A Project of Animal People, Inc., 1992-2013
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2013:
The Lost Whale: The True Story of an Orca Named Luna by Michael Parfit & Suzanne Chisholm St. Martin’s Press (c/o MacMillan, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010), 2013. 329 pages, hardcover. $25.99
The Lost Whale is a compelling story of a lost orca, or killer whale, who as an infant in 2001 somehow became separated from his pod, the family that he depended on for survival. Read more
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2013:
CITES at 40: Perspectives, trade patterns & future prospects, compiled by United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre Free download from <www.unep-wcmc.org>
Created in 1973 by the United Nations, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora tracks and regulates commerce in about 34,000 species. About 3% are listed on Appendix I, meaning that they are endangered, or Appendix II, meaning that they are threatened. CITES compliance is voluntary. Individual nations may invoke trade sanctions against violators, but CITES itself has no enforcement mechanism. Read more
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2013:
How Animals Grieve by Barbara J. King University of Chicago Press (1427 E. 60th St., Chicago, IL 60637), 2013. 179 pages, paperback. $25.00
How Animals Grieve author Barbara J. King asks, “Is it outlandish to write of animal love?” No, of course not. Some animals love and grieve differently from humans, but their expressions are real, and many animals grieve exactly as humans do. Read more
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2013:
Obituaries
“I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. The evil men do lives after them. The good is oft interred with their bones.” ––William Shakespeare
Dianna Hanson, 24, a volunteer/intern at Cat Haven in Dunlap, California, was killed on March 3, 2012 by a five-year-old African lion named Cous Cous, who apparently lifted a gate with his paw and attacked Hanson while she was cleaning another part of his cage and talking with a co-worker on a cell telephone. Sheriff’s deputies shot Cous Cous when he would not leave Hanson’s body. A private zoo, not accredited by either the Association of Zoos & Aquariums or the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries, Cat Haven had operated since 1993 without previous accidents, founder Dale Anderson told media. A biology and anthropology student at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington, Hanson had previously gained experience helping to look after four exotic cats at a private facility near Bellingham. Read more
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2013:
By Merritt Clifton & Kim Bartlett
The American Veterinary Medical Association, 150 years old this year, has from the beginning pitched a broad tent. The AVMA is at once a trade association representing the economic concerns of veterinarians; a professional body setting veterinary standards; an umbrella for ongoing efforts to advance veterinary science; a provider of continuing professional education to vets; a disaster relief agency; a provider of public education about animal issues; and an entity which seeks to influence public policy. Read more
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2013:
Walking inside, the unidentified man found the bodies, and a two-month-old baby girl beneath Carter’s arm. “It looked as if she was protecting the baby when she was killed,” Oneida County Sheriff Jeff Semrad told media. Sheriff’s deputies found 64 pit bulls chained in two dog yards. Both dog yards were visible in photographs taken from two county highways intersecting near the scene, and found 38 marijuana plants, with a cumulative street value estimated at $95,000. Bruce Christensen, brother of Brent, told media that Brent had served prison time for drug-related offenses.
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2013:
LONDON––Though culling predators has come to be recognized as one of the larger ecological mistakes of the Romans, the Normans, the Georgians in the 18th century, and 20th century British governments, British environment secretary Owen Paterson on February 27, 2013 announced that badgers will be culled this summer in Gloucestershire and Somerset. Read more
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2013:
PETALING JAYA, Malaysia––Malaysian natural resources and environment minister Douglas Uggah “has ordered an immediate investigation by a team from his ministry into the alleged inhumane massacre of wild monkeys by its contractors,” Michelle Chun of the Sun Daily reported on March 29, 2013. Read more
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2013:
Your January/February 2013 editorial “Pi, Dorothy, and the qualities of humane leadership” gave me stuff to ponder that I hadn’t seriously considered before, such as the emphasis on adopting one’s way out of shelter euthanasias versus the likely better bang for the buck approach of focusing even more than currently on spaying and castrating. Read more