Newsletter – December 2010 22009January/February 09
Learning About Animals was set up to provide information and promote interest in the welfare and behaviour of animals. The aim is to bridge the gap between professionals/scientists working with animals and the public.
If you have any suggestions for future events or if you would like to be considered to be a speaker please contact me.
I am also a qualified equine behaviourist and run consultations in Surrey and the Home Counties. For more details please visit the relevant section of the web site.
EVENTS LIST
DOGS: Memory in dogs -
22nd January 2011
Day event with Amber Batson. Details. Taking
bookings now.
Science in a Nutshell: An Introduction into How Animals Learn
Morning event covering
the different types of learning. Packed with examples, this event provides a taster
into this fascinating subject. £10. 5th February 2011. Details coming soon.
HORSES: Equine behaviour and training with Ben Hart A series of three day workshops.
Details. To attend the third workshop you must have attended at least one of the
first two workshops as we will explore more deeply the issues covered in a more advanced
workshop.
19th February 2011
9th July 2011
8th October 2011
(£45 for each day. Book
all three at once for £115 saving £20) Taking bookings now.
HORSES: An Introduction to Equine Behaviour
Morning workshop exploring what horses
need, how they learn and how we can build relationships with our four-
Science in a Nutshell: Animal Welfare
A morning event exploring what animal welfare
is, how it can be assessed and what are some of the most exciting initiatives towards
improving animal welfare around the world.
DOGS: Aggression in Practice with Kendal Shepherd
Follow-
HORSES: Exploring the latest findings in equine cognition (morning event; with Leanne Proops)
DOGS: First Aid for Dogs... Details coming soon.
The views expressed by the speakers are not necessarily those held by Learning About Animals
Videos on the web...
1. Check out www.green.tv -
2. Cat enrichment videos here and here.
3. Dolphins in captivity debate video.
4. New Fish Fight campaign video.
Have a fur-
Many people are unaware that fur is still very much in our shops. Fur trim (round the edge of coats, boots, gloves etc) is becoming more and more common as cheap fur is produced yet the industry is as cruel as ever.
What are the welfare problems for the animals involved?
Most fur comes from farmed animals (rabbits, mink, dogs and cats) kept in tiny bare wire cages with little opportunity to turn around stereotypical behaviour is common and includes tail sucking, flank biting and repetitive head movements.
How to tell if fur is real or fake:
What does the fur look like? If each hair of the fur is the same length then it is likely to be fake fur. If the fur contains hairs of different length it is probably real.
What is the base of the fur like? If the base is ‘leather’ it is real, if it is synthetic material it is fake.
What happens when you burn the fur? Real fur singes like human hair, fake hair burns like plastic.
What to do if you find real fur:
Many retailers might not be aware that they are selling real fur. If you find some fur is real ask a member of staff for their fur policy. If you are not sure if it is real or not contact WSPA with the details of the shop that are selling the fur and they will look into it.
Please don’t buy products made from fur!
Dolphins Mischa and Tom are now back in the sea
In September 2010 two dolphins that were caught in the sea and kept in woefully inadequate conditions for months were released into a temporary sea pen thanks to the Born Free Foundation. The dolphins were being kept in a tiny dirty pool in a tourist region of Turkey after being captured more than six years ago from the wild. In June 2010 they had arrived at the venue, which was not licensed or open for tourists, in the back of a fruit and vegetable van and were kept in a small concrete pool. In such inappropriate conditions they were not able to behave naturally and were seen to just drift aimlessly around and occasionally bob up for air.
Born Free and local Turkish animal welfare groups had to negotiate hard to be allowed
to rescue the dolphins but after considerable red tape they were finally allowed
to move them to a sea pen on the coast in September 2010. This is just a temporary
home for the rehabilitation of the dolphins, experts believe that it will take up
to six months before they can be released -
The temporary pen is 30m in diameter and 15m deep, not very big but a vast improvement
from the small dirty concrete pool they have been living in. Changes in their behaviour
have already been observed -
Born Free are still appealing for donations to help fund this project, you can read more about the project including blogs from Born Free staff here, and adopt the dolphins here.
There are currently at least 1,186 captive cetaceans (whales and dolphins) held in
more than 200 different facilities worldwide. The industry is big business and is
driven by the attraction for tourists to see these amazing and iconic animals up
close and in many cases to swim or interact with them. However, life in an aquarium
is totally unsuitable for these animals. It fascinates me what makes people who love
animals so much visit such tourist attractions or indeed work in them. As a child
I successfully petitioned my parents to take me to SeaWorld and I absolutely loved
it. My mum bought me a cuddly orca, which I insisted on keeping it in the bath until
it went mouldy -
Tanks are many times noisier than the ocean, the glass and concrete walls inhibit
the natural use of sound by whales and dolphins and the water and cooling pumps are
heard underwater 24 hours a day. Nothing in their evolution has prepared whales or
dolphins for life in captivity. However, there is much discussion about what should
be done with those currently in captivity; can they be rehabilitated into the wild?
There are many examples where this has been done successfully -
Newsletter contributors
If you would like to contribute to future editions of this Newsletter please do get in touch. Currently I write all content but it would be good to get other perspectives and ideas.
Animally gifts
Some ideas for gifts in 2011:
Christmas cards/ gifts/ calendars available online from the following charities:
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Fair Trade and ethical living gift web sites:
Animal adoptions available from:
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Charities supporting humans:
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Don’t feed garden birds with turkey and goose fat this winter – warns RSPB 
I would have thought that it is not advisable to feed turkey and goose fat to garden birds is partly because many garden birds naturally would only eat fruit, seeds or insects but these are the reasons the RSPB gives:
- It stays soft even when cooled, meaning it could smear onto birds' feathers and ruin water proofing and insulating qualities
- The softness of turkey fat means it's not practical to make popular ‘bird cake' where its mixed with seeds, as it will not harden to hold its shape
- Many people rub turkey joints liberally with salt to crisp the skin and high levels of salt are toxic to birds
- The fat in roasting tins can't be separated from other leftover liquids like meat juices. This concoction can go rancid quickly, and form an ideal breeding ground for salmonella and other food poisoning bacteria
The RSPB recommends food scraps such as Christmas cake crumbs, mince pie pastry crumbs and biscuit crumbs. Other suitable leftovers include mild grated cheese, cooked or uncooked rice, dry porridge oats, cooked potatoes and fruit.
Interesting articles
1. Article about how much Britain loves pets
2. Article ‘Fish, the forgotten victims on our plates’
3. Animal welfare: a science or not?
4. Interview with Jane Goodall about her 50 years spent working with chimpanzees
5. Article about how crop raiding elephants are stressed
6. Article about the Dog’s Trust set up new eco-
7. Article and petition describing cruelty to reindeer at Christmas
8. Excellent article by Brian May about why he speaks out for animals.
9. National Geographic’s ten wierdest new species of 2010.
10. National Geographic’s most watched videos of 2010.
Advanced events for 2011
In 2011 some events will be aimed at professionals and people working directly with
animals that go into a little more detail than other events. Ben Hart is doing a
series of three events on horse behaviour, you need to have attended the first to
attend the others. Likewise Kendal Shepherd is back for a follow-
Chimps and toys
An interesting study has found that female chimps use sticks as 'dolls' whereas male
chimps do not. This suggests a biological basis for gender-
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/09/101220-
Hamley’s drops plans for reindeer and penguins at Christmas
This month various garden and shopping centres planned to include reindeer and penguins as attractions for shoppers. This is totally inappropriate as these animals are not habituated to all the sights, sounds and smells of such an experience and would find it very frightening.
Organisations such as Born Free and CAPS ran campaigns explaining this to the organisers
of such events and in many cases animals were not used as part of festive displays.
For example, Hamleys cancelled their planned penguin exhibition -
What was more suprising was that many members of the public were upset that their
children wouldn’t be able to see the animals, not understanding that they would not
be ‘happy’ -
