Day: May 8, 2003

Maryland Governor Signs Sunday Hunting Law

Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich signed a bill in late April that will allow hunting on two Sundays during the state’s next deer season. Under the new law, hunting will be allowed on private land in several rural counties on the first Sunday in November for bow hunting and on the first Sunday after the firearms season opens (Nov. 2 and Nov. 30 respectively this year.)

The bill had been passed in March by a vote of 87-41 in Maryland’s House and 33-11 in the state Senate. A similar bill was approved in 2002 but vetoed by then-Maryland Gov. Paris Glendening.

The Baltimore Sun quotes former Maryland delegate Michael Weir, who had tried to gain approval for SUnday hunting during his 28 years in office, as saying that the increasing size of the deer herd and the attendant problems explained the turnaround,

You have more people being hurt in car accidents with deer, and people are tired of deer eating their bushes and causing crop damage. Bambi’s lost a few friends over the years.

Bambi still has friends at the Fund for Animals, however, which was outraged that Ehrlich signed the bill after saying during the election that he opposed Sunday hunting. Fund for Animals president Michael Markarian said in a press release,

Sunday hunting threatens public safety, harms wildlife, and is bad for the economy. Governor Ehrlich stated during his campaign last year that he opposed Sunday hunting. He has flip-flopped on this issue, he has eviscerated a 30–year Maryland tradition, and he has gouged Maryland taxpayers in the process.

The state Department of Natural Resources supported the bill saying that allowing Sunday hunting is an important tool in controlling the size of Maryland’s deer population which is estimated at 250,000.

Source:

Sunday deer-hunt bill in Ehrlich’s hands. Candus Thomson, The Baltimore Sun, April 8, 2003.

Sunday deer hunt needs only Ehrlich signature. Associated Press, April 12, 2003.

Ehrlich signs Sunday hunting law. Candus Thomson, The Baltimore Sun, April 23, 2003.

Sunday hunting easy to defend. Gene Mueller, Washington Times, April 30, 2003.

Fund for Animals Condemns Gov. Ehrlich for Lifting 300-Year Ban on Sunday Hunting, Gouging Taxpayers. Press Release, Fund for Animals, April 22, 2003.

Md. Assembly Passes Bill Allowing Sunday Deer Hunting. Associated Press April 8, 2003.

Huntingdon Life Sciences Weighs Audit Options

In the wake of Deloitte & Touche’s decision to withdraw as auditor for Huntingdon Life Sciences, the company is weighing how best to comply with legal requirements for auditing while at the same time sparing auditing companies from harassment by animal rights extremists.

Accountancy Age reports that one solution it is considering would be to hire a firm to audit the company for a single year only. Accountancy Age quotes a spokesman for the company as saying,

From a legislative point of view, we don’t necessarily have to make public who is working on our audit until after the work is completed. That firm may not actually be working for us by the time the information is published

One would assume, however, that Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty would simply refocus its campaign in that case on punishing the previous year’s auditors in order to deter future auditors from wanting to take on HLS’ accounts.

HLS could potentially lose its OTC stock listing in the United States if it is unable to find an auditor.

Source:

HLS seeks hit-and-run audit results. Paul Grant, Accountancy Age, April 24, 2003.

PETA Sends Letter to Rumsfeld Over Killing of Stray Animals in Iraq

Shortly after the coalition victory in Iraq, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a letter to U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the British Army chief H.J. Hickman asking them to stop commanders on the ground from authorizing the culling of stray animals in Iraqi cities.

According to the Associated Press, USA Today reported that a British commander in Umm Qasr had created a checklist of steps to take to restore order to that city which included killing stray animals in order to reduce the risk of disease and other problems.

PETA’s William Rivas-Rivas told the Associated Press,

We were just shocked and appalled. Poisoning [the method recommended in the Umm Qasr checklist] has long been regarded [as] one of the most cruel ways to kill animals. . . . And we’re not even convinced that killing these animals is necessary.

As with their earlier letter about the military’s use of dolphins, the Department of Defense did not respond to PETA’s letter though a spokeswoman for the DOD was quoted by the Associated Press as saying she was unfamiliar with either the checklist in question or the extent of the problem of stray animals in Iraq.

Source:

PETA asks military to stop encouraging animal poison in Iraq. Justin Bergman, Associated Press, April 18, 2003.

Al-Jazeera Rejects PETA Commercial

The Associated PRess reported in April that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals was dismayed that Qatar-based satellite news network Al-Jazeera refused to run a 30 second ad which PETA was willing to pay $10,000 to run on that network.

According to the AP, “[the ad] features cattle hanging upside down in a slaughterhouse, goats being killed and a chicken being thrown violently at a box.”

A voice-over narration in the aid says,

In the United States, TV stations won’t show these images, but all over the world, animals killed for food are often treated cruelly and thoughtlessly. Such ill treatment defies the teachings of all holy books. ? The Koran states that ?[t]here is not an animal who lives on the earth ? but that they are communities, like you.? Wherever you live, may we welcome you to the worldwide community of vegetarians ? who will not commit needless cruelty to any life.

PETA said it is willing to make changes to the ad and is still working to get Al-Jazeera to run the spot.

Source:

Al-Jazeera Rejects PETA’s “Peace Plea” Ad. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, April 2003.

PETA says Al-Jazeera will run graphic photos of war victims, but not animals. Associated Press, April 14, 2003.

Montana Lawmakers Pass Bison Hunt Bill

In April the Montana Senate and House of Representatives approved a bill that would allow that states Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission to create a limited hunt of bison targeting those animals that stray out of Yellowstone National Park.

Before approving the bill, legislators removed a provision that would have prevented out-of-state hunters from taking part in such a hunt, and set the price for bison tags at $75 for Montana residents and $750 for out-of-state hunters. The hunt is motivated in part by the fact that bison in Yellowstone carry the bovine disease brucellosis which some fear could spread to cattle in that state.

Fish, Wildlife and Parks Director Jeff Hagener told the Billings Gazette that if the bill is signed into law by Montana Governor Judy Martz, any hunt is still at least a year away.

The Fund for Animals was quick with a press release decrying the proposed hunt. According to a Fund for Animals press release,

Hunting bison allegedly for disease control purposes lacks scientific basis. Given that there has never been a documented case of bison transmitting the disease brucellosis to livestock in the wild, there is no justification for hunting bison for disease “management.” To claim otherwise, is to mislead the public and to cave in to the unsubstantiated fears of the livestock industry.

The Fund is apparently planning to launch a tourist boycott of Montana if the bison hunt resumes.

Sources:

Fund for Animals Alert, April 9, 2003.

Panel OKs opening bison hunt. Jennifer McKee, Billings Gazette, April 17, 2003.