From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2009:

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif.–“We have
received a written agreement from Dancing Star
Foundation to enact a moratorium on killing
animals under their care,” e-mailed Farm
Sanctuary communications director Tricia Berry on
February 26, 2009, affirming earlier statements
to ANIMAL PEOPLE by Farm Sanctuary attorney Russ
Mead.
“We are now monitoring the situation to
ensure that Dancing Star abides by the
agreement,” Berry added. “If they fail to do
so, Farm Sanctuary will have no other recourse
than to contact the California Attorney General
and urge that Dancing Star be investigated.”
Berry forwarded a brief message from
Dancing Star Foundation president Michael Tobias.
“While it is our obligation to our animals to
regularly assess their quality of life,” Tobias
said, “there are no plans to put any to rest at
this time.”

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2009:
PHILADELPHIA–The Pennsylvania SPCA board of directors on
February 19, 2009 unanimously accepted the February 11 resignation
of chief executive officer Howard Nelson, 45, effective immediately.
“One-year board member Beth Ann White, 43, a former banker,
was named interim chief executive,” reported Philadelphia Inquirer
staff writer Gail Shister. White will serve while the PSPCA conducts
a national CEO search.
Hired in May 2007, Nelson “engineered PSPCA’s successful
bid late last year for the city’s $2.9 million animal-control
contract,” recalled Shister. “He increased staff and oversaw major
improvements in the deteriorating Feltonville shelter.”
But Pocono Record senior managing editor Susan Koomar took a
more critical view of Nelson’s performance. “Nelson is responsible
for closing the Monroe County shelter at the end of January,” Koomer
wrote. “Local rescue groups took charge of the shelter’s animals.
Unwanted pets have been abandoned at a pet shop and veterinarian’s
office since the closing.”

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2009:
WANTAGH, New York–The 94-year-old Bide A Wee Adoption
Center in Wantagh was closed for financial reasons on March 8, 2009.
Founded in 1903 by Flora Kibbe of Manhattan, Bide A Wee continues to
operate shelters at the original site in Manhattan and in Westhampton.
Thirty-six of the 135 Bide A Wee staff were laid off, Bide A
Wee chief executive Nancy Taylor told Christina Hernandez of Long
Island Newsday. Taylor said donations had dropped 30% since October
2008, while Bide A Wee lost $2 million in investments. Bide A Wee
had revenue of about $8 million per year in recent years, with
nearly $14 million in financial reserves.
Bide A Wee was the second of the oldest and wealthiest humane
societies in the U.S. to announce shelter closures in early 2009.
The Massachusetts SPCA announced earlier that it will close shelters
in Springfield, Martha’s Vineyard, and Brockton on March 31, May
1, and September 30, respectively.

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2009:

The New Jersey SPCA on March 4, 2009 filed three civil and
three criminal counts of cruelty to animals against Daniel C. Tyce,
26, of Atlantic City, and filed a similar set of charges against
his alleged assistant, Sam Smith. Tyce for about two years
allegedly pretended to be a female veteterinarian, “Dr. Danielle
Smith,” of “South Jersey Small Animal Rescue.”
Arrested on January 9, 2009 in Vineland, New Jersey, for
practicing medicine without a license, Tyce was held in the
Cumberland County Jail in lieu of posting $10,000 bond. After police
and state conservation officers raided his home on January 12, Tyce
was indicted by an Atlantic County grand jury for alleged illegal
possession of prescription-strength ibuprofen and possession of a
prescription drug with intent to distribute.

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