Killing animals

Though not often acknowledged openly, killing represents by far the most common form of human interaction with animals. Humans kill animals for food, for pleasure, to wear, and even as religious acts, yet despite the ubiquity of this killing, analyzing the practice has generally remained the exclusive purview of animal rights advocates.Killing Animals offers a corrective to this narrow focus by bringing together the insights of scholars from diverse backgrounds in the humanities, including art history, anthropology, intellectual history, philosophy, literary studies, and geography. With killing representing the ultimate expression of human power over animals, the essays reveal the complexity of the phenomenon by exploring the extraordinary diversity in killing practices and the wide variety of meanings attached to them. They examine aspects of the role of animals in human societies, from the seventeenth century to the present day: their cultural manifestations, and how they have been represented. Topics include hunting and baiting; slaughter practices and the treatment of feral and stray animals; animal death in art, literature and philosophy; and even animals that themselves become killers of humans.While many collections originate as a series of separately planned conference papers drawn together only by editorial fiat, the essays that comprise Killing Animals were regarded as parts of a larger whole from their inception. The result is a remarkably collaborative, cross-disciplinary work that includes eight individually authored chapters and a collectively written introduction. Rather than attempting to produce a single ethical understanding from their diverse views, however, the group aims instead to demonstrate the value of the wider academic study of the place of animals in human history. The conclusion to Killing Animals takes the form of a discussion among the eight contributors, with each expanding upon issues raised earlier in the book

Groundwater animals

Groundwater animals are adapted to live in environments with no light and limited nutrients, They can provide insights into fundamental questions of evolution, ecology and biodiversity. They also have an important role to play in informing the reconstruction of past changes in geomorphology and climate, and can be used for characterising aquifers. The BGS is undertaking a systematic survey of selected areas and lithologies in the UK where groundwater animals have not been investigated. This is important because little is known about groundwater ecosystems in the UK despite the unique contribution to biodiversity made by these animals. Groundwater organisms are also thought to provide ecosystem services by means of their role in nutrient cycling and natural remediation of pollutants in the subsurface. They may also be useful indicators of human impacts on groundwaters

The spatiotemporal characteristics of 0–24-Goal Polo

Global positioning systems (GPS) have recently been shown to reliably quantify the spatiotemporal characteristics of Polo, with the physiological demands of Polo play at low- and high-goal levels also investigated. This study aims to describe the spatiotemporal demands of Polo across 0–24 goal levels. A player-worn GPS unit was used to quantify distance, speed and high-intensity activities performed. Data were divided into chukkas and five equine-based speed zones, grouped per cumulative player handicap and assessed using standardized mean differences. Average distance and speed per chukka increased in accordance with cumulative player handicap, with the magnitude of differences being trivial–large and trivial–very large, respectively. Differences between time spent in high-intensity speed zones (zones 4 and 5) show a linear increase in magnitude, when comparing 0 goal Polo to all other levels of play (Small–Very Large; 6–24 goals, respectively). High-intensity activities predominantly shared this trend, displaying trivial–large differences between levels. These findings highlight increased cardiovascular, anaerobic and speed based physiological demands on Polo ponies as playing level increases. Strategies such as high-intensity interval training, maximal speed work and aerobic conditioning may be warranted to facilitate this development and improve pony welfare and performance

Opinions Regarding Farmed Animals

Over 10 billion land-based animals are killed for food each year in the U.S. However, there is significant and growing public awareness and support for improved farmed animal welfare conditions. Public opinion research studies find substantial concern for farmed animals, as well as a willingness of consumers to act upon these concerns. Additionally, depending on the study, from 10% to over 50% of consumers are willing to pay higher prices for more "humanely" raised and slaughtered animal products

The potential for new donkey farming systems to supply the growing demand for hides

The demand for donkey hides for ejiao, a Traditional Chinese Medicine, has resulted in rapidly increasing prices for donkey hides and donkeys. This has put pressure on donkey populations globally and has implications for donkey welfare and the livelihoods of those who rely on donkeys as working animals. The aim of the research was to explore the feasibility of setting up new donkey farming systems to supply the rising demand for ejiao using a system dynamics model of donkey production. Results show that the size of the initial female breeding herd, reproductive performance, age of reproduction, percentage of female births and average breeding life of donkeys are key variables affecting the time to build up the donkey population to supply the demand for hides, which will be at least ten to fifteen years. The implications of this are: (i) prices for donkey hides will continue to increase, (ii) companies producing ejiao will use other ingredients, (iii) China will continue to source donkey hides from around the world, and (iv) there will be continued theft and illegal trade of donkeys and concerns for rural households reliant on donkeys for their livelihoods and adverse impacts on donkey welfare

The spatiotemporal characteristics of 0–24-goal polo

Polo is an equestrian sport that requires two teams of four players to score goals at opposing ends of a 150 m × 275 m pitch. Each player is rated on a handicap system (−2 to +10) that quantifies their abilities and permits their inclusion in different levels of Polo play; the cumulative handicap of the four players sets the level of play. Using GPS technology, we investigated how levels of Polo differ regarding distance covered, speeds achieved and high-intensity activities performed. As cumulative Polo handicap increased, so too did the distances and average speeds attained, decelerations performed and impacts encountered during each period of play. These findings suggest that as each player improves and increases their handicap, they will need to ensure the ponies they play have sufficient aerobic, anaerobic and speed capacities to perform effectively at that level. This information provides valuable insights to Polo players, grooms and equine vets, as to how they can best prepare their ponies for game-day and how they may be able to maintain pony longevity in the sport

Animals in space

Animals are indispensable to the space program. Their continued use could have many significant results. Those who are opposed to using animals in space should remember that space animals are treated humanely; they are necessary because results can be obtained from them that would be unobtainable from humans; and results from animal experiments can be applied to human systems. Therefore, NASA should continue to use animals in space research