CHILDREN & ANIMALS

March 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

$40 million in public funds are

used to teach “hunter education” to

700,000 U.S. school children a year. The

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service puts up $32.2

million, while the balance comes from the

states; all 50 states participate. “They’re

teaching hunting as ‘gun safety,’ ‘physical

education,’ and any other excuse they cna

think of,” says Katherine Trimnal of

Columbia, South Carolina, who has been

investigating the program for some time.

This program is completely separate from

Project Wild, which also promotes a pro-

hunting message at cost of $23 million a

year.

Guest column: Stop the war on wild horses! by Anna Charlton

March 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

A modern-day range war is underway on the vast

prairies of Nevada. Unless there is drastic and immediate

action, the casualty of this war will be the wild horse,

whom ranchers and bureaucrats seem determined to exter-

minate.

The wild horse is an enduring symbol of the

American west. The sight of a herd of these magnificent,

proud animals thundering across the open range evokes the

image of freedom. Responding to public outrage over the

slaughter of wild horses, Congress in 1971 passed the Free

and Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Act, which calls for

the protection, management, and control of all wild horses

and burros on public land. But despite this legislative pro-

tection, wild horses are still shot, poisoned, and rustled.

The greatest threat to their survival, however, comes from

the Bureau of Land Management––the agency Congress

entrusted as their guardian. The BLM appears intent upon

“managing” wild horses out of existence, to increase the

profits of cattle and sheep ranchers.

Wildlife

March 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

The 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill contin-

ues to kill Alaskan wildlife, researchers revealed

February 5 at a symposium hosted by the

University of Alaska and the American Fisheries

Society. Among the victims are 14 orcas, who dis-

appeared and are presumed dead; 300,000 murres,

a bird species that hasn’t nested successfully since

the spill; and sea otters and ducks, who are still

being poisoned by mussels who in turn have been

poisoned by oil.

Zimbabwe is trying to raise $2 million

to spend on culling 5,000 elephants from a nation-

al herd officially estimated at 80,000.

HUNTING

March 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

The 1992-1993 hunting season

closed with a spate of killings by hunters

apparently desperate to shoot anything.

Victims included three rare trumpeter swans,

shotgunned January 1 on the Winterthur

Museum grounds in Wilmington, Delaware; a

tame deer slain at the St. Clair County

Humane Society in Port Huron, Michigan,

January 4; 13 cows killed in Clay County,

Missouri, between Christmas and New Year’s

Day; and three dairy cows killed near

Warsaw, Ohio, on January 16. Michael

Adamson, 20, of Barberton, Ohio, and a 17-

year-old companion face charges in the latter

case. Ronald Smith, 30, and his infant

daughter escaped injury December 30 when

hunters trying to jacklight rabbits––after mid-

night–– sprayed the baby’s bedroom with gun-

fire. Charles W. Tipton, 44, of Lorain,

Fur

March 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service has proposed to take red, western

gray, and eastern gray kangaroos off the

threatened species list, which would mean

their pelts could be imported in greater

numbers. Protected since 1974, the

Australian kangaroos now number about

18 million, up from 10 million in 1984,

and are killed for pelts at the rate of about

5.2 million a year. Public comments will

be received until March 22. Address

Office of Public Affairs, USFWS, Dept.

of the Interior, Washington, DC 20240.

Block pleads guilty

March 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

Miami animal trafficker Matth-

ew Block pleaded guilty to felony conspira-

cy February 9 for his role in the 1990

Bangkok Six case, in which six desperately

ill baby orangutans were intercepted in

Thailand en route from Malaysia to Moscow

via Yugoslavia in a crate marked “birds.”

Three of the orangutans died. The deal was

arranged in violation of the Convention on

International Trade in Endanged Species;

the U.S. prosecutor indicated it was initiated

by the KGB, which hoped to resell the

orangutans after they reached Moscow to

raise hard currency. The guilty plea came

two months after U.S. District Judge James

Kehoe on February 9 refused an attempted

COURT CALENDAR

March 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

Humane Enforcement

Houston police and animal con-

trol officers on January 2 seized 16 pit bulls

at the scene of a dogfight––the fourth big

dogfighting bust in the U.S. in two months.

Simultaneous raids on January

1 7 netted 35 spectators at a cockfight in

Mossy, West Virginia, and five alleged

cockfight organizers in Gilroy, California,

where more than 500 fighting cocks were

seized. About 20 to 25 people evaded the

police in West Virginia, and an estimated 60

got away in California.

ANIMAL CONTROL & RESCUE

March 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

Los Angeles County on January 5 became the

largest and most populous jurisdiction in the U.S. to require

cat licensing. Cats must wear either collar identification or

ear tags. The new ordinance is modeled after ordinances

already in effect in Carson and Lomita, California, but

enforcibility remains in doubt. The ordinance was passed at

the urging of Citizens for Sheltered Animals, who argue

that it will reduce the euthanasia rate for cats picked up by

animal control: 39,000 of 42,000 in 1992.

Zoocheck Canada seeks letters supporting pas-

sage of the Ontario Animal Welfare Act, eight years in

development, “which would license and set standards for

the care and keeping of animals in zoos, aquaria, wildlife

displays, pet stores, pounds and shelters, breeding and

boarding establishments, and native wildlife rehabilitation

centers.” Address Bob Rae, Office of the Premier,

Legislative Bldg., Room 281, Queen’s Park, Toronto,

Ontario M7A 1A1.

Woofs and growls…

March 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

Fed up with nonprofit executives who hide the size of

their salaries by dividing them among related groups who file sepa-

rate returns, the Internal Revenue Service asks on the 1992 Form

990, “Did any officer, director, trustee, or key employee receive

aggregate compensation of more than $100,000 from your organiza-

tion and all related organizations, of which more than $10,000 was

provided by the related organization?” If the answer is yes, detailed

explanations are required.

The Senate Select Committee on Prisoners of War and

Missing In Action Affairs has recommended that the IRS should

crack down on charities who report fundraising costs as “educational”

program expenses. This would affect many animal-related charities;

see the notes accompanying the financial tables on over 60 national

groups published in the December 1992 and January/February issues

of ANIMAL PEOPLE. (Copies are still available at $2.00 each.)

« 1 … 163 164 165 166 167 … 169 »