Performing Animal Welfare Society

The Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) is a U.S. based group for abandoned or abused performing animals as well victims of the exotic animal trade. They claim 30,000 members. As a member accredited by The Association of Sanctuaries (TAOS), the society follows guidelines stipulated by TAOS, one of which is that none of the elephants be bred.

History

Founded by former Hollywood animal trainer and author Pat Derby and partner Ed Stewart, PAWS works to ensure that animals are protected by the Endangered Species and the Animal Welfare Acts, as well as by local laws.

The story of PAWS began when co-founder, Pat Derby, worked with exotic animals as a trainer on the set of many movies and popular television shows in the 1960s and 1970s ("Flipper", "Daktari", "Gunsmoke", "Lassie", "Gentle Ben" and several Disney films). She was also the trainer and spokesperson for the famed Lincoln Mercury "Sign of the Cat" car commercials that starred her cougars, Chauncey and Christopher.

Pat specialized in non-abusive training using positive reinforcement, unlike most Hollywood trainers at the time who relied on dominance and physical force. Shocked by what she saw in Hollywood, and determined to initiate better standards of care and handling for performing animals, Pat chronicled her experiences in her first book, The Lady and Her Tiger. An exposè on the treatment of performing animals, it was chosen as a Book-of-the-Month-Club selection, won an American Library Association Award in 1976, and caused her career in Hollywood to come to a grinding halt.

Pat Derby met PAWS co-founder Ed Stewart in 1976, around the time "The Lady & Her Tiger" was released, and the two spent the next few years promoting Pat’s book with television appearances on the "Today Show", the "Tonight Show", "The Merv Griffin Show" and other national media outlets. They eventually retired the animals, bought a resort among the redwoods in northern California, and threw themselves into full time activism, education and fundraising. After extensive lecture tours for national humane societies, the two were persuaded to form their own organization to protect performing animals and captive wildlife. In 1984 Pat Derby and Ed Stewart founded the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS).

In 1985, Pat and Ed moved to Galt, a small northern California town south of Sacramento. They immediately began lobbying for state standards for the care of captive wildlife. That year, their first bill, AB 1620, was signed into law. Because of the critical need for experienced care providers for abused and abandoned captive wildlife, they opened the Galt sanctuary that year.

Since 1985, Pat Derby and Ed Stewart have continued to fight for animals, appearing on "Entertainment Tonight", "The Crusaders", "Inside Edition", "Nightline", "Inside America's Courts", "The World's Most Dangerous Animals", "Dateline", "20/20", "Animal Planet", "The Leeza Show", "Montel Williams", " The Today Show", "CBS Evening News", "The Fine Living Network", "Animal Planet", "PBS Television" and other local and national television news and radio programs educating the public on the need to protect wildlife habitat and to control captive breeding of exotic animal species.

Pat Derby and Ed Stewart have pioneered a method of elephant handling that uses NO bull hooks, weapons or aversive training techniques. PAWS was the first facility to use this "non-dominance" technique successfully, and since 1985, the work of Derby and Stewart has been a model for elephant handlers around the world.

PAWS is internationally recognized as a leader in animal welfare; among its greatest concerns is the treatment of animals in traveling shows, animal acts, television and movies, captive breeding, the exotic animal trade, and inadequate standards of care for all captive wildlife. PAWS works protects wild species and their habitat with international programs established in India, Mexico, Africa and Cambodia to diminish human/elephant conflict and to establish protected areas for wildlife.

Sanctuary Facilities

PAWS maintains three sanctuaries for captive wildlife in Northern California.

THE ORIGINAL PAWS SANCTUARY Comprised of 30 acres in Galt, California, the original PAWS sanctuary is a haven of treasured memories and senior residents enjoying their golden years, oblivious to the passing of time. As preparations continue for construction of new animal habitats and the relocation of the remaining animals from the Galt facility to the expanded 2,300-acre ARK 2000 sanctuary in San Andreas, CA, PAWS hosted its final Galt Sanctuary open house on May 21, 2011.

AMANDA BLAKE MEMORIAL WILDLIFE REFUGE One hundred acres in Herald, California, established in Amanda Blake's memory, provides refuge for emu, rhea, fallow deer, eland, Muntjack deer and a herd of scimitar-horned oryx. Through this sanctuary, PAWS continues Amanda Blake's commitment to the protection of animals in captivity, as well as in the wild.

In 1967, Amanda Blake met Pat Derby, Co-founder of PAWS, in Hollywood on the set of "Gunsmoke" while Pat was working as an animal trainer. Pat and Amanda became close friends, and in 1984, when PAWS was founded, Ms. Blake supported PAWS with financial assistance.

Throughout her life, Amanda made dozens of trip to Africa where she fell in love with the natural beauty and wildness of the Maasai Mara Reserve and with national parks such as Amboseli and Serengeti. During her final years, Amanda lived at the PAWS Galt sanctuary so she could be close to the animals she loved. When she died in 1989, at the age of 60, she left her estate to PAWS. In 1997, the Amanda Blake Memorial Wildlife Refuge, was established in her memory. Through this sanctuary, PAWS continues Amanda's commitment to the protection of animals in captivity as well as in the wild.

The most notable item of interest about the Amanda Blake Refuge is that it contains what is probably the only herd of oryx containing adults of both sexes in the country. Adult male oryx do not typically get along, and zoos usually have only one adult male in an exhibit at any one time. This seems to be true for most, if not all antelope species. This creates an obvious problem for zoos in that they have limited space to keep any males born in their collections. Bachelor herds have not worked out. The only other alternative is to sell or trade "surplus" males to another zoo or, more likely, an animal dealer.

ARK 2000 SANCTUARY PAWS ARK 2000 wildlife sanctuary, in San Andreas, CA, is currently home to Asian and African elephants, lions, bears and tigers. The property encompasses 2,300 acres of rolling foothills, an extended mountain peak known as Hogback Mountain, and a small portion of nearby Deer Peak. The Calaveras River runs through the property for about 1.25 miles at the base of Hogback Mountain, and numerous small seasonal creeks and springs are located throughout the property providing ample water for the lakes inside the animal habitats. Elevations run from a low of 720 feet above sea level along the river, to a high of 2,560 feet at the top of the mountain.

Rescue, Care and Management

The term "rescue" is often construed as the happy ending, the final step to a better life for a suffering animal. At PAWS, "rescue" is just the beginning of a long, dedicated endeavor to provide the best quality of life for victims of captivity who are physically and psychologically damaged — requiring round-the-clock monitoring and specialized care often for the remainder of their lives. On arrival at the PAWS sanctuary, each animal is evaluated carefully for necessary treatment, diet and housing, and progress reports are recorded in daily logs.

At PAWS sanctuaries, rescued animals live in peaceful and natural habitats, free from fear, chains, and harsh confinement. They are at complete liberty to act out natural behaviors in the comfort of their individually designed enclosures. PAWS animals are not bred, traded, sold, rented or forced to perform in any way.

Although captive enclosures can never substitute for wild habitat, all sanctuary enclosures are designed to provide grass, trees and an enriched environment for individual animals with consideration for any health or psychological complications, which might preclude their ability to engage in normal activities. Enclosures for healthy animals are designed to replicate, as closely as possible, wild habitats for that species; specially designed areas are constructed for older, arthritic or injured individuals.

PAWS animals are cared for by a team of more than 30 knowledgeable, well trained, and compassionate keepers, wildlife specialists, and veterinarians, who together provide 24/7, 365 days per year of care. PAWS takes pride in an excellent track record of animal health maintenance, disease prevention, behavior enrichment and constant monitoring of all of the animals — promoting the best quality of life for victims of captivity. PAWS has maintained its animal sanctuaries without problems or incidents and has earned an excellent reputation and the greatest respect from neighbors and the local communities.

PAWS educates the entertainment industry, public officials and the general public in humane care and treatment of captive wildlife. Through public awareness campaigns, more and more concerned individuals are becoming aware of the problems inherent with breeding of wildlife in captivity and the use of animals in entertainment.

Animal Population

The sanctuaries currently house approximately six Asian Elephants, three African Elephants , forty one exotic cats like tigers, lions , cougars, a black leopard, a serval, and a bobcat, eight bears mostly American black bears, eight primates mostly White-headed capuchins, and one coyote.

External links

• http://www.pawsweb.org
• http://www.pawsweb.org/officers_and_directors.html
• http://pawscast.blogspot.com/
• http://www.pawsweb.org/meet_elephants.html
• http://www.pawsweb.org/meet_tigers.html
• http://www.pawsweb.org/meet_primates.html
• http://www.pawsweb.org/meet_bears.html
• http://www.pawsweb.org/meet_african_lions.html
• http://www.pawsweb.org/meet_mountain_lions.html
• http://www.pawsweb.org/meet_other_species.html