Dog-shooting passé in S.A.

November 1, 2000 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 2000:

KRUGER NATL. PARK;
CAPE TOWN––Word that immunocontraception
seems to work with
female elephants at Kruger National
Park, South Africa, appeared to touch
off a furor over dog exterminations
which continue in lieu of effective animal
birth control in the Cape Town
region, at the far end of the nation.
Perhaps it was only coincidence,
but the engineer of the Kruger
project, South African-born University
of Georgia researcher Richard FayrerHosken,
is also working on immunocontraceptive
methods for use with dogs
and cats, as he explained at the June
2000 Spay/USA conference in
Waltham, Massachusetts.

Dog attack deaths & maimings

November 1, 2000 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 2000:

Dog attack deaths & maimings
(most commonly involved breeds and mixes)
U.S. & Canada, 9/1982 to 10/ 2000

Compiled by the editor of ANIMAL PEOPLE
from a log of press accounts since 1982, this table
covers only attacks by dogs who have been kept as pets
and are of clearly identified breed type or ancestry.
Attacks by police dogs, guard dogs, and dogs trained
specifically to fight are also excluded. The “Attacks”
column includes all fatalities, maimings, and other
injuries requiring extensive hospital treatment.
“Maimings” includes permanent disfigurement or loss
of a limb. Listed are all of the breeds and clearly identified
mixes accounting for an average of more than one
human fatality or maiming per year.

CALIFORNIA “HAYDEN LAW” DEBATE CENTERS ON PIT BULLS

November 1, 2000 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 2000:

SACRAMENTO, Calif.––As fighting
dogs proliferate, what to do with any dog
of a reputed fighting breed is a growing
headache for animal shelters. Such dogs may
never attack anyone. Then again, they may be
surrendered or dumped to run at large because
they have bitten someone. Or, they may be
surrendered or dumped because they didn’t
attack on command.
If the history of a pit bull terrier,
Rottweiler, or similar dog is at all uncertain,
most shelters opt for quick dispatch to minimize
risk. Many opt for quick dispatch of any
“fighting breed” dog––if legally permitted.
Under the 1998 “Hayden Law,”
however, California shelters must hold all
impounded dogs and cats for at least five days,
if they are not suffering from painful illness or
injury, just in case an owner comes looking.

Why Calgary has almost as many off-leash parks as dog bites

October 1, 2000 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2000:

CALGARY––As an ex-cop, before
becoming director of Calgary Animal Services
back in 1975, soon-to-retire Jerry Aschenbrenner
believes strong laws and consistent
enforcement are the keys to his success.
And Aschenbrenner has been successful.
Since 1984, Calgary Animal Services
and the Calgary Humane Society have
between them never killed more than 12.8
dogs and cats per 1,000 human residents of
their service area––and that peak was reached
15 years ago, when the big-city norm was
more than twice as high. Even now the norm
is 16.6. Calgary comes in at 5.2.
Although the numbers compare well
to those of San Francisco and other no-kill
cities, Aschenbrenner and the Calgary
Humane Society don’t tout Calgary as having
achieved no-kill animal control. CHS, handling
cat impoundment under contract to CAS,
still kills about 4,000 cats per year, some of
whom might be saved with a Feral Cat
Assistance Program as vigorous as the one in
San Francisco. But Aschenbrenner sees that
on the agenda.

SHELTERING AND THE VALUE OF WELCOMING COMPANY

October 1, 2000 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2000:

WALTHAM, Massachusetts– – ” It
has often been observed,” New Hampshire
state neutering program architect Peter Marsh
told Spay/USA conference attendees recently,
“that people tend to resemble the animals they
choose as companions. I submit,” Marsh
added, “that people who rescue feral or abandoned
or abused animals also tend to resemble
the animals they choose, not in physical
appearance but in the psychological sense.
“Just as feral or abandoned animals
or animals who have been abused tend to be
frightened and furtive,” March continued, “so
we ourselves are often frightened and furtive,
and fear the public will think badly of us
because we have too many animals, or must
euthanize some animals. We don’t invite people
into our shelters because we think they
won’t understand what they see. Therefore
they don’t understand why we can’t give lifetime
care to every animal someone dumps on
us, or why we are always stressed out and
blaming pet keepers for being irresponsible––
and we don’t get the help we need to change
things. I further submit,” Marsh finished,
“that it is time we opened the doors.”

Latest U.S. data shows shelter killing is down to 4.5 million a year––25% of 1985!

September 1, 2000 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2000:

The U.S. ended the 20th century
killing 4.5 million dogs and cats in animal
shelters, or 16.6 per 1,000 people––just 25%
of the 17.8 million toll estimated by the
American Humane Association in 1985.
Included was an apparent 22% drop
between 1994, when San Francisco became
the first U.S. city to stop killing dogs and cats
for population control, and 1999, when
Maddie’s Fund, created by PeopleSoft magnates
Dave and Cheryl Duffield, dedicated
$200 million to make the U.S. a no-kill nation.
Hundreds of organizations and individuals
have helped us compile the table at
right. It lists the number of dogs and cats
killed per 1,000 humans in the shelters serving
all North American cities, counties, and states
for which we have recent counts.

“Dogman” says Kentucky officials need court-ordered obedience lesson

September 1, 2000 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2000:

ELLIOTT COUNTY, Kentucky––
Randy “Dogman” Skaggs, 48, founder of the
no-kill Trixie Foundation shelter, on July 10
bit 326 Kentucky county magistrates and commissioners,
70 county judge-executives, and
Agriculture Commissioner Billy Ray Smith
with a lawsuit accusing them of willful failure
to obey 1955 and 1958 laws requiring each
county to certify rabies vaccination, license
dogs, and use the fees to maintain a dog pound.
Skaggs warned the defendants for
more than four years that the lawsuit was coming.
Legal help from animal rights attorney
Katy Brophy and contributions of $2,500 each
toward the filing costs from In Defense of
Animals and the Animal Protection Institute
finally helped Skaggs get it underway.

Another dog massacre in Indonesia

July 1, 2000 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2000:

FLORES, Indonesia––Either in
panic response to a deadly rabies outbreak or
“killing the dog to scare the monkey,” as
aphorism has it, officials in mid-June
ordered the killing of all 90,000 dogs
believed to have been in the Ngada district of
Flores, Indonesia.
Eleven people in the Ngada district
had reportedly died of rabies in the past two
weeks, with 120 more victims hospitalized.
Ngada district top medical officer
Wayan Arsana told Associated Press that
none of the local clinics had rabies vaccine
on hand, and supplies were not expected
soon.
“We are beating the dogs over the
head, or shooting them,” Arsana said. “We
are killing them any way we can. All are
then being buried immediately.”

ANIMAL CONTROL & SHELTERING

July 1, 2000 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2000:

Caucasing on June 1 at the National Animal Control Association confere n c e in Indianapolis, 18 representatives of seven organizations formed Compassionate Animal Control International, intended to be a global online help network for animal care and control officers. Among the directing agencies are to be N A C A, the Western Australia Rangers Association, and the National Dog Wardens Association of Great Britain, with Canadian and other U.S. agencies expected to join. Technical services are to be donated by ; ANIMAL PEOPLE is to contribute information and publicity.

Peru on May 22 gained a national humane law, sought by Amigos de los Animales of the Lima suburb of Miraflores since 1978. Analagous to the U.S. Animal Welfare Act, the Peruvian law reportedly sets operating standards for zoos, circuses, animal husbandry and transport, slaughterhouses, animal shelters, and educational institutions which use animals. It is to be overseen by a national committee on animal protection.

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