| Newsletter: July - August 1997 |  |
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ARFF Newsletter: July - August 1997
A violation of the ordinance is a civil infraction,
and the maximum civil penalty is $500 per animal. The county included all
of ARFF's recommendations in the final draft of the ordinance. ARFF thanks Fund for Animals' attorney Sidney Maddock
who provided invaluable help and advice in this endeavor. Many organizations
and individuals contributed in making this year's event the first and last
live bird shoot in Sarasota county. A demonstration the day of the shoot
by St. Petersburg Animal Rescue Organization (SPARO), Florida Voices for
Animals and other organizations drew close to one hundred protesters and
included civil disobedience resulting in the arrests of four activists.
Write to the Walt Disney Company: Write to: Michael Eisner, CEO Members of ARFF demonstrated in St. Augustine,
June 9, against the city's inhumane carriage-horse industry. As the demonstration
continued outside, inside city hall at a meeting of the city commission,
local resident Patty Halas gave a presentation on her concerns regarding
the working horses of St. Augustine. ARFF Cruelty Case Coordinator Susan
McCullom also spoke at the hearing. ARFF has proposed that, until this abusive
industry is banned, the least the city of St. Augustine could do is require
minimum humane working conditions for carriage horses, especially when considering
the deadly temperatures and humidity of Florida summers. Suggested minimal
reforms include: requiring shade for horses while waiting for customers;
horses should not work in temperatures exceeding 80/ Fahrenheit; and a maximum
four-hour work day. Special thanks to Holly Cheever, D.V.M., a nationally-recognized
equine expert, for her counsel. If you haven't already done so, write to
Mayor Len Weeks and the City Commission and let them know that animal abuse
discourages tourism; ask for a ban on horse carriages. sMayor Len Weeks and Commission Mink Subsidy Since Fiscal Year 1996, the Agricultural Appropriations
bill in the US Congress has included language eliminating taxpayer support
for the promotion of mink products through the Market Access Program. Thanks
to the great effort of US Congressman Peter Deutsch, a member of ARFF's
Advisory Board, this language was originally adopted through House and Senate
floor amendments to the FY'96 legislation. Congressman Deutsch has once
again requested of the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee to include
language prohibiting the mink subsidy in the FY'98 legislation. Congress should continue to prohibit the mink subsidy
which used millions of taxpayer dollars to promote luxury products oversees.
Until 1996, when congress first eliminated the subsidy, $7.6 million had
been provided to the US Mink Export Development Council and several large
corporations that market mink products in Europe and Asia. Update on Canned-Hunt Bill House Bill 575, which would restrict canned-hunts,
has been carried over to the '98 legislative session where it is now before
the Water and Resource Management Committee. H.B. 575, introduced by Rep.
Barry Silver, will make it a third degree felony to kill or wound an exotic
mammal, or non-game bird that has been restrained or released in the presence
of a hunter, or in an enclosure of 500 acres or less. Help us ban these unfair and inhumane hunting facilities!
Especially if you have not previously written, it is important that the
chairman of the committee, Rep. John Laurent, continues to hear fromm people
strongly urging him to support H.B. 575. Ask him to allow the bill to be
heard and passed successfully out of committee. Write to: Rep. John Laurent, Chairman US. Congressman John Porter has introduced the
Bear Protection Act (H.R. 619) to establish guidelines prohibiting trade
in bear gall bladders and bile. Many states ban the trade of bear gall bladders
within their jurisdictions, though neighboring states may allow trade to
continue. This patchwork of state laws creates a loophole that facilitates
the growing underground trade in bear parts throughout North America. Pet stores, breeders and irresponsible guardians
who do not spay and neuter, ensure the existence of an ever-increasing number
of dogs and cats, while thousands of unwanted animals wait in shelters,
never to be adopted. Pet stores which sell dogs and cats are part of a chain
of abuse which often begins in cruel establishments called puppy mills. Puppy mills are commercial operations where animals
are mass-produced as commodities. To keep profits high, operators keep expenses
to a minimum. Overcrowding, poorly maintained kennels, inadequate food and
veterinary care are all common in puppy mills. At puppy mills, female animals
are forced to have litters in every heat, usually twice a year. The puppies,
shipped long distances to pet stores, frequently have genetic defects and
psychological problems. Pet stores, including Puppy Kingdom in Miami, acquire
animals fromm Missouri, Arkansas and other states in the midwestern United
States. There are thousands of these commercial breeding facilities, adding
hundreds of thousands of puppies every year to an already disgraceful pet
overpopulation epidemic. We must encourage the public to spay & neuter
their companion animals, adopt animals fromm shelters, not to purchase animals
fromm breeders, and to work for responsible breeding regulation ordinances. Saturday, August 16, 1997, 1:00 P.M. Puppy Kingdom The Youth Deer Hunt is a special hunt sponsored
by the Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission (GFC) for eight through
fifteen year-old children. This bloody program was initiated in 1985 and
is held annually in October at two federal Wildlife Refuge's in northern
Florida. The sale of hunting and fishing licenses in Florida
continues to steadily decline; today only 2% of Florida's residents are
licensed hunters. It is clear that the youth deer hunt, in large part, is
intended as a recruitment tool by the GFC to reverse this trend of dwindling
support of bloodsports. The majority of Americans oppose the violence of
sport hunting. Research indicates that people who do not begin
hunting before their late teens will most likely never hunt at all. Help
ARFF bring our message of compassion and respect for animals to the GFC,
and to the children themselves. Join our protest against the Youth Deer
Hunt, on behalf of our wildlife and our children. Friday, October 10, 1997, 1:00 P.M. In June, the Amara Shrine Temple held their 21st
annual circus in West Palm Beach. In the parking lot behind the West Palm
Beach Auditorium, two elephants, "Christy," a 7-year-old African
elephant, and "Tommy," a 5-year-old Asian elephant, stood chained
by one fromnt leg and one back leg continuously when not performing. The
only exercise these two young elephants were allowed consisted of headstands
and other unnatural acts. Both were denied the opportunity to engage in
normal and natural elephant behavior. Of course, the elephants were only two of the animals
imprisoned in the circus. All the animals in the circus- tigers and lions,
horses and performing dogs- are forced into a life that is cruel and a threat
to public safety. We received some good responses to our letters
and Action Alerts. For example, we received a response fromm Don Carter's
All-Star Lanes, a bowling alley in Jupiter. Manager Kenny Miller wrote,
"We at Don Carters Jupiter will not continue to advertise with the
Shriners for the circus. We also will not be advertising with any other
group that uses animals"! The Shriners sponsor more circuses than any other
organization in the country. Write to the local temple and to the Shrine
national headquarters in Tampa, and explain your opposition to animal abuse
and exploitation in the circus. Urge them to follow the example of the British
Columbia Shriners who pledged in 1996 that all future circuses will exclude
animal acts. Write: Wally Coleman, Potentate Vice President If you wrote last year to the First Baptist Church
of Southwest Broward, in response to our September protest, appealing for
an alternative to the planned slaughter of the church's emus, you undoubtedly
have received a letter fromm the Rev. Michie Proctor asking for donations
to set up a "sanctuary" for the emus, which now number over 280.
The church originally planned to raise emus to send to the Caribbean and
Central America to be bred and slaughtered for profit in a misguided attempt
to help poor families. ARFF urges everyone who received the letter: Do
Not support the church's emu project. Rev. Proctor is preying on the concern
of well-meaning animal activists, and is trying to make them feel guilty
if they don't send money to "save the emus." Proctor has given
no promises that his original plan of slaughtering the emus has changed,
and it seems his letter is little more than a fund-raising scam. Each year in Broward County, thousands of unwanted
cats and dogs are destroyed. Yet even as they are being killed, thousands
more are being born. Dogs reproduce at 15 times the rate of humans. Cats
reproduce at 30-40 times the rate of humans; one mother cat and her offspring
can potentially produce hundreds of thousands of cats in a few years. We
are now facing a companion animal overpopulation crisis, with one simple
choice: "Fix them or kill them." Many of you may already be aware
of ARFF's plan to implement a mobile facility offering free spay and neuter,
and veterinary services. The truck will go into low income communities and
feral cat colonies in South Florida. Nicola Thompson recently joined ARFF
staff to coordinate this project. If you have any questions, or would like
to volunteer with this ambitious and vital service, please call Nicola at
the ARFF office, (954) 917-2733. Laura Strickland (Clay County) is no longer affiliated
with ARFF. It is our understanding that Laura Strickland has started her
own group called the Animal Rights Federation. We are sorry for any inconvenience
or confusion to our members fromm this unfortunate similarity. Please contact ARFF for information on how to make
a gift to the animals through a bequest to ARFF in your will. ARFF-On-The-Air can be heard every Sunday at 6:00
P on WAXY 790 A (unless preempted for sports broadcasts). Audio copies of these interviews are available
for $4 from ARFF. Call the office for details. 
Animal Rights Foundation of Florida |
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