OBITUARIES

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1993:

Mark Loren Morris, DVM, 92,
credited with coining the term “companion
animal,” died July 8 in Naples, Florida, of
atherosclerosis. Born in Hendersonville,
Colorado, Morris earned his veterinary
diploma from Cornell University in 1925
and took over an established practice in
Edison, New Jersey, where he set up the
Raritan Animal Hospital, one of the first
facilities of its kind, and pioneered the prac-
tice of small-animal medicine as a specialty.
Formerly, most veterinarians traveled from
farm to farm, mainly treating livestock.

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BOOKS: Treasures from Townsend Publishing

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1993:

Treasures from Townsend Publishing
(12 Greenleaf Drive, Exeter, NH 03833)
Nana’s Adoption Farm, by Tryntje Horn,
illus. by Dana Lacroix. 1992. Hardcover. $16.95.
Wintertime Cat, by Era Zistel. Paper. $5.95.
Orphan, by Era Zistel, illustrated
by Christine Knight Coombs. 1990. Paper. $11.95.
Christopher, by Era Zistel, illustrated by
Judee Donahue. 1991. Paper. $11.95.
Separate Lifetimes, by Irving Townsend.
1986 and 1990. Paper. $11.95.
The Less Expensive Spre a d, by Irving
Townsend. 1990. Paper. $11.95.

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Religion & Animals

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1993:

The 19th General Synod of the United
Church of Christ, held in St. Louis during July,
adopted a resolution on “Respect for Animals,”
which invites members to “evaluate human use
of animals and the resulting effects” through a
set of six questions. The full text is available
from the Rev. Marc Wessels, executive director
of the International Network for Religion and
Animals, POB 1335, North Wales, PA 19454.

If Imelda Marcos goes cruelty-free, Frank Zigrang might get rich; NON-LEATHER SHOE KING SHOWS HUMANE MERCHANTS HOW

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1993:

DAKOTA CITY, Iowa––”I’ve learned everything the hard way,” Frank
Zigrang states, “and I’m still learning from my mistakes.”
Zigrang founded his mail-order non-leather shoe firm, Heartland Products
in 1986, with no experience in either direct-mail sales or the shoe business. But in
six months as a vegetarian, Zigrang had discovered a vacant market niche, and as a
career businessman, he didn’t waste time moving to fill it. Heartland now boasts a
customer list of 30,000, annual sales of $100,000, and turns a modest profit.
“I’m making a living, anyway,” Zigrang admits. “It maybe isn’t much of
a living by some people’s standards, but I still have other business interests,”
including a share in the family grain farm run by his older brother.
Zigrang has become legendary in the animal protection community
through his frequent sales exhibits at half a dozen regional conferences per year.
But that’s not the key to his success. “I just do that for visibility,” he explains. “To
sell anything, you have to stay visible.” The keys, he emphasizes, “are the old
business stand-bys. That’s price, convenience, and quality. If you can’t sell some-
thing for less than the store at the mall, you sell something better than they have
down at the mall, or something they don’t stock, and you make it more convenient
for your customers to place an order with you than to drive down to the mall. You
stay in touch with your customers. That’s how you get repeat orders. You stock
what they want.”

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Marine Mammals

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1993:

The hit film Free Willy gave new
impetus to the ongoing campaign to persuade
Sea World in San Diego to return an orca named
Corky to her native habitat off British Columbia.
Her mother and several siblings remain with the
pod from which she was captured 24 years ago.
Sea World contends Corky could no longer sur-
vive in the wild. Free Willy has also started a
campaign on behalf of Keiko, the star of the
film, who resides at the El Nuevo Reino
Aventura amusement park in Mexico City. Free
Willy producers Lauren Shuler-Donner and
Richard Donner are reportedly ready to buy
Keiko and move him to a better facility, perhaps
even a fenced inlet off Cape Cod, using
$200,000 contributed by Warner Brothers, the
film’s distributor. Captured off Iceland in 1982,
and kept at Marineland in Niagara Falls before
being sold to his present keepers, Keiko hasn’t
drawn interest from major aquariums because of
a purportedly debilitating skin condition.

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BOOKS: Snakes

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1993:

Snakes. By Erik D. Stoops and Annette T. Wright, Sterling Publishing (387 Park Ave.
South, New York, NY 10016), 1992, 80 pages, hardcover $14.95 US, $19.95 Canadian.
This gorgeously illustrated book will appeal to
the junior biologist in us all. Its question and
answer format addresses every aspect of snake
biology and behavior, with questions ranging
from basic to esoteric. Many questions could
only have originated in the curious minds of
young children: “Why do snakes get run over
so often?” for example, or “Do snakes ever
throw up?”

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Agriculture

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1993:

Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt on August 9
announced plans to hike grazing fees on 280 million acres
of public lands, from the present $1.86 per animal unit per
day to $4.28––still below market value, and half the $8.70
fee the House passed in July 1991, later killed by the
Senate. An earlier attempt by Babbitt to up grazing fees
was delayed by President Clinton until his budget cleared
Congress.
The European Commission on July 13 proposed
that horses in transport should be watered and fed every six
hours; calves under four weeks old, every eight hours; and
adult cattle every 16 hours. Horses and pigs would get 10
hours of rest after traveling 12 hours. If adopted, the new
rules will protect all animals traveling between member
nations.

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Horse Tips

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1993:

Reporters Rans Pierson of The New York Post and Phillip
Nalbone of the Wall Street Journal recently followed Phyllis Orrick of
the New York Press in amplifying ANIMAL PEOPLE’s April and
July/August exposes of the treatment of horses in making the estrogen
supplement Premarin. Up to 75,000 pregnant mares spend half of each
year catheterized for urine collection and confined to narrow stalls;
most of their foals are sold to slaughter. Their numbers could triple
when the manufacturer, Ayerst Organics Inc., completes expansion of
its urine processing plant in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada. According
to Pierson, more than eight million American women take Premarin
for menopausal symptoms. Costing half as much as synthetic alterna-
tives made by Ciba Pharmaceuticals, Mead Johnson, and Abbott
Labs, Premarin holds 80% of the estrogen supplement market, and is
now the most prescribed drug in the U.S. An Ayerst spokesperson said
the number of horses involved is much lower than the 75,000 estimate
produced by longtime estrogen industry observer Tom Hughes of the
Canadian Farm Animal Care Trust, adding that the firm isn’t responsi-
ble for the fate of the foals anyhow. Medical columnist Zoltan Rona,
M.D., meanwhile argued in the July issue of Alive magazine that
menopausal women could avoid needing estrogen supplements by
avoiding meat and taking appropriate vitamins, minerals, and herbs.

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Animal Spectacles

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1993:

The Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, pledged to end mule-diving exhibitions
on its famed Steel Pier on August 15. Models in bathing suits rode full-sized horses through 40-foot jumps into tank of sea water at the Steel Pier from 1929 until 1978, when the pier was closed. Reopened this year, the Steel Pier featured Tim Rivers’ World’s Only Diving Mules, a riderless touring act from Citra, Florida, but met heavy protest when Rivers’ mule, two miniature horses, and a dog all appeared reluctant to jump from a 30-foot height.

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