BOOKS: The Dogs of Windcutter Down

April 1, 2007 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2007:

The Dogs of Windcutter Down
by David Kennard
St. Martin’s Press (175 Fifth Ave., New York,
NY 10010), 2006. 277 pages, paperback. $24.95.

The Dogs of Windcutter Down is British sheep farmer David
Kennard’s sequel to his first book, A Shepherd’s Watch, which we
reviewed in the June 2006 edition of Animal People.
It is a nostalgic look at the vanishing traditional farming
lifestyle. Dog lovers will enjoy Kennard’s descriptions of sheep
dog trials, but the hardships of sheep farming may surprise many
readers. Besides long, arduous hours of working with sheep through
often miserable weather, Kennard laments the declining market value
of sheep, the intrusion of European Union bureaucracy at every
level, and the slaughter of millions of sheep and cattle in 2004 in
a failed government effort to halt the spread of hoof-and-mouth
disease without resorting to vaccination.

Socotra clinic

April 1, 2007 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2007:
U.S. Army captain Gwynne Kinley, Combined Joint Task
Force-Horn of Africa veterinarian and mission commander, in March
2007 directed a three-day seminar on animal health care for 30 women
from the villages of Qalanisah and Hadibo on Socotra, a Yemeni
island off Somalia in the Indian Ocean. Women are the main caretakers
for the estimated 150,000 goats and sheep on Socotra.
“It was important to have an all-female team,” U.S. Army
staff sergeant and civil affairs specialist Jennifer A. Brooks
explained to technical sergeant Carrie Bernard. specialist. “The
women in Yemen are usually completely covered, except for their
eyes, and do not socialize with men who are not family members.”
A local male veterinarian served as interpreter.
Bernard relayed the particulars and photo to ANIMAL PEOPLE
via Air Force News Agency Public Relations representative Gerry
Proctor, of San Antonio, Texas.

Ex-orang trainer Berosini loses again

April 1, 2007 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2007:
SAN FRANCISCO–The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on
February 6, 2007 upheld a lower court order that former Las Vegas
orangutan trainer Bobby Berosini owed $340,230 in legal fees and
interest to law firms representing former PETA executive director
Jeanne Roush.
The money was paid in May 2000, but Berosini appealed. The
appellate verdict appeared to end 17 years of litigation originating
in 1988, when PETA distributed a video clandestinely made by one of
Berosini’s employees, which showed Berosini striking an orangutan
backstage. Berosini won a $3.1 million defamation verdict against
PETA in 1990, but lost on appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court.

Jordan clinic opens

April 1, 2007 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2007:
Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan on March 19, 2007 opened
the Garden Sanctuary for Animal Welfare Center in Amman, to provide
free veterinary care to the animals of farmers and villagers.
Directed by Margaret Ledger, co-founder of the Humane Center for
Animal Welfare, the center will be funded for two years by the World
Society for the Protection of Animals, which has been active in
Jordan since 2004. The Brooke Hospital for Animals has operated an
equine clinic and a mobile unit in Jordan since 1988, and the
Society for Protecting Animals Abroad, involved in Jordan since
1991, now operates two clinics and four mobile units in Jordan.

Animal Rescue League of Boston closes five-year-old Pembroke shelter

April 1, 2007 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2007:
BOSTON–The Animal Rescue League of Boston announced on
February 28, 2007 that it will close the Pembroke Animal Care &
Adoption Center, only five years after completing it, at cost of $7
million.
Animal Rescue League president Jay Bowen, heading the league
since 40-year president Arthur Slade retired in December 2005, told
news media that the Pembroke shelter has lost more than $1 million a
year.

Letters [April 2007]

April 1, 2007 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2007:
“Dr. Bean” of Mdzananda clinic in South Africa

When Thobane Dolophini was ten years old, he investigated
the comings and goings of cats and dogs at Mdzananda Animal Clinic.
At the time, neither he or friends and family were aware that he
possessed an innate affinity and ability to care for sick and injured
animals.
Vet Mario van Rensburg nicknamed Thobane “Dr Bean,” and the
name has stuck.
Recalls Mdzananda director Jane Levinson, “In 2003, when
we did a spayathon, a very badly burnt puppy needed constant care
and nursing. Dr. Bean helped put this puppy on a drip. He nursed
the puppy, dressed the puppy’s wounds, and fed the puppy. Dr.
Bean saw the staff members involved in the spayathon and on his own
initiative, he cleaned the cages and gave the dogs in hospital clean
water and food. He also washed the floors of the clinic.”
Over the years Dr. Bean has quietly watched vets and vet
assistants clean, stitch, dress wounds, administer medication and
patiently explain proper animal care procedures to pet keepers. Even
though Thobane has a quiet and reserved manner, he has never needed
an invitation to do the same. His continued interest and hands on
approach to animal care has earned him the attention of the vets at
Mdzananda, who have become determined to further his education and
teach him clinical skills whenever they can.
Read more

Letters

BOOKS: Babylon’s Ark: The Incredible Wartime Rescue of the Baghdad Zoo

March 1, 2007 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2007:

Babylon’s Ark: The Incredible Wartime Rescue of the Baghdad Zoo
by Lawrence Anthony, with Graham Spence
Thomas Dunne Books (c/o St. Martin’s Press, 175 5th Ave., New York,
NY 10010), 2007. 240 pages, paperback. $23.95.

At the same time that ANIMAL PEOPLE received a web link to a
video clip of U.S. troops stoning an injured dog in early 2007, we
received a link to another video clip showing lions being released
from cages to kill and eat several donkeys, as soldiers cheered.
“Three times per week the zoo keeper buys donkeys to feed the
starving lions,” the caption said.
This is not how Earth Organization founder Lawrence Anthony
taught the Baghdad Zoo staff to operate, after making his way there
from South Africa because he thought the zoo animals might need help
after the U.S. military invaded Baghdad in May 2003.

Obituaries

March 1, 2007 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2007:

Tamara Monti, 37, from Lake Como, Italy, employed as a
dolphin keeper at Oltremare Park in Riccone, was fatally stabbed on
February 4, 2007 by neighbor Alessandro Doto, 35, who lived with
his parents in the flat above Monti’s. Doto, arrested at the scene
with the knife in his hand, claimed he was driven mad by the barking
of Monti’s two dogs while she was at work. Monti had worked
exceptionally long hours since September 2005, raising a grampus
dolphin named Mary G who was rescued with her mother from a June 2005
stranding. The mother died, but Mary G survived. Mary G refused to
eat after Monti’s death, however, and was in dire condition as of
February 20.

Obituaries

Animal obits

March 1, 2007 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2007:

Sled dogs Jewel, 5, running for Yuka Honda, Melville, 5,
running for Brent Sass, and Hope, 6, running for Kelly Griffin,
died between February 11 and February 21 in the 1,000-mile Yukon
Quest, the first dogs to die in the race since 2002. Jewel
reportedly choked on her own vomit during a team runaway when Honda
stopped to untangle several dogs just past the Braeburn rest point,
and her snow anchors failed to hold the team. The causes of death of
the others were unclear. All three were older than most racing
huskies. Read more

Obituaries

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