Horse Tips

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1993:

Prairie Bayou, the pre-race favorite in the
June 5 Belmont Stakes, suffered a shattered foreleg
while running 11th in the backstretch among a field of
13––an indication of exhaustion or injury––and was eutha-
nized half an hour later. Prairie Bayou placed second in
the Kentucky Derby five weeks earlier, and won the
Preakness Stakes two weeks earlier as another top-ranked
horse, Union City, collapsed and was destroyed due to
similar fractures. The loss of the horses drew attention to
the theories of several experts about horse racing injuries.
Veterinarian James Rooney of the Maxwell H. Gluck
Equine Center in Lexington, Kentucky, argued that the
back-to-back collapses of Prairie Bayou and Union City
were, “Pure bloody coincidence,” claiming that only 2%
of North American races result in fatal breakdowns––but
that would still mean the deaths of 1,600 horses a year.

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Estrogen therapy fills horsemeat slaughterhouses

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1993:

BRANDON, Manitoba––Two new reports from
the Canadian Farm Animal Care Trust affirm that the fast-
growing estrogen drug market is driving the equally fast
expanding Canadian horsemeat export trade––as ANIMAL
PEOPLE reported in April, based in part on earlier CAN-
FACT publications.
The Manitoba Animal Rights Coalition is asking
other animal protection groups to join it in an international
campaign to publicize the source of the increasingly popular
“natural” estrogen replacement drug Premarine: PMU, the
urine of catheterized pregnant mares, who are kept standing
in barns from September to April of each year. This is the
peak period for equine estrogen yield, coming in the fourth
through tenth months of the mares’ 11-month gestation
cycle. Draft breeds are preferred because of their placid
nature and greater capacity for producing urine.

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Cats & Dogs

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1993:

The older men who get the most emotional benefit
from keeping pets are those who have the least free time, the most
difficulties in personal relationships, and the most financial trouble,
according to a newly published study by Ohio State University psy-
chology professor Sara Staats––whereas the women who derive the
most satisfaction from pets are those with the most free time and
the most satisfactory relationships with other people. Staats’ data
came from a survey of 250 people over age 50. The findings appar-
ently reflect the role of pet as family member for women, contrast-
ed with the role of pet as surrogate for family among many men.

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Further gains against pet overpopulation

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1993:

Continuing to refine the data on pound and shelter admissions and
euthanasias as more complete state statistics become available, Phil Arkow of the
Humane Society of Pike’s Peak has revised his estimate of the current U.S. euthanasia
toll, reported here in June, upward slightly to 5.7 million dogs and cats per year. This is
still the lowest total ever discovered––and reflects the most thorough research. Arkow’s
estimate is based on the 1991 totals, the most recent available in most instances, from
California (717,000); Colorado (69,766); Iowa (48,653); Massachusetts (79,500);
Maryland (90,000); New Jersey (75,263); Oregon (79,713); Texas (597,591); and
Washington (109,274). Together, these nine states include more than a third of the U.S.
human population, and are demographically almost identical to the U.S. as a whole.

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Animal Control & Rescue

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1993:

New Hampshire has followed
New Jersey and Connecticut in establish-
ing a statewide low-cost neutering pro-
gram. The New Hampshire program, man-
aged by the state department of agriculture
and funded by a $2.00 surcharge on dog
licenses, will subsidize neutering animals
adopted from shelters and those belonging
to people of low income.
The percentage of purebreds
among dogs received by pounds and shel-
ters appears to be edging up, e.g. from 22%
in 1991 to 25% in 1992 at the SPCA of
Monterey County, California, which keeps
some of the most comprehensive records on
purebreds. Other shelters claim to be
receiving as many as 30% purebreds. The
percentage may be up simply because total
admissions are generally down while the
number of dogs surrendered by owners is
holding even, and owned dogs are more
likely to be purebred.

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WOOFS AND GROWLS

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1993:

USDA-licensed Class B animal dealer Noel
Leach of Chase City, Virginia, facing disciplinary action
for 46 alleged violations of the Animal Welfare Act, sued
Friends of Animals on May 24 for purportedly defaming
his character and interfering with his business relation-
ships in connection with bringing many of the alleged vio-
lations to the USDA’s attention. Leach claims FoA under-
cover investigators trespassed on his property while gath-
ering evidence. FoA attorney Herman Kaufman respond-
ed to the suit with a request for dismissal, pointing out
that the action is based on an alleged tort in 1990 for
which the statute of limitations is just two years, and that
the statute of limitations in defamation cases in Virginia,
where the suit was filed, is only one year. Well known to
USDA inspectors, Leach was rapped for six previous
AWA violations in 1983. His primary business is selling
dogs and cats to research labs and dissection supply firms.

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Who’s in charge at the National Humane Education Society? FOUNDER, 83, TAKES NO PAY; FUNDRAISER TAKES $512,909

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1993:

LEESBURG, Virginia––The history of the
National Humane Education Society is in microcosm the
history of the humane movement in the 20th century––and
perhaps that’s the problem.
Financially struggling for 37 years, NHES con-
tracted with the fundraising firm Steve Cram and Associates
in July 1986. Tear-jerking direct mail campaigns increased
revenue from $852,007 in fiscal year 1986 to $2,230,076 in
fiscal year 1990: almost a three-fold jump. The growth in
revenue enabled the three NHES no-kill shelters to more
than double the number of animals in their care, from circa
300 to the present 800. But expenses in connection with
fundraising have claimed an increasingly large share of the
income: 39% in 1990, and as much as 52% in fiscal year
1992.

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Performing Animals

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1993:

Anti-cruelty laws in most states do apply to ani-
mals at state and county fairs, carnivals, and circus,
reminds Vermont Volunteer Services for Animals humane
officer Sue Skaskiw. If you see cruelty, including live ani-
mals being offered as prizes, report it.
Christopher Ponte, 22, of Wappingers Falls,
New York, climbed a four-foot-high plastic fence at the
Fishkill Mall in nearby Fishkill on June 6 to get into an
enclosure with 10 elephants belonging to the Clyde Beatty-
Cole Brothers Circus. He was crushed to death when one of
the elephants turned, pinning him against a truck.
At least two pig-racing concessions are on the
county fair circuit this summer––Triple W Racing Pigs, run
by Wanda, Rachel, and Gene Webber of Shelby, North
Carolina, and Bob Hale Pig Racing Stables of Sikeston,
Missouri.

Habitat

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1993:

Eighty percent of the remaining old growth
forest in the Pacific Northwest would be protected from
logging under a plan to protect endangered spotted owls
and salmon runs unveiled July 2 by President Bill Clinton
in response to rulings by Federal District Judge William
Dwyer of Seattle that have restricted logging for nearly
three years. During the halt, the logging workforce has
declined from 145,000 to 125,000. The protected zones
would run along watersheds. Loggers would be allowed
to cut about 1.2 billion board feet of old growth per year
in less sensitive areas, down from five billion board feet
in the mid-1980s. While most of the plan does not
require Congressional approval, it must be ratified by
Dwyer before any old growth logging on the land covered
by his decisions can resume. Dwyer’s decision, based on
the provisions of the Endangered Species Act, is due in
mid-July. The Clinton plan, drafted with heavy input
from Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, drew immediate
flak from House Speaker Thomas Foley, who indicated
he might cross party lines in an attempt to gut the ESA
when it comes up later this year for renewal.

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