Earth & Animals Magazine

EARTH & ANIMALS

by World Animal Foundation

ISSUE 6 2015

SUPPORT FOR ANIMAL RIGHTS INCREASING ● STOPPING JAPANESE WHALING ● CHINA CRUSHING MORE IVORY ● BEGINNING OF END TO DOLPHIN HUNTS ● STOP BLAMING FERAL CATS ● CHIMPS HAVE DAY IN COURT

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● RHINO SMUGGLER GETS JAIL TIME ● HOW TO HELP CHAINED DOGS

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EARTH & ANIMALS MAGAZINE

by World Animal Foundation More Articles Online at WorldAnimalFoundation.org

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WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION - Support For Animal Rights Increasing

- Bond With Dogs Is Older Than Thought

- China ISP Vows To Stop Wildlife Trade

- Stopping Japanese Whaling

- Pitt Bull Myths Debunked

- How To Help Chained Dogs

- AG-Gag Bill Vetoed

- Black Bear Saved

- China Crushes More Ivory

- Pipeline Owner Had 175 Spills

- Beginning Of The End To Dolphin Hunts - Man Sentenced For Rhino Horn Smuggling - County Bans Animal In Circuses - Chimps Day In Court - Child’s Best Friend?

- Stop Blaming Feral Cats

- Which Is Most Valuable - Whales Have Voices

- Deep Sea Mining Destruction - Doggie Breath & Disease - Dead Zones Found in Ocean

- Truth About Pet Shops

- What You Should Know About Pet Theft

- How Should We Deal With Feral Cats?

- WAF Earth & Animal Advocate Guide

- Ban On Pesticides

PUBLISHED BY: World Animal Foundation

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Gary M Barnby

The World Animal Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and protection of the planet and the animals that inhabit it. WAF works with other not-for-profit organizations dedicated to planet preservation and animal issues. WAF works through public education, research, investigations, animal rescue, legislation, special events, and direct action. WAF is an all volunteer organization. The organization has no paid officers and uses all donations towards animal and environmental programs: direct rescue, educational programs and animal sanctuaries. Utilizing volunteerism, WAF has kept operating costs to a bare minimum while maximizing our ability to help animals. Membership in the organization is free. Donations are always appreciated and needed to carryout our crucial mission of helping animals and the planet.

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR: Roberta Stewart

MAGAZINE FREQUENCY: Monthly

GENERAL MANAGER: William Dalo ADVERTISING SALES: getactive@worldanimalfoundation.net VIEW ONLINE: WorldAnimalFoundation.org SUBMIT NEWS: getactive@worldanimalfoundation.net GENERAL INQUIRIES: getactive@worldanimalfoundation.net DONATIONS & MEMBERSHIP: WorldAnimalFoundation.org © 2015 World Animal Foundation, Inc. World Animal Foundation is a non-profit, tax-exempt 501(C)(3) corporation

SUPPORT FOR ANIMAL RIGHTS INCREASING

Very few Americans, 3%, still believe animals require little protection from harm and exploitation "since they are just animals."

An increasing amount of people now believe animals should have the same protection from harm and exploitation as people. Gallup first asked Americans about the rights of animals in 2003 and repeated the question in 2008 and again in the latest May 6-10, 2015, poll.

The majority of Americans polled are concerned about the many industries that can harm animals: 69% are concerned about animals in circuses, 67% are concerned about animals in research, 68% are concerned about animals in sports and competitions, 62% are concerned about animals in marine parks and aquariums, 57% are concerned about animals in zoos and 54% are concerned about livestock and other animals raised for food.

The percentage of Americans who support the idea that animals' rights should be equal to those of humans increased across all major U.S. demographic groups. Women remain more likely to support this view than men do, but support among both groups has increased by a similar amount since 2008. Similarly, Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents are more supportive of this view than Republicans and Republican-leaning independents are, but both groups have seen an increase from the last time Gallup asked them. There continues to be little difference between younger and older Americans.

To further discern Americans' feelings about animal rights, for the first time, Gallup asked Americans about their level of concern for the treatment of animals in various settings. The percentage saying they are "very" concerned ranges from 33% for animals

used in research to 21% for animals in the zoo. When combined with those "somewhat" concerned about each, Americans are most concerned about animals in the circus, animals used in competitive animal sports or contests and animals used in research, with just over two-thirds expressing concern about each. They are least concerned about the treatment of household companion animals, with 46% saying they are very or somewhat concerned.

With increasing attention focused on the treatment of chickens, cows and other animals mainly used for human food, 54% of Americans are at least somewhat concerned, and 26% are very concerned.

Animal rights have been top of mind for Americans in recent years. Congress requested a review of a government-funded animal research lab in late 2014, and cosmetics testing on animals was banned in the European Union in 2013. Ringling Brothers recently announced that it will retire its circus elephants by 2018, a decision that comes after years of allegations of animal abuse and complaints that circus acts are disrespectful to animals.

Organized segments of the American public are very vocal about protecting animal rights. It is clear that Americans have Š become more likely to believe that animals should have rights and protections.

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INJUNCTION WOULD STOP Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a U.S. based 501(c)(3) nonprofit marine conservation organization, has filed claims against Japan’s Institute for Cetacean Research (ICR) in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, seeking a declaration that ICR’s whaling in the Southern Ocean near Antarctica is illegal under international law. Sea Shepherd is also asking the court to grant an injunction preventing ICR from continuing its illegal whaling, and to ban it from continuing to use violent and dangerous actions to protect its illegal activities from volunteer activists defending the whales.

These requests are part of the counterclaims that Sea Shepherd – joined by its founder, Paul Watson – filed in response to a lawsuit brought by ICR seeking a permanent injunction to prevent Sea Shepherd from interfering with ICR’s illegal whale hunt. ICR’s lawsuit resulted in a temporary injunction by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that required Sea Shepherd and Watson to stay at least 500 yards away from ICR’s whaling fleet while it is killing whales in the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica. The case is set for trial in fall 2016.

“Sea Shepherd intends to defend the whales in court just as it has done at sea,” said Sea Shepherd attorney Claire Loebs Davis, a partner at Seattle-based Lane Powell PC. “Although Sea Shepherd maintains that the U.S. federal courts do not have the jurisdiction to intervene in disputes occurring on the high seas on the other side of the globe, once the courts are involved, they must take into account that ICR is engaged in activity that is illegal under international law, and is using violent and aggressive measures to protect that illegal activity.”

The request for the injunction against Japanese whaling coincides with the meeting of the International Whaling Commission’s (IWC) scientific committee in San Diego, which will consider whether Japan’s latest proposal to continue to kill whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary complies with the IWC’s global moratorium on commercial whaling and its ban on whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

Since 1987, Japan has authorized ICR to kill whales by issuing it permits for the slaughter under the guise of “scientific research” – although it packages the whale meat and sells it on the commercial market. In recent years, Japan has authorized ICR to kill more than 1,000 minke, humpback, and endangered fin whales annually. However, last year, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that ICR’s “research” had no legitimate scientific basis and amounted to commercial whaling, which is in violation of the global moratorium. In 2008, the Australian Federal Court enjoined the Japanese whalers from killing whales in the Australian Whale Sanctuary, which makes up part of the Southern Ocean

Whale Sanctuary. Japan and ICR have ignored that injunction.

In the wake of the ICJ decision, Japan has proposed killing nearly 4,000 whales over the next 12 years in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, as part of a new “scientific research” plan. That plan was rejected in February by a 10-person expert panel designated by the IWC’s Scientific Committee, and will be considered by the full Scientific Committee meeting in San Diego.

In its counterclaims, Sea Shepherd asked the Court to prohibit future whaling by ICR in the Southern Ocean, on the grounds that its killing of whales violates international law, including by violating the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the Whaling Convention, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), and the World Charter for Nature.

Sea Shepherd’s claim recognizes that the whales themselves – each an individual being with a sense of self, an advanced cognitive capability, and the capacity to experience profound physical and emotional suffering – have a “fundamental interest in their own lives and the lives of their families.” As the exhibits submitted with Sea Shepherd’s counterclaims illustrate, ICR targets families of whales swimming as pods – including mothers and their calves – and kills them using grenade-tipped harpoons and automatic weapons, causing an agonizing death that may take as long as 45 minutes.

“Countries around the world recognize the importance of preserving whale populations that were decimated by commercial whaling before the global moratorium took effect,” said Davis. “Yet ICR has continued to kill these whales in violation of international law. Targeted species have included the endangered fin whale — one of the largest species on earth, more than 95% of which were wiped out by commercial whaling. Not only that, but ICR kills these whales using brutal and inhumane methods, and does so in the internationally recognized Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, where they are supposed to have safe haven.”

Sea Shepherd also claims that ICR is guilty of piracy for illegally killing and taking whales from the sea for commercial profit, and for engaging in violent actions against Sea Shepherd volunteers – including ramming vessels, hurling stun grenades and grappling hooks, employing bamboo poles as spears, and firing water cannons at vessels and helicopters. In addition to injunctive relief, Sea Shepherd is requesting damages done to its vessels in past years, including for the delib-

erate ramming and destruction of the Sea Shepherd vessel Ady Gil in 2009.

Additional counterclaims by Sea Shepherd and Watson assert that ICR has violated Sea Shepherd’s right to freedom of safe navigation on the high seas by attacking and causing significant damage to Sea Shepherd vessels and endangering the safety of Sea Shepherd crew, and that ICR has violated the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism by collecting millions of dollars to fund these acts of violence. In 2011, the Japanese government admitted that almost $30 million dollars donat-

ed by concerned individuals worldwide to be designated for the tsunami and earthquake victims had been diverted to the whaling industry.

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GOV VETOES AG-GAG BILL THAT WOULD HAVE COVERED UP ABUSE ON FACTORY FARMS

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory has vetoed HB 405, a dangerous ag-gag bill that would have prevented whistleblowers from exposing animal cruelty and food safety issues on factory farms.

This bill was so far-reaching that it also threatened to prevent nurses from revealing elder abuse in hospitals or nursing homes, teachers from exposing child abuse at day cares, and workers from documenting workplace discrimination or mistreatment.

Despite that strong public opposition and the release of an undercover video that showed shocking cruelty at a North Carolina chicken slaughterhouse, state lawmakers voted in favor of this bill. Recognizing the dangers of a food system without transparency, North Carolina residents quickly appealed to the Governor for a veto alongside a broad coalition of dozens of interest groups and farmers who voiced their opposition to the bill. In addition, newspapers from around the state editorialized against the bill and celebrities including Martha Stewart, Kesha, Nikki Reed, Eric McCormack, Amy Acker, Katherine Schwarzenegger and Andie MacDowell also called for the governor’s veto on social media.

A recent survey showed that 74 percent of North Carolinians support undercover investigations of animal abuse and food safety hazards, which this bill would have prevented.

“HB 405 was an insidious attempt to silence whistleblowers and keep North Carolina residents in the dark about horrific animal

abuse on industrial farms, but Governor McCrory sent a powerful message by vetoing this dangerous bill,” said Chloe Waterman, senior manager of state legislative strategy for the ASPCA. “North Carolina is one of the leading producers of poultry and pork in the U.S. so their animal products could end up on anyone’s dinner plate,” said Daisy Freund, senior manager of Farm Animal Welfare. “Ag-gag bills affect everyone, no matter where they live. Those concerned with animal abuse on factory farms and food safety issues need to remain vigilant in letting their state legislators know that they do not support the passage of dangerous ag-gag bills.”

“The factory farming industry does not want the public to see how animals are confined for their entire lives in small cages, and treated in such miserable ways. They are lobbying to shield their activities from public view and from public scrutiny,” stated Wayne Pacelle, president of The Humane Society of the United States. “We applaud Gov. McCrory for standing up for the principles of promoting transparency and rooting out cruelty, whether to animals or to veterans or to senior citizens.”

In a demonstration of China’s commitment to end illegal ivory trade, China State Forestry Administration (SFA) and General Administration of Customs (GAC) recently jointly crushed 662 kg of confiscated ivory at the Beijing Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Center.

“In the future, the Chinese government will continue to enhance wildlife conservation with no hideout for illegal wildlife trade including ivory trafficking in China. Under the legal framework of CITES and domestic laws and regulations, we will strictly control ivory processing and trade until the commercial processing and sale of ivory and its products are eventually halted.” said Mr. Zhao Shucong, Minister of SFA, at the destruction event.

Ivory trade is pushing endangered elephants towards extinction.

Every year, 25,000-30,000 African Elephants are poached to supply the ivory trade. According to the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS), in recent years, the volume from large-scale ivory seizures has been setting new records. In 2013, enforcement agencies around the world seized 41.6 tons of ivory, representing a 71% percent increase from 2009. Research shows that for slowgrowing, long-living species like the elephant, when mortality rate reaches 6% the population risks crashing. However in many regions of Africa, elephant populations are declining at a rate of 11%-12% because of ivory trade.

To combat global illegal ivory trade, more countries have publicly destroyed seized ivory this year. Kenya, Ethiopia, United Arab Emirates and the Republic of Congo together torched more than 36 tons of ivory. From African elephant range states to smuggling

transit routes to consuming countries, every link on the transnational ivory trade chain have been covered by these series of actions.

“Combating illegal ivory trade requires the effort of the whole world. China will continue to enhance global collaboration, strengthen regulation and enforcement, and further improve the laws to control illegal ivory trade,” said Dr. Xianlin Meng, the executive deputy director of China CITES Management Authority.

“The 662 kg of confiscated ivory from the closed cases is the result of vigorous enforcement actions by SFA, GAC, State Forestry Police and other enforcement agencies,” said Grace Ge Gabriel, Asia Regional Director of International Fund for Animal Welfare. “Enforcement operations such as Operation Cobra series have achieved remarkable deterrent effect to wildlife criminals in and outside of China. Public destruction of confiscated ivory, together with vigorous enforcement, raises the cost for engaging in wildlife crime and warns the public about the criminal nature of ivory trade.

Such measures help stigmatize ivory consumption and reduce demand.” ©

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THE BEGINNING OF THE END TO TAIJI DOLPHIN HUNTS In a decision being heralded ‘the beginning of the end of dolphin hunting’, Japan’s zoo association has voted to stop members from purchasing dolphins captured in the cruel Taiji hunts.

The decision follows Australia for Dolphins’ (AFD) legal action which forced the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) to suspend its Japanese member due to involvement in the hunts last month. The Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums (JAZA) aquariums provide up to 40% of total demand for live dolphins from Taiji, so the market for Taiji dolphins could be nearly cut in half. Without demand, the hunts will likely not continue.

This is the first major step towards ending the Taiji dolphin hunts once and for all. Despite this success, Australia for Dolphins will continue legal action against WAZA, which represents an international community of 1,300 zoos and aquariums.

“We’re asking the association to enforce its Code of Ethics and Animal Welfare proactively across the board,” stated AFD CEO Sarah Lucas. “We want to make sure no WAZA member, from anywhere in the world, can purchase a dolphin from Taiji or other cruel hunts ever again.”

The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums Council voted unanimously last month to suspend the membership of the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums due to Japanese member zoos and aquariums continuing to take dolphins from the Japanese drive fishery. WAZA gave JAZA 30 days to end connections with drive hunts, or be expelled. Japanese member organizations recently voted 99 to 43 to to stay with WAZA. Japanese dolphin hunts include areas such as "The Cove" in Taiji, Japan where families of dolphins are herded with speedboats, brutally butchered with a spike through their heads to be sold as meat or captured to be sold to zoos and aquariums.

According to data collected by Ceta-Base and Whale and Dolphin Conservation, over the course of the 2012-2013 drive hunt season 247 Taiji dolphins were sold for display in aquariums.

WAZA states it “requires all members to adhere to policies that prohibit participating in cruel and non-selective methods of taking animals from the wild.”

According to WAZA, it attempted to work collaboratively with JAZA and its members to stop the collection of animals from the

Taiji drives fisheries. Annually the drives draw international attention and criticism for the killing of dolphins. Under intense public pressure, WAZA has joined other organizations in speaking out against the practice.

Australia for Dolphins filed a lawsuit against WAZA for endorsing one of its Japan members' decision to obtain a dolphin from the Japanese drive hunts.

“A live dolphin is worth more than a new Rolex watch or a bar of gold,” stated Australia for Dolphins. “And all this money makes for some pretty dirty business. The live capture of dolphins for sale to aquariums is the main purpose of the horrific Taiji dolphin hunts in Japan.”

WAZA claimed it made ongoing attempts to negotiate the issues including during a meeting in Tokyo last year when WAZA proposed that JAZA enforce a two-year moratorium on taking animals from the drive by its members. The moratorium was rejected by JAZA. The issue was discussed again at WAZA's international conference in November. JAZA responded by proposing some guideline changes that would put restrictions on the method of capturing dolphins and improving animal care, but refused to stop taking animals from the drive. WAZA Council concluded that a satisfactory agreement could not be reached and voted to suspend the Japanese association’s membership. The decision was made just weeks after the lawsuit was filed against them.

According to WAZA, the basis for the suspension was a determination that JAZA had violated the WAZA Code of Ethics and Animal Welfare.

WAZA represents a worldwide membership body of 1,300 zoos and aquariums, with 700 million visitors annually. In addition to more than 350 institutional members, WAZA also has approximately 20 regional members, which includes the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums. AFD estimates that aquariums in the WAZA network account for up to 40% of the total economic demand for Taiji live-sale dolphins.

WAZA contends it represents only the most “reputable zoos and aquariums”.

“When a WAZA member is heavily involved in one of the cruelest practices inflicted on animals anywhere in the world, consumers have no basis to have confidence in the animal welfare practices of any zoo or aquarium,” stated AFD. While Japan’s zoo association has now agreed to stop members from purchasing dolphins captured in the cruel Taiji hunts, animal advocate organizations around the globe stress that WAZA policy should prohibit any animal from being taken from the wild, or bred for “display” for human entertainment. If zoos and aquari-

ums truly care about conservation and animal welfare, they would transition from animal entertainment businesses to genuine animal sanctuaries.

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TEXAN SENTENCED TO 25 MONTHS FOR RHINO HORN SMUGGLING Ning Qiu, 43, of Frisco, Texas, an appraiser of Asian art, has been sentenced by U.S. District Judge Thad Heartfield, in Beaumont, Texas, to 25 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release for conspiring to smuggle rhinoceros horns and objects made from rhino horn and elephant ivory, worth nearly $1 million, from the United States to China. Qiu was also directed to pay a $150,000 fine, which was directed to the Lacey Act Reward Fund.

The sentence was announced by Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden for the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, U.S. Attorney John M. Bales for the Eastern District of Texas and Director Dan Ashe for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).

Qiu had worked for seven years as an Asian antique appraiser for an auction house in Dallas, Texas. Qiu previously pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Don D. Bush to an information charging him with conspiracy to smuggle and violate the Lacey Act. Qiu was identified as part of “Operation Crash” – a nationwide effort led by the USFWS and the Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute those involved in the black market trade of rhinoceros horns and other protected species.

In papers filed in federal court, Qiu admitted to acting as one of three antique dealers in the United States who Zhifei Li, the admitted “boss” of the conspiracy, paid to help obtain wildlife items and smuggle them to Li via Hong Kong. Li was sentenced to serve 70 months in prison on May 27, 2014, in federal district court in Newark, New Jersey, for playing a leadership and organizational role in the smuggling conspiracy by arranging for financing to pay for the wildlife, purchasing and negotiating the price, directing how to smuggle the items out of the United States and obtaining the assistance of additional collaborators in Hong Kong to receive the smuggled goods and then smuggle them to mainland China.

“Qiu was a key player in a web of wildlife traffickers who used his role as an antique dealer to illicitly smuggle wildlife items, including rhino horn and elephant ivory, from the United States to China,” said Assistant Attorney General Cruden. “We will continue to investigate and prosecute those who are involved in this dark trade, which fuels poaching and is driving some of the world’s most iconic species to the brink of extinction.”

“Ning Qiu’s unseemly business of trafficking in the horns of endangered rhinos is over and now he will serve a just sentence of imprisonment,” said U.S. Attorney Bales. “I only hope that others

still involved in what is a nasty, brutally cruel exercise will observe the outcome of “Operation Crash” and immediately cease and desist their detestable practices. I commend the excellent work by the agents and prosecutors.”

“The sentencing today of Ning Qiu is yet another successful prosecution resulting from Operation Crash and a further step in the global fight against wildlife trafficking and its dire consequences for rhinos, elephants and other wildlife,” said Director Ashe for USFWS. “This case is a stark reminder of the role businesses and criminals based in the United States play in driving the current illegal slaughter of wildlife. It also illustrates the consequences these criminals will inevitably face for their greed and indifference to its horrific result.”

Rhinoceros are a herbivore species of prehistoric origin and one of the largest remaining mega-fauna on earth. They have no known predators other than humans. All species of rhinoceros are protected under United States and international law. Since 1976, trade in rhinoceros horn has been regulated under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), a treaty signed by over 175 countries around the world to protect fish, wildlife and plants that are or may become imperiled due to the demands of international markets.

Qiu admitted to meeting Li in 2009 through his work at the auction house in Dallas, Texas, and entering into a conspiracy with Li whereby Qiu traveled throughout the United States to purchase raw and carved rhinoceros horns and elephant ivory for Li, often receiving specific instructions from Li on which items to buy and how much to pay. Upon purchasing the items, Li transferred funds directly into Qiu’s bank accounts in the United States and China. After acquiring the items for Li, Qiu arranged for them to be smuggled to a location in Hong Kong, which was provided by Li. In December 2013, another one of Li’s suppliers, Qiang Wang aka Jeffrey Wang was sentenced in the Southern District of New York to 37 months in prison.

As part of his plea, Li admitted that he sold raw rhinoceros horns worth approximately $3 million, approximately $17,500 per pound, to factories in China where raw rhinoceros horns are carved into fake antiques known as Zuo Jiu, which means “to make it as old” in Mandarin. In China, there is a centuries-old tradition of drinking from an intricately carved “libation cup” made from a rhinoceros horn. Owning

or drinking from such a cup is believed by some to bring good health and true antiques are highly prized by collectors. The escalating value of such items has resulted in an increased demand for rhinoceros horn that has helped fuel a thriving black market, including recently carved fake antiques. The leftover pieces from the carving process were sold for alleged “medicinal” purposes even though rhino horn is made of compressed keratin, the same material in human hair and nails and has no proven medical efficacy.

Between 2009 and 2013, Qiu purchased and smuggled to Hong Kong at least five raw rhinoceros horns weighing at least 20 pounds. Qiu smuggled the raw rhino horns by first wrapping them in duct tape, hiding them in porcelain vases and falsely describing

them on customs and shipping documents, including by labeling them as porcelain vases or handicrafts. Qiu purchased several of the horns he smuggled to China from Elite Decorative Arts, an auction house located in Boynton Beach, Florida. Elite Decorative Arts has entered a guilty plea in District Court in West Palm Beach, Florida, for its role in illegally trafficking and smuggling © wildlife, including rhinoceros horns, elephant ivory and items made WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ® from coral.

IDAHO COUNTY BANS WILD ANIMALS IN CIRCUSES

Blaine County Idaho Commissioners Chairman Jacob Greenberg, Vice Chairman Angenie McCleary, and Commissioner Lawrence Schoen have unanimously voted to ban the use of wild animals in circuses in their county. The ban was passed during a recent County Commissioners Meeting.

International (ADI) supporter and facilitator for the students, Maya Burrell, shared ADI’s evidence of animal abuse in circuses, scientific evidence and economic data, showing the inherent suffering and public safety issues surrounding the use of wild animals in traveling circuses.

Blaine County has joined the growing number of cities and counties in the United States that have restricted wild animals in traveling circuses. Thirty one countries have now banned the use of wild animals or certain species in traveling circuses, including three in Central America, five in South America, and several in Europe. Hawaii will likely soon be the first US state to ban the use of wild animals in circuses. Pennsylvania State Senator Daylin Leach recently introduced a bill aiming to ban wild animals in circuses there. There are increasing calls for action, including the recent ban on all wild animal performances in San Francisco.

At the most recent meeting on May 12, 2015, County Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Tim Graves presented a draft ordinance which had been requested by the Commission. Ms. Burrell and Sage Students Harrison Blamires, Devon Brown, Kayla Chaffey, Gabe Delgado, Evathea Drougas, Will Griffith, Sam Laski, Willa Laski, and Warren Loving have been working for more than a year on this effort and Willa Laski attended the meeting to thank the Commissioners for passing the ban.

Studies of the use of wild animals in traveling circuses show that circuses cannot meet the physical or behavioral needs of wild animals. Animals are confined in small spaces, deprived of physical and social needs, spending excessive amounts of time shut in transporters. These animals are often seen behaving abnormally; rocking, swaying and pacing, all indicating that they are in distress and not coping with their environment. These animals are forced to perform tricks through physical violence, fear and intimidation.

Last April, students from Sage School in Blaine County between grades six and nine presented evidence to support the ordinance as a culmination of their research from an independent study group, “The Elephant Student Project.” Local Animal Defenders

“We applaud the Blaine County Commissioners for making this compassionate decision, and are impressed with the Sage Students who have empowered themselves and educated their communities to make a difference for animals,” stated Jan Creamer, ADI President. “All around the world, towns, cities and national legislators are ending the use of wild animals in circuses and measures like this are how to end the suffering of elephants, lions, tigers, bears and other animals in traveling circuses.”

“I am so proud of these bright students and we are grateful to be able to bring the suffering of circus animals into public light,” Ms. Burrell said. “I thank each of these Commissioners for standing up against this injustice with their decision to protect wild animals with a ban.”

CHIMPS HAVE THEIR DAY IN COURT

At a hearing in a New York County Supreme Court in Manhattan, the Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP) argued that chimpanzees Hercules and Leo are “autonomous and self-determining beings” who should be issued an order that releases them from the laboratory where they’re being held at Stony Brook University to Save the Chimps sanctuary in Florida.

“The way we treat Hercules and Leo is the way we treat our worst human criminals,” attorney Steven M. Wise told Justice Barbara Jaffe, referring to the fact that chimpanzees in laboratories spend most of their time in solitary confinement.

At the hearing, which lasted almost two hours, Justice Jaffe heard procedural arguments from both sides regarding venue, standing, and whether or not she was bound by the decisions in earlier chimpanzee habeas corpus cases that were brought by the Nonhuman Rights Project and are still on appeal in New York.

She then asked for counsel to address the substantive issues of the case—arguments that have never been heard in an English-speaking court before.

Christopher Coulston, an Assistant State Attorney General representing the university, argued that recognizing the chimpanzees as legal persons would create a slippery slope that could lead to many other kinds of animals being granted legal rights.

Wise responded that there is, in fact, no slippery slope because the scientific evidence he was presenting applies only to cognitively complex, autonomous animals—specifically great apes, elephants, and certain species of whales and dolphins.

He drew the court’s attention to a stack of affidavits by scientific experts supporting his claim that these chimpanzees have the right not to be held in confinement.

When Coulston argued that “there’s simply no precedent anywhere of an animal getting the same rights as a human,” Wise responded that the same argument was used by lawyers trying to persuade judges not to grant rights to slaves and, later, Native Americans.

Justice Jaffe thanked both sides for what she called an “extremely interesting and well argued” proceeding and will be issuing a decision in due course.

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Matt Cassels had at least 10 companion animals when he was growing up and yet it had never occurred to him to think about how important his relationships with them were. That is, until he came to Cambridge and started working on a rich data set from the Toddlers Up Project led by Professor Claire Hughes at the Centre for Family Research. This 10-year longitudinal study of children's social and emotional development included a section on children's relationships with their companion animals, as well as a broad range of other data from the children, their parents, teachers, and siblings.

“The data on pet relationships stood out as it had never occurred to me to consider looking at pet relationships although I had studied children’s other relationships for some time and even though my own experience of pets while I was growing up was so important,” stated Cassels.

Research on companion animal relationships has been going on for some time, but few studies have used the same tool to compare children’s relationships with companion animals with their other relationships or have focused on how the quality of animal relationships affects outcomes for children.

Cassels decided that was what he wanted to focus on. What he found surprised him. He had thought strong companion animal relationships would make for happier children, but the truth was more complex. Instead he discovered that children who had suffered adversity in their lives, such as a bereavement, divorce, instability and illness, or who were from disadvantaged backgrounds, were more likely to have a stronger relationship with their companion animals than their peers, although they did less well academically and suffered more mental health problems.

Cassels says this may be because they come from backgrounds that predispose them to such problems. Despite this, the study showed children with stronger relationships with their compan-

ion animals had a higher level of prosocial behavior - such as helping, sharing, and co-operating - than their peers.

The study also demonstrated that these children, particularly girls and those whose companion was a dog, were more likely to confide in their animals than in their siblings.

“It is really surprising that these children not only turn to their pets for support when faced with adversity, but that they do so even more than they turn to their siblings,” stated Cassels. “This is even though they know their pets don’t actually understand what they are saying.”

Asked why the research might show girls talk and argue with their companion animals more than boys when previous less detailed research tends to suggest it is boys who have a better relationship with their animals, Cassels added: “They may feel that their pets are not judging them and since pets don’t appear to have their own problems they just listen. Even confiding in a journal can be therapeutic, but pets may be even better since they can be empathetic.”

The research was based mostly on data collected when the children, 88 of whom had animals at the time, were 12 years old, 10 years after they had begun participating in this study. The children, their parents, siblings, and teachers all provided information on prosocial behavior, emotional well being, academic ability, and children’s relationship with their animal. Cassels measured this information against how much children confided in their companion, how much they argued with their animal, what satisfaction they got out of their relationship with their animal, and how often they did things with their companion animal each day.

OUR BOND WITH DOGS MAY GO BACK MORE THAN 27,000 YEARS Dogs' special relationship to humans may go back 27,000 to 40,000 years, according to genomic analysis of an ancient Taimyr wolf bone. Earlier genome-based estimates have suggested that the ancestors of modernday dogs diverged from wolves no more than 16,000 years ago, after the last Ice Age. The genome from this ancient specimen, which has been radiocarbon dated to 35,000 years ago, reveals that the Taimyr wolf represents the most recent common ancestor of modern wolves and dogs.

"Dogs may have been domesticated much earlier than is generally believed," says Love Dalén of the Swedish Museum of Natural History. "The only other explanation is that there was a major divergence between two wolf populations at that time, and one of these populations subsequently gave rise to all modern wolves."

Dalén considers this second explanation less likely, since it would require that the second wolf population subsequently became extinct in the wild.

"It is [still] possible that a population of wolves remained relatively untamed but tracked human groups to a large degree, for a long time," adds first author of the study Pontus Skoglund of Harvard Medical School and the Broad Institute.

The researchers made these discoveries based on a small piece of bone picked up during an expedition to the Taimyr Peninsula in Siberia. Initially, they didn't realize the bone fragment came from a wolf at all; this was only determined using a genetic test back in the laboratory. But wolves are common on the Taimyr Peninsula, and the bone could have easily belonged to a modern-day wolf.

On a hunch, the researchers decided to radiocarbon date the bone anyway. It was only then that they realized what they had: a 35,000-year-old bone from an ancient Taimyr wolf.

The DNA evidence also shows that modern-day Siberian Huskies and Greenland sled dogs share an unusually large number of genes with the ancient Taimyr wolf.

"The power of DNA can provide direct evidence that a Siberian Husky you see walking down the street shares ancestry with a wolf that roamed Northern Siberia 35,000 years ago," Skoglund says. To put that in perspective, "this wolf lived just a few thousand years after Neandertals disappeared from Europe and modern hu© mans started populating Europe and Asia."

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ALL CREATURES GREAT & SMALL

By Rev Roberta Stewart “Pit Bull" is a generic term used to label several breeds of dogs - American Pit Bull Terrier (APBT), American Staffordshire Terrier (AST, Amstaff), and Staffordshire Bull Terrier (SBT, Staffybull). Because of myths and misconceptions, people unfamiliar with these intelligent, sweet natured and loyal dogs often adhere to breed-specific stereotypes that are as unfair and untrue as racial stereotypes and generalizations. Pit bulls can make loving, trustworthy and gentle friends. As animal advocates, we must speak out to educate people about the breed and to dispel the many myths surrounding it.

Before the mid 1980s, stories of pit bull attacks were practically nonexistent. In fact, pit bulls were an American favorite in the early half of the twentieth century. During World War I, the country itself was personified as a pit bull on army recruitment posters, and several pit bulls went on to become famous in the American military. Throughout the 1930’s, referring to an athlete as a pit bull was a very common sports metaphor and compliment, signifying determination and intrepidness. A pit bull became the corporate mascot for Buster Brown shoes. “Victor”, the RCA dog listening to a gramophone, was a pit bull terrier. But most famously, it was a pit bull named Petey that captured hearts in the Our Gang comedies.

From the turn of the century until the early 1980s, only one dog attack story that mentioned pit bulls made the national papers, but the attack was the result of a man intentionally setting a pack of 26 dogs on a young woman. That incident occurred in 1947 and according to an article in The Independent (St. Petersburg, Florida), “Attorneys said they believed it was the first time the state had invoked a statute which would find the owner guilty of manslaughter if it were proven that he permitted vicious animals to run free and they attacked and killed a human being.” There was no mention of pit bulls as vicious and no call for a ban of the breed. It was only a case of a human who was held responsible for inducing a dog to attack. Ironically, it was in Florida forty years after this incident that the first breed-specific ban was enacted.

COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT PIT BULLS: Pit Bulls have locking jaws. The jaws of a pit bull are built just like any other dog's jaw. There is no special mechanism that would make a pit bull's jaws lock onto anyone or anything.

Pit bulls are unpredictable around children. Before modern misconceptions about pit bulls and children, the breed enjoyed a long history as a favorite child’s companion and family dog. When well socialized and properly raised, pit bulls are a good choice for family life. They have the patience and tolerance for rough and tumble play with active children. Pit bulls are enthusiastic, strong dogs and so might not be suitable for play with very young children, but only because they could knock a small child down in their exuberance. Com-

mon sense dictates that children should be taught how to properly interact with any dog of any breed. No child should ever be allowed to tease a dog. It is your responsibility to teach your children kindness and gentleness toward all animals. And young children should never be left alone with a dog unsupervised.

A pit bull that shows aggression toward other animals will go after people next. This is one of the more insidious of pit bull myth and has caused much of the damaging anti-pit bull hysteria. Aggression toward other animals and human aggression are two totally different things. Many dogs can be wonderfully affectionate and friendly with people, while at the same time not 100% trustworthy around other dogs. The pit bull is no exception. Like any breed of dog that lives in a family home, a properly raised, well socialized pit bull will not be human aggressive.

Rescuing an adult pit bull from a shelter is very risky. You'll find lots of pit bulls in American shelters, with lots of different personalities. What they share in common is a sad fate. Because shelters and animal control facilities take in more pit bulls than any other breed, innocent pit bulls are euthanized more often than any other kind of dog. If you choose to rescue a pit bull (and we hope more people will), always try to learn as much of the dog’s history as possible. Dogs used as fighting dogs will need to be retrained so that they will never see a small dog as bait. The same is true with rescued racing Greyhounds that were conditioned to have high prey drives. This reconditioning is one of the first things anyone devoted to rescue learns to prioritize.

Banning is in the best interests of the public. States across the country largely agree that targeting breeds serves no useful purpose. Despite discriminatory local ordinances, there are currently no statewide policies that discriminate against certain dog breeds. In fact, 18 states have actually banned breed-specific legislation, or BSL. Even the White House has weighed in against laws that target specific breeds. In 2013, the Obama Administration put out a clear statement saying, "We don't support breed-specific legislation - research shows that bans on certain types of dogs are largely ineffective and often a waste of public resources... the simple fact is that dogs of any breed can become dangerous when they're intentionally or unintentionally raised to be aggressive."

The best way for anyone to be safe around any dog is to understand dog behavior and provide dogs with the training, supervision and care they need. We celebrate the joy companion animals bring to our lives, and work to end the myths that unfairly and tragically cost so many innocent animals their lives.

Not every family will choose to open their home to a pit bull, but hopefully many will open their minds and hearts to this falsely maligned breed.

"If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men." - St. Francis of Assisi

STOP BLAMING FERAL CATS While some wildlife groups may use media attention to speculate that cats are causing species loss, leading biologists, climate scientists, and environmental watchdogs all agree: endangered species’ fight for survival rests in our own hands.

Focusing on cats diverts attention from the far more dangerous impact of humans. Too many media stories sidestep these realities to focus on sensational issues like cats’ imagined impact on birds. But cats have been a natural part of the landscape for over 10,000 years—that has not changed. What has changed in that time is how we have re-shaped the environment to suit 21st century human needs—at a great cost to the other species that share our ecosystem. Our direct impact on our environment is without a doubt the number one cause of species loss.

Make no mistake—habitat loss is the most critical threat to birds. With this exponential human population growth comes massive use of natural resources and rampant development: industrial activity, logging, farming, suburbanization, mining, road building, and a host of other activities. The impact on species from habitat destruction, pollution, fragmentation, and modification is alarming. According to the World Watch Institute, “people have always modified natural landscapes in the course of finding food, obtaining shelter, and meeting other requirements of daily life. What makes present-day human alteration of habitat the number one problem for birds and other creatures is its unprecedented scale and intensity.”

Human activities are responsible for up to 1.2 billion bird deaths every year. Nearly 100 million birds die annually from collisions with windows; 80 million from collisions with automobiles; 70 million from exposure to pesticides. Millions of birds are intentionally killed by U.S. government-sponsored activities each year.

The human population continues to grow, threatening other species. Exponential population growth has left little land untouched by human development. In America alone, the population grew by 60 million people between 1990 and 2010, and experts predict we will add 23 million more people per decade in the next 30 years. That kind of growth—the equivalent of adding another California and another Texas to our already teeming population— is unprecedented in American history.

Killing cats will not save wildlife. Studies have shown cats to be mainly scavengers, not hunters, feeding mostly on garbage and scraps. When they do hunt, cats prefer rodents and other burrowing animals. Studies of samples from the diets of outdoor cats confirm that common mammals appear three times more often than birds. Additionally, scientists who study predation have shown in mathematical models that when cats, rats, and birds co-

exist, they find a balance. But when cats are removed, rat populations soar and wipe out the birds completely.

Some wildlife organizations and media outlets continue to quote scientific studies that have been proven inaccurate. A careful analysis of the science concludes there is no strong support for the viewpoint that cats are a serious threat to wildlife.

Although human civilization and domestic cats co-evolved side by side, the feral cat population was not created by humans. Cats have lived outdoors for a long time. In the thousands of years that cats have lived alongside people, indoor-only cats have only become common in the last 50 or 60 years—a negligible amount of time on an evolutionary scale. They are not new to the environment and they didn’t simply originate from lost pets or negligent animal guardians. Instead, they have a place in the natural landscape. ©

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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced that the Louisiana black bear, or “Teddy,” has met its recovery goals and no longer needs the protections of the Endangered Species Act. Populations of the bear have increased, are considered viable over the next 100 years, and occur in areas where habitat has been protected by implementation of the bear’s recovery plan.

“The Louisiana black bear is an Endangered Species Act success story,” said Jaclyn Lopez, Florida director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The bear has met recovery goals 10 years ahead of schedule and is continuing to improve.”

The Louisiana black bear — nicknamed for Teddy Roosevelt after he chose not to shoot one while hunting in Louisiana — is one of 16 unique subspecies of American black bears. Historically these animals ranged throughout Louisiana and into Texas, Mississippi and Arkansas. The Service protected them under the Act in 1992 because of pressures from hunting and habitat destruction and fragmentation. It is estimated there were only a few hundred bears at the time of listing.

The Service’s 1995 recovery plan established criteria that, when met, would alert officials that protection under the Act may no

longer be needed. The criteria include the presence of at least two viable subpopulations (in the Tensas and Atchafalaya river basins); the establishment of immigration and emigration corridors between the two subpopulations; and protection of the habitat and interconnecting corridors that support each of the two viable subpopulations. That criteria has been met.

Since listing under the Act, four breeding subpopulations of Louisiana black bears have emerged, likely supporting more than 500 bears. The areas supporting Louisiana black bear breeding subpopulations have increased more than 430 percent, from 340,000 acres to more than 1.4 million acres in Louisiana and Mississippi. In addition to the proposal to delist the Louisiana black bear, the Service is soliciting comments on a draft post-delisting monitoring plan.

“The recovery of the Louisiana black bear and hundreds of other species shows that the Endangered Species Act does work,” said Lopez. “With a combination of careful monitoring, reduction in hunting and other mortality, and habitat protection, Teddy’s making a comeback.”

PIPELINE OWNER IN SANTA BARBARA OIL SPILL HAS HAD 175 SPILL INCIDENTS SINCE 2006 The Santa Barbara Channel is rich in biodiversity, including whales, dolphins and more than 500 species of fish. Endangered blue whales often feed in the channel, and it is in the migration path for four other whales listed under the Endangered Species Act. Witnesses spotted sea lions and migrating whales in the coastal waters as a recent major oil spill was taking place.

The company that owns the pipeline involved in the major oil spill in Santa Barbara has had 175 incidents (mostly oil spills) nationwide since 2006, including 11 in California, according to a Center for Biological Diversity analysis of federal documents.

Plains Pipeline (a subsidiary of Plains AllAmerican Pipeline) has also had federal enforcement actions initiated against it 20 times since 2006 for its operations across the country, according to data from the U.S. Pipeline & Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. Many of those cases involve corrosion control and maintenance problems on its pipelines, including two cases in 2009 for which the company was fined $115,600.

“This company’s disturbing record highlights oil production’s toxic threat to California’s coast,” said Miyoko Sakashita, the Center’s oceans program director. “Oil pipelines and offshore fracking and drilling endanger our fragile marine ecosystems. Every new oil project increases the risk of fouled beaches and oilsoaked sea life.”

The ruptured oil pipeline near Refugio State Beach — a 24-inch wide, 11-mile long section carrying oil from offshore platforms and an Exxon Mobil processing plant onshore — leaked as much as 105,000 gallons of crude oil, including 21,000 gallons making it into the ocean, fouling about nine miles of coastal waters and beaches.

The broken pipeline was 28 years old and operated by a company that has been repeatedly warned by government regulators to improve its procedures and control corrosion for its pipelines. Plains Pipeline had five incidents in California in 2014 alone, including the one that dumped oil into a Los Angeles neighborhood a year ago.

Hundreds of miles of oil pipelines run through California’s coastal areas, posing a serious threat of spills. A review released by the Center for Biological Diversity of federal data over the past 30 years shows that such oil spills from pipelines are a common and costly byproduct of oil production that has been rapidly increasing in the United States, including offshore.

An analysis of federal pipeline data commissioned last year by the Center showed there have been nearly 8,000 serious pipeline breaks nationwide since 1986, causing more than 2,300 injuries and nearly $7 billion in property damage. The vast majority of those incidents have involved oil pipelines, spilling more than 2 million barrels into waterways and on the ground. More than 35 percent of these incidents have been caused by corrosion or other spontaneous structural failures.

The Santa Barbara County coastline was the site of an oil platform explosion in 1969 that spilled up to 100,000 barrels of oil.

“If we’re learned anything over the past 50 years, it’s that coastal oil production remains inherently dangerous to wildlife, local communities and health of the planet,” Sakashita said. “To protect our coast, we need to stop offshore drilling and fracking and quickly transition to cleaner energy sources.”

Offshore fracking has been used hundreds of times in recent years off California’s coast, and oil companies are also mak© ing increasing use of techniques like acidizing to coax oil from beneath the ocean.

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WHICH IS MOST VALUABLE: GOLD, COCAINE OR RHINO HORN? The answer is devastating news for Earth’s largest animals. A study found that one-fifth of the world’s wild savannah elephant population was poached between 2010 and 2012.

Many of the world’s largest herbivores — including several species of elephants, rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses and gorillas — are in danger of becoming extinct. And if current trends continue, the loss of these animals would have drastic implications not only for the species themselves, but also for other animals and the environments and ecosystems in which they live, according to a new report by an international team of scientists.

The study, which was co-authored by Blaire Van Valkenburgh, a UCLA professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, was recently published in the open-access online journal Science Advances.

One of the critical factors behind the disturbing trend is the tremendous financial incentive for poachers to sell animal parts for consumer goods and food. For example, rhinoceros horn is more valuable by weight than gold, diamonds or cocaine, said William Ripple, the study’s lead author, a distinguished professor of ecology at Oregon State University’s College of Forestry. Bloomberg News reported in 2014 that the price of rhino horn in Asia has approached $60,000 per pound.

Said Van Valkenburgh: “Decades of conservation efforts are being reversed by the entrance of organized crime into the ivory and rhino horn markets.”

The study also found that: Between 2002 and 2011, the number of forest elephants declined by 62 percent.

From 2007 to 2013, the number of rhinoceroses poached skyrocketed from 13 per year to 1,004 per year.

More than 100,000 elephants — one-fifth of the world’s wild savannah elephant population — were poached between 2010 and 2012.

“If this were to keep up, there would be very few or no savannah elephants in 10 years, and no African rhinos in 20 years,” Van Valkenburgh said.

Van Valkenburgh said even the researchers were surprised to find that 60 percent of species in the study — animals the size of reindeers and larger — are now considered to be threatened.

“I certainly was taken aback by the data,” she said. “For some of the largest animals, such as elephants and rhinos, it is likely a

matter of a few decades before they are extinct — and no more than 80 to 100 years for the rest of the large herbivores. Even though an individual elephant or rhino might persist in the wild somewhere in Africa, they will be functionally extinct in terms of their impact on the ecosystem.”

The scientists studied 74 species of wild herbivores that weigh an average of 220 pounds at adulthood.

Their conclusion: “Without radical intervention, large herbivores (and many smaller ones) will continue to disappear from numerous regions with enormous ecological, social, and economic costs.”

The study notes that during the Pleistocene Epoch, which ended about 11,700 years ago, there were more than 40 species of herbivores in which adults weighed 2,200 pounds or more, but today there are only eight such species. The extinction of these “mega-herbivore” species has dramatically affected earth’s ecosystems, the researchers write. For example, large herbivores are the primary source of food for predators and scavengers, and their trampling and consumption of plants influence the ways that vegetation grows.

For the species analyzed in the study, today’s two largest threats are hunting by humans and habitat change. Other key factors include growing human populations and increased competition with livestock. The authors write that the latter has been a particular threat in developing nations, where livestock production tripled between 1980 and 2002. As a result, one of their proposals for addressing the crisis is creating financial incentives for people who live near the animals’ habitats to protect the animals, so it becomes more lucrative to safeguard the animals than to poach them.

The scientists also emphasized the need for social marketing and environmental education campaigns as tools to drive down demand for animal products as food and consumer goods. They noted that a social media campaign featuring retired NBA player Yao Ming appeared to help save shark populations by reducing demand for shark fin soup in his native China.

“Large herbivores, and their associated ecological functions and services, have already largely been lost from much of the developed world,” the scientists write. “Now is the time to act boldly, because without radical changes in these trends, the extinctions that eliminated most of the world’s largest herbivores 10,000 to 50,000 years ago will only have been postponed for these last few remaining giants.”

WHALES HAVE UNIQUE VOICES Human beings have unique voices - from the deep, resonating bass of James Earl Jones to the raspy melodies sung by Broadway star Carol Channing - and we routinely recognize individuals based solely on the way they sound, for example over the telephone, on a music CD or in an animated film. The same theory that explains individual differences in human speech has recently been applied to other members of the animal kingdom, including dogs and deer. Now researchers from Syracuse University in New York are working to understand whether individually distinctive vocal characteristics of North Atlantic right whales could be used to identify and track individuals - a potentially useful tool for studying an endangered species that spends much of its life hidden under the water.

North Atlantic right whales feed on tiny zooplankton in shallow waters off the east coast of the United States and Canada. For centuries whalers hunted the animals, and even after achieving some measures of protection in the 1930s, the population has remained critically endangered. Current estimates put the number of North Atlantic right whales at around 450 individuals.

In an initial study, the scientists were able to correctly distinguish 13 different individual whales based on a combination of vocal characteristics, including length of the calls and the fundamental and harmonic frequencies.

Right whales make about a half-dozen different types of calls.

The Syracuse researchers looked specifically at the characteristics of the "upcall," a vocalization that lasts about 1-2 seconds and rises in frequency from around 100 Hz to 400 Hz, at the low end of frequencies audible to human ears. The upcall is the most commonly produced call among all ages and sexes of right whales.

The whales likely use the calls to announce their presence and "touch base" with other whales.

Jessica McCordic, a masters student in the biology department at Syracuse University, along with her advisor, biology professor Susan Parks, analyzed more than a decade of archived acoustic data of individual right whales in Cape Cod Bay, off Massachusetts; the Bay of Fundy, in Canada; and along the southeast coast of the United States.

Based on the characteristics that distinguish human voices, McCordic initially thought the emphasized harmonic frequencies of

the upcalls, called formants, would best distinguish individual whales.

"What I found was that there actually wasn't much difference in the formants, but one of the variables that came out as most important in discriminating the individuals was the duration of the call," McCordic said.

In the end, the team found that analyzing a combination of variables, including the formant, the duration of the calls, and the rate of the fundamental frequency change, could distinguish between the upcalls of the 13 individual whales identified in the archival data set.

"The analysis classified the whales well above chance levels, so that was really exciting," McCordic said.

McCordic said the next step in the research is to see whether the same analytic approach can tell individual right whales apart in the wild using stationary hydrophones installed across their habitat range a monitoring technique that could yield valuable data to help protect the endangered species. Š

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THE TRUTH ABOUT PET SHOPS "Pet shops" use the natural appeal of puppies, kittens and other animals to sell them at an inflated price, often several hundred dollars for "purebred" animals.

The vast majority of dogs sold in pet shops, between 350,000 and 500,000 a year, are raised in "puppy mills," breeding kennels located mostly in the Midwest that are notorious for their cramped, crude and filthy conditions and their continuous breeding of unhealthy and hard-to-socialize animals.

Other common problems in the pet shop industry include selling sick and injured animals to the public, failing to provide proper veterinary care, unsanitary conditions and inhumane methods of killing sick and unwanted animals.

You can help bring about changes in local pet stores, if you know what conditions to look for and what steps to take.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR Healthy young animals are usually energetic and shiny-coated.

Look for signs of ill health, such as listlessness, diarrhea, emaciation, dull coats, runny eyes and dry noses. Sick animals should never be housed with healthy ones.

Check the general sanitation conditions; notice signs of cockroach infestation, rodent droppings on the floor and rusty or dirty cages.

Also look for algae or scum in water bottles, empty water containers, or animals having difficulty drinking from them.

Dogs and cats must have water (it can be in a bottle), and there must be some sort of solid flooring (if a tray is used, it must be flat on the floor). There should be no more than one large dog in a single cage. Look for signs of distemper and parvovirus: runny stool and clogged, dry noses. Cats should have an elevated surface (above the litter area) to rest upon. Water must be in a clean water dish rather than in a bottle. Also, watch for signs of upper respiratory disease (eyes covered with inner membrane, runny eyes and nose and sneezing).

Rabbits should have a water bottle, not a dish. They should not be listless. If an animal is sick, you may notice other animals in the cage walking over him/her. Watch for runny noses and excessive sneezing.

Birds must have a properly sized perch (birds' feet should go three quarters of the way around the perch). Check for others beating up on one - especially common in zebra finches (you may see feathers missing from head, back, etc.). A bird should not be resting on the bottom of the cage (a sign of illness or of having been thrown off the perch by others). Cages should not be overcrowded.

Check fish tanks for overcrowding. Generally, an inch-long tropical fish requires a minimum of 12 square inches of water surface to breathe comfortably; a two-inch fish needs at least 24 square inches of surface area, and so on. Look for dead fishes in aquariums.

WHAT YOU CAN DO Find out who in your town, county or state enforces the anti-cruelty codes. Report abuses to them. Often, these people work for local humane societies or animal shelters.

Once you have located the proper law enforcement officials, provide them with a concise, factual, written statement of what you have observed, giving dates and approximate times. Try to get short, written statements from witnesses. Statements should be notarized. Ask sympathetic veterinarians to visit the pet store and write an "expert statement" as to the conditions and health of the animals.

If you have been sold a sick or injured animal, go to your local courthouse and fill out a small claims form (no attorney needed). When you file the form, you will be given a court date. At the hearing, present all your veterinary and related bills. (Be sure to get a statement from your vet.)

Though it's difficult to put a monetary value on your animal's health or life, this simple action can bother a pet store owner enough to prevent him or her from being irresponsible and inhumane in the future. Also, file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. If the store is in a shopping mall, complain to the mall manager (and ask all of your friends and neighbors to do the same). Ask the mall management not to renew the store's lease.

Find out if a division of your county or state health department licenses pet shops and, if so, request that they conduct an inspection.

Even if the health department does not specifically license pet shops, it should still inspect for dirty conditions that may pose a health risk to the public. If the pet store sells wild or exotic animals, it is required to be registered with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and violations should be reported to the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) office in your state (usually in your state capital). To locate your state office, look in the federal government section of the phone book under U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Educate the public: Write letters to the editor, distribute leaflets outside the store, organize a demonstration, etc.

Department stores that have a pet department may be especially susceptible to a boycott, since the revenue from the pet department may not constitute a large portion of overall profit.

If all else fails, contact local television and radio stations and newspapers and try to interest reporters in the story. A news story may force officials to act or scare the person causing the abuse into stopping.

Above all, don't patronize pet stores. You can purchase supplies for companion animals from "pet" supply stores or catalogs which carry full product lines but don't treat living beings as merchandise.

HOW SHOULD WE DEAL Feral cats have lived outdoors among people for 10,000 years. Feral cats are domestic cats—the same species as “pet” cats. But unlike pet cats, they are unadoptable. Feral cats are typically wary of humans. They live content lives outdoors. Unlike stray cats—who were formerly companion animal cats, but are separated from their homes—feral cats are not socialized to people.

Numerous scientific studies have shown that Trap-Neuter-Return (or TNR) is the humane, compassionate, and effective approach for managing feral cats. With Trap-Neuter-Return, cats are humanely trapped and taken to a veterinarian to be spayed or neutered, vaccinated, and eartipped (the universal symbol of a neutered and vaccinated cat). Healthy feral cats are then returned to their outdoor home.

Unlike the failed, costly, and cruel catch and kill approach, TrapNeuter-Return is effective because it stabilizes the population, improves the cats’ health, and ends behaviors associated with mating, like yowling, roaming, and fighting. Trap-Neuter-Return is practiced in communities all across the world and endorsed by animal protection organizations.

Animal shelters are no place for a feral cat. More than 70% of cats taken to animal pounds and shelters are killed there. For feral cats, that number rises to virtually 100% because feral cats are not candidates for adoption. Hundreds of millions of dollars are wasted every year on this pointless and cruel policy.

Feral cats are just as healthy as indoor cats. Feral cats thrive in all landscapes—from the most rural to the inner city. Studies show them to be as healthy as cats who live indoors.

Studies also show Trap-Neuter-Return improves cats’ health.

Trap-Neuter-Return ends the strains of mating behavior and pregnancy. Studies show that after neutering, cats become healthier and gain weight. Cats in TNR colonies also enjoy long lives—one long-term study of a TNR program showed 83% of cats had lived there for at least 6 years—comparable to the average 7.1-year lifespan of pet cats.

Trap-Neuter-Return stabilizes the size of feral cat colonies over time. One study found a 66% decrease in the population over 11 years. Another 10-year study showed colony size decreases of up to 32%.

Trap-Neuter-Return improves relationships with human neighbors. Trap-Neuter-Return puts an end to the behaviors associated with mating—yowling, roaming, and fighting— that are often cited as concerns by residents. One study found that after Trap-Neuter-Return was implemented, citizen calls about cats decreased—even though the human population increased.

Although human civilization and domestic cats co-evolved side by side, the feral cat population was not created by humans. Cats have lived outdoors for a long time. In the thousands of years that cats have lived alongside people, indoor-only cats have only become common in the last 50 or 60 years—a negligible amount of time on an evolutionary scale. They are not new to the environment and they didn’t simply originate from lost companion animals or negligent animal guardians. Instead, they have a place in the natural landscape.

While some wildlife organizations and media outlets continue to quote scientific studies that have been proven inaccurate, a careful analysis of the science concludes there is no strong support for the viewpoint © that cats are a serious threat to wildlife.

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EPA PROPOSES BAN ON TOXIC PESTICIDES WHILE BEES ARE AT WORK The Environmental Protection Agency proposed a new rule today creating temporary pesticide-free zones when specific plants are in bloom and commercial honeybees are being trucked in to pollinate large croplands. The rule will apply to nearly all insecticides, including neonicotinoids, but would only address pesticide-spraying on specific properties where bees have been brought in to work and fails to address the most significant routes of toxic pesticide exposure to bees.

ers. To save America’s pollinators, the EPA needs to take the next step and immediately ban neonicotinoids, especially these poison seeds.”

Neonics are already banned in the European Union. In 2016 they will also be banned in national wildlife refuges in the United States due to their harmful impacts on wildlife, including threatened and endangered species.

“EPA is taking an important first step to protect commercial honeybees from toxic pesticide spraying,” said Lori Ann Burd, Environmental Health director at the Center for Biological Diversity.

“This is a good start but there is much more to be done to protect our pollinators from the millions of pounds of insecticides used in this country every year.”

Neonicotinoids, or neonics, are a class of pesticides known to have both acute and chronic effects on honeybees, birds, butterflies and other pollinator species, and are a major factor in overall pollinator declines. These systemic insecticides cause entire plants, including pollen and fruit, to become toxic to pollinators; the chemicals are also slow to break down, and therefore build up in the environment.

“More than 100 million U.S. acres are planted with seeds drenched in bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides,” said Burd.

“Countless studies have linked these toxic seeds to declines in honeybees, bumblebees and solitary bee populations, and the EPA has found that they don’t even provide any benefits to farm-

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INTERNET PROVIDER IN CHINA VOWS TO STOP ONLINE WILDLIFE TRADE Tencent, a leading provider of Internet services in China, has launched a campaign - Tencent for the Planet - to combat the illegal online wildlife trade.

This is monumental news for threatened elephants everywhere and demonstrates Tencent’s social responsibility commitment as a technology leader. This is the first time Tencent has worked with conservation organizations to combat illegal online wildlife trade and protect elephants and other species.

Continued high demand for illegal wildlife products has greatly endangered many species like elephants, rhinos, and tigers, leaving some facing imminent extinction. The world is experiencing the worst poaching crisis in history, rivaling that in the 1980s, when more than 800 tons of ivory left Africa every year and the continent’s elephant populations plunged from 1.3 million to 600,000. Scientists estimate that only 430,000 African elephants remain today with one elephant killed every 15 minutes for its ivory.

As one of the world’s most lucrative criminal activities, valued at US$19 billion annually, illegal wildlife trade ranks fifth globally in terms of value, behind the trafficking in drugs, people, oil and counterfeiting. The report Wanted: Dead or Alive, Exposing the Online Wildlife Trade reveals that over 33,000 endangered wildlife and wildlife parts were available for sale online in a short sixweek period.

The rapid development of online media has put a lot of wildlife species at risk and has created huge losses for the global ecosystem and human beings, as criminals have used the Internet for secret, fast and convenient communications and transactions.

Tencent has made a concerted effort to protect the public and wildlife by clamping down on malicious and illegal activities online. It has observed the steady growth of illegal wildlife trade on the Internet through recent user complaints. As a result, Tencent shut down in March a group of social media accounts which were proven to be involved in illegal online wildlife business activities.

Building on this previous work, the ‘Tencent for the Planet’ campaign is a major step forward towards ending the illegal online wildlife trade.

Working with Tencent on the project are The Nature Conservancy (“TNC”) and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (“IFAW”).

“Tencent's extraordinary reach and influence will make a big difference in tackling the challenge of illegal wildlife trafficking,” said Mark Tercek, President and CEO, TNC. “More than 25,000

elephants are killed each year for their ivory tusks. We need more partnerships like this if we're going to save the species.”

“Although the Internet provides a platform for illegal wildlife business, it also offers the tremendous hope for saving the wildlife,” said Grace Ge Gabriel, Asia Regional Director, IFAW. “It is a win-win partnership, as Tencent has the most widelyused social media services while TNC and IFAW have deep knowledge of conservation and international influence,” said Kaitian Guo, Chairman of Tencent Charity Funds Council and Senior Vice President of Tencent. “The move signals a great collaboration of Tencent’s resources with TNC and IFAW’s conservation expertise. Tencent is committed to leading change in this Internet era in an ecologically harmonious way.”

Tencent launched the Weixin official account for ‘Tencent for the Planet’ (Weixin ID: gh_ed2511c85ff9) to provide a reporting channel and to promote wider conservation awareness and knowledge sharing. To better protect elephants, Tencent also opened a © voting process for Weixin users for a new set of emoji featuring elephants.

WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ®

HOW TO HELP CHAINED DOGS Imagine sitting in a yard, tethered in place, with nothing to do and no chance to go anywhere. Day after day. Alone. That's what chaining is like. Chaining means confining a dog with a tether attached to a dog house or a stake in the ground. It is one of the common forms of animal cruelty. Chaining is a widespread practice and - as with many historical injustices - this may cause people to assume it is acceptable. In fact, it is an improper way to confine a dog, with negative effects on the dog's health, temperament and training. A chained dog's life is a lonely, frustrating, miserable existence, without opportunities for even the most basic dog behaviors of running and sniffing in their own fenced yard. Dogs chained for even a few weeks begin to show problems.

Virtually every dog that spends most of the day on the end of a chain will show temperament problems - no surprise to those who understand canine behavior. Chaining, by definition, keeps a dog in solitary confinement, continually thwarting its pack instinct to be with other animals or with its human "pack." The dog is usually chained away from the house and has human contact only at feeding time.

Those dogs lucky enough to be brought inside at night are usually deposited in the basement or other areas away from the family living quarters. These dogs are so desperate for human contact that when they are finally released from their chains, they behave in such an unruly manner that they are disciplined and quickly dispatched to another isolated area. Some of the saddest situations are those where the family children run and play in the yard just outside the reach of a chained dog. The dog is desperate to play with the children, but their only exposure to the dog is to be jumped on, so they carefully stay just out of reach - only increasing the dog's frustration.

The most common problem resulting from chaining is hyperactivity, particularly in young dogs. The chained dog is continually frustrated by having their movements restricted. The dog runs to the end of the tether and soon learns that he will be jerked back to the perimeter allowed by the chain. When the dog is finally released, he runs away, jumps on or over anything in his way, and is unresponsive to verbal commands. His behavior frustrates the guardian, who puts the dog back on the chain because the dog doesn't know how to behave! The cycle of suffering continues with the dog becoming even more uncontrollable and the human less willing to deal with the hyperactive behavior. Fear biting and aggression are other common behaviors of chained dogs. The dog seems to know that he cannot escape danger, so he resorts to displaying aggressive behavior. And such dogs have good reason to be aggressive. Chained dogs in urban backyards often serve as targets for gun-toting, rock-throwing individuals who pass through the alleys. It is not surprising that chained dogs are so quick to bite while also displaying timid, fearful behavior when handled.

A dog that has been chained all day or all week has little interest in learning to come when her guardian calls. The dog is interested in running as fast as she can away from her human and confinement.

This hyperactive behavior causes the uneducated person to believe he has a "dumb" dog. The guardian then may give up on even limited

interaction with the dog, and either leave the dog tied up in permanent misery or get rid of her. People tend to train and care for dogs in the way they saw their parents perform this task. As a result, many people chain dogs because that's what they've been taught, passing on this cruel practice without any real understanding of canine behavior. People’s explanations for chaining their dog often include: "I'm keeping him chained until he learns not to run away," or "I'm keeping him chained until he's housebroken," or "I'm keeping him chained until he calms down." In fact, chaining is going to make all of these positive dog behaviors extremely difficult to obtain. Chaining a young dog, for example, forces her to become accustomed to urinating and defecating where she sleeps, conflicting with her natural instinct to eliminate away from her living area. This makes housebreaking very difficult.

When you see a dog house with a circle of dirt around it, you know you are looking at the "home" of a chained dog. The area where the dog can move about becomes hard-packed dirt that carries the stench of animal waste even if the dog’s guardian frequently picks up the fecal matter. The odor of waste draws flies, which bite the dog's ears, often causing serious bloody wounds.

Dogs that have been chained for several years often lose portions of their ears, as more tissue is lost each summer from fly bites.

Control of internal parasites is more difficult because the chained dog is always close to his own fecal matter and can re-infest himself by stepping in or sniffing his own waste. Also, the dog is forced to have almost continual contact with the ground in the chaining area, which may have a high concentration of parasite larvae.

The final word is that chaining doesn't work - except to serve as a form of confinement that is easy for the human but cruel for the animal. Chained dogs are miserable, and their guardians are often frustrated. Chaining is not an acceptable practice. It's a long-overlooked form of cruelty that must be stopped.

WHAT YOU CAN DO If you have a chained dog, bring your dog inside. Dogs get bored and lonely sitting on the same patch of dirt day after day, year after year. Dogs want to be inside the house with their "pack": you!

Get to know the dog’s guardian if you are concerned about someone else’s chained dog.

Call your local animal control office, humane society, or sheriff’s department if you see a dog who is: consistently without food, water or shelter; sick or infested with parasites; too skinny.

A city/county official or humane society investigator is required to investigate the situation if the dog guardian is breaking your community’s animal cruelty law. In most communities, it is considered cruel to leave a dog without food, water or shelter; to not provide medical care to a sick dog; and to keep a dog undernour-

ished. Even if your city's ordinance doesn’t have an animal cruelty section, your state law will have a section that addresses animal cruelty.

Your state laws are online: do a keyword search for "Your State Code" or "Your State Statutes." Once you report the situation, don’t be afraid to follow up! Keep calling the authorities until the situation is resolved. If animal control doesn't respond, write a letter describing the situation to your mayor. The dog is counting on you to be his voice.

Offer to buy the chained dog from the family. Just say something like, "I saw your dog and have always wanted a red chow. Would you sell him to me for $50?" You can then place the dog into a good home. Although some chained dogs are aggressive and difficult to approach, many are very friendly and adoptable. Don't offer to buy the dog if you think that the guardian will just go right back out and get another dog.

If you insist on keeping your dog outside, put up a fence. Fences give dogs freedom and make it easier for humans to approach their dogs, since they won't be jumping at the end of a chain. Fences don’t have to cost much if you do some work yourself. You can attach mesh fencing to wooden or metal posts for the cheapest fence. Chain link is easy to install, too. Put up a trolley if you can't put up a fence. A trolley system is cheap and will give the dog more freedom than a chain.

Spaying and neutering will help the dog calm down and stay closer to home. A sterilized dog won’t try to escape to find a mate! Sterilization is healthy for your dog: it reduces his or her risk of getting certain types of cancer. Sterilization won't change your dog's personality. Sterilized dogs still make great guard dogs.

Replace old collars with a new nylon collar. You should be able to easily fit two fingers between the dog's neck and the collar. If you need to add a hole to a collar, hammer a thick nail through it, or heat a pick and poke it through.

Provide food and fresh water every day. Every time you eat, your dog needs to eat. Put a water bowl in a tire or hole in the ground to keep it from tipping. You can attach a water bucket to a wooden doghouse or fence. Stretch wire, a small chain, bungee cord or twine across the bucket and secure on either side.

Provide good shelter. The best shelter is your home. If you feel you must keep your dog outside, you can buy dog igloos pretty cheaply from discount stores, farm supply stores and hardware stores. If you can’t afford to buy a doghouse, you can make one. Doghouses should be large enough for the dog to stand up and turn around in, but small enough to retain body heat. Wooden doghouses should be raised a few inches off of the ground to prevent rotting and keep out rain. Flat, concrete blocks are an easy way to raise a doghouse.

Give toys and rawhides. Dogs like to play, just like kids do. A big rawhide, which you can get at the grocery, will give your dog several hours of fun. Even a knotted towel or ball can be fun for your dog!

Go on walks! Your dog will be so happy to get out of the yard, see new things, and smell new smells! Walking is great exercise for both of you.

If your dog is very strong or large, use a harness to make walking easier.

If the dog belongs to someone else, offer to walk the dog yourself.

Go to school! Obedience classes can help your dog learn to be a good “inside” dog.

Protect from fleas and worms. Biting fleas make a dog’s life miserable. You can buy flea treatment at grocery, discount and pet supply stores. Most farm supply stores sell wormers and vaccinations at much cheaper prices than vets.

Protect from winter cold. Dogs get cold in the winter just like we do. If it's too cold for you to sleep outside, your dog is going to be cold outside, too. It is inhumane to keep an animal outside during frigid temperatures. If you feel you can’t bring your dog in, fill doghouses with hay or cedar chips to help retain heat. (Cedar chips are better because they are less likely to rot and don't contain mites.) You can get cedar shavings and hay at farm supply, hardware, discount, and home improvement stories. If you use hay and it gets wet and soggy, spread it in the sun to dry. To keep cold air out, the door should be covered with a plastic flap. You can use a car mat, a piece of plastic carpet runner, or even a piece of carpet.

Dogs need more food in winter, as keeping warm consumes calories. Check your dog's water bowl several times daily to be sure it isn't frozen.

Provide shade and a kiddie pool in the summer. A doghouse isn’t the same thing as shade. Doghouses get very hot in summer! Bring your dog in during heat waves. Plant trees or create shade by stretching a tarp between two trees. Dogs enjoy cooling off in a pool as much as we do.

Educate people about chaining! Keep educational brochures and flyers in your car.

If you can't find solutions to make your outside dog an inside dog, find your dog a new home. Tethering a dog is inhumane. Do the right thing: bring your dog inside, or find another family that will.

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WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ®

DEEP-SEA MINING THREATENS ENTIRE SEAFLOOR ECOSYSTEMS other increasingly valuable metals and minerals from the seabed beneath international waters.

“Like mountaintop-removal coal mining, deep-sea mining involves massive cutting machines that will leave behind a barren landscape devoid of life,” said Emily Jeffers, the Center attorney who filed the case in federal district court in Washington DC. “Deep-sea mining should be stopped, and this lawsuit aims to compel the government to look at the environmental risks before it leaps into this new frontier. We need to protect the ocean wildlife and habitat, and the United States should provide leadership for other nations to follow before more projects get underway.”

A landmark lawsuit challenges U.S. approval of deep-sea mineral mining as a new ocean gold rush could hurt marine life before impacts are known. Deep-sea mining involves massive machines cutting through the ocean landscape destroying all life.

The deep ocean is believed to contain billions of dollars worth of nickel, copper, cobalt, manganese, zinc, gold and other rare-earth metals and minerals. Extracting those materials has been considered too expensive, difficult and risky for investors, but technological advances and skyrocketing prices for these materials, much of which are used in consumer electronics, have triggered a strong push by the mining industry.

The Center for Biological Diversity has sued the U.S. government over its first-ever approval for large-scale deep-sea mining, a destructive project between Hawaii and Mexico that would damage important habitat for whales, sharks and sea turtles and wipe out seafloor ecosystems.

The lawsuit targets the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for issuing and renewing exploratory permits for the work before completing environmental impact studies required by federal law. This is the first major legal challenge to an emerging global industry that is seeking to extract gold, nickel, copper and

The lawsuit challenges a pair of exploratory permits that were issued to OMCO Seabed Exploration LLC, a subsidiary of defense contractor Lockheed Martin, to pursue mining work in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, about halfway between Hawaii and Mexico. NOAA issued the first licenses in 1980, but they expired in 2004, and this case challenges their renewal in 2012, which was based on a request from the company.

There are now 26 mining permits that have been issued to explore mining, including an active commercial mining operation that has been permitted by Papua New Guinea, the Solwara I project. Most of the permits have been issued through the International Seabed Authority (ISA) for the Clarion Clipperton Zone which is rich in valuable polymetallic nodules, but the United States asserts claims in the area independent of the multi-nation ISA. “The rush to strip-mine the deep-ocean floor threatens to damage mysterious underwater ecosystems. If we aren’t careful, this new gold rush could do irreparable harm to the basic building blocks of life,” said Jeffers. “The federal government has a moral duty, as well as a legal one, to understand the full environmental impacts before the mining industry scrapes away our deep-sea resources.”

DOGGIE BREATH COULD BE A SIGN OF SERIOUS DISEASE Does your sweet companion animal have sour breath? That odor coming from your animal’s mouth could be more than a nuisance; it could signify a serious health risk with the potential to damage not only your companion’s teeth and gums, but their internal organs as well.

American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) President Dr. Ted Cohn says regular dental exams are an integral and primary component of a companion’s overall health care, and can help prevent more serious health problems.

“Oral disease is the most frequently diagnosed health problem for our pets,” said Dr. Cohn. “In addition to causing receding gums, tooth loss, and often significant pain, bacteria in the mouth enters the bloodstream, potentially affecting the heart, liver and kidneys, which can be life threatening.”

According to the American Veterinary Dental College, most dogs and cats have some evidence of periodontal disease by the age of three, often indicated by bad breath, a change in eating or chewing habits, pawing at the face and mouth and depression.

In addition to professional dental care, Dr. Cohn advises animal guardians to make oral home care part of their animal’s routine as a way to prevent tooth decay.

Although daily tooth brushing is advised for dogs and cats, only 2 percent of dog guardians follow through. In addition, 65 percent of dogs with stage one periodontal disease often go untreated. Animal guardians can work with their veterinarians to begin a dental care routine at home in addition to regular dental exams and professional dental cleanings.

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DEAD ZONES FOUND IN OCEAN A team of German and Canadian researchers have discovered areas with extremely low levels of oxygen in the tropical North Atlantic, several hundred kilometers off the coast of West Africa.

The levels measured in these ‘dead zones’, inhabitable for most marine animals, are the lowest ever recorded in Atlantic open waters. The dead zones are created in eddies, large swirling masses of water that slowly move westward. Encountering an island, they could potentially lead to mass fish kills.

Dead zones are areas of the ocean depleted of oxygen. Most marine animals, like fish and crabs, cannot live within these regions, where only certain microorganisms can survive. Very low oxygen concentrations having been linked to reduced fish populations in the Baltic Sea and other parts of the world.

“Before our study, it was thought that the open waters of the North Atlantic had minimum oxygen concentrations of about 40 micromol per liter of seawater, or about one milliliter of dissolved oxygen per liter of seawater,” says lead-author Johannes Karstensen, a researcher at GEOMAR, the Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, in Kiel, Germany.

This concentration of oxygen is low, but still allows most fish to survive. In contrast, the minimum levels of oxygen now measured are some 20 times lower than the previous minimum, making the dead zones nearly void of all oxygen and unsuitable for most marine animals.

Dead zones are most common near inhabited coastlines where rivers often carry fertilizers and other chemical nutrients into the ocean, triggering algae blooms. As the algae die, they sink to the seafloor and are decomposed by bacteria, which use up oxygen in this process. Currents in the ocean can carry these low-oxygen waters away from the coast, but a dead zone forming in the open ocean had not yet been discovered.

The newly discovered dead zones are unique in that they form within eddies, large masses of water spinning in a whirlpool pattern. “The few eddies we observed in greater detail may be thought of as rotating cylinders of 100 to 150 km in diameter and a height of several hundred meters, with the dead zone taking up the upper 100 meters or so,” explains Karstensen.

The area around the dead-zone eddies remains rich in oxygen.

“The fast rotation of the eddies makes it very difficult to exchange oxygen across the boundary between the rotating current and the surrounding ocean. Moreover, the circulation creates a very shallow layer – of a few tens of meters – on top of the swirling water that supports intense plant growth,” explains Karstensen.

This plant growth is similar to the algae blooms occurring in coastal areas, with bacteria in the deeper waters consuming the available oxygen as they decompose the sinking plant matter.

“From our measurements, we estimated that the oxygen consumption within the eddies is some five times larger than in normal ocean conditions.”

The eddies studied form where a current that flows along the West African coast becomes unstable. They then move slowly to the west, for many months, due to the Earth’s rotation.

“Depending on factors such as the [eddies’] speed of rotation and the plant growth, the initially fairly oxygenated waters get more and more depleted and the dead zones evolve within the eddies,” explains Karstensen.

The team reports concentrations ranging from close to no oxygen to no more than 0.3 milliliters of oxygen per liter of seawater. These values are all the more dramatic when compared to the levels of oxygen at shallow depths just outside the eddies, which can be up to 100 times higher than those within.

The researchers have been conducting observations in the region off the West African coast and around the Cape Verde Islands for the past seven years, measuring not only oxygen concentrations in the ocean but also water movements, temperature and salinity. To study the dead zones, they used several tools, including drifting floats that often got trapped within the eddies. To measure plant growth, they used satellite observations of ocean surface color.

Their observations allowed them to measure the properties of the dead zones, as well as study their impact in the ecosystem. Zooplankton – small animals that play an important role in marine food webs – usually come up to the surface at night to feed on plants and hide in the deeper, dark waters during the day to escape predators. However, within the eddies, the researchers noticed that zooplankton remained at the surface, even during the day, not entering the low-oxygen environment underneath.

“Another aspect related to the ecosystem impact has a socioeconomic dimension,” says Karstensen. “Given that the few dead zones we observed propagated less than 100 km north of the Cape Verde archipelago, it is not unlikely that an open-ocean dead zone will hit the islands at some point. This could cause the coast to be flooded with low-oxygen water, which may put severe stress on the coastal ecosystems and may even provoke fish kills and the die-off of other marine life.”

Photo Credit: NASA Earth Observatory

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT PET THEFT Some 5 million family companion animals are reported missing annually. Based on "pet theft" reports, it is conservatively estimated that approximately 1.5 to 2 million of these missing companion animals are taken forcibly, or by deception, through so-called "Free to Good Home" ads.

Dogs and cats are sold to many different clients for many uses, including dog-fighting rings as fighters or as bait, to puppy mills for breeding, as meat for human consumption, as prey for exotic animals, as fur for clothing or accessories, as protective guard dogs, or for cult rituals. However, the most consistent and highest-paying client is often the research industry. Hundreds of thousands of cats and dogs are used as laboratory subjects in universities and testing and research institutions every year. Research institutions prefer to experiment on animals that are accustomed to humans, as they tend to be docile and much easier to handle.

Some pounds, shelters and humane societies may sell "surplus" dogs and cats to Class B dealers and/or research facilities - a practice commonly called "pound seizure." Only a few states have outlawed pound seizure. In those states where pound seizure has not been banned, it is up to each city or county (depending on whether a facility is city or county run) to decide whether or not to allow or mandate pound seizure.

Whether or not a state-wide ban on pound seizure exists, some pounds or shelters practice pound seizure illegally - some even acquiring the animals illegally. There are known cases of family

dogs and cats being picked up as "strays," being "laundered" through the pound, shelter or humane society system (by withholding them from view or taking them to an out-of town facility to fulfill the required five-day holding period), and later sold to a dealer or research facility.

Having a pound, shelter or humane society that practices pound seizure in your area means that every companion animal is worth money, and increases the chances of pet theft occurring in your community.

HELP WAF HELP ANIMALS! The World Animal Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of the planet and the animals that inhabit it. WAF works with other not-forprofit organizations dedicated to planet conservation and animal rights issues. It is only through generous donations from individuals like you that makes it possible for WAF to carry out its mission of preserving and protecting the planet and its animals.

WAF is an all-volunteer organization. There are no paid officers or employees. All contributions are used to help animals and the earth.

World Animal Foundation, Inc. is a registered 501c3 non-profit organization. Donations are tax deductible as allowed by law.

Donate online at WorldAnimalFoundation.org by credit card: Fast, Easy & Secure. Start making a difference for animals and the planet...donate today!

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EARTH & ANIMAL ADVOCATE GUIDE

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WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ÂŽ

in the interest of all animals

GET ACTIVE FOR ANIMALS Around the world, individuals, groups and organizations are making a difference for animals and the planet every day. From saving a companion animal from cruelty, to saving an entire species from extinction, simple choices and actions that you can make will help save animals and the earth.

You can make a difference for animals by adopting an animal, recycling, choosing humane products, donating to a charity of your choice, distributing flyers and fact sheets, encouraging humane legislation, planting wildlife gardens, trapping and neutering feral cats, volunteering, and

educating others about earth and animal issues.

Together, our collective efforts to protect and preserve animals and the environment is making a difference.

Join the effort today; become an earth and animal advocate.

A WORLD OF ANIMALS The six basic animal groups include mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, amphibians and invertebrates. There are also other groups of animals, and the way scientists classify and categorize them changes frequently.

MAMMALS Mammals are warm blooded animals that maintain their own internal body temperature. They have hair, breasts and a single bone lower jaw. They are vertebrates, meaning they have a backbone.

Mammal groups include primates, carnivores, elephants, anteaters, rodents, rabbits, bats, marsupials, seals, cetaceans, odd-toed ungulates and even-toed ungulates. Mammals have a diaphragm, a four-chambered heart and three middle ear bones.

AMPHIBIANS

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Amphibians – like fishes, mammals, birds, and repWORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ® tiles – have backbones.

Newts, salamanders, frogs, toads and caecilians are amphibians. They are also tetrapods, meaning they have four legs. They are cold blooded and go through an aquatic childhood stage breathing with gills as babies, then with lungs as adults. Unlike reptiles, they require water for breeding.

FISH

BIRDS Birds are feathered, winged, two-legged, warm blooded, egg-laying animals with backbones. Wings are evolved forelimbs, and most bird species can fly. Some birds can swim. Birds include birds of prey, perching birds, hummingbirds, owls, gamebirds, flamingos, pigeons and doves, pelicans and penguins.

Fishes include the bony fishes, cartilaginous fishes, hagfishes and lampreys. They breath through gills, have backbones but no limbs and most are cold blooded. Fish account for more than half of vertebrate species. Well adapted for the aquatic world, they usually have streamlined bodies for rapid swimming, extract oxygen from water using gills, have fins, jaws and scales, and lay eggs.

INVERTEBRATES

REPTILES Reptiles are cold blooded animals with backbones, including turtles, crocodilians, snakes, lizards and tuatara.

They are different from amphibians in that they have scales and lay hard-shelled eggs. Reptiles have four limbs or, like snakes, are descended from four-limbed ancestors. Unlike amphibians, reptiles do not begin their lives in the water.

Invertebrates are cold blooded animals that do not have backbones, including insects, worms, octopuses, crabs, lobsters, snails, clams, starfish and sea-urchins. The overwhelming majority of animal species are invertebrates. They do not have a skeleton of bone, either internal or external. Some have fluid-filled skeletons, like jellyfish or worms. Others have hard exoskeletons, outer shells, like insects and crustaceans. There are so many types of invertebrates that few key characteristics can be ascribed to all of them.

HABITATS: WORLDS WITHIN OUR WORLD Biomes, or ecosystems, are large regions of the planet with shared characteristics such as climate, soils, plants and animals.

Climate is an important factor that shapes the nature of an ecosystem, as well as precipitation, humidity, elevation, topography and latitude. The five major biomes include aquatic, desert, forest, grassland and tundra biomes. Each biome also includes numerous types of sub-habitats.

AQUATIC WORLDS The aquatic biome includes habitats around the world dominated by water.

Aquatic ecosystems are divided into two main groups based on their salinity freshwater habitats and marine habitats. ● Freshwater habitats are aquatic habitats with low levels of salt, less than one percent.

They include rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, swamps, wetlands, bogs and lagoons. ● Marine habitats are aquatic habitats with salt concentrations of more than one percent.

They include oceans, seas and coral reefs.

Some habitats exist where saltwater and freshwater mix together. These include mud flats, mangroves and salt marshes. Aquatic ecosystems support a diverse assortment of animals including fishes, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, birds and invertebrates.

WOODED WORLDS Forest biomes are dominated by trees and extend over one-third of the earth's land surface. There are three main types of forests—temperate, tropical and boreal. Each type has a different assortment of animals, climate characteristics and species compositions.

● Temperate Forests are in temperate regions of the earth including North America, Europe and Asia.

They have four well-defined seasons and a growing season between 140 and 200 days. Rainfall takes place throughout the year and soils are nutrient-rich. ● Tropical Forests are located in equatorial regions between 23.5°N and 23.5°S latitude. They experience two seasons, a dry season and a rainy season.

The length of each day varies little throughout the year. Soils in tropical forests are nutrient-poor and acidic. ● Boreal Forests make up the largest terrestrial habitat. They are a band of coniferous forests located in the high northern latitudes between about 50°N and 70°N. Boreal forests create a circumpolar band of habitat from Canada, to northern Europe, to eastern Russia. They are bordered by tundra habitat to the north and temperate forest habitat to the south.

Some of the wildlife that inhabit the forest biome include deer, bears, wolves, moose, caribou, gorillas, squirrels, chipmunks, birds, reptiles and insects.

● Semi-arid Deserts are usually not as hot and dry as arid deserts. They have long, dry summers and cool winters with some rain. Semi arid deserts are found in North America, Europe, Asia, Newfoundland and Greenland. ● Coastal Deserts are usually located on the western edges of continents at approximately 23°N and 23°S latitude, the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. Cold ocean currents run parallel to the coast, producing heavy fogs. Despite high humidity in coastal deserts, it rarely rains.

LANDS OF GRASS Grasslands habitats are dominated by grasses with few large shrubs or trees. The three main types of grasslands include temperate grasslands, tropical grasslands or savannas and steppe grasslands. Grasslands have dry seasons and rainy seasons. They are susceptible to fires during dry seasons. ● Temperate Grasslands have a lack trees and large shrubs and are dominated by grass. The soil has an upper layer that is nutrient-rich. Seasonal droughts result in fires that keep trees and shrubs from taking over the area.

● Cold Deserts have low temperatures and long winters and are found above the treelines of mountain ranges and in the Arctic and Antarctic. They experience more rain than other deserts. Many locations of the tundra are cold deserts.

Desert animals include coyotes, kangaroo rats, spiders, meerkats, roadrunners, reptiles, toads, snakes, pronghorn, birds and bats.

FROZEN WORLDS

● Tropical Grasslands are located near the equator with warmer, wetter climates than temperate grasslands and more pronounced seasonal droughts. They are dominated by grasses, but also have scattered trees. The soil of tropical grasslands are porous and drain quickly. Tropical grasslands can be found in South America, Australia, Africa, India and Nepal. ● Steppe Grasslands are dry grasslands that border on semi-arid deserts. Their grasses are much shorter than temperate and tropical grasslands and they lack trees except along rivers and streams.

Animals that inhabit grasslands include American bison, African elephants, lions and spotted hyenas.

DRY WORLDS Desert biomes receive very little rain and cover about one-fifth of the planet's surface. They are divided into four sub-habitats based on their location, aridity, climate and temperature: arid deserts, semi-arid deserts, coastal deserts and cold deserts. ● Arid Deserts are hot and dry and are located at low latitudes throughout the world. Temperatures are warm all year and hottest during the summer.

Arid deserts receive little rainfall, and most rain that does fall usually evaporates. Arid deserts are located in North America, South America, Central America, Africa, Australia and Southern Asia.

Tundra is a cold habitat with long winters, low temperatures, permafrost soils, short vegetation, brief growing seasons and little drainage. The Alpine tundra exists on mountains around the planet at elevations above the tree line. The Arctic tundra is near the North Pole, extending southward to where coniferous forests grow. ● Arctic Tundra in the Northern Hemisphere is between the North Pole and the boreal forest. In the Southern Hemisphere it exists on remote islands off the coast of Antarctica and on the Antarctic peninsula. The Arctic and Antarctic tundra are home to over 1,700 species of plants including grasses, mosses, sedges, lichens and shrubs. ● Alpine Tundra is a high-altitude ecosystem located on mountains around the earth at elevations above the tree line. Alpine tundra soils are well drained compared to tundra soils. Alpine tundra is home to small shrubs, dwarf trees, tussock grasses and heaths.

The tundra is home to the arctic fox, wolverines, polar bears, northern bog lemmings, muskox, arctic terns, muskoxen and snow buntings.

WILDLIFE: MAMMALS Š

Mammals are animals that have warm-blood, fur or hair and usually have live babies. A few mammals lay eggs rather than giving birth to live babies, including the platypus and the spiny anteater. All mammals have some type of body hair or fur, though marine mammals, like dolphins and whales, are almost hairless.

Over 5,500 species of mammals have been recorded to date, compared to more than 28,000 species of fish and over 1,000,000 species of insects.

Many mammal babies are helpless when first born, but a few species, including zebras and moose, can walk from the day they are born. Marsupial ba-

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bies, like kangaroos and opossum, are born as small as a pinkie nail and move to their mother's pouch to mature. All mammal babies drink milk from their mothers.

Mammals maintain their body temperatures to just about the same temperature all the time, despite the temperature outside their bodies. Warm blood allows mammals to be very active and live in a wide variety of environments.

Fur and fat help protect mammals in the cold, while sweating or panting releases extra heat for mammals in hot conditions.

FASCINATING MAMMAL FACTS THE BIGGEST The blue whale, measuring up to 110 feet long and weighing up to 419,000 pounds, is the largest mammal living today. It is also the largest mammal to have ever lived....larger than even the biggest dinosaur. The largest land animal today is the African elephant, standing up to 13 feet tall and weighing over 15,000 pounds. The extinct Paraceratherium, a hornless rhinoceros which stood around 17 feet at the shoulder and weighed about 33,000 pounds, is thought to have been the largest land mammal to have ever roamed the earth. The tallest mammals are giraffes, towering up to 20 feet tall.

THE SMALLEST The smallest mammals are tinier than many insects. The bumblebee bat is only about 1.14 inches long and weighs a mere 0.07oz or less, while the white-toothed pygmy shrew, the smallest land mammal, is only .09oz or less.

THE FASTEST The fastest land animal is the cheetah, reaching speeds of 60 mph. The fasted flying mammal is the big brown bat, flying at speeds of 15.5 mph. The fastest mammal in water is the orca, swimming up to 34 mph.

THE LONGEST LIVED Human beings can live longer than any other mammal, while whales can live up to 100 years.

TOOLS & WEAPONS

AMAZINGLY SMART Squirrels have been observed hiding their odors from snakes by chewing on the outer layer of snakeskin and smearing it all over their fur. They also pretend to bury food in one spot, then store the food elsewhere, to fake out potential thieves.

Mother squirrels are so protective of their babies that they kick the fathers out of the nests for the spring and summer, but may allow them back to bunk with the family during winter.

THEIR OWN LANGUAGE Prairie dogs speak to one another in a language which includes nouns and verbs and has different dialects depending on where they’re from. Wolves cry out from distress when they miss an absent member of their pack. They communicate not only by sound, but also by body language. They use social cooperation and generalized rules to conduct and plan coordinated attacks.

Bears use tools, play with objects and have been known to use weapons against other animals. Bears enjoy staring at scenic vistas such as sunsets, lakes and mountains. They grieve when a family member dies, moaning and crying for weeks.

RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY Like computers, rats have short-term, random-access memories that store information used in ongoing processes. They are empathetic to each other, help other rats in distress and share food.

They respond with their whiskers to vibrations. Rats take care of injured and sick rats and without companionship they become lonely and depressed. Rats laugh when they play and chatter or grind their teeth when happy. They groom themselves and their friends and family members for several hour each day. Rats can go longer than a camel without water. Their tails help them to balance, communicate and regulate their body temperature.

ELEPHANTS SPEAK Much of elephants’ complex language is based on infrasound – below the level of human hearing – and enables separated family members to communicate with each other over vast distances. They can also imitate human speech, despite having a trunk instead of lips. When an elephant is stressed, other elephants offer physical and vocal comfort, including hugs, kisses and soothing sounds. They mourn the deaths of their loved ones and perform rituals, holding vigils over the body for days and covering the deceased with leaves and branches. They react the same way when mourning humans. Elephants have been known to die of broken hearts after the death of a family member, friend or mate. They have the ability to use different objects in creative ways without being taught. They have been known to clean their food and use tools in various ways in the wild.

Elephants self-medicate, play with a sense of humor, perform artistic activities, use tools and display compassion and self-awareness.

AMAZING APES Apes and other primates use a special sign language to communicate with each other, and are also able to use standard sign language to communicate with humans. They have been taught to be fluent in English, some understanding over 2,000 words and able to sign over 1,000 words. They understand the meaning of the signs and use them in creative ways. They can comment on abstract ideas, express self-awareness, intelligence and emotions. Apes remember people, names, places, tasks and puzzles. They make and use tools, including spears for hunting, and have impressive problemsolving skills. They cooperate on projects like seeking food and making shelter, live in highly organized societies, can appreciate a beautiful sunset and mourn the death of loved ones. They have even been known to keep "pets".

Orangutans recognize themselves in mirrors. They make and use a variety of tools for foraging, honey collection and protection against insects. They drape large leaves over themselves like a poncho and use sticks to “fish” for branches or fruit that are out of reach and to extract seeds from fruit. They use leaves as napkins and gloves and fashion seat cushions from natural materials. Males plan their travel route in advance and communicate it to other orangutans. Cultural traditions are learned and passed down. They are capable of whistling music, opening locks, communicating with humans through sign language, using fork and spoons, blowing out candles, washing clothes, rowing boats, cooking and using Ipads.

Chimps have traditions that are often specific to only one group. They communicate with body language, exhibit self-awareness and express emotions, including laughing when they play and crying when they grieve.

They outperform humans on numerous short-term memory tests. Orphans are adopted by their aunts, older siblings, or other members of their tribe who teach them how to find natural antibiotics, avoid poisonous plants and build tree nests.

MARINE MAMMALS Marine mammals include cetaceans and pinnipeds. Dolphins, whales and porpoises are "cetaceans." Walruses, sea lions and seals are "pinnipeds". While they must breathe air like all mammals, marine mammals can stay underwater for up to two hours before surfacing for air. Dolphins and whales breath air through blowholes, while walruses, seals and sea lions breath through their nose and mouth.

Seals have scored better than adult humans at logical reasoning tests. Ringed seals build snow caves above their breathing holes in the ice to protect their young from predators.

Orcas brains are more emotionally developed than those of humans. The limbic system — the layers of interconnecting tissue that processes emotions — have grown elaborately compared to those in the human brain. They have a level of social culture that rivals humans. Dolphin brains are larger and, in some ways, more complex than human brains. Dolphins have been taught to speak human words. Their own language allows them to trace other dolphins up to six miles away. They even have names for one another. They have such significant brain power it stops them from sleeping. They use tools and pass their knowledge through a family line. They reason, problem-solve and comprehend ideas. They use nonlinear math formulas when catching prey. They blow bubbles that vary in exact amplitudes to detect fish, then subtract values found with their echolocation to confirm the target. They follow ships to collect fish churned up their wake, and ride bow-waves like human surfers. They play catch, tag and other games with each other, and also enjoy playing with other animals. Dolphins swim onto the nose of humpback whales, who then raise themselves out of the water so the dolphins slide down their heads - both animals enjoy the game. Dolphins form complex social groups. They plan ahead. They crave physical attention and stroke each other with their flippers.

Dolphins and whales communicate with a variety of low sounds that humans cannot hear.

They also use echolocation – sending sounds through water to bounce off objects to determine their shape, size and distance.

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WILDLIFE: BIRDS ©

Birds are warm-blooded, covered in feathers and lay eggs. All birds have wings, a beak and stand on two legs. Most birds fly, but some cannot. Some species, particularly penguins and members of the Anatidae family, are adapted to swim.

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knowledge across generations.

They are social, communicating with visual

Some birds eat only seeds and berries. Some also eat insects.

Birds of prey eat small animals.

Male birds are usually more brightly colored than females, while females have better camouflage which helps to protect their nests.

Birds are incredibly intelligent animals. They make and use tools and culturally transmit

signals, calls and songs, and participate in such social behaviors such as cooperative breeding and hunting, flocking and mobbing of predators. The vast majority of bird species are monogamous, for one breeding season or for years. Eggs are usually laid in a nest and incubated by the parents. Most birds have an extended period of parental care after hatching. In some species, both parents care for the babies, or close relatives will help with the raising of the young.

FASCINATING BIRD FACTS THE BIGGEST

SMARTER THAN KIDS

The tallest bird is the ostrich at around 9 feet tall. The ostrich is also the heaviest bird, at about 345 pounds. The heaviest flying bird is the mute swan at about 40 pounds. The largest wingspan of all birds belongs to the wandering albatross at 11 feet 10 inches.

Crows’ intelligence rivals human children. They use tools to get food, have exceptional memories and anticipate future events to help them solve problems. They have learned to use bread crumbs as fish bait. They can count, distinguish complex shapes and perform observational learning tasks. Crows are extremely social creatures. They have been observed creating knives from leaves and stalks of grass and using advanced plucking, smoothing and bending to fashion twigs and grass into a variety of substances. Caledonian crows remember specific people, cars and urban situations. They also develop grudges against specific people and cars that last for years.

THE SMALLEST The smallest bird is the bee hummingbird measuring in at only 2.2 inches from beak to tail.

THE FASTEST The fastest bird is the spine-tailed swift, traveling at speeds of over 106 mph.

THE LONGEST LIVED The longest living bird is thought to be the sulfur-crested cockatoo, able to live well into their 80's.

WINGED WONDERS

AMAZING MEMORIES

Ravens push rocks on people to keep them from their nests, steal fish by pulling a fishermen’s line out of water and play dead beside an animal carcass to scare other ravens away from the food. Ravens are known to steal food from other birds and mammals. They can act in pairs: one individual captures an animal's attention, while the other steals its food. They pretend to hide food in one place while really hiding it somewhere else to fool other animals. Ravens can learn to talk better than many parrots and mimic other noises. They imitate wolves or foxes to attract them to carcasses that the raven cannot break open. They roll around in anthills so the ants swarm on them, or they chew the ants up to rub their guts on their feathers as an insecticide and fungicide or to soothe molting skin. Ravens point with their beaks to indicate an object to another bird and hold up objects to get the attention of other birds. They will console other birds and remember friends and family for years. They live complex social lives and express happiness, tenderness, surprise, emotion and rage through their own language. Ravens are very playful and play with other ravens, other animal species and humans. They mate for life and live in pairs. When children reach adolescence, they join gangs until they mate and pair off.

Pigeons are actually domesticated rock doves who were set free. They are marvelous parents: the father builds the nest, and both parents take turns incubating the eggs and even making milk in their crops for the young. Pigeons remember dozen of routes to find their way to familiar places, and can recognize their faces in mirrors. They can remember hundreds of photographs and images, are able to differentiate between photographs, and even differentiate between different human beings in a photograph. They have been known to be able to distinguish between Van Gogh and Chagall paintings. They can count, order items in ascending order and understand math rules. They have an amazing ability to remember people and places throughout the course of their life. Pigeon can recognize all 26 letters of the English language, be taught complex actions and response sequences, and can make responses in different sequences.

BIRDS PLAY Many birds have been known to play. Ravens and crows love to play and have been observed sliding down snow banks on their backs, cavorting in updrafts and sliding repeatedly down sloping church windows.

BIRDS GRIEVE Jay birds have been observed grieving, including an entire group of birds sitting for 48 hours near a dead brethren.

HOLDING GRUDGES Swans are highly intelligent and social animals. They remember who have been kind to them, and who have not. They usually only show aggression to those who have upset them, and will remember them. They have sharp vision and hearing and use a remarkable assortment of sounds to convey a broad range of emotions. Swans usually mate for life, with occasional “divorces” occurring. Male swans will occasionally baby sit an egg so the expecting mother can take a break.

BIRDS HAVE NAMES It has been discovered that birds name their offspring. They use smell memories to travel thousands of miles. They show advanced planning and art. They have been proven to perform arithmetic, invent words and express love through language.

MASTERS OF LANGUAGE Parrots not only mimic the words of humans, they also understand the meanings of the words. Studies show that they remember 90% of what they are told, including full sentences and even parts of songs. They are capable of performing math, identifying colors and communicating to humans what they want.

Parrots cannot bear to be alone. While most mate for life, all live in large social groups, sometimes with multiple species of birds.

GOOD MOMS Ostrich mothers lay their eggs in a communal nest, allowing the eggs and young to all be cared for by one bonded pair; up to 380 chicks have been seen being escorted by loving parents.

BIRD BRAINS Finches learn by listening to others and follow rules of syntax. Bengal finches use strict rules of syntax. If a zebra finch is sick, it will fake being healthy in front of other zebra finches, especially if there’s a chance to mate.

BACKYARD BIRDING ©

feed dry and free of mold are best. Moldy seeds are bad for bird health. Place feeders either WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ® near a window or fairly far away to help prevent birds from colliding with windows when startled.

The most common feeder is a hopper or house feeder, usually made of windows of clear plastic that feed seed to a perching surface. These feeders attract cardinals, nuthatches, chickadees, grosbeaks, buntings and titmice. One without a lot of perching surface minimizes use by house sparrows or starlings. The most important thing is to keep feeders clean by washing with bleach water every few weeks. Washing with bleach water prevents the spread of disease.

Although slightly more expensive, bird food with black oil sunflower seeds attract a wide variety of desirable birds. A suet feeder attracts woodpeckers, nuthatches, chickadees and bluejays.

Some birders push suet or peanut butter into crevices in bark or in the cracks of old stumps to attract birds. Woodpeckers love dead branches on trees. Leave a dead branch on a tree to attract woodpeckers if it is safe to do so.

Watching the many species of birds that inhabit your ecosystem is a fun and fascinating pastime the whole family can enjoy together. You don’t need to spend money on food or feeders to attract birds to your yard. If you can leave a small area of your yard un-mowed, you can attract a lot of birds.

They eat the seeds from the grasses and weeds and use the area for cover.

Employing a feeder grants the ability for close study of birds.While all feeders draw birds, those that keep the bird

It is important to provide water for birds in winter too. Place the water in a spot in the yard that receives sun as its rays will melt some water for birds on even the coldest days.

A good guide book is essential for identifying birds. Looking up unfamiliar birds and learning about their distinguishing characteristics is part of the fun of birding.

Modestly priced binoculars now have coated lenses and other features that make them acceptable choices for bird watching. Don’t get zoom binoculars for birding. You tend to lose clarity at high magnification. A wide angle pair lets in more light and makes it easier to find birds.

BIRDS IN CAGES Birds' instinctive yearning to fly is thwarted when they are confined to a cage. Even in a large aviary, it is virtually impossible to provide birds in captivity with a natural existence, since naturally changing temperatures, food, vegetation, and landscape cannot be recreated indoors, nor, of course, can the birds fly freely.

As a result of the horrific traveling conditions they are forced to endure, many birds captured in the wild die long before arriving at their destination. Yet thousands of birds are still taken away from their families and flocks every year, packed up as if they were plastic dolls, and sold at bird shows or through pet shops. Many don't survive the journey, and those who do are likely to be destined for a life of misery.

Thousands of “pet” birds are abandoned by their human guardians each year. For people who have aviaries or who have the space for pairs or groups of birds to fly indoors, adoption from sanctuaries, rather than buying birds from shops or breeders, is recommended by animal advocates.

WILDLIFE: AMPHIBIANS ©

Amphibians are cold blooded, breathe air through their skin and do not have hair or scales.

Amphibians go through a metamorphosis; starting from an egg, morphing into larvae that is typically aquatic, breathing by gills, and growing into semiterrestrial adults that breathe by lungs and through moist skin.

REPTILE OR AMPHIBIAN? Amphibious means ‘belonging to both land and water’ - but not all amphibious creatures are amphibians. Marine iguanas, sea snakes, crocodiles and pond turtles are all amphibious but they are considered reptiles because they do not go through a metamorphosis. They also

WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ®

have scales; amphibians have no scales. While both amphibians and reptiles come from eggs, amphibian eggs need to stay moist or wet as they develop and are usually laid in water.

WHO’S INCLUDED? Amphibians include frogs, toads, newts, salamanders and caecilians – who resemble earthworms or snakes and hide in the ground, making them the least familiar of amphibians.. Most amphibians eat small animals like insects.

Amphibians are divided into 3 major groups; salamanders, frogs and toads.

FASCINATING AMPHIBIAN FACTS THE BIGGEST The largest amphibian is the giant salamander at 4 feet 8 inches long.

The giant salamander is also the heaviest, weighing in at a whopping 88 pounds.

THE SMALLEST The smallest amphibian in the world is a frog from New Guinea, Paedophryne amauensis, at only 0.30 inches.

THE FASTEST The fastest amphibian is an Andean salamander, which can travel at speeds of 15 mph.

THE LONGEST LIVED The giant salamander lives the longest, over 50 years.

METAMORPHOSIS Baby amphibians hatch from eggs in water, starting off as polliwogs or tadpoles with no limbs and breathing through gills like fish.

Some amphibians care for their

eggs and babies, while others abandon their eggs in water and offer no care. When amphibian eggs hatch, the babies do not look like their parents. They start off as a larva, then undergo metamorphosis to transform into an adult form. Some amphibians, like toads, the process of going from an egg to a toad may only takes a few weeks. For others, like bullfrogs, the process may take two years.

DEVOTED DADS Giant South African bullfrogs are devoted fathers who have attacked lions and elephants while defending tadpoles. Some male frogs in the rainforest, who send messages by drumming with their feet, are the sole caretakers of their young. After the mother lays eggs, the father guards the nest and carries his children on his back.

WILDLIFE: REPTILES ©

tors. They usually have limited means of maintaining a constant body temperature and rely on external sources of heat. Being cold blooded requires far less fuel to function.

A crocodile needs a fraction of the food a lion of the same weight needs, and can live half a year without eating. Due to their slow metabolism, reptiles can do well in areas where food sources are too low for most mammals and birds to live.

Reptiles are cold blooded animals, covered with scales, and mostly lay eggs.

Some reptiles eat plants, some eat animals and some eat both.

Reptiles are tetrapod vertebrates, meaning they have four limbs or, like snakes, they descended from four limbed ances-

Four major groups of reptiles include crocodilians, snakes, turtles, lizards and ttuatara – a lizard-like reptile that is the only surviving member of an order which flourished around 200 million years ago.

The study of reptiles, historically combined with that of amphibians, is called

herpetology.

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Reptiles lay eggs on land, and the eggs musts stay dry. Many reptiles bury the eggs.

Mother pythons, mud snakes and some skinks wrap their bodies around their eggs to protect them. Alligator mothers carry newly hatched babies in their mouths. Some reptiles abandon their eggs and do not care for the babies.

About a fifth of snake species give birth to live young.

Warmer egg temperatures produce females for some turtles, cooler temperatures result in males, and temperatures in the middle will produce a combination of genders. With crocodiles, the results are reversed – with males usually born at higher temperatures. The sex of snakes is determined by chromosomes, as it is with mammals and birds.

Once hatched, most reptiles are independent and able to care for themselves. Babies look like miniature adults, though their colors may be different.

FASCINATING REPTILE FACTS THE BIGGEST The longest reptile is the reticulated python, measuring over 32 feet. The heaviest is the leatherback sea turtle, weighing over 1,900 pounds.

THE SMALLEST Leaf chameleons of Madagascar measure only an inch from nose to tail.

THE FASTEST Green sea turtles are the fastest reptiles, reaching speeds of 22 mph.

THE LONGEST LIVED The Aldabra tortoise lives the longest, to over 150 years.

SMARTER THAN YOU THINK Reptiles are capable of solving complex problems and remembering what they have learned. They share the same level of intelligence as birds and mammals. They change techniques when presented with new challenges and learn from other reptiles.

They possess advanced social skills and flexible behavior – behavior that can be adapted to meet a particular situation. In captivity, they learn how to open hinged doors, open jar lids, have the ability to interpret and anticipate common activities such as feeding time and cage-cleaning time, and can even navigate mazes. In the wild they exhibit advanced social behavior including recognition of their family, pair bonding and loving care of their children.

They exhibit social learning, play behavior and cooperation.

Studies show they are capable of counting, advanced learning and problem solving. They are able to reverse course in addressing problems, unlearning incorrect approaches almost instantly. They have individual personalities.

UNDERGROUND CITIES

LOVING RELATIONSHIPS Shingleback skinks are often monogamous. They court for months with the male strutting, licking and nudging the female affectionately before mating. The reptilian couple will mate every breeding season for as long as 20 years. When one dies, its surviving partner will stay beside the body for days, tenderly touching it.

PLANNING AHEAD Australian monitors plan ahead and arrange ambushes when pursuing fast-moving prey. Monitor lizards have been shown to count snails at feeding time and learn to use their forearms to help extract insects from logs.

SINGING & DANCING Alligators gather together in large groups during the spring, usually one to three hours after sunrise, to sing and engage in “alligator dances” for courtship. Mothers defend their nests from predators. Shortly before hatching, baby alligators call their mother to the nest and begin vocalizing to synchronize the hatching of their siblings. Mother alligators gently assist with opening the eggs and carry the babies to a special pool called a nursery.

Young alligators will stay close to their mother and form social groups. They follow her wherever she goes, hop on her head to bask and follow her around on land like little ducklings. When in distress they call out for her, bringing her to their aid. They stay with their protective mother for up to 2 years after being born.

COMMUNAL LIVING Crocodiles are behaviorally complex creatures that live and work as members of a group. They can be incredibly tender and affectionate.

They play together, exhibit complex social interactions and gaze recognition, use tools, pair-bbond, practice monogamy, hunt together and have good memories. Expecting mothers guard their nests and protect their young until they are old enough to survive on their own, up to 3 years old. Babies are carried around in their mouths to protect them. Crocodiles have community nurseries where one mother watches over the hatchlings of many. Crocodiles have excellent communication skills, using body language and sounds, and even vibrate to make water ‘dance’, producing sounds that humans cannot hear.

SENSE OF DIRECTION Wild turtles who are caught and later released will head in the direction of the nearest water source. Captive turtles recognize the sight of their food container and sound of food rattling in it.

Green iguanas share nesting areas with as many as hundreds of other iguanas and construct complex burrow systems that are continuously improved upon. Babies hatching from eggs look around and duck back into the egg while observing other babies to determine if it is safe to emerge. They get excited and jump up and down when they see other babies emerging. Siblings will stay together for months, rubbing against each other frequently and wagging their tails like dogs. They sleep together and groom each other and walk in a line with a chosen leader. They rub each others' heads before returning to their family's territory, watching for predators together and protecting each other.

REPTILES AS PETS The lot of a reptile captured or bred for the pet store trade is grim. The trip from the breeder or dealer is typically cramped and unsanitary, and many reptiles do not survive it. Those who do will probably have health problems that don’t show up until months later. Unfortunately, reptiles are perceived as requiring minimal care rather than specialized care, so they’re big business—million of U.S. households have reptiles. Pet-store employees are rarely trained to effectively tend to the sensitive needs of reptiles and therefore cannot educate prospective reptile caretakers.

Welcoming a reptile into your home means a commitment of time, space, and money. You’ll need to provide the right temperature and humidity and specific light/dark cycles that may not coincide with your own or be convenient to you.

Backup power is necessary to keep a constant temperature in the event of a power failure. It is a harsh fact that most reptiles are carnivores—do you really want your freezer full of dead animals?

In all, costs for food, an enclosure, lighting, and vet bills can total hundreds of dollars per year.

Purchasing a reptile caught in his or her natural habitat encourages the removal of wildlife from delicate ecosystems.

Buying captive-bred animals only encourages breeders to replenish their stock. If you must have a reptile as a companion animal, consider adopting one from a local shelter or rescue group.

WILDLIFE: FISHES ©

covers wounds to prevent WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ® infection.

Most fish have color vision that is at least as good as a human's. Many fish also have chemoreceptors that are responsible for extraordinary senses of taste and smell. Sensitive receptors allow fish to detect gentle currents and vibrations, and to sense the motion of nearby fish and prey. Some fish have organs that detect electric currents. Some can even produce electric currents, which they use in navigation and social communication.

Fish are cold blooded, live in water and are covered in scales. They breathe through gills located on the sides of their heads. Their gills take oxygen out of the water around them so they can breathe. Their limbs, if they have any, are in the shape of fins and do not have digits. They exhibit greater species diversity than any other group of vertebrates, with over 32,000 known species.

Fish live in oceans and freshwater ecosystems. Well adapted to their water world, fish secrete a special type of mucus from their skin. The slime coating helps them move through water faster, protects them against parasites and diseases and

Fish orient themselves using landmarks and mental maps based on multiple landmarks or symbols. They possess spatial memory and visual discrimination.

Over 97% of all known fish are oviparous, that is, the eggs develop outside the mother's body. Newly hatched babies are called larvae and do not look like their parents until they go through metamorphosis.

Jaws allow fish to eat a wide variety of food, including plants and other organisms. Many are specialists, eating very limited diets.

Others will eat almost anything. Cleaner wrasses eat parasites off of other fish, setting up cleaning stations that predators visit who even allow the wrasse into their mouths to clean their teeth.

FASCINATING FISH FACTS THE BIGGEST Fish range in size from the nearly microscopic to the gigantic. The longest fish is the whale shark at over 55 feet. The whale shark is also the heaviest, weighing 80,000 pounds.

THE SMALLEST The smallest fish is the tiny stout infantfish at only 0.3 in.

THE FASTEST The fastest fish is the swordfish, swimming at seeds of 40 mph.

THE LONGEST LIVED European eels live the longest, well over 80 years.

SMART & SOCIAL Fish have been proven to be as intelligent as mammals. They can distinguish between larger and smaller quantities and can count. Fish clean and massage one another by rubbing up against each others’ pectoral fins.

They have advanced nervous systems that allow them to feel pain. They have highly-developed hearing capabilities that allow them to detect electric currents in the water, and can create their own electric currents. Archerfish fire jets of water to knock insects off foliage and into the water, requiring complex calculus calculations.

TOGETHER FOR LIFE

FRIENDS & FAMILY

French angelfish mate for life and spend most of their time swimming together in their coral reef homes.

When couples reunite after being separated, they joyfully encircle each other round-and-round in a romantic dance called "carouseling."

Fish live in groups with social hierarchies. They are able to recognize individual family members, form bonds with other fish, cooperate and even tell time.

WORKING TOGETHER Coral trout hunt in collaboration with moray eels. Cleaner wrasse perform rituals to coherce predators into letting them pick off parasites.

PROTECTIVE MOTHERS Some fish protect their babies by opening their mouths and letting the babies swim inside until the predator has passed by.

TOOL USERS Squid are very curious, have the ability to learn complex skills and use tools to repress their boredom and protect them from harm. They can change their body color and texture to not only blend in with their surroundings, but to convey different messages on both sides of their bodies, such as projecting a mating color on one side and warning off a predator on the other.

LOVERS OF MUSIC Goldfish not only enjoy listening to music, but they also can distinguish one composer from another and detect complex properties of sounds, such as pitch and timbre. Goldfish can tell different faces apart and are able to distinguish between different shapes, colors and sounds.

FISH FEEL PAIN While fish may have different brain structures than mammals, they do have nervous systems that comprehend and respond to pain. Numerous studies have proven that fish feel and react to pain. Without the ability to feel pain, it would be impossible for fish to survive. Pain perception is essential to animal survival and has deep evolutionary origins across all vertebrate species.

Over 8.4 billion fish are killed for food in the U.S. alone, with no federal laws to protect fish from pain on aquaculture factory farms, during fishing events or at slaughter.

FISH IN TANKS Fragile tropical fish, born to dwell in the majestic seas and forage among brilliantly colored coral reefs, suffer miserably when forced to spend their lives enclosed in glass aquariums.

Robbed of their natural habitat, denied the space to roam, they must swim and reswim the same empty cubic inches.

The popularity of keeping tropical fish has created a virtually unregulated industry based on catching and breeding as many fish as possible, with little regard for the fish themselves.

In the Philippines, the source of most saltwater fish sold in the U.S., many fish divers collect their prey by squirting cyanide or other poisons into the coral reefs where fish live.

Meant to stun them so that they will drift out of the reef for easy collection, the cyanide kills as many as half of the fish on the spot. Many others die from cyanide residue after being purchased. The poison also kills the live coral where the fish live, which can take thousands of years to grow back.

Most of the freshwater fish sold in the U.S. are easier to breed than their saltwater cousins and are bred on "fish farms." These breeding centers, seeking new market niches, create fish breeds that would never occur in nature. Treating fish as ornaments instead of as live animals, some fish breeders "paint" fish by injecting fluorescent dye into their bodies to make them more attractive to buyers.

WILDLIFE: INVERTEBRATES ©

TYPES OF INVERTEBRATES ● Marine invertebrates WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ® are ocean animals without backbones, including starfish, sponges, jellyfish, corals and anemones. ● Mollusks have a soft body covered by an outer layer, a mantle. Many live inside a shell. Mollusks include slugs, snails, squid, octopuses and oysters. ● Crustaceans are a type of arthropod, meaning they have jointed legs. Their bones are on the outside of their bodies, like a shell. Crustaceans include shrimp, crabs, lobsters and barnacles. ● Worms are invertebrates that don't have legs. They live in soil, water, or inside other animals as parasites. Worms include earthworms, tapeworms and leeches.

Mammals, amphibians, reptiles, fish, and birds all have backbones. All these animals make up less than 4% of the total animals species. Over 96% of all the animal species on earth are invertebrates. Invertebrates are cold blooded animals that do not have backbones and do not have a skeleton of bone, either internal or external. Some have fluid-filled skeletons, while others have hard exoskeletons, or outer shells.

● Spiders, centipedes and scorpions are part of the arthropod phylum, but they are arachnids, not insects, because they have eight legs. Centipedes and millipedes are myriapods and have lots of legs. The average home houses 30 spiders. You are always only three feet from a spider. ● Insects make up the largest group of animals in the world, the arthropods. There are over 1 million species of insects.

FASCINATING INVERTEBRATE FACTS THE BIGGEST The giant cranch squid the largest squid species in terms of mass. At over 40 feet long, it is the largest known invertebrate.

The longest invertebrate is the ribbon worm which can grow to 180 feet long.

THE SMALLEST The smallest, the wheel animal, is too small to see your eyes.

THE FASTEST Tiny mites are the fastest animals in the world when it comes to body size.

THE LONGEST LIVED Clams can live over 400 years. Some corals live even longer.

SEA GENIUSES The octopus has a sophisticated navigation system in its brain that helps it navigate complex mazes, as well as stay one tentacle ahead of any opportunist predators.

Octopi have been known to solve problems and play together, and have an impressive short-term memory.

They have even been known to sneak aboard fishing boats and pry open holds to steal captured crabs, and can open jars. They use shells and other objects to build defense structures against predators. They are capable of foresight, planning and using their tentacles as tools. Octopuses collect bottle caps, attractive stones and other finds from the ocean floor and decorate their dens with them, repositioning an object if it doesn’t seem to suit the design.

ARACHNIDA Spiders are invertebrates but are not considered insects because they only have two main body parts instead of three, eight legs instead of six and no antennae. Most spiders also have eight simple eyes, while insects have large, compound eyes. Some have no eyes and others have as many as 12. Spiders, along with ticks, mites, harvestmen and scorpions, are called arachnida. They are also classified into a special group called araneae because they have very slender waists compared to other arachnida.

Most spiders are carnivorous, usually feeding on insects. Some are big enough to prey on larger animals such as mice or small birds. Without spiders, insect numbers would skyrocket and bugs would devour our crops. Most spiders eat about 2,000 insects a year. Some spiders live in silk-lined burrows and leap out to capture prey. Some lie in ambush. Some go hunting in search of prey and others spin webs to entrap them. Some spiders capture prey with silk-made nets, and others use spider silk as "fishing lines". Spider silk is also used to protect their babies,

to create shelters and to assist them as they move and reproduce.

Some spiders even build "submarines" that hold air so they can stay under water.

Most live on land, but a few live in and on water and can run across water. Spider webs are made of continuous strands of spider silk produced from glands under their bellies. Most take about 60 minutes to construct. The webs have three parts: the frame, built first and attached to plants or other objects; the radii, which radiate out from the center like spokes of a bicycle and transmit vibrations from prey; and the catching spiral, the sticky threads that stretch without breaking making it difficult for insects to escape. Small and young spiders can travel for miles on air breezes, a travel method called ballooning. To lure other spiders from their webs, the jumping spider plucks rhythms at the corner of a web to mimic a trapped insect. Some spiders live in complex communities housing thousands of individuals, building large communal webs, working together to trap prey and sharing the harvest.

LARGEST BRAINS IN THE WORLD The animal with the largest brain in proportion to its size is the ant. They farm, gather, hunt, raise animals and engage in rituals. Ants are social insects and live in colonies of as many as 500,000 individuals. They divide jobs among each other. Queens lay eggs while all other females are workers who feed the babies, take out the trash, forage for food and supplies and defend the nest. Males only have to mate with the queen. Ants have two stomachs, one to hold food for themselves, and one for others. Some ants keep other ants, or other insects, as slaves forcing them to do chores. Ants have been farming for 70 million years, using sophisticated horticultural techniques to grow crops. They even keep "cattle", aphids which they milk by tickling them with their antennae.

They clip the wings of aphids that have them or produce chemicals from glands in their jaws to stop the development of their wings. They can also use chemicals to tranquilize aphids.

Ants "hear" by feeling vibrations in the ground with pecial sensors on their feet and knees. Their antennae and body hairs feel around while foraging for food. They communicate with a sophisticated language using chemicals known as “pheromones.�

One species, M. smithii, reproduces asexually, with all babies clones of the queen. There are no males. Army ants do not build permanent nests. They travel around attacking other colonies and other insects and build temporary campsites at night.

The largest ant colony discovered to date was over 3,750 miles wide. Ants engage in war, including psychological warfare.

WILDLIFE: INSECTS ©

Most insects go through 4 life stages: egg, larvae or nymph, pups and adult. Bugs do not have lungs and most have compound eyes, meaning each eye has many lenses.

Adult insects usually move about by walking or flying...and sometimes by swimming.

They are the only animals without backbones that fly. As it allows for rapid yet stable movement, many walk with their legs touching the ground in alternating triangles.

Insect species are divided up into 32 orders.

The largest group is beetles, with about 500,000 different species. One out of every four animals on the planet is a beetle.

Insects perform many ecological roles. They pollinate flowers and plants, produce silk, honey, wax and other products.

Blow-flies consume carrion. Pollinators are essential to the

life-cycle of many WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ® flowering plant species on which most organisms, including humans, are dependent. Many other insects are considered ecologically beneficial as predators.

These highly adaptable creatures have evolved to live successfully in most all environments, though only a small number of species live in the oceans which are dominated by their cousin arthropods, crustaceans. Many insects spend at least part of their lives under water, breathing through gills, and some adult insects are aquatic and can swim. Some species, such as water striders, are capable of walking on the surface of water.

Many are solitary, while bees, ants and termites are very social and live in large, well-organized colonies.

FASCINATING INSECT FACTS THE BIGGEST Although there are other giant insects that are longer or wider than the goliath beetle, they hold the record for weight and can grow up to 4.5 inches long and weigh up to 3.5 ounces.

THE SMALLEST Fairyflies are as tiny as only 0.0055 inches long.

THE FASTEST Tiny mites, from the Anystidae family, are the fastest animals in the world when it comes to body size. They can run 20 times faster than a cheetah, the equivalent of a human running 1,300 mph.

THE LONGEST LIVED The queen of termites have been known to live for 50 years, and may live for 100 years.

baby wolf spiders ride around on their mother’s abdomen.

Some insect fathers are also devoted to helping with raising the young. Female giant water bugs have been known to attach eggs to the back of the father who carries them around until they hatch. Wood roaches are monogamous, raise one group of children, and live in one log for their entire life.

INSECT LANGUAGE Insects can communicate with each other in a variety of ways. Male moths can sense the pheromones of female moths over great distances. Other species communicate with sounds: crickets stridulate, or rub their wings together, to attract a mate and repel other males. Some communicate with light. Insects have celestial navigation capabilities. Dung beetles use light from the moon to move across great distances in a straight line and also use the Milky Way to direct them.

DEVOTED MOTHERS

BUGS OF LIGHT

Many insects are devoted mothers, guarding and continuously cleaning their eggs and assisting the babies in hatching. Newborn babies live with their mother, nesting under her as she protects and feeds them. Parents and offspring communicate extensively and coordinate their daily routines. Some cockroaches carry their babies in little pouches like kangaroos and nourish them in the uterus with milk. Dung beetles tenderly care for their children by cleaning away toxic molds and fungi from the dung balls where the babies live. Wolf spiders carry their egg sacs with them and

“Lightning bugs” or “fireflies” are actually beetles, nocturnal members of the aptly named Lampyridae family. Fireflies take in oxygen and, inside special cells, combine it with a substance called luciferin. This chemical process takes place in dedicated organs located under the insects’ abdomens and produces the light. Fireflies flash their light in patterns that are unique to each of the 2,000 species. They are communicating with their light and each blinking pattern is an optical signal to a potential mate.

over half her weight in nectar and pollen. The energy in one ounce of honey could provide one bee with enough fuel to fly around the world.

EFFICIENT BRAINS

FARMING, MATH & LANGUAGE Bees practice agriculture, warfare and symbolic language. They can calculate the most efficient route between two points faster than super computers. They are capable of performing higher-order cognition. Bees are democratic in their decision making process. They use dance as a form of voting. Worker bees select which fertilized eggs to brood in queen or worker cells, while the queen decides the sex of her young. Fertilized eggs will become females, while unfertilized eggs will become males. Bees can learn from other species as well as communicate specific threats to predators from other species. They have different personalities and emotions.

They can become pessimistic and suffer from depression. They have careers: scout bees search for food sources, soldier bees work as security guards, undertakers remove dead bees from the hive. In addition to thousands of worker adults, a colony normally has a single queen and several hundred drones. The queen has all the babies, and also produces pheromones that serve as a social “glue” unifying and giving an individual identity to a bee colony.

Drones are males who fertilize the queen during her mating flight, then die instantly after mating. Workers are females that care for the queen, build beeswax combs, clean and polish the cells, feed the bees, handle incoming nectar, remove trash, guard the entrance and even air-condition and ventilate the hives. As field bees they forage for pollen, nectar, water and plant sap. When older bees perform jobs usually carried out by younger members, their brains stop aging and begin to age in reverse. Bees use the sun as a compass and navigate by polarized light when it's cloudy. Honeycombs are the most efficient structures in nature—the walls meet at a precise 120-degree angle, a perfect hexagon. To make one pound of honey, workers in a hive fly 55,000 miles and visit two million flowers. In just a single collecting trip, one bee will visit 50 to 100 flowers, returning to the hive carrying

Insects brains pack neurons 10 times more densely than mammal brains. Their brains also use each cell more flexibly than mammals, boosting computing power without having to increase the number of cells. They prove that animals with bigger brains are not necessarily more intelligent. Honeybees can count, categorize similar objects like dogs or human faces, understand "same" and "different," and differentiate between shapes that are symmetrical and asymmetrical.

Spiders’ brains are so large relative to the rest of their bodies, they extend out of their heads and all the way down into their legs. The minuscule brain of the C. elegans nematode worm has just 302 neurons, but is able to carry out the same functions as the nervous systems of higher organisms. Leeches have 32 brains (ganglia).

METAMORPHOSIS Butterflies are the second largest group of pollinators, following bees. Without their assistance, humans likely would not survive. These beautiful animals undergo a fascinating metamorphosis which takes place in four stages: egg, caterpillar, pupa and adult.

Mother butterflies attach their eggs with a special glue to caterpillar food, or “host” plant. When the caterpillar is born, it eats its egg, then begins eating the plant. When the caterpillar's insides grow too big for its outside, its covering splits and is shed. A new exoskeleton lies underneath. The caterpillar continues to shed numerous times, then becomes a pupa. It then seeks a sheltered spot, suspends itself by silken threads and sheds one more time forming a hard casing around its body. Inside this chrysalis, the pupa is growing six legs, a proboscis, antennae and wings. Within days, months or years, depending on the species, the chrysalis breaks open and a butterfly emerges. Butterflies can live in the adult stage from a week to a year, depending on the species. They have four wings, usually brightly colored with unique patterns made up of tiny scales.

They remember things they learned as caterpillars. They can fly up to 30 mph and up to 50 miles in a day. They learn home ranges and memorize locations of nectar and pollen sources, host plants and communal roosting sites. They are able to plan the most efficient routes by using calculations that mathematicians call the "travelling salesman algorithm". Many butterflies are migratory and capable of long distance flights, using the sun to orient themselves.

They also perceive polarized light and use it for orientation when the sun is hidden.

Butterflies "taste" with their feet through tiny receptors.

SAVING WILDLIFE ©

ECOLOGY Ecology is the relationship of living things to each other WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ® and what is around them. It includes not only how those living things interact with each other, but how they interact with their physical environment, such as soil, water and climate.

Scientists who study ecology are called ecologists. They learn about living things by observing, seeing what happens, then recording what they find - all part of the scientific method.

Some ecologists study a specific habitat or species. They might study the behavior of a certain type of animal to learn how it interacts with the environment or other organisms. Or they may study many different species that depend on, or compete with, each other. What ecologists learn from their observations helps us to preserve biodiversity.

BIODIVERSITY Biodiversity refers to the all the variety of life on the planet, or the total variety of life in a certain area. It includes all the different species of plants, animals, fungi, and even microorganisms and bacteria on earth or a given area.

Biodiversity takes into account the similarities and differences among individuals of the same species, and includes communities of plants and animals that interact together.

We don’t know the total number of species in our world, but there are tens of thousands of species of plants and animals discovered so far, and more being discovered everyday.

Conserving animals and plants is important for the benefit of humans and the benefit of other species. Individual species help meet our basic needs, including providing materials for food, clothing, shelter and fuel. Plants produce the oxygen we need to breathe, and are the source of many medicines. Insects pollinate crops and control pest populations. Birds, reptiles, frogs and amphibians control insect and other animal populations. Microorganisms decompose waste and recycle nutrients. Biodiversity also provides us with recreation and contributes to our physical, mental and spiritual well being. Every species contributes to our world in its own unique way. Loosing any one species affects the balance of nature.

Threats to Biodiversity Human activities on earth in the last century have led to an enormous amount biodiversity loss, which continues to increase. The number of plants and animals becoming extinct exceed those of prehistoric mass extinctions. Loss of biodiversity also leads to genetic diversity loss and a loss of ecosystems.

The biggest threats to biodiversity include: ● Pollution: Despite efforts to reduce pollution, pesticides, acid rain, fertilizers and other pollution continue to

change the chemical balance of ecosystems, negatively affecting plants and animals. ● Habitat Destruction, Alteration and Fragmentation: The biggest cause in decline of species populations is loss of habitat. Development, wetland filling and other ecologically irresponsible activities reduce and fragment forests, grasslands, deserts and wetland habitats into areas too isolated and too small to support some animals. ● Invasive Species: The spread of invasive, non-native species also changes the composition of wildlife and wild lands, reducing or replacing native plants and animals. ● Illegal Collection and Hunting: Many animals are poached and collected for the pet trade. Commercial hunting has decimated species populations, and led to the extinction of some animals. Fish are threatened by overharvesting. ● Changes in Climate: Changes in the earth’s climate can be difficult for some species to adapt to, eventually leading to extinction.

ENDANGERED SPECIES Well over 900 plants and animals are endangered, and hundred more are threatened. Many of the reasons certain animals are disappearing forever are because of human activities.

Five Major Causes The mnemonic HIPPO represents the five major causes of declining wildlife biodiversity: H - Habitat Loss I - Invasive Species P - Pollution and Pesticides P - Population Growth (human)

CONSERVING & PRESERVING

and the Pet Trade

Conservation is the protection of things found in nature, including species, their habitats and ecosystems. It encourages the sensible use of the planet’s natural resources so they do not go extinct, and promotes keeping the environment clean and healthy.

O - Over-hunting and Over-collecting

The rapid decline of established biological systems around the world means that conservation biology is often referred to as a "Discipline With a Deadline" - we must act before it is too late.

Conservation is classified as either on-site conservation, which is protecting an endangered species in its natural habitat, or off-site conservation, which occurs outside of their natural habitat. ● In-situ (on-site) conservation involves protecting or cleaning up the habitat or defending the species from predators. ● Ex-situ (off-site) conservation may be used when in-situ conservation is too difficult or impossible. Animals may be removed from a threatened habitat and placed in a new location, which may be a wild area or within the care of humans.

Non-interference may also be used, which is called preservation.

Preservationists advocate for giving areas of nature and species a protected existence without interference from the humans. In this regard, conservationists differ from preservationists, as conservation engages society to seeks solutions for both people and ecosystems.

Environmentalism advocates the preservation, restoration and/or improvement of the natural environment, and seeks to control pollution and protect plant and animal diversity.

Habitat Loss results from human activities and land development.

Many animal species are in decline because their environment is no longer able to fulfill their basic requirements. All species require food, water, shelter, space and the ability to find a mate and have children. Some species require small habitats, while others need large areas to successfully survive.

Invasive Species are plants and animals transported from one country or region to another and introduced into the wild. While most do not survive in a foreign world, some assimilate into their new world and thrive. Often they out-compete native plants and animals for their niche in the ecosystem, upsetting the balance of nature.

Pollution and Pesticides, in forms of garbage and trash, air and water pollution, soil contamination and noise and light pollution, harm ecosystems and wildlife. Pesticides are toxic and harm more than their target. Pollution harms the environment and animals.

Population Growth and the Pet Trade threaten countless animal species. As humans take more and more wilderness areas for housing and industry, less land is available for wildlife. Native animals are often forced into less suitable habitats and can decline or disappear forever. Many “pets”, including fish, reptiles, spiders, birds, rodents and exotic mammals, are harvested from the wild.

Over-hunting and Over-collecting has impacted many endangered species, reeking havoc on ecosystems and eliminating entire species forever.

INDICATOR SPECIES

HOTSPOTS & COLDSPOTS ● Biodiversity Hotspots are regions with large numbers of species that do not live anywhere else in the world, where habitat destruction has occurred at alarming rates. Many organizations and agencies focus on saving these hotspots in an effort to do the greatest good and save the most species. Hotspots make up less than 2% of the planet. ● Coldspots, over 98% of the earth, are areas that have less species diversity but they need just as much help as areas with lots of biodiversity. In fact, some biodiversity coldspots are home to very rare plants and animals. Protecting these areas before too much destruction occurs prevents us from having to work backwards.

THE DOMINO EFFECT All plants and animals have many complex intertwining links with other living things around them. Hippopotamus have birds that feed off the insects that grow on them. If the hippo were to become extinct, so would the birds…leadi ng to further destruction as other species depend on the birds. This is referred to as Chains of Extinction, or the Domino Effect.

KEYSTONE SPECIES A keystone species is a plant or animal that plays a crucial role in how an ecosystem functions. Without the keystone species, the ecosystem would be dramatically different or would not be able to survive. While all species in a habitat rely on each other, keystone species have a huge impact on their environment. Their disappearance would start a domino effect, leading to other species in the ecosystem also disappearing.

An indicator species is a plant or animal species humans focus on to gather information about an ecosystem. Their presence or absence in an environment can be a signal that all is well, or something is not right. Certain types of plants or animals may exist in a very specific area. If the species begins to disappear, this ecoregion may be shrinking and action may need to be taken to save the environment. Indicator species can tell humans about the health of the environment. Many are extremely sensitive to pollution or human interference and serve as a “miner's canary”.

UMBRELLA SPECIES An umbrella species is a plant or animal species that has a wide range and requirements for living as high or higher than other animals in the habitat. If the umbrella species' requirements are met, then so are the needs of many other species in its ecosystem. The Monarch butterfly is an example of an umbrella species because of its lengthy migrations across North America, covering lots of ecosystems.

Any protections given to the Monarch will also “umbrella” many other species and habitats.

FLAGSHIP SPECIES Often times umbrella species are used by organizations and agencies to capture the public's attention for support for conservation efforts.

These flagship species - such as pandas, whales, tigers, gorillas and butterflies - are species that the public finds captivating and are interested in helping. When the flagship species is helped, so are species in their ecosystems that the general public may find less appealing.

SAVE THE EARTH THE THREE R’s REDUCE Reducing waste does not mean you have to reduce what you buy, it means shopping with the environment in mind. Consider the environmental impact of each product before you buy it. Make a list of what you need before you go shopping; this will reduce impulse buying. Buy in bulk. It is cheaper and eliminates small containers and excess packaging, which accounts for 50 percent of our domestic trash. You have bought your laundry soap like this for years. Think about what else you can buy in bulk!

Avoid buying throwaways that can't be recycled. For instance carry a camera but if you need to use a disposable camera, make sure that it can be recycled when you get the film developed. Some companies that make one-time use cameras, reuse and recycle up to 90 percent of the parts of their cameras when consumers send them in for developing.

Installing low-flow shower heads and faucets can save a family of four 280 gallons of water per month. Seldom used items, such as appliances and party supplies, often collect dust, rust and take up valuable storage space. Consider renting or borrowing them the next time they're needed. Remember, every time you make a purchase, you cast your vote to protect the environment.

REUSE Learning to reuse is easy, and after a little practice, it will become second nature. Reuse shopping bags or buy canvas bags and use them when you shop. Buy durable high quality goods for a longer life outside the landfill. Although durable goods may cost a little more at first, they will save you money and help save the environment in the long run.

Before throwing anything away, think about how each item can be reused. Be sure to use both sides of a piece of paper before recycling it. Donate clothing, furniture and appliances to charity. Hospitals and nursing homes often accept old magazines and schools reuse many items in their art and theater classes. Almost all glass, plastic, and metal containers can be reused for storage in the kitchen or the garage. Think before you toss.

If you want to reduce and reuse at the same time, take a two liter pop bottle and fill it with water. Add a few stones to weigh it down, place it in the tank of your toilet, and you will have reused a pop bottle and reduced two liters of water every time you flush.

RECYCLE

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Reducing is the best way to protect the environment. HowWORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ® ever, if you can't reduce something, reuse it, and if you can't reuse it, recycle it. Recycling means collecting, processing, marketing, and ultimately using materials that were once discarded. For example, this morning's newspaper can be recycled into insulation, packing material, wrapping paper and more newspaper. Plastic pop and milk jugs are recycled into lumber that is used for making durable playground equipment and park benches.

Many different materials can be recycled. Among these are aluminum cans, glass bottles and jars, plastics, tin cans, steel cans, brass, copper, car batteries, computer paper, office paper, corrugated cardboard, motor oil, scrap iron and steel, and tires.

Separate aluminum, steel and tin cans from other metals. If you aren't sure whether a can is aluminum or steel, check with a magnet. A magnet will stick to steel and tin but will not stick to aluminum. Wipe or lightly rinse all cans and make sure they are dry before recycling them. Prepare newspapers by folding them into brown paper bags or bundle with string into one foot stacks. Prepare glass by rinsing and removing metal or plastic rims and lids. Sort by color: brown, green and clear. Prepare plastics by rinsing and separating by numbers. If plastic is recyclable, it will have a number on the bottom of the container. Break down corrugated cardboard boxes. Separate office paper into white, colored and glossy stacks. Remove sticky tabs and paper clips. Motor oil should be collected in no larger than five gallon containers and be free of contaminants. Tires are accepted from individuals no more than five per year.

SAVE THE EARTH Our planet has a natural environment, known as ‘ecosystem’, which includes all humans, animals, plants, land and water. Human activities have caused much depletion and destruction of this ecosystem.

Environmentalism advocates the preservation, restoration and/or improvement of this natural environment by controlling pollution and protecting plant and animal diversity. Environmentalists attempt to balance relations between humans and the various natural systems on which they depend to achieve sustainability.

Earth advocates work to protect natural resources and ecosystems through education, activism and the political process. They seek to give the natural world a stronger voice in human affairs.

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WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ®

mans out. We must protect the entire planet for the survival of all species — plants, animals and people. Governments, businesses, communities and individuals must make better decisions to live in balance with nature. Through science, responsible planning, legislation and daily choices, we can ensure the survival of the ecosystem.

There are many ways you can help to save wild places and wild animals. Volunteer. Recycle. Install solar panels on your roof. Organize an event where you live. Change a habit. Help launch a community garden. Communicate your priorities to your elected representatives. The possibilities are endless! Do something nice for the earth, have fun, meet new people, and make a difference.

The environmental issues of today know no borders. We can't just put up fences around natural places to keep hu-

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES LAND The world population is expected to reach 9 billion by 2050.

As our population increases, there is even more pressure on forests, grasslands, deserts and other natural areas to provide food, housing and energy for humans. These demands increase the stress of already fragmented natural areas suffering from pollution, deforestation, disrupted migratory routes and changing environmental conditions.

Already, large numbers of people have been declared food-insecure; resulting in a land rush with nations hurrying to secure properties for agriculture and fuel crops. Forests are being cleared at alarming rates, an estimated 18 million acres each year. At the same time, poor agriculture practices lead to millions of acres of land lost annually through soil erosion and land degradation.

Trillions of tons of garbage is produced every year, while more and more goods are produced...resulting in the creation of more waste. Most garbage is buried underground in landfill sites, causing environmental and health concerns.

If we don’t make changes now, future generations will not experience the same plentiful, diverse planet that we know today.

AIR Air pollution is a mixture of solid particles and gases in the air. Car emissions, chemicals from factories, dust, pollen and mold spores may be suspended as particles. Ozone, a gas, is a major part of air pollution in cities. When ozone forms air pollution, it's also called smog.

Air pollution is caused by polluters who refuse to clean up toxic air emissions, despite proven pollution control technologies. Most air toxics originate from human-made sources, including automobiles, factories, refineries and power plants.

Indoor sources include building materials and cleaning solvents.

As the environment suffers, humans suffer from asthma, lung disease, heart ailments, cancer and shortened lives. Acid rain, often caused by pollutants in the atmosphere from automobile or industrial processes, falls from the sky in the form of rain, snow, fog or dry material. Devastating effects to forests, aquatic systems, buildings and human health can result. Air toxics then contaminate our food products, drinking water and soil.

Uncollected litter can flow into streams, storm water drainage systems, local bays and estuaries. About 18% of litter, usually traveling through storm water systems, ends up in local streams, rivers, and waterways.

About 80% of marine debris comes from land-based sources.

WATER Pollution, habitat fragmentation and destruction, and overfishing are having devastating effects on our oceans, rivers and lakes.

Acidification, caused by increased carbon emissions, degrade coral reefs and corrode the shells of sea creatures. Freshwater ecosystems provide us with drinking water, food, energy and recreation.

These ecosystems are also critical to plants and animals. Increased demands for food, energy and material goods have placed unprecedented pressure on these fragile environments. Within the next 20 years, half of the world’s population may face water shortages.

Oceans are a critical part of the earths support system. Acid rain pollutes our seas. Oceans are degraded by spills and chemical runoffs. The largest living structures on earth, coral reefs, are among the greatest storehouses of biodiversity on the planet. Up to 70 percent of coral reefs are expected to be lost by 2050 due to human activities.

Animals may get trapped or poisoned with litter in their habitats.

Cigarette butts and filters are a threat to wildlife and have been found in the stomachs of fish, birds and whales who have mistaken them for food.

Debris falling from vehicles is an increasing cause of automobile accidents.

Cleaning up litter in the U.S. costs hundreds of dollars per ton, about ten times more than the cost of trash disposal, for a cost totaling about $11 billion per year. It often takes a long time before litter from the environment disappears.

Water is under threat from fertilizers and chemical runoff, dumped chemical and industrial wastes, untreated sewage and medicinal residues.

GENETIC POLLUTION LITTER Litter consists of waste products such as containers, papers, and wrappers which have been disposed of without consent. In addition to intentional littering, almost half of litter on U.S. roadways is now a result of accidental or unintentional litter, debris that falls off of improperly secured trash and recycling collection vehicles and pickup trucks. Heavy traffic and proximity to waste disposal sites are known to correlate with higher litter rates.

Litter can harm the environment in a number of different ways. It is a breeding ground for disease-causing insects and rodents. Its "ugliness" damages the appearance of scenic environments. Open containers such as paper cups or beverage cans can hold rainwater, providing breeding locations for mosquitoes which have been known to spread diseases such as West Nile Virus and Malaria.

Genetic modification of plants and animals is a controversial subject, with many experts believing the ill impacts far outweigh the benefits to mankind. Manipulating plant DNA to produce super crops is a dangerous global experiment. When released into the environment, they cannot be recalled.

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) can spread through nature and interbreed with natural organisms. They can contaminate natural environments in an unforeseeable and uncontrollable way. This is referred to as 'genetic pollution', a major threat to the environment.

Due to commercial interests, the public has been denied the facts about GMO ingredients in the food chain. The absence of labeling laws in many countries denies individuals the power to avoid them.

Biological diversity must be protected and respected. It is fundamental to our planet’s survival.

COMPANION ANIMALS ©

DOGS

WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ®

The most widespread form of interspecies bonding occurs between humans and dogs. These intelligent, social, emotional and playful creatures have learned to communicate and interact with humans in a way no other species can.

The genius of dogs is that they use humans to get what they want.

At one point in wolf evolution, a group of wolves decided to take advantage of humans. Dogs domesticated themselves through a natural process and have become a part of the human family.

No other species can read our gestures as well as dogs can. It allows them to be incredible social partners with humans. Their ability to interpret our gestures also helps them complete tasks they can’t complete on their own.

FASCINATING DOG FACTS THE BIGGEST The largest breed of dog is the Irish Wolfhound. The St. Bernard is the heaviest. The largest known dog was an English Mastiff which weighed 343 lb. The tallest dog was a Great Dane that stood 42 inches at the shoulder.

THE SMALLEST The world’s smallest dog breed is the Chihuahua. The smallest known adult dog was a Yorkshire Terrier that weighed only 4 oz.

THE LONGEST LIVED The average lifespan of dogs is 10 to 13 years, however, many live much longer. The world's oldest living dog lived 26 years, 9 months.

A LOT LIKE US ● Dogs experience all the same emotions humans do, especially love. ● While dogs are better at living in the moment than humans, it's a myth that dogs have no sense of time. ● Dogs and humans have the same type of slow wave sleep (SWS) and rapid eye movement (REM) when sleeping.

Twitching and paw movements are signs that a dog is dreaming. ● Dog nose prints are as unique as human finger prints and can accurately identify them.

●Feral dogs have figured out how to use subways to travel to the best food sources. ●Dogs chase their tails for a variety of reasons: curiosity, exercise, play, anxiety, predatory instinct or fleas.

SOME AMAZING DIFFERENCES ●A dog’s sense of smell is 10,000 – 100,000 times more acute than humans. ●When dogs kick after defecating, they are using scent glands on their paws to further mark their territory. ● Puppies have 28 teeth, while adult dogs have 42. ● Dogs’ eyes contain a special membrane that allows them to see in the dark. ● Dogs can detect when storms are coming. ● A dog’s normal temperature is between 101 and 102.5 degrees Fahrenheit. ● Dogs only sweat through the pads of their feet. ● Dogs have three eyelids: an upper lid, a lower lid and a third lid which keeps the eyes moist and protected. ● A dogs entire body, including the paws, is covered with touch-sensitive nerve endings. ● Dog noses secrete a thin layer of mucous that helps them absorb scent. They lick their noses to sample the scent through their mouth.

DOG LANGUAGE ● Dogs have their own complex language that includes vocal sounds, body postures, facial expressions and scent. ● Different smells in a dog’s urine tells other canines whether the dog is female or male, old or young, sick or healthy, happy or angry. ● Male dogs raise their legs while urinating to aim higher to leave a message that they are tall and intimidating.

AMAZING ABILITIES Most dog breeds have good vision. Dogs do see in color, but not the same way that humans do. A dog's vision is similar to people with red/green color blindness, meaning they can see bluish and greenish shades but not reddish ones.

Dogs can detect sounds far better than humans, hearing sounds at four times the distance. They have ear mobility, allowing them to rapidly pinpoint the exact location of a sound. Eighteen or more muscles can tilt, rotate, raise or lower a dog's ear.

While the human brain is dominated by a large visual cortex, the dog brain is dominated by an olfactory cortex. The olfactory bulb in dogs is about forty times bigger than in humans, with 125 to 300 million smell-sensitive receptors. Their sense of smell is one hundred thousand to one million times more sensitive than a human's. Their wet nose is essential for determining the direction of the air current containing the smell. Cold receptors in the skin are sensitive to the cooling of the skin by evaporation of the moisture by air currents.

Dogs are omnivores and can adapt to a wide-ranging diet. They are not dependent on meat nor a very high level of protein as was once thought. Dogs will healthily digest a variety of foods, including vegetables and grains. Unlike wolves, dogs have adaptations in genes involved in starch digestion that contribute to an increased ability to thrive on a starch-rich diet.

Dogs can detect cancer too small to be detected by a doctor, and can detect lung cancer by sniffing a human's breath. Dogs can be trained to detect epileptic seizures and diseases.

PART OF THE FAMILY Companion dog populations grew significantly after World War II as suburbanization increased. In the 1950s and 1960s, dogs were kept outside more often than they are today. From the 1980s, there have been changes in the role of the companion dog, such as the increased role of dogs in the emotional support of their human guardians. The broadening of the concept of the fam-

ily, and a better understanding of dog intelligence and emotions, have led to dogs actively shaping the way a family and home are experienced.

Studies show dogs help to mediate family member interactions. Most dogs also have set tasks or routines undertaken as family members. Increasingly, humans are engaging in activities centered on the needs and interests of their dogs. An estimated 1 million dogs in the United States have been named the primary beneficiary in their guardian's will.

Dogs have the same response to voices and use the same parts of the brain as humans to do so. This gives dogs the ability to recognize emotional human sounds. They have over 100 known facial expressions, many of them made with their ears. They also communicate with a variety of vocal sounds. One of the primary functions of a dog's tail is to communicate their emotional state.

It is estimated there are 77.5 million people with dogs in the United States. Nearly 40% of American households have at least one dog. 67% have just one dog, 25% two dogs and nearly 9% more than two dogs.

A LONG HISTORY OF COMPANIONSHIP The keeping of dogs as companions has a long history. Dogs began from a single domestication thousands of years ago.

They are not a descendant of the Gray wolf as previously believed. They were originally domesticated from a now extinct wolf.

Dogs were the first domesticated animals and have been widely kept as working, hunting and companion animals. Domestic dogs have been selectively bred for millennia for various behaviors, capabilities and attributes.

There are currently up to one billion dogs around the world.

Domestic dogs inherited complex behaviors from their wolf ancestors which were pack hunters with complex body language. These sophisticated forms of social cognition and communication may account for their trainability, playfulness and ability to fit into human households and social situations. Dogs still share some behaviors with their wild relatives. They defend their territories and mark them by urinating, serving notice to other animals that it is their territory. Many dogs also bury bones or toys for future use, just as wolves bury a kill to secure the meat for later.

Modern dog breeds show more variation in size, appearance and behavior than any other domestic animal. They are highly variable in height and weight. Petting dogs is proven to lower human blood pressure.

COMPANION ANIMALS ©

CATS Cats have long been valued by humans for companionship and are the most popular companion animal. There are over 500 million domestic cats throughout the world. Descended from African wildcats, they began to share homes with humans about 10,000 years ago.

Domestic cats are still similar in anatomy to wild cats, with strong, flexible bodies, quick reflexes, sharp retractable claws and teeth adapted to killing small prey. They have excellent hearing, sense of smell and night vision.

Cats are felids, which are mammals that include lions, tigers, cougars, jungle cats, wildcats, mountain cats, sand cats and

WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ®

other wild cats. They all share a common ancestor that lived around 6–7 million years ago in Asia. Domestic cats are not radically different from wildcats, so they can interbreed. Unlike dogs, cats have not undergone major changes during the domestication process. They are still capable of surviving in the wild.

Despite being solitary hunters, cats are social animals and communicate with a variety of vocalizations, as well as cat pheromones and body language. They are known for their love of play. They also engage in play fighting with each other, other species and humans.

FASCINATING CAT FACTS THE BIGGEST Most cats weigh between 8.8 and 11 lb, though some, such as the Maine Coon, can weigh over 25 lb.

THE SMALLEST Very small cats can weigh 4 lb or less.

The largest cat on record weighed 47 lb. The smallest adult cat on record weighed 3 lb.

THE LONGEST LIVED The average lifespan of a cat is 12.1 years, while some live much longer. The oldest cat on record lived 38 years.

A LOT LIKE US ● Cat brains are 90% similar to human brains — more similar to human brains than dog brains. ● Cats have the cognitive ability to sense human emotions and mood. ● Cats usually only meow to communicate with humans, not other cats. ● Cat noses are ridged with a unique pattern, just like human fingerprints. ● Cats rub against humans to be affectionate and to mark their territory with scent glands located around their faces, tail area and paws. ● Cats can change their meow to manipulate humans.

●Female cats tend to be right pawed, while male cats are more often left pawed. ●Cats make over 100 different sounds.

AMAZING DIFFERENCES ●Most cats don't have eyelashes. ●Cats sleep 70% of their lives. ●In one litter of kittens, there can be multiple fathers. ● The ability of cats to find their way home is called “psi-traveling.” Cats either use the angle of sunlight, or magnetized cells in their brains, as compasses. ● A group of cats is referred to as a "clowder", a male cat is called a "tomcat", an unaltered female is called a "queen" and a baby cat is referred to as a "kitten". ● Cat can travel at a top speed of approximately 31 mph over short distances. ● Cats greet one another by rubbing their noses together. ● Cats have survived falls from over 32 stories onto concrete, due to their “righting reflex.” ● Cats dislike the water because their fur does not insulate well when wet. ● Adult cats have 30 teeth; kittens have 26 teeth.

● Cats are extremely sensitive to vibrations and can detect earthquakes 15 minutes before humans. ● Eating grass rids a cats' system of fur and aids digestion. ● A cat's back paws aren’t as sharp as their front paws because the back claws don’t retract and thus get worn. ● Cats have 1,000 times more data storage than an iPad. ● Cats can detect cancer.

SPECIAL SENSES

body before the legs on the other side. Camels and giraffes also walk this way. As their walk speeds into a trot, a cat's gait changes to that of most other mammals.

Cats have protractable and retractable front claws. In their normal position, the claws are retracted to keep them sharp by preventing wear. This allows the silent stalking of prey.

Cats can voluntarily extend their claws on one or more paws for hunting, climbing, self-defense, kneading or for extra traction on certain surfaces.

Cats are able to tolerate quite high temperatures.

They conserve heat by reducing the flow of blood to their skin and lose heat by evaporation through their mouths.

They can only sweat a little, with sweat glands located primarily in their paw pads. They pant for heat relief only at very high temperatures. Their kidneys are so efficient they can survive on a diet of meat alone, with no additional water, and can even quench their

Cats have excellent night vision and can see at only one-sixth the light level humans require to see.

Unlike some big wild cats, domestic cats have slit pupils. They see in color, but have limited ability to distinguish between red and green.

Cats have excellent hearing and can detect an extremely broad range of frequencies. They can hear higher-pitched sounds than either dogs or humans. They do not use this ability to hear ultrasound for communication, but it aids in hunting since many rodents make ultrasonic calls. Cat hearing is extremely sensitive and is among the best of any mammal.

Their movable ears amplify sounds and help them sense the direction from which the sound is coming.

Cats also have an excellent sense of smell. They are very sensitive to pheromones which they use to communicate through urine spraying and marking with scent glands.

To aid with navigation and sensation, cats have dozens of movable whiskers on their bodies, especially on their faces. Their whiskers are highly sensitive to touch and provide information on the width of gaps and the location of objects in the dark. They work by touching objects directly and by sensing air currents.

They also trigger protective blink reflexes to protect the cat's eyes from damage.

AMAZING ABILITIES Extra lumbar and thoracic vertebrae account for the cat's spinal mobility and flexibility. Unlike human arms, cat arms are attached to the shoulder by free-floating bones that allow them to fit through any space they can fit their heads. A cat's skull is unusual among mammals, having very large eye sockets and a powerful and specialized jaw. Within the jaw, cats have teeth adapted for killing prey and tearing meat.

Cats, like dogs, walk directly on their toes, with the bones of their feet making up the lower part of their leg. They are capable of walking very precisely by placing each back paw directly in the spot of the corresponding front paw, minimizing noise and tracks.

This also provides sure footing when navigating rough terrain.

Unlike most mammals, cats move the two legs on one side of the

thirst by drinking seawater.

Cats are carnivores and have difficulty digesting plants.

About 20% of a cat's diet needs to be protein. They are dependent on a constant supply of the amino acid arginine and cannot produce taurine. They do eat grass occasionally.

Since cats cannot fully close their lips around something to create suction, they lap with their tongues to draw liquid upwards into their mouths. Cats have relatively few taste buds compared to humans and cannot taste sweetness. Their taste buds instead respond to bitter tastes, acids and amino acids.

PROLIFIC BREEDERS Female cats are seasonally polyestrous, which means they may go into heat over and over during the course of a year.

The mating season begins in spring and ends in late autumn.

Heat periods occur about every two weeks and last around 4 to 7 days. Multiple males will be attracted to a female in heat. The males will fight over her and the victor wins the right to mate. Cats are superfecund; that is, a female may mate with more than one male when she is in heat, and different kittens in the litter may have different fathers. The gestation period for cats is about 66 days. The size of a litter is usually three to five kittens. Babies are weaned between six and seven weeks old, and teens normally reach sexual maturity between 5–10 months. Females can have two to three litters per year, so they can produce up to 150 kittens by the time they reach ten years old. They can be spayed or neutered as early as 7 weeks to limit unwanted reproduction.

This surgery also prevents undesirable sex-related behavior, such as aggression, marking (spraying urine) in males and yowling (calling) in females.

from and gives the cat a better observation point. During a fall from a high place, a cat can reflexively twist its body and right itself using its acute sense of balance and flexibility.

A DAY IN THE LIFE Free ranging cats are active both day and night. A house cat's activity is quite flexible and varied, and often synchronizes with their human family. Cats allowed outdoors are known to establish territories from 17 to 69 acres in size.

Cats conserve energy by sleeping more than most animals, usually 13–14 hours per day. They dream often throughout the day.

Cats use many vocalizations for communication including purring, hissing, growling, snarling, trilling, grunting and many forms of meowing. Different body language, including position of ears and tail, relaxation of their body and kneading of paws, indicate their mood. No one knows how a cat purrs. Cats have no unique anatomical feature that is known for causing the sound.

Cats are known for their cleanliness, spending many hours licking their coats. The cat's tongue has backwards-facing spines which act like a hairbrush.

Cats hunt small prey, primarily birds and rodents. They use two hunting strategies, either stalking prey actively, or waiting in ambush until the animal comes close. Many present their prey to their human guardians. Some experts believe this is done because the cat is trying to teach its human to hunt, or is trying to feed their inept human.

Most cats have a fondness for perching in high places. In the wild, a higher place may serve as a concealed location to hunt

Among domestic cats, males are more likely to fight than females.

Cats arch their backs, raise their fur, turn sideways and hiss to appear more impressive and threatening. Often, the ears are pointed down and back to avoid damage and to listen for any changes behind them. They may also vocalize loudly and bare their teeth to further intimidate their opponent. Fights usually consist of grappling, slapping and biting. Serious damage is rare, as the fights usually don't last long.

FERAL CATS Feral cats are domestic cats that were born in, or have reverted to, a wild state. They are unfamiliar with and wary of humans and roam freely in urban and rural environments. There are 25 to 60 million feral cats just in the United States. They usually live in colonies, occupying a specific territory with a source of food. A grass roots effort to humanely reduce the feral cat population is called 'trap-neuter-return'. Cats are trapped, neutered, immunized and then released. Volunteers continue to feed and care for the cats throughout their lives.

An established colony helps to prevent other feral cats from moving into an area.

DECLAWING CATS A cat's claws are used to capture prey, for climbing, and in selfdefense. Claws are an integral part of a cat's life, but their use can also be a problem for cats' human cohabitants. Declawing, however, is a painful and permanently crippling procedure that should not be practiced. There are effective and humane alternatives to declawing that can reduce or eliminate clawing damage.

Declawing involves at least 10 separate, painful amputations. It is a serious surgery, not just a manicure. Declawing is amputating the last joint of each toe, including the bones, not just the nail.

Possible complications include reaction to anesthetic, hemorrhage, bone chips which prevent healing, recurrent infections and damage to the radial nerve, pain, and possible abnormal regrowth of the nails. The nails may grow back inside the paw, causing pain but remaining invisible to the eye. Declawed cats need regular X-rays to monitor this problem. Declawing results in a gradual weakening of leg, shoulder, and back muscles, and, because of impaired balance, declawed cats have to relearn to walk much as would a person who lost his or her toes. Without claws, cats are virtually defenseless, and this often leads to neurosis and even skin and bladder problems. Without claws to mark their territory, even house-trained cats will often urinate and defecate outside the litter box in a desperate attempt to ward off intruders.

It does not make cats more "mellow." Declawed cats may be morose, reclusive, and withdrawn, or they may be irritable, aggressive and unpredictable. The lack of claws turns many cats into biters. Declawed cats feel so insecure, lacking their first line of defense, that they tend to bite more often as a means of self-protection.

People who have their cats declawed simply do not understand how important claws are to a cat and do not know how else to deal with the problem. With a little effort and commitment to your cat's welfare, you can eliminate the excuse to declaw your cat and make him or her a better companion as well. To train a kitten or to retrain an adult cat simply requires regular nail trimmings, scratching posts and giving your cat specific instructions as to where to claw and where not to claw. Another option is nail caps applied to cats' newly trimmed nails, allowing cats to scratch naturally, without harming furniture.

DOG & CAT OVERPOPULATION purebred animals are bought for the same identification purposes.

There is also a tendency for inbreeding in purebred animals because of certain desirable characteristics. This has led to problems, such as deafness, hip dysplasia and epilepsy.

Each year, in the United States, 27 million cats and dogs are born. Around 5 million of these animals are euthanized because homes are unable to be found for them. It is a tragic end to these healthy young lives.

Overpopulation is a problem that results in thousands of animals being killed each month. There are many reasons for this; all are preventable. The answer to this huge problem is simple: reduce the number of animals coming into this world. Through the routine procedure of spaying and neutering dogs and cats, there would be fewer unwanted animals, thus reducing or eliminating the heartbreaking process of euthanizing innocent animals left in our overcrowded shelters.

One group of people cannot personally take the blame for this overpopulation epidemic since there are many contributors to the problem. The responsibility is shared by irresponsible guardians, pet shops, puppy mills and professional and "backyard" breeders.

Just one litter of puppies or kittens can be responsible for reproducing thousands more in just a few years.

IRRESPONSIBLE CARETAKERS While there are many breeders and pet shops, the greatest cause of the overpopulation tragedy is individual caretakers who refuse or are afraid to get their companion spayed or neutered. Sometimes parents want their children to experience "the miracle of birth"; other times people let their non-spayed/neutered animals wander, and their companion animals end up mating with other companion animals. There are also people who are genuinely uncomfortable having their companions neutered, "taking away their masculinity," which often results in accidental mating. All of these factors add up to many innocent lives that need to find homes.

Mixed-breed animals are not the only ones who end up in shelters. A surprising fact is that purebred dogs make up 20 percent to 25 percent of shelter populations.

Sometimes a family that just wanted to breed one litter cannot find homes for all the puppies, or the pet store is unable to sell the animal. The bottom line is, each animal that is purchased from a pet store or breeder potentially takes up a home for an animal that could have been adopted from a shelter.

PET STORES & PUPPY MILLS Puppy mills are facilities that mass breed dogs in almost assembly-line conditions, where dogs are considered nothing more than products. Puppy mills are able to survive because of the demand for purebred animals. The animals are usually kept in squalid conditions, with just enough subsistence to keep them alive until they can be sold at wholesale prices to pet stores. Many of these animals are prone to disease because of the horrid conditions they are raised in and the stress of being shipped over great distances at a very young age.

THE SIMPLE SOLUTION Spaying and neutering are important steps toward ending companion animal overpopulation. They are simple surgical procedures that are done on the reproductive organs of female and male animals at the age of 6 months or older. The procedure eliminates the ability of the animal to reproduce and, in the long term, can prevent many difficulties, such as tumors or bacterial infections that can occur in older animals.

CASH CROPS Another obvious contributor to the overpopulation problem are professional and "backyard" breeders.

These people are contributors to a market driven by the same American ideals of buying brand name products because of the associations that go along with them; many

Animals should never be purchased from puppy mills, backyard breeders and pet shops.

Adopt - never shop.

FARM ANIMALS ©

Farm animals have unique personalities. They're fascinating creatures with the ability to love, form friendships, mourn, get angry and show a variety of other emotions. They are deserving of our respect and our compassion.

The consolidation of farms in recent years has radically altered the face of farming. Today more animals are being raised on less land, with profound effects on the animals, rural communities and the environment.

This shift in farming has been termed "industrial agriculture" or "factory farming," as thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of animals, are crowded into huge buildings with no access to the outdoors. These animals may spend their entire lives on slatted floors, under

WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ®

which their manure collects until it is pumped into football field-sized lagoons.

The problems with factory farming are numerous. Animals have no outlet for natural behaviors— in some cases, they're not even allowed to turn around. They are separated from their mothers at only a day or two old, are subjected to painful procedures without anesthesia and may be undernourished or overfed. To control disease, industrial farmers feed antibiotics to the animals, resulting in the growth of disease-resistant bacteria that are harder to treat in both animals and humans.

FASCINATING FARM ANIMAL FACTS COWS & CATTLE Cattle, as individuals or as a herd, possess many unique traits, the most distinctive being their social disposition. They are extremely social animals and rely heavily on "safety in numbers"— herds can form with up to 300 animals. Each animal can recognize more than 100 individuals and will closely bond to some herd members, while carefully avoiding others. While the bond between mothers and daughters is particularly strong, calves also maintain lifelong friendship with other herd members.

It is thought that cattle were first domesticated in 6,500 B.C. from wild cattle in Europe and the Near East. Only in the past two centuries have cattle been differentiated into breeds raised for beef or milk. Some cattle still exist as "dual purpose" breeds.

People often refer to all cattle as "cows." Technically, cows are actually adult females who have, usually through having babies, developed adult physical characteristics. Heifers are young females who have not yet had babies or developed the mature characteristics of a cow. Male cattle can be divided into three groups: bullocks, steers and bulls. A bullock is a young, uncastrated male who has begun to display secondary sexual characteristics. A steer is a castrated male, whereas a bull is a mature, uncastrated male.

Cows are sturdy yet gentle animals. They are social animals and form strong bonds with their families and friends that can last

their entire lives. The bond between a cow and her calf is especially powerful. If a mother cow is caught on the opposite side of a fence from her calf, she will become alarmed, agitated and call frantically. If they remain separated, she will stay by the fence through blizzards, hunger, and thirst, waiting to be reunited with her baby. This bond continues even after the calf is fully grown.

Cows "moo" to each other fairly frequently, allowing them to maintain contact even when they cannot see each other. But when they can see each other, they also communicate through a series of different body positions and facial expressions.

Cattle usually stand between 4 feet, 9 inches and 5 feet, 6 inches, and “beef cattle” range from 850 to 2,500 pounds depending on breed and gender. In non-commercial herds, cows have been observed nursing their male calves for up to three years.

Cattle have almost panoramic vision, which allows them to watch for predators or humans. They can see in color, except for red.

They have an amazing sense of smell, and can detect scents more than six miles away.

Cattle are ruminant herbivores and will swallow vegetation whole, then later masticate their "cud" (chew their partially digested food).

The scientific name for the cattle group is "bos taurus," a subfamily of the bovidae family, which includes other hollow-horned animals. Interestingly, bulls are much less likely to use their horns than cows. However, the level of aggression can be influenced by the degree of confinement.

Cattle will learn from each other's mistakes: If an individual is shocked by an electric fence, others in the herd will become alarmed and avoid it. If a herd is confined by an electric fence, only 30% will ever be shocked.

Cattle enjoy swimming and running in the moonlight, as they have been shown to remain active for a longer period between their two sleep sessions when the moon is full.

The lifespan of cattle averages 20 to 25 years. However, the lifespan of cattle raised for beef is significantly shortened. These animals are typically weaned at 6 to 10 months, live 3 to 5 months on range, spend 4 to 5 months being fattened in a feedlot, and are typically slaughtered at 15 to 20 months.

DUCKS & GEESE Swimming gracefully across a pond or waddling comically across the land, ducks are a common feature of the landscape of most of America.

There are statues devoted to them in a park in Boston, and every year that city holds a parade for the Bostonian ducklings. Walt Disney created the sputtering Donald Duck, and Warner Brothers followed with a less feisty, yet still speech-impaired, Daffy Duck.

Ducks are very social animals. Males and females sometimes live in pairs or together with their ducklings. They communicate both vocally and with body language. At other times ducks spend much of their time—during both day and night—in larger groups.

The domestic duck has a normal life span of ten years. By contrast, a pair of geese will get together to raise a family and, for the most part, will stay together the rest of their lives (up to 25 years), raising new families each year.

One of the most distinguishing characteristics of geese is that they form a giant "V" across the sky. This amazing trick actually helps each bird fly further than if flying alone. When a goose falls out

of formation, she will feel the drag and move quickly back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird in front of her. When the lead goose gets tired, he rotates back into formation leaving another goose in the front position. They even honk to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.

Geese have very strong affections for others in their group (known as a gaggle). If one in the gaggle gets sick, wounded, or shot, a couple of others may drop out of formation and follow the ailing goose down to help and protect him. They try to stay with the disabled goose until he dies or is able to fly again, then they catch up with the group or launch out with another formation.

Much of a goose's time is spent foraging for food, most of which is obtained by grazing. They honk loudly and can stretch their long necks out to great length when scared or threatened.

SHEEP & GOATS When people think of goats, they often think of a clotheslinemunching vagrant. Goats and sheep, however, are more often the source of clothing than the consumers of it. The fibers that become textiles—wool and cashmere, among many other types—are shorn from these animals.

Sheep and goats, like cows, are ruminant animals. They have a four-chambered stomach, using the first chamber to store food (cud) which they then bring back into their mouths to chew again before fully digesting it. These grazing animals often prefer noxious weeds and plants, which makes them great environmentalists.

Goats are shy at first, but will show adoration and devotion once you have gained their trust. They're frolicsome and have a gentle disposition, but when angered, they can retaliate quickly with a strong head-butt.

Goats are also clever animals who have been known to use their horns to open gates and feed bins, create and enlarge holes in fences, and batter down boards in confined areas.

They also use their horns as back scratchers. Goats are most comfortable in groups, which are known as "tribes."

Like goats, sheep like to stick close to one another for comfort and security. Either black or white, these animals are incredibly gentle. Lambs form strong bonds with their mothers, but they have also been known to bond closely with humans.

If a person hangs a piece of clothing outside, a goat who has bonded with that person will run to it for safety when frightened.

Goats and sheep deserve the same love and compassion from humans that they show to each other.

PIGS Despite their reputation, pigs have many positive attributes including cleanliness, intelligence and a social nature.

Pigs are indeed clean animals.

Yes, they do roll in mud, but only because they can't sweat like people do; the mud (or water) actually keeps them cool. If available, pigs, who are excellent swimmers, prefer water to mud. Pigs also carefully keep their sleeping area clean, and will designate a spot as far from this area as possible for waste. Even piglets only a few hours old will leave the nest to relieve themselves.

Those who know pigs can't help but be charmed by their intelligent, highly social and sensitive nature. Pigs are actually more intelligent than any breed of dog. Like dogs, piglets learn their names by two to three weeks of age and respond when called.

They are also very discriminating eaters, and are particular about their living space. Pigs enjoy novelty and are extremely active and inquisitive.

When free to roam, pigs spend much of their day enthusiastically smelling, nibbling, manipulating objects with their snouts and rooting ("nosing") about in the soil for tidbits. Rooting is so essential to a pig that some animal scientists say that "a rooting pig is a happy pig." Their powerful but sensitive snout is a highly developed sense organ. A pig's sense of smell is so keen that the animal is trained in France to unearth truffles. Using their snouts as shovels, pigs toss clumps of soil and twigs high into the air, searching for the rare and delicious fungus that grows underground near the roots of oak trees. They are also used by police to help search for drugs.

Few species are more social than pigs; they form close bonds with each other and other species, including humans. They are quite gregarious and cooperate with, and defend, one another.

Adults in the entire social group will protect a piglet, leaving their own litters if necessary to defend an endangered youngster. If one pig starts to dig out tree roots, others invariably join in.

Touch and bodily contact are especially important to pigs. They seek out and enjoy close contact, and will lie close together when resting. They also enjoy close contact with people familiar to them; they like being scratched behind the ears and shoulders, and, at the touch of your hand, will grunt contentedly and roll over for a belly rub.

Pigs are vocal and communicate constantly with one another.

More than 20 of their vocalizations have been identified. Pigs most often say "gronk" (more commonly known as "oink"), and will say "baawrp" when happy. They have an elaborate courtship ritual, including a song between males and females. Newborn piglets learn to run to their mother's voice, and the mother pig sings to her young while nursing. After nursing, a piglet will sometimes run to her mother's face to rub snouts and grunt. Pigs also enjoy music.

When she is ready to give birth, a sow selects a clean, dry area apart from the group, sometimes walking several miles to search for a good nest site and to gather preferred bedding materials. She hollows out a depression in the ground and lines it with grass, straw or other materials. For several days after her babies are born, she defends the nest against intruders. When her babies are five to ten days old, she encourages them to leave the nest to socialize with the other pigs.

Weaning occurs naturally at three months of age, but young pigs continue to live with their mothers in a close family group. Two or more sows and their piglets usually join together in an extended family, with particularly close friendships developing between sows. Young piglets play with great enthusiasm, play-fighting and moving or throwing objects into the air. Pigs appear to have a good sense of direction, too, as they have found their way home over great distances. Adults can run at speeds around 11 miles an hour, and can trot for relatively long distances.

Yet many pigs do not lead such noble lives; the hog industry confines many female pigs to farrowing crates, claiming these are necessary to protect piglets from being crushed by their careless mothers. Yet when given more room, sows are very gentle with their piglets. Before a mother pig lies down in a bed of straw, she roots around to make sure all the piglets are out, a safeguard against accidentally harming one of them.

CHICKENS Chickens form strong family ties. A mother hen begins bonding with her chicks before they are even born. She will turn her eggs as many as five times an hour and softly cluck to her unborn chicks, who will chirp back to her and to one another. After they are hatched, the devoted mother dotes over her brood, teaching them what to eat, how to drink, where to roost, and how to avoid enemies. Male chickens (called roosters) are most famous for greeting each sunrise with loud crows, often acting as alarm clocks for farmers.

Chickens are fascinating creatures. They have more bones in their necks than giraffes, yet they have no teeth. They swallow their food whole and use a part of their stomach called the gizzard to grind it up. Chickens actually have many similarities to humans: the majority are right-footed (just as most humans are right-handed), they see a similar color range, and they love to watch television. Many also enjoy classical music, preferring the faster symphonies to the slower ones.

Having a private nest in which to lay eggs is extremely important to hens. The desire is so strong, in fact, that a hen will often go without food and water, if necessary, to use a nest. The nest-building process is fascinating. A hen will first scratch a shallow hole in the ground, then reach out to pick up twigs and leaves, which she drops onto her back.

After she has gathered some material, she'll settle back in the hole and let the material fall off around the rim. She will continue to do this until her nest is completed.

As highly social animals, chickens can bond very closely to other animals, including humans. They will fight to protect their family and will mourn when a loved one is lost. When they have bonded with a human, chickens will often jump into his or her lap to get a massage that they enjoy fully with their eyes closed, giving every indication of being in ecstasy.

"It's just a chicken" is a retort heard often when concern for the welfare of chickens is exhibited. This comment reflects just how misunderstood these animals are. Chickens are just as deserving of our respect and compassion as are all other animals.

TURKEYS A bald eagle, as the nation's official bird, adorns the Great Seal of the United States of America. But if Benjamin Franklin had had his way, a turkey, not a bald eagle, might have famously gripped those 13 arrows and an olive branch as part of the seal. Franklin knew, like others who have spent time around this large bird, that it would have been an honor for the turkey to represent the U.S. Originating from the Mexican wild turkey, the turkey was domesticated by Native Americans in prehistoric times and introduced to Europe by Spanish explorers in the 1500s. Early American settlers brought descendants of the Mexican wild turkey to the U.S. and crossed them with another subspecies of wild turkey indigenous to eastern North America to produce the forerunner of the modern domestic turkey.

Turkeys are usually characterized by large tail feathers that spread into a fan when they are courting or alarmed. Turkeys also have several oddly named appendages: the caruncle, snood, wattle and beard. A caruncle is a red fleshy growth on the head and upper neck of the turkey. A snood is the red fleshy growth from the base of the beak which hangs over the side of the beak. A wattle is the red, loose appendage at the turkey's neck. A beard is the black lock of hairy feathers found on a male turkey's chest.

The American Poultry Association recognizes eight breeds of turkeys: Bronze, Narragansett, White Holland, Black, Slate, Bourbon Red, Beltsville Small White, and Royal Palm. The most commonly raised commercial turkey today is the Broad-Breasted White variety, which has all-white plumage and descends from the White Holland. Some small farmers are trying to bring back "heritage breeds"—turkeys that originated in North America—by raising breeds other than the Broad-Breasted White. Certain breeds are listed as "critical" by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy: those having fewer than 500 breeding birds in North America, with five or fewer primary breeding flocks. These include Beltsville Small White, Black, Jersey Buff, Narragansett, Slate, Bronze, White Holland, and White Midget. Royal Palm is

listed as "rare," with fewer than 1,000 breeding birds in North America, and seven or fewer primary breeding flocks.

Most turkeys raised for food have been genetically selected to have large breast meat, and they are unable to fly or reproduce without artificial insemination. They are fed a mix of corn and soybeans during their short life. Over 260 million turkeys were slaughtered for food in 2003 in the United States, most at about 14–18 weeks of age. Commercial, domestic hens (or female turkeys) weigh 15–18 pounds by 14– 16 weeks of age, and heavy toms (or male turkeys) weigh 25-32 pounds by 16–18 weeks.

Five subspecies of wild turkeys still inhabit much of the United States, with a population estimated at 6.5 million. The most prevalent bird is the Eastern wild turkey, whose forest territory ranges from Maine to parts of Kansas and Oklahoma. Wild turkeys are smaller in size than their domestic counterparts, with a longer neck and body. They have a rich, brown-shaded plumage with a metallic or iridescent sheen, and white and black bars on their primary wing feathers. Toms can stand up to 4 feet tall and weigh more than 20 pounds, while hens are about half that size and weight. Wild turkeys eat nuts, greens, insects, seeds, and fruit, and can live 3–4 years. Their predators include human hunters and animals who disturb their nests, such as crows, raccoons, skunks, snakes and opossums.

Hens begin nesting in late March or early April, laying one egg a day until the clutch reaches 10–12 eggs. They nest on the ground, in a hidden area in the forest or fields of tall grass. Incubation lasts for 28 days, and hatching occurs over a 24–36 hour period in late May or early June. Poults, or baby turkeys, stay near the nest until they are about 4 weeks old and can fly 25–50 feet. This allows them to escape predators by roosting in trees for the night, usually near their mother.

By three months of age, turkey groups will begin to form a social hierarchy, and an established pecking order is set by five months of age, at which time groups show subdivision by gender. As full-grown adults, wild turkeys can fly at 55 miles per hour and run at 25 miles per hour.

Hens are protective of their young. They will hiss and ruffle their feathers to scare away trespassers, and will only abandon the nest as a last option. Hatching begins with pipping, where the baby rotates inside the egg, breaking the shell in a circular pattern with its egg tooth (a sharp spike on its beak).

Hens cluck as they check the eggs, beginning the critical imprinting process. Social cohesion among the babies is evident the first day after hatching, as is attachment to the mom. Vocal and visual signals are used to maintain close contact. This facilitates the learning of certain important activities, particularly feeding. Turkeys are social animals who prefer to live and feed together in flocks.

Wild turkeys are not protected by legislation. Commercial turkeys are not even included in the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, although poultry make up over 95% of the animals killed for food in America. They are raised in crowded factory farms where they are not able to nest or feed like their wild cousins.

COMPASSIONATE LIVING Š

of prejudice called speciesism. Defenders of speciesism often argue that humans are superior to other WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ÂŽ species because of their greater intelligence. Taken to its logical extreme, this argument would imply that humans with higher I.Q. scores should have more rights than humans with lower I.Q. scores. However, we have developed the sensitivity to extend basic human rights to all humans, whether or not they meet any criteria for intelligence, capacity or potential. But animals are commonly experimented on without their consent, and even killed, if it suits human purposes. This gross inequality is what we are trying to address with the concept of "animal rights."

"Compassionate living" is a concept based on the belief that humans have a moral responsibility to treat animals with respect, and that the interests of humans and animals should be considered equally. This means that in any decision that could potentially affect the life of an animal, that particular animal's interests should not be dismissed simply because it is inconvenient for us to consider them.

Although it may not always be easy to determine accurately the best interests of an animal, we can safely assume that animals generally prefer to live, to be free from pain and to express their natural behaviors.

The failure of humans to consider an animal's needs/interests as equal to those of humans is an expression

Another common assertion is that humans are superior to animals because we possess the capacity to understand morality, as well as the ability to determine right from wrong. Since some animals may lack these same abilities, it is argued that humans are not obligated to treat them in any particular way. However, if only those who are capable of making and understanding moral judgments were to be accorded basic human rights, then infants, young children, and the severely ill or mentally challenged would be excluded. It is equally logical to affirm that, since humans are the only ones who can make moral judgments, that it is our responsibility to do so on behalf of the animals.

All animals, including humans, have the ability to experience pleasure and pain. Unfortunately, humans have tended to inflict tremendous amounts of pain and suffering on animals without any consideration of how this affects the animals themselves. By making compassionate daily choices, you can help end widespread animal abuse and exploitation.

COMPASSIONATE LIVING FACTS WHAT YOU CHOOSE TO WEAR Fur: Each year more than 40 million animals are senselessly tortured and killed to satisfy the dictates of fashion. Wild-caught fur is obtained by setting traps or snares to capture fur-bearing animals. Once an animal is caught it may remain in the trap or snare for several days starving or slowly strangling. Farm-raised fur comes from animals kept in tiny, filthy cages, deprived of adequate protection from the elements. As a result, animals develop stereotypical behavior, including pacing, head bobbing, and self-mutilation.

The techniques used to kill animals on fur farms include neck snapping or "popping", electrocution with rod shoved into the anus and gassing or smothering.

Wool: Sheep raised for wool are subjected to a lifetime of cruel treatment. Lambs' tails are chopped off and males are castrated without anesthetic. In Australia, where 80% of all wool comes from, ranchers perform an operation called "mulesing" where huge strips of skin are carved off the backs of lambs' legs. This procedure is performed to produce scarred skin that won't harbor fly larvae, so that the rancher can spend less time caring for the sheep. The shearing of sheep can be a brutal, as workers are encouraged to shear as quickly as possible. As a result, an estimated one million Australian sheep die every year from exposure. Sheep that are no longer useful for their wool are sent to crowded feedlots and then transported to the slaughterhouse.

Leather: By-products of the beef industry are defined by the parts of the cow that are not consumed by humans. These include hooves, some organs, bones, and skin. Skin (leather) accounts for about half of the by-product of the beef industry. Like meat, leather is a product made from animals that experienced the horrors of factory farming, transport and slaughter. The leather industry uses some of the most dangerous substances to prepare leather, including formaldehyde, coal-tar derivatives, various oils and some cyanide-based dyes.

the needs and desires of the visitors in mind, not the needs of the animals. Many animals in zoos and aquariums exhibit abnormal behavior as a result of being deprived of their natural environments and social structures. Some zoos and aquariums do rescue some animals and work to save endangered species, but most animals in zoos were either captured from the wild or bred in captivity for the purpose of public display, not species protection. The vast majority of captive bred animals will never be returned to the wild. When the facility breeds too many animals they become "surplus" and often are sold to laboratories, traveling shows, shooting ranches, or to private individuals unqualified to care for them.

WHAT YOU CHOOSE FOR ENTERTAINMENT Circus: Animals used in the circus spend the majority of the year imprisoned in small cages or on chains, traveling from show to show. The training endured by circus animals is almost always based on intimidation; trainers must break the spirit of the animals in order to control them. It is not uncommon for an elephant to be tied down and beaten for several days while being trained to perform, and tigers are chained to their pedestals with ropes around their necks to choke them down.

Rodeo: Horses and cows used in rodeos are abused with electrical prods, sharp spurs and "bucking straps" that pinch their sensitive flank area. During bucking events, horses and bulls may suffer broken legs or run into the sides of the arena causing serious injury and even death. During calf-roping events, a calf may reach a running speed of 27 miles per hour before being jerked by the neck to an abrupt stop by a lasso. This event has resulted in animals' punctured lungs, internal hemorrhaging, paralysis and broken necks.

Greyhound and Horse Racing: Once greyhounds begin their racing careers, they are kept in cages for about 22-1/2 hours a day. The cages are made of wire and are barely big enough for dogs to turn around. Dogs considered too slow to race are sold to research facilities or killed (20,000-25,000 each year) - very few are adopted. More racehorses are bred than can prove profitable on the racetrack. As a result, hundreds are sent to slaughter every year.

Zoos and Aquariums: While zoos and aquariums may appear to be educational and conservation-oriented, most are designed with

WHAT YOU CHOOSE TO EAT Every year billions of animals are raised and killed for human consumption. Unlike the family farms of the past, today's factory farms are high-revenue, high-production entities. On a factory farm, animals are confined to extremely small spaces, which allows farmers to concentrate on maximizing production. Because this type of overcrowding breeds disease, animals are routinely fed antibiotics and sprayed with pesticides. They are also fed growth hormones to enhance productivity. These chemicals, antibiotics and hormones are passed on to the environment, as well as to consumers of meat and dairy products.

Beef: About 41.8 million beef cattle are slaughtered annually in the United States. For identification purposes, cattle are either branded with hot irons or "wattled," a process in which a chunk of flesh from under the cow's neck is cut out. Raised on the range or in feed lots, cattle when large enough are crammed into metal trucks and taken to slaughter. On the way to slaughter, these cattle may travel for hours in sweltering temperatures with no access to water. Animals unable to stand due to broken legs or illness are called "downers" by the meat industry. Downers are electrically prodded or dragged with chains to the slaughterhouse, or left outside, without food or water, to die.

farmers "debeak" them. Male chicks, considered by-products of laying hen production, are either tossed into plastic bags to suffocate slowly, or ground into animal feed still alive.

Pork: In the United States each year more than 115 million pigs are raised on factory farms and slaughtered for human consumption. Factory-farmed pigs are raised in crowded pens which are enclosed inside huge barns. The air in these barns is filled with eye- and lung-burning ammonia created by urine and fecal waste collected below the floors. Breeding sows (or "animal production units") spend their lives in metal crates so small that they cannot turn around. Denied adequate space and freedom of movement, these sows often develop stereotypical behavior, repetitive movement such as head bobbing, jaw smacking, and rail biting. At the slaughterhouse, pigs are stunned (often inadequately), hung upside down before their throats are cut, and then bled to death. If workers fail to kill a pig with the knife, that pig is carried on the conveyer belt to the next station, the scalding tank, where he or she may be boiled alive.

Chicken: Every year approximately 8.785 billion chickens are raised and slaughtered for human consumption in the U.S., most on factory farms. Crowded and unable to express natural behavior, chickens begin to peck excessively at each other. Rather than solve this problem by providing adequate space for chickens, factory farmers "debeak" them, a painful procedure where the bird's sensitive upper beak is sliced off with a hot metal blade. Chickens raised for consumption have been genetically altered to grow abnormally large. As a result, many broiler chickens' bones are unable to support the weight of their muscle tissue, which causes them to hobble in pain or become crippled. At the slaughterhouse, chickens while still fully conscious are hung upside down by their feet and attached to a moving rail. Birds missed by the mechanical neck-slicing blade and boiled alive are called "redskins".

Eggs: There are more than 459 million egg-laying hens in the U.S. 97% are confined to "battery" cages -- tiny wire boxes roughly 16 by 18 inches wide. Five or six birds are crammed into each cage. Hens are forced to produce 10 times more eggs than they would naturally. When egg production slows, factory farmers use a method called "forced molting" to shock the hens into losing their feathers, which causes them to begin a premature laying cycle. "Forced molting" involves starving the hens and denying them water for several days, during which many die. To keep hens from pecking each other in their crowded cages, factory

Milk: About half of the 10 million milking cows in the U.S. are kept in confinement on factory farms, forced to produce 10-20 times the amount of milk they would naturally. This is extremely stressful, and many "burn out" at a much younger age than their normal life expectancy. Up to 33% suffer painful infections. To continue milk production, a cow must bear a calf each year. Although calves elsewhere stay with their mothers for a year or more, on factory farms they are immediately removed so milk can be sold for human consumption. Calves are sold to the beef or veal industry or become replacements for "burned out" dairy cows.

WHAT PRODUCTS YOU CHOOSE Despite the modern alternatives to animal testing, millions of animals suffer and die each year for the "good" of cosmetics and household products. No law in the U.S. requires cosmetic, household product, or office supply companies to test on animals, but many companies do so to protect themselves against liability. However, animal testing does not necessarily make a product safe for humans. Most animal tests were developed over 50 years ago and are significantly flawed and inferior to modern alternatives. Use your dollars to send a strong message that animal testing is outdated and unnecessary. Support only companies committed against animal testing.

CHOOSING VEGANISM A vegan (pronounced Vee-g'n) is someone who tries to live without exploiting animals, for the benefit of animals, people and the planet. A vegan does not eat any animal food products, avoids wearing animal-derived products and does not purchase toiletries, cosmetics and cleaning products that have been tested on animals or contain animal based ingredients. They also refrain form supporting animal entertainment and other industries that exploit animals.

Instead, vegans choose from thousands of animal-free foods, products and entertainment. Veganism is a philosophy, not a diet. This philosophy is the belief in the right of all sentient beings to be treated with respect, not as property, and to be allowed to live their lives.

Many people become vegan through concern of the way farmed animals are treated. Some object to the unnecessary ‘use’ and killing of animals – unnecessary as we do not need animal products in order to feed or clothe ourselves. Vegans also help the planet. Plant-based diets only require around one third of the land and water needed to produce a typical Western diet. It is much more sustainable to eat plant foods direct than use up precious resources feeding farmed animals. Farming animals and growing their feed contributes to deforestation, water pollution and land degradation.

Choosing a life free from animal products means choosing a path that is kinder to people, animals and the earth.

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ETHICAL CHOICES ©

Ethics addresses questions of morality, such as what makes our actions right or wrong. Animal ethics focuses upon the constantly evolving way in which society thinks of nonhuman animals. Through our use of animals as goods for food, clothing, entertainment and companionship, animal ethics is something that we all interact with on a daily basis. Environmental ethics is the philosophy that considers extending the traditional boundaries of ethics from solely including humans to including the non-human world. There are many ethical decisions made by humans with respect to the environment.

When we begin to explore our behavior towards animals and the environment, we find that what is presented as acceptable conduct is often inconsistent. While we love and

WORLD ANIMAL FOUNDATION ®

value the nonhuman members of our family, such as the cats and dogs who share our homes, we distance ourselves from the lives of billions of wild animals, farmed animals, animals used in experimentation, animals used for clothing and animals used in the entertainment industry.

Our consumer choices shape our daily lives and it is through them that we have come to regard some animals not as individuals, but in terms of the financial value placed upon them. The distance we maintain between their lives and our own allows our use of their bodies to continue unchallenged. Can this inequality in how we regard other animals ever be truly justified?

ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS Environmental ethics address questions of right and wrong regarding the natural world and our relationship with plants and animals. We must find meaningful ways to deal with pollution, resource degradation and plant and animal extinction - not only because it is vital to saving our human race - but because it is simply the right thing to do.

All plants and animals are an important part of the planet and are a functional part of human life.

Maintaining environmental ethics ensures we are doing our part to keep the environment safe and protected. It is essential that we respect and honor the environment and use morals and ethics in our daily decisions.

Environmental ethics builds on scientific understanding by bringing human values, morals and improved decision making into the conversation with science. While moral reasoning is not a substitute for science, science does not teach us to care. Scientific

knowledge alone does not provide reasons for planet protection. It only provides data, knowledge and information. Environmental ethics uses this information to ask how can we live in harmony with the environment and why should we care.

Environmental ethics considers three key propositions: ● The planet and its plants and animals are worthy of our ethical concern. ● Plants, animals and the environment have intrinsic value; moral value because they exist, not only because they meet human needs. ● We should consider whole ecosystems, including other forms of life, in our daily decisions.

Industrialization has created pollution and ecological imbalance. It is not only the duty of that industry to make changes to protect the environment, but all of us must make daily decisions that help to restore the environment and make it sustainable.

ETHICAL CONSUMERISM Ethical consumerism is buying things, only when needed, that are made ethically. Generally, this means they are made without harm to or exploitation of humans, animals and the environment. Ethical consumerism involves positive buying and moral boycotting.

but continue to buy from companies that harm animals and the environment, than we are participating in that unethical behavior.

Ethical consumers research products before purchasing to ensure they are environmentally friendly, animal friendly, sustainable and do not exploit humans.

We must also not limit our places in society to that of consumers only.

We are, after all, people not consumers, with the free will to take more direct action. Our Moral boycott means refusing to responsibility does not end after we buy products that exploit humans, stop ourselves from buying animals and the environment. unethical products. We must also Shopping is a form of voting; a way work to stop unethical corporations to express our moral choices. If we from abusing the planet and care about the planet and animals, animals.

Positive buying means favoring ethical products, be they fair trade, cruelty free, organic, locally produced, recycled or re-used.

ANIMAL ETHICS Different approaches to animal ethics, such as welfarism and abolitionism, vary greatly both in their philosophical viewpoints and their practices. Their shared focus is achieving the inclusion of nonhuman animals within our moral community.

Welfarism The call for ‘higher-welfare’ products, through consumer demand for 'humane treatment' and products such as organic and free range meat, eggs and dairy, is termed welfarism. Welfarism modifies systems of abuse through changes to legislation and working practices, while allowing exploitation of nonhuman animals to continue.

Abolitionism By rejecting their commodification as ‘products’ and property, abolitionism affords nonhuman animals a right to life and freedom from exploitation. Abolitionism challenges the legitimacy of abusive industries and what we demand from them, working to end suffering by ending exploitation as a whole.

Animal Ethics In Practice We can prevent nonhuman animals from being degraded into the class of things by promoting a compassionate attitude towards them. An attitude that demonstrates a lack of respect for other animals and unfair behavior towards them is known as speciesism.

Like both racism and sexism, speciesism is a prejudice which builds a general disregard for the lives of others based upon an unreasonable differentiation. Only by allowing all animals equal consideration can we be unprejudiced in our actions.

When we start to value nonhuman animals as individuals, we recognize that they are not mechanical units of production and profit.

Gradual changes to how animals are treated, confined and slaughtered may alter aspects of how we use other animals but they do

not challenge the wrongs of their enslavement. On the surface, welfare changes may appear compassionate, however, by looking at the wider picture we can see that they leave animals within abusive environments and allow their exploitation to continue. By regulating cruelty, welfarism actively accepts the trade in nonhuman animal lives.

Killing and unacceptable harm remain an inherent part of farming animals for food and clothing, using animals in experiments, and using animals for entertainment, regardless of the practices used. The use of buzzwords such as 'humanely raised', and commercial branding of organic and free range products, wrongly reassures us as consumers. The cheery media persona designed for these 'products' enables us to put a falsely positive image to a process which commodifies animals and causes them to suffer.

By creating a change within our own consumer demand, we can create a wider reaching change for the better. When we choose not to support exploitative industries and avoid products taken from animals, we reject the commodity status placed upon them and recognize their value as individuals.

Veganism (refraining from consuming all animal products) is the simple action of removing our personal demand for animal exploitation. It is the practical application of the idea that animals are not property, nor ours to use and manipulate.

production. Millions of male chicks and calves are killed each year as 'by-products' of the egg and milk industries, considered worthless since they cannot produce milk or eggs. The dairy cows and egg-laying hens themselves are killed at a fraction of their natural lifespan, when they become too worn out to produce enough milk or eggs to be profitable.

Simply buying ‘higher-welfare’ animal products cannot change these facts. If consumers want to ensure that the food they buy is ‘cruelty-free’, by far the best way to achieve this is to buy vegan food. It is entirely possible and increasingly easy to have nutritious and tasty food and practical and stylish clothing without exploiting other animals. Therefore the question is not, “Why shouldn’t we use and kill animals?”, but, “Why would we?”

ANIMAL ETHICS & YOU If you believe that we should be kind to animals and treat them with respect, only one further step is needed to reach the conclusion that all animals deserve our kindness and respect. If we extend to other animals the same compassion and morality we would hope for ourselves, we can begin to alleviate the harm that we cause them. Compassionate choices made by us as individuals offer protection to those who need it most. Changing the way in which harm takes place is not enough: we need to make choices that respect life and freedom. By leading a vegan lifestyle, we end our demand for animal suffering and exploitation. All that this requires from us is the decision to make a change.

IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT ANIMAL WELFARE The suffering and cruelty inflicted upon animals is a major cause for concern and a strong motivation for many vegans. Many people are becoming increasingly aware of the animal welfare concerns surrounding food production, particularly in intensive farming systems. However, the welfare of farmed animals during their lifetimes is not the only reason why vegans choose not to consume or use animal products. There is strong evidence that animals are sentient beings with individual needs and preferences.

The mass production and killing of these animals does not recognize this. Anyone who has spent time with a companion animal knows that they have complex emotions, and yet wild animals and farmed animals are no different in this respect from dogs and cats.

Killing is an inherent and unavoidable part of farming animals for food. Of course animals are killed for meat, but many people are unaware that this is equally true of egg and milk

IT’S NOT ALL OR NOTHING Living a vegan lifestyle is not an all or nothing philosophy.

Vegans attempt to minimize the suffering of animals as much as possible in their daily lives. If a vegan accidentally, or intentionally, purchases or consumes an animal product, it does not suddenly exclude them from being vegan. They simply try harder in the future.

If you are not ready, or willing, to be a full fledged vegan, you can still help countless animals by making as many compassionate choices as you can.

For example, if you aren't ready to completely eliminate animal products from your diet, you can still reduce consumption of those products while also eliminating non food animal products from your daily purchases and boycotting animal entertainment.

Adopt a dog or cat from a local shelter. Search adoptable dogs, cats and other shelter animals near you by zip code.

View pictures of adoptable dogs and cats who need a home at your local shelter, humane society, SPCA or rescue group. Search by age, breed, size and color. Find a dog, cat, small animal, farm animal and more. Simply enter your zip code and choose a species, breed, age and sex.

GET ACTIVE

FOR THE EARTH & ANIMALS ©

You've recently learned about animal issues. Or you're concerned about endangered species. Or you've been concerned about the environment for many years and have decided it's time to educate society about the issues.

You may be timid or think you do not speak well in public. Perhaps you've never been involved in an activist group and you do not know the first thing about them. You may feel that you are all alone. But as an individual you can educate hundreds of people in your community and affect their often unwittingly exploitative attitudes and lifestyles.

Earth and animal activists are people who see the need for change and devote their time to doing something about it.

They are driven by passion and a vision for a better future for animals and the environment. Whatever your reason for wanting to become an earth and animal activist, you have the ability to do so no matter your age, your means or your background. It's people like you, people who believe they have the power to make a difference, who end up bringing

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remarkable change for the planet and its animals.

Perhaps there are no animal or environmental groups in your area. But there is one animal advocate/environmentalist person—you. Anyone can be an earth and animal activist. It does not take any special skills or superhuman abilities. You just need to care enough about animals to want to help them.

Earth and animal activists are passionate enough to believe they can make change happen if they work hard enough to find a solution. While many people might become stalled when faced with the question, "How much good can one individual do?", activists believe that one dedicated and persistent person can make a difference for the earth and its animals.

Practice earth and animal activism at home, at work and in your community. Making a difference for the earth and animals can be as easy as posting messages on Facebook and blogs and participating in conversations relevant to your passion. Use your particular talents to bring positive changes for the planet and its animals.

EVERYDAY ACTIVISM GET ACTIVE AT HOME ● Write to producers and networks of television programs in which animals are abused or ridiculed. ● Write to thank producers and publishers for animal friendly messages in print and on television. ● Write letters to companies that conduct animal experiments. ● Write letters to companies that use real wild and exotic animals in their commercials. ● Write letters to the editor on earth and animal issues. ● Write a letter to the editor of a newspaper that allows ads for fur, circuses or rodeos. ● Write and call legislators to ask them to support animalfriendly legislation and thank them for past support. ● Call the sponsors of upcoming entertainment events that use animals and ask them not to sponsor animal entertainment.

● Encourage radio and television talk shows to discuss animal issues. ● Record a pro animal/environment message on your voice mail.

● Include a flyer or fact sheet with every bill you pay.

GET ACTIVE IN YOUR COMMUNITY

● Ask your child’s teacher to stop keeping animals in the classroom.

● Donate pro earth and animal books to your local library.

● Ask your child's school to stop requiring students to dissect animals.

● Setup a library display with a poster, flyers and appropriate books.

● Offer to walk a tethered neighbor dog and provide the dog with food, fresh water and toys.

● Donate pro earth and animal DVDs to your local video rental store.

● Turn your backyard into a wildlife sanctuary.

● Wear clothes and buttons with earth and animal statements.

● Deal with wildlife problems humanely. ● I.D. your companion animals and encourage others to do the same. ● Prepare disaster kits for your companion animals.

GET ACTIVE AT WORK ● Post flyers and fact sheets on work bulletin boards. ● Donate to organizations that legitimately help animals and the environment. Expose greenwash organizations to coworkers so they can make more informed decisions regarding their donations.

● Post and distribute WAF flyers and fact sheets around your town. ● Setup an information table in a busy area of town to distribute flyers and fact sheets. ● Offer to show videos and host seminars. ● Take vegan meals to community functions and share the recipes. ● Show your hairdresser products that aren’t tested on animals.

● Encourage coworkers to donate to organizations that do not test on animals.

● Encourage local pet stores to stop selling animals and to work with local animal groups to offer adoptions instead.

● Make cruelty-free and environmentally responsible investments.

● Organize a low cost spay and neuter event in your community.

● Buy cruelty-free and green supplies for your office.

● Work to get local universities and schools to stop requiring dissection and to add vegan options to their menu.

● Use a coffee mug with a pro animal or pro earth message at work. ● Take vegan dishes to office parties. ● Encourage your workplace to implement dog-friendly policies. ● Hold a volunteer work party to write letters, help out at an animal shelter, or make banners or signs for a demonstration.

● Help feral cats in your neighborhood with Trap-Neuter-Return. ● Ask for vegan options at local restaurants and grocery stores. ● Suggest an earth or animal themed book for your next book club meeting.

● Work to engage your place of worship with animal and environmental issues. ● Register to vote. ● Determine which elected officials represent you at local, state and federal levels. ● Encourage local officials to find long-lasting, nonlethal solutions to conflicts with wildlife. ● Attend town meetings to urge officials to support animal and environmental issues. ● Work for the passage of local ordinances in your community. ● Engage kids and teens with humane education activities and lesson plans. ● Learn what animal and environmental legislation is now pending in Congress, and contact your federal and state legislators. ● Organize a demonstration to help the earth and animals holding posters and passing out flyers. ● Promote earth and animal issues on cable-access television. ● Speak at your club or church about earth and animal issues. ● Host an earth and animal dinner party. ● Teach a college or community education course on earth and animal issues. ● Speak, or sponsor a speaker, at local schools, universities and civic clubs. ● Find a local wildlife rescuer to help stop cruel trapping and killing of animals in your community.

RAISE FUNDS ● Host a fundraising party at home to raise donations for WAF. ● Host a fundraising event in your community to raise donations for WAF. ● Make a personal annual or monthly donation to WAF. ● Donate a percentage of your online sales to WAF. ● Donate a percentage of your business profits to WAF. ● Make a memorial gift in honor of a friend or companion animal. ● Include WAF as a beneficiary in your will.

DAILY CHOICES

● Find free advertising space in your town for earth and animal issues.

● Adopt an animal from a local animal shelter or rescue group.

● Organize a litter cleanup in your town.

● Purchase eco-friendly and cruelty-free cosmetics, clothing and household products.

GET ACTIVE ONLINE ● Follow World Animal Foundation on Facebook. Help spread the word about animal issues by sharing our posts, links and photos. ● Include a link to WorldAnimal Foundation.org in your e-mail signature. ● Add a link to WorldAnimalFoundation.org to your website, blog or social networking page.

● Provide for your animals’ future in case you can’t care for them. ● Wear pro earth and pro animal t-shirts. ● Display a bumper sticker on your car. ● Display earth and animal stickers and magnets on yourself and your stuff. ● Reduce or eliminate animal products from your diet.

● Sign online earth and animal petitions.

● Boycott animal entertainment.

● Place earth and animal banners on your blog or website.

● Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. ● Shop and dine locally.

Join WAF for FREE at WorldAnimalFoundation.org and help us help animals and the planet. WAF Members receive a FREE email subscription to World Animal Foundation's Action Emails and updates.

From saving a companion animal from cruelty, to saving an entire species from extinction, simple choices and actions that you can make will help save animals and the earth. Together, our collective efforts to protect and preserve animals and the environment is making a difference. Join the effort today; become an earth and animal advocate!

Adopt An Animal from World Animal Foundation and make a difference for animals and the environment. Your WAF Adopt An Animal Kit comes in a Deluxe WAF Folder and includes: ● Glossy Photo of Your Adopted Animal ● Adopt An Animal Adoption Certificate ● Fact Sheet About Your Animal

● Help Animals Info Cards Packed With Information On Animal Issues & How You Can Help Animals And The Environment WAF Adopt An Animal Kits make great gifts and can be sent directly to the recipient. Simply supply the recipient's name and mailing address as shipping information. We'll even include a letter stating the Adopt An Animal Kit is from you.

WAF's Adopt An Animal symbolic adoption is $35 and helps the World Animal Foundation to preserve the planet and protect its animals. Adopt an animal for yourself, or order an Adopt An Animal Kit as a gift.

Help make a difference for animals Adopt An Animal Today at WorldAnimalFoundation.org!