A Project of Animal People, Inc., 1992-2013
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2009:
WASHINGTON D.C.–The U.S. Supreme Court on April 20, 2009
agreed to hear an appeal by the U.S. Solicitor General of a Third
Circuit Court of Appeal ruling that in July 2008 overturned the 1999
federal Depiction of Animal Cruelty law and reversed the conviction
of “crush video” and dogfighting video dealer Robert Stevens, of
Pittville, Virginia.
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2009:
ST. LOUIS–Responding to a “loose chimpanzee” call from
Winston, Missouri, 60 miles north of Kansas City, Daviess County
sheriff’s deputy Larry Adams on March 30, 2009 initially tried to
help Brent Hudson, 49, Cherace Hudson, 41, and Mary Overton, 52,
to get the chimp back into secure premises.
When the chimp opened the door of Adams’ patrol car, grabbed
his leg, and tried to hit him, Adams fatally shot the chimp, a
nine-year-old male named Timmy.
Adams reported seeing three other chimps and 100-200 dogs at
the scene, but when the Missouri Department of Agriculture and
Humane Society of Missouri arrived two days later with a
search-and-seizure warrant, they found only 15 dogs and three cats.
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2009:
INDIANAPOLIS–Indianapolis city/county council member Mike
Speedy on April 24, 2009 introduced an ordinance to make
Indianapolis the biggest city in the U.S. to mandate sterilizing pit
bull terriers.
The introduction comes three years after a breed-specific
ordinance proposed by another Indianapolis councillor met intense
opposition. Her ordinance was watered down into a conventional
dangerous dog law, providing penalities of only $50 for the first
violation and $100 for the second, with impoundment coming only on
third offense.
“An Indianapolis Star review of dog bite data for 2008
revealed that pit bull bites soared 33% from the previous year and
were three times higher than in 2006. Pit bulls also account for
more bites and more severe bites than any other breed,” reported
Heather Gillers of the Star.
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2009:
SAN ANTONIO–Judge Solomon Casseb III of
the 288th Judicial District Court of Bexar
County, Texas, on March 11, 2009 rejected
Primarily Primates’ motion for a summary
judgement dismissing the latest round of four
years of PETA-funded litigation against the
sanctuary.
Primarily Primates has since August 2006
been a program of Friends of Animals.
“This order only means that Judge Casseb
believes there are issues to be decided by a
factfinder,” FoA president Priscilla Feral told
ANIMAL PEOPLE. “We have not yet discussed a
trial setting with opposing counsel,” Feral
said, “but we believe the earliest jury trial
setting will be in December 2009 or January 2010.”
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2009:
ULSTER–Many of the most prominent badger baiting web sites
disappeared in early 2009, John Mooney of the London Sunday Times
reported on March 3, 2009, after an undercover investigation by the
Ulster SPCA and another Sunday Times reporter led to a series of
police raids on the homes of several alleged badger fighters.
“We believe a number of prized dogs were moved south of the
border,” Ulster SPCA chief executive Stephen Philpott told Mooney.
“The baiters know the authorities in the republic will take no
action.”
George MacManus of the Sunday Times on January 4, 2009
disclosed that the Ulster SPCA had begun investigating badger
baiters, “in a bid to curtail the practice and to prompt
prosecutions,” after only 10 alleged badger baiters had been
prosecuted in more than 20 years.
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2009:
Donald D. Chambers, 40, of Amherst, Ohio, on January 30,
2009 was sentenced to serve a year in prison, was fined $1,000, and
was ordered to pay $62,124 in restitution to the Best Friends Animal
Society, of Kanab, Utah. Chambers on October 24, 2008 pleaded
guilty to defrauding Best Friends by taking 28 dogs rescued after
Hurricane Katrina, plus $1,000 apiece for their care and feeding,
on the promise to find adoptive homes for them.
“The relationship between Chambers and Best Friends began
when he presented himself as Don the Dog Guy, who had a kennel and
training facility in Lorain County,” wrote Cleveland Plain Dealer
reporter Donna Miller. “He traveled to Best Friends’ sanctuary and
spent time with the dog trainers there.”
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2009:
BISMARCK, BOISE, HELENA, WASHINGTON D.C.–A political race
to the wire over horse slaughter pits Congressional support for the
proposed Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act, which would prohibit
interstate transport of horses for slaughter, against a field of
state legislation written to expedite the resumption of horse
slaughter, suspended in the U.S. since the last three horse
slaughterhouses closed in 2007.
The Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act 2009, introduced by
Representative John Conyers (D-Michigan) had 103 cosponsors as of
March 23.
Montana governor Brian Schweitzer, a Democrat, had on his
desk a bill passed by the Republican majorities in the state house of
representatives and senate to encourage construction of a horse
slaughterhouse.
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2009:
WASHINGTON D.C–Boosted by the February 16, 2009 rampage of
a longtime pet chimpanzee named Travis in Stamford, Connecticut,
the Captive Primate Safety Act on February 24, 2009 cleared the U.S.
House of Representatives by a vote of 323-95 and returned to the U.S.
Senate.
“The bill will ban interstate commerce in apes, monkeys,
lemurs, marmosets, and other nonhuman primates for the pet trade,”
explained Humane Society Legislative Fund director Mike Markarian.
“A number of states and communities already prohibit private
ownership of primates as pets, but the patchwork of local laws and
the interstate nature of the primate pet trade call out for a federal
response. The Senate bill passed the Environment and Public Works
Committee in July 2008,” Markarian continued, “and has been
awaiting further action. Identical legislation passed the Senate
unanimously in 2006.” Charla Nash, 55, “lost her hands, nose,
lips and eyelids and may be blind and suffering brain damage” after
Travis attacked her at the home of her friend Sandra Herold, 70,”
reported Associated Press writer Dave Collins on March 17, 2009.
Receiving treatment at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, where the first
U.S. face transplant surgery was performed, Nash remained in
critical condition.
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2009:
WASHINGTON D.C.–U.S. President Barack Obama in his weekly
video and radio address to the nation on March 14, 2009 announced
that the U.S. would reinforce and make permanent a ban on killing
downed cattle at federally inspected meat plants.
“As part of our commitment to public health, our Agriculture
Department is closing a loophole in the system to ensure that
diseased cows don’t find their way into the food supply,” Obama said.
Newly confirmed Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack called the
ban “a step forward for both food safety and the standards for humane
treatment of animals.”