Articles

Entrance of Blue Cross of India | Photo credit: Blue Cross

Sep 30, 2024 Blue Cross of India: Pioneering Animal Welfare and Rabies Control for 60 Years

Posted at 12:16h In Animal Well-being, Articles, BCI (Blue Cross of India), Companion Animals, Public Awareness/Attitudes, Tales of WellBeing - By Andrew Rowan, DPhil and Kathleen Rowan CEO, WellBeing International

In 1959, Captain V. Sundaram, his wife Usha and their son, S. Chinny Krishna (then almost 15 years old), were three of the four founding members of the Animal Aid Association in Madras (now Chennai) in southern India. 1964, the organization was formally registered as...

Little brown bat with white-nose syndrome, Ryan von Linden/New York Department of Environmental Conservation), Public Domain, https://www.fws.gov/media/little-brown-bat-white-nose-syndrome

Sep 19, 2024 Vultures in India & Bats in USA: Impact on Animal Welfare & Human Health

Posted at 15:31h In Articles, Public Awareness/Attitudes, Sustainability/Biodiversity, Well-being, WellBeing News, Wild Animals - By Andrew Rowan, DPhil

A report by Frank and Sudarshan, ecological economists at the University of Chicago, provides an excellent example of how human and environmental well-being is connected to the well-being of animals – in this case, to the health of the vulture population in India. Ecological economics,...

Free range chickens | credit: Whitepointer, AdobeStock

Aug 29, 2024 Animal Agriculture: Reversing Confinement Trends

Posted at 15:42h In Animal Sentience, Animal Well-being, Articles, Farm Animals, Tales of WellBeing - By Andrew Rowan, DPhil

In the early 21st century, several animal protection organizations in the United States were collectively spending approximately $6 million annually on farmed animal welfare campaigns. In contrast, the animal agriculture industry was worth over a hundred billion dollars in the country, and few advocates believed...

Indonesian tiger | Credit: buddhawut, Shutterstock

Aug 29, 2024 Recovering Wild Tiger Population in Thailand

Posted at 15:40h In Animal Well-being, Articles, Public Awareness/Attitudes, Tales of WellBeing, Wild Animals - By Kathleen Rowan CEO, WellBeing International and Andrew Rowan, DPhil

The tiger, a creature of almost mystical, magical, and majestic allure and the subject of Blake's famous 1794 poem Tyger, is battling for survival in its final refuges in Thailand and Myanmar in Southeast Asia. The populations of tigers in the neighboring countries of Cambodia,...

Wild Bear Cubs | Credit: Hanna Glafke, iStock

Jul 24, 2024 The 1964 Wilderness Act: Transforming U.S. and Global Conservation

Posted at 13:43h In Articles, Environment Well-being, Ethics, Regulation, Law, Public Awareness/Attitudes, Tales of WellBeing, Wild Animals - By Andrew Rowan, DPhil

The Wilderness Act was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on September 3, 1964. The USA system of wilderness areas now includes over 800 areas covering more than 110 million acres. Currently, all but six states—Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, and Rhode Island—have...

Jul 24, 2024 The Kakamas Peach: Transforming South Africa’s Canning Industry

Posted at 11:18h In Articles, Tales of WellBeing - By Andrew Rowan, DPhil

Certain foods mark the various seasons of the year, such as mince pies at Christmas, hot cross buns at Easter, matzah at Passover, and harira at Ramadan. One is spoiled for choice in summer as local farmers' markets sell various melons, vine-ripened tomatoes, fresh blackberries...

Outdoor cats | Credit: Stock-Enjoy, Shutterstock

Jul 08, 2024 Australian Cats: Making a Difference

Posted at 10:17h In Animal Well-being, Articles, Companion Animals, WellBeing News - By Andrew Rowan, DPhil

The January 2023 issue of WellBeing News included an article on the humane management of outdoor cats in Australian urban and periurban areas by the Australian Pet Welfare Foundation (APWF). The foundation was founded in 2011 by Dr. Jacquie Rand and three colleagues to advocate...

Mosquite | Credit: Melissa Harp, Shutterstock

Jul 08, 2024 Climate, Health and Dengue

Posted at 10:06h In Articles, Climate Change, Environment Well-being, Human Well-being, WellBeing News, Wild Animals - By Andrew Rowan, DPhil and Kathleen Rowan CEO, WellBeing International

Impact of Climate on Human HealthOn April 5, 2024, the World Bank released a brief on the impact of climate change on human health. According to the report, a warmer climate could result in at least 21 million additional deaths by 2025 due to five...

Baby elephant | Credit: Right Cameraman, AdobeStock

Jun 18, 2024 Communicating Animals: A Doctor Dolittle Story

Posted at 15:46h In Articles, Public Awareness/Attitudes, Tales of WellBeing, Wild Animals - By Andrew Rowan, DPhil

In 1980, Robert Seyfarth, Dorothy Cheney and Peter Marler published a paper in Science reporting that a vervet monkey troop in Amboseli National Park in Kenya used three different alarm calls to signify danger respectively from eagles, leopards and snakes. According to Snowdon, this paper...

European Roller | Credit: Film Studio Aves, iStock

Jun 18, 2024 A Roller Bird Gathers No Moss

Posted at 15:40h In Articles, Public Awareness/Attitudes, Tales of WellBeing, Wild Animals - By Andrew Rowan, DPhil

How animals migrate reliably from one place to another yearly has been an enduring puzzle. Donald Griffin, the discoverer of bat echolocation, also investigated bird migration to determine how birds could navigate the ocean. He and his colleagues tracked migrating flocks using a repurposed military...