Guest column: Stop the war on wild horses! by Anna Charlton

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

A modern-day range war is underway on the vast
prairies of Nevada. Unless there is drastic and immediate
action, the casualty of this war will be the wild horse,
whom ranchers and bureaucrats seem determined to exter-
minate.
The wild horse is an enduring symbol of the
American west. The sight of a herd of these magnificent,
proud animals thundering across the open range evokes the
image of freedom. Responding to public outrage over the
slaughter of wild horses, Congress in 1971 passed the Free
and Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Act, which calls for
the protection, management, and control of all wild horses
and burros on public land. But despite this legislative pro-
tection, wild horses are still shot, poisoned, and rustled.
The greatest threat to their survival, however, comes from
the Bureau of Land Management––the agency Congress
entrusted as their guardian. The BLM appears intent upon
“managing” wild horses out of existence, to increase the
profits of cattle and sheep ranchers.

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A fish named Alice by Margaret Hehman-Smith

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

I have an unusual animal I’d like to tell
you about: a fish named Alice who does tricks.
You don’t believe it? Everyone says that until they
see my fish for real. Then they admit they have
never seen a fish do that before; and then they
don’t know what to say or do. On the one hand
here is a koi fish who performs learned behaviors
on cue, and on the other, there is the suggestion
that we should regard fish as intelligent, sentient
beings, who don’t belong grilled on a plate.
My Japanese Imperial koi fish is sleekly
beautiful, pearl-white, 24 years old, about the
size of a small dog. She lives in a 100-gallon tank
in my den. She has been taught to ring a bell, go
through a hoop, react to hand signals, push a ball,

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Early neuter: cruel or kind?

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

Cruel! by Leslie N. Johnston, DVM

There is a trend now to establish
what are called spay/neuter clinics at all of
the city and county animal pounds and at the
various so-called humane animal shelters all
across our country. The term spay/neuter is
incorrect use of the English language. The
simple term neuter is enough.
The people running these clinics
are also ignorant about neutering dogs and
cats. The trend now is to neuter the dog or
cat before he or she leaves the facility,
regardless of age (as early as six weeks of
age). To neuter a dog or cat this early is
cruel, inhumane, deceptive, and the most
sadistic vivisection that could be done to a
poor little animal.

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LETTERS [March 1993]

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

Money and power
The feature article in your
January/February 1993 issue about the role
or non-role of minorities in the movement
was top-notch. I am proud to have worked
for seven years at the Michigan Humane
Society’s downtown Detroit facility, promi-
nently mentioned in your article as one of
the only major U.S. humane societies still
committed to serving animals and people in
an often dangerous environment where
needs are greatest. Some important facts
not noted in your article are that the MHS
has minorities on its board of directors and
in supervisory positions, and that its
Detroit-based charitable animal hospital
helps thousands of animals each year––pri-
marily at reduced cost, no cost, or with
extended payment plans. In my current

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Editorial: How do you tell Brooklyn from the Balkans––or the Berkshires?

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

The editor, the publisher, and the animal control officer were perplexed. Sipping
mugs of coffee on a recent frozen afternoon, they compared notes.
“Jogging up the road here a few minutes ago,” the editor said, “I ran into a young
guy in camoflauge, carrying a gun. It’s not hunting season. There’s nothing he could legal-
ly shoot that would be out at this time of day. Then I saw three kids coming the other direc-
tion, and every one of them had a BB gun. The only animals they could be shooting at are
animals they’re killing just because they’re alive.”
“I moved my family up here from Brooklyn,” said the animal control officer, “to
get away from an environment of poverty and stress and kids with guns. But now that I’m
here, it looks just like the Balkans.”

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Editorial: Surviving the long, cold winter

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

We knew this would be a long, cold, difficult winter. Here at the confluence of
the Berkshires, the Adirondacks, and the Green Mountains, winters are always long and
always cold. Bears stay in their dens. Deer and rabbits nibble bark. Coyotes prowl farther,
venturing into daylight to drag away half-frozen roadkills. Even the crows look lean,
reserving their caws for real occasions. Though free to come and go through a special kitty
door, the feral cats we’ve rescued huddle close to the basement heater. Several have even
moved into the house, sleeping with humans for apparently the first time.
Despite the length of the winter here, in the shadows of tall mountains that make
days short even in midsummer, despite the bitter Arctic blasts that turn our little hollow
into a wind tunnel, snapping off trees and driving our dogs inside within minutes no matter
how much they crave exercise, we felt six weeks ago as if spring was just around the cor-
ner. ANIMAL PEOPLE, we thought, was in great shape for such a young and risky ven-
ture. As indeed it is. Starting with only our own good names as collateral, we’ve built up a
respectable international circulation; distinguished ourselves for prompt, thorough, broad-
ranging coverage; become the periodical of record in the animal protection field.

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When a horse needs help

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – –
Held the weekend of February 6-7, the First
International Conference on Equine Rescue
could have run days longer, in Rich Meyer’s
estimation. As horse expert for the
American Humane Association, Meyer
knows horse rescue ranks among most shel-
ter directors’ and animal control officers’
worst nightmares. First, there’s the sheer
size and strength of the animal to contend
with. Second, where there’s one starving or
abused horse, there are usually several.
Third, shelters set up to handle dogs and
cats usually don’t have facilities for live-
stock: big trailers, paddocks, pastures.
Their regular veterinarians tend to be small
animal specialists. And their budgets aren’t
easily stretched to accommodate the special
needs and appetites of equines.

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Reprieve for Alaskan wolves, But the Yukon opens fire; Tourist boycott of Yukon, British Columbia, and Alberta underway

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

WHITEHORSE, Yukon, Canada –– Dispatched in near-secrecy circa
February 5 by the Yukon territorial government, a helicopter attack team will have killed
150 of the estimated 200 wolves in the Aishihik Lake region, and be heading home again
as ANIMAL PEOPLEgoes to press.
The scheduled 20-day mission was undertaken in direct defiance of international
appeals and threats of a tourism boycott. Protests held at various points in Canada and the
U.S. on February 8 were ignored by Yukon minister of renewable resources Bill Brewster.

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Cutting euthanasia rates and choking puppy mills: THE CONTROVERSIAL CASE FOR THE NORTH SHORE ANIMAL LEAGUE’S UNCONVENTIONAL METHODS

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1993:

PORT WASHINGTON, New York ––
According to the most recent tax records available from
New York state and the Internal Revenue Service, the
North Shore Animal League in 1991 contributed more than
$3.5 million toward the cost of neutering more than 220,000
cats and dogs; donated $2.4 million to 21 other animal shel-
ters and two veterinary schools; adopted out more than
43,000 animals; issued more than 41,000 free 30-day health
insurance policies to guarantee the well-being of animals
adopted out; vaccinated more than 41,000 animals; treated
more than 17,000 animals at an in-house veterinary clinic
(open 16 hours a day, seven days a week); and made
71,000 post-adoption contacts to insure that the animals
were neutered, well cared for, and well-adjusted in their
adoptive homes.

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