Animalia Asana® is excited to be partaking in a unique event unveiling newly discovered historical yoga sequences. The workshop will be facilitated by yoga academics/teachers Jacqueline Hargreaves and Jason Birch. Join us if you can: https://www.yogacampus.com/workshops/hathaabhyaasapaddhati-a-precursor-of-modern-yoga#

“One hundred and twelve āsanas, many of which are based on the movements of animals, are described in an eighteenth-century yoga text called the Haṭhābhyāsapaddhati, ‘a manual on the practice of Haṭhayoga’. The āsanas are divided into six sequences and some of them involve repetitive movement and require extraordinary strength and flexibility, as well as the use of rope. Many of these āsanas remain unknown to modern yoga practitioners.”

Human-dog conflict in India

India has up to 59 million street dogs¹ and endures approximately 20,000 human cases of the rabies virus annually². These figures are the highest in the world and inextricably linked to each other as dogs mediate over 99% of human rabies cases, primarily through bites². In some areas, dog-human bites increased by 88% in one year. These aspects generate further ill-feeling towards dogs in a culture that is vulnerable to negative perceptions of dogs as dirty outcasts³. Some citizens have begun killing dogs. What humane alternatives exist to ease the human-dog conflict?

Welfare issues and the current situation

Dog bites among humans, livestock and wildlife lead to injury, or death either directly or indirectly through rabies⁴. If provoked, dogs can bite out of self-defence⁵. Unprovoked attacks may result from hunger; trying to access food from humans; a deep-rooted fear of humans caused by witnessing human violence towards dogs; or a predatory instinct if people or other animals flee when dogs approach⁵. Rabies damages the central nervous system, frequently causing aggression in its victims⁶; this could also cause dogs’ aggression. Dogs further affect humans due to the emotional and economic costs of attacks on livestock and wildlife including critically endangered species⁷.

Improper garbage management, suboptimal pet ownership and ensuing inadequate mass sterilisation and care programmes have caused burgeoning street-dog populations⁵. India’s street dogs battle starvation, heat, human violence, disease and drastically shortened lifespans⁵. Panic, ignorance and a need for immediate action⁵ cause indiscriminate inhumane dog culling at individual, group and state levels. Children and other dogs often witness this, which reinforces fear and leads to

further attacks from both sides of the conflict⁸.

Dog culling breaches India’s Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules, 2001. Studies also highlight dog culling as ineffective for population control because dogs from surrounding areas claim the newly available territory⁹. Moreover, in the north-eastern state Nagaland, an illegal dog meat trade exists that hostility to dogs could fuel further.

Humane solutions and challenges

Past attempts at managing India’s human-dog conflict have concentrated on dog sterilisation. Whilst vital for future dog population control, focusing only on this fails to resolve present conflicts⁵. In 2017, the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (FIAPO) piloted a more holistic programme in the state of Kerala⁵. Mirroring strategies of the global campaign to eliminate rabies by 2030, this pilot boasted the following factors⁵:

• A One Health approach. This considers both human and animal welfare, recognising our interdependence and preventing friction forming between different stakeholders.
• A multi-dimensional approach. This addresses the causes and immediate effects of human-dog conflict concurrently, alongside systematic sterilisation efforts.
• Education about dog-bite prevention and rabies treatment. This helps people to feel confident around dogs and ensures they know what action to take if dog bites do occur.
• Counselling for dog-bite victims. This safeguards human psychological welfare and encourages neutral or positive attitudes towards dogs.
• Systematic vaccination of 70% of dog populations. This safeguards dog and human welfare and creates a buffer against non-vaccinated dogs.

The pilot’s impact assessment indicates success⁵. For example, awareness about dog body language and appropriate behaviour around dogs increased 100% (if dogs approach, stand still and let them sniff you rather than fleeing), and patients hospitalised by dog bites showed a 50% increase in awareness about rabies prevention. FIAPO is lobbying for the programme to spread across India⁵.

The following challenges remain in resolving the human-dog conflict:

• All Indian states and neighbouring countries sharing high incidences of rabies and street-dog problems need to commit to such initiatives⁵. Otherwise, non-local street dogs will simply spread into well-managed areas.
• India is a lower-middle income country¹⁰, thus significant on-going investment will also be necessary. Moreover, India’s human-dog conflict typically affects India’s vulnerable young, poor, uneducated and rural-dwelling citizens⁵. Rural areas must receive extensive coverage where there is the least access to education and medical resources¹¹. Research into non-surgical sterilisation and oral vaccines may help them become more viable², potentially freeing-up time-intensive and staff-expertise resources involved in the current methods used.
• During surveys, citizens may provide conflicting information regarding the extent of dog supervision and purposefully misreport due to fear of punishment (e.g., fines)⁵. This could misinform our understanding of human behaviour towards dogs, and thus hamper treatment efforts.

Summary and how you can help

Key stakeholders recognise dog culling as inhumane and counterproductive to citizens’ needs concerning India’s human-dog conflict. The conflict’s cause is multi-factorial and requires a multi-factorial response. You can learn more here and help by maintaining pressure on international organisations to continue to invest resources into eliminating rabies humanely and effectively.

References

1. Gompper, M.E. (2014). The dog-human-wildlife interface: Assessing the scope of the problem. In: Gompper, M.E. (ed.). Free-Ranging Dogs and Wildlife Conservation. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. 9-54.
2. World Health Organization (2013). WHO Expert Consultation on Rabies. Available at: http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/85346/1/9789240690943_eng.pdf [accessed 19 Feb. 2018].
3. Kellett, P.M. (2017). Pariahs among us? Transforming conflicted constructions of urban street dogs in India. In: Kellet, P.M. and Matyok, T.G. (eds.). Communication and Conflict Transformation through Local, Regional, and Global Engagement. Lanham, MD, USA: Lexington Books. 159-172.
4. Home, C., Pal, R., Sharma, R.K., Suryawanshi, K.R. and Bhatnagar, Y.V. (2017). Commensal in conflict: Livestock depredation patterns by free-ranging domestic dogs in the Upper Spiti Landscape, Himachal Pradesh, India. Ambio. 46 (6). 655-666.
5. Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (2017). Rabies Free India – Kerala: Successful Pilot for the Holistic Programme to Minimize Human-Dog Conflict. Available at: http://fiapo.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Rabies-Free-India-Report-final-2.pdf [accessed 15 Feb. 2018].
6. American Friends of Tel Aviv University (2014). How rabies ‘hijacks’ neurons to attack brain. 6 (2014). Available at: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141006133424.htm [accessed 22 Feb. 2018].
7. Home, C., Bhatnagar, Y.V. and Vanak, A.T. (2017). Canine conundrum: Domestic dogs as an invasive species and their impacts on wildlife in India. Animal Conservation. DOI:10.1111/acv.12389.
8. Arluke, A. and Atema, K.N. (2017). Roaming dogs. In: Kalof, L. (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Animal Studies. New York, USA: Oxford University Press. 113-134.
9. IFAW (2015). World Rabies Day: Culling is not the answer. September 28, 2015. Available at: https://www.ifaw.org/united-states/news/world-rabies-day-culling-not-answer [accessed 22 Feb. 2018].
10. World Bank (2016). Data for lower middle income, India. Available at: https://data.worldbank.org/?locations=XN-IN [accessed 22 Feb. 2018].
11. Sharma, S., Agarwal, A., Khan, A.M. and Ingle, G.K. (2016). Prevalence of dog bites in rural and urban slums of Delhi: A community-based study. Annals of Medical and Health Sciences Research. 6 (2). 115-119.

Images

2. Frederic Spycher (2014). Man feeding some stray dogs [digital image]. Distributed under a CC-BY 2.0 license. Retrieved from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/spycherf/12527535113 [accessed 22 Feb. 2018].
3. Achat1999 (2016). Female and adolescent Indogs rummaging through a garbage bin for food [digital image]. Distributed under a CC BY-SA 4.0 license. Retrieved from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Female_and_adolescent_Indogs_rummaging_through_a_garbage_bin_for_food._02.jpg [accessed 22 Feb. 2018].

After the news of Krishna Kshetra Swami’s endorsement of Animalia Asana®, the year continues to unfold flourishingly for Animalia Asana…. thanks to the fantastic Animalia Asana® teachers!

This message is from Balázs in Hungary:

“Somewhere in a little village in a little country we feel good during class so again in the end of the month some animals in need will feel better after money transfer”.

Another £34 donated to FIAPO and IAR.

The year’s summary to arrive in April 🙂

Breaking news!

Dr Valpey (aka Krishna Kshetra Swami) from The Oxford Centre of Hindu Studies has endorsed Animalia Asana®

“The term ‘yoga’ originally means ‘connection’. Connecting to our inner selves includes connecting to the variety of sentient beings around us, not least the non-human animals. Animalia Asana is bringing this essential element of yoga practice to the fore, and I’m sure it will have important benefits for all who participate in it.”

https://www.animalia-asana.org/for-yoga-teachers/

What might a yogic Christmas look like?

Animalia Asana® posits that the upcoming holidays are a time for further enhancement of our yogic practice, be that on or off the mat; a time for indulging in the decadence of awareness and quiet reflection; a time for attuning ever further to the at times elusive connective thread between all beings. How might this be applied? It may be quality time with oneself at home or on retreat. It may be quality time with a significant other or those infrequently seen throughout the rest of the year. It may be quality time spent giving to those in need.

Christmas is thought of as a ‘time of giving’. Indeed, one study details how 1 in 3 of us donate more around Christmas than at other time of the year. An increased sense of giving may also show itself especially in less formal/non-monetary ways too through our interpersonal relations with loved ones and/or strangers. Ironically and very sadly though, the situation gets considerably worse for most animals over Christmas (aside from some spikes in the donations for some animal welfare charities, which a far cry from cancelling out the damage and disrespect done), whether that be unwanted ‘Christmas gift’ animals or the millions of animals being fattened up for feasting upon on this one day.

Some may be sourcing the animal they will eat from a local organic source. This is preferable indeed, but still accompanied by suffering and ethical issues that are inextricably connected to farming for animal meat including cutting animals’ lifespans dramatically short, methods of breeding, stressful and unnatural transportation to the abattoir at their end-of-life stage, and how they are slaughtered; whenever animals are being kept for profit (however small or large a profit it might be), at some point, their welfare is going to take a backseat at some stage to a lesser or greater degree.  It is not possible for small-scale operations that truly cater to all welfare needs (which may not even exist yet) to meet the demand for the world’s 7.6 billion human population; even if it could, significant reductions in the consumption of meat, fish dairy and egg would be necessary anyway…. Thus, whichever way we look at it, we need to eat considerably more plant-based foods.

Reducetarian, flexitarian, vegan, plant-based (the list goes on)… all of these efforts are valid and contribute positively towards a more harmonious world for the future. The label is not as important as earnest action of some sort to honour the reality of the suffering, exploitation, environmental damage and inefficient systems that we otherwise play a key role in. If we needed to eat animals to survive and thrive, it would be a different story; however, leading health authorities have affirmed that plant-based diets can be equally if not more healthy than balanced omnivorous diets. The feats of plant-based athletes are also testimony to this. So, none of the animal agriculture practices are “necessary”.

Can we find a peaceful and authentic practice of kukkutasana (cockerel pose) knowing what our finances would be supporting and what we would be ingesting? The same can be asked for the practice of varahasana (boar pose) or gomukhasana (cowface pose), or other animal postures that reflect animals traditionally eaten for Christmas dinner across different cultures. And how does pondering on the number of corpses generated through animal agriculture affect our authentic and peaceful experience of savasana (corpse pose)?

We don’t need to be religious or Christian to find the current mainstream Christmas practices to be a dishonor to Jesus’s birth. Let’s invite in the wisdom of yoga and move past any urges to remain willfully ignorant of animal farming practices and our involvement within them. Let’s step into our responsibility. What will quiet moments of awareness and reflection offer to you this year?

 

 

The two charities Animalia Asana® fundraises for:

India-based FIAPO and International Animal Rescue 🙂 🙂

See our courses for yoga teachers and practitioners:

Scotland’s salmon sea lice crisis

Scotland is the third largest farmed Atlantic salmon producer after Norway and Chile¹. Its salmon sea lice crisis (SSLC)

concerns the infestation of farmed salmon with the sea louse parasite. This occurs during the saltwater stage of the multi-stage salmon lifecycle that aquaculture imitates. Naturally, predation on sea lice and infected salmon, and low salmon population densities, keep sea lice numbers low; high stocking densities in salmon farming attract sea lice². They flourish by feeding on salmon skin and mucous. The SSLC economic and environmental costs receive considerable attention, but what are the animal welfare costs?

Welfare issues

Most scientists agree that fish are sentient. The precursor of the SSLC—high stocking densities—is itself a welfare issue. Salmon are a carnivorous and migratory species, motivated to hunt and swim thousands of miles in spacious oceanic conditions³. Typical farms enclose approximately 70,000 salmon per 40m-wide pen⁴, severely limiting their natural behaviour. This can then lead to physical health issues, increased aggression and enhanced intragroup disease transmission².

Sea lice can cause significant wounds and stress^5,6. This compromises salmon’s quality of life, physical health and immune system, leading to secondary infections and potentially death⁶. Other welfare issues (e.g., stressful husbandry practices) also weaken their immune system, further increasing their susceptibility to the negative effects of parasites^5,6.

Attempts at mitigating the SSLC create additional welfare issues. Despite calls to ban chemicals such as emamectin, fisheries are using increasingly toxic treatments in sky-rocketing quantities to counter emerging sea lice resistance, causing thousands of farmed and wild fish mortalities⁷. Some fisheries are adopting ‘cleaner fish’ (e.g., wrasse) who eat sea lice; however, Loch Duart farm’s sea lice numbers soar above acceptable levels despite its zealous use of wrasse, suggesting this method is also unreliable⁸. This method raises other welfare and ethical issues concerning the farming or wild capture of cleaner fish, and their co-habitation with salmon². To dislodge sea lice, fish may also be submerged into heated water, which has caused numerous mortalities.

Sea lice disperse into the ocean and infect wild salmonids (e.g., salmon and trout) whose migratory routes pass fisheries⁹. Escaped farmed salmon further spread sea lice to wild salmonids.

Current situation and solutions

In June 2017, over 61% of Scottish salmon farms failed to meet the industry’s recommended threshold of one louse per salmon¹⁰. SSLC-induced mortality rates also continue to rise¹¹. Yet the government is neither intervening nor readily sharing sea lice data. After significant pressure from Salmon & Trout Conservation Scotland, a government inquiry into the industry is due in early 2018¹². Closed sea cages appear the best solution to minimise harm to wild fish and the environment, yet this will not in itself safeguard farmed salmon welfare. Additional regulation is necessary to honour the inclusion of farmed fish within the Animal Welfare Act 2006¹³. Arguably, aquaculture will always remain unethical if alternative means of economical input, jobs and nourishment are possible.

Summary and how you can help

Scotland’s SSLC is only worsening. Welfare compromises in farming salmon cause and result from the SSLC. Wild salmonid welfare is heavily impacted too. The RSPCA-assured label is highly controversial, so we cannot necessarily trust this putative high-welfare label. You can help by boycotting the worst-offending companies. For the greatest contribution, shift to a plant-based diet.

References

1. FAWC (2014). Opinion on the Welfare of Farmed Fish. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/319323/Opinion_on_the_welfare_of_farmed_fish.pdf [accessed 04 Dec. 2017].
2. Compassion in World Farming (2008). Compassion in World Farming Briefing: Welfare of Farmed Fish. Available at: https://www.ciwf.org.uk/media/3818654/farmed-fish-briefing.pdf [accessed 04 Dec. 2017].
3. Shearer, W.M. (1992). The Atlantic Salmon: Natural History, Exploitation and Future Management. Oxford, UK: Fishing News Books.
4. Paxman, J. (2017). The terrible cost of Scottish salmon farms. Financial Times. 11 August, 2017. Available at: https://www.ft.com/content/8b73e21a-7cf8-11e7-ab01-a13271d1ee9c [accessed 03 Dec. 2017].
5. Ashley, P.J. (2007). Fish welfare: Current issues in aquaculture. Applied Animal Behaviour Science. 104 (3-4). 199-235.
6. Nolan, D.T., Reilly, P. and Wendelaar Bonga, S.E. (2011). Infection with low numbers of the sea louse Lepeophtheirus salmonis induces stress-related effects in postsmolt Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 56 (6). 947-959.
7. The Global Alliance Against Industrial Agriculture (2017). Sky-rocketing chemical use on Scottish salmon farms – Hydrogen peroxide use leaps from 19,000 litres in 2005 to 19m litres in 2015. 12 February, 2017. Available at: http://donstaniford.typepad.com/files/pr-hydrogen-peroxide-skyrocketing-use-feb-2017.pdf [accessed 07 Dec. 2017].
8. Salmon & Trout Conservation UK (2016). Complaint to the Commission of the European Communities. Available at: https://www.salmon-trout.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/STC_complaint_to_European_Commission_May_2016.pdf [accessed 07 Dec. 2017].
9. Salmon & Trout Conservation Scotland (2015). The Control of Sea Lice on Fish Farms in Scotland 2013-2015. Available at: https://www.salmon-trout.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/STC-Scotland-2013-2015-The-Control-of-Sea-Lice-on-Fish-Farms-in-Scotland.pdf
10. Salmon & Trout Conservation Scotland (2017). Data reveals astonishingly high sea lice levels, Scottish Government regulation of salmon farms shown to be wholly inadequate. Available at: https://www.salmon-trout.org/2017/10/30/scotish-salmon-farmings-liciest-farms-named-and-shamed/ [accessed 03 Dec. 2017].
11. Salmon & Trout Conservation Scotland (2017). RSPCA Assured certification of Scottish farmed salmon: A report for Salmon & Trout Conservation Scotland. Available at: https://www.salmon-trout.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/RSPCA_Assured_report_2017_FINAL.pdf [accessed 04 Dec. 2017].
12. The Scottish Parliament (2017). Official Report: Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee. Available at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/report.aspx?r=11034&mode=pdf [accessed 05 Dec. 2017].
13. FAWEC (2015). The Future of EU Legislation on Farm Animal Welfare. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kT4PyOZkUa8 [accessed 03 Dec. 2017].

Images

a) Dixon, D. (2017). Salmon Farm near Goirtean a’ Chladaich [digital image]. Distributed under a CC-BY 2.0 license. Retrieved from: http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/5470510 [accessed 02 Dec. 2017].
b) 7Barrym0re (2003). Sea Lice on Salmon [digital image]. Available to the public domain. Retrieved from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sea_lice_on_salmon.jpg [accessed 02 Dec. 2017].

Update: Introducing FIAPO – The Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations.

http://fiapo.org/

This charity is to (both happily and sadly) replace the marvellous Animal Aid as one of the charity’s for which Animalia Asana® fundraises. This is no discredit to Animal Aid – quite the contrary – we hugely appreciate their work. FIAPO share a very similar approach to Animal Aid but are simply based in India. The switch is for the following reasons: