Welcome back to Animal Happenings, where we scour the interwebs for top animal stories. Keep scrolling to read some of the latest animal news from around the globe!
Featured Story: Efforts to Rescue Animals in Ukraine
As with any man-made crisis or natural disaster, animals—both wild and domestic—are the unseen victims of Russia’s war on Ukraine. The following pieces examine how animal welfare workers are coming together to rescue animals that have been caught in the crossfire.
CNN interviews Jakub Kotowicz of the ADA foundation, a no-kill animal shelter in Przemysl, Poland, just 30 minutes from the border with Ukraine. The staff is risking their lives driving into Ukraine to help empty out shelters, CNN writes.
BBC News reports on how animals are being rescued from the war, interviewing James Sawyer, UK director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), whose organization is supplying resources like food, veterinary supplies and paying the wages of staff during the war to ensure animals can carry on being looked after.
NBC News goes inside the frantic efforts underway to evacuate animals from Ukraine in this video report.
Fox 5 profiles The Helen Woodward Animal Center, a nonprofit organization in Rancho Santa Fe, California, reporting it is looking to help both the animals and people of Ukraine amid a Russian invasion.
ZME Science writes about the dangers to animals in zoos, and their keepers, which have no means of escape from the warzone. ZME reports that animals are being put on sedatives and watched around the clock, but evacuation is nearly impossible.
News EER.EE reports on the efforts of non-governmental organization Nähtamatud Loomad ("Invisible Animals") which recently evacuated animals from several Ukrainian shelters alongside 34 human war refugees.
Interested in supporting animal rescue efforts in Ukraine? Great Pet Living provides a list of organizations and shelters to donate to, as well as tips for knowing how an organization is legit.
Local/New Mexico News
Albuquerque Animal Welfare Violates Ordinance—For Good Reason
“Animal Welfare violated a city ordinance by allowing a dog that was not neutered to be adopted out,” KRQE News reports, adding, “The report states last October, an officer in APD’s K9 unit wanted to adopt a dog without sterilization.” KOB4 reports on the intricacies of the ordinance and the ethicality to making an exception, writing, “In its 20,000-plus words, the HEART ordinance doesn’t provide for a ‘perfect storm’ exception. Its stringent rules are why the case of a one-year-old Belgian Malinois at the Eastside Shelter is so interesting.”
National News:
National Transition to Cage-Free Eggs Huge Animal Welfare Win
“The nation’s egg producers are in the midst of a multibillion-dollar shift to cage-free eggs that is dramatically changing the lives of millions of hens in response to new laws and demands from restaurant chains,” AP News reports. According to the article, cage-free housing for hens has increased from 4% in 2010 to 28% in 2020.
Global News:
Scientists Create A.I. “Pig Translator” to Decode Oinks
“Scientists believe that the AI pig translator – which turns oinks, snuffles, grunts and squeals into emotions – could be used to automatically monitor animal well-being and pave the way for better livestock treatment on farms and elsewhere,” The Guardian writes. “Researchers trained an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm with 7,414 recordings of pig noises, gathered throughout the life stages of 411 pigs,” according to Daily Mail. “The report suggests farmers could set up a system to alert them to when their pigs are unhappy,” BBC Reports.
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