Animal control & rescue
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1995:
Trouble
The Chicago Animal Rights
Coalition on April 13 resumed a campaign
against the use of a captive bolt gun to dis-
patch dogs and cats and the practice of killing
them in front of others at the Animal Control
Department shelter in Rock Falls, Illinois.
Neither the American Veterinary Medical
Association nor any national humane organiza-
tion recommends the use of captive bolts for
euthanizing small animals; all oppose killing
animals within sight or sound of others. Rock
Falls promised to change euthanasia proce-
dures a year ago, but broke the promise,
according to CHARC founder Steve Hindi.
Letters on shelter letterhead urging compliance
with accepted humane standards may be sent
to Rock Falls mayor Glen Kuhlemier at 603
W. 10th St., Rock Falls, IL 61071.
Maryland law requires animal
shelters to hold stray dogs and cats for at
least 72 hours before either euthanizing them
or adopting them out, unless they’re wild or
sick, but the Tri-County Animal Shelter in
Hughesville euthanized 153 of 168 cats
received within 24 hours in February, after the
reassignment of former triage worker Kathy
Delozier, and 146 of 193 cats received within
24 hours in March, reported Todd Shields of
The Washington Post on April 3. At least
some of the cats were pets whose owners were
looking for them, who flunked a “pen test.”
Former staffer Christy Henderson, 36, who
was fired on March 31, explained to Todd that
any cat who swatted at a pen pushed into her
cage was “deemed wild and put to sleep with-
out ever being taken out.” Henderson and two
volunteers departed a week after shelter work-
er Kathy Delozier was fired, for alleged con-
tinuing insubordination, on March 24. Shelter
supervisor Bob Anderson promised an internal
investigation, and pointed to rising rates of
reclaims and adoptions as evidence his staff
isn’t needle-happy.
Investigative reports released to
media on April 5 found major faults in almost
every aspect of the management of the Capitol
Area Humane Society in Columbus, Ohio,
under former executive director Gerri Bain and
board president Steve Kahn, who quit under
fire last September, along with five trustees
and two staffers. The Humane Society of the
U.S. called euthanasia practices “inhumane,”
while a private accounting firm reportedly
found misused grants, personal use of funds
by staff, and dubious use of a travel budget.
Fifteen years of chaos at the
Montreal-based Canadian SPCA c o n t i n u e d
in March with the departure under fire of exec-
utive director Alex Wolfe, a longtime critic of
the shelter’s high euthanasia rate who tried
unsuccessfully to turn it into a no-kill after
briefly gaining control of the board of directors
during the reorganization that followed the
loss of the Montreal pound contract last spring.
The Lake County Humane Society
in Sorrento, Florida, on March 16 refused to
accept the turn-in of a five-and-a-half-month-
old Labrador-mix puppy that Sorrento resident
John Kirby and an unidentified male friend
said they’d found beside a road, because
Kirby had no rabies certificate for the dog.
Directed to Lake County Animal Control in
Astatula, they ran over and killed the dog as
they departed. Kirby claimed it was an acci-
dent, and that he and his friend fled the scene
because, “They’re much more capable of tak-
ing care of it than I am.”
Shooting dogs
Peace was at risk on the Israeli-
Occupied West Bank on April 11 after
Israeli troops shot 90 to 150 dogs in Hebron, a
town known for militant Palestinian opposition
to Israel. The Israeli civil administration said
the dogs were strays, killed to prevent the
spread of rabies, but Israeli environment min-
ister Yossi Sarid denied that, calling the
killings “unacceptable.” Hebron health depart-
ment head Mesbah Tahboub said he was never
advised of a rabies problem nor of any anti-
rabies action. “When you see that many of the
dogs were domestic pets or shepherd dogs,
you have to raise some questions about the
motives,” he added. Palestinians tend to
believe the dogs were killed because their
barking alerted residents to Israeli patrols.
Milwaukee vice officers met 84
dogs during drug raids in 1994, and killed 23
of them, according to police records.
Overpopulation
“Get your male cat neutered at the
San Francisco SPCA by August 1 and we’ll
pay y o u $5.00 cash,” SFSPCA president
Richard Avanzino told city residents on April
3. “This time of year, intact tomcats are
roaming the streets in search of females, and
unless they’re neutered, thousands of unwant-
ed kittens will be the result. We expect free
surgery plus a $5.00 bonus will get enough
male cats off the prowl to make a difference in
the numbers,” sufficient to make the program
cost-effective. “I’ve been asked,” Avanzino
continued, “what if people start combing the
streets looking for unowned male cats so they
can cash in on the bounty? I say, great!
Vaccinate ‘em and bring ‘em on down.”
Those requesting the bonus must show proof
of San Francisco residence, the cats must live
in San Francisco, and all cats must be vacci-
nated against rabies prior to surgery (which
can be done by the SFSPCA).
The Oakland SPCA, of Oakland,
C a l i f o r n i a, began doing early neutering last
summer and on March 23 claimed to be “the
only major shelter in the country which neuters
all animals deemed adoptable before they are
placed, including puppies and kittens.”
Under the administration of
Animal Services director Olivia Horn, the
euthanasia toll at the city shelter in
Fayetteville, Arkansas, has dropped from
3,900 in 1986 to just 2,000 in 1994, despite a
fast-growing human population bringing with
it a growing pet population. Fayetteville
Animal Services was the first public shelter in
the state to mandate that all animals be
neutered before being adopted out. That prac-
tice recently became mandatory statewide,
under a bill authored by Fayetteville state rep-
resentative Sue Madison, passed by the legis-
lature at request of the Arkansas State Animal
Control Association.
The Animal Alliance and Humane
Civic Association have asked the city of Los
Angeles to require anyone breeding a dog litter
to get a license, and to require screening for
both genetic infirmities and behavioral faults
before the license can be granted. The propos-
al is rated no chance of passage.
Openings & expansion
The new Helen Steinert Memorial
SPCA of Schuykill County, Pennsylvania, is
to begin accepting animals during the first
week of May. The building was donated by
the county, replacing the Ruth A. Steinert
(Tamaqua) SPCA, which was closed when
neighbors––who did not object when the build-
ing was formerly used as a slaughterhouse––
complained about barking dogs. Diane Reppy
remains as the SPCA manager.
Oberlin Aid to Strays in Distress is
trying to raise $40,000 by June with which to
build a new shelter on land leased from the city
of Oberlin, Ohio. Founded in 1991 by Oberlin
College student Shari Kalina, and staffed in
large part by about 40 student volunteers, the
no-kill organization took over the former city
pound, has adopted out about 100 dogs per
year, and “is less expensive than having a dog
warden,” says city manager Gary Goddard. It
is having to relocate, however, due to barking
complaints.
The Hinsdale Humane Society, in
Hinsdale, Illinois, is to reopen during Be Kind
To Animals Week, May 7-13, after undergo-
ing $250,000 worth of renovations funded
largely by $160,000 inherited from Chicago
dog rescuer Charles Hillinger, who died in
1993 at age 81. Hillinger had no known asso-
ciation with the shelter, executive director
Diana Aldridge told the Chicago Tribune.
A newly formed nonprofit group
called Friends of the Minneapolis Animal
Shelter, headed by Jim Davis and Kathy Dole
and based at the shelter, is seeking to raise
$420,000 seed money toward the construction
of a new shelter to replace the often criticized
current facility.
Losing one no-kill shelter with the
impending relocation of Sav-A-Pet from
Palatine, Illinois, to the Greyslake area, local
rescuers have formed a fostering group called
the Buddy Foundation, in hopes of founding
another no-kill shelter in Arlington Heights
when and if they can attract a donation of
appropriate property. Meanwhile, the group
will stress adoption promotion, say founders
Ellaine Kiriluck and Jan Bierman.
Closures & cutbacks
Fire swept the home of Colorado
Animal Refuge founder Mary Port on April
3, destroying her records, then spread to trail-
ers housing dogs, cats, and monkeys. An
estimated 50 animals were killed. Kept out-
doors, wolf hybrids and a bear survived.
Founded in 1983, the shelter was incorporated
in 1991 and obtained nonprofit status in 1993.
Contributions may be sent to POB 15828,
Colorado Springs, CO 15828.
Los Angeles mayor Richard
Riordan has proposed cutting the Department
of Animal Regulation budget by up to $4 mil-
lion, obliging department chief Gary Olson to
contemplate closing the East Valley and South
Central shelters––both of which are scheduled
to receive federal help to repair damage done
by the January 1994 Northridge earthquake.
The Walden’s Puddle Wildlife
Rehabilitation Center, of Berry Hill,
Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville, may have
to move or close because it purportedly vio-
lates a zoning ordinance forbidding operation
of either an animal hospital or a domestic pet
kennel in the area. The directors maintain it is
neither, and say they’ll take the case to court.
The six humane officers and res-
cue agents of the all-volunteer Medina County
SPCA, in Medina, Ohio, have increased their
annual operating budget from $15,000 in 1988
to $60,000 in 1994, but their caseload has
gone up faster, say president George Layne
and attorney Marjorie Muirden, necessitating
cutbacks in rescue services until they can
recruit and train more help.
Pets In Need, of Ringwood,
Illinois, a no-kill shelter opened in 1991 after
five years as a fostering group, must tell a
judge by May 26 what it plans to do in
response to a closure order due to zoning vio-
lations, founder and director Pat Klimo says.
The 150 animals in residence must be relocat-
ed by October 1. According to Klimo, operat-
ing a for-profit breeding and/or boarding ken-
nel at the site would be legal; operating as a
nonprofit is not.
Miscellany
Quick, concerted objections f r o m
the Minnesota Animal Control Association and
state humane societies on March 30 killed a
bill introduced into the state legislature only
days before which would have stripped cruelty
investigators and humane officers of law
enforcement power. Similar bills are still alive
in California and Nevada.
Charlestown, Illinois, on April 2
banned keeping animals other than dogs and
cats within 1,000 feet of someone else’s prop-
erty unless the keeper has a state or federal
permit to keep the species, or is a veterinarian.
Two different pairs or trios of
night-roaming domestic dogs are believed to
have killed at least 54 sheep and a goat in an
eight-month series of attacks on separate
groups of contiguous properties in northwest-
ern Chester County, Pennsylvania. The dogs
have been seen, but not identified.
Hollywood, Florida, requires
developers to relocate any wildlife found on
their land before beginning construction.
Taking effect March 1, the Animal Relocation
Ordinance was sponsored by city commission-
er Cathleen Anerson, founder and president of
Animal Birth Control for Broward Inc., a 25-
year-old neuter subsidy group.
In Defense of Animals director of
investigations Doll Stanley-Brancsum a n d
her husband Louis in mid-March retrieved 78
“spent” laying hens who escaped from cages
and were left behind when 300,000 others
were sent to slaughter at a Tyson plant in
Arkansas. One hen died a week later. The rest
are now permanent guests at the Branscum res-
cue farm in Grenada, Mississippi.
