BOOKS: Strategic Action for Animals

January 1, 2010 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2010:

Strategic Action for Animals:
A handbook for strategic movement building,
organizing and activism for animal liberation
by Melanie Joy
Lantern Books (128 2nd Place, Garden Suite,
Brooklyn, NY 11231), 2008. 176 pages,
paperback. $20.00.

“The animal liberation movementŠneeds to
raise public awareness so that citizens become
mobilized to demand change,” believes Melanie
Joy.
Public awareness of the major issues in
animal advocacy has already long since been
accomplished. References to animal advocacy
themes and concerns are now ubiquitous in prime
time television, popular films, music, comedy
monologues, and the metaphors of common
speech-and have been for decades. How to
mobilize all this awareness into an effective
demand for change is the continuing problem.

Jet-powered puppy mill case crashes before getting to court

January 1, 2010 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2010:

PHILADELPHIA, HARRISBURG–Main Line
Animal Rescue founder Bill Smith and former
Pennsylvania SPCA board president Harrise Yaron
just before Christmas 2009 lost their gamble that
jetting dogs back from an Ohio dog auction would
produce evidence sufficient to prosecute six
Amish dog breeders.
Two days before a new Pennsylvania dog
law took effect, 12 Lancaster County breeders
either quit the business or significantly
downsized, sending dozens of dogs to an auction
in Baltic, Ohio.

Scottish SPCA & Royal SPCA reach truce

January 1, 2010 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2010:

EDINBURGH, LONDON–The Scottish SPCA and
the Royal SPCA have signed a joint memo of
understanding under the auspices of the Institute
of Fundraising to “avoid any future confusion,”
Scottish SPCA chief executive Stuart Earley
confirmed to BBC News on December 15, 2009.
“Under the new agreement,” BBC News
said, “the Royal SPCA will add a line to all its
advertisements making it clear that it only
operates in England and Wales. It will also send
all donations made out to the ‘Scottish RSPCA’ or
‘RSPCA Scotland’ to the Scottish SPCA.”
“We want people in Scotland to support
the Scottish SPCA. Even more importantly, if
there is an animal in distress in Scotland, we
want people there to contact the Scottish SPCA to
get help,” Royal SPCA chief executive Mark Watts
told BBC News.
The Scottish SPCA in February 2009
published £100,000 worth of full-page ads in
Scottish newspapers and posted a web site–still
up in early January 2010–that accused the Royal
SPCA of Britain of “stealing food from the mouths
of Scotland’s defenseless animals” by advertising
to Scottish television audiences.
“We have asked the RSPCA to make it
clear it does not save animals in Scotland.
After six months of talks we are no further
forward,” said Earley then.

Homeowners are liable for guests’ dog attacks

January 1, 2010 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2010:

MADISON–The Wisconsin Supreme Court on December 29, 2009
ruled unanimously that a homeowner is accountable for injuries
inflicted by a dog who lives in the home, even if the dog belongs to
someone else.
The verdict upheld an appellate court finding that Nancy
Seefeldt of Menasha was the “keeper” of a dog who injured passer-by
Colleen Pawlowski in October 2003, and that Seefeldt was therefore
responsible for the dog’s behavior.

Playful dogs

January 1, 2010 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2010:

LINCOLN–The Nebraska Supreme Court ruled 5-2 on December
18, 2009 that injuries caused by dogs without intent on the part of
the dog to do injury are not actionable under the state law holding
dog keepers liable for dog attacks. The case originated in 2005 when
a golden retriever service dog kept by Shiloh Hobelman bounded up to
Anne Underhill, who is confined to a wheelchair, and collided with
Hobelman causing her a knee injury that required surgery.
The outcome of the case paralleled the 1996 British
Columbia Court of Appeal verdict Shelvey v. Bicknell. In that case a
two-year-old Rottweiler in August 1991 collided with plaintiff Judith
Shelvey while chasing an Old English sheep dog playmate. Shelvey
suffered a severe head injury. The British Columbia Court of Appeal
held that Shelvey was injured as result of an unforseeable accident.

Ontario SPCA asks court to dump Toronto Humane board

January 1, 2010 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2010:

TORONTO–Directing animal care at the Toronto Humane Society
since a November 26, 2009 raid that brought five arrests of THS
senior personnel for alleged neglect of animals, the Ontario SPCA on
December 23, 2009 asked Ontario Superior Court to remove the THS
board of directors and appoint a receiver to oversee operations.
Responding to earlier filings by Toronto Humane, Ontario
Superior Court Justice Ian Nordheimer on the same day ruled that
animal care at the shelter must “remain under the control and
direction of the Ontario SPCA,” and refused to quash the Ontario
SPCA search warrant.
“But four weeks is too long for what has effectively become
an occupation of the humane society to continue, Judge Nordheimer
said,” according to Anna Mehler Paperny of the Toronto Globe & Mail.
“Judge Nordheimer ordered the Ontario SPCA to turn over all
potentially sensitive documents, including scans of the humane
society’s hard drives, to a third party, and to allow all humane
society employees not facing criminal charges to return to work,”
Paperny wrote.

Humane Society of Central Missouri runs into conflict with shelter makeover contest sponsor

January 1, 2010 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2010:
COLUMBIA, Missouri–Yet another animal shelter has run into
difficulty after winning a makeover contest hosted by the social
networking web site ZooToo.com.
“Richard Thompson, the chief executive officer of
ZooToo.com, refused to sign off on the plans sent to him” in early
December 2009 by the Humane Society of Central Missouri, reported
Daniel Cailler of the Columbia Daily Tribune. “Instead, he sent to
the board revised version that had some members shaking their heads.”
Thompson’s version “has less room for cats and cuts down on
the existing dog population,” Humane Society of Central Missouri
interim executive director Alan Allert told Cailler.

Long-pending Ringling elephant case is dismissed due to lack of standing

January 1, 2010 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2010:
WASHINGTON D.C.–U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan on
December 31, 2009 ruled that former Ringling Bros. and Barnum &
Bailey Circus animal handler Tom Rider and a coalition of four animal
advocacy groups lack legal standing to pursue a nearly 10-year-old
case alleging that Ringling use of elephants violates the U.S.
Endangered Species Act.
Ringling has 54 Asian elephants, who are an endangered
species in the wild. About half of the Ringling elephants are on
tour at any given time, while the rest are at the Ringling captive
breeding facility in Florida.
The case was filed in 2000 by the American SPCA, the Animal
Welfare Institute, The Fund for Animals (merged into the Humane
Society of the U.S. in 2005), and the Animal Protection Institute
(merged with Born Free USA in 2007).
To win the case, the plaintiffs had to establish first that
they were in some manner sufficiently harmed by Ringling use of
elephants to have a right to bring the suit. However, wrote Sullivan
in a 57-page opinon, “The court finds that Mr. Rider is essentially
a paid plaintiff and fact witness who is not credible, and therefore
affords no weight to his testimony.”

N.Y. Racing Assn. bans selling horses to slaughter

January 1, 2010 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2010:

NEW YORK–The New York Racing Association on December 11,
2009 announced that it would bar from competition any horse owner or
trainer who is caught selling horses for slaughter. The association
“also urged horsemen who are part of what is widely considered the
premier racing circuit in the nation to support rescue and adoption
efforts, and to find humane ways of dealing with horses who are
unable to continue racing,” reported Joe Drape of the New York Times.
The New York Racing Association governs horse racing at three
of the most prestigious tracks in the U.S.: Aqueduct, Belmont Park,
and Saratoga. The two latter host the second and third events in the
horse racing Triple Crown series, which begins each spring with the
Kentucky Derby in Louisville.
The racing association crackdown came after more than 170
starving horses were found in April 2009 at Center Brook Farm in
Climax, New York. Property owner Ernie Paragallo was barred from
racing in New York, and in August 2009 was charged with 35 counts of
cruelty.

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