Two lucky children, Morgan Jones, 5, left, and her
sister, Amanda, 3, play with their pet miniature Ap
paloosa horses at Kennedale, Texas. One study has
found that more than eight out of ten animal-loving
oy iom neoota
C 1964 National Geographic Society
Americans have owned a pet at some time. But
animals don't fare so well in many other parts of the
world, where they are often food.
Favorite Pets In U. S. Are
Pests Or Dinner Elsewhere
By BARBARA S. MOFFET
National Geographic News Service
Some American dogs and cats have it made,
dining on special blends of food spooned from cans
and sharing their masters' comfortable beds.
French pets have it even better. Dogs there some
times accompany their masters to the fanciest
restaurants, where they perch on laps and sup from
their own dishes.
Every society has its own collective attitude
toward animals. One nation's pets are another's
pests. Creatures fondled or used for sport in one
place are part of the workplace—or the diet—some
place else.
"Probably more people around the world eat dogs
than protect them," says Dr. Alan Beck of the Cen
ter for Interaction of Animals and Society at the
University of Pennsylvania. Even a few cats wind
up on the table, especially in Haiti and the Ex
tremadura region of Spain.
Feline "Vermin"
In Israel, cat lovers are a small minority. "Most
Israelis consider cats vermin," says Nina Natelson
of Alexandria, Va., who found herself trying to
rescue animals during a trip to Israel last fall.
Natelson was haunted by large numbers of starv
ing cats and dogs on the country's beaches and
streets. She discovered that although Israelis work
hard to protect their wildlife, they give their
domestic animals low priority.
Israel's five animal shelters operate with
minimal resource? Tensions between Israel and
neighboring Arab states are a constant distraction.
"An Israeli will say, 'My cousin was killed in the
war last week and my brother was killed this week,
and you're worried about a dog?" Natelson re
counts.
She is working with concerned Israelis to raise
money for new shelters and to promote humane
care of animals, including horses and donkeys used
by vendors.
In Latin America, pets are the objects of both af
fection and drastic eradication measures.
"No matter how humble the household—dirt
floor, shacks of tin—they love their pets as much as
we do," says John Walsh of Boston, an official of the
World Society for Protection of Animals.
Mass Killings
But rabies control can mean laying out meat
laced with strychnine. "I went out with a team in
Peru," Walsh says. "Seven men killed "256 dogs in
four hours."
Walsh, who has helped write Colombia's animal
protection laws, says that nation's horses are more
often workers than pets. Nine thousand horses and
burros ply the choked streets of Bogota, the capital,
hauling produce and other freight.
In some Latin American cities, stray dogs and
cats are picked up, locked together in dirty pens,
ar.J sometime left unfed because of lack of funds.
But in Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland, no dogs
roam the streets. They've been prohibited there for
60 years out of fear of tapeworms.
Health reasons were also cited late last year with
authorities in Peking, China, began to club or drown
dogs. The animals have been officially banned from
Chinese cities since the Communists took power in
1949, but some have been kept to guard homes.
The concept of dogs as pets is strange to the
Chinese; a foreigner's dog on a leash can evoke
curiosity and shrieks of terror. But as part of a
meat, a dog can be a treat to Chinese palates.
In the Philippines, where dog meat is considered
a delicacy by some, live dogs awaiting sale in
markets lie for hours, "painfully trussed—front legs
and back—with a can jammed over their muzzles,"
says Jan Sherlock of the International Fund for
Animals.
Responding to protests from animal-rights
groups, the Philippine government has banned the
sale of dog meat in metropolitan Manila, although it
continues elsewhere.
Asian Refugee Hp' its
Americans were confronted by dog as food during
the Vietnam War era of the 1970s, when Southeast
Asian refugees began arriving in the United States,
many of them in California.
Dr. Calvin Schwabe of the University of Cali
fornia School of Veterinary Medicine thiiiks Ameri
cans should stop treating dogs and cats like sacred
cows and start following the example of Asians and
others.
"Thirteen million dogs and cats are put to sleep
each year in this country, and disposing of them is a
problem," says Schwabe, who has written a book
that includes recipes for dog. "It's perfectly edible
meat."
Hardly anyone expects such a radical departure
in the foreseeable future. Americans are too
emotionally committed to their pets.
Behind laboratory doors, hundreds of thousands
of dogs and cats, mostly from pounds, are sacrificed
yearly in scientific experiments. But when the
public learned that the Defense Department was
planning to shoot dogs, among other animals, in
research on combat wounds, the outcry was swift
and vehement. As a result, the dogs won a reprieve,
but the experiments are to continue—using other
animals.
"There's no question that Americans are oriented
to pets," says Dr. Stephen Kellert of Yale Univer
sity, who has made a national study of attitudes
about pets. Eighty-four percent of the 3,100 people
surveyed said they had had a pet sometime in their
lives. "Very few things in our society happen at
such a high rate," Kellert says.
Scientists have determined that people who have
pets tend to be healtheir than those who don't.
Studies have shown that pets can help reduce their
owners' blood pressure and combat depression. In
creasing numbers of them are finding their way into
nursing homes and mental hospitals, sometimes
helping patients who have not responded to treat
ment by fellow humans.
Recognizing the soothing potential of such
animals, Congress passed a law last year stating
that no federally assisted rental housing for the
elderly or handicapped may bar pets.
Construction Workers Early Risers
(Continued from page IB)
their skills, and with
successful completion of
both they become "cer
tified" in their area.
Because of his
previous experience,
Glenn, a graduate of
Haliwa High School,
became a certified,
card-carrying employee
of Daniel Construction
Company two months
after he began work.
The younger Richard
son, who was taught
carpentry skills by his
uncle, joined Daniel's
crew six weeks ago. He
is now attending train
ing sessions conducted
by Daniel at the plant
site and is hoping for
certification in the near
future.
Certification bright
ens the prospects for
employment at other
Daniel projects, An
thony explained.
"I might want to
follow Daniel to another
construction site," he
said. "It's a good job
and they pay decent."
Both Richardsons
have recently been in
volved in the construc
tion of frames into
which concrete is
poured, no small task
when one considers the
statistics.
When the project is
completed, more than
one-half million cubic
yards of concrete will
have been poured, and
77,000 tons of reinforcing
steel will be in place
along with 1,335 miles of
wire and cable.
The plant's facilities,
which are designed to
withstand the area's
worst in natural dis
asters, will include a
pressurized water reac
tor housed in a building
240 feet high, 130 feet in
diameter inside, with
reinforced concrete
walls 4.6 feet thick and a
dome 2.5 feet thick. The
reactor at the plant will
contain about 90 tons of
uranium and- supply
enough electricity for
the needs of 400,000
people. Dominating the
plant site is the closed
cycle cooling system
which will utilize a
cooling tower 526 feet
high and 430 feet in
diameter at the base.
A 4,100-acre man
made reservoir, Harris
Lake, is also a part of
the 11,000-acresite.
Because of the magni
tude and nuclear nature
of the project, inspec
tions are a common oc
currence.
Not only is work ex
amined by a foreman,
but also by other Daniel
supervisors, by CP&L
representatives, and
ultimately by the
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
"Occasionally inspec
tors have torn
something down to in
spect it and make sure it
was done in the right
way," Anthony said,
emphasizing that the
carpentry work
required at a nuclear
plant is "totally differ
Tar Heel Indian Graves Give Clue To Past
»
(Continued from page IB)
tie and an Indian-made
pot and bone knife.
The fourth grave
unearthed this summer
contained only two sets
of copper English
sleighbells, wistful
reminders of the long
since-decomposed in
fant with whom they
were buried.
European-Style
Cemetery
All the Occaneechi
graves discovered so far
are outside the village
itself. All are clustered
together in the style of
European cemeteries,
and all are oriented in a
northwest - southeast
direction. The heads of
all seven bodies found
this summer and last
have been in the
southeast corner of the
graves. All but one body
lay on its left side. What
is the significance of
these facts?
Supported by a grant
from the National
Geographic Society, the
scientists hope to find
some answers in an
older excavation only
2CA yards to the east. It
is a small Indian settle
ment that predates the
arrival of Europeans in
the area.
"To have the two
villages side by side to
compare, to contrast a
1700 Occaneechi town
with a village 150 or 200
years earlier, occupying
the same environment,
almost the same real
estate, is very unusual,"
says Dickens.
Already the scientists
have noted significant
differences between the
two groups of Indians.
The older ones, not yet
identified by tribe,
buried their dead at
random, among their
dwellings.
Pottery made by the
earlier Indiana differed
from that of the Oc
caneechi. The older
tribe used • greater
variety of Indian tools.
The Occaneechi diet
was changing as, with
their more sophisticated
weapons, they killed
more deer and other
game. The deer hides
were their principal ar
ticle of trade.
Imported Diseases
Dickens speculates
that diseases imported
from Europe, chiefly
smallpox, helped
decimate the Oc
caneechi, as evidenced
by skeletons of children
and adults in their
prime. Before the
arrival of the
Europeans, infant mor
tality and old age took
the highest toll.
The 1983 excavations
dispelled one incorrect
hypothesis. For vears,
the older Indian sue had
been thought to be the
Occaneechi town
described by an English
viaitot in 1701.
Not so, Dickens has
established beyond
doubt The Occaneechi
site "is the first one that
we can finally,
definitely pinpoint as to
a specific group and a
specific time, so we can
use this as a datum to
kind of build around,"
he says.
The (tat* of Main* haa
3,500 mMaa of ooaatOna.
ent" from that required
by finish carpenters.
"Everything we do is
checked and rechecked
and it has to be safe," he
noted.
Employees at the
.plant work in 10-hour
shifts five days a week.
Added to the time the
Richardsons spend in
transit each day, little
time is left for
recreation.
"I like to night fish..
..but to tell the truth, I
haven't fished too much
lately," Anthony, who is
married and the father
of two children, quip
ped.
Glenn, who also has
two children, finds time
for an occasional game
of softball and for his
work as a member of the
N. C. Commission of In
Sales Popping
The U.S. population has
increased 17 percent in the
last IS years, but popcorn
sales have almost doubled.
The average American eats
42 quarts of popcorn a year.
In Memoriam
In memory of our dear
brother, Frank Park
who passed away on
August 16,1981.
Just a thought of sweet
remembrance,'
Just a memory fond and
true;
Just a token of affection,
And a heartache still for
you.
We all loved you, but
God loved you best
So He took you home to
rest.
Sadly missed,
SISTER, PRECIOUS
HENDERSON
SISTER, TAMAR
SEWARD
AND BROTHERS
We Love You.
dian Affairs.
Neither of the Rich
ardsons know what
they'll do at the comple
tion of the Shearon
Harris project, but both
feel their time in com
muting has been well
spent.
"It's worth it," Glenn
concluded. "At the end
of the day, I know I've
accomplished some
thing."
Soma say not • single bank existed soywhere in the 13
colonial before the American Revolution, and that any
one needing money had to borrow from an individual.
NOTICE
Congressman Tim Valentine
will be in Warren Co. at the
Warren County Courthouse on
August 23 from 4 p.m. until 5
p.m. to meet with interested
citizens.