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AR-NEWS Digest 488
Topics covered in this issue include:
1) (US) Suspected toxins close Md. waterway
by allen schubert
2) Admin Note--subscription options
by allen schubert
3) (US) Activists oppose Puerto Rican dolphin, sea-lion show
by allen schubert
4) Fwd: [PT] animal rights
by hsuswild@ix.netcom.com (HSUS Wildlife)
5) Speaking of Women
by Anvilmike@aol.com
6) Newswire: Home Needed for Wayward Cow (Calif., US)
by Lawrence Carter-Long
7) AR-News Post on Dissection Requested
by LCartLng@gvn.net (Lawrence Carter-Long)
8) Animal Action protests Health Canada
by Sean Thomas
9) Animal Action gets National Coverage for Canada's primates
by Sean Thomas
10) Humans Aren't The Only Victims of War
by Lawrence Carter-Long
11) Re: Fwd: [PT] animal rights
by civillib@cwnet.com
12) [US] Gene, the clone bull, is ready to charge
by David J Knowles
13) [UK] Fox hunts to face controls on state-owned forest land
by David J Knowles
14) [UK/JP] Robot collie will practise on ducks
by David J Knowles
15) [SA] Mice run wild on cat-free island
by David J Knowles
16) [NZ] Stoat wins high jump contest
by David J Knowles
17) [US] Skunks reclassified
by David J Knowles
18) [US] Banner Flies Over Shedd Outing
by Debbie Leahy
19) Elephant Found Dead in Poorly Vented Trailer
by LCartLng@gvn.net (Lawrence Carter-Long)
20) (US) California elk herds enter the age of birth control
by allen schubert
21) Admin Note--was: Fwd: [PT] animal rights
by allen schubert
22) (VT) Swans Spared
by "A. Hogan"
23) (US) Colorado refuge gives animals a second chance
by allen schubert
24) CIRCUS ELEPHANT FOUND DEAD
by SdeCAP@arc.unm.edu (Tisha Niemi)
25) CIRCUS ELEPHANT FOUND DEAD
by SdeCAP@arc.unm.edu (Tisha Niemi)
26) E. COLI, ALFALFA SPROUTS - USA (VIRGINIA)
by bunny
27) (US) Fish Kills Close Maryland River
by allen schubert
28) E. COLI, ALFALFA SPROUTS - USA (VIRGINIA)
by allen schubert
29) (US) Pork packer fined $12.6 million for polluting river
by allen schubert
Date: Fri, 08 Aug 1997 08:03:01 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Suspected toxins close Md. waterway
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970808080258.006d93c4@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from USA Today web page:
-----------------------------------------
Suspected toxins close Md. waterway
Thousands of dead fish with lesions were found for the second day along a
5-mile stretch of the lower Pocomoke River near Shelltown, Md., Thursday,
leading to concerns the deaths might have been caused by a toxic
micro-organism. Pfeisteria piscicida has been blamed for killing more than a
billion fish in North Carolina in recent years and has been found in Florida
waters. Officials closed the Maryland waterway to swimmers and anglers and
were gathering fish and water samples to send to North Carolina and Florida.
Ten people who recently swam or fished in the Pocomoke have reported
flu-like symptoms and lesions.
Date: Fri, 08 Aug 1997 08:08:29 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Admin Note--subscription options
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970808080827.0069b77c@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
routine posting...........
Here are some items of general information (found in the "welcome letter"
sent when people subscribe--but often lose!)...included: how to post and
how to change your subscription status (useful if you are going on
vacation--either by "unsubscribe" or "postpone").
---------------------------------------------------------------
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Discussions on AR-News will NOT be allowed and we ask that any
commentary either be taken to AR-Views or to private E-mail.
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For all commands, use a blank Subject line.
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set ar-news mail digest
To switch back to immediate mail, and to get copies of *your* postings
also, send the following command:
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If you have problems, please contact:
Allen Schubert
alathome@clark.net
Date: Fri, 08 Aug 1997 08:10:36 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Activists oppose Puerto Rican dolphin, sea-lion show
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970808081034.0069b77c@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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from Mercury Center web page:
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Posted at 6:40 p.m. PDT Thursday, August 7, 1997
Activists oppose Puerto Rican dolphin, sea-lion show
Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service
MIAMI -- A company based in Cali, Colombia, is
meeting opposition from animal rights activists in
the United States and other countries who seek to
block its plan to tour Puerto Rico with a show
featuring dolphins and sea lions.
Dozens of letters from animal rights defenders from
London to Martinique have arrived at the Maryland
offices of the National Marine Fisheries Service,
asking that the company, WaterLand-Mundo Marino, be
barred from entering Puerto Rico, a U.S.
commonwealth. They say admission to the island
could enable the show to travel freely to other
parts of the United States.
The fisheries service is holding hearings on the
matter.
``The period for testimony ends Aug. 25, but we
won't make a decision until 30 days later,'' said
Ann Terbush, chief of the service's Division of
Permits and Documentation. ``That would take us
until the end of September.''
The show, known as Mundo Marino, is now in Jamaica
and plans to take its two dolphins and three sea
lions to Puerto Rico in late September or early
October to tour San Juan, Ponce and Mayaguez.
Traveling shows featuring marine mammals have not
been allowed in the United States since 1972, when
Congress approved the Marine Mammals Protection
Act. The law bans the exploitation, harassment or
sacrifice of whales, dolphins, seals, manatees,
otters and polar bears.
To obtain a U.S. entry permit, the show's owners
must prove the animals were captured under humane
conditions. The show's critics say Mundo Marino has
been unable to do that.
``Permits for these shows have not been granted in
the United States for a while, because they're
considered to be cruel to animals,'' activist Lisl
Wright said from Rincon, Puerto Rico.
Activists have denounced the conditions in which
the animals have allegedly been kept during the
current tour, which started early last year and has
included stops in Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El
Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and the Dominican
Republic. They have also cast doubt on the origin
of some of the animals.
For example, they point to Mundo Marino documents
saying the conditions under which the Russian-born
dolphin Sheryl was first captured are unknown.
Another dolphin, a Cuban animal named Bilin, was
donated to Mundo Marino by the Cuban government,
according to Producciones Roca, the show's
producer. But activists say Cuba doesn't donate
animals -- it sells them. They also say there are
inconsistencies regarding the date of its capture.
``The complaints are baseless,'' Ruben Roca, Mundo
Marino's general manager, said from Kingston,
Jamaica. ``Our company is backed by the main
(medical) institutions in Colombia, which respect
our work in dolphin therapy.''
Roca said this type of treatment, which the show
carries to universities and health centers in
Colombia, benefits children with Down's syndrome,
cerebral palsy and autism. Physical contact seems
to have positive effects on the patients without
harming the dolphins, he said.
According to Jim Rogers, a spokesman for the
Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service, which supervises the issuing of
such permits, Mundo Marino will have to meet
certain requirements before it can be granted a
license to perform.
``We issue a license after we see the facilities in
which the animals live,'' Rogers said. The show's
producers ``must comply with the Animal Welfare
Act, which covers marine mammals and regulates
exhibitors, dealers, laboratories and carriers.''
Federal regulations are not enough, critics
contend.
``There are laws for the protection of these
animals when they're in captivity, but the
(National Marine Fisheries Service) has failed to
enforce them on many occasions,'' said Mary Mosley,
founder and president of the Coalition Against U.S.
Exportation of Dolphins, speaking from Tarpon
Springs, Fla.
``If (the show) enters Puerto Rico, it will enter
Florida,'' said Mark Berman of Earth Island
Institute, a San Francisco-based environmental
organization.
Hugo Castello, chief of the Argentine Institute of
Natural Sciences Research, said he is troubled by
the fact that renowned marine mammal expert Antonio
Mignucci is linked to the show.
Mignucci, a professor at the University of Puerto
Rico and director of the Caribbean Stranding (CQ)
Network, which rescues beached mammals, said Mundo
Marino producers hired him for his expertise when
they needed to complete the applications required
by the U.S. government.
He believes two issues sparked the controversy.
``There is the question of whether (the sea
mammals) will enter the country legally or not, and
there's the burning issue of whether dolphins
should be kept in captivity,'' he said. ``I
understand both viewpoints, but they're different
issues.''
What's important, he said, is that if the show is
allowed to enter Puerto Rico, it does so legally
``and under conditions that keep the animals in
good health.''
Date: Fri, 8 Aug 1997 08:40:20 -0500 (CDT)
From: hsuswild@ix.netcom.com (HSUS Wildlife)
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Fwd: [PT] animal rights
Message-ID: <199708081340.IAA23273@dfw-ix12.ix.netcom.com>
X-Primate-Talk-Id: 08/07/97 15:51:16
(from rlrichar@ouray.cudenver.edu [ REBECCA LYNN RICHARDSON ])
Through all of the debate on animal rights I have tried to stay out of
this but just today I was given a copy of a flyer to announcing a
"rally"
to protest the research being done at the facility where I am working.
The information that is handed out to the public is false. The picture
shows a rhesus baby named Britches - we do not house rhesus monkeys,
much
less have a monkey by that name. The flyer states that we take the
infants from their mothers and put them in single barren cages for the
rest of their lives. WRONG!!!!!!!! The animals are in social groups -
and
we do whatever we can to provide enrichment for each and every animal.
Our facility has received awards and high praise from the USDA on the
enrichment program that we have.
I understand the need for voices to be heard in protest because
there is useless research being done. I understand the need for
regulations and control - I am hoping to eventually work in primate
conservation. I love primates - they are my world. But presenting
false
and accusatory information will not get proper results - it only
exacerbates the problem. It maintains a terrible cycle of neither the
public nor the researchers being able to trust one another. The AR
people
can't be trusted b/c they twist the truth to incite public attention -
and
as a result the researchers will not release information thus causing
them
to be untrustworthy at the same time. It's very frustrating to be
labeled
by the public and not be able to be open about my job with people for
fear
of being verbally assaulted by ignorant strangers. I took this job
first
as an enrichment volunteer and have loved being able to provide new and
interesting ideas to the entertain the animals. Let's face it
captivity
is not a choice - but releasing captive animals is not one either.
This will be my only submission - if anyone out there feels like
attacking me - do so at your own expenditure of energy. There will be
no
responses.
Date: Fri, 8 Aug 1997 10:04:16 -0400 (EDT)
From: Anvilmike@aol.com
To: Arrobat@aol.com
Cc: ADACSS@aol.com, Paxton32@aol.com, SueKensing@aol.com, ThnderDrmr@aol.com,
Tawanda92@aol.com, groomesd@pilot.msu.edu, communications@hrcusa.org,
DrDebster@aol.com, RTolman@umich.edu, HonCan@aol.com,
SisterSpir@aol.com, ssdoyle@oakland.edu, hayse@pilot.msu.edu,
kipjac@mailgw.anes.med.umich.edu, Kinda7@aol.com,
72607.2671@compuserve.com, MJAWHITE@aol.com, WCouncilon@aol.com,
Gaylepass@aol.com, JBrooksh@aol.com, wise@ncats.newaygo.mi.us,
User104822@aol.com, Cyberknee@aol.com, TandJCape@aol.com,
Loisplant@aol.com, lansing.mjilan.mccartyd@state.mi.us,
mcadv@pilot.msu.edu, Schlobin@aol.com, KHowe@aol.com, LoreJD@aol.com,
DRRWMS@msn.com, femmaj@smtp.feminist.org, Savos@aol.com,
cachrisi@concentric.net, onissues@echonyc.com, Anvilmike@aol.com,
cybergrrl@cgim.com, moonshadow@persephone.org, sarahg@netcom.com,
snowbird@sns-access.com, twebb@iaw.com, AABL@isomedia.com,
Subject: Speaking of Women
Message-ID: <970808100346_64651566@emout19.mail.aol.com>
Today is Friday, August 8, 1997.
Sunny skies, 80 degrees, no threats of lawsuits yet today.
Speaking of Women - Today's Cognition:
"The more I see of men, the more I admire dogs."
- Jeanne-Marie Roland (1754-1793)
Oh oh: from Robert's Rules of Lesbian Living by Shelly Roberts:
1. The average interval between lesbian relationships is a minus three point
seven minutes.
2. The term "lesbian therapist" is redundant.
(thanks to kat!)
Date: Fri, 08 Aug 1997 09:22:22 -0700
From: Lawrence Carter-Long
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Cc: lcartlng@gvns1.gvn.net
Subject: Newswire: Home Needed for Wayward Cow (Calif., US)
Message-ID: <33EB47BE.5DD0@mail-1.gvn.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
HOME FOR WAYWARD COW
August 8, 1997
From the DAILY NEWS OF LOS ANGELES :
An animal rights group will try to find a home for Missy Cow
Cow, a bulletproof cow who faces execution or starvation this
winter.
The group known as Farm Sanctuary houses about 300
abandoned or abused farm animals in Orland, Calif., about 100
miles north of Sacramento.
One of its members in Pullman read about Missy Cow Cow and
alerted the group, said Diane Miller of Farm Sanctuary.
Missy Cow Cow ran away from the Alpine Boys Ranch near Plain
about seven years ago and has been living in Chumstick Valley,
north of Leavenworth in north-central Washington.
For several years, she had been living on the property of Judy
and Ron Magnusson, eating their plants and becoming a kind of
pet.
But the Magnussons spent more than $1,000 feeding her last
winter, and their yard reeked of urine this spring. They couldn't
afford to repeat the performance this coming winter.
They tried to have her humanely killed, with the idea of giving her
meat to the Alpine Boys Ranch. But the men hired to do the deed
used .22-caliber hollow point bullets. The three shots bounced off
her thick winter hide and she ran into the hills.
Farm Sanctuary will first try to find a home in Washington for the
cow. If that doesn't work by the end of summer, they'll move her
to California, Miller said.
--
Lawrence Carter-Long
Coordinator, Science and Research Issues
Animal Protection Institute
phone: 916-731-5521
LCartLng@gvn.net
"Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of too
much life by doing so. Aim above morality. Be not simply
good; be good for something." -- Henry David Thoreau
Date: Fri, 8 Aug 1997 09:06:44 -0700
From: LCartLng@gvn.net (Lawrence Carter-Long)
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: AR-News Post on Dissection Requested
Message-ID: <199708081630.MAA22952@envirolink.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Greetings all -
I'm told that someone posted a message to AR News
a day or so ago re: dissection and some company or
business with the word "nature" in it. That's all I know.
If anybody kept a copy of this item (or anything that
sounds remotely close to it) - would you please send
it my way?
Many thanks!
Lawrence Carter-Long
Coordinator, Science and Research Issues
Animal Protection Institute
phone: 916-731-5521
LCartLng@gvn.net
"Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of too
much life by doing so. Aim above morality. Be not simply
good; be good for something." -- Henry David Thoreau
Date: Fri, 08 Aug 1997 14:05:31 -0700
From: Sean Thomas
To: ar-news@envirolink.com
Subject: Animal Action protests Health Canada
Message-ID: <33EB8A1B.104D@sympatico.ca>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="------------16BF9B93684"
Sean Thomas
Co-Director, Animal Action
Ottawa Citizen Hit reload or refresh if you're not getting today's
Online date.
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[National - Ottawa Citizen Online]
Friday 8 August 1997
Activists want monkeys retired to Texas
Animal Action applauds sanctuary's offer to house Health
Canada's macaques
Randy Boswell
The Ottawa Citizen
The federal government Rod MacIvor, the Ottawa
should take up an
offer from a Texas Citizen / Animal Action leader
monkey sanctuary and Len Goldberg dramatizes what
retire its 750 his group says is the plight of
long-tailed macaques Health Canada's macaque colony
from research, says a yesterday as government
local group that security officers stand outside
claims Health Canada a Health Canada building at
mistreats its Tunney's Pasture.
primates.
Animal Action, known mainly for its efforts to ban the
sale of fur and foie gras -- a delicacy made from the
livers of force-fed ducks and geese -- staged a
theatrical protest yesterday outside a Health Canada
building at Tunney's Pasture in which Health Minister
Allan Rock has an office.
Animal Action leader Len Goldberg, clad in prison stripes
and a monkey mask, squeezed into a small cage and feigned
boredom, nervous tics and other symptoms of incarceration
that the group says plague the Health Canada monkeys.
The Health Canada macaques have been used to research
herpes and AIDS, to screen polio vaccines and to probe
the effects of chemicals ranging from PCBs to caffeine.
A Royal Society panel of scientists and philosophers is
to deliver a report in November recommending what the
government should do with the monkeys. Severe budget cuts
could force Health Canada to sell the colony to industry
or universities.
Primarily Primates, a Texas animal sanctuary that
currently houses about 450 apes and monkeys, has offered
to serve as a "retirement home" for the macaques,
provided Canada helps pay for their stay.
Animal Action spokesman Sean Thomas, who was permitted to
view Health Canada's monkey colony in April, claims the
animals currently live in "atrocious" conditions where
extreme boredom and isolation in small cages lead many
monkeys to gnaw their own tails, pull out their hair or
perform other acts of self-mutilation.
He also charged that the animals are rarely given toys,
sticks or "enrichment exercises" common in U.S.
laboratories using animal subjects.
The claims of mistreatment are strongly disputed by Jim
Wong, chief veterinarian with the Canadian Council on
Animal Care and the man responsible for inspections of
Health Canada's primates.
"They are treated as well as any laboratory animal could
be treated," said Mr. Wong, who was involved in
establishing the primate colony 15 years ago.
He said the last inspection of the colony was conducted
18 months ago by another council veterinarian and that
Health Canada met all requirements for animal care --
including the supply of objects for stimulation and
"foraging pads" with food crystals that simulate the
forest environments in which wild monkeys might pick away
at trees for nutritious morsels.
"Health Canada has gone ahead and established group
housing for many of the animals, but there are
limitations of cost and space," he said, acknowledging
that group enclosures rather than individual cages would
provide a better quality of life.
"But this is a laboratory setting -- they're not there as
pets or in a zoo. They're there for a research purpose."
Health Canada has not yet responded to requests from the
Citizen for a tour of the primate colony.
Two animal welfare activists from Toronto, both of whom
served earlier this year on a Health Canada advisory
committee that examined the future of the animal
resources division, applaud the spirit of the offer from
Primarily Primates. But both Stephanie Brown of the
Canadian Federation of Humane Societies and Andrea
Villiers of Zoocheck Canada say it is unlikely Health
Canada will put the entire colony out to pasture in
Texas.
Ms. Villiers called the pitch from Primarily Primates "a
generous offer" but said "the Health Canada primate
colony should stay in Canada. The federal government
created it and it should take responsibility for it."
Primarily Primates spokesman Stephen Tello said the
sanctuary recently took in five marmoset monkeys
"rescued" by the Urban Animal Advocates Wildlife Centre
in Montreal from a basement breeding operation.
And he said NASA is considering the sanctuary as a
potential home for 150 chimpanzees that have been used in
space research.
Mr. Tello said Primarily Primates is also bracing for
major demand for its sanctuary services following a
recommendation last month from the U.S. National Research
Council that comfortable retirement for chimpanzees
should become part of the U.S. animal-research regime.
The United States has far more chimpanzees than it needs
for research. About 1,500 chimps live in six research
facilities around the country as a result of a breeding
program undertaken in the late 1980s to provide a large
population for research on AIDS.
But the chimpanzees were less promising for AIDS research
than presumed because few of the animals develop
full-blown versions of the disease once exposed to the
virus.
Mr. Tello says the cost of maintaining Canada's macaques
would be only about $3 per day per animal -- about half
of the $6 per diem for chimpanzees and much less than the
cost of maintaining monkeys in laboratory settings.
Mr. Wong, who said he is familiar with Primarily
Primates, said the sanctuary is doing "good work" as a
shelter for unwanted animals in the United States but
added that the operation faces constant funding
difficulties.
"They don't have the resources to look after these
(Health Canada) animals," said Mr. Wong. "I don't think
that's the answer."
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Copyright 1997 The Ottawa Citizen
Date: Fri, 08 Aug 1997 14:13:42 -0700
From: Sean Thomas
To: ar-news@envirolink.com
Subject: Animal Action gets National Coverage for Canada's primates
Message-ID: <33EB8C06.1793@sympatico.ca>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="------------6138696B3283"
Sean Thomas
Co-Director, Animal Action
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; name="thestar action article.htm"
Content-Disposition: inline; filename="thestar action article.htm"
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Monkeys' treatment protested
Health Canada refused offer of help, group
says
OTTAWA (CP) - A group of animal welfare
activists says its offer to help better
feed and enliven the lives of caged
research monkeys has been spurned by
Health Canada.
``Conditions at Health Canada are just
atrocious,'' activist Sean Thomas said
yesterday during a demonstration outside
the office of Health Minister Allan Rock.
Thomas and Len Goldberg of the group
Animal Action were given an unprecedented
tour of Health Canada's primate research
lab in April by lab chief Dr. Pierre
Thibert.
``I thought we were going to get the
glossy tour - they'd have scrubbed the
cages and every monkey was going to be
playing happily,'' Thomas said.
Instead, he described row upon row of
individually caged monkeys, some
blood-splattered and chewing their tails,
others pulling tufts of hair from their
hides.
A TV played a daytime soap opera in the
Ottawa lab located in a government complex
called Tunney's Pasture.
``The animals in the cages here have
absolutely nothing to occupy them,''
Thomas charged.
The fate of Health Canada's 750 research
monkeys is being debated by a panel of
scientists and philosophers. The colony
costs the agency about $1 million a year.
Animal Action, which says it was granted
the tour on the condition it not publicize
what it saw, offered in a letter dated
July 21 to provide supplementary fresh
fruit and toys for the hundreds of
long-tailed macaques.
The offer was rejected last week.
Thomas said the outside assistance was
turned down because it would reflect badly
on wider funding cuts at Health Canada.
Calls to Thibert's office yesterday were
directed to Health Canada's media
relations branch, which failed to respond
to a request for an interview.
However a faxed statement from Health
Canada yesterday said: ``The health and
safety of the animals continues to be one
of Health Canada's major concerns.''
A follow-up statement later said $25,000
is spent annually on fruit and toys for
the monkeys and that up to 15 college
students serve as regular volunteers to
assist with the care of the animals.
Meanwhile, the man responsible for
monitoring the care and use of research
animals in Canada insisted the monkeys are
being treated well.
``I'm fairly familiar with management
there because I worked (in Health Canada's
primate lab) for 15 years,'' said Dr. Jim
Wong of the Canadian Council on Animal
Care, a private body funded by federal
grants.
Wong said the site is visited every three
years - the last time about 18 months ago.
``The only concern (at the last
inspection) was you had too many animals
and too little space available.
``And the cost! The cost of building a
room to house animals, particularly
monkeys, is very expensive.''
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Date: Fri, 08 Aug 1997 11:36:20 -0700
From: Lawrence Carter-Long
To: QUAKER-P@TIAN.EARLHAM.EDU
Cc: lcartlng@gvns1.gvn.net, ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Humans Aren't The Only Victims of War
Message-ID: <33EB6724.4AE2@mail-1.gvn.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
8:50 PM 8/3/1997
Animals live in distress as pets of war
Bosnia's sick dogs and cats run wild,
posing a high-risk health threat
By KEVIN MORAN
Copyright 1997 Houston Chronicle
TEXAS CITY -- Two Texans learned firsthand
recently that people were not the only creatures left
homeless, hungry and sick after the bitter civil war
that tore apart Bosnia from 1991 to 1995.
Nowadays, the country is plagued with a large
population of wild, sick dogs and cats that were
former domestic pets or born of pets displaced by
the war, said Galveston County Animal Shelter
director Shirley Tinnin.
Tinnin and Nora Angstead, a Rosenberg animal
control officer, spent 11 days in Bosnia in late June
and early July.
They trained 60 Bosnians to cope with the nation's
burgeoning animal problems.
War subjects animals to some of the same pressures
it imposes on humans, Tinnin said.
"People were having a hard time feeding themselves,
much less their animals," she said. "With the bombing
and everything that went on, it tore down the barriers
that kept their animals in. So the animals became feral
animals who no longer have owners."
Compounding the health threats the wild animals pose
is that they run free in the same areas where large
populations of rabies-carrying foxes range.
"The stray problem is bad enough, but the disease
problem was a high-risk situation," said Tinnin, 39.
Houston-based Brown & Root sent Tinnin and
Angstead to Bosnia to help deal with the animal
populations around U.S. military bases.
Tinnin said she was recommended for the work by a
Texas City veterinarian through a local pest control
expert already working in Bosnia.
She drew Angstead into the foreign adventure. The
two had become acquainted through their work.
Both women took administrative leaves without pay
while they worked the special assignment in Bosnia.
Brown & Root contracts with the U.S. government
to provide a wide range of services for U.S. military
forces in Bosnia.
Many wild animals were drawn to the U.S. military
compounds because the people there sometimes fed
them, Tinnin said.
"Who can resist a puppy?" she asked. "The next thing
you know, those animals are telling their friends and
bringing them to the camps."
While the people Tinnin and Angstead trained as
animal control workers will be working mainly around
U.S. bases, Tinnin said she expects their students will
be passing their new skills on to others in Bosnia in
fairly short order.
The Bosnian students learned all the basic animal
control techniques, combining classroom study with
on-the-job training.
"We taught them about the diseases they'd be
confronting and showed them how to actually handle
animals and read their behavior and what to do if
they're attacked by animals," Tinnin said. "Then we
would go out in the field and do actual captures with
them."
On one day in the field, the animal control trainees
picked up eight animals in a small area near one U.S.
installation.
"These animals we picked up were all diseased and
unhealthy," said Tinnin. "They had mange and
distemper. One had a broken leg where it looked like
it had been hit by a vehicle. Another one looked like
it had been shot. It had an oozing wound."
While they faced no threats of armed attack in
Bosnia, Tinnin and Angstead were trained before
they left on how to recognize land mines and other
hazards.
They found themselves training their Bosnian students
around a cemetery and fields posted with warnings
that deadly explosives remained.
Although they spent less than two weeks with their
students and communicated mainly through a
translator, Angstead and Tinnin developed strong
attachments to the students.
Tears flowed when the time for parting came, said Angstead, 37.
"The thing that really amazed me about these people
was their strength, the courage and passion and drive
to keep going," said Angstead.
"The ones we got to know and became close to will
forever change our lives. I think of them every day."
--
Lawrence Carter-Long
Coordinator, Science and Research Issues
Animal Protection Institute
phone: 916-731-5521
LCartLng@gvn.net
"Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of too
much life by doing so. Aim above morality. Be not simply
good; be good for something." -- Henry David Thoreau
Date: Fri, 8 Aug 1997 12:39:48 -0700 (PDT)
From: civillib@cwnet.com
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Re: Fwd: [PT] animal rights
Message-ID: <199708081939.MAA09718@borg.cwnet.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
AR-News list,
I am PURPOSELY PUTTING my opinion on h ere in response to the below item:
How does these opinion pieces, usully if not always, ANTI-animal rights,
make it on this list, when it is supposed to be news only, and no opinion.
My thought is that WHEN these do get on, no matter what "side" sends them,
that the other side can respond.
Either that or the offending body (I guess HSUS) should be banned from the
list for a short period, 30 days or so, and then banned permanently.
Jeez.
cres
At 08:40 AM 8/8/97 -0500, you wrote:
>
>
>X-Primate-Talk-Id: 08/07/97 15:51:16
>
>(from rlrichar@ouray.cudenver.edu [ REBECCA LYNN RICHARDSON ])
>
>Through all of the debate on animal rights I have tried to stay out of
>this but just today I was given a copy of a flyer to announcing a
>"rally"
>to protest the research being done at the facility where I am working.
>The information that is handed out to the public is false. The picture
>shows a rhesus baby named Britches - we do not house rhesus monkeys,
>much
>less have a monkey by that name. The flyer states that we take the
>infants from their mothers and put them in single barren cages for the
>rest of their lives. WRONG!!!!!!!! The animals are in social groups -
>and
>we do whatever we can to provide enrichment for each and every animal.
>Our facility has received awards and high praise from the USDA on the
>enrichment program that we have.
>I understand the need for voices to be heard in protest because
>there is useless research being done. I understand the need for
>regulations and control - I am hoping to eventually work in primate
>conservation. I love primates - they are my world. But presenting
>false
>and accusatory information will not get proper results - it only
>exacerbates the problem. It maintains a terrible cycle of neither the
>public nor the researchers being able to trust one another. The AR
>people
>can't be trusted b/c they twist the truth to incite public attention -
>and
>as a result the researchers will not release information thus causing
>them
>to be untrustworthy at the same time. It's very frustrating to be
>labeled
>by the public and not be able to be open about my job with people for
>fear
>of being verbally assaulted by ignorant strangers. I took this job
>first
>as an enrichment volunteer and have loved being able to provide new and
>interesting ideas to the entertain the animals. Let's face it
>captivity
>is not a choice - but releasing captive animals is not one either.
>
>This will be my only submission - if anyone out there feels like
>attacking me - do so at your own expenditure of energy. There will be
>no
>responses.
>
>
>
>
Date: Fri, 8 Aug 1997 13:07:59 -0700 (PDT)
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [US] Gene, the clone bull, is ready to charge
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970808130847.22cfe1ca@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>From The Electronic Telegraph - Friday, August 8th, 1997
Gene, the clone bull, is ready to charge
By Roger Highfield, Science Editor
DOLLY the cloned sheep has competition. Gene, a cloned bull, was unveiled
yesterday by an American company.
ABS Global Inc, which specialises in bull semen for artificial insemination,
has now cloned a Holstein bull calf and has several more clones in
preparation. Although not the first cloned calf, the company, based in
DeForest, Wisconsin, claims that Gene represents the first use of "a
commercially viable process" to copy cattle.
The company also announced the formation of Infigen Inc to commercialise
applications of cloning technologies, such as producing human blood proteins
in cow milk and "humanising" a cow's milk or even its tissue so
that it can be transplanted into humans.
The clones could also be used to make neutraceuticals - dietary supplements
and medically beneficial foods extracted from plants and animals.
"We can make an unlimited number of cells, freeze them for any amount of
time, then thaw them and make identical animals possessing a desired trait,"
explained Dr Michael Bishop, vice- president of research for Infigen. "Cells
from cattle containing unique, favourable traits can be stored indefinitely,
essentially preserving them for the future."
Dolly marked a remarkable achievement because adult cells were used for
cloning, rather than embryonic cells: old-fashioned cloning could be
achieved by dividing up an embryo consisting of a few cells.
Gene was made by taking so called stem cells from a 30-day-old calf foetus.
Stem cells are "blank slate" cells that have not yet specialised their
function, such as a liver, skin or muscle cell.
Growth-promoting proteins were introduced, enabling the cells to be grown in
culture. These cells were stable and provide "an unlimited genetic resource"
for cloning, when genetic material from one of the cultured cells is used to
"reprogram" an emptied egg, said Dr Bishop. "Gene was the first calf to be
born from a non-embryo-derived cell," he said.
Cloning with stem cells is seen as an easier feat than using adult cells, as
was the case with Dolly, but Dr Bishop told The Telegraph that adult cells
could be used too.
© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.
Date: Fri, 8 Aug 1997 13:08:02 -0700 (PDT)
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] Fox hunts to face controls on state-owned forest land
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970808130849.22cf4a98@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>From The Electronic Telegraph - Thursday, August 7th, 1997
Fox hunts to face controls on state-owned forest land
By Charles Clover, Environment Editor
HUNTS will be banned from using terriers or digging out foxes on State-owned
forestry land unless they comply with a number of new conditions, the
Forestry Commission said last night.
The measures to control fox hunts - which hunts said would cause a lot of
"stupid paperwork" - reveal a wide disagreement within Government over how
far to restrict hunting on its estate. The Ministry of Defence
has continued to issue licences to fox hunts on its land, with minimal
restrictions.
The Forestry Commission said that the 80 fox hunts which operate on its land
will now have to seek special permission to use terriers or to dig out foxes
which have gone to ground. Hunts will only be allowed to do this "in
exceptional circumstances, and in advance of the hunt taking place".
The commission has banned the practice of "holding-up" - where hunts seek
to prevent
foxes escaping from a particular side of a wood.
The licences for fox hunting will contain a new clause which will allow the
commission to revoke licences with one month's notice - so that if
Parliament passes measures to ban hunting across the country this could be
done speedily.
Deer hunting is to remain suspended for the rest of the year while
commissioners review
the implications of a report for the National Trust saying that deer hunting
was cruel, carried out by Prof Patrick Bateson of King's College, Cambridge.
The British Field Sports Society said the changes appear to have been
inspired "more by a desire to pacify the anti-hunting movement than by any
sensible fox control reasons".
A spokesman said: "The conditions are going to make it very difficult to
carry out fox control in Forestry Commission woodland. This isn't going to
make neighbouring farmers very happy and it is going to cause a lot of
stupid paperwork."
© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.
Date: Fri, 8 Aug 1997 13:08:04 -0700 (PDT)
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK/JP] Robot collie will practise on ducks
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970808130851.22cf40e4@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>From The Electronic Telegraph - Thursday, August 7th, 1997
Robot collie will practise on ducks
By Robert Uhlig, Technology Correspondent
TRIALS of the first mechanical sheepdog are expected within weeks, British
scientists
announced yesterday. Andy Frost, the project's leader, said it would have
"artificial intelligence to reduce the stress farm animals suffer by being
herded".
At the same time, researchers at the Sony electronics company in Japan
unveiled their
four-legged offspring, a robot pet dog for children. The company said it
hopes that "robodog" will one day end human-canine
companionship and be a hygienic alternative to live animals.
On command, robodog will play with a ball, cock its leg, turn its head,
sniff the ground and go for a walk. A spokesman said it is the first
brainchild of Sony's D-21 laboratory, which was set up to make "loveable"
robotic devices like the Tamagotchi electronic pet.
Although clumsy in the manner of a puppy, robodog has four independent legs
and does
not suffer the disadvantage of Doctor Who's mechanical dog K9 which had
wheels and was
unable to climb stairs. "At the moment it's a research exercise. We've got
no plans to sell it," Sony said.
The first robot sheepdog is the fruit of three years' research by an animal
ecologist, a computer vision expert and a specialist in animals at Oxford
University Computing Laboratory.
In trials, the researchers will attempt to herd a raft of ducks. Ducks were
chosen because they move like sheep, but more slowly and the test will take
place in an indoor arena because the robot is not rugged enough to work
outdoors.
When fully operational the robot will be able to see animals, work out where
they are moving and herd them to a pre-defined position. Mr Frost said:
"We're looking at ways of reducing stress for animals. Maybe we can find a
way to gather them up in a manner they find less distressing."
© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.
Date: Fri, 8 Aug 1997 13:08:07 -0700 (PDT)
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [SA] Mice run wild on cat-free island
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970808130854.22cf40de@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>From The Electronic Telegraph - Thursday, August 7th, 1997
Mice run wild on cat-free island
Christopher Munnion, Johannesburg
MILLIONS of mice have colonised Marion Island, a small South African
possession in the Antarctic Ocean, since scientists eliminated hundreds of
cats which were threatening the island's rare birdlife, which includes five
species of albatross.
The last of the cats, introduced nearly 50 years ago in an attempt to
control the mouse problem, was destroyed five years ago.
© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.
Date: Fri, 8 Aug 1997 13:08:09 -0700 (PDT)
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [NZ] Stoat wins high jump contest
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970808130856.22cfc7b8@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>From The Electronic Telegraph - Friday, August 8th, 1997
Stoat wins high jump contest
Paul Chapman, Wellington
A STOAT leapt 6ft 3in to win a high-jump contest in a predator "Olympics"
held by Victoria University animal behaviour scientists in Wellington, New
Zealand. The athletic abilities of local feral animals were tested to
determine the size of a fence needed around a planned bird sanctuary in the
city.
© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.
Date: Fri, 8 Aug 1997 13:08:11 -0700 (PDT)
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [US] Skunks reclassified
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970808130859.22cfc758@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>From The Province - Tuesday, August 5th, 1997
ALBUQUERQUE, NM. - (Associated Press) Skunks are being reclassified by
biologists into a family all their own.
That means they don't have to be associated with weasles anymore.
"All the genetic data out there shows that skunks just aren't fitting into
the Muselid family. They've simply been misidentified," says Jerry Dragoo,
of the University of New Mexico.
His recent finding, published in the summer issue of the Journal of
Mammalogy, is that skunks should be removed from the Mustelid family and
placed into their own family called Mephitidae.
Dragoo and co-author Rodney Honeycutt, a professor at Texas A and M
University, say the new skunk family should consist of the hog-nosed,
striped and spotted skunks of North America as well as the stink badger from
Asia.
The change will be adopted in biology text books and by mammalogists unless
someone else contradicts their findings.
Dragoo, who has been researching skunks for about 12 years, first stumbled
on to the possibility that skunks were misclassified while doing a DNA
analysisto learn what charateristics they shared with the other animals in
the Mustelid family.
"I looked at those results and figured I must have done something wrong. The
skunks just didn't fit in," he says.
Working with Honeycutt, the researchers compared skunk DNA with that of
Mustelids such as otters, badgers and weasles.
Dragoo and Honeycutt found that while the skunks shared some characteristics
with the Mustelid family, they also had those same characteristics in common
with animals in other families.
And they found that the skunks had many characteristics that set them apart
from animals in the Mustelid family in whoch they were placed 150 years ago.
"They just wouldn't fit," says Dragoo.
For Dragoo, the research has been a labor of love as well as one of science.
He adores "the cute little critters." There are four in his house and
another six in his yard.
He gets sprayed regularly but that doesn't bother him too much - he doesn't
have any sense of smell.
ANd hos skunks still have their scent glands, although most people who keep
skunks as pets have the glands removed.
The new skunk family name is welcome at Phillips University in Enid, Okla.,
where the school's mascot is "Li'l Hay," a cute black skunk.
"Obviously, we're very excited skunks have gained the recognition they
deserve by being classified in their own family," says vice-president Mike Sohn.
"Li'l Hay and all his skunk brothers and sisters deserve respect."
Date: Fri, 08 Aug 1997 18:38:03 -0400 (EDT)
From: Debbie Leahy
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [US] Banner Flies Over Shedd Outing
Message-ID: <01IM7GNMPLRM8ZEGAY@delphi.com>
MIME-version: 1.0
Content-type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII
ANTI-CAPTIVITY BANNER FLIES OVER SHEDD AQUARIUM OUTING
Aerial Advertisement Featured at Cubs Game
CHICAGO, IL - It was Animal Advocates versus Shedd Aquarium & Sea
World at Wrigley Field during this Thursday's baseball game. The
pro-captivity National Marine Educators Association 21st Annual
Conference, co-sponsored by Shedd Aquarium and Sea World and held in
Chicago this year, got a badly needed lesson in animal ethics. An
aerial advertiser flew a banner for 30 minutes that read "NO JAILS
FOR WHALES" during the game. The message served as a reminder that
whales and dolphins belong in the ocean and not in tiny, chlorinated
tanks. The Shedd Aquarium reserved a number of bleacher seats at the
Cubs game. The outing is among the conference's week long agenda.
====================
Illinois Animal Action
P.O. Box 507
Warrenville, IL 60555
630/393-2935
====================
Date: Fri, 8 Aug 1997 17:00:59 -0700
From: LCartLng@gvn.net (Lawrence Carter-Long)
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Elephant Found Dead in Poorly Vented Trailer
Message-ID: <199708082355.TAA07971@envirolink.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Posted on behalf of Animal Protection of New Mexico, Inc. (formerly
Sangre de Cristo Animal Protection, Inc.), Email: AnimalNM@aol.com
Phone: 505-265-2322, Fax 505-265-2488
========================================
Albuquerque Journal: Elephant Found Dead in Poorly Vented Trailer
by John J. Lumpkin
Albuquerque Journal Staff Writer
Albuquerque - Albuquerque Police Department officers investigating a swaying
trailer Wednesday evening made a grisly discovery - a dead elephant packed
inside along with 10 other exotic animals.
About 6:45 pm, three bicycle officers were patrolling the parking lot of the
Wyndham Hotel near the Albuquerque International Sunport. They saw a long,
enclosed trailer behind a pickup truck, and the trailer was "swaying, but
the wind wasn't enough to make it sway that much," according to officer
Duffy Ryan.
He said officers initially suspected the trailer was hauling cattle or
undocumented workers. But they questioned a man sitting in the cab of the
truck and found out an elephant was in the trailer.
Police told the man, "That trailer is not made to carry anything with a
heartbeat," Ryan said.
He estimated the temperature inside the trailer was about 120 degrees and
said the animals had only two small holes for fresh air.
"It was appalling," he said.
Police said, based on documentation the man provided, they believe the
trailer belongs to Kings Royal Circus out of Texas. The truck was
apparently taking the animals to winter quarters in San Antonio.
The vehicle apparently had been parked at the hotel while its driver went on
foot to pick up a third man at the airport, according to police.
Police said the trip originated in Nevada, but the men who were driving the
truck told the Journal they came from Grand Junction, CO. They declined to
comment further.
Police contacted city Animal Services Division and Rio Grande Zoo officials,
who discovered three Indian elephants and eight Alpacan llamas inside the
cramped trailer. One of the elephants was dead.
Bob Hillman of Animal Services said the elephant apparently died of heat
prostration, but officials planned to perform a necropsy today to see if it
had any diseases and to determine a cause of death.
The surviving animals were taken to a park near the zoo and will be examined
today.
Several hundred members of the New Mexico Zoological Society, a fund-raising
group that supports zoo efforts, were inside the hotel Wednesday night for
the group's annual convention. Police asked some to come outside to help
assess the situation.
Judy Durzo, president of the society, stared at the trailer in horror.
"This is absolutely not an appropriate way to transport animals," she said.
After dark Wednesday, groups of police, animal officials, and onlookers
stood in the parking lot and tried to figure out what to do next as the
frightened animals continued to rock the trailer.
The truck was carrying more than its legal weight and had frayed brake
lines, police said.
"It was a major accident waiting to happen," Ryan said.
The men face citations for several offenses, including cruelty to animals,
Ryan said.
==================
Lawrence Carter-Long
Coordinator, Science and Research Issues
Animal Protection Institute
phone: 916-731-5521
LCartLng@gvn.net
"Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of too
much life by doing so. Aim above morality. Be not simply
good; be good for something." -- Henry David Thoreau
Date: Fri, 08 Aug 1997 20:14:16 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) California elk herds enter the age of birth control
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970808201413.006dd784@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from CNN web page:
-------------------------------
California elk herds enter the age of birth control
August 8, 1997
Web posted at: 11:30 a.m. EDT
(1530 GMT)
From Correspondent Rusty Dornin
PT. REYES NATIONAL SEASHORE, California (CNN) --
Once Tule Elk were almost extinct in California,
but today a run of good luck for the animals has
park officials at Pt. Reyes National Seashore
wanting them to practice "safe sex."
In the last two years alone, the times have been
so good that the size of the herd has increased 33
percent.
Now wildlife experts are using helicopters in
their effort to capture some 30 females as
unwitting participants in a wildlife contraceptive
experiment.
"We're eager to test this because it really does
have nationwide implications," explained Pt. Reyes
Superintendent Don Neubacher. "Because populations
of larger animals are getting larger across the
country."
[A herd of elk] Last year, several of the female
elk were netted and then tagged
with radio collars to monitor their movements.
This year, chopper cowboys imported from Australia
and New Zealand worked the herd again, first
netting, then hobbling and blindfolding them so
that scientists can move in for the business end
of the encounter.
They check temperatures, cool the heated animals
down with water, attach a radio collar, inject the
immuno-contraceptive, administer a series of
inoculations and take some hair samples.
"The whole idea is to keep them still and calm and
stabilize respiration," Judd Howell, a wildlife
ecologist, said. "Talking softly ... helps."
From netting to release [Doe being held down]
only takes from six to 15
minutes. Animal rights groups and park officials
hope the experiment works, for the alternative is
to cull the herd through traditional methods.
"The radio collars will monitor the female
movements and then in three to five weeks, they
will get a booster shot, this time with a dart
gun," Neubacher said.
The innovative procedure is designed to keep a
rare species on the rebound, and out of harm's
way.
Date: Fri, 08 Aug 1997 20:32:10 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: hsuswild@ix.netcom.com, ar-news@envirolink.org
Cc: civillib@cwnet.com
Subject: Admin Note--was: Fwd: [PT] animal rights
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970808203206.006e0628@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
***This goes for both hsuswild@ix.netcom.com and civillib@cwnet.com:
Comments from either should be directed to me via private e-mail and not to
the list. AR-News is not a *moderated* list to better support speed of
news dissemination. Any discussion on this matter should be taken to
private e-mail or to approriate discussion lists.
---------------------------------
Please do not post commentary or personal opinions to AR-News. Such posts
are not appropriate to AR-News. Appropriate postings to AR-News include:
posting a news item, requesting information on some event, or responding to
a request for information. Discussions on AR-News will NOT be allowed and
we ask that any
commentary either be taken to AR-Views or to private E-mail.
Continued postings of inappropriate material may result in suspension of
the poster's subscription to AR-News.
Here is subscription info for AR-Views:
Send e-mail to: listproc@envirolink.org
In text/body of e-mail: subscribe ar-views firstname lastname
Also...here are some websites with info on internet resources for Veg and
AR interests:
The Global Directory (IVU)
http://www.ivu.org/global
World Guide to Vegetarianism--Internet
http://www.veg.org/veg/Guide/Internet/index.html
Date: Fri, 8 Aug 1997 20:46:14 -0400 (EDT)
From: "A. Hogan"
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (VT) Swans Spared
Message-ID:
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
>From "Across the USA" page in USA Today (12A) of Friday 8 August 1997:
"Vermont
Montpelier--Bowing to public pressure, the state Fish and Wildlife Dept.
said it would spare a flock of mute swans that were slated to be killed,
and send the birds to a home in Texas. The swans, native to Europe, are
destructive and edge out native species."
Date: Fri, 08 Aug 1997 21:34:50 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Colorado refuge gives animals a second chance
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970808213447.00683c44@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from CNN web page:
------------------------------------
Colorado refuge gives animals a second chance
August 8, 1997
Web posted at: 2:42 p.m. EDT (1842 GMT)
(CNN) -- Amid the picturesque brooks and mountains
of Colorado, mountain lions roam the sprawling
land. Eagles soar overhead, gliding through the
clear skies with delicate ease. For animals at the
Rocky Mountain Ark, the freedom represents a
second chance to live.
Orphaned and injured
animals are brought to
the refuge, where most
Rocky Mountain ark are nursed back to health
2 min. and set free again. Meet
the animals and amble
through their romping
ground with the Ark's director, Melissa Magetts.
Date: Fri, 8 Aug 1997 19:39:36 -0600 (MDT)
From: SdeCAP@arc.unm.edu (Tisha Niemi)
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: CIRCUS ELEPHANT FOUND DEAD
Message-ID:
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Elephant Found Dead in Poorly Vented Trailer
by John J. Lumpkin
Albuquerque Journal Staff Writer
Albuquerque - Albuquerque Police Department officers investigating a
swaying trailer Wednesday evening made a grisly discovery - a dead elephant
packed inside along with 10 other exotic animals.
About 6:45 pm, three bicycle officers were patrolling the parking lot of
the Wyndham Hotel near the Albuquerque International Sunport. They saw a
long, enclosed trailer behind a pickup truck, and the trailer was "swaying,
but the wind wasn't enough to make it sway that much," according to officer
Duffy Ryan.
He said officers initially suspected the trailer was hauling cattle or
undocumented workers. But they questioned a man sitting in the cab of the
truck and found out an elephant was in the trailer.
Police told the man, "That trailer is not made to carry anything with a
heartbeat," Ryan said.
He estimated the temperature inside the trailer was about 120 degrees and
said the animals had only two small holes for fresh air.
"It was appalling," he said.
Police said, based on documentation the man provided, they believe the
trailer belongs to Kings Royal Circus out of Texas. The truck was
apparently taking the animals to winter quarters in San Antonio.
The vehicle apparently had been parked at the hotel while its driver went
on foot to pick up a third man at the airport, according to police.
Police said the trip originated in Nevada, but the men who were driving the
truck told the Journal they came from Grand Junction, CO. They declined to
comment further.
Police contacted city Animal Services Division and Rio Grande Zoo
officials, who discovered three Indian elephants and eight Alpacan llamas
inside the cramped trailer. One of the elephants was dead.
Bob Hillman of Animal Services said the elephant apparently died of heat
prostration, but officials planned to perform a necropsy today to see if it
had any diseases and to determine a cause of death.
The surviving animals were taken to a park near the zoo and will be
examined today.
Several hundred members of the New Mexico Zoological Society, a
fund-raising group that supports zoo efforts, were inside the hotel
Wednesday night for the group's annual convention. Police asked some to
come outside to help assess the situation.
Judy Durzo, president of the society, stared at the trailer in horror.
"This is absolutely not an appropriate way to transport animals," she said.
After dark Wednesday, groups of police, animal officials, and onlookers
stood in the parking lot and tried to figure out what to do next as the
frightened animals continued to rock the trailer.
The truck was carrying more than its legal weight and had frayed brake
lines, police said.
"It was a major accident waiting to happen," Ryan said.
The men face citations for several offenses, including cruelty to animals,
Ryan said.
Date: Fri, 8 Aug 1997 19:39:17 -0600 (MDT)
From: SdeCAP@arc.unm.edu (Tisha Niemi)
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: CIRCUS ELEPHANT FOUND DEAD
Message-ID:
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Elephant Found Dead in Poorly Vented Trailer
by John J. Lumpkin
Albuquerque Journal Staff Writer
Albuquerque - Albuquerque Police Department officers investigating a
swaying trailer Wednesday evening made a grisly discovery - a dead elephant
packed inside along with 10 other exotic animals.
About 6:45 pm, three bicycle officers were patrolling the parking lot of
the Wyndham Hotel near the Albuquerque International Sunport. They saw a
long, enclosed trailer behind a pickup truck, and the trailer was "swaying,
but the wind wasn't enough to make it sway that much," according to officer
Duffy Ryan.
He said officers initially suspected the trailer was hauling cattle or
undocumented workers. But they questioned a man sitting in the cab of the
truck and found out an elephant was in the trailer.
Police told the man, "That trailer is not made to carry anything with a
heartbeat," Ryan said.
He estimated the temperature inside the trailer was about 120 degrees and
said the animals had only two small holes for fresh air.
"It was appalling," he said.
Police said, based on documentation the man provided, they believe the
trailer belongs to Kings Royal Circus out of Texas. The truck was
apparently taking the animals to winter quarters in San Antonio.
The vehicle apparently had been parked at the hotel while its driver went
on foot to pick up a third man at the airport, according to police.
Police said the trip originated in Nevada, but the men who were driving the
truck told the Journal they came from Grand Junction, CO. They declined to
comment further.
Police contacted city Animal Services Division and Rio Grande Zoo
officials, who discovered three Indian elephants and eight Alpacan llamas
inside the cramped trailer. One of the elephants was dead.
Bob Hillman of Animal Services said the elephant apparently died of heat
prostration, but officials planned to perform a necropsy today to see if it
had any diseases and to determine a cause of death.
The surviving animals were taken to a park near the zoo and will be
examined today.
Several hundred members of the New Mexico Zoological Society, a
fund-raising group that supports zoo efforts, were inside the hotel
Wednesday night for the group's annual convention. Police asked some to
come outside to help assess the situation.
Judy Durzo, president of the society, stared at the trailer in horror.
"This is absolutely not an appropriate way to transport animals," she said.
After dark Wednesday, groups of police, animal officials, and onlookers
stood in the parking lot and tried to figure out what to do next as the
frightened animals continued to rock the trailer.
The truck was carrying more than its legal weight and had frayed brake
lines, police said.
"It was a major accident waiting to happen," Ryan said.
The men face citations for several offenses, including cruelty to animals,
Ryan said.
Date: Sat, 9 Aug 1997 10:06:05 +0800
From: bunny
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: E. COLI, ALFALFA SPROUTS - USA (VIRGINIA)
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970809095931.1ac7a476@wantree.com.au>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
E. COLI, ALFALFA SPROUTS - USA (VIRGINIA)
*****************************************
Date: Sun, 07 Sep 1997 17:59:27 -0400
Source: Virginia Pilot, Aug. 6, 1997
Seeds apparently contaminated with the deadly bacteria were shipped to
Krisp-Pak, a produce distributor located off Colley Avenue in Norfolk.
Seeds from the same lot were shipped to Michigan, which also suffered an
outbreak of the disease linked to sprouts.
[snip]
And, with health officials continuing to monitor E. coli O157:H7 cases,
they think this outbreak may be over.
Laboratory tests have yet to find any contamination on the suspected lot of
seeds. But that's not surprising, said Jenkins. There never has been an E.
coli O157:H7 outbreak linked to alfalfa sprouts, and scientists have no
reliable way to identify the bacteria on either the sprouts or the seeds.
[snip]
Health officials routinely get reports of E. coli O157:H7 infection. But
when the numbers spiked in June, they suspected that some cases came from a
common source.
Out of 47 E. Coli O157:H7 cases reported for June and July [in Virginia],
at least 20 are likely related to contaminated sprouts. No one has died,
although more than a dozen people have been hospitalized. At least 11 of
those hospitalized had the
strain of E. coli linked to the sprouts.
[snip]
She [Jenkins] said the seeds wouldn't seem a likely spot for E. coli since
they're so dry. However, it's possible that there was a very small amount
of contamination and that the bacteria flourished when water was added to
make the seeds sprout, she said.
But Battaglia objects to the health department's conclusion,
since tests can't find the bacteria.
[snip]
An outbreak investigation revealed a majority of those who got sick with
this strain had eaten alfalfa sprouts, while few people who had not gotten
sick
had eaten them. The sprouts were traced back to Krisp-Pak.
I wonder whether either of the statements concerning the absence of an E.
coli link to sprouts and the inability to test sprouts are true? Wasn't the
E. coli outbreak in Japan in Aug. 1996 partially linked to contaminated
radish sprout seeds? Why would sprouts and seeds be any harder to test than
any other substrate?
[We have certainly been reminded that E. coli is a ubiquitious disease
agent. In the past 12 months alone we have seen E. coli links to fruit
juice, vegetables and maybe even muddy pastures. ]
===========================================
Rabbit Information Service,
P.O.Box 30,
Riverton,
Western Australia 6148
Email> rabbit@wantree.com.au
http://www.wantree.com.au/~rabbit/rabbit.htm
(Rabbit Information Service website updated frequently)
/`\ /`\
(/\ \-/ /\)
)6 6(
>{= Y =}<
/'-^-'\
(_) (_)
| . |
| |}
jgs \_/^\_/
Date: Fri, 08 Aug 1997 22:41:08 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Fish Kills Close Maryland River
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970808224106.006ae680@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from AP Wire page:
------------------------------------
08/08/1997 12:10 EST
Fish Kills Close Maryland River
By TODD SPANGLER
Associated Press Writer
SHELLTOWN, Md. (AP) -- A five-mile stretch of the lower Pocomoke River
was closed after thousands of fish died and people ignored a warning to
stay out of the water.
``This is indefinite,'' said Curtis Dickson, the Somerset County health
officer who signed the order Thursday. ``When the state agencies advise
us there is no longer a potential public health threat, we will lift the
order.''
Since a large kill was detected Wednesday near Shelltown, 3,000 to 11,000
fish have died from an unknown cause. But scientists suspect the deaths
are linked to a microorganism deadly to fish and linked to minor human
health problems.
Maryland Department of Natural Resources police will patrol the area to
keep people away. Boat traffic will be allowed through the area south to
Pocomoke Sound or north toward Pocomoke City. But no water skiing,
swimming or fishing will be permitted.
Dickson said he has contacted Virginia officials about closing the
extreme eastern side of the river near Pocomoke Sound as well.
Studies are under way to determine if the cause of the fish kill involves
pfiesteria piscicida, a microorganism that can cause sores and lesions in
fish. A number of disfigured fish have been caught in the Pocomoke near
Shelltown.
Although there has been no definitive proof, anecdotal evidence suggests
pfiesteria may cause illnesses in humans. Dickson said 10 people who have
been in the Pocomoke in recent weeks have complained of medical problems,
including lesions and flulike symptoms.
``We're not sure yet that pfiesteria is at work here. ... There's been no
definite evidence, so we are being cautious,'' state Health Secretary
Martin Wasserman said Thursday.
Natural Resources Secretary John Griffin said he hopes to have
preliminary results from water and fish samples by early next week.
Health officials do not consider pfiesteria a threat to fish and crabs
taken from the Chesapeake Bay, which connects to the Pocomoke and is a
source of seafood nationally. Even though pfiesteria has been detected in
parts of the bay, it is not believed to be in toxic concentrations.
Date: Fri, 08 Aug 1997 22:44:45 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: E. COLI, ALFALFA SPROUTS - USA (VIRGINIA)
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970808224442.0068813c@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
originally posted to AR-News:
---------------------------------------------
E. COLI, ALFALFA SPROUTS - USA (VIRGINIA)
*****************************************
Date: Sun, 07 Sep 1997 17:59:27 -0400
Source: Virginia Pilot, Aug. 6, 1997
Seeds apparently contaminated with the deadly bacteria were shipped to
Krisp-Pak, a produce distributor located off Colley Avenue in Norfolk.
Seeds from the same lot were shipped to Michigan, which also suffered an
outbreak of the disease linked to sprouts.
[snip]
And, with health officials continuing to monitor E. coli O157:H7 cases,
they think this outbreak may be over.
Laboratory tests have yet to find any contamination on the suspected lot of
seeds. But that's not surprising, said Jenkins. There never has been an E.
coli O157:H7 outbreak linked to alfalfa sprouts, and scientists have no
reliable way to identify the bacteria on either the sprouts or the seeds.
[snip]
Health officials routinely get reports of E. coli O157:H7 infection. But
when the numbers spiked in June, they suspected that some cases came from a
common source.
Out of 47 E. Coli O157:H7 cases reported for June and July [in Virginia],
at least 20 are likely related to contaminated sprouts. No one has died,
although more than a dozen people have been hospitalized. At least 11 of
those hospitalized had the
strain of E. coli linked to the sprouts.
[snip]
She [Jenkins] said the seeds wouldn't seem a likely spot for E. coli since
they're so dry. However, it's possible that there was a very small amount
of contamination and that the bacteria flourished when water was added to
make the seeds sprout, she said.
But Battaglia objects to the health department's conclusion,
since tests can't find the bacteria.
[snip]
An outbreak investigation revealed a majority of those who got sick with
this strain had eaten alfalfa sprouts, while few people who had not gotten
sick
had eaten them. The sprouts were traced back to Krisp-Pak.
I wonder whether either of the statements concerning the absence of an E.
coli link to sprouts and the inability to test sprouts are true? Wasn't the
E. coli outbreak in Japan in Aug. 1996 partially linked to contaminated
radish sprout seeds? Why would sprouts and seeds be any harder to test than
any other substrate?
[We have certainly been reminded that E. coli is a ubiquitious disease
agent. In the past 12 months alone we have seen E. coli links to fruit
juice, vegetables and maybe even muddy pastures. ]
===========================================
Rabbit Information Service,
P.O.Box 30,
Riverton,
Western Australia 6148
Email> rabbit@wantree.com.au
http://www.wantree.com.au/~rabbit/rabbit.htm
(Rabbit Information Service website updated frequently)
/`\ /`\
(/\ \-/ /\)
)6 6(
>{= Y =}<
/'-^-'\
(_) (_)
| . |
| |}
jgs \_/^\_/
Date: Fri, 08 Aug 1997 23:30:40 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Pork packer fined $12.6 million for polluting river
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970808233037.0069a3bc@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from Mercury Center web page:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted at 8:06 p.m. PDT Friday, August 8, 1997
Pork packer fined $12.6 million for polluting river
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) -- One of the largest pork
companies on the East Coast was fined $12.6 million
on Friday -- the largest water pollution fine ever
-- for dumping hog waste into a tributary of
Chesapeake Bay.
U.S. District Judge Rebecca B. Smith ruled that
Smithfield Foods Inc. was liable for nearly 7,000
violations of the Clean Water Act since 1991.
The ruling resulted from a lawsuit by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, which accused
Smithfield of polluting the Pagan River and
destroying documents to cover it up.
``The court has made it clear that even a large,
multibillion dollar corporation like Smithfield
Foods cannot gain a competitive advantage at the
expense of the public's health,'' said W. Michael
McCabe, regional administrator for the EPA.
Smithfield Foods denounced the EPA and the Clean
Water Act and said most of the federal violations
were permitted under an agreement with the Virginia
Department of Environmental Quality. The company
said it would appeal.
Smithfield Foods, which slaughters pigs and packs
the meat in two plants along the river, was accused
of dumping illegal levels of hog waste into the
river for several years.
The decaying waste and excrement raised the levels
of phosphorous and other elements in the river,
poisoning shellfish beds. The Pagan River has been
closed to shellfishing for 27 years because of high
levels of fecal bacteria and is considered
unhealthy for swimming.
Smithfield Foods argued for a fine of no more than
$650,000, citing its agreement with the state and
noting that many of the records violations were the
fault of a former employee.
But Smith, who could have fined the company $174.55
million, ruled Smithfield was liable for 6,982
violations. She also ruled that the company did not
have certain records for a full three years as the
permits required.
The judge also found Smithfield Foods had 164
violations for late reporting. The company
previously agreed it was liable for 15 days of
inaccurate reporting of discharges.
Smith said phosphorus emissions accounted for the
majority of the company's violations, but it also
violated rules regulating the levels of ammonia,
nitrogen, fecal coliform, feces and suspended
solids in the river.
The judge also found that Smithfield Foods saved
itself $4.2 million by avoiding or delaying
compliance with the environmental rules. She said
she wants at least part of the fines used to
restore the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.
Experts hired by the government testified that
Smithfield's violations were responsible for 80
percent of the phosphorus in the Pagan. Phosphorus
feeds algae, causing it to flourish and block
sunlight needed by the aquatic grasses that are
habitat for crabs and young fish.
Smith gave Smithfield Foods some credit for hooking
up to a local sewage treatment plant to prevent
future violations. On Thursday, Smithfield Foods
officially ended decades of dumping hog wastes into
the Pagan River by completing a hookup with a
treatment plant.
|
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