BOOKS: The Philosopher’s Dog

September 1, 2004 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2004:

The Philosopher’s Dog by Raimond Gaita
Random House (1745 Broadway MD 18-2, New York, NY 10019), 2004.
220 pages, paperback. $23.95.

The Philosopher’s Dog is a collection of philosophical
arguments loosely drawn together by events that involve author
Raymond Gaita’s pets. Many non-animal subjects are covered, and
there is more philosophy than dog in the book.
Gaita specifically declines to philosophize about
vegetarianism, other than to assert that the slogan ‘meat is murder’
does not bear close analysis. He steadfastly distinguishes between
morality applied to humans and morality applied to animals. Allowing
comparisons between the Holocaust and factory farming, he points out
that seeking to equate the two would not find general acceptance, and
would rather indicate “a sentimentality that is wicked and offensive.”
Gaita believes it is foolish to talk about animal rights, he
says, adding that this “is partly because I think it is mistaken to
talk of rights in the case of human beings. To say that an action is
unjust because it violates someone’s rights adds nothing, I believe,
to saying that it is unjust.”

BOOKS: Parrot Culture

July 1, 2004 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2004:

Parrot Culture by Bruce Thomas Boehrer
University of Pennsylvania Press (4200 Pine Street, Philadelphia,
PA 19104), 2004. 224 pages, paperback. $27.50.

The parrots who were popular in Greco-Roman imperial times, and
thereafter in Europe during the Middle Ages, came from India. But
the overland traffic in parrots slowed after the rise of Islam,
partly because Mohammed taught against caging birds and partly
because warfare between Christians and Muslims significantly reduced
the chances of moving fragile species through Central Asia alive.
Bruce Boehrer’s research shows that the parrots who flooded
into Europe after the Renaissance came from the New World, as a
direct result of Christopher Colum-bus’ voyages of discovery.
Over two millennia, the reverence with which captive parrots
were originally treated disappeared and the birds later became
objects of ridicule and satire. Boehrer delves at some length into
depictions of parrots in art and literature over the ages. Included
is the famous Monty Python “Dead Parrot Sketch.”
Renaissance writers transformed parrots into comic figures,
and some painters of the period did the same thing. Parrots appear
in numerous paintings by great masters including Rubens, Van Dyk,
Manet, and even some of the French impressionists, notably Renoir.

Post-9/11 shelter killing hits 4.9 million a year

July 1, 2004 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2004

Entering 2004, ANIMAL PEOPLE hoped that 2003 would prove to
have been the year when U.S. shelter killing of dogs and cats fell
below four million for the first time since the first national
estimates of the toll were developed circa 1960.
Instead, surging intakes of pit bull terriers,
Rottweilers, and mixed breed dogs with pit bull or Rottweiler traits
appear to have more than offset all the reductions achieved since
1997 in feral cat intake, accidental litters of puppies and kittens,
and surrenders of unruly year-old purebred dogs of other types.
Thus the estimated U.S. shelter death toll soared by 17%, to
4.9 million.
The ANIMAL PEOPLE estimate is based on data from every
shelter in cities, counties, or sometimes whole states containing
more than a third of the U.S. human population, and is
proportionately weighted to get regional balance. It includes data
collected only in the three preceding years.
Thus the 2004 ANIMAL PEOPLE estimate is the first to consist
predominantly of data reflecting the economic conditions following
the high-tech stock collapse of 2000-2001 and the terrorist attacks
of September 11, 2001.

Non-surgical sterilization wait goes on with new hopes & many frustrations

July 1, 2004 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2004:

BRECKENRIDGE, Colorado– The good news about the
long-anticipated arrival of effective, practical, inexpensive
non-surgical birth control for cats and dogs may be that the bad news
is not worse.
One effective and safe chemosterilant for male dogs,
Neutersol, is now available to humane societies at reduced cost. A
similar product for cats is in development.
The early test results are “very favorable,” University of
Missouri at Columbia researcher Min Wang on June 27, 2004 told the
Second International Symposium on Non-surgical Contraceptive Methods
for Pet Population Control, held in Breckenridge, Colorado.
Immunocontraceptives for female dogs and cats are still just
over the horizon.
Breakthroughs anticipated five years ago unfortunately have
not materialized. Research involving porcine zona pellucida (pZP)
may be chasing a mirage, many dog and cat contraceptive developers
now believe.
ZooMontana director Jay Kirkpatrick showed in 1990 that pZP
can be used as a contraceptive in horses.
“Immunization of female mammals with purified glycoproteins
from the outermost layer of oocytes, namely the zona pellucida,
often results in autoimmunity and infertility,” explained Dalhousie
University biology professor Bill Pohajdak. “The three components of
zona pellucida from many species have been cloned and sequenced
Porcine ZP is widely used because of availability.

The chips are down in high-stakes battle over scanner tech

July 1, 2004 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2004:

PORTLAND, Ore.; NORCO, Calif.–The microchip wars have reignited.
A decade after American Veterin-ary Identification Devices
and the Schering-Plough Animal Health Corporation resolved
compatibility problems between AVID microchips and the HomeAgain
chips made for Schering-Plough by Digital Angel Corp., lawsuits and
threats of lawsuits involving microchips are flying with surprising
velocity considering that only about 2.5% of all the dogs and cats in
homes in the U.S. carry microchip identification.
The present size of the microchip market appears to be less
at issue than growth potential. AVID and Schering-Plough donated
thousands of scanners to animal shelters just to get them into use,
and even then, the National Animal Control Association vocally
objected to having microchip scanning added to the animal control
workload.
Microchipping has now proved itself, including in alerting
shelters to the previously seldom detected practice of unhappy
neighbors or estranged “significant others” surrendering stolen pets
to shelters as their own.
A recent NACA survey indicates that about 37% of U.S. animal
control shelters now microchip the animals they adopt out. Microchip
makers are betting that soon most pets will be microchipped.

Breed-specific dog laws survive Ohio challenge, face another; related developments

July 1, 2004 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2004:

TOLEDO, Ohio–Breed-specific dog legislation on July 8,
2004 survived a challenge in Toledo Municipal Court. Judge Francis
X. Gorman upheld an ordinance limiting possession of pit bull
terriers to one, insured for $100,000 liability, and requiring that
pit bulls be kept behind locked doors or fences at home, muzzled
when taken out.
Paul Tellings, 30, then of East Toledo, sued, backed by
the American Canine Foundation, of Belfair, Washington, after he
was charged with keeping too many pit bulls and not insuring them.
Gorman ruled that “The pit bull, as a breed, is not
inherently dangerous,” and that “There is no statistical evidence
which indicates that the pit bull bites more frequently than some
other breeds.” However, Gorman wrote, “There is substantial
evidence that pit bull bites cause a disproportionate number of
fatalities.” Because pit bulls have “been utilized extensively by
drug dealers, dogfighters, and urban gang members,” Gorman said,
they “create a substantial and real threat to the safety of the
public. This ordinance is a necessary and useful tool,” Gorman
concluded, “in controlling these undesirable dogs.”
ACF founder Glen Bui in a web posting called the verdict “a
very small victory but a major loss.”
Tellings and Bui indicated to Toledo Blade staff writer Robin
Erb that Tellings might next plead “no contest” to a misdemeanor
charge in order to pursue an appeal.

PetCo tests adopting out rabbits instead of selling them

July 1, 2004 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2004:

SAN DIEGO–In lieu of selling rabbits, four PetCo stores in
the Minneapolis area have begun offering rabbits for adoption from
the Minne-sota House Rabbit Society.
Since 1965 PetCo has offered dogs and cats for adoption from
shelters, instead of selling puppies and kittens from breeders.
PETsMART has done likewise from inception in 1986. Neither chain,
however, has felt before that rescue groups for small mammals,
birds, and reptiles could provide a sufficiently reliable supply of
animals to enable the stores to hold market share.
The test of rabbit adoptions brought PetCo some good
publicity in an otherwise difficult year, including a PETA pledge
to boycott PetCo until it quits selling animals.
Settling suits brought by five California communities, PetCo
in May 2004 agreed to pay a total of $711,754 in fines and
investigative costs for allegedly neglecting animal care and
overcharging customers, and to spend at least $202,500 to improve
store equipment.
In January 2004 Texas district judge Darlene Byrne ordered
PetCo to pay $47,000 to Carol Schuster of Austin, including $10,000
each for emotional anguish, loss of companionship, and punitive
damages. Schuster’s minature schnauzer had escaped from a PetCo
employee while being walked after grooming, and was killed by a car.
The verdict was overturned in June by the Texas 3rd Court of
Appeals, upholding an 1893 precedent limiting damages for the loss
of a dog to material costs plus legal expenses.
Schuster’s attorney told Veterinary Practice News that the
case will be taken to the Texas Supreme Court.

Animal Balance in the Galapagos

June 2, 2004 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2004:

SAN FRANCISCO–Violent confrontations between fishers
hellbent on exploiting the marine life of Galapagos National Park and
Marine Reserve reignited repeatedly in the first half of 2004–except
when Animal Balance was there.
For six weeks, from mid-April to late May, Animal Balance
sterilized, vaccinated, and gave parasite treatment to dogs and
cats, both pets and ferals, on Isabela Island, the largest and
most populated of the Galapagos chain.
The work seemed to bring the warring factions together. The
trouble stopped just as Animal Balance arrived, and again erupted
almost as soon as the Animal Balance volunteers went home.
Former San Francisco SPCA feral cat program coordinator Emma
Clifford conceived and directed the Animal Balance project, with
veterinary help led by Operation Catnip founder Julie Levy of the
University of Florida at Gainesville.
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society provided transportation
to the remote islands. Patrolling the Galapagos Marine Reserve since
2001 at invitation of the Galapagos National Park Service, the Sea
Shepherds have often been between the embattled Galapagos National
Park Service conservation staff and the irate fishers–and at odds
with the Ecuadoran Navy, whose senior officers tend to see their
mission as defending the fishing industry, not marine life.

Petco settles neglect & overcharge cases

June 2, 2004 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2004:

SAN DIEGO–The 655-store Petco Animal Supplies Inc. chain on
May 27, 2004 agreed to pay $661,754 in fines and investigative costs
for allegedly neglecting animal care and overcharging customers.
“The company also will spend $202,500 to install better
equipment in its California stores to eliminate overcharging,”
reported San Diego Union-Tribune staff writer Mike Freeman of the
settlement reached with district attorneys in San Diego, Los
Angeles, Marin, and San Mateo counties. Petco also agreed to pay
$50,000, formally train staff in animal care, and allow inspection
by independent veterinarians to settle a separate case brought by the
city of San Francisco.
A PETA boycott of Petco will continue, said spokesperson
Christy Griffin, until Petco quits selling birds, reptiles, fish,
and small mammals. Petco, like larger rival PETsMART, does not
sell dogs and cats.

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