Woofs and growls
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 1994:
People
Resisting pressure from some of the most influen-
tial members of his own political party, Kenyan president
Daniel Arap Moi on March 10 refused to accept Wildlife
Services director Richard Leakey’s mid-January resignation,
and ordered him to resume his work. Arap Moi took two months
to review allegations of corruption and racism directed against
Leakey, 49, by leading politicians who favor economically
exploiting the vast Kenyan wildlife reserves––among them
tourism minister Noah Katana and local government minister
William Ole Ntimama, two of the most influential figures in the
government after Moi. In four years as Wildlife Services direc-
tor, Leakey won worldwide acclaim for professionalizing the
warden staff and curbing poachers, who had severely dimin-
ished the elephant and rhinoceros populations during the 1980s.
Attorney Amy Weinhouse has succeeded Kirsten
Kase as director of the Wildlife Refuge Reform Coalition. Dale
Bartlett of the Humane Society of the U.S. was interim director
between Kase and Weinhouse.
The Animal Protection Institute is seeking a succes-
sor to David Berkman, who lasted barely one year as executive
director. The job pays circa $60,000 a year.
Wise-use wiseguys
The National Rifle Association on March 2 abruptly
quit selling lists of former members, a day after Bob Bulmash of
the right-to-privacy group Private Citizen pointed out that while
the NRA opposes registration of gun owners, the lists constitute
defacto registration. Nearly 700,000 names of former members
had been available to anyone with $70 per thousand names via
Preferred Lists Inc. of Falls Church, Virginia. The NRA obtains
lists of gun owners from gun shop proprietors––who frequently
sponsor customers for six-month introductory memberships.
The NRA often warned members that their names and addresses
might be sold if they didn’t renew their membership.
The pro-vivisection Americans for Medical
Progress Educational Foundation, Connecticut United for
Research Excellence, and Educators for Responsible Science
may have hard times ahead. All three were founded and heavily
backed by U.S. Surgical––which in 1991 furnished $980,000 of
the $985,000 AMPEF budget––and U.S. Surgical is in a cash
flow crunch caused by three consecutive quarterly losses plus
the loss of a patent infringement suit to rival Johnson & Johnson.
The New York Times reported February 22 that U.S. Surgical
would need $150 million in new working capital to keep operat-
ing, and had begun negotiations with creditors. The value of
U.S. Surgical stock has fallen from $130 a share in January 1992
to as little as $19 a share today. After laying off 700 workers in
October 1993, U.S. Surgical laid off another 900 on March 17,
including nine of the 30 corporate vice presidents. The firm
declared a loss of $138.7 million in 1993, on revenues of $1.04
billion, after declaring profits of $137.6 million on revenues of
$1.20 billion in 1992.
The World Animal Resource Network, yet another
new entry in the fast-splintering backlash against animal rights,
is based at 652 Main Street, Sauble Beach, Ontario N0H 2G0,
Canada. Membership solicitations overstate the cumulative budget.
