THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY MEET LISA

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, Jan/Feb 1994:

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana–
Legislation In Support of Animals recently
gave the New Iberia City and Parish Council
until January 1 to make a firm commitment
to reforming their pound––or else.
“We have reached the limit of our
patience,” said mild-mannered LISA
founder and executive director Jeff Dorson,
sounding a lot more like Clint Eastwood than
he looks.
The ultimatim brought a three-part
expose of pound conditions in the local
newspaper. On December 10, New Iberia
reached an amicable agreement with LISA to
better separate animals in the pound, house
fewer per cage, provide fiberglas resting
boards, clean the cages more often, hire an
answering service to handle off-hours emer-
gency calls, and promote adoptions through
the New Iberia Humane Society.

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FURRIERS STRUGGLING

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1993:

If fur is making a comeback, it isn’t evident in the retail price index kept by
ANIMAL PEOPLE editor Merritt Clifton since 1988. The volume of fur merchandise
advertised in the greater New York metropolitan area as of Fur Free Friday 1993 was identi-
cal to 1992, as was the average price, excluding sable. The advertised volume of sable,
the highest-priced fur, was up fivefold, with the average price up from $25,000 to
$38,750––but the advertised volume of mink held steady, while the average mink price was
down 30%. “They’re in a steep slump and swinging for home runs to compensate,” Clifton
said. “Mink is traditionally 80% of their trade, but they aren’t picking up new customers
even at steep discounts, so they’re trying to buy sable low from the cash-strapped former
Soviet republics and sell it high to the handful of customers they’ve kept.” It’s too early to
project sales figures for the whole winter, Clifton continued, with the Christmas and
Valentine’s Day sales periods still ahead, “but so far there’s no sign that increased fur adver-
tising expenditures are significantly paying off. They’re just spending more money to stay
where they are.” Just before the fall fur ad blitz began, Evans Inc., accounting for roughly
10% of U.S. retail fur sales, reported a second-quarter drop of 7.4% in same-store sales as
compared to last year.

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WAR

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1993:

While other bloodbaths have
diverted concern from Saddam
Hussein’s purge of Shiites from
Southern Iraq, an effect of the killing
may soon be evident throughout
Europe, Asia, and
northern Africa, when waterfowl
numbers crash as result of the
drainage of about half the 6,000
square miles of wetland between the
Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The
wetland is perhaps the most impor-
tant feeding, resting, and breeding
area for migratory birds in the
Middle East. Saddam ordered the
the rivers diverted in August 1992,
ostensibly for irrigation but more
plausibly to drive the Shiites, who
oppose his regime, into Shiite-con-
trolled Iran. The wetlands are the
traditional Shiite stronghold.

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ALASKA TARGETS WOLF CUBS; LEFT ALIVE IN SNARES FOR DAYS; TOP STATE KILLER IS CONVICTED POACHER

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1993:

FAIRBANKS, Alaska– As
renewed bloody horror erupted in Haiti,
Borundi, Angola, Somalia, and the for-
mer Yugoslavia, snow softly covered the
woods of Wildlife Management Unit 20-A.
Then, with camera crews elsewhere and
wolf tracks visible, the trappers crept out
to their planes and unleashed the wolf mas-
sacre the world had awaited for over a
year. Leading the state-hired killers was
Daniel Grangaard, a multi-time convicted
poacher.
“Public records indicate Gran-
gaard, the person placed in charge of the
state-funded wolf kill, has been convicted
of hunting without a license and illegal use
of game to bait traps,” confirmed Stephen
Wells of the Alaska Wildlife Alliance.

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AGRICULTURE

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1993:

A House/Senate conference com-
mittee agreed October 7 to raise the grazing
fee on federal land from $1.86 per animal unit
month to $3.45 over the next three years, and
to increase government supervision of ranching
activities on leased federal land. The higher
fee––still far lower than the going rate for leas-
ing privately owned grazing land––is expected
to sharply reduce the number of cattle and
sheep on the range in 16 western states. Final
approval of the grazing bill is pending.
October 16, both the House and the Senate
voted to eliminate $500 million in subsidies to
the slumping sheep industry. Wool and lamb
prices have fallen to record lows in each of the
past three years. The American Sheep Industry
Association predicted 25% to 30% of U.S.
sheep ranches would go out of business.

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Marine mammals

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1993:

U.S. president Bill Clinton told
Congress on October 4 that while the
Norwegian resumption of commercial whaling
in defiance of the International Whaling
Commission warrants trade sanctions, he
believes they should not be imposed “until we
have exhausted all good faith efforts to per-
suade Norway to follow agreed conservation
measures.” Clinton did, however, direct his
staff to inventory products imported from
Norway that might be placed under embargo.
Pending federal action, the Animal Welfare
Institute on September 28 called a boycott of
Norwegian fish, cheese, clothing, and sonar
equipment. Alaska governor Walter Hickel
meanwhile announced that he’s reached a deal
with Norway: Alaska won’t criticize
Norwegian whaling if Norway won’t join an
international tourist boycott called to protest
the impending Alaskan wolf massacre (see
“Wildlife,” page 12). Iceland confirmed
October 15 that it also intends to resume com-
mercial whaling soon, likewise defying possi-
ble sanctions.

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Get thee to a shelter, Bill!

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1993:

BALTIMORE, Maryland–
More than 600 participants in the American
Humane Association annual conference told
President Bill Clinton on October 13 to get
the golden retriever he covets from a shelter
rather a breeder. Syndicated columnist Mike
Capuzzo told the group that in May, Clinton
unsuccessfully bid $3,500 for a golden
retriever at an auction held at the Sidwell
Friends School, which his daughter Chelsea
attends. Later he bid unsuccessfully on a
golden retriever puppy owned by Robert
Wood Johnson IV, great-grandson of the
founder of Johnson & Johnson Inc. Capuzzo
urged Clinton to emulate the late Lyndon
Johnson, whose favorite dog was a mongrel
stray his daughter Lucy found at a Texas gas
station.

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HUNTING

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1993:

Despite the scarcity of ducks,
Ohio taxpayers are shelling out $40,000
to elevate Clark Road in Franklin
Township so that wildlife officials can
open dams on nearby Killbuck Creek
without flooding it, which in turn will
bring ducks closer to the road for the
convenience of hunters.
John Paul Self, 18, of
Grovetown, Georgia, was in critical
condition October 19 after Johnnie L.
Sinns, 18, shot him in the back of the
head as both allegedly tried to poach the
same deer from beside their pickup
truck. Sinns and a third alleged poacher,
Paul Albert Johnson, 17, were charged
with six misdemeanors including hunt-
ing under the influence of marijuana.
Johnson was also charged with posses-
sion of marijuana, while Sinns was
charged with felony misuse of a firearm.

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