Embezzling in Germany

May 1, 2003 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2003:

MUNICH–Wolfgang Ullrich, 58, head of the 230,000-member
German animal welfare society Deutsches Tierhilfswerk 1994-1999, was
on April 1, 2003 sentenced to 12 years in prison for embezzling $28
million.
Reported Reuters, “Thai police first arrested Ullrich, who
ran a restaurant in the resort of Pattaya, after investigating him
for tax evasion. Subsequent probes into his finances uncovered a
front company Ullrich had set up in Switzerland, into which he
channeled donations from animal lovers.”
Deutsches Tierhilfswerk is now expected to sue seeking
recovery of the money.

Helping donkeys in Middle East & Central Asia

May 1, 2003 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2003:

PETA president Ingrid Newkirk offended numerous Jewish groups
in January 2003 with a letter to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat
protesting the use of a donkey as an unwitting “suicide bomber” on
January 26.
Newkirk also mentioned “stray cats in your own compound” who
“fled as best they could” from Israeli forces, but made no objection
to the human toll in the ongoing Israeli/Palestianian strife.
The recorded history of harsh treatment and overwork of
donkeys in the Middle East dates at least to the time of Moses, when
Balaam’s donkey reputedly spoke out on her own behalf.

Can a third grader identify a third-rate circus? Courts weigh activist rights

May 1, 2003 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2003:

SCRANTON, Pa.–A three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Third Circuit on April 15 unanimously upheld the
dismissal of a lawsuit against the Lacka-wanna Trail School District
in Scranton, Pennsylvania, alleging that Amanda Walker-Serrano,
then a third grader, was denied her First Amendment right to freedom
of expression in February 1999 when her school stopped her from
petitioning against a class trip to the Shriners’ circus in
Wilkes-Barre.
Amanda Walker-Serrano is the daughter of Scranton animal
advocates Lisa Walker and Michael Serrano. Her rights were not
violated, Judge Anthony J. Scirica wrote, because she was allowed
to distribute coloring books and stickers about animal abuse.

McDonald’s lawsuit award still in dispute

May 1, 2003 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2003:

CHICAGO–Cook County Judge Richard Siebel on March 25
disqualified three of the 26 organizations that were named to share
the $10 million settlement of a class action brought against
McDonald’s Corp. for concealing from vegetarians that its French
fries are seasoned with beef broth.
Dropped due to alleged conflicts of interest involving
attorneys who worked on the case were the National Ramah Commission,
representing Conservative Jews; Arya Pratinidhi Sabha America, a
Hindu group; and the Department of Nutrition at the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Whether new organizations will be named to replace these
three is reportedly undecided. Plaintiffs opposed to the settlement
indicated that they would appeal.

Dairies win two cases

May 1, 2003 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2003:

Ruling that government agencies are exempt from the
prohibitions on false advertising that apply to private citizens,
San Francisco Superior Court Judge David Garcia on March 25 dismissed
a lawsuit by PETA against a “Happy cows” ad campaign sponsored by the
California Milk Advisory Board. Arguing that scenes of cows in green
pastures used in the ads misrepresent the reality of how California
dairy cattle are kept, PETA previously complained to the Federal
Trade Commission. The FTC declined to take action in October 2002.

The Pennsylvania State Superior Court on April 8 upheld a
$96,000 verdict against the Fayette County SPCA for alleged invasion
of privacy in April 1993 while investigating the purported theft of a
dog and cruelty to a heifer reported by dairy farmer John Tabaj’s
former son-in-law during a messy divorce case. Tabaj was charged
with five counts of cruelty, but the charges were later dropped.
The incident caused the Pennsyl-vania legislature to mandate in
December 1994 that humane officers must be appointed by a judge. A
Fayette County jury in January 1992 ordered the $96,000 penalty
against the Fayette County SPCA, and ordered Tri-County Humane
Protection Inc., also involved in the raid, to pay Tabaj $105,000.
Tri-County Humane Protection is now defunct. The Fayette County SPCA
has indicated that the size of the award will force it to close,
too, leaving the county without an animal shelter.

Breeders blast dog transfers for adoption as alleged biohazard

May 1, 2003 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2003:

HARTFORD, Connecticut; PORTLAND, Oregon–Rachel
With-erspoon, 40, of Litchfield, Connecticut, only wanted to help
the Kentucky Humane Society find homes for nine puppies. Her
misadventures in early March 2003, however, may have become Exhibit
A for introducing federal and state regulation governing what the
National Animal Interest Alliance decries as, “The mushrooming
practice of moving dogs around from one region to another and from
one shelter to another within regions,” also known as “humane
relocation.”
Founded in 1992 by Oregon dog breeder Patty Strand, the NAIA
represents many animal use industries, but most vigorously defends
the interests of dog breeders. The NAIA sees in humane relocation a
direct threat to breeders’ share of dog acquisitions.

Chronology of humane progress (Part 2 of two parts: Mohandas to Maneka)

May 1, 2003 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2003:

Chronology of humane progress
(Part 2 of two parts: Mohandas to Maneka)
by Merritt Clifton

1947 — At request of Mohandas Gandhi, Jawaharal Nehru wrote
into the constitution of India as Article 51-A[g] that “It shall be
the fundamental duty of every citizen of India to protect and improve
the Natural Environment including forests, lakes, rivers and
wildlife, and to have compassion for all living creatures.” This
was reinforced by the 1960 Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.

1947 — Defenders of Wildlife formed as an anti-trapping
organization, but was taken over by hunters in 1957 and became a
mainstream hunter/conservationist front.

Big cats caught in a war zone

May 1, 2003 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2003:

BAGHDAD, SAN ANTONIO, ASHEBORO, N.C.–Anxious U.S. Marines
under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Eric Schwartz during the
nights of April 15 and April 17 unhappily shot three of seven
starving African lions found at the Baghdad Zoo after first one and
then two more broke out of their bomb-damaged enclosures.
On the loose, they could easily have found their way into
densely populated parts of the city.
“We fought our way from Kuwait to Najaf to Kerbala to
Baghdad, but the hardest thing I’ve had to do in Iraq was kill those
lions,” Schwartz told London Sunday Telegraph correspondent Philip
Sherwell.

A video that never mentions Heifer Project International shows why their premise is wrong

May 1, 2003 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2003:

Saving Baby Ubuntu
Video from Compassion In World Farming (South Africa)
c/o Humane Education Trust
P.O. Box 825, Somerset West, 7129, South Africa; <avoice@yebo.co.za>
15 minutes. Free on request; donation recommended.

Saving Baby Ubuntu is the gently narrated story of how
several African animal advocates rescued just one newborn calf from
the traffic in calves between the factory dairy farms of South Africa
and the shantytowns where poor people struggle mostly unsuccessfully
to raise livestock of their own, on inadequate land and improper
diets. Most of the animals die miserably.

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