Dogs big winners in Missouri races – MO Prop B passes Animal welfare advocates in Missouri and across the country are celebrating the passage of the ” Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act “- also known as Missouri Proposition B. The hotly debated ballot issue passed by just over 60,000 votes. The Prop B victory will mean better conditions for Missouri breeder's dogs. Proposition B spells out minimum standards for these animals. Breeders will now be required to provide their animals with clean water, nutritious food, space to move around, exercise and other comforts including protection from extreme heat and cold. It will also limit the number of breeding dogs at each facility and requires that breeding females be limited to producing two litters in an eighteen month period. Recognition of Animal Welfare in Biomedical Science Takes Center Stage A quarter of a century ago, a landmark NIH symposium, “Animal Welfare and Scientific Research,” fostered new laws and policies safeguarding the welfare of animals used in biomedical research. Last week, federal research leaders, scientists, animal rights activists, and others gathered again for a conference near the NIH campus to acknowledge the critical contributions research animals have made to accelerating biomedical discovery over the last 25 years and to improving human and animal health. The original NIH symposium, held in April 1984, led directly to new federal policies for the use and care of vertebrate animals in testing, research, and training. The event also contributed to the passage of laws that mandated humane care of laboratory animals, including requirements for Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUC) to provide local oversight for U.S. Public Health Service-supported research that involves animals. UK: Animal Aid to reveal more footage Animal rights organization Animal Aid is planning a number of new exposés about conditions in slaughterhouses over the coming weeks. The vegan campaigning group has published a report of its 18-month long abattoir investigation to date, which involved covert filming in seven abattoirs. It claimed abuse was recorded in six of the seven plants, and one was forced to close down after its main customer withdrew their business. However, a spokeswoman for the body, which is campaigning to have CCTV introduced in all abattoirs, said new revelations “relating to the slaughter investigation” would be made public within the next few weeks. She added they were also in discussions with a number of MPs and MEPs to gain support for its CCTV campaign. Team of animal welfare department rescues five caged simians from Atta Market area They dance for our amusement, at the cost of a painful captive life. Late on Monday night, five young monkeys were rescued right from the heart of Noida. On a tip-off, a team of the animal welfare department, raided Atta Market at around midnight and liberated the simians. All the monkeys had several of their teeth broken. These monkeys were brought to Noida by their catchers to take them to each sector and to keep them at busy marketplaces to draw crowds during the festive season. “ We got information about them and we raided Atta market and rescued these monkeys but the culprits fled the scene. We have sent the monkeys to a hospital as their teeth were broken,” said Vineet Arora, animal welfare officer, SPCA, Noida. Hunting Now A Constitutionally Protected Right In Arkansas For many Arkansans, hunting is a way of life, and voters decided to make it a constitutionally protected right in Tuesday's election. The amendment makes hunting, fishing, trapping, and harvesting wildlife a right. Supporters say it was proposed in response to fears – which were echoed nationally – that animal rights groups are trying to restrict hunting in other states. Norwegian fur industry wilder than the animals Two animal rights organisations, the Network for Animal Freedom (Nettverk for dyrs frihet) and the Norwegian Society for the Protection of Animals (Dyrebeskyttelsen/NSPA), claim to have filmed the shocking videos this year, showing animals in cramped spaces delimited by wire fences on 39 farms all over Norway. The over 800 hours of video contained images of animals with open wounds, cut off legs, ears, tails, and even dead animals kept in the same cages with healthy ones, reports NRK,. Terje Fjeldaas, associate professor in the Department of Production Animal Clinical Sciences at the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science (Norsk veterinærhøgskole), claims some animals should have been separated and given special treatment, while others would have suffered less if they were killed. BM
