Vivisection

December 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1992:

The winter 1992/1993 edition of

National Boycott News, a well-reputed

annual directory of boycotts, includes

detailed coverage of the ongoing boycott of

Carme Inc., a cruelty-free cosmetics manu-

facturer acquired by International Research

and Development Corp. in 1989. The boy-

cott, called but not recently promoted by

PETA, might be forgotten by now except

that attorneys for IRDC, a major animal-

testing laboratory, have threatened numer-

ous protesters and media who have covered

the situation with lawsuits––including

National Boycott News, when the editors

offered them the opportunity to respond to

various allegations made by boycott litera-

ture. IRDC did sue two cruelty-free dis-

tributors who dropped the Carme product

line. The case was settled out of court by

the firms’ insurance companies.

COURT CALENDAR

December 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1992:

Humane Enforcement

The U.S. Supreme Court is be-

lieved likely to overturn the city of Hialeah,

Florida’s five-year-old ban on animal sacri-

fice. The Supreme Court heard arguments

in the case of Church of Lukuki Babalu Aye

vs. Hialeah on November 3. The church

practices the Santeria religon, popular

among Caribbean immigrants, in which ani-

mal sacrifice is central to many rituals. The

Santerians’ argument that the ban violates

their freedom of religion is backed by the

Presbyterian Church, the American Jewish

Committee, the Catholic League for

Religious and Civil Rights, and other groups

representing Mormons, Mennonites, and

Seventh Day Adventists. The latter church

includes vegetarianism and kindness to ani-

mals as central tenets, but like the others

fears legal precedents that could open the

way for other laws proscribing worship. If

the Hialeah ban is overturned, similar bans

in San Francisco and Los Angeles will also

fall.

Fur

December 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1992:

The Dutch Advertising

Standards Authority has upheld allega-

tions of misleading advertising leveled

against the fur trade by the anti-fur group

Bont Voor Diren [Fur For Animals.] The

Standards Authority ruled that,

“Considering the way fur is being produced,

by means of unnatural catch in the wild

often by means of a leghold trap, fur farms,

and as byproduct of factory farming for the

production of meat, it cannot be maintained

that fur is ‘ecological’…According to the

judgement of the authority, the production

of fur has nothing to do with the natural

relations that exist between animals and the

environment they live in. Nor can the pro-

cessing of fur be called ecological or envi-

ronmentally friendly, since materials are

used that damage the environment.” Earlier,

the Standards Authority ruled that the fur

trade couldn’t describe the welfare of ani-

mals on fur farms as “excellent.”

Hunting

December 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1992:

HUNTER CHARGED WITH HOMOSEXUAL RAPE

Fourteen million Americans hunted

in 1991, according to newly released U.S.

Fish and Wildlife Service statistics; 34.5

million fished; and more than 76 million

watched, photographed, or fed wildlife

without feeling the need to kill.

Or rape.

Hunting critics who equate the

lethal pursuit with perversely sublimated

sexuality got an apparent case in point

November 4 when police charged hunter

Antone Mendes Jr., 40, of Plymouth,

Massachusetts, with open and gross lewd-

ness, lewd and lascivious speech or behav-

ior, assault and battery, assault with a dead-

ly weapon, attempted kidnapping, and leav-

ing a firearm in a motor vehicle unattended.

The charges allege that Mendes

sexually assaulted his hunting partner, an

unidentified 23-year-old man.

Horses

December 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1992:

The November 16 edition of Sports Illustrated

shocked the horse world with an expose of horse murders

committed to collect insurance money, based on the con-

fessions of convicted horse-killer Tommy Burns, nick-

named the Sandman for his ability to “put horses to sleep”

in deliberate “accidents” with electric current. Burns is to

be sentenced for interstate insurance fraud and cruelty to

animals in December. He got caught when instead of elec-

trocuting one horse, he broke the animal’s leg with a crow-

bar. He had allegedly been hired to kill the horse by Donna

Brown, wife of former U.S. Equestrian Team member

Buddy Brown. The FBI is reportedly investigating numer-

ous cases to which Brown made reference, possibly includ-

ing the death of renowned stallion Alydar at Calumet Farms

in November 1990. Alydar was put down after suffering an

extremely unusual leg fracture. Calumet Farms was $120

million in debt; Alydar was insured for $36.5 million, but

projected revenues from the horse for 1991 were only $7

million because most of his breeding rights had already

been sold.

CHILDREN & ANIMALS

December 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1992:

Serbian soldier Borislav Herak, 21, who may

become the first person executed for war crimes since 1945,

told New York Times reporter John Burns in November that

senior personnel taught him to kill by having him assist in

cutting pigs’ throats. Herak is charged with murdering 29

Moslem civilians between July and late October, and has

confessed to participating in more than 220 murders––most

of the victims women and children, many of them killed in

connection with rape. Herak, captured in mid-November

by Bosnian troops, goes to trial this month.

The first known controlled clinical trial of thera-

py and education involving animals, conducted by the

University of Pennsylvania, has confirmed what pet therapy

and classroom pet advocates have insisted all along: that

children learn more readily in the presence of other species.

Woofs & Growls

December 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1992:

Introduced October 5, an agribusi-

ness-backed bill to gut the Endangered Species

Act died with the closure of the 102nd Congress,

but will be reintroduced in the 103rd, according

to the sponsors, Rep. Jack Fields (R-Tex.) and

W.J. Tauzin (D-La.) The bill, which has no

number or title pending reintroduction, is

endorsed by the National Cattlemen’s

Association, American Farm Bureau Federation,

and 38 other groups. It would subordinate

Endangered Species Act enforcement to econom-

ic considerations, and probably won’t be favored

by the Clinton administration. The ESA came up

for renewal this year but was ducked by legisla-

tors up for re-election, and now must be either

extended or amended by the 103rd Congress.

ANIMAL CONTROL & RESCUE

December 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1992:

Montgomery County, Virginia, on November

10 became the first East Coast community to enact a

comprehensive anti-pet breeding ordinance. Similar to

ordinances recently passed in San Mateo County,

California, and King County, Washington, the ordinance

cleared the county council by a 6-0 vote after language

requiring private breeders to license each animal individual-

ly was removed. Anyone who allows pets to reproduce now

must buy a breeder’s permit, the permit number must be

listed in ads offering to sell or give away the offspring, and

the newborn animals must receive vaccinations. The licens-

ing fee for unaltered dogs and cats will be increased by an

unspecified but substantial amount, while the licensing fee

for animals who have been altered will remain $6.00. Each

license is good for three years. The ordinance also enables

the county to sterilize any dog or cat found roaming at large

at least three times in a calendar year. Whether the ordi-

nance can be enforced is still a matter of debate. A compli-

cating factor is that Montgomery County veterinarians

reportedly charge some of the highest prices for spay/neuter

found anywhere in the U.S.––$200 and up––and even dis-

count coupons available through the county humane society

cost as much as $70. Free coupons are available to low-

income pet keepers.

Guest Column: Wildlife Ballot Initiatives And Why They Fail by Dena Jones Jolma

December 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1992:

The initiative process is the most difficult and expensive approach to reforming

wildlife management at the state level. Opponents of wildlife management reform,

including the powerful National Rifle Association and Wildlife Legislative Fund of

America, are willing and able to spend in excess of one million dollars to defeat individ-

ual state initiatives. These groups have been successful in turning around public opinion

on issues such as banning steel-jawed leghold traps by financing intense media cam-

paigns.

Not since 1930 in Massachusetts have voters approved a trapping ban in a

statewide election. On this past Election Day, the voters of Arizona turned down a ban

on use of steel-jawed traps on public lands by a three-to-two margin. With that vote,

Arizona joined Oregon (1980) and Ohio (1977) as states where trapping bans have failed

in recent years.

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