Animal control & rescue
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1997:
Potbellied pigs
A study by Linda Lord and Thomas Wittum,
published in the September 1 edition of the Journal of the
American Veterinary Medical Association, found that 802
U.S. humane societies reported receiving 4,380 requests to
accept owner surrenders of Vietnamese potbellied pigs in an
18-month period, taking in 3,149, including 615 found running
at large. The major reasons for owner surrenders of pigs
were large size (58%), zoning restrictions (34%), and
aggressive behavior (19%). Of 485 hog slaughtering plants
surveyed, 255 had been asked to kill potbellied pigs, and
had among them slaughtered 2,640, refusing to slaughter
another 1,407. Commented Jim Brewer of PIGS: A
Sanctuary, “It’s even worse than that. We’re actually
receiving more distress calls these days from would-be pig
rescuers who are in over their heads than from individual
owners––and we’re still getting plenty of those calls, too.”
UAN goes to Poland
Responding to a request by Sacramento resident
Wanda Blake, who serves on the board of the Warsaw
humane society Fundacja Animals, the United Animal
Nations Emergency Animal Rescue Service flew to Poland
on September 12, where flooding had displaced 100,000
people, destroyed 20 animal shelters, severely damaged
seven, and temporarily shut 10 more. Few regions had disaster
relief plans for animals before 1992, when the first edition
of ANIMAL PEOPLE bannered the efforts of United
Animal Nations, local rescuers, and the American Humane
Association after Hurricane Andrew hit Florida, but contingency
planning is now among the focal activities of regional
humane federations worldwide. The Hurricane Andrew
aftermath continues, Miami Herald writer Elinor J. Brecher
found in recent follow-up interviews with rescuers, as many
are still keeping animals whose owners were never located.
DTFA moves on standards
Doing Things for Animals president Lynda Foro
has announced the appointment of Bonney Brown as vice
president, Ed Sayres as director of standards, ethics, and
accreditation, Christine French as director of animal services,
and Bill DeRidder as director of site development.
None of the positions are presently salaried. Brown is also
president of the Neponset Valley Humane Society and secretary
to the Humane Coalition of Massachusetts, which
co-hosted the 1997 No Kill Conference. Sayres, longtime
executive director of the St. Hubert’s Giralda shelter in
New Jersey and formerly head of the American Humane
Association animal protection division, is presently consulting
for PetsMart Charities and other nonprofit clients.
French and DeRidder have served in similar roles with several
shelters in upstate New York and Arizona. Brown will be
Foro’s senior assistant, French and DeRidder are to do
hands-on consulting, and Sayres is to head a committee, yet
to be named, to draft accreditation standards specific to nokill
shelters, preparatory to forming an accreditation program.
The goal is to establish a broadly based and accepted
system of voluntary self-policing and mutual aid, loosely
modeled after the success of the American Zoo Association,
rather than risk having possibly inappropriate standards be
imposed from outside the no-kill community.
U.K. kills fewer than San Antonio
The National Canine Defence League e s t i m a t e s
that 106,000 stray dogs were picked up in the United
Kingdom in fiscal year 1996-1997––a 13% increase over the
previous year. Only 17,000 were killed, however, meaning
the whole of Great Britain, human population 59 million,
killed fewer dogs than the single city of San Antonio, Texas,
human population one million. Just two economically
depressed districts, Northern Ireland and the North East,
respectively did 54% and 30%of the shelter killing.
Rats, strays, and NYC
With New York City elections looming, the
Rudolph Giuliani mayoral administration in August committed
$8 million to a four-month rat eradication drive. New
York City pest control director Jake Corley estimates the city
has four rats per human: 28 million rats total. Then,
September 9, Giuliani added $2 million to the Center for
Animal Care and Control budget, including $1.5 million
for improvements to the Manhattan and Brooklyn shelters
and $532,000 “to hire more staff in the operations and adoptions
areas, to provide expanded veterinary coverage, to
develop a volunteer program, and to continue the work of
the city’s dangerous dog task force,” a CACC release said.
The CACC in the same release announced a 35% increase in
adoptions since last year, and a 43.5% decrease in shelter
killing during June 1997, compared with June 1996.
