Animal control & rescue

September 1, 1995 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1995:

New legislation

An update of Louisiana animal

protection laws long sought by

Legislation In Support of Animals, the

Coalition of Louisiana Animal Advocates,

and other state groups includes the stiffest

felony cruelty statute in the U.S., mandat-

ing a fine of not less than $1,000, up to

$25,000, plus from one year in prison up

to 10 years at hard labor; fines for misde-

meanor cruelty of up to $1,000 and 48

hours of community service plus jail time;

the extension of the cruelty law to cover

parrots, parakeets, and lovebirds (but not

fighting cocks); the extension of the state’s

anti-dog theft law to cover other pets, with

stiffer penalties; and the creation of a fund

to help save the scarce Louisiana specta-

cled bear, funded by sales of a special

license plate. Known for gung-ho effica-

cy––on a budget of just $50,000/year––

LISA celebrated by bringing the

Spay/Neuter Assistance Program mobile

clinic from Houston to New Orleans for a

weekend of providing free neutering to

low-income families.

Agriculture

September 1, 1995 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1995:

The National Cattlemen’s

Association, National Live Stock and

Meat Board, parts of the Beef Board, and

the U.S. Meat Export Federation a r e

reportedly uniting under one umbrella as the

Beef Industry Organization. Member groups

claim to have already trained 1,600 volun-

teers to help promote beef.

Pork King of Illinois on July 25

applied for a permit to reopen the defunct

Kenosha Beef slaughterhouse in Hebron,

Illinois––and nine days later withdrew the

application amid a storm of opposition from

residents, who said they no longer want a

slaughterhouse in their community.

Hunting & trapping

September 1, 1995 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1995:

Results of a major public

opinion survey commissioned by

the Colorado Division of Wildlife

“indicate that a substantial major-

ity of Coloradans would vote to

ban wildlife trapping,” human

dimensions coordinator Linda

Sikorowski advised the brass on

July 13. “A substantial proportion

of Colorado residents are positively

oriented toward wildlife rights and

wildlife welfare values,” she contin-

ued. “Trapping solely for the pur-

pose of recreation or for economic

gain is not adequate justification for

trapping to the Colorado public.”

The survey found that trapping

could best be sold as a means of

rabies prevention and wildlife popu-

lation control––but this might not be

for long, as the advent of oral rabies

vaccination of wildlife reinforces the

22-year-old position of the Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention

that trapping is neither effective

against rabies nor in lastingly

depressing wildlife populations.

PETA splits freedom of expression verdicts

July 1, 1995 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1995:

Ruling at the Newcastle Crown Court,

British High Court Judge Peter Langan on June

16 refused to grant Covance Laboratories a n

extended injunction to prevent PETA from airing

undercover videography of a Covance facility in

Vienna, Virginia, but allowed a previous injunction

to stand for another 14 days to allow Covance time

to appeal.

Covance pledged to appeal, but on June

23 withdrew parallel motions filed in Fairfax,

Virginia, where Covance is pursuing a lawsuit

against PETA and investigator Lisa Leitten, a for-

mer primate technician, for alleged fraud and viola-

tion of an employee contract.

82% of caged broilers are burned by urine

July 1, 1995 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1995:

LONDON––Examining the carcass-

es of 384 broiler hens raised according to the

British Farm Standard and offered for sale on

supermarket shelves, an investigation commis-

sioned by the Royal SPCA and directed by

Cambridge University professor Donald

Broom reported in July 2005 that 82% had

been burned on their legs or bodies by pro-

longed contact with ammonia from feces.

“Lack of space and fast-growing

bodies that can become too heavy to be sup-

ported by their legs increases the likelihood of

birds receiving painful burns, as the birds

spend more time in contact with floor litter,”

said RSPCA scientific officer Marc Cooper.

Editorial: Compromise & the Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare

July 1, 1995 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1995:

Editorially favoring hunting, trapping, fishing, ranching, logging, rodeo, and ani-

mal use in biomedical research, the Spokane Spokesman-Review has probably never in recent

decades been mistaken for an exponent of animal rights.

Yet on September 15, 1952 the Spokesman–Review became perhaps the first and

only daily newspaper in the U.S. to editorially endorse “A Charter of Rights for Animals,”

drafted by the World Federation for the Protection of Animals.

The oldest of the three organizations whose mergers eventually produced today’s

World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA), the Dutch-based World Federation then

represented “humane societies in 25 countries,” the Spokesman-Review editors noted.

“Most civilized countries already have laws to cover most of the protection for ani-

mals that the federation asks,” the Spokesman-Review continued. “Beating animals, forcing

them to do work beyond their strength, transporting them in a manner to cause pain or without

adequate food, all are punishable now in the U.S., for example.”

Birds

June 1, 1995 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1995:

Psychologist Shigeru Watanabe of

Keio University in Tokyo reported in the

May edition of New Scientist that pigeons can

tell paintings by Pablo Picasso’s cubist period

from those of impressionist Claude Monet,

but cannot distinguish the works of Cezanne

from those of Renoir––which is to say they

have about the same ability to discern style as

the average art appreciation student.

The last male crested ibis in

Japan died suddenly on May 1 while carrying

grass to the nest occupied by his mate, bor-

rowed from China, and their cluster of five

eggs. The egg were to hatch circa May 10.

The dead ibis, age 21, was the next to last of

five who were taken from the wild for

attempted captive breeding in 1981. None so

far have bred successfully. The sole survivor

of Japan’s once plentiful crested ibises is a 28-

year-old female. China still has 28 of the big

birds, all in zoos and/other sanctuaries.

Hunting

June 1, 1995 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1995:

Johnie Young, treasurer of a group trying to repeal the

ban on bear and cougar hunting with dogs approved by Oregon

voters last November, pleaded no contest in November 1990, along

with his wife Diana, to poaching bears and trafficking in bear paws

and gall bladders. State police records indicate Young killed 32 black

bears, including cubs, between April 1987 and June 1989––along

with three cougars and a bobcat. A police undercover video showed

Young leading several hunting parties who used dogs to tree bears,

shot the bears out of the trees, and allowed the dogs to maul the bears

after they fell.

Agriculture

June 1, 1995 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1995:

Twelve activists were arrested and

two hurt at Brightlingsea, England, on

April 18, as they failed to halt the export of

1,200 sheep to Belgium, following an April 12

ruling by the High Court that local authorities

had no right to ban live animal exports. The

ruling undid export bans won through a winter

of protest at all major British cattle ports.

Australia’s effort to resume sheep

sales to Saudi Arabia after a four-year hiatus

hit a snag on May 8 when Saudi inspectors

diverted the first cargo of 75,000 sheep to

Jordan because they didn’t think the sheep

were healthy enough to be unloaded at Jeddah.

A second ship carrying 30,000 sheep changed

destinations voluntarily. Australia sold up to

3.5 million sheep a year to Saudi Arabia before

1991, when the frequent arrival of diseased

sheep caused the Saudis to cut off the trade.

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