ANIMAL PEOPLE News for People Who Care About Animals
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Anti-chaining activist is busted for saving a dog ALTOONA, Pa.––Tammy Sneath Grimes, founder of the national anti-chaining organization Dogs Deserve Better, was released from police custody in East Freedom, Pennsylvania, at 2 a.m. on September 12, 2006, about 12 hours after she removed a seri- ously debilitated chained dog she called Doogie from the yard of East Freedom residents Steve and Lori Arnold. “I’m out,” on unsecured $50,000 The Haile Selassie Zoo in Ethiopia is overdue for upgrade. See page 6. (Einat Danieli) bail, Grimes e-mailed to ANIMAL PEOPLE, Tammy Grimes & Doogie. (Dogs Deserve Better) for whom she is a part-time assistant web site shepherd/Labrador mix Jake. They claim he is developer. Charged with theft, receiving stolen 19 years old, an extraordinary age for either Thai coup may hit wildlife traffic property, criminal mischief, and criminal tres- breed. The Arnolds told news media that the dog was in the condition he was in because he is B A N G K O K ––The September set for September 23, was rescheduled for pass, Grimes remained convinced she had done arthritic and they had hesitated to have him 20, 2006 Thai military coup postponed for September 29. the right thing. euthanized. They said they had given him six days the already long delayed return of Another seven orangutans are “I will not take this lying down,” aspirin for pain relief. 41 smuggled orangutans from Thailand to suffering from hepatitis, the Jakarta Post Grimes pledged. The first veterinarian to examine the Indonesia. Still, Wildlife Friends Found- reported on September 16. Indonesia has The criminal trespass and criminal dog after Grimes took him, Nour Hassane of ation Thailand founder Edwin Wiek told refused to accept them, at least until after mischief counts were dismissed at a September the Veterinary Hospital of Altoona, “didn’t members of the Asian Animal Protection they recover. 21 preliminary hearing, as about 75 Grimes hesitate when asked, based on his experience Network, “We believe that under the new “The Borneo Orangutan Survival supporters demonstrated outside. Grimes is to and to a reasonable degree of veterinary certain- rule the conservation of wildlife will Foundation and Wildlife Friends, who stand trial on the charges of theft and receiving ty, if Jake was neglected or abused,” wrote improve.” were to facilitate the repatriation for the stolen property on November 27. The Arnolds call the elderly German (continued on page 15) The repatriation flight, orginally (continued on page 19) ANIMAL PEOPLE News For People Who Care About Animals October 2006 Volume XVI, #8 Above: Goats grab a bite in flooded Orissa. Below: Street cow swims through Surat. (Photos by Sherry Grant & PfA/Mumbai.) Could carbon monoxide gas + chambers make a comeback? + Are the surging numbers of danger- monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and ous dogs entering animal shelters retarding decompression chambers were used to kill ani- progress toward abolishing gas chambers? mals in high volume. The Dayton gas chamber Warren Cox began to wonder in May was used to kill specific animals whom some 2004 when he arrived for a stint as interim of the staff considered too dangerous to han- executive director at the Montgomery County dle. Cox mentioned to ANIMAL PEOPLE Animal Shelter in Dayton, Ohio, and found a his concern that the influx of bigger, more carbon monoxide chamber that only a few days dangerous dogs might bring gassing back––not before was still in sporadic use. because it is safer than sodium pentobarbital Having managed more than two injection, but because it is perceived as safer dozen shelters since 1952, Cox knew he was by poorly trained personnel. Ameri-can looking at an anachronism. The Dayton cham- Humane had specifically noted poor training at ber had supposedly been decommissioned the Montgomery County Animal Shelter. years earlier. The Dayton Daily News p u b - “Ohio is definitely the last bastion of lished exposés of gassing in nearby Fayette the carbon monoxide box. When I think car- County and Darke County in 1995 and 1997 bon monoxide, I think Ohio,” shelter manage- without apparent awareness that animals were ment consultant and euthanasia trainer Doug still gassed right there in Dayton. Fakkema told ANIMAL PEOPLE [SEE “HARSH MONSOONS TEST RESCUERS,” PAGE 11.] Continued gassing at the Mont- But Cox was not the first to mention gomery County Animal Shelter came to light to ANIMAL PEOPLE a suspicion that as result of a September 2003 complaint to gassing might be returning to common use, if Walking horse industry quick-steps county officials by veterinarian Sue Rancurello not public acceptance, and the shelter person- and shelter volunteer Jodi Gretchen, and was nel who have mentioned it, though mostly after failed USDA soring inspections discontinued after a shelter evaluation by from the Midwest and South, have hardly all American Humane affirmed the obsolescence been from Ohio. N A S H V I L L E––Between allegedly “in a more consistent manner.” of gassing. Concern that gassing may regain “sored” horses and sore losers, walking horse Soring, explained Pat Raia of T h e “Two top administrators at the acceptance tends to take note of rapidly rising competition burst into national view as never Horse, “is a practice whereby horses are sub- Montgomery County Animal Shelter were insurance costs at shelters that receive large before in late August 2006. But the attention jected to deliberate skin lacerations around removed,” the Dayton Daily News reported, in numbers of potentially dangerous dogs, lead- was almost all embarrassing to breeders and their hooves or the application of caustic part for “using carbon monoxide instead of ing to economic pressure to use “no contact” exhibitors in a business whose excesses, a chemicals such as diesel fuel, kerosene, or lethal injection to euthanize more than the rec- handling methods, such as prevail in Japan. generation ago, prompted passage of the fed- lighter fluid to irritate their forelegs, thereby ommended number of animals.” Recent shelter surveys have found eral Horse Protection Act a year before the achieving higher stepping animation,” exag- Cox had the carbon monoxide cham- that pit bull terriers alone make up 20-25% of passage of the Animal Welfare Act. gerating the “big lick” gait for which walking ber removed. But Cox also took note of who the dogs entering U.S. shelters, and 40-50% of The Tennessee Walking Horse horses are known. used it, and why. Throughout the first half of the dogs who are killed: 10 times more pit bull National Celebration championship competi- “Horses can also be sored by having Cox’s long career in shelter work, carbon (continued on page 6) tion in Shelbyville was cancelled on August nails driven into the ‘frog’ on the bottoms of 26 after USDA inspectors disqualified seven their hooves, “ added Nashville Tennessean of the 10 finalists for alleged soring violations staff writer Brad Schrade, “or by being made of the Horse Protection Act. For the first time to wear overly heavy horseshoes that can pull in the 67-year history of the event, it named the hoof off the leg. In an effort to make the no grand champion. pain stop, the horses step high in a reaction to The National Celebration reportedly the soring agents, federal officials say.” brings as much as $38.5 million a year into In practical terms, the Frist recom- Shelbyville. mendation would mean that the looser inter- U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill pretations of the less experienced inspectors Frist (R-Tennessee) on September 7 asked who supervise local and regional walking USDA undersecretary Bruce Knight to “clari- horse shows would prevail over the judgement fy” the USDA definition of soring to enable of the experts who govern the top events. inspectors to enforce the Horse Protection Act (continued on page 9) 2 - ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2006 + + ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2006 - 3 Editorial Voting to help animals On midterm election day, November 2, 2006, depending on the will of the U.S. Who a person votes for is less important than explaining to the candidate why he/she electorate, both the House of Representatives and the Senate may shift from Republican to got the vote. If animal advocates vote for someone but the someone isn’t aware of having the Democratic control. President George W. Bush, a Republican, will remain in the White support, the vote has much less influence. House until 2008, but history suggests that if either the House or the Senate goes to the Informing losing candidates why they lost votes is also worthwhile, especially Democrats––or both––the outcome for the next two years will probably be much better for ani- before elections so that they have a chance to amend their positions, but also afterward. The mals than if either party controlled all three elected branches of the federal government. actual candidate may never run for office again––or may come back with a different platform. That possibility alone should be sufficient incentive to get pro-animal voters out to The person most likely to be influenced, however, is the campaign manager. Campaign man- the polls in the many closely contested districts, even where neither candidate has a record on agers often are hired professionals, who represent many candidates over the years, and often animal issues that especially inspires either support or opposition. Pro-animal voters will obvi- they learn their jobs by representing losing candidates. Influencing a young campaign manag- ously want to support strongly pro-animal candidates of either party, and oppose those with er who made a good showing on the losing side may at times be more valuable, eventually, anti-animal records, as indicated by the legislative scorecards published by such organizations than influencing a winning candidate whose term is brief.