American Airlines bans pits, Rotts, Dobies

October 1, 2002 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2002:

NEW YORK CITY–American Airlines on July 27 banned pit bull
terriers, Rottweilers, Doberman pinschers, and related mixed
breeds from all flights. Puppies from eight to 12 weeks of age are
excepted.
The ban took effect five days after a 68-pound pit bull broke
out of an approved molded plastic travel carrier en route from San
Diego to New York City, tore an 18-by-8-inch hole through a
fiberglas bulkhead, and chewed through four insulated cables in the
electronics bay of the plane, a Boeing 757.

Banning exotic & dangerous wildlife for the animals’ sake

October 1, 2002 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2002:

WACO, Texas–As the living conditions of large carnivores
and exotic wildlife in private hands go, the mascot bears at Baylor
University in Waco, Texas, are better off than most. The
six-month-old baby bear has a toy: an orange cone. Some say it
resembles a Baylor cheerleader’s megaphone. Others call it a dunce
cap. The 18-month-old senior bear has a multi-level enclosure. Both
bears have pools. Few roadside zoos or backyard menageries offer
comparable amenities–but few are as visible to as many well-educated
people, who might recognize conditions falling far short of optimal
for the animals.
Baylor recently did something about that, after the bears’
stereotypical pacing, filthy water, and lack of any way to get off
the bare concrete drew protest: someone put up a plywood fence to
inhibit casual viewing.

“Invasive” means any species that somebody hates

September 1, 2002 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2002:

WASHINGTON D.C.–Australia and New Zealand may be the most
bioxenophobic of nations, with Britain (page 9) not far behind, but
environmental eugenics have a strong following in the U.S. as well.
Attempting to eradicate non-native species from land holdings
is in fact official policy of the U.S. National Park Service, The
Nature Conservancy, and many other government agencies and
non-governmental organizations involved in conservation.
Paradoxically, some government agencies and nonprofit
hunting clubs are still translocating and introducing populations of
the same species that others are attempting to get rid of. Even as
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service moves to reclassify nonmigratory
giant Canada geese in the Great Lakes region as an “invasive” pest
species, for instance, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources
translocated 4,100 of the geese from the Detroit area to Chelsea,
Iowa, and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources translocated
262 geese from Horicon to Black River Falls.

Are Chinese “walking catfish” positioned to invade D.C.?

September 1, 2002 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2002:

WASHINGTON D.C., BALTIMORE–The U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service on July 26, 2002 proposed a permanent rule against the
importation and interstate transport of and species of snakeheads,
also known as “walking catfish.”
A scientific panel on the same day advised Maryland
Department of Natural Resources secretary J. Charles Fox to authorize
exterminating a small local snakehead population immediately, even
at cost of killing their whole habitat.

Latest U.S. data shows shelter killing down to 4.4 million a year

September 1, 2002 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2002:

Rapid progress against pet overpopulation in some of the
fastest-growing parts of the Sunbelt and the Midwest combined with
continued low shelter killing volume in the Northeast and Northwest
to bring estimated total U.S. shelter killing in 2001 down to 4.4
million–the lowest toll on record.
Our 2001 estimate is projected from data covering every major
shelter in cities and states including 42% of the current U.S. human
population of 281 million. The shelter tolls in 1999 and 2000 were
almost identical, at 4.5 million and 4.6 million, with the
difference being in how numbers were rounded off.

Status-of-animal verdicts in U.S., Britain

September 1, 2002 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2002:

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled on
July 9 that a 10-year-old dog named Barney may
not be subject of a suit seeking visitation
rights, filed by Anthony DeSanctis against his
ex-wife Linda Hurley Pritchard, as the dog is
not a legal person.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Lillian Y.
Lim on July 5 ruled that jurors may be told that
a 38-year-old pony named Lucy who was euthanized
in 2000 by the San Diego Humane Society had no
market value, but may not hear about her
emotional value to Herb Niederheiser, of Ramona,
California, who is suing the humane society for
allegedly unlawfully seizing her. Niederheiser
had Lucy for 25 years.

One orca freed, ten to be caught and sold

September 1, 2002 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2002:

VANCOUVER, B.C.; SEA OF OKHOTSK–The orphaned orca A-73,
who followed the Seattle/Vachon Island ferry boats throughout the
spring in southern Puget Sound, was captured, treated for minor
ailments, taken back to the A-pod home waters in the Johnstone
Strait, and reunited with the pod in mid-July 2002, at total cost
of $800,000.
The greatest part of the expense was borne by the Nichols
Brothers boatyard in Freeland, Washington, whose jet catamaran did
the hauling.

United States legislative roundup

September 1, 2002 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2002:

California Governor Gray Davis in mid-July signed into law a
bill by state assembly member Virginia Strom-Martin (D-Duncans Mills)
which encourages human services personnel to report any suspected
cases of animal abuse they may encounter on the job. Animal cruelty
investigators are already required to report any suspected cases of
child abuse that they discover. The Strom-Martin bill was introduced
to mandate cross-reporting, but was amended to be non-binding after
child welfare agencies testified that the cumulative cost of the
extra paperwork would be about $200,000 statewide per year.

Islamic zoos & Chinese animals

September 1, 2002 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2002:

DEN HAGUE, JAKARTA, KABUL, AMMAN, LAS VEGAS– Mohammed,
reputedly fond of cats, might have given his special blessing to a
cat who found herself locked inside a minaret at a mosque in Den
Hague, The Netherlands, on July 26 after Friday prayers. The cat
summoned help by somehow switching on the minaret sound system and
amplifying her meows along with Turkish music throughout the downtown
area, the newspaper Algemeen Dagblad reported. Her people
recognized her voice and called the police, but the key to the
minaret was not found until Sunday.

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