CATALINA ANIMAL KILLINGS DECRIED.Byline: Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. Animal rights activists criticized the killing of hundreds of goats and pigs by airborne hunters on Santa Catalina Island San·ta Cat·a·li·na Island or Catalina Island An island off southern California in the southern Santa Barbara Islands. Discovered in 1542, it has been a noted resort center since the 1920s. last week. But officials in charge of restoring the island to its natural state defended the twice-yearly hunts. The Catalina Island Conservancy The Catalina Island Conservancy (CIC) [1] is a nonprofit organization established to protect and conserve Santa Catalina Island, California. CIC was established in 1972 through the efforts of the Wrigley and Offield families. says the helicopter hunt is a quick, necessary and effective means of protecting native animal and plant life. The hunt Monday through Wednesday was the latest in a series of aerial shootings authorized by the conservancy. Carcasses were left to decompose de·com·pose v. de·com·posed, de·com·pos·ing, de·com·pos·es v.tr. 1. To separate into components or basic elements. 2. To cause to rot. v.intr. 1. where animals fell. Animal rights groups say the killing is inhumane in·hu·mane adj. Lacking pity or compassion. in  hu·mane ly adv. and unnecessary. ``I hate the whole thing to begin with,'' said Cleveland Amory, author and president of New York-based Fund for Animals. ``But my real objection of course is that doing it by helicopter is so damn cruel. It's not effective. And the animals die lingering deaths.'' David Garcelon, a wildlife biologist hired to conduct the shootings, called the hunt a ``poignant problem,'' especially for biologists trained to save animals. ``We've got a situation here where humans released these animals in years prior and it wasn't a good choice,'' said Garcelon, president of the Institute for Wildlife Studies. The island's owners, the Wrigley family of chewing gum fame, created the conservancy and donated most of Catalina to the nonprofit organization Nonprofit Organization An association that is given tax-free status. Donations to a non-profit organization are often tax deductible as well. Notes: Examples of non-profit organizations are charities, hospitals and schools. in the 1970s. The conservancy was given a mandate to restore the 21-mile-long island to its natural state. But pigs and goats already had done a lot of munching and were on the verge On the Verge (or The Geography of Yearning) is a play written by Eric Overmyer. It makes extensive use of esoteric language and pop culture references from the late nineteenth century to 1955. of wiping out native wildlife, said Bill Bushing, the conservancy's vice president for science, education and ecological restoration. The conservancy tried to restore the missing vegetation and stepped up sport hunting, but the pigs and goats continued munching. The conservancy and the state Fish and Game Department approved the killings, which began in 1989. Several major environmental groups also have endorsed the hunts to rid the island of more than 1,000 goats and 3,000 pigs. Opponents will try to head off the next hunt. ``We are going to go to Fish and Game and request that in the future, they have public hearings on this kind of slaughter before it occurs,'' said Bill Dyer, 59, of Venice, a spokesman for In Defense of Animals In Defense of Animals (IDA) is an animal welfare organisation based in San Rafael, California, USA. Its slogan is "working to protect the rights, welfare, and habitats of animals". . Capturing and removing animals would be more humane, Dyer said. |
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