Animal Studies Commons^™

Report Of The Palm Beach County Animal Regulation Division, Dennis Moore

Management and Control of Companion Animal Populations Collection

The Palm Beach County Animal Regulation Division was established in 1970 by the Florida State Legislature through a special act for Palm Beach County. The Division provides primary animal control services for a human population of 652,195 in one of the largest counties east of the Mississippi, encompassing 2,578 square miles. The vast majority of the population is located along 45 miles of the Atlantic Ocean coastline. As the population has increased (Table I), the population center has moved further inland each year. The western expanses of the county are largely rural with farming as the main industry. Between the …

Animal Control In Pima County And Tucson, Arizona, Arthur J. Ruff

Management and Control of Companion Animal Populations Collection

Tucson, Arizona is one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the southwest. Tucson's rapid growth over the past ten years reflects a tremendous (51%) increase in population. The increasing urbanization of Pima County has affected animal control philosophies and the policies of the Pima Animal Control Center.

Animal Control In Fairfax County, Virginia, Richard Amity

Management and Control of Companion Animal Populations Collection

The Department is responsible for providing services and enforcing laws pertaining to both domestic animals and wildlife. The department which has a staff of fifty, is involved in a variety of activities including, provision of temporary shelter and adoption service for stray and surrendered animals, 24-hour emergency service for injured strays, quarantine of animals which have bitten humans, assistance in the removal of stray dogs and wildlife from public areas, conducting humane education programs and issuance of hunting permits. In 1975, the department in a cooperative arrangement with the Northern Virginia Veterinary Medical Association, also developed a reduced cost spay/neuter …

Human Demographics, Animal Demographics, Human-Animal Interaction And The Animal Control Program Of Baltimore City, Lloyd H. Ross

Management and Control of Companion Animal Populations Collection

A study of the ecology and public health impact of urban cats in two neighborhoods in Baltimore (Childs, 1982) indicated that the frequency of cat ownership varied from 20.1% of households to 7.4% of households in the two contrasting areas. It is interesting to note that the low percentage of cats occurred in the low income and predominately Black neighborhood. Information obtained for this study on the age structure of animals in the community varies slightly, depending upon the data source. The polling of 18 veterinary hospitals in Baltimore indicates that animals examined were generally between the ages of 6 …

The Success Of Companion Animal Management Programs: A Historical And Statistical Review, Andrew N. Rowan

Management and Control of Companion Animal Populations Collection

In the early 1970's a surge of articles in the lay and scientific press brought the burgeoning problem of pet overpopulation to the attention of the American public. The spark for this concern appears to have been an article by Carl Djerassi (who was prominent in the development of oral contraceptives for humans) and his colleagues in the unlikely forum of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. Djerassi argued that an efficient means of birth control was also required for the pet population (Djerassi et al, 1973). In 1974, following Djerassi's article Alan Beck, in an address to city officials described …

Animal Management And Population Control, What Progress Have We Made?, Alexandra K. Wilson, Andrew N. Rowan

eBooks

Evaluations of animal population problems and their solutions by ten regional animal control and humane society shelters.

Fighting To Win, Henry Spira

Contributions to Books

No abstract provided.

American Attitudes Toward And Knowledge Of Animals: An Update, Stephen R. Kellert

Attitudes Towards Animals Collection

The distribution of a typology of basic attitudes toward animals in the American population is explored through personal interviews with 3,107 randomly selected persons in the 48 contiguous states and Alaska. Data is presented on the prevalence of these attitudes in the overall American population and among major social demographic and animal activity groups. In addition, results are presented on Americans' knowledge of animals as well as their species preferences. Finally, information is presented on perceptions of critical wildlife issues including endangered species, predator control, hunting, trapping, marine mammals and wildlife habitat protection.

Empathy, Humaneness And Animal Welfare, M. W. Fox

Human and Animal Bonding Collection

In relation to a person's emotional rapport with an animal, is empathy possible? Sympathetic concern for animals is often judged, sometimes correctly, as being a sentimental, anthropomorphic projection. Sheer subjective sympathy toward an animal, without objective understanding of its behavior and needs, can lead to erroneous assumptions as to its well-being, and to misjudgement of others' treatment of animals as being cruel. Empathy is possible when the "feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another" can be vicariously experienced: thus when there is objective knowledge about what an animal's overt behavior signifies, and what emotional states, intentions, and expectations such overt behavior …

Logic And Limits Of Animal Liberation, Edward R. Bennett

Animal Welfare Collection

The current interest in treatment towards animals goes beyond the focus of isolated instances of brutality and encompasses the advocacy of significant changes in our traditional attitudes toward animals. In one year (1980) an estimated 2,054,281,000 hogs, beef, lamb, and poultry were raised on farms and slaughtered in the U.S.* (Agricultural Statistics 1981), and 1,653,385 laboratory animals were used by facilities registered with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA 197 4). Adding to this the number of related animal industries such as textiles, farm equipment manufacturing, cosmetics and drug industries, restaurants, and groceries, it is easy to appreciate the …

Attitudes Toward Animals: Age-Related Development Among Children, Stephen R. Kellert

Attitudes Towards Animals Collection

This paper reviews the results of a study of 267 children in the 2nd, 5th, 8th, and 11th grades. A battery of tests was used to examine children's knowledge and attitudes towards animals, and behavioral contacts with animals. A typology of basic attitudes towards animals and appropriate scales was employed. Children's knowledge and attitudes towards animals were also compared to those of adults 18 years of age and over. Major differences occurred among children distinguished by age, sex, ethnicity, and urban/rural residence. Additionally, significant knowledge and attitude variations occurred among diverse animal-related activity groups (e.g., among children who hunted, birdwatched, …

Getting At The Numbers, Jim Mason

Interviews

Henry Spira, leader of the Campaign Against the LD50 test, talks about how he builds coalitions to focus action.

Achieving A Concensus On Dog Control Strategies: A Brief Primer, D. B. Wilkins

Pets Collection

The welfare arguments surrounding dog ownership may not stimulate the same passionate fervor as those relating to the use of animals in experiments, factory farming, or the hunting of live animals with hounds, but nevertheless, they are matters of real concern to most welfare organizations. The most serious problems are caused through irresponsible ownership, which leads to overbreeding and the inevitable consequence of large numbers

Humane Ethics And Animal Rights, Michael W. Fox

Animal Welfare Collection

While the primary goal of the animal welfare movement is to eliminate suffering in those animal species that are exploited by humans, this goal, although exemplary, is narrow sighted. Notwithstanding the practical difficulties of proving animal suffering, especially psychological, suffering could conceivably be eliminated, as in confined farm animals, through the use of tranquilizers, or even brain surgery. A goose being made to eat compulsively, following selective partial destruction or stimulation of its brain to cause hypertrophy of its liver for the liver pate trade, may not suffer. But it is being harmed. Likewise, to selective breed a farm animal, …

The Care Of Pets Within Child Abusing Families, Elizabeth Deviney, Jeffery Dickert, Randall Lockwood

Animal Welfare Collection

The treatment of animals was surveyed in 53 families in which child abuse had occurred. Patterns of pet ownership, attitudes towards pets and quality of veterinary care did not differ greatly from comparable data from the general public. However, abuse of pets by a family member had taken place in 60 percent of the families. The families in which animal abuse was indicated tended to have younger pets, lower levels of veterinary care and more conflicts over care than non-abusive families in the study. There were several parallels between the treatment of pets and the treatment of animals within child-abusing …

Fighting For Animal Rights: Issues And Strategies, Henry Spira

Contributions to Books

No abstract provided.

A Strategy For Dog-Owner Education (Response), Ian Dunbar

Pets Collection

I have read with interest the response by Graham Henderson of the Toronto Humane Society (lnt J Stud Anim Prob 2(6):305-309, 1981). I agree with many of his statements and am pleased that he, in turn, agreed with most of mine, although at first, this was not entirely apparent. In fact, I found Mr. Henderson's letter to be somewhat confusing, and it contained a number of inaccuracies and contradictions. So, please bear with me if I go into some detail to try to unravel the confusion.

Attitudes Toward Animal Suffering: An Exploratory Study, John Braithwaite, Valerie Braithwaite

Attitudes Towards Animals Collection

A total of 302 undergraduates in the social sciences and the humanities, at two Australian universities, were given a questionnaire designed to explore public attitudes toward animal suffering. The results, though preliminary, strongly suggest that attitudes may be in great part supportive of animal welfare and animal rights. However, as reflected in the answers to the questionnaire, actual behavior does not always follow suit. The recommendation is made that the animal welfare/animal rights movement should perhaps place more emphasis on raising people's awareness of the inconsistencies between their attitudes toward animals and their behavior concerning them.

The Silver Spring 17, Andrew N. Rowan

Laboratory Experiments Collection

On November 23, 1981, in a Maryland District Court, Dr. Edward Taub was found guilty under a Maryland state anti-cruelty statute of not providing adequate veterinary care for 6 of the 17 monkeys confiscated from his laboratory 2 months earlier. The case has received extensive press coverage and has also caused widespread alarm in the scientific community. According to Science (274:121, 1981 ), "scientists throughout the country have been shocked by the Taub case, initially perceiving it as a bid by antivivisectionists to procure a court ruling against animal experimentation." Taub himself has fostered this impression and has drawn a …

International Coalition To Abolish Ld-50, Michael Marten

Popular Press Items

No abstract provided.

Hsus Helps Bust Cruel Dogfights

Close Up Reports

The HSUS believes that dogfighting, along with other blood sports, is nothing less than torture for fun that is degrading and unfit for a civilized society.

The HSUS' dogfighting program is one of the most extensive in the nation. We are frequently contacted by other animal welfare groups, law enforcement agencies, and the media to provide assistance or expertise. Our investigators frequently travel undercover to dogfights, risking their lives to garner information from the heavily armed and often drug-using dogfighting fraternity. It is often information that only we are interested in providing that enables dogfighters to be caught and arrested. …

A Strategy For Dog-Owner Education, Ian Dunbar

Animal Welfare Collection

By conservative estimates, the humane societies and societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals in the United States euthanize over 15 million pets each year. It is a great shame that people who have devoted their lives to animals should be forced to destroy the majority of animals that pass through their hands. In addition, the Pet Food Institute's 1975 Survey revealed that a high percentage of pet owners were unsatisfied with their animals and ended up giving them away, taking them to animal shelters, or losing them in accidents. It would appear that only a minority of pets …

The Politics Of Animal Rights: Making The Human Connection, Jim Mason

Animal Welfare Collection

Animal Rights is in the air, so much so that the term borders on becoming a buzzword and the cause itself the latest form of radical chic. Although Lewis Gompertz, HenryS. Salt and others put forth radically different views on attitudes and relations toward other animals more than a century ago, the publication in 1972 of essays by Brigid Brophy, Richard Ryder and others in the book, Animals, Men and Morals and the more popular book, Animal Liberation, by Peter Singer have sparked another wave of these views and have inspired a spate of college courses, articles in both academic …

History Of The Humane Movement And Prospects For The 80s, Robert A. Brown

Animal Welfare Collection

No abstract provided.

A Chronology Of Significant Events, Meetings, And Publications Concerning The Welfare Of Laboratory And Farm Animals, Andrew N. Rowan

Animal Welfare Collection

It is not readily appreciated, except for those of us who are deeply involved in the animal movement, how the debate on animal rights and animal exploitation has grown and spread over the past ten years. It may, therefore, be of some interest to readers to have a chronology of important events and publications from the past decade. The outline is not meant to be comprehensive and others would no doubt highlight different events, but it is hoped that it will prove to be of interest and of use. The philosophical, legislative and scientific aspects are dealt with separately for …

A Response To Dr. Ian Dunbar, Graham Henderson

Pets Collection

In his article, "A Strategy for Dog Owner Education," (2(1):13-15, 1981), Dr. Ian Dunbar reveals his masterplan: Pet owners are not, he claims, irresponsible, they are for the most part merely "ignorant." We must, therefor, educate them, and to do this we must somehow contrive to have potential pet owners apply for a license before they may obtain their dog. At the same time as this initial application is made, the hopeful candidate would be issued with an information package, the content of which he or she would be tested on at some indeterminate future date. Although a failure to …

People At Zoos: A Sociological Approach, Edward G. Ludwig

Zoos and Aquariums Collection

This is a participant observation study of animal/human relationships at zoos. Both zoo personnel and zoo visitors were observed intensively over a period of four months and less intensively for two years. While young zoo employees tended to be naturalistic, ecologistic and scientistic in their value orientation toward animals, these attitudes were often frustrated by the day to day routines of the job involving hosing and feeding, and the realities of limitations placed upon zoos by strained budgets and antiquated buildings. The public tended to be an additional source of frustration due to their apparent lack of sensitivity and desire …

The Role Of The Hsus In Zoo Reform, Anna Fesmire

eBooks

A report prepared for the Humane Society of the United States

Benign Uses Of Wildlife, Victor B. Scheffer

Conservation Collection

During the Age of Environmental Awareness, which dawned in the late 1960's, Americans turned to using wild animals more benignly (or in ways harmless both to individuals and populations) and less exploitatively. The evidence includes: new federal legislation reflecting a public shift toward benign uses, growth of interest in 'nongame' wildlife, growth of interest in wildlife watching (rate of increase in number of camera safaris estimated at 32% per annum in 7 recent years), growth in membership of animal-interest organizations (rate of increase estimated at 7.7% per annum in 15 recent years), and growth of interest in animal rights. Per …

Sheep Mulesing And Animal Lib, Nancy Heneson

Animal Welfare Collection

The practice of mulesing sheep to prevent blowfly strike has recently come under fire from the Animal Liberation movement in Australia. Although it is only one of the many issues which Animal Lib has raised in its campaign to reform various sectors of the livestock industry, it is particularly illustrative of the kinds of conflicts in world view which arise when animal rights activists turn the spotlight on the farming establishment. Spokesmen for the livestock industries are quick to stress the emotional and sometimes sensational portrayal by Animal Libbers of time-honored animal management practices, as well as the sinister role …