OBITUARIES
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1992:
Luke Dommer, 62, died of cancer
August 18 in West Haven, Connecticut. A
motorcycle-riding ex-Marine, Dommer chal-
lenged macho stereotypes as a graphic artist by
trade, wildlife rehabilitator by avocation, out-
spoken opponent of hunting by calling. In
1975 Dommer founded the 5,000-member
Committee to Abolish Sport Hunting with $12
worth of pamphlets. CASH achievements
included winning the right to protest against
hunting at the Great Swamp National Wildlife
Refuge via lawsuit in 1979, and persuading the
Interstate Palisades Park Commission to halt
deer hunting in Harriman State Park, N.Y., in
1984.
As cancer wracked his body in
recent years, Dommer alienated former friends
and supporters with abusive tirades, but pro-
fusely apologized, often within moments, and
spent his last days trying to make amends to as
many as he could reach by telephone. “He was
a great teacher and founder of our movement,”
said Farm Animal Reform Movement presi-
dent Alex Hershaft, who visited Dommer on
his death bed. Esther Mechler of Focus on
Animals, a frequent visitor, noted that , “Luke
was called ‘Public Enemy Number One’ by the
National Rifle Association.” Ohio anti-hunting
activist Donna Robb fondly remembered him
as the man who “taught me to be strong and
soft, scientific and compassionate–my idol.”
The New York Times published Dommer’s
obituary twice, a rare signal of stature.
But perhaps the most telling descrip-
tion of Dommer came from Illinois hunting
columnist John Landis, who warned fellow
hunters about him in 1990. “The first inclina-
tion is to write this man off as a crackpot,”
Landis wrote. “That would be an unfortunate
mistake…He comes across as intelligent, con-
versant in wildlife management practices, a
logical and clear thinker, and on the first
impression of even an avid hunter, he is like-
able…a very formidable adversary.”
Succeeding Dommer as CASH presi-
dent, Anne Muller immediately pledged to
carry on and strengthen the organization.
Memorial services were held Sept. 26 at a vari-
ety of locations around the U.S., to commemo-
rate National Wildlife Ecology Day, a date
Dommer proclaimed several years ago to
counter National Hunting and Fishing Day.
Fay Bostwick Abbott, 81, died
May 26 in Burlington, Vermont, of compli-
cations from a stroke. A medical secretary
most of her life, Abbott became a noted
nature photographer and wildlife rehabilitator
upon her retirement in 1969; founded
Vermont Friends of Animals in 1972, serving
as director of the organization until 1978; and
formed People for Animal Rights in 1982.
Her admittedly impractical lifelong dream,
she often stated, was that the entire state of
Vermont might some day be posted off limits
to hunting and trapping.
Guy P. Giordano, 64, a noted
South Philadelphia tire dealer, cat rescuer,
and fundraiser for handicapped children, died
of cancer Aug. 5.
Lucille Moses Scott, 90, who died
circa March 20 in Escondido, California, was
informally remembered recently by longtime
animal protection colleagues–few of whom
ever actually met her. A former school-
teacher, Moses Scott lived most of her life in
Minnesota. Also long active in the civil rights
and peace movements, she began doing politi-
cal work on behalf of animals in 1948, shortly
after Minnesota adopted the nation’s first law
mandating that unclaimed impounded dogs
had to be surrendered for biomedical research.
Humane societies were unaware such legisla-
tion had been introduced. Thereafter, Moses
Scott made it her business to monitor political
activity involving animals, and to become
personally acquainted with politicians. Circa
1954 she and Christian Norgovd of the
American Humane Association were instru-
mental in persuading then-Minnesota senator
Hubert Humphrey to introduce the Humane
Slaughter Act, which finally passed after pro-
longed effort in 1958. In later years Moses
Scott also personally obtained the support of
senators Eugene McCarthy and George
McGovern for a variety of animal protection
bills. She was among the AHA supporters
who broke away in 1955 to form the Humane
Society of the U.S.,. but later recalled that he r
most active period began two years later,
when she initiated a series of undercover
investigations of puppy mills and suspected
dog thieves in and around Minneapolis. Her
work led to a landmark expose of dog bunch-
ers in Life magazine, published February 4,
1966. The expose helped secure passage of
the Laboratory Animals Protection Act, fore-
runner of the Animal Welfare Act, later that
year. Moses served as Minnesota representa-
tive for HSUS through 1967, when she retired
and relocated to southern California. She
remained energetically involved in letter-writ-
ing and fundraising on behalf of animals right
up until her death, and was a particularly
valuable regional correspondent to ANIMAL
PEOPLE news editor Merritt Clifton, to
whom she sent a considerable amount of his-
torical file material as well as information on
current events. “No one will ever know how
much you accomplished,” Ann Cottrell Free
wrote to Moses Scott in a letter that never
reached her. Agreed Christine Stevens of the
Animal Welfare Institute, “She certainly was a
great worker for the animals.”
The late George H. Montgomery
of Philipsburg, Quebec, was honored August
1 by the commemoration of the 1,200-acre
George H. Montgomery Bird Sanctuary on
some of the lands he long protected from
hunters, trappers, and would-be developers.
Also honored at the ceremony was the late
John D. Delafield, longtime president of the
75-year-old Province of Quebec Society for
the Protection of Birds.
