildlife. State and federal agencies may participate directly or indirectly in nuisance wildlife control, in activities ranging from dissemination of advice or information to actual participation in programs that may lead to removal of animals. Naturally, all of …

Animal Dissection And Evidence-Based Life-Science And Health-Professions Education, Nathan Nobis

Education Collection

Balcombe’s (2000, 2001) case for replacing learning methods that require pain, suffering, and death for animals with methods that do not (computer-assisted learning, three-dimensional models, videotapes, and other alternatives) can be seen as motivated by this evidentialist perspective. Balcombe provided a wealth of empirical evidence from educational studies to show that in most contexts animal dissection is not necessary—and even counterproductive—to achieve valid educational goals, especially higher order goals (concept learning and problem solving). He demonstrated that no sound defense of dissection has been given.

Anatomy And Three-Dimensional Reconstructions Of The Brain Of The White Whale (Delphinapterus Leucas) From Magnetic Resonance Images, Lori Marino, Timothy L. Murphy, Amy L. Deweerd, John A. Morris, Archibald J. Fobbs, Nathalie Humbolt, Sam H. Ridgway, John I. Johnson

Veterinary Science and Medicine Collection

Magnetic resonance imaging offers a means of observing the internal structure of the brain where traditional procedures of embedding, sectioning, staining, mounting, and microscopic examination of thousands of sections are not practical. Furthermore, internal structures can be analyzed in their precise quantitative spatial interrelationships, which is difficult to accomplish after the spatial distortions often accompanying histological processing. For these reasons, magnetic resonance imaging makes specimens that were traditionally difficult to analyze, more accessible. In the present study, images of the brain of a white whale (Beluga) Delphinapterus leucas were scanned in the coronal plane at 119 antero-posterior levels. Fromthese scans, …

Anatomy And Three-Dimensional Reconstructions Of The Brain Of A Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops Truncatus) From Magnetic Resonance Images, Lori Marino, Keith D. Sudheimer, Timothy L. Murphy, Kristina K. Davis, D. Ann Pabst, William A. Mclellan, James K. Rilling, John I. Johnson

Veterinary Science and Medicine Collection

Cetacean (dolphin, whale, and porpoise) brains are among the least studied mammalian brains because of the formidability of collecting and histologically preparing such relatively rare and large specimens. Magnetic resonance imaging offers a means of observing the internal structure of the brain when traditional histological procedures are not practical. Furthermore, internal structures can be analyzed in their precise anatomic positions, which is difficult to accomplish after the spatial distortions often accompanying histological processing. In this study, images of the brain of an adult bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus, were scanned in the coronal plane at 148 antero-posterior levels. From these scans …

The Evolution Of Animal Play, Emotions, And Social Morality: On Science, Theology, Spirituality, Personhood, And Love, Marc Bekoff

Attitudes Towards Animals Collection

My essay first takes me into the arena in which science, spirituality, and theology meet. I comment on the enterprise of science and how scientists could well benefit from reciprocal interactions with theologians and religious leaders. Next, I discuss the evolution of social morality and the ways in which various aspects of social play behavior relate to the notion of “behaving fairly.” The contributions of spiritual and religious perspectives are important in our coming to a fuller understanding of the evolution of morality. I go on to discuss animal emotions, the concept of personhood, and how our special relationships with …

Interactions Between Shoal Size And Conformity In Guppy Social Foraging, Rachel L. Day, Tom Macdonald, Culum Brown, Kevin N. Laland, Simon M. Reader

Sentience Collection

Previous experimental studies have established that shoaling fish forage more effectively in large than small groups. We investigated how shoal size affects the foraging efficiency of laboratory populations of the guppy, Poecilia reticulata, exposed to different foraging tasks. Experiment 1 confirmed the prediction that in open water the first fish and focal fish of larger shoals locate food faster than in smaller shoals. However, a second experiment, in which shoals of fish were required to swim through a hole in an opaque partition to locate food, found the reverse pattern: smaller shoals learned to complete the task faster than large …

Inquiries Into Dog Ownership In Abaco With Specific Referene To Aarf/Snip Sn Project, William J. Fielding

Management and Control of Companion Animal Populations Collection

Abaco, an island in the Bahamas, has a population of 10,003 in 2,998 households. Of this population, 3,381 (or 34%) live in 1,177 (or 39%) of the households in Marsh Harbour, the largest community on the island (Bahamas Department of Statistics, 2000). Two studies of the Abaco dog population in Marsh Harbor were conducted. The first was in February, 2000 and the second was in October 2000. Three AARF/SNIP clinics were held between the two studies in February, May and July, 2000. A fourth clinic was held in October after the second survey.

Csro Fall 2001

Central States Regional Office

• CSRO helps with huge cockfighting raid
• HSUS responds to Minnesota disasters
• Illinois legislative update: S.B. 629 (security bonds to reimburse shelters for costs incurred in large confiscation cases, psychological counseling for animal hoarders and juveniles convicted of cruelty, increased penalties for cruelty and neglect), H.B. 2391 (The Humane Euthanasia in Animal Shelters Act), H.B. 2440, S.B. 653
• Tennessee legislative update: S.B. 194 (The Non-Livestock Humane Death Act)
• Minnesota legislative update: H.F. 1469 (authorizes counties to offer bounties for destruction of coyotes)
• CSRO staff take part in focus groups
• Director's Report: So much going on (Phil Snyder)

Glro Fall 2001

Great Lakes Regional Office

• Appalachian spay/neuter program to be launched
• Living in harmony with Canada Geese
• A humane toolkit for goose management
• MI program aids geese, humans
• Caring beyond your own backyard (Sandy Rowland)
• Indiana animal shelters get access to tranquilizers
• West Virginia bans shooting in animal shelters

Maro Fall 2001

Mid-Atlantic Regional Office

• New PA law protects horses
• MARO practices humane alternatives to Goose Round-ups
• How you can help Canada Geese
• Black bear update
• Investigation finds room for improvement in New Jersey animal protection
• 59 graduate from first Cruelty Investigator course
• HSU prepares shelter managers
• Celebrating, protecting farm animals
• Young poet writes for bears
• Help Rusti find a home
• New "Mutts" plates
• Director's Report (Nina Austenberg)
• Welcome MARO's new staffer

Mwro Fall 2001

Midwest Regional Office

• New Native Nation program
• MWRO responds to Iowa flood
• Horse owners join in disaster plan
• Halt Hog Factories campaign (Amy Suarez)
• What you can do

Nero Fall 2001

New England Regional Office

• Rhode Island Cat Forum
• Maine gets tough on animal abusers
• Shaw-Worth winners announced
• Legislative Update
• A future for animals is in their hands (Joanne Bourbeau)