Actress and Animal Activist Elaine Hendrix being presented with the 2009 Guardian Award by IDA President Dr. Elliot Katz

February 1 was an historic day in West Hollywood. Very apropos that it landed on the 1^st of the month, for this is the very first day, in the very first city, for the very first time, that the very first law was put into motion, banning the sale of animals from puppy mills and kitten mills within the limits of West Hollywood, California. It is the very first time in history that a community and its leaders said, “ENOUGH!”, prohibiting pet shops from profiting from the sale of  sick and abused dogs and cats bred in puppy mills and, yes, even kitten mills. This is a day the tides shifted.  Not only for the animals, but for humankind as a compassionate and humane kind.
I was there with In Defense of Animals for this monumental moment..Dozens of dedicated pro-animal activists, and other organizations from all over the nation, had dedicated weeks to protesting pet stores that sold dogs and cats. The spirits of every single person standing up in the name of injustice were there. And the silent voices of every single animal who have suffered at the hands of abusers were there. It was powerful and humbling in one full, glorious moment.
Hundreds of people wrote letters, dozens of people showed up in support, a handful of key leaders spoke, but it was five city council members that truly made the difference.  It was their uncontested, UNANIMOUS vote that has changed the game for thousands of tortured and millions of homeless animals.
This isn’t the first time West Hollywood has shown true leadership. Among numerous human rights laws that have been overwhelmingly passed, West Hollywood has been animal-friendly on several other issues like the banning of de-clawing cats and officially changing their government language to include the term “Guardian” in place of “pets.”  No city is perfect, but this one sure does come giddily close in my opinion.
There are so many people who have worked tirelessly on making this law a reality.  Of the few I personally know, I’d like to mention Ed Buck, a rescuer of golden retrievers and activist, who was instrumental in bringing this item to the attention of the West Hollywood City Council.  Carole Davis and Carol Sax with Social Compassion in Legislation who have diligently worked in West Hollywood specifically on this issue, IDA’s own Bill Dyer, Elle Wittelsbach, Pam Holt, Elizabeth Oreck, Jennifer Krause, Gavin Polone, Ben Harding, Kim Sill, Lori Golden, Bill Crowe, Judie Mancuso, Gary Kaskel, Wayne Pacelle and so many others.
Please forgive me if I left you off this list, and notify me for the future. Certainly there are many more issues we’re facing, and I want to applaud your efforts. In the meantime, take a deep breath and cross this one off the list.  We did it!  Congratulations and keep up the amazing work!

This blog was contributed by Elaine Hendrix, Actress, Animal Activist & IDA Board Member.

Catalina Bison

With great ardor, Bill Dyer, IDA’s Southern California Coordinator, has been fighting for the rights of one species or another every day of his life or so it seems. There have been the feral cats, dogs, goats, abused captive elephants, and whales, among so many others, and the American bison, specifically the ones on Catalina Island, 23 miles west off the coast of Los Angeles. In 2003, when the Catalina Island Conservancy, which controls more than 90 percent of the island, wanted to reduce the non-native bison population—the clock ticking infallibly—Bill, in one of the more thrilling rescues of his storied career, raised the funds to relocate 103 bison to three Native-American tribal lands in South Dakota, where they would live freely. Bill choreographed that inspired odyssey with Catalina resident Debbie Avellana, and the conservancy.

For several years IDA has been vigorously engaged in finding humane solutions to resolve the complex twin issues of animal overpopulation and of non-native species by promoting the replacement of lethal means of population control—typically used by city and governmental agencies—with non-lethal contraceptive programs. In 1994, IDA blocked a plan that would have allowed the bow hunting of Tule Elk at Pt. Reyes National Seashore, in Northern California, and, instead, triumphantly instituted a contraceptive operation. After IDA’s discussions with the conservancy about the inestimable benefits of contraception over relocation of the bison, the day finally arrived in the form of a high-tech miracle that IDA enthusiastically champions: partnering with the Catalina Island Conservancy’s contraception program that would no longer require the bison to be killed or experience the profound stress of relocation from their present habitat. IDA is contributing to the five-year, $200,000 plan, where females older than two years are injected with an annual immune-contraceptive vaccine that works by creating antibodies that attach themselves onto eggs, blocking fertilization, marking the first application of the vaccine on a wild bison herd.

Bison getting vaccine

“We want the animals to be free,” says Bill, but considering the conservancy’s resolve to reduce the herd’s numbers, contraception “is the next best thing.”

Carlos De la Rosa, the conservancy’s chief conservation and education officer, says most of the females already are pregnant, but that the inoculation won’t cause any harm to them or their babies. And it won’t create changes in their behavior with their male admirers because it is not a hormonal vaccine. “It’s kind of like love without consequences,” de la Rosa says. The process can be reversed by not administering the shot to certain bison in subsequent years, which means reproduction is still an opportunity.

The permanent residents as well as the eco-tourists on the dreamlike island are subject to preternatural delight when alighting upon the thick-furred, shaggy species. Some islanders missed them so much when they were shipped to South Dakota that they traveled to see them. Avalon’s Debbie Avellana, who staunchly resisted earlier efforts to rid the island of non-native goats and pigs, first suggested the use of contraception on the bison. “I’m so happy. Our bison don’t have to be shipped out or killed,” she says, “and they will have more to eat.”

The goal of the program is to decrease the herd to a healthier, less environmentally damaging 150 to 200 bison, a number that is manageable for the conservancy as it seeks to protect the island’s sensitive ecosystems while ensuring the health of its buffalo herd. “We really are trying to find that balance between protection of the environment, restoration of the environment, and the social and cultural values we believe are so important to our lives,” says Ann Muscat, the conservancy’s president and chief executive officer. “And keeping the bison here is something our board found is important to the community.”

Bill Dyer says the birth control plan has advantages over corralling the bison for a ride to the mainland. “The expense of it, and the stress it puts on them,” he said, “all of that is over now.”

If there is a belief that pulses throughout IDA and its passionate membership, it is that the bison deserve to be protected on their “dream space,” as Saul Bellow once called it, from the consequences of bad politics.

The process