A Project of Animal People, Inc., 1992-2013
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2010:
(Actual press date November 3.)
Tales of an African Vet by Roy Aronson, VMD
Lyons Press (246 Goose Lane, Guilford, CT 06437), 2010.
227 pages, hardcover. $19.95
Tales of an African Vet, by Roy Aronson, VMD, captured my
attention. I have never been to South Africa and enjoyed sharing
Aronson’s acquaintance with the many wild and exotic animals who
inhabit the region, some of whom, like cheetahs, are endangered.
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2010:
(published October 5, 2010)
NEW YORK CITY–Controversy raged in New York City and suburbs
throughout summer 2010–as in most summers–over bird control.
In 2010, however, the disputes expanded from whether or not
birds should be killed to a division of opinion among animal
advocates over the possible introduction of OvoControl, a new avian
contraceptive made by Innolytics LLC, of California, as an
alternative to killing.
New York City Council member James Oddo, of Staten Island,
has pushed for the use of OvoControl against pigeons since 2007. New
York City Council members Brad Lander, Stephen Levin, and Letitia
James and New York state senator Eric Adams on August 11, 2010
joined representatives of In Defense of Animals at a City Hall rally
calling for the use of OvoControl instead of lethal culling against
nonmigratory Canada geese.
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2010:
(published October 5, 2010)
JOHANNESBURG–Startling photos of the
September 22, 2010 arraignment of 11 alleged
members of an international rhino poaching
syndicate reached the world despite the
officially unexplained efforts of police to keep
photographers out.
News photographers Werner Beukes of the
South African Press Agency, Herman Verwey of
Beeld, and Lewellyn Carstens of the South
African Broadcasting Corporation were detained
for 45 minutes and one of them was roughed up by
police, according to the South African National
Editors’ Forum. No motive for the police action
was offered.
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2010:
(published October 5, 2010)
SAN FRANCISCO, PORTLAND– Contrary to military chow line
rumors circulating for at least seven centuries, saltpeter is just a
meat preservative, with no actual effect in reducing the sex drive
or effecting contraception when troops go on leave. Also contrary to
ancient rumor, troops are not innoculated with saltpeter during
their vaccinations at induction into military service.
Several zinc compounds have contraceptive effects similar to
some of those misattributed to saltpeter if injected into the
testicles of male animals, but often induce painful scrotal
swelling, and have no more effect than saltpeter in reducing
testosterone production.
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2010:
(published October 5, 2010)
NAIROBI–Veterinary contraceptive
researcher Henk J. Bertschinger wowed the Africa
Animal Welfare Action conference in Nairobi on
September 8, 2010 with two presentations hinting
that the anti-GnRH agonist approach to animal
birth control may be applicable in cats and dogs.
Bertschinger, of the University of
Pretoria in South Africa, recapped and updated a
2007 paper he and colleagues published in the
journal Wildlife Research, describing “the
treatment and contraception of 23 captive and 40
free-ranging lionesses and four captive tigers in
South Africa,” using a range of different sized
deslorelin implants. Deslorelin is a hormone
analog, modeled on the natural hormone LHRH
(lutenizing-hormone releasing hormone) that turns
reproductive processes on and off in the brains
of both male and female animals.
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2010:
The New Holistic Way for Dogs & Cats
by Paul McCutcheon, DVM and Susan Weinstein
Random House (1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10019), 2009. 256
pages, paperback. $18.99.
“In the new holistic perspective, a truly healthy dog or
cat will have all systems functioning in the home that is her
body–her own living terrain,” write Paul McCutcheon, DVM, and
Susan Weinstein.
Holistic medicine traces back to the ancient Chinese method
of treating diseases with herbal remedies. In recent decades the
holistic approach has crossed into western veterinary medicine. A
holistic practitioner treats the whole body; a holistic veterinarian
treats the whole animal. McCutcheon and Weinstein contend that all
living creatures can heal themselves from most conditions. Pet
owners can aid the healing.
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2010:
HANOI– People’s Doctor Nguyen Xuan Huong, chair of the
Traditional Medicine Association of Vietnam, on July 21, 2010
warned that consuming bear bile products can cause potentially fatal
liver and kidney damage.
Huong, who served two terms in the Vietnamese National
Assembly, “joined Animals Asia’s campaign to end bear bile farming
after seeing the shocking effects of bile consumption on some of his
patients, including two government officials who died after taking
bear bile tonics,” said Animals Asia Foundation senior writer Angela
Leary. “Huong has treated 10 patients for bear bile poisoning since
1985, including two he couldn’t save,” Leary said.
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2010:
More than half a billion eggs laid between April and August
2010 were recalled in mid-August from stores in 14 states due to
salmonella enteritidis outbreaks that afflicted more than 2,000
people. Wright County Eggs, of Galt, Iowa, recalled 380 million
eggs. Another Iowa producer, Hillandale Farms, recalled more than
170 million eggs several days later.
Salmonella typically infects laying hens via rodent droppings
contaminating feed. Not immediately clear was whether the Wright
County and Hillandale outbreaks began from a common source.
Wright County Eggs owner Austin “Jack” DeCoster “earlier this
year pleaded guilty to 10 counts of animal cruelty over his company’s
treatment of chickens,” recalled Emily Friedman of ABC News. “In
June, DeCoster was ordered to pay more than $100,000 in fines and
restitution,” as result of an undercover investigation by Mercy For
Animals.
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2010:
Reminders of the importance of disease control in animal
shelters came in April 2010 from five shelters whose staff
cumulatively euthanized more than 400 exposed animals due to disease
outbreaks.
Most controversially, the Ontario SPCA announced on May 11,
2010 that it would kill about 350 animals due to ringworm, after
containment and treatment efforts begun on February 22 repeatedly
failed. Six workers were also infected. Tests showed that every
room at the Ontario SPCA branch shelter in Newmarket, Ontario had
become contaminated. Said Canadian Press, “The branch will undergo
a thorough cleansing and an inspection to ensure the ringworm is
eradicated.”