The Latest

Apologies to all who care-- we are still struggling through the detrius of 2006 and preparing for what promises to be a serious Animal Rights battle in New Mexico. We spent the holidays just getting over being sick and are still dealing with things like an unexpectedly returned sick hawk,a re- mortgaged house, and other difficulties-- dreary. This too will pass. On the good side, we are having the first good snows in a decade. Not only does this bode well for wildlife and our rancher friends alike; we can't help feeling a bit of schadtenfreude (did I spell that right?) as the "nuevos" who have been here through four years of drought wail that it isn't supposed to snow in New Mexico. Yes it is.

AR: presidentially- ambitious governor Bill Richardson plans a budget of 3.6 million dollars for animal "welfare" this year. As always the devil will be in the details. It did not bode well that there are PETA and HSUS members on his advisory board. Yesterday the gloves came off: Albuquerque mayor Martin Chavez, backer of Albuqueque's "HEART" mandatory spay- neuter program, has announced they are seeking to make spay neuter regs mandatory statewide-- a national first I believe. Watch this space.

Elsewhere on the subject: Patrick reports that several rational members of the anti- hunt League against Cruel Sports in England have changed their minds about foxhunting:

"...James Barrington, former Executive Director of the so-called "League Against Cruel Sports" in the U.K. [is] saying that the Hunting Act is a sham and needs to be repealed and replaced with a common-sense law that regulates hunting a bit, but which otherwise keeps it entirely legal.

"Barrington is just one of four former high-placed LACS officials (including another former Executive Director and Chairman of LACS), who say LACS is on the entirely wrong path."

RTWT of course.

We could be in even worse shape (?) than under an AR regime-- we could be dog owners living under the rule of mullahs. A member of our tazi list writes of a friend near Tehran, in one of the traditional lands of the tazi- saluki: "If she goes there or elsewhere to exercise her dogs she still has a problem to go by car, because her property is surrounded by buildings.... And I'm informed it's forbidden to take a dog into a car. A person caught with a dog in his car can be put in jail for one year as I was told."

On the other side, a new group named H.E.L.P.--Hunters and Ecologists for a Living Planet-- has formed to protect the rights of all good hunters from English foxhunters to Bushmen. They sound genuine, innovative, and interesting-- a group to watch.

UPDATE FROM REID

The LA Times reports the formation of another hunter advocacy group, the Union Sportsman's Alliance. From the article:

"An advocacy group that will join outdoors enthusiasts with labor union members to work on environmental issues is designed to bring new faces — and new muscle — to conservation efforts.

The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, which represents hunting and fishing groups across the country, announced the formation this week of the Union Sportsmen's Alliance in partnership with 20 unions that have a membership of nearly 5 million.

The group will work to increase federal funding for wildlife protection while ensuring access for hunters and fishermen."

snip

"An outside survey of the 20 unions involved showed that while 70% of their members hunt or fish, only 29% of that group belonged to any kind of sportsmen's organization."

Good news. And a good example of innovative thinking - putting together an advocacy group from organizations that you wouldn't intuitively think had much in common.