SHELTERS
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1997:
Anchorage, Alaska, has adopted a
new animal control law as of July 1, and turned
the $1.4 million animal control contract over to a
new contractor, Allvest Inc., replacing TLC Inc.,
which had held the contract for 13 years. Allvest,
unlike TLC, will have a full-time veterinarian, a
fleet of six heated 4-wheel-drive animal pickup
vehicles, a lost-and-found web site, and will
encourage volunteers to work directly with animals.
Allvest also operates rehabilitation halfway
houses for humans.
The U.S. military support service contracting
firm Brown & Root, of Houston,
Texas, in early summer sent Galveston County
Animal Shelter director Shirley Tinnin a n d
Rosenberg animal control officer Nora Angstead
to Bosnia for 11 days, to train 60 Bosnians in
humane rabies control. Tinnin and Angstead fulfilled
the job on unpaid administrative leave.
The first humane shelter in Norway,
Maine, opened in July, housing 99 cats with
facilities for dogs and a neutering clinic in planning.
The building was purchased from the town
of Norway by Edie Guyer and Ted and Penny
Kurtz of South Paris, Maine, who donated it to
the no-kill Responsible Pet Care Animal Shelter
organization. The International Fund for Animal
Welfare put up $10,000 toward the material cost of
renovation, and a work crew of sheriff’s department
inmates supplied the carpentry. The shelter
is managed by Sue Parsons of Otisfield and veterinary
assistant Kathy Farran.
The American Humane Association on
July 29 petitioned the Department of Health &
Human Services, calling “for a full federal investigation
of the link between domestic violence and
abuse of companion animals.” Founded in 1876,
AHA has had parallel animal and child protection
branches since 1878, providing long perspective
on the parallel etiologies of animal abuse and child
abuse. Other recent research demonstrates that
“The Link,” as AHA calls it, goes beyond just
human relations with companion animals. Oregon
State University r e s e a r c h e r Steve Davis r e c e n t l y
discovered in a survey of human assessments of
animal intelligence that the most common ranking––dogs,
cats, horses, pigs, cows, sheep,
chickens, and turkeys––reflects the levels of
humane concern the animals receive, and may
indicate less an actual ordering of intellect than an
order of vulnerability, which as a continuum, if
groups of children were ordered by perceived intelligence,
might likewise reflect socio-economic status
more than intellect, and might likewise predict
which children are most likely to be abused.
Our Animal WARDS as of June 24 is
“offering $1,000 rewards for information leading
to the arrest and conviction of anyone seen torturing,
mutilating, or harming companion dogs and
cats,” writes executive vice president J o s e p h
V e n a b le. Get details c/o 8150 Leesburg Pike,
Suite 512, Vienna, VA 22182-1655.
Indicative of the drop in mongrel ownership
as accidental dog breeding comes under
c o n t r o l, the 494 licensed dogs in Cedarburg,
Wisconsin include just 50 of mixed breed.
Mongrels are outnumbered by 64 golden retrievers
and nearly so by 44 Labrador retrievers. In less
affluent Waukesha, there are 545 mongrels among
2,200 licenced dogs.
The Dalmatian glut shelters anticipated
after the winter 1996 release of the live action edition
of 101 Dalmatians––which shelters, breed
rescue groups, and Walt Disney Inc. tried to fight
with a pre-Christmas publicity blitz––seems to
have emerged. Year-old owner-surrendered
Dalmatians are reportedly overwhelming the
Dalmatian Rescue League, of North Miami
Beach, Florida, the Texas-based Dalmatian Club
of America, and the Michigan-based Animal Aid,
Dalmatian Referral, and Dalmatian Rescue networks,
while in Riverside, California, R a n d y
Warner of Dalmatian ReQ recently ran into trouble
at his fifth location in 18 years for allegedly
having too many dogs on the premises. As many
surrenders seem to be coming from breeders who
couldn’t place pups, however, as from owners
who bought one Dalmatian on impulse.
Effective September 12, the USDA
will no longer recognize tethering as an adequate
form of housing for dog kennels regulated under
the Animal Welfare Act.
“It is with mixed emotions that the
board of directors announces the departure of
[shelter operations director] Mike Arms from the
North Shore Animal League,” an August 5 bulletin
told staff. “We all appreciate Mike’s contributions
over the years, but differing philosophies
over how the League should be managed has led us
to different paths. For the time being, [Pet Savers
program administrator] Perry Fina will assume
responsibility for shelter operations.” Shelter
director at North Shore for more than 20 years,
Arms has been mentioned as a potential successor
to Marty Kurtz as head of the New York City
Center for Animal Care and Control, which has
not had a permanent executive since Kurtz
resigned under fire in January––but Arms is not
believed to be interested in the job. A N I M A L
PEOPLE was unable to reach him for comment.
