From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 1999:

Cyprus zoo feeds hunt
Thanks for sending us ANIMAL PEOPLE.
You might think much of it is irrelevant to Cyprus, but
often articles about other countries are of value.
One of our ongoing campaigns focuses on the
Limassol Zoo. We won commitments to stop importing
large exotics, stop breeding, and enrich cages–– but
soon afterward, the leopard was pregnant, more mixed
Asiatic-African lion cubs were born, the substrate was
removed from cages, and kangaroos were to be
imported from Australia. (We got that stopped).
The latest was that eight lion cubs were sent
off to “freedom,” the zoo told us, in South Africa.
Who, I thought, would pay to transport and
feed eight tame lions born to tame parents? They could
never be released. They were of no use for conservation
purposes, being hybrids.

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1998:

Idea for Duffields
It was wonderful to learn that
people with the resources to do so are
investing in putting a stop to killing animals
because no homes can be found for
them. Dave and Cheryl Duffield deserve
heartfelt thanks from everyone who has
ever tried to cope with this sad situation.
In my experience working on
this issue, I have encountered many old
people who have denied themselves the
pleasure of adopting companion animals
because they lacked the financial
resources needed to provide for them if
they should die before the animal(s), as
seemed likely in some cases.
If enough of the generous
Duffield allocation could be allocated to
guarantee lifetime care or another adoption
to animals whose caretakers die or
become incapcitated, it would open up
many homing opportunities and add zest
and possibly a few years to the lives of
many lonely old people.

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1998:

Henry Spira
I really appreciate your publication
of so much material by and about
Henry Spira in your October edition. As
you know, ANIMAL PEOPLE was for
many years his favorite animal publication,
and the one he always recommended.
I really liked the ending of the editorial––the
image of Henry slouching in the
doorway is spot on. I guess he did it
because he never liked being trapped
inside, and was always liable to go for a
walk if he couldn’t take it inside any
more. The “patch of light” bit was brilliant.
Your obituary was excellent, too.
But just to set the record
straight, Henry had nothing to do with
my decision to turn my 1973 essay on
animal liberation into the book Animal
Liberation. The original encouragement
came from an editor at Simon &
Schuster. Although that fell through, I
was already well on the way with writing
the book, and had a contract with The
New York Review of Books, before I had
ever heard of Henry. The classes to
which he came were, in fact, based on
the draft chapters of the book. Not that
this matters, but Henry had enough
achievements without crediting him with
a role in creating Animal Liberation.

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1998:

Gifts
A statement by Leo Grillo on
page 17 of the September ANIMAL
PEOPLE hit the nail on the head concerning
“free gifts” to donors and
prospects from animal organizations. It
has been a sore subject with me for some
time. How do we convey the message
that our money is intended to help animals,
not to distribute greeting cards,
coffee mugs, calendars, etc.? I resent
the use of my money for unsolicited gifts,
whether sent to me or to someone else.
In exasperation, I wrote to one
organization. The nest time I heard from
them, they had noted “Doesn’t want
gifts.” The point, however, is that I
don’t want them spending any money
meant for animal welfare on gifts, for
me or anyone else.

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1998:

Horses & dogs
Both reviewer Robin Duxbury
and the author of the book Horse, Follow
Closely should have explained that Native
Americans used dogs much as they later
came to use horses. The dogs were treated
with much the same respect and consideration
that Native Americans extended
toward humans. The fact that certain
tribes sacrificed and ate dogs on special
occasions seems paradoxical, but it was a
manifestation and expression of the value
they attached to dogs: a statement to a
guest that “the only thing more valuable
to me than this dog is your friendship.”
The horse culture evolved from
the dog culture. For example, travois
were used with dogs at least 4,000 years
ago, according to analysis of archaeological
finds in northern Saskatchewan. A
good source of detailed information is
The Horse and the Dog in Hidatsa
Culture, by Gilbert L. Wilson. The original
edition was published in 1924 by the
American Museum of Natural History.
––Tim White
Grand Marais, Minnesota

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1998:

Whaling
I read with interest your June
edition report on the recent International
Whaling Commission meeting in Oman,
and whilst it was mostly accurate with
regard to the Brydes whale resolution
etc., the IWC did not take up the Makah
whaling issue this year. This is because
most IWC delegations do not believe they
have endorsed the Makah application, as
the U.S. and the Makah Tribal Council
contends they did in 1997, and therefore,
as the U.S. has not yet taken any whales,
there is no infraction to debate.
It was interesting this year that
the countries opposing action against the
Japanese proposal to kill Bryde’s whales
for supposed research purposes were also
the ones supporting the Irish Compromise.
Why were they willing to defend
pelagic and scientific whaling, when the
Irish Proposal is supposed to exclude
these elements?
––Chris Stroud
Whale & Dolphin Conservation Society
Bath, United Kingdom

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1998:

Head trips
I have never read such a cogent,
detailed, factual, and ethical explanation
of the current state of biotechnology and
genetic engineering and what it means for
human and animal welfare as “Biotech
head trips,” your December 1997 cover
article. Thank you.

––Jon Christenson
Great Basin News
Carson City, Nevada

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1998:

Maneka
Your articles on the treatment
of animals in India are especially interesting
to me, since I met Maneka Gandhi in
July, 1995 when she was in Chicago to
address a Jain convention. She took 20
vegetarian activists to dinner at a local
vegetarian restaurant, and told us about
the opening of American fast-food franchises
in India, which were and are trying
hard to convince Indians that eating
meat is the “modern” way to eat. Buyers
roam the country offering people money
for their cows. The people, as everywhere,
are shortsighted enough to take
the immediate cash in exchange for their
cows. To a person in rural India, cows
are their life. They drink the milk, and
use the dung for fuel. With no cow, they
have no way to cook, and indeed often
have little to cook.

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