Author: LATimes

It may be the Show-Me state but Missouri representatives apparently saw too much email from activist Brenda Shoss and the group Kinship Circle.

The animal activists were responsible for hundreds of emails, the Associated Press reports, that urged the lawmakers to vote against a bill that would pave the way for horse slaughterhouses to open in the state.

"The bill would seek to bypass the ban on using federal funds for horse
meat inspection by allowing state officials to collect fees and pass
them on to the U.S. Department of Agriculture," The St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote. "There are no horse
slaughter plants in the U.S., but the meat is considered a delicacy in
some countries." Supporters of the bill claim that the meat would come from horses that were abused or neglected.

Because the activist emails were so plentiful and from all around the world it was hard for the representatives from either side of the aisle to determine how many were actually constituents. There was also the issue of weeding through the email, a process that took some reps hours, and made them feel vengeful toward the activists.

Some reps created rules in their email accounts that redirected any message with the word "horse" back at Shoss’s email address. "It’s so fun to piss you wackos off," Rep. Casey Guernsey (R-Bethany) wrote to an activist through a private email account. "You’re lucky I even acknowledge your existence. It’s so much fun to taunt people like you — ha! Tell me, is it truly liberating to be so incredibly clueless?"

Shoss said that she got prank calls from people who made neighing sounds and she also received a phone call from someone who sang the theme song from the classic TV show, "Mr. Ed." To add insult to injury, the Mizzo House passed the slaughterhouse bill today.

Dogs didn’t have much better luck with the Missouri legislature today. A bill was proposed to honor a Newfoundland dog named Seaman who traveled with Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. The idea was to make the Newfoundland the state dog, which would be the 27th official state symbol.

But because the Newfoundland originates in Canada and since Seaman may have never actually visited Missouri, the bill was shot down today 84-67.

— Tony Pierce

Animal news on the go: Follow Unleashed on Facebook and Twitter.

Photo: The DVD box cover of Season One of the "Mr. Ed" show. Credit: The Shout Factory

Scientists at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. have detected rising hormone levels in the zoo’s female giant panda, indicating that she could be pregnant.

The rising levels mean Mei Xiang (may-SHONG) could either give birth in 40 to 50 days or come to the end of a false pregnancy. She was artificially inseminated in January.

Reproductive biologist Janine Brown says zookeepers remain "hopeful, but cautious" that Mei Xiang is pregnant. Brown says the panda’s hormone levels and behavior sometimes indicate she is pregnant when she’s not.

Veterinarians are conducting weekly ultrasounds to look for a fetus. So far they haven’t seen any indication of one, but it’s still too early. Panda fetuses don’t start developing until the last weeks of a gestation period.

— Associated Press

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Photo: Mei Xiang eats bamboo leaves at the National Zoo in 2002. Credit: Hyungwon Kang / Reuters

SAN FRANCISCO — Tony the Siberian tiger is back on display at the San Francisco Zoo after being shot with tranquilizers and hauled out of a moat where he’d spent four nights.

Zoo officials say it’s not clear why Tony stayed in the moat. He’s in good health, although he’s 18 and a recent medical evaluation showed signs of senility.

Zoo officials decided on Monday that Tony could no longer stay in the dry moat he climbed into Thursday. The excrement was piling up and officials worried about a potential health hazard.

So with the help of firefighters, they hit the 360-pound tiger with tranquilizer darts, strapped him to a board and hauled him out with a pulley.

Siberian tigers have a life expectancy of 10 to 15 years in the wild and 14 to 20 years in captivity.

— Associated Press

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Photo: San Francisco Fire Department personnel and San Francisco Zoo staff members prepare to lift Tony from the moat after sedating him Monday. Credit: Associated Press

We don’t pretend to know why Bea the lamb is inside the home in which she can be seen clomping about in the video above.

But really, do we need to know?

We tend to think the mysterious nature of the situation lends it a bit of cachet — rather like the viral video "Scarface School Play" before we found out that it was actually created by a veteran music video director and a team of professional child actors. The mystery is better than the real story, you know?

Regardless of her back story — whatever it might be — we find Bea pretty darn adorable, and that’s enough for us.

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— Lindsay Barnett

PHILADELPHIA — When humane officers responded to a North Philadelphia row home in February, they found pit bulls chained to spikes driven into the ground in the backyard. They seized treadmills, steroids and "break sticks" used to separate fighting dogs at the jaws.

They also arrested a man who had long been on their radar as a suspected dogfighter. This time, officers were able to get enough information to nab him thanks to an increase in tips.

One major reason? Since the Philadelphia Eagles brought convicted dogfighter Michael Vick to town, more people are aware that the illegal sport is also a crime.

"It has really brought this to light," said George Bengal, director of law enforcement for the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "People are definitely more aware or attuned to this type of activity."

The number of dogfighting investigations in Philadelphia has jumped over the last year, a surge attributed to increased public awareness since Vick joined the Eagles, a new SPCA hot line to report dogfighting, stepped-up enforcement and — some activists say — new animal abusers drawn to the illegal sport.

In 2009, the SPCA investigated 903 cases of alleged animal fighting in Pennsylvania, most of them involving dogfighting in Philadelphia, Bengal said. That’s more than three times the number of cases in 2008, when there were 245 investigations.

Dogfighting investigations had been on the rise before the Eagles signed Vick in August, but not as dramatically as last year. In Philadelphia, Bengal said, there were 85 dogfighting complaints in 2004, 109 in 2005, 111 in 2006 and 157 in 2007.

The number exploded last year amid the publicity from Vick’s signing, he said. The former Atlanta Falcons star — once the highest-paid player in football — was convicted in August 2007 for operating a dogfighting ring. He served 18 months in federal prison.

"By hiring Michael Vick, the Eagles brought clear attention to a very awful thing that’s done to animals," said Tom Hickey Sr., founder of the Pennsylvania advocacy group DogPAC. "But also by hiring him, they also said it’s OK to do this kind of stuff."

The SPCA recently launched a statewide hot line for animal cruelty that has generated most of the complaints, Bengal said. The SPCA also has educated people about what to look out for in spotting dogfighting operations: heavy chains, thick collars lying around, barrels instead of doghouses or places where dogs are separated where they can’t run loose together.

Reporting is up about 25% from previous years, Bengal said, and the SPCA has devoted more officers to investigate animal fighting. But he said there also has been an increase in actual dogfighting.

"This is a fad out here now," he said, adding that it’s hard to break down exactly how many of the cases are new operations.

Nationally, states and law enforcement agencies have been cracking down on dogfighting since the Vick case, said John Goodwin, manager of animal fighting issues for the Humane Society of the United States. In the 2008 and 2009 legislative sessions, he said, 27 state laws were passed cracking down on animal fighting.

He also said the number of law enforcement actions related to animal fighting roughly doubled from pre-Vick in 2006 to after his conviction in 2008 — which he attributed to greater awareness and motivation on the part of law enforcement agencies, not an increase in dogfighting.

Goodwin said he thinks dogfighting has subsided nationally since the Vick case surfaced.

When humane officers go on raids in Philadelphia, they typically find a mixture of repeat offenders in their 30s and 40s — who may have been getting away with it for years — and those just getting into the sport in their teens or early 20s.

Officers can tell if a dogfighting operation is new or old by the paperwork they find. Established operations like the one raided last month have papers dating back years, showing training records with rankings of the animals. Well-equipped dogfighting rings often include special sticks used to break apart fighting dogs, along with treadmills and elliptical machines to exercise the canines.

Newer, smaller operations sometimes just have areas where dogs fight in a yard and teens train them to bite an old tire.

But Humane Officer Wayne Smith said he thinks many dogfighters look down on Vick because he got caught. Smith said rap music and other cultural influences continue to glorify dogfighting.

"It’s almost like a cool thing, like turning your hat backward and hanging your pants low," Smith said.

The Eagles faced public outrage from some fans when they signed Vick. Dozens protested outside the team’s practice facility for his first few days of practice and at the team’s home opener in September, but the furor faded quickly.

The quarterback called his offenses "a horrible mistake" and has spent time working with the Humane Society of the United States, speaking to school and community groups about the mistakes he made getting involved in dogfighting.

Pamela Browner White, an Eagles spokeswoman, said she thinks Vick has helped increase awareness of the horrible sport.

"We’re glad to see that reporting numbers are up in the Philadelphia area," she said. "Dogfighting is a huge problem. It was a huge problem before Michael, it’s still a huge problem."

In December, Vick won the Eagles’ Ed Block Courage Award, voted on by his teammates after a season in which the three-time Pro Bowl pick played sparingly behind starter Donovan McNabb. The award honors players who exemplify commitment to the principles of sportsmanship and courage.

Martin Mersereau, director of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ emergency response division, doubted that there’s been any post-Vick increase in dog fighting nationally — more that there’s been a decline.

"You might see an upswing in the number of cases reported," he said. "But I don’t believe there’s more cruelty going on… If anything, Michael Vick is helping put a dent in this insidious practice. He brought animal fighting into the spotlight."

— Associated Press

Animal news on the go: Follow Unleashed on Facebook and Twitter.

Top photo: Burrito, a pit bull about 8 months old, poses for a photograph at an SPCA facility in Philadelphia on March 17. It’s believed that Burrito’s scars resulted from his abuse as a "bait dog" in a dogfighting operation, as well as multiple burns. Credit: Matt Rourke / Associated Press

Middle photo: Vick speaks to a crowd about dogfighting at the Covenant Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 29, 2009. Credit: Jacquelyn Martin / Associated Press

Bottom photo: Animal advocate Debbie Sanville of West Chester, Pa., protests outside the Ed Block Courage Awards ceremony, which honored Vick as well as a number of other NFL athletes, in Baltimore on March 9. Credit: Gail Burton / Associated Press

LONDON — When it comes to predicting earthquakes, toads — warts and all — may be an asset.

British researchers said Wednesday that they observed a mass exodus of toads from a breeding site in Italy five days before a major tremor struck, suggesting the amphibians may be able to sense environmental changes, imperceptible to humans, that foretell a coming quake.

Since ancient times, anecdotes and folklore have linked unusual animal behavior to cataclysmic events like earthquakes, but hard evidence has been scarce. A new study by researchers from the Open University is one of the first to document animal behavior before, during and after an earthquake.

The scientists were studying the common toad — bufo bufo — at a breeding colony in central Italy when they noticed a sharp decline in the number of animals at the site. Days later, a 6.3-magnitude earthquake hit, killing hundreds of people and badly damaging the town of L’Aquila.

Researcher Rachel Grant said the findings suggested "that toads are able to detect pre-seismic cues such as the release of gases and charged particles, and use these as a form of earthquake early warning system."

Initially puzzled by the toads’ disappearance in the middle of the breeding season, the scientists tracked the population in the days that followed. They found that 96% of males — who vastly outnumber females at breeding spots — abandoned the site, 46 miles (74 kilometers) from the quake’s epicenter, five days before it struck April 6, 2009.

The number of toads at the site fell to zero three days before the quake, according to the study, published in the Zoological Society of London’s Journal of Zoology.

"A day after the earthquake, they all started coming back," said Grant, the report’s lead author. "The numbers were still lower than normal and remained low until after the last aftershock."

She said one possibility was that the animals sensed a change in the amount of radon gas emitted by the Earth because of the buildup of pressure prior to a quake.

Scientists also have surmised that animals may be able to detect minor tremors imperceptible to humans, or that they sense electrical signals emitted by rocks under stress before an earthquake.

Grant said the sense might be the result of millions of years of evolution, a trigger that tells the toads to move to safer ground.

"An earthquake could wipe out a population in that area," she said. "A landslide or flood could wipe out virtually 100% of the males, and quite a lot of the females."

Several countries have sought to use changes in nature — mostly animal behavior — as an early warning sign, without much success.

The city of Tokyo spent years in the 1990s researching whether catfish behavior could be used to predict earthquakes, but abandoned the study as inconclusive.

Roger Musson, a seismologist with the British Geological Survey, said the problem with studies like the Italian toad research was proving the connection between the animal behavior and the quake.

"What happens is somebody observes some strange animal behavior, then there is an earthquake, so they link the two," Musson said. "There are probably plenty of cases in which there is strange animal behavior and no earthquake."

He said the new study was "another bit of data in the large pile that has been accumulating over the years. But it’s not in any shape or form a breakthrough."

— Associated Press

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Photo: A toad sits on a road near Buch, Germany, in 2003. Credit: Johannes Eisele / AFP/Getty Images

At the Hellabrunn Zoo in Munich, Germany, a 4-day-old zebra foal named Kanisha frolicked in her enclosure for the first time Wednesday morning.

In addition to its adorable new zebra, the Hellabrunn Zoo is also home to another famous animal baby: Jamuna Toni, the Asian elephant calf born there in December. Jamuna Toni’s birth was big news in Munich because her mother, Panang, had experienced difficultly with previous pregnancies. To ensure Jamuna Toni’s birth went off without a hitch, zoo staff taught Panang to do maternity exercises that looked remarkably like elephant yoga.

Another well-known zoo animal, Gianna the polar bear, also calls the Hellabrunn Zoo home — but while her enclosure in Munich is being renovated, she’s bunking at the Berlin Zoo with Knut, the polar bear who shot to stardom when his keeper decided to raise him after his mother rejected him as a cub.

Newborn zebras are able to walk 20 minutes after birth and can run within an hour. See another photo of Kanisha with her mother after the jump!

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— Lindsay Barnett

Photos: Frank Leonhardt / European Pressphoto Agency

In the 30 years since People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals was founded (by its current president, Ingrid Newkirk, and Alex Pacheco, who is no longer affiliated with the group), it has become the largest organization of its kind and its name has become virtually synonymous with the animal-rights movement.

That level of ubiquity and the controversial nature of many of PETA’s programs and strategies have made the group a lightning rod for many who oppose its stances.

The group has claimed at least part of the credit for a number of changes in the way animals are treated over the last 30 years; perhaps it’s most famous for its anti-fur campaign. Without a doubt, PETA has been instrumental in increasing many people’s awareness of the unpleasantness of the fur industry, with particular emphasis on so-called "fur farms" where animals like minks, chinchillas, raccoons and foxes are raised solely to be killed for their pelts.

Its advertising campaigns, specifically the celebrity-centric "I’d Rather Go Naked than Wear Fur" variety, are certainly eye-grabbing. But are they, and are other PETA strategies like the production of its sometimes-graphic FurIsDead.com website, really responsible for turning the tide against fur?

In a recent article, Times reporter Susan Carpenter asked the question: Just how much of a hand did PETA have in the fall of fur and other high-end animal products and the subsequent rise of more humane options like faux fur in the fashion marketplace?

To find out the answer, Carpenter asked Ilse Metchek, the executive director of the California Fashion Assn. According to Metchek, "PETA’s done a remarkable job of making itself known." The group, she says, has also not just "made faux fashion OK" but also given celebrity stylists pause about dressing their clients in real fur, because doing so could lead to their being labeled insensitive to suffering by animal advocates. (Despite PETA’s best efforts, of course, some celebrities still persist in wearing fur — including well-known actresses and singers Catherine Zeta-Jones, Goldie Hawn, Kate Hudson, Jennifer Lopez and Jessica Simpson, all of whom were called out on PETA’s most recent Worst-Dressed List.)

But Metchek and other observers of the fashion industry are quick to point out that factors unrelated to the plight of suffering animals are also largely responsible for recent years’ declining fur sales.

Mink imports to the U.S. decreased by 30% in 2009 from 2008 levels, a statistic viewed as a heartening one by many in the animal-rights community. Even so, recent runway shows in New York, Milan, Paris and London included hundreds more fur pieces than were seen in fall 2009 collections, and there’s evidence that young designers are increasingly turning to fur as a way to demonstrate the "luxuriousness" of their brands.

But even if designers are opting for "luxury" in their lines, consumers seem more interested in affordability.

A shift toward low-cost fashion is partly responsible for a reduction in the amount of fur being sold, Metcheck says. "It happened with the onslaught of H&M and Forever 21 and Topshop and Mango, where you can be fashionable at any price…. It takes money to wear fur. There is a lot less fur at the lower levels."

Technological advancements that have made it possible to create more authentic-looking faux fur have also helped turn the tide against the real thing, says Janine Blain of the retail trend consulting firm Directives West. "Stores are more than ever open to buying fake furs because the products look very, very good. In the past, there was never that variety," Blain said.

But PETA — with its celebrity endorsements, powerful online presence and ability to mobilize its most hardcore base of supporters — has doubtless been instrumental in spreading the word about the downside of fur. That hasn’t exactly endeared it to those who make their living from fur sales, some of whom are fighting back. One group, the Fur Council of Canada, even introduced a "fur is green" campaign that aims to convince consumers that real fur is a more environmentally sustainable product than faux fur.

Read more about PETA’s ongoing battle with the fur industry in Carpenter’s story from Sunday’s Image section. (And if you’re so inclined, check out another story from Sunday’s Image section in which Times reporter Geraldine Baum weighs political correctness against her family’s longstanding love of fur coats. But we warn you, animal lovers, you’re likely to be displeased with Baum’s conclusion.)

— Lindsay Barnett

Top photo: PETA’s Dan Mathews poses in a Dolce & Gabbana shop window in a 1998 protest against the design house. Credit: Reuters

Bottom photo: A PETA member protests outside a fur exhibition in Hong Kong on Feb. 25. Credit: Mike Clarke / AFP/Getty Images

The Connecticut Humane Society has failed to spend most of its money for its central purpose of helping animals, sometimes euthanizing animals rather than providing treatment, state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said Tuesday.

In a preliminary report, he said the Humane Society designated $46 million of its $52 million assets to a quasi-endowment fund from which a relatively small amount is used for general purposes. Such spending restrictions appear to be excessive and threaten to deprive the society "of resources to adequately conduct its core animal care and protection functions," Blumenthal said.

He said there have been complaints that the society euthanized cats with upper respiratory infections and dogs with heartworm — both treatable diseases — to avoid the cost of extended stays and additional treatment, Blumenthal said.

He also said the 129-year-old society had unspecified financial transactions with businesses whose board members have a financial interest. And, he said, the society compromised oversight by allowing Richard Johnston to serve as both president and board chairman. Blumenthal said he received "numerous and, in some instances, credible complaints describing a pervasively dysfunctional culture and serious acts of managerial misconduct."

Johnston resigned this month to pursue other philanthropic pursuits after 24 years with the society.

Christopher White, the new president, said in a statement Tuesday that many of Blumenthal’s suggestions are "well under way."

"The society is in the middle of a period of what we hope will be great, positive change and we are looking at the change in management as an opportunity to improve and re-energize the organization," he said.

The society also was accused of interfering with employees’ attempt to unionize, Blumenthal said. He said he referred those allegations to the National Labor Relations Board.

The International Association of Machinists won an election in December to represent 35 employees, said Everett Corey, directing business representative for the union. The society fired five employees and contested the election, delaying a decision on whether the union will be certified as the bargaining agent, he said.

Cathy DeMarco, a former employee, said she organized the Coalition for Change, a group of workers and volunteers at the society and members of the public and contacted the Machinists union because many staff members were overworked and poorly trained.

"There are so many animals and so few staff," she said in an interview. "The animals could not get adequate care for a shelter this size."

Animal care workers were upset with what DeMarco called a high number of animals euthanized due to behavioral problems, such as a dog suffering separation anxiety.

"The public who relinquished their animals to the Humane Society in desperate times, very upset about relinquishing animals, think they’re giving the animal a chance, not knowing they were put down, sometimes within a day or two," she said.

— Associated Press

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HONOLULU — Illegal cockfighting would be recognized for its cultural merits under a resolution advancing in the Hawaii Legislature.

The House Tourism, Culture and International Affairs Committee passed the resolution Monday on a 4-2 vote, sending it to the House Judiciary Committee. The resolution doesn’t have the force of law and wouldn’t legalize cockfighting, which is prohibited in all 50 states.

But supporters say it would recognize cockfighting’s long history in Hawaii and among Filipino migrants who cherish it. They also say cockfighting is widespread on the islands, and legitimizing it could boost the economy.

Animal rights groups oppose the measure, saying cockfighting is a cruel blood sport.

Before passing the resolution, representatives amended it to include a line saying they don’t support gambling or gaffs — sharp knives tied to game birds’ legs.

— Associated Press

Animal news on the go: Follow Unleashed on Facebook and Twitter.

Photo: A cockfighter holds a rooster at a gamefowl farm in New Mexico in 2007. Credit: Jake Schoellkopf / Associated Press

We’re big fans of Maru the cat’s impressive work in the field of Adorableness. Maru, a Scottish fold from Japan, has stretched the boundaries of what it means to be a cute cat and become an international celebrity in the process.

We can watch Maru’s "greatest hits" all day — particularly his exploits attempting to jump into a large cardboard box. His latest video installment, shown above, was uploaded just this past weekend and has already garnered more than 130,000 views!

Fun fact: Scottish fold cats are born with ears that point straight up, like most cats. When they’re around three weeks of age, some kittens’ ears spontaneously fold downward at the tip; other kittens’ ears remain straight and never form the breed’s classic fold at all.

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— Lindsay Barnett

Video: mugumogu via YouTube

Flip on the National
Geographic Channel and you’ll find animals in the wild sharing time
with shows on science, exploration, history and world culture.

When you flip on
Nat Geo WILD, soon to be available in the United States for the
first time, it’ll be all wild, all the time — and available in HD.

The 24-hour WILD was
introduced in Hong Kong three years ago and is available in more than 50
countries, said Geoff Daniels, the executive in charge of programming
for the new network. The United States will be added March 29, nine
years after Nat Geo went on the air.

WILD has been one
of fast growing National Geographic projects internationally, Daniels
said. High definition makes the timing right and the viewing awesome, he
said.

High definition, Daniels said, gives filmmakers
new power to peel back the mysteries of the wild world, including the
daily struggles of life in the wild.

"We’re not going to
shy away from getting viewers closer to that experience," he said.

Daniels warned viewers that the new network isn’t about animals gone
wild but animals IN the wild.

"We are not aiming at
kids, but night in and night out, there
will be a lot of programming that parents and children alike can be
really comfortable coming to," he said. "We’re not doing this for cheap
thrills."

What will people see? Two new series on WILD
are "Rebel Monkeys" and "Expedition Wild with Casey Anderson."

"Rebel Monkeys" looks at a sacred gang of monkeys who live at the
Galta Temple in the Indian city of Jaipur. A drought has threatened
their food supply and camera crews follow them as they search for food —
and often find trouble — on the streets of the city.

Anderson is a naturalist whose best friend and best man
at his wedding is a 900-pound grizzly bear named Brutus. His show looks
at some of North America’s mightiest animals, including his pal.

— Associated Press

Stay up-to-date on animal news: Follow Unleashed on Facebook and Twitter.

Photo: This family of macaques in India will be featured on the new high-definition channel from National Geographic.  Credit: Richard Kirby / Associated Press

Earlier this month, Animal Planet announced plans to begin filming a new show, tentatively called "Taking on Tyson," in which boxing champion Mike Tyson will showcase his new and unorthodox hobby: pigeon racing.

Tyson is apparently a longtime pigeon fancier — according to the network, his first fight as a child was waged in defense of his pet birds — but has never before participated in a competitive pigeon-racing event. "Taking on Tyson" will follow the world’s most famous ear-biter as he takes on a new, presumably less violent, sport.

Tyson, who refers to the show as "monumental," professes to have a deep affection for the birds he’ll be racing. "I feel a great pride acting as an official representative for all the pigeon fanciers out there," he said in a statement. "I want people to see why we love these birds."

But some other prominent bird lovers are less than thrilled at the prospect of the show and the increased visibility it will lend to pigeon racing, a sport they say is inherently cruel to birds.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals responded to Animal Planet’s announcement by firing off a letter to the Brooklyn district attorney’s office — "Taking on Tyson" is to be filmed in New York — asking for an investigation into its production.

In the letter, PETA attorney Jeffrey Kerr writes that "[it] is likely that extensive wagering will take place on the outcome of these races, as is customary in the industry, in violation of New York law."

Further, given that Tyson will presumably be paid for his participation in the show that bears his name, such payment "is itself a monetary reward derived from racing animals, which is illegal in New York" (with the exception of horse racing), PETA president and co-founder Ingrid Newkirk argues in a blog post published on the website Change.org.

In addition to its allegations about gambling and Tyson’s paycheck, PETA argues that racing pigeons  amounts to animal cruelty. "It can only be a traumatic experience, as evidenced by the fallen pigeons who succumb to storms, shotgun pellets and collisions with high-tension wires and who are often found starving, exhausted and a long way from home," PETA’s Logan Scherer writes on the group’s blog.

Beyond the dangers inherent in flying long distances, PETA claims, many pigeons that are unsuccessful as racers are put to death for their deficiencies. "People who race pigeons consider that the standard operating procedure is to wring the necks of pigeons that aren’t good at it, pigeons that won’t win you prize money," Newkirk told the Washington Post.

Pigeons, PETA says, are intelligent creatures with cognitive abilities rivaling small children’s. A 2008 study out of Tokyo’s Keio University found that the birds could distinguish between live and tape-delayed video images of themselves, demonstrating cognition one scientist involved with the study described as being more advanced than that of the average 3-year-old human.

Responding to PETA’s allegations about the wagering on the races shown in "Taking on Tyson" and concerns about the treatment of birds on the show, an Animal Planet representative sent a statement to Entertainment Weekly "to clarify that for ["Taking on Tyson"], there have never been any plans for wagering on the pigeon races. We have not yet begun filming but, rest assured, all of the pigeons that we will feature in the program are cherished and respected by their owners, including Mr. Tyson. Animal Planet will honor that respect and care in our production and in how these beautiful creatures are treated."

But Animal Planet’s promise of fair treatment for the avian costars of "Taking on Tyson" isn’t enough for PETA. Newkirk’s blog post concludes with a warning that the show is likely to produce an effect similar to the "101 Dalmatians syndrome" that’s often cited by pet rescuers as a cause for animal abandonment. Many moviegoers who see a charming and well-behaved animal actor of a particular breed or species are apt to purchase one for themselves, the "101 Dalmatians syndrome" thinking goes, only to discard the animal later when they discover that the real-life animal is more difficult to deal with than its movie-star counterpart.

"Many of [Tyson’s] fans will casually acquire birds and then quickly tire of the idea," Newkirk writes. "Animal Planet will do viewers and pigeons a terrible disservice if it airs this show, as it will sentence countless birds to a life in a cramped cage and ultimately a bad end."

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— Lindsay Barnett

Photo: Tyson attends an Italian talk show on Jan. 22. Credit: Danilo Schiavella / European Pressphoto Agency

Three environmental groups announced Monday that they intend to sue the Interior Department for not protecting sage grouse as an endangered or threatened species.

The Center for Biological Diversity, Desert Survivors and Western Watersheds Project said the department violated the Endangered Species Act by classifying sage grouse not as threatened or endangered but merely as candidates for such protection.

Some of the roughly 250 species considered candidates for protection have been on the candidate species list for decades. The groups pointed out in an intent-to-sue letter Monday to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar that relatively few species in recent years have been gaining protection under the Endangered Species Act.

The average during the Clinton administration was 65 a year, the groups wrote, while the average since 2005 has been just three a year.

At that rate, they wrote, sage grouse are unlikely to be protected any time soon.

"This is an agency dragging its feet," said Rob Mrowka, an ecologist in Las Vegas for the Center for Biological Diversity.

An Interior spokeswoman declined to comment, citing department policy for matters in litigation.

Sage grouse are a mottled brown, football-sized bird found in Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Nevada, California, Colorado, Utah, Washington, Oregon, South Dakota, North Dakota and Canada.

Wyoming is believed to host about half of the birds, but much of their sagebrush habitat in the state’s vast basins also is prime country for oil and gas drilling. In Nevada, sage grouse are threatened by cheatgrass, an invasive species prone to wildfires that burn native sagebrush.

The Interior Department announced March 5 that protection for sage grouse is warranted but precluded by higher priorities — other species deemed in greater need of protection. The department announced the same finding for the distinct Mono Basin sage grouse population along the California-Nevada line.

The oil and gas, wind and ranching industries greatly feared an endangered or threatened listing, which would have restricted many activities on public land across the West.

The Fish and Wildlife Service assigns each candidate species a priority number between 1 and 12, with lower numbers being higher priorities for protection. The sage grouse across its 11-state range was assigned a number 8. The Mono Basin population got a 3.

About half of all candidate species are 1s and 2s, meaning even the Mono Basin sage grouse are halfway down the priority list, said Noah Greenwald, endangered species program coordinator for the Center for Biological Diversity.

Sage grouse are in "a purgatory that could last literally decades," Greenwald said.

Sixty days’ notice is required ahead of filing a lawsuit under the Endangered Species Act. Western Watersheds Project already has filed a complaint over sage grouse, a case in Boise, Idaho, that led to the candidate species finding.

Western Watersheds Project contested the candidate species finding three weeks ago by filing a supplemental complaint in its case. Executive Director Jon Marvel suggested the other groups could join Western Watersheds Project lawsuit or file elsewhere.

Mrowka said the groups haven’t decided where they might sue.

— Associated Press

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Photo: Male sage grouse fight for the attention of a female in Wyoming. Credit: Jerret Rafferty / Associated Press

Have a non-emergency question about your pet’s health? Dr. Heather Oxford of L.A. veterinary hospital California Animal Rehabilitation (CARE) is here to help! In this installment of Ask a Vet, Dr. Oxford has some tips for reader Kristine about treating her cat’s potentially cancerous skin growth.

Kristine’s question: In advance, know that I will take my cat to the vet. My cat has a small, black, irregularly shaped mole on her flank. I discovered it when I was petting her, but I have never seen her "bother" it. Could it be skin cancer?

Heather Oxford, DVM: I am glad you will take your cat to the veterinarian because this growth should be examined. In cats, cancerous skin growths occur more frequently than non-cancerous growths. You and your veterinarian can check the eyes, mouth (way in the back and under the tongue) and anal areas for any other growths that could indicate a cancerous type. The area that this growth is in isn’t a common one for cancerous growths, but the irregular shape and pigmented appearance you describe raise some flags.

It is a little easier to decide what to do if you know how quickly it is growing, but it sounds like you’ve only recently discovered it. If there is any other procedure that she needs, such as a dental cleaning, I would have it removed for biopsy at that time. If not, and depending on what your veterinarian thinks, monitoring for a short time frame is reasonable. Your veterinarian can measure it and note the appearance in the record for accurate comparison at each recheck.

To submit your question for Dr. Oxford, just leave a comment on this post or send us a tweet @LATunleashed and look for her answer in an upcoming installment of Ask a Vet!

About our vet: Dr. Oxford received her bachelor of
science degree at Bowling Green State University, Ohio.  She also
received a master’s of public health degree in epidemiology from Emory
University and went on to work at the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention in Atlanta. She then went to the University of Tennessee,
College of Veterinary Medicine, where she received her doctor of
veterinary medicine degree.  She practices at California Animal
Rehabilitation and also is certified in veterinary rehabilitation and
acupuncture. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Wade, and
German shepherd, Tess.

Photo: A veterinarian holds a cat. Credit: Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times

We could hardly believe our eyes when we saw YouTube user panther445‘s video of a young anteater reacting to being tickled. 

We can’t help but notice a striking resemblance between this adorable anteater and a certain ticklish kitten that became a YouTube sensation last year.

Although anteaters aren’t as textbook cute as kittens, we think this little guy’s mastery of jazz hands might actually put him above the aforementioned ticklish kitten for sheer, overwhelming adorableness. Someone get this anteater a top hat, white gloves and a one-way ticket to New York!

RELATED:

Your morning adorable: Tamandua holds his own spoon to eat cheese

The Year in Cute: 2009’s 20 most adorable animals

— Lindsay Barnett

Video: panther445 via YouTube

The bunnies sat in stacked cages on the downtown sidewalk. They nibbled
on lettuce as passers-by stopped to pet them. How much? A young woman
cheerfully named her price. ($20 is the going rate.)

"No photographs," she said, passing a hand in front of a rabbit as a
photographer snapped pictures.

On a sunny Saturday, she scanned the throngs coursing along Maple Avenue
toward 12th Street, en route to the Santee Alley shopping bazaar.

Suddenly, she gasped. She and other vendors whisked black garbage bags
over the cages, grabbed them and anything else they could carry and
scurried off.

In seconds, they were swarmed by half a dozen yellow-shirted Business
Improvement District security officers and a Los Angeles police officer.
A bucket of turtles ended up dropped in the middle of 12th Street.

Security officer Alondra Alonzo tussled with one vendor, wresting a bag
of rabbits from her grip. The vendor, annoyed, walked off with a single
rabbit.

"It’s 5 months old," said the woman, who identified herself as Stacy
Martinez when asked if the animal was unweaned. "They are well taken
care of." She handed the caged rabbit to a little girl, who placed it on
her lap.

In the weeks before Easter, the illegal bunny trade is booming in
downtown Los Angeles. "It’s kind of a perennial problem," said Lt. Paul
Vernon of the LAPD, especially around holidays.

In Los Angeles, selling anything on the sidewalk is against the law.

Though the sale of animals may not be on an economic par with the
selling of counterfeit designer handbags and bootleg DVDs, what makes it
particularly egregious to animal rescuers, the Department of Animal
Services and law enforcement officers is that the animals are usually
unweaned, malnourished and destined to die once buyers get them home.

An arrest for illegal sidewalk selling brings a citation. But if an
animal control officer can certify that the animals are being badly
kept, the vendor can be arrested on suspicion of felony animal cruelty.

Two weeks ago, LAPD Officer Matthew Shafer arrested a man downtown on
suspicion of animal cruelty and confiscated more than 100 animals,
including rabbits and iguanas. "I try to get them at their point of
entry: parking lots," Shafer said.

Earlier Saturday, Shafer, downtown security officers and rabbit
rescuers had set out to a rooftop parking lot. There, in an unlocked
Chevy van, they found a container full of dozens of green turtles
clambering over one another.

"For these people, this is just a business," said Shafer.

Shafer, who owns three rescue dogs, said collaring sidewalk vendors
illegally selling DVDs and animals is "my favorite thing."

"I know all the players down here," he said. And they know the tall,
hazel-eyed cop. They have nicknamed him Guero — a not-so-endearing term
for "white boy."

The vendors rely on lookouts — on foot, scooters and bicycles — to
warn them by cellphone, walkie-talkie or air horn that officers are
approaching, he said.

But on this Saturday, that didn’t stop Shafer from arresting a vendor
who gave her name as Veronica Maldonado. As she stood by, handcuffed,
rabbit rescuer Lejla Hadzimuratovic cradled two tiny bunnies, just days
old, their eyes unopened. She will take all the underage rabbits home
and nurse them with kitten formula and colostrum pills. (By the way,
she said, lettuce destroys the systems of young rabbits.)

"They might survive," she said of her charges.

— Carla Hall

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Top photo: A street vendor slips a plastic bag over cages containing rabbits and turtles as she scrambles to leave the corner of 12th St. and Maple Ave. in L.A. Credit: Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times

Bottom photo: From left, Mackenzie Fick, Shawn Evelyn and Jeannie Aguilar, members of rescue group the Bunny World Foundation, hold young rabbits confiscated from illegal vendors in L.A.’s Fashion District. Credit: Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times

The Phoenix Zoo is used to hosting birthday parties, but this one was a little different.

Duchess the orangutan turned 50 on Saturday, and the zoo treated her to gifts, an ice cake filled with fruit and a rendition of "Happy Birthday" by hundreds of zoo visitors.

Her keeper, Bob Keesecker, said Duchess didn’t seem too stressed about the milestone.

"I told her it was her birthday today and she didn’t seem to be overly concerned about it," he said. "I made sure her hair looked good before she went out."

Keesecker said Duchess has quite a sweet tooth and worked pretty hard to get to the fruit in the ice cake.

Zoo officials say Duchess is the nation’s oldest captive Bornean orangutan, and is now 10 years older than the 40-year life expectancy of orangutans in the wild.

Duchess was just 2 years old when the zoo opened in 1962, and is one of only a few remaining original animals. She has given birth seven times and lives with one of her daughters, her daughter’s mate, and their daughter.

Keesecker said that besides a strong devotion to food, Duchess also enjoys painting pictures on canvas and cleaning her own pen with a scrubbing brush and a bucket of water.

Saturday’s birthday party included the groundbreaking of a $4-million orangutan exhibit that will provide a more natural environment for Duchess and her family. Zoo officials hope the exhibit will allow them to add more orangutans in the future.

The new exhibit will be part of the zoo’s overall $20-million makeover that includes a recently opened Komodo dragon exhibit and a future Sumatran tiger exhibit.

— Associated Press

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Photo: Duchess in an undated photo. Credit: Associated Press

For five years, the manager of a pet store in posh Bel-Air met delivery trucks loaded with hundreds of ailing purebreds from Midwest puppy mills.

"They often got sick in transit," Jamie Katz said. "They would put hundreds of puppies on a semi, and if one got sick, they all got sick. I tried to fix the problems, but it’s hard when you are the only one trying."

Two years ago, she found herself with allies — protesters who showed up in front of the store in a high-end mall. They were working on a campaign of the Best Friends Animal Society to persuade people just like her to sell shelter animals instead, which is exactly what happened, thanks to Katz.

Amid the protests, Katz spent time talking to picketers, reading their literature and doing research; then the owners of the shop, Pets of Bel Air, decided to close. Katz borrowed money, leased the vacated store, hired eight employees (including her mom), bought all new inventory, named her business Woof Worx and took Best Friends up on an offer to help — with questions, contacts and business advice.

Katz is now the group’s poster child for going humane and is endorsed on websites, press releases and ongoing demonstrations at other stores.

In just one year, Katz has sold 200 shelter dogs, from puppies to 3-year-olds. "That’s a great number. I’m thrilled. It’s something to be proud of," she said.

Woof Worx is in the Glen Center, where valet parking is complimentary, paparazzi are banned and factory puppies used to sell for $3,500 or $4,000 each.

"People up here can absolutely afford an expensive dog, but it’s about doing what’s right. People are falling in love with the rescues we are saving," Katz said.

She offers grooming (she has two groomers on staff), concierge services, training classes and teeth cleaning clinics (vaccination clinics and microchip clinics are planned). Katz had planned to offer pet daycare, but that part of the store was turned into a cage-free play and getting-to-know-you zone for the dogs she and her mom bring back from shelters each week.

Katz, 28, usually has between eight and 15 dogs in the store.

"I know what my customers want. I like to rescue dogs (she and her boyfriend have four plus a cat). I want to feel good about it. We also try to get more adult dogs than puppies because most puppies will end up getting homes anyway. The older dogs need more help," she said.

In addition to startup help, Best Friends will show pet store owners how they can offer mobile adoption services, for which the burdens of finding dogs, screening, paperwork and transportation are handled by a rescue group, said Elizabeth Oreck, who managed the Best Friends campaign that won over Katz.

Some larger chain stores like PetSmart and Petco have long held weekend adoptions in conjunction with rescues and shelters near individual stores, a far more useful endeavor over trafficking in factory puppies, Oreck said.

"These puppies have never been on solid ground or seen the sun before," she said. They’re often chronically sick or have genetic problems from inbreeding or over-breeding.

Best Friends, based in Kanab, Utah, has been demonstrating in three cities — Los Angeles, New York City and Las Vegas. Los Angeles County has about 400 pet stores that sell live animals.

Seven Los Angeles stores targeted by Best Friends have closed, Oreck said. The organization would have preferred they stay in business and sell shelter dogs, but many feel they can’t make it without the high-priced purebred puppies that come primarily from commercial breeders in Missouri, Nebraska and Pennsylvania, she said.

"People fall in love with the dogs, not the label or breed. The kids don’t know the difference. They just see a cute dog. They don’t care about the price tag or where the dog came from," Oreck said.

Customers are smarter these days and often reject stores stocked by puppy mills, Oreck said. It’s a trend that is growing one store and one convert at a time, but the dent is showing, she said.

A $4.8-million default judgment against Pets of Bel Air was approved in Superior Court last August in a lawsuit filed by several people who bought puppies from the store only to have them die or get seriously ill. Around the same time, the Humane Society of the United States conducted an undercover investigation of the store’s business practices after its website claimed that the store didn’t deal with puppy mills, just private breeders. The disclaimer was eventually removed from the site.

There was no telephone listing for former store owner Tom Demick in Los Angeles.

In Utah, Best Friends runs the largest no-kill animal sanctuary in the country on a 3,700-acre compound that is home to 1,700 to 2,000 animals at any given time.

The organization isn’t working alone. People used to think all shelter dogs were old or bad, but many minds have changed. More celebrities than ever champion animal causes alongside animal welfare organizations.

Katz charges customers more than a shelter would, but a dog comes with a Woof Worx guarantee that it has been neutered, micro-chipped, vaccinated, groomed, well fed and the center of a lot of attention.

Best Friends doesn’t picket a pet store until investigators confirm it is selling puppy mill dogs, Oreck said. In Los Angeles, the breeder’s name, city and state have to be posted on every pet store kennel. In other cities, stores have to make that information available on request.

There are also brokers that handle many of the puppy factories, Oreck said, and those names must be on the paperwork.

Most pet store owners don’t visit the breeding farms where puppies come from, she said. They just go to the Internet and choose from lists on a website. Sometimes, the puppies are shown frolicking in a field of flowers or in a basket next to a fireplace. They don’t show the dogs in small cages, in subzero temperatures or without food or water or human handling, Oreck said.

"You would never adopt a child that way. It’s not a pair of shoes," she said. "It’s a living thing you will take care of your whole life."

— Associated Press

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1st photo: Animal care technician Mario Ochoa holds a dog named Toby while Katz takes a photo at the East Valley animal shelter in Van Nuys. Credit: Richard Vogel / Associated Press

2nd photo: Katz spends time with the rescued dogs at Woof Worx on March 16. Credit: Richard Vogel / Associated Press

3rd photo: Katz plays with dogs at Woof Worx. Credit: Richard Vogel / Associated Press

4th photo: Ochoa watches as Katz takes a look at Toby. Credit: Richard Vogel / Associated Press

5th photo: Olive, one of the rescued dogs at Woof Worx, waits for a new home. Credit: Richard Vogel / Associated Press

DOHA, Qatar — Aggressive lobbying from Asian nations led by Japan killed all efforts to protect marine species at a U.N. meeting, leaving environmentalists fuming Thursday that efforts to conserve bluefin tuna and sharks were undermined by commercial interests.

The bid to regulate the trade was also hampered by concerns from poor nations that such measures would devastate their fishing economies at a time when many were just emerging from recession.

"This conference has been a disaster for conservation," said Oliver Knowles of Greenpeace. "Country after country has come out at this meeting arguing for business as usual and continued trade in wildlife species that are already devastated by human activity."

The 175-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, or CITES, opened two weeks ago with calls from the United States and Europeans to give a lifeline to overfished oceans. But the meeting ended Thursday with little to show for their efforts.

A bid to ban the international export of Atlantic bluefin tuna, which is a key ingredient in sushi, was killed along with regulations on the pink and red coral trade. Six species of sharks failed to get protection despite studies showing their numbers had fallen by as much as 85 percent due to the booming fin trade in China and other parts of Asia.

The sole shark to get some measure of protection, the porbeagle shark, ended up losing it on the final day after Asian nations reopened the debate and voted down regulations. Some conservationists were visibly distraught when the vote tally was read.

"This is a significant setback for these marine species, but we view it as only a temporary setback," Tom Strickland, who headed the American delegation, said in a statement. "We will redouble our efforts with other countries around the world to fight for the protection of marine species imperiled by international trade."

It wasn’t a bust for all species. The meeting approved conservation plans to protect Asian big cats as well as rhinos. It also managed to kill proposals from Zambia and Tanzania to conduct one-off sales of their ivory stocks, over concerns they weren’t doing enough to stop poaching.

Delegates also approved protection measures for 24 lesser plant, reptile and insect species, including the spectacular Dynastes satanas beetle and the spiny-tailed iguanas of Latin America.

But these few protection measures were overshadowed by concerns that CITES has been transformed into a body driven by big money and trade. Some compared it to the U.N. climate conference, where decisions are often made in back rooms by world leaders.

"The minute money gets involved, everything is different," CITES Secretary-General Willem Wijnstekers said. "Countries that consistently vote for conservation then vote the other way. I’m a bit lost."

Japan, for many, illustrated the changing face of CITES. It led the campaign against the listing of the marine species and spent months before the meeting lobbying aggressively.

The Japanese held a reception for select representatives at their embassy in Qatar, offering up Atlantic bluefin tuna sushi — a typical food served at Japanese formal occasions — the night before the vote on the export ban of the overfished species.

"Japan clearly mobilized massive efforts to keep fisheries out of CITES," said Mark W. Roberts of the watchdog group Environmental Investigation Agency.

Hisashi Endo, the director of the Ecosystem and Conservation Office in the Fisheries Agency of Japan, said its delegates stuck to the facts. They argued that regional fisheries bodies were better suited to regulate marine species and that the CITES ban was unfair.

"We are not pressuring anyone," Endo said. "We are talking to many countries and expressing our opinion and seeking their understanding."

But some delegates accused Japan of using tactics that went beyond diplomacy and violated the spirit of CITES.

Kenya, which fought the Japanese over tuna, accused Tokyo of pressuring delegates to support its positions and paying fisheries officials from unnamed African countries to attend the conference.

"The way we have seen this conference operate, there is a lot of influence that is quite unnecessary," said Patrick Omondi of Kenya’s delegation. "That is not very good for species that are affected by trade."

Masanori Miyahara, chief counselor of the Fisheries Agency of Japan, acknowledged that Japanese government funds were used by nations to attend CITES and other fisheries conferences.

"Participation is very important for them to learn what is going on internationally," he said. "They use the money for tuna regional fisheries management meeting and other meetings."

But Miyahara denied his government "was buying votes" with such funding or bluefin tuna at its reception.

"We wanted to show what it is," Miyahara said of the tuna sushi. "You can’t buy the vote by just serving bluefin tuna. That’s a silly idea."

— Associated Press

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Top photo: A press conference held by officials from the CITES conference on March 24. Credit: AFP/Getty Images

Middle photo: A can of shark’s fin soup is seen at a Monterey Park, Calif., grocery store in 1998. Credit: Nick Ut / Associated Press

Bottom photo: A man eats bluefin tuna sushi at a restaurant in suburban Tokyo on March 12. Credit: Yoshikazu Tsuno / AFP/Getty Images