MAY 2006
Lebanon chimp case exposes traffic
BEIRUT––“A recent botched attempt to rescue three endangered chimpanzees and a baboon who were smuggled into Lebanon has exposed a lucrative market for exotic animals, flourishing due to lax enforcement of laws on animal importation and ownership,” opened Meris Lutz in the April 19, 2006 edition of the Daily Star of Lebanon.
Lutz affirmed in much greater detail the allegations of would-be chimp rescuer Jason Mier, published in the April 2006 ANIMAL PEOPLE article “A planned chimpanzee rescue is thwarted in Lebanon.”
Mier’s claims were also affirmed by Animals Beirut.
“Any chimpanzee held here is being held illegally,” Lebanese agriculture ministry representative Fadallah Monayer told Lutz. Yet the three chimps were openly exhibited.
“Emile Hadife is said to have kept Ricardo in a cage outside a gas station in Antelias and trained the chimp to smoke cigarettes and drink coffee for spectators,” Lutz wrote. “Baba was kept in a small cage with the baboon at Mr. Steak restaurant in Sin al-Fil. Charley, the youngest of the animals, was on exhibition at Tony Asmar’s Animal City Zoo in Nahr al-Kalb.”
Mier arranged for the chimps to go to Jane Goodall Chimpanzee Eden Sanctuary in South Africa, “which sent its own delegation to facilitate the transfer,” Lutz said.
However, when the chimps were to have been confiscated, “Hadife claimed Ricardo had died the day before, Bejjani said Baba had died, and the zoo would not give up Charley and refused to say where he was,” Lutz recounted. Animals Beirut eventually was able to send the baboon to the Cefn-yr-Erw Primate Sanctuary in South Wales.
Ricardo and Baba are still “missing and presumed dead,” Lutz wrote, while Charley is still at the zoo.
Meanwhile, “A trip by The Daily Star to a Beirut pet shop confirmed that owners were openly advertising illegal snakes, monkeys, and chimpanzees they said had been smuggled into the country,” Lutz revealed. One dealer told Lutz that he had sold seven chimps, and could get another for $7,000.
Stock shows keep kids away from drugs?
DENVER––Eleven years after scandals over use of the banned growth-enhancing synthetic steroid clenbuterol embarrassed livestock shows from coast to coast, the issue is back bigtime.
Eighteen of the top 35 exhibitors at the January 2006 National Western Stock Show Junior Market Lamb competition in Denver were disqualified, National Western Stock Show spokesperson Kati Anderson announced on April 5, after Colorado State University at Fort Collins pathologists “concluded that the lambs had been injected with a substance that caused inflammation and swelling of tissue, making the animals appear more muscular,” said Denver Post staff writer Jim Kirksey. The symptoms describe the most readily evident effects of clenbuterol.
The 18 exhibitors “will get neither prize money nor the proceeds from the sale of their lambs,” and may be banned from future National Western competitions, Kirksey reported. They may also face charges of cruelty to animals, tampering with livestock, attempted theft, and conspiracy, deputy district attorney Diane Balkin told Kirksey.
Spring 2006 brings notable legislation in seven states
Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius on April 17, 2006 signed into law the state’s first felony cruelty penalty. Persons convicted of felony cruelty must serve at least 30 days in jail, pay a fine of from $500 to $5,000, must undergo a psychological evaluation, and must complete an anger management course before being released. The law also requires persons convicted a second time of misdemeanor neglect of animals to spend at least five days in jail.
Maine Governor John Baldacci on March 31, 2006 signed the first state law specifically giving judges the authority to include pets in a protective order against domestic violence. “Baldacci called it ‘unconscionable’ that 76% of victims who seek safety at domestic violence shelters report that their abusers either harmed or threatened their pets as a tool to control and intimidate them,” reported Sharon Kiley Mack of the Bangor Daily News. Anne Jordan of the Maine Animal Welfare Advisory Council cited data published by the California-based Latham Foundation showing that 87% of Wisconsin domestic violence victims reported that animal abuse occurred in their presence; 70% of animal abusers convicted in Massachusetts had previous records for violent crimes; and animal abuse occurred in 88% of the families involved in New Jersey child abuse investigations.
Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour on April 14, 2006 signed into law a bill extending the state anti-cruelty law to cats. The law previously only protected dogs. The new law also bans so-called hog/dog rodeo. Alabama Governor Bob Riley on the same day also signed a bill banning hog/dog rodeo. Both bans take effect on July 1, 2006. Louisiana banned hog/rog rodeo in 2004. The three Gulf states have been the hub of hog/dogging, in which dogs are set on captive boars.
Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal in March 2006 signed into law a bill requiring that any unvaccinated dog, cat or ferret who bites a person be euthanized immediately for rabies testing. Wyoming is among the few states that do not mandate rabies vaccination of companion animals.
Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell on April 14, 2006 signed legislation increasing the penalties for “property destruction that is designed to stop a lawful activity that involves animals, plants or natural resources,” under a variety of statutes pertaining to such offenses as arson and burglary. The new law also allows property owners to sue people convicted of such offenses for triple damages.
Virginia Governor Timothy M. Kaine in early April 2006 endorsed legislation creating a felony penalty for keepers of dogs who kill or maim people who are not committing criminal acts at the time. If a dog previously declared dangerous bites a person, the maximum penalty could be one year in jail, a $2,500 fine, or both. If the dog kills or injures another dog, or a cat, the maximum penalty could be six months in jail, a $1,000 fine, or both.
Washington Governor Christine Gregoire on March 24, 2006 signed into law a felony penalty for bestiality. The bill was prompted by the July 2, 2006 death of Kenneth Pinyan, 45, of Seattle, from a perforated colon, after alleged inducing a stallion to mount him while James Michael Tait, 54, of Enumclaw, videotaped the incident. Washington had no anti-bestiality law, and investigators concluded that they could not win a cruelty case against Tait, but Tait pleaded guilty in November 2005 to criminal trespass, receiving a one-year suspended jail sentence, a fine of $300, an order to perform eight hours of community service, and an order to have no contact with the owners of the horse. “Senator Pam Roach (R-Auburn) began drafting the bill days after hearing that the dead man had been visiting an Enumclaw-area farm in her district that was a destination for people wanting to have sex with animals,” wrote Seattle Times staff reporter Jennifer Sullivan. “Authorities said the Enumclaw farm was well-known on the Internet,” added Rachel La Corte of Associated Press.
Noteworthy ordinances
The Chicago City Council on April 25, 2006 banned the sale of foie gras, made from the distended livers of force-fed ducks and geese. Foie gras production and/or sale is already banned in Britain, Denmark, Switzerland, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Luxembourg, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Israel. The Chicago ordinance was introduced by 49th district alderman Joe Moore.
The Solano County, California board of supervisors on April 25, 2005 gave preliminary approval to a ban on hare coursing, in which hounds are set on rabbits. Banned in Britain since February 2005, hare coursing surfaced in Lagoon Valley, within Solano County, in early 2006. Seldom seen in the U.S., hare coursing somewhat resembles hog/dog rodeo; setting dogs on captive coyotes and foxes at so-called chase pens; and raccoon hunting with dogs, widely practiced but especially common in the South.
The Southampton, New York town board on March 2, 2006 banned body-gripping traps within city limits. Several other Long Island communities are reportedly considering similar ordinances.
Ukraine gets humane law at last
“In Ukraine a law on animal protection was passed,” Ellen Slusarchik of the Kharkov organization CETA-Life e-mailed to ANIMAL PEOPLE on March 27, 2006. CETA-Life had long promoted the bill. Slusarchik did not mention what was included in the final draft of the law, which had gone through many revisions.
Spain may introduce law to protect great apes
MADRID––The Socialist Workers Party of Spain, leading the ruling parliamentary coalition since 2004, on April 24 announced that it intends to introduce legislation to protect great apes.
Responding to news stories that linked the proposal to the Great Ape Project goal of extending human rights to great apes, Pamplona archbishop Fernando Sebastian reportedly called it “ridiculous,” while Amnesty International representative Delia Padron told the Indo-Asian News Service that she was “Surprised” that apes’ rights might be protected when some basic human rights still are not.
“We are not talking about granting human rights to great apes, but about protecting their habitat, avoiding ill-treatment and preventing their use in circuses,” clarified environment minister Cristina Narbona.
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