BOOKS: In The Name of Science

December 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1993:

In The Name of Science:

Issues In Responsible Animal Experimentation

by F. Barbara Orlans, Oxford Univ. Press (200 Madison Ave., NY 10016)

1993, 304 pages, $39.95.

Christine Stevens of the Animal Welfare

Institute describes In The Name of Scienceas being “writ-

ten for scientists by a scientist.” Stevens is technically

right, as Barbara Orlans is certainly a respected scien-

tist––a former heart disease researcher at the National

Institutes of Health, now a physiologist at Georgetown

University––and she is primarily addressing her col-

leagues. But Orlans’ lucid writing is easily accessible to

anyone who might read ANIMAL PEOPLE, and ought

to be read by anyone who wants to be conversant on the

use of animals in science.

BOOKS: Wild Wild West & Vanishing Species

December 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1993:

Wild Wild West: Wildlife Habitats of Western

North America, by Constance Perenyi. Sasquatch

Books, (1931 2nd Ave., Seattle, WA 98101), 1993, 40

pages, $8.95 ($11.95 Canada).

Vanishing Species: the Wildlife Art of Laura

Regan, written by Michelle Minnich, researched

by Laurie Ann Macdonald. Cedco Publishing (2955

Kerner Blvd., San Rafael, CA 94901), 117 pages, $19.95.

FURRIERS STRUGGLING

December 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1993:

If fur is making a comeback, it isn’t evident in the retail price index kept by

ANIMAL PEOPLE editor Merritt Clifton since 1988. The volume of fur merchandise

advertised in the greater New York metropolitan area as of Fur Free Friday 1993 was identi-

cal to 1992, as was the average price, excluding sable. The advertised volume of sable,

the highest-priced fur, was up fivefold, with the average price up from $25,000 to

$38,750––but the advertised volume of mink held steady, while the average mink price was

down 30%. “They’re in a steep slump and swinging for home runs to compensate,” Clifton

said. “Mink is traditionally 80% of their trade, but they aren’t picking up new customers

even at steep discounts, so they’re trying to buy sable low from the cash-strapped former

Soviet republics and sell it high to the handful of customers they’ve kept.” It’s too early to

project sales figures for the whole winter, Clifton continued, with the Christmas and

Valentine’s Day sales periods still ahead, “but so far there’s no sign that increased fur adver-

tising expenditures are significantly paying off. They’re just spending more money to stay

where they are.” Just before the fall fur ad blitz began, Evans Inc., accounting for roughly

10% of U.S. retail fur sales, reported a second-quarter drop of 7.4% in same-store sales as

compared to last year.

Horses

December 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1993:

University of Minnesota re-

searcher Julie Wilson will present a paper to

the American Association of Equine

Practitioners this month asserting that 840

racehorses suffered fatal breakdowns on U.S.

tracks in 1992––one for every 92 races.

Further, Wilson says, 3,566 horses––one

every 22 races––were so severely hurt they

were unable to finish the events.

New York City’s five-year-old

carriage horse protection law is to expire at

the end of this month. Following the defeat of

incumbent mayor David Dinkins, who vetoed

a previous attempt to weaken carriage horse

protection, counsellor Noach Dear has intro-

duced a bill to increase the horses’ work week

to 70 hours, abolish most of the safety and

humane provisions of the current law, and

allow the carriages to re-enter heavy traffic.

They are now restricted to Central Park. “To

see a carriage horse marooned in New York

City traffic is to see a 19th century artifact

cruelly transported into a 20th century night-

mare,” The New York Times editorially

responded.

Biomedical research, teaching, and testing

December 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1993:

The report in our November issue

that a George Washington University team

had cloned human embryos was in error,

based on an erroneous article in The New York

Times. What the researchers actually did was

achieve artificial embryonic cell division,

which creates the possibility of conceiving

twins via in vitro fertilization.

Veterinarian/astronaut Dr. Martin

Fettman on October 30 performed the first

dissections in space, assisted by Dr. Rhea

Seddon, aboard the space shuttle Columbia.

Diet & Health

December 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1993:

Unhealthy diet follows smoking as

the leading cause of preventable death i n

the U.S., according to a new study co-

authored by Dr. Mcihael McGinnis, deputy

assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of

Health and Human Services. McGinnis is

responsible for designing U.S. disease pre-

vention strategy. Preventable deaths account

for about half of the U.S. death rate. The

study appeared in the Journal of the American

Medical Association.

AGRICULTURE

December 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1993:

The USDA on November 5

approved the sale of milk produced with the

use of a genetically engineered bovine

growth hormone, bovine somatotropin,

effective when a Congressionally imposed

moratorium expires February 3. In the interim,

the anti-genetic engineering Foundation on

Economic Trends and small dairy farmers are

trying to form a national boycott of dairies that

buy milk from BST users. The potential

impact of BST is indirectly illustrated by newly

released statistics showing California is the top

dairy state in the US., with only 2,000 farms

and 1.2 million cows, compared with 29,000

farms and 1.5 million cows for Wisconsin, the

runner-up. Most Wisconsin farms are family-

run; most California production comes from

mega-scale factory farms, whose cows may

never go outdoors or taste fresh grass. BST is

expected to tilt farm economics further in favor

of the factory farmers.

Pit bull murder rap a national first

December 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1993:

CLEVELAND, Ohio––After nine

hours of deliberation, a Cleveland jury on

November 23 convicted unemployed welder

Jeffrey Mann, 36, of murder for siccing a pit

bull terrier named Mack on his live-in girl-

friend, Angela Kaplan, 28, during a quarrel

on the night of September 2, 1992.

Following mandatory sentencing guidelines,

Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court

Judge Linda Rocker imprisoned Mann for 15

years to life.

It was the first-ever U.S. murder

conviction in which an animal figured as the

weapon. Mack bit Kaplan more than 70

times, almost exclusively on the undersides

of her arms. Afterward, she bled to death on

a living room sofa while Mann purportedly

slept in the family bedroom.

Swett keeps Primarily Primates

December 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1993:

SAN ANTONIO, Texas––Conclu-

ding that charges of mismanagement against

Primarily Primates founder and president

Wallace Swett were much less serious than he

had been led to believe, Texas assistant attor-

ney general John Vinson on November 16

dropped a petition to remove Swett from the

sanctuary in exchange for structural conces-

sions. To improve oversight, Swett is to

expand the present five-member board to

seven members, of whom four must live with-

in 100 miles of the San Antonio facility. In

addition, Primarily Primates will no longer be

a membership-controlled organization with

Swett as the sole voting member, which in

effect gave him veto power over the board.

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