Outrageous: Minnesota Hunters Unleashed on Sandhill Cranes

September 03, 2010

Friends of Animals Calls on Minnesotans and All Bird Advocates to Defend Birds

For Immediate Release: 3 Sept. 2010

Contact: Parker Lewis by EMAIL

Priscilla Feral by EMAIL

Who’d want to be an animal around us? Horses chased down with helicopters. Geese gassed in New York. And now it’s a sandhill crane hunting season in Minnesota, scheduled for the 4th of September through October 10th.

Who are these scary animals on whom the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is turning hunters loose? Tall, graceful beings with sandy feathers and bright red heads. They usually mate for life. They teach their young to dance to acquire the precision and agility required for their mid-continental flights.

But that’s not how Bill Penning of the Department of Natural Resources describes them. Penning says, “I’ve never eaten them, but everyone says they’re delicious.”*

· CONTACT: Bill Penning, Farmland Wildlife Program Leader at Minnesota Department of Natural Resources: EMAIL 651-259-5230 / 651-296-0704

As explained in coverage by the Star-Tribune, hunters will pursue sandhill cranes as they do geese, deploying decoys. Nontoxic shot, we’re assured, will be required.

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Conn. Journalist Out-Thinks Hunters

September 03, 2010

Doubts about deer economic study
September 2, 2010
Stamford Advocate Editorial

The “Economic Impact of Deer Overpopulation in Fairfield County, CT” presents some staggering conclusions.

People in Greenwich collectively are out more than $15 million a year because of deer, the study claims. The vast majority of that is due to the cost of environmental and landscaping damage, but also costs associated with Lyme disease and auto accidents.

The figure in Stamford is $11.3 million, also mostly due to environmental and landscaping damage.

Forgive us for being cynical, however.

Why? For starters, the study was commissioned by several groups, including the Fairfield County Municipal Deer Management Alliance, that are strong advocates for tougher deer-management policies — which almost always means mass killings of the animals.

Then there is the methodology of the study itself. According to the two researchers at New York Medical College who performed the study, data were based in part on a “comprehensive” 2003 survey of residents in Bernards Township, New Jersey.

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A Promising Spring for Seals?

August 28, 2010

The news for Canada’s harp seals this coming spring shows some promise. Not because of anything Canada’s government has done, but in spite of it.

The European Union is expected to ban commercial seal products. As our readers know, we’re talking about the largest systematic attack on free-living animals anywhere in the world in the name of commerce.

Friends of Animals president Priscilla Feral said, “The Canadian government is still fused to that relic of a bygone era known as the fur industry. So much so, that non-profits in Canada are shy about agitating against fur. But the outcry in Europe is having its effect and is poised to set an important example.”

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Black Dog Syndrome

August 23, 2010

By Michele C. Hollow, Pet News and Views

When I first heard about Black Dog Syndrome, I thought it was an Internet hoax. A trainer who rescued a black Labrador retriever told me that the shelter workers where she adopted her black Lab from were thrilled that she chose a black Lab over a yellow one.

If you are unaware, Black Dog Syndrome is when people don’t adopt dogs with black or dark fur. I grew up with a German Shepherd/Collie/Beagle mix who was mostly black and dark brown. He was extremely handsome, and quite intelligent, which made me think that Black Dog Syndrome just couldn’t exist.

Yet, I kept on hearing about it on chat rooms, on the Internet, from friends who do rescue work, and from people who work at animal shelters. One person told me that when she was looking to adopt a Labrador retriever, she was astounded at the disparity between available yellow dogs versus black dogs. The wait for a yellow lab from a rescue group could be months or years, while there were plenty of black labs available.

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