ORGANIZATIONS

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1996:

Hoorik Davoudian, vice president of
SUPRESS, in a September 4 mailing asked members
to thank Cindy Adams, editor of the American
SPCA magazine Animal Watch, for publishing a
full-page ad showing a vivisected cat, refused earlier
by both the MSPCA magazine Animals and TV
Guide. Davoudian also accused the North Shore
Animal League of issuing “a flat refusal to rent its
mailing list to us,” because “they disagree with our
message and want to make sure nobody else agrees
either.” Claimed Davoudian, “They told us outright
that they simply don’t want our message out!”
According to North Shore executive secretary Carol
Berry, North Shore merely exercised its policy of
not renting its list to other animal protection groups,
which is almost identical to the policies of such other
groups as the Fund for Animals and United Animal
Nations, and never told SUPRESS anything about
the content of the proposed mailing piece.

SUPRESS, incorporated as Students United to
Protest Research Experiments on Sentient Subjects,
now does business as The Nature of Wellness.
Clarifying the North Shore Animal
League response to allegations filed in July by the
Federal Trade Commission on behalf of the State of
Connecticut against North Shore and 78 for-profit
firms that also use sweepstakes promotions, North
Shore president John Stevenson explains that the
North Shore claim to exemption from the case is
based not on a legal opinion issued by the
Connecticut attorney general, as ANIMAL PEOPLE
reported in October, but rather on two Superior
Court rulings, Stanford Hospital v. Raffeilla
Farrenga (1987) and State et al v. Cancer Fund of
America (1990). Both rulings hold that nonprofit
organizations are subject to the Connecticut Unfair
Trade Practices Act, under which the FTC case was
filed, but in Stevenson’s view also appear to stipulate
application only to the profit-making enterprises
of nonprofits––in particular, to situations in which
funds raised are not used to fulfill the charitable
goals of the organization in question.
The International Society for Animal
R i g h t s on August 28 dropped legal action against
founder Helen Jones, president of the organization
from 1959 until December 1995, who was ousted
and sued for allegedly converting more than $1 million
in assets to her personal use, after A N I M A L
P E O P L E in October 1995 exposed extensive
alleged mismanagement. Explained board president
Henry Holzer, “The board, having received a report
about Helen’s situation, decided to terminate the litigation
unilaterally in the hope that such a showing of
good faith would induce her to act in her best interests.
ISAR’s future is rosy: executive director Susan
Altieri is doing a fine job, staff is being added, new
programs are being developed, we are secure financially,
and everyone is working well together.
Helen is no longer with ISAR.”
HSUS, Cats magazine, and Dog World
cosponsored an October 17 televised debate between
persons speaking for Chelsea Clinton’s cat Socks
and Bob Dole’s dog Leader over whether a cat or a
dog should occupy the White House.
“The Humane Society of the U.S. and
the National Association of Biology Teachers a r e
cosponsoring a symposium on classroom dissection,”
Earth 2000 member Adam Weisman posted to the
Internet on October 9. “Earth 2000, a student animal
rights and environmental organization, has paid
for 10 spots for students to attend.” Weisman went
on to give information on applying for one of the
Earth 2000 scholarships. Earth 2000 has no paid
staff and annual revenues of less than HSUS president
Paul Irwin’s expense account; HSUS in 1995
had revenues of $38 million. The symposium was
held on October 16 in North Carolina.
The American Kennel Club, a year after
announcing a move from New York City to a yet-tobe-built
$45 million complex in Durham, North
Carolina, on October 9 hinted that it might go
instead to Lexington, Kentucky, due to internal dissent
led by New York board member Ronald
Meneker. Wrote James Eli Shiffer of the Raleigh
News & Observer, “Opponents in the AKC have
forced the resignation of the chairman of the club’s
board of directors, and delayed the move to Durham
indefinitely.” The AKC already has 400 staffers at
its existing dog registry office in nearby Raleigh,
and plans to move two more departments to Raleigh
by mid-winter, but president Wayne Cavenaugh
confirmed that a four-member board committee
including Meneker is to examine a bid from
Lexington to site the AKC head office near the
Kentucky Horse Park.
Animal Liberation Action editor Patty
M a r k, who founded Animal Liberation Victoria
(Australia) in 1978, announced on September 27
that she will produce the magazine independent of
the activist group, due to a “battle and takeover”
within the group. She didn’t cite details. Animal
Liberation Victoria was the second formed of the
seven state chapters of Animal Liberation Austrialia;
Christine Townsend began the first, Animal
Liberation New South Wales, in 1976. Inspired by
Peter Singer, author of the 1974 book A n i m a l
L i b e r a t i o n, the founders emphasize farm animal
issues and oppose violent tactics, but have been
challenged in recent years by factions favoring antivivisection
work and endorsing covert direct action.
Peter Singer, now president of the 37-
member Australia and New Zealand Federation
of Humane Societies, announced on October 4 that
ANZFHS will use the name Animals Australia in
connection with Australian activities.
The Kettle Moraine Audubon Society, a
National Audubon Society chapter serving three
counties of Wisconsin, has disbanded due to declining
active membership. Of 600 members who were
notified of the motion to dissolve, only one attended
the meeting at which the motion was adopted. A 40-
acre lowland hardwood forest, the chapter’s main
asset, was turned over to the Richfield Joint 11
School District for use in environmental education.
The National Canine Defence League on
October 24 announced the appointment of the Duke
of Wellington as president, succeeding the late
Lavinia, Duchess of Norfolk.