Day: September 2, 2005

How to protest the Taiji dolphin killing by Ric O’Barry, One Voice/France

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2005:

In response to our call for October 8 to be an international
day of protest at Japanese consulates and embassies against the Taiji
dolphin slaughters, we have received much correspondence suggesting
that we should either hit Japan with an all-out boycott, or just
meet quietly with Japanese officials.
Both approaches have already been repeatedly attempted, and
both were big mistakes.
Having witnessed the dolphin slaughters myself, I can report
with absolute certainty that the Japanese people are not guilty of
these crimes against nature. I saw only 26 whalers in 13 boats drive
dolphins into a cove and slaughter them. The vast majority of the
people in Taiji and surrounding villages were exceptionally friendly
toward our small group of protesters, and should not be targeted and
punished for something they are not guilty of.
The Japanese people don’t need a boycott. They need the
information that we take for granted. If they knew the truth about
the dolphin slaughter, they would help us to stop it.

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Haunted by hidden past, humane law enforcement legend Dave Garcia retires

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2005:

DALLAS–Dave Garcia, 55, vice president of operations for
the SPCA of Texas in Dallas since 2001, on August 6, 2005 announced
his retirement from humane work.
“His resignation comes days after Smith County District
Attorney Matt Bingham dismissed three animal cruelty charges against
Julia McMurrey, the former operator of Paws Around the Planet ranch
in Tyler,” reported Kim Horner of the Dallas Morning News.
“Bingham received anonymous information, which was
confirmed, that Garcia has a criminal background including arrests
for driving while intoxicated in Texas, Missouri, and Arizona,
plus a rape and kidnapping conviction in Arizona in 1973. Garcia was
paroled in the rape and kidnapping case in 1976. Bingham said he
dismissed the charges against McMurrey because of ethical concerns
about using Mr. Garcia as a witness. He said Garcia told a
prosecutor that he had no criminal history,” Horner added.
Cockfighting proponents, including commentators for Game
Fowl News, have long circulated reports similar to those Bingham
received. Longtime acquaintances of Garcia within the humane
community were mostly aware that he had a troubled past, which had
helped him to successfully infiltrate animal fighting rings and bring
the perpetrators to justice.

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Israeli Rescuers remove about 400 animals from Gaza & Northern Samaria

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2005:

JERUSALEM–Tension accompanying the Israeli withdrawal from
Northern Samaria and Gaza spilled over into the animal rescue work
that followed in the 24 vacated Jewish settlements.
About half the reports reaching animal people descr-ibed
animal rescues. The rest accused other rescuers of performing
publicity stunts and acts of sabotage.
Settlers resisting the withdrawal were often removed forcibly
by Israeli soldiers and police, leaving pets, livestock, and feral
cat colonies behind.
If the 15,000 former residents of the evacuated villages kept
pets and fed feral cats at European rates per household, up to 3,000
pets and 600 feral cats might have been affected. The Israeli Army
and Israeli Veterinary Services allowed some rescuers to enter Gaza
and Northern Samaria on August 16. Accounts forwarded to ANIMAL
PEOPLE indicate that the rescuers evacuated about 400 animals,
mostly cats, but also some dogs, parakeets, lizards, and goats.
Concern for Helping Animals in Israel and Hakol Chai, an
affiliate, worked in Gaza with representatives of the Tel Aviv,
Beersheva, and Jerusalem SPCAs, CHAI founder Nina Natelson told
ANIMAL PEOPLE. “We had veterinarians Sarah Levine and Tsachi Nevo
spelling each other, plus one more who helped as needed,” Natelson
added. “Two drivers took turns, day after day. Hakol Chai staff
worked 15 hour days. We had no lack of volunteers.”

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Marine mammal activist Ben White, 53, dies of abdominal cancer

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2005:

Ben White, 53, died on July 30 in
Friday Harbor, Washington, after a six-month
struggle against abdominal cancer.
White “cut open dolphin-holding nets in
Japan, scaled buildings to hang anti-fur
banners, jumped in front of naval ships in
Hawaii to stop sonar tests, and slept atop
old-growth trees to protest logging,” recalled
Seattle Post-Intelligencer reporter M.L. Lyke.
“In Seattle, he protested the capture of sea
lions at Ballard Locks by locking himself to the
cage used to hold them. In 1999, he marched as
head turtle at the 1999 World Trade Organization
protests [in Seattle]ŠThe turtle costumes became
the international emblem of opposition to the
WTO.”
White claimed to have informed on the Ku
Klux Klan for the FBI at age 16, while still in
high school. He joined the 1973 American Indian
Movement occupation of the Bureau of Indian
Affairs offices in Washing-ton D.C., and
traveled for a time with the Rolling Thunder
medicine show, which popularized Native American
causes and spirituality during the 1970s and
1980s. He was accused of fomenting strife within
both AIM and the Rolling Thunder entourage.

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