The Animal Channel
Animal Rights
USDA Ignores Congressional Decision on Horse SlaughterThe United States Department of Agriculture said Tuesday it would allow the slaughter of horses for human consumption at three foreign-owned meat plants in the U.S.
The USDA decision flies in the face of a congressional mandate passed in November, basically cutting off funding for inspection of horses prior to slaughter. The three plants offered to pay for the own inspectors in a fee-for-service arrangement sometimes used with exotic meats, like reindeer and elk. Michael Markarian, Executive Director of the Humane Socieity of the United States, told the Dallas Morning News that the "USDA is thumbing its nose at Congress."
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Of Lead And (Dead) Ducks
New Ammo Regs Help Combat Lead Poisoning In WaterfowlIt's been no secret that when waterfowl and other birds ingest lead beebees they die. Now the Fish and Wildlife Service is breaking new ground in the campaign against lead poisoning by working with ammo manufacturers to make the stuff in shotgun and bullet shells easier on avians that accidentally swallow the errant shot that accumulates on the bottoms of ponds, lakes and in fields. The federal agency, which oversees waterfowl management in the U.S. and has strongly advocated for wetlands protection, announced that hunters will have four new shot types, all non lead, to put in their guns. [more]
Innovative Conservation
Good For Fish, Good For FarmsFor years, Farmers Irrigation District has had a number of debris screens, and two hydroelectric plants. Oregon's 1996 winter flooding washed away the protective screens. Instead of looking around for someone else to solve the problem, the district staff designed a horizontal screen, and installed a prototype on their Hood River diversion. Tests proved that fish passed over the screen with zero mortality. No dead salmon, steelhead, trout. Not even a scale damaged.
And the screen blocked debris, while providing water for farms.
"The screen design they produced and patented, they then licensed to the non-profit Farmers Conservation Alliance to ensure all screen profits went to the common good," says Julie Davies O'Shea, director of Farmers Conservation Alliance. The new screen goes on sale this month.
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Horsin Around
Post-Surgery on the Horse Show Circuit
In a photograph taken in 1997, my horse Volare is looking right at the camera, his mouth open as if he's laughing. My friend Cecile took the photograph on a sunny winter day near Boston.
If you look at the photo closely, you can spot a tiny white mark on the inside of Volare’s right ear. It’s nothing to notice, really; just a blemish or maybe even a spot on the lens when the photo was taken. I’ve had the photograph on my refrigerator since Cecile gave it to me, and in the past four years, that barely noticeable spot became an elephant.
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La Vida Politica
This Legislative Session, Don’t Forget the AnimalsIn the frenzy of the Legislative session with its minimum wage, medical marijuana, and herd of pork projects waiting for approval, sometimes its easy to forget the animals.
But not me. I never forget the animals. So here's a little roundup of some animal-oriented bills worth watching. The Humane Society of the United States has a good, up-to-date list, too. Click here.
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Animal House
Eight is Enough
When I was a kid, our house was an unofficial half-way house for just about every species of wild and stray animal in North America. My mom and dad were divorced, I was an only child, and despite the trouble I’d get in every time, I busied myself wandering around the neighborhood, finding and taking care of wayward animals while my mom worked two jobs to keep things moving forward. She’d come home from work at least three or four times a month to find the latest acquisition: a mangy, old dog on the kitchen floor, two baby kittens in a box in the bathroom, a canary, even an injured jackrabbit on the back patio. And every time, she’d pack me and the animal du jour up in the car, no matter what time day or night, and haul us down to the animal shelter, the pound or the animal control center and drop it off with a note – I assume in hopes that the repeated heartbreak would eventually make me stop bringing them home.
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A Man's Best Friend
An Ode to Kaela
Most dogs are exuberant by nature, but Kaela, my late, great Norwegian Elkhound mix, gave new meaning to the term. Bounding up to whomever might be arriving at the house or the office, tail wagging furiously, a joyous grin on her face, she took pleasure in the most routine moments, as well as the most special ones. She loved to run, for the pure joy of it; as a puppy, in California, she would sprint up and down the beach, up and down, just because she could. She liked to swim, not compulsively like a retriever, but recreationally, a little dip in the cool river in the summertime, but never going out too deep. Even as she got older and arthritic, she would always get up to play.
When my ex-wife Laura and I got Kaela, as a tiny abandoned puppy, she had an injury in her left eye, and we soon had the eye removed. She was young enough that it never seemed to bother her, having only one eye, but it always made me worry. What if something happened to the other eye? What if she was blindsided, by a car, or by a horse she was naively trying to befriend, or by a hostile dog? And she was, finally, blindsided by a car, after chasing a deer up the hill and across the increasingly busy street above our rural home.
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SUBURBAN WILDLIFE
Study: Coyotes No Threat to PeopleOh, well that's a relief: Researchers have found that coyotes rarely attack humans. [more]
Farewell to Kaela
New West Loses A Mascot, A Friend
As I hear the sounds of hammering from the yard, I think, not for the first time, how life can change in a split second.
I've had the good fortune of having loved many dear friends and the misfortune of having many die young. At 45, I'm no stranger to death. I'd like to think I have an insight others do not to loss, that is somehow makes me deeper or more appreciative of life. But as I hear the sighing outside and see the loving hands and hear the buzz of the saw in the woods, I'm reminded of how little I know even now.
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Animal Husbandry
I Want A Pet Cow: Miniature Herefords Could be the Answer
I have always found cows to be handsome and agreeable animals, especially when they are gussied up for the Denver Stock Show (which continues through January 22), fluffed and brushed and shined and standing pleasantly in their display stalls. I've decided that I want a pet cow. My mother had a pet cow when she was a little girl, a 4-H project named Little Lulu. Along with her brothers and sisters, she also raised a pet pig, Porky Pedro. My mom lived on a farm in Nebraska, and the zoning restrictions there were no doubt different from those for residents of condos within Boulder city limits, but one breed—Miniature Herefords—should count as dogs, in my opinion. According to the Rocky Mountain News, when fully grown, they loom just ten inches higher than the average 30-inch St. Bernard. Miniature Herefords have become increasingly popular, and last Friday at Denver's National Western Stock Show they were featured in a show. How did these cows become miniaturized? It all started about 35 years ago with one man and his dream. [more]
