Obituaries [Nov-Dec 2012]

Roy Curtis Marcum,  43,  a 14-year Sacramento County Animal Care & Regulation Department office,  was fatally shot through a closed front door on November 28,  2012 as he approached a house occupied by Joseph Francis Corey,  65,  to take custody of six Catahoula dogs.  Marcum,  who was unarmed,  was accompanied by two locksmiths,  who suffered superficial injuries.  Corey had been evicted the day before,  but was believed to have left the Catahoulas,  who are pit bull variants,  in the second floor house and ground level garage.  A 16-hour standoff followed the shooting, during which SWAT team members were able to slip into the garage and hide until  Corey descended a stairway into the garage to check on one of the dogs circa 5 a.m. on November 29.  Corey was then captured and charged with homicide. Dillip Rabha,  52,  on November 9,  2012 became the third person in three years to be killed by a rogue elephant named Shankar at the Chandaka Wildlife Sanctuary near Bhubaneswar,  Odisha,  India. A senior mahout,  Rabha had worked with Shankar for two years. Impounded from the wild after killing two people in 2009,  Shankar had attacked another mahout in September 2012.

Jeannie Hayes,  29, known for broadcast reporting about animals  for WREX in Rockford,  Illinois, died on November 8,  2012, only days after learning she had leukemia. “Growing up, Hayes was certain that she wanted to be a veterinarian,  but participation in a 4-H mentoring program put an end to that dream,”  wrote Paul Anthony Arco for Northwest Quarterly.

Dixie Jennings,  three months,  was killed on November 9, 2012 in Yadkinville,  North Carolina by a head bite from a dog believed to have been a Rottweiler kept by her grandmother,  Robin Jennings.  The dog was reportedly killed at the scene by a relative. Jennings on a web site said she was formerly “president of the Yadkin County Humane Society for 12 years,  cruelty investigator for five years,”  and had been a breeder,  trainer,  and exhibitor of Rottweilers used as therapy dogs for 28 years. Yadkin County Sheriff Ricky Oliver withheld the incident report from media,  but said there was no evidence of criminal activity that might lead to charges. North Carolina Press Association general counsel Amanda Martin advised Michael Hewlett and Jennifer Young of Winston-Salem Journal that the incident report could only be withheld if related to an ongoing criminal investigation.

Fusako Nogami,  63,  founder of the Japanese organization All Life In a Viable Environment,  died on October 10,  2012 from  breast cancer.  “She originally championed the rights of Ainu indigenous people,”  recalled Animal Refuge Kansai founder Elizabeth Oliver, “but most of her work sought to abolish the use of animals for experiments.  She also strived to improve conditions of animals in zoos,  on farms,  and in the wild. Thanks to her,  the number of animals sent from the hokensho (public pounds) to laboratories decreased to virtually zero.”   

Jessie Streich-Kest and Jacob Vogelman,  both 24,  were killed on October 29,  2012 by a falling tree while walking their pit bull Max in Ditmas Park,  Brooklyn,  near the height of Superstorm Sandy.  Max was seriously injured,  but survived.  A special education teacher at the High School for Social Justice in Bushwick, Brooklyn,  Streich-Kest was formerly a field organizer for the anti-horse-drawn carriage trade organization New Yorkers for Clean, Livable and Safe Streets,  and had become a volunteer for Sean Casey Animal Rescue.

Howard Gregory Kuljian,  54,  his wife Mary Scott,  57,  and their son Gregory James Kuljian,  16,  were killed by a 10-foot wave and undertow on November 25,  2012 at Big Lagoon Beach,  north of Eureka,  California,  while trying to rescue their dog.  Chasing a stick into the sea,  the dog was swept away,  but eventually struggled back to shore.  The son,  whose remains were not found, also got back to shore once,  but returned to the water with his mother in search of his father.  Olivia Kuljian,  18,  and Gregory Kuljian’s girlfriend,  who was not identified,  survived the incident.

Benjamin Cloutier,  24,  was fatally mauled on November 4, 2012 while cleaning the cage of two grizzly bears at Animals of Montana,  of Bozeman,  which provides wildlife for photography and videography.  One bear was shot at the scene.  Animals of Montana refused a state wildlife agency request to kill the other bear. Cloutier,  from York Haven,  Pennsylvania,  had worked for Animals of Montana since 2008.  Matthew Brown of Associated Press reported that the bears had been used in “attack re-enactments.”  Added Brown, “Animals of Montana lost its state license in 2009 after the revocation of its required animal exhibition license from the USDA,” due to “a 2005 misdemeanor animal trafficking conviction against the company’s owner,  Troy Hyde.”  The licenses were reinstated in 2011.