COURT CALENDAR

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1993:

Animal Trafficking
Worldwide Primates propri-
etor Matthew Block, 31, of Miami,
drew 13 months in federal prison on April
17 for his part in arranging for six infant
orangutans to be smuggled from Indonesia
to the Soviet Union––the 1990 Bangkok
Six case. Hoping to win a plea bargain,
Block testified against three accomplices
and helped set up the January 26 arrest of
a Mexican zoo director for allegedly trying
to smuggle a gorilla. However, assistant
U.S. attorney Guy Lewis told U.S. district
judge James Kehoe that Block had never
fully cooperated with either investigation,
had lied about his degree of involvement
in the orangutan deal, and was still in
touch with smuggling associates. Block
now faces USDA action for allegedly
feeding primates at his facility spoiled
food, failing to provide water, and keep-
ing them in vermin-infested cages.

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Doberman deeds

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1993:

When a tiger abandoned her newborn cub recently at
the zoo in Chhat Bir, India, the zookeeper in desperation gave the
cub to his Doberman pinscher to nurse. After 17 days, both dog
and tiger were reportedly doing well.
Orphaned by Hurricane Andrew when his original fam-
ily lost their home and left him at the SPCA in Jefferson Parish,
Louisiana, a Doberman named Max found a new home with Ava
Mareno of New Orleans last October. On March 27, Max saved
her two-year-old daughter Brittany’s life by pulling away another
dog who was mauling her.

Wild Cats

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1993:

Genetic researchers trying to save
the highly endangered Florida panther on
April 9 recommended a shift away from cap-
tive breeding, the focus of present recovery
efforts. Instead, the team suggested, closely
related Texas cougars should be released into
panther habitat to diversify the gene pool by
natural means. Under the plan, panther kittens
would no longer be removed from the wild for
use in captive breeding, since their gene pool
is presently so narrow that the offspring would
be likely to inherit genetic defects.

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Oceans

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1993:

The International Whaling Commission commenced
its annual meeting in Kyoto, Japan, on April 19 as a throng of
1,000 demonstrators marched outside to demand an end to the cur-
rent global whaling ban, in effect since 1986. The IWC scientific
committee met during the last week of April to review current data
on whale populations, while the general commission meeting is
set for May 10-14. Japanese whalers, who already kill 300 minke
whales a year under the auspices of a government research pro-
gram, want to resume whaling on a commercial scale. Iceland has
already resumed commercial whaling, after qutting the IWC.

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Zoos & Aquariums

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1993:

Soon after Hurricane Andrew, the Miami Metro Zoo
mailed nearly a million appeals for emergency aid to members of ani-
mal protection groups and to subscribers to magazines about animals.
Zoological Society of Florida deputy director Cynthia Zeigler told
The Chronicle of Philanthropy recently that 27,675 people responded
within the first six months, donating $484,000––results so impres-
sive that TCPgave the story a full-page spread.
Organizing to obstruct attempts by the Shedd Aquarium
in Chicago to capture three Pacific white-sided dolphins off Santa
Catalina Island, California, the Whale Rescue Team claims to have
commitments for participation from the owners of 40 boats and two
aircraft. “The flotilla will use all nonviolent means necessary to pre-
vent the capture,” says Whale Rescue Team founder Peter
Wallerstein.

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Wildlife

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1993:

Interior Secretary Bruce Babbit announced April
15 that Georgia Pacific, the largest U.S. forest products com-
pany, has agreed to leave at least 10 acres of woods standing
around each colony of endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers
found on company land in Arkansas, the Carolinas, Louisiana,
and Mississippi. The deal protects 50,000 acres while allowing
Georgia Pacific to log the remainder of its 4.2 million acres of
southern timber.
The World Wildlife Fund has agreed to hire mem-
bers of the impoverished Hoopa tribe in northern California to
restore logged-out forests and eroded stream beds. The Pacific
Gas & Electric Co. has already provided 30,000 trees to the pro-
ject, which is expected to benefit bald eagles, peregrine fal-
cons, and northern spotted owls.

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Roddick tells AmEx to shed fur

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1993:

WEST SUSSEX, U.K.––Seeking
to build a progressive image, American
Express recently began airing television com-
mercials featuring British cruelty-free person-
al care products entrepreneur Anita Roddick,
whose Body Shop logo has become synony-
mous with conscientious capitalism. The
commercials describe how Roddick roams the
world in search of products whose ingredients
can be harvested from whole and healthy nat-
ural environments, such as the Amazonian
rainforest. It’s great publicity for The Body
Shop as well as for AmEx––and it came at a
price beyond dollars.

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Bill to stop wolf-strafing

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1993:

WASHINGTON D.C.––As he
promised he would last winter, Oregon Rep.
Peter DeFazio has introduced amendments to
the Airborne Hunting section of the Fish and
Wildlife Act of 1956 that would bar using
aircraft to kill native endangered or threat-
ened species on public lands––even for
wildlife management purposes. Support for
the bill, H.R. 1391, may be addressed to any
member of the House or Senate.

Postage hike to hit charities

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1993:

Third class nonprofit postal rates, used to
mail ANIMAL PEOPLE and most other humane infor-
mation mediums, are scheduled to take another big jump
in the fall, following increases of 80% over the past three
years. Further, President Clinton’s fiscal 1994 budget
proposes abolishing nonprofit third class privileges for
publications, such as ANIMAL PEOPLE, that contain
either advertising or political advocacy materials.
Nonprofit second class privileges would be removed from
periodicals devoting more than 10% of their space to
advertising (30% to 40% advertising is the usual periodi-
cal breakeven point). Letter-sized nonprofit mailing
rates, used chiefly for fundraising, may go up 32%, from
a current basic rate of 11.1¢ per piece to 14.7¢ apiece.
While the gradual reduction of nonprofit mailing subsidies
hurts all charities, some observers believe the higher rates
will most hurt organizations such as the Doris Day Animal
League, which were formed with the active participation
of commercial direct mail fundraising firms, and whose
programs consist largely of “public education” via letters
and bulletins distributed with funding appeals.
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