Fur

October 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1992:

* Fur Free Friday will be November 27

this year—the day after Thanksgiving, the

traditional start of the peak fur sales season.

Friends of Animals and Animal Rights

Mobilization are coordinating events in

numerous locations. Get details from FoA at

212-247-8120, and from ARM at 303-388-

7120.

* The Committee of Jews for

Compassion is taking out a series of full-page

ads in Jewish newspapers to publicize Tel

Aviv chief Sephardic rabbi Haim David

Halevi’s recent ruling that Jewish law forbids

manufacturing or wearing fur because it for-

bids causing pain to animals. Write CJC c/o

CHAI, P.O. Box 3341, Alexandria, VA

22302.

Zoos & Aquariums

October 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1992:

Two of the four beluga whales caught in

August for the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago died

September 22, apparently as result of overdoses of

roundworm medication. The capture of the whales was

fought every step of the way by marine mammal protec-

tion groups, including Lifeforce and the International

Wildlife Coalition.

The National Zoo in Washington D.C. is test-

ing a deer contraceptive this fall on 30 does. “We’re try-

ing to develop a technology for the humane population

control of deer where hunting is not wise, legal, or

safe,” said Montana wildlife fertility researcher Jay

Kirkpatrick, who developed the contraceptive.

CRIME & PUNISHMENT

October 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1992:

Crimes Against Humans

* The FBI and local police are seeking a

serial killer who is believed responsible for

shooting a bowhunter, a deer hunter, two

fishermen, and a jogger since 1989 in rural

eastern Ohio. An anonymous letter to a local

newspaper from the purported killer indicates

he himself is a hunter; he demonstrates a

hunter’s knowledge of firearms. The man

boasted that these are not his only murders.

* Imperial Food Products owner Emmett

Roe pleaded guilty Sept. 14 to 25 counts of

manslaughter in connection with a Sept. 3,

1991 blaze at the company’s chicken process-

ing plant in Hamlet, North Carolina. Similar

charges against Roe’s son and another plant

official were dropped as part of a plea bar-

gain. Roe was setenced to 20 years in prison

for locking exits and neglecting fire precau-

tions. Roe was earlier fined $808,150 for fire

code violations, and still faces 19 civil suits

from bereaved survivors.

Cat Project Update

October 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1992:

Our feral cat rescue project in northern

Fairfield County, Connecticut, concluded on

July 12 after handling 320 cats in seven

months. All the cats were vaccinated against

rabies; all who were old enough were spayed

or neutered. Two hundred thirty seven cats

were returned to their original caretakers.

Thirty-nine cats, who were either kittens

when picked up or were apparent abandoned

pets, were adopted out. Another six cats in

this category were adopted by volunteers who

helped run the program.

DOGS & CATS

October 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1992:

* Wildlife officer Ric Nattrass of the Queensland (Australia) National Parks

and Wildlife Service has concluded that, “Based on data collected by wildlife staff

at the Moggill Centre (in Brisbane), there is no evidence to date that the domestic

cat is a major threat to the long term survival of the city’s native fauna. From a

purely conservation point of view, neither the numbers nor the species taken by cats

are cause for alarm when compared with the losses to urbanization, industrializa-

tion, motor traffic, and the creation of the horse paddock.” Nattrass’ report is

based on the experience of a single metropolitan area, as critics are quick to note,

and flies in the face of conventional belief; but it is worth pointing out that the only

other major study of domestic cat predation to date, by John Lawton and Peter

Churcher, was also based on the experience of a single location, a village in thesub-

urbs of London, England, and also concluded that while cats kill significant num-

bers of animals, the overwhelming majority are common mice, voles, and birds

(principally sparrows).

Diet & Health

October 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1992:

* The USDA school lunch subsidy pro-

gram is functioning as a dump for choles-

terol-laden meat and dairy products, the con-

sumer group Public Voice for Food and

Health Policy charged September 16.

Approximately 20% of each of the 4.1 billion

school lunches served in 1991 consisted of

free food supplied by the USDA—but cheese

and butter made up a third of the $10.2 billion

total, almost all of the potatoes had fat added,

and only 3.4% of the fruit and vegetables

were fresh. The Public Voice report was

endorsed by American School Food Service

Association spokesman Kevin Dando, who

agreed, “There’s entirely too much butter

available, and schools would like to have

more fresh fruits and vegetables.” From 1979

through 1991, the USDA spent $7.2 billion to

supply schools with meat and dairy products,

but spent just $2 billion on fruits, vegetables,

and grains.

Animal Health

October 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1992:

* Over a year and a half after the mid-

Atlantic raccoon rabies pandemic hit south-

eastern Connecticut and was expected to

spread throughout New England, confirmed

outbreaks have yet to hit Massachusetts,

Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire. All

four states have had only the usual handful of

rabies cases, mostly involving bats and foxes.

Bat rabies has been endemic in parts of New

England for decades, while outbreaks of fox

rabies have been sporadic along the Canadian

border at least since the 1950s. While some

rabid raccoons have been found in northern

New England during the past year, they are

not known to have carried the mid-Atlantic

strain of the disease, and there is no evidence

that the forms they appeared to have are wide-

ly distributed in the raccoon population.

Agriculture

October 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1992:

October 2 was the 10th anniver-

sary of World Farm Animals Day, declared

in 1983 by the Farm Animal Reform

Movement to coincide with Gandhi’s birthday

and World Vegetarian Day. Major commemo-

rations were scheduled in New York, the

Washington D.C. metropolitan area, Iowa,

Florida, California, and Hawaii.

The contribution of cattle to global

warming has significantly increased over the

past three years, along with the world cattle

population, International Union of Air

Pollution Prevention Associations director

general John Langston warned the 800-mem-

ber group in early September.

Horse notes…

October 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1992:

Horse racing, banned for nearly

60 years, may be revived in China.

Racing dates have recently been held in

Canton, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Beijing,

drawing crowds of up to 3,000. Parimutual

betting is not yet legal, but is likely to be

legalized in the near future. Since gambling

is historically as popular in China as baseball

in the U.S., this may become the impetus to

make racing take off..

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