European Parliament moves to halt mon- key use in labs Malaysia lifts ban on macaque Lawsuit filed on behalf of camel jockeys & other camel news is on page 6. (Kim Bartlett) sales to labs & Dogs symbolize the west in Iran Malaysian street macaques await possible sale to labs or Chinese butchers. [Page 19] (IPPL photo) T E H R A N ––Radio Free Europe Friday prayer leader Hojatoleslam STRASBOURG––Four hundred thir- drew more support than any previous European on September 14, 2007 amplified and elab- Gholamreza Hassani, known for his hard- ty-five of the 785 members of the European Parliament animal welfare measure, “and the orated upon accounts circulating for more line stances, was quoted a few years ago as Parliament on September 6, 2007 endorsed a third highest number of signatures on any dec- than six weeks that Iran has embarked upon saying that all dog owners and their dogs two-part written declaration asking the laration since 2000,” said Animal Defenders an intensified campaign of harassment should be arrested. European Commission to “make ending the use International press officer Allison Tuffrey against dog keepers. “In the past,” Radio Free Europe of apes and wild-caught monkeys in scientific Jones. “Since the creation of the Islamic recounted, “dog owners have received experiments an urgent priority,” and to “estab- European Parliament animal welfare republic in Iran in 1979,” Radio Free warnings or were forced to pay fines for lish a timetable for replacing the use of all pri- panel chair Neil Parish enlarged the topic to Europe said, “the acceptability of dog own- having a pet dog. Despite such harassment, mates in scientific experiments.” other species, telling news media that the dec- ership has been debated by the authorities. (continued on page 9) The declaration against primate use (continued on page 19) ANIMAL PEOPLE News For People Who Care About Animals
September 2007 Volume XVII, #6
+ Michael Vick case + blows whistle on RICHMOND, Virginia– – P l e a d i n g Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank, coach guilty on August 24, 2007 to felony conspira- Bobby Petrino, his teammates, and “all the cy, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick young kids out there for my immature acts.” will face a maximum sentence of five years in “Dogfighting is a terrible thing, and I prison and a fine of $250,000 when he appears did reject it,” Vick said. before U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson “Acceptance of responsibility is one for sentencing on December 10. of the factors Judge Hudson will consider in By then the 50 surviving pit bull ter- handing down Vick’s sentence,” pointed out riers who were seized in April 2007 from the Dave Forster of the Virginian-Pilot. For a first dogfighting kennel that Vick confessed to offense, “The federal sentencing guideline financing for seven years may have already range is projected at a year to 18 months, but received the death penalty. Hudson can impose up to maximum.” Vick agreed to plead guilty after co- Technically Vick is still a member of defendants Quanis L. Phillips, 28, Purnell the Atlanta Falcons, because of financial Peace, 35, and Tony Taylor, 34, pleaded issues involved in unconditionally releasing guilty to the same conspiracy charge. Each him. “The team intends to pursue the $22 mil- had agreed to testify against Vick if his case lion in bonus money that he already received Above: Kitten rescued from quake rubble in Pisco, Peru, by Unidos por los Animales. went to trial. in a $130 million contract signed in 2004,” Below: One of the many forest fires that hit Central Europe in midsummer 2007 briefly Vick admitted in a signed statement wrote Forster. imperiled the Drustvo Za Zastitu Zivotinja dog shelter, overlooking Dubrovnik. All 200 dogs that he was present twice when his co-defen- “We cannot tell you today that were safely evacuated. dants killed losing dogs after test fights at the Michael is cut from the team,” Blank told Surry County property where his kennels and a news media. “Cutting him today may feel bet- fighting arena were maintained. The statement ter emotionally for us and many of our fans. Summer 2007 disasters challenge said the dogs “were killed by various methods, But it’s not in the long-term best interests of including hanging and drowning.” our franchise.” the global humane community Following Vick’s guilty plea, Sixty-six dogs in all were seized National Football League commissioner Roger from Vick’s kennels, including 52 pit bulls, LIMA, DHAKA, GUWATI–– Hurricane Andrew demonstrated the Goodell suspended Vick for “cruel and repre- 13 beagles and mixed breeds, and one dog Busy in Peru, Bangladesh, northeastern need for pre-prepared response plans, inter- hensible” conduct and “significant involve- who was returned to a person who was not India, around the Caribbean, and forest fire agency coordination, and orderly means of ment in illegal gambling,” an offense often charged in the case. Impounded dogs who zones in central Europe and the northern identifying, evacuating, and rehoming lost or punished in professional sports by lifetime have been bred and trained to fight are usually Rocky Mountains, among other disaster abandoned pets whose people may also be dis- expulsion. killed as soon as their custody is forfeited to scenes, and still working in New Orleans too, placed and distressed. Seeking to save his career, Vick the impounding agency, since ex-fighting animal disaster relief workers took only brief Out of Hurricane Andrew came pro- apologized at a press conference to Goodell, (continued on page 14) notice of the second anniversary of Hurricane grams that gradually shifted from splinting Katrina hitting southern Louisiana and and bandaging to vaccinating and sterilizing Mississippi. Few noticed at all the 15th dogs and cats, some of which evolved into anniversary of Hurricane Andrew ripping sustained feral cat rescue projects and adop- through trailer parks and low-income suburbs tion transport networks. in southern Florida after all but jumping over Hurricane Katrina tested on an the affluent east coast. unprecedented scale the infrastructure devel- Bringing relief teams into areas that oped from the Hurricane Andrew experience, were decades behind much of the rest of the confirmed the power of the Internet in rallying U.S. in providing even basic humane services, response, and as donors responded, brought Hurricanes Andrew and Katrina transformed commitments from national humane organiza- humane outreach from providing brief emer- tions to not only rebuild but expand humane gency help to preparing for multi-phase sus- services throughout the stricken region. tained missions. (continued on page 12) 2 - ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2007
+ + Editorial feature ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2007 - 3 How to eradicate canine rabies in 10 years or less “Rabies could be gone in a decade,” BBC News headlined worldwide on medical doctor Oscar Larghi demonstrated during the mid-1990s, for example, that inex- September 8, 2007. “Rabies could be wiped out across the world,” the BBC report contin- pensive three-month dog vaccination drives could succeed in even the largest and poorest ued, “if sufficient vaccinations are carried out on domestic dogs, according to experts.” shanty-towns. Larghi also demonstrated that while reducing the street dog population may BBC News went on to quote staff of the Royal Dick Veterinary School at be of some value in reducing the numbers of dogs to be vaccinated, dog population reduc- Edinburgh University in Scotland, who were among the cofounders of the Alliance for tion is not otherwise a significant or essential part of an effective rabies control strategy. Rabies Control and promoters of the first World Rabies Day, held on September 7, 2007. Reported Larghi to the members of the International Society for Infectious None of the Alliance for Rabies Control spokespersons appear to have actually set Diseases in May 1998, “Control of rabies in developing countries can be very successful if any sort of timetable for possibly eradicating rabies, but no matter. Experts have recog- based on appropriate planning, health education of human populations, 70% vaccine cover- nized for decades that rabies is wholly eradicable from all species except bats through tar- age of dog populations, and epidemiological surveillance. These parameters, with little geted mass immunization––and the chief obstacle to eradicating bat rabies is that no one emphasis in dog population reduction (less than 10% of the estimated population), were has developed an aerosolized vaccine that could be sprayed into otherwise inaccessible applied in the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires, Argentina (10.5 million inhabitants), caves and tree trunks. Inventing such a vaccine is considered difficult but possible. Lima-Callao, Peru (6.5 million inhabitants), and Sao Paulo, Brazil (14 million inhabitants). U.S. Centers for Disease Control rabies program chief Charles Rupprecht on World Dog rabies cases were reduced to zero, from close to 5,000 cases per year in Buenos Aires, Rabies Day formally pronounced the U.S. free of canine rabies, but similar informal procla- 1,000 in Lima, and 1,200 in Sao Paulo.” mations have been issued for years. In each city, the rabies control teams impounded and euthanized only dogs who “The tools for effective rabies control are available. What is lacking is the motiva- appeared to be already rabid, aggressive, or otherwise severely unhealthy. tion, commitment and resources to tackle the disease effectively,” the Alliance for Rabies The preventive vaccination approach also works in wildlife. Anne Arundel Control declared. “Mass vaccination of the domestic dog provides the most cost-effective County, Maryland, for example, had 97 cases of animal rabies in 1997, when county offi- and efficient strategy for controlling canine rabies and hence transmission from dogs to cials began experimentally distributing oral rabies vaccine pellets to immunize raccoons. humans,” the Alliance elaborated. “Lacking are the delivery systems, public education Gradually expanding the program, the county had just 10 animal rabies cases in 2006. campaigns and resources to apply these technologies in the developing world.” An attempt begun a year earlier to eradicate coyote rabies in Texas, by air-drop- Asserting that rabies kills 100 children per day, worldwide, the Alliance for Rabies ping vaccine bait pellets, achieved a 98% reduction of canine rabies in all species by 1998. Control acknowledged that “Rabies is also a concern for animal welfare, as fear of the dis- As long ago as 1973, William Winkler, M.D., of the U.S. Centers for Disease ease results in hostile and antagonistic attitudes towards dogs and often inhumane approach- Control and Prevention, warned in the National Academy of Sciences’ handbook Control of es to dealing with suspected rabid dogs by communities.” R a b i e s , that “Persistent trapping or poisoning campaigns as a means to rabies control The Alliance for Rabies Control emphasizes the need to expand dog vaccination should be abolished. There is no evidence,” Winkler wrote, “that these costly and politi- against rabies in Asia and Africa. cally attractive programs reduce either wildlife reservoirs or rabies incidence.” Similar lan- “In Asia and Africa,” the Alliance for Rabies Control points out, “the domestic guage has appeared ever since in the Compendium of Animal Rabies Prevention & Control, dog is the main reservoir for rabies. As rabies is generally maintained only in a single reser- an annual publication of the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians. voir population in any given area, control of disease in this population will result in its dis- appearance from all other species. This has been demonstrated with the elimination of Good examples and bad rabies following oral vaccination of foxes in western Europe, where red foxes are the reser- Agriculture and Rural Development director Ferreira da Conceição of Lunada voir host. Results from research projects in eastern Africa show that mass vaccination of province, Angola, took the necessary approach in August 2007, directing a three-week domestic dogs has the same result, even in areas such as the Serengeti ecosystem, which drive that vaccinated 63,544 dogs, cats, monkeys, livestock, and work animals. comprise a wide diversity of wildlife species. When sufficient domestic dogs are vaccinat- But a more discouraging example emerged in Addis Ababa, the national capital of ed, rabies also declines in wildlife, and human exposures to the rabies virus are significant- Ethiopia, just a month after the Homeless Animal Protection Society of Ethiopia seemed to ly reduced.” be making headway toward establishing a high-volume dog sterilization and vaccination “In areas where there is a high prevalence of rabies, such as Africa and Asia, “ program after seven years of struggle. As with other sterilization and vaccination programs the Alliance for Rabies Control added, “the need for vaccination has often been overlooked, around the world, the vaccination component would be the essential element in rabies pre- despite the fact this would cost less than other health care programs,” including administer- ventation. Sterilization would stabilize the dog population to prevent the other complaints ing post-exposure rabies immunization to save dog bite victims. about dogs’ presence and behavior that so often causes public officials to seize upon even The Alliance for Rabies Control strongly favors post-exposure immunization, as the vaguest hint of a rabies outbreak as an excuse to kill dogs. well as prophylactic vaccination, but points out that post-exposure immunization is not a As the July/August 2007 edition of ANIMAL PEOPLE recounted, HAPS in June rabies suppression strategy, because it does not neutralize the host reservoir. 2007 rescued four street dogs from a 70-year-old gun emplacement where they had been Subsidized post-exposure vaccination is the standard response to rabies in India, dumped to die, British songwriter Maria Daines’ recording One Small Dog, written in China, and much of Africa. Post-exposure vaccination saves thousands of lives annually, appreciation of the rescue and titled in honor of the bravest dog, on August 2, 2007 reached despite many failures when dog bite victims fail to seek treatment soon enough, do not the #1 position on the Soundclick pop rock chart. complete the full course of injections, or receive fake, expired, or obsolescent vaccines, a Daines donated all proceedings from her surprise hit to HAPS, but HAPS problem particularly prevalent in parts of India and China, where post-exposure vaccines cofounders Hana Kifle and Efrem Legese had little to celebrate. are often made by local suppliers, using formulas elsewhere long abandoned. HAPS had won a contract from the Addis Ababa government to sterilize and vac- + While post-exposure vaccination is essential, and should continue, with improve- + cinate street dogs. The contract enabled them to operate a clinic, but the contract was ment to achieve consistently positive results, progress toward eliminating rabies has been unfunded. As a little-known charity in a remote location, HAPS had difficulty attracting markedly faster in nations that have emphasized preventively vaccinating dogs. Argentinian the support required to treat the half million dogs in Addis Ababa who must be sterilized SEARCHABLE ARCHIVES: www.animalpeoplenews.org and vaccinated to reach the 70% target necessary to stabilize the dog population and prevent Key articles available en Español et en Français! rabies from spreading among them. Revoking the contract, and HAPS’ authorization to run the clinic, Addis Ababa officials announced that they would use strychnine to poison as many dogs as possible to try ANIMAL PEOPLE to eradicate rabies before the mid-September celebration of the Coptic millennium. News for People Who Care About Animals Thereby, the officials demonstrated that they had learned little more about rabies control, animal population management, and urban sanitation than might have been known Publisher: Kim Bartlett – [email protected] to the Queen of Sheba, who reputedly lived near Addis Ababa about 3,000 years ago. Editor: Merritt Clifton – [email protected] Poisoning street dogs had already been introduced as long as 2,000 years earlier in Web producer: Patrice Greanville Egypt—and poisoning campaigns that caused dog populations to briefly crash might have Associate web producer: Tammy Sneath Grimes contributed to the conditions that drew African desert cats into Egyptian cities to hunt rats Newswire monitor: Cathy Young Czapla and mice. Those cats became the progenitors of today’s domestic house cats and feral cats. Under pressure of medieval cat purges, domestic and feral cats approximately quadrupled P.O. Box 960 their fecundity: the mummified remains of early Egyptian cats reveal that they had only two Clinton, WA 98236-0960 kittens per litter and one litter per year, like African desert cats, but modern house cats and ISSN 1071-0035. Federal I.D: 14-175 2216 feral cats often have litters of four or more kittens, and raise two litters per year if condi- tions permit. Telephone: 360-579-2505. Public policymakers have pursued backward and self-defeating animal control Fax: 360-579-2575. strategies since the dawn of civilization because the logic of exterminating animals who are Web: www.animalpeoplenews.org perceived as nuisances appears inescapable: kill them and they will be no more. Dead ani- Copyright © 2007 for the authors, artists, and photographers. mals do not reproduce, the policymakers reason. Neither do dead animals transmit deadly Reprint inquiries are welcome. diseases, like rabies, which can only be spread through live hosts. ANIMAL PEOPLE: News for People Who Care About Animals is published Yet life had already evolved a counter-strategy many hundreds of millions of years nine times annually by Animal People, Inc., a nonprofit, charitable corporation dedicated before humans existed. All species, from the rabies virus to blue whales, reproduce up to to exposing the existence of cruelty to animals and to informing and educating the public of the carrying capacity of their habitat, as rapidly as possible. If one species succumbs to dis- the need to prevent and eliminate such cruelty. Donations to Animal People, Inc. are tax- ease, disaster, or predation so rapidly that it cannot fill the habitat, another species moves deductible. Financial information on Animal People, Inc. and other charities can be in. Never does nature allow habitat to go unoccupied. accessed at
SAN FRANCISCO, LOS after several “St. Francis terriers” killed Torres as saying. “It’s the only industry ANGELES––Even the storied rivalry of cats in their new neighborhoods. that never fails. That’s when I got the the San Francisco Giants and Los Lower profile screening and idea to start a brothel and generate Angeles Dodgers may never have been training has been more successful, but money for my nonprofit.” as heated as the controversy over the included a high-profile debacle in Torres admitted to Bartholo- California cities’ radically different November 2003 when SF/SPCA volun- mew that she made the remarks, but said approaches to reducing the numbers of teer Anastasia Klafter, 27, illegally she was joking, and actually intended to pit bull terriers who are impounded and allowed her adopted pit bull therapy dog use the former brothel to house exotic killed by animal control––but for those to run off leash in Golden Gate Park. cats and birds. keeping score at home, San Francisco The dog chased a police horse, who While the pit bull academy seems to be winning. threw the rider and kicked Klafter in the idea appeared to be politically dead, “Not long ago, pit bulls occu- face. Another police officer shot the Boks came under renewed attack from pied about three-quarters of the dog ken- dog, who survived, and was required by anonymous web critics for reducing ani- nels at San Francisco’s Animal Care and court order to be leashed and muzzled at mal population control killing at the Control shelter,” observed S a n all times when outdoors. alleged expense of more animals dying in Francisco Chronicle staff writer Marisa Noting the SF/SPCA pit bull the Los Angeles city kennels from fight- Lagos on August 27, 2007. “Now, only program successes, undeterred by the ing and disease caused by overcrowding. about a quarter of the unwanted canines occasional failures, and that 2,442 of the Central to the criticism was the at the shelter are pit bulls.” 6,312 dogs who were killed in the Los claim that Los Angeles city cage deaths San Francisco Department of Angeles city shelters in fiscal 2007 were rose from 1,150 in fiscal 2005 to 3,059 in Animal Care and Control director Carl pit bulls, Los Angeles Animal Services fiscal 2007, while policies intended to Friedman told Lagos that his department director Ed Boks on July 20, 2007 encourage feral cat care-taking and dis- More U.S. animal shelter data by has impounded 21% fewer pit bulls since announced a proposal to turn the South courage kitten and puppy surrender city, county, state, and region the city passed a law requiring that pit Los Angeles Animal Care Center Annex halved receipts of unweaned kittens and bulls must be sterilized. The number of into a “pit bull academy,” headed by Tia puppies––normally the animals most sus- The printed edition of the table “U.S. animal shelter pit bulls killed in the SF/DACC shelter Marie Torres. ceptible to cage death. data broken down by city, county, state, and region” pub- has fallen 24%. Torres, 47, in 1999 founded Boks on September 18 replied lished on page 19 of the July/August 2007 edition of ANIMAL The law took effect at the the Villalobos Rescue Center in Canyon via the Los Angeles Animal Services PEOPLE inadvertently omitted the portions covering the inte- beginning of 2006. In the interim, Country, a Los Angeles suburb. The web site that only 751 cage deaths rior western states, the state of Delaware, and Huntington SF/DACC has confiscated 38 pit bulls, center is reputedly now the largest pit occurred in fiscal 2005, 682 in 2006, Beach, California, and omitted a decimal place in stating the Friedman said. Local agencies have ster- bull rescue in the world. and 1,101 in fiscal 2007, and that many rate of shelter killing per 1,000 humans residents of Santa Cruz, ilized about 500 pit bulls. Like the Villalobos Rescue of the animals actually died “in the care California. The missing data, below, was taken into account “This law has been a success in Center, the “pit bull academy” would of a private veterinarian or in a foster in producing the ANIMAL PEOPLE estimate that a low for reducing the euthanization of animals,” employ paroled convicts. home.” More died in foster homes the past half century of 3.7 million animals were killed in U.S. acknowledged San Francisco SPCA pres- The plan was soon put on chiefly because under Boks the depart- shelters in 2006, and was included in the electronic edition of ident Jan McHugh-Smith. indefinite hold, at first because union- ment has done much more fostering. ANIMAL PEOPLE. Opposing breed-specific legis- ized city workers objected that hiring Similar criticisms preceded the Animals killed YEAR 1,000s Animals lation, the San Francisco SPCA had for parolees would bypass the civil service October 2001 firing of former Los per 1,000 people of people killed 10 years previous to the passage of the employment protocol. Angeles Animal Services director Dan DELAWARE 15.8 2005 854 13,500 sterilization mandate promoted special Los Angeles Times staff writer Knapp. Like Boks, Knapp was an ex- Huntington Beach 2.5 2006 194 485 incentives for keepers of pit bulls to get Dana Bartholomew on August 8, 2007 minister, and arrived pledging to reduce Santa Cruz Cty, CA 20.0 2005 251 5,000 them altered, including offers of cash disclosed that even as Boks was trying to animal control killing, but ran into Salt Lake City 6.0 2005 1,016 6,094 and merchandise. win over skeptical members of the Los increasingly vicious activist attacks after Weld County, CO 8.5 2005 211 1,800 The SF/SPCA has also offered Angeles city council, Torres reportedly he was unable to achieve results as dra- Larimer Count, CO 11.6 2005 267 3,093 intensive screening and training of pit told Marlene Garcia of the L a h o n t a n matic as San Francisco. Billings 14.6 2004 133 1,941 bulls to encourage that they be adopted. Valley News & Fallon Eagle Standard Largely overlooked by critics UTAH 14.4 2005 2,352 33,854 In 1996 former SF/SPCA president that she bought the former Salt Wells is that Los Angeles has cut shelter killing Phoenix/Maricopa 15.5 2007 3,768 58,531 Richard Avanzino even tried to rename Villa brothel in Nevada in late 2006 in at about the same rate as San Francisco Albuquerque 26.9 2004 581 15,600 Santa Fe, NM 38.2 2005 130 5,000 pit bulls “St. Francis terriers,” in hopes hopes of reopening it. The brothel was since the start of Knapp’s tenure in 1998, of making them more adoptable. That closed in 2004 due to permit violations. but was then killing three times as many WEST (41%) 17.3 17,721 306,573 project was suspended within 60 days “Sex sells,” Garcia quoted animals per 1,000 human residents. ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2007 - 9
Home 4 the Holidays 2006 resulted in more than 378,000 adoptions!
Dogs symbolize the west (from page 1) dog ownership has increased, especially of the Prophet Mohammed as posthumously among young people in Tehran. remembered, compared, and often debated by “One of them,” Radio Free Europe his closest associates: “Angels (of Mercy) do said, “is 23-year-old Banafshe, whose dog not enter a house wherein there is a dog or a was recently detained in Tehran for 48 hours picture of a living creature (a human being or and then released on bail. Banafshe says she an animal).” was walking her young puppy, Jessica, when Hadiths 4:539 through 4:542, each Iranian police snatched the dog and took her to contributed by a different disciple, are widely a dog jail. The dog’s crime was ‘walking in interpreted in the Islamic world as forbidding public.’ Banafshe claims the police insulted keeping dogs for any purposes other than farm her, but out of fear for her dog, she didn’t work and guarding livestock, along with protest. She said she told the police that Allah Hadith 3:515, which includes a similar admo- says in the Koran that nothing bad has been nition recalled by one of the same men, but created in this world.” also allows the use of dogs for hunting. “We want to get rid of Western cul- Questions about both the linguistic ture,” Banafshe said she was told. “They said, evolution and context of these passages have ‘You live in an Islamic country. It’s not right been raised for more than 50 years. Some to have dogs. Are you not Islamic? Why does scholars believe they originally referred specif- your family allow you to own a dog?’ They ically to Mohammed’s imposition of a quaran- insulted me. They even told me that they tine in Medina, Saudi Arabia, to stop a rabies hoped my dog would die. But there was noth- outbreak. ing I could do but cry. You can’t imagine how badly I was insulted.’” WSPA is cautious Radio Free Europe alleged that, As international blogs and e-mail Iranian dogs. (Center for Animal Lovers) “The new clampdown on dogs follows a recent lists heated up with denunciations of the Motamedi, who is currently living in the U.S. of Hashtgerd about alternative solutions. order by the head of Tehran’s security forces, Iranian government based on the AKI report, “If the police sees someone with a companion “Volunteers Lida Esnaashari, Ahmad Reza Radan, who said it is against the World Society for the Protection of Animals dog, walking or in a car, the dog will be cap- Kamiar Kashani, and Farah Dakhili offered law for dogs to walk in public.” director general Peter Davies advised caution, tured and jailed, but the owner is released. Mayor Asgari the alternative of capturing the “If we want to speak about symbols pending verification, and recommended that if There is a special jail for these dogs that Dr. dogs alive, sterilizing and vaccinating them, of Western civilization then maybe wearing a the AKI story was verified, comment should Javid Aledavud from the Iran SPCA has visit- and then either releasing them back to the suit is also Western,” Society to Defend the be solicited from the Centre for Islamic ed. He says it is in very bad condition. Most streets or finding homes for them. The city Rights of Animals secretary Reza Javalchi told Studies in London. of the impounded dogs are small, have had a asked the Vafa shelter to come up with a writ- Radio Free Europe. “Based on our research,” “WSPA needs to have authoritative strong bond with their people, and separation ten proposal and plan. The Vafa shelter pro- Javalchi said, “domestic dogs were kept in comment from them before we make our deep traumatizes and severely depresses them.” posed in preliminary talks to assume responsi- Iran for hunting and guarding maybe long concerns public,” Davies said. Aledavud’s remarks were incorpo- bility for capturing of the dogs and performing before it became widespread in the West.” Reported WSPA Middle East pro- rated into the Radio Free Europe report, with the necessary surgery. The city, in return, Accounts similar to that of Radio jects director Trevor Wheeler, “I have had credit given to Radio Farda reporters will provide the shelter with free food for the Free Europe have circulated since August 3, some communication with our member soci- Mohammad Zarghami, Keyvan Hosseini, and dogs and possibly vaccines,” Motamedi said. 2007, when animal welfare organizations in ety, the Iranian SPCA. Their president was Azadeh Sharafshahi. The agreement was to be finalized Iran as well as abroad scrambled to try to veri- aware of the story and had contacted the police Founded in 2002, Radio Farda is, after the shelter carried out a pilot project. fy and respond to an Adnkronos International about this. The police were very rude to him, like Radio Free Europe, heavily subsidized by “This agreement has not been final- Iran (AKI) news service item headlined but did point out that apparently the person the U.S. government. Radio Farda received $7 ized,” Motamedi told ANIMAL PEOPLE in “Search for lost dog leads to arrest.” concerned was putting his missing dog posters million from the U.S. government in 2006, mid-July 2007. “Further talks are scheduled to Reported AKI, a web news site that in an area where posters etc are banned. The according to SourceWatch, a project of the take place. But, they agreed to do the project + covers Iran from Italy, “A young Iranian who SPCA still sent a letter to the newspaper which + Center for Media & Democracy, whose infor- for a month and if it was successful, then final- was searching for his lost puppy in a Tehran ran the original story and it was printed, but mation page about the station mentions a ize it. Some of our volunteers have already neighborhood has been arrested and ordered to with some modifications. September 2006 U.S. Defense Department begun the project by capturing dogs and bring- stand trial for ‘moral corruption.’ According “I have explained that our concern is report recommending that U.S.-supported ing them to the shelter for vaccination and to the Tehran daily Etemad Melli,” AKI said, principally the statement from the police broadcast media reaching Iran should air more spay/neuter operations.” “the young man was caught while putting up a which intimates that looking for your lost pet critical material about the Iranian government. The Vafa shelter at last report notice in which he was promising a reward to is ‘Westernized corruption,’” Wheeler said. Center for Media & Democracy housed about 150 dogs. anyone who found his dog.” “The president is going to see what else he can founders John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton, “If this partnership with the govern- Tehran police spokesperson Mehdi find out, but I don’t think there is much else though focused on other issues, have been ment turns out to be successful,” Motamedi Ahmadi was said to have told Etemad Melli the Iranian SPCA can do without causing friendly toward animal advocacy in several of hoped, “it can open many other doors to us. that, “Looking for a lost dog indicates the themselves problems.” their six books, including Toxic Sludge Is This is a big project,” she said, “and the shel- spread of a corrupt culture, which indirectly Radio Farda, which like AKI serves Good For You! Lies, Damn Lies and the ter needs financial support.” popularizes keeping a dog at home, something an audience including many Iranian expatri- Public Relations Industry’ (1995), Mad Cow [Contact the Vafa shelter c/o Kamiar that is completely foreign to the Iranian culture ates, several weeks later broadcast a report U . S . A . (1997), and Trust Us, We’re Experts! Kashani, P.O.Box 14335-1451, Tehran, and Islamic tradition. In arresting this young similar in outline to that of the later broadcast How Industry Manipulates Science and Iran; 0912-3107670. man, we wanted to send a very clear message from Radio Free Europe. Gambles With Your Future (2001). Contact the Center for Animal to our young people to steer away from the “Nowadays a new project which is The Radio Free Europe, Radio Farda, Lovers c/o Fatemeh Motamedi,
(continued on page 11) TRIBUTES
In honor of Marina Bechter. ––Alexandra Bechter ––––––––––––––––––––– In honor of the Prophet Isaiah, St. Martin De Porres, & Cesar Chavez. ––Brien Comerford ––––––––––––––––––––– ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2007 - 11 Iceland halts commercial whaling Norwegian whaler scuttled at dock R E Y K J A V I K ––Iceland fisheries unable to get permission to export the meat. O S L O––S abotage was suspected in The e-mail was signed “Agenda 21,” minister Einar K Guofinnsson on September 3, “There is no reason to continue com- the August 30, 2007 dockside sinking of the the name of a United Nations Environmental 2007 announced that Iceland will not issue mercial whaling if there is no demand for the whaling vessel Willassen Senior in the north- Program protocol. new commercial whaling quotas. product,” Guofinnsson said. ern Norwegian port city of Svolvaer. No “This is the fifth Norwegian whaler Iceland in 2006 joined Norway in Iceland, like Japan, has sustained a injuries were reported. that has come under attack for illegal whaling unilaterally defying the 21-year-old Inter- remnant whaling industry despite the IWC “On the night of August 30th we activities since 1992,” e-mailed Sea Shepherd national Whaling Commission moratorium on moratorium by authorizing whalers to hunt in decided to celebrate the end of commercial Conservation Society founder Paul Watson commercial whaling by issuing itself permits the name of research. Iceland issued “scientif- whaling in Iceland by removing a large section from Friday Harbor, Washington. “The others to kill 30 minke whales and nine endangered ic whaling” permits to kill 38 minke whales in of cooling pipe in the engine room of the were the N y b r a e n a , scuttled at dockside in fin whales. Anticipating a market in Japan for 2003, 25 in 2004, 39 in 2005, and 60 in Norweigan whaler Willassen Senior,” said an December 1992; the Senet, scuttled at dock- whale meat, Icelandic fishers killed seven 2006––far below the Japanese toll of 6,795 anonymous e-mail forwarded on September side in January 1994; the Elin-Toril, severely minke whales and seven fin whales, but were whales killed in research whaling since 1987. 11, 2007 from Norwegian activist Daniel damaged in 1997; and the M o r i l d , sunk in Rolke to Dolphin Project founder Ric O’Barry, 1998.” Five Makah arrested for killing whale without permit who shared it with ANIMAL PEOPLE. All were refloated and repaired. NEAH BAY, Washington– – whale, harpoons and all, loose to drift on the Frustrated by eight years of failing to obtain a current. By evening, the whale was dead, and Supreme Court of India upholds bullfight ban new federal permit to kill gray whales, after sank out of sight. NEW DELHI––A three-judge witnesses testified. Spectators and participants killing one in May 1999, Makah tribal whaler “After questioning, the Coast Guard bench of the Supreme Court of India on July are often gored or trampled to death, “and the Wayne Johnson, 54, and four other Makah–– turned the whalers over to tribal police. They 27, 2007 overturned a March 9, 2007 Madras number of injured fighters has often run into Theron Parker, Andy Noel, Billy Secor and spent most of Saturday night at the tribal jail High Court judgment dismissing a petition the hundreds,” noted Reuters. Frank Gonzales Jr.––on September 8, 2007 on the reservation, then were released on seeking enforcement of the Prevention of Goa SPCA chair Lynn De Souza in killed a whale without a permit and without bond,” Mapes said. Cruelty to Animals Act to prohibit harvest fes- mid-August 2007 charged that traditional bull- tribal authorization or awareness. The Makah Nation claim a right to tival bullfights and bullock cart races. against-bull fights are continuing, though ille- “Crew members plunged at least five kill whales under the 1855 agreement that Called j a l l i k a t t u, the bullfights and gal, because “Leading politicians and influen- stainless steel whaling harpoons into the ani- brought the tribe into the U.S. The 9th U.S. bullock cart races as practiced mostly in rural tial people are patronising this game. mal. Then they shot it,” wrote Seattle Times Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 2002, how- Tamil Nadu somewhat resemble the mob Authorities don't dare to act, although organis- staff reporter Lynda V. Mapes. “The Coast ever, that the Makah must obtain a waiver of attacks on bulls practiced at festivals in parts ing bullfights amounts to contempt of the Guard, alerted to the hunt by onlookers, was the Marine Mammal Protection Act before of Spain, Latin America, and South Africa. court,” violating a 1997 ruling by the Goa on the scene within hours. Johnson and the they may hunt whales again. Participants beat the bulls and throw High Court. “As politicians are backing it, the others quickly found themselves in handcuffs,” Johnson said he had been told by a chili powder in their eyes, ears and mouths to police are also reluctant to act,” De Souza told recounted Mapes. “The Coast Guard confis- tribal lobbyist that obtaining the waiver might enrage them, Animal Welfare Board of India The Hindu. cated the gun and their boats, and cut the take two more years. Events (continued)
Beach, Calif. Info:
–––––––––––––––––– IF YOUR GROUP IS HOLDING AN EVENT, please let us know–– we’ll be happy to announce it here, and we’ll be happy to send free samples of ANIMAL PEOPLE for your guests. 12 - ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2007 Disasters present global humane challenge (from page 1) None of the late summer 2007 disasters were of also reported mounting rapid responses. Hurricane Katrina magnitude, nor brought a comparable finan- Working with Ica veterinarian Carlos Bellido, whose cial response from the public. The August 15 Peruvian earth- clinic had been destroyed by the earthquake, Huaw Huaw did quake, however, measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale, killed emergency surgery on injured dogs and cats in both Ica and and injured more people and animals than Hurricane Andrew, Pisco, said president Francisco Cavero Alprecht, through Best and like Hurricane Andrew may be remembered as a signal Friends Network translator Michael G. Rodrigue. Also provid- event, awakening the international humane community to ing food and anti-parasite treatments, Huaw Huaw then relo- Peruvian humane needs and the emergence of a growing cated to Pisco to assist another local veterinarian, Miguel Peruvian humane movement. Hernandez, who had also lost his clinic. The first of three missions sent by the Lima-based Like Unidos por los Animales, Huaw Huaw tried to organization Unidos por los Animales to the quake-wracked prevent panic-driven dog poisonings in response to uncon- cities of Cañete, Chincha, Pisco Paracas, and Ica reached the firmed rumors of rabies. “Drastic measures taken in emergency region within 24 hours, well ahead of most of the human disas- situations, such as those in the affected areas where there are ter relief aid. Volunteer veterinarians Wendy Flores and Julio large number of dogs in the streets, can be very radical and Rodrigues, with six assistants, found “hundreds of bodies unethical,” warned Alprecht. buried in the rubble. More than 3,500 animals have been The first help from outside Peru may have come from affected,” they estimated, “mostly dogs, but collapsing barns Los Angeles-area Hurricane Katrina veterans Gerald Pool, also trapped cattle.” Marcia Maxwell, and Thea Martin, who worked in Ica with As the extent of the earthquake became more appar- ASPPA and Amazon CARES. ent, Unidos por los Animales increased their assessment of the Pool in an August 31 e-mail to Best Friends described numbers of animals in urgent need to more than 5,000. “Fourteen to 16-hour days feeding, spraying for fleas, and Each Unidos por los Animales mission treated more feeding emaciated strays, or animals from families who cannot than 1,000 animals. The third mission, reaching Pisco 15 days find food for themselves. Many animals were trapped on sec- after the earthquake, spent eight days vaccinating 1,051 ani- ond floors and roofs, and have to be brought down on mals, treating 623 animals for conditions associated with dust makeshift ladders,” Pool wrote. “More than 350 animals have A dog in the ruins of Pisco, Peru. (Unidos por los Animales) inhalation, treating 256 animals for other illnesses and injuries, been treated.” Peruvian-licensed veterinarian Aldo Wilson, and photographer and collaring all of the animals for quick identification, amid The Canadian Animal Assistance Team, formed by Molly Wald arrived on September 4. Working with CAAT, rumors that stray animals would be poisoned to prevent rabies. Vancouver veterinary technician Donna Lasser after Hurricane they fed, vaccinated, and sterilized animals in Guadalupe on The Peruvian Association for the Protection of Katrina, deployed a 15-member team of vets and vet techs on September 8, reporting excellent local response, but on Animals, Amazon CARES, Huaw Huaw, Amigos de los August 27, headed by Shari Artadi, and sent a relief team and September 9 in Pisco “found residents angry and frustrated over Animales, Grupo Caridad, and the Asociacion Defensora de la reinforcements on September 3. the failure of food, clothing and other supplies to reach them,” Fauna y Flora horse and donkey care project at Huancavelica Best Friends rapid response manager Richard Crook, (continued on page 13) Events (continued)
Nov. 2: Nathan Wino- grad signs book R e - d e m p t i o n for Feral Cat Spay/Neuter Project, Seattle. Info: Please make the most generous gift you can to help ANI MAL PEOPLE shine the bright light on cruelty and greed! Your gen- erous gift of $25, $50, $100, $500 or more helps to build a world where caring counts. Please send your check to: ANIMAL PEOPLE P.O. Box 960 Clinton, WA 98236 ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2007 - 13 Disasters are global challenge (from page 12) reported Best Friends magazine senior editor Michael Rinker. A WSPA needs assessment “As frustration among locals grows, so does concern for the team was in Managua, Nicaragua, safety of our team. For the rest of their time there,” Rinker planning a response to Hurricane Felix wrote, “they will restrict their visits to areas that have a mili- as ANIMAL PEOPLE went to press. tary presence.” World Society for the Protection of Animals disaster Monsoons relief operations manager James Sawyer mentioned that one of WSPA had just finished per- the Peruvian organizations had also encountered hostility and haps the first major disaster relief pro- withdrew from the earthquake zone rather than completing a ject on behalf of animals in Bangladesh, needs assessment. a nation with only one WSPA member WSPA supported Unidos por los Animales in “liais- society, the very small Dhaka-based ing with the General Authority for Environmental Health to Bangaladesh Animal Welfare Organiz- secure an agreement for humane control of the large stray popu- ation, and little other humane infra- lation, and have recommended that an urgent sterilization pro- structure. Much of Bangladesh was gram is needed,” e-mailed Sawyer. inundated by runoff from the monsoon torrents that hit Bijar and Assam states Caribbean theatre in India. WSPA also responded to Hurricanes Dean and Felix Working with the Bangla- in the Caribbean, and a third straight year of heavy monsoon desh Livestock Department and the flooding in India and Bangladesh, which as result of global nonprofit Human Development warming may be becoming “normal.” Program, WSPA invested $150,000 in Unidos por los Animales team treats a pig after the August 15, 2007 earthquake. “Noah’s Ark Spay & Neuter Group reports many emergency feeding and anti-parasite Suffering himself from throat cancer, Russell took injured free-roaming dogs in Kingston,” e-mailed Pegasus treatments to assist about 50,000 livestock and work animals time off for treatment upon returning to England in September. Foundation senior program officer Anne M. Ostberg on August belonging to about 20,000 families. Four to five times more WSPA appointed former Society for Protecting Animals 27, after Hurricane Dean. “The Jamaica SPCA, also in animals needed help, according to WSPA director of disaster Abroad technical Ian Dacre as interim director of disaster man- Kingston, is working to address increased demand for housing management Philip Russell’s preliminary assessment, but there agement. Dacre had been senior lecturer in equine health and lost and injured pets. Animal House Jamaica in Ocho Rios lost was little way of effectively providing it. dentistry at Massey University in New Zealand. part of its roof and most of its fencing, but all of the Animal “Destruction of grass and stored hay resulted in graz- Though the waters subsided in early September, House people and animals are safe. The Belize Humane ing animals being fed water reeds and cuttings from banana there was danger as ANIMAL PEOPLE went to press that the Society in Belize City sustained some damage to their shelter.” trees,” Russell reported. “This was inappropriate, and the ani- Bangladesh flooding could recur. Among the human fatalities from Hurricane Dean was a mals either rejected it or, if they did eat it, it was of little nutri- Upstream, “Assam is experiencing a third wave of 62-year-old man in St. Lucia who drowned when he tried to tional value. This caused a serious imbalance in many animals’ floods at present which has affected 17 districts in the state,” e- retrieve a cow from a rain-swollen river. blood acidity levels, increasing the risk posed by harmful bac- mailed news videographer Azam Siddiqui on September 11. WSPA, Humane Society International, and the teria. Flood waters carried high levels of parasites, deposited “There has been significant loss of human lives and livestock. International Fund for Animal Welfare funded emergency feed- on vegetation and consumed by many animals. Transmission Forest guards and rangers in Kaziranga National Park, the ing and watering at the badly damaged Chetumal Zoo in of parasites from animal to animal also happened, through Pabitora Wildlife Sanctuary and elsewhere are spending sleep- Mexico, and agreed to fund a new veterinary clinic at the zoo. close contact or exposure to infected feces.” less nights to keep a watch on the wildlife.” Assisting was a joint Friendicoes/Wildlife SOS relief team dispatched from Delhi, including three Assamese veterinarians and Wildlife SOS cofounder Kartick Satyanarayan. Poachers exploiting the crisis, villagers trying to protect their property, and heavy vehicular traffic on roads near Kaziringa took a steep toll on wildlife, reported the Assam Tribune. “The people of Bok- akhat appealed to the + Kaziranga National Park + authority to create more highlands for sheltering the flood affected animals,” the Assam Tribune added. Elsewhere European humane workers continued to assist into mid-September in the wake of midsummer fires that raced over the drought- parched hills of Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia, and Greece. Some of the fires were accidents, some were arsons, and some, alleged the Italian national animal welfare society ENPA, were caused by careless hunting practices. Brother and sister Nikos and Maria Dimopoulos, both over 70 years of age, were killed near Zaharo, Greece, while trying to rescue their donkey. Altogether, more than 70 people and thou- sands of farm animals per- ished due to the blazes. Typhoon Man-Yi hit Okinawa on Friday, July 13. Reportedly the strong- est typhoon that ever reached Okinawa, it blew the roof off the Okinawa- American Animal Rescue Society shelter and serious- ly damaged two prefabri- cated buildings used for puppies, kittens, and post- surgical recovery, spokes- person Liz Rouse told ANIMAL PEOPLE. “WSPA and Humane Society International will be assisting financially to make repairs and make it a little bit more typhoon proof,” Rouse said. ––Merritt Clifton 14 - ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2007 Michael Vick case blows the whistle nationwide on dogfighting (from page 1) dogs are believed to present an unacceptably Some of the Vick dogs are rumored O b s e r v e r staff writer Jim Nesbitt that North Vick’s dog and denounce dogfighting on their high risk toward shelter staff, other animals, to be of the same lineage as 50 pit bulls seized Carolina attorney general Roy Cooper should Web site. The web site for the Fayetteville and prospective adoptors and their families. in April 2004 from David Tant, formerly of form a similar task force, which like the South kennel was recently taken down but could be Because of an outpouring of public Charleston County, South Carolina. Tant was Carolina task force would include a criminal traced to Walter Little, whose name was listed concern for the Vick dogs, however, the sentenced in December 2004 to serve 40 years investigator and a prosecutor focused specifi- as the site’s administrator. court authorized American SPCA science in prison after pleading guilty to 41 counts of cally on animal fighting. “Court records show that Little, 49, advisor Stephen Zawistowski to lead a team of dogfighting and assault and battery. He was North Carolina already has an ad hoc was charged with dogfighting in Cumberland certified applied animal behaviorists in formal- arrested after a surveyor stumbled into a trip- task force on animal fighting, headed by County in 2000, but that felony count was dis- ly evaluating their behavior. wire on his property set to deter possible dog Chatham County animal control chief John posed of with a deferred prosecution,” Nesbitt The ASPCA invited the San thieves, and was wounded by a shotgun blast. Sauls. “We need structure, we need some added. “Little said he was arrested as a specta- Francisco-based nonprofit organization Bay staff, we need a home,” Sauls told Nesbitt. tor at a dogfight that ended before he arrived. Area Doglovers Responsible About Pit Bulls Task force Currently, Nesbitt pointed out, He denies owning the Lockjaw Kennel in to help identify dogs who might be successful- The Tant case gave impetus to the “North Carolina law restricts the ability of Fayetteville and said he was not involved in ly fostered and eventually adopted. anti-dogfighting efforts of the South Carolina Cooper’s special prosecutors and the State the match against Vick’s dog.” A coalition of eleven organizations animal cruelty task force, formed in 2004. Bureau of Investigation to jump into local Raids on alleged dogfights in 2005 headed by the National American Pit Bull Former South Carolina assistant jurisdictions. Except where the legislature and 2006 in Madison County, Illinois, also Terrier Association filed a friend-of-the-court attorney general William Frick told Alan Judd grants them the power to do so, the SBI can’t had North Carolina connections, pointed out brief asking that Vick be ordered to pay more of the Atlanta Journal Constitution that a con- initiate an investigation, and special prosecu- Brian Brueggemann of the Belleville N e w s - than $10 million to rehabilitate the dogs––a fidential informant in late 2003 or early 2004 tors can’t take over a case unless invited in by D e m o c r a t. Arrested in both raids were Basil request going well beyond the scope of the told a task force investigator that Vick had a a sheriff or district attorney.” Sitzes, 34, who owned the property, and sentencing guidelines. “dog yard” in South Carolina. The task force The North Carolina legislation keep- Jason Bland, 33, of Brighton, Illinois. Also Apart from whatever risk the Vick found no supporting evidence, but Vick in ing state-level law enforcement out of local arrested in the second raid was Kimberly dogs might pose themselves to people and ani- pleading guilty to the Virginia charges jurisdictions appears to have originated Columb, 43, of Alton, Illinois, whom mals, they might become attractive to thieves acknowledged entering a pit bull named Big decades ago as protection for the Ku Klux Brueggeman identified as a former housemate who in recent years have made pit bulls the Boy in a 2003 fight in South Carolina. Klan, which had heavily infiltrated county of cancer researcher Alane Koki. breed of dog most often stolen. Pit bulls of Both the Humane Society of the U.S. sheriff’s departments and reputedly raised Koki, whose last known address significant notoriety and/or fighting pedigree and PETA claimed to have received reports funds through dogfighting and cockfighting. was in Hillsborough, North Carolina, was on are especially coveted, as the humane commu- since 2004 that Vick was involved in dogfight- “Cooper did not respond to interview February 6, 2007 appointed to an Orange nity was reminded when the Humane Society ing in Virginia, but the tips were “not specific requests. A spokeswoman did not say whether County citizens’ committee formed by the of the U.S. on August 30, 2007 posted a enough that we or anyone else could do any- he favors a dogfighting task force similar to county commissions to study an anti-chaining + reward of $5,000 “for information leading to thing else with it,” said PETA assistant pro- the one in South Carolina,” Nesbitt wrote. ordinance proposed by Dietrich von Haugwitz, + the arrest and conviction of the person or peo- gram director Dan Shannon. 79, who died on June 26, 2007. ple responsible for removing dogs from an “Three years ago, South Carolina N.C. connections Koki resigned after Ashley B. alleged dogfighting kennel in Malad City, attorney general Henry McMaster was laughed “The Vick indictment is peppered Roberts of the Orange County I n d e p e n d e n t Idaho” on August 29. at when he tried to place dogfighting on the with North Carolina references,” Nesbitt W e e k l y exposed what Roberts summarized as The dogs were impounded on national agenda,” recalled Charleston Post & noted. “Three of the four confidential witness- “her long history of breeding pit bulls...and her August 28. Alleged kennel operators Andrew C o u r i e r reporter Jessica Johnson. Since the es reside in North Carolina. A court filing association with local kennel owner Tom and Tiffany Willard were charged with dog- Vick case broke, however, McMaster and the entered by Purnell Peace, one of the three Garner, a nationally known breeder of pit fighting and felony drug offenses. South Carolina animal cruelty task force have Vick co-defendants who pleaded guilty, out- bulls and a convicted dog fighter whom com- “Police had asked the Pocatello emerged as national exemplars of how to lined a 2003 trip the four made to the state to missioners declined to appoint to the commit- Animal Shelter and Idaho Humane Society to respond to dogfighting. The South Carolina fight a pit bull named Jane against a dog tee the same night they approved Koki.” help impound and care for the pit bulls, but task force investigations have brought 42 dog- owned by Lockjaw Kennels of North Carolina. Roberts described archived versions needed to keep the dogs at the property fighting arrests in less than three years, result- A web search showed on-line sites for two of Koki’s Thundermaker Bulldogs web site overnight,” the HSUS reward announcement ing in 17 guilty pleas and one jury conviction, Lockjaw Kennel pit bull breeders in North listing three of Garner’s dogs as sires and explained. “A deputy ordered to guard the with many of the cases still pending. Carolina––one in LaGrange, the other in grandsires of her dogs; a conversation dogs was called from the scene to respond to Former HSUS North Carolina state Fayetteville. between Koki and Wisconsin dogfighting and another call, and when another deputy arrived director Robert Reder, who retired on “The owners of the LaGrange kennel drug trafficking defendant Robert Lowery, to take over guard, all 30 dogs were gone.” September 7, 2007, told Raleigh News & said they weren’t involved in the fight against taped by the Dane County sheriff’s depart- ment; her efforts to obtain possession of near- ly 50 pit bulls who were seized from Lowery; National dogfighting crackdown vindicates Laura Maloney and the 2006 discovery of about 50 pit bulls on NEW ORLEANS– – P r o n o u n c i n g But on April 16, 2007 they were back Michael Vick. On the same day, property Koki owns in Pennsylvania. herself “Extremely disheartened” by alleged bitterly disappointed when Judge Benedict Maloney was called to assist after a federal Licensed to keep up to 26 dogs there, she judicial and mainstream law enforcement Willard found alleged dogfighter Cleveland cocaine trafficking investigation in Mississippi eventually moved all but 11, Animal Rescue indifference toward dogfighting on April 17, Harris not guilty of separate dogfighting turned up more than 40 alleged fighting dogs. League of Berks County executive director 2007, former Louisiana SPCA executive felony counts filed in 2003 and 2005. From then until almost the moment Harry Brown told Roberts. director Laura Maloney saw attitudes change “Evidence in the 2003 and 2005 of her flight to Melbourne, Maloney was in Madison County Assistant State’s abruptly before her August 31, 2007 depar- cases,” Maloney recited, “included two constant demand as a dogfighting law enforce- Attorney Amy Maher told Brueggemann that ture to join her husband Dan in Australia. championship awards presented to Mr. Harris ment expert and quotable source. she had received a call from an attorney who Previously curator at the Audubon by the Sporting Dog Journal, an underground Contrary to popular perception, said Garner owned one of the dogs seized in Park Zoo in New Orleans, Dan Maloney now dogfighting magazine which has not been pub- ANIMAL PEOPLE files indicate, the Illinois and might want the dog back, but had heads Zoos Victoria in Melbourne. lished since owner James Jay Fricchione was Michael Vick bust was not followed by heard nothing further after that conversation. Laura Maloney left the Louisiana convicted of dogfighting and animal cruelty in increasing numbers of arrests and dog seizures SPCA two days after the second anniversary 2004,” an extensive array of drugs and para- in alleged dogfighting cases. The 33 arrests Legislation of Hurricane Katrina. Katrina destroyed the phernalia often associated with dogfighting, and 244 dogs seized during the next five Despite the high visibility of dog- Louisiana SPCA shelter, and drove much of and “multiple scarred dogs, one with a seri- months were consistent with the numbers fighting in North Carolina, HSUS has identi- the organization’s donor base out of New ously damaged face and missing lip.” recorded over similar intervals in every year fied Idaho, Wyoming, Georgia, Nevada, and Orleans. Yet, while rebuilding the Louisiana The dogfighting case was lost when since 1998. Between 1997 and 2001, the Hawaii as having “the weakest dogfighting SPCA was Maloney’s biggest challenge, Hurricane Katrina destroyed the Louisiana U.S. dogfighting arrests soared from 11 to 75, laws on the books, allowing some aspects of combating dogfighting was her passion and SPCA evidence room. Maloney and and the numbers of dogs impounded increased the cruel practice to go completely unpun- greatest frustration. Louisiana SPCA humane law enforcement from 95 to just under 900. ished, and punishing others with little more Even when dogfighting appeared to director Kathryn Destreza testified that video Never before the Vick case, howev- than a slap on the wrist,” after analyzing all have been suppressed to the verge of extinc- tapes which could no longer be viewed had er, did dogfighting receive such intensive applicable U.S. legislation. tion in most of the U.S. more than 20 years showed Harris and his dogs in a fighting pit, media coverage. Major alleged dogfighting “Idaho and Wyoming are last on the ago, high stakes gambling on dogfights per- but without the actual tapes, Judge Willard arrests, involving 10 to 40 dogs each, came list,” explained an HSUS press release, sisted in New Orleans. Maloney and Humane convicted Harris only on 16 counts of misde- in 12 states. “because they remain the only states in the Society of Louisiana founder Jeff Dorson tar- meanor animal cruelty in the 2003 case and Several of the biggest busts of 2007 nation that do not consider dogfighting a geted dogfighting more aggressively than any- eight counts of cruelty in the 2005 case. came before the Vick case broke, however, felony. Worst-ranked Idaho carries misde- one in New Orleans ever had before, includ- Eight days after the Harris acquittal, including the seizures of 136 pit bull terriers in meanor penalties with a minimum $100 fine ing the 2005 arrest of reputed longtime dog- police began impounding pit bull terriers and a series of related raids in the Dayton and and a maximum six-month jail sentence. fighting breeder Floyd Boudreau, 70, await- dogfighting paraphernalia from the Surrey, Cincinnati areas that started in July 2006. At ing trial on 64 related charges. Virginia property of Atlanta Falcons quarter- least 38 alleged participants were indicted. (continued on page 15) ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2007 - 15 Please enter my subscription for: ____ One year (9 issues.) Enclosed is $24. YES! I’M AN ____ Two years (18 issues.) Enclosed is $38. ANIMAL PERSON! ____ Three years (27 issues.) Enclosed is $50. ____Please send additional subscriptions as gifts to the addresses I have listed below or on a separate sheet. Enclosed is $24 apiece. ____Please send the 2007 ANIMAL PEOPLE Watchdog Report on Animal Protection Charities, which provides the background I need to make my donations more effective. Enclosed is $25. ____I want to help support your outreach with a tax-deductible contribution of: $25 ____ $50 ____ $100 ____ $250 ____ $500 ____ Other ____ Name: Name of gift recipient: Number and street: Number and street: City and state: City and state: ––Wolf Clifton ZIP code: ZIP code: Please make checks payable to: ANIMAL PEOPLE, P.O. Box 960, Clinton, WA 98236, or call 360-579-2505 to order by MasterCard or VISA. Michael Vick case blows the whistle nationwide on dogfighting (from page 1) “It is legal to possess dogs for fight- other violent crime,” wrote Chicago Tribune deer and Vick shooting a dog.” of his 1958 cards that escaped the purge fetch ing in Georgia and Nevada,” the release con- staff reporter Monique Garcia. “Much more troubling,” Easter- some of the highest prices paid for any sports tinued, “and it is legal to be a spectator at a “This isn’t just about dogs,” alder- brook continued, “is that the overwhelming card. dogfight in Georgia, Montana, and Hawaii. man Walter Burnett told a news conference at majority of Americans who eat meat and poul- “Strong felony penalties for dog- the Wayman African Methodist Episcopcal try––I’m enthusiastically among them––are Other celebrity fighting, including being a spectator at a fight, Church. “Violence breeds violence.” complicit in the systematic cruel treatment of are essential to controlling this criminal multi- Dog Advisory Work Group execu- huge numbers of animals. One of Vick’s dogs cases million dollar industry,” emphasized HSUS tive director Cynthia Bathurst told Garcia that was shot, another electrocuted. Gunshots and Los Angeles Times staff writer Gary manager of animal fighting issues John approximately 70% of dogfighting and animal electrocution are federally approved methods Klein noted the contrast between the attention Goodwin. “No one who fights dogs or who is abuse offenders in Chicago have also been of livestock slaughter. paid to the Vick case and the minor notice complicit in this horribly cruel activity should arrested for committing violent felonies “Vick’s lawbreaking was relatively given to former NFL running back Todd be able to escape the law.” against people. minor,” opined Easterbrook, “compared to McNair in the 1990s when he was twice con- HSUS endorsed the Dog Fighting Actress and comedienne Whoopi animal mistreatment that happens continuous- victed of charges resulting from dogfighting Prohibition Act, H.R. 3219, introduced in the Goldberg on September 4, 2007 emphasized ly, within the law, at nearly all levels of the investigations. U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Betty the failure of humane education to reach all meat production industry, and with which all McNair, now running backs coach Sutton (D-Ohio), which would increase fed- segments of society in remarks on The View, but vegetarians are complicit…We won’t lift a for the University of Southern California, was eral penalties for dogfighting and add penalties an ABC television talk show. Speaking of finger to change the way animals die for us. charged with animal neglect in July 1993, for dogfight attendance. Vick, Goldberg said, “You know, from his But we will demand Michael Vick serve prison found guilty, fined $500 and put on probation, The HSUS anti-dogfighting cam- background, this is not an unusual thing…It time to atone for our sins.” according to a case summary posted by paign was bolstered on August 27, 2007 by seemed like a light went off in his head when Among Vick’s few actual defenders The Watchdog monitors fundraising, spending, and The political activity in the name of animal and habitat protec - tion—both pro and con. His empty bowl stands for all the bowls left empty when some Watchdog take more than they need. LOS ANGELES––The Los Angeles Colette at the end of August laid off mony by Lorsch about the extent of interces- depending on us, so the three board members Daily News and KNBC-4 television on August general manager Alfred J. Durtschi, who was sions with public officials he acknowledged, left are giving it our all.” 30, 2007 amplified emergency appeals from paid $107,153 in the most recently reported in his efforts to keep the Waystation open. But at least some of the “promising Wildlife Waystation founder Martine Colette fiscal year, and also laid off half of the 48 The hearing was held after the USDA Animal ideas” may not materialize quickly, if at all. for funding she said was urgently needed to Waystation caretakers and groundskeepers. and Plant Health Inspection Service charged One much discussed possibility was keep the 31-year-old sanctuary operating. Colette told news media that that Wildlife Waystation had repeatedly violat- that Wildlife Waystation might partially relo- “We are $1 million in debt, and we Southern California Edison had threatened to ed the federal Animal Welfare Act while on cate to Palm Springs. Dean Seymour, who have no funds left,” Colette told Daily News cut off the sanctuary electricity due to unpaid probation due to past violations. succeeded Lorsch as the Waystation board staff writer Dana Bartholomew. “Things as bills, and that the Waystation was also about “Deputy U.S. Attorney Colleen A. president, told Stefanie Frith of the P a l m they are today will not continue for the next to lose propane delivery. Carroll said that if her findings were upheld, Springs Desert Sun in early August 2007 that week, or two weeks, without help.” Former Waystation board chair the Waystaton would lose its federal operating the Waystation hoped to obtain 80 acres of Colette suggested that if an immedi- Robert Lorsch resigned on July 1, 2007, after permit and its officials––including Lorsch and donated land and $300,000 with which to build ate infusion of cash was not forthcoming, the five years of intense involvement. founder Martine Colette––might be fined,” a modular office and habitats for chimpanzees, 400 Waystation animals would “become the Lorsch, recounted Los Angeles Haefele wrote. “Lorsch and Colette maintain lions, and tigers. Reported possible land county’s problem, the state’s problem,” a Weekly “City Beat” columnist Marc B. Haefele that if they lose, Wildlife Waystation must donors included two Native American tribes threat she has issued before in years of dis- in January 2007, “founded a big phone card close.” and actress Suzanne Somers, whose attorney putes with regulatory agencies. company called SmarTalk that cratered in the “Martine wanted control over every- confirmed her interest to Frith. Closed for 110 days by the Calif- [2001] dot-com meltdown with accusations of thing, and that has been problematic,” Lorsch “Most of the [Waystation] animals ornia Department of Fish & Game in 2000, insider trading. Bill Gates reportedly claims told Bartholomew after resigning. “I can’t would relocate to Palm Springs,” including Wildlife Waystation never fully regained the Lorsch helped make Microsoft Windows 1.0 a speak for the others, but it got tiring.” most of the chimpanzee colony, Frith wrote, permits it needed to host donors’ visits, which huge success. He’s a friend of astronauts and “My job now is to find a solution to “while the Waystation would keep 20 acres of until then were the sanctuary’s chief revenue wants to sell billboard ads on space shuttles. this crisis and dilemma,” Colette said. “And its 160 acres in Los Angeles County for other engine. More than just generating on-the-spot He donated a pavilion at the Museum of to save the animals at the Waystation.” animals,” according to Seymour’s plan. donations, visits tended to inspire new donors Natural History, and this season has given Longtime board member Peggy “Mayor Ron Oden is enthusiastic to give regularly, and established donors to high-end political fundraisers at his vast Summers on September 17, 2007 took an opti- about the Waystation, and introduced the idea give more. Mulholland Drive mansion for politicians mistic view. “We still have some regulatory during the July 25 city council meeting,” Frith “Trying to obtain a permit is a long including presidential aspirant and right-wing issues,” Summers acknowledged to ANIMAL added. However, while Seymour hoped to be process,” Colette told KNBC. “There are U.S. Senator Sam Brownback of Oklahoma.” PEOPLE. “We have lost board members, but ready to move the animals by the end of the many regulations we have to meet in order to Haefele reported that Lorsch’s father people are coming out of the woodwork to vol- year, Oden indicated that the permitting get a permit, and we cannot meet those regula- and Colette dated and lived together. unteer very important fund development ser- process alone might take up to a year. tions at all. In the meantime we have gone Before Lorsch became involved, vices. Martine has stepped up to the plate and broke trying to run the sanctuary without being Haefele summarized, “Wildlife Waystation taken over many aspects of things, and is Special master open to the public.” was investigated by a special county intera- doing a great job. USDA was just here for a Colette estimated that Wildlife gency task force that included planning, fire, full facility inspection,” Summers said, “and speaks Waystation operating costs currently run at and health officials, presided over by the we passed with flying colors. We are develop- “The county has appealed to the pub- about $5,000 a day. This is consistent with County Counsel’s office, looking into alleged- ing other very promising ideas as well. We are lic for donations to help support the place,” the most recent Waystation filings of IRS ly deficient animal care and unsecured animal going to come out of this somewhat former court-appointed Waystation special Form 990. ANIMAL PEOPLE has found exhibitions, inadequate fencing, sanitation changed....but even better. The animals are (continued on page 17) that determining the balance of Waystation that put waste in a local stream, plus persistent program expense, fundraising costs, and fire safety problems. Critics of Wildlife administrative expenditures has been difficult, Waystation allege that Lorsch’s high-level however, because of idiosyncracies in how the intervention caused the county to dissolve this forms have been completed. force. Lorsch didn’t acknowledge he had done “Last month,” wrote Bartholomew, so, but characterized the force as ‘a horror,’ “five of the eight Waystation board members and said, ‘Every time the Waystation tried to quit, apparently burned out over troubles at fix something, they were hit with a citation.’” the beleaguered agency.” Haefele recounted federal court testi- Court awards no fees to Primarily A U S T I N ––Travis County Probate Theisen-Watt “suggested that her approval of a Court Judge Guy Herman on September 10, settlement was a condition prior to her provid- 2007 denied the request of Lee Theisen-Watt ing her services pro bono,” Herman continued, for “Payment of Receiver Fees and “such a condition, if it existed, was unknown Reimbursement of Attorneys’ Fees” for the to the parties and was not agreed upon by any time she spent as court-appointed receiver at of the parties or the Court. the Primarily Primates sanctuary near San “The condition precedent theory of Antonio, Texas, from October 15, 2006 until fees offered up” by Theisen-Watt “in this case May 1, 2007. is an attempt to interfere with the judicial Herman noted that Theisen-Watt tes- process,” Judge Herman found, “and violates tified “she had agreed to offer her services pro the Receiver’s supposed third-party neutrality. bono, that her original attorney would repre- The Court cannot and will not countenance sent her pro bono, that she assumed her origi- such effort by awarding fees and expenses.” nal attorney would pay for the fees of her other Among Theisen-Watt’s actions as attorneys, and that she gave a charitable receiver was relocating many of the animals receipt from Primarily Primates to the original who lived at Primarily Primates. attorney for the $42,000 the original attorney At the time the July/August 2007 said he paid” to another law firm. edition of ANIMAL PEOPLE went to press, Theisen-Watt’s tenure as receiver Friends of Animals president Priscilla Feral ended after the Texas Office of Attorney and Primarily Primates executive director General agreed in an out-of-court settlement to Stephen Tello believed that Theisen-Watt had “fully and completely release, acquit, and for- sent some Primarily Primates animals to the ever discharge Primarily Primates,” founder Duke University Lemur Center, as well as to Wally Swett, other staff and board members, several sanctuaries, and were quoted com- and Friends of Animals, which absorbed the menting about the suitability of Duke as a sanctuary in August 2006, from “all claims” home for sanctuary animals. Feral later noti- brought against them. fied ANIMAL PEOPLE that Duke did not The Texas Office of Attorney receive any Primarily Primates animals, General had seized Primarily Primates based although Duke had received an inquiry about largely on allegations by two former employ- possibly taking some. ees who had been dismissed for cause, for- Chimps Inc., of Eugene, Oregon, warded by PETA counsel for research and the International Primate Protection League, investigations Leona Stormont. Stormont sent and New Mexico land owner Marguerite the allegations shortly after Ohio State Gordon on June 25, 2007 sued Primarily University retired nine former research chim- Primates, respectively seeking to keep two panzees to Primarily Primates, with an endow- chimps, 12 gibbons, and a longhorn steer ment for their care and housing, against PETA whom Theisen-Watt sent to them. objections. Friends of Animals on August 6, Wrote Judge Herman, Theisen-Watt 2007 sued Chimp Haven, of Shreveport, “admitted that subsequent to the settlement Louisiana, seeking return of the seven surviv- hearing, she decided to charge for her services ing former Ohio State University chimps. Two and that of her lawyer because she was unhap- of the chimps died of pre-existing heart condi- py with the terms of the settlement.” While tions soon after arrival at Primarily Primates. ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2007 - 17 How does Wal-Mart reconcile selling live turtles in China with “sustainable” policy? BENTONVILLE, Arkansas––In October 2005, Redmond calls the labeling “an easy way for consumers to could not even manage to dispatch a form letter that so much as Wal-Mart chief executive officer Lee Scott declared that as the identify seafood from fisheries that meet the MSC’s strict envi- mentioned the company’s sustainability policy. world’s largest retail store chain, Wal-Mart has a special ronmental standard.” Networking with other veteran reporters, ANIMAL responsibility to be a “good steward for the environment.” In “How does Wal-Mart reconcile selling turtles (and PEOPLE learned that this seems to be routine. October 2006, N e w s w e e k published a gruesome account of frogs?) for human consumption in your stores in China with Former corporate ladder-climber turned environmen- how live turtles, fish, crabs, and clams are sold and killed to your policy of sustainability?”, ANIMAL PEOPLE a s k e d , talist and adventurer Peter Bray had more to say in web post- order “in the grocery section of a Wal-Mart in north Beijing.” not just once but multiple times in August and September 2007. ings about Wal-Mart turtle-selling in China that Wal-Mart itself In January 2007, Care for the Wild International “Surely you are aware,” ANIMAL PEOPLE contin- did. “To the point of Wal-Mart’s decision to sell turtle meat,” chief executive Barbara Maas suggested to Clifford Coonan, ued, “that both turtles and frogs of all species are in global Bray opined, “one has to be concerned that legalizing these Beijing correspondent for The Independent, that Wal-Mart and decline, due to a combination of environmental factors and products and distributing them far and wide will only increase other retail chains including Carrefour of France, Metro of heavy human exploitation. Surely you are also aware that turtle consumer demand. In central China, where turtle meat is not Germany, and Tesco of Britain should set better examples in ‘farming’,” cited by Tesco as their turtle source, “actually con- traditionally served, most consumers now prod and poke and China by not stocking turtles and frogs. sists chiefly of raising turtles to market weight in captivity after look curiously at the turtles, perhaps not sure what to make of “Tesco told us that it has commissioned research into taking them from the wild, since raising them to market weight them. But, with Wal-Mart’s discounting and marketing and the stunning of turtles, with the Chinese Institute of Science from hatching would typically take from five to 10 years sales, we’re sure to have plenty of new turtle eaters. And and Technology,” Maas said. “But our research has found (depending on species.) that’s a bad thing for wild and highly endangered turtles.” dozens of scientific publications that demonstrate that turtles “Surely you also know,” ANIMAL PEOPLE con- But ANIMAL PEOPLE did discover at the Wal- cannot be killed humanely for food.” tinued, “that the overwhelming majority of herpetological con- Mart web site a declaration that among the company’s top three While Carrefour, Metro, and Tesco make little pre- servationists believe that the continuing existence of any legal environmental goals is to “Design and support Green Company tense of being anything other than giant retailers, the Wal-Mart trade in either turtles or frogs will tend to keep eating them Program in China.” web site––while saying nothing of humane values––continues socially acceptable until many species (especially those native And CEO Lee Scott’s personal page offered one rele- to emphasize “sustainable procurement,” including with a page to Asia) have declined past the point of no return.” vant thought about, “What are the biggest challenges for Wal- about how “Wal-Mart shoppers can now find the Marine Corporate flacks usually can give glib answers to Mart as far as environmental sustainability is concerned?” Stewardship Council’s independent blue eco-label on ten fish questions such as these, whether or not they square with reality “We’ve got a very long way to go,” Scott said. products.” Wal-Mart Seafood & Deli vice president Peter or make sense. But not Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart in repeated tries “Our biggest challenge is achieving our own potential.” Wildlife Waystation founder says the sanctuary is master Gini Barrett told ANIMAL PEOPLE. This eventually got done, but it was a really “I saw my role as getting things “I had the impression,” Barrett con- “A new benefactor may step in, although it is difficult struggle, and I have to admit, county fixed,” Barrett said. “Unfortunately, there tinued, “that the longer term board members difficult to imagine who that might be. The employees worked overtime to block progress were some real logistic and physical realities and Martine felt that Lorsch would somehow public may cough up enough money to keep on this much needed improvement. that Martine could not easily solve and would come up with the millions to put in all the the place open a few more months.” “I have been in politics a long, long not deal with realistically. The Waystation roads and infrastructure. I don’t know if But Barrett was not optimistic. time,” Barrett said, “but I learned a lot in the acreage is extremely hilly and rolling and the Lorsch initially thought that it might be possi- Barrett, then western regional office process of trying to get some decent housing cost to bring a piece of land like this up to cur- ble to raise that kind of money or not. director for the American Humane Associ- for these chimps about the use and abuse of rent codes on road improvement, hillside sta- Certainly as he gained insight into the facility, ation, was in September 2000 named special power by government agencies. I was disap- bilization, water supplies and storage for fire the obstacles, and this type of nonprofit master to supervise efforts to bring Wildlife pointed, disillusioned and often disgusted by protection, sewage disposal, etc. is just way fundraising, I am sure he came to realize what Waystation into compliance with California the tactics of a number of county employees. I too prohibitive for a nonprofit animal facility. an immense hurdle this would be.” Department of Fish and Game regulations. understand getting frustrated with a facility While I was involved, the estimates for infra- As of 2000, the Waystation housed “I spent three years negotiating the operator. I don’t understand channeling that structure improvement, not including any cage nearly 1,200 animals. Under pressure to settlement of the Fish and Game case and ini- frustration into tactics that harm the animals or habitat improvements, were in the $30 mil- reduce the population, Colette removed horses tially was very supportive of the Waystation more than they harm the operator. lion range, and would likely be higher now. and cattle from the premises. and Martine,” Barrett said. “Yes, they had “In addition to everything else, the “From an animal care and welfare “She also lost her native wildlife res- many, many, many environmental, health County and the Waystation were at a major point of view,” Barrett observed, “this facility cue and rehab permits, so all of those animals and safety code violations and problems. But legal juncture,” Barrett explained. “ T h e is old, founded in the 1970s and still stuck in and related traffic were eliminated,” Barrett the animals were in pretty good shape, even if Waystation’s long standing conditional use the type of caging that was common then. We said. “While other wildlife rehab organiza- they were living in old-fashioned cages, rather permit had expired. Technically, the county have learned a lot about animal behavior and tions grew, none are as centrally located or as than more modern habitats. The only real hor- could have closed the place.” needs since then. Zoos across the country are well known as the Waystation, so injured ror show was a big chimp facility, meant to be The Los Angeles County administra- being forced to sink lots of money into better native animals have lost an important resource. a temporary place when the chimps arrived tion “was rightly horrified,” Barrett conceded, and more modern caging and habitats to “Age and attrition have further quickly,” following the 1995 closure of the “by the aging, junky, illegal mess the improve the well-being of their animal resi- reduced the population. No large rescue oper- Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Waystation had evolved into. In addition, all dents. Sanctuaries, while having more limited ations have brought animals to the Waystation Surgery In Primates at New York University. the government agencies that had struggled funding, should also be providing better facili- in recent years,” Barrett said. “The place has “The Waystation had tried to build a with Martine over the years were now compar- ties. To my knowledge, the Waystation never been better managed in the last few years than new and modern facility,” Barrett recounted. ing notes and sharing information. As each considered these issues seriously. Martine’s in decades. Unfortunately they sited it on someone else’s agency learned more about the problems other emphasis.” Barrett charged, “seemed to be “I have a lot of respect for what adjacent land,” specifically part of the agencies were having, that affected each focused on building more small cages so more Martine has accomplished,” Barrett said, “but Angeles National Forest, within which the agency’s willingness to work collaboratively animals could be saved. I also have come to understand that many of Waystation is an inholder, “and did not have with, or believe or trust, Martine. “The only practical thing to do the Waystation’s problems are of her own the required inspections or permits. They got “Additionally there was a simultane- would have been to sell this land,” Barrett making. She does exactly what she wants to shut down and went no further. ous campaign of complaints to each of these opined, “and work out a move to a flatter do, whether or not it meets regulations––and “When I got involved there had been agencies, especially the county, by a collec- location, where all the legal requirements often regardless of whether it benefits the ani- no progress on this project for several years. tion of former volunteers and others, even a would be at least economically feasible, mals. I have never come to understand her Martine seemed to have lost interest when she former board member. and––hopefully––build all new, larger, more reasoning, but I have come to understand how could not do what she wanted to do. No fur- humane animal habitats. she has developed such a long list of people ther efforts to relocate those chimps had been Getting things Colette told Bartholomew of the who are angry with her. made––either onsite or at other facilities,” Daily News that she has been offered between “I hate to see the place fail,” Barrett Barrett alleged. “I focused a lot of attention on fixed $2.5 million and $3 million for 120 acres of concluded. “Los Angeles can support t h i s trying to get new cages built for those animals. the Waystation. needed work. There was no good reason for New animal protection laws in Texas, New York, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Maine New Texas legislation In addition, Texas Illinois a n d M a s s a c h u - killing a police dog, service animal breeder who advertises puppies or permits felony prosecution of peo- extended anti-cruelty protection to setts in August 2007 became the or rescue dog to a felony. kittens for sale to obtain a $25 per- ple whose dogs kill or maim other homeless animals, increased the most recent of 34 states to ban so- A new Maine law t a k i n g mit. Licensed breeders pay $75 per humans, but attorneys familiar with penalties for dogfighting, banned called “Internet hunting,” in which effect on September 21, 2007, year, and pay $25 per animal sold to handling dog attack cases and repre- horse-tripping (a common event in penned animals are shot with pushed by dog breeders, requires the Help Fix Maine Program, to sentatives of the animal control offi- so-called c h a r e a d a rodeo), and for weapons from afar, using a comput- anyone other than a state-licensed subsidize pet sterilization. cers who will have the primary duty the first time expressly required that er mouse or joystick. of enforcing the new law told Roy animals be given adequate water. Illinois Governor Rod Appleton of the Dallas Morning New York Governor B l a g o j e v i c h on September 4 signed News that it does not actually elimi- Eliot Spitzer on August 28, 2007 into law stronger penalties for cock- nate the ancient “one free bite” rule signed into law the first state ban on fighting, including the possibility of for determining if a dog is vicious, electrocuting animals for their fur. winning a felony conviction on a and will require animal control offi- Spitzer a week earlier endorsed into first offense. The new law also cers to do criminal investigation, law a requirement that all fur gar- allows courts to order forfeiture of whereas the typical animal control ments regardless of price be labeled animals to an animal control officer offense is a summary infraction. in a manner that accurately identifies or animal shelter upon conviction of “This is better than what we have the species from which the fur came. an animal keeper for cruelty, aggra- Our 81 rehab chi mps at now,” said Dallas attorney and A similar federal law exempts gar- vated cruelty, or torture. In addi- Animal Legal Defense Fund presi- ments priced at under $150. tion, the law elevates injuring or the Chimpanzee dent Robert Trimble, “but whether Rehabilitation Trust it solves the problem, I guess we’ll were re scued from trade have to wait and see.” and abuse. Now they live Texas also banned keep- their l ives free in the ing dogs tethered between 10 p.m. African wild. P lease help and 6 a.m., and limited tethering to us to ensure they stay three hours within any 24-hour peri- free by maki ng a gener- od. Waco police department animal ous donation to the control chief Clare Crook noted to Waco T r i b u n e - H e r a l d staff writer International David Doerr that enforcement may Pri mate Protection be complicated by thin animal con- League, mar ked "For trol staffing during night hours, but the Rescued Chimps in the felt the law would be helpful. Gambia." Mai l i t to 18 - ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2007 Malaysia plans to export street macaques to labs & live markets KUALA LUMPUR––Malaysian natural resources quoted as saying. climate change workshop that he had been approached by and environment minister Seri Azmi Khalid at a September 5, Reporting about the same speech, Elizabeth John of ‘some bright people who saw that money could be made from 2007 press conference asserted that the government had not lift- the New Straits Times wrote that Seri Azmi Khalid said the exporting monkeys.’” ed a 23-year-old ban on exporting long-tailed macaques, but export ban had been “lifted.” Wrote Chew and Yoga, “Sources said the proposal to admitted that plans are proceeding to export macaques captured Seri Azmi Khalid asserted that 258,406 long-tailed export monkeys came prior to the retirement of Perhilitan direc- in cities to laboratories and Chinese live markets. macaques inhabit urban areas in peninsular Malaysia, while tor-general Musa Nordin last October. In a telephone inter- “I did not use the word ‘lift.’ The media quoted me 483,747 remain in forests. view, Musa said he was ‘indirectly involved’ in the trade, but wrongly,” Seri Azmi Khalid claimed, according to Loh Foon “Follow the money trail and trace who the benefac- declined to comment when asked if he had teamed up with a Fong of the Malaysia Star. tors are,” suggested Mohd Khan Momin Khan, former direc- wildlife trader. When pressed further, Musa said ‘Go talk to Bernama, the Malaysian National News Agency, tor-general of the Malaysian Wildlife and National Parks Perhilitan. They’re the one making the policy. I’m retired.’” reported on August 17, 2007 that “Malaysia has lifted the ban Department. Heading the department, called Perhilitan, from “Sources reveal,” Chew and Yoga added, “that at on the export of long-tailed macaques.” 1972 to 1992, Mohd Khan Momin Khan “was instrumental in least one company has submitted a business plan to the ministry “The cabinet has decided to lift the ban because we getting the 1984 trade ban,” wrote Hilary Chew of the proposing an export volume of between 12,000 and 20,000 want to reduce the number of long-tailed monkeys in urban Malaysia Star. monkeys per year. Each shipment will carry between 2,000 and areas. The lifting of the ban is only for peninsular Malaysia Continued Chew, writing with S.S. Yoga of the Star, 2,500 specimens. The business plan lists the likely buyers as and does not cover Sabah and Sarawak,” Seri Azmi Khalid was “Last week, Seri Azmi Khalid candidly told participants at a two laboratories and one breeding center in China. One of the laboratories is the Kunming Primate Research Centre, which is affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The center Monkey traffic heats up in Cambodia was set up in 2005 as a research base for experiments against PHNOM PENH––Masked gunmen on August 19, wildlife officials have previously said they suspect Cambodia infectious diseases and bio-terrorism.” 2007 removed 52 macaques from the premises of the Angkor is becoming a transit point for primates destined for China and Ardith Eudey, author of the World Conservation Bright company in northern Kampong Thom province, Vietnam, where animal testing is legal, monkey meat is a Union’s Action Plan for Asian Primates, warned that the plan Cambodia, Kampong Svay district deputy police chief Pen delicacy, and animal rights protesters are virtually unheard to capture urban macaques could cover for bootlegging Kheng acknowledged three days later to Asia-Pacific News. of.” macaques out of the wild. Though the raid was the first to become known to International Primate Protection League founder “It looks like the government is attempting to create the outside world, “This is becoming very common in this Shirley McGreal shared with ANIMAL PEOPLE e x c e r p t s an export market,” Eudey said, district,” Pen Kheng said, “and has happened to Angkor from e-mails she said were from informants, indicating that “Eudey pointed out that urban monkeys are not desir- Bright and another company, Chen China group,” also some laboratory monkey dealers are selling macaques who able, as they have been in contact with humans,” wrote Chew. known as Golden China, “many times lately. So far,” he were purportedly captive-bred in Cambodia. The monkeys are “A country such as the U.S. wants clean monkeys for research said, “we have no suspects.” said to be several years older than those of either the Angkor purposes, meaning captive bred, Eudey said.” Reported Asia-Pacific News, “He declined to say Bright or Golden China companies, which are the only known Mohd Khan Momin Khan agreed that it is “a miscon- why the company had so many monkeys on its premises, but Cambodia monkey exporters. (continued on page 19) Malaysian humane community stops Selayang dog-catching contest SELAYANG, Malaysia––The Selayang Municipal not a municipal animal control agency. “The SPCA does not Seremban Municipal Council. An ad hoc Coalition Against Council on September 13, 2007 cancelled a dogcatching con- catch or destroy animals,” Chin said. “In fact it is wrong to say Dog Shooting & Other Inhumane Methods formed, including test begun the previous week, which had offered 78,000 ring- that the dogs would be handed to us. Our role is to prevent cru- six animal welfare organizations and two organizations focused git––about $22,200––in cash prizes. elty to animals, promote kindness to animals, and encourage on human rights and welfare. The cancellation displayed the growing influence of responsible pet ownership.” Another dog shooting followed, in front of more than the Malaysian humane movement, which draws support from Other Malaysian humane societies amplified Chin’s 100 young witnesses in the compound of a secondary school in all of the major ethnic and religious communities in a nation criticisms. Ipoh. Under pressure from the children, many of their parents, where politics often split along ethnic or religious divides. “We believe, this inhumane competition will not only and the Coalition Against Dog Shooting, the Ipoh City Council Selangor council president Zainal Abidin Azim subject stray dogs to cruelty, but will cause dognapping, voted to “use tranquilisers instead of bullets from now on,” opened the dog-catching contest on September 5, in response, because it will be easier and faster [to catch tame dogs] to fulfill explained mayor Mohamad Rafiai Mokhtar to news media. he said, to receiving about 80 complaints per month about stray the prize eligibility,” said Nick Josh K. Karean of the Humane dogs. Teams or individuals were required to catch at least 150 Society Independent Group of Malaysia. Karean started a Protest saves pigs dogs in six months to qualify for awards of 15,000, 13,000, worldwide electronic petition against the contest. Protest based on ethnic and economic grievances, and 11,000 ringgit. Furry Friends spokesperson Sabrina Yeap recom- more familiar to most Malaysians, meanwhile saved as many The contest started out with the endorsement of mended that the reward fund should be spent instead to hire as 150,000 pigs in early September 2007––at least until they Rawang state assembly member Tang See Hang, who posed professional dog-catchers, whose methods would meet accept- reached normal slaughtering weight. for photographers “capturing” a cardboard cutout of a dog. able humane standards. For most of the day on September 4, about 100 vil- Asked what would become of dogs caught during the Explained Malaysian Animal Rights & Welfare lagers including women and children stood off between 200 contest, Tang See Hung told media, “Anyone who wishes to Society president and attorney N. Surendran to Mazlinda and 300 police officers, half of the police in riot gear, after the rear the dogs will be welcome to pick them up. Otherwise we Mahmood of the New Straits Times, “The only proven way to police descended on Paya Mengkuang, Malacca, with six would dispose of them through the council’s own methods.” solve the problem is a comprehensive spaying campaign, cou- excavators to dig mass graves for culled pigs, plus several Amended Selangor First Minister Mohamed Khir pled with a public education program to teach owners to neuter trucks outfitted with water cannon. Toyo, after Tang See Hung’s remarks were fiercely denounced their pets and not abandon them.” The Malacca state government had ordered the clo- in the letters columns of the Malaysia Star and New Straits Surendran recommended the introduction of licensing sure of 15 farms with a combined total of 150,000 pigs. T i m e s, “All the animals caught will be given to the SPCA, with discounts for sterilized pets, and alleged that the Selangor Similar stand-offs reportedly came at Ayer Molek and the dogs would be housed, or even put to sleep, based on council “is committing cruelty to animals and exposing the and Bukit Beruang villages. their reasonable expertise. public to danger. Who’s going to be liable,” Surendran asked, Agence France-Press said late in the day that the pig- “Competitions like this are good,” Khir Toyo contin- “if someone is bitten? The council could be sued and taxpayers killing had finally started. “More than 60% of Malaysians are ued. “Dog-catching must be done, as strays could attack chil- would have to foot the bill.” Agreed veterinarian Lynnette Muslim and consider pigs and pork unclean,” Agence France- dren or even adults. The animals could also spread diseases, as Low, displaying scars on her arms to Mahmood, “Even pro- Press explained. “The country’s pig farmers are mostly from the strays rummage through garbage and get skin diseases.” fessionals get hurt when they deal with dogs.” Malaysia’s sizeable Chinese population. But Khir Toyo told Edward Rajendra of the Said dog rescuer Natasha Valerie Fernz, “When dogs Malaccan government spokespersons denied on Malaysia Star that too much prize money was offered. “We are cornered, their natural reaction is to bite. Then people will September 5 that any pigs were killed. Instead, they have to create a commitment among the public to control the blame the dogs and say they should be destroyed.” announced, an agreement had been reached whereby the farm- number of strays,” Khir Toyo said, but not with such exorbi- As the issue heated up, Selayang Municipal Council ers agreed to sell 2,000 pigs per day to reduce the pig popula- tant prizes.” president Zainal Abidin avoided humane delegations by taking tion to 48,000 by September 21. Rebutted SPCA Selangor chair Christine Chin, “We a leave of absence. Hecklers confronted 30 animals advocates can’t propagate a fun and festive mood in dog catching, as the on September 11, but failed to provoke a hostile response. whole idea is wrong. Having such a competition encourages The Selangor campaign paralleled the humane cruelty.” Chin further pointed out that the SPCA Selangor is response a year earlier, after 13 dogs were shot by order of the T O L E D O ––The Ohio Supr- from the danger posed by this breed of owners, including drug dealers, to eme Court on August 1, 2007 upheld the domestic dog.” increase a dog’s aggression and lethal- right of Ohio cities to regulate possession “Three years ago,” recounted ness through abuse or aberrant training.” of pit bull terriers. John Seewer of Associated Press, “the The Ohio Supreme Court rul- The court unanimously rev- Ohio Supreme Court essentially struck ing camed six weeks after a Washington ersed an appellate ruling that overturned down a state law that said a vicious dog state appellate court in Tacoma upheld a Toledo ordinance limiting pit bull pos- is one that kills or injures people. But it the assault conviction of Robbie Hoeldt session to one per house and setting con- did not address whether pit bulls were of Vancouver, Washington. Hoeldt ditions on how pit bulls may be confined. automatically considered vicious. Paul claimed he was innocent because a dog is The court also upheld a state Tellings, formerly of Toledo, chal- not a weapon. Hoeldt’s dog attacked a law that defines pit bulls as a “vicious lenged the city’s pit bull law after he was Vancouver police detective who was dog,” a definition which has the effect of convicted of owning three pit bulls. One attempting to arrest Hoeldt at his home. enabling dog wardens to respond to dog was confiscated and destroyed.” The police officer shot the dog dead. potential threats from pit bills before they Justices Paul E. Pfeifer, actually bite someone. Dogs have histor- Evelyn Lundberg Stratton, Terrence Along wi th almost every arti- ically not been legally defined as vicious O’Donnell, Judith Ann Lanzinger and cle from back editions, the until they inflict an unprovoked bite, but Robert R. Cupp concurred with Moyer. ANIMAL PEOPLE web sit e the “one free bite” standard has become “Justice Maureen O’Connor increasingly unrealistic as breeds of dog concurred in judgment only,” wrote offers t ranslat ions of key whose first bite can kill or maim have Seewer, “and entered a separate opinion items into French & Spanish proliferated. expressing her disapproval of the provi- ... Lewyt Aw ard- Wrote Chief Justice Thomas sion of state law classifying all pit bulls winning heroic & compassion- Moyer, “Evidence presented in the trial as ‘vicious dogs.’ She wrote that data ate animal stories. ..vet info court supports the conclusion that pit cited by the trial court regarding pit bull link s... downloadable hand- bulls pose a serious danger to the safety attacks did not reflect inherent violent books... fund-raisi ng how-to.. . of citizens. The state and the city have a characteristics of the breed, but rather our guide to estate planning... legitimate interest in protecting citizens arose from deliberate efforts by some bios and photos of the people ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2007 - 19 Malaysia plans to export macaques to labs & live markets (from page 18) ception that there is a demand for macaques caught from urban Selangor, Malaysian Animal Assisted Therapy for the Disabled June 2007 looked at the possible effects of exporting urban areas,” Chew continued, since “Urban monkeys are known to Association, Parti Keadilan Rakyat, and the Malaysian macaques for five years at rates ranging from 20% of the popu- have tuberculosis and assorted intestinal diseases. They do not Association for Responsible Pet Ownership. lation per year to more than 90%. At 20%, the macaque popu- make good test subjects, and are not appealing to exotic food The coalition “lodged a police report against Seri lation would remain stable and might even grow. At 90%, if importers,” either. Azmi Khalid and [wildlife] ministry officials for violating such a high capture rate could be achieved, only 31 monkeys “Eventually, senseless poaching of wild monkeys Section 92(f) of the Protection of Wildlife Act 1972” in would remain in urban areas. will ensue to fill the demands of importers,” Mohd Khan rescinding the macaque export ban, Chew wrote. Macaque experts did not endorse the Perhilitan rec- Momin Khan warned. Wrote Surendran in a M a l a y s i a Star guest column, ommendations. “If the root of the problem is people feeding “Allowing urban monkeys to be hunted almost cer- “No country can call itself civilized when it ill-treats its wildlife the macaques, teaching them that humans equals food, then tainly will lead to trapping of monkeys in the jungle,” affirmed in so cruel a manner. We call upon Khalid to immediately more should be done to educate the public,” Chris R. Shepherd Malaysian Animal Rights & Welfare Society president N. restore the ban on trade of macaques; halt all pending macaque of the World Wildlife Fund subsidiary Traffic Southeast Asia Surendran, questioning whether Perhilitan even has the capa- shipments overseas; release all macaques currently in captivity told John of the New Straits Times. bility to monitor macaque captures, or to distinguish urban- and awaiting transport; and consult with animal welfare groups Eudey recommended “positive educational and con- caught macaques from those trapped in the forest. and experts to humanely respond to macaque problems.” trol programs,” citing the examples of Hong Kong and Surendran and others formed the Malaysian Animal “In a way, this is a success story,” the Malaysia Star Singapore, and invited Malaysia to participate in the next Rights & Welfare Society as a coalition opposed to the editorialized. “The peninsular population of long-tailed Congress of the International Primatological Society, at macaque exports. Coalition members include the SPCA macaques declined by 25% between 1957 and 1975, when Edinburgh. Scotland, in August 2008, “when the pest problem their trade was unregulated.” While the macaque population posed by macaques will be examined in detail.” European parliament recovered, the Malaysia Star recounted, “Urban and industrial In Barbados, Eudey added, “Despite trapping and development pushed back the forest. Without a ‘countryside’ exporting 10,000 vervet monkeys for research over 14 years, moves to halt monkey to speak of, there are few if any buffers between forest and crop raiding has not been reduced and the monkey population laration “sends a clear mes- the University of Bremen to human habitat” in many areas, “which has allowed wild mon- remains stable,” as the wary survivors of capture efforts con- sage to the Commission that halt macaque brain experi- keys freely to invade urban areas. They are famously adaptable tinue breeding up to the carrying capacity of the habitat. animal experimentation ments conducted by neurosci- animals, at home everywhere from the seashore to mountain- “The catch phrase ‘monkey menace’ is common now should be phased out.” entist Andreas Kreitur. The tops. Urban environments are positively appealing to them, in many urban areas, from New Delhi to Kuala Lumpur,” European laborato- experiments are licensed to with virtually unlimited access to abundant food. observed primatologist Govindasamy Agoramoorthy, of Tajen ries use about 10,000 nonhu- continue to the end of 2008. “They are at best pests and at worst menaces,” the University in Taiwan. “It’s easy to blame the monkeys for cre- man primates per year, “Neither the state Malaysia Star asserted. “Trapping them for relocation has been ating havoc in urban areas. But are the monkeys really to be according to ADI. About parliament nor the state gov- tried, but was found to have deleterious effects on the ecosys- blamed? With ever shrinking natural forest and less availability 40% of the total are used in ernment can order the univer- tems where they are released. Expatriated urban macaques of natural food sources, the monkeys are adapting to the unique Brtain. The nations next most sity to close down the [brain clash with forest-domiciled troupes over territory,” with the human creations of concrete jungle and palm plantation.” involved in doing nonhuman research] center,” explained urban monkeys tending to prevail because they tend to be larger Unmentioned amid the Malaysian macaque debate is primate studies are France Quirin Schiermeier in Nature, and more aggressive. Decriminalizing the export of macaques that in Malaysia, as elsewhere throughout Asia, monkeys are and Germany. “but Kreiter fears that politi- as exotic cuisine has two dubious advantages,” the S t a r s u g- also taking advantage of steeply declining street dog popula- “A European Com- cal pressure will force the gested. “The trade is nothing new, having persisted illegally tions to extend their range––as ANIMAL PEOPLE p o i n t e d mission survey from 2006 local authorities not to during the 30 years of the ban; and it can make money.” out in January/February 2002 and June 2007 cover features. found that 80% of Europeans approve further experiments.” A Perhilitan study conducted between March and ––Merritt Clifton are against the use of primates for scientific purposes,” said Agence France-Presse. Pushing the declara- tion forward was British songwriter Maria Daines’ sec- ond pro-animal composition of the summer to top the inde- pendent online pop rock charts. Daines released Monkey In A Cage about one month after producing O n e Small Dog to benefit the Homeless Animal Protection Society of Ethiopia. As a publicity stunt, Daines and several other celebrities posed in a primate transport case. ADI tactics includ- ed distributing monkey doorhangers to the members of the European Parliament, plus “novelty bags with seri- ous reports…alongside credit card-size monkey mints and bathtime luxuries,” said Tuffrey Jones. The campaign gain- ed momentum after Justice John Mitting of the British High Court ruled on July 27, 2007 that the British Home Office improperly understat- ed the degree of suffering that marmosets would experience when it licensed invasive brain experiments at Cambridge University. “The case was brought after a 10-month undercover investigation by the British Union Against Vivisection at a Cambridge neuroscience lab during 2000 and 2001,” summarized Mike Taylor of The Independent. “The investigation revealed that the Home Office had assigned a ‘moderate’ suffer- ing category to experiments which included such proce- dures as removing the top of a marmoset’s head and part of the brain to induce strokes. Guidelines state that any pro- cedure which ‘may lead to a major departure from the ani- mal’s usual state of health and wellbeing’ must be cate- gorised as ‘substantial.’” The Home Office intends to appeal the verdict. Justice Mitting rejected three other BUAV contentions. In April 2007, the parliament of Bremen state, Germany unanimously asked 20 - ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2007 Get Political for Animals and win the laws they need by Julie E. Lewin National Institute for Animal Advocacy (6 Long Hill Farm, Guilford, CT 06437), 2007. 276 pages, paperback. $29.00. “Becoming a power player in the decades as an animal advocate. As a former web-searching to check the backgrounds of signers who are willing to provide them. lawmaking arena requires learning to think and newspaper reporter and magazine writer, sources and subjects, and to find varied per- These petitions are joyously effective, because function as a lawmaker does––politically and Lewin at first put much effort into media cam- spectives on issues. The typical news article the lawmaker sees that you have the contact strategically––with the arithmetic of elections paigns. She learned that, “Media attention of 30 years ago used two sources. The typical information to let each signer know exactly foremost,” Julie Lewin emphasizes in G e t almost never achieves strong laws or public article today uses four––and an embarrassing what actions he takes.” Political for Animals. “Ignorance of political policies...If media coverage is not buttressed action or stupid remark today is far more likely Lewin provides extensive tactical dynamics leads to repeated, avoidable failures by political power, the resulting laws, if any, to follow a source or subject for years. advice on GOTV, short for Getting Out The ––and to thinking small. are cosmetic and weak, and are not enforced. In addition, the Internet has hugely Vote, the most basic component of effective “When voting on legislation,” “Media coverage of proposed legis- increased the use of “value added” reporting, voting bloc organization. Lewin elaborates, “a lawmaker cares only lation is often harmful,” Lewin adds, in which a reporter grafts a local angle to syn- Chapter six offers a detailed intro- about his constituents who vote. He doesn’t “because it gives your opposition ink and air dicated material. “Value added” reporting duction to all of the various levels of lawmak- care about his constituents who don’t vote or time to attack it––and alerts opponents who resembles the team reporting of 30 years ago, ing and regulation, which may save many what the broader public thinks. Hearing from then contact their lawmakers.” but the team members may be scattered world- activists years of fruitlessly seeking change at advocates who live outside his district wastes Much of the opposition to pro-ani- wide. This increases the breadth of reportage the wrong levels. For example, the adminis- his time, which he doesn’t appreciate. It also mal goals was rallied in response to the suc- while decreasing the prominence of primary trators who execute public policy rarely have shows him we’re politically naïve. cess of pro-animal media campaigns which sources, except in their own communities. authority to amend it, but the policymakers “In the absence of voting blocs, law- were not backed by political mobilization. Conversely, a national story is much may be quite content to let the administrators making is driven by money. When casting a Chapter 9 of Get Political for more likely to be given a local angle if local take the brunt of public protest. vote means choosing between a wealthy busi- A n i m a l s extensively covers how and when to activists are already making the angle known. Time and again, Lewin reminds that ness interest and a politically organized grass- seek publicity. Unfortunately, Lewin offers The importance of local organization has protests are usually futile. “In my many years roots group, a lawmaker goes with the grass- one pointer in the wrong direction. “Get over accordingly never been higher. of work at the [Connecticut] state capitol,” roots group every time. Why? She knows that the notion,” Lewin writes, “that today’s But effective local organization must Lewin testifies, “I never saw a lawmaker otherwise the voting bloc will punish her on reporters do real research. You have to hand- take a form that has political leverage. decide to vote for or against an animal-related Election Day––by endorsing her opponent and feed them everything except opponents’ views, “Demonstrations and protests almost bill because of a protest. Law-makers often directing members in her district to vote for which they manage to find on their own.” never achieve meaningful laws or public poli- view protests as infantile, engaged in by peo- her opponent. She knows that the wealthy Today’s reporters actually spend cies,” Lewin notes, having staged many ple who don’t understand the dynamics of interest cannot protect her from that.” much more time on research than when Lewin protests herself before learning that this was power and marginalize themselves. Protests Variants of these paragraphs recur was a reporter. Journalism education today far ineffective, “because they in no way hold retard our political advance for animals,” every few pages through Get Political for more heavily emphasizes research technique. individual lawmakers accountable to their own Lewin believes. “They miseducate new enthu- Animals, along with real-life cases in which a But changes in how research is done feed into voting constituents.” siasts about the dynamics of change. They small amount of political organization accom- Lewin’s other points about how both success- Lewin is also critical of petitioning subliminally reaffirm the protesters’ self-image plished a great deal, while huge investments ful politics and obtaining publicity depend on as it is usually practiced. “Unless petitions are as outsider rather than mainstreamer. They of money and effort in other approaches having local angles and being prepared. designed politically and strategically, they do cause malaise among some segments of the achieved either nothing or negative outcomes. Today’s reporters no longer work not create one-to-one accountability of any public, strengthening the psychological barrier Lewin points out repeatedly that much out of press clubs. Most attend far fewer individual lawmaker to his or her own con- between the public and the facts we want the hunters have influence hugely disproportionate press conferences than 30 years ago. Fewer stituents,” Lewin points out. “In contrast, a public to understand.” to their numbers––barely 4% of the U.S. popu- newspapers, with smaller staffs, mean highly effective petition is addressed to a spe- But beyond all else, “Protests use lation, a fifteenth as many as people who keep reporters spend less time on research that cific lawmaker; asks that lawmaker to take a time poorly,” Lewin believes. “If 100% or dogs or cats, outnumbered even by vegetari- requires leaving the office. Sifting through specific position (support or oppose a specific 50% or 20% of the time and effort put into ans––because they are politically organized. documents obtained via the Freedom of bill or proposed ordinance); is signed only by organizing and attending protests had been Foes of hunting have barely begun to mobilize. Information Act, a new reporting technique in the lawmaker’s own constitutents; includes spent instead recruiting members to voting Many of Lewin’s most instructive the 1970s, died with the advent of the Internet. the home (voting) address of each signer; and blocs for animals, how far along we would examples come from her own experience of But today’s reporters typically use includes the phone and e-mail addresses of be!” ––Merritt Clifton Could a U.S. “Party for the Animals” politically succeed? GUILFORD, Conn.– – Kucinich, a longtime Ohio Con- Lewin told ANIMAL PEOPLE. “Third,” Lewin says, a pro-animal political party. Should U.S. animal advocates form gressional Representative, is rated “ F i r s t , U.S. lawmakers would “just like lawmakers, most people Incumbent U.S. President Harry S. a “Party for the Animals,” to con- only an outside chance of winning doubtless be terrified that by voting whose voting behavior would be Truman had succeeded Franklin D. solidate support and seek leverage? the nomination. for a piece of animal rights legisla- influenced positively by your local Roosevelt after Roosevelt died in Dutch Party for the Ani- But National Institute for tion, or voting against a piece of group’s political endorsements office during his unprecedented mals founder Marianne Thieme, Animal Advocacy founder Julie anti-animal legislation, they would would shy away from supporting a fourth term. Truman was believed elected to the Dutch Parliament in Lewin warns––as author of a recent be labeled as supporters of a ‘radi- candidate who carries a U.S. Party to have little chance of winning re- November 2006, has already visited book on political organization enti- cal’ animal rights agenda,” as for Animals label. You would be election if he could not mobilize the U.S. twice to promote the idea, tled Get Political for Animals and already happens, but without the asking them to cross the threshold support from outside his own most recently at the Animal Rights Win the Laws They Need– – t h a t opportunity to attach the allegation of an ideological divide. Democratic Party. Therefore numer- 2007 conference in Los Angeles. investing time and money in orga- to a fringe political structure. “Fourth, the notion of ous independent parties organized to Similar Parties for the nizing a U.S. Party for the Animals “This fear would lose us structuring and organizing an effec- try to win platform concessions from Animals have already formed in would be a mistake. lawmakers’ votes, even on mild leg- t i v e national political party is enor- either Truman or Republican nomi- Britain, Germany, Belgium, Spain, “Marianne Thieme is islation,” Lewin believes. “The mously difficult and time-consum- nee Thomas A. Dewey. France, Luxembourg, and Austria. remarkable,” Lewin concedes. “Yet way for us to become power players ing,” Lewin reminds. “Other issue Reported the August 11, The idea of starting a U.S. Party for our political systems are very differ- in the lawmaking arena at any level groups, and Ralph Nader, all polit- 1947 edition of Time magazine, “In the Animals has gained momentum ent. Most importantly, we have a of government is to organize locally, ically sophisticated and experienced, Manhattan last week, 500 delegates from their example, and because all two-party system and the Dutch from the ground up, in local politi- have tried and failed. to a convention of the American of the declared candidates for the have a parliamentary system,” as do cal groups” capable of mobilizing “One partial exception,” Naturopathic Association formed the 2008 U.S. Presidential election have all the other nations which have the few dozen or few hundred voters Lewin concedes, “may be the American Vegetarian Party and either weak or negative records on Parties for the Animals. whose support often decides closely Working Families Party. But WFP nominated a 1948 presidential candi- animal issues except for Democratic “Attempting a U.S. Party contested city, county, state, and formed through the already political- date. Their man: Dr. John Maxwell, contender Dennis Kucinich. for the Animals could weaken us,” Congressional elections. ly established, experienced, heavi- 84, Jove-bearded, pint-sized propri- ly funded and heavily staffed labor etor of a Chicago vegetarian restau- movement. It o p e r a t e s s o l e l y rant, who says he has tasted no meat Body Shop founder Anita Roddick through local chapters for local leg- for 45 years. He hoped to get some Anita Roddick, 64, who founded the 50- Body Shop maintained a no-animal-testing façade islation, not nationally, in six states 5,000,000 votes: 3,000,000 from nation, 2,000-store Body Shop cosmetics store chain through a policy of not using any substance within five that allow cross-endorsement of can- vegetarians, the rest from ‘prohibi- with a single shop in Brighton, England, in 1976, died years of it being tested on animals, which he contended didates. And it is multi-issue. And tionists, anti-vivisectionists, anti- on September 10, 2007 from a major brain hemorrhage. means little because animal testing of new products is in some areas it has no real structure. cigarette groups, and other people Roddick had acquired hepatitis C from a blood transfu- often done more than five years before they reach the It exists simply to warn Democratic of similar high moral principle.” sion in 1971, while giving birth to a daughter, but her market; by purchasing ingredients from wholesalers lawmakers who take labor endorse- T i m e appeared to be less chronic illness had no evident connection with her death. who don’t develop new products and therefore don’t do ments for granted, but don’t f e r - skeptical of the political viability of “Roddick, known as the ‘Queen of Green,’ any testing; and by circumvention. vently support the labor legislative an anti-meat, anti-vivisection octo- was lauded around the world for trailblazing business “In an internal memo dated May 19, 1992,” a g e n d a , that if they don’t get with generian candidate than of his practices that promoted environmentalism and other Entine wrote, “the Body Shop’s purchasing manager the labor program, the WFP candi- prospect of winning Prohibitionist causes dear to her heart, from human rights to Third acknowledged that 46.5% of its ingredients had been date will draw votes away from support. The Prohibition Party, World debt relief,” memorialized D’Arcy Doran of tested on animals, up from 34% the year before.” Body these Democratics and be spoilers Time pointed out, had already nomi- Associated Press. Added PETA vice president Dan Shop memos issued in 1991 and 1992 indicate that from who throw elections to Republican nated Los Angeles clergyman and Matthews, “Before Body Shop you could only find cru- 53.2% to 59.7% of ingredients as of then were not ani- candidates. WFP’s influence is pos- former minor league ballplayer elty-free products in hippie shops. Now they are every- mal-tested, while about 28% had been animal-tested sible only because the labor move- Claude A. Watson, 62. Watson had where.” Said Humane Society of the U.S. president within a decade.” ment is already organized.” received 75,000 votes running on the Wayne Pacelle, “Her commitment to ending the use of A German court in 1989 barred the Body Shop Barely remembered today, Prohibition ticket in 1944. animals in cosmetics testing, first in the European from using statements such as, “We test neither our raw there was in 1947 an attempt to start ––Merritt Clifton Union and then in the world, was never overshadowed materials nor our end products on animals,” on grounds by the economic success of The Body Shop. Untold this would be misleading advertising. Upon appeal, the numbers of rabbits and other animals were spared due to verdict was upheld by the Higher Regional Court of her staunch ‘against animal testing’ policy.” Dusseldorf, which found no substantial difference However, the Body Shop image took a hit in between the animal testing policy of The Body Shop and 1994 from two-time Emmy Award-winning ABC and that of other cosmetics manufacturers. NBC television news producer Jon Entine, who won a Roddick and her husband withdrew from National Press Club award for an exposé published in directing the Body Shop chain in 2002, and in 2006 sold the journal Business Ethics. Initially, Entine alleged, it to the French firm L’Oreal, a longtime target of PETA Roddick “didn’t have any interest in animal testing as an boycotts, for $1.14 billion. issue. Her cosmetologist, Mark Constantine, insisted “Roddick said it was a chance for Body Shop, on having a no-animal-testing policy, and then she got which remains independently run, despite its new own- interested when it made money.” Entine argued that the ers, to teach its new parent company,” wrote Doran. ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2007 - 21 Shaggy Muses: Getting Lucky The Dogs Who Inspired Virginia Woolf, by Susan Marino with Denise Flaim Emily Dickinson, Elisabeth Barrett Browning, Stewart, Tabori & Chang (115 W. 18th St., New York, Edith Wharton, and Emily Bronte NY 10011), 2005. 144 pages, hardcover. $18.95. by Maureen Adams Ballentine Books (1745 Broadway, New York, Getting Lucky is the story of the plaints for more than 10 years, while helping Angel’s Gate animal hospice as founder Sue as many as 18,000 animals to find new homes, NY 10019), 2007. 320 pages, hardcover. $24.95. Marino wanted to tell it, through the stories of she told Jeff Long on the Chicago Tribune. 18 of the many animals who have lived their Barking dogs are a perennial irritant Shaggy Muses presents mini-biogra- cide before he had finished a dozen chapters is last days or years in her care. Located in Fort that animal shelters are just beginning to learn phies of female literary celebrities, as seen a mystery. It is a compound of vulgar deprav- Salonga, on Long Island, New York, how to contain. Claims to an exemption from through their relationships with their pet dogs. ity and unnatural horrors.” Angel’s Gate has become probably the best property taxes are seldom welcomed by any It is also a heart-breaking exposure of the This prompted me to read Wuthering known animal hospice in the world, through community. Yet the most difficult issue for struggle of intellectual women to keep their Heights, a copy of which has been languish- frequent positive news coverage and Marino’s Marino may be that few people understand sanity in a stultifying male-controlled world. ing on my book shelf for many years. It is a guest appearances on Animal Radio. what she is doing. “Ranging from lapdog to mastiff, tragic description of the repression of women. Unfortunately, soon after G e t t i n g The only other animal hospice of their dogs acted as loyal companions, staunch Emily Dickinson was given a New- Lucky appeared, the Angel’s Gate story took a prominence in New York state is operated by protectors, and patient comforters.” foundland puppy by her father, who thought different twist, and Marino has for more than Bruce Van Bramer of Lake Katrine, who is Elizabeth Barrett Browning was that the dog would “act as a buffer between his a year now been battling town officials who also fighting allegations that he is in violation offered a cocker spaniel puppy when she was daughter and the world that so frightened her.” rewrote the local zoning to exclude Angel’s of zoning. The Ulster County Sheriff’s Office very ill, not only with a fever but also with the Emily became emotionally depen- Gate––after it had already been operating for in September 2006 seized 56 dogs and 29 cats heartache of losing a mother and two brothers. dent upon Carlo. “In the year that followed more than a dozen years. The Smithtown from Van Bremer, but the county grand jury Her father, alarmed by his daughter’s condi- Carlo’s death she wrote almost nothing. Her Town Court on July 10, 2007 fined Angel’s refused to charge him with an offense, and tion, reported “It is a wonder to me that she creativity would never again reach its previous Gate $800 for noise violations. ordered the Ulster County SPCA to return the lives.” The diversion of receiving the puppy peak,” Adams reports. Said Marino, “The good news is animals to him. and its arrival lifted the sombre atmosphere in Edith Wharton, writing in her auto- that a property in the Catskills has become Care standards and control of infec- the house. Elizabeth was entranced by this lit- biography when she was in her seventies, available and we may be able to afford to buy tious diseases have been issues in the Van tle dog and valued him because he was devot- remembered “that with the gift of the puppy, a it. It could prove to be Angel’s Gate’s home Bramer case. Marino’s care and sanitation at ed to only her. Flush had lifted the misery and new life began for me.” one day, and/or an annex for our farm ani- Angel’s Gate are reputedly up to the human she made a promise, which she would keep This was because, as a well-behaved mals. Also, a benefactor has offered to pur- hospital standards she learned to maintain in for the rest of his life: “He & I are inseparable little girl in a family whose highest value was chase property for us on Long Island, so no 30 years as a pediatric nurse. companions, and I have vowed him my per- conventionality, Edith had scant outlet for her matter the outcome of our court appeal, it As a nurse, Marino cultivated the petual society in exchange for his devotion.” emotions until Foxy arrived in her life. looks like Angel’s Gate will be able to contin- warmth and patience to explain her work over Emily Bronte’s private writings were Thereafter Edith was never without ue to serve Long Islands neediest creatures.” and over to anxious and uncomprehending destroyed by her sister Charlotte. Thus the the companionship of her dogs. The Angel’s Gate case, driven by people. Getting Lucky committed her favorite most vivid portrait of Emily and Keeper, a Virginia Woolf’s life was a litany of hostile neighbors, is hardly unique. The Oasis illustrative examples of her animal work to huge dog descended from mastiffs, is from tragedies. She was molested at the age of six Animal Sanctuary operated by Eddie Lama, paper, in a surprisingly upbeat voice. Though Charlotte Bronte’s novel S h i r l e y , which was years old by her 20-year-old half brother. This profiled in the Tribe of Heart video T h e Lucky the dog and the other animals whom intended as a tribute to her sister. had a damaging affect on her emotional state, Witness (2001), is also facing fines and the Marino profiles were doomed, they retained After losing her mother and sisters at and indeed her whole life. She later had a les- threat of closure. The Town of Callicoon has nobility, dignity, even a sense of humor, and a very early age, Emily was prone to unbear- bian affair during her childless marriage. revoked a kennel variance permit that Lama had lessons to teach the observant. able anxiety whenever she left home, and so Woolf too became emotionally has held since 1998, asserting that a sanctuary Marino views hospice care as a nat- she turned her affection towards animals. dependent upon her pet dogs, and “composed is a “nonconforming use” of the property. ural extension of the other roles of animal Writes Adams, “She never showed regard to entire sections of books by talking them out The dispute started when Lama sheltering, for those who truly value animals’ any human creature; all her love was reserved loud while she walked with her Pinka (a handed town officials proof of nonprofit status lives and individual personalities. To her, the for animals.” spaniel) in a state of trance-like swimming.” and asserted that Oasis is entitled to a tax major question about her work is not why she Her attitude and way with the family At age 59, when Woolf started to exemption under New York law. Lama has does it, but rather why so few others provide dogs was sometimes violent and at other times hear voices and knew she was going mad, she paid $130,000 in property taxes over the past similar care. very gentle. Her book Wuthering Heights, committed suicide by filling her pockets with 10 years, according to Mary Esparra of the Animal hospices have existed to pro- which was seen as autobiographical, received rocks and walking into the Ouse river. Middletown Times Herald Record. vide terminal comfort to favored animals for shocked reviews from the conservative nine- Shaggy Muses is a reflection on the A court order meanwhile forced Pat as long as animal shelters of any kind. Indeed, teenth century critics. Wrote one, “How a times in which these women lived and wrote, Klimo of Ringwood, Illinois, to close the 15- the original role of the temple animal sanctuar- human being could have attempted such a and would be as interesting to feminists as it is year-old Pets In Need shelter at the end of ies of India, Sri Lanka, and Thailand was to book as the present without committing sui- to animal lovers. ––Beverley Pervan June 2007. Klimo had fought zoning com- keep spent cows and draft animals, who in other cultures are slaughtered and eaten. African gray parrot Alex, 31, taught the world about bird brains Yet the hospice concept has strug- gled almost from the beginning. Many an Alex, 31, African gray parrot com- a parrot who understood at an early age how to the acquisition of African gray parrots as fad- Asian temple sanctuary has degenerated into panion and experimental subject of Brandeis assemble words to communicate complex and dish pets, leading to intensive wild captures thinly disguised commercial animal hus- University and Harvard University compara- original ideas. Pepperberg changed her career and export under conditions causing the deaths bandry. Secularizing Indian p i n j a r a p o l e s i n tive psychologist Irene Pepperberg since 1977, focus to explore in a series of peer-reviewed- of more birds than reached the U.S. and the mid-20th century was meant to reform the was found dead in his cage of an unknown studies just how much Alex could learn. Europe safely. Exposés of the traffic and dis- tradition, but instances of unscrupulous opera- cause on the morning of September 9, 2007. Alex developed a vocabulary of 50 ease outbreaks associated with it eventually tors allowing cattle to starve in order to sell Pepperberg, then a doctoral student to 100 words, identified colors and shapes, brought the passage of the 1993 law forbidding their hides still come to light appallingly often. in chemistry at Harvard, bought Alex at a pet counted to five, and in early 2007 demonstrat- the import of wild-caught birds into the U.S. In the U.S., providing lifetime care store. Despite centuries of anecdotal evidence ed through volunteering information during an In his final days Alex was working to exotic animals is easily the form of shelter- of avian intelligence, and documented evi- exercise that he grasped the concept of zero. with Pepperberg to learn compound words and ing most attractive to donors, relative to the dence that pigeons could quickly learn com- While there is no scientifically hard-to-pronounce words. Wrote Benedict numbers of animals helped. Conversely, plex tasks through operant conditioning, sci- accepted protocol for demonstrating a sense of Corey of The New York Times, “As euthanizing dogs and cats is so thoroughly entists then had little appreciation of the depth humor, Alex was also by many accounts a wit Pepperberg put him into his cage for the accepted that the whole notion of giving a ter- and range of bird intelligence. and a prankster, who would often use various night,” the evening before his death, “Alex minally ill or incapacitated dog or cat special Alex, however, quickly demonstrat- ruses to end experiments he found tedious. looked at her and said, “You be good. See care has until recently attracted little donor ed that he was not only a “talking parrot,” but His fame contributed to popularizing you tomorrow. I love you.” support, and a great deal of misunderstanding. Angel’s Gate may be the first U.S. animal hospice to build a broad donor base. As the status of animals rises, it almost cer- ANIMAL PEOPLE tainly will not be the last. ––Merriitt Clifton Mystories of thanks you for your the Savannah generous support by Margaret Hehman-Smith Honoring the parable of the widow's mite–– Trafford Pub. (Suite 6E, 2333 Govt. St., in which a poor woman gives but one coin Victoria B.C. V8T 4P4, Canada), 2007. to charity, yet that is all she possesses–– 171 pages, paperback. $17.95 we do not list our donors by how much Margaret Hehman-Smith, widow of they give, but we greatly appreciate pioneering animal behaviorist Donald Leon large gifts that help us do more for animals. ––Wolf Smith, contributed an essay on the intelligence Clifton of fish to the March 1993 edition of animal Kat Albrecht, Animal Lovers Society, Florence Arday, Alexandra Bechter, Risa Beckham, Kathleen Berard, Leonard & Ellen Berger, people which remains timely and relevant. Donna Berriman, Louis Bertrand, Laura Black, Bonney Brown, Patricia Cade, Donna & Jim Carter, Dr. Holly Cheever, If Hehman-Smith had the literary Myrna Cohen, Gale Cohen-Demarco, Richard Crownover, Anne Galloway Curtis, Joseph D'Angelo, Beverly Englishman, Fay Forman, skill of Michael Crichton, the ideas she out- Bill Francis, Shirley Gaetano, Gloria Gray, John Green, Handsel Foundation, Ruth Heller, Candee Hett, Colleen Hustead, Jerome Kahn, lines in Mystories of the Savannah about non- Paul Kearney, Molly Kingston, Joyce Woltz Kirkwood, Rosalie Kleinberg, Heather & Lawrence Kren, Sister Regina Lambert, human primates organizing resistance and Mona Lefebvre, Elizabeth Lemlich, Laurel Lyall, Jean Mackenzie, Lois Maloney, A. Marlin, Patricia McGuire, Lola Merritt, retreat in response to human invasions of their Marilee Meyer, Heather Mikkelsen, Mr. & Mrs. Richard Miller, Ms. Elsie Mitchell, Lee Mundstock, Irene Muschel, Steven Pagani, territory might make a best-seller and hit film. Pet FBI, Annette Pickett, Susan & Bob Recht, Dr. Charles Romesburg, Kathy Ruopp, Nancie Sailor, Gene Schmidt, Ethel Sciacco, Her rogue biologist who teaches a baboons to Stephen Serota, Kathleen Shopa, Magda Simopoulos, June Spencer, Mary Stankovich, Darren Star & Dennis Erdman Animal Welfare Fund, use a rifle might become a cult hero. George Stassinopoulos, Cristina Suzuki, Harry Syer, Dee Tharpe, James Townsend, Ariana Tuggle, Mrs. C. Valente, Hilde Wilson, Unfortunately, what we get is more a plot summary than the page-turner that Ronald Winkler, Louise Wunsch, Arlene & Melvin Yahre, Edith Yelland, Patricia Zajec, Carla Zimmer Hehman-Smith had in mind. ––Merritt Clifton 22 - ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2007 OBITUARIES MEMORIALS Marjorie Goodness Kelley, 59, on Rocky Spencer, 55, carnivore spe- In memory of Duchess Rofu Christine. August 4, 2007 “was on her Harley motorcy- cialist for the Washington state Department of ––James Townsend cle, turning into her driveway, when a car Fish & Wildlife, was killed on September 8, ______struck and killed her,” e-mailed White 2007 when he walked into a helicopter rotor In memory of Twinkie, Mountain Animal League president Mickey de while helping to move bighorn sheep from the dog of Laurie Goodman Rham, who credited Kelley with naming the Yakima River canyon. Wrote Ralph Thomas ––Mr. & Mrs. Richard C. Miller League. “Marge was a board member and co- of the Seattle Times, “Cougars and black bears ______founder of WMAL in 1989,” de Rham wrote. were his latest specialty. His job was to find In memory of Butch. “For someone who promotes spay/neuter, I ways to prevent them from coming into con- ––Bonney Brown greatly admired Marge as a dog breeder. She flict with humans. What he and fellow ______had started a book about Apple, a red researcher Brian Kertson were finding is that In memory of Miles Davis D'Angelo. Doberman bitch, who was really something. I cougars are in our midst––hunting, mating and ––Joseph D'Angelo wish that book could have been finished. I just raising their young––far more often than we ______found out,” de Rham added, “that Marge was ever imagine. While some may find all of this In memory of my little dog Que, writing a tribute to Bossie, our ‘Old Man of alarming, Spencer and Kertson saw it as proof who was put to sleep August 28, 2006. the Mountain’ cow, spokescow for the that, with proper precautions, cougars and Dear, sweet Que, we miss you so much, WMAL, ,who was euthanized shortly before humans can and do coexist without much trou- Butch, originally a New York City never will forget you. she herself died.” De Rham acquired Bossie, ble. Spencer and Kertson examined about 150 street cat, was sent to the Best Friends You are in my thoughts every day. noted for markings resembling the “Old Man cougar kill sites,” Thomas wrote. “Spencer Animal Society in Kanab, Utah after testing ––Hilde Wilson of the Mountain” rock formation that is the said what they saw was that pets and livestock positive for FIV. Becoming personal cat of ______New Hampshire state symbol, at about the made up less than 2% of cougar prey in their then-Best Friends national outreach coordi - In memory of Tina, companion dog to same time the White Mountain Animal League study area. Mostly, he said, cougars feed on nator Bonney Brown, he was her office assis - Champa Fernando for 13 years. was formed. She was subject of a children’s deer and smaller critters, such as raccoons and tant later at Alley Cat Allies and the Nevada ______book, Hey Bossie, You’re A Spokescow, by rabbits––animals often drawn to the suburban Humane Society in Reno, where she has In memory of Purr Box (12/3/87), de Rham, illustrated by Leigh Gusterson, fringes by backyard gardens, garbage, and been executive director since January 2006. Prometheus (3/21/81), Friendl (10/30/87), published in 2004 to benefit WMAL. feeders. One surprise to the biologists was Lizzie (5/8/84), Boy Cat (12/26/85), how often cougars feast on beavers.” wildlife corridors. As Nathaniel H. Axtell Miss Penrose (11/18/98), Duke (11/1/98), summarized of one of Degroot’s conference Purr Box, Jr. (5/1/04), Mylady (8/1/06), Robert Henry Degroot, 67, died presentations in 2001, “He dreams of a day Blackie (9/9/96), and Honey Boy (11/1/05). of cancer on September 16, 2007, his wife when eastern cougars can travel unimpeded by Carolyn notified ANIMAL PEOPLE. development from the mountains of Degroot was a frequent contributor of informa- Pennsylvania into the Maryland hill country tion to ANIMAL PEOPLE for nearly 15 and across the spine of Appalachia into years. A former naval officer and retired IBM Virginia and West Virginia—all without leav- employee, Degroot founded the Maryland ing the protection of forest.” Degroot also Alliance for Greenway Improvement and dreamed of a day when coyotes would be Conservation, after many years of involve- properly appreciated and respected. “I hope ment with the Sierra Club and a variety of the public officials responsible for killing these environmental coalitions. He campaigned on animals make a real effort to educate them- behalf of protecting wildlife habitat and selves, and learn why the coyote is important attracting wildlife to backyard habitat, and to our environment,” he wrote in 2005. “In Bossie, with recent visitors Carol Marnell opposed wind power because of the toll that lieu of flowers the family requests that dona- of Fort Thomas, Kentucky, left, and wind turbines often take on birds and bats, tions be made in Bob’s name to the Humane ––Wolf Clifton Lisa Cordle of Franconia, New Hampshire. but his deepest interest was in establishing Society of the U.S.,” Carolyn Degroot said. AUTO RACER, AUTHOR, AND ANTI-VIVISECTIONIST HANS RUESCH DIES AT AGE 94 Hans Ruesch, 94, died in Mass- Taking the lead in the 1936 British managed to get released and continued on to Italian League Against Vivisection. A n i m a l agno, Switzerland, on August 27, 2007, after Grand Prix on the third lap, and holding it, Lisbon where he stayed for six weeks…He set- L i b e r a t i o n author Peter Singer, another fre- a prolonged illness that brought several prema- Ruesch on the 60th lap, as an apparent gesture tled in New York, studying creative writing. quent target, mostly ignored him. ture reports of his death. of sportsmanship, turned his car over to Dick He took up writing full time and had short sto- Eventually Ruesch outlived the cen- Born in Naples of a Swiss mother Seaman, the most renowned British driver of ries published by Redbook, Colliers, Saturday tral premise of his argument. Ruesch held that and German father, Ruesch briefly studied law the era, and shared his first Grand Prix victory Evening Post and Esquire.” animal experiments are invalid predictors of at the University of Zurich, but quit at age 19 with Seaman. Post-World War II, Ruesch authored the effects of drugs and medical procedures on + to race his M.G. sports car. Soon switching to Ruesch took his Alfa Romeo to two novels, Top of the World (1950) and The humans because animals are inherently too dif- + a much faster Maserati, Ruesch won the first South Africa for the winter of 1936-1937, R a c e r (1953), which were made into films ferent from humans to permit accurate cross- 12 of his eventual 27 victories in international where he raced chiefly against the Nazi-subsi- starring Anthony Quinn and Peter O’Toole, species extrapolation. auto racing competion during the next three dized Auto Union team. and Kirk Douglas, respectively. Introduced by antivivisectionists years, proving especially successful in hill After four Grand Prix wins among a An attempted racing comeback in more than two generations before Charles climbs and races on ice. career-best six victories in 1937, Ruesch 1953 ended after Ruesch crashed his Ferrari in Darwin authored The Origin of Species, this Moving rapidly to the top level of appeared to be on the verge of Grand Prix star- his first event, killing a Italian policeman and approach was eroded by advances in genetic European auto racing, Ruesch drove an Alfa dom. According to some sources––but not seriously injuring three other people. research which have increasingly established Romeo to third place in his 1932 Grand Prix others, including his authorized online biogra- Ruesch produced several more nov- how closely humans are related to other debut. Competing chiefly on the Grand Prix phy––Ruesch in 1938 joined the Alfa Romeo els during the next 23 years, but founded the species––even mollusks. Thus, while whole circuit after 1934, Ruesch was an indepen- factory team; traveled to the U.S. with the Center for Scientific Information on Vivi-sec- organisms may respond very differently to par- dent car owner in a sport dominated by Italian racing great Tazio Nuvolari in mid- tion (CIVIS) in 1974, and abandoned fiction ticular conditions or substances, specific tis- German and Italian factory teams who raced year, after the Alfa Romeo cars proved writing to produce the influential exposés The sues or systems sometimes respond identically. with Nazi and Fascist subsidies. uncompetitive and dangerous; and in July Slaughter of The Innocent (1978) and T h e As the science of the “scientific” 1938 jumped to the Auto Union team with Naked Empress (1982). Both were instrumen- argument that Ruesch favored changed, the There is no better way to Nuvolari. The official Ruesch biography men- tal in boosting support for the early animal emphasis of anti-vivisection campaigning tilt- remember animals or animal people tions no events of 1938 after April. rights movement. ed heavily toward making the case that ani- than with an ANIMAL PEOPLE “In 1939 with the political situation CIVIS chapters founded around the mals should not be experimented on because memorial. Send donations in Europe deteriorating,” the official bio world in support of Ruesch were among the they are enough like humans to deserve equiv- (any amount), with address for recounts, Ruesch “moved to Paris, where he most active incubators of animal rights alent moral consideration. began writing…He had made a scouting trip to activism, but lost much of their momentum Ruesch argued in his last published acknowledgement, if desired, to America in 1938, and with the Germans one and leadership to other organizations, as essay––as he often had before––that the turn P.O. Box 960 day away from Paris and the borders closed, Ruesch became embroiled in often one-sided away from his approach came because univer- Clinton, WA 98236-0960 he headed for Spain…He was arrested in disputes with perceived rivals. Ruesch eventu- sities both employ moral philosophers and Madrid but, with the help of a female friend, ally lost a protracted libel suit brought by the host animal experiments. ––Merritt Clifton CLASSIFIEDS––50¢ a word! POB 960, Clinton, WA 98236 • 360-579-2505 • fax 360- PLEASE HELP THE WORKING Register your pro-animal organization at FREE SPAY/NEUTER for stray and feral SUBSCRIBE NOW TO VEGAN VOICE, DONKEYS OF INDIA! www.worldanimal.net cats and dogs in Arad, Romania. Please Australia's celebrated and singular quarterly We sponsor free veterinary camps twice a ______help us with a donation: www.animed.ro magazine! www.veganic.net year for over 2,000 working donkeys in cen- SIGN THE PETITION TO THE ______tral India, plus free vet care on Sundays. UNITED NATIONS to adopt the Universal INTERESTED IN VOLUNTEERING IN Take time to smell the flowers and to visit: Dharma Donkey Sanctuary/Ahimsa of Declaration on Animal Welfare: KENYA AND HELPING ANIMALS IN http://humanelink.org Texas, 1720 E. Jeter Road, Bartonville, TX www.animalsmatter.org AFRICA? Visit our volunteer page on 76226; + + 24 - ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2007 + +