Jogger’s death starts puma panic

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1994:

COOL, California––Trail runner Barbara
Schoener, 40, a Placerville mother of two, on April 23
became the first human to be killed by a puma in
California since 1909, when Morgan Hill school teacher
Isola Kennedy, 38, and pupil Earl Wilson, 8, were
mauled by a rabid mountain lion. They survived their
wounds, but died of the rabies some weeks later.
Schoener, running alone in the Auburn State
Recreation Area, apparently unwittingly approached the
puma’s den. Wildlife officials killed the puma on May 1,
after several days of tracking, discovered she was a lac-
tating female, and rescued a male cub on May 4, who
will be donated to a zoo or wildlife park.

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Animal control & rescue

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1994:

Effective June 28, use of
live animals as prizes in drawings,
lotteries, contests, sweepstakes,
and carnival games is illegal in
Pennsylvania. The law exempts fish,
as well as domestic animals given
away in connection with state-spon-
sored or sanctioned agricultural and
vocational programs. The Pennsyl-
vania Legislative Animal Network
and state representative Jerry Nailer
had pursued the new law since 1989.
Michigan adopted a
felony cruelty law in late April.
The new law eliminates the old
requirement that an animal be owned
for abuse to be punished, which left
homeless animals unprotected, and
weighs offenses in terms of mali-
ciousness rather than in terms of
property damage. The maximum
penalty is now four years in jail and
a $5,000 fine per offense.

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Killing wildlife for fun & profit

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1994:

Austrian scientist Dr. Martin
Balluch, now at Cambridge University,
reportedly may be deported from Britain
because he opposes fox hunting. Letters of
protest may be sent to the Right Honorable
Michael Howard, Home Secretary, Home
Office, 50 Queen Anne’s Gate, London
SW1H 9AT, United Kingdom.
The winter of 1993-1994 was
among the harshest on record, forcing deer
to yard up sooner and stay yarded longer––but
early field reports indicate that few deer
starved despite hunters’ claims of deer over-
population. Wild turkeys were hard-hit, how-
eve––and may decline, warns National Wild
Turkey Federation representative Tom Baptie
of Castleton, Vermont, because undigested
grain from cow manure is a staple of their
winter diet, but anti-pollution laws now
restrict where and when manure can be spread.

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BOOKS: The Best Cat Ever

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1994:

The Best Cat Ever, by Cleveland Amory. Little Brown & Co.,
(1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020), 260 pages, $19.95 hardcover.
The Best Cat Ever, the third and final
volume of Cleveland Amory’s trilogy which also
includes The Cat Who Came for Christmas and The
Cat and the Curmudgeon, eulogizes Polar Bear and
the warm relationship Amory enjoyed with him for
15 years. Since an aging, arthritic cat, however
personable, cannot supply enough material alone
for an entertaining book of this length, Amory
includes a lot of gossipy humor about his school
days and Harvard years, recalled as he takes Polar
Bear to his major reunions. He recounts for us also
his career as a TV critic, his attempts to endure the
Duchess of Windsor as an employer for the biogra-
phy she wished him to write, and similar tidbits.

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OBITUARIES

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1994:

Aida Fleming, founder of the
Kindness Club, died on January 25 at age 97.
A longtime animal rescuer, inspired by the
example of Albert Schweitzer, Fleming began
the Kindness Club in 1959 with an essay contest
for school children. The pledge children take to
join has for many become a lifelong creed: “I
promise to be kind to animals, as well as peo-
ple, and to speak and act in defense of all help-
less living creatures.” Eulogized Paul Watson
of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, “My
brothers, sisters, and I were greatly influenced
by the Kindness Club. I attribute what I do,
and the fact that my brothers and sisters are also
anti-hunting, anti-fur coats, and very pro-ani-
mals, to the fact that we were all members of
the Kindness Club.” [The Kindness Club oper-
ates from 65 Brunswick Street, Frederickton,
New Brunswick, Canada E3B 1G5.]

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BOOKS: Keeping and Breeding Cockatiels, and Popular Parakeets: Australasian and Asian Species in Aviculture

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1994:

Keeping and Breeding Cockatiels, and Popular Parakeets: Australasian and
Asian Species in Aviculture, both by Dulcie and Freddie Cooke. Sterling Publishing
Co. (387 Park Ave. South, New York, NY 10016-8810), 1987, updated 1993, and 1989,
updated 1993, respectively. 159 and 149 pages, $14.95 each, paperback.
A newcomer to birdcare would not be
well-guided by these books, which are oriented
toward aviculture in England. Their contents are
essentially identical. Each addresses basic avian
health, nutrition, and reproduction. Each contains
a chapter on avian disease by veterinarian Alan
Jones. Each omits much important information.
The need for companionship, integral to a bird’s
well-being, is overlooked almost entirely, as are
the avian needs for routine, consistency, and
security. Avian behavior is not addressed at all.

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BOOKS: Cockatoos in Aviculture

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1994:

Cockatoos in Aviculture, by Rosemary Low. Sterling Publishing
Co. (387 Park Ave. South, New York, NY 10016-8810), 1993, 270 pages.
$24.95, paperback.
Rosemary Low is a highly respected aviculturist, who is also involved in
parrot conservation with the World Parrot Trust. In this informative volume she
emphasizes the intelligent nature of cockatoos and the importance of treating them
with respect. She writes, “The best aviculturists are those who try to put them-
selves in the place of their birds and consider what they would like if they had to
change places.”

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COURT CALENDAR

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1994:

Crimes Against Humans
Odd jobs man Joseph Bales,
33, and Helene LeMay, 31, a mail-
order vegetarian diet consultant, were
charged April 19 with illegally disposing
of their 10-week-old infant’s remains in
the woods near Eastman, Quebec, a
short drive from their St. Romain home,
and then filing a false kidnapping report
in New York City to cover up for the
baby’s death. Their story fell apart within
hours. An autopsy seemed to confirm
their story that the baby died of natural
causes, as there were no evident signs of
abuse or malnutrition. They did not
report the death, they said, because they
feared they would be charged with abuse,
after having been accused last year of
abusing a mentally retarded foster child.

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Gorilla case was frame-up ––McGreal

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1994:

MIAMI, Florida––Victor Bernal, 57,
director of zoos and parks for Mexico state,
Mexico, was convicted on May 18 of trying to
bootleg a gorilla from Florida who was actually a
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agent in disguise.
Bernal paid $97,500 for the “gorilla,” in one of
two stings set up by convicted primate trafficker
Matthew Block of Worldwide Primates as part of
an attempted plea bargain. The other sting
nabbed alleged bird’s egg smuggler Clement
Solano.
Bernal is to be sentenced on July 18. In
the most recent similar case, a Texas exotic bird
dealer who was convicted of smuggling parrots
was on April 28 fined $10,000 and sentenced to
five years in prison.

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