Author: Kristin Stone

by Alex Rothlisberger

Seniso is the epitome of the Mexican roaming dog. His ears are covered in ticks, he looks thin and dehydrated, and he has a gash a few inches wide on his back full of pus. Every day, he wanders the streets of Mezcales with two other male dogs, left to fend for himself. But appearances can be deceiving: Seniso actually belongs to someone.

And one morning, something remarkable happens. Seniso’s owner brings him and the other two dogs to PEACE, an organization that provides free spay/neuter services to low-income residents of rural, economically depressed towns around the famous tourist destination of Bahia de Banderas, Mexico. HSI has been supporting PEACE for three years.

Evidence of change

The fact that this woman has brought her dogs to PEACE, rather than the organization’s having to go to her, represents a whole shift in attitude and behavior. After years of efforts to educate the local citizens, people are finally recognizing the benefits of sterilization and requesting the group’s services.

You can help: Become an HSI Street Dog Defender.

Heartening progress

HSI partners with organizations like PEACE to bring much-needed veterinary services to underserved communities. Where once the benefits of spay/neuter had to be a sales pitch to convince pet owners that sterilization would help their animals live happier, healthier lives and prevent unwanted litters, today people are actively seeking help from groups like PEACE.

As a result, Seniso and the other dogs and cats of towns like Mezcales have the chance for a better life. Give now to support our work.

Alexandra Rothlisberger is Program Manager, Latin America & Caribbean, Companion Animals and Engagement, for HSI.

It is ironic that, while elephant populations in many African and Asian countries are increasingly threatened by poaching for the illegal ivory trade, those herds confined to parks and reserves continue to grow and, if unchecked, can exceed available food and space within these confined areas. In addition to environmental degradation, human-elephant conflict can result as the animals seek sustenance in nearby communities.

Currently, overwhelmed elephant population managers often react to such problems by resorting to undesirable methods such as capture and relocation, or even culling.

An innovative solution

Since 1996, HSI has been supporting research on an innovative technique to enable control of elephant population growth rates at the source, before overpopulation becomes an issue. Immunocontraception prevents elephant births, which helps avoid the risk of ill treatment later on. It is already being used in 14 elephant populations in South Africa, and now we are spreading the message that it works, in the hope that others will adopt it as a humane alternative to intrusive or lethal approaches.

Spreading the word

To this end, we presented our findings in July 2012 at the Fourth International Wildlife Management Congress in Durban, South Africa. During the conference, we held the first-ever international workshop on the use of elephant immunocontraception and set up a booth to display the outcomes of our work and distribute our new report. The workshop was presented by HSI’s elephant immunocontraception team, comprised of the world’s foremost experts on this topic. Our goals were to illustrate the use of immunocontraception, provide an understanding of the science behind it, explain its practical application, and describe how it is currently being utilized. Also included was an exercise that allowed participants to plan their own immunocontraception programs for a hypothetical population.

Donate to help us protect elephants and other animals.

The session was well-attended by professional wildlife managers from all over the world. They were excited to learn about how far we have come in the research and application of the technique, and there are now plans to expand its use to other populations in South Africa and even Asia. One participant wrote to us later, “Thank you for the wonderful workshop. It was easily one of the most useful I’ve attended in a long while.”

Immunocontraception is a safe, effective and practical way to control wildlife populations. We hope that more wildlife managers will take advantage of this new humane, non-lethal approach to regulating population growth and mitigating human-wildlife conflict. Give now to support our work.

Read the abstract for our workshop (#2) [PDF]

Located on the eastern coast of India, the state of Orissa is known to host the world’s largest olive ridley sea turtle nesting site. Every year, between the months of December and April, thousands of olive ridleys emerge from the cool, clear waters of the Bay of Bengal for their famed mass nesting, also known as arribada, derived from the Spanish word for arrival.

In India, the rapid pace of development has had serious environmental consequences. Orissa is no exception. Development along and close to the shore of the Bay of Bengal includes several ports, shipbuilding yards, petro-chemical manufacturing hubs and a Special Investment Region (SIR) meant to spur urbanization.

Conservation status

Not surprisingly, data released by the state’s forest and wildlife department reveals a sharp decline in the number of olive ridley turtles in the last decade. In recent times, some historical arribada sites have only recorded intermittent nesting. Shockingly, beach erosion caused some turtles to nest in a fishing village this year—despite all the human activity! Global numbers have declined to a point where the olive ridley turtle is now classified as Vulnerable by the IUCN.

Happily, direct intervention by our team in India has already helped save the lives of several hundred olive ridley hatchlings this year, and the community teams trained by our wildlife experts could go on to save thousands.

“Close to 75 percent of the turtles’ nests throughout the coasts have been submerged in water due to high tides this year,” said HSI’s Soham Mukherjee. While mass nesting sites received a great deal of attention from conservationists, irregularly used sites were almost entirely ignored.

Working together to help

HSI partnered with a local NGO, Action for Protection of Wild Animals (APOWA), which has been working on olive ridley conservation in the region for several years. Along with members from the local fishing community, we surveyed the stretch of the Pir Jahania beach. The first few days of our survey revealed the various threats faced by the ridley nests. Several had been dug up and feasted upon by feral dogs and pigs. Another obstacle to the survival of the hatchlings was the unseasonal rain that made the sand wet and heavy. By the time the hatchlings had dug their way out of the nests, our team found them exhausted and unable to reach the sea without assistance.

While in other parts of the world, impoverished local communities often poach eggs or trap turtles for their skin, Hindu mythology gives the turtle divine status. Fishermen in the region steer clear of causing deliberate harm to the olive ridley. This offers conservation teams a fantastic opportunity to tap into local communities for volunteers and assistance.

Learning what to do

Three local beaches have been identified as sporadic nesting sites. A team of volunteers trained by our experts will patrol them to protect olive ridley nests from feral dogs. They will continue to assist hatchlings into the ocean and educate other community members and tourists.

“They were amazing. Very, very receptive and eager to learn,” said Mukherjee, who is an expert in humane handling, about the local fishermen who had been recruited to help with conservation. Fishing is officially banned during the nesting season and engaging the public during this period is a sustainable, long-term solution. The men were very eager to help, some even having attempted rescue efforts on their own in the past.

For the first time, the volunteers were trained in proper handling of olive ridley turtles. “Various subtle nuances of conservation efforts, like releasing the hatchling immediately into the ocean to avoid unnecessary handling and ensuring that the volunteer’s flashlight does not unintentionally disorient the turtles, were taught through practical sessions on the beach,” Mukherjee explained. Our team supervised several rescue efforts by the volunteers during and after the formal training sessions.

“It was a moonless night and when you switched off your flashlight, all you could see was an abyss of darkness… and then there was a lone female emerging to lay her eggs. Meanwhile, just a few meters away, a pack of 10 dogs stood waiting. Thankfully, all 105 eggs that that gorgeous female laid that night were rescued,” said Rahul Sehgal, director of HSI/India.

Project timeline

HSI and APOWA’s olive ridley sea turtle conservation project will continue over the next few weeks. Our hope is to have safeguarded at least 5,000 hatchlings by the end of the month.

by Mark Jones

Sir Roger Moore has given his backing to calls by Humane Society International/UK and Compassion in World Farming for British firm Creek Projects Investments PLC to withdraw its plans to fund a massive foie gras factory farm in China.

Sir Roger Moore said:

“Foie gras is sold as a luxury product but there is nothing luxurious about animal cruelty. Force-feeding geese massive quantities of food by ramming a metal tube down their throat until their livers become obese, is quite rightly banned in Britain. So I am utterly appalled that a British company is funding this cruelty in China and I urge it to withdraw immediately. I also urge the Chinese authorities to show compassion and kindness by shutting down foie gras production in China altogether. In a modern society, there is no place for this extreme animal cruelty.”

Sir Roger’s words place further pressure on Creek Projects to abandon its investment plans, and come just as the company has announced it will suspend the project so that a full review can be conducted. HSI UK’s veterinary and farm animal experts will make themselves available to ensure the review takes full account of the detrimental impact on animal welfare and the environment.

Foie gras production is an intensive farming practice that is widely condemned for being cruel. Animal protection laws effectively prohibit the practice throughout much of Europe including the UK, in addition to specific bans in the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, the UK, most Austrian provinces, Turkey, Israel and the US state of California. The EU’s Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Welfare (SCAHAW) concluded in 1998 that “force feeding, as currently practised, is detrimental to the welfare of the birds”, whilst the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) stated in 2002 that the production of fatty liver for foie gras “raises serious animal welfare issues and it is not a practice that is condoned by FAO.”

Recent video footage taken inside one of China’s foie gras factory farms shows the sort of suffering these geese can be subjected to. The video, taken by Four Paws International, shows geese in battery cages being restrained with iron clamps whilst a feeding tube is inserted into their throat and boiled maize pumped directly into their stomach using a pneumatic hydraulic system.

Gabriel Paun, Director of Campaigns at Four Paws International, said:

“This barbaric practice has been banned in many countries around the world and would not be permitted on a farm in the UK. As a British company, we urge Creek Project Investments to uphold basic ethical standards and pull out of this project immediately.”

Mark Jones is executive director of Humane Society International/UK.

by Sayara Thurston

Of the more than 500 dogs HSI/Canada helped rescue from a commercial breeding facility in September 2011, one puppy in particular stole the hearts of both staff and volunteers. Named “Pocket” because she was so tiny she could almost fit into one, she found her forever home after a woman fell instantly in love with her during a chance meeting.

One day while I was fostering Pocket, we were in a pet supply store, and a couple came up to me and started patting her, saying how cute she was, telling me how they were currently doing research as they were looking to adopt a small dog.

Give now to help ensure more happy endings for dogs like Pocket.

When I told them that this puppy would actually soon be available, the woman begged me to give her Pocket’s details and information on how she could go about adopting her. I told her to fill out our online application form, but made no promises that she would be able to adopt Pocket specifically (because people were always asking to adopt her)! However, the woman assured me that this was the dog for them and proceeded to start emailing me at least once a week asking how Pocket was, reassuring me that they were serious, etc.

Eventually, I went around to the couple’s house to meet them again and it was clear that they would give her a good home and that it really had been love at first sight. Pocket is a very feisty dog, so I was a little worried that they wouldn’t be able to handle her, but they obviously loved her all the more for it, so it seemed like a perfect match.

When I finally took Pocket back to sign the adoption papers, I cried all day! The family was so nice and promised to send photos and come and visit. Sure enough, the photos seen here are of our staff with Pocket when they brought her to the office a few weeks ago. A happy ending for all concerned (except that I miss her)! Donate to support our efforts.

Sayara Thurston is a campaigner with HSI/Canada.