Obituaries
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2004:
Arif Mahmood Qureshi, 59, died on November 21, 2003 in
Multan, Pakistan. An attorney who defended democracy against a
succession of dictatorial governments, Qureshi published the human
rights newspaper The Lord. He was imprisoned in 1970, 1973 -1977,
1979, 1981, 1983, 1986, and 1988. Despite spending much of the
prime of his life in prison, forbidden family visits, for
protesting against the 1971-1977 regime of Z.A. Bhutto, Qureshi as a
matter of principle led demonstations against Bhutto’s hanging after
General Zia ul-Haq deposed Bhutto in a coup-d’etat. “In 1981,”
recalled Qureshi’s younger brother Khalid Mahmood, who publishes
the newspaper The Tension to promote both human rights and animal
rights, “Arif was sent to Lahore Fort, the ugly torture cell of
Pakistan. He was kept in cells where daylight and fresh air cannot
peep through. This and untold body tortures resulted in complete
deterioration of his health.” Wrongly accused of involvement in a
failed coup attempt, Qureshi survived a crude attempt at execution
by lethal injection of an unknown toxin or pathogen, but developed a
skin disease so severe that he was sent home to die. “The history of
Arif’s achievements and struggle will not be complete without
mentioning his true love and concern for the welfare of animals and
birds,” Mahmood continued. Hearing of Animal Rights International,
founded in 1976 by longtime U.S. human rights and animal rights
crusader Henry Spira, Qureshi started a Pakistani group of the same
name, parallel to an Indian Animal Rights International founded by
Laxmi Modi. “After forming ARI, Arif gave up eating the meat of
animals and birds,” despite the advice of his physicians, Mahmood
told ANIMAL PEOPLE. “He wrote many articles about the welfare of
animals and birds. He also arranged many meetings to promote
awareness of animal protection. He was found fighting for the rights
of the suppressed citizens not only in Pakistan or belonging to some
specific class, sect, race or tribe but of the world at large,”
Mahmood concluded. “He left a son, Babar Soekarno, and a daughter,
Pakiza Arif,” both of whom also practice law.
Vitaly Nikolayenko, 66, was found dead on December 30,
2003, near his shack on the Tikhaya River of the Kamchatka peninsula
in eastern Russia, apparently killed by one of the grizzly bears he
spent 25 years studying and protecting. “A senior ranger on the
Kronotsky Wildlife Reserve, Nikolayenko constantly battled illegal
hunting and fishing,” wrote Kim Murphy of the Los Angeles Times,
who spent several days with him earlier in 2003. “His patrols kept
him in the wilderness for months on end. He documented an average of
800 bear contacts each year.”
Jeanne Cousins, 71, a director of the Humane Society of the
Yukon 1999-2003, died on November 4, 2003. “The shelter that
exists today is largely due to Jeanne’s hard work and perseverance
yesterday,” recalled the present directors.
Lord Peter Hardy of Wath, 72, died on December 16, 2003 in
Rotherham, South Yorkshire, U.K. Serving as a Labour member of the
House of Commons 1970-1997, Hardy sponsored the Badgers Bill (1973),
the Conservation of Wild Creatures and Wild Plants Act (1975), and
the Protection of Birds Act (1976). “He bitterly opposed the use of
animal fur to make coats,” recalled the BBC, adding that “During
one all-night Commons debate on wildlife he gave impressions of the
songs of birds which were becoming endangered species.”
David Bale, 62, died on January 1, 2004 in Santa Monica,
California, from a brain tumor. Husband of feminist author Gloria
Steinem since 2000, and father of actor Christian Bale, David Bale
was a former commercial pilot. He served on the boards of the Dian
Fossey Gorilla Fund International and the Ark Trust, recently
subsumed by the Humane Society of the U.S.
Todd A. Stewart, a popular Washington D.C. dog trainer for
more than 30 years, committed suicide on November 8, 2003. “Todd
had a role in most D.C.-area dog-related organizations, from the
Washington Humane society to People Animals Love, which arranges for
people and their dogs to visit retirement homes and hospitals. He
also worked with D.C. Dog, which is working to create a dog park in
D.C., the only major city in the U.S. without one,” recalled
Washington Post columnist Mary Carpenter.
Bob Cassidy, 82, died in a December 17 fire at his home in
Youngstown, Ohio, after escaping but turning back to look for his
two dogs. If dogs and cats can get outside during a fire, they
usually will–if they know that their person has already gotten out.
If not, they will often search for their person. Therefore the
recommended rescue procedure is to leave doors open and yell from
outside the burning building.
Ryker Hamilton, 3, of Norfolk, Virginia, watching whales
with his father Ryan Hamilton on Christmas Day 2003 aboard a Dream
Cruises Hawaii vessel south of Oahu, was killed by hitting his head
against a rail when captain Monroe Wightman swerved abruptly to avoid
a surfacing humpback. U.S. Coast Guard Lieutenant Commander Todd
Offutt told media that Wightman did not appear to have done anything
wrong.
Michael Keeling, 61, was killed in a December 20 car crash
near his home in Elgin, Texas. As chair of the Department of
Veterinary Science at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer
Center in Bastrop, Keeling was credited by deputy chair Bill
Satterfield with developing behavioral enrichment programs for
laboratory chimpanzees and monkeys, and with promoting retirement
for older lab chimps. He served on the advisory boards of the Chimp
Haven sanctuary, the Tulane University Regional Primate Center, and
the Wisconsin Regional Primate Center.
Jodi Lane, 30, was electrocuted on January 17 in the East
Village district of New York City when she fell on a manhole cover
while trying to break up a fight between her Malamute and her pit
bull mix. Unknown to her, the manhole cover had become electrified
by a short circuit in a buried cable. Both dogs were also
electrocuted. Witnesses believe the dogs began to fight after
getting milder jolts from lighter contact with the manhole cover.
Henry Saglio, 92, called “the father of the poultry
industry” by Perdue Farms chair Frank Perdue, died on December 13 at
a nursing home in Connecticut. Inheriting his parents’ farm, called
Arbor Acres, Saglio pioneered factory poultry farming methods.
Eventually 80% of the commercially produced chickens in the U.S. were
descended from Arbor Acres stock. Arbor Acres operated in 21 nations
by the mid-1960s, with investment support from the International
Basic Economy Corporation, an aid project founded by Nelson A.
Rockefeller, Saglio eventually sold Arbor Acres to IBEC and started
a second poultry empire, Avian Farms International, with his son
Robert. Late in life Saglio founded a third company, Pureline
Genetics, to explore high-volume poultry production without the use
of antibiotics to prevent disease and promote growth.
Harold von Braunhut, 77, who made his fortune selling brine
shrimp he called “sea monkeys,” “invisible goldfish,” and “crazy
crabs” to children by mail order, died on November 28, 2003 at his
home in Indian Head, Maryland. Relatives told the Washington Post in
1988 that von Braunhut was Jewish, but the Anti-Defamation League
reported in 1996 that he belonged to both the Ku Klux Klan and Aryan
Nations.
Robert Jordan, 83, died on December 20 in Stillwater,
Minnesota. A University of Minnesota professor emeritus of animal
science, Jordan was superintendent of the Minnesota State Fair sheep
show for 32 years, was inducted into the Minnesota Livestock
Breeders Hall of Fame in 1990, and was named “Horseman of the Year”
in 2000 by the Minnesota Horse Council. Jordan became infamous for a
1980 remark he made to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, after he and
colleague Robert Jacobs advised farmers to breed large rams to small
ewes. “The farmers ask how we intend to get a 20-pound lamb out of a
90-pound ewe,” Jordan said, “so we tell them to use a crowbar and a
long spoon. This situation is exactly what you want, since smaller
ewes won’t eat so much.”
