Marine mammal exhibitors join protest against Japanese coastal dolphin killing

October 1, 2006 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2006:

More than 60 organizations demonstrated
outside Japanese embassies and consulates in 32
cities against “traditional” coastal whaling on
September 20, 2006, the second annual Japan
Dolphin Day declared and coordinated by Ric
O’Barry of One Voice. Most notoriously practiced
at Taiji, the coastal whaling method consists of
driving dolphins into shallow bays from which
they cannot escape and then hacking them to death
en massé, after some are selected for live
capture and sale to swim-with-dolphins
attractions and exhibition parks.
The so-called “drive fisheries” have been
protested for more than 30 years by marine mammal
advocates including Sakei Hemmi of the Elsa
Nature Conservancy/Japan, film maker Hardin
Jones, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society founder
Paul Watson, and Steve Sipman, who invented the
name “Animal Liberation Front” in connection with
releasing two dolphins from a Hawaiian laboratory
in 1976. The Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks &
Aquariums and the American Zoo & Aquarium
Association finally issued statements of
objection to the “drive fisheries” in March 2004,
as did the World Association of Zoos & Aquariums
in June 2006.

Streaking Pamplona

September 1, 2006 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2006:

PAMPLONA, Spain– “More than 1,000” nude or semi-nude
protesters, according to PETA, “several hundred” according to
Associated Press, on July 5, 2006 streaked the 825-meter route of
the “Running of the Bulls” that has preceded the nine-day Festival of
San Fermin bullfighting orgy for more than 500 years.
The PETA-sponsored “Running of the Nudes” debuted in 2003,
held each year one day before the official San Fermin events begin.
The 2005 edition attracted 700 participants, Associated Press said.
The Pamplona bull run and similar events in which often
inebriated runners try to stay ahead of panicked bovines appear to be
more popular than ever, worldwide, but bullfighting itself is in
general decline, especially in Spain.

Beyond “Sylvester & Tweety”

May 1, 2006 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2006:

FOSTER CITY, Calif.–Tired of playing stereotypical opposing
roles in endless political re-runs of the “Sylvester & Tweety”
cats-vs.-birds battle, Homeless Cat Network “cat manager” Cimeron
Morrissey, Sequoia Audubon Society conservation committee chair
Robin Winslow Smith, and Foster City management analyst Andra Lorenz
in 2004 quit competing for TV sound bites and formed Project Bay Cat
instead.
They all knew what the problem was: more than 170 feral cats
lived along the Bay Trail, a popular scenic hiking route that
follows a long abandoned shoreline railway. Mostly the cats hunted
small rodents. Like other predators, they caught mostly the old,
the young, the sick, and the injured.

Editorial: What cruelty to animals tells us about people

April 2, 2006 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2006:

To behave unethically by the standards of
hare coursers is no easy feat. Hare coursing
consists of setting dogs, usually greyhounds,
on captive rabbits. Recently banned in Britain,
it continues in Ireland, and in parts of the
U.S. and other places where most people do not
yet realize that anyone is doing something so
depraved for kicks.
Vinnie Jones, however, is no ordinary
man. Playing for Wimbledon against Newcastle in
1987, Jones became “football’s most infamous
hardman,” according to Ben Hoyle of the London
Times, when photographed in the act of
backhandedly squeezing the testicles of opponent
Paul Gascoigne of Newcastle.
After Gascoigne protested, Jones sent
him a dozen roses, in an attempted further
insult to his manhood. Gascoigne told Jones that
if he wanted that kind of relationship, he could
do some chores, and sent him a toilet brush.

League Against Cruel Sports gets a break

March 2, 2006 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2006:

LONDON–The Royal Mail has agreed to
accept £2,000 from the League Against Cruel
Sports in lieu of as much as £500,000 in postage
due fees claimed after hunters hijacked a
fundraising appeal.
“A plea to supporters for donations to a
free billing address ended up involving the bomb
squad, police and Royal Mail fraud
investigators,” recounted Helen Nugent of The
Times of London.
“Problems began when hunt enthusiasts
heard about the drive. A round-robin e-mail was
sent to hunters urging them to send Christmas
cards, empty envelopes, and bulky packages.
Within a fortnight, van loads of bricks,
telephone directories, heavy books, abusive
letters and animal excrement were sent to the
league’s offices in South London. One hunter
posted a dead squirrel.”

Six months of struggle for Swiss anti-vivisection umbrella culminate in silent march

December 2, 2005 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 2005:

ST. GALLEN, Switzerland–Striving to regain stability after
operating under three presidents and undergoing a complete board
turnover since July 2005, the Swiss antivivisection society
Aktionsgemeinschaft Schweizer Tierversuchsgegner on December 17,
2005 led the silent march against animal experiments in St. Gallen
that has traditionally been the focal AGSTG activity.
The march was to be followed by the AGSTG annual membership meeting.
Formed as an intended collective voice for Swiss
antivivisection organizations, the AGSTG throughout the latter part
of 2005 posted the march and meeting schedule and otherwise asked web
site visitors to come back later.
The 2005 turmoil developed out of a financial crisis worsening for at
least five years. After experiencing investment portfolio losses of
1.5 million francs in 2001, and 1.75 million francs in 2002, the
AGSTG lost 1.74 million francs in just the first quarter of 2003,
according to financial statements obtained by ANIMAL PEOPLE.
In March 2003 the AGSTG hired a new chief executive,
Thorsten Tonjes, 34, on a half-time salary. Tonjes succeeded Peter
Beck, who is also president of Animal Life Germany and remained as
AGSTG vice president. Working from a home office, Tonjes more than
doubled AGSTG spending. This apparently stimulated AGSTG income,
but huge deficits continued.

Animal Friends Croatia halts beagle experiments & wins circus animal act bans, but who are they?

November 2, 2005 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 2005:

ZAGREB–The difficulty of getting from one part of Croatia to
another may have kept Animal Friends Croatia from attending the
International Companion Animal Welfare Conference in Dubrovnik–but
they were busy.
Between October 10 and November 11, Animal Friends Croatia
won bans on circus animal acts in ten cities: Mursko Sredisce,
Varazdin, Donji Mholjac, Rovinj, Velika Gorica, Split, Delnice,
Gospic, Cakovec, and Ozalj.
The string of victories started 81 days after Animal Friends
Croatia exposed and ended a series of debilitating surgical
experiments on 32 beagles at the University of Zagreb Medical School,
following just six days of campaigning.
The campaign was amplified by all radio and TV stations in
Zagreb, five days in a row, and was endorsed by 15 leading Croatian
public figures, including national president Stejepan Mesic.
Eventually the beagles were surrendered to Animal Friends Croatia.

Fish boycott to save seals

May 2, 2005 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2005:

NEW YORK CITY–Legal Seafoods, a 31-restaurant chain with
anchor franchises in New York City and Boston, on May 9 joined
Tavern-on-the-Green in Central Park and the 168-store Whole Foods
Market chain in endorsing a boycott of Atlantic Canada seafood called
by the Humane Society of the U.S. in protest against the Atlantic
Canadian seal hunt (see page 7).
The boycott targets snow crabs, lobsters. shrimp, mussels,
and ground fish.
The Legal Seafoods announcement coincided with the arrival in
New York City of Canadian ambassador Frank McKenna, who was to make
several prominent appearances.
While HSUS is promoting the boycott through a media strategy,
Anthony Marr of Vancouver, British Columbia, on May 13 set out on a
90-day “Terminate the Seal Hunt Campaign Tour” of the western U.S.
and Canada. Pushing the boycott through personal persuasion and
petitioning, Marr said he had 35 speaking engagements already
booked, with about 20 more still being finalized.
“Carmen Crosland, age 14, president of Youth Against Animal
Abuse, will display a web page at <www.YAAAonline.org> of all the
seafood merchants” who join the boycott, Mar said. Mar will also
post the list at his own campaign web site, <www.HOPE-CARE.org>,
and welcomes pledges and inquiries about his itinerary at either
<Anthony-Marr@HOPE-CARE.org> or 604-222-1169.

Valentines from the un-chain gang

April 1, 2005 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2005:

The 3rd annual Dogs Deserve Better “Have a Heart for Chained
Dogs” campaign delivered 3,061 Valentines, dog treats, and
anti-chaining brochures on February 14. The Valentines were made by
29 school groups, five Scout troops, three institutions for the
mentally handicapped, a therapy dog group, and individuals
including Bar Mitzvah candidate Andrew Moskowitz of Florida, said
Dogs Deserve Better founder Tammy Sneath Grimes.
Galveston County Animal Services manager Michele Reynolds,
of Galveston, Texas, paid her staff $1.00 for each chained dog
whose address they sent in, Grimes said.
Grimes in March 2005 joined the ANIMAL PEOPLE staff as
associate web producer.
Through the efforts of retired elementary school teacher
Connie Davie, profiled on April 1 by Sarah Newman of the St. Louis
Post-Dispatch, Creve Cour, Missouri in January 2005 became the 60th
U.S. city in recent years to restrict how long dog may be chained.
Davie, like many others winning passage of anti-chaining ordinances,
brought to the task demonstrated commitment to both child and animal
welfare. About a third of all fatal dog attacks on children involve
dogs whose territoriality has been accentuated by prolonged chaining.

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