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

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

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

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

Chicago mayor Emanuel replaces pit bull-friendly animal control director Cherie Travis

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  April 2012:

    CHICAGO–Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel on March 21,  2012 abruptly appointed two-time Chicago Animal Care & Control acting director Sandra Alfred to replace incumbent executive director Cherie Travis,  effective immediately.
Travis,  appointed by previous mayor Richard Daley,  had headed Chicago Animal Care & Control since November 2009.  Alfred had been deputy director of Chicago Animal Care & Control since 2001,  after spending 12 years with the Chicago Department of Health.  Emanuel,  formerly chief of staff for U.S. President Barack Obama, praised Alfred as “a champion for animal rights and advocate for animal care,”  who “knows every facet of the department and is a natural choice to lead the department’s efforts.”  Emanuel did not explain why the change was made.  “We simply decided to go in another direction with the leadership,”  mayor’s office spokesperson Sarah Hamilton told media. Read more

FoA wins 15-year-old wrongful dismissal case

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  April 2012:

    WASHINGTON D.C.–The District of Columbia Commission on Human Rights on March 20,  2012 ruled that former Friends of Animals special investigator Carroll Cox “failed to establish Respondent (FoA) terminated him based on his race or retaliated against him in the exercise of rights protected under the D.C. Human Rights Act.”
The ruling appears to end nearly 15 years of litigation resulting from about 140 days of employment.  FoA hired Cox,  a former special investigator for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and, earlier,  for the California Department of Fish & Game,   on a consulting basis on March 31,  1997.  FoA relocated Cox from Hawaii and put him on salary on July 7,  1997.  FoA terminated Cox on August 20,  1997. Read more

Bob Barker funds elephant move & new PETA HQ

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  April 2012:

LOS ANGELES–-The Performing Animal Welfare Society on March 23,  2012 disclosed that former television game show host Bob Barker has donated $870,000 to fund the relocation of three African elephants from the Toronto Zoo to the PAWS Ark 2000 sanctuary in San Andreas,  California.  Barker agreed to fund the transfer in December 2011,  after the Toronto City Council voted to close the zoo’s elephant exhibit.
“Since 1984,  seven elephants have died at the zoo,  four within the past four years.  The oldest was 41,”  reported Linda Diebel of the Toronto Star.
The impending transfer is bitterly opposed by members of the Toronto Zoo staff. Read more

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