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ESSENTIAL DESTINATIONS
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NOVEMBER 2005
Human Obituaries
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Rolando Cepraga, 30, died on November 5, 2005 in Galati, Romania after seven months of inconclusively diagnosed illness . Stricken in early April, Cepraga was at first believed to have pneumonia. Tuberculo-sis was later suspected. At his death Cepraga was believed to have lung cancer. An autopsy disclosed that the illness was Borreliosis, known in the U.S. as Lyme disease. Carried by ticks common to many birds and small mammals, the Borrelia bacterial spirochete produces symptoms that notoriously elude recognition, tending to mimic other diseases. The incidence of severe cases in Romania is unknown, but about 3,500 per year occur in neighboring Bulgaria, according to World Health Organization data, of which only 55 on average are recognized and promptly treated with penicillin or tetracycline. Animal care workers are among the humans at highest risk. Cepraga and his longtime companion, Dana Costin, 27, cofounded the animal advocacy group ROLDA in 1996, and opened the first ROLDA shelter in 2001. Partnered with Romanian Animal Rescue, of Livermore, California, ROLDA now operates a sanctuary for about 40 dogs outside Galati, feeds about 250 pound dogs, has an adoption program for pound dogs, sterilizes community dogs and cats, and does classroom humane education. “A very modest person, Cepraga never wanted to be in front and take credit for his hard work,” recalled Elena Stoica of the Galati newspaper Viata Libera.
Muriel Hatheway Verizzi, 92, died on October 29, 2005 in New Hartford, Connecticut. Involved in humane work for more than 42 years, she was the longtime president of the Connecticut Animal Welfare League, begun in the mid-1970s to pursue pro-animal legislation, and was treasurer of Animal Friends of Connecticut, an adoption shelter founded a decade later.
Zhu Chunhong, 15, of Pudong, Sichuan Province, China, was twice bitten by a small stray dog she tried to help in a September 13, 2005 rainstorm. She died from rabies on October 16. “No one in her family knew about rabies,” reported the Xinua News Agency.
Beverly Parent, 50, of Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, died on October 13, 2005 from burns suffered as she tried to rescue her 59 cats from an early morning apartment fire. All of the cats were killed too. “I recently moved to the same complex, in order that we might have some mutual support for caring for sick and rescued cats,” wrote ANIMAL PEOPLE reader Roslyn Cassells. “Bev rescued animals and rehomed them. She was particularly good with feral kittens, and always placed the mums in safe settings, after spaying of course. She had an extra large suite and back yard, and special runs for recoving animals. She was crawling in and out of her suite, on fire, with burns to over 90% of her body, still trying to save her cats when rescuers arrived.”