What is brewing in Milwaukee?

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1995:

Victoria Wellens, executive director of the Wisconsin Humane
Society, wrote to ANIMAL PEOPLE to object to our September item, “What’s
Brewing in Milwaukee?”, which summarized a dispute over accountability
between WHS and the Wisconsin Animal Protection Society.
She especially objected to the line, “Wellens, hired at $90,000 a year
in mid-1994 despite having no background in animal work, recently ired both
staff and outside critics by trading in several vehicles used to haul animals and
supplies for a $28,000 Ford Bronco, from which animals are barred.”
“The figure you quoted for my salary is false and grossly inflated,”
Wellens claimed. In fact, though the higher figure has been published by
Milwaukee media, she makes $70,000––close to the national average for comparable
positions. “Further, the Ford Explorer [similar to a Bronco, but bigger] used by law enforcement officers is well-suited to our needs and did not cost
$28,000. Animals are not barred from any WHS vehicle.” The actual sticker
price was $24,602, knocked down to $12,124 with the trade-ins.

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Animal control & rescue

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1995:

The city council of San Jose, California,
on August 29 approved a plan to turn all pet-related
licensing and complaint response duties over to the
Humane Society of Santa Clara Valley, which has
already handled pickups of dead, injured, or vicious
animals since 1993. The society will be paid $3.5
million to provide the services over the next 22
months. The San Jose cat licensing program, the
revenues of which support neutering strays, meanwhile
started fast, with 850 registrations in July
alone, well ahead of projections that about 3,000 cat
owners would comply with licensing in all this year.
HSSCV licensing manager Feryl Bird said that while
the neutering program is too new to see a decline in
stray cat pickups yet, the rate of increase in San Jose
is already lower than in neighboring communities.

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Dog attack deaths and maimings by breed

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1995:

Dog attack deaths and maimings by breed
U.S. and Canada, September 1982 to September 15, 1995
Compiled by the editor of ANIMAL PEOPLE from press accounts since 1982, this table covers only
attacks by dogs who have been kept as pets, who are of clearly identified breed type, as designated by animal control
officers or others with evident expertise. Due to the exclusion of dogs whose breed type may be uncertain, it
is by no means a complete list of fatal and otherwise serious dog attacks. Attacks by dogs trained specifically to
fight are excluded. “Attacks doing bodily harm” includes all fatalities, maimings, and other injuries requiring prolonged
hospitalization. “Maimings” includes permanent disfigurement or loss of a limb.

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Children & Animals

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1995:

Barbara Carr of Buffalo, New York, executive director of the
SPCA Serving Erie County, attended the non-governmental forum at the
recent United Nations World Conference on Women, held in China. “I put
forth that the marriage of humane education to literacy is as old as history,”
she said, “and that we have taught children and societies values and morals
through stories about animals from Aesop to Walt Disney. I outlined the link
between violent treatment of animals and violent treatment of women and
children. The other delegates easily saw the point.”
A recent Illinois Department of Conservation telephone survey
of 504 state residents found that only 22% approved of fur trapping and
27% approved of fur hunting––and 50% hadn’t heard of the agency. After
hearing a series of statements favoring fur trapping and hunting, however,
which seem to have exaggerated wildlife nuisances, 46% approved of fur
trapping; outright disapproval of fur trapping dropped from 71% to 46%.

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Bad dogs or bad dog laws?

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1995:

“Our Potentially Dangerous Dog ordin
ance is under serious attack here in Portland,”
reports Multinomah County Animal Control director
Dave Flagler, whose online screen name is Dog Byte
1. “There is a move to test the constitutionality of the
ordinance because the ordinance requires that some
behavious warrant the destruction of the dog.”
Leader of the opposition Gail O’Connell Babcock
argues that, “The current law does not accurately
identify dogs who truly represent potential hazards to
the community. MCAC should no longer be permitted
to serve as police, prosecutor, and judge,” in
dogbite cases. “The law should be revised to empha
size rehabilitation and training. Mediation should
precede any contested hearing. If mediation fails, the
dispute should be resolved in a real court, not a kangaroo
court.” Other players in the dispute, both
members of the Portland Animal Control Advisory
Committee, include Patti Strand and Roger Troen.

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Animal rescue abroad

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1995:

A wide-ranging new anti-cruelty bill
introduced in Victoria state, Australia, on
September 7 by agriculture minister Bill McGrath
would give greater powers of intervention to prevent
cruelty to police, Royal SPCA, and state government
inspectors; extend the definition of animals to cover
fish and crustaceans; apply to the use of animals in
reasearch; remove religous-based exemptions to
existing laws governing the humane slaughter of fowl;
and ban the transport of untethered dogs in the backs
of trucks and trailers unless they are helping to move
livestock. The provisions pertaining to aquatic life,
McGrath said, are “not intended to intrude on existing
commercial practices in the fishing industries, but
will enable inspectors to investigate the transport and
display of crayfish and the preparation of fish and
crustaceans for the table.”

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A WHALE OF A TALE FROM INSIDE HSUS

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1995:

WASHINGTON D.C.––Fired on
August 11, according to one Humane Society
of the U.S. senior executive and numerous
staff, HSUS vice president for investigations
and legislation David Wills remains officially
“on administrative leave,” amid an apparent
board-level power struggle.
ANIMAL PEOPLE sources within
HSUS indicate that HSUS president Paul
Irwin and some board members want Wills
out; John Hoyt, president of Humane Society
International and Wills’ longtime patron, purportedly
wants to keep him. HSI is the
umbrella for HSUS and numerous affiliates.
HSUS/HSI board chair O.J. “Joe”
Ramsey is said to be heading a probe of accusations
that Wills misused funds and sexually
harassed subordinates. A corporate attorney
in Sacramento, California, Ramsey has
served on the HSUS board since 1975; his
arrival roughly coincided with that of Irwin.
Ten days after the September edition
of ANIMAL PEOPLE detailed complaints
against Wills by many current and former
HSUS staffers, we received a letter from
Washington D.C. media lawyer Stuart
Pierson, charging we had made “defamatory
and false statements about Mr. Wills” by
“asserting that Mr. Wills was fired.”

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HSUS anti-hunting except…

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1995:

Animal Rights America board member Stuart
Chaifetz charged via the Internet on July 15 and August 20
that the Humane Society of the U.S. had retreated from
anti-hunting policy by endorsing deer culls at three New
Jersey state parks––Black River State Park in 1992; the
Watchung Reservation in 1993, where sharpshooters rather
than sport hunters did the killing; and Lewis Morris State
Park this year. Chaifetz said HSUS regional representative
Nina Austenberg had asked him to cancel a hunt sabotage at
Black River, and had ratified the Watchung and Lewis
Morris culling plans.

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Is it time for Helen Jones of ISAR to retire?

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1995:

CLARKS SUMMIT, Pennsylvania–– Dave
Sickles says he moved to northern Pennsylvania, at his own
expense, on the promise of an “executive level position”
starting August 1 with the International Society for Animal
Rights. But when he reported for duty, Sickles says, ISAR
founder and president Helen Jones told him he wouldn’t be
hired, because there was purportedly nothing for him to do.
Yet, Sickles continues, there was plenty for him to
do in the weeks preceding his purported hiring date, when he
fulfilled ISAR assignments as a volunteer. Once in late June,
Sickles avers, he bought a case of white wine on Jones’
instructions at a local liquor store, using an ISAR charge
card. On several occasions, Sickles asserts, he witnessed
Jones having “five glasses of wine for lunch.” As a volunteer,
he says, he shared office space with “sixty or seventy
cats, many of whom were sick and dying.” And Sickles
claims he saw other signs of bizarre behavior by Jones,
including bouts of fear of venturing outside, called agoraphobia,
that were so severe she could scarcely cross the street.

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