Kenya rejects bid to privatize parts of Kenya Wildlife Service

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2004:

NAIROBI–Swiss-born horticulturalist Rene
Haller, founder of the Baobab Trust, was on
August 18 appointed acting chair of the Kenya
Wildlife Service.
Haller succeeds Rhino Ark founder Colin Church.
Church was indefinitely suspended and KWS chief
executive officer Evans Mukolwe was reprimanded
after 11 days of furor over a plan advanced by
Church associate Andrew Hind to privatize the
money-making KWS activities.
As in several other recent flaps
involving the KWS, much of the uproar appeared
to result from the manner in which the plan was
made public.
“The proposed deal to turn KWS into a
commercial company was allegedly made without
Cabinet approval,” and for that matter without
the knowledge of most of the KWS board, wrote
Biketi Kikechi of the East African Standard.
Hind, at invitation of Church, drafted
the proposal on July 8. Entitled The
Commercialization of the Kenya Wildlife Service:
Concept Document, it came to public notice after
almost a month of quiet discussion.

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BOOKS: The Philosopher’s Dog

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2004:

The Philosopher’s Dog by Raimond Gaita
Random House (1745 Broadway MD 18-2, New York, NY 10019), 2004.
220 pages, paperback. $23.95.

The Philosopher’s Dog is a collection of philosophical
arguments loosely drawn together by events that involve author
Raymond Gaita’s pets. Many non-animal subjects are covered, and
there is more philosophy than dog in the book.
Gaita specifically declines to philosophize about
vegetarianism, other than to assert that the slogan ‘meat is murder’
does not bear close analysis. He steadfastly distinguishes between
morality applied to humans and morality applied to animals. Allowing
comparisons between the Holocaust and factory farming, he points out
that seeking to equate the two would not find general acceptance, and
would rather indicate “a sentimentality that is wicked and offensive.”
Gaita believes it is foolish to talk about animal rights, he
says, adding that this “is partly because I think it is mistaken to
talk of rights in the case of human beings. To say that an action is
unjust because it violates someone’s rights adds nothing, I believe,
to saying that it is unjust.”

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Lance-Watson perjury case

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2004:

SEATTLE–Federal perjury charges against Allison
Lance-Watson, 45, wife of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
founder Paul Watson, were dropped on September 9, 2004, said
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Bartlett, because the prosecution
inadvertently shredded the transcripts of grand jury proceedings that
were the evidence.
“In dropping the case,” wrote Seattle Post-Intelligencer
reporter Paul Shukovsky, “the government agreed Lance-Watson will
not be prosecuted for any crimes based on evidence now in possession
of the U.S.,” and agreed not to subpoena her about any current
investigation.
A related contempt of court case continues against activist
Gina Lynn for refusing to testify to the grand jury.
The grand jury is investigating an arson in Olympia,
Washington, and the theft of 228 chickens from a farm in Burlington,
Washington, on the night of May 7, 2000. The FBI says a
convenience store security camera caught Lynn and fellow activist
Joshua Trenter as they dumped evidence, and puts them in a truck
that Lance-Watson rented to help the Sea Shepherds relocate from
Santa Monica, California, to Friday Harbor, Washington.
Jailed on August 26 for contempt of court, Lynn commenced a
hunger strike that was apparently still underway as ANIMAL PEOPLE
went to press on September 15. She has engaged in hunger strikes of
up to 22 days during previous jailings for refusing to testify before
grand juries.

BOOKS: Animal Voices: Telepathic Communication in the Web of Life & All My Relations

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2004:

Animal Voices: Telepathic Communication in the Web of Life
by Dawn Bauman Brunke
Bear & Company (1 Park Street, Rochester, VT 05767), 2004. 278
pages, paperback. $15.00.

All My Relations
by Susan Chernak McElroy
New World Library (14 Pamaron Way, Novato, CA 94949), 2004. 240
pages, paperback, $14.95.

“Oh no! Don’t put me in there! I’ve seen those things
before. They eat people and then spit them out. I’ve tried to talk
to them and there’s nobody there. They have no decent migratory
pattern, and they make no sense at all. Oh no, I’m not going to be
eaten by a plane!”
These thoughts Dawn Baumann Brunke attributes to a parrot.
Living in Wasila, Alaska, Brunke describes herself as “a freelance
writer and editor who specializes in the areas of bodywork, healing,
metaphysics, and spirituality.
I have worked and lived closely with birds and animals now
for many years. Rehabbing the orphaned, sick and injured. I feel
close to them. But I have never heard voices in my head or any other
form of telepathy.

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Live elephant exports from Thailand and South Africa will be on the CITES agenda

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2004:

BANGKOK, JOHANNESBURG –Live elephant exports as well as
ivory sales may come under heated discussion at the 2004 Convention
on International Trade in Endangered Species conference in Bangkok,
opening on October 1.
CITES host nations often win special concessions, and
would-be Thai elephant merchants have been lobbying the Thai
government to seek looser elephant export restrictions, Friends of
the Asian Elephant foundation secretary-general Soraida Salwada
recently warned Somask Suksai of the Bangkok Post.
“Some private firms want the government to agree on free
trade in elephants, particularly those in the care of the Forest
Industry Organization,” Soraida Salwada said. “The private firms
have tried to convince the government that many elephants can be used
for commercial purposes.”
Soraida Salwada said there are now 2,600 Thai elephants in
captivity, and about 2,000 in the wild.
South African elephant exports have escalated over the past
two years, after a five-year hiatus from July 1998 until July 2003
while the notorious “Tuli elephants” case was before the courts.
African Game Services owner Riccardo Ghiazza and one of his staff
were convicted of cruelty to the 30 young elephants, captured in the
Tuli district of Botswana for sale to zoos.

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BOOKS: Providence Of A Sparrow: Lessons from a Life Gone to the Birds

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2004:

Providence Of A Sparrow: Lessons from a Life Gone to the Birds
by Chris Chester
Anchor Books (a division of Random House, Inc.,
1745 Broadway MD 18-2, New York, NY 10019),
2004. 289 pages, paperback. $13.95.

“One popular theory,” Chris Chester
writes of bird rescue and rehabilitation with his
wife Rebecca, “has us lavishing on our sparrows
a virtual Niagara of misplaced parenting impulses
that could be directed more profitably toward
rearing offspring. Both Rebecca and I admit to
an occasional twinge of regret at not having a
child, someone to park us in a low-budget nursing
home when we finally become incontinent.”
The Chesters’ work began when Chris
Chester found an unfledged sparrow chick in his
garden, and decided to save the chick if he
could. Calling the sparrow “Birdbrain,” or
just “B” for short, was not only therapeutic for
Chester’s tendency toward melancholy, but
profoundly impressed his fiancée. She too became
awakened to the joy of caring for birds in need.

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BOOKS: Curious creatures, wonderous waifs: My life with Animals

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2004:

Curious creatures, wonderous waifs: My life with Animals
by Ed Kostro
PublishAmerica, (www.publishamerica.com), 2004. 217 pages,
paperback. $16.95.

Kostro’s journey starts when he is a three-year-old living in
the inner city with his Polish immigrant parents and grandparents.
As a boy he often rescued animals; as a teenager he found summer
camp a place of untold discovery; and his relationships with
animals, especially his little dog Pepper, fared better than his
marriage, which ended in divorce.
“I truly believe that my encounters with all sorts of
animals have been an integral part of making me who I am today–an
avowed ‘animal person,'” Kostro writes.
There are plenty of amusing stories. For example, he finds a
baby robin who has fallen out of her nest. Up goes a huge ladder and
the baby is returned to a full nest of robin chicks. As one chick is
replaced and Kostro climbs down, another is pushed out and there
begins a procession of returning robin chicks to the rather
inadequate nest. A large crowd of neighbors gathers to watch.

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Human obituaries

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, Spetember 2004:

Dan Knapp, 49, died unexpectedly on August 1, 2004.
Longtime friend Warren Cox told ANIMAL PEOPLE that he understood
Knapp suffered a heart attack while mowing his lawn. An ordained
minister, Knapp led churches in Piedmont, San Jose, Santa Monica,
and Huntingon Park, California, and handled inventory control for a
Silicon Valley maker of mass spectrometers, before finding his
calling in 1988-1989 as executive director of the Humane Society of
Humboldt County. Moving to the somewhat larger Humane Society of
Sonoma County in 1990, Knapp achieved an economic turnaround,
markedly reduced animal control killing, and formed effective
alliances with cat rescuers, dog breed rescue clubs, local
children’s services, and animal rights groups. Knapp was recruited
in July 1998 to become general manager of the Los Angeles Department
of Animal Regulation. Knapp in March 2000 persuaded the Los Angeles
city council to adopt one of the widest differentials on record in
the cost of licensing sterilized v.s. unsterilized pets. A favorite
of animal rights activists, Knapp otherwise ran into conflict and
controversy in Los Angeles, most memorably when he attributed a
controversial mid-2000 roundup of free-roaming dogs to preparation
for the Democratic National Convention, and was rebuked by Mayor
Richard Riordan. An epileptic since 1996, Knapp was fired by
Riordan’s successor, James K. Hahn, in October 2001, after a
prolonged medical absence. He subsequently sued Los Angeles for
alleged discrimination based on his epileptic condition. In January
2002 he became executive director of the Capital Area Humane Society
in Columbus, Ohio, where–as in Sonoma County–he won praise from
all quarters. “Dan was an important advocate for animals and people
in our community,” said CAHS board president Becky Johnson. “He was
committed to preventing animal and human violence through
intervention and community education. Dan provided exemplary
leadership, and will be difficult to replace.”

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BOOKS: The Great Compassion & Holy Cow

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2004:

The Great Compassion:
Buddhism & Animal Rights
by Norm Phelps

Holy Cow:
The Hare Krishna Contribution to Vegetarianism & Animal Rights
by Steven J. Rosen

Both from Lantern Books (1 Union Square West, Suite 201, New York,
NY 10003), 2004.
169 pages, paperback. $16.00.

Norm Phelps, spiritual outreach director for the Fund for
Animals, is an angry Buddhist and animal rights activist.
Phelps’s righteous anger is primarily directed at the many
Buddhists –he estimates about half–who eat meat. Phelps regards
meat eating by Buddhists as both hypocrisy and as much a heresy as
can be committed within a religion whose teachings emphasize
tolerance. Phelps contends that western Buddhists who continue to
eat meat, when they must know of the horrors of factory farming,
offend the fundamental principle of their ancient religion, which
requires compassion for all sentient beings and preparedness to make
personal sacrifices in order to reduce others’ suffering.

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