Video credit: Stefan Krisa, iStock Introduction The North American beaver (Castor canadensis) was an easily commodifiable resource for the first European colonizers of the New World. Its Old-World cousin (Castor fiber) had been extirpated from western Europe by the early Middle Ages. Still, an estimated 60-400 million...
In 2004, the U.S. Department of Agriculture launched its Beagle Brigade. The brigade consisted of sniffer dogs trained to detect up to fifty odors associated with contraband smuggling into the country. International travelers to the U.S. have likely seen and interacted with members of the...
It is well known that giant pandas attract a lot of attention from enthusiastic fans. However, it might surprise some that penguins also attract widespread public interest and passion. Ron Kagan, the former director of the Detroit Zoo, created a penguin exhibit that received a...
In 1964, Justice Potter Stewart of the U.S. Supreme Court said about hardcore pornography that he would not try to create a written definition of such material but instead commented, "I know it when I see it." His comment was praised for its honesty and...
Fifty years ago, on June 20, Hollywood released a movie unlike any seen before. Jaws broke all existing box office records and launched the "summer blockbuster" trend. It was the first film to open in more than 400 theaters and the first to gross over...
Introduction Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter (BARCS) exemplifies compassion, resilience, and innovation in animal welfare. Starting from humble beginnings, it has become a crucial part of Baltimore, making a significant difference in many lives—both animals and people. Since its founding in 2005, BARCS has cared...
In November 2015, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced it would no longer fund biomedical research involving chimpanzees. They stated that all NIH-owned and NIH-supported chimpanzees would be eligible for retirement and relocation to a federal sanctuary, as mandated by the Chimpanzee Health,...
In the Pixar movie, WALL-E, set a few hundred years in the future, humans have no direct contact with one another, are relatively helpless, and spend all day interacting only via television. As did many of my friends, I felt that the film got the...
In 1990, an international research collaboration was launched to map and sequence the human genome, now known as the Human Genome Project (HGP). Four years earlier, Thomas H. Roderick of the Jackson Laboratory in Maine coined a new term – "genomics" – that was adopted...
The European Union (EU) and its earlier formations have played a significant role in developing animal welfare regulations and oversight since the 1970s. However, the EU has generally not addressed issues related to companion animal welfare, believing it is more effective for individual member countries...
