ANIMAL CONTROL & RESCUE

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1992:

Montgomery County, Virginia, on November
10 became the first East Coast community to enact a
comprehensive anti-pet breeding ordinance. Similar to
ordinances recently passed in San Mateo County,
California, and King County, Washington, the ordinance
cleared the county council by a 6-0 vote after language
requiring private breeders to license each animal individual-
ly was removed. Anyone who allows pets to reproduce now
must buy a breeder’s permit, the permit number must be
listed in ads offering to sell or give away the offspring, and
the newborn animals must receive vaccinations. The licens-
ing fee for unaltered dogs and cats will be increased by an
unspecified but substantial amount, while the licensing fee
for animals who have been altered will remain $6.00. Each
license is good for three years. The ordinance also enables
the county to sterilize any dog or cat found roaming at large
at least three times in a calendar year. Whether the ordi-
nance can be enforced is still a matter of debate. A compli-
cating factor is that Montgomery County veterinarians
reportedly charge some of the highest prices for spay/neuter
found anywhere in the U.S.––$200 and up––and even dis-
count coupons available through the county humane society
cost as much as $70. Free coupons are available to low-
income pet keepers.

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Animal Damage Control thrown out of New Mexico: WOULDN’T CHECK TRAPS

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1992:

ALBUQUERQUE –Living up to an old
promise, State Land Commissioner James Baca on
November 16 evicted the federal Animal Damage
Control program from New Mexico because the adminis-
trators wouldn’t agree to make ADC coyote trappers
check their traps at least once every 48 hours.
The eviction order covers six to eight million
acres of state-owned land, much of which is leased to
sheep and cattle ranchers. As environmental and animal
protection groups applauded, ranching groups called for
Baca’s ouster.

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Helping pets keep homes

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1992:

ALBANY, N.Y.––The Whiskers Animal
Benevolent League spays, neuters, and finds homes for
cats––and also helps both cats and dogs to stay in their
homes by helping pet keepers locate housing .
“One of our volunteers works exclusively on hous-
ing,” co-president Sue Mahar told ANIMAL PEOPLE.
Whiskers sees this as a priority because inability to find
housing that will accommodate pets is one of the leading
reasons why people surrender their pets to animal shelters.
“People call us with needs, and we research listings,”
Mahar continued. “We call every ad that doesn’t specifically
say ‘no pets.’ We also have an ad running continually in the
local real estate paper, and make contacts with rental agen-
cies. We’ve found that in a lot of apartment and condomini-
um complexes, they will accept pets if you can provide
some references, some places you’ve lived with the pets
where the landlords haven ‘t had problems.”

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Andrew aftermath: The hurricane is over, but the storm goes on

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1992:

MIAMI, FLORIDA–– First came Hurricane
Andrew, devastating south Florida and tearing a path of
destruction along the northern edge of the Gulf of Mexico
all the way to Louisiana. In the wake of the August 24
storm, animal rescuers impressed the world with prompt,
professional response. Observers including New York Times
correspondents, military personnel, and coordinators of
relief for human disaster victims praised––and sometimes
envied––what they saw.
“Noah was there!”, ANIMAL PEOPLE declared.
Then came exhaustion and frustration. In some
instances the need for help dragged on months longer than
public attention remained focused on the plight of the vic-
tims, both human and animal. Donations were fewer, as
were accolades. Combat fatigue soon followed. In other
cases, individuals who gained a sense of meaning and self-
worth from helping out insisted on continuing to “help” long
after their efforts ceased to be useful––and felt hurt when
told to go home.

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Diet & Health

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1992:

Trained on a vegetarian diet by former come-
dian Dick Gregory, challenger Riddick Bowe cut his
weight from 272 pounds to 235, then beat Evander
Holyfield out of the world heavyweight boxing champi-
onship November 13––but celebrated with a meal of fried
chicken. Holyfield’s training diet was heavy on turkey
sandwiches. Fight commentators included defending
world cruiserweight champion Bobby Czyz, who revived
a struggling career after becoming a vegetarian several
years ago. (Other boxers of interest to animal people
include former three-time world heavyweight champion
Muhammed Ali, an outspoken critic of sport hunting,
and former heavyweight champion George Foreman, who
harbors numerous once abused animals adopted from
shelters and sanctuaries, where he makes a point of ask-
ing for, “The ugliest, the ones nobody else will want.”

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Guest Column: Wildlife Ballot Initiatives And Why They Fail by Dena Jones Jolma

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1992:

The initiative process is the most difficult and expensive approach to reforming
wildlife management at the state level. Opponents of wildlife management reform,
including the powerful National Rifle Association and Wildlife Legislative Fund of
America, are willing and able to spend in excess of one million dollars to defeat individ-
ual state initiatives. These groups have been successful in turning around public opinion
on issues such as banning steel-jawed leghold traps by financing intense media cam-
paigns.
Not since 1930 in Massachusetts have voters approved a trapping ban in a
statewide election. On this past Election Day, the voters of Arizona turned down a ban
on use of steel-jawed traps on public lands by a three-to-two margin. With that vote,
Arizona joined Oregon (1980) and Ohio (1977) as states where trapping bans have failed
in recent years.

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Letters [Dec. 1992]

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1992:

Who Pays for FoA Spay/Neuter?
In your October and November
issues, you mentioned that Friends of
Animals has underwritten lowcost spaying
and neutering. As one of the veterinarians
whose practice participates in the FoA pro-
gram, I can tell you that the people who
“underwrite” this program are the veterinar-
ians who accept the imposed rate for the
surgery. FoA collects the money, issues
the certificates, and keeps $9 of the total
fee for this service. For example, they col-
lect $39 for a cat spay, then pay us $30.
Our regular rate is $51, so we underwrite
the discount by accepting $21 less for the
surgery. At one time FoA endeavored to
force participating veterinarians to include
DHL, parvo, and psuedoleukemia vaccina-
tions at no additional charge, but backed
off this demand when, I suspect, partici-
pating veterinarians fled the program.
––Joanne V. Baldwin, DVM,
Richmond, Virginia

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Editorial: Veterinarians are animal people too

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1992:

Veterinarians, as a profession, have a morale problem. It’s not that they don’t love
their work; most do. Dropouts from veterinary work are few, while competition to get into
veterinary schools is intense as ever. The morale problem comes, rather, from feeling
unappreciated. And it isn’t just a matter of not getting enough pats and tail-wags from happy
patients. Increasing numbers of veterinarians are having trouble meeting the sometimes con-
flicting demands of maintaining ethical standards and making a living.
Today’s veterinarians are acutely conscious of ethical issues involving animals.
Witness the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons’ recent stand against docking dogs’ tails
(see page 14); the 1991 survey of University of Missouri veterinary graduates that found
nearly half believe animals have rights and four-fifths believe leghold traps are cruel; the
widespread participation of veterinarians in the Friends of Animals and Spay U.S.A. dis-
count spay/neuter programs; and the emergence of two vet-based animal protection soci-
eties, the American Association of Veterinarians for Animal Welfare and the Association of
Veterinarians for Animal Rights. Volunteers from both were among the first rescuers on the
scene in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew.

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Editorials: Thanksgiving with ANIMAL PEOPLE

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1992:
The process of writing this editorial was interrupted when a gunshot cracked
through our woods at dusk. Rushing out to intercept a suspected poacher, I met Buddy, the
“pit bull terrier” who lives up the hill, limping up the road at great speed from the direction
the shot came. Actually an apparent Rottweiler/terrier cross, Buddy is about the color of a
deer, and it wasn’t hard to guess what had happened. But whoever fired the shot got away.
Sidling past me, uninterested in any more encounters with anyone but his family, Buddy
trotted on home. I watched him go, hoping the limp was from stumbling over something in
his haste to escape, rather than from a bullet.
As I checked the mailbox on my way back inside, five minutes later, our neighbor
came running down the hill, shouting for help. Expecting to hear of a wounded dog, I
heard instead of a mauled baby. Buddy apparently ran into the house and curled up with
something to chew, by way of settling his nerves. The five-month-old baby reached for it.
Buddy bit, just once, but hard.

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