Tim Burgess

Updated: January 22, 2012 2:29AM

Several new books point to the fact that wars are becoming scarcer and we as people are becoming less violent as a result.

Joshua Goldstein, professor emeritus of international relations at American University, author of Winning the War on War, told a radio interviewer last month that there is measurably less violence this decade than in the past 100 years. World War II, which started 70 years ago, created levels of violence that were 100 times higher than the wars of today, including Iraq and Afghanistan.

When wars do conflagrate, there is more exposure to the bloody entrails of war, via the Internet and social media, which increases pressure for the violence to cease.

I have always thought that as people become more humane toward other people, they will become more aware of the socially ingrained tolerance we sport when it comes to cruelty to animals. Today’s young people are more aware of the brutality of factory farming and more are vegetarians.

And the more we learn about how animals think and the sophistication of their thinking, the more difficult it becomes to treat them as if they were unthinking, unfeeling machines.

Jonathan Balcombe, a scientist at the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, echoes one of my long-held beliefs. The more we learn about animal intelligence, the more we see that it is we who have failed to understand animals and not the other way around.

“Chickens practice deception, pigeons can categorize images in photographs as quickly as we can, a gorilla plays a joke on a human teacher, and a tiny fish leaps from one tide pool to another using a mental map formed during high tide,” he says on the Discovery Channel website.

A new study by a University of Chicago researcher found that “rats are empathetic and will altruistically lend a helping paw to a cage mate who is stuck in a trap,” according to an NPR report. Not only will rats frantically work to free the trapped cage mate; they will do so even when there’s a tempting pile of chocolate chips nearby.

It is not surprising that the National Institutes of Health have revised the guidelines on cage sizes for mice and rats used in animal testing. It is no longer acceptable to crowd a female mouse and her litter into fewer than 51 square inches of space, or a female rat and her litter into fewer than 124 square inches of space. As tiny as those increased spaces are, scientists still worry the cost of compliance is too high and they stand to lose federal funding altogether if they don’t comply.

My hope is that as we become more human toward people and animals alike we will end the practice of animal testing for human medical advancements. The fact is our chemistry is quite different from that of animals. So animal experimentation is a highly unreliable precursor of how humans will react to new drugs, procedures.

The more we recognize the cruelty of violence toward people, the more we will also recognize the cruelty we now visit on animals.

Bonnie Erbe is a TV host and columnist.

Scripps Howard News Service

Only eight months old, Reno found himself lost and alone. Even worse he was injured: Something was wrong with his eyes, one of his back legs had been fractured, the other back leg needed surgery.

Worse yet, baby Reno had pellets shattered inside his body: He had been shot several times.

However, Reno, a male orange tabby kitten, survived it all. Aurora Animal Control (AAC) and Fox Valley Animal Welfare League (FVAWL) helped the homeless kitten find a rescue group, medical care and ultimately a “forever home.”

A non-profit organization, FVAWL has partnered with AAC for the past 65 years to help lost, forgotten and injured animals find love and care.

“We were the liaison between AAC and the rescue groups,” said FVAWL President Ellen Wullbrandt, adding that with FVAWL’s help during the past five years, 2,500 animals have escaped euthanasia. “That’s really what it’s been: saving animals from euthanasia.”

Branching out to serve a larger target audience

Today, in addition to its long-time life-saving operations, FVAWL is branching out on its own and taking animal welfare to the next level–becoming proactiveby opening the Fox Valley’s first state-of-the-art low-cost spay-neuter clinic.

“We need to grow and provide programs and services marketed toward the animals never [even] getting to the shelter,” said Richard Glessner, director of operations for the new spay/neuter clinic. “It was a no-brainer that the spay/neuter clinic was the way to go because spaying/neutering is the only real answer to limiting the pet population.

“That’s been proven time and time again; it’s the only thing that works,” he said. “We wanted to take the resources and the medical knowledge we have to the public and the community as a whole rather than limit it to [just] AAC.”

Glessner, who has previously set up two profitable clinics–one in the Quad Cities and one in Rock Island County, Illinois–emphasized the need for a spay/neuter clinic in the Fox Valley area, from Elgin to Joliet and all communities in between.

“It’s inconceivable to me if you are in animal welfare as a whole, and you really care about animal welfare, why you would not incorporate a spay/neuter program,” said Glessner, adding that his first program involved converting a trailer into a mobile surgical center outside the animal shelter.

“If you really want to do this and make a difference, you can make it happen,” the former Quad Cities native said. “You have to really think creatively.”

Glessner: helping animals for more than a quarter century

In addition to setting up spay/neuter clinics, Glessner, a 26-year animal welfare industry veteran, has served as a director for shelters and animal control facilities; he has spoken at national animal welfare conferences.

And he has spoken to first-year Iowa State veterinary students about how to set up a spay/neuter clinic and why they should consider a career in shelter medicine, rather than private practice.

“If you really want to help animals, you bite the bullet, and you do it,” he said. “You do what you need to do to change animal welfare and make it right.

“That’s always been my philosophy. I’m not afraid of change; I embrace it.”

Initiating change in the Fox Valley

As a result, change has come to the Fox Valley: 11 John Street in North Aurora, just east of Illinois Route 31 and only about two miles from Interstate 88.

“We looked at several different properties, and the minute we walked into this building, we knew it was the perfect place,” Glessner said. “It is the right size, the right space [and] the owners are animal lovers.”

The clinic director says he has already lined up four veterinarians, including one specializing in exotic animals, such as rabbits, birds, iguanas and ferrets. “They are affected just like cats and dogs,” he said. “[These exotic animals] are showing up in the shelters [too].”

Glessner says his goal by the Feb. 28 ribbon cutting is threefold: to perform surgery three days each week; to host at least one or more Wellness Clinic each month; and to reserve two days for the care of exotic animals each month.

“And then it will grow from there,” he said. “My ultimate goal would be to serve seven days a week, around the clock, never stop. Surgeries every day.”

Glessner, who grew up with German Shepherds and cats, says the clinic will feature three different price structures for three different groups: licensed rescue groups, low-income families and the general public.

“Generally, 80 percent of pet owners don’t use regular veterinary care,” he said. “We are really targeting that group of people who aren’t going to private practice.

“We’ll do whatever is in the best interest of the animal–that’s our first and foremost philosophy.”

NEXT: FVAWL’s Pet Food Pantry to help owners keep pets during difficult economic times.

Fox Valley Animal Welfare League’s NEW Low-Cost Spay/Neuter Clinic
You’re Invited!

o Saturday, Jan. 21First Wellness Clinic–open to the community; offers basic exams
amp; basic preventative care, including $10 vaccines

o Sunday, Jan. 29–Open House for the general public: 1-3 pm, refreshments served

o Wednesday, Feb. 15–Open House for government officials, community leaders amp;
media: 5-7 pm, refreshments served

o Tuesday, Feb. 28–National Spay Day; ribbon-cutting ceremony; clinic officially
opens for business

Foxconn chairman compares his workforce to animals

By Hana Stewart-Smith | January 20, 2012, 3:43am PST

Summary: In an ill-worded statement, the chairman of Foxconns parent company compared his workforce to animals and sought management advice from the director of Taipei Zoo.

(Collierville, TN/01/20/12) It was the traffic stop in Fayette County this week that led to the discovery of a U-Haul packed with more than 100 pooches and a cat living in whats been described as horrible conditions.

John Robinson is shelter manager with Collierville Animal Services.

Robinson said, Ive seen a lot of hoarding cases of animals crowded into a small space, but probably never anything like this where theyre crowded and stacked.