Salmon

May 1, 1996 Archivist Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1996:

Canadian fisheries minister Fred Mifflin
on March 30 declared that the government would cut
the British Columbia salmon fishing fleet of 4,400
vessels in half over the next three years, via license
buy-backs. Fishing industry representatives said the
plan wouldn’t do much to help depleted salmon
recover, however, because 75% of the catch is taken
by the 20% of the fleet most likely to stay active.
Also to protect salmon, the Canadian
Department of Fisheries and Oceans the same day
announced the closure for this year of the commercial
sockeye fishery on the mouth of the Fraser
River, and said native and recreational fishing might
be closed there as well. This year’s Fraser River
salmon run is expected to be the lowest on record.

Oceanariums

May 1, 1996 Archivist Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1996:

Sea World took a high profile
in marine mammal rescue
efforts at opposite corners of the U.S.
in early April:
• In Florida, Sea World
Orlando biology staff led efforts to
discover the cause of 238 wild manatee
deaths––more than ever before
recorded even over a full year––during
the first third of 1996. The toll of 100
through the first 90 days of the year
was already considered alarming,
when 138 more died between March 5
and April 20. About 2,600 manatees
inhabited Florida waters when the
deaths began. Strangely, all of the
victims have been adults. The deaths
roughly coincide with a toxic red tide
that hit 150 miles of Florida’s South
Gulf Coast in April, and red tides can
be lethal to manatees: a red tide in
1982 killed 39 manatees. However,
forensic examination of remains hasn’t
found any direct link between the red
tide and the deaths.

U.S., Peru split on dolphins

May 1, 1996 Archivist Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1996:

WASHINGTON D.C.––The House Resources Subcommittee on
Fisheries, Wildlife, and Oceans on April 18 approved HR 2823, a bill by
Representative Wayne Gilchrest (R-Maryland) to implement the 1995
Declaration of Panama. Endorsed by the Clinton administration, Greenpeace,
the World Wildlife Fund, and the Center for Marine Conservation, HR 2823
and a Senate companion bill, S 1420, change the definition of “dolphinsafe”
to allow the resumed import of tuna netted “on dolphin,” if the number
of “observed” dolphin deaths is less than 5,000 for the fleet for the year.
Proponents of the bill argue that netting “on dolphin” is less harmful
to sea turtles, sharks, and other endangered marine species. Opponents
disagree, including the Humane Society of the U.S., the Sierra Club, and
most other animal and habitat protection groups. “HR 2823 is deadly to dolphins,”

Religion & animals

May 1, 1996 Archivist Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1996:

A Sarajevan mob for reasons
unknown assaulted a Hare Krishna street
procession on April 20, injuring two members
from Britain, one from Australia, and a
young Bosnian recruit. “The clash was unexpected,”
reported Reuter. “The Hare Krishna
movement was very active in Sarajevo
throughout the war, performing their dance
and songs in the city streets even during the
worst of the shelling and winning sympathy
for their courage from the beseiged residents.”
In Sarajevo, Grozny, and other
wartorn cities behind the former Iron Curtain,
Hare Krishnas are also known for their bakeries
and vegetarian soup kitchens. “There
may be places in the world where simply seeing
a bunch of Hare Krishna members would
make people turn tail and run. But Grozny
isn’t one of them,” New York Times correspondent
Michael Specter recently reported.

Exotics

May 1, 1996 Archivist Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1996:

Doll Stanley-Branscum of In
Defense of Animals on April 2 filed cruelty
charges against erstwhile exotic animal rescuers
Catherine Graham and Lawrence
Twiss of Philadelphia, Mississippi, for
allegedly keeping a menagerie including 46
lions, 21 tigers, six ligers, five bears, five
cougars, a camel, and a leopard in crowded
and filthy conditions, often without
water––and bid for custody of the animals at a
Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceeding. According
to Stanley-Branscum, Graham-Twiss “started
her personal collection from rescues and
allowed them to breed.” Stanley-Branscum
said many of the animals had lost their tails in
fights, while some cubs had been eaten.

BAD DOGS & WORSE PEOPLE

May 1, 1996 Archivist Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1996:

Hearing testimony from attack
victims Allison Judah, 14, and Tiara
Dews, 13, the Washington D.C. city council
on April 2 passed an ordinance requiring that
pit bull terriers and Rottweilers be muzzled in
public. Violations resulting in human injury
may be punished by fines of up to $20,000.
On February 19, Anthony A. Fuller, 22,
allegedly led a gang in sexually threatening
Judah and Dews. They fled into an apartment
building, but were chased out by the manager,
whereupon Fuller allegedly set his pit bull
on Judah. Her leg injuries will require plastic
surgery. Washington Humane Society
executive director Mary Healy objected that,
“If our kennels fill up with Rottweilers and
pit bulls who are outside without muzzles,
we will have no space for adoptable dogs.”

Washington Humane back in D.C.

May 1, 1996 Archivist Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1996:

WASHINGTON D.C.––The Washington Humane Society on
March 1 reacquired the Washington D.C. animal control contract for at
least 120 days, after the contract was held for four months by Animal
Link, an upstart rival headed by local activist Dee Atwell. WHS had provided
animal control service since 1980, but was unhappy with short-term
contracts and late payments due to the city’s shaky financial status.
WHS executive director Mary Healy told ANIMAL PEOPLE
that her staff found it was as hard to police Animal Link––whose operation
WHS raided at one point––as to do animal control itself. She added that
WHS is now resigned to doing animal control at a loss.

Port in a storm

May 1, 1996 Archivist Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1996:

ELLICOTT, Colorado––A ninemonth
battle with Elbert County officials over
health and zoning code violations ended in
February when, under 30-day notice to either
move, get rid of her animals, or else, Mary
Port, 71, moved the grandiosly named but
essentially makeshift Colorado Animal Refuge
from an allegedly overcrowded 80-acre site
near Simla, where she founded the facility in
1983, to a 44-acre former dairy farm in El Paso
County, a few miles southeast.
El Paso County has no zoning, but
Port is still in violation of the state Pet Animal
Facilities Act, Colorado state veterinarian
Keith Roehr recently told D’Arcy Fallon of the
Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph.

Wise-use wiseguys

May 1, 1996 Archivist Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1996:

Putting People First was reportedly set to link
Unabomber suspect Theodore Kaczynski, Earth First!, and
animal rights activism at an early-April press conference in
Montana––but the Unabomber’s manifesto, published last year
by The New York Times, described animal rights activists as
delusionary; the San Jose Mercury-News on April 8 published an
interview with Jo Ann DeYoung, a former high school classmate
of Kaczynski, who remembered that he once slipped the
pelt of a dissected cat into her locker; and on April 10 The New
York Times published letters Kacynski wrote to a friend, describing
how he hunted rabbits. Kacynski’s brother David, who
turned the suspect in to the FBI, was meanwhile described by
The New York Times as a vegetarian “bunny-hugger.” PPF cancelled
the press conference, allegedly because it received anonymous
threats but couldn’t get police protection. The purported
Earth First! link was made, however, on April 9 by ABC World
News Tonight. Kacynski had no known association with Earth
First! itself, but of the three people killed and 23 hurt in the 17-
year string of Unabomber attacks, two victims worked for firms
named on a “hit list” issued in 1992 by Live Wild Or Die,
newsletter of a splinter group led by Mike Jakubal, which broke
away in 1989, after Earth First! renounced tree-spiking. The list
was in fact the list of co-sponsors of a 1989 wise-use conference.

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