Animal welfare roundup

PETA is not alone

More "animal rescue" fraud:

"Noah's Wish, an animal rescue group based in Placerville, has closed operations and is being investigated by the California attorney general's office for how it spent and accounted for millions of dollars that poured in after Hurricane Katrina. The organization, which was founded in 2002 by Terri Crisp, rescued animals in disasters and drew widespread publicity for its work in the days following Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Before Katrina, the group brought in between $100,000 and $200,000 a year, according to financial nonprofit records filed with the state. After the hurricane, a staggering $8.5 million in cash and other contributions poured in, according to financial documents obtained by The Bee.

Animal Rescue Workers Face Trial Over Shelter Conditions:

"LONG BEACH, Calif. -- A judge Thursday ordered a pair of animal rescue workers to stand trial on animal cruelty charges stemming from the discovery of nearly 300 sick cats and dogs in a shelter they ran. Long Beach Superior Court Judge J.D. Lord found sufficient evidence for Alexia Selma Tiraki-Kyrklund and Gloria Ramos to go to trial on 13 felony counts of animal cruelty. The women, both 39, ran Noah's Ark Animal Rescue. Animal control officers found 152 dogs and 147 cats in the company's warehouse after a police officer responding to an alarm smelled a foul odor. Most animals were emaciated and covered in urine and feces and at least one animal had to be euthanized, said Deputy District Attorney Lakeri Patankar.

Massachusetts fat-cats:

"Before the Animal Rescue League of Boston opened its Pembroke shelter in 2002, animal welfare advocates criticized the nonprofit organization for sitting on its money, taking a decade to build a shelter and spending too little on animal care and services. Now, as the League prepares to walk away from the shelter after only five years, critics question the organization's spending habits, including investments and executive salaries.

In 2005, the most recent year for which a tax return is available, the League brought in almost $7.2 million in revenue and spent nearly $8.9 million.

That year, $6.8 million went to program services and nearly $4 million to salaries.

The League's outgoing president, Arthur Slade, was paid $203,909 in salary plus $14,846 in pension contributions and deferred compensation. The incoming president that year, John Bowen, earned nearly $15,000 for his first month's work, starting Dec. 1, 2005. The League's chief operating officer earned about $151,000 and at least four other top employees, one of them a veterinarian, earned between $84,000 and $94,000. The League also paid 12 other employees $50,000 or more."

Anti-fur crowd lecture Pope about "sacredness":

"An Italian animal rights group today asked Pope Benedict XVI to stop wearing fur out of "respect for the sacredness" of animals' lives. The Italian Anti-Vivisection League said the Pope should not wear a fur hat the Vatican has ordered from a manufacturer in the northern city of Pavia ahead of his visit to a university there on April 22. "Out of respect for the sacredness of the lives of all living species, we invite the Holy Father to arrive at a choice of high religious and ethical value by giving up fur clothing for that occasion and for the future," the group's vice president, Roberto Bennati, said. Benedict XVI, who will celebrate his 80th birthday on Monday, regularly wears clothing with fur, particularly during outdoor ceremonies in the winter."