Livestock gift charities do not help poor nations, say global critics L O N D O N ––Sixty years after Heifer International founder Dan West pioneered the idea of soliciting donations to give livestock to poor families in disadvanged parts of the world, criticism of the practice at last cracked major Calf. (Kim Bartlett) mainstream news media during the pre- of producing food,” Tyler continued. Christmas 2006 peak giving season. “Sceptical readers might acuse me of dressing At least three major British newspa- up a concern about animal welfare as a concern pers and news syndicates amplified critiques of for the world’s poor. There are major animal welfare issues involved in sending animals to, Dalmatian left homeless in Beijing. (Animal Rescue Beijing) livestock donation programs, quoting most extensively from a prepared statement distribu- for instance, the Horn of Africa, where earlier ted by Animal Aid director Andrew Tyler. this year up to 80% of the cattle perished in a Chinese president Hu Jintao “This year about a dozen agencies are drought. Many of the remainder were washed using your money to punt goats, chickens, away in the floods that followed. But this is not sheep, camels, donkeys, pigs and cows to the about cows taking precedence over people. halts canine confiscations world’s starving,” Tyler warned donors. Reality is that animal gift schemes are, in the B E I J I N G ––Chinese President response to rabies outbreaks in the southern “Prices vary: £70 will get you a cow from Help words of the World Land Trust, ‘environmen- Hu Jintao in late November 2006 personal- and coastal regions of China––mostly in the The Aged. Send A Cow demands £750 per ani- tally unsound and economically disastrous.’” ly “intervened to end a national crackdown areas where dogs are often eaten. mal. Farm Friends wants £30 for a goat, “Oxfam, Christian Aid, Help the on dogs,” reported Jane Cai of the S o u t h Word of Hu’s intervention trick- whereas World Vision will settle for £91 for a Aged, and others are wooing the ethical shop- China Morning Post, who made the action led out after the Beijing Public Security whole herd. per with pictures of cute goats wearing known to the world on December 13. Bureau “took several dozen Chinese and “Farming animals is an inefficient, Christmas hats and promises of helping the poor “One petitioner said Mr. Hu’s (continued on page 10) expensive and environmentally destructive way (continued on page 9) chief secretary told her that the president had read her two petitions, signed by more than 60,000 people, calling for an end to the campaign,” Cai wrote. “She said Mr. Hu was unhappy about the complaints and international media coverage of the cam- ANIMAL PEOPLE paign, and had put a stop to the program late last month,” about four weeks after it News For People Who Care About Animals started. “A government official confirmed Mr Hu had ordered a halt after reading the letters,” Cai continued. Hu’s order most directly affected January/February 2007 a round-up of unlicensed and large dogs Volume XVII, #1 underway in Beijing since the end of October, but followed almost a year of global petitioning and e-mailing in response to dog massacres undertaken earlier in Are pit bulls the problem, or their + people? Study raises the question + C I N C I N N A T I ––The view that pit dogs who have been cited for failing to register bull terriers get into trouble chiefly because the a dog (or) failing to keep a dog confined on the wrong people have them was reinforced on premises ... are more than nine times more November 16, 2006 when a peer-reviewed likely to have been convicted for a crime study published in the Journal of Interpersonal involving children, three times more likely to V i o l e n c e revealed that among a sampling of have been convicted of domestic violence ... 355 people who keep pet dogs, all who keep and nearly eight times more likely to be pit bulls turned out to have had some sort of charged with drug (crimes) than owners of trouble with the law. low-risk licensed dogs.” Thirty percent of the people in the Co-authors included Frank W. Put- sampling who had been cited at least once for nam of the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital failing to license a pit bull were found to have Medical Center; Barbara Boat of the Univ- had at least five criminal convictions or traffic ersity of Cincinnati, an investigator of ani- citations. Only 1% of the people who keep mal/human relationships who has often spoken dogs with a low risk of being involved in an at humane conferences; and Harold Dates and attack legally defined by Ohio municipal ordi- Andrew Mahlman of the Cincinnati SPCA. nances as “vicious” had five or more convic- Whether violence involving pit bull European wild boars. (Kim Bartlett) tions or traffic citations, the researchers found. terriers results chiefly from their own charac- “A ‘vicious dog’ means a dog that, teristics or the characteristics of people who without provocation, has killed or caused seri- are inclined to keep them, four parallel trends Feral pigs become scapegoats–– ous injury to any person, has killed another have perplexed the animal care and control dog, or belongs to a breed that is commonly community for more than a decade: in the U.S. & around the world known as a pit bull dog,” the study authors • Pit bull popularity has exploded. explained. From 1900 until the late 1980s, pit bull terri- SANTA BARBARA, California–– News Press, when The Nature Conservancy Because the definition of “vicious” ers––combining mentions by all of their com- Pigs were blamed for people killing turkeys in and National Park Service decided in 1972 to presumed that any attack by a pit bull is high mon names––made up less than 1% of the U.S. the name of defending foxes against eagles. try to exterminate all non-native species who risk, regardless of the actual level of damage dog population, as indicated by newspaper The Nature Conservancy ended inhabited the islands. The turkeys had just done, the terms of the study were stacked classified advertising and appearances in news 2006 by hiring professional hunters to kill been introduced that year. against finding a link between keeping pit bulls coverage. In recent years, however, pit bulls about 250 of the estimated 300 wild turkeys “In the late 1980s,” Setnicka wrote, and having a history of lawbreaking, if their have proliferated fivefold, increasing in num- on Santa Cruz Island, within Channel Islands “seeing an island fox was a daily occurrence, keepers were little different from keepers of ber approximately 10 times as fast as the dog National Park. Nature Conservancy spokes- easier than seeing a pig on Santa Rosa Island.” other kinds of dogs. Ordinary citizens who population as a whole. person Julie Benson told Associated Press that Feasting on the carcasses of pigs, keep pit bulls would have balanced and neu- Electronic searches by A N I M A L the killing was needed to protect endangered sheep, goats, horses, burros, deer, and tralized the influence of the lawbreakers. PEOPLE of classified advertisements in peri- Channel Islands foxes, after an 18-month, $5 bison, shot by the thousands over more than Instead, explained lead study author odicals serving demographically representative million pig purge, also touted as essential to 25 years in the name of protecting biodiversi- Jaclyn Barnes of the Cincinnati Children’s cross-sections of the U.S., spot-checking at protect the foxes, ended earlier in the year. ty, the fox population soared to a probable Hospital Medical Center, “Owners of vicious (continued on page 18) “Scientists said the kills are neces- all-time high. sary because turkeys and pigs provide prey for “But their numbers mysteriously golden eagles,” summarized Associated declined,” Setnicka recounted. “In the mid- Press. “The eagles are attracted to the island, 1990s it was learned their decline was due to where they also kill the endangered foxes. an influx of golden eagles.” The island pigs kept the turkeys in check by The golden eagles were almost cer- eating their eggs and competing with them for tainly drawn to the islands by the stench of the food. With nearly all of the pigs gone, the carrion that fed the foxes. When the carrion turkey population boomed.” ran out, they attacked the pigs and foxes. The problem actually started, “To help sell fox restoration, for retired Channel Islands National Park superin- which we had no money, we came up with tendent Tim J. Setnicka admitted in a March the media spin that one of the main reasons 2005 denunciation of “systematic biologic golden eagles reside on park islands was genocide” published by the Santa Barbara (continued on page 13) 2 - ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2007
+ + ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2007 - 3 Editorial feature Developing compassion for feral pigs Here come the pigs! See page one and the constellation of related sidebars beginning steadily increasing number of full-sized farm pigs.” on page 12 for particulars. Feral pigs emerged as an early concern of the Fund for Animals, during the 25-year Nobody expected feral pigs and street pigs to become a ubiquitous humane concern effort of the U.S. Navy, Nature Conservancy, and National Park Service to extirpate pigs in the early 21st century––but not because of indifference toward pigs. Most people just didn’t from San Clemente Island and the Channel Islands, off the southern California coast. Some think of pigs as a free-roaming species who might turn up almost anywhere, capable of thriv- rescued pigs from the California coastal islands were transported to the Black Beauty Ranch in ing without human help. But the timing is right for feral pigs and street pigs to claim humane northeastern Texas during the 1970s and 1980s, but their rescues attracted far less attention attention. More pigs may be at large today, worldwide, than ever before. Certainly more than the Fund’s earlier rescues of burros from San Clemente and the Grand Canyon. pigs are at large in North America. Later, in 1991-1993, PETA cofounder Alex Pacheco tried to drum up opposition to Pig hunters are all but exempt from most of the laws that govern other forms of hunt- Nature Conservancy tactics against feral pigs in Hawaii, including aerial shooting and setting ing, since pigs are considered a non-native invasive nuisance. So-called hog/dog rodeo, in snares in which caught pigs died slowly, over many days. In Defense of Animals protested which packs of pit bull terriers are set upon captive feral pigs, has only been illegal in many against cruel methods of pig extermination in the hills surrounding San Francisco Bay. The Southern states for under two years, and––like dogfighting and cockfighting––still has a sub- Suwanna Ranch sanctuary operated by the Humane Farming Association took in several pigs stantial following. who went feral after escaping from human custody or being abandoned. The technology exists to control and perhaps eliminate unwanted feral pig popula- Yet feral pigs as a nationally spreading ecological issue and animal welfare problem tions without bloodshed. The leading immunocontraceptive approach to animal birth control largely eluded the humane community––and largely eluded wildlife managers, as well, whose is based on porcine zona pellucida, PZP for short, a slaughterhouse byproduct. Though PZP first recognition of the presence of feral pigs has usually come several pig generations after proved ineffective and impractical for use with dogs and cats, it is now widely used to control they became established, when they emerge as a widely distributed public nuisance. wild horse herds, zoo animal fecundity, and––experimentally––urban deer. Zona pellucida No set of institutions enthusiastically claims responsibility for feral pigs in the U.S., cells from another species would be needed to achieve immunocontraception among pigs, but as in most of the world. While licensed pig hunting may generate some revenue, feral pig at this point there are few animals, including humans, whose reproductive biochemistry is activities tend to be more problematic than lucrative. Agricultural agencies see feral pigs as an better understood than that of pigs. uncontrolled and unpredictable disease vector. Public health and safety agencies want some- Most important, while pigs are institutionally mistreated by the pork industry at the one to respond to pig complaints, as to dog and cat complaints, but even when animal control rate of 60 million per year in the U.S. alone, almost entirely out of public view, the climate of is under their umbrella, animal control agencies mostly lack experienced pig catchers and han- public opinion has never been more favorable to individual pigs, with names and familiar dlers, holding facilities suitable for pigs, and vehicles that can haul them. faces, like many of the “problem pigs” now patrolling semi-rural suburbs. The advent of central garbage collection and enclosed sewage systems eliminated The classic children’s story Charlotte’s Web, by E.B. White, has raised compassion free-roaming pigs from most U.S. and European cities many decades ago. Until recently, for pigs since 1952—first as a book, then as a 1973 animated film, now in 2006 as a comput- feral pigs were found only in remote rural regions, like the hills of Arkansas, whose wild er-generated live action film, endorsed and promoted by the Humane Society of the U.S. razorbacks were considered a quaint artifact. Increasing humane awareness of pigs was already an integral if indirect aspect of But that was before long-haul pig trucking and frequent highway accidents gave producing the newest version of Charlotte’s Web, after Paramount Pictures donated a substan- thousands of pigs the opportunity to bolt from ruptured trailers in habitat of every sort, before tial but undisclosed sum to Animals Australia in exchange for help in adopting out the 40 raising European boars for confined hunting operations became commonplace, and before trained pigs used to make the film. In early November 2006, Animals Australia and allied hints emerged that some ardent pig-hunters might be deliberately translocating feral pigs to try organizations reportedly invested $500,000 Australian dollars in billboard and women’s maga- to expand pig hunting opportunities. zine advertising against factory pig farming. Eight magazines and one billboard company That was also before free-roaming dogs declined from 30% of the U.S. dog popula- rejected the ads, which were then published in newspapers instead––and the fracas attracted tion circa 1950 to about 25% in the mid-1970s, to under 5% today. newspaper coverage. Three other films featuring pigs who evade slaughter have become recent hits: Babe Dogs, rats, & pigs (1995), G o r d y (1995), and Babe: Pig In The City (1998). Actor James Cromwell, who starred in the Babe films as Farmer Hoggett, became a vegetarian and animal advocate. Nature abhors a void, so when dogs no longer roam at large, their habitat niches are Such pro-pig popular literature has a long pedigree. Twenty-five years before E.B. claimed by other species. White produced Charlotte’s Web, Walter R. Brooks from 1927 to 1958 raised consciousness Usually the first replacements are cats, already present and relatively abundant. about pigs in his 28-volume series about the adventures of Freddy the Pig and his upstate New Where free-roaming dogs dominate the habitat by day, consuming most of the edible refuse, York farmyard friends, who evaded slaughter time and again by acting as human-like as pos- catching many of the rats and mice, cats tend to be nocturnal, inclined to live on roofs and sible. Meat-eaters in the early stories, Freddy and the farm owners, Mr. and Mrs. Bean, balconies, rarely descending to risk canine pursuit. As soon as the dogs disappear, however, eventually became somewhat reluctant and inconsistent quasi-vegetarians. Soon afterward, many cats become diurnal, replacing dogs at a typical ratio of three cats for each dog who is the Freddy books lapsed from favor as longtime staples of school libraries. no longer there––about the body mass ratio of average cats to typical street dogs. Humane literature evolved into addressing how real-life pigs are raised and slaugh- Communities that never before noticed cats may suddenly discover that they have tered after the 1964 publication of Animal Factories, by Ruth Harrison, and the 1967 forma- enough feral cats to be problematic. Examples include Hong Kong, the developed parts of tion of Compassion In World Farming by the late Peter Roberts. Banning gestation crates, in Costa Rica, much of the U.S. during the past 20 years, and the many Indian cities where which pregnant and nursing sows are imprisoned, was for Roberts an enduring focus. Animal Birth Control programs have sharply reduced the abundance of street dogs. + Pet pigs splashed into humane awareness after the Vietnam War, when the pam- But cats are not quite a perfect replacement for dogs. The very attributes that enable + pered potbellied pigs carried to safety by some of the Vietnamese “boat people” fleeing the cats to coexist among street dogs tend to leave significant habitat niches vacant. For example, Communist regime attracted media coverage, caught the fancy of pet breeders, and became a as pure predators, cats rarely scavenge. When dogs are removed from urban habitat, most of heavily promoted fad animal. A network of mostly overwhelmed and underfunded pig sanctu- the scavenging role may be left to mice and rats, who formerly were among the dogs’ prey. aries formed in response to frequent pig abandonment. Mice and rats quickly breed up to the newly expanded carrying capacity of any habi- The sanctuaries that survived the inevitable shakeout are now “finding an increased tat from which dogs have been removed––especially if dogs are no longer eating them. number of rescued farm pigs needing sanctuary space,” explained Pig Preserve founders However, even if humans refrained from poisoning mice and rats in response to any visible Richard and Laura Hoyle in an October 2006 letter to ANIMAL PEOPLE. “As the public abundance, mice and rats are not well-adapted to holding habitat. Instead, they attract other becomes more attuned to the plight of the factory farmed pigs,” the Hoyles wrote, “many predators such as jackals, coyotes, foxes, and birds of prey in place of dogs, while accessible more are being rescued by animal rights groups and private citizens. So now, in addition to refuse draws in larger or more evasive scavengers––such as pigs, monkeys, and gulls––who rescuing and caring for the thousands of “dumped” miniature pigs, we are asked to take in a can fend off or escape the predators. In effect, the previous role of dogs as scavengers and rodent predators is replaced by SEARCHABLE ARCHIVES: www.animalpeoplenews.org mice-plus-cats-plus-rats-plus whatever else comes. The simple scavenging habitat niche Key articles available en Español et en Français! becomes a complex food chain, in which the especially complex role of rats tends to be over- looked because it mostly occurs beyond human view. Like dogs, rats will eat almost anything. Also like dogs, rats can become predators ANIMAL PEOPLE if conditions favor predation. Where mice are abundant, rats tend to become voracious nest News for People Who Care About Animals predators of “pinky” mice. Further, the rat population may be virtually unchecked by cats, no matter how many Publisher: Kim Bartlett – [email protected] cats there are, because while cats are probably the most efficient of all predators of adult mice, Editor: Merritt Clifton – [email protected] few cats will risk pouncing on a full-grown rat if other food is available. Web producer: Patrice Greanville Rats could in theory totally replace the roles of street dogs, and in cities with mod- Associate web producer: Tammy Sneath Grimes ern sanitation, where the scavenging niche is reduced and scattered to the point that roving dogs have a hard time making a living, this is what tends to happen. Where dogs once roamed Newswire monitor: Cathy Young Czapla the streets, rats patrol inside the walls of high-rise buildings. Though feral cats are more visi- P.O. Box 960 ble, rats outnumber them, thousands to one. Clinton, WA 98236-0960 Until the scavenging niche is reduced and diminished, however, removing dogs from the habitat has a different outcome. ISSN 1071-0035. Federal I.D: 14-175 2216 In Asian, African, and Latin American cities, especially those without closed Telephone: 360-579-2505. sewage systems and frequent trash collection, where refuse remains sufficiently accessible to Fax: 360-579-2575. support street dogs, pigs and monkeys tend to be the ultimate beneficiaries of reducing the Web: www.animalpeoplenews.org dog population. Though both pigs and monkeys can kill dogs in fights which could go either way, pigs and monkeys tend to run from dogs rather than take chances. Otherwise, the major Copyright © 2007 for the authors, artists, and photographers. threats to pigs and monkeys in most urban habitat are motor vehicles. Neither pigs nor mon- Reprint inquiries are welcome. keys have anything to fear from cats, or rats. ANIMAL PEOPLE: News for People Who Care About Animals is published Neither do pigs and monkeys tend to be very afraid of people, unless the people are 10 times annually by Animal People, Inc., a nonprofit, charitable corporation dedicated to armed. Then, both pigs and monkeys tend to learn how to distinguish armed people from exposing the existence of cruelty to animals and to informing and educating the public of unarmed people, just as they learn to distinguish vulnerable humans carrying groceries from the need to prevent and eliminate such cruelty. those who have nothing edible to drop, who may fight back if menaced. Subscriptions are $24.00 per year; $38.00/two years; $50/three years. In U.S. cities, where closed sewage systems and frequent refuse collection prevail, Executive subscriptions, mailed 1st class, are $40.00 per year or $70/two years. the food sources most accessible to urban wildlife tend to be yard vegetation. While dogs do The ANIMAL PEOPLE Watchdog Report on Animal Protection Charities, not eat yard plants, they do chase other animals out of yards and out of the neighborhood, if updated annually, is $25. The current edition reviews 121 leading organizations. they can. Removing free-roaming dogs from the habitat typically allows urban wildlife to ANIMAL PEOPLE is mailed under Bulk Rate Permit #2 from Clinton, exploit the vegetation undisturbed, if they just stay out of the fenced yards where dogs remain. Washington, and Bulk Rate Permit #408, from Everett, Washington. Raccoons, occupying approximately the same habitat niche in North America that The base rate for display advertising is $9.50 per square inch of page space. monkeys hold in India, are among the most ubiquitous beneficiaries. Nowhere in the wild are Please inquire about our substantial multiple insertion discounts. raccoons as abundant as they have become in U.S. suburbs, at population densities as great as The editors prefer to receive queries in advance of article submissions; unsolicit- 300 per square mile in parts of New England. ed manuscripts will be considered for use, but will not be returned unless accompanied by Other species who are now more abundant in U.S. suburbs than in the wild include (continued on page 4) 4 - ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2007 Developing compassion for feral pigs (from page 3) both whitetailed and blacktailed deer, and opossums, whose expansion of range into the averaging more than twice the average dog litter size make pigs at least as potentially ubiqui- northern half of the U.S. closely followed the construction of the interstate highway system in tous as dogs. the 1950s and 1960s. Occupying a relatively limited habitat niche at first, opossums have If tolerated, pigs will sleep in the sunshine, in full view of all. If responded to with proliferated during the past several decades in approximate inverse to the frequency with humane consideration, pigs can become good neighbors, occupying their present limited eco- which dogs are picked up for running at large. logical niche, potentially controlled by immunocontraceptive baits. The conditions conducive to pig proliferation in the U.S., Britain, and other devel- If pigs are hunted, on the other hand, they will spend daytime in deep dens, forag- oped nations where fast-expanding feral pig populations have become troublesome are not ing and traveling only at night. The cleverness and reproductive potential that enabled pigs to quite the same as the conditions that enable pigs to take over vacated dog habitat in much of evade extermination on small rocky islands for 25 years will ensure that even the most aggres- Asia. Yet there are similarities. sive and ruthless efforts to kill them all will fail––indeed, pigs have never been lastingly extir- To a pig, a marketplace full of discarded fruits and vegetables differs little from a pated from any habitat other than small islands––and will ensure, as well, that the plight of yard full of windfallen fruit from ornamental trees and hedges. Muddy roadside ditches are feral pigs will attract increasing humane attention in coming decades. wonderful travel corridors. Beyond practical considerations, demonstrating concern for feral pigs could help to Pigs make themselves equally at home among cornfields, orchards, refuse piles, set a persuasive example to the public and to agribusiness of how pigs ought to be and forests full of fallen acorns and fungi. Almost anywhere suits a pig, if the pig has food, treated––and perhaps hasten the day when pig-eating is looked upon with the same revulsion mud, and companions. A combination of high intelligence, easy satisfaction, and litter sizes that most of the world now feels toward dog and cat eating. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
We invite readers to submit letters and original unpublished commentary––please, nothing already posted to a web site–– via e-mail to
Livestock gift charities do not help poor, say critics (from page 1) in developing countries,” summarized Sean poor in developing countries [but] it is mad- Heifer International,” the Rayshicks wrote. O’Neill of The Times of London, “but the ness to send goats, cows and chickens to areas “The Heifer International training World Land Trust and Animal Aid say that it where they will add to the problems of drought farm, called Overlook Farms, is near us in is ‘madness’ to send goats, cows and chickens and desertification,” Mrs. Gandhi continued. Rutland, Massachusetts,” the Rayshicks said. to areas where they will add to the problems of “Each goat eats all the grass and shrubbery on “They raise lambs and other animals for drought and desertification.” two hectares of land a year. A goat destroys slaughter. It is no different from any other ani- Said World Land Trust director John the fertility of land and [the value of] any milk mal farm. We consider the ‘donation’ of ani- Burton, “The goat campaign may be a pleas- or dung it may give is very little compared to mals to other countries to be a thinly viewed ing gift and a short-term fix for milk and meat the havoc it wreaks. “Within two years,” Mrs. attempt to spread dairy and meat consumption for a few individuals, but in the long term the Gandhi asserted, “the people who get goats to new parts of the world,” the Rayshicks con- quality of life for these people will slowly be have an even poorer lifestyle. There are vil- tinued. “Note that Heifer International first reduced with devastating effect.” lage quarrels about community grazing; chil- sent dairy cows to Japan, after World War II, Added Andrew Tyler, “All farmed dren are taken out of school to graze the goats; instead of sending them healthy food that was animals require proper nourishment, large water becomes even scarcer. Two goats can a natural part of the Japanese diet.” quantities of water, shelter from extremes, reduce the amount of farmland available to Japanese activist Lydia Tanabe and veterinary care. Such resources are in crit- local people and result in villages becoming affirmed to ANIMAL PEOPLE that the Goat. (Kim Bartlett) ically short supply in much of Africa,” the deserted, while a cow will drink up to 90 liters Heifer International work in Japan is widely Islamicity and Life for Relief & Development. major recipient of help from the British live- of water every single day.” viewed as the start of the modern Japanese fac- Vegetarian organizations and some stock-donating charities. tory-style dairy industry, which is seen as hav- animal advocates have criticized livestock Wrote O’Neill, “Christian Aid said Objection from Nepal ing elevated Japanese animal fat consumption, donations as often being inappropriate, inef- that its critics misunderstood its program. The “I have been sending letters to Dutch with detrimental influence on adult health. fective in fighting poverty, and inhumane purchase of a goat, the charity said, did not agencies to stop this kind of program for yet “Heifer International is bringing a almost since Heifer International started in necessarily mean that a goat was bought. The another reason,” commented Animal Nepal cruel, unhealthy, environmentally destructive 1948, then called the Heifer Project. Some money would go into a farming and livestock founder Lucia DeVries. “The animals are gen- diet to cultures that are primarily vegetarian,” agricultural economists began pointing out fund distributed by local project managers.” erally slaughtered in an inhumane manner,” the Rayshicks objected. “Plus, one of the cru- flaws in the strategy during the 1970s, notably Added Kevin McCandless of DeVries alleged. “In Nepal, for instance, elest aspects of animal agriculture is animal that many recipients of gift animals were CNSNews.com, “In addition to providing the there is only one slaughterhouse, in the capital transport, a mainstay of this organization. We unable to feed them to maturity, let alone able animals, which are usually bought locally, the (Katmandu). This means that virtually all live- wonder how many of these poor animals just to feed and raise offspring. Environmentalists charities say they provide the support needed stock is killed with the often-not-too-sharp- get eaten on the spot upon arrival. later added questions about the wisdom of to care for them, including fencing and free knives” of rural butchers, “causing much suf- introducing non-native livestock to often frag- veterinary care. Send a Cow said it worked fering to the animal and possibly to the butch- Islamic charities ile habitats, where animals with larger or dif- closely with local farmers in Africa, providing er. I’ve met quite a few people who lost fin- The activist criticisms of animal ferent appetites from the indigenous strains them with support and using their knowledge gers while trying to kill a goat,” DeVries said. donation schemes came just as leading Islamic might overtax the vegetation or simply starve. to deal with issues such as soil erosion. It said “Ultimately,” said Tyler, “my charities introduced similar programs that ANIMAL PEOPLE s u m m a r i z e d it does not provide cows to areas where they objection is to the commercial forces that seek enable Muslims to “get the animal of their the arguments against livestock donations in a would compete with humans for water, and to persuade people of the poor world that their choice sacrificed online for festivities like Eid May 2003 review of the Compassion In World insisted on a zero-grazing policy. The donated best nutritional interests are served by buying Al Adha,” according to syndicated reports Farming and Humane Education Trust video animals are kept in spacious shelters and have into modern, high-throughput farmed animal originating from the United Arab Emirates and Saving Baby Ubuntu, headlined “A video that fodder brought to them.” production processes. With that comes an Pakistan. The charities reportedly included the never mentions Heifer Project International Few of the poorest parts of Africa addiction to high capital input systems, addi- Alamgir Welfare Trust International, of shows why their premise is wrong.” and Asia can afford to raise animals that way. tional stresses on precious water supplies, Karachi; the Sahara for Life Trust formed by The review may be accessed at environmental destruction, a loss of control singer Abrarul Haq; and the U.S. charities
If you know someone else who might like to read ANIMAL PEOPLE, please ask us to send a free sample. ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2007 - 11 Pacific rim anti-dog & cat meat activism gains momentum HONG KONG, BANGKOK, their sentences, and were released on bail. investigate the situation,” Willemse posted to were resettled in the Chiang Mai region, with MANILA––Tuen Mun magistrate Kwok Wai- Slaughtering dogs and cats has long the Asian Animal Protection Network on U.S. economic aid. Alleged dog thefts for kin on December 22, 2006 sentenced four been illegal in Hong Kong, but they are December 23. “He found dog meat readily slaughter subsequently became a frequent men to serve 30 days in jail apiece for killing believed to be the first offenders who have available. Five restaurants served dog meat in source of ethnic tension between native Thais and butchering two dogs just 40 days earlier, received jail sentences. every way.” and the immigrants. on November 12. The prompt convictions and judicial A day earlier, Willemse said, Sanya The existing law was enforced on Kwok Wai-kin “rejected the defen- response encouraged opponents of the clandes- Sukrasorn asked the Ministry of Culture “to November 6, 2006, the Bangkok N a t i o n dants’ argument that eating dog was simply a tine dog and cat meat traffic in Thailand, the change the law to protect our companion ani- reported, as Mekong Patrol Police “rescued matter of culture, saying society could not Philippines, and Nagaland, part of an arm of mals. He went alone, as we respect the mar- 350 dogs before they were smuggled to Laos. accept or condone such an act,” reported India that lies between China and Burma. tial law order of no gatherings to protest,” but Police captain Sommai Duangkam said his unit Jonathan Cheng of the the Hong Kong Selling dogs for meat is nominally “brought along his guitar and a long banner heard dogs barking and howling from a river Standard. illegal in Thailand, the Philippines, and India, which he stretched out in front of the Ministry bank at 5 a.m.,” the N a t i o n e l a b o r a t e d . The four men––Lau Lap-kei, 49; except among the Igorot tribal people of the of Culture. “Sommai said that when he checked, he found Wong Yung-hung, 44; Liu Wai-hong, 40; and Philippines, but the authorities of all three “The General Secretary accepted the that villagers were transporting 39 cages with Wong Chun-hung, 49––immediately appealed nations tend to find pretexts to avoid enforcing letter with gratitude,” Willemse continued. 350 dogs on two boats. He said the villagers the weak existing legislation, chiefly based on “The week before, ministry officials visited fled on foot upon seeing his patrol boat. The Watson acquittal reversed claims that dog-eating is a traditional practice Sakon Nakon and witnessed themselves a dog dogs were sent to the Nakhon Phanom animals Prince Edward Island Supreme of ethnic minorities. slaughter house where 600,000 dogs [per year] quarantine center for further action.” Court Justice Wayne Cheverie on November get killed and shipped to Vietnam frozen. The 29, 2006 overturned the April 2005 acquit- Hope in Thailand officials were horrified about it. They had The Philippines tal of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thai- been given orders from above to inspect the Melchor Alipio of the Network for founder Paul Watson for allegedly too close- land “on his birthday, December 5, opened a situation and to stop it. A law will be made, Animals on December 12, 2006 urged the ly approaching a seal kill. photo exhibition of his beloved street dogs,” they said.” Philippine government to “go after the dog Eleven other Sea Shepherd crew reported Marianne Willemse of the Bangkok The prospect of Thai action against traders.” members were convicted of the charge, charity Love Animal House, “and asked that dog meat followed a November 24, 2006 Wrote Jane Cadalig of the Manila mercy and compassion be shown to all ani- Sun Star, “Most of the dogs bought by restau- filed after seven of them were beaten on Bangkok Post report that “Dog meat is gaining April 1, 2005 by members of the crew of mals. Next year he will be 80. We want to in popularity in Chiang Mai, with an increas- rant owners in Baguio, Benguet, and other the sealing vessel Brady Mariner. Watson push the interim government, who loves the ing number of roadside food stalls serving dog North Luzon provinces come from the south- escaped conviction under an exemption for royal family, to make a law in Thailand that meat dishes over the past few years.” ern provinces, including Laguna, Bicol, people who witness seal kills from their consumption of cat and dog meat is illegal. Dog-eating was rare in Thailand Lucena, Quezon, and Batangas. Alipio said homes, by contending that the Sea Shepherd This would be a great gift for His Majesty. until after the U.S. war in Vietnam, when only one trader has been penalized with six flagship Farley Mowat was his permanent “Yesterday animal rights lawyer thousands of ethnic Chinese refugees from months in jail,” as others “pay cash for their home. Sanya Sukrasorn went to San Patong market to Vietnam and some from Laos and Cambodia liberty.” Cane toads are champion skeeter eaters SYDNEY––The 1935 introduction of African cane toads to Australia, Papua New Guinea, and Fiji was not quite the ecological dis- aster that cane toad foes claim, Sydney University biologists Rick Shine and Mattias Hagman have dis- covered. While cane toads did not control the sugar cane- eating insects that they were supposed to devour, and + have voraciously consumed + some small Australian wildlife, especially goanna lizards, Shine and Hagman discovered through a series of controlled experiments that cane toad tadpoles are exceptionally capable preda- tors of mosquito larvae. “This is very different from the ecosystem catastro- phe stories we hear about cane toads,” Shine told the Townsville Bulletin. “We found that the presence of toad tadpoles significantly reduced the size of adult mosquitoes at emergence and reduced the survival rates of the larvae of one mosquito species. Mosquitoes did not want to lay eggs in water where there were cane toads.” Concluded Shine, “To truly understand the impact of invasive species, we need to look as broadly as possi- ble, and incorporate studies on a diversity of variables.”
TRIBUTES In honor of the Prophet Isaiah, St. Martin De Porres and John Wesley. ––Brien Comerford –––––––––––––––––––– 12 - ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2007 Javelinas claim a U.S. desert home T U C S O N ––Encountering a dozen enough for the victim to seek medical treat- peccaries during a dawn walk with her three ment, rather than treat the wound at home. Chihuahuas on December 7, 2006, Tracy Many of those injured were adults in their 40s Gordon, 34, of Tucson, was bitten, knocked or 50s, although one man bitten last January down, and trampled. One Chihuahua was was 76,” Commings continued. critically injured. Another suffered a large bite That middle-aged and older adults on the neck. were most often bitten may chiefly reflect the Arizona Game & Fish Department composition of the human population where information and education program manager the incidents occurred, in recently developed Tom Whetten suggested that the javelinas upscale neighborhoods with relatively few were protecting younger members of the herd. young children––or may hint that peccaries are Gordon “did exactly what she was less inclined to live where children are often supposed to do by getting those dogs under outside making noise. control,” Whetten told Enric Volante and Jeff Commonly considered “pigs,” Commings of the Arizona Daily Star. javelinas are actually peccaries, the most pig- Whetten attributed the presence of like animals who are not pigs. the javelinas in Gordon’s suburban neighbor- “Though pigs and peccaries are clas- Javelina. (Kim Bartlett) hood to people who leave food out for them. sified within the same order of mammals, ing glaciers. border in 1907. The U.S. Geological Survey “If we can get people to stop feed- they’re in different families,” explains nature Old World pigs and modern javeli- confirmed their existence in 1931. ing, we can stop having large herds in the met- writer Lauray Yule in her 2004 book nas, migrating from Central America, appear Since then, javelinas are often seen ropolitan area,” Whetten said. J a v e l i n a s . “The two families diverged about to have reached the U.S. Southwest at almost in much of their range. Increased visibility The attack on Gordon and her dogs 38 million years ago: pigs evolved in the Old the same time. Spanish missionaries had been roughly coincided with predator control cam- was the most serious human conflict yet with World, peccaries in the New World.” exploring and establishing settlements in what paigns that in the mid-20th century extirpated javelinas in the Tucson area, but hardly the Like elephants, camels, lions, and is now the U.S. Southwest, often bringing pigs Mexican gray wolves, substantially dimin- first. “Pima County Animal Care Center data horses, peccaries actually evolved in North with them, for nearly 200 years before two ished the puma population, and killed millions released last month show 17 incidents since America, but vanished during the Ice Ages. Jesuits mentioned javelinas between 1756 and of coyotes. November 2001 in which one or more javeli- Twenty-five-million-year-old fossil peccaries 1767. Beaver trappers recorded the presence The human tendency to kill rat- nas bit a person, including six bitings this found in Nebraska had skulls three feet long, of javelinas in 1826, wrote Yule, but the tlesnakes might also have helped javelinas to year––more than in any year since 2002,” longer than the entire bodies of modern pecca- Smithsonian Institution did not identify javeli- establish themselves on the edges of fast- wrote Commings. ries. Their descendants apparently downsized nas as a U.S. species until naturalist E.A. growing cities, since rattlesnakes can be a “All bites except one were serious as they retreated south, away from the advanc- Mearns discovered them near the Mexican deadly rival for burrow space. Events Jan. 26-28: C o m p a s - sion for Animals Action Symposium, Davenport, Fla. Info: 386-454- 4 3 4 1 ;
–––––––––––––––––– IF YOUR GROUP IS HOLDING AN EVENT, please let us know–– we’ll be happy to announce it here, and we’ll be happy to send free samples of ANIMAL PEOPLE for your guests. ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2007 - 13 Pigs become scapegoats (from page 1) because of pigs,” Setnicka admitted. “This promoted by food processors. Those tech- would help vilify the pigs and help support the niques encourage growers to remove grassy pig removal project.” areas that are planted to reduce erosion and With both pigs and turkeys now trap pesticides before they reach waterways. almost hunted out, the Channel Islands fox The practices also discourage habitat zones population should explode, if The Nature that might attract animals who carry bacteria Conservancy and National Park Service analy- like E. coli or salmonella.” sis holds up. On the other hand, they may Added Martin, “A Salinas Valley find that the golden eagles now hunt foxes grower who requested anonymity because of more than ever, while the foxes have less food contract negotiations with processors said that than ever, without the pig and turkey carrion. even if processors allow some wildlife habitat near cropland, they now require farmers to put Pigs vs. spinach out large quantities of poisoned bait to kill On the California mainland, feral rodents. ‘When we plant hedgerows now, we pigs meanwhile took the rap for allegedly have to use the bait stations or we lose our causing an outbreak of E. coli bacterial poison- contracts,’ he said. ‘Later, you see birds of ing that spread from a single contaminated prey perched over the bait. They eat mice Feral pigs. (Kim Bartlett) spinach field to 26 states and one Canadian sluggish from the poison and get poisoned fumed Ohio Wildlife Division program admin- not fit neatly into management schemes that province in August and September 2006. At themselves. It kind of defeats the whole pur- istrator of wildlife management and research never took them into account. Yet they may least 204 people fell ill, three of whom died, pose of putting in the habitat.’” Carolyn Caldwell, to Dave Golowenski of the now be seen as bonus targets to help keep Kevin Reilly, M.D. of the California But, Martin noted, “Preliminary Columbus Dispatch. “They eat amphibians, dwindling numbers of hunters in the field, and Department of Health Services told Juliana research indicates concerns about wildlife as from frogs to salamanders. They do lots of perhaps to attract new hunters from among Barbassa of Associated Press. vectors for pathogens may be misdirected. An rooting, and they eat everything they root up.” immigrants whose old-country cultures includ- “Boar trampled fences that hemmed analysis from U.C. Santa Cruz concludes that This is not necessarily problematic at ed pig hunting. in the spinach field,” Barbassa wrote. the strain of bacterium associated with the all, from an ecological perspective. Pigs and Many states actively pushed pig “Samples taken from a wild pig, as well as spinach poisonings––E. coli 0157:H7––is rare other pig-like mammals have evolved together hunting in fall 2006, usually for the first time. from stream water and cattle on the ranch, in wild birds and mammals,” including feral with forests since before the time of the “Boars have been subject to hunting tested positive for the same strain of E. coli pigs, “and resides most abundantly in the dinosaurs. Feral pigs in North America today for years, but they have now become such a implicated in the outbreak. The pigs could digestive tracts of grain-fed cattle.” may compete for food and habitat with species problem that the state is encouraging hunters have tracked the bacteria into the field or Whether or not feral pigs really are as different as skunks, raccoons, opossums, to shoot them,” Golowenski of the D i s p a t c h spread it through their droppings, Reilly said.” to blame for everything they are accused of, javelinas, black bears, deer, and badgers, but noted. “Ohio Division of Wildlife officials The E. coli outbreak “may hurt farm they are increasingly abundant and widely dis- despite some overlapping tastes and traits, want them gone.” programs aimed at restoring wildlife habitat tributed––and their rooting makes messes. pigs are no threat to displace any of them. “The Michigan Department of and cutting water pollution,” San Francisco Feral pigs are also part of the prey base for Agriculture and the Michigan Department of C h r o n i c l e environment writer Glen Martin Pigs dig the forest bears, pumas, wolves, and alligators. Natural Resources have given permission to warned. “Such environmental programs could “Hogs are devastating to habitat, Overall, feral pigs fit easily into the licensed hunters to fire at will at feral pigs in be at odds with ‘clean farming techniques’ devastating to groundnesting birds,” recently North American wildlife ecology. But they do 23 Michigan counties where the swine have been spotted,” wrote Tom Greenwood of the D e t r o i t N e w s . “While the pigs are not a serious threat in Michigan,” Greenwood admitted, “they have caused huge damage to crops, wildlife and the ecosystems in a number of states, especially Florida and Texas.” Or so Jacqui Goddard reported on November 26 for the London S u n d a y Telegraph. “Wild pigs are tearing up Texas in unprecedented + numbers,” wrote God- + dard, “menacing its resi- dents, killing livestock, and gorging on crops. At least 20 other states have also reported problems,” Goddard said, “because of the creatures’ big appetites and bad manners. Across the country, damage to agriculture is estimated to be as high as $800 million a year.” That might sound like a lot––until compared to the environmental costs of, for example, the $80 bil- lion a year cattle and hog feedlot industry. de Soto In truth, proliferating feral pigs are for the most part themselves an envi- ronmental consequence of pork production. “Scientists say that the (continued on page 14) Please make the most generous gift you can to help ANIMAL PEOPLE shine the bright light on cruelty and greed! Your generous gift of $25, $50, $100, $500 or more helps to build a world where caring counts. Please send your check to: ANIMAL PEOPLE P.O. Box 960 Clinton, WA 98236
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Scapegoat feral pigs are byproducts of the pork industry (from page 13) blame lies partly with the 16th-century larger numbers of free-roaming dogs helped to ber of pigs in transit at any given time has new territory. Natural boundaries such as Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto, who land- control urban pig numbers. But what kept pigs soared. waterways and high mountains were rarely ed in Florida in 1539 with 600 troops and a from going “hog-wild” in the boondocks? With more pigs on the road at all breached. herd of swine. The animals, which were bred times, hauled in much larger trailers than a Even in the railway era, large num- as food, have spread across the Southeastern Pig economics generation ago, the opportunities for pigs to bers of pigs were moved only along a handful states,” Goddard asserted. The answer may be simple econom- get loose and introduce themselves to new of routes. Pigs were raised mainly in the De Soto probably was the first pig ics. But the economic factors require more habitat have never been greater. South and the grainbelt states, close to food farmer whose escaped stock contributed to the than just a quick look. sources. present population, but more than 450 years of USDA data shows that the numbers Pig trucking Today, pigs by the tens of thousands pig farming elsewhere in North America con- of pigs on U.S. farms at any given time now is Trucking accidents from which pigs are raised in confinement barns in the Dakota tributed to the gene pool. not significantly different from the numbers on might escape occur at a reported rate of about badlands and the Rocky Mountains. Pigs are Pigs wandered alongside wagons farms in 1900: 50-odd million then, 50-odd 60 per year, involving as many as 10,000 pigs trucked throughout most of the continental wherever European settlers went. Though million now. altogether, according to data included in U.S. U.S., across all former barriers to pig travel. most were slaughtered, and most who escaped There were actually more pigs on Highway Accidents Involving Farm Animals, As accidents occur more or less ran- were quickly hunted down, enough got away farms in 1940: just over 61 million. How- a compilation taken from news reports, pub- domly, the result is a continent-wide experi- that by the mid-20th century there were feral ever, since 1940 the total number of farms has lished by Farm Sanctuary in June 2006. ment in releasing a few pigs here and a few pigs in most states south of the snow belt. dropped by two-thirds, the farm labor force But most pig-hauling accidents don’t there. The optimum feral pig habitats are Yet feral pigs did not proliferate at has dropped by more than 80%, and total make news, Richmond T i m e s - D i s p a t c h s t a f f being found and populated, if only by chance. anything like the recent pace until the advent number of pigs slaughtered has almost dou- writer Bill Geroux discovered in April 2005, Instead of feral pig populations marching pre- of factory farming and long-haul trucking to bled, because the average time taken to raise a while investigating an incident in which about dictably from one regional stronghold to the move pigs to market. Even when pig predators pig to slaughter weight has been cut in half. 180 pigs spilled from a toppled trailer. next, they are capturing territory like para- and food rivals including acorn-eating deer In addition, in inflation-adjusted “The confused animals rooted in the troopers who secure wherever they land. had been hunted into extreme scarcity in the dollars, a pig now sells for a third less than in grass or scrambled into nearby woods,” mid-20th century, feral pigs did not approach 1940. As the value of each pig has fallen, the Giroux reported. “Some of them lay squealing Adaptation their present abundance. number of workers available to try to recover in the wreck. One hog set off down the narrow But if feral pigs are all descended Scavenging competition from much each escaped pig has plumeted, and the num- two-lane blacktop, where morning commuter from factory-farmed pigs, why do they look traffic came to a halt. About 30 hogs lay down like European wild boars? And how are they for a nap in the sunshine between two houses. reproducing, when most factory-farmed males Boar panic grips Great Britain “Every day,” Giroux continued, are castrated? L O N D O N ––“Police in Fife have Margetshöchheim. Three of the pack were “dozens of trucks packed with 150 or more Indeed, most factory-farmed male + issued a warning after a wild boar escaped shot by police. Two others were run over.” hogs converge on Smithfield’s two large pigs could not contribute to a growing feral + from the abattoir in St Andrews,” BBC News Alleged fellow G u a r d i a n w r i t e r slaughterhouses from hog farms in Southside population––but domestic pigs readily hybrid- reported on November 28, 2006. “The public Harry Pearson a few days later, “At Changi Virginia and North Carolina. And every year, ize with European boars, now abundant on has been urged not to approach the animal, golf course in Singapore they have had to post a few of those trucks plunge off the rural high- hunting ranches and also inclined to escape which has large tusks and teeth and may warning signs after a pair of 400-pound wild ways near the plants.” occasionally. Common domestic pigs also attack if it is cornered or threatened.” boar took up residence in the rough. In Said Smithfield spokesperson Jerry hybridize with Arkansas razorbacks, existing In truth, any pig can deliver a bone- Malaysia, jungle pigs are considered a bigger Hostetter, “I hate to admit it, but it happens feral pig populations, and even with dumped crunching bite, and any frightened boar or menace to golfers than poisonous snakes or all the time.” or escaped ex-pet Vietnamese potbellied pigs. sow can become deadly. crocodiles. The porcine onslaught is also “As Smithfield’s production has Among the many different pig But the BBC warning was relatively reported in Sweden, Canada and France. But grown,” Giroux recounted, “the company has strains at large now, feral pigs are also con- understated compared to much recent Fleet it is in the U.S. that feral pigs have carried out established a rapid-response team to recapture ducting a vast uncontrolled experiment in Street hyperbole about feral European boars. their greatest terror campaign against the hogs.” adaptation to North American habitat. Over Anonymous activists claiming affil- creeping menace of golf.” Most pigs who escape from wrecked time, the result may be regionally distinct iation with the Animal Liberation Front in Doug Moe of the Capital Times, in trucks are soon caught. Most of the pigs feral pig varieties. December 2005 released more than 100 Madison, Wisconsin, traced Pearson’s claim aboard the trucks have little or no experience For the moment, European boar European boars from a farm at Exmoor, then about a “porcine onslaught” against golf back of freedom, and no idea how to feed them- characteristics seem to be dominant. This is released 45 of the boars again after they were to a hypothetical remark by a rural Wisconsin selves as wild animals. no surprise. Hunting ranch operators learned recaptured. British news media have tracked legislator whose antipathy toward feral pigs is Still, if even 3.5% of all the pigs more than 30 years ago that hybridizing the boars’ movements ever since as if report- actually rooted in his experience of pigs doing involved in documented transport accidents get imported European boar stock with common ing about an invading army, and have ampli- crop damage to farms. away and survive long enough to raise litters, domestic pigs would produce animals of fied––and perhaps sensationalized––reports of Elizabeth Nash, Madrid correspon- their net contribution to the feral population European boar appearance but domestic pig feral pig actiivity abroad. dent for The Independent, was a bit more would be the equivalent of de Soto’s pigs temperament. For example, G u a r d i a n Berlin cor- restrained in reporting on November 26, 2006 escaping to breed each and every year. Further, most common domestic respondent Jess Smee reported on November that “The boar has come down from haunts in More important than the number, pigs are slaughtered so young that people who 29, 2006 that “A pack of wild boars, trying the mountains northwest of the Spanish capi- however, is the breadth of distribution. De are not pig experts seldom realize how much to escape from hunters, stormed two small tal to roam the leafy avenues and walled man- Soto’s pigs could only expand into habitat they will resemble their European boar ances- towns in Bavaria, biting people, knocking sions of Madrid’s high-end suburbs. Despite adjacent to the habitat they already occupied. tors if allowed to reach maturity. down a cyclist and running amok in a bou- their fearsome tusks and grumpy character,” Until the advent of transporting pigs by rail- The combination of the appearance tique. Fifteen boars caused damage worth Nash stipulated, “boars are not aggressive way, in the late 19th century, there was no of a traditional trophy species with the familiar several thousand euros in Veitshöchheim and unless wounded or provoked.” faster way than walking for a pig to colonize (continued on page 15)
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ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2007 - 15 Feral pigs are scapegoats (from 14) Indian street pigs are mostly not feral DELHI, MYSORE, BANGA- might be noticed, but the pigs themselves are flavor of pork has created a growing commer- wild hunted animals, at least those few lucky LORE––India easily leads the world in num- not. Usually the barns are far from any city. cial pig hunting industry in Texas, whose feral enough to die from a clean shot, suffer incom- bers of street pigs, but relatively few are Few as pigs are in India, relatively pig population officially exceeds two million. parably less than those raised in tiny cages and completely feral. Much of the Indian domes- speaking, they are increasingly visible, espe- “In Texas, most land is privately trucked in unconscionable conditions to under- tic pig population roams the streets to forage, cially in cities where Animal Birth Control owned,” explained Goddard of the D a i l y regulated slaughterhouses. But hunted hogs loosely attended by herders who may be programs encouraged by national law and Telegraph, “so there are no state eradication suffer horribly for hunters’ fun.” blocks away. Relatively few pigs are raised subsidized by the Animal Welfare Board of programs, and farmers are free to take matters in confinement, in a nation whose upper India have reduced street dog populations, into their own hands. This allows them to run Alien invaders caste Hindus, Jains, Buddhists, and making more refuse available to pigs. hunts and sell the meat, to make back some of Elsewhere, even in Hawaii, where Muslims have traditionally shunned pork. Street dogs have long been feared the profits the animals have cost them.” pigs have traditionally been hunted, they con- Historically, only what are now by many Indians because of the risk of rabies. “Hogs are putting farmers out of tinue to be demonized by officials who would called the “scheduled” castes, “tribals,” and Dogs are still the chief vectors for rabies in business,” Texas pig trapper Kevin Ryer told like more hunters to kill them, and some jour- the Christian minority ate pork. For millen- India, which still has more reported human Goddard, “but at the same time hog hunting nalists who uncritically report what they hear. nia, pig-herding was accordingly a minor and and animal cases than the rest of the world has turned into a big business.” “Stealthy and sometimes nearly not very profitable branch of animal hus- combined––but pigs can also carry rabies, There is not actually much sign of invisible, unwelcome species such as hybrid bandry. This has recently abruptly changed. they deliver a stronger bite, and though street feral pigs putting farmers out of business, in Polynesian pigs” are “pillaging native forests, A high birth rate among “scheduled” castes, dogs continue to far outnumber street pigs, Texas or anywhere else, but New York Times screeching through the night in suburban increasing affluence among “scheduled” caste suspicion is growing that the pigs may be far reporter Tim Eaton a month earlier observed neighborhoods and rooting around in rural taro members who have pursued subsidized edu- more dangerous. that pig hunting has “become lucrative, as patches,” recently asserted Associated Press cation, enabling them to buy more meat, and Delhi, the Indian capital, is among Europeans and an increasing number of writer Tara Godvin. weakening caste barriers throughout Indian the cities where ABC programs have been Americans clamor for wild boar.” “I think semantics plays a big role in society have enabled pig herders to rapidly underway the longest. Delhi also is among Eaton followed a hunter who “said this. The term ‘invasive species’ makes one expand their markets. the cities where street-dwelling pig produc- he made $28,000 last year selling live feral think that the hordes are at our gates and “Breeding pigs is big business,” tion has most conspicuously expanded. hogs.” Eaton described how the hunter threatening to destroy life as we know it,” The Hindu newspaper recently explained. There is as yet no Indian national policy on released four scent hounds who located and responded Animal Rights Hawaii director “Assuming that per capita consumption of street pigs, but that could change soon as cornered a feral pig. The hunter then released Cathy Goeggel. pork is one half kilogram (about one pound) result of two attacks on children within three a pit bull terrier, who captured the pig with a In Florida, where de Soto released per week, and that less than 5% of the popu- days in the northwest Delhi suburb of face bite. The hunter “pounced on the snorting the first pigs to reach North America, an off- lation eat pork, a city the size of Mysore Samaipur Badly. beast and tied his feet together.” The hunter duty state Fish & Wildlife officer and several would consume 26,000 pigs per year.” On November 28, 2006, three- then tossed the pig into the back of his vehicle. of his hunting buddies in October 2006 appar- Just one confinement barn may year-old Ajay Yadeav wandered outdoors “It is ironic that the wild hog market ently fancied themselves to be holding off an hold that many pigs in the U.S., China, and with his lunch, and within minutes was killed is growing with the organic market, as many alien menace when they reportedly massacred other pork-eating nations. The pigs’ effluent (continued on page 16) people turn toward organic meat to avoid sup- several dozen Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs. porting the cruelty of factory farming,” com- According to Richard Hoyle of the Hoyle said, “hunters with bows and guns Wildlife Commission,” Rooterville pig sanc- mented Karen Dawn of DawnWatch. “Indeed Coalition of Pig Sanctuaries, about 70 pot-bel- began arriving and the slaughter began. Many tuary founder Elaine West told A N I M A L lied pigs were either released or escaped from terrified little pigs were killed on the roadside. P E O P L E. “They had maintained that these Hong Kong kills feral pigs the Barberville property of David Mowerly, Others were baited with corn and shot when semi-tame little pigs were feral. Anyone who “The solution to the increasing whose wife bred pot-bellied pigs. Mowerly they came to eat. The hunters even attempted has ever seen a feral pig would realize that havoc caused by marauding bands of wild and his wife were in the process of divorce. to shoot pigs who had been captured and these were not ferals,” West contended. pigs in the New Territories is relatively sim- “The domesticated pets had been in penned while awaiting rescue,” Hoyle alleged. Now that they have been taught to ple: kill them,” reported the South China the area for months,” reported Channel 9 Eye- “At least 15-20 pigs have been killed fear humans, however, any who were not Morning Post on December 21, 2006. witness News. “Recently four pigs were found so far and at least 10 are thought to be wound- either killed or rescued may augment the Sarah Liao Sau-tung, Hong Kong dead with their throats cut along a local road, ed but still alive in the area,” Hoyle said on Florida feral pig population. Smaller feral pigs Secretary for Environment, Transport and and that’s when some residents had enough.” October 22. “Many of these wounded pigs may be able to compete with armadillos for Works, confirmed a day earlier that mem- Members of the Fort Myers-based have been savaged by local dogs or have had more limited habitat niches than the purported bers of hunting clubs in Tai Po and Sai Pigs as Pets Association, led by founder Lana their throats cut and were left on the side of the descendants of de Sota’s pigs require. Kung had been officially encouraged to hunt Hollenbeck, captured 39 pigs and piglets, but road to die,” Hoyle added. “We will probably end up with pigs more often. “We believe a lot of people the Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission Following the Channel 9 coverage, about 4-5 times as many animals to deal with will volunteer because they enjoy it as a authorized hunters to kill the remainder. “There has been a lot of back-peddling on the than they started out with,” West predicted. hobby,” Sau-tung said. At dusk on October 20, 2006, part of animal control and the Florida Fish & ––Merritt Clifton + www.CingularSponsorsCruelty.com + What does "C" stand for?
"C" stands for Cingular Wireless, the company that says it's "Raising the Bar" when it comes to service. "C" stands for Compassion. Cingular is lowering the bar. "C" stands for Cruel, which is what Cingular is for sponsoring animal-abusing rodeos. "C" stands for "Cee Ya Later, Cingular!" "C" stands for "Cut this Cruel Corporate Animal Abuser Off!" We hope all caring Cingular customers will make a New Year's resolution to dump Cingular if it has not terminated its rodeo sponsorship by January 1, 2007. Last year, SHARK led campaigns against Campbell Soup, Starbucks Coffee, and entertainer Hilary Duff for sup- porting rodeos. Today, all have withdrawn that support. Compassionate performer Carrie Underwood, upon receiving information and overtures about rodeo cruelty, withdrew her rodeo support without a campaign. Now Cingular heads a list of corporate thugs sponsoring rodeo animal abuse. Not just any rodeos either–– Cingular has become a major sponsor and "Exclusive Wireless Provider" for the largest rodeo-sanctioning organization in the world, the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). I am asking that every caring Cingular customer call the company to warn that you will make another New Year’s resolution if Cingular doesn't terminate rodeo sponsorship. We are researching a class action lawsuit to force Cingular to accept early termination on ethical grounds without assessing any penalties. Regardless, however, it is important that those who care about animals not give money to a company that sponsors such abuse. Let's show Cingular and the rest of the business world the power of Compassion, and leave no question about our resolve. Go to www.CingularSponsorsCruelty.com for contact information for Cingular.
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The Watchdog monitors fundraising, spending, and The political activity in the name of animal and habitat protec - tion—both pro and con. His empty bowl stands for all the bowls left empty when some Watchdog take more than they need. ASPCA honors Twin Cities societies merge Exterminator called to Primarily Primates Humane Farm Animal Care ST. PAUL––The three largest founder Adele Douglass, 60, has received humane societies serving the Minneapolis-St. SAN ANTONIO––The messy plight ident Priscilla Feral, whose organization the American SPCA Lifetime Achievement Paul area merged, effective on January 1, of the Primarily Primates sanctuary reportedly agreed to absorb Primarily Primates as a sub- Award. Douglass handled animal welfare 2007, becoming a single entity with five became messier still in early December 2006, sidiary just days before the Texas Office of the issues as a longtime aide to former New York shelters, more than 200 workers, a com- to the point that PETA-backed, state-appoint- Attorney General seized the sanctuary and put City member of the House of Representatives bined annual budget of about $8.5 million, ed receiver Lee Theisen-Watt called in ABC Theisen-Watt in charge, “I’m not freaked out Bill Green, then for 13 years represented net assets of $23.1 million, and as yet no Pest & Lawn Services on December 13 to kill by mice. If you have lots of food, rodents are American Humane in Washington D.C. unified name. Former Animal Humane rats, mice, and cockroaches. attracted. And the roaches––it’s not odd that Starting American Humane Farm Animal Society of Golden Valley president Martha “ABC is proud to be able to take on they are there. They are part of nature.” Services in 2000, Douglass left to found McPhee heads the new organization. Former this project for free as our holiday gift to the During the 28 years that founder HFAC at the end of 2002. HFAC is now the Humane Society for Companion Animals community,” said ABC general manager Wally Swett headed Primarily Primates, pest largest U.S. program certifying humane live- director Janelle Dixon will direct operations. Mark Ambrose. control was done mainly by domestic fowl, stock production. The third partner in the merger is the Greater “It was probably the worst roach cats, and dogs who had the run of the sanctu- The ASPCA also honored Oklahoma West Humane Society. infestation I’ve ever seen,” Ambrose later told ary. Within two weeks of Theisen-Watt’s pet sterilization advocate Ruth Steinberger “We all worked together after Chicago Tribune correspondent Howard Witt. arrival, however, the Houston SPCA removed and Marley & Me author John Grogan, and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita,” said McPhee. “Cockroaches carpeted the floors the dogs, plus 78 chickens, 22 turkeys, and recognized firefighters Richard LaPiedra, “We realized that with collaboration we and walls of some animals’ sleeping houses.” 20 peacocks who had been what Swett called Thomas Piambino, Thomas Sullivan, a n d could do much more. This merger is driven wrote Witt, “Rats had colonized others.” his “insect control staff.” John Cashman for several daring dog rescues. by our mission.” Responded Friends of Animals pres- (continued on page 17) Indian street pigs not ferals (from 15) and partially eaten by pigs. The pigs’ owner, be sold for around $110 U.S., so they are both a man named Jachche, was reportedly held for an important source of income, and a source causing death due to negligence, but the pigs of the killer disease. Japanese encephalitis has remained at large. struck northern India every year since 1978,” On November 30, 2006, a pig bit Dhillion said. the head and shoulder of a six-year-old, who Federal health minister Anbumani survived. Ramdoss ordered the Uttar Pradesh govern- The Hindu has been reporting similar ment state to move pigs out of residential areas incidents in growing numbers, from all parts and away from hospitals, but the order had of India. For example, Pedapati Manikyam, small chance of being enforced. 65, of Pedaboddepalli village, about 100 kilo- The death toll eventually rose to metres north of Visakhapatnam, was asleep in more than 1,000, including about 800 in India her home on October 27, 2005, The Hindu and 200-plus in neighboring Nepal. recounted, when two pigs belonging to local Uttar Pradesh director general of Indian dump pigs. (Kim Bartlett) herders approached her, and bit her right hand health O.P. Singh told Marjorie Mason of announced a campaign against pigs, but sus- that criminal cases would be registered against off when she tried to slap them away. Associated Press that vaccinating the seven pended it after the pig herders complained to a those engaged in rearing pigs who fail to pre- “The woman died due to profuse million children at risk of contracting Japanese justice of the Karnataka Lokayukta, or anti- vent the animals from straying on roads,” The loss of blood,” The Hindu said. encephalitis would cost about $58 million. The corruption agency. Hindu reported. “He said all pigs straying on state’s entire health budget for the year was “The swine menace had reached roads would either be shot dead or poisoned.” Disease threat just $25 million. unbearable proportions,” fumed the D e c c a n But overt attacks, horrifying as they H e r a l d . “Tiny tots carrying lunch boxes to Policy are, are much less a threat to humans than dis- Sanitation school and housewives returning from shop- Indian national policy since Decem- eases transmitted by pig parasites, insects who The conditions producing the Uttar ping with bags of groceries were the main tar- ber 1997 has been to avoid killing street dogs, breed in pig wallows, and influenza viruses Pradesh outbreak appeared to be more typical gets of the pigs. There have been instances but street pigs tend to be killed by any means for whom pigs are an intermediary between for India than exceptional. where these animals have bitten children after available, with little or no recognition that wild waterfowl and humans. At Ramanathapuram, Tamil Nadu, chasing them for some distance.” pigs who survive and escape will then breed The influenza epidemic of 1918, “inside the government hospital has become an back up to the carrying capacity of the habitat. which killed more people in India than any- important habitat for pigs,” The Hindu report- Poisoning But in at least one community, offi- where else, was only the deadliest of many ed in March 2006. “At least 50 to 75 pigs can The Davangere municipal council in cials have reportedly interpreted the national outbreaks which are believed to have mutated be seen inside and outside the hospital,” The February 2005 poisoned more than 2,000 street dog policy as pertaining to pigs as well. among pigs before hitting humans. Hindu asserted. “Similarly, open places at the pigs, after three schoolchildren were bitten by “Hundreds of families who live on Typically a flu strain does not Tamil Nadu Housing Board Colony are attract- pigs in a single day. the river banks” now rear pigs near the Budhan become epidemic among humans until it ing pigs, because drain water flowing in the The council, after poisoning 1,000 Sandhai marketplace, in Pallipalayam, on the develops the ability to spread from human to colony has created six ponds in the complex. pigs in late 2004, “had given a month’s dead- River Cauvery, reported The Hindu in August human. A flu strain evolving to spread from According to a rough estimate,” the anony- line for the owners of the animals to take the 2006. “Absence of toilets has forced the resi- pig to pig, and then from pig to human, is the m o u s H i n d u reporter assessed, “the current pigs outside the city. The deadline expired 14 dents to depend on the river banks. This is an typical precursor of a serious outbreak. pig population is around 1,500 to 2,000.” days ago,” The Hindu said. ideal situation for the pigs to grow,” T h e Accordingly, while the avian flu The Ramanathapuram Municipal By March 2005, Davangere had poi- H i n d u explained. “Municipal officials say H5N1 has killed more than 150 people since Council authorized shooting the pigs, but soned 5,000 pigs, and had become the model they have warned the residents many times not 1996 who had close contact with infected there was no immediate follow-up. for poisoning campaigns planned in Mysore, to rear pigs,” The Hindu continued. “On poultry, most of whom have been stricken In Ongole, The Hindu reported in Hubli-Dharwad, and Raichur. many occasions they have also captured the since 2003, epidemiologists have been most May 2006, “70-80 persons belonging to “They used zinc phosphate mixed pigs. However, they released them a few days concerned about the risk of crossover to pigs, scheduled castes and tribes are rearing about with flour, and making it into rolls, placed it later. Officials say they are not able to kill the which might occur most readily in India. 10,000 pigs. The trade has become so lucra- all over the city,” Mysore administrative task pigs. They cite a law that prevents killing ani- Large populations of both free-roaming pigs tive,” The Hindu alleged, “that other castes force member H.R. Bapu Satyanarayana told mals, and they don’t have the facilities to ster- and humans living almost together, with poor have taken up the profession.” The Hindu. “In four days they found 5,000 ilize the captured pigs.” sanitation and inadequate health care, together After the Andhra Pradesh High pigs lying dead.” An October 2006 update downsized form the nexus that could turn H5N1 from a Court in March 2006 ordered Ongole to con- Other Mysore officials were much the human population in the primary pig habi- scourge of poultry and occasional threat to trol street pigs within six months, city officials less enthusiastic. After more than a year of tat to 80 families, most of whom are not pig humans into a possible repetition of 1918, two months later “engaged the services of 20 repeatedly warning pig herders that free-roam- herders. Along with others in the vicinity, whose spread might be expedited by jet travel. persons belonging to the Nakkala community ing pigs might be poisoned or shot on sight, The Hindu said, “they want the civic body to A more immediate threat is Japanese in Nellore, who have expertise to kill stray city workers in June 2005 trucked about 25 construct public convenience facilities, want encephalitis, carried by mosquitoes who pigs and dogs,” The Hindu said. “Carrying pigs to the municipal sewage treatment plant. bathrooms, want the municipality to clear reproduce in liquefied pig excrement. country-made (homemade) guns, they went The Mysore pig population meanwhile rose garbage on a regular basis and go in for solid “Mosquitoes are held responsible for around the town killing pigs.” from about 18,000 in April 2005 to about waste management, and want the civic body an outbreak of Japanese encephalitis that has No other mention of dogs was made. 20,000 going into 2006. to deal with the pig menace.” claimed the lives of more than 480 children in “The pig rearers, who have been “Nearly 200 families depend on pig Recognizing that the street pig prob- Uttar Pradesh,” reported South China violating High Court orders to confine the ani- rearing in the city,” reported the D e c c a n lem results ultimately from deficient refuse Morning Post Delhi correspondent Amrit mals, came around and sought the mercy of Herald. “The pig owners are refusing to move disposal, Hyderabad municipal commissioner Dhillon in September 2005, “but pigs must the health officials,” promising to sell the sur- their pigs beyond the city limits, demanding Sanjay Jagu in October 2006 coupled an order share the blame. Half a kilometre from the viving pigs in Bangalore “in the next couple of basic amenities in compensation.” to staff to remove pigs from the streets with BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur, where days,” The Hindu continued. Confrontations over pigs com- orders to “clear debris on a priority basis,” most of the victims died, low-caste Hindu The story was similar in Shimoga, menced in Hubli-Dharwad in 2004, when and “construct public toilets to maintain families rear pigs and live in unimaginably Karnataka. Shimoga city employees began then-mayor Anilkumar Patil ordered the police hygiene,” The Hindu reported. filthy conditions. sporadic pig purges in mid-February 2005. to shoot free-roaming pigs. The pig herders “The health wing was asked to carry “The pigs are never given food or Predictably failing to clear the streets of pigs rallied against the shooting, then removed out door-to-door collection of garbage by drink by their impoverished owners,” Dhillon for long, the Shimoga poisoning in July 2006 their herds, temporarily. In 2006, after dis- arranging tricycles, and to bring commercial wrote. “Instead, the animals root among rotten ran into political trouble when seven cows cussion of shooting or poisoning pigs sub- establishments under a bulk garbage removal vegetable peels, mutton bones and decaying were poisoned along with 450 pigs. sided, the pigs returned in force. system,” The Hindu continued. “Jaju also fruit on rubbish dumps, and snort through Meanwhile, in Hiriyur, east of In September 2006, Hubli- requested residents to cooperate by not dump- open gutters in search of food. The pigs can Shimoga and north of Bangalore, city officials Dharward health officer A.C. Swamy “warned ing garbage on the roads.” ––Merritt Clifton ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2007 - 17 Receiver ousts birds, calls exterminator to Primarily Primates to kill bugs & rodents (from page 16) As the separate species did not min- “We haven’t been able to take in all For example, PETA spokespersons Primarily Primates from Ohio State University, gle, Swett explained to ANIMAL PEOPLE animals,” Tello acknowledged, “but once in were quoted in many news accounts of the but Feral and FoA legal director Lee Hall on on several different occasions, keeping multi- our refuge, animals have been safe from being rodent and cockroach infestation, but A N I - December 8 listed the unpublicized deaths of a ple flocks ensured that multiple areas were used further or killed—the very point of a MAL PEOPLE was the only periodical to squirrel monkey, a white-handed gibbon, and being patrolled and pecked clean at all times. sanctuary. Yet one of the first official acts of mention the roles of the chickens, turkeys, a spider monkey during the seven weeks since “The state charges that Primarily the temporary receiver was to petition for per- and peacocks, removed six weeks before ABC Theisen-Watt’s arrival, along with injuries Primates was chronically understaffed, lead- mission to start killing. was called. and illnesses afflicting a chimpanzee, a ring- ing to deplorably filthy conditions,” such as “When an operation like PETA rolls PETA spokespersons also have made tailed lemur, and a howler monkey, and two “raw sewage collecting in a cesspool near sev- into town with its well-funded public relations much of the deaths of two of nine chimpanzees alleged instances of small monkeys being eral chimp enclosures,” reported Jordan Smith machine, it’s hard to fight back,” Tello noted. in early 2006, soon after their arrival at stolen, one of whom was later returned. of the Austin Chronicle. Responded Stephen Tello, Swett’s Chimp Haven sued by founding executive director longtime assistant, and successor for the few weeks between Swett’s retirement in S H R E V E P O R T – – Chimp Haven rounding Primarily Primates are resolved. Chimp Haven became controversial, September 2006 and the state takeover, founding executive director Linda Koebner Koebner’s lawsuit accuses Brent and even before it was built, because of the chance “Texas environmental officials visited and, and eight co-plaintiffs in early December 2006 Butler “of making poor decisions about per- that the resident chimps might be reclaimed by after making a few changes, found our method sued founding president Linda Brent and board sonnel and maintaining the chimps in social the NIH for further experimentation. of waste disposal complied with state and local chair Tom Butler for allegedly mismanaging groups,” wrote Janelle Rucker of the The House of Representatives late in regulations.” the chimpanzee retirement colony “in violation Shreveport Times. “One such instance, the the 109th Congress passed a bill which would Tello and Feral were found in con- of that corporation’s purpose, to the detriment plaintiffs claim, led to the death of a chimp have cancelled the recall possibility, but the tempt of court in early December for allegedly of the animals residing at Chimp Haven, and named Woodruff. Placed with three aggres- bill was stalled in the U.S. Senate by the oppo- withholding Primarily Primates’ mailing list to the detriment of fundraising and additional sive male chimps, he was later found dead sition of Michael B. Enzi (R-Wyoming), who from Theisen-Watt. grant opportunities on which Chimp Haven from a heart attack,” allegedly from stress argued that the NIH might eventually need the “As part of the court order,” wrote must rely to survive.” resulting from being attacked by the others. Chimp Haven chimps to study an urgent threat Brian J. Foster of the Darien N e w s - R e v i e w , Opened in 2003, Chimp Haven cur- “The suit lists how the defendants such as bioterrorism. “Feral must return all money received from rently houses 89 former laboratory chimps ‘improperly and illegally’ suspended Koebner “The U.S. government has so many Primarily Primates’ donors in response to her under contract with the National Institutes of from the board of directors,” Rucker said. chimps available for experimentation that it fund-raising letter dated October 30, 2006 to Health. The chimps belong to the NIH and “To remedy the situation, the group is asking plans to retire scores of them in the next few the Travis County Probate Court in Austin, technically could be recalled to research use, for injunctions, including the removal and months,” wrote Boston Globe staff reporter Texas.” The money will be turned over to but there has been little lab demand for chim- replacement of Brent and Butler, restoration of John Donnelly. Brent told Donnelly that “At Theisen-Watt. panzees for more than 20 years. Koebner to the board, and an independent least 200 of the roughly 1,200 chimpanzees in “Feral was also ordered by the court The best-known chimps at Chimp third-party review of the conditions of the federal labs currently are not being used to turn over all Primarily Primates donor lists, Haven are the survivors of the nine-member facility, its accounts, and its records.” because of a lack of projects. passwords or computer records to Theisen- colony formerly kept by Ohio State University Responded Chimp Haven spokesper- “The federal Chimpanzee Manage- Watt,” Foster added. “However, Feral is still researcher Sally Boysen, who were retired to son Rick DelaHaya, to Rucker, “We are con- ment Program recently found that the abun- allowed to raise money on behalf of Friends of Primarily Primates in February 2006. One fident that when all the facts are presented, all dance of chimpanzees in laboratories was so Animals to aid Primarily Primates.” chimp died on arrival at Primarily Primates. the allegations will be proved false, and we great that it recently extended a moratorium on “Friends of Animals stepped in to Another died two months later. Necropsies can continue the business of taking care of the chimpanzee breeding until the end of next enable us to legally defend our sanctuary,” found that both deaths were caused by pre- chimpanzees.” year,” Donnelly added. said Tello. “While we’ll abide by the orders of existing heart ailments. The plaintiffs include, besides Said New England Anti-Vivisection the court, we note that these proceedings were The seven remaining chimps were Koebner, Virginia Shehee, Sharon Wright, Society president Theo Capaldo, “The chim- carried out simply because we did what under relocated from temporary holding facilities at Mary Jansen, Tim and Sarah Goeders, and panzees who have finally made their way to normal circumstances would be our proper Primarily Primates to Chimp Haven on Jan and Frank Landon, all of Caddo Parish, retirement are so battered and worn, so used work: asking Primarily Primates’ donors to November 16, 2006, ostensibly for temporary Louisiana, and Cathie Neukum, of New up by science, that we don’t call Chimp help us survive as a true sanctuary. caretaking until the legal issues currently sur- York. Haven a sanctuary. We call it a hospice.” Which wild pigs are running amok in Malaysia? And why now? KUALA LUMPUR– – attack in Malaysia tends to result in lived near pig farms. The native On April 5, 2005, howev- boars attacked K. Nagaraju, 44, as Rampaging wild pigs are a problem the animal’s demise. If wildlife offi- reservoir for Nipah virus turned out er, in Kampung Nakhoda, a ram- he sprayed pesticide at Felcra in Malaysia, practically all sources cials fail to hunt the suspected ani- to be wild fruit bats, also known as paging boar injured three-year-old Serting, Bahau. One boar chased agree. Less clear is which wild pigs mal(s) down, vigilantes intervene. flying foxes. Mohd Manshah Saputra and two Nagaraju when he fled, knocked are the culprits. Reports of miscreant pig Historically, the bats lived men in their fifties who apparently him down, and bit him to death on Malaysia has native warty behavior seldom distinguish among in deep forest and kept to them- tried to come to his aid. Running the chest and stomach. Game pigs and bearded pigs, as well as the species. Perhaps all Malaysian selves. In early 1999, however, into a mosque, widely seen as an act rangers shot the boar at the scene abundant feral domestic pigs––and wild pigs are now behaving badly. deforestation associated with log of desecration, the boar was cor- about an hour later. they can hybridize. On the other hand, per- poaching and forest fires set to clear nered and shot. On November 4, 2006, a The warty pigs and beard- haps the pig incidents of today are a land for slash-and-burn agriculture On November 25, 2005, boar invaded a restaurant in ed pigs are subjects of conservation delayed consequence of the Nipah drove thousands of hungry bats a boar charged into a private school Kuantan, biting Abdullah Hamid concern, albeit perhaps more as virus outbreak of 1999, when efforts away from their mountain homes, at Taman Angsa Mas in Kuala Bakar, 48, before passer-by Nik prey for highly endangered tigers to eradicate much of the domestic into agricultural districts, where rot- Sawah, Rantau, scattering 15 chil- Hassan Nik Lah, 41, clubbed and than for their own sake. Malaysia pig population sent any pig who ting produce collected for pigs pro- dren, injuring a six-year-old, and stabbed the boar to death. now has as few as 500 tigers, down could escape the killing into the hills vided an alternative food source. repeatedly biting four-year-old Tan Charged by a boar on from more than 3,000 circa 1950. on the run. Sick and weak, many bats Pei Fun, who received 10 stitches. November 30, 2006, while feeding Feral and hybrid pigs are Seven years later, the died. Pigs ate them, incubated the Forty hunters spent three days track- her chickens, Apipah Ahmad, 63, also prey for tigers, but conserva- descendants of refugee pigs and any Nipah virus, and passed it to their ing and killing the boar. of Kuala Kangsar, prayed for deliv- tionists tend to view feral and hybrid other pigs the refugees met in flight caretakers. The wild attacks seemed erance while suffering multiple bites pigs as unwelcome competitors for may be trying to reclaim their ances- The Malaysia government to focus continuing background con- on her hands, legs, and back. “I warty and bearded pig habitat. tral habitat in muddy village streets sought to contain Nipah virus by cern about disease transmission and fell down as the boar ran toward me Both conservationists and and dumps. sending soldiers to kill more than a pollution associated with pigs. and began gnawing at my body,” ordinary rural Malaysians also worry Pigs have not been well million pigs between mid-March and Malacca state rural devel- she told the S t a r . “When he went that because pigs of domestic ances- thought of by most Malaysians in mid-May 1999. About 1,800 pig opment and agriculture committee for my face, I could only use both try tend to live closer to human habi- many centuries, if ever. Neither the farms were closed, impoverishing chair Yunus Husin in March 2006 my hands to fend him off. But tation, they might draw tigers closer Muslim majority (58%) nor most of an estimated 300,000 Malaysians, ordered that the Malacca pig herd be when I shouted ‘God is great’ three too, into greater likelihood of the Hindu minority (7%) eat pork. mostly ethnic Chinese, whose liveli- reduced from about 120,000 to just times, the boar suddenly fell on his attacking humans. Unlike in India, The Muslims, especially, tend to hoods had depended on the pork 48,000, “which is enough to meet side, enabling me to run to safety.” where much of the human popula- consider pigs unclean. The ethnic industry. demand in Malacca,” wrote S t a r Children were previously tion is uniquely tolerant of occasion- Chinese minority (28%) do eat and Despite the discontent of reporters Lee Yuk Peng and attacked by wild pigs in the same al fatal attacks by wildlife, any raise pigs––and that has been a fre- the former pig farmers, pig-related Christina Tan. neighborhood, the S t a r r e p o r t e d , quent flashpoint for racial and sec- problems seemed for a time to cease “The number of pigs are to and an elderly motorcyclist had been tarian conflict, when entrepreneurs being a public issue. Complaints be reduced because of water pollu- killed when he hit a boar. have tried to raise pigs in the wrong voiced in the Malaysia Star in early tion and the smell, and as a precau- “We don’t understand why villages or wrong neighborhoods, 2005 concerned wild pigs making tion against possible outbreaks of the these animals are now coming out At least 108 Malaysians noise at night, uprooting banana Nipah virus and other diseases,” from the jungle to our house,” said died of the mysterious Nipah virus trees, smashing flower pots, and explained Husin. Jeorge Subramaniam, 56, after one during the first half of 1999. Almost biting a dog who tried to chase “I hope non-Muslims will recent incident. all of them worked at pig farms, or marauding pigs back to the jungle. be more sensitive to this matter,” But there appear to be said state assembly member Abu Pit. more pigs than ever in the dwindling We have rescued many dogs and But reducing the numbers Malaysian forests. Like the people cats, including this mother and her of owned pigs seemed to have no whose houses and farms keep kittens. Your donation to our effect on the behavior of feral pigs. expanding into former rainforest, sanctuary fund will help us save On June 14, 2006 two the pigs have few other places to go. many more from the terrible cruelty of the Korean dog and cat meat markets. We have bought the land to build Korea's first world-class animal shelter and hospital. A donor paid for the foundation with a promise to put on the roof if we can raise the
money to build the middle. true! Mark your donation for KAPS Shelter Fund, and send to: International Ai d for Korean Animals / Korea Animal Protection Society POB 20600, Oakland, CA 94620 18 - ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2007 2006 saw biggest fighting dog seizure ever H O U S T O N ––Among the grimmest jobs in the 71 Cedric Tory Smith, 25, of Wedgefield, South years that the Houston Humane Society has operated an animal Carolina, in September 2006 drew 13 years in prison after shelter was euthanizing 258 pit bull terriers in August 2006, pleading guilty to 18 counts of dogfighting, plus charges of seized from the property of murder victim and fighting dog trafficking cocaine, manufacturing crack cocaine, and marijua- breeder Thomas F. Weigner, Jr. na possession, the state attorney general’s office announced. Investigators impounded 285 pit bulls in all from the Robert Lawrence Bostic, 23, of the same address, drew 10 Liberty County site. Twenty-seven puppies were initially to years in prison on similar drug charges. have been auctioned, without being sterilized first, by order of Traditionally the stiffer part of sentences for multiple Liberty County justice of the peace Phil Fitzgerald, but the convictions involving dogfighting and drug dealing or posses- Houston Humane Society pointed out that Texas state law sion has been for the drug offenses. Judge Ben McLaughlin, of requires impounded dogs to be sterilized prior to adoption or Dothan, Alabama, reversed tradition in November 2006, sale. Most of the pups were later found to be ill with either par- sending Timothy McLeod, of Ozark, Alabama, to prison for vovirus or the tick-borne disease babeosis. 11 years in November 2006 for possession of marijuana and Another seven puppies were believed to have been another controlled substance, and criminally neglecting 14 pit stolen from the crime scene during the initial investigation. bull terriers at an alleged dogfighting arena in his back yard. “Big” impoundments of alleged fighting dogs used to McLaughlin stipulated that McLeod was getting one involve a few dozen. Three raids in December 1992 made page year for each of the drug crimes, and one year for each of the one of the January/February 1993 edition of ANIMAL PEO- nine dogs who were euthanized in consequence of his actions. PLE after impounding a combined and then almost unheard of “Eleven dogs were bound with thick logging chains total of 97 dogs among them. to strengthen their chest muscles, and had little or no food or The Weigner case did in fact bring the largest seizure water in their bowls,” summarized Ebony Horton of the of alleged fighting dogs on record. The previous high total in Dothan Eagle. “Three dog corpses with chains still wrapped Texas was 88, in January 2005. The previous U.S. record was around their necks were found behind the arena. Nine dogs 225, in a 2004 Oklahoma case that brought nearly 20 convic- were later euthanized, mostly because of behavioral problems. tions, including five years on probation for former National Two younger, less aggressive dogs were placed in homes.” Pit bull terrier. (Kim Bartlett) Football League player LeShon Johnson, who has now been convicted twice of offenses related to dogfighting. Ohio study asks, “Are pit bulls the Reported seizures “Weigner Jr., 27, bled to death after being shot in of fighting dogs the leg by three masked intruders,” recounted Cindy Horswell (from page 1) and gamecocks of the Houston Chronicle. “His wife Julie Laban, their three problem, or their people?” Year Dogs Cocks children, and her parents witnessed the shooting while bound different times of year, found that in 2006 pit bull terriers fighting, associated with drug 1997 95 725 with tape.” made up about 5% of the dogs offered for sale by breeders on trafficking. But the growth of Liberty County Sheriff’s Sergeant Kenny Daigle told 1998 365 763 any given day, but with much regional variation. In parts of dogfighting into an economical- 1999 791 1023 Horswell that the intruders were apparently searching for the South and some big cities, pit bulls sometimes constituted ly significant clandestine indus- 2000 896 876 $100,000 in cash that Weigner had recently won at a dogfight 15% of the dogs offered for sale. In affluent suburbs they were try only loosely parallels the 2001 869 7995 in Brazoria County. occasionally fewer than 1%. trend in cockfighting, which 2002 428 3390 “Neither Weigner nor his wife had a job, other than Rottweilers, by contrast, barely even registered in remains legal in most counties 2003 549 4113 the dogs,” Daigle said. “But they had paid $215,000 in cash popularity before the 1980s, and are still barely more than 1% of Louisiana and New Mexico, 2004 (no data) for their home and property, and were making payments on of all dogs. whereas dogfighting has been 2005 837 2128 three nice new cars,” he told Horswell. • Pit bulls have been consistently about five times illegal throughout the U.S. for 2006 916 2528 In addition to the dogs, several thousand dollars in more likely than other dogs to arrive at animal shelters. When more than 80 years. loose cash, and alleged dogfighting paraphernalia, investiga- pit bulls were about 1% of the U.S. dog population, they made Seizures of alleged fighting dogs and gamecocks tors reportedly discovered a pound of marijuana on the Weigner up about 5% of shelter admissions; at about 5% of the U.S. showed a parallel rise in the years before 9/11, as law enforce- property. dog population, they make up more than 25%. The trend is ment agencies became increasingly aware of the frequent asso- At least 13 dogfighting rings were broken up in con- similar for Rottweilers. ciation of animal fighting with traffic in illegal drugs and junction with arrests for alleged traffic in illegal drugs around • Pit bull terriers are about 10 times more likely to firearms. Post-9/11, cockfighting arrests fell off along with the U.S. in 2006. All 13 involved possession of marijuana, 11 kill or maim a person than other dogs. Excluding attacks by dogfighting arrests. involved possession of methedrine, and six involved posses- trained fighting dogs, guard dogs, and police dogs, dogs Since then, however, gamecock seizures appear to sion of cocaine. None involved possession of heroin, although killed 35 people in the U.S. and Canada during 2006, the high- have leveled off at about triple the mid-to-late 1990s norm. one convicted dogfighter had previous convictions for possess- est annual total since the editor of ANIMAL PEOPLE began ing both heroin and marijuana. logging dog attack data in 1982. Pit bull terriers killed 14 peo- Press coverage Camille Gann, convicted of hosting dogfights to ple, Rottweilers killed seven, and Presa Canarios, bred by Pit bull advocates commonly argue that pit bulls are which LeShon Johnson brought dogs, in December 2005 drew crossing pit bulls with mastiffs, killed three. considered “vicious” because incidents involving them receive seven years in prison plus eight years on probation. At the At least 194 people were permanently disfigured by disproportionately heavy news coverage––but key word search- time, just a year ago, that was an unusually stiff sentence. pet dogs in 2006. Pit bulls disfigured 59; Rottweilers disfig- es of the 1,216 newspapers archived at NewsLibrary.com found Since then, association of dogfighting with drug crimes has ured 20; Presa Canarios disfigured four. only one year in the past 30, 1987, in which coverage of pit combined with the introduction of “three strikes” laws that • Dogfighting, almost eradicated from most of the bulls appeared to be more intense than was warranted by the increase the penalties for multi-time offenders to markedly U.S. during the early 20th century, began an explosive resur- frequency of either life-threatening and fatal attacks, or dog- increase the sentences meted out to convicted dogfighters. gence in the 1990s, showing no sign yet of abating. fighting arrests and alleged fighting dog seizures. The longest sentence for dogfighting-related offenses, Reported law enforcement seizures of suspected Pit bulls were not even mentioned in any of the 1,216 so far, may be 16 years, given to Christoper D. Simmons, 26, fighting dogs reached an all-time recorded high of 916 in 2006, newspapers indexed at NewsLibrary.com from 1976 through in March 2006 by Circuit Judge Lee S. Alford, of Dorchester up from 837 in 2005. 1979––but then the numbers of mentions leaped from two in County, South Carolina. Fewer than 100 alleged fighting dogs were seized in 1981 to 98 in 1995, 162 in 1986, and 470 in 1987, coinciding Alford is to serve five concurrent sentences on state most years before 1998, when the number of reported seizures with a series of sensational attacks. charges after pleading guilty to four counts of selling crack nearly quadrupled to 365, then more than doubled to 791 in From 1988 through 1998, the frequency of mentions cocaine and marijuana, including near a school, and to animal 1999. Seizures peaked at 896 in 2000 and 869 in 2001, trend- was consistent at about the 1986 level, but then nearly doubled cruelty. The state sentences will also be concurrent with a 20- ed sharply downward after the terrorist attacks of September in 1999, parallel to the number of fighting dog seizures; year sentence that Alford is serving for federal drug offenses. 11, 2001 diverted law enforcement attention to other issues, remained at the new peak for about five years; and more than “The cruelty charges surfaced when a deputy found and have since rebounded to about 10 times the pre-1998 norm. doubled again from 2003 to 2005, as the number of fighting five pit bulls chained behind Simmons’ residence. A sixth dog dog seizures again climbed. was found dead,” wrote Schuyler Kropf of the Charleston Post Pit bulls vs. gamecocks A record 626 articles mentioning pit bulls were pub- & Courier. “The animals had injuries consistent with dogfight- A theory popular among pit bull advocates is that the lished in 2005––but 625 articles had mentioned pit bulls ing, authorities said.” rise of dogfighting is only part of a general increase in animal through December 27, 2006. ––Merritt Clifton Shooting dogs is a sensitive subject in the Canadian far north W I N N I P E G ––“The solution,” to attacks by stray dogs, her remark was summarized in the headline of the result- 1970 to force the Inuit off their land, into tribal reserves. dogs on Native American reservations in northern Canada, “is ing article as “Annual dog shoot proposed,” and in the lead Published on November 29, 2006, the House of to cull the dog population, and provide spay and neuter services sentence as “An annual ‘dog shoot’ would help keep dog packs Commons report “found that police officers did kill many as to native communities at the same time,” Winnipeg Humane on native reserves from killing any more helpless children, says 20,000 sled dogs, but for health and safety reasons,” summa- Society executive director Vicki Burns told Brookes Merritt of an animal welfare worker in Manitoba.” rized Bob Weber of Canadian Press. the Edmonton Sun on November 19, 2006. Further distributed by the National Post and then “What we found is not inconsistent with the Inuit oral Though Burns apparently said nothing about shooting posted to several British animal rights e-mail lists, the article history,” RCMP Chief Superintendent Mike Woods told hit raw nerves in both Europe and Native communities. Weber. “If we can work with the community and explain why Brookes Merritt interviewed Burns, known for “lob- the dogs were killed,” Woods said, “we’re hoping that there bying the Manitoba government to bring better vet services will be understanding on the part of the Inuit community and to native communities,” he wrote, “after five-year-old we can put the conflict to bed.” Lance Ribbonleg was killed by a pack of stray dogs at the “Members of the Nunavut legislature have spoken North Tallcree First Nation’s reserve near Fort Vermilion.” about the alleged plot as if it were fact,” Weber noted. “In In Manitoba, Brookes Merritt continued, “a 2005, the Makivik Corporation, which represents Quebec two-year-old boy was mauled at the Hollow Water First Inuit, funded the production of a movie called The Last Howl, Nation in July 2006, and a three-year-old boy met the which purports to tell the story. Makivik and the Qikiktani same fate on the Sayisi First Nation in June. Some com- Inuit Association, which are conducting their own investiga- munities there have ‘dog shoot days,’ in which stray dogs tions into the charges, refused to supply information or co- are culled.” operate with the RCMP review. An interim RCMP report The strays are typically non-working offspring released last year that reached a conclusion similar to the final of sled dogs, or retired sled dogs, left to fend for them- version was declared a whitewash by many in Nunavut. selves around the edges of settlements. Historically, pari- Woods told Weber that in every instance where spe- ah dogs patrolling the perimeters of encampments helped cific facts were available from more than 40,000 relevant docu- to protect the Inuit from polar bears––but that was when ments, the dogs were killed for humanitarian, security, safety the threat from bears was far greater than in recent times. and health reasons. The children were killed by dogs as a House of “Investigators also found cases where RCMP officers Commons committee completed a year-long investigation supplied distemper and rabies vaccines to communities, even of longstanding Inuit allegations that the Royal Canadian supplying some of them with puppies to rebuild dog teams,” A Malamute sled dog in summer. (Kim Bartlett) Mounted Police massacred sled dogs between 1950 and Weber wrote. ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2007 - 19 GREYHOUND RACING UPDATES Bonney Brown to head Nevada Humane The Alabama Supreme Court o n J r . announced charges against 12 men and a R E N O ––The Nevada Humane 2006 amid a dispute that originated when she December 1, 2006 ruled unanimously that the woman in a scheme to fix races at the Mobile Society on December 15, 2006 introduced as had a Rottweiler euthanized as potentially MegaSweeps video sweepstakes gambling Greyhound Park by giving dogs an herbal executive director Bonney Brown, 48, who dangerous, unaware that an employee had games at the Birmingham Race Course vio- male erectile supplement that caused their directed Alley Cat Allies’ relief efforts after shown the dog to members of a rescue group late the state law against slot machine gam- hearts to race while they were nominally rest- Hurricane Katrina. who wanted to take him. bling. Track owner Milton McGregor assert- ing in their kennels. Exhausted, the dogs then Brown founded the no-kill Nepon- “The groups want seven days notice ed that losing the machines, installed in 2005, performed poorly in competition. set Valley Humane Society in Massachusetts to rescue an animal. I wish people surrender- might put the track out of business, costing The Cloverleaf Kennel Club i n in 1992, co-organized the annual No-Kill ing the animals would do the same for us,” 250 jobs. Two lower court rulings favored Loveland, Colorado, announced on Conferences 1996-1999, was outreach direc- Williams told Frank X. Mullen of the Reno video sweepstakes gambling. “Soon, small November 30 that it will not open for racing in tor for the Best Friends Animal Society 1998- G a z e t t e - J o u r n a l. “We have space one day storefront [gambling] operations began pop- 2007. “We just don’t have the financial 2005, coordinated the No More Homeless and 20 animals come in and then we’re full. ping up across the state,” wrote Philip Rawls wherewithal to run another live season,” Pets conference series 1999-2005, and was Logistics make giving a week’s notice impos- of Associated Press––and Christian Action Cloverleaf president David J. Scherer t o l d with Alley Cat Allies for about 18 months. sible, but [rescuers] don’t want to listen.” Alabama began trying to close them. Associated Press writer Catherine Tsai. The Michelle Williams, DVM, who After Williams’ departure the The verdict came six weeks after Cloverleaf track opened in 1955, six years preceded Brown at Nevada Humane, was Nevada Humane board introduced new poli- Mobile County district attorney John Tyson after greyhound racing debuted in Colorado. hired in September 2005 but resigned in May cies to improve relations with rescue groups. Dog attacks raise issues for lawmakers At least 32 U.S. communities adopt- puppy,” wrote Heidi Rice of the Aspen Times. ed or considered adopting breed-specific dog The incident had further repercus- control legislation in 2006, responding to sions when on the same day in the same court, attacks involving pit bulls and Rottweilers. Garfield County animal control officer Aimee The debate over whether possession Chappelle pleaded guilty to possessing a and sale of pit bull terriers, Rottweilers, and vicious dog, identified as a pit bull by Sheriff possibly other dog breeds should be restricted Lou Vallario. Chappelle “paid a fine, was to protect public safety is in essence a debate given a one-year deferred sentence, and was about possibly the oldest of all philosophical ordered to perform 16 hours of community ser- questions vexing lawmakers. vice,” wrote Dennis Webb of the Glenwood Since Biblical times opinions have Springs Post-Independent. conflicted as to whether laws should seek to “Chappelle’s affinity for the breed prevent harm by forbidding potentially injuri- has drawn some criticism from pit bull oppo- ous behavior, or merely punish those whose nents,” Webb continued. “Rob Snyder, who behavior results in actual harm. lives south of Glenwood Springs, is among The argument that no one should be those who say comments made by Chappelle enjoined from behavior if it does not do harm after a September pit bull attack in the Silt area tends to be politically attractive, but the appear to put blame on the elderly victim, counter-argument is that if harm comes to an Judy McGruder. Snyder, whose dog suffered Rottweilers at play. (Kim Bartlett) innocent person and a guilty person is pun- a pit bull attack this summer, said Chappelle Frango and Martin in May 2006 sion in Bossier City, Louisiana, when Mary ished, at least two people suffer for an action made it sound like McGruder ‘did something pleaded guilty to charges of involuntary man- and Christopher Hansche reportedly agreed on which might have been prevented. to provoke the dog who mauled her.’” slaughter and felony child abuse and neglect. December 21, 2006 to plead guilty to misde- Further, in the case of a dog attack Chappelle “was sentenced by Judge Frango and Martin were in August 2006 sen- meanor charges of improper supervision of that kills or maims, the harm may be irrepara- Jason Jovanovich,” Webb added. “While sen- tenced to serve three years each in prison. their child, perform community service, ble. As no amount of punishment can undo the tencing [Julie Dawn Sullivan], Jovanovich Not known is whether the victim attend parenting classes, and surrender posses- damage, the argument for breed-specific legis- reportedly said that if he could, he would kill received any warning signals from the dogs sion of a pit bull terrier and a ferret. lation holds, preventing attacks of extreme all pit bulls, and that they should be illegal.” before they mauled him, whether he was “The Hansches were arrested on consequence by prohibiting possession of dogs killed or disabled early in the prolonged maul- December 7 after they woke up and saw that of high risk potential better protects public Drugs & dog attacks ing, and whether both dogs were part of the one of their pets had gnawed off four of their safety than relying on the uncertain deterrent The November 6, 2006 fatal maul- initial attack. month-old daughter’s toes,” reported Associ- effect of punishment. ing of Luis Fernando Romero Jr., 2, by two Central to the argument that pit bulls ated Press. “Mary Hansche, 22, said the ferret Non-breed-specific dog control leg- Rottweilers at his family’s home in Tucson are uniquely dangerous is that they tend to did it; police said Christopher Hansche, 26, islation typically relies on identifying danger- meanwhile raised other common elements of attack without the series of warnings that most thought the dog was responsible.” ous dogs from their past behavior, which does the debate as to whether such incidents should other dogs provide first, and often inflict not protect anyone from the consequences of a be ascribed more to the nature of the dogs or to immediate severe injuries, as do Rottweilers, Other cases of note first incident. Usually it requires that all dogs the characteristics of many of their keepers. whereas most dogs inflict disabling, disfigur- A case demonstrating that any dogs be securely confined. “The day of the attack,” wrote Josh ing, or fatal injuries only in sustained attacks might be dangerous to a defenseless person Even if pit bull terriers are uniquely Brodesky and Dale Quinn of the Arizona Daily or pack attacks. came to an end on November 28, 2006, in dangerous, opponents of breed-specific legis- S t a r , “Pima County Sheriff’s Department “The prosecution told the court Marion, Indiana, when Linda Kitchen, 58, lation often assert, they can be kept safely if investigators searched the mobile home, find- about Martin’s long list of past offenses that drew four years in prison and three years on there are no children or other animals in the ing ledgers, scales, a money counter, weap- included 11 charges of driving without a probation for criminal recklessness resulting in home. But the belief that dogs of any kind ons and empty suitcases reeking of marijuana. license and a drug charge,” wrote Sabine C. serious bodily injury, two counts of obstruc- can both be house pets and be kept completely But the grieving parents, identified as Luis Hirschauer of the Hampton Roads Daily Press. tion of justice, and one count of false report- out of contact with strangers was refuted by Fernando Romero and Jessica Nunez‚ were “The couple’s history of drug abuse soon ing. Her husband Michael Kitchen received the September 22, 2006 mauling of Judy never taken into custody. By the next day they emerged as the center of the case. Police the same sentence, on the same charges, one McGruder, 74, in Rifle, Colorado. were gone without a trace, having packed their found a bong, a container used to smoke week earlier. On May 1, 2005, the Kitchens McGruder was attacked by a three- belongings and fled, most likely to Mexico.” drugs, in their master bedroom. Frango con- reported that two stray dogs had entered their year-old pit bull named Butterbean, after Pima County Child Protective fessed that both had smoked marijuana the home through an open door and killed Linda knocking on the wrong door while trying to Services turned out to have had two previous night before the mauling. She also told inves- Kitchen’s mother, Julia Beck, 87, who was pick up her grandson after a play date. The contacts with Romero and Nunez about broken tigators that Martin grew marijuana and kept an invalid. A police investigation established dog escaped the house to attack McGruder as bones suffered by their four-year-old daughter, the pit bulls to guard the drugs. An inmate tes- four days later that the attackers were the she was leaving. whose whereabouts are also unknown. tified that Martin told him he and Frango were Kitchens’ own Labrador and Dachshund. Julie Dawn Sullivan, 32, on Romero and Nunez immediately both high on cocaine and marijuana the morn- Among pending U.S. criminal cases December 6, 2006 pleaded no contest to pos- called 911 after their son was attacked, and ing of the mauling.” involving dog attacks, Bentley Collins, 53, of sessing a dangerous dog who inflicted bodily drove the fatally injured boy two miles in “The old family home” where the Dillon, South Carolina, is facing involuntary harm, and pleaded guilty to not licensing search of help before finding sheriff’s deputy attack occurred “was later condemned,” wrote manslaughter charges after six of his bull- Butterbean, whom she agreed to having eutha- Gilbert Hernandez, who called paramedics. Linda McNatt of the V i r g i n i a n - P i l o t . “Code dog/boxer mixes killed John Matthew Davis, nized soon after the attack. Sullivan was sen- In other respects, the Arizona case violations included a septic system rigged to 10, on the evening of November 3, 2006, as tenced to do 40 hours of community service, paralleled the October 2005 fatal mauling of pump raw sewage outside a window.” Davis walked home from a neighbor’s house. to pay $469 in fines and court costs, and Jonathan Martin, 2, in Whaleyville, Virginia. No suspects have been identified in received a year in jail, suspended. Two pit bull terriers allegedly bit Martin more Not seeing risk the case of an undersized and underfed pit bull “Sullivan maintained that the dog than 100 times, while his parents, Heather Virginia in May 2006 adopted legis- mix who fatally mauled Pedro Rios Jr., 4, on did not have any past history of being violent, Frango, 26, and James Jonathan Martin, 30, lation creating felony and misdemeanor penal- November 21, 2006 in an unincorporated sub- and that she had owned him since he was a used illegal drugs in another part of the house. ties for keeping a dog who attacks a person, urb of Houston. The dog is believed to have but Frango and Martin were sentenced under been a stray. the older legislation used to convict Deanna H. However, Firas Beseisso, 22, of Large, 37, of Spotsylvania, whose three pit Willis, another Houston suburb, was charged bull terriers in March 2005 fatally mauled with a Class A misdemeanor count of possess- Dorothy Sullivan, 82, and her Shih Tzu, in ing a dangerous dog, after his pit bull killed Sullivan’s own front yard. Large was on David “Ted” McCurry, 41, on October 29, March 30, 2006 sentenced to serve three years 2006. Recounted the Houston Chronicle, in prison for manslaughter. “McCurry and Kimberly Cunningham, 19, A central element in the Large case had gone to Beseisso’s home to look at the pit appeared to be that Large did not accept that bull because they wanted to buy a dog for her dogs were dangerous, despite many com- home protection.” plaints from neighbors about their behavior. However, San Francisco prosecutors Along wit h almost every art icl e failed to persuade a jury in July 2006 that from back denial of risk was sufficient evidence of crimi- editi ons, the ANIMAL PEOPLE nal negligence to convict Maureen Faibish, web site offers transl ations of 40, of felony child endangerment in the June key i tems into French 2005 pit bull mauling of her son Nicholas, 12. & Spanish ...Lewyt Aw ard-wi n- The jury of eight men and four women report- ning heroic & compassionate ani- edly split 7-5 in favor of conviction, well short mal stori es...vet info li nks... of the unanimous verdict required to convict. handbooks for downloading... fund- A case involving similar issues raisi ng Pit bull terrier at DELTA Rescue in southern California. (Kim Bartlett) appeared to be heading toward a swift conclu- 20 - ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2007 The Case Against Bullfighting Justice for Animals ires South African National by Michael A. Ogorzaly Author House (1663 Liberty Drive, Suite 200, Bloomington, IN 47403), 2006 SPCA over Zulu bullfight 248 pages, paperback. $14.95. KLOOF, KwaZulu-Natal––Justice for Animals founder Steve Smiths sought to support the National SPCA Michael Ogorzaly, who died at age 58 on October Hemingway wrote about it in The Sun Also Rises (1926), now of South Africa in a December 4, 2006 e-mail to news 14, 2006, suffered a broken neck as a college student, when a attracts thousands of participants from around the world, and media, protesting against the annual mob killing of a bull at car in which he was a passenger was involved in an accident. similar events are now held in many other nations. the First Fruits Festival, a traditional Zulu celebration. Confined to a wheelchair thereafter, Ogorzaly completed his The prevalence of bullfighting in the Spanish-speak- National SPCA executive director Marcelle education and went on to teach Spanish and Latin American ing world, where most people are devout Catholics, is also an Meredith’s December 5 response took Smits and much of his history at Chicago State University. When Bulls Cry was his indictment of the failure of the Roman Catholic Church to lengthy cc. list much by surprise. second book, addressing a topic which had become one of his enforce anti-bullfighting statements and edicts issued from the Wrote Smiths, “We are outraged that the National focal concerns. Vatican many times since 1567, when Pope Pious V in the bull SPCA, which has been mandated by an act of parliament to De-romanticising the bullfight spectacle with a dose De salute gregis dominici forbade bullfighting as an entertain- uphold the animal protection laws of the land, is powerless of anguishing realism in chapter one, Ogorzaly goes into the ment more proper of demons than humans. Pious V excommu- to act against this atrocity simply because the authorities history behind it. Chapter two discusses the geneology of bull- nicated emperors, kings and cardinals who would not ban bull- refuse to respond to their pleas for support and assistance. fighting, revealing that the present day corrida, which origi- fights, and clerics who attended bullfights, and excluded bull- We therefore call upon both the provincial and national gov- nated in the 18th century, has very little connection with fighters from Christian burial. Vatican secretary of state ernment to order the South African Police Services and the Spanish tradition. Cardinal Gasparri in 1920 wrote that, “The Church maintains National Defense Force to provide the necessary support to Chapter three reveals the little-known counter-tradi- His Holiness Pious V’s condemnation of such bloody, shame- enable the NSPCA to intervene and save this bull from the tion of conscientious Spaniards seeking for centuries to abolish ful shows,” Monsignor Mario Canciani reiterated the Vatican torture to which he will be subjected. The Zulu monarchy killing of bulls for sport––a movement which has recently position in 1989, and Vatican theologian Marie Hendrickx reit- and the Zulu people do not exist in a political, social or legal gained force, bringing the passage of anti-bullfighting legisla- erated it yet again in 2000 in the semi-official Vatican newspa- vacuum and they are not entitled to special treatment just tion in Catalan state and more than 20 individual cities. Polls per L’Osservatore Romano. because they claim cultural and traditional immunity.” have for more than 20 years shown that the majority of Ogorzaly describes how churches, convents and Meredith objected first of all that Smits’ e-mail Spaniards favor banning bullfighting. other Catholic institutions continue to defy the Vatican by actu- “appears to be based on our media statement which, by Chapter four describes how bullfights remain popular ally sponsoring bullfights as fundraising events. nature of press releases, contains condensed information,” as in Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador, but are in decline in Actively trying to stop bullfighting has been left to if anyone outside the NSPCA could describe the NSPCA Peru. Portuguese bullfights, often mis-described as “blood- dedicated activists. Ogorzaly devotes an entire chapter to the response based on anything other than the public record. less,” are particularly brutal because while the bull is not killed work done by fellow Chicagoan Steve Hindi of SHARK, Meredith then stated that, “The NSPCA is offend- in the ring, he does have banderillas (banner-festooned dag- whose videography is the best documentation yet of the cruelty ed that you had the temerity in this communication to dictate gers) stuck in him, and the injured bull, destined for the slaugh- involved in both bullfighting and its close U.S. cousin, rodeo. to us how you feel we should be doing our job. If you terhouse, sometimes suffers for days before being put to death. Ogorzaly describes how bullfighting is lucrative believe that a Court interdict was or is the route to take, we This makes a mockery of the 1928 law that forbade killing bulls enough to buy survival in France, where over 80% of the popu- ask you the same question: why have you or the organiza- in the ring to try to reduce the animals’ suffering. lation oppose bullfighting, and in Mexico, where a 1998 poll tion you represent not done this?” In later chapters, Ogorzaly relates how artists, showed that 87% of Mexicans are opposed to bullfighting. Wrote back Smits, “Justice for Animals has authors and the cinema have sanitized bullfighting and romanti- France, Mexico, Portugal, and Colombia all have organiza- approached our legal counsel for guidance on the practicality cized the matador. Ogorzaly is especially scornful of Ernest tions working to stop bullfighting, but even with majority sup- of applying for an interdict to prevent the killing of this bull.” Hemingway, whose 1932 volume Death in the Afternoon i s port, they still lack the clout to close the corridas. still widely believed to be the most authoritative book on Bullfighting is not uniquely a disease of the Spanish munications, so the National Council of the SPCA in South Spanish bullfighting written in the English language. culture. Similar ritualistic bull-killing is practiced in parts of Africa fails to press cruelty charges against the Zulus. “Hemingway found the sight of a horse tripping over Asia and Africa, including at the Zulu “First Fruits” festival‚ Rejecting cultural pretexts for such sadistic exercises, its own entrails ‘comic,’” Ogorzaly writes. “It is too bad that where at the end of each year a bull is hideously tortured to Ogorzaly condemns those who argue that bullfighting can be the old reprobate could not have had an out-of-the-body experi- death by young Zulu males. considered an art form. All the glittering sequined costumes ence and seen himself on that fateful day in 1961 after he had Just as defenders of Spanish bullfighting dismiss crit- and colourful pageantry cannot disguise the sleazy reality: if put a shotgun to his face and pulled the trigger. He might have icism of the corrida as unpatriotic and an attack on Spanish cul- this is an art form, it can only be pornography. laughed his head off, or at least what he had left of it.” But the ture‚ so any criticism of the Zulu ritual is denounced as racist ––Chris Mercer evil that men do lives on. Running with the bulls en route to and an attack on Zulu culture. Just as the Vatican fails to fol-
The case for Ernest Hemingway even vegetarianism, as a frequent cover for maker of the Volkswagen “beetle,” and may anti-Semitic activity, and to court foreign sup- have annoyed Hemingway when his novel The Michael Ogorzaly in The Case there is always danger, either sought or port. Hemingway never directly addressed the Racer (1953) was favorably mentioned by crit- Against Bullighting appears to have quoted unlooked for, and there is always death, and I creeping influence of fascism and Nazism ics alongside The Old Man & The Sea (1952). Ernest Hemingway far out of context. The ref- should not try to defend it now, only to tell within organized humane work in the 1930s, Hemingway’s only real success writ- erence is from the opening chapter of Death In honestly the things I have found true about it. which he may never have known about, but he ten during his last 21 years, The Old Man & The Afternoon, in which––from the first sen- To do this I must be altogether frank, or try to recurrently mentioned the hypocricy of people The Sea portrayed killing a large fish as a trag- tence––Hemingway bluntly acknowledged the be, and if those who read this decide with dis- who purported to gentility, including in pam- ic event, that the killer lived to regret. cruelty of bullfighting, with emphasis on the gust that it is written by some one who lacks pering pets, while glibly endorsing atrocious Hemingway’s concern about the injuries done to horses. their, the readers’, fineness of feeling I can social and political policies. In unfavorably Nazis and their U.S. and European backers, Hemingway described his horror at only plead that this may be true. But whoever commenting about such people, Hemingway visible in most of his work during the 1930s how Greeks evacuating Smyrna in 1922 broke reads this can only truly make such a judgment sometimes expressly exempted their pets from and 1940s, is not to be confused with what he the legs of their pack donkeys and pushed when he, or she, has seen the things that are his judgement. might have thought of the modern animal them into the sea to drown, an episode he cov- spoken of and knows truly what their reactions Death In The Afternoon a p p e a r e d rights movement, which he did not live to see. ered for the Toronto Telegram Syndicate as a to them would be.” shortly before the Nazis banned kosher slaugh- Hemingway did state several times young reporter and described again in his 1924 During this discussion, Hemingway ter, in the first of 32 “humane laws” enacted his respect for opponents of bullfighting and short story On The Quai At Smyrna. Heming- also wrote, in one of his most often misrepre- by the Third Reich between 1933 and 1942. hunting who practiced vegetarianism, in con- way recounted his intervention on many occa- sented passages, “From observation I would Typical were laws that banned cropping the trast to his contempt for hypocricy. sions (also described by others) to assist say that people may possibly be divided into ears of Alsatians, Dobermans, and other Both Death In The Afternoon a n d downed horses in the streets, and his fondness two general groups: those who identify them- “Germanic” breeds, but did not protect other The Green Hills of Africa (1935), about for dogs and cats––especially cats, who were selves with animals, and those who identify dogs, and which forbade pet-keeping by Jews Hemingway’s first African safari, emphasize his desk companions for most of his life. themselves with human beings. I believe, and gypsies. Most of the Nazi “humane laws” his view that a man killing an animal should Hemingway then analyzed why his after experience and observation, that those were passed before 1938; many were uncriti- exhibit the same virtues that he saw in animals response to horse injuries in the bullring was people who identify themselves with animals, cally lauded by leading humane societies in the who may charge their killers, defending them- not what he had expected it would be, not that is, the almost professional lovers of dogs U.S., France, Britain, and Switzerland. selves, their mates, and their young. In both what he had thought would be in character for and other beasts, are capable of greater cruelty Several humane societies urged that the Nazis books Hemingway addressed aspects of blood him and in keeping with his values, and went to human beings than those who do not identi- should be emulated, to their later chagrin. sports that he felt were open to moral question. on to explore why bullfighting audiences fy themselves readily with animals. It seems Former Nazi sympathizers remained Certainly the young Hemingway respond to the injuries suffered by the horses as though there were a fundamental cleavage prominent in animal advocacy for decades–– acknowledged much more mixed feelings quite differently from their response to the suf- between people on this basis, although people including the anti-vivisectionist Hans Reusch, about harming animals than the middle-aged fering and death of the bulls, even laughing as who do not identify themselves with animals now 91, who for more than 20 years has often Hemingway, who after winning the 1954 horses are disemboweled. may, while not loving animals in general, be bitterly attacked Animal Liberation a u t h o r Nobel Prize for Literature, lapsed into alco- Hemingway stated that he did not capable of great affection for an individual ani- Peter Singer, born shortly after his parents holic self-parody. consider horses being disemboweled some- mal, a dog, a cat, or a horse, for instance. fled Nazi Germany. Their conflicting back- Of significance is that in The Sun thing to laugh at. Then he explained that in But they will base this affection on some qual- grounds may either have little or much to do Also Rises, about a man who lost his genitals the classic definitions of Greek theatre, one of ity of, or some association with, this individ- with their differing outlooks. Reusch drove to shrapnel in World War I, Hemingway used the venues in which modern bullfighting ual animal rather than on the fact that it is an for the Nazi-sponsored Auto Union racing the Pamplona bull run as a thematic device to evolved (chiefly in Minoa), the horses in the animal and hence worthy of love.” team in 1938. He reputedly influenced the satirize the lengths men will go to in trying to bullring are cast in the “comic” role, while the The context of the time is essential. renowned Italian driver Tazio Nuvolari to also demonstrate manly qualities which might be bull’s role is “tragic.” This is a matter of the Hemingway then, at age 32, had never had drive for Auto Union, which was the original called into question. ––Merritt Clifton structure of the event. The bull bravely faces any evident direct association an unavoidable fate; the horses are agents in with anyone who was formally GREYHOUND TALES: bringing it about, whose “failure” sets up the involved in humane work. How- TRUE STORIES OF RESCUE, COMPASSION AND LOVE final confrontation. ever, as a journalist, Hemingway “The tragedy is all centered in the not only wrote somewhat critical- edited by Nora Star, bull and in the man,” observed Hemingway. ly about bullfighting and the with introduction “The tragic climax of the horse’s career has Pamplona running of the bulls, by Susan Netboy. occurred off stage at an earlier time, when he three years before writing The Sun Learn more about was bought by the horse contractor for use in Also Rises, but also reported these animals and how the bull ring.” about and warned against the rise you can help them. Hemingway concluded, “I suppose, of fascism and Nazism. Send $15.95 to: from a modern moral point of view, that is, a Hemingway was aware Nora Star Christian point of view, the whole bullfight is that some of the Nazi leadership 9728 Tenaya Way indefensible; there is certainly much cruelty, espoused anti-vivisectionism and Kelseyville, CA 95451 ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2007 - 21 Altruistic Armadillos, Zenlike Zebras: Paix pour les Dauphins A Menagerie of 100 Favorite Animals by Jeffrey Mousaieff Masson OneVoiceDolphinProject.com Ballantine Books (1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10019), 2006 Peace for the Dolphins 429 pages, hardcover. $ 27.95. This is a collection of 100 short These and other surprising scientific Firehorse by Diane Lee Wilson essays, each about a different animal. truths leap out of the pages at every turn, Margaret K. McElderry Books (c/o Simon & Schuster, 1230 Ave. of the Americas, Beyond describing the appearance and habits showing how little we really know about the of the subject animals, psychologist turned other life forms who inhabit our planet (other New York, NY 10020), 2006. 325 pages, paperback. $16.95. author Jeffrey Mousiaieff Masson wants to than how to kill and eat them). Researching the Great Boston Fire The 1872 fire was by far the most know what kind of “person” each animal is. Anticipating from the title that we of 1872, Firehorse author Diane Lee Wilson disastrous of several great fires that Boston Seeking personality in animals is a would be reading about fluffy animals such as discovered the diary of a 14-year-old girl who suffered. It destroyed more than 65 acres of challenge, requring much research, but the panda bear, we found, to our delight, that had lived in Boston at the time. The book is the most valuable business property of the city, Masson has proved equal to it. Masson covers an eclectic mix of creatures, woven around that girl’s hopes and dreams. burning out at least a thousand businesses, For instance, Masson relates how from the charismatic––such as gorillas, lions, The Great Fire broke out after a including almost 300 in wholesale dry goods. Australian magpie researcher Gisela Kaplan and elephants––to the common––including horse flu epidemic that spread across North Against this incendiary background has discovered that magpies play-fight with chickens, sheep, and cows––the obscure–– America had immobilized Boston’s fire hors- is the story of a headstrong young woman, human friends just like a playful puppy, pre- including pearl oysters and glow worms––and es. Firefighting equipment had to be pulled by Rachel, whose love of horses and need for tending to be angry. During these play-fights even the mythical, represented by the yeti. volunteers on foot. This is often cited as the emancipation brings on confrontation with her they roll over and expose their bellies to Since our experience is with African leading reason why the fire got out of control, bigoted father. A local newspaper editor, he express submission, just as dogs do. wildlife, we looked critically at the chapters but the city commission which later investigat- believes that a woman’s place is in the home. Badgers have shown human-like rit- on lions and meerkats. We found no glaring ed the fire found that fire crews’ response Wilson highlights a time when uals around death. Masson describes how one errors. Masson correctly describes male times were delayed by only minutes. women could not vote, could not own proper- badger sow who lost her mate made a mourn- African lions as lazy, but he might be faulted Wilson portrays the courage of the ty, and a retired Harvard medical professor ful sound that brought a male out from another for leaving the impression that they are useless firemen, and their horses, as they battled the even published a book warning that women sett. Together they dragged the dead body to a except for reproduction. Masson might have many fires that were a much more frequent who strived for higher levels of learning risked warren, buried it, and then separated. noted how essential large males are to protect- part of life in the era of kerosene lamps, coal- the atrophy of their reproductive organs. Masson also reveals surprising ing lion prides from competition from other burning stoves, and flammable wooden roofs ––Beverley Pervan aspects of biology. Jellyfish, for example, large predators. For instance, lionesses can which were common on most buildings.
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