Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 24, 1972)
REPORT ON ANIMAL "OVERPOPULATION" Th. Humon. $oci.ty of ,h. Unit.d Stc, HAVE YOUR PETS NEUTERED AND PREVENT THIS 1145 19th Sfrtet. N.W.. Woihington. D. C. 20036 T!-II J . V I -U . 1 f I I i ' I -V 1 LJ -NiT I YO N i C?"V V uteroreeaing toeapens VX. ll ,Jk 'or rriMff facilities. hmmammm. TaMMMMkJ si' wmmmmmmthrou eh hands of dealers 't family pets at one time. animaTTife, creates ready supply of animals Many thousands of dogs like these pass who profit from their surplus. Most were THIS AD SPONSORED BY LOIS WINCHESTER If Rodeo... ...is accepted as a sport and its cruel events glorified in the Sports Section, then by the same token Rape should be featured on the Society Page! Defenders of Animals, Inc. P. 0. Box 224 Pewaukee, Wisconsin 53072 LETTER TO THE EDITOR: 2869 Glen Drive, Port Coquitlam, B.C., March 24, 1972 An open letter to Ann Lan ders: Have often noticed in your column that you are willing to "stand corrected" when one of your answers is "off base" and I strongly suggest' you "goofed" when you an swered the man whose wife was uncomfortable wearing her new fur coaf daresay she isn't as" uncomfortable" as the original owner during the process of eventually los ing said "fur coat!" You informed the gentleman it is alright to wear 'bea ver' because they are not in danger of becoming extenct - whether the beaver is not on the endangered species list, is neither here nor there - the beaver still feels pain - like the raccoon, musk rat and others who haven't made it as 'endangered!' You claim there is 'no logical reason to boycott the beaver' - how be it, if I suggest a few. There are many ways to die in a trap, all lingering, all ghastly. In the summer months gangrene often sets in, adding still fur ther to the indescribable suf fering. In the wintertime their tongues freeze to the metal teeth of the traps when they try to lick the injured leg. A terrible thirst is ever-present, as trauma or injury causes extreme thirst. Of course some 'an imals' manage to escape, af ter several days - by chew ing off a trapped foot - leav ing behind only a 'souven ir' for the trapper's trouble. There are ways and means to thwart these escape ar tists though - the trap is fastened to a bent tree, which springs upright when the ani mal is caught, suspending it, with the weight of its entire body on the crushed leg or paw. Birds sometimes peck out the eyes of the agonized victim but then this does not de-valuate the pelt! In case you consult a 'trap per' about trapping beaver, he may tell you they are taken in 'drowning sets' - not ye olde 'leg hold' that was in vented and unchanged since ' its Inception - 300 years ago! Many 'aquatic animals' meet their 'end' this way -such as muskrats, mink, ot ter and beaver. Now 'drown ing sets' are passed off as humane' - properly set, they are, perhaps relatively humane; for example, a bea ver may take from 30 se conds to 20 minutes to drown, depending on how much air he takes into his lungs before diving (assum ing he actually dives under water). While this is ob viously better than the several days often taken in the cases of ' land' animals, it can hardly be classified as truly humane. Not only the 'intended vic tims' get trapped, reports of dogs, cats, ducks, song birds, deer, domestic stock and species of animals who are in danger of 'extinction' -- as one trapper said himself -- "It is probable that no instrument was ever invented that caused as much suffering as the common steel trap." It is not only the trapped animals who suffer as the consequence of being ' caught - in many instances they leave behind helpless young ones to slowly die of starvation! Still say "there is no lo gical reason to boycott ani mal furs, taken from the animals who have yet to reach the 'point of no return?' Per sonally, I have yet to see anyone do 'justice' to a fur coat - as did the 'original owner.' Lovely imitation furs are available that a. gal can wear without fear of derision -because the 'ranch furs' are not the answer - why should any animal be forced to exist in a 'cage' under un-natural conditions -- hear tell they are kept in the dark to spe ed 'death dealing day" up this saves on time, not to mention 'feed bills' good old big biz always puts the 'almighty dollar' ahead - no matter what! Why don't you visit one of these ' ranches' and see just how these cag ed creatures end their days to insure their fur coat is not damaged - as they become 'extinct!' Yours truly, Lee Davis 9
