Call for End to Military Trauma Training on Animals

When an American lies wounded on a battlefield, the training of emergency medical personnel can be the difference between life and death.  However, some are disputing what the training should consist of and how important the use of live tissue trauma training is in preparing physicians and paramedical personnel.  Tissue training is when live animals -- mainly pigs and goats -- are cut, shot or have limbs severed while euthanized as medics try to keep the animal alive. The object is to simulate real world conditions of responding to trauma injuries as closely as possible.

http://tinyurl.com/jmj3e8o

NYU Sophomore Is Giving Animals a Voice

Student by day and activist by night, Ella Azoulay, a CAS sophomore studying environmental and animal studies, spends her free time promoting compassion for animals as a member of the Animal Welfare Collective at NYU. In addition, she interns at The Humane League, a national organization that stands for animal rights.

http://tinyurl.com/ztzv3oz

This Is Where PetSmart Gets Its Animals, And It's Not Pretty

This is where those cute little lizards live before they're put on display at the store — and it's not pretty.  Last month, pet store giants Petco and PetSmart came under fire for purchasing furry companion animals from a breeder where hundreds of animals were neglected and dying. Now, a new report shows what life is like for reptiles sold at PetSmart, and their situation might be even worse.

http://tinyurl.com/hurnmj3

5 Times People Ruined Animals' Lives for a Selfie

Bad ideas and selfies are like the peanut butter and jelly of our times. While trying to snap impressive self-portraits at wildly inopportune moments, some of the distracted and vain have accidentally driven off the road and plowed into a tree, walked backward off a dangerously high cliff, and been bitten by a rattlesnake who was not in the mood to be photographed.

http://tinyurl.com/jaztmd6

Kids Get Shelter Dogs' Tails Wagging by Reading Them Tales

Who wants a bedtime story? Well, your local shelter dog might — and at the Humane Society of Missouri, that's just what they're getting.  In the Book Buddies Reading Program, trained volunteers ages 5-16 read to the shelter dogs, helping them gain confidence and grow comfortable with visitors.  "We saw more and more rescue animals that were shy, fearful, and stressed out in the shelter environment," explained JoEllyn Klepacki, the society's assistant director of education. "Unfortunately, these dogs are less likely to get adopted, since they tend to hang back instead of engage when potential adoptees come through.

http://tinyurl.com/j2axbbw

Sea Sponges Are Likely First Animals On Earth

The title of "Earth's First Animal" may be awarded to sea sponges, American scientists say. A new study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) reveals that sea sponges were present even before most animals appeared millions of years ago.  New genetic analyses confirm that a mysterious molecule found in rocks that are about 640 million years old are from sea sponges. This means that sea sponges were already present before the Cambrian explosion, a period that began about 540 million years ago, when most ancient animals were reported to appear.

http://tinyurl.com/zofecmc

14 Stories That Prove Animals Have Souls

Animals are capable of so much more compassion, love, bravery, and ingenuity than most people realize. Here are 14 incredible stories that reveal their hidden depths.

http://tinyurl.com/cxa3vas

The Dark Side of Trendy Animal Photos

Selfies, GIFs, and viral videos can be deadly for wildlife. Just last week, an endangered baby dolphin died after beachgoers in Argentina hauled it out of the water to pose with it for photos. Also this month two peacocks in a Chinese zoo died after being mishandled by visitors taking selfies.  The International Union for Conservation of Nature, which sets species’ conservation status, lists the La Plata dolphin as vulnerable to extinction, protecting it from hunting and capture in Argentina—but not from people passing one of them around until it died from dehydration.

http://tinyurl.com/hrrcy9o

Students Learn Hands-on With Animals

Talking birds, goats butting heads, and a giant tortoise that hangs out with chickens are all part of a living classroom.  High-school students at the Career Center in Arlington, Virginia are learning firsthand, and hands-on, how to care for animals. They are at the animal science laboratory, learning about, and taking care of, about 50 species of animals.

http://tinyurl.com/z693fu4

The Verge Review of Animals: the cow

When we review animals here on The Verge, some of the conceptual fun comes from treating things that have been shaped by the callous hand of evolution like they’re high-tech gadgets. But cows — or more formally, members of the species Bos taurus — actually are as carefully designed as the iPhone, except that Jony Ive didn't need to capture and tame a herd of wild BlackBerrys to make one. The cow is an invaluable invention and a terrible animal, and we have only ourselves to blame.

http://tinyurl.com/jhfb4mt