On the Emotional
Intelligence of Pigs
Journalist Barry Estabrook is the
author of the recent publication Pig
Tales: An Omnivore's Quest for
Sustainable Meat. "I set out on the
premise that if you're going to eat an
animal, maybe you owed it to yourself
to find out as much as you could about
the way the animal thought, its
cognitive abilities," says Estabrook. In
researching for Pig Tales, Estabrook
discovered that some pigs have been
taught how to play computer games
and that they can recognize
themselves in a mirror. Estabrook
also investigated the various
agricultural practices associated with
raising pigs, including raising the pigs
on a pasture versus raising them
under factory conditions. Estabrook
estimates that 80 percent of the sows
in the U.S. live under factory
conditions and are fed an abundance
of anitbiotics, regardless of whether
the pigs are actually sick. Estabrook
contends that those pigs raised on
pastures, where they are free to
express their instincts and eat a
proper diet, make for a better product
for human consumption. "I came to
the conclusion that pork is either the
best meat you can eat, or the worst
from any perspective -- gastronomic,
environmental, animal welfare, and it
all depends on how they're raised."
For more information, see:
•
Dave Davies, Fresh Air, "Tales Of Pig
Intelligence, Factory Farming and Humane
Bacon," NPR, May 5, 2015,
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/0
5/05/402584436/tales-of-pig-intelligencefactory-farming-and-humane-bacon
Hearing Held in NY
on Chimps’ Habeas
Petition
On Wednesday,
May 27, 2015,
Manhattan
Supreme Court
Justice Barbara
Jaffe heard
arguments on a habeas petition filed
by the Nonhuman Rights Project on
behalf of Hercules and Leo, two 8 year
old Chimpanzees being studied at
Stony Brook University. Steven Wise,
on behalf of NHRP and Christopher
Coulston, an assistant state attorney
general on behalf of the university,
made arguments addressing the
definition of legal personhood and
whether it might extend to the
chimpanzees.
For more information, see:
• James C. McKinley Jr., “Arguing in Court
Whether 2 Chimps Have the Right to ‘Bodily
Liberty,’ ” NY Times, (May 27, 2015),
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/28/nyr
egion/arguing-in-court-whether-2-chimpshave-the-right-to-bodily-berty.html?_r=1
• Alan Yuhas, “Chimpanzee representatives
argue for animals' rights in New York
court,” The Guadian, (May 27, 2015),
http://www.theguardian.com/usnews/2015/may/27/chimpanzee-animalsrights-new-york-court
• Brandon Keim, “Chimpanzee Rights Get A
Day in Court,” Wired, (May 27, 2015),
http://www.wired.com/2015/05/chimpan
zee-rights-get-daycourt/?utm_source=digg&utm_medium=em
ail
Edited by David J. Brunell, Chance Lyman, Gretchen Myers, and Laura Triplett.
To contribute your story, email ALC.Update.Email@gmail.com.
Commercial Fishers
Want to Continue
Fishing Near NASA
Escaped Bull Charges
School Children and
Tramples Officer
Commercial fishing is currently
allowed near Kennedy Space Center,
but the Merritt Island National
Wildlife Refuge and Canaveral
National Seashore is planning to phase
out commercial fishing by 2018, in an
effort to progress its conservation
mission. This has put it in conflict
with commercial fishers who have
been fishing Mosquito Lagoon for
years, some for several decades whose
livelihood
depends on
fishing the waters
and who complain
they have faced
increasing hardships based on
increasing regulation designed to
combat depletion of local fish stocks
including crabs. Different sides of the
dispute assert different causes to
crashing crab stocks: fishers complain
the depletion is pollution-induced,
which has in turn induced algal
blooms, whereas regulators asserts
crabbers have overfished.
For more on fishing in Mosquito Lagoon, see:
In late April, a bull
escaped from a farm
in Fellsmere, Florida
(north of Vero
Beach) and
wandered into a
nearby apartment complex. The bull
was first spotted by a man waiting at a
bus stop in front of the complex. The
man was texting on his cell phone
when he looked up and saw the bull
“staring him in the face.” He
immediately called 911. When an
officer arrived, the bull was walking
toward a group of about 20 school
children gathering at the bus stop.
The officer attempted to distract the
bull, but the bull charged him,
knocked him over, and trampled him.
The officer shot the bull seven times,
killing it. The officer sustained an
injury to his ankle. As a fire fighter
who responded to the scene noted,
“Attempts were made to stop the
animal without violence and allow it
to calm without success. I believe [the
officer] responded in a manner to
protect the lives of all the children
that were present and removed the
threat.”
•
Jim Waymer, Florida Today, “Commercial
fishermen fight to fish near NASA” (May
19, 2015), available at:
http://www.floridatoday.com/story/new
s/local/2015/05/16/commercialfishermen-fight-fish-nearnasa/27451075/
Further Reading:
• “Florida Officer Shoots, Kills Charging Bull
to Protect Kids at Bus Stop,” News
Channel 8, April 29, 2015,
http://www.wfla.com/story/28931159/f
lorida-officer-shoots-kills-charging-bullat-school-bus-stop.
Edited by David J. Brunell, Chance Lyman, Gretchen Myers, and Laura Triplett.
To contribute your story, email ALC.Update.Email@gmail.com.
Dairy Workers
Charged with Animal
Cruelty
Four New Mexico dairy farm workers
have been charged with nine counts of
cruelty to animals following the
release of footage showing the
workers "kicking and punching cows,
stabbing them with screwdrivers,
violently whipping them in their faces
and bodies with chains and metal
wires, and dragging 'downer' cows
who were took sick or injured to stand
with a tractor while workers shocked
them in the genitals with electric
prods." As a result of the investigation
into the charges, Leprino Foods, the
world's largest mozzarella cheese
maker and supplier to Pizza Hut,
Domino's, and Papa John's, committed
to a comprehensive animal welfare
policy designed to address such
instances of abuse.
For more information, see:
• Matt Rice, The MFA Blog, "Breaking: Dairy
Workers Charged with Criminal Animal
Cruelty Following MFA Investigation,"
April 30, 2015,
http://www.mfablog.org/breaking-dairyworkers-charged-with-criminal
Obama
Administration Moves
to Encourage
Monarch Butterfly
and Honey Bee
Populations
The Obama
Administration
has announced
plans to
“expand[]
pollinator habitat
on rights-of-way” specifically the
Interstate 35 corridor, running from
Duluth, Minnesota to the TexasMexico border in conjunction with
federal agencies and the nations of
Mexico and Canada. The initiative
uses the federal government’s extant
authority over federal rights of way
and its own budget to “rehabilitate
prairie vegetation, educate ‘target
audiences,’ and provide spring and
summer breeding habitats along the
flyway.”
For more information, see:
• Jenni Avins, “Obama is creating a 1,500-mile
‘butterfly corridor’ to help Monarchs get
from Mexico to Minnesota,” Quartz, (May
20, 2015), http://qz.com/407893/obamais-creating-a-1500-mile-butterfly-corridorto-help-monarchs-get-from-mexico-tominnesota/
Edited by David J. Brunell, Chance Lyman, Gretchen Myers, and Laura Triplett.
To contribute your story, email ALC.Update.Email@gmail.com.
ALC Update:
If you have not done so already, be sure sign up for the ALC CLE Seminar.
Our CLE program is scheduled to take place on Friday, June 26 from 1:00 p.m. to 5:10 p.m. in
Boca Raton. Additional information about the program and registration instructions are
available here: http://www.floridabar.org/annualconvention#Registration
The ALC CLE agenda can be viewed here: http://bit.ly/1GPzuMb
If you have any questions about the CLE program, please feel free to email Aleksandra at
aleksandra_sikorska@yahoo.com
Legislative Update
The Legislature passed, and the governor signed into law, SB 716, which creates section
474.2167, Florida statutes and provides a public records exemption for certain animal medical
records held by a state college of veterinary medicine that is accredited by the American
Veterinary Medical Association Council on Education.
Edited by David J. Brunell, Chance Lyman, Gretchen Myers, and Laura Triplett.
To contribute your story, email ALC.Update.Email@gmail.com.