Pilgrim’s Pride & pride in slaughter

July 1, 2004 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2004:

MOORFIELD, West Virginia –The poultry processing firm
Pilgrim’s Pride on July 21, 2004 fired three managers and eight
hourly workers at a slaughterhouse in Moorfield, West Virginia,
where a PETA undercover videographer documented workers killing
chickens by stomping them and beating them against walls.
“The move followed an ultimatum by KFC, a major customer,
that it would stop buying chicken from the plant unless there were
assurances that the abuse had stopped,” wrote Barry Shlacter of the
Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
KFC president Gregg Dedrick told Vicki Smith of Associated
Press that KFC will hire a fulltime animal welfare inspector to
monitor the slaughterhouse, which is one of two similar facilities
in Moorfield that are owned by Pilgrim’s Pride. Altogether,
Pilgrim’s Pride employs 2,300 people in a county of under 13,000.
Pilgrim’s Pride, headquartered in Pittsburg, Texas, is the
second-largest poultry producer in the U.S., employing 40,000 people
at 24 slaughterhouses in 17 states, Mexico, and Puerto Rico.
After PETA posted the video on its web site, “The Pilgrim’s
Pride share price fell 3%, while that of KFC’s parent company, Yum
Brands, lost 2%,” Shlacter reported.

Non-surgical sterilization wait goes on with new hopes & many frustrations

July 1, 2004 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2004:

BRECKENRIDGE, Colorado– The good news about the
long-anticipated arrival of effective, practical, inexpensive
non-surgical birth control for cats and dogs may be that the bad news
is not worse.
One effective and safe chemosterilant for male dogs,
Neutersol, is now available to humane societies at reduced cost. A
similar product for cats is in development.
The early test results are “very favorable,” University of
Missouri at Columbia researcher Min Wang on June 27, 2004 told the
Second International Symposium on Non-surgical Contraceptive Methods
for Pet Population Control, held in Breckenridge, Colorado.
Immunocontraceptives for female dogs and cats are still just
over the horizon.
Breakthroughs anticipated five years ago unfortunately have
not materialized. Research involving porcine zona pellucida (pZP)
may be chasing a mirage, many dog and cat contraceptive developers
now believe.
ZooMontana director Jay Kirkpatrick showed in 1990 that pZP
can be used as a contraceptive in horses.
“Immunization of female mammals with purified glycoproteins
from the outermost layer of oocytes, namely the zona pellucida,
often results in autoimmunity and infertility,” explained Dalhousie
University biology professor Bill Pohajdak. “The three components of
zona pellucida from many species have been cloned and sequenced
Porcine ZP is widely used because of availability.

New Jersey standards

July 1, 2004 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2004:

TRENTON, N.J.–The American SPCA, New Jersey SPCA,
Farm Sanctuary, and Humane Society of the U.S. on July 20, 2004
sued the New Jersey Department of Agriculture for allegedly failing
to meet a 1996 mandate to develop humane standards for farm animal
care.
On May 4, 2004 the New Jersey Department of Agriculture
issued standards that allow the use of gestation crates for sows,
veal crates, and withholding food from laying hens to force a molt.
(See AVMA vs. AVAR, page 12.)

The chips are down in high-stakes battle over scanner tech

July 1, 2004 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2004:

PORTLAND, Ore.; NORCO, Calif.–The microchip wars have reignited.
A decade after American Veterin-ary Identification Devices
and the Schering-Plough Animal Health Corporation resolved
compatibility problems between AVID microchips and the HomeAgain
chips made for Schering-Plough by Digital Angel Corp., lawsuits and
threats of lawsuits involving microchips are flying with surprising
velocity considering that only about 2.5% of all the dogs and cats in
homes in the U.S. carry microchip identification.
The present size of the microchip market appears to be less
at issue than growth potential. AVID and Schering-Plough donated
thousands of scanners to animal shelters just to get them into use,
and even then, the National Animal Control Association vocally
objected to having microchip scanning added to the animal control
workload.
Microchipping has now proved itself, including in alerting
shelters to the previously seldom detected practice of unhappy
neighbors or estranged “significant others” surrendering stolen pets
to shelters as their own.
A recent NACA survey indicates that about 37% of U.S. animal
control shelters now microchip the animals they adopt out. Microchip
makers are betting that soon most pets will be microchipped.

Hired

July 1, 2004 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2004:

James Bias is the new president of the SPCA of Texas in
Dallas, succeeding Warren Cox, who left in November 2003. Bias
previously headed the Humane Society & SPCA of Bexar County in San
Antonio, Albuquerque Animal Services, and the Humane Society of
North Texas in Fort Worth, and was operations director for Citizens
for Animal Protection in Houston. Cox, running animal shelters
since 1952, is now interim chief at the Montgomery County Animal
Shelter in Dayton, Ohio.

Mike Russell, 59, was in June 2004 named president and CEO
of the World Wildlife Fund of Canada, succeeding Monte Hummel, the
head since 1978. Russell formerly chaired AADCO Automotive Inc.,
and held marketing posts with Sunoco, Petro Canada, and Shell
Canada.

North America

AVMA bars Association of Vets for Animal Rights from tabling

July 1, 2004 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2004:

PHILADELPHIA–Fuming over public criticism of American
Veterinary Medical Association farm animal welfare policies, AVMA
executive vice president Bruce Little on July 21 barred the
Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights from tabling at a
booth it had already reserved and paid for during the five-day AVMA
annual conference, July 24-28.
AVAR vice president Holly Cheever was allowed to address a
pre-conference meeting of convention delegates, but AVAR was
otherwise excluded for “espousing philosophies or actions in
opposition to those of the AVMA.”
Explained Cheever on the AVAR web site, “On June 21, 2004,
a full-page ad ran in the New York Times asking, ‘Has anyone
betrayed more animals than the American Veterinary Medical
Association?’ The ad,” similar to one published in the April 2004
edition of ANIMAL PEOPLE, “was sponsored by Animal Rights
International, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals,
United Poultry Concerns, and the Association of Veterinarians for
Animal Rights.
“While AVAR did not create the ad,” Cheever said, “we were
asked if we wished to sign it, since it addressed many issues which
AVAR has brought before the AVMA.

North America

Breed-specific dog laws survive Ohio challenge, face another; related developments

July 1, 2004 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2004:

TOLEDO, Ohio–Breed-specific dog legislation on July 8,
2004 survived a challenge in Toledo Municipal Court. Judge Francis
X. Gorman upheld an ordinance limiting possession of pit bull
terriers to one, insured for $100,000 liability, and requiring that
pit bulls be kept behind locked doors or fences at home, muzzled
when taken out.
Paul Tellings, 30, then of East Toledo, sued, backed by
the American Canine Foundation, of Belfair, Washington, after he
was charged with keeping too many pit bulls and not insuring them.
Gorman ruled that “The pit bull, as a breed, is not
inherently dangerous,” and that “There is no statistical evidence
which indicates that the pit bull bites more frequently than some
other breeds.” However, Gorman wrote, “There is substantial
evidence that pit bull bites cause a disproportionate number of
fatalities.” Because pit bulls have “been utilized extensively by
drug dealers, dogfighters, and urban gang members,” Gorman said,
they “create a substantial and real threat to the safety of the
public. This ordinance is a necessary and useful tool,” Gorman
concluded, “in controlling these undesirable dogs.”
ACF founder Glen Bui in a web posting called the verdict “a
very small victory but a major loss.”
Tellings and Bui indicated to Toledo Blade staff writer Robin
Erb that Tellings might next plead “no contest” to a misdemeanor
charge in order to pursue an appeal.

No radio talk of Reno rodeo

July 1, 2004 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2004:

RENO–The first rule of journalism is “get both sides,” but
trying to do it cost KPTT-630 Radio sales manager and talk show host
Lee Adams his job on June 28, 2004.
A 28-year veteran of radio work, employed by KPTT since
December 2000, Adams learned on June 25 while preparing for his
weekly Friday afternoon talk show that the Reno Rodeo was ending that
evening, and that Steve Hindi, founder of the animal advocacy group
SHARK, has done extensive documentation of animal abuse at rodeos.
“I telephoned Hindi and invited him to participate in the
show,” Adams told ANIMAL PEOPLE. “I then learned that Professional
Rodeo Cowboys Association animal welfare coordinator Cindy
Schoenholtz was in Reno, tracked her down, and invited her to be on
the show.
“When I informed her that I would also have Hindi, she told
me she would have to clear it with her superiors at the PRCA. Within
an hour she cancelled her appearance. I then got a call from my
boss, general manager Dave Wilt of Lotus Radio in Reno.”
Lotus owns 26 radio stations in California, Arizona, Texas,
and Nevada. Among them is the official Reno Rodeo station.
“Wilt was very upset,” Adams continued, “demanding to know
whose idea it was to put an animal rights activist on the air. Since
Schoenholtz had just cancelled and I wanted to have both sides, I
told him that I wouldn’t put Hindi on the air, and he hung up.

Pro-animal coalitions organize to seek new laws in Egypt, Canada

July 1, 2004 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2004:

Ten Egyptian animal charities on June 21, 2004 formed the
Egyptian Federation for Animal Welfare, electing attorney Ahmed El
Sherbiny to be founding chair. “Ahmed is also the chair of the
Egyptian Society of Animal Friends and the driving force behind
creation of the federation,” ESAF volunteer Robert Blumberg told
ANIMAL PEOPLE. “The Federation’s initial mission is, by invitation,
to help draft Egypt’s first comprehensive animal welfare legislation.
The strength of the Federation will now be used to help push the law
through the legislative process.” Contact EFAW c/o Blumberg,
<rblumberg@attglobal.net>.

The Canadian Horse Defense Coalition is “a collective of
national groups that have joined forces to ban the slaughter of
equines for human consumption in Canada, as well as the export of
live horses for the same purpose,” says founder Sinikka Crosland.
Crosland in 2003 formed the Women’s Health and Ethics Coalition “to
bring further attention to the health, humane, and environmental
concerns surrounding the use of Prempro and Premarin,” and to seek
“an end to the manufacture and export” of all products made from
pregnant mare’s urine. In 2002-2003 Crosland led the opposition to
the Ken Turcot Memorial Gopher Derby, a killing contest held to
raise funds for the Saskatoon Wildlife Federation. The event was not
held in 2004. Contact Crosland c/o P.O. Box 26097, Westbank,
British Columbia, V4T 2G3, Canada; 250-768-4803;
<info@defendhorsescanada.org>; <www.defendhorsescanada.org>.

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