Animals

Antwan Williams Enc 1101 Mon. 6-9:50 Topic Essay Dog Attack My is getting attack by a dog. Some dogs are mean and vicious for no reason and see humans as bait and ready to eat them alive. The first dog that comes to mind when I hear a human being was attacked is a pitbull. Pitbulls are known to turn on their owner and will attack anything in their path. Numerous of people have died from injuries due to dog biting. Dogs have very sharp teeth that go deep down in your flesh and cause so much bleeding.

I think of dogs as vampires when they suck down into your skin. When walking down the street in my neighborhood and I see a stray dog with no leash, I instantly turn on the next block or walk the other direction. Dog attacks happen sometimes out of fear, most humans fear dogs and that’s what dogs scent. Dogs have the ability to smell fear on anybody and see them as fresh meat. So word of advice when face to face with an ferocious pitbull make sure you show no fear and calmly walk the other direction, if he charge at you make a run to the nearest car.

Some dogs even attack because they are afraid and attack out of fear, so sometimes attacks can happen the other way around. Every dog is not vicious, but if you seem harmful to them dogs will attack. Dogs are also protective to their owner. Some dogs are trained to protect their family and yard. So any scent of harmful the dog will do anything to protect its territory. Dogs are not always at fault when hearing about someone getting attacked. Pitbulls are labeled as vicious dogs but that’s the way they are trained to be, “fighting Dogs”.

But on the other hand pitbulls are actually good dogs smart, and friendly, but will turn into if they feel they are being harmed. Dogs attack people because they are not properly socialized. Dogs need to be trained to be socialized and learn how to act around humans. That’s why most stray dogs on the streets be the first to attack a human walking down the street, because these dogs have little or no human contact. Anything that gets close to them they feel harmed. I feel that’s the reason why children get attacked, because they are unfamiliar with dogs.

Dogs usually attack when their food is being challenged, that will trigger aggression behavior. Dog attacks happen for many reasons. However, there are reasons that can be avoided if you are familiar with a dog’s behavior. If you are unaware of the behaviors there is a chance of being attacked. Any dog can attack unexpectedly; given a certain situation. Most dogs will never hurt anyone, but it can happen and knowing some reasons why dogs typically attack and warning signs of it can save you from being injured, and prevent you from being attacked.

Animal Dissection: No Longer Cutting Edge American Politics 115-01 Dr. Griffith Chelsea Morrison April 24, 2012 The use of animals in science that results in harm or death has traditionally played an integral role in education. Many thousands of animals have been killed worldwide during attempts to teach practical skills or to demonstrate scientific principles which have, in many cases, been established for decades. Anatomy and experimental physiology started to be practiced around 300 B. C. Notable scientists like Aristotle, Vesalius and Gale conducted countless scientific studies with the dissection of animals almost every day.

If the law permitted, human cadavers were also dissected, but the use of animals in vivisection and dissection was generally less mired in ethical or religious concerns. Like today, animals were dissected not only to learn more about them, but also as surrogates for humans. Though animal and human dissections were used to educate medical students, artists such as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, who wanted to learn to illustrate their subjects with better accuracy, also conducted dissections (Knight). They were also performed simply to illustrate the contents of ancient scientific texts.

Later the 1500s, Andreas Vesalius, the founder of modern human anatomy, thought that dissection should be used to correctly teach students about anatomy instead of using illustrations in books, as well as to gain new knowledge (Knight). From this, Vesalius set the foundation for dissection as a teaching and research tool. In the early 1900s, the dissection of animals became more common in biology classes (Knight). Frog dissection was established in college level courses and eventually was taught in high schools.

Around 1915, frogs became commercially available for use in education and by the 1920s, many high school classes considered frog dissection routine. A wider variety of animal dissection in high school became widespread after the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS). The BSCS was a federally-funded initiative in the 1960’s to create a science curriculum for elementary and high school students (Gilmore). Also as a result, more high schools offered advanced biology courses with the dissection of cats, minks, and fetal pigs, and even live animals.

In 1998, it was estimated that animal dissection occurred in 75-80% of pre-college level biology classes (Gilmore). Most prevalently today, dissection of such animals is now in college anatomy courses. In fact, each year, an estimated 20 million animals – around 170 or more different species – are used in the U. S. in all areas of education and grade level (Capaldo). In most countries, veterinary students learn surgery through surgical practice on healthy animals and then killed afterwards by the students.

It’s these practices that are controversial in veterinary school in concern for animals being harmed. But since harm accrues from any pain or discomfort associated with such procedures, and it disrupts of the animals’ normal life, the dissections are harmful. With student being exposed to the vast amount of animal dissection worldwide, students are exhibiting an opinion being forced on them with no options to oppose dissection. Under the stress of forced dissection, education is also is disheartened.

When forced to use animals in ways the student objects to, the student is traumatized and invariably learns less (Capaldo). But there are other options to animal dissection like “computer simulations, high quality videos, ‘ethically-sourced cadavers,’ such as from animals euthanized for medical reasons, preserved specimens, models and surgical simulators, non-invasive self-experimentation, and supervised clinical experiences”(Knight). Such options have been studied and proven to over and over to benefit both schools, educators and students.

In a 2007 study, “twenty nine papers in which live animal dissection didn’t occur illustrated additional benefits of humane teaching methods in veterinary education” (PETA). These benefits include time and cost savings, enhanced potential for customisation and repeatability of the learning exercise, increased student confidence and satisfaction, increased compliance with animal use legislation, elimination of objections to the use of purpose-killed animals, and integration of clinical perspectives and ethics early in the curriculum.

This evidence demonstrates that educators can best serve their students and animals, while minimising financial and time burdens, by introducing humane teaching methods that are not reliant on harmful animal use. Classroom dissection desensitizes students to the sanctity of life. Research has shown that a significant number of students at every educational level are uncomfortable with the use of animals in dissection and experimentation (PETA).

Studies also suggest that exposing young people to animal dissection as ‘science’ can foster a callousness toward animals and nature and even dissuade some from pursuing careers in science. (Wadman) Students simply do not need to cut up animals to understand basic anatomy and physiology. In contradicting, students who plan to go into a medical field can do better to study humans in a controlled and supervised setting, examine human cadavers, or use any of the many non-animal learning methods available, such as those provided by computer models and sophisticated simulators.

The simulation-based education would more accurately reflect what students will encounter when they get to medical school. This is in consideration that more than 90% of U. S. medical schools have abandoned the use of animals in their standard curricula (Wadman). Yet, despite the benefits, from 1986 to 2007, many academics remain opposed to the use of humane teaching methods (AAVS). I think more students haven’t stood up for their rights to not dissect because they do not even know where the animals are coming from and the process that occur.

Pound seizure is a term that not many people are familiar with unless they are against humane animal dissection. Any animal shelter or pound that is located in a state that has a pound-seizure law, must turn over animals who are not claimed within a about five days, to laboratories that ask for them. These animals are then used in animal dissection or experiments and usually the healthiest animals are used for dissection.

This presents an uncomfortable situation for families when they learn this because if their cat should run away and is not found for a week, chances are the cat has gone through pound seizure and since it’s a healthy house cat, their child might see her cat in the next dissection lab. Education institutions know this very well and support it because pound seizure provides an inexpensive and easy source of animals and allows educators to continue using animals instead of switching to better and humane alternatives that may require a financial outlay.

For example, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center had bought cats for decades from a local animal shelter. They paid fifteen dollars for each cat and used the cats in cruel and deadly medical training exercises and dissections. Cats used had tubes lodged down their throats and needles stabbed into their chests, even though sophisticated simulators were available (City of Odessa). However, after PETA sprang a campaign that uncovered the school’s relationship with the shelter, the school stopped buying animals from the shelter and ended the use of animals in their courses (Hartman).

More controversy is spiked from claims that the best educational learning is solely attributable to dissection on animals (Animal-Dissection); this is simply not true. An article published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine evaluated the claims and concluded that it was not supported by any evidence (PETA). In fact, most animal dissections are not relevant to human health, don’t add meaningfully to medical advances, and many are done out of sheer curiosity and don’t even hold promise for curing illnesses.

People are only under the misapprehension because the media, experimenters, universities and lobbying groups exaggerate the potential of animal dissection to lead to be the only way to learn and how they have helped in past medical advances- as in centuries ago with Galen, which is irrelevant with today’s technology-. In the last presidential election, 2012 midterms and most recent republican primaries, no laws or acts were implemented against animal dissection in education.

The obvious reason is because the public is not concerned with the issue and is not being properly informed. In a 2009, a survey of opinions was conducted by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) to a general public of 2,000 adults. The poll reviled that “59% of the people thought regulations on animal research are not serious at all of an issue and only 27% said it’s a very serious issue”(PRCPP). However, past progress has been made, but it’s minimal.

The following states have laws safeguarding students’ rights to choose humane alternatives over dissection without being penalized: Florida, California, Pennsylvania, New York, Rhode Island, Illinois, Virginia, Oregon, New Jersey and Vermont. Currently, student-choice legislation is pending in Connecticut. In Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts and New Mexico the Board of Education have policies, and Louisiana passed a state resolution in 1992. Numerous schools and school boards have also independently enacted student-choice policies because of student-run campaigns.

This information relates to Bill of Rights that is frequently discussed in class and what we have learned about one of its ten parts; the freedom of religion, speech, press, right of assembly, petition. PETA itself is a non-profit government organization that despite many people who disagree with their beliefs, still releases revolutionary and controversial articles such as this one because of its right to freedom of speech and press. Hundreds of large, infamous companies have been fined millions, given a bad reputation, and shut down like PLRS because of PETA.

I am sure many large research companies that use animal testing, zoo’s, food industry CEO’s and others would like PETA to keep their mouths shut and silence their undercover workers so they can stop sweating through late night anxiety attacks about whether PETA will catch them red handed next. But, because PETA’s work is protected under the Bill of Rights, their beautiful, righteous, revolutionary, jaw-dropping and god-like work can continue to save millions of animals’ lives.

I am for the new virtual dissections because of its significantly better educational attributes and it prevents innocent animals from being victims of companies trying to make a quick profit. I would improve animal dissection in education by implementing a law that requires all education institutions to provide students with an option to dissect real animals or do the virtual dissection. In addition, the optional agreement must provide each student with a list of both the positive and negative facts about each option because not many students will know why they should choose one option over the other.

This shows both a lack of awareness and education of the severity of animal experimentation. In order to allow the student to form their own opinion, they must be given the correct facts about both options. Plus, PETA provides a wonderful service that allows you to create your own leaflet (brochure) advocating an issue your concerned about so I would  start a campaign urging local high school students not to dissect animals, create leaflets for the students or download or order PETA’s anti-dissection leaflets and then expand to my college. This issue greatly impacts my life now and in the future.

Currently, I dissected a fetal pig last week and was told my juniors who are also majoring in biology, that I must also dissect a cat and human cadaver. I understand the person who died did not die for the purpose of being dissected and willing donated their body to science, unlike animals. If I had been informed of where the fetal pigs came from and if there was a virtual option available, I would have definitely chosen the virtual option. Therefore, I am comfortable dissecting the cadaver but not the cat or any other future animals for dissection.

Animal rights Good morning my friends! how are you today? i’m going to start this discussion with a simple question “ will you go to jail if you kill a human? ”. Ofcourse you will, this is because humans have a right to live and to take ones life is a sin right? now let me ask you another question “will you go to jail if you kill an animal? ”. The answer is no, why is this? because humans are more inferior then others? a life is a life whether its a human or an animal.

Do you know that in one day an average human kills up to 3 animals? why? just so you can eat a good lunch or dinner at . In my opinion animals dont have enough rights this is my topic for today. Did it ever occur to you that maybe animals have rights too? just because they cant speak doesnt mean they cant feel. Every year millions of animals are disected,infected,injected,gassed burned and blinded in hidden labs all over the world and most of the time without painkillers. And what for? ust so you can get the latest perfume or shampoo. Would it kill to use organic items? if they arent killed the animals get traumatised and are shaken up which is worse. The truth is, is that animal testing has endangered the life of humans because the results from animal testing cant be applied to humans. This is because animals and humans are completely different from each other! less than 2% of the diseases in humans appear on animals. In Australia last year, 6. 5 million animals were used in experiments.

In these research labs just imagine how these animals would feel they are shoved in cages that are so small they get grazes and cuts on their skin from trying to get comfy, also when an animal dies it is kept in a wheelbarrow near the cages. The animals get scared and even sometimes attack each other. Despite the death of these animals before they even get tested, lab workers continue to stuff them in tiny cages, each animal branded with a barcode number instead of a name.

In conclusion, animal testing is unreliable and sick, and now that there are alternatives to this (synthetic human skin, vitro testing) I suggest the government fully ban animal testing, we can help too! next time you go shopping buy animal friendly products only and then animal testing labs will be forced to shut down and try not to eat too much of meat so that the killing of animals can be reduced. lets make the world a better, safer, happier place for humans and animals Remember animals have rights too!

When one speaks of the Great Barrier Reef, they tell of the most celebrated and largest coral reef in the universe. This eye-popping universe of works and carnal life is difficult to grok and is fantastic to see. The wide and shallow Continental shelf of northeasterly Australia provides an ideal base for growing. This reef is a aggregation of 280 barrier reefs, 300 coral keies and stone islands stretching for 1,250 stat mis along the seashore of Queensland, Australia and 160 stat mis offshore. It covers 135,000 square stat mi or approximately merely a small larger than the size of New Mexico. It is inhabited by 1000000s of unusual animals. A individual coral wall holds a broader representation of life than an full continent. It has solid rock that grows upward like a palace or sideways like a Fringilla montifringilla coppice making crevasses that look like mini-grand canons. There are 2000 different types of fish in great battalions of vivacious tropical colourss and angle that do n’t even look like fish.

The stone is really coral that comes in all colourss, signifier, and gestures – plume dust storm and Christmas tree coral in ruddy, navy, and pink ; domes of encephalon coral that truly look like encephalons, plate coral that look like elephantine battercakes and staghorn coral that look like they should be on top of a cervid ‘s caput. There is black, pink and ruddy coral that is used in jewellery devising. In fact, there are about 350 different coral types.

Coral may look to be lovely workss but they are animate beings – bantam rapacious animate beings. Even though they can non travel, they reproduce, communicate and grow. They begin life as unattached pinpoints called planulae. This pinpoint finds a good foundation, go for good affiliated and develops into a mature polyp. This polyp is merely a heavy tubing with a oral cavity at the top with a circle of tentacles. Despite the simpleness of this design, the coral polyp has persisted for over 400 million old ages. The ground for this success is its place – expression closely and you will see bantam small pores. Each pore is home to a polyp.

This place is nil more than limestone that they have created themselves. The polyp takes Ca and carbonate from the saltwater and deposits it about them until they have a snug place. This secreting of limestone continues throughout their life and is deposited at the base of the place so that that the polyp is ever on top. As their place grows, the polyp splits into two, so four, and so eight with uninterrupted dividing until one person has become a settlement. As the size of the settlement grows it becomes a reef that contains 100s of 1000s of settlements with one million millions of polyps, all bound together by their limestone.

Corals are invariably looking for more room and finally one type of coral with overtake another type of coral. When this occurs, the also-ran dies and their limestone place becomes the foundation for extra places of the winning coral. This changeless growing, decay and re-growth repetition infinitely as it has for the past 400 million old ages and hopefully for the following 400 million old ages.

The Great Barrier Reef appears to be a flower garden with “ petals ” blowing in the “ zephyr ” of the ocean ‘s currents. The petals are really the tentacles that sit atop the settlement like bantam flowers. This “ flower garden ” is lead oning ; it is a deathly web of hold oning fingers coated with glue-like mucous secretion that traps plankton. The fingers of the polyp have tiny un-seeable stinging cells that stupefying its quarry. Then the fingers pass their gimmick from one to another until making the polyp ‘s oral cavity. Some big polyps are so powerful that they can trap little fish.

Through a web of nervousnesss, each polyp, communicates with other settlement members. Touch a coral polyp and it will abjure into its rock place. Tap it harder and the full settlement may retreat. Large lone corals can even work together to upright itself if turned upside down during a storm. The tentacles will delve a hole in the sand until the coral Begins to lean ; so go on delving until it uprights itself. How does the polyp know which side should delve and which side should non delve ; is an unbelievable enigma.

In order to maintain it self clean and from being buried, the settlement will clean it self by traveling the bantam cilia that cover their organic structures in concert causation deposit and sand to be moved the borders of the settlement. The coral besides secretes a thick bed of mucous secretion that traps soil and so is sloughed off in big sheets. This cleansing maneuver is besides good to other reef occupants as an extra protein rich nutrient beginning.

The coral polyps and their places are merely the beginning of the Great Barrier Reef. There are eccentric oddnesss at each crevice and nook. Lionfish with their “ mane ” , butterfly fish, clownfish, barracudas, pediculosis pubiss, runt, sharks ; the list can travel on and on. The reef attracts 100s of species of animate beings to feed, engender, and slumber.

Sea urchins walk on the tips of their spinal columns beckoning their other spinal columns like a unsighted adult male walking down the street with a cane. In fact, urchins do non hold eyes. The rainbow parrotfish eats the coral reef and passes the limestone out as white sand, which becomes the environing beaches. These eatened countries become places for sponges, worms and molluscs and destructive forces such as bore bits and parasites. The destructive forces create more holes and shortly the reef has become a elephantine piece of Swiss cheese with spreads and tunnels supplying legion mini-ecosystems and concealing topographic points for fish, moray eels, lobsters and sea stars. Some of the more interesting animate beings are the immense, spiked, poison-tipped sea star called the crown-of-thorns sea star, which eats unrecorded coral polyps, the dunce shark, beams, the elephantine clam, sea serpents and sea polo-necks. Despite all attempts by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, there are legion species that are on the endangered list – which include sea polo-necks, kyphosis giants, Triton Trumpet Shell and the Banded Sea Snake.

Marine polo-necks are the earliest seamans of the oceans. They foremost emerged during the dinosaur age and have been swimming in the sea of all time since. Female polo-necks still climb the sandy beaches to put their eggs as their female parent ‘s did more than 150 million old ages ago. Turtlenecks have changed small since that dinosaur age – they still live their full life in the H2O except to put their eggs. Six of the universe ‘s seven species of marine polo-neck live in the Waterss within the Great Barrier Reef. Some species such as the dunce and green polo-neck are seen often, while others such as the Olive Ridley and leathery turtle are rarely seen. The most endangered is the level back sea polo-neck. The causes for hazard are: they lay fewer eggs than other polo-necks, marauders of foxes, warrigals and the Australian Monitor Lizard and vanishing nesting sites.

Humpback whales come from the South-polar Waterss to the Great Barrier Reef from May to September to break up and to construct up strength over the winter before they return to the Antarctic in summer. The Great Barrier Reef is the baby’s room for the kyphosis giant. Female kyphosis giants give birth to a calf that is 10 to 15 pess long at birth and weigh around 2,000 lbs. The female is pregnant for 12 months and so nurses her calf for another twelvemonth. She can give birth to a babe calf about one time every three old ages. Merely between 30,000 and 40,000 kyphosis giants remain in the universe. This is about one-third the Numberss of kyphosis giants that originally roamed the oceans. Hunting is non the lone ground that the kyphosis giant is endangered. The devastation of their home ground has contributes to their disappearing. For illustration, the giants feed on krill and logging is killing krill. Loging creates overflow of deposit and nitrates into the ocean.

The Triton Sea Shell snail is now a rare discovery in the Great Barrier Reef and the Pacific Ocean. They are found at the deepness of 15 – 60 pess in the coral home ground. This snail is really of import to the reef ; it preys on the Crown of Thorns sea star which eats the reef ‘s coral. After turn uping its quarry, the cornet snail paralyses the sea star with an injection of paralytic salivary juices, and so drills through the sea star ‘s skeleton with dentitions to feed on the soft tissue indoors. The Triton Sea Shell is really rare because of the beauty and size of its shell and it is wanted by serious shell aggregators everyplace.

Sea serpents occur in the tropical Waterss of the Great Barrier Reef. They inhabit shallow Waterss along seashores and around islands, river oral cavities, and can go up into rivers up to more than 100 stat mis from the sea. This snake provenders on fish, fish eggs, and crustaceans and molluscs. The Banded Sea Snake is egg-laying and is highly deadly. The Banded Sea Snake still must come up to breath air and has smooth scaly organic structures like land serpents. What makes the sea snake an first-class swimmer and frogman is their vertically flattened paddle-like tail. Sea serpents are exploited for their tegument, variety meats, and meat. The impact of this development on the Banded Sea Snake is difficult to find due to the deficiency of monitoring of commercial piscaries.

Why is the Great Barrier Reef of import to worlds?

The reef is called the rain forest of the ocean due to its biologically diverse ecosystems. It is 2nd merely to tropical rain woods in the figure of species it harbors. Although the Great Barrier reef merely occupy 20 % of the oceans coral reefs ( an country approximately the size of North Carolina ) , it is home to about one one-fourth of the planet ‘s aquatic species. Coral reefs offer of import income beginnings for their human neighbours through touristry and fishing, which provide both subsistence and trade. Recently, scientists have begun to detect that coral communities may incorporate valuable medical specialties that may one twenty-four hours take to interventions for malignant neoplastic disease and HIV. For coastal communities, the reef besides plays an of import function in protecting their coastlines from storms.

I have spoken of how fantastic and of import the Great Barrier Reef is ; but, the reef is among the most susceptible to human impacts and is being damaged and destroyed with dismaying easiness. Practices such as over-fishing, the usage of dynamite or toxicant to capture fish and dropping boat ground tackles on corals has produced tremendous harm. Even an inadvertent touch from frogmans and snorkelers can significantly damage the delicate coral polyps. Pollution, silting from land-based building, and fertiliser overflow have led to damage to coral reefs worldwide by barricading the sunlight corals require for photosynthesis by their symbiotic algae. Rising sea temperatures from planetary heating can besides destruct corals. However, when a coral reef has been damaged from human effects, it may hold a more hard clip retrieving from natural catastrophes.

Due to the reef ‘s sensitiveness to really little temperature lifts and to alterations in ocean acidification, the Great Barrier Reef is watched to supervise clime alterations. Australia ‘s most well-known Marine and environmental scientists say to be able to deliver the Earth ‘s coral reefs from widespread harm caused by adult male, the industrialised states will necessitate to cut planetary heating, C emanations and ocean acidification by 25 per centum by 2020 and by 80 to 90 by 2050.

Coral decease and decoloring due to thermic injuries involved over 50 per centum of the Great Barrier Reef in 1998 and 2002, when the summer maximal H2O temperatures were increased by merely one to two grades centigrade. Bleaching is a mark of emphasis. Corals appear bleached when they expel the bantam workss that normally live in their tissues. High H2O temperatures and other environmental conditions stress corals and can do them to decolor ; but, they can last if the H2O temperature does n’t remain elevated for an drawn-out period of clip. The reef experienced bleaching in 1998 and had n’t recovered before decoloring occurred once more in 2002. The 2002 bleaching is the worst episode on record with harm to both on-shore and off-shore reefs. Airplanes were used the position the Great Barrier Reef bleaching and they discovered that about 60 per centum of the Marine park reef was heat-stressed. Fortunately, the harm by decoloring has non caused widespread decease of the coral. We merely need to look at other reefs around the universe to acquire a clear warning as to what happens when the temperature spikes becomes more legion and acute.

Ocean acidification is speed uping and has already earnestly affected the growing and strength of corals on the Great Barrier Reef. Ocean acidification will impact all marine beings and this will upset the ecology of the universe ‘s oceans making a socio-economic influence on piscaries and other pelagic concerns.

What sort of impact will the diminution of the Great Barrier Reef hold? The Australian economic system benefits significantly from the Great Barrier Reef ; it generates about $ 5.4 billion dollars every twelvemonth. The touristry industry produces $ 5.1 billion, recreational involvements make $ 153 million and commercial fishing turns out $ 139 million. The coral reef has already seen better yearss despite good direction by the Marine park. Loss of coral protections reduces biodiversity, finally upseting touristry, fishing and coastal protection. “ We ‘ve seen the grounds with our ain eyes. Climate alteration is already impacting the Great Barrier Reef, ” says Professor Terry Hughes of the James Cook University located in Queensland.

What is being done to protect and continue the Great Barrier Reef? Because of its alone national and international significance, the Great Barrier Reef is listed under the World Heritage Convention. It meets all four of the natural heritage standards: biological diverseness, aesthetics and natural beauty, ecological and biological procedures, and geological admiration. To guarantee that the biological diverseness and construction of the Great Barrier Reef are maintained, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park has started a class that will enlarge the country and figure of “ no-take ” Marine safeties. The no-take zones will hold representation from all bioregions that are recognized in the park. Monitoring is important to track alterations, such as eruptions of crown-of-thorns sea star, locate coral bleaching, or diminutions in the position of inshore reefs. Keeping an oculus on H2O quality is done by supervising the H2O quality in the rivers that flow to the Great Barrier Reef. Education is raising reef consciousness and taking to improved patterns in the agriculture – cane and banana husbandmans are modifying their usage of fertiliser to minimise run-off loss. The pattern of green cultivated land of harvests and rubbish blanketing ( go forthing the rubbish on the land as compost and non firing harvests ) is increasing, which reduces deposit and alimentary loss.

The Great Barrier Reef is an astonishing portion of this universe and its disappearing would be a great loss to adult male and nature.

We also eat leaves and stem of spinach and plenty of fruits. Thus, human beings depend on plants and animals for food. 32. 2 AGRICULTURE AND AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES The branch of science which deals with methods of food production is known as agriculture. Besides studying the new methods of food production, in this branch of science we also study about how new and better varieties of crops can be grown, how animals and birds like cows, hens, etc. can be reared well and made to give more milk or better quality eggs?

All these new methods which scientists develop come under agricultural practices. We need vegetables, fruits, cereals, pulses, etc. as food. For our clothes, we need the fibre of plants or animals. We get all these foods and fibres by farming or agriculture. ACTIVITY 32. 1 Make a list of things which you use every day. Categorise those items which you get directly or indirectly from agriculture. Does your list look like the one given below? For easy reading, agricultural products have been divided into the following groups as given in the table 32.

1. Table 32. 1: Various categories of food items Examples Sorghum (Jowar), Ragi (finger millet) and Bajra (pearl millet) Arhar (Tur), Black gram (Urad), Green gram (Moong), and Bengal gram (Channa) Beans Peas, Soyabean, Cowpea, Lentil Oilseeds Mustard, Groundnut, Soyabean, Sunflower, Linseed, Castor and Cotton seed Root crops Carrot, Turnip, Sweet potato Tuber crops Potato, Tapioca, Ginger and Turmeric Sugar crops Sugarcane and Beet root Plantation crops Coffee, Tea, Rubber and Coconut Category Millets Pulses 32.

3 HORTICULTURE Did you observe that something is missing from the list of food items which we eat every day. What is it that we have not listed here in table 32. 1? Yes, we have neither included vegetables nor fruits in this list. Vegetables and fruits are essential items of our diet and their growth and production are studied under a branch of agriculture called horticulture. Horticulture is derived from two latin words: hortus which means garden, and culture which means cultivation. : 288 : Agricultural Practices and Animal Husbandry

The branch of agriculture that deals with growing and production of vegetables, fruits, ornamental plants and management of orchards is called horticulture. Horticulturists research to find new ways by which better varieties of fruits and vegetables can be grown in large quantities. 32. 4 STEPS IN RAISING IMPROVED AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE To increase our food production we can sow good quality seeds and improve the methods of sowing. We can make the soil more rich and even use better techniques for harvesting the crops.

Some of the agricultural practices which scientists have developed and which our farmers have started are explained here. 1. Preparation of soil This is an important practice which helps to enrich the soil and make it more fertile and aerated. It involves addition of manure followed by turning, loosening and levelling of the soil, using agricultural implements like spade, plough or mechanical farm implements. 2. Seed treatment Seeds can easily be attacked by micro-organisms. The crops that grow out of diseased seeds will also be unhealthy.

So farmers treat these seeds by dipping them in certain chemicals like cerosan or agrosan. These chemicals do not allow the microorganisms to attack the seeds and damage them. Such chemicals are called Fungicides. Once the seeds are treated, they can be sown. 3. Preparing the seed bed and care of the seedlings In certain crop plants like paddy and some of the vegetables, seeds are not sown directly in the main field. First these seeds are sown in a nursery bed. Once they grow to a certain age they are transferred and planted in the main field. These small plants are called seedlings.

When the farmers prepare a nursery bed they take care of the following: • The soil of the bed should be soft and loose so that the tender roots of the seedlings can grow well. This can be achieved by digging or ploughing the field well. • The seed bed or where the seedlings are planted should be even so that when we water the plants, the water distributes itself uniformly all over the field. • All weeds or unwanted plants in the field must be removed. Do you know why? It is because these weeds also take water and nutrients from the soil and as a result the desired plants cannot get enough of the nutrients.

The seedlings also need to be protected from diseases and pests. This is done by spraying chemicals like Parathion, Sevin, Dimecron and Rogor on the seedlings. 4. Transplanting The process of removing the seedlings from the nursery bed and planting them in the main field is called transplanting. When we transplant, we must select those seedlings which have 4 to 5 healthy Agricultural Practices and Animal Husbandry : 289 : leaves. These are sowed at proper distance from each other. The main field must be ploughed and manured before transplanting.

Generally rice and vegetables like tomato and brinjal are sown by transplanting. Transplanting of seedlings is a very important practice. This enables us to select good and healthy seedlings and get a better crop. Besides, when we transplant seedlings, their roots are able to go deep into the soil and get more nutrients. When seedlings get good food, they grow into healthy plants and give a better yield. 5. Adding fertilizers Crops need nutrients like phosphorus, calcium, nitrogen etc. for their growth and pick up these nutrients from the soil.

It is very important to add fertilizers to the soil. They provide nutrients to the soil and help to obtain a better crop yield. Depending on the type of soil and the crop to be grown, we use different fertilizers. The way we use a fertilizer also depends upon what type of fertilizer is being added to the soil. A fertilizer which contains nitrogen (nitrogenous fertilizer) is generally given in two or three doses. Other fertilizers are phosphatic and complex fertilizers. Some fertilisers are added to the soil before transplanting. You must have heard about the most commonly used fertilizer ‘NPK’.

The letter N stands for nitrogen, P for phosphate and K for potassium. While fertilizers are manufactured from chemicals in factories, manure is made from organic substances and contains nutrients in small quantities. Some of the commonly used manure are: Farmyard manure, as the name suggests is a mixture of decomposed cattle dung (excreta) and urine, left over fodder (cattle feed) and litter (bedding provided to cattle in the farm). Compost is manure made from vegetable and animal refuse collected from domestic waste, straw, weeds etc. , dumped in a deep pit to decompose.

Vermicompost is compost broken down by earthworms. Like fertilizers manures too add nutrients to soil. 6. Use of plant growth regulators Plant growth regulators are certain chemicals which regulate the growth of plants. All plants have growth regulators which determine how tall the plant would be, how big its fruit will be, etc. We can now add some plant growth regulators like auxins, gibberellins, cytokinins, abscisic acid etc. to get a better yield of crops. You will learn more about these plant growth regulators in higher classes.

7. Irrigation Irrigation is necessary for proper development of plants. Roots fail to develop and penetrate in the dry soil. The crop is irrigated according to its requirement and soil characteristics. Irrigation is essential during the seedling, flowering and grain filling stages of the crop. Rice crop needs standing water. : 290 : Agricultural Practices and Animal Husbandry 8. Harvesting Harvesting machines have now replaced the back breaking job of hand harvesting with the sickle and scythe. Harvesting machines cut or dig out the plant or its parts as required.

The machines gather the plant parts, separate desired parts and eliminate parts not needed. Certain harvesting machines may even load the crop for transport. However, the above mentioned functions of harvesting machines depend on kind of crop, plant parts to be harvested, crop use, stage of maturity, etc. 32. 5 SOME OTHER DIFFERENT AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES 32. 5. 1 Rotation of crops If you stay in a village you must have seen that the wheat crop is planted during the month of November and harvested in March and April. The rice crop is planted in June-July and harvested in October and November.

The land that lies fallow in between these two cereal crops, can be used by the farmers for sowing a leguminous crop at this time. A leguminous crop does not take as long as wheat or rice to grow. So by the time the farmer has to plant the cereal crops (rice, wheat etc. ) the pulse is ready to be harvested. Leguminous crops include pea, beans, grams and pulses. They harbour nitrogen fixing bacteria in nodules of their roots (Fig. 32. 1). These bacteria convert free nitrogen from atmosphere into usable form. Thus, after the leguminous crop is harvested, the soil is left fertile for other crops.

The process of growing a different crop preferably a leguminous crop in between raising of two similar crops is called rotation of crops. Fig. 32. 1 Nitrogen fixing bacteria in the root nodules Crop rotation has a lot of benefits, (i) the land gets utilized, (ii) the pulse crop uses up different nutrients from the soil but it fixes the nitrogen from the air and makes the soil richer in nitrogen and so more fertile. This way the next cereal crop gives a better yield. If we do not practice crop rotation by growing different crops on a piece of land, but

continue to grow the same crop, year after year, they will keep on using the same nutrients from the soil till all the nutrients in the soil get used up. The newly grown plants get poor nourishment from the soil and grow up to be weak and of bad quality. When plants are weak the insects can easily attack them and destroy them. Thus, crop rotation restores the fertility of Agricultural Practices and Animal Husbandry : 291 : the soil, it gives better yield, prevents crop from diseases and pests and reduces the dependence on chemical fertilizers.

Multiple cropping Growing two to four crops one after the other in a year in the same field is called multiple cropping. Multiple cropping is possible, when we make use of crop varieties that grow for a short period of time. However, to get best results there must be a properly managed field. In fact, multiple cropping is the best solution for a country with food problem because same piece of land is used to grow different kinds of crops. ACTIVITY 32. 2 Here is something you can do. Visit a nearby agricultural farm or vegetable garden.

Observe and note down the agricultural practices being used there. All the above mentioned practices are meant to ensure that plants have a healthy growth and yield a good crop. Along with these developments in our country we have also brought under cultivation more and more land. The increased cultivation of agricultural crops is in order to meet requirements of a growing population. 32. 5. 3 Improving the variety of seeds You must have often heard or read advertisements which encourage farmers to buy new and better varieties of seeds.

Some of these new varieties are resistant to diseases and give a very good crop. Some of the improved high-yielding crop varieties which our scientists have developed are given in table 32. 2. Table 32. 2 Improved high-yielding varieties of crops Crop Rice Wheat Maize Lady’s finger (Bhindi) Brinjal Variety I R-8, Jaya, Padma, Bala Sarbati sonara, Sonalika, Kalyan sona, Hira-moti, RR-21 and UP 301 Ganga 101, Rankit and Deccan hybrid Pusa savani Pusa purple, Pusa kranti and Muktabeshi Do you know what name is given to scientists who develop such new varieties of seeds?

They are called plant breeders. Plant breeders have not only raised better quality seeds but also better quality fruits. Mango has been named the ‘king of fruits’ and in our country we grow many varieties of mangoes. Some of them are Alphonse, Langra, Chausa, Saroli, Dussehri, Himsagar, Safeda, Sinduri, Mulgoba, Amini. 32. 6 PROTECTION OF CROPS IN THE FIELD As crops grow in the field, they have to be protected such that they produce a healthy yield. The weeds growing along with crops have to be removed and growing crops have to be saved from the attack of pests especially insects pests.

Now ladies and gentlemen, I would like you guys to have a think about this, without animal research, how long would it take for us to have a breakthrough in order for us to survive through small pox, rabies, malaria or any other severe diseases that had occurred in the past. If it weren’t for animal testing, we wouldn’t be all sitting here, enjoying our lives. Thank you all for listening. 0 In the case of using primates in animal testing, the National Research and Medical Research Council has stated, ‘Some biomedical research is best undertaken on primates in order to allow the greatest relevance to understanding health and disease in humans. ’ A PHD student from the University of Sydney, Swetha Murali, is working in a neuropharmacology lab researching about the development of novel therapeutics for treating chronic pain. Murali also raised a number of concerns and argued, ‘The first three are not alternatives at all. These animal dealers must be licensed by the United States Department of Agriculture and must adhere to Animal Welfare Act standards of care. Both dealers and research facilities can obtain dogs and cats only from specified sources and must comply with detailed record-keeping and waiting-period requirements. In addition, the United States Department of Agriculture conduct surprising inspections of dealers and research facilities for agreement to help ensure research animals are not missing pets. ’ 6

They don’t actually lead to the development of novel treatments, just a better understanding of the efficacy of existing ones. Meanwhile the last two are already commonly used in most labs, but prior to and in conjunction with work and animals. ’ Murali has also stated that ‘and as powerful as modern computers are, there’s still simply no comparison – the idea of successfully simulating the complexity present in organism- level biological systems is a pipe dream at present. ’ 9 My third point would be that there is no suitable and reliable substitution to animal testing.

It has been reported that there are situations, where there are no viable alternatives to animal testing in order to enlarge the research of treatments to assist human beings from suffering a wide range of diseases. This has been brought up by the National Health and Medical Research Council which stated, ‘Animal experimentation remains crucial to a proportion of the funded research design to find better ways of preventing, treating and curing human diseases, and there are many situations where no alternatives exist. 7 The American Association for Laboratory Animal Science stated that, ‘While some research requires that dogs and cats are used, the vast majority of laboratory animals are rodents specifically bred for research. Nearly half of the dogs and cats needed for research are also bred for that purpose. Since state laws and local policies prevent many animal pounds and shelters from providing dogs and cats to research facilities, animal dealers are the primary source for the other half of the animals scientists require. ’ 5

Good morning teachers and fellow classmates. Today I will be presenting my point of view towards the issue of animals being used in testing and research. Animals such as mice, rats and primates are used in the further research for the sake of us human beings, either health or cosmetic wise, and also tested on animals to make sure they have no life-threatening side effects. This act has being carried out for years, and to abolish it now would be a real shame and it’ll bring an end to the further advancement of human health. I assume that most of you guys think that animal testing will involve big needles injecting into those little cute, furry rodents. But I assure you, it’s not. It has been stated that the procedure throughout the whole testing will keep the animals’ distress to a minimal. Also the people who are involved in this project are all animal lovers, which mean that they aren’t doing this for enjoyment, but for the health of the greater well. As they say ‘Good science and good animal welfare go hand in hand’. In the UK, the experiments that were carried out have been classified as mild, moderate or substantial. In December 2001, licensed experiments that happened in the UK were: 39% mild, 55% moderate, 2% substantial and 4% that are unclassified. Judging from these statistics, it is shown that very few experiments have caused substantial suffering to the animals tested. This also leads to my second point. Many of these animals that were killed in animal testing were specifically bred for this purpose. 3

These animals would not have been alive at all if they weren’t needed for animal testing. Also keep in mind that they were bred under humane conditions, which means, they had the right amount of nutrition to be healthy and also in an environment that were close to home for them. In certain parts of the world, purposely-bred animals were not available, and in these cases, animals that were used must be obtained through licensed and regulated dealers that meet standard criteria where it was suitable laboratory research. 4

Animals in the media Animals have been used in the media for many years as they catch the eye of the viewer. Animals which are used in advertisements usually don’t have any or much relevance to the products being advertised. An example of this is the adverts for Dulux Paint, which uses an Old English Sheep dog in their adverts. They have used this breed of dog in their adverts since 1961 because this breed of dog has been used for so many years people associate it with the Dulux Company.

The adverts catch people’s attention and as the dog has no relevance to paint products and therefore people will discuss the adverts. Another example of animals having no relevance to the product in which they are being advertised is the Andrex adverts, they use Labrador puppies in their adverts for toilet paper. When the adverts first came out, Golden Labrador puppies became extremely in demand. However some of the people who were buying the puppies had done little to no research about the dog. The appeal of owning a Labrador was having a small, cute dog.

However many owners didn’t realise the size that they would grow to, many owners then re-homed them as they grew larger. However, there are exceptions to this where the animals are relevant to the product being advertised. These adverts are usually for pet products and rescue centres. Recue centres use abandoned looking animals in their adverts, which is an emotive technique. Another example of animals being used relevantly in adverts is pet products, such as Iam’s or Pedigree. They show the animals which the product is for. They use cute animals which the public find appealing.

Many adverts portray animals inaccurately; this causes people to believe that the images which are shown are a true reflection of the animal, as they have little or no knowledge of how the animal behaves. This may result in people potentially buying dangerous pets. This can be harmful to the owner or the animal and can result in abandonment. Animals which are portrayed as unpleasant, scary or dangerous can be in danger when people assume animals are worse than they are from seeing them on television. A good example of this is ‘Harry Potter’, where spiders are shown to be dangerous and scary.

This causes people to have a higher fear of the animals, this can also develop into phobias, which may result in people hurting or killing animals. Another good example of where animals are portrayed to be much more vicious than they actually are is in the film ‘Jaws’. Great white sharks are perceived to be human killers and go out of their way to hunt humans whereas in reality the chance of being killed by a shark is less than 1 in 264. 1 million (1). Films also promote animals, implying that they would be good pets.

In the film ‘101 Dalmatians’ many breeds of dogs are perceived as being extremely intelligent and easy to care for. This causes people to purchase them without doing the correct research and easily become overwhelmed with the responsibility of caring for a dog. Animals in sports The most popular sports involving animals are horse racing, dog racing and angling. Many people find pleasure and excitement in racing and betting on animals, it creates enjoyment for owners, trainers and spectators. A large part of racing is when people gamble on the race.

This will generate money for the owners and trainers of the animals as well as the book makers and the people who place the winning bets. Television will provide a source of income and promote the sport. People may also watch the races and place bets at their local Bookies. The animals which win the most races, are the most successful and will be highly valued for breeding. This helps to ensure good offspring for racing. Race horses will usually be spoilt and have the best quality of life to ensure that they are the fittest they can possibly be for racing. However, Greyhounds may be starved and beaten before races.

Starving the dogs may provoke them to run faster to try and catch the ‘rabbit’ because their natural instincts kick in. Some owners/trainers may be more concerned with the financial gain than the animals’ welfare. As a result animals may be harmed during training. This also means that animals that are not fit enough to race may be abandoned, rehomed or destroyed. Animals may also be killed during racing as a result of injuries. Angling is very popular in the UK. Live bait is usually used to attract the fish but dead bait or artificial lures can be used instead.

There are different types of angling including coarse, game and sea. The advantages of angling include the financial gain for manufacturers, dealers, charter skippers and the owners of the lakes and rivers where fishing takes place. The water quality in the lakes and rivers has greatly improved over recent years to benefit the stocks which also improve the quality of the fish’s life and the underwater ecosystem. Many of the fish are returned to the lake or river in which they came. There are also disadvantages with angling. Fish will become stressed and physically injured through being captured and handled.

Even when the fish are returned to lake/river, they may not always survive due to the shock. Careless anglers have been known to spread disease within the lakes and rivers. Alien species have also been introduced to the ecosystem which shall compete with the native species. Animal fighting is illegal in the UK as well as other countries. Animals which are used to fight include bulls, cocks, dogs, fish, as well as badger and bear baiting. There are no advantages in this for the animals however some people get pleasure and money from this particular sport.

The dogs are mistreated and starved so they become more aggressive. All animals involved in fighting suffer and many die from injury and infections to wounds received. The survivors to the fight will not receive the veterinary treatment that they require; therefore the healing process will be long and painful. Animals in work Animals have been used for helping disabled people and in working situations for many years. Guide dogs are given to the blind or extremely visually impaired people so that they find it easier to partake in everyday life.

The dogs are trained to watch out for cars and objects that the owner may walk into, the dog will be able to guide them away from danger. Dogs can also be specially trained to help the disabled by opening doors, retrieving medicines and food. They can also be trained to alert help if the owner is injured or is unconscious. Some dogs can be trained to detect oncoming epileptic fits and can therefore warn the owner before a seizure occurs. Animals can also be used in a farming environment. The dogs which are commonly used are Border Collies, they are used to herd animals into a group.

They are extremely intelligent and can learn commands by whistling and speech easily. They are trained to know the difference between herding left and right, they are also usually trained from a young age and are used until they are old. Dogs such as Spaniels can be used as gun dogs, this is where a shooting team shoots down birds and the dog will retrieve it unharmed. Horses were used to plough fields, gather sheep and cattle and transporting goods. However, they have now been replaced by machines. Animals in commercial use Animals can be used for their meat or for the products they produce.

Chickens are used for their eggs until they can’t produce anymore, then they are killed for their meat. Battery farms keep chickens in cruel conditions, they will sometimes be force fed and have their beaks cut off to avoid pecking other chickens in the overcrowded conditions. Free range chickens however, are kept in good conditions with lots of room to run around. Cows are used for their milk, which can be turned in to yogurts and cheese; meat and their skin, which is used to make leather. Animals can also be used for medical testing as well as the testing of cosmetics.

Many animals are put through stressful situations whilst being tested on. Medical testing can include testing drugs on animals for humans. However, animals have a different anatomy to humans and what may be harmful to them may be good for humans. For example, rabbits will die from taking Penicillin whereas it is beneficial to humans. Testing cosmetics on animals is needless as there are alternative methods to testing products. It’s not as common as it used to be, however, it does still happen. Products that don’t test on animals often publicise it as it’s an effective selling point.