Digital Commons Network^™

Nrro Fall 2001

Northern Rockies Regional Office

• Reaching out to more native nations
• If you care, leave them there
• On ice: NRRO trains regional responders
• Miles "fly" for animals
• Opportunities to get involved
• Working at Wind River Reservation
• Head for the beach!
• NRRO sets pace with response trailer
• Priorities (Dave Pauli)

Pnro Fall 2001

Pacific Northwest Regional Office

• Your new Regional Office is open!
• GeesePeace Northwest: give geese a chance
• Washington coast native nations program a success
• No contest for coyotes
• Legislative Update
• Washington trappers sore losers at the ballot box
• Who are we? Pacific Northwest Regional Office staff (Lisa Wathne)

Sero Fall 2001

Southeast Regional Office

• Greyhound racing: gambling with dogs' lives
• Combating animal fighting in the region
• Greyhound racing facts
• SERO training helps protect horses
• Volunteers needed in historic campaign against factory farming
• Man's--and woman's--best friend (Laura Bevan)

Swro Fall 2001

Southwest Regional Office

• SWRO battles cruelty
• Floods can't dampen a good plan
• Spay/neuter clinic's effects far reaching
• Attention Dallas-area members ...
• Legislative victories for animals
• Oklahoma initiatives
• Doing "something" (Dennis J. White)

Wcro Fall 2001

West Coast Regional Office

• Project Joey highlights abandoned animals
• WCRO part of huge cockfighting raid
• California Teacher's Association consensus
• Puppy mill busted: WCRO assists in massive rescue
• Successful California conference
• Tragic animal shelter fires
• WCRO introduces new Humane Education program on Native Nations
• Legislative Update
• Murder charges appropriate in mauling death (Eric Sakach)
• HSUS adds to reward in NV horse shootings
• Riverside recall effort fails

Familiarity With The Test Environment Improves Escape Responses In The Crimson Spotted Rainbowfish, Melanotaenia Duboulayi, Culum Brown

Sentience Collection

Animals that are familiar with their environment have been reported to have greater survivorship for a number of reasons related to their knowledge of the terrain, which they recall from memory. In an initial experiment rainbowfish significantly improved their escape response towards a novel trawl apparatus over a sequence of five runs. Escape latencies were still low during a subsequent exposure 11 months after the initial exposure. While part of the improvement in escape success was certainly due to learning associated with the location of the escape route, it is likely that this was aided by habituation to the tank …

Compendium Of Chemical Carcinogens By Target Organ: Results Of Chronic Bioassays In Rats, Mice, Hamsters, Dogs, And Monkeys, Lois Swirsky Gold, Neela B. Manley, Thomas H. Sloane, Jerrold M. Ward

Toxicology and Animal Models in Research Collection

Acompendiumof carcinogenesi s bioassay results organized by target organ is presented for 738 chemicals that are carcinogenic in chronic-exposure , long-term bioassays in at least 1 species. This compendium is based primarily on experiments in rats or mice; results in hamsters, monkeys, and dogs are also reported. The compendium can be used to identify chemicals that induce tumors at particular sites and to determine whether target sites are the same for chemicals positive in more than 1 species. The source of information is the Carcinogeni c Potency Database (CPDB), which includes results of 6073 experiments on 1458 chemicals (positive or …

Familiarity Facilitates Social Learning Of Foraging Behaviour In The Guppy, Will Swaney, Jeremy Kendal, Hannah Capon, Culum Brown, Kevin N. Laland

Sentience Collection

Previous studies have shown that guppies, Poecilia reticulata, can learn the route to a food source by shoaling with knowledgeable conspecifics, and prefer to shoal with experienced foragers and familiar fish. We tested the hypothesis that guppies would learn more effectively from (1) familiar than unfamiliar demonstrators and (2) well-trained than poorly trained demonstrators. Demonstrator fish were given experience in swimming a route to a food source and then introduced into shoals of untrained observer guppies; the spread of this foraging skill was recorded over 15 trials. The demonstrators were either familiar or unfamiliar to the observers and either well …

The Effect Of Response Contingencies On Scale Model Task Performance By Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes), Valerie A. Kuhlmeier, Sarah T. Boysen

Sentience Collection

The effects of modified procedures on chimpanzees' (Pan troglodytes) performance in a scale model comprehension task were examined. Seven chimpanzees that previously participated in a task in which they searched an enclosure for a hidden item after watching an experimenter hide a miniature item in the analogous location in a scale model were retested under procedures incorporating response costs. In Experiment 1, chimpanzees were trained under procedures that rewarded only item retrievals occurring on the 1st search attempt. During test trials, 6 chimpanzees performed above chance, including 4 that were previously unsuccessful under the original procedures (V. A. Kuhlmeier, S. …

Observations Of Scent-Marking And Discriminating Self From Others By A Domestic Dog (Canis Familiaris): Tales Of Displaced Yellow Snow, Marc Bekoff

Ethology Collection

Little is known about what stimuli trigger urinating or scent-marking in domestic dogs, Canis familiaris, or their wild relatives. While it is often suggested that the urine of other animals influences urinating and scent-marking patterns in canids, this has not been verified experimentally. To investigate the role of urine in eliciting urinating and marking, in this pilot study I moved urine-saturated snow (‘yellow snow’) from place-to-place during five winters to compare the responses of an adult male domestic dog, Jethro, to his own and others’ urine. Jethro spent less time sniffing his own urine than that of other males or …

Assessing The ‘Whole Animal’: A Free Choice Profiling Approach, Françoise Wemelsfelder, Tony E.A. Hunter, Michael T. Mendl, Alistair B. Lawrence

Sentience Collection

The qualitative assessment of animal behaviour summarizes the different aspects of an animal’s dynamic style of interaction with the environment, using descriptors such as ‘confident’, ‘nervous’, ‘calm’ or ‘excitable’. Scientists frequently use such terms in studies of animal personality and temperament, but, wary of anthropomorphism, are reluctant to do so in studies of animal welfare. We hypothesize that qualitative behaviour assessment, in describing behaviour as an expressive process, may have a stronger observational foundation than is currently recognized, and may be of use as an integrative welfare assessment tool. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the inter- and intraobserver reliability …

Mammalian Play: Training For The Unexpected, Marek Špinka, Ruth C. Newberry, Marc Bekoff

Ethology Collection

In this review, we present a new conceptual framework for the study of play behavior, a hitherto puzzling array of seemingly purposeless and unrelated behavioral elements that are recognizable as play throughout the mammalian lineage. Our major new functional hypothesis is that play enables animals to develop flexible kinematic and emotional responses to unexpected events in which they experience a sudden loss of control. Specifically, we propose that play functions to increase the versatility of movements used to recover from sudden shock such as loss of balance and falling over, and to enhance the ability of animals to cope emotionally …

Mirror Self-Recognition In The Bottlenose Dolphin: A Case Of Cognitive Convergence, Diana Reiss, Lori Marino

Sentience Collection

The ability to recognize oneself in a mirror is an exceedingly rare capacity in the animal kingdom. To date, only humans and great apes have shown convincing evidence of mirror self-recognition. Two dolphins were exposed to reflective surfaces, and both demonstrated responses consistent with the use of the mirror to investigate marked parts of the body. This ability to use a mirror to inspect parts of the body is a striking example of evolutionary convergence with great apes and humans.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging And Three-Dimensional Reconstructions Of The Brain Of A Fetal Common Dolphin, Delphinus Delphis, Lori Marino, Timothy L. Murphy, Lyad Gozal, John I. Johnson

Veterinary Science and Medicine Collection

To demonstrate the kinds of data that can be obtained non-destructively and non-invasively from preserved museum specimens using modern imaging technology the head region of a whole body fetal specimen of the common dolphin, Delphinus delphis, aged 8–9 months post-conception, was scanned using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Series of scans were obtained in coronal, sagittal and horizontal planes. A digital three-dimensional reconstruction of the whole brain was prepared from the coronal series of scans. Sectional areas and three-dimensional volumes were obtained of the cerebral hemispheres and of the brainstemplus-cerebellum. Neuroanatomical features identified in the scans include the major sulci of …

Wcro Spring 2001

West Coast Regional Office

• Washington bans leghold traps
• WCRO investigates CA school program
• Regional Changes
• WCRO assists in seizure of exotic animals
• First Strike goes to teachers, inter-tribal council
• Celebrating farm animals at veggie cook-off
• WCRO Director speaks in Brazil
• HSUS enters spay/neuter biz
• Nevada youth sentenced for animal cruelty
• Legislative Update
• Citizens have something to crow about in Riverside County (Eric Sakach)

Size Matters: Impact Of Item Size And Quantity On Array Choice By Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes), Sarah T. Boysen, Gary G. Berntson, Kimberly L. Mukobi

Sentience Collection

The authors previously reported that chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) showed a striking bias to select the larger of 2 candy arrays, despite a reversed reward contingency in which the animals received the smaller, nonselected array as a reward, except when Arabic numerals were used as stimuli. A perceptual or incentive-based interference occurred that was overcome by symbolic stimuli. The authors of the present study examined the impact of element size in choice arrays, using 1 to 5 large and small candies. Five test-sophisticated chimpanzees selected an array from the 2 presented during each trial. Their responses were not optimal, as animals …

Social Play Behaviour: Cooperation, Fairness, Trust, And The Evolution Of Morality, Marc Bekoff

Ethology Collection

No abstract provided.

Progress In Livestock Handling And Slaughter Techniques In The United States, 1970–2000, Temple Grandin

State of the Animals 2001

Promoting better stockmanship is essential to improving animal welfare. Large meat-buying customers such as fast-food restaurants in the United States and supermarket chains in the United Kingdom can motivate great change by insisting that suppliers uphold better animal welfare standards. The greatest advances of the last thirty years have been the result of company audits. To maintain such progress, handling and stunning must be continually audited, measured, and managed. Handlers tend to revert to rough handling unless they are monitored and managed. An objective scoring system provides a standard that can be upheld. An overworked employee cannot do a good …

Is There A Place In The World For Zoos? / Another View Of Zoos, David Hancocks, Richard Farinato

State of the Animals 2001

We human animals make rapid technological and cultural advancements because we have the ability to pass definitive information to succeeding generations. But we also accept too much from the past without challenge. The good, the bad, and the indifferent are muddled together, accumulating in layers that smother each succeeding age. Cultural mores ranging from the silly to the profane, from charming to dangerous, clutter our world. They exist only because, as the British are wont to say, “We have always done things this way.” One very troubling example is the public zoological parks found in almost every city: they are …

Social Attitudes And Animals, Harold Herzog, Andrew N. Rowan, Daniel Kossow

State of the Animals 2001

This chapter is an overview of the attitudes of Americans toward the treatment and moral status of nonhuman animals. We discuss problems of attitude assessment, the social psychology of attitudes toward animals, and the complex relationship between attitudes and behavior. We also review changes in attitudes toward animals over the past fifty years and current public opinion regarding a variety of issues related to animal welfare.

Fertility Control In Animals, Jay F. Kirkpatrick, Allen T. Rutberg

State of the Animals 2001

There are, effectively, only two choices for actively managing the size of animal populations: reducing the birth rate and increasing the death rate. (Local population size may also be controlled by movement of individuals in and out; but when the size of animal populations concerns us, movement of individuals merely relocates the concerns. We are not absolved of our responsibility for animals simply because they go somewhere else.) Killing certainly can reduce and even destroy wildlife populations if enough animals of the right description are removed from the population. Until the last decade of the twentieth century, however, fertility control …

Urban Wildlife, John Hadidian, Sydney Smith

State of the Animals 2001

Despite the potential for difficulty, there are several reasons why urban wildlife should be valued and better understood. First is its scientific and heuristic value. Urban wildlife populations are essentially parts of ongoing natural experiments in adaptation to anthropogenic stress. How urban animals are affected by human activities— and how they cope with them— can represent, on a highly accelerated scale, a model of what is happening to species in other biomes. No other wild animals live in such intimate contact and under such constant constraint from human activities as do synanthropes. Second, urban animals are exposed to many environmental …

A Social History Of Postwar Animal Protection, Bernard Unti, Andrew N. Rowan

State of the Animals 2001

After World War II, the animal protection movement enjoyed the revival that we discuss in this chapter. Contemporary scholarship suggests that social movements are more or less continuous, shifting from periods of peak activity to those of relative decline. The renaissance of animal protection during the past half century involved several distinct phases of evolution. Such divisions are discretionary, but they can clarify important trends. This analysis relies on a three-stage chronology in considering the progress of postwar animal protection, one that emphasizes revival, mobilization and transformation, and consolidation of gains.

Farm Animals And Their Welfare In 2000, David Fraser, Joy Mench, Suzanne Millman

State of the Animals 2001

Farm animals have been a traditional concern of the modern animal protection movement. In the early 1800s, when the movement emerged as a significant sociopolitical force in the United Kingdom, its first priority was protection of farm animals, with particular emphasis on cattle and horses. Subsequently priorities changed, and throughout most of the 1900s, animal protectionism in Europe and the English-speaking world focused more strongly on the use of animals for scientific research and on the rescue of abandoned or ill-treated companion animals. Today, however, with vigorous public debate over animal agriculture and its effects, farm animals are re-emerging as …

Cruelty To Animals: Changing Psychological, Social, And Legislative Perspectives, Frank R. Ascione, Randall Lockwood

State of the Animals 2001

Society is looking for new tools and resources to employ in the efforts to combat violence, identify real or potential perpetrators at an early stage, and define actions that might predict or prevent violent behavior. Closer examination of cruelty to animals within the framework of family and societal violence offers an opportunity to explore violence outside of the traditional nature–nurture debate over the origins of aggression. Cruelty to animals represents an objectively definable behavior that occurs within a societal context. It also represents a good measure of the interaction between the behavior of which an individual is intrinsically capable and …

From Pets To Companion Animals, Martha C. Armstrong, Susan Tomasello, Christyna Hunter

State of the Animals 2001

Almost two-thirds of U.S. households have a dog, cat, bird, or reptile as a pet. The number of dogs, and particularly puppies, relinquished to shelters was rapidly diminishing as of mid-2000, to the point that some shelters did not have any puppies for adoption for many months. Those dogs and cats fortunate enough to be in lifelong homes are enjoying a longer life span than those who shared our homes in the first half of the twentieth century.

Additional good news is the way that animal shelters—whether run municipally, privately, or through a combination of municipal and private funding—are different …

The First Forty Years Of The Alternatives Approach: Refining, Reducing, And Replacing The Use Of Laboratory Animals, Martin L. Stephens, Alan M. Goldberg, Andrew N. Rowan

State of the Animals 2001

The concept of the Three Rs— reduction, refinement, and replacement of animal use in biomedical experimentation—stems from a project launched in 1954 by a British organization, the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW). UFAW commissioned William Russell and Rex Burch to analyze the status of humane experimental techniques involving animals. In 1959 these scientists published a book that set out the principles of the Three Rs, which came to be known as alternative methods. Initially, Russell and Burch’s book was largely ignored, but their ideas were gradually picked up by the animal protection community in the 1960s and early ’70s. …

Animal Research: A Review Of Developments, 1950–2000, Andrew N. Rowan, Franklin M. Loew

State of the Animals 2001

The third phase of the animal research debate started around 1950. After World War II the government became a major sponsor of scientific research, including biomedical research. The budget of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) grew dramatically and has continued to grow, with a few minor retrenchment periods, up to the present time (see Figure 1). This growth led to an enormous expansion in publicly funded research. In the private sector, the discovery of penicillin and streptomycin led to a tremendous expansion in pharmaceutical research and in the size of the prescription drug industry. These expansions in government funding …

Animal Protection In A World Dominated By The World Trade Organization, Leesteffy Jenkins, Robert Stumberg

State of the Animals 2001

Animal issues are playing a crucial role in making the World Trade Organization (WTO), the international body responsible for initiating and enforcing global trade rules, publicly visible. Current WTO rules prohibit the types of enforcement mechanisms relied upon by sovereign nations to make animal protection initiatives effective; as a result, many animal protection measures in this country and abroad have been reversed or stymied in the face of WTO challenges or threatened challenges. The WTO’s adverse impact on animal protection is one of the reasons why the WTO’s new-found public image is increasingly a negative one.

Overview: The State Of Animals In 2001, Paul G. Irwin

State of the Animals 2001

From the animals’ perspective, the past half-century has not been one of uninterrupted progress. Indeed, as some conditions have improved, others have remained frustratingly unchanged, and still others have undoubtedly deteriorated.

How then to assess progress and failure? In the absence of a universally accepted, consistently applied set of standards for data collection and analysis, any attempt to answer the question, What is the state of animals in 2001?, must be based on a series of snapshots, an accumulation of statistics from which we can draw conclusions.