ENPA gets 1st female chief since 19th century

May 1, 2007 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2007:
ROME–The Italian charity ENPA, whose name translates
literally as “Entity for the Protection of Animals,” on March 30,
2007 announced the election of a new president, Carla Rocchi, to
succeed Paul Manzi, president since 1999.
“Manzi assumes the role of national prime minister of ENPA,”
ENPA said.
Rocchi, who had headed the Rome chapter of ENPA, becomes
only the second woman president. The first was Anna Winter, a
British-born close associate of Giuseppe Garibaldi, the unifier of
modern Italy. Winter, Garibaldi, and Timoteo Riboli jointly
founded ENPA, then called the Animal Protection Society, in 1871.
About two dozen other Italian animal charities formed during
the next 66 years. Legislation pushed by the dictator Benito
Mussolini forcibly merged them into the Animal Protection Society,
and conferred the name ENPA, in 1938.

Mitt Romney becomes first 2008 Presidential candidate to pander to hunters

May 1, 2007 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2007:
KEENE, N.H.– Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney on
April 3, 2007 became the first 2008 Presidential contender to
identify himself as a hunter, and the first to be embarrassed when
his claims about hunting could not be verified.
Questioned at a campaign event in Keene, New Hampshire,
about his position on gun control, Romney responded, “I support the
Second Amendment. I purchased a gun when I was a young man. I’ve
been a hunter pretty much all my life. I’ve never really shot
anything terribly big,” Romney confessed. “I used to hunt rabbits.
“Shooting a rabbit with a single-shot .22 is pretty hard,”
Romney added, so–according to his statements–he switched to using
a semiautomatic rifle.
Associated Press political reporter Glen Johnson investigated
Romney’s story.

Noah’s Wish founder Terri Crisp resigns; state probes use of Katrina funds

May 1, 2007 Dylan Forest One comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2007:
SACRAMENTO–“As of today, [founder] Terri Crisp is no longer
associated with Noah’s Wish, Inc. in any capacity,” the Noah’s Wish
web site announced on March 28, 2007. “We wish her well in her
future endeavors.”
Signed by the “Noah’s Wish Board of Directors,” the message
disclosing Crisp’s departure followed two days after a similarly
signed March 26 acknowledgement that “Noah’s Wish is in the midst of
an ongoing civil investigation by the California Attorney General’s
office concerning funds received by Noah’s Wish during Hurricane
Katrina.”
Noah’s Wish told the Chronicle of Philanthropy in November
2005 that it had received $6.5 million in donations after Katrina.
“Tax documents for Noah’s Wish obtained by the Sacramento
Business Journal reported revenue of $8.4 million, almost all of it
from contributions, between July 1, 2005, and Dec. 31, 2005,”
reported Business Journal staff writer Kelly Johnson on March 30,
2007.
“Some $4.8 million was in unrestricted assets,” Johnson
said, while $1.5 million was declared as “temporarily restricted
assets.”
Charitable donations are deemed legally “restricted” when the
donors in some manner expressly communicate, at the time of giving,
that the donations are meant exclusively to serve one particular
purpose. A vague statement such as “to help animals” does not
restrict a donation, but a statement stipulating “to help the New
Orleans animals” or “to help the Katrina animals” might be construed
as a binding restriction.

IFAW takes over Cape Cod Stranding Network

May 1, 2007 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2007:
HYANNIS–The not-quite-10-year-old Cape Cod Stranding Network
is now a project of the Yarmouthport-based International Fund for
Animal Welfare.
IFAW director of animals in crisis and distress A.J. Cady and
Cape Cod Stranding Network executive director Katie Touhey announced
the merger on April 11, 2007.
The five stranding network staff will join IFAW, now
employing 135 head office personnel and 350 other people worldwide,
reported Cape Cod Times staff writer Doug Fraser. Currently housed
at the National Marine Life Center in Buzzards Bay, the Cape Cod
Stranding Network is to relocate soon to the new IFAW headquarters in
Yarmouth.

Judge halts Alaska wolf bounties

May 1, 2007 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2007:

ANCHORAGE–Alaska Superior Court Judge William Morse on March
30, 2007 ruled on behalf of Friends of Animals, Defenders of
Wildlife, and coplaintiffs that the Alaska Department of Fish & Game
does not have the authority to pay bounties to aerial gunners for
killing wolves.
However, Morse added, the Alaska Board of Game can
authorize bounties. Morse held that the 1984 repeal of a state law
allowing bounties applied only to administrative actions of the
Department of Fish & Game, not to actions of the Board of Game.
Thus, while the Morse verdict suspended a bounty program introduced
on March 21, it left the possibility that the Board of Game may
reinstate it, or start a new bounty program.

Rodeos kill children too

May 1, 2007 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2007:
TUCSON–Tucson police chief Richard Miranda on March 19,
2007 announced that the Pima County Attorney’s Office will not charge
anyone for causing the February 22 death of five-year-old Brielle
Boisvert during the 82nd annual La Fiesta de los Vaqueros rodeo
parade. Three years younger than the minimum age for parade
participants stated on the entry form, Boisvert was thrown from her
horse and trampled by a bolting team of horses who were pulling a
wagon.
The parade is promoted as the longest in the world using no
motor vehicles–and has had serious accidents before, though no
previous fatalities. “At last year’s parade,” recalled Associated
Press, “Mayor Bob Walkup bruised an arm and his wife Beth suffered a
concussion and whiplash when two runaway horses slammed into a
150-year-old buggy.”

Cuban animal law

May 1, 2007 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2007:
HAVANA–The Scientific Veter-inary
Council of Cuba has drafted a law to guarantee
the right to life of all animals in the country,
board member María Gloria Vidal Rivalta recently
told Dora Pérez Sáez, of the Cuban newspaper
Juventud Rebelde.
“The draft is being presented to the
Ministry of Agriculture and is expected to go to
the National Assembly of People’s Power soon,”
reported Pérez Sáez.
“Legal protection for animals,
sterilization as a way of reducing the stray dog
population, and safety for wild birds are some
of the aspects to be addressed by Cuban
specialists at the 6th International Congress of
the Veterinary Sciences in Havana,” Vidal said.
Vidal also mentioned a need to address “children
who attack animals, dogfighters, people who
throw things at zoo animals, and others who keep
pets in inappropriate conditions.”

National High School Rodeo loses top sponsor after probe affirms abuse

May 1, 2007 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2007:
SPRINGFIELD–“Choice Hotels, has
terminated sponsorship, scheduled to run until
2009, of the National High School Rodeo
Association,” SHARK president Steve Hindi
announced on April 24.
“The early termination, for rules
violations and animal abuse, follows a review of
video documentation supplied by SHARK,” Hindi
said, crediting SHARK staff member Janet Enoch
for successful liaison with Choice corporate
officials.
The Choice chain “includes Clarion,
Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality Inn,
Sleep Inn, Econolodge, Rodeway, Cambria Suites,
Mainstay Suites, and Suburban Extended Stay
Hotel,” Hindi said.

Judge says horse slaughter violates National Environmental Policy Act

May 1, 2007 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2007:

WASHINGTON D.C.–U.S. District Court Judge Colleen
Kollar-Kotelly on March 28, 2007 ruled in Washington D.C. that the
USDA violated the National Environment-al Policy Act by allowing
horse slaughterhouses to continue killing horses for human
consumption, after Congress in 2005 cut off funding for mandatory
USDA inspections.
The USDA responded to the Congressional budget cut by
allowing the three horse slaughterhouses left in the U.S. to fund
their own inspections. Judge Kollar-Kotelly held that this action
should have been subject to an environmental impact review.

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