City Cancels Carriage Rides
Hampton, Va.- After RIR wrote a letter to the Hampton Event Makers and the mayor of Hampton, the city of Hampton decided not to have horse-drawn carriage rides this year. The yearly event known as Holly Days had always had these rides.
New Jersey High School Vows Not to Use Live Animals in Fundraisers
We received a call from a student at Absegami High School in Avsecon, N.J., who relayed his concern about a pig-kissing contest that his school had recently held. We sent a letter to school officials, asking that they consider the plight of animals forced to participate in these degrading displays and that they reconsider using animals in future events. We sent a copy of our letter to the superintendent of the Greater Egg Harbor Regional High School District, the Gami Gazette, the school’s newspaper, and the Atlantic City Press. We received a response from the school’s principal stating that the school will no longer permit the use of animals in fundraising activities and noting that the pig-kissing contest upset many students.
Legislative Progress for Animals in Laboratories
Congress passed two important bills that will have positive ramifications for animals. Neither have yet been signed by the president, but it is expected that he will sign them within the next few days.
RIR joined forces with the Doris Day Animal League to rally support for the ICCVAM Authorization Act, which will permanently establish the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods (ICCVAM). This committee reviews alternatives to animal tests and recommends changes in testing procedures to the appropriate federal regulatory agencies. RIR generated an autodial and action alerts on this issue, in addition to personally lobbying Senate offices on Capitol Hill. It looked as if all hope was lost when, at the 11th hour, a senator refused to release a "hold" on the bill, but RIR's all-out effort to flood the senator's office with calls from constituents helped ensure the bill's passage.
Also, RIR mobilized concerned citizens to contact their congressional representatives in support of the Chimpanzee Health Improvement, Maintenance, and Protection Act (CHIMP Act). Now that it has passed, the act will establish a system of sanctuaries for government-owned chimpanzees no longer "needed" in federally funded research protocols.
Butte County, Calif. Humane Society Stops Giving Animals to Cruel Blood Bank Kennels
Glenn County, Calif. is home to a hidden industry in which animals are suffering: animal blood bank kennels. Dogs and cats at these kennels are warehoused for years at a time and are repeatedly "bled" to provide blood to veterinarians across the country. Animals confined indefinitely in this manner live miserable and lonely lives.
The Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights states that animal blood donors should be companion animals who are taken to veterinary clinics for the purpose of donating blood. If this is not possible, the time spent as a donor should be finite and short. Obviously, this not the case in Glenn County.
Yet, for years, the Butte County humane society gave dogs and cats to these kennels, even though conditions for animals at the kennels hardly met the humane society’s requirements for a "good home." In October, PETA intervened by writing to the humane society, asking that it stop supplying animals to the blood bank kennels. We called Butte County PETA members, asking them to attend a humane society board meeting. We also put an action alert on our Web site, asking concerned readers to contact the shelter. Local activists worked very hard on the issue as well, obtaining information, publicizing the problem, and lobbying the shelter board.
As a result of these efforts, on November 28, 2000, the Butte County humane society board voted unanimously to stop supplying animals to these blood bank prisons. The decision is being entered into the shelter’s bylaws. Thanks to everyone who responded to our Action Alert and sent letters to the board. Never again will homeless animals from the Butte County Humane Society be subjected to years of misery in Glenn County blood bank kennels.
Neglected Great Danes Rescued and Their Owner Charged With Cruelty to Animals
In June, we were contacted by several Lincoln County, N.C., residents about five Great Danes, acquired for the purpose of breeding, who were living in squalor in their guardian's backyard. At the time, Chris Omes, the guardian, had been charged with five counts of cruelty to animals, but the animals had not been seized from his property. Reportedly, the dogs'living area contained several inches of feces, their only food source was a few cups of food scattered atop the feces, their only water source two buckets of filthy water, and they were provided with only a tarp suspended from a tree, and a small wooden box, to protect them from the elements. The dogs, who were aggressive and frightened, were 20 to 30 percent underweight and covered in bite wounds, and their living area was infested with flies.
RIR contacted the director of the county's animal control agency to inquire as to why the dogs had not been seized and placed in the custody of either a local Great Dane rescue group or a local veterinarian, both of whom were eager to take the dogs into their care. The dogs were seized shortly thereafter and given to a local veterinarian for treatment and temporary boarding. Unfortunately, pending his hearing, Omes was allowed to regain custody of the dogs and took them to be boarded at a kennel several hours away. The manager of the kennel called PETA after several weeks, believing that the dogs had been abandoned, as Omes had not returned to get the dogs nor had he paid for their boarding. We arranged for a Great Dane rescue organization to pick up the dogs and care for them until homes for them could be found.
We wrote to the assistant district attorney prosecuting Omes' case and asked that he receive the maximum penalty that his charges carried that he be required to forfeit custody of the dogs and prohibited from owning or harboring animals and acquiring a license to breed animals. Omes was recently found guilty on all five counts of cruelty to animals, forced to relinquish custody of the dogs, made to pay restitution to the veterinarian who cared for them, and prohibited from owning animals.
Oklahoma Health Care Center Cancels Use of Kittens in Intubation Training Exercises
RIR wrote to Hillcrest Health Center in Oklahoma City, Okla., after having received reports that the center planned to use kittens in endotracheal intubation (ETI) training exercises scheduled for October 23 and 24, 2000. When RIR called to follow up on the letter, we were "assured" that individuals participating in the center’s training program would be offered the choice of learning ETI on kittens or patient simulators. Since patient simulators are humane, more effective, and readily available, there is no excuse for using kittens as living props. The anatomical differences between cats and humans are too great to be able to apply to humans the skills learned on cats. The advantages of non-animal ETI training have been demonstrated in literature as well. An Annals of Emergency Medicine study detailed the high ETI success rates achieved by paramedics trained on manikins exclusively. In addition to their high performance rate, "88% of the manikin-only group felt confident in their ETI skills during their first actual encounter and [felt] that their first human ETI was no different than their repetitive practices on the manikin."
RIR placed an action alert on the PETA Web site asking people to write the Hillcrest Health Center and tell it to make the compassionate choice by completely eliminating its use of kittens in cruel and outdated ETI training exercises.
In response, Hillcrest Health Center in Oklahoma City, Okla. canceled its use of kittens in the intubation training exercises. Our complainant confirmed that kittens were not used and the center stated that it was reviewing its curriculum. There is currently an updated alert on the Web asking people to thank the center and request that it commit to using only non-animal methods of teaching intubation.
Tops Market Stops Selling Cruel "Betta Fish Arrangements"
RIR received a call from a floral manager of a Tops Market, a grocery store chain with more than 130 stores scattered across the East Coast, about a product she was to begin selling in her store called "Betta Fish Arrangement," a small vase containing a Betta fish and a plant. We immediately sent a letter to Sal Baio, president of the Produce and Perishables Department, who makes the final purchasing decisions regarding all products in that department. We also sent a copy of the letter to the CEO of the company, as well as Ahold, USA, which is Tops Markets, Inc.’s parent company. We received a call soon after from Mr. Baio, telling me he had not intended to promote a cruel product and, until receiving our letter, had not viewed "Beta Fish Arrangement" in that way. He said the item would immediately be pulled out of all of the 70 stores that were already selling them, and he would stop the order for the rest of the stores and agreed not to sell this or similar products in his stores in the future.
Beaver Colony in Fairfax County Receives Reprieve From Death by Drowning
As you may recall, last month, despite available humane alternatives and overwhelming public opposition, authorities in Fairfax County, Virginia, announced their decision to move forward with plans to trap and kill a colony of beavers located in a dry pond near Tysons Corner. In response, PETA immediately posted an action alert on our Web site and autodialed our members in Fairfax County asking them to contact the Board of Supervisors and demand that it immediately halt plans to trap the beavers and, instead, rely on effective, humane methods of beaver control.
Since then, Fairfax County and state officials have been inundated with correspondence from concerned individuals about the plan to kill the beavers near Tysons Corner. The flood of calls, letters, and e-mail messages prompted Governor Gilmore to assign the Under Secretary of Natural Resources to coordinate an effort to resolve the beaver conflict at Tysons Corner. Because it is illegal to relocate wildlife in Virginia, the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries requires affected jurisdictions to pass resolutions enabling them to accomplish the relocation of wildlife to another locality. As a result, on October 30, 2000, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a resolution supporting the relocation of the beaver colony to another Virginia locality. The motion also encouraged the Page County Board of Supervisors to pass a similar resolution stating its willingness to have the Fairfax beaver colony relocated to Page County Supervisor Elaine McConnell’s farm in Springfield.
This week, RIR received word that the Page County Board of Supervisors voted on the proposed resolution and approved the plan to relocate the Fairfax County beaver colony to Ms. McConnell’s farm.
Four Pet Stores Forced to Stop Selling Animals
Over the past several months, RIR has received complaints about four pet stores selling "pocket pets," including prairie dogs, sugar gliders, and hedgehogs. We called the appropriate sector office for the USDA, as none of the stores seemed to have the license necessary to sell these animals. After several months of persistent calling and urging the USDA to take action, each of the following stores was required to stop selling "pocket pets" (or any regulated animal): All Pets Discounters, Virginia Beach, Virginia; Animal Crackers, Greendale, Wisconsin; Exotic Pets and Plants, Norfolk, Virginia; and Red Canary Exotic Birds, Oakland Park, Florida.
Michigan Puppy Mill Shut Down
In September 2000, RIR began receiving e-mail messages about Susan Padgett, a breeder in Otsego County, Michigan, who had been charged with cruelty to animals after 31 dogs were seized from her home and property. According to reports, Padgett was housing 50 or more dogs on her property in a 9-foot-by-11-foot shed. Allegedly, many of the dogs were suffering from untreated eye and ear infections and injuries, one dog suffered an untreated infection from a botched tail-docking "home job," and one pregnant dog was emaciated. Reportedly, all of the dogs were suffering from inadequate space and improper housing, and most of the dogs were severely matted.
RIR contacted Otsego County Animal Control to inquire as to why 19 dogs were left on the property and were told that the remaining dogs were not suffering to the extent that they could prove cruelty so they could not, by law, seize them. We then contacted the Otsego County zoning officer to inquire as to why Padgett was allowed to keep all the dogs on her property after having been notified in July that she was in violation of the county’s zoning ordinances, which state that commercial kennels (for which Padgett did not have the proper license) are not allowed in residential zones. We were told that the zoning officer was leaving it up to the animal control agency to resolve the problem.
We then wrote to the county’s assistant chief prosecutor, who was handling Padgett’s case, to outline not only the cruelty violations against Padgett, but to notify him of her intentional violation of the county’s zoning ordinances. We asked that in order to ensure that Padgett would be brought into compliance with all relevant ordinances and to prevent the perpetuation of the cruelty she allegedly inflicted on her dogs to make a profit, she be required to forfeit custody of all of her animals and be strictly prohibited from owning or harboring animals, if found guilty. We also asked that she, in accordance with Michigan animal protection laws, be prohibited from obtaining a kennel license and be required to pay restitution to Otsego County animal control for the costs of the care, housing, and veterinary medical care for the animals.
On October 12, 2000, Susan Padgett was sentenced to the following: forfeiture of all animals except one, who must be spayed or neutered, prohibition from owning any animals for breeding purposes, $4,000 restitution to Otsego County animal control, enrollment in a "pet care" course, and unannounced visits by animal control to her property.
Hospital Vows to Halt Pigeon Poisoning
A year ago, RIR began receiving complaints about the use of Avitrol to poison pigeons and other birds at Maryview Medical Center in Portsmouth, Virginia. After providing Mr. George James, the director of engineering, with information on humane alternatives, he indicated to RIR that the hospital would stop poisoning pigeons and instead, implement an effective, long-term pigeon control program. However, earlier this month, RIR received a call from a Portsmouth resident near the hospital about a pigeon writhing in pain on their front lawn. When a rescue team arrived at the scene, they found the pigeon shaking uncontrollably from seizures and gasping for air, clearly symptoms of Avitrol poisoning. Since the effects of Avitrol poisoning are not reversible, the team quickly transported the animal to a shelter for euthanasia.
At the time, RIR had no way of knowing who was poisoning pigeons in the proximate area, but a few days later, RIR began receiving complaints from patients and staff about the use of poison to kill pigeons at Maryview Medical Center.
RIR faxed a letter to Mr. James asking him to honor his previous decision and immediately halt the pigeon-poisoning program at Maryview Medical Center and rely on humane methods. After several days passed without a response from Mr. James’ office, RIR contacted Dominic Calgi, executive vice director for Maryview Medical Center, and asked him to respond to our initial complaint about the poisoning of pigeons at the hospital. On Friday, August 11, Mr. Calgi called to say that the hospital had stopped poisoning the pigeons.
Then, on October 25, RIR again began to receive complaints about dead and dying pigeons near Maryview, but this time, RIR contacted reporters at local television station WAVY-TV Channel 10 and asked them to investigate. On Thursday, October 26, WAVY-TV ran a piece on our efforts to stop the poisoning of pigeons at Maryview Medical Center. As a result, Maryview Medical Center indicated that it would no longer poison pigeons.
Las Vegas Apartment Complex Stops Pigeon Poisoning
RIR received several complaints from residents at the Cypress Springs Apartment complex in Las Vegas about the use of Avitrol to poison pigeons. As you know, while the Avitrol Corporation claims that the product is a bird-dispersing agent, Avitrol is actually a potent poison that causes extremely painful deaths to birds and other animals who ingest a lethal dose. Residents at the apartment complex reported seeing birds scream and flutter about, suffering slow, agonizing deaths. Avitrol can also cause the suffering and death of "nontarget" animals, such as protected songbirds and raptors, who accidentally ingest the poison or who feed on the dead bodies of poisoned birds.
RIR immediately sent a letter to the community managers Cypress Springs Apartments asking them to stop poisoning pigeons and rely instead on humane bird-control methods. The following day, residents of Cypress Springs called to report that the poisoning program had been canceled.
Abercrombie and Fitch Makes Compassionate Choice; Gives Birds and Cats a Chance for a New Life
After receiving numerous complaints about caged macaw parrots and Maine coon cats kept at several Abercrombie and Fitch-owned Hollister stores, RIR wrote to Abercrombie and Fitch's director of marketing, asking that the animals be placed and that plans to house a macaw parrot and a Maine coon cat at each Hollister store be canceled. RIR's letter received no response. As complaints about Hollister stores continued to pour in, RIR placed an action alert on the PETA Web site, asking compassionate consumers to contact Abercrombie and Fitch about the detriments of keeping animals — exotic and domestic — on display in shopping malls, and urging the company to have a "cruelty-free" store policy. After countless letters and phone calls from concerned animal advocates, Abercrombie and Fitch finally decided to cancel plans to use animals in any new stores, place the captive birds with sanctuaries, and find responsible and loving homes for the cats.
