Free the dolphins and orcas? Free Willy inspires movement––but Watson has doubts, takes heat

December 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1993:

SANTA MONICA, California––Paul Watson,

Ric O’Barry, Peter Wallerstein, and Steve Hindi all agree

on one thing: Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium shouldn’t have

captured three Pacific whitesided dolphins off San Diego

circa November 27. All were bitterly disappointed when the

Shedd capture crew eluded nautical and aerial surveillance

by the Whale Rescue Team to bring in the dolphins by the

dead of night. A Shedd holding pen at the Kettenburg

Marine wharf was dry and empty late Saturday; the anxious

dolphins were there and shrieking on Sunday morning, and

were still shrieking Sunday night, according to Hindi as

ANIMAL PEOPLE went to press.

Ducks scarce; gunners go after resident geese

November 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1993:

Migratory waterfowl populations

are down again, according to the U.S. Fish

and Wildlife Service, continuing a 20-year

slump, during which mallards, the most

commonly hunted species, have declined

33%. This year’s fall duck count of 59 mil-

lion is the lowest on record, down 4.8%

from last year, when the count of 62 mil-

lion matched the then-record low first

reached in 1985. Goose and swan numbers

increased slightly in most areas, but the

Atlantic and southern James Bay flights of

Canada geese fell––the latter by 28%.

More than 100 million ducks flew

south each year in the 1970s, and 74 mil-

lion as recently as 1987, when the U.S.

and Canada set up the $1.5 billion, 12-year

North American Waterfowl Management

Plan to try to rebuild the population.

FUR IS STILL DEAD: Industry numbers confirm collapse, despite claims

November 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1993:

Daniel A, the successor to the bankrupt Antonovich fur chain, itself declared bank-

ruptcy in early October. The high-profile collapse, on the heels of a previous collapse, under-scored the continuing crash of the fur trade. Despite the Fur Information Council of America claim that retail fur sales rose to $1.1 billion last year, ending a four-year decline, other data newly released by the fur trade itself confirms the ANIMAL PEOPLE projection based on gar-ment and pelt prices that sales actually fell to between $648 and $750 million. Evans Inc., annu-ally accounting for about 10% of U.S. fur sales, sold $107 million worth of goods––but trim items with minimal fur content accounted for $30.4 million of it. The fur trade claimed mink pelt prices were up 30%, but Wisconsin, accounting for nearly 25% of U.S. mink production, recorded a 16% drop in sales and a 13% drop in revenue, indicating only a marginal price rise. The number of U.S. fur garment wholesalers also fell, from 2,200 at the start of 1992 to just 1,500 going into this winter. Finally, a study of the fur trade done by Southwick Associates for the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies confirms the accuracy of the ANI-MAL PEOPLE model of fur trade economics, coming within 11% of the ANIMAL PEOPLE projections in 17 of 18 major categories of information. The only wider variance is in the esti-mates of retail jobs produced: Southwick found four times as many by counting all employees of retailers who sell fur, instead of counting only those who actually work in fur sales. The ANI-MAL PEOPLE model was developed in early1988 by editor Merritt Clifton, under contract with the Humane Society of the U.S., and has been used to produce yearly estimates of fur trade eco-nomic data ever since. The Southwick Associates model is based on 1990 statistics obtained directly from the fur trade and state wildlife departments.

Marine mammals

November 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1993:

U.S. president Bill Clinton told

Congress on October 4 that while the

Norwegian resumption of commercial whaling

in defiance of the International Whaling

Commission warrants trade sanctions, he

believes they should not be imposed “until we

have exhausted all good faith efforts to per-

suade Norway to follow agreed conservation

measures.” Clinton did, however, direct his

staff to inventory products imported from

Norway that might be placed under embargo.

Pending federal action, the Animal Welfare

Institute on September 28 called a boycott of

Norwegian fish, cheese, clothing, and sonar

equipment. Alaska governor Walter Hickel

meanwhile announced that he’s reached a deal

with Norway: Alaska won’t criticize

Norwegian whaling if Norway won’t join an

international tourist boycott called to protest

the impending Alaskan wolf massacre (see

“Wildlife,” page 12). Iceland confirmed

October 15 that it also intends to resume com-

mercial whaling soon, likewise defying possi-

ble sanctions.

COURT CALENDAR

November 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1993:

Humane Enforcement

Concluding a three-year probe

begun in September 1990, the USDA in

October charged American Airlines w i t h

multiple violations of the Animal Welfare

Act. Seventy-one animals died aboard U.S.

domestic flights in 1990, the worst toll since

the USDA began monitoring air transport of

pets in 1976. Numerous airlines were

charged. 1992, however, was worse yet, as

50 puppies died aboard a single TWA flight

from Missouri to St. Louis. The puppies

were en route from breeders to pet shops.

HUNTING

November 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1993:

Despite the scarcity of ducks,

Ohio taxpayers are shelling out $40,000

to elevate Clark Road in Franklin

Township so that wildlife officials can

open dams on nearby Killbuck Creek

without flooding it, which in turn will

bring ducks closer to the road for the

convenience of hunters.

John Paul Self, 18, of

Grovetown, Georgia, was in critical

condition October 19 after Johnnie L.

Sinns, 18, shot him in the back of the

head as both allegedly tried to poach the

same deer from beside their pickup

truck. Sinns and a third alleged poacher,

Paul Albert Johnson, 17, were charged

with six misdemeanors including hunt-

ing under the influence of marijuana.

Johnson was also charged with posses-

sion of marijuana, while Sinns was

charged with felony misuse of a firearm.

Birds

November 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1993:

Cowbirds, native to the

midwest, invaded California 10 to 15

years ago and are now blamed for extir-

pating at least four threatened or endan-

gered songbirds from key parts of their

range. Female cowbirds indirectly kill

as many as 48 young songbirds apiece

per nesting season by laying their eggs

in songbirds’ nests. The songbird par-

ents then raise the fast-hatching cowbird

offspring ––who push the songbirds’

own eggs out before they hatch.

Songbird species such as the Bell’s

vireo, willow flycatcher, yellow-breast-

ed chat, and white crown sparrow are

believed capable of withstanding losses

of 10% of their eggs, but decline quick-

ly when the losses exceed 20%. Studies

of white crown sparrow nests in San

Francisco’s Golden Gate Park indicate

losses to cowbirds may exceed 50%.

Hopes for the eventual recovery of the

highly endangered Bell’s vireo were

raised this year when one or two pairs

reportedly nested along the Ventura

River, near Santa Barbara, for the first

time since 1908––but a lone Bell’s vireo

seen in Monterey County, a former

stronghold of the species, failed to find

a mate. Bell’s vireos apparently haven’t

nested successfully there since the cow-

birds arrived, circa 1983.

Wildlife: wolves and elephants and turtles and bison and bats and bears––oh my!

November 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1993:

The North American Free Trade

Agreement could harm endangered species

and wildlife sanctuaries along the

U.S./Mexican border, a U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service impact analysis says. “There

are serious habitat problems and endangered

species problems on the border now, and we

expect that NAFTA may in fact exacerbate

some of them,” USFWS international affairs

specialist Doug Ryan told the Los Angeles

Times on September 27. The USFWS report

confirms the view of the majority of national

animal and habitat protection groups; see

“Animal and habitat protection groups split”

on page 6 of the October issue of ANIMAL

PEOPLE.

ANIMAL HEALTH

November 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1993:

The September newsletter of the Missouri

Veterinary Medical Association told members that

the MVMA backed the state veterinary medical board

in establishing clinic and hospital inspections because

inspection was inevitable and otherwise the inspectors

“would probably be non-veterinarians and possibly

animal rights activists,” whose agenda might “roll

over veterinary practices.” Exactly how and why was

not explained.

Dr. James Serpell, author of several

books on the human/animal relationship, has been

named to fill the new Marie A. Moore Chair in

Humane Ethics and Animal Welfare at the University

of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.

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