Day: September 1, 2008

Shelters discontinue killing animals for other agencies, gassing, & drop-off cages

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2008:

 

TULSA, CLOVIS, MACON, LAKE CITY, HAYWARD–Beginning a
“new era” in animal care and control, according to Tulsa, Okalahoma
mayor Kathy Taylor, the Tulsa animal shelter on September 8, 2008
quit killing animals for surrounding communities’ animal control
agencies.
“For at least three decades, the city has charged suburbs
$1.00 per animal destroyed at Tulsa’s shelter. Last year, an
estimated 4,000 animals from outside the city were killed in the
shelter’s gas chamber,” recalled Tulsa World staff writer P.J.
Lassek.

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Hurricanes Gustav & Ike test federal pet evacuation mandate

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2008:

HOUSTON, NEW ORLEANS– Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, hitting
the Gulf Coast barely more than a week apart in September 2008,
brought the first major test of the Pets Evacuation and
Transportation Standards Act, passed by Congress in 2006.
The PETS Act was passed after evidence surfaced that many of
the human fatalities attributed to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 resulted
from people refusing to evacuate because they could not take pets
with them. The purpose of the PETS Act is to ensure that provisions
for pet evacuation are incorporated into regional disaster planning.
“Three years after pet owners were reduced to tears while
being forced to leave their dogs and cats in neighborhoods affected
by Hurricane Katrina, emergency response officials are taking
extraordinary care to ensure animal safety,” wrote Alex Branch of
the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

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Letters [Sep 2008]

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2008:
 
Turtles

I had my tickets ready to fly to Bali for the 2008 Asia for
Animals conference, but was forced to stay back, as I had to take
care of around twelve types of endangered tortoises in a pond
constructed some 700 years back by a king for his people inside the
premises of the Hargrib Mahdab Temple, around 40 kilometers from my
home.
The Kamrup deputy commissioner, with funding from the prime
minister, in April 2008 constructed a five-foot-high concrete wall
around the pond, preventing the tortoises from coming to the shore
of the pond to bask in the sun and laying their eggs. They developed
fungal infections from staying inside the pond continuously, with
water leeches feeding on them. Fifteen tortoises died recently
within one months time. Three hundred fifty coconut trees around the
pond were felled in the name of beautification, so there was no
shade for the tortoises, and the pump for a fountain installed
within the pond made the water even hotter.
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Off-exhibit secrets of troubled zoos

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2008:
UBUD, GIANYAR–The Bali Zoo, featuring
exhibits from which animals often “go walkabout,”
might be described as emphasizing form over
substance.
Occupying a six-acre forested ravine in a
residential neighborhood in Singapadu, a suburb
of Ubud, the Bali Zoo has been described by
tourism media as a “hidden jewel”–and it is, at
a glance.
A closer look reveals
species-inappropriate exhibits, neglect of
animal health, and potentially deadly accidents
to visitors and neighbors lurking just around
many of the bends of the zoo’s winding paths.

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