From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2013:

“I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
The evil men do lives after them.
The good is oft interred with their bones.”
––William Shakespeare

Alice Anne Blackmore, 93, died on November 10, 2013 in Mason
City, Iowa. Finding an abandoned litter of puppies in 1959, Blackmore
founded the Mason City Pet Assistance League, operating first from the
basement of her family’s home, then from a converted chicken coop,
and eventually from a nearby farm. The organization became the Humane
Society of North Iowa in 1972. A shelter in a former veterinarian’s
office, donated in 1986 by longtime supporters David and Phyllis
Murphy, was replaced by the present 6,400-square-foot facility in 2009.

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  October 2013: (Actually published on November 20,  2013.)

Obituaries

“I come to bury Caesar,  not to praise him.   The evil men do lives after them.   The good is oft interred with their bones.”   ––William Shakespeare

Patricia Ritz,  67,  is believed to have been eaten by some of the 50-odd wolf hybrids she kept at her rural home near Fordsville in Ohio County,  Kentucky.  Investigating a neighbor’s report that Ritz had not been seen in several days,  Ohio County sheriff’s deputies found only a skull and jawbone believed to be hers.  The wolf hybrids had apparently not been given food or water in some time.  Ohio County Animal Control,  Adopt-A-Husky,  and Roby’s Hybrid Wolf Fund took custody of the wolf hybrids,  29 of whom were later moved by Animal Rescue Corps to a warehouse in Lebanon,  Tennessee that already housed about 100 dogs and two parrots,  according to Brian Wilson of the Nashville Tennessean.  Ritz reportedly was charged with mass neglect of dogs in 1986,  1987,  1991,  1997,  1999,  and 2002,  was convicted five times,  and was not prosecuted in the 1991 case after promising she would not again take dogs into Indiana. Read more

From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  October 2013: (Actually published on November 20,  2013.)

Dawn Aubrey-Ward,  43,  hanged herself on May 8,  2013 in her home in Martock,  Somerset,   U.K.,  coroner Tony Williams ruled on October 14,  2013. A Royal SPCA animal welfare officer from 2008 to 2010,  Aubrey-Ward was among the three named sources for allegations published by Nick Craven and Lynne Wallis of The Daily Mail on December 29,  2012 that the RSPCA unnecessarily kills animals and inappropriately pursues prosecutions.  The RSPCA countered that,  “Dawn Aubrey-Ward is a disgruntled former employee who was subject to a disciplinary investigation for alleged theft of animals,”  who “left with matters  still pending.” Read more

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2013: (Actually published on November 20, 2013.)

Sandra Lertzman,  62,  was found dead with 31 dogs on November 8,  2013 in a running car in the garage of her home in Moreland Hills,  Ohio,  six days after she was last seen.  Said to have been involved in animal rescue for 45 years,  Sandra Lertzman styled herself executive director of the Animal Rights Foundation,  but Guidestar,  contracted by the IRS to share IRS Form 990 filings,  shows no record of ARF. Read more

From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  October 2013: (Actually published on November 20,  2013.)

Angela Cope,  97,  died in London on October 28,  2013.  “She was a lifelong animal welfarist of the practical rather than the sentimental type,”  former Royal SPCA director general Peter Davies told ANIMAL PEOPLE,  recalling that one of her projects was organizing a working horse show to benefit the Battersea Dogs & Cats Home.  “She was involved with the Central London Branch of the RSPCA for many years,”  Davies continued.  “When the RSPCA Putney Animal Hospital was created,  she formed the Friends of Putney Animal Hospital Committee,  which raised substantial sums for the hospital,  largely through the onsite shop that she ran with volunteers selling donated goods.  She was a long-serving member of the RSPCA Council,”  but was retired in 2001,  along with fellow RSPCA vice presidents William Jordan and Dame Janet Fookes,  who were replaced on the council by celebrities Geri Halliwell,  Elton John,  and Cliff Richard.   Read more