BOOKS: The Parrot Who Owns Me

October 1, 2001 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2001:
The Parrot Who Owns Me:
The Story of a Relationship
by Joanna Burger.
Villard Books (299 Park Ave., New York, NY 10171), 2001.
256 pages, hardcover. $23.95.

Animal People readers are sometimes accused of being
anthropomorphic–especially by people who pretend to take a
“scientific” view of animal life and intelligence.
Joanna Burger, however, is a world-class behavioral
ecologist, who serves on the National Academy of Sciences advisory
panel on endocrine-disrupting chemicals, yet in The Parrot Who Owns
Me unabash-edly blurs the distinction between human and birds.

“Dog” is “God” spelled backward

September 1, 2001 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2001:

The animal dimensions of the September 11 terrorist
hijackings of jetliners and mass murders at the World Trade Center,
the Pentagon, and Somerset County, Pennsylvania, were as evident
as the search-and-rescue dogs sent to each scene to help find
survivors and remains, the bomb-sniffing dogs at airports whose
numbers suddenly seem all too few, and the many pets in transit who
were held overnight in air terminals when their flights were grounded.
Many stranded people probably wished they could hug a dog or
cat during the 30-to-48 hours before air travel resumed, and many of
the animals would have welcomed the attention, but there was no way
for anyone to make pet-sharing arrangements.

U.S. courts reshape dangerous dog law

July 1, 2001 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2001:

SAN FRANCISCO–Legal experts and news media commented on how unusual the charges were back on March 27, 2001, when a San Francisco grand jury indicted lawyer Marjorie Knoller, 45, for alleged second-degree murder. The grand jury also indicted both Knoller and her husband and law partner Robert Noel, 56, for alleged involuntary manslaughter and failure to control an animal. Both Knoller and Noel have been jailed since leading police on a 200-mile car chase later on March 27, under suspicion of trying to escape the jurisdiction of the court.

Knoller and Noel were custodians of two Presa Canario dogs owned by prison lifers Dale Bretches, 44, and Paul Schneider, 38, whom police identify as reputed leaders of the white supremacist Aryan Nations gang. On January 26, the two dogs broke away from Knoller and
killed neighbor Diane Whipple, 33. The dogs had a history of attacking people and animals, witnesses testified, and one dog had allegedly injured Noel.

Pet food and Procter & Gamble

June 1, 2001 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2001:

LONDON, CINCINNATI–Lon-don Daily Express health editor Lucy Johnston and the British activist group Uncaged Campaigns threw an apparent World Day for Laboratory Animals heavyweight haymaker at the pet food maker Iams on May 27, along with the Iams subsidiary brand Eukanuba, and their parent firm, Procter & Gamble–but as jarring as it appeared to be, the targets had already stepped away from the impact.

“Pet lovers will be stunned,” John-ston wrote, “by an investigation that reveals a sponsor of the Crufts Dog Show carried out horrific experiments on animals. The Sunday Express has uncovered damning evidence of gruesome tests performed on dogs and cats during the development” of Iams pet foods, mostly six to 12 years ago.

Excerpts from keynote address

June 1, 2001 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2001:

Excerpts from keynote address to the Asia for Animals conference,
May 14, 2001, in Manila, the Philippines, by Senator Orlando S. Mercado, Ph.D.
Today is Election Day in the Philippines. We have been through a frenzy of political activity in the past three months, culminating in the casting of ballots by more than 31 million Filipinos. It has not been easy. In politics there are many opportunities to lose faith and be disillusioned. This is why the conventional wisdom in Washington D.C. is, “If you want a friend, get a dog”.

Companion animals and raising animal welfare consciousness in Southeast Asia

June 1, 2001 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2001:

Companion animals and raising animal welfare consciousness in Southeast Asia
by Sherry Grant, cofounder, Bali Street Dogs Foundation

Westerners are often appalled by the plight of animals in Asia and the other less developed parts of the world. It is unimaginable to most of us, for example, how orangutans, Sumatran bears, tigers, many bird species, sharks, tapirs, and sea turtles have been poached to the verge of extinction for meat and body parts, and the disregard for animal suffering evident in any marketplace is an even more immediate shock. Police and public officials often benefit from the illegal traffic and the cruelty, and are thus less then enthusiastic about enforcing whatever laws exist.

Rare Presa Canario dogs kill twice in just 10 days

March 1, 2001 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2001:

SAGINAW, Michigan; SAN FRANCISCO–Parallel fatal attacks in late January moved the Presa Canario, or bull mastiff, to the top of the list of suspected inherently dangerous dog breeds.

Kelly S. Jaime on January 16, 2001 died just inside the door of her apartment in Saginaw, Mich-igan, after an attack by two Presa Canarios allegedly owned by relatives who lived downstairs. Jaime, 22, had married a soldier stationed in Texas three weeks earlier.

Missouri audit finds flaws in puppy mill inspection

March 1, 2001 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2001:

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.–A Missouri Department of Agriculture audit released on February 15 found major conflicts of interest in the state breeding kennel inspection program.

Editorialized the St. Louis Post Dispatch, “State Auditor Claire McCaskill found that state inspectors did not cite a single breeder for any kind of violation in a two-year period. Worse, two men in the state inspection program,” namely chief inspector G.A. Salmon and deputy Tom Hawley, “had puppy mill money flowing directly into their family coffers from facilities run by their wives.” Hawley doubles as regional president of the Missouri Pet Breeders Association.

USDA to allow quicker rescue

March 1, 2001 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2001:

WASHINGTON D.C.–An amendment to the federal Animal Welfare Act enforcement regulations taking effect on February 2, 2001 allows the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to “allow animals confiscated from situations detrimental to their health to be placed with non-USDA licensed persons or facilities,” such as humane societies and sanctuaries which are not under USDA jurisdiction because they are not normally engaged in interstate commerce.

“With this new regulation,” said Cat Fanciers Association legislative coordinator Joan Miller, “APHIS inspectors will be able to move more quickly and efficiently to remove animals [from abusive situations] when necessary for their health, and get them into the hands of shelters and rescue organizations that can care for their needs.

« 1 … 47 48 49 50 51 … 99 »