Farm Sanctuary names new executive director

November 1, 2013 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2013:

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y.––Farm Sanctuary president Gene Baur on
December 16, 2013 introduced Harry P. “Hank” Lynch as new Farm
Sanctuary executive director and chief executive officer. Lynch
formerly held the same positions at the National Maritime Center in
Norfolk, Virginia, following 12 years as president and CEO at Stan
Hywet Hall & Gardens. Built as the private estate of Goodyear Tire &
Rubber Company founder F.A. Seiberling, the estate has been operated
since 1957 as a nonprofit tourist attraction.
Lynch succeeds Allan E. Kornberg, M.D., a vegan pediatrician
who served as Farm Sanctuary executive director 2009-2012. Kornberg has
returned to medical practice.

Transition in Tampa

November 1, 2013 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2013:

Ian Hallett, director of Hillsborough County Animal Services
in Tampa, Florida since May 2012, was transferred on December 2, 2013
to a management post within the county parks, recreation and
conservation department. Hallett was succeeded on an interim basis by
Hillsborough County code enforcement director Dexter Barge. Previously
deputy director of the Austin Animal Center in Texas, Hallett was hired
in the expectation that he would help Hillsborough County to achieve
no-kill animal control. Instead, Hallett ran into “a string of
problems at the animal shelter,” recounted Mike Salierno of the Tampa
Tribune, including “two disease outbreaks, animals killed who should
not have been, and scathing audits by outside experts.”

New director in Portsmouth

November 1, 2013 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2013:

Ann Pitts, formerly development director for the Animal Defense
League of Texas in San Antonio, on October 14, 2013 succeeded Jenn
Austin as executive director of the Portsmouth Humane Society, of
Portsmouth, Virginia. Austin was fired on October 10, 2013 after the
society was fined $1,250 by the Virginia Department of Agriculture &
Consumer Services for releasing sterilized feral cats in violation of
the interpretation of current Virginia attorney general Kenneth T.
Cuccinelli II that neuter/return violates a provision of state law
providing that “No person shall abandon or dump any animal.”

Fishy deals menace wolves

November 1, 2013 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2013:

WASHINGTON D.C., LANSING, SALT LAKE CITY––Public comment
ended on December 17, 2013 on the latest U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
attempt to remove grey wolves from the U.S. endangered species list as
purportedly fully recovered.
“Wolves across the U.S. will be left to be hunted, trapped,
and even beaten or poisoned––whatever the state which they call home
sees fit,” warned Endangered Species Coalition executive director
Leda Huta.

Wolves now seldom seen in Denali National Park

November 1, 2013 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2013:

Washington, D.C. – Fewer than 5% of the visitors
to Denali National Park in Alaska who sought to see wolves in 2013
managed to do so, according to data released by Public Employees for
Environmental Responsibility.
In recognition of the exceptional economic value of
wolf viewing in Denali, from 2000 to 2010 the state closed 122 square
miles of lands on the park’s eastern boundary to hunting or
trapping wolves, PEER recounted. In 2010,
when 45% of visitors who tried to see wolves saw some, the
Alaska Board of Game eliminated this no-take wolf buffer. The wolf
population across the six-million-acre park fell from 143 in fall 2007
to just 55 in spring 2013, the fewest wolves known to be in
Denali since 1987.

Cats, tilting at windmills, & what goes around comes around

November 1, 2013 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2013:

WASHINGTON D.C.––Did inflated claims about cat predation on
birds give the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service political cover for granting
a 30-year exemption from prosecution to wind power developers whose
turbines kill eagles?
The exemption was announced on December 6, 2013, two weeks to
the day after Duke Energy Renewables agreed to pay $1 million in
settlement of charges resulting from the deaths of 14 golden eagles and
149 other protected birds at wind farms near Casper and Campbell Hill,
Wyoming between 2009 and earlier in 2013.
Wind turbines in the Altamont Pass east of the San Francisco Bay
area in California are believed to kill about 60 bald and golden eagles
per year. Other wind farms around the U.S. are known to have killed at
least 67 eagles since 2008.

FDA discourages farm use of antibiotics

November 1, 2013 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2013:

WASHINGTON D.C.––The U.S. Food & Drug Administration on
December 11, 2013 announced that the drug makers Zoetis and Elanco,
which produce the majority of antibiotics used to promote livestock
growth, have agreed to participate in a voluntary phase-out of
non-therapeutic use of antibiotics in animal husbandry.
Routine antibiotic doses promote faster growth by suppressing
infections that often result from housing large numbers of animals in
close proximity under unsanitary conditions.

Undercover videos push Tyson into requiring farm animal welfare audits

November 1, 2013 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2013:

ALTOONA––Goaded by repeated undercover video exposés of
rough handling and alleged neglect of livestock, Tyson Foods beef
supply chain manager Lora Wright on December 9, 2013 warned the Iowa
Cattlemen Association’s annual convention in Altoona that Tyson will
soon require beef and chicken suppliers to pass animal welfare audits.

“A third-party auditor will visit farms to ensure compliance,
assessing how workers handle animals, whether animals have access to
adequate food and water, and whether treatment is humane,”
summarized Donnelle Eller of the Des Moines Register. “The
requirements are driven by customers including McDonald’s and Whole
Foods.” These are among the biggest buyers from the Tyson Foods
group, which grossed $33.3 billion in sales in 2012.

Walking horse trainer faces state charges after federal case is dropped

November 1, 2013 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2013:

SHELBYVILLE, Tennessee––A Blount County grand jury on
December 2, 2013 indicted Tennessee walking horse trainer Larry Joe
Wheelon, 68, and stable workers Randall Stacy Gunter, 44, and
Brandon Randall Lunsford, 32, on 18 counts each of aggravated cruelty
to livestock animals and conspiracy to commit the cruelty.
Each faces 13 felony counts plus five misdemeanor counts.
Farrier Blake T. Primm was indicted for one felony cruelty count
and one misdemeanor conspiracy count, both involving the same horse.
The indictments allege that the four men “Did purchase, mix
and/or apply acid or other caustic substances or chemicals to exposed
areas of walking horses, in a depraved and sadistic manner, without
justifiable or lawful purpose, and did purchase, mix and/or apply
compounds, including blistering compounds, to inflict burns, cuts,
lacerations, or other injuries or pain, to the legs or hooves of
walking horses,” in order to force the horses into a high-stepping
show gait called “The Big Lick.”

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