COURT CALENDAR

November 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1994:

Collector cases

A 32-year-old man from Barrie,

Ontario, drew five years in prison on October 5

for three counts of sexual abuse and one of

obstructing justice, while his female companion,

33, drew two years for obstructing justice. In

November 1991 the pair locked the woman’s four

girls and a boy in a feces-filled basement for 18

months, along with 19 cats and four dogs, after

police visited the home to question the man about

allegedly anally raping the two oldest girls, then

nine and 10. The children were discovered, res-

cued, and placed in foster care in April 1993.

Birds

November 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1994:

Three years after spotted owl protection took

effect, Oregon is not economically wrecked but booming,

with its lowest unemployment rate in 30 years. The loss of

15,000 forest products jobs has been offset by the creation of

20,000 jobs in high technology. Of the displaced wood work-

ers who have been retrained at Lane Community College in

Springfield, 90% have new jobs, at an average hourly wage of

$9.02––only $1.00 less per hour than their old average, and

sure to rise as they gain seniority.

Oxford University zoologist Marion Petrie reported

on October 13 that a study of peafowl at the Whipsnade animal

park, north of London, found that the peacocks with the

largest fantails produced the biggest young––which may be

why the peahens are most attracted to those peacocks.

Editorial: The fallacy of “progressive” legislation

November 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1994:

Animal and habitat protection advocates breathed relief on October 7 as Russia

withdrew an objection to the May 1994 creation of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary by

the International Whaling Commission. Under IWC rules, the objection meant that Russia,

already holding an objection to the whaling moratorium in effect since 1986, could have

gone whaling at any time––within the sanctuary. Despite the instant claim of Greenpeace

and the International Fund for Animal Welfare that the latest Russian turnabout was all their

doing, the full story behind the reversals may take years to emerge. Yet somehow the ele-

ments in Russian politics who seek good trade relations with the rest of the world did tri-

umph over those who would prefer a return to the stagnant but secure isolation of the Cold

War. Ultimately, the threat of private boycotts carried more weight in Moscow than the

certainty of escaping trade sanctions through the loophole in the IWC treaty.

Wildlife & people

November 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1994:

An Indian logging elephant named Bir Bahadur

staged a sit-down strike in February after his handler was

replaced, blocking a local official’s motorcade for hours.

Outraged, the official ordered him shot, as “mad.” However,

Bir Bahadur then broke his fetters and fled into the forest, tak-

ing two female elephants with him. He’s been at large ever

since. Maneka Gandhi, daughter-in-law of the late prime min-

ister Indira Gandhi, is now seeking a pardon for him.

Indonesian forestry minister Djamaluddin

Suryohadikusumo says elephants whose habitat has been

taken for farming should be trained to work, not be killed.

“People must be ready to accept them as part of our economic

life,” he said October 12. However, he has dispatched a hit

team to kill Crest, a bull elephant who has killed 13 people

since 1986 and has escaped three times after being shot with

tranquilizer darts.

Animal control & rescue

November 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1994:

China Daily said October 18 that

Beijing dog licensing fees are to be set at

about $700 per year, triple the average

income of city residents; dogs will be

allowed outside only at night, on leashes;

excrement must be promptly removed; and

dogs will be banned from public places. The

12 million Beijing dwellers now keep about

190,000 dogs, who bit 21,117 people during

the first six months of this year. Since 1988,

89 Beijing residents have died of rabies con-

tracted via dog bites, sparking several dog

extermination drives. Rabies vaccination is

rare in China due to chronic vaccine scarcity.

Wiseguys don’t faze Watson

November 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1994:

MARINA DEL REY, Calif.– –Kathleen Marquardt, chair of

the anti-animal rights group Putting People First, debuted October 3 as

host of Grassroots Radio, a daily two-hour talk show on the Talk America

Network, carried 4-6 p.m. EST. First-week guests, a who’s who of wise-

use wiseguys, included biomedical researcher Adrian Morrison, predator

restoration foe Troy Mader of Abundant Wildlife, and Ron Arnold, self-

designated founder of the “wise use” movement, whose funding reputedly

comes largely from Sun Myung Moon’s Unification Church.

The second week, Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd

Conservation Society debated George Blichtfield of the pro-whaling High

North Alliance, whom he was to have debated on July 6 while en route to

protest whaling off the northern coast of Norway. That debate was can-

celled when the Norwegian patrol boat Andennes rammed Watson’s ves-

sel, the Whales Forever. “He asked me if it was true that I’d said some

day we will be able to communicate with whales and will regret what

we’ve done to them,” Watson chuckled. “I said ‘Yes. What’s your point,

George?’ He said, ‘That’s stupid,’ and then just lost it. Marquardt

seemed pretty timid––she hardly said a thing.”

Hunting

November 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1994:

The hook-and-bullet lobby is out to get

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service director Mollie

Beattie, the first nonhunter ever to hold the post,

Dennis Jensen reported October 1 in Vermont Sunday

Magazine––but few of the lobbyists he interviewed

dared identity themselves. “There’s the good-old-boy

network out there,” said former Vermont Fish and

Wildlife Department commissioner Steve Wright.

“And the fact that she is a woman. Many of these

guys have never worked with a woman in a powerful

position and just don’t know how.”

Legislation for Animal Welfare asked

members to help re-elect Ohio state senator Roy Ray,

targeted for defeat by the gun lobby over his opposi-

tion to opening a dove season. Dove-hunting propo-

nents, says Defenders of the Dove Campaign coordi-

nator Ritchie Laymon, “plan to bring their bill up on

the floor of the Senate after the November elections,”

as uncommitted representatives, “once safely back in

office, can vote for the interests of the wealthy hunt-

ing lobby and against the wishes of most Ohioans.”

From Trouble to good faith: A chat with Dale Schwindaman, top cop for the Animal Welfare Act

November 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1994:

WASHINGTON D.C.––Dale Schwindaman called

to talk about Trouble.

As USDA Deputy Administrator for Regulatory

Enforcement and Animal Care, Schwindaman is the top cop

at the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service––the exec-

utive responsible for enforcing the Animal Welfare Act. On

the beat since the act was passed in 1966, Schwindaman

took charge two years ago with strong concerns about long-

standing problems that hadn’t been effectively addressed,

determination to do something about it, and a few ideas

about doing it by speaking softly while carrying a big stick.

Pet theft in particular bothered him. Schwindaman

spent much of his time from 1966 until 1981 trying to nab

the “random source” animal dealers who fence stolen dogs

and cats to laboratories. In those days he didn’t have the

laws, the budget, or the political backing to succeed. After

moving to the USDA veterinary branch for a decade, how-

ever, Schwindaman returned to APHIS just as the Pet Theft

Act of 1990 took effect, enabling the USDA to crack down

on dealers who can’t document the origin of the animals they

sell––whether or not the animals are traced to theft.

Animal rights meet civil rights by Jacquie Lewis

November 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1994:

Animal rights activists peacefully exer-

cising their First Amendment Rights don’t expect

to be kidnapped, physically abused, held cap-

tive, and arrested for battery––but it happened to

Susan Koenker on February 15, 1992.

Susan, along with other participants in

a PETA-sponsored event, was explaining to

prospective buyers at a General Motors auto

show that GM was then the only car maker in the

world performing crash tests on animals. The

show was at McCormick Place, a sprawling con-

vention center and part of city property, on

Chicago’s lakefront.

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