Recession sparks rise in dumped pets

Telegraph.co.uk

Recession sparks rise in dumped pets
Pets are becoming victims of the recession, the RSPCA is warning after recording a 57 per cent rise in the number of abandoned animals.

The RSPCA said it dealt with 11,586 dumped pets last year, compared with 7,347 in 2007 Photo: MANCHESTER EVENING NEWS

Melanie Johnson took the puppies home, before taking them to an RSPCA centre, where staff treated the dogs and are now looking to find them new homes Photo: MANCHESTER EVENING NEWS

The RSPCA said it dealt with 11,586 dumped pets last year, compared with 7,347 in 2007. Photo: AFP
An average of more than 30 animals were dumped across England and Wales every day last year, according to the animal welfare charity.
It called for people to donate money or time to help it cope with rising demand amid the country's financial problems.

The RSPCA said it dealt with 11,586 dumped pets last year, compared with 7,347 in 2007.
In the first two months of this year, a further 1,432 unwanted animals were abandoned.
In addition to the increased workload, the RSPCA said it was under pressure financially because of a reduction in donations while income from legacies also took a hit following the fall in property prices.
As RSPCA Week begins, the charity asked the public to help raise funds for its rehoming work, or to serve as volunteers or foster carers for the pets.
Tim Wass, chief officer of the RSPCA inspectorate, said: "Now more than ever we need the public's support.
"It is a challenging time for the RSPCA, but more importantly it is a crisis out there for the animals, and it's only because of the public's help that we're able to do what we can."
Animals abandoned last year included two cats left in a drawstring bag by the roadside.
The grey tabby cats, named Zig and Zag by charity staff, were found on a freezing January night on Zig Zag hill, near Shaftesbury.
A new home was found for the pair, believed to be father and son, within a few weeks.
Another case involved a litter of puppies found dead in a shoebox in Bretton Woods, Peterborough, while a dog whose coat was so badly matted it looked like a pile of dirty rags was discovered in a bin liner in Cannock, Staffs.
The number of abandoned cats rose by 50% last year, while dogs increased by nearly a third, the RSPCA said.
"It is an offence to abandon any animal and there is never any excuse for doing so," Mr Wass added.
"If people have pets they cannot care for, for any reason, then help and advice is always available from the RSPCA."

Hundreds of new frog species found in Madagascar

Hundreds of new frog species found in Madagascar
Story Highlights
Political instability in the country makes conservation efforts extra difficult
A study identified between 129 and 221 new species of frogs on the island. The Spanish Scientific Research Council (CSIC), who carried out the study, believe the find could practically double the number of amphibians known in the world if the results are extrapolated at a global scale.
The study, published in the journal "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA," suggests that the number of amphibian species in Madagascar has been significantly underestimated.
"The diversity of species in Madagascar is far from being known and there is still a lot of scientific research to be done. Our data suggest that the number of new species of amphibians not only has been underestimated but it is spatially widespread, even in well studied areas," said Professor David R. Vieites, CSIC researcher to the press at the Spanish National Natural Sciences Museum in Madrid.
"For example, two of the most visited and studied national parks, Ranomafana and Mantadía/Analamazaotra, harbor 31 and 10 new species respectively."
Dr. Frank Glaw, curator of herpetology at the Zoologische Staatssammlung from Munich was part of the research team: "During the past 15 years, we discovered and described over 100 new frog species from Madagascar, which led us to believe that our species inventory is almost complete. But as our new surveys show, there are many more species than we suspected," he said in a press statement.
The paper suggests that the total biodiversity on the island could be much higher in other species as well, so the actual destruction of natural habitats may be affecting more animals than previously thought.
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This has important consequences for conservation planning, as the rate of destruction of rainforests in Madagascar has been one of the highest in the planet, with more than 80 percent of the historic surface of rainforest already lost, according to the study's authors.
Almost a quarter of the new species discovered have not been found yet in protected areas, but the unstable political situation in Madagascar has also been cited as hampering conservation efforts.
"Although a lot of reserves and national parks have been created in Madagascar during the last decade, the actual situation of politic instability is allowing the cut of the forest within national parks, generating a lot of uncertainty about the future of the planned network of protected areas", said Vieites.
Madagascar is the fourth largest island in the world and one of the most biodiverse areas globally, with a high degree of endemic species. "To get an idea of its biodiversity --while in the Iberian Peninsula [there] are about 30 species of amphibians and in Germany about 20, in a single locality in Madagascar we can find around 100 species of frogs," said Vieites.
Dr. Miguel Vences, professor at the Technical University of Braunschweig, Germany, who was also part of the study team, and believes that a century of new species discovery is just beginning: "People think that we know which plant and animal species live on this planet. But the majority of life forms on Earth is still awaiting scientific recognition."

Invasive Stray and Feral Dogs Limit Fosa (Cryptoprocta ferox) Populations in Ankarafantsika National Park, Madagascar

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10161/1037
Title:
Invasive Stray and Feral Dogs Limit Fosa (Cryptoprocta ferox) Populations in Ankarafantsika National Park, Madagascar
Authors:
Barcala, Owen
Advisors:
Pimm, Stuart
Keywords:
fosaferal dogsankarafantsikacarnivore managementcryptoprocta feroxcompetition with domesticated animals
Publication Date:
24-Apr-2009
Abstract:
The fosa (Cryptoprocta ferox) is a medium sized carnivore of the family Eupleridae which is endemic to the island of Madagascar. Recent publications have shown that the fosa is under significant pressure from deforestation and fragmentation, leading to its classification as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act. A trap study was conducted from 1999 to 2008 in Ankarafantsika National Park, Madagascar, to ascertain the health of a population and measure additional threats to its survival. Feral dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) appeared in the park in 2004 and a comparison of trap rates of the two species shows an inverse relationship between the presence of dogs and the presence of fosa. In this paper I discuss reasons for this relationship, the effect of the continued presence of dogs, and implications for the management of the park.
Department:
Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences
URI:
http://hdl.handle.net/10161/1037
Appears in Collections:
Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences