Author: Dylan Forest

Twin Cities societies merge

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2007:
ST. PAUL–The three largest humane societies serving the
Minneapolis-St. Paul area merged, effective on January 1, 2007,
becoming a single entity with five shelters, more than 200 workers,
a combined annual budget of about $8.5 million, net assets of $23.1
million, and as yet no unified name. Former Animal Humane Society
of Golden Valley president Martha McPhee heads the new organization.
Former Humane Society for Companion Animals director Janelle Dixon
will direct operations. The third partner in the merger is the
Greater West Humane Society.
“We all worked together after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita,”
said McPhee. “We realized that with collaboration we could do much
more. This merger is driven by our mission.”

ASPCA honors

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2007:
Humane Farm Animal Care founder Adele Douglass, 60, has
received the American SPCA Lifetime Achievement Award. Douglass
handled animal welfare issues as a longtime aide to former New York
City member of the House of Representatives Bill Green, then for 13
years represented American Humane in Washington D.C. Starting
American Humane Farm Animal Services in 2000, Douglass left to found
HFAC at the end of 2002. HFAC is now the largest U.S. program
certifying humane livestock production.
The ASPCA also honored Oklahoma pet sterilization advocate
Ruth Steinberger and Marley & Me author John Grogan, and recognized
firefighters Richard LaPiedra, Thomas Piambino, Thomas Sullivan,
and John Cashman for several daring dog rescues.

Chimp Haven sued by founding executive director

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2007:

SHREVEPORT–Chimp Haven founding executive director Linda
Koebner and eight co-plaintiffs in early December 2006 sued founding
president Linda Brent and board chair Tom Butler for allegedly
mismanaging the chimpanzee retirement colony “in violation of that
corporation’s purpose, to the detriment of the animals residing at
Chimp Haven, and to the detriment of fundraising and additional
grant opportunities on which Chimp Haven must rely to survive.”
Opened in 2003, Chimp Haven currently houses 89 former
laboratory chimps under contract with the National Institutes of
Health. The chimps belong to the NIH and technically could be
recalled to research use, but there has been little lab demand for
chimpanzees for more than 20 years.

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Closing stray kennels to the general public reduces adoptions, increases killing

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2007:
Closing stray kennels to the general public
reduces adoptions, increases killing

by Bill Meade, founder, Shelter Planners of America
It is common for some shelters to maintain stray kennels
which the public are not allowed to enter, unless they say they have
lost a specific type of animal.
This is done because of concern that people may claim animals
who are not theirs; because the staff may be burdened with having to
explain that certain animals are not ready for adoption; because
explaining why an animal must be euthanized may be awkward; to
protect the public from bites; and to reduce the spread of disease
by keeping people from touching animals.
However, when an animal shelter prevents stray animals from
being seen–and touched–by the public, the shelter reduces the
number of interactions that may lead to the animals being adopted.
Failing to give each animal maximum exposure to the adopting public
can lead to avoidable killing.

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Hauler is banned for life in alleged racing greyhound adoption scam

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2007:

 

The Arizona Department of Racing on December 19, 2006 issued a
lifetime ban from involvement in the Arizona greyhound industry
against Richard Favreau of Calhan, Colorado, for failing to
account for more than 140 greyhounds he took from the Tucson
Grey-hound Park between Nov-ember 2005 and July 2006.
Owners of retired racing dogs paid Favreau $150 apiece to
find adoptive homes for them. Greyhound Protection League president
Susan Netboy believes at least 177 dogs are missing. Only six of
Favreau’s purported adoptions have been verified.
“The animals may have been killed for profit,” wrote Arizona
Department of Racing director Geoffrey Gonsher.

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Javelinas claim a U.S. desert home

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2007:
TUCSON–Encountering a dozen peccaries during a dawn walk
with her three Chihuahuas on December 7, 2006, Tracy Gordon, 34,
of Tucson, was bitten, knocked down, and trampled. One Chihuahua
was critically injured. Another suffered a large bite on the neck.
Arizona Game & Fish Department information and education
program manager Tom Whetten suggested that the javelinas were
protecting younger members of the herd.
Gordon “did exactly what she was supposed to do by getting
those dogs under control,” Whetten told Enric Volante and Jeff
Commings of the Arizona Daily Star.

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ALDF/AWI case reinstated

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2007:

SAN FRANCISCO–The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on
November 22, 2006 reinstated a lawsuit seeking to compel the USDA to
adopt guidelines governing primate care in zoos and laboratories.
The Animal Legal Defense Fund, Animal Welfare Institute,
and three individuals filed the case in 2003, after the USDA refused
to implement regulations which would have required non-human primates
to be housed in social groups, and be given toys to provide mental
stimulation.
The lawsuit alleges that the USDA violated the intent of
Congress in passing 1985 amendments to the federal Animal Welfare Act
that recognized the social nature and intelligence of dogs and
nonhuman primates. The case was dismissed by a federal district
court, but the Court of Appeals sent it back for further review.

Primate Freedom Project wins museum building verdict

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2007:
MADISON, Wisc.–Dane County Judge Sarah O’Bean ruled on
November 28, 2006 that the Primate Freedom Project holds a legal
contract to buy a building located between the National Primate
Research Center and the Harry Harlow Primate Psychology Laboratory.
Both labs are operated by the University of Wisconsin.
O’Bean ordered owner Roger Charly to complete the sale to
retired California physician Richard McLellan, for the specified
price of $675,000. Charly is expected to appeal.
Primate Freedom Project founder Rick Bogle moved to Madison
in 2004 to renovate the building into a planned National Primate
Research Center Exhibition Hall, expected to become a rallying point
for opposition to primate experiments.

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CDC spends $3 million on animal care upgrade

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2007:
ATLANTA–“The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
has spent $3 million on animal care improvements since last year,”
Associated Press medical writer Mike Stobbe reported on November 16,
2006, after the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of
Laboratory Care International “threatened to revoke its approval for
the way the CDC treats lab animals.”
Among other violations of AALAC standards, Stobbe wrote,
“Faulty sipper tubes left some monkeys with no access to water,
leading to the dehydration death of an owl monkey and a rhesus monkey
in 2004. A rhesus monkey was mistakenly killed in 2005 because of
record-keeping and communications problems. Three rhesus monkeys
were given a deadly combination of anesthetic and analgesic
medications. The doses were consistent with published guidelines,
but killed the monkeys, leading to the CDC adopting new standards.

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