European Union trapped fur import ban still uncertain

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, Jan/Feb 1997:

BRUSSELS––Just a week from the
twice deferred January 1 target date for
enforcing a European Union ban on imports
of fur from animals possibly caught by
leghold trapping, “the issue of whether or not
it will be implemented is still very much up
in the air,” Animal Welfare Institute executive
director Kathy Liss told ANIMAL PEOPLE
at deadline.
The politics of the ban were never
fiercer. The step-by-step procedure to either
enforce or scrap the ban started with the presentation
in September of draft international
trapping standards, prepared by a quadrilateral
committee including delegations from
Canada, Russia, the U.S., and the European
Union. Next was to come approval or rejection
of the draft standards by the European
Commission, followed by ratification or
rejection of the decision by the appropriate
European Council of Ministers––a critical
fork, Liss said, since “The Council of
Environment Ministers has been pretty favorable
toward the ban, but the Council of
Trade Ministers is just interested in the trade
issues.”

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Animal control & rescue

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, Jan/Feb 1997:

The multi-party Home Affairs Committee recommended to the
British Parliament on December 18 that the 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act be amended
to eliminate mandatory death penalties for alleged pit bull terriers and other
dogs of purportedly dangerous breed who haven’t committed an offense; provide
“bail” for dogs pending a hearing; allow owners to visit dogs kenneled for cause
more often; and reintroduce national dog licensing, scrapped as unenforceable
about a decade ago.

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PetsMart buys 50 British stores

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, Jan/Feb 1997:

PHOENIX––PetsMart, only founded in
1989 but already operating 311 U.S. stores in 33
states, on October 25 expanded to Great Britain,
purchasing the 50-store Pet City Holdings chain for
$239 million. PetsMart CEO Mark Hansen said the
acquisition “provides a platform for expansion in
Europe,” which he said “represents a 900-to-1,000-
store opportunity,” about the same size as the niche
PetsMart seeks in the U.S. market.
One secret of PetsMart success is privatizing
and making profitable at affordable prices some
of the otherwise money-losing functions of nonprofit
humane societies. PetsMart stores provide local
humane societies with an adoption venue, rather
than selling purpose-bred dogs and cats, and frequently
include in-house low-cost neutering clinics.

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HSUS reported in dutch with the Dutch

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1996:

WASHINGTON D.C.–– Americans
for Medical Progress, a leading pro-animal-use-in-research
group, charged in a
November 13 World Wide Web posting that,
“European law enforcement authorities reportedly
opened an investigation into direct mail
appeals soliciting Dutch citizens on behalf of
three supposedly distinct organizations: the
Amazon Children’s Foundation, the
International Foundation for Alzheimer
Research, and the Humane Society
International Foundation.”

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No safety in shells or Southern Oceans

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1996:

MOSCOW, OSLO, TOKYO,
WASHINGTON D.C.––Emboldened by
the re-election of U.S. President Bill Clinton
and Vice President Albert Gore, who
showed little inclination to defend whales
and sea turtles during their first term, and
by the re-enfranchisement of wise-use
Republicans in control of key Congressional
committees, turtle-killers and whalers are
whetting their weapons.
Most brazenly, with the election
results barely two weeks old, Louisiana
Republicans Bob Livingston, Billy Tauzin,
and John Breaux on November 21 forced the
National Marine Fisheries Service to withdraw
turtle excluder device regulations
intended to protect endangered sea turtles,
just three days after they were ostensibly
sent to the Federal Register for publication.

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Children & animals

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1996:

Scots law prevents animal and child protection
agencies from sharing case data, but veterinary pathologist
Helen Munro intends to change that. “Some of Britain’s most
notorious child murders reaffirm the link between animal cruelty
and child abuse,” she told The Daily Telegraph. “The two boys
who killed the Liverpool toddler James Bulger pulled the heads
off baby pigeons, double child-killer Mary Bell throttled
pigeons for fun, and Dunblane murderer Thomas Hamilton shot
birds from his bedroom window.”
The Eton College natural history museum scheduled
an October 23 auction to unload 460 taxidermic mounts,
mostly donated by graduates between 1850 and 1903. Proceeds
will be used for renovation, under retired biology teacher David
Smith. “In the past,” Smith said, “the emphasis of teaching was
on anatomy, classification, and the collecting of specimens.
Now biology means genetics, ecology, and evolution.”

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Attack of the gene splicers wins hearts and minds

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1996:

CAMBRIDGE, U.K.––With 80
Britons a day dying from lack of human hearts,
lungs, livers, and kidneys suitable for transplant,
Imutran Ltd. had no trouble finding 25
seriously ill volunteers in September to participate
in the first trial of organs grown in genetically
engineered pigs specifically for transplant
into humans. Subject to approval by
seven different governmental bureaus, the
experimental xenographs will be conducted at
the earliest opportunity.
Immunologist David White and
transplant surgeon John Wallwork told media
that the Imutran approach is, as London
Sunday Times medical correspondent Lois
Rogers put it, “to trick the human immune
system into tolerating animal organs. The system
is naturally programmed to mount a massive
attack to kill implanted foreign tissue
within minutes. Organs from the pigs specially
bred by the company have the same protective
proteins on their surfaces as tissue within
the human body––a mechanism designed to
stop the body from attacking itself.”

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European animal testing ban may be delayed

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1996:

LONDON––The Cosmetics Directive, a
European Community ban on animal testing of cosmetics
and toiletries, adopted by the EC ministers in 1993 for
scheduled phase-in starting in 1998, may be delayed until
2000, according to internal draft discussion documents
leaked to media, because alternative testing methods have
not yet been approved.
The Royal SPCA charged on September 23 that
the European Communities Validation of Alternative
Methods Centre has been unable to validate proposed nonanimal
tests due to underfunding.
British firms already committed to cruelty-free
policies are pushing to avoid the EC delay, which would
leave in effect current policies requiring animal testing of
products exported to other EC member nations. The campaign
suffered a September 27 setback, however, when the
British edition of Vogue magazine refused to publish an
anti-animal testing ad from the Co-operative Bank.

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INTERNATIONAL

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1996:

The British Columbia SPCA,
of Vancouver, has signed an agreement
with Environment Canada and the B.C.
environment ministry to coordinate wildlife
rescue and rehablitation in case of a major
oil spill along the B.C. coast. But the
BC/SPCA might find resources scarce:
with the flagship Vancouver branch $1.2
million in debt, it recently cut five staff
positions, sold six trucks, and dropped a
money-losing merchandising program.

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