Category: Animals in Entertainment

Greyhound neglect case

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2010:
(Actual press date November 3.)

Though dog breeder neglect cases seem to surface about as
often in Missouri as snags along the Missouri and Mississippi rivers,
the case on television as voters went to the polls on November 2,
2010 was neither in Missouri nor a puppy mill case. It was, however,
one of the worst cases of racing greyhound neglect on record.
Responding to complaints from neighbors about vile odors,
sheriff’s deputies in Washington County, Florida, on the evening of
October 29 found 33 dead greyhounds and four more close to death,
three with duct tape wrapped around their necks that constricted
their breathing. Trainer Ronald John Williams, 36, of Ponce De
Leon, was charged with 37 counts of felony cruelty to animals.
Sheriff’s deputies in nearby Walton County on Halloween found
another eight dead dogs near Williams’ home.
The Florida Department of Business & Professional Regu-lation
revoked Williams’ pari-mutual license on election day. Williams had
reportedly been fined 12 times for various violations since 1994.

Studies reveal injury rates in greyhound & horse racing

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2010:
(Actual press date November 3.)

SOMERVILLE, Mass.–The Massachusetts-based anti-greyhound
racing organization Grey2K USA on October 14, 2010 embarrassed the
Iowa greyhound racing industry for the second time in two years by
publishing an analysis of injuries to racing greyhounds.
Like the 2009 Grey2K report, the 2010 report is based on
data reported to the Iowa Racing & Gaming Commission. The 2009
report detailed injuries suffered by 101 greyhounds during 2008,
including 10 greyhounds who were euthanized due to the severity of
their injuries.

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Rodeos try cultural defense, denial, & erasing cruelty law

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2010:

CALGARY, CHEYENNE, BRAZILIA–Exempted from prosecution
for 52 animal deaths in 24 years, including the deaths of six horses
in 2010, Calgary Stampede promoters defend rodeo as culture.
Not prosecuted yet, despite repeated attempts by Showing
Animals Respect & Kindness (SHARK), Cheyenne Frontier Days promoters
contend that animal injuries repeatedly videotaped and aired tens of
thousands of times on YouTube never happened.
Brazilian rodeo promoters just keep trying to repeal all
legal protection of domesticated animals from cruelty.
The two-week Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo ended in August
without documented fatalities, unlike in 2009 when SHARK founder
Steve Hindi videotaped at close range the fatal injuries suffered by
a horse named Strawberry Fudge during the bucking competition.

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

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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.

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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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Efforts continue to ban the “elephant hook”

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2009:

 

BOSTON–“All ears to the plight of the
GOP symbol,” according to Boston Herald reporter
Jessica Van Sack, Massachusetts state senator
Robert Hedlund has tried since 2004 to ban
keeping elephants in chains and striking them
with the ankus, or bullhook. The 2006 edition
cleared the Massachusetts senate, but not the
house of delegates. The 2009 edition reached a
legislative hearing on November 16.
A Republican representing Weymouth,
Plymouth and Norfolk, Hedlund distances himself
from those he calls “politically correct
left-wing do-gooders,” but concerning chaining
and the ankus, “”The more I got involved in the
issue, the more I became passionate about it and
emotionally tied to it, knowing the abusive
conditions these animals have to endure,” he
told Van Sack.

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“Reality TV” & Rescue Ink Unleashed

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2009:
“Reality TV” & Rescue Ink Unleashed
National Geographic Channel: 10 p.m. Fridays. Debuted September 25, 2009

After the success of Animal Precinct, Rescue Ink Unleashed
was inevitable. Since the beginning of television, each successful
series theme has been followed by variations, trying to emulate the
aspects of the prototype that captured an audience, while adding
twists that the producers hope might attract even more viewers.
Typically the successful prototype is a gritty realistic
drama. After knock-offs exploit that approach to the point of
running out of ideas, caricatures follow. Some are forthrightly
cartoons: The Flintstones (1960) followed The Honeymooners (1955).
Others are merely cartoonish in live-action format: Charlie’s Angels
(1976), for instance, was a distant descendant of the cop show
format pioneered by Dragnet (1951).

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SeaWorld theme parks pass from brewery to entertainment group

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2009:

 

SAN DIEGO–The private equity firm Blackstone Group and
Anheuser-Busch InBev jointly announced on October 7, 2009 that
Blackstone will buy the 10 theme parks belonging to the Busch
Entertainment Corporation for $2.7 billion–including the SeaWorld
marine mammal parks in San Diego, San Antonio, and Atlanta, the
Discovery Cove swim-with-dolphins attraction in Orlando, and the
Busch Gardens zoos in Florida and Virginia.

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REVIEWS: Three views of Red

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 2008:
Three views of Red

Directed by Tygve Allisten Diesen & Lucky McKee. Produced by Norman
Dreyfuss & Tygve Allister Diesen.

Starring Amanda Plummer, Brian Cox, Kim Dickens, Kyle Gallner,
Noel Fisher, Richard Riehle, Robert Englund,
Shiloh Fernandez, and Tom Sizemore.

Released to theatres in August 2008; DVD released in October 2008.
Red, adapted by screenwriter Steph-en Susco from a 1995
novel of the same title by Jack Ketchum, begins with a crime of a
sort that many readers of ANIMAL PEOPLE have encountered, and often
will have personally investigated, prosecuted, or otherwise
responded to as animal advocates.
Red has evoked varied responses from people who care about
animals. Novelist Arthur Winfield Knight, a retired film critic,
wrote to bring Red to the attention of ANIMAL PEOPLE after seeing it
with his wife Kit, who is still an active film critic. ANIMAL
PEOPLE president Kim Bartlett and artist Wolf Clifton watched Red at
Knight’s recommendation, and took different views of it.

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