Tongdaeng the street dog reawakens Thai sense of duty toward animals

From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  January/February 2003:

BANGKOK–For the second time in five years a street dog has
grabbed the attention and affection of Thailand,  reminding Thais
that kindness toward animals is a national tradition as well as a
Buddhist teaching and moral obligation.
Among modern nations,  only India has a longer documented
history of acknowledging duties toward animals.  At that, the
difference is slim.  The animal-loving Indian emperor Asoka sent
missionaries to Thailand to teach Buddhism in the third century B.C.,
only 250 years after the Buddha died.

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Animal control & sheltering

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 2002:

Authoritarian regimes trying to keep a lid on dissidence have
reportedly ordered the massacre of all cats in Tehran, Iran, and
all dogs in Lhasa, Tibet. Neither city has a functional animal
advocacy group, nor an official U.S. presence to direct protest
toward. In each case the killing is done in the name of rabies
control, but is not combined with a vaccination strategy, and
actually appears to be an application of the Chinese proverb, “Kill
the dog to scare the monkey.” House pets are not common in Tehran,
but feeding feral cats is popular among women; killing cats warns
women to stay home and be quiet. In Lhasa, free-roaming Lhasa apso
dogs are widely believed to be the reincarnations of high lamas.
Thus when the Chinese Commun-ist occupiers kill Lhasa apsos, they
strike at Tibetan Buddhism and traditional leadership.

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A new deal for street dogs on the Turk beach where a Greek god turned dog to win a girl

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 2002:

FETHIYE, Turkey–Known for a balmy climate, golden beaches,
and ruins representing many of the most important episodes in the
past 3,000 years of human civilization, the coastal Mediterranean
town of Fethiye, Turkey, has since Roman times been a popular
vacation spot.
The work of the Fethiye Friends of Animals Association may
also some day be seen as historically significant. The FFAA is
operating the first successful sterilization-and-release program to
control street dogs in Asia Minor. The FFAA program has already
become a regionally influential demonstration of how to changing the
often cruel dynamics of the Turkish animal/human relationship. As
the program expands, it could become a catalyst for changing the
prevailing models of animal care and control throughout western Asia.

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Turkey lacks humane fundraising tradition

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 2002:

ISTANBUL, Turkey–“Although Perihan Agnelli is only
scratching at the surface of the stray dog problem on the south
coast, she is doing a very good job of self-promotion and of winning
governmental endorsement. She is showing a lot of initiative and
business sense in soliciting donations,” British garment
manufacturer Robert Smith wrote in a September 17 e-mail to the
Society for the Protection of Stray Animals (SHKD), whose Natural
Dog Shelter at the sprawling Kemerburgaz Rubbish Dump Project outside
Istanbul he has sponsored for nearly three years.

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Animal welfare in Japan by Elizabeth Oliver, founder, Animal Refuge Kansai

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 2002:

 

Visitors to Tokyo who expect to see street dogs, ubiquitous
in much of Asia, may be surprised to see only pampered purebreds.
Perhaps because Japan is an island, street dogs have never
been common here– although dogs did once enjoy much greater freedom.
Before World War II, dogs were kept primarily by people affluent
enough to have a house and land. They may have been kept as guard
dogs, but were seldom chained and could roam at will.
Because they were free and were usually greeted by everyone,
they tended to be friendly. Hachiko, for example, an Akita, used
to see his master off at the Shibuya railway station in Tokyo every
morning and go back to the station to greet him on his return in the
evening. One day his master died suddenly, but Hachiko continued to
go to the station every day until he died of old age. The Japanese
were so impressed by his devotion and loyalty that they erected a
statue to him, which still stands outside the Shibuya station.
A dog like Hachiko could not roam in Tokyo today. People
would be frightened of him, and the hokensho would quickly dispatch
him to the gas chamber.

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California blood bank bill helps to relegate pound seizure to history

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 2002:
 
SACRAMENTO, California–The once ubiquitous and unrestrained
biomedical use of homeless dogs and cats acquired from public pounds
receded farther into history on October 3, as California Governor
Gray Davis signed into law SB 1345, by state senator Sheila Kuehl.
“Establishing the first-ever protections for animal blood
donors used by commercial blood banks in California,” according to
United Animal Nations spokesperson Pat Runquist, SB 1345 “was
supported by a broad coalition of veterinary groups, animal
protection organizations, and more than 300 individuals, many of
whom live near blood bank kennels in Butter and Glenn counties in
Northern California,” Runquist continued.

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Hard times close two more shelters

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2002:

 

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz.; ARLING-TON, Wa.–Critter Crater, of
Flagstaff, Arizona, and Sheltering Arms, of Arlington,
Washington, closed on August 10 and August 18, respectively. Both
evolved out of the failures of previous shelters, and both made
promising starts but were casualties of the ongoing economic shakeout
that began with the late 2000 collapse of high tech stocks.
Critter Crater emerged from the dissolution of the
long-struggling Valley Dale Animal Haven in Sedona. Hired from
upstate New York in 1993 to try to save Valley Dale, former
executive director Christine French and shelter manager Bill DeRitter
at last gave up in 1997 and joined several volunteers and donors in
starting over at a new site. But the group soon split. French and
DeRitter returned to upstate New York, to manage the Ulster County
SPCA. Critter Crater meanwhile had at least two other management
teams during the next four years.
Sheltering Arms lasted just two years in a city-owned
facility made available after the North Snohomish County Animal
Shelter closed in 2000. Much praised by local activists and news
media, Sheltering Arms lacked the budget to hire staff and
ultimately could not find enough volunteers to stay open. The Humane
Society at Happypaw Farms, also of Arlington, is reportedly
interested in taking over the building.

Dog laws tested

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2002:

 

The Manhattan Supreme Court on July 15 upheld the right of
the New York City Center for Animal Care and Control to sterilize
dogs and cats found at large or seized for cause, regardless of the
wishes of owners who later reclaim them. The verdict followed a June
21 Manhattan Supreme Court ruling that the New York City Board of
Health has the authority to enforce a 1999 ban on keeping ferrets
within city limits.

U.S. District Judge Ralph Tyson on June 25 ordered the town
of Walker, Louisiana, to stop enforcing an anti-barking ordinance
that he found “flagrantly and patently” unconstitutional because,
“It fails to put the average person on notice as to what conduct
might violate it.” Tyson ruled on a case brought by Wallace Connerly
and Meg Casper, who sued Walker over fines imposed in response to
barking complaints about their two Belgian Malinois.

Nevada, Hong Kong shelter planners learn to see like dogs

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2002:

INCLINE VILLAGE, Nevada– The Pet Network of North Lake
Tahoe had a lot to show off on August 25, as host of the 2002
Conference on Homeless Animal Management and Policy shelter tour,
beginning with the two-year-old shelter itself.
The talking points–except for one –were neatly set forth on
fact sheets inside a folder given to each of the 25 CHAMP visitors.
The point omitted, the most remarkable of all, is that
approximately 250 residents of Incline Village and nearby communities
volunteer for the Pet Network, contributing 400 to 600 service hours
per month.

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