When a horse needs help

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

SANTA BARBARA, Calif.
Held the weekend of February 6-7, the First
International Conference on Equine Rescue
could have run days longer, in Rich Meyer’s
estimation. As horse expert for the
American Humane Association, Meyer
knows horse rescue ranks among most shel-
ter directors’ and animal control officers’
worst nightmares. First, there’s the sheer
size and strength of the animal to contend
with. Second, where there’s one starving or
abused horse, there are usually several.
Third, shelters set up to handle dogs and
cats usually don’t have facilities for live-
stock: big trailers, paddocks, pastures.
Their regular veterinarians tend to be small
animal specialists. And their budgets aren’t
easily stretched to accommodate the special
needs and appetites of equines.

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Vivisection

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

Physicians for Human Rights on February 6 asked the American Medical
Association to lead a probe of how German medical doctor Hans Joachim Sewering, 76,
became president elect of the World Medical Association. Sewering,a member of the Nazi SS
from 1933 until 1945, is accused of complicity in sending 203 people, including children, to
their deaths at Eglfing-Haar, a
euthanasia site for the disabled.
Ironically, the WMA was formed in
1947 in response to Nazi medical
abuses.

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Animal Health & Behavior

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

Studying the relationship between brain evolution and the death of fetal cells, University of
Tennessee researcher Dr. Robert Williams has discovered that cat species seem to have an unusual capacity for
fast biological adaptation to suit their circumstances. All mammals seem to select adaptive capabilities through
the death of up to half of their neural brain cells just before birth, enabling the remainder to grow, but cats shed as
many as 80% of their fetal neurons––and this explains the key differences between domestic cat brains and those
of Spanish wildcats. Williams studied the brains of domestic cats and Spanish wildcats who had been euthanized
due to illness and/or injury.

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BOOKS: Care of the Wild: First Aid for Wild Creatures

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1992:

Care of the Wild: First Aid for Wild
Creatures. By William J. Jordan and John
H u g h e s . University of Wisconsin Press (114 N.
Murray St., Madison, WI 53715). 1992. 225 pages.
$11.95 paper; $27.50 cloth.
I’ve never read Care of the Wild all the way
through. I probably should. There are pages of my battered
old 1983 edition that I’ve never read––and pages I’ve read
aloud over the telephone or photocopied many times while
fielding desperate calls from people who have found an
injured this or that and don’t know what to do. Simply put,
Care of the Wild is an invaluable desk reference for anyone
who may encounter wildlife in need of help: wildlife reha-
bilitators, animal control officers, humane societies; any-
one who notices and cares. First published in England, it is
now expanded and updated to more thoroughly cover North
American wildlife, but it did a fairly good job before: I’ve
used it to help other people help opossums, raccoons,
songbirds, rabbits, and deer––who are only a handful of
the species discussed. Care of the Wild won’t replace your
veterinarian, but it will tell you when to call the vet, and
what to do before and afterward.
––Merritt Clifton

Animal Health

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1992:

The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons on
November 10 announced that it would ask the British
Parliament to ban routine docking of dogs’ tails as, “an
unjustified mutilation and unethical,” over the objections
of Buckingham Palace. Under the RCVS proposal, vet-
erinarians who perform medically unjustified tail-dock-
ing could lose their licenses. Princess Anne vehemently
defended tail-docking at a recent meeting of the British
Veterinary Medical Association. Of the 7.5 million dogs
in Britain, about 1.3 million have been tail-docked,
mostly by breeders. Among the 185 breeds registered by
the Royal Kennel Club, about 50 are traditionally tail-
docked, including corgis (a royal favorite), boxers,
Dobermans, old English sheep dogs, poodles, and
Rottweilers.

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They’ve spayed/neutered 5,000 animals––this year!

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1992:

DENVER, Colorado––If people won’t take
their animals to a veterinary clinic for spaying or neuter-
ing, Jeff Young takes the Planned Pethood Plus clinic to
the animals. Working out of a bus, in cooperation with
local humane societies and activist groups, veterinarians
Young and business partner Mark Chamberlain set out
to alter 6,000 animals during 1992; surpassing 5,000 in
mid-November, they were right on pace, Young said.
The humane organizations publicize Young’s arrival in
each community and get the paperwork done in
advance. This enables him to go right to work, per-
forming as many as 32 surgeries per day, at average
fees of $15/tomcat, $20/queen, $25/male dog, and
$35/female dog.

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Diet & Health

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1992:

Trained on a vegetarian diet by former come-
dian Dick Gregory, challenger Riddick Bowe cut his
weight from 272 pounds to 235, then beat Evander
Holyfield out of the world heavyweight boxing champi-
onship November 13––but celebrated with a meal of fried
chicken. Holyfield’s training diet was heavy on turkey
sandwiches. Fight commentators included defending
world cruiserweight champion Bobby Czyz, who revived
a struggling career after becoming a vegetarian several
years ago. (Other boxers of interest to animal people
include former three-time world heavyweight champion
Muhammed Ali, an outspoken critic of sport hunting,
and former heavyweight champion George Foreman, who
harbors numerous once abused animals adopted from
shelters and sanctuaries, where he makes a point of ask-
ing for, “The ugliest, the ones nobody else will want.”

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Editorial: Veterinarians are animal people too

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1992:

Veterinarians, as a profession, have a morale problem. It’s not that they don’t love
their work; most do. Dropouts from veterinary work are few, while competition to get into
veterinary schools is intense as ever. The morale problem comes, rather, from feeling
unappreciated. And it isn’t just a matter of not getting enough pats and tail-wags from happy
patients. Increasing numbers of veterinarians are having trouble meeting the sometimes con-
flicting demands of maintaining ethical standards and making a living.
Today’s veterinarians are acutely conscious of ethical issues involving animals.
Witness the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons’ recent stand against docking dogs’ tails
(see page 14); the 1991 survey of University of Missouri veterinary graduates that found
nearly half believe animals have rights and four-fifths believe leghold traps are cruel; the
widespread participation of veterinarians in the Friends of Animals and Spay U.S.A. dis-
count spay/neuter programs; and the emergence of two vet-based animal protection soci-
eties, the American Association of Veterinarians for Animal Welfare and the Association of
Veterinarians for Animal Rights. Volunteers from both were among the first rescuers on the
scene in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew.

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Animal Health

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1992:

The Centers for Disease
Control revealed October 8 that a 31-
year-old man from Tucson, Arizona, had
become the first human plague fatality in
the U.S. since 1987. The man, who was
not further identified, became infected
when he breathed the same air as a dis-
eased cat he rescued from a crawl space
under a house in Chaffee County,
Colorado, on August 19. He fell ill on
August 21, was hospitalized August 25,
and died August 26, still undiagnosed.
The cat, who also died, apparently got
the plague from a flea-infested chipmunk.

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