Agriculture

June 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1993:

The Food and Drug Admini-

stration held hearings May 6-7 on whether

to approve the sale of milk produced with

the aid of the genetically engineered hor-

mone bovine somatotropin (BST), and if

sale is approved, whether the milk should

be specially labeled. Four chemical

firms––Upjohn, Monsanto, American

Cyanamid, and Eli Lilly––have reportedly

spent $500 million to develop and introduce

BST, which boosts milk production per cow

by up to 20%. BST is opposed by con-

sumer groups concerned about the possible

effects of the drug on human health, which

may include altering the growth rate of

bone and liver cells; animal protection

groups worried that BST may increase the

stress on cows; and dairy farmers anxious

that many of them could be put out of busi-

ness, since BST enables fewer cows to pro-

duce more milk, which is already in over-

supply. The same debate is underway in

Canada, where a multi-department review

of the possible effects of BST is to be com-

pleted later this year.

Guest column: Instead of breeding bans

June 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1993:

by Margaret Anne Cleek

I am convinced that breeding bans will not work.

This broad-brush approach is inappropriate because the

majority of pet owners are responsible. The people pro-

ducing the surplus are a relatively small percentage of the

population (perhaps one dog owner in three and one cat

owner in five according to the pro-breeding ban Humane

Society of the U.S.), but because of the high fertility rate

of the animals involved, the numbers of animals resulting

from their litters is great. We have to separate the animal

numbers from the people numbers to understand this.

Production control principles apply: you have to know the

source of the problem to address it.

Horses and Cattle

May 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1993:

Senator Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) and Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-New York) have reintroduced the Downed Animal Protection Act, as S. 367 and H.R. 559, which would require stockyards to promptly euthanize sick and injured animals. Support for the measure may be addressed to Senators and Congressional Representatives.

The American Horse Protection Association’s sixth annual training seminar for equine cruelty investiga-

tors will be held May 20-21 at College Park, Maryland. Get details from Ellen Foysyth, 202-965-0500.

Norma Bearcroft, president of the Canadian Wild Horse Society, has asked members to approve a resolution to disband the struggling group by year’s end.

HUNTING

May 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1993:

The Wildlife Legislative Fund of

America, a hunting and trapping lobby,

recently sneaked an amendment to the 1994-

1995 Ohio Department of Natural Resources

budget through the state House of

Representatives that would raise $450,000 a

year for a subsidiary, the Wildlife Conserv-

ation Fund of America, through a 25¢ sur-

charge on the sale of hunting, fishing, and

trapping licenses. The amendment was intro-

duced by representative Ronald Amstutz, at

request of WLF director Tom Addis. After the

proposed diversion of public money to a spe-

cial interest lobby became known, Amstutz

claimed it was all a mistake. “I was misin-

formed,” he told Michael Sangiacomo of the

Cleveland Plain Dealer. “I thought it was a

small raise for the people who write the licens-

es. I made certain assumptions, and apparent-

ly I was wrong. I never looked at the lan-

guage.” ODNR legislative liasion Scott Zody

said his agency “did not ask for” the amend-

ment, “and does not support it.”

COURT CALENDAR

May 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

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.

Wild Cats

May 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1993:

Genetic researchers trying to save

the highly endangered Florida panther on

April 9 recommended a shift away from cap-

tive breeding, the focus of present recovery

efforts. Instead, the team suggested, closely

related Texas cougars should be released into

panther habitat to diversify the gene pool by

natural means. Under the plan, panther kittens

would no longer be removed from the wild for

use in captive breeding, since their gene pool

is presently so narrow that the offspring would

be likely to inherit genetic defects.

Bill to stop wolf-strafing

May 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1993:

WASHINGTON D.C.––As he

promised he would last winter, Oregon Rep.

Peter DeFazio has introduced amendments to

the Airborne Hunting section of the Fish and

Wildlife Act of 1956 that would bar using

aircraft to kill native endangered or threat-

ened species on public lands––even for

wildlife management purposes. Support for

the bill, H.R. 1391, may be addressed to any

member of the House or Senate.

ANIMAL CONTROL & RESCUE

May 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

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,

Can we outlaw pet overpopulation?

May 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

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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