COURT CALENDAR

June 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1994:

Crimes Against Humans

Odd jobs man Joseph Bales,

33, and Helene LeMay, 31, a mail-

order vegetarian diet consultant, were

charged April 19 with illegally disposing

of their 10-week-old infant’s remains in

the woods near Eastman, Quebec, a

short drive from their St. Romain home,

and then filing a false kidnapping report

in New York City to cover up for the

baby’s death. Their story fell apart within

hours. An autopsy seemed to confirm

their story that the baby died of natural

causes, as there were no evident signs of

abuse or malnutrition. They did not

report the death, they said, because they

feared they would be charged with abuse,

after having been accused last year of

abusing a mentally retarded foster child.

Gorilla case was frame-up ––McGreal

June 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1994:

MIAMI, Florida––Victor Bernal, 57,

director of zoos and parks for Mexico state,

Mexico, was convicted on May 18 of trying to

bootleg a gorilla from Florida who was actually a

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agent in disguise.

Bernal paid $97,500 for the “gorilla,” in one of

two stings set up by convicted primate trafficker

Matthew Block of Worldwide Primates as part of

an attempted plea bargain. The other sting

nabbed alleged bird’s egg smuggler Clement

Solano.

Bernal is to be sentenced on July 18. In

the most recent similar case, a Texas exotic bird

dealer who was convicted of smuggling parrots

was on April 28 fined $10,000 and sentenced to

five years in prison.

Birds

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1994:

Hard-pressed sturgeon, sharks, and

rays got a break courtesy of the birds in May when

the San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge

closed a popular fishing road to protect the nests of

threatened snowy plovers. Killed mainly for kicks,

not eating, the sturgeon, sharks, and rays are less

protected than the plovers but perhaps in greater

jeopardy of extinction because of their rapid deple-

tion and slow reproductive rate.

Oregon State University professor

Morrie Craig has received an award from the

American Racing Pigeon Union for developing a

way to test guano to detect the use of performance-

altering drugs. Doping has lately become a prob-

lem in pigeon racing, as the top prizes in interna-

tional competition have soared above $200,000.

Horses

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1994:

Jean R. Strothenke, town jus-

tice for Schroon, New York, on April

20 fined horse hauler David A. Carper, of

Frank Carper & Sons, $11,100 for ille-

gally taking 40 horses to slaughter in a

double-decked trailer, lacking individual

stalls and insulation. He was caught on

January 27, en route from New Jersey to

Canada, when the truck broke down in a

snowstorm. The fine was by far the

toughest since New York adopted legisla-

tion to cover horse transport in 1980.

Spectacles

June 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1994:

Florida attorney general Bob

Butterworth on May 6 ruled that so-

called hog-dog rodeos violate the state

animal cruelty law. The rodeos pit dogs

against hogs in an enclosed arena. The

dog who corners a hog fastest is the win-

ner. Videos of dogs biting pigs’ snouts,

ears, and legs have been widely broadcast

in recent weeks, as members of United

Bay Pens Association, a hog-dog rodeo

front group, have defended the events as

“good clean family fun,” and Hardee

County sheriff Rickey Dick has refused to

arrest either organizers or participants.

State attorney Joseph D’Alessandro

promised on May 13 that no one would be

arrested if the rodeos cease, but a UBPA

spokesman said they would continue until

arrests were made.

Agricultural veterinary medicine

June 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1994:

The trade journal Beef Today and the

Colorado Cattlemen’s Association have urged the beef

industry to join animal protection groups in urging the

USDA to abolish face-branding cattle imported from

Mexico. The cattle are painfully face-branded––and cows

are spayed without anesthesia––as part of an anti-bovine

tuberculosis program. Of 438 cases of bovine TB found in

1993, 427 were in cattle of Mexican origin. Exposed in an

ongoing series of newspaper ads by the Coalition for Non-

Violent Food, face-branding was also discussed recently by

the Animal Welfare Committee of the AVMA. AVMA

policy presently supports face-branding, but related pro-

posed policy amendments are up for review by the AVMA

executive board.

AVMA says mad cow disease won’t hurt public

June 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1994:

SCHAUMBERG, Illinois––University of San

Francisco researchers led by Dr. Stanley Pruisiner reported

on April 22 that they have discovered how disease-carrying

agents called prions replicate, a key step toward finding a

way to fight scrapie, a fatal brain disease of sheep and

goats, and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), bet-

ter known as “mad cow disease.” More than 100,000

British cattle have been destroyed due to BSE since 1986,

while isolated cases have appeared in seven other nations.

The spring 1994 Farm Sanctuary newsletter

meanwhile asserted that “At least two British dairy farmers

whose cows had BSE, and who had been drinking milk

from their herds, died from CJD, the human counterpart to

mad cow disease…There is evidence to suggest that BSE

has existed in the United States for some time. In 1985,

several thousand mink at a Wisconsin fur farm died of

transmissible mink encephalopathy (TME) which was

caused by their diet, primarily ‘downer’ cows. Research

done in the U.S.,” Farm Sanctuary continued, “has linked

BSE with the use of ‘downer’ cows… Scientists are now

concerned that the disease currently referred to by the U.S.

meat and dairy industries as ‘downer cow syndrome’ could

actually be BSE.”

AGRICULTURE

June 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1994:

The USDA on April 26 announced yet another pro-

posal to raise grazing fees on federal land. This version would

boost the base fee to $3.96 per head-month by 1997, but would

provide incentive discounts for ranchers who undertake various

forms of conservation and/or rangeland improvement.

Comments will be reviewed until July 28. An Environmental

Protection Agency impact study published May 18 estimated that

current management practices would bring a 3% decline over the

next 20 years in stream quality in the affected habitat, while the

proposed changes would bring a 27% improvement.

A National Agricultural Statistics Service survey of

the 10 largest corn-producing states, which raise 80% of the total

U.S. corn crop, reports that less than 1% is lost to wildlife. The

average loss per acre is 0.66 bushels. Of the 35.4 million bushels

eaten by wild animals, deer eat 13.9 million, while birds eat 9.6

million. The 1993 crop came to 5.14 billion bushels in all.

ANIMAL HEALTH

June 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1994:

“Often dogs show signs of lead intoxication

before children, and the signs in humans are more subtle

than in dogs,” University of Missouri veterinary toxicologist

Stan Casteel advises. Canine symptoms include prolonged

diarhea, vomiting, and stomach upset.

Fort Dodge Laboratories, a division of

American Home Products, has introduced the first vac-

cine for treating and preventing ringworm in cats. T h e

vaccine replaces traditional oral and topical treatments.

Michigan State University professor of veteri-

nary medicine Sally Walshaw, 49, on May 1 became the

ninth annual winner of the Leo K. Bustad Companion

Animal Veterinarian Award––and the first female recipient.

Walshaw teaches laboratory techniques. Said Richard

Walshaw, her husband and a fellow member of the MSU

veterinary teaching staff, “Before Sally, few people really

ever bothered understanding laboratory animals’ feelings,

and they indeed have a lot of feelings.”

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