Marine Mammals

March 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

“EAT WHALES,” SAYS JAPAN

TOKYO, Japan –– The Japan Fisheries Agency and

25 Japanese fishing organizations on January 29 launched an

aggressive media campaign urging Japanese citizens to eat more

whale meat. The goal is to generate pressure on the International

Whaling Commission to rescind the six-year-old global ban on

whaling at its annual meeting in May, to be held in Kyoto.

The blitz includes radio and television spots touting

whale meat as a cure for asthma and acne, and distribution of

100,000 comic books depicting the history of the Japanese whal-

ing industry. The history is likely to be inaccurate: contrary to

the industry claim that whaling is part of Japanese cultural tradi-

tion, historian Fujiwara Eiji documented in 1989 that Japanese

commercial whaling actually began in 1909, when a man named

Oka Juro brought the concept and techniques from Norway. His

activity was so detested by traditional fishers that some of them

burned his facilities in 1911.

Progress for animals used in entertainment

March 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

The Green Mountain Race Track in

Pownal, Vermont, the only greyhound track in

the state, announced December 30 that it

would not reopen due to financial losses.

January 24, villagers at Manganeses

de la Polvorsa dropped a goat only 30 feet

rather than from the full height of the church

tower during one of Spain’s most notorious

religious festivals. “This is not a victory,”

said longtime protester Vicki Moore.

Woofs and growls…

March 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

Fed up with nonprofit executives who hide the size of

their salaries by dividing them among related groups who file sepa-

rate returns, the Internal Revenue Service asks on the 1992 Form

990, “Did any officer, director, trustee, or key employee receive

aggregate compensation of more than $100,000 from your organiza-

tion and all related organizations, of which more than $10,000 was

provided by the related organization?” If the answer is yes, detailed

explanations are required.

The Senate Select Committee on Prisoners of War and

Missing In Action Affairs has recommended that the IRS should

crack down on charities who report fundraising costs as “educational”

program expenses. This would affect many animal-related charities;

see the notes accompanying the financial tables on over 60 national

groups published in the December 1992 and January/February issues

of ANIMAL PEOPLE. (Copies are still available at $2.00 each.)

Animal Health & Behavior

March 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

Studying the relationship between brain evolution and the death of fetal cells, University of

Tennessee researcher Dr. Robert Williams has discovered that cat species seem to have an unusual capacity for

fast biological adaptation to suit their circumstances. All mammals seem to select adaptive capabilities through

the death of up to half of their neural brain cells just before birth, enabling the remainder to grow, but cats shed as

many as 80% of their fetal neurons––and this explains the key differences between domestic cat brains and those

of Spanish wildcats. Williams studied the brains of domestic cats and Spanish wildcats who had been euthanized

due to illness and/or injury.

What’s next for the Canadian SPCA? FORMER STAFFERS STRENGTHEN OTHER ORGANIZATIONS

March 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

MONTREAL, Quebec –– Embattled Canadian

SPCA president Joan Clark has pledged to resign at the

organization’s next annual meeting, to be held in June, but

observers aren’t betting heavily that Clark will be replaced,

or even that the CSPCA will remain open.

Founded in 1869, the CSPCA is Canada’s oldest

humane organization, but has rarely exercised national lead-

ership during more than a decade of internal turmoil marked

by a declining donor base, and has no staff or programs out-

side the province of Quebec. Although more than 80% of

the Quebec population is French-speaking, the CSPCA

directors and senior staff are primarily English-speaking,

contributing to a image of isolation from the community that

the organization has done little about during a series of pro-

tracted power struggles.

Hirings and firings

March 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

The World-Wide Fund for Nature, known in

the U.S. as the World Wildlife Fund, announced January

22 that Prince Philip of Britain would remain president

until 1996. Philip, whose term was to end in 1994, was

president of the British branch from its founding in 1961

until 1981, when he took his present post. An avid partic-

ipant in blood sports, Philip has led WWF in frequent

alignment with trophy hunters and wildlife traffickers,

opposing most other animal and habitat protection groups.

Vivisection

December 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1992:

The winter 1992/1993 edition of

National Boycott News, a well-reputed

annual directory of boycotts, includes

detailed coverage of the ongoing boycott of

Carme Inc., a cruelty-free cosmetics manu-

facturer acquired by International Research

and Development Corp. in 1989. The boy-

cott, called but not recently promoted by

PETA, might be forgotten by now except

that attorneys for IRDC, a major animal-

testing laboratory, have threatened numer-

ous protesters and media who have covered

the situation with lawsuits––including

National Boycott News, when the editors

offered them the opportunity to respond to

various allegations made by boycott litera-

ture. IRDC did sue two cruelty-free dis-

tributors who dropped the Carme product

line. The case was settled out of court by

the firms’ insurance companies.

Zoos & Aquariums

December 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1992:

The American Association of

Zoological Parks and Aquariums

announced November 6 that it would rein-

state the accreditation of the Columbus Zoo

in Columbus, Ohio, effective January 1.

The zoo and former director Jack Hanna

were suspended in April for violating the

AAZPA code of ethics by importing two

pandas from China for an exhibit that closed

in September after attracting 925,000 of the

zoo’s 1.5 million visitors. AAZPA con-

tends––along with most other wildlife pro-

tection advocates––that China’s panda

rentals are not in the best interest of either

the species or the individual animals. A

week after the AAZPA announcement, the

Columbus Zoo executive committee named

Hanna “director emeritus” and replaced him

with longtime general manager Gerald

Borin.

COURT CALENDAR

December 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1992:

Humane Enforcement

The U.S. Supreme Court is be-

lieved likely to overturn the city of Hialeah,

Florida’s five-year-old ban on animal sacri-

fice. The Supreme Court heard arguments

in the case of Church of Lukuki Babalu Aye

vs. Hialeah on November 3. The church

practices the Santeria religon, popular

among Caribbean immigrants, in which ani-

mal sacrifice is central to many rituals. The

Santerians’ argument that the ban violates

their freedom of religion is backed by the

Presbyterian Church, the American Jewish

Committee, the Catholic League for

Religious and Civil Rights, and other groups

representing Mormons, Mennonites, and

Seventh Day Adventists. The latter church

includes vegetarianism and kindness to ani-

mals as central tenets, but like the others

fears legal precedents that could open the

way for other laws proscribing worship. If

the Hialeah ban is overturned, similar bans

in San Francisco and Los Angeles will also

fall.

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