ANIMAL CONTROL & RESCUE

July 1, 1997 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1997:

Alley Cat Allies invites cat rescuers
to participate in the sixth of an annual
series of surveys of techniques and observations
similar to those ANIMAL PEOPLE
did in 1992 and 1995. For a survey form,
send SASE to POB 397, Mt. Rainier, MD
20712, or call 301-229-7890.
Among the encouraging data
reported in a new National Pet Alliance
paper, Do free spay/neuter vouchers work,
“Newborn kittens entering the H u m a n e
Society of the Santa Clara Valley shelter
have decreased 44%” since a voucher program
began there in 1994, “while kittens in
general have decreased 10%. The total
number of cats handled has dropped slightly,
even though the service area has been
increasing and the human population has
been increasing,” author Karen Johnson
wrote. Among the other evident results of a
lower feline birth rate, the number of cats
surrendered at the shelter because the owners
claimed to have too many cats dropped
from 51% to 35% over the same interval.
The paper is available c/o NPA, POB
53385, San Jose, CA 95153.

PET STORES

July 1, 1997 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1997:

Responding to criticism of the Vetsmart neutering brochure distributed at
in-house clinics in the PetsMart stores, which seems to promote rather than discourage
breeding, PetsMart Charities director Lynn Stullberg DVM, has pledged to “work
together with individuals in the animal welfare community to revise the brochure” and
encourage Vetsmart to accept the revisions. “Vetsmart is always willing to support the
mission of PetsMart Charities,” Stullberg added. “For example, they are supplying at
cost the vaccinations for an animal control facility in San Diego so they may participate
in PetsMart’s Luv-A-Pet Adoption Program. Another example is a program which
Vetsmart has founded in association with the University of Minnesota College of
Veterinary Medicine, in which veterinary students take a course in animal welfare,
work at a local humane society, and neuter dogs and cats for the society at no charge to
the organization. This program will start this month.”

Roger Rabbit and the facts of life

July 1, 1997 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1997:

NEW YORK––Seriously asserting in
his 1996 book A Perfect Harmony that rabbits are
capable of immaculate conception, American
SPCA president Roger Caras reached for another
miracle of harmony as regards pet reproduction in
the summer edition ofASPCA Animal Watch.
At issue: the clash between advocates
of traditional “full service” shelters, which do
dog and cat population control killing, and converts
to the separation of animal control from
other humane services, as in San Francisco.
Inspired by the success of San Francisco
in becoming the first “no-kill” city in 1994, Caras
himself in 1995 led the ASPCA in breaking from
a century-long tradition of serving as the New
York City animal control agency.

BOOKS: The Cornell Book of Cats

June 1, 1997 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1997:

The Cornell Book of Cats
A Comprehensive and Authoritative Medical Reference
for Every Cat and Kitten, Second Edition
by the Faculty, Staff, and Associates,
Cornell Feline Health Center, Cornell University
Villard Books (201 East 50th St., New York, NY 10022), 1997.
508 pages, hardback, $35.00.

Inasmuch as our feline population
just dipped below 20 for the first time in five
years, and many of our cats are here because
various health conditions made them otherwise
unadoptable, we were able to give The
Cornell Book of Cats a thorough reference
check almost immediately on receipt. It
passed every test: it offers the most thorough,
up-to-date discussion of feline health problems
yet added to our sagging bookshelf, and
though sturdily bound to withstand daily use in
shelters and veterinary clinics, will no doubt
eventually be thumbed to tatters. If it saves
even one unnecessary veterinary visit, it will
pay for itself. If you keep cats, get it.

BOOKS: Disposable Animals

June 1, 1997 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1997:

Disposable Animals:
Ending the Tragedy of Throwaway Pets
by Craig Brestrup
Camino Bay Books (POB 1945, Leander, TX 78646-1945), 1997.
220 pages, paperback, $14.95.

In February 1994, after 20 years in mental health
work, Craig Brestrup became executive director of the
Progressive Animal Welfare Society in Lynnwood,
Washington. Like Richard Avanzino, who 18 years earlier
became executive director of the San Francisco SPCA with a
background as a pharmacist and attorney, Brestrup was
shocked to find himself in a milieu where life itself was
devalued in the name of humane ideals. Like psychologist
Alan Beck, 15 years earlier, Brestrup discovered that the
culture of animal shelters often centers on dispensing death.
As in elite military units, efficient killers enjoy the highest
prestige; becoming a killer is the universal rite of passage.

Sheltering

June 1, 1997 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1997:

Animal shelters are exempted from a new
Arizona law that makes pet stores financially liable
for veterinary costs if they sell sick dogs and cats. One
side effect of the bill, which resembles legislation
already in effect in many other states, will be to
encourage more pet stores to emulate the PetsMart
Luv-A-Pet program, which allows humane societies to
do adoptions through store facilities. The 300–plusstore
PetsMart chain, based in Phoenix, may cumulatively
place more animals now than any other organization,
but is not beloved of all humane societies: a
brochure on Spaying and Neutering distributed by the
in-house VetsSmart clinics, forwarded to A N I M A L
PEOPLE by Animal Issues Movement co-director
Phyllis M. Daugherty, of Los Angeles, seemingly
encourages breeding with a passage reading, “Many
people who welcome the birth of puppies or kittens
believe the experience and the comitment involved are
among the most rewarding experiences of their entire
lives. Being a ‘grandparent’ to a bunch of new pets
can be fun for everyone in your family––and highly
educational for your children.”

Editorial: Predators, parasites, and cat rescuers

June 1, 1997 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1997:

Cat ladies, and gentlemen, who venture into dark alleys alone to catch and neuter
seemingly endless legions of ferals, could teach the rest of the animal protection cause quite a
lot about patience, endurance, fortitude and strategy.
While Cleveland Amory said he formed the Fund for Animals to put combat boots
on the little old ladies in tennis shoes, younger advocacy leaders long derided cat-rescue as
beneath concern, somehow less important and less glamorous than saving the seals, the
whales, the elephants, and the dolphins. Friends of Animals president Priscilla Feral has a
stronger record than most at seal, whale, elephant and dolphin-saving, yet was ridiculed for
years after she once described herself to media as “a cat lady with a global perspective.”
Cat rescue did eventually become socially acceptable in advocacy circles, largely
through the efforts of ANIMAL PEOPLE publisher Kim Bartlett, who insisted in her former
role as editor of The Animals’ Agenda, 1986-1992, that activists had to address the suffering
in their own back yards in order to earn credibility with the public. Eventually so many cat
rescuers identified themselves among the activist donor base that today almost everyone in a
leadership capacity at least pretends to rescue one or two cats per million dollars raised by
direct mail, including those who figuratively tied tin cans to Bartlett’s tail for putting cat rescue
on the animals’ agenda. Some advised then––in writing––that activists should stay away
from the homeless cat problem, as a problem beyond solution.

BOOKS: The Rules for Cats

May 1, 1997 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1997:

The Rules for Cats
by Bradford Telford and Michael Cader, illustrated by Peter Spacek
Cader Books (c/o Dutton Signet, 375 Hudson St., New York, NY 10014), 1997.
94 pages, hardback, $11.95.

Those of us not actively engaged in
the mating game may have overlooked T h e
Rules, a best-selling reminder of the hoary old
rules women follow to set themselves up as a
slave/enslaver of a man, through careful
adherance to such fits-all “rules” as never telephoning
him, not revealing interest, etc.

BOOKS: How It Was With Dooms

May 1, 1997 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1997:

How It Was With Dooms
by Carol Cawthra Hopcraft
Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
(1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020), 1997.
64 pages, hardcover, $19.95.

If James Ramos Austin, age 2, of Dallas,
could review a book, he could tell us exactly what’s
wrong with How It Was With Dooms. Austin lost his
right index finger, his right heel, and suffered a severe
facial wound on April 2, in a mauling by a bobcat that
one Carl Pool kept illegally in his home.
“Most parents would not allow their three-yearold
child to sleep curled up next to a full-grown wild
cheetah,” admits Simon & Schuster associate publicist
Rebecca Grosee, then informs us without a hint of criticism
or qualification that former magazine cover model

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