Guest column: Death by economics

November 1, 2007 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2007:
Guest column:
Death by economics
by Melanie Jackson
In the world of animal welfare the decision to terminate an
animal’s life is often based on economics rather than the animal’s
overall health and welfare needs.
To avoid depleting budgets more than the seasonal rhythm of
animal control contract payments, donations, and revenue from
adoption and surrender fees can be expected to replenish, shelters
have for decades typically maintained limits on how long an animal
may be held. If the animal is not adopted within that rigid time
period, or transferred to a rescue organization that can focus on
placing hard cases, the animal will be killed to make room for
another animal.

BOOKS: Good Dog. Stay.

November 1, 2007 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2007:

Good Dog. Stay.
by Anna Quindlen
Random House (1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10019), 2007. 82
pages, hardcover, illustrated. $14.85.

Probably every reader who has ever had and lost a beloved dog
will love Good Dog. Stay. The book is an expansion of one of Anna
Quindlen’s most popular Newsweek columns, memorializing her Labrador
retriever Beau, who grew up with her children and lived to the age
of 15.
Most readers will be people who have loved dogs, and by way
of intensifying reader identification with Quindlen’s thoughts, the
book designers have extensively illustrated the book with photographs
of dogs of many different breeds. Whatever kind of dog a reader has
had is likely to be represented.

Obituaries

November 1, 2007 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2007:
George Vedder, 91, of Monroe, Connecticut, died on
November 18, 2007 in nearby Bridgeport. An engineer/gunner on a
B-24 bomber during World War II, Vedder worked after the war as an
assembler of aircraft engines. Retiring in 1975, Vedder became a
feral cat feeder. In 1991 Vedder teamed with Kim Bartlett and
Merritt Clifton to trap, sterilize, vaccinate, and release the
many feral cats who inhabited a supermarket parking lot beside the
Monroe offices of the Animals’ Agenda magazine, where Bartlett was
editor and Clifton was news editor. The surgeries were done by
Arnold Brown, DVM, of Trumbull. The project expanded to eight main
locations in northern Fairfield County, and became the first
well-documented U.S. demonstration of neuter/return feral cat
control, honored by the Town of Monroe Police Department for
keeping a raccoon rabies outbreak from crossing into cats. Designing
and building many of the traps used in the project, Vedder continued
to promote and practice neuter/return for the rest of his life.

Obituaries

Washoe chimpanzee

November 1, 2007 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2007:
Washoe, 42, died on October 30, 2007 at the Chimpanzee and
Human Communications Institute, on the Central Washington University
campus in Ellensburg, Washington. Captured in Africa as a baby,
Washoe was raised by Allen and Beatrix Gardner of the University of
Nevada at Reno, 1966-1970. Beginning in 1967 they taught her
American Sign Language. Graduate student Roger Fouts and his wife
Deborah eventually took over and continued the project, first in
Oklahoma, then at Central Washing-ton University after 1980. Though
Washoe’s linguistic ability was disputed, she is generally
recognized as the first chimp to learn human linguistic skills,
developing a vocabuary of about 250 words. She went on to teach
American Sign Language to three other chimpanzees–Tatu, 31,
Loulis, 29, and Dar, 31, who all still live at the Chimpanzee and
Human Communications Institute.

Birds migrating over the Mediterranean face fire from all directions

November 1, 2007 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2007:
ATHENS–Moving to protect migratory birds
from some of the most prolifigate hunters in
Europe, the highest Greek administrative court
on November 9, 2007 banned hunting until
November 21 in several of the regions where
wildlife habitat was most severely damaged by
August 2007 wildfires.
The Council of State, as the court is
called, was expected to rule by November 21 on
whether the hunting ban should remain in place
longer. The Greek hunting season normally runs
from August through February, but even if the
ban is not extended, it was widely acclaimed for
supposedly protecting many of the most fragile
European migratory birds during the peak weeks of
their passage over the Mediterranean, Adriatic,
and Agean seas.
Aliki Panagopoulou, projects coordinator
for ARCHELON, the Sea Turtle Protection Society
of Greece, was skeptical.

Elephant polo debate overshadows introduction of microchipping

November 1, 2007 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2007:
BANGKOK, MUMBAI–The Tourism Authority of Thailand on
Nov-ember 19, 2007 named the King’s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament one
of Thai-land’s must-see “Seven Amazing Wonders.”
The announcement reignited a debate over elephant polo that
has raged for more than two years through the Asian Animal Protection
Network electronic forum. Opponents, chiefly in the northeast of
India, where elephant polo has never been played, hold that the
game is cruel exploitation. Others see it as a chance for the
elephant participants to enjoy a day of light work on grass, as a
pretext for affluent humans to party.
The game itself consists of only two ten-minute chukkars,
in contrast to the elephants’ usual daily labor of either hauling
tourists or waiting for customers.

Guangzhou bans eating snakes– ban helps cats

November 1, 2007 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2007:

GUANGZHOU–Guangzhou bureau of forestry director Guo Qinghe
suppressed human consumption of cat meat during the first weekend of
November 2007 by announcing on local television his intent to enforce
a four-year-old Guangzhou city ordinance against eating snakes. “It
is illegal for companies, restaurants and individuals to sell live
snakes, snake meat, and related foods,” Guo said, not mentioning
cats, but in case there was any doubt about what he meant, Zheng
Caixiong of the official government newspaper China Daily spelled it
out.
“The popular Cantonese dish longhudou or ‘dragon duels with
tiger’ has been banned,” wrote Zheng Caixiong. “The delicacy
derives its name from snake and cat meat. Apart from having their
snakes and snake products confiscated, those caught flouting the ban
will be fined between 10,000 yuan ($1,300) and 100,000 yuan
($13,000).”

RSPCA & the League Against Cruel Sports show U.K. pack hunting ban can be enforced

November 1, 2007 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2007:

LONDON–Nearly three years after the
Hunting Act 2004 nominally banned fox hunting and
other forms of pursuing wildlife with packs of
dogs, more people are reportedly participating
than before the act took effect. Only one hunt
club has disbanded; two new clubs have formed.
“Half of the 10 prosecutions brought
under the Hunting Act have not even been against
formal fox or stag hunts,” scoffed Daniel Foggo
and Nic North in the November 4, 2007 edition of
The Times of London. “The most recent
conviction, in October, was against a gang
hunting rats. The police have made clear that
they do not see enforcing the hunting ban as a
priority. Most of the cases that have come to
court have been private prosecutions.”
Similar reports appeared a year earlier,
18 months after the passage of the Hunting Act
2004. “The Hunting Act is failing,” alleged Guy
Adams of The Independent. “Last week, The
Independent was invited to follow a typical hunt
in a remote corner of Wales. It killed nine
foxes, almost all by illegal methods; the
previous week’s bag had been 13. Supporters of
field sports believe the Hunting Act 2004 to be
unenforceable, poorly drafted, and riddled with
loopholes. Opponents say it is being ignored by
many of Britain’s 300-odd hunts.”

Blue Cross of India is cleared by the Central Bureau of Investigation

November 1, 2007 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2007:
CHENNAI–Notified by telephone on November 12, 2007 that it
had been completely cleared of allegations of fiscal impropriety,
the Blue Cross of India on November 29 was still trying to retrieve
files taken on September 28 by inspectors from the Central Bureau of
Investigation.
The CBI raid on the Blue Cross followed a series of raids on
the offices of the Animal Welfare Board of India and the homes of
current and former AWBI staff. Blue Cross of India chief executive
Chinny Krishna had served on the Animal Welfare Board in the past,
but not since the board was reconstituted after the election of the
present Indian national government in mid-2004.

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