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November 2011 3/22/13 11:46 PM Page 1 Neuter/return foe Nico Dauphine convicted of trying to poison cats WASHINGTON D.C.–– A n t i - f e r a l cat ornithologist Nico Dauphine was on October 31, 2011 convicted in District of Columbia Superior Court of misdemeanor attempted cruelty to animals. Facing a maximum penalty of 180 days in jail plus a $1,000 fine, Dauphine was to be sentenced on December 14. Routine in other respects, the Dauphine case became prominent because her papers have been distributed and often cited by anti-feral cat organizations such as the American Bird Conservancy and the Wildlife Society. Dauphine’s choice of a top-dollar defense attorney also occasioned notice. Observed Keith L. Alexander of the Washington Post, “When Michael Vick was (Kim Bartlett) “Dog Island” became the home base for Bangkok dog rescue. (Soi Dog Foundation) facing animal cruelty charges four years ago, over a bowl of cat food sitting outside the Park the star quarterback called on local defense Square apartments March 2, she was simply lawyer Billy Martin for help. Dauphine, too, removing the food to keep strays from congre- Thai flood rescuers wonder “Where turned to the powerhouse lawyer,” whose pre- gating,” reported Alexander. “But prosecu- vious clients have included other athletes, sev- tors said the 40-second video showed eral politicians, and former White House aide Dauphine removing a plastic bag from her were the global animal charities?” Monica Lewinsky, whose testimony about purse, reaching into the bag, and dumping alleged sexual misconduct brought impeach- poison onto the food. A neighbor reported the B A N G K O K ––“I think we have subsided. “It would have been nice to have ment proceedings against then-U.S. President incident, and no cats ate poisoned food.” shown that a group of dedicated local organi- been given some aid. Many of us expected the Bill Clinton. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin zations can be far more effective [than inter- large international charities to take the lead Post-conviction, Dauphine changed Chambers cross-examined Dauphine about national organizations] in dealing with disas- and were disappointed, to put it mildly,” lawyers and petitioned for a new trial. several of her anti-feral cat writings. ters,” e-mailed Soi Dog Foundation president Dalley continued. “I exclude Humane Society “Martin argued that although securi- Dauphine argued that the examples were mis- John Dalley in mid-November 2011, as two International from this comment,” Dalley ty cameras captured Dauphine, 38, hovering (continued on page 7) months of flooding across much of Thailand added, since an HSI team from India did help the local coalition, after several days of mis- communication. But Dalley, Wildlife Friends Foundation of Thailand founder Edwin Wiek, and less outspoken representatives of other ANIMAL PEOPLE local rescue groups––most of them veterans of the rescue effort after the December 26, 2004 News For People Who Care About Animals Indian Ocean tsunami––for several weeks did not even damn with faint praise the responses of the World Society for the Protection of Animals and the International Fund for November/December 2011 Animal Welfare. Volume 20, #9 Among the first into the field as the waters rose in northern tributaries to the major rivers that converge at Bangkok was Save Elephant Foundation founder Sangduen “Lek” (continued on page 12) Mercy for Animals undercover video cracks open scandal at 5th-largest U.S. egg producer CHICAGO––“It’s likely,” assessed had lost customers including McDonald’s Rod Smith of the agribusiness newspaper Restaurants, Target, Wal-Mart, Cargill F e e d s t u f f s , “that the undercover video clan- Kitchen Solutions, and SuprValu Inc. destinely recorded at Sparboe Farms has been The hidden-camera video revealed the most successful ever made by animal “Hens crammed into filthy wire cages with less activists.” space for each bird than a standard-sized sheet Footage collected between May 23 of paper; workers burning off the beaks of and August 1, 2011 by Mercy for Animals young chicks without any painkillers and cal- investigators at Sparboe Farms laying hen lously throwing them into cages, some missing facilities in Iowa, Minnesota, and Colorado the cage doors and hitting the floor; rotted aired on November 18, 2011––first on the hens, decomposed beyond recognition as ABC television program Good Morning birds, left in cages with hens still laying eggs A m e r i c a , then on ABC World News Tonight for human consumption; a worker tormenting with Diane Sawyer, next on the ABC prime a bird by swinging her around in the air while time news magazine show 20/20. her legs were caught in a grabbing device; By that time the exposé had gone chicks trapped and mangled in cage wire; oth- viral on the Internet and Facebook, had been ers suffering from open wounds and torn picked up by other media, and Sparboe Farms beaks; and live chicks thrown into plastic bags A circus sold Arrell the lion and a Siberian tiger to an exotic pet keeper. Arrell and to be suffocated,” summarized the tiger lived out their lives at the Primarily Primates sanctuary. (Kim Bartlett) Mercy for Animals founder Nathan Runkle in a media statement. Zanesville animal release and massacre “These are company-wide, policy-level abuses,” Mercy for demonstrates need for effective laws Animals spokesperson Matt Rice C O L U M B U S ––Lions, tigers, Not expected was that Kasich would replace charged. The Mercy for Animals bears, and other exotic and dangerous ani- the Strickland order with nothing. investigators “documented daily mals were still running loose and Muskingum Kasich was besieged by the morn- abuses that would shock and horri- County sheriff’s deputies were still shooting ing of October 20, 2011 with variants of the fy most Americans, yet are largely them in Zanesville, Ohio on October 19, question that ANIMAL PEOPLE r e c o m - considered standard and acceptable 2011 when a reporter first contacted A N I - mended, but coherent responses were slow in to the egg industry,” Rice said. MAL PEOPLE to ask what questions should coming––even though the Kasich administra- Added Runkle, “The worst be asked of whom. tion had already had six months to rehearse, abuse is a lifetime of confine- The most important question, ANI- since almost the same question had already ment.” Laying hens at Sparboe MAL PEOPLE offered, was why Governor been asked back in April 2011 by Alan and almost all other major egg pro- John Kasich not only failed to implement a Johnson of the Columbus Dispatch, Richard duction facilities “live their lives 90-day executive order by previous Governor Payerchin of the Lorain Morning Journal, crammed in cages. They can’t Ted Strickland which would have prohibited and Cindy Leise of the Elyria C h r o n i c l e - stretch their wings or engage in the possession or sale of such animals, but Telegram, among others. natural behaviors,” Runkle said. allowed it to lapse on April 6, 2011 without The shooting in Zanesville had “McDonald’s says it ‘will introducing any other mechanism for control- barely ended when Ohio University student no longer accept’ eggs from ling traffic in exotic and dangerous wildlife. Liz Dumler started an online petition asking Sparboe Farms,” ABC News Strickland issued the 90-day order Kasich to reinstate and reinforce the announced soon after the G o o d only hours before leaving office, keeping a Strickland order. Dumler “managed to recruit Morning America episode aired. promise made in June 2010 to the Humane thousands of supporters in less than 24 Until November 18, the Society of the U.S. and other members of the hours,” said Change.org Director of Sparboe facility in Vincent, Iowa, Ohioans for Humane Legislation coalition, to Organizing Stephanie Feldstein. had produced all eggs used by help convince the coalition to withdraw a bal- “How many incidents must we cata- McDonald’s restaurants west of the lot initiative on farmed animal welfare. (See logue before Ohio takes action to crack down Mississippi River. editorial, page 3.) on private ownership of dangerous exotic ani- The Mercy for Animals All parties understood that Kasich, mals?” asked Humane Society of the U.S. video was broadcast two days after a Republican, would be unlikely to keep president Wayne Pacelle. Pacelle had incor- (continued on page 11) intact an order from Strickland, a Democrat. (continued on page 8) November 2011 3/22/13 11:46 PM Page 2 2 - ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2011 November 2011 3/22/13 11:46 PM Page 3 Editorial feature ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2011 - 3 Who has the mandate to speak for farm animals? Controversy continues in this November/December 2011 edition of ANIMAL PEO- Since winning passage of a 2008 California initiative similar to the initiative pro- PLE, as in almost every edition since July/August 2010, over agreements reached during the posed in Ohio, the Humane Society of the U.S. had used the threat of introducing initiatives to past 18 months among animal charities and entities representing agribusiness. In dispute are win a variety of legislation to improve conditions for farmed animals in Colorado, Maine, and both the substance of the agreements themselves, which concern the lives, suffering, and Michigan. Those deals were relatively non-controversial among animal advocates. The Ohio deaths of more animals than are involved in all other animal advocacy issues combined, and compromise was different. Thousands of activists and other humane organizations had already the even greater question of who is ethically entitled to speak for the interests of livestock.