Obituaries [March 2009]

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2009:

Tony Gregory, 61, longtime vice president of the Irish
Council Against Blood Sports and member of the Dail, the Irish
parliament, since 1982, died on January 2, 2009. Gregory was
also a member of the Dublin city council, 1979-2004. Recalled ICAB
president Philip Kiernan, “In 1993, he courageously brought a
private member’s bill to outlaw hare coursing. Sadly, only sixteen
[other members] supported it, some of whom defied their party whip to
do so. Tony informed himself very well on the issues, observing
hare coursing, fox hunting, and carted deer hunts first hand. Once
coming across a badger sett illegally blocked by a foxhunt club, he
rowed in and helped to unblock the sett, going on to face down the
hunt and remonstrate with them.”

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BOOKS: Pets ‘N’ Us

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2009:

Pets ‘N’ Us by Purnima L. Toolsidass
in consultation with Debasis Chakrabarti
Allied Publishers (www.allliedpublishers.com), 2008.
264 pages, paperback.

“The purpose of Pets ‘N’ Us,” author Purnima L. Toolsidass
told ANIMAL PEOPLE, “is to make people who have pets–or plan to get
one–more sensitive to their needs, and more conscious of their
responsibilities. I wanted people to think of using pets as a
therapy for helping stressed children or unhappy adults. I wanted
them to know that pets can be fun and be a great source of comfort.
I read out every point to Debasis Chakrabarti, since he is an animal
psychologist and an expert on dogs.”

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REVIEWS: American Coyote: Still Wild at Heart

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2009:

American Coyote: Still Wild at Heart
30-minute documentary by Melissa Peabody
Distributed by Project Coyote, a program of Earth Island Institute,
c/o P.O. Box 5007, Larkspur, CA 94977; 415-945-3232; www.projectcoyote.org

American Coyote: Still Wild at Heart is a 30-minute edition
of a documentary that debuted in 2007 as the 55-minute DVD release
San Francisco: Still Wild At Heart, and was later screened at the
2008 United Nations Association Film Festival. A three-minute
trailer, Bernal Hill: Still Wild at Heart, aired in 2008 at the
Bernal Hill Outdoor Cinema.
Videographer Melissa Peabody came to coyotes as her focal
subject after editing wildlife programs for Animal Planet, producing
educational videos for Stanford University, and a three-year stint
with KRON-TV, the San Francisco NBC affiliate.

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Endowment restrictions causes Massachusetts SPCA to close three shelters

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2009:
BOSTON–Downsizing for the second time in five years, the
Massachusetts SPCA on February 5, 2009 announced the closure of
shelters in Brockton, Martha’s Vineyard, and Springfield,
effective May 1. Thirty-eight staff will be laid off and eight
vacant positions will be eliminated.
The MSPCA will continue to operate shelters and animal
hospitals in Boston, Centerville, Methuen, and Nantucket.
MSPCA spokesperson Brian Adams told media that any animals
who are not adopted from the Brockton, Martha’s Vineyard, and
Springfield shelters before they close will be transferred to the
shelters that remain open.

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BOOKS: Top 100 Birding Sites of the World

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2009:

Top 100 Birding Sites of the World
by Dominic Couzens
Univ. of Calif. Press (2120 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, CA 94704-1012), 2008.
320 pages, illustrated. $45.00.

Just a year after publication of the first edition of Dominic
Couzens’ Top 100 Birding Sites of the World, now reprinted in an
expanded edition, climatic change has transformed three of the ten I
have been fortunate enough to visit.
Keoladeo Ghana National Park at Bharatpur, India, is badly
depleted by drought, though the Indian government hopes to restore
it by piping in water.
The Florida Everglades, also drying out, are now home to
increasingly abundant feral pythons. The pythons prey upon the
resident alligators, who are the major predators of Everglades
wading birds. Since big snakes have consumed crocodilians in most
crocodilians habitat for the past hundred million years, the only
surprise is that big snakes of some sort didn’t reach the Everglades
sooner.

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Impeachment of Illinois governor did not surprise SHARK

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2009:

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois–When the Illinois Senate impeached
governor Rod Blagojevich for abuse of power on January 29, 2009, by
a vote of 59-0, Showing Animals Respect & Kindness founder Steve
Hindi could say “I told you so.” Hindi had accused the Blagojevich
administration of corruption via the SHARK web site since July 2006.
Hindi fingered Blagojevich himself and senior officials at
the Illinois Department of Agriculture, the Illinois State Police,
and the office of the Illinois State’s Attorney after they refused to
prosecute cruelty to animals captured on videotape by SHARK
investigators at the 2006 Illinois High School Rodeo Association
finals in Springfield, the Illinoi state capital.

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India high court halts bullfights

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2009:
NEW DELHI–The Supreme Court of India on January 30, 2009
reaffirmed a July 2007 ruling that public “bull-taming” exercises
called jallikattu are illegal, and that jallikattu events held under
a limited exemption granted in January 2008 did not meet the Supreme
Court-imposed condition that cruelty to the bulls must be prevented.
Traditionally held during Pongal season festivals, chiefly
in Tamil Nadu state, jallikattu includes bullock cart races,
bullfights, and participatory torment of bulls similar to the mob
attacks on bulls practiced at festivals in parts of Spain, Latin
America, and South Africa.
Acting on a motion by Animal Welfare Board of India senior
advocate K K Venugopal, Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justice
P. Sathasivam issued a restraining order against further jallikattu
during the 2009 Pongal season, after 21 people were killed and at
least 1,614 were injured in January 2009 jallikattu events. They
extended the order on February 13. The Supreme Court is to rule on
the Animal Welfare Board’s request for a permanent injunction against
jallikattu later in 2009.

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A misunderstood coyote tries to avoid trouble

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2009:

Captioned “An urban coyote strolls through West Hills, a
suburb of Los Angeles, California, in July 2002,” this photo
appears in Coyote Attacks: An Increasing Suburban Problem, in which
Robert M. Timm, Rex O. Baker, and USDA Wildlife Services employees
Joe R. Bennett and Craig C. Coolahan allege that coyotes are losing
their fear of humans, and are increasing threats toward humans and
pets.
The evidence in the photo, on closer look, tells a
different story. The little girl in the background appears to be
completely unaware of the coyote, but rather than stalking her, the
coyote is not trying to conceal himself. His tail is held low in a
submissive or defensive posture. He is not running as if flushed
from cover, but is walking in the apparent shadows of trees that may
have been cover he has just abandoned. His left ear is cocked toward
the photographer.

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Dogfighters vs. the Taliban

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2009:

ISLAMABAD–“Thousands of villagers” attended a dogfighting
tournament in Toba Tek Singh, Pakistan on February 15, 2009,
“chaired by the social and political personalities of the area,”
Ravi Foundation executive director Ashfaq Fateh told ANIMAL PEOPLE.
“At least 34 dogs took part,” Fateh added.
A schoolteacher and prominent advocate of both human and
animal rights, Fateh had reason to be gravely concerned when the the
chief minister of North West Frontier Province of Pakistan announced
on February 16, 2009 that the Pakistani government will recognize
Taliban rule of the embattled Swat valley, in exchange for a
temporary ceasefire. The deal allows the Taliban to enforce an
interpretation of Islamic law that includes keeping women indoors
and prohibiting female education.

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