India Outlaws Captive Dolphin Shows and Importing Them For Entertainment

India is the world's fourth nation that banned catching and importing cetaceans for commercial entertainment. Other countries are Costa Rica, Hungary and Chile. India Government has been influenced by the outcome of the research on dolphins that established that these creature are highly intelligent and very sensitive. The government has taken a decision to close all dolphin parks in India.

Puja Mitra from the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organizations (FIAPO) in this context said, "the scientific evidence we provided during the campaign talked about cetacean intelligence and introduced the concept of non-human persons," she added, "the majority of dolphins and whales in captivity have been sourced through wild captures in Japan, in Taiji, in the Caribbean, in the Solomon Islands and parts of Russia. These captures are very violent"

It is really a great news that India's Government has given dolphins a status of “non-human personhood”, making the country unique in the way the people there thinks about the endangered species like dolphins. The decision of granting dolphins the status of “non-human personhood” was officially announced by India’s Minister of the Environment and Forests. The government outlawed captive dolphin shows and the ministry said that dolphins “should have their own specific rights.”

International Whale’s Day - February 19th

On February 19th the International Whale’s Day has been marked since the International Whaling Commission proclaimed a ban on whaling in 1986. For many decades of the 20 th century whale fishers have been hunting these marine giants for meat, whale bones, whale blubbers or bone flour. Eventually,the number of whale individuals significantly declined and many species found themselves on the verge of extinction. As an example, blue whales might be provided. Recent estimations of their population cannot find a common dominator; some claim that there up to 2 thousand blue whales in the World Ocean, others point out 15 thousand whales distributed over Northern and Southern hemispheres. In particular, blue whales are considered the crown jewel of the Atlantic Ocean, especially northern areas.

Blue whales are recognized as the biggest mammals on the Earth. The average weight is nearly 100-120 tones, which corresponds to a value of 40 African elephants. To support normal living a whale should consume 1 million calories per day that is usually comprised of krill (1 tone). Speaking of meal culture, it is impossible not to mention its peaceful nature, as far as blue whales are typical planktotrophics, which makes the situation with their extinction more sorrowful and distressing.

The other peculiar feature worth underlining is a specific way of communication between individuals. It is associated with whale songs, which are recognized by individuals on the distance of 1600 km. They are often observed during reproduction period, underlining the connection to family functions of mammals. This fact has alerted an attention of scientists and zoologists, dealing with gathering some facts about blue whales.

To be more précised, scientific interest is one out of two issues, which allow whales’ hunting. The other one is necessities of indigenous people in whale hunting. As a source of food it is not forbidden for the indigenous peoples of Alaska, the Far Eastern regions of Russia and Greenland, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Meat was the prime purpose of animals’ population decline; in particular, an adult blue whale individual can give about 40 tons of meat. The statistics concludes that during the 20 the century the number of whales decreased in 100 times.

However, hunting is not the only reason of blue whales disappearance. In this context, clashes with seacrafts are getting more and more serious. The average number of whale deaths from marine vessels is 1,2 accidents per year, but there are also true record years; for example, in 2007 4 fatal encounters occurred in the Pacific Ocean. Gulf of Saint Lawrence is also a region, where blue whales get lots of
injuries. According to marine observations the number of whales suffering from scars and wounds reaches 9-25%. The other negative effect sea vessels perform is a disturbance of echolocation abilities of whales. Voice signals are often silenced, which makes the communication and shoals’ formation almost impossible. It also influences on blue whales’ number within waters of the World Ocean.

Guest Post by Maria Kruk, an author for Species.com

Washington State Rabies Vaccine Law Hits By Worries Over The Dog Owners Communities

Washington State recently rolled out the Rabies Vaccine Law that has no room for exceptions! What if any dog has allergic reaction to vaccines? There are many pets that have exhibited life-threatening reaction to the first rabies vaccines. Those dogs should not get another shot if they have to live. If such dogs are re-vaccinated with the rabies vaccine they will die.

Dr. Ron Schultz, professor and chair of the Department of Pathobiological Sciences at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine, Madison says that there's no way to break the law, but he is  quite optimistic about little changes in the law. However, on the other hand professor Schultz said, "there's absolutely no dependable way to prevent these reactions in some dogs", although an antihistamine an hour before vaccination can prevent such adversity, yet chances are there that such dogs may ultimately suffer a bad ending. Professor Scultz says, "we're trying to get states to recognize rabies titers (or antibodies to determine if the pets remain protected by their previous vaccine) even at three years in lieu of re-vaccination. Titers are a reliable determination. But state regulators don't always ask vaccine experts, and may themselves not be veterinarians. What's more, laws vary from state to state and even within states. There's no standardization."

Candidly speaking, a law without any exception - especially in situations when it comes to questioning a life, is basically a non-sense regulation. If it was me, I would not have vaccinated my dog, making experimentation with his life - one precious life! Even though I clearly understand and would like to abide by the rules and regulations laid by the pet vaccine law for rabies, I would still look for allowance for exceptions to the law. The "titers", as explained by Dr. Ron Schultz is another sensible option, although not a solution!

The Washington State Veterinary Medical Association should advocate for another amendment in the current Rabies Vaccine Law, with allowance for exceptions.