Appeals Court upholds Texas horse slaughter ban

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2007:
NEW ORLEANS–The 5th U.S. Circuuit Court of Appeals on
January 20, 2007 ruled that Dallas Crown Inc. of Kaufman, Texas,
and Beltex Corp., of Fort Worth, have killed horses for human
consumption in violation of a 1949 state law. The ruling in effect
reinstated the law, but halted horse slaughter at the two facilities
for only two weeks.
Holding about 100 horses who were already on the premises or
en route when the court ruled, Dallas Crown refused an offer from
the Humane Society of the U.S. to take them to a sanctuary, and
killed them on February 5, said HSUS media contact Polly Shannon.
“A trailer from Cosco Container Lines Americas, Inc. was seen parked
outside the plant,” Shannon said, but what was actually done with
the horses’ meat was unknown.

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Doc rapped for dog use in sales demo

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2007:
CLEVELAND–The Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute,
a national leader in researching brain aneurisms, on January 19,
2007 disclosed that it has barred from research for two years a
neurosurgeon who used a dog in a January 10 sales training
demonstration.
The neurosurgeon was suspended at recommendation of the
Cleveland Clinic’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, wrote
Cleveland Plain Dealer reporter Sarah Treffinger. The committee
reported the incident to the USDA Animal & Plant Health Inspection
Service as a possible Animal Welfare Act violation on January 11.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer and Associated Press disclosed the
use of the dog and the clinic response later the same day.

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Vealer drops crating

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2007:
HARLEYSVILLE, Pa.–Wayne Marcho, founder of the 36-year-old
Marcho Farms integrated veal production empire, on January 29, 2007
announced that his company has already moved thousands of calves from
veal crating to loose housing, and will shift entirely to loose
housing within the next few years. Marcho is believed to supply 15%
to 20% of the U.S. veal market.
“Smithfield and Marcho Farms were both strong proponents of
keeping animals in narrow crates,” said Farm Sanctuary president
Gene Bauston. “Their back flip begs the question: what else are
pigs, calves and other farm animals rightfully entitled to?

BOOKS: Fox & Cat

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2007:

Fox, by Martin Wallen, & Cat, by Katherine M. Rogers
Reaktion Books Ltd. (33 Great Sutton St., London
EC1M 3JU, U.K.), 2006. 206 pages each,
paperback. $19.95.

Fox and Cat are the most recent editions
to a Reaktion Books series now including 21
titles.
Martin Wallen, an English professor at
Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, presents
not a book about fox behavior by an expert on
animals, but rather a study of the relationship
between fox and human as gleaned from books,
history, and film. Although Wallen offers a
taxonomical look at the fox family tree, he
mostly deals with myths, folk tales, and
allegories.

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American Humane lands $34 million from UPS estate

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2007:
DENVER–A $34 million bequest from United Parcel Service
heiress Doris DiStefano has tripled the American Humane assets and
allowed it to nearly double its projected annual operating budget
from $11 million to circa $20 million.
The paid staff will double in coming years from about 80 to
160, reported Joanne Kelley of the Rocky Mountain News after the
mid-February 2007 American Humane board meeting.

What will be the future of cow shelters in computer-age India?

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2007:
What is to become of Indian cow shelters?
Enduring frequent spasms of reform and reinvention ever since
automobiles began to replace ox carts, cow shelters are among the
most distinctive Indian traditions, and are the oldest form of
organized humane work.
Perhaps more ubiquitous in India than either schools or
firehouses, often endowed with substantial inherited assets, cow
shelters appear certain to survive in some form, but their future
role and relevance is a matter of intensifying debate.
Among the issues are whether cow shelters should be religious
or secular institutions, whether they should be supported by
taxation or strictly by charity and the sale of milk and byproducts,
and whether they should lead cultural reform, becoming actively
involved in politics, as many do, or merely endure as quaint
cultural symbols.

Read more

Editorial feature: Indian diets & the future of animal welfare

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2007:

 

Old news and ancient history have rarely been more relevant
to the future of animal protection than in Chennai, India, in early
January 2007.
Approximately 350 delegates attended the fourth Asia for
Animals conference. Representing more than 20 nations, many
delegates had never before been to India. Yet the journey was a
philosophical pilgrimage, the conference itself a homecoming.
India is where pro-animal religious and philosophical
teachings apparently began, where animal shelters and hospitals were
invented.
India is also the second most populous nation in the world,
with the fastest-expanding economy, greatest rate of growth in
material acquisition, and second-greatest rate of growth in meat
consumption, behind only China.
India and China, having between them more than 40% of the
global human population, are where the future of animal welfare will
be decided.

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Fire aboard Japanese whaling ship Nisshin Maru ends Antarctic killing early

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2007:
Japanese Institute of Cetacean Research whaling within
Antarctic waters ended for the winter on February 24, 2007–far
short of meeting a self-assigned quota of 935 minke whales, 50
humpback whales, and 50 fin whales. The latter are both
internationally designated endangered species.
“At around 17:30 today,” posted the crew of the Greenpeace
vessel Esperanza, “the expedition leader of the Japanese
government’s whaling fleet radioed, informing us that the Nisshin
Maru–disabled nine days ago by fire–plans to sail in three hours.
“This is a relief,” the posting continued. “After nine long
days, the whaling fleet is finally leaving the Ross Sea, and the
unsullied environment of the Southern Ocean.”
The Nisshin Maru on February 15 caught fire in a below-deck
processing area. Most of the 148-member crew were evacuated,
leaving 26 to fight the blaze. One crewman, Kazutaka Makita, 27,
was killed by the fire.

Read more

Letters [March 2007]

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2007:
 
Animals harmed in making “The Aftermath”?

I have just watched the HBO/BBC joint
production of The Aftermath, a fictitious
account the Indian Ocean tsunami, filmed in
Phuket and Kao Lak.
There is at the end amongst the credits a
statement saying that “No animals were harmed in
the filming of this production.”
Not so. The scenes depicting the temple
north of Kao Lak were actually filmed over
several days at the Ban Don temple near Talang on
Phuket. Approximately 45 dogs and numerous cats
live at this temple, monitored by volunteers who
feed and treat them.
The film company built an enclosure for
the dogs into which they were all herded.
Normally these dogs have distinct territories in
different parts of the temple. The result was
repeated fighting. Some of the dogs suffered
open wounds. These required veterinary treatment
provided by the Soi Dog Foundation after the
filming was finished. We were not allowed near
the enclosure during the filming.
Nobody knows what happened to the cats, but many disappeared. Read more

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