Cat/Dog shelter killing balance
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2011:
The Mid-Atlantic ratio has long skewed toward cats, more so in recent years. Cat impoundments in the Gulf Coast region have fallen as dog impoundments have increased.
Month: July 2011
Breeds amounting to more than 1% of the U.S. dog population –percent & number
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2011:
Breeds amounting to more than 1% of the U.S. dog population
–percent & number
BOOKS: Unlikely Friendships
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2011:
Unlikely Friendships
by Jennifer S. HollandWorkman Publishing
(225 Varick St., 9th floor, New York, NY 10014), 2011.
210 pages, paperback. $13.95.
Exceptional color pictures of animals posing together sell Unlikely Friendships. The individual stories are even more captivating. One of the best known involves Koko, who was taught American Sign Language by Gorilla Foundation founder Penny Patterson. For years Patterson also read stories about cats and kittens to Koko. Read more
What’s up at Memphis Animal Services?
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2011:
I wonder if you are aware of the awful situation at Memphis Animal Services in Memphis, Tennessee? Things have not changed there much, if at all, since they were raided in 2009. Abuse, neglect, and cruelty are still the order of the day. The city officials continue to be stone-faced, and animal rescuers continue to be outraged. Read more
Kenyan wins Natl. Geo. Award
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2011:
NAIROBI–-Paula Kahumbu, executive director of the Kenya Land Conservation Trust and WildlifeDirect, was on June 17, 2011 named recipient of the $25,000 National Geographic Annual Award. “Through WildlifeDirect,” founded by Kahumbu’s longtime mentor Richard Leakey, “she has created Africa’s largest wildlife blogging platform,” wrote Gatonye Gathura for AllAfrica.com. Kahumbu is author of four books for children, in collaboration with Isabella and Craig Hatkoff, describing the initial friendship and further adventures of a baby hippopotamus and a 120-year-old male giant tortoise. Translated into 27 languages, the books have sold more than a million copies.
Owen, the hippo, was swept out to sea by the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Washed ashore and rescued by coastal fishers several days later, Owen was taken to the Haller wildlife park near Mombasa. Upon release, he ran to Mzee, the tortoise, and hid behind him. Not yet weaned, Owen ate what Mzee ate, and as tortoises eat much the same food as hippos, Owen survived and thrived.
BOOKS: What Everyone Needs to Know / The Animal Rights Debate
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2011:
Animal Rights:
What Everyone Needs to Know
by Paul Waldau
Oxford University Press
(198 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016), 2010.
224 pages, paperback. $16.95.The Animal Rights Debate
by Gary L. Francione
& Robert Garner
Columbia University Press
(61 West 62nd St., New York, NY 10023), 2010.
272 pages, hardback, $24.50.
My practice, in reviewing works of philosophy, is to save them for long flights to far-away places, when I will have the rare luxury of being able to read for hours without interruption. Then I write about what I remember well enough to be still thinking about it a week or two later. Read more
Woburn Safari Park scandal flushes out "electronic reputation management"
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2011:
LONDON, SEATTLE–Growing almost unnoticed amid the buzz of the Internet, Worldwide Web, Twitter, Facebook, and other social media, the electronic information management industry appears to have eclipsed the annual income of animal charities worldwide even before most pro-animal campaign strategists knew what it was. Read more
BOOKS: Thoughts and stories about people and the dogs they love
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2011:
A Bond Unique:
Thoughts and stories about people and the dogs they love
Edited by Reg Green
Iroquois County Animal Rescue
(100 NW Lincoln, Iroquois, IL 60945), 2010.
60 pages, illustrated, paperback. $25.00
I never tire of reading books about dogs and their owners. This one is as uplifting as any other book I have reviewed for Animal People. Read more
BOOKS: Ordeal of the Animals
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2011:
Humane education classic:
Ordeal of the Animals
by Mel Morse
Prentice-Hall Inc., 1968.
212 pages, hardcover.
Wrote Humane Society of the U.S. senior policy advisor Bernard Unti to ANIMAL PEOPLE in June 2011, “Mel Morse, the HSUS president in the years 1968-1970, wrote a book in 1968 entitled Ordeal of the Animals. It is a nice period piece,” Unti assessed, “a snapshot of how the landscape looked right about that time. It was a composite work,” Unti said, “drawing on material drafted by core staff members like Patrick Parkes,” who were not credited. Read more