Editorial: Keeping shelters open when money & time are tight

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2009:

The good economic news from the nonprofit
information-tracking web site Guidestar is that only 52% of U.S.
charities reported declining donations during the winter of
2008-2009. This was no worse than the rate of decline during the
preceding summer.
Animal charities appear to have enjoyed less severe declines
than those serving other sectors, but since animal charities raise
only about 1% of total contributions to charity in the U.S., even
moderate losses hurt.
Economic analysts now predict that we may have reached a
turnaround. Yet even in the most hopeful scenario, fall and winter
budgets must be planned conservatively. If more money arrives than
is expected, more can be done, but meanwhile it is prudent to avoid
becoming over-extended. If we are not yet coming out of the
recession of the past two years, the recent stresses on animal
shelters will only get worse.

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Animal Birth Control gains speed

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2009:
CHENNAI, DELHI, MUMBAI –Indian minister of state for
environment and forests Jairam Ramesh served notice in July and
August 2009 speaking appearances that he means to put wheels under
the Indian national Animal Birth Control program.
Now Chinny Krishna, who engin-eered the ABC program, needs
to put new wheels under the Blue Cross of India surgical team to keep
up with increasing demands for service. “We have been inundated with
requests from municipalities asking us to undertake ABC,” Krishna
told ANIMAL PEOPLE. “In addition to the cost of doing more
operations, we are handicapped for want of enough vehicles, since
all these new areas are some distance from Chennai,” where the Blue
Cross of India is based.

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Verdict pending in trial of two Sea Shepherd crew

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2009:
SYDNEY, Nova Scotia– Provincial court judge Jean Whalen on
April 30, 2009 said she would rule on June 30 as to whether Sea
Shepherd Conservation Society crew members Alex Cornelissen of Sweden
and Peter Hammarstedt of the Netherlands sailed closer to sealers
three times in 2008 than is allowed without an observer permit.
Cornelissen and Hammarstedt, captain and first mate of the
impounded Sea Shepherd vessel Farley Mowat, were tried in absentia.
Deported from Canada after the Farley Mowat was seized, they were
barred from re-entering, according to the Sea Shepherds. The
prosecution claimed that defendants in trials are allowed to return
to Canada to face charges in court proceedings.

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IFAW is latest wealthy animal charity to lay off staff due to cash flow crunch

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2009:
YARMOUTHPORT, Mass.–The International Fund for Animal
Welfare in early May 2009 was identified by Sarah Shemkus of the Cape
Cod Times as yet another of the growing number of animal charities
with huge financial reserves to introduce deep budget cuts because of
declining cash flow.
“A recent internal message from IFAW president Fred O’Regan
to employees, obtained by the Cape Cod Times, cited a need to cut
the organization’s operations budget from $53.6 million to $36.1
million,” reported Shemkus on May 9, 2009. ” Net revenues for
fiscal 2009, which ends on June 30, are down by 32% from what was
budgeted, the message says.” IFAW had total income of $25.6 million
in the preceding fiscal year, and entered the 2008-2009 fiscal year
with $41.6 million in total assets, despite net losses of $4 million.

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Elizabeth Morris & Annie Waln introduced hands-on humane work

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2009:

PHILADELPHIA–Was the American SPCA really the first U.S.
humane society, in the generally recognized sense of the word? Is
it even the oldest that still exists?
The continuing influence of ASPCA founder Henry Bergh and the
organization he created in 1867 is not to be denied, with annual
income and expenditures of about $60 million, and more than $100
million in assets. Yet other animal aid societies much like those of
today existed much earlier.
Henry David Thoreau mentioned an anti-hunting humane society
in his 1854 opus Walden, as humane movement historian Phil Arkow
noted in a May 2003 letter to ANIMAL PEOPLE. No further trace of
that humane society has been found, but Elizabeth Morris and Annie
Waln founded the Animal Rescue League of Philadelphia in 1858.

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Responding to the end of the age of horsepower

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2009:
Responding to the end of the age of horsepower
Commentary by Merritt Clifton
Completing a defacto “trade” of star players, the Brooke
Hospital for Animals, the world’s largest equine aid charity, on
May 4, 2009 announced the appointment of Peter Davies as board
chairperson.
Davies, director general of the World Society for the
Protection of Animals since 2002, succeeds North Carolina Zoo
director David Jones, who had served as interim Brooke chair since
the November 2008 death of predecessor Hilary Weir.
Succeeding Davies at WSPA will be Mike Baker, chief
executive for the Brooke since June 2001.

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“Extreme makeover” contest wins give shelter and sanctuary founders extreme headaches

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2009:

 

ST. LOUIS, Mo.; PHELAN, Calif.–Hoping to win a shelter
renovation through a makeover contest?
Stray Rescue of St. Louis, Rocky Ridge Refuge of Gassville,
Arkansas, and the Forever Wild Tiger Sanctuary of Phelan,
California all did. Each found that the outcome was not really what
was expected.
“I’m just glad it’s over and glad to be back on the streets
where I am most comfortable,” Stray Rescue founder Randy Grim told
ANIMAL PEOPLE. “One day we will have our shelter. The dog gods will
help.”
In June 2008 Stray Rescue won a $1 million shelter makeover
offered by the zootoo.com social networking web site. The makeover
contest required supporters of as many as 1,000 shelters competing
for the prize to go to zootoo.com, register, and vote, thereby
boosting zootoo participation.

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BOOKS: Most Good, Least Harm

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2009:

Most Good, Least Harm by Zoe Weil
Simon & Schuster (1230 Ave. of the Americas, New York, NY 10020),
2009. 192-page download; $14.00. 224-page paperback; $15.00.

Institute for Humane Education cofounder Zoe Weil’s latest
book, Most Good, Least Harm: A Simple Principle for a Better World
and a Meaningful Life prescribes seven MOGO principles –MOGO is
short for “Most Good”–to build a viable future for our children and
our planet.

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Another L.A. Animal Services chief quits

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2009:

LOS ANGELES–Ed Boks, general manager of the Los Angeles
Department of Animal Services since December 2005, on April 24 2009
advised Los Angeles mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa that he will
resign, effective on June 30.
Boks was ousted from his previous position as executive
director of the New York City Center for Animal Care & Control after
entertaining an offer from Los Angeles.
“I have an offer I’m considering and a couple of options I’m
thinking about,” Boks told ANIMAL PEOPLE on April 27, “but for the
next week or two I just want to free myself from Los Angeles’
relentless irrational oppressive nonsense.”
Boks, 57, was the fourth Los Angeles Department of Animal
Services chief to leave since 2003. The late Dan Knapp resigned
after a prolonged sick leave he attributed to job stress. His
successor, Jerry Greenwalt, retired after enduring months of
intense online criticism and demonstrations outside his home. Boks’
immediate predecessor, Guerdon Stuckey, was fired by Villaraigosa
after just 13 tumultuous months on the job, only days after
Villaraigosa took office. Villaraigosa had promised to replace
Stuckey during the mayoral election campaign, and had reportedly
hired Boks even before terminating Stuckey.

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