Month: July 2011

Vegan glove makes majors

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2011:

 

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y.–Pitcher Brian Gordon of the New York
Yankees and the first non-leather baseball glove used in the major
leagues debuted together on June 16, 2011. Gordon’s vegan glove was
hand-crafted from nylon microfiber by Scott Carpenter, 30, of
Cooperstown, New York, whose shop is near the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Ten ounces lighter than conventional leather baseball gloves,
the vegan glove meets the strength and safety requirements of Major
League Baseball Inc. Non-leather vinyl baseball and softball gloves
were introduced for recreational play by several makers circa 1990,
but have a notoriously short useful lifespan and are now sold only
for use by children who are just beginning to play ball.
“The quality of synthetics back then was awful compared to
now,” Carpenter told ANIMAL PEOPLE. “I believe the tipping point
for synthetics in professional baseball gloves is now–it wasn’t
plausible earlier.”
Several minor league pro players are also using Carpenter
non-leather gloves.

Pennsylvania Bureau of Dog Law shake-up worries anti-puppy mill campaigners

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2011:

HARRISBURG–Jesse Smith, heading the Pennsylvania Bureau of
Dog Law Enforcement since 2006, was on June 15, 2011 transferred to
the Office of Chief Counsel, where she said she would be “putting
together a USDA-sponsored agricultural mediation program.”
Replacing Smith, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture
secretary George D. Greig announced, is Lynn Diehl. Greig
introduced Diehl as “a lifelong animal lover with a magnitude of
management skills.” Greig also announced that Pennsylvania Governor
Tom Corbett is “transitioning the Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement to
the Dog Law Enforcement Office. The office will report directly to
the department’s Executive Deputy Secretary Mike Pechart,” Greig
said, “ensuring its functions are handled at the highest level.”
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UNESCO statement raises false hope of Serengeti highway cancellation

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2011:
NAIROBI, PARIS, DAR ES SALAAM, WASHINGTON D.C.–The
United Nations Educational & Scientific Organization on June 24,
2011 declared victory over the Tanzanian government plan to build a
highway crossing Serengeti National Park, but apparently had not
examined the details of the letter from Tanzanian Natural Resources
and Tourism Minister Ezekiel Maige that prompted the celebration.
“The Serengeti road project has not been abandoned. We have
just revised it. I don’t know where all this confusion comes from,”
Maige told Reuters reporter Fumbuka Ng’wanakilala on July 1, 2011.

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Most of the Chinese dog meat traffic is already illegal, lawyers contend

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2011:

Beijing–Most of the Chinese traffic in dogs for human
consumption is already illegal, and therefore should be stopped
immediately, without awaiting passage of a national humane law,
attorneys Lu Xun, An Xiang, and Cai Chunhang told a two-hour press
conference convened in Beijing on June 15, 2011 by the Shangshan
Animal Foundation.
The lawyers joined China Veterinary Association Pet Clinic
Branch vice president Liu Lang to discuss the implications for rabies
control resulting from investigation of an incident on April 14,
2011, when Beijing activists intercepted and eventually rescued
approximately 500 dogs from a truck transporting them from Henan
province to dog meat restaurants in Jilin province.

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Sketchy Government Accounting Office report tends to favor horse slaughter

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2011:

 

WASHINGTON D.C.–The title of Horse Welfare: Action Needed
to Address Unintended Consequences from Cessation of Domestic
Slaughter hints at the conclusions and recommendations that the
Government Accountability Office report offered to Congress on June
23, 2011.
But the GAO report includes numerous acknowledgements of a
lack of data supporting the conclusions and recommendations. Failing
to discover and use data collected by the humane community about
trends in horse neglect and abandonment, including data collected by
ANIMAL PEOPLE and Pet-Abuse.com which is readily available online,
the GAO authors relied heavily on unsubstantiated anecdotal claims by
sources within the horse and livestock industries, including 17
state veterinarians whose duties are primarily to facilitate horse
and livestock commerce.

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Australia halts “six month” suspension of live cattle exports to Indonesia after 30 days

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2011:
CANBERRA–Australian agriculture minister
Joe Ludwig on July 7, 2011 lifted a 38-day
suspension of live cattle exports to 11 specific
Indonesian slaughterhouses and a 30-day
suspension of live cattle exports to anywhere in
Indonesia without visibly and demonstrably
accomplishing anything to improve animal welfare.
Ludwig on June 8, 2011 announced a
six-month suspension of livestock exports to
Indonesia, and a review of live exports to all
overseas buyers, including those in the Middle
East. Ludwig had suspended exports to the 11
specific slaughterhouses on June 1, 2011, hours
after the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
program Four Corners aired video documentation of
alleged halal slaughtering procedures in Jakarta,
Bogor, Bandar Lampung, and Medan which “crossed
the boundaries of ignorance and cultural
difference into the realm of sadistic brutality,”
assessed Penelope Debelle of the Adelaide Advertiser.

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