MIDWEST FLOOD RESCUE EFFORT: Forty days, forty nights, and still the rain kept pouring

September 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1993:

MISSISSIPPI BASIN––Two

months of record rainfall that brought

record flooding in nine midwestern states

probably displaced more animals than

any high waters in North America since

the glaciers melted. Of the 791 counties

in the nine states, 421 were declared fed-

eral disaster areas. Clean-up and repairs

are expected to cost more than $13 bil-

lion. But animal rescuers didn’t dwell on

the immensity of the big picture. They

just pitched in however they could, wher-

ever they were, with whatever they could

scrounge by way of equipment and sup-

plies.

BOOKS: Paws For Thought: A Look at the Conflicts, Questions and Challenges of Animal Euthanasia

July 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1993:

Paws For Thought: A Look at the Conflicts, Questions and Challenges of Animal Euthanasia

by B.J. Ellis. Paw Print Press (7509-I Garners Ferry Rd., Suite 164, Columbia, SC 29209), 1993, 137 pages, softcover $12.95.

Paws For Thought may be more divisive than it is

thought-provoking.

With a cursory introduction to the causes of pet

overpopulation, Ellis arrives at the anticlimactic conclu-

sion that, “Until there is a drastic improvement in the pet

overpopulation problem, a significant part of an animal

control officer’s job will involve destroying healthy ani-

mals. The effect is to put ordinary people under extraordi-

nary stress. They love animals, but have to kill them.

How unfair. How stressful.”

COURT CALENDAR

July 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1993:

Undercover probe nabs Wisconsin dog dealer; local judge lets him go

Circuit judge Donald Poppy, of

Calumet County, Wisconsin, on June 14

dismissed a felony cruelty charge against

USDA-licensed Class B animal dealer

Ervin Stebane, 72, for tying, shooting,

and disemboweling a dog he sold as meat.

Poppy claimed Wisconsin law allows peo-

ple to kill their own dogs in a humane man-

ner, called the slaughter humane, and

added, “If the legislature intended for peo-

ple not to kill dogs as food, the legislature

should pass such a law.”

Animal Health & Behavior

July 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1993:

CDC goes to rat-@#$%

The Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention blame an unknown Hantaan virus probably

transmitted by rodents for causing flu-like symptoms that

killed 19 residents of the Four Corners region of New

Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado during May and

June. Most of the victims were Native Americans.

Hantaan viruses are typically transmitted through inhala-

tion, after becoming airborne with evaporated urine.

The transmission route for this as yet unidentified virus

has not been found, and investigators have been thwarted

by the reluctance of Navajo victims’ families, in particu-

lar, to speak either of the dead or of matters involving

their religion and rituals. However, Nevada paleoenvi-

ronmental researcher Peter E. Wigand, who seeks clues

to ecological history in ancient deposits of crystalized rat

urine, may have unwittingly provided a clue to the out-

break last January, before it actually occurred. Wigand

Cats & Dogs

July 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1993:

The older men who get the most emotional benefit

from keeping pets are those who have the least free time, the most

difficulties in personal relationships, and the most financial trouble,

according to a newly published study by Ohio State University psy-

chology professor Sara Staats––whereas the women who derive the

most satisfaction from pets are those with the most free time and

the most satisfactory relationships with other people. Staats’ data

came from a survey of 250 people over age 50. The findings appar-

ently reflect the role of pet as family member for women, contrast-

ed with the role of pet as surrogate for family among many men.

Further gains against pet overpopulation

July 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1993:

Continuing to refine the data on pound and shelter admissions and

euthanasias as more complete state statistics become available, Phil Arkow of the

Humane Society of Pike’s Peak has revised his estimate of the current U.S. euthanasia

toll, reported here in June, upward slightly to 5.7 million dogs and cats per year. This is

still the lowest total ever discovered––and reflects the most thorough research. Arkow’s

estimate is based on the 1991 totals, the most recent available in most instances, from

California (717,000); Colorado (69,766); Iowa (48,653); Massachusetts (79,500);

Maryland (90,000); New Jersey (75,263); Oregon (79,713); Texas (597,591); and

Washington (109,274). Together, these nine states include more than a third of the U.S.

human population, and are demographically almost identical to the U.S. as a whole.

Animal Control & Rescue

July 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1993:

New Hampshire has followed

New Jersey and Connecticut in establish-

ing a statewide low-cost neutering pro-

gram. The New Hampshire program, man-

aged by the state department of agriculture

and funded by a $2.00 surcharge on dog

licenses, will subsidize neutering animals

adopted from shelters and those belonging

to people of low income.

The percentage of purebreds

among dogs received by pounds and shel-

ters appears to be edging up, e.g. from 22%

in 1991 to 25% in 1992 at the SPCA of

Monterey County, California, which keeps

some of the most comprehensive records on

purebreds. Other shelters claim to be

receiving as many as 30% purebreds. The

percentage may be up simply because total

admissions are generally down while the

number of dogs surrendered by owners is

holding even, and owned dogs are more

likely to be purebred.

Guest column: Breeding regulation, not moratoriums by Petra Murray

July 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1993:

A moratorium on the breeding of

dogs and cats may initially seem to be an

easy and effective solution for companion

animal overpopulation. However, if we

think beyond a moratorium we will come up

with an even more precise and effective

solution––albeit not the only solution.

A moratorium refers to a tempo-

rary cessation of activity, and therein lies

part of the reason that a moratorium will not

be the answer to pet overpopulation.

To be sure, good breeders should

pause for a week or two or a month or more

to become educated about overpopulation.

They should visit their local pounds and

shelters and look at the homeless animals.

Help stop roadkills

July 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1993:

DERRY, N.H., CHARLOTTE, Vt., and

SHUSHAN, N.Y.––You too can help prevent roadkills, by

taking a copy of the survey form on page 7 of this issue with

you the next time you go walking.

Every roadkill you record will help in a concerted

effort to identify the characteristics of “killing zones” that

attract multiple roadkills, and help as well to develop a

defensive defensive driving curriculum that could save mil-

lions of animal lives.

Two parallel but cooperating teams are collecting

roadkill observations: a nationwide network of middle

school students assembled by environmental science teacher

Brewster Bartlett of Pinkerton Academy in Derry, New

Hampshire, and the readers of Country Life magazine and

ANIMAL PEOPLE.

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