Guangzhou bans eating snakes–– GUANGZHOU––Guangzhou bureau of forestry director Guo Qinghe suppressed human consumption of cat meat during the first weekend of November 2007 by announcing on local television his intent to enforce a four- year-old Guangzhou city ordinance against eat- ing snakes. “It is illegal for companies, restau- rants and individuals to sell live snakes, snake meat, and related foods,” Guo said, not men- tioning cats, but in case there was any doubt about what he meant, Zheng Caixiong of the official government newspaper China Daily Banglok taxi elephant, working late hours. (Antoni P. Uni) spelled it out. “The popular Cantonese dish longhu - d o u or ‘dragon duels with tiger’ has been Elephant polo debate overshadows banned,” wrote Zheng Caixiong. “The delica- cy derives its name from snake and cat meat. (Kim Bartlett) introduction of microchipping Apart from having their snakes and snake prod- “The Guangzhou city government ucts confiscated, those caught flouting the ban banned the sale of snake and snake-related BANGKOK, MUMBAI– – T h e Partly, this may be because of will be fined between 10,000 yuan ($1,300) and dishes in the wake of the Sudden Acute Tourism Authority of Thailand on Nov- astute public relations by elephant polo pro- 100,000 yuan ($13,000).” Respiratory Syndrome outbreak in 2003,” ember 19, 2007 named the King’s Cup moters. The King’s Cup is named in honor The minimum fine was set at approxi- Zheng Caixiong reminded, “following revela- Elephant Polo Tournament one of Thai- of King Bhumibol Adulyadej. mately 1,000 times the current restaurant price tions that the corona virus might have come land’s must-see “Seven Amazing Ceremonially reigning over of l o n g h u d o u , according to information e- from snakes, civet cats and other wild animals Wonders.” Thailand for 60 years, the 79-year-old king mailed to ANIMAL PEOPLE by Anhui used in Cantonese dishes. Many restaurants The announcement reignited a and his wife, Queen Sirikit, have long Medical University professor of epidemiology subsequently resumed serving longhudou when debate over elephant polo that has raged for been animal advocates. Protecting ele- and social medicine Zu Shuxian. (continued on page 7) more than two years through the Asian (continued on page 13) Animal Protection Network electronic forum. Opponents, chiefly in the northeast of India, where elephant polo has never been played, hold that the game is cruel exploitation. Others see it as a chance for the elephant participants to enjoy a day of ANIMAL PEOPLE light work on grass, as a pretext for afflu- ent humans to party. News For People Who Care About Animals The game itself consists of only two ten-minute chukkars, in contrast to the elephants’ usual daily labor of either haul- ing tourists or waiting for customers. November/December 2007 Heated in India, the AAPN dis- Volume XVII, #9 cussion of elephant polo appears to have attracted little interest from Thailand, nor much notice from other places where ele- + phants commonly work. + Prince Harry dodges the Big puppy mill bullet as suspect in har- LONDON––Prince Harry of Britain interviewed as an official suspect by police, raids “barked up and two companions on November 6, 2007 along with William van Cutsem, 28, a family escaped prosecution for allegedly killing two friend, and David Clarke, 58, a Sandringham hen harriers, but the shotgun blasts suspected gamekeeper. The investigation was launched the right tree” to have been fired by the royal hunting party after a warden at Dersingham Bog nature helped to blow the cover off the pretense by reserve, which is run by the conservation shooting estate operators that they practice agency Natural England on the edge of Trudy, rescued from Horton’s Pups by wildlife conservation. Sandringham estate, and two members of the for mass media the Montgomery County Humane Society. “Norfolk Crown Prosecution Service public, said they saw the hen harriers shot. (Kris Rogers/Pixel Perfect Photography) has advised Norfolk Police there is insufficient “Sandringham officials later admit- WASHINGTON D.C.––Raids on tion found that many breeders are violating evidence to prosecute anyone over the shoot- ted to the Guardian that the prince and his two alleged puppy mills in at least five states close- this law,” often by selling directly to the pub- ing of two hen harrier birds, a protected companions were the only people out shooting ly followed the November 1, 2007 launch of a lic through web sites. species, at Sandringham on October 24, on the 20,000-acre estate, hunting duck and Humane Society of the U.S. pre-holiday media An HSUS undercover team “docu- 2007,” a Crown Prosecution Service pigeon close to the Natural England wildlife blitz against lax regulation of dog breeders. mented puppy mills throughout the state,” spokesperson said in a prepared statement. reserve. But Marcus O’Lone, the Queen’s A five-month HSUS investigation Porter said, “including in Hillsville, Jewel “The bodies of the hen harriers have estate manager, claimed the failure to find the found more than 900 active dog breeders in Ridge, Atkins, Ferrum, Staunton, and not been found and there is no forensic or bal- birds’ bodies suggested they had never actually Virgina, of whom only 16 held USDA permits Lynchburg, and pet stores who buy those listic evidence. Witnesses also heard unex- been shot.” to breed dogs for sale across state lines, sum- dogs, including in Fredericksburg, Ashland, plained shooting in the area before the three Sandringham is actually much closer marized HSUS publicist Leslie Porter. Midlothian and Waynesboro. The HSUS suspects said they were present at the scene, to London than to Scotland, but The Guardian “To sell puppies to pet stores, found dogs being harmed and abused; laws so other people cannot be ruled out,” the CPS assigned Carrell to cover the case because of breeders with more than three breeding being ignored, and consumers being duped spokesperson added. “The three suspects, who his past experience in covering related topics. females are required by federal law to have a over and over again.” were interviewed by police, all denied that the “A conviction for killing a hen harri- license,” Porter said. “The HSUS investiga- U.S. humane societies have issued birds were killed by them.” er carries a six-month prison sentence or a pre-Christmas warnings against buying pup- Reported Jack Malvern of The Times £5,000 fine,” Carrell wrote. “There have been pies from puppy mills for at least 75 years, of London, “The Royal Society for the 35 confirmed persecution incidents against ANIMAL PEOPLE recently found through Protection of Birds,” whose royal patron is birds of prey in England this year, compared searching
+ + Editorial feature ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2007 - 3 Adding consideration to compassionate acts Expressing either compassion or moral consideration toward animals probably The cartoonist and film maker Walt Disney wrestled with the question of how started just as a matter of feeding and befriending a dog, and eventually bringing the dog humans should be kind to animals throughout his career. In Dumbo The Flying Elephant into the family. (1940), Disney powerfully and influentially depicted the abuse of circus elephants, but the The first Neanderthal who tossed scraps to a dog just beyond the circle of firelight, only alternative he offered was better treatment within the context of circus life. In Lady & 60,000 to 100,000 years ago, probably had no notion of extending a philosophical concept The Tramp (1955), Disney offered adoption into a human family as a positive alternative to of personhood to other dogs, other animals, the Cro Magnons who were just beginning to impoundment and execution for stray dogs, whom he frankly depicted as death row prison- push into Neanderthal territory, or even to rival Neanderthal bands. There was just this one ers. In Old Yeller (1957), Disney juxtaposed a boy's rescue and adoption of a dog with later dog, who was hungry, who had perhaps traveled with the family for some time, and might having to kill the dog due to rabies. The humane community of the era liked Old Yeller, have helped the family to avoid or fend off predators––and this night, the family had extra but were ired four years later when Disney seemed to endorse breeding dogs while attacking food. This one dog, or her puppies, might have attracted either compassion or moral con- the fur industry in 101 Dalmatians (1961). sideration in response to the dog's contributions to the family, and probably was the benefi- Relocating "problem" wildlife to rebuild populations that had been hunted out ciary of both, mingled with recognition that having dogs around could be helpful in cave appears to have begun in a systematic manner in the late 19th century. Before the Ohio bear country. Division of Wildlife was formed in 1949, for instance, private efforts––including some by Much closer to our own time, the Yellow Dog of Crypt Cave, Nevada, lived and humane societies––had already reintroduced beavers, whitetailed deer, raccoons, and even died about 6,360 years ago. The hunter/gatherers who buried the yellow dog with flowers, rabbits to parts of the state. But rehabilitation of captive-born animals for release into the in a woven mat, lived much like the Neanderthals. Early in life the yellow dog suffered a wild only became popular and celebrated after publication of the 1960 runaway best-selling badly fractured leg. Though useless for working or hunting, the dog was fed for years book Born Free, by Joy Adamson, and the enduring success of the 1966 film and song of afterward, and was eventually buried as a family member, among centuries of ceremonially the same title. buried human remains and the less well preserved remains of other dogs, who also appear Also influential in popularizing relocation was Time Is Short & The Water Rises to have been cherished companions. (1967), by John Walsh and Robert Gannon, describing how Walsh led the rescue of as Though the Yellow Dog of Crypt Cave was treated kindly, to become a family many as 10,000 animals from the land flooded by the Gwamba dam in Suriname. member is not necessarily to be treated either with compassion or as a moral equal. Anticipating "direct action" animal releases and rescues was Bless The Beasts & Unfortunately, efforts to reduce exploitation and violence within family life have often The Children (1971––whose theme song became as popular as the Born Free theme song. trailed progress in peacefully resolving or avoiding conflicts among nations. The norms of human family life throughout most of history have differed little Going awry with good intentions from the norms of dog packs––and, at that, human family life may be less violent and more Unfortunately, no act undertaken as an intended kindness seems exempt from the stable than that of chimpanzees chiefly through canine influence, including the role of dogs possibility that it may have unanticipated cruel consequences. in enforcing domestic order. The human concepts of family structure and loyalty, signifi- Feeding animals may be the most obvious case in point. Hardly a day passes that cantly different from those of any other primates, may have been learned from dogs. ANIMAL PEOPLE does not hear from a well-meaning person, often in tears, who has fed We have a few more options today in deciding how to help an animal in distress street dogs or feral cats, only to have them picked up by animal control or poisoned; or has than the Crypt Cave people had, but our basic possibilities are much the same. We may fed pigeons, only to have them netted and gassed; or has fed a bear or raccoon, who was feed animals; adopt them into our homes; treat their illnesses or injuries and then release shot or trapped; or fed songbirds, who were ambushed beneath the feeder by cats. them; impound them; take them to a sanctuary; leave them alone; relocate them from ANIMAL PEOPLE does not argue that compassionate people should not feed places where they are problematic to places where we hope they will thrive; defend them or hungry animals, and even if we did, the argument would be futile. Responding to hunger rescue them from physical harm; or euthanize them, believing it to be for their own good by offering food is for many people close to instinctive and reflexive. if their situation is hopeless. However, much animal suffering and human grief might be spared by better edu- Treating injured animals was acknowledged as the act of a person of high moral cating the public about how and when to feed animals. Feeding a doorstep cat or two, or a character at least by circa 550 B.C., when Aesop told the story of the runaway slave courtyard dog, or the birds who nest in one's own yard is relatively harmless. Feeding ani- Androcles, who paused in his flight to pull a thorn from the paw of a lion. Androcles was mals in a manner that attract an artificially large congregation, on the other hand, is almost later captured and thrown to a lion––who was the same lion, and refused to eat him. as potentially hazardous as feeding the first domesticated dog would have been if the feeder Taking elderly and disabled working animals to sanctuaries and releasing captive had put out enough food to draw cave bears. animals as a gesture of compassion were both established practices in India by the time of Street dogs and feral cats, like other urban animals, inhabit the ecological niche the Buddha and Mahavir, the last of the founding teachers of Jainism, about 200 years after into which they have evolved. They earn their livings by scavenging refuse and hunting Aesop. rodents. They have excelled in these roles for thousands of years, surviving all efforts to Some of the other basic ways of helping animals, though practiced for centuries, exterminate them. gained cultural resonance only in our own time. As their habitat niches are diminishing, with the advent of refrigeration, improved + public sanitation, and motor vehicles in place of work animals whose feed attracts rodents, + Get your ANIMAL PEOPLE faster by e-mail! one can help street dogs and feral cats by sterilizing and vaccinating them. This reduces ANIMAL PEOPLE pages are now designed for e-mailing in PDF format, their need to find food, since they will no longer need to find young, reduces food and ter- printable in horizontal halves on standard-sized sheets of paper. Paid sub- ritorial competition among them, and reduces the likelihood that they will be persecuted as scribers and foreign readers may request delivery by e-mail. Please make sure perceived rabies threats. first that your e-mail storage capacity is sufficient to receive and store files which Some feeding at established locations may be necessary in order to trap street dogs occasionally run as large as 40 MB, depending on advertising and photo content. or feral cats to be sterilized and vaccinated––but the feeding should not be done mindlessly. Living in small groups, foraging as individuals, street dogs and feral cats are valuable and SEARCHABLE ARCHIVES: www.animalpeoplenews.org mostly unnoticed contributors to the urban ecology. Given an abundant and reliable food source, however, they tend to give up much of their scavenging and rodent hunting, and instead wait in packs or colonies for handouts. Dog packs may chase people, vehicles, and ANIMAL PEOPLE work animals. Either dog packs or cat colonies may be perceived by neighbors as noxious News for People Who Care About Animals pests––and the very act of feeding them often amounts to conditioning them to take poison. Similar considerations pertain to feeding other animals. Publisher: Kim Bartlett – [email protected] In either feeding an animal or treating an animal for illness or injury, one must Editor: Merritt Clifton – [email protected] consider the consequences. If the animal can no longer survive without human help, one Web producer: Patrice Greanville must be willing to provide the help––or consider euthanasia. Associate web producer: Tammy Sneath Grimes Taking the animal to a sanctuary can be a kindness, but only if the sanctuary is Newswire monitor: Cathy Young Czapla able to raise the funds necessary to provide the resident animals with a decent quality of life. People who avail themselves of sanctuary services on behalf of animals have an ethical P.O. Box 960 obligation to help support those services. Unfortunately, about once a month ANIMAL Clinton, WA 98236-0960 PEOPLE hears of an overburdened sanctuary running into trouble because too many people ISSN 1071-0035. Federal I.D: 14-175 2216 bring animals and too few contribute to their upkeep. Thousands of animals suffer in such cases; and while the people who have "rescued" hard case animals may feel better for hav- Telephone: 360-579-2505. ing not made the decision to euthanize, the net outcome is too often that someone else has Fax: 360-579-2575. to make the decision, after the animal has endured misery. Web: www.animalpeoplenews.org Relocating healthy animals is equally problematic. Suitable wildlife habitat is Copyright © 2007 for the authors, artists, and photographers. rarely unoccupied. Animals for whom there is no viable habitat niche will not survive. Reprint inquiries are welcome. Some will kill others to take over a niche. Some will starve; some will die in attempts to ANIMAL PEOPLE: News for People Who Care About Animals is published return to their original habitat; some will become as troublesome to their new human neigh- nine times annually by Animal People, Inc., a nonprofit, charitable corporation dedicated bors as they were in their old habitat, and be trapped or shot. Raccoons, among the most to exposing the existence of cruelty to animals and to informing and educating the public of adaptable and ubiquitous of North American wildlife, have a survival rate after transloca- the need to prevent and eliminate such cruelty. Donations to Animal People, Inc. are tax- tion of less than 25%. Prairie dogs have a survival rate of under 10%. Black bears have an deductible. Financial information on Animal People, Inc. and other charities can be almost 100% rate of return to their original habitat, if not killed in the effort. accessed at
+ + 6 - ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2007 MORE LETTERS Collected facts about turtle racing Elected in Colombia Last Sunday we won a spot on the Turtle races are held at county fairs, tles were mostly kept in unsanitary conditions, city council to work for animals! We are so Bhutan community festivals, and other events across were usually not returned to their home ranges, happy! We are going to work against animal Thank you for your July/August the United States. For the event, wild-caught and were sometimes released en masse. abuse from this important place in the city. article about Lama Kunzang Dorjee and the box turtles are placed in a circle, with the first I found more than 520 annual turtle ––Juliana Barberi Jangsa Animal Saving Trust. On a recent trip turtle to exit the circle being the winner. races, held in 35 states. Based on entry data Corporacion Red de Ayuda to Bhutan, we saw street dogs everywhere. In In 2005 I began an ongoing study to from more than 50 races, I estimate that more a los Animales even the smallest towns, the silence was bro- find out how many box turtles are removed than 31,000 box turtles are taken from the wild Carrera 71 # 78 a 11 ken every night by dozens of dogs barking. from the wild for turtle races, what effect this annually for these events. This is enough to Medellin, Antioquia These dogs were in better shape than those may have on turtle populations, and how the adversely affect box turtle populations, which Colombia I’ve seen in Nepal and India, but there is a turtles are cared for. I found turtle races are in steep decline throughout the U.S. Phone: + 57 (4) 257 8536 huge need for the Jangsa Animal Saving through telephone surveys and Internet search- Wildlife agencies should consider
Mix together: 2 pounds of firm tofu, mashed well 2 cups of coarsely chopped walnuts (Other nuts may be substituted, such as sunflower seeds or pecans.) Then thoroughly blend in: 1/4 cup of soy sauce 2 teaspoons thyme leaves Serve with cranberry sauce, 1 teaspoon basil leaves applesauce, or apple butter. Good with 2 tablespoons of dried parsley or vegetarian gravy and cornbread dressing 1/2 cup of chopped fresh parsley (you can adapt any traditional recipe by 1 finely chopped onion simply substituting vegetable broth or water 1 teaspoon minced garlic for the customary meat broth). (Seasonings may be altered to suit preferences. For example, Vegan cornbread a teaspoon of sage may be added, or you may add more garlic) Mix dry ingredients: 1 cup white flour Finally, add: 3 Tablespoons sugar 1 cup of dried breadcrumbs 3 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour 1/2 teaspoon salt Mix all ingredients well. Turn into 1 cup corn meal oiled pan(s) and form into a 1-inch thick Mix wet ingredients: loaf. Rub the top of the loaf with a very thin 1 cup of soymilk coating of olive or other vegetable oil. Cover the pan(s) with foil, and bake for one 1/4 cup vegetable oil hour at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Take the Stir the two mixtures together until foil off the pan and cook about 10 minutes fully moistened. Turn batter into oiled longer, until the top of the loaf is browned. square or round cake pan. Bake 20-25 The loaf tastes best when crispy. minutes, until just brown, at 350 degrees. ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2007 - 7
the health threat receded. Demand for the dish would not sell cat meat any more. is that the Chinese federal government and Autonomous Region, Guizhou, Sichuan, peaks between September and December,” In early 2007, recounted Zhang Kun Beijing municipal governments have in recent Hunan, and Guangdong––all among the Zheng Caixiong said, “when snakes take on of China Daily, “a truck packed with cats was years been markedly more tolerant of animal southern provinces where dogs are commonly more flesh for the cold.” stopped in Suzhou, where two crates of cats advocacy and even of protests such as the eaten and are often raised in factory farm con- L o n g h u d o u has been served in were rescued. A train car was found to be Shenzhen. Suzhou, and Shanghai cat rescues, ditions. Dogs raised for consumption are not Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong prov- loaded with live cats in the Shanghai South than of activism in other causes. required to be vaccinated. ince, since circa 1350. Guangdong is the only Railway Station, but left despite protests from The China Companion Animal Sym- Mao Qu’an said that rabies had part of China where cats are often consumed. local animal protectors.” posium attendees on November 11 unanimous- killed 8,403 people in China in 2004-2006, Published estimates forwarded by Zu Shuxian Then, in July, “cat lovers in subur- ly approved resolutions against cat-eating, accounting for 30.1% of the total deaths in project the sale for consumption of from 3,000 ban Shanghai’s Xinzhuang area stopped a dog-eating, killing dogs and cats for fur, and China from infectious diseases, and that rabies to 10,000 cats per market day, from the end of truck carrying 840 cats to diners in Guangdong the sporadic mass round-ups and massacres of occurred in 910 counties in 23 provinces in October through the end of March, for an Province,” Zhang Kun wrote. Activists as far unlicensed and free-roaming dogs that many 2007, up from 98 counties in 1996. Through annual total of about five million. away as Beijing teamed up to relay the cats to Chinese cities conduct––often in response to October, 2,717 human rabies cases had been The l o n g h u d o u ban did not totally safety, provide veterinary care, and place rabies outbreaks––instead of maintaining reported in 2007, 2.4% more than in 2006. halt cat consumption. “I suspect that another them in adoptive homes. standing animal control departments. The Guangdong, the longtime hub of popular dish––Dragon (snake), Tiger (cat), The rescues began about two years China Companion Animal Symposium atten- dog-eating as well as cat-eating, has histori- Phoenix (chicken) soup––will still be sold, after the formation of the Chinese Cats dees also urged the Chinese government to cally sought to suppress keeping pet dogs. minus the Dragon,” e-mailed Animals Asia Protection Network, now called the Chinese improve access to dog and cat vaccination and This has been in part to protect the dog meat Foundation founder Jill Robinson. Companion Animal Protection Network. sterilization, and to veterinary drugs, and industry from rabies outbreaks, and may also Guo acted at a time when snake con- Expanded to 26 member societies, asked universities to add companion animal have been to avoid having dogs become gener- sumption has not been controversial, but less CCAPN in January 2006 began organizing medicine to their veterinary curriculums. ally perceived as pets rather than food. The than a week before Guangzhou hosted the 2nd well-publicized protests against dog and cat Guangdong pet dog licensing fees until China Companion Animal Symposium, orga- eating, starting in Guangzhou, following up Dog rabies September 2007 were the highest in China: nized by the Animals Asia Foundation, funded in four other cities “with very optimal response But the conference resolutions, 10,000 yuan for initial registration, plus an by the Humane Society International division from public,” according to Jia Meng of the though covered by Chinese media, were up- annual management fee of 6,000 yuan. of the Humane Society of the U.S., and Centre for Animal Welfare and Ethics at the staged in reportage distributed by the official In September, however, Guang- attended by representatives of 39 humane soci- University of Queensland School of Veterinary Xinhua news service by a press conference dong reduced the fees 90%, to 1,000 yuan for eties from around China. Science in Gatton, Australia. held in Beijing by the national Ministry of initial registration plus an annual management Guo also acted as China moves Why did Guo reiterate the existing Health. Without directly criticizing municipal fee of 600 yuan. “Blind people who need toward trying to eliminate potential embarrass- prohibition on eating snakes if the real intent dog purges, Ministry of Health spokesperson guide dogs are exempt,” wrote Liang Qiwen of ments during the run-up toward the 2008 was to ban cat consumption? spokesman Mao Qun’an pointed toward a China Daily. “Widows, widowers or elderly Olympic Games in Beijing, and after three Observers of Chinese politics often surge in canine rabies cases in recent years, people with little financial support can request and a half years of unprecedented activism note that Chinese official pronouncements tend and recommended strategic changes. a reduction or exemption. People who have against cat consumption appeared to demon- to avoid any hint of being made in response to “When medical experts judge that an infertile dogs will be allowed to pay half the strate broad public support for a ban, even in pressure, either from outside China or from epidemic has become very severe and consti- fees,” a strong incentive for dog sterilization. Guangzhou and other nearby cities. within. To appear to act under pressure, in tutes a threat to many people, killing dogs is an “The old fees had little effect in con- A dramatic series of cat rescues classic Confuscian political thinking, is to important measure to safeguard health and trolling the number of pet dogs,” Liang Qiwen began in Shenzen on June 17, 2006, when show the possibility of governmental weak- contain the epidemic,” Mao Qun’an said. observed. “In fact many people continued to Shenzhen Cat Net web site founder, identified ness, perhaps leading to disobedience. “But this measure should be adopted in a pru- keep dogs secretly, ignoring the fees.” by China Daily only as “Isobel,” carried a However, Confuscian political theo- dent way,” avoiding harm to healthy pets. Of the officially estimated 100,000 white rose to the newly opened Fang Company ry also calls for introducing change by taking “Most rabies cases occur in rural pet dogs in Guangzhou, Liang Qiwen wrote, Cat Meatball Restaurant. Starting with “more the path of least resistance, seeking to bring areas,” Mao Qun’an noted, citing the Bijie “only 842 were registered by the end of last than 10” supporters, according to C h i n a about voluntary conformity to the new norm area in northwest Guizhou province, Guigang year. Many people do not have their dogs Daily, including Gao Haiyun, Miss Shenzhen before attempting to compel it. This is typical- in the southeast of the Guangxi Zhuang inoculated against diseases because they are for 2005, “Isobel” had about 40 cat-lovers ly done by invoking recollection of an existing Autonomous Region, and Nanchong in north- afraid of being fined for not registering them.” with her when she reached the restaurant, law, custom, or tradition. east Sichuan province as the three largest cities “We are changing the old policy of backed by “a large crowd including children,” Does Guo’s action hint that with significant rabies outbreaks. controlling pet dogs in the hope that the new China Daily reported. Storming the restaurant, Guangzhou may soon introduce an actual ban The most afflicted provinces, Mao one will be more effective,” said Guangzhou + they extracted a pledge from the owner that he on eating cats? Only time will tell, but of note Qun’an said, are the Guangxi Zhuang mayor Zhang Guangning. ––Merritt Clifton + 8 - ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2007
SPRINGFIELD, Illinois––The deaths of 18 Belgian worked all night to save the rest. draft horses in an October 27, 2007 traffic accident in “Picture a a dangerous cavern filled with horses piled Wadsworth, Illinois, the alleged starvation deaths of four hors- on top of each other, some of them kicking dangerously,” es at the Coeur d’Alene Auction Yards in Idaho, discovered on Wisconsin horse rescuer Colleen Fisch told Chicago Tribune October 24, recent horse abandonments in the Treasure Valley staff reporter Jeff Long. “They were all in sections too small region of Idaho, and the Halloween shootings of two ponies for horses. For the rescuers, it was extremely dangerous.” beside a riding trail in Snoqualmie, Washington are cited by Sixteen horses were killed in a similar accident in defenders of horse slaughter as purported reasons why the last 2006, after a double-decked trailer hauling 41 horses and a horse slaughterhouses in the U.S. should not have been closed. mule overturned en route to the now closed Cavel International The slaughterhouses were closed earlier in 2007 by a slaughterhouse in DeKalb, Illinois. combination of enforcement of 1949 Texas legislation, a new This accident was completely avoidable and inexcus- Illinois state law, and a Washington D.C. federal district court able,” said Sheriff Curran. “I say this because you had 59 ruling that the inspection arrangements that had kept the slaugh- Belgian draft horses, which is an extremely large horse, being terhouses open violated the National Environmental Policy Act. transported in one truck with one driver on one of the busiest Animal advocates say the Illinois, Idaho, and highways in the nation.” Wild horses like this one at Pyramid Lake, Nevada are now Washington incidents point toward other abuses that they have Federal law prohibits the use of double-decked trail- less likely to be “adopted” from the Bureau of Land Manage- long sought to stop: hauling horses in double-decked trailers ers to haul horses to slaughter, but Curran said the horses ment for covert sale to slaughter, but some tame horses are meant for cattle and pigs, not feeding animals when feed prices involved in the Wadsworth crash were en route from reportedly now being dumped on public land. (Kim Bartlett) exceed anticipated profits from sale, and dumping or killing Millersberg, Indiana, and were headed to an auction in animals rather than retire or rest them and pay for vet care. Verndale, Minnesota, where their owner hoped to sell them to Monday.” The surviving equines were then seized and taken to Horses are still being trucked to slaughter, but now at members of the Amish community. Panhandle Equine Rescue. slaughterhouses in Mexico and Canada. A bill now before The surviving horses “could be adopted or go home With hay prices in Idaho having risen by more than Congress called American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act with many of the dozens of volunteers who rescued them,” half in recent months, horses have been abandoned at other would cut off that traffic. Chicago Tribune staff reporter Tara Malone updated on auction sites, “including the Intermountain Livestock Market Illinois state representatives Bob Molaro and JoAnn November 1. “Adoptions will begin as soon as the horses’ near La Grande, where one turned up last month, and on U.S. Osmond responded to the Wadsworth truck crash by introduc- owner authorizes the process.” Bureau of Land Management land,” reported Richard Cockle ing a bill to ban the use of double-decker trucks to transport The adoption arrangements were to be supervised by of the Portland Oregonian. “At least nine horses have been horses within the state. The offense would be a misdemeanor, Donna Ewing of the Hooved Animal Rescue and Protection turned loose on Wannie MacKenzie’s ranch north of Jordan carrying a fine of $500 per animal for the first offense and Society in Barrington, Illinois. Valley in the past 18 to 24 months. The Malheur County cat- $1,000 per animal for repetition. Ewing, 72, testified in 2004 to an executive commit- tleman is bracing for the appearance of more, as cash-strapped Associated Press reported that the Molaro/Osmond tee hearing of the Illinois House of Representatives that horse owners in Idaho’s Treasure Valley run out of winter hay.” bill was likely to be endorsed by the Lake County Farm Bureau, slaughter for human consumption should not be banned. “It’s a huge problem,” MacKenzie told Cockle. in contrast with the usual tendency of Farm Bureau chapters to Ewing founded the Hooved Animal Humane Society “What am I going to do with them? I don’t want 300 head of oppose humane legislation. “I would be very surprised if we in 1971, but she and her daughter Ronda were fired by the horses on my ranch.” did not take some action to help move the legislation forward,” organization in June 2001, following prolonged friction with “Malheur County Undersheriff Brian Wolfe has said Lake County Farm Bureau manager Gregory G. Koeppen. the board of directors over alleged mismanagement and failure investigated the abandonment of perhaps 20 domestic horses But stable owner Scott Golladay of Antioch, Illinois, to designate a successor. Ewing had reportedly already begun recently, “ Cockle wrote. “He tries to identify owners and told Associated Press that he is skeptical of the proposed ban. forming the Hooved Animal Rescue & Protection Society. charge them with animal abandonment or animal abuse, both “I’m not in favor of double-deckers, but it becomes an econom- misdemeanors, but such investigations are difficult because ic decision,” Golladay said. “Some of these horsemen try to Abandonments in Idaho 90% of horses are not branded. cram as many into a truck as they can because they have to While the Wadsworth disaster happened in a matter “I think it’s going to get to be a lot bigger problem travel so far.” of seconds, the Coeur d’Alene Auction Yards horse starvation than it is now,” Wolfe told Cockle. Illinois state representative Ed Sullivan replied that case only came to light over several days, after perhaps weeks piling nearly 60 horses into a single double-decked trailer jeop- of neglect. According to Idaho Press staff writer Sean Shooting in Washington ardized everyone else on the road as well as the horses. Garmire, the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department received a The Pasado’s Safe Haven sanctuary posted a reward The Wadsworth crash occurred, said Lake County tip about the starving horses, and accompanied by an agent of $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Sheriff Mark Curran, after truck driver James E. Anderson, 34, from the Idaho Department of Agriculture, discovered 15 hors- whoever shot the ponies found dead near Snoqualmie on of McLeod, North Dakota, ran a red light. Anderson was cited es at the auction yard on October 24. November 1, 2007, but after tracing the ponies to a person in for disregarding the light, failing to reduce speed to avoid an “Two were dead and eight appeared malnourished,” Fall City, King County Animal Care & Control announced on accident, and not having a bill of lading, Curran told media. Garmire reported. Instead of seizing the horses, the investiga- November 8 that no charges would be filed. An oncoming pickup truck hit Anderson’s truck-and- tors instructed the owners to look after them. Reported Sonia Krishnan of the Seattle Times, “A + trailer. The vehicle crossed the median and the trailer over- “During a follow-up visit, authorities found the ani- necropsy determined that the animals were killed instantaneous- + turned, blocking traffic in both directions. Of the 59 Belgian mals’ conditions had not changed,” Garmire contined. “An ly, a key factor in determining whether the act was considered horses aboard, eight died from injuries. Ten more were eutha- additional two horses associated with the Coeur d’Alene humane and therefore legal.” King County Animal Care and nized. Five veterinarians and numerous local equine rescuers Auction Yards were found dead at another site near Stateline on Control enforcement coordinator Diana Toledo told Krishnan that the 17-year-old ponies were shot because they suffered Queensland is air-gunning 10,000 brumbies from laminitis. Toledo said that their owner had agreed to properly dispose of the bodies, which had reportedly taken four B R I S B A N E ––The government of Queensland, considered to be the most humane solution.” hours to winch out of the place where they were discovered. Australia is already well advanced in a scheme to massacre wild McNamara alleged that the horses “are causing seri- The Idaho abandonments and Washington shootings horses on an unprecedented scale. ous erosion, spreading weeds, destroying freshwater springs occurred just after Animal Welfare Institute deputy director of “More than 10,000 brumbies will be slaughtered in and other water courses, damaging aboriginal cultural sites, legislation Chris Heyde wrote to H a r p e r ’ s magazine that, Queensland in a massive cull the State Government has tried to competing with native wildlife for feed, and destroying habi- “There has been no evidence of increased abandonment or cru- hide,” revealed Brisbane Courier-Mail reporter Des Houghton tat.” McNamara did not mention that horses purportedly also elty,” as result of horse slaughter bans. on November 9, 2007. compete for grass with sheep and cattle when they roam outside Claimed Heyde, “A U.C. Davis report conducted “Documents obtained by the Courier-Mail show fears Carnarvon National Park, an especially sensitive topic in the after California banned horse slaughter in 1998 found that horse of a public outcry led to high-level talks on how to conceal one continuing string of drought years. While Queensland may abuse did not increase. According to the California Livestock of world’s largest animal culls,” wrote Houghton. “Earlier this have as many as 100,000 brumbies, according to official esti- and Identification Bureau, horse theft decreased by over 34%.” year, then-environment minister Lindy Nelson-Carr told former mates, Queensland has 11.7 million sheep. Reports that horses have been abandoned in National premier Peter Beattie that the killing ‘has the potential to pre- “Documents uncovered by the Courier-Mail confirm Forests have been “proven wrong,” Heyde claimed. “An arti- cipitate vocal opposition from small special-interest groups that large-scale culling will continue throughout Queensland for cle from Kentucky claimed horses were being abandoned at old with strong inflexible views.’ at least three years in at least four different regions,” Houghton coalmines, but it turned out the local riding stable turns their “Thousands of horses have already been shot, includ- wrote. “The documents show the Environmental Protection horses loose in the winter to graze. ing 4000 at the popular Carnarvon National Park in central Agency and the Department of Primary Industries is supporting “The American Veterinary Medical Association is Queensland,” Houghton said. “In remote areas, the animals are the mass shooting and trapping of feral animals, including telling everyone we should keep slaughter in the U.S. because left to rot where they fall. But government documents show horses, deer, pigs, goats, dingoes and foxes.” of how bad it is in Mexico,” Heyde added. “They fail to point that in other areas shooters were instructed to hide the bodies. All are either competitors or predators of sheep. out that they are part of a coalition with the slaughterhouses.” Save the Brumbies spokesperson Jan Carter told A previous furor over brumby-culling methods arose The same companies, Heyde charged, “own the Houghton that she had received photographs of the Carnarvon in Western Australia in March 2006, when Member of plants in Mexico and Canada and continue to buy U.S. horses, cull from an anonymous government employee. The horses are Parliament Gary Snook objected to the practice of the ship them to their plants and cruelly slaughter them, as pro- shot from helicopters. Carter said the photos show wounded Department of Conservation and Land Management of fencing fessed by the AVMA. According to the USDA’s Guidelines for horses left to suffer and foals left orphaned among the remains wild horses away from water before reintroducing native fauna. Handling and Transporting Equines to Slaughter,” Heyde said, of their herds. This had been done for seven years before Snook became aware “over 92% of the horses slaughtered are good sound horses.” “For years and years the problem of wild horses has of it. Brumbies from those herds were used as warhorses by not been addressed,” Carter told Agence France-Presse. “And Australian troops in World War I. Fourteen of the horses were then the idea is ‘Well, let’s go in and shoot them.’ It’s very captured and tamed by the Outback Heritage Horse Association inhumane. You only have to see the photos to know they died as a demonstration of taming as an alternative to either killing in agony.” them or causing them to die of thirst. Carter “urged the Government to set up brumby sanc- “Those horses carried us to war, they carried us to tuaries and consider infertility treatments to restrict wild horses water, they carried us to safety and I just think that what the breeding,” Houghton wrote. But Houghton said the Royal Outback Heritage Horse Association is doing is a marvellous RSPCA “has condoned the program, raising the ire of hardline act of national spirit that we need to really sit up and take notice animal groups,” though noting that “RSPCA spokesman of,” Snook told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Michael Beattie said his organisation first suggested the use of The Department of Conservation and Land infertility drugs 10 years ago and supported sanctuaries.” Management, which calls itself CALM, responded that it “has “The RSPCA reluctantly accepts that some sort of a suitable shooting program for feral animals and animals cull had to go ahead,” Beattie elaborated to Agence France- which are in distress.” Press, “but we believe something should have been done about Another organization, the Guy Fawkes Heritage the situation years before now. We are pleading with the gov- Horse Association, captured and tamed more than 100 ernment to introduce fertility control sooner rather than later.” brumbies between 2000 and 2005, after then-New South Wales “The program is not about eradication of feral hors- environment minister banned shooting horses from the air in es,” insisted Queensland sustainability minister Andrew NSW national parks. McNamara, “but rather about ensuring the population is kept at Brumby Watch Australia co-founder Kristine Sempf a manageable level, in consideration of the welfare of both the recommended that the Queensland herd should be thinned by horses and the native wildlife in the park. For the first phase of capture and taming. “Her son Nathan has a tamed horse saved the program, we investigated all the options, and shooting was from a cull at Greenbank, south of Brisbane,” Houghton said. ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2007 - 9
History & PetSmart Charities adoption data shows the value of doing holiday adoptions RANCHO SANTE FE, Calif.– – Already campaigning against puppy the winter holidays each year. sonal adoption in existence has been compiled Helen Woodward Animal Center president mills, the AHA in 1938 expressed skepticism The solution, from the 1970s into by PetSmart Charities. From 2000 through Mike Arms has been telling everyone who that more than 100,000 pups actually were the 1990s, was widely believed to be to dis- 2006, PetSmart Charities in-store adoption would listen for more than 40 years that the given at Christmas. The owned population of courage “impulse adoption,” especially boutiques placed 748,957 dogs and 1,382,681 winter holiday season should be the peak sea- breeding bitches, the AHA believed, was around the winter holidays, to try to avoid the cats on behalf of humane societies, animal son for shelter adoptions. about 750,000, producing an average of two post-holiday surge in surrenders. control shelters, and nonprofit rescue groups. Arms demonstrated the potential for surviving pups per litter after the remainder More recent research has established The peak of puppy and kitten avail- boosting adoptions during the winter holidays were culled by the dogs’ keepers, then the pre- that adoption failures result much less from ill- ability is in summer, but the PetSmart during 20 years as shelter manager for the vailing method of controlling the population. considered adoption than from adopters being Charities data shows that adoption demand is North Shore Animal League, in Port Then and through the 1960s, the inadequately prepared and counseled to deal relatively steady throughout the year. Washington, New York, and then took his AHA urged animal shelters to compete for hol- with the behavioral problems that are often Among dogs placed through campaign global by founding the Home 4 the iday adoption market share. During the next why animals land in shelters in the first place. PetSmart, 27% of the annual total find homes Holidays program at the Helen Woodward 25 years, however, the advent of research into Improved behavioral diagnostic and remedial in spring, and 24% in each of the other three Center in 2000. reasons for pet relinquishment to shelters and procedures within shelters and improved adop- seasons. Among cats placed through “I have always thought that the idea of computerized shelter record-keeping led to a tion education and follow-up have cut the rate PetSmart, 20% find homes from February we shouldn’t do adoptions during the holiday trend in the opposite direction. of failed adoptions from about one in five in through April, when kitten availability is rela- season was a plot by the puppy mill industry to On the one hand, early shelter relin- the 1980s to fewer than one in 20 today. tively low; 25% in May through July; 28% in protect their profits,” Arms asserts. quishment surveys seemed to find that so- The post-holiday influx of shelter August through October; and 27% from The importance of the holiday sea- called “impulse adoption” was a factor in ani- surrenders meanwhile turned out to be chiefly November through January. son to dog breeders has been recognized by mals being returned to shelters within a short due to shelters keeping shorter hours during The PetSmart data suggests that both breeders and humane societies for more time of being placed. the holiday season––exactly as Arms intuitive- while placing kittens may boost adoptions in than 70 years. Estimates of the numbers of On the other, shelters seemed to be ly predicted. summer, placements of adult cats may peak puppies who would be presented as gifts at receiving unusual influxes of animals just after By far the largest data base on sea- during the winter holidays. Christmas 1937 ran as high as one million––at a time when the total pet dog popu- lation of the U.S. was only about 10 million, according to the American Humane FUNDING OPPORTUNTIES AT Association. The U.S. also had about 10 million street dogs, a population that grad- MADDIE'S FUND® ually disappeared during the next few decades. Maddie's Fund® is offering a whole host of grants for individual animal welfare agencies and Coming communities.
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Our staff will work ter at In honor of the Prophet Isaiah, St. Martin De Porres, & Cesar Chavez. ––Brien Comerford –––––––––––––––––---– ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2007 - 11 Puppy mill cases raise animal rights vs. “I think it’s called dog-napping,” him he couldn’t move any of the animals,” One of the proposals, Initiative Junior Horton of Horton’s Pups told Donna Dean elaborated. “They thought he would 1294, would amend the state constitution to Alvis-Banks of the Roanoke Times, after honor his word about keeping the dogs there.” declare that “all animals owned by citizens, humane societies from throughout the region The conflict in perspectives exempli- including pets and animals used for agricultur- took some of the 980 dogs who were seized fied the difference in outlook between breeders al purposes, are property,” and would “pro- during the first few days of November from and rescuers. In Horton’s view, the humane hibit enactment or enforcement of any law that Horton’s property in Hillsdale, Virginia. societies were taking property that employee would characterize privately-owned animals as Some of the rescuers made almost Timmy Bullion told Associated Press might be anything other than property.” the same charge against Horton. worth as much as $450,000. To the rescuers, Another, Initiative 1295, would There were reportedly about 1,100 the dogs were not property but individual lives “prohibit enactment or enforcement of any law dogs on the premises when the impoundments in distress. requiring or coercing by any means, including began. Someone allegedly removed 200 to The difference in viewpoints is cen- financial penalty, sexual sterilization of any 300 of the dogs before they could be taken into tral to a set of initiative petitions now being human or animal.” This would repeal all custody, Danville Area Humane Society circulated by California dog breeders, who licensing and adoption ordinances that offer director Paulette Dean told Danville R e g i s t e r have until April 21, 2008 to collect the discounts to people whose animals are steril- & Bee staff writer Rebecca Blanton. 700,000 signatures of California registered ized, and would also repeal the breed-specific “The authorities worked out an voters that they need to put their proposals on requirement for sterilizing pit bull terriers that agreement with Horton, but they didn’t tell the November 2008 state ballot. has within the past year cut the number of pit bulls impounded by the San Francisco Depart- ment of Animal Care and Control by 21%. Pinky, rescued from Horton’s Pups by Big puppy mill raids (from page 1) Behind the court cases and the the Montgomery County Humane Society. ture has argued for more than 70 years that with neglect––but then, after the advent of California initiatives appears to be a pervasive (Kris Rogers/Pixel Perfect Photography) puppy mill neglect results from the attitude the Internet made rescue for adoption much and spreading belief among breeders that mals for adoption in competition with breed- that animals are commodities. Breeders have easier and more popular, the numbers of res- humane societies want to establish a monopoly ers; enjoy the advantages of placing animals responded that keeping animals healthy is in cuer neglect cases soared. In 2005, 37 res- on selling animals. Some allege that this through the PetSmart and Petco adoption bou- the interest of any breeder who hopes to stay cuers were charged with neglect, in cases might be a first step toward achieving the stat- tiques, which exclude breeders; succeed in in business. involving an average of 71 animals apiece. ed PETA goal of eventually eliminating pet- placing ever higher percentages of the dogs For decades, while relatively few The data suggests that regardless of keeping. Even many breeders who doubt the they receive, so that demand for some types of people became involved in rescuing, rehabili- the motive a person has for acquiring large possibility of a plot linking PETA with dog far exceeds the shelter supply; and have tating, and adopting out animals from shel- numbers of animals, the same problems tend humane societies are often convinced that become increasingly inclined to set adoption ters, neglect cases involving recognized res- to occur, typically associated with other prob- humane societies are eager to confiscate and fees that reflect demand. cuers were rare. During the first 15 years that lems in the person’s life, such as the death of sell breeders’ animals––for the money. Setting a higher adoption fee for a the editor of ANIMAL PEOPLE tracked data a family member, a personal health crisis, Circulating in anti-animal rights lit- small dog or a pedigreed dog is a flashpoint for on mass neglect cases, 1982-1998, only 156 loss of a job, abuse of drugs or alcohol, or erature since the early 1990s, these beliefs breeder ire, in particular, because this looks rescuers who had established cooperative rela- other factors linked to chronic depression. have gained a following as shelters have to breeders like doing the same thing they do: tionships with animal shelters were charged ––Merritt Clifton become more aggressive about advertising ani- (continued on page 12) Puppy mills now HONG KONG, BEIJING, MELBOURNE ––Humane societies and mass media a world away from the U.S. joined U.S. counterparts in autumn 2007 denunciations of puppy mills. Hong Kong SPCA spokeswoman Rebecca Ngan Yee-ling complained to + Simon Parry of the S o u t h + China Morning Post t h a t “The public is encouraged to buy pedigree dogs by certain movies, as well as by the influence of celebrities bring- ing their pedigree dogs into the limelight.” She described pet shops as “an area of vast concern in terms of animal welfare,” and noted that at times more than 40% of the dogs arriving at the Hong Kong SPCA shelters are cast- off purebreds. Ngan blamed the influx of purebreds for a slump in adoptions of mon- grels, dropping total dog adoptions from 876 in 2003 to 751 in 2006, while the animal control shelter operat- ed by the Agriculture, Fisheries, and Conservation Department in fiscal 2007 killed an average of 941 dogs a month, up from 875 a month in 2006. The Chinese Busi- ness Morning View attributed a drop in purebred dog prices and sales to stricter animal control law enforcement in Beijing and other cities, and asserted that “The business of pet-dog-related products, such as dog dress and dog food, is sluggish too. Many shops are closed due to the no-longer profitable market.” Bloggers suggested that the real issue is that the first-time pet acquisition market has stabilized, after years of rapid growth. Hinting that the abuses long associated with commercial breeding in the west are of concern in China too, the Liaoning provincial dog trade association general secretary recommended that breeders and sellers should refocus on producing healthi- er dogs. 12 - ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2007 Puppy mill cases raise animal rights vs. property rights trying to make a profit from animals, instead dogs are properly cared for, pending the final ing five impounded dogs be transferred to the trict attorney Mark Lawrence, as well as sev- of just finding homes. disposition of neglect charges against breeder SPCA of Westchester County, pending the eral state and local officials, multiple animal Few shelters set higher adoption fees Linda Nelson, of Kent Cliffs. outcome of the case. But the Putnam County welfare groups, and private individuals. The for the most adoptable animals until under 10 Nelson was charged in July 2006 Humane Society refused to surrender the dogs, Frascas seek return of their dogs, and $900 years ago, due to a prevailing belief that vari- with 22 counts of neglect. The dogs were whose whereabouts were not disclosed. million in damages.” able adoption fees implied that some animals’ seized by Putnam County Sheriff’s Deputy Breeeders John and Heidi Frasca, of State and local investigators seized lives had less value––but until under 10 years Barbara Dunn, who searched Nelson’s home Buxton, Maine, in early November 2007 filed 249 dogs from the Frascas on August 21, ago most shelter animals were killed. Now with a warrant entitling her to check on the a lawsuit at the U.S. District Court in Portland, 2007, and in September were authorized by that most dogs of breeds other than pit bull ter- health and welfare of any person found inside. prepared “without the help of an attorney,” the Biddeford District Court to sterilize them rier are adopted or returned to their homes, Dunn is also the volunteer president wrote Westbrook American Journal r e p o r t e r and offer them for adoption. The Frascas pegging adoption fees to demand is widely of the Putnam County Humane Society. Dunn Robert Lowell, which “claims taking their appealed the verdict, but failed to post a secu- seen as just maximizing revenue, so as to be placed the dogs in custody of the humane soci- animals violated their constitutional rights, rity bond of $867,740 that was required to pur- able to help more animals in need. ety. The humane society then sued Nelson for and alleges that the defendants should be held sue the appeal. But now that pit bull terriers often the cost of keeping the dogs while the neglect liable for conspiracy and racketeering.” Charged with 25 counts of cruelty to make up half or more of the dog intake at case progresses. Among the defendants, Lowell said, animals, John Frasca did not appear for major shelters, breeders often allege that shel- Nelson filed a federal lawsuit alleg- are “Governor John Baldacci, Attorney arraignment on November 14. A warrant was ters impounding their dogs merely want to ing that Dunn’s dual role in the case represents General Steven Rowe, and York County dis- issued for his arrest. have other kinds of dog available for adoption. a conflict of interest, and that Dunn and the Claims that shelters have a pecuniary humane society violated her civil rights. interest in seizing dogs are involved in two Ruling that Dunn did not have a war- Most recent Baghdad pet market cases that are currently before courts in New rant that entitled her to search and seize dogs York and Maine. from the upstairs of Nelson’s residence, town bombing is solved, says admiral New York State Supreme Court justice Peter J. Collins dismissed the charges Justice Andrew O’Rourke on November 13, pertaining to the six dogs who were seized B A G H D A D ––U.S. Navy Rear killing and injuring countless birds, fish, and 2007 stayed the proceedings in a case involv- upstairs, and ordered the humane society to Admiral Gregory Smith on November 24, other animals. ing 13 Maltese dogs and pups until November return them to Nelson, along with two puppies 2007 told reporters that four members of an The four suspects were captured 30. “We are talking about these dogs as who were later born to them. Iranian-backed Shiite “special groups cell” had overnight by U.S. and Iraqi troops, Smith though they are cans of beans,” O’Rourke Putnam County Humane Society confessed to bombing the al-Ghazl pet market said. They were linked to the bombing by said. “They are living beings. My concern is lawyer David Bernham told Collins that the in central Baghdad the preceding day. “subsequent confessions, forensics, and other these dogs, and nobody has told me what is humane society would not return animals to a The bombing, the fourth attack on intelligence,” Smith explained. going to happen to them, or if there are even person being prosecuted for neglect. the al-Ghazl pet market in two years, killed at Reported CNN, “Smith said the going to be inspections” to ensure that the Collins then ordered that the remain- least 15 people and wounded 56, along with attackers wanted people to believe that the bomb, packed with ball- bearings to maximize casualties, was the work of al-Qaida in Iraq so that residents would turn to Shiite militias for protec- tion.” As in a January 2007 al-Ghazl bombing, the bomb was apparently hidden in a box of birds. Fifteen people were killed and 55 wounded in that attack. A month earlier, militants launched a mor- tar shell into the market, killing three and wound- ing 28, and in June 2006 + four people were killed + and 50 wounded in a dou- ble bombing. The al-Ghazl pet market has no particular sectarian association with either the Shiite or Sunni factions who are fighting for control of Baghdad, nor with the U.S. occupa- tion of the city. A N I - MAL PEOPLE p o i n t e d out in March 2007 that the Ghazl attacks appeared instead to indicate the involvement of non-Iraqis espousing a strain of extreme Islamic funda- mentalism most often seen in Afghanistan and adjacent parts of Pakistan. The Taliban, who ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2003, allied with al-Qaida, believe Islam forbids keeping birds in cages. After capturing Kabul, the Afghan capital city, they forced the release of all caged birds, including those who depended for survival on human feeders. P lease m ake the most gen er ous g ift y ou canto help ANIMAL PEOPLEshine the bright light on cruelty and greed! Your generous gift of $25, $ 50, $100, $500 or more helps to build a world where caring counts. Please send your check to: ANIMAL PEOPLE P.O. Box 960 Clinton, WA 98236 ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2007 - 13 Elephant polo debate overshadows debut of microchipping [from page 1] phants, the Thai national animal, is part of ability of appropriate temple facilities. their ceremonial role. Since the World Elephant Polo Because the King and Queen are Association formed in Nepal in 1982, the protectors of elephants, but have not spoken sport spread to Jaipur, India; Sri Lanka; and against elephant polo, the King’s Cup tourna- reached Thailand when the King’s Cup tourna- ment is perceived as having royal approval. ment was organized in 2001. The first seven As 2004 King’s Cub tournament editions of the annual King’s Cup tournament attendee Judith Ritter explained to readers of have raised more than $175,000 for the the Toronto Globe & Mail, “While the king National Elephant Institute. never actually shows up, he does give his offi- The chief concern of the Thai Nat- cial blessing.” ional Parks, Wildlife & Plant Conservation Like most elephant polo events, the Department about captive elephants in recent King’s Cup tournament benefits an elephant years has been illegal trafficking. Owning an charity. The King’s Cup beneficiary is the elephant can be costly, but either selling an National Elephant Institute in Lampang. The elephant abroad or selling the ivory from a institute works for the benefit of both the 1,500 deceased elephant can be quite lucrative. Banglok begging elephant. (Antoni P. Uni) wild elephants believed to be in Thailand and In addition, there is suspicion that were allegedly being smuggled into Thailand “We hope to be able to gradually cut the estimated 2,500 captive elephants. crop-raiding elephants are being captured and from Myanmar. Five men who were caught in off the illegal supply of elephants to Delhi,” Some of the captive elephants––like “laundered” through being sold to other parts possession of the elephants said they planned Satyanarayan said. “Also, we will become the polo elephants––are mostly ridden by visi- of Thailand––or the world––under the identi- to sell them to Thai investors. able to monitor the working hours of the tors. Others are used in logging and for other ties of captive elephants who have already domesticated elephants in the city.” heavy pulling and lifting. As tractors have been exported, either alive or dead. India In Kochi, far to the south, several gradually displaced logging elephants, many The National Parks, Wildlife & India is already moving toward separate programs reportedly microchipped as wander city streets, begging with their Plant Conservation Department in August microchip identification of all of the estimated many as 40 elephants in 2006 and early 2007. mahouts. Bangkok banned elephants from the 2007 announced new regulations governing 3,600 captive elephants in the nation, about City officials in April 2007 announced a plan city streets in 1992, but as many as 50 report- the export of live elephants and body parts, 1,000 of them in Assam, in the extreme north- to license elephants, but seven months later edly still elude confiscation, plodding through but stopped short of introducing mandatory east, and 900 in Kerala, in the southwest. had not followed up, according to The Hindu. back streets near tourist areas. microchipping and an elephant DNA data The Delhi city wildlife department Tamil Nadu in April 2007 initiated Older working elephants in Thailand base, as some elephant advocates sought. and Wildlife SOS began microchipping ele- microchipping elephants by chipping six pri- were traditionally retired to Buddhist temples, Incidents bringing elephant traffick- phants in 2006. “Last year, 20 animals were vately owned elephants at Uttamarkovil, and where they spent their last years as visitor ing to public attention included the export of tagged,” Wildlife SOS cofounder Kartick then chipping the temple elephants at attractions. Though temple elephants are still eight elephants to Australian zoos in July Satyanarayan told Bindu Shajan Perappadan of Rockfort, Samayapuram and Srirangam. abundant throughout Southeast Asia and India, 2006, after 15 months of controversy, public The Hindu in October 2007. The remaining In Kerala the drive to microchip cap- relatively few temples can afford to house and protests, and attempted legal interventions led elephants were microchipped before Satyana- tive elephants got a boost from five elephants feed an elephant, and the number of elephants by Friends of the Asian Elephant, and the rayan spent much of November 2007 on a running amok in four months at the Guruvayur in need of sanctuary greatly exceeds the avail- March 2007 interception of two elephants who speaking tour of the U.S. and Mexico. Sree Krishna Temple in Thiruvanathapuram. Elephant Lovers Associ- ation secretary V.K. Ven- kitachalam asserted that at least one of the elephants was overworked on the day he went berserk, and had worked with three dif- ferent ill-trained mahouts in three years. Improved identi- fication of elephants could help law enforcement agencies to recognize + such problems in advance + of catastrophe. But as in Thai- land, the major use of microchipping elephants in India is expected to be tracking illegal sales. Opponents of elephant trafficking won a round in August 2007 when the Kerala High Court upheld a Kerala state government ban on importing elephants from other states. The Elephant Owners’ Association “argued that there was a dearth of elephants in Kerala,” recounted the Deccan Herald, while “the government counsel countered this, saying that the State’s pachyderm population was saturated,” and attributing “many incidents of elephants attacking mahouts and the public in recent months, several of them resulting in deaths,” to the arrival of poorly trained ele- phants believed to have been captured in Bihar state, far to the north. The Bihar ele- phants are conspicuous because they do not respond to commands in Malayalam, the major language of Kerala and adjacent states. As many as 50 Bijar elephants are believed to have recently passed through Kerala on their way to work in Karnataka. In May 2007 a Bihar elephant reported- ly turned up in Pondi- cherry––almost as far from Bihar as an elephant could go and still be in India. (continued on page 14) 14 - ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2007 Elephants microchipped (from page 14) Nowhere in Europe for older elephants The Kerala High Court ruled against “Before the ban,” Badam wrote, The successful relocation of numer- staff, “Veterinarian Codrut Visoiu, along further elephant imports on the same day that “14 elephants worked in Mumbai. They ous U.S. zoo elephants to the Performing with department chief George Albu, made Kerala began microchipping the resident ele- begged for their handlers, participated in reli- Animal Welfare Society sanctuary in the decision to bring police dogs inside in phants. Thirteen elephants were chipped the gious ceremonies, or became status symbols at California and the Elephant Sanctuary at order to make Gaya enter the winter shelter. first day, the Deccan Herald said, ranging in weddings. Police were forced to release an Hohenwald, Tennessee have repeatedly They let [zoo director] Anca Oprea know age “from three-year-old Unnikuttan to 95- elephant handler who was arrested after the given hope to European activists that ele- about their intentions. “ year-old Gangadharan.” ban went into effect,” Badam added, phants might be relocated from many facili- Wrote Ionescu, “Europe’s oldest Attempts to keep Indian working “because there was no way to look after the ties that are much smaller, older, and bleaker elephant panicked, fell, and broke a leg, elephants out of dangerous places and poten- elephant, who spent five hours chained outside than any but the worst in the U.S.––but reality after being bitten a number of times by the tially abusive work received a setback in June the police station. The 13-year-old elephant is that land is so scarce and costly in most of dogs. Eyewitnesses said the female elephant, 2007, when the Madurai Bench of the Madras named Laxmi and her handler went free after Europe that there are no European sanctuaries who weighed four tons, was too heavy to lift High Court overturned a May 2005 order by the handler signed a statement promising to for elephants, nor for any other species need- and was left on the ground for two days by the principal chief conservator of forests and take Laxmi out of the city.” ing much space. zoo staff, who did not know what else to do.” chief wildlife warden which had prohibited The Maharashtra government has Sanctuaries for former dancing She finally suffocated from her own weight. using captive elephants in marriage cere- announced plans to build a captive elephant bears operate in Bulgaria, Romania, and Also in July, the East Ayrshire monies, temple festivals, and logging. rehabilitation center in the Nashik forests, Greece, and one sanctuary for great apes Council barred the Bobby Roberts Super Reported The Hindu, “Justice K. about 125 miles northeast of Mumbai. exists in Spain. Otherwise, animal welfare Circus elephant Anne from entering the circus Suguna ruled that it was unreasonable to Assam state chief wildlife warden organizations that accept animals who are performance arena. Anne, 54, suffers from impose a blanket ban on employing pachy- M.C. Malakar in August 2007 asked police retired from zoos, circuses, and other captive arthritis, and has not actually performed in derms,” but Suguna allowed elephant use to and district forest officials to prohibit use of venues usually have to look abroad to find years, but remains on the road because the be regulated in a “reasonable” manner. elephants to perform tricks or beg. sanctuary care––like the Austrian organiza- circus has nowhere else to keep her. Her Barely a month later, however, the Malakar acted about one month after tion Vier Pfoten, soon to open a sanctuary only work is posing for photographs. Maharashtra state forestry department ban- two domesticated elephants, a male and a called Lionsrock in South Africa. It will Activists from several nations in ished elephants from within the Mumbai city female, on July 24, 2007 went on a 20-kilo- chiefly house African lions. September 2007 began an e-mail campaign limits altogether. “We want to keep the poor meter rampage near Cachar, killing seven peo- Several recent incidents have spot- on behalf of the Kaliningrad Zoo elephant elephants off city roads. It is sad to see them ple from five villages in Assam before cross- lighted the lack of suitable locations in Pregolja, who has allegedly spent all 37 years walking with traffic going past,” explained a ing into Mizoram. There the elephants killed Europe for aging elephants. of her life in the same small concrete pen + senior Maharashtra forestry official to Ramola one more person before Mizoram state police Sunday Telegraph Bucharest corre- where she was born, alone since the death of + Talwar Badam of Associated Press. shot them. spondent Carmiola Ionescu in July 2007 her mother in 2000. Mated to her father, she investigated reports circulating in Romania birthed five calves, but soon killed four of since March 2007 that the Baneasa Zoo ele- them. The fifth was sold to a circus. More heat on zoos to end elephant phant Gaya, 48, did not die in October 2006 Because there is nowhere closer to from “old age,” as the zoo initially claimed. send Pregolija, the campaign seeks to relo- Gaya had refused to enter her cate Pregolja to The Elephant Sanctuary in exhibits after Maggie leaves Alaska cramped winter quarters. According to zoo Hohnewald. SAN ANDREAS, Calif.––The long-awaited reloca- Retired television game show host Bob Barker donat- “We want them to close the existing exhibits, acquire tion of the lone Alaska Zoo elephant from Anchorage to the ed $750,000 to fund the relocation––$400,000 for immediate no more elephants and spend the money more wisely,” p r o Performing Animal Welfare Society sanctuary near San expenses, the rest for longterm care. b o n o attorney David Casselman told Los Angeles Times s t a f f Andreas, California was completed on November 1, 2007 Zoo directors around the world are watching to see writer Carla Hall. without complications. what becomes of the Alaska Zoo without a resident elephant. Of the six acres set aside for the new elephant exhibit, Maggie, 25, had been alone at the Alaska Zoo since The zoo was built around the elephant exhibit, and although it only 3.6 acres will actually be elephant habitat. the December 1997 death of her companion, Annabelle––with has many other exotic animals, including camels and Older U.S. zoo elephant habitats are seldom larger whom Maggie reputedly did not get along. Himalayan snow leopards, Maggie was the animal visitors than one acre. Most are measured in square feet rather than in Annabelle, 33, died from complications of a chronic were most interested in seeing. parts of acres. Among newer habitats, the Oakland Zoo now foot ailment common to elephants who spend most of their The Alaska Zoo had reportedly spent about $1.3 mil- offers four African elephants about five acres. The Sedgwick lives standing on hard surfaces. A similar fate was widely pre- lion to try to improve her quality of life, but the American Zoo County Zoo in Wichita, Kansas plans to open a 3.6-acre habitat dicted for Maggie, who arrived at the Alaska Zoo from Kruger Association nonetheless recommended in early 2005 that she in 2009 that will house seven elephants. The Denver Zoo is National Park in South Africa in 1983. Her family had been should be relocated to a mainland zoo, where she could have adding a 10-acre elephant exhibit costing $52 million. shot in a cull. companions. However, the AZA wanted her to become part of Because elephants have bred notoriously poorly in The Alaskan climate obliged Maggie to spend most a captive breeding program. She will not be bred at PAWS. zoos, the Sedgewick County Zoo, Denver Zoo, and eight of her time indoors. In California, “By mid-morning, Maggie Thirteen U.S. zoos, including those in Detroit, San other major zoos in March 2007 announced that they would was swinging her trunk around her new barn, checking out the Francisco, Philadelphia, and New York, have either closed collaborate to acquire the 330-acre Riddle’s Elephant & unfamiliar sights and sounds,” wrote Megan Holland of the elephant exhibits in recent years or have announced plans to Wildlife Sanctuary, near Quitman, Arkansas, and convert it Anchorage Daily News. “By mid-afternoon, she was sun- close them when the elephants they now have either die or can into a breeding, research, and holding facility called the bathing, eating green grass, and chasing birds. On the sanctu- be relocated to more appropriate habitats. National Elephant Sanctuary. ary’s webcam, viewers watched other African elephants mean- Maggie was the third zoo elephant to be moved to a Operated by former zoo elephant managers Scott and der up to a fence that separated them from Maggie. By late sanctuary in 2007, and the second to go to PAWS, following Heidi Riddle since 1991, Riddle’s Elephant & Wildlife afternoon, Maggie was walking up close to them, even raising Ruby, 46, the last African elephant at the Los Angeles Zoo. Sanctuary has financially struggled, with a cumulative operat- her trunk over the fence, seemingly to touch them.” PAWS also received the last elephants from the San Francisco ing deficit of more than $41,000 from 2003 through 2005. Zoo and the Detroit Zoo, in March and April 2005. From 1994 to 2005 the sanctuary hosted Riddles’ International The PAWS elephant collection also School for Elephant Management, which taught techniques includes seven Asian elephants. The two most recent ––including use of electroshock––that were widely regarded as arrivals, Nicholas and Gypsy, arrived in April 2007 as outmoded and unnecessarily violent. part of the final dissolution of the Hawthorn The National Elephant Sanctuary expected to take Corporation, a circus elephant rental, training, and over the facilities in mid-2007, but Scott Riddle, 64, cau- boarding company operated for 50 years by John Cuneo, tioned Cathy Frye of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that the 76, of Richmond, Illinois. Cuneo had agreed in 2004 $3.7 million sale of the property was “still in the discussion to settle 47 alleged violations of the U.S. federal Animal stages. Nothing is a done deal.” Almost a year after the Welfare Act by divesting of his 16 elephants, but plac- National Elephant Sanctuary on December 27, 2006 signed a ing Nicholas and Gypsy proved particularly difficult letter of intent to buy Riddle’s Elephant & Wildlife Sanctuary, because their history included exposure to tuberculosis. nothing further about the transaction had been announced. Actor Robert Culp and real estate agent Aaron Leider in August 2007 sued the Los Angeles Zoo Along wit h almost every art icl e from back edi- and the city of Los Angeles to try to block construction of a new $40 million elephant exhibit, scheduled to tions, the A NIMAL P EOPLE web site offers open in November 2009. translat ions of key items i nto French & While the Los Angeles Zoo no longer has Spanish ... Lewyt Award-wi nning heroic & African elephants, it still has one Asian elephant bull, compassionate animal stories. ..vet i nfo lin ks... and according to zoo public relations and marketing downloadable handbooks... fund-rai sing how- to... our guide to estate planning... bios and Elephants at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle roam an elongated director Jason Jacobs, is “committed” to keeping ele- 1-acre habitat. (Kim Bartlett) phants. photos of the people behind ANIMAL PEO- ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2007 - 15 Concern spreads about U.S. Navy sonar harm to dolphins SAN FRANCISCO, TEH- marine mammals, including five dolphins have not been able to tolerate Candidates on animal Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich, a RAN––Ruling on behalf of the Natural species of whales. Overruling Cooper the tests. The likely reason for these longtime vegetarian and now a vegan, celebrated Thanksgiving Resources Defense Council, a three- on August 31, an appeals court panel deaths is water pollution, the spread- 2007 at the Animal Acres sanctuary in Acton, California. Kucinich judge panel of the 9th Circuit U.S. said she had failed to consider the need ing of electromagnetic waves by mili- was scheduled to discuss animal issues on November 29 on a Court of Appeals on November 13, for military preparedness.” But the 9th tary ships, or a kind of virus.’” Dialogue for Democracy webcast with In Defense of Animals 2007 allowed the U.S. Navy to finish a Circuit Court of Appeals panel But tissue samples showed founder Elliot Katz, Farm Animal Reform Movement founder Alex training exercise off the coast of reversed the earlier panel. no sign of poisoning or pollution, Tait Hershaft, PETA cofounder Alex Pacheco (who left PETA nearly California that was already underway The 9th Circuit verdict only wrote. The Iranian environmental pro- 10 years ago), and Last Chance for Animals founder Chris DeRose. and was to conclude on November 22, superficially appeared to support the tection agency “found bruising on But Ohio Representative Kucinich is rated little chance of but ordered the Navy to reduce the claim of Sha’aban-Ali Nezami, head some corpses, arousing suspicion that winning the nomination. harm done to whales by sonar anti-sub- of the Iranian state-run fisheries orga- the dolphins had suffered violent Several of the leading Democratic contenders have active- marine detection equipment before nization, that U.S. military activity blows,” in waters “rich in tuna and a ly courted hunters, most conspicuously former North Carolina beginning a new exercise near the caused the deaths of 152 dolphins who site of industrial-scale fishing.” Senator John Edwards and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. Channel Islands in January 2008. washed up in September and October “We are basing our hypothe- Edwards on October 24 in Iowa “unveiled a ‘Hunting and Eight other planned Navy along the Iranian southern coast. sis on fishing,” said environmental Fishing Bill of Rights and Responsibilities’ that calls for giving exercises may also be delayed by the “Distressing pictures of rows agency deputy chief of marine biology hunters more access to federal lands,” wrote New York Sun s t a f f ruling, reported Bob Egelko of the San of dead dolphins have appeared in the Mohammad Baqer Nabavi. reporter Josh Gerstein. “He also called for a new national program Francisco Chronicle. “Three anti-sub- Iranian media, alongside reports that to pay private landowners to open their property to sportsmen.” marine exercises had already been they had ‘committed suicide,’ wrote One small dog & In Glenwood, Iowa, Edwards “said he hunted while held,” Egelko wrote, “when U.S. Guardian Tehran correspondent Robert friends visit Houston growing up and still fishes,” according to Associated Press. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper Tait. “Nezami told Iranian journalists “When National Parks need to cull their game species, I ordered a halt on August 7, saying the that, ‘As these dolphins are not among think they should look into having local hunters do the job,” Navy’s protective measures were the species normally found in the Edwards told Radio Iowa. ‘woefully ineffectual and inadequate.’ Persian Gulf and Oman Sea, probably Richardson in July 2007 boasted of shooting an oryx on She said the underwater sound waves the Americans brought them to carry media magnate Ted Turner’s 360,000-acre Armendaris Ranch in would harm nearly 30 species of out laboratory work. This group of New Mexico. Richardson was also “a prominent steer roping sup- porter with arena banners and a full page advertisement of himself Atlanta Falcons & pit bull terriers in the rodeo program” at the 2007 National Finals Steer Roping SUSSEX, Virginia––Atlanta Forty-eight dogs seized from event in Hobbs, New Mexico during the first weekend of Falcons quarterback Michael Vick was Vick’s property in April 2007, most of November, reported Steve Hindi of SHARK. on November 27, 2007 scheduled for a them pit bull terriers, are now being Senator Barrack Obama of Illinois in April 2007 declared jury trial on April 2, 2008 in Surry offered for adoption by organizations himself “a strong believer in the rights of hunters and sportsmen to County Circuit Court for two counts of in Virginia, New York and California. have firearms,” but in October 2007, after learning that he is a dis- felony dogfighting. An unrelated felony cruelty tant cousin of Vice President Dick Cheney, an avid hunter, told The dogfighting charges, charge filed against Atlanta Falcons Maria (center) inspired the TV talk show host Jay Leno, “I don’t want to be invited to the fam- brought by the State of Virginia, are defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux in August 2007 #1 independent label pop ily hunting party.” separate from the federal conspiracy February 2007 for killing a pit bull ter- rock hit “One Small Dog,” by British New York Senator Hilary Clinton recently told the D e s charge to which Vick pleaded guilty on rier by swinging the dog on a leash was singer Maria Daines. Thrown into a Moines Register, “I support the Second Amendment. Law-abiding August 27, 2007. dropped on November 7, 2007. The deep pit to die, Maria, Hailie, Hana, citizens should be able to own guns,” but has not expressly Facing up to five years in dog, named Kilo, belonged to and Tommy were rescued by the endorsed hunting. Her husband Bill Clinton, as U.S. President prison for the federal conviction, Vick Babineaux’s girlfriend Blair Anderson. Homeless Animals Protection Society 1993-2001, opened more National Wildlife Refuges to hunting than voluntarily began serving time on Babineaux testified that he was pro- of Ethiopia, as recounted in the any previous president, and once shot a cage-reared duck as a November 19, in advance of his tecting himself and his five-month-old July/August 2007 edition of ANIMAL photo-op. scheduled December 10 sentencing. child from dangerous behavior by the P E O P L E . Amsale Gessesse Mem- No major Republican candidate has a positive record on Co-defendants Quanis L. pit bull, who according to Gwinnett orial Foundation founder Anteneh animal issues. One Republican candidate, Mitt Romney, has had Philips and Purnell A. Peace are to be County (Georgia) district attorney Roba, M.D., who funded the dogs’ a conspicuously bad record on topics including hunting, trapping, tried on the state charges on March 5. Danny Porter had a history of unpro- rescue, flew them to Houston on rodeo, and the right of students to choose alternatives to classroom Co-defendant Tony Taylor is to be voked attacks. Babineaux and Ander- October 28, 2007 to find homes and dissection, as ANIMAL PEOPLE detailed in “Mitt Romney tried on the state charges on May 7. son had quarreled earlier, and become ambassadors for HAPS. The becomes first 2008 Presidential candidate to pander to hunters,” All three pleaded guilty to the same Anderson was out of the house when two HAPS staff positions are spon - May 2007. + federal offense as Vick. the incident occurred. sored by ANIMAL PEOPLE. + Proposed “norms and standards” for elephant captivity outrage P R E T O R I A ––Efforts by South and Standards currently stand, the Department a similar but more detailed statement, accus- port the Norms and Standards on captive ele- African minister for environmental affairs and of Environmental Affairs and Tourism is plac- ing the Department of Environmental Affairs phants as they currently stand,” Pickover tourism Martinus Van Schalkwyk to produce ing the onus on animal welfare organizations and Tourism of “abdicating their responsibili- added, “and if this situation is not rectified, “norms and standards” governing the capture to police the industry but the Norms and ties and being completely untransparent and we will be left with no other choice but to take and use of elephants appear to have infuriated Standards offer no restrictions or prohibitions unaccountable” in attempting to transfer super- legal action to protect elephants from further both animal advocates and the captive elephant on the training of elephants. No attempt has vision of captive elephants to the Department exploitation and cruelty.” industry. been made to cap the industry. The of Agriculture. Elephant Trainers’ Association Almost a year into the consultation Department of Environmental Affairs and The major effect of the transfer spokesperson Greg Vogt declared ahead of the process, Van Schalkwyk apparently pleased no Tourism has suggested that the welfare issues would be to in effect reclassify captive ele- November 12 presentation that the ETA had one with draft “Norms and Standards” present- be addressed through the Department of phants from being “wildlife” to being domestic produced “norms and standards” for itself, ed on November 12. Agriculture,” Stanton continued. “The livestock. “and that no other monitoring or regulation is The first conflict was over allowing NSPCA fails to see the logic in this approach “We are urgently requesting that necessary,” reported Mike Cadman of the elephant captures. when the tourism industry falls within the the Norms and Standards be put on hold,” Sunday Independent. “He said that the cap- “The decision by the department to Department’s mandate.” wrote Pickover, “until the process is properly tive-elephant tourist industry did not believe allow the capture of elephants from wild herds “In their current form, these norms extended and dealt with; that an immediate that animal rights or animal welfare organisa- on private and communal land for training and and standards are totally inadequate in terms of moratorium be placed on issuing permits for tions, or anyone not involved in the industry, use in the safari industry, including elephant- welfare,” Santon elaborated. “We are com- the capture and training of elephants; [and should have a say about how elephant owners back safaris, is inexplicable and inexcusable,” mitted to improving the lot of this country’s that] a ban be placed on all capture of any ele- or trainers treated their elephants. alleged Jason Bell-Leask of the International captive elephants, and consider the use of phants from the wild, to include prohibiting “There are at least 112 elephants in Fund for Animal Welfare. ankuses, chains and any type of deprivation the capture of so-called ‘problem’ elephants, captivity in South Africa,” Cadman said, “of “The National SPCA walked out of and the restriction of social contact as unethi- ‘vagrant’ elephants, and the removal of live whom 92 are used to give rides to tourists, or the meeting in disgust and will be taking the cal and cruel.” elephants from culls or from free living fami- otherwise interact with them. Fourteen captive matter under legal advisement,” said NSPCA Animal Rights Africa spokesperson lies, herds and clans. elephants are in circuses or the film industry, representative Brenda Santon. “As the Norms Michele Pickover on November 19 distributed “Animal Rights Africa does not sup- and six are in zoos.” Donate your old car and help support ANIMAL PEOPLE! It's easy to make a contribution that supports ANIMAL PEOPLE! Here's how it works: Call Tol l-Fr ee 877-537-5277, or e- mail The Watchdog monitors fundraising, spending, and The political activity in the name of animal and habitat protec - tion—both pro and con. His empty bowl stands for all the bowls left empty when some Watchdog take more than they need. Who was really behind “Your Mommy Cat-killing bill may be LOS ANGELES––Producing a video about the ani- time do not portray animal organizations in a truthful and unbi- WASHINGTON D.C.––HR 767, a bill that if mal rights movement in 2005-2006 called Your Mommy Kills ased way as promised [by Johnson],” the Barbi Twins contend. passed would allow the National Wildlife Refuge system to Animals, Minneapolis documentarian Curt Johnson, 39, spent “The celebrities and organizations who participated in authorize hunters to shoot feral cats, unanimously cleared the much of 2007 and may spend much of 2008 fighting lawsuits the filming have only given conditional agreement to be in the U.S. House of Representatives on an October 23, 2007 voice for allegedly misrepresenting the project to both anti-animal film,” the Barbis add, “as they were promised that they could vote, and entered the Senate without organized opposition. rights investors and animal rights advocates Shane and Sia be removed if it did not remain unbiased or took on an anti-ani- Then, after page one exposure in the October 2007 Barbi, who are credited in the video as associate producers. mal agenda.” edition of ANIMAL PEOPLE, HR 767 ran into Lee “The Johnson lost the first round to Center for Consumer Known to the world as actresses and former Playboy LocoMotive” Zucker, owner of The LocoMotive vegetarian Freedom founder Richard Berman and Speakeasy Video com- models, the Barbi Twins were known to ANIMAL PEOPLE restaurant in Eugene, Oregon. Zucker called many of the pany owner Maura Flynn, wife of former Center for Consumer as animal advocates who asked frequent serious questions about national animal advocacy groups and regional humane soci- Freedom employee Michael Flynn. issues and organizations for some time before ANIMAL PEO- eties whose first word was that HR 767 could not be stopped. Alleging copyright infringement on January 12, PLE had any idea of their celebrity status. Assigned to the Senate Committee on Environment 2007, Berman and Flynn contended that Johnson violated their “On or about early 2006,” the Barbi case begins, and Public Works on November 8, HR 767 had not emerged intent to produce a documentary attacking the People for the “plaintiffs were informed by several others involved in the ani- a week after Thanksgiving. Alley Cat Allies president Becky Ethical Treatment of Animals. mal rescue movement that a producer, Curt Johnson, was mak- Robinson was guardedly optimistic that it would not be acted Summarized Virginia Lawyers Weekly, “Johnson ing a movie about animal rights organizations and wanted to upon before the end of the first session of the 110th Congress. worked with Flynn on the movie, Michael Moore Hates talk to them because of their breadth of experience. “My D.C. folks tell me its being held in the Senate America. In 2005, Flynn and Johnson discussed co-producing “After plaintiff Shane Barbi agreed to be contacted, committee, not to be brought forward,” American Humane two documentaries, one on smoking,” which was eventually defendant Curt Johnson provided this plaintiff with many mag- president Marie Wheatley told ANIMAL PEOPLE. issued and contends that bans on smoking in public places vio- azine articles including articles from Hollywood Reporter a n d Friends of Animals on November 13 issued the first late civil liberties, “and one on PETA and the animal rights Variety.” The articles stated Johnson’s claimed credentials. An nationally distributed electronic activist alert about HR 767, movement. Flynn prepared a ‘treatment’ of the PETA August 2005 item by Claude Brodesser of V a r i e t y stated that and began calling Senators. “We’ve got a chance to stop this film…Berman invested $300,000 in the production.” “documentarian Curt Johnson’s Gotham- and Dallas-based pro- bill,” decided FoA president Priscilla Feral. “Let’s do it.” Johnson and Flynn both interviewed sources who duction shingle Indie Genius has secured a $30 million financ- Titled the Refuge Ecology Protection, Assistance, were to appear in the documentaries, but Johnson “At some ing commitment that will allow it to produce, co-finance and and Immediate Response Act, or REPAIR Act, HR 767 was point in 2006,” according to Virginia Lawyers Weekly, acquire finished projects,” said to have been “brokered by introduced by Representative Ron Kind, of LaCrosse, “instructed Flynn not to travel with the crew working on” the Georgia-based attorney William Slater Vincent.” Wisconsin—where birder Mark Smith in 2005 organized a project that became Your Mommy Kills Animals. The Barbi Twins believed this reported deal was campaign to seek state legislation to allow hunters to shoot “Over time,” Virginia Lawyers Weekly c o n t i n u e d , Johnson’s source of funding for Your Mommy Kills Animals, feral cats. Passed by the Wisconsin Conservation Congress, “Johnson accepted less and less input from Flynn and finally but only after trying to verify the information. the proposal died due to the threat of a gubernatorial veto. ceased all communication with her. Johnson began screening States their lawsuit, “Plaintiff Shane Barbi contacted HR 767, potentially doing the same thing at the and promoting a substantially complete version of the film.” several Variety reporters whose names were on the articles” that national level, was pushed by the American Bird A version of Your Mommy Kills Animals was shown Johnson gave them, “and was told that Variety investigates Conservancy, an organization built on opposition to to the Virginia jury, one of several versions in circulation, their facts and stands by their articles...Had the plaintiffs Shane neuter/return feral cat control according to the Barbi lawsuit. and Sia Barbi been aware of the truth of how this film came to HR 767 “sneaked under the radar because they did “Roughly 80% was devoted to a favorable portrayal be, they would have never even taken Curt Johnson’s phone not use any of our usual search words, like feral or even ani- of the SHAC-7, members of an animal rights group called Stop calls, let alone agreed to play any role in his film. mal,” said Wheatley. Instead, HR 767 mentions “harmful Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, who were tried and convicted for “Before becoming involved with defendant Johnson,” nonnative species” and “invasive species.” A cursory look at + violations of the Animal Enterprise Protection Act,” V i r g i n i a the lawsuit continues, “plaintiffs approached and questioned HR 767 suggested to most readers that it was a routine reau- + Lawyers Weekly said. Reviews of Your Mommy Kills Animals him about a rumor connecting Johnson’s film to organizations thorization of ongoing refuge conservation programs. published by the Los Angeles Times and L.A. Weekly gave simi- like the Center for Consumer Freedom that supported anti-ani- The devil was in the details––and may still be, as lar descriptions of the documentary, which is not presently in mal and anti-animal rights campaigns. Johnson persuaded the even if the Senate does not act on HR 767, a similar measure public distribution. plaintiffs that this was totally untrue. He denied all connections could be slipped through as a rider on any Interior Berman and Flynn were unlikely funders of a project to CCF or any other anti-animal rights organizations. He Department appropriation bill, the avenue that former defending SHAC. Six SHAC defendants were convicted in declared that he was the sole funding source for his film, that Senator Conrad Burns of Montana used in 2004 to undo key March 2006, of conspiracy to commit “animal enterprise ter- not one cent came from any anti-animal rights groups. He provisions of the 1971 federal law that protected wild horses rorism.” Five were convicted of “interstate stalking.” Later in admitted, however, that it was difficult or impossible for him, from sale to slaughter. 2006 the convicted SHAC members were sentenced to prison on his own, to get any representatives from animal organiza- terms ranging from three to six years. tions to cooperate or participate in his yet unnamed film, the Center for Consumer Freedom. Johnson mentioned having Berman, the Center for Consumer Freedom, and an because they were boycotting him based on these rumors.” interviewed Center for Consumer Freedom staff writer David ancestral organization he headed called the Guest Choice Trying to help Johnson produce a documentary that Martosko, whose name appears on the Your Mommy Kills Network became aggressively critical of animal rights activity they believed would be favorable to animal advocacy, the Barbi Animals cast list, but did not demonstrate exceptional familiari- in early 2002. Berman appeared to have been best known pre- Twins “entered into a verbal agreement with defendant ty with CCF. viously for opposing legislation that holds hotel and restaurant Johnson,” their lawsuit contends, “that plaintiffs would bring Johnson did, however, indicate that he tended to owners liable if they knowingly or negligently allow guests to celebrities and representatives of organizations who work for accept the SHAC defendants claim that they were charged with drive drunk, and for opposing laws that require hotels and the benefit of animals to the film. For bringing celebrities and criminal offenses for exercising freedom of speech. restaurants to pay at least the minimum wage to waiters and animal organizations into the film, plaintiffs the Barbi Twins The SHAC trial concluded five weeks later. In the waitresses, instead of requiring them to work for tips alone. were both to receive credit as associate producers, and editorial interim, individuals targeted by SHAC testified that they “they Maura Flynn, as Maura Whalen, appears to have control over the entire film.” were besieged by screaming protesters outside their homes at first become prominent in 1993 as spokesperson for the The Barbi Twins assert that they “used their contacts all hours, deluged by threatening phone calls, and were sent Individual Rights Foundation. This organization sued the and connections to get all of the nationally and internationally pornographic magazines they had not ordered,” according to University of California at Riverside, after the university known celebrities who appear in the film. In addition, they got Wayne Parry of Associated Press, who attended the trial. “One issued a three-year suspension to a fraternity chapter for pro- most of the representatives of the animal organizations who woman said she received an e-mail threatening to cut her 7- ducing a t-shirt bearing an allegedly racist caricature. appear in the film.” year-old son open and stuff him with poison. A man said he An out of court settlement reinstated the fraternity, However, “On or about February 1, 2007, defendant was showered with glass as people smashed all the windows of required two university administrators to take First Amendment Johnson abruptly stopped communicating with plaintiffs,” the his home and overturned his wife’s car.” sensitivity training, and included the fraternity chapter writing lawsuit explains. “Plaintifss learned that Johnson was not per- The Barbi Twins in e-mail discussion with Clifton letters of apology to offended ethnic groups, other fraternities sonally funding the film, as they were told, but that he had had already expressed their strong disapproval of violent and and sororities, and the national headquarters of the fraternity. received $300,000 from Maura Flynn,” which she had received threatening tactics. Michael Flynn, though not directly involved in mak- from Richard Berman, whom the Barbi Twins contend “was ing Your Mommy Kills Animals, and not a party to the lawsuit silently exercising editorial control over portions of the film.” Distribution blocked brought by Berman and his wife, may have had the longest his- While not responding to questions about the court tory of interface with animal advocacy, as director of policy Johnson’s approach cases, Johnson on November 14, 2007 forwarded to ANIMAL and legislative activities for the American Legislative Exchange ANIMAL PEOPLE repeatedly asked Johnson for PEOPLE a link to Please enter my subscription for: ____ One year (9 issues.) Enclosed is $24. YES! I’M AN ____ Two years (18 issues.) Enclosed is $38. ANIMAL PERSON! ____ Three years (27 issues.) Enclosed is $50. ____Please send additional subscriptions as gifts to the addresses I have listed below or on a separate sheet. Enclosed is $24 apiece. ____Please send the 2007 ANIMAL PEOPLE Watchdog Report on Animal Protection Charities, which provides the background I need to make my donations more effective. Enclosed is $25. ____I want to help support your outreach with a tax-deductible contribution of: $25 ____ $50 ____ $100 ____ $250 ____ $500 ____ Other ____ Name: Name of gift recipient: Number and street: Number and street: City and state: City and state: ––Wolf Clifton ZIP code: ZIP code: Please make checks payable to: ANIMAL PEOPLE, P.O. Box 960, Clinton, WA 98236, or call 360-579-2505 to order by MasterCard or VISA. SPCA International debut raises questions ACHACACHI, Bolivia––“ A y m a r a the process of investigating whether in fact, has paid off its debt of $1.25 million, and for mals as possible who had been adopted by peasants loyal to President Evo Morales, that dispute still exists. If the matter has been the last three years has generated a modest U.S. military personnel, who are requested to calling themselves the Red Ponchoes, yester- resolved, and the seller has been given the profit. Its donor list has swelled from 700 in leave them behind when returning home.” day beheaded two dogs as a gruesome signal rights to sell the title, we’ll happily list it on 1994 to more than 127,000, Barnoti says.” Responded Buckley, “The sergeant to those ‘who don't want change’ in the coun- our site.” But as ANIMAL PEOPLE reported [who is bringing Charlie home], Terri Crisp, try,” a representative of the Asociacion para M O N T R E A L ––Complaints about in December 2006, Barnoti’s aggressive mail- and at least 10 other folks who have contacted la Defense de los Derechos de los Animales SPCA International promotional tactics began ings have also drawn public warnings to me about helping Charlie have all been told de Bolivia e-mailed to humane media on to reach ANIMAL PEOPLE almost as soon donors from the Edmonton SPCA, the Moose that Military Mascots will cover all expenses November 23, 2007. “Red Ponchos secre- as the SPCA International web site went up on Jaw Humane Society, and the Nova Scotia to get Charlie to the U.S.––and yet, SPCA tary general Ruperto Quispe confirmed that January 5, 2007. SPCA. Originally incorporated in 1869 as the International is asking for donations to get him other peasant groups from the La Paz area Proclaimed a media release from Canadian SPCA, the first humane society in and other pets shipped.” participated,” the report added. Bold New World, the self-described “Los Canada, but operating a shelter only in SPCA International also posted Video of the killings reportedly hinted Angeles-based interactive agency” that pro- Montreal, the Montreal SPCA solicits funds details of the arrangements being made on that Morales himself encouraged the action. duced the web site, “The mission of SPCA throughout Canada as the Canadian SPCA, behalf on Charlie, including how he is to be Identified by New York Times cor- International is to raise the awareness of the using post office boxes in other provinces to routed through Kuwait. Buckley, though she respondent Simon Romero as a former orga- abuse of animals to a global level, and to receive donations. has readily explained her animal transport nizer for the coca growers’ union, Morales in mount efforts to enhance animal welfare “Type in ‘SPCA’ into Google,” arrangements to ANIMAL PEOPLE off the June 2007 attended a llama sacrifice. throughout the world. SPCA International Bruemmer continued, “and the top hit is record, has avoided disclosing information accomplishes this mission by working both SPCA International, a new venture started by which might jeopardize her connections. representing SPCA International,” Barnoti independently and as an umbrella organization the Montreal SPCA seeking donations from “I was appalled,” Buckley told said, five days after the date of a letter in for local SPCA organizations in all countries.” abroad, with a New Hampshire address.” ANIMAL PEOPLE. Buckley said she had which Gordon made a merger proposal to the More than 11,000 animal charities Barnoti said donations would “go asked Crisp to remove the potentially compro- president of a smaller charity, “but has under- working in more than 140 nations might have toward international efforts, as well as the mising details from the SPCA International taken contractually the creation and mainte- thought they had already raised “awareness of Montreal SPCA,” Bruemmer wrote, noting web site, but two weeks later the information nance of SPCA International’s website.” the abuse of animals to a global level,” but no that “The SPCA International web site men- in question appeared to still be there. Indeed, the Bold New World web one objected to further “efforts to enhance ani- tions the Canadian SPCA in its history, but “Quite frankly,” Buckley said, site includes mentions of HSUS, the Ameri- mal welfare throughout the world.” doesn’t include any mention of its Montreal “there is no doubt in my mind, as well as in can Bible Society, and SPCA International shelters.” the minds of my contacts who assist me for among a long list of clients. Pierre Barnoti After several quiet months, SPCA shipping, that this new website will cause The Bold New World web site also + What raised eyebrows and questions International generated a second flurry of issues for my program.” included an endorsement from Paul Irwin’s + was that SPCA International had existed even inquiries to ANIMAL PEOPLE in connection One of the biggest issues is that both son, Craig W. Irwin, president of Converg- on paper for less than a year. Incorporated in with a “shelter of the month” program run by a keeping pets on military posts in Iraq and ence Direct Marketing. Delaware in 2006 by Montreal SPCA execu- short-term executive director named Michael bringing them back to the U.S. contradict U.S. The SPCA International modus tive director Pierre Barnoti, SPCA Inter- Zambotti; claims about involvement in disas- military policy. Any U.S. military personnel operandi began to look familiar. As vice presi- national had yet to accomplish much visible ter relief and in helping U.S. personnel sta- found to be in violation of policy could be dent of HSUS 1975-1996, and president 1996- mission activity, had yet to complete a fiscal tioned in Iraq to bring pets home; and aggres- charged with disobedience of orders. 2004, Paul Irwin became the highest-paid year or file an IRS Form 990 financial sive attempts to absorb other humane organi- “I think their venture is bad news for executive to that point in the history of animal accountability statement, and was not yet an zations through merger. my program and the troops,” Buckley said. welfare, collecting a peak of $570,325 in umbrella organization for any local SPCAs, as Repeatedly checking the “Baghdad 1998, including deferred compensation. Irwin Barnoti acknowledged to ANIMAL PEOPLE Terri Crisp Buddies” web page, with a variety of common even cofounded a private bank. Irwin post- more than a month later. The disaster relief activities, the browsers, ANIMAL PEOPLE found that poned his scheduled retirement for two years “Bold New World developed a site “Baghdad Buddies” program, and––since with most browsers, albeit not all, a dis- when the HSUS board repeatedly failed to that leveraged the SPCA’s rightful position as Zambotti’s departure––the “shelter of the claimer about the use of funds raised for the agree on a successor, but was ushered into the premier authority on pet care and no-kill month” program are all coordinated by Terri program flashes only briefly before receding retirement after the election of current HSUS shelters by offering a free repository of pet Crisp, identified as “SPCA International’s into white text against a camouflage back- president Wayne Pacelle in April 2004. care information,” the media release added. Animal Resource and Rescue Consultant.” ground that makes it virtually invisible: During the next several months The SPCA International web site has Crisp was disaster relief coordinator “Donations received for this pro- ANIMAL PEOPLE heard from a variety of incorporated links to various other online for United Animal Nations from 1991 to 2001. gram will be used in three ways: 1) To cover sources that Irwin appeared to be working on a information providers, mostly long estab- She left to form her own organization, Noah’s the costs associated with bringing companion plan to create a rival organization to HSUS by lished. Original content, as of late November Wish, after controversies surfaced about her animals, befriended by United States military merging smaller charities whose programs 2007, is still sparse. Rather than describing work during Hurricane Floyd and after the ter- while serving in the Middle East, to their new when combined could become magnets for SPCA International achievements, the “suc- rorist attacks of September 11, 2001. homes in the United States; 2) To cover donors who might be alienated if Pacelle took cess stories” section allows visitors to post sto- Reportedly receiving $8.4 million in donations transportation costs for companion animals HSUS in a “radical” direction by promoting ries about their own rescued pets––few if any after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Noah’s Wish belonging to active military personnel who vegetarianism and pushing animal rights–– of whom appear to have been helped by SPCA came under investigation by the California need financial assistance for this purpose when exactly as Pacelle has done, with significant International. Attorney General over how the funds were they are transferred to another military base; fundraising success. ANIMAL PEOPLE received a sec- allocated. Crisp resigned in March 2007, but 3) To further the mission of SPCA Inter- The rumors stopped after Irwin ond SPCA International mission statement on soon formed a new organization with parallel national to stop euthanizing adoptable and became president of the American Bible February 7, 2007. “SPCA International, programs called Animal Resources. healthy animals. The outcomes of this program Society, a charity with at least five times the Inc.,” it said, “was created to prevent cruelty “Baghdad Buddies,” as described on will be maintaining the human/animal bond assets of HSUS. to and the abuse of animals, educate the pub- the SPCA International web site, closely and a reduction in surrendered animals.” Said Barnoti, “I know that Irwin lic about animal welfare, encourage spaying resembles the five-year-old Military Mascots Said Barnoti, “The program is less was bitter about the take over of the HSUS by and neutering, and promote awareness of project, coordinated by Bonnie Buckley of than a week old, but you have to start some- Pacelle, but I believe that the American Bible problems of animal cruelty. SPCA Inter- Merrimac, Massachusetts––apparently not just where.” The nearly invisible mentions that Society has made him an offer he couldn’t national also plans to organize a volunteer pro- coincidentally. donations might be used for purposes other refuse! The rest is history. gram,” the statement added, “composed of “Terri Crisp contacted me via e-mail than bringing animals to the U.S. from Iraq, “Paul Irwin has no role with SPCA veterinarians and veterinary students traveling and by telephone about two weeks ago,” Barnoti acknowledged, are requested by the International,” Barnoti added. “I met with to Third World countries to help implement Buckley told ANIMAL PEOPLE o n law firm that we have retained to advise us on him for advice two years ago. I told him what sterilization as a method of animal control.” November 13, 2007, “and I was more than this specific program. I wanted to do. He advised me to meet Rich- Barnoti told ANIMAL PEOPLE shocked to see this site go up. They are basi- ard Gordon, who had gotten him a lot of posi- that he had already led several expeditions to cally just attempting a spin-off of my already Paul Irwin tive results from the HSUS web site. My sole do veterinary outreach in various parts of Latin successful program. I don’t understand why While looking into “Baghdad interest in Paul Irwin,” Barnoti insisted, “is America. the SPCA International site was put into Buddies,” ANIMAL PEOPLE became aware his vast experience as president of the HSUS.” Reported Rene Bruemmer of the action,” Buckley continued. “My small and of SPCA International proposals of merger IRS Form 990 filings don’t break out Montreal Gazette on February 8, 2007, loyal mascot program has been active for four with small but successful existing organiza- either the cost of web-based fundraising, or “Barnoti is seen by some as a savior who years, and has done very well to help those tions. The key correspondence was signed by the returns from it. But according to figures turned around an organization [the Montreal who needed the assistance.” Richard Gordon, of Bold New World. that HSUS gave to the Chronicle of Phil- SPCA] once known for mismanagement and Barnoti told ANIMAL PEOPLE “Richard Gordon is a vendor who anthropy, their web-based fundraising during regular flirtations with bankruptcy. Since he that, “The program designed at saving dogs has worked extensively with the Humane the last three years of Irwin’s tenure brought in took the helm 12 years ago, the association adopted by military personnel in Iraq stems Society of the U.S. in creating and organizing totals of $30,000, $45,000, and $180,000. from a request we received at SPCA their web site,” Barnoti told ANIMAL PEO- “I was under the impression that dur- If you know someone else who International regarding a dog called Charlie. PLE. “I was introduced to him by Paul Irwin, ing Irwin’s tenure the web fundraising due to might like to read ANIMAL PEOPLE, Charlie’s case has inspired us to do more and ex-president of HSUS and presently president Hurricane Katrina went through the roof,” please ask us to send a free sample. to expand this program to save as many ani- of the American Bible Society. Gordon is not Barnoti responded. But Hurricane Katrina hit 18 - ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2007 Prince Harry of U.K. dodges The Longest Struggle: Animal Advocacy from Pythagoras to PETA as suspect in harri- by Norm Phelps thisthe very difficult bullet case, but we remain concerned that no one the World Wildlife Fund. has been prosecuted. We have no doubt that a crime was com- During a six-week spree at Christmas Available from Lantern Books mitted. That no bodies could be found is extremely disappoint- 1987, after Philip became titular head of the ing. We are concerned, but not surprised, that no evidence World Wildlife Fund, he and his sons Charles could be found.” [father of Harry], Andrew, and Edward broke www.lanternbooks.com Natural England chair Sir Martin Doughty called Philip’s previous record for sustained bloodshed shooting hen harriers “the greatest threat” to their survival in by shooting nearly 18,000 captive-raised pigeons, and online booksellers Britain as a species. “Every year hen harriers are killed illegal- pheasants, partridges, ducks, geese, and rabbits ly,” Doughty told Carrell, “but successful prosecutions are at Sandringham. Scottish SPCA. “This could ultimately result in a second incredibly rare.” Introducing Harry and his brother William to hunting tragedy, as it is unclear if the chick will survive.” But Doughty stopped short of actually criticizing at the ages of seven and 10, respectively, against the wishes of Carbofuran has been the poison preferred by game- shooting estate management practices, which seek to inflate their late mother Princess Diana, Prince Charles and friends keepers in recent years, used in 22 of the 24 cases of poisoned populations of “game” birds well beyond the natural carrying reportedly shot 12,000 pheasants at Sandringham at Christmas raptors that police investigated in Scotland in 2005. capacity of the habitat––a goal which can only be achieved by 1991. The August 2007 poisoning came two months after suppressing predation. In October 2001 the royals began offering bagged gamekeeper George Aitken, 56, of Blythe Farm near Lauder, “We want to try to find ways to bring back hen harri- partridge and pheasant shot by family members for sale at the “admitted using live pigeons as bait and lacing pheasant car- ers while having viable countryside pursuits,” Doughty said. Windsor Castle gift shop. casses with poison,” according to the BBC, and was sentenced Dersingham Bog site manager Ash Murray told The The Queen herself was photographed in the act of to serve 220 hours of community service. “The gamekeeper Times that the incident was the first shooting of hen harriers in clubbing a wounded pheasant to death with her walking stick at was caught in a joint operation,” the BBC said, which the vicinity since his tenure began in 1998. But other birds of a Sandringham shoot in January 2004. Later in the year Philip “involved the Scottish SPCA, the Royal Society for the prey have been killed under questionable circumstances at and several friends blasted birds at Sandringham in front of Protection of Birds, and Lothian and Borders Police.” Sandringham. In November 2006, for instance, Sandringham children from a nearby school, many of whom belonged to the Aitken was at least the fifth gamekeeper in six gamekeeper Dean Wright, 26, was fined £500 for allegedly school bird-watching club. months to be prosecuted for killing raptors, and the seventh in setting a rat trap almost a year earlier, in December 2005, that Members of the royal family and their retinue have a year. Most prominently, the Aberdeen Sheriff Court in June snared a tawny owl. been investigated many times for cruelty in connection with 2006 won a guilty plea from Hector McNeil, 56, a 30-year Wright’s explanation that the owl was caught by acci- hunting and maintaining animals to be hunted. The Scottish gamekeeper at the Glenbuchat Estate in Strathdon for 30 years. dent reportedly did not fully convince King’s Lynn SPCA, for example, in February 1996 questioned staff at the McNeil admitted poisoning a raven, of whom only two breed- Magistrates’ Court district judge Philip Browning. As Queen’s Balmoral and Dalnadamph estates about allegations ing pair remained in the region, and keeping 118 common Browning pointed out while pronouncing sentence, a trap bait- that they illegally culled deer by chasing them into pens with gull’s eggs [apparently used as bait] plus carbufuran. But ed for rats would normally not be placed where birds of prey off-road vehicles. McNeil was fined just £350. might interfere with it, or would be covered, in part so that rats The Royal SPCA in January 2007 reportedly investi- “Ornithologists fear that up to 40% of Scotland’s red could take the bait without fear of being swooped upon by rap- gated an incident at Sandringham in which members of a hunt- kites have been poisoned,” summarized Carrell of T h e tors while feeding. ing party that Philip led first shot and then bludgeoned a fox. Guardian, “victims of a concerted campaign by gamekeepers “O’Lone said Wright had been internally disci- While that case filled the Fleet Street tabloids, Prince and grouse moor owners.” plined,” reported Carrell, “and insisted the estate followed rig- Harry’s then-girlfriend Chelsea Davy promoted her father’s The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds estimat- orous environmental policies.” Zimbabwean hunting concession at the annual convention of ed that “more than 300 of the 395 red kites that bred in Scot- The hunting practices of the British royal family, Safari Club International in Las Vegas. land between 1999 and 2003 have disappeared,” Carrell con- especially at Sandringham, have stirred controversy for more Other members of the royal entourage have demon- tinued. “Up to 185 of those, the RSPB alleges, were probably than 40 years. Prince Harry’s grandfather, Prince Philip, strated cavalier attitudes toward wildlife, including Sir Peter illegally poisoned with controlled pesticides, snared, or shot. reportedly killed 15,500 captive-raised birds at Sandringham in Maxwell Davies, Master of the Queen’s Music, who in March “Ironically,” explained Carrell, “red kites are rarely a five-week spree coinciding with the distribution of one of the 2005 offered a dish of cooked swan to two police officers who targeted by gamekeepers because, unlike birds such as the hen first fundraising appeals that he signed as a founding patron of visited his home to question him about the death of the swan. harrier, they do not prey directly on grouse. But as voracious Davies got off with a warning after claiming that scavengers the birds are at high risk of eating poisoned meat. the swan was killed by flying into a power line. The RSPB says the scale of the problem is underscored by LOS ANGELES––Killing probation and a fine of $1,500. unpublished data which shows that the number of proven poi- protected predators makes headlines U.S. District Judge Plebians use poison soning cases in Scotland rose from 19 in 2005 to nearly 40 in in much of the world, but in the Michael A. Ponsor “said he was baf- The case of Prince Harry and the allegedly 2006, the highest total since the late 1990s. The victims + U.S. often barely rates a published fled that Zak, whom he described as shot hen harriers varied from the usual in that included two golden eagles, hen harriers, peregrines, buzzards + mention, perhaps because the a wealthy and accomplished hunter, raptors killed in the vicinity of shooting estates and tawny owls.” offense is frequent and not all that never installed netting over the fish are most often poisoned. From 1995 through 2006, the Royal Society for the different from the routine practices runs, a tactic used by other hatch- For instance, the pesticide carbofuran, Protection of Birds documented 1,113 cases of birds of prey of many public agencies. eries,” reported Jack Flynn of the banned in Britain since 2001, was used to kill a being poisoned, mostly in the vicinity of hunting estates in USDA Wildlife Services, Springfield Republican. female golden eagle in the Scottish Borders in Scotland, and mostly in officially unsolved cases. the Alaska Department of Fish & Said Ponsor, “He killed early August 2007. Her remains were found on Setting out poisoned baits for game predators has Game, and many other state wildlife hundreds of birds rather than do the opening day of the grouse shooting season. been illegal in Britain since 1912, but the first conviction for departments routinely target preda- something that is not all that hard “Scotland has lost half of the only breeding poisoning a raptor reportedly was not won until 2001, when the tors including coyotes, wolves, and not all that expensive.” pair in the Borders,” said Mike Flynn of the (continued on page 19) bears, feral cats, and cormorants. At least three dozen other Some of these species are protected cases of predator killing by hunters Reintroducing red kites despite hunter opposition in some habitats but not others. and others exploiting animals for DUBLIN, ULSTER– – Unlike in the U.S., where tors,” recalls I n d e p e n d e n t e n v i r o n- Private citizens accused of sport came before U.S. courts while The Golden Eagle Trust, Welsh opposition to predator protection ment editor Michael McCarthy. killing predators, usually as a crime Decker and Zak awaited trial. About Kite Trust, and Irish National Parks and restoration from hunters and “The first Welsh kite protection pro- of opportunity while hunting other half involved shooting eagles and & Wildlife Service in July 2007 ranchers has been vocal and politi- gram started in 1903, and is the species, often win lenient sentenc- other raptors. released 15 pairs of red kites in the cally organized, overt opposition in longest continuous conservation ing by pleading confusion––such as Among other examples, Wicklow mountains, in an attempt Britain and Ireland has been almost project in the world.” mistaking a wolf for a coyote, or a two hunters were fined $2,385 and to rebuild the long extinct native nil. Yet while “Shoot, shovel, and Ninety-three Welsh kites grizzly bear for a black bear. $2,150, respectively, for illegally kite population––but someone shot shut up” is a political rallying cry in and others imported from Sweden Recent predator killers shooting wolves in separate cases in one of the kites just six weeks later, the U.S. west, in Britain and Ireland and Spain were released in England who were caught in circumstances Michigan; Oregon State Police during National Heritage Week. the practice has long been observed. and Scotland between 1989 and precluding a defense of confusion arrested a 60-year-old man who shot The shooting followed a Red kites were extermi- 2004. There are now nearly 1,000 included roller pigeon flyer Timothy a sea lion after the sea lion took a series of killings of birds of prey in nated in southern England by 1859, breeding pairs in Britain, believed Decker, 60, of Mira Loma, salmon off the line of a fellow County Down, Northern Ireland, and in Ireland, northern England, to be the only nation in Europe in California, who on Halloween 2007 angler; and Ricky Leonard, 41, of including a peregrine falcon who and Scotland by 1880. About 40 which the kite population is grow- pleaded guilty in federal court to two Van Buren, Maine, drew 21 days in was hatched in County Antrim in pair survived in Wales. “Volunteers ing. Only one pair is known to have charges of killing red-tailed and jail for shooting a lynx while hunting early 2006 and found dead near guarded the nests from egg-collec- nested in Ireland. Cooper’s hawks. Decker received a grouse in November 2005. Kevin L. Sprucefield in October, and a buz- suspended three-month jail sentence, Fortin, 57, of Van Buren, was ear- zard who was found poisoned in the five years on probation, and a fine lier fined $1,500 and sentenced to Drumbanagher area, near Newry. of $2,000, payable to the Los seven days in jail for buying the pelt. “There was a case of Angeles Audubon Society. Both men claimed to have mistaken alleged persecution of peregrines in Decker was the fourth the lynx for a bobcat. the Mourne Mountains earlier,” defendant convicted in a three-state In mid-October 2007 the recalled Royal Society for the investigation of pigeon flyers Maine Warden Service opened an Protection of Birds conservation described in the October 2007 edi- investigation into the shooting of a officer Claire Ferry. tion of ANIMAL PEOPLE. (“The second lynx whose remains were Stephen Philpot of the Image of pigeon flying takes a tum- found between Van Buren and Ulster SPCA noted “an increasing Our 81 rehab chimp s at ble.”) Some of the California defen- Hamlin, where Fortin was appre- number of such attacks on protected the Chi mpanzee dants are believed to have killed hended. species.” thousands of raptors before getting R ehabilitation Trust caught by a 14-month U.S. Fish & were rescued from trade Wildlife Service investigation. and abuse. Now they li ve Mohawk Fish Hatchery their liv es fr ee in the owner Michael J. Zak, Jr., 59, of Afri can wild. Pl ease hel p Sunderland, Massachusetts, on July us to ensure they stay 25, 2007 drew the stiffest recent free by making a gener- sentence in a similar case: six ous donation to the months in a federal halfway house International plus a $65,000 fine for allegedly killing more than 200 protected birds Primate P r otection between 2004 and 2006. One of his League, marked "For employees, Timothy Lloyd of the Rescued Chimps in the Easthampton, received two years on Gambia." Mail it to ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2007 - 19 Blue Cross of India is cleared by the Central Bureau of Investigation C H E N N A I––N otified by telephone “Disputes over the allocation of grant money, Mittal also objected to another help Pataudi, for a price’, Naresh Kadyan told on November 12, 2007 that it had been com- partisan politics, and enforcement of laws Animal Welfare Board member’s description DNA that he had been misinterpreted.” pletely cleared of allegations of fiscal impro- governing livestock transportation and slaugh- of his political allies as a “gang of assorted Veterinarian John “Jose” Yohanan, priety, the Blue Cross of India on November ter have become involved. Yet pursuit of pub- meat traders.” who criticized Mittal’s role at a cattle race, e- 29 was still trying to retrieve files taken on lic stature and vengeance for past frustrations “I am not an orthodox vegetarianism mailed to ANIMAL PEOPLE that the race September 28 by inspectors from the Central and humiliations appears to have most visibly propagator,” Mittal acknowledged, “though I had only been held for about 20 years, not the Bureau of Investigation. motivated the persons whose charges instigat- am pure vegetarian and cannot eat even onion 120 years that the organizers claim in trying to The CBI raid on the Blue Cross fol- ed” the CBI probe. & garlic. Certainly I am not one to force my defend it as “traditional.” lowed a series of raids on the offices of the The most prominent complainants eating habits on others.” PfA-Trivandrum chief executive Animal Welfare Board of India and the homes appeared to be then-Animal Welfare Board ANIMAL PEOPLE summarized a Leela Latheef wrote that, “The name of Avis of current and former AWBI staff. Blue Cross member S.K. Mittal, who has not been reap- November 2006 report by Puneet Nicholas Lyons’ organisation in Trivandrum is Animal of India chief executive Chinny Krishna had pointed; Naresh Kadyan of PfA-Haryana, a Yadav of the Mumbai Daily News & Analysis, Rescue Kerala, not Animal Rights Kerala.” served on the Animal Welfare Board in the sound-alike organization which is not part of who posed as a go-between for former Indian Both PfA-Trivandrum and ARK have had past, but not since the board was reconstituted the national People for Animals network national cricket team captain Mansoor Ali issues with Mittal as well as local officials. after the election of the present Indian national founded in 1984 by Maneka Gandhi; and Khan Pataudi and Pataudi’s son, actor Saif Ali Lyons in September 2006 trained 25 dogcatch- government in mid-2004. Gouhar Azeez, founder of an organization Khan, to investigate an allegation that Kadyan ers to help a municipal Animal Birth Control Informed sources told A N I M A L called Bharatiya Prani Mitra Sangh. was willing to withdraw testimony against program–– but the program never started, the PEOPLE that “a case seems to have been reg- Mittal and Kadyan responded at them in a poaching case, in exchange for dogcatchers became dog killers for hire istered” against one former AWBI employee, length to the ANIMAL PEOPLE c o v e r a g e , fundraising help. Yadav extensively quoted throughout the region, and Lyons was in “and some cases seem on the anvil against oth- chiefly reiterating statements which had and paraphrased Kadyan’s statements, includ- February 2007 charged with assault after con- ers,” but no details have been forthcoming already been quoted or summarized. ing his attempts to amend what he had said fronting some who had captured a van-load of beyond those reported in the October 2007 Mittal objected to the description of after Yadav identified himself as a reporter. sterilized and vaccinated dogs. ANIMAL PEOPLE investigative feature himself as “a first-time Animal Welfare Board Kadyan repeatedly e-mailed a one- Lyons as of November 20, 2007 “Why did the Central Bureau of Investigation appointee with relatively little background in line follow-up published later by the D a i l y was trying to bring media pressure to bear to raid the Animal Welfare Board of India?” animal welfare,” claiming 15 years of service News & Analysis: “Reacting to the story car- halt yet another dog massacre, this one in Assessed ANIMAL PEOPLE, on the board of a Mysore cow shelter. ried in DNA on Monday, saying ‘Witness will Kallihoor Panchayath. Birds migrating over the Mediterranean face fire from all directions A T H E N S ––Moving to protect Serbia, Croatia, and Macedonia. About 56% ened,’ reported Independent c o r r e s p o n d e n t migration will begin after the elections. migratory birds from some of the most prolifi- of the damage in Greece was to natural habitat, Daniel Howden. There are about 50,000 bird hunters gate hunters in Europe, the highest Greek and 41% to agricultural habitat, including “Globally near-threatened is as bad in Cyprus, but just 100 members of Bird Life administrative court on November 9, 2007 olive orchards, vineyards, and grasslands, as it gets, which makes this one of the worst Cyprus, Mike Sergeant of BBC News report- banned hunting until November 21 in several according to a World Wildlife Fund assess- cases of illegal bird killings ever reported in ed in October 2007 from Larnaca, Cyprus–– of the regions where wildlife habitat was most ment. About a third of the burnt habitat was Europe,” said Bird Life Cyprus representative and shotguns are scarcely the hunters’ only severely damaged by August 2007 wildfires. within protected nature areas. Martin Hellicar. “To put it in context, the weapons. Sergeant readily found hunters who The Council of State, as the court is The fires, which killed 67 people in whole population of Bulgaria could be 50 red- showed him how to trap birds with nets and called, was expected to rule by November 21 Greece, “caused severe damage to the habitats footed falcons.” Because red-footed falcons with lime-coated pomegranite branches. on whether the hunting ban should remain in of many species including the golden jackal, nest and travel in colonies, Hellicar explained, “In the past decade, Cyprus has place longer. The Greek hunting season nor- turtles, hedgehogs and lizards,” the World “It is possible that this wiped out the entire made dramatic progress in reducing illegal mally runs from August through February, but Wildlife Fund found, but the greatest harm red-footed falcon population of Bulgaria.” hunting and trapping. Spurred on by European even if the ban is not extended, it was widely was to bird habitat. Summarized Howden, “Cyprus is in Union membership,” achieved in 2004, “the acclaimed for supposedly protecting many of The Council of State heard testimo- the middle of one of the main migration routes authorities reduced the number of wild birds the most fragile European migratory birds dur- ny that the fires “led to the disappearance of for birds heading for the African warmth dur- being killed from several million a year to a ing the peak weeks of their passage over the hundreds of species, and that hunting should ing cold European winters. Conservationists few hundred thousand,” Sergeant said. Mediterranean, Adriatic, and Agean seas. be banned to ‘protect wildlife trying to sur- have been battling hunters for decades over the But bird trappers “are inventing Aliki Panagopoulou, projects coor- vive,’ Agence France-Presse reported. right to shoot or trap birds as they pass over ways to avoid the police,” police inspector dinator for ARCHELON, the Sea Turtle The Council of State acted two the island. The Greek-Cypriot government has Lakis Kousionous told Sergeant. “They have Protection Society of Greece, was skeptical. weeks after the Agricultural Development had regular run-ins with the European Com- spotters, they have mobile phones. It is diffi- “The environmental group that peti- Ministry extended the hunting season on the mission over the issue,” and earlier in 2007 cult to catch them, and you cannot prosecute + tioned the court is called, in a liberal transla- islands of Lemnos and Lesvos, and authorized “received an official warning from Brussels unless you find them doing the offense.” + tion, the Animal Friends & Ecological Union jacklighting, to encourage hunters to kill more after Nicosia sanctioned the spring bird shoot- Most of the trapped birds reputedly of Greece,” Panagopoulou told A N I M A L rabbits and boar. Hunters apparently intro- ing season for the first time in 14 years.” are made into a dish called ambelopouli. PEOPLE. “Unfortunately, the vice-minister duced boar to Lesvos as recently as 2002. The warning came soon after the “The illegal delicacy, consisting of for the environment issued a ministerial decree start of campaigning for the February 2008 whole pickled robins and a similar-sized war- just a few days later which effectively reinstat- Falcon massacre Cypriot presidential election. bler called the black cap, has been in danger ed hunting, with few limitations. Hunting was Hunters continued to defy the 1979 “They are shooting these birds of disappearing from the clandestine menus of banned only in the burned areas, the wild boar European Bird Directive elsewhere around the because of the presidential elections,” alleged rural restaurants,” Independent correspondent killing quota was limited to two per group of Mediterranean, most blatantly in Cyprus. Hellicar at the time to Agence France-Presse. Cahal Milmo reported in 2005. 10 hunters except in Pelopon-nesus, where it Citrus farmers near Fassouri, Explained Agence France-Presse, The Royal Society for the Protection is one per group, etcetera. Hunting is prohibit- Cyprus on October 10, 2007 discovered the “The government has cited a derogation under of Birds had funded a crackdown on bird trap- ed on burned lands,” Panagopoulou said, remains of 46 endangered red-footed falcons European Union law that can permit shoot- ping that brought the arrests of 43 trappers in “except that there are not animals to hunt there and six wounded falcons lying in a tight clus- ing––for purposes of population control,” not the British-administered portion of Cyprus. anyway. They have retreated to areas left ter. The strongest clue to the identity of the an issue involving any of the migratory species Successful bird trappers make about unburned, some of which can now be seen as shooter was reportedly that the 52 falcons were passing over Cyprus. £30,000 during each migration, Milmo esti- nothing but oases. Hunting is now allowed in killed and injured by someone who left just 52 Most heavily targeted were turtle mated––more than $60,000 U.S. these areas––not good at all, especially in the empty shotgun shells behind. doves. Between 19,000 and 30,000 turtle areas that have suffered the most.” “The killing of the red-footed fal- doves per year are shot in Cyprus each fall, Malta warned The August 2007 fires razed 177,265 cons during their migration has prompted par- when the Bird Directive allows bird hunting. A week after the falcon killing on hectares in Greece altogether––about 72,000 ticular anger as the birds have just been reclas- Cyprus later agreed to again halt Cyprus, the European Commission reiterated acres. Fires also ravaged parts of Albania, sified from ‘vulnerable’ to ‘globally threat- spring bird hunting. The 2008 spring bird (continued on page 20) RSPB videotaped a Scottish game- reported London Times S c o t l a n d through filing cabinets, children’s The Scottish Gamekeep- million, hoping for different results. keeper in the act of putting out poi- correspondent David Lister in toy boxes, and even women’s ers’ Association has argued for “The project will manage son that killed a hen harrier. November 2006. “Osborne told The underwear drawers. relaxing protection of raptors to keep Langholm for grouse, for hen harri- The present penalty for T i m e s that he is considering legal “One of his keepers has grouse plentiful, citing an experi- ers, and for the heather habitat,” poisoning predators is up to six action against police over anti-ter- been charged over the alleged use of ment at Langholm Moor, Dumfries- Colin Galbreath of Scottish Natural months in prison and a fine of rorist-style dawn raids on his estates illegal traps,” Lister wrote, but shire, in which all bird shooting was Heritage told BBC News. “We will £5,000, but the law essentially and alleged behaviour that bordered Osborne insists that these are com- stopped from 1992 to 1997. try to feed the harriers so that they requires catching poisoners in the on ‘harassment.’ monly used on estates to catch small First the hen harrier popu- don’t take grouse chicks all the time, act. “If landowners or shooting syn- “Some 14 of his game- predators such as stoats. No other lation boomed, then grouse van- and we believe that may work. We dicate members risked prison sen- keepers have been arrested and ques- charges have been brought.” ished, and then the harrier popula- will look at the overall management tences if their gamekeepers are tioned by police on suspicion of poi- Said Osborne, “If I found tion crashed as well, possibly of the moor to make sure we get a found to even be in the possession of soning rare birds of prey,” Lister evidence that any of my keepers because the harriers had become viable grouse harvest alongside the banned poisons or traps, I am sure recounted. “More than 150 officers, were killing birds of prey, they abnormally dependent on grouse. harriers.” there would be a great reduction in some drafted in from drug squads, would be dismissed.” The Royal Society for the Operating under royal the persecution of birds of prey,” searched the grounds and buildings ANIMAL PEOPLE h a s Protection of Birds and Scottish patronage via the RSPBA, project observes Animal Concern Scotland of his estates at Angus and Leadhills found no published follow-up about Natural Heritage in September 2007 representatives have not questioned secretary John F. Robins. for illegal poisons after arriving in either the investigation or Osborne’s initiated a 10-year study at Lang- whether a “viable grouse harvest” is The royals and other “old dozens of vehicles. They sifted threatened legal response. holm Moor, expected to cost £8 either an ethical or ecological goal. money” shooting estate proprietors have traditionally sought to hush up scandals about their activities, but Tru-Catch Live Oxfordshire land agent Mark Osborne, 54, counterattacked after Traps police raids in June and September 2006 on some of his 130,000 acres of grouse moor in Britain and Heart of the Scotland. “Osborne is at the centre Earth of a police investigation of unprece- dented scale into the illegal poison- 800-526- ing of protected birds of prey,” 20 - ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2007 Mediterranean migratory birds face fire from all directions (from 19) warnings to Malta that it must stop allowing including eagles, ducks, egrets, and a king- Julian Pettifer of BBC Radio 4’s a Scottish SPCA undercover investigator told hunters to kill quail and turtle doves during the fisher were found in just four abandoned suit- Crossing Continents program meanwhile Independent Scotland writer Paul Kelbie. spring mating season. cases at the Malta International Airport in detailed the frustrations of the Lega Italiana “It’s a U.K.-wide thing,” the European Union environment com- January 2005, along with the pelts of foxes, Protezione Uccelli in attempts to stop illegal Scottish SPCA investigator continued. “It is missioner Stavros Dimas “said the Maltese an Egyptian mongoose, and a jungle cat. The bird shooting and trapping. bigger than we have dealt with before. It has could continue to hunt the birds in the suitcases were in transit from Cairo, Egypt. “In the Breschia valleys,” Pettifer certainly surprised us. Considering it is possi- autumn,” reported Associated Press, “but tar- BirdLife Malta president Joseph recounted, “the LIPU has confiscated more ble to catch these birds easily, if you know geting them during the spring migration when Mangion told media at the time that he hoped than 50,000 traps set to capture robins and what you are doing, it is money for nothing. they fly north from Africa to Europe is putting the discovery would increase official attention other small birds. In recent years, 600 mist It also doesn’t carry the same stigma other the species at risk. to interdicting poaching and trafficking––but nets have also been removed, and 6,000 ‘substances’ do. Appearing in court charged “Malta already bowed to EU pres- there is little sign that it did. trapped birds have been freed.” with dealing in a dodgy finch is not going to sure this spring by cutting short the turtle dove About 16,800 bird hunters and trap- But “One of the problems with law have the same drawbacks to being caught as hunting season. Upset hunters and trappers pers make up approximately 4.2% of the enforcement in Italy is that no fewer than five dealing in drugs.” were blamed for acts of vandalism in and Maltese human population of about different police forces are supposed to regulate around a bird reserve,” said Associated Press. 400,000––but the bird hunters and trappers are hunting,” Pettifer added. “General Fernando Dimas’ statements responded to politically organized, while opponents of bird Fuschetti of the Forestry Police took me to a appeals from Nature Trust (Malta) and hunting and trapping are not. wetland near Naples where his men had raided RSPCA & the International Animal Rescue Malta for the and shut down a string of 10 hunting ponds,” European Union to clarify conflicting claims Spain, France, Italy which had allegedly been operated by an orga- League Against from the EU and the Maltese government The value of political mobilization nized crime syndicate. about agreements reached about bird hunting against traditional wildlife massacres was “While the general was very proud Cruel Sports when Malta was admitted to the EU. illustrated in Catalan, Spain during October of what he regarded as a victory for law The 1979 Birds Directive does not 2007. Public protest obliged the Catalan gov- enforcement,” Pettifer continued, “another L O N D O N ––Nearly three years allow birds to be trapped during spring migra- ernment to back quickly away from an attempt police officer I spoke to––from a different after the Hunting Act 2004 nominally banned tions, but Maltese hunters asserted that they to legalize netting birds around water sources force––was highly critical of what he regarded fox hunting and other forms of pursuing had been granted exemptions for killing as and capturing them with glue-coated branches. an assault on a revered local institution.” wildlife with packs of dogs, more people are many as seven species. Both methods are forbidden by the reportedly participating than before the act “European Union law is at last European Union Bird Directive, but meaning- Bad habits spread took effect. Only one hunt club has disband- catching up with a killing frenzy that has virtu- fully enforcing the Bird Directive has proved In recent years the use of lime trap- ed; two new clubs have formed. ally no parallel on the continent,” wrote difficult. Both France and Italy have repeated- ping to catch birds has even made a comeback “Half of the 10 prosecutions Independ-ent environment editor Michael ly violated the Bird Directive with virtual in Britain and Scotland, where it was believed brought under the Hunting Act have not even McCarthy. “Every year scarcely believable impunity almost since it was adopted. to have been mostly abolished generations ago. been against formal fox or stag hunts,” numbers of thrushes, robins, larks, swallows, France, for example, in July 2005 Haddington Sheriff Peter Gilliam on scoffed Daniel Foggo and Nic North in the turtle doves and many other species, including opened duck hunting three weeks earlier than November 10, 2007 fined William White, 60, November 4, 2007 edition of The Times of birds of prey, are shot as they try to use the allowed. “The government was accused by £750 and barred him from keeping birds for London. “The most recent conviction, in island, situated between Sicily and Tunisia, as animal rights activists of making a backroom five years, after Scottish SPCA undercover October, was against a gang hunting rats. a staging-post in their Mediterranean crossing deal with France’s 1.5 million hunters in return officers caught him in possession of four dead The police have made clear that they do not from Africa to Europe, and back again. for support for its failed attempt to ratify the linnets, three live linnets, lime sticks, and a see enforcing the hunting ban as a priority. Anything that flies is considered fair game. E.U. constitution,” reported Alex Duval Smith pot of glue, and found at least four more live Most of the cases that have come to court “Some estimates of birds killed of The Independent. “The move was seen as wild-caught birds at White’s home. White have been private prosecutions.” annually put the full toll at roughly two million the second sop to the hunting lobby,” Duval claimed through counsel that he had bred Similar reports appeared a year birds,” McCarthy wrote, “while thousands wrote, “after claims from the French bird pro- songbirds for 50 years, and wanted the linnets earlier, 18 months after the passage of the more songbirds, especially finches, are caught tection league, the Ligue Pour La Protection to hybridize with his captive-bred canaries. Hunting Act 2004. “The Hunting Act is fail- for the caged bird trade. The annual massacre des Oiseaux, that France was alone in Europe Crimes against wild birds in the ing,” alleged Guy Adams of The Independ- is thought to significantly contribute to the in extending the deadline” for enforcing a ban United Kingdom increased from 726 incidents ent. “Last week, The Independent was invit- 70% plunge in numbers of turtle doves nesting on the use of lead birdshot.” in 2005 to 1,109 in 2006, according to the ed to follow a typical hunt in a remote corner in Europe in the last 25 years.” The European Union Council of Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. The of Wales. It killed nine foxes, almost all by Malta issued a set of “Conservation Ministers in 1995 agreed that member nations most frequent reported offenses were shooting, illegal methods; the previous week’s bag of Wild Birds Regulations” in 2006, but has would abolish the use of lead shot in wetlands poisoning, trapping, and nest destruction. had been 13. Supporters of field sports yet to implement them in compliance with the by 2000. Britain complied in 1999, while the “We always thought it was one old believe the Hunting Act 2004 to be unenfor- E.U. Birds Directive. Netherlands and Denmark banned lead shot guy here or a young bloke there who were tak- cable, poorly drafted, and riddled with loop- + Malta is also reputedly a conduit for entirely. But French prime minister Jean- ing birds for their own collections, but it holes. Opponents say it is being ignored by + trafficking in poached birds and other wildlife Pierre Raffarin allowed French hunters to con- appears there is actually a thriving market for many of Britain’s 300-odd hunts.” from Africa. More than 500 skins of birds tinue using lead shot until July 2006. birds caught here and taken south or abroad,” But test cases prosecuted by the League Against Cruel Sports and the Royal “Operation Foxote” brings chase pen busts in three states SPCA have demonstrated that the Hunting Act 2004 can be successfully enforced, if BIRMINGHAM, INDIANAPO- ous connection to traditional hunting practices. of North America executive director Dennis agencies care to do it. In June 2007, for LIS, NORFOLK, WASHINGTON The Virginia Department of Game & Foster rushed to disassociate English-style fox- example, the Bristol Magistrates’ Court con- D . C . – – An two-year investigation of “chase Inland Fisheries on November 11, 2007 con- hunting from the chase pen raids. victed Quantock Staghounds huntsman pen” hunting businesses called “Operation ducted simultaneous surprise inspections of all “We chase wild foxes on horse- Richard Down, 44, and whipper-in Adrian Foxote” culminated on November 11, 2007 41 licensed “training preserves” in the state, back,” Foster told Scott Harper and Linda Pillivant, 36, based on video obtained by the with arrests in three states. as chase pens are officially known. Initial McNatt of the Norfolk V i r g i n i a n - P i l o t . League Against Cruel Sports. The Alabama’ Wildlife and reports said 36 chase pens were closed due to “Ninety percent of our hunts don’t use fox Summarized Steven Morris of The Freshwater Fisheries Division, which initiated alleged permit violations, but Virginia pens. Night hunters just let the dogs loose and Guardian, “Down and Pillivant argued that Operation Foxote, arrested 18 people and Department of Game & Inland Fisheries chief let them run.” they were using the dogs to flush deer out to seized 55 foxes, 25 coyotes, two bobcats, of law enforcement Mike Bise later lowered Chase pen hunts are”not a typical marksmen, which can be exempt under the and 33 cardinals who were apparently used as the number to 31. fox hunt,” Andress agreed. “In the wild,” act. They also claimed they were hunting to bait to catch foxes and coyotes. The investiga- “Some of the violations appear to Andress told Bolton of the Birmingham News, control the deer. But district judge David tors also found and seized a moonshine still. involve only minor and inadvertent lapses in “the fox knows where the cover is. He’ll be Parsons concluded that they were trying to All of the confiscated animals were record-keeping,” reported Washington Post underground before the dogs get close. It’s not preserve ‘a way of life that the participants killed “because they posed a health risk for staff writer Frederick Kunkle, “but others quite that way in these hunts. A fresh fox or and defendants are not prepared to give up.’” native species and their survival chances were could result in state or federal criminal charges coyote put into a pen doesn’t know where the Down and Pillivant were “support- slim,” Alabama Department of Conservation against the operators, Bise said. He would not cover is. The usual result is that the animal ed by the pro-hunting Countryside Alliance,” & Natural Resources chief of enforcement identify the operations whose permits were gets caught and killed. That’s why there is a Morris wrote. “The two men were caught Allan Andress told Birmingham News s t a f f suspended.” constant need for fresh animals. It drives an hunting illegally in February 2006. At least writer Mike Bolton. Said Virginia Department of Game illegal market to replenish the stock.” 17 riders took part, including children. Suspects from Alabama, Florida, & Inland Fisheries chair James W. Hazel in a Among the hints that Operation Deer were flushed out on three occasions and North Carolina, and Wisconsin face jail time prepared statement, “After being briefed on Foxote may produce more arrests and pen clo- six animals were shot. Four dogs were used, and fines of up to $225,000, Andress told Jay this case, I am deeply concerned about what sures were that ilegally obtained coyotes two at a time.” Reeves of Associated Press. “Andress said all may be going on inside some of these sites.” reportedly came from Missouri as well as the In March 2007 the Chester 18 suspects either trapped, transported, Indiana conservation officer John states where arrests were made, and agents Magistrates Court fined Paul McMullan, 36, bought or sold a prohibited animal,” wrote Salb told Associated Press that chase pen hunt- from Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, nearly £6,000 for using a dog to flush a fox Reeves. ing could best be described as “prolonged and South Carolina also participated in the from a badger sett in January 2006. Two “We didn’t arrest any of the agony” for the victim animals. investigation. other men and a juvenile were sentenced ear- patrons,” Andress said. Wrote Kunkle, “Allan Andress, Charged in Alabama with 45 counts lier, after accepting plea bargains. Theirs “More arrests are forthcoming in chief of law enforcement for the Alabama of illegal animal trafficking, alleged chase pen was the first RSPCA prosecution brought Alabama and at least six other states,” M i k e Wildlife and Fisheries Division, echoed con- animal supplier Harold Widder of Antigo, under the Hunting Act 2004. Bolton reported on November 18. cerns that the larger operations were violating Wisconsin told Reeves of Associated Press Conservative Party leader David The Indiana Department of Natural regulations about conducting field trials so that that “I just made a wrong turn and wound up Cameron in February 2007 instructed fellow Resources Conservation charged Earl Hunt, the animals sometimes died, thereby creating in the wrong state.” Conservative members of Parliament to 66, of Kennard, with multiple counts of ille- a market that paid as much as $100 per live Noted Humane Society of the U.S. reassure “our friends in the hunting world” gally shipping wildlife––specifically coyotes fox. Andress said some operations may have president Wayne Pacelle, “The Indiana that “a Tory government would overturn the used in chase pens, in which individual cap- been earning ‘over six figures’ a year by Department of Natural Resources has proposed Hunting Act as a matter of urgency,” if tive animals are pursued by packs of dogs. charging as much as $25 per dog or allowing a rule that would require trappers to kill coy- elected. But a Mori poll commissioned by The purpose of the pursuit is nomi- too many dogs in the preserve at once.” otes within 24 hours of taking them,” but the League Against Cruel Sports, the nally to train hunting dogs to hunt in open Virginia chase pen owner William “during trapping season only,” leaving trap- RSPCA, and the International Fund for countryside, as in British-style fox hunting, Goodman, 57, claiming to have been in the pers free to sell “nuisiance” coyotes trapped at Animal Welfare found that 77% of British and the captive coyotes or foxes are required business for 35 years, told Kunkle that “Some other times of year. voters support the Hunting Act 2004. by regulation to have means of escape. English-style foxhunting clubs from Virginia’s “The Indiana DNR and the state leg- Amid the ongoing debate over fox- However, chase pens may be more horse country have trained their foxhounds at islature need to take action to stop this practice hunting, the Department of Food and Rural numerous than clubs of people who ride after his facility, but most of his clientele are local year-round. All states should close their bor- Affairs in August 2007 quietly moved to pla- hunting hounds, and humane investigators hunters who haul their foxhounds into the ders to this trade,” Pacelle said, hinting at a cate hunters by lifting restrictions on selling have warned for at least 20 years that watching woods in the back of a pickup and follow the possible follow-up to the campaign that earlier shot game outside the hunting season that dogs chase and kill penned coyotes and foxes chase on foot.” in 2007 elevated transporting dogs and game- had been in effect for more than 170 years. had become a spectator activity of only tenu- Masters of Foxhounds Association cocks across state lines to a federal felony. ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2007 - 21 MORE LETTERS The role of globalization in making adaptive species “invasive” I found Merritt Clifton’s October ing on techno fixes. Our ever-expanding glob- species are funded in part by the very corpora- 2007 essay “How adaptive species became al economy and rampant rates of consumerism tions that are primarily responsible for pillag- ‘invasive’” to be a most insightful analysis of are driving rapid growth in cargo vessel trans- ing the planet, it is no accident that they are Giving livestock the rising trend towards demonizing so-called port of people and goods. It is not the animals missing the proverbial forest for the trees. I remember reading an excellent arti- “invasive species.” and insects who are invasive but our global ––Robert Ovetz, Ph.D. cle in ANIMAL PEOPLE about why people Here in Marin County, California a economic system that has dangerously invad- Sausalito, Calif. should not send live goats etc. to Africa to battle has been brewing over introduced deer ed, disrupted and threatens the very ecological “help” the people there. A friend is planning who have long inhabited Point Reyes National systems that sustain all of us. to make another donation to this project. Seashore. Now called “invasive,” they are While there has been much attention Merritt Clifton responds: Would you please tell me how I can find a being hunted down and destroyed. to the problem of species being transported in Thanks for the good words. My per - copy of this article Your analysis of the recent predomi- bilge water of cargo vessels, little attention spective is that a genuinely global economy for her? Thanks! nance of the term “invasive” over “exotic” and has been paid to the nearly tripling of the glob- provides the framework and incentive for ––Marg other terms and the linkage to the intensifying al fleet in the past five decades. The rapid abolishing war, the most ecologically destruc - Buckholtz attack on undocumented immigrants and the expansion of global shipping brings with it the tive of all human activities; and the mecha - Kingston, Ontario so-called “war on terror” was very compelling. wide ranging dangers of oil spills, noise pollu- nisms invented for regulating and promoting Canada But I felt that there was something still miss- tion, ship strikes of marine mammals, green- international trade are likely to evolve into the ing from your analysis. house gas emissions and air pollution that mechanisms that eventually enshrine the prin - The intensifying drive to eradicate accompany cargo vessels and oil super- ciples embodied in 85 years of effort to adopt what are essentially migratory and introduced tankers—all just to import cheap plastic junk a Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare. The article “Livestock gift charities species by environmental organizations and to feed our consumer addiction. Improvements in communication are do not help poor nations, say global critics,” governments is no accident. It is a symptom Demonizing, persecuting and even beginning to demonstrate, however, that from the January/ February 2007 edition of of the overwhelming urge to address the symp- terrorizing introduced species is the flip side of intellectual commerce is likely to become the ANIMAL PEOPLE, along with all other tom at the expense of achieving necessary sys- the persecution of immigrants. It allows those enduring staple of the global economy, while ANIMAL PEOPLE articles, may be copied tematic change. doing the demonizing to evade responsibility rising energy costs and wages in the develop - from Appearing about six months after that wolves roust or kill bears who approach who feed heavily on seafood, including believe, “We need a shift in our long-standing Wolves: Behavior, Ecology, and Conserv- their dens, McAllister contrasts this to their beached squid. First Nations observers identi- conservation paradigm, from measuring suc- ation, The Last Wild Wolves: Ghosts of the response toward a human interloper: edgy, fied them to McAllister as different kinds of cess in terms of wolf numbers toward new Rain Forest v a r i o u s l y supports, reverently but inclined to withdraw and give the human wolf. Initially skeptical, McAllister eventual- goals in which success means expanding wolf cites, and indirectly disputes key arguments every chance to retreat. Humans, McAllister ly learned that the two packs last had a com- ranges.” put forward by the authors of the former. sees, are simply not on the wolf hit list, let mon ancestor as long as 6,000 years ago, and Mech and Boitani favor culling Author Ian McAllister passionately believes, alone the menu. have diverged significantly. wolves who prey upon livestock or otherwise as a scientist, that the British Columbia But this is not because wolves are The Last Wild Wolves, unlike most interfere with human interests, as the coastal habitat of the two wolf subspecies he unfamiliar with humans. On the contrary, “coffee table” books, is a page-turner. inevitable price of allowing wolves to reclaim studies should not be logged because the McAllister time and again finds that wolf dens Wolves: Behavior, Ecology, and larger portions of their historic territory. + wolves might not survive the transformation of are located amid the ruins of ancient First C o n s e r v a t i o n is by contrast a scientific ency- “In the end,” say Mech and Boitani, + their territory. Nations settlements. Partly, this is because clopedia of wolves, which practically begs to “this approach probably will yield many more McAllister is infuriated by the atti- wolves and humans have similar needs. But be matched with a companion volume cover- wolves than we could afford to keep in a few tudes of humans who hunt and trap wolves, there are also hints of an ancient symbiotic ing wolves in human culture. Each chapter is a fully protected areas, no matter how large.” especially trophy hunters and those who blame relationship. Wolves feed from stone fish summary of scientific papers; relatively few In the present political environment, wolves for depleting “game” after disrupting traps built long ago by humans, and in those readers will get through them all. particularly in the U.S. west, Mech and the habitat for economic exploitation. times, when salmon runs were abundant After preliminary discussion of Boitani are probably right. Yet since killing McAllister also uncovers archaeo- enough for all, the presence of wolves might “Wolf Social Ecology,” “Wolf Behavior,” wolves at low levels does not reduce popula- logical evidence suggesting that the First have kept bears off the humans’ backs. and “Wolf Communication,” an intensive sec- tions on a year-round basis, and serves mainly Nations people of the region are basically right The Last Wild Wolves compares and tion covering “The Wolf as a Carnivore,” to placate people who ignorantly and often in remembering that wolves and humans once contrasts the behavior of a seldom-seen main- “Wolf-Prey Relations,” and “Wolf Population erroneously blame wolves for lost livestock shared the habitat without conflict. Observing land rainforest pack with that of an island pack Dynamics” addresses the persistent belief of and depleted “game,” one might respond that hunters in Alaska and the northern Rocky improving public knowledge of wolf ecology Mountains that healthy wolf populations are and behavior could accomplish at least as causing declines in elk, moose, and caribou. much toward reducing wolf/human conflict. The science demonstrates that the A chapter on “Wolf Evolution and numbers of wolves are governed by the avail- Taxonomy,” by Ronald M. Nowak, outlines ANIMAL ability of prey, as with all predators, and that the prevailing scientific belief that jackals killing enough wolves in a given area to cause branched off the Canis family tree before coy- a significant population decline tends mainly otes, and that the ancestors of almost all to open habitat to dispersing young from domestic dogs separated relatively recently PEOPLE neighboring areas––who rapidly replenish the from wolves in Southeast Asia. Acknowledg- vacant habitat, reproducing at a faster rate ing that some genetic evidence points to than if the territory had been occupied by the domestic dogs having differentiated from natural carrying capacity of wolves all along. wolves as long as 135,000 years ago, Nowak thanks you for your Science also demonstrates that about would dispute the idea that Neanderthals a third of the wolves in any given area can be domesticated dogs, as envisioned in the generous support hunted without adverse effects on the popula- November/December 2007 ANIMAL PEO- ––Wolf Clifton tion, chiefly because hunting at this level PLE editorial. tends to replace natural mortality, rather than With due respect to the weight of Honoring the parable of the widow's mite––in which a poor woman adding to it. At this level, whether to hunt or scientific opinion, ANIMAL PEOPLE s u s - gives but one coin to charity, yet that is all she possesses–– not hunt wolves is more a cultural issue than a pects that the genetic record has been read we do not list our donors by how much they give, conservation issue. upside down and backward. Highly special- In a concluding essay, editors L. ized species like wolves usually evolve from but we greatly appreciate large gifts that help us do more for animals. David Mech and Luigi Boitani call for “the broadly distributed generalists, like dogs, Florence Arday, Ola Ayers, Nelson Babb, Leonard Bass, Risa Beckham, Robert Berman, abandonment of the old prejudice that wolves who can survive almost anywhere, but find Dr. Manny Bernstein, Louis Bertrand, Laura Black, Marjorie Boyster, Herman Brooks, are denizens of the wilderness and need themselves in habitat that favors specialization. Shirley Brown, Sybili Carof, Donna & Jim Carter, John & June Caspersen, wilderness to survive…Wolves appear to cope As successful as wolves were in occupying Gale Cohen-Demarco, Marilyn David, Sherry DeBoer/Long Charitable Trust, well with extreme wilderness, but they also most of the Northern Hemisphere, dogs occu- Robert Dickson, Anthony Di Piazza, Bonnie Douglas, Tenya Marie Economou, inhabit crowded agricultural lands at the out- pied most of the Southern Hemisphere as well skirts of towns and villages. The concept that as the Northern Hemisphere, and still do. Rosina Feldman, Stephanie Ferneyhough, Carol Forehand, Gaea Foundation/Karen Gupta, wolves living near human settlements have a An alternate explanation for the Isabella Gallaon-Aoki, Margaret Gebhard, William Gerhart, Robert & Priscilla Good, ‘degraded’ life is strongly anthropocentric and genetic evidence would be that wolves are H.P. & Mary Gormley, Andrea Graffeuilh, Richard Gray, John Green, Harriet Gross, the product of a stereotyped view of nature. dogs who became specialized large carnivores Raynell Heaton, Holly Hilton, Margaret Hogan, Gilbert Kachmar, Jerome Kahn, This concept is often used to justify removing in response to the ice ages, and like many Lillian Kase, Paul Kearney, Valerie Keathley, Marilyn Keller, Jan King, Regina Kirsh, wolves from human-inhabited areas, as if to highly specialized species then hit an evolu- Ann & Bill Koros, Joel Krupnik, Mariana Manzo, Jean Maxwell, Patricia McGuire, save them from a degenerate life, but it thus tionary dead end, albeit in a broadly distrib- Judy Meincke, Lola Merritt, Heather Mikkelsen, Margaret Mills, Duncan Myers, prevents wolves from exploiting another niche. uted and long enduring habitat niche. Janna O'Connell, Steven Pagani, Josephine Peiser Charitable Foundation, Elektra Perkins, We must forget about wolves being only Ancestral dogs persisted in the Southern PetSmart Charities, Irene Rudnicki, Joan Ruell, Lois Shandling, Gloria Shell, beasts of the wilderness,” Mech and Boitani Hemisphere and as their survival strategy Kathleen Shopa, Darcy Silver, Magda Simopoulos, Lindy & Marvin Sobel, assert, “and focus on the wolf/human inter- adapted to living with humans. When living Elizabeth Stacy, George Stassinopoulos, Miriam & John Steinke, Kristen Stilt, face: this is the real challenge for conserva- with humans became their main way of life, Harry Syer, Dee Tharpe, Elaine Thorson, James Townsend, Mrs. C. Valente, tion and is where wolf conservation most ben- they rapidly diverged not from wolves but Anna Bell Washburn, Paul Weber, Eileen Weintraub & Mark Johnson, Louise Wunsch, efits overall biodiversity.” from the proto-dog ancestors of both wolves Judy Youngman, Patricia Zajec In particular, Mech and Boitani and domestic dogs. ––Merritt Clifton 22 - ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2007 OBITUARIES George Vedder, 91, of Monroe, Tatyana Pavlova, 76, died on Connecticut, died on November 18, 2007 in August 21, 2007. Recalled VITA president nearby Bridgeport. An engineer/gunner on a Irina Novozhilova, “In 1989 Pavlova founded B-24 bomber during World War II, Vedder the first Russian vegetarian society since the worked after the war as an assembler of air- 1917 Revolution. In 1992 she created the craft engines. Retiring in 1975, Vedder Centre for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, became a feral cat feeder. In 1991 Vedder which aimed to combat the exploitation of ani- teamed with Kim Bartlett and Merritt Clifton mals, and the Scientific Medical Centre, to trap, sterilize, vaccinate, and release the which propagated vegetarianism. Holding These three black rhinos, Amber, many feral cats who inhabited a supermarket degrees in both English literature and biology, D.J., and Sprinter (behind D.J.), along with parking lot beside the Monroe offices of the Pavlova began her animal protection activities Amber’s almost full-term calf, were shot Animals’ Agenda magazine, where Bartlett in the late 1960s,” Novozhilova wrote, “when and dehorned by a heavily armed gang on was editor and Clifton was news editor. The she initiated inspections at laboratories, fur November 14, 2007 at the Imire Game Farm surgeries were done by Arnold Brown, DVM, farms, and slaughterhouses. Through her Tatyana Pavlova. (Kim Bartlett) in Wedza, Zimbabwe, owned by John and of Trumbull. The project expanded to eight efforts, the Ministry of Health in 1977 banned Judy Travers. They and their staff are now main locations in northern Fairfield County, experiments on animals without anaesthetic. bottle-feeding four orphaned rhinos whom and became the first well-documented U.S. Similar edicts were then issued by other min- MEMORIALS the assailants did not find. National Parks & demonstration of neuter/return feral cat con- istries with responsibility for research and test- Wildlife Management Authority public rela - trol, honored by the Town of Monroe Police ing involving animals,” including “a regula- In memory of our sweet Buddy. We miss tions manager Edward Mbewe told the Department for keeping a raccoon rabies out- tion barring dissertations from being consid- him very much, but we were fortunate to Harare Herald that poachers from either break from crossing into cats. Designing and ered for awards if the research had involved have shared 18 wonderful years with him. Botswana or Zambia appeared to be to blame. building many of the traps used in the project, extreme animal suffering.” Promoting alterna- ––Ann and Bill Koros and Lucy Responded Zimbabwe Conservation Task Vedder continued to promote and practice tives to animal use in experiments, Pavlova ______Force chair Johnny Rodrigues, “As far as I neuter/return for the rest of his life. wrote the first Russian textbook on bioethics In memory of Lancelot and Trifolio, am concerned it is some greedy officer in the Frank Viola, 87, died on October for schools, leading to the introduction of beloved feline companions. army or air force who wants that property and 3, 2007 at his Brooklyn home. Born into a bioethics courses at several universities. In the ––Stephanie Ferneyhough ______that's one way of trying to get the people off.” family of Italian immigrant pigeon flyers, early 1990s, Novozhilova recalled, “Pavlova Viola joined the U.S. Army early in World persuaded a Russian TV channel to broadcast a In memory of Christy, best friend and WASHOE CHIMPANZEE War II and donated his first flock to the Signal series of documentaries,” produced in western constant companion of Jaime Carrillo. Corps. He was wounded in the 1944 nations, which “introduced the idea that ani- ––Judy Meincke ______Washoe, 42, died on October 30, Normandy invasion. Becoming one of the mals have rights to many people. In 1994 she 2007 at the Chimpanzee and Human Com- pigeon racing elite at a time when pigeon fly- organised the first Russian animal-rights In memory of my precious father. munications Institute, on the Central Wash- ing was at a peak of popularity, Viola demonstration at Pushkin Square in central I miss you "Poppy." Love always. ington University campus in Ellensburg, observed a rule against either selling or killing Moscw. In 1998, again thanks to her, we ––Lindy Sobel ______Washington. Captured in Africa as a baby, a bird, and would give birds to other pigeon saw the first advertisement on the benefits of Washoe was raised by Allen and Beatrix fanciers with the stipulation that the birds vegetarianism on the Moscow metro and the In memory of Sylvie: your courage Gardner of the University of Nevada at Reno, could never be sold or killed. As interest in first animal rights advertisement at Moscow’s and love touched our hearts. 1966-1970. Beginning in 1967 they taught pigeon racing declined, Viola in the early Pushkin Square.” Pavlova in 1998 authored a ––Lindy and Marvin Sobel ______her American Sign Language. Graduate stu- 1990s sought to revive it by founding an annu- Russian Federation draft law on animal protec- dent Roger Fouts and his wife Deborah even- al 400-mile Ohio-to-New York invitational tion. “The draft law passed all three necessary In memory of Monty Moe with love tually took over and continued the project, race offering $200,000 in prize money, put up readings in the Russian parliament and from Mummy. I miss you every day. first in Oklahoma, then at Central Washing- from his personal resources. Following his received the approval of the Council of the Wait for me at Rainbow Bridge. ton University after 1980. Though Washoe’s death, the Frank Viola Invitational will no Russian Federation,” Novozhilova wrote, ––Judy Youngman ______linguistic ability was disputed, she is gener- longer be held. “but was vetoed in 2000 by Russian president Vladimir Putin, and remains in limbo.” ally recognized as the first chimp to learn Aarti, 9, of Ghookma, near Ghazi- In memory of Vanessa Fernandez. human linguistic skills, developing a ––Raynell Heaton bad, India, died in late October of an unspeci- Peter A.A. Berle, 69, died on ______vocabuary of about 250 words. She went on fied illness. A wild monkey followed the fam- November 1, 2007 from injuries suffered In memory of Cheryl Guest's mother's to teach American Sign Language to three ily members who collected her remains from when an outbuilding he was demolishing fell beloved cat Cowboy who perished other chimpanzees––Tatu, 31, Loulis, 29, the hospital where she died, accompanied on him at his Angus cattle ranch near Stock- in a house fire after waking her up and Dar, 31, who all still live at the them to her home, wept beside her body, bridge, Massachusetts. An early specialist in + Chimpanzee and Human Communications watched her cremation, and remained there environmental law, Berle headed the New and saving her life. + Institute. ––Anna Bell Washburn grieving after all of the other mourners left. York Department of Environmental Conserv- ______ation from 1976 to 1979, and headed the In memory of Leah, National Audubon Society from 1985 to 1995. beloved therapy dog of Monique Hart. Good Dog. Stay. Eric York, 37, a wildlife biologist ______by Anna Quindlen at Grand Canyon National Park, died of In memory of Purr Box (12/3/87), plague on November 2, 2007, several days Prometheus (3/21/81), Friendl (10/30/87), Random House (1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10019), after doing a necropsy on a puma who had also Lizzie (5/8/84), Boy Cat (12/26/85), 2007. 82 pages, hardcover, illustrated. $14.85. died of plague. York was the first person to Miss Penrose (11/18/98), Duke (11/1/98), contract plague in Arizona since 2000. Purr Box, Jr. (5/1/04), Mylady (8/1/06), Probably every reader who has ever er has had is likely to be represented. Blackie (9/9/96), and Honey Boy (11/1/05). had and lost a beloved dog will love G o o d Hardly anyone will learn anything Schaunell Bryant, 15, of Yulee, Dog. Stay. The book is an expansion of one new about dogs from Good Dog. Stay. The Florida, who hoped to become a veterinarian, of Anna Quindlen’s most popular N e w s w e e k closest Quindlen comes to making an original was a passenger in her mother’s car on There is no better way to columns, memorializing her Labrador retriev- observation is half a page about how dogs November 1, 2007 when a dog ran in front of remember animals or animal people er Beau, who grew up with her children and clean up at least as many messes as they make. them and was hit. Bryant rushed to help the than with an ANIMAL PEOPLE dog, and was fatally struck by Christopher lived to the age of 15. No other animal or appliance as efficiently memorial. Send donations Peeples, 23, of Yulee. The Fernandina Beach Most readers will be people who clears a floor of anything edible, or defines (any amount), with address for have loved dogs, and by way of intensifying “edible” as broadly. N e w s - L e a d e r in Bryant’s memory published reader identification with Quindlen’s thoughts, But Quindlen does not pursue this the ANIMAL PEOPLE tip that people trying acknowledgement, if desired, to the book designers have extensively illustrated thought. This is a warm, fuzzy book, not a to rescue animals from roadways should P.O. Box 960 always block oncoming traffic first with their the book with photographs of dogs of many treatise on household ecology and waste man- Clinton, WA 98236-0960 different breeds. Whatever kind of dog a read- agement. ––Merritt Clifton own vehicles, with four-way flashers on. CLASSIFIEDS––$1.00 a word! POB 960, Clinton, WA 98236 • 360-579-2505 • fax 360- PLEASE HELP THE WORKING y ond.myarbonne. com/ www.worldanimal.net help us with a donation: www.animed.ro DONKEYS OF INDIA! VISAKHA SPCA needs volunteers INTERESTED IN VOLUNTEERING IN Just know the horrible truth. We sponsor free veterinary camps twice a in Visakhapatnam, India. KENYA AND HELPING ANIMALS IN www.Texas-no-kill.com year for over 2,000 working donkeys in cen- Info: www.visakhaspca.org AFRICA? Visit our volunteer page on ______tral India, plus free vet care on Sundays. [email protected] www.anaw.org or email [email protected] FIGHT THE FUR INDUSTRY. Dharma Donkey Sanctuary/Ahimsa of ______Free packet… 603-224-1361 Texas, 1720 E. Jeter Road, Bartonville, TX SIGN THE PETITION AGAINST CAT HOLY LANCE: ______76226; + + 24 - ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2007 + +