Guest column: Stop the war on wild horses! by Anna Charlton

March 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

A modern-day range war is underway on the vast

prairies of Nevada. Unless there is drastic and immediate

action, the casualty of this war will be the wild horse,

whom ranchers and bureaucrats seem determined to exter-

minate.

The wild horse is an enduring symbol of the

American west. The sight of a herd of these magnificent,

proud animals thundering across the open range evokes the

image of freedom. Responding to public outrage over the

slaughter of wild horses, Congress in 1971 passed the Free

and Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Act, which calls for

the protection, management, and control of all wild horses

and burros on public land. But despite this legislative pro-

tection, wild horses are still shot, poisoned, and rustled.

The greatest threat to their survival, however, comes from

the Bureau of Land Management––the agency Congress

entrusted as their guardian. The BLM appears intent upon

“managing” wild horses out of existence, to increase the

profits of cattle and sheep ranchers.

A fish named Alice by Margaret Hehman-Smith

March 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

I have an unusual animal I’d like to tell

you about: a fish named Alice who does tricks.

You don’t believe it? Everyone says that until they

see my fish for real. Then they admit they have

never seen a fish do that before; and then they

don’t know what to say or do. On the one hand

here is a koi fish who performs learned behaviors

on cue, and on the other, there is the suggestion

that we should regard fish as intelligent, sentient

beings, who don’t belong grilled on a plate.

My Japanese Imperial koi fish is sleekly

beautiful, pearl-white, 24 years old, about the

size of a small dog. She lives in a 100-gallon tank

in my den. She has been taught to ring a bell, go

through a hoop, react to hand signals, push a ball,

Early neuter: cruel or kind?

March 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

Cruel! by Leslie N. Johnston, DVM

There is a trend now to establish

what are called spay/neuter clinics at all of

the city and county animal pounds and at the

various so-called humane animal shelters all

across our country. The term spay/neuter is

incorrect use of the English language. The

simple term neuter is enough.

The people running these clinics

are also ignorant about neutering dogs and

cats. The trend now is to neuter the dog or

cat before he or she leaves the facility,

regardless of age (as early as six weeks of

age). To neuter a dog or cat this early is

cruel, inhumane, deceptive, and the most

sadistic vivisection that could be done to a

poor little animal.

LETTERS [March 1993]

March 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

Money and power

The feature article in your

January/February 1993 issue about the role

or non-role of minorities in the movement

was top-notch. I am proud to have worked

for seven years at the Michigan Humane

Society’s downtown Detroit facility, promi-

nently mentioned in your article as one of

the only major U.S. humane societies still

committed to serving animals and people in

an often dangerous environment where

needs are greatest. Some important facts

not noted in your article are that the MHS

has minorities on its board of directors and

in supervisory positions, and that its

Detroit-based charitable animal hospital

helps thousands of animals each year––pri-

marily at reduced cost, no cost, or with

extended payment plans. In my current

Letters

Editorial: How do you tell Brooklyn from the Balkans––or the Berkshires?

March 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

The editor, the publisher, and the animal control officer were perplexed. Sipping

mugs of coffee on a recent frozen afternoon, they compared notes.

“Jogging up the road here a few minutes ago,” the editor said, “I ran into a young

guy in camoflauge, carrying a gun. It’s not hunting season. There’s nothing he could legal-

ly shoot that would be out at this time of day. Then I saw three kids coming the other direc-

tion, and every one of them had a BB gun. The only animals they could be shooting at are

animals they’re killing just because they’re alive.”

“I moved my family up here from Brooklyn,” said the animal control officer, “to

get away from an environment of poverty and stress and kids with guns. But now that I’m

here, it looks just like the Balkans.”

Editorial: Surviving the long, cold winter

March 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

We knew this would be a long, cold, difficult winter. Here at the confluence of

the Berkshires, the Adirondacks, and the Green Mountains, winters are always long and

always cold. Bears stay in their dens. Deer and rabbits nibble bark. Coyotes prowl farther,

venturing into daylight to drag away half-frozen roadkills. Even the crows look lean,

reserving their caws for real occasions. Though free to come and go through a special kitty

door, the feral cats we’ve rescued huddle close to the basement heater. Several have even

moved into the house, sleeping with humans for apparently the first time.

Despite the length of the winter here, in the shadows of tall mountains that make

days short even in midsummer, despite the bitter Arctic blasts that turn our little hollow

into a wind tunnel, snapping off trees and driving our dogs inside within minutes no matter

how much they crave exercise, we felt six weeks ago as if spring was just around the cor-

ner. ANIMAL PEOPLE, we thought, was in great shape for such a young and risky ven-

ture. As indeed it is. Starting with only our own good names as collateral, we’ve built up a

respectable international circulation; distinguished ourselves for prompt, thorough, broad-

ranging coverage; become the periodical of record in the animal protection field.

When a horse needs help

March 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – –

Held the weekend of February 6-7, the First

International Conference on Equine Rescue

could have run days longer, in Rich Meyer’s

estimation. As horse expert for the

American Humane Association, Meyer

knows horse rescue ranks among most shel-

ter directors’ and animal control officers’

worst nightmares. First, there’s the sheer

size and strength of the animal to contend

with. Second, where there’s one starving or

abused horse, there are usually several.

Third, shelters set up to handle dogs and

cats usually don’t have facilities for live-

stock: big trailers, paddocks, pastures.

Their regular veterinarians tend to be small

animal specialists. And their budgets aren’t

easily stretched to accommodate the special

needs and appetites of equines.

Reprieve for Alaskan wolves, But the Yukon opens fire; Tourist boycott of Yukon, British Columbia, and Alberta underway

March 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

WHITEHORSE, Yukon, Canada –– Dispatched in near-secrecy circa

February 5 by the Yukon territorial government, a helicopter attack team will have killed

150 of the estimated 200 wolves in the Aishihik Lake region, and be heading home again

as ANIMAL PEOPLEgoes to press.

The scheduled 20-day mission was undertaken in direct defiance of international

appeals and threats of a tourism boycott. Protests held at various points in Canada and the

U.S. on February 8 were ignored by Yukon minister of renewable resources Bill Brewster.

Cutting euthanasia rates and choking puppy mills: THE CONTROVERSIAL CASE FOR THE NORTH SHORE ANIMAL LEAGUE’S UNCONVENTIONAL METHODS

March 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

PORT WASHINGTON, New York ––

According to the most recent tax records available from

New York state and the Internal Revenue Service, the

North Shore Animal League in 1991 contributed more than

$3.5 million toward the cost of neutering more than 220,000

cats and dogs; donated $2.4 million to 21 other animal shel-

ters and two veterinary schools; adopted out more than

43,000 animals; issued more than 41,000 free 30-day health

insurance policies to guarantee the well-being of animals

adopted out; vaccinated more than 41,000 animals; treated

more than 17,000 animals at an in-house veterinary clinic

(open 16 hours a day, seven days a week); and made

71,000 post-adoption contacts to insure that the animals

were neutered, well cared for, and well-adjusted in their

adoptive homes.

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