Animal Obits

March 1, 2004 Archivist Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2004:

Stumpy, age 40+, an 80-ton pregnant North Atlantic right
whale, familiar to New England Aquarium, Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institute, and Center for Coastal Studies researchers since 1975,
was found dead from a ship strike off Virginia in early February.
Wrote Cape Cod Times staff writer Emily C. Dooley, “From 1975
through 2002 there were 292 documented cases of ships striking large
whales across the globe. Of these, 38 strikes involved North
Atlantic right whales, according to the Large Whale ship Strike
Database compiled by the National Oceanic & Atmospheric
Administration.” North Atlantic right whales are the rarest of the
great whales, with only about 325 surviving.

Wolf #42, alpha female of the Druid Peak Pack in Yellowstone
National Park, was found dead on February 3 atop Specimen Ridge
after a fight with Mollie’s Pack, also called the Crystal Creek
Pack. #42 became the Druid Peak Pack alpha after killing her
tyrannical sister, #40, who may have earlier killed one of #42’s
first litters. Her more benign sister, #41, left the Druid Peak
Pack in 1998 to become founding alpha female of the Sunlight Basin
Pack. Suffering from mange and a broken foot, #41 and another wolf
recently left the pack. Seen feeding on a freshly killed calf on
private land on February 6, #41 was shot by a U.S. Fish & Wildlife
Service agent on February 15. #42 and #41 were the last of the 31
wolves brought to Yellowstone as part of the 1995-1996 species
reintroduction.

Obituaries

Maine lab bootlegged avian flu virus; ex-execs charged

March 1, 2004 Archivist Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2004:

BANGOR–The avian flu virus involved was H9N2, not the H5N1
strain now rampaging through Southeast Asia, nor one of the other
deadly H5 or H7 strains.
Still, an avian flu virus smuggling scheme recently exposed
in connection with the multi-count prosecution of three former Maine
Biological Laboratories executives has scared biological security
experts worldwide.
Former MBL chief financial officer Dennis H. Guerrette, 40,
of Brunswick, and former MBL vice president for production Thomas C.
Swieczkowski, 47, of Pittston, pleaded innocent on January 5 to
conspiracy, serving as accessories after the fact to biological
smuggling, and three counts each of mail fraud. Each mail fraud
count carries a penalty of as much as 20 years in prison and a fine
of up to $50,000.
The third ex-MBL executive, Marjorie Evans (whose age was
not stated) was charged with making false statements to investigators
and violating the Virus-Serum-Toxin Act.
Former MBL lab technicians Walter Gogan, 63, and Peggy
Lancaster, 47, in November 2003 pleaded guilty to related charges.
Gogan admitted being an accessory after the fact, which could carry
a sentence of up to 30 months in prison. Lancaster admitted to
ordering staff to falsely label vaccines, carrying a possible
penalty of one year in prison.

Editorial: Bring breeders of high-risk dogs to heel

January 1, 2004 Archivist Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2004:

On January 5, the first regular business day of 2004, New
York City Center for Animal Care and Control director Ed Boks and
actress-turned-animal advocate Bernadette Peters tried to make pit
bull terriers more adoptable by announcing that henceforth they would
be offered for adoption as “New Yorkies.”
The scheme lasted less than three days.
Having worked long and hard to rehabilitate the image of New
York City, the tourist industry wanted no part of any potential
association with gangs, drugs, and hostile behavior.
“I think it would create a bad image for New Yorkers,” public
relations executive Howard Rubenstein told Heidi Singer of the New
York Daily News. “Our bark is worse than our bite. With pit bulls,
their bite is worse than their bark.”
Representing media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, casino baron
Donald Trump, hotelier Leona Helmsley, and New York Yankees owner
George Steinbrenner, among others, Rubenstein, 67, is among the
acknowledged New York City power brokers. When Rubenstein speaks,
City Hall listens.
Animal shelter experts around the U.S., called for comment,
remembered the 1996 attempt by the San Francisco SPCA to re-invent
pit bulls by calling them “St. Francis terriers.”

How to hit narcissists with the anti-fur message

January 1, 2004 Archivist Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2004:

How to hit narcissists with the anti-fur message
by Irene Muschel

Here we are, 30 years after the
publication of Animal Liberation by Peter Singer
and Man Kind? by the late Cleveland Amory marked
the beginning of the modern-day animal rights
movement, and it is impossible to walk anywhere
in New York City, still the global hub of the
fur industry, without seeing people in fur
coats, jackets, accessories, and especially
fur trim.
Stores that never sold fur before are now
selling it, often without identifying the
animals it came from. The labels just say,
“Real fur, imported from China,” or “Genuine
fur.” This could be dog or cat fur. Although
importing dog or cat fur garments is illegal,
items priced at under $150 are exempt from the
federal requirement that furs be accurately
labeled.
I am left with feelings of despair and
anger that the animal rights movement has failed
so miserably in this area, through the use of
futile, self-defeating tactics, the absence of
vigilance, not monitoring what works and what
does not, and rigidly refusing to change methods
to become more successful.

It is not their fault for not listening

January 1, 2004 Archivist Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2004:

It is not their fault for not listening
by Carole Lewis

If the public is not getting our message,
it is not their fault for not listening. It is
ours, for inadequately or inappropriately
communicating.
I believe that most people who have petted a
bobcat will not be able to shoot one for fun, or
wear one for fashion. I believe that most people
who have come face to face with a tiger in a
moment of appreciation will not pay to watch
someone sacrifice the majesty of the tiger to
make him perform stupid pet tricks.
When people have the chance to see that
their choices can inflict great pain, most learn
to make better choices. I have the opportunity
to give sanctuary tours and talks about wildlife,
and the phrase I hear most often is, “I had no
ideaŠ”
Animal rescue facilities such as mine
cannot handle the number of creatures in need of
sanctuary when public ignorance fuels the market
for an endless supply of cute and cuddly cubs.

Euro Commission refuses Euro Parliament order to ban dog & cat fur

January 1, 2004 Archivist Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2004:

BRUSSELS–Claiming lack of jurisdiction, the European
Commission has refused to draft a ban on dog and cat fur imports into
the European Union that was overwhelmingly approved in principle by
the European Parliament in mid-December 2003.
To take effect, the ban would have to be presented by the EC
to the Council of Ministers, and would then have to receive the
ministers’ ratification.
Introduced by Struan Stevenson, a Conservative member from
Edinburgh, Scotland, with four cosponsors, the dog and cat fur
import ban was endorsed by 346 members of the European Parliament in
all, with only 314 needed for a majority. Stevenson also claims to
have the support of Council of Ministers members representing France,
Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Greece, Denmark,
Sweden, and Britain.
Denmark on October 1, 2003 independently enacted a law
banning traffic in dog and cat fur. Violators may be jailed for up
to four months.
The EU dog and cat fur ban was demanded by the European
Parliament in only the sixth order that the Parliament has ever given
to the EC to draft legislation, a procedure bypassing the usual
legislative process.

Europe
Law

Thai gibbon sanctuary survives killings of staff

January 1, 2004 Archivist Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2004:

Phop Phra, Tak, Thailand– The William E. Deters Foundation
For Gibbon and Wildlife Conservation Projects, founded in 1996 as
the Highland Farm & Gibbon Sanctuary, is recovering from perhaps the
most violent transition of leadership any sanctuary has ever endured.
On May 10, 2002, cofounder William Emeral Deters, 69,
housekeeper Ratchanee Sonkhamleu, 26, her three-year-old daughter,
Hmong worker Laeng sae Yang, and a Thai worker known only as Subin
were massacred during a botched robbery. Of the key personnel, only
cofounder Pharanee Deters, 60, remained.
But the animals still needed to be fed.
“My mind was in a dark hole for a long time,” Pharanee
Deters told ANIMAL PEOPLE in a recent update e-mail. “Very sad,
upset, suffering, depressed, angry–you name it, I had it all. I
even thought about eliminating myself. But every day I would think,
“If I am gone, who will take care of the 37 gibbons, six monkeys,
the birds, the dogs, the cats, the geese, the turkeys. So here I
am, still alive and working harder to keep these creatures alive and
happy.
“When Bill was alive, he was the creator and I was the doer.
Now I have to do both,” Pharanee Deters continued, with words of
appreciation for Edwin Wick, director of Wildlife Friends of
Thailand, and Roger Lohanan, director of the Thai Animal Guardians
Association. Wick and three volunteers helped maintain the sanctuary
for about two months after the murders. Lohanan and eight volunteers
helped for two weeks after Wick’s team left.

Hunting hunters

January 1, 2004 Archivist Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2004:

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan– “Tribesmen in the Dera Ghazi Khan
district of Punjab province, Pakistan, recently fired on an advance
team preparing for the arrival of Crown Prince Sheikh Sultan bin
Hamadan al Nuhayyan, grandson of the emir of the United Arban
Emirates, and his royal falconers,” Boston Globe correspondent Jan
McGirk reported on December 28.
“In a separate incident,” McGirk continued, “in the
Ranjapur district, Pakistanis with guns, hand grenades, and
rockets attacked a police border post erected to protect the hunting
parties” of oil sheikhs who fly into Pakistan each winter.
“The police escaped unhurt, but several vehicles were
destroyed,” McGirk said. “The violence followed escalating tension
between the hunters and their Pakistani helpers,” McGirk explained,
“and Khosa and Bugti tribesmen who have been banned from shooting or
trapping houbara bustards for the past 30 years.”
A threatened species, but still a favorite target of
falconers, houbara bustards resemble pheasants. They are eaten for
purported aphrodisiacal qualities.

Bridging the animal care gulf in the Gulf of Thailand

January 1, 2004 Archivist Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2004:

Koh PhaNgan, Thailand–“The island government has just
done–for the first time since we have been here–a mass culling of
dogs,” PhaNgan Animal Care practice manager Amber Holland e-mailed
to ANIMAL PEOPLE on December 29.
“We are outraged to say the least,” Holland continued, “and
have had a letter printed in The National,” a leading Thai newspaper
published in English. “All of the dogs were desexed, vaccinated,
and healthy, and were indiscriminately killed for no other reason
than laziness and lack of creative thinking” by authorities who made
them scapegoats for slower-than-hoped-for Christmas tourism.
Koh PhaNgan, north of Koh Samui, is the smaller of two
islands in the Gulf of Thailand, close to the Malay Peninsula. Not
one of the busier and better known Thai tourist destinations, it
caters chiefly to divers–like Irish veterinarian Shevaun Gallwey,
who began visiting while practicing in Hong Kong.
“I have always been saddened to see the condition of the Thai beach
dogs when holidaying there, and have been frustrated, as a
veterinarian, at not being able to help them. So, when embarking on
a three-month visit to Koh PhaNgan in early 2001,” Gallwey told the
Asia for Animals conference in September 2003,

Asia

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