Author: Dylan Forest

Bardot going bust?

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, Jan/Feb 1994:

French actress-turned-
activist Brigitte Bardot has fired
longtime Brigitte Bardot Foundation
head Liliane Sujansky, replacing
her with antivivisectionist Stephane
Charpentier at the recommendation
of her husband of 18 months,
Bernard d’Ormale––a close friend
and advisor to Jean-Marie Le Penn,
head of the far-right National Front
Party. Contributions to the founda-
tion have fallen by two-thirds since
the marriage. Most of the falloff is
attributed to the cancellation of four
episodes of the foundation’s S.O.S.
Animaux television program after
Bardot denounced the slaughter of
sheep during the Islamic feast of Aid
el Kebir in terms many members of
the substantial French North African
community considered racist.

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Christmas poll

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, Jan/Feb 1994:

A nationwide Los
Angeles Times poll of 1,612
adults, taken December 4-7 and
published Christmas Day, found
that 54% of Americans oppose
sport hunting, including 65% of
women, 41% of men, and 60%
of people ages 18-29; 50%
object to wearing fur, including
58% of women, 40% of men,
and 57% of people ages 18-29;
and 47% agreed with the state-
ment that, “Animals are just
like humans in all important
ways,” including 52% of women
and 61% of people ages 18-29.

IPPL budget typo

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, Jan/Feb 1994:

A typographical error
resulting because the “$” sign and
the “4” are on the same key of our
computer keyboard added $400,000
to the direct mail costs ($480,051)
that we reported the International
Primate Protection League allocated
to program services on its 1992 IRS
Form 990, in our December resume
of the budgets, assets, and salaries
paid by the 50 leading national ani-
mal and habitat protection groups.
That’s $52,000 more than the total
IPPL budget. The correct figure
was $80,051. The percentage we
gave for IPPL spending on non-
fundraising programs, 58%, was
accurate.

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AGRICULTURE

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, Jan/Feb 1994:

World meat production is up from
177.2 million tons in 1990 to 184.2 tons in
1993, says the Intergovernmental Group on
Meat, an industry task force. Cattle produc-
tion slid from 54.3 million tons to 52.8, but
pork is up from 69.7 million tons to 73.8, and
poultry is up from 39.9 million tons to 44.2.
Total production in developed nations fell
from 104.2 million tons to 100.6, due mostly
to declines in the former USSR, but produc-
tion in developing nations jumped from 73
million tons to 83.6 million––an expenditure
of soil and water resources many of them can-
not afford to make.

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Are purebreds really more prone to genetic disease?

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, Jan/Feb 1994:

Purebred dogs may be increasingly susceptible
to genetic disease due to inbreeding, but one apparent
proof the Humane Society of the U.S. presented in the
September 1993 edition of its Shelter Sense newsletter
was not necessarily any such thing.
A special edition on “Purebreds and pet over-
population,” the issue featured articles by assistant editor
Julia Miller and HSUS vice president for farm animals
and bioethics Michael Fox, who backed the recent HSUS
call for a voluntary moratorium on dog and cat breeding
by linking the pursuit of breed standards to congenital
health problems. Illustrating their articles was a table
compiled by the Canine Genetic Disease Information
System at the University of Pennsylvania entitled
“Number of Genetic Disorders or Genetic Susceptibilities
to Disease Recognized in the Dog 1928-1988.”

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ANIMAL HEALTH

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, Jan/Feb 1994:

The Farm Bureau, Cattleman’s Association, and
Eastern Milk Producers Cooperative are backing a New York
state bill to let farmers vaccinate their own cattle against rabies,
as is allowed in 36 other states including the adjoining states of
Vermont and Pennsylvania. The bill is opposed by the New York
Veterinary Medical Society. The farm groups claim it would help
curb rabies by cutting vaccination costs. The veterinarians
respond that vaccinations improperly done provide no protection.
The tick-borne disease tularemia has reappeared in
southeastern Pennsylvania, a decade after causing two human
fatalities in the same area. The disease usually hits rabbits,
killing them within four hours; both the Pennsylvania victims had
just killed and dressed rabbits. Tularemia can also kill dogs and
cats who have contact with infected rabbits.

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Guest column: Let’s cut a deal on feral cats

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, Jan/Feb 1994:

by Petra Murray
New Jersey Pet Overpopulation Solutions
To catch and kill or to neuter and release
are issues we have been battling over for quite
some time now. Many of us feel very strongly in
support of one approach or the other, and most
likely will not convert to the other viewpoint––so
where do we go from here?
I think it really has to sink in just how
enormous the feral cat problem is. We are talking
of somewhere between thirty and sixty million cats
nationwide––10 to 20 times as many cats as are
handled by all shelters and rescue groups combined
right now. If these numbers really hit us in the
face, we must acknowledge that even if we were
in 100% agreement over how to deal with this situ-
ation, we’d have our hands full for a very long
time. Without compromise and joint cooperative
effort, we can’t begin to make serious headway.

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Letters [Jan/Feb 1994]

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, Jan/Feb 1994:

Shelter work
Last night on my way
home from work, an hour’s ride on
public transportation, I read your
November editorial about the terrible
emotional turmoil people who work
at animal shelters go through.
Though I was riding in public, I
could not hold back my tears. I per-
sonally could not work in an animal
shelter, even as a volunteer. The
last time I adopted two cats from the
SPCA, I didn’t look long (my late
husband too.) We picked the two
cats fast, and got out. I wonder how
people can work day in and day out
in such a depressing atmosphere. I
admire thosed people for what they
do, but I will be honest and admit I
would be sick all the time.
––Marion Friedman
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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Editorial: No tears for this croc––well, cayman

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, Jan/Feb 1994:

The call came late November 16. Westchester Wildlife Sanctuary rehabilitator
Barry Rothfuss needed help in placing a five-foot-long, cross-tempered female cayman, a
close relative of a crocodile, who’d spent her whole life in a pet store aquarium. He’d taken
her in to keep the proprietor from shooting her, as she’d grown too dangerous to handle.
“I can keep her maybe 24 hours,” Rothfuss explained, his six-month-old daughter
in his lap and the cayman nearby, her mouth held shut with duct tape. “I’m not set up to
keep a high-risk animal, or any animal who needs a heated environment, and I don’t know
anything about caymans, but I thought I could at least give her one more chance.”
Two years ago Rothfuss spent a month dodging the law with a few dozen orphaned
raccoons he had immunized against rabies. The New York wildlife department had ordered
rehabilitators to euthanize all raccoons in their possession, ostensibly to slow the spread of
rabies. Rothfuss hid out until he could get the message across that his raccoons were no
threat––and wound up appointed to the state advisory commission on rabies.

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