AR-NEWS Digest 658

Topics covered in this issue include:

  1) Whaling commission hopes to end impasse in Antigua
     by "Cari Gehl" 
  2) (US) Trial's 3rd week reaches its end with stern warning from
  judge
     by allen schubert 
  3) Chinese chickens return to Hong Kong
     by bunny 
  4) (US) Oklahoma Boy Scout Hunting Event
     by JanaWilson@aol.com
  5) (US) Oklahoma Weekly Hunting News
     by JanaWilson@aol.com
  6) Re: [US] 1998 State of the Union Address
     by "A. Hogan" 
  7) Web Form to Tell Oregon Governor to Spare Nadas
     by "Bob Schlesinger" 
  8) Ringling
     by molgoveggie@juno.com (Molly G Hamilton)
  9) [UK] Environmentalists praise industry for change of heart
     by David J Knowles 
 10) [UK] Cleese donates film profits to save lemurs
     by David J Knowles 
 11) Ringling Bros.
     by molgoveggie@juno.com (Molly G Hamilton)
 12) [CA] Apathy proving fatal to cats
     by David J Knowles 
 13) (CA)  Fishery panel orders ex-admiral to appear
     by Barry Kent MacKay 
 14) Houston Rodeo Protest Plans!!!!!
     by RiotFrog@aol.com
 15) Injured Animals Must Wait 48 Hours for Humane Care
     by Vegetarian Resource Center 
 16) How low will we go in fishing for dinner? 
     by Vegetarian Resource Center 
 17) Some not-so-fond remembrances from the 104th Congress:
     by LexAnima@aol.com
 18) [US] "County shouldn't keep monkeys hanging" (WSJ, 2/4/98)
     by Steve Barney 
 19) [US] "UW willing to work with county if it wants Vilas Zoo monkeys"
 (WSJ, 2/3/98)
     by Steve Barney 
 20) [US] "UW-Madison officials approve delay in sending monkeys away"
 (WSJ, 2/4/98)
     by Steve Barney 
Date: Sat, 07 Feb 1998 21:43:51 PST
From: "Cari Gehl" 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Whaling commission hopes to end impasse in Antigua
Message-ID: <19980208054352.5624.qmail@hotmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain

Whaling commission hopes to end impasse in Antigua

    By Colin James
     ST. JOHN'S, Antigua, Feb 4 (Reuters) - International Whaling
Commission members said they hoped to end a long impasse over
whaling restrictions at their informal meeting in Antigua, but
had made no decisions on the issue on Wednesday.

     During their first day of talks, commissioners discussed a
plan that Ireland put forward in October to ban whaling on the
high seas but allow some hunting in coastal areas for local
consumption and under the strict control of the IWC.

     The plan would phase out "scientific whaling" -- killing
whales for research as the Japanese do. And no new countries
would be allowed to begin whaling.

     Pro-whaling countries, led by Japan, were making a strong
bid to resume commercial whaling, conference participants said.
Norway opposed any plan to limit consumption of whale products
to local areas, as its whalers want to export whale blubber,
which is prized in Japan.

     "Whale species are not in danger," said Nobuyuki Yagi, a
Japanese fisheries official. "The ordinary people don't know
that there are many species of whales. We don't want to endanger
the whale population, but we see the recovery of the endangered
species," he said.

     Japan has argued that the clause banning high seas whaling
contravenes the IWC's mandate -- the group was founded in 1946
to conserve stocks for the orderly development of the whaling
industry.

     The United States, Britain, New Zealand and Australia,
supported by a number of nongovernmental organizations and
pressure groups, want a 15-year-old moratorium on commercial
whaling to stay intact, although delegates from the United
States and Britain attending the meeting have said they would
listen to arguments in the Irish plan's favor.

     Antigua and Barbuda whaling commissioner Daven Joseph said
discussions had focused mainly on the Irish proposal.

     "We are trying to define what are coastal areas, if we
agree to resume commercial whaling," he said.

     He said Antigua, which has softened its former staunch
opposition to lifting the ban, believes the Irish proposal could
be a viable compromise. "A window of opportunity has presented
itself through the Irish proposal," Joseph said.

     Ireland was driven to try to forge a compromise after the
global tally of whale kills surged to 1,043 in 1997 -- almost
double the catch of 10 years earlier -- despite the
international moratorium.

     The IWC voted the moratorium on commercial whaling in 1982.


                             




                                            


                                                               


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Date: Sun, 08 Feb 1998 08:57:14 -0500
From: allen schubert 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Trial's 3rd week reaches its end with stern warning from
  judge
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19980208085710.00763ab8@pop3.clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from Amarillo Globe-News http://www.amarillonet.com/oprah/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Web posted Saturday, February 7, 1998 7:02 a.m. CT

Trial's 3rd week reaches its end with stern warning from judge
Cattlemen vs. Oprah Winfrey

By CHIP CHANDLER
Globe-News Staff Writer

Defense attorneys sparred with a feisty plaintiffs' expert witness on
Friday in the Oprah Winfrey beef-defamation lawsuit, prompting laughter
from their opponents and a stern rebuke from the judge.

The trial's third week came to a close with U.S. District Judge Mary Lou
Robinson issuing a brusque warning against displays of approval from
attorneys for area cattlemen, as well as Howard Lyman and a defense
witness.

"This is not acceptable," Robinson said after the jury had left the room.
"If this happens again, the court will take action."

The warning came after a day of testimony from an expert in veterinary
medicine and food safety whose answers to hostile questions often provoked
chuckles across the courtroom.

Dr. Lester M. Crawford, a former government employee, talked about
inspection processes in slaughter houses, describing the different
checkpoints along the way. He also testified about the ban on feeding
cattle byproducts to other cattle as a supplemental protein.

"The animal byproduct that you are referring to is not in any sense a cow,
not any more than a leather coat is a cow or leather gloves are a cow."

He then discussed the rendering process in which animal parts are made "as
sterile as possible" through cooking time, high temperatures and high
pressure.

He said the process was different in England until the early 1980s, when
they adopted the U.S. system. Some of their rendering equipment at that
time would not heat the products as high as U.S. standards. He said he
believed that is what caused the mad cow disease outbreak in England.

However, he said, the U.S. system is believed to be more than 99 percent
effective in killing the mad cow disease-causing agent.

He said a British ban on rendering brains, spinal columns and eyes is
responsible for the declining number of cases of bovine spongiform
encephalopathy in that country.

Lawyers representing Winfrey and Lyman argued that beef industry
organizations were opposed to a mandatory ban on the feeding of ruminant
animals to other ruminants, including cattle.

The National Cattlemen's Beef Association, the Texas Cattle Feeders
Association and the National Renderers Association supported a ban similar
to Britain's, Crawford argued.

"The NCBA asked for refinements, but I believe they supported (the
mandatory ban)," Crawford said.

Crawford, now director of the Center for Food and Nutrition Policy at
Georgetown University, said he believed responsible discussion of industry
practices is good, but he said he did not believe Lyman was responsible in
his comments on Winfrey's April 16, 1996, show.

Crawford was allowed to testify as an expert in veterinary medicine, food
safety and pharmacology. After an argument outside of the jury's presence
Friday morning, he was allowed to answer limited questions about BSE.

Winfrey's attorney, Charles Babcock, asked Crawford about several studies
on BSE that Crawford was unable to relate specific information about.

"That's because you don't know about BSE?" Babcock asked. "Oh no, you
shouldn't say that," Crawford answered, to the laughter of several in the
court. He was able to provide many specifics on BSE throughout the day.

Crawford is expected to continue testifying on Monday.

Date: Sun, 8 Feb 1998 23:45:29 +0800
From: bunny 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Chinese chickens return to Hong Kong
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19980208233750.3c5f0b78@wantree.com.au>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
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Chinese chickens return to Hong Kong

Date: February 7, 1998
Source: Nando net


Thousands of Chinese chickens were trucked into Hong Kong Saturday, ending
a 6-week ban imposed after an outbreak of influenza that killed six people.
They were met by Hong Kong officials in white coats, gloves, surgical masks
and rubber boots, who drew blood from 13 birds -- part of the
time-consuming new health procedures put in place to ensure that chickens
are flu-free. The 2,000 birds -- the first of 35,000 to arrive Saturday in
Hong Kong -- were delivered to a wholesale market after the blood tests
proved negative….the stringent new tests will cost Hong Kong $1.92 million
a year.  

Dozens of new virus-combating measures include the plastic crates replacing
the wooden ones used before the outbreak that have been deemed unhygienic.
The chickens were also tested and quarantined for five days in mainland
China. Some saw it as symptomatic of wider cleanliness problems,
particularly in bustling food markets that dot the city. The flu also
scared off some tourists, contributing to an 11% decline in arrivals last
year. While many in Hong Kong generally saw the ban as necessary, its
effects were felt particularly over the Chinese New Year at the end of
January because it deprived families of traditional dishes. Some people
were planning dinner parties tonight to celebrate the chickens' return.

--
=====================================================================
========
                   /`\   /`\    Rabbit Information Service,
Tom, Tom,         (/\ \-/ /\)   P.O.Box 30,
The piper's son,     )6 6(      Riverton,
Saved a pig        >{= Y =}<    Western Australia 6148
And away he run;    /'-^-'\  
So none could eat  (_)   (_)    email: rabbit@wantree.com.au
The pig so sweet    |  .  |  
Together they ran   |     |}    http://www.wantree.com.au/~rabbit/rabbit.htm
Down the street.    \_/^\_/    (Rabbit Information Service website updated
                                frequently)                                

Jesus was most likely a vegetarian... why aren't you? Go to
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/4620/essene.htm
for more information.

It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
       - Voltaire

Date: Sun, 8 Feb 1998 11:25:53 EST
From: JanaWilson@aol.com
To: AR-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Oklahoma Boy Scout Hunting Event
Message-ID: <12f5f23d.34dddc94@aol.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit


If anyone does not think the Boy Scouts hunt, please
read:

The Oklahoma Arbuckle Area Council of Boy Scouts will be
sponsoring a preserve-type quail hunt on Feb. 27 thru Feb. 28
at Camp Simpson near Bromide.  The cost will be $150 per
gun, which will be good for 15 birds, guide and dogs, overnight
accommodations, a skeet shoot and complimentary cap.
Hunts will be begin at 8 am, Saturday, and each will last for
two hours.  The field will be limited to 36 hunters and an auction 
will be held after the Saturday lunch which will benefit the
Boy Scouts.  For more information, please call (580) 223-0831.

                                                 For the Animals,

                                                 Jana, OKC
Date: Sun, 8 Feb 1998 11:25:57 EST
From: JanaWilson@aol.com
To: AR-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Oklahoma Weekly Hunting News
Message-ID: 
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit


A/w Oklahoma City hunting news:

The Bowhunting Council of Oklahoma will have its annual meeting
and banquest on Feb. 28th here in Okla. City.  Mr. Chuck Adams,
a world-renowed archer and outdoor writer, will be on hand to 
conduct seminars and share his "bowhunting experiences" from
around the world.  Adams wil conduct seminars on hunting
North American deer, bear and big-antlered animals such as elk
and moose.  In addition to the seminars and banquet, archery 
manufacturers and distributors will display bowhunting equipment
and supplies.

The Oklahoma Canadian Valley Chapter of Quail Unlimited will
have its annual Spring Fun Hunt this coming Saturday and
Sunday south of Norman, Okla.  Sponsored by Larry Spenser
Chevrolet, the hunt is a shoot-to-retrieve competition scored on
a dog's ability to find birds, honor and retrieve. Saturday is 
the one-dog event and Sunday is a two-dog event with
two shooters per team.  Quail Unlimited is a national nonprofit
organization dedicated to the "preservation of upland habitat,
research and public education."

Mr. Mike Chain, director of the Backwoods Hunting and Fishing
Show, is seeking outstanding deer trophies to be displayed on the
show's Whitetail Wall of Fame (Shame) at the Okla. City's 
Fairgrounds from Feb. 1 thru March 1.  Antlers that qualify 
for the Wildlife Dept.'s Cy Curtis Award or racks that are just
odd will be featured during the show.  Hunters who have a buck
that might be "worthy" of the exhibit should call Mr. Ron Owens
at (405) 681-1333.

                                                 For the Animals,

                                                 Jana, OKC
Date: Sun, 8 Feb 1998 14:08:09 -0500 (EST)
From: "A. Hogan" 
To: Steve Barney 
Cc: AR-News 
Subject: Re: [US] 1998 State of the Union Address
Message-ID: 
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

Vegan/AR activist and actor Mary Tyler Moore was an invited guest (of 
House Speaker Newt Gingrich, of all people) at Clinton's 1998 State of the 
Union Address, and she said she came particularly to hear what Clinton 
would say about medical and health matters.--ar

Date: Sun, 08 Feb 1998 11:27:57 -0800
From: "Bob Schlesinger" 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Web Form to Tell Oregon Governor to Spare Nadas
Message-ID: <199802081127570000.0035EB4E@pcez.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
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All persons concerned about Nadas and the other Oregon dogs condemned to die 
for chasing livestock,  should know that there now an electronic method of appealing 
to Governor John Kitzhaber to intervene and spare their lives.

THERE ARE LESS THAN 10 DAYS REMAINING BEFORE NADAS IS SCHEDULED TO
DIE

The Governor now has a web page for registering opinions.  It is at:

http://www.governor.state.or.us/governor/mail/mailform.html

Please forward this information on to all concerned.

For background information, visit http://www.arkonline.com/nadas.htm

Below is a sample posting to the governor from an Oregon resident.
Incidently, this is an election year and the governor recently announced 
his candidacy for re-election:

---------------------------------------------------------

I voted for you last time.  I cannot this year.  Your continued
refusal to deal with the Nadas situation in Southern Oregon 
demonstrates a lack of leadership.  This is an issue that has been 
tearing that community apart.  The Jackson County Commissioners are
one sided and cannot handle it.  The dog was taken from the owner's home 
without a warrant.  You should be able to intervene on that basis and 
revoke the order of impoundment.  This matter has extreme public 
interest both inside and outside of the state, and it is giving Oregon 
a black eye.

Please demonstrate some leadership and get involved.  This is more 
important that worrying about offending certain limited livestock 
interests.  

The real issue here is the failure of government to build consensus 
and help citizens come to compromised solutions.  By turning your back 
on this you are aggravating an inflamed situation that has become 
extremely emotional in nature.  Please get involved and do the right 
thing, rather than blaming the legislature or the courts.


Date: Sun, 8 Feb 1998 15:24:20 -0500
From: molgoveggie@juno.com (Molly G Hamilton)
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Ringling
Message-ID: <19980208.152426.3246.2.molgoveggie@juno.com>


Keep the pressure on Ringling and the death of baby Kenny!

Ringling will be comming to Madison Square Gardens at the end of March!
Please call and write Sears and tell them to stop sponsoring Ringling.

SEARS:
Arthur Martinez, Chairman & Ceo
and
John Lebbad, Director of events marketing
Phone: 800-762-3048
Fax: 800-427-3049

Arthur Marinez, Chairman & CEO
Sears, Roebuck & Co.
3333 Beverly Road
Hoffman Estates, IL 60179

John Lebbad Director of Event Marketing
727sma-490
3333 Beverly Rd.
Hoffman Estates, IL  60179

Ringling Bros. 
Public Relations
Phone: 703-448-4120
Fax 703-448-4119

Address:
Feld Entertainment Inc.
8607 Westwood Ctr Drive
Vienna, Va.  22182:
   

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Date: Sun, 08 Feb 1998 12:06:21
From: David J Knowles 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] Environmentalists praise industry for change of heart
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19980208120621.109f1100@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
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>From The Electronic Telegraph - Sunday, February 8th, 1998

Environmentalists praise industry for change of heart
By Greg Neale, Environment Correspondent 

LEADING industrialists - usually blamed for pollution and ravaging the
planet's natural resources - are becoming the people most likely to save
it, according to one of the world's most respected environmental analysts.

In its annual State of the World report, the influential Washington-based
Worldwatch Institute singles out BP, among other companies, for praise.
Lester Brown, the institute's president, said yesterday that recent moves
by heads of some of the world's biggest multi-national companies were among
"the most exciting" developments in the 15 years of his organisation.

"We have to think about restructuring the global economy so that progress
can continue, because if we keep expanding the existing system it will
eventually undermine itself," Dr Brown said. "The exciting thing, the good
news, is that the chief executives of some of the major multi-national
companies are now saying the same thing: the system has to change."

The report says that moves by BP to invest in solar and wind energy; the
decision by the American company Monsanto to sell its chemical pesticides
division in favour of new genetics technologies; and the Japanese motor
company Toyota's launch of a 66mpg car are significant signs of change by
industrial giants.

John Browne, the chairman of BP, said last year that his firm accepted that
burning fossil fuels was linked to changes in the Earth's climate - the
first such acknowledgment by the head of an oil company. BP is now
investing large sums in solar and wind energy. But while the report hails
such developments, it notes that some major environmental trends continue
to disturb: "Fishery collapses, deforestation and aquifer depletion are now
beginning to affect global economic prospects. Economies will not be
healthy for long unless the natural environments that underpin them remain
healthy as well."

In its review of the indicators of the Earth's environmental health, drawn
from official statistics, the report says water scarcity is "perhaps one of
the most underrated issues" facing the world. "Water tables are falling on
every continent - in the southern Great Plains and the south-western United
States, in southern Europe, in North Africa, in the Middle East, in Central
Asia, in southern Africa, on the Indian subcontinent, and in central and
northern China," it reports. "Seventy per cent of all the water pumped from
underground or drawn from
rivers is used for irrigation, so if we face a future of water scarcity, we
also face a future of food scarcity."

Meanwhile, each year an extra 80 million mouths must be fed. At the same
time, growing affluence in developing countries such as China and India is
boosting demand for wheat, rice, fish, chicken, pork and beef. Grain stocks
have been hit, however, by a succession of
droughts and reserve stocks are now among the lowest since the Second World
War. "If this trend cannot be checked, it could lead to unprecedented
political unrest in Third World cities," the report concludes.

Dr Brown said: "It is not easy to be optimistic but I find the events of
the last year encouraging and exciting. Heads of major companies are
beginning to say that we have to restructure the world's economy to make it
more sustainable." Matt Ridley, the environment writer and
critic, welcomed Dr Brown's comments on industrialists. "Some of us have
been saying for years that the carrots of the free market are a better way
of solving environmental problems than the sticks of government regulation,
and that new technology is the solution, not the
problem," he said.

Peter Melchett, the director of Greenpeace UK, also endorsed Dr Brown's
remarks. "Some of the more forward-looking corporations are ahead of
governments and are setting the pace," he said. "We may be opposed to oil
companies' new drilling in the Atlantic, but there is no doubt that when
John Browne of BP acknowledged the link between fuel burning and climate
change, he was setting the agenda more effectively than many politicians."

© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1998.

Date: Sun, 08 Feb 1998 12:10:33
From: David J Knowles 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] Cleese donates film profits to save lemurs
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19980208121033.22971e68@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
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>From The Electronic Telegraph - Sunday, February 8th, 1998

Cleese donates film profits to save lemurs
By Andrew Morgan 

JOHN Cleese, the comedian, has donated the proceeds from the London
premiere of his latest film, Fierce Creatures, to save a group of rare
lemurs from extinction.

Five captive-bred black and white ruffed lemurs have just been released in
Madagascar's Betampona Reserve in an effort to augment the native
population, and the former Monty Python member, a long-time lemur fan, will
travel to the island to witness the results and record his visit for the BBC.

Initially, the £55,000 raised from Cleese's film went to London, Marwell
and Jersey zoos, but all three gave their share to the experiment, which is
being managed by the Madagascar Fauna Group. Jersey Zoo, of which Cleese is
a life trustee, donated a further £20,000. The lemurs (Varecia variegata
variegata) were bred at Duke University's Primate Centre in
Durham, North Carolina, where they developed "free-ranging" skills in a
17-acre natural-habitat enclosure, known as the "boot camp".

There, they moved between trees, learning to recognise predators and locate
food. All five were then flown to Madagascar for their release into the
wild. Betampona is a vital remnant of Madagascar's critically threatened
eastern lowland forest, and 70 per cent of it is suitable for the lemurs.

Lemur meat has been prized, and the reserve's few remaining ruffed lemurs
would eventually have died out because of their isolation. The five animals
released were some of the 250 black and white ruffed lemurs held in zoos
around the world (including eight at Jersey), which are managed genetically
as if they were a single population.

The influx of the five animals will increase the genetic diversity of the
Betampona population. The release is seen as a blueprint for saving other
highly endangered primates. After their arrival, the lemurs were weaned off
their captive diet of monkey chow and cultivated foods and switched to a
wild diet of forest delicacies.

Following their release, they have now made it to the forest canopy and are
soaking up the sunshine, chewing on fruit and enjoying their freedom.
Reports even suggest one of the females is already consorting with a wild
male.

Lee Durrell, the widow of Gerald Durrell and Jersey zoo's honorary
director, says: "Nobody has ever reintroduced lemurs into the wild in a
properly managed way. "It's important for the future of lemur conservation
to know whether or not it's possible. But early signs are very encouraging."

© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1998.

Date: Sun, 8 Feb 1998 15:40:59 -0500
From: molgoveggie@juno.com (Molly G Hamilton)
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Ringling Bros.
Message-ID: <19980208.154157.3246.5.molgoveggie@juno.com>

Please Urge the USDA to suspend Rinling Brothers Exhibitor license
immediately pending a thorough investigation into Kenny's death and the
veterinary treatmetn he recieved.

Write to:
Ron DeHaven D.V.M.
Deputy Administrator
Animal Care
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Unit 97 4700 River Rd.
Riverdale, MD  20737

email: ace@aphis.usda.gov
Fax: 301-734-4328
Phone: 301-734-4980

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Date: Sun, 08 Feb 1998 13:27:53
From: David J Knowles 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [CA] Apathy proving fatal to cats
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19980208132753.10a7221e@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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>From The Burnaby Now - Sunday, February 8th, 1998

Apathy proving fatal to cats

Burnaby SPCA at a loss to explain why the number of abandoned cats keeps
escalating.

By Scott Neilson
Burnaby Now Reporter

It starts with the injection of barbituates into the stonach area and moves
from there.

Fast. Extremely fast.

The drug quickly searches out the blood stream and races to the brain,
putting the victim in a groggy, coma-like state before the rest of the
injection reaches the heart, stopping it dead.

Almost 400 stray cats, 371 to be exact, found death at the end of a needle
in Burnaby last year, up four per cent from 1996 and a whopping 82 per cent
from 1995.

This despite the fact that public education about spaying and neutering has
never been better and the city of Burnaby has had a spay and neuter rebate
scheme in place for the past two years.

While the adoption wing for cats at the Burnaby SPCA's Norland Avenue
shelter represents a second chance for many felines, it's death row for
even more.

And that has shelter superintendent Carson Wilson concerned.

"That's a sizable number of cats," he said, adding the cost of euthanizing
one cat costs the shelter between $60 and $65. "It's hard to say why - it's
just one of those things."

Perhaps not.

Wilson suspects much of the problem is associated with the still-rampant
bekief that cats are a "disposable" commodity.

"The day of the move comes, for example, and people can't find the cat so
they think 'Oh, we'll just leave it behind. We can get another one, they're
easy to come by,'" he explained.

Left yo fend for itself, the once-domesticated cat is soon feral and, if
it's an unspayed female, quite often gets pregnant and has a litter of
kittens, perpetuating the cycle in even greater numbers.

"And on and on it goes," Wilson said.

The shelter usually has little trouble finding homes for young kittens
turned in or captured - it's the older ones that often pay the price.

"We get stuck with cats 10 months to a year old, still very nice cats, they
get left behind. No one wants them," he said.

Nor do many citizens seem to have much interest in the city's spay and
neuter rebate program.

Finance director Rick Earle said after an initial flurry following the
program's launch, things have slowed down almost to a crawl.

"I think it's the amount of the rebate," he said of the $15 individuals
receive back after spaying or neutering their pets.

"On a percentage basis, it's a fairly significant amount, depending on
where they got the work done, but as far as an absolute dolar amount,
people just don't seem to bother."

Wilson said a mandatory spay and neuter scheme could be a possible answer.

[ Note: Scott Neilson has previously written some positive ar-related
articles, including one argung against vivisection. He also helped
significantly in generating publicity whilst I was leading the Burnaby Spay
and Neuter Coalition three years ago. Carson Wilson is one of a handful of
local SPCA officials who are prepared to speak out against animal abuse and
cruelty.]

    

Date: Sun, 08 Feb 1998 14:10:17 -0800
From: Barry Kent MacKay 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (CA)  Fishery panel orders ex-admiral to appear
Message-ID: <34DE2D49.8BB@sympatico.ca>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

The Toronto Star;  Saturday, February 7, 1998

Fishery panel orders ex-admiral to appear
Official again faces allegations of missing reports

HALIFAX (CP) - A former admiral touched by the Somalia scandal is to be
called before the Commons fisheries committee as his new department
faces a subpoena for refusing to give sensitive documents to members of
Parliament.

Former vice-admiral Larry Murray was acting chief of defence staff in
1996-97 when he got into an angry exchange with the chairperson of a
royal commisssion over its treatment of junior officers testifying at
the Somalia inquiry.

Now Murray is associate deputy minister of fisheries --- the
department's No. 2 bureaucrat --- and angry members of the all-party
panel want to hear from him on his qualifications and role in
withholding reports on fishing by foreign ships.

"Is the minister hanging on to foreign observer documents until Murray
warms up the Somalia shredder?" Reform MP [Member of Parliament] Robert
Anders asked Fisheries Minister David Anderson in the Commons yesterday.

The committee plans to subpoena the reports, which detail fishing
efforts by more than 200 foreign vessels working off the East Coast,
where 40,000 Atlantic Canadian workers are jobless due to moratoriums on
key stocks.

Earl Wiseman, head of the department's international affairs
directorate, has said his officials gave the committee more thorough
statistics than it asked for, though not the observer reports
themselves.

But Liberal MP George Baker, committee chairperson, said those
statistics do not detail foreign fishing efforts to his panel's
satisfaction.

"We want to know what those observers said.  We want to know the
discards, the violations.  We want to know what they're doing, exactly
what they're catching...We want to know it all.

"The only way we can know it is through the observer reports."

The impasse has delayed the committee report by weeks, Baker said.

"What is the minister hiding?" Anders demanded to know.  "Will the
minister of fisheries and oceans hand over these documents today, or has
Larry Murray brought the culture of cover-up to the DFO [Deparment of
Fisheries and Oceans]?"

Anderson said yesterday he's willing to let Baker see the reports in
private but he repeated the department's stand that it cannot, under
law, allow them to be made public.  Officials have cited commercial
secrets as the reason.

"We must respect the wishes of the foreign nations involved," the
department told Baker in a letter last week.

But the committee's vice-chairman, B.C. Reformer Gary Lunn, said the
documents legally be turned over.

-30-

Barry Kent MacKay
International Program Director
Animal Protection Institute
http://www.api4animals.org


Date: Sun, 8 Feb 1998 20:04:37 EST
From: RiotFrog@aol.com
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Houston Rodeo Protest Plans!!!!!
Message-ID: <2c3b3f84.34de5627@aol.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
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We are hoping to have a protest on the opening day of the Houston Livestock
Show and Rodeo, which is February 20th. We need all the help and people we can
get. If anyone is interested in preparations, participation or just spreading
the word, contact Frog and Renee at   RiotFrog@aol.com   or call 713-863-8390.
Also, if anyone has any ideas for demo's (like a human in a saddle, etc...) or
helpful protest hints, please contact us!

Date: Sun, 08 Feb 1998 19:23:47 -0500
From: Vegetarian Resource Center 
To: AR-News@Envirolink.Org
Subject: Injured Animals Must Wait 48 Hours for Humane Care
Message-ID: <199802090124.UAA07108@mail-out-3.tiac.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

1 Dead, 1 Missing in Calif. Storms
.c The Associated Press

by LOUINN LOTA

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A car careened off a collapsed road, killing one man, and
rescuers searched for a teen-age snowboarder on Sunday as Southern California
continued to reel from the soggy weight of El Nino storms.

While skies were clear, two days of rain left creeks in spate and mountains
heavy with snow. Another storm was expected to hit the area by nightfall,
bringing up to a half-inch of rain at lower elevations and an inch in the
mountains, the National Weather Service said.

A flash flood watch was in effect for Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles
counties. A heavy surf advisory was in effect until Monday morning from San
Luis Obispo County to the Mexican border for 7- to 11-foot waves that could
reach 14 feet at times, the weather service said.

In the Chatsworth area of the western San Fernando Valley, an unidentified man
was killed when a car plummeted about 50 feet into a ravine from a private
paved road that was undermined by storm saturation, authorities said.

It was unclear whether the road gave way before or while the car was crossing.
A man and a woman in their 60s survived the crash, crawling from the upside-
down car and climbing the ravine to get help. They were airlifted to a
hospital for observation. Both appeared to be in good condition.

The accident on Santa Susana Pass Road was reported at about 7:30 a.m. but it
was unclear when the car plunged off the bridge, city Fire Department
spokesman Bob Collis said.

In the Angeles National Forest west of Wrightwood, 120 people from specialized
rescue units searched for a 14-year-old snowboarder missing since Saturday
afternoon while snowboarding with an uncle.

The boy, whose identity was withheld, was last seen at Mountain High West ski
resort. Winds were gusting strongly when the teen slid out of resort
boundaries into a canyon.

The weather service said a new storm could bring another half-foot of snow
above 6,000 feet in mountains in Ventura and Los Angeles counties.

The storms didn't only affect humans.

In recent weeks, more than 200 California sea lions have been rescued along
the Southern California coast, with nearly half being cared for at Sea World
in Mission Bay.

Of the 88 sea lions rescued and brought to the park, 38 have died.

``We can only save what we can save,'' said biologist Joe Cordaro, who keeps
track of the numbers for the National Marine Fisheries Service.

The agency has set a 48-hour observation period before beached animals receive
human care to help ensure contagious animals will not infect healthy ones at
rescue centers.

Meanwhile, Ventura County agriculture officials estimated that the storm
damage to avocados, lemons, strawberries and other crops will top the previous
estimate of $5.5 million.

``I wouldn't be surprised if the original estimate triples,'' Rex Laird,
county Farm Bureau executive director, said Saturday. ``There's no way anyone
in agriculture can experience anything but negative results from here on
out.''

AP-NY-02-08-98 1710EST

Date: Sun, 08 Feb 1998 20:37:05 -0500
From: Vegetarian Resource Center 
To: AR-News@Envirolink.Org
Subject: How low will we go in fishing for dinner? 
Message-ID: <199802090137.UAA08178@mail-out-3.tiac.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
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   SCIENCE NEWS ONLINE
   
    February 7, 1998    
   
   by J. Raloff 
     Though news accounts over the past decade have documented the crash
     of one major fishery after another, many consumers have witnessed no
     shortage of affordable fish. In large measure, that's because
     different fish are being marketed. Indeed, species once viewed as
     "trash" can now command $7 per pound or more.
     
     Many resource economists have interpreted this trend to mean that
     while the most popular fish stocks are in jeopardy, a host of
     attractive alternatives stands ready to fill in. A new study by
     fisheries scientist Daniel Pauly of the University of British
     Columbia in Vancouver and his colleagues now comes to a dramatically
     different -- and more dire -- conclusion.
     
     Those substitutes, they find, have been coming from progressively
     lower niches in the marine food web. With each successive drop,
     dramatically more fish become available.
     
     Yet despite having made these shifts, and working harder, fishing
     fleets have not increased their tonnage of palatable catch.
     Moreover, the new data suggest that the food web's structure -- the
     proportion of organisms at each level -- is shifting.
     
     "The ecological price we're paying for maintaining catch is getting
     higher and higher," Pauly says. Indeed, the findings argue that
     current world fishing rates are not sustainable, his team concludes
     in the Feb. 6 Science.
     
     Ecologists measure an organism's niche in terms of its trophic
     level. In the sea, the base level contains mainly seaweeds and
     phytoplankton. These serve as food for level two organisms, whose
     predators, in turn, make up level three. And so it goes up the
     marine food web to its apex, killer whales at trophic level five.
     
     Owing to taste preferences, humans have traditionally fished
     primarily from levels three and four, Pauly says. However, because
     such fish may derive their diet from a range of trophic levels, most
     commercial fish don't fall squarely into a single level. Rather,
     they have an intermediate designation, such as 4.6 for snapper, 3.5
     for cod, 3.1 for herring, and 2.5 for sardines.
     
     Pauly and his coworkers have now computed the annual average trophic
     level of the world's fishing catch. They did this by tracking down
     the trophic level of 220 fish and invertebrates and considering each
     species' share of the tonnage of a given year's fishing haul, as
     compiled by the United Nations, for 1950 through 1994. Their
     calculations show about a 0.1 decrease in trophic level per
     decade -- to a current global average of about 3.1.
     
     These data show that by overfishing the top predators, "we've
     eliminated the marine equivalent of lions and wolves and are moving
     towards the taking of rats, cockroaches, and dandelions," worries
     Elliott A. Norse of the Marine Conservation Biology Institute in
     Redmond, Wash. Moreover, he says, "by now moving to eliminate the
     top predators' prey and the prey of their prey, we may be further
     impeding [the top predators'] recovery."
     
     Both concerns are "implicit in our findings," Pauly believes. "If we
     have fallen half a trophic level in 40 years or so, then we have
     already hammered the useful part of the food web."
     
     The new study "is clever and meaningful . . . and I think that its
     conclusions are robust," says marine ecologist Paul K. Dayton of the
     Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, Calif.
     
     Gary Matlock, director of the National Marine Fisheries Service
     Office of Sustainable Fisheries in Silver Spring, Md., also thinks
     the new study's findings have a lot of merit. Clearly, he says, "the
     overfishing that has occurred on the upper trophic levels needs to
     be brought under control." According to the 1996 Sustainable
     Fisheries Act, he notes, his agency must develop a strategy by
     September to end such overfishing and to begin rebuilding affected
     U.S. stocks.
     
   
   
   References:
   
     
     
     Pauly, D., et al. 1998. Fishing down marine food webs. Science
     279(Feb. 6).
     
   
   
   Further Readings:
   
     
     
     Dayton, P.K. 1998. Reversal of the burden of proof in fisheries
     management. Science 279(Feb. 6):821.
     
     Raloff, J. 1997. Overfishing imperils cod reproduction. Science News
     151(Feb. 22):124.
     
     ______. 1996. Fishing for answers. Science News 150(Oct. 26):268.
     
     ______. 1995. Fishing: What we don't keep. Science News 148(Dec.
     16):415.
     
     ______. 1995. U.N. treaty to aid 'international' fish. Science News
     148(Dec. 9):389.
     
   
   
   Sources:
   
     
     
     International Year of the Ocean
     United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization
     Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission
     1 rue Miollis
     75732 Paris Cedex 15
     France
     E-mail: [1]i.oliounine@unesco.org
     Web site: [2]http://ioc.unesco.org/iyo
     
     Daniel Pauly
     University of British Columbia
     Fisheries Center
     2204 Main Mall
     Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z4
     Canada
     
     Sea Web
     1731 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., 4th Floor
     Washington, DC 20009
     E-mail: [3]seaweb@seaweb.org
     Web site: [4]http://www.seaweb.org
     

Date: Sun, 8 Feb 1998 22:36:39 EST
From: LexAnima@aol.com
To: AR-News@envirolink.org, Wisc-Eco@igc.org
Subject: Some not-so-fond remembrances from the 104th Congress:
Message-ID: <50f92bb5.34de79ce@aol.com>
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Endangered Species?  Give them all a designated area and them blow it up.  It
sounds insane, but that's how insane the endagered species people are. 
Rep. Sonny Bono, (R-CA deceased).

We had envisioned trying to protect, you know pigeons and things like that (in
passing the ESA).  We never thought about mussels and ferns and flowers and
all these . . . subspecies of squirrles and birds.
Rep. Don Young, chair House Natural Resources Committee

Environmentalism is the new paganism, trees are worshipped and humans are
sacrificed at its altar . . .   It is evil . . .  And we intend to destroy it.
Ron Arnold, Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise

---[Boston Globe, Jan. 13, 1993].

SO ARE __ YOU__ FIRED UP ENOUGH TO WRITE :

1) Your Senators and tell them to VOTE NO TO S. 1180;

AND 

2) Your CongressPerson and tell them to CO-SPONSOR H.R. 2351

OR DO YOU WANT SOME MORE UN-FOND REMEMBRANCES OF THE 105th?

Date: Sun, 08 Feb 1998 22:52:34 -0600
From: Steve Barney 
To: AR-News 
Subject: [US] "County shouldn't keep monkeys hanging" (WSJ, 2/4/98)
Message-ID: <34DE8B92.2B7A146B@uwosh.edu>
MIME-version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
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Source:
"County shouldn't keep monkeys hanging"
Editorial
Wisconsin State Journal
Madison, WI
US
Wednesday, February 4, 1998
Page 9A

-- Beginning --

County shouldn't keep monkeys hanging

This monkey business is getting to be serious.

Last week, the Dane County Zoo Commission asked county officials to
explore taking over the UW-Madison primate research center's monkey
colony, which is kept at Vilas Park Zoo.  The primate center can no
longer spend federal money on the care and feeding of the monkeys, so UW
officials are preparing to ship 100 rhesus monkeys to a Louisiana
breeding center within two weeks and 50 stump-tail macaques back to
their ancestral home of Thailand as early as March.

On Tuesday, Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk said she would like 45
days to explore keeping one of the two colonies, but not both.  It's
largely a question of money: A county study, criticized as overblown by
some, has estimated it would take $280,000 in capital costs and $211,000
in capital costs to keep the monkeys at Vilas.

UW-Madison Graduate School Dean Virginia Hinshaw quickly responded to
Falk that 45 days is too long to wait.  Either decide within 30 days
soon to keep the monkeys, Hinshaw said, or they will be packing their
little suitcases for warmer climates.

If Falk is inclined to keep any of the monkeys, which is questionable if
the county must foot all of the bill, she should keep some of the
rhesus.

The Louisiana center wants the rhesus to breed, but if they don't, they
will join research projects described as invasive by animal rights
activists.

The stump-tails, on the other hand, will be released in a Thai
sanctuary, where they can romp around for the rest of their days. 
That's a fate far better than becoming part of some lipstick or perfume
experiment, which is what could happen to some of the rhesus.

The university is trying to be a good player, but it cannot keep the
monkeys at Vilas for much longer.  Falk and the county board should do
their best to decide now, and resist the temptation to monkey around.


WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL
Phil Blake, publisher Frank Denton, editor
Thomas W. Still, associate editor
Sunny Schubert, editorial editor
Chuck Martin, editorial writer

Opinions above are shaped by this board, independent of news coverage
decisions elsewhere in the paper.

-- End --

Background info, including Resolution 241, related news
articles, alerts, etc, can be found at:

        http://www.uwosh.edu/organizations/alag/#Issues


Date: Sun, 08 Feb 1998 22:55:27 -0600
From: Steve Barney 
To: AR-News 
Subject: [US] "UW willing to work with county if it wants Vilas Zoo monkeys"
 (WSJ, 2/3/98)
Message-ID: <34DE8C3F.E8CD25E@uwosh.edu>
MIME-version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit

"UW willing to work with county if it wants Vilas Zoo monkeys"
By John Welsh
Wisconsin State Journal
Madison, WI
US
Tuesday, February 3, 1998
Page 3B

-- Beginning --

UW willing to work with county if it wants Vilas Zoo monkeys

UW-Madison officials said Monday they are willing to sweeten the deal a
bit if Dane County decides it wants to keep some of the school's Vilas
Zoo monkeys.

The move came just as Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk was expected
to state her position - possibly as early as today - on whether the
county wants the monkeys.

Jonathan Barry, a member of the UW Board of Regents and former Dane
County executive, said the university would likely be open to a number
of alternatives to ease the turnover of the monkeys from the research
center run by the school to the zoo run by the county.

Among the possibilities is using the money that the University would
spend in dismantling the monkey house to maintain part of the exhibit
until the county is ready to take over.

The university's Wisconsin Regional Primate Research Center has been
looking for a new home for the 150 monkeys it has kept at the zoo for
the past 30 years.  It plans to ship 100 rhesus monkeys to a research
center in Louisiana by mid-February and 50 stump-tailed macaques to a
Thailand sanctuary as early as next mouth.

--John Welsh

-- End --

Background info, including Resolution 241, related news
articles, alerts, etc, can be found at:

        http://www.uwosh.edu/organizations/alag/#Issues


Date: Sun, 08 Feb 1998 22:56:36 -0600
From: Steve Barney 
To: AR-News 
Subject: [US] "UW-Madison officials approve delay in sending monkeys away"
 (WSJ, 2/4/98)
Message-ID: <34DE8C84.722A4C78@uwosh.edu>
MIME-version: 1.0
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"UW-Madison officials approve delay in sending monkeys away"
By John Welsh
Wisconsin State Journal
Madison, WI
US
Wednesday, February 4, 1998
Page 1C

-- Beginning --

UW-Madison officials approve delay in sending monkeys away

By John Welsh
Wisconsin State Journal

UW-Madison officials agreed Tuesday to delay a planned shipment of Vilas
Zoo monkeys next week to give Dane County officials more time to
consider ways to keep them.

County Executive Kathleen Falk requested a 45-day delay Tuesday in a
letter sent to the university.  Several hours later, the school replied
in its own letter that she had until March 2.

"We need a definite commitment," said Virginia Hinshaw. dean of the UW
Graduate School.  There's nothing to be gained if I keep delaying this
if I can't get that commitment."

The university's Wisconsin Regional Primate Research Center has spent
several months searching for a new home for the 150 monkeys it keeps at
the county-run zoo.  The center had planned to ship 100 rhesus monkeys
to a research center in Louisiana as early as next week and 50
stump-tailed macaques to a sanctuary in their ancestral home of Thailand
as early as next month.

In her letter to the school, Falk said she needed more time to explore
different types of partnerships that could provide the resources to keep
at least one of the monkey colonies.

"It will be financially difficult to achieve this goal," Falk said.

She said that a tight county budget would prevent the county from adding
zoo staff but that she hoped concerned community groups or foundations
might come forward to help.

In her letter, Hinshaw provided details on what the school would be
willing to do to help.  She said the university would agree to maintain
up to 100 rhesus monkeys at the zoo until the end of the year if the
county agrees to assume responsibility Jan. 1.

She said the funding would come from the money the university would save
by not having to tear down the monkey house.

Falk's letter also raised the issue of a 1989 agreement between the zoo
and the research center that barred using the monkeys for invasive
research procedures.  Falk requested that such prohibitions continue
even if the monkeys are moved out of Vilas Zoo.

Hinshaw said the 100 monkeys going to the Tulane Regional Primate
Research Center would be used for breeding.  She acknowledged that those
unable to breed could end up in a research program, but she said the
university was keeping to the spirit of the 1989 pact and that its
arrangement with Tulane was likely the best it could get from any
institution.

-- End --

Background info, including Resolution 241, related news
articles, alerts, etc, can be found at:

        http://www.uwosh.edu/organizations/alag/#Issues




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