Swett keeps Primarily Primates

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1993:

SAN ANTONIO, Texas––Conclu-
ding that charges of mismanagement against
Primarily Primates founder and president
Wallace Swett were much less serious than he
had been led to believe, Texas assistant attor-
ney general John Vinson on November 16
dropped a petition to remove Swett from the
sanctuary in exchange for structural conces-
sions. To improve oversight, Swett is to
expand the present five-member board to
seven members, of whom four must live with-
in 100 miles of the San Antonio facility. In
addition, Primarily Primates will no longer be
a membership-controlled organization with
Swett as the sole voting member, which in
effect gave him veto power over the board.

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COURT CALENDAR

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1993:

Crimes against wildlife
Hong Kong authorities confiscat-
ed $20,000 worth of rhinoceros horn in a
series of late October raids on apothecaries,
following leads provided by the London-based
Environmental Investigation Agency. But the
raids may have come too late to save rhinos in
the wild, as fewer than six remain in protect-
ed areas of Zimbabwe, according to wildlife
veterinarian Dr. Michael Kock, who could
find only two in a two-week aerial search.
There were 3,000 when Zimbabwe achieved
native sovereignty in 1980. Kock sawed the
horns off about 300 rhinos a year ago, trying
to make them worthless to poachers, but dis-
covered that even the nub left behind after
dehorning will fetch $2,400 U.S. Kock says
he has evidence that the Asian poaching car-
tels are actively trying to “kill every rhino,”
because, “If they eliminate the rhino, the value
of the horn will skyrocket. They can sit on a
stockpile for 10 years; they know there is
always going to be a market.”

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Zoos

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1993:

World Society for the Protection of
Animals field officer Neil Trent flew to Tbilsi
in the former Soviet republic of Georgia on
November 26 in an emergency effort to save
starving animals in the city zoo––among them
two tigers, several lions, a polar bear, a leop-
ard, a wolf pack, and 25 birds of two species
(down in recent months from 1,000 birds of 40
species). The animals have reportedly received
only a third of their normal rations for months.
They were to be sent to the better-funded Baku
Zoo in Azerbaijan, but the deal was vetoed by
the Tbilsi mayor for reasons of regional pride,
according to anthropologist Mary Ellen
Chatwin, who called WSPA after other groups
declined to help. The Tbilsi Zoo used to draw
500,000-plus visitors a year, with a staff of
120. Attendance fell with the economy when
civil war broke out following the collapse of the
Soviet Union; some of the present staff of 60
are paid under 50ç a month. Worldwide, the
menageries of at least four major zoos have
starved in the last two years, all due to war.

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Animal Control & Rescue

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1993:

Wildlife biologist Carol
Crane, president of the Calvert
Animal Welfare League in St.
Leonard, Maryland, has published
a survey of shelter intake and
euthanasia rates in 21 of the 23
Maryland counties, which include
95% of the state population. Her
findings “further confirm new
national estimates that animal care
and control facilities are not han-
dling as many dogs and cats as was
thought previously,” according to
Phil Arkow of the Peggy Adams
Animal Rescue League in West
Palm Beach, Florida. Arkow and
Andrew Rowan of Tufts University
have recently published estimates
that population control euthanasias
of dogs and cats probably don’t
exceed six million a year––half the

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The Watchdog: Who gets the money?

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1993:

Except where otherwise indicated, the following
financial data comes from current Internal Revenue Service
Form 990 filings, covering either calendar year or fiscal
year 1992. (1993 filings won’t be available until next fall.)
To place these numbers in perspective, consider
that the National Charities Information Bureau requires
approved charities to spend at least 60% of their budgets on
program services, not including direct-mail fundraising.
This standard is stricter––and more indicative of an organi-
zation’s priorities––than the Internal Revenue Service rules,
which allow charities to write off some direct-mail fundrais-
ing costs as program service under the headings of “mem-
bership development” and “public education.” Thus the fig-
ures that organizations declare and the figures as amended
in accordance with NCIB guidelines are often very differ-
ent. You’ll find the differences explained in the footnotes.

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Is leukemia still #1 disease threat to cats?

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1993:

Shelter          Cats Screened             Cats FeLV+              %
Americ an SPCA (NY) 20,000+ 400/500 >2.5%
Anti-Cruel ty Society (Chicago, IL) 3,600 “few”
Bennington County Humane Society (VT) (“we want adoptors to take cats to a vet)
Bloomington Animal Control (MN) (“costs too much”)
Knoxville County Humane Society (TN) 30 0 0
Mari n Humane Society (CA) 1,500 30/40 >2.5%
North Shore Animal League (NY) 20,000 400/500 >2.5%
Progressive Animal Welfare Society (WA) 1,125/1,500 25/30 >2.0%

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Hunter harassment bill clears Senate

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1993:
A last-minute deal between
Senate Judiciary Committee chair Joe
Biden (D-Del.) and senior minority mem-
ber Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) inserted a fed-
eral hunter harassment statute into the
anti-crime bill passed by the Senate, 95-
4, in mid-November. The amendment
states it is illegal for a person to
“obstruct, impede or otherwise interfere”
with hunting on federal land. It was nei-
ther mentioned nor voted upon during the
anti-crime bill debate, apparently pass-
ing unnoticed.

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Guest column: Attacks on Sea Shepherd are unfair

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1993:

by Captain Paul Watson
Much criticism of the Sea
Shepherd Conservation Society has come
recently from elements in the animal rights
movement who accuse us of selling out the
effort to free captive dolphins.
I would like to set the record
straight and clear up any misunderstanding
concerning the objectives of Sea Shepherd.
I founded Sea Shepherd in 1977 specifically
to pursue the investigation, documentation
and enforcement of laws against activities
that threaten the survival of wild marine
life. Sea Shepherd is an ecological organi-
zation. Our mandate is the conservation of
endangered marine species and ecosystems.

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Marine mammals

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1993:

The Japanese whaler Nisshin Maru sailed from
Yokosuka November 12 on a five-month “research” mission.
The vessel killed 330 whales last year, also for
“research”––but most of the whales’ meat was sold. Just two
days earlier, Swedish authorities intercepted 3.5 tons of whale
meat in an illegal air cargo shipment from Norway to South
Korea, apparently for resale to Japan. Norway killed 226
whales this year, including 157 under a self-assigned 160-
whale commercial quota, of which 56% were females and 69%
of those were pregnant. “These animals are larger than the
males and therefore produce more meat per catch,” explained
Chris Stroud of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society.
“That the Norwegians seem to be killing the elements responsi-
ble for the recovery of the population does not seem to be a
consideration. Their only thought is to maximize commercial
advantage.”

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