I am a huge fan of foreign travel. Unfortunately, the way animals are treated in some countries makes me downright nauseated.

I have seen a disturbing amount of animal suffering all over the world, from starving dogs in Nicaragua to whipped donkeys in Egypt to packs of dogs shot en masse in Thailand.

One incident in particular is unforgettable for me. I was with several other travelers on a Mekong River boat in northern Laos. We saw a person on shore relentlessly beating an elephant as it struggled to haul a felled tree up the river bank. At least one person in the group was moved to tears.

The incident sparked a conversation among us. Several of my fellow travelers had recently completed a trek that involved riding on elephants. They stated that they were mortified by the inhumane treatment the animals received at the hands of the guides.

I resolved then and there never to go on an elephant trek (although several fellow travelers argued that the treks were, all things considered, good for elephants).

However, surely travel in general can benefit animals. Participating in jungle adventures gives locals an incentive to conserve the forest. African safaris provide money to impoverished people and give them incentives to protect charismatic megafauna (although safari-goers are quite notorious for harassing animals such as cheetahs in their attempts to obtain perfect photos).

I have long wished for some guidance on how I can travel responsibly as an animal lover. Thanks to today’s “Gulliver’s Best” blog (a feature of The Economist), I now know where to go for that guidance.

Gulliver’s blog discusses a new website published by the World Society for the Protection of Animals. The site, compassionatetravel.org, offers tips ranging from volunteering with local animal welfare organizations to steering clear of animal rides such as elephant treks.

I’ll be reviewing the site thoroughly before my next big adventure. And I encourage you to do the same.

Tomorrow: back to reader question and answer!

Photo: Animal cruelty meets deforestation in northern Laos.

Share this entry with your pawple anywhere:

• Pet Airways Takes Off
• Southwest Airlines To Allow Pets Onboard
• New Technology May Help Surgeons Remove Tumors From Pets and People
• Separation Anxiety and Airplanes Don’t Mix Well
• Why do Pets get Sick While You’re on Vacation?

The April 25, 2009 Economist’s science and technology section contained an article that discussed a promising technique to aid in treating cancers in all species.

A DIAGNOSIS of cancer is often followed by a prescription of surgery. Before chemotherapy, before radiation, the knife is frequently the oncologist’s first line of attack. If done early and well, it has the potential to stop the disease in its tracks. Even if it does not, it is the best way for the doctor to get a feel for what he is dealing with, how extensive it is, and what to do next. But, whereas therapies and diagnostics for cancer have been evolving steadily in response to new biochemical knowledge, surgical techniques have remained surprisingly primitive.

What happens at the moment is that a surgeon roots around inside a patient, removes as much tumour as he can find, and hopes he got it all. He then sends what he has excised to a laboratory, where pathologists sample all around the outside of the extracted mass to see if it is encapsulated by healthy tissue. If it is, the whole tumour has probably been removed. If not, the surgeon must go back in, and the time-consuming process starts again.

Roger Tsien and his colleagues at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), are trying to halt this cycle by creating a luminous map for the surgeon to follow. Dr Tsien, who shared the 2008 Nobel prize in chemistry for his work on green fluorescent protein, has found a way to make cancer cells glow. That could help surgeons see precisely what to cut out and what to leave behind.

Tumor removal surgery definitely can be harrowing business. The mainstay of tumor excision is obtaining “wide margins”. This means that the capsule of healthy tissue surrounding the tumor should be as large as possible. But tumor tissue can only be definitively diffentiated from normal tissue when it is examined under a microscope.

The technique detailed in the Economist will do nothing to address the need for microscopic evaluation to definitively determine tumor margins. However, it definitely is a step in the right direction.

Share this entry with your pawple anywhere:

• Should my Dog’s Stomach be Tacked to Prevent Bloat?
• Why is my Dog’s Throat Swollen?
• Can Pets Suffer Razor Burn?
• Why has my dog Stopped Eating?
• Should I Have my Dog Spayed?