Sterilization

Despite fierce criticism, Lancaster officials have unanimously adopted an ordinance that will impose stiff penalties on the owners of "potentially dangerous" and "vicious" dogs, particularly those that law enforcement officials say are favored by gang members to intimidate rivals and others. Under the new law, dogs that are unprovoked and engage in aggressive behavior, may be found to be "potentially dangerous."

Agriculture officials will release millions of sterile Mexican fruit flies in parts of Los Angeles County to curb an infestation that could affect the state's agriculture industry. County agricultural commissioner Ken Pellman says four Mexican fruit flies, including one mated female, were discovered in the Azusa area this month. About 6.5 million sterile flies will be released in the area once a week to stop the reproductive cycle of the crop-destroying insect. Mexican fruit flies lay eggs in fruit, and when the larvae hatch, they eat through the pulp of the fruit and destroy it. Pellman said fruit has already been stripped from 64 properties near sites where the fruit flies were found.

The problem of alienation -- from others, from one's family, from one's culture and ultimately from oneself -- drives the story of "The Delivery Room," the fourth novel by American-cum-British novelist Sylvia Brownrigg. A stylist of taste and reserve, Brownrigg's prose flows like the literary equivalent of the beige drone of NPR playing in the background -- always rational, modulated and strangely comforting, no matter the trouble being described.

A hospital does not have to compensate a Gypsy it sterilized without her consent, a Czech appeals court ruled. It cited the statute of limitations in overturning the nation's first monetary award for forced sterilization. Human rights groups believe hundreds of women from the Czech Republic's Gypsy, or Roma, minority of about 250,000 people were sterilized against their will. Plaintiff Iveta Cervenakova, now 32, was illegally sterilized in 1997 after the birth of her second daughter.

A Los Angeles judge has wiped out most of a jury verdict awarding millions of dollars to Nicaraguan field hands who applied pesticides to Dole Food Co. crops and who are now sterile. Although the decision leaves four workers with $1.58 million, it will undercut claims of an estimated 6,000 others who have sued in the United States for similar injuries suffered outside of this country. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Victoria G. Chaney overturned jury verdicts in the first U.S.

The City Council voted 14 to 1 Tuesday to pass an ordinance mandating that most pet dogs and cats in the city be sterilized at as early as 4 months. The dissenter was Councilman Bill Rosendahl, who commented a week and a half ago that he had problems with requiring that dogs be altered so young and that he believed the city should focus first on licensing more dogs. Exemptions will be available for animals of licensed breeders, show animals, service animals and those pets whose veterinarians believe the procedure too risky.

The Los Angeles City Council voted 10 to 1 Friday to approve mandatory sterilization of most dogs and cats at the age of 4 months or older, and city officials pledged low-key enforcement driven by complaints. The ordinance must get a second reading in a week, but it is expected to pass. The measure, initiated by Councilman Richard Alarcon, offers exemptions for animals of licensed breeders, show animals and service animals.

The first phone call came a couple of years ago. A man was on the line, recalled Ellen Lavinthal, president of the rescue group Animal Alliance, and he said, "I have a litter of kittens. I need to get rid of them." She picked up the kittens and dropped off a voucher that would allow the owner to get the mother spayed at a low cost. Six months later, the man called back. "He said, 'I've got another litter. Are you going to come get them?' " Lavinthal did. And she dropped off another voucher.

A Los Angeles jury ordered Dole Food Co. on Thursday to pay five Nicaraguan banana plantation workers $2.5 million as punishment for concealing the dangers of a pesticide that rendered them unable to have children. The verdict, which awarded far less in punitive damages than some observers expected, was hailed as a victory by attorneys on both sides. It follows a Nov. 5 jury award of $3.2 million in compensatory damages. The five-month trial marked the first time a U.S.

A Los Angeles jury on Monday awarded $3.2 million to six Nicaraguan farmworkers who had sued Dole Food Co. Inc., arguing they had been rendered sterile some three decades ago by the international corporate giant's application of a banned pesticide on the plantations where they worked. Jurors return today to consider whether Dole, and codefendant Dow Chemical Co., should be punished with more monetary damages.