Mike Baker of Brooke Hospital named to head WSPA

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2009:
LONDON–Mike Baker, chief executive
officer of the Brooke Hospital for Animals since
June 2001, will in June 2009 succeed Peter
Davies as director general of the World Society
for the Protection of Animals, WSPA announced
on March 6, 2009.
“I hope still to be active in the
movement,” Davies told ANIMAL PEOPLE. WSPA had
announced Davies’ retirement in July 2008.
Davies, previously director general of the Royal
SPCA of Britain, had headed WSPA since mid-2002.
Baker, 44, served as political manager
for the British Union Against Vivisection,
1989-1994, and then headed the BUAV in
1995-1998, after an interlude with Amnesty
International. From November 1998 until Baker
became the Brooke chief executive he was United
Kingdom director for the International Fund for
Animal Welfare.
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What would Dr. Dolittle think of the Dancing Star Foundation?

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2009:

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif.–“We have
received a written agreement from Dancing Star
Foundation to enact a moratorium on killing
animals under their care,” e-mailed Farm
Sanctuary communications director Tricia Berry on
February 26, 2009, affirming earlier statements
to ANIMAL PEOPLE by Farm Sanctuary attorney Russ
Mead.
“We are now monitoring the situation to
ensure that Dancing Star abides by the
agreement,” Berry added. “If they fail to do
so, Farm Sanctuary will have no other recourse
than to contact the California Attorney General
and urge that Dancing Star be investigated.”
Berry forwarded a brief message from
Dancing Star Foundation president Michael Tobias.
“While it is our obligation to our animals to
regularly assess their quality of life,” Tobias
said, “there are no plans to put any to rest at
this time.”

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Scottish SPCA slams RSPCA in ad campaign

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2009:
The Scottish SPCA in February 2009
published £100,000 worth of full-page ads in
several Scottish newspapers that accused the
Royal SPCA of Britain of “stealing food from the
mouths of Scotland’s defenseless animals.”
Alleged Scottish SPCA chief executive
Stuart Earley to the BBC, “Many people do not
know that the RSPCA does not rescue or rehome any
animals in Scotland. By advertising here it has
been intentionally adding to the confusion to
make money. We are a completely separate charity
and have asked the RSPCA to make it clear it does
not save animals in Scotland so people can make
an informed choice about who to donate to. After
six months of talks we are no further forward.
This has increased the huge pressure on our
resources for many years.”

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Pennsylvania SPCA accepts CEO’s resignation

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2009:
PHILADELPHIA–The Pennsylvania SPCA board of directors on
February 19, 2009 unanimously accepted the February 11 resignation
of chief executive officer Howard Nelson, 45, effective immediately.
“One-year board member Beth Ann White, 43, a former banker,
was named interim chief executive,” reported Philadelphia Inquirer
staff writer Gail Shister. White will serve while the PSPCA conducts
a national CEO search.
Hired in May 2007, Nelson “engineered PSPCA’s successful
bid late last year for the city’s $2.9 million animal-control
contract,” recalled Shister. “He increased staff and oversaw major
improvements in the deteriorating Feltonville shelter.”
But Pocono Record senior managing editor Susan Koomar took a
more critical view of Nelson’s performance. “Nelson is responsible
for closing the Monroe County shelter at the end of January,” Koomer
wrote. “Local rescue groups took charge of the shelter’s animals.
Unwanted pets have been abandoned at a pet shop and veterinarian’s
office since the closing.”

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Bide A Wee closes Wantagh shelter

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2009:
WANTAGH, New York–The 94-year-old Bide A Wee Adoption
Center in Wantagh was closed for financial reasons on March 8, 2009.
Founded in 1903 by Flora Kibbe of Manhattan, Bide A Wee continues to
operate shelters at the original site in Manhattan and in Westhampton.
Thirty-six of the 135 Bide A Wee staff were laid off, Bide A
Wee chief executive Nancy Taylor told Christina Hernandez of Long
Island Newsday. Taylor said donations had dropped 30% since October
2008, while Bide A Wee lost $2 million in investments. Bide A Wee
had revenue of about $8 million per year in recent years, with
nearly $14 million in financial reserves.
Bide A Wee was the second of the oldest and wealthiest humane
societies in the U.S. to announce shelter closures in early 2009.
The Massachusetts SPCA announced earlier that it will close shelters
in Springfield, Martha’s Vineyard, and Brockton on March 31, May
1, and September 30, respectively.

Big trouble at South Jersey Animal Rescue, Clean Slate, and Cats With No Name

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2009:

The New Jersey SPCA on March 4, 2009 filed three civil and
three criminal counts of cruelty to animals against Daniel C. Tyce,
26, of Atlantic City, and filed a similar set of charges against
his alleged assistant, Sam Smith. Tyce for about two years
allegedly pretended to be a female veteterinarian, “Dr. Danielle
Smith,” of “South Jersey Small Animal Rescue.”
Arrested on January 9, 2009 in Vineland, New Jersey, for
practicing medicine without a license, Tyce was held in the
Cumberland County Jail in lieu of posting $10,000 bond. After police
and state conservation officers raided his home on January 12, Tyce
was indicted by an Atlantic County grand jury for alleged illegal
possession of prescription-strength ibuprofen and possession of a
prescription drug with intent to distribute.

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Los Angeles dog & cat sterilization funds cut

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2009:

LOS ANGELES–“Our spay/neuter program has not been
terminated,” Los Angeles Animal Services general manager Ed Boks
clarified on March 19, 2009, six days after rumors swept the animal
welfare world that the oldest city-funded dog and cat sterilization
program anywhere was a casualty of the U.S. economic crisis.
“Distribution of our spay/neuter coupons under this program
was temporarily suspended,” Boks acknowledged. “Since
implementation of the Los Angeles spay/neuter ordinance, the demand
for these coupons has exceeded our funding. We are working with the
mayor’s office to restore distribution in a manner that can be
sustained,” Boks said.
Explained Los Angeles Daily News staff writer Rick Orlov,
“The city last year adopted a law requiring dog and cat owners to
have pets spayed or neutered when they reach four months of age. As
a way to promote the program, the city included the certificates to
cover most of the costs of the procedure.”

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Congress vs. states over horse slaughter

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2009:
BISMARCK, BOISE, HELENA, WASHINGTON D.C.–A political race
to the wire over horse slaughter pits Congressional support for the
proposed Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act, which would prohibit
interstate transport of horses for slaughter, against a field of
state legislation written to expedite the resumption of horse
slaughter, suspended in the U.S. since the last three horse
slaughterhouses closed in 2007.
The Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act 2009, introduced by
Representative John Conyers (D-Michigan) had 103 cosponsors as of
March 23.
Montana governor Brian Schweitzer, a Democrat, had on his
desk a bill passed by the Republican majorities in the state house of
representatives and senate to encourage construction of a horse
slaughterhouse.

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Uncertain times for hunter/conservationists

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2009:
Commerce Department inspector general Todd Zinser in early
March 2009 sent an administrative subpoena to the National Wildlife
Federation, demanding documents that would identify whoever leaked
information to the NWF about the plans of the George W. Bush
administration to weaken the Endangered Species Act with
administrative rules changes introduced just before leaving office.
The leak helped the NWF and other Endangered Species Act defenders to
ensure that reversing the rules changes is a high priority for the
Barack Obama administration. Zinser, appointed by Bush in November
2007, issued the unusual subpoena at request of Senator James Inhofe
of Oklahoma, the senior Republican on the U.S. Senate Committee on
Environment and Public Works. The leaked documents “were not marked
sensitive, secret or otherwise confidential or classified,”
reported Associated Press writer Pete Yost.

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