Dog bite prevention weak

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2009:

ALBANY, CHICAGO, DENVER,
INDIANAPOLIS, NEW YORK CITY, WASHINGTON
D.C.–Dog Bite Prevention Week 2009 opened with
opponents of breed-specific legislation claiming
victories in Indianapolis and Highland Park, a
Chicago suburb, but closed with a 13-page
verdict against pit bull terrier advocates in
Loudoun County, Virginia.
The Indianapolis city/county council on
May 12, 2009 voted to table an At Risk Dogs bill
introduced by councillor Mike Speedy. The bill
will not be discussed again until after a new
community budget is approved, probably not
before October, Speedy told ANIMAL PEOPLE. But
Speedy vowed that the At Risk Dogs proposal will
be brought back at the first opportunity.
The At Risk Dogs proposal would have
required that pit bull terriers be sterilized,
in a community where more than 30% of the dogs
arriving at shelters are pit bulls. It
paralleled legislation in effect in San Francisco
since January 2006, credited with achieving a
23% reduction in shelter intakes of pit bulls,
and a 33% reduction in the number of pit bulls
killed by animal control in only two years,
after more than a decade of non-mandatory
programs made little difference. Similar
ordinances are in effect in smaller cities in at
least 10 states. Yet another took effect on
April 16, 2009 in Moses Lake, Washington.
The Highland Park city council on May 14,
2009 deferred until after a June 22 public
workshop any further action on a pit bull ban
proposed by mayor Michael Belsky after a newly
acquired pit bull belonging to a 17-year-old boy
inflicted severe facial bites on a 14-year-old
girl.

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IFAW is latest wealthy animal charity to lay off staff due to cash flow crunch

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2009:
YARMOUTHPORT, Mass.–The International Fund for Animal
Welfare in early May 2009 was identified by Sarah Shemkus of the Cape
Cod Times as yet another of the growing number of animal charities
with huge financial reserves to introduce deep budget cuts because of
declining cash flow.
“A recent internal message from IFAW president Fred O’Regan
to employees, obtained by the Cape Cod Times, cited a need to cut
the organization’s operations budget from $53.6 million to $36.1
million,” reported Shemkus on May 9, 2009. ” Net revenues for
fiscal 2009, which ends on June 30, are down by 32% from what was
budgeted, the message says.” IFAW had total income of $25.6 million
in the preceding fiscal year, and entered the 2008-2009 fiscal year
with $41.6 million in total assets, despite net losses of $4 million.

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Elizabeth Morris & Annie Waln introduced hands-on humane work

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2009:

PHILADELPHIA–Was the American SPCA really the first U.S.
humane society, in the generally recognized sense of the word? Is
it even the oldest that still exists?
The continuing influence of ASPCA founder Henry Bergh and the
organization he created in 1867 is not to be denied, with annual
income and expenditures of about $60 million, and more than $100
million in assets. Yet other animal aid societies much like those of
today existed much earlier.
Henry David Thoreau mentioned an anti-hunting humane society
in his 1854 opus Walden, as humane movement historian Phil Arkow
noted in a May 2003 letter to ANIMAL PEOPLE. No further trace of
that humane society has been found, but Elizabeth Morris and Annie
Waln founded the Animal Rescue League of Philadelphia in 1858.

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Editorial: Has Michael Vick truly hit the road to redemption?

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2009:

Former Atlanta Falcons quarterback and
convicted dogfighter Michael Vick on May 20,
2009 completed 19 months at the Leavenworth
Federal Penitentiary.
Released through a side gate, Vick is
not in Kansas any more. Eluding the media
spotlight, Vick followed the Yellow Brick
Road–or some other seemingly improbable
path–into an alliance with the Humane Society of
the United States that has stretched the
imaginations of many animal defenders and much of
the public almost as much as the alliance of
Dorothy, her mixed breed dog Toto, the Cowardly
Lion, the Tin Woodman, and the Scarecrow, who
exposed the Wizard of Oz in 1900.

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Living next door to a pit bull

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2009:
INDIANAPOLIS–An online poll conducted by WTHR-TV found 69%
community support for Indianapolis council member Mike Speedy’s
proposed At Risk Dogs ordinance, against 26% opposition and 5%
undecided.
The ordinance would require sterilizing pit bull terriers.
“1,988 people participated. With all of the critical
comments on the stories from pit bull fans, I’m surprised so many
voted in favor. Keep in mind our poll is not scientific, meaning it
would be easy to skew with coordinated effort,” said Sara Galer of
WTHR.

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“Extreme makeover” contest wins give shelter and sanctuary founders extreme headaches

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2009:

 

ST. LOUIS, Mo.; PHELAN, Calif.–Hoping to win a shelter
renovation through a makeover contest?
Stray Rescue of St. Louis, Rocky Ridge Refuge of Gassville,
Arkansas, and the Forever Wild Tiger Sanctuary of Phelan,
California all did. Each found that the outcome was not really what
was expected.
“I’m just glad it’s over and glad to be back on the streets
where I am most comfortable,” Stray Rescue founder Randy Grim told
ANIMAL PEOPLE. “One day we will have our shelter. The dog gods will
help.”
In June 2008 Stray Rescue won a $1 million shelter makeover
offered by the zootoo.com social networking web site. The makeover
contest required supporters of as many as 1,000 shelters competing
for the prize to go to zootoo.com, register, and vote, thereby
boosting zootoo participation.

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Another L.A. Animal Services chief quits

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2009:

LOS ANGELES–Ed Boks, general manager of the Los Angeles
Department of Animal Services since December 2005, on April 24 2009
advised Los Angeles mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa that he will
resign, effective on June 30.
Boks was ousted from his previous position as executive
director of the New York City Center for Animal Care & Control after
entertaining an offer from Los Angeles.
“I have an offer I’m considering and a couple of options I’m
thinking about,” Boks told ANIMAL PEOPLE on April 27, “but for the
next week or two I just want to free myself from Los Angeles’
relentless irrational oppressive nonsense.”
Boks, 57, was the fourth Los Angeles Department of Animal
Services chief to leave since 2003. The late Dan Knapp resigned
after a prolonged sick leave he attributed to job stress. His
successor, Jerry Greenwalt, retired after enduring months of
intense online criticism and demonstrations outside his home. Boks’
immediate predecessor, Guerdon Stuckey, was fired by Villaraigosa
after just 13 tumultuous months on the job, only days after
Villaraigosa took office. Villaraigosa had promised to replace
Stuckey during the mayoral election campaign, and had reportedly
hired Boks even before terminating Stuckey.

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New Mexico ends gassing just ahead of big gamecock bust

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2009:

SANTA FE–New Mexico Gov-ernor Bill
Richardson on April 7, 2009 signed a bill making
New Mexico the 18th U.S. state to ban gassing
dogs and cats.
The bill allocates $100,000 to help the
last four shelters in the state that use gas
chambers convert to using lethal injection.
Richardson also endorsed a bill that will
permit state-licensed euthanasia technicians to
buy and use euthanasia drugs. The technicians
need not be veterinarians and need not work in
the presence of a vet.

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