NIH “reclaims” 288 chimpanzees from Coulston Foundation

June 1, 2000 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2000:

ALAMOGORDO, N.M.––Bailing the Coulston Foundation out of yet another jam––although Coulston spokesperson Don McKinney denied that the foundation was actually in a jam––the National Institutes of Health on May 11 reclaimed title to 288 of the 650 chimpanzees at the Coulston primate care facility on the grounds of Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo, New Mexico.

As recently as March 20, In Defense of Animals recommended such a takeover, claiming in a press release that “Coulston is teetering on the verge of bankruptcy, with at least $800,000 in unpaid bills and $2.6 million in outstanding loans.”

But IDA president Elliot Katz was not happy with the deal. “Because it does not call for retirement, does not prevent more research, and does not guarantee the removal of the chimps from Coulston’s control, the NIH plan is a shocking betrayal,” charged Katz, whose staff has closely monitored Coulston dealings for years.

Wildlife Waystation copes with red tape, green water––other no-kills struggle too

June 1, 2000 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2000:

LOS ANGELES––Six weeks after the California Department of Fish and Game on April 7 ordered Wildlife Waystation to cease admitting visitors and taking in animals for either rehabilitation or lifetime care, the Waystation remained closed.

Founder Martine Colette told ANIMAL PEOPLE on May 21, however, that she was optimistic that alleged water handling problems were almost resolved and that a hail of other allegations amplified by seemingly everyone she ever had words with was close to blowing over––like all the other storms she has weathered while building the largest and perhaps oldest no-kill sanctuary for exotic wildlife in North America.

Bad publicity issued chiefly by L o s Angeles Times reporter Zantos Peabody and local internet activist Michael Bell had done the Waystation significant economic harm, but Colette was more concerned with the practical aspects of caring for more than 1,200 animals in the southern California spring heat while her water supply was limited.

Unusual gifts

June 1, 2000 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2000:

Daniel Hollihan, 10, of Coos Bay, Oregon, collected 150 pounds of cat litter, 30 pounds of pet food, two bags of animal toys, food dishes, and a scratching post for the Coos County Animal Shelter by requesting items for the shelter instead of birthday gifts. Hollihan said he had thought about the idea since he was five, when he was saddened by the conditions he saw while adopting a dog.

The Tri-County Humane Society in St. Cloud, Minnesota, has received $1 million from the estate of local banker I r e n e Wilson, who died in 1998, five days after her 98th birthday and five months after adopting a five-year-old female tabby cat from the TCHS shelter. The cat now lives with one of Wilson’s former nurses. The adoption and a few small donations were her only known involvement with TCHS. Interest from the bequest is expected to increase the TCHS annual budget by about 25%.

The Toledo Animal Shelter Associa t i o n has received a $1.3 million trust fund plus $30,000 cash from the estate of former University of Toledo English professor Alice Huebner, who died in May 1999. Newly elected TASA president Barney Stickles told Toledo Blade staff writer Betsy Hiel that the bequest would enable the shelter to go no-kill.

Mountain Peoples Warehouse n a tural food distributors Judi and Michael Funk, of Nevada City, California, recently bought eight acres for the Golden Empire Humane Society as site for a no-kill shelter

Activists & Organizations

Felony cruelty bills & animals in transit

June 1, 2000 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2000:

Alabama, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, and South Carolina all added language to their anti-cruelty statutes during their spring 2000 legislative sessions which will permit felony prosecution. This brings to 30 the number of states that recognize a felonious level of cruelty. The Alabama law includes exemptions for hunters who control their dogs with shock-collars and property owners who use a BB gun to shoot cats or dogs in the act of urinating or defecating on their land. The Georgia law exempts fishing and pest control. The Iowa law exempts farm animals. As ANIMAL PEOPLE went to press, felony anti-cruelty bills had also cleared the Pennsylvania house of representatives and the District of Columbia judiciary committee, putting each bill halfway to passage.

U.S. President Bill Clinton on May 5 signed into law a Federal Aviation Administr a t i o n reauthorization bill including provisions that require the Department of Transportation to supervise improved employee training about animal handling, require airlines to tell passengers about how animals will be carried, and also require airlines to file monthly reports with DOT, stipulating how many animals have been lost, injured, or killed while in their custody. The provisions came from the “Safe Air Travel for Animals Act” authored by Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and promoted through ads in ANIMAL PEOPLE by the San Francisco SPCA Law and Advocacy Department.

ANIMAL CONTROL & SHELTERING

June 1, 2000 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2000:

Animal control shelters and humane societies with animal control c o n t r a c t s across the U.S. flew into panic with the April/May onset of “kitten season” because Ganes Chemical Works o f Pennsfield, New Jersey, ran out of sodium pentobarbital, the standard injection euthanasia drug, while retooling facilities to comply with tightened Food and Drug Administration product control standards.

The Humane Society of the U . S., however, lobbied the FDA into allowing Ganes, the sole U.S. sodium pentobarbital supplier, to mix up a batch to meet the seasonal demand.

Brenda Barnette, executive director of the Pets In Need adoption shelter in Redwood City, California, was not impressed. “Instead of focusing on a restricted ability to kill,” she urged in an open letter, “let us focus on all the private shelters and rescue groups who are doing everything they can––including paying the tax-funded shelters for animals––to save the lives of dogs and cats. Lethal injections are used to kill thousands of animals who are suitable for rehoming,” Barnett charged.

CVMA, Maddie’s Fund fix ferals

June 1, 2000 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2000:

ALAMEDA, Calif.––The 830 veterinarians participating in the California Veterinary Medical Association Feral Cat Altering Program reached their first-year goal of 20,000 feral cats fixed beyond previous levels three months early ––so Maddie’s Fund, sponsoring the projected three-year program with $3.2 million, announced that it will commit further funding to sustain the momentum.

Maddie’s Fund originally hoped the CVMA vets would fix 60,000 feral cats beyond previous levels, executive director Richard Avanzino told ANIMAL PEOPLE. The new three-year-goal is to fix 100,000.

The CVMA program fixes feral cats without charge to participating cat rescuers. Maddie’s Fund pays the vets $50 per cat fixed.

Merry old England

June 1, 2000 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2000:

The Royal SPCA in April honored Josie Russell, 12, sole survivor of a hammer assault several years ago that killed her mother and sister, for keeping a five-day vigil over three sheep who were trapped on a ledge at a slate quarry last October near her home in Caernarfon, North Wales. Russell and her friend H a z e l M c W h i r t e r spotted the sheep, and her father Shaun Russell was eventually persuaded to call the RSPCA. Rescuing the sheep from the 100- foot-high ledge in slings took about five hours.

The pro-foxhunting Countryside A l l i a n c e embarrassed the Royal SPCA in early May by hiring away former RSPCA London branch development officer Angela Egan––who reportedly brought with her memos purportedly from senior RSPCA executives, ordering her to delay processing membership applications from people who also belong to the Countryside Alliance and/or Countryside Welfare for Animals Group. The Royal SPCA has been fighting attempted hostile takeovers led by foxhunters for about four years.

FIGHTING U-BOAT FOR ENDANGERED SEA TURTLES LANDS VISAKHA SPCA FOUNDER IN HOT WATER

June 1, 2000 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2000:

VISAKHAPATNAM, India– – A brave commander and two soldiers defending women and children huddled on a beach against invasion by submarine is the stuff of action movies.

But soft-spoken Visakha SPCA founder Pradeep Kumar Nath, of Visakhapatnam, India, is trying to defend endangered olive ridley sea turtle females and their hatchlings from the navy of his own nation. His weapon of last resort, after all efforts at gentle persuasion failed, was to seek a High Court writ protecting the Visakhapatnam beach against Indian Navy incursion.

Now Nath himself and two Visakha SPCA employees are formally charged with criminally handling wildlife, falsifying evidence, and attempted extortion.

Rumors accuse them of worse.

Two-strokes are out in parks

June 1, 2000 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2000:

WASHINGTON D.C.– – Recognizing that the most invasive of all species are humans on vehicles with noisy exhaust-spewing two-stroke engines, the National Park Service on April 28, 2000 banned recreational use of snowmobiles at 29 National Parks, National Monuments, and National Recreation Areas.

The ban will be implemented by enforcing existing prohibitions on off-road vehicle use, adopted in 1972, and other disruptive vehicular activity, adopted in 1977.

Exempted from the Park Service edict are only Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota and 11 sites in Alaska, including Denali National Park, where specific legislation permits snowmobiling.

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