On Tuesday, a twin-engine plane packed with 53 rescue dogs enroute from Louisiana to a humane society in Wisconsin crash-landed just short of its destination at a golf club in Pewaukee, Wisconsin. It was a skillful emergency landing, and thankfully, there were only minor injuries inside the plane. Outside, snow kept people off the golf course, so the only casualty was a small tree taken out by the landing.
The story has garnered local and national notoriety and the destination shelter, Humane Animal Welfare Society (HAWS), reported hundreds of inquiries about the dogs, which means they’ll all be adopted. So – from certain disaster to hunky-dory-happily-ever-after, yes? Maybe not. The primary question remains: are loosely regulated rescue pet transports appropriate, humane, or even safe ways to deal with surplus pets? The fact is, of all the sources of dogs available to the public, these are among the most challenging because they have a demonstrable record of significant health and behavioral problems.
Concern over disease and parasites in rescue imports is often dismissed or even belittled by rescue activists, though it’s maddening to the scientists and agencies that are forced to deal with the fallout (HAWS was quarantined a few years ago when South Korean rescue imports brought canine brucellosis with them – a disease that can utterly destroy breeding programs). Canine rabies infection is fatal without post-exposure treatment, but even if exposure doesn't result in infection, it often causes a follow-up investigation and cleanup that costs a fortune. But rabies and brucellosis are just two of many diseases found in unvetted pet transports – and many of these are not endemic to their destination sites. Importing dogs from foreign countries can put US agriculture at risk with diseases such as African swine fever, which has killed millions of hogs worldwide.
If you are adopting a pet, we urge you to seek out locally sourced dogs and cats in need of permanent, loving homes. Rescue transport may get some great headlines (just follow how this story is being covered elsewhere!), but the resources that go into it would be much better spent solving surplus and homeless pet issues at their source, via outreach, education, improving animal services, and providing low-cost vaccination and spay & neuter services.
The Asian sheepshead wrasse can change from female to male
Think you can reliably predict the physical and behavioral differences between male and female animals? If so, your confidence is noted, but let’s be honest here: the only thing you can truly rely on is that Mother Nature has an infinite supply of curve balls to throw at your expectations.
For example, animals all over the world have found ways to use the typical characteristics (at least by our expectation) of the opposite sex to their advantage. This not only confuses predators, it can also confound members of the same species. For example, some white-necked jacobin females sport male plumage, providing them with the advantage of being left alone by males while eating. Who wouldn’t want that? Similarly, a few narwhale females have tusks, which may confer similar advantages.
Some sex-expectation switches aren’t anomalies, but the norm. Unlike most other mammals, female hyenas are larger than males, have higher levels of testosterone, and rule their clans. Meanwhile, the Asian sheepshead wrasse takes things a step further, and sometimes completely changes its sex!
These surprising findings are just the tip of the evolutionary iceberg, but one thing is certain now: what is good for the goose can be just as good for the gander… and vice-versa.
For a fee, Rocky can become your emotional support dog!
Emotional support animals are creating drama and stress for people everywhere. No, not because they aren’t doing their job - we can't blame the animals. It's owners of fake emotional support animals and companies that enrich themselves by enabling the practice. The problem lies in where emotional support animals are allowed. If an apartment does not allow animals, people can go online, pay a fee to register their "emotional support animal" into a database, then receive a certificate to show the landlord. It is easy peasy, and the certificate arrives whether the person actually needs the animal for emotional support purposes or not. This has created a tangled web of dishonesty between owners and the issuers of the certificates, who are making a lot of money on their online services.
Since people have caught on to the trick, states like California have tried to curb the practice of creating fake emotional support dogs. This not only protects landlords from tenants bringing animals into domiciles that are unsuitable for keeping pets, but more importantly, legitimizes the needs of those who truly rely on these animals for therapeutic purposes. In addition, it also reduces the blowback of distrust that has recently been felt by those with service animals who need those animals to get by in their day-to-day lives.
Over the summer we covered the recovery story of an ecosystem in Great Britain that is finally bouncing back from the illegal release of mink by animal rights extremists. The effects were harmful and took years to mitigate - the mink decimated small animal populations throughout the region as they are voracious predators. Wildlife management had to systematically collect the invasive mink and exterminate them in order to restore balance to the area.
Just a few days ago, vandals broke into a mink farm in Ohio and released upwards of 40,000 mink from their cages. Authorities are searching for the perpetrators. In the past, extremist animal rights groups like the Animal Liberation Front have been quick to take credit for such releases, but nobody has been arrested or claimed responsibility yet.
Thousands of these animals have been killed so far by farmers, hunters, and as roadkill. Ultimately, the animals died pointless deaths and their pelts are now useless. It remains to be seen what impact the remaining mink will have on the surrounding ecosystem.
The 19th CITES meeting is being held in Panama City right now through November 25th. NAIA is incredibly fortunate to be formally represented by this article’s author, Art Parola, at this meeting!
CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, is an international agreement between governments that aims to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten the survival of the species.
Hypancistrus zebra, better known as the zebra pleco or L-46, is an attractive and popular species in the aquarium market that was first discovered and exported from Brazil in 1987. Despite a ban on collection, possession, and export by the Brazilian government in 2004, zebra plecos continue to be popular in aquariums, supplied mainly via captive-breeding in Asia, Europe, and North America.
Due to the value of the fish and the demand for employment opportunities in its native range, some illicit collecting and smuggling of the fish also occurs. The vast majority of illegally exported zebra plecos are traded to Asia. A study on demand for the species showed aquarium hobbyists overwhelmingly prefer captive-bred individuals over their wild-caught counterparts. Despite the species’ proven suitability for large scale aquaculture, and the success of commercial zebra pleco culture operations outside the species’ native range, Brazilian law does not make exceptions for captive breeding. This deprives Brazilians of a legal and sustainable livelihood, and incentivises the illicit fishing and smuggling of the species.
