From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  November/December 2011:

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

Sue Farinato,  61, died on October 25,  2011 at her home in
Damascus,  Maryland.  Born Sue Lunson in Portsmouth,  Virginia,  she
became involved in bird rescue in childhood and continued to do
wildlife rehabilitation throughout her life,  founding an
organization called Wildlife Aid Brigade in 2007 to help train
wildlife rescuers.  She met her husband Richard Farinato in 1972,
when both were employed by the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston.  While
Richard Farinato developed his career as a wildlife specialist with
the Humane Society of the U.S.,  Sue Farinato in 1987 founded the
South Carolina animal advocacy group Peaceable Kingdom,  challenging
hunters,  trappers,  the fur industry,  roadside zoos,  and traveling
animal shows,  most prominently the notorious Tim Rivers Diving Mule
Act.  Joining her husband at HSUS in 2003, she “served in a number of
capacities including as outreach coordinator for the Wildlife Land
Trust,  issues information specialist for Animal Research Issues,
animal services coordinator at the Black Beauty Ranch,  membership
manager for the Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association,  and
for the past three years as program assistant for Pet Care Issues in
Companion Animals,”  recalled HSUS president Wayne Pacelle.  Among
the last animals Sue Farinato handled was an injured pigeon whom
Pacelle and his fiancee Lisa found on a Washington D.C. street. Read more

From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  October 2011:

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

Jagjit Singh, 70,  died of a brain hemorrhage in Mumbai on October 10,  2011.   “Widely credited for reviving the popularity of classical Hindustani love songs in Urdu, known as ghazals,”  recalled New York Times correspondent Neha Thirani,  Singh was also remembered “for using his voice to speak up for elephants needlessly being killed by speeding trains on railway tracks,”  said PETA/India manager of media and celebrity projects Sachin S. Bangera.  Singh wrote to former Indian railways minister Mamata Banerjee in September 2010,   after a train moving at 70 miles per hour killed seven elephants in the Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal,  asking her to “limit the speed of trains running through elephant corridors and to use speed-detection guns to monitor train speeds.”  The use of speed guns to clock train speeds was introduced in October 2010 by Azam Siddiqui,  a TV news camera man who first wrote to ANIMAL PEOPLE about road and railway threats to elephants in 2004.  ANIMAL PEOPLE helped Siddiqui to collect the information he needed to apply for the PETA/India grant that funded the acquisition of a speed gun used to demonstrate the efficacy of the technique–but while the speed gun easily passed all tests,  train speeds are still not routinely monitored.  Three elephants were injured in  July 2011 near the site of the collison that killed the seven,  and another was killed in October 2011.  More than 150 elephants have been killed by trains in India since 1987. Read more

From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  September 2011:

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

 

Darla Napora,  32,  was fatally mauled in her home in Pacifica,  California on August 11,  2011 by her two-year-old non-neutered pit bull terrier Gunner.  Police shot Gunner at the scene.  Autopsy and necropsy results showed that a spayed six-year-old female pit bull named Tazi,  also present,  was not involved.  Napora’s husband, Greg Napora,  30,  buried Gunner’s remains with her.  Napora,  who was pregnant,  was reportedly an active member of Bay Area Dog Lovers Responsible About Pit Bulls . The BADRAP web site lists neutering pit bulls second on a list of rules for keeping them safely.

 

Shahla Masood,  35, of Bhopal,  India,   was fatally shot in her car outside her home by an unknown assailant at about 11 a.m. on August 16,  2011.  Using the Right To Information act,  Masood had recently “raised questions regarding several tiger deaths across Madhya Pradesh,”  associate Ajay Dubey told media,  suggesting that “People involved in the [tiger poaching] racket may be responsible.” Masood in August 2010 organized an exhibition of photos of tigers in Bhopal to draw attention to the failure of wildlife officials to arrest the alleged killers of a tigress named Jhurjhura. Read more

From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  July/August 2011:

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

 

Peter Falk,  82,  died on June 23,  2011.  Born in New York City,  Falk was introduced to acting at age 12 by Camp High Point counselor Ross Martin,  who also went on to Hollywood success.  After World War II duty in the U.S. Merchant Marine,  and a six-month stint as a railroad worker in Yugoslavia,  Falk earned a Master of Public Administration degree and became a management analyst with the Connecticut State Budget Bureau in Hartford.  After hours he acted at a local community theatre and took acting classes.  Falk was nearly 30 before acting professionally,  and his first professional stage appearance was in a play that closed after just one performance,  but within the year he landed his first Broadway role,  and by 1958 was getting small film parts.  His 1960 performance in Murder,  Inc. won an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.  Falk rose to stardom playing a variety of roles,  but is best remembered for playing the detective Columbo in made-for-TV films produced between 1968 and 2003,  and in the  1971-1978 television series Columbo.  “Falk generously donated his time to help animals by supporting In Defense of Animals’ Guardian Campaign,  to convince people that the word ‘guardian’ is a more appropriate word than ‘owner’ to describe our relationship with animals,”  recalled In Defense of Animals founder Elliot Katz.  “In IDA’s 30-second  ‘Be A Guardian:  Adopt and Save A Life’ public service announcement,”  Katz contined,  “Falk and his wife Shera Danese appear with world-renowned primatologist Jane Goodall,  and actors Wendie Malick and Kristen Bell.  They urge people to save animal lives by adopting from shelters, and to always act as guardians of animals,  not owners.  Falk and his late wife were passionate about rescuing dogs,”  Katz said,  “and lived with rescued shelter dogs.”

 

Edward Gardner,  38,  of Naperville,  Illinois,  was killed by an airport limousine on May 30,  2011 while trying to shoo a family of ducklings off the roadway near the O’Hare Oasis at Schiller Park.  Gardner apparently did not use his vehicle to block oncoming traffic.

[For more on this, please click here.] Read more

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2011:

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

Nina Leopold Bradley, 93, died on May
25, 2011 at her home in Baraboo, Wisconsin.
The third of five children born to Sand County
Almanac author Aldo Leopold and his wife Estella,
Nina Leopold in 1941 married zoologist William
Elder (1913-2006), who was among her father’s
students. She raised two daughters while
accompanying Elder on field expeditions, and
assisted him in projects including developing an
oral contraceptive for birds. Divorcing Elder,
Nina Leopold married Charles Bradley in 1973.

Read more