Horses

July 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1994:

Responding to an appeal from Brigitte Bardot,

Belgian interior minister Louis Tobback on June 13 banned the

controversial Krombeke trap-horse race––as well as any demon-

strations that might be held to gloat over the victory. Held on

slippery cobblestone streets, the race resulted in frequent injuries

to horses and drivers. Tobback, who said he’d always dreamed

of getting a letter from Bardot, last year banned a similar race at

nearby Sint-Eloois-Winkel.

Six-time Canadian Olympic equestrian Ian Millar,

of Perth, Ontario, on May 30 announced the retirement of Big

Ben, the 18-year-old Belgian he rode in three Olympics. Ben,

whom Millar began jumping in 1983, was the first North

American show jumper to win more than $1.5 million, achieving

40 grand prix victories; led Canada to the 1987 Pan American

Games gold medal; and won back-to-back World Cups.

Summer Book Reviews

July 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1994:

The Cats of Thistle Hill, by Roger Caras.

Simon & Schuster (1230 Ave. of the Americas, New

York, NY 10020), 1994. 236 pages. $22 hardcover.

An excellent book for youngsters who demand to

know why they cannot have as many pets as they like, The

Cats of Thistle Hill is a melange of feline biographies,

information about the origins of the species and current

breeds; hints on the care, feeding, and behavioral problems

of cats; and anecdotes about the other animals on Thistle

Hill Farm, which seems to be less a farm than an animal

refuge. Roger Caras, now president of the American SPCA

and formerly an ABC television personality, apparently

maintains the fiction of farming as a front for animal rescue.

AGRICULTURE

July 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1994:

At deadline Washington D.C. sources believed

a Justice Department probe of accusations that Agriculture

Secretary Mike Espy improperly accepted free travel, foot-

ball tickets, and other favors from the Tyson poultry empire

would end without charges being filed. However, Bob

Gottsch, a leading Nebraska cattle feeder, on June 14 sued

Espy for $22 million in damages, alleging Espy unfairly

favored poultry over beef in strengthening sanitary require-

ments for beef slaughterhouses without likewise regulating

poultry slaughterers. Ironically, Espy was editorially hit the

same week by The New York Times for purportedly favoring

beef by exempting hamburger from a requirement that meat

product labels must accurately describe fat content.

Despite recent improvements, the USDA meat

inspection system “is only marginally better today at pro-

tecting the public from harmful bacteria than it was a year

ago or even 87 years ago when it was first put in place,”

General Accounting Office food and agriculture chief John

Harmon told Congress on May 25.

Captive wildlife

July 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1994:

The Audubon Institute in

Algiers, Louisiana, broke ground June 1 for

the $15 million Audubon Center for

Research of Endangered Species, a high-

tech laboratory intended to complement the

adjacent Freeport-McMoran Audubon

Species Survival Center. The next planned

Audubon facility, an insectarium to be built

in the French Quarter of New Orleans, is

getting a mixed reception from future neigh-

bors, but appears certain to be approved by

municipal authorities, in part because it is

expected to attract 600,000 visitors per year.

Singapore on May 23 opened

Night Safari, a $38 million state-of-the-

art zoo for nocturnal species. The facility

has already achieved successful breeding of

18 of the 43 resident species, including the

russet-coated Asian wild dog, the fishing

cat, the Malaysian tapir, and the striped

hyena. The zoo took seven years to build.

ANIMAL HEALTH

July 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1994:

Zoonosis

Tests by the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit have

concluded that the only sure way to prevent allergic reactions

to cats is “to remove the cat from the home,” Dr. Charles

Klucka recently told the American Academy of Allergy and

Immunology. “The next best thing is keeping the cat out of

the bedroom,” while the cat owner takes allergy drugs or

shots. Bathing cats in distilled water, applying a topical

spray 60 times per week, and giving them low-dose tranquil-

izers, all touted as antiallergen treatments, did not reduce the

dander of the 24 cats included in the Ford Hospital study.

Ten thousand volunteers in Connecticut, New

Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, and Wisconsin are field-

testing a Lyme disease vaccine developed by Connaught

Laboratories, following up on a 1992-1993 test that included

300 people. Preliminary data published in the June 8 edition

of the Journal of the American Medical Association showed

that levels of Lyme antibodies increased fourfold in 23 of 24

volunteers who participated in a limited test in Albuquerque,

none of whom suffered serious side effects. A rival firm,

SmithKline Beecham PLC, is reportedly also close to testing

a vaccine for Lyme disease, which afflicts about 10,000

Americans a year, and has been found in 44 of the 50 states.

Woofs and growls

July 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1994:

It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy (not!)

U.S. Surgical Corporation chairman Leon Hirsch, 67, was

sued on June 16 by his former housekeeper, Gizella Biro, 40, for alleged-

ly keeping her in virtual sexual slavery from November 1989 until May of

this year. Hirsch is noted in animal protection circles for funding pro-vivi-

section groups and for having purportedly set up an alleged assassination

attempt on himself in 1988 to discredit antivivisectionists. Biro’s husband

of 20 years, former U.S. Surgical groundskeeper Denis Sebastian, made

similar allegations to acquaintances during his divorce from Biro in 1990,

while Biro formally charged Sebastian with sexual abuse. According to

Biro, a Romanian immigrant who lived next door to Hirsch in a million-

dollar mansion that Hirsch provided, and drove cars furnished by Hirsch,

she was forced abouty once a week to have non-consensual sex with Hirsch

and sometimes his wife, U.S. Surgical executive vice president Turi

Josefson, as well as with other women. Biro further alleged that Hirsch

sexually asaulted her two daughters, whose education Hirsch paid for,

along with her friend and fellow former housekeeper, Eva Kale, whom

Biro invited to join the staff. Kale is reportedly preparing a similar suit.

Biro is asking $21 million to drop her charges, all of which Hirsch denies.

Animal control & rescue

July 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1994:

Consistent with previous studies done in

Portland and Minneapolis, which have found that

German shepherds make up about 14% of the canine popu-

lation but do about 27% of the biting, a Denver study of

178 first-time biters and 178 nonbiters issued June 9 by the

Centers for Disease Control found that German shepherds,

chows, and collies were the dogs most likely to attack; the

least likely were golden retrievers and poodles. Only one

pit bull terrier, a nonbiter, was included in the sample.

Despite the frequency of German shepherd bites, which

may reflect their frequent use as sentries, the ANIMAL

PEOPLE log of dog attacks causing death or serious injury

indicates that German shepherds are responsible for under

2% of the attacks in those categories, while pit bulls,

Rottweilers, and wolf hybrids together account for 79% of

the deaths and 92% of the maimings.

Anti-rodeo vet was performer

July 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1994:

BURLINGTON, Vermont– –

“I raced two of my horses at local

rodeos,” veterinarian Peggy Larson

recalls of her youth in North Dakota,

“and often rode other people’s horses in

races. I also rode bareback bucking

horses for two years at local rodeos.

Once I rode a steer. Damned near killed

myself.”

Now an outspoken rodeo critic,

Larson remained involved in rodeo long

after becoming a veterinarian. “Duane

Howard, a national champion bull and

saddle bucking horse rider, was a client

of mine,” she recalls. “He was retired

from rodeo because of a serious injury

which left him partially deaf and ataxic.

He also rode in the same small town

rodeos where I rode.”

Animal control & rescue

June 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1994:

Effective June 28, use of

live animals as prizes in drawings,

lotteries, contests, sweepstakes,

and carnival games is illegal in

Pennsylvania. The law exempts fish,

as well as domestic animals given

away in connection with state-spon-

sored or sanctioned agricultural and

vocational programs. The Pennsyl-

vania Legislative Animal Network

and state representative Jerry Nailer

had pursued the new law since 1989.

Michigan adopted a

felony cruelty law in late April.

The new law eliminates the old

requirement that an animal be owned

for abuse to be punished, which left

homeless animals unprotected, and

weighs offenses in terms of mali-

ciousness rather than in terms of

property damage. The maximum

penalty is now four years in jail and

a $5,000 fine per offense.

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