where science and ethics intersect with politics
The Canadian seal slaughter began off the coast of Newfoundland this year on March 28th. This is two weeks earlier than usually allowed, as climate change is affecting the seal population. With disappearing ice, Canadian seal hunters are worried that there will be fewer seal pups to hunt, so the Canadian government has allowed the killing of pups as young as 4 weeks this year instead of the usual 6.
The federal Wildlife Services program killed 2.7 million animals in 2016. In its annual “kill report,” the agency data shows that 1.6 million of the 2.7 million deaths were of native wildlife species. Wildlife Services maintains that it “manages the damages” caused by so-called invasive species, yet less than half of the animals in the report are actually considered invasive. The Center for Biological Diversity asserts that of the almost 3 million animals killed yearly, many are unintentional kills that include household pets.
Is supporting animal rights terrorism? Is nonviolent activism terrorism? According to some interpretations of the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA), they are.
The lesser of two evils is still evil. We can choose to do less evil, or we can choose to do good. The Humane Party is the first American political party committed to humane values; a healthy population is part of that vision.
Reports of poisoned drinking water, polluted air, animal deaths, as well as industrial disasters and explosions—all the result of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking—are termed “fraccidents” by the group Earth Justice. “The dangers of fracking to the food supply are not something that’s been investigated very much. ” And, “For sustainable agriculture, fracking is a disaster.”
The North Pacific Gyre is an area twice the size of the state of Texas where marine debris—human-generated litter and garbage—stretches from the West Coast of North America to Japan. Plastic debris causes the deaths of more than a million seabirds every year, as well as more than 100,000 marine mammals.
On March 14, 2017, the Berkeley City Council will discuss a proposal to ban the sale of fur in the city. The proposal is the result of a petition started by the group Berkeley Coalition for Animals (BCA), a volunteer-led coalition addressing issues of animal rights legislation, business, and culture.
On February 14 the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to amend the city’s health code, banning the sale of dogs and cats in pet stores unless they are obtained from animal shelters or animal rescue organizations.
The University of California, Berkeley (UCB) has developed a partnership with the Good Food Institute and UCB’s Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology (SCET) that challenges students to develop plant-based meat alternatives in a semester-long course.
Jeb, a service dog in Michigan, was accused of killing a neighbor’s dog. DNA testing was used to prove his innocence. Without the DNA testing, Jeb would have been destroyed (i.e, killed) as a legally “dangerous animal.”
Diane Gandee Sorbi was charged with theft for rescuing a dying hen during a DxE undercover investigation of Costco egg supplier Pleasant Valley Farms.
As Bourdain has switched networks, his shows have seemingly become grittier, with more graphic imagery and pushing the boundaries on what he will participate in in terms of killing and consuming animals.
Today, genetic engineering and the notion of the chimera arise with current medical research into growing human stem cells in pig embryos.
The issue of keeping animals in captivity was recently in the news with the announcement of the last performance of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus this May. While many applaud the announcement, the future of the captive animals is in question. In a related story, The New Yorker featured in its January 16, 2017 issue the shooting and public dissection of a healthy young giraffe named Marius at the Odense Zoo in Denmark last year.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), one of the more visible and vocal animal rights groups, had been touting its so-called Animals’ Party. This is not a real political party, but a promotional stunt by PETA and another of its campaigns featuring scantily clad female models in order to attract attention.
The Animal Rights 2017 National Conference (AR 2017) will be held August 3-6 at the Hilton Marks Center in Alexandria, Virginia (near Washington, D.C.). Registration opened January 9.
The Humane Herald 