Washington Post: Zoo Elephants to Get Wider Berth
Under the current design concept, the [National Zoo's] elephants would have at least four acres of outdoor and indoor space, including a central area in the Elephant House where the animals could socialize 24 hours a day instead of being kept in separate enclosures at night.At first blush, this sounds like it could be worse, then we find out that it is:
The herd, which now lives on less than an acre, would grow from three elephants to between eight and 10 adults and their offspring.So what this means is that the National Zoo in D.C. is being so generous as to up the ear room at their zoo from 3 elephants per acre to 2.5 elephants per acre, and that's not counting any offspring they might be able to conjure.
Wow, man. Like, wow.
Animal law blog Hounded, Cowed, & Badgered has an entry from Monday on the Farm Animal Stewardship Purchasing Act, which has been introduced in the House. The law would
...require government-purchased animal food and fiber to be from animals who were given adequate shelter, food, water, and veterinary care. There is no exercise requirement (something that would sink a factory farm), but it does require an animal be given "sufficient space . . . [to] walk, move his or her head freely, rest,In other words, this bill has no chance of surviving all the Ag-owned Congressmen, which are many, but I'd expect Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) to approve it!
and turn around completely and fully extend all limbs or wings without touching any part of an enclosure"
[snip]
Tucked into the law is also what would amount to a ban on government purchases of foie gras...
WIS-10 TV: EU moving to eliminate animal testing (Columbia, SC)
The European Commission and the chemicals and pharmaceuticals industries have presented a new plan to voluntarily reduce and eventually replace the need for animal testing. The plan also sets standards for cosmetic makers who want to use the label "not tested on animals."More on this from here:
Thursday 22nd June: Action plan aimed at reducing animal testingRelated Link: European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods
The news:
- Around 10.7 million animals per year are used for testing (2002). More than half of these are used in research and development for human medicine, dentistry, and in fundamental biology studies. About 16% in production and quality control of products and devices in human medicine, veterinary medicine and dentistry and about 10% for toxicological and other safety evaluation. From this 10% about 0.25% (+/- 2600 animals) was used for toxicological or other safety evaluations of products/substances used or intended to be used mainly as cosmetics or toiletries.
- A year ago the “European Partnership on Alternative Approaches to Animal Testing” was initiated by the Commission to promote alternative approaches to animal testing. This group, which is a partnership between the Commission, industry associations and major companies, is expected to publish an action programme with the aim of refining reducing and replacing animal use to meet regulatory safety requirements.
- In addition, the Commission intends to publish new guidelines for labelling cosmetic products as “not tested on animals”. The new guidelines will allow manufacturers to indicate that no animal tests have been carried out by the manufacturer and his suppliers in the development of the product. There will be common criteria for the use of such claims, in particular to ensure that they do not mislead the consumer or lead to unfair competition.
Tags: elephants | zoos | wildlife | farm animals | factory farms | animal law | animal testing
