Feds to investigate horse slaughter & welfare

October 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2009:

WASHINGTON D.C.–Who wants or needs horse slaughter? The
Government Accountability Office is to spend the next few months finding out.
Signed by U.S. President Barack Obama on October 21, 2009,
the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Adminis-tration,
and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010 included a clause
continuing the three-year-old prohibition of USDA inspection of
horsemeat, which brought the closure of the last three U.S. horse
slaughterhouses.

Injunction vs. SPCA Intl.

October 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2009:

MONTREAL –A Quebec Superior Court judge on October 12, 2009
allowed former Canadian SPCA executive director Pierre Barnoti to
continue using the “SPCA.com” web address, pending the outcome of a
lawsuit brought against him by the Canadian SPCA, but required that
donations received through the site by Barnoti’s new venture, SPCA
International, be deposited into a trust fund.
“Another $50,000 will be held in trust,” reported Jason
Magder of the Montreal Gazette. “Another trial will be held to
decide who owns the rights to the domain name.”
The “SPCA.com” domain name originally belonged to the
Canadian SPCA, also known as the Montreal SPCA, but Barnoti
transferred it to SPCA International, which he incorporated in
Delaware in 2006. Barnoti was suspended in March 2008 by the
Canadian SPCA board, and was fired in July 2008, after the Canadian
SPCA was unexpectedly found to be $4 million in debt.

SeaWorld theme parks pass from brewery to entertainment group

October 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2009:

SAN DIEGO–The private equity firm Blackstone Group and
Anheuser-Busch InBev jointly announced on October 7, 2009 that
Blackstone will buy the 10 theme parks belonging to the Busch
Entertainment Corporation for $2.7 billion–including the SeaWorld
marine mammal parks in San Diego, San Antonio, and Atlanta, the
Discovery Cove swim-with-dolphins attraction in Orlando, and the
Busch Gardens zoos in Florida and Virginia.

No home on the range for wild horses

October 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2009:

WASHNGTON D.C.–If Interior Secretary Ken Salazar imagined
his plan for wild horses would please anyone for long, he guessed
wrong. Few wild horse advocates have had praise for any it, fiscal
conservatives have slammed the projected cost of it, and almost
nobody imagines that the Salazar plan will lastingly solve the
problem of the Bureau of Land Management holding almost as many
“surplus” wild horses in captivity as remain on the western range.

Eyebrows raised over mink trade claims

October 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2009:

HALIFAX–Photographers who have tried to focus on caged mink
know they are in constant motion, even within a wire box barely
bigger than they are. Anyone who ever handled a mink knows they are
slippery as a mammal can be, likely to wriggle in any direction and
inflict a deep bite to any exposed flesh. Fur farmers usually handle
live mink only to kill them, and wear heavy gloves when they do.

Hot car death of Richmond SPCA director’s dog may have helped to lower summer 2009 hot car death toll

September 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2009:

RICHMOND, Va.–The Richmond Animal Care & Control Division
on August 28, 2009 announced a finding that “no willful intent was
found” in an investigation of the death of Louie, a 16-year-old deaf
and blind cocker spaniel/poodle mix who died of heatstroke on August
19, 2009 after being left in the back of Richmond SPCA director
Robin Starr’s station wagon.
Starr’s husband, Ed Starr, stated that he put Louie into
the vehicle as his wife prepared to return to work after a 10-day
vacation, but forgot to tell her that he had. Robin Starr found
Louie when she started to go to lunch at noon. “Louie died around
midnight after veterinarians were unable to restore the pet’s kidney
functions,” reported Jeremy Slayton of the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

“One free bite” common law premise is overturned in Ohio & Texas

September 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2009:
COLUMBUS–Ruling against the centuries-old “one free bite”
presumption of common law, the Ohio Supreme Court on August 26,
2009 upheld the constitutionality of a Youngstown ordinance that
defines a vicious dog as any dog who has “a propensity, tendency or
disposition to attack, to cause injury to or otherwise endanger the
safety of human beings or other domestic animals,” or any dog who
“attacks a human being or another domestic animal without
provocation.”
The Youngstown ordinance breaks from common law in that it
does not require a prior history of dangerous behavior to define a
dog as vicious. The Youngstown ordinance itself is not
breed-specific, but it implements an Ohio state law which defines
pit bull terriers and other fighting breeds as inherently vicious.
The Ohio Supreme Court upheld the state law in 1991.

U.S. Marine Corps pit bull, Rottweiler, & wolf hybrid ban is now in effect

September 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2009:

HEADQUARTERS MARINE CORPS,
Virginia–Residents of U.S. Marine Corps base
housing worldwide have until October 11, 2009 to
meet new requirements for keeping any pit bull
terriers, Rottweilers, or wolf hybrids they
already have. No resident of Marine Corps
housing has been allowed to acquire any new dog
of these breeds since August 11, 2009.
Signed by Major General Edward Usher,
deputy commandant of installations and logistics
worldwide, the Marine Corps order was finalized
nine days after Trista Talton of the Marine Corps
Times published excerpts from a draft version and
predicted that it might take effect in September.

Southern California sanctuaries survive wildfires

September 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2009:
LOS ANGELES– Winds gusting over 50 miles per hour drove the
second major wildlife in the Los Angeles area in less than a month
south from Fillmore toward the city of Moorpark as ANIMAL PEOPLE went
to press on September 22, 2009. Evacuations of large animals were
ordered in three areas believed to be in the path of the fire.
Ironically, the animals included some of the more than 600
horses who were moved earlier from the path of the 160,000-acre
Station Fire, east of Los Angeles, a few weeks before. The Station
Fire on September 22 was reportedly 94% controlled, after ravaging
the Angeles National Forest for four weeks, but threatened to blow
up again due to the wind storm.
“Some horses were taken to the Santa Anita racetrack,”
ahead of the Station Fire. “Others were trucked to a community
college in the San Fernando Valley. Others were transported north to
Ventura County. The Los Angeles Equestrian Center, in Burbank,”
accepted 330 evacuated horses, wrote David Finnigan of Agence
France-Presse.

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