Month: May 2009

New Mexico ends gassing just ahead of big gamecock bust

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2009:

SANTA FE–New Mexico Gov-ernor Bill
Richardson on April 7, 2009 signed a bill making
New Mexico the 18th U.S. state to ban gassing
dogs and cats.
The bill allocates $100,000 to help the
last four shelters in the state that use gas
chambers convert to using lethal injection.
Richardson also endorsed a bill that will
permit state-licensed euthanasia technicians to
buy and use euthanasia drugs. The technicians
need not be veterinarians and need not work in
the presence of a vet.

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21 polo ponies die of overdose

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2009:
OCALA, Florida–Franck’s Pharmacy chief operations officer
Jennifer Becket on April 23, 2009 admitted in a prepared statement
that the custom drug-mixing firm had erred in preparing a vitamin
mixture that was given to the polo ponies on the Lechuza Caracas
team just before the start of the U.S. Open polo tournament on April
20 at the Inter-national Polo Club Palm Beach. The mixture was
apparently significantly stronger than it was supposed to have been.
Twenty-one horses died from lung hemorraging after receiving
the overdose. The vitamin mixture was reportedly similar to Biodyl,
a supplement not approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration.
Humane Society of the U.S. director of equine protection
Keith Dane called on the U.S. Polo Association to introduce a policy
restricting the use of drugs in polo ponies.

Neglect cases fuel drive to restart horse slaughter

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2009:
HELENA–Montana governor Brian Schweitzer on April 3, 2009
vetoed two parts of a bill passed by the state legislature to
encourage entrepreneurs to start a horse slaughterhouse, but on
April 16 both houses of the legislature returned the same bill to him
without amendment.
The provisions of the bill that Schweitzer vetoed would
require anyone filing a lawsuit seeking to stop construction of a
horse slaughterhouse to post a bond worth 20% percent of the
estimated construction costs, would hold plaintiffs liable for
damages incurred by the defendants due to legal action, and would
prevent state courts from halting construction after a horse
slaughterhouse site and design have received the requisite permits.
Schweitzer must now either veto the bill as a whole or sign
it into law. There was no indication, as ANIMAL PEOPLE went to
press, which he would do.

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Ontario pit bull ban appealed to Supreme Court

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2009:
TORONTO–Civil rights lawyer Clayton Ruby on April 16, 2009
petitioned the Supreme Count of Canada to appeal an October 2006
Ontario Court of Appeal verdict which upheld the breed-specific Dog
Owners Liability Act.
The 2005 act forbids breeding, selling, or keeping a pit
bull within Ontario, except for pit bulls who were already licensed
in Ontario when the act took effect. Those dogs must be sterilized,
and must be kept leashed and muzzled when in public. A lower court
weakened the act in March 2007, holding the term “pit bull terrier”
to be too imprecise, but the Ontario Court of Appeal restored the
act as written.

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U.S. Supreme Court to review “crush video” ruling

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2009:
WASHINGTON D.C.–The U.S. Supreme Court on April 20, 2009
agreed to hear an appeal by the U.S. Solicitor General of a Third
Circuit Court of Appeal ruling that in July 2008 overturned the 1999
federal Depiction of Animal Cruelty law and reversed the conviction
of “crush video” and dogfighting video dealer Robert Stevens, of
Pittville, Virginia.

Camp Lejeune follows Army, bans pit bulls

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2009:
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. –The U.S. Marine Corps on April 16,
2009 banned pit bull terriers, Rottweilers, wolf hybrids, and “any
other breeds [of dog] with dominant traits of aggression” from Camp
Lejeune, the largest Marine base on the Atlantic Coast.
Camp Lejeune commanding officer Colonel Richard P. Flatau
Jr. signed the order just over three months after the U.S. Army
banned pit bulls, Rottweilers, wolf hybrids, chows, and Dobermans
from Army base housing throughout the world.
The Camp Lejeune order covers the housing of approximately
50,000 active duty Marine Corps personnel, plus more than 100,000
civilian dependents of Marines and civilian base staff.

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Kerala capital to obey Indian dog law?

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2009:
THIRUVANATHAPURAM–Three years of defiance of the Indian
national dog policy may be at an end in Thiruvanathapuram, the
capital city of Kerala state.
Both The Hindu and the Indian Express on April 25, 2009
reported that mayor C. Jayan Babu on April 3 reluctantly suspended
killing street dogs after receiving notice from the Animal Welfare
Board of India that the program violates a December 2008 ruling by
the Supreme Court of India.
From the ruling until obliged to stop, the Indian Express
said, the Babu administration paid 18 dogcatchers two and a half
times the previous rate per dog caught.

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Irate chimp shot at alleged puppy-mill

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2009:
ST. LOUIS–Responding to a “loose chimpanzee” call from
Winston, Missouri, 60 miles north of Kansas City, Daviess County
sheriff’s deputy Larry Adams on March 30, 2009 initially tried to
help Brent Hudson, 49, Cherace Hudson, 41, and Mary Overton, 52,
to get the chimp back into secure premises.
When the chimp opened the door of Adams’ patrol car, grabbed
his leg, and tried to hit him, Adams fatally shot the chimp, a
nine-year-old male named Timmy.
Adams reported seeing three other chimps and 100-200 dogs at
the scene, but when the Missouri Department of Agriculture and
Humane Society of Missouri arrived two days later with a
search-and-seizure warrant, they found only 15 dogs and three cats.

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