Mary Childress
Daily Mail staff
Monday October 30, 2006
SUMMERSVILLE -- It's a farm like no other in West Virginia. There are lions and tigers and camels and kangaroos and more.
The Good Evening Ranch and Feed Box is located just minutes from Summersville off U.S. 19. It has been a working farm for about 12 years while the exotic animals in the zoo were added about five years ago.
It's open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday and closed Sunday. Fees for visiting the zoo are $3 per person.
"When we started here, we were breeding horses," said farm manager Cindy Adkins, "but then Tom (Kamm), the owner, saw a baby camel he just had to have and that started our exotics. That was about five years ago, and we've been growing ever since."
Adkins was hired by Kamm on a temporary basis over the phone. "That was almost 13 years ago," the 47-year-old said. "I was supposed to fill in till he got back to the ranch. I screwed up, didn't I? I should have known right then to leave."
She and Kamm have known each other forever and work well together. For a boss he's a pretty good guy, she said. Kamm's family was in the mining business years ago, and before he owned the farm he was in the insurance and banking business and owned a motel in Summersville.
Akins grew up in Greenbrier County where her grandfather, "Pawpaw Charlie," brought her her first horse, she said. She's been around horses all her life and even worked the rodeo circuit for a short time. Now her special ranch hand is her almost 3-year old granddaughter, Jade, who helps with the horses and even in the restaurant on occasion.
Adkins started at the farm by raising pintos and quarter horses. She learned to care for the exotics the hard way -- by doing.
"Tom just likes to be different," she said. "Most of the animals we have now were purchased when they were babies, and almost all of them have been bottle-fed."
The zoo has a U.S. Department of Agriculture license to keep the wild animals, and the facility is inspected once a year. Adkins and the zoo employees keep strict records on worming and vaccinations of all the animals as required by law.
Shania the camel, the first exotic animal on the farm, is now 5 years old.
"She's a sweetheart," Adkins said. "We bottle-fed her right from the start. We added Clyde, a male camel, a couple of years ago. You have to watch out for him; he can be mean. We may try to breed these two next spring."
The lions, Leo and Cleo, were brought to the zoo as cubs and were fun to play with when they were little. Now, said Adkins, they weigh more than 400 pounds each. When they have to be vaccinated, the farm workers have learned to do it quickly.
"We get them close to the fence by enticing them with a chicken. As they grab for the birds, I get as close as I can to them and plunge the needle in. I've learned to be real fast."
They vaccinate the tigers, Tigger and Too, the same way.
On the more than 660 acres are emus and ostriches, miniature Brahma bulls, pigmy goats, monkeys of all types, Dahl sheep, a couple of Jacob's rams, and a zebra named Zeb.
All the animals have been named by either Adkins or Kamm.
"There are probably hundreds of animals here if you count all the ducks, swans and birds, but we haven't counted in a long time," she said.
All the fields have sheds where the animals can find shelter from rain or cold. And the lions have heated housing attached to their large cage and outdoor area. The kangaroos, Daisy and Skippy, as well as other animals that are used to warmer weather, are usually brought into the barn when it gets really cold.
The animals are also rotated in the fields so that every type gets access to good grasslands.
The lions and tigers eat 40 to 60 chickens a day. Adkins says they could feed all the other animals on what it costs to feed just those four carnivores.
"Frankly, I don't really want to know what the feed bill is. The state road department brings us all the road kill deer for the lions and tigers, and that helps."
In addition to the animals on the farm, the facility has a 100-seat Feed Box Restaurant, a banquet hall called "The Waterin' Hole," that can seat about 200 and 11 cabins that rent by the night or week. The farm also has a nine-hole golf course and a swimming pool.
The farm's season really starts in April and runs through November, and thousands of visitors come each year. The farm also hosts Christmas parties, special events, reunions and weddings all year long, catering them at the Waterin' Hole.
Now that the season is winding down, the restaurant is open from 4 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday and from noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday.
Adkins has become chief cook and bottle washer on occasion.
"I've done it all here," she said, "especially since the cook quit about four weeks ago. I didn't train as a chef, but I had an awesome grandmother and mother who taught me a lot." And Adkins doesn't cook at home -- she cooks only when she gets paid.
During the rodeo season, the farm hosts two national events -- one in June and the other in August. Both are sanctioned by the National Professional Rodeo Association.
"The best of the best are competing here," she said. "Our arena, the Robert E. Kamm Arena, named in honor of Tom's father, seats about 3,000 and is one of the best in the state. We've had world championship events here."
The farm still has horses -- Adkins' horse and a couple they board.
"My 22-year-old quarter house, Barney, is the love of my life," she said. "He's my best buddy and the only male I can trust.
"There aren't a lot of places like this in the state. And even though I do a lot around here, I don't see myself doing anything else."
Contact writer Mary Childress at 348-4886.
http://www.dailymail.com/news/News/200610306/
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Spanish zoos fail to comply with European law
A jaguar lies on its own faeces, built up over the years, in a space not much bigger than its' body; wolves pace back and forth in a bare concrete yard surrounded by rusting bars; a macaw, kept in a cramped cage, is prevented from ever stretching out its wings: these are just some of the horrors discovered during an investigation into some of Spain's worst zoos.
Zoos in Spain are failing to comply with European law, which may result in the Spanish Government being taken to the European Court of Justice. Conditions in Spanish zoos are failing to meet European standards, with some appearing to be the worst in Europe, according to a report published today. Animals are kept in some appalling conditions: neglected, malnourished, tormented, drugged and abused.
Spain remains one of the top five holiday destinations for Britons with 50 million holidaymakers visiting Spain from the UK in 2005. The exploitation of wild animals in resorts has always been of a concern to the compassionate tourist: a fact confirmed by Daniel Turner, spokesperson for the Born Free Foundation. “Through Born Free’s ‘Travellers Animal Alert’ campaign, hundreds of letters of concern about captive animal neglect in Spain have been received. It is due to the large number of these reports that Born Free joined forces with two Spanish organisations to assess and expose the conditions in zoos in Spain. Our findings published 25th October 2006 in the UK have revealed that some zoos in Spain are some of the worst in the world and we are committed to seeking improvement.”
“It is our hope that this study will raise greater awareness about animal welfare in Spain and persuade governments to fully implement the law and ensure that all zoos are regularly inspected to meet the legal requirements.”
The Born Free Foundation, together with La Defensa del Patrimoni Natural (DEPANA, in Barcelona) and la Asociación Nacional para la Defensa de los Animales (ANDA, in Madrid) have formed a coalition called InfoZoos. InfoZoos has initially visited and evaluated eight zoos in six regions in Spain as the first part of a nationwide investigation into the status and performance of Spanish zoos. The shocking results have revealed that the zoos examined are failing to meet even the minimum requirements of the law.
The report “La Salud de los Zoos” (Zoo Health), has been sent, together with an official complaint, to the European Commission strongly indicating that Spain has failed to fully implement the requirements of Directive 1999/22/EC on the keeping of wild animals in zoos. This may result in the Commission taking the Spanish Government to court over this clear lack of compliance.
The report was launched yesterday in Madrid to Spanish Government officials, Members of the European Parliament and the Spanish media.
http://www.bornfree.org.uk/spainzoos/index.shtml
Zoos in Spain are failing to comply with European law, which may result in the Spanish Government being taken to the European Court of Justice. Conditions in Spanish zoos are failing to meet European standards, with some appearing to be the worst in Europe, according to a report published today. Animals are kept in some appalling conditions: neglected, malnourished, tormented, drugged and abused.
Spain remains one of the top five holiday destinations for Britons with 50 million holidaymakers visiting Spain from the UK in 2005. The exploitation of wild animals in resorts has always been of a concern to the compassionate tourist: a fact confirmed by Daniel Turner, spokesperson for the Born Free Foundation. “Through Born Free’s ‘Travellers Animal Alert’ campaign, hundreds of letters of concern about captive animal neglect in Spain have been received. It is due to the large number of these reports that Born Free joined forces with two Spanish organisations to assess and expose the conditions in zoos in Spain. Our findings published 25th October 2006 in the UK have revealed that some zoos in Spain are some of the worst in the world and we are committed to seeking improvement.”
“It is our hope that this study will raise greater awareness about animal welfare in Spain and persuade governments to fully implement the law and ensure that all zoos are regularly inspected to meet the legal requirements.”
The Born Free Foundation, together with La Defensa del Patrimoni Natural (DEPANA, in Barcelona) and la Asociación Nacional para la Defensa de los Animales (ANDA, in Madrid) have formed a coalition called InfoZoos. InfoZoos has initially visited and evaluated eight zoos in six regions in Spain as the first part of a nationwide investigation into the status and performance of Spanish zoos. The shocking results have revealed that the zoos examined are failing to meet even the minimum requirements of the law.
The report “La Salud de los Zoos” (Zoo Health), has been sent, together with an official complaint, to the European Commission strongly indicating that Spain has failed to fully implement the requirements of Directive 1999/22/EC on the keeping of wild animals in zoos. This may result in the Commission taking the Spanish Government to court over this clear lack of compliance.
The report was launched yesterday in Madrid to Spanish Government officials, Members of the European Parliament and the Spanish media.
http://www.bornfree.org.uk/spainzoos/index.shtml
Indian zoos trade white tigers, jaguar, other animals
Tenzing Lamsang
New Delhi, October 30: Delhi Zoo will soon get three zebras and a rhino from the San Diego Zoo, USA, in exchange for a three-year-old rhino under the National Zoological Park’s exchange programme, according to zoo officials.
The enclosure for the zebras — one male and two females — has already been prepared and the zebras will arrive by February 2007, zoo authorities added.
“The point of exchanging rhinos here is to avoid inbreeding and we are excited as we will be getting zebras to our zoo after more than 20 years,” said DN Singh, Director, National Zoological Park, Delhi.
Singh said the zebra is an exotic animal which is not easy to get, and with this deal, the Delhi Zoo will have made an important addition to its profile.
This exchange programme is part of a larger deal between the National Zoological Park, the Sanjay Gandhi Zoological Park, Patna and the San Diego Zoo. Patna, in a similar deal, will be getting two giraffes and a new rhino as well. Earlier, there were plans to get zebras from Pakistan but things did not move on that front. So, a deal was struck with San Diego, zoo authorities said.
As per the deal, the zoo’s 3-year-old rhino, Brahmaputra, will move to the San Diego Zoo. Bhai Lal, the caretaker for rhinos at the zoo, said that of the four rhinos—a male, a female and two male calves— Brahmaputra is the eldest calf.
Meanwhile, Delhi Zoo is host to two German chimps—Marius (12) and Manni(7). Singh told Newsline that the quarantine period for the two chimpanzees was a whole month. This is being done as any suppressed virus takes one month to show up in a foreign environment, Singh said.
After a month, the plan is to place the two chimps in a cage next to the female chimps Rita (16) and Ruby (20) for mating.
The Delhi Zoo had recently exchanged a pair of white tigers and jaguar for some exotic birds and the rare lion tailed macaque with the Mysore Zoo.
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=207425
New Delhi, October 30: Delhi Zoo will soon get three zebras and a rhino from the San Diego Zoo, USA, in exchange for a three-year-old rhino under the National Zoological Park’s exchange programme, according to zoo officials.
The enclosure for the zebras — one male and two females — has already been prepared and the zebras will arrive by February 2007, zoo authorities added.
“The point of exchanging rhinos here is to avoid inbreeding and we are excited as we will be getting zebras to our zoo after more than 20 years,” said DN Singh, Director, National Zoological Park, Delhi.
Singh said the zebra is an exotic animal which is not easy to get, and with this deal, the Delhi Zoo will have made an important addition to its profile.
This exchange programme is part of a larger deal between the National Zoological Park, the Sanjay Gandhi Zoological Park, Patna and the San Diego Zoo. Patna, in a similar deal, will be getting two giraffes and a new rhino as well. Earlier, there were plans to get zebras from Pakistan but things did not move on that front. So, a deal was struck with San Diego, zoo authorities said.
As per the deal, the zoo’s 3-year-old rhino, Brahmaputra, will move to the San Diego Zoo. Bhai Lal, the caretaker for rhinos at the zoo, said that of the four rhinos—a male, a female and two male calves— Brahmaputra is the eldest calf.
Meanwhile, Delhi Zoo is host to two German chimps—Marius (12) and Manni(7). Singh told Newsline that the quarantine period for the two chimpanzees was a whole month. This is being done as any suppressed virus takes one month to show up in a foreign environment, Singh said.
After a month, the plan is to place the two chimps in a cage next to the female chimps Rita (16) and Ruby (20) for mating.
The Delhi Zoo had recently exchanged a pair of white tigers and jaguar for some exotic birds and the rare lion tailed macaque with the Mysore Zoo.
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=207425
Monday, October 30, 2006
PA exotic cat facility marks 20th anniversary
By Frances Borsodi Zajac, Herald-Standard
10/30/2006
For 20 years, the Western Pennsylvania National Wild Animal Orphanage in Redstone Township has been rescuing exotic animals from inadequate or abusive situations.
"It seems like yesterday,'' Dr. William Sheperd, a veterinarian who founded the orphanage with his wife, Rebecca, said of their start in 1986.
The Sheperds came up with the idea after being asked to care for a cougar named Tabitha who was brought to them by the state Game Commission. Today, the orphanage houses more than 30 animals that include lions, tigers, cougars, lynxes and a black panther.
"We try to give them a good home with lots of love and good care,'' said Sheperd.
Taking care of these animals requires a lot of money, however.
"For each animal, we spend a quarter of a million dollars in their lifetime for food, housing and veterinary care,'' said Sheperd. "We have no paid employees. All the funds go directly to the cats. I've been blessed with a veterinary practice that's profitable enough to pay everyone through my practice. I could probably retire 15 years earlier if not for the cats. But I'll take care of them until I die and I have some contingency plans for after that.''
To help meet expenses, the orphanage will be involved in three fund-raisers in the upcoming weeks.
They include:
Nov. 4, at 1 p.m. - Lewis Auction Service, 15 S. Mill St., New Salem, is contributing its services to sponsor a charity auction to benefit the orphanage. Donations to the auction also are being accepted.
"The Lewises have graciously donated their time and effort,'' said Sheperd. "They are good people.''
Nov. 11, from noon to 4 p.m. - There is a joint fund-raiser with Domestic Violence Services of Fayette County at the orphanage that will include lunch, a tour of the facility and a silent auction.
"Hopefully, it will benefit both groups,'' said Sheperd. "A lot of charities are having trouble raising funds and we thought we might help them a bit.''
Nov. 19, from 2 to 4 p.m. - This is the last regularly scheduled tour of the orphanage this year. Tours, which are used as fund-raisers, will resume in March on the third Sunday of each month.
Sheperd said, however, the facility will be available for field trips for students, Scouts and church groups.
Many of the animals come to the Sheperds because their former owners couldn't adequately care for them.
Asked why people want exotic pets, Sheperd said, "Folks think they're great to have as pets but they don't realize that by the time they're 70 pounds, they're fairly dangerous. They have no clue how to handle them without being mean and don't know how to handle their nutritional needs.''
Sheperd also said that some people use the animals as picture cats, meaning they take cubs to fairs where the public can pay to have their photograph taken holding the animal.
Once they reach a certain age, the animals are sold to the black market for medicinal purposes or kept for breeding.
Often, animals taken in by the orphanage have been abused.
"They have broken bones, battered faces. The pads on their feet are raw. They suffer from poor nutrition, lack of exercise,'' Sheperd said. "It brings tears to your eyes.''
He noted that laws vary from state to state.
"Fortunately, Pennsylvania has tightened its laws to make it more difficult to purchase cats,'' Sheperd said.
Anyone wanting to purchase an exotic animal in Pennsylvania today would have to spend two years of training that was species specific in a facility such as the Wild Animal Orphanage.
"We have licensed no one,'' said Sheperd. "No one needs to have these cats.''
For more information about the fund-raisers, including tickets and directions, call 724-437-7838. For more information on the orphanage, visit the Web site at www.wildanimal.org/about.htm.
http://www.heraldstandard.com/site/news.cfm?newsid= 17395693&BRD=2280&PAG=461&dept_id=480247&rfi=6
10/30/2006
For 20 years, the Western Pennsylvania National Wild Animal Orphanage in Redstone Township has been rescuing exotic animals from inadequate or abusive situations.
"It seems like yesterday,'' Dr. William Sheperd, a veterinarian who founded the orphanage with his wife, Rebecca, said of their start in 1986.
The Sheperds came up with the idea after being asked to care for a cougar named Tabitha who was brought to them by the state Game Commission. Today, the orphanage houses more than 30 animals that include lions, tigers, cougars, lynxes and a black panther.
"We try to give them a good home with lots of love and good care,'' said Sheperd.
Taking care of these animals requires a lot of money, however.
"For each animal, we spend a quarter of a million dollars in their lifetime for food, housing and veterinary care,'' said Sheperd. "We have no paid employees. All the funds go directly to the cats. I've been blessed with a veterinary practice that's profitable enough to pay everyone through my practice. I could probably retire 15 years earlier if not for the cats. But I'll take care of them until I die and I have some contingency plans for after that.''
To help meet expenses, the orphanage will be involved in three fund-raisers in the upcoming weeks.
They include:
Nov. 4, at 1 p.m. - Lewis Auction Service, 15 S. Mill St., New Salem, is contributing its services to sponsor a charity auction to benefit the orphanage. Donations to the auction also are being accepted.
"The Lewises have graciously donated their time and effort,'' said Sheperd. "They are good people.''
Nov. 11, from noon to 4 p.m. - There is a joint fund-raiser with Domestic Violence Services of Fayette County at the orphanage that will include lunch, a tour of the facility and a silent auction.
"Hopefully, it will benefit both groups,'' said Sheperd. "A lot of charities are having trouble raising funds and we thought we might help them a bit.''
Nov. 19, from 2 to 4 p.m. - This is the last regularly scheduled tour of the orphanage this year. Tours, which are used as fund-raisers, will resume in March on the third Sunday of each month.
Sheperd said, however, the facility will be available for field trips for students, Scouts and church groups.
Many of the animals come to the Sheperds because their former owners couldn't adequately care for them.
Asked why people want exotic pets, Sheperd said, "Folks think they're great to have as pets but they don't realize that by the time they're 70 pounds, they're fairly dangerous. They have no clue how to handle them without being mean and don't know how to handle their nutritional needs.''
Sheperd also said that some people use the animals as picture cats, meaning they take cubs to fairs where the public can pay to have their photograph taken holding the animal.
Once they reach a certain age, the animals are sold to the black market for medicinal purposes or kept for breeding.
Often, animals taken in by the orphanage have been abused.
"They have broken bones, battered faces. The pads on their feet are raw. They suffer from poor nutrition, lack of exercise,'' Sheperd said. "It brings tears to your eyes.''
He noted that laws vary from state to state.
"Fortunately, Pennsylvania has tightened its laws to make it more difficult to purchase cats,'' Sheperd said.
Anyone wanting to purchase an exotic animal in Pennsylvania today would have to spend two years of training that was species specific in a facility such as the Wild Animal Orphanage.
"We have licensed no one,'' said Sheperd. "No one needs to have these cats.''
For more information about the fund-raisers, including tickets and directions, call 724-437-7838. For more information on the orphanage, visit the Web site at www.wildanimal.org/about.htm.
http://www.heraldstandard.com/site/news.cfm?newsid= 17395693&BRD=2280&PAG=461&dept_id=480247&rfi=6
Sunday, October 29, 2006
What Your Pet is Thinking
The Wall Street Journal
What Your Pet is Thinking
By SHARON BEGLEY
October 27, 2006; Page W1
From the day they brought her home, the D'Avellas' black-and-white mutt loathed ringing phones. At the first trill, Jay Dee would bolt from the room and howl until someone picked up. But within a few weeks, the D'Avellas began missing calls: When the phone rang, their friends later told them, someone would pick up and then the line would go dead.
One evening, Aida D'Avella solved the mystery. Sitting in the family room of her
Just about every pet lover has a story about the astonishing intelligence of his cat, dog, bird, ferret or chinchilla. Ethologists, the scientists who study animal behavior, have amassed thousands of studies showing that animals can count, understand cause and effect, form abstractions, solve problems, use tools and even deceive. But lately scientists have gone a step further: Researchers around the world are providing tantalizing evidence that animals not only learn and remember but that they may also have consciousness -- in other words, they may be capable of thinking about their thoughts and knowing that they know.
In the past few years, top journals have been publishing reports on self-awareness in dolphins and wild chimps whose different nut-cracking "technologies" constitute unique cultures. Others argue that rats have a sense of fun, mice show empathy for cage-mates and scrub jays are capable of "mental time travel" that enables them to remember where they stashed worms and seeds.
Rhesus macaque monkeys have been the subject of memory studies in
While researchers have yet to attain the field's holy grail -- proving that animals are self-aware -- the findings already have broad implications. For the 69 million
Drug companies are already addressing animals' feelings. Some 15 million dogs have taken Pfizer Inc.'s animal pain-reliever Remadyl. The company's Anipryl targets "cognitive dysfunction syndrome" in dogs. (In a dog, symptoms include failing to recognize people or respond to its name and getting lost in the house.) Experts expect a steady stream of drugs aimed at pets' minds instead of bodies.
The research is also coloring thinking about everything from science labs to farms and food-production facilities. Having demolished concrete cages in favor of naturalistic enclosures, many zoos are also offering animals "environmental enrichment" designed to exercise their minds, and housing them in social groups where they can express their emotions. The nonprofit Great Ape Project, Seattle, is campaigning on behalf of the primates for "life, liberty and protection against torture." And this year a member of the Spanish parliament introduced a resolution to protect great apes from "maltreatment, slavery, torture, death and extinction." Federal animal-welfare acts have long required researchers who use primates to take into account their "psychological well-being," but researchers say more institutions that use lab dogs, rabbits and other small animals are voluntarily adopting the rules. "Without question, these discoveries [on animal awareness] are having an effect," says Wayne Pacelle, president and chief executive officer of the Humane Society of the
I bark, therefore I am: a groomed standard poodle
And if chimps and monkeys have hints of consciousness, do less-brainy animals have it, too? Does that mean people shouldn't hunt them, imprison them or eat them? Opponents of experimenting on animals say creatures as low on the evolutionary ladder as rats and mice are capable of suffering, even if they can't engage in self-reflection.
Some researchers say humans may be a bit too eager to attribute high-level mental functioning to animals, and end up inferring mental states that don't exist. Bonnie Beaver, professor of veterinary medicine at
Not too long ago, scientists scoffed at the idea that animals could have consciousness. Philosophers haggle endlessly about the meaning of the word, of course. But they generally agree that it isn't enough to solve problems, learn or remember -- a semiconductor can do that -- but to be aware of the contents of one's own mind. When it comes to animals, the question "was thought of as impossible to answer with objective observations," says Clive Wynne, an associate professor of psychology at the
At the
African elephants play-fighting
When the monkeys chose to take the test, they passed more than 80% of the time, apparently declining to take the test when their memory was poor. When they weren't given a choice and Prof. Hampton gave them the test anyway, they chose the correct image much less often. That suggests they knew the contents of their memory and assessed it before deciding whether to take the test -- a sign of self-reflective consciousness. "The monkeys know whether they remember something," says Prof. Hampton, who reported his latest monkey findings in May in the journal Behavioural Processes.
A key ingredient of consciousness is having a sense of self, a feeling that there's a "you" inside your brain. One sign of that is being able to imagine yourself in a different time and place. Some scientists have said that's why chimps in a forest pick up a stone so that they can crack a nut that they left far away, and why New Caledonian crows make hook-shaped devices to fish for bugs.
But maybe, skeptics say, chimps and crows learned that a rock, or hook, equals lunch and just act reflexively. To try to rule this out, scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, taught orangutans and bonobos, considered the great apes closest to humans, how to use tools to snare grapes that were otherwise out of reach. Then they gave the animals a chance to take the right tools into a "waiting room," where they were kept for times ranging from five minutes to overnight, before being led back to the room with the grapes. The clever move, of course, was to grab a tool before going to the waiting room.
All 10 animals managed this at least sometimes, the researchers reported in May in the journal Science. Because the animals had to plan so far ahead, the scientists argue, the experiment showed an ability to anticipate needs. "It's hard to argue that these animals do not have consciousness," says primatologist Frans de Waal at Yerkes.
Dissenters argue that any behavior that meets a basic need such as hunger shouldn't be ascribed to anything as lofty as consciousness. More and more, however, scientists are observing what they call altruistic behavior that has no evident purpose. Prof. de Waal once watched as a bonobo picked up a starling. The bonobo carried it outside its enclosure and set the bird on its feet. When it didn't fly away, the ape took it to higher ground, carefully unfolded its wings and tossed it into the air. Still having no luck, she stood guard over it and protected it from a young bonobo that was nearby.
Since such behavior doesn't help the bonobo to survive, it's unlikely to be genetically programmed, says Marc Bekoff, emeritus professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the
In June, scientists reported new insights about compassion in African elephants. These animals often seem curious about the bodies of dead elephants, but no one knew whether they felt compassion for the dying or dead. A matriarch in the Samburu Reserve in northern
But Eleanor was too shaky to stand. Grace tried again, this time pushing Eleanor to walk, but Eleanor again fell. Grace appeared "very stressed," called loudly and often, and kept nudging and pushing Eleanor. Although she failed, Grace stayed with the dying elephant as night fell. Eleanor died the next day.
Grace's interest in an unrelated animal can't be explained by her genetic disposition to help a close relative, a behavior that's been well established. The scientists instead argue that the elephant was showing compassion. Mr. Douglas-Hamilton has also seen elephants guard and help unrelated elephants who have been hit by tranquilizer darts to let researchers tag the animals. Since standing by an animal that has been shot puts the other animals in harm's way, it's hard to argue self-interest.
Critics say that consciousness is in the eye of besotted observers, and animals are no more than stimulus-response machines.
Anyone whose dog has ever run to the front door, leash in its mouth, assumes that animals form intentions. But that might also reflect dumb learning: the dog figured out that leash equals walk. A computer could be rigged to learn the same cause-and-effect relationship. Some scientists also see intentionality when beavers plug holes in their dam, bowerbirds build baroque nests, ants cultivate fungus farms and plovers feign injury to lure predators away from their hatchlings. But many researchers give genes, not conscious intentions, the credit for these clever behaviors.
As for emotions, the conventional view has long been that while animals might seem to be sad, happy, curious or angry, these weren't true emotions: The creature didn't know that it felt any of these things. Daniel Povinelli of the
The trouble is that all sorts of animals -- from those in the African bush to those in your living room -- keep acting as if they truly do have emotions remarkably like humans'. Last month, Ya Ya, a panda in a Chinese zoo, accidentally crushed her newborn to death. She seemed inconsolable -- wailing and frantically searching for the tiny body. The keeper said that when he called her name, she just looked up at him with tear-filled eyes before lowering her head again. The conventional view is that these were instinctive, reflexive reactions, and that Ya Ya didn't know she was sad. As the evidence for animal consciousness piles up, that view becomes harder to support.
Write to Sharon Begley at sharon.begley@wsj.com
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116190929805905465.html?mod=todays_us_nonsub_weekendjournal
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Pahrump Valley NV
By MARK WAITE
PVT
A group of animal advocates will be part of a committee that will recommend
revisions to animal ordinances, after Nye County Commissioners backed down
Wednesday from a bill that would have imposed tough zoning restrictions on
animal kennels.
The idea of a citizens committee was hatched at the Pahrump Regional Planning
Commission meeting last week. Owners of various kennels and animal
sanctuaries, as well as a couple of Regional Planning Commission members,
offered to
help draft an ordinance.
The zoning proposal was defeated along with another new ordinance tightening
up regulations on animal ownership that was turned down by commissioners Oct.
3. The first ordinance had tough new restrictions on owning exotic animals,
better defined kennel regulations, had tougher penalties for vicious dogs,
would have banned dogs from parks and would have established an animal control
board.
The animal proposal sent back to the RPC Wednesday addressed zoning. It arose
after neighbors complained about the New Leash on Life kennel, which opened
in the northwest
kennel and a requirement to provide at least 2,000 square feet per animal.
"We need to educate people on responsible dog ownership," said Melinda
Sowash, a member of the Pahrump Valley Obedience Club.
"As far as the animal rescues go, we shouldn't penalize people for taking in
these pets for the problem that irresponsible people have created. I compete
with my dogs and to have my dogs ttaken away because I don't have enough
property to keep them on is not why I moved to Pahrump 22 years ago."
Nye County Interim Planning Director Cheryl Beeman noted that legally
existing animal sanctuaries and kennels would be grandfathered under the
proposed
bill.
Brian Turner, who owns cougars and leopards on a two-and-a-half-acre
property, said people wouldn't hear his animals unless they were within 15 feet
of
his cages.
Turner said he has known other big cat owners in Pahrump, ranging from Karl
Mitchell, who was sentenced to prison, to Carl Beck, a retired magician who
had respectable cages, who recently moved out of the
"When you talk about 10 acres and 2,000 square feet per animal, whoever
proposed that knows nothing about the care of animals, or they're trying to
create an environment where no one can even have animals unless they're a
millionaire," Turner said.
Beeman said none of her staff members has time to work with the animal
advocates in drafting an ordinance.
County commissioners felt the animal committee could be successful in
drafting a bill, following the example of the ad hoc citizens water task force.
http://www.pahrumpvalleytimes.com/2006/Oct-27-Fri-2006/news/10449589.html
For the cats,
Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue
an Educational Sanctuary home
to more than 100 big cats
12802 Easy Street
813.493.4564 fax 885.4457
http://www.BigCatRescue.org MakeADifference@BigCatRescue.org
Sign our petition here:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/344896451?ltl=1140270431
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Filipino safari park lets visitors feed tigers, hold cubs
Updated:2006-10-29 11:19:08 MYT
Feeding time at the Zoobic Safari isn't for the squeamish. Rather than keeping it out of sight and out of mind, visitors to this Filipino wildlife attraction are allowed in close--very close--to watch.
For most of the animals it's no big deal. The lush 25-ha park in Subic Bay, a few hours northwest of Manila, houses dozens of Asian, African and North American animal species in its various walk-through and drive-through enclosures.
There are ostriches, albino buffalo, potbelly pigs and wild boars, deer, guinea fowl and miniature horses, as well as a serpentarium, rodent house and honeybee farm.
Interesting if you've never seen them before, but not particularly exciting.
The main attraction, what gets people there in the first place, is the animals that can't be fed at the petting zoo--a dozen full-grown Bengalese and Siberian tigers.
Visitors ride through their habitat in a specially designed safari jeep encased in a steel-mesh cage, which means you're safe even when the tigers get right up alongside.
But once you've seen one up close, witnessed their sheer size and obvious strength, the cage doesn't feel like much protection.
This isn't a zoo after all--you're inside with the animals all around you.
As the jeep drives the 15-minute circuit around the enclosure, tigers prowl through grass-covered hills, laze in the shade or sit neck-deep in a pool. By nature tigers are fairly sedate, sleeping most of the day and moving at their leisure.
Except when they're hungry and food is about. And this is where the Zoobic Safari makes its mark.
For the equivalent of about US$4, visitors can buy a live chicken to be served to the beasts. A guide dangles the chicken, tied by its feet, through a small gate in the jeep's cage. The result is predictable enough, although the experience of how it happens can vary pretty dramatically.
Sometimes the guide can entice a tiger to climb right up onto the side of the jeep, close enough for you to smell its breath and stare into its eyes.
At other times the tiger, used to this little teasing ritual, goes for the quick strike. While anticipated, it still happens fast enough to be surprising. A flash of orange and black fur and the chicken is gone. Hopefully it's a clean take, but often it's messy. That part is definitely not for the squeamish.
Certainly more pleasant is the chance, if there have been any recent births at the onsite breeding facility, for a close encounter with a tiger cub.
Under the watchful supervision of a handler, visitors are allowed to cradle and bottle-feed some of the new arrivals.
Even at a few months old, these cubs have a wiry strength, sharp teeth and claws. Playful yet demanding, they are not afraid to use both if they want your attention. Holding onto the friskier cubs and the bottle at the same time can be a bit of a challenge.
Playing with a tiger cub is pretty much at the top of the list in terms of memorable holiday experiences. There aren't too many places in the world that will let you do this, and fewer that charge only a pittance for the privilege.
Visitors can also have their picture taken with one of the tigers as it stretches out across a bench to be petted or bottle-fed.
Admission costs $6 on weekdays and $8 on weekends, and the ride through the tiger enclosure is an additional $1.
Subic Bay offers many other adventure and wildlife attractions, as well as duty-free shopping opportunities. (By Chris Vedelago, The Nation/ANN)
Sinchew-i 2006/10/29
http://e.sinchew-i.com/content.phtml?sec=2&artid=200610270000
Feeding time at the Zoobic Safari isn't for the squeamish. Rather than keeping it out of sight and out of mind, visitors to this Filipino wildlife attraction are allowed in close--very close--to watch.
For most of the animals it's no big deal. The lush 25-ha park in Subic Bay, a few hours northwest of Manila, houses dozens of Asian, African and North American animal species in its various walk-through and drive-through enclosures.
There are ostriches, albino buffalo, potbelly pigs and wild boars, deer, guinea fowl and miniature horses, as well as a serpentarium, rodent house and honeybee farm.
Interesting if you've never seen them before, but not particularly exciting.
The main attraction, what gets people there in the first place, is the animals that can't be fed at the petting zoo--a dozen full-grown Bengalese and Siberian tigers.
Visitors ride through their habitat in a specially designed safari jeep encased in a steel-mesh cage, which means you're safe even when the tigers get right up alongside.
But once you've seen one up close, witnessed their sheer size and obvious strength, the cage doesn't feel like much protection.
This isn't a zoo after all--you're inside with the animals all around you.
As the jeep drives the 15-minute circuit around the enclosure, tigers prowl through grass-covered hills, laze in the shade or sit neck-deep in a pool. By nature tigers are fairly sedate, sleeping most of the day and moving at their leisure.
Except when they're hungry and food is about. And this is where the Zoobic Safari makes its mark.
For the equivalent of about US$4, visitors can buy a live chicken to be served to the beasts. A guide dangles the chicken, tied by its feet, through a small gate in the jeep's cage. The result is predictable enough, although the experience of how it happens can vary pretty dramatically.
Sometimes the guide can entice a tiger to climb right up onto the side of the jeep, close enough for you to smell its breath and stare into its eyes.
At other times the tiger, used to this little teasing ritual, goes for the quick strike. While anticipated, it still happens fast enough to be surprising. A flash of orange and black fur and the chicken is gone. Hopefully it's a clean take, but often it's messy. That part is definitely not for the squeamish.
Certainly more pleasant is the chance, if there have been any recent births at the onsite breeding facility, for a close encounter with a tiger cub.
Under the watchful supervision of a handler, visitors are allowed to cradle and bottle-feed some of the new arrivals.
Even at a few months old, these cubs have a wiry strength, sharp teeth and claws. Playful yet demanding, they are not afraid to use both if they want your attention. Holding onto the friskier cubs and the bottle at the same time can be a bit of a challenge.
Playing with a tiger cub is pretty much at the top of the list in terms of memorable holiday experiences. There aren't too many places in the world that will let you do this, and fewer that charge only a pittance for the privilege.
Visitors can also have their picture taken with one of the tigers as it stretches out across a bench to be petted or bottle-fed.
Admission costs $6 on weekdays and $8 on weekends, and the ride through the tiger enclosure is an additional $1.
Subic Bay offers many other adventure and wildlife attractions, as well as duty-free shopping opportunities. (By Chris Vedelago, The Nation/ANN)
Sinchew-i 2006/10/29
http://e.sinchew-i.com/content.phtml?sec=2&artid=200610270000
Circus tiger gives birth to 3 cubs while on tour
Associated Press
Sat Oct 28, 2006 2:37 PM EDT
JAKARTA, INDONESIA — A Bengal tiger has given birth to three cubs while on a circus tour of the Indonesian tourist island of Bali, a media report said Saturday.
The 15-year-old mother, Rani, from Taman Safari Indonesia, a zoological garden in West Java's mountainous region of Puncak, gave birth to two males and one female in her cage Friday morning, the official Antara news agency said.
It quoted Suyadi, Rani's keeper, as saying the three newborn cubs were in a good condition even though their mother refused to nurse them.
"I had to bring the cubs to a veterinary clinic because their mother does not care for them," said Suyadi, who uses a single name.
Officials at Taman Safari could not be immediately reached for comment.
The report identified Rani as a "rare Bengal tiger from India."
Bengal tigers are found in the wild in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar, but conservationists consider them an endangered species.
http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2006/10/28/418593-bengal-tiger-gives-birth-to-3-cubs
Sat Oct 28, 2006 2:37 PM EDT
JAKARTA, INDONESIA — A Bengal tiger has given birth to three cubs while on a circus tour of the Indonesian tourist island of Bali, a media report said Saturday.
The 15-year-old mother, Rani, from Taman Safari Indonesia, a zoological garden in West Java's mountainous region of Puncak, gave birth to two males and one female in her cage Friday morning, the official Antara news agency said.
It quoted Suyadi, Rani's keeper, as saying the three newborn cubs were in a good condition even though their mother refused to nurse them.
"I had to bring the cubs to a veterinary clinic because their mother does not care for them," said Suyadi, who uses a single name.
Officials at Taman Safari could not be immediately reached for comment.
The report identified Rani as a "rare Bengal tiger from India."
Bengal tigers are found in the wild in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar, but conservationists consider them an endangered species.
http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2006/10/28/418593-bengal-tiger-gives-birth-to-3-cubs
NC zoo closed over inquiry into a leopard bite
Woman says the owner encouraged her to cross a fence to pet the animal
By Monte Mitchell
JOURNAL REPORTER
Saturday, October 28, 2006
The New River Zoo has been closed for an investigation prompted by a woman being bitten by a leopard.
Investigators expect to visit the privately owned zoo next week as part of an ongoing investigation into the Oct. 16 incident, said Jeff Jones, the director of Ashe County Animal Control.
The woman was bitten on the right arm and wrist after she crossed a 4-foot-high barrier fence and tried to pet the leopard by putting her arm through the cage's gate, Jones said. The woman, Susan Thomas, 36, of Hamilton, had severe cuts and required surgery at Watauga Medical Center.
The leopard was euthanized so that it could be tested for rabies. The tests were negative.
The zoo owner, Keith Stroud, got the animal to release the woman's arm, Jones said.
But the woman told authorities that Stroud was with her and allowed her to pet the leopard.
"That's why we closed the zoo - that there had been allegations made by her that Mr. Stroud accompanied her and allowed her to pet the leopard in some fashion," Jones said.
Whether Stroud encouraged the woman to cross the fence and pet the leopard is part of what the investigation is trying to determine, Jones said. Stroud did not return a phone message or e-mail yesterday.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will conduct a separate investigation, said Darby Holladay, a spokesman for the USDA-APHIS. That process could take several months.
A USDA inspector makes at least one unannounced visit to the zoo each year, and Ashe County Animal Control inspects it monthly.
The zoo had no prior violations in the county inspections.
The leopard had been at the zoo since August.
Last March, the Animal Protection Institute, a private non-profit animal advocacy group based in California, sent a letter to the USDA about a different animal at the New River Zoo.
The letter said that API's investigators visited the zoo in October 2005 and saw the owner take a 6-month-old black leopard cub out of its pen and then let zoo volunteers walk the cub on a leash to let people touch it.
Holladay said that the USDA sent an inspector out in response.
In April, the USDA sent a warning letter for issues of housing, sanitation and animal handling, putting the New River Zoo on notice that if the issues were not resolved, further enforcement would occur. The USDA could fine Stroud, suspend his license or revoke it.
The zoo had no prior violations cited by the USDA.
Jones said that Ashe County Animal Control was not sent a copy of last spring's letter from API and was made aware of it only during the current investigation.
The New River Zoo opened in 2001 under a variance to a 1995 county ordinance that prohibits "private possession of non-domestic animals which can be dangerous." It was the county's decision - not the USDA's - to close the zoo temporarily. Jones said that the county investigation could take as long as a month.
Jones said that the zoo has been a good educational resource for Ashe County.
"There are no winners in this situation," he said. "Certainly, Ms. Thomas is a victim. I feel like the cat's a victim. It was a very hard decision to have to follow through (with euthanizing the leopard.) That was very tough for myself and the other officers."
The Animal Protection Institute is highlighting last week's leopard bite to call attention to an exotic-animal campaign. API submitted undercover video footage of the New River Zoo to the ABC newsmagazine 20/20, which ran a segment on exotic animals last night.
"It's not people's intention to have people get hurt, but that's the nature of the beast, literally," said Zibby Wilder, a spokeswoman for API.
* Monte Mitchell can be reached in Wilkesboro at 336-667-5691 or at mmitchell@wsjournal.com.
http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149191390831&path=!localnews&s=1037645509099
By Monte Mitchell
JOURNAL REPORTER
Saturday, October 28, 2006
The New River Zoo has been closed for an investigation prompted by a woman being bitten by a leopard.
Investigators expect to visit the privately owned zoo next week as part of an ongoing investigation into the Oct. 16 incident, said Jeff Jones, the director of Ashe County Animal Control.
The woman was bitten on the right arm and wrist after she crossed a 4-foot-high barrier fence and tried to pet the leopard by putting her arm through the cage's gate, Jones said. The woman, Susan Thomas, 36, of Hamilton, had severe cuts and required surgery at Watauga Medical Center.
The leopard was euthanized so that it could be tested for rabies. The tests were negative.
The zoo owner, Keith Stroud, got the animal to release the woman's arm, Jones said.
But the woman told authorities that Stroud was with her and allowed her to pet the leopard.
"That's why we closed the zoo - that there had been allegations made by her that Mr. Stroud accompanied her and allowed her to pet the leopard in some fashion," Jones said.
Whether Stroud encouraged the woman to cross the fence and pet the leopard is part of what the investigation is trying to determine, Jones said. Stroud did not return a phone message or e-mail yesterday.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will conduct a separate investigation, said Darby Holladay, a spokesman for the USDA-APHIS. That process could take several months.
A USDA inspector makes at least one unannounced visit to the zoo each year, and Ashe County Animal Control inspects it monthly.
The zoo had no prior violations in the county inspections.
The leopard had been at the zoo since August.
Last March, the Animal Protection Institute, a private non-profit animal advocacy group based in California, sent a letter to the USDA about a different animal at the New River Zoo.
The letter said that API's investigators visited the zoo in October 2005 and saw the owner take a 6-month-old black leopard cub out of its pen and then let zoo volunteers walk the cub on a leash to let people touch it.
Holladay said that the USDA sent an inspector out in response.
In April, the USDA sent a warning letter for issues of housing, sanitation and animal handling, putting the New River Zoo on notice that if the issues were not resolved, further enforcement would occur. The USDA could fine Stroud, suspend his license or revoke it.
The zoo had no prior violations cited by the USDA.
Jones said that Ashe County Animal Control was not sent a copy of last spring's letter from API and was made aware of it only during the current investigation.
The New River Zoo opened in 2001 under a variance to a 1995 county ordinance that prohibits "private possession of non-domestic animals which can be dangerous." It was the county's decision - not the USDA's - to close the zoo temporarily. Jones said that the county investigation could take as long as a month.
Jones said that the zoo has been a good educational resource for Ashe County.
"There are no winners in this situation," he said. "Certainly, Ms. Thomas is a victim. I feel like the cat's a victim. It was a very hard decision to have to follow through (with euthanizing the leopard.) That was very tough for myself and the other officers."
The Animal Protection Institute is highlighting last week's leopard bite to call attention to an exotic-animal campaign. API submitted undercover video footage of the New River Zoo to the ABC newsmagazine 20/20, which ran a segment on exotic animals last night.
"It's not people's intention to have people get hurt, but that's the nature of the beast, literally," said Zibby Wilder, a spokeswoman for API.
* Monte Mitchell can be reached in Wilkesboro at 336-667-5691 or at mmitchell@wsjournal.com.
http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149191390831&path=!localnews&s=1037645509099
Tiger brothers to leave San Diego Zoo for Florida
Posted at 10:43 am October 27, 2006 by Bridget Mulholland
Our 16 month-old Malayan tiger brothers, Mata and Rimba, are tentatively scheduled to fly to their new home on Wednesday November 8. They will be moving to the Palm Beach Zoo in West Palm Beach, Florida, and all of the keepers in Tiger River (along with the building and grounds attendants, construction and maintenance workers, and gardeners!) will be sad to see them go. We have all become extremely attached to these playful, personable, somewhat destructive, yet lovable young tiger boys. (Read Bridget’s previous blog, Tiger Cubs on the Move.)
Both Rimba and Mata have been crate trained in preparation for their move, and they are now both very comfortable in their crates. One of their new keepers from the Palm Beach Zoo will be flying out to San Diego before their departure date to meet them and watch some of their training sessions. I’m sure that she will be so excited when she meets them; I’ll bet it’s love at first sight!
On a different note, there will be one individual in Tiger River I think will be relieved when they are gone. Their mother, Mek Degong, has been pretty aggressive with her two adolescent boys. She is ready for them to leave her territory and find their own. This would normally happen in the wild when the cubs are between 1½ and 2 years of age. We separated her from Mata and Rimba two weeks ago when we observed her growling and chasing them away any time they wanted to be near her. This separation from their mom has actually been very good for them. They now feel very comfortable without her, so that is one less thing that will be different when they go to their new home.
After the brothers have gone to Florida, we are planning to reintroduce Mek and Awang Relak (the cubs’ father). The two adult tigers always chuff (a tiger greeting) when they pass by each other’s door, so we are hopeful that their reintroduction will go smoothly. If all goes well, Mek and Awang could be out on exhibit together in mid November. But, before that happens, please stop by Tiger River to say goodbye to Keemasan Mata (Golden Eye) and Asa Rimba (Hope for the Jungle). Their sweet personalities and crazy antics will be greatly missed!
Bridget Mulholland is a senior keeper at the San Diego Zoo.
http://www.sandiegozoo.org/wordpress/general/tiger-brothers-ready/
Our 16 month-old Malayan tiger brothers, Mata and Rimba, are tentatively scheduled to fly to their new home on Wednesday November 8. They will be moving to the Palm Beach Zoo in West Palm Beach, Florida, and all of the keepers in Tiger River (along with the building and grounds attendants, construction and maintenance workers, and gardeners!) will be sad to see them go. We have all become extremely attached to these playful, personable, somewhat destructive, yet lovable young tiger boys. (Read Bridget’s previous blog, Tiger Cubs on the Move.)
Both Rimba and Mata have been crate trained in preparation for their move, and they are now both very comfortable in their crates. One of their new keepers from the Palm Beach Zoo will be flying out to San Diego before their departure date to meet them and watch some of their training sessions. I’m sure that she will be so excited when she meets them; I’ll bet it’s love at first sight!
On a different note, there will be one individual in Tiger River I think will be relieved when they are gone. Their mother, Mek Degong, has been pretty aggressive with her two adolescent boys. She is ready for them to leave her territory and find their own. This would normally happen in the wild when the cubs are between 1½ and 2 years of age. We separated her from Mata and Rimba two weeks ago when we observed her growling and chasing them away any time they wanted to be near her. This separation from their mom has actually been very good for them. They now feel very comfortable without her, so that is one less thing that will be different when they go to their new home.
After the brothers have gone to Florida, we are planning to reintroduce Mek and Awang Relak (the cubs’ father). The two adult tigers always chuff (a tiger greeting) when they pass by each other’s door, so we are hopeful that their reintroduction will go smoothly. If all goes well, Mek and Awang could be out on exhibit together in mid November. But, before that happens, please stop by Tiger River to say goodbye to Keemasan Mata (Golden Eye) and Asa Rimba (Hope for the Jungle). Their sweet personalities and crazy antics will be greatly missed!
Bridget Mulholland is a senior keeper at the San Diego Zoo.
http://www.sandiegozoo.org/wordpress/general/tiger-brothers-ready/
'Designer pet' founder guilty in British scheme
By Penni Crabtree
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
October 28, 2006
Simon Brodie, the founder of a San Diego company that is attempting to sell cat franchises, pleaded guilty to multiple counts of false accounting in a failed franchise venture in his native Britain.
Brodie, founder of Allerca, a “designer pet” company that claims to have created a hypoallergenic cat, was sentenced to 2.5 years in jail for his role in the 1992 demise of Cloudhoppers, a hot air balloon-flight business in East Sussex.
According to British press accounts of the time, Brodie's company planned to sell dozens of franchises at 200,000 pounds each to flight operators across Britain. Instead, Brodie bilked consumers and ran up hundreds of thousands of pounds in debts, according to British press accounts.
Brodie said Thursday that he is not obligated to disclose his criminal record to potential Allerca franchisees or Allerca pet buyers.
He said British press accounts about Cloudhoppers and his conviction “contain a number of inaccuracies,” but he acknowledged that he served “a sentence of under one year through a work-release program.”
Allerca, in a written statement Thursday, said the company is “fully aware of Mr. Brodie's personal history but that does not change the fact that Mr. Brodie has been instrumental in helping to create a product, a life, to help millions of allergy sufferers who always wanted to own a cat.”
Both Allerca and Brodie said Brodie no longer has an ownership interest in Allerca; he continues to serve the company as a consultant.
Brodie and Allerca are promoting what some business experts and cat breeders view as a problematic business opportunity – a franchise in cats that costs $45,000 per “territory.”
Neither Allerca nor Brodie would disclose who owns Allerca or where the company is located, and they would not provide the names of scientists or breeding facilities involved in creation of Allerca's cats. According to a recently filed U.S trademark application, Brodie and Allerca reside at The Grande condo complex in downtown San Diego.
In recent weeks, Allerca and Brodie have been promoting franchises to sell the company's allergen-free cats and what it claims is a newly created breed called the Ashera. Neither cat is commercially available.
Allerca is charging consumers a minimum of $3,950 to “pre-purchase” a cat that the company claims to have selectively bred to not produce allergy-causing proteins. Those cats can take up to two years to deliver, according to Allerca.
Allerca says it plans to charge $6,000 for its Ashera, described as a new breed of exotic that weighs up to 25 pounds and sports leopardlike markings.
Cat breeders say descriptions of the Ashera bear a striking resemblance to an already recognized breed, dubbed the Savannah, which is a cross between a domestic cat and a wild African serval.
Brodie acknowledged to The San Diego Union-Tribune that he ordered several Savannah female breeders from a traditional cat breeder in August, though the deal did not go through. At the time, Brodie identified himself to the breeder as Campbell Francis and his firm as Monsenco Capital.
Brodie said Allerca's cat breeding experts asked him to acquire the Savannahs for the purpose of devising “the right formula” for the Ashera.
Brodie has a history of backing unusual business concepts, including promoting companies that proposed to create the world's most powerful computerprocessor, as well as a national Wi-Fi network.
Little is known about the fate of those or other Brodie companies,although some of his ventures have left behind unpaid employees, debts, liens and court judgments.
In January, Brodie and Allerca were sued in Orange County for defaulting on a $25,000 loan. In February, Allerca was evicted from its previous downtown headquarters, which was also Brodie's residence, for failure to pay rent. Last year, Brodie's Los Angeles landlords won a $3,900 judgment against Brodie for failure to pay rent.
Brodie and two other Brodie-affiliated companies, Cerentis and IntegraAssociates, also defaulted on a $72,280 promissory note, according to Los Angeles County court records. Last year, Brodie tried to raise $500,000 to fund an Allerca subsidiary, animal diagnostics firm GeneSentinel, of which he was chairman, president and chief executive. At the time, GeneSentinel listed assets of $3,000 and debts of $200,000.
This year, Brodie laid off some of the GeneSentinel employees; three former employees allege GeneSentinel owes them thousands of dollars in unpaid wages. Brodie acknowledges wages are owed to an unspecified number of former employees. GeneSentinel has since changed its name to Cyntegra.
Penni Crabtree: (619) 293-1237; penni.crabtree@uniontrib.com
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20061028-9999-1b28brodie.html
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
October 28, 2006
Simon Brodie, the founder of a San Diego company that is attempting to sell cat franchises, pleaded guilty to multiple counts of false accounting in a failed franchise venture in his native Britain.
Brodie, founder of Allerca, a “designer pet” company that claims to have created a hypoallergenic cat, was sentenced to 2.5 years in jail for his role in the 1992 demise of Cloudhoppers, a hot air balloon-flight business in East Sussex.
According to British press accounts of the time, Brodie's company planned to sell dozens of franchises at 200,000 pounds each to flight operators across Britain. Instead, Brodie bilked consumers and ran up hundreds of thousands of pounds in debts, according to British press accounts.
Brodie said Thursday that he is not obligated to disclose his criminal record to potential Allerca franchisees or Allerca pet buyers.
He said British press accounts about Cloudhoppers and his conviction “contain a number of inaccuracies,” but he acknowledged that he served “a sentence of under one year through a work-release program.”
Allerca, in a written statement Thursday, said the company is “fully aware of Mr. Brodie's personal history but that does not change the fact that Mr. Brodie has been instrumental in helping to create a product, a life, to help millions of allergy sufferers who always wanted to own a cat.”
Both Allerca and Brodie said Brodie no longer has an ownership interest in Allerca; he continues to serve the company as a consultant.
Brodie and Allerca are promoting what some business experts and cat breeders view as a problematic business opportunity – a franchise in cats that costs $45,000 per “territory.”
Neither Allerca nor Brodie would disclose who owns Allerca or where the company is located, and they would not provide the names of scientists or breeding facilities involved in creation of Allerca's cats. According to a recently filed U.S trademark application, Brodie and Allerca reside at The Grande condo complex in downtown San Diego.
In recent weeks, Allerca and Brodie have been promoting franchises to sell the company's allergen-free cats and what it claims is a newly created breed called the Ashera. Neither cat is commercially available.
Allerca is charging consumers a minimum of $3,950 to “pre-purchase” a cat that the company claims to have selectively bred to not produce allergy-causing proteins. Those cats can take up to two years to deliver, according to Allerca.
Allerca says it plans to charge $6,000 for its Ashera, described as a new breed of exotic that weighs up to 25 pounds and sports leopardlike markings.
Cat breeders say descriptions of the Ashera bear a striking resemblance to an already recognized breed, dubbed the Savannah, which is a cross between a domestic cat and a wild African serval.
Brodie acknowledged to The San Diego Union-Tribune that he ordered several Savannah female breeders from a traditional cat breeder in August, though the deal did not go through. At the time, Brodie identified himself to the breeder as Campbell Francis and his firm as Monsenco Capital.
Brodie said Allerca's cat breeding experts asked him to acquire the Savannahs for the purpose of devising “the right formula” for the Ashera.
Brodie has a history of backing unusual business concepts, including promoting companies that proposed to create the world's most powerful computerprocessor, as well as a national Wi-Fi network.
Little is known about the fate of those or other Brodie companies,although some of his ventures have left behind unpaid employees, debts, liens and court judgments.
In January, Brodie and Allerca were sued in Orange County for defaulting on a $25,000 loan. In February, Allerca was evicted from its previous downtown headquarters, which was also Brodie's residence, for failure to pay rent. Last year, Brodie's Los Angeles landlords won a $3,900 judgment against Brodie for failure to pay rent.
Brodie and two other Brodie-affiliated companies, Cerentis and IntegraAssociates, also defaulted on a $72,280 promissory note, according to Los Angeles County court records. Last year, Brodie tried to raise $500,000 to fund an Allerca subsidiary, animal diagnostics firm GeneSentinel, of which he was chairman, president and chief executive. At the time, GeneSentinel listed assets of $3,000 and debts of $200,000.
This year, Brodie laid off some of the GeneSentinel employees; three former employees allege GeneSentinel owes them thousands of dollars in unpaid wages. Brodie acknowledges wages are owed to an unspecified number of former employees. GeneSentinel has since changed its name to Cyntegra.
Penni Crabtree: (619) 293-1237; penni.crabtree@uniontrib.com
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20061028-9999-1b28brodie.html
Lion cub and baby deer are close pals in Qatar zoo
Source ::: THE PENINSULA
Web posted at: 10/28/2006 2:43:57
DOHA -- A rare sight of a lion’s cub and a baby deer playing together is attracting huge crowds to Doha Zoo these days.
The cub and the deer were born at the Zoo on the same day in February this year and the zoo authorities decided to put them together in a small enclosure.
The zoo officials have also put up pictures of the two animals which were taken at their birth. The cub is from the family of the ferocious African lions, while the cute-looking baby deer is from the Axis family of deer.
"They are staying together from the day they were born," said a zoo keeper. The keeper is from India and his duty is to keep a watch on the two baby animals. On the slightest suspicion of things going wrong or the cub getting violent, he is there to show a stick to discipline it.
But so far the cub has shown no violence. "Both of them are very fond of each other and seem to be heartily enjoying each other's company," said another zoo keeper. Most of the time, they are seen playing with each other.
Many visitors, especially those with children, could be seen taking pictures with their small cameras near the enclosure where the cub and the baby deer are kept.
"Osma finds it very exciting," said a Sudanese expatriate who was at the zoo with wife and two children, waving at his five-year-old son. "It's indeed a rare sight, but the two animals cannot be expected to stay together longer," he said.
"Deer is the staple food of lions, but for the cub to grow into a full-fledged lion it would take two years or so," he said.
The zoo authorities have added some new features and they are also attracting large crowds. Free camel and horse rides are being offered to children.
“We came here early in the afternoon and my children are not willing to leave the zoo even after four hours,” said another expatriate family. “Children are finding the rides very fascinating,” he added.
A one-and-a-half meter python with black and brown stripes is born at the zoo recently and it is also one of the major attractions. People can touch it. Children, especially, are finding it extremely fascinating.
"They (children) are initially scared, but once we are touching the snake, they are encouraged to follow suit," said an Indian who was at the zoo with wife and three children.
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection= Qatar+News&month=October2006&file= Local_News2006102824357.xml
Web posted at: 10/28/2006 2:43:57
DOHA -- A rare sight of a lion’s cub and a baby deer playing together is attracting huge crowds to Doha Zoo these days.
The cub and the deer were born at the Zoo on the same day in February this year and the zoo authorities decided to put them together in a small enclosure.
The zoo officials have also put up pictures of the two animals which were taken at their birth. The cub is from the family of the ferocious African lions, while the cute-looking baby deer is from the Axis family of deer.
"They are staying together from the day they were born," said a zoo keeper. The keeper is from India and his duty is to keep a watch on the two baby animals. On the slightest suspicion of things going wrong or the cub getting violent, he is there to show a stick to discipline it.
But so far the cub has shown no violence. "Both of them are very fond of each other and seem to be heartily enjoying each other's company," said another zoo keeper. Most of the time, they are seen playing with each other.
Many visitors, especially those with children, could be seen taking pictures with their small cameras near the enclosure where the cub and the baby deer are kept.
"Osma finds it very exciting," said a Sudanese expatriate who was at the zoo with wife and two children, waving at his five-year-old son. "It's indeed a rare sight, but the two animals cannot be expected to stay together longer," he said.
"Deer is the staple food of lions, but for the cub to grow into a full-fledged lion it would take two years or so," he said.
The zoo authorities have added some new features and they are also attracting large crowds. Free camel and horse rides are being offered to children.
“We came here early in the afternoon and my children are not willing to leave the zoo even after four hours,” said another expatriate family. “Children are finding the rides very fascinating,” he added.
A one-and-a-half meter python with black and brown stripes is born at the zoo recently and it is also one of the major attractions. People can touch it. Children, especially, are finding it extremely fascinating.
"They (children) are initially scared, but once we are touching the snake, they are encouraged to follow suit," said an Indian who was at the zoo with wife and three children.
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection= Qatar+News&month=October2006&file= Local_News2006102824357.xml
Friday, October 27, 2006
NY: Some Game Farm animals headed to canned hunts, Humane Society says
By Joshua M. Rinaldi , Freeman staff
10/27/2006
The Humane Society of the United States alleges that two dealers known to sell animals to people operating canned hunts purchased animals at the Catskill Game Farm auction on Oct. 18.
"These are tamed animals, that people once hand-fed, that are now going to be mounted on someone's wall," said Andrew Page, manager of the Humane Society's anti-hunting campaign.
Fearing the worst, the Humane Society sent three people to the auction to monitor who was buying animals. The two dealers in question have been known to sell animals to canned hunts in Texas and purchased antlered fallow deer, yak and red deer, among other animals, Page said. One dealer spent more than $22,000, he said.
"It's what we expected and what we had kind of warned the public of since the beginning," Page said.
Catskill Game Farm owner Kathie Schulz, who closed the operation earlier this month after 73 years in business, could not be reached for comment on Thursday. She previously said the Game Farm would not sell any of its animals to operators of canned hunts, which allow people to shoot exotic animals at close range in a controlled environment. However, the auction was open to all, and permits were required for the purchase of only six species.
The Game Farm, off state Route 32 in Catskill, auctioned about half of its 2,000 animals - along with rides and various pieces of equipment - on Oct. 18, two months after Schulz announced the hands-on zoo was going out of business.
The animals that weren't auctioned were sent to sanctuaries or remained in Schulz's family's private collection, she said previously.
The Humane Society petitioned the U.S. Department of Agriculture to monitor the auction, but the USDA replied that it did not have any authority in such matters.
While the Humane Society monitored the auction inside the Game Farm's gates, other animals rights activists - calling themselves Advocates for Game Farm Animals - staged a protest outside, on Game Farm Road, during the zoo's final weekend of operation.
Some of the advocates also aligned with a similar group in Washington, D.C., and bought 205 animals at the auction, including two rhinos and a warthog that went for $9,000.
"It was the last thing we could do to save some lives," said Jim Van Alstine of the advocacy group.
The animals purchased by the coalition will go to sanctuaries or private owners, Van Alstine said. He said animal rights groups usually don't buy animals during auctions - because it simply gives the owners money to buy more animals - but the coalition made an exception in this case because the Catskill Game Farm was going out of business.
"Or course, we would have liked to get more (animals) out, but we got quite a few out and more than I thought possible a few weeks ago," he said.
Page fears the animals allegedly sold to canned hunt dealers are lost, but he hopes the Catskill Game Farm auction will help generate legislation to ban canned hunts nationwide.
"Ultimately, getting an animal at an auction is not illegal, which illustrated the need for legislation," he said.
More than 20 states currently ban canned hunts, Page said. New York is not one of them.
http://www.dailyfreeman.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1769&dept_id= 74969&newsid=17384608&PAG=461&rfi=9
10/27/2006
The Humane Society of the United States alleges that two dealers known to sell animals to people operating canned hunts purchased animals at the Catskill Game Farm auction on Oct. 18.
"These are tamed animals, that people once hand-fed, that are now going to be mounted on someone's wall," said Andrew Page, manager of the Humane Society's anti-hunting campaign.
Fearing the worst, the Humane Society sent three people to the auction to monitor who was buying animals. The two dealers in question have been known to sell animals to canned hunts in Texas and purchased antlered fallow deer, yak and red deer, among other animals, Page said. One dealer spent more than $22,000, he said.
"It's what we expected and what we had kind of warned the public of since the beginning," Page said.
Catskill Game Farm owner Kathie Schulz, who closed the operation earlier this month after 73 years in business, could not be reached for comment on Thursday. She previously said the Game Farm would not sell any of its animals to operators of canned hunts, which allow people to shoot exotic animals at close range in a controlled environment. However, the auction was open to all, and permits were required for the purchase of only six species.
The Game Farm, off state Route 32 in Catskill, auctioned about half of its 2,000 animals - along with rides and various pieces of equipment - on Oct. 18, two months after Schulz announced the hands-on zoo was going out of business.
The animals that weren't auctioned were sent to sanctuaries or remained in Schulz's family's private collection, she said previously.
The Humane Society petitioned the U.S. Department of Agriculture to monitor the auction, but the USDA replied that it did not have any authority in such matters.
While the Humane Society monitored the auction inside the Game Farm's gates, other animals rights activists - calling themselves Advocates for Game Farm Animals - staged a protest outside, on Game Farm Road, during the zoo's final weekend of operation.
Some of the advocates also aligned with a similar group in Washington, D.C., and bought 205 animals at the auction, including two rhinos and a warthog that went for $9,000.
"It was the last thing we could do to save some lives," said Jim Van Alstine of the advocacy group.
The animals purchased by the coalition will go to sanctuaries or private owners, Van Alstine said. He said animal rights groups usually don't buy animals during auctions - because it simply gives the owners money to buy more animals - but the coalition made an exception in this case because the Catskill Game Farm was going out of business.
"Or course, we would have liked to get more (animals) out, but we got quite a few out and more than I thought possible a few weeks ago," he said.
Page fears the animals allegedly sold to canned hunt dealers are lost, but he hopes the Catskill Game Farm auction will help generate legislation to ban canned hunts nationwide.
"Ultimately, getting an animal at an auction is not illegal, which illustrated the need for legislation," he said.
More than 20 states currently ban canned hunts, Page said. New York is not one of them.
http://www.dailyfreeman.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1769&dept_id= 74969&newsid=17384608&PAG=461&rfi=9
Women train exotic pets -- and husbands, too
October 25, 2006
By Jerry Harkavy The Associated Press
During her year spent researching a book about the nation's premier school for exotic animal trainers, Amy Sutherland observed students teaching a cougar to walk on a leash, a camel to shoot hoops and a hyena to pirouette on command.
But it was when Sutherland applied those techniques to train her husband, Scott, to pick up his dirty laundry, drive more slowly and stop stomping around the house when he misplaced his keys that her readership swelled to numbers she had never imagined.
Sutherland's success in modifying Scott's behaviors became grist for one of the most popular New York Times columns in memory, setting the stage for a follow-up book and perhaps even a movie deal.
It also propelled sales of the book, "Kicked, Bitten and Scratched," an illuminating and entertaining look at the Exotic Animal Training and Management program at Southern California's Moorpark Community College, which has mostly female graduates who are sought by marine parks, zoos, Hollywood studios, circuses and aquariums.
The program, known as EATM, employs progressive training techniques, rejecting the old-school approach of dominance and punishment that evokes an image of a lion tamer wielding a chair in one hand and a whip in the other.
Instead, EATM bases its methods on psychologist B.F. Skinner's conditioning theory, which relies on positive reinforcement to encourage desired behaviors and negative reinforcement to avoid unwanted ones.
So it was perhaps inevitable that Sutherland, 47, decided to test these ideas on her husband to see whether they might offer a fresh approach toward easing what she calls "the small annoyances that couples run into, the little things that drive you crazy about each other."
Instead of berating Scott for leaving his soiled clothes on the floor, she would offer praise when he tossed a dirty sock or shirt in the hamper. Driving a bit more slowly also drew a positive response. Conversely, when Scott would tear through the house looking for his keys, Sutherland simply ignored the behavior, which gradually began to ease.
"These are human psychology ideas that the trainers borrowed and I just borrowed back," Sutherland said.
The New York Times column, "What Shamu Taught Me About a Happy Marriage," appeared June 25 in the newspaper's Sunday Style section and immediately interested readers. The Times' Maureen Dowd drew from it for a column of her own.
Sutherland's column spent a month at or near the top of the newspaper's list of most e-mailed stories, which in the fast changing world of the Internet is comparable to long runs of books such as "The Da Vinci Code" or "Tuesdays With Morrie" on best-seller lists.
"It's quite extraordinary," said Richard Meislin, The New York Times' associate editor for Internet publishing. "It really has taken off and gotten wave after wave of interest."
Meislin said the "Modern Love" column reflected reader interest in spousal relationships. "It's the kind of thing people send to their friends."
Sutherland was surprised and a little mystified by the column's staying power, but she offered two possible explanations.
"It was funny," she said, "and some of the ideas make sound sense, even though they come from the animal world."
Aside from a few e-mails from men who took offense at being compared to animals, Sutherland said the response to the column has been favorable. She is working on a proposal to expand it into a short book and has been approached about a possible movie.
Sutherland had chosen the title "Kicked, Bitten and Scratched" while that book was in the proposal stage, but wondered whether she may have been stretching the truth. The time she spent at EATM, roughly one week per month, showed that it was no exaggeration.
"Over the course of the year, a student got her finger bitten badly by the hyena while working with it through a cage. A kinkajou -- his name is Birdman -- sank his teeth into two students, into their hands. And students were forever getting nipped by the parrots; one had her whole lip cut open," she said.
Sutherland, who emerged unscathed from her research, always was careful to stay out of the way. "It was not only for my own safety," she said. "I didn't want them to always think they had to worry about me."
Animal training is dominated by women, and the imbalance is reflected in the enrollment: At one time, EATM had only two men in a class of 50. Sutherland said it's the only dangerous profession in which women lead in numbers.
Women are drawn to it because of their predisposition toward nurturing, she said, "and women are more willing to clean as part of a profession than men are."
Sutherland learned about EATM while talking to trainers during a freelance writing assignment on the shooting of the Walt Disney film, "102 Dalmatians." A former newspaper reporter and food columnist, she had completed her first book, "Cook-Off: Recipe Fever in America," which explores the world of cooking competitions, and was seeking a subject worthy of a second.
A dog lover -- she has an Australian shepherd and a border collie mix -- Sutherland's experience at the school had her thinking seriously about becoming a dog trainer. And she finds she cooks a lot less than in the past.
"Before this, I was really interested in food, and now I'd have to say I'm interested in animals."
http://www.dailysouthtown.com/lifestyles/109399,8LIF2-25.article
By Jerry Harkavy The Associated Press
During her year spent researching a book about the nation's premier school for exotic animal trainers, Amy Sutherland observed students teaching a cougar to walk on a leash, a camel to shoot hoops and a hyena to pirouette on command.
But it was when Sutherland applied those techniques to train her husband, Scott, to pick up his dirty laundry, drive more slowly and stop stomping around the house when he misplaced his keys that her readership swelled to numbers she had never imagined.
Sutherland's success in modifying Scott's behaviors became grist for one of the most popular New York Times columns in memory, setting the stage for a follow-up book and perhaps even a movie deal.
It also propelled sales of the book, "Kicked, Bitten and Scratched," an illuminating and entertaining look at the Exotic Animal Training and Management program at Southern California's Moorpark Community College, which has mostly female graduates who are sought by marine parks, zoos, Hollywood studios, circuses and aquariums.
The program, known as EATM, employs progressive training techniques, rejecting the old-school approach of dominance and punishment that evokes an image of a lion tamer wielding a chair in one hand and a whip in the other.
Instead, EATM bases its methods on psychologist B.F. Skinner's conditioning theory, which relies on positive reinforcement to encourage desired behaviors and negative reinforcement to avoid unwanted ones.
So it was perhaps inevitable that Sutherland, 47, decided to test these ideas on her husband to see whether they might offer a fresh approach toward easing what she calls "the small annoyances that couples run into, the little things that drive you crazy about each other."
Instead of berating Scott for leaving his soiled clothes on the floor, she would offer praise when he tossed a dirty sock or shirt in the hamper. Driving a bit more slowly also drew a positive response. Conversely, when Scott would tear through the house looking for his keys, Sutherland simply ignored the behavior, which gradually began to ease.
"These are human psychology ideas that the trainers borrowed and I just borrowed back," Sutherland said.
The New York Times column, "What Shamu Taught Me About a Happy Marriage," appeared June 25 in the newspaper's Sunday Style section and immediately interested readers. The Times' Maureen Dowd drew from it for a column of her own.
Sutherland's column spent a month at or near the top of the newspaper's list of most e-mailed stories, which in the fast changing world of the Internet is comparable to long runs of books such as "The Da Vinci Code" or "Tuesdays With Morrie" on best-seller lists.
"It's quite extraordinary," said Richard Meislin, The New York Times' associate editor for Internet publishing. "It really has taken off and gotten wave after wave of interest."
Meislin said the "Modern Love" column reflected reader interest in spousal relationships. "It's the kind of thing people send to their friends."
Sutherland was surprised and a little mystified by the column's staying power, but she offered two possible explanations.
"It was funny," she said, "and some of the ideas make sound sense, even though they come from the animal world."
Aside from a few e-mails from men who took offense at being compared to animals, Sutherland said the response to the column has been favorable. She is working on a proposal to expand it into a short book and has been approached about a possible movie.
Sutherland had chosen the title "Kicked, Bitten and Scratched" while that book was in the proposal stage, but wondered whether she may have been stretching the truth. The time she spent at EATM, roughly one week per month, showed that it was no exaggeration.
"Over the course of the year, a student got her finger bitten badly by the hyena while working with it through a cage. A kinkajou -- his name is Birdman -- sank his teeth into two students, into their hands. And students were forever getting nipped by the parrots; one had her whole lip cut open," she said.
Sutherland, who emerged unscathed from her research, always was careful to stay out of the way. "It was not only for my own safety," she said. "I didn't want them to always think they had to worry about me."
Animal training is dominated by women, and the imbalance is reflected in the enrollment: At one time, EATM had only two men in a class of 50. Sutherland said it's the only dangerous profession in which women lead in numbers.
Women are drawn to it because of their predisposition toward nurturing, she said, "and women are more willing to clean as part of a profession than men are."
Sutherland learned about EATM while talking to trainers during a freelance writing assignment on the shooting of the Walt Disney film, "102 Dalmatians." A former newspaper reporter and food columnist, she had completed her first book, "Cook-Off: Recipe Fever in America," which explores the world of cooking competitions, and was seeking a subject worthy of a second.
A dog lover -- she has an Australian shepherd and a border collie mix -- Sutherland's experience at the school had her thinking seriously about becoming a dog trainer. And she finds she cooks a lot less than in the past.
"Before this, I was really interested in food, and now I'd have to say I'm interested in animals."
http://www.dailysouthtown.com/lifestyles/109399,8LIF2-25.article
Ocelot born at Oregon Zoo
Oregon Zoo - The "darling little guy" is healthy, and mom, though she killed her first offspring, is "doing a great job"
RICHARD L. HILL
The Oregonian
Friday, October 27, 2006
An ocelot couple named Ralph and Alice apparently felt right at home after arriving at the Oregon Zoo last April. Within weeks, Alice was pregnant.
On Thursday, officials announced that Alice had delivered the zoo's first ocelot kitten six weeks ago.
They only had glimpses of the baby, a male, and didn't want to announce the birth until they could determine it was healthy. The protective mother kept the baby partially hidden in her den until last week, when veterinarians were able to do an exam.
After a series of vaccinations, the kitten, now two pounds and healthy, will make his first public appearance in January.
"He's a darling little guy," said zoo spokesman Bill LaMarche. "There's going to be a lot of people standing in line waiting to see him in January."
The 13-year-old adult ocelots -- named after Ralph and Alice Kramden of the 1950s TV sitcom "The Honeymooners" -- were born in zoos in Sao Paulo, Brazil. They were transferred 10 years ago to the Phoenix Zoo, where Alice successfully raised two babies after killing her first offspring.
Oregon Zoo keepers built a nest box for Alice in a quiet area and gave her "a lot of space" to tend to her baby, said Chris Pfefferkorn, zoological curator. "She's doing a great job of being a mom."
Prized for their beautiful blotchy coats, ocelots are imperiled throughout their range from South America to southern Texas. Before being declared endangered in 1982, more than 200,000 of the cats were killed each year.
Adult ocelots, which weigh about 25 pounds, primarily hunt rodents, armadillos, reptiles and other small animals. Though they can climb trees and swim, they mostly hunt on the ground.
The Oregon Zoo is one of 10 U.S. zoos in the Brazilian Ocelot Consortium. The group is working to ensure the survival of the Brazilian ocelot, a genetically defined subspecies. With the baby, there are 20 Brazilian ocelots in eight zoos, and 92 other ocelots in 44 zoos.
Richard L. Hill: 503-221-8238; richardhill@news.oregonian.com
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/ news/1161917708145190.xml&coll=7
RICHARD L. HILL
The Oregonian
Friday, October 27, 2006
An ocelot couple named Ralph and Alice apparently felt right at home after arriving at the Oregon Zoo last April. Within weeks, Alice was pregnant.
On Thursday, officials announced that Alice had delivered the zoo's first ocelot kitten six weeks ago.
They only had glimpses of the baby, a male, and didn't want to announce the birth until they could determine it was healthy. The protective mother kept the baby partially hidden in her den until last week, when veterinarians were able to do an exam.
After a series of vaccinations, the kitten, now two pounds and healthy, will make his first public appearance in January.
"He's a darling little guy," said zoo spokesman Bill LaMarche. "There's going to be a lot of people standing in line waiting to see him in January."
The 13-year-old adult ocelots -- named after Ralph and Alice Kramden of the 1950s TV sitcom "The Honeymooners" -- were born in zoos in Sao Paulo, Brazil. They were transferred 10 years ago to the Phoenix Zoo, where Alice successfully raised two babies after killing her first offspring.
Oregon Zoo keepers built a nest box for Alice in a quiet area and gave her "a lot of space" to tend to her baby, said Chris Pfefferkorn, zoological curator. "She's doing a great job of being a mom."
Prized for their beautiful blotchy coats, ocelots are imperiled throughout their range from South America to southern Texas. Before being declared endangered in 1982, more than 200,000 of the cats were killed each year.
Adult ocelots, which weigh about 25 pounds, primarily hunt rodents, armadillos, reptiles and other small animals. Though they can climb trees and swim, they mostly hunt on the ground.
The Oregon Zoo is one of 10 U.S. zoos in the Brazilian Ocelot Consortium. The group is working to ensure the survival of the Brazilian ocelot, a genetically defined subspecies. With the baby, there are 20 Brazilian ocelots in eight zoos, and 92 other ocelots in 44 zoos.
Richard L. Hill: 503-221-8238; richardhill@news.oregonian.com
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/ news/1161917708145190.xml&coll=7
Texas Zoo has two new tiger cubs
BY APRILL BRANDON - VICTORIA ADVOCATE
October 27, 2006 - Posted at 2:01 a.m.
Get ready to say hello to the Texas Zoo's two newest residents. The 2-month-old tiger cubs of Saffron and Krystal, the zoo's Bengal tiger couple, are ready for their public debut.
Born Aug. 3, the as-of-yet-unnamed male and female tiger cubs are healthy and doing great, said executive director Eddie Overbay. And, unlike the four cubs born in March that were hand-raised, the 10-pound cubs are staying with their mother in the recently built tiger exhibit.
"Krystal is doing a great job taking care of the cubs and they will remain with her as long as she continues to take care of them," Overbay said. "We actually let them out in the tiger exhibit for the public to see last Friday, but we wanted to let them get used to people first before we let the word out that we had them and the crowds came."
The young cubs already have distinct personalities, Overbay said, with the lighter colored one being the more outgoing, trustworthy one and the darker one being more on the shy side. And although they haven't been named yet, the zoo is planning to remedy that soon by holding a naming contest for the cubs starting this weekend. Entries can be dropped off at the zoo gift shop.
As for Krystal and Saffron's four cubs that were born in March, Overbay said Zoey and Koda, the two 7-month-old tigers that were sent to the Memphis Zoo in August, were doing well in their new home. Ginger and Tonka, their brother and sister who remain at the zoo, can still be viewed by the public in their new location, the former ocelot exhibit.
Overbay added that the zoo plans to keep the new cubs for about a year before finding them a new home and they hope to find a permanent zoo to take Ginger and Tonka in the next few months.
As for the future, although the tiger cubs will be the last for Krystal and Saffron, who together have produced six cubs in all at the Texas Zoo, Overbay said, the zoo is hoping to eventually start breeding other types of tigers.
"Yes, Saffron will be getting neutered and so there will be no more mating between him and Krystal, mainly because there are already so many Bengal tigers out there. However, we do have plans once we have the new zoo to begin breeding other types of tigers."
Master plans for the new zoo, which currently is expected to start construction within three to five years, were revealed in October and have the new zoo about 76 acres in size.
Aprill Brandon is a reporter for the Advocate. Contact her at 580-6514 or abrandon@vicad.com, or comment on this story at www.VictoriaAdvocate.com.
http://www.thevictoriaadvocate.com/428/story/8600.html
October 27, 2006 - Posted at 2:01 a.m.
Get ready to say hello to the Texas Zoo's two newest residents. The 2-month-old tiger cubs of Saffron and Krystal, the zoo's Bengal tiger couple, are ready for their public debut.
Born Aug. 3, the as-of-yet-unnamed male and female tiger cubs are healthy and doing great, said executive director Eddie Overbay. And, unlike the four cubs born in March that were hand-raised, the 10-pound cubs are staying with their mother in the recently built tiger exhibit.
"Krystal is doing a great job taking care of the cubs and they will remain with her as long as she continues to take care of them," Overbay said. "We actually let them out in the tiger exhibit for the public to see last Friday, but we wanted to let them get used to people first before we let the word out that we had them and the crowds came."
The young cubs already have distinct personalities, Overbay said, with the lighter colored one being the more outgoing, trustworthy one and the darker one being more on the shy side. And although they haven't been named yet, the zoo is planning to remedy that soon by holding a naming contest for the cubs starting this weekend. Entries can be dropped off at the zoo gift shop.
As for Krystal and Saffron's four cubs that were born in March, Overbay said Zoey and Koda, the two 7-month-old tigers that were sent to the Memphis Zoo in August, were doing well in their new home. Ginger and Tonka, their brother and sister who remain at the zoo, can still be viewed by the public in their new location, the former ocelot exhibit.
Overbay added that the zoo plans to keep the new cubs for about a year before finding them a new home and they hope to find a permanent zoo to take Ginger and Tonka in the next few months.
As for the future, although the tiger cubs will be the last for Krystal and Saffron, who together have produced six cubs in all at the Texas Zoo, Overbay said, the zoo is hoping to eventually start breeding other types of tigers.
"Yes, Saffron will be getting neutered and so there will be no more mating between him and Krystal, mainly because there are already so many Bengal tigers out there. However, we do have plans once we have the new zoo to begin breeding other types of tigers."
Master plans for the new zoo, which currently is expected to start construction within three to five years, were revealed in October and have the new zoo about 76 acres in size.
Aprill Brandon is a reporter for the Advocate. Contact her at 580-6514 or abrandon@vicad.com, or comment on this story at www.VictoriaAdvocate.com.
http://www.thevictoriaadvocate.com/428/story/8600.html
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Group lists animals rescued at NY game farm auction
'Louise the warthog' among those headed for safety
CATSKILL, Oct. 26
By KATHY BARRANS
A coalition of animal advocates has released a list of 200 animals from the Catskill Game Farm that it claims have been saved from exploitation, slaughter or canned hunts.
"Louise the warthog" is on that list. The group says she was the most expensive animal sold at the auction, going for $9,000.
A European boar and llamas are also among those now headed to sanctuaries.
The animals were auctioned off last week after the game farm closed earlier this month.
List of animals:
CATSKILL, Oct. 26
By KATHY BARRANS
A coalition of animal advocates has released a list of 200 animals from the Catskill Game Farm that it claims have been saved from exploitation, slaughter or canned hunts.
"Louise the warthog" is on that list. The group says she was the most expensive animal sold at the auction, going for $9,000.
A European boar and llamas are also among those now headed to sanctuaries.
The animals were auctioned off last week after the game farm closed earlier this month.
List of animals: