Category: North America

Illegal horse track busted

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2013:

 

ALBUQUERQUE––New Mexico State Police, Valencia County
Sheriff’s detectives and the Department of Homeland Security on
November 20, 2013 raided an unlicensed horse racing track near Las
Lunas that had allegedly held twice-a-month racing cards attracting
hundreds of bettors for years.
“The facility includes starting gates and a well-maintained
track surface,” reported Crystal Gutierrez of KRQE-TV in Albuquerque.
“They were set up for photo finishes at the end,” said New
Mexico State Police Major Ryan Suggs.
The raid came a year after KQRE reporter Larry Barker included
the Las Lunas track in an exposé of illegal activities associated with
horse racing throughout New Mexico. “Barker’s undercover
investigation showed it wasn’t just the horses that drew many to the
events; it was also the money. The investigation revealed the jockeys
also scored big, the races were fixed, and horses were often drugged,”
recounted Gutierrez.

Jumping back into the river does not stop the flow of homeless animals

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  November/December 2013:

Concerning “Ethicist addresses making euthanasia decisions in a no-kill context,”  in the October 2013 edition of ANIMAL PEOPLE,  I find it bizarre that Jasper the Staffordshire’s fate boils down to a football score set of numbers.  I’m no ethicist,  but as someone intimately and actively familiar with animal shelter euthanasia for the past 43 years,  it is clear to me that our industry’s spay/neuter efforts have resulted not only in fewer surplus animals but also in an unexpected but positive consequence of making the lives of dogs and cats more valuable.   Read more

Editorial: Examining the odds for an end to horse slaughter

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  November/December 2013:

Editorial feature: Examining the odds for an end to horse slaughter

Either pending legislation or ongoing litigation could bring the resumption of horse slaughter within the U.S. for human consumption this winter,  or close off the possibility.  Which might happen is anyone’s bet.  It is even possible that court decisions will allow horse slaughter to resume for a time,  only to be again stopped by Congress,  as it was in 2007. Read more

Bands bail on SeaWorld

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  November/December 2013:

ORLANDO,  SAN FRANCISCO,  TAIJI––Shortlisted for Oscar consideration as “Best Documentary of 2013,”  the Gabriela Cowperthwaite exposé of SeaWorld Blackfish between November 28 and December 14,  2013 persuaded all six original headline bands and one of the replacements to withdraw from scheduled performances at the SeaWorld “Bands, Brew & BBQ Fest,”  due to begin on February 1,  2014. Read more

Editorial #2: Time for a new national wild horse policy––covering all wild horses

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  November/December 2013:

Editorial #2: Time for a new national wild horse policy––covering all wild horses Kim Bartlett [Photo credit: Kim Bartlett ] Data showing how many horses have been sold to slaughter per year,  nationwide,  can be extrapolated from readily available public records going all the way back to 1850.  Throughout this time,  coinciding with the advent of railways that enabled brokers to transport animals long distances to slaughter,  the overwhelming majority of horses sold to slaughter have been either those at the end of their working utility to humans,  or the unwanted surplus from speculative breeding.  Speculative breeding rose rapidly as a source of horses sent to slaughter as employment of horses for transportation declined. Read more

Longmont Humane Society convicted of possession of a dangerous dog

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2013:

 

LONGMONT, Colorado––Longmont Humane Society executive
director Liz Smokowski on December 12, 2013 pleaded guilty on behalf of
the society to misdemeanor possession of a dangerous dog––a pit bull
with prior aggressive history––and paid $900.52 in restitution for
injuries the dog caused in a June 2013 attack after escaping from a
foster home.
The pit bull “attacked a leashed Weimaraner,” reported
Pierrette J. Shields of the Longmont Times-Call. “The man walking the
Weimaraner intervened, and the pit bull reportedly turned and bit him on
the hand. Animal control officers ticketed the humane society after
researching the dog’s history and finding that he had a documented
record of aggression with other dogs and people in Mesa County.”
The pit bull was surrendered to the Longmont Humane Society by
judicial order.

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Bullfighting fails to draw crowds in Mississippi––and Spain & France

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2013:

 

JACKSON, Mississippi––“A small crowd” attended a
heavily promoted December 7, 2013 attempt to introduce Portuguese-style
bullfighting to the U.S., understated Roslyn Anderson of Mississippi
News Now.
` “Based on the amount of cars at the event, we think there
were probably only 100 attendees,” said Shelby Parsons, one of 10
protesters who stood vigil outside the 2,500-seat Kirk Fordice Equine
Center. More than 8,000 people signed an online petition posted by
Kimberly Spiegel of Oxford, Mississippi in opposition to the so-called
“bloodless bullfight.”

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BOOKS: Deerland: America’s Hunt for Ecological Balance & the Essence of Wilderness

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  October 2013: (Actually published on November 20,  2013.)

Deerland:  America’s Hunt for Ecological Balance & the Essence of Wilderness  by Al Cambronne  •  Lyons Press (246 Goose Lane,  Guilford,  CT  06437),  2013.  263 pages,  paperback.  $18.95.

Opens Al Cambronne,  “We live in Deerland.  The U.S. now has over 30 million deer,  a hundred times more than a century ago.  They routinely disrupt entire ecosystems.  They ravage our gardens and suburban landscaping,  and every year they kill and injure hundreds of us on our highways…Still,  deer are magical.  Their mere existence makes the woods feel wilder.  They signify far more to us than just meat,  antlers,  or a graceful,  mysterious creature slipping through the shadows…We commute farther and borrow more so that we can live beside them.  If money remains,  we buy vacation homes where we’ll see even more of them.  A few of us happily spend two or three years’ salary for a small piece of untillable land on which we can hunt them…Regardless of how you may feel about hunting,  in many parts of America we now have a very real problem with too many deer.  In some of those places,  hunting is a big part of the solution.  It’s also,  some would argue,  a big part of the problem.” Read more

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