Month: March 1994

Fur

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1994:

While the ISO moved to accept
padded leghold traps as “humane,” a
Massachusetts judge ruled they are not on
December 27, 1993, overturning a 1989 rul-
ing by the state Division of Fisheries and
Wildlife that padded traps were not banned by
the state law that banned steel-jawed leghold
traps in 1974. “It is apparent from the opera-
tion of the Woodstream ‘soft-catch’ trap,”
Suffolk Superior Court judge Patrick King
wrote, “that it will cause injury to many ani-
mals.”

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ANIMAL HEALTH

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1994:

Rabies update
New Hampshire state veterinarian
Clifford McGinniss warned January
15––after a rabid kitten was found in a
Merrimack College dormitory––that feral cats
must be exterminated to protect Hampton
Beach visitors. Disagreeing, Hampton Beach
is pursung a $24,000 cat control plan combin-
ing catch-and-kill with selective neuter/
release. The plan is also opposed by New
Hampshire SPCA executive director Bonnie
Roberts, who told the Boston Globe that the
feral cats “are going to tangle with rabid ani-
mals and spread the disease.” In fact, rabies
vaccination is a prerequisite of the Hampton
Beach plan, and of all properly managed
neuter/release programs. There are no reports
on record of any cat in any recognized
neuter/release program anywhere ever con-
tracting rabies, while several neuter/release
programs including one coordinated in 1991-
1992 by ANIMAL PEOPLE publisher Kim
Bartlett have been credited by public safety
officials with creating an immunized barrier
between rabid wildlife and family pets.

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L.A. earthquake aid

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1994:

LOS ANGELES, Calif.––
The City of Los Angeles was among
the first animal control jurisdictions
to have its own disaster prepared-
ness manual, but not even manual
author Lt. Frederic Michael antici-
pated two major natural disasters
hitting the area within four months:
first the devastating brushfires of
late October and early November,
and then, January 17, a 6.6-
Richter-magnitude earthquake that
collapsed overpasses, ruptured
water mains, killed 43 people out-
right, and left more than 20,000 at
least temporarily homeless.

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Animal Control & Rescue

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1994:

The Canadian SPCA
was stunned February 3 when it
lost the Montreal pound contract
to a private bidder, Berger Blanc,
for at least a two-month trial period.
Berger Blanc handles animal control
for several Montreal suburbs, but
has been accused of selling animals
to biomedical research. The
Montreal contract forbids such sales.
The CSPCA was nearly bankrupted
under its previous two-year pound
contract, loosely modeled after the
contract New York City has long
had with the ASPCA, under which
it was expected to provide pound
service at a substantial loss––
$450,000 in 1993––in exchange for
the proceeds from all dog licenses
sold after the first 10,000.

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Woofs and growls

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1994:

Who gets the money?
Animal and habitat protection
groups currently failing to meet the National
Charities Information Bureau’s wise giving
standards include the Cousteau Society, the
National Anti-Vivisection Society, the
National Humane Education Society and
PETA. The Cousteau Society and NAVS
flunked on criteria designed to prevent nepo-
tism and material conflicts of interest among
board members and administrators; the
Cousteau Society also flunked for excessive
fundraising expense; NHES flunked for lack
of accountability and excessive fundraising
expense; and PETA flunked for having only
three board members instead of the requisite
five. Additionally, the NCIB questions
whether Humane Society of the U.S. fundrais-
ing costs are reasonable relative to income.

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Texas to refile vs. Primarily Primates

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1994:

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS– –
Texas assistant attorney general John Vinson
on January 14 filed a federal court petition
seeking to return jurisdiction over complaints
against Primarily Primates to state court, in
order to reinstate a suit seeking to remove
Primarily Primates president Wally Swett and
secretary Stephen Tello from the administra-
tion of the San Antonio-based sanctuary.
Vinson alleged that Swett hadn’t met the
terms of an out-of-court settlement reached in
November. As the terms were eventually
finalized, Swett was to undertake structural
revisions to the Primarily Primates bylaws
which would take away a defacto veto he had
held over board decisions; was to pay the
Texas attorney general’s office partial reim-
bursement from Primarily Primates of costs
incurred in handling the case, in the amount
of $15,000; and was to expand the Primarily
Primates board to nine members, including
“at least two persons from the San Antonio
area and a veterinarian or someone with for-
mal animal care training.”

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PETA wins Berosini reversal

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1994:

RENO, Nevada––The Nevada Supreme Court
on January 27 emphatically reversed the $4.2 million libel
verdict won by orangutan trainer Bobby Berosini in
August 1990 against People for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals, PETA director of investigations Jeanne Roush,
the Performing Animal Welfare Society, PAWS execu-
tive director Pat Derby, and dancer Ottavio Gesmundo.
Berosini contended that a videotape Gesmundo
secretly recorded backstage was false and defamatory.
The videotape was given to mass media by PETA, while
Derby commented upon it for Entertainment Tonight.
However, in a strongly worded 32-page opinion, the
four judges who reviewed the case concluded unanimous-
ly that, “The videotape is not false because it is an accu-
rate portrayal of the manner in which Berosini disciplined
his animals backstage before performances. The video-
tape is not defamatory because Berosini and his witnesses
take the position that the shaking, punching, and beating
that appear on the tape are necessary, appropriate and
justified for the training, discipline, and control of show
animals. If Berosini did not think that the tape showed
him doing anything wrong or disgraceful,” the decision
continued, “he should not be heard to complain that the
defendants defamed him merely by showing the tape.”

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Leakey quits

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1994:

NAIROBI––Accused of
corruption, racism, and misman-
agement by 23 influential cabinet
ministers eager to exploit wildlife
and habitat, renowned paleontolo-
gist Richard Leakey resigned
January 14 after five years as head
of the Kenya Wildlife Service.
Leakey’s vigorous attack
on corruption and defense of
endangered species brought more
than $150 million in aid to Kenya.

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