Organization updates

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2003:

NCDL becomes Dogs Trust

LONDON–The National Canine Defence League on October 9
renamed itself Dogs Trust. Founded in 1891 to oppose vivisection of
dogs, NCDL for most of the 20th century focused on providing
veterinary care to pets of the poor. Restructured in 1980, it is
now the British leader in rehoming dogs, and since 1996 has
cosponsored the International Companion Animal Welfare Conference,
partnering with the North Shore Animal League International division.

MSPCA kills Animals magazine

BOSTON–Promising to balance the Massachusetts SPCA budget in
2004, first-year president Larry Hawk in August 2003 terminated the
money-losing Animals magazine, and in September laid off 19
employees.

The MSPCA closed facilities and sold property to reduce
deficits at least twice during the long tenure of Hawk’s predecessor,
Gus Thornton, who retired in April 2003. The layoffs, however,
were reportedly the first in the 135-year history of the MSPCA. The
cancellation of Animals was the first major program cut since the
Bands of Mercy and Jack London Clubs begun by founder George Angell
were axed approximately 75 years ago, as the MSPCA struggled with
cost overruns after building Angell Memorial Hospital.
Animals, an award-winning slick successor to Angell’s Our
Dumb Animals newspaper, reputedly never attracted enough paid
subscribers and advertisiers to pay for itself. “While Animals did
serve an educational function,” Hawk told ANIMAL PEOPLE, “I believe
that there are better uses for our tight budget dollars at this time.
Our communications will become far more targeted to program needs.”
The budget trimming was necessary, Hawk told Boston Globe
correcpondent Vicki Croke, because “Between the stock market and
spending more than we had, our endowment eroded from $90 million to
close to $50 million.”
Raising about $39 million a year, the MSPCA in recent years has
spent circa $45 million per year.

AVAR names new president

DAVIS, Calif.–The American Association of Veternarians for
Animal Rights board of directors on September 9, 2003 elected Paula
Kislak, DVM, to succeed Nedim Buyukmihci, DVM, as president.
“Kislak, a vegan, has been an AVAR board member since 1996,
and was on its advisory board before that,” said the AVAR
announcement.
Buyukmihci had headed AVAR since cofounding it with Neil C. Wolfe,
DVM, in 1981. Buyukmihci recently retired from teaching veterinary
ophthalmology at the University of California at Davis and on June 18
was named director of the Animal Protection Institute Primate
Sanctuary in Dilley, Texas.