ANIMAL CONTROL & RESCUE
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 1993:
Legislation In Support of
Animals has awarded the St. Tammany
Humane Society a “platinum” star for being
the top shelter in Lousiana three years in a
row. The Louisiana SPCA won LISA’s gold
star this year; Ouachita Animal Control of
West Monroe and the no-kill Morehouse
Humane Society each earned a silver star;
and Slidell Animal Control received a bronze
star. The award winners include both public
and private facilities, with some of the
biggest and smallest budgets in the state. A
golden heart award went to two anonymous
sheriff’s deputies who arrested a pair of men
they caught torturing a mouse by dunking her
repeatedly in a beer glass, and threw the
book at them. The black star for worst shel-
ter of the year went to the Leesville Animal
Shelter. “The shelter is actually clean and by
most appearances, well run,” LISA execu-
tive director Jeff Dorson said. “However,
the city administration has failed to produce
statistics or records to back up their claim of
a 100% adoption rate. We have seen evi-
dence to the contrary. Animals have been
destroyed, but the city won’t disclose how or
by whom.” Three years after LISA begin its
shelter inspections and awards program,
the state has established a Shelter
Standards Committee, to bring shelters
under effective regulation. The committee
met for the first time in January.
The Colorado Senate recently
killed a bill requiring parental permission
before anyone under age 18 could buy a
pet, after Denver pet store owner John
Rutherford testified that if it became law,
“an estimated 75% of pet retailers will go
out of business almost immediately.”
Sixty three-toed box turtles
recovered in a Michigan police raid last
year have been returned to their Texas
habitat through the combined efforts of the
Kalamazoo Nature Center, Michigan
Department of Natural Resources, Texas
Wildlife Rescue, and United Airlines.
The Asociaion para la Defensa
de los Derechos del Animal, the largest
Argentinian animal protection group, now
offers low-cost neutering of female ani-
mals in Buenos Aires and surrounding sub-
urbs. Fees of $25 for dogs and $15 for cats
are waived for low-income pet keepers.
Neutering of male dogs and cats, appar-
ently not subsidized, is reportedly up 50%,
to 20 a day, since the well-publicized
ADDA campaign started.
Mission Viejo, California, is
building a $2 million no-kill shel-
ter to be run by the city animal
control department. The nearby
cities of San Clemente, Irvine,
Dana Point, and Laguna Beach
also have municipal no-kill shel-
ters, while Seal Beach and Hunt-
ington Beach have private no-kill
shelters. The area has one of the
highest rates of neutering ––report-
edly over 80%––in the U.S.
Town officials in New
Mata-moras, Ohio, have agreed
to review the conduct of police
chief Bill Brightwell, who tied 21
dogs to trees and shot them one by
one on February 23, reportedly
using as many as 11 bullets each to
do the job. The dogs and about
nine cats––who fled––were the
pets of reputed animal collector
Plontas Newman, age unknown,
who died the day before. They
were recommended for euthaniasia
by Washington County humane
officer Linda Moore, who after-
Retired police officer Bernie
Goetz of Simcoe, Ontario, has been shoot-
ing up to 400 pigeons a year since 1982 for a
bounty of $1.00 each, paid by the town.
Simcoe constable Leighton Peach professes
puzzlement over criticism by the Ontario
Humane Society. “He usually does it on
Sunday mornings,” says Peach, “when peo-
ple are in church and that sort of thing.”
The Animal Rescue League of
Iowa is trying to raise $132,000 with which
to build a crematorium. The Des Moines
Metropolitan Area Waste Agency notified
clients late last year that it will stop accept-
ing animal corpses this month, leaving
ARLI with 4,000 corpses a year to dispose
of, Des Moines animal control with 5,000
corpses a year, and local veterinarians with
another several thousand.
Alley Cat Allies would like any-
one who has tried to relocate feral cats to
complete a questionaire. Request a copy of
the form from P.O. Box 397, Mt. Rainier,
Maryland 20712.
