George W. Bush blew up frogs

July 1, 2000 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2000:

MIDLAND, Texas––An alert for American
voters and humane educators everywhere
appeared on May 21 in the 61st through 64th paragraphs
of a 76-paragraph New York Times feature on
the childhood of Republican candidate for U.S. president
George W. Bush––if anyone noticed.
“One of the local rituals for children,”
reported Nicholas D. Kristof of life in Midland,
Texas, when George W. was a boy, “were meetings
with cookies and milk at the home of a nice old lady
who represented the SPCA. The cookies were
digested more thoroughly than the teachings.

CHANGING TIMES IN SHELTERING

July 1, 2000 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2000:

Michigan Humane Society executive
director Gary Tiscornia, 54, resigned
effective June 16 after 11 years in charge
and 18 years as an MHS employee.
Tiscornia succeeded David Wills in 1989,
who left an unexplained $1.6 million deficit
and a staff in chaos. Bookkeeper Denise
Hopkins pleaded guilty to embezzling about
$60,000. Wills was not charged, but was
later successfully sued for nonrepayment of
loans borrowed in connection with starting
the short-lived National Society for Animal
Protection, and pleaded guilty in June 1999
to embezzling from the Humane Society of
the U.S.

Rescuers in Zimbabwe turf battle

July 1, 2000 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2000:

HARARE, Zimbabwe––All staff
and animals from the Masvingo Branch SPCA,
located 200 miles south of the Zimbabwean capital
of Harare, were evacuated on June 22 due
to a threat that it might be burned down in violence
surrounding the June 24-25 national election,
Zimbabwe National SPCA chair/secretary
Bryan Nel told ANIMAL PEOPLE.
Polls indicated that the election––if
the results were not corrupted––might topple the
government of Robert Mugabe, president of
Zimbabwe since his troops ousted the apartheid
regime of the former Rhodesia in 1980.
Trying to hold power, Mugabe
encouraged landless followers to invade farms
owned by persons of European descent.

A Knapp on the job in L.A.

July 1, 2000 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2000:

LOS ANGELES––Los Angeles
Animal Services Department general manager
Dan Knapp on June 2 apologized to Los
Angeles mayor Richard Riordan for reportedly
telling news media one week earlier
that the Los Angeles shelters would start
killing more dogs, sooner, to ease crowding
while escalating stray pickups before and
during the Democratic National Convention.
“Currently, animal control officials
put up for adoption about 200 dogs
every day at each of the city’s six kennels,”
wrote Jason Kandel of the Los Angeles Daily
N e w s. “Under the new plan, which could
begin the second week of July, workers will
hold for adoption only about 61 dogs a day
at each shelter, Knapp said. ‘Point A, and
the catalyst for this change, is the
Democratic National Convention. Point B is
the city council, emphasizing getting stray
dogs off the streets.’”

PIGS and other sanctuaries

July 1, 2000 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2000:

CHARLES TOWN, W.V.; LOS
ANGELES; BOSTON––Dale Riffle,
cofounder of PIGS: A Sanctuary, is fighting
for his life in a Washington D.C. hospital after
suffering second and third-degree burns over
30% of his body in a June 23 explosion.
Apparently spilled gasoline vaporized,
formed a fireball, and caught Riffle
from behind as he burned debris during a final
clean-up of PIGS’ vacated original location.
Riffle’s longtime partner, Jim
Brewer, told ANIMAL PEOPLE that his
prognosis is optimistic.
The injury to Riffle was the third
catastrophe afflicting PIGS since it relocated in
mid-1999 from its original five-acre site to the
present site 10 miles away.
In November 1999 Riffle suffered a
fractured hip when he fell from a barn roof at
the new site.

Activists & Organizations

Another dog massacre in Indonesia

July 1, 2000 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2000:

FLORES, Indonesia––Either in
panic response to a deadly rabies outbreak or
“killing the dog to scare the monkey,” as
aphorism has it, officials in mid-June
ordered the killing of all 90,000 dogs
believed to have been in the Ngada district of
Flores, Indonesia.
Eleven people in the Ngada district
had reportedly died of rabies in the past two
weeks, with 120 more victims hospitalized.
Ngada district top medical officer
Wayan Arsana told Associated Press that
none of the local clinics had rabies vaccine
on hand, and supplies were not expected
soon.
“We are beating the dogs over the
head, or shooting them,” Arsana said. “We
are killing them any way we can. All are
then being buried immediately.”

ANIMAL CONTROL & SHELTERING

July 1, 2000 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2000:

Caucasing on June 1 at the National Animal Control Association confere n c e in Indianapolis, 18 representatives of seven organizations formed Compassionate Animal Control International, intended to be a global online help network for animal care and control officers. Among the directing agencies are to be N A C A, the Western Australia Rangers Association, and the National Dog Wardens Association of Great Britain, with Canadian and other U.S. agencies expected to join. Technical services are to be donated by ; ANIMAL PEOPLE is to contribute information and publicity.

Peru on May 22 gained a national humane law, sought by Amigos de los Animales of the Lima suburb of Miraflores since 1978. Analagous to the U.S. Animal Welfare Act, the Peruvian law reportedly sets operating standards for zoos, circuses, animal husbandry and transport, slaughterhouses, animal shelters, and educational institutions which use animals. It is to be overseen by a national committee on animal protection.

ORGANIZATIONS

July 1, 2000 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2000:

Lisa DiStefano, Sea Shepherd
Conservation Society international
director since 1991, has resigned. “I
signed a confidentiality agreement and
cannot discuss any details,” Distefano
told ANIMAL PEOPLE. “There is
much going on, and I am getting ready
to help some incredible people make a
difference.” Head of the OrcaForce
direct action team in the early 1990s,
DiStefano has recently focused on oil
spill disaster response.

Activists & Organizations

People & deeds

July 1, 2000 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2000:

Going the extra mile

Building contractor
Rob Heydenburg, 29, of
Jackson, Michigan, on May 23
moved Jackson Animal
Protective Association f o u n d e r
Dorothy Reynolds, 84, and her
three dogs back into Reynolds’
home of 41 years, which was
nearly destroyed by a February
25 arson. Heydenburg didn’t
previously know Reynolds,
but––impressed with her 39
years of unpaid work with JAPA
and aware she had no insurance––he
deliberately underbid
the repairs required by the building
code, and then completely
renovated and refurnished the
house, even adding a first-floor
half bathroom, driveway, sidewalk,
and privacy fence.

Activists & Organizations

1 2 3 4 »