New trends emerge in pet theft

May 1, 1996 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1996:

The third biennial update of the
ANIMAL PEOPLE pet theft log shows dramatic
changes in patterns of both pet theft
itself and prosecutions since the 1990 Pet
Theft Act amendments to the Animal
Welfare Act took effect in January 1992.
Since January 1992, 56 perpetrators
have stolen 218 pets in cases where the
fate of the stolen animals is known. Taken
were 189 dogs (87%) and 29 cats.
Thefts by dogfighters accounted for
48 missing animals (22%); other sadism
accounted for 47 more (22%). Sadism
accounted for 44% of the thefts overall.

IT WORKS IN SAN FRANCISCO–– WHAT ABOUT MILWAUKEE?

May 1, 1996 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1996:

MILWAUKEE––Wisconsin
Humane Society executive director Victoria
Wellens isn’t worried about the flak she’s
catching for giving up 19 animal control
contracts over the next year and a half. She’s
been shot at since she was hired in 1994.
Formerly executive director of the
Chistophe Memorial YMCA in Waukesha,
Wellens inherited a dilapidated shelter, a
building fund that wasn’t growing fast
enough to build much soon, a falling adoption
rate, plunging donations, a demoralized
staff, and perhaps the most militant cadre of
critics between New York and San
Francisco–– despite overall intake, adoption,
and euthanasia statistics that couldn’t
have been closer to the U.S. norms.

Bill Clinton kisses up to hunters

May 1, 1996 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1996:

WASHINGTON D.C. – –
Fending off “vicious rumors that the
president is anti-hunting,” as one
White House official put it, Bill
Clinton on March 25 issued an executive
order recognizing hunters and
fishers as “first partners” in managing
the U.S. National Wildlife Refuges.
“Compatible hunting, fishing,
wildlife observation and photography,
and environmental education
and interpretation are especially recognized
in this Executive Order,”
Clinton said.

Overkill in overdrive: Canada halts, then resumes seal massacre

May 1, 1996 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1996:

ST. JOHN’S, NEWFOUNDLAND––
The good news was that on April
12, a month early, the Canadian Department
of Fisheries and Oceans halted the bloodiest
seal massacre since 1983, claiming––
though few believed it––that the quota of a
quarter million harp seals had been filled.
The bad news was that on April 16
the DFO told the sealers that it had overcounted,
and to go kill another 60,000.
At that, Canadian Sealers Association
executive director Tina Fagan said her
members might ask for an additional quota of
37,000. Newfoundland fisheries minister
John Efford said the additional quota ought to
be 150,000.

Seeking the psychological well-being of primates

May 1, 1996 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1996:

NEW YORK, N.Y.––Even before Congress in 1985 amended the Animal Welfare
Act to mandate that laboratories are responsible for the “psychological well-being” of nonhuman
primates used in research, Henry Spira may have known that resolving the long impasse
in the 200-year-old debate over the ethics of using animals in biomedical research would
come down to accommodating primate behavior.
No primatologist himself, Spira brought to animal advocacy a background including
a multinational childhood, waterfront union organizing, and 22 years of teaching English
in inner city schools. Throughout, Spira noticed that what most people want most in any
conflict is not the goal itself, but rather, not to lose.
Losing means losing stature in the troop. Loss of stature means loss of security.
Goal-oriented negotiating, Spira realized, means finding a way for both parties to gain
stature: to achieve important objectives without sacrificing principle.
Read more

ISAR, HSUS, Mercy Crusade lawsuits

April 1, 1996 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 1996:

The International Society for Animal Rights on February 28 sued founder and
recently deposed president Helen Jones along with her sometime driver Edward Woodyatt,
both of Clarks Summit, Pennsyvlania, for alleged fraud and conversion of ISAR assets to
personal gain. The bill of particulars against Jones includes 28 purported breaches of fiduciary
duties, involving misrepresentation of financial data, using ISAR funds to purchase alcohol,
abusive behavior toward staff, and bizarre personal conduct, paralleling the accounts
given by former staff in the October 1995 edition of ANIMAL PEOPLE.

Activism

April 1, 1996 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 1996:

Robert E. Kazelak, of Hoffman
Estates, Illinois, was charged on March 22
with misdemeanor reckless conduct for
allegedly twice firing a shotgun just over the
head of Chicago Animal Rights Coaliton member
Mike Durschmid six days earlier. Durschmid,
with CHARC president Steve Hindi and
other activists, was on the far side of Illinois
Highway 173, protesting a cage-reared pheasant
shoot at the Richmond Hunt Club in
McHenry County. According to Hindi,
Kazelak “aimed the weapon directly at the
heads of the activists,” making sure he had
their attention before he fired. The incident
was immediately reported to the McHenry
County sheriff’s department, who turned it
over to the Illinois Department of Natural
Resources, who gave it to the McHenry
County State’s Attorney, Hindi said, without
key evidence. The charges were finally filed
only after the shooting drew heavy publicity.

COURT CALENDAR

April 1, 1996 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 1996:

Crimes against humans

Thomas Hamilton, 43, of
Dunblane, Scotland, held permits for
hunting weapons including a shotgun and
two rifles, as well as for the four pistols he
possessed as a target shooter and used on
March 13 to kill 16 five-and-six-year-olds,
along with their teacher, wounding 17 others.
Hunters on the America Online
“Animals and Society” discussion board
nonetheless rushed to deny that Hamilton was
a hunter. Some also argued that Hamilton
was not a “pervert,” since though long suspected
of pederasty, he was never formally
charged with an offense. Hamilton purported
to teach outdoor skills to boys for more than
20 years, trying several times to start youth
clubs after he was ousted as a Boy Scout
leader in 1974 for keeping eight boys
overnight in a freezing van. At one point he
allegedly used his shotgun to threaten a boy’s
mother, but when she called the police she
was told they could do nothing because he
was licensed to have the weapon.

Republicans ready to go on ESA

April 1, 1996 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 1996:

WASHINGTON D.C.– –
House speaker Newt Gingrich on
March 21 signaled imminent motion
toward passing a long-delayed
Endangered Species Act reauthorization
bill, appointing California representative
Richard Pombo and New
York representative Sherwood
Boelert to co-chair a new
Republican task force on the environment.
Pombo is among the most
aggressive foes of the ESA; Boelert
is among the most prominent proESA
Republicans.

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