This year, 2024, is the centenary of the Geneva Declaration on the Rights of the Child by the League of Nations. That Declaration was drafted by Eglantyne Jebb, the founder of the Save the Children Fund, and states that all people owe children the right...
The animal healthcare industry faces a formidable challenge: a persistent shortage of veterinarians and veterinary technicians. The shortage stresses existing practitioners, resulting in prolonged wait times for companion animal clients, inadequate care in equine and bovine practice sectors, and significant challenges in shelter medicine. Furthermore,...
In 1700, so many beaver pelts were stored in Montreal warehouses that they threatened to glut the market, something that traders had already experienced in previous years. So, fearing that prices in Europe would crash, orders were given to pile up and burn fully three-quarters...
February and March bring crocuses and daffodils to the Northern Hemisphere and extensive media coverage of “clothing and other fashions” in Milan, Paris, New York, and London. In mid-March last year, there were numerous media reports that the Labrador retriever had been deposed as America's...
In 2017, the Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey Circus closed down, reportedly because of declining attendance. However, the circus had also been a target of escalating protests by animal advocates. Shows involving wild animals in Las Vegas have also been under attack by animal...
Thousands of nongovernment organizations (NGOs) are working worldwide to improve the well-being of dogs. Still, providing even a rough estimate of the global impact of these dog welfare projects has proved very challenging. Some organizations – such as the Soi Dog Foundation – have and...
Increasingly, the world recognizes human population growth, excess consumption, overuse of natural resources, and degradation of the natural environment as threats to planetary sustainability.Linear vs. Circular EconomyThe current global linear economic framework, characterized by resource extraction, product manufacture, and consumption, followed by product disposal, is...
Multiple media reports have been published on five “Blue Zones” – areas with relatively high numbers of people living to be 100 years old or older. In addition, these centenarians have lower rates of dementia and enjoy good health. Are there genetic or environmental traits...
The February and March issues of WellBeing News carried articles on the emergence of a highly pathogenic avian influenza virus. While the world is thoroughly sick of hearing about pandemic virus threats, we are adding another update because of the high risk to biodiversity of...
A new book, The Rat Trap by Pandora Pound, has just been published, criticizing modern medicine's reliance on animal research. Pound is a medical sociologist now employed by The Safer Medicines Trust, a UK charity whose mission "is to make medicines safer by facilitating a...
