Spectacles

July 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1994:

Bullfights and rodeos have been banned i n

Sao Paulo, Brazil, scene of more than 100 such events in

1993. The ban took effect in May.

Trying to slow the pace of the Iditarod dog

sled race from Anchorage to Nome, the Iditarod Trail

Committee has eliminated five food dropoff points, to

require mushers to pack heavier loads, and has cut the

maximum number of dogs in a team from 20 to 16. To

make up for sponsorship losses, the entry fee has been

increased from $500 to $1,750.

Anti-rodeo vet was performer

July 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1994:

BURLINGTON, Vermont– –

“I raced two of my horses at local

rodeos,” veterinarian Peggy Larson

recalls of her youth in North Dakota,

“and often rode other people’s horses in

races. I also rode bareback bucking

horses for two years at local rodeos.

Once I rode a steer. Damned near killed

myself.”

Now an outspoken rodeo critic,

Larson remained involved in rodeo long

after becoming a veterinarian. “Duane

Howard, a national champion bull and

saddle bucking horse rider, was a client

of mine,” she recalls. “He was retired

from rodeo because of a serious injury

which left him partially deaf and ataxic.

He also rode in the same small town

rodeos where I rode.”

CHILDREN & ANIMALS

June 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1994:

“Higher levels of childhood pet keeping

were related to more positive attitudes toward

pet animals and greater concerns about the wel-

fare of non-pet animals and humans,”

researchers J.S. Paul and James Serpell discovered

in a recent survey of 385 British university students,

published by the Universities Federation for Animal

Welfare (8 Hamilton Close, South Mimms, Potters

Bart, Herts EN6 3QD, United Kingdom). Serpell,

author of In The Company of Animals, now holds

the Marie Moore Chair for Humane Ethics and

Animal Welfare at the University of Pennsylvania.

MARINE MAMMAL NOTES

June 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1994:

The Marine Mammal Protection Act was

reauthorized on schedule on April 29, including loop-

holes to let hunters to import polar bear trophies and to

allow the killing of seals and sea lions who eat threat-

ened fish runs at locks and fish ladders. Other provi-

sions include a total ban on intentionally shooting

marine mammals who interfere with fishing, and a pro-

gram to cut accidental kills during fishing to near zero

over the next seven years.

The Liberal Party of Canada convention on

May 15 overwhelmingly adopted a resolution calling

for the resumption of offshore seal hunting, halted in

1983 after two decades of international protest. The

Liberals form the Parliamentary majority. Claiming

“the concerns of animal rights lobby groups should not

be put before the concerns of the people of

Newfoundland and Labrador,” the resolution claims

sealing is needed to create jobs because the fishing

industry has collapsed––making no mention that the col-

lapse was caused by overfishing condoned in the name

of job creation by a succession of both Liberal and

Progressive-Conservative governments.

SPECTACLES

April 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 1994:

The film Free Willy, the Paul

McCartney song Looking for Changes

and episodes of the TV comedies T h e

Simpsons and Dinosaurs took the top hon-

ors at the Genesis Awards ceremony March

12. Presented by the Ark Trust, the

Genesis Awards honor entertainment and

reportage that furthers awareness of animal

protection. The Simpsons, a surprise

choice, was recognized for an episode in

which underachiever Bart Simpson and his

sister Lisa disrupt a rattlesnake roundup.

SPECTACLES

March 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1994:

A group of Ecuadoran school children

in late January donated their allowances, sold toys,

and performed on street corners to raise funds to

feed polar bears, elephants, seals, and horses aban-

doned in Quito by the Circus of Czars, from St.

Petersburg, Russia. The circus manager vanished

with the receipts from a successful tour, leaving the

human performers stranded, as creditors seized

their equipment. As ANIMAL PEOPLE went to

press, help was reportedly en route from business

leaders and environmental groups.

Marine mammals

March 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1994:

S. 1636, the present Marine

Mammal Protection Act reauthorization

bill, has cleared the Senate Commerce

Committee and at deadline was expected to be

passed any day by the full Senate, with House

ratification likely in April. The Humane

Society of the U.S. has asked members to

write Congress opposing S. 1636 because it

“has no provisions for effective enforcement,”

and “would allow the accidental killing of

endangered species (currently prohibited) and

the intentional shooting of seals and sea lions

solely to protect fish commercially caught or

raised.” HSUS seeks amendments that will

“ensure that marine mammal mortality in com-

mercial fishing operations reaches insignifi-

cant levels approaching zero, mandate specif-

ic punitive consequences if kill reduction goals

are not met on schedule, prohibit the capture

of wild whales or dolphins for public display,

prohibit swim-with-the-dolphin programs and

petting pools, prohibit public feeding of both

captive and wild marine mammals, prohibit

the issuance of permits to kill endangered

species in commercial fisheries,” and “prohib-

it the intentional killing of seals and sea lions

solely to protect fishing gear, catch, or net

pens.” The Animal Welfare Institute has

issued a similar appeal for action.

PERFORMING WILDLIFE

January 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, Jan/Feb 1994:

Elephant trainers Robert

“Smokey” Jones, Scott Riddle, and Heidi

Riddle raised eyebrows on December 22 by

announcing “A hands-on course in the humane

training and handling of captive elephants,” to

be taught at Riddle’s Elephant Breeding Farm

and Wildlife Sanctuary near Greenbriar,

Arkansas. A string of unusual elephant deaths

under Scott Riddle’s supervision over the past

15 years have brought repeated allegations of

mishandling, including two deaths resulting

from conflicts between elephants at the Los

Angeles Zoo in the early 1980s and one

ascribed to a stress-induced heart attack in

1986 at the Garden City Zoo in Garden City,

Kansas. Zoo officials in the latter case asked

the Kansas state police and the USDA to inves-

tigate the possibility that the heart attack was

brought on by an overdose of electric shock, as

at age 23 the elephant was still young, and had

been believed to be healthy. Riddle was

attempting to buy her for transport to a breed-

ing colony he wanted to start in Florida.

Guest column: Attacks on Sea Shepherd are unfair

December 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1993:

by Captain Paul Watson

Much criticism of the Sea

Shepherd Conservation Society has come

recently from elements in the animal rights

movement who accuse us of selling out the

effort to free captive dolphins.

I would like to set the record

straight and clear up any misunderstanding

concerning the objectives of Sea Shepherd.

I founded Sea Shepherd in 1977 specifically

to pursue the investigation, documentation

and enforcement of laws against activities

that threaten the survival of wild marine

life. Sea Shepherd is an ecological organi-

zation. Our mandate is the conservation of

endangered marine species and ecosystems.

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