Fate of U.K. ex-racing greyhounds exposed

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2006:

LONDON–The London Sunday Times on July 16, 2006 exposed the
fate of as many as 10,000 ex-racing greyhounds over the past 15
years. Reporter Daniel Foggo and a photographer documented building
supply dealer David Smith in the act of shooting greyhounds, whom
Smith buried on his property near Seaham in Durham. Smith took over
the business of killing “slow” greyhounds from his father, Foggo
wrote.
About 75% of the racing dogs in Britain are bred and trained
in Ireland, Foggo reported. About 10,000 racing dogs per year are
“retired” and replaced, but the National Greyhound Racing Club can
account for about 3,000 “retired” dogs per year.

New mobile S/N record

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2006:

GREAT FALLS– Thirteen veterinarians and nearly 300 volunteers
tried from June 15 through 19, 2006 to break the Montana Spay/Neuter
Task Force record for most dogs and cats sterilized in five days by a
mobile surgical team, but fell barely short.
The final total of 370 dogs and 866 cats sterilized, for a
total of 1,236, was third best for the task force, whose top figure
was 1,354 achieved during Lewis & Clark Count Pet Care Week in 2004.
That broke the 1998 record of 1,336 sterilizations done in six days
during Salish & Kootenai Love Your Pet Week.
The Great Falls City Council and Cascade County Commission
pledged to fund a follow-up task force visit to sterilize 800 animals
who were left on a waiting list, said Montana Spay/Neuter Task Force
founder Jean Atthowe.
Great Falls was the last Montana city of at least 5,000
people to receive a task force visit. On the road since 1996, the
team has noted results including a 76% drop in intake at the Wolf
Point Dog Pound on the Fork Peck Reservation, after four visits,
and a 26% drop in intake plus a 42% drop in killing at the Billings
Animal Shelter, after just a single two-day visit.

Gains against shelter killing come hard in the Gulf states, West, & Midwest

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2006:

Animals killed YEAR 1,000s Animals
per 1,000 people of people killed
—————————————————
CONNECTICUT 0.8 2003 3,483 2,647
Ithaca, NY 2.2 2003 97 214
New York City 2.6 2005 8,086 21,171
Onandaga County, NY 4.2 2003 311 1,300
Oswego, NY 7.5 2003 18 135
Madison County, NY 7.8 2003 70 548
—————————————————
NORTHEAST (36%) 2.2 33,495 72,322

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First regions with low-cost dog & cat sterilization are still making the most progress

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2006:

The U.S. regions where the first low-cost and free dog and
cat sterilization programs started, between 30 and 50 years ago,
still are making the fastest progress in reducing the numbers of dogs
and cats killed in animal shelters.
The 13th annual ANIMAL PEOPLE projection of the U.S. shelter
killing toll shows that the rate of killing per thousand humans
appears to have fallen back to the low of 14.8 that was achieved in
2000-2001, after a steep rise in 2001-2002. Because the U.S. human
population and the numbers of dogs and cats kept by humans have all
increased, the current annual toll of about 4.38 million dogs and
cats killed in shelters is still about 180,000 higher than the toll
of five years ago.

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BOOKS: Christine’s Ark: the extraordinary story of Christine Townend and an Indian animal shelter

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2006:

Christine’s Ark: the extraordinary story of Christine Townend
and an Indian animal shelter
by John Little

Macmillan Australia (1 Market Street, Sydney, Australia;
61-613-9825-1059; fax 61-613-9825-1054;
<www.panmacmillan.com.au>; <customer.service@macmillan.com.au>), 2006.
324 pages, paperback. $32.95 Australian.

Until I started to cry, neither the Sikh driver, Mr. Singh,
nor the unwanted sightseeing guide believed me when I said we wanted
them to take us to an animal shelter on the outskirts of the ancient
Indian city of Jaipur, instead of shopping for rugs.
Mr. Singh didn’t really speak English, but the tour guide
was fluent. Earlier that morning we had refused to ride an elephant
to the top of the Amer Fort, and they reluctantly arranged for a
jeep. At the temple atop the fort, we were deeply upset to learn
that a goat was being sacrificed inside, and refused to enter. At
the temple where pilgrims fed pigeons for good luck, we were pursued
by a legless beggar on a roller cart. The only experience we had
enjoyed that day was when a languor monkey jumped down from a parapet
in front of my son Wolf, who was only seven then, in 1997, ripped
a garland of marigolds off Wolf’s neck, and quickly climbed back to
the top of a parapet to eat the flowers. It was over in half a
minute. First we shrieked, startled, and then began to laugh. The
driver and guide were convinced we were crazy.

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BOOKS: Simply Vegan: Quick Vegetarian Meals

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2006:

Simply Vegan: Quick Vegetarian Meals
by Debra Wasserman
Nutrition section by Reed Mangels, Ph.D., R.D.
(updated 4th edition)
The Vegetarian Resource Group (PO Box 1463, Baltimore, MD 21203), 2006.
222 pages, paperback. $14.95

This excellent vegan cookbook was first published in 1991.
The need for an updated 4th edition testifies to its popularity.
The first half of the book includes appetizing vegan recipes of all
sorts: snacks, soups, side dishes, etc. The recipes are simple,
making for easy cooking.

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Coping with elephant moods

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2006:

The debate over whether elephants can be kept safely and
humanely spread to China after a sick elephant named Qing Qing on
June 8, 2006 used his trunk to smash the head of 15-month Shanghai
Wild Animal Zoo attendant Li Guohoa, as Guohoa, 43, prepared to
clean the elephant’s food basin.
But zoos continue to believe they can somehow find ways to
resolve the many problems associated with elephant-keeping.
An elephant named Patna died from cancer in early May 2006 at
the Zagreb Zoo, in the capital city of Croatia. The keepers feared
they would lose Patna’s longtime companion Suma, too.
“Suma was refusing to eat, became uncommunicative, and
showed all the signs of a serious depression,” Zagreb Zoo director
Mladen Anic told Agence France-Presse.
Suma in early June blew stones through her trunk at five
musicians who came to the zoo to play classical music. “But as soon
as the concert started,” Anic recalled, “Suma leaned against the
fence, closed her eyes and listened without moving” through
compositions by Mozart, Vivaldi and Schubert. This inspired Anic
and staff to begin daily music therapy sessions.
“We are so glad that we can provide things that Suma really
enjoys,” Anic said.

PETA, Ringling clash in Austin

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2006:

AUSTIN–Members of PETA and Action for Animals claimed on
July 6, 2006 that police improperly seized their videotapes and
refused to take a cruelty complaint that they sought to bring against
the Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus.
Activist Robert Hutton reportedly alleged that he saw blood
behind an elephant’s ear, possibly caused by use of an ankus, while
circus staff walked a group of elephants from a performance site to
the Ringling train.
Another activist, Karina Hilliard, “said she called 911 to
report that trainers made sexually harassing comments to her,” wrote
Susannah Gonzales of the Austin American-Statesman. “When police
officers arrived, Hilliard said, they accused Hilliard of lying
about the harassment so that police would respond to the previous
reports of animal cruelty. Hilliard denied the accusation and said
she did not know that complaints of animal cruelty had been made.”

Post-Hurricane Katrina pet custody cases challenge adoptions

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2006:

BATON ROUGE–Pet custody cases arising out of the
post-Hurricane Katrina animal rescue effort are presenting a
nationwide challenge to some animal advocates who have worked for
decades to promote recognition of pets as family members, and to
strengthen anti-pet theft laws.
“People who first considered themselves foster caregivers now
say some Katrina pet lovers don’t deserve their animals back,”
summarized Philadelphia Inquirer staff writer Kathy Boccella in a
mid-July profile of four cases that are expected to soon go to court.
“They cite failure to have animals spayed or neutered and not getting
rabies and heartworm prevention as evidence of unfit care.”
Also often mentioned by defendants in Katrina-related custody
disputes is that many people who were displaced by Katrina were
allegedly slow to begin searching for their animals. Most apparently
waited until they returned to their homes and found no trace of
missing pets before going to the Internet, many as first-time
Internet users.

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