Category: Activists & Organizations

Ontario SPCA asks court to dump Toronto Humane board

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2010:

 

TORONTO–Directing animal care at the Toronto Humane Society
since a November 26, 2009 raid that brought five arrests of THS
senior personnel for alleged neglect of animals, the Ontario SPCA on
December 23, 2009 asked Ontario Superior Court to remove the THS
board of directors and appoint a receiver to oversee operations.
Responding to earlier filings by Toronto Humane, Ontario
Superior Court Justice Ian Nordheimer on the same day ruled that
animal care at the shelter must “remain under the control and
direction of the Ontario SPCA,” and refused to quash the Ontario
SPCA search warrant.
“But four weeks is too long for what has effectively become
an occupation of the humane society to continue, Judge Nordheimer
said,” according to Anna Mehler Paperny of the Toronto Globe & Mail.
“Judge Nordheimer ordered the Ontario SPCA to turn over all
potentially sensitive documents, including scans of the humane
society’s hard drives, to a third party, and to allow all humane
society employees not facing criminal charges to return to work,”
Paperny wrote.

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Humane Society of Central Missouri runs into conflict with shelter makeover contest sponsor

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2010:
COLUMBIA, Missouri–Yet another animal shelter has run into
difficulty after winning a makeover contest hosted by the social
networking web site ZooToo.com.
“Richard Thompson, the chief executive officer of
ZooToo.com, refused to sign off on the plans sent to him” in early
December 2009 by the Humane Society of Central Missouri, reported
Daniel Cailler of the Columbia Daily Tribune. “Instead, he sent to
the board revised version that had some members shaking their heads.”
Thompson’s version “has less room for cats and cuts down on
the existing dog population,” Humane Society of Central Missouri
interim executive director Alan Allert told Cailler.

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Long-pending Ringling elephant case is dismissed due to lack of standing

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2010:
WASHINGTON D.C.–U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan on
December 31, 2009 ruled that former Ringling Bros. and Barnum &
Bailey Circus animal handler Tom Rider and a coalition of four animal
advocacy groups lack legal standing to pursue a nearly 10-year-old
case alleging that Ringling use of elephants violates the U.S.
Endangered Species Act.
Ringling has 54 Asian elephants, who are an endangered
species in the wild. About half of the Ringling elephants are on
tour at any given time, while the rest are at the Ringling captive
breeding facility in Florida.
The case was filed in 2000 by the American SPCA, the Animal
Welfare Institute, The Fund for Animals (merged into the Humane
Society of the U.S. in 2005), and the Animal Protection Institute
(merged with Born Free USA in 2007).
To win the case, the plaintiffs had to establish first that
they were in some manner sufficiently harmed by Ringling use of
elephants to have a right to bring the suit. However, wrote Sullivan
in a 57-page opinon, “The court finds that Mr. Rider is essentially
a paid plaintiff and fact witness who is not credible, and therefore
affords no weight to his testimony.”

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Sea Shepherds trying to catch whalers

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2010:

 

HOBART–The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society flagship Steve
Irwin returned to Antarctic waters on December 31, 2009, after a
60-hour resupply and refueling stop in Hobart, Tasmania.
Tailed and harried by the Japanese harpoon ship Shanan Maru
#2, the Steve Irwin and the high-speed trimaran Ady Gil failed to
locate the factory ship Nisshin Maru and the whale-catchers Yushin
Maru #2 and #3 during the first six weeks of the self-declared
five-month Japanese “research whaling” season. The whalers hope to
kill nearly 1,000 whales this winter, but have fallen far short of
their quota in each of the past three winters.
The Sea Shepherds were optimistic after the Shanan Maru #2
returned to the rest of the fleet to meet a refueling vessel and was
seen by yachters who reported its position.

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Editorial feature: 21st century began with 10 years of hard-won gains

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2010:
Most ANIMAL PEOPLE readers are probably buried lately in a
blizzard of appeals reviewing the deeds of animal charities during
the past year and decade. Recipients will be cheered by recaps of
“victories,” no matter how transient. Some may notice, though,
that “defeats” are seldom mentioned.
Comprehensive assessments of progress tend to be fewer–and
can be discouraging, in view of frequent contradictory indicators.
But the animal cause does not advance primarily through obvious
“victories,” or fail through the unmentioned defeats, which most
often result when legislation is proposed before sufficient
groundwork is done to pass it, or when resources are inadequate to
achieve an ambitious goal.
Fundraisers and campaigners like to evoke imagery suggesting
that at some point a cause will “triumph,” perhaps after someone
blows the right horn to bring all obstacles tumbling down. This is a
tried-and-true appeal format, but reality is that if any “war”
metaphor is appropriate to advancing the cause of animals, it is
that of trench warfare.

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U.N. members agree to study livestock role in global warming

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2010:

 

COPENHAGEN–A draft agreement creating an international
working group under United Nations auspices to reduce global warming
emissions from agriculture may become a turning point in the
international struggle to reduce and mitigate climate change.
Though called “greenhouse gases,” because they trap heat,
the emissions at issue are produced chiefly by livestock, by the use
of fossil fuels in raising fodder for livestock, and by clearing
woodlands for grazing and fodder cultivation.
“Current agricultural production is estimated to contribute
30% of global greenhouse gas emissions, more than double that of its
nearest rival, transport, at 13.5%,” explained Ed Hamer, reporting
for The Ecologist.

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KaZulu-Natal bull sacrifice continues, but Bali sea turtle sacrifice is prevented

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2009:

 

JOHANNESBURG, DENPASAR–Opponents of animal sacrifice failed
to halt ritual bull-killing at the annual First Fruits Festival in
KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, but thwarted an attempt to revive sea
turtle sacrifice in Bali.
Pietermaritzburg High Court Judge Nic van der Reyden on
December 4, 2009 rejected the request of Animal Rights Africa for
either an injunction against the bull-killing or authorization to
witness and videotape it. Van der Reyden accepted the testimony of
Zulu professor Jabulani Maphalala that the ARA complaint was based on
inaccurate second-hand information, which ARA members could not
personally confirm because only Zulus are allowed to see the ceremony.

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Monkey research moving abroad to escape stricter standards & activism

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2009:

 

STILLWATER–Oklahoma State University
president Burns Hargis personally vetoed anthrax
experiments on baboons planned by the university
veterinary school and funded by the National
Institutes of Health, revealed Susan Simpson of
The Oklahoman on November 30, 2009
“This research was not in the best
interest of the university. Testing lethal
pathogens on primates would be a new area for
OSU, outside our current research programs,”
OSU spokesperson Gary Shutt told Simpson.

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Toronto Humane Society raided, execs arrested, by Ontario SPCA

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2009:
TORONTO–Nearly 30 years of turmoil over
control of the Toronto Humane Society reignited
on November 26, 2009 when Ontario SPCA
investigators backed by Toronto police arrived at
the THS shelter with search warrants and led THS
president Tim Trow, veterinarian Steve Sheridan,
general manager Gary McCracken, and senior staff
members Romeo Bernadino and Andy Bechtel out of
the building in handcuffs.

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