Day: September 1, 1998

Could Steve Hindi be Zorro?

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1998:

CHICAGO––Chicago Animal
Rights Coalition founder Steve Hindi, 43,
“pioneers a new brand of brass-knuckled
activism,” Jonathan Eig warned hunters and
fishers in the August edition of Outside magazine.
Under the headline “Put that Bunny
Down, or I’ll Kick Your Butt,” Eig described
Hindi’s recent public challenge to Mexican
matadors to meet him in the ring for a Zorrostyle
sword-and-cape fight with someone
who’ll fight back with a chance of success.
While awaiting a response (and not
holding his breath in expectation of getting
one), Hindi called a boycott of Pepsi Cola
over Pepsi subsidies to bullfighting via prominent
advertising in Mexican bull rings.
Replied Pepsi group manager for
customer relations Christine Jones, “Although
some arenas in Mexico may carry Pepsi signage
because our soft drinks are sold there,
this should not be construed as an endorsement
of bullfighting. We do not contribute funding
nor do we sponsor bullfighting events.” The
Pepsi banners appearing in the background of
many of Hindi’s photos and videos of bullfights,
Jones said, “remain in place for all
activities held at these venues.”

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ENFORCEMENT FOR THE BIRDS

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1998:

CARROLLTON, Texas;
HENDERSON HARBOR, N.Y.––
Responding to citizen complaints
about noise, stench, and filth, city
officials in Carrollton, Texas said,
they revved up a bulldozer before
dawn on July 23 and flattened an
egret rookery in mid-nesting season.
Neighbors wakened by the
machinery and falling trees discovered
the damage was mostly done.
Hundreds and perhaps thousands of
cattle egret chicks were crushed,
along with mothers who didn’t leave
their nests. Rescuers saved an estimated
300 chicks.
Egrets are protected undernder
the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty
Act. Carrollton was supposed to
have a permit from the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service before touching the
site. It did not. Neither did
“Operation Remove Excrement,” as
Carrollton officials called it, make
the neighborhood more sanitary.
Instead, warned Dallas County
Health and Humane Services
Department medical director Karine
Lancaster, the bulldozers might
have spread the fungal spores that
cause histoplasmosis.

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LIVE MARKET CRUELTY LEGAL, SAYS JUDGE; JUST DUCKY, SAY POLITICIANS

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1998:

SAN FRANCISCO––In effect
endorsing cruelty to animals as perceived by
much of the rest of America, albeit not by
blind justice, the San Francisco Board of
Supervisors on August 3 adopted a series of
resolutions commending Chinatown live markets
for their July 20 courtroom victory over
the Coalition for Healthy and Humane
Business Practices, organized by attorney
Baron Miller.
Miller had sued Never Ending
Quails and 11 other live markets in an attempt
to oblige city and state agencies to enforce a
variety of anti-cruelty and public health
statutes, which he held should have forbidden
the methods the live markets commonly use to
keep and slaughter a variety of birds, reptiles,
and amphibians.
He argued that if the live markets
can’t meet humane standards, they should not
be allowed to operate at all.”

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Dolphin racing? Don’t bet on it.

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1998:

VANCOUVER, B.C.––A possible hint to the paranoid
of the depth of Japanese zeal to revive coastal whaling
lurked within a July 7 announcement by the Vancouver-based
Global Intertainment Corporation that “The first annual
International Dolphin Races, a dolphin racing and jumping
competition,” will “be held in the Caribbean next February.”
Promising that the event would “combine the spectacle
of Sea World, the betting adrenalin of Churchill Downs,
and the global reach of the Internet,” GIC added that “the contest
will be beamed into cyberspace via live feed technology
and will give viewers the opportunity to bet on their favorite
contestants from anywhere in the world.”
GIC said “The week-long event will feature animals
trained for use in dolphin shows and other entertainment
venues,” but didn’t say where they might come from.
Supposedly, “Each dolphin will pre-qualify with lap times and
jump measurements, and odds will be calculated based on
those trials. Two days will be devoted to the competitions, and
the remainder of the week will feature hourly non-competitive
shows similar to those seen at Sea World.”
With a nod to political correctness, GIC added that
“The event is designed to raise international awareness of dolphins.
A portion of the proceeds from the wagers and on-site
admission fees will be donated to the Dolphin Wildlife Fund
[and] Save the Dolphin Fund, in addition to a number of children’s
charities.”

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FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE SAYS SNAKES THREATEN GARDEN OF EDEN

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1998:

HONOLULU––Preparing to
reintroduce Guam rails to Guam in
October, a decade after the flightless bird
species was extinguished from its native
habitat by accidentally introduced brown
tree snakes, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service warned at a late July symposium
in Honolulu that the snakes could likewise
devastate Hawaiian wildlife, if ever
allowed to establish themselves.
The symposium came 10 days
after Hawaii Department of Land and
Natural Resources chief Mike Wilson
announced bans on the transportation or
release of Jackson’s chameleons, apple
snails, red-eared slider turtles, and ringnecked
parakeets.

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Excerpts from VEGANISM AS THE PATH TO ANIMAL LIBERATION: PERSONAL VIEWS

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1998:

Excerpts from VEGANISM AS THE PATH TO ANIMAL LIBERATION: PERSONAL VIEWS
by Matt Ball, Jack Norris, and Anne Green [selected by Henry Spira, founder, Coalition for Non-Violent Food.]

Two groups of people protest. The
largest group are those recently aware and just
getting involved. Most soon burn out. Their
protesting might have filled a temporary need
to make a public statement, or perhaps when
nothing changes after a few protests they
become disenchanted. The others are veteran
activists––extremely dedicated but few.
Unable to turn our backs on obvious
atrocities, our movement focuses on smallscale
and short-term successes: trying to save
high-profile animals, change business practices
of large corporations, and shame/intimidate
women wearing fur.
What has been gained? A miniscule
fraction of the total number of animals suffering
each year have been spared the most indefensible
deaths. This has not occurred because
of any understanding of the philosphy of animal
liberation, but rather because the companies
were concerned about their bottom line.

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Help Sea Shepherds stop Makah whaling by Michael Kundu

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1998:

Two centuries ago, gray whales migrating
north past Neah Bay in Washington State were
harpooned by Makah tribal whalers. The killing,
done from cedar canoes with wooden harpoons,
was a tradition. Trading oil from the gray whale
made the Makah prosperous. But over time, the
gray whale population dwindled. Then, for many
decades, the killing stopped.
This October, 76 years after the Makah
last killed a whale, the Makah Whaling
Commission intends to resume whaling, within
waters now part of the Olympic National Marine
Sanctuary. The killing will signal an international
escalation of illegal commercial whaling. Pirate
whaling nations, primarily Japan and Norway,
have furtively promoted this and other so-called
indigenous whale hunts the world over.

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LETTERS [Sep. 1998]

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1998:

Horses & dogs
Both reviewer Robin Duxbury
and the author of the book Horse, Follow
Closely should have explained that Native
Americans used dogs much as they later
came to use horses. The dogs were treated
with much the same respect and consideration
that Native Americans extended
toward humans. The fact that certain
tribes sacrificed and ate dogs on special
occasions seems paradoxical, but it was a
manifestation and expression of the value
they attached to dogs: a statement to a
guest that “the only thing more valuable
to me than this dog is your friendship.”
The horse culture evolved from
the dog culture. For example, travois
were used with dogs at least 4,000 years
ago, according to analysis of archaeological
finds in northern Saskatchewan. A
good source of detailed information is
The Horse and the Dog in Hidatsa
Culture, by Gilbert L. Wilson. The original
edition was published in 1924 by the
American Museum of Natural History.
––Tim White
Grand Marais, Minnesota

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CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1998:

Twenty years ago the Yoplait division of General Mills began selling yoghurt in conical
cups which foraging animals, especially skunks, sometimes got stuck on their heads.
After wildlife rehabilitators identified 14 such cases in 1997, General Mills redesigned the
cups. Modified to enable animals to extricate themselves, the new cups are now in stores.
That didn’t satify Animal Protection Institute staffer Camilla Fox, who according to
Los Angeles Times staff writer Susan Abram, recently ripped General Mills “for testing the
new container on a simulated model of a skunk-sized animal,” instead of on real skunks.
“You can’t test this on a real animal because that would be cruel,” responded
General Mills spokesperson Jack Sheeham, apparently better getting the point of decades of
humanitarian protest against animal use in product testing.
We have praised Fox for her handling of several previous campaigns, but this time
her ethical inconsistency and inability to say thanks won her and API the ANIMAL PEOPLE
“Head-In-A-Jar Award” for self-defeating tactics.

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