ICELAND TO RESUME WHALING No dogs or homeless humans (Page 10) allowed in Bangkok historic zone BANGKOK, PHUKET, Thailand– – declared on August 1. Spooked by SARS, China kills dogs to Street dogs and homeless humans are barred from Issuing an edict that would have excluded the Rattanakosin historical district in central the Buddha and his followers from an area famed fight rabies & scare the monkeys Bangkok, city governor Samak Sundaravej for its Buddhist temples, Samak spoke at a Thai B E I J I N G ––“Beijing has no of the SARS outbreak and the economi- Foreign Ministry meeting held to discuss plans for more Severe Acute Respiratory Synd- cally devastating ensuing panic. beautifying Bangkok before the October 21-22 Asia rome patients,” city deputy health chief “It is now evident,” editorial- Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Liang Wannian told the People’s Daily ized the moderators of the ProMed Said Samak, according to Supoj on July 29. online information network maintained Wancharoen of the Bangkok Post, “Our city is not Hu Jintao, President of by the International Society for Calcutta. We must not allow such an eyesore. They China, one day earlier lauded the Infectious Diseases, “that China’s sup- [street dogs and homeless people] must not be there Communist Party leadership for eradi- pression of news about SARS helped at all times, not just during the APEC summit.” cating SARS––nine months, more than fuel a global epidemic that could have Continued Supoj, “A city hall source said 8,500 cases worldwide, and at least been controlled more quickly, with the Livestock Department has set up a shelter in Sa 789 deaths after the disease first fewer casualties and much less eco- Kaew for some 1,000 stray dogs,” at estimated cost appeared among food workers in nomic damage, if news of the outbreak for feeding and vaccination of $240,000 per year. Beijing and Guangdong. About half of had been reported rapidly and fully to This confirmed earlier reports from the cases and deaths came in mainland the world.” Agence France-Press, the Malaysia Star, and The China, with nearly 300 more deaths in Whether Chinese leaders had Nation of Bangkok, except that all of the previous Hong Kong. SARS also hit hard in learned any of the evident lessons from reports agreed that budget would provide lifelong Taiwan and Vietnam, afflicting people SARS came into question when on July care to 3,000 dogs. The estimated street dog popu- in more than 30 nations altogether. 17 the Guangdong provincial forestry lation of the neighborhoods involved was 3,000 Other informed observers department lifted a two-month ban on when surveyed in 1999, or about 3% of the total were critical of the Chinese government trade and transportation of more than estimated street dog population of Bangkok, but response, as well as increasingly skep- 40 wild animal species commonly sold the numbers may have been reduced since 1999 by tical that Chinese authorities have the at live markets, including palm civets, muncipal efforts to sterilize and vaccinate the dogs, will to enforce the complete shutdowns the apparent primary hosts of the coron- often interrupted by running out of money. of wildlife trafficking and live meat avirus that causes SARS. Many of the dogs are highly adoptable, markets that could ensure no repetition (continued on page 17) by U.S. and European standards. An organization called Soi Dog Rescue, formed by British expatri-
––Eileen Crossman (continued on page 14) ANIMAL PEOPLE News For People Who Care About Animals
September 2003 Volume XII, #7 Hens at a Hong Kong live market. (Kim Bartlett) Top U.S. & British medical journals report–– Hormone drugs from pregnant mare’s urine can cost lives & minds L O N D O N–– Sales of hormone sup- J A M A on May 28 reported that plements made from pregnant mare’s urine, women taking hormone supplements have a already down 65% in less than a year, may doubled risk of developing Alzheimer’s dis- fall even faster after the August 9 publication ease and other forms of senile dementia. by the British Medical Association journal The The New England Journal of L a n c e t of new evidence that taking popular Medicine on August 7 reported that a woman’s combinations of estrogen and progestin risk of a heart attack is 81% higher than the appears to produce a 66% greater risk of devel- norm for her age in her first year of hormone oping breast cancer within five years, and a therapy, and 24% higher over five years. 22% greater risk of dying from it. The PMU production process, Taking estrogen alone increased the which treats horses much like factory-farmed risk of developing breast cancer by 30%. dairy cattle, became subject of a gobal boycott The data came from clinical observa- by more than 50 leading animal advocacy Suzy the Pig and Missy Cow Cow at Wild Burro Rescue. tion of nearly one million British women groups after it was exposed on page one of the between the ages of 50 and 64, who were sur- April 1993 edition of ANIMAL PEOPLE. WHO gets the point about factory farming veyed at annual mammogram appointments Based on investigative findings by beginning in 1996. Canadian Farm Animal Care Trust founder G E N E V A ––The World Health cials say that about half of the antibiotics used The $10 million study was directed Tom Hughes, the ANIMAL PEOPLE report Organization on August 13, 2003 recommend- by livestock growers worldwide are low-dose by Valerie Beral, M.D., of Oxford University, was amplified by three of the five leading New ed that national governments should phase out growth promoters, the type that public health with funding from the British government and York City newspapers, and won the Inter- the addition of antibiotics to animal feed when experts say are most likely to promote the Cancer Research U.K., a private charity. national Generic Horse Association/ HorseAid the drugs are given to healthy animals “for the growth of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.” Beral and team estimated that taking “Equine Awareness in Media” award. The sole purpose of growth promotion.” The Animal Health Institute, repre- estrogen/progestin combination drugs could be boycott was declared later in 1993 by PETA, “WHO’s recommendation does not senting agricultural drug makers, claims only linked to 15,000 more cases of breast cancer Friends of Animals, the Animal Protection require nations to act,” explained Washington 13% to 17% of the antibiotics used on U.S. during the past 10 years than would otherwise Institute, and the World Society for the P o s t agriculture writer Marc Kaufman. “But farms are low-dose growth promoters, but the have occurred. Taking estrogen alone could be Protection of Animals. this will add to the movement to stop routine Union of Concerned Scientists has affirmed associated with 5,000 additional cases. At the time, PMU producers in the use of antibiotics on farms, and to the kind of the WHO estimate. Together with new findings pub- prairie provinces of Canada and the Dakotas public pressure that recently led the “WHO’s recommendation goes well lished in recent editions of the Journal of the were sending an estimated 70,000 foals and McDonald’s fast-food chain to tell suppliers to beyond the steps taken by the McDonald’s American Medical Association a n d N e w “retired” mares to slaughter each year, and the cut back on antibiotic growth promoters.” fast-food chain in June, when it told meat sup- England Journal of Medicine, the British data industry was expanding production facilities, “We have believed for some time pliers it wanted them to reduce or stop the use may virtually halt consumer demand for drugs anticipating a surge of demand as the Baby that giving animals low dosages of antibiotics of some growth promoters by the end of next derived from pregnant mare’s urine, called Boom generation hit menopause. throughout their lives to make them grow year,” Kaufman noted. “McDonald’s policy PMU for short. faster is a bad idea,” WHO antibiotic project would prohibit the use of 24 antibiotic growth (continued on page 5) leader Peter Braam told Kaufman. “Now we promoters, but would allow low-dose antibi- have solid scientific data,” from a newly com- otics that act to prevent disease rather than pleted five-year study of the results of a volun- solely promote growth. The Danish ban is on tary phase-out of antibiotic growth promoters all low-dosage antibiotics, whatever their pur- in Denmark, “that producers can terminate pose. A similar ban will go into effect across this practice without negative effects for the the European Union in 2006.” animals, and with good effects for humans.” By going beyond McDonald’s The Danish producers found that the requirements, WHO reinforced McDonald’s cost of raising pork increased 1% without rou- position that what it is asking is reasonable and tine use of antibiotics. The percentages of pigs easy for farmers to comply with. and chickens carrying antibiotic-resistant bac- National Pork Board spokesperson teria, however, dropped from a range of 60%- Cynthia Cunningham earlier complained to 80% to a range of 5%-35%. New York Times reporter David Barboza that, Continued Kaufman, “WHO offi- (continued on page 6) lap, sometimes pushing keys down herself, as I am writing this letter to you. We’ve had offers from land developers to sell that miracle half-acre, but we can’t . . . dozens of hungry cats call this their home, even though they really live on the surrounding streets, in the alleys and under buildings. Whenever I go down to visit the cats, I search for moms and kittens, or injured & sick cats. This last trip I found Mavis, staggering to her food dish. She was an old never caught and seldom seen cat, and because years would sometimes pass without a sighting, I often thought we had lost her. Try to remember for a minute . . . what was your life like back around 1988 when Mavis was born? What were you doing in 1989 when she was scampering around trying not to get hit by cars, ducking into our haven for the only food and water she could count on? How about in 1990 when Mavis had her first near-fatal disease? Or 1993 when she had a painful abscess that burst on its own? Try to remember what you were doing, who your friends and relatives were, each year up to today. I’ll bet a lot has happened in your life. And a lot has happened to Mavis in all that time too. But the only good thing that’s happened to her is that I rescued her, final- July 2003 l y, when she came out in daylight to eat. She could barely walk and she had a huge hole in her neck where yet another Dear Partner, abscess had burst. In 1988, five years after we got our first shelter . . . a run down, con- This poor old cat has had a terrible life . . . but she’s survived thanks to our demned set of kennel buildings in the city . . . I moved all of our 250 dogs & feeding program at our first shelter. cats out of there to our beautiful new sanctuary in the mountains. As my wife said while she was holding Mavis for this picture above, “Here’s a During our stay at that old kennel, many feral cats from the surround- cat nobody would want. Any other place would put her down.” Well, WE want her. ing industrial areas found their way to the food and water we left out for them. And whatever time she has left, we will love and care for old Mavis . . . all the while They used to come through openings in our block walls all through the wishing it were longer, so we could begin to make it up to her . . . for her lifetime of night, and be gone by daylight. s u ff e r i n g . When I demolished that old kennel, I set up feeding stations for the For the animals, feral cats who would continue to find a safe haven there. Over these last 15 years, two of our over 30 catteries at our 94-acre Supershelter are exclusively for feral cats from this land. But more feral cats keep finding their way to us, each with a tragic story. Le Many times I have rescued infants who were the last survivors of some Leo Grillo, founder nearby disaster. Their mothers carried them into our haven and either died or got killed on nearby streets with heavy trucks quaking by every minute or so. Most of these lone kittens had to be hand raised in an incubator, at D.E.L.T.A. Rescue home with me. So most of the cats who now live at home with us are these for- merly feral rescued kittens all grown up! One of them, old Dinah, is on my PO Box 9, Dept AP, Glendale, CA 91209 Attention: Rescuers and Shelters Build your own inexpensive straw bale dog house for your pets’ maximum protection, comfort and fun! Here at D.E.L.T.A. Rescue, we invented a better housing system That’s why we now build the deluxe “stucco” version. Our mate- for our more than 859 dogs. Using 25 common bales of straw, and rials cost for this stucco version is about $400, while you can put up three sheets of plywood, two people can build a straw bale dog house the simple building for under $150. Good news! We put all the in under 10 minutes! This is the same simple structure that withstood building instructions for both versions on video tape for anyone to our terrible El Nino rains in 1998. The simple straw design can last use, or copy in its entirety. And it’s FREE! To help us help precious 20 years, but because we are a permanent sanctuary, our houses animals, besides our own 859 dogs and 552 cats, please get this must last longer. video today and pass it around!
Our dogs love to play on the straw ... Simple straw house, 4x6 foot interior, Newly finished “deluxe” stucco version, before, during and after construction! 10 x10 foot rooftop play area, and steps! which will last 100 years or more!
We spent a year making this video tape. Now, for the sake of cold, unsheltered dogs everywhere, we are offering it to anyone for free. To pay for duplication and postage, we are asking for a $6 donation per tape, but only if you can afford it! And we can send the tape to anyone you want. Or you can get one, copy it yourself, then give it to friends. Write today to get your free video, and then build a house your dog will truly love and enjoy. Send to: D.E.L.T.A. Rescue, Our dogs climb their steps and play on top One village at D.E.L.T.A. Rescue. Two P.O. Box 9, Glendale, CA 91209. and inside their houses. They have a ball! dogs per yard, and a deluxe house for both! Or call us at 661-269-4010 and get it faster! ANIMA L P EOPLE, September 2003 - 3 Editorial The Buddha’s last lesson was for humane work The ANIMAL PEOPLE editorial team will be traveling in China when most readers This may be achieved by solving the problems that motivate reformers, but may also receive this edition. We will meet with many of the people who are building pro-animal insti- be achieved by providing the public with a means of assuaging their consciences through pre- tutions in the world’s most populous nation, will visit the Animals Asia Foundation sanctuary tending that something is being done about the problems, whether that is true or not. for rescued bile farm bears in Chengu, and will then join delegates from throughout Asia at Reformers are by nature radical; institutions are conservative. Radicals serve ideal the Asia for Animals conference in Hong Kong. visions; institutions serve reality. Hosted by the Hong Kong SPCA, Asia for Animals is to focus on dogs and cats––but Thus, in the name of reality, the American Humane Association and American dogs and cats are eaten in many parts of Asia, while the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome SPCA during the 1890s gave up opposition to sport hunting (and later, to use of shelter ani- epidemic of 2002-2003 established the relationship of live markets selling dogs, cats, and mals in research) to gain, respectively, the franchise to operate orphanages for New York wildlife as meat with the spread of human disease. state and the New York City animal control contract. These economically stabilizing deals Any discussion of humane work inevitably circles back around to the first and lasted until 1950 and 1994. biggest of all humane issues, and perhaps of all ethical issues: killing animals for meat. The late Cleveland Amory cofounded the Humane Society of the U.S. in 1954 in “History’s first ideological and philosophical argument may have been the conflict hopes of forcing the AHA and ASPCA to retract their endorsement of the use of shelter ani- between vegetarianism and carnivorism, depicted in the rivalry between Cain and Abel,” mals in research, as they eventually did. Amory meanwhile started the Fund for Animals in wrote Richard Schwartz in Judaism & Vegetarianism (1988). 1968 to oblige both organizations and HSUS to stand up against sport hunting. The vegetarian Cain eventually murdered Abel, the herdsman favored by God. Amory won that struggle, too, and along the way came to a critical realization. Scribes and scholars have struggled over interpretations of the allegorical story ever since, Decades before Amory died in 1998, he understood that even though he himself while affirming the importance of the ethical issues it raises by including versions in Jewish never succeeded in becoming a vegetarian, and even though the Fund has little direct involve- scripture, the Christian “Old Testament,” and the Quran. ment in dietary issues, Fund policy and Fund events had to eschew meat-eating, as the first Moses appears to have retained leadership of the Hebrews by bringing forth a set of and strongest defense against loss of moral leadership. Amory endorsed the adoption of vege- Ten Commandments which omitted explicit mention of animals in declaring “Thou shall not tarianism as a central goal of the animal rights movement and agreed with ANIMAL PEO- kill,” while introducing as part of “Mosaic Law” a set of rules for humane slaughter and the P L E that humane societies should not serve meat at public functions, as a gesture toward care of work animals. integrity, even if every member eats meat at every meal at home. In effect, Moses may have introduced the compromise accepted by most humane institutions ever since. He may have agreed that animals could be eaten if they were raised Less meat can succeed and killed “humanely” because this was the most he could convince others to accept. The Brahmins, who were perhaps also refugees from Egypt, in comparably ancient Humane society directors and board members who fear losing donor support if they times appear to have introduced abstention from meat to India as a central tenet of upper-caste quit serving meat at public events might note the fundraising success of the San Francisco Hinduism. When Brahmin teachings were corrupted by the continued practice of animal sacri- SPCA, raising $11.5 million per year, and Best Friends, which raised $15.7 million last year. fice among tribal peoples they conquered, Mahavir and Sidhartha Gautama Buddha founded The SF/SPCA has officially practiced and promoted vegetarianism for approximately ten Jainism and Buddhism as vegetarian Hindu reform movements. years; Best Friends has been stalwartly vegetarian from inception. Reconciliation of Buddhism with meat-eating came long after the Buddha’s own The Richmond SPCA, of Richmond, Virginia, has not been nearly that brave, but time and far from his homeland, where followers remembered more vividly that he was killed did quietly de-emphasize meat during a recent three-year series of weekly luncheons that when someone slipped a morsel of pork into his begging bowl. raised $14.2 million to build a new shelter and bankroll an effort to make Richmond the first The symbolism of that incident is relevant today to animal advocates of every reli- no-kill city in the U.S. South. gion, or none. The fundraising achievement is especially noteworthy because Richmond is a third The point the Buddha made by his death, however accidental, is that if an animal the size of San Francisco and much less affluent. Unlike the SF/SPCA and Best Friends, the advocate accepts eating meat in any form, that ethical compromise can ultimately poison the Richmond SPCA is not nationally prominent, and does not have a support base extending cause. If animals may be killed for meat, for example, it is difficult to argue that it is unethi- beyond just a few miles up the Shenandoah Valley. Neither is Richmond noted for warmly cal to kill animals in experiments which might benefit millions of people and some animals receiving change. The last time anyone led a revolution in Richmond may have been during too. If animals may be killed for meat, certainly it is not more harmful or disrespectful of the 1863-1865 struggle remembered locally as the War Between the States. their lives to use them for entertainment, or to wear their hides and pelts. Fought in a futile effort to preserve slavery, that war remains fresh in memory in the If any of this may be done with animals of one species, why not with animals of Shenandoah Valley. The American SPCA, Massachusetts SPCA, Pennsylvania SPCA, and other species? Why not with humans? Women’s Humane Society of Philadephia were all begun soon afterward by Abolitionists who Troubled by such questions, but reluctant to risk alienating donors, the secular extended their concerns to animals, but the first “humane society” in Richmond may have humane societies of recent times have mostly compromised, like Moses, sacrificing moral been the insane asylum for depressed and destitute ex-slaveowners depicted by Ross clarity to institutional pragmatism. Lockridge Jr. in his 1948 novel Raintree County. The character played by Elizabeth Taylor in Formed in 1824, the London SPCA in 1832 foreshadowed the direction of the cause the 1957 film Raintree County briefly inhabited the asylum, but she cannot quite be claimed for nearly 200 years by ousting Jewish financial saviour Lewis Gompertz because he urged as a fictional Richmond SPCA alumnus because the present humane society was formed a gen- that SPCA functions be vegetarian. Then, having attracted the broader support that the meat- eration later, in 1891, albeit with overlapping community support. eaters feared Gompertz would alienate, the organization in 1840 became the Royal SPCA by Knowing that local controversies may smolder for generations, and already under in effect giving up opposition to vivisection to win a royal charter. bitter attack from traditionalists for moving toward no-kill sheltering, Richmond SPCA execu- That created openings for the rise of the next generation of British animal advocacy tive director Robin Starr did nothing to draw attention to her de-emphasis of meat. groups, including the National Canine Defence League, now a world leader in promoting She also compromised considerably. dog-and-cat welfare but originally an anti-vivisection society. “We served no red meat,” Starr told ANIMAL PEOPLE. “Most of the meals were Causes grow by developing institutional influence; becoming corrupted, at least in fish. Some were vegetarian, and a few were chicken.” the vision of the most determined reformers; splitting, and eventually revitalizing themselves. As ANIMAL PEOPLE has often pointed out, the universe of suffering is greatly Critical to understand, in either building or revitalizing a cause, is that a reformer expanded instead of reduced, if in lieu of eating one pig or cow, people eat more than 100 succeeds to the extent that the reformer is able to make the public feel uncomfortable enough chickens or fish. In ecological terms, raising the chickens or catching the fish is far more about abuse and injustice to seek the creation, improvement, or replacement of institutions. harmful. Yet meat-eaters tend to perceive giving up red meat as a first step toward giving up A reformer is thereby an instrument of social instability. meat entirely, and vegetarian converts often go through a phase of eating fish or chicken Institutions, however, even when built by reformers, do not actually exist to solve instead of red meat before becoming vegetarians in earnest. the problems that motivate reformers. Rather, institutions exist to alleviate the discomfort that Wholly meatless meals could still become controversial in Richmond, and Starr is afflicts society as result of the work of reformers. anxious about the possibility. Her experiment with de-emphasizing meat, however, was a The central purpose of any institution is to restore and maintain social stability. resounding success. Week after week, instead of asking anyone to make a donation on the spot, Starr gave her guests donation envelopes to take home. The SF/SPCA is noted for rais- SEARCHABLE ARCHIVES: www.animalpeoplenews.org ing 25% more money per city resident than the U.S. norm––but the donation envelopes Key articles now available en Español et en Français! returned to the Richmond SPCA 33% more per city resident than even the SF/SPCA brings in. Though concerned in day-to-day work almost exclusively with dogs and cats, the Richmond SPCA embraces as its mission “leading the way for the South in a new standard for ANIMAL PEOPLE compassionate treatment of animals,” meaning all animals. In Richmond the example as News for People Who Care About Animals regards eating animals remains inconsistent, but Starr recognizes the imperative implicit in the no-kill philosophy that no sentient being should be treated as a mere commodity. Publisher: Kim Bartlett The influential No Kill Conference series of 1995-2001 featured meatless meals Editor: Merritt Clifton from the start, and so has the Conference on Homeless Animal Management & Policy Web site manager: Patrice Greanville (CHAMP), succeeding it. Though some of the organizers and sponsors are vegetarians, some Newswire monitor: Cathy Young Czapla are not; but even among those who are not, there seems to be unanimous agreement that killing animals should not be part of advancing the idea of compassion for animals. POB 960 This is a significant turnabout from the agrarian attitude that once prevailed in Clinton, WA 98236-0960 humane work. Fifty years ago the hottest topics in animal advocacy were the introduction in ISSN 1071-0035. Federal I.D: 14-175 2216 Congress of the first edition of the bill that in 1959 became the Humane Slaughter Act, and the formation of two San Francisco SPCA subsidiaries to promote regionally and nationally Telephone: 360-579-2505. the use of decompression chambers to kill homeless dogs and cats. Fax: 360-579-2575. Under the direction of Richard Avanzino, 1976-1998, the SF/SPCA led a successful E-mail: [email protected] national drive to abolish animal killing by decompression, and in 1994 San Francisco became Web: www.animalpeoplenews.org the first U.S. no-kill city, but in the 1950s the attitudes of major humane organizations toward Copyright 2002 for the authors, artists, and photographers. farm animals and companion animals appear to have differed mainly as regards the disposal of Reprint inquiries are welcome. remains. Farm animals were to be eaten, while longtime Massachusetts SPCA education offi- cer William Allen Swallow postulated in The Quality of Mercy, a 1963 “history of the humane ANIMAL PEOPLE: News for People Who Care About Animals is published movement in the United States,” that the future of the cause would be running pet cemeteries. 10 times annually by Animal People, Inc., a nonprofit, charitable corporation dedicated to There were contrary voices, including E.B. White, who published the anti-meat exposing the existence of cruelty to animals and to informing and educating the public of children’s classic Charlotte’s Web in 1952; Elizabeth Lewyt, who with friends cofounded the the need to prevent and eliminate such cruelty. no-kill North Shore Animal League in 1954; Walt Disney, whose 1955 animated feature Lady Subscriptions are $24.00 per year; $38.00/two years; $50/three years. & The Tramp exposed the plight of homeless dogs and cats more vividly and realistically than ANIMAL PEOPLE is mailed under Bulk Rate Permit #2 from Clinton, any previous screen treatment; and Alice Harrington, who founded Friends of Animals in Washington, and Bulk Rate Permit #408, from Everett, Washington. 1957 to operate the first low-cost pet sterilization program in the U.S. Executive subscriptions, mailed first class, are $40.00 per year or $70/two years. All, however, were so far outside the mainstream that Swallow mentioned none of The base rate for display advertising is $8.50 per square inch of page space. them, even though in retrospect they were perhaps the most presciently influential animal Please inquire about our substantial multiple insertion discounts. advocates of their era. The editors prefer to receive queries in advance of article submissions; unsolicit- ed manuscripts will be considered for use, but will not be returned unless accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope of suitable size. We do not publish fiction or poetry. 4 - ANIMAL P EOPLE, September 2003
––Wolf Dogs, cats, gorillas in the mist ETTERS Clifton L Why no shelter in Kampala? I first thought of writing to you when I was in Uganda. ANIMAL PEOPLE gave me a sense of sanity there! Often when people moved to Uganda—from the U.K., U.S., Australia, South Africa, Kenya—they’d call the Uganda SPCA and ask, “Where’s the s h e l t e r ? ” I’d explain that we have no shelter. Starting a shelter in Kampala would make no sense right now. There are few dogs and cats on the streets, and there is only the start of a pet owning culture. Irresponsible expatriate pet keepers would make us their dumping ground. Very little money is available for humane work. Few [in-coun- try] people want to donate, and there are even fewer volunteers. The main problem in Uganda is lack of education about how to care for dogs and cats. A shelter would eat up our minimal resources and take away the time and energy we use to work in the communities on educating people about dog and cat care. ANIMAL PEOPLE echoed a lot of this and I also used your paper to get these points across to our board and local vets. Pigeons 4-H betrayal TNR success ––Karen Menczer Thank you very much for I was very impressed by Accompanying is informa- Washington, D.C. the mention of PICAS USA in your the letter in the June edition of ANI- tion about our use of a $2,500 grant
The May 17, 2003 “Veggie Pride” march in Paris. (CETA/Leo Tolstoy Chapter) AVMA dithers on farm animal welfare D E N V E R – – Distributing pho- representative Holly Cheever, DVM. Spay tographs of sows in gestation stalls, The August 1 edition of the Massachusetts delegate Peter Theran, Journal of the American Veterinary VMD, on July 20, 2003 warned the Medical Association indicated that even American Veterinary Medical Association the Food Marketing Institute and National USA House of Delegates that if it continues to Council of Chain Restaurants showed endorse the stalls, it might as well cease more willingness to improve farm animal pretending to advocate for animal welfare. care, in a recent review of National Theran, vice president of the Chicken Council welfare guidelines. Massachusetts SPCA hospital division, “Pending further data,” JAVMA urged support of a resolution submitted by said, the seven-member FMI-NCCR Farm Sanctuary asking the AVMA House Animal Welfare Advisory Panel “accepted of Delegates to withdraw a pro-gestation the NCC’s standards allowing for no more Church Times, the 140-year- stall position statement approved in 2002 than 30% of birds in a random sample to old newspaper of the Church of England, at request of the American Association of have cracks or ulcers on their feet. The concluded a July 4 editorial endorsing the Swine Veterinarians. panel also felt that 99% stunning effective- current Parliamentary attempt to abolish Instead, the House of Delegates ness for a 5000-bird sample is achieveable, fox hunting by noting that, “However defeated that resolution, then passed a res- but 98% effectiveness is acceptable until humane it attempts to me, the meat olution calling for more study of the issue. existing rates can be reviewed. industry causes more animals to suffer Also, for the fifth consecutive “Panel members recommended than do a few roving bands of horsemen year, the AVMA House of Delegates guidelines in three areas additional to and women. An increasing number of rejected a resolution against starving lay- those submitted by the NCC. First, stock- people would argue that since meat-eat- ing hens to induce a forced molt. ing density should not exceed six pounds ing is no longer a necessity, slaughtering “Meanwhile, within the past live weight per square foot; second, since animals for food comes under the same three years, fast food giants McDonald’s, lighting influences the prevalence of skele- heading of causing unnecessary suffer- Burger King, and Wendy’s, under pres- tal disorders, birds should be given at ing.” sure from animal welfare advocates, have least four hours of darkness per day; and all banned forced molting through new finally, when birds are caught and invert- regulations for their egg suppliers. The ed, they should be held by both legs.” practice is also banned in Europe and the The panel also recommended United Kingdom, and the Canadian that not more than 1% of the birds going to Veterinary Medical Association has taken slaughter should have broken wings, and a stand against it,” pointed out Assoc- that the “number of birds arriving dead at iation of Veterinarians for Animal Rights the plant should not exceed 0.6% per day.” ANIMA L P EOPLE, September 2003 - 7
D.E.L.T.A. Rescue's Extensive Training Program for Foreign Shelter Professionals Worldwide!
DELTA Rescue founder Leo Grillo and friend Focus: To provide specialized training in the United States in all aspects related to operations, structure, and veterinary medical care, for all short and long term residents in a no-kill, care-for-life shelter environment. Trainee Requirements: The trainee must have shelter experience with basic skills in animal husbandry and knowledge of animal health care. (S)he must be of a total no-kill mind set with the fortitude to commit to “care for life” if necessary. The individual must demonstrate a staunch desire to make a career of working in the field of humane sheltering, ultimately contributing to the abolition of senseless killing, suffering, cruelty, starvation, and abandonment of helpless animals. Trainees must speak English. We feel that just to be exposed to our way of medicine will take at least one month. You will be overwhelmed. To learn just the basics will take 3 - 6 months. The longer you stay, the more we will be able to teach you. And when you go back to your country we will consult with you from there. While you are here, we will put you in touch with suppliers and wholesalers. We will provide dormitory housing. Trainees will be working/learning 40+ hours per week. We will provide whatever documentation is needed to present with your visa application. Purpose of this Program: D.E.L.T.A. Rescue is the largest no-kill, care-for-life sanctuary of its kind in the world. Our technologically advanced veterinary hospital and our clean and efficiently run sanctuary grounds are a wonderful prototype for shelters throughout the world! Our goal is to teach our no-kill, care for life philosophy to countries throughout the world, showing them that this is a successful alternative to euthanasia. Health Care Training includes (but is not limited to): • Observing and triaging patients • Identifying primary concerns and complaints • Identifying disease, infection, and injury • Learning treatment plans and protocols for presenting illnesses and injuries • Indication/usage of the latest pharmacology products and homeopathic remedies and learning various methods of administering medications • Behavior assessment: normal vs. abnormal emotional and physiological patterns • Obtaining urine, blood, fecal, and skin samples for laboratory testing • Surgical procedures and sterilization • Dental procedures • Anti-parasite treatments Swathi Buddhiraju of the Visakha SPCA in • Proper restraint methods Visakhapatnam, India, cleaning a dog’s teeth • Vaccinations during her training at D.E.L.T.A. Rescue. • Physical therapy • Proper and efficient recording in medical chart • Wound treatment • Intravenous catheterization • Blood transfusion • Chemotherapy • Emergency medical care • ECG • X-Ray Dog quarters at DELTA Rescue • Ultrasound Inside one of the DELTA Rescue cat facilities
Shelter Management Training Includes (but is not limited to): • Scheduling and effectively managing staff for hospital and kennel • Maintaining shelter grounds and equipment • Scheduling of daily animal care including feeding, cleaning, playing, and exercise • Ordering and stocking of hospital and kennel supplies • Accurate and efficient business and shelter record keeping • Fundraising techniques
Applicants must submit a full letter explaining their current shelter jobs and how much this opportunity would mean to them and the animals in their care. D.E.L.T.A. Rescue P.O. Box 9, Dept AP, Glendale, CA 91209 Telephone: 011-661-269-4010 • Fax: 011-661-269-0648 8 - ANIMAL PEOP LE, September 2003 “I have done all I can in Istanbul” ––humane patron Robert Smith I S T A N B U L ––The Society for Animal Protection Rubbish Dump Project several miles away. to pay $30,000 per month to run canine prison camps. Nor can (SHKD) shelter and sterilization clinic in the aqueduct district The landlord who leased the site to SHKD wants to I afford to continue to pay single-handedly for a free neutering near Istanbul is soon to be closed, due to neighborhood objec- reclaim the land for development, now that upscale housing and vaccination service for half of Istanbul. However, it would tions to barking plus lack of political and economic support. developments have come up all around. British clothing manu- be a pity to lose the veterinary and dog handling expertise of The facility was toured by delegates to the 2001 facturer Robert Smith, the major funder of the shelter since it our staff. It is important that we are able to train vets to work International Companion Animal Welfare Conference, along opened in 1998, is frustrated and ready to leave, wanting only in Turkey and abroad. with the Natural Dog Shelter at the sprawling Kemerburgaz time to accommodate all the resident dogs and cats. “So we will only do operations free of charge for “We have reduced the number of dogs still there to municipalities which pay us in one way or another, or for indi- Baghdad Zoo reopens with about 250,” Smith told ANIMAL PEOPLE. “Several hun- viduals who give donations or help us. The exceptions will be dred––at a guess 400-500 in the year 2003––have been sent to those areas we have already covered intensively, such as Uday’s maneating lions Germany, Holland and Austria for rehoming. About 20 sick Gokturk and various villages outside Istanbul,” Smith said, or injured dogs have been put to sleep,” Smith said. intending that disengaging SHKD from providing extensive B A G H D A D – – Back under Iraqi management, the Smith continues to sponsor the Natural Dog Shelter, free services will induce communities to provide and properly Baghdad Zoo reopened to the public on July 20, 2003, featur- profiled in the July/August 2001 edition of ANIMAL PEO- fund similar services. ing 86 animals, including all 19 surviving lions from the pre- PLE, but the resident dog population has dwindled, between “In general it would probably be true to say that we vious zoo collection, the much smaller privately owned Lunar exports for rehoming and attrition. h a v e got the message across to most of the myriad arms of Park zoo, and the personal menagerie of Uday Hussein, elder “In our open forest shelter there are about 80 free local and central government, but not all, that killing dogs is son of the deposed dictator Saddam Hussein, who was killed dogs,” Smith explained. “They are fed at the far end from the futile,” Smith observed. “They have progressed from sporadic in a firefight by U.S. troops on July 22 along with his brother entrance, and are otherwise free to roam outside in the (fenced) poisoning campaigns to ‘catch and incarcerate,’ which is of Qusay and two other men not yet positively identified. forest,” which is actually a tree plantation intended to stabilize course expensive and equally futile. The danger is that dogs SkyNews of Britain reported on July 28 that at least some the soil. “They all choose to stick around the people, rather will simply starve to death in badly managed city concentration of Uday’s lions are confirmed man-eaters. A 36-year-old man than escape and wander into the road or back to the city. camps. We managed one in Bakirkoy for over a year,” to calling himself Abu Ahmad, who said he worked for Uday as So that is working well so far. ensure that the dogs there got proper care. “It cost me a fortune an executioner, described to SkyNews how he and Uday fed “We have subdivided the forest shelter further into 19 because the municipality paid late or never, and made our lives two 19-year-old students to his lions alive after they "compet- areas,” since the ICAWC visit, Smith added, “so there is hell with obstruction and interference. So we now have to get ed with Uday where some young ladies were concerned." n o longer any problem with dog fights or with separating them to progress from ‘catch and incarcerate’ to ‘neuter and Objecting that 19 lions were too many, Care for the Wild, incompatible dogs. We are hoping to soon secure some land on return,’ following the successful models of street dog steriliza- the International Fund for Animal Welfare, and the Wildlife which to build a new neutering clinic––or to which we can tion pursued in Costa Rica, parts of India, and Bali. Action Group of South Africa all told news media including move our existing portable buildings,” Smith continued. “I feel I have done all I can in Istanbul,” Smith con- ANIMAL PEOPLE that a lionness named Zena who birthed “However I do not intend to repeat the same mistake of creating cluded, “and that I have more chance of demonstrating the effi- five cubs just as U.S. troops were storming Uday’s former a prison camp for dogs. The new clinic will have recuperation cacy of ‘neuter and return’ in small towns in Romania,” where compound would be taken to South Africa, with her cubs, for space only plus room for a maximum of 100 dogs suitable for Smith also supports many humane projects, “than I do with the release into semi-freedom at the SanWild sanctuary. rehoming in Europe. lethargic and unwieldy system of government in Istanbul. But Baghdad Zoo director Dr. Adel Salman Mousa told “My intention and hope,” Smith declared, “is to “It is also prohibitively expensive to employ people Melanie-Ann Feris of the Johannesburg Star that “The ani- keep SHKD going as a consultancy and lobbying organization, legally in Turkey,” Smith noted, “to look after stray dogs,” a mals are all under the care and close supervision of coalition ready for the day, if it ever comes, that someone in the legacy of the prejudice against dogs common in nations where and local veterinarians, as well as professional zoo manage- Turkish government has the political will and initiative to come rabies was recently endemic and still occurs when vaccination ment, so we see no urgent need for immediate relocation on to grips with the stray dog problem. I cannot afford to continue campaigns are insufficiently aggressive. medical or other grounds.” Though the Baghdad Zoo facilities are “Victorian,” and “was functioning like an amusement park,” it has five staff veterinarians and 32 keepers, said Wildlife Trust of India wildlife rescue program coordinator N.V.K. Ahsraf, DVM. Ahsraf, whose passion is trying to save the seldom seen and almost extinct Malabar civet, was sponsored in Iraq by the International Fund for Animal Welfare. IFAW also sent British vet Jason Thrupp and former U.S. diplomat Ahmed Khan, who now heads PROTECTING ANIMALS - PREVENTING CRUELTY – RELIEVING SUFFERING the IFAW office in Kenya. Lawrence Anthony, direc- The Marchig Animal Welfare Trust in two ways pursues these Objects: tor of the Thula Thula private game reserve in South Africa, was reportedly the first civilian MARCHIG ANIMAL WELFARE GRANTS – These are made to organisations and relief worker allowed into individuals for positive contributions that meet the objectives of the Trust. Since it was Baghdad after the U.S. inva- sion. As the first qualified per- founded in 1989, the Trust has supported a wide variety of projects including spay/neuter son on the scene, Anthony programmes and mobile clinics, the search for alternatives to the use of animals in research, was named interim zoo direc- tor. Stephen Bognar of the anti-fur campaigns, anti-poaching programmes, establishing a network of sanctuaries as well San Francisco charity WildAid as giving a much needed boost to assist smaller groups committed to the cause of animal arrived soon afterward, fol- lowed by the IFAW team, welfare to get established. The Trust is constantly on the look out for ideas and projects that Care For The Wild director “will make a real difference” to the way animals are treated. The Trust’s current priority area Barbara Maas, and World is to help animal welfare organisations in the developing world. Society for the Protection of Animals veterinarian John Gripper. MARCHIG ANIMAL WELFARE AWARDS – These are given for outstanding work by Closed by Saddam Hussein an organisation or individual in either of the following two categories: for “renovation” a year before the April 2003 U.S. invasion, the zoo was turned into a • Practical work in the field of animal welfare resulting in significant improvements for quasi-military base. The ani- animals either nationally or internationally; or mal collection, dwindled to about 450 from a peak of 800, • The development of an alternative method to the use of animals in experiments and the lost another 370 animals dur- ing the year, who were appar- practical implementation of such an alternative resulting in a significant reduction in ently stolen to be eaten or the numbers of animals used. clandestinely sold. Deon Delport of the I n d e p e n d e n t in Cape Town, Grant Applications and Award Nomination Forms (closing date for the ‘Awards’ in the South Africa, reported that current year is 30 September 2003) are available from the Trust’s administrative offices or Anthony also “set up Iraq’s first SPCA,” but no one else can be downloaded from the website: seemed to know anything about it. The Marchig Animal Welfare Trust [Contact the official 10 Queensferry Street, Edinburgh EH2 4PG, Scotland Baghdad Zoo relief effort at Aid to Baghdad Zoo, c/o Tel: 0044 (0) 131 – 225 – 6039 David Jones, Director, North Fax: 0044 (0) 131 – 220 – 6377 Carolina Zoological Society, 4403 Zoo Parkway, Ashe- Email: [email protected] boro, NC 27205;
Aug. 29, 2003-April 2, 2 0 0 4 : Compassion for Animals Road expedi - tion to 40 states and four provinces of Canada. Info:
Frequent Flyer Miles The Pet Rescue You Aren't Using? If you have enough Maddie’s Fund® The Pet Rescue Foundation (www.maddiesfund.org) is a family foundation endowed through frequent flyer miles to the generosity of Cheryl and Dave Duffield, PeopleSoft Founder and Board Chairman. The foundation is helping to obtain award tickets -- especially enough for fund the creation of a no-kill nation. The first step is to help create programs that guarantee loving homes for all healthy international travel -- shelter dogs and cats through collaborations with rescue groups, traditional shelters, animal control agencies and veteri- they could be used to narians. The next step will be to save the sick and injured pets in animal shelters nationwide. Maddie’s Fund is named send representatives after the family’s beloved Miniature Schnauzer who passed away in 1997. of animal groups in developing nations to conferences and Maddie’s Fund, 2223 Santa Clara Ave, Suite B, Alameda, CA 94501 training programs. Contact: 510-337-8989, [email protected] [email protected] 12 - ANIMAL PEOP LE, September 2003
The Watchdog monitors fundraising, spending, and The political activity in the name of animal and habitat pro t e c - tion—both pro and con. His empty bowl stands for all the bowls left empty when some take more than they need. ––Wolf Watchdog Clifton WILDLIFE COURT CALENDAR HSUS rep Samantha Mullen is U.S. District Judge for the D.C. Circuit African Game Services owner Riccardo sued in N.Y. for knocking no-kill Gladys Kessler on July 31 rejected a Fund for Ghiazza of Brits, South Africa, found guilty on April PEARL RIVER, N.Y.– – Purporting to run a care-for- Animals lawsuit challenging the authority of the U.S. 7, 2003 of cruelty to 30 young elephants in 1998- Friends of Rockland Shelter Animals life no-kill sanctuary, McCarthy Fish and Wildlife Service to issue import permits for 1999, on July 29 was sentenced to 12 months in Inc. on June 20 sued the Humane allegedly took in more than 1,000 Argali sheep trophies imported from Mongolia, prison, suspended, and was fined the equivalent of Society of the United States and dogs, 70 cats, and various other ani- Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan. The Fund argued that $3,300 U.S. Ex-employee Henry Wayne Stockigt HSUS program coordinator Samantha mals between 1981 and 1987, plus hunting the Argali put the species in peril. Responded received a six-month suspended prison term and a fine Mullen for allegedly interfering in a $500,000 in donations––but the Kessler, in granting a motion for summary judgement of $1,300. The sentencing ends the “Tuli elephants business relationship by making “false money vanished while most of the solicited by Safari Club International on behalf of case,” which began with the capure of the elephants and misleading statements” in a animals starved. USFWS and the Department of the Interior, from the Tuli district of Botswana in July 1998. February 19, 2003 letter to C. Scott Of approximately 475 ani- “Because U.S. hunters generally pay the highest prices Ghizza, a major supplier of African wildlife to zoos in Vanderhoef, chief executive for mals Mullen and colleagues reported- for hunting permits issued by the Tajikistan govern- China, apparently intended to sell some or all of the Rockland County, New York. ly discovered amid the remains of per- ment, the absence of legal U.S. hunting substantially elephants to China. Instead, according to the South According to the complaint, haps 200 more at the Animals Farm decreased the permit revenues received by the Africa-based Wildlife Action Group, nine went to the Friends of Rockland Shelter Inc. “with Home in November 1987, about 175 Tajikistan government. Because permit revenues were Marakele Game Reserve in South Africa; nine went the assistance of the American SPCA, were euthanized at the scene. used in part for conservation and to ‘convince the local to the Sandhurst Safaris hunting lodge in North West was involved in valid, existing and Mullen went on to raid and population not to poach,’ the decreased revenues actu- Province; seven are held in controversial conditions at ongoing negotiations“ to take over the prosecute many other animal hoarders ally resulted in increasing the amount of poaching in the Dresden Zoo, in Germany; and five were sold to county shelter from Hi Tor Animal who masqueraded as no-kill shelter the region.” In short, Kessler reaffirmed the paradigm former co-defendant Craig Saunders, but eventually Care Center, a private contractor. operators. Some had histories of con- prevailing in wildlife law since the Middle Ages that were moved to the Marakele Game Reserve after 17 The complaint states that, tinuing to collect animals and dona- because hunters fund wildlife management, wildlife months of litigation by the National SPCA of South “Defendant Mullen with the knowl- tions despite more than 30 years of management should favor hunting. Africa. All charges against Saunders were dismissed. edge and assistance of HSUS did receiving citations for neglect. Rejecting Mi’kmaq tribal claims to pos- Tonye Nkeng, 40, recently “became the intervere with the citizens of the Like PETA founder Ingrid sess aboriginal fishing, hunting, and trapping first Cameroonian to be sentenced for trying to sell a County of Rockland receiving a ‘no- Newkirk, who began her career in r i g h t s in the Bay du Nord Wilderness Reserve, baby chimpanzee, nine years after a law prohibiting kill’ animal shelter. Defendant animal work as a Washington D.C. Newfoundland Supreme Court Judge Leo Barry in trade in endangered animals was passed,” F r a n c i s Mullen with the assistance of HSUS animal control officer, Mullen was a a 466-page verdict released in late July ruled that, Ngwa Niba reported for the BBC on July 24. Charged did publicly attempt to justify the protégé of longtime HSUS compan- “The ancestors of the Mi’kmaq of Conne River arrived as result of an investigation by The Last Great Ape, inhumane acts of a shelter which is ion animal program director Phyllis on the island of Newfoundland some time after 1550 headed by Ofir Drori of Israel, Nkeng drew a month know to have a high rate of killing Wright. Wright, who died in October A.D., by which time European contact and influences in jail and a fine of about $1, 000. animals to make room for more ani- 1992, may be best remembered for prevented their fishing, hunting, and trapping prac- Cat killer thrown out of office mals to be killed at its shelter. Despite the 1967 essay “Why we must eutha- tices from attaining the status of aboriginal rights.” their public personae as a humane nize,” which was canon for shelter PALMYRA, Nebraska––Village chair Originating in 1996, the case occupied 47 court dates organization and the program director workers trained before the advent of Rex Schroder, 30, was recalled on August 5, 130- between January 2000 and December 2002, and of a humane organization, defendants high-volume, low-cost dog and cat 55, a month after state attorney general Jon Bruning required Barry to review 150,000 pages of historical did publicly promote a ‘kill’ shelter sterilization, when the volume of charged him with cruelty for trapping and killing data, translated from French, Basque, Portuguese, over a ‘no kill’ shelter to plaintiff’s shelter killing was approximately neighbor Heather Bruns’ cat, trapping her dog, and and Dutch, wrote Rob Antle of the St. John’s and the public’s great disadvantage.” eight times higher than today. killing a feral cat. Schroder, a 15-year Palmyra resi- T e l e g r a m . The Mi’kmaq may now appeal to the HSUS did not respond to a Also like Newkirk, Mullen dent and five-year elected official, indicated that he Supreme Court of Canada. If Barry’s reasoning request for comment. still echoes Wright’s skepticism of no- believed rural values and property rights would pre- holds up, his reasoning might be applied to other Signing the complaint as kill sheltering and neuter/return feral vail, but after the vote, wrote Barbara Nordby of claims of “aboriginal” hunting, fishing, and trapping Friends of Rockland Shelter Animals cat control, though HSUS itself has the Lincoln Journal Star, “Attempts to find support- rights involving use of weapons and means of trans- plaintiff was Peter Muller, husband of become much more accepting of both. ers of Schroder in Palmyra were unsuccessful.” portation that did not exist before European settlement. Anne Muller, who has headed the Ironically, the letter for Coalition to Abolish Sport Hunting which Mullen and HSUS are being since the August 1992 death of sued was markedly less caustic than founder Luke Dommer. Both Mullers many criticisms of no-kill projects by are prominently involved with the Newkirk, other PETA staff, the late affiliated Coalition to Prevent the Wright, her successor Ken White Destruction of Canada Geese. (now heading the Peninsula Humane Individual defendant Sam- Society in San Mateo, California), antha Mullen, in her former capacity and his successor Mark Paulhus (now as executive director of the New York heading the Southern Hope Humane State Humane Association, led the Society in Cobb County, Georgia). decade-long series of raids that even- ANIMAL PEOPLE p o i n t- This calf is having a really bad day. tually shut down the Animals Farm ed out to Muller that a favorable ver- She has been shocked with 5,000 volts, and Home, at Ellenville, New York. dict for Friends of Rockland Shelter had her tail twisted and raked over a fence. Animals Farm Home opera- Animals Inc. could have a chilling She has been clotheslined, body-slammed tor Justin McCarthy, age 68 when the effect on the ability of citizens and and dragged by the neck while her legs were facility was finally closed in 1988, activist groups to criticize shelters. tied. And now it is happening again. was described by N e w s w e e k in 1984 Usually no-kill proponents are the For rodeo animals, every day is a as “St. Francis of the Catskills,” and critics, not those who could claim to by Reader’s Digest in 1986 as “a have a business relationship at risk. bad day. For ten years SHARK has been real-life Dr. Doolittle.” Replied Muller, “I’m sure exposing rodeo cruelty nationwide, eliminat- As the New York Times the case law will cut both ways. Since ing sponsors, and shutting some of these eventually revealed, McCarthy had many activists are fairly judgement- cruel events down. Our exposes have been been convicted of six armed robberies, proof, this will probably help them to reported and featured by local, national and and later did public relations work for go after big organizations with deep international television, radio and print media. Cubans opposed to Fidel Castro. pockets who push kill shelters.” Rodeo is a multi-billion d o l l a r We have rescued many abuse industry, but it fears SHARK as dogs and cats, including this no other animal protection organization, mother and her kittens. because we document and expose their cru- Your donation to our sanctuary elty like no one else. With your help, we can fund will help us save many do so much more. more from the terrible cruelty Please send us your most gener- of the Korean dog and cat ous donation, and consider becoming a meat markets. We have purchased the land to build S H A R K investigator when the rodeo comes Korea's first world-class to your town. animal shelter and hospital. For more information please go to: A donor paid for the foundation www.sharkonline.org with a promise to put on the roof if we can raise enough www.rodeocruelty.com money to build the middle. SHARK Your generous contribution can make this dream come true! P O Box 28 Mark your donation for KAPS Shelter Fund, and send to: Geneva, IL 60134 International Aid for Korean Animals / Korea [email protected] Animal Protection Society Phone: 1-630-557-0176 POB 20600, Oakland, CA 94620 Fax: 1-630-557-0178 ANIMAL PEOPLE, Septe mbe r 2003 - 13 Home 4 the Holidays 2002 saved countless lives! Be a part of Home 4 the Holidays 2003. Log on to www.home4the holidays.com for more information.
MASCOTS: Avian disease mycoplasma galliseptum grounds Auburn University eagles AUBURN, Alabama––A eagle named Tiger to circle Jordan- former SRRC eagler handler John frontation with Baylor University deadly outbreak of the avian bacteri- Hare stadium on cue. Elmore, now Animal Program over the care of the mascot bears Joy LSU tiger al disease mycoplasma galliseptum Tiger later drew additional Supervisor for Zoo Atlanta. and Lady may be over. Austin Zoo president is expected to end ceremonial eagle applause for lapping the Olympic “If you quarantine for it “Baylor has ended the iso- Cindy Carroccio meanwhile refused flights at Auburn University home stadium in Salt Lake City during the correctly, you can’t have this bad an lation of the two young sisters,” an offer from Louisiana State football games this fall, just three 2002 Winter Olympics, but was outbreak. This is utterly ridiculous,” SHARK announced. “Joy and Lady University Alumni Association years after the short-lived “tradition” grounded by arthritis early in the Elmore told Opelika-Auburn News can be seen playing together a great member Laura P. Thomas to “make started. 2002 football season. Shelnutt had staff writer Katie Poole. deal. The weekly loud, wild ‘pit a proposal to our board regarding The use of live animals as trained a stand-in, a seven-year-old Poole disclosed on July 1 parties’” that SHARK videotaped potential sponsorship/adoption of football mascots has come under bald eagle named Spirit, who took that Shelnutt had been fired, under “have been moved to a different tigers at the zoo.” intensifying protest from PETA, her place. criticism from Alpha Phi Omega location, away from the bears, who Carroccio replied that “We SHARK, and other animal rights Both Tiger and Spirit test- alumni and other Auburn donors, were severely stressed by the noise would be happier if you could make groups at colleges, universities, and ed positive for mycoplasma gallisep - but the firing was unpopular with and commotion. The bear pit is sure that LSU never gets another live even some high schools in recent t u m in June 2003, after 11 other supporters of the raptor center, being kept much cleaner. Far more mascot once Mike V [the present years. Auburn Univeristy appeared birds of prey died at SRRC. The including Woody Bartlett, who gave is being provided for the bears by LSU tiger mascot] passes on.” to have successfully addressed the causes of death were officially $300,000 of the cost of building it, way of psychological enrichment. Responded Thomas, “If controversy back in 2000, however, unknown, but at least eight of the in memory of his mother. We were assured that Baylor has no you would prefer to help Mike than by transferring responsibility for the dead birds also had mycoplasma gal - Staff members Stacy intention of separating the bears at have us help you, maybe you can care of the caged eagles who sym- liseptum. Hollenberger and Tauna Pierce this time. We will be looking for donate to the campaign raising funds bolically represent the War Eagles Commonly transmitted remained on the job until the death assurances that the bears will not be for his new $2.5 million habitat.” football team from the Alpha Phi among birds who congregate at toll at the raptor center exceeded 30, separated during their entire natural Earlier Carroccio––whose Omega fraternity to the Southeastern backyard feeders, especially finch- then resigned, leaving the center lives,” SHARK said, pledging that zoo houses many ex-mascots–– Raptor Rehabilitation Center. es, mycoplasma galliseptum typical- with just one employee to look after it will continue to press for improved clashed with Brian Werner of the Alpha Phi Omega had ly blinds the birds first, after which the few survivors––including both quarters for the bears as well. Tiger Creek Wildlife Refuge over looked after a succession of four wild birds are usually killed by Tiger and Spirit. Plans for improved quar- the use of a resident tiger as football “War Eagles” since 1960. predators or in collisions with cars ters have apparently been drafted, mascot at East Texas Baptist Univer- Southeastern Raptor and stationary objects. Baylor bears SHARK founder Steve Hindi told sity. With just 1,500 students, Rehabilitation Center director Joe However, the disease is SHARK indicated during ANIMAL PEOPLE, but have not ETBU is among the smaller institu- Shelnutt taught a 24-year-old golden easily detected and dealt with, said the summer that a year-long con- yet been funded. tions boasting a live mascot. Appeals failed, Ferdin jailed LOS ANGELES––Actress Pam Ferdin, 41, on July 16 began serving a 30-day jail sentence in Los Angeles, California, after exhaust- ing her appeals of a January 2000 conviction for allegedly possessing a weapon while on a picket line. What Ferdin actually had, everyone on either side of the case agreed, was an ankus, or “bull hook,” used by elephant handlers. Ferdin displayed it as a prop during an August 1999 demonstration against a San Fernando Valley per- formance of the Circus Vargas––and ran afoul of a 1978 ordinance that was passed to curtail violence during labor disputes. Ferdin fought the charge as an alleged infringement of her right to free speech. Ferdin’s husband, surgeon and noted animal advocate Jerry Vlasek, M.D., on July 18 said she had begun a hunger strike. Both Ferdin and Vlasek have conducted previous hunger strikes after arrests in connection with protest. Ferdin debuted as a child actress in 1964 and worked steadily in both screen and voice roles through 1979. She continues to do occasional voice roles, but has focused on a nursing career and ani- mal advocacy since circa 1990. A brief but influential Ferdin performance was her 1973 role in the animated feature Charlotte’s Web as the farm girl Fern, who pleads with her father to spare the life of the runt piglet she has raised by hand. ANIMAL PEOPLE, Septe mbe r 2003 - 14
Paul Siegel
ate Sheridan Conisbee, has recently flown The 221-year-old Temple of the Achata and Onnucha. “They may think kind times people. The monks believe it is worse selected temple dogs to adoptors in the Emerald Buddha in Bangkok, with about 50 people will bring food to them here.” when I am there,” possibly because the Netherlands and occasionally the U.S. The resident feral cats as of June 2003, installed The Department of Livestock claims aggressive dogs associate Scott with food and real value of her project is not so much that it remote surveillance cameras to try to discour- to provide anti-rabies vaccination for 10,000 try to drive off or kill rivals. places dogs in homes abroad as that in age abandonments. The head monks at other Phuket street dogs per year. This would indi- Circa July 1, hunger apparently Thailand it enhances the prestige of adopting a famous temples are reportedly considering cate a vaccination rate of 67% to 86%, suffi- drove dogs living at the Bua Kwan Temple in street dog instead of buying a purebred. similar measures, but some have reservations. cient to prevent the spread of rabies epidemics, Nonthaburi to snatch the barbequed chicken King Bhumibol Aduladej has urged “Villagers are not to blame for leav- but Phuket public health director Wanchai lunch purchased by vegetable vendor the adoption of street dogs since adopting his ing animals in temples,” Phra Narong told Sattayawuthiwong estimated that about 100 Warayuth Songsilp, 47. Warayuth com- own, Tongdaeng, in 1998. Twenty-five for- people require post-exposure rabies vaccina- plained to a monk, who disclaimed responsi- mer street dogs being trained for police drug- Saving the res- tion each year after suffering dog bites. bility. Irate, Warayuth left, returned with five detection duty at the King’s recommendation The monks get help from Wells and bowls of poisoned chicken, and killed 48 collectively scored 97.9 on their midterm cued other western expatriates. dogs, he confessed on July 10. exams, Bangkok metropolitan police commis- B A N G K O K ––More than two “I have adopted a wat, the Thai term The poisonings were initially blamed sioner Lieutenant General Damrongsak tons of turtles, including 136 of soft-shelled for Buddhist temples, which is now home to on Nonthaburi municipal council chair Pairoj Nilkuha told The Nation newspaper. species and 102 with hard shells, were over 100 feral cats and dogs,” rescuer Becky Buppha, who had asked that the temple be The largest street dog population in removed from the “klongs” (reflecting Scott wrote recently to the Best Friends cleansed in honor of his son’s forthcoming Thailand reputedly inhabits the temple district ponds) of Wat Bovorn in early August 2003 Animal Society. “People dump unwanted ani- ordination as a monk. Then, Warayuth report- of Phuket, far to the south, on the Malay and hauled to quarantine ponds for evalua- mals here, hoping the monks will feed them, edly said, he felt guilty. Peninsula. Phuket governor Vasaputi tion and treatment. Those in good enough but the monks have little food, as they rely on At Wat Nang Hong in Nakhon Pongpayome proposed keeping the estimated health are to be released at a sanctuary pond alms, all food being given to them. I have Nayok province Buddhist nun Kesorn Wong- 11,500 to 15,000 local street dogs at a care- in Bang Sai, reported Laurie Rosenthal of been feeding the animals twice a week,” she prasert, 73, feeds more than 100 dogs, 50 for-life sanctuary to be situated on the Bang The Nation newspaper. said, “giving each animal vaccinations, treat- cats, and 100 chickens. The big problem Kanoon forestry plantation in Thalang. Mostly purchased from live food ing them for infections and mange, and taking there, abbot Phra Atikan Atthaporn Sikha- The initial proposed project budget, markets and dropped into the klongs by the each one for sterilization” by Dogs In Distress. sapho told The Nation in June 2003, is that later doubled, was just $48,000. Buddhist faithful, in the belief that releasing “When I adopted this wat in March “Some dogs have leprosy, which is very hard “A request has been made to the them would build good karma, the turtles 2002, there were about 45 animals,” Scott to cure,” and kills about a dog a day by his national government for the land. The project represented a five-year accumulation. continued. “When there were 45 or so ani- reckoning. would be developed by the Phuket Provincial Draining the klongs and collecting mals, they were easily handled. Now the But the disease is not leprosy, Administration Organization, which would the turtles, many of them malnourished and space is not enough for so many, and a core known to occur only in humans and armadil- later assign management to the local Tambon diseased, took three weeks. group of dogs run in a pack, killing kittens los, and then rarely. It may be severe sarcop- Administration Organization,” the P h u k e t “Heavy metals and chemicals and attacking puppies, older dogs, and some- tic or demodectic mange. It may look like lep- Gazette reported. such as chlorine have affected the turtles’ Linda Wells, cofounder of the livers,” said Nantarika Chansue, DVM, of Will Sakhon Nakhon province governor Phuket charity Dogs In Distress, warned that the Chulalongkorn University veterinary the scheme was underfunded, and that the faculty. Panchai keep promise to ban dog meat? dogs would fight if confined in too little space. “Many of the hard-shells had Thai temples have doubled as animal round holes on their shells made from point- rosy, however, still a familiar and much Agence France-Presse attributed shelters since Buddhism came to Thailand ed objects,” said Rosenthal. feared ailment in Southeast Asia. directly to Governor Panchai an estimate that about 2,500 years ago. Explained Nantarika, “People B A N G K O K ––Recently elected 17 dog slaughter houses in Tha Rae kill 300 to “Temples are thought to be shelters have been taking the turtles out of the water Sakhon Nakhon provincial governor Panchai 400 dogs per day, selling up to 4,000 kilo- for all kinds of poor things, ranging from and trying to kill them for food. Some peo- Borvornratanapran reportedly retreated on July grams of dog meat per day. [At 300-400 dogs homeless people to stray dogs, and monks ple also ‘recycled’ them. They took them 18 from a mid-June promise to abolish the sale killed per day, however, the average daily cannot refuse those asking for help,” an out of the water and released them again to and slaughter of dogs for meat. sales volume would be only half as large.] anonymous monk at the Wat Luang Phor make merit,” a perversion of actual Following a protest rally by about About 90% of the dog meat was sent to Chalong temple told Achata Chuenniran and Buddhist teaching. 300 dog meat traders and butchers from Tha Bangkok, Governor Panchai reportedly Onnucha Hutasing of the Bangkok Post. Called the Wang Tao Project, the Rae, the impoverished northeastern district claimed. Some is known to be exported to The monk’s temple houses about 40 turtle rescue was funded by Charoen where dogs are most often eaten, provincial China and Vietnam. dogs, Achata and Onnucha wrote. After visi- Pokphand Group executives Wanlop spokesperson Raksit Wathayotha told Agence Two weeks after taking office, tors complained that the dogs scared them and Chiaravanont and his son Kachorn. France-Press that the governor met with repre- Governor Panchai declared that, “In a year’s soiled the temple, the dogs were kept in cages sentatives of the dog meat industry and “said time I will not stand for any more sales of dog for a time, but European and American he doesn’t want to impose the opinion of the meat. I am chair of an 18-member commit- tourists objected to that, so now the dogs entire province, which favors ending dog tee,” he told Agence France-Presse, “which again roam freely. meat trading, on Tha Rae. He wants them to will talk to people about how eating dog meat At the nearby Wat Kosit Wiharn make their own decision and will not object if will affect their health and reputation.” temple monk Phra Narong looks after 20 dogs ––K.B. the majority of Tha Rae people still want to He also promised to seek federal and 20 feral cats. practice dog meat eating and selling.” (continued on page 15) The 2003 ANIMAL PEOPLE Watchdog Report on 113 Animal Protection Charities provides the background you need to make your donations most effective: $20, c/o ANIMAL PEOPLE, P.O. Box 960, Clinton, WA 98236. YES! I’M AN ____Please enter my subscription for one year (10 issues.) Enclosed is $24. ANIMAL PERSON! ____Please enter my subscription for two years (20 issues.) Enclosed is $38. ____Please enter my subscription for three years (30 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 2003 ANIMAL PEOPLE Watchdog Report on 101 Animal Protection Charities. Enclosed is $20. ____I want to help 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 ZIP code: ZIP code: Clifton Please make checks payable (in U.S. funds) to: ANIMAL PEOPLE, P.O. Box 960, Clinton, WA 98236-0960 A NIMAL PEOP LE, September 2003 - 15
Will Sakhon Nakhon governor Panchai keep promise to ban dog meat? (from page 14) funding to help dog meat traders and butchers “During one of the televison inter- demand for strayed dogs. Country people are protect Thai animals from genetic modification develop other careers. views about the issue, we found out that the already in the habit of letting dogs breed freely and hybridization, and to prevent foreign Offensive to the majority of Thais, Ministry of Agriculture had quietly passed a for the small income they can get from dog patenting of genes from Asiatic buffalo, ban- and practiced mainly by ethnic Chinese ministrial regulation which allows the dog and traders,” Lohanan lamented. “This could set tam cocks, Siamese cats, bang kaew and refugees from Vietnam, dog slaughter has cat meat and skin trades to continue,” dog population control back to the dark ages. ridgebacked dogs, crocodiles, hog deer, long been controversial in Thailand. It gained Lohanan told ANIMAL PEOPLE. “We “Fortunately, the Minister agreed mouse deer, sambar, and fireback fowl. prominence as a political issue in May when immediately requested a meeting with with us,” Lohanan said, “and ordered the for- On the same day, however, a dele- dog meat collectors captured Na Wa, beloved Soraatha Klinpatoom, the newly appointed mation of a working group to draft s e p a r a t e gation of cockfighters testified to a Thai senate pet of Chariya Nimla, 39, an employee of the Minister of Agriculture who signed the regula- rules for dog and cat transport permits. T h e committee that cockfighting should be Ruamkatanyu Rescue Foundation. The foun- tion. The Minister explained that the purpose Thai Animal Guardians Association is to be on removed from restrictions imposed under the dation helps physically handicapped humans. of the regulation is to control rabies,” the drafting team. Dog and cat welfare pro- current Gambling Act, in order to preserve The housing development where Lohanan said, pointing out that it was unlikely tection is to be required. The sale of dogs and indigenous breeds of rooster. Chariya lives gave her $95 toward the cost of to have any relevant effect. cats for meat as well as the sale of their cacass- Natural resources minister Prapat pursuing the dog meat collectors to Sakon “Instead,” Lohanan continued, “the es are not to be allowed under any permits. Panyachatraska was meanwhile reportedly Nakhon. She and a friend drove all night, regulation is accommodating the dog meat and “What we now must do,” Lohanan drafting a species conservation bill which in caught up with the collectors’ truck before skin trades by allowing dogs and cats to be explained, “is try to make sure everything is the name of protecting biodiversity would pro- dawn, and followed it to Tambon Tha Rae. transported legally with a permit,” like cattle, done as agreed. We don’t want this to become vide subsidies totaling $7 million to commer- There they persuaded a dog meat slaughter- pigs, and poultry. Instead of only being another never-ending story like the evolution cial breeding operations for species whose house owner identified only as King to return allowed to export the carcasses of dogs and of the Animal Welfare Bill also being drafted body parts might be in economic demand. Na Wua to them. They also witnessed dogs cats, Thai dog and cat meat dealers now can by the Livestock Development Department.” Thai National Research Commission being killed and saw other dogs they believed export the animals alive. However, that may be exactly what animal welfare committee chair Pradon were stolen pets rather than street dogs. “Thousands of dogs are being is happening. Chatikavanija on August 8 told Sirinart Upon returning to Bangkok, Chaiya trucked across the Thai/Laos border every As to the Animal Welfare Bill, Sirisunthorn of The Nation that he was prepar- told her story to Roger Lohanan of the Thai day,” Lohanan said. Livestock Development Department chief ing a bill to ensure compliance with “the prin- Animal Guardians Association. Lohanan took Lohanan predicted that the new reg- Yukol Limlaemthong told the Bangkok Post in ciple of mercy killing for lab animals. We it to news media. ulation could “tremendously increase the late July that he expected new legislation to have distributed over 20,000 copies of a manu- Saving Cats A conference for people who care for and about cats
Wednesday, October 8, 2003 Milwaukee, WI 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM Featuring Dr. Patricia McConnell Cat overpop- ulation in Wisconsin remains the number one animal shelter concern. National and statewide leaders will provide valuable information about key issues facing cats, and help the sheltering community and individuals who want positive changes for cats.
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“Manny” Hosted by: the Wisconsin Humane Society and Wisconsin Federated Humane Societies 16 - ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2003 Animal welfare in India a year after ouster of Maneka Gandhi NEW DELHI, CHENNAI– – B i j a r deaths have been virtually eliminated in only mals in quality care-for-life sanctuaries. district magistrate Pankaj Kumar on August 9, three to five years. The 20-acre Wildlife SOS sanctuary 2003 overturned a local court ruling that elder- Similar results are now evident in for ex-dancing bears built by Kartick Saya- ly widow Janki Devi’s dog must be killed for Pune, like Bangalore a hotbed of anti-dog narayan and Geeta Sheshamani near Agra, alleged biting. The case drew note throughout political activism. Coinciding with a vigorous opened in December 2002, was the intended India, wrote Imran Kan of the Indo-Asian ABC program, Pune rabies deaths have fallen prototype. The World Society for the News Service, when “other people said that from 56 in 1997 to just five in the first half of Protection of Animals, One Voice, Free The the land mafia, with an eye on Devi’s proper- 2003, Pune deputy health officer Pramod Bears Australia, Care For The Wild, and ty, leveled false charges against the dog.” Dhaigude, M.D., told The Times of India. International Animal Rescue have all con- Hearing of the plight of the dog and Sassoon hospital medical officer tributed heavily to either the construction costs the widow, former federal minister for animal Namdeo Patil added that while dogbite cases or the ongoing operating expense. But rela- welfare Maneka Gandhi petitioned on their have increased over the same time, “Stray tions with WSPA have often been strained, behalf, offering to adopt the dog herself if dogs account for only 30%.” initially over who was paying how much for need be to save his life. what, and currently over how many bears the Triumphs have been few for Mrs. Circus seizures sanctuary can accept. Gandhi in the year since she lost her ministry Confiscations of exotic cats, bears, Licensed to house a maximum of 20 under pressure of an alliance of the biomedical monkeys, and reptiles from traveling shows adult bears and 25 cubs, Wildlife SOS now industry with practitioners of animal sacrifice, continue, as well, at times seriously overbur- houses about 60 bears, with more coming. but this time she won a round of symbolic dening the handful of zoo-based rescue centers “We urge you to reconsider this importance, affirming that a dog’s life has that are the only accommodations available to rapid intake,” WSPA wildlife programs moral value. the animals. P. Oppili of The Hindu on May 3 Watkins on August 13 e-mailed to Wildlife There were fears when Mrs. Gandhi exposed the plight of four lions “abandoned by SOS. The advice may be more easily given was ousted from her position as an indepen- a circus company in the dusty small town of than taken, as WSPA has reason to recall. Indian street cow. (Kim Bartlett) dent within the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Sattur, confined to cramped caravan enclo- Former WSPA Asian project managers John al concern for bovines. Janata party coalition government that animal sures for nearly seven months” from lack of Joseph and Peter Henderson resigned in 2001 Instead, outspoken opposition to welfare in India might fall into an abyss. anywhere better to take them while the King under intense media criticism for their man- cow slaughter may merely mask anti-Muslim Yet foes of street dogs have not Bharat Circus appeals their seizure. Ramesh agement of a WSPA-funded bear sanctuary in and sometimes anti-Christian bigotry, and the managed, so far, to undo the Animal Birth Susarla of The Hindu reported on June 12 that Pakistan. Their mistake was that a cub they definition of a “cow” worthy of protection is Control programs that Mrs. Gandhi reinforced eight tigers and three lions had been killed in could have acquired from the immediate often warped to exclude any bovine of any as national policy in place of mass killing. fights resulting from overcrowding at the neighborhood was defanged, declawed, and species who is not economically productive. Stray Dog Free Bangalore director Indira Gandhi Zoological Park rescue center in subjected to dog attacks in bear-baiting specta- The frequent hypocrisy of Indian M.K. Sudarshan in early July presented data to Visakhapatnam. The Deccan Herald on July cles while they stood on principle and refused cow-worship was exposed twice in July 2003, the Fifth National Rabies Conference in 27 described how 17 lions belonging to the to pay compensation to her owners. first when the city of Chennai moved to evict Bhubaneshwar showing that the annual num- New Grand Circus “are starving in small 1,800 cattle from the facilities within city lim- bers of dog bites and rabies deaths in India cages” in an industrial park because the Cattle issues its that the privately funded Madras Pinjara- have been consistent at about 17 million and Bannerghatta National Park rescue center “is The most problematic of all Indian pole has occupied since 1908, and then two 18,000 per year, respectively, over the past already filled to capacity with 82 lions.” animal welfare issues currently, as perennial- weeks later when 23 of 70 cattle removed from decade––as might be expected, simply due to Keeping circus animals in cages ly, is cattle welfare and cow slaughter. Much the streets of Chandrigarh were found dead at growth in the human population. indefinitely was not what Mrs. Gandhi had in as “patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel” the foot of a cliff, allegedly pushed off by the Blue Cross of India secretary Chinny mind during the decade-long court battle that among U.S. politicians, fiery opposition to “gypsies” who were hired to take them away. Krishna then demonstrated that in cities with finally enabled the confiscations under previ- cow slaughter is the last resort of Indian dema- The answer to that sort of thing, active ABC programs, including Bangalore, ously unenforced provisions of the 1973 gogues who fear losing their next election–– Mrs. Gandhi believes, is teaching empathy for Chennai, Jaipur, and Kalimpong, rabies Wildlife Act. Her intent was to place the ani- and the rhetoric often has little to do with actu- all animals in place of cow-focused fetishism. Fates that really scare the monkeys of Guangzhou, China GUANGZHOU, BOSTON–– Among the less visi- spoons and the rest of the body will be cooked.” “Scientists are asking for $100 million from the NIH ble effects of the 2002-2003 SARS outbreak in China may be a Photographs accompanied the article, but offered lit- to expand and modernize the eight research centers, as well as claimed shortage of monkeys in U.S. laboratories. tle to substantiate the details. pay for new background research on other species, such as the Of the 99,939 nonhuman primates imported into the The Apple Daily might be accused of sensationalism. cynomolgus macacque and the African green vervet, that scien- U.S. from 1995 through 2002, 26,134 came from China, A similar article published in August 2001 by the Indian tists could use instead of rhesus monkeys,” Barnard said. according to an analysis of trade data by Linda Howard of the tabloids Asian Age and The Deccan Chronicle turned out to Aesop Project. have been completely fabricated by the anonymous source––but U.S. & British lab trends The total included almost exactly a third of the 78,903 in 1998 the very conservative and highly reliable Wall Street British researchers used 40,000 nonhuman primates crab-eating macaques acquired by U.S. labs and lab suppliers. J o u r n a l published on page one a comparable account from between 1990 and 2000, according to the Home Office, but the The U.S. bought more monkeys from China than Indonesia. species favored in Britain were marmosets and tamarins. from any other nation. Next were Mauritius, furnishing 22,695 The International Fund for Animal Welfare found in a The advisory Animal Procedures Committee on July monkeys; Indonesia, 17,379; and Vietnam, 13,535. SARS March 1998 survey of 874 residents of Beijing and 864 resi- 1 recommended that Britain should deal with the monkey short- put most of those sources at least temporarily off limits. dents of Shanghai that 88.3% considered eating a live monkey’s age by phasing out experiments on nonhuman primates entirely. Among the more horrifying possibilities raised by an brains to be unacceptably cruel. Only 35%, however, seemed “The committee fears that the current number of pri- ambiguous description of the situation published on July 18 in to believe that notifying public officials would bring an effec- mates used in experiments will grow as drug companies search the South China Morning Post is that Chinese-reared crab-eat- tive response. for new drugs to combat diseases of old age,” wrote Guardian ing macaques, if excluded from lab use, may be eaten. Live brain-eating may be among the few fates of environment correspondent Paul Brown. Wrote South China Morning Post Guangzhou corre- monkeys more horrific than some laboratory experiments. The likelihood of a primate phase-out in Britain may spondent Leu Siew Ying, “About 10,000 rhesus monkeys and Appalled by the suffering of rhesus macaques in labs, be low. Lab use of animals reached an eight-year high in 2002, thousands of snakes held at wild animal farms in Guangzhou documented by the Blue Cross of India and International the Home Office announced in July 2003. Of the 2,732,700 are waiting for health authorities to determine their fate. Primate Protection League, then-Indian prime minister Morarji total procedures performed, 2,293,200 involved mice and rats; Depending on whether or not they were responsible for trans- Desai in 1977 banned the export of nonhuman primates. 191,100 involved fish; 136,000 involved birds; and 27,300 mitting SARS, the inmates will head either to laboratories or For the next 25 years that meant mainly that U.S. labs involved dogs, cats, horses, and monkeys. Britain no longer dinner tables.” had to import rhesus macaques from other nations where they allows experiments on great apes. Presumably what Leu Siew Ying was told, and were slightly more expensive. Among the species, 710,000 animals had been genet- wrote, was that the monkeys would go to labs and the snakes to Recently, however, as Boston Globe staff reporter ically modified. dinner tables if all are cleared of carrying SARS. Presumably Anne Barnard explained on August 9, “Public health crises U.S. use of counted species: they will be killed and burned if infected. ranging from AIDS to the fear of bioterrorism have led to a But what if the health findings are potentially com- monkey shortage that has scientists paying $5,000 to $10,000 Animal Top yr Peak total 2001 promising to science enough that the monkeys continue to be per monkey,” five times as much as in 1997. Scientists are Dogs 1979 211,104 70,082 excluded from export, yet are not barred from the Guangzhou also “buying one another’s ‘used’ primates, even trading in Cats 1974 74,259 22,755 live meat markets? future rights to rhesus macaques in the womb,” said Barnard. Nonhuman primates 1987 61,392 49,382 Guinea pigs 1985 598,903 256,193 Rhesus macaques are the species most used in labs. Hamsters 1976 503,590 167,231 Horror story “Eight federally funded centers breed the monkeys Rabbits 1987 554,385 267,351 “Some restaurants in Ping Shang City, Guangxi and carry out experiments for researchers around the world, Farm animals 1991 214,759 161,658 Province, near the border between China and Vietnam, pro- housing more than 15,000 rhesus macaques, up from about Other tracked anmls 1992 529,308 242,251 mote ‘Eating Monkey Brain Alive’ to attract customers,” 12,000 in 1996,” Barnard wrote. “Still, ‘supply is not keeping All tracked species 1985 2,153,787 1,236,903 asserted The Apple Daily tabloid of Hong Kong on September up with demand,’ said Dr. Jerry Robinson, director of the 2001 is the most recent fiscal year for which the 20, 2001. “Those restaurants sell a monkey for HK$380,” the National Primate Research Centers Program at the National USDA has published data. anonymous purported eyewitness account said. “There were 2- Institutes of Health. NIH-funded AIDS research alone used Total U.S. use of animals in laboratories is believed 3 monkeys in a cage. Whilst the customers were picking their more than 2,000 monkeys in 2001––200 more than the national to be trending up, as an ever-greater percentage of experiments monkey, the others in the cage were trying to push one of them centers can produce in a year.” use rats, mice, and birds, who are not officially counted. out in order to keep themselves alive. Altogether, U.S. researchers used 49,382 nonhuman “The cook will force-feed the monkey with rice wine privates in 2001, down from 57,518 in 2000, which was the until it is drunk. Then he will tie the monkey’s limbs together, second-highest total since record-keeping began in 1973. chop the skull off, and put the whole monkey in a large bowl to Crab-eating macaques are the second most popular RescueCats, Inc. is a nonprofit, no- serve. Customers then scoop out the raw monkey brain with species for lab use. kill, all-volunteer cat rescue group in Animals, Nature Please make the most generous gift GREYHOUND TALES Fayetteville, Ga. you can to help ANIMAL PEOPLE & Albert Schweitzer shine the bright light on cruelty TRUE STORIES OF RESCUE, In 2001 we placed 483 kittens Schweitzer's inspiring life story and greed! Your generous COMPASSION AND LOVE and cats in new loving homes. gift of $25, $50, $100, and philosophy in his own words. edited by Nora Star, $500 or more helps to build www.rescuecats.org Commentary by a world where caring counts. with introduction by Susan Netboy. Please help us continue our work by Schweitzer Medallist making a tax-deductible donation to: Please send your check to: Learn more about these animals Ann Cottrell Free ANIMAL PEOPLE and how you can help them. RescueCats Inc. $10.50 post paid POB 960 Send $15.95 to: P.O. Box 142882 Flying Fox Press Clinton, WA 98236 Nora Star Fayetteville, GA 30214 4700 Jamestown Road (Donations are 9728 Tenaya Way Here is my gift of: $10 $25 $50 $100 $250 $500+ Bethesda, MD 20816 tax-ductible.) Kelseyville, CA 95451 A NIMAL PEOP LE, September 2003 - 17 Spooked by SARS, China kills dogs to fight rabies & scare the monkeys (from page “I do not know why they made that Nonetheless, as Guangdong health 25 that the dog purge had spread to Tianjin, kind of decision. I think it is a mistake,” Guangdong mad- officials in particular came under criticism for Wuhan, Najing, Suzhou, and Xian. Hong Kong University microbiologist Guan Yi ineptly responding to SARS, they ordered that Wu Tianyu “said that she had called told Mary Ann Benitez and Yi Hu of the South ness all dogs in rabies areas be killed within a the Health Ministry to complain that the figure China Morning Post. Guan was on the team While public officials were seeming- week, and banned imports of dogs for a year. cited by the Guangdong health department of whose research identified SARS in six palm ly incapable of standing up to pressure from “Media reports said that in Mao- 18% of dogs being rabid was inaccurate,” Leu civets, a honey badger, and a tanuki (raccoon live marketers and their clients, they were still ming, where there were 32 confirmed cases of Siew Ying reported. dog) obtained from Guangzhou live markets. able to bludgeon dogs and alleged dissidents. rabies, 6,850 dogs were killed. In Lianjiang, “I asked them where they got their Prohibitions on selling snakes, Purges of dogs and dissidents have typically where there were eight cases, 52,614 dogs figures,” Wu Tianyu said. “I told them that bears, pangolins, or their body parts remained come together in China at least since 1949, were killed,” Leu Siew Ying wrote. Through- those figures were based on a study done in at least temporarily in effect. and probably earlier, since the common out Guangdong, rabies reportedly killed 74 1990. I asked them if they had done any other “The Guangzhou Centre for Public Chinese phrase “Kill the dog to scare the mon- people between January 1 and June 30. study before ordering the killing. They hung Opinion Research recorded 88.8% support for key” dates back centuries. The Xinhua news agency reported up on me,” she recounted. a selective ban on wildlife consumption after Reporters Without Borders identified on August 5 that more than 10,000 people had interviewing 4,036 people in 11 cities across 117 people from 17 provinces who were been organized to hunt stray dogs, including Beijing vaccinates the province,” wrote Benitez and Yi Hu. arrested for allegedly circulating SARS-related 4,000 in Maoming, where the human death Commented the ProMed moderators, “One third were in favor of a total ban,” even rumors between February and May 2003, as rose to 41 through July. The account said “It might be more constructive and effective to though more than half had eaten wildlife.” word about the extent and nature of the out- 18,946 dogs were killed in July alone, raising implement compulsory canine vaccination and But aware that wildlife trafficking break trickled back into China from the other the known toll to nearly 80,000. to control wildlife rabies using baited vaccine, for meat employs an estimated 3,000 people in nations into which the disease spread. rather than resorting to the destruction of stray Guangzhou alone, the People’s Congress of Not clear was whether any of the Rabies & dog dogs and [post-exposure] vaccination of the Guangdong on July 25 shied away from pass- people in custody had done anything other human population in high-risk areas.” ing a proposed resolution against any con- than try to identify and fight the epidemic. meat Beijing officials on July 28 began an sumption of wildlife. Instead, after much The International Society for Infectious “Rabies killed thousands of people effort to vaccinate all dogs in the city against debate, the People’s Congress only recom- Diseases asked the Chinese government “to in Guangdong during the 1980s,” Leu Siew rabies, and all pigs against Japanese mended by a vote of 53-11 that “People should immediately and unconditionally release any Ying wrote, “but was largely eradicated by encephalitis, according to China Daily. give up their habits of eating wild animals and people imprisoned for trying to get the news 1996. The rise in cases has corresponded with Beijing also cut the fee for legally registering a not eat wild animals without quarantine and on SARS out.” an increase in the number of people keeping pet dog in half, hoping to increase licensing with easily spread diseases, or other wildlife The Ministry of Health disclosed on dogs as pets. Rabies also spread because of and vaccination compliance. Currently there under legal protection.” July 17 that rabies rather than SARS was the substandard vaccines and improper treatment are only 140,000 licenced dogs in Beijing, of In other words, the People’s deadliest infectious disease at large in China of dog bites. Some reports have said 18% of an estimated population of 1.4 million, wrote Congress merely suggested that laws existing during the first half of 2003. the dogs in Guangdong carry the disease.” Alice Yan of the South China Morning Post. before the SARS outbreak should be obeyed. “In six months, 490 of 545 people Unmentioned was that the rise in The pig vaccinations were necessi- The People’s Congress apparently who caught rabies died,” South China rabies cases also corresponded with an enor- tated, according to Agence France-Press, took no note of a projection published a day Morning Post Beijing correspondent Josephine mous affluence-enabled increase in both after “An encephalitis outbreak in Guangdong earlier in the British journal Nature that up to Ma reported. The same statistic appeared wildlife consumption and in raising dogs and began in April, so far killing 27 people from 20% of the wildlife species in Southeast Asia again a week later in a report from Guangzhou cats for slaughter, typically in grossly unhy- 310 confirmed infections, according to the lat- are in jeopardy of extinction due to habitat loss correspondent Leu Siew Ying. gienic conditions. While overall the numbers est official statistics.” and human consumption. Left unanswered was what became of people who eat wildlife, dogs, and cats in Japanese encephalitis is typically Barry Brook of Northern Territory of the other 55 people who purportedly con- China are believed to be declining, those who spread by a mosquito species whose eggs University in Australia based the projection on tracted the inevitably fatal disease, which nor- do eat them are now able to buy far more than hatch in pig wastes. documented species losses in Singapore since mally kills victims within just a few days of they could before 1996. Bovine tuberculosis and brucellosis British scientists first began species invento- the symptoms appearing. The numbers of dogs killed, far were discovered in Guangdong in late July–– ries in 1819. Wildlife consumption declined in Mass vaccination has been globally higher than reported in previous Chinese dog the fourth and fifth major zoonotic disease out- Singapore only after the destruction of more recognized as the only effective response to purges, hinted that the authorities might be breaks to hit the province in less than a year. than 95% of the local wildlife habitat markedly rabies for more than 30 years. The World depopulating some facilities involved in the Officials responded to the bovine TB reduced the abundance of species deemed edi- Health Organization has warned since 1973 dog meat trade, as well as exterminating street episode by closing the Guangzhou Yunyan ble. Brook identified similar trends occurring that trying to fight rabies by killing host dogs and pets, but no one explicitly said so. Cattle Farm for a 90-day quarantine, killing now in Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and species is futile, and can even increase the risk Animal Rescue Association presi- all 400 resident cows. Inspections were Thailand––all currently major exporters of of exposure if people approach potential host dent Wu Tianyu told a gathering of the China increased in response to brucellosis. Infected wildlife to the Chinese live markets. animals they might otherwise never encounter. Small Animal Protection Association on July cattle were to be killed immediately.
ASPCA––crop slightly to fit within border. 18 - ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2003 How many dogs and cats are eaten in Asia? The absence of dogs and and cats sold and offered for sale on cats from the agricultural statistics of representative days at major mar- almost every dog or cat eating nation kets. Alternatively, photographic tends to confirm that they are eaten mosaics could be assembled of not primarily for food value, but entire markets, as Kim Bartlett did rather as a vice, believed to enhance at the Moran Market near Seoul, sexual attraction and potency. South Korea, in May 2001, so that Some of the Asian nations the numbers of animals in cages in which dogs and cats are eaten are could be counted later. descended from some of the first After this is done in a sys- civilizations to keep written records. tematic manner, throughout the dog Statistics on grain production and and cat eating regions, more precise animal husbandry in many ancient estimates of the traffic can be made Asian empires are still accessible to than are presently possible. scholars who can read the scripts. Meanwhile, from the lim- Korea Animal Protection Society campaign stickers. Yet quantifying dog and ited available information, A N I - China appears to vary by region, both Nagaland and Assam,” resist- MAL PEOPLE guest column, are cat consumption, either historically MAL PEOPLE projects that Asia appearing to be most prevalent in ingt Indian central authority, “are typically staffed “by workers who or today, remains more mysterious curently consumes about 13 to 16 Guangdong, the neighboring south- also consumers,” Buddhiraju said. belong to the Burakumin class, than estimating the numbers of chil- million dogs per year, plus four mil- ern provinces of Yunnan and “In areas like Khamakhya there equivalent to the ‘untouchables’ of dren born out of wedlock, the truth lion cats. Nation-by-nation: Guangxi, and in Heilongjiang, might be dog and cat sacrifices also. India, who in medieval times lived of which is emerging through genet- Jilin, and Liaoning provinces, Dog slaughter is less in A r u n a c h a l in separate villages, could not marry ic research that seeks to trace the Bangladesh adjoining North Korea. Commercial Pradesh and Meghalaya.” other Japanese, and could only work descendants of Genghis Khan and There seems to be no evi- dog meat ranching is known to occur “Cats are eaten by some in ‘unclean’ trades such as butcher- other legendary rulers. dence of either dog or cat eating. in Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu, members of lower castes as well as ing, prostitution, sewage disposal, Polled by ANIMAL PEO- “My family came from Shandong, and Hebei provinces. by the gypsy tribes throughout India and undertaking.” P L E publisher Kim Bartlett, ani- Bangladesh to India,” commented North Korean immigrants and by some people from Kerala,” mal advocates in all parts of Asia Visahka SPCA founder Pradeep reputedly introduced or re-intro- Nath said. “Thus cat eating is not Laos confirmed from direct knowledge Kumar Nath. “I have not heard of duced dog meat restaurants to just in one area, whereas dog eating Reports from visitors indi- that dogs and cats are consumed in Bangladeshis eating dogs or cats.” Beijing in recent years, after keep- is concentrated in the northeast.” cate that dog eating appears common relatively small numbers by ethnic ing dogs for any purpose had been “ T h e n a r i k o r v a s , a South in Laos, but quantification is possi- minorities, and are eaten in large Cambodia discouraged for decades. Indian gypsy tribe, eat cats,” con- ble only by projecting the crudely numbers in parts of China and in “When my wife and I Guangdong is the only firmed Chinny Krishna. “My esti- estimated rates of consumption in North and South Korea. were in Cambodia last year,” wrote province known for eating cats. mate is that five or six thousand cats nearby nations to the Laotian popu- Few, however, could esti- Blue Cross of India chair Chinny The Yangcheng Evening per year are eaten.” lation, with huge potential for error. mate how many dogs and cats are Krishna, “we specifically enquired N e w s in early December 2002 tried consumed. Those who are trying to of many people about dog-eating to quantify Guangdong cat con- Indonesia Malaysia develop numbers are mostly still in and were told by almost all of them sumption. Spokespersons for the “Cats have never been the early stages of collecting data. that dogs are eaten by some “A cat stall in the game- organization ProFauna told A N I - eaten in Malaysia,” said Pei Ling of The importance of becom- Cambodians, including the Cham, meat market can easily sell 500 kilo- MAL PEOPLE that dogs are often the Sarawak SPCA. “Dog eating is ing able to quantify dog and cat eat- who are Muslims. Dogs are sup- grams of cat meat a day in winter,” eaten by the Dayaks of Kalimantan dying out.” ing goes beyond just estimating the posed to be h a r a m or unclean in the editors estimated. “There are and the Bataks of North Sumatra. Added Dr. G.S. Gill of the extent of it. As petkeeping becomes Islam, but obviously they are con- about 80 stalls selling cats in the Dayak dog-eating, a SPCA Penang, “In the 1960s, there more popular relative to eating dogs sidered clean enough to be eaten in three [game meat] markets. If each ProFauna representative named Dedi were rumored to be three places and cats, and the pet supply industry Cambodia. There are a lot of Thai sells about 300 to 400 kilograms of indicated, may have a ritualistic and where dog meat was sold in Penang. becomes more prosperous and and Vietnamese visitors to cat meat per day, then the conserva- menacing context. This is now a thing of the past. infuential within Asian national Cambodia who also eat dog meat. tive estimate is that they sell about While surveying the Kali- Some exotic breeds of dog and cat economies, petkeepers might be “Nobody mentioned cats. 10,000 cats a day,” the paper said. mantan sunbear population, she are eaten by sick individuals, but mobilized to influence poiticians to I have no idea as to the number of The Yangcheng Evening wrote, “We were staying in one of this is not done openly. The finally halt dog and cat eating. dogs eaten,” Krishna acknowl- News asserted that almost all the cats the Dayaks’ house, and a neighbor Wildlife Deptartment maintains a Accurately assessing the edged, “but obviously it would run sold to restaurants were domestic of his caught their home dog, who strict check on any such parties.” economic strength of the dog and cat into the thousands.” animals, and that many were stolen usually accompanied them to go to meat industry is critical, however The Dorling Kindersley or caught on the streets. the jungle and guarded their house, Myanmar ––and it is especially important to World Reference Atlas estimates that and killed and ate it.” In Myanmar (Burma), discourage pet food manufacturers 4% of Cambodians are ethnic India Added Hardi, of ProFauna said Pradeep Kumar Nath, “It is from perceiving dog and cat meat Chinese, 1% are ethnic Vietnamese, Both dogs and cats are Jarkata: “There are many, many mainly tribal people who eat dogs.” producers as a potential growth mar- and the Cham are under 1%. reputedly eaten by gypsies in various restaurants that serve dog meat.” No other reports were received. ket, to be encouraged as some Most Cambodian dog eat- parts of India, but dogs are eaten American pet food producers have ing is probably by members of these openly only in Nagaland and cats are Japan Nepal encouraged puppy mills, in an three minority communities. not openly eaten anywhere. “Dogs and cats disap- Dr. Durga Dutt Joshi, alliance that has often obstructed Most other Cambodians “Nagaland has no dogs at peared in Japan during World War director of the National Zoonoses & humane legislation. are ethnic Khmer. Historically, the all because they have all been eaten II, but usually Japanese don’t eat Food Hygiene Research Center in Vice is distinguished from Khmer were Buddhists, who ate fish and there is huge trafficking in send- dogs or cats,” observed animal Kathmandu, Nepal, told ANIMAL other commerce by occurring out of and crustaceans but not many land ing them dogs from other states. Refuge Kansai founder Elizabeth P E O P L E that “Dogs and cats are sight of most of the public, in neigh- animals. Most Khmer Buddhist Imphal, Manipur has no dogs Oliver. “However there is a large never eaten in Nepal, and it is ille- borhoods rarely frequented by teachers and traditions were extermi- either,” charged People for Animals Korean population in Japan, espe- gal to slaughter dogs and cats.” decent people. Official records on nated and eradicated by the Khmer founder Maneka Gandhi. cially in the Kansai district,” Oliver vice are not kept by the agencies that Rouge dictatorship of 1975-1979, Confirmed Pradeep Kumar added, “and I have heard that they Philippines normally track commerce because to however, and after decades of Nath, “When I was in Assam two eat dog meat which is mostly “Based on numerous keep records would be to admit the poverty, hunger, and ignorance, years ago dog eating came up, and it imported from China.” inquiries made to various sources existence of a traffic of which many there may no longer be any cultural was evident that dogs were eaten Oliver also mentioned nationwide,” said anti-corruption citizens disapprove. obstacle to eating any kind of meat. mostly in Nagaland. Stray dogs are rumors she has heard about a covert crusader Freddie Farres of Linis There are ways, nonethe- Historically, cats had a supplied from nearby states like traffic in dog meat operating from Gobyerno, “it would appear that cat less, to document the extent of high status in Cambodia, as in West Bengal, Meghalaya, and one regional hokensho, as Japanese eating is not big here. Although we vices. Perhaps the best way is direct Burma, but whether this view sur- Sikkim, and also from Burma. animal control facilities are called. have heard of some personal con- surveillance. For example, a dis- vived the Khmer Rouge is unclear. There are now very few dogs in The h o k e n s h o , Oliver sumption,” Farres said, “there is no creet observer could count the dogs those areas unless they are bred for explained in a November 2002 ANI- (continued on page 19) China this purpose,” Nath asserted. Royal SPCA Asian region- Visakha SPCA hospital RIBUTES Hit them with al representative Paul Littlefair esti- manager Swathi Buddhiraju tried to T mates from direct observations and obtain numbers through networking. In honor of the Prophet Isaiah, a 2-by-4! news reports that from six to eight “I have contacted a few people,” St. Martin de Porres, More than 30,000 million dogs per year are eaten in she e-mailed, “but info is scanty. and Albert Schweitzer. C H I N A ––a low total for a species There are 16 tribes in Nagaland. A ––Brien Comerford people who care about consumed primarily for meat value, faction within each tribe slaughters –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– animals will read but a number that would be consis- dogs for food, The rough estimate In honor of Alice Helm tent with the perception of dog-eat- given by one person is around --Gloria Bakissoon this 2-by-4" ad. ing as an occasional vice mostly 10,000 for the year,” but Buddhiraju We'll let you have it engaged in by older men. said she could not confirm this. The extent of dog eating in “The militant tribes of for just $68––or $153 for three issues–– or $456 for a year. Then you can let them have it. It's the only 2-by-4 to use in the battle for public opinion. ANIMAL PEOPLE 360-579-2505 ANIMAL PEOPLE, Septe mbe r 2003 - 19 ANIMAL PEOPLE asks, How many dogs and cats are eaten in Asia? (from commercial traffic in cats for meat, dogs and cats for human consump- added, “the Chinese eat dog in the If home consumption of unlike with the dog trade. Some 25 tion. AVA is of the view that eating winter for its purported warming Thailand dogs is as high, about a million dogs years ago a rumor was spread that a dogs and cats is socially unaccept- properties, whereas in Korea dogs About 52,000 dogs per might be eaten in Hanoi per year. well known Chinese restaurant in the able in Singapore. To date,” he are eaten at the height of summer. year are eaten in Thailand, accord- Hanoi has about four mil- Philippines was caught unloading a added, “AVA has not received any This underlines the spurious nature ing to Roger Lohanan of Thai lion people, Saigon has 4.6 million, truckload of dead cats who were requests to import dog or cat meat. of the claims of the dealers that dog Animal Guardians. News accounts and Haiphong, the third largest city supposedly to be used as ingredients Recalled Deirdre Moss of meat has health benefits. The indicate that dog eating and cat eat- in Vietnam, has 1.7 million. for their siopao. There was a strong SPCA Singapore, “We did have a Korean minority in China must get ing were virtually unknown in If dogs are eaten at the backlash against the restaurant, and case many years ago involving con- very confused!” Thailand before the U.S.-sponsored same rate in Saigon, where dog-eat- their s i o p a o sales collapsed. The struction workers who killed a stray influx of ethnic Chinese refugees ing was not prominent during the incident is remembered to this day. dog, possibly for consumption. A Sri Lanka from Vietnam during the 1970s and Vietnam War, and in Haiphong, “As to dog consumption,” witness called the police, and the ANIMAL PEOPLE w a s 1980s. total urban consumption would be Farres continued, “we have perpetrators were jailed.” told of occasional incidents in Sri Settled mostly in north- about 2.6 million a year. researched the parts of the country Other sources indicated Lanka in which butchers and restau- eastern Thailand, the refugees intro- Vietnam has 81 million which we believe account for 90% that the offenders were Thais. ranteurs illegally sold dog and cat duced a growing and increasingly human residents, but the rural or more of the dog meat traffic. Our Similar accounts of “Thai” workers meat, usually disguised as other controversial commerce in both dog majority probably cannot afford to actual survey of the number of stores killing and eating dogs and some- kinds of meat, but neither dogs nor meat and dog leather. eat dogs as often as city dwellers. and restaurants selling dog meat, times cats have reached A N I M A L cats are openly eaten there. Consumption of dogs is Among the many Vietnamese ethnic including wholesale vendors, indi- P E O P L E from Israel, but the considered offensive by the groups, only the Montegnard were cates that in the Baguio City and “Thais” usually turn out to be ethnic Russia Buddhist Thai majority, and has well-known for dog-eating during Cordillera region about 24,166 dogs Chinese refugees originally from Dogs are reportedly eaten been discouraged to some extent by the war years. per month are killed for meat, or Vietnam, who fled to Thailand after in parts of the Russian Far East adja- the Thai government, but has not This may not mean any- about 289,992 dogs per year.” the Vietnam War. cent to China, where there is also actually been suppressed, to avoid thing currently relevant, however, Parallel cases involving said to be an active traffic in stolen heightening the already considerable since the U.S. military presence in Singapore South Korean construction workers dogs for export to China both for ethnic tension between native Thais Vietnam ended 28 years ago. “We do not allow slaugh- have occurred in Japan. meat and as pets (depending on and the immigrants. If all of Vietnam eats dogs ter of dogs and cats here. I have not breed), but no one has specified (See page 14.) at the projected Hanoi rate, total heard of consumption of dog and cat South Korea how many dogs are involved. consumption would be 20 million meat in Singapore,” Singapore Evaluating the limited Vietnam per year. More likely, since Hanoi Centre for Animal Welfare chief available official statistics, plus the Taiwan The only statistics A N I - is the center of government and fair- Madhavan Kannan asserted. photographic documentation of the Wrote Environment and MAL PEOPLE found pertaining to ly affluent by Vietnamese standards, Louis Ng of ACRES Moran Market obtained in May Animal Society of Taiwan chair Wu dog and cat eating in Vietnam were without the westernization that shared a more formal response to a 2001, ANIMAL PEOPLE has esti- Hung, “There is no official estimate from news accounts of individual occurred in Saigon, Hanoi may similar inquiry that his organization mated that from 1.1 to 1.3 million of the number of dogs eaten every restaurant sales in Hanoi during Tet, account for from half to a third of all made to Dr. Yap Him Hoo, head of dogs are eaten in South Korea each year before the dog meat trade was a seven-day holiday during which the dog-eating in the country. the Animal, Meat & Seafood Reg- year, along with 100,000 cats. banned in January 2001. However, dog consumption peaks. Projecting all urban dog- ulatory Branch of the Agri-food and “I think your figures may the government did figure out that There was also a mention eating at the Hanoi level and rural Veterinary Authority of Singapore. be about right,” opined Royal SPCA there were 54 dog meat restaurants that dogs are usually eaten only dur- dog-eating at 10% as high produces Under the Singapore representative Paul Littlefair. “I met on the island. If each restaurant sold ing the second half of each lunar an estimate of total consumption at Wholesome Meat and Fish Act, Dr. with the head of the dog meat traders an average of one or two dogs per month, and even then at a relatively four to five million dogs per year. Yap Him Hoo explained, “meat can association in November 1999. He day, they would have been butcher- low level compared to Tet. That might be credible—although only be imported from AVA- told me that consumption had halved ing 20,000 to 50,000 dogs per year. Some analysis can be done the actual balance of consumption approved sources which have met over the decade since 1990, and I “After the trade was out- from this data, crude as it is. by region may be quite different. AVA standards. Similarly AVA don’t think there were ever more lawed,” Wu Hung continued, “the If 300 dog meat restau- Cat-eating is illegal in also ensures that the local slaughter than 2-3 million dogs a year killed volume may have been reduced to rants in Hanoi sell 120 dogs per day Vietnam, since a healthy cat popula- houses meet AVA standards. for food. For cats the figure also about a tenth of what it was, which during Tet, as the news coverage tion is officially deemed essential to Although the Act primarily address- seems reasonable or maybe a little would mean four or five dog meat indicates, Hanoi consumption dur- control rice-eating rodents, but spo- es food safety, welfare is a major high, given that there are only a restaurants still exist, killing about ing Tet would be 252,000. radic accounts of raids on cat-meat consideration during the treatment handful of cats offered for sale 5,000 dogs each year. If the Hanoi restaurants restaurants indicate that cat-eating and handling of live animals. In the alongside the dogs at markets like “Cat meat is not popular in sell five dogs per day during the sec- continues––like most vices––at a case of slaughter, AVA accepts only Moran, Chung Ang, etc. Taiwan,” Wu Hung added. ond half of each lunar month the rest usually inconspicuous level. internationally acceptable humane “Although Korean tradi- Confirmed Paul Littlefair, of the year, total annual Hanoi ––Researched by Kim Bartlett, methods. AVA is not aware of any tional medicine follows Chinese “I have never heard of cats being restaurant consumption of dogs with analysis by Merritt Clifton humane methods of slaughtering practice fairly closely,” Littlefair killed for food in Taiwan.” would be 503,250.
C a ts outdoors. It’s a fact of life. It doesn’t have to be a sad fa c t .
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Photos: Gina Mantero 20 - ANIMAL PEOPLE, Septe mbe r 2003 SAVING ORPHANS, CLEARING BRUSH, AND HEAVING THE DEAD INTO Therefore they formed their own. chimps are happy ‘cause they’re in their own homes.” In My Family Tree: Sheila Siddle became matriarch of nearly 100 chim- Weber and Vedder recount a few pages later that, panzees, whose stories she relates as if she were their doting “The boys (Noah and Ethan) learned a very important lesson A Life With Chimpanzees grandmother. They occupy a series of 500-acre enclosures from watching [two Rwandans] slaughter goats and chickens by Sheila Siddle, with Doug Cress within 13,000 acres of restored natural habitat. for dinner: if you are going to eat meat, you should at least The Chimfunshi sanctuary management style is con- witness where it comes from.” Grove Press (841 Broadway, New York, NY troversial, since the Siddles allow the chimps to breed. After inuring the boys to slaughter, Weber and 10003), 2002. 284 pages, hardcover. $25.00. “We have never forced our chimps to reproduce,” Vedder are upset that “National Tree Day in 1987 saw the Sheila Siddle says, “and we do not place them together with arrival of an army of Rwandan citizens bearing thousands of breeding in mind. In fact, the word ‘breeding’ is abhorrent to sacks of eucalyptus and black wattle to plant along the new In The Kingdom of Gorillas: me in the context of chimps. Chimfunshi is not a chimp farm. road” through the Nyungwe forest. Fragile Species in a Dangerous Land The orphanage is simply our humble attempt at giving chim- Fighting for years to try to save Nyungwe as a nation- panzees back a little of what mankind has taken so brutally al park, Webr and Vedder were upset that the roadside trees by Bill Weber and Amy Vedder from them, and our chimpanzees are free to choose their own were non-native. They failed to realize that above the micro- Simon & Schuster (1230 Avenue of the partners and to procreate or not. bial level, “invasive” species only spread into empty niches. “We have observed a fragmented group of chim- Rather than “competing” with native species, “invasives” Americas, New York, NY 10020), 2001. panzees come together and form a cohesive family group after replace those that can no longer thrive after climate change, 370 pages, hardcover. $27.00. the birth of just one baby,” Sheila Siddle adds. “Reproduction human destruction, or disease outbreaks. somehow helps to restore the social order in a chimp family, So long as Nyungwe remained healthy, the eucalyp- Sheila Siddle, cofounder with her husband David of and that is why Dave and I have never interfered. tus and black wattle would only shade the road. But Weber and the Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage in central Zambia, never “I sympathize with those sanctuaries that have space Vedder reacted to it much as Fossey reacted after a handful of seems to have doubted her calling, once she found it. Certainly limitations and are forced to use birth control,” Sheila Siddle venison poachers accidentally snared and killed a gorilla. she never lacked the courage to accept a challenge. continues. “But we do have the space…I’m convinced that our “Over the following weeks,” they recount, “Bill At age 16, in 1947, Siddle traveled with her family chimps choose to reproduce only because they know it fits with took many late afternoon drives into the forest with the boys. by ferry and truck from England to South Africa. When one of the balance of nature. I believe most animals will regulate their At first, Noah watched in shock as his father pulled the newly her brothers fell ill, the brother and both of her parents returned birthrate in accordance with their natural surroundings. I’m planted trees from the ground. Then he and Ethan joined in to England for a year, but Siddle remained behind in afraid it is only we humans who ignore the natural laws.” with great gusto, uprooting more than a hundred of the euca- Bulawayo, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), to study toward lyptus and black wattle seedlings each afternoon, throwing becoming a nurse. Prelude to genocide them into the back of the car, and dumping them in a deep Married at 21 to an amateur motorcycle racer, Siddle Five years before Sheila Siddle accepted her first ravine…The boys learned about good trees and bad trees.” in the 1950s headed an all-female rally car racing team, birthed orphaned chimp, Quaker peace activists and teachers Bill In the next two chapters Weber and Vedder describe three daughters, and kept a pet cheetah. She left that fast- Weber and Amy Vedder (long married but using separate how Rwanda fell into the ethnic violence that culminated in the paced lifestyle and marriage in 1964, however, and after her names) found a similar calling in attempting to save the wild 1994 massacre of 800,000 members of the Tutsi minority, fol- second marriage to David Siddle in 1966 lived quietly on a gorillas of Rwanda. Initially Weber and Vedder did field lowed by the collapse of the government led by the Hutu killers remote cattle ranch. research under the direction of the late Dian Fossey. under a Tutsi onslaught from Uganda. With her daughters grown and married, Sheila and Soon they realized, however, that Fossey was mad By 1992, Weber and Vedder explain, “The language David Siddle in October 1983 were contemplating retirement. as a hatter and that her intensely negative attitude toward the of day-to-day work and farming was increasingly perverted in Then one of their sons-in-law, a game ranger, brought them a Rwandan people, mostly unwarranted, played into the the the cause of death...Communal death squads ‘went to work in severely injured and ill baby chimpanzee, confiscated from hands of the loggers and cattle ranchers who with World Bank the field.’ Their task was to ‘clear the brush.’ Their targets smugglers. funding were denuding and eroding the gorillas’ habitat. were the inyenzi, or Tutsi ‘cockroaches,’ and their ibyitso ‘col- Handed a child in distress, as she saw the chimp, Though apparently fonder of Fossey than she was of laborators’ among the Hutu…Weapons were openly distributed Sheila Siddle treated him as she had often treated human chil- them, or anyone, Weber and Vedder broke with her to devote to these militias, but ammunition was in short supply, so Hutu dren, raised him as another of her own, and adjusted to the dif- most of the next 20 years to introducing strictly regulated eco- businessmen paid to import enough machetes for every third ferences between humans and chimps as necessity dictated. tourism to give the gorillas economic value, and to promoting Rwandan male. There was much brush to cut.” Others in Zambia meanwhile were adopting countless ecological education as a core curriculum in Rwandan schools. Weber and Vedder are not to blame for the Rwandan orphaned chimps as surrogate children, only to find the chimps Weber and Vedder endured hardship, poverty, and genocide. Out of Rwanda when it erupted, they did everything were more work than they could handles––and dangerous, too, any number of life-threatening experiences while consistently they could think of to try to stop it, and to try to save some of especially after their first few years. Many of the problem demonstrating intense concern for doing right by all creatures, the victims. They were among the first Americans to return to chimps also came to the Siddles. human and animal. They are likeable, gentle people, Rwanda following the bloodbath, to resume teaching and heal- The Siddles realized eventually that the chimps need- immensely proud of the joyful response of their elder son Noah, ing humans as well as helping gorillas. ed a proper sanctuary. They could not be repatriated to the wild then a kindergartner, to the sight of wild chimpanzees just a Yet Weber and Vedder set their own example of irra- because chimps are not native to Zambia. All of their orphans few weeks after he was severely mauled by captive chimps: tional intolerance. Rwanda learned all too well the most brutal were refugees from Congo Basin habitat far to the north, fast “Amy moved close to Noah and asked what he lessons that Weber and Vedder inflicted on their sons. being logged to oblivion. The Siddles discovered that there thought. N i c e . You’re not afraid. N o p e. Why not? Those It is unclear whether these lessons were recounted were no chimp sanctuaries capable of accepting their troupe. chimps in Akagera were crazy from living in cages. These unawares, or by way of confession. ––M.C. Humane education videos about animal rights into Christianity. Wind-of-Fire: “For those in the animal rights The Story of an Untouchable movement who have abandoned their church- Proudly Human es,” Troen wrote, “W i n d - o f - F i r e may offer Compassion In World Farming [South Africa] by Joan Beth Clair hope of revival. Father Richard Mapplebeck- c/o Humane Education Trust (P.O. Box 825, Somerset West, 7129, Wind-of-Fire Press (P.O. Box 523, palmer, pastor of Grace North Church in Berkeley, CA 94701), 1999. Berkeley, was inspired by Clair’s book to South Africa;
TRAP-NEUTER-RETURN: WORKING WITH FERAL CATS ANIMAL OBITUARIES by Neighborhood Cats of New York City Black Bear #107, age 15, was B o n g o, 32, an Asiatic black bear is now downloadable from the ANIMAL PEOPLE web site. roadkilled on June 29 near Spring Hill, who was rescued from the failing Noah’s Ark In English: Florida, in a location environmentalists had Zoo in Milan, Italy by Brigitte Bardot in 2000, www.animalpeoplenews.org/IMPORTANT_MATS/tnrFeral03.html argued would become a death trap for bears if was euthanized on July 30 at the Glasgow Zoo, a 24-hour Walmart Supercenter was built near- his home for the past three years. Bongo En Espanol: by. The store was built anyway, opening ear- arrived with an ulcerated eye and a large tes- http://216.110.171.197/FR/SP/Traduc.1/tnrSP03.html lier in 2003. Two black bear cubs were killed ticular tumor. The eye and his testicles were En Francais nearby in September 2001. surgically removed. He continued to suffer http://216.110.171.197/FR/FR/ATraductions/capturerTrapFR.ht M i r a , 6, rescued by the Ferret from cancer and arthritis, however, and was Association of Connecticut at age three originally slated for euthanasia one day earlier. months after being stepped on and burned with The Glasgow Zoo is now scheduled for perma- BITUARIES bleach, was euthanized on June 18 after a nent closure in September, and the Scottish O SPCA, helping to relocate the 68 resident ani- two-year battle with cancer. William B. Johnston, DVM, 56, Michael Peterman, 48, died on mals, has acknowledged that four other bears State Public Health Veterinarian for the August 4 at the University of Cincinnati “Maynard,” a squirrel monkey of ages between 20 and 30 are probably also Alabama Department of Public Health, and Hospital from a bite inflicted by his own used in behavioral research at New England too old to place. The activist group Advocates current president of the National Association African rhino viper. A Dayton firefighter, Regional Primate Research Center, escaped for Animals has alleged that the remaining of State Public Health Veterinarians, died on Peterman collected reptiles and did some from his cage while being trucked across the bears and numerous other hard-to-place ani- August 4 from esophageal cancer. Colleague local reptile rescuing. facility on July 11, acquired his name when mals are likely to be killed soon. The zoo Millicent Eidson recalled him as a “national spotted 10 miles away in the town of Maynard management has denied the allegation but Kirsty Brown, 28, a marine biol- leader” in developing the use of oral rabies 19 days later, and was roadkilled nearby on seems to have few visible alternatives. ogist working at the British Antarctic Survey August 1. vaccination to control raccoon rabies. research station at Rothera, was drowned by Mavis, 23, the next-to-last of four Eighteen states have now controlled rabies a leopard seal in an unprecedented unpro- Atlantic bottlenose dolphins who were cap- outbreaks by using the Raboral vaccine. voked attack while snorkeling with three tured off Florida in May 1985 for exhibition at Barbara Bonner, 46, founder and companions on July 22. None were able to MEMORIALS the then-new West Edmonton Mall, in director of the Turtle Hospital of New reach her in time to help. The prevailing the- Edmonton, Alberta, died on July 23. In memory of Mom England, died suddenly at home in Upton, ory is that the leopard seal mistook Brown for Veterinarian Carol Shwetz theorized that lin- ––Cathy Young Czapla Massachusetts, of unknown causes on a penguin, but released her remains upon gering grief over the loss of her newborn calf ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– August 1. Bonner was noted for advocacy realizing his mistake. In memory of Belle in July 2002 may have caused her terminal and educational efforts on behalf of Asian Rebecca Brenneman Devine, 53, ––Vicky Windsor decline, as she refused to eat for no evident turtle species, many of which are on the a neonatal intensive care nrse, drowned on ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– reason. She also fasted for a prolonged time verge of extinction due to meat hunting. July 14 in an unsuccessful effort to save her In memory of Olivia immediately after her baby died. Mall general Robert McCloskey, 88, died on nine-year-old golden retriever Buster, who ––Gloria Bakissoon manager Gary Hanson pledged several years June 30 on Deer Isle, Maine. McCloskey fell 30 feet down a spillway into an irrigation ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ago that he will not import any more dolphins, won the American Library Association’s ditch near their home in Durango, Colorado. In memory of my cat Alex but whether the last survivor, Howard, will be Caldecott Medal in 1941 as writer/illustrator Both Devine and Buster suffered head ––Leslie Fay Pomerantz relocated to have companionship has not yet of Make Way For Ducklings, about the ducks injuries, apparently from being slammed into ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– been decided. who have long inhabited the Boston Public cement baffles by turbulent water. Devine In memory of my dearest and beloved friend Wild Eyed & Wicked, 11, a two- Gardens, and in 1957 for Time of Wonder, left her husband of 22 years and two sons. Luiz M. Seabra. Sleep well, sweet prince. time winner of the American saddlebred Triple about the Maine coastal islands. He also ––Jackie Bullette Crown; his stablemate Meet Prince Katy Reeves, 17, of Spokane, wrote and illustrated Blueberries for Sal ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Charming; and Kiss Me, kept in the same Washington, was killed by a crocodile on (1948), in which a child and a bear each fol- In memory of P.J., a 25-year-old Capuchin barn, were euthanized in mid-July, about August 4 while vacationing with her family at low the wrong mama home. monkey who since she was 2-1/2 years old three weeks after someone injected a poison remote Mana Pools National Park in spent her life in a barren plexiglas box resembling cobra venom into their forelegs as John F. Eisenberg, 68, died on Zimbabwe. Her father, Jack Reeves, report- mounted on the wall, and her nights and they rested in their stalls at the Double D July 6 from renal cancer at his home in edly had to hike for five hours to reach the weekends in another barren cage inside the Ranch near Lexington, Kentucky. Police still Bellingham, Washington. Staff scientist at nearest telephone and notify relatives. Katy storage closet of a dentist in Seattle. have no suspects. the National Zoo in Washington D.C., 1965- Reeves spent the summer of 2002 as a student 1982, Eisenberg authored The Mammalian volunteer with a sea turtle rescue project in ––Jackie Bullette Ferdinand, 19, winner of the 1986 Radiations (1981), among the most influen- Costa Rica. ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Kentucky Derby, was apparently sold to a tial examinations to date of mammal evolu- In loving memory of Cleone Bujalski, Japanese slaughterhouse at some point in Claudio Roggero, 60, of Glas- tion, and co-authored with Kent H. Redford missed by many. 2002, the horse trade journal Blood Horse gow, Scotland, drowned on August 8 after the three-volume encyclopedia Mammals of ––Dick and Claire Millhouse reported on July 22. Ferdinand was ridden to rescuing his dog from the Clyde Canal. the Neotropics. ––Deanne Ellsworth victory at Churchill Downs by Bill Shoemaker, ––Doris Gracy then 54, who won the Kentucky Derby for the ––Jack and Nanita Moore fourth and last time. Ferdinand was named Kuno The Killer, a five-foot-long P e a c h e s , 13, miniature poodle ––Donald and Joan Wells Horse of the Year in 1987 after edging 1987 catfish weighing 77 pounds, was found dead companion of Kenai, Alaska resident Sally ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Kentucky Derby winner Alysheba in the during the third week in July alongside the Youngberg, was on June 17 fatally stomped In memory of Purr Box (12/3/87), Breeders’ Cup Classic. Ferdinand was retired Volksgarten park lake in the city of by a moose while chasing a robin. Prometheus (3/21/81), Friendl (10/30/87), to stud in 1989 and was sold to a Japanese Moenchengladbach, Germany. Kuno gained K u n d a v i , 13-year-old female ele- Lizzie (5/8/84), Boy Cat (12/26/85), horse breeder in 1994. his name in 2001 by leaping from the lake to phant of the Big Temple at Thanjavur, India, Miss Penrose (11/18/98), Duke (11/1/98) swallow a Dachshund puppy. died on June 10. She was given to the temple and Blackie (9/9/96). Leta’s Princess, 3, a racing grey- hound, was reportedly injured on July 12 in a L u l u , black Chihuahua pet of T h e at age five by the actress/politician Jayalitha. midrace collision with other dogs, stumbled Osbournes “reality TV” family, was reported- K o k o , 10, a survivor of the first into the path of the motorized lure, was proba- ly killed recently by coyotes who jumped a clutch of Komodo dragon eggs known to have bly shocked on the rail, was then bludgeoned low fence to invade the family yard in Beverly been hatched outside of Indonesia, died on by the lure, and was finally euthanized on the Hills, California. July 16 at the St. Louis Zoo, her home since track, Palm Beach Kennel Club spokesperson S w i f t , 8, a corgi given to Queen August 1993. Seventeen Komodo dragons in Theresa Hume told Palm Beach Post staff Elizabeth of England by the Queen Mother, all hatched from that clutch at the National writer Rochelle Brenner. died from natural causes circa June 11. 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Justice on Earth: Earthjustice and the people it has served by Tom Turner Chelsea Green Publishing (distributed by Earthjustice, 416 17th St., Oakland, CA 94161), 2002. 224 pages, hardcover. $40.00. Originating from a 1971 internal split within the Sierra Club, Earthjustice called itself the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund until 1997. Essentially an environmen- tal law firm structured as a nonprofit activist group, Earthjustice mostly sues various branches of government to seek enforcement of legislation including the habitat protection provisions of the Endangered Species Act and Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Faced with environmental contro- versy, bureaucrats often to do nothing until compelled by the courts to act—and some- times, especially in ESA cases, political pressures all but prevent effective action until judges issue an edict. Many organiza- tions pursue such cases, but Earthjustice, now emulated by several others, was the first to file lawsuits as its primary and indeed almost exclusive program function. While still called the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, the organization pub- lished a previous historical resume of its activities in 1989, entitled Wild by Law. Justice on Earth updates that volume and adds coverage of new issues addressed by EarthJustice during the past dozen years. Of particular note is that author Tom Turner describes labyrinthine court cases in a succinct and lucid manner. Justice on Earth is not quite a crime-thriller, but it won’t lose anyone with a serious interest in the issues, especially the serious donors who are the target audience. —M.C.
The bovine TB and brucellosis eradication procedures were similar to those used in the U.S., which are considered obsolete by some zoonotic disease experts. al on how to treat lab animals, but the scientists ignored them,” he said.