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☆ Kiska, Canada's last captive killer whale, dies
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Kanishka Singh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Kiska, the last captive orca or killer whale in Canada, swims in her concrete tank in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, February 6, 2023 in this screengrab obtained from a social media video. Phil Demers/ Instagram & TikTok @UrgenSeas/via REUTERSMarch 10 (Reuters) - Kiska, the last captive killer whale in Canada, has died, the Ontario government said late on Friday, adding it was informed of the death by the theme park where Kiska lived. "The ministry was advised by MarineLand that the whale named Kiska passed away at MarineLand on March 9, 2023. Canadian non-profit group Animal Justice, which advocates for animal rights, called for a probe into MarineLand's treatment of the killer whale. "Animal Welfare Services was onsite to determine compliance with the Standards of Care," Ross said.

☆ The US military has been testing pulsed energy on animals trying to recreate the mysterious 'Havana Syndrome' symptoms: report
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The US military has been carrying out and funding testing on various animals. The testing is aimed at seeing if radio frequency waves cause the mysterious sickness known as "Havana Syndrome." US intelligence determined last week that the ailment is likely not caused by a foreign adversary or weapon. A defense official told Insider that the Department of Defense, in accordance with congressional requirements, "continues to address the challenges posed by" anomalous health incidents, "including the causation, attribution, mitigation, identification, and treatment for such incidents. The official did not comment on the reported testing on primates but said that the testing at Wayne State University is aimed at alleviating "the deficits associated with traumatic brain injury."

The Justice Department’s decision to subpoena government witnesses who would normally testify voluntarily to help build the government’s criminal case was highly unusual, according to a half-dozen legal and animal welfare experts. The inspectors wanted APHIS to take a tougher stance against the company for the mistreatment of the beagles. Yet, this did not happen with any of the agency's inspections of Envigo, public records show. TENSIONS RISETensions between Gibbens and Miller escalated shortly after Envigo appealed some of the findings from the October inspection, emails show. Gibbens told Envigo APHIS would strike the citation because the company ultimately provided the requested information.

Oct. 7, 2021 - APHIS director Robert Gibbens declines the request, citing “optics” and the risks of COVID-19 exposure. Oct. 25, 2021 – Three APHIS inspectors find 13 violations at Envigo, seven of which are “direct" or "critical." Nov. 16-19, 2021 - APHIS inspects Envigo and finds 26 violations, 14 of which are "direct" or "critical." Feb. 16, 2022 - Miller informs her staff that Goldentyer has removed her from working on any more Envigo inspections. March 8, 2022 - APHIS employees inspect Envigo and find five violations, two of which are “direct.”May 3, 2022 - APHIS inspects Envigo and only cite the company for failing to fix the dangerous flooring.

☆ HelloFresh stops buying coconut milk from Thailand after videos show monkeys being forced to harvest the crop
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

HelloFresh will stop buying coconut milk sourced in Thailand, Axios reported. It revealed that monkeys on HelloFresh suppliers' coconut farms were being kept in poor conditions. PETA accused Suree and Aroy-D, HelloFresh's former coconut milk suppliers, of keeping monkeys chained on dirt patches with no protection from the elements. Major retailers, including Walmart, Target, and Costco, have already stopped selling coconut milk from certain Thai suppliers, but HelloFresh's move goes one step further, banning all coconut milk exports from the country. It's now calling on Whole Foods and other retailers to stop sourcing coconut milk from Thailand, it said in a press release.

☆ The high cost of eggs could give us a taste of an expensive, ethical, and cage-free future, an eggspert says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-05 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Egg prices have soared over the past year as a result of the deadly avian influenza. However, prices will never really be the same, especially as the US transitions to cage-free eggs. The changes in egg production among multiple states resulted in additional construction costs, higher feed costs, and higher labor costs. Cage-free eggs are what consumers want, but 'sticker shock' could deter buyersDespite the heftier price tag, cage-free is where the country is headed. It may also shed light on how consumers could react to egg price increases in the future.

☆ Elon Musk's bid to implant brain chip into humans was reportedly rejected by feds over safety risks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The FDA rejected Neuralink's request for approval to begin testing its brain chips in humans, Reuters reported. The agency cited dozens of issues with the device, including concerns it could overheat or move in the brain. Elon Musk has been promising the company will soon begin testing on humans since 2019. Reuters said the FDA identified "dozens of issues" Neuralink must remedy before it could begin human testing in the US. The firm plans to implant chips into human brains, which would allow people to perform tasks using only their mind.

☆ M&Ms Super Bowl commercial: How ads have become weeks-long campaigns
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( Danielle Wiener-Bronner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The Super Bowl commercial, billed as the conclusion to weeks-long drama surrounding the status of the “spokescandies,” left some viewers scratching their heads. But if you weren’t paying attention, the final commercial might be a head scratcher -— one risk a brand takes when it uses a weeks-long campaign ahead of its Super Bowl commercial. In a change for the decades-old Super Bowl ad wars, it’s actually become a commonplace strategy to use social media to tease, preview and create buzz ahead of their Super Bowl commercials. Companies spend millions just for a Super Bowl ad slot — reportedly over $7 million for some 30-second spots — before investing into the commercials themselves. Dance contests and bettingDespite the high cost of a Super Bowl commercial, companies are eager to nab a spot.

☆ Elon Musk's brain-chip startup is being investigated over potentially moving hazardous pathogens after monkey tests
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The US Department of Transportation is investigating whether Neuralink transported hazardous pathogens. Activists alleged Neuralink had not properly transported brain chips from monkey test subjects. The animal rights group has criticized Neuralink in the past over its use of monkeys. A spokesperson for Neuralink did not respond to a request for comment from Insider ahead of publication. A spokesperson for UC Davis told Insider that the institution complies with lab safety and biohazard regulations.

☆ Thousands protest against animal rights bill in Spain for excluding hunting dogs
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Demonstrators take part in a protest against hunting amidst amendment proposals that seek to leave hunting dogs and other animals involved in traditional rural activities out of the country's proposed animal welfare bill, in Madrid, Spain, February 5, 2023. REUTERS/Violeta Santos MouraMADRID, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Thousands of people marched through central Madrid on Sunday to protest against a bill aimed at strengthening animal rights for excluding hunting dogs which opponents say are being exploited. The protest comes four days before parliament is due to vote on the new animal rights bill proposed by the ruling Socialist part. The party submitted a last-minute amendment to exclude hunting dogs and other animals involved in traditional rural activities. In Spain, dogs are used to track or catch animals such as deer, wild boar and rabbits.

Almeida, who has five rescue dogs, travelled nearly 250 kms (155 miles) from the northern Portuguese city of Aveiro for the demonstration, which was organised by the Animal Intervention and Rescue (IRA) group. Portugal's public prosecutors had on Wednesday asked the constitutional court to declare unconstitutional a law that criminalises with a fine or jail time those who mistreat their pets. According to public prosecutors, the court has already made decisions that pointed to the alleged unconstitutionality of the legislation. On one occasion, a dog owner who threw his puppies into a rubbish bin was initially convicted but later acquitted. Holding a banner, Filipe Vicente, a 45-year-old dog and cat owner, described the current situation as a "notorious setback".

In 2019, Cambodia supplied 8,571 of the 33,818 research monkeys imported to the U.S., or 25%. In 2021, the number of monkeys from Cambodia more than doubled to 18,870, making up nearly 60% of the 31,844 research monkeys brought to America. Earlier this year, long-tailed macaques and pig-tailed macaques were listed as endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The decades long effort by animal rights groups to derail the monkey trade has made some impact. The incident shined a rare spotlight on the monkey trade, which largely goes on outside the view of the public.

☆ Exclusive: Musk’s Neuralink faces federal probe, employee backlash over animal tests
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Rachael Levy | Thomson Reuters | Award-Winning Journalist Covering Corporate Governance. Her Reporting Has Prompted Federal Investigations | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +16 min

Reuters could not determine the full scope of the federal investigation or whether it involved the same alleged problems with animal testing identified by employees in Reuters interviews. Musk has pushed hard to accelerate Neuralink’s progress, which depends heavily on animal testing, current and former employees said. Delcianna Winders, director of the Animal Law and Policy Institute at the Vermont Law and Graduate School, said it is “very unusual” for the USDA inspector general to investigate animal research facilities. In September, the company responded to employee concerns about its animal testing by holding a town hall to explain its processes. “We’re extremely careful,” he said, to make sure that testing is “confirmatory, not exploratory,” using animal testing as a last resort after trying other methods.

☆ Do Humans Owe Animals Equal Rights? Martha Nussbaum Thinks So.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( David Marchese | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +15 min

Photo illustration by Bráulio Amado Talk Do Humans Owe Animals Equal Rights? But does it then follow that we think of animals’ lives as being equal in value to humans’? That would lead to redoubling our efforts to make sure animals don’t perish in the future. Just think: Women are often raped, and that has been so all throughout human history. Now, as an incrementalist I want to be cautious here because I don’t think that predatory animals are doing anything wrong.

☆ 4 waitresses carried an Animal Rebellion protester out of Salt Bae's London steakhouse on Saturday night
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Stephanie Stacey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Diners applauded as staff physically removed Animal Rebellion activists from the Nusr-Et Steakhouse. Animal Rebellion said it targeted the restaurant because it symbolized a "broken system." Eight protesters from Animal Rebellion entered the restaurant and sat at empty tables holding mock menus outlining their demands, the Evening Standard reported. The London branch targeted by Animal Rebellion serves gold-plated steaks costing up to £1,450 (almost $1,800). Police removed a number of protesters following the peaceful action and Animal Rebellion said in a tweet that arrests were made.

☆ Elon Musk's brain-chip startup shares video it says shows a monkey telepathically 'typing'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk shared a video he said showed a monkey with a brain chip selecting letters with its mind. The demo video was shown at Neuralink's show-and-tell event on Wednesday night. In the demo video, the monkey appears to type out words on a screen using only his mind, thanks to an implanted brain chip. Last year, Neuralink shared a demo video that appeared to show a monkey playing the video game "Pong," using only its mind. The year before, Neuralink shared footage that appeared to be neural readouts from a chip that had been implanted in a pig.

And some members of the general public, too, are squeamish about cell-cultured meat. Caution isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but these critiques of cell-cultured meat are just thinly disguised neophobia — people just feel it is “unnatural.” Cell-cultured meat indeed comes from labs, not farms. To no one’s surprise, cell-cultured meat also faces criticism from some animal rights activists, albeit for a very different reason: because cell cultivation requires starter cells taken from actual animals, cell-cultured meat isn’t completely cruelty-free. And with time, cell-cultured meat may become nutritionally superior to meat from slaughtered animals anyway. No, cell-cultured meat, as we currently know it, isn’t perfect.

☆ Thousands of mink swarm northwest Ohio as police seek vandals that freed them
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Sharon Bernstein | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The animals, which escaped on Tuesday, overran nearby roads, and many were hit by passing vehicles, while hunters went after still more, local media in Van Wert County, Ohio, reported. He warned that mink "are carnivorous animals that stick to a diet of fresh kills," regularly hunting animals larger than themselves. In 2013, a group calling itself the Animal Liberation Front took credit for releasing mink at a farm in Van Wert County. However, it was not immediately clear whether that group was involved in releasing the mink on Tuesday. The Delphos Herald reported that the group took credit for releasing about 1,000 mink from another Ohio farm earlier this month.

Two Cambodian wildlife officials were among eight people charged Wednesday with running an international monkey smuggling ring that shipped primates to the U.S. that were poached from the wild and falsely labeled as coming from breeding facilities, federal prosecutors said. Cambodian wildlife officials were paid to help transport the monkeys to the facilities, including the Vanny Bio Research center in Cambodia, the indictment says. One of the Cambodian wildlife officials, Masphal Kry, 46, was arrested Wednesday at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City. According to federal prosecutors in Miami, he personally transported the monkeys to the Cambodian facilities and received payments from the other members of the alleged smuggling ring between December 2017 and this September. “The allegations are alarming — the plundering of wild populations of long-tailed macaques and falsely labeling them as captive-bred in order to bypass regulations,” Kite said.

Companies Hormel Foods Corp FollowNov 15 (Reuters) - Hormel Foods' labeling of a meat product line as "natural" despite using the same hogs and production methods as its other brands shows the U.S. meat labeling system needs reforms, said consumer advocates and documents released on Tuesday from a lawsuit the company is close to settling. “This is an endemic problem, not a Hormel problem.”Hormel said the company complies with USDA rules and guidelines for labeling and that it stands behind its Natural Choice products. "The term ‘natural’ is practically unregulated and can/will be used widely – as a result there is little to no difference between ‘natural’ meat and ‘conventional’ meat," read the slides, which were part of the document release. The presentation also advised companies to appeal to consumers' desire for wholesome products by packaging their meat in cardboard. Hormel and ALDF asked the court to dismiss the case last Thursday after agreeing to settlement terms.

☆ PETA: Animal rights organization criticizes trainer for parading racehorse in pub
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Ben Church | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —A leading animal rights organization has criticized an Irish racehorse trainer for parading his winning steed in a pub earlier this week. On Monday, John “Shark” Hanlon posted a video on Twitter of him leading US Grand National winner Hewick into a pub as part of the horse’s homecoming celebrations. Hewick had won the lucrative race – with a prize purse of $500,000 – in New Jersey on October 15 before returning to Ireland. The video shows Hanlon walking into the busy pub with the seven-year-old horse before customers fell quiet and started taking pictures. The horse is now demanding respect across Europe and is being lined up for some big races next year, including the UK Grand National and Cheltenham Gold Cup.

☆ Claude Monet, Larry Fink, and Ted Cruz: Climate stunts grab headlines but can they get results?
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

That was an improvement over the previous year, but still not nearly enough given the threat the climate crisis presents for humanity, Hu told Insider. "I could spend 20 minutes talking about the destruction from climate change. "More people are aware of this climate crisis and that we have to do something about it because of our actions," Harris said. "Journalists don't report on the climate crisis like it is an emergency. Ridiculous stunts like the art action gets the climate crisis into the headlines and millions of people talking."

☆ Plant-based meat startup Heura just raised $20 million as it aims to become Europe's industry leader. Here's the 35-slide pitch deck it used to raise the funds.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Spanish alternative protein startup Heura just raised $20 million through a crowdfunding campaign. We got an exclusive look at the 35-slide pitch deck it used to raise the funds. Alternative protein startup Heura just raised 20 million euros (around $20 million) as sales of its alternative meats more than doubled in the first half of the year. The pair set about creating healthy meat alternatives that look, feel, and taste like animal-based meat while just using plant-based ingredients. Heura remains committed to growing the plant-based food sector across Europe, as it has done in Spain, Añaños told Insider.

Oct 11 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday weighed the constitutionality of a California law banning the sale of pork from pigs confined in spaces with too little space to move freely that industry groups have said impermissibly regulates out-of-state farmers. The law was approved by voters as a ballot initiative in 2018 to bar sales in California of pork, veal and eggs from animals whose confinement failed to meet minimum space requirements. "As I read California's law, it's about products being sold in California," conservative Justice Clarence Thomas said. The Supreme Court took up the case after the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. President Joe Biden's administration has sided with the pork producers, saying in a Supreme Court brief that states cannot ban products "that pose no threat to public health or safety based on philosophical objections."

Oct 11 (Reuters) - U.S. Supreme Court justices on Tuesday questioned whether upholding a California law banning the sale of pork from pigs kept in tightly confined spaces would invite states to adopt laws imposing their political or moral views outside their borders. "It's an extraterritorial regulation that conditions pork sales on out-of-state farmers adopting California's preferred farming methods for no valid safety reasons," Bishop said, noting that 99.9% of California's pork comes from elsewhere. "As I read California's law, it's about products being sold in California," conservative Justice Clarence Thomas said. Liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor said that while California represents a huge market, "no one's forcing them to sell to California." 'SUBSTANTIAL IMPACT'But liberal Justice Kentanji Brown Jackson said that the court must accept that California's law will have a "substantial impact on the operation of this market."

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