Dr. Blackwell's BLOG

 If you’ve not heard of the documentary The Cove, then I strongly recommend you head-down to your local Blockbuster or Redbox and get a copy of this movie. It will break your heart and have you searching your soul wondering how anyone could ever abuse and slaughter such beautiful and amazingly intelligent animals like dolphins. The documentary follows a group of American marine biologists and researchers who struggle to covertly document the horrific dolphin slaughters occurring in Taijii, Japan. Once you learn of the barbaric practices and disgusting animal abuse being inflicted on these amazing animals, your heartbreak will soon turn to anger. To learn more about The Cove, visit the film’s official Site @ thecovemovie.com.

In equally horrific related news, photographic evidence emerged today from an undercover investigation into elephant abuses being perpetrated by Ringling Brothers and Barnum Bailey Circus. The photographs shows disgusting examples of how “trainers” whip baby elephants and use electric shock devices and bullhooks to subdue them. Explore the Site ringlingbeatsanimals.com and although difficult, watch the undercover videos and pictures of subhuman “trainers” whipping the elephants without provocation; and even  listen to one of them bully and taunt an elephant by swearing at it while whipping it.

These cases are especially difficult to watch and are even harder to stomach. But, we need to educate people about what is happening. Ignoring these incidences only allows them to perpetuate. Discourage people from patronizing Ringling Brothers Circuses. Watch The Cove and take a minute to write to our leaders encouraging them to fight these exploitations. Finally, open your checkbook and join The Humane Society of the United States. Education and hard work can make a difference. And subhumans who abuse animals can be brought to justice.

 A Whitehaven Veterinarian is working to save a dog’s life, after the dog was thrown from a speeding truck on I-40 in Memphis, Tennessee during rush hour Monday. Dr. Greg Shaw was cautiously optimistic late Monday night that the dog, nicknamed Savior, would survive. But Savior is certainly not out of the woods. She not only suffered injures from being thrown from the moving vehicle, she also appears to have bite marks from being used in fights.

Mario Chiozza was driving along I-40 East of Sycamore View when he saw someone throw the dog from a white pick-up truck. He says the dog was thrown in the middle lane, but she managed to run over to the side of the interstate. Chiozza just so happens to be a strong animal advocate and rescue worker. He also happened to have a catch pole in his truck. He used it to catch Savior. Another driver, and off-duty deputy, stopped to help Chiozza load the dog into the back of his truck.

He knew he didn’t have much time, so he rushed Savior to Pets Choice Animal Clinic on Shelby Drive in Whitehaven. Dr. Shaw immediately stated working to save her life. Chiozza is hoping someone else may have witnessed the incident, and caught the license plate of the White Ford Pick-Up involved. “I know one thing, we’re going to need help. This baby’s going to need help,” he says. If you have info on the incident, call CrimeStoppers @ (901) 528-CASH.

If you would like to help with Savior’s medical needs, you can call Pets Choice Animal Clinic at (901) 881-6212, or email shawvet@gmail.com. Hopefully, someone will come forward with the identity of this despicable excuse of a human so he can be prosecuted to the FULLEST extent of the law!  

A touching article from the forthcoming November issue of National Geographic:

The November issue of National Geographic magazine features a moving photograph of chimpanzees watching as one of their own is wheeled to her burial. Since it was published, the picture and story have gone viral, turning up on websites and TV shows and in newspapers around the world. For readers who’d like to know more, here’s what I learned as I interviewed the photographer, Monica Szczupider. On September 23, 2008, Dorothy, a female chimpanzee in her late 40s, died of congestive heart failure. A maternal and beloved figure, Dorothy had spent eight years at Cameroon’s Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue Center, which houses and rehabilitates chimps victimized by habitat loss and the illegal African bushmeat trade.

After a hunter killed her mother, Dorothy was sold as a “mascot” to an amusement park in Cameroon. For the next 25 years she was tethered to the ground by a chain around her neck, taunted, teased, and taught to drink beer and smoke cigarettes for sport. In May 2000 Dorothy—obese from poor diet and lack of exercise—was rescued and relocated along with ten other primates. As her health improved, her deep kindness surfaced. She mothered an orphaned chimp named Bouboule and became a close friend to many others, including Jacky, the group’s alpha male, and Nama, another amusement-park refugee.

Szczupider, who had been a volunteer at the center, told me: “Her presence, and loss, was palpable, and resonated throughout the group. The management at Sanaga-Yong opted to let Dorothy’s chimpanzee family witness her burial, so that perhaps they would understand, in their own capacity, that Dorothy would not return. Some chimps displayed aggression while others barked in frustration. But perhaps the most stunning reaction was a recurring, almost tangible silence. If one knows chimpanzees, then one knows that [they] are not [usually] silent creatures.”

“Sheila, who had been the only Sumatran tiger remaining at the zoo, was killed and skinned on zoo grounds after being drugged by poachers early on Saturday, leaving virtually nothing behind except the innards and a few ribs of the animal, which is critically endangered in the wild. ‘There is no doubt that the killers were professionals because they did their job very cleanly, taking off the skin in the enclosure rather than dragging the 100-kilogram animal out, which could have attracted attention,’ said Didy Wurdjanto, the head of the Jambi Natural Resources Conservation Center.” There is discussion that the poaching could have been an inside job. There are  believed to be between 100 and 400 Sumatran tigers left in the wild. Sickening sub-humans who don’t deserve life…

 Sam, the koala bear who warmed hearts all over the world after befriending a firefighter during the aftermath of Australia’s deadly brush fires, has died. She was expected to undergo surgery today to treat cysts as a result of urogenital chlamydiosis, a life-threatening disease that affects 50 per cent of the koala population. Vet John Butler told waiting media outside Morwell Veterinary Clinic that due to complications with the disease, the best course of action was to put Sam down. “The changes were consistent with the Chlamydia infection. It was so severe that there was no possible way to be able to manage her pain. ” Colleen Wood and her team at Southern Ash Wildlife shelter and all of those who have been involved with Sam are devastated with this loss.” Below, watch as Sam graciously accepts a helping hand and becomes friends with an Australian firefighter:

 An Atlantic bottlenose dolphin was euthanized after being attacked by sharks just hours after he was released into the Gulf of Mexico in west Florida. Dunham, a juvenile male dolphin, was released Tuesday morning after eight months in rehab recovering from pneumonia. Jeni Hatter, spokeswoman for the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, said the dolphin was attacked twice by at least two different sharks. Hatter said experts who were nearby were monitoring the dolphin with a VHF radio transmitter at the time of the attack. Hatter said experts rushed to the dolphin and euthanized him because of the life-threatening injuries. She added that he wouldn’t have been able to recover. (Courtesy: Orlando Sentinel).

Over the past few days, the Austailian State of Victoria has been the site of some horrific fires. Worse–investigators believe some, if not all, were started at the hands of arsonists. Out of this nightmare, with a human death toll now approaching 200, comes this very touching photograph of a rescue worker providing some love and assistance to the most unlikely victim, a koala bear:

“The koala moved gingerly on scorched paws, crossing the blackened landscape as the fire patrol passed. Clearly in pain, the animal stopped when it saw firefighter David Tree following behind. ‘It was amazing, he turned around, sat on his bum and sort of looked at me with (a look) like, put me out of my misery,’ Tree told The Associated Press on Tuesday. ‘I yelled out for a bottle of water. I unscrewed the bottle, tipped it up on his lips and he just took it naturally. He kept reaching for the bottle, almost like a baby.’ The team called animal welfare officers as it resumed its patrols on Sunday, the day after deadly firestorms swept southern Victoria state. ‘I love nature, and I’ve handled koalas before. They’re not the friendliest things, but I wanted to help him,’ Tree said.”