The costs versus benefits of making a big bust

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August, 2002:

Four almost simultaneous June cases spotlighted the costs and
often unpredictable risks to humane societies of confiscating large
numbers of animals in cruelty and neglect cases:

On June 6, the city of Edgewater, Florida, severed an
animal control impoundment contract with the Southeast Volusia Humane
Society because the shelter killed 14 dogs and cats who were taken in
April from the home of Valerie White, 38. The animals were killed
within hours after Volusia County Judge Mary Jane Henderson issued a
handwritten order that, “The City of Edgewater may advise the Humane
Society that those animals are available for adoption.” Edgewater
officials disputed the contention of shelter director Suzy Soule that
the animals were in poor health. White was charged nearly two weeks
later with three counts of unlawful abandonment or confinement of
animals, and one county of cruelty.

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Another mega-bucks pit bull attack award

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August, 2002:

BINGHAMPTON, N.Y.–A New York State Supreme Court jury on
June 3 awarded $208,750 in damages to Maressa Ann Zawisky, 9, for
severe injuries to her nose, cheek, and jaw suffered when in March
2000 a chained pit bull terrier belonging to neighbor Willie Harris
jumped a fence and mauled her in the yard of her mother and
stepfather, Cookie and Robert Rieger.
The apparently unattended pit bull, who had attacked a
nine-year-old boy in 1999, gave birth to seven puppies earlier
during the morning of the attack.

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San Francisco judge voids murder-by-dog verdict

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August, 2002:

SAN FRANCISCO–Overturning the March 21 verdict of a Los
Angeles jury, San Francisco Superior Court Judge James Warren on
June 17 voided the second degree murder conviction of attorney
Marjorie Knoller, 46, for allowing two Presa Canario dogs to escape
her control and kill neighbor Diane Whipple, 33, in January 2001.
“There is no question in this court’s mind that in the eyes
of the people, both defendants are guilty of murder,” Warren stated
on live television. “In the eyes of the law, they are not.”

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Did alleged nonresponse to pit bull calls lead to addiction and murder?

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August, 2002:

FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla.– Involved in a landmark case more
than a decade ago pertaining to the legal liability of a humane
society for dog attacks, the Panhandle Animal Welfare Society was
sued again in June 2002 in another case which, if successful, could
extend the liability of animal care and control agencies to indirect
effects of traumatic incidents.
Arthur Cheney, husband of murder victim Rhonda Kimmons
Cheney, 42, contends that PAWS and county officials improperly
ignored complaints about aggressive and vicious behavior by a pit
bull terrier who lived near Florosa in Santa Rosa County.

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State legislative summaries

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August, 2002:

A felony cruelty penalty and a statewide system of
registration, regulation, and inspection governing private animal
rescuers take effect in Virginia on July 1.
The felony cruelty provision applies only to deliberately
fatal injuries inflicted upon owned pet dogs or cats. Offenders may
be jailed for up to five years.
The bill governing rescuers was requested by the Virginia
Federation of Humane Societies in response to complaints about lost
animals not being reunited with their families, because the
discovery of the animals running at large was never reported to local
shelters. The bill also anticipates the possibility that dogfighters
may use “breed rescue” as cover to obtain animals, a scam recently
uncovered in several other states.

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20th century leaders squandered the 19th century humane movement legacy

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August, 2002:

BOSTON–Animal Welfare Insti-tute founder Christine Stevens,
introduced as “Mrs. Roger Stevens,” may be the only person still
alive who was noted as a humane movement leader by William Allen
Swallow in The Quality of Mercy, a 1963 “history of the humane
movement in the United States” published by the Mary Mitchell Humane
Fund, a subsidiary of the Massachusetts SPCA.
Stevens may also be the only person whom Swallow mentioned as
a contemporary humane movement leader whose name is still widely
recognized.

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GAO hits nonprofits for hiding professional fundraising fees

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August, 2002:

WASHINGTON D.C.–Echoing criticisms of IRS disclosure
standards often voiced by ANIMAL PEOPLE, the General Accounting
Office urged a crackdown on misleading declarations of fundraising
expense in a new report formally known as GAO-02-526: Tax-Exempt
Organizations: Improvements Possible in Public, IRS, and State
Oversight of Charities.
“Public watchdog groups have expressed concerns about expense
reporting, and the IRS has found and acted on instances of
inaccurate reporting,” the GAO acknowledged. “However, the IRS has
not assessed, and is just beginning to develop plans to assess, the
extent to which charities are properly reporting expenses.”

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Why Bad Ads Happen to Good Causes

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August, 2002:

Why Bad Ads Happen to Good Causes
by Andy Goodman
Cause Communications, 2002.
Free for downloading at <www.agoodmanonline.com>.

Anti-hunting activists may be transiently comforted to know
that the ads designed by the anti-gun proliferation group CeaseFire
tend to be more effective, as measured by readership surveys, than
the ads of the National Rifle Association.

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