ALASKAN WOLF MASSACRE: SIERRA CLUB BREAKS BOYCOTT

March 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1994:

FAIRBANKS, Alaska––Alaska’s “ground-based” wolf-killing campaign in

Game Management Unit 20A, south of Fairbanks, was more than $50,000 over bud-

get in early February, with only 84 wolves killed out of a quota of 150––tending to

affirm the view of wolf expert Gordon Haber, Friends of Animals, and the Alaska

Wildlife Alliance that the state greatly overestimated the wolf population of the area

to begin with. Only $100,000 was to be spent on the wolf-killing, including $30,000

for personnel and $15,000 for helicopter rentals, but by mid-January personnel costs

were already over $60,000 and helicopter rentals were at $23,000, the AWA reported.

Finding the federal Airborne Hunting Act impossible to enforce when state

law allows “trappers” to spot wolves from the air, land, walk 300 feet, and shoot

them, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on December 22 proposed a ban on killing

any free-ranging wolves or wolverines on Alaskan National Wildlife Refuges the

same day a hunter is airborne. Killing trapped wolves would still be permitted.

Good deeds

March 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1994:

Veterinarians Jeff Young and

Mark Chamberlain of Planned

Pethood Plus held their third annual

male cat neuter-a-thon in Boulder,

Colorado, on January 30––and donated

their $7 per cat fee to Mission Wolf, a

refuge for wolves and wolf hybrids in

Silver Cliff, Colorado.

Tucson veterinarians Reuben

Merideth and Barbara Page in early

January donated a $1,400 cataract

removal operation to give partial sight to

a bighorn lamb, who was apparently

abandoned by her mother after going

blind but was rescued by hikers who

turned her over to the Arizona Game

and Fish Department. The lamb will

probably be donated to a zoo or a cap-

tive breeding program.

ANIMAL HEALTH

March 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1994:

Rabies update

New Hampshire state veterinarian

Clifford McGinniss warned January

15––after a rabid kitten was found in a

Merrimack College dormitory––that feral cats

must be exterminated to protect Hampton

Beach visitors. Disagreeing, Hampton Beach

is pursung a $24,000 cat control plan combin-

ing catch-and-kill with selective neuter/

release. The plan is also opposed by New

Hampshire SPCA executive director Bonnie

Roberts, who told the Boston Globe that the

feral cats “are going to tangle with rabid ani-

mals and spread the disease.” In fact, rabies

vaccination is a prerequisite of the Hampton

Beach plan, and of all properly managed

neuter/release programs. There are no reports

on record of any cat in any recognized

neuter/release program anywhere ever con-

tracting rabies, while several neuter/release

programs including one coordinated in 1991-

1992 by ANIMAL PEOPLE publisher Kim

Bartlett have been credited by public safety

officials with creating an immunized barrier

between rabid wildlife and family pets.

Woofs and growls

March 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1994:

Who gets the money?

Animal and habitat protection

groups currently failing to meet the National

Charities Information Bureau’s wise giving

standards include the Cousteau Society, the

National Anti-Vivisection Society, the

National Humane Education Society and

PETA. The Cousteau Society and NAVS

flunked on criteria designed to prevent nepo-

tism and material conflicts of interest among

board members and administrators; the

Cousteau Society also flunked for excessive

fundraising expense; NHES flunked for lack

of accountability and excessive fundraising

expense; and PETA flunked for having only

three board members instead of the requisite

five. Additionally, the NCIB questions

whether Humane Society of the U.S. fundrais-

ing costs are reasonable relative to income.

Leakey quits

March 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1994:

NAIROBI––Accused of

corruption, racism, and misman-

agement by 23 influential cabinet

ministers eager to exploit wildlife

and habitat, renowned paleontolo-

gist Richard Leakey resigned

January 14 after five years as head

of the Kenya Wildlife Service.

Leakey’s vigorous attack

on corruption and defense of

endangered species brought more

than $150 million in aid to Kenya.

Marine mammals

March 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1994:

S. 1636, the present Marine

Mammal Protection Act reauthorization

bill, has cleared the Senate Commerce

Committee and at deadline was expected to be

passed any day by the full Senate, with House

ratification likely in April. The Humane

Society of the U.S. has asked members to

write Congress opposing S. 1636 because it

“has no provisions for effective enforcement,”

and “would allow the accidental killing of

endangered species (currently prohibited) and

the intentional shooting of seals and sea lions

solely to protect fish commercially caught or

raised.” HSUS seeks amendments that will

“ensure that marine mammal mortality in com-

mercial fishing operations reaches insignifi-

cant levels approaching zero, mandate specif-

ic punitive consequences if kill reduction goals

are not met on schedule, prohibit the capture

of wild whales or dolphins for public display,

prohibit swim-with-the-dolphin programs and

petting pools, prohibit public feeding of both

captive and wild marine mammals, prohibit

the issuance of permits to kill endangered

species in commercial fisheries,” and “prohib-

it the intentional killing of seals and sea lions

solely to protect fishing gear, catch, or net

pens.” The Animal Welfare Institute has

issued a similar appeal for action.

Sea Shepherd sinks another pirate whaler: ACTED TO ENFORCE INTERNATIONAL LAW, WATSON SAYS

March 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1994:

GRESSVIK, Norway––Responding to the slaughter of 296 minke whales last

summer, in contravention of international agreement, the Sea Shepherd Conservation

Society sunk the pirate whaler Senet during the predawn hours of January 24.

The S e n e t was one of 28 vessels that took part in Norway’s first commercial

whale hunt since the International Whaling Commission declared a moratorium on com-

mercial whaling in 1986. The Senet crew killed five of the 160 whales massacred under

Norway’s unilaterally declared commercial quota, while 12 other vessels killed an addi-

tional 136 whales in the name of scientific research. Mostly sold to Japan, the whale meat

brought the whalers about $12.5 million. The Norwegian government reputedly spent near-

LEFTY DUCKS AND CHICKENS OF THE WORLD UNITE!

January 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, Jan/Feb 1994:

Lefty’s Place, by Lewis G. Nierman. Kindness

Publications (1859 N. Pine Island Rd., #135, Plantation,

FL 33322), 1993. 32 pages, hardcover, $18.95.

Nature’s Chicken, by Dr. Nigel Burroughs.

Distributed by United Poultry Concerns (POB 59367,

Potomac, MD 20859). 36 pages, paperback, $5.95.

Neither battery-caged chickens nor the feral

Muscovy ducks of Florida have many human friends. As

with bears and whales, children may be among the first and

most ardent to take up their cause. Certainly Lewis

Neirman and Nigel Burroughs hope so. Neirman approach-

es his young audience with a lavishly produced picture-

book, aimed at grades 2-5, which has a reasonable chance

of getting into school libraries as a friendly introduction not

only to Muscovy ducks but also to the broader subjects of

wildlife rehabilitation and coping with disability. Lefty‘s

Place actually begins with a family’s adoption of Lefty’s

mother, Keppy, Lefty, the runt of her ducklings, suffers a

severe foot injury. The daughter of the family, Rebecca,

rehabilitates him to the extent that he can be rehabilitated,

then makes him a pet. Most children will enjoy the story;

those who are themselves recovering from illness or injury

may particularly take heart from it.

Horses

January 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, Jan/Feb 1994:

New York City entered 1994

with no regulations protecting carriage

horses, after outgoing mayor David

Dinkins vetoed a bill on December 29 that

would have amended the 1989 Carriage

Horse Protection Act to allow horsedrawn

carriages to operate in city traffic except

during the rush hours, when they will be

restricted to Central Park, and to extend

the workday for carriage horses from eight

hours to nine. Carriages had been restrict-

ed to Central Park all day and barred from

operating during rush hours. Introduced

by councillor Noach Dear, the bill was

approved by the New York City Council on

December 21, 29-17, which was consid-

ered a close vote. The Carriage Horse

Action Committee had sought reauthoriza-

tion of the 1989 act, supported by the the-

atre industry and other groups concerned

that the carriages discourage business by

slowing down traffic, plus a faction that

claims the carriage horse trade is a “green

card factory” for Irish immigrants, who

dominate the workforce of drivers and

grooms. There are now 396 licensed car-

riage drivers, up from 266 in 1991, but

there are only 140 horses and 68 carriages

actually out on the job. The CHAC, head-

ed by Peggy Parker, may now seek a total

ban on horsedrawn vehicles in Manhattan.

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