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MONTH: January/February 2008

Letters to the Editor

Re "Greenpeace says 'Eat roos'"

Saw your most interesting article "Greenpeace says 'Eat roos'" in the October 2007 edition of your fabulous Animal People newspaper.

However, the film made by Greenpeace in 1986 against killing kangaroos was actually called Goodbye Joey, not "Goodbye to Joey," as Paul Watson recalled.

I was involved in making the film in West Queensland, as I was then employed as a kangaroo campaigner. I resigned in 1992, after Greenpeace dumped their roo campaign and several other pro-animal campaigns. Their recent promotion of roo meat for human consumption is a disgrace. I could not agree with Watson more in denouncing it.

I met Jet Johnson during the film making, and completely understand and support his view on the kangaroo issue. Greenpeace does not want to say "Don't eat any red meat--this would be vitally important to lowering greenhouse gasses." One can only ask why not.

--Lindy Stacker
World League for the Protection of Animals
P.O. Box 211
Gladesville 2111
Sydney, Australia Phone: 98-174892 Fax: 98-174509
admin@wlpa.org

Wussie dog died

Remember Wussie, Perry, and Polly, the three dogs who were subjected to brutal and senseless surgery, as described in your July/August 2007 page one article "Pound seizure shocks Sri Lanka"? Wussie died the night of December 8, 2007. Wussie had her pancreas removed for no apparent purpose and her bile duct was damaged. For over six months Wussie suffered from diabetes and jaundice, and was dependent on expensive medication. Polly, who was wagging her tail when she was taken for pointless surgery, died in agony after having her adrenal glands and kidneys removed. Perry was used as the control in the procedures. No organs were removed from her. She is with us at our shelter. University of Peradeniya. The SLVC, we understand has concluded their inquiry, and has submitted their report to the Council. We are yet to hear from the University of Peradeniya.

-Champa Fernando
KACPAW
191 Trinco Street
Kandy, Sri Lanka
nihalas@slt.lk

Hunting & child abuse connection

I participate in a local birding e-mail list. Hunting is considered off-topic, but lately a lot of pro-hunting comments have been slipping in. After one individual asserted that protecting children is more important than protecting animals, I quoted some of the ANIMAL PEOPLE findings and statistics from your October 2007 article on the relationship between hunting and child abuse.

I expected an immediate firestorm and for my computer to burst into flames, but it did not happen. Instead there was deafening silence, and for a long period of time there were no postings on any topic. I think people had never considered the possibility of such a relationship, and did not know how to respond.

A few defensive rebuttals did eventually show up, but not to the degree that I expected. Also, I received two personal inquiries asking for more information.

--Diane Weinstein
Issaquah, Washington

Remembering Tatyana Pavlova

We were saddened to read in your November/December 2007 edition that Tatyana Pavlova has passed away. We were fortunate to meet with her on two occasions.

The first was at a Beauty Without Cruelty meeting in New York City in the early1990s. The second time, in February 1999, we met her at a train station in Moscow, Russia.

Despite the freezing temperature we talked for over one hour, exchanged vegetarian books, and shared ideas. She was an incredible woman, promoting both animal rights and vegetarianism in a city where almost everyone wears fur coats and eats meat.

She will be truly missed..

--Debra Wasserman & Charles Stahler
Co-Directors
Vegetarian Resource Group
P.O. Box 1463
Baltimore, MD 21203
Phone: 410-366-8343
vrg@vrg.org
www.vrg.org

Inspecting all Louisiana shelters

We are launching an ambitious project to finally identify all the public and private animal sheltering facilities in Louisiana.

With the help of our members and volunteers in the coming months, we will visit, inspect, and photograph each shelter, and display the images on our website. We will also target those facilities that are substandard or mismanaged. No such inventory has ever existed. We estimate that more than 100 shelters are in operation.

There are no licensing requirements to operate a public shelter, and there is little or no oversight. Many shelters, especially in rural areas, consist of a single row of rusty cages.

Often, animals housed in these dilapidated shelters are exposed to inclement conditions and disease, are given poor quality food, and sometimes are attacked by more aggressive dogs. We suspect that some of these shelters use illegal carbon monoxide chambers to gas dogs and cats.

After inspecting each shelter, we will forward our recommendations to the governing bodies and see if the conditions improve. If the conditions do not improve, we will ask activists from around the country to help us reform these substandard shelters..

-- Jeff Dorson, Founder
Humane Society of Louisiana
P.O. Box 740321
New Orleans, LA 70174
Phone: 901-268-4432
info@humanela.org

Visiting porcupine

A porcupine showed up the other day, and has taken to hanging around. He seems to be a nice guy, but we are concerned that if we feed him and provide some shelter, he could become a hazard to the dogs of guests or subtenants, and possibly to our cats, if they escape from the house. What do you think?

--Walter Miale Sutton, Quebec

Editor's Note

Porcupines, most often seen in late winter and spring, can be quite gregarious. Just don't surprise them from behind, and if they turn around, as with a skunk, get away. They don't need and should not be given food and shelter. They are much better off feeding themselves. They usually eat fresh bark in winter, and sleep high in conifer trees.

Dogs sometimes get spiked with quills when they try to sniff a porcupine's rear. Porcupines and cats usually get along well.

Immigrant parrots

I have enjoyed your coverage of parrots who have taken up residence in the U.S. I would like to see these feral flocks of parrots studied and reported about in their local settings, and be welcomed as immigrants. I also know that the National Audubon Society is not ready to see them that way.

--Suzanne Cordrey
Manager, Feathered Friends
Best Friends Animal Society
5001 Angel Canyon Dr. Kanab, UT 84741
Phone: 435-644-2001 x4461
suzanne@bestfriends.org www.bestfriends.org

Seeking to save Asian otters from fur trade

Could you please mention our otter fur campaign?

The campaign is called "Furget-me-not," as the otter is the forgotten animal of the fur trade. Everyone always thinks about tigers and leopards or elephant ivory, but the trade in otter furs is huge.

Recently there was a massive haul of 778 otter skins in Tibet, and we are regularly getting reports of more and more skins found.

Two days ago we received an e-mail from Cambodia which said that a research team at the Tonle Sap Lake had just found 10 skins of smooth-coated otters and 6 skins of hairy-nosed otters in four different village houses.

And this is just one find in one small area. Many of the skins being traded are from the hairy-nosed otter, which was believed to be extinct in 1998. Small populations were later found in Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia.

At the present rate of hunting, the hairy nosed otter will soon really be extinct, and this time there will be no great discovery of remnant populations.

The main market for Southeast Asian otter furs is Tibet, where otter fur forms part of the national dress, the chupa. One chupa may have skins from as many as six otters. These costumes are worn at many festivals and official state functions.

The Furget-me-not campaign will raise funds to start immediate work in Cambodia, using a team of researchers already working there. They will train local rangers and government staff to ensure the legal protection of otters is enforced and encourage the local communities to take part in the otter conservation program.

--Paul Yoxon, Ph.D.
International Otter Survival Fund
Broadford, Isle of Skye IV499DE
United Kingdom
Phone: 01471-0822-487
yoxon@otter.org
www.otter.org

Editor's note:

The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, in January 2006 denounced wearing fur of any kind at the Kalachakra celebration in Amravati, Andhra Pradesh, India. Tibetans responded by burning fur garments at public demonstrations, but the Chinese government in March 2006 suppressed the bonfires as alleged illegal manifestations of Tibetan nationalism.

KATC helping dogs

The Kathmandu Animal Treatment Centre focuses on animal birth control for street dogs. Since our opening in 2004 we have so successfully demonstrated to the people in our working area of Kathmandu that Animal Birth Control is the way to handle the population that in our locality poisoning is a thing of the past.

Kathmandu is a large city now, so this does not mean that poisoning is not still done in the other areas. But awareness is growing, and we are being requested to expand our project to other areas.

KAT has just recently received two copies of ANIMAL PEOPLE. Thank you so very much. We look forward to sitting down and having a good read. Your newspaper is without a doubt the best all-round informative periodical we receive on animal issues.

--Jan Salter
Kathmandu Animal Treatment Centre
Chapali Gaon, Budanilkantha
GPO Box 8975, EPC 4120
Kathmandu, Nepal
Phone: 977-1-4373169
jsalter@mail.com.np
www.katcentre.org.np

Presidential hopefuls

I want to thank you for listing the various presidential hopefuls' views on hunting, trapping, and violating the very essence of the purpose for which the National Wildlife Refuges were established.

National Wildlife Refuges would never have been necessary if the stinking greenhorns and the majority of their profligate descendants who came to this country to rape its resources, and look upon our indigenous wildlife as the enemy, to trap, shoot, and slaughter in every way possible, were curbed and controlled by a federal government that had someone of vision and ethics prevailing.

I was not born when the beautiful passenger pigeons were ruthlessly exterminated and used for target practice, and some of the millions killed were fed to hogs. What a shame and blot on our country!

Ditto for the pretty Carolina parakeet, the only parakeet to live in North America.

--Marvin J. Sheffield, DVM
Wild Canid Research Group
651 Sinex Avenue
Pacific Grove, CA 93950
Phone: 831-657-4175

Helping animals in Pakistan

I live in Karachi, Pakistan. On December 28, 2007, my mother's black male cat went missing from her house where he occasionally roamed the garden and front area.

We have a local slum near our house where children are known to steal and sell cats at a large market called the Empress Market, located at the city center. As there was great rioting in the city in those days, we knew that the culprits could not have gone far.We looked high and low for the cat, offering rewards and passing the word around.

I went to Empress Market in the hope that I would find this cat. I was truly disturbed and appalled to see numerous tiny shops equipped with hideous little cages consisting of only bars with no trays underneath, imprisoning cats, dogs, geese, rabbits, and birds of all kinds.

As it happened I was there on a chilly and rainy morning. This made the situation even more torturous for these animals. I saw an adult Persian and an adult Siamese, both restricted in a cage no bigger than 18 inches cubed.

I am sure that all these animals are stolen pets as these heartless shopkeepers do not have import licenses or the means to raise or breed these animals. The cats were miserable and lonely. Some shops had closed down due to the rain with their shutters down. These creatures are left there in the dark every night, unprotected from the harsh conditions. I felt absolutely helpless to assist all these blameless creatures. Even if I could buy all of them to release them, I would only be encouraging this trade, leading to more animal theft and cruelty.

There are no laws protecting animal rights in this country, as far as I know, so apart from theft these shopkeepers would not be guilty of breaking any law. There has to be some way of protecting these animals and preventing this trade.

In addition to this there are street vendors who trap ordinary sparrows and carry them around in nets, because an ancient tradition holds that giving money to a bird vendor to set birds free will ward off ill-fortune and attain the favour of God. This practice is common in India as well. In some other nations, turtles are often bought and released. Though this practice is based on good intentions, in modern times it amounts to kidnapping animals for ransom.

We also have men walking around with monkeys taken as babies from the northern areas and trained to perform tricks for food and money. When I was a child these men used to come around to our house and show us this "bundar Ka tamasha," as it is called. But now they are walking around in heavy traffic and coming to cars standing at signal, using these animals as emotional blackmail so that people give them money.

I believe all these so called monkey trainers live in one slum area together and are poverty-stricken. Poverty leads to these kinds of activities. However, poverty cannot be accepted as an excuse for cruelty to animals any more than it can be accepted as an excuse for theft and murder. No one is too poor to feel compassion. How can one best get this message across to those who also feel that human life has no value?

We see much cruelty to animals in Karachi. Dogs, donkeys, and garden lizards are also among the victims. There is a story that when Mohammad was hiding from his enemies in a cave, a spider built a web around the cave opening, so the enemies' tracker went away, thinking no one could have entered without breaking the web. But earlier, a lizard sitting on a stone nearby had nodded his head to indicate this was the right place. So stupid people will say that one should kill lizards, because lizards are always nodding their heads!

On the positive side, because my domestic help and others around us see me and my family and my husband--another animal lover--rescuing and helping feral cats, they have learnt to assist us enthusiastically, and have learned the value of doing this.

--Muna Kazi Pathan
Karachi, Pakistan
munakazipathan@gmail.com

Track presidential candidates

I saw the piece on the presidential candidates in the November/December 2007 edition of ANIMAL PEOPLE, and wanted to let you know that I've started a new blog called "Animals & Politics" about where the candidates stand on animal issues. It's online at www.michaelmarkarian.org.

--Michael Markarian, President
Humane Society Legislative Fund
519 C Street NE
Washington, DC 20002
Phone: 202-676-2304
mmarkarian@hsus.org
www.hslf.org

West Africa veggies

The West Africa Vegetarian Congress in Lagos, Nigeria drew participants from all over West Africa and beyond. Many of the participants said that the highlight of the Congress was feeding vegan food to people at a village set up to aid destitute children, lepers, the disabled, and the elderly.

I wish to thank the Inter-national Veterinary Union Council for supporting the Congress, all of the IVU-Africa members who participated, and all the other individuals and groups who took part.

--Emmanuel Eyoh
Nigeria Vegetarian Society
george@vegetarian-society.org
www.ivu.org/africa/nigeria

Home 4 the Holidays

2,762 animal shelters and rescue groups in 15 nations found new families for 491,612 orphaned dogs, cats, and other pets during the just-concluded 9th annual Iams Home 4 The Holidays pet adoption drive. This breaks the record of 378,764 set in 2006. Home 4 the Holidays began in 1999 when the Helen Woodward Animal Center organized 14 local shelters to work together. This year 33 organizations participated in San Diego County.

--John Van Zante
Public Relations Manager
Helen Woodward Animal Center
P.O. Box 64
Rancho Santa Fe CA 92067
858-756-4117 x335
JohnV@animalcenter.org
www.animalcenter.org

Manhattan memoir

Your excellent newspaper is really unique. It makes me very sad that I cannot continue to help animals with contributions.

For 13 years I stood on the street in Manhattan with literature about the suffering and abuse of innocent helpless animals. I believe in publicity.

As I am 81 years old and not well, I now only pass on literature. I will pass on ANIMAL PEOPLE to animal lovers.

I was a dog walker, which was my favorite job, for 10 years. From 1963, when I came to New York, I got up at 6:00 a.m. and walked in Central Park until 8 a.m. After work, we walked in Central Park for another hour.

--Edith Valborg Schwarz
New York City, New Yorky.