Feral cats not to blame in Southern California murine typhus scare SANTA ANA, California––Fear of disease, easily cured by antibiotics, which is “Typhus moggie” appeared to be receding in entirely unrelated to typhoid fever, the once Orange County, California by June 1, 2012, common and often deadly disease of which just a few days after emerging, but anti- “Typhoid Mary” Mallon, 1869-1938, was the neuter/return bloggers had already amplified first known immune carrier. misleading claims far and wide about an Traps provided by Orange County alleged link of feral cats to murine typhus. Vector Control to catch feral cats on the In truth there was no cause to associ- grounds of the Frances E. Willard Intermediate ate either of two cases of murine typhus occur- School and El Sol Science & Arts Academy ring three months apart with feral cats. were removed three days after they were set, Murine typhus is a rare flea-borne Santa Ana city spokesman Jose Gonzalez told Denisse Salazar of the Orange County Register. “No cats were trapped, tested or euthanized,” Salazar reported. “The plan to corral feral cats living on the campuses was an effort to reduce the flea population and stave off the spread of typhus,” after a child who lives near the two Santa Ana schools developed murine typhus in April 2012. Santa Ana is the Orange Contrast the smooth but relaxed gait of the unshod walking horse in the photo, County seat. “An adult living in [the trained by Rebecca Gimenez, DVM, of Georgia, with the exaggerated high-stepping neighboring city of] Orange was gait shown in the “Tennessee Walker XING” sign sold by Amazon.com. diagnosed in January. Both have recovered,” Salazar continued. “We are changing our Pepsi drops the “Big Lick” focus and attacking the real problem, SHELBYVILLE, Tennessee–– equivalent of a goosestep, but Pepsi will no which are the fleas,” Gonzalez said. Walking horse trainers are still trying to force longer be paying the Walking Horse National Feral cats. (Marvin Sobel) (continued on page 8) horses into taking the “big lick,” the equine Celebration to associate the “big lick” with Pepsi beverages. A sponsor of the Walking Horse National Celebration since 2010, Pepsi had paid $25,000 per year for exclusive rights to sell an estimated $50,000 worth of soft drinks ANIMAL PEOPLE during the event. Pepsi dropped support of the prestigious “big lick” show on May 17, News For People Who Care About Animals 2012, less than 24 hours after the ABC News programs Night-line and Good Morning America aired videotape obtained by an undercover investigator for the Humane June 2012 Society of the U.S. showing extensive abuse of horses at Whittier Stables in Collierville. Volume 21, #5 The Whittier Stables owner is walking horse trainer Jackie McConnell. The 2012 Walking Horse National (continued on page 9) Sierra Club national board takes stand against body-grip trapping SAN FRANCISCO––The Sierra methods of mitigating human-wildlife conflicts Club national board of directors on May 19, and actively discourages the use of inhumane 2012 adopted a new “Policy on Trapping of and indiscriminate methods. The Sierra Club Wildlife” which may be the 110-year-old orga- recognizes the rights of indigenous peoples nization’s strongest statement yet against any under federal laws and treaties granting rights form of hunting. of self-determination and rights to pursue sub- States the policy, “Use of body-grip- sistence taking of wildlife.” ping devices––including leghold traps, snares, The policy statement stipulates that and Conibear traps––are indiscriminate to age, the phrase “body-gripping device includes, but sex and species and typically result in injury, is not limited to, any snare (neck, body, or pain, suffering, and/or death of target and leg), kill-type trap (such as the Conibear), non-target animals. The Sierra Club considers leghold trap (including steel-jaw, padded, off- body-gripping, restraining and killing traps set), and any other device designed to grip a and snares to be ecologically indiscriminate body or body part. This definition includes and unnecessarily inhumane and therefore any device that may result in injury or death opposes their use. The Sierra Club promotes because of the mechanism of entrapment. Live and supports humane, practical and effective cage and box traps, and common rat and mousetraps shall not be considered body-gripping devices.” . n c Said Project Coyote o n i I d t founder Camilla Fox, “I served on i a , a the task force of experts appointed z i E P by the Sierra Club board to help n L e a P develop this policy, as did Project g g a r O Coyote advisory board member t E O s Paul Paquet. For 18 months we P t o i worked on this––and our hard f P L o . work paid off. Hundreds of thou- Indian street dog and pups. (Kim Bartlett) A r S p . sands of coyotes, wolves, foxes M I n U and other wild animals are trapped N o New Indian data cuts worldwide A in cruel and indiscriminate leghold N traps and snares each year.” Glue traps are not covered human rabies death toll by 40% by the new Sierra Club policy, DELHI, CHENNAI, VISAKHA- 2002 government estimate, and just a seventh D Fox told ANIMAL PEOPLE, E PATNAM––New Indian data on April 29, of the Indian toll from snakebites. T because it applies only to trapping S 0 2012 cut the estimated worldwide human Snakebites killed 1,440 Indians in E 6 methods used against “free-rang- death toll from rabies by more than 40%, 2011, more than were killed by tigers, lions, 9 U ing wildlife,” not to “pest control 0 with global repercussions for street dog popu- leopards, elephants, bears, wolves, and all Q - E devices” used indoors. 6 lation control, public health, and disease other wild mammals combined. R 3 Fox credited Pulitzer Prize- eradication funding priorities that are just India has long been thought to lead 2 E E 8 winning Sacramento Bee reporter L beginning to be felt as rabies control experts the world in human deaths from canine rabies, C 9 I P Tom Knudsen with helping to become aware of the finding. but now appears to have far fewer human V O A raise Sierra Club board awareness R 0 Presenting the most recent Indian rabies deaths than Pakistan, believed to have E E 6 W of leghold trapping with a multi- P S government statistics on mortality from all about 5,000 human deaths from rabies per 9 , part exposé of USDA Wildlife L E causes to the Lok Sabha, the Indian parlia- year; China, with about 2,400; Indonesia, x n A Serv-ices, published in the week G o o ment, Indian health minister Gulam Nabi whose toll is variously reported at 900 to t N B M preceding the board vote. I Azad mentioned almost in passing, after dis- 5,000; Bangladesh, acknowledging about n A i l N O “Because of this exposé,” Fox H cussing heart disease, diabetes, and cancer, 2,000; and Nigeria, with about 1,000. C P A said, “members of Congress C that only 223 human rabies deaths were The drastic reduction in estimated (continued on page 15) recorded in India in 2011, barely 1% of the (continued on page 12) 2 - ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2012 Editorial feature ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2012 - 3 Seeking an end to animal sacrifice Among all the many uses and abuses of animals which persist for a cultural pretext, vegetarian third or more of society and practitioners of animal sacrifice has been more-or-less animal sacrifice is perhaps the most widely practiced, in a variety of different forms and con- continuous for more than 2,300 years. Article 51A of the Indian constitution asserts that, “It texts, and the most difficult to address in an effective manner, leading to fewer animals being shall be the duty of every citizen of India to have compassion for all living creatures,” which killed––or ideally, none. would appear to provide a constitutional basis for prohibiting animal sacrifice. Citing Article The difficulty of stopping animal sacrifice occurs in part because the perspective of 51A, seven Indian states––Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, people who practice animal sacrifice tends to be almost incomprehensible to those who oppose Rajasthan and Puducherry––have adopted laws against animal sacrifice. it. Opponents are sometimes many generations and often oceans away from any ancestors who However, these laws are lightly enforced, if enforced at all, because Article 51A is ever sacrificed animals. Killing animals to be eaten at traditional holidays remains as ubiqui- superseded by Article 25, which states that “Subject to public order, morality and health and tous as the slaughter of turkeys at the U.S. Thanksgiving. Yet, from the perspective of people to the other provisions of this Part, all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience who believe in a just and merciful god, which includes about 85% of humanity according to and the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion.” recent global surveys of religious belief, the theology of practitioners of overt animal sacrifice A subordinate clause adds that “Nothing in this article shall…prevent the State from might seem to many to be blasphemous. making any law…regulating or restricting any economic, financial, political or other secular What sort of god would demand that animals be killed? Even the priests of the activity which may be associated with religious practice.” Spanish Inquisition, who accompanied the conquistadors to the New World and “converted” Thus animal sacrifice is regulated in parts of India, but may not be banned outright, Native Americans to Catholicism through genocidal use of sword and flame, theorized that in keeping with a tradition of religious tolerance introduced by King Ashoka (304-232 BCE).