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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1987-03-04, Page 15The theme for this year's carnival was A Trip Through Space and featured a number of skaters as astronauts, rnermaids.,..Cyclopse and meteorites. *Entertainment •f=eatures *Religion *Family •More Fi �)N1 1.1 0010 00000010000: _-- }D•I:R QH--f +6N-A-tr'SfAi-WEMESDAT, MATTCH 4T1987 -PAGE 1A Trip Through Space Skaters shine in club's annual skating show and carnival Saturday Sarh Adamson has her skates tied by mom Connie .Adamson prior • to Saturday afternoon's figure skating ednival. Waiting for mom • to put on her skates is younger sister Lacey Adamson. The Goderich Figure Skating Club presented its annual figure skating. carnival on Saturday at the arena. Th4iayeac's theme was A Trip Through Space and featured astronauts; ttFO's• stars, Neptune - mermaids, Princess Leah and Luke Skywalker: (photo by Lou -Ann Hope) .. m -+5� x r, 3 4Tk �� "s,....•.rA�� Taking part hi Saturday's A .Trip Through Space figure skating carnival was thi5'group of Novice 3-4 skaters as,Stars.. These two y ung skaters were part of Saturday's figure skat?na carnival at the Goderich Arena. Thi• year's them, A Trip Through Space, .saw sl number of•skaters perform such as�=wy =, A�,'�" " "fes^ these two.yptune Mermaids.' Takingpart in the Goderich Figure Skating Clubs annual carnival. held Saturday was this group of senior skaters as Mars- Martians. 0E503M, 427t,' N 'CEP 0 • ;10,Pi `": F3Y WILLIAM 4. THOMAS iiety discusses rabies at annual meeting � 3y David Emslie CLINTON - Members of the Huronia Branch of he ,Ontario Humane Society (OHS r 'recei ed an education in a few dif- ferent areas M'hen their annual meeting; Was held here on uFebruaR' 19. The first siiibject they were tutored in w rabies. Dr. L Peter Wiley, of. the Clinton- Seaforth Vet the meeting "Rabies ai days. It has, around here, probably the rinary Services was present at o discuss the deadly virus. e on everybody's minds these reached epidemic proportions ' Dr, Wiley began. "Canada is worst country for rabies the climate is rght."He added that rabies is like the cold, and if an an animal were to die of the virus the winter, the disease could stay in the animal, until spring. The virus began it's march across Canada in Alaska, he explained, and spreads 100 to 200 miles every year. According to Dr. Wiley, the clirnate, add- ed to a high concentration of wildlife, people and pets in this area are all causes for the high number of rabies cases in this area. Comparatively, a country such as Africa has very little rabies even though they have a lit of wildlife. This is again because of climate because if the virus is exposed to the sun it will last only two or three hours. "The rabies virus has a little scheme worked out; it can make animals vicious and give them the urge to bite. It's a great system for passing on the virus," Dr. Wiley noted, adding the disease is usually passed on through bites. Although many animals do become violent when afflicted with rabies, this is not the rule as there is a strain of the virus that makes an animal become slow and lethargic before it gets convulsions and dies. The virus travels through the•nerve cells in an animal's body until it reaches the brain. Because of this method of travel, it can be many months before a rabid animal shows signs of the disease. "If a cow was nipped on the tip of -the tail by a rabid fox it,could be six to nine months before it , wed signs," said Dr. Wiley. "If animals do show signs, they'll be dead within 10 days time, but it's usually five to seven 'days." He said cats are about the worst animals when hit with the virus. "Typically, a cat with rabies will hide in a ditch or on the side of the road, and when someone comes by they'll bite ancf scratch them, then take off." Rabies has reached epidemic proportions in Huron County To control rabies; Dr. Wiley' said there are two things to do. The first is to prevent ex- posure by keeping dogs around the house and not letting cats out at night. The second is to make sure pets are vaccinated every year. Although som&vaccines are said to last two or three years, he said vaccinations, should be done yearly. To meet one of these goals, Huron County veterinarians, in co-operation with the Huron County Health unit have established Huron County Rabies Prevention Week. At participating clinics rabies shots will bepro- vided to all pets for $6 per animal on March 4 and March 7. "If you have a dog or cat it should be vlc- cinated," Dr. Wiley stressed. Although he has been vaccinated against rabies, he said he still feels uneasy when having td deal with ancanimal that might have rabies. "It's quite a scary disease, really. I always get shivers up my backbone when I'm handling that type of animal," he said. As there is a new strain of rabies in the United States that affects an animal that hadn't previously been afflicted with rabies, raccoons, Dr. Wiley was asked whether he thought the conditions in Huron County would worsen. "Yes, if it gets into 'coons, it's going to get worse yet," he concluded.' Finances Following Dr. Wiley's presentation, Rick Koury, inspector for the Ontario Humane Society 4.OHS1 took the floor. After carrying out•elections for this.year's board of .directors and executive, Mr. Koury, who works out of the head office of the ',HS in New Market, discussed financial matters with the members. More specifically, he discussed why the year end had changed as well as why audits were carried out on the branch books. One of the main reasons audits were tak- ing place, he said, was because the amount of money in the society's shelter accounts had gone froeh nothing fn 1981 to $500,000 ih 1986. "The reason we wanted the books audited was because the auditors were saying, 'Wait a minute, you're getting reports from your branches, but they're not audited'. The auditors said this was fine before, but we didn't have half a million in shelter funds then,' Mr.• Koury explained. "The ,long and short of it is, the auditors said we now want the branch books formally •,udited." The year end was changed, he said, because the books were previously reaching the auditors around February, which is their prime time with income taxes. As it is their prime time, the work was taking longer to get back to the OHS. There is also a better chance the auditors will donate their work if it is not handled at this busy time, he added. After coveting these two areas, Mr. Koury went onto the subject of provincial funding. He explained that in 1982 the govdrnment did an assessment of the OHS and said if they met certain criteria, such as hiring a chief inspector and providing better train- ing, they should receive $500,000 from the provincial government. �'•We have received, and still receive, since 1977, $85,000. We did a calculation bas- ed on 1977 dollars, and that $85,000 is now worth $45,500 spending dollars," he said. This lack of funds caused the society to start winding down animal protection ser- vices in March of 1986. After suspending their agents working in this field, they in- formed the solicitor general. He told them the police would pick up the slack. This, however, did not solve the problem as when the police were faced with a cruelty to animal case, they found they didn't have money in their budget to cover it. He cited an incident where to free a few horses, a pony, two dogs and some geese it •cost a police department $3,000 to $4,001) because of veterinary costs and snow blow- ing costs to get at the animals. "They suddenly realized the ;costs," he said. 4.4 "We got together with them in May of 1986 and told them that seven daysa week and 24 hours a day we'd have an inspector on call. We said we'll, provide telephone back-up and physical ,assistance where" possible," ex-. plained Mr. Koury. A financial review carried out with the government revealed some startling figures. "$1,079,000 a year is being spent in Ontario' right now on animal protection services," Mr. Koury pointed out. He added that the study had a good•side. "This exercise we had with the govern- ment was •a very, very fruitful one. If nothing else is Showed the government that we're doing a gdod job in very bad ^ circumstances." Toronto Society Mr. Koury began his presentation on this subject by explaining exactly why the Toronto Humane Society is now running into problems. In 1986 they had their annual meeting, and a proxy vote was held. This election resulted in, effectively, four people running the organization, one of whom 'was from Washington. After a falling out with the other members, the Washington member left. "There are now three people running the Toronto society of 3,000 members," he pointed out, adding that these three could sell off all of the 'society's holdings, because they are all signers; This resulted in 'some problems for the OHS, as Mr. Koury stated, "The general public has the misconception that the Toron•' to and Ontario Humane Society are the same thing." The problems continued with -misinforma- tion on pound seizures, where animals are taken from a pound as soon as they, are seiz- ed for scientific experimentation. ' Mr. Koury explained that the OHS • couldn't be involved in such activities for a few different reasons. "in Ontario there is no such thing as pound seizures; it can't happen in Ontario. If a dog is picked up, it is kept for three days minimum, and at the end of this period, it can be sold, adopted or given away. We never have and "never will surrender animals for research. We operate shelter's, we don't give up animals for research." Turn topage 3• i Do you need a licence to fly this thing `Geez Roland, are you sure we should be doing this??" I inquired as telephone poles passed by like the upright slats of a picket fence. We were leaving the city of Welland at 90 m.p.h. on a clear Saturday morning and I was pinned back in the passenger seat by the sheer force ,f speed and the raw emotion of fear. "Aren't yot,afraid of cops up ahead?" I asked, more of a plea of mercy than a question requiring an answer. "Naw" Roland shrugged, "Watch this" and the needle on the speedometer jumped from 90 m.p.h. up to 118 m.p.h. That did• it. I tightened my seat belt, loosened my collar and took 10 quick gasps of air to stave off hyperventilation.. "You know Roland" I yelled, my watering eyes still staring in disbelief throughthe windshield at a world defined by wi•ndnoise,. "it's a damn good thing this is an airplane and not a car or I'd ar- rest you myself ! ".. ' I am far from fond of flying. It is a fear founded entirely by ignorance- - I just don't understand how the • dang thing stays 'up there. To me aeronautics is just a fancy word for levitation, Doug Henn;= ing style. When they dropped the pro- peller off the big ones a few years ago, that did it. From that time on I've come to look upon airplanes as long range vertical elevators. The operator hits'a few but- tons, pine passes, the door opens and., Presto! You're somewhere else. Press the wrong buttonsand time stands still and you're really somewhere. else. I'm a member of the Infrequent Flyer Club'. I give myself 'valuable bonus points every time I can take a bus, -a boat or a train instead of a plane. But none of the above could get. me to the northern Ontario town of Emsdale by noon of said .Saturday. Why anyone would want. to go to Emsdale•and in a hurry remains a mystery even to me. Hence it was hello Roland, goodbye ground and Ave were two for the high road, in a rented Cessna 172 Skyhawk. Roland Meisel is a quietly competent Port Colborne pilot who pushed and pull- ed, tried and tested every dial, drum and flap on the Skyhawk before take -Off. But he worried me. The first thing he pulled out of his flight bag was a wineskin. "Water" said the man' of few words. . Just as I had mustered all my false confidence and resigned myself to the mode of transportation best suited to pigeons, Roland looked me straight in, the eye and said: -Last chance?" "To bail out? I shrieked, deflated by his offer and reduced to the babbling idiot that heretofore confidence' and resignation had cleverly disguised. "To go to the bathroom," he said calm- ly, starting the engines and wiping out the first option entirely. Once on the runway and rolling I lost control again. Nearing the end of the run- way as fields and trees loomed larger per second I began screaming: "Roland, more throttle! We'll never make it up! More speed! We're all going to die',," "We're just taxiing" he said with that same aggravating tone of profes- sionalism as he turned the plane around, came full length up the runway and took off. At the top of,take-off with the plane straining for altitudeand my brain screaming for oxygen, I lunged for the wineskin only to learn the awful truth - water in the wineskin. 1t worried me that I had a steering wheel and a complete set of instruments on my side of the plane as well, but I said nothing. Roland was always looking something up in a little book he kept in the .pouch of the door. My God, I thought, 5,000 feet above frozen. ground and I'm flying with a guy who suffers from short term memory loss. I could hear his mind working as he thumbed the pages: "Now was that noSe up on takeoff and down on landing or was it down on takeoff and...?" 1;'or awhile 1 began to suspect Roland was one of those people who had read a lot about flying and woke up that morn- ing thinking he'd give it a shot. When the air traffic controller at Pear- son International assigned us a radar number of 4366 I panicked. I was certain it meant there were 4365 other guys like Roland flying around in that area and I instinctively went for the door. It was locked. "We'll be flying directly over the con- trol tower of Pearson International" an- nounced Roland, just like one of those blue -suited real pilots. "Safest place ac- tually" he added. 'Sure, I thought, like pushing a baby carriage diagonally across the intersec- tion of Yonge and Bloor Streets at 4:30 on a Friday afternoon. 1° smiled at him and made a mental note to throw -up in the flight bag, if and when we landed. Not a plane in sight over Toronto. "Maybe they closed the airport down for us. Ha. Ha;" laughed Roland. Yeah, maybe they Closed it down, period because they know something we don't like a twister or a typhoon. The mid-air conversation went on like that - professionalism challenging paranoia, instruments versus insafiity, the pilot and the idiot. , Turn to page 3 •