Fund for Animals merging with Humane Society of the United States? (page 3) Thai crackdown on animal trafficking Keeping elephants out of sanctuaries DETROIT, SAN FRANCISCO “Kagan’s intent drew widespread hits high officials ––American Zoo Association director public praise, but alarmed many in the zoo Sydney Butler has warned the Detroit Zoo community who believe that zoos are fully and San Francisco Zoo that the AZA “fun- capable of providing good lives for ele- as CITES nears damentally disagrees” with their decisions phants,” understated Detroit Free Press B A N G K O K––Delegates arriving in to retire two elderly elephants each to sanc- writer Hugh McDiarmid Jr. Bangkok for the 2004 meeting of the parties of tuaries, and will “vigorously enforce our Transferring any elephants out- the Convention on International Trade in professional ethics and accreditation stan- side the AZA-accredited zoo network could Endangered Species, to start on October 1, dards” if the elephants are moved contrary become an influential argument for transfer- will find the clandestine animal traffic thriving, Gibbon rescued by the International to the dictates of the AZA Species Survival ring any elephants whose situations are less despite a year-long crackdown. Primate Protection League. (IPPL photo) Plan committee. than ideal––and elephants are perhaps the The good news is that the crackdown tined for human consumption,” London Detroit Zoo director Ron Kagan leading gate attractions at any zoo, but are is still underway, reaching higher and farther O b s e r v e r correspondent Mark Townsend on May 19, 2000 announced that the ele- in ever shorter supply. into the web of corrupt officials who have reported on September 13. phants Winky, 51, and Wanda, 40-some- The average lifespan of an AZA enabled Bangkok to persist as a global hub of Townend alleged that Manop Lao- thing, would be sent to the Elephant zoo elephant is 36 years, according to AZA illegal animal dealing. hapraser also arrived on the scene recently after Sanctuary at Hohenwald, Tennessee, spokesperson Jane Ballentine. Most ele- Wildlife Conservation Office director notorious wildlife dealer Leuthai Tiewchareun founded and directed by former circus per- phants now in the U.S. were captured Schwann Tunhikorn will head the Thai CITES was arrested near the Laotian border in posses- former Carol Buckley. before the U.S. ratification of the Convent- delegation, replacing Manop Laohapraser, sion of “the bloody carcass of a huge Bengal The elephants would go from ion on International Trade in Endangered who was removed from his post in July 2004 tiger sawn clean in half.” their present one-acre enclosure to a 2,700- Species in 1972 and passage of the for alleged misconduct in authorizing the Leuthai Tiewchareun “was well- acre facility where they could live among a Endangered Species Act in 1973 virtually export of 100 tigers to the Sunya Zoo in China known to the authorities,” wrote Townsend. matriarchal herd almost as if wild. cut off further imports. These elephants are two years earlier. The zoo is owned by the Si “In November 2003, when police raided his The Elephant Sanctuary has nine now middle-aged to elderly, and have been Racha Tiger Farm. home, more than 20 pairs of bear paws lay elephants now: six Asians, three Africans. dying at a rate far exceeding successful An investigation headed by National beside piles of fresh tiger meat. His deep- reproduction. Only a handful of zoo-born Intelligence Agency director Joompol Manmai freeze contained the body of a baby orangutan elephants have survived to maturity, and concluded that the tiger sale was a commercial from Indonesia.” only 11 have been imported in the past 32 transaction, not a breeding and exhibition loan Arrested then, Leuthai Tiewchareun years, all of them in 2003. as defined by CITES. (continued on page 7) “Some believe [the tigers] were des- (continued on page 15) ANIMAL PEOPLE News For People Who Care About Animals
September 2004 Volume XIII, #7
(Robert L. Harrison) Bush & Kerry each seek an animal-friendly image, have contrasting records on animals WASHINGTON D.C. – – A n i m a l bubbled down into a watery doom. issues historically have little resonance with “Now, that might have been the end voters, but the appearance of animal-friendli- of the story: A mock funeral at sea and some ness is all-important for U.S. Presidential cam- tears for a hamster lost. But my dad jumped paigns, conventional political wisdom holds. in, grabbed an oar, fished the cage from the Only three presidents have ever been water, hunched over the soggy hamster, and elected without mention being made of their began to administer CPR. pets, and none since 1880, according to “There are still to this day some Claire McLean, curator of the Presidential Pet reports of mouth-to-mouth,” Alexandra Kerry Museum in Lothian, Virginia. said, “but I admit it’s probably a trick of Some analysts of image-making memory. The hamster was never quite right believe voters may have preferred Republican after that, but he lived. George W. Bush over Democrat Al Gore in “It may sound silly, and we still 2000 because Bush fed his cats on camera, in laugh about it today, but it was serious to us. his bathrobe, presenting a caring appearance, And that’s what mattered to my father.” while Gore, in a business suit, only patted his “The Bushes started out with three dog while speaking of other things. cats and one dog during the 2000 campaign Alexandra Kerry, daughter of and ended up with two dogs and one cat in the Democratic nominee John Kerry, opened her White House,” according to New York Times July 29 address to the Democratic National columnist Maureen Dowd. Convention in Boston with a pet story. The first dog, Spot, was born in the European wild boar––feral in Australia. (Kim Bartlett) “It hasn’t been easy to sift through White House, a daughter of Millie, the years of memories about my father and find spaniel kept by President George H. Bush and Governments push hunting the big bucks, those few that might best tell you who John his wife Barbara. Their decision to breed Kerry really is,” Alexandra Kerry began. Millie may have provoked more protest mail boars, et al––for the price on their heads “So, let me begin with one July day than the 1991 Persian Gulf War. CANBERRA, JOHANNESBURG, species might save them, much as regulated when [sister] Vanessa and I were kids. It’s a Spot died on February 21, 2004. N A I R O B I–– Australian government agencies hunting contributes to the survival of other tro- silly story, but it’s true, and it’s one of my “The six-toed cat Ernie,” acquired are missing the gravy train by hiring sharp- phy animals––even if they have to be raised in favorite memories about my father. as a stray whom Spot treed in Texas, “was shooters to kill non-native wildlife, University captivity to be kept abundant enough to shoot. “We were standing on a dock,” sent to a friend in Los Angeles, deemed ‘too of Queensland faculty members Gordon Recommended targets include wild Alexandra Kerry recounted, “waiting for a wild’ for the White House,” Dowd continued. Dryden and Stephen Craig-Smith reported in horses, pigs, deer, camels, water buffalo, boat to take us on a summer trip. Vanessa, the The friend, investment banker Brad early September 2004 to the Rural Industries and goats, said Dryden and Craig-Smith. scientist, had packed all of her animals, Freeman, commenced a much publicized Research & Development Corporation. They found that about 10 hunting including her favorite hamster. Our over-zeal- search for Ernie after he disappeared in March The RIRDC is a federal think-tank safari operators in Queensland and the ous golden retriever got tangled in his leash 2001. Ernie was found three weeks later, formed to create jobs in the Outback. It envi- Northern Territory already escort approxi- and knocked the hamster cage off the dock. “reportedly in ragged shape and without his sions the Outback as a tourism draw rivaling mately 150 hunters per year to kill non-native We watched as Licorice, the unlucky hamster, (continued on page 13) Africa––for one type of tourist. hooved stock. The hunters spend an average “Wealthy hunting enthusiasts around of about $1,000 per day in the field. the world would be happy to cull these ani- Hunt Australia managing director mals that nobody in Australia wants, and Bob Penfold told Daily Telegraph r e p o r t e r would pay for the privilege,” Craig-Smith Lisa Miller that water buffalo hunting alone is said. “This would be a niche tourism market worth $7.2 million per year to Australia, and targeted at cashed-up hunters,” he added, could become five times as lucrative if restric- “not a wholesale slaughter of animals.” tions on hunting were relaxed. Translation: if the non-native target Penfold’s estimate, however, sug- species were extirpated, as the present philos- gests that water buffalo hunters spend an ophy of the National Parks and Wildlife improbable 48 days apiece in the field to bag Service mandates, the proposed trophy hunt- their slow-moving quarry. ing business would collapse. The Dryden/Craig-Smith recommen- Thus hunting Australian feral (continued on page 16) 2 - ANIMAL PEOP LE, September 2004 my french fries while sitting next to me on the way up here. With us he can romp and play . . . and love . . . as much as he wants. Nobody will ever hurt him again. Nobody will ever disappoint him again. Reagan is the son of a German shepherd and an almost-German shepherd. Bred in someone’s back yard and sold as a pup to a “macho dude” with a truck. This pipsqueak on wheels thought he could express his manhood with a tough dog in tow. But when he wanted to show off his “Police dog,” Reagan only jumped up and licked everyone! So that was it for him. Reagan is huge and still growing. He’s only about a year old. And his main problem is going to be another one that’s not his fault . . . hip dysplasia. He was born with the typical German shepherd problem of in- breeding . . . bad hips. September 2004 Already his rear end is visibly weak. But because I know I can Dear Partner, count on you to help Reagan have a long and healthy life, we are already planning on his eventual hip replacement surgery. Reagan has so much joy and love in his heart, it’s impossible to This will be expensive. But I made each of our animals a promise imagine anyone throwing him out of a moving pick-up truck at three 25 years ago when I began this work . . . o’clock in the afternoon in broad daylight ...... “I will always ask what’s right for the animals, and do that.” . . . but that’s exactly what happened to him, witnesses have told Every decision is the answer to that question. Not what is convenient for us, me. or cheaper for us . . . but what is RIGHT for the animals. Imagine a child loving his parents so much, expressing that love What is right for Reagan is to fix his hips no matter what it costs. constantly, running and playing all day long . . . and then out of the blue He is our child now, to love and to protect. one day, being told that no matter how much he loves . . . So please, along with your regular gift of support, send a little . . . no matter how much he expresses his love and his joy of extra today for “Reagan’s hips” and we will put it aside for later, when being alive . . . he’s full grown, and able to benefit from hip replacements. . . . it’s not enough. Then booting that child out the door to fend For the animals, for himself in a world gone mad! “What did I do wrong?” he asks. “What more could I have done?” Short of becoming invisible, broken-spirited and hiding in a cor- Leo Grillo, founder ner . . . nothing. I want to tell Reagan that none of this was his fault. It’s theirs. Theirs for not seeing who he is, for not accepting all that love. But thanks to people like you, Reagan is safe now . . . and he’s D.E.L.T.A. Rescue enjoying his new life at our Supershelter MORE than he enjoyed eating PO Box 9, Dept AP, Glendale, CA 91209 Attention: Rescuers and Shelters Build your own inexpensive straw bale dog house for your pets’ maximum protection, comfort and fun! Here at D.E.L.T.A. Rescue, we invented a better housing system That’s why we now build the deluxe “stucco” version. Our mate- for our more than 859 dogs. Using 25 common bales of straw, and rials cost for this stucco version is about $400, while you can put up three sheets of plywood, two people can build a straw bale dog house the simple building for under $150. Good news! We put all the in under 10 minutes! This is the same simple structure that withstood building instructions for both versions on video tape for anyone to our terrible El Nino rains in 1998. 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ANIMA L P EOPLE, September 2004 - 3 Editorial feature The Fund, HSUS, & merging packs Rumors that the Fund for Animals and the Humane Society of the U.S. are holding board, Amory in 1959 helped Jones to incorporate the National Catholic Humane Society, a merger talks reached ANIMAL PEOPLE on July 26. Confirmation came a few days later. far more militant voice for animals, which in 1977 became the International Society for In the interim, on July 30, five closely spaced shotgun blasts followed by frantic Animal Rights. yelping disturbed the woods about half a mile from our remote rural office. Someone appar- Disappointed that HSUS refused to vigorously oppose sport hunting, Amory in 1968 ently dumped two black Labrador retriever mixes, a mother and nearly grown son, and fired started the Fund for Animals, with Probst handling the administration. Amory from the the shots to keep the dogs from following his truck. beginning made plain his hope that the Fund, as a rump caucus, could demonstrate humane Ignoring rabbits who boldly ran right in front of them, the dogs survived by scav- opposition to hunting so convincingly that HSUS, the AHA, and the ASPCA would all adopt enging for several days before stumbling upon the feeding station we set up for them. similar positions. They soon did, so long ago that generations of activists no longer recall that For almost a month, we fed and watered them at the same spot––waiting more than they ever did not. a week for box traps to arrive, and then waiting for the dogs to get used to the traps enough to Initially, Probst recalled, Amory expected that the Fund would reunite with HSUS begin eating inside them. Finally the dogs were caught, first the mother and then the pup. after winning the hunting issue—but the Fund almost immediately took on an additional mis- Now comes the even more difficult process of integrating the two new dogs into our sion of providing hands-on care to rescued animals, first at the Black Beauty Ranch in Texas, pack of three older dogs. and later also at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in California and the Rabbit Sanctuary in Tasha, the eldest at 12 years, is a German shepherd adopted from the Bennington South Carolina. County Humane Society in southern Vermont, who rescued her and a Doberman after they HSUS until recently avoided becoming involved in hands-on care for animals, for were abandoned by a man who did not want to pay the shelter surrender fee. The Doberman reasons Amory himself articulated in early position statements: to focus on advocacy, to was adopted before Tasha. avoid any dilution of mission, and to escape philosophical compromises that might be driven Francesca, now about 11, was dumped along the dirt road that led to our former by the need to raise money to feed and house animals. headquarters in upstate New York. She had given birth to puppies not long before she was By 1974, when Amory finally left the HSUS board, he had changed his mind. thrown out of the back of a pickup truck. Amory had come to believe, as he told ANIMAL PEOPLE in 1994, that taking on at least a Simon, born on the streets of Taiwan, was hit by a Taipei taxi and luckily taken to limited mission of hands-on care helped to keep an organization honest; that if an organization Taiwan Abandoned Animal Rescue Foundation founder Mina Sharpe. We adopted Simon, rescues animals, it has an obligation to care for them; and that having sanctuaries helped him while still a pup, in 1998. Simon greatly enjoys life, after extensive orthopedic surgery. to avoid hiring anyone who felt above cleaning litter pans or shoveling out a stable. Amid the canine politics, our 15 cats––some feral, all rescue cases––are mostly While HSUS endured more than 30 years of administrative scandals and frequent unafraid of the dogs, but are discreetly keeping out of the way of any risk of trouble. conflicts with the emerging animal rights and no-kill sheltering movements, Amory and In effect, we are merging two established packs, of similar history but differing Probst ran the Fund as a model of fiscal accountability. They held far more money in reserve recent experience. They knew each other slightly, from twilight barks, when both packs than the Wise Giving Alliance recommends, reflecting the fiscal conservatism of many people exchanged insults with the local coyotes, but proximity demonstrates how superficial their who lived through the Great Depression, but Probst’s hand-completed IRS Form 990 filings acquaintance was. detailed the disposition of every penny. They welcomed and made common cause with animal rights organizations, and observed the no-kill philosophy at their sanctuaries. Cleveland Amory’s legacy Chances of reconciliation with HSUS receded after HSUS three times hired away senior Fund personnel—executive director Patricia Forkan, now the HSUS executive vice “The Fund and HSUS are discussing the possibility of combining the resources, president; Lewis Regenstein, who is no longer with either organization; and national director staffs, boards, and programs of both organizations. While nothing has yet been finalized, Wayne Pacelle, who took several other members of the Fund staff with him to HSUS in 1994. both boards of directors voted unanimously to explore this concept,” Fund president Mike Annoyed, Amory expressed hope that the Fund might instead eventually merge with Markarian confirmed on August 9. PETA. PETA cofounder Alex Pacheco, an Amory protegé, debuted in animal advocacy as a By then, mid-level and senior personnel at both the Fund and HSUS already seemed volunteer for the Fund at a Cincinnati branch office. In 1986-1988 Amory and Pacheco led a to be circling nervously, marking territory, staking out strategic hallways, barking past each hostile takeover of the then grossly mismanaged New England Anti-Vivisection Society, other, and in some cases anxiously seeking somewhere else to go. whose former president, the late probate judge Robert Ford, was eventually stripped of his Fund for Animals president emeritus Marion Probst informally briefed A N I M A L judgeship and convicted of related criminal offenses. PEOPLE three days before Markarian provided detailed answers. Probst acknowledged the For almost a decade NEAVS operated under de facto Fund and PETA joint trustee- tension, but expressed confidence that it soon would settle. ship. The arrangement was seen as a test of an eventual merger, but fell apart in disputed “This is what Cleveland Amory would have wanted,” Probst said. board elections and a lawsuit. Pacheco soon afterward left PETA. Both HSUS and the Fund are part of the Amory legacy. Still working long hours from her New York City office, Probst remembered instantly that Amory hired her as his personal assistant on May 24, 1961. She has kept his “Talking points” memo & money affairs in order ever since—posthumously since October 1998. Pacelle, named HSUS president in May 2004, after 10 years as vice president for As a U.S. Army intelligence officer and former Saturday Evening Post r e p o r t e r , legislation, hypothetically proposed a three-way merger of HSUS, the Fund, and PETA as Amory in early 1945 witnessed a so-called “bunny bop,” or rabbit-killing contest, sponsored long ago as 1988. Pacelle appears to have been the primary author of an internal memo of by the American Legion at Harmony, North Carolina. He exposed the event in a photo essay “Talking points on the potential merger” recently circulated among Fund and HSUS senior for the Post. For several weeks thereafter the Post reportedly received more letters about the staff and board members. rabbit killing than about World War II, then still raging. “The Fund and HSUS jointly publish the Humane Scorecard, which tracks the vot- Amory rose to fame as a best-selling humorist and broadcast commentator in the ing records of members of Congress,” the memo reminded. “The groups jointly publish early days of television, but discovered in animal welfare a more compelling interest than his Humanelines, a weekly electronic alert with subscribers drawn from both organizations. considerable career success. Together they operate the Humane Activist Network, which organizes thousands of volunteers In 1954 Amory joined former American Humane Association National Humane and calls them to action on important issues. They have collaborated very meaningfully on Review editor Fred Myers, former American SPCA secretary Helen Jones, and several others ballot initiatives since 1992, and work cooperatively on state and federal legislation. They are in forming the National Humane Society. Probst said Amory came aboard initially as a silent co-plaintiffs on a long list of lawsuits. Both groups have strong urban wildlife programs…” partner, whose popularity was expected to help attract support, but he did not remain silent Pacelle put merger talks with The Fund on the fast track, encouraged by Probst and for very long. Markarian. Hand-picked by Amory to eventually head the Fund after Pacelle left, and Founded to challenge the then-timidity of the AHA and ASPCA in fighting biomed- groomed for the position for five years under Probst’s presidency, Markarian debuted in ani- ical research use of animals, the new organization was renamed the Humane Society of the mal rights as an assistant to Pacelle in the Fund’s Washington D.C. office. U.S. several years later. “A key component of the merger,” Markarian told ANIMAL PEOPLE, quoting By then it had already begun growth by division. While remaining on the HSUS directly from the memo on talking points, “would be the launch of a new 501(c)(4) organiza- tion which could spend unlimited resources on lobbying. It would raise money specifically for SEARCHABLE ARCHIVES: www.animalpeoplenews.org lobbying.” The new entity might be named either, “The Humane Fund for Animals” or “The Key articles now available en Español et en Français! Humane Society Fund for Animals,” the memo indicated. “As you know,” Markarian and the memo continued, “The Fund and HSUS are both [IRS classification] 501(c)(3) organizations, and both currently face lobbying limits that ANIMAL PEOPLE severely encumber their effectiveness. HSUS must limit its [political] spending to $1 million News for People Who Care About Animals per year—just 1.3 percent of total spending. The Fund must limit its expenditures to $450,000—about 6% of total spending. These hard caps cannot be consistently exceeded Publisher: Kim Bartlett without risking the loss of our charitable status. Editor: Merritt Clifton “In short, as our organizations grow, our lobbying programs cannot grow commen- Web site producer: Patrice Greanville surately because of the rigid formulas established by the IRS. The HSUS spending cap is Newswire monitor: Cathy Young Czapla frozen at $1 million, no matter how much HSUS grows. The spending limit is the same POB 960 whether an organization’s annual budget is $20 million, $80 million, or $200 million. As Clinton, WA 98236-0960 wages, benefits, printing, postage, and other expenditures rise from inflationary pressures, we face shrinking ability to spend in the lobbying domain.” ISSN 1071-0035. Federal I.D: 14-175 2216 Markarian and the memo pointed out that the National Rifle Association’s Political Telephone: 360-579-2505. Victory Fund “distributes in excess of $5 million per year, and its lobbying arm spends nearly Fax: 360-579-2575. $20 million. Other political opponents, including the American Farm Bureau, National Pork E-mail: [email protected] Producers Council, Safari Club International, and Feld Entertainment, spend millions more on political activity. We are at a distinct and often insurmountable disadvantage,” Markarian Web: www.animalpeoplenews.org and the memo contended, “when we attempt to push sweeping and meaningful reforms. Copyright 2004 for the authors, artists, and photographers. “Our hope,” Markarian and the memo said, “is that a single 501(c)(4), viewed as Reprint inquiries are welcome. the political lobbying arm of both organizations, would appeal to donors from both The HSUS ANIMAL PEOPLE: News for People Who Care About Animals is published and The Fund. Within a few years, it is not unreasonable to think that the 501(c)(4) may be 10 times annually by Animal People, Inc., a nonprofit, charitable corporation dedicated to able to spend upward of $10 to $15 million on political activities—representing an increase in exposing the existence of cruelty to animals and to informing and educating the public of spending in this domain by a factor of 10.” the need to prevent and eliminate such cruelty. Mergers of animal advocacy organizations are not nearly as common as splits, but Subscriptions are $24.00 per year; $38.00/two years; $50/three years. occur relatively often at the local or regional level, often as a matter of logical consolidation ANIMAL PEOPLE is mailed under Bulk Rate Permit #2 from Clinton, of programs and services. Washington, and Bulk Rate Permit #408, from Everett, Washington. An example may be the impending annexation of the Ozaukee Humane Society by Executive subscriptions, mailed first class, are $40.00 per year or $70/two years. the Wisconsin Humane Society, announced in late August. The Ozaukee Humane Society The base rate for display advertising is $8.50 per square inch of page space. name will remain in use, and four board members will join the 13-member OHS board. Please inquire about our substantial multiple insertion discounts. The Ozaukee Humane Society handles about 1,600 animals a year, with an annual The editors prefer to receive queries in advance of article submissions; unsolicit- budget of under $500,000 and a paid staff of just six, but claims 450 volunteers. Wisconsin ed manuscripts will be considered for use, but will not be returned unless accompanied by Humane handles 17,000 animals per year, with a paid staff of 85 and 750 volunteers. a stamped, self-addressed envelope of suitable size. We do not publish fiction or poetry. (continued on page 8) 4 - ANIMAL P EOPLE, September 2004 Dog rescuers are prosecuted Volunteers LETTERS Our organization S a t h v a Some were seized despite the pres- Enkosini has published a Mithra (Friends of Animals) has for ence and protests of their guardians. new web site to highlight the dif- the past 11 years defended the rights Dogs are seized whether or not they ferent wildlife volunteer place- Bali turtles of animals in Sri Lanka. We have have been reported as troublesome ments in South Africa. We are I appreciate A N I M A L challenged in courts the actions of by local merchants, residents or already featuring ourselves, the P E O P L E’s June 2004 coverage of the authorities against animals passers-by. The catchers even seize Baboon Sanctuary, the Penguin sea turtle conservation. I just including elephants, cattle, and dogs who have been vaccinated Conservation Centre, the Shark returned from Bali, Indonesia, dogs. We also carry out animal wel- against rabies, and carry tan identi- Research Project, and the Vervet where the trade in endangered tur- ter. All of this is against Indonesian fare work such as holding clinics to fying collar. Monkey Sanctuary, and are tles is alive and well. Hundreds of law, but occurs anyway due to to sterilize and vaccinate community The CMC impounds dogs adding new projects every day. turtles are caught off shore and corrupt law enforcement and greed. dogs and cats. for three days. If their guardians do Check us out! brought into warehouses where, ––Wayne Johnson, Ph.d With the unrelenting nega- not claim the dogs and pay a fine, ––Kelcey Grimm fins tied, they languish without Honolulu, Hawaii tive attitude of state and local author- the dogs are gassed. Shyama Peries Executive director water until they are sold for slaugh-
ASPCA 8 - ANIMAL PEOPLE, Septe mber 2004 The Fund, HSUS talk merger (from page 3) At the national level, mergers have been few. The “My role would potentially be head of external most prominent examples have all involved HSUS: affairs,” Markarian confirmed, “which would oversee commu- * The World Society for the Protection of Animals nications, government affairs, litigation, fundraising, investi- was formed in 1981 by merging the International Society for gations, and campaigns.” the Protection of Animals with the World Federation for the Markarian also anticipated that he would “head the Protection of Animals. ISPA was formed earlier by combining new 501(c)(4) political arm. My guess,” Markarian said, “is programs of the Massachusetts SPCA, Royal SPCA of Britain, that The Fund’s current staff and programs would be fairly and HSUS. evenly split between external affairs and operations such as * The Free Willy/Keiko Foundation, initially funded sanctuaries, urban wildlife work, and international programs.” by Earth Island Institute and HSUS, in 1999 merged with the Markarian described the Fund staff response as Jean Michel Cousteau Institute to become Ocean Futures. “incredibly enthusiastic,” but ANIMAL PEOPLE heard oth- HSUS assumed responsibility for looking after Keiko during erwise from both HSUS and Fund insiders. the last two years of his life. “The staff at the Fund was caught totally by surprise * HSUS in August 2002 absorbed the financially when the merger was announced at a staff meeting,” one well- struggling Ark Trust, coordinators of the 17-year-old Genesis placed person said, noting an apparent discrepancy between Awards program to honor animal advocacy in the mass media. what Fund and HSUS personnel were told by superiors. Founded by actress Gretchen Wyler as a program of the Fund “HSUS staffers claim nothing firm has been decid- for Animals, the Ark Trust went independent in 1991. Pacelle ed,” the source said, “yet Pacelle spoke to a Fund staff meeting Melantha & Bela, rescued from the woods. (Kim Bartlett) is believed to have brokered the merger into HSUS. on August 20 to quell their concerns about keeping their jobs.” Another recent example of merger at the national “Movement unity” level was the formation of Oceana in 2000 by the Oak Reasons to worry “We believe that a merger of two of the nation’s Foundation, Pew Charitable Trusts, Rockefeller Brothers Fund personnel have three reasons to worry about highest profile animal protection organizations will give us new Fund, Surdna Foundation, and Turner Foundation. Oceana their future employment. opportunities to attract and engage new members and donors,” president Steve Roady previously headed the Ocean Law First, a merger creates redundancy. Markarian asserted. “Throughout the country, rank-and-file Project, begun by the Pew Charitable Trusts and incorporated As Markarian told ANIMAL PEOPLE, “Melding animal advocates repeatedly ask, ‘Why don’t the groups get into Oceana. In 2001 Oceana merged with the American our resources will allow for savings in management, account- together?’, allowing us to spend a higher proportion of our dol- Oceans Campaign, founded in 1997 by actor Ted Danson. ing, publishing, auditing, and other functions.” lars on programs, showing donors that we are serious about Although Oceana has enjoyed considerable success in Such savings come through staff cutbacks. getting the most bang for our buck for animals.” litigation, it appears to be having difficulty capturing public Second, there are ideological conflicts. Indeed, animal advocates do often express a wish for support. In fairness, however, the post-9/11 economic climate “HSUS is not an animal rights organization,” sum- “movement unity,” but as ANIMAL PEOPLE has often has hurt the growth of most nonprofit organizations. marized one source. “HSUS and the Fund have worked togeth- pointed out, that concept tends to be naïve. er on one level, but at a deeper level we don’t represent the In the short run, a unified ad hoc coalition can often Job security same things. HSUS is unlikely to adopt Fund positions on win specific objectives. In addition, as opposition organiza- “Fund staff members obviously have questions about everything, while for Fund people, retreating to the HSUS tions such as the NRA and Farm Bureau Federation demon- the merger and how it would affect their day-to-day work,” positions will involve unacceptable steps backward.” strate, a unified front can successfully defend an entrenched Markarian acknowledged to ANIMAL PEOPLE. “The struc- “The basic issue,” said another source, “is that the status quo, or even advance an agenda, if the agenda is suffi- ture is still being discussed.” Fund, having established itself as the pre-eminent anti-hunting ciently narrow. Outlined the memo on talking points, “Two of the organization, will cease to exist. Hunters all over the country Successful political movements, seeking cultural Fund’s historically most important campaigns, the abolition of will be raising a glass in celebration.” transformation, by contrast must practice multi-party politics. sport hunting and the fur trade, would be reflected in two of the Several well-placed people at both the Fund and Instead of presenting a narrowly unified front— easily isolated, four major campaigns of the new organization, along with HSUS perceive a continuing need for The Fund, appealing to a diverted, distracted, disrupted, and ultimately defeated—they [work for the benefit of] farmed animals and [opposition to] heavily overlapping donor base, to demonstrate the viability of stretch across the socio-political and economic spectrum, giv- cruelty to animals and blood sports. more progressive positions than the HSUS board might other- ing the public multiple points of entry and making successful “The Fund’s flagship sanctuary, the Black Beauty wise endorse. use of their divisions to appeal to people who otherwise may Ranch, would continue as a permanent home for abused and Third, mergers are economically awkward. The have little in common. abandoned animals, primarily hooved animals who can roam Fund currently raises about $7.6 million per year. HSUS raises The infighting, internal debate, and economic com- freely,” the memo said. about $65 million. When nonprofit organizations merge, they petition that animal advocates often decry are inevitable “The Fund’s three animal care facilities fit well with typically raise only slightly more than the wealthier organiza- byproducts of building a broad base that can be politically the three HSUS animal care programs, the Cape Wildlife tion raised before the merger, because donors who formerly mobilized from multiple directions. Center in Massachusetts, Spay & Neuter Clinic in Dallas, and gave to both organizations usually do not give the combined Attempts to establish “movement unity” by suppress- Rural Area Veterinary Services.” organizations as much as they gave when contributing to two. ing real conflicts of outlook, tactics, and goals actually intensi- All three of these programs were acquired within the A more promising model, favored by both Markarian fy the conflict behind the scenes by elevating the stakes of past half dozen years through previous mergers and takeovers and senior HSUS staff, is based on the outcome of institutional infighting—because whoever sets the public agenda “wins,” of existing organizations. splits. When successful organizations divide, for whatever rea- and everyone else must then support that approach or be Other sources within both HSUS and the Fund indi- son, usually they raise less money in their first years of separa- accused of breaking unity, even if they think it is 100% dead cated that the provisional operating plan would split the com- tion than the components did as a single entity—but then they wrong and counterproductive. bined organization into five divisions: external affairs, opera- gradually attract new supporters, as the Fund did after splitting Trying to keep conflicts hidden helps the corrupt and tions, finance, the office of the general counsel, and a “special from HSUS. While HSUS has grown far more rapidly in recent incompetent to evade exposure, helps agents provocateur t o focus” team. years, both the Fund and HSUS were bigger by 1985 than hide, and allows foes to tar the whole cause with one brush— Current HSUS chief of staff Andrew Rowan would either one was before the split. for example, by equating animal advocates with terrorists. head the operations division, according to one draft leaked to The memo on talking points anticipates that merging Most important, in seeking homogeneity the cause ANIMAL PEOPLE. Markarian would become chief of exter- the Fund with HSUS while forming a new 501(c)(4) political loses by default much potential public support, because instead nal affairs. Current Fund national director Heidi Prescott would organization will produce the same donor behavior as a split. of seeing a variety of views to choose from, the public sees head the “special focus” team. The financial and legal teams With combined fiscal reserves exceeding $100 mil- only one, and often feels uncomfortable with all the baggage would retain more-or-less the same composition that they now lion, the Fund and HSUS could ride out a short-term cash flow attached to it. have within HSUS. deficit without firing anyone—but only by actually drawing Retailers learned long ago that more choice means Rowan said it would be premature to comment on upon the reserve funds, which so far neither organization has more sales, but the animal cause has yet to notice, even though either the structural features or personnel assignments. often done (if ever). (continued on page 9) Events Sept. 25-26: A n i m a l Rescue Conf., M a r i n SPAY/USA Humane Society, Marin, Calif. Info: 415-506-6201; < w w w . M a r i n H u m a n e - Society.org>. Sept. 26-28: A m e r i c a n Humane conf., P h i l a d e l - phia. Info:
Online Store Use The Fund’s secure online server to order merchandise such as t-shirts, mugs, and companion animal items, and activist resources such as bumper stickers, buttons, books, and videos. Find out more at www.fund.org! 10 - ANIMAL P EOPLE, September 2004 International Primate Protection League claims victory–– Labs of Virginia pleads guilty in monkey smuggling case C H I C A G O––Labs of Virginia Inc. on August 18, ting counts of misdemeanor cruelty to animals against 2004 pleaded guilty to one felony count of submitting false Charles River Laboratoies, of Wilmington, Delaware, for records to U.S. goverment agencies pertaining to a shipment of allegedly causing the deaths of two chimpanzees at the 220 monkeys purchased from Indonesian animal dealer Agus Alamogordo Primate Facility and jeopardizing the life of a Darmawan in 1997. third through “institutional neglect.” “According to a plea agreement between the defen- The Alamogordo Primate Facility, located at dant and the U.S. attorney’s office entered before U.S. district Holloman Air Force Base, was formerly managed for the Judge Ruben Castillo, the company faces two years of proba- National Institutes of Health by the now defunct Coulston tion, a fine of $500,000, and forfeiture totaling $64,675. Foundation. Repeatedly charged with violations of the Sentencing was scheduled for November 16,” reported Matt Animal Welfare Act, and reportedly $3.4 million in debt, O’Connor of the Chicago Tribune, the Coulston Foundation in May 2000 returned responsibility ing biomedical research facilities have ever been prosectued. All charges were dropped against individual defen- for the then 288 Alamogordo chimps to the NIH. The NIH in Best known was the “Silver Spring monkeys” case filed against dants Charles J. Stern, 46, the former Labs of Virginia board 2001 awarded a 10-year, $42 million contract to Charles River Institute for Behavioral Research director Edward Taub in chair; William Curtis Henley III, 45, a former board member; Laboratories to take over the job. September 1981 as result of an undercover investigation by and former Labs of Virginia president David M. Taub, 61. Key alleged that on September 16, 2002, Charles PETA cofounder Alex Pacheco. The case began in 1996, when Labs of Virginia River staff failed to provide veterinary care to a 16-year-old Taub was twice convicted of cruelty for neglect of the bought a breeding colony of 1,312 macaques from Indonesian chimp named Ashley, who died overnight from a serious injury monkeys, but the convictions were reversed on jurisdictional Aquatics Export CV, doing business as Inquatex. to her genitalia; on or about December 30, 2002 failed to pro- technicalities. The case brought PETA to national prominence, In compliance with the Convention on International vide veterinary care to a 16-year-old chimp named Rex, who and helped influence Congress to pass Animal Welfare Act Trade in Endangered Species, Indonesian law forbade the died overnight from complications of anesthesia; and circa amendments in 1985 that require labs to provide for the psycho- export of the macaques if they were wild-caught, and U.S. law June 26, 2003 failed to provide veterinary care to a 26-year-old logical health of dogs and nonhuman primates. forbade importing them if wild-caught––but at least 327 of the chimp named Topsy, who survived a life-imperiling injury. 846 macaques who arrived at O’Hare Airport between mid- Key named Charles River Laboratories president IDA blew whistle February and mid-May 1997 as part of the transaction were James C. Foster and Alamogordo Primate Facility chief veteri- Key reportedly built his case against Charles River eventually found to have come from the wild. narian as co-defendants. Laboratories from documents obtained and relayed to him by In “There was a lot of talk in the court documents about Deaths of lab animals from comparable incidents are Defense of Animals. The organization has kept the former bribes paid to Indonesian officials to procure export permits relatively common. Examples include the February 2004 Coulston facilities under scrutiny for more than a decade. stating that monkeys as old as 15-16 years were born at a breed- deaths of 13 monkeys and “dozens” of hamsters from excessive A separate flap involving the Alamogordo Primate ing colony that had existed less than 10 years,” International heat at Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Montana, Facility broke in March 1994, four years after In Defense of Primate Protection League founder Shirley McGreal told ANI- after the computer that controlled the thermostat “locked up”; Animals staff member Eric Kleiman in a written submission to MAL PEOPLE. Alerted to the dealings before all of the the July 2004 deaths of three marmosets at the Wisconsin a Congressional subcommittee hearing tried unsuccessfully to macaques were shipped, McGreal pursued indictments for five National Primate Research Center, who were inadvertantly left bring attention to the ominous deaths of three out of eight chim- years. Winning the guilty pleas took two more years. in their cage when the cage was immersed in a scalding sanitiz- panzees who were used to test a drug called TXU-PAP. ing solution; and the August 2004 deaths of seven monkeys at “The founder of the Parker Hughes Institute in Charles River charged the California National Primate Research Center at U.C. Davis, Roseville, Minnesota, withheld information about the deadly District attorney Scott Key, of Otero County, New who became overheated due to a ventilation system failure. effects of TXU-PAP, once touted as a ‘magic bullet’ for AIDS Mexico, on September 7 filed three potentially precedent-set- Only a handful of “institutional neglect” cases involv- and cancer,” charged Minneapolis Star Tribune i n v e s t i g a t i v e reporters Glenn Howatt, Paul Mcenroe, and Maura Lerner. Parker Hughes Institute founder Fatih Uckun did not mention the chimp deaths in an article touting the potential of TXU-PAP, published by the Journal of Pharmacology & No More Homeless Pets Experimental Therapeutics i n Conference December 1999, and did not mention the deaths to the journal editors, the Star Tribune team reported. Two of the five listed co-authors also said they did not know about the deaths. “At least 11 people, includ- ing a 7-year-old girl, got the drug after the chimps died,” the S t a r T r i b u n e team found. “Uckun said all were warned about possible side effects. He halted the research on HIV patients in 2000 because of safety con- cerns, federal officials said. The drug has not made it to the market.” The 7-year-old was terminal leukemia patient Sydney Hickman, given TXU-PAP as a last resort. She died several months later. Her mother told the Star Tribune that the family was not told about the chimp deaths, but that since TXU-PAP was their last hope, knowing of the deaths probably would have made no difference. The TXU-PAP chimp deaths came to light six months after the Star- Best Friends Animal Society has several job openings for the T r i b u n e and WCCO-TV in Minneap- national No More Homeless Pets campaign. Details: olis disclosed that the Minnesota www.bestfriends.org/employment/employment.htm Board of Medical Practice, the Federal Food and Drug Administrat- ion, and the FBI were investigating Uckun’s business practices. The out- come has not been reported. ANIMAL P EOPLE, September 2004 - 11
Reducing the vehicular accident risk to dogs 131,877 Implantations - 0 Complications CHAPEL HILL, N.C.––“Dear Abby” “There were 247,000 crashes involving ani- advice columnist Jeanne Phillips, a frequent defender mals in 2000, the latest data available,” said Yee. Since 1995 over 10,000 veterinary facilities worldwide have of animals, on August 8, 2004 urged vehicular A 2003 survey of 1,046 drivers by Response provided an alternative to the traditional form of neutering. restraint––“the kind that buckles”––for dogs as well as Insurance found that about 11% admitted to having children. been distracted by a dog jumping around in their vehi- Neuticles replicates the pets’ testicles in size, shape, weight Phillips was responding to a letter entitled cle, and 16% of them said the dog caused or nearly and feel, allowing pets to retain a natural appearance after “Grieving In Lexington, Kentucky,” from a man caused an accident. whose dog was killed by traffic after falling out of the The Massachusetts SPCA reported in 1997 neutering. bed of a pickup truck. that about 592 dogs per year are killed or badly injured Neuticles - the 100% safe, simple and inexpensive option when Phillips, daughter of column founder in falls or jumps from open-bed trucks. A survey of neutering. For details call toll-free 888.638.8425 (816-350-7298 Pauline Phillips, previously urged vehicular restraint 200 veterinarians found that 71% had treated dogs for of dogs in December 1999 and January 2000. injuries resulting from falls or jumps from trucks. outside US) or visit our website: www.neuticles.com. University of North Carolina Highway A 1999 survey from the West Australian Safety Research Center associate director Jane Stutts Royal SPCA indicated that as many as 5,000 dogs are in 2001 reported that about 1% of all traffic accidents killed or injured per year in falls or jumps from vehi- Neuticles® appear to be caused by an unrestrained dog distracting cles in Australia, where letting dogs ride in open-bed “Its Like Nothing Ever Changed” a driver. trucks appears to be more common than in the U.S. (US Patent # 58-68140) “That’s not piddly, because cell phones Within the U.S., carrying an unrestrained accounted for only 2%,” Stutts told the Fort Worth dog in an open vehicle appears to be specifically ille- Star-Telegram. gal only in Maine. In other states, police may ticket a Panic, not disease, killed Auburn raptors According to Stutts’ figures, based on 412 driver whose dog is allegedly causing a road hazard, AUBURN, Alabama– – A on August 24, 2004. narrative accounts of accidents that occurred in 1998, but actual cases are rare. purported deadly outbreak of the avian Wingfield obtained a copy of unrestrained dogs in vehicles may be responsible for Legislation to specifically require vehicular bacterial disease mycoplasma gallisep - a report on the incident by University about 440 human deaths per year. restraint of dogs and other animals in personal vehicles t u m in mid-2003 caused the South- of Minnesota Raptor Center director By comparison, only about 200 people per has been proposed in many other states, several eastern Raptor Rehabilitation Center at Patrick Redig. The report was shared year are killed in accidents involving animals in the Canadian provinces, and Australia, but has consis- Auburn University to kill 17 rare birds with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service road, according to Ann Dellinger of the Centers for tently met fierce opposition from dog keepers. after eight others died, halted the tra- and Auburn officials in January 2004 Disease Control & Prevention motor vehicle injury At least one dog advocate, American dition of a golden eagle named Tiger but was not previously made public. prevention team. Canine Foundation founder Glen Bui, of Belfair, flying at Auburn home football games, “Instead of a microorganism, “In half of the animal-related road accidents Washington, is also outspokenly opposed to requiring and led to the June 2003 firing of rap- the report blames faulty laboratory surveyed in 2001 and 2002, motorists were injured by humans to use vehicular restraint. Better known for tor center director Joe Shelnutt––but techniques and poor decision-making,” hitting the animal, while the other half involve ani- fighting breed-specific dog dangerous dog laws, Bui there never were any actual cases of Wingfield disclosed. mals who swerved to avoid hitting the animal,” sum- lost a 2003 attempt to overturn the Washington state mycoplasma galliseptum, Associated Tiger is again going to foot- marized Associated Press writer Daniel Yee. law requiring drivers to wear seat belts. Press writer Kyle Wingfield revealed ball games, with two understudies. More events Save Rate, San Francisco SPCA conference. Info: 415-901-6652;
The Watchdog monitors fundraising, spending, and The political activity in the name of animal and habitat pro t e c - tion—both pro and con. His empty bowl stands for all the bowls left empty when some take more than they need.
AVMA strengthens position against forced molts Judge upholds tuna/dolphin P H I L A D E L P H I A ––The American Veterinary 2004 edition of ANIMAL PEOPLE, which went to press standard––again––and raps Medical Association house of delegates on July 28, 2004 while the conference itself was just underway. adopted a resolution against forced molting that resolves one of On July 23 the AVMA house of delegates installed Bush cabinet “meddling” the major issues between the AVMA and the Association of new president Bonnie V. Beaver, DVM, a longtime member SAN FRANCISCO––U.S. District Judge Thelton Veterinarians for Animal Rights. of the Texas A&M University veterinary faculty, past presi- Henderson on August 10, 2004 upheld the “dolphin-safe” On June 21, AVAR co-sponsored a full-page ad in dent of the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists (1992- tuna labeling standard against government attempts to weak- the New York Times asking “Has anyone betrayed more ani- 1996), and currently the ACVB executive director. en or scrap it for the fifth time in 14 years. mals than the American Veterinary Medical Association?’ Beaver told the assembled delegates that the time has Ordered Henderson, “Dolphin-safe shall continue Similar to an ad published in April in A N I M A L come for the AVMA to show leadership on animal welfare to mean that ‘no tuna were caught…using a purse seine net PEOPLE by the Coalition for Nonviolent Food, the New York issues, as expected by the public, and that veterinarians must intentionally deployed on or to encircle dolphins, and that no Times ad targeted the AVMA positions on forced molting, ges- not allow animal use industry convention to taint their judge- dolphins were killed or seriously injured,’” on the voyage tation crates for pregnant sows, veal crating, and “the inex- ment of animal well-being. Beaver asked the AVMA to estab- that caught the tuna. plicable retention of Dr. Gregg Cutler on the AVMA Animal lish a Division of Animal Welfare. Henderson rapped Commerce Secretary Donald Welfare Committee,” explained AVAR vice president Holly AVAR had submitted a resolution against forced Evans and the George W. Bush administration for “a pattern Cheever, “despite the fact that he was shown in three separate molting to the house of delegates that reportedly paralleled the of delay and inattention” in failing to enforce the dolphin- affidavits, including his own sworn deposition, to have position of the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association, but safe labeling standard. ordered the mass slaughter of 30,000 chickens in California by the delegates instead accepted a resolution offered by the “The record is replete with evidence that the secre- throwing them alive into a wood chipper.” American Association of Avian Pathologists. tary was influenced by policy concerns unrelated to the best Furious over the ad, AVMA executive vice president The AVMA policy on forced molts to induce hens to available scientific evidence,” Henderson wrote. Bruce Little on July 21 barred the Association of Veterinarians begin a new egg-laying cycle formerly stated that “Intermittant “This court has never, in its 24 years, reviewed a for Animal Rights from tabling at a booth it had already feeding or diets of low nutrient density are recommended rather record of agency action that contained such a compelling por- reserved and paid for during the five-day AVMA annual con- than total food withdrawal.” As amended, the policy states, trait of political meddling.” ference, July 24-28. This was reported in the July/August “Neither water nor food should be withdrawn.” Lance-Watson perjury case Standardizing microchips Sanctuaries sue Powerball lottery S E A T T L E ––Federal perjury charges against O R L A N D O ––Iams company spokesperson Kelly winner over unpaid pledges Allison Lance-Watson, 45, wife of Sea Shepherd Vanasse, addressing the 2004 Conference on Homeless Animal EPPING, N.H.––Mary Ellen Sanderson, co-win- Conservation Society founder Paul Watson, were dropped Management & Policy in Orlando, Florida, announced on ner of a $66 million Powerball lottery in 1997, has been sued on September 9, 2004, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark August 22 that Iams is prepared to donate 30,000 microchip by a second animal charity to which she pledged annual Bartlett, because the prosecution inadvertently shredded the scanners to humane societies, animal control agencies, and funding. Sued earlier by the Oasis Sanctuary Foundation, a transcripts of grand jury proceedings that were the evidence. veterinarians throughout the U.S.––if the makers will cooperate tropical bird sanctuary located at Cascabel, Arizona, “In dropping the case,” wrote Seattle P o s t - to produce a scanner that reads both the 125-kilohertz chips that Sanderson was also sued in July 2004 by Equine Protection I n t e l l i g e n c e r reporter Paul Shukovsky, “the government are most used in the U.S. and the 134-kilohertz chips that are of North America––which Sanderson helped to create, agreed Lance-Watson will not be prosecuted for any crimes recommended by the International Standards Organization. reported Manchester Union Leader correspondent Toby based on evidence now in possession of the U.S.,” and The 125-kv chips are made by Avid Identification Henry. agreed not to subpoena her about any current investigation. Systems and Digital Angel Inc., and are used by the Schering The original EPONA directors, Henry indicated, A related contempt of court case continues against Plough Animal Health “Home Again” program. The 134-kv were president Susan Fockler and director Ronald Levesque, activist Gina Lynn for refusing to testify to the grand jury. ISO chips are distributed in the U.S. by PetHealth Services and both of Epping, New Hampshire, and Mary Ellen and James The grand jury is investigating an arson in Crystal Tag. The latter is the chip provider to Banfield, The Sanderson, then a married couple. As with the Oasis Olympia, Washington, and the theft of 228 chickens from a Pet Hospital Inc., but Banfield has suspended microchipping Sanctuary, Mary Ellen Sanderson helped EPONA to obtain a farm in Burlington, Washington, on the night of May 7, pets until it is convinced that an adequate number of 134-kv sanctuary site. The EPONA facility, near Dover, New 2000. The FBI says a convenience store security camera scanners are in use in the U.S. to make the program effective. Hampshire, houses about 25 horses at a time, Hnery said. caught Lynn and fellow activist Joshua Trenter as they Avid has sued PetHealth Services and Banfield, and According to Henry, the lawsuit alleges that Mary dumped evidence, and puts them in a truck that Lance- has been countersued by PetHealth acting through the Coalition Ellen Sanderson agreed to give EPONA $70,000 a year, Watson rented to help the Sea Shepherds relocate from Santa for Reuniting Pets & Families, over issues including alleged amounting to more than 80% of the organization’s entire Monica, California, to Friday Harbor, Washington. patent infringement, unfair competition, and false advertising. budget. The Oasis Sanctuary suit claims Mary Ellen Jailed on August 26 for contempt of court, Lynn Vanasse told ANIMAL PEOPLE that the Iams pro- Sanderson was to donate $100,000 a year. commenced a hunger strike that was apparently still under- posal could be worth about $5 million in equipment costs to the Both organizations were cut off at the end of 2003, way as ANIMAL PEOPLE went to press on September 15. humane community, and that the scanner purchases could be after the Sandersons divorced. She has engaged in hunger strikes of up to 22 days during allocated among the various chip makers so previous jailings for refusing to testify before grand juries. that each gets a fair share of the income. Join the No More Homeless Pets Forum ANIMAL PEOPLE Join us to spend a week with some of the leaders of this lifesaving, nationwide movement. They’ll share an inside view of their thoughts thanks you for your generous support and daily work and answer your questions about subjects that are Honoring the parable of the widow's mite––in which a poor woman gives but one coin to charity, near and dear to their hearts. yet that is all she possesses––we do not list our donors by how much they give, Coming topics–– but we greatly appreciate large gifts that help us do more for animals. Sept. 20-24: Boards: Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em Lisa Abplanalp, Noelle & John Adkins, Camilla Adler, Jeffrey & Mary Jan Angus, June Anna-Fey, Paul Arabanos, Florence Arday, Benita Argis, Nelson Babb, Col. Ralph Barnett, Phil Becker, How can you develop a truly effective board for your group? Head off Louis Bertrand, Best Friends Animal Society, Kris Blush, Patricia Bonney, Paula Bowker, problems before they start? Outi Flynn of BoardSource and Bonney Dr. Joanne Brown, Shirley & Irwin Brown, Diann Butler, John & Vennie Carpenter, Brown of Best Friends will answer your questions. Grover Chapman, Cindy Clark, Myrna Cohen, Gale Cohen-Demarco, Sept. 27-Oct. 1: Feral Cats: Tips and strategies for success Lorraine Collins, Compassion for Animals Foundation, Darline Coon, Jane Courtney, How can you raise resources and develop a support network? How Kay Criswell, Vicky Crosetti, Joseph D'Angelo, Vicki Dacquisto, Prema Ranawaka Das, can you talk with others about what you're doing to help cats in your Betty Dole, Linda Dyer, B.B. Eilers/Animals' Crusaders, Barbara & Randall Erdley, community? Susan Kilgore of Feral Friends and Dona Baker of the Kelly Farrell, Ruth Stone Feldman, Veronica Ferguson, Susan Finter, David & Carol Foster, Feral Cat Caretakers' Coalition will offer their advice. Bill Francis, Leah Frankel, Kim Frisbie, Margaret Gebhard, Richard Gerth, Elizabeth Gingery, Shirley Goril, Andrea Graffeuilh, Gloria Gray, Marilyn Greene, Marilyn Grindley, Harriet Gross, Oct. 4-8: Co-Existing With Wildlife Odette Grosz, Carol Grunewald, Raynell Heaton, Claire Heiser, Nancy Herbert, Jane Hlavacek, As we continue to develop open space, can we peacefully co-exist with Dr. Mary Huhndorf, Janet Ikola, Stephen & Ingrid Jaffe, Garland Jones, Marti Kheel, Karen King, wildlife? How can you handle calls from people asking for help with Joyce Woltz Kirkwood, Gayle Koan, Alexandra Krogulecki, Sofia Krohn, Charles Lablanc, wildlife problems? Sharon St. Joan of Best Friends will offer insights. Benjamin Landau, Kitty Langdon, Kathleen Lefauve, Dr. Steven & Gina Levine, Marie Lindberg, Oct 11-15 Getting the Word Out Susan Lobonc, Hormoz Mahmoud, Deanna Macek, Tracy Maguire, Lois Maloney, Marie Martin, Ruth Martin, Eleanor Mauck, Jean Maxwell, Jennifer McComas, Marilyn McGinnis, Nazen Merjian, This week you are the guest: What successful promotions and creative Christine Million, Lola Merritt, Marilee Meyer, Moa'ula Ka'u Cloud Rest Coffee Farm, strategies have you used to reach out to people in your community William Morrison, Elaine Mullins, Irene Muschel, Ana Olano, Robert Persurance, about your events and programs? Share your advice on the forum. Damon Phillips, Mary Pipkin, Sandra Prendergast, Procter & Gamble Company, To join, visit the Best Friends website: Joan Rich, Ruth Rosenfield, Dr. Rhoda Ruttenberg, Melissa Samet, Marietta Scaltrito, Gene Schmidt, Eileen Segal, Ratilal Shah, Jean Smith, www.bestfriends.org/nmhp/forum.html Terry Snyder, Jimmie Sober, Elizabeth Spalding, Mary Stankovich, Eve Stein, S.P. Steinberg, Diane Straney, Anne Streeter, OR send a blank e-mail message to: Mrs. R.S. Tatton, Margaret Tilbury, Ann Van Nes, [email protected] Mary Walsh, Marilyn Weaver, Paul Weber, Don & Peg Wentz, Best Friends Animal Society Susan Wheeler/Friends of Roman Cats, Phone: 435-644-2001 Dita White, John Wilkalis, E-mail: Mary Wilkinson, Colette Wilson, [email protected] Donna Youngblood, Patricia Zajec ANIMAL PEOPLE, Septe mbe r 2004 - 13 Home 4 the Holidays 2003 saved 261,000+ lives! Be a part of Home 4 the Holidays 2004. Log on to www.home4the holidays.com for more information.
Bush & Kerry seek animal-friendly images, but have contrasting records (from page 1) custom-fitted toe caps,” according to Associated Press. veterinary drugs for treatment of species other than dogs, cats, for Animals. Both are firmly committed to ending hunting.” Barney, a Scotch terrier, took Ernie’s place in the cattle, horses, swine, chickens, and turkeys. The bill was HSUS president and Humane USA Political Action White House. pushed throughout the Bush tenure by the American Veterinary Committee chair Wayne Pacelle in June 2003 observed that, “Giving Tom Brokaw a tour, the president let slip Medical Association and the American Pet Product “Senator Kerry was the co-author with former Senator Bob that his remaining cat, India, is low pet on the totem pole,” Manufacturers Association. Smith (R-NH) of the successful effort to halt an annual $2 mil- Dowd said. “Bush recalled the night of September 11, when lion subsidy for the mink industry. Kerry was also co-author, Secret Service agents heard a plane and hustled the President Courting hunters with Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA), of letters in recent years and First Lady out of their bedroom and downstairs to the Both Bush and Kerry, and their running mates, Vice sent to the leaders of the Senate Subcommittee on Agriculture bunker. Guiding Laura, who was not wearing her contact lens- President Dick Cheney and North Carolina Senator John Appropriations to increase funding for [enforcement of] the es, he said, he was ‘holding Barney, holding Laura, and Spot Edwards, have played up their histories as hunters in the 2004 Animal Welfare Act and the Humane Slaughter Act. Kerry has was chasing behind. Kitty was left to defend herself.” campaign. The so-called “swing states,” whose voting histo- cosponsored almost every piece of [recent] animal protection India, a.k.a. Kitty, became Willie in July 2001, after ries indicate that they could favor either candidate, and whose legislation,” Pacelle wrote, “including measures to combat about 30 members of the Bharatiya Janata Party then ruling electoral votes will decide the election, include Florida, with cockfighting, bear baiting, canned hunts, puppy mills, the India protested outside the U.S. consulate in Mumbai, main- 27 electoral votes; Ohio (20); North Carolina (15); Virginia bear parts trade, the exotic pet trade, steel-jawed leghold traps, taining that her name was an insult because as one demonstrator (13); Missouri (11); Arizona (10); Colorado (9); Louisiana and the abuse of downed livestock.” put it, “Indians are lions, not cats.” (9); Arkansas (6); Nevada (5); West Virginia (5); and New Kerry, if elected, would bring to the White House “a Legislator Mangal Prhabhat Lodha told Ramola Hampshire (4). German shepherd named Cym and a yellow parakeet,” accord- Talwar Badam of Associated Press that the BJP members did Ten of those 12 states have more active hunters per ing to the M2 PressWire press release distribution service. not ask that the cat should be renamed, only that she should not capita than the U.S. norm, Florida has the largest sport fishing In addition to the current Kerry family pets and be called by the name India on the White House web site. industry, and Ohio trails only Michigan and Pennsylvania in Winston, the golden retriever who nearly drowned Licorice the In her resume of the Bush family pet history, Dowd total numbers of hunters. hamster, Kerry is known to have been fond of a dog named VC also mentioned a “wacky story going around about how Bush and Cheney have by far the stronger hunting who was mascot of the swiftboat he commanded in Vietnam. Attorney General John Ashcroft,” a Bush cabinet favorite, credentials. Both are life members of Safari Club International. “We all took care of him, and he stayed with us and “wants calico cats shooed out of his sight because they’re signs Bush while Texas governor was the Safari Club loved riding on the deck,” M2 PressWire quoted Kerry as say- of the devil.” “Governor of the Year” in 1995 for vetoing legislation that ing. “I think he provided us all with a link to home and a few White House speechwriter Matthew Scully enjoyed would have curtailed game ranching. moments of peace and tranquility during a dangerous time.” commercial and critical success with a pro-animal book called Cheney is believed to have spent more days hunting Once VC disappeared after a mine exploded under Dominion, published in late 1992. during the past four years than any other member of a White the swiftboat. But the most recent pro-animal activity by any mem- House team. His reported victims have included more than 70 “After several minutes of frantic searching, the crew ber of the Bush family not involving their own pets appears to cage-reared pheasants and an unknown number of mallards concluded that they had lost him,” M2 PressWire recounted. have been a May 2002 appearance by Laura Bush at a vegetari- killed in December 2003 at the Rolling Rock Club in Ligonier Said Kerry, “We were relieved when another boat an lunch benefit for the Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch, of Township, Pennsylvania, and six ducks killed on January 5, called asking if we were missing a dog. It turns out VC was Medina, Texas. The sanctuary was founded by songwriter and 2004, on a controversial expedition with U.S. Supreme Court catapulted from the deck of our boat and landed confused, but author Kinky Friedman. Justice Antonin Scalia in southern Louisiana. Two actions of unhurt, on the deck of another boat in our patrol.” Apparently taking her information from Bush publi- the Bush administration were at the time before the Supreme Among Kerry’s other past pets, M2 PressWire cists, Natalie Gott of Associated Press wrote that the $1,000 Court for review, and both were eventually approved. added, was a parakeet that he had in college named Dodi per plate benefit raised $125,000. “Since 2001, the Bush administration has added over Faustus. Kerry remembered Dodi as ‘a smart bird who learned ANIMAL PEOPLE later learned from the Utopia 60 new hunting and fishing programs on 51 units of our a few words of French and Italian, but not smart enough to Animal Rescue Ranch filing of IRS Form 990 that the benefit National Wildlife System,” National Wildlife Service director avoid having to be rescued from a tree once.’” actually netted slightly less than half that amount, $62,262, Steve Williams boasted to news media on August 30, announc- after meeting expenses of $2,738. ing the opening to hunting of four more refuges and the expan- Bush is “friend of pork” The Bush family made another attempt to appear sion of season dates or hunting areas at 13 others. The National Pork Producers Council on August 27, friendly toward animals in general in July 2003, but a photo-op At least 315 of the current 544 National Wildlife 2004 gave George W. Bush a “Friend of the U.S. Pork at the Mokolodi Nature Reserve in Botswana went awry. Refuges now allow hunting. Producer” award. He has received similar honors in the past “Four elephants were pre-positioned for the benefit of from the National Cattleman’s Beef Association. the president, and of the cameras beaming pictures back Kerry animal history Countered National Resources Defense Council home,” recounted Associated Press writer Tom Raum. “As the Kerry had little public record as a hunter, though he senior attorney and Waterkeeper Alliance president Robert F. yellow pickup truck carrying the President, the First Lady, and had long claimed to hunt, until he shot two pheasants in under Kennedy, “The White House and its executive agencies are their daughter Barbara rolled up, two of the elephants engaged five minutes at a Halloween 2003 photo-op near Colo, Iowa. now racing to put radical policies in place that will let their cor- in some decidedly amorous activities.” Edwards was not widely known as a hunter until July porate cronies poison our air, foul our water, and devastate our Bush has signed two major pro-animal bills into law. 2004, when he told Newsweek while endorsing renewal of the wildlands for decades to come.” The Captive Wildlife Safety Act, signed in Dec- since lapsed federal restrictions on the sale of assault rifles, Kennedy mentioned specifically “the oil, coal, log- ember 2003, regulates interstate commerce in exotic and dan- “I’ve been a hunter and a gun owner and user and a fisherman ging, mining, and chemical industries,” but in previous state- gerous cats. The co-sponsors were Representative John Ensign, since I was a kid.” Within another sentence Edwards changed ments has made plain that he means factory farmers too. DVM (R-Nevada), and Senator Jim Jeffords, of Vermont, a the subject to health care. “Large-scale hog producers are a greater threat to the longtime Republican who became an independent in 2001. Pointed out the Bush/Cheney campaign web site, U.S. and U.S. democracy than Osama bin Laden and his terror- In August 2004 Bush signed the Minor Use and “Kerry has the highest rating on the Humane Scorecards spon- ist network,” Kennedy said in April 2002. Minor Species Animal Health Act, to ease the introduction of sored jointly by the Humane Society of the U.S. and the Fund “I lost my law offices in the 9/11 blast, and I lost many friends,” Kennedy added, “so I don’t say this lightly. I Judge rules against mining in Florida panther habitat believe the threat offered by an outside terrorist like Osama bin Laden, who is clearly evil,” is less than that of “an industry FORT MYERS––Ruling that the U.S. Fish and told in writing that he “would be fired in 30 days for repeatedly that is lawless in almost every respect.” Wildlife Service and Army Corps of Engineers improperly completing projects late and engaging in ‘unprofessional’ issued a finding of “no jeopardy” to the endangered Florida exchanges with the public.” (continued on page 14) panther, U.S. District Judge James Robertson on August 20, Said Eller, “I believe it’s retaliation.” 2004 invalidated the federal permits issued to Florida Rock The Florida Rock Industries permit applica- This little one will Industries Inc. to develop a 6,000-acre mine site in Lee County. tion was supported by University of Kentucky biolo- never face laboratory “In isolation, most individual projects would impact gist and reputed Florida panther expert Dave Maehr. only small portions of potential panther habitat,” Robertson “For years Maehr’s research went unques- research or isolation or wrote. “Multiplied by many projects over a long time, the tioned, even though he represented development the beatings and stress cumulative impact on the panther might be significant.” interests at the same time he was billing himself as an of training to perform The lawsuit against the mine was filed by the unbiased scientist,” summarized Chad Gillis of the National Wildlife Federation, the Florida Wildlife Federation, Naples Daily News in December 2003. as “entertainment.” and the Florida Panther Society. A peer review of Maehr’s work commis- She has found safe Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel staff writer David sioned by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation haven at Primarily Fleshler reported that the case “received support in May 2004 Commission and the Fish and Wildlife Service recent- when Andrew Eller, a biologist for the Fish and Wildlife ly found that “some of Maehr’s science and panther Primates, among Service, filed a formal complaint accusing his own agency of models are so faulty that government agencies using nearly 600 other knowingly using bad data on panther habitat, reproduction, his work should stop immediately,” Gillis wrote. rescued primates and and survival to approve eight construction projects.” Fleshler reported on July 21 that “Eller, a At Responsible Policies for Animals, Inc., 400 birds. We give 17-year veteran of the wildlife service,” had been we want America to be them sanctuary for the Please make the most generous gift a leader in compassion. rest of their lives. you can to help ANIMAL PEOPLE Please help us shine That means our universities the bright light on cruelty and must stop teaching cruel factory farming! to help them! greed! Your generous gift of $25, $50, $100, $500 or more Visit www.RPAforAll.org helps to build a world where or request our 10,000 Years Is Enough caring counts. Please campaign information pack. send your check to: ANIMAL PEOPLE Responsible Policies for Animals P.O.Box 960 P.O. Box 891, Glenside, PA 19038 Clinton, WA 98236 215-886-RPA1 • [email protected] 14 - ANIMAL PEOP LE, September 2004
Paul Siegel
Bush & Kerry records (from page 13) The Bush administration has been the Bush administration then authorized cattle moving rapidly to make industries that often ranchers who lease grazing rights on the violate environmental protection laws much Buffalo Gap National Grassland in South less “lawless,” by changing the rules govern- Dakota to poison prairie dogs. ing enforcement. This bypasses having to alter legislation, which might meet political opposi- Habitat tion, even with Republican majorities domi- The most aggressive Bush adminis- nating both houses of Congress. tration rule-changing, however, has benefited Many of the rule amendments come the timber industry. at the expense of wildlife. In March 2004, for example, the Among the examples riling Bush administration scrapped a rule adopted as Kennedy, the Bush administration in July part of the 1994 Northwest Forest Plan that 2004 authorized the Environmental Protection required the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Agency to approve pesticides without consult- Land Management to survey their holdings for ing with the Fish and Wildlife Service and 296 endangered or threatened species before National Marine Fisheries Service about possi- authorizing logging, prescribed burns, trail- ble impact on endangered species. building, or campground construction. Required by the 1973 Endangered The change affects 5.5 million acres Species Act, when there were just a few dozen of old-growth woods. The species assays are protected species, the consultation process blamed by the timber industry for slowing the Laysan albatross and chick: bombed at Farallon de Medinilla. (Carroll Cox) became so complex as the number of protected pace of old-growth logging to about half of the southern Alaska to old-growth logging. In 2001, Cross recalls, then- species rose to about 1,200 that only 30 con- rate it projected when it agreed to the plan. But Bush strategists seem to have Alabama attorney general William H. Pryor Jr. sultations were initiated within the past decade In July 2004 the Bush administration judged rightly that gun issues will trump envi- argued before the U.S. Supreme Court that the and only 12 were completed. pledged to reverse the Roadless Area ronmental concerns when hunters vote. federal government “invaded the province of The rule change is expected to Conservation Rule, adopted in 2001 by former the states” by invokiing the Clean Air Act to sharply reduce the number of lawsuits filed President Bill Clinton. After this proved more Birders vs. Bush protect wetlands used by migratory birds. against the federal government on behalf of controversial than Bush strategists anticipated, Birders are another historically con- In December 2003, while Congress endangered species––such as a case filed in Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey on servative constituency, whose largest collec- was recessed, Bush appointed Pryor to the mid-2003 by the Natural Resources Defense September 7 announced that the final decision tive voice, the National Audubon Society, 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. The recess Council against the use of atrazine, an herbi- will be delayed until after the election. was begun in 1905 by George Bird Grinnell to appointment enabled Bush to evade a Senate cide that allegedly alters the gender character- On September 1 the Bush adminis- regulate competitive bird-shooting. Eighteen review of Pryor’s credentials and potential istics and fecundity of reptiles, amphibians, tration handed the timber industry an immedi- years earlier, Grinnell and Theodore conflicts of interest. birds, and possibly mammals. ate gift, ruling that the marbled murrelets of Roosevelt founded the Boone & Crockett Club “The appointment is in effect until a The American Bird Conservancy in California, Oregon, and Washington will now to regulate trophy hunting of mammals. new Congress convenes in January,” Cross mid-2004 used the threat of a similar lawsuit be considered part of the larger population Ninety-nine years later, the National Audubon notes. “Should Bush be reelected, it can be to persuade the maker of the insecticide fen- inhabiting Alaska and British Columbia. This Society has kept birders mostly politically expected that Pryor will be renominated for a thion to withdraw it from the U.S. market. may mean that marbeled murrelets will lose aligned with hunters––but bird photographer seat on the court,” which “has jurisdiction Fenthion was implicated in killing birds in Endangered Species Act protection. Theodore Cross, of Princeton, New Jersey, over Alabama, Florida, and Georgia. Pryor connection with mosquito control in Florida. Southern marbeled murrelets have recently formed Birders United to Defeat Bush will sit in judgment,” Cross reminds, “over The Center for Biological Diversity, been considered a genetically distinct sub- to try to break that pattern. any key environmental case affecting the a frequent litigant, estimates that pesticides species. The Pacific office of the U.S. Fish “America’s 15 million adult bird Everglades and other wetlands in Florida.” are contributing to the endangerment of about and Wildlife Service recommended in April enthusiasts have been passive bystanders to the But even that was not the Bush a third of all listed species. 2004 that they should retain that status. severe destruction of bird habitats caused by action most motivating Cross. With the threat of lawsuits lessened, Only salmon and spotted owls have the Bush administration,” Cross charges at In September 2003, Cross recounts, been involved in more restrictions on logging
Avian flu updates jumped bail––but despite that history, he was grounds that have left supporters baffled. years,” wrote London Independent correspon- • The Hong Kong Food and released on bail again just two hours after he Other campaigners have fared far worse.” dent Jan McGirk. Environmental Hygiene Department was apprehended. Townend mentioned two recent mur- Under pressure from IPPL, Indones- announced in August 2004 that nearly a fifth The tiger exports to China earlier ders in Thailand and eight in Cambodia that he ian animal advocates, and quite a few shocked of the city’s live poultry vendors have agreed brought the demotions of Plodprasop believes may have involved attempts to stop Thais, the kickboxing matches were banned. to sell their licenses back to the Hong Kong Suraswadi, former permanent secretary of the wildlife trafficking,. government, in cooperation with a plan to Thai federal ministry of natural resources and Cockfighting reduce the risk from H5N1, SARS, and the environment, and Bhadharajaya Rajani, Kickboxing orangs Initially the motivation behind the other market-transmitted zoonotic diseases. former deputy chief of the forestry department. Thirty years after then-Thailand resi- Thai animal trafficking crackdown might just The city hopes to phase out live markets. Plodprasop Suraswadi, previously dent Shirley McGreal founded the Inter- have been trying to improve the image of the • Wildlife Reserves Singapore head of the fisheries department, tried to national Primate Protection League to expose nation in preparation for the CITES meeting, culled chickens, ducks, geese, crows, and defend his honor by suing former fisheries wildlife traffickers, King Bhumibol Aduladej, as some commentators have alleged. Maybe mynahs at the Jurong BirdPark, Singa- department director general Thamrong 77, and Queen Sirikit, 74, in their 2002 and the attribution of the motivation to King pore Zoo and Night Safari, and announced Prakobbon for libel, over remarks Thamrong 2003 birthday speeches asked Thailand to live Bhumibol Aduladej and Queen Sirikit was that it would no longer hatch chicks at the reportedly made about earlier “fishy” dealings. up to pro-animal Buddhist traditions. Queen only good manners. Children’s World petting zoo. The case was promptly dismissed. Sirikit specifically asked that the illegal By the end of 2003, however, the • South African agriculture offi- wildlife trade be ended. world began to recognize that animal traffick- c i a l s in August supervised the slaughter of WildAid wins case A four-month amnesty that allowed ing was deeply implicated in a deadly outbreak more than 15,000 ostriches and 1,000 chick- The quick judicial response was people to register possession of wildlife and of the H5N1 strain of avian flu. ens at five farms in Eastern Cape Province, encouraging, as was the August 16 ruling by wildlife products obtained without permits The traffic was in gamecocks. to prevent the spread of an outbreak of Bangkok southern civil court judge Chayan expired in September 2003. Police Major Cockfighting, technically illegal in H5N2, a milder cousin of H5N1, not known Tempiumof that the San Francisco-based General Sawake Pinsinchai initiated the ongo- most of Thailand, is widely practiced to harm humans. group WildAid did not commit libel in 2001 ing series of wildlife trafficking searches, throughout Southeast Asia. H5N1 apparently hospitalized with H5N1 symptoms during the by publicizing the mercury content of sharks’ seizures, and arrests a few days later. passed from migratory waterfowl to ducks next two days. fins, as discovered by the Thailand Institute of A parallel team was already hitting raised in dense outdoor confinement in south- Thai prime minister Thaksin Shina- Scientific and Technical Research. dog meat dealers. Dog meat dealing, though ern China and South Korea, then spread to WildAid was enjoined from cam- illegal, had been tolerated among the chickens and indoor-reared poultry of all kinds watra on September 10 promised that cock- paigning against eating sharks’ fins for three Vietnamese refugees of ethnic Cantonese with movements of gamecocks as a key mech- fighters and gamecock breeders would be years after the Bangkok Association of Shark background who introduced dog-eating to anism in transmitting the virus. allowed to vaccinate their birds against H5N1, Fin Restaurants filed the case in 2001. Thailand in the 1970s. Near the Laotian bor- H5N1 subsided in early 2004 only but Japanese officials immediately pointed out Following the verdict, WildAid mounted a der a substantial illicit commerce had devel- after more than 100 million chickens were that permitting vaccination could cause Japan campaign against all wildlife consumption. oped, exporting both dogs and wildlife for either culled or died from the disease, which to refuse imports of Thai poultry products. WildAid cofounder Stephen Galster resale mainly in Vietnam and southern China. hit 10 nations and was linked to cockfighting The problem is that it is difficult to hailed the verdict as a victory for all nonprofit Raids on animal entertainment in nine of them. At least 27 humans died, tell birds who have been vaccinated against organizations working in Thailand. venues began in November 2003. At Safari including 16 Vietnamese and eight Thais. H5N1 from birds who may be carrying it. Thai courts have not always been so World in Min Buri police found 115 orang- Vietnam declared itself free of H5N1 friendly toward animal and habitat advocates. utans, but Safari World had reported having on March 30. But more outbreaks occurred. H5N1, pigs, cats “Seeming co-operation between only 44. As orangutans are not native to Another 60,200 birds were killed or died in Recent scientific findings about criminals and officials continues to infuriate Thailand, some were believed to have been Vietnam due to H5N1 by September 1. Two H5N1 have heightened anxiety that it might the country’s fledgling environmental move- smuggled from Malaysia and Indonesia. human babies and an adult were fatally infect- mutate into a form capable of spreading from ment,” wrote Townsend. “A common com- Malaysian and Indonesian authori- ed in August. Another baby died in the first person to person, not just bird-to-person. plaint involves the practice of raids on suspect ties in July 2004 requested DNA testing to try week of September. Chinese H5N1 researcher Chen smugglers being called off at the last minute to determine where the orangutans came from. Outbreaks also occurred in 27 of the Hualan reported in separate articles in the after a tip-off,” which could only come from Safari World veterinarian Chatmongkol 76 Thai provinces during July. The Thai gov- January and May 2004 editions of the Chinese someone aware of the issuance of a warrant. Pratcharoenwanich responded that 41 of the ernment made desultory efforts to require Journal of Preventive Veterinary Science that “Equally important,” Townsend 110 orangutans that the facility was then sup- cockfighters to register their birds before trans- H5N1 crossed into pigs in at least four differ- reported, “is wildlife dealers’ ability to oper- posed to have had died from pneumonia and porting them to fights in other regions. ent locations in China during April 2003. It ate with impunity. Hundreds have been arrest- had been cremated. Malaysian border guards in July intercepted did not, however, spread pig-to-pig. The ed, but all, like Leuthai, remain free. No one But only five had died. Three more and killed 411 birds of various species who 1918-19, 1957-58, and 1968-69 flu pan- has received the maximum four years in jail.” were ill and later died. Police found the other were being smuggled out of Thailand, but in demics that killed upward of 30 million people The bad guys are fighting back, with five adult orangutans and 32 babies crammed mid-August H5N1 reappeared among fighting among them are all believed to originated as both continuing influence and violence. into just five cages at the back of the property. cocks and free-roaming hens at two villages in avian flu variants that spread to pigs, then “Attempts were even made to dis- Further investigation determined that Pasir Pekan, Malaysia, near the Thai border. mutated and spread from pigs to people before credit Edwin Wiek, who runs the acclaimed the orangutans were being trained to partici- Officials moved quickly to contain moving person-to-person. Wildlife Rescue Centre in Petchaburi, north of pate in kickboxing exhibitions. the outbreak by killing the host birds. On Dutch researcher Thijs Kuiken Bangkok,” Townsend wrote. “Despite nurs- “Chimpanzees in bikinis announce August 23 Malaysian government veterinari- reported in S c i e n c e in mid-August, based on ing 115 previously sickly and malnourished the kickboxing bouts with placards, and have ans caught two people in the act of trying to laboratory tests involving 12 cats that H5N1 animals, he has been arrested and charged on been performing at the park for at least 20 haul about 30,000 chickens into Thailand to can be transmitted cat-to-cat. escape the cull. Malaysian inspectors also Kuiken and team called the finding interdicted attempts to smuggle 29 birds, “extraordinary, because domestic cats are gen- Groundbreaking Books including 13 fighting cocks, from Indonesia, erally considered to be resistant to disease where yet another H5N1 outbreak occurred. from influenza A virus infection,” the virus on Religion & Animal Rights Cockfighter Komsan Fukhom, 18, family to which H5N1 belongs. by Norm Phelps of Prachin Buri province, on September 8 Kuiken investigated cat-to-cat trans- became the first Thai fatality from the second mission after 14 of 15 cats in one Thai house- round of H5N1. Three children from chicken- hold apparently died from H5N1, along with a THE DOMINION OF LOVE: breeding families in the same vicinity were clouded leopard in a Thai zoo, while a white Animal Rights According to the Bible (Lantern Books, $15) Aid For Animals, Inc. Win or Die. 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NEW! 60% net profit Available from donated for time-limited www.GREY2KUSA.org www.lanternbooks.com special needs funding. and Amazon.Com worldwide www.aidforanimalsinc.com 16 - ANIMAL PEOP LE, September 2004 Hunting the big bucks (from page 1) dation followed an agreement reached in July new wave of hunters coming to replace them. 2004 between Parks Victoria and the Hunting recruitment has lagged far Australian Deer Association to use deer below attrition for more than 25 years now, hunters to cull deer, pigs, and goats. while the number of active hunters in the U.S. The Dryden/Craig-Smith report also has declined by 40%. came parallel to a year-long still unresolved That makes wildlife managers des- controversy over a Northern Territory Parks & perate not only to recruit, but to get more Wildlife proposal to promote safari hunting for money out of the present hunting population, saltwater crocodiles. before the entire system of “sustainable con- The Northern Territory banned com- sumptive use” collapses. mercial crocodile hunting in 1971, after the Getting more hunting days out of the population fell to about 3,000, but it has now remaining hunters is the motivation behind a recovered to an estimated 75,000. Aboriginal pending federal bill introduced by U.S. Senator residents are presently allowed to kill a cumu- Charles Schumer (D-New York) late in the lative total of 600 crocs per year for their current Congressional session, which would hides, sold for about $350 apiece. The apportion $50 million in USDA funds to subsi- Northern Territory Parks & Wildlife proposal dize liability insurance for farmers who allow would authorize each aboriginal band to sell hunting. This would enable hunters to find Eland. (Elissa Free) up to 25 of their crocodile hunting permits to places to hunt more easily. park’s northern boundary. But the hunt was yards and disrupt traffic. Most of the deer are paying visitors. The hunting permits are State bills to expand hunting oppor- ended by the legislature after a storm of doe and spike buck, the legacy of decades of expected to fetch prices of up to $3,500 apiece. tunities, introduced with the fall elections protest. Yellowstone bison are accustomed to “buck laws” that encourage hunters to kill the The proposal was endorsed in May looming, would open Sunday hunting in seeing humans, and game wardens led each majority of mature males each year, sparing 2004 by the U.S.-based Crocodile Specialist Pennsylvania, and liberalize hunting regula- hunter directly to the animal to be killed.” most females and fawns. Group, including about 350 wildlife managers tions in Alabama, including by allowing the The proposed new bison hunting Hunter mythology holds that some from nations with crocs around the world. use of turkey decoys, crossbows, and sights rules would increase the illusion of challenge big bucks survive the annual onslaught by hid- Many of them are also eager to secure on muzzleloaders. while continuing to enforce the Montana poli- ing wherever the hunters cannot go. Bucks Convention on International Trade in The most prized lure for hunters, cy that no Yellowstone bison are allowed to with larger antlers than have ever been seen Endangered Species permission to allow however, is a new target species. escape alive to dwell in cattle country, lest much outside of game ranches are said to lurk exports of crocodile trophies. Thus the legislatures of Michigan they carry the livestock disease brucellosis, within the least accessible parts of even subur- Cuba, Namibia, and Zambia are and Minnesota in mid-2004 reinstituted dove endemic among Yellowstone elk. ban refuges. This in turn underlies much pres- seeking crocodile trophy export quotas at the hunting, after suspensions of 99 and 58 years. Hunters have been aggressively sure to open refuges to hunting. October 2004 CITES meeting in Bangkok. The chief argument used to pass the enabling culling elk who wander north for decades. Officials eager to boost hunting bills was that opening dove seasons would Blaming the wolves who were reintroduced to sometimes in turn encourage the legends, per- Seeking new thrills help to keep hunters and their money home. the Yellowstone region in 1996 for a recent haps most notoriously when the Illinois Nations whose wildlife management paucity of bull elk with trophy-sized antlers, Department of Natural Resources opened the is funded by the sale or lease of hunting privi- They like ‘em rare hunting outfitters now want to cull wolves as Rend Lake Wildlife Refuge to hunting in 1996. leges, or hope that it can be, as in the case of Some Michigan and Minnesota well––emulating counterparts in Alaska. Several big bucks were killed there in the first Cuba, are engaged an increasingly frantic hunters have been known to drive to nearby The Alaska Department of Fish and years that the refuge allowed hunting––and competition to attract declining numbers of states to kill doves, but the real money is in Game on August 29 announced an expansion web sites promote the notion that more remain. high-spending trophy hunters. trophy species: big animals and rare animals. of aerial wolf-hunting, from the Nelchina Expanding trophy hunting opportu- The Safari Club International and Thus the Montana Department of Basin and McGrath areas, where 144 wolves nities in the name of controlling herd size and allied pro-hunting organizations are at peaks of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks in June 2004 pro- were killed last winter, to the regions west of preventing harm to refuge neighbors are equal- wealth and influence because their constituen- posed a hunting season on bison who wander Cook Inlet, near Anchorage, and in the cen- ly common ploys in Africa, building upon cies of mostly middle-aged and elderly men out of Yellowstone National Park. tral Kuskokwim River region. local tension wherever residents of pastoral are at or near their peak earning years, but as “Bison from the park have been The 2004-2005 goal will be to kill background have brought their herds of cattle, the post-World War II “baby boom” genera- hunted before,” recalled Associated Press upward of 500 wolves, partly for their pelt and sheep, or goats with them. tion reaches their fifties, when hunters typical- writer Becky Bohrer. “During the winter of trophy value, but mostly to make moose and As grazing land is exhausted, ly participate less and less, there is no large 1988-1989, hunters killed 569 bison on the caribou hunting easier by making the target herders tend to cut fences to allow their live- animals more abundant and less wary. stock to exploit the grass and water inside Wolves have always been legally nearby wildlife reserves. Competition from hunted in Alaska, and may soon be legally livestock and introduced livestock diseases hunted in parts of the Lower 48, since Interior soon reduce the populations of prey species for Secretary Gail Norton proposed in July 2004 lions, leopards, hyenas, jackals, and wild that they should be removed from Endangered dogs, who turn to killing livestock and some- Species Act protection by January 2005. times people. The herders retaliate. The tiny Columbian whitetailed Thus roan antelope, oryx, Bright’s deer, on the other hand, has not been legally gazelles, and Derby’s elands were extirpated hunted anywhere since 1973. There are only from northeastern Uganda during the past 10- two populations of the deer, one in the vicinity 20 years. Now similar damage is occurring in of Roseburg, Oregon, and the other at the the southern half of the country. A virus Cheetah. (Elissa Free) Julia Butler Hansen National Wildlife Refuge believed to have been introduced by livestock in southern Washington. killed more than 100 hippos in late summer After 30 years on the federal endan- 2004 at Queen Elizabeth National Park. Who killed hunting profits in Zimbabwe? gered species list, the Columbian whitetailed Predators took a deliberate hit. H A R A R E ––The search for some- While Sibanda pressed charges deer was declared “recovered” in 2003, only “Lake Mburo National Park may one to blame is underway in Zimbabwe. against Nhema, Nhema suspended and six years after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife soon be deprived of carnivorous animals, as “We have a situation where the pre- ordered an investigation of Vitalis Chadenga, Service hired USDA Wildlife Services to kill leopards follow lions into extinction,” warned vious hunting season earned $24 million U.S. identified by Financial Gazette of Harare coyotes at the Julia Butler Hansen National Kampala New Vision reporter Gerald Tenywa and then suddenly the last hunting season writer Njabulo Ncube as “a director at the Wildlife Refuge on the pretext that the coyotes on July 31, 2004. Tenywa cited recent earned only $13 million,” fumed National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority,” might extirpate the deer. reports from Uganda Wildlife Authority chief Parks and Wildlife Management Authority accused of “corruptly capturing wild animals In June 2004 the Oregon Fish and Arthur Mugisha and hunting safari promoter chief executive Morris Mtsambiwa to Isadore for sale at the country’s major wildlife parks.” Wildlife Commission tentatively approved a Kaka Matama that Lake Mburo region pas- Guvamombe of the government-controlled On August 20, Zimbabwe Indep- hunting season on Columbian whitetailed deer. toralists are poisoning leopards at the rate of at Harare Herald in mid-August 2004. endent writer Godfrey Marawanyika detailed The North Dakota Game and Fish least one per month. “Our question is, what happened to the case actually brought against Chadenga: Department is offering an even scarcer target Uganda Wildlife Authority board the other $11 million? Investigations are in he was allegedly given a travel allowance of this year, having authorized the first prairie chair John Nagenda in late August 2004 progress,” Mtsambiwa continued. $500 U.S. to visit South Africa, but visited chicken hunt in the state since 1945. reportedly warned poachers that they “risk Mtsambiwa said nothing of land Mozambique instead, and “is also accused of Whether or not hunting a new or death” if caught in the act. Kenya and occupations by mobs of “war veterans,” con- writing a letter to a warden of the Nyaman- unusual trophy species actually poses any sort Zimbabwe both pursued shoot-to-kill policies fiscations of especially attractive properties eche sanctuary, instructing him to capture of challenge does not seem to enter into the against elephant and rhino poachers during the by corrupt public officials, uncontrolled stray animals that were destroying crops and promotional consideration. late 1980s, while private militias funded by poaching, and the near complete destruction disrupting resettled people.” In June 2004 the Norwegian parlia- international conservation organizations took of many of Zimbabwe’s renowned private Amid that fracas, London D a i l y ment even approved a three-year-old proposal up the pursuit of poachers in other nations, but wildlife conservancies. His remarks, howev- T e l e g r a p h correspondent Peta Thorneycroft by fisheries minister Svein Ludvigsen to allow by the mid-1990s such tactics were largely dis- er, hinted at a pretext for further seizures. revealed that Zimbabwean information minis- paid guests to participate in commercial seal- credited and abandoned. “Hunting proceeds are paid in ter Jonathan Moyo in 2003 seized the Sikumi ing. Norwegian sealers rarely fill their govern- In fairness, pastoralists who poison advance to the safari operators,” Guva- Tree Lodge and 45,000 surrounding acres, mentally assigned quota of about 2,000 seals predators are only emulating the practices of mombe wrote, “but last year many operators, described as “a showpiece of eco-tourism,” per year, Ludvigsen pointed out, and hunters the descendants of colonialists, who still own working in cahoots with white former farm- and turned it into a hunting ranch. would pay much more to kill seals than the and operate most of the biggest ranches in ers, devised methods of circumventing for- Moyo acted after legal owner Thys hunters make from pelt sales. Africa, raising cattle primarily for the export eign currency declaration procedures.” de Vries, 44, and his wife, three children, beef industry. The difference is that while the Hwange safari operator Headman and staff, fled an armed gang. Targeting refuges pastoralists often poison predators on nominal- Sibanda meanwhile sued Zimbabwean envi- Moyo also recently bought rights to There are two ways for wildlife ly protected land, the ranchers mostly confine ronment and tourism minister Francis Nhema a confiscated farm from the Zimbabwean agencies, anywhere, to boost trophy hunting. their poisoning to private property. for allegedly improperly awarding a hunting government, Thorneycroft wrote. One is by authorizing hunting in and Namibian ranchers are reportedly concession to a company headed by a Nhema “The farm is still legally owned by around nature reserves. This is usually done killing 200 to 300 cheetahs per year, prompt- associate named Marble Dete. the estate of Tom Bayley, a Briton,” said on the pretexts that the target species are over- ing the Cheetah Conservation Fund to initiate a Sibanda may have felt encouraged Thorneycroft. “Bayley, 88, was under siege abundant, and/or that rogue individuals must Predator Friendly beef certification program in by political history: Nhema is married to a for 35 days before he fell and broke a leg and be culled. July 2004. CCF founder Laurie Marker told daughter of the late Joshua Nkomo, who with abandoned the farm he had worked for 66 Such arguments are easily made Wezi Tjaronda of the Windhoek New Era that Robert Mugabe led the struggle that in 1980 years. He died a week later. wherever either expanding suburbs or commu- European consumers will pay premium prices overturned apartheid rule in the nation then “Moyo,” Thorneycroft recounted, nities founded on tourism have hemmed in or for Namibian beef if assured that it is raised called Rhodesia. Nkomo and Mugabe then “was appointed to [Zimbabwean president] even encroached upon wildlife habitat. without killing wildlife. fought each other from 1982 until 1990, Robert Mugabe’s cabinet in 2000, and draft- U.S. parks and wildlife refuges over- Tjaronda wrote that Marker believes when they formed a mutually mistrustful ed media laws widely regarded as among the taken by urban sprawl are typically the home about two-thirds of Namibian beef producers coalition government. Nkomo died in 1999. world’s most repressive.” range for deer herds who spread into nearby (continued on page 17) A NIMAL PEOP LE, September 2004 - 17 Hunting (from 16) are already able to meet the Predator Friendly certification standard. Beef exports to Europe are the largest Namibian industry. If wildlife goes wild... While incursion, encroachment, pastoralist predator control, and poaching for profit all menace wildlife within African reserves, and Asian reserves too, many ani- mals in turn take advantage of cut fences to leave the reserves, raiding crops and attacking humans who try to stop them. Elephants and baboons leave reserves to run amok some- where almost every day. As the September 2004 edition of ANIMAL PEOPLE went to press, elephant rampages had recently occurred in Bangla- desh, Botswana, India, Kenya, Lagos, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, and Sri Lanka––and those were just the reported cases. Crop-raiding by baboons is so fre- quent as to rarely receive media notice. Lions and elephants. (Elissa Free) Hippos, on the other hand, can crops outside Tsavo East National Park. made-for-tourism wildlife parks, much as the of Eastern Cape province was fenced to keep hardly be ignored. “The lions and buffaloes have USDA exists to facilitate agriculture. wildlife, and the amount of land reserved for “Hippos eat the grass where people destroyed hundreds of acres of cow peas, Proponents of trophy hunting as the hunting was increasing at about 10% per year, farm, live in the water where people fish and bananas and cassava,” and killed six goats, economic mainstay for wildlife conservation Port Elizabeth Technikon agriculture and eat the rice the farmers grow, too,” Burkina local councillor Christopher Menza Tongoi have long sold African governments on the game management department chief Pieter van Faso environmental official Joseph Bono told Walker Mwandoto of The Nation. idea that revenue from culling problematic ani- Niekirk recently told Nicky Padayachee of the fumed in June 2004, alleging that the national Fellow councillor Ndigiria Karisa mals and raising more to shoot can buy peace Johannesburg Sunday Times. hippo population has increased from fewer Nyiro hinted, however, that the wildlife were from the refuge neighbors whose livestock, Kobus Bothma in March 2004 than 100 to more than 1,400 since hippo hunt- only scapegoats for a local famine caused crops, homes, and families may be at risk. reported that 19,576 wild animals were sold at ing was banned and hippo reserves were estab- chiefly by political corruption. He alleged that The “sustainable use” theory, how- 58 auctions in 2003, and that 8,900 animals lished in 1991. unnamed government officials had stolen and ever, has tended to break down in practice, as were shot by hunters in 2001. Within two days Burkina Faso reau- sold some relief supplies, and unfairly distrib- relatively little money actually reaches the pas- Critics of “canned hunting” believe thorized a hippo hunting season. uted the rest. toralists and villagers, whose main interest that there are as many as 3,500 captive-bred “Some of the proceeds [of the illegal remains producing more food, for themselves lions in South Africa available for shooting at Kenya heat rises sales] were allegedly spent on a dais for a min- and to sell. any given time. Increasing pressure to lift the ban on ister’s entourage,” Mwandotoa wrote. Thandee N’wa Mhangwana of But fewer than 3,000 foreign hunters sport hunting in effect in Kenya since 1977 B u a N e w s in Pretoria reported in June 2004 per year visit South Africa––and no other comes from four sources: large landowners, Ranching beats limits that while the Limpopo region of South Africa nation attracts more. mostly in the Laikipia district, eager to emu- Hunting wildlife from reserves has attracts 63% of the hunters who visit South Exactly 876 Americans and 115 late the South African hunting industry; pro- limits, since hunting rapidly reduces the Africa, “At the moment there are less than 20 Spaniards hunted on the Eastern Cape in 2002, hunting organizations including the World alleged overpopulation of most large animals, professional black hunters (guides) in van Niekirk said. Wildlife Fund, African Wildlife Foundation, and even more rapidly exhausts the supply of Limpopo, and no black hunting outfitters, About 2,000 hunted in Limpopo, and Safari Club International; USAid, back- purported rogues. safari operators, or game farmers.” BuaNews added. ing the pro-hunting policies of the George W. The most lucrative form of trophy Limpopo recently secured CITES The Eastern Cape and Limpopo Bush administration; and subsistence farmers hunting, long established in South Africa and permission to sell permits to kill 35 leopards. provinces together generate about half of the and villagers, whose resentment of predators Zimbabwe, fast spreading elsewhere, is to Seven permits––20%––were allocated to poor total hunting revenue in South Africa. Many and crop-damaging wildlife is whetted by raise target animals like livestock, to be hunt- and mostly black communities. That left 80% hunters visit both, to be sure of bagging all the politicians looking toward grabbing some of ed in more-or-less natural-looking but still going to outposts of the mostly Dutch- “big five”: elephant, lion, leopard, rhino, the loot from trophy hunting. nonetheless securely fenced enclosures. descended Afrikaner hunting establishment. and Cape buffalo. But this is a matter of lin- Among the landowner faction are This is called “canned hunting,” “If black people see how big the gering custom, from the days when animals some who fled to Kenya from the former because the hunter is as assured of success as hunting industry is, and how much they can were chiefly hunted in the wild. These days, apartheid nation of Rhodesia, now renamed if he had opened a tin to find meat. Wildlife benefit from it, then maybe they will join in,” many hunting venues offer the chance to kill Zimbabwe. They see opportunity in the pre- agencies collect permit fees and provide breed- opined Limpopo hunting regulations manager them all––in one day, if the price is right. sent Zimbabwean troubles, which have scared ing stock from the reserves, but otherwise Abraham Matsila. away about half the hunters who formerly have little management responsibility. Other such efforts to expand the eco- Income down went there. The irony of the Rhodesians win- Traditional wildlife managers and nomic base of hunting in South Africa are offi- South African hunting revenue ning political support from some of the poorest outfitters who escort hunters into wild habitat cially encouraged. Much of the “unused” peaked in 2000, and has fallen off since, but black Kenyans has mostly eluded notice, typically disapprove of “canned hunts,” not property obtained from ranchers and redistrib- South African officials blame the slump on while the politics of hate have had an effect. least because they are economic competition. uted to tribes under land ownership reform economic conditions rather than declining Populist president Mwai Kibaki all Many jurisdictions where traditional schemes has proved unsuitable for agriculture. numbers of hunters. but declared open season on wildlife in a pair hunting still has a strong constituency have This is typically why the land was “unused” “Fifty-five percent of our clients of August 14 speeches at the Kinamba and banned canned hunts, including Montana, and available. come from the U.S.,” Professional Hunters Kwa Wanjiku marketplaces in Laikipia. where challenges to an anti-canned hunt initia- After about a decade of trying to Association of South Africa chief executive Blaming the desperately underfund- tive approved by the voters in November 2000 farm on a 600-hectare former game ranch at Gary Davies told Padayachee. “The rest come ed Kenya Wildlife Service for animals wan- are still coming before the courts. Bambathaskraal, the Negome Community from Europe.” dering outside the national parks, Kibaki told Ontario natural resources minister Trust recently “signed a four-year control with Recent auction prices hint that the the crowds that, “If wild animals invade David Ramsay on August 16 pledged to follow the KwaZulu-Natal Hunting and Conservation canned hunting industry may have reached the farms, do not blame farmers for their deaths.” the lead of British Columbia and Manitoba in Association,” Craig Elyot of BuaNews report- saturation point, especially with intensifying Nine days later the KWS responded prohibiting canned hunts, but immediately ran ed in June 2004. The hunting organization competition from other nations. to a five a.m. call complaining that three sub- into unexpectedly strong opposition. guaranteed the Negome trust a basic level of Two hand-reared common duiker adult bull elephants from Aberdares National “The ministry says there are 10 to 25 income plus 80% of the accommodation rev- and 10 dassies (the South African rock hyrax Park were running amok in the villages of such operations across the province, and that enue and 85% of the hunting fees. subspecies) sold for record prices at the 16th Kinyogoori, Ngarariga, and Gitogothi. between 200 and 400 animals are killed annu- Ngome Community Trust chair annual Ezemvelo ZwaZulu-Natal Wildlife Initially the rangers tried to coax the ally, but one operator says it is more like Thembinkosi Lathe anticipated that “Hunting Authority auction on June 11, 2004, but those elephants back into the reserve, but “Attempts 2,000 to 5,000,” reported Richard Brennan of will create training and jobs,” plus “income are species kept mainly for show. by KWS rangers to dissuade the villagers from the Toronto Star. from hunting and the byproducts of hunting, As in most years, “The majority of following the animals,” further upsetting such as taxidermy and the sale of meat.” the animals were sold to private reserves for them, “were unheeded,” wrote Cyrus Crowded market But whether the anticipated revenue dollar-denominated hunting,” Business Day Kinyungu of The Nation. In the U.S., the Competitive Enter- will develop remains to be seen. correspondent Nicola Jenvey affirmed. But The rangers finally shot the ele- prise Institute, a far-right group with strong There are now as many as 10,000 hunting demand was weak. Auction revenues phants, but “They did not have the right guns influence on George W. Bush administration game ranches in South Africa, according to were down 42% overall. for the job,” a KWS spokesperson told Nixon policies, has long urged through the sub- University of Pretoria Centre for Wildlife “Several of the 30 white rhinos on Ng’ang’a of the East African Standard. sidiary Center for Private Conservation that Management professor Kobus Bothma. Many auction were withdrawn, as bidders missed Then the mob struck. wildlife management should follow the now more facilities are raising animals to be sold to the reserve price,” Jenvey wrote. “The human hounds decided not to catastrophically collapsed Zimbabwean model hunting venues than actually offer opportuni- (continued on page 18) wait,” Ng’ang’a wrote. “By the time the ele- ––meaning, in effect, that wildlife agencies ties to shoot them. phants breathed their last, little of their bodies should exist to facilitate canned hunts and As of 2002, 14.6% RescueCats, Inc. is a nonprofit, no- had flesh. Rapacious villagers cruelly kill, parceled out chunks of meat into plastic bags all-volunteer cat rescue group in from whatever quarter their knives and pangas Fayetteville, Ga. could cut from creatures still resisting death Please speak up for one In 2003 we placed 444 kittens from a hail of police bullets…It was a macabre of the most maligned and and cats in new loving homes. feast that would send the average animal rights mistreated animals on crusader into prolonged mourning.” our planet. Go to www.rescuecats.org One elephant was butchered alive Please help us continue our work by after falling into an open-pit latrine. www.batworld.org making a tax-deductible donation to: Eventually, reported Thuo Gitu of and click on RescueCats Inc. the East African Standard, members of the P.O. Box 142882 mob fell to fighting each other for the spoils. "Wall of Shame" The hue-and-cry for hunting briefly to be a voice for those who Fayetteville, GA 30214 subsided, but resumed in early September have none. Here is my gift of: $10 $25 $50 $100 $250 $500+ after six buffalo pursued by five lions crushed 18 - ANIMA L PEOPLE, September 2004 Kenya leads opposition to lifting CITES ivory trade ban, seeks lion trophy trade ban N A I R O B I ––Kenya will again lead seized 253 pieces of ivory totaling 1,223 kilo- “We still have stockpiles of ivory, poaching. Some southern African countries the opposition to lifting the global embargo on grams in 53 incidents across the country,” and we need to continue selling to avoid have been very successful in protecting their ivory and rhino horn trafficking at the October Khaniri continued. expenses of storage,” Zimbabwe Parks & elephant populations,” the EC document con- 2004 conference of the 166 parties to the Two Somali poachers were killed Wildlife Management Authority director-gen- tinued, noting the claims of South Africa, Convention on International Trade in and a third escaped with multiple wounds after eral Morris Mutsambiwa told the government- Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe Endangered Species in Bangkok, Thailand, a dawn firefight on August 3 near controlled Harare Herald. that they have too many elephants. Kenyan assistant minister for the environment Thambanguchi, in Tsavo East National Park. The European Commission in early “The need to prevent any ivory from and natural resources George Khaniri The Somali poaching gangs are typically asso- August 2004 stated that it cannot agree to entering the market generates stockpiles that announced on August 26. ciated with warlord militias, often aligned or resuming the commercial ivory trade “unless it impose a big security burden on these coun- Kenya is also proposing to ban inter- associated with Al Qaida. is clear that this will not lead to increased tries,” the EC concluded. national traffic in African lion trophies, but Namibian permanent secretary for the Kenyan recommendation is opposed by the environment and tourism Malan Lindeque U.S. and Britain, two of the nations with the announced back in May 2004 that Nambia will most lion hunters. seek CITES authorization to export 2,000 kilos The wild African lion population is of ivory per year, and to permit Nile crocodile believed to have fallen 70% since 1996, to just hunting. Namibia claims 11,000 elephants, up 23,000, distributed among 89 locations. Half from 5,400 before the ivory embargo, and has live in the Masai Mara and Serengeti region of stockpiles of about 40 metric tons of tusks. Kenya and Tanzania, the Selous game reserve About 75% were seized from poachers. in Tanzania, Kruger National Park in South Repeatedly failing to convince Africa, and the Okavango Delta of Botswana. CITES that it has elephant poaching and illegal Khaneri told The Nation that Kenya ivory trafficking under control, and therefore now has 28,000 elephants and 500 rhinos, up able to sell only 20 metric tons of stockpiled from 16,000 and 250 since CITES imposed the ivory in the past decade, the Zimbabwe Parks ivory and rhino horn trade bans in 1989. & Wildlife Management Authority in August Anticipating that the ivory and rhino sold 554 kilos of ivory to local merchants for horn embargoes might soon be eased or lifted, just $3,214––about 3% of the pre-embargo poachers typically raiding from Somalia have price, and also substantially less than the recently escalated their activity, as often going rate for ivory in legal sales of stockpiles occurs on the eve of a CITES meeting. taken from culled “rogue” elephants or consfi- Khaniri said that poachers had killed cated from poachers. at least 108 Kenyan elephants and 33 black Occurring amid a series of scandals rhinos in 2003-2004. involving Zimbabwean wildlife management, “Law enforcement officers have also the deal raised immediate suspicion.
Hunting the big bucks (from page 17) (Elissa Free) Instead of selling whole black rhino issued in May 2004 authorizes ranching bark- semi-wild have rapidly increased in recent This may not be popular among poor families, the Ezemvelo auction management ing deer, spotted deer, black buck, sambar, years, for example, even as authentic wilder- Africans whose chief grievance for decades offered only three individual males. They hog deer, wild boar, antelope, gharial croco- ness has diminished. has been that their forebears were cheated of fetched just 13% of the record price paid sev- diles, and five species of pheasant, including Nigeria joined the already intense their ancestral homelands by colonialists, eral years ago for a six-member family. the Impeyan pheasant––the national bird. competition for rhino-watchers in late August leaving them to scratch out meager livings on Permits for commercially breeding 2004 by agreeing to purchase black rhinos, the worst soil, with the least water. But more getting in rhesus macaques, snakes, and vultures had giraffes, zebras, kuku, impalas, and kori South Africa in recent years has set- Despite the slumping South African already been issued. The macaques are being bustards from Namibia to replenish the deplet- tled some long smouldering land disputes by market, the Namibian cabinet in late June rati- raised for export to laboratories, in collabora- ed Yankari Game Reserve. deeding over some government holdings to fied a June 8 preliminary decision to start a tion with the University of Washington South African National Parks mean- regional tribal governments, including por- wildlife auction. Pauline Lindeque, director Regional Primate Research Center. while expanded its attractions by releasing four tions of nature reserves. But the legions of of scientific services for the Nambian Ministry The snakes are raised for medicinal white rhinos into Mapungubwe National Park. landless South Africans are growing faster of Environment and Tourism, is to establish use, including both the production of Mapungubwe has not been rhino habitat within than the human population, as private criteria for making loans to encourage free- antivenins and traditional remedies made from recent memory, but archaeological diggings in landowners join the rush to game ranching. holders and newly resettled farmers to go into snake remains. the area have turned up a 2,000-year-old gold “Turning farms into game preserves wildlife ranching. The vultures are apparently being rhino and various other indications that rhinos means moving farm laborers to make way for The Uganda Wildlife Authority in bred in anticipation of a market for captive were nearby as long as 15,000 years ago, antelopes, rhinos, and lions,” summarized 2001 created an exemption from a 1979 birds to facilitate “sky burial” by Parsees and according to Dirk Nel of BuaNews. New York Times writer Michael Wines. “Post- national ban on hunting to allow a local firm others whose traditional disposal of human The park is a component of the apartheid South Africa has been beset by poi- called Game Trails to promote hunting around remains has been jeopardized by the declining Greater Limpopo/Shashe Transfrontier Park, sonous disputes between white farmers and the edges of Lake Mburo National Park. Indian vulture population. also including Kruger National Park, Limpopo black tenants who have staked claims to the “The UWA got 25% of the money, The government of King Gyanendra National Park in Mozambique, the Tuli Block land. Many farm workers simply resist mov- county authorities shared 5%, and community Bir Bikram Dev, an enthusiastic hunter and of Botswana, and the Tuli Safari region of ing…Some experts ruminate that farmers have protected areas took 5%. It is not clear how practitioner of animal sacrifice, rushed the Zimbabwe and South Africa. set up game preserves expressly to force con- much Game Trails got,” wrote Alfred Wasike Wildlife Farming, Reproduction and Research Almost simultaneous with the tentious black tenants off their farms.” and Gerald Tenya of the Kampala New Vision. policy into effect by ordinance decree. Mapungubwe rhino introduction, Limpopo Resentment over such tactics eventu- The proceeds encouraged the UWA “Parliament is dissolved and the National Park administrator Gilberto Vicente ally erupted into land occupations in to enter into a parallel contract with an country is reeling under political uncertainty,” declared that formerly flagrant poaching in the Zimbabwe. Pastoralists in Kenya have repeat- Austrian firm called Zwilling Safaris, to pro- noted Environmental News Service correspon- Mozambiquan part of the Transfrontier Park is edly driven their herds into nature reserves mote hunting near the Kabwoya Wildlife dent Deepak Gajurel. now under control, and authorized the release during the droughts of recent years, in militant Reserve in Hoima. Nepal has been battling a Maoist of 10 white rhino. defiance of the Kenya Wildlife Service. In April 2004 Zwilling Safaris sud- insurrection since 1996. The fighting has More than 3,000 animals imported On August 15, 2004, the 100th denly withdrew. recently displaced between 100,000 and from South Africa have been introduced to anniversary of the signing of the treaty with “Zwilling says they have gotten a 200,000 people, according to the Norwgian Limpopo National Park altogether, according Britain that legally evicted the Masai from the better deal with the Congolese,” UWA execu- Refugee Council. to the Mozambique Information Agency, and Rift Valley of Kenya, Masai activists invaded tive director Arthur Mugisha said. another 3,000 are to be added by 2008. ranches in the Laikipia district. Riot police But that claim came coincidental Developing ecotourism Vicente called the poaching problem shot one man dead and arrested more than 100 with reports from Garamba National Park in Non-consumptive wildlife tourism history only five weeks after another Limpopo people, enforcing the landholders’ property the Democratic Republic of the Congo that at provides more employment to host communi- National Park senior official, Zenio rights for the moment. least a thousand of the park’s estimated 7,000 ties than hunting, where well-developed, but Macamero, charged that police corruption has But the struggle over land is likely to elephants have been poached recently, while the profits come from attracting and accommo- undercut wildlife law enforcement. intensify. Many landholders see introducing the northern white rhino population, the last dating relatively large numbers of visitors. Macamero accused local police of canned hunts as their best hope for keeping the in the wild, has been reduced to two dozen. The economic attraction of hunting releasing poachers caught in the act due to an land. Many conservationists see game ranch- Garamba National Park conservation is that it provides quick infusions of cash with alleged lack of evidence, even when wildlife ing rather than traditional tribal herding as the coordinator Kes Hillman-Smith told members relatively little investment required in infra- wardens have seized weapons, rhino horn, preferable option for maintaining wildlife of the London Zoological Society in May 2004 structure. Building a profitable eco-tourism and the meat from endangered animals. habitat. Both factions encourage pastoralists that animals who have survived heavy poach- venue, by contrast, can be slow. The Mozambique Information and subsistence farmers to join their clamor ing during seven years of civil war are now The Khama Rhino Sanctuary at Paje Agency press release about the rhino introduc- that wildlife should be hunted. further jeopardized by the same Janjaweed village in Serowe, Botswana, began restoring tion concluded with a hint of a further problem Diverting anger and frustration origi- militias now terrorizing the Darfur region of rhinos and other species to former ranch land looming: “Plans are also underway to remove nating with poverty and misery toward animals Sudan. Two forest guards and three poachers in 1999. Starting with four rhinos, it now has the people living in the park and resettle them. instead of wealthy landholders is, thus far, a were reportedly killed in a shootout just a few 29, 16 of them born on site. It employs 23 Resettlement is due to begin in 2005, and last successful survival strategy for the landhold- days before Hillman-Smith spoke. people from nearby villages, sanctuary man- for about five years.” ers. But wildlife will lose no matter who wins Machine-gun-wielding Janjaweed ager Moremi Tjibae recently told Meekaeel M. have also killed 90% of the Swayne harte- Siphambili of The Reporter in Gaborone. beests in Ethiopia, Ethiopian Wildlife Like many attempts to develop eco- Conservation Authority group leader Minase tourism, the Khama Rhino Sanctuary has Gashaw charged in an August 19 interview relied for start-up capital on nonprofit support. Founded in 1989 ~ For $48/yr.- The Black Magesty with the Addis Tribune. “Donors cannot fund the project for- $28/6 mos., you receive a monthly and Animal Rights Tourists normally will not visit a war ever,” Tjibae said. “We are living from hand newsletter plus 2 free personalized zone. Trophy hunters might, if the targets are to mouth, but we manage to pay our staff even letters of your choice along with The Law of Love and Unity sufficiently prestigious. though we are left with nothing afterward. addressed envelopes. All printed on and the Thus the government of Nepal Since 2000 we have been paying our staff from high-quality 100% recycled Earth-Dwellers without rights recently served notice that it intends to vigor- tourist fees,” Tjibae added. stationary. For the animals ~ Send in $2.50 for your copy: ously encourage whatever market can be The open question for eco-tourism The Write Cause developed for hunting captive-reared promoters is whether their market, like the The Word, The Universal Spirit Himalayan species. A new Nepalese Wildlife hunting market, will become saturated. P. O. Box 577 ~ Valley Ford P.O. Box 3549 • Woodbridge, CT 06525 Farming, Reproduction and Research policy Opportunities to view rhinos in the CA 94972 ~ (707) 876.9276 ANIMAL PEOPLE, Septe mbe r 2004 - 19 Kenya rejects bid to privatize parts of Kenya Wildlife Service N A I R O B I––Swiss-born horticultur- some of the people who recently drafted a bill body…One name being suggested in KWS alist Rene Haller, founder of the Baobab that is now before Parliament asking for the corridors,” Mbaria said, “is that of former Trust, was on August 18 appointed acting 1977 act banning sport shooting in the reserves KWS director Richard Leakey.” chair of the Kenya Wildlife Service. to be repealed. Leakey has vigorously defended the Haller succeeds Rhino Ark founder “The shooting lobby is composed ban on sport hunting. Colin Church. Church was indefinitely sus- mainly of big-time ranchers in Laikipia, Leakey fell under suspicion, Mbaria pended and KWS chief executive officer Machakos, and Nakuru,” Mbaria continued. explained, because “Early in 2003, a scheme Evans Mukolwe was reprimanded after 11 Oscar Obonyo of The Nation l a t e r to set up a trust fund to finance some KWS days of furor over a plan advanced by Church set the record straight about Hind’s position. operations was nipped in the bud by the gov- associate Andrew Hind to privatize the money- “Mr. Hind, a director of Bill ernment, who suspected the fund was meant making KWS activities. Jordan’s Wildlife Defence Fund, said his pro- to control conservation in Kenya. The fund’s Mother & baby. (Elissa Free) As in several other recent flaps posals would never involve harming any ani- architects were Dr. Leakey and retired World age toward opening Kenya to sport hunting. involving the KWS, much of the uproar mal,” Obonyo wrote. Bank director Harold Wackman.” KWS came closest to self-sufficien- appeared to result from the manner in which “Enumerating his wildlife conserva- That controversy led to the firing of cy under Nehemiah Rotich, who reduced the the plan was made public. tion activities, which include donating 50% of then-KWS director Michael Wamithi, who agency budget deficit from 588 million Kenya “The proposed deal to turn KWS the profits of his restaurant, The Wildlife previously headed the Nairobi office of the shillings when he was appointed in July 1999 into a commercial company was allegedly Café, and sponsoring several projects in International Fund for Animal Welfare. to just 30 million Kenya shillings when he was made without Cabinet approval,” and for that Kenya and other countries, Mr. Hind main- Both the trust fund proposed by fired under unexplained circumstances in matter without the knowledge of most of the tained that he is a conservationist who believes Leakey and the privatization scheme proposed December 2001. KWS board, wrote Biketi Kikechi of the East that wildlife can raise revenue from tourism by Hind were to have drawn heavily upon for- Rotich on August 13 detailed to African Standard. without having its life threatened,” Obonyo eign capital. This left both proposals vulnera- Nixon Ng’anga’a of the East African Standard Hind, at invitation of Church, draft- continued. “His idea is the introduction of ble to attack as “neo-colonialism,” especially a series of transactions that Rotich charged ed the proposal on July 8. Entitled T h e commercial policies which make money from after they were advanced for some time in vir- were “done in order to weaken the KWS finan- Commercialization of the Kenya Wildlife tourism, merchandise sales, memberships, tual secrecy. cially. It has now been so run down,” Rotich Service: Concept Document, it came to public hotels, and safari camps.” The underlying economic issue is charged, “that privatization appears to be the notice after almost a month of quiet discussion. Said Hind, “I do not now, nor have that KWS, organized as a wildlife police only viable option.” When it finally came to light, it I ever, nor shall I ever support in public or pri- force, has usually operated at a substantial Rotich argued that KWS, if properly appears to have been much misunderstood. vate any actions which harm wildlife.” loss, and has been heavily dependent upon managed, could itself develop all of the viable “If the deal goes ahead, it is possible Mbaria noted in his initial report that foreign grants, which also jeopardize national economic opportunities envisioned by Hind that Kenya’s prized wildlife could be shot for the privatization plan was “silent on both the control of wildlife policy. and others, without surrendering any control sport,” wrote John Mbaria of The Nation o n shooting of wildlife for sport, and the name of Under the George W. Bush adminis- of natural resources, and without subjecting August 7. “Behind the deal are believed to be the man who would head the wildlife tration, USAid in particular has applied lever- Kenyan wildlife to consumptive use. Norway hits cruelty to fish but not whales IDA (1 time) O S L O ––The Nor- wegian Food Safety Auth- ority on July 27, 2004 “revealed rampant violations of animal protection laws after an inspection of a plant that stores live wild cod. The NFSA says fish are being tor- tured,” wrote Frodis Braath- en and Jonathan Tisdall of Aftenposten. The crackdown on cruelty to fish came three days after Norway and Japan failed once again to lift the global moratorium on com- mercial whaling in effect since 1986. Norway has permit- ted coastal whaling since 1994 in defiance of the mora- torium, but has not been able to develop the commerce in whale meat to Japan that was expected to make whaling profitable. Before the annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission, held this year in Sorrento, Italy, the Norwegian parliament considered raising the self-set national minke whale quota to 1,800, from 655, before settling on 745. After the IWC meeting, when Norwegian whalers had killed only 543 whales at season’s end in early August, the season was extended into September— but the pro-whaling High North Alliance told Agence France-Presse that Norweg- ian whalers had already “stored away their harpoons weeks ago…due to dwindling demand” for whale meat GREYHOUND TALES TRUE STORIES OF RESCUE, COMPASSION AND LOVE edited by Nora Star, with introduction by Susan Netboy. Learn more about these animals & how you can help them. Send $15.95 to: Nora Star 9728 Tenaya Way, Kelseyville, CA 95451 20 - ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2004 THE PHILOSOPHER’S DOG BY RAIMOND GAITA Random House (1745 Broadway MD 18-2, New York, NY 10019), 2004. 220 pages, paperback. $23.95. The Philosopher’s Dog is a collection of philosophi- It begs the question of why he is a meat-eater. duty to prevent it and avoid participating in it, even indirectly. cal arguments loosely drawn together by events that involve We are not convinced that Gaita’s understanding of Adopting any concept of animal rights requires mak- author Raymond Gaita’s pets. Many non-animal subjects are animal rights is conceptually correct. ing real changes in lifestyle. If enough people embrace any covered, and there is more philosophy than dog in the book. “Animal rights” may be an illusion if one defines the version of “animal rights,” society will be profoundly changed. Gaita specifically declines to philosophize about veg- term narrowly to mean legal rights, or a kind of moral force- That this is not illusory is evident from the recent etarianism, other than to assert that the slogan ‘meat is murder’ field, as he puts it, but even at that, some animals in some frantic efforts of agribusiness to win consumer approval with does not bear close analysis. He steadfastly distinguishes places are already protected to some extent by the cultural per- “good husbandry” labeling while new lines of vegetarian pre- between morality applied to humans and morality applied to ception that they should not be harmed. pared foods fill shelves in most major supermarkets. animals. Allowing comparisons between the Holocaust and Household pets, endangered species, and “game,” Gaita praises J.M. Coetzee’s book The Lives of factory farming, he points out that seeking to equate the two for example, tend to have at least the shadow of “rights” not Animals and quotes extensively from it. But Gaita is critical of would not find general acceptance, and would rather indicate “a possessed by livestock and other wildlife. Though “game” recent books by Jeffrey Masson and Eugene Linden, which he sentimentality that is wicked and offensive.” species may be hunted in season, with a permit, the require- describes as piling anecdote upon anecdote “with unrelenting Gaita believes it is foolish to talk about animal rights, ment of such special conditions creates a widely recognized polemic intent” to show that animals are capable of cognitive he says, adding that this “is partly because I think it is mistaken implied right to otherwise live free from human intervention. thought. Gaita sympathizes with Linden and Masson for seek- to talk of rights in the case of human beings. To say that an Further, the concept of animal rights as pursued by ing to escape from “scientistic skepticism,” with its neurotic action is unjust because it violates someone’s rights adds noth- Tom Regan in Empty Cages appears to be exactly what Gaita fear of anthropomorphising. However, Gaita feels that Linden ing, I believe, to saying that it is unjust.” wants to see, namely an attitudinal change on the part of and Masson confuse the realm of fact with the realm of mean- Gaita argues that attempting to bestow dignity upon humans toward the treatment of all animals, based upon recog- ing, which depends upon interpretation, and thereby make the the powerless by creating the impression that rights are a moral nition of the ability of sentient beings to suffer much as we do. same mistake as the “scientistic skeptics” whom they criticise, force field is to seek to create an illusion, unless the appeal to (Only at the end of his book does Regan list concrete proposals except that their standards of evidence are less stringent. rights has force to back it up. Gaita agrees there is a need to set to better the lives of animals.) This is not a book for the general reader. Gaita had limits to human arrogance, but does not think that a concept of Andrew Rowan in The Animal Research Controversy us reaching for the dictionary and rereading some passages sev- rights is the way to go. Report (1995) described at least six different concepts of “ani- eral times. However, The Philosopher’s Dog is intellectually Rather, Gaita says, what is needed is an evolution in mal rights” that surface in common use of the phrase. The uses stimulating, and has deepened our conceptual approach to ani- human attitudes towards animals, based upon love and respect. differ in scope of meaning, but have in common that they mal rights and the relationship between humans and animals. This conclusion is reached almost by a process of elimination. imply awareness of cruelty toward animals and recognition of a ––Chris Mercer & Beverly Pervan Animal Voices: TELEPATHIC COMMUNICATION IN THE WEB OF LIFE by Dawn Bauman Brunke Bear & Company (1 Park Street, Rochester, VT 05767), 2004. 278 pages, paperback. $15.00. All My Relations by Susan Chernak McElroy New World Library (14 Pamaron Way, Novato, CA 94949), 2004. 240 pages, paperback, $14.95.
“Oh no! Don’t put me in there! I’ve seen those But I do not think that a parrot could tell me that she was once a I wondered whether McElroy’s bugs would be more things before. They eat people and then spit them out. I’ve Buddhist monk living in Tibet, as Brunke does on page 24. mosquitoes, the bees of the birds-and-the-bees, or black tried to talk to them and there’s nobody there. They have no By the time I reached page 47 and read a full conver- widow spiders and crab lice. But I didn’t get that far. decent migratory pattern, and they make no sense at all. Oh sation with the parrot, my skepticism was in overload. Then a After the moose came off the wall to tiptoe around no, I’m not going to be eaten by a plane!” dog explained that in previous lives he was a bear, a horse, the house, and the illusional wolf cured McElroy of cancer, I These thoughts Dawn Baumann Brunke attributes to and a seal. I read a little further. Violet the cat “spoke of past decided that this book was just too much like Animal Voices to a parrot. Living in Wasila, Alaska, Brunke describes herself lives, her fondness for the feline form, and the series of events hold my interest. as “a freelance writer and editor who specializes in the areas of that led her to find Nedda [her human partner], all with the Brunke and McElroy argue that animals are sentient, bodywork, healing, metaphysics, and spirituality. artistic flourish of a storyteller.” should be treated in a loving and caring way, and in Brunke’s I have worked and lived closely with birds and ani- Eventually a horse put it in a nutshell: “Those who words, “have a birthright to be on the Earth and the Earth and mals now for many years. Rehabbing the orphaned, sick and think (this book) is too strange are not ready and won’t read it. humans and other animals need their presence here.” injured. I feel close to them. But I have never heard voices in And that’s okay. This book is not for them.” Many readers will agree. But Brunke and McElroy my head or any other form of telepathy. I tried a little further but when the mosquito told build their cases on claims so shaky as to invite rejection by any For example: I recently rehabbed four rock kestrels Brunke that “Perhaps we will move to another planet or dimen- critical reader. Those who oppose moral consideration of ani- who came to me as chicks. After their release they disap- sion,” I realized that this book was not for me. mals, including the hunters of their own home towns, will find peared for a couple of months. The day they returned they Putting down Animal Voices, I picked up All My much to use in ridiculing the whole pro-animal cause. found me up a ladder doing repairs to my eagle aviaries. Three R e l a t i o n s , by Susan Chernak McElroy, a somewhat better I do not wish to debunk paranormal experiences, kestrels hovered above my head and called down to me. I known self-described “facilitator” of communication with ani- such as telepathy between humans and animals, simply know that they sought me out to let me know they were home, mals who resides in Idaho. because they are outside my own experience, or because rein- but they certainly didn’t spell it out in complex language. Her publicity materials inform us that her book will carnation into chosen forms is a paradigm outside my own. I know that cross communication can happen among explain, among other things, “what bugs have to teach us These books are for those who believe such things are possible. humans and animals, including birds, because I have seen it. about romance.” ––Beverley Pervan Live elephant exports from Thailand and South Africa will be on the CITES agenda BANGKOK, JOHAN- those in the care of the Forest down in Mpumalanga and their eight ing July for attacking rhinos, “Sedated and disoriented, NESBURG ––Live elephant exports Industry Organization,” Soraida babies were kidnapped for sale to tourists’ cars, and wildlife staff. after being plucked from the wild as well as ivory sales may come Salwada said. “The private firms exhibition parks,” in a reprise of the Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal and transported, the bull was report- under heated discussion at the 2004 have tried to convince the govern- practices that were supposedly abol- Wildlife agency spokesperson Jeff edly shot by a Texas oil magnate,” Convention on International Trade in ment that many elephants can be ished as inhumane due to the outcry Gaisford told Johannesburg S a t u r - Mcleod wrote. Endangered Species conference in used for commercial purposes.” resulting from the Tuli case. day Star reporter Tony Carnie that The bull was one of four Bangkok, opening on October 1. Soraida Salwada said there Four of the baby elephants about 180 elephants orphaned by who were sold to Ras by the Sabi CITES host nations often are now 2,600 Thai elephants in cap- were sent to the Knysna Elephant culling at Kruger National Park in Sands game reserve on the western win special concessions, and would- tivity, and about 2,000 in the wild. Park in the Western Cape region, the 1980s were taken to Hluhluwe- edge of Kruger, Mcleod said. be Thai elephant merchants have South African elephant while the other four were to go to the Imfolozi, where at the time there “The reserve says it has an been lobbying the Thai government exports have escalated over the past Elephant Sanctuary, owned by were no older bulls to teach them overpopulation of elephants coming to seek looser elephant export two years, after a five-year hiatus Craig Saunders, Macleod reported. proper behavior. Many of the young from Kruger,” Macleod explained. restrictions, Friends of the Asian from July 1998 until July 2003 while Saunders was a defendant in the Tuli bulls became abnormally aggressive, “Sabi Sands has sold about 80 ele- Elephant foundation secretary-gener- the notorious “Tuli elephants” case case, but all charges against him killing nearly 60 white rhinos within phants to private buyers in the past al Soraida Salwada recently warned was before the courts. African were eventually dismissed. the past 10 years. This behavior has two years, and plans to sell more.” Somask Suksai of the Bangkok Post. Game Services owner Riccardo In May 2004 South rarely been seen anywhere else. Ras insisted that the ele- “Some private firms want Ghiazza and one of his staff were African National Park Service chief Controversy over alleged phant was shot, in apparent contra- the government to agree on free convicted of cruelty to the 30 young David Mabunda reiterated that culling by covert means erupted on a vention of the Sabi Sands terms of trade in elephants, particularly elephants, captured in the Tuli dis- SANParks is still observing a nine- second front in July 2004 when sale, after breaking out of confine- trict of Botswana for sale to zoos. year-old policy of not engaging in Fiona Macleod disclosed that ment and “causing mayhem.” The case was barely con- lethal elephant culls, but live “Police and conservation officials Noted Macleod, “Ras has Hit them with cluded when three young elephants exports continued with the August are investigating the ‘hunting’ of a faced a number of charges of illegal were sold to a zoo in the Czech 2004 sale of four young elephants to Kruger elephant bull within hours of hunting in Limpopo and KwaKullu- a 2-by-4! Republic, four were sold to Mexico, China and three to Poland. his delivery” to hunting outfitter Natal. Limpopo officials say they More than 30,000 seven were sent to the San Diego In the interim, SANParks Hugo Ras of the Orion Safari Lodge are investigating him in connection Zoo, and four went to the Lowry ordered rangers at the Hluhluwe- near Rustenberg. with further irregularities.” people who care about Park Zoo in Florida. Imfolozi National Park in KwaZulu- animals will read In January 2004 Johannes- Natal to immediately shoot young We have rescued many dogs and cats, including this mother and her kittens. this 2-by-4" ad. burg Mail & Guardian writer Fiona elephant bulls who consistently dis- Macleod charged that, “Six adult play aggressive behavior. Three Your donation to our sanctuary fund will members of a herd were gunned young elephant bulls were shot dur- help us save many more from the terrible We'll let you have it cruelty of the Korean dog and cat meat for just $68––or $153 markets. We have bought the land to build for three issues–– Korea's first world-class animal shelter and hospital. A donor paid for the foundation or $456 for a year. with a promise to put on the roof if we can Then you can let raise the money to build the middle. Your generous contribution can them have it. make this dream come true! It's the only 2-by-4 to use in Mark your donation for KAPS Shelter Fund, and send to: the battle for public opinion. International Aid for Korean Animals / Korea ANIMAL PEOPLE Animal Pr otection Society 360-579-2505 POB 20600, Oakland, CA 94620 A NIMAL PEOP LE, September 2004 - 21 PROVIDENCE OF A SPARROW: LESSONS FROM A LIFE GONE TO THE BIRDS by Chris Chester Anchor Books (a division of Random House, Inc., 1745 Broadway MD 18-2, New York, NY 10019), 2004. 289 pages, paperback. $13.95.
“One popular theory,” Chris Chester writes of bird It boils down to this: do we accept the animal wel- have left me had I tried to release him, our bond being too well rescue and rehabilitation with his wife Rebecca, “has us lav- fare position which allows us to use animals for our own selfish established by the time he returned to his original room.” ishing on our sparrows a virtual Niagara of misplaced parenting needs, so long as we do so humanely, or do we grant sparrows Rehabbers face Chester’s dilemma daily. Caring as impulses that could be directed more profitably toward rearing “equal inherent value” and therefore refrain from treating them we do for a large collection of orphaned and injured birds of offspring. Both Rebecca and I admit to an occasional twinge of like our property. In short, are we content with bigger cages, prey, and after years of working to rehabilitate wildlife in regret at not having a child, someone to park us in a low-budget or do we want empty cages? South Africa, we understand his reluctance to surrender a cap- nursing home when we finally become incontinent.” To our minds the weakness in the welfare-based tive-bred bird into the cruel, hard world. And yes, a release is The Chesters’ work began when Chris Chester found morality lies in Chester’s own appreciation that the bird was often a tearful event, full of tortured imaginings of culpable an unfledged sparrow chick in his garden, and decided to save completely self-aware and had a full complement of moods and aviacide. Yet it should for obvious moral reasons be done the chick if he could. Calling the sparrow “Birdbrain,” or just emotions. To such a persona, we can infer that B would have wherever possible, as a matter of policy. “B” for short, was not only therapeutic for Chester’s tendency had a richer life had he been freed to forage and mingle with his Chester could have done a soft release by leaving the toward melancholy, but profoundly impressed his fiancée. She own kind. We may be accused of anthropomorphism if we say room window ajar. B could have explored the garden and too became awakened to the joy of caring for birds in need. that B must inevitably have suffered some kind of captivity returned to the security of his room at will. Had the bird chosen They turned part of their home into an aviary, adjusting their depression, but we are on safer ground when we say that B to remain with Chester then, as B may well have done––many entire working and social lives around the needs of their birds. ought morally be given the choice between freedom and captiv- of our own bird and animal releases choose to remain––it By assuming responsibility for the tiny featherless ity––because he was capable of making the choice. would have been of his own free will. sparrow chick, Chester unwittingly set himself free from the In addition to believing that B would live longer in This book is much more than a cute story about a res- confines of a conventional, inhibited existence, and became, captivity, Chester explains why he did not release him: cued sparrow. It is really about the power of love, and as such in Zen terms, a source of love and comfort to all around him. “Having altered the natural course of events by sav- should be read by everybody. Scientistic dogmatists have a rigid antagonism toward ing B, we could even things out by letting him go. The ration- ––Chris Mercer & Beverley Pervan acknowledging human-like emotions in other sentient beings. alist in me favoured releasing him but my emotional side called Provoking such idealogues to reach for their smelling salts, the shots,” Chester admits. [Mercer and Pervan are co-directors of the Kalahari Chester draws some startling conclusions about the personality “We never formally agreed to keep B, just made Raptor Centre, P.O. Box 1386, Kathu, Northern Cape ZA (avianality?) of his little friend, describing moods, cognitive incremental adjustments furthering that end while tacitly main- 8446, South Africa; telephone 27-53-712-3576; reasoning, and behavior which leaves little doubt that the hum- taining we’d release him soon as he was ready to fend for him-
Walster, a racehorse, was scratch- B a i r r o n , a 7-year-old pony, was ANIMAL OBITS ed from the second race at the Plainridge killed by a car on July 22 after he and 19 other EMORIALS Racecourse in Plainville, Massachusetts on equines were released from Lear Stables in M S o d a d e , a loggerhead sea turtle August 23 and died the next day, after he was rural Dakota County, Minnesota, by a vandal In memory of Barbara Bumgarner. tagged with a radio transmitter and tracked via apparently illegally “tubed.” The procedure of unidentified motive. ––Vicky Crosetti satellite by the Marine Turtle Resarch Group consists of pouring baking soda and water N i n a , 10, a Komodo dragon who –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– at the University of Exeter in Cornwall, U.K., down a tube into the horse’s stomach, which came to the London Zoo from the Canary In memory of Tubby, 1986-1994, was apparently poached on August 25, 2004 temporarily increases the oxygen level in the Islands in July 2004, fell to her death on last of the cats rescued by Lake Superior off Cape Verde, an archipelago west of horse’s blood, enabling him to run faster. August 18 after scaling a wall to meet her Humane Society director Todd Stoehr in Africa. “We started to receive an unusually Tubing can kill horses if the tube is poked into intended mate, Raja, 6, brought from Miami. Izmir, Turkey, during 1988-1989. large number of very high quality location sig- their lungs instead of their stomaches. The –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– nals from Sodade,” researcher Brendan incident prompted a police investigation. “The A r u s h a, 52, a Nile hippopotamus In memory of Purr Box (12/3/87), Godley explained. “Such signals are received death comes on the heels of a phone betting who had lived at the National Zoo in Washing- Prometheus (3/21/81), Friendl (10/30/87), when a turtle spends large amounts of time at scandal at Plainridge under investigation by ton D.C. since 1955, died quietly in her pool Lizzie (5/8/84), Boy Cat (12/26/85), the surface, suggesting she was likely on the the Massachusetts Racing Commission and on August 26. Arusha had 19 calves, includ- Miss Penrose (11/18/98), Duke (11/1/98), deck of a boat. Then the transmissions ceased, state police,” wrote Jessica Heslam and Dave ing a son who still lives at the National Zoo. Purr Box, Jr. (5/1/04) and Blackie (9/9/96). suggesting that her transmitter was removed Wedge of the Boston Herald. G e r t r u d e, 22, a hippo resident of and dumped. Given the large number of tur- Hashmi, 75, the oldest elephant at the Greater Vancouver Zoo in Aldergrove, tles captured for food in Cape Verde and the the Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad, British Columbia, died suddenly on August presence of fishing boats in the area at the India, died on August 26 after a long illness. 13 from no evident cause. time, we think we know her fate.” Kanook the polar bear, 20, import- P i c a b o , 10, a bottlenose dolphin Peipei, 33, the oldest known panda ed from the Reid Park Zoo in Tucson, Arizona born at Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden at the in the world, died on August 13 at the in 2001, was euthanized on June 30 at Sea Mirage hotel and casino in Las Vegas, died Hangzhou City Zoo in eastern China. World of Australia due to kidney failure. there on July 9 from an unidentified illness.
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Along with almost every article from back editions, the ANIMAL PEOPLE web site offers translations of key Attached is a recent news report in Chinese that appeared on the front page of the items into French and local daily newspaper on July16, 2004 that Spanish...the Lewyt describes how some people were arrested for Award-winning heroic allegedly eating parts of the brain of a live and compassionate monkey. Local television reported similar Animals, Nature animal stories... news the same day. Despite legal protection, & Albert Schweitzer veterinary info links... monkeys are still being captured from the wild handbooks for down- and killed. Schweitzer's inspiring life story and loading... fundraising philosophy in his own words. Now the Kaohsiung City mayor has how-to...our guide to Commentary by ordered that 300 wild Formosan macaques estate planning... Schweitzer Medallist must be removed from the Mount Longevty short bios and photos municipal nature reserve. Local aborigines Ann Cottrell Free of the people behind will be hired to capture the macaques. Many $10.50 post paid ANIMAL PEOPLE ... monkeys may die during the process! The city Flying Fox Press and more items wants to control the monkey population, but added monthly! these smart creatures, the only non-hman pri- 4700 Jamestown Road mates found in Taiwan, are not over-populat- Bethesda, MD 20816 www. ed. They are shy and seldom go out of the for- animalpeoplenews est to disturb people and property. .org Those who are concerned about sav- ing the lives of these poor monkeys can write directly to Kaohsiung City mayor Frank Chang-ting Hsieh, c/o Kaohsiung City Government #2, Swei 3rd Rd., Lingya District, Kaohsiung 802, Taiwan, Republic of China; fax 886-7-3373761; e-mail