Gene and Diana Chontos: Helping the tough and stubborn

March 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

“Talking to someone about myself beyond my life

with burros seems abstract to me now,” Diana Chontos told

ANIMAL PEOPLE, “since my life has become burros and

their continued survival. I am a daughter of the pioneers of

Washington, and continue to live by many of the same val-

ues as my great-grandparents, except that during my child-

hood I found the practice of slaughtering and eating animals

abhorent. As soon as I possibly could, I became a vegetari-

an.” Her first animal rescue may have been at age 13,

when, “I rode my horse, galloping bareback, between a

gun-happy bounty hunter and a beautiful coyote I had been

watching as she caught and ate grasshoppers.”

Gene Chontos, Diana’s partner of 18 years, came

to animal rescue later in life, but no less dramatically. “I

was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in 1937,” he

remembers, “son to Hungarian immigrants. My father and

all his kin served the Bethlehem Steel Company as cheap

labor and resided in lower class poverty, replete with ethnic

prejudice, hatred, and violence. I escaped at age 17

through a four-year enlistment in the U.S. Marine Corps.”

Guest column: Stop the war on wild horses! by Anna Charlton

March 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

A modern-day range war is underway on the vast

prairies of Nevada. Unless there is drastic and immediate

action, the casualty of this war will be the wild horse,

whom ranchers and bureaucrats seem determined to exter-

minate.

The wild horse is an enduring symbol of the

American west. The sight of a herd of these magnificent,

proud animals thundering across the open range evokes the

image of freedom. Responding to public outrage over the

slaughter of wild horses, Congress in 1971 passed the Free

and Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Act, which calls for

the protection, management, and control of all wild horses

and burros on public land. But despite this legislative pro-

tection, wild horses are still shot, poisoned, and rustled.

The greatest threat to their survival, however, comes from

the Bureau of Land Management––the agency Congress

entrusted as their guardian. The BLM appears intent upon

“managing” wild horses out of existence, to increase the

profits of cattle and sheep ranchers.

Cutting euthanasia rates and choking puppy mills: THE CONTROVERSIAL CASE FOR THE NORTH SHORE ANIMAL LEAGUE’S UNCONVENTIONAL METHODS

March 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

PORT WASHINGTON, New York ––

According to the most recent tax records available from

New York state and the Internal Revenue Service, the

North Shore Animal League in 1991 contributed more than

$3.5 million toward the cost of neutering more than 220,000

cats and dogs; donated $2.4 million to 21 other animal shel-

ters and two veterinary schools; adopted out more than

43,000 animals; issued more than 41,000 free 30-day health

insurance policies to guarantee the well-being of animals

adopted out; vaccinated more than 41,000 animals; treated

more than 17,000 animals at an in-house veterinary clinic

(open 16 hours a day, seven days a week); and made

71,000 post-adoption contacts to insure that the animals

were neutered, well cared for, and well-adjusted in their

adoptive homes.

ANIMAL CONTROL & RESCUE

March 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

Los Angeles County on January 5 became the

largest and most populous jurisdiction in the U.S. to require

cat licensing. Cats must wear either collar identification or

ear tags. The new ordinance is modeled after ordinances

already in effect in Carson and Lomita, California, but

enforcibility remains in doubt. The ordinance was passed at

the urging of Citizens for Sheltered Animals, who argue

that it will reduce the euthanasia rate for cats picked up by

animal control: 39,000 of 42,000 in 1992.

Zoocheck Canada seeks letters supporting pas-

sage of the Ontario Animal Welfare Act, eight years in

development, “which would license and set standards for

the care and keeping of animals in zoos, aquaria, wildlife

displays, pet stores, pounds and shelters, breeding and

boarding establishments, and native wildlife rehabilitation

centers.” Address Bob Rae, Office of the Premier,

Legislative Bldg., Room 281, Queen’s Park, Toronto,

Ontario M7A 1A1.

ANIMAL CONTROL & RESCUE

December 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1992:

Montgomery County, Virginia, on November

10 became the first East Coast community to enact a

comprehensive anti-pet breeding ordinance. Similar to

ordinances recently passed in San Mateo County,

California, and King County, Washington, the ordinance

cleared the county council by a 6-0 vote after language

requiring private breeders to license each animal individual-

ly was removed. Anyone who allows pets to reproduce now

must buy a breeder’s permit, the permit number must be

listed in ads offering to sell or give away the offspring, and

the newborn animals must receive vaccinations. The licens-

ing fee for unaltered dogs and cats will be increased by an

unspecified but substantial amount, while the licensing fee

for animals who have been altered will remain $6.00. Each

license is good for three years. The ordinance also enables

the county to sterilize any dog or cat found roaming at large

at least three times in a calendar year. Whether the ordi-

nance can be enforced is still a matter of debate. A compli-

cating factor is that Montgomery County veterinarians

reportedly charge some of the highest prices for spay/neuter

found anywhere in the U.S.––$200 and up––and even dis-

count coupons available through the county humane society

cost as much as $70. Free coupons are available to low-

income pet keepers.

Andrew aftermath: The hurricane is over, but the storm goes on

December 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1992:

MIAMI, FLORIDA–– First came Hurricane

Andrew, devastating south Florida and tearing a path of

destruction along the northern edge of the Gulf of Mexico

all the way to Louisiana. In the wake of the August 24

storm, animal rescuers impressed the world with prompt,

professional response. Observers including New York Times

correspondents, military personnel, and coordinators of

relief for human disaster victims praised––and sometimes

envied––what they saw.

“Noah was there!”, ANIMAL PEOPLE declared.

Then came exhaustion and frustration. In some

instances the need for help dragged on months longer than

public attention remained focused on the plight of the vic-

tims, both human and animal. Donations were fewer, as

were accolades. Combat fatigue soon followed. In other

cases, individuals who gained a sense of meaning and self-

worth from helping out insisted on continuing to “help” long

after their efforts ceased to be useful––and felt hurt when

told to go home.

Seeking The truth about feral cats and the people who help them: NEW STUDY YIELDS CONTROVERSIAL FINDINGS

November 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1992:

BOSTON, MASS. –– The leading cause of death among homeless cats may be

humane euthanasia. Homeless cat colonies exist in almost every American neighborhood––but

four out of 10 homeless cats live in just 6% of the colonies, and two-thirds live in only 16%.

Over half of all stray and feral female cats are pregnant at any given time. Yet attrition is so high

that despite local fluctuations, the national homeless cat population is remarkably stable.

These and other challenges to conventional thinking about homeless cats emerge from

data gathered by ANIMAL PEOPLE and the Massachusetts SPCA, in the first-ever national

survey of cat-feeders and cat-rescuers. The controversial nature of the findings and the complex-

ity of interpreting the data in light of experience became apparent when even the ANIMAL

PEOPLE editors strongly differed over what some of the numbers may mean.

A voiding roadkills: Secrets of animal behavior that can save your life!

November 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1992:

You’re cruising near the speed limit late one night,

tired from a long drive. You catch a glint of eyes in your

headlight beams, a dark shape breaking from the shadows

to your right, an oncoming car to your left––

Do you jam on the brakes? Speed up to get past

before the animal bolts? Risk swerving? Take your foot off

the gas?

Combat pilots memorize silhouette cards and air-

craft specification sheets, in order to recognize every other

plane in the sky even if all they see is a fleeting glimpse of

something on radar. They need to know instantly what’s out

there: whether it’s hostile, how fast it can go, how far it

can shoot. At Mach 2, there isn’t time for second-guessing.

But at 60 miles an hour your car is outracing the

focal distance of your headlights even faster than a fighter

pilot outraces radar range. And like most other drivers, you

haven’t had any training in how to respond to an animal in

the roadway.

Rethinking Our Bargain With Cats by Jessica Bart-Mikionis

November 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1992:

Growing up, I always wanted to be a cat. My

very first pet was a dog, though, named Heather. I

don’t remember her, nor the accident that killed her. I

was in my stroller, I have been told, with my mother,

when Heather bolted into the street perhaps in pursuit of

a cat and got hit by an oncoming car. A while later,

when I was three or four, came Mehitabel, named after

Don Marquis’ tale archie and mehitabel.. I remember

Mehitabel vividly. We used to explore the world togeth-

er, sleep together, and play hide-and-seek and tag, until

one time she ran under my legs, I stumbled and fell on

her, and broke her leg. I don’t think I was ever the same

after that. Mehitabel sported an elaborate splint for sev-

eral months, and my mother and I would support her

when she used her litter pan in the beginning of her recu-

peration.

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