Human obituaries

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2002:

Jason Trotman, DVM, 48, of Atlanta, Georgia, stayed an
extra five hours at the Southern Crescent Animal Emergency Clinic on
Sunday, March 31, to assist another veterinarian with a surgery.
He was killed at a stoplight on his way home at about 11 p.m., when
his vehicle was hit by the getaway car used by twin brothers Melvin
and Marvin Mitchell, 22, who had allegedly just robbed a grocery
store of $6,500 and were under police pursuit. The Mitchells were
charged with felony murder, armed robbery, and reckless driving.
Trotman left his wife and three children.

Dinesh Bhansali, a diamond merchant who headed the Bhansali
Trust and was a longtime trustee of Beauty Without Cruelty/India,
died on February 2 in Mumbai. BWC/India chair Diana Ratnagar
recalled that in the 1970s, Dineshbhai, as he was called for short,
instigated the BWC “Ahimsa soap” project, which produced the first
vegan soap marketed in India. In March 1988, Dineshbhai and the
Bhansali Trust bought out the attempt of the Indian Council of
Agricultural Research to start a Karakul lamb industry, in which
lambs would be killed for their pelts within 48 hours of birh, and
put the lambs into sanctuary care–after sterilization, so that no
one could exploit any offspring. Most recently, Dineshbhai and the
Bhansali Trust were active in relief of both the human and animal
victims of the January 2001 Gujarat earthquake.

Judy Ann Nikodym, 59, executive director of the Clallam
County Humane Society in Port Angeles, Washington, died on April 2
from a heart attack.

James Clyde Brock, 62, died on March 24 in Charlotte,
North Carolina. “Always on the lookout for the downtrodden, he
befriended and helped in any way he could all the feathered, scaled,
and furry friends his children allowed to wander into their home. He
will be remembered as a kind, gentle, compassionate man who had
room in his heart for all creatures great and small,” wrote his son
and daughter-in-law Jason and Susan Brock, of Vancouver, Washington.
Lalit Jain, “instrumental in saving thousands of lives of
animals, especially of catttle, who gave us 100% support during our
case against the National Circus, has been brutally murdered in
front of his residence at Bhiwani, India, allegedly by people whose
vested interests were disrupted by his animal welfare work,”
colleague Shakuntala Majumdar e-mailed on April 24., adding “Bhiwani
is very tense at this moment and has been cordoned off.” Bhiwani is
east of Delhi, near the border of Rajasthan.

Paul S. Mangione, 45, died on April 3 from cancer at his
home in Parkville, Maryland. A longtime cat and dog rescuer,
Mangione was known for his dedication to two kittens whom he adopted
in 1990, after distemper killed their mother and caused them to
suffer brain damage. “Despite veterinary advice to euthanize the
kittens, Paul padded and carpeted his entire apartment to prevent
them from injuring themselves when they fell. They are alive and
well,” his wife of a year, Jeannette Patricia Barker, told the
Baltimore Evening Sun.

Valerie Hunt, 10, died on April 2 in Toronto from
hypothermia. Hunt was taken off life support one day after she
endured an hour in an icy pond near her home in Lakehurst, Ontario.
Hunt and a seven-year-old friend were playing “fetch the stick” with
Hunt’s German shepherd when the dog crashed through the ice of the
pond. Hunt fell through the ice in neck-deep water while attempting
to rescue the dog, who managed to escape the pond unharmed. The
seven-year-old fell into shallower water as she tried to pull Hunt
out, but struggled ashore and brought Hunt’s mother, Caroline Hunt,
who called 911 after failing to extricate her. ANIMAL PEOPLE has
collected information about 18 human deaths since 1997 resulting from
falls through ice while trying to save dogs. In 14 cases, the dogs
survived, mostly through their own efforts. The three dogs who died
may have succumbed because they tried to save their people. The fate
of one dog was never determined.