From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1998:

Tanya Alexenia Syrenia Gonzalez
S m i t h, president of the Turpentine Creek
Exotic Wildlife Refuge, of Eureka Springs,
Arkansas, has reportedly plea-bargained a
guilty plea to misdemeanor illegal use of
$2,658 worth of Food Stamp vouchers, in
lieu of standing trial on felony charges for
failing to disclose at the time of her application
that she was receiving $5,000 a month
from the Turpentine Creek Foundation Inc.,
which was applied to the purchase of land
and vehicles which she bought in her own
name, then leased to the refuge. Smith is to
repay the $2,658, perform 60 hours of community
service, and spend a year on unsupervised
probation. Smith may apply to have her
conviction record expunged if she completes
the probation successfully. Deputy prosecutor
Kenny Elser told the court that an audit
of the Turpentine Creek Foundation by
DePaul University, a major backer of the
refuge, had found no evidence of financial
wrongdoing. ANIMAL PEOPLE, however,
in reviewing the Turpentine Creek filings of
IRS Form 990 from 1994, 1995, and 1996,
found numerous unexplained deviations from
standard nonprofit accounting procedures,
detailed in our March 1998 edition. Among
other questionable line items was $2,364
spent to “purchase satellite system,” though
remote TV access would appear to have little
to do with the functions of an animal refuge.

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1998:

Special help

Pet Adoptathon 1998, coordinated
by the North Shore Animal League
and Pet Savers Foundation, broke all previous
one-day adoption records for the
fourth straight year in the four years the
event has been held. U.S. adoptions totaled
16,135 as of May 18, with 27% of the participating
shelters yet to report. The North
Shore shelter at Port Washington, New
York, placed 674 animals. The Michigan
Humane Society and 27 other animal protection
groups––who began holding an
Adoptathon two years before North Shore
and Pet Savers took the idea national and
international––placed 550 animals, operating
from tents at the Detroit Zoo. In
Britain, where the Adoptathon was promoted
by the National Canine Defense
League, 2,336 animals were placed, with
32% of the participating shelters not yet
reporting. At least three shelters in India
joined the Adoptathon this year, introducing
the concept to southern Asia. The Blue
Cross of India and People for Animals
chapter in Chennai (Madras) not only
placed more than 100 animals but also drew
prominent coverage––twice––in The Hindu,
reputedly the most widely read newspaper
in the world. The Adoptathon was held on
different dates in each nation to avoid conflicts
with national holidays.
$1 million worth of Vet Kem
flea and tick control products are offered
free to humane societies and animal control
shelters via Hoechst Roussel Vet, which
recently bought the Vet Kem marketing
rights. “Donations will be made on a firstcome,
first-served basis until supplies are

exhausted,” the company said. To request flea and tick control products through the program, animal care or protection agencies must write on letterhead to L a r r y A h l m a n, Hoechst Roussel Vet, 30 Independence Blvd., Warren, NJ 07059. Humane Society of Missouri emergency services coordinator C e c i l y W e s t e r m a n has established an online discussion list, “dedicated to the subject of animals before, during, and after disasters.” Although the list is hosted by America OnLine, participants need not be AOL members. To join, send an e-mail to >>listserve@listserve.aol.com<<, with a blank subject line, and as message, >>subscribe animals-in-disasters (your name). New Jersey Volunteers for Animals has formed “to legitimize the volunteer sector, promote volunteerism, facilitate networking among volunteers and other categories of workers, educate and inform the public and one another regarding animal issues, and assist the missions of members,” c/o Petra Murray, POB 399, Howell, NJ 07731. Explains Murray, “Not being shelter employees, nor animal control officers, nor SPCA agents,” all of whom have their own umbrella associations, “many of us have felt our niche in the New Jersey animal picture has been unclear.” Murray stipulates that NJVA “is not duplicating, nor is it in competition with the Animal Welfare Federation of New Jersey. Many of us belong to the federation,” she says, “and hope that it will empower us to surmount the many animal problems facing us in New Jersey.”

Legislative update
A new Connecticut law, signed
into effect by Governor Thomas Rowland
on May 5, requires puppy breeders to be
state-licensed; requires pet stores to list on
cages the states of origin of dogs offered for
sale; obliges pet stores to refund the price
of puppies who die from pre-existing medical
conditions; and requires pet stores to
post a toll-free telephone number that customers
can use to report sick animals to the
state Department of Agriculture.
Hearings were held on April 28
on a similar bill introduced in California
by state senator Herschel Rosenthal ( D –
Los Angeles), and on May 18 re SB1991,
a bill drafted by the Doris Day Animal
L e a g u e which would mandate counseling
for persons given probation for cruelty (see
editorial, page 3, and ad, page 4).
A third California bill of note,
SB 1785, aims to “place on public and private
shelters the same requirements of
humane and kind care in holding animals as
are currently required of private citizens
who pick up stray or lost animals,” according
to the official bill summary, by making
“owner redemption, adoption, and spay/
neuter programs statewide policy preferences
to the killing of lost/stray animals”;
making mandatory “record-keeping that
will enable owners to find their lost pets”;
requiring a three-day impoundment period
to allow for owner reclaim, followed by
three days of offering animals for adoption,
before they could be killed; and providing
“for relinquishment of adoptable animals to
nonprofit animal adoption organizations.”
SB 1785 also would extend public
shelter responsibilities “from only dogs and
cats to all legally ownable pets.”
Despite endorsements from
DELTA Rescue and other humane groups,
SB 1785 stalled in the state senate appropriations
committee. Strong opposition came
from the City of Los Angeles Department
of Animal Services, whose general manager,
Sharon H. Morris, objected that “the
dog and cat population in the Department’s
animal shelters would increase by at least
200% within the first 30 days.”
Los Angeles city attorney J a m e s
H a h n in January urged the city council to
exempt city animal control from having to
impound abused or neglected animals from
private property, and from having to keep
detailed records on impounded animals.
Another noteworthy bottle-up
occured in Michigan, where a bill to ban
the breeding and new possession of wolf
hybrids was reportedly killed by state senate
agriculture and forestry committee chair
David Jaye (R-Washington Township),
formerly a member of the state house, who
opposed the bill when it cleared the house
96-9 in June 1997. Jaye told M u s k e g o n
Chronicle reporter Bill Reed that his priority
is pleasing the “National Rifle
Association and hunting crowd,” who like
fierce dogs and hate allowing humane organizations
any legislative success.

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1998:

Former Fox TV reporters
Steve Wilson and Jane Akre, a husband-and-wife
team who worked out of
WTVT-TV in Tampa, have reportedly
sued the station for breach of contract,
alleging that they were forced off the job
in November 1997 by the ongoing
refusal of management to air an investigative
report pertaining to the use of
bovine growth hormone to stimulate
cows to produce more milk. The report,
quoting scientists who have associated
BGH use with increased risk of cancer
in milk-drinkers, was originally to have
aired on February 24, 1997, and had
already been promoted to viewers.
According to Joseph A. Davis, senior
writer for Environment Writer, newsletter
of the National Safety Council
Environmental Health Center, the
investigative report was killed by a
February 21, 1997 letter from an attorney
representing Monsanto Inc., the
major producer of BGH, to Fox News
CEO Roger Ailes. Wrote Davis, “The
last paragraph began, ‘There is a lot at
stake in what is going on in Florida, not
only for Monsanto, but also for Fox
News and its owner,” Rupert Murdoch,
who had purchased the station just a
month earlier.

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