Letters [Sep 2008]

September 1, 2008 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2008:

Turtles

I had my tickets ready to fly to Bali for the 2008 Asia for
Animals conference, but was forced to stay back, as I had to take
care of around twelve types of endangered tortoises in a pond
constructed some 700 years back by a king for his people inside the
premises of the Hargrib Mahdab Temple, around 40 kilometers from my
home.
The Kamrup deputy commissioner, with funding from the prime
minister, in April 2008 constructed a five-foot-high concrete wall
around the pond, preventing the tortoises from coming to the shore
of the pond to bask in the sun and laying their eggs. They developed
fungal infections from staying inside the pond continuously, with
water leeches feeding on them. Fifteen tortoises died recently
within one months time. Three hundred fifty coconut trees around the
pond were felled in the name of beautification, so there was no
shade for the tortoises, and the pump for a fountain installed
within the pond made the water even hotter.
Read more

Letters

Off-exhibit secrets of troubled zoos

September 1, 2008 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2008:
UBUD, GIANYAR–The Bali Zoo, featuring
exhibits from which animals often “go walkabout,”
might be described as emphasizing form over
substance.
Occupying a six-acre forested ravine in a
residential neighborhood in Singapadu, a suburb
of Ubud, the Bali Zoo has been described by
tourism media as a “hidden jewel”–and it is, at
a glance.
A closer look reveals
species-inappropriate exhibits, neglect of
animal health, and potentially deadly accidents
to visitors and neighbors lurking just around
many of the bends of the zoo’s winding paths.

What does leadership transition mean for WSPA?

July 1, 2008 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2008:
LONDON, MONTREAL–Whatever future
direction the World Society for the Protection of
Animals takes, it will not be for much longer
under Peter Davies, the WSPA director general
since September 2002.
ANIMAL PEOPLE on July 17, 2008 obtained
a copy of a WSPA document entitled “Chief
Executive Search,” which WSPA board members have
apparently distributed to prospective applicants.
Stating that “The current Director General is due
to retire from office in June 2009,” the
document outlines the qualifications that the
WSPA board hopes to find in potential successors.
Among 15 enumerated attributes of “an
ideal chief executive,” according to the “Chief
Executive Search” criteria, only two even
mention animal advocacy.
Point #9 is that the “ideal chief
executive” will “have a developed belief in
animal advocacy and citizen involvement in the
public arena as a force for change.”

Activists & Organizations

Obituaries [July/Aug 2008]

July 1, 2008 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2008:
Dave Maehr, 52, a University of Kentucky professor known
for his work on Florida panther conservation issues, was killed on
June 20, 2008 along with citrus grower and pilot Mason Smoak, 33,
when Smoak’s light plane crashed after takeoff at the Placid Lakes
Airport in Highlands County, Florida. Maehr and Smoak, a prominent
member of the Florida Farm Bureau Federation, were doing an aerial
survey of the Highlands County black bear population.

Obituaries

Animal Obits

July 1, 2008 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2008:
Tony, 17, a chimpanzee who escaped from the Keeling Center
for Comparative Medicine and Research on March 21, 2008, was
fatally shot by University of Texas police officer Paul Maslyk, 43,
after Maslyk disregarded warnings from the capture team to stay in
his car, according to police reports and witness statements obtained
in July 2008 by Joshunda Sanders of the Austin American-Statesman.
Wrote Sanders, “Maslyk told police investigators that after he
watched Tony take the tranquilizer gun and break it, the chimp
headed toward him… Fearing for his safety, Maslyk said he twice
shouted, ‘I’m gonna shoot,’ in accordance with UT police policy,
and then fired. Maslyk lost his footing, the police report says,
and continued to shoot at the chimp as the chimp passed him.”

Obituaries

San Francisco supervisors consider turning S.F. Zoo into wildlife rescue center

July 1, 2008 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2008:
SAN FRANCISCO–The San Francisco Board of Supervisors are to
decide in September 2008 whether to convert the zoo, one of the
oldest in the U.S., into a wildlife rescue center.
“Supervisor Chris Daly proposed the measure six months after
a tiger escaped on December 25, 2007 and fatally mauled Carlos Souza
Jr., 17, of San Jose,” San Francisco Chronicle staff writer
Marissa Lagos reported on August 8, 2008.
As drafted, “The measure would make animal welfare a
priority at the zoo,” Lagos wrote, “and would require that any
future acquisitions be rescued animals, including those who were
abused or were confiscated by law enforcement after being illegally
owned or imported. The zoo would be barred from acquiring new
animals ‘unless the needs of all animals currently at the zoo have
been met.’ Some breeding programs for endangered animals would be
allowed to continue.”

Arsons boost bill that would inhibit access to info about animal research

July 1, 2008 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2008:
SACRAMENTO–Firebombs detonated on a porch and in a home
belonging to University of California at Santa Cruz researchers in
the early morning of August 2, 2008 are believed to have given a big
late-in-session boost to AB 2296, a bill which would allow
universities to withhold the names of animal researchers from public
documents.
Introduced in February 2008 by state assembly member Gene
Mullin (D-San Mateo) at request of the University of California
system, AB 2296 “would make it a misdemeanor to harm or intimidate a
researcher who works with animals, including publicly posting the
names, photographs, home addresses and home telephone numbers of
researchers online or elsewhere. Anyone convicted under the
legislation could face up to a year in county jail and fines up to
$25,000. The bill also allows researchers or their employers to seek
an injunction against animal rights advocates or web sites publishing
their photos or personal information,” summarized Santa Cruz
Sentinel staff writer J.M. Brown.

BLM talk of killing wild horses coincides with efforts to restart horse slaughter

July 1, 2008 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2008:

RENO–The September 2008 meeting of the
National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board may
discuss killing unadopted wild horses, Bureau of
Land Management deputy director Henri Bisson
disclosed to Associated Press on June 30.
“There are an estimated 33,000 wild
horses in 10 Western states,” assessed
Associated Press writer Martin Griffith. “About
half of those are in Nevada. The agency has set
the target appropriate management level for wild
horses at 27,000. About 30,000 horses are in
holding facilities.
“Last year,” Griffith continued, “about
$22 million of the BLM horse program’s $39
million budget was spent on holding horses in
agency pens. Next year the costs are projected
to grow to $26 million within an overall budget
that is being trimmed to $37 million.”

Bizarre backstory to South Korean dog cloning

July 1, 2008 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2008:
SEOUL, LONDON–Animal advocates scrambled on August 5, 2008
to more fully identify the background of a woman named Bernann
McKinney, who paid $50,000 to RNL Bio of Seoul, South Korea to
clone her deceased pit bull terrier.
At a press conference in Seoul, held to announce the
cloning, the woman cuddled five pit bull puppies and claimed that
the deceased pit bull had once saved her life when she was attacked
by a much larger dog–but no record of the incident could be found. Read more

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