2001 pet theft log starts with a bang!-bang!

January 1, 2001 Archivist Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2001:

COLFAX, Louisiana–The ANIMAL PEOPLE pet theft log for 2001 started with a bang!-bang! on January 6 when an unidentified homeowner shot Stanley Brimzy, 21, twice in the chest as Brimzy was in the alleged act of stealing dogs. Alleged accomplices Larry Thomson, 19, and an unidentified 16-year-old were charged with obstructing justice for lying to Natchitoches Parish police about how it happened. Brimzy, in critical condition, was also to be charged–if he survives. The police did not suggest a motive for the alleged attempted thefts.

A record number of dog thefts for laboratory use resulted in criminal charges during 2000–but all of the alleged thefts were by the same accused perpetrator, former football coach Dan Shonka, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service on January 3, 2001 charged Shonka with defrauding greyhound stable owners of at least 341 retired racing dogs who were allegedly to be placed in homes as pets, but were instead sold to Guidant
Corp., of St. Paul, Minnesota, for use in experiments involving heart surgery. The 341 were among 850 greyhounds that Shonka sold to Guidant between 1996 and March 2000.

Shonka reportedly came under investigation by the USDA and the Wisconsin Division of Gaming as result of complaints filed by Susan Netboy, of the Greyhound Protection League. While the Shonka case features many dogs but only one suspect, the most publicized case of 2000 allegedly involved 11 students at Mojave High School in Las Vegas, who on September 27, 2000 stole only the English bulldog Blue, mascot of the football team at rival Centennial High. Some of the students allegedly then tried to make Blue fight a pit bull. Nine of the 11 defendants were convicted of related offenses before Christmas 2000.

Verified U.S. pet theft cases, 1978-2000
Years Perps Convct Dogs Cats Labs Hurt Save Scam Oth/Unk. Birds Herps
1978/87 8 0 49 1 45 2 1 2 0
1988/91 40 18 300 152 334 106 7 2 3
1992/93 33 11 193 27 77 81 50 2 10
1994/98 108 13 219 27 0 91 19 26 110 4683 88
1999 107 19 527 12 300 70 43 4 120 105 41
2000 134 15 548 15 341 31 11 11 168 282 35

Between 1978 and 1987 thirteen states repealed laws requiring public animal shelters to surrender impounded animals to research institutions. Attention to pet theft soared 1988-1991 after the first introduction of the bill which became the Pet Theft Act, adopted by Congress as part of the 1990 Farm Bill. The Pet Theft Act came into force on January 1, 1993. Vigorous USDA enforcement followed until April 19, 1995, when the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrow Federal Building in Oklahoma City killed Midwest Stolen Pet Task Force chief Richard Cummins and six of his staff. Rising
numbers of dog and cat thefts for lab use during the past two years may reflect a recovery of USDA ability to investigate and prosecute cases.

Thefts of birds and herpetological pets are not included in the totals pertaining to perpetrators and motives. The only common motive appears to be profit by illicit sale as pet.

People & Positions

January 1, 2001 Archivist Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2001:
People

Alley Cat Allies cofounder and former president Louise Holton, 59, is forming a new group called Alley Cat Rescue. Holton left Alley Cat Allies in November 2000; founding partner Rebecca Robinson remains as national director. Formed as a feral cat rescue group, Alley Cat Allies took the lead in introducing neuter/return to the U.S., nearly 20 years after it lastingly reduced feral cat populations in Kenya, South Africa, and Britain. Refocusing on “changing policies and educating public officials,” as the Winter 2000 Alley Cat Action newsletter explains, Alley Cat Allies grew faster in the last five years than than any other U.S.-based animal advocacy organization. However, Alley Cat Allies in December 2000 renewed commitment to hands-on care by accepting contractual responsibility for the care and sterilization of a large cat colony at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard. The colony had been supervised by shipyard worker Cynthia Moose, but was scheduled for extermination after other workers claimed the cats were a health hazard.

Former Royal SPCA chair and Animal Revolution author Richard Ryder has appealed to a British labor tribunal his recent dismissal as director of animal welfare for the International Fund for Animal Welfare, Daily Telegraph environment editor Charles Clover reported on January 13. Ryder contends that IFAW improperly jobs out organizational duties to overpaid U.S. affiliates, Clover wrote. Animal Revolution, first published in 1980 and reissued in 2000 in an updated edition, examines the history of animal protection in Britain. A review of the new edition is scheduled to appear in the March issue of ANIMAL PEOPLE.

Vegetarian activist Maureen Green and her husband Donald Green, board chair of Advanced Fibre Communications, have donated $1 million to enable the Humane Society of Sonoma County, California, to build a new veterinary clinic.

Elizabeth Quinlan Buzzi, 89, of Mobile, Alabama, deceased in June 2000, left more than $500,000 to the Mobile SPCA and Humane Society to fund dog and cat neutering and humane education. Mobile shelters killed 70 dogs and cats per 1,000 human residents in 1999, the most of any U.S. city.

Coaliton to End Primate Experimentation cofounder Linda Howard and former Farm Animal Reform Movement staffer Noam Lazarus, both now working independently for animals in San Antonio, celebrated their marriage on October 22, 2000 at the Texas Snow Monkey Sanctuary in Millet, Texas. The monkeys were guests of honor at the informal reception.

Hired:

Steven J. McCormick, president and CEO of The Nature Conservancy, succeeding the late John Sawhill;
Lynn J. Anderson, DVM, director of animal protection for the American Humane Association; Jean Cinq-Mars, executive director, Wildlife Habitat Canada; Julie Ann Ryan Johnson, DVM, director of the Orange County (Calif.) Animal Shelter; Rita Anderson, co-director, In Defense of Animals “They Are Not Our Property” campaign.

Verdicts

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2001:

Verdicts

Ruling on behalf of the Centre for Environmental Law and World Wide Fund for Nature-India, the Supreme Court of India on November 14, 2000 restrained all state governments and federal territories from removing from legal protection any part of the 526 Indian national parks and sanctuaries created by the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. The ruling was a blow to Indian wise-users, who hold like their U.S. counterparts that habitat protection “locks up” wealth.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on December 12, 2000 struck down as too vague a 1984 Arizona law banning the use of human fetal tissue in medical research. The Arizona law was the last of five–one federal, four at the state level–which impeded the use of tissue from aborted or miscarried fetuses as an alternative to some types of animal testing.
Filings

The Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, acting for the Center for Biological Diversity, in December 2000 sued the U.S. Navy for allegedly violating the Migra-tory Bird Treaty Act by using the Pacific island of Farallon de Medinilla as a target range. Enviro-watch founder Carroll Cox described the damage in a March 1997 ANIMAL PEOPLE, guest column, online at <www.animal-peoplenews.org/97/2/military.html>.

The Oregon Humane Society and Animal Legal Defense Fund on December 21, 2000 joined other agencies in a suit seeking to overturn Measure 3, an initiative approved by voters in November 2000 which prohibits the permanent seizure of property from alleged criminals in advance of conviction. A Washington County judge recently ruled that this means the shelters holding 50 animals seized in a mass neglect case may not offer them for adoption–even though
the case may remain in court for years.

The Alaska Wildlife Alliance and four other groups on November 27 asked the Anchorage Superior Court to declare, as AWA executive director Paul Joslin put it, “that the present single-use composition of the Board of Game is unconstitutional and unlawful.” Added Joslin, “Even hunters who profess a strong interest in nonconsumptive wildlife values have been summarily rejected” by the Alaska legislature the few times that governors have nominated any to the board.
Cruelty

Egg farmer Keith Amberson, 52, of Lake Stevens, Washington, was on December 8, 2000 fined $500, ordered to do 200 hours of community service, and barred from keeping animals for two years by Everett District Judge Tom Kelly. In both 1999 and 2000 Amberson allegedly abandoned whole flocks of hens to starve, claiming after many died that he was putting them through a forced moult. Some survivors were rescued each time by local sanctuaries, including Pasado’s Safe Haven, of Sultan, and Pigs Peace, of Arlington. (See ad, this page.) Pasado’s Safe Haven cofounder Susan Michaels and Washington state representative Sandra Romero are now drafting legislation which they hope will help prevent such situations by prohibiting forced molts.

Judge Joseph Steinhardt of the Central Warren Municipal Court in Belvidere, New Jersey, on October 17, 2000 fined the egg producer ISE America $250 plus $30 costs for alleged cruelty to two chickens found alive in a trash can by Farm Sanctuary cofounder Gene Bauston. The ISE America defense attorney sought immunity from prosecution under the New Jersey Right-to-Farm Act, whch pertains to waste disposal. Asked Judge Steinhardt, “Isn’t there a big distinction between manure and live animals?” Responded the defense, “No, your honor.”

Chicken Hut Livestock/ Halaal Farms slaughterhouse owner Aimen Soudi, 41, was jailed in lieu of $25,000 bond on December 27, 2000 in Gloucester County, Pennsylvania, after failing to appear in court on December 20 to answer seven counts of cruelty and neglect filed against him by the Gloucester County SPCA. USDA and local inspectors on November 20 reportedly found at least 21 lambs, goats, calves, rabbits, and chickens dead on the premises of apparent neglect, with dozens of others alive but severely malnourished.

The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service on November 15 fined the Oregon Zoo, of Portland, $10,000 for failing to prevent former elephant keeper Fred Marion from beating a five-year-old elephant named Rose-Tu so severely that she suffered 176 gashes. Marion was promptly fired, but won a severance settlement of $18,000 by filing a grievance through his union.

Transvestite “crush video” maker Thomas Capriola, 30, of Islip Terrace, Long Island, on December 6, 2000 pleaded guilty to misdemeanor cruelty to animals and fifth-degree possession of marijuana, and on December 22 was sentenced to serve 280 hours of community service with three years on probation. The plea bargain accepted by Suffolk District Judge Mark Zuckerman was far lighter than the 15 months in jail recommended by assistant district attorney Michael Mahoney.
Activism

The U.S. Supreme Court on November 13, 2000 agreed to review the extent of police officers’ liability in damage suits alleging use of excessive force, in a case brought by In Defense of Animals founder Elliot Katz, DVM. Katz, 60 at the time, contended that he was roughly handled by police in a potentially injurious way after he unfurled a banner protesting against animal experimentation during a speech by then-U.S. Vice President Albert Gore in San Francisco.

Supreme Judicial Court rattles author’s cage

January 1, 2001 Archivist Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2001:

BOSTON–Attorney Stephen Wise was on December 19, 2000 suspended for six months from legal practice by the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts for alleged misconduct involving the Primarily Primates sanctuary, located near San Antonio, Texas.

Wise, recently noted for his book Rattling The Cage: Toward Legal Rights For Animals, was also ordered to pass an examination on professional responsibility as a condition of readmission to the bar. Wise in 1992 represented Primarily Primates in refuting allegations of alleged mismanagment raised by ex-staff and volunteers. Wise then billed Primarily Primates for “more than $40,000 above his written estimate,” Primarily Primates president Wally Swett told ANIMAL PEOPLE, and “orchestrated what the Texas attorney general’s office referred to as a corporate overthrow attempt for my refusal to pay his bill without an audit.”

Public land hustles, north & south

January 1, 2001 Archivist Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2001:

Jeff Harris, executive director of People For The USA, announced in early December 2000 that the wise-use group would disband at year’s end and close its head office in Pueblo, Colorado. Begun in Oregon as the Western States Public Lands Coalition in 1989, it initially fought against protecting spotted owl habitat. A 1991 internal split following a move to Denver produced the Oregon Lands Coalition, while the founding entity became the National Coalition for Public Lands and Natural Resources; retitled itself People For The West a few years later; and became People For The USA circa 1998. It claimed to have 30,000 members, including 17 members of Congress, but was unable to raise annual operating costs of about $850,000, Harris said. The Utah state chapter, still active, is reportedly now affiliated with Frontiers of Freedom, formed by ex-Wyoming Senator Malcolm Wallop in 1995 to advocate for states’ rights.

Brazilian agrarian reform minister Raul Jungmann told media in early January 2001 that Felb Saraiva de Farias, who founded the conservation group Forever Green in 1991, “fooled European and U.S. citizens, selling them land that belongs to Brazil” as part of a buy-for-conservation scheme which continued even after de Farias was ousted from Forever Green in 1995. “We have asked the Brazilian intelligence service for help,” Jungman said.

Editorial: The White House and one little bird

January 1, 2001 Archivist Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2001:
“I am appalled,” Metro Humane Shelter founder Harrison Lloyd wrote to ANIMAL PEOPLE from Birmingham, Alabama, soon after the U.S. Supreme Court made George W. Bush the next U.S. President, “that you took a strong stand for the election of the Albert Gore/Joseph Lieberman ticket while slamming George W. Bush. You made a big issue of the fact that Bush killed one little bird in error, for which he paid a fine, but Gore and Lieberman are strong believers in murdering unborn human babies.”

Gore partisans accused us of Republicanism when from 1994 on we repeatedly pointed out his positions favoring Japanese, Norwegian, and Makah whalers. Gore backers were also ired when in 1999 we explained how many lab animals were to be killed as part of his High Production Volume chemical safety testing initiative. The HPV testing protocols were later amended, due to public protest, to use far fewer animals.

ANIMAL PEOPLE covers animal protection, as our title indicates. Abortion has never been within our scope, although we do not dismiss it as a moral issue.

Wildlife Waystation reopens; other big cat facilities are in big trouble

January 1, 2001 Archivist Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2001:

Closed to the public for nearly nine months by order of the California Department of Fish and Game for alleged permit violations, Wildlife Waystation resumed offering Sunday tours on January 7. Housing about 1,000 animals on 120 acres in Angeles National Forest, California, the Waystation is still not allowed to take in any new raptors, reptiles, so-called game mammals, exotic birds, or exotic mammals, and is still working to meet runoff water quality standards. Primatologist Donald Anderson in October joined founder Martine Colette and executive director Bob Wen-ners on the management team, as the Waystation’s first formally credentialed curator.

Chancellor Frank V. Williams III of Roane County, Tennesssee, in mid-December ruled for the second time that the Tiger Haven sanctuary near Knoxville is “inherently dangerous” and has therefore been in violation of zoning since 1993. Williams’ previous verdict was overturnedby the Tennessee Court of Appeals. Tiger Haven was begun by then-wife-amd-husband Mary Lynn Rickard and Joseph Donovan Parker. They reportedly separated in September 2000.

Maddie’s aims to fix vet shortage

January 1, 2001 Archivist Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2001:

NAPLES, Fla.; ALAMEDA, Calif.–Hoping to hire a fulltime veterinarian, Collier County Domestic Animal Services included a state-of-the-art neutering clinic and diagnostic lab in a $3.2 million new shelter opened on January 12 in Naples, Florida. Shelter director Jodi Walters thought she had offered a competitive salary and compensation package, with the balmy climate and beaches of the Florida coast for an added attraction–but no vet applied, she told Rachelle Bott of the Naples Daily News.

AVMA to retreat on killing methods?

January 1, 2001 Archivist Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2001:

SCHAUMBERG, Illinois–The overdue 2000 edition of the American Veterinary Medical Association Report of the Panel on Euthanasia may undermine shelter killing standards and anti-cruelty laws, warned Humane Society of the U.S. director of sheltering issues Kate Pullen in the November/December edition of the HSUS magazine Animal Sheltering. “Issued in June 2000,” Animal Sheltering warned, “the report is already in the final stages [of preparation for publication] despite unanimous rejection by the AVMA’s own House of Delegates.”

Nearly three months after the Animal Sheltering account went to press, the AVMA web page still lists the 1993 edition as current, and makes no reference to the 2000 update. And the faults Pullen noted in the draft report she saw remain troubling.

Retreating from the 1993 AVMA standards to positions traditionally favored by the fur and livestock industries, the draft
Report of the Panel on Euthanasia would allegedly have permitted shooting dogs and cats to death as a matter of animal control routine, not just in emergencies; would have eased restrictions on the use of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide gas chambers; would have conditionally allowed the electrocution of cats and dogs as well as foxes, mink, sheep, and swine; called manual suffocation by such means as standing on a trapped coyote’s chest “apparently
painless”; and accepted the use of body-crushing traps as an allegedly humane method of killing small mammals.

The draft Report of the Panel on Euthanasia was prepared at a time when pentaphenobarbital, the lethal injection drug of choice in U.S. animal shelters, had been in short supply for six months. The scarcity resulted from a shutdown of the only U.S. factory that makes the drug, for antipollution repairs ordered by the federal Environmental Protection Agency. Because of the shortage, some shelter directors agitated for permission to return to some of the killing methods of the
past–especially gassing, still used by many high-intake shelters because it allows staff to kill more animals, faster, with less personal involvement. The Animal Humane Society of Hennepin Valley, for instance, serving the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, annually gases 10,000 to 12,000 dogs and cats.

The 1993 Report of the Panel on Euthanasia approved of gassing under stringent conditions which are often not met. In Louisiana, for instance, the League In Support of Animals recently found that Vermillion Parish was killing animals
with water-cooled fumes from an automobile engine, a method deemed unacceptable for decades. The Vermillion Parish Police Jury in early December agreed to begin using a gas chamber that meets the 1993 AVMA standards. Even in the South, where shelter norms tend to lag, most shelters have quit gassing.

Jim Larmer, former animal control director in Augusta, Georgia, used a gas chamber until September 1998, when TV footage of asphixiating dogs caused former mayor Larry Sconyers to order an immediate end to gassing. Larmer continued to defend gassing, and after repeated clashes with Sconyers and his successor Bob Young over a variety of issues, finished his time to retirement on a forced long vacation.

Gassing went on at the Humane Educa-tional Society of Chattanooga until March 28, 2000, when shelter worker Vernon Dove Jr., 39, accidentally gassed himself. The gas chamber was then dismantled and the Humane Educational Society was fined $22,800 by the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

But many animal control shelters still use killing methods from the 19th century–with impunity. Animal control staff in
Rogers, Arkansas, for instance, on January 4 escaped charges for drowning cats in a 55-gallon drum between June 1996 and August 1998, when Washington County deputy prosecutor Matt Durrett ruled that they did not intend cruelty. The drownings were reportedly instigated by Rogers code enforcement chief Matt Matthews.

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