Obituaries [Jan/Feb 2009]

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2009:
Phyllis Jean Stoner Clifton, 79, mother of ANIMAL PEOPLE
editor Merritt Clifton, died on December 19, 2008 at home in
Bellingham, Washington. Becoming a vegetarian in 1949, upon
marriage to Jack Clifton, who survives her, she remained
vegetarian during long hospitalizations in the 1950s and 1960s, when
hospitals rarely accommodated vegetarian patients. A schoolteacher
in parts of four decades, she reviewed 29 biographies, novels, and
books about cats for ANIMAL PEOPLE, 1992-1997, and contributed to
many other periodicals until the onset of her terminal illness
inhibited her ability to write.

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Animal obituaries

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2009:

Lelani, 13, a German shepherd adopted from an animal
shelter who became foster mother to the orphaned bear cubs
rehabilitated by Idaho Black Bear Rehab in Garden City, Idaho, died
on December 28, 2008. “Until LeLani,” recalled Idaho Black Bear
Rehab founder Sally Maughn, “single cubs would bawl and pace when
they were left alone in our outdoor enclosures. I couldn’t be with
them all the time, so LeLani was a blessing to both the cubs and me.
Now comes the decision of trying to get another ‘bear dog’ or not,
and will I ever find one as good with the cubs as LeLani was.”

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“First dog” may be last Obama pick

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2009:
WASHINGTON D.C.–The identity of the new First Dog remained
unknown as the January/February 2009 edition of ANIMAL PEOPLE went to
press, a week before the inauguration of incoming U.S. President
Barack Obama–but the Obama family leans toward either a Portuguese
water dog or a Labradoodle, Obama told the ABC News show This Week
With George Stephanopoulous on January 11, 2009.
Portuguese water dogs, usually pedigreed, are rarely seen
in shelters. Labradoodles are a “designer hybrid” of Labrador
retriever with poodle, not recognized by the American Kennel Club as
a breed, but now commonly produced by commercial breeders, often
found in raids on alleged puppy mills, and widely available from
shelters and rescue groups.

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Trying to help animals in Gaza

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2009:
GAZA–Networking with animal rescuers near Gaza, in both
Palestine and Israel, collecting money for animal relief in the
combat zones, ANIMAL PEOPLE president Kim Bartlett helped to start a
rescue effort less than 10 days after the shooting began on December
27, 2008–long before there was any clear sign of when the fighting
might end, despite rumors that Israel would pull back troops from
Gaza before the January 20, 2009 inauguration of new U.S. President
Barack Obama.
“We are now working with the Israeli charity Let The Animals
Live to help us get medicine and supplies into Gaza,” reported
Palestine Wildlife Society executive director Imad Atrash. “There
some of our friends with the ministry of agriculture, the veterinary
department, and with other nonprofit organizations will help us,”
Atrash hoped.

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Colorado Humane Society in receivership

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2009:
DENVER–The Colorado Humane Society, operating since 1881,
was on Decemeber 16, 2008 placed in receivership.
“The motion, filed by Colorado Attorney General John Suthers
in Arapahoe County Court, immediately removes executive director
Mary C. Warren, her husband Robert Warren,” who was development
director, “and Mary Warren’s daughter, Stephenie L. Gardner,” who
was director of operations, “and bars them from any control of the
charity’s assets,” reported Howard Pankratz of the Denver Post.

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BOOKS: The Atlas of Endangered Species

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2009:

The Atlas of Endangered Species
Revised and Updated
by Richard Mackay
University of California Press
(2120 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, CA 94704-1012), 2009. 128 pages,
paperback, illustrated. $19.95.

If the entire content of The Atlas of
Endangered Species were to be redrawn into a
single huge map, the central portion would be a
succinct summary of current knowledge about
endangered species issues.
In the foreground, however, and in
several other prominent regions, unwary readers
might be warned “Here be flying bulls,” never
seen but known from bull feathers.
The back cover, for instance, warns
that “20% of the Earth’s species” are “facing
extinction by 2030,” a scant 21 years from now.
Atlas of Endangered Species author Richard Mackay
is far from the first to make that claim, but
Mackay provides an unwitting demonstration of how
it might happen, strictly through exercises in
modeling.

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BOOKS: Arctic Fox: Life At The Top Of The World

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2009:

Arctic Fox: Life At The Top Of The World
by Garry Hamilton, with photographs by Norbert Rosing
Firefly Books (P.O. Box 1338, Ellicot Station, Buffalo, NY
14205), 2006. 239 pages, hardcover, illustrated. $39.95.

To be familiar with foxes and then meet an Arctic fox is to
be profoundly surprised. Most foxes, even raised in captivity for
generations, are shy and nervous, reluctant to be seen except when
a red fox is attempting to decoy a perceived threat away from a vixen
and kits. Then, brazen though the red fox will act for a moment,
he will vanish just as soon as his family is safe.
An Arctic fox will walk right up with two questions in her
eyes. First, do you have something to eat? If not, can you play?
Arctic foxes love to play peek-a-boo, hide-and-seek, chase games,
and even tug-of-war–but they will be off in a flash if they capture
anything they think might be edible.
Most closely related to the swift foxes of the U.S. west,
Arctic foxes are among the fastest of mammals, and among the
widest-ranging, sometimes meandering thousands of miles from
wherever scientists managed to tag them.
Able to withstand the coldest temperatures of any mammal,
Arctic foxes have been seen just 37 miles from the North Pole, where
even polar bears are not known to venture. Arctic foxes do not
amicably share food with siblings, even as kits, but otherwise seem
cheerful and sociable, if only to find a chance to steal edibles.
In November 2006 I noted in reviewing The World of the Polar
Bear by photographer Norbert Rosing that, “As well as capturing
almost every aspect of wild polar bear life, Norbert Rosing provides
many memorable shots of the creatures who share their habitat,
especially Arctic foxes, who along with ravens are polar bears’
frequent sidekicks. Rosing even caught one Arctic fox in the act of
nipping at a polar bear’s heels– perhaps, Rosing speculated, to
urge the bear to go hunt a seal for both of them. The bear shows no
sign of inclination to harm the fox.”

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“No whales killed” during 18-day Sea Shepherd pursuit of Japanese fleet

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2009:
HOBART, Tasmanic, Australia– The
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s fourth
consecutive winter campaign against Japanese
“research” whaling off Antarctica ran out of
fuel–but not before chasing the multi-vessel
whaling fleet for more than 2,000 miles through
the southernmost waters claimed by Australia and
New Zealand.
“No whales were taken,” said Sea
Shepherd founder Paul Watson, during the
pursuit, between December 20, 2008 and January
7, 2009.
The Sea Shepherd vessel Steve Irwin
expected to dock for refueling in Hobart,
Tasmania, on January 15. Japanese officials
reportedly asked Australia to refuse landing
privileges to the Steve Irwin. As prime minister
Kevin Rudd was on vacation, acting prime
minister Julia Gillard ruled that, “The Steve
Irwin will be permitted to dockŠThere is
insufficient reason to prevent the Steve Irwin
from doing that.”

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Best Friends announces leadership change

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2009:
KANAB, Utah–The Best Friends Animal Society on January 13,
2009 announced that “by mutual agreement between the board and Paul
Berry, Mr. Berry would no longer serve as chief executive officer,
a position he has held since the spring 2006. The board is in
discussion with Mr. Berry about a possible future role with the
organization.”
Best Friends cofounder Gregory Castle told ANIMAL PEOPLE that
Berry’s exit would not mean any significant change in the policies,
philosophy, or modus operandi of Best Friends, the largest no-kill
animal sheltering organization in the world, and the fastest-growing
major U.S. animal advocacy organization since reincorporating as a
501(c)(3) charity in 1996.

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