Report to Congress on Animal Enterprise Terrorism

November 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1993:

WASHINGTON D.C. – – The newly released Department of

Justice/USDA Report to Congress on Animal Enterprise Terrorism man-

dated by the Animal Enterprise Protection Act of 1992 found that “The

FBI has categorized only a few animal rights-related incidents as acts of

domestic terrorism,” Assistant U.S. Attorney General Sheila Anthony and

Assistant Secretary of Agriculture Eugene Branstool stated in presenting it.

Therefore, they explained, “for purposes of this report, the term

‘animal rights extremism’ includes all acts of destruction or disruption per-

petrated against animal enterprises or their employees.”

Thus widening the topic to include petty vandalism, the report

recorded 313 “animal rights-related incidents” from 1977 through June 30,

1993. None involved significant injury to either people or animals.

Among the incidents were 160 cases of petty vandalism, 77 thefts or

releases of animals, 29 personal threats, 26 cases of major vandalism, 21

arsons, 16 bomb threats, 14 fire bombs, nine bombing hoaxes, and three

actual bombing attempts. The report failed to note the role of security

agents hired by U.S. Surgical Corporation in encouraging, aiding, and

abetting Fran Trutt in the best known bombing case. Trutt, who had only

marginal involvement in animal rights, served a year in jail for placing a

pipe bomb in the U.S. Surgical parking lot in November 1988––paid for by

the operatives for U.S. Surgical, one of whom drove her to the site.

Congressional leaders ask Babbit, Espy to halt Alaska wolf massacre

October 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1993:

WASHINGTON D.C.––Convinced that Alaska’s Board of Game wouldn’t yield

to reasonable requests for a humane wolf policy, 30 Congressional leaders on September

22 urged the Clinton administration to intervene and suspend same-day wolf hunts on

public lands. Letters condemning the wolf-killing, set to start October 1, were sent to

Interior Secretary Bruce Babbit and Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy.

Babbitt alone could effectively halt the same-day hunting, since the Department

of the Interior oversees 90 million acres of Alaska under the Bureau of Land Management,

77 million acres under the Fish and Wildlife Service, and 54 million acres under the

National Park Service. The Department of Agriculture has jurisdiction of 23 million

acres.

DIET & HEALTH

October 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1993:

The Clinton administration has

proposed ending the conflict of interest

between the regulatory and promotional

functions of the USDA with respect to the

meat and poultry industry by transfering the

Food Safety and Inspection Service to the

Food and Drug Administration. The FDA

staff of 1,000 now inspects 53,000 non-

meat food producers, drug manufacturers,

and makers of medical equipment, while

the USDA employs 9,000 people to inspect

6,100 meat and poultry processors.

Coincidentally, tainted meat that passes

inspection causes an estimated 9,000

human deaths per year and 6.5 million ill-

nesses. The National Cattlemen’s Associa-

tion, American Meat Institute, and

National Broiler Council oppose the plan.

WOOFS AND GROWLS

October 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1993:

THE WISE USE WISE GUYS ET AL

George Frampton’s last major task

before leaving the presidency of The Wilderness

Society to become Assistant Secretary for Fish,

Wildlife, and Parks in the Clinton administration

was to preside over the assembly of a 50-page

report called The Wise Use Movement: Strategic

Analysis and 50-State Review. It calls upon the

mainstream environmental movement to distance

itself from radical environmentalism, deep ecolo-

gy, and animal rights, while rebuilding alliances

with farmers and hunters.

The fall 1993 issue of Friends of

Animals’ ActionLine magazine features ANIMAL

PEOPLE editor Merritt Clifton’s “Attack of the

Wise Use Wise Guys,” an investigation of vio-

lence against animals and animal defenders by

members of the self-named “wise use movement.”

It’s $1.95, from POB 1244, Norwalk, CT 06856.

Having run low on friends in Washington D.C.,

Putting People First is relocating this month to

Helena, Montana––PPF president Kathleen

Marquardt’s birth state.

Animal and habitat protection groups split on North American Free Trade Agreement

October 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1993:

NO IMPACT STATEMENT REQUIRED

WASHINGTON D.C.––The U.S. Court of

Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled September 24

that the Clinton administration doesn’t have to produce an

environmental impact statement on the North American

Free Trade Agreement before it takes effect. The ruling

reversed a lower court ruling that would have required sev-

eral years of study before the pact could be submitted to

Congress for ratification.

Public Citizen, one of three plaintiffs in the bid to

delay or stop NAFTA, pledged to appeal to the Supreme

Court within a matter of weeks.

“This decision has cheated the American public

out of the right to know,” said Friends of the Earth director

Jane Perkins.

WOOFS AND GROWLS

September 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1993:

The Better Business Bureau has announced that the National

Anti-Vivisection Society fails to meet requirements that “an

organization provide on request an annual report containing

information on governance (such as a roster of the board of directors) and

financial activities (such as total income and a break-

down of expenses); that its financial statements present

adequate information to serve as a basis for informed

decisions; and that it substantiate on request its applica-

tion of funds, in accordance with donor expectations,

to the programs and activities described in solicita-

tions.” Exposes by ANIMAL PEOPLE editor Merritt

Clifton recently documented the generous compensation

NAVS provides to president Peggy Cunniff and other

members of her family, who dominate the NAVS board

and payroll. NAVS told BBB that it “has changed its

accounting and auditing methods to meet the standards

for fiscal year 1993,” but recent forced resignations,

dismissals, and staff transfers have left the Cunniffs

more firmly in control than ever.

Animal Control & Rescue

July 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1993:

New Hampshire has followed

New Jersey and Connecticut in establish-

ing a statewide low-cost neutering pro-

gram. The New Hampshire program, man-

aged by the state department of agriculture

and funded by a $2.00 surcharge on dog

licenses, will subsidize neutering animals

adopted from shelters and those belonging

to people of low income.

The percentage of purebreds

among dogs received by pounds and shel-

ters appears to be edging up, e.g. from 22%

in 1991 to 25% in 1992 at the SPCA of

Monterey County, California, which keeps

some of the most comprehensive records on

purebreds. Other shelters claim to be

receiving as many as 30% purebreds. The

percentage may be up simply because total

admissions are generally down while the

number of dogs surrendered by owners is

holding even, and owned dogs are more

likely to be purebred.

WOOFS AND GROWLS

July 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1993:

USDA-licensed Class B animal dealer Noel

Leach of Chase City, Virginia, facing disciplinary action

for 46 alleged violations of the Animal Welfare Act, sued

Friends of Animals on May 24 for purportedly defaming

his character and interfering with his business relation-

ships in connection with bringing many of the alleged vio-

lations to the USDA’s attention. Leach claims FoA under-

cover investigators trespassed on his property while gath-

ering evidence. FoA attorney Herman Kaufman respond-

ed to the suit with a request for dismissal, pointing out

that the action is based on an alleged tort in 1990 for

which the statute of limitations is just two years, and that

the statute of limitations in defamation cases in Virginia,

where the suit was filed, is only one year. Well known to

USDA inspectors, Leach was rapped for six previous

AWA violations in 1983. His primary business is selling

dogs and cats to research labs and dissection supply firms.

HUNTING & FISHING

July 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1993:

The Illinois Department of Agriculture in June

banned captive pigeon shoots on advice of the state attor-

ney general, bringing its policy into line with the state

Humane Care for Animals Act of 1973 and a January 1992

amendment to the state Conservation Code. The ban was a

major victory for anti-pigeon shoot activist Steve Hindi, of

Plano, Illinois, who has struggled since 1990 to get

enforcement of the laws against pigeon shooting.

The Fund for Animals has announced that it

will not protest against the annual Fred Coleman Memorial

Labor Day Pigeon Shoot in Hegins, Pennsylvania, this

year. Major protests orchestrated by the Fund and PETA in

1991 and 1992 backfired when they became confrontational.

Nearly twice as many shooters and shoot supporters attend-

ed the Hegins shoot last year as before the Fund got

involved, possibly attracted by the chance an activist might

get killed in the act of rescuing a bird. The Coalition

Against Live Bird Shoots in Pennsylvania will hold a small-

er protest this year; details have not yet been announced.

« 1 … 49 50 51 52 53 54 »