Category: North America

Legislation in the cowboy states

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  May 2012:

Legislation in the cowboy states

    BOISE,  PHOENIX–Idaho Governor Butch Otter in early April 2012 signed into law a bill creating a felony cruelty penalty for a third conviction within 15 years.  Only the Dakotas still lack felony cruelty penalties.
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer two weeks later endorsed into law a bill by state representative Penny Judd which exempts dogs used in ranching and herding from anti-cruelty laws.  Judd introduced the bill after one of her constituents was prosecuted for leaving two dogs in a horse trailer for two days without food or water.  Three others were left tied without clean water.

"Cat ladies" of greater Vancouver still wary despite hard-won gains

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  May 2012:

“Cat ladies” of greater Vancouver still wary despite hard-won gains

VANCOUVER,  B.C.–“The worst thing anyone can call me is a cat lady,”  Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association founder Karen Duncan once famously told longtime Global TV program host Dave Gerry. Then she laughed.
Cat rescuers throughout the greater Vancouver area now quote Duncan,  with the laugh,  expressing evident pride.
“I wasn’t a crazy cat lady,”  says VOKRA volunteer Jemma Crossin in a video clip posted to the VOKRA web site,  “but Karen turned me into one.” Read more

Cockfighting, murder, & a lawsuit over use of a wheeled tank to make a bust

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  May 2012:

Cockfighting,  murder,  & a lawsuit over use of a wheeled tank to make a bust

McALLEN,  Texas;  ALEOSAN, North Cotabato, Philippines–Cockfighting preceded mass murder twice during the second week of April 2012.  The killers in each case escaped,  and if identified,  were not named to media by survivors and law enforcement.
Ramiro Garcia,  49,  his brother Juan Santos Garcia,  53, and Arturo Buentello Garza,  42,  were shot dead and eight people were wounded on April 20,  2012 by two to four gunmen who allegedly fired “indiscriminately” into the crowd at a cockfight 20 miles northeast of McAllen, Texas,  Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Trevino told media.  “Trevino said Garza was likely a bystander,  but the Garcias were known to authorities for previous criminal activity, including drug possession,”  reported Christopher Sherman of Associated Press.  Arraigned for promoting cockfighting were land owners Heriberto Leandro,  51,  his wife Leticia Leandro,  52,  and Humberto Blanco,  37,  the alleged organizer. Read more

Dog-eating surfaces as U.S. presidential campaign issue

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  May 2012:

Dog-eating surfaces as U.S. presidential campaign issue

       WASHINGTON D.C.— “What’s the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull?”  U.S. President Barack Obama asked at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on April 28,  2012,  citing metaphors used by 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin to describe herself.
“A pit bull is delicious,”  Obama answered himself.
The joke was Obama’s response to an April 19,  2012 gibe from 2008 Republican presidential candidate John McCain,  who posted a photo of his son Jimmy’s bulldog Apollo on Twitter with the caption, “I’m sorry Mr. President,  he’s not on the menu!” Read more

Political intervention weakens new puppy mill legislation in four states

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  May 2012:

Political intervention weakens new puppy mill legislation in four states

AUSTIN,  HARRISBURG,  OKLAHOMA CITY,  SPRINGFIELD–Recently passed laws meant to curb puppy mills appear to have been crippled by political intervention in four states.
The Pennsylvania Dog Law Advisory Board on April 25,  2012 met for the first time since Republican Governor Tom Corbett took office in January 2011.  Among other duties,  the board is charged with enforcing an anti-puppy mill law introduced in 2008 by previous governor Ed Rendell,  a Democrat. Read more

Animal Place & Harvest Home rescue 4,460 hens

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  April 2012:

TURLOCK,  California–“There are still 2,750 hens at our Rescue Ranch facility in Vacaville and 200 hens at our Grass Valley sanctuary.  587 hens have been placed into loving homes,”  Animal Place founder Kim Sturla posted on March 28,  2012,  a month after volunteers coordinated by Animal Place and the Harvest Home Animal Sanctuary,  in Stockton,  completed the largest hen rescue on record. Read more

Judge limits Bonneville sea lion cull toll to 30

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  April 2012:

    WASHINGTON D.C.–U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg on March 22,  2012 denied an injunction sought by the Humane Society of the U.S. against a National Marine Fisheries Service decision to allow California sea lions to be  culled at the Bonne-ville Dam on the Columbia River to protect endangered spring salmon runs–but Boasberg restricted the proposed killing to 30 sea lions per year, rather than the 92 proposed by NMFS,  and ordered that the sea lions may not be shot.
California sea lions eat under 4% of the Columbia River salmon runs,  according to federal studies.  But Oregon and Washington have for more than 15 years blamed sea lions for declining catches.  HSUS and other organizations have repeatedly blocked or restricted proposed sea lion culls by filing lawsuits invoking the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

Another Chicken Activist’s Perspective on Federal Legal Protection for Hens

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  April 2012:

Another Chicken Activist’s Perspective on Federal Legal Protection for Hens
by Paul Shapiro, Senior director of farm animal protection, Humane Society of the U.S.

In 1999, United Poultry Concerns rightly lauded the passage of the European Union’s law requiring a phase-in of better treatment of egg-laying hens by 2012, including a switch from barren battery cages to enriched colony cages.
“Europe Bans Battery Hen Cages” was the UPC newsletter’s headline,  with the article continuing that caging systems will be improved by reducing stocking density,  but that cage-free would have been better.  “Historic Day for Hens,”  continued another UPC headline about the EU announcement.  The article asserted,  “It is time for the United States and Canada to climb aboard,”   adding “The vote is a victory for the birds and for our struggle on their behalf in a country that,  to date,  accords to birds and to farmed animals no federal protection at all.” Read more

Luck runs out but racing goes on

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  April 2012:

    SANTA ANITA,  CHELTENHAM–Home Box Office cancelled the made-for-TV Dustin Hoffman/Nick Nolte drama series Luck on March 14, 2012 after three on-set horse fatalities in three years of videotaping at the Santa Anita race track in Arcadia,  California. At Cheltenham,  Glou-cestershire,  United Kingdom,  however,  the annual four-day Festival jumps meet continued before 220,000 spectators despite the deaths of three horses on opening day,  the same day that Luck ended,  and two horse deaths more the next day. Read more
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