Further thoughts about service dogs

November 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2009:

Further thoughts about service dogs
Commentary by Merritt Clifton

In November 1993, when the use of service dogs other than to
guide the blind was still quite new to most of the public, ANIMAL
PEOPLE devoted a cover feature to the legal and philosophical issues
involved, including the perspectives of leading figures in the
animal rights movement as to whether training dogs for human service
constitutes exploitation. We followed up several times, until the
precedents recognizing the use of hearing dogs, seizure alert dogs,
and various other now common uses of service dogs appeared to be
clearly established, and ethical objections to the use of service
dogs were no longer commonly voiced.

BOOKS: Dogged Pursuit

September 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2009:

Dogged Pursuit: My year of competing Dusty,
the world’s least likely agility dog by Robert Rodi
Hudson Street Press (c/o Penguin, 375 Hudson St., New York, NY
10014), 2009.
288 pages, hardcover. $24.95.

Dusty the Sheltie spent his early life tied outside a
trailer. He endured savage Midwestern winters, blistering hot
summers, and crippling isolation. Demented teens pelted him with
stones. Food and water were probably scarce. He probably never saw
a veterinarian. Somehow he found refuge with Central Illinois Sheltie
Rescue.
Chicago resident Robert Rodi and his dog Carmen, also a
Sheltie, were newcomers on the agility circuit. Carmen won a few
novice awards, encouraging Rodi to pursue more challenging courses.
He enrolled in weekly classes to hone their skills, but hip
dysplasia abruptly ended Carmen’s short but potentially successful
agility career.

BOOKS: Horses & The Horse

September 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2009:

The Horse: A miscellany of equine knowledge
by Ian Whitelaw & Julie Whitaker
MacMillan (175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010), 2007.
244 pages, illustrated. $19.95 hardcover.

Horse by Elaine Walker
Reaktion Books Ltd. (33 Great Sutton St., London EC1M 3JU, U.K.),
2008. 216 pages, illustrated. $19.95 paperback.

The Horse, by Julie Whitaker and Ian Whitelaw, is an A to Z
compendium of information about equine history, anatomy, grooming,
health, behavior, and dressage, among other topics, with even a
touch of Hollywood thrown in. Short paragraphs carry the reader on a
fascinating journey, starting with the origins of the horse.
American paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh (1831-1899)
uncovered equine fossils in Nebraska, Wyoming and the Dakotas.
“Marsh determined a clear line of equine descent,” say Whitaker and
Whitelaw. An excellent chart on page 17 outlines this order,
including the contributions of the Ecocene equids Mesohippus,
Hypohippus, Megahippus, and Dinohippus. These were also ancestral
to the donkey, the zebra, and the Asiatic ass.

Philippine opponents win a “hold” on greyhound racing with help of Massachusetts allies

September 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2009:

MANILA–The Philippine House of Representatives on September
7, 2009 “agreed to hold in abeyance its approval of a second
franchise for greyhound dog racing after animal protection groups
prevailed upon the Senate to defer action on the first franchise,”
reported Gil C. Cabacungan Jr. of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Romblon representative Eleandro Jesus Madrona “said the House
was forced to make the move after seven senators vowed to block the
introduction of greyhound racing in the country because it is
‘immoral’ and ‘cruel to animals,'” Cabacungan wrote. The Philippine
House approved the nation’s first greyhound racing franchise in
December 2008.
Actually, “Thirteen Senators sent pledges to vote no to the
introduction of greyhound racing in the Philippines,” e-mailed Anna
Nieves Cabrera of the Philippine Animal Welfare Society. Cabrera
added special thanks to Senator Jamby Madrigal and Cardinal Ricardo
J.Vidal of Cebu for helping to lead the campaign, and to the
Massachusetts-based anti-greyhound racing organization Grey 2K, for
rallying supprt beyond the Philippines.

Horse racing casualties

June 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2009:
MELBOURNE, Australia–The Racing Victoria Limited Board
suspended jumps racing for 11 days in May 2009, after seven horses
in two weeks were euthanized due to injuries suffered in jumps
competition of training, including three in two days at the
Warrnambool May Racing Carnival.
Racing minister Rob Hulls lifted the suspension on May 18,
after intensive lobbying by the Victorian Jumps Racing Association.
However, Racing Victoria Ltd. on May 11 suspended four-time Grand
Annual Steeplechase winning rider David “Butch” Londregan, now a
trainer, for threatening in a radio interview to shoot his horses
and send their heads to Hulls.

Responding to the end of the age of horsepower

June 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2009:
Responding to the end of the age of horsepower
Commentary by Merritt Clifton
Completing a defacto “trade” of star players, the Brooke
Hospital for Animals, the world’s largest equine aid charity, on
May 4, 2009 announced the appointment of Peter Davies as board
chairperson.
Davies, director general of the World Society for the
Protection of Animals since 2002, succeeds North Carolina Zoo
director David Jones, who had served as interim Brooke chair since
the November 2008 death of predecessor Hilary Weir.
Succeeding Davies at WSPA will be Mike Baker, chief
executive for the Brooke since June 2001.

21 polo ponies die of overdose

May 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2009:
OCALA, Florida–Franck’s Pharmacy chief operations officer
Jennifer Becket on April 23, 2009 admitted in a prepared statement
that the custom drug-mixing firm had erred in preparing a vitamin
mixture that was given to the polo ponies on the Lechuza Caracas
team just before the start of the U.S. Open polo tournament on April
20 at the Inter-national Polo Club Palm Beach. The mixture was
apparently significantly stronger than it was supposed to have been.
Twenty-one horses died from lung hemorraging after receiving
the overdose. The vitamin mixture was reportedly similar to Biodyl,
a supplement not approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration.
Humane Society of the U.S. director of equine protection
Keith Dane called on the U.S. Polo Association to introduce a policy
restricting the use of drugs in polo ponies.

Neglect cases fuel drive to restart horse slaughter

May 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2009:
HELENA–Montana governor Brian Schweitzer on April 3, 2009
vetoed two parts of a bill passed by the state legislature to
encourage entrepreneurs to start a horse slaughterhouse, but on
April 16 both houses of the legislature returned the same bill to him
without amendment.
The provisions of the bill that Schweitzer vetoed would
require anyone filing a lawsuit seeking to stop construction of a
horse slaughterhouse to post a bond worth 20% percent of the
estimated construction costs, would hold plaintiffs liable for
damages incurred by the defendants due to legal action, and would
prevent state courts from halting construction after a horse
slaughterhouse site and design have received the requisite permits.
Schweitzer must now either veto the bill as a whole or sign
it into law. There was no indication, as ANIMAL PEOPLE went to
press, which he would do.

Five sled dogs die in 2009 Iditarod

April 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2009:
ANCHORAGE–Five dogs died during the 2009 Iditarod Trail Sled
Dog Race, the most in any year since 1997. The race runs 1,131
miles, from Wasilla to Nome.
“The first dog to die this year was 6-year-old Victor in the
team of North Pole musher Jeff Holt,” reported Craig Medred of the
Anchorage Daily News. Running 50th of 67 teams, Holt’s goal was to
just to finish. “The dogs were fresh and well rested when he left
the Rainy Pass checkpoint,” wrote Medred. “A veterinarian looked
the team over and said they looked great. A few miles down the
trail, Victor fell over and died.”
Maynard, age 5, ran in the team of veteran Yellowknife
musher Warren Palfrey, who finished 19th. At Safety, just 20 miles
from Nome, “Maynard reportedly looked fine,” Medred wrote. “Ten
miles farther, with the finish nearly in sight, he died.”

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