ALF burns Italian zoo

April 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2009:
TURIN–An arson claimed by the Animal Liberation Front with
spray-painted slogans and a posting to the Florida-based Bite Back
web site on February 25, 2009 razed the newly built Zoom Zoo near
Turin, Italy. The zoo was to open in April.
“Several bottles filled with petrol were used to start the
fire, which killed some 40 hawks, buzzards and owls,” Europe News
and Italian media reported. The ALF claimed to have released about
30 birds.
Also killed were two hedgehogs, but firefighters kept the
blaze from harming several tigers who were also on the premises.

Animal Obituaries

April 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2009:
Socks, 18, the White House cat throughout the Bill Clinton
administration, died on February 20, 2009. Originally kept by
former President Clinton’s daughter Chelsea, who adopted Socks from
a litter born in her piano teacher’s yard when Clinton was governor
of Arkansas, Socks had lived with Bill Clinton’s former secretary
Betty Currie in Hollywood, Maryland since the Clinton family left
the White House in early 2001. After Socks and a newly acquired
chocolate retriever named Buddy had several altercations on the White
House grounds, then-First Lady Hilary Clinton in 1998 published a
book of children’s letters to the animals entitled Dear Socks, Dear
Buddy. Bill Clinton likened trying to achieve a truce between Socks
and Buddy to seeking peace in the Middle East, a problem Hilary now
confronts as Secretary of State.

Obituaries

Obituaries [April 2009]

April 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2009:
Paul Harvey, 90, died on February 28, 2009 in Phoenix,
Arizona. Beginning in radio journalism while still in high school in
Tulsa, Oklahoma, Harvey met and married Lynne Cooper, whom he
called Angel, while working for St. Louis radio station KXOK in
1940. She became his chief researcher until her death in 2008. They
were later joined by their son, Paul Harvey Jr. At peak in the
1970s, their broadcasts reached more than 24 million listeners via
more than 1,200 American Broadcasting Company affiliates plus 400
Armed Forces Radio stations. In addition, 300 newspapers carried
Paul Harvey’s syndicated column. “Paul and Angel were two of the best
friends that animal protection and the Humane Society of the U.S.
ever had,” recalled HSUS president Wayne Pacelle. “The same must be
said of Paul Harvey Jr. The September 1956 issue of HSUS News
records that Harvey reported on the activity of the House
Agricultural Com-mittee in regard to humane slaughter,” during the
campaign for the Humane Slaughter Act, passed in 1958. “He also
appealed for an end to slaughterhouse cruelties in his newspaper
column,” Pacelle continued.

Obituaries

More Bali rabies deaths

April 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2009:
Jama Asmara, 46, on March 23, 2009 became the eighth human
victim of a canine rabies outbreak afflicting southeastern Bali,
Indonesia since September 2008. Bitten in November 2008, Jama
Asmara reportedly received post-exposure vaccination on November 27,
plus a later booster, but skipped two further prescribed boosters
because he did not feel ill.
Previous Bali rabies victims have included two
three-year-olds, a four-year-old, two 32-year-olds, and a
45-year-old.

Five sled dogs die in 2009 Iditarod

April 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2009:
ANCHORAGE–Five dogs died during the 2009 Iditarod Trail Sled
Dog Race, the most in any year since 1997. The race runs 1,131
miles, from Wasilla to Nome.
“The first dog to die this year was 6-year-old Victor in the
team of North Pole musher Jeff Holt,” reported Craig Medred of the
Anchorage Daily News. Running 50th of 67 teams, Holt’s goal was to
just to finish. “The dogs were fresh and well rested when he left
the Rainy Pass checkpoint,” wrote Medred. “A veterinarian looked
the team over and said they looked great. A few miles down the
trail, Victor fell over and died.”
Maynard, age 5, ran in the team of veteran Yellowknife
musher Warren Palfrey, who finished 19th. At Safety, just 20 miles
from Nome, “Maynard reportedly looked fine,” Medred wrote. “Ten
miles farther, with the finish nearly in sight, he died.”

Cumulative cost of PETA-funded lawsuits against Primarily Primates may reach $1 million

April 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2009:

SAN ANTONIO–Judge Solomon Casseb III of
the 288th Judicial District Court of Bexar
County, Texas, on March 11, 2009 rejected
Primarily Primates’ motion for a summary
judgement dismissing the latest round of four
years of PETA-funded litigation against the
sanctuary.
Primarily Primates has since August 2006
been a program of Friends of Animals.
“This order only means that Judge Casseb
believes there are issues to be decided by a
factfinder,” FoA president Priscilla Feral told
ANIMAL PEOPLE. “We have not yet discussed a
trial setting with opposing counsel,” Feral
said, “but we believe the earliest jury trial
setting will be in December 2009 or January 2010.”

BOOKS: If Only They Could Speak

April 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2009:

If Only They Could Speak:
Understanding the powerful bond
between dogs and their owners
by Nicholas H. Dodman
W.W. Norton & Co. (500 Fifth Ave., New York,
NY 10110), 2003, 2008. 262 pages, paperback. $15.95.

W.W. Norton & Co. published this second edition of one of
Nicholas Dodman’s most popular books in September 2008. Dodman
heads the Tufts Behavior Clinic at the Tufts University School of
Veterinary Medicine. His 1999 volume Dogs Behaving Badly made him
one of the more acclaimed dog behavior gurus of our time–but Dodman
was already well known to news media for promoting the idea that many
dog behavior problems can pharmaceutically treated.
“Throw in a shrink” has long been standard editorial advice
to reporters trying to find experts to explain difficult or
disturbing news. Dodman’s recommendations, often summarized as “Put
your dog on Prozac,” have made him perhaps the most quoted doggie
shrink ever.

BOOKS: The Adopted Dog Bible

April 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2009:

The Adopted Dog Bible by Petfinder.com
Harper Collins (10 East 53rd St., New York, NY 10022), 2009. 512
pages, paperback. $22.99.

“Choosing a dog is much too important a task to be conducted
in haste,” says The Adopted Dog Bible, from Petfinder.com–exactly
the message that the humane community has tried to teach potential
dog adopters since dog adoptions began. Assembled by Petfinder.com
vice president of shelter outreach and public relations Kim Saunders,
The Adopted Dog Bible includes valuable contributions and helpful
hints from experts including Amy Shojai, Susan McCullough, Liz
Palika, Sue Sternberg, and Lila Miller, DVM, among others.
Adoption is a great option says The Adopted Dog Bible,
guiding readers through finding a shelter or rescue near their home,
and explaining what adoption entails.

Badger-baiters busted in Ulster

April 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2009:
ULSTER–Many of the most prominent badger baiting web sites
disappeared in early 2009, John Mooney of the London Sunday Times
reported on March 3, 2009, after an undercover investigation by the
Ulster SPCA and another Sunday Times reporter led to a series of
police raids on the homes of several alleged badger fighters.
“We believe a number of prized dogs were moved south of the
border,” Ulster SPCA chief executive Stephen Philpott told Mooney.
“The baiters know the authorities in the republic will take no
action.”
George MacManus of the Sunday Times on January 4, 2009
disclosed that the Ulster SPCA had begun investigating badger
baiters, “in a bid to curtail the practice and to prompt
prosecutions,” after only 10 alleged badger baiters had been
prosecuted in more than 20 years.

1 2 3 4 »