The umbrella organization for animal welfare organizations operating in Haiti has pledged $1.1 million to the Haitian government.

The Animal Relief Coalition for Haiti (ARCH) was formed by various animal welfare organizations, including In Defense of Animals (IDA), the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), the World Society for Protection of Animals (WSPA), and the American Humane Association, so that they could work together to aid animals affected by the Haiti earthquake as quickly as possible. Last week they announced that they have pledged $1.1 million to the Haitian government to improve the well-being of animals and repair the country’s veterinary capacity.

The agreement will mean that the Haitian Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of the Environment, and the Ministry of Health will have access to funds to build an epidemiology laboratory and employ lab workers to carry out targeted vaccination campaigns for Anthrax and Newcastle disease. A minimum of 200 animal health workers will also be trained using the funds, and an animal population study will be carried out. Because of recent disasters, animal demographics have changed dramatically and ARCH considers it important for relief efforts to have an accurate picture of the situation. According to the Haitian Ministry of Agriculture, there are an estimated 5 million farmed animals in Haiti (not including birds), and approximately 500,000 dogs living in the capital city of Port-au-Prince.

The coalition also announced the arrival of a fully-equipped veterinary mobile clinic to Port-au-Prince. The donated unit will support ARCH’s animal rescue efforts that have already treated over 3,200 animals including dogs, cats, goats, cattle, horses, and other animals. Coalition members arrived in Port-au-Prince days after the 7.0-magnitude earthquake shook the Haitian capital to provide immediate medical aid to the stricken animals. Teams continue to treat injured and sick animals with medications including antibiotics and de-worming medicine, they are also providing anthrax and rabies vaccinations for thousands of animals.

Read the entire article.

1922 horses were gathered off the Calico Range last winter under quite a bit of controversy. But the story didn’t end there, as a matter of fact, the BLM wanted to show off its brand new facility in Fallon where these horses no reside.

Its called the Indian Lakes Facility privately owned and operated the B-L-M has contracted it as a short term-holding facility.
Click here to find out more!

The 320 acre facility helps doctor horses as they are pushed through a chute to get their vaccinations, blood tests and deworming.

“Eliminate any injuries that they could possibly do. The chute area has rounded corners in it, to initiate good flow of animals. So they don’t get stuck in areas where they can get scared and injuries do happen,” says John Neill with Indian Lakes.

The veterinarian here along with the facility manager and wrangler administer shots, blood tests, deworming and finally a freeze brand on the necks of the horses which help identify them individually–and then, let them go.

Each of the pens holds about 100 horses safely. The mares and babies are separated from the other horses. Mares and geldings are put in separate pens as well. The horses’ ages are also documented. That’s because most won’t stay here. Many older horses will go to other holding facilities in the midwest or east. Other horses will go to adoption facilities in Colorado and Texas.

Deniz Bolbol from “In Defense of Animals” was in her car for nearly two hours waiting for us to exit the facility. She along with others in her group says facilities like these are too expensive to maintain. In her opinion the B-L-M needs to scrap its current methods of maintaining wild herds and start over. Bolbol wanted to make sure we weren’t swayed by what she calls the P.R. spin.

“Range Improvement, fertility control, there are a whole host of options for the BLM. Sadly they ignore all of them and really just fall back on this roundup and removal,” says Bolbol

But these horses are off the range and the next step is to get as many of them as successfully adopted as possible.

The B-L-M says two to four years olds are the most desirable age when it comes to adoptions. And the adoption of some of these horses from the Calico Complex will take place late this spring at Palomino Valley.

If you would like to tour the Indian Lakes facility to get updates on the horses there, you can contact the BLM by going to: www.blm.gov/nv/.

Read the entire article here.

Posted: 10:24 PM Mar 9, 2010
Reporter: Terri Russell

“Squirrel monkeys would receive a level of radiation similar to what an astronaut would encounter on a Mars mission,” the BNL statement explains.

“The monkeys would then live out the remainder of their natural lifetime at McLean [Hospital], while researchers there would observe them for subtle changes in behavior and performance.”

Researchers from McLean Hospital, a psychiatric facility of Harvard Medical School, would conduct the study at a NASA facility on the Brookhaven Lab premises.

Opposition

Several animal protection groups oppose the study. In Defense of Animals (IDA) and International Primate Protection League (IPPL) have filed a complaint with NASA and BNL.

“NASA’s proposed experiments would inundate these tiny monkeys—only a foot tall—with one massive burst of gamma radiation equal to a three-year journey to Mars and back,” said IDA researcher Tony Carr in a media release.

“Since the 1950s, thousands of primates have been exposed to various dosages of radiation including radio frequency, microwave, X-ray, gamma, electron, proton, neutron and other particle radiation,” said Carr. “Studies have already shown that gamma radiation can cause depressive behavior, immobility, hyperirritability, convulsions, vomiting, diarrhea, weight loss, hair loss, open sores, skin hemorrhages, and even death.

“Previous research has also proven that animals of different species—even of different strains of the same species—react differently to radiation, which calls into question the experiments’ scientific value in advancing protection for human astronauts.”

Celebrities Speak Out

IDA reports that celebrities including Woody Harrelson, Zachary Quinto, Alicia Silverstone, James Cromwell, Allison Janney, Kristen Bell, Emily Deschanel, and Elizabeth Perkins have signed on to an IDA-drafted letter to U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu, NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden, Jr., and BNL Director Dr. Samuel Aronson.

“NASA has already committed $1.75 million in taxpayer money to the experiments,” said Carr. “NASA wants BNL—a lab run by the U.S. Department of Energy—to conduct the radiation portion of the experiments. BNL has not yet decided to proceed. Experiments are being reviewed by BNL’s safety, science, and animal welfare committees.”

The BNL statement adds, “All studies at the NASA facility require approval by multiple review committees.”

To sign on to the IDA’s letter:

https://secure2.convio.net/ida/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=1371

To comment on the proposed NASA squirrel monkey experiments:

Brookhaven National Lab
P.O. Box 5000
Upton, NY 11973-5000
Tel. (631) 344-8000

Read the full article here

What:    Delegation of three watchdog organizations confront wildlife officials
When:   March 10, 2010, 12:00 noon
Where:  Bonneville Dam, Oregon side visitor center (off I 84, 40 miles east of Portland, Oregon)

“Ironically, the fishing quota has been raised every year since this sea lion killing program was introduced – from nine percent in 2007, to 12 percent in 2008, to 13 percent in 2009 to 16 percent this year,” says Julie Farris of the Sea Lion Defense Brigade. “The sea lions are only having a marginal impact, observed at the dam eating only a few of the spring Chinook run. If government agencies were using sound science, they wouldn’t be spending millions of dollars killing these intelligent and sociable creatures, they would cap fishing quotas and allow those extra fish to spawn to help the species recover.”

Rick Hargrave, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) spokesperson, reported that seven sea lions were trapped yesterday morning, five of whom he identified as “C417, C926, B194, B258,and B267“ – sea lions listed on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) kill authority letter. The two animals with a “C”  in their number are sea lions identified by a number burned across their backs, after having been previously trapped and branded in the Columbia River. However, the three “B” animals have only been identified by so-called physical characteristics, and are not branded. According to Hargrave, these five were scheduled to be killed by the end of yesterday.

“We remain highly skeptical these agencies can correctly identify individual sea lions as required by law,” said IDA’s Matt Rossell, who’s organization was a plaintiff in a lawsuit filed against ODFW on behalf of a sea lion named “Willy” or “C657.” IDA is appealing the case, maintaining Willy was misidentified and removed from the river last year without proper authority based on government records submitted with the suit. “It is ridiculous to believe the Army Corps’ claim that they can individually identify over 250 unbranded sea lions when they rely on seasonally hired student observers, standing on shore or on the dam, to recognize physical characteristics of sea lions from far away in the river as they surface momentarily with a fish in their mouth and then disappear under water seconds later.”

These pinnipeds are otherwise protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act, except for this five-year special exemption approved by NOAA through Section 120 of the Act that allows for killing individual sea lions if they are proven to be causing a “significant impact” on endangered species. That questionable impact has been the subject of a federal lawsuit currently under appeal in the 9th circuit court, and the program has been swimming in controversy since the inception, with multiple incidents of malfunctioning traps, and seven sea lions who have died unintentionally in state custody only adding to the growing public criticism.

“The sea lion killing program is a failure, and should be ended immediately,” according to Justin Kay of the Portland Animal Defense League. “Regardless of size of the salmon run, or the number of sea lions they remove from the river, the sea lions eat roughly the same number of fish each year below the dam – a tiny fraction – this year’s estimate is about one percent of the overall run. Sea lions are being scapegoated, and killing them is not going to resolve the real issues facing salmon recovery – over-fishing, dams, introduced non-native fish, and habitat destruction.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 10, 2010

Contacts: Matt Rossell, In Defense of Animals (IDA), 503-890-5151 matt@idausa.org; Julie Farris, Sea Lion Defense Brigade, 971-344-2862

Dr. Elliot Katz, graduate of Cornell Veterinary School, founded In Defense of Animals (IDA) in 1983. “In Defense of Animals’ objectives are to stop the round ups, keep the horses on their home range, end the senseless killing of all equines and do all in our power to return the rounded-up horses to the home range where they truly belong.” – Dr Elliot Katz. Over the past 25 years, under Dr. Katz’s leadership, IDA has been at the forefront of the struggle for animal protection and rights, and has won many precedent-setting victories for the animals. Some of these accomplishments include Closing the infamous Coulston Foundation, once the largest chimpanzee research center in the world, saving hundreds of chimpanzees and monkeys from the horrors of vivisection; spearheading the rescue of hundreds of dogs and cats after a devastating “firestorm” swept through the Oakland/Berkeley hills, destroying more than 3,500 homes; preventing the US Army from breaking the legs of 120 retired racing greyhounds; Freeing 180 beagles scheduled to be dissected by UC Davis veterinary students; saving the lives of hundreds of Catalina Island buffalo scheduled to be sent to auction and arranging and paying for their transfer to a South Dakota Reservation; and ending NYU’s crack cocaine experiments on monkeys, Rockefeller University’s vomiting experiments on cats, and Michael Beren¹s brain cancer experiments on Beagle puppies.

Read the entire press release, and ways you can help here.

San Rafael, Calif. (March 8, 2010) – In Defense of Animals (IDA) is praising the Best Documentary Academy Award choice of The Cove, hailing the Oscar recognition as a major victory for dolphins. The film is based on the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition (SJD) campaign to stop the slaughter and consumption of dolphins in Japan, and to prevent their capture and imprisonment in captivity.

The global spotlight on The Cove should reinforce pressure for Japan’s new Minister of State for Consumer Affairs and Food Safety, Ms. Mizuho Fukushima, to publicize the calamitous health risks, including mercury poisoning, associated with eating dolphin meat. This is especially true for residents in Taiji, the small fishing village where The Cove was filmed. University of Hokkaido Professor Tetsuya Endo concluded in a recent study that Taiji residents have 10 times higher mercury levels than other Japanese citizens.

The Japanese government seems unable to respond to charges that it has allowed and continues to allow the poisoning of both Japanese citizens and foreign visitors who eat contaminated dolphin meat. Equally important, noted IDA President Dr. Elliot M. Katz, a veterinarian, “The Japanese government can no longer cover up the barbaric dolphin slaughter with routine media blackouts on the issue. They simply have no answer to the filmed dolphin massacres other than they are lawful activities.”

“IDA congratulates the crew of The Cove, including Director Louis Psihoyos, Executive Producer Jim Clark, Producer Fisher Stevens, and the Oceanic Preservation Society,” added Dr. Katz. “And of course activist and former Flipper trainer Ric O’Barry, perhaps the best friend dolphins could have. The global spotlight on The Cove will bring the necessary pressure in Japan to ban the sale of dolphin meat without delay.”

The Save Japan Dolphins Coalition is working to expand the number of Japanese citizens who can see The Cove, which is scheduled for release in Japan later this year. Only about 600 of Japan’s 127 million people have seen the film, and those who did see The Cove expressed outrage in Japanese and U.S. media.

In Defense of Animals is a founding member of the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition, which also includes Animal Welfare Institute, Campaign Whale of the UK, Earth Island Institute, Elsa Nature Conservancy of Japan and OceanCare of Switzerland.

For more information, please visit www.idausa.org.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts:
Dr. Elliot M. Katz, 415.448.0048, ext. 225
Melissa Gonzalez, 707.981.7701, Melissa@idausa.org

The zoo’s elephant exhibit can only hold two pachyderms, and although the zoo could try to acquire a second elephant, it probably would not be able to comply with elephant standards set by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums that require zoos have no fewer than three female elephants, the group says.

The animal group said that because sanctuaries have more space, elephants integrate easily into social groups and soon form lasting bonds with companions of their own choosing.

The two leading U.S. sanctuaries, The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee and PAWS in California, have set the standard for the care of captive elephants by providing spacious and complex environments that give elephants the space they need for movement, large social groups, and high-quality veterinary care, the animal group says.

Dr. Elliot Katz, the animal group’s president and a veterinarian, said, “At Maude’s age, if she stays in a zoo she’s likely to develop arthritis or other health complications. … Arthritis is a painful and potentially deadly condition for an elephant. A sanctuary provides the soft soil, space and exercise that elephants need to stay healthy.”

Read this entire article here.

“The Central Florida Zoo has an important decision to make for Maude,” said IDA’s elephant campaign director Catherine Doyle. “Will Maude spend the remainder of her days in a small, unnatural zoo exhibit, or a spacious, natural habitat sanctuary where she would have room to roam, the companionship of other Asian elephants, and a permanent home?”

The zoo’s small and outdated elephant exhibit can only hold two elephants and lacks the space and natural conditions that elephants need to thrive. While the zoo could opt to acquire a second elephant, it is unlikely because it would still not be compliant with elephant standards set by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) that require zoos hold no less than three female elephants.

In the letter to Montisano, IDA raised concerns about sending Maude to another zoo because of the possibility that she may not integrate with new cage-mates and could be moved yet again to another zoo, or be forced to live segregated from other elephants. Because sanctuaries have greater space, elephants integrate easily into social groups and soon form lasting bonds with companions of their own choosing.

The two leading U.S. sanctuaries, The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee and PAWS in California, have set the standard for the care of captive elephants by providing spacious and complex environments that give elephants the space they need for movement, large social groups, and high quality veterinary care. All the elephants living in sanctuaries spent many years in captivity, like Maude, and all have made the transition to this more natural environment.

Eleven AZA-accredited zoos have sent elephants to sanctuaries, including zoos in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Detroit. No AZA-accredited zoo that has sent an elephant to a sanctuary has lost its accreditation for doing so.

“Maude has spent her life on public display, the last 27 years of it at the Central Florida Zoo,” concluded Doyle. “Relocation to a sanctuary is the most reasonable and humane choice for her, one we are sure the public will support as it will give Maude the highest quality of life possible.”

Dr. Elliot Katz, IDA’s President and a veterinarian, added “At Maude’s age, if she stays in a zoo she’s likely to develop arthritis or other health complications, due to lack of space for exercise and standing on hard surfaces like concrete. Arthritis is a painful and potentially deadly condition for an elephant. A sanctuary provides the soft soil, space and exercise that elephants need to stay healthy.”

Read IDA’s letter to the Central Florida Zoo. For more information, visit www.HelpElephants.com.

March 5, 2010

Contact: Catherine Doyle, zoos@idausa.org, 323-301-5730

This is the third year of a three-year sea lion killing plan approved by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said Oregon Department Fish & Wildlife spokeswoman Jessica Sall. Officials will reevaluate the situation at the end of the year to determine if they will ask for an extension.

Officials said 80 sea lions currently meet the criteria to be euthanized. Twenty-five sea lions were killed during the first two years of the operation.

Matt Rossell, who is with In Defense of Animals, a group that opposes the project, attended the demonstration.

“It’s painful to see these sea lions killed needlessly,” he said.

Rossell said state leaders are ignoring the dam itself and over-fishing as possible causes for dwindling salmon numbers.

“When you really look at what’s happening here, it’s not working, it’s not helping the issue, it’s not saving and protecting salmon. The sea lions are being scapegoated,” Rossell said.

Some fishermen have differing opinions.

“It seems that they’re multiplying too much, there are too many. They should kill them because they are destroying the fish,” said Alex Jay.

Read the entire article here.

“IDA is pleased to be able to help millions of animals in need, address animal and public health concerns and have a long-lasting impact for the animals and people of Haiti,” said Anand Ramanathan, IDA’s Executive Director.

The ambitious program of animal disaster relief work is aimed to help a countless number of animals and people recover from the disaster and build resilience to better protect communities against future disasters. This operation, to be implemented through an agreement and in close cooperation with the Haitian Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of the Environment, and the Ministry of Health, includes:

* An epidemiology network: Assist the government in protecting people and animals from disease outbreaks. A laboratory and lab workers will be provided to do things such as carry out targeted vaccination campaigns for Anthrax and Newcastle disease.

* Training of Haitian veterinarians and veterinary health workers; the goal is to train a minimum of 200 animal health workers to address current and future animal welfare problems.

* Restoration of the ‘cold chain’ to allow for effective vaccination campaigns: Haiti had embarked on several ambitious vaccination programs prior to the earthquake. It is now vital to rebuild the infrastructure to keep vaccinations cold up through delivery.

* Animal population studies: Haiti’s animal demographics have changed dramatically as the result of recent disasters. Accurate, updated survey data will inform coalition work.

The coalition also announced the arrival of a fully-equipped veterinary mobile clinic to Port-au-Prince. The donated unit will support ARCH’s animal rescue efforts that have already treated over 3,200 animals including dogs, cats, goats, cattle, horses, and other animals.

Coalition members arrived in Port-au-Prince days after the 7.0-magnitude earthquake shook the Haitian capital to provide immediate medical aid to the stricken animals.  Teams continue to treat injured and sick animals with medications including antibiotics and de-worming medicine, they are also providing anthrax and rabies vaccinations for thousands of animals. According to the Haitian Ministry of Agriculture, there are an estimated 5 million farmed animals in Haiti (not including birds), and approximately 500,000 dogs living in the capital city of Port-au-Prince.

About ARCH (Animal Relief Coalition for Haiti)

Animal welfare organizations formed the Animal Relief Coalition for Haiti (ARCH) so that we could work together to bring aid to as many animals, and in as short a time, as possible. At present, ARCH partners include: International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), World Society for Protection of Animals (WSPA), American Humane Association, Best Friends Animal Society, Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), In Defense of Animals (IDA), American Veterinary Medical Association, American Veterinary Medical Foundation, Antigua and Barbuda Humane Society,  ASPCA,  United Animal Nations,  Kinship Circle,  One Voice,  Swiss Animal Protection,  Palo Alto Humane Society (PAHS),  People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA),  Finnish Federation for Animal Welfare Associations, Animal Medical Care Foundation (AMCF), Petfinder.com Foundation, Mayhew International, and Last Chance for Animals.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Anand Ramanathan, In Defense of Animals, 508-364-6802, anand@idausa.org

Note to editors: Broadcast-quality photos and video available.