Rethinking Our Bargain With Cats by Jessica Bart-Mikionis

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1992:

Growing up, I always wanted to be a cat. My
very first pet was a dog, though, named Heather. I
don’t remember her, nor the accident that killed her. I
was in my stroller, I have been told, with my mother,
when Heather bolted into the street perhaps in pursuit of
a cat and got hit by an oncoming car. A while later,
when I was three or four, came Mehitabel, named after
Don Marquis’ tale archie and mehitabel.. I remember
Mehitabel vividly. We used to explore the world togeth-
er, sleep together, and play hide-and-seek and tag, until
one time she ran under my legs, I stumbled and fell on
her, and broke her leg. I don’t think I was ever the same
after that. Mehitabel sported an elaborate splint for sev-
eral months, and my mother and I would support her
when she used her litter pan in the beginning of her recu-
peration.

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Fur

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1992:

Fur Free Friday is November
27—the day after Thanksgiving, the tradi-
tional start of the peak fur sales season. Get
details on demonstrations in your region
from either Friends of Animals at 212-247-
8120, or Animal Rights Mobilization at
303-388-7120.
The Fur Council of Canada
announced a $1 million publicity blitz on
October 20, aimed at reviving the strug-
gling Canadian retail fur market––one of
the last markets left to the Canadian fur
industry, following the collapse of fur sales
in Europe and the U.S. The campaign
argues that furs are reuseable and
biodegradable, and that the fur trade is an
essential part of controlling animal popula-
tions––which contradicts earlier industry
claims that the majority of animals killed
for fur are ranched especially for the pur-
pose.

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Bred and abandoned–– but now there’s hope for potbellied pigs! (and they even have mud to root in)

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1992:

The headlines tell the story:
October 1, 1991, St. Louis Post-Dispatch––
‘Super Pig’ Credited With Saving
Banking Executive, Wife In Fire
October 30, 1991, The Daily Oklahoman––
Council Advised To Keep Pig Law
December 4, 1991, Detroit Free Press––
Pet Pig Prompts Court Confrontation
June 7, 1992, The New York Times––
This Little Pig’s Market Plunged
June 30, 1992, Los Angeles Times––
Pet Potbellied Pig Craze Goes Belly Up

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Dogs And Cats

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1992:

Starting in January and incorporated just
last July under the name Every Creature Counts, Lisa
Booker, Pat Peluso, and Joy Skow of Lyons, Colorado,
had rescued an estimated 400 cats among them by the end
of September, picking up strays and ferals from Loveland
to Denver. They practice a combination of neuter/release
and pick-up-for-adoption,
Eighteen of 38 cats whose pictures are on cat-
food boxes or cans in the supermarket closest to ANI-
MAL PEOPLE are orange toms.

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CRIME & PUNISHMENT

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1992:

Crimes Against Animals
Alleged pet thieves David Harold
Stephens, Tracy Lynn Stephens, and Brenda
Arlene Linville were scheduled for trial
November 2 in Eugene, Oregon, on charges
that they obtained dogs and cats by promising
to find them good homes and then sold them
for use in biomedical research. Customers
included Oregon Health Sciences University,
Oregon State University, the University of
Nevada at Reno, and the Cedars-Sinai
Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.
Originally charged under state legislation, the
trio were recharged under the Animal Welfare
Act after sheriff’s deputies and state and fed-
eral agents raided their kennels. Their
activites were brought to the attention of the
various authorities via detective work by
Bobbie Michaels of Committed to Animal
Protection, Education, and Rescue, a
Portland-based activist group.

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Performing Animals

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1992:

Wild Willie, the bull who was castrated
in front of the Mississippi State University foot-
ball team in early September, has been saved
from the slaughterhouse by Frank Truitt, a steak-
eating Army Reserve recruiter, and insurance
salesman Billy Walker, a hunter, Truitt and
Walker paid $2,000 apiece for Wild Willie, but
hope to recoup their money by using him in com-
mercial promotions.

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Agriculture

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1992:

The Range Rider, a publication of
the USDA Cooperative Extension Service at
Colorado State University, is urging sheep
farmers to rally in opposition to the
Endangered Species Act, now up for renewal.
ANIMAL PEOPLE had not actually received
a copy by deadline, but from a description
provided by James Cherry of the AmNet com-
puter network, it would appear to violate fed-
eral guidelines regarding impartiality.

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Horse notes…

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1992:

In the first two years since
California began requiring necropsies of
all race horses who die while under Calif.
Horse Racing Board jurisdiction, on or off
a track, 538 horses have been exam-
ined––271 in 1990-1991, and 267 in 1991-
1992. The examinations are revealing a
much greater amount of stress damage
from training than experts previously sus-
pected.

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ANIMAL CONTROL & RESCUE

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1992:

Citing fear of liability if they
should inadvertantly euthanize a pet, under
a new state law directed at pet thieves, the
Oregon Humane Society and Multnomah
County Animal Control now refuse to
accept cats brought to them by private citi-
zens and independent groups who trap ferals
and strays. The Portland-based group
Committed to Animal Protection,
Education, and Rescue charges, however,
that fundraising tactics are involved.
CAPER cites a letter from OHS staffer
Sharon Harmon, who wrote, “Despite the
services provided by OHS (to cats brought
in by independent rescuers), we received no
cash donations for their care. If we had
made contact with the owner or finder at the
time of surrender, by modest estimation, we
could have potentially realized $18,000 in
donations.”

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