San Francisco adopts no-kill animal control: WILL DECLARING VICTORY WIN THE WAR?

May 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1994:

SAN FRANCISCO, California––Euthanasia for animal population control offi-

cially ended in San Francisco effective April 1. Taking San Francisco SPCA president

Richard Avanzino up on a challenge issued last October, the city Department of Animal Care

and Control has agreed it will no longer euthanize any dog or cat who meets Avanzino’s

“adoptable” and “treatable” criteria. The SFSPCA has agreed to accept, treat, and place all

such animals. The agreement is expected to cut by two-thirds the number of euthanasias per-

formed by the city shelter: 5,379 in 1993, already by far the smallest number of euthanasias

relative to human population of any major urban animal control district.

High-volume adoption: THE NORTH SHORE ANIMAL LEAGUE HAS MONEY–– BUT THEIR METHODS DON’T TAKE MEGABUCKS

May 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1994:

PORT WASHINGTON, New York––At 10 a.m. on a

Friday morning, the North Shore Animal League adoption center

is already as crowded as most shelters ever get. The familiar ken-

nel odor assails the nostrils at the door––and stops one step

beyond. Shelter manager Michael Arms wrinkles his nose and

winces. “That’s very embarrassing,” he says. “That’s the only

place that stinks, and it’s right at the entrance. We think there’s

a problem with that drain,” he adds, pointing. Staff architect

Steve Preston looks uncomfortable. “We’ve had all kinds of guys

in here trying to sort it out,” Arms continues, “and we won’t

stop until we get it fixed, because we think it’s very important

that the adoption center smells clean and fresh. We don’t want

people walking in and thinking, ‘Oh my God, if I get a pet my

house is going to stink.’”

As the tour moves on, Preston lingers behind to peer at

the offending drain in evident frustration.

Fur

May 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1994:

The Animal Welfare Institute, the World Society

for the Protection of Animals, and the Nordic Animal

Welfare Council won an upset victory on February 11 at the

International Standards Organization Technical Committee 191

meeting held in Ottawa when the committee voted to delete the

word “humane” from the description of the standards the com-

mittee is developing for submission to the European

Community. If the word “humane” had been used, the effect

might have been to circumvent the EC ban on the import of furs

trapped by inhumane methods, including the leghold trap. The

committee also agreed to admit representatives from the

American SPCA and Humane Society of the U.S.; AWI had

been the only animal protection group included in the trapper-

dominated U.S. delegation. ANIMAL PEOPLE regrets that

this information was inexplicably received nearly two months

after our March issue went to press.

Horses

May 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1994:

Wyeth-Ayerst spent $9.2 million to push the estro-

gen supplement Premarin in 1992, according to Advertising

Age, while Ciba-Geigy spent $4.7 million promoting Estrace,

the leading rival product. Both drugs are sold to treat symp-

toms of menopause. Premarin is based on urine from pregnant

mares, who spend winters strapped to collection apparatus

under conditions similar to those of dairy cattle. More than

80% of the foals are sold to the horsemeat trade. Estrace is by

contrast a synthetic product. The estrogen supplement market

is expected to grow fast: only 7.4 million women take them

now, of an estimated potential U.S. market of 26.2 million.

The American SPCA, a leading foe of the New

York City carriage horse trade, now has its own carriage,

a replica of the horsedrawn ambulance it used in rescue work

circa 1895, built by former board member LeRoy Swindell.

The carriage is to debut at the Steuben Day Parade in October .

Ex-tourism head vindicated as Alaska loses suit vs. FoA

May 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1994:

SEATTLE, Washington– – Why

was Connell Murray fired as Director of

Alaska tourism?

“I don’t know and I didn’t ask,”

Murray told ANIMAL PEOPLE on April

11, from his boat in Puget Sound, “because I

didn’t much care. I was retired when I was

appointed by the governor, I said I’d stay for

two years, I was there for two years and

three months, and I’m retired again.”

Murray was dismissed effective

January 1, while on a trip to Asia, shortly

after he testified in a deposition that the

tourism boycott called by Friends of Animals

in November 1992 to protest the Alaska

Board of Game’s plan to kill wolves south-

west of Fairbanks had not demonstrably done

any economic harm. The boycott was lifted

when the wolf-killing plan was suspended in

late December 1992, and not reimposed until

after the Board of Game adopted the current

wolf-killing strategy in late June 1993.

Animal control & rescue

May 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1994:

A DISMAL TUNE FROM DOWN BY THE BANKS OF THE OHIO

MANSFIELD, Ohio––A recent

survey of Ohio county animal control depart-

ments done by neutering advocate Diana

Nolen found that 64% consider their shelters

to be overcrowded, 58% see parvovirus as

their greatest health problem (a disease associ-

ated with overcrowding), and only 27%

expect to be able to expand or improve their

facilities soon. Two-thirds of the departments

depend wholly upon dog licensing, fines, and

redemption fees for their income.

Nolen’s survey forms were returned

by the animal control departments in 33 of the

88 Ohio counties, containing 47% of the

human population. The findings indicate that

Ohio animal control agencies took in about

197,000 dogs and cats in 1993; euthanized

135,000, or 69%; adopted out 37,000 (19%);

and returned 25,000 (13%) to their owners.

Thirty percent reported declining intake and

euthanasia figures, 42% reported no change,

and 24% reported increases.

The shelter is an art gallery

May 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1994:

OAKLAND, California– –

Joining a national trend toward airy,

attractive buildings intended to compete

for traffic with shopping mall pet shops,

the Oakland SPCA on March 22

unveiled an extensively remodeled shel-

ter and the PeopleSoft Adoption and

Education Center, named for the

Walnut Creek software firm that provid-

ed $500,000 of the $1.9 million cost.

“The facility contains a central

atrium-style public area featuring adop-

tion areas for dogs and cats, educational

displays by exhibit designer Jane

Glickman, classrooms, an extensive

resource library, and original art works

by famed designer Laurel Burch depict-

ing the special relationships possible

between people and animals,” said

spokesperson Beverly Scottland.

Software review: the ARK system

May 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1994:

The ARK System, from Ohio

Business Computers (POB 855,

Findlay, OH 45839). Introduced in

1987; now at version 4:01. Price:

$1,495 and up.

Handling circa 3,000 animals a

year, the Wyandot County Humane

Society has used ARK System for track-

ing shelter activity since 1992. Entering

seven years’ worth of records took our

part-time volunteers most of the first

year. The system proved relatively easy

for first-time computer users to learn.

COURT CALENDAR

May 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1994:

Crimes Against Humans

Larry Gibson, 33, ex-deputy

sheriff for Douglas County, Oregon,

was arrested April 14 in Townsend,

Montana, for the alleged murder of his

two-year-old son Tommy on March 18,

1991. Gibson claimed he was jogging

when the boy disappeared, while his wife

was indoors; their daughter, then four,

said strangers drove off with him.

Unconvinced, investigators theorized in

May 1991 that Gibson shot his son by

accident while killing a neighbor’s cat

near the time of the disappearance.

Gibson’s wife, daughter, and another

son born since then recently left

him––whereupon the daughter, now

seven, told police she actually saw

Gibson strike Tommy, then stuff him

into a garbage bag.

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