Category: Companion Animals

COURT CALENDAR

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1993:

Animal Trafficking
Worldwide Primates propri-
etor Matthew Block, 31, of Miami,
drew 13 months in federal prison on April
17 for his part in arranging for six infant
orangutans to be smuggled from Indonesia
to the Soviet Union––the 1990 Bangkok
Six case. Hoping to win a plea bargain,
Block testified against three accomplices
and helped set up the January 26 arrest of
a Mexican zoo director for allegedly trying
to smuggle a gorilla. However, assistant
U.S. attorney Guy Lewis told U.S. district
judge James Kehoe that Block had never
fully cooperated with either investigation,
had lied about his degree of involvement
in the orangutan deal, and was still in
touch with smuggling associates. Block
now faces USDA action for allegedly
feeding primates at his facility spoiled
food, failing to provide water, and keep-
ing them in vermin-infested cages.

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Doberman deeds

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1993:

When a tiger abandoned her newborn cub recently at
the zoo in Chhat Bir, India, the zookeeper in desperation gave the
cub to his Doberman pinscher to nurse. After 17 days, both dog
and tiger were reportedly doing well.
Orphaned by Hurricane Andrew when his original fam-
ily lost their home and left him at the SPCA in Jefferson Parish,
Louisiana, a Doberman named Max found a new home with Ava
Mareno of New Orleans last October. On March 27, Max saved
her two-year-old daughter Brittany’s life by pulling away another
dog who was mauling her.

ANIMAL CONTROL & RESCUE

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1993:

The Los Angeles City Council’ s
ad hoc committee on the ongoing municipal
budget crisis has dropped plans to merge
city and county animal control, as a merger
might hurt service without saving money.
The Agricultural Subcommittee
of the Maine legislature has unanimously
killed as impractical a bill to institute
statewide cat licensing.
Washington state senator Scott
Barr’s bill (SB 5832) to force pounds and
shelters to surrender animals to research lab-
oratories recently cleared the state senate
agriculture committee 6-0. The committee is
headed by Marilyn Rasmussen, who is
author of another bill, SB 5532, that would
strip humane societies of the power to
enforce anti-cruelty laws, and exempt dog
and cat breeders, circuses, zoos, aquariums,

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Can we outlaw pet overpopulation?

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1993:

SACRAMENTO, California –– Neuter your cat
or else!
In legal language, “An owner of a cat over the age
of six months shall have the cat sterilized by a veterinarian if
the cat is permitted outdoors without supervision.”
As drafted, California state assembly bill AB 302
admits no exceptions. Introduced in early February by
assemblyman Paul Horcher, AB 302 sounds like a shelter
worker’s dream––but may be mainly symbolic, since it
includes neither an enforcement mechanism nor specific
penalties for disobedience. Due to the difficulty of identify-
ing cats, some legal experts believe it could never be
enforced without instituting a universal statewide system of
cat licensing, something never before attempted on any
comparable scale, and almost certain to be opposed by
many cat-keepers.

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Fixing a cat on the air

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1993:

Alan Givotovsky, DVM, of Vachon Island, Washington, says he isn’t sure
whether he’d again perform a neutering operation on live radio. On February 3, Givotovsky
neutered a tomcat in the studio of KISW-Seattle during the early morning drive time to pro-
mote neutering, while disk jockey Bob Rivers supplied commentary and took calls from lis-
teners.
“Field surgery most of the time is pretty clean,” Givotovsky told ANIMAL PEO-
PLE, “but people were anxious because we weren’t in a clinic.” In fact, Givotovsky got up
at four a.m. to pack up and take along just about all the equipment he’d normally have had at
his clinic. The operation took 45 minutes, Givotovsky said, because of the preliminary
introduction, the time required to anesthetize the cat, and interruptions for songs, advertis-
ing, and the news.

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ANIMAL HEALTH

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1993:

Massachusetts SPCA veterinari-
ans Michael G. Aronsohn and Alicia M.
Faggella recently published protocols for
anesthetizing and neutering 6-to-14-week-
old kittens in the Journal of the American
Veterinary Medical Association, vol. 202,
#1, pp. 53-62.
The USDA announced April 1
that from now on it will require environ-
mental impact statements filed in connec-
tion with animal disease eradication activi-
ties to include identification of any pesti-
cides that might be used; any chemicals
used for sanitation; and a protocol for dis-
posing of carcasses and contaminated
manure and debris.

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Is the ASPCA a dog-in-the-manger? by Garo Alexanian

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1993:

Last month’s historic announcement from the
American SPCA that it would no longer bid for the $4.5
million contract for operating a pet-killing facility for the
City of New York was apparently motivated by the intro-
duction of Assembly Bill 5376A just three weeks prior.
This bill would finally bring New York City’s
counties (boroughs) parity with all the other counties in the
state with respect to the formation of county-wide Societies
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Whereas almost
all other counties in the state have the right to have their
own county-wide SPCA, the boroughs of Manhattan,
Queens, Staten Island, and Brooklyn are prohibited from
so doing by state law. An SPCA is basically a volunteer
police force for animals. Functional SPCAs are essential to
shape the public’s attitude, behavior, and compliance with
responsible pet ownership laws. SPCAs help determine
which animal crimes get investigated and prosecuted, and
more importantly, w h o gets prosecuted. If it chose to, a
borough SPCA might bid on any or all of the $4.5 million
contract the ASPCA has relinquished.

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An open letter to the ASPCA and New York City legislators by Elizabeth Forel

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1993:

The American SPCA’s recent decision to get out of the
business of killing homeless cats and dogs leaves many
unanswered questions. The killing will continue, only
now it may done behind doors closed even more tightly
than before, since the New York City government will
most likely but not willingly assume the responsibility.
New York City could become the biggest, most horren-
dous slaughterhouse dog pound in the nation.
Will the ASPCA don white gloves and join with
every other shelter and humane society in the greater met –
ropolitan area, calling themselves a “no kill” shelter but
closing their eyes to the continuing slaughter of precious
healthy animals whose only crime was homelessness? Or
will the ASPCA accept the moral and ethical imperative
and speak out loudly and effectively against the slaughter,
using their newly released energy and financial strength to
educate relentlessly against the obscenity of breeding and
killing? Their past record does not offer much hope.

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ANIMAL PEOPLE CRACKS CASE: USDA halts sales of Canadian dogs and cats to U.S. labs

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1993:

WASHINGTON D.C.––Confirming leads gathered by ANIMAL PEO-
PLE editor Merritt Clifton during a 13-year probe, the U.S. Department of
Agriculture in mid-April sealed the Canadian border to imports of dogs and cats for
laboratory use. All Class B animal dealers known to have imported dogs and cats
from Canada were advised in writing that such animals cannot be certified as to ori-
gin in compliance with the Animal Welfare Act.
As many as 2,000 dogs and 6,000 cats have been imported from Canada
each year for resale by Class B dealers. Most come from privately operated pounds
that hold municipal animal control contracts––the majority in Quebec. Rural auc-
tions are another significant source, and still other dogs and cats are stolen.

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