A Project of Animal People, Inc., 1992-2013
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July-August 2013:
SANTA CLARITA, California––Newly accessible IRS Form 990 filings for 2010 and 2011 from The Gentle Barn Foundation hint at a history of financial irregularities, some of which were also alleged in three lawsuits filed in 2012 by five former staff. The lawsuits were recently settled in mediation on undisclosed terms. Read more
From Animal People July-August 2013—
Frank R. Lautenberg, 89, the last World War II veteran serving in the U.S. Senate, died on June 3, 2013 from complications of viral pneumonia. A six-term U.S. Senator from New Jersey, Lautenberg had announced on February 15, 2013 that he would not seek re-election. Read more
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July-August 2013:
New Jersey activist Nina Austenberg, 76
Nina Austenberg, 76, died on May 25, 2013 at her home in Flanders, New Jersey.
“After many years serving United Methodist churches with her husband, the Reverend Kenneth Austenberg, Mrs. Austenberg became active in animal protection,” recalled the Bergen Daily Record. “She was involved with much of the significant animal welfare legislation of the last forty years, including New Jersey laws to ban the steel-jaw leghold trap, strengthen criminal penalties for dogfighting, and allow pets in some types of senior citizen housing. She considered her career highlight to be her work on the state’s groundbreaking Animal Population Control Fund spay/neuter program, and the ‘Animal Friendly’ license plate that helps to fund it.” Read more
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July-August 2013:
Michael Balls, a trustee of the Foundation Researching Alternatives to Medical Experiments since 1979 and chair of FRAME since 1981, retired at the start of June 2013. Anna Cadogan was named acting chair. Balls was a cofounder of the European Research Group for Alternatives in Toxicology Testing, and was first director of the European Center for the Validation of Alternative Methods. Balls received the first Marchig Animal Welfare Award in 1986, the Russell & Burch Award from the Humane Society of the U.S. in 1987, the SmithKline Laboratory Animal Welfare Prize in 1997, the Michael Kay Award from the Royal SPCA of Britain in 1999, and was named to the Order of the British Empire in 2002. FRAME is headquartered in Nottingham, United Kingdom. Read more
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July-August 2013:
FORKED RIVER, New Jersey––Cleopatra, a three-legged Ruppell’s fox who survived a dog attack in the Kuwait desert, arrived on June 3, 2013 at the Popcorn Park Zoo, operated since 1977 by the Associated Humane Societies of New Jersey as a care-for-life sanctuary for wild animals who have become habituated to humans. Read more
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July-August 2013:
HOHENWALD, KINGSTON, Tennessee; TENINO, Washington––The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee, Tiger Haven, and Wolf Haven International have in common housing several of the most difficult species to keep safely in captivity, controversial histories before achieving current stability, and high public profiles. Read more
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July-August 2013:
Jairo Mora Sandoval, 26, was killed early on May 31, 2013 by suspected sea turtle egg poachers on Moin Beach, near Limon, Costa Rica. Read more
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July-August 2013:
Nestlé Purina PetCare on June 5, 2013 announced that it had purchased the Petfinder.com web site from Discovery Communications LLC. Discovery Communications, owners of the Animal Planet and Discovery Channel television networks, bought Petfinder in 2006 from founder Betsy Saul. Attracting about 100 million visits per year, Petfinder.com is credited with facilitating the adoption of about 22 million animals from shelters and rescues since debuting in 1996.
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