(All photo permission: Art for Pitties)

This pit bull bigotry article on Matador triggered lots of reader passion about pit bulls and BSL (breed specific legislation).

The response made me optimistic about the many people and groups around the world that are fighting breed discrimination and encouraging responsible dog ownership over misinformed, ineffective legislation.

There are still many minds to change about the inherent nature of the pit bull, but there’s a great event happening right now that’s going about it imaginatively.

Artist Gloria Najecki.

Art for Pitties

Art for Pitties, an NYC-based fundraiser, is bringing pit bull lovers and artists from around the world and the San Diego-based rescue, Even Chance, together for an art auction to raise awareness and funds for pit bull education and rescue.

Artists

Lots of cool, creative people have donated their artistic talents to design tote-bags and carry-alls for an Ebay Charity auction happening right now. Bonus–you can go green as you walk around with rad style.

Seminal 80s band Liquid Liquid and artwork

Some of the artists include the post-punk/disco band Liquid Liquid, whose design features silkscreen artwork from their 1983 album “Optimo”;Rosanna Lyons, who animates for “The Simpsons”; and Professor Marie Roberts, who created the Coney Island Circus SideShow banners.

Even Betty White (yes, the Golden Girl/SNL hosting/Snickers badass) got involved by donating an autographed picture of herself and her dog, Panda.

Art for Pitties also hosted a show for all of the art work at Manhattan’s Gallery Bar on August 21, 2010 where people got to see all the artwork and drink. (10% of the drink proceeds went to Even Chance.)

Even Chance pit bull rescue

Designer Leanne Hilgart

All the profits of the auction and proceeds from the art show seen in pictures at right benefits Even Chance, the San Diego non-profit.

Even Chance fights pit bull prejudice through education and and rescues pit bulls from shelters, including those with medical needs and those rescued from fighting rings and other inhumane environments, placing them in safe, loving homes.

Some of Even Chance’s projects in the works includes creating programs to promote adoptions of shelter pit bulls, founding a low-cost spay and neuter program, continuing resource development for potential and current pit bull owners, and creating training programs for animal control officers.

Catching Art for Pitties’ art show.

Big ups

I applaud the Art for Pitties initiative and hope more pit bull advocates, general dog enthusiasts, and rescues find inspiration from this imaginative way to increase awareness, raise funds, promote the arts, and enjoy connecting with community.

Connect:

Visit the auction site here. The auction ends August 29 and prices start at $1–so get up on it.

Learn more about ArtForPitties here.

Find Art for Pitties on Facebook here.

Community Connection

Have you ever thought about putting something like this together for a cause you’re passionate about?

Inspired to adopt or foster? Check out JoAnna Haugen’s article about Why You Should Adopt a Special Needs Pet and Emily Starbuck’s Beginner’s Guide to Fostering Animals.

Photo: OlgaKay

I had just dropped my foster dog, Daisy, off with her new “forever family”, and despite knowing her story had a very happy ending, I was devastated that her chapter in my life was over.

Her charming bow-legged waddle. Her cute tendency to sleep in my clothes drawers. After just two weeks with this Rat Terrier mix, I was heartbroken to lose her, but as I left her running in circles in a large front yard with two giggling little girls, I knew my job was done.

While it can be very challenging, knowing that you saved an animal from euthanasia and helped it find its forever home will give you endless joy. Fostering animals has numerous benefits for everyone involved:

1. It saves adoptable animals from probable death at an overcrowded shelter.
2. It removes animals from a traumatic shelter environment and gives them a happy home to live in (and be trained) while they await their forever home.
3. It gives the foster parent the benefits of having a pet without the long-term commitment (or gives their pet a playmate).
4. It allows the foster family to learn the animal’s personality so they can help the forever family determine whether it’s a good fit for them (animals don’t behave like themselves in shelters—how would you act in jail?).
5. It allows the foster family to screen applicants and ensure that the pet is going to a good home.
6. If you plan to adopt a dog or cat in the future, it gives the foster parent incredible insight into what they do or don’t want in their own pet.

It is highly advisable to work with a rescue group rather than rescuing a pet and finding a home for it on your own. Most shelters work with several rescue groups and help them identify and save animals that are most adoptable.

For dogs, there are two types of rescue groups: mixed-breed rescue groups and breed-specific rescue groups. If you are passionate about a certain breed, such as Pomeranians or German Shepherds, there are groups that foster and adopt out just that breed. But there are some groups that assist any type of adoptable dog in need, especially wonderful mutts who are often dismissed by people seeking purebreds.

Before you foster animals, you should know two things:

1. It’s emotionally grueling.

If you’re fostering dogs or cats, you are likely an animal lover with a big heart. It’s so easy to get attached to a dog or cat, even after just a few days or weeks. Be aware that it is going to be hard letting them go, even though you know they are going to a good place. Prepare to feel very sad every time you ‘lose’ a foster baby.

You may also find yourself upset when your friends or family members insist on buying dogs from breeders. You just have to keep reminding yourself that your foster baby is in a happy forever home where they will be loved until the day they die, and that you’re doing your part to save lives.

Photo: Lynne Featherstone

2. It’s time-consuming.

Sometimes the dogs and cats need to be taken to the vet for shots or treatments (paid for by the rescue group). Some puppies need to be let out every few hours. Some dogs need potty or manners training. Sometimes you have to take the pet to three different potential forever homes before you find the right match. Some animals are scared and need some good TLC.

Don’t foster if you don’t have some free time.

Also, if you already have your own pet, it is highly recommended to take time off between foster pets in order to give your animal a little one-on-one love.

Ready to rescue?

Here are some tips for getting started:

1. Figure out what type of animal you want. Dog or cat?

2. Decide whether you are interested in a specific breed or if you want to help all breeds.

3. Find a rescue group of that type in your area. PetFinder.com has a great directory.

4. Tell the rescue group in what capacity you can help. Can your home only accommodate small animals, or can you foster big dogs? Can you handle puppies and kitties, or only mature animals? Can you take more than one animal at once? Keep in mind that small dogs and puppies/kitties are the most in demand, and get adopted the quickest—sometimes even just days.

Large dogs and older dogs and cats are less in demand, and it can take weeks or months.

5. Your rescue group will notify you when it finds an animal that fits your criteria and hand it over to you. They usually provide a crate and medicine, if needed.

6. Treat the animal like your own, and train them if possible. Meanwhile, the rescue group will be doing outreach to find a forever home and screening applicants.

7. Receive information about the first potential forever family. Call or email them to discuss the pet and set up a visit.

8. Meet the potential forever family. For dogs, you will usually take the dog to their home for a visit. If both you and the family think it’s a match, that’s often the end of the story—you leave empty-handed. Sometimes they will want a few days to think about it, and other times they will say it’s not a good match. If things don’t go well, try again with the next name your rescue group gives you.

Also, be warned that many foster parents end up adopting at least one of their foster babies, so if that’s out of the question for you, be sure to stick to it (and have someone hold you accountable if needed!).

Community Connection:

Lots of Matador members enjoy pet ownership. See some of them in the Meet Matador Pets photo essay.

A lionfish: both beautiful and dangerous. Photo: tibchris

That’s what the person on the other end of the line asked after the teacher passed her cell phone to me.

I was about to take 20 of her students snorkeling a mile or so offshore in La Parguera, Puerto Rico and her husband was calling to ask if I’d heard about the invasion of lionfish plaguing the area.

I hadn’t.

The caller–the teacher’s husband–related that he’d heard some lionfish had escaped from an aquarium in Florida. They’d recently been spotted in the Caribbean, and allegedly in the area where we’d be snorkeling.

As the group put on their swimsuits and slathered high SPF sunscreen on each other’s backs, I ran up to the shop where our local outfitters were based. “Carlos*,” I said, hugging the divemaster I’d known for five years. “Y que con el pez leon?”

Carlos might as well have been born in the water. He’s got a shark tattooed on his shoulder. He leads snorkel and dive trips all day, every day, but his free time is still spent on his boat. For a long time, he even lived in a house perched on stilts–in the water.

On the water, at least, I trusted him with my life.

“Nada,” he said, asking me about my husband, my daughter, what I’ve been up to since I saw him last July.

After the small talk, I pressed him again, just to be sure. “En serio, have you guys seen lionfish out there?” “Out at La Pared, yes,” he answered, referring to The Wall, a popular deep water dive spot a few miles offshore. “But not where we go. Todo bien.”

He winked.

*
Sometimes, if the kids aren’t strong swimmers, I’ll stay on the boat. Though the outfitters are attentive, teenagers stray; they get tired easily and overestimate their strength. When this happens, I can see them, jump in the water, and swim them back on track. Or haul them in.

But maybe I stayed on the boat this time because of the lionfish?

“Jim, I’ve got a question for you.” The captain, an American guy I hadn’t worked with before, lowered the Jimmy Buffett. “Shoot.”

“So is the lionfish out here?” “Yeah,” he said, almost without feeling. “It’s here.” He went back to the cabin. In a minute, Buffett’s washed out voice filled the quiet.

*
I saw Carlos dive down deep and surface again, a massive sea star in his hand. This is why he’s great with kids; he shows them a new world, gets them excited about it. He helps them confront their fears and he tells them “I’m proud of you” when they swim through that fear and pop up on the other side. Though neither of us will ever see these kids again, I know that their time with him changes them. They’re more self-confident. More brave. More willing to try new things.

If he told me about the lionfish, he knew I’d tell them the truth. And if I told them that truth, it would change everything. They’d sit on the boat, minds swimming with images of schools of lionfish.

And so he lied.

In La Parguera. Photo: Francisco Collazo

He lied, too, because this–showing people the sea–is his living. In a very real way, it’s the sustenance of the entire town. Described in guide books as a “quaint fishing village,” if you visit more than once or stay a lot longer, you know things are more complicated than that. All kinds of little lies are told here. Without them, the travel industry here would collapse.

As it would elsewhere.
*
The danger of the lionfish is real, but the National Geographic Society notes that a lionfish’s sting is “rarely fatal.” Excruciatingly painful, yes. But rarely fatal. Rarely. Hardly a comfort to people already frightened about the mysterious sea.

So we lie, Carlos and I.

__
*all names have been changed.

Community Connection:

Far more dangerous than the threat of lionfish to snorkelers and divers is the threat these invasives pose outside their home environments. To learn more, visit REEF.org.

Photo: dcJohn

For others, it’s the temptation to buy contraband–and the promise of a high resale value–that draws them to forbidden objects.

The US Fish & Wildlife Service hopes both types of people will help fatten its bank account.

Every year, the US Fish & Wildlife Service seizes thousands of objects made of animal parts: ostrich skin boots, lizard trimmed watches and wallets, and weasel fur coats, to name just a few.

The number of seized items has become overwhelming; however, and with 1.5 million items in storage, the FWS is trying to clean house, selling 300,000 items online through Lone Star Auctions.

Though the agency would prefer not to have to make money by selling the very items it forbids others to traffic, FWS officials say there’s no better way to dispose of these objects. The last auction, held in 1999, netted the agency $500,000 in profits, all of which were directed toward wildlife conservation.

Some activists, though, are outraged by what they view as hypocrisy on the part of the FWS. One senior member of PETA had the following to say about the auction, as reported by The Wall Street Journal:

Ashley Byrne, a senior campaigner with the animal-rights group PETA… argues that the sale just stimulates demand for weasel coats and python-trimmed figurines. Instead, she says, the agency should donate the merchandise to PETA. She has laid in quite a store of fake blood to splash on the shiny green snakeskin shoes and the weathered leather jackets trimmed with fox fur. She would like to put the bloodied goods on display anywhere she can, next to video monitors rolling footage of “animals being skinned alive or bludgeoned to death.” The juxtaposition will make would-be shoppers queasy, Ms. Byrne promises. “As opposed,” she says, “to perpetuating the idea that it’s OK to turn an animal into a keychain.”

What do you think? Should the FWS sell these goods or dispose of them without making money? Share your thoughts in the comments!

But I never considered three of those passengers would be snarling pomeranians.

I heard them before I saw them. Their high-pitched yelps ricocheted across the San Francisco International Airport’s departure concourse. Everyone in the check-in line turned to see where the commotion was.

“I’m checking in for the red-eye to New York,” the dogs’ owner said briskly. She placed her luggage on the scale and one of the pomeranians leapt onto the top of it, growling protectively and baring his teeth.

“Romeo!” The woman scolded, pulling at his leash. “Sorry, they’re not normally like this,” she said with an embarrassed smile.

“They?” I questioned, peering over the counter top. “How many dogs do you have with you?”

“Three,” she answered, curtly. And before I could inform her about the airline’s ‘one-pet-per-passenger’ policy, she hastily added, “They’re my emotional support animals.”

Emotional support animals, as the US Department of Transportation defines them, are “animals that assist persons with disabilities by providing emotional support.”

As I looked from the three barking, hysterical dogs to the middle-aged woman standing before me, I wondered what sort of emotional support they could possibly lend someone. They looked more frightened about their impending flight than she did.

But of course, I couldn’t ask her, because that would have meant violating a 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act that states airlines cannot inquire as to why a person requires a service animal.

Photo: pizzodisevio

The law was enacted to protect the privacy of the truly disabled, but it’s also created a loophole for those without a disability wishing to cheat the system and avoid the $100 fee that airlines levy on people traveling with a pet. Basically, anyone can pass their pooch off as an emotional support animal by purchasing a $10 “Service Animal” vest off the Internet (no documentation is required).

Although the traveler could be asked to produce a letter from a mental health professional, airlines are so afraid of getting slapped with a discrimination lawsuit that they rarely ask to see one. In fact, the Department of Transportation goes as far as to urge “carriers not to require documentation.”

Service animals (such as those that assist the blind or deaf) aren’t new to air travel. Service animals have been assisting the physically disabled since the 1920’s and are trained in a wide-variety of tasks, from fetching medication to detecting seizures or pulling wheelchairs.

But emotional support animals are not service animals.

They don’t assist with a physical disability but rather, an emotional one (such as agoraphobia) and aren’t required to undergo any training whatsoever. Unlike therapy dogs, who work in hospitals and rehab centers, are certified and bred for their gentle, calm demeanor, emotional support animals aren’t even required to be house-broken.

They’re pets.

Pets with a fancy title maybe, but pets nonetheless.

And while under normal circumstances, a pet would have to ride in a carrier under the seat or in the cargo hold, thanks to a 2003 guideline set forth by the D.O.T, emotional support animals can now sit on the floor or on their owner’s lap, free of charge.

Just like service animals.

This isn’t to say that emotional support animals don’t provide a valuable service for those who truly depend on them. Anyone who has experienced the unconditional love of a dog couldn’t dispute the fact that they and other pets provide love and comfort… especially to those suffering from anxiety or depression.

But is that enough to allow them an all-access pass on aircraft? And where do we draw the line? If an untrained Pumba the Warthog can fly for free because he provides emotional support, then why not an uncertified house plant? My bonsai tree offers me comfort, shouldn’t I be allowed to bring him on board, free of charge, as well?

Because as it is, what qualifies as an emotional support animal is only limited to the imaginations of the owners of the pets and the doctors who “prescribe” them. As long as the animal doesn’t pose a threat to the safety of the other passengers on board, any animal (with the exception of snakes, rats, or spiders) can be considered fit for the job.

And that includes ducks, monkeys and even pigs. In the last six months, I’ve checked in three emotional support parakeets and several emotional support cats and I even know of an agent who once assigned a bulkhead seat to a miniature pony.

And what about the passengers who may not feel so happy about sharing their legroom with Mister Ed? Or what about those with pet allergies? While airlines may try their best to accommodate those allergic to pet dander (by moving them to the rear of the plane, for example), the D.O.T specifically states that the “inconvenience of other passengers is not sufficient grounds to deny a service animal carriage in the cabin.”

Once, while I was preparing to board a flight, a captain stormed off the plane and approached the gate podium. “Tell me,” he inquired in a low voice, “What the Hell is the deal with these emotional support animals?”

After I informed him of the regulations, he shook his head in disbelief. And then told me about how he’d spent part of his last flight chasing down an emotional support dog who’d escaped away from his owner’s grip and run amok under the seats, frightening the passengers.

The dog had eventually found a hiding spot near the aft lavatory, where he’d urinated on someone’s handbag.

“They’re turning our airline into a circus,” he fumed. And I had to agree.

What’s the solution?

Do we ban emotional support animals from air travel because of the actions of an untold number of dishonest people? Perhaps a simple solution would be to require that emotional support animals receive the same training that therapy animals or service animals receive. While that training can be expensive (up to $60,000 according to the New York Times), it would weed out the fakers from the legitimately disabled.

Or maybe the real problem lies with why people feel they have to rely on emotional support animals in the first place. Because if people are so afraid to fly that they need Old McDonald’s farm on-board with them, then perhaps what they need isn’t a more relaxed definition of the term “handicapped” but rather, a better therapist.

Kate Metzler, right; volunteering with the Culinary Corps in New Orleans; Photo: Julie Schwietert

Kate Metzler wears a gold shark tooth on a chain around her neck.

In a way, it seems like a relic from an East Coast, 1980s childhood, but for Kate it’s also a reminder of the mission she’s focused on every day: saving sharks. And shark fins, specifically.

Metzler is a socially and environmentally conscious chef trying to raise awareness about shark fin soup. Fascinated with sharks during her childhood, much of which was spent on Cape Cod, her interest in one of the ocean’s most reviled animals has only deepened over the years. She reads extensively about sharks and has swum with sharks on an environmental expedition.

But it’s her work as a chef that has made her more attuned to one of the most persistent and lethal threats sharks face: the desirability of their fins.

Though Metzler has not made shark fin soup, she has become aware of how pervasive the shark fin trade is–and how lucrative it is, too.

“Yes, shark fins are sold openly in Chinatown [in New York],” she tells me, explaining how the gelatinous fins are skinned and dried for sale. They might as well be a tidy stack of gold bars; single fins can sell for as much as $20,000.

MatadorU student Mike Collins, a former commercial fisherman, confirms that a haul of fins is not unlike pulling up a net full of cash. “When the Blue Fin Tuna started becoming scarce most of the tuna boats in Maine jumped on the ‘finning’ band wagon.” At the height of the shark fin craze, he said, fishermen were taking in $42 per pound of fin.

Photo: mocvdleung

The fins are repurposed as a delicacy, and the going rate for a bowl of shark fin soup can top $100. And while you may not remember the last time you saw fin soup on a menu, an August 2009 post on the blog Animal Tourism says you don’t have to look all that hard: San Francisco has at least 69 restaurants serving shark fin, while New York City has at least 56.

Cash aside, it’s at the table, over soup, where things get dicey. The soup’s popularity dates back to the Ming Dynasty, and shark fin is purported to have medicinal benefits. It’s also supposed to kick start your sex life. Shark fin soup is a dish that represents so many things, among them, status and adherence to cultural traditions.

Matador contributor Valerie Ng has had shark fin soup “on a few occasions, always at family restaurant outings (usually for special occasion like a birthday, wedding, or anniversary).” For a long time, Valerie wasn’t aware of how fins were procured or the consequences of “finning.”

When she learned more about the process, she stopped eating the soup, though has felt awkward at gatherings where it is served. “I’ve never had to pay for it myself,” Valerie says, but that hasn’t made the moral and ethical dilemmas easier for her. “It does pain me to see leftover bowls of the soup, and sometimes I feel compelled to help myself, so as not to let them go to waste,” she explains. And yet, her parents boycott the soup and have asked organizers of family outings not to order the soup on occasion.

Metzler hasn’t tried the soup herself–she’s thinking about it, reasoning, “How can I talk about this issue if I’ve never even tasted the soup?”–but as a chef, she can explain its role as an ingredient. “It’s basically used as a thickening agent,” she says, “but the actual flavor of the soup comes from a lot of other ingredients, not the fin itself.”

Mike Collins has had shark fin soup on several occasions and describes it as having no flavor at all. “It is just cartilage,” he says, confirming what Kate suggests about the other ingredients: “It is [everything else that] goes in the soup that has the flavor.”

Photo: Hector Garcia

Here’s what happens when shark fins are cut with the soup bowl in mind. The shark dies. Whether by drowning (it can no longer swim) or by having its position in the food chain completely upended, the definned shark has no chance of survival.

And the fin is usually the only part that is saved. While Mike said whatever other parts were saved would be used to bait lobster traps when he was a fisherman, Kate explained why shark steaks and kabobs are not all that popular: shark meat’s high ammonia content means that unless it has a fast transition from sea to table, and is cared for with exceptional attention in the process, it poses significant health hazards to the person eating it.

For all these reasons, Kate is on a mission to get chefs to commit to not serving shark fin. She’s turned off by groups like PETA and Sea Shepherd and her face contorts when I mention something about activism. She’s not even entirely comfortable aligning herself with the few groups that have taken on the shark fin issue because she’s uncomfortable with their preachy tone. “I don’t want to tell people that making shark fin soup or eating it is wrong,” she says. “I just want to make them aware of related issues so they can make their own informed choices.”

Community Connection:

Have you eaten shark fin soup? Have you ever had a culinary experience that caused a conflict with your environmental values? Share your experiences in the comments.

Photo: Save Our Wild Salmon

The BP oil spill has put animals living in already-fragile ecosystems at greater risk- animals like brown pelicans and other sea birds, sea turtles, and manatees and dolphins, according to the National Wildlife Federation. What’s worse is that BP’s legal liability for the spill is capped at $75 million under current laws, a figure that won’t even begin to cover the clean-up of damage that’s been caused, much less care for animals.

But beyond the oil spill, there’s another big news item this week that will affect animals significantly: the Obama administration is scheduled to release a federal salmon plan that will either signify the strengthening or the weakening of the Endangered Species Act.

Not surprisingly, the plan involves the administration making a decision between big energy interests and the integrity of species’ habitats. At issue: a choice to remove some dams and restrict future dam development (which would help endangered wild salmon populations recover and stabilize) or to give the green light to dam developers (which would increase the energy producing potential of the Columbia and Snake Rivers).

The decision is being viewed by both environmentalists and big energy interests as a test case for their respective causes: Will Obama commit to species protection or to energy expansion? The answer isn’t clear just yet, but the situation isn’t looking good for salmon: Obama’s administration merely dusted off a Bush-era plan and resuscitated it. Bush, if you’ll recall, wasn’t exactly animals’ best friend.

Regardless of the decision, the its implications are likely to be felt way beyond the western US where the wild salmon live. If big energy wins, they’ll know they’ve got the president in their pocket, and will likely keep pushing for their interests.

If you’d like to take action and encourage the Obama administration to “stand for salmon,” visit Save Our Salmon to learn more.

Community Connection:

Headed west? Want to cast a line? Read Tim Patterson’s “Fishing Montana: Lamar River Cutthroat Trout.”

Image: Zest-pk

At the end of our 5-week cycling trip in Cuba, we stayed in Varadero for a few nights for some much needed beach downtime. The weather didn’t co-operate which shot our plans down, but that’s neither here nor there.

While cycling along the peninsula we passed near the “sea-quarium”, where many tourists go and swim with dolphins. We noticed a group of people leaning over a bridge railing looking downwards. Curious, we stopped too. The dolphins’ swimming territory stretches all the way over to the bridge, so everyone was there watching a few play in the waters right below. I’ve never seen dolphins that close before and they blew my mind. They weren’t even doing anything, really. But their infamous intelligence was apparent.

A couple of young women were tossing chunks of bread to them. No one was saying anything. Then Yvonne went up to them. “You know dolphins can get sick and die from that?” Hell, I didn’t even know that, but come to think of it, yeah. I mean, when’s the last time you’ve seen a dolphin chowing down on some pumpernickel rye?

One of them said, “Really?” to Yvonne. Yeah, really. They stopped.

According to this msnbc.com video, feeding wild dolphins can net you a $12,000 fine.

To learn more, visit dontfeedwilddolphins.org.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

Love animals? Of course you do. Check these articles out across the Matador network:

12 Steps to Healing Our Relationship With Wild Animals

Volunteering for Animal Rights in Greece

Photo Essay: The Matador Photographers’ Animal Kingdom

Photo: Wolfpix

Impetus

The urge to feed and breed drives birds across oceans, mountains, and the equator. Some migrations originated after the last ice age in response to the retreat of ice sheets in areas where birds could expand their ranges to exploit food resources and decreased competition during the breeding season.

Then, they flew south again for the winter when temperatures dropped and the flowers and insects on which they fed were gone.

Endurance

Photo: thefixer

Some birds fly for several days in a row without stopping, sleeping, or eating! One of the tiniest migrants, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird, flies 900 kilometers nonstop across the Gulf of Mexico with the benefit of aerodynamic flocks like most species.

The Bar-tailed Godwit was named the “endurance champion of the animal kingdom” after completing a nine-day nonstop 11,000 kilometer flight across the Pacific Ocean. This sort of journey requires consuming energy at around eight times their resting metabolic rate.

By comparison, a professional cyclist may function at around five times BMR… but only for a few hours.

Physiology

Even birds get hormonal! Before migration, birds undergo hormonal changes that literally change their physiology. Changes in hormone levels cause them to fatten up and build energy reserves to sustain flight. Then, just prior to departure, the digestive system shrinks because the birds may not eat again for several days.

Conversely, the flight muscles and heart increase in size and capacity. The birds also molt into their stunning breeding plumage. The bright, beautiful colors help them attract a mate and the fresh new feathers are strong for sustained flight.

Biological Clock

Migratory birds have internal clocks cued by changes in day length around the spring and fall equinoxes. The instinct is so great that even migratory birds held in captivity can get fat, molt, and exhibit Zugunruhe, or migratory restlessness, during migration season.

They flutter their wings and try to fly in the direction in which they would normally fly. But when the captive birds are exposed to unnatural patterns of daylight, they do not get Zugunruhe, demonstrating their innate response to environmental cues.

On the other hand, juvenile birds do not molt into breeding plumage or migrate even though they are experiencing the same environmental cues because they are pre-pubescent and have not experienced the changes in hormone levels yet.

Navigation

How do the birds know in which direction to fly? How can they correct for winds and storms that blow them off course? Birds have sun, star, and magnetic compasses. The sun and stars make predictable rotations across the sky, providing direction both day and night.

When the sky is cloudy and birds cannot see the sun or stars, they rely on their sense for the Earth’s magnetic field. They are sensitive to the angle at which lines of magnetic force meet the Earth’s surface, which changes at different latitudes.

Some birds that were captured, shipped to areas outside of their flyway, and released have still been able to reorient themselves and fly to their original destination!

Clever Chicks

Photo: mikebaird

Once shorebird chicks have hatched and are feeding on their own, the parents fly back to the southern hemisphere for the winter. When the chicks have developed their wings and feathers, they too make the journey south.

The amazing thing is that they have never made this trip before. And they do not have an experienced bird to show them the way. Somehow, they just know where to go.

They fly up to 10,000 km over land or water they have never seen before. The European Cuckoo migrates across the world without ever having contact with its parents, providing evidence that birds can navigate by instinct.

Despite their amazing adaptations, the birds still face many threats on their journey. Bad weather systems, predators, and habitat destruction prevent as many as half of migrating birds surviving to their destination. When they arrive at their stopover points, they are starving and exhausted from days of flight and fasting and depend on those rest areas persisting from year to year.

Because the birds are international species, conservation efforts require international cooperation. Things you can do to protect migrants include keeping your cat indoors, turning off lights in office buildings at night, buying shade-grown coffee, and keeping bird baths free of mosquito larvae since West Nile Virus is an increasing threat to birds in North America.

Join a conservation organization such as the National Audubon Society or Birdlife International, which studies, conserves, and holds festivals for the return of migratory birds.

Community Connection:

Want to see birds at rest and in flight? Mary has identified the 10 Birding Hotspots for bird watchers.

4A, or the Asociacion de Ayuda al Animal Abandonado (Association for the Help of Abandoned Animals, in English), is an organization attached to the University of Chile’s Veterinary School that educates the public on pet care, medically treats and sterilizes stray dogs, and arranges adoptions.

Felipe Esteban Canales Pangui

I interviewed Felipe Esteban Canales Pangui, educational coordinator of 4A, to learn more about this complicated problem and find out how travelers and expats can help reduce the number of dogs on the streets of Santiago.

Cathy:

How many dogs are in Santiago?

Felipe:

The canine population in Santigo… is estimated to be 1.25 million dogs. Approximately 260,000 are on the streets. Almost 70% of the dogs on the streets have owners, but the owners let them wander the streets during the day. The street dogs with owners contribute the most to the population problem because they are far healthier than those without owners and have a [better] capacity to reproduce.

Cathy:

How does your organization help to reduce the number of dogs on the streets?

Felipe:

4A focuses on three areas: rehabilitation, education, and adoption. We provide shelter for dogs we find in our local community who are badly wounded, sick, or in a state of malnutrition. There are approximately 30 volunteers who take care of the 14 dogs at the shelter. The daily shift includes cleaning the kennels, giving food and water, and taking the dogs for walks.

Destinations

Community Connection to Chile

We have also started a trap-neuter-release (TNR) program. Our volunteers find stray dogs, bring them to our organization to be sterilized, and then return them to the streets. This helps reduce the tremendous population growth on the streets.

Our second area is in education. Without a change in attitude and how owners take care of their dogs, our efforts will change very little. Recently, we went to schools to educate children on how to properly care for their pets.

Thirdly, we focus on adoption. Approximately once a month, we bring the animals downtown to pass out educational material and try to find a permanent home for the dogs.

Cathy:

How many dogs are adopted per year?

Felipe:

In 2009, approximately 10 dogs were adopted from our association. It’s a low number this year.

Photo: Rodrigo Basaure

Cathy:

What can travelers in Santiago do to help the dogs on the street? Does it help to give food and water if they’re not planning on staying?

Felipe:

Giving food and water alleviates immediate necessities. There are people who give food and water with regularity and this helps to lessen the dogs’ hunger, but the solution to the real problem of dogs on the streets is through education in responsible care for pets, adoption, and sterilization.

If we succeed to do all three well, and together, we can resolve this issue.

Meanwhile, to give or not give water or food doesn’t help much in the long run if the person is not going to take on the responsibility of the animal permanently.

Cathy:

Are there other organizations like yours that help stray dogs?

Felipe:

Yes, there are several: AEDA, Student Association for the Defense of Animals, which is connected to the University of Santiago; EPA, Students for Animal Protection, connected to the agricultural department at the University of Chile; and CEFU, Coalition for the Ethical Control of Urban Animals, an entity formed by professionals concerned with how the urban animal population is controlled.

Cathy:

If travelers want to help, can they volunteer at your organization?

Felipe:

Yes, they can help in the shelter cleaning, walking the dogs, helping with construction projects, painting, adoption shifts, and education activities.

They can e-mail me (informaciones.4a@gmail.com) to schedule a time to volunteer or look on our website for more information. They can also choose to partner with us and donate money. The money we receive each month first goes for food, then to buy medicine and materials, and to create informative education brochures.

Community Connection:

Headed to Santiago and beyond? Check out all of our Chile articles on our Chile Focus Page.

Photo: Stewart

Things aren’t looking good for bluefin tuna or polar bears.

Enacting measures to protect bluefin tuna, threatened by overfishing, and polar bears, endangered by the effects of climate change, were on the agenda at the UN conference on endangered species held in Doha, Qatar earlier this week.

The proposed plan for bluefin was to ban international trade, while the plan for the polar bears was to enact protective international agreements to prevent poaching and trade of bear parts.

Both proposals were defeated by a margin that was disturbing to environmentalists: 68 to 20 in the case of the bluefin (with 30 voting members abstaining), and 62 and 48 for the polar bear (with 11 voting members abstaining).

Sharks and elephants are the animals that will be up for vote next, and with the bluefin and polar bear decisions, the future isn’t looking so great for them, either.

Community Connection:

Read more about bluefin tuna as big business in “Mitsubishi’s Back-up Business Plan.”

Photo: MarinoCarlos

It was one of those awkward moments during this year’s Academy Awards.

When the Oscar for Best Documentary was awarded to “The Cove,” political activist Ric O’Barry (who starred in the film) held up a sign: ‘Text Dolphin to 44144.’ Suddenly, the orchestra started playing, and everyone was hustled off stage.

Did the Academy somehow miss the point of the winning movie it picked? “The Cove” is about guerrilla activism, specifically to prompt change in our thinking about marine mammals, both in captivity and the wild.

Cultural Traditions vs. A Lucrative Business

After training captured wild dolphins for the popular 1960s TV series Flipper, O’Barry later renounced keeping marine mammals such as dolphins and whales in captivity (read more about his process of disillusionment).

“The Cove” focuses on O’Barry’s efforts to turn the world’s attention to the fishing village of Taiji, Japan, where dolphins are rounded up for capture each year, then offered for sale to dolphin trainers or slaughtered for their meat.

In response to “The Cove’s” Oscar, the town of Taiji issued a statement: “It is important to respect and understand regional food cultures, which are based on traditions with long histories.”

Many travelers would agree with that attitude.

But what the town’s press release fails to mention is that dolphin meat in Japan is increasingly toxic and unsafe to eat, partly due to high levels of mercury. Also, Taiji is the last town in Japan to still engage in dolphin drives. That’s hardly surprising, as eating dolphin meat is uncommon in Japan, as the movie points out. I also found this to be true during my years spent living in Japan, traveling everywhere from Hokkaido to Okinawa.

All of this makes hunting dolphins in Japan a different proposition from, for example, subsistence whale hunting by Inuits. Taiji’s emphasis on cultural “traditions” obscures the town’s profit motive in selling the caught wild dolphins to dolphinariums not just in Japan, but to other countries around Asia and the world; a captured dolphin reportedly may sell for over US$150,000.

Connecting :”The Cove” and the SeaWorld Tragedy

However, I believe that O’Barry would agree with the town of Taiji on one point: catching wild marine mammals and putting them into captivity is a global business, not just a local one.

Before Hollywood gave the Best Documentary prize to “The Cove,” mainstream media coverage of the death of a trainer at Orlando’s SeaWorld told a whale of a different tale about U.S. public attitudes toward captive marine mammals.

A 12,000-pound orca (killer whale) named Tilikum fatally attacked trainer Dawn Brancheau during a SeaWorld show in February. This was the third human death that the orca has been linked over the last two decades. Animal welfare groups such as In Defense of Animals (IDA) have warned that keeping dolphins and orcas (killers whales) in captivity will inevitably lead to more tragedies.

There was public outcry in Florida, especially by conservative religious groups, to immediately euthanize Tilikum. Tilikum’s fate is still undecided, but apparently the show must go on. Only three days after Brancheau died, SeaWorld resumed its popular whale show, albeit this time with trainers exercising more caution (e.g, giving directions from afar, not swimming with the animals or performing stunts in the water).

Captive Marine Mammals: Weighing the Pros and Cons

What price are we willing to pay to keep intelligent marine mammals captive? Some would argue that visiting amusement parks like SeaWorld is educational. It’s also true that some marine theme parks contribute to endangered species conservation and research. For example, SeaWorld works to rescue and rehabilitate Florida’s endangered manatees before returning them to the wild.

But what public audiences see at SeaWorld shows – dolphins and whales jumping through hoops and performing tricks – is unnatural. Similarly, you won’t see captive marine mammals behaving naturally during popular (and extremely profitable) “dolphin encounters” and swim-with-a-dolphin programs at amusement parks around the world.

Of course, not everyone has that opportunity to see wildlife in the wild, so, is keeping marine mammals in captivity justified?

Some argue that animals born and raised in captivity are not harmed in the same way that those who have been captured from the wild are. But scientific research has shown that marine mammals kept in captivity tend to have shorter life spans than their wild counterparts.

They are also more likely to suffer injuries (e.g., a dorsal fin injured when performing tricks or giving rides to humans) and may become ill from exposure to human disease and bacteria. Positive reinforcement techniques are not always used at marine theme parks, where holding tanks can be shockingly small.

Taking the Next Step (or Not) with Wild Dolphin Swims

Even travelers who agree that dolphins and whales should not be kept in captivity or trained to perform tricks may still defend swimming with wild dolphins.

Photo: TheStoryLady

When I lived in Hawaii, many self-described animal lovers talked glowingly about guided boat tours that took them to swim with wild dolphins, describing it as a “spiritual” experience. Many of these travelers anthropomorphize the dolphins, claiming they looked “happy.” But in fact, the dolphins may have little or no choice about whether to remain in the area or to leave.

Scientific studies have shown that swimming with wild dolphins can be detrimental to their health. When dolphins come into the islands’ protected bays to rest, the presence of humans and motorized boats can be disruptive. Later, when the dolphins swim back out into the open ocean to feed, they may be less able to fend off predators due to exhaustion. Some dolphins may be permanently driven out of safe resting places due to ongoing human disturbance by tour boats.

Is the pleasure of swimming with wild dolphins more important than the harm it might later cause those marine mammals? Perhaps “The Cove” has even more to teach us about ourselves than about Taiji, Japan.

At home and on the road, how do you decide which zoos, aquariums, wildlife tours and other animal attractions to support? How do you make such decisions when you don’t speak or read the local language? Does knowing that a performing animal was born and raised in captivity instead of being taken from the wild make a difference to you? Share your thoughts below.

Community Connection:

Interested in animals? Read more articles from our archives:

Pit Bull Bigotry: Public Perception and Legislation

Wild Pouring Out: Western Oregon’s Wolf Sanctuaries

Photo Essay: The Booming Business of Wildlife Trafficking

Photo: kjunstorm

WildlifeNearYou wasn’t designed to save animal species.

Instead, the purpose of this newish website is to create a dynamic, crowdsourced clearinghouse that can point animal lovers to places where they can see certain types of animals.

The developers of the website specifically state that WildlifeNearYou was “born out of a passion for zoos, nature reserves, and wonder and awe at the vast amount of amazing creatures that inhabit our beloved planet.”

To that end, they invite users of the site to upload photos of animals they’ve seen on their travels and to document where those animals were seen.

Though they specifically indicate that “We’re interested in places where wildlife can be seen reliably,” noting that “A badger spotted in your back garden or an eagle hovering over the M4 aren’t of interest because other people can’t go and see them later,” it seems to me that WildlifeNearYou has the potential to serve as a forum where animal lovers can document sightings of species that may be endangered or even thought to be extinct.

WildlifeNearYou also has the potential to raise awareness about animal species around the world that may be unfamiliar to people outside their local territory. Travelers, in particular, could use WildlifeNearYou to let other users of the site know about the buffy hummingbird (Leucippus fallax) in Colombia’s Tayrona National Park or the elusive (extinct?) ivory-billed woodpecker in Cuba.

Are you a birder or animal lover? What animals have you seen in your travels, and would you use a site like WildlifeNearYou to either document your trip or help you plan places to visit?

Community Connection:

Love the outdoors? Check out 10 Birding Hotspots for our favorite places to spot the world’s most beautiful birds.

I used to think pit bulls were born mean.

I had never met one, but I accepted the opinions of my parents and the adults around me. I didn’t question the prejudice, despite a lack of evidence.

Looking back, I recognize my prejudice originated no differently than other types of bigotry. Last week, Matador raised similar prejudice and stereotype issues in Leigh Shulman’s article “On the Front Porch with a Gun, Waiting for the Black People to Come” and Ricardo Arthur’s “Barraku: Black Culture in Japan”.

My attitude towards pit bulls didn’t change until I met my now-husband.

In a discussion about possible future pets, my husband said the only dog he would consider adopting was a pit bull. I questioned his reasoning, only to grow ashamed when he described all the positive, loving experiences he had with the breed.

Bigotry checked, I began researching the breed.

I fell in love.

I learned that violent acts attributed to pit bulls are not innate to the breed; violence is a manifestation of the way pit bulls are treated and raised. Despite the media’s portrayal of the breed as inherently aggressive dogs with a proclivity towards fighting, pit bulls will not act more aggressively than any other dog if not abused.

The real pit bull

Pit bulls do have three characteristics easily exploited for dog fighting. It’s no surprise that with these characteristics, bull breeds can be trained to harm:

Zoey-Photo by Author

1) Very high intelligence.

2) Strong desire and determination to please their owner.

3) Physical strength and stamina.

Cosmic intervention brought our pit bull, Zoey, to us. A vet technician acquaintance told us about a really sweet dog about to be euthanized. Zoey had been abused, neglected, and left to die in the street after being run over by a car.

Despite her cruel beginning and months of physical rehab, she is the sweetest, happiest dog I’ve ever known. Check out the recent “Meet Matador Pets” article for an example.

Since adopting Zoey 18 months ago, I’ve spent even more time researching the breed and connecting to other pit bull owners and rescue organizations.

I’m saddened when pit bulls are associated solely with hardcore gangsta rap, Sarah Palin, and Michael Vick. I cringe whenever someone uses the term “pit bull” as a descriptor for aggressive tenacity; it’s not only ignorant, but that bad word in writing: cliche.

Pit bulls in the news

Historically, the pit bull was championed as a family dog. Petey from the Little Rascals was a pit bull and Helen Keller’s dog was believed to be a pit bull. Understand-a-bull.com keeps a list of heroic pit bull stories and Cesar Milan published a list of celebrity pit bulls.

Karen Delise, founder and director of research at the National Canine Research Council, has been researching fatal dog attacks for 20 years.

She obtained official documents and data from as far back as the 19th century and interviewed animal control officers, police, and medical examiners to complete two books on dog attacks and pit bulls, “Fatal Dog Attacks: The Stories Behind the Statistics” and “The Pit Bull Placebo: The Media Myths and Politics of Canine Aggression”.

According to Delise’s results, the overwhelming majority of dog attacks were by dogs who were treated inhumanely and interacted negatively with humans. There was no evidence of a particular breed or type of dog behind the majority of dog attacks.

In temperament tests conducted by the American Temperament Test Society, pit bulls received a passing rate of 82% or better- compared to only 77% of the general dog population.

Michael Vick’s former dogs

Even pit bulls that have been fought are still not permanently aggressive. After the football star Michael Vick pleaded guilty to conspiring to run a dog fighting operation, officials confiscated 50 pit bulls on his Virginia property.

The dogs had been chained to car axles. The ones that didn’t fight were beaten, shot, hanged, electrocuted, and drowned. Many people, including animal rights groups, called for the animals to be euthanized because of their alleged vicious nature.

Instead, U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson ordered each dog to be evaluated individually, not by breed stereotype, and required Vick to contribute one million dollars to the dogs’ lifelong care.

Typical pit bull- coral11

Only one dog was found to be too aggressive to save and had to be euthanized. Another was too injured to keep alive.

The other 48 dogs were placed in foster homes and animal sanctuaries, with a handful being adopted.

Despite their past, the dogs recovered from the torture. According to a St. Petersburg Times article about Michael Vick’s former dogs:

More than a year after being confiscated from Vick’s property, Leo, a tan, muscular pit bull, visits cancer patients as a certified therapy dog in California. Hector, who bears deep scars on his chest and legs, recently was adopted and is about to start training for national flying disc competitions in Minnesota. Teddles takes orders from a 2-year-old. Gracie is a couch potato in Richmond, Virginia, who lives with cats and sleeps with four other dogs.”

Breed Specific Legislation (BSL)

Prejudice isn’t just affecting public perception. Throughout the nation and world, breed specific legislation is building momentum in policy debates. Breed specific legislation bans or restricts pit bulls and other “aggressive” breeds.

Denver, Colorado banned pit bulls in 2005. As of March 2009, the city of Denver euthanized at least 1,667 pit bulls in gas chambers. Pit bull owners had two choices when they enacted the ban: inhumanely euthanize their family dogs or send them away.

Denver is not the only place that’s passed BSL.

Cities and regions across the US, Canada, and 14 other countries have banned, restricted or are considering breed specific legislation. Air France, Continental Airlines, and British Airways also embargo pit bull type dogs on their flights due to safety concerns.

Reasons BSL doesn’t work

The laws may originate out of concern for public safety, but BSL hasn’t worked and doesn’t work for six reasons

1) Dog attacks aren’t disproportionately pit bulls; it only seems that way because of media portrayal.

2) The laws don’t fix the real issue: encouraging responsible pet ownership and punishing abusive and irresponsible owners.

3) Banning pit bulls creates a black market of mis-bred and abused dogs.

Pit bull at the pound- meagan

4) Defining breeds is problematic. A dog can still be defined as a pit bull or other banned breed if they carry certain physical characteristics, even if the dog is a mixed breed. The pit bull breed, for example, can encompass the American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, dogs with mixes of these breeds, even the American Bulldog and Bull Terrier.

5) It’s more expensive. According to Prince George County’s assessment of BSL, it costs $68,000 to confiscate and euthanize a single pit bull. Gas chambers, like those in Denver, lessen the economic blow, but millions of dollars are still spent enforcing the ban. Those dollars could be allocated to promoting responsible pet ownership, punishing abusive owners, and contributing to other important issues like education and health care.

6) 4 million dogs are euthanized per year in the United States. With BSL, dogs are confiscated that actually have homes, adding to the number of dog deaths per year.

Outlawing and discriminating against pit bulls and other breeds is shallow and harmful. Negative group think and propaganda is no reason to hold a prejudice based on race, gender, religion, nationality…or breed.

What you can do:

Support your local pit bull rescue through donating, fostering, and volunteering.

Adopt a pit bull if you believe the breed works for your lifestyle.

Follow these tips to see if BSL is being proposed in your area.

Write your congressman about the issue.

Visit these websites and blogs for more information:

Dog Politics, Stop BSL, Anti-BSL, Understand A Bull, Pitbull Lovers, Molosos y Terriers, KC Dog Blog

COMMUNITY CONNECTION:

How do you feel about BSL and pit bulls? What associations do you have with pit bulls?
Are you considering bringing a dog into your family? Read “So You Think You Want a Dog? Four Questions to Ask Yourself Before Buying a Dog.”

A gauze-like fog swallows semis perilously close to runaway truck ramps. The visible road narrows, bracketed by dark walls of spiky pine trees. The land sprouts signs warning drivers to use chains, ominous entreaties not to stop by the side of the road.

It is only fitting, then, to be out looking for wolves, creatures whose moon-yellow eyes seem to belong in this preternatural landscape.

Economically and politically, rural Oregon is far from the famously liberal cities of Portland and Eugene. Despite the gothic beauty of the Klamath mountains – a dream location for hikers – the region is struggling. Homeless men cradle cats in their laps near abandoned trailers with rags for curtains, and vacant, gutted restaurants still advertise their lunch specials. Highway billboards feature a reverse evolution of man into chimpanzee, asking: “Are They Making a Monkey Out of You?”

No less politically charged is “the wolf question,” as Oregonians refer to it. Ranchers and farmers, themselves just scraping by, assemble at backyard meetings or in chatrooms, railing against the provisions of the Endangered Species Act. Conversely, others support their state’s wolf sanctuaries by donating deer and elk kills.

They all have opinions. All have stories.

Howling Acres (HAWS)

Howling Acres, a non-profit wolf sanctuary located just beyond Grants Pass, sits at the end of a dirt road flanked by fields of deer. Their sign reads: “We can learn much from the wolf.”

Started as a hobby in 1991 by Charlie and Sherrie LeBat, Howling Acres was licensed by the USDA in 1999. The sanctuary, which functions as a retirement home for gray and red wolves, and wolf/dog hybrids, currently houses 15 animals.

The LeBats aren’t biologists; they’re wolf lovers, plain and simple. Their story began with a single wolf pup, surrendered by an Alaskan photographer. From there, it was a matter of research and grunt work, with Charlie, a former bodyguard for Willie Nelson, and his wife Sherrie learning everything they could about wolves, hybrids, and, perhaps most importantly, about people, about the public’s fear of and admiration for the North American wolf.

At its height, Howling Acres (or HAWS) performed weddings with wolves as witnesses, hosted concerts and large-scale educational tours, allowed on-site camping, and welcomed volunteers from around the world, including one of Queen Elizabeth’s nephews, all eager to get close to wolves. Several of the wolves, deemed “ambassadors,” participated in hands-on demonstrations with the public.

Now, however, due to tighter governmental restrictions, the ambassador program has been disbanded. In fact, many of the sanctuary’s unique opportunities have been scaled back. HAWS is at a crossroads. Currently, only a handful of volunteers run the sanctuary. In frail health, Charlie and Sherrie are unable to be as involved as they once were.

Oregon Fog- ex_magician

We were led on a tour of the sanctuary’s 13 acres by Brandynn Boyles. Like the LeBats, Brandynn is a self-made wolf expert, obsessed with wolves from an early age. He discovered the sanctuary by accident, began volunteering, and within days could identify each wolf by sight and sound. With his back to the compound, he tells us that it’s Apache, a large male wolf, who is almost imperceptibly whining for him; when we turn around to look, he’s right.

The wolf stories at HAWS are overwhelming, from the tragedy of Beasley, whose eyes were gouged out, and Tango, who escaped a Montana fur farm, to the comedy of Wewonka, who barks in her bath tub, and Annie, a red wolf who makes neat piles of her meat.

The wolves and hybrids, each with unique personalities, are also markedly different from zoo wolves. With one exception, they don’t pace neurotically in their enclosures or exhibit what biologists call “hyper-vigilant” behavior, akin to post-traumatic stress disorder. When four juveniles happily scampered up to us like noisy frat boys, you’d hardly know their future at the sanctuary was imperiled.

Though HAWS maintains support in the community, it also has its enemies. Rumors abound, from media reports that the sanctuary is defunct to false claims that the wolves have escaped and bitten children. The campaign against HAWS has been ugly and violent, with one pro-sanctuary documentarian becoming the victim of arson.

Eco-terrorists have set fires and continue to make threats. Most tragically, during a tour years ago, a man threw meat soaked in radiator fluid into one of the compounds, fatally poisoning one of the wolves. The wolf, Lady, was cremated, ashes blessed by a medicine man, and buried in the wolf cemetery near Sherrie’s own grandmother.

Despite the antagonism, when I asked Brandynn if believes he’s ever changed someone’s mind about wolves, he responded “For sure.” He believes in the future of Howling Acres, especially if new owners can be found, if individuals continue to visit and donate their time and resources.

As an example of his faith in the sanctuary, he mentions a neighbor who bought the LeBat’s house back for them after they went into debt buying meat for the wolves. He enumerates donations of dog food, buffalo, elk, and deer.

And of the wolves themselves, he remains in awe. “You should see them when they get raw meat,” he says. “The wild just pours out of them.”

HAWS may be at a crossroads, but its spirit, like its wolves, remains vibrant.

White Wolf Sanctuary (WWS)

Further north along the Alsea River, deep into the Siuslaw forest, is White Wolf Sanctuary, a non-profit founded by Lois Tulleners. White Wolf Sanctuary houses 10 Arctic wolves on60 acres of land, bisected by a sophisticated fencing system designed by Tulleners to allow maximum space for the wolves while also separating individual packs when needed.

Among Tulleners’ goals are: “to provide and improve conditions for rescued wolves, protect and preserve habitats in the wild, elect public officials who protect wildlife, and work toward long-term recovery in the wild.” Like HAWS, WWS is not a breeding facility; it does not contribute to a cycle of captivity, nor does it release its wolves into the wild. Unlike HAWS, the wolves here are pure, neither wolf mixes nor dog hybrids, something that Tulleners points out with pride.

Another difference between the two sanctuaries is location. HAWS is off the beaten trail but well marked, while WWS does not give out its address. When we made an appointment to visit, something both places require in order to keep stress low for the wolves, we were told to meet at an abandoned gas station near the sanctuary. There we were met by Cindy, a volunteer who allowed us to follow her vehicle up a windy, unmarked, two mile road, thick with moss-heavy trees, to the sanctuary itself.

From all appearances, WWS is thriving, as are its wolves. Each day, however, is a struggle, from battling thousands of ravens, which seize up to half of the wolves’ $300/day food, to handling stubborn wolves and staying afloat financially.

Tulleners explains that, as a non-profit, they survive on donations and their gift shop, bookstore, and adopt-a-wolf program. Sometimes, in order to economize, medical procedures have been performed in the gift shop with a makeshift lamp and table. WWS doesn’t receive grants, and, like HAWS, Tulleners and her staff are grateful for visitors, volunteers, and donations of food.

Oregon Wolf- StuSeeger

Tulleners holds a roadkill permit that allows her to supplement the wolves’ diet of store bought meat. By dietary standards, her wolves are likely healthier than those at HAWS, who get meat only once a week and subsist mostly on dog food. Tulleners also has had fewer deaths, fewer cases of cancer.

Yet there is a difference of opinion regarding wolf psychology. When asked if any of her wolves have died of the physical symptoms of depression – the stomach torsion that is a leading cause of death among the HAWS wolves – Tulleners scoffs. “They don’t feel pain and grief like we do,” she says. “They live for the moment.”

Tulleners attributes her success at WWS to careful, ongoing planning. In the beginning, she bought 60 acres, surrounded by national forest land. Her 10 foot high, three feet deep fence offers tangible proof that her wolves are not likely to escape. She has a will in place to care for them, and a creative wildfire rescue plan that entails loading them on an abandoned school bus.

When asked why she thinks HAWS has suffered so much trouble, she notes, “What shuts a place down like HAWS is being in an area with neighbors. Neighbors are your biggest enemy, and then howling, overcrowding, and fear.” Tulleners maintains that the only opposition she has experienced has come from the occasional person on a tour. However, her unmarked road and double locked gate would suggest otherwise.

In person, Lois Tulleners comes off as the Annie Oakley of western Oregon. She’s quick-witted and sharp-tongued. Asked if she has trouble with hunters encroaching on her property, she chuckles, “People don’t fire around here because they know I’ll fire back.” A former counselor, karate teacher, and singer, Tulleners became involved with wolves when her boyfriend brought home two wolf-dog hybrids. The boyfriend didn’t last, but the wolves did.

While volunteering at zoos, sanctuaries, and contributing to Yellowstone’s wolf recovery program, she began planning her own habitat for Arctic wolves. In time, Tulleners sold a cozy Seal Rock beach house in order to buy land, fencing, and a tiny cabin with no water or heat.

She’s suffered her share of tremendous setbacks, enduring third degree burns to her arms and face from a fire that claimed her makeshift cabin, yet 25 years later, she’s still there for her wolves. It seems there could be no fiercer wildlife advocate than this woman, who, like the LeBats, turned her love of wolves into her life’s purpose.

“We can co-exist with wolves,” Tulleners says. “Everybody has a right to make a living, but the point is we need to compromise. So far, only our wildlife has had to compromise.” At WWS it’s easy to see the results of that compromise, to hear the wolves’ affecting stories, like the siblings rescued from a Minnesota fur farm, their legs atrophied from being trapped in small cages. Those same wolves have now been successfully rehabbed, nursed back to life on a doe’s milk sac by Tulleners herself.

Ultimately, a trip to WWS grants visitors an opportunity few can ever experience: the chance to get up close and personal with wolves. To pet them, have them lick your face, and to hear their eerie, transcendent howl ricochet off the peaks back to your core.

Like HAWS, WWS is a beautiful, struggling place hidden in one of the least visited parts of western Oregon, and a place that is sometimes misunderstood. Ask Tulleners, who is there every hour of her life, what she wishes for the future of White Wolf Sanctuary, and you will be surprised. “My greatest wish is that someday places like this won’t exist. Because then all the wild animals will be wild again.”

COMMUNITY CONNECTION:

For more animal sanctuary perspectives read Marieke van der Velden’s transition from elephant tourism to elephant voluntourism and Stephanie Downs’s experience volunteering for animal rights in Greece.

I knew wildlife trafficking was a problem, but I didn’t realize just how much of a problem until I read this article by Charles Bergman in the November 2009 issue of Smithsonian Magazine.

According to Bergman and NGOs like the Coalitions Against Wildlife Trafficking (CAWT), animals stolen from their natural habitats and sold on the international black market represent a $10 billion business. Traffickers poach and then sell animals for food, medicine, pets, religious rituals, and private collections.

The threat of wildlife trafficking isn’t just species depletion or even eventual extinction. When animals are removed from their natural habitats, their absence disrupts the local ecosystem, and their introduction into a new environment results in problems related to non-native and invasive species.

Here are a few animals–from pocket sized to portly– prized by wildlife traffickers. Captions include text from Bergman’s article, as well as statistics from CAWT and TRAFFIC.

1. Butterflies Butterflies and other insects may be fragile, but they’re especially easy to traffic because of their small size. Butterflies are often sold to private collectors looking to expand their exotic menageries. Photo: e3000

2. Chicks Birds represent one of the biggest sources of income for traffickers, and Central and South America are high bird trafficking zones. As Bergman noted, “Ecuador–about the size of Colorado–has about 1,600 species of birds; the entire continental US has about 900.” Photo: oldcockatoo

3. Hummingbird According to Bergman, “two to five million wild birds, from hummingbirds to harpy eagles, are traded illegally worldwide every year.” Photo: hickoryhollow113

4. Turtle Turtles are sold for food, as pets, for medicine, and for their shells, which are turned into decorative items. Photo: notsogoodphotography

5. Snake Not every trafficker has the courage to hunt down and bag the world’s most venomous snakes, but those who do are paid handsomely for their efforts; snakes are sold for medicine, their skins, and as pets to exotic snake collectors. Photo: travlinman43

6. Monkey Monkeys may be harder to conceal, but experienced poachers know the pay-off is worth it: primates of all types are a hot commodity on the illicit wildlife underground. Bergman writes, “Wildlife trafficking is thought to be the third most valuable illicit commerce in the world, after drugs and weapons…according to the U.S. State Department.” Photo: individuo

Community Connection:

Concerned about animals and the impact of your travels on non-human communities? Read From Elephant Tourism to Elephant Voluntourism to learn how you can use your travel experiences to help protect animals.

Photo: exfordy

Yesterday, INTERPOL announced the impressive crime bust victory, codenamed Operation Costa, was a result of incredible coordination between police, national wildlife, customs, and national intelligence agency officers from Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda.

In addition to seizing over two tons of elephant ivory, officers in all six countries conducted inspections and raids that resulted in the confiscation of other wildlife products, such as leopard skins, as well as weapons, ammunition, and vehicles.

“The success of Operation Costa is notable not only for the sheer volume of illegal ivory which has been recovered, which is among the biggest ever hauls recorded, but because it also clearly shows the ability and will of law enforcement to effectively tackle wildlife crime,” said Peter Younger, manager of INTERPOL’s OASIS (Operational Assistance, Services and Infrastructure Support) Africa wildlife crime program.

Operation Costa is the second in a series of such operations and INTERPOL is confident ‘Costa’ will provide a strong foundation for information and intelligence gathering for future actions.

While this report is undoubtedly great news, it’s simultaneously sobering to think of the animals from which these seized products were sourced. Even more disturbing is hunting for the vicarious experience of murder.

Comments? Share your thoughts below.

Photo: mamaloco

Let’s keep this short and sweet.

The world’s honeybee population is declining.

No one knows exactly why.

More research is needed to determine the cause of Colony Collapse Disorder.

Haagen-Dazs, which sources ingredients that are pollinated by honeybees, has donated half a million dollars to honeybee research over the past two years, and launched an awareness campaign intended to get consumers involved in saving the honeybees.

There are a few different ways you can take action, but one step you can take right now is to use your Twitter account to raise money for honeybee research.

For every tweet that’s marked with the hashtag #HelpHoneyBees between now and 11:59 PM EST tomorrow night, Haagen-Dazs will donate $1.00 to research efforts at the University of California, Davis.

Learn more about the “twitcause” here.

It’s man vs. beast (the kudu) in this amazing race. Photo: kevincure

I could finally confess publicly that I have a thing for David Attenborough (he’s the old white guy and narrator of this video).

Why?

Because if you live to be his age (he’s 83) and you’re still as active, hard-working, and passionate as he is, then you’ll know you’ve really gotten the most of your time on the planet (even if you don’t have the title of “Sir” before your name).

But what’s really cool about this video isn’t Attenborough; it’s the hunters who track the kudu and the runner who pursues the kudu in an exercise of mental will and physical persistence… for a full eight hours:

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Interested in the relationships between animals and human beings? Check out these articles from our archives:

“Bird Song: Can You Hear the Melody of Nature?”

“Close Encounters: Reconnecting to Animals Through Our Primitive Nature”