AGRICULTURE

November 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1994:

Agriculture secretary Mike Espy

resigned on October 4, effective December 31,

amid allegations that while moving to more closely

regulate red meat sanitation, he improperly

accepted gifts and favors from Tyson Foods, of

Arkansas, the biggest U.S. poultry producer.

Grazing on public lands, reports the

National Wildlife Federation, has contributed to

the decline of at least 346 species of fish, birds,

and mammals that are either officially endangered

or have been nominated for endangered status.

USDA researcher Robert Wall predicts

that a way to make cows’ milk simulate the health

benefits of breastfeeding will be developed soon by

inserting human genes into cows. The first obsta-

cle will be finding a way to create a transgenic cow

for less than the present cost of $300,000 per head.

Wildlife & people

November 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1994:

An Indian logging elephant named Bir Bahadur

staged a sit-down strike in February after his handler was

replaced, blocking a local official’s motorcade for hours.

Outraged, the official ordered him shot, as “mad.” However,

Bir Bahadur then broke his fetters and fled into the forest, tak-

ing two female elephants with him. He’s been at large ever

since. Maneka Gandhi, daughter-in-law of the late prime min-

ister Indira Gandhi, is now seeking a pardon for him.

Indonesian forestry minister Djamaluddin

Suryohadikusumo says elephants whose habitat has been

taken for farming should be trained to work, not be killed.

“People must be ready to accept them as part of our economic

life,” he said October 12. However, he has dispatched a hit

team to kill Crest, a bull elephant who has killed 13 people

since 1986 and has escaped three times after being shot with

tranquilizer darts.

Ohio data confirms hunting/child abuse link STRONGER THAN LINK TO RURAL POVERTY

November 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1994:

TOLEDO, Ohio––The number of hunters in a county more accurately predicts the

level of child abuse than either population density or median income, according to a new

study of Ohio state statistics––and the findings apply to all four standard categories of abuse,

including physical violence, neglect, sexual abuse, and emotional maltreatment.

Overall, Ohio counties with more than the median number of hunters per 100,000

residents have 51% more reported child abuse, including 15% more physical violence, 82%

more neglect, 33% more sexual abuse, and 14% more emotional maltreatment.

Rural location and poverty are the two traditional predictors of child abuse––but by

Animal control & rescue

November 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1994:

China Daily said October 18 that

Beijing dog licensing fees are to be set at

about $700 per year, triple the average

income of city residents; dogs will be

allowed outside only at night, on leashes;

excrement must be promptly removed; and

dogs will be banned from public places. The

12 million Beijing dwellers now keep about

190,000 dogs, who bit 21,117 people during

the first six months of this year. Since 1988,

89 Beijing residents have died of rabies con-

tracted via dog bites, sparking several dog

extermination drives. Rabies vaccination is

rare in China due to chronic vaccine scarcity.

MARINE LIFE

November 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1994:

Russian prime minister Victor

Chernomyrdin on October 7 signed approval

of the International Whaling Commission

agreement, reached last May, to establish a

Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary including

most waters below the 40th parallel south lati-

tude. Just amonth earlier his administration

formally objected to the sanctuary––the cre-

ation of which Russia supported at the IWC

meeting, against heavy pressure from Japan

and Norway. Because Russia objected in 1982

to the IWC-established international moratori-

um on commercial whaling, the objection to

the sanctuary meant that under IWC rules

Russia would have been uniquely entitled to

kill whales in Antarctic waters, exempt from

retaliatory trade sanctions. The turnabout came

two days after the Russian coastguard sank a

Japanese trawler near the disputed island of

Shikotan, and six days before a Russian mili-

tary airplane fired on a Norwegian trawler

which allegedly intruded upon a military exer-

cise in Arctic waters.

Plague! INDIA, AFRICA CONFRONT THE ULTIMATE ANIMAL CONTROL NIGHTMARE; Tight urban budgets gave rat-catching and trash collection a low priority

November 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1994:

SURAT, India––Inadequate animal control service was largely responsible, authorities say, for the most deadly

outbreak of plague worldwide in 28 years at Surat, India. More than 400,000 residents fled the city as the outbreak became

known, creating risk the disease would spread to nearby communities, including Bombay, 160 miles to the north.

Remembering plague outbreaks that killed thousands during the 1940s and 1950s, 950 million Indians feared the worst.

Quarantines, inexpensive prophylactic tetracycline treatments, and fast information-sharing by electronic mail were

Woofs & growls

November 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1994:

The October 6 edition of the Congressional

Record revealed that the Doris Day Animal League and

the Humane Society of the U.S. lined up with the

National Rifle Association and Gun Owners of America

in opposition to S. 349, the Lobbying Disclosure Act of

1994, which was eventually killed by filibuster.

If the American SPCA thought it could

avoid protesters by holding its September 27 annual

meeting in Burbank, California, instead of New York

City, it got a surprise, as members of the New York-

based Henry Bergh Coalition followed the board west

and staged a 20-minute demonstration, joined by repre-

sentatives of several west coast groups. The effort drew

the attention of the Los Angeles Times to the adminis-

trative irregularities that have erupted into headlines in

New York throughout the past year, as the ASPCA

moves to turn over animal control duties to New York

City by January 1, 1995.

Wiseguys don’t faze Watson

November 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1994:

MARINA DEL REY, Calif.– –Kathleen Marquardt, chair of

the anti-animal rights group Putting People First, debuted October 3 as

host of Grassroots Radio, a daily two-hour talk show on the Talk America

Network, carried 4-6 p.m. EST. First-week guests, a who’s who of wise-

use wiseguys, included biomedical researcher Adrian Morrison, predator

restoration foe Troy Mader of Abundant Wildlife, and Ron Arnold, self-

designated founder of the “wise use” movement, whose funding reputedly

comes largely from Sun Myung Moon’s Unification Church.

The second week, Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd

Conservation Society debated George Blichtfield of the pro-whaling High

North Alliance, whom he was to have debated on July 6 while en route to

protest whaling off the northern coast of Norway. That debate was can-

celled when the Norwegian patrol boat Andennes rammed Watson’s ves-

sel, the Whales Forever. “He asked me if it was true that I’d said some

day we will be able to communicate with whales and will regret what

we’ve done to them,” Watson chuckled. “I said ‘Yes. What’s your point,

George?’ He said, ‘That’s stupid,’ and then just lost it. Marquardt

seemed pretty timid––she hardly said a thing.”

Fur

November 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1994:

While the fur trade for the third year in

a row touts a comeback, facts and figures again

tell a different story. “For the first time in 50

years,” the Ritz Thrift Shop advertised in October,

“the Ritz is offering new designer furs,” apparently

clearing unsold stock from other furriers.

A burst of auction fever last winter

boosted the average mink pelt price from $20.49 in

Toronto on December 14 to $29.91 at Copenhagen

the next day, sparking even faster bidding at sever-

al other auctions, but by the season-ending auction

in Finland the average had fallen back to $20.50.

Even then, a third of the pelts offered didn’t sell,

perhaps because furriers had already bought half

again more pelts than they’ve sold in garments dur-

ing any of the past five winters, at an overall aver-

age of $30.13. To break even, retailers will have to

sell more fur this winter than they have since 1989-

1990, for 35% more money than they got last win-

ter: an average mink coat price of $3,200. In

October, the average was closer to $2,500.

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