While monkey use booms, laboratories are retiring great apes

October 2, 2004 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2004:

In contrast to the expanding laboratory demand for monkeys,
use of great apes in biomedical research has fallen for about 15
years, partly because they are harder to house and handle, partly
because of the success of the Great Ape Project, the lectures of
wild chimp ethologist Jane Goodall, and others who have gradually
persuaded much of the public that great apes are human-like enough to
have moral standing.
The hottest issue in great ape research in recent years has
been how to retire them from lab use.
First, in 1996, the former LEMSIP chimp colony at New York
University was retired to the Wildlife Waystation sanctuary in
southern California. Then many of the former Buckshire Corporation
and NASA chimps went to Primarily Primates in Texas. Wild Animal
Orphanage, nearby, built a “level 2 biosecurity” facility to
accommodate ex-research chimps who couldn’t be kept at other
sanctuaries because of the diseases they had been exposed to during
their lab years.
As existing sanctuaries reached capacity, primatologist
Carol Noon formed the Center for Captive Chimpanzee Care and in 2002
bought out the Coulston Foundation, formerly the largest chimp
research facility in the world.

Editorial feature: Humane work is a collateral casualty of the “War on Terror”

October 2, 2004 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2004:

ANIMAL PEOPLE in a September 2004 cover feature extensively
examined the personal and political history concerning animals of
U.S. President George Bush and his November 2 election opponent,
Democratic nominee John Kerry.
Both Bush and Kerry strive to present an animal-friendly
image at the same time they tout being hunters.
Kerry, however, has reinforced the animal-friendly image
and earned the endorsement of the Humane USA political action
committee with a distinguished legislative record on behalf of
animals.
Bush has administratively attacked endangered and threatened
species habitat protection throughout his tenure in public office.
Bush has signed only one pro-animal bill of note, the Captive
Wildlife Protection Act of 2003, which was introduced and sponsored
in Congress by prominent Republicans. Previously, as Texas
governor, Bush vetoed a similar bill.
The Bush record has not improved. On September 21, 2004
assistant Interior secretary Craig Manson, a Bush appointee,
recommended a 90% cut in the designated critical habitat for bull
trout, a threatened species. Eight days later the Bush
administration issued a “temporary rule” allowing the U.S. Forest
Service to ignore a 1982 mandate to maintain “viable populations” of
fish and wildlife. Instead, the Forest Service is to base forest
plans on “the best available science.”

Are Ford Crown Victorias high-risk for police dogs?

September 1, 2004 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2004:

MURPHY, N.C.–A Ford Motor Company spokesperson told
Asheville Citizen-Times staff writer Jon Ostendorff on September 2,
2004 that the company is unaware of any problem with the air
conditioning system of Crown Victoria Interceptor police cruisers
that might pose an inordinate risk to police dogs left temporarily
unattended in the vehicles, but Ostendorff quickly identified three
recent deaths of police dogs in recent-model Crown Victorias, and
ANIMAL PEOPLE identified two more.
Ostendorff was aware of the deaths of overheated police dogs
on July 15 in Muleshoe, Texas; August 4 in New Bern, North
Carolina; and August 19 in Murphy, North Carolina.
Queno, an 8-year-old German shepherd trained to detect
explosives, died on July 30 when senior corporal Alex Garcia, his
handler for seven years, left the dog alone for four hours in a
Crown Victoria cruiser at the end of his shift.
Gino, an 11-year-old German shepherd, died along with
Calgary police constable Darren Leggett’s own pet German shepherd on
September 1. Koko, a six-year-old German shepherd police dog,
survived. A police investigation attributed the incident to a
plugged radiator.
In September 2002 ANIMAL PEOPLE noted five other deaths of
dogs in police cars, but the only vehicle identified by make in file
information about those cases was a Chevrolet Tahoe.

Keeping elephants out of sanctuaries

September 1, 2004 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2004:

DETROIT, SAN FRANCISCO–American Zoo Association director
Sydney Butler has warned the Detroit Zoo and San Francisco Zoo that
the AZA “fundamentally disagrees” with their decisions to retire two
elderly elephants each to sanctuaries, and will “vigorously enforce
our professional ethics and accreditation standards” if the elephants
are moved contrary to the dictates of the AZA Species Survival Plan
committee.
Detroit Zoo director Ron Kagan on May 19, 2000 announced
that the elephants Winky, 51, and Wanda, 40-something, would be
sent to the Elephant Sanctuary at Hohenwald, Tennessee, founded and
directed by former circus performer Carol Buckley.
The elephants would go from their present one-acre enclosure
to a 2,700-acre facility where they could live among a matriarchal
herd almost as if wild.
The Elephant Sanctuary has nine elephants now: six Asians,
three Africans.
“Kagan’s intent drew widespread public praise, but alarmed
many in the zoo community who believe that zoos are fully capable of
providing good lives for elephants,” understated Detroit Free Press
writer Hugh McDiarmid Jr.
Transferring any elephants outside the AZA-accredited zoo
network could become an influential argument for transferring any
elephants whose situations are less than ideal–and elephants are
perhaps the leading gate attractions at any zoo, but are in ever
shorter supply.

North America

Bush & Kerry each seek an animal-friendly image, have contrasting records on animals

September 1, 2004 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2004:

WASHINGTON D.C.–Animal issues historically have little
resonance with voters, but the appearance of animal-friendliness is
all-important for U.S. Presidential campaigns, conventional
political wisdom holds.
Only three presidents have ever been elected without mention
being made of their pets, and none since 1880, according to Claire
McLean, curator of the Presidential Pet Museum in Lothian, Virginia.
Some analysts of image-making believe voters may have
preferred Republican George W. Bush over Democrat Al Gore in 2000
because Bush fed his cats on camera, in his bathrobe, presenting a
caring appearance, while Gore, in a business suit, only patted his
dog while speaking of other things.
Alexandra Kerry, daughter of Democratic nominee John Kerry,
opened her July 29 address to the Democratic National Convention in
Boston with a pet story.
“It hasn’t been easy to sift through years of memories about
my father and find those few that might best tell you who John Kerry
really is,” Alexandra Kerry began.
“So, let me begin with one July day when [sister] Vanessa
and I were kids. It’s a silly story, but it’s true, and it’s one
of my favorite memories about my father.

Editorial feature: The Fund, HSUS, & merging packs

September 1, 2004 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2004:

Rumors that the Fund for Animals and the
Humane Society of the U.S. are holding merger
talks reached ANIMAL PEOPLE on July 26.
Confirmation came a few days later.
In the interim, on July 30, five closely
spaced shotgun blasts followed by frantic yelping
disturbed the woods about half a mile from our
remote rural office. Someone apparently dumped
two black Labrador retriever mixes, a mother and
nearly grown son, and fired the shots to keep
the dogs from following his truck.
Ignoring rabbits who boldly ran right in
front of them, the dogs survived by scavenging
for several days before stumbling upon the
feeding station we set up for them.
For almost a month, we fed and watered
them at the same spot–waiting more than a week
for box traps to arrive, and then waiting for
the dogs to get used to the traps enough to begin
eating inside them. Finally the dogs were
caught, first the mother and then the pup.
Now comes the even more difficult process
of integrating the two new dogs into our pack of
three older dogs.

PetCo urges “Think adoption first”

September 1, 2004 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2004:

SAN DIEGO–Customers seeking any live animal at any of the
680 PetCo Animal Supplies Inc. stores will now be advised to “Think
Adoption First,” the PetCo Foundation announced on August 20 at the
2004 Conference on Homeless Animal Management and Policy.
“PetCo does not sell dogs and cats, and for almost 40 years
has worked with shelters to find homes for adoptable animals, but
our stores offer small animals, reptiles, and birds,” spokesperson
Shawn Underwood said. “As part of ‘Think Adoption First,’
PetCo–with the help of Petfinder.com –will reach out to shelters
that offer these other animals for adoption. Although PetCo will
continue to offer companion animals in their stores, they will
encourage customers to seek adoptable animals in the community as a
first option.”
“Working with more than 7,100 animal welfare organizations,
Petfinder.com offers a searchable data base of adoptable animals,”
Underwood said.
Petfinder claims to have helped place more than 1.5 million
animals in 2003.
As a separate but parallel test, four PetCo stores in the
Minneapolis area in July 2004 began offering rabbits for adoption
from the Minnesota House Rabbit Society.

BBB asks FTC to probe “animal care certified”

September 1, 2004 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2004:

Washington D.C.–The Better Business Bureau on August 25,
2004 asked the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to investigate as a
potential case of deceptive labeling the use of the phrase “Animal
Care Certified” by members of the industry trade group United Egg
Producers.
The BBB National Advertising Review Board on May 9 upheld a
November 2003 ruling by a lower panel that the UEP use of “animal
care certified” is misleading, and should either be dropped or be
significantly altered. The UEP board on May 10 voted to revamp their
web site to give more information about what the label means, but
the BBB found that this did not meet their objection.
The initial complaint about “animal care certified” was
brought to the BBB by Compassion Over Killing, which earlier filed
similar complaints with both the Federal Trade Commission and the
Food & Drug Administration.

Doctor fined up to $70,000 for buying Cuban dolphins

September 1, 2004 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2004:

MIAMI–Graham Simpson, M.D., 53, in late August 2004 told
Miami Herald correspondent Charles D. Sherman that he is “negotiating
a fine of up to $70,000″ for violating the U.S. trade embargo against
Cuba by purchasing six wild-caught dolphins from Cuba to stock the
Dolphin Fantaseas swim-with-dolphins facilities that he and his wife
formerly owned in Antigua and Anguilla.
Originally from South Africa but now a naturalized U.S.
citizen, Simpson said several years ago that he traveled to Cuba
under a British passport, and paid $45,000 each for the six dolphins.
Simpson and his wife recently sold Dolphin Fantaseas to Dolphin
Discovery, of Cancun, Mexico.
Owned by U.S. citizens, Dolphin Discovery has purchased “at
least 33, maybe 70″ Cuban dolphins over the years, Dolphin Project
founder Ric O’Barry told ANIMAL PEOPLE.
Having brought the Dolphin Fantaseas dolphin acquisition from
Cuba to light, O’Barry and Gwen McKenna of Toronto are now targeting
Dolphin Discovery.
“If they got even a $1 million fine, it would not put a dent
in that operation,” said O’Barry.
The Dolphin Project, now sponsored by the French group One
Voice, is currently “campaigning in the Cayman Islands trying to
keep Dolphin Discovery from expanding into that country,” said
O’Barry, who has been trying to end dolphin captivity since 1970.

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