Category: North America

Anti-gassing verdict

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2007:
Atlanta–Fulton County Superior Court Judge Cynthia D. Wright
on March 23, 2007 ordered the Georgia Department of Agriculture to
enforce the 1990 state Humane Euthanasia Act, which requires that
animal shelters must use sodium pentobarbital to kill dogs and cats,
and prohibits leaving dying animals unattended. The law allowed
county animal control agencies that used carbon monoxide gas chambers
in 1990 to continue using them, but did not allow new gas chambers
to be installed. It exempted counties of under 25,000 residents.
The case was filed by former state representative Chesley
Morton, author of the Humane Euthanasia Act, and veterinary
technician Jennifer Robinson, whose dog Pacino was gassed by Clayton
County Animal Control after being hit by two cars.

Horse slaughterhouse closes after verdict

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2007:
DALLAS–Horse slaughter in the U.S. for human consumption
appeared to be closer to an end on March 23, 2007, when the Dallas
Crown slaughterhouse in Kaufman, Texas, temporarily laid off staff.
“We have decided temporarily not to process, because we have
some changes to make here,” Dallas Crown spokesperson Chris Soenen
told Michael Gresham of the Kaufman Herald. Soenen said that “just
about everyone other than administration” had been sent home, but
said this did not mean Dallas Crown would be going out of business.
“This is just temporary as we restructure,” Soenen said.

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Wolves, grizzlies lose protection– and Alaska resumes wolf bounty

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2007:

WASHINGTON D.C.–Wolves and grizzly bears, the iconic
predators of the North American frontier, lost their Endangered
Species Act protection within the continental U.S. within days of
each other in March 2007, opening the possibility that both may soon
be legally hunted.
Demonstrating how wolves and grizzlies became endangered in
the first place–and what has historically always happened when rural
states are allowed jurisdiction over large predators–Alaska Governor
Sarah Palin’s office on March 20 introduced a $150 bounty on wolves.
The bounty is open only to the 180 pilots and aerial gunners who are
registered volunteer participants in the state’s predator control
program.

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New Mexico bans cockfighting

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2007:

SANTA FE–New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson on March 12,
2007 signed into law a bill banning cockfighting, leaving Louisiana
as the last U.S. state that allows it.
“Today, New Mexico joins 48 other states in affirming that
deliberately killing animals for entertainment and profit is no
longer acceptable,” said State Senator Mary Jane Garcia (D-Dona Ana),
who pushed prohibiting cockfights for 18 years.
Thirteen New Mexico counties had already individually banned
cockfighting.
Taking effect on June 15, “The bill makes participating in
cockfights a petty misdemeanor on first offense, a misdemeanor on
second offense, and a fourth-degree felony– punishable by up to 18
months in prison–for a third or subsequent offense. Spectators
could not be charged,” summarized Deborah Baker of Associated Press.
“The push for change was homegrown,” reported Los Angeles
Times staff writer Nicholas Riccardi. “When Garcia took office in
1989, a male colleague suggested she try to ban cockfighting. Her
bill was easily defeated” Riccardi recalled, “and Garcia soon
learned that the ban suggestion was a sort of hazing to which veteran
legislators subjected young female colleagues.”

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Iditarod musher not charged for beating dogs

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2007:

ANCHORAGE–Alaska State Troopers spokesperson Megan Peters on
March 19, 2007 told news media that 2002 and 2003 Iditarod dog sled
race runner-up and 1999 Yukon Quest winner Ramy Brooks, 38, of
Healy, Alaska, would not be investigated or charged with cruelty
for allegedly beating his team about 90 miles from the end of the
2007 Iditarod.
Twenty-two miles from the end, one of Brooks’ dogs, named
Kate, died. A necropsy on the three-year-old dog was inconclusive,
race marshall Mark Nordman told Associated Press writer Mark Thiessen.
“Brooks admitted to spanking each of his 10 dogs with a trail
marker after two refused to get up and continue running outside the
checkpoint of Golovin on the Bering Sea coast,” reported Associated
Press writer Jeannette J. Lee.

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Surprising NAIA conference speakers

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2007:
PORTLAND, Oregon– Known in recent years for opposition to
international animal adoption programs, the National Animal Interest
Alliance has announced a 2007 conference speakers roster that may be
most notable for including speakers usually heard at mainstream
humane conferences.
Founded in 1993 by Port-land dog breeder Patti Strand,
author of a 1992 book called The Hijacking of the Humane Movement,
the National Animal Interest Alliance has in the past featured such
speakers as tuna fishing and fur trade representative Teresa Platt;
Joan Berosini, wife of former Las Vegas orangutan trainer Bobby
Berosini; Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council attorney Marshall
Meyer; and biomedical researcher Adrian Morrison. Each has been a
longtime board member.

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Ex-orang trainer Berosini loses again

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2007:
SAN FRANCISCO–The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on
February 6, 2007 upheld a lower court order that former Las Vegas
orangutan trainer Bobby Berosini owed $340,230 in legal fees and
interest to law firms representing former PETA executive director
Jeanne Roush.
The money was paid in May 2000, but Berosini appealed. The
appellate verdict appeared to end 17 years of litigation originating
in 1988, when PETA distributed a video clandestinely made by one of
Berosini’s employees, which showed Berosini striking an orangutan
backstage. Berosini won a $3.1 million defamation verdict against
PETA in 1990, but lost on appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court.

Animal Rescue League of Boston closes five-year-old Pembroke shelter

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2007:
BOSTON–The Animal Rescue League of Boston announced on
February 28, 2007 that it will close the Pembroke Animal Care &
Adoption Center, only five years after completing it, at cost of $7
million.
Animal Rescue League president Jay Bowen, heading the league
since 40-year president Arthur Slade retired in December 2005, told
news media that the Pembroke shelter has lost more than $1 million a
year.

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