Hunting for votes, Bush, Cheney, and Demo rivals Kerry and Clark shoot birds

January 1, 2004 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2004:

WASHINGTON D.C.; DES MOINES, Iowa–Hunting chiefly for
votes, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry shot two cage-reared
pheasants in under five minutes at a Halloween photo-op near Colo,
Iowa.
The bloody ritual paid off on January 19, as Kerry polled
38% at the Iowa caucuses, the first showdown with rivals in quest of
the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination.
Senator John Edwards of North Carolina polled 32% support,
according to CNN, with former Vermont Governor Howard Dean third at
18%. Representative Richard Gephardt, fourth with 11%, withdrew
from the race.
Assured of the Republican nomination, both U.S President
George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney prominently shot birds
during December 2004.
Among their prospective Democratic opponents, Kerry has
previously hunted mourning doves. Retired U.S. Army General Wesley
Clark, not entered in the Iowa caucuses, is well-known as a duck
hunter, whose campaign began with support from wealthy Arkansas
hunting companions.

National Legislation — U.S. & world

December 1, 2003 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 2003:

WASHINGTON D.C.–The U.S. military is exempted from complying
with the Marine Mammal Protection Act under a rider to the 2004
defense construction authorization bill, signed on November 22 by
President George W. Bush. The rider enabled the U.S. Navy to try to
overturn an October 2003 legal settlement in which it agreed to
extensive restrictions on the use of low-frequency sonar, believed
to be lethal to whales.
WASHINGTON D.C.–Associated Press reported on December 8 that
U.S. President Bush is expected to sign the Captive Wildlife Safety
Act, despite the opposition of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service,
which will be mandated to enforce it. The bill, requiring a federal
permit to sell exotic cats across state borders, cleared Congress on
December 7.

Verdict against Makah whaling upheld; new rulings on Native hunting rights

December 1, 2003 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 2003:

SEATTLE–The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit on
December 1, 2003 upheld a December 2002 ruling by a three-judge
panel from the same court that the National Marine Fisheries Service
failed to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act in
permitting the Makah Tribal Council of Neah Bay, Washington, to
exercise a claimed treaty right to hunt gray whales.
“The plaintiffs in the case–the Fund for Animals, the
Humane Society of the U.S., and other groups and individuals–argued
that the government failed to adequately study the ways in which the
Makah whale hunt could set a dangerous precedent and adversely affect
the environment,” explained Fund for Animals spokesperson Tracy
McIntire.

Court calendar

December 1, 2003 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 2003:

The Constitutional Court of South Africa in November 2003
upheld the September 2001 conviction of Kalahari Raptor Center
co-director Chris Mercer for violating the Nature & Environmental
Con-servation Ordinance of 1974 by rescuing three baby caracals
instead of killing them, as mandated by the Problem Animal Control
Ordinance of 1957. Initially convicted and fined, Mercer won a
discharge and waiver of the fine on appeal to the High Court, but
was unsuccessful in seeking to overturn the 1957 law through the
Constitutional Court because the court held that he had only been
charged under the 1974 law. Publicity about the case helped to win
amendments to the Gauteng Province wildlife law, which no longer
requires that “problem” animals be killed without specific cause.

SHARK wins Utah civil liberties case

December 1, 2003 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 2003:

PARK CITY, Utah–Conceding that an ordinance prohibiting
mobile video displays during the annual Sundance film festival and
the 2000 Winter Olympics may have infringed the First Amendment, the
Park City council on December 12 repealed parts of the ordinance that
were invoked in 2000 to block rolling protests by SHARK against the
“Command Performance Rodeo,” held as part of the Cultural Olympiad.
Park City also agreed to pay $2,500 to cover SHARK’s legal costs in
suing to overturn the ordinance.
SHARK founder Steve Hindi told ANIMAL PEOPLE that the outcome
sends a signal to other cities that may try to ban the SHARK video
trucks.

Direct mailings to multiply in 2004

December 1, 2003 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 2003:

WASHINGTON D.C.–Donors can expect to get
more direct mail appeals than ever in 2004, and
more from animal charities they never heard of
than they thought possible, due to a recent
change in U.S. postal rules.
Direct mailers will now be allowed to use
nonprofit bulk rates to send appeals in which
they have a financial interest.
Translation: if a charity cannot afford
to pay the mailer up front, the mailer can front
the money at credit card rates, send the appeal
out by the cheapest means, and pay itself back
with the returns, even if the charity that the
mailing is done in the name of does not net a red
cent.

Editorial: Donor defense in a desperate cause

December 1, 2003 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 2003:

Starting on page 12, ANIMAL PEOPLE for
the 14th year presents “Who gets the money?”
This popular annual feature reveals the financial
affairs of the animal-related charities whose
appeals are most likely to land in your mailbox.
It explains which organizations have money, how
they get it, and what they do with it.
Three pages of prefatory notes help
readers to interpret the numbers. As a further
aid to donors, ANIMAL PEOPLE each spring
publishes a comprensive handbook, The Watchdog
Report on Animal Charities, supplementing the
financial data with succinct descriptions of
programs and any policy or administrative matters
of special note. At $25 per copy, The Watchdog
Report costs less than 25¢ per charity evaluated,
a bargain for any frequent pro-animal donor.

Dean of animal care & control Warren Cox retires after 50 years on the job

December 1, 2003 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 2003:

DALLAS–Warren Cox retired on November 18, 2003, after just
over 50 years in animal-care-and-control, serving with 18 agencies
in nine states.
Even 50 years ago, Warren Cox believed animal control
sheltering did not have to be like running a slaughterhouse, he told
ANIMAL PEOPLE. Though he never ran a no-kill agency, Cox–a
longtime vegetarian–experimented wherever he went with ways of
reducing the killing, succeeding just enough to keep dreaming.
Just out of high school, Cox took a job as a dogcatcher in
Lincoln, Nebraska. “I had a pickup truck with a cage on it,” Cox
recalled. “It was primitive, but looking back I’d have to say we
were progressive. We housed dogs in social groups. It was later
that the idea came in that you shouldn’t let even friendly dogs
mingle.”

Individual compensation notes

December 1, 2003 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 2003:

A – The Wildlife Conservation Society paid at least 26
salaries in excess of $100,000 and 281 in excess of $50,000. Joan
Downs is no longer with WCS. George Schaller, probably the
best-known WCS employee, was the 18th highest paid in 2002.
B – The American SPCA gave Larry Hawk a four-year performance
bonus of $100,000. Hawk in February 2003 succeeded Gus Thornton,
who retired, as president of the Massachusetts SPCA. In June 2003
Hawk was succeeded at the ASPCA by Ed Sayres, president of the San
Francisco SPCA since January 1999. Sayres was succeeded as president
of the San Francisco SPCA by Daniel Crain, vice president at the
SF/SPCA since 1999. The ASPCA paid 80 additional salaries over
$50,000 in 2002, the MSPCA paid 97, and the SF/SPCA paid 19.
C – The Nature Conservancy paid 836 salaries over $50,000 in
fiscal 2002.

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