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ESSENTIAL DESTINATIONS

MONTH: July-August 2007

Obituaries

 

Dietrich von Haugwitz, 79, died on June 26, 2007 at his home in Durham, North Carolina. Von Haugwitz, credited by Peter Muller of Wildlife Watch as "the originator of computer-based animal rights e-mail lists," was "born into a German aristocratic family in Silesia," Muller wrote, "a region that became part of Poland after the shift of borders at the end of World War II." Drafted into the Germany army at age 17, near the end of World War II, von Haugwitz "saw little action, but once almost got killed" by a British air attack, recalled Muller. Post-war, von Haugwitz studied music. A church in Minnesota sponsored his emigration to the U.S. in 1956. Moving to Hollywood, Calif-ornia, in 1957, he worked as a pianist, gave piano lessons, and met his wife Eva while acting in a German theater. They married in 1960. Turning from piano-playing to computer programming, they relocated to North Carolina in 1971. Witnessing a bullfight in Mexico and attending a lecture by The Case for Animal Rights author Tom Regan led von Haugwitz to join the North Carolina Network for Animals in 1983, and to found a Durham chapter, which he headed for about seven years. Recalled von Haugwitz to Eternal Trebinka author Charles Patterson, "I have always been upset about so many Germans I knew who, at the end of the war, said, in effect, 'But we had no idea! We really didn't know anything about Auschwitz and what happened to the Jews.'" Von Haugwitz paralleled their denial to the denial that allows people to eat meat. His last campaign was against dog-chaining, and included winning custody of Bessie, a neglected dog who had lived her whole life on a six-foot chain until von Haughwitz adopted her. Eva von Haugwitz died in 2003. Von Haugwitz is survived by their daughter Joanne Erznoznik, of North Carolina. As she works for much of the year abroad, In Defense of Animals was at the ANIMAL PEOPLE deadline trying to help her find a new home for Bessie.

Viji, 54, founder of the Parasparam orphanage and shelter in Chennai, died of cardiac arrest on July 26, 2007. At her death the shelter housed 24 girls, 36 cats, and 11 dogs. "An ardent devotee of Saint Sai Baba of Shirdi, she passed on on Baba's Day," noted Cattitude Trust managing trustee Devika Khazvini.

Colleen McCrory, 57, died from brain cancer on July 1, 2007 in New Denver, British Columbia. McCrory founded the Valhalla Wilderness Society in 1975, coordinated the B.C. Environmental Network from 1989 to 1990, founded Canada's Future Forest Alliance in 1991, and ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the British Columbia legislature in 2001, representing the Green Party. "I knew Colleen for more than three decades. Colleen was a longtime supporter of Sea Shepherd and a good friend," recalled Sea Shepherd Conservation Society founder Paul Watson.

Bernard Epps, 71, died on July 4, 2007 in Kingston, Ontario. Born in Whitstable, Kent, England, Epps arrived in the U.S. with his family in 1950, and spent his teens living on the Ohio farm where his father was a hired hand. Attending the School of Visual Arts in New York City, "He was greatly influenced by Jack Kerouac, the Beat poets, jazz music, and Eastern philosophies," recalled daughter Jennifer Epps. Emigrating to Quebec in 1966, a year after marrying Susan Prospers, Epps authored and edited seven books on historical subjects, cofounded the Townships Sun newspaper, and was a prolific historical feature writer and humor columnist for the Sherbrooke Record. At both the Sun and the Record, Epps frequently wove pro-animal themes into his subjects, addressing vivisection, pound seizure, factory farming, kangaroo hunting in Australia, grizzly bear hunting, turkey hunting, and the confinement of animals in zoos. Epps also encouraged his daughter to found the first animal rights organization at Alexander Galt Regional High School, the only English-language high school in the eastern half of Quebec. Epps at both the Sun and the Record encouraged ANIMAL PEOPLE editor Merritt Clifton, then a feature writer for the Sun and farm-and-business reporter for the Record, to pursue animal-related subjects, introduced Clifton to many sources who are now frequent sources for ANIMAL PEOPLE, and defended Clifton from influential critics who "accused you of journalism."

Neil Lea, 49, died on July 10, 2007 in Shropshire, England, from complications of spina bifida. "In the ear;y 1990s Neil founded the Animal Rights Coalition to bring together grassroots activists from around the U.K.," remembered Captive Animals Protection Society campaigns manager Craig Redmond. "In more recent years Neil, with his wife Mary and son Seamus, sparked the revolution of vegan free food fairs, extremely successful at promoting a cruelty-free diet. As he became less able to physically get around, Neil used the Internet to spread the vegan message. His pioneering Vegan Buddies scheme, <www.veganbuddies.org.uk/>, paired those wanting to go vegan but unsure about nutrition, vegan foods etc, with experienced vegans, and won the Vegan Society's 'best campaign' award. Other websites he founded include <www.isitvegan.info/> and <www.realfood.org.uk/>. Neil was so passionate about promoting veganism to save animals' lives and promote good health that he was even converting patients and doctors during his many hospital stays."

Norm Maleng, 68, died on May 24, 2007. "In 1994, after a donkey named Pasado was brutally tortured and killed by teenage thugs," recalled longtime Seattle area activist Lisa Wathne, Maleng in his capacity as King County prosecutor "joined the push to strengthen the state's outdated anti-cruelty to animals laws. He recognized the horrific nature of these kinds of incidents and that such acts should be viewed as a red flag-that people who commit such acts are likely to commit such cruelty and crimes against humans."

Kelsey Smith, 18, an animal advocate who planned to become a veterinarian, was on June 6, 2007 found dead near Grandview, Missouri, two days after a video camera captured her abduction from a parking lot. Edwin R. Hall, 26, a stranger to her, is charged with her kidnapping and murder.

Laurence Mancuso, 72, founding abbot of the Monks of New Skete, died on June 10, 2007 in Framingham, Massachusetts from complications of injuries suffered in a fall. With Brother Stavros Winner and four other monks, Mancuso in 1966 turned a small farm near Cambridge, New York, into the New Skete monastery. Originally affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church, the monastery later joined the Orthodox Church in America. Their first business was selling smoked meat by mail order, but in 1969 they began breeding and training German shepherds. Emphasizing constant human contact and kind treatment, their how-to volumes, How To Be Your Dog's Best Friend (1978) and The Art of Raising A Puppy (1991), are in their 40th and 26th printings, respectively. Retiring from New Skete in 2000, Mancuso lived his last years in Natick, Massachusetts.

Bobby Dean Evans, 47, animal control officer in Bellmead, Texas, since 2000, was on June 18, 2007 fatally shot by an unknown assailant at the city animal shelter. The only witnesses were two impounded dogs and another he had just picked up. The Texas Animal Control Association has posted a reward of $20,000 for information leading to the conviction of the killer. "He volunteered at Fuzzy Friends Animal Rescue in Waco on the weekends. And he would stop by the La Vega Veterinary Clinic during his lunch breaks - just in case they needed an extra hand," remembered Waco Tribune-Herald staff writers Erin Quinn and Kathleen Thurber.

Bette Overell, who founded the New Zealand Anti-Vivisection Society in 1978 and served as president of it until 1993, died on August 11, 2007. Widely known for leading marches through Wellington on World Day for Laboratory Animals, Overell petitioned the New Zealand parliament seeking abolition of the LD-50 toxicity test in 1984, and seeking to ban all animal testing in 1989. After the New Zealand Ministry of Agriculture distributed a book called Animal Research Saves Lives in 1990, Overell authored a rebuttal titled Animal Research Takes Lives: Humans & Animals Both Suffer.

Mark Eisner, 79, of Annapolis, died on May 10, 2007 in Washington, D.C., of complications from heart surgery. A World War II Navy veteran, Eisner later worked four years for the Central Intelligence Agency, and for 18 years owned two car dealerships. In 1970 Eisner opened The Gallery of Animal Art in Old Town, Alexandria, Virginia. He relocated it to Annapolis a few years later, and closed it in 1993 due to health problems. He served on the SPCA of Anne Arundel County board of directors, founded a fund for veterinary care for animals of the indigent, and contributed to many animal charities.