BOOKS: The Master’s Cat: The Story of Charles Dickens as told by his Cat

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2006:

The Master’s Cat: The Story of Charles Dickens as told by his Cat
by Eleanor Poe Barlow
Dickens Publishing (Dickens House, 48 Doughty Street, London, WC1N
2FL), 1998.
132 pages. $16.95/paperback, $24.00 hardcover.

Charles Dickens’ fictionalized exposes of social ills in 19th
century England led to a raft of social, legal, and educational
reforms, and inspired the rise of liberal thinking.
Dickens was very fond of his cat and several dogs, with whom
he used to take long walks in the countryside almost every day.
Dickens was also instrumental in enabling Mary Tealby to make a
success of Dogs Home Battersea. But before society could evolve
toward more caring treatment of animals, it had to create a culture
of caring for humans. It had to abolish slavery, emancipate women,
and invent a social safety net to help the unfortunate. No one did
more than Dickens to achieve those goals.

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Rights-&-Freedoms defense failed for Sea Shepherds

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2006:

CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I.–Rejecting a “freedom of expression”
defense in December 2005, Prince Edward Island Provincial Court
Judge Nancy Orr on January 17, 2006 convicted 11 crew members from
the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society vessel Farley Mowat of being
within half a nautical mile of sealers during the 2005 Atlantic
Canada seal hunt.
The 11 defendants were arrested after several were assaulted
by sealers, who were not charged.
Orr found Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson not guilty
because he did not leave the Farley Mowat during the March 31, 2005
confrontation, and “because it was established that the Farley Mowat
was a place of residence,” Watson said. The Canadian Department of
Fisheries and Oceans requires anyone who approaches sealers to have a
permit, but people may witness the hunt from their homes.
Three days later the Crown Prosecutor dropped charges against
Watson for alleged violations of the Canadan Shipping Act filed over
the same incident.

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UARC files First Amendment case in Salt Lake

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2006:

Utah Animal Rights Coalition members Eric Waters and David
Berg on March 1, 2006 sued representatives of six different state
agencies for allegedly violating their First Amendment right to
freedom of expression, one day after Utah Highway Patrol trooper
Preston Raban stopped them from leafleting outside the Utah state
capitol against two bills which would lower the minimum age for
hunting.
Waters and Berg are represented by Salt Lake City attorney
Brian Barnard, who has handled other high-profile civil rights cases
involving animal advocates.
“According to court documents, Raban told Berg and Waters
that handing fliers to anyone who didn’t ask for one was against
state law and was considered soliciting,” summarized Jennifer Dobner
of Associated Press. “The lawsuit also contends that Raban
threatened to arrest Berg and Waters.”

Activist wins civil rights case in Oklahoma City

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2006:

Oklahoma City vegetarian activist Alissa Finley on January
25, 2006 won dismissal of charges brought against her on October 18,
2005 in connection with her attempts to photograph the scene of a
truck accident at which police eventually shot as many as 60 injured
pigs by the roadside.
“Due to my very dedicated attorneys, the photos of the day,
and a 1965 U.S. Supreme Court decision against Birmingham, Alabama,
upholding a petitioner’s right to be on a public sidewalk, we have
maintained at least some First Amendment rights in Oklahoma,” Finley
e-mailed.
“Now, on to the civil suit.”
Elaborated Finley to ANIMAL PEOPLE, “Living in Okl-homa as a
vegan activist, I continually bump up against instances such as
this, which are clearly a violation of my civil rights due to what I
believe is prejudicial treatment against animal activists.”

Anti-pork site still up

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2006:

Three months after the Premiere Bacon Company threatened to
sue New Zealand activist Mark Eden and the Wellington Animal Rights
Network for posting anti-pork material at <www.premierbacon.co.nz>,
an address just one letter different from the company’s own, the
site is still up. Eden told Louisa Cleave of the New Zealand Herald
in December 2005 that the site had been redesigned to eliminate
copyrighted logos.

Australia suspends livestock exports to Egypt after exposé of cruelty

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2006:

CANBERRA–Australian agriculture minister
Peter McGuarin on February 26, 2006 suspended
livestock exports to Egypt, after the Australian
edition of 60 Minutes aired video taken in
January 2006 by Lyn White of Animals Australia
that showed workers at the Bassetin
slaughterhouse near Cairo poking out the eyes of
cattle and cutting their leg tendons before
subjecting them to a version of hallal slaughter
that clearly flunked the goal of the animals not
suffering.
“Required is that the animal must be
unconscious at the time of slaughter, there
should be no cruelty to it, and that any stress
to the animal should be minimised,” said
Australian Federation of Islamic Councils hallal
certification representative Munir Hussain.
“Over 1 million Australian cattle have
been exported into Egypt over the past 10 years.
The vast majority have been slaughtered at
Bassatin abattoir,” said Animals Australia
executive director Glenys Oogjes.

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United Nations Environment Program warns about ecological consequences of H5N1

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2006:

GENEVA–The United Nations Environment Program warned on
March 22, 2006 that, “Culling poultry [to control avian flu H5N1],
especially in developing nations where chicken is a key source of
protein, may put new and unacceptable pressure on a wide range of
creatures,” who may be hunted as alternate protein, “from wild pigs
to endangered great apes.”
UNEP also warned against culling wild birds and draining
wetlands to discourage congregations of waterfowl, who appear to be
victims of H5N1 more than carriers.
Now afflicting 45 nations, H5N1 has been found in 87 bird
species, including many of the most common and broadly ranging–and
carrion-eaters such as kites, crows, and buzzards, known to have
strong resistance to most pathogens.

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Tasmanians bedevil muttonbirds

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2006:

The Atlantic Canada seal hunt started on the same day in 2006
as the annual muttonbird hunt in Tasmania, a similar event, with a
2006 quota of 300,000, not counting the toll taken by indigenous
Tasmanians.
“It’s horrific,” Against Animal Cruelty Tasmania
spokesperson Suzanne Cass told Tim Jeanes of the Australian
Broadcasting Corporation. “The chick is hauled out of the burrow
either by hand or with a sharp hook. The bird’s neck is broken. It
could take any length of time, with people swinging them around
their heads and throwing them. These birds travel 30,000 kilometres
round-trip each year, and there are 209 breeding colonies around
Tasmania and the islands,” Cass added. “Often they’re not killed
for eating–just recreation.”
Responded Tasmanian West Coast Mayor Darryl Gerrity, “We
don’t have a lot of things to do on the west coast, so we look
forward to the muttonbirds season.”

Verbally aggressive tactics raise issue of freedom of speech vs. uttering threats

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2006:

SAN DIEGO, PHILADELPHIA, LONDON, NEW
YORK– FBI agents on February 22, 2006 arrested
Rod Coronado, 39, of Tucson, Arizona, for
statements made in a 2003 speech at the
Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender Community Center
in Hillcrest, California.
“Coronado was indicted in San Diego on
charges of demonstrating how to make a
destructive device with intent that the
information be used to commit arson,” reported
San Diego Union-Tribune staff writer Onell R.
Soto.
“You’re damn right when you say I’ve
shown people how to make a firebomb,” Coronado
told the Union-Tribune in July 2005. “I’ve done
my time for my crimes, and I should be able to
talk about them.”

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