Animals

Cindy Harris and Doug Fieg run what they believe is the largest alpaca ranch in California. With 400 animals -- each valued at between $10,000 and $50,000 -- they decided years ago that evacuation was not an option in a brush fire. "It would take so long to evacuate them, and they get really stressed," Harris said. So when flames reached their street in Somis late Tuesday, the couple tried another strategy. They herded all 400 animals into the ranch's central pastures, turned on the irrigation system and prepared to ride out the fire as best they could.

Fast-growing salmon. Pork containing heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. These are two examples of products you might see in your local supermarket soon -- animals developed not through conventional breeding but through genetic engineering. On Jan. 15, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration decided how it will regulate genetically engineered animals, for the first time paving the way for such animals or their products to be sold as food and medicine.

They have four legs, fuzzy faces and udders full of milk. To the uninitiated, they look like dairy goats. To GTC Biotherapeutics Inc., they're cutting-edge drug-making machines. The goats being raised on a farm in central Massachusetts are genetically engineered to make a human protein in their milk that prevents dangerous blood clots from forming. The company extracts the protein and turns it into a medicine that fights strokes, pulmonary embolisms and other life-threatening conditions.

They've given up eating burgers. And bacon. And anything else that used to have a pulse or came from something with a pulse. But just because they're vegan doesn't mean they're unfashionable -- only more selective. If an animal was harmed to make a material that goes into clothing, that material is off limits. So wearing leather isn't an option. Neither is wool from little lambs eating ivy -- cruelty to the animals in factory farm conditions is a concern. Silk, which destroys the worm to harvest the thread, is a no-no.

Robin Williams gets naked in "World's Greatest Dad." Really, really naked. "I shaved because if you don't, it's, like, animal-rights issues," says the heretofore hirsute, Oscar-winning superstar. "I did a nude scene in 'Fisher King'; it was Central Park, I was a homeless guy, so I was covered in dirt and really hairy, and it was like, 'Is that Bigfoot? What happened?' "With this, I said to [writer-director Bobcat Goldthwait], 'I think for this scene, I should take everything off because at this point he's literally shedding everything.

This is salmonella's world. We're just living in it. The bacterium appeared on the planet millions of years before humans, and scientists are certain it will outlast us too. It's practically guaranteed that salmonella will keep finding its way into the food supply despite the best efforts of producers and regulators. Since breaking off from its close cousin E. coli more than 100 million years ago, salmonella has evolved into more than 2,500 strains. Some, such as Typhi, sicken humans but have no effect on other animals.

For years, two Central Coast animal sanctuaries run by the Dancing Star Foundation had reputations as good places for old and ill animals. Care was unstinting, the facilities well-kept and the budget ample. But over the last few months, economic declines have forced layoffs at the sanctuaries near Paso Robles and Cayucos in San Luis Obispo County. Even worse, some former workers said, Dancing Star began to euthanize cows, horses and burros whose care was deemed too expensive.

A federal judge in Los Angeles on Thursday temporarily set aside some of the tough restrictions on upcoming naval exercises off Southern California that employ a type of sonar linked to the injury and death of whales and dolphins. The decision by Judge Florence-Marie Cooper defers to President Bush, who moved earlier this week to exempt the Navy's exercises from environmental laws that formed the basis for a long-running court case between the Pentagon and environmentalists.

Search parties combed the San Fernando Valley for traces of the wounded victim. Outraged citizens pledged $6,000 of their own money for the perpetrator's capture. Posters pleading for leads in the case were plastered all over the city. But a week after the American white pelican was spotted with its beak punctured by an arrow, hope for the bird's rescue is running out.

In an effort to educate the public about endangered species surviving in the wild, NoHo Gallery L.A., in collaboration with the L.A. Zoo, is presenting "Paws, Claws, Applause," an exhibit of animal portraits. Black-and-white photos of various wildlife shot on location at the L.A. Zoo by featured photographer Charlie Morey are on display along with paintings and animal-like pieces of artwork by artists including Ildar Galyamov, Francis Gill and Harlan Peterson.