MONEY AND POLITICS
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2000:
Donation records for the years 1991-1998 disclosed to The Chronicle of Philanthropy by Republican presidential cand i d a t e George W. Bush show no gifts to either pro-hunting or pro-gun groups, with whom Bush is closely allied. Not itemized were gifts totaling $24,592. The only animaloriented charity among the 58 listed recipients was the Dallas Zoo, given $1,875 in 1992-1993. Medical charities got $20,950, of which $15,000 went to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation in 1998. Southern Methodist University got the largest gift: $150,000 in 1998. Other Methodist institutions got at least $115,000. The Bush gifts totaled $468,151; $334,425 was given soon after Bush and partners sold the Texas Rangers baseball team in 1998.
U.S. nonprofit foundation grant funding for projects meant to benefit the “environment and animals” rose from circa 2% of all grants in 1989 to 6% in 1998, according to data from the Foundation Center, Giving USA, and the Chronicle of Philanthropy––but within that broad category, “animals and wildlife” in 1989 got 0.9%, while all other “environment” projects got 1.1%. “Animals and wildlife” in 1998 got 1% ($70 million); other environmental projects got 5% ($412 million).
Massachusetts governor Paul Cellucci in March 2000 named former N e w England Anti-Vivisection Society vice president Lisa A. Roberts to a probate court judgeship. Roberts in 1981 was assistant to former Norfolk County probate judge Robert M. Ford in Dedham, Massachusetts. Ford that year assumed the NEAVS presidency, and while still paid for fulltime judiciary work, paid himself $40,000 plus benefits for NEAVS work. Ford also hired Roberts, whose NEAVS salary rose from $7,792 in 1981 to $30,000 in 1986, while she too continued to work fulltime for the court. In addition, Ford hired Roberts’ brother J. Michael R o b e r t s as a consultant to NEAVS, and hired his own brother, retired S u p e r i o r Court Judge Joseph Ford of Cohasset. Their salaries raised the NEAVS payroll 325% in five years. When the situation became known, PETA and the Fund for Animals attempted a takeover of NEAVS, failed, tried again, and succeeded in 1988. Factions aligned with PETA and The Fund jointly ran NEAVS until 1996, when an acrimonious split developed that was not resolved until late 1998. Judge Ford meanwhile was censured for misconduct and was fined $75,000 for allegedly mismanaging the affairs of NEAVS.
