A Project of Animal People, Inc., 1992-2013
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July-August 2013:
Raising millions of animals per year in close confinement for decades longer than most other nations, The Netherlands has correspondingly had much more experience than almost anywhere else with how contagious diseases spread among large herds and flocks in close quarters. Read more
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July-August 2013:
by Alexandra Semyonova
Probably most people recognize that every dog breed results from human manipulation of inherited physical traits. Until recently, most people probably also recognized that much dog behavior is also a result of manipulating inheritance: if you want to do sheep trials, you get a border collie. If you get a beagle, he will likely become instantly deaf to your calls if he picks up a scent to track. Read more
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July-August 2013:
PORTLAND, Oregon––Does castration really make male dogs less dangerous? The return of an injectible zinc gluconate chemosterilant to the U.S. market––Zeuterin, formerly called Neutersol––has rekindled a debate that most of the humane community, most veterinarians, and probably most people involved with dogs in any way thought was long since settled.
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July-August 2013:
PORTLAND, Oregon––“I think we will get a single-injection contraceptive product for dogs and cats, but when, and at what cost?” rhetorically asked Linda Rhodes, DVM from the plenary podium at the June 20-23, 2013 Alliance for Contraception in Cats & Dogs conference in Portland, Oregon.
That was what most of the audience of about 150 researchers, animal advocates, and news media had come to find out. Read more
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July-August 2013:
LIMERICK, Ireland––“Some of you who have been to our show over the last few days may have noticed that we no longer have lions and tigers in the show,” Tom Duffy’s Circus owner David Duffy posted to Facebook on June 21, 2013. Read more
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July-August 2013:
WASHINGTON D.C.––Are U.S. federal horse policies pivoting toward an end to horse slaughter and greater tolerance for wild horses on the western range, or toward a revived horse slaughter industry as “final solution” for perceived wild horse overpopulation?
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July-August 2013:
SAN MATEO, California––Local humane society presidents rarely criticize national humane organizations and even less often jump into farmed animal issues, at risk of alienating meat-eating donors, but Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA president Ken White on May 30, 2013 bucked convention on both points. Read more
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July-August 2013:
Dogs most often listed for sale or adoption 2010 2011 2012 2013 Avg. Ppltn.
Large retrievers 8.7% 5.2% 8.2% 8.2% 7.6% 5.3 m.
Pit bull class 4.1% 3.3% 4.6% 6.0% 4.5% 3.2 m.
Small terriers 2.2% 2.1% 2.1% 5.2% 2.9% 2.0 m.
Collie class 1.3% 2.2% 3.4% 4.1% 2.8% 2.0 m.
Poodles 1.4% 2.0% 2.8% 2.8% 2.3% 1.6 m.
Setter class 1.0% 2.3% 2.3% 3.6% 2.3% 1.6 m.
German shepherds 1.7% 1.4% 2.3% 2.1% 1.8% 1.3 m.
Spaniels 1.2% 2.0% 2.0% 2.0% 1.8% 1.3 m.
Beagles 1.2% 1.2% 2.3% 2.0% 1.7% 1.2 m.
Chihuahuas 2.4% 0.7% 0.4% 2.6% 1.5% 1.0 m.
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July-August 2013:
Letters
Corrections: Saving Baby
The printed version of Debra J. White’s May/June 2013 review of the book Saving Baby: How a woman’s love for a racehorse leads to her redemption, by JoAnne Normile with Larry Lindner, contained several errors which were corrected in the electronic editions. Normile was 43, not 36, when she became involved in horse racing. She was 36 when she got her first horse, seven years earlier. The review misattributed to Normile a direct quote which came from another trainer who was trying to talk Normile into using the illegal drug in question. Normile did not use the drug. The horse Baby suffered an irreparably broken leg, as the review mentioned, but did not “crash” as the term is used in horse racing, as he did not fall. The incident allegedly occurred due to a poorly maintained track surface. Normile is the founder of the national racehorse rescue organization CANTER, not just a volunteer. The last 104 pages of the 263-page book focus on how Normile founded and built the organization. But the horse Scarlett, mentioned in the review, was not among Normile’s rescues. ANIMAL PEOPLE apologizes for the many mistakes.—The Editor
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Sacrifice, rhino horn poaching, & elephants
Concerning the May/June 2013 ANIMAL PEOPLE editorial feature “Ag-gag laws & changing frameworks of perception,” the message to be conveyed is that killing––either for food or for religion––is wrong. Unfortunately, when I talk to Hindus about animal sacrifice, they ask why the Government of India grants the annual Bakri Id holiday for Muslim animal sacrifices. And I cannot ask Muslims why because this is politically incorrect. Read more