Record dog attack liability settlement raises stakes for shelters

April 1, 2010 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2010:

PHILADELPHIA, INDIANAPOLIS–The known economic risk to third
parties in non-fatal dog attack liability cases soared to $1.9
million on March 5, 2010 when Rottweiler attack plaintiffs Evelyn
and Larry Shickram accepted a $1.6 million settlement offer from Boss
Pet Products.
“Schickram v. Boss Pet Products was in the middle of jury
selection in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court when the plaintiffs
settled,” wrote Legal Intelligencer senior staff reporter Gina
Passarella. “The Schickrams had previously settled with the dog
owner, Pamela Leader, for $300,000–the policy limits of her
homeowners’ insurance.”

AHA transitions

April 1, 2010 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2010:

The American Humane Association was still operating
short-handed at the beginning of April 2010. Six-year president
Marie Belew Wheatley resigned on January 8, 2010, succeeded on an
interim basis by past board member George C. Casey. Four animal
protection division staff were laid off, including the shelter
services manager and training manager. All four positions remained
unfilled.

Founder Buckley ousted from Elephant Sanctuary

April 1, 2010 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2010:

HOHENWALD, Tennessee–Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee
cofounder Carol Buckley, ousted from the organization on March 17,
2010, in early April announced the formation of a new nonprofit
umbrella for her work called International Elephant Aid.
“Over the next year I will travel internationally seeking
projects and problems, brainstorming with others involved in elephant
welfare and assisting those in need,” Buckley posted to her personal
web site. “My goal is to be a resource, bringing to the table all
that my work has taught me over these past 36 years. Providing
sanctuary is a worldwide need, and now I plan to make it a reality.”

Yonkers SPCA disolved by NY attorney general

April 1, 2010 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2010:
YONKERS, N.Y.–New York state attorney general Andrew Cuomo
on March 9, 2010 won a court order disbanding the Yonkers SPCA.
“The court ordered all Yonkers SPCA members to surrender
their weapons, badges, and identification cards, and to forward
any assets to a legitimate organization that prevents animal abuse,”
reported New York Daily News staff writer Helen Kennedy.
Founded in 1912, the Yonkers SPCA in 1955 transferred
operations and assets to the Westchester SPCA and disbanded. In
2007, however, former Greenburgh police officer Sean Collins, 43,
revived the organization–on paper and at a web site.

Attorney general investigates Connecticut Humane; 20-year president resigns

April 1, 2010 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2010:

HARTFORD–Investigating the management of the Connecticut
Humane Society since January 2010, Connecticut attorney general
Richard Blumenthal on March 30, 2010 released preliminary findings
that were highly critical of how the society was managed during the
20-year tenure of former Connect-icut Humane president Richard
Johnston, who resigned on March 23.
But Blumenthal did not find evidence of criminal wrongdoing.
“The investigation has focused primarily on Connecticut
Humane’s alleged misuse of charitable funds, but touches on several
other issues,” Blumenthal’s office said in a prepared statement.
“The investigation continues, particularly with respect to the
handling of charitable funds and allegations of improper treatment of
animals,” the statement added.

Fire hits Animal Friends League of Kuwait

April 1, 2010 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2010:

WAFRA, Kuwait–Electrical fires on March 12 and March 24,
2010 razed most of the Animal Friends League of Kuwait shelter
complex. The facilities, featured in a presentation on shelter
design at the first Middle East Network for Animal Welfare conference
in 2007, were widely praised as the best in the Middle East.
The first fire destroyed the residential quarters and all
personal possessions of four live-in staff members. The second fire
killed eight dogs and 31 cats, and badly injured others, some of
whom died later.

ACRES wins wildlife center pollution case

April 1, 2010 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2010:

SINGAPORE–The Animal Concerns Research and Education Society
on March 24, 2010 won an order from Singapore High Court Justice Kan
Ting Chiu that ANA Contractor Ltd. must pay damages for building most
of the ACRES wildlife rehabilitation center on a footing of woodchips
contaminated with toxic materials believed to be residue from
sandblasting.
ANA Ltd. subcontracted the job of filling and leveling the
site in Choa Chu Kang to another firm, Lok Sheng Enterprises.
“Shortly after the land was filled, the area was plagued by a foul
stench and brackish water started to seep through the surface,”
recounted K.C. Vijayan of Straits Times. Toxic leachate also
polluted the nearby Kranji Reservoir, and appeared to menace a
commercial fish farm.

Concern for circus lion cubs brings action in Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, and Dubai

April 1, 2010 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2010:

BEIRUT–Concern over the plight of a circus lion cub,
rallied by Animals Lebanon, has persuaded Lebanon to ratify the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
The global conservation community had failed for 27 years to
persuade a succession of Lebanese governments to endorse CITES,
brokered by the United Nations in 1973. But Animals Lebanon, a
two-year-old animal rights group, succeeded in less than 90 days,
by showing the Lebanese public, initially skeptical mass media, and
senior officials that inability to enforce CITES rules is a
significant cause of animal suffering.
Along the way, the suffering of the lion cub also helped to
prompt Jordan to adopt a national animal welfare law, taking effect
on April 2, 2010, and led to Egypt introducing a requirement that
henceforth circus animals may be transported out of the country only
by air.

SeaWorld trainer death & Oscar for “The Cove” convince Solomon Islands dealer to free his dolphin inventory

April 1, 2010 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2010:

ORLANDO, HOLLYWOOD (Calif.), VICTORIA–A third fatality
involving the captive orca Tillikum and an Academy Award for
anti-marine mammal captivity activist Ric O’Barry convinced Solomon
Islands dolphin broker Chris Porter to seek O’Barry’s help in
releasing the last 17 dolphins in his unsold inventory.
Porter captured as many as 170 dolphins in 2003 and about 50
in 2007, 83 of whom were eventually sold to resorts in Dubai and
Cancun, Mexico. Pending sale, the dolphins were kept in heavily
guarded sea pens at Fanalei on the island of Malaita.
“I have decided to release the remaining animals back to the
wild,” Porter confirmed to Judith Lavoie of the Victoria Times
Colonist during a late March 2010 visit to his part-time home in
Victoria, British Columbia. “It’s driven by the incident with
Tilikum. I’m disillusioned with the industry,” Porter said.
Porter trained Tilikum at Sealand of the Pacific in Victoria
before going into the dolphin capture business. In 1991 Tillikum and
two other Sealand orcas battered and drowned trainer Keltie Byrne,
20, during a water show. All three orcas were sold to SeaWorld when
Sealand went out of business in November 1992.

« 1 … 31 32 33 34 35 … 250 »