Religion & Animals
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1992:
Pope John Paul II was scheduled to
issue “A solemn appeal for animal welfare” on
eptember 30, from the Vatican. The appeal
will not have the force of ecclesiastic law, and
is expected to be quite conservative.
A San Francisco Board of
Supervisors subcommittee on August 18
approved an ordinance to ban animal sacrifice,
modeled after similar ordinances now in effect
in various Florida and southern California
cities. Supervisor Carole Migden introduced
the ordinance after the city Department of
Animal Care and Control reported having
found evidence of at least 1,000 animal sacri-
fices during the past year. The ordinance now
goes before the full Board of Supervisors for
enactment. Migden meanwhile withdrew a
proposed to ban the sale or ownership of wolf
hybrids, since so many are already in San
Francisco that enforcement might prove
impossible.
The city government of Sao Paulo,
Brazil, is awarding contracts for the construc-
tion of four macumbodromos, or chapels, for
the practice of voodoo. A similar facility was
opened in nearby Diadema in April 1988.
Reports differ as to whether the rituals per-
formed there include animal sacrifice. Animal
sacrifice is common among voodoo practi-
cioners in Brazil, however: several federal
officials and an unnamed minister of state
recently sacrificed a bull, four sheep, and
eight chickens to Xango, the god of justice,
according to the newspaper Journo du Brazil.
ANIMAL PEOPLE reader Audrey
McFarland of London, Ontario, Canada,
reports that she was fired from her post as a
parish housekeeper in June 1991 for refusing
to get rid of her pets. McFarland had served as
parish housekeeper to the same priest for 11
years, and had taken in stray dogs and cats for
10 years, with the priest’s approval, before
some parishioners complained about the pres-
ence of animals in the rectory. She spoke out
about the situation only after winning sever-
ance pay through court action. Letters of
inquiry may be sent to Bishop Michael
Sherlock, Diocese of London, 1070 Waterloo
St., London, Ont. N6A 3Y2; and Archbishop
Marcel Gervais, Canadian Conference of
Bishops, 90 Parent Ave., Ottawa, Ont. K1N
7B1.
