ANIMAL PEOPLE is the leading independent newspaper providing original investigative coverage of animal protection worldwide. Founded in 1992, ANIMAL PEOPLE has no alignment or affiliation with any other entity.

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The Watchdog monitors fundraising, spending, and political activity in the name of animal and habitat protection—both pro and con. His empty bowl stands for all the bowls left empty when some take more than they need.

March 2008

U.S. Supreme Court upholds breed-specific legislation

WASHINGTON D.C.--The U.S. Supreme Court on February 19, 2008 upheld the constitutionality of breed-specific dog regulation by refusing to hear an appeal of Toledo vs. Tellings, a challenge to the Toledo ordinance limiting possession of pit bull terriers to one per person, and requiring that pit bulls be muzzled when off their home property.

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled in favor of Toledo in August 2007. The Ohio Supreme Court verdict followed other court decisions upholding breed-specific legislation in Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, New Mexico, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin.

The Ohio Supreme Court rejected plaintiff Paul Tellings' claim that he was denied due legal process because Tellings was notified about the requirements of the Toledo bylaw, and did receive the chance to be heard when he contested the charges brought against him for violating the bylaw.

The Ohio Supreme Court found that Toledo has legitimate reason to try to protect humans from attacks by pit bulls, because pit bulls, compared to other breeds, "cause a disproportionate amount of danger to people."

The Arkansas Supreme Court upheld breed-specific legislation on similar grounds in Holt vs. Mamuelle (1991). An entity called Responsible Owners of Arkansas Dogs in December 2007 filed a case against the pit bull ordinances in effect in the cities of Jacksonville, Lonoke, North Little Rock and Beebe, citing claims parallel to those of Tellings' attempt to overturn the Toledo ordinance.

Pit bulls were banned in Aurora, Colorado in November 2005, after the Colorado Supreme Court overturned an act of the state legislature that prohibited cities from passing breed-specific bylaws. The Colorado verdict reinstated a 20-year-old Denver ordinance, after a 13-month suspension, and encouraged other cities to emulate the Denver ordinance.

A summary of the results of the Aurora pit bull ban, presented to the city council in January 2008, found that alleged violations dropped from 238 in 2006 to 137 in 2007; impoundments of pit bulls fell from 758 to 269; and the number of pit bulls killed by animal control fell from 635 to 173.

Chimp Haven ordered to return chimps to Primarily Primates

SAN ANTONIO--Bexar County Judge Michael Peden on February 15, 2008 ordered Chimp Haven, of Keithville, Lousiana, to return to Primarily Primates seven chimpanzees who were transferred to Chimp Haven in November 2006, while Primarily Primates was temporarily in court-appointed receivership.

The chimps are the survivors of a colony of nine formerly kept by Ohio State University researcher Sally Boysen, who were retired by OSU to Primarily Primates in February 2006, with an endowment for their housing and upkeep. Boysen and PETA opposed the arrangement.

Two chimps died from pre-existing heart conditions soon after arrival at Primarily Primates. PETA subsequently funded an unsuccessful lawsuit that sought to move the survivors to Chimp Haven, and forwarded allegations from two former Primarily Primates employees--both fired for cause--to the Texas Office of Attorney General, leading to the court-appointed receivership.

The receivership temporarily blocked a merger of Primarily Primates with Friends of Animals. The Texas Office of Attorney General dropped the case and ended the receivership on May 1, 2007, allowing Friends of Animals to assume the management of Primarily Primates.

A PETA appeal was rejected in January 2008.

Pet food contamination

Hartz Mountain Inc. on February 11, 2008 named American SPCA Poison Control Center director Steven R. Hansen "2007 Veterinarian of the Year" for his response to the March 2007 international recall of pet food that was contaminated with the coal byproduct melamine by the Chinese makers of wheat glutens used as an ingredient. Adding melamine produced a chemical reaction that caused tests to indicate that the glutens contained more protein than they did--and killed 1,950 cats and 2,200 dogs, according to complaints reaching the U.S. Food & Drug Administration.

The U.S. attorney's office in Kansas City on February 6, 2008 issued 52 felony indictments in the case against Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co., of Jiangsu Province, China, and Suzhou Textiles, Silk, Light Industrial Products Arts & Crafts I/E Co., of Suzhou, China, for introducing adulterated and misbranded food into interstate commerce. ChemNutra Inc. of Las Vegas and ChemNutra owners Sally Quing Miller and Stephen S. Miller were hit with misdemeanor versions of the charges, plus a felony count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Judges overturn Bush sonar waiver

LOS ANGELES, HONOLULU--U.S. President George W. Bush on January 15, 2008 exempted the U.S. Navy from a preliminary injunction creating a 12-nautical-mile no-sonar off Southern California, meant to protect marine mammals, but the Navy is not "exempted from compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act," U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper ruled on February 4 in Los Angeles.

Three days later, on February 7, U.S. Magistrate Elizabeth Laporte of San Francisco found that the Navy failed to take adequate precautions to protect marine mammals before using low-frequency sonar in submarine detection exercises. Laporte directed the Navy to establish sonar-free zones around eight locations worldwide that attract sound-sensitive species. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals then ruled on February 29 in Los Angeles that the Navy must observe Cooper's February 4 ruling.

People & projects

Prince Charles of Britain "has shown his distaste for the cruelty involved in making foie gras by banning it from his residences," reported Valerie Elliot of the London Times on February 28, 2008. "He instructed chefs several months ago that they were no longer to buy or serve the pâté," wrote Elliot. "He has also said that he will review the royal warrant given to a shop near his Highgrove home which sells it.

His views," surprising in view of Prince Charles' lifelong participation in captive bird shooting and fox hunting, "were disclosed in a letter to Joyce Moss, an activist with Vegetarian International Voice for Animals," Elliot said.

The Royal SPCA of Great Britain on February 20, 2008 named as new chief executive 28-year RSPCA employee Mark Watts. Watts succeeds Jackie Ballard, a former Member of Parliament who servcd five years before leaving in mid-2007 to head the Royal National Institute for the Deaf. Ballard succeeded Peter Davies, who became director general of the World Society for the Protection of Animals.

Bob Barker, 84, who retired in 2007 after 50 years hosting TV game shows including The Price Is Right, on February 6, 2008 donated $1 million to his alma mater, Drury University, to fund an animal ethics program. Barker has also funded pro-animal programs at Harvard, Columbia, Northwestern, Duke, Stanford, Georgetown, and UCLA.

Mauled tiger rescuer gets a job offer

KOLKATA--The Compassionate Crusaders Trust has offered a job to Ashutosh Dhali, 45, of Deulbari, West Bengal, who was severely mauled on February 18, 2008 while checking to see if forest guards had properly tranquilized a female tiger who had been treed by a rock-throwing mob.

"Forest guards encircled the tree with a net," the Times of India reported, "but the locals set the tree on fire," causing the tiger to flee.

Said Dhali, "With my neighbours Lalit Naskar and Gobindo Saradas, I gingerly approached the palm tree on which the tigress had perched. She was not moving, so we thought the tranquilzer had taken effect. We tied a rope around her legs and pulled her down. The moment she touched the ground, she stood up with a blood-curdling roar and leapt at us." After Dhali was injured, the mob reportedly also stoned and injured five forest guards.

"Asutosh Dhali risked his life to save a tigress. Praising him is not enough. We want to do something that will be meaningful to him and his family," said Compassionate Crusaders Trust founder Debasis Chakrabarty.